MovieChat Forums > Life with Murder Discussion > Still in Denial (SPOILER)

Still in Denial (SPOILER)

posted 14 years ago by Stanley-6
22 replies | jump to latest

Just saw this last night. The "confession" was underwhelming, but it was probably the first step to a later, fuller confession.

After years of denying involvement, he admits that he accidentally shot her in the head while putting the gun on a rack or shelf, then he shot her four more times because she was "suffering" like a "wounded animal." This is after planning to kill the parents. I suspect that, with time, he will open up some more and admit that it was no accident. I suspect that he would have ambushed the parents upon their return, but he could not go through with it.

It is worth noting that he changed his story a few times. His trial did not proceed until the third scheduled date because he kept changing lawyers. Then, near the end of his trial, his very senior defence lawyer, Clay Powell, asked the judge to release him from his duties. This was during Jenkins' cross-examination by the prosecutor. Powell could only say that Jenkins' instructions and new testimony conflicted with what Powell had been saying at the trial up to that point. Now that Jenkins' instructions had changed, Powell could not continue without lying to the court. The judge released him on that basis. A very rare occurrence during a jury trial.

Stay tuned. I am sure his confession will evolve over time.

[–] sirjoeyofaylmer 12 years ago

I was good friends with the Jenkins, Brian in particular, and lived and worked near the Jenkins home. Mason for years was a trouble maker, disrespecting misfit. He should have been put away when he was 10 years old. I haven't seen the documentary, I am planning on it, if I can find it somewhere on the net. One thing that was totally in character with Mason, was that after he committed murder, he went to his back yard and mounted his horse and rode off into the sunset, yeah, he escaped on horseback. It took some fancy searching to catch up with him, he had it planned down to a T. Poor Jennifer, Brian, and Mom, I guess now Mason has served his sentence, I don't know, who will he kill next?????

[–] 12 years ago

[deleted]

[–] dazeerae 12 years ago

This documentary is chilling. I started out feeling sorry for this family who lost a daughter to a brutal slaying only to have their son taken away, accused of murdering his only sibling.

As the film progressed, I just felt sickened by the whole family. The mother & father simply refuse to deal with the facts of their daughter's death for the sake of keeping together the scraps of their dysfunctional family. The dad's response to the offer of police clean-up was extremely odd to say the least, and the mom's stonewalling the police in order to remain in denial was baffling.

I found myself losing patience with the whole thing. The documentary drags on and on, with the murderer metering out bits of the truth like breadcrumbs. The parents are in an extended state of shock by their own choice. The audience watches as the father wastes into a shell of a man. His wife spins their tragedy into a tale of family & forgiveness, yet inexplicably lacks the most basic emotions. She goes on to be a mental health worker, which may explain some of her ability to intellectualize the situation.

The uncomfortable laughing & smiling during the mother & son interview about why he murdered his sister is incredibly disturbing, with the son smirking like a child caught sneaking into the cookie jar. Simply haunting.

[–] roell29 12 years ago

What bugs me is they don't try to get to the bottom of it, didn't try to explore the roots of the dysfunctionality of this family. Did the parents have any clue why the son had been acting out, in trouble with the law from an early age? What about the obesity of their daughter, who must have weighed in the neighborhood of 300 lbs (often a symptom of childhood sexual abuse)? I think they were all deeply in denial. The son was the one who was acting it all out, probably unconsciously trying to trigger an emotional response, to bring everything out into the open. But his parents just kept sweeping everything under the rug until he finally did the most extreme thing he could think of. I think he may have consciously believed he did it for the money (if he really had, he would most likely have found a way to kill them) but actually it was an unconscious attempt at confronting their denial. Often there is one child who plays that role in a dysfunctional family - s/he appears to be the black sheep but in a deeper sense is actually trying to trigger a potentially healing reaction. The father at least seemed to have a glimmer of insight when, after his son disingenuously lauded his parents, said something like "what a crock of BS". That was about the only genuine moment in the entire film. I think the parents clearly realize on some level how deeply disturbed they are, but the only way they know to deal with life is by faking it (what the professionals call "as if" personalities). The Dad's emotional reactions early in the film sounded so fake at times that I was cringing.

[–] donbizzaro 12 years ago

An excellent piece of insight roell.

This story definitely has a deeper truth to be told.

[–] roell29 12 years ago

Thank you very much, Don.

Welcome to Costco, I love you...

[–] hotbody805 11 years ago

roell29 - I don't agree with your insinuations. If you saw the photograph of the whole family before the murder, you would notice they all were very overweight. So should we conclude that they all were molested as children?

[–] roell29 11 years ago

It didn't appear to me that any of family besides the daughter were obese - maybe 20-30 lbs. overweight. I didn't "conclude" that she was molested, merely suggested she might have been.

