The True Story of a Woman's Twisted "Midwest Obsession"

Earlier today, I watched a movie known as Midwest Obsession, and I loved every minute of this flick. It's one of those old-school Lifetime-esque movies from the 90s, and while doing my homework for this film, I learned that, like most of Lifetime's old thrillers, this film originally aired on NBC under the title, Beauty's Revenge. I would also later learn that this film is based on a true crime story that took place back in the late 1980s.

Regarding the actual people in this story, the victim was Lisa Anne Cihaski, who had been in an on-and-off relationship with Bill Buss, who was three years her senior, for several years. They split up in 1987 before Lisa left for college, but by the summer of 1989, they were back together, as they realized how much they missed each other. While they were separated, however, Bill dated a woman named Lori Esker for a year and a half. Lori and Lisa were schoolmates, and during that same summer, Lori was crowned the Dairy Princess of Marathon County.

Though Lori was seen as a sweet-natured young woman, the breakup with Bill transformed her into an obsessed stalker who continuously pursued Bill and attempted to get him back, only to be rebuffed at every turn. By the early fall of 1989, Lori was dead set on eliminating Lisa, who she was as the one obstacle in her way to getting back with Bill. The night in question was September 20 of that year, and it saw Lori track Lisa to her workplace before entering her car to confront her. Lori falsely claimed that she was pregnant with Bill's child, leading to a confrontation that turned physical and then murderous, as Lori strangled Lisa to death with a belt.

It was Lisa's mother, Shirley Cihaski, who found her daughter's body in her car on the following day, and just over a week to identify Lori as her killer. Lori mentioned her confrontation with Lisa and actually admitted killing her, though she claimed self-defense. Yeah, Lori had that belt around Lisa's neck for two minutes. That's the length of a power play in hockey. Lori was convicted of first-degree intentional homicide in June of 1990, and sentenced to life in prison, though she would be eligible for parole after serving 13 years and 9 months. She was first up for parole in 2017, and after some delays, Lori Esker was actually released from prison on July 16, 2019, at only the age of 50.

The aforementioned movie, Beauty's Revenge (retitled Midwest Obsession) aired on NBC on September 25, 1995. The names were changed, but it's definitely a retelling of that same true crime story. The victim, Lisa Cihaski, was renamed Beth McKinnis, and she was played by Tracey Gold, who was a few years removed from her run on the ABC sitcom, Growing Pains. Gold had appeared in a lot of these early Lifetime films from the latter half of the 1990s, usually playing the villainess role. It was refreshing seeing her as a heroine, and I truly enjoyed Gold's performance in this telefilm.

The villainess, Lori Esker, was renamed Cheryl Ann Davis, and she was played by Courtney Thorne-Smith. At the time of this film, Thorne-Smith was playing Alison Parker on the Fox drama Melrose Place, and as I watched this, I absolutely drank in seeing Courtney Thorne-Smith playing such a psychotic villainess. Cheryl continued to go further down the rabbit hole in this film, and Thorne-Smith's portrayal of Cheryl's insanity was just so delicious; I absolutely loved it! To the best of my knowledge, I don't think Courtney Thorne-Smith's done the villainess thing before; I did my homework on her MP character, and based on what I read, Alison was pretty much on the babyface side. Considering what I do know about some of MP's evil beauties (which I also drank in), it is a bit refreshing to learn about a good character on that show.

Courtney Thorne-Smith went on to co-star with Jim Belushi on the ABC sitcom, According to Jim, playing the title character's wife, Cheryl. The sitcom lasted for eight seasons between 2001 and 2009, and after that, Thorne-Smith recurred on Two and a Half Men as Alan Harper's on-and-off girlfriend, Lyndsey MacElroy. Thorne-Smith also starred as the title character on Hallmark's Emma Fielding Mysteries film series.

This true crime story is quite a twisted one, and it's because of the movie that I'm writing about this. The real life story is your typical "love triangle murder" tale, and the way this was portrayed in the film was just absolutely epic!