One of the top Hollywood movies in early 2026 is a crime thriller that will be very familiar to people in Indianapolis who were watching their local news almost a half-century ago. "Dead Man’s Wire," starring Bill Skarsgard and directed by Gus Van Sant, is based on a harrowing three-day hostage story that played out in Indianapolis in 1977.
While the story has all the drama to fill a Hollywood movie, the journalists who covered the actual event faced some of the most dangerous moments and complicated ethical decisions of their careers.
Dead Man's Wire
On Febuary 8, 1977, Tony Kiritsis marched into the offices of Meridian Mortgage and took Indianapolis mortgage broker Dick Hall hostage. Kiritsis was angry that the company was foreclosing on his loan. Kiritsis paraded Hall around downtown Indianapolis with a shotgun wired to the back of his head. If Kiritsis or Hall made a sudden movement, or if law enforcement tried to get involved, the gun could go off, killing Hall instantly —the Dead Man’s Wire referred to in the movie title.
Here is how WTTV, Channel 4, covered the first hours of the standoff.
“I Couldn’t Believe I Was Seeing What I Saw”
WTTV photographer Jack Parker raced to downtown Indianapolis that morning after hearing about the incident on a police radio. Even though the event happened a half century ago, Parker remembers all of the details of the chaotic scene.
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Hostage Drama Continues
Tony Kiritsis eventually commandeered a police car and had Dick Hall drive the two men to Kiritsis’ apartment on the west side of Indianapolis. He told police his apartment was also booby-trapped, so if anyone tried to get in, the explosives would go off.
For three days, Kiritsis and Hall stayed in the apartment, while police tried to talk him into releasing his hostage. The Indianapolis incident became a top national story.
Ethical Media Dilemma
Kiritsis was not only negotiating with police, he was also asking the local news media to broadcast his demands. On the third day of the kidnapping, Kiritsis told police and the media that he would let Hall go if Kiritsis had a chance to talk on live TV and radio in Indianapolis.
Each station had to decide if they should put him on a live broadcast, knowing they couldn’t control what he would say or do.
Lee Giles was the News Director of WISH-TV, Channel 8, at the time. Giles said he decided to broadcast the event live, partly because Kiritsis promised he would not have a gun to Hall’s head at the event.
Kiritsis lied.
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Photo by John Blair; courtesy of Dead Man's Line
The live press conference with Kiritsis ranting while holding the gun to Hall’s head was seen well beyond Indianapolis. The ABC network interrupted an awards show for part of the unbelievable scene.
Kiritsis finally agreed to let Hall go. No one was hurt. Giles says that after all these years, he doesn’t know if he made the right call or not in allowing the live broadcast.
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Kiritsis Story Legacy
Photographer Jack Parker went on to a long, successful career in broadcasting after the event. But he said that one of his strongest memories of all those years was the work he did on a cold winter morning in Indianapolis in 1977.
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Other Resources
For more information on the media involvement in the story that inspired "Dead Man’s Wire," check out this IBHA background story.
You can also watch full oral history interviews with three people who covered the Kiritsis story, Jack Parker, Lee Giles, and Tom Cochrun.
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Katherine Maners, Lily Saylor, Ryan Costello, and Mike Conway
January 2026