Leave the gun, take the cannoli...

[–] TheBeardedWonder 11 years ago

Um, were you watching the same movie? There was picture after picture of them, all clearly overweight. They explained the dad lost a lot of weight recently due to all of this as well as a health problem, so maybe that's why you didn't notice. The killer brother is STILL overweight. As are some of the other non-immediate family members (aunts, etc)

And why suggest something then try to distance yourself from it? It was a crazy 'suggestion' to begin with when clearly ALL of the family had weight problems. Where did that even come from?

PS: That poster never said you concluded anything, they said you insinuated it, which you did. Then they asked if we should conclude something else equally crazy as a comparison to your 'suggestion'...

"Ugh, now i'm going to have to go online and look at turtles." - Michael Scott

[–] roell29 11 years ago

I didn't distance myself from what I wrote at all. I said she is the only one who was obese (morbidly so) which is true. But let's suppose they were *all* obese. How does that affect the basic points I made? I didn't even make an argument in the first place - merely described my impression of the movie. If you have a different one, then why not provide it and point out where it conflicts with mine instead of this pointless nitpicking? I have no desire to argue what I consider to be meaningless semantic points with you. Why don't you say what it is that really bothers you about my post? I suspect you were both irritated by my perceived violation of the 5th Commandment (and not necessarily in a religious sense - it's a deeply ingrained societal taboo).

Leave the gun, take the cannoli...

[–] TheBeardedWonder 11 years ago

I'd say you did. Saying something then arguing semantics about your wording ('I didn't conclude, I suggested') is distancing yourself. Either way it's what you think, what's the difference? Which is interesting because now you say you don't want to talk semantics when it's exactly what you did. And nobody had a problem with you saying she's obese, again where did you get that? The problem is your 'suggestion' that it's due to molestation or something when there's nothing of the sort even hinted at. Anywhere. At all. Ever.

And then to make another asinine assumption about the 5th commandment? What goes on in your mind to get to these points? I could care less about the religious or societal taboos about it, where did you even get that idea from?

I think I understand you better now: You like to make these grandiose assumptions that are obviously insane, then try to weasel out of it when shown how silly and groundless your 'suggestions' are.

I now await your answer where you bring in an unrelated outside point that has nothing to do with anything...

"Ugh, now i'm going to have to go online and look at turtles." - Michael Scott

[–] roell29 11 years ago

I looked up four of your past comments at random and they were all personal attacks. Clearly, you have some "issues".

What goes on in your mind to get to these points?

Obviously nothing that you are capable of understanding.

And nobody had a problem with you saying she's obese, again where did you get that?

Where did I get that? Your entire first post was an attack on that statement, claiming that I had made a false dichotomy since the entire family was overweight. Did you forget that already? Most North Americans are overweight but only a small percentage of 20 year old girls are morbidly obese, and among them, the trait is highly correlated with a history of childhood sexual abuse.

Link between obesity and childhood sexual abuse -
https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&as_q=link+between+obesity+and+ childhood+sexual+abuse&as_epq=&as_oq=&as_eq=&as_nlo=&a mp;a mp;a mp;a mp;a mp;a mp;as_nhi=&lr=&cr=&as_qdr=all&as_sitesearch=&as_oc ct=any&safe=images&tbs=&as_filetype=&as_rights=

Instead of bothering to look up information that is common knowledge and actually learning something as a normal person might, you prefer to wallow in your ignorance and vomit forth your usual stream of epithets in hopes of dragging your opponent down into the mud with you (you poor sick puppy, you). Now, having demonstrated that you are an emotionally disturbed ignoramus with symptoms of early-onset dementia, perhaps you will move on to your next target of harassment though I won't hold my breath (maybe try the kid's boards - I suspect that's the only place you will find someone you can successfully intimidate).

Leave the gun, take the cannoli...

[–] TheBeardedWonder 11 years ago

a) Your opinion on my past posts has nothing to do with anything. It's the last resort of someone who has been backed into a corner and doesn't know what to say. One of my last posts was a question about a movie on the 'i need to know' board, so your point is invalid anyway

b) Nobody, I repeat, NOBODY is disagreeing that she's obese. The comment in question is the one about how this is due to childhood molestation. There's nothing to lead you to this. Especially when the whole rest of her family is also overweight. Logic would tell you that A (fat being in her genetics) would lead you to B (she's also overweight). But somehow you've come to a C conclusion (or 'suggestion') that it's due to this terrible sexual event in her past.

c) Another poster also questioned your logic, so it's not just me obviously

d) Nobody said there isn't a possible link between the 2 - just that all you've done is assume (or in your words 'suggest') EVERYONE who's fat has been molested

Obviously this isn't going anywhere, I agree. Feel free to keep assuming EVERYONE has been sexually harmed because of their weight. It's the same as saying everyone who's ever driven a car is dead because some people die in cars.

