Reconstructing a largely forgotten true crime story through firsthand testimony, archival research, and community collaboration — creating an honest, accurate record that honors the victims, preserves the historical truth, and brings long-overdue clarity to the events of 1968–1970 and their aftermath.

On Friday, February 13, 1970, three coordinated bombs detonated in downtown Danbury, Connecticut. Twenty-six people were injured. The men responsible had already committed, or were instrumental in, five murders — including those of their own father and grandmother — and no one had yet connected the crimes.

Brothers John and James Pardue spent two years moving between Connecticut, New York, Missouri, and Maryland, leaving a trail of five bank robberies, five murders, a state trooper locked in the trunk of his own cruiser, and bodies buried under a concrete slab at the end of a Maryland driveway. They were methodical. They were careful. And they were largely invisible — until they weren't.

Their arrest in March 1970 didn't end the story. The full scope of their crimes didn't surface until more than a year later, when John Pardue tried to shoot his way out of a federal courthouse. Mortally wounded, he spent his final days giving a detailed deathbed confession to FBI Special Agent Thurl Stalnaker, describing every crime. The bodies were recovered exactly where he said they would be.

James Pardue was never tried for the spree. After nearly three years of competency proceedings, a federal judge dismissed the Danbury charges in 1973, ruling his constitutional rights had been violated — he had been neither prosecuted nor properly treated. John's wife was sentenced to ten years. Children were left behind. And the communities hit hardest moved on without ever knowing the complete picture.

The Pardue Brothers reconstructs this story in full, for the first time, through firsthand interviews, declassified FBI files, National Archives records, and court documents.

Why this story? The records exist. The FBI files are declassified. The court documents are unsealed. The dying declaration is on file at the National Archives. But no one has told this story on film — not with the depth, the rigor, or the respect it deserves. The communities at the center of it — Danbury, Georgetown, and Bridgeport in Connecticut; Union and Pacific in Missouri; Lewisboro in New York — have never seen this history fully assembled and told.

By supporting this film, you're helping preserve real testimony before it disappears, honoring the victims and the law enforcement officers who fought for accountability, and ensuring that a significant chapter in the history of these communities is documented rather than lost.

Why us: Daniel J. Mulvihill Jr. has spent over half a decade building a verified factual timeline from FBI teletypes, federal records, and firsthand accounts. Blaze Mazur (Blazur Films) brings NYU Tisch-trained filmmaking craft to every frame. Together, under Hey Brother Productions, we have the research depth and the production capability to do this story justice.

Why now? The survivors of the Danbury bombing are aging. Living witnesses to these events are fewer every year. Families connected to this case are ready to speak — but that window is closing. This film needs to be made now, while the testimony is still available to capture.

This is not a cold case. It is a story with living witnesses, surviving families, and unresolved questions. Every year we wait, we lose something we cannot get back.

Where we are in production: Filming has begun. We have completed multiple interviews and location shoots in Lusby, Maryland, Danbury, Connecticut, and Bridgeport, Connecticut. Years of research are complete — declassified FBI files, National Archives teletypes, federal court dockets, death certificates, laboratory reports, and firsthand accounts are all processed and verified. Key interview subjects have been identified. The factual timeline is locked. We are actively in production and ready to expand. Our next shoot takes the film to Union and Pacific, Missouri — the heart of the case.

What your support funds: Production crew for 12–15 shoot days, the Missouri filming trip, archival licensing, editing and sound design, legal review, and festival submissions. Every dollar goes to making the film.

The budget:
$36,000 — Base: everything above, start to finish.
$50,925 — Expanded: PR and outreach, a larger music budget, additional shoots.
$75,000+ — Full Vision: a signature licensed song from the era, and expanded, fully-staged reenactments.

What happens when we're done: The finished documentary will be submitted to a targeted slate of film festivals, with priority given to festivals in Connecticut and Missouri where community impact will resonate most. The film will also be presented to local historical societies and through community outreach efforts in the towns directly affected by these events.

The Pardue Brothers is committed to telling this story with accuracy and dignity, in consultation with the communities and families it touches.