Citizen Jane

The film begins with Jane Alexander and her boyfriend of twenty years, Tom O'Donnell, living a comfortable life in San Francisco. Jane is deeply close to her aunt Gertrude, who raised her like a mother. This peace is destroyed when Gertrude is found murdered in her home, having been bludgeoned and stabbed. Initial suspicion falls on a local handyman named Virgil, but he is cleared when his wife's testimony is proven to be a lie born of spite. Detective Jack Morris takes over the case and, guided by an FBI profile, begins to suspect that the killer was someone Gertrude trusted. Meanwhile, Tom tells Jane he must travel to Switzerland for business. Shortly after he leaves, Jane discovers her bank accounts are empty and her home is being foreclosed upon; Tom has stolen everything. Jane realizes Tom is not the man she thought he was and begins to suspect him of Gertrude's murder. She loses her home and takes a night-shift job at a rest home, spending her days obsessively tracking Tom's movements and writing letters to the police. Detective Morris discovers that a car rented by Tom's friend Henry in Los Angeles had enough mileage to account for a secret round trip to San Jose on the day of the murder. Jane eventually tracks Tom to Las Vegas, where he is living with a new woman he met online. He is extradited for fraud, but the murder charges remain difficult to prove due to a lack of physical evidence. Jane discovers a crucial detail: Tom called his niece to report Gertrude's death hours before the body was actually discovered. During the trial, the prosecution reveals a shocking final piece of evidence—a $1.5 million life insurance policy Tom took out on Jane's life with himself as the beneficiary, suggesting she was his next intended victim. Tom's arrogance leads to a courtroom outburst where he brags about his hunting skills, inadvertently alienating the jury. Tom is convicted of first-degree murder, and the film ends with Jane using her newfound skills to help other families solve cold cases.