Horror movies can be disturbing, but nothing is as disturbing as the crimes human beings inflict on others. Netflix has many true crime documentaries and docuseries that go into great detail on horrific crimes and murders that have been committed.
Sometimes it’s the way murders were committed that makes the stories so disturbing, and other cases are disturbing because of who killed who (parental killings are the worst). Or maybe there was no murder at all, but the perpetrator manipulated events to an unbelievable degree.
Either way, Netflix manages to keep us glued to the screen, watching and waiting for the incredible outcome. Interviews with witnesses, family members, law enforcement, victims, and sometimes the actual person who committed the crime – all of these combined with timelines and video footage work together to present compelling true crime stories.
American Murder: Gabby Petito – The newest docuseries on this list just began streaming this month. 22-year-old Gabby went missing while on a “van life” trip with her fiancée Brian Laundrie. When they hadn’t heard from her for several days, her parents contacted law enforcement, and thus began one of the most compelling true crime cases of the last few years.
What makes the story and series so disturbing is not only the fact that Brian killed the young woman he professed to love. Brian’s family not only protected him, they were very blasé about the whole thing. We don’t know for sure how much they knew, but when the police showed up at their front door, the Laundrie’s stated that they had already retained an attorney, and would not even talk to them. The police never had a chance to interview Brian or even see him face-to-face.
American Murder: The Family Next Door – Honestly, this one tops all of the others on this list for disturbing content. When pregnant Shanann Watts and her two little girls (ages three and four) went missing, law enforcement were almost immediately suspicious of her husband Chris Watts. They had good reason for feeling that way, and it turned out that he had murdered all three of them.
There are very few things more disturbing than a parent killing his or her young children, and Chris’s way of disposing of his love ones was absolutely shocking; he buried his wife near an oil storage facility, and stuffed the bodies of his little girls into oil tanks. Even worse, at one point, he tried to say that Shanann had killed the girls, and in his grief and shock, he killed her in retaliation.
The docuseries gives us a birds-eye view of Chris’s behavior during the cops’ first visit to his home, thanks to body cam footage, and even those of us who don’t study criminal behavior can tell he is nervous and trying to hide something. It’s just really hard to believe that a seemingly loving father and husband could do something so heinous.
I am a Stalker – This series is absolutely fascinating for anyone who is interested in what goes on in the mind of a stalker. As in many true crime docs, the stories are all told by victims, witnesses, family members and law enforcement. But what makes I Am a Stalker unique is that we also get to watch and hear the offenders “tell their side.”
I was astounded to hear most of them claim that they didn’t realize what they were doing was stalking, and they wouldn’t have done it if they had known. Obviously, that’s a complete cop-out. When someone tells you that do not want you contacting them, continuing to do so is stalking.
Many of the stalkers also lie about what they actually did, even when solid evidence says otherwise. What sticks in my mind is Ruben Jaramillo, whose stalking of his ex included him showing up at her parents’ house with handcuffs and a stun gun. On camera, he claims that the items were toys…but somehow that “toy” taser was used on his ex’s father, causing him to have a heart attack.
So, does Ruben actually now believe that he used toys, or is he just lying to try and convince us? Thankfully, he is serving a very long sentence for aggravated assault for that attack.
Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal – Boy does this story have a lot of twists and turns (and disturbing details). At the crux of the series is the death of Mallory Beach, a 19-year-old woman who got on a boat with her boyfriend and a few other friends, including Paul Murdaugh. Murdaugh was very drunk, but insisted on driving the boat, eventually crashing it into a bridge.
Mallory was thrown from the boat, and a search was launched, but almost immediately Paul and his father, influential local politician Alex Murdaugh were denying that he had been driving the boat, claiming that one of his friends had been at the helm.
Eight days later, Mallory’s body was found, and Paul was charged but released on bond. The series digs into past (and future) deaths involving the Murdaughs, including Alex’s older son Buster’s good friend who was attacked on a rural road, a housekeeper who died after a fall, and the later shooting death of Paul and his mother.
The most compelling parts of the story are told by Paul’s friends who were on the boat when the accident occurred, particularly the commentary of his former girlfriend Morgan. If you want to see the effects of trauma caused by abuse, you can see it in her eyes.
We are left wondering how on earth this family managed to commit the horrible things they did without someone, anyone, stopping them. It’s proof positive of how privilege can allow people to literally get away with murder.
Night Stalker: The Hunt for a Serial Killer – In the mid-1980s, a serial killer was on the loose in LA and the San Francisco Bay area. Known as “the Night Stalker”, this killer was especially terrifying because he didn’t have a set MO. He attacked couples, individuals and children, sometimes sexually assaulting them, sometimes not. Sometimes he killed his victims, but several survived his horrific attacks.
The docuseries is primarily narrated by two of the detectives who investigated Ramirez’s case, but you will also hear from some of his victims. One of those victims was a nine-year-old girl at the time she was abducted by him, so her story is especially disturbing.
The crimes committed by Ramirez are atrocious, but his eventual capture was extremely satisfying. He was recognized by fellow passengers on a bus (his face was everywhere by then), and was chased down, beaten and apprehended by them until officers could arrive to arrest him. Too bad all violent criminals aren’t captured in this manner!