The Reel Review
Monaco, December 1999 – one of the world’s richest men, billionaire private banker Edmond Safra, and a nurse are found dead in his high-end, two-story penthouse apartment following an overnight fire. Another nurse, Ted Mayer, is arrested and accused of arson and murder. This Netflix crime documentary re-examines the bizarre circumstances of this case.
While Murder in Monaco does have some dark humor and colorfully eccentric real-life characters that look like they stepped out of the 1985 crime comedy Clue, Hodges Usry, in his directing debut, seems more focused on casting doubt over what actually transpired, by making Maher appear to be a reliable narrator. That seems at best, terribly misleading, and at worst, irresponsible. Usry even offputtingly inserts himself in the film’s equally strange final act.
The crime documentary revels in bait and switch storytelling, leading the viewer to think one thing and then immediately flipping it on its head. Those unfamiliar with the Safra killing may find the oddball characters and near constant mindfuckery entertaining, but anyone seeking an accurate true crime documentary will be profoundly disappointed by this sensationalist tabloid knockoff.
REEL FACTS
• Philanthropist Lily Safra died of pancreatic cancer in Geneva, Switzerland in July 2022 at the age of 87.
• Oddly enough, Ted Maher, then known as Jon Green, was arrested just days after Lily Safra’s death for kidnapping three of his fourth ex-wife Kim’s dogs and arrested a year after that for an attempted murder-for-hire plot against her. He is currently serving a nine-year prison sentence at the Central New Mexico Correctional Facility, where he reportedly is also being treated for late-stage throat cancer.
• There is no word on the whereabouts of Maher’s third wife Heidi, who divorced him while he was in prison in Monaco and obtained full custody of their three children.
Video & Photo
