Neither officer faced any disciplinary action for the botched investigation. Jensen refused to comment to the newspaper because of the litigation and Rittgarn, who has since left the Lynnwood Police Department and now lives in San Diego, said he was unaware of the lawsuit and couldn't remember the case. Mason is still with the Lynnwood Police Department. Stacy Galbraith (left) has been lightly fictionalized as Karen Duvall, played by Merritt Wever (right), in, This password will be used to sign into all, Photo: Vulture, Benjamin Rasmussen/Getty Images and Netflix, Stacy Galbraith/Karen Duvall (Merritt Wever), Edna Hendershot/Grace Rasmussen (Toni Collette), Peggy Cunningham/Judith (Elizabeth Marvel), Shannon McQuery/Colleen (Bridget Everett), FBI Special Agent Jonny Grusing/Billy Taggart (Scott Lawrence), Detective Jeffrey Mason/Robert Parker (Eric Lange), Detective Jerry Rittgarn/Pruitt (Bill Fagerbakke), Michael OLeary/Curtis McCarthy (Aaron Staton), Marc OLeary/Christopher McCarthy (Blake Ellis), Okay, TikTok, You Can Calm Down About Aubrey Plaza at the SAG Awards Now, All 165 Pink Floyd Songs Ranked, From Worst to Best, Vanessa Bryant Settles Helicopter-Crash Photo Lawsuit for $28.85 Million. The events of Unbelievableand what Marie went through, in particularare jaw-dropping, and they're all based on a true story. 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. According to ProPublica's article, an internal review found that from 2008 to 2012, "10 of 47 rapes reported to Lynnwood police were unfounded21.3 percent. She was fined $500 in 2009 after entering into a diversionary agreement. According to the ProPublica article, after Marie's rapist was apprehended, the Lynnwood Police Department opened up an outside review into the department. 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. She took a plea deal where she received supervised probation, paid $500 for court costs, and attended mental health counseling. The three went to the Lynnwood police station, where the detectives escorted Marie to a conference room. reported when the victim sued the Lynnwood PD, including the Lynnwood attack and the rape of a 63-year-old Kirkland woman. In this report a sex crimes supervisor noted that Marie's situation was nothing short of the victim being coerced into admitting that she lied about the rape. The investigation concluded that bullying and hounding led to Marie's admittance of false reporting. (Jeffrey) Masons experience, when someone asked if they were in trouble, almost always, they were. Marie was then charged with a gross misdemeanor for false reporting. Though she found it hard to watch, she said the series was excellent and even encouraged both of her foster moms, with whom shes still in touch, to watch it. When the detectives returned, they saw that Maries new statement described the rape as a dream, not a lie. confessed to making up the incident, which her attorneys said was a result of a police interrogation. (Warning: Unbelievable spoilers below). One of the officers named in the lawsuit, Mason, still works for Lynnwood police. Justin Kirkland is a Brooklyn-based writer who covers culture, food, and the South. Grusings search for similar rape cases turned up an old unsolved burglary (Lillys story) with evidence the honeycomb glove pattern, the Adidas shoe print, and the white Mazda pickup truck that connected all the known rapes. D.M.s lawsuit also names as defendants the agency that runs the program, We do not generally permit translation of our stories into another language. A Full Recap of the Infuriating True Story Behind Netflix's New Miniseries, Unbelievable. Jeffrey Mason and Jerry Rittgarn, pressed on the inconsistencies in her story. Here's a look at how Unbelievable is different from the cases that inspired it, and what stayed the same. Get our investigations delivered to your inbox with the Big Story newsletter. When the woman reported the attack to Lynnwood police, she says detectives Jerry Rittgarn and Sgt. 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. Why didnt you write that you made the story up? 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. By using this website, you accept the terms of our Visitor Agreement and Privacy Policy, and understand your options regarding Ad Choices. 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. The police called her a liar. It follows the initial investigation into a the assault of a young woman named Marie. 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. If you use canonical metadata, please use the ProPublica URL. Its nun versus AI in Damon Lindelofs new series. Along with praise for its nuanced performances and intelligent writing, it's been . We received thousands of pages of documents through public-records requests filed with the following agencies: the police departments in Lynnwood and Kirkland, Washington; the police departments in Golden, Westminster, Aurora and Lakewood, Colorado; and the prosecuting attorneys offices in Snohomish County, Washington, King County, Washington, and Jefferson County, Colorado. 