Based on the assassination of the celebrated Mexican TV personality Paco Stanley, Prime Video’s Who Killed Him? tells the story of what led to this assassination. Director Humberto Hinojosa Ozcaris used six of the closest people to Paco, and each episode represents the perspective of a different person. The first person in this saga is Jorge Gil, Stanley’s close associate and his personal doormat.
Spoilers Ahead
How was the relationship between Stanley and Gil?
Paco Stanley was a star in Mexico, and his crass comedy shows entertained the whole country. Gil, who was a shy and reserved man, worked with Paco in his shows as an actor and creative producer. Paco hired Gil when he was working in radio and believed in him even when Gil himself didn’t. Paco’s show also starred Mario Bezares, who was his best friend. Paco and Mario always made Gil the butt of their jokes, and Gil’s character was named ‘Colorless.’ Paco wasn’t much nicer to Gil off camera either, as he often bossed Gil around.
How did Paco Stanley get murdered?
Paco takes Gil and Mario to a breakfast place after their show to listen to a new pitch Gil wants to make. Gil explains how he came across an idea for a new show, Mexorcisms. Gil tells Paco that the audience is tired of soap operas on television, and he has something exciting in mind. Gil plans to make a show that will travel across the country to shoot exorcisms and interview people to raise the question of how people get possessed by the Devil. Paco actually liked the idea behind the show and decided to go ahead with it. But the afternoon of June 7, 1999, had other plans for Paco. Mario gets a sudden stomach ache and excuses himself to go to the washroom, and Paco accompanies him. Soon, Paco comes out to continue his conversation with Gil, and they sit in the car. Three hitmen arrive and fire twenty rounds of bullets at the car. Gil survives the attack and he’s taken to a hospital right away, but Paco got shot too many times to survive. His death shocks the whole country, and the people hold Mayor Cardenas’ poor management responsible for this unfortunate event.
What was Gil’s statement on the assassination?
Just when Gil started recovering, Saul Villarreal, the District Attorney of Mexico City, paid him a visit to record his statement. Gil described the events as they unfolded, and there was no inconsistency from his side. Gil didn’t see the assassins, as the back windows of the car were tinted and everything happened so fast that he just focused on saving his life. The media claims that the assassination was the result of a kidnapping gone wrong, and that they wanted to abduct Gil. He disagrees because there was no attempt at kidnapping, and the perpetrators started firing as soon as they got the chance. Saul wants to know the truth, and Gil promises to cooperate with him to help Saul get to the bottom of this. Gil describes Mario as inseparable from Paco and says that they were like brothers. The District Attorney tells the press that the execution of Paco might be connected to drug trafficking and reveals that the police found a pack of cocaine in Paco’s pockets.
Does Gil go off the rails after Paco’s death?
Gil turns weirdly religious and copes with the trauma with his faith in God. Even though his wife, Susana, is supportive and tries to help him through the recovery, Gil’s antics test her patience very badly. He calls Mario’s wife Brenda at 2 a.m. to find out if he wants to talk and tells her how much he’s struggling. Susana feels that he shouldn’t keep in touch with Mario, as both of them are witnesses, but Gil ignores her distress and keeps doing his own thing. He had now lost his sleep, and he stayed up all night and locked himself up in the basement. Saul claims that Gil is lying to him, and he knew that Paco and Mario carried cocaine and guns on June 7th. Gil only admits to seeing the weapons license but says he never really saw any guns on them.
Why do the cops arrest Paco’s driver?
Gil is called to the police headquarters to help with the crime scene reconstruction. He sits in the car where he almost lost his life and elaborates on everything that happened during the firing. Gil still doesn’t say anything against Mario and sticks to his previous statement that Mario was in the restroom. Gil mentions that the driver, Garcia, started driving away from the shootout when he hid in the back of the car, and Saul suspects that Garcia wanted to flee the crime scene but couldn’t do so. The cops arrest Garcia on the basis of suspicion, and Saul thanks Gil for clearing things up for them. Garcia resists the arrest, and he screams and shouts about his innocence. Gil gets paranoid about how Garcia looked him in the eyes, and he asks for protection from Saul. When Saul tries to calm him down, his paranoia only increases. Gil goes home and ransacks the wardrobe, trying to find his gun, and Susana begs him to stop. Susana thinks that Gil doesn’t own a gun, but all she can do is watch while Gil was going nuts over the gun. Gil is clearly not handling his trauma well, and the memories keep playing in his head, making him more unstable.
Why does Gil rat on Mario?
Gil’s son Juanito finds the gun he was going crazy over, and Gil takes it back and puts his son to sleep. He tries to kill himself and suffers a breakdown in the night, but the next morning he tries to get his act right. Seeing the gun on his son’s hand changed him a little, and he tells his family that he won’t be erratic over this again. Gil goes to see Mario, hoping to talk to him, and they get along over the common grief they share. Mario opens the bottle of whiskey, which was Paco’s favorite, and it’d seem like they finally got along. Gil brings up ‘Mexorcisms,’ hoping to get started on the project again. Mario seems baffled that Gil would say this hours after they buried Paco, and even though Gil means no harm and just wants to do the show to pay homage, he rubs Mario the wrong way. Mario insults Gil and tells him that his show will never air. Gil wouldn’t take all of these insults for nothing, and he goes to visit Saul to say that he’s sure Mario Rodriguez is involved in Paco’s murder.