It's insane, unfounded, and completely without logic or merit. However the speed at which you came to this 'suggestion' says a lot about you, care to talk about anything in your past?

"Ugh, now i'm going to have to go online and look at turtles." - Michael Scott

[–] rokalilbit 11 years ago

"It's insane, unfounded, and completely without logic or merit. However the speed at which you came to this 'suggestion' says a lot about you, care to talk about anything in your past?"

Oh, no you didn't! Not cool. You jump on that person for supposedly insinuating that the victim had been molested and then you do the same thing back to him/her?

The whole family seemed like they were on drugs or characters from a Twilight Zone episode to me. When Mason and his parents spoke to each other it was like they were reading a script. "Hello, how are you?" "How are *you*" (Hug) "Good to see you." "Good to see you, too." etc. I would think the parents would be screaming, "WHY DID YOU DO IT???" at the top of their lungs.

[–] Mehki_Girl 11 years ago

It maybe or may not be true for this family. But, yes, some people do put on weight to protect themselves. In their thinking if they make themselves "unattractive", the molestation will stop.

My first thought was there was something sexual going on. That perhaps the brother tried to sexually assault her and then shot her to cover it up.

I think your inferences from the way the family handled this has a ring of truth. Major, major dysfunction and denial. I found them, and particularly the father, rather loathsome. Only Paulette was the one dealing with reality.

[–] roell29 11 years ago

I thought of that possibility too. Thanks Paul.

Leave the gun, take the cannoli...

[–] Eve_of_Destruction 11 years ago

As the film progressed, I just felt sickened by the whole family. The mother & father simply refuse to deal with the facts of their daughter's death for the sake of keeping together the scraps of their dysfunctional family. The dad's response to the offer of police clean-up was extremely odd to say the least, and the mom's stonewalling the police in order to remain in denial was baffling.

I understand your frustration but who would want to believe their son killed their daughter? Our brains are equipped to go into shock etc so maybe it was just too much to face. I think the dad was frustrated because his daughter died and they couldn't even grieve.

When a child dies (or anyone) you sometimes want to save their toys or clothes or something. Maybe he just wanted to spend a moment where his daughter last breathed without some random person, with no respect, cleaning everything up. Yes it sounds odd but then - I hope I never have to find out how incredibly difficult it is to deal with something like this.

[–] jquick99 12 years ago

Even the aunt [the twin with short hair] thinks everyone should just let this lie. don't talk about it. it is fascinating how denial they all are [except the long haired twin]. ignorance IS bliss.

AND ... even when they found the forged Will on the table. simply unbelievable.

AND .... then the murderer whines about how he misses jennifer doing this for him.

and now i can't stop...

[–] 11 years ago

[deleted]

[–] ElectricKoolaidAcid 11 years ago

Mason displayed everything from sociopathic disorder to compulsive lying to moderate retardation, IMO. Absolutely no signs of grievance, or any emotions one way or another. His lies were so ludicrous that even a 5 yr-old would have laughed at them. He belongs locked up in a padded cell for the rest of his life... but hey, it's Canada.... never gonna happen.

Just sayin'...

[–] ivan-mokorich 11 years ago

Well I just saw this documentary. It saddened me to say the least that a tragedy like this occurs on a regular basis. Yes, Mason deserves being locked up for what he did and yes we probably still do not know the full story based on him coming out with new information as the documentary went along and the fact that because of certain legal regulations he is unable to disclose certain information. What I will say is family is a precious thing and what saddens me is people automatically judge these people when they themselves don't understand why his parents even after knowing what his son's intentions were that day their daughter was killed, would still continue to stick by their son. And unless you are in those circumstances you would not fully understand what the true meaning of family is. I have personally seen families be torn apart by far less to the point they disown each other. At the end of the day their daughter is dead and nothing you can say is going to change that. Regardless of how it happened, the Jenkins family is trying to work through it and move past what has happened. I find in this story, the big picture is strength. Strength in the Jenkins to salvage what is left of their family and stick together no matter what the circumstances are. To those of you who say there is more that meets the eye with regards to the disfunction of this family I will say whose family is perfect? Whose family doesn't have some form of disfunction in one way or another. I think a family who is able to still go on with looking at the positives they have like each other in these trying times is a true testament of what family and strength really mean. I hope at the very least the Jenkins family can find some kind of closure with this horrible tragedy and carry on Jennifer's spirit now and forever. The last thing I will leave with the people who are critical of this family. You really do not know what truly happened so I would keep your negative comments to yourself because at the end of the day life is too short.

[–] Mehki_Girl 11 years ago

Legal regulations? What legal regulations prevent a criminal from telling the truth of his crime? Only a defense attorney and a guilty criminal would have a "regulation" to not tell the truth.