Documentary on Farmington Attempted Matricide (how much, live in, dangerous)

[entyss]

Anyone catch this Sunday on IFC? Teenager and his girlfriend shot his mother because she sold the family farm after promising it to him. Pretty chilling - the people interviewed either planned it with him or said "well she did promise him". But she lived and sold the farm to a developer...how sad.

[cdodge04]

I always find it amazing how far some people will take things. Nothing like finding peaceful ways to deal with things...

People who take things to such extremes are such a waste.

What was the name of the documentary? I don't have cable/dish but I'd be interested to see if I can find the documentary online somewhere.

[Zymer]

Originally Posted by entyss

Anyone catch this Sunday on IFC? Teenager and his girlfriend shot his mother because she sold the family farm after promising it to him. Pretty chilling - the people interviewed either planned it with him or said "well she did promise him". But she lived and sold the farm to a developer...how sad.

Sad? Sad that she lived...or sad that she sold the farm?

I gotta say, a kid that would do something like that to his mother doesn't sound like the kind of kid *I'd* leave anything to. A mother ought to know her own kid fairly well...might go a long way toward explaining why she changed her mind.

[bgrasser]

I got the feeling there was a lot of abuse in that household.
I felt bad for the daughter, think of the day to day trauma that poor child went through.

[entyss]

The name of the doc was Knee Deep,and the abuse was more the slap in the face variety. She was uncaring, hated the farm and the whole way of life, wanted to move to Colorado. He, the boy, loved the farm, and was extremely close to his father. When his father died. the mother changed her mind about selling. That was always the issue, but I'm sure if she had been a loving parent, it wouldn't have happened.
She was in the documentary, re-enacting the crime, showing how she was hanging laundry when she was shot. The bullet just grazed her forehead.

[Maine Writer]

Murder is not ok not matter how much he wanted the land.

[tye207]

I remember the day this happened. I live in the area. The guy was on the loose and everyone around here was flipping out and the people on the tv said to lock our doors and stuff. And then it got dark... But I don't think he was dangerous to anyone except his family.

[BrokenTap]

Maine is unlike most states...for the locals here where roots run deep. Farms here are passed down generation to generation and its almost expected that the son will get it. If he was indeed promised the farm, and wanted to continue to farm, then I can see where sheer anger might get in the way of rational thinking.

I am not defending the guy...what he did was indeed wrong, but I could not imagine losing my farm here because my Dad died and my mother sold out. Maine roots run deep,and so does farming, so when you mix the two you get some very strong feelings. To be sold to a developer is an even bigger slap in the face.

He took the gun to his mother, but if it had been me and my farm, I would have put the gun to my own temple. I could not have 251 years of farm history be sold out from underneath me.

For what its worth, that feeling is not uncommon among farmers. Most people cannot wait until they sell the business and retire, farmers can not fathom NOT farming. For instance in the 1980's when farming tanked across the midwest 913 farmers put the guns to their own temples...an epidemic of farmer-suicides. In India last year it happened again but the result was 1000's. Since only 1% of this nation are farmers, I know 99% of you don't understand...I don't mean that in a negative way, you just don't understand.

[CoastalMaine]

I get it Tap. It's in your soul. Perfectly understandable sentiment. Murdering for it is a stretch, though again, I can understand the despair that must have driven that train of thought.