A recent independent documentary film examining a series of Michigan murders is showing in southeast Michigan on August 7 and 8.
The award-winning film, titled 1969: Killers, Freaks, and Radicals is a film covering John Norman Collins, a Metro Detroit native who, in the 1960’s, allegedly assaulted and killed six women in the twin college towns Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti.
Norman was tried for one of the killings and convicted of first-degree murder for the death of Karen Sue Beineman, an 18-year-old Eastern Michigan University student.
Andrew Templeton, a Ferndale resident, is behind the film.
Templeton, a graduate of Columbia College Chicago, suggests that Norman may have had additional accomplices and that some of the accomplices have been free citizens avoiding prosecution for almost 60 years.
The film runs for 111 minutes, and can be seen at locations in two different cities.
The film premiered in Michigan in late 2025 at the Cinetopia Theater in Ann Arbor, with ongoing screenings through mid-2026. It won the Audience Award for Best U.S. Documentary.
The film will be shown August 7 and 8, at Detroit and Ann Arbor respectively. Tickets can be purchased here.
