Photo from the A&E website

(Cable TV Movie; first broadcast September 6, 2004)

Bruce Greenwood plays Dr. Robert D. Keppel, a retired profiler who is brought in to help solve a series of homicides in Seattle called "The Green River Murders" because the bodies were left in or on the banks of that river.  Now a university professor, Keppel is approached by an old adversary, serial killer Ted Bundy - incarcerated in Florida and scheduled to die soon for his crimes - to help him solve the homicides by providing a mass murderer's insight. 

A docu-drama based on Keppel's book "The Riverman: Ted Bundy and I Hunt for the Green River Killer", Cary Elwes co-stars as Bundy in a screenplay by Peter Lance and Tom Towler that had been in pre-production since 2002 before finally getting underway in the summer of 2004 on location in Halifax, Nova Scotia as a combined effort from FOX and A&E.

Because the book and movie deal largely with the effect the Bundy murders had on Keppel personally, the former detective's family life and psyche are examined in intimate detail.  Keppel may have - indeed probably did - use the situation to ferret out information from Bundy on the 8 unsolved homicides in Washington that caused Keppel an emotional breakdown when Bundy was arrested beyond his jurisdiction, leaving his murders unsolved.  Although the Green River crimes were not solved at the time, Keppel did suspect who perpetrated the crimes and DNA collected at the time did lead eventually to the arrest and conviction of the murderer.  The story here, however, is more pointedly concerned with his reunion with Bundy, which lead to the serial killer's confession of not only the unsolved Washington murders but 22 others, as well.

It's a compelling story, centered on how the investigation of serial crimes effects the men forced into solving them.  Kathleen Quinlin plays Keppel's understanding but long-suffering wife. The film was shot on a shoestring by a devoted production staff and wrapped in July of 2004 for a quick broadcast over A&E on Labor Day, September 6th .  It was highly promoted by the network and received glowing reviews, both for Greenwood's introspective performance as well as the movie itself.

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Sound Files from The Riverman

		Reflections on a difficult job	1 min 6 secs
		Robert Keppel lectures a class	1 min 41 secs
		Starting a new case	1 min 8 secs
		Keppel sums up Bundy and the Green River case	2 min 5 secs