The prosecutions offer was this: If she met certain conditions for the next year, the charge would be dropped. [16], The University of Colorado Boulder reported in 2016 that law enforcement officials had requested to use the article in training. Check out never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! If you aren't already clued in on Marie's story, read on: The series takes its inspiration from a Pulitzer Prize-winning 2015 ProPublica and The Marshall Project article about a woman who experienced a horrific sexual assault aged 18 but later recanted her story. You can also read more about how ProPublica and The Marshall Project reported this story. Marie Adler was born on 01 Jan 1990. From there, her record was expunged and police returned her $500. The license plate was unreadable. . OLeary, in addition to assaulting D.M., also admitted he raped a 63-year-old Kirkland woman. Outside, Marie was on the grass, rolling around and giggling and laughing, Shannon says. She was a wife, a mother. But not enough.. She takes off in her car. 16 September 2019, 17:23 | Updated: 16 September 2019, 17:31. In 2008, Maries case was one of 10 rape reports the department fielded; with so few, the Criminal Investigations Division didnt have a separate sex crimes unit. Mike Carter: 206-464-3706 or mcarter@seattletimes.com. Lakewood patrol cars had cameras that automatically took pictures of every license plate they passed. Two heads, three heads, four heads, sometimes are better than one, right? she said. Marie thats her middle name, Marie didnt say anything. Her lawyer was surprised she had been charged. Shannon and Marie were both kind of goofy, Shannon says. [15] Writing for the alternative Wisconsin newspaper Isthmus, Bill Lueders praised the article and compared it to his own reporting about a similar case from 1997 to 2001, where a woman was charged by police after ostensibly making a false report of rape, but was later proven truthful by DNA evidence leading to her rapist's conviction. Most had described a white man with green or hazel eyes, about 6 feet tall, weighing about 200 pounds. A friend from 10th grade called to ask: How could you lie about something like that? Tuesday 7:00am - 9:00pm I went into this dark hole.. So did Galbraith. The article was later adapted into the Netflix series Unbelievable (2019), which has received critical acclaim. He didnt answer so I called my foster mom. I would spend hours at the beach watching the sunset go down and that was one of my favorite things. Details of that settlement are confidential, according to the womans lawyers. Afterward, the paperwork went to a small law firm that Lynnwood had hired to prosecute misdemeanors. I was preparing for a baby. Investigators at the scene uncovered a few, tenuous pieces of evidence. She wanted to take a lie detector test. The news was not great. She had conducted a search for any reports of suspicious vehicles or prowlers within a quarter mile of the Lakewood victims home for the previous six months. Neither Peggy nor Shannon abandoned her, but things werent the same. He documented the assault with a digital camera and threatened to post the pictures online if she contacted the police. [18][19], In December 2015, ProPublica published a podcast episode where Miller and Armstrong discussed the article. She went to a conference room and waited. So he took steps to avoid leaving any traces of genetic material. He would rifle a targets personal documents. Marie figures her happiest years were when she was 16 and 17, and the happiest day may have been one she spent with her best friend, another high school student who was teaching Marie the fine points of camerawork. We went to the ocean, it was like 7 oclock at night, I dont know what we were thinking, I got in there and I jumped out and swung my hair back.. She is now a truck driver,married, and as of 2015 has two children. Your Privacy Choices: Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads. Within days of reporting being raped, Marie had quit her job at Costco, unable to stand there, looking at people, lost in her head. Nor should police get lost in stereotypes believing, for example, that an adult victim will be more believable than an adolescent. She trusted her victims memory. When Mason, accompanied by Detective Rittgarn, went to pick up Marie at about 3:30 p.m., they found her outside her apartment, sitting on the grass. They didnt need to worry, she told the group. Rittgarn asked. About Search Results. She explained: "She's incredibly strong and she's been through so much, so everyone on the team wanted to respect her privacy.". As an FBI agent confronted him, OLeary immediately invoked his right to an attorney. In Golden, Colorado, during January 2011, Detective Stacy Galbraith interviewed a woman who was raped at gunpoint for four hours. Flipping the switch was a relief and it would let her leave. In a follow-up article describing the process by which they reported the story, the journalists wrote that they filed records requests for thousands of pages of documents from police and prosecutors offices in Washington and Colorado: "Other reporting included pulling transcripts of television news coverage from when Marie was raped and later charged, wrote Miller, "having court transcripts prepared from when OLeary was sentenced in Colorado; reviewing grant documents for Project Ladder; and mining the criminal-justice literature for expert views on how rape investigations should be conducted., In a decision that was echoed in Netflixs series, the reporters decided not to focus the story on the rapist, Marc OLeary. His longest law-enforcement stint had been with a small police department in Oregon, where he served for almost nine years and received a medal of valor. He had been punctilious. 