Paul Water Hauser is currently portraying the serial Killer Larry Hall in Black Bird; but here is what happened to the real Larry Hall.
Apple TV’s Black Bird keeps things close to its chest when it comes to the true extent of Larry Hall’s crimes a mystery. The prison crime drama is twists itself in knots to keep the audience guessing whether Hall (played to eery perfection by Paul Water Hauser) is truly a serial killer, or just a serial liar. But the true story of Hall and the ex-football star – James Keene (Taron Egerton) – sent in to befriend him has already played out and the real story is as dramatic as the show.
In Black Bird Hall is on the cusp of appealing his sentence for the murder of a 15-year-old girl, Jessica Roach. The FBI, however, believes Hall’s body count is much higher and are desperate to keep him behind bars, leading to a deal with Keene who is serving ten years in prison for possessing illegal firearms. In Black Bird and, Keene manages to befriend Hall and get him to talk candidly about the murder of Roach. In exchange for entering USMCFP Springfield and for being an informant, the FBI promised Keene his freedom. In real life, Keene also managed to get Larry Hall to speak about the murder of another young girl, Tricia Reitler.
The true story behind Black Bird’s James Keene culminated in him noticing Larry Hall in USMCFP Springfield’s woodwork shop, carving falcons and working on a map with 21 red marks on it. Keene believed he had uncovered proof that Hall had buried dozens of bodies and notified the FBI. Keene’s actions came to nothing, however, as he ended up blowing his cover by confronting Hall and being sent to solitary confinement. While the map disappeared and the FBI where never able to confirm exactly how many women Hall murdered, Hall did eventually confess to several killings. While it’s not clear where the Black Bird will end, the real Larry Hall is now 56 years old and serving a life sentence behind bars in Butner, North Carolina.
What Happened To Larry Hall’s Twin Brother, Gary Hall
Gary Hall is Larry Hall’s twin Brother. In Black Bird, he is played by Jake McLaughlin and helps his brother to get a lawyer during his transfer to USMCFP Springfield in episode 2, “We Are Coming, Father Abraham.” While starting off defending his brother, Gary Hall ends up working with the FBI and manages to get a number of confessions from Hall. He also recounted to CNN at the time that the conviction of his twin as a serial killer “made sense.” However, there has been some online media speculation that Gary Hall was somehow complicit in his brother’s crimes. Gary Hall has sought to keep a low profile ever since and not much is known about him, except he lives close to the Hall brothers’ hometown of Wabash, Indiana.
Black Bird keeps fairly close to the true story of Larry Hall and the attempts of James Keene to befriend him. As a TV show, Black Bird of course ratchets up the tension, and while not directly revealing Hall as the serial killer he is, it’s clear to the audience and to Keene that Larry Hall is a dangerous man. It’s safe to assume that Black Bird will end in the same place as real life, with Larry Hall continuing to serve his sentence in jail.
