| Lethal Vows | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Drama, thriller |
| Directed by | Paul Schneider |
| Produced by | Robert F. Phillips |
| Starring | John Ritter Marg Helgenberger Megan Gallagher |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Original channel | CBS |
| Release date | October 13, 1999 |
Lethal Vows is an American drama/thriller television movie starring John Ritter, Marg Helgenberger and Megan Gallagher. The movie premiered October 13, 1999, on CBS.[1]
The movie opens with Ellen Farris, the former wife of Dr. David Farris, coming out of bed after battling an illness. In the kitchen awaits her two daughters and their father. The daughters and the father leave to go to his house where his wife, Lorraine Farris is preparing for her campaign to become counsellor. It is at this point you see a little inkling into the sinister character behind Dr. Farris.
Upon his wife being elected counsellor Dr. Farris can be seen as visibly disturbed by the relationship between his wife Loraine and her colleague. Shortly after that his wife is seen as becoming ill with the same symptoms similar to that of his ex-wife. At this point Ellen starts to become concerned for her health and pleads with her ex-husband to seek help as she did to find out the cause of her illness, at this point it is still unknown what the ex-wife is suffering from.
After the wife suffers more serious episodes and the ex-wife again pleading with Dr. Farris he takes her and their son to Mexico to get treated. On return the ex-wife informs Dr Farris and Lorraine that she found out she had selenium poisoning due to ingesting pure selenium which is also found in some health supplements. Ellen then asks Lorraine to get tested for the same thing which she promises to do. Dr Farris can also be seen throughout the movie to write a computerised journal about his personal life showing how distraught he his under this caring and loving persona.
However, just 3 weeks later Lorraine drops dead at home in front of her son and is then quickly cremated by her husband.The pathologist initially isn't able to find any signs of foul play except the faint smell of chlorine when he openned her up. Dr Farris has applied for a marriage license and subsequently gets married to a woman he met at his wife's election celebration. Thus putting more suspicion on him. With the help of his ex-wife the police look into the conditions surrounding Lorraine's death and after the examination of Ellen Farris further they find out that she is suffering from kidney failure and eventually died of chemically induced leukaemia while testifying at the trial of Dr David Farris. He was eventually found guilty of first degree murder and sentenced to life without the possibility of paroll. It was also revealed that Lorraine died of cyanide poisoning which he switched to after Mexico to speed up the effects of selenium (i.e. death)it was initially missed due to the belief that Dr Farris forced his wife to swallow a water supplement pill shortly before her death to mask the prominent smell of cyanide - hence the chlorine smell.
The motive behind these acts was jealousy and the desire to get rid of his wife, he poisoned his first wife in order to leave her for his second, Lorraine, who he was having an affair with prior to their divorce and who he shared an apartment with under her nose, and he did the same thing to Lorraine, to marry his third wife.