Written By Max Gibson
An innocent teenager left for dead in the woods. Murdered by her boyfriend. From lover to criminal at the age of 16. Although horrific in nature, screen writer and director Neal Jimenez saw a story. Adapting it into the 1987 film The River’s Edge, Jimenez retold the story of Marcy Conrad, a 14 year old girl strangled to death and left in the woods. Her life ending suddenly the night of November 3, 1981.
In many ways the story of Marcy Conrad, and her boyfriend Anthony Jaques Broussard is really a story of despondent youth, situated in suburban America. Mentally scarred after discovering his deceased mother in the shower at the age of seven, Anthony Broussard’s life from an early age was anything but ordinary. Becoming friends at Milpitas High School, in Northern California, Marcy and Anthony began dating soon after their initial introduction.
During Broussard’s arraignment in 1981, observers claimed to have seen Anthony’s nonchalant demeanor hardly change throughout the trial. Said to have bragged about the murder to his friends, the other mystery of the case lay with Broussard’s friend’s reluctance to notify police of the crime. In hindsight, authorities claimed that fear of the police and ridicule from their friends kept the kids from reporting the murder, although some were still shook from the experience. Kirk Rasmussen, a friend of both Broussard and Conrad was sentenced to three years in a juvenile detention center for attempting to conceal Conrad’s body. Unable to cope with the experience the day after, Rasmussen spent the night staring at his ceiling Marcy’s death clearly traumatizing the teenager, “I couldn’t do my class work,” claimed Rasmussen. “It was on my mind. I couldn’t believe it.” At one point when Rasmussen asked Broussard why he committed the murder, the 6 foot 4 inch teenager simply responded with a morbid chuckle.
Although capturing the essence of the story in The River’s Edge, one of the primary omissions from Neal Jimenez’s work was the true racial identity of Rasmussen. Although African American in reality, Jimenez chose to depict Rasmussen as a Caucasian in the film, the rhetorical choice slightly altering the audience’s perception of the film. While the issue of race seems to be a miniscule element to the story of Marcy Conrad, observers are still puzzled by the indifference of the teenagers, whom after seeing Marcy’s body still chose not to report the murder. With little to no aspirations and minimal hope for the future, the characters of The River’s Edge represented the sense of detachment that plagues many suburban youth.
A landmark case in the eyes of federal authorities, the Marcy Conrad murder and subsequent trial raised many questions regarding the appropriate response to juveniles committing adult crimes. At 16 years of age, Anthony Broussard was capable of committing murder, and thus susceptible to the consequences of such an act. Receiving 25 years to life for the murder of Marcy Conrad, Broussard was denied parole in 1985, and has since remained incarcerated. He is currently serving his sentence in California’s Folsom State Prison.
Images From The Motion Picture The River’s Edge.
original graphic 2008
Marcy and Jacq (Anthony) were NOT romantically involved. Jacq did not connect with all the kids. Marcy was a sweet person and wanted to befriend him. Some warned her to stay away, while many of us told her never to be alone with him. Please correct your false statement above.
@Terri. REALLY?! Please explain why you KNOW they were not romantically involved. You implied that because she was a sweet girl she was not romantically involved with the guy. You probably believe that people aren’t capable of one night stands. LOL! If you were that close to her to know the aforementioned you should re-evaluate your role in her death. Why did you advise against being alone with this guy and why did she ignore the advice of such a close friend that you also imply that you were to her? BECAUSE SHE WAS LIKELY ROMANTICALLY INVOLVED!
@DeVrone. Both Marcy and A.J.B. were well known in the community. All of their friends knew they were NOT involved with each other. For some reason the media twisted statements from either the police or other media outlets. However, saying they were involved is an outright false statement. They were friends and she was kind & trusting. He was always a bit off and wierd. Terri is absolutely correct. For you to insinuate that you know better or assume that they had a one night stand is insulting to her memory. Please don’t tell me to re-evaluate my role in her death. I know what my role was and I live with that everyday of my life. When kids are scared because they’ve been threatened, when kids are scared because they are already on probation, when kids are scared because they try to talk to their parent only to be told they are lying, when kids are scared they tend to freeze. That was my role. I froze but only for a day from the time I found out. Yes, I told. I went to her principal because I was afraid of the police, my parents and other kids thinking I was a nark. But, someone had to come forward. A few weeks later A.J.B. saw me in juvenile hall. He threatened that when he got out the same would happen to me because I told. Just try living with her death, my delay in saying something and being threatened. I know my role. I live looking over my shoulder everyday hoping he is not there.