Movie Review: Feast of the Assumption: The Otero Family Murders (2007)

This film is a documentary, It was filmed in Wichita, Kansas. It was directed by Marc Levitz, and written by Marc Levitz, and Steve Armstrong.

I went to the premiere showing of this film in Wichita, Kansas. It was shown at the Orpheum theatre, on Monday, February 25, 2008 at 7:00 pm.

The film was mainly focused on, and centered around Charlie Otero. It was Charlie's version of the murders, and also his life afterwards. The main characters in the film were Charlie, Danny, and Carmen Otero. Danny and Carmen, being Charlie's brother and sister.

The murder of Charlie's parents, and his brother and sister happened on January 15, 1974. The were killed by Dennis Rader, who dubbed himself "B.T.K." Charlie's deceased family members were, his father Joseph, (38), his mother Julie, (34), his sister Josephine, (11), and his brother Joseph II, (9).

Charlie started out by talking about a strange coincidence that had happened three nights before the killings. He had watched the movie, "In Cold Blood." He had made a remark to his father about the movie, about how those crimes had happened in Kansas. His father had said something to the effect that Charlie wouldn't ever have to worry about something like that ever happening to them.

He told how he had walked home from school that day, (the day of the murders). When he was approaching his house, he noticed that his dog was outside. He thought that was strange. When he got inside the house, he saw that the contents of his mother's purse were strewn about, and there was a mess on the kitchen counter. He said that messes were uncharacteristic of his mother, as she didn't leave anything out, and the house was always neat and clean.

Charlie found his family dead, He said that his father's eyes were bugging out, and his tongue was one half of the way bitten off. His mother was on the bed, and he mentioned how she looked like a pile of rags. He was worried about his younger brother and sister coming home from school, and seeing this. He didn't know it at that time, they were dead too.