Blind Spot: Murder by Women on AllMovie

In the year 2000, one out of every eight Americans convicted of murder was a woman, and the number of women serving time for capital crimes had steadily increased in the previous years. Documentary filmmakers Allie Light and Irving Saraf began corresponding with a number of women serving time for murder, and eventually filmed interviews with six of them, providing the focus for the documentary Blind Spot: Murder by Women. Nearly all of the women are victims of blighted childhoods and have suffered some degree of psychological damage. Venus, for example, is the daughter of a prostitute, was beaten by her stepfather, and later killed her abusive husband, while Katie, whose father was a member of the KKK, was raped as a child, forced into prostitution at the age of 15, and fell into a cycle of drug abuse to cope with her anxieties, leading her to murder her mother's boss during a failed robbery attempt. Besides discussing the harrowing nature of their crimes and the circumstances that led to them, the women also speak about the practical and emotional realities of their lives behind bars, with two of the women stating that being in prison has helped them to deal with their problems in a way they couldn't on the outside. Television journalist Julia Hilder serves as host and narrator.