Joe McGinnis, the author of the best-selling books "Fatal Vision" and "Blind Faith," had absolutely no intention of writing another true-crime story.
But, suddenly, he had one dropped in his lap. And the result was not only another best-seller - "Cruel Doubt" - but another television miniseries, which airs Sunday and Tuesday on NBC (8 p.m., Ch. 2)."I really, genuinely meant it when I said I was never going to do one of these things again," McGinnis said. "It's emotionally involving. It's very draining. It was horrible to sit there with Bonnie (Von Stein) for all these weeks. I don't know, maybe I'm a masochist."
The story that Von Stein brought to him was horrible. In July 1988, Bonnie and her husband, Leith, were brutally attacked while they were sleeping in their North Carolina home. Leith was killed, and Bonnie seriously injured.
Bonnie soon discovered that not only was she a suspect, but so were her children from a previous marriage, Christopher and Angela.
Although Bonnie refused to believe it for more than a year, finally the truth came out - Chris had arranged the attack. Heavily into both drugs and Dungeons & Dragons, he sent two of his friends from North Carolina State to commit the murder for $2 million in inheritance and insurance money.
"Bonnie is one of the most remarkable people I've ever met," McGinnis said. "She is the strongest and most courageous woman in that she survived, not just the physical attack, she survived the loss of her husband. She survived the time during which she was a suspect. `When she finds out she's wrong (about Chris), she doesn't break. She doesn't crumble. She just says, `Now what I want to know is why. How could my son have wanted to see me dead?' "
By coincidence, Bonnie's lawyer was also one of Jeffrey MacDonald's lawyers. (MacDonald's brutal slaying of his wife and family was the subject of "Fatal Vision.") When Bonnie came looking for a way to find answers, the lawyer put her in touch with McGinnis.
"I think Bonnie really wanted me to be like a psychological detective and try to find out for her what was going on inside her own family, because her personality, her emotional makeup, wouldn't permit her to do that job for herself."
Bonnie took no money in the deal and had no control of the contents, and she released from confidentiality agreements both her and Chris' lawyers and psychiatrists. She urged family and friends to talk to McGinnis.
"In other words, she opened every door," McGinnis said.
What resulted was not only an enthralling book, but an excellent miniseries. More than just another true-crime drama - and much more than "Honor Thy Mother," a TV movie based on the same case that aired several weeks ago - this is the portrait of a seemingly model family gone horribly wrong.
Blythe Danner does an outstanding job portraying Bonnie, a good person who can't believe what's happening to her. Matt McGrath doesn't portray Chris as sympathetic, but as a very disturbed young man.
The impressive cast includes Gwyneth Paltrow (Danner's real-life daughter) as Angela, Ed Asner as Chris' lawyer and Dennis Farina as the private investigator who forces a confession from Chris.
What makes "Cruel Doubt" so fascinating is that nothing is black-and-white - it's all shades of gray.
The local police originally bumble the case (there are no arrests for almost a year), and Bonnie resents them deeply - even when it turns out they were right about Chris' involvement.
After Chris confesses to his lawyers, his psychiatrist says he must also confess to his mother or he might kill himself. But the lawyers can't allow that confession to take place for fear of destroying their defense. (He later pleaded guilty.)
And even today, almost four years after the murder, unanswered questions remain.
"One of the things that continues to fascinate me about this story is that in the end you don't have absolute hard and fast answers to every question. There is an element of mystery . . . that was not present in either `Fatal Vision' or `Blind Faith,' " McGinnis said.
For one thing, Bonnie insists it was a bulky man with wide shoulders she saw in her bedroom during the attack - which fits the description of Neal Henderson, the young man who confessed to police but insisted he only drove the car. (He plea-bargained for a relatively light sentence.)
A second young man, James Upchurch, was convicted of the murder and sentenced to die - even though he's tall and skinny.
"Bonnie is convinced that the other fellow (Henderson) . . . is the one she saw in her bedroom that night," McGinnis said.
And then there's Angela, who insists she slept through the attack despite her step-father's piercing screams - and that fact that she was in the bedroom next door.
"Many members of Bonnie's own family, many people in the community . . . have grave qualms about the story that the daughter tells about sleeping through the whole thing. Then one learns . . . the the daughter was, if not romantically involved with (Upchurch), certainly attracted to him and acquainted with him. And that he had said to other people, `You know that Angela Pritchard, that's the kind of girl that I could marry - especially now that I learn that she'd be worth a million dollars if her father were dead.' "
Fortunately, the miniseries manages to convey these lingering doubts, adding to the drama. "Cruel Doubt" is a cut above other true-crime dramas, and is one of the best TV movies to air this season.Almost four years after the crime, Bonnie Von Stein lives in a small home in Winston-Salem, N.C., with her daughter, Angela. She frequently makes the 40-minute drive to visit her son in prison.
Henderson could be released after serving as little as five years. Upchurch's death sentence is on appeal.
Despite his plea-bargain, Chris was sentenced to life-plus-20 years. He'll serve 15-20 years before becoming eligible for parole.
McGinnis found it hard to believe that drugs and inheritance provided enough motive for a son to try to have his mother killed.
"For somebody who committed a murder, he's not that bad a guy. I don't think he's an evil young man," McGinnis said.
"He said, "Ultimately, I think the reason I wanted them dead was that I was making such a mess of my life . . . and my mother had done so much for me.' And he was aware of how acutely he was in a process of disappointing her. If they were dead, he could never disappoint them again."
To this day, Chris has never explained this to Bonnie.