Laurencia ("Bambi") Bembenek was clearly a free spirit. In a male-dominated field and a male-dominated world, Bambi wanted more than anything to be a cop. She fulfilled her dream by graduating sixth in her class. But, in this tragic story, she was betrayed by misogynistic colleagues and ultimately the system at large.
Bambi was expelled from the police force for trumped up charges of handing marijuana to another female cop, charges that she vehemently denied. She was given no right to appeal and there was no "human resources" department to come to her aid.
Perhaps Bambi's biggest mistake was to marry "Disco" Freddie Schultz, a bon vivant police detective, hot head, and party boy, who made headlines in a drunken public appearance in his birthday suit with some female dancers in the park. His two little boys witnessed the disgraceful act of their daddy's drop trou. Disco Freddie received no reprimand from the police.
After Bambi was arrested as a suspect in the murder of Disco Freddie's ex-wife, the evidence against her suddenly materializes out of nowhere. There is no chain of custody of the murder weapon. And the other preposterous piece of evidence was a wig flushed down her toilet. The two boys of Disco Freddie, one of whom was nearly strangled to death by a powerful assailant, testified in court that the killer of their mother was much taller and had a male build. Neither boy recognized Bambi as the killer. Their courageous testimony was ignored.
As lethal as the phony police investigation, the Wisconsin trial of Bambi was a gross miscarriage of justice. Her defense attorney clearly demonstrated reasonable doubt in all of the evidence, and Bambi even took the stand in her defense. The prosecutor was unable to poke holes in her story. Somehow, the jury was either brain dead or bought off. Bambi herself recalled of the jury members that "no one was listening" during the trial.
The resourceful Laurencia Bemenek once made a daring escape from prison. Yet, she was apprehended in Thunder Bay, Ontario in Canada. It was up to an open-minded journalist and the thoughtful filmmakers who produced this movie to finally allow Bambi to have her day in court.
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