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The 12th Victim is a four-part, highly heart-wrenching, true-crime docuseries that will debut at 8 pm ET on Friday, February 17, 2023, exclusively on Showtime. The documentary series will revisit and chronicle the chilling murder spree that Charles Starkweather and his 14-year-old girlfriend Caril Ann Fugate went on.
Oscar-winning director Morgan Neville is the executive producer for it, while Emmy-winning director Nicola B. has directed the Showtime docuseries. Showtime released an official synopsis for the docuseries which says:
"In 1958, Charles Starkweather and his girlfriend Caril Ann Fugate went on a murder spree that took the lives of 11 victims including Caril’s mother, stepfather and baby stepsister. Charles was sentenced to death, and Caril became the youngest woman ever sentenced to life in prison."
The official synopsis for The 12th Victim adds that to date, Caril maintains her innocence about not knowing that Charles had killed her family when she accompanied him. It says that the series will take an in-depth look into the then-14-year-old's involvement in the crime and how the case reflected "society's fascination with true crime."
Since Showtime dropped the official trailer for the documentary series, viewers have been buzzing with anticipation and curiosity to learn all about Caril. Caril Ann Fugate, who is now 79 years old, is currently living in Ohio.
What you need to know about Caril Ann Fugate ahead of the premiere of The 12th Victim on Showtime
Who is Caril Ann Fugate?
Caril Ann Fugate, who now goes by Caril Ann Clair, is the infamous accomplice of sinister spree killer Charles Starkweather in 1958.
Born on July 30, 1943, to Velda Bartlett, Fugate originally belonged to Lincoln, Nebraska, in the U.S. She lived with her mother Velda, her step-father Marion Bartlett and half-sister Betty Jean Bartlett.
In 1957, when Caril was only 13, she met 18-year-old Charles Starkweather, and soon began a romantic relationship with him. On January 21, 1958, when she was 14, Caril's entire life turned upside down.
She claimed that when she came home that day, she found her then-19-year-old boyfriend, Charles, waiting for her with a gun. She added that Charles told her that he was holding her entire family hostage and if she refused to follow his instructions, her family members would be in grave danger.
However, before Caril returned home, Charles had already killed her entire family, including her two-year-old half-sister Betty Jean Bartlett.
Charles and Caril left her home a few days later and drove across Nebraska and Wyoming on a horrifying killing spree that took the lives of seven other people. The innocent people killed on the spree included August Meyer, Robert Jensen, Carol King, Lillian Fencl, Clara Ward, C. Lauer Ward, and Merle Collison.
What happened to Fugate?
On January 29, 1958, during their murder spree, an altercation took place between Charles Starkweather and a passing geologist, Joe Sprinkle. The altercation caught the attention of authorities. When a police officer approached them, Caril rushed to him and identified the man in the driver's seat as Charles Starkweather.
After chasing Charles's car down, authorities arrested both Starkweather and Fugate. Upon her arrest, while Fugate maintained her innocence, Charles continued to insist that Fugate had taken an active and willing part in the murder spree and even killed a few of the victims.
Fugate was sentenced to life imprisonment by the court and was held at the Nebraska Correctional Center for Women in York, Nebraska. She was paroled in 1976 after spending 17 years in prison.
Years after her release in 2007, she married a man named Fredrick Clair, who she lost in 2013 in a fatal car accident. As mentioned earlier, Fugate is currently 79 and lives in Ohio.
Don't forget to catch The 12th Victim, which will debut on Showtime on Friday, February 17, 2023, at 8 pm ET.
