Film takes new look at 1978 Burger Chef murders
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Filmmakers Luke Rynderman and Adam Kamien are self-described “true crime” junkies. That’s how they first learned of one of the most famous cold cases in Indiana history and decided to tell its story, even though they live on the literal other side of the world.
“We happened upon it in an online forum,” Kamien told News 8 ahead of this week’s premiere of “The Speedway Murders”.
The film revisits the story of the abduction and murder of four young workers from the Burger Chef restaurant in Speedway, killings that remain unsolved to this day.
“One of the things that struck us is that the case didn’t appear to have the attention we thought it deserved. I think part of the reason it went under the radar was because it the same weekend the ‘Jonestown Massacre’ happened,” Kamien said, making a reference to the mass murder-suicide in Guyana carried out by former Indianapolis pastor and cult leader Jim Jones.
The movie a hybrid docu-drama, combining archived footage with re-creations of late 1970s Speedway, with actors portraying the four victims of the crime: Jayne Friedt, Daniel Davis, Mark Flemmonds and Ruth Ellen Shelton. The filmmakers even built a replica of the Burger Chef restaurant using the shell of an abandoned restaurant in Adelaide, Australia.
Rynderman says the restaurant itself “essentially is a character in the film.”
“We found plans we bought from someone on eBay for an old Burger Chef. We sourced the original uniforms. The level of authenticity was so important for us, and as the people playing the unfortunately murdered kids, the research they put in including working with a dialect coach to get…the Hoosier 1970s accents was a lot of work.”
Initially, Kamien says, they simply wanted to remind the world of the gruesome story. But their motive in making the movie changed, he says, when they met family members of the Burger Chef victims for the first time.
“That completely shifts your thinking, because you realize that for them, this is still raw. Years after the fact, they still feel it every day, and they are still desperate for answers. What was most important to us is that we were able to bring these kids to life and show them as real people, give them agency again and not have them just be a footnote in some horrendous, brutal crime.”
“The Speedway Murders” will be available Friday, June 21 at select theaters, along with Apple TV+, Prime Video and On Demand.
There will also be a screening of the film on Friday at 7:00 p.m. at Landmark’s Glendale 12 Theatre, 6102 N. Rural St., Indianapolis. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with the filmmakers and special guests including lead investigator Jim Cramer, former investigator Todd McComas, and witness Mary Rhines.
Any person with information on the murders can contact the Indiana State Police District 52 Investigative Commander by leaving a message at 317-899-8508, or contacting Crime Stoppers at Crimetips.org or by calling 317-262-8477.