10 Movies Where The Killer Never Gets Caught

American Beauty opens with Lester Burnham's (Kevin Spacey) voiceover flatly telling the audience that he'll be dead a year from now, and duly, the film ends with him being shot in the head by his neighbour, Colonel Frank Fitts (Chris Cooper), after Lester rejects his romantic advances.

Even though Fitts appears to be in a deeply emotional state when he finally confronts his own repressed homosexuality and is rebuffed by Lester, he nevertheless takes appropriate care to ensure he likely isn't fingered for the murder.

First and foremost, we see Frank wearing surgical gloves, ensuring he won't leave any incriminating fingerprints at the scene, and given his generally exacting demeanour throughout the film, it's easy to believe he'll take all necessary precautions to avoid being accused.

Plus, there are several other decidedly more probable suspects in his midst - most of all Lester's wife Carolyn (Annette Bening), who actually plotted to do it herself before Fitts beat her to it.

In fact, in an ironic twist the movie's original ending saw Lester's daughter Jane (Thora Birch) and her boyfriend Ricky (Wes Bentley) - who is also Frank's son - put on trial for the crime instead, with director Sam Mendes allegedly shooting both "guilty" and "not guilty" outcomes, neither of which were ultimately used.