Top Honors, multiple credits
Status: In negotiations, 109 pages
Written by Mike Palmisciano
Attachments: Two “A” list actors on board.
SOJOURN at the ABYSS is the true story of a middleclass, duty driven, NYPD detective and his partner who single-handedly hunt down and capture the most brutal serial killer in New York City history; NOT the Son of Sam… the one the City tried to cover up.
SYNOPSIS:
1980 – New York City; The financial capital of the world, teeters on the brink of economic collapse. In gritty, dark streets, cops, firemen and even sanitation workers are murdered in cold blood via fake 911 sniper calls. The crime rate is the highest the City has ever seen and as the Mayor Ed Koch and Police Commissioner Robert J. McGuire, secretly haggle with one of the largest entertainment conglomerates in the world for the renovation of the seedy, drug laden Times Square, a dozen minority women are hunted and systematically butchered by the most brutal serial killer in New York City history. Not Son of Sam. The monster they tried to cover up.
Terrified of upsetting their deal, the Mayor’s office suppresses the headlines and the Commissioner assigns a middle class, Italian American NYPD Detective to the case. He and his partner, affectionately known as the “Pizza Squad”, without benefit of the FBI or a 200 man task force, track down and capture the sadistic New York Ripper. This is a true crime story; One that has never been told; And that NYPD detective who cracked the case… is my father.
In the vein of SE7EN, SEA OF LOVE and SUMMER OF SAM, SOJOURN at the ABYSS is a true story that features a middle class everyman battling his job, big city politics and the dissolution of his family as he struggles to hunt down and capture New York City’s most brutal and terrifying real life serial killer; The New York Ripper.
In the modern era of inhuman “Serial Killers” (John Wayne Gacy, Jeffery Dahmer, The Zodiac etc), Richard Cottingham (The New York Ripper), is by far the most brutal and enigmatic madman. Cottingham, a mild mannered computer programmer from a major Insurance Company, was captured, convicted and sentenced to 112 years. He was also strongly suspected of kidnapping, raping and butchering at least 13 minority victims before his capture in 1980; leaving behind a trail of grisly, mutilated corpses often removing the heads, hands and feet of his victims before dousing them in gasoline and setting them ablaze.
Tagline: At the brink of chaos, one man risks all to serve and protect.
Screenpens is accepting requests from “A” list directors and Executive Producers interested in this project. Contact us at info@screenpens.com
-MP
