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| Deborah Paegler in Crime After Crime. |
In an un-Cooley way
By Miranda Inganni
Pitting the best of humankind against some of the worst of humankind, Crime After Crime tells the tumultuous tale of a woman who overpaid her debt to society.
In 1975, a pregnant 15-year-old Deborah Peagler met a local grocery store clerk, and sometimes model, Owen Wilson. The two became romantically involved, in part because Wilson smoothly transitions into a father figure with Peagler's newborn daughter. Yet when money became an issue, Wilson forces Peagler into prostitution in order to not only pay bills but also support his drug habit. After his abuse reaches a boiling point, Peagler brings Wilson to a park where he is beaten and strangled to death by two local gang members.
Following a slow investigation, authorities catch up to Peagler and the two gang members. Facing the death penalty (under false pretenses), Peagler pleads guilty to first degree murder when her culpability was far less grave.
Serving a life sentence, Peagler has the opportunity to get out of prison when a new law is passed in California. Enter attorneys Nadia Costa and Joshua Safran, two attorneys determined to seek and secure justice for Peagler.
What follows is a true-to-life crime story with more twists, turns and surprises than the best fiction. Secret memos, paid informants and false promises of freedom follow. The maximum sentence Debbie would have received if she had been convicted of manslaughter for aiding in the murder of an abusive boyfriend would have been six years. Instead we see her struggle through decades of incarceration. (The Los Angeles District Attorney's office does not come off well here.)
Yoav Potash's first feature documentary is a must see for anyone who believes the legal system is extremely flawed. There is a long way to go, but Peagler, Costa, Safran and their families prove that hope, hard work, patience and persistence have the sweetest of payoffs.
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