Murder on a Sunday Morning is a documentary film directed by Jean-Xavier de Lestrade. The subject of the film is the Brenton Butler case, a criminal case in which a fifteen-year-old boy was wrongfully accused of murder. It was released on September 14, 2001 (United States) and
February 26, 2003. (France) Murder on a Sunday Morning was the brainchild of the french director Jean-Xavier de Lestrade, and it received critical acclaim upon its release as the film won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature at the 74th Academy Awards in 2002.
The film documents the case of the murder of 65 year old Mary Ann Stephens. Mrs. Stephens was shot in the head by an unknown black male assailant. Ninety minutes later, 15 year old Brenton Butler is picked …show more content…
A film as powerful as this comes around once in a lifetime. Brenton Butler's story is one that happens too often. Many times people are accused of crimes they did not commit. Fortunately, due to McGuinness efforts, Butler was found not guilty. But that outcome isn't one that is common. Luckily some of these people that are accused and convicted are eventually found not guilty like Lewis Fogle, who spent 34 years behind bars for the murder and rape of a teenage girl, walked free in August thanks to new DNA evidence. Fogle was found guilty in the death of 15-year-old Deann Katherine Long, whose body was found in 1976 by someone picking blackberries in the woods. Fogle always denied involvement in her death. Last year, he was released from a Pennsylvania prison after a judge vacated his conviction when new DNA evidence suggested he never committed the rape. DNA evidence from a semen sample gathered from Long's body was tested using new technology, according to the district attorney. Tests showed the semen didn't belong to Fogle. Fogle's case was helped by the Innocence Project, which pushed for new testing of the physical evidence. When the 64-year-old walked free, he said he was looking forward to enjoying a
February 26, 2003. (France) Murder on a Sunday Morning was the brainchild of the french director Jean-Xavier de Lestrade, and it received critical acclaim upon its release as the film won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature at the 74th Academy Awards in 2002.
The film documents the case of the murder of 65 year old Mary Ann Stephens. Mrs. Stephens was shot in the head by an unknown black male assailant. Ninety minutes later, 15 year old Brenton Butler is picked …show more content…
A film as powerful as this comes around once in a lifetime. Brenton Butler's story is one that happens too often. Many times people are accused of crimes they did not commit. Fortunately, due to McGuinness efforts, Butler was found not guilty. But that outcome isn't one that is common. Luckily some of these people that are accused and convicted are eventually found not guilty like Lewis Fogle, who spent 34 years behind bars for the murder and rape of a teenage girl, walked free in August thanks to new DNA evidence. Fogle was found guilty in the death of 15-year-old Deann Katherine Long, whose body was found in 1976 by someone picking blackberries in the woods. Fogle always denied involvement in her death. Last year, he was released from a Pennsylvania prison after a judge vacated his conviction when new DNA evidence suggested he never committed the rape. DNA evidence from a semen sample gathered from Long's body was tested using new technology, according to the district attorney. Tests showed the semen didn't belong to Fogle. Fogle's case was helped by the Innocence Project, which pushed for new testing of the physical evidence. When the 64-year-old walked free, he said he was looking forward to enjoying a