INTERVIEW: Victims’ impact statements are basis for new true crime series on ID
Photo: Impact of Murder focuses on the survivors and families involved in violent crime. Photo courtesy of Investigation Discovery / Provided by press site with permission.
Investigation Discovery recently premiered a new series focused less on the whodunit factor and more on the victims of violent crime and their impact statements at the end of a trial. Impact of Murder premieres new episodes Sundays at 10 p.m. on the network.
“This was actually an idea that was homegrown,” said Pamela Deutsch, executive producer of the series. “It came from our internal development team who were really struck when the story broke about Larry Nassar, the coach for the U.S. gymnastics team, and hearing the impact statements of his victims. Here at ID, we are always very mindful of the victims of these stories we tell, and so it seemed like a natural hook to tell stories through the lens of the impact statement that families, survivors give in court just before sentencing. These are generally really emotionally packed statements, so that’s where the idea was born. And we teamed up with our partners from October Films and produced this series of six, and what’s interesting is the significance of the episode that goes out next [on July 21]. It was actually the first time an impact statement was used, and it sort of set precedent for people to be able to have their day before sentencing.”
The first season of six episodes has a variety of stories to tell. The common denominator on each case is that when a violent crime occurs, there is a tremendous ripple effect that changes the lives of so many people. A glimpse into this sadness and hurt is seen via these impact statements, which are historically positioned right before a perpetrator’s sentencing at the end of a criminal trial.
“Some of these stories the victim survives; other times it’s family and friends,” she said. “It sort of shows the ripple effect of crime and how it doesn’t just impact the primary victim, and so we have a real variety of stories. The next one up is actually a story of a school shooting through the eyes and hearing from the family involved and how it played out on the day, and it’s a different perspective of that sort of story, which we obviously hear way too many of. And then we have another story of a woman who was attacked in Boston, and it turned out the perpetrator had actually killed another woman just before. So there’s just a variety of different perspectives, all culminating with these emotional testimonies they give in the courtroom.”
The true crime fascination continues to dominate reality TV, podcasting, films and books, and Investigation Discovery is a TV leader when it comes to original documentaries and series. Impact of Murder continues that fascination, but also tries to focus the individual episodes on the aftermath — when the families involved are gearing up for the headlines to stop, the cameras to turn off and the unimaginable sadness to sink in. It’s essentially a show centered on loss.
“This more than any other type of storytelling really requires the participation and the support of the family,” Deutsch said. “We certainly don’t want to open wounds that they don’t want opened, but in this case, we had participation of all the family members who were really close to the story. It makes it harder to cast, but I think it makes it much more emotional, intimate storytelling. And in a lot of cases, it provides an opportunity for the family. I think you can assume that by virtue of the fact that they are participating, they want to keep the story alive. They want the audience. We’re very sensitive to anyone who doesn’t want their story told or doesn’t want to participate. We back off immediately.”
Deutsch said there are a few strong takeaways for the audience. Besides the understanding of the so-called butterfly effect (how one action can impact so many people), there’s also the empowerment factor of finally being heard.
“I think what’s most surprising is you don’t ever really think of the people who are left in the wake of these stories and how much one action, one crime can affect so many people and for really long periods of time,” the executive producer said. “It’s this butterfly effect that sends ripples into the world, and I think that is probably one of the things that people get from this. The other thing is that it’s empowering in a sense to be able to speak out, and literally in most of these cases you are addressing the perpetrator in court. And it’s kind of that one opportunity to be heard. That is the most powerful part of the series is that you’re looking at these people saying their peace to the perpetrator.”
As far as the future of Impact of Murder, Deutsch said the network will likely take a wait-and-see approach, but she is certainly hopeful more victims’ statements will be heard.
“Certainly we want to see how our audience responds to a series,” she said. “It really depends on the series. Something like this it requires a lot to get these stories cast, so something like this we may do in smaller batches. But again it does take a lot of finessing and relationship-building on the casting side. It’s sort of a wait-and-see thing, and we want to serve our audience. Ultimately it’s up to them how we go forward.”
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Impact of Murder premieres new episodes Sundays at 10 p.m. on Investigation Discovery. Click here for more information.
