[27], The Netflix miniseries Unbelievable is an eight-part adaptation of "An Unbelievable Story of Rape", also drawing from "An Anatomy of Doubt" and A False Report. All those windows, for one thing. Shed gone through so much already. About two of those and probably 10 or 11 foster homes., I was on like seven different drugs. Gabrielle Bruney is a writer and editor for Esquire, where she focuses on politics and culture. Rittgarn had been with the department for 11 years, the last four as a detective. Her birthplace is Lynnwood, Washinton, United States, and her age is 32 years old. She said it was about 7 a.m. when she woke to find a man standing over her bed with a butcher knife and wearing latex gloves. The search results can point you to the official or complete court record. "Theres a lot of detail about his background, his life and about what he did, and if you were writing a true-crime novel, you would put all that stuff in there," said Miller during the Longform interview. From there, her record was expunged and police returned her $500. Defendants included Rittgarn, Mason and Lynnwood Police Chief Steven J. Jensen. Rittgarn, who left the Lynnwood Police Department before OLearys arrest, declined to be interviewed for this story. Gina is survived by her parents, Terrance and Jennifer; her husband, Andy; her children, Carter (19), Noah (17) and Chase (13 . ", Merritt Wever and Toni Collette in "Unbelievable. On top of a computer monitor they found a second shoestring, tied to a pair of underwear, the apparent blindfold or gag. The dark mark on his leg. Shannon called Marie and suggested she also contact the Kirkland police. He laboriously counted 261 vehicles and people coming and going on the night of the incident. By the time of the article, Marie was married with two children. He tied her hands. Shannon said she did, too. Our personalities didnt match at first either, Marie says. Maybe she was making up the rape to get moved to a new one. The detectives had thoroughly examined their crime scenes. Marie said she really had been raped and began to cry, saying she was having visions of the man on top of her. Marie turned 18 just three months before the rape. In June 2012, he was sentenced to 40 years for the rape in Kirkland and to 28 years for the rape of Marie in Lynnwood. Link your TV provider to stream full episodes and live TV. It is graphic, but she told us people should hear it. Within days of reporting being raped, Marie had quit her job at Costco, unable to stand there, looking at people, lost in her head. At home, her husband David had done the dishes and put the kids to bed. Three years later, two female detectives from Colorado, Stacy Galbraith (Karen Duvall in the show) and Edna Hendershot (Grace Rasmussen in the show), validated Marie's case, after working to catch a serial rapist and learning that he'd raped Marie too. There was something else she had to do. He was the rapist. She doesnt want her first name revealed. Golden and Westminster were middle class bedroom towns wedged between Denvers downtown skyscrapers and the looming Rockies. She would need to get mental health counseling for her lying. Unbelievable | Official Trailer | Netflix, Netflix's 'Unbelievable' is Based on a True Story, The Best Movies Based on True Stories in 2019, Toni Collettes 'Unbelievable' Role, Explained, charge her with with making a false report to police, Pulitzer Prize-winning 2015 joint investigation, trauma can sometimes cause victims to give differing accounts of their attacks, Armstrong told National Public Radio last year, reported the story in part by interviewing. 7. If you - or anyone you know - needs help, please contact the following: If you're in the US, the National Sexual Assault Hotline is available 24/7 at 800-656-HOPE and you can also visit RAINN. For Marie, Shannons home had long provided an escape or respite. [12] Journalist Pamela Colloff referenced the article as an example of good reporting on criminal justice, as it is told from the perspective of a survivor. But Marie wanted to set out on her own. On the day she reported being raped, Marie phoned Shannon, her former foster mom, after getting back from the hospital. "[38] On Metacritic, the program has a rating of 83 out of 100 based on 25 reviews, indicating universal acclaim. Their article, "An Unbelievable Story of Rape," tells the story of Marie (the middle name of the real victim) and Colorado detectives hunt for a serial predator. In Lynnwood, Washington, an 18-year-old woman, referred to as "Marie," reported being bound, gagged and raped at knifepoint to police. I didnt want this time to be like that, Marie said of her attack on This American Life, comparing it to her