The investigators confronted her, and under their pressure, Marie said that she made up her initial claim. For the next half hour or so, while she slept, he got ready while talking himself into following through. OLeary pleaded guilty in both of the Washington cases. The Army veteran was stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, near Tacoma, Washington, between November 2006 and September 2009, when he targeted Marie in Lynnwood, Washington, in August. She started smoking, drinking, gaining weight. I wasnt going to let him destroy me.". The next morning, Mason went to Jordans home to interview him. 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. She joined Project Ladder at age 18, a program designed for people transitioning from foster care to living alone. [28][29] However, though Rosita Boland of The Irish Times enjoyed the early sections of the book, she found it to have a "curiously flat style overall, without any distinctive voice". Galbraith began collaboration with Westminster Detective Edna Hendershot, who had investigated two cases in which women aged 59 and 65 were raped in similar ways. When she told police of her skepticism, she asked to be treated anonymously. She was 18 years old, charged with a gross misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in jail. The entire series is harrowingly candid portrayal of Marie's story and the horrific injustice she experienced. Marie stopped going to church. So many kids, institutionalized, wound up on drugs or in jail. After I got off the phone with him, I started thinking about all things I was stressed out and I also was scared living on my own. They treated Marie like a suspect instead of a victim and, in doing so, they unwittingly coerced her into saying she lied. She had turned up something. Coverage of the latest true crime stories and famous cases explained, as well as the best TV shows, movies and podcasts in the genre. The night was dry, letting him settle in. The city of Lynnwood will pay a woman $150,000 to settle a lawsuit she filed after police charged her with filing a false report because they didnt believe she had been raped. Marie and Shannon would walk in the woods, or take out the boat, then, at days end, crash in Shannons home. She did. Galbraith ruled out the brothers father he was too old and lived in a different state. It was possible that Michael had committed the rapes. In that way, rape cases were unlike most other crimes. Marie's foster parents and police in Lynnwood have since apologized to her. He said nothing about doubting Maries story, according to Masons written summary. [9][10], Miller wrote the sections about the woman in Colorado, while Armstrong wrote the sections about the investigation in Washington. [27], The Netflix miniseries Unbelievable is an eight-part adaptation of "An Unbelievable Story of Rape", also drawing from "An Anatomy of Doubt" and A False Report. The analysis of the touch DNA produced mixed results. And the reporters who made her story national news are still in touch with Marie, who, in 2014, settled a lawsuit against the city of Lynnwood for $150,000. Where do you go when youre 5 and already thinking about handcuffs? However, two of Marie's former foster parents began to disbelieve her due to her seemingly calm demeanour, one reporting doubts to the police. Galbraith felt sick. He used wet wipes to clean up his ejaculate. Marie said she really had been raped and began to cry, saying she was having visions of the man on top of her. Most had been assaulted by a boyfriend, an old flame, or someone they had met at a club. So who was the real-life Marie? Labs were taken for hepatitis, chlamydia, HIV. Mason filed a false reporting charge; such charges in similar circumstances were rare. Marie settled in. When the woman reported the attack to Lynnwood. Flipping the switch was a relief and it would let her leave. News coverage, criminal justice guidelines and court transcripts were also consulted. We may earn a commission from these links. Her story hadnt hurt anyone no suspects arrested, or even questioned. He wore a gray hoodie, baggy gray sweatpants and gray slip-on houseshoes. What do you think should happen to someone who would lie about something like this? On the morning of Friday, Feb. 11, FBI agents were surveilling OLearys house. I walked in, and she was super happy to see me, and I told her. I have no qualms with asking for help, Galbraith said. [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. The Marshall Project specializes in criminal justice. [9] As the two reporters and two primary editors were all male, the team ensured that they consulted various women, some with knowledge of the case and some without, particularly in regards to how graphic or detailed to make the description of Marie's rape. The article was further informed by other interviews and thousands of pages of public records material. He said he believed she had made the story up a spur-of-the-moment thing, not something planned out. Cities: Lynnwood WA, Livingston MT Possible Relatives: Kirsten Marie Gilliam, Jo Darlene Hagen. He took their clothing and bedding with him when he left. Kirkland police abandoned this lead after Lynnwood police told them at least twice that Marie's account was a lie. ", Merritt Wever and Toni Collette in "Unbelievable. 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. . Project Ladder staff made Marie return to police when she said she made the report under duress. I would spend hours at the beach watching the sunset go down and that was one of my favorite things. But years later, she was vindicated. She reports entering foster care at age 6 or 7. Launched the year before, the program was designed to help young adults who had grown up in foster care transition to living on their own. 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. Default; Distance; Rating; Name (A - Z) Sponsored Links. [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. He was promoted to sergeant and transferred to the Criminal Investigations Division six weeks before the report of Marie's assault. He told the man he was canvassing the neighborhood to warn of a burglar in the area. He threaded one of the shoelaces through a pair of underwear. She wanted to remember everything she could. Details of that settlement are confidential, according to the womans lawyers. Then she admitted making the story up". Nor should police get lost in stereotypes believing, for example, that an adult victim will be more believable than an adolescent. Mariegot her GED at age 17 in 2008. