To determine the rate of rape crimes declared unfounded, or groundless, by law enforcement agencies, we analyzed Uniform Crime Reporting data collected by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The victim of the Lynnwood attack last week filed a federal civil-rights lawsuit against the city of Lynnwood, claiming detectives disregarded evidence of the assault, bullied her into saying it didnt happen and then threatened to have her thrown out of her apartment when she insisted it did. 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. To determine the rate of rape crimes declared unfounded, or groundless, by law enforcement agencies, we analyzed Uniform Crime Reporting data collected by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. When Mason, accompanied by Detective (Jerry) Rittgarn, went to pick up Marie at about 3:30 p.m., they found her outside her apartment, sitting on the grass. He Fought Back, Exposing the Insurers Inner Workings. Come for the Seinfeld references, stay for the Producers references. Her record would be expunged, and she also received a $500 refund for court costs. In Unbelievable, the detectives that team up to catch the serial rapist who also attacked Marie are a breath of fresh air compared to Lynnwood's botched operation. on the phone that night, before the alleged attack. 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. He told police that hed fantasized about rape since he was a kid and that his assaults were a type of rape theater inspired by the Star Wars scene in which Jabba the Hutt chains up Princess Leia. The police called her a liar. This led to them completely mismanaging Maries case and caused them to believe that she had made up the whole story for attention. While neither Wever nor Collette ever met the detectives, Collette tells OprahMag.com that she learned Hendershot requested her character be portrayed as "badass and bitchin'." As in the series, Cunningham and Maries transitional housing case manager were with Marie when police arrived after the rape, and she later shared her doubts about it with them. Our editors handpick the products that we feature. 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. That year, she reported being bound, gagged, and raped by a man who broke into her home. We also restricted our examination to only those agencies that reported at least one rape over this timespan. Yet, after conversations with the victims stepmother, her friend, and anonymous caller, police began to have doubts. You don't just go with some family member who was not even a witness. When Marie's rapist was caught, Detective Rittgarn had already left the Lynnwood police department. (For example, yesterday can be changed to last week, and Portland, Ore. to Portland or here.), You cannot republish our photographs or illustrations without specific permission. Lynnwood, Washington No one came to court with her that day, except her public defender. She eventually left Washington, now working as a long-haul truck driver and married with two children. . As in the series, Michael OLeary was mistaken for his similar-looking older brother because the cops didnt know they lived together. A Full Recap of the Infuriating True Story Behind Netflix's New Miniseries, Unbelievable. 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. The third doubter was an anonymous caller. 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. 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. Marie said she didnt know of any discrepancies. She spoke to a friend on the phone for several hours early Aug. 11, 2008, finally going to bed around 5:30 a.m. She said she left the sliding-glass patio door ajar. 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. As for the people Marie initially deals with, in the series they are Detectives Parker and Pruitt. 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. Unbelievable will debut on Netflix on Sept. 13. Rittgarn asked. OLeary was 33 when he was sentenced to 327 and a half years for the Colorado attacks and an additional 68 and a half years for the two Washington rapes, including Adlers. She's been inspiring to me.. was lying about the rape, according to documents filed in U.S. District Court. Rittgarn left the police department before Maries rapist was caught in 2011, while Manson simply moved back to his position at narcotics. In hindsight, it was my job to get to the bottom of it and I didnt.. Rittgarn told her that if she was lying she would go to jail and that he would not recommend Cocoon House keep her, the suit alleges. A police narrative from Detective Jerry Rittgarn states, "I talked with Sgt. We examined five years of the "Offenses Known and Cleared by Arrest" data to smooth yearly fluctuations common in crime reporting. After the attack, she says she was forced to stand up in front of a group of teens at a Cocoon House-run program and confess that she'd lied about the rape, something which resulted in her having to see a councilor. Between the different cases, the police had also recovered a small number of skin cells and learned that he had a dark mark on his calf. A Washington state woman who was a victim of a serial sex offender is suing police after they allegedly discounted her story, ignored evidence proving she was raped and then slapped her with a $500 fine for making a false statement. When the woman reported the attack to Lynnwood police, she says detectives Jerry Rittgarn and Sgt. Their suspicions were based on comments from three people who said that they doubted her story, according to the suit. Bill Fagerbakke played Det. Mason moved to his post working on narcotics cases. We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we back. At first he could not recall the case, except that he. Since its debut last Friday, Netflix's Unbelievable has become one of the most acclaimed shows of the year. Who Is John Dutton's Grandfather in '1923'? We are no longer accepting comments on this article. Jeffrey Mason and Jerry Rittgarn, pressed on the inconsistencies in her story. Hendershot is now a sergeant in the Westminster Police Department. Lynnwood, Washington, United States 3 connections. He's declined to speak with any outlets and told Miller and Armstrong he'd only discuss the case if they paid him towhile maintaining his non-factual beliefs about "victims who lie" and a "biased story.". In the vein of fellow Netflix projects such as Mindhunter and When They See Us, the miniseries explores true crime through the failures of the criminal justice system. Things you buy through our links may earnNew Yorka commission. HMH 361 ComNav CH-53 Helicopters. She walked away with $150,000, according to the Seattle Times. 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. We have official accounts for ProPublica on. View the profiles of people named Jerry Rittgarn. He then raped her. 