Film retells Tony Kiritsis 1977 Indianapolis hostage crisis

Time reports Dead Man’s Wire, out in theaters Jan. 9, is inspired by a real 1977 Indianapolis hostage crisis in which Tony Kiritsis held a Meridian Mortgage Co. executive captive for three days with a wire around the man’s neck attached to a shotgun. The film stars Bill Skarsgård as Kiritsis and Dacre Montgomery as Richard Hall, the executive who was taken.

According to the account, Kiritsis, who claimed Meridian steered retailers away from property he had financed and forced him into default, took Hall hostage on Feb. 8, 1977. He paraded Hall through the city to the Indiana Statehouse, hijacked a police car to his apartment he said was rigged with explosives, and communicated mainly with local radio personality Fred Heckman of WIBC, a role played in the film by Colman Domingo.

Kiritsis released Hall on Feb. 10 after 63 hours in captivity; authorities say he then spent the next decade in psychiatric care. The sources say authorities initially promised Kiritsis immunity but charged him after Hall’s release; he was later found not responsible by reason of insanity.

Key Topics

Culture, Tony Kiritsis, Meridian Mortgage, Richard Hall, Indianapolis, Bill Skarsgård