'Ted Lasso' Season 3 Dropped Its First Trailer, 'Outer Banks' Season 4 Is Already In the Works. Unbelievable's parallel cases demonstrate how there's no one way all real rape survivors react to what's happened to them (since, you know, no two people are exactly alike). 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. Professionalism, vigilance, community, my ass. By He Fought Back, Exposing the Insurers Inner Workings. In a Netflix comedy by Katharine McPhees stepdaughter. All Rights Reserved. In 2011, OLeary was caught and found with a photograph of D.M.s ID card. She describes in the law suit the man, wielding a kitchen knife, warned her that he had taken photos of her and knew her name as he fled the apartment. Jensen, the Lynnwood police chief, said he could not comment because of the litigation. From the crime scene, they identified muddy track marks that came from Adidas ZX 700 mesh shoes. The parallels between Elizabeth Marvels well-meaning foster mom Judith and Adlers real-life foster parent Peggy Cunningham are undeniable. It went to the FBI lab [in Quantico], Galbraith told 48 Hours in 2017. Since its debut last Friday, Netflix's Unbelievable has become one of the most acclaimed shows of the year. But nope. He had only investigated one rape before working with Marie. O'Leary was convicted of five rapes, including the Lynnwood one, and is serving a 327-year sentence in a Colorado prison. But she went through the story again only this time, saying she believed the rape had happened instead of saying it for certain. Donations from readers like you are essential to sustaining this work. She was charged with filing a false report and went through court-ordered counseling for lying to police. . Rittgarn, on the other hand, had been a detective for 11 years, but had a background in helicopters and the aerospace industry. 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. 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. Violating her rights, Rittgarn and Mason told Marie to write out what "really" happened. She was later woken up by a stranger who was holding one of her own knives; he tied her up with her own shoelaces, blindfolded and gagged her, and raped her while wearing a condom. According to police reports and statements filed with the lawsuit, D.M. We examined five years of the "Offenses Known and Cleared by Arrest" data to smooth yearly fluctuations common in crime reporting. 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. After OLearys arrest in Colorado in February 2011, Lynnwood police Cmdr. . Terms of Service apply. The storys called Unbelievable because at first, the detectives dont believe the story Marie (Kaitlyn Dever) is telling them and dismiss her, before charging her for filing a false claim. Notably, Marie's rape claim was one of four that Lynnwood police deemed unfounded that year alone. Come for the Seinfeld references, stay for the Producers references. He then raped her. Rodney Cohnheim and Commander Steve Rider; and Marc OLeary, who was interviewed at the Sterling Correctional Facility in Colorado. If you havent read it yet, I recommend reading the whole thing soon. Any website our stories appear on must include a prominent and effective way to contact you. Meanwhile, Peggy thought Marie seemed too upset when she called her"It sounded like a lot of drama, too, in some ways," she said. 'Unbelievable' Detectives Botched a Girl's Rape, The 'Unbelievable' Detective Who Stopped a Rapist, Netflix's 'Unbelievable' is Based on a True Story, Toni Collettes 'Unbelievable' Role, Explained, as she's showing clear signs of someone traumatized by the assault, to follow a true story reported by ProPublica, Your Privacy Choices: Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads. 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. To calculate the rate, we summed the number of unfounded rapes and divided it by the number of reported rapes. 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. Parker says something similar to Rasmussen in the show. In December 2015, ProPublica and the Marshall Project co-published An Unbelievable Story of Rape. Unbelievable will debut on Netflix on Sept. 13. She has a fianc and she's looking forward to a fabulous life. We just want to dive into a pool without having to hold onto our bottoms. Evidence proved her right. With mounting pressure from the police, she recanted her statement and said she made it . Also named in the suit are Rittgarn, Mason and Lynnwood Police Chief Steven J. Jensen. Los Angeles County said all litigation over the crash has now been resolved. 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. Along with Esquire, his work has appeared in NYLON, Vulture, and USA Today. Jeffrey Mason and Jerry Rittgarn, pressed on the inconsistencies in her story. 