first rape. "I wanted to talk about it and get it out.. ProPublica and Marshall Project in-depth story. At around 8 a.m., she was jolted awake by a man who had jumped on her back, pinning her to the bed. I was preparing for a baby. Peggy actually told the police that she believed Marie was lying about the rape. No, she said. However, when the lawsuit was filed in June, the programs CEO, Cassie Franklin, issued a statement saying Our hearts go out to D.M. An internal review also concluded that Mason and Rittgarn's behaviour was "designed to elicit a confession of false reporting." Case managers would show participants the dos and donts of shopping for groceries, handling a credit card, buying insurance. That night, Hendershot drove to break the news to her victim, the 59-year-old widow in Westminster. Hes going to be hard to find, she thought. Hendershot asked one of her departments crime analysts to scour nearby agencies for similar crimes. BF in PJs, game over, he wrote in one nights entry. Marie, who had turned 18 three months before, told police she had been talking on the phone much of the night with her friend Jordan. But when the man looked away, the woman jumped out of her bedroom window. O'Leary had watched women for hundreds of hours, breaking into their houses multiple times before each rape. A low chain-link fence surrounded it. Galbraith began collaboration with Westminster Detective Edna Hendershot, who had investigated two cases in which women aged 59 and 65 were raped in similar ways. Rittgarn told Marie that her story and the evidence didnt match. Roll back over, he told her and she did, and then he raped her, and while he raped her he ran his gloved hands over her. She was just a nice person to have around. How am I going to find him? Galbraith often volunteered to take rape cases. Looking for a condom or its wrapper, Rittgarn checked the bathroom, trash cans and a nearby hillside, but came up empty. They compared investigations. She even called the lead detective on the case the day after and questioned Maries validity. Dont scream. Winning $150,000 in a lawsuit against Lynnwood WA, Marie gets the fuel she needs to leave Washington and start anew. Unexpectedly, a man came to the door. By the end of January 2011, the detectives had connected four rapes over a 15-month period across Denvers suburbs. When Jordan didnt answer, Marie called her foster mother, then her upstairs neighbor, who came down to Maries apartment and called 911. After Marie left, accompanied by her foster mom and case manager, the detectives helped process the scene. And all those sliding glass doors ridiculously easy to pick, when they werent left unlocked, which so often they were. Following police confrontation about inconsistencies in her story, she said that she made the incident up. We were really sad that we werent able to have her with us, Shannon says. Afterward, he ordered her to brush her teeth and wash herself in the shower. It's a tragic story, made even more difficult to watch knowing it's based on a true story. He knew that the Army had a sample of his DNA. Wanting independence, she moved into a program in Lynnwood, Washington entitled Project Ladder designed to help young people transition from foster care to living by themselves. Marie began questioning whether she had dreamed the ordeal, and later told police she had made the story up. But this investigation was his to lead. Where do you go when youre 5 and already thinking about handcuffs? He had first spotted her a couple of weeks before, through a window, while lurking outside her apartment. As the weeks passed, the dead ends continued. She was always nice to talk to.. Rittgarn had already left the department, but Mason came in, looking like a lost little puppy, Marie says. It's that article, "An Unbelievable Story of Rape," that serves as the source material for Netflix's drama co-created by Oscar-nominated Eric Brockovich screenwriter Susannah Grant, executive produced by Katie Couric, and featuring Emmy award-winning actors Toni Collette and Merritt Wever. The man is arrested in February 2011, and subsequent evidence on his hard drive reveals that Marie, not previously known to the local investigative team, was raped by him. Masons report didnt identify the caller but the caller was Peggy. It was just like, freedom. One freeze frame showed that her white Mazda had a broken passenger side mirror. The two bonded naturally. In 2011, Marc O'Leary was arrested in Colorado for rape and Lynnwood WA, Livingston MT Possible Relatives: Kirsten Marie Gilliam, Jo Darlene Hagen. But he did say Marie had told him: When she tried calling him that morning, she had used her toes, because she was tied up. [11] Keller