Dylan McDermott ‘Suppressed’ Feelings Over Mother’s Murder For 43 Years

On February of 1967, Dylan McDermott’s mother was killed in a mysterious case that was eventually ruled an accident, but over four decades later, the actor was still not satisfied with the police’s findings.

“In December 2010, famed actor, Dylan McDermott, goes to the Waterbury Police Department. He’s looking for answers,” says Geraldo Rivera in a teaser for REELZ’s new docuseries, Geraldo Rivera’s Murder In the Family: Dylan McDermott.

“Dylan expressed an interest in coming into the police station to talk to me, to see if there was anything we can do with the case to look into it further,” recalls retired Waterbury, CT, Chief of Police Michael Gugliotti.

Despite the fact that he had lived without his mom for over 40 years, the American Horror Story actor, 57, refused to give up on her case.

“His mother Diane may have been a victim of a crime. In 1997, her shooting death was ruled an accident. But 43 years later, McDermott believes her former boyfriend may have played a big part in her death and it was no accident,” adds Rivera.

While it was not an easy task, McDermott eventually persuaded investigators into reopening his mother’s cold case.

“Dylan McDermott suppressed, emotionally, his feelings for a very, very long time. You can’t underestimate that, the courage that it took for him to come forward,” says Gugliotti.

“Despite resistance from witnesses, Waterbury investigators develop a clearer picture about Diane McDermott’s former boyfriend, the career criminal John Sponza, who was later killed in a mob-style hit,” concludes Rivera in the promo clip.

Geraldo Rivera’s Murder In the Family: Dylan McDermott airs Saturday, November 17 at 9 ET / PT on REELZ.