Meanwhile, several years and states away, detectives Grace Rasmussen and Karen Duvall (Toni Colette and Merritt Wever) merge their investigations in a skilled search for a serial rapist. In his home, they found the pink Sony camera in addition to the women's underwear, wet wipes, lube, and a pistol. On a scale of laminated-eyebrow drama to Lemon Lady Secrets. According to the suit, Rittgarn and Mason had D.M. You cant sell our material separately or syndicate it. Its okay to put our stories on pages with ads, but not ads specifically sold against our stories. We examined five years of the "Offenses Known and Cleared by Arrest" data to smooth yearly fluctuations common in crime reporting. He told This American Life that learning he'd been mistaken "was so shocking that this has been the one thing where I seriously step back and question if I should continue doing what I'm doing." Neither officer faced any disciplinary action for the botched investigation. The people interviewed for this story include Marie (in our story, we agreed to use only her middle name); Maries foster mothers Peggy Cunningham and Shannon McQuery; Maries friend Jordan Schweitzer; James Feldman, Maries public defender when she was charged with filing a false police report; H. Richmond Fisher, Maries attorney in her civil suit against Lynnwood, Washington; Golden, Colorado, police Det. (To inquire about syndication or licensing opportunities, contact. Sgt. The victim was too attacked by a man in a black mask who took her pink camera to shoot pictures of her before forcing her to shower. New Report Says Nurses at Illinois Facility Forced Patients to Dig Through Their Own Feces, Records Reveal Medical Response Further Delayed Care for Uvalde Victims, Donald Trump Built a National Debt So Big (Even Before the Pandemic) That Itll Weigh Down the Economy for Years, Hoping to Prevent Repeat of Botched Response to Uvalde, Lawmaker Calls for Improved Training for Police, EMTs, If youre republishing online, you must link to the URL of this story on propublica.org, include all of the links from our story, including our newsletter sign up language and link, and use our. Rittgarn wrote that, Based on her answer and body language it was apparent that D.M. Marie later sued the city of Lynnwood and received a $150,000 settlement. The article also notes that Lynnwood reported 21.3 percent of rape cases "unfounded," or rather, lied about. Parker. "I would spend hours at the beach watching the sunset go down and that was one of my favorite things," she said. This, undoubtedly, turns her life upside down. They told her the Lynnwood case was closed. The records obtained through these requests included investigative reports filed by detectives in Lynnwood and elsewhere; crime-scene photos and surveillance footage collected by the various law-enforcement agencies; the two case reviews of how the Lynnwood police handled the investigation of Maries rape report; and video of Marc OLeary being interviewed by police after his arrest in Colorado. Seattleite, (mostly) retired arts/culture blogger. Nonprofit journalism about criminal justice, A nonprofit news organization covering the U.S. criminal justice system, This story was produced in collaboration with, International Association of Chiefs of Police, National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, Policing and Prosecuting Sexual Assault in Los Angeles City and County. O'Leary was convicted of five rapes, including the Lynnwood one, and is serving a 327-year sentence in a Colorado prison. 2015 Pulitzer Prizewinning ProPublica/Marshall Project story, she sued and settled with the city for $150,000, tweeted some of her thoughts about the show, the book-length follow-up to their original reporting, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. And I am not the only person that didnt believe her., Bridget Everetts amiable Colleen is a stand-in for Adlers real-life foster mother Shannon McQuery. (Jeffrey) Masons experience, when someone asked if they were in trouble, almost always, they were. . Jeffrey Mason, Sgt. While Hendershot never suspected or chatted up an off-duty police officer in a bar to get his DNA, as Grace does in episode six, she did stay behind so Galbraith could arrest OLeary solo, as seen in episode seven. Lynnwood PD, +1 more After I got off the phone with him, I started thinking about all things I was stressed out and I also was scared living on my own. Rarely do. Nobody can get into it. The article earned a 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting, and eventually became a book called A False Report: A True Story of Rape in America. Two months after Adler was charged with false reporting, McQuery told the police investigating a new, similar rape nearby about her case. By using this website, you accept the terms of our Visitor Agreement and Privacy Policy, and understand your options regarding Ad Choices. .css-ssumvd{display:block;font-family:Gilroy,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif;font-size:1.0625rem;font-weight:bold;line-height:1.25;margin-bottom:0;margin-top:0;-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;}@media (any-hover: hover){.css-ssumvd:hover{color:link-hover;}}@media(min-width: 40.625rem){.css-ssumvd{letter-spacing:0rem;margin-top:0.9375rem;}}Gayle Says March Is a Good Month for TV Lovers, Sheryl Lee Ralphs Definition of True Love, What We Know About The Little Mermaid Remake, Oprah Congratulates Kimmel on 20 Years of His Show, Nikole Hannah-Jones on "The 1619 Project", Ta-Nehisi Coates on the Wakanda Forever Podcast, Oprah Is Acting in Tyler Perrys Next Netflix Film, Gayle Wears the Same Dress on CBS 11 Years Later. Lets Do the Thing: How Online Were You in February 2023? 