Being a MN native, this documentary really hit close to home. It's not every day there is a double murder - suicide in a Minneapolis suburb. This horrific event happened in the city of Apple Valley around Christmas of 2014. The three bodies, David Crowley, his wife Komel, and their daughter Raniya were all found dead from gun shots to their heads.
The police surmise that David first killed his wife and daughter, and then walked around the home leaving behind bloody footprints, before shooting himself. But not before scrawling "Allah Akbar" on the wall in his wife's blood.
The documentary was produced be Werner Herzog, and directed by Erik Nelson, the acclaimed director for 'Grizzly Man', the story of Timothy Treadwell, his life, and eventual demise of him living with wild bears. The two stories share a lot of similarities. None more, imo, than what Nelson says here...
“I’ve always been fascinated with self-generated documentaries,” the documentarian explained, stopping by Deadline’s Tribeca Studio. “A poet once said, ‘The purest products of America go crazy,’ and David Crowley went crazy, and David Crowley documented his own life, and did it in such a way that makes me feel he knew that there was an ultimate end use for the thing.”
source: http://deadline.com/2017/04/a-gray-state-erik-nelson-tribeca-film-festival-interview-news-1202079430/
Crowley and Treadwell, you could argue, knew in their heads what lie ahead of them. But they would never say it to your face. They recorded and journaled most of their every day life, which is what Nelson was able to use to bring both of these stories to life.
So, how did we get here?...
David joined the Army after HS and was sent to Iraq. After his first tour, he was told he was done. But this wasn't the case, he was stop-lossed, and was involuntarily sent on a second tour to Kandahar, leaving behind his new bride and their unborn child. After seeing 13 countries and serving combat tours in both Iraq and Afghanistan, he left the Army in 2009 to pursue film making with a distaste of war and government intervention in the back of his mind.
His first attempt at his new venture turned out be a wildly successful (although never fully completed) documentary called "Gray State". Although just the trailer had been released, it had millions of views on youtube and the target audience, 'conspiracy theorists', libertarians, veterans, and military personnel, were absolutely eating it up. Placed in the not too distant future, a dystopian society emerges with the likes of martial law, gun confiscations, and prison camps built by FEMA.
He was described by some as a genius. A leader. Someone who could take control of a situation, and it clearly showed in the documentary as he would tell actual police officers (who were allowed to help film some scenes) that he could tell them to do what ever he wanted them to. Even sicking police dogs on children if need be, for the film. He wasn't one to hold back.
The film was pieced together with tons of footage shot by Crowley himself. Whether it be him in his basement acting out scenes in full military garb. Or him talking to himself, prepping for the meeting with the LA movie producers. I was in awe at how much he actually recorded of his every day life, whether it was actually about the movie, or just life in general. Additional footage was brought in by home videos, cell phone videos, voice recordings, and interviews with friends, family, local news stations, and the Apple Valley PD.
Although the details and eventual 'climax' of the movie are gruesome, sad, and disturbing. Nelson did a great job of taking what he had to work with and trying to put you in the head of someone who on the outside, is very intelligent and is very good at making things happen (he funded his trailer via a grass roots movement and even got Alex Jones on board), but who is also clearly losing his mind. There are a lot more details in the documentary that I didn't cover, so if you are interested at all in learning more about the story, I highly recommend seeing it.
You won't leave the theater with all the warm and fuzzies, but rather, questions. More questions than what you probably walked in with. Was he really crazy? Did his wife Komel come up with the idea? Why plan ahead days in advance into the new year if you knew you were going to kill your family? There is a a 'Justice for David Crowley' FB page where they try and answer these questions and to question the polices official version of events. Time will tell if any of these questions may be answered. For the sake of the families, I hope so.
I am glad I saw this documentary because I got a better aspect of Davids life, his aspirations, dreams, and overall life goals of achieving a world with real freedom. But at the same time, so many un-answered questions to which I doubt I will ever know the answers.
Have you seen this documentary? Do you know about this story? Let me know in the comments. Thanks for reading.
imgs courtesy of google