by Traciy Curry-Reyes
Tom and Susie Lynch are married for ten years until they file for divorce.
They began a bitter custody battle.
1984 Tom Lynch’s mother and sister are shot and killed in Prospect, Kentucky.
May 1985 5 of Susie Lynch’s family members, including her parents and an aunt, are shot and killed in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
Susie and Fritz are on the run with Susie’s sons in toe. Dr. Tom Lynch hears that some family members of Susie Lynch are shot dead in Winston-Salem. The victims have wounds to the head and body. Tom calls the police to let them know that his mother and sister were shot in Kentucky in the same manner and that they should investigate a man named Fritz Klenner.
Tom Lynch is scared to death of Susie and Fritz. He knows that he will be next. Tom loads his guns and takes all kinds of security measures. July 1985 The police stop a van with Fritz Klenner, Susie Newsome, and her children.Shots are fired and a chase ensues. The policeman are wearing bullet proof vests at the time. Klenner stops the car and engages in a gun battle with the cops. Klenner takes off again, and as the police continue to pursue him, the van suddenly explodes.
More on the movie
An accent coach and college professor who helped the actors with their southern accents also taught Susie Newsome. Working with the actors was emotional for him because he remembered the real case and the real people so well. In the movie the names were changed from Lynch to Tom Leary and Susie Leary. The children, John, 10, and James, 9, were fed cyanide and shot in the head at point blank range, minutes later the van exploded as high way patrol watched in horror. Fritz was also Susie's cousin The victims Delores Lynch and Janie Lynch: Tom's mother and sister Robert W. Newsom, Jr. and Florence Newsom: Susie's parents Hannah Newsom of Winston-Salem: the grandmother they called Nanna John Wesley Lynch: the son aged 10 James Thomas Lynch: the son aged 9 The movie Bitter Blood is actually based on the book by the same name.
