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Shannon and Eric Evangelista (The Strange Case of Natalia Grace) spent 11 years filming what would become The Many Lives of Benjamin Kyle. As the title says, Kyle has lived a number of feline lives – unraveling which probably took a few evangelical years.
So far, the decade-plus effort has garnered four hours of television for a Discovery series (but you’ll be watching it on HBO Max). The husband and wife documentary team thinks you’ll be seeing more soon.
“It makes room for another season,” Shannon Evangelista said. Hollywood Reporter. “All of this sets the stage for a sequel where we sit him down and say, ‘Hey, what’s going on?'”
there a lot Continuing, evangelicals have not turned off their cameras since their rise in 2014.
The “he” here is Benjamin Kyle, a now 77-year-old man who claims to suffer from a particularly strange case of amnesia, a condition that erased all his memories from 1983 to 2004 and selectively targeted any clues that could reveal his former identity. I hate it when that happens, although maybe not as much as Eric Evangelista does.
“This amnesia doesn’t exist,” he said. THR. “It’s like you’re watching General Hospital With your grandmother in 1986, and you say: Oh, well, yeah, I’ve seen that story before – it’s bullshit.
It certainly is, and that’s just it one For their many results. The shit really piles up with this one. As it turns out, “Benjamin Kyle” is actually William Powell of Lafayette, Indiana, and Bill Powell is a dangerous man.
In August 2004, Kyle was found naked behind a Burger King in rural Georgia. (He chose the initials “BK” because he woke up behind… BK, I guess you have it your way.) Media circus, including appearances on The Dr. Phil Showfollowed, but no one could connect Kyle to his previous existence. Evangelicals wanted to help — and now, they probably wish they had never met the man.
Shortly after Shannon and Eric discover that Kyle is Powell, they discover that Powell has a violent and shady past that links him to a powerful Midwestern crime family. This was followed by all kinds of threats demanding that they stop production. They did no such thing (although they chose to omit the crime family’s name throughout the series). Instead, the Evangelistas, a former lawyer (Shannon) and journalist (Eric), hire retired FBI Special Agent Ken Maxwell to head their personal security; Maxwell becomes invaluable in the constant search for truth.
The filmmakers say they can prove that Kyle knew it was Powell all along. Evidence lifted from a computer used by Kyle shows that he Googled his (real) identity in an attempt to reconnect with Social Security benefits and obtain a legitimate ID like this forgotten persona he created. These efforts have failed. Shannon says they also discovered “like seven different versions” of Kyle’s list of 23 mysterious memories he’s (untruthfully) provided to the media in the past.
The amnesia gimmick was to convince the crime family that anything Powell might have on them was lost to time (and a presumed head injury). The reason he sought media attention was to try to secure the security that can come with being a public figure. Secret organizations don’t like their murders to make the news if they can avoid them.
“He’s a genius,” Shannon said. “It’s amazing what he did.”
Hold on with all that – the guy misspelled “Benjamin.”
The first season of The Many Lives of Benjamin Kyle It ends rather suddenly, and the footage spans a few years. The doc’s filming crews have long split, one following the evangelists and their constant search for answers, the other with Kyle/Powell. It’s an jarring ending — and even less so when a second season feels inevitable.
“All we did really [season] “One is that we have analyzed the motive,” Shannon said.
Although there has been no announcement regarding the future of the docuseries, everything points to renewal: The Strange Case of Natalia Grace Expanded to privilege literal identifier. In a hypothetical second season (or maybe not), viewers will see Powell “face his demons,” as Shannon puts it, including a “vicious” final interview in which the filmmakers confront Powell with some serious criminal charges, including one for which the statute of limitations never runs out: murder.
“We were transparent, and he became violent at some point,” Shannon said.
Maxwell described the controversial December 2016 interview as “three nights in a row of … revealing to him what we found out about him, basically saying to him: ‘Hey, Benjamin, we know what you were involved in, and here are the facts.’”
Powell didn’t like that.
“He’s a control freak. He wants to run the room; [he thinks he’s] Maxwell continued: “The smartest guy in the room. He reacted in a number of ways, most recently with extreme anger and violence, throwing his microphone and, you know, leaving the room.”
I asked Maxwell, who has investigated the worst of the worst and “been threatened by the best of them,” how dangerous Powell was in his old age.
Maxwell said that Powell “is still physically strong, but he smokes a lot. He does not follow a healthy lifestyle. He smokes a lot.”
“But, you know, anyone who is still on Earth and has the mentality of criticizing – that’s always possible,” Maxwell continued. “Any time you’re dealing with people who have a bad background… you have to be practical about it and take sensible steps.”
After (presumably) damaging their microphone package, Powell ghosts the filmmakers — including Maxwell’s cheerful annual holiday phone call. He can run (well, maybe he can’t). Being) But he can’t hide. Powell lived in the same apartment as Natalia Grace while the evangelists investigated her story. They, uh, know the address well. Again, maybe we’re throwing the word “genius” a little too loosely, Shannon.
Shannon says she has already “plotted out” a second season and provided a “full episode analysis” to ID.
“A lot of the crazy stuff we found out was after Benjamin stopped talking to us,” she said.
Now, they are asking for your help.
“You reach a plateau where you might want to go out and get the public’s help,” Maxwell said. “We’re at this stage of the investigation. Let’s get out, let’s let people know what we’re involved in.”
Eric believes that when the season airs, they will be “inundated” with new tips. Production on this thing may never end.
The Many Lives of Benjamin Kyle It airs Mondays and Tuesdays from 9pm-11pm ET on the Investigation Discovery Channel. The two-night event is now available to stream on HBO Max.