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. The bruising on her right wrist measured 6.5 centimeters, or about 2.5 inches, the one on her left, 7 centimeters. Rittgarn had been with the department for 11 years, the last four as a detective. Rittgarn had already left the department, but Mason came in, looking like a lost little puppy, Marie says. Marie Theresa Arzer Obituary. The attack. She remembers calling the Lynnwood detectives twice and being told they didnt believe Maries account. Now, we're extra careful that we get the right closure on it.. Hendershot was more experienced. The eight-episode series, entitled "Unbelievable," isan adaptation of the 2015 Pulitzer-winning ProPublica and Marshall Project in-depth story about the case. Marie became the subject of media reports and an attack website. A search warrant led to the arrest of O'Leary. Pretty positive or actually positive? And when the two went to buy new bedding Maries old bedding having been taken as evidence Marie became furious when she couldnt find the same set. He was rubbing his head and literally looked like he was ashamed about what they had done. He told Marie he was sorry deeply sorry, Marie says. It fell to Shannon to break the news. [9] The other officer, Rittgarn, declined to be interviewed. Marie was then charged with a gross misdemeanour for lying and lost friends, family and work after her story made the news. The woman underwent a special forensic examination to collect more DNA evidence. There were few slots, but Marie secured one. Investigators must have definitive proof of lying before doubting a rape report, and a charge of false reporting must now be reviewed with higher-ups. Peggy told Shannon she had doubts. Years before the #MeToo movement gave voice to women previously coerced into silence over historic sexual abuse, Marie's story exemplified the disbelief and callous treatment often shown to sexual assault survivors. Maybe she was making up the rape to get moved to a new one. At home, her husband David had done the dishes and put the kids to bed. She had spoken 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. In the five years from 2008 to 2012, the department determined that 10 of 47 rapes reported to Lynnwood police were unfounded 21.3 percent. But years later, she was vindicated. From a large black bag, he took out thigh-high stockings, clear plastic high heels with pink ribbons, lubrication, a box of moist towelettes and bottled water. This made it the seventh-most viewed television series on the platform from August 2018 to September 2019. Masons experience, when someone asked if they were in trouble, almost always, they were. View Leonard Hansen results in Lynnwood, WA including current phone number, address, relatives, background check report, and property record with Whitepages. By the time she exited the bathroom, he had gone. The woman had lost her husband to cancer the previous year. Probably the only time I just wanted to die in my life, she says. She couldnt live with them anymore. and her ID card. Mason is now back in narcotics, in charge of a task force. [34] The program was nominated for numerous awards, including four nominations each at the Golden Globe Awards and the Critics' Choice Television Awards, with one win at the latter. In 2015, the commander of Lynnwood's Criminal Investigations Division said that practices had since changed. "The focus of the investigation became her credibility. "Then, confronted by police with inconsistencies in her story, [Marie] had conceded it might have been a dream. . In the foster system, Marie experienced physical abuse, sexual abuse and was exposed to drugs. "This is not the kind of story where you anticipate competition," Armstrong told Longform in 2016. She called and said, Ive been raped, Shannon says. The investigators hadnt known that Michael lived with his brother. The police had spent a lot of resources chasing that lie. The initial detectives investigating. They wondered whether it contained photos of his victims. Two and a half years after Maries attack, Lynnwood police contacted her to refund her the $500 and other court costs and informed her thather record would be expunged. He was not a registered sex offender. Marie agreed to speak to Armstrong after six months of communication. Officials for Cocoon House declined to comment on the settlement. Masons judgment was unduly swayed by Peggys phone call. In 