Summary
Amazon’s original true crime documentary is a rival for Netflix’s.
This review of The Unsolved Murder of Beverly Lynn Smith is spoiler-free.
Amazon has released a true-crime documentary series The Unsolved Murder of Beverly Lynn Smith. Over 4 episodes with a running time of roughly 40 minutes each, we’re taken on an investigative journey, which essentially tries to bring one man in particular to justice. Very much like the series we are familiar with on Netflix, Amazon is jumping on the true-crime bandwagon with this hard-hitting in-depth investigation of the horrific murder of Beverly Lynn Smith.
Directed by Nathalie Bibeau, known for The Walrus and The Whistleblower, this Amazon original docuseries delves deep into the operation that was designed to investigate a suspect in the murder of 22-year-old Beverly Lynn Smith. This raised more and more questions, which created a search for justice that has lasted decades.
With a 10-month-old baby (who was there at the time of the murder) and husband, Beverly Lynn Smith lived in a farmhouse in Ontario. On December 9, 1974, she was murdered in the kitchen of her home. Alan Smith (no relation), her friendly neighbor, is a central character in the investigation since the night of the murder almost 50 years ago, and he has always claimed his innocence. Despite investigations and widespread media coverage, and Alan spending years in prison, there were so many stories that Mr. Smith is eventually released on a technicality. 50 years later, there is still no justice, and I doubt there will ever be.
This series goes past the crime and delves into the pursuit of justice. In a similar format to most true-crime series, we have interviews with investigators, family, friends, crime reporters, and lawyers all re-telling their experiences, opinions, and personal feelings surrounding what happened and what they believe happened. There are reenactments and audio footage driving the story and imagination along.
There are two stories in this series, one of the girl who was tragically murdered, and the story of the man who was accused of murdering her. Alan Smith, the accused, is in the documentary himself, claiming he is innocent, although a recording at the end of the first episode will send shivers down your spine. Also, in episode three Mr. Smith and his ex-wife Linda confidently agree to a lie detector test, and the results indicate that he did shoot Beverly and that Linda knew what happened. This documentary has twists, turns and multiple stories throughout and I had to keep watching to see how this story ended. From all the stories, the police methods, did Alan give a real and true confession or was it coerced? Watch and decide for yourself.
Overall this series is an intriguing watch. Again we have another woman killed, most likely by the hands of a man, and who has been let down by society around her. Either the police really did just focus on a conviction from the first person they wanted and didn’t truly investigate and find her real killer, or, a judge has deemed that there isn’t enough evidence to convict a real murderer. Either way, what happened to Beverly is truly awful and I hope those close to her feel comfort in bringing her story to the masses. No matter how many of these true crime documentaries I watch, I haven’t become desensitized because the families are always so affected and emotional, even decades after the event. You will enjoy this documentary if you are into a true-crime series, and need to binge-watch an intense, informative series.
There is a lot of swearing in this series. Just in case as a viewer you don’t like that or plan to watch with younger audiences, I’d warn you there is a lot of swearing.
You can stream The Unsolved Murder of Beverly Lynn Smith exclusively on Amazon Prime Video.
