Lifetime movie probes 'Long Island Serial Killer'

Deborah Norville, anchor of "Inside Edition" since 1995 (and before that a "Today" show cohost), is at long last getting into the movie business, and for her inaugural production, a familiar and particularly painful subject. We spoke recently, but quickly the facts:

"The Long Island Serial Killer: A Mother’s Hunt for Justice" (Lifetime, Saturday, 8) is about Mari Gilbert, played by Kim Delaney ("NYPD Blue"), and her efforts to get the Suffolk County Police to locate her daughter, Shannan, an "escort" who had gone missing near Oak Beach in May 2010. That search would eventually lead to the discovery of the remains of four women around Gilgo Beach on Dec. 11, 2010. (Shannan's remains were found nearby, on Dec. 13, 2011.) Mari Gilbert, who went on to become a murder victim advocate, was killed by another daughter, Sarra, in 2016.

"A Mother's Hunt" was filmed in Vancouver, Canada, last October.

Why this subject for your first film?

I've always gravitated as a reporter toward stories that fall under the umbrella of mom-on-a-mission. If you ask me what are the favorite stories I've ever told over the course of my career every single one that would pop into my head has to do with a woman who was probably told no by the authority figures [then] took it upon themselves … I don't think there's anyone who will [see this] who doesn't feel that they have been discounted or dismissed or dissed at some point in their life and this woman certainly was all of those.

You've covered the story exhaustively on "Inside," I imagine. Was that your take-away then too?

We had miles of footage of Mari Gilbert in real life exhorting officials to do something — she was relentless.

At the outset we're told the film was "inspired by" her story. What does that mean in this context?

There's a private investigator who was fictionalized [played by veteran actor Eugene Clark] and who helps tell her story, and serves almost as a sounding board [to] drive the story forward. Otherwise we are completely beholden to the facts.

Netflix's "Lost Girls" came out nearly a year ago — same story, but some very different details. (Amy Ryan played Gilbert). Concerns about duplication — or deviation — from that film's interpretation of the crime?

It's a topic ripe for many kinds of treatments [but] I think we told the story the way we felt it should be told — through the eyes of Mari Gilbert.

Your film raises lots of old questions, along with a few theories and rumors. But what's your theory?

Here's the bottom line: who knows? I wouldn't even begin to toss anything out. Several people, all of whom are far better informed than certainly I am and who are trained in law enforcement and investigative techniques, each have their own different theories, so mine would be just complete conjecture.

I believe Suffolk County Police Commissioner Geraldine Hart said anniversaries are important for cold cases like this — yours falls roughly at the ten-year-mark. You agree?

Anniversary stories actually do serve a really good purpose of reacquainting the audience with the facts and because of the distance of time, sometimes people who knew something or who did see something now feel like it's safe enough to say something. Stranger things have happened [and] we have seen people who've stepped forward years after they witnessed something or who have held on to a little bit of evidence, then the next thing you know, it's busted wide-open. You always hope that happens.