and other editors recommended cutting down on the ending of the article, yielding a short epilogue. "An Unbelievable Story of Rape" is a 2015 article about a series of rapes in the American states of Washington and Colorado that occurred between 2008 and 2011, and the subsequent police investigations. [16], The University of Colorado Boulder reported in 2016 that law enforcement officials had requested to use the article in training. The same person was at work. Hendershot asked for a comparison. And she is resilient. On Dec. 9, 2011, almost a year after his arrest, OLeary was sentenced to 327 years in prison for the Colorado attacks the maximum allowed by law. She went to a conference room and waited. If detectives could eliminate OLearys male relatives, they could place OLeary at the scene of the crimes with a high degree of certainty. The two women who had helped raise Marie talked on the phone. [1], After seven months of email and phone communication with Marie's lawyer, Marie agreed to speak to Armstrong. Marie sued the city of Lynnwood and the . Marie was then charged with a gross misdemeanour for lying and lost friends, family and work after her story made the news. The unbelievable story of how a rape victim in Lynnwood, Washington was charged with falsely reporting the crime and how two female detectives, who believed her, teamed up to find the serial rapist responsible: Marc Patrick O'Leary. We would always hug and she would look you right in the eye. In the bedroom, Marie seemed casual, with nothing to suggest that something horrible had happened there. He said nothing about doubting Maries story, according to Masons written summary. They cracked fast jokes and smiled fast smiles. had been arguing, and the other a friend who had spoken to D.M. Marie figures her happiest years were when she was 16 and 17, and the happiest day may have been one she spent with her best friend, another high school student who was teaching Marie the fine points of camerawork. In 2008, Marie's case was one of four labeled unfounded by the Lynnwood police, according to . It turned up only bad leads. She was wearing new boots that day. She reports entering foster care at age six or seven.". She broke three ribs and punctured a lung in the 7-foot fall to the ground, but managed to escape. In February 2011, a report was unearthed of a suspicious vehicle registered to army veteran Marc Patrick O'Leary, who lived in Lakewood, Colorado, and whose description matched the attacker. Galbraith felt sick. Investigators found a pair of Adidas ZX 700 shoes in OLearys closet. At the hospital, medical staff collected more than a dozen swabs from Marie. When she read the story, she cried. And part of it was how Marie was saying it: She seemed so detached and removed emotionally.. The report on Maries life written by a mental health expert who interviewed her for five hours is written with clinical detachment, describing her life before she entered foster care She reports not knowing much about her biological mother, who she said would often leave her in the care of boyfriends. But in fresh light, it appeared very much like a failed rape attempt, committed by an attacker who closely resembled the description of the rapist. Youre under arrest for burglary and sexual assault which occurred in the City of Golden on January 5, 2011, she told him. Rapes by strangers were uncommon about 13 percent of cases. He took their clothing and bedding with him when he left. When the detectives returned, they saw that Maries new statement described the rape as a dream, not a lie. She reports entering foster care at age 6 or 7. I basically had 20 minutes to pack my stuff and go.. She emailed a crime analyst at another police department, I so want to see this guys leg! Recently, Marie was asked if she had considered not reporting the rape. [22], "An Anatomy of Doubt" is the 581st episode of the American radio program and podcast This American Life. They also discovered a burglary where a masked man had attempted to tie up a 46-year-old woman, who jumped out of her window and was badly injured. In 2008, Marie, from Lynnwood, Washington, reported to police an intruder had broken into her home, bound and gagged her, and raped her at knifepoint. Those investigations often boiled down to an issue of consent. OLeary had been stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord from November 2006 through September 2009, when he moved to Colorado, according to prosecutors in King and Snohomish counties. In hindsight, it was my job to get to the bottom of it and I didnt.. They discovered a pair of Under Armour gloves with a honeycomb pattern. 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