True story behind number 2 film on Netflix that had writer wanted for questioning in murder

The number two film on Netflix right now is a murder-mystery thriller with a brilliant twist.

Sounds normal enough right?

That’s until you realise the crazy true story behind Netflix's latest hit - in which the writer was wanted for questioning for a murder.

Check out the trailer here:

Plot synopsis

The film is Where The Crawdads Sing, based on a 2018 novel of the same name.

Written by author Delia Owens, the writer has also co-authored a number of books with her husband, Mark Owens, including The Eye of the Elephant, Survivor's Song and Cry of the Kalahari.

Where The Crawdads Sing follows a young woman, Kya Clark - played by Normal People's Daisy Edgar-Jones in the movie - who is seemingly wrongfully accused of the murder of her ex-boyfriend, Chase Andrews.

The film didn't do that well critically upon its release, however, audiences seemed to enjoy it - with it receiving an audience score of 95 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.

Mark and Delia Owens. (William Campbell via Getty Images)

What is the story?

It all started with a documentary called Deadly Game: The Mark and Delia Owens Story released in 1997, which details the Owens’ story and their fights against poachers in Zambia.

In footage from the documentary, however, Mark is reportedly seen encouraging people to shoot poachers, according to ScreenRant.

Separately, the alleged murder of a poacher is also shown in footage of the documentary.

However, there is nothing to prove that this is true.

This led to a murder investigation by the Zambian police - with the main suspect being Mark Owens’ adult son from his first marriage, Christopher Owens.

Whilst the investigation did not bring about any charges against the family or anyone else at the time, this did not appear to be the end of it.

What happened next?

A piece by The Atlantic posted in 2022 saw Jeffrey Goldberg go over to Zambia, where he interviewed Lillian Shawa-Siyuni, Zambia’s director of public prosecutions.

Situni said: “There is no statute of limitations on murder in Zambia. They are all wanted for questioning in this case, including Delia Owens.”

Owens went on to write a novel which became 2022's Where the Crawdad's Sing. (Sony Pictures)

Goldberg went on to say in his piece that the Zambian police officials he'd met with were 'keen to interrogate Mark and Christopher Owens, but also believe that Delia Owens should be interrogated as a possible witness, co-conspirator, and accessory to felony crimes'.

The Owens family have all routinely deny any connection to the alleged death.

A decade ago, Delia told the publication: "We don’t know anything about it. The only thing Mark ever did was throw firecrackers out of his plane, but just to scare poachers, not to hurt anyone."

She also alleged that her stepson was not there on the night of the incident, saying: "We don’t even know where that event took place. It was horrible, a person being shot like that."

And in an interview with the New York Times, Owens also denied any involvement, saying she had nothing to do with the shooting and was never accused of any wrong-doing.

"I was not involved,” she said. “There was never a case, there was nothing.”

As of now, the case still remains unsolved.

Topics: Netflix, Film, Crime, TV and Film

Michael Slavin