The Unsolved Murder of Beverly Lynn Smith: Season 1

Prime Video

Watch The Unsolved Murder of Beverly Lynn Smith — Season 1 with a subscription on Prime Video.

Brooke Daugherty

Pop Culture Leftovers

Of all the true crime television I watch, I couldn’t even get through a whole episode of this. The unbalanced and inefficient way the story was told left a bad taste in my mouth.

Jun 13, 2022

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Romey Norton

Ready Steady Cut

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.

Rated: 3.5/5

May 7, 2022

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s j

Thought it was well done

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

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the s

This is a pretty remarkable short little series. Ultimately, it examines human nature from all sides at the deepest levels and that's what makes it so compelling. It's not just a series about an unsolved murder; the story examines the deepest levels of the human condition and examines the depths of depravity that police will go to in order to puff up their own chests without any regard to truth or justice. My first thought as the story began to reveal itself was I bet American police are frothing at the mouth thinking about being able to use the Mr. Big approach to snaring suspects. Because American police (as well as prosecutors…particularly prosecutors and DAs) have never cared about justice. They literally build their careers on the backs of pinning crime on innocent people just for the sake of getting credit and moving on to the next crime. Prosecutors build their careers by "winning" cases (quite literally…those with the most convictions go on to higher positions and eventually become judges). Again…the US judicial system from the bottom to the top has no regard for actual justice. None. And in this case, Canadian cops literally rolled themselves into circles with some kind of creepy, tweaked multi-layered plan to try to squeeze a false confession out of a suspect who had already done 5 years without any real evidence. Thankfully the Canadian judicial system is a little more airtight than the American system and the judge smacked it all down properly. The lengths those cops went to, they should all be in prison for the rest of their lives. All of them. And being cops, they're so cocky and mentally tweaked that they're giving interviews genuinely believing they did nothing wrong. It's absolutely insane. Unconscionable. Incomprehensible. Reprehensible. The other side of this is the family of the victim. Clearly innocent, only want to see justice in the early stages but by the time they're 20+ years out from the crime, they just want someone to take the blame. And so despite hearing all the tapes and the evidence and knowing how depraved and unscrupulous the investigation was, they STILL wanted it pinned on him. So you have to feel for the family..you really do. Grief does great damage to the mind and playa tricks on the part of the brain that processes logic and reason. This guy was innocent. If he were guilty there would have been true evidence. If he was guilty, cops wouldn't have had to concoct some 9-act play of lies and snares to pressure him into a "confession" that didn't even make any sense. But again, all of this is what makes the story and series so incredibly interesting. The sad part is that a woman was murdered and an innocent man was harassed most of his life, did time in prison and then continued to be a target of brutal harassment after his release. So like so many of these stories, they start out and remain a tragedy. But maybe the point is that ruining someone else's life after a murder doesn't change the murder or bring anyone back to life. It's all blue collar grandstanding with cops and prosecutors refusing to be told no, refusing to accept that they've blown the case, refusing to accept that they've failed on all levels of trying to solve the crime so they're going to find someone to pin it to…truth and justice be damned. Like American cops and prosecutors, it's always more about the ego and grandstanding and credit than it has even been about solving crime or finding the real criminal or any semblence of justice.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

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Catherine Legge

Executive Producer

Courtney Dobbins

Executive Producer

Jonas Prupas

Executive Producer

Nathalie Bibeau

Co-Executive Producer

Tara Jan

Producer

Nathalie Bibeau

Director

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Episode 1

Aired May 6, 2022

The Catch

Alan Smith stumbles upon a hidden piece of information related to a cold case from 35 years ago.

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Episode 2

Aired May 6, 2020

The Girl Next Door

The recollections of Beverly's sisters reveal her vibrant spirit; investigating several suspects, including a biker gang and drug dealers.

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Episode 3

Aired May 6, 2022

Alibi

Despite Alan Smith and now ex-wife Linda Smith proclaiming their innocence, the results of their 2008 polygraph examinations raise questions.

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Episode 4

Aired May 6, 2022

The Release

Alan Smith spends five years in jail awaiting trial for first-degree murder; his defense team attempts to get key evidence barred from the proceedings.

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Director: Nathalie Bibeau
Executive Producer: Catherine Legge, Courtney Dobbins, Jonas Prupas, Nathalie Bibeau
Network: Prime Video
Rating: TV-MA
Genre: Documentary, Crime
Original Language: English
Release Date: May 6, 2022

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Season 1 – The Unsolved Murder of Beverly Lynn Smith

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