Author Delia Owens and two others are wanted for questioning in Zambia in connection with the death of a suspected poacher in 1996.
Owens is the author of the popular 2018 novel Where the Crawdads Sing, which has been turned into a movie starring Daisy Edgar-Jones and produced by Reese Witherspoon. Delia's ex-husband Mark Owens, and his son Christopher Owens, are also wanted for questioning in connection with the incident.
The Owens family was the subject of a 1990s ABC documentary called Deadly Game: The Mark and Delia Owens Story. The Atlantic has looked into the documentary again, and dug deeper into the story.
The original documentary, introduced by Diane Sawyer and narrated by Meredith Vieira, showed the execution of an unidentified man who is referred to as a "trespasser." He had already been shot before being executed while collapsed on the ground. The shooting isn't shown on camera, nor is the identity of the person who shot him.
Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, and the journalist who's been following the story for over a decade, also wrote about the subject in a 2010 article in The New Yorker. That piece included an interview with the ABC cameraman Chris Everson, who filmed the killing. He accused Christopher Owens of firing the fatal shots.
"I don't know what was going on in Chris's mind," Everson said. "He had a rush of blood to the head. I don't know why he shot him in the first place. I don't." Everson then claimed that Christopher fired the final three shots at the man's body on the ground. "I should never have allowed it to happen," the cameraman said.
Zambia's director of public prosecutions, Lillian Shawa-Siyuni, confirmed to The Atlantic that Delia, Mark and Christopher Owens are still wanted for questioning in relation to the killing of the alleged poacher, as well as other possible criminal activities in the region of North Luangwa.
Twelve years ago when interviewed by Goldberg about the killing, Delia denied any knowledge of the incident and stated that "Chris wasn't there." The Owens returned to America from Zambia shortly after the documentary aired in 1996.
Delia Owens had previously published three memoirs, Cry of the Kalahari (1984), The Eye of the Elephant (1992) and Secrets of the Savanna (2006), before she released her debut novel, the international best seller Where the Crawdads Sing in 2018.
Delia and Mark moved to Africa in 1974, initially setting in Botswana, which formed the basis of her first memoir. They were reportedly expelled from Botswana for campaigning against the local cattle industry before settling in the North Luangwa National Park, and later in Mpika, Zambia.
The movie adaptation of Where the Crawdads Sing, produced by Reese Witherspoon, will be released in movie theaters on Friday, July 15.
Newsweek has contacted Delia Owens directly for comment. Newsweek has also reached out to Sony Pictures Releasing representatives, the studio distributing the upcoming movie Where the Crawdads Sing.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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Jamie Burton is a Newsweek Senior TV and Film Reporter (Interviews) based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on ... Read more
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