Guy in the Sky

Synopsis

Genre: Thriller

It’s June 1965 and handsome local radio personality RENE CASTELLANI is sitting in a car on top of a fifty-foot car dealership sign. For Rene, who’s sort of a combination of Steve Allen and Jonathan Winter, it’s just another day in the wacky world of radio promotion. He’s the Guy in the Sky, and he won’t come down until every car on the lot is sold! But for Rene’s wife, ALICE, it’s another endless day in the hospital. The doctors are baffled by her illness. She’s been going up and down for months. Rene’s a concerned husband. He always brings her favorite milkshakes when he visits. But Alice is getting worse. Rene is called to Alice’s deathbed from a promotion at toy store and shows up in a gorilla suit. The zipper has broken. Alice passes away. Her funeral is interrupted when the hearse runs out of gas. Rene hands out promotional cigarettes while they wait, the first of a few controversial actions he performs over the next while. Even more controversial is Rene’s trip to Disneyland with daughter SUSAN and new girlfriend, TRIXIE. Naturally the cops suspect Rene and begin to question him. And when they find a brand of weed killer containing arsenic under his kitchen sink they sure they’ve got their man. He had means and opportunity. And they quickly mount a case of circumstantial evidence against him that seems to be more based on his affair with Trixie, and his raunchy style of comedy, than the facts. But could this friendly, funny guy really be capable of murder? His loving relationship with his daughter shows the antithesis of a cunning killer. During the sensational trial the affair plays as big a part as the crime itself. It’s a media circus. Even though the evidence is purely forensic and circumstantial, Rene is convicted and sentenced to hang. But did he really do it? Can the key to the tragedy be found in Rene himself? What about the crazy characters he’s famous for? Like KLAATU his outerspace alien with a voice like Peter Lorre who delights in talk of murder and dismemberment? Maybe one of his characters took control and did it? Guy in the Sky has all the elements of a classic true crime tale. The beautiful other woman, forensic detective work, arsenic poisoning, false leads, last minute reprieves, and chilling courtroom drama. To this day, haunting questions regarding Rene Castellani remain a baffling and fascinating mystery. That is, unless you know the truth.