A FAMILY IS MURDERED, AND THE HUSBAND GOES ON THE RUN POSING AS A NEW YORK TIMES REPORTER

THE TRUE STORY BEHIND THE HOLLYWOOD MOVIE - "48 HOURS: THE PRETENDER"

SATURDAY, MARCH 28, 2015

Maureen Maher and 48 HOURS investigate the true story of murder so strange that Hollywood made a feature film on the case in "The Pretender" to be rebroadcast Saturday, March 28 (10:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.

The story is set in 2001 when journalist Michael Finkel's professional life was a mess. Once a rising star at the New York Times, Finkel was then out of work. He had lost his job after fabricating details of a story. Then he got a strange call from a reporter in Oregon asking what he knew about a man named Christian Longo.

Finkel didn't know Longo, but Longo knew about him. What Finkel learned was that Longo had been charged with killing his wife and children and fleeing to Mexico. While there, Longo pretended to be Finkel.

Before he fled, Longo was a married father of three living in Oregon. He moved his family there from Michigan after committing a series of crimes, including stealing a minivan for his family. His wife, MaryJane, also learned he was having an affair, but was committed to keeping the marriage together. The move to Oregon was supposed to mark a fresh start.

Then police found the bodies of Longo's wife and three children in the waterway just outside of their home.

The FBI eventually tracked Longo down in Mexico. That's when Finkel found out he was a side player in a major murder case. What police and Finkel also learned was that Longo was an avid reader of the New York Times and Finkel's work, making the impersonation fairly easy.

When Finkel learned what happened, he saw Longo's tale for what it was - a great story. He reached out to Longo and in the year leading up to his trial, the two men exchanged more than 1,800 pages of letters, spoke on the phone for more than 50 hours and met in person. In their meetings, Longo promised to tell Finkel the real story about the murders, which he claimed he didn't commit.

Their unusual relationship resulted in a book, True Story, and will soon hit theaters as a theatrical film by the same title starring Jonah Hill and James Franco. Finkel also told his incredible story to Maher and 48 HOURS.

But where does the story end and is justice served? Maher and 48 HOURS tell the story through interviews with Finkel, MaryJane Longo's family, investigators and more. 48 HOURS: "The Pretender" is produced by Miguel Sancho, Gail Abbott Zimmerman and Chris Young Ritzen. Linda Martin is the update producer. Suzanne Allen is the senior coordinating producer. Peter Schweitzer is the senior producer. Susan Zirinsky is the senior executive producer.

Chat with members of the 48 HOURS team during the broadcast on Twitter and Facebook. Follow 48 HOURS on Instagram. Listen to 48HOURS podcasts at Play.it.