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." Rittgarn asked. Rittgarn wrote that, Based on her answer and body language it was apparent that D.M. Along with Esquire, his work has appeared in NYLON, Vulture, and USA Today. You cant state or imply that donations to your organization support ProPublicas work. Rittgard left the police force before OLearys arrest, but the case review found that threatening her with imprisonment and the possible loss of her housing was coercive, cruel, and unbelievably unprofessional. In the book-length follow-up to their original reporting, journalists T. Christian Miller and Ken Armstrong said Rittgarn had objected to his work being labeled as bullying and wanted money to talk to them. Meanwhile, Peggy thought Marie seemed too upset when she called her"It sounded like a lot of drama, too, in some ways," she said. She requested and received a personal apology from lead detective Jeffrey Mason. .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. The victim, who now lives in Wyoming, and her lawyer also declined to comment to the Seattle Times. It went to the FBI lab [in Quantico], Galbraith told 48 Hours in 2017. 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. We examined five years of the "Offenses Known and Cleared by Arrest" data to smooth yearly fluctuations common in crime reporting. He was strategically stalking and attacking women who lived alone. 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. Like her fictional counterpart, played with heartbreaking vulnerability by Kaitlyn Dever, Adler was a product of the foster-care system and had been abused. According to the Seattle Times, two-and-a-half years later Lynnwood police reopened the investigation, after Marc O'Leary, a man wanted for a string of sex attacks in Washington state and Colorado, was found to have D.M. on the phone that night, before the alleged attack. In December 2015, ProPublica and the Marshall Project co-published An Unbelievable Story of Rape. Jeffrey Mason and Detective Jerry Rittgarn, and this is what happened to them after incorrectly seeking a false confession from Marie. The police on her case, Sgt. Some of his computer files remain encrypted. Rasmussen and Duvall catch the serial rapist, and Marie's original report is proved to have been true. (To inquire about syndication or licensing opportunities, contact. OLeary was convicted of three rapes in Colorado and two in Washington, including the Lynnwood attack and the rape of a 63-year-old Kirkland woman, and is serving a 327-year sentence in a Colorado prison. VIDEO: Rape victim was called a liar by police. 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. We just want to dive into a pool without having to hold onto our bottoms. in court documents, was gagged, bound and sexually assaulted at knife-point in her Lynnwood apartment by an intruder five years ago. No, Marie told him, her voice soft, her eyes down. It was also detailed in the "Anatomy of Doubt" episode of the podcast This American Life. 2023 Vox Media, LLC. Creative Commons License (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). By using this website, you accept the terms of our Visitor Agreement and Privacy Policy, and understand your options regarding Ad Choices. Rittgarn, who has left the Lynnwood Police Department and works as a private investigator in San Diego, said he was unaware of the lawsuit. 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. Detectives Pruitt and Parker are based on real people named Sgt. Detective Stacy Galbraith and Sergeant Edna Hendershot. By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy and to receive email correspondence from us. Netflix The detectives who disbelieved Marie and coerced her into recanting her story also faced fairly minimal repercussions in real life. 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. '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. 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. She's excited, because now she can go on in a whole new wonderful chapter of her life. Donations from readers like you are essential to sustaining this work. 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. Jeff Mason didn't believe her. 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. As with Merritt Wevers compassionate detective, it was a fluke that Galbraiths police-officer husband, David not the karaoke-singing Max the Knife remembered that his Colorado department had seen a similar rape in which the attacker had made his victim shower and scrupulously cleaned her. 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. 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. was also taken to the emergency room at Providence Hospital in Everett, where a doctor made notes of rape trauma. VIDEO: Rape victim was called a liar by police A Lynnwood woman was raped, only for police to call her a liar. Here's a look at how Unbelievable is different from the cases that inspired it, and what stayed the same. Also named in the suit are Rittgarn . Jerry Rittgarn declined to be interviewed. According to the ProPublica article, after Marie's rapist was apprehended, the Lynnwood. Evidence proved her right. Mason moved to his post working on narcotics cases. The third doubter was an anonymous caller. Then there was an investigation. We also restricted our examination to only those agencies that reported at least one rape over this timespan. Cocoon House CEO Cassie Franklin told the Seattle Times this week: 'Our hearts go out to D.M. . Former Lynnwood police Det. 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. There are 7 professionals named "Jerry Ritt", who use LinkedIn to exchange information, ideas, and opportunities. According to the ProPublica article, after Marie's rapist was apprehended, the Lynnwood Police Department opened up an outside review into the department. Steve Rider told The Herald of Everett: Suffice it to say, certain pieces of information just led investigators to the wrong conclusion., Mike Carter: 206-464-3706 or mcarter@seattletimes.com, Seattle still the nations saddest large metro area, survey shows, Feds award money to study removing Highway 99 in one Seattle neighborhood, Plan to reduce homelessness in downtown Seattle picks up after slow start, Driver killed after crashing off Seattle overpass, WA's pay-per-mile tax is not the culture war we need right now, including the Lynnwood attack and the rape of a 63-year-old Kirkland woman. 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, 20082012. That year, she reported being bound, gagged, and raped by a man who broke into her home. The bulk of time is spent with Detectives Rasmussen and Duvall, two investigators who diligently work to solve a string of rapes throughout Colorado. As for the people Marie initially deals with, in the series they are Detectives Parker and Pruitt. Jerry Rittgarn declined to be interviewed. Of course, they weren't the only factors: The case wasnt helped by the fact that Maries foster mothers called to tell the police they also believed Marie was lying about the rape. Violating her rights, Rittgarn and Mason told Marie to write out what "really" happened. 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. O'Leary, however, had taken a picture of her with a learner's permit on the woman's chest. If you use canonical metadata, please use the ProPublica URL. Marie said she didnt know of any discrepancies. 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. I give our client a tremendous amount of credit, said H. Richmond Fisher, one of her attorneys. 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'." We also restricted our examination to only those agencies that reported at least one rape over this timespan. When the woman reported the attack to Lynnwood police, she says detectives Jerry Rittgarn and Sgt. We consulted police training guidelines by various organizations, including the International Association of Chiefs of Police and End Violence Against Women International. The police called her a liar. "There was a particular photo that I really liked that she took. Along with a formidable cast that includes Hereditary's Toni Colette and Booksmart's Kaitlyn Dever, the project has many big names attached to it, with Katie Couric as an executive producer and novelist power couple Ayelet Waldman and Michael Chabon as contributing writers. 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. 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