User Reviews

This documentary is excellent, especially for its ability to challenge preconceptions. It cleverly illustrates how easy it is to form concrete false opinions based on limited information.

For instance, in the first episode, I was "sure" that the boyfriend was the villain. Then, by the second episode, I was "sure" the girlfriend is the "Gone Girl." woman. However, all of these assumptions turned out to be untrue. The real, full picture is revealed in the third episode.

This narrative approach emphasizes the importance of understanding the bigger picture and cautions against making definitive judgments based solely on what we see on the internet.

One of the more shocking true crimes out there, there was no end to the incompetence shown by the Vallejo Police Department and the FBI.

Shocking behaviour by the leading officers on the case, basically pressuring confessions out of the victims.

I can not for the life of me understand how Mat Mustard got an award for his «efforts». If anyone should have bern honoured it was Misty.

Also found the link between David Sesma and Andrea to be too weird and too much of a coincidence for it to not be something deeper.

I would recommend to watch this, but keep in mind that it gets super frustrating because of the lack of critical thinking by the Vallejo PD and FBI.

Before I go into the details of this incredible series of crimes, I want to start by saying the Vallejo Police Department should be absolutely ashamed for the treatment of Aaron and Denise for lying to them repeatedly, allowing an officer who was connected to a possible target and who was connected to Aaron and Denise in some regard, as well as not treating this case with the serious attention it truly deserved regardless of suspecting Aaron and Denise of faking this crime and their accounts of Denise's kidnapping and both of their druggings or not. I also want to add the FBI were no better.

I won't say I completely feel that local police funding should be completely removed because if such funding didn't exist, we wouldn't have the amazing work of officers like Sgt. Misty Carausu and the other officers at the Dublin Police Department that arrested Mr. Muller while some at the Vallejo Police Department were twiddling their thumbs while playing the blame game and/or watching Rosemund Pike frame Ben Affleck in a fictional movie. At least to me, that's what it felt like.

Let me be clear, this is FAR from a game. This is Aaron's and Denise's life we're talking about along with the lives of other victims of Mr. Muller and it's a shame to me that some officers and Agents see people as guilty until proven innocent instead of innocent until proven guilty.

I'm not going to go into the deep details of this 3 part documentary because those that created this documentary did an amazing job doing this for me. In the beginning as I knew nothing about this case, it was possible to me that there was something strange about this case but I wanted to truly see how this proceeded before making any final judgments. I'm not a cop and I'm aware hindsight is always 20/20 but I do feel everyone deserves a chance to tell their accounts of what happened and I was very interested to see what evidence was collected which is revealed later in the documentary. Evidence which I'll repeat, was collected by the amazing Sgt. Misty Carausu and her colleagues at the Dublin Police Department.

You have to see this story for yourself to really let everything sink in. The documentary is direct and to the point, well made and in my opinion, absolutely jaw dropping in regards to how Denise, Aaron and other innocent people were treated as well as other victims of Mr. Muller.

I want to close this by saying I can never express how sorry I am for what Denise had to go through, what Aaron went through, what other victims of Mr. Muller went through and I want to plead to ANYONE to not stay silent and to please fight as long as you possibly can to get the justice you deserve for what someone or some people have done to you. I can assure you that there are cops out there like Sgt Misty Carausu and civilians like myself that would prefer to believe you instead of casting you off and leaving you to feel alone more than you have ever felt in your entire life. NEVER. STOP. FIGHTING for your dignity, your honor and your truth.

This documentary infuriates me to no end. How could they think a story could be made up, so specifically detailed including taped swim googles, sedatives, a mustang, etc. I knew as soon as they had Aaron in a prison outfit things were not going to go well for him. We've learned so many things about the police, including it to be within their right to lie to the person or persons being interrogated and polygraph's aren't even admissible in court. It's too bad Aaron didn't ask if he was under arrest and left but he did the next best thing, actually the wisest thing and asked for a lawyer. Treating Denise like they did is absolutely mind blowing and that cop got an award that year? How are none of them responsible for screwing this investigation up? How are they not fired but rewarded instead? I really hope this documentary, which clearly shows their faces, names as well as their disgusting conduct and now available for the world to see, brings some sort of disparagement to them. It was amazing Denise and Aaron went on to get married and have a beautiful family, I wish them all the best. Too bad I watched this before bed because I won't be able to calm down for awhile.

This documentary was wild, and so good. My heart breaks for the couple and that poor woman. The way this case was investigated was not only so bad, but straight up suspicious.

The officer also dated one of their suspects ex? This is a huge red flag and should be enough reason to investigate him seeing how he on purpose mistreated this case. Then there is this whole lie detector thing, and then the awful comment about "Burning that B***h alive". How is this real?

Everyone involved should not only be fired, but deeply investigated if you ask me. Thank god for that female detective who was able to take this all seriously and eventually got the case resolved. I am mortified by this whole story beyond belief!