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 woman reported the attack to Lynnwood police, she says detectives Jerry Rittgarn and Sgt. The lawsuit alleges that the woman was required to stand up in front of other program participants and say that she had lied about being raped or risk being evicted, according to the lawsuit. Detective Rittgarn refused an interview with the publication. I think you pull it, Joshua Jackson says to Lizzy Caplan sensually. If you share republished stories on social media, wed appreciate being tagged in your posts. Michael was tailed by members of Grusings team to get his DNA. Years later, an external review characterized the police interrogations of her as bullying and coercive with minor inconsistencies in her statements misjudged and strong evidence ignored. At first he could not recall the case, except that he thought it involved that guy from Colorado.. While the other survivors of Marc OLearys crimes have been anonymized in Unbelievable, their experiences also reflect the true stories that allowed the detectives to connect their cases. He had only worked on "one or two rape cases" before this, according to ProPublica. Sep 21, 2019. 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. A timeline of the (alleged) drama involving Olivia Wilde, Harry Styles, and Florence Pugh. Police gathered evidence from the house, including stained sheets, the shoelaces, blindfold and gag. On Aug. 18, D.M. (Jeff) Mason concerning his follow-up case. O'Leary, however, had taken a picture of her with a learner's permit on the woman's chest. From there, the show continues to follow a true story reported by ProPublica. This story was produced in collaboration with ProPublica. 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. 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. Rapes by strangers were uncommon maybe about 13 percent of cases. From the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, 2011, Only about one-fifth to one-third of rapes get reported to police, national surveys show. From National Crime and Victimization Survey, 2014 and National Violence Against Women Survey, 2006. 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. To calculate the rate, we summed the number of unfounded rapes and divided it by the number of reported rapes. All rights reserved. Everything You Never Thought to Ask About In-flight Entertainment, Warner Bros. Discoverys licensing chief on how movies and TV get on planes, editing decisions, and the curious case of. She also accuses them of threatening to have her thrown out of her apartment, owned by an at-risk youth home called Cocoon House, when she insisted it did take place. She named Mason and. Unlike her avatar, she left her Costco job handing out food samples days after her 2008 rape. Jerry Rittgarn declined to be interviewed. Galbraith had admired her new partner, Edna Hendershot, from a distance ever since their paths crossed at a police briefing for a big drug bust Hendershot had taken part in. After the man left, Marie maneuvered a drawer open with her feet, cut herself free with scissors, and called for help. (Warning: Unbelievable spoilers below). 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. .css-gk9meg{display:block;font-family:Lausanne,Arial,sans-serif;font-weight:normal;margin-bottom:0;margin-top:0;padding-top:0.25rem;-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;}@media (any-hover: hover){.css-gk9meg:hover{color:link-hover;}}@media(max-width: 48rem){.css-gk9meg{font-size:1.125rem;line-height:1.15;margin-bottom:0.25rem;}}@media(min-width: 40.625rem){.css-gk9meg{font-size:1rem;line-height:1.2;margin-bottom:0.625rem;}}@media(min-width: 64rem){.css-gk9meg{font-size:1.25rem;line-height:1.2;}}@media(min-width: 73.75rem){.css-gk9meg{font-size:1.25rem;line-height:1.2;}}Facts You Didn't Know About That '70s Show, The Cast of 'The Mandalorian' in Real Life, 'The Mandalorian' Season 3, Episode 1 Recap, 'The Mandalorian' Season 3 is About to Commence, The Underworld Crossover of the Century Is Coming. VIDEO: Rape victim was called a liar by police. You cant use our work to populate a website designed to improve rankings on search engines or solely to gain revenue from network-based advertisements. The woman, identified in the lawsuit by the initials D.M., says she was forced to undergo counseling when Lynnwood police told managers of the at-risk youth program where she was living in 2008 that they didnt believe shed been raped, according to court documents. Jeffrey Mason and Detective Jerry Rittgarn, and this is what happened to them after incorrectly seeking a false confession from Marie. Meanwhile, Peggy thought Marie seemed too upset when she called her"It sounded like a lot of drama, too, in some ways," she said. It was one of many friendships she lost after the Lynnwood charged her as a false accuser. The program's counselors had made Marie stand in front of the other program members to tell them she'd lied, and said she'd be evicted unless she underwent more counseling. Talk to us You can tell us about news and ask us about our journalism by emailing . Galbraith first learned of Hendershot's similar case through her police officer husband (just as Duvall, Merritt Wever's character, did). I wrote about it last year here. When youre watching Unbelievable, its hard not to wonder about the accuracy of the Netflix true-crime drama. He asked if there was really a rapist running around the neighborhood that the police should be looking for. D.M., who now lives in Wyoming, declined to comment for this story, said her attorney, H. Richmond Fisher. In hindsight, it was my job to get to the bottom of itand I didnt." I give our client a tremendous amount of credit, said H. Richmond Fisher, one of her attorneys. 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. The police on her case, Sgt. Words or thoughts attributed to anyone in this story are drawn from these interviews or documents. After collecting sufficient evidence, detectives eventually arrested Marc O'Leary, a former Marine. The reporting by ProPublica and The Marshall Project spanned several months and involved numerous interviews, a review of previously undisclosed law enforcement records and exchanges with experts on investigating rape. Edna Hendershot and Sgt. Rittgarn left the police department before Marie's rapist was caught in 2011, while Manson simply moved back to his position at narcotics. According to the ProPublica article, after Marie's rapist was apprehended, the Lynnwood Police Department opened up an outside review into the department. On the form she filled in her name, address and Social Security number, and then she wrote, in part: I was talking to Jordan on the phone that night about his day and just about anything. 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