MANSFIELD – One of Mansfield’s most infamous murder cases returns to Ohio in April.
“A Murder in Mansfield,” the documentary film centered around the murder of Noreen Boyle by her husband, Dr. John Boyle, will be screened at the Cleveland International Film Festival. The festival takes place on April 12, 13 and 14.
The film’s central character, and one of its producers, is Collier Landry. At 12 years old, Landry – who dropped “Boyle” years ago – was the chief witness for the prosecution and testified against his emotionally and physically abusive father, who he believes was responsible for the death of his mother.
Dr. John Boyle was convicted of his wife’s murder in 1990 and sentenced to serve 20-years-to-life in prison for his crime, though he maintains his innocence. He is currently incarcerated at Marion Correctional Institution and will be up for parole in October 2020.
But this story isn’t about Boyle.
“We’re not re-trying the case,” Landry told Richland Source. “It’s about the impact of violence on people like myself.”
Landry graduated from Ontario High School and attended Ohio University briefly before moving to Los Angeles to pursue a career in the entertainment industry. He knew he needed a creative outlet to tell his story.
“It was something I’d wanted to do that was really important to me in my journey,” Landry said.
In 1999, Landry saw the film “American History X” following a neo-Nazi, played by Edward Norton, trying to overcome his deeply ingrained prejudices and change his ways. Landry was intrigued by the idea of telling a story about the consequences of violence.
“The victim is dead, the bad guy goes to jail, the gavel hits and we move on,” Landry said. “We don’t think about the impact on communities or the secondary victims. The impetus of this film was do to something about that.”
Eight years after the premiere of “American History X,” Landry met its producer, John Morrissey, and the two became friends. Morrissey eventually signed on to help produce “A Murder in Mansfield,” along with award-winning documentarian Barbara Kopple.
Landry had originally intended to create a television series, but that idea quickly morphed into an entire documentary following Landry as he revisits Mansfield 27 years after his mother’s murder. According to Landry, the subject matter is quite heavy.
“I go back and investigate, talk to the people who were involved and see where their lives are at and how they were affected,” he said. “It evolved into my personal journey coming back and exploring how this has affected the community, and my own personal journey through it leading up to confronting my father in prison.”
The documentary began shooting in December 2016, and it premiered for the first time in November 2017 at DOC NYC, an annual documentary film festival in New York City. Since then, “A Murder in Mansfield” has been screened at film festivals in Amsterdam and Toronto.
But coming back to Cleveland holds a special significance for Landry.
“To be a part of this festival is really cool because it’s such a great festival, and for it to come to the state where it happened … life is very circadian,” he said. “I’m a little nervous to come out and see what people will think, but at the same time it’s a big goal and it makes me proud of the work that we’ve done.”
