If you’re looking for the next great true-crime show to binge-watch on Netflix, you’ve come to the right place. There’s been a significant rise in true-crime documentaries ever since the streaming world opened up. That has allowed several stranger-than-fiction stories we know.
Therefore, a truly great crime docuseries ropes you in with a fascinating hook. However, then delves deeper and deeper into the case with each subsequent episode. And while murder is certainly a theme on our list here, there are a few true-crime shows focused on non-violent crimes. However, the list is below.
The Keepers
This seven-part documentary series examines the murder of Sister Catherine Cesnick. Also, it’s linked to a priest who has been accused of abuse. Filmmaker Ryan White reportedly felt that the scope of the story he was telling became frightening. In an interview with The Guardian, he claimed that it was the most uncomfortable he’d been in his entire career. Also, he’d always had a sense that he was rooting around something that people didn’t want him to.
Inside The Mind Of A Serial Killer
The premise of this 20-episode-long docuseries is basic but terrifying. Also, spread over two seasons, it’s a deep dive into the minds of infamous serial killers. They feature dramatic reenactments and real-life footage in an attempt to understand why they did what they did.
The Innocent Man
The six-part series is an adaptation of John Grisham’s non-fiction book by the same name. It also sees the author play executive producer for the documentary. However, it follows the story of two murders in the early 1980s, which took place in the small town of Ada, Oklahoma. The documentary digs into the sketchy police and prosecutorial work associated with the investigations that convicted four people in the case. In the trailer, Grisham says, “If I wrote The Innocent Man as a novel, people wouldn’t believe it,” adding more intrigue to the premise.
Murder Mountain
This show covers an area of Northern California’s Humboldt County. A place that’s infamous for having the highest rate of missing persons reported in the state of California. It has multiple disappearances and murders of people associated with the local marijuana industry. The six-episode series mainly focuses on the case of 29-year-old Garret Rodrigues. The cannabis grower was found murdered in the region in 2013.
American Murder: The Family Next Door (2020)
In this chilling Netflix documentary, director Jenny Popplewell reexamines the tragic 2018 murders of pregnant Colorado woman Shannan Watts and her two young daughters at the hands of her husband. He convicted family annihilator Chris Watts. Using police body cam recordings, home security footage, and Shannan’s own social media posts, Popplewell shows the months and weeks preceding their deaths as well as the aftermath. In the first month of the documentary’s release, it was watched by more than 50 million households. That makes it a Netflix-watched documentary at the time.
Abducted in Plain Sight (2017)
Skye Borgman’s 2017 documentary presents the jaw-dropping story of Jan Broberg. A small-town Idaho girl who, in the 1970s. The next-door neighbour kidnapped her twice. An adult Broberg recounts the bizarre events surrounding the kidnappings. Which are just as disturbing as the crimes themselves. Broberg later collaborated with Nick Antosca for Peacock’s A Friend of the Family, a drama series based on her story, starring Jake Lacy as Robert Berchtold.
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