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The 12th Victim will premiere at 8 pm ET on Friday, February 17, on Showtime. It is a four-part docuseries with episodes 2, 3, and 4 airing at the same time every coming Friday.
The 12th Victim is based on Caril Ann Fugate, the youngest female in the history of the United States to have been tried and convicted of first-degree murder. At the time of her arrest, she was dating spree killer Charles Starkweather.
The official synopsis of the upcoming show docuseries reads as:
"THE 12TH VICTIM is a four-part docuseries that sheds new light on the infamous 1958 Charles Starkweather and Caril Ann Fugate murder case, in which the teenage couple was charged and convicted of brutally killing 11 victims at random. Told through a stylistic blend of archival and recreated footage and countless film and television series inspired by the killings"
It continues:
"THE 12TH VICTIM reexamines Fugate’s guilty verdict, who was 14 years old at the time of the killings, through a modern lens, questioning the media and judicial system’s treatment of her despite her self-proclaimed innocence. Executive produced by Oscar-winning filmmaker Morgan Neville and directed by Emmy-winning director Nicola B. Marsh."
The 12th Victim is directed by Nicola B. Marsh
The infamous case of Caril Ann Fugate and Charles Starkweather has often been the inspiration behind several films and shows like Badlands, Kalifornia, Natural Born Killers, and Murder in the Heartland. Bruce Springsteen wrote the song Nebraska after watching Badlands.
But surprisingly, the upcoming show will paint Fugate in a positive light and describe the case as a myth constructed by the county prosecutors and police. It further got fueled by news coverage, books, movies, and songs.
The show will try to convince that Caril Ann Fugate was truly innocent and change the conventional narrative to a giant misunderstanding. The 12th Victim director Nicola B. Marsh stated regarding her latest venture:
"It’s always really amazing when you get the opportunity to upend a narrative that has really calcified and become kind of like lore. I thought it was really cool to try to really break that story from Caril's point of view. I know some people have done it, but it wasn't really in the mainstream telling of what happened in 1958."
She continued:
"The thing about these crime stories is it’s really about perspective. The more you learn, and the more time you spend in Caril’s shoes, the more your perspective switches to her perspective. It starts as public perspective. Then it goes to Charlie's perspective, and then you're in her perspective."
Who was Caril Ann Fugate and what happened to her?
Caril Ann Fugate was born on July 30, 1943, in Lincoln, Nebraska. When she was 13 years old, she began dating Charles Starkweather, a high school dropout five years her senior.
On January 21, 1958, Starkweather killed Caril Ann Fugate's parents and 2-year-old sibling. At the time, she wasn't home. When she returned, she saw her boyfriend waiting for her with a gun. He told her that her family was being held hostage and they would be safe if she just did what she was told to do.
Over the next six days, the pair lived in the house and turned away all visitors, raising suspicions. The bodies were later found on the outskirts of the property.
The 12th Victim will premiere at 8 pm ET on Friday, February 17, on Showtime.
