Sarah Edmondson And Ben Darras — Natural Born Killers
Warner Bros.Victim Patsy Byers sued Natural Born Killers (1994) director Oliver Stone for inspiring her would-be killers to shoot her.
As the child of Oklahoma State Supreme Court Justice James Edmondson and the niece of the state’s Attorney General, Sarah Edmondson seemed destined to live lawfully. Ultimately, her upbringing appeared to have the opposite effect — as she and her lover went on an interstate killing spree modeled after Natural Born Killers (1994).
The Quentin Tarantino-penned film explored America’s parasitic relationship between serial killers and desperation for fame. Ironically, Edmondson and her boyfriend Benjamin Darras embarked on the very quest that the film aimed to criticize two days after watching it on March 5, 1995.
Armed with a .38-caliber revolver and a full tank of gas, the couple left Muskogee, Oklahoma, for Hernando, Mississippi. The two 18-year-olds had initially left to attend a Grateful Dead concert, but instead, ventured out to find their first victim. On March 7, they did.
After shooting businessman William Savage in the head twice, Darras ripped part of his bloodstained clothes off as a memento. It was now Edmondson’s turn to kill, with the couple finding their next victim in Ponchatoula, Louisiana. While Edmondson shot store clerk Patsy Byers, she had failed to kill her — leading to the couple’s arrest.
Muskogee Police DepartmentSarah Edmondson and Ben Darras.
While Darras and Edmondson were facing armed robbery and murder charges, Byers was left paralyzed. The victim filed a lawsuit against them in July, amending it the following March to include Time Warner and Natural Born Killers director Oliver Stone. One day before testifying in November 1997, Byers died of cancer.
Her quadriplegic condition had tragically left her unable to feel any cancer-related symptoms, thereby preventing any diagnosis or treatment. Ultimately, Edmondson testified that she and Darras had taken substantial amounts of LSD and watched Natural Born Killers repeatedly prior to their spree.
While the case against Stone and Time Warner was dropped by a judge in 2001 on first amendment grounds, Edmondson pleaded guilty to second-degree attempted murder, armed robbery, and use of a firearm during a violent felony. Sentenced to 30 years in November 1998, she was released in 2010 — while Darras was sentenced to life in prison.