2008, 18-year-old Lynnwood, Washington woman Marie is attacked in her apartment by a man who ties her up and rapes her, taking photographs all the while. At 9:07 a.m. she sent an email to the Westminster Police Department. Oxygen Insider is your all-access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! She wanted to help the police. Create a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive videos, breaking news, sweepstakes, and more! [1][2] Colorado publication Westword reprinted the article as their cover story on May 19, 2016. The journalists behind that piece obtained a report written by mental health expert who interviewed Marie for hours, which states that she only met her biological father once and that she knows very little about her biological mother. But on the first day, a support counselor came to the school and told Marie the family had lost its foster care license. Marie has two brothers and a sister on her mothers side. Jennifer Gentile Long, CEO of AEquitas: The Prosecutors' Resource on Violence Against Women, commented that the article presented an "extraordinary learning opportunity for both criminal justice professionals and ordinary citizens alike". Rittgarn would later write, Based on our interview with [Marie] and the inconsistencies found by Sgt. She clutched a bag of her belongings in one hand. By the time Marie reported being assaulted, sex crime specialists had developed protocols that recognized the challenges and sensitivity of investigating rape cases. The Lynnwood Police Department had 79 sworn officers, serving a city of about 34,000 people. What happened next serves as a harrowing. She feared going outdoors. She just listened, then hung up. Its over. He wore a gray hoodie, baggy gray sweatpants and gray slip-on houseshoes. She moved into the Alderbrooke Apartments, a woodsy complex that advertises proximity to a mall and views of the Cascades. There was one possible lead. They discovered a pair of Under Armour gloves with a honeycomb pattern. Galbraith and Hendershot turned to DNA to identify the serial rapist. The report on Maries life written by a mental health expert who interviewed her for five hours is written with clinical detachment, describing her life before she entered foster care She reports not knowing much about her biological mother, who she said would often leave her in the care of boyfriends. When she got to his legs, she raised his pant leg to look. Another former foster mom, Peggy Cunningham, thought that maybe Marie got sexual with someone and they took pictures (Marie said her rapist took photos of her) and this rape story was a way to cover that up, according to This American Life.. [7], By August 2015, Miller was working on a report about the Washington and Colorado serial rape cases, with focus on the woman who recanted a report of rape after intense police interrogation, proven true years later by the rapist's convictionknown in the article by her middle name "Marie". It was like she was telling me that shed made a sandwich. That Marie wasnt hysterical, or even upset, made Shannon wonder if Marie was telling the truth. The physical description closely matched the descriptions provided by the victims. T. Christian Miller joined ProPublica in 2008 as a senior reporter. The unbelievable story of how a rape victim in Lynnwood, Washington was charged with falsely reporting the crime and how two female detectives, who believed her, teamed up to find the serial rapist responsible: Marc Patrick O'Leary. The caller related that [Marie] had a past history of trying to get attention and the person was questioning whether the rape had occurred, Mason later wrote. Gabrielle Bruney is a writer and editor for Esquire, where she focuses on politics and culture. An internal review also concluded that Mason and Rittgarn's behaviour was "designed to elicit a confession of false reporting." said Miller during the Longform interview. They spraypainted the prints fluorescent orange to make them stand out, then took pictures. I was mad at God, she says. Wanting independence,she moved into a program in Lynnwood, Washington entitled Project Ladder designed to help young people transition from foster care to living by themselves. Confused, the agent fell back on a practiced ruse. Afterward, he ordered her to brush her teeth and wash herself in the shower. People are calling it the most "infuriating" true-crime drama of all time. It was a collaboration between two American, non-profit news organizations, The Marshall Project and ProPublica.The article was written by Ken Armstrong and T. Christian Miller. Over the next 24 hours, more than a dozen investigators threw their collective effort and experience into finding out everything possible about OLeary. Galbraith flashed a quick thumbs up. Between 2008 and 2011, a series of rapes in the suburbs around Seattle and Denver were perpetrated by Marc Patrick O'Leary, an Army veteran who had been stationed near Tacoma. They received thousands of pages of documents, including investigative reports, case reviews, crime scene photographs and footage of surveillance and