Nothing revitalizes people’s interest in a murder mystery like a late-in-the-game twist. It keeps the case in the news, gives everyone a chance to see the same few photos of the victim again, and it helps prevent the story from becoming stale like all of those other murder mysteries. Also, if that seems cold, it’s simply because humans are all monsters who sometimes can’t help but feel fascinated by the things that should repulse us.
Anyway, The Hollywood Reporter says that TNT is developing a miniseries about Chandra Levy, the young government intern who went missing in 2001 and was later found dead in a Washington D.C. park. Along the way, officials discovered she was having an affair with a congressman and were suspiciously unable to find evidence that private investigators turned up easily, but eventually the congressman was cleared and a man from El Salvador was convicted of committing the murder. Then, just within the last few days, the charges were dropped against that guy after his attorneys discovered that a key witness had lied, and now the case has officially been reopened. In other words, it’s pretty awful stuff. In different other words, though, it’s TV gold.
TNT’s miniseries will be produced by American Crime’s Keith Huff, and it’ll be based on the book Finding Chandra: A True Washington Murder Mystery by The Washington Post’s Scott Higham and Sara Horwitz. THR describes the project as a “true-crime series,” but it’s unclear if it’ll be a Making A Murderer or The Jinx-style documentary thing, or an American Crime Story: People V. O.J. Simpson-style dramatization.