Now this documentary is one of the best that I have seen probably ever. Mostly due to the fact that this story is so crazy you have to see it to believe it. Not the claims made by those poor victims, but how it was handled by the police, the media and the public. I personally was in tears by the end.

This is a must watch. I hope the investigators are ashamed of themselves, and I hope there will be some more consequences after this has become so public thanks to Netflix.

Living in a developing nation, one might assume that injustice is confined only here and not present in developed countries. I was wrong!

The initial part of the documentary was perplexing, but as the narrative unfolded, it became difficult and heartbreaking to witness the actions of both the police and media. As a woman, I felt a knot in my stomach.

Denise went through hell, only to be labeled a hoax by the media and facing online harassment, stems from the police's reluctance to believe her, mirroring the plight of countless other women.

Misty emerges as a true heroine in this tale. Her dedicated efforts, numerous days and nights, eventually yield positive results. It brought tears to my eyes!

I remember the Gone Girl Kidnapping. Even then, it was clear the law enforcement and FBI never did there job. Something that is common when it comes to women and assult. (Anyone remember the entire warehouse filled with unprocess rape kits, I think it was in Detroit. Oh good lord went to verify the city and got a sadder shocker. If you Youtube warehouse rape kits you'll find other cities besides Detroit who did the same thing. There's a great documentary of the Detroit one. Many of those results were REPEAT offenders who, had they actually did the work and caught the guy, would not have raped the other women over the years.)

This documentary was well done. And another clear sign of why we need to hold Law enforcement accountable. They CHOSE to publicly claim Denise's kidnapping was a hoax. They could have simply said it was still under investigation. Instead, it was easier to throw the blame elsewhere.

That woman cop is my hero. She is what you expect an officer of the law to be. She went above and beyond to find the truth.

I am horrified how many sheep went after Denise and her then boyfriend on the internet. I hope they learned a valuable lesson on assumptions. Not everything the news says is truth. Not everything you read is true. We, as a society need to learn about seeking our own truth.

I am glad the couple survived hell together and have gone on to a better life. I hope they also got therapy, because you can see the pain is still fresh. I also hope Netflix paid them well for bringing this all up again. Especially as there will be idiots who only warch the 1st 2 parts and go back to blaming the couple. But I am Especially glad the truth was made more accessible. I had never heard they caught the true kidnapper. News outlets made more of the Hoax than they did of the truth. They should have had to release numerous retractions because I think most of us only ever knew of the Hoax.

I am also glad the previous assult victim had her say as well.

This may be familiar to some of you because the story - or parts of it - has been on YouTube for a while. But this is the full story whereas the other dipictions just kind of rush thru the point where the perp leaves clues that lead to his capture. I thought it was well-done if not a bit dragged out. But maybe that's because I knew much of the story going in. I did learn a lot more, though.

What really is most alarming is the cops not only weren't monitoring Aaron's phone in case there really was a ransom but didn't follow up on the incoming calls while he was being interrogated. If they truly thought he was making it up, they would have checked those calls to see if anyone else was involved. They were either insanely inept or covering up for someone. I have to go with Inept since Muller clearly wanted to be caught and wasn't directly related to or involved with any of the cops or agents etc. Muller practically drew them a map to his location.

It's alarming that Mustard got an award that year because it tells us that the only thing that mattered to the Vallejo PD was what showed up on paper even if it were coerced. Those interrogation "techniques" are legal to some extent but they are not allowed to lie to the attorney. Yet here it was years later Aaron and his attorney learned the truth about the polygraph. That's inexcusable.

A lot of reviews point to this as evidence to defund police but that slogan is just liberal propaganda to divide us, number 1; & number 2, the reason a documentary was made is because it's actually relatively rare. All police depts need to do away with any sort of award for high numbers of convictions - that's blatantly obvious. But the majority of cops are honest and we would be in utter anarchy without them. I'm definitly for replacing police cheifs who are shown to ignor complaints, such as Chauvin had 17 brutality complaints from citizens and 4 from fellow officers. He shouldn't have been on the force the day Floyd went to the neighborhood store. Mustard should not be allowed to be on the force after this incident because it was blatantly inept and cost Vallejo over 3 million. There should be no incentive to do your job that causes this level of railroading for a false conviction.

Regardless of how it happened, what's clear in this case is that no one looked at any other theory until the female detective found Muller's phone, years later. No one should be that egomaniacle that they can't have other people look at the case for fresh eyes or discrepancies. Every industry under the sun had this method of finding cracks or better solutions, why not police?

Other vids about this story mention that Muller said he just wanted to see how much he could get away with while being, essentially, very obvious. He even sent crime scene photos to the media the cops ignored. Absolutely mind blowing.

For me, it doesn't say "don't believe anything from the media" it says "Think for yourselves" because what normal couple would make up such an elaborate story even if for attention? But ya, it also says throw out everything you thought you knew about what makes you look guilty or innocent & Never talk to cops without a lawyer.

