Bangor lies on the Penobscot River in the heart of Maine's once thriving timber country. In the generally rural lifestyle, people tend to mind their own business and keep their troubles to themselves. Dr. John Malmstrom, a former Air Force doctor and paediatric neurologist, brought his wife Geraldine and their three children to a suburban neighborhood of Bangor in the late 1980s.

A family man, John was also focussed and dedicated to his work, putting in long hours at the Eastern Maine Medical Centre and St. Joseph's Hospital. Geraldine was involved with the school and church and everyone in Bangor saw the Malmstroms as a happy family with all the benefits of the upper-class. No one could have predicted how fragile that happiness was

On 24 January 1997, youngest daughter Juliette, returned home to find her father face down in a pool of blood in the garage. The police and the citizens of Bangor were stunned by the brutality of the crime, five gunshots to the head and upper body, and at a loss for any reason why someone would want John Malmstrom dead.

However, some disturbing facts quickly came to light. Firstly, John had been working with the FBI and planning to expose other doctors in a prescription drug ring. Secondly, it emerged that Geraldine had been alone for nearly an hour that evening. Four months later, a groundskeeper found the murder weapon, a gun registered to Geraldine's father, under some shrubs at the edge of the property of the funeral home where John's service was held.

Two years later, Geraldine was charged with her husband's murder. The jury was left with conflicting stories and very little evidence linking Geraldine to the crime and she was acquitted. Many in Bangor questioned her innocence and saw her freedom as just another example of how easy it is for the wealthy to buy off justice.