I Just Killed My Dad is fascinating true crime docuseries on Netflix

I Just Killed My Dad is the latest Top 10 true crime docuseries on Netflix by Skye Borgman, director of Abducted in Plan Sight, and The Girl in the Picture.  The case appears simple – it starts with the titular confession “I just killed my dad” to a 9-1-1 operator in Baton Rough, LA by 17-year-old Anthony Templet on June 3, 2019.  This teenage boy shot his dad three times, ultimately killing him (Burt Templet was take off life support on June 6, 2019), and never denied it.  This seems like an open and shut case but it turns out, like with all Sky Borgman’s documentaries, the story is anything but simple.

I Just Killed My Dad is presented in just three episodes.  The first episode details the night of the events immediately before and after the crime.  The detectives and prosecutor were convinced, based on the specifics of the crime scene (his dad was trying to get away from Anthony when the fatal shot was fired), and Anthony’s calm, stoic demeanor from the 9-1-1 call all the way through the interrogation, that Anthony was a cold-blooded sociopathic killer who was a threat to public safety and remanded into custody.

In the second episode of I Just Killed My Dad, Anthony Templet is indicted for 2nd Degree Murder

Just when you think that Anthony is doomed to spend 40 years in prison, a couple of things happen in his favor. Anthony claims his dad abused him, but there is no evidence,  no police reports or medical records, to back up this claim. But a co-worker starts to put together little things that Anthony said or that happened while she was working with Anthony that add up to the feeling that maybe there is more to Anthony’s story.  She enlists the help of a DNA/genealogy researcher.  Also, attorney Jarret Ambeau offers to represent Anthony Templet pro bono as Anothony’s assertions of abuse remind him of growing up with drug addicted parents and how that shaped his childhood.

Through multiple interviews with the detectives on the case, the prosecutor and Anthony’s own attorney, the psychiatrists who evaluated Anthony, Anthony’s step-mother and stepbrother, along with anyone else able to shed light on Anthony’s situation, I Just Killed My Dad tells the story from every angle. TV news and newspaper reports are sprinkled in between these interviews, along with an interview with Anthony himself.

What comes out is a story of emotional, verbal, and physical abuse and neglect by Bert Templet (Big Bad Burt, episode 3), the father that made Anthony into an isolated shell of a teenager under constant scrutiny, who didn’t trust authority, and felt helpless to better his situation.

“When your back is against the wall, there is only one thing to do, and that is turn around and fight.” – John Major

I Just Killed My Dad premiered August 9th and is currently streaming on Netflix.

Do you think Anthony Templet now has the chance to live a fulfilling life?  Let me know in the comments!