The Cemetery Vote 

The reform mayor dies in a so called "accident" and the mayor's father is murdered after he demands an investigation of it.

Director:

Seymour Robbie

Writers:

Peter S. Fischer (created by), Richard Levinson (created by)

Stars:

Angela Lansbury, Ellen Bry, Joseph Campanella

Cast

Episode cast overview:
Angela Lansbury	...	Jessica Fletcher
Ellen Bry	...	Linda Stevens
Joseph Campanella	...	George McDaniels
Bruce Davison	...	David Carroll
Ed Lauter	...	Sheriff Orville Yates
John McLiam	...	Harry Stevens
Mitchell Ryan	...	Captain Ernest Lenko
Charlene Tilton	...	Cindy March
Marie Windsor	...	Kate Gunnerson
Jeff Yagher	...	Deputy Wayne Beeler
Dick Balduzzi	...	Gil Stokes
Katherine De Hetre	...	Rita (as Katherine DeHetre)
Zale Kessler	...	Coroner
Neal Penso	...	1st Paramedic

Storyline

Jessica visits Comstock, Idaho to comfort Linda whose husband, Mayor Jim Stevens, just died in a car accident. Or did he? His hot-headed father, Harry Stevens, is dead-set to prove his death was the work of the corrupt Sheriff Orville Yates and his hard-handed Deputy Wayne Beeler, who are in cahoots with Kate Gunnerson's illegal gambling. Shortly after they go trough Jim's effects, Harry storms out after seeing a ciphered reference, but is killed and left by the road, plundered even to his boots. State police Captain Ernest Lenko confirms his raids and corruption investigations always failed because legal procedure forces him to inform the sheriff's office. Jessica thinks through everything, especially relating to Jim's effects, and, after being run off the road while accepting a ride from Councilman David Carroll, Yates's respectable opponent in the spring mayoral election, sets a trap.

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Plot Keywords:

sheriff | mayor | election | state police | deputy | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

5 April 1987 (USA)

Filming Locations:

12337 Branford St, Sun Valley, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

47 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The title refers to the illegal electioneer practice of providing votes for candidates based upon the obituaries, public death roles or from cemeteries to bolster one candidate over the other.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Deputy Wayne Beeler: You're deep in the dung heap now, old man. Breaking and entering is a felony.

User Reviews

A most suspicious car accident.

Some of the Walking Tall films seem to have influenced this episode of Murder She Wrote. Only here instead of the sheriff trying to clean up the gambling, sheriff Ed Lauter is right at the heart of it in the small mountain town of Comstock, Idaho.

Where Jessica Fletcher has gone to comfort the family of the town's new mayor who was killed in a most suspicious car accident. When the deceased's father starts raising a fuss, John McLiam the father is also killed and this one everyone is calling a homicide.

This episode is a nice portrayal of small town law enforcement corruption. Lauter and deputy Jeff Yagher are a really nasty pair to run afoul of.

Still it's a bit of a surprise at how this one plays out.