Director: Gabriel London
Mark Defriest has spent the past 30 years of his life in jail as part of a life sentence, to hear this one would quickly assume that Mark must have committed a heinous crime beyond retribution, what did he do to land himself behind bars? Mark and his father were in business together, when his father passed away Mark took his father’s tools that they had used together, unfortunately for Mark his Fathers wife called the police and Mark was sentenced to 4 years in prison. How he went from 4 years for taking tools before his father’s estate went through probate to where he is now is when things get interesting.
Writer/Director Gabriel London utilizes the backdrop of an upcoming parole hearing to explain Marks remarkable situation. London mixes together interview footage of Mark, his family members, his lawyer and his interaction with the Therapist whose professional opinion over twenty years ago lead to his long standing prison time, ironically he is now trying to get him out. Where London took what would essentially be an episode of dateline to the next level is the utilization of animation to showcase the other reason why Mark is still in jail, His 18 attempts to break out of prison. The inside look into how DeFriest attempted to escape while sometimes successful and sometimes not are mind blowing. From lacing coffee with acid to creating a zip gun, Mark has a rare aptitude to create items that would make MacGyver jealous. It’s a fascinating look at a squandered life and a broken judicial system.
Grade – 88