We all know there are people with negative opinions of law enforcement, and there are people that will defend law enforcement no matter what. It is the latter that will have a hard time wrapping their minds around how badly the Vellejo police and FBI screwed up this investigation. This poor woman was raped over and over, and before she even walked into that police station law enforcement believed she was lying. Her then boyfriend, now husband, was also treated like a murder suspect. I cannot stress enough how unsettling this story is as a woman. To know that this could happen and police wouldn't "buy" my story is absolutely terrifying. Every single penny those two were awarded is deserved, and to hear Vallejo police officers were in no way punished is egregious. The inhumanity shown that poor woman makes me physically ill, shame on the FBI. Shame on the Vallejo Police Department, shame on every officer that did nothing. The only other hero here is the female officer that put together what really happened when the others all failed.

Such a good true crime show. It Will catch you right at the beginning and you'll think that the case is solved in the first episode but no! I wanted to take some of the people out the screen and scream in their face. Only 3 episodes which made it extremely bearable to watch. And such good camera work. You felt like you were apart of the investigation and sometimes a little scary..

The US probably has the most crazy police departments I've heard of yet... misogyny is still here!!

9/10 since there's a lot of important information there's left out that I would really like to know. But such a good and catchy show. Would recommend to everyone!

While it's terrifying of not being believed it's more that Detectives treated her if not for another officer seeing hair fiber and knowing there's more to story who knows if truth would have been able to be solved!!! They were not paid enough money for treatment but I'm so happy they were able to move onto happier days!!! Without a doubt I would have awarded 10 million for their public shaming and complete neglect service by law enforcement. Hope this will show everyone watching that not what you see is not how police wants you to believe too bad they were not able to sue them personally!! Lesson learned it could happy to you!!!!

This 3-episode true-crime documentary series on Netflix left me with so many burning questions.

Firstly, how is the upper echelon of the Vallejo PD and the FBI not penalized for being so ineffective in this case? Secondly, why was the (vague) connection between the kidnapper and the ex-fiancee not pursued further? And what was FBI Agent David Sesma's role in this entire fiasco?

I have watched Felicity Morris' previous documentary The Tinder Swindler. Her directing style befits this case and its proceedings to the T. The piece is structured in a smart, episodic way revealing key information at critical junctures, just like we're watching a procedural thriller. When it brought the Gone Girl references in, I wasn't prepared for what followed. Everything subverts your expectations, especially if you're getting to know about the case for the very first time (like I was!).

But what makes the makers' attempt stand apart is how they handle the emotional beats of the victims. The victims' stories get the bulk of the screen time, while not forgetting how the sheer incompetence of an entire PD made committing crimes easier for the serial stalker / kidnapper / rapist. The second episode carries the hard-hitting core, instantly making us feel for Denise and everything she had to endure. All the hugs in the world go out to her, alongside Misty (the only cop we must appreciate amid this whole mess) whose relentless efforts led to the perpetrator's capture.

I am appalled to see people still question the facts when the culprit was found guilty and the Valejo police issued a public statement admitting to wrong doing and apologizing for the way the couple was treated.

Apparently innocents will still be found guilty even after facts have been proved. Sad society we live in.

I thought Netflix did an amazing job with this one but this team (same as the Tinder Swindler) is terrific at what they do and how they do it and I, for one, am looking forward to see their work!

Time flew by so it means you can see this easily while you become invested in the couple's life. I even shouted at my TV.

In general, corrupt police officers and the media make the lives of the victims really difficult. To be honest, the law doesn't care about people's rights anymore. All they care about is money and protecting people in power. I would like to thank this victims and everyone involved in this documentary for standing up for what's right. Human rights violation still exists and it needs to stop. Be safe out there folks this world is not safe anymore. Thank you Netflix for releasing this documentary. I hope this story goes viral very soon. Before you judge anyone again, watch this documentary. Thank you.

The above names are the police and FBI officers guilty of sabotaging a legitimate investigation about a young woman kidnapped/sexually abused and her boyfriend left behind to defend himself. Any cases they have been involved in, should be dismissed as their unethical, unprofessional conduct has been proven in this documentary. A bizarre event mirroring Ben Affleck's movie, Gone Girl, the couple's report was labeled a hoax by media, officials, and the general public. It wasn't until a plucky new officer comes onto the scene with damning evidence that finally exonerates them. It is a shame that the movie colored the investigators' perspective on the case. A young beautiful wealthy couple seemingly misleading the detectives, but in truth, major crimes were committed. This documentary ends on plight of women who are ignored when they report sexual abuse. Not to be missed, but a difficult documentary to watch. And a reminder to men, your problems are not an excuse.

I thought that this was a great series that centered on the abduction and rape of a young woman. The thing that impressed me the most is that both the Vallejo, CA police and the FBI blew it. Why? It seems like they assumed that the girl's boyfriend and the girl herself fabricated the story. As the series tells us the real hero was a woman police officer who found evidence and then she made sure that the blame was laid where it should have been. This series illustrates that law enforcement often makes assumptions without evidence and gets away with it. Sadly, that is not the case with most crime dramas.