An attorney defends a former classmate, who was mercilessly bullied in high school and now stands accused of brutally murdering her husband and five others.

SYNOPSIS:

Like “Pearl” meets “Falling Down”, “Karen with a Shotgun” tells the story of Helen Williams, a suburban housewife, and stepmother who goes on a bloody killing spree that leaves her husband and five others dead. Prosecutor Shoshana Rosen paints a picture of an unhappy woman trapped in an abusive marriage, who turned to murder to solve her problems. Defense attorney Grace Evans, who went to high school with Helen, sees her differently. Sexually abused by her father, ignored by her cold mother, ostracized by her peers, and mercilessly bullied at school, Helen never had a chance. After finally making a break, she’s pulled back in when her father’s diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, and Helen’s forced to quit her job to care for him. Despite his age and sickness, Helen’s father begins abusing her again. When he finally dies, Helen thought she was free, but, at 38, she finds herself broke, unemployed, and on the verge of becoming homeless. Just when all seems lost, Helen meets her “knight in shining armor”, Duncan Williams, a handsome, extremely successful real estate broker. Helen thought she’d be living the dream, only it was just a continuation of her nightmare. Duncan is cruel, domineering, and abusive. His spoiled children treat her like a servant, and she finds herself living in the same neighborhood as her former bullies, who are just as cruel now as they were in school. She discovers her husband is not only having an affair with one of her bullies, but everyone in the neighborhood, except her, knows. Her only friend is Lucas Choi, a gay neighbor. The morning after Lucas is brutally attacked and nearly killed in front of her, Helen loads six shells into a 12 gauge shotgun, stuffs more shells into her pocket, shoots her husband, twice, then tracks down six others, shooting each one. Is she a cold-blooded killer exacting a bloody revenge, or an emotionally fragile victim of horrific abuse who snapped?