Brigham City 2001

In Brigham City, Utah, Wes Clayton serves as the town sheriff and a devout Latter-Day Saint, one of seventeen bishops in a community that has rarely faced serious crime. He works with a small, loyal staff: Peg, his witty receptionist, and Stu, the elderly former sheriff, alongside Terry, a young and idealistic deputy. The town’s calm veneer sits beneath a layer of routine good faith, and Clayton strives to keep that balance even when shadows begin to creep in.

While patrolling with Terry, Clayton stumbles upon the battered body of a young woman in an isolated shack by the road. Lacking experience in murder investigations and keen to shield Brigham City from fear, he calls in the FBI from Salt Lake City. Among the agents is Meredith, who privately suggests that the killer is likely someone from Brigham City, a claim Clayton is reluctant to accept but cannot entirely dismiss. The investigation advances slowly, hampered by limited resources and the challenge of proving guilt without turning the town against itself.

Soon after, a second tragedy strikes: the body of a local beauty-pageant queen is found under a gazebo, raped and strangled. The case amplifies fear and suspicion, and Clayton decides to widen the search to include the town’s residents and even migrant workers employed by Ralph, a local contractor. A determined effort to gather fingerprints from beer bottles at a nearby bar begins, a symbolic attempt to trace clues through the everyday objects people touch. Clayton steps away from the fieldwork briefly, trusting his team to carry on.

Tragedy compounds when Stu, out on a routine assignment at a convenience store, encounters a violent robbery in progress and discovers Jamie, a local girl, tied up. Before anyone can intervene, the killer shoots Stu and abducts Jamie. Clayton arrives at the scene and, pushed to the edge, grows certain that the threat lies within Brigham City itself rather than from an outsider. The discovery intensifies the town’s rift and tests Clayton’s resolve.

Inside the police station, Peg confides in Meredith that Clayton’s relentless drive stems from a fatal car accident years earlier that claimed his wife and son and left him in a coma for days. Peg’s insight underscores the human cost behind Clayton’s stubborn devotion: he pursues justice because he understands what people can lose and fears losing more.

With the investigation taking on a personal dimension, Clayton mobilizes most of the town’s male church members to canvass every house for Jamie and any signs of the other disappearances. The effort strains the community, provoking resistance from some, notably at a photographer’s home where a confrontation over searching becomes heated. Although Clayton finds a troubling pornography collection in that house, nothing directly links it to Jamie or the murders. He returns to the methodical work of fingerprinting, revisiting the bottles and rechecking the evidence, including a thermos brought by Peg’s boyfriend, hoping for a breakthrough.

Clayton later visits Terry’s home to discuss the fingerprint results, revealing a crucial turn: Terry’s fingerprints match a criminal previously convicted of rape in Arizona. Clayton uncovers a more troubling truth: after his release, Terry assumed the identity of a returned missionary who died in a drowning accident and moved to Brigham City under a new persona. Terry admits to involvement in the disappearances of other young women and to the murders, including Jamie, linking him directly to the horrific chain of crimes.

Arresting Terry becomes the plan, but when Terry draws a gun, Clayton is forced to defend himself and ends up killing him in front of Terry’s wife, who pleads with him to leave. The killer is stopped, but the victory comes at a high personal and communal cost, leaving Clayton emotionally exhausted and morally unsettled.

In the aftermath, the Sunday church service becomes a quiet reckoning. Clayton chooses not to partake in the sacrament, feeling unworthy after the violence and the weight of the case. The congregation observes the moment, and many join him in abstaining, signaling a shared recognition of fault and responsibility. Clayton’s pain culminates in tears, and as he finally takes the sacrament, the entire community follows with him, a solemn moment of collective endurance and renewed faith.