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updated September 27, 2004
In the early morning hours of August 15, 2004, independent filmmaker Corwin Fitz,
who in Oxford was known to be
somewhat eccentric, was
found dead. His body was
discovered in the half-filled bathtub of his bathroom in
the lodge
where his movie, Bacchanals' Destruction, was being filmed.
He had sustained several gashes to his back, side and ear, believe
to be from a machete found at the scene, as well as multiple
gunshots to the back of his head. Considerable blood was observed in
the master bathroom, with
additional blood found in the master
bedroom, and the autopsy report
showed that Fitz died from the gunshot wounds to his head.
Also in the lodge at the time of his death were the
members of the film's cast and crew: Katrina
Brook, Brett Flamé,
Macy Lamar,
Johnny McPhail, Alsace Montenado,
Billy Mummy, and
David Woolworth. The victim
allegedly had been holding these seven people hostage at
the lodge,
refusing to allow any of them to leave until the film was completed. When Detectives
Armstrong and Murphy arrived at the scene, Brett Flamé was repeatedly confessing to the murder,
but given his highly agitated state, the detectives
opted not to talk to him in depth at the scene, but instead had him
and the other six cast/crew members transported to the Sheriff's
Department for interviews. The interview with Brett Flamé
was challenging and his claims were difficult to believe. He
was the male lead in the victim's film and spoke about the various
ways Fitz helped him get into character. Flamé
initially confessed to the murder,
but later refused to sign the confession.
The detectives next
interviewed Katrina Brook, who
found the body and was the victim's girlfriend. Brook provided
information about events immediately surrounding the
discovery of the body and about relationships on the set, including
visits to the set by executive producer Chuckie King and a
mysterious woman seeking a role in the film, Helen Troy.
Investigators followed up by
interviewing Alsace Montenado, who initially claimed to have
found the body and who called 911. Montenado described Fitz's
aggressive nature with the actors and how he assisted with that. He
also provided a different perspective on the relationship between
Brook and Fitz.
Armstrong and Murphy next spoke
with Billy Mummy, who played the villain in the film. Mummy told
about the financial compensation the cast and crew were getting, the
Brook-Fitz-Lamar love triangle, and the physical altercation he had
with Fitz on the set, as well as other topics of interest.
The detectives talked to David
Woolworth, who provided interesting information about the
reasons the various cast members remained at the location, despite
Fitz's harsh treatment of them. In the department's evidence
archive, Armstrong and Murphy also found
a video Woolworth released in
1999.
The investigators also interviewed
Macy Lamar, who revealed some more about Fitz's activities prior
to the time the cast and crew retreated to the lodge to film the
movie. They followed up that interview by
talking to Johnny McPhail, who
has provided valuable information in several previous
investigations. McPhail gave his perspective on what went on at the
lodge and on the personalities of the various people involved in the
film. After learning that McPhail had met Fitz at Murff's bar in
Oxford, investigators interviewed
other Murff's patrons to see if any of them had met Fitz and
knew anything about him.
The detectives contacted with the owner of the lodge where
Bacchanals' Destruction was being filmed and
interviewed Wilbur Pratt by phone
at his home in Jackson.
The diagrams of the lodge's first
floor and second floor show
the locations where all the cast and crew members slept. Among the evidence collected
from the lodge were a treatment of
the script, the script itself,
the victim's film journal, an odd note on the victim's bed, and a small
arsenal of handguns. They also found various digital video tapes of
the current film and previous projects, including an
untitled video, one called
Rebaptized, and
one named The Balcony.
In the later
pages of Fitz's journal, investigators found
a letter from
Robert Price, an associate of Fitz's currently residing in a
Mississippi penitentiary.
Armstrong and Murphy tracked him down and
interviewed him at the prison. The
first interview was unproductive, so the detectives returned to
Parchman a short time later to
re-interview Price. In his second interview, Price made wild
claims that the investigators had no choice but to try to verify,
regardless of how outrageous they seemed to be.
After finding an unsigned
contract and an angry fax,
both from the film's executive producer
Chuckie King, among the victim's effects, Armstrong and Murphy
interviewed King at his office.
King, who has a unique personal history himself, provided
information about his dealings with Fitz both before and during the
shoot at the lodge.
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