The True Story Behind Apple TV+'s Black Bird

Jimmy Keene did the crime but he really didn't want to pay the time.

And why would he? For 15 years, Jimmy, played by Taron Egerton in Apple TV+'s true crime series Black Bird, had quietly become one of the biggest drug dealers in the Chicago area. "I had all the cash you could ever want," Jimmy wrote in his 2011 memoir In With the Devil. "Wherever I stayed, the latest corvette was always in the driveway, with a crotch rocket and a Harley in the garage and a hot girl in the bedroom."

More than that, Jimmy says he helped those closest to him whenever he could, funding his father's bad business ideas and helping his mother when she needed it. So when he was charged with conspiracy to distribute cocaine, Jimmy wrote that he "took a plea, not knowing I would get a sentence of 10 years to life in return."

Just 10 months later, Jimmy was given a chance at freedom.

He met with assistant U.S. attorney Lawrence Beaumont and FBI agent Ken Temples, who gave him a file full of photos of dead women and asked if he'd be willing to transfer to a high-security prison to coax a confession out of suspected killer Larry DeWayne Hall (portrayed by 2023 Golden Globe winner Paul Walter Hauser).

"You want me to check into hell and befriend the demon?" Jimmy replies in Black Bird. "Not for all the money in the world." (OK, Jimmy didn't say those exact words, but Dennis LeHane's writing and Taron's acting are too good to ignore, with the series receiving four Emmy nods.)

As Jimmy's co-author Hillel Levin tells it, Jimmy actually asked why they chose him, of all people, to buddy up to Larry. Why not an FBI agent or another hardened criminal? "Hall would smell him a mile away," Lawrence replied, according to In With the Devil. "He'd be too polished, and Hall would sense that and clam right up. But you're perfect. You can mix with anyone—from the street level to the board level."

Terrifying as it was to befriend an accused murderer, Jimmy agreed on the condition that he get early release. And so, his walk with the devil began...

Who was Larry DeWayne Hall?

There was always something a little off about Larry. 

Christopher Hawley Martin, the author of Urges: a Chronicle of Serial Killer Larry Hall, grew up in Wabash, Ind. and remembered the way people treated Larry and his twin brother Gary. "As the twins grew," Christopher told True Crime Diary in 2009, "they were seen around town and were ridiculed and scorned because of their small stature, odd behavior and because they lived in a cemetery."

As the Halls got older, they took an interest in American history. "A dedicated Civil War buff, Hall traveled throughout the country to portray a Union foot soldier and even appeared as a period extra in two films," Hillel wrote in In With the Devil. "His muttonchops, emulating those of a Union general, were intended to make his face look as authentic as his uniform and rifle."

It's his participation in Civil War re-enactments, among other factors, that led detectives to believe Larry has killed at least 20 women, according to In With the Devil.

What is Larry DeWayne Hall accused of doing?

While Larry is suspected of killing dozens of young women, authorities have only convicted him of one murder, which was later overturned.

In 1994, he was questioned in connection to the murder of 15-year-old Jessica Roach, who went missing while riding her bike through Georgetown, Ill. a year prior. She was later found dead in an Indiana cornfield, not far from where Larry lived and had been accused of "stalking, or following, teenaged girls," according to court documents. In addition, Georgetown was the sight of a reenactment, which took place around the time Jessica disappeared.

When the authorities questioned Larry the first time, he grew increasingly upset, according to the court documents, and officers reported that one detective got in his face about Jessica's murder. They eventually let Larry, now crying, go home before asking him to return the next day. It was during this second interrogation that Larry said he killed Jessica.

"He began making admissions about his involvement in the Roach case," the court documents read. "There were no notes, tape recordings, or video recordings of the session. Instead, [an FBI agent] wrote out a statement in narrative format and asked Hall to sign it."

Following the confession, Larry was taken to trial and a jury found him guilty of kidnapping and murdering Jessica Roach. 

Why was Larry DeWayne Hall's conviction overturned?

Larry went on to appeal the murder conviction and won, with his defense attorneys arguing that a personality disorder made him susceptible to intimidation and that he was forced into making the confession. According to the appeal, Larry was deprived to his right of a proper defense because he wasn't allowed to have experts testify about his condition at the trial. 

At this point, prosecutors turned to Jimmy, who was sent into the prison while Larry's kidnapping conviction was on appeal. If Jimmy didn't get a confession before the kidnapping appeal went through, Larry would walk free.

What did Larry DeWayne Hall tell Jimmy Keene?

Initially, Jimmy was scared to enter the maximum security prison, but ended up thriving. He was chummy with some of the high profile prisoners, including Mafia boss Vincent "The Oddfather" Gigante, who, as Jimmy told Dateline, told him to stay away from the "baby killers," including Larry.

But Jimmy came in to do a job so he continued to befriend Larry, who was a fan of America's Most Wanted. Five months into the operation, Jimmy and Larry were watching the true crime series when a prisoner changed the channel, upsetting Larry. So, Jimmy picked a fight with the prisoner as a show of loyalty, telling Dateline, "I became his new best friend and hero, too."

This moment strengthened Larry's trust in Jimmy, prompting him to open up about the night he killed Jessica Roach. "It was probably the hardest thing in my life, to have to sit there and pretend to be his friend," Jimmy told Dateline. "To listen to this kind of stuff and not just rip him apart—but I knew what the mission involved and what was at stake for me and the families trying to find their daughters." 

So Jimmy continued to prod Larry for answers and brought up 19-year-old Tricia Reitler. He listened to Larry with feigned interest as the convict recalled following her with his van. "He said that he had killed her and he knew he had done it again," Jimmy said in his interview with Dateline. "He said he buried her way out in the woods."

A few days later, Jimmy said he found Larry playing with wooden black birds, which were scattered across a map of Indiana and Wisconsin. "I go, 'What are those things?'" Jimmy remembered, before imitating Larry's high-pitched voice: "He says, 'They're little falcons and they watch over the dead, Jimmy. They do.'"

Jimmy wrote in In With the Devil that authorities believe Larry may have killed or kidnapped a young girl when he participated in multiple Civil War reenactments. According to In With the Devil, the dates and locations of the gatherings coincided with disappearances.

Where is Larry DeWayne Hall now?

According to Christopher, the author of Urges who has interviewed Larry, the convict has confessed to kidnapping or killing numerous women, including 20-year-old Laurie Depies, who is still missing. But without bodies or solid evidence, authorities have been unable to convict Larry of murder.

The only conviction that stuck was for the kidnapping of Jessica, for which he's serving out a life sentence in North Carolina. He couldn't be reached for comment.

Christopher believes Larry would offer more details about his alleged crimes to investigators if he was granted immunity. "I believe Larry may open up more, now that his mother is gone," Christopher told True Crime Diary. "Larry told me he is not the same person he was when he was kidnapping and murdering women and young girls. He says he is sorry for what he has done."

Black Bird is available to stream on Apple TV+.

(A version of this story was originally published July 8, 2022 at 11:47 a.m. PT)

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