Actor Matthew McConaughey talks about how his first role helped catch a serial killer

Matthew McConaughey has revealed how his first role helped catch a serial killer.

Hollywood actor Matthew McConaughey has revealed how his first on-screen role helped catch a serial killer who had been on the run for 14 years. The actor recalled this incident in an interview with director Jeff Nichols at the Little Rock Film Festival.

In 1992, McConaughey starred in the American TV series Unsolved Mysteries, where he played the role of real-life former Marine Larry Dickens. Dickens was killed in 1978 while trying to protect neighborhood children from an exhibitionist. He took the car keys from the criminal, after which the killer pulled out a gun and shot him.

The killer's name was Edward Harold Bell. After the incident, he walked free for 14 years. However, after the show aired, viewers were able to identify the perpetrator through a chain of events and alerted law enforcement. Bell was captured in Panama City and sentenced to 70 years in prison. He confessed to 11 other murders, but was only convicted for Dickens' death. Bell died in a Texas prison in 2019 at the age of 79.