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 real woman known as Marie in the original articleMarie is her middle namereported her rape to Lynnwood, Washington police on August 11, 2008. We consulted police training guidelines by various organizations, including the International Association of Chiefs of Police and End Violence Against Women International. In 2008, Marie, as the article refers to her, was an 18-year-old woman who lived in subsidized housing in Lynnwood, WA, for young adults previously in the fostercare system. At the hospital, a doctor noted injuries to both her wrists and abrasions on her genitals. on the phone that night, before the alleged attack. We also ran the same calculation for Washington state law enforcement agencies that cover cities of the same size as Lynnwood to account for possible variations due to the size of a jurisdiction or local laws. Former Lynnwood police Det. Helen Pow Rarely do. We used the 2015 Pulitzer Prizewinning ProPublica/Marshall Project story (and its follow-up reporting) that inspired Unbelievable as a road map to make this character-by-character guide to the facts behind the Unbelievable fictionalizations. She began crying and said she kept seeing visions of him on top of her, the lawsuit says. The police on her case, Sgt. Some of his computer files remain encrypted. 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. In Marie's case, neither of her foster moms thought she was behaving like it really happened, for different reasons: Shannon decided Marie didn't seem sad enough just hours after the crime, telling ProPublica, "There was just no emotion. Marie had a horrific childhood, bouncing around various foster and group homes from around age 6, and was sexually and physically abused throughout. Last Friday, Netflix released their latest true crime series entitled Unbelievable, which is centered around The Marshall Project and ProPublica's Pulitzer-prize-winning article, An . D.M. The series shows her driving off in a new Jeep in hopes of establishing a better life elsewhere. 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. Learn about careers at Cox Media Group. The bulk of time is spent with Detectives Rasmussen and Duvall, two investigators who diligently work to solve a string of rapes throughout Colorado. 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. This email will be used to sign into all New York sites. One thing that's left out of the series is the fact that Marie also settled for a undisclosed amount with Cocoon House, the nonprofit that ran the Project Ladder housing where she was raped. The victim, who now lives in Wyoming, and her lawyer also declined to comment to the Seattle Times. Samantha Vincenty is the former senior staff writer at Oprah Daily. 17-Down, Three Letters: Party for One artist Carly ___ Jepsen. According to the ProPublica article, after Marie's rapist was apprehended, the Lynnwood. In hindsight, it was my job to get to the bottom of it and I didnt.. As previously noted, Detective Rittgarn left the department prior to Marie's rapist being caught. He actually met with Marie again after the truth came. Did Cirie go too far by bringing family matters into the game? Stacy Galbraith; Westminster, Colorado, Sgt. Elsewhere in the country, two other female detectives are also tracking an influx of rapes and are working together to try and catch the guy, who ends up being the same one who harmed Marie. The woman, identified only as D.M., was gagged, bound and sexually assaulted in her Lynnwood, Washington, home by Marc O'Leary in 2008, Claims detectives Jerry Rittgarn and Sergeant Jeff Mason discounted her story and ignored evidence including doctors reports and DNA samples, She was later fined $500 when she again insisted the rape did take place, Case was reopened two years ago when O'Leary was found with her ID, He was later convicted of a string of rapes and is serving a 327-year sentence in a Colorado prison. He said he believed she had made the story up a spur-of-the-moment thing, not something planned out. 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. Thank you for your interest in republishing this story. Enter detectives Stacy Galbraith from Denver and Edna Hendershot from Westminster. Like Blake Elliss fictional fiend, Marc OLeary knew that police departments didnt talk to one another and that the Army had his DNA, so he meticulously cleaned his crime scenes and made his victims wash away any genetic material. returned to the police station with Cocoon House representatives and asked to withdraw the denial and insisted that she had been attacked. T. Christian Miller is a senior editor for ProPublica. If you share republished stories on social media, wed appreciate being tagged in your posts. 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. It explains the background and ins and outs of the case concerning Marie (whos identified as Marie in the story was well its the real victim's middle name), along with other rapes in the area of Lynwood, Washington. She is charged with false reporting, ostracized from friends and family, and made a pariah by local media. She agreed, so they left her alone for a few minutes. 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. She's been inspiring to me.. A police narrative from Detective Jerry Rittgarn states, "I talked with Sgt. The Lynnwood detectives, Pruitt and Parker, are Jerry Rittgarn and Sgt. "There was a particular photo that I really liked that she took. In 2016, she told This American Life that she regretted talking to the cops but still believed Marie need[ed] to take responsibility for her actions. 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. 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