Volu m e II - Purdue University Calumet

excellence as a Sheriff, Sam Deeds still has trouble being convinced that his father was as good as everyone
else in Rio County believed him to be.
Later, Buddy Deeds’ interpretation of the past changes when he is called out to a scene in
the scrub flats of Rio County were an old human skull had been found and later when he meet with
Ben Wetzle to discuss the find. Ben Wetzle, the forensics detective, tells Sam that the body was that of a
male Caucasian that was forty to sixty years old at the time of death, five foot nine to five foot eleven, and
chewed tobacco. Also at the scene there had been a Rio County Sherriff’s badge found. From these clues,
Sam concluded that the body must have belonged to the infamous Charley Wade. Because there was not
much to go on and there was no trauma to the skull, Sam jokingly suggested that Charley “Could have gone
out to the base, hopped the fence, dug down into the dirt on the old rifle range and had a heart attack”
(Screenplay). Ben then asked Sam if he remembered what his father carried as a firearm. Sam replied that
it was a Colt Peacemaker, a .45 that he swore by. Confused by Ben’s question, Sam realized that Buddy
was on Ben’s “short list” and became uncomfortable at the thought that his father may have been involved in
the murder of Charley Wade. Ben assured him that names were going to be left out of the investigation
until they solve it. However, it is clear by Sam’s reaction that he never thought about his father being the
murderer of Charley Wade. He simply thought that Charley left town after Buddy threatened him, until
Ben presented him with new information that changed his interpretation of history and what type of person
his father was.
With new information gathered from more people who came in contact with Buddy Deeds
and Charley Wade, Sam draws a new conclusion about his father. Throughout the film Sam spoke to
different characters about his father. He learned from Pete the Mexican janitor that Buddy never busted
him for marijuana but put him in jail for other reasons. Also, Pete told him that while he was serving time
in jail, Buddy let him build a porch for the Deeds while Mrs. Deeds made him homemade meals. When
Sam spoke to Chucho Montoya, he discovered that Charley Wade had murdered Eladio Cruz for bringing
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