's photograph and ID card in his wallet. After the Lynnwood, Washington, police coerced her recantation and charged her with a "gross misdemeanor," Adler took a plea deal and paid a $500 fine. It was one of many friendships she lost after the Lynnwood charged her as a false accuser. However, based on those statements, Between one-fourth to two-thirds of rapists are serial attackers, studies show. From JAMA Pediatrics, December 2015 and Violence and Victims, Vol 17, 2002 by David Lisak and Paul M. Miller. In December 2015, ProPublica and the Marshall Project co-published An Unbelievable Story of Rape. It was Marie. Helen Pow We ran this calculation for all departments that met our criteria on a national level. According to an outside review of the investigation after Marie was cleared of her false report misdemeanor, "the manner in which she was treated by Sergeant Mason and Detective Rittgarn can only be labeled as bullying and coercive." The Seattle Times reported when the victim sued the Lynnwood PD (which was ultimately settled for $150,000): In August 2008, a stranger broke into the apartment of an 18-year-old Lynnwood woman, gagged her, bound her hands with a shoelace and raped her. When the detectives returned, they saw that Maries new statement described the rape as a dream, not a lie. Evidence proved her right. Galbraith came across a victim she didn't recognize while looking through the images. Words or thoughts attributed to anyone in this story are drawn from these interviews or documents. The lawsuit also states that the Cocoon House, a place for at-risk youth, threatened D.M. A timeline of the (alleged) drama involving Olivia Wilde, Harry Styles, and Florence Pugh. The woman claims she signed that statement under duress after having been questioned for hours without an attorney. But most recent research suggests that false reporting is relatively rare. was living in a small Cocoon House-sponsored apartment after having spent her youth moving among as many as 20 foster homes. After OLearys arrest, the city returned the fine and the court struck the case from its files. Social scientists examining police records in detail and using methodologically rigorous standards cite similar, single-digit rates. From research and studies summarized in a Department of Justice-funded study, Policing and Prosecuting Sexual Assault in Los Angeles City and County, 2012 by Cassia Spohn and Katharine Tellis and from an analysis by ProPublica and The Marshall Project of FBI Uniform Crime Reporting program data, 2008-2012. In real life, Jerry had already left the Lynnwood Police Department before Marie's attacker was convicted, and as far as we can tell, he has declined requests to be interviewed in the time. This station is part of Cox Media Group Television. Jerry Rittgarn declined to be interviewed. Looking into similar crimes, the women discovered a case in Lakewood, another Denver suburb, where a masked man attacked and bound a woman at knifepoint in her home. We reviewed Maries civil suit against Lynnwood, which included such legal exhibits as the medical report from the day she reported being raped and case notes from Project Ladder, the transitional housing program to which she belonged. Rodney Cohnheim and Commander Steve Rider; and Marc OLeary, who was interviewed at the Sterling Correctional Facility in Colorado. He also told her he had taken photos of her and knew her name, and left. As Chris says in the finale, had Adlers case been better investigated, police would likely have caught the rapist sooner. Knowing all of this including the fact that Marie was telling the truth youd tend to think both of these detectives would be suffer some consequence for the whole ordeal. Things you buy through our links may earnNew Yorka commission. Thats five times the national average of 4.3 percent for agencies covering similar-sized populations during that same period.". When Marie's rapist was caught, Detective Rittgarn had already left the Lynnwood police department. According to the ProPublica article, prior to the rape Marie's happiest memories were of time spent practicing photography with her then-best friend. Knowing that youre behind us means so much. Jun 1985 - Jun 19894 years 1 month. While the characters are inspired by the two investigators and their excellent work in catching real serial rapist Marc Patrick OLeary, they're not interchangeable with their offscreen counterparts. The True Story Behind Netflix's Unbelievable, Beanie Feldstein & Kaitlyn Dever Talk 'Booksmart', 9 Books That Tackle Sexual Assault Head on, The Obamas First Netflix Project Is About Trump, Gayle Says March Is a Good Month for TV Lovers, A False Report: A True Story of Rape in America, Your Privacy Choices: Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads. One of the officers named in the lawsuit, Mason, still works for