LEWISTON — The story of Donna Paradis’ murder and the capture of her killer is headed for TV.

Cable channel Investigation Discovery will feature the story at 8:30 p.m. Friday in an episode of “Main Street Mysteries.” On Time Warner Cable, the network runs on Channel 104. It is also available on some Direct TV subscriptions.

The tragedy — Paradis, 38, was pregnant at the time with her third child — made it an emotional story that was attractive to the series, Executive Producer Ron Simon said Tuesday.

“She was trying to restart her life,” Simon said. “We’ve all struggled. She was just trying to buy a car for $400 when she was murdered.”

The details are well-known to local people who followed the case.

On Oct. 23, 2007, Paradis was seen at a Lewiston bank, taking out the money for the car. The search began hours later when she never made it home.

The TV show begins with the narration, “A mother of two vanishes from a small town.”

Through interviews and re-enactments, the show depicts the search for clues that led police to question co-workers, Paradis’ ex-husband in the local area and her new husband in Syria.

A production crew spent five days in Lewiston last December, interviewing investigators from the city and Maine State Police. They also talked with Assistant Attorney General Lisa Marchese.

Detective Sgt. Brian O’Malley of the Lewiston police spent more than two hours being interviewed on camera and more time recreating the search and interviews.

It was uncomfortable — “I’ve never worn makeup before,” O’Malley confessed — but it was worth it to depict the hard work of so many people, he said.

The show also returned to the woods behind Lewiston’s Promenade Mall, where police were tracing Paradis’ walking route and discovered her nude body. They also found the pickax used to dig a shallow grave. A bar-coded sticker from Walmart was still affixed to the ax handle.

“Thank God for stupid criminals,” Marchese said in her interview.

The pickax led police to Richard Dwyer, a co-worker at Affiliated Computer Services Inc, a Lewiston call center. He was captured on video buying the tool. The video is shown in the TV show.

“We see investigations all the time where that might have been missed,” said Simon, praising the police work in the case. “It’s amazing how they put that together.”

It made for compelling TV, Simon said.

More compelling, though, is interview footage with Paradis’ daughter, Jeanette Kontos, he said.

“She came across so strong,” Simon said. “You had to feel for her loss, but you are also impressed with her strength.”

Dwyer was convicted of raping and strangling Paradis. He was sentenced to life in prison.

dhartill@sunjournal.com

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