O'Leary after his arrest. The two bonded naturally. [39], series of rapes in the American states of Washington and Colorado, Washington and Colorado serial rape cases, "The Backstory of How the Pulitzer-Winning "Unbelievable Story of Rape" Came to Be", "Marshall Project Kicks Off With Look at Legal Delays", "The FBI Built a Database That Can Catch Rapists Almost Nobody Uses It", "How We Reported 'An Unbelievable Story of Rape', "Notable Narrative: Ken Armstrong, T. Christian Miller and "An Unbelievable Story of Rape", "Coaches' Corner: The story behind 'An Unbelievable Story of Rape', "New York Times Journalists Among Winners of 2015 Polk Awards", "Team wins Al Nakkula Award for Police Reporting", "T. Christian Miller of ProPublica and Ken Armstrong of The Marshall Project", "A Haunting Story That Shows the Consequencesand the Ubiquityof Doubting Rape Victims", "National rape story has Madison parallels", "Covering failures in the justice system with patience for facts and sensitivity to victims", "A Brutal Crime, Often Terribly Investigated", "How Almost Getting Scooped Brought Two Competing Reporters Together", "Constructing the narrative: An unbelievable story of rape", "Revisiting Pulitzer Prize-Winning Journalist Ken Armstrong On Tuesday's Access Utah", "Listen to Our First Collaboration with "This American Life", "A False Report: A True Story of Rape in America By T. Christian Miller and Ken Armstrong", "A False Report review: a powerful story about a serial rapist that falls flat", "Review: 'A False Report: A True Story of Rape in America,' by T. Christian Miller and Ken Armstrong", "The Lesson Here Is Listen to the Victim", "The true story behind 'Unbelievable,' Netflix's gripping new drama about the women who solved a serial rape case", "How a Pulitzer Prize-Winning Investigation Became Netflix's 'Unbelievable', "Netflix has revealed its most-watched content. Galbraith checked out the footprints left at the Lakewood scene. So who was the real-life Marie? [11] Keller and other editors recommended cutting down on the ending of the article, yielding a short epilogue. In the kitchen, he went to the knife block and removed a black-handled blade from the top row, far left. The real woman known as Marie in the original articleMarie is her middle namereported her rape to Lynnwood, Washington police on August 11, 2008. If detectives could eliminate OLearys male relatives, they could place OLeary at the scene of the crimes with a high degree of certainty. Marie sued the city and settled for $150,000. They decided to run Michael OLearys DNA, collected from the restaurant glass, against the DNA found at the crime scenes. That night, Hendershot drove to break the news to her victim, the 59-year-old widow in Westminster. Marie, who had turned 18 three months before, told police she had been talking on the phone much of the night with her friend Jordan. He ordered the women to shower. Theyd be out there searching for this person who had done this to me.. [6] The teams decided to collaborate. She reports entering foster care at age 6 or 7. You know? On August 11, 2008, Marc Patrick O'Leary raped an eighteen year old at knife point in Lynnwood, Washington. D.M. Marie left the state, got a commercial drivers license and took a job as a long-haul trucker. During the attack, he knocked a yellow teddy bear off a desk in her bedroom. In an interview with police after his conviction, OLeary recounted his attacks in detail. There was something about how she said it just made me question whether or not shed actually been raped, Shannon said on Anatomy of Doubt.. [9], Armstrong's editor Joe Sexton and Miller's editor Bill Keller had worked together at The New York Times. I told her, I said, Its over. On the day she reported being raped, Marie phoned Shannon, her former foster mom, after getting back from the hospital. She belongs to a Caucasian family. Mariegot her GED at age 17 in 2008. But Hendershot right away recognized the potential in collaborating and in using every tool possible. It was like, I felt like she was telling me the script of a Law & Order story. Part of it was what Marie was saying. The night was dry, letting him settle in. Neither Mason nor Rittgarn were disciplined. Mason filed a false reporting charge; such charges in similar circumstances were rare. From what Mason wrote up later, he wasted little time confronting Marie, telling her there were inconsistencies between her statements and accounts from other witnesses. There it was, on OLearys left calf: a dark birthmark the size of a large chicken egg. She has left the state, although she wants her new location to remain secret. [22], "An Anatomy of Doubt" is the 581st episode of the American radio program and podcast This American Life. She reports entering foster care at age six or seven.". The police officers walked her downstairs, where the Project Ladder representatives asked if she had been raped. A couple of other officers were already there, protecting the crime scene. He knew to avoid leaving his DNA at the scene. Receiving it crushed Marie. 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