Un breathtaking thriller behind the guise of a romantic fairy tale along the lines of Pretty Woman. Hunting for the golden widower – broadcast tonight at 9.20pm for the first time on Rai 2 – tells the story of a millionaire, victim of a greedy and unscrupulous woman. The film, directed by Robin Hays, is based on a true story.
Hunting for the golden widowerthe plot of the movie
Steven Beard (Eli Gabay) is 70 years old and he is a millionaire who built his fortune working in the communications field. He is recently widowed and he doesn’t particularly like worldly life. He spends his days at the country club in Austin, Texas. Here he meets Celeste Johnson (Julie Benz), a charming and attractive waitress who serves him cocktails every day.
They establish a good relationship, they talk to each other. Celeste is a loving, smiling woman with two teenage daughters, Kristina (Rona Curtis) and Jennifer (Georgia Bradner). They soon become close and the chatter turns into a deeper feeling. Or at least that’s how it seems. Celeste’s plan, in fact, has always been to nab a rich man. They get married and move in together. The house is a villa from a thousand and one nights. For Celeste begins a life of unbridled luxury and all the comforts she has always dreamed of.
Clothes, houses, jewels, cars. Steven takes care of everything, but the sudden change has a disruptive effect on the woman. She is not satisfied with the constant gifts and becomes increasingly greedy. He goes on a shopping spree and even steals Steven’s ex-wife’s jewelry. In this frantic race to grab everything, he encounters an obstacle: Steven’s daughter, Becky (Patricia Harras). In fact, there is no good blood between the two.
Julie Benz in “Chasing the Golden Widower”, the film based on the true story of Celeste Beard Johnson. (Lifetime)
The ending of the film
Furthermore, when the husband discovers the extent of the expenses, he wants to file for divorce. Heavenly he has no intention of returning to his old life develops a plan: get rid of Steven. She won’t be the one to do it, though. So she takes the gun, joins Steven in the living room and threatens to commit suicide.
Beard tries to reassure her, her daughter calls for help and Celeste is admitted to a mental health center to recover from her depression. Inside the structure befriends another patient, Tracey (Justine Warrington). He seduces and manipulates her, until he convinces her that there is only one solution to live their story in the open: kill Steven. The real objective is to kill him in order to inherit his assets, by virtue of the prenuptial agreement which would guarantee her 50% of the assets.
One night, Tracey enters the house and shoots Steven in the chest while he is sleeping. Upon hearing the shot, Celeste becomes alarmed and immediately calls for help. Shortly thereafter, poor Beard dies. Immediately, Becky suspects that Celeste is responsible for her father’s death. The daughters are of the same opinion, they begin to investigate their mother, until they unmask her.
The true story of Celeste Beard Johnson
The film It is based on a true story. Celeste Beard Johnson was sentenced to 30 years in prison and is still serving her sentence. He will be able to apply for parole starting in 2042. Despite this, he continues to proclaim his innocence. The story dates back to October 3, 1999, when a person entered Steven Beard’s house, in Westlake Hills, Texas, and shoots him in the stomach. The man died on January 22, 2000.
The shooter is Tracey Tarlton, a patient at the mental health center where Celeste Beard was hospitalized. In July of the same year, he discovered that his former lover had remarried and realized that he had been the victim of a scam. In 2002, before the trial began, she confessed to the police that it was Johnson who asked her to kill Beard. Tarlton was sentenced to ten years, but was released in 2011.
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