Sartaj Singh
‘The Pom Pom Murders’ introduces us to Audrey, a cheerleader who is thrilled to join the L.A. Renegades pro basketball dance squad as a Renegade Girl. When she meets Walter, a handsome player on the team, they feel a spark between them. Despite Walter initially being distracted by conflicts with his ex-girlfriend, Bailey, he and Audrey grow closer. When Bailey turns up murdered, all the evidence seems to point toward Walter, leaving Audrey in disbelief.
Feeling as though he is being set up, she begins looking into the secrets held behind the vibrant exterior of the cheerleading squad. With Tom Shell in the director’s chair, the Lifetime murder mystery, which was originally titled ‘Ruthless Renegade,’ has many shocking twists that call into question the existence of any similar real-life cases that may have taken place.
The Pom Pom Murders is Similar to the Murder Case of Emma Walker
Written by Doug Campbell and Tom Shell, ‘The Pom Pom Murders’ features a plot outline similar to several other murder mysteries produced by the network. While its story is imaginary, it does draw some parallels with the real murder of 16-year-old cheerleader Emma Walker by her football player ex-boyfriend. Emma Walker was a cheerleader at Central High School, Knoxville, Tennessee, who was shot through her bedroom window by her ex-boyfriend, Riley Gaul.
Walker had been attempting to break up with the college football player for some time because of his obsessive and controlling nature before she finally did so for good in 2016. Gaul wanted her back and tried to get her attention through stalking, anonymous text messages, and even staging his own kidnapping. His plan seemed to involve painting himself as the hero who saves her from a deadly stalker.
According to him, he tried to scare her by taking his grandfather’s gun and shooting it through her window twice, unknowingly killing her with a bullet through the head. The incident took place on November 21, 2016, and a panicked Gaul showed one of his friends his gun, acting as though he feared for his life. He asked his friend how to get fingerprints off the weapon, arousing suspicion.
The Key Role of Friends in the Investigation and Arrest of Riley Gaul
When the police began their search and interviews, every finger seemed to point towards Gaul, who had a known turbulent past with Walker. When asked to present his side of the story, investigators noticed a distinct lack of remorse and concern beneath the projected exterior of a devastated boyfriend. Two of Gaul’s friends, Walton and McCarty, revealed to the authorities his conversations about the gun, something that he denied knowledge of during the interview.
They agreed to help further by wearing a hidden wire and body camera to talk to the suspect about his involvement with the crime, hoping to obtain the murder weapon despite the danger. The operation was a success, as they got a confession out of him about throwing the murder weapon in the Tennessee River. In court, Walker’s defense argued that he had not meant to kill her. “He never intended to cause her harm, never intended to cause her death,” said Gaul’s attorney. “Consistent with her reaching out to Riley regarding the events Saturday morning …he was attempting to get her to ask him for help again, sort of to be her protector.”
A 19-year-old Gaul was found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the first 51 years. ‘The Pom Pom Murders’ has elements in common with the case involving the murder of a cheerleader with suspicions falling on her athlete ex-boyfriend. Similar to the actual case, friends play a major role in the investigation, unmasking the killer. ‘The Pom Pom Murders’ is an original and fictional story and has only fleeting similarities with actual cases and other films.
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