By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
GREAT BEND — Twenty-plus years have passed since two women were murdered inside the Dolly Madison Bakery at one of the busiest intersections in Great Bend. Last September, just two days after the 20-year anniversary of the homicide, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation announced new DNA had been found in the case. Beyond that, the case has remained cold. That has long troubled Great Bend High School graduate Aaron Mull, who recently completed his documentary about the case. Mull is ready to share that story at a special question-and-answer screening of his documentary on March 2 at the Crest Theater.
The trailer for The Dolly Madison Murders
"I started this, basically, to just try and shed light on this case I'd always known growing up," Mull said. "I remember seeing the composite sketch all over town. As I've gotten older, I questioned why this story hasn't really reached a larger audience. I thought maybe I could do that and set off to make it on my own."
The standard full-time work week consists of 2,080 hours. Mull estimates he spent some 600 hours on editing the documentary alone. Now living on the east coast, Mull estimates he spent just shy of $13,000 on the project. At one point, he pondered his efforts and how he could have nearly doubled the $17,000 reward offered for information leading to an arrest in the case.
"I knew it was going to cost quite a bit of money," he said. "I don't live in Great Bend anymore, and just flying back five times throughout the year was pretty costly, and the gear rentals, licensing music and footage and things like that. It was definitely something I knew was going to be a cost going into it. I was willing to eat that cost for a project I knew would mean something."
Mull made small videos as a student at GBHS, gaining national attention from one early project. After graduating, he worked for professional soccer team Sporting KC, then worked with the likes of famous chef Gordon Ramsay and Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes. Mull has built an audience of 31,000 subscribers on his YouTube channel.
Approaching the 20thth anniversary of the Dolly Madison case in September 2021, Mull realized he had time to tackle a much larger, more meaningful project. He met with key players in the case, including friends and family members of the victims, past and present members of law enforcement, and local media members.
"There's only so much to go off of with this story because there's so little out there and that's known to the public," he said. "My biggest goal was to talk to the people closest to the story, friends of the victims, family members of the victims. Giving them a voice was important after all these years of feeling like they weren’t being heard."
Mull wrapped up filming in June 2022, but did make a special trip back to Great Bend for the KBI's press conference regarding the case on Sept. 6, 2022. He wrapped up editing in December and secured a distributor of the documentary, which features the interviews, as well as reenactments from locations pertinent to the case. The case may not have a conclusion, but Mull's documentary does.
Great Bend Community Coordinator Christina Hayes helped Mull secure the Crest Theater for his screening on Thursday, March 2 at 7 p.m. He plans to sell approximately 200 tickets for the first screening, and if interest dictates, opening the screening for a second showing the following evening. Following the documentary, Mull and other parties from the documentary will take questions from the crowd.
Tickets for the screening are $10 in advance and may be purchased by CLICKING HERE.