Radio Times

Review by:

Alison Graham

Despite the fact that this sounds like the penny-dreadful title of one of those “look at the freaks” documentaries television is so fond of, it actually masks a grotesque and tragic story.

Mayra Rosales is 28 years old and weighs 74 stone; unsparing, humiliating footage shows the fat cascading around her as she is hauled from her bed and her house by tarpaulin. There is so much tumbling flesh Rosales doesn’t appear to have a body, she’s just a huge, wobbling mound. In 2008 she was accused of murdering her two-year-old nephew in a Texan border town.

The case has triggered one of those American trash-media frenzies with Rosales claiming she accidentally fell on the child. Accused wonders if Rosales really could have committed such a dreadful crime.

About this programme

An insight into a high-profile American murder trial in which 74st Texas woman Mayra Rosales confessed to beating her two-year-old nephew to death. As the only person in the company of the youngster when he died, Mayra became the prime suspect, and the programme follows the twists and turns of the trial, discovering how a bedridden, immobile woman appeared to be admitting to a crime it seemed unlikely she was able to commit. Includes testimony from Mayra, her family and friends, and the doctors, lawyers and investigators involved in the case.

Cast and crew

Crew

Director

Luke Campbell

Executive Producer

Jonathan Nowzaradan

Executive Producer

Sheldon Lazarus

Share this episode