The Lifetime drama 12 Desperate Hours, which tells the harrowing story of a felon and a mother’s fight to save her family, is set to premiere on February 25, 2023.
Samantha Mathis will play the protagonist in the upcoming film, with Harrison Thomas and David Conrad sharing other important roles. Gina Gershon, who is also an actress, directs the film.
The following is Lifetime’s summary of 12 Desperate Hours:
“This Lifetime original, adapted from Ann Rule’s Last Chance, Last Dance true crime compilation, follows Val (Samantha Mathis), a mother who finds herself and her small children held captive by Denny (Harrison Thomas) when he enters her home after murdering earlier that day.”
The events of the upcoming film are based on true events from the collection Last Dance, Last Chance, and Other True Cases: Crime Files Vol. 8, though the main names and characters have been changed significantly.
12 Desperate Hours is based on what crime?
12 Dangerous Hours follows an armed criminal who kidnaps a family and forces the mother to drive him on a night of heinous violence and heinous plots. This is a similar story to Gary Lee Quinlivan’s, who was eventually convicted of second-degree murder, first-degree murder, and first-degree abduction.
His crimes began in Washington state in 1963, when Joan Marlatt ended her relationship with Quinlivan, who was furious. He sought the assistance of an acquaintance, Fritz Donahue, in order to contact his former companion, who was living with her mother. Quinlivan, according to reports, accidentally murdered his friend when he fell in the dirt and his pistol went off.
The postmortem examination revealed the following:
“[Donahue] died of a shotgun wound to the head in the horizontal plane, facts consistent with the pistol being held at shoulder level and fired straight at the deceased.”
Quinlivan then fled into the woods and to the front yard of Patricia Jean Jaque’s home, where he forced her to drive him around. This influenced the plot of 12 Desperate Hours. An excerpt from the film’s synopsis follows:
“Val agrees to take Denny wherever he wants and becomes his reluctant partner as he goes on a spree of devastation in order to save them and her husband Mark (David Conrad), who was due home at any minute. Despite the ordeal, Val develops a bond with her kidnapper and uses it to save the lives of witnesses, herself, and even her kidnapper (2023).”
A disturbing account of this event was also included in Last Dance, Last Chance, and Other Real Cases: Crime Reports Vol. 8. Gina Gershon explained the situation to KTLA 5:
“It moved me… I’m just sick of hearing about yet another heinous murder in the news. I’m heartbroken to think that these children go to school and may never leave. It’s just terrible; America as a civilization has failed, and things aren’t getting any better.”
12 Desperate Hours will premiere on Lifetime on February 25, 2023, at 8 p.m. EDT. It will also be available for viewing the next day.
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