Southwest of Salem:The Story of the San Antonio Four receives a title that is an obvious allusion to the Weat Memphis Three. Certainly, there are elements of Paradise Lost in this documentary, especially in its dealing with Satanic Panic. Clearly, Making a Murderer is also a strong influence.

But reducing the work Deborah S. Esquenazi to an amalgam of the two films leaves out the crucial element that all four women that supposedly committed this crime are lesbians (and Latina) is crucial to the case. Because bigotry is so obviously a factor in condemning the supposed criminals, (and since there is no murder, and the victims speak and sometimes contradict their story), the moral fervour is “why”?

As the case in ongoing, (and in a coda, is clearly up to the minute), minds will be made up very quickly. This is understandable. Fom the first shot, iwe take the side of the wrongly accused. There is a miscarriage of justice.

What should be done to solve this essential failure other than our anger and indignance? What will be done?

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