Richard and Marilyn Douglass were murdered on the evening of October 15, 1979 – 40 years ago yesterday – so last night I watched my DVD of Heaven’s Rain, the movie that their son Brooks produced as a tribute to his parents. It’s a powerfully inspiring – and disturbing – movie, and I highly recommend it.
I didn’t know the Douglasses well, but Richard was missionary-in-residence for one year while I was a student at Oklahoma Baptist University in the early 1970s. His wife, Marilyn, and I were both students in Dr. Richard Farley’s voice studio, so I knew her from the occasional studio group lessons & recitals.
They had been missionaries to Brazil but, in 1979, Richard was serving as pastor of Putnam City Baptist Church in the Oklahoma City area. They lived out in the country, and one evening, two men – at the end of a daylong drunken, drugged-out robbery spree – schemed their way into the Douglasses’ home and pulled their shotguns on the horrified family; tied up Richard, Marilyn, and Brooks; and forced daughter Leslie to lead them to the little cash ($43) the family had in the house. Then both of them raped Leslie in her bedroom upstairs as her helpless parents and brother listened to her screaming. Ultimately, they shot each member of the family. Richard and Marilyn were dead. After the killers left, having believed the children were also dead, Brooks drove himself and Leslie to the hospital.
Weeks later, the killers were caught and ultimately brought to trial and convicted. Brooks eventually won election to the Oklahoma Senate and wrote a bill – that won passage – protecting victims’ rights.
I still remember first hearing of their murder the night after it took place. Joanna and I were living in Denver, CO, in 1979, and I was singing in the choir at our church, University Hills Baptist Church. Our choir was singing at the Denver Baptist Association annual meeting that evening. We were getting our robes on and preparing for the service/meeting when, as I remember, Liz Dillard – a choir member who was a fellow OBU grad and a friend of the Douglasses – walked in and told us they had been brutally murdered. What a shock it was, especially for those of us who had known them, even as briefly as I had.
I met Brooks when he came to our church, Wilshire Baptist Church in Dallas, back around 2010-11, on a speaking tour to introduce Heaven’s Rain, which either had just been – or would soon be – released.
It’s a powerful story, focusing mainly on the Douglasses’ ministry; the continuing impact of that terrible night on Brooks and Leslie; and Brooks’s work in securing passage of his victims’ rights bill. As I watched it again last night, on the 40th anniversary of Richard’s and Marilyn’s deaths, I was particularly moved by the scenes of Brooks portraying his father teaching young Brooks how to throw a football; and especially of Brooks portraying his father lying on the floor, dying, as Brooks, lying next to him, tells him, “Mom is dead.” I can’t imagine the emotion experienced by Brooks as he played that scene, the memories of those very events welling up in him.
There’s also a powerful scene in which Brooks (portrayed by Mike Vogel) meets briefly with one of the murderers in prison and, ultimately, forgives him – not because he wants to, but because he remembers his father’s admonition to forgive, AND he realizes that if he doesn’t forgive, he will be reliving those terrible moments all his life, and he wants to be rid of this burden.
Now I understand that Heaven’s Rain was re-released in 2018 with a new name – The Amendment – and is available again on DVD as well as through iTunes, etc. You can purchase it at https://theamendmentmovie.com/store/
Again, it’s a powerful, moving story, and well worth watching.
Continued prayers for Brooks and Leslie, and others who live as victims of such crimes. Richard and Marilyn, rest in peace . . . you have left a rich legacy through your children and many others whose lives you touched.