I could see his head split apart,’” Cullivan says. “He said, ‘As I pulled the trigger there was a flash of blue light.
■ Don Cullivan, who served with Smith in the Army, visited him in prison, where Smith graphically described shooting Herb. ■ Hickock tells police about hearing a “gurgling noise” when Smith slit Herb’s throat before killing him with a shotgun blast to the head. “I think they became convinced that we would be good stewards of their feelings and concerns.” (Relatives of Hickock and Smith declined to be interviewed.)Īmong the documentary’s more gripping moments: “They wished this entire story would just go away,” says Berlinger, 56, who is based in New York. It took months to get family members, who view the book and movie as sympathetic to the murderers, to take part. Some investigators, friends and relatives of the victims also speak for the first time. Berlinger’s documentary culls archival video, crime scene and family photos, and audio police interrogations with the killers.
