In a dramatic showdown, Charles Harrelson, an intoxicated contract killer and fugitive, was finally apprehended by armed police officers.
Shirtless and adorned with gold chains, the deranged outlaw pointed his own gun at his chin, wildly claiming to have assassinated US President John F. Kennedy.
Could it be possible that two of Hollywood's most sought-after leading men – Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson – are not only friends but also brothers who share the same mass murderer father?
Photos of the Texan duo together, both starring in the critically acclaimed 2014 series True Detective, undeniably reveal a striking resemblance.
They both possess prominent Roman noses and lantern jaws.
Matthew, 53, who gained fame for his role in Dallas Buyers Club, has commented on their similarities, stating, “Where I start and where he ends, and where he starts and I end, has always been like a blurry line.
My kids call him Uncle Woody.
His kids call me Uncle Matthew.”
Adding fuel to the fire, Woody recently disclosed in an interview that Matthew's mother, Mary, had told him, “I knew your father.”
The comment, accompanied by a significant pause, was filled with innuendo, according to the interviewer.
Woody, 61, revealed, “The year of Matthew's birth, nine months prior, she was on a break from her relationship with his supposed father, Jim.”
Speculation surrounding these claims has reached a fever pitch, leading both men to consider taking DNA tests.
Coincidentally, they have just finished filming another series together called Brother From Another Mother, where they portray fictionalized versions of themselves living on a Texas ranch.
The circumstances surrounding Matthew's parentage are anything but ordinary.
His “official” parents had a tumultuous relationship, divorcing twice and marrying three times.
Matthew was born in 1969 in the small town of Uvalde, Texas, to James Donald “Jim” McConaughey, a former college football player turned oil pipe supply business owner, and Mary Kathleen McCabe, a kindergarten teacher and published author.
In his memoir Greenlights, published in 2020, Matthew recounted a violent altercation between his parents that ended with them making love.
He speculates that his mother's extended holidays were actually periods when she and his father had separated.
Jim passed away in 1992 under peculiar circumstances.
Widowed Mary revealed, “My husband died making love to me.
And I remember saying when he fell back, ‘What's the matter, big boy?
Did I wear you out?'”
Matthew's father had always told him and his brothers that he would be making love to their mother when he passed away.
True to his word, he suffered a heart attack during climax.
Woody, born Woodrow Tracy Harrelson in 1961 in Midland, Texas, eight years before Matthew, also has an intriguing family history.
His mother, Diane Oswald, worked as a secretary, while his father, Charles Voyde Harrelson, was a wife-beating assassin-for-hire.
Described as a con man with charisma by a Texas Ranger, Harrelson Sr. had a reputation as a cold-blooded killer.
He shockingly claimed to have shot JFK from the infamous “grassy knoll” during the presidential assassination in 1963.
Harrelson, nicknamed Chuck, was born in Lovelady, Texas, in 1938 and had a brief stint in the Navy before turning to a life of crime.
He was convicted of armed robbery a year before Woody's birth.
When asked if his mother knew about his father's profession, Woody replied, “Oh yeah, she was pretty aware of all that… Well, no, she had fallen out of love with him.
I have to give her credit because she never soured us on him or spoke negatively about him.
And she could have – he wasn't the best husband or father.”
Woody's parents separated when he was seven, but his father's presence was sporadic due to his frequent incarcerations.
Considering Harrelson Sr.'s extensive criminal record, which may have included up to 50 killings, it is unsurprising that he was often absent from his family's life.
Harrelson Sr. faced trials for the murders of grain dealer Sam Degelia Jr. and carpet salesman Alan Berg in 1968.
His then-girlfriend Sandra Sue Attaway testified against him, claiming that he forced Berg at gunpoint into a car and shot him in the head.
Berg's remains were discovered six months later in a ditch.
However, Harrelson was found not guilty by a jury.
In 1970, he faced his first trial for Degelia's murder, which allegedly occurred as part of a life insurance scheme orchestrated by a business partner.
The trial ended with a hung jury.
While awaiting retrial, Harrelson reportedly bribed a guard to have s**ual relations with another prisoner's sister.
During his second trial in 1973, an accomplice overheard Harrelson saying, “Isn't it hell when your buddy kills you to collect the insurance?”
He was found guilty this time and sentenced to 15 years in prison.
He was released after serving five years for good behavior.
In 1979, Harrelson was rumored to have been paid $250,000 for the murder of Judge John Wood, who was shot in the back with a long-range sniper rifle.
The judge was about to preside over the trial of Jamiel “Jimmy” Chagra, the largest marijuana trafficker in the US during the 1970s.
Known as Maximum John for his penchant for imposing the harshest sentences on drug dealers, Wood became Harrelson's target.
After a six-hour armed standoff, Harrelson was finally arrested for the murder.
The prosecutor at his 1982 trial described him as someone who had brought harm to everyone he encountered.
He received two life sentences and died from a heart attack 25 years later while in the Florence super-maximum-security prison in Colorado.
Woody, who visited his father in prison, has expressed doubts about the fairness of the trial, claiming that his father was a secret CIA operative.
However, a former Mafia associate named Kenny Gallo, who was close to Harrelson Sr., denied that he had killed 50 people.
He stated that while Harrelson may have been involved in numerous killings, he personally carried out only six.
As Matthew contemplates undergoing a paternity test, he must grapple with the potential repercussions of uncovering a deadly legacy.
For Woody, the stakes are even higher, as finding a new father in Chuck Harrelson, a natural-born killer, would be an enormous revelation.
In conclusion, the story of Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson possibly being brothers sharing the same mass murderer father is one that captivates with its complexity and intrigue.
The uncanny resemblance between the two actors, coupled with their own suspicions and their families' connections, fuels speculation and prompts them to consider DNA tests.
As these Hollywood icons navigate their newfound bond, they must confront the dark history and legacy left by their alleged shared father, Charles Harrelson.
