Black Bird – What happened to Jimmy Keene? (2024)

Black Bird spoilers follow.

Taron Egerton takes centre stage in Apple TV+'s dark new drama, Black Bird.

Retelling the true crime story of James "Jimmy" Keene, the tale follows the former high school star footballer, what led him down a dark path, and how he found redemption.

It's quite the journey, so what exactly happened? And more importantly, where is he now?

Here's everything you need to know about the man behind the series and his life beyond the prison stint depicted on the show.

What happened to Jimmy Keene?

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James "Jimmy" Keene spent the early years of his life living the typical suburban dream in Southern Chicago, Illinois.

He had a loving father, who worked as a police chief, and seemed destined to build a career as an American footballer, nicknamed "The Assassin" on the field. He became one of the star players on his high school team at Kankakee Eastridge High.

However, he chose not to follow scholarships that would have taken him out of state and remained in Chicago. He fell in with a bad crowd as a teenager, and soon became a drug dealer.

In 1996, his house was raided and Keene was arrested as part of a massive drug sting known as Operation Snowplow. He was sentenced to 120 months behind bars (10 years) without the possibility of parole.

Life in prison did not sit well with Keene, and so when Larry Beaumont, the same federal prosecutor who got him charged approached him, he listened to what they had to say.

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His offer was a simple, but dangerous one: befriend suspected serial killer Larry Hall and get him to confess to at least two more murders out of the 19 they believed he was responsible for, and he could walk free.

At the time, Hall was appealing his conviction for the abduction and murder of a 15-year-old, and there was a possibility he could walk free, and they wanted to ensure that didn't happen.

On the one hand, if Keene said no, he would have to wait out his prison term in a minimum security prison, which was far from ideal, but largely safe.

Alternatively, Keene could agree, be transferred to the United States Medical Center for Federal Prisoners in Springfield, Missouri – a maximum security mental health facility that housed the criminally insane – and run the risk of being killed in order to be freed years earlier.

He would need confessions and body locations in order for his deal to be complete.

Keene took the deal, and was soon sent to the maximum security jail. Over time, he was successful in his mission to befriend Hall, bonding with him in the prison workshop.

While there, Hall would carve wooden falcons and place them on a map which had marked locations over Illinois as well as Indiana and Wisconsin. When asked, Hall said it was to "watch over the dead".

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Keene believed the map to be the location spots of all of Hall's victims, and forwarded this information on to the FBI as instructed. After that, he cut ties with Hall. But it wasn't enough and after an argument landed him in solitary confinement, Hall had removed his map and anything associated with it. He was back to square one.

However, Keene proved popular among the inmates thanks to his natural charm and charisma, becoming the 'go-to' guy for pornography and getting in with the mobsters. He also continued to befriend Hall, getting on his good side by defending him in the TV room when a burly prisoner attempted to change the channel Hall was already watching.

Eventually, Hall confessed to the 1993 murder of Jessie Roach to Keene. Roach was just 19 at the time of her murder. However he refused to tell him the location of the body.

The information of Roach and the maps was enough to allow Keene to walk free, and he was finally allowed out of jail in 1999 – having served just under a year-and-a-half in prison.

Speaking on Dateline in 2012, he said he hopes that his role keeping Hall behind bars has allowed him to earn some line of redemption.

"I did a good deed, and I did a lot of good things," he said in the TV interview. "That's where I feel the redemption comes in. I've done something good for the things that I did wrong."

Larry Hall remains incarcerated and it is expected he will remain so for the rest of his life.

Where is Jimmy Keene now?

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Jimmy Keene is still alive and well, and even managed to land an executive producer credit and cameo role in the final episode of Black Bird.

In 2010, Keene released a book about his experiences with Hall called In With the Devil: A Fallen Hero, A Serial Killer, and a Dangerous Bargain for Redemption (credited to himself and investigative journalist Hillel Levin).

St. Martins Press-3PL In with the Devil: A Fallen Hero, a Serial Killer, and a Dangerous Bargain for Redemption

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The book became a hit across the US, with Brad Pitt at the time initially attached to play Keene in a film adaptation back in 2010. In the 12 years since, it was reimagined as a series and is now Black Bird.

Speaking about meeting his character's real-life counterpart, Taron Egerton told Radio Times: "He cameoed in the show, which was great fun, at a very intense, emotional, dramatic part of the story. But he's a really nice guy and he was very pleased that I got in the shape I got into to play him."

The actor added: "He just seemed really pleased and excited and grateful that we were going to such pains to tell his story in the best way we could."

Keene has also appeared on a number of TV interviews and specials regarding his involvement in the Larry Hall case.

Black Bird is available now on Apple TV+, with new episodes airing weekly.

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Tilly Pearce

Freelance writer, Digital Spy
Tilly is Gold-Standard NCTJ accredited journalist with eight years of experience in entertainment journalism.

She has been heard giving her insight on the latest TV stories on BBC Radio across the country and on BBC News.

Previously working with The Sun Online, Yahoo, Metro.co.uk and Independent IE amongst others, she joined the Digital Spy team from 2021-2023 as Deputy TV Editor (Maternity cover).

With a speciality in TV drama and true crime, Tilly has been praised for her exclusive content with A-list stars ranging from Sir David Attenborough to the lawyers behind Making A Murderer.

She’s happy to report her mum now takes her seriously as a journalist as she got to interview George Clooney once.

Black Bird – What happened to Jimmy Keene? (2024)
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