Bridgette Gibson (A Deadly Adoption)

Bridgette Gibson aka: Joni Mathers (Jessica Lowndes) was the main villainess of the 2015 Lifetime film A Deadly Adoption (airdate June 20, 2015).

History[]

Some time prior to the movie's events, Joni Mathers had an affair with alcoholic financial writer Robert Benson, who became an alcoholic as a result of his wife's miscarriage and subsequent infertility. Afterwards, Robert became remorseful and vowed to recover from his addiction and become a better husband to his wife Sarah. But Joni, not content to let Robert get away, decided to scheme to win him back. Aiding her in her quest was her lover Dwayne Tisdale.

Events[]

After learning about Sarah's miscarriage and the Bensons' desire to have another child, Joni began her twisted scheme by murdering the couple's original adoptive mother Bridgette Gibson and taking on her identity, using a fake baby bump to make herself appear pregnant. She managed to convince the Bensons into letting her move into their house by saying she was living in a homeless shelter. Soon after her arrival, "Bridgette" began her plan to attempt to seduce Robert into leaving Sarah for her. She also began to charm Robert and Sarah's 6-year-old daughter Sully, persuading her not to tell her parents about her faking her pregnancy (lying and claiming she was pregnant, but just didn't get an enlarged stomach like other women) and about an encounter she had with Dwayne while riding her bike with Bridgette.

Robert became aware of Bridgette's true identity and intentions when he found his book among her possessions, the autograph he gave her inside it. But by that point, Bridgette and Dwayne had kidnapped Sully. He and Sarah report her to the police, and they reveal how Joni had been impersonating the real Bridgette Gibson after killing her. Meanwhile, Joni and Dwayne had brought Sully to the cabin they owned across the lake, Dwayne believing their plan was solely to blackmail Robert into giving them ransom money for Sully's return. When Sarah's co-worker Charlie followed Dwayne to the cabin one day, the villainous couple caught him and Dwayne shot the man dead.

When the diabetic Sully began to fall ill due to not having her insulin, Joni confronted Robert at his home. The two struggled until Joni shot Robert in the shoulder before knocking Sarah out, placing the woman in her car while it was running to kill her with carbon monoxide poisoning. But Robert was able to save Sarah in time and the two went to confront Joni. During this time, Dwayne had realized that Joni's plan was to get with Robert, which angered him. When he threatened to stop her, Joni non-fatally shot Dwayne before taking off with Sully in his truck. Joni confronted Robert on a bridge, attempting to hit him with the truck before he dove out of the way. Sully ran to her father and Joni pointed a gun at them, calling Robert a coward and telling Sully to come back to her before she killed him. Suddenly, after Robert whispered to her, she and Robert dove off the bridge into the water, getting into a motor boat they already had set up. Just as Joni prepared to shoot Robert, Sarah suddenly shot and killed the villainess from behind, her body falling into the river.