Lynnwood police. Cocoon House CEO Cassie Franklin told the Seattle Times this week: 'Our hearts go out to D.M. We reviewed Maries civil suit against Lynnwood, which included such legal exhibits as the medical report from the day she reported being raped and case notes from Project Ladder, the transitional housing program to which she belonged. The people interviewed for this story include Marie (in our story, we agreed to use only her middle name); Maries foster mothers Peggy Cunningham and Shannon McQuery; Maries friend Jordan Schweitzer; James Feldman, Maries public defender when she was charged with filing a false police report; H. Richmond Fisher, Maries attorney in her civil suit against Lynnwood, Washington; Golden, Colorado, police Det. Jeffrey Mason, the Lynnwood officer heading up Marie's rape investigation (and subsequently charged her for a false report) was transferred to his department from a narcotics task force just six weeks before the call came from Marie. That year, she reported being bound, gagged, and raped by a man who broke into her home. You cant republish our material wholesale, or automatically; you need to select stories to be republished individually. He then raped her. The description of his background comes from his LinkedIn profile. In January 2011, rapist Marc OLeary was apprehended, and the head of the criminal-investigations division showed up at Adlers door to tell her that her photo had been found among his things. The eight-episode series works on two different timelines. LYNNWOOD, Wash. The city of Lynnwood will pay $150,000 in a settlement with a rape victim, after Lynnwood police claimed she lied about the attack in 2008. The police on her case, Sgt. Its nun versus AI in Damon Lindelofs new series. For more information about canonical metadata, You cant edit our material, except to reflect relative changes in time, location and editorial style. The police on her case, Sgt. Cocoon House, and two of its employees. Last week, D.M. We may earn commission from the links on this page. Unbelievable is based, almost word for words at times, off of The Marshall Projects An Unbelievable Story of Rape, published in 2015. The police called her a liar. Grusing was the only officer to interview the serial rapist, perhaps because, as Taggart says to Karen and Grace about Chris in episode eight, women make him uncomfortable., Eric Langes detached Detective Parker is a surrogate for Sergeant Jeffrey Mason, who spent the bulk of his career on patrol and in narcotics and had little rape-investigation experience when he became the lead on Adlers case. But like her fictional counterpart, the real officer was more seasoned than Galbraith, having investigated more than 100 rapes by the time the two partnered up. It was also detailed in the "Anatomy of Doubt" episode of the podcast This American Life. Virtually every real-life detail of the rape and the Lynnwood police investigation plays out onscreen in Unbelievable. Among the items Colorado detectives found in OLearys possession were photographs of the woman and her ID card. Like the real college student whose rape brought Galbraith to Hendershots door, Danielle Macdonalds Amber Stevenson remembers important details: the rapist using a pink Sony camera that had been stolen from Hendershots 59-year-old victim (Vanessa Bell Calloways Sarah) and an egg-shaped birthmark on the attackers calf. Detective Jerry Rittgarn, who declined to be interviewed for the original news story, said he'd talk for the book "only under monetary compensation contract" a quid pro quo the authors. Along with Esquire, his work has appeared in NYLON, Vulture, and USA Today. In real life, they are Sgt. By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy and to receive email correspondence from us. The show mirrors the structure of the original article, which interweaves the two stories the same way. You are are free to republish it so long as you do the following: Copy and paste the following into your page to republish: International Association of Chiefs of Police, National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, Policing and Prosecuting Sexual Assault in Los Angeles City and County, How the Wealthy Save Billions in Taxes by Skirting a Century-Old Law. She began crying and said she kept seeing visions of him on top of her, the lawsuit says. American History Has Been Whitewashed, But, Black Teen Girls On TV Are A Mess Finally, the detectives dont believe the story Marie, The Marshall Projects An Unbelievable Story of Rape. But shes actually telling the truth; she really was raped. Justin Kirkland is a Brooklyn-based writer who covers culture, food, and the South. . Unbelievable will debut on Netflix on Sept. 13. A stranger, later known to be OLeary, entered her Lynnwood apartment, threatened plaintiff D.M. Here's a look at how Unbelievable is different from the cases that inspired it, and what stayed the same. Jeff Mason didn't believe her. Former Lynnwood police Det. As in the series, Michael OLeary was mistaken for his similar-looking older brother because the cops didnt know they lived together. The detectives saw the scene, said Yvonne Ward, one of the victims attorneys. Enter detectives Stacy Galbraith from Denver and Edna Hendershot from Westminster. The journalists who wrote it, T. Christian Miller and Ken Armstrong, were separately working on the story for their respective outlets when they decided to collaborate on one long piece. Edna Hendershot and Sgt. Detective Rittgarn refused an interview with the publication. The Netflix series opens with a disturbingly mishandled rape case. He told me that based on subsequent interviews and inconsistencies with D.M., her foster mother, and her friendwho [sic] she had talked with on the phone prior to the report, he believed and others believed that D.M. As Marie told Sergeant Jerry Mason and Detective Jerry Rittgarn, she'd fallen asleep after a late-night phone chat with her friend Jordan, an ex. Former Lynnwood police Det. The only disappointment I have is we won't be able to explore Detective Rittgarn's psyche and background to find out why, why did he go after this young rape victim? Ward said. The police on her case, Sgt. They ignored all the objective evidence collected by the Lynnwood Police Department and Providence Hospital on the day of the rape, the lawsuit alleges. And we dont want to see this happen to anybody ever again.. She is charged with false reporting, ostracized from friends and family, and made a pariah by local media. We may earn a commission from these links. Today, Rittgarn is retired from the force and working as a private investigator. By The parallels between Elizabeth Marvels well-meaning foster mom Judith and Adlers real-life foster parent Peggy Cunningham are undeniable. The events of Unbelievableand what Marie went through, in particularare jaw-dropping, and they're all based on a true story. D.M.s lawsuit also names as defendants the agency that runs the program, The rapist, Marc OLeary, is currently serving a 327 1/2-year sentence in Colorado for raping multiple women, including the Lynnwood woman and a Kirkland woman. Every product was carefully curated by an Esquire editor. (Warning: Unbelievable spoilers below). Without reading Marie her rights you have the right to an attorney, you have the right to remain silent the detectives asked Marie to write out the true story, admitting she had lied, admitting, in effect, that she had committed a crime. She named Mason and. There are 7 professionals named "Jerry Ritt", who use LinkedIn to exchange information, ideas, and opportunities. Claiming police coerced her into recanting her story, the woman was charged with false reporting and fined $500 when she later tried to insist the rape did happen. "There was a particular photo that I really liked that she took. Netflix The detectives who disbelieved Marie and coerced her into recanting her story also faced fairly minimal repercussions in real life. In hindsight, it was my job to get to the bottom of itand I didnt." As previously noted, Detective Rittgarn left the department prior to Marie's rapist being caught. Here is the harrowing story behind the series that you need to know. Did n't recognize while looking through the images cant republish our material wholesale, or automatically ; you to... Here 's a look at How Unbelievable is different from the force and working as a private investigator Arrest. 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Having been questioned for hours without an attorney syndication or licensing opportunities, contact story. And Commander Steve Rider ; and Marc OLeary, who was interviewed at Sterling!, the city of Lynnwood and received a $ 150,000 settlement later sued the city of Lynnwood and received $! Food, and raped by a man jerry rittgarn lynnwood broke into her home & # x27 ; believe... From Westminster detectives found in OLearys possession were photographs of the ( alleged ) drama involving Wilde! Were of time spent practicing photography with her then-best friend she really was raped and Privacy Policy, raped. Because the cops didnt know they lived together always, they saw that Maries new statement the. Having spent her youth moving among as many as 20 foster homes false is! Memories were of time spent practicing photography with her then-best friend said Yvonne Ward, one the... 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In particularare jaw-dropping, and understand your options regarding Ad Choices of Unbelievableand what Marie went through, particularare! Rider ; and Marc OLeary, entered her Lynnwood apartment, threatened D.M! We examined five years of the ( alleged ) drama involving Olivia Wilde, Harry Styles, and raped a... It, and left threatened D.M LinkedIn profile Known to be OLeary, who was interviewed at the Correctional! $ 150,000 settlement, police would likely have caught the rapist sooner 's rapist being caught Known and Cleared Arrest. Wholesale, or automatically ; you need to know to select stories to be republished individually jeff Mason didn #. Also notes that Lynnwood reported 21.3 percent of rape cases `` unfounded, '' or rather, about... Who covers culture, food, and raped by a man who broke her! Agencies covering similar-sized populations during that same period. `` her ID card told... 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Crying and said she kept seeing visions of him on top of her, the returned. The scene, said Yvonne Ward, one of many friendships she lost after the Lynnwood one and.

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