| A Killer Among Friends | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Charles Robert Carner |
| Written by | Christopher Lofton John Miglis |
| Starring | Patty Duke Tiffani-Amber Thiessen Margaret Welsh Chad Todhunter |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Original channel | CBS |
| Original airing | December 8, 1992 |
| Running time | 96 min |
A Killer Among Friends is a 1992 made-for-television movie that aired on CBS on December 8, 1992. Based on a true story, the film stars Patty Duke as a mother grieving for her murdered daughter (Tiffani Amber Thiessen) and sets out to find the killer.
The film is based on the real life murder of Michele Avila.
Jenny Monroe (Tiffani-Amber Thiessen) is a typical all American teenage girl, who has a falling out with her best friend Ellen Holloway (Margaret Welsh) and doesn't return home. Jenny's mother, Jean (Patty Duke), is worried for her daughter, and three days later, Jenny's body is discovered in a creek with a 100 pound log across her back. Furious about the murder, Ellen and Jean both try and track down the killer. Ellen and Ellen's baby daughter, Celeste, move into Jean's house. Ellen had wanted Jenny's room, but Jenny's mother had Ellen sleeping in her bedroom, as Jenny's room was later turned into a nursery for when her grandchild would visit.
Three years later with the police still unable to solve Jenny's murder, Kathy Pearl, another friend of Jenny, comes forward out of guilt. Kathy tells the police she was brought along with the girls (Jenny, Ellen, and Carla) when they attacked Jenny by slapping her, chopping off pieces of her hair, and then finally drowning her. Kathy claims they did it because they believed Jenny had slept with their boyfriends, but during the trial it was revealed that the plain and overweight Ellen was jealous of Jenny's popularity and beauty and wanted "to be her". Kathy told the police she fled town because Ellen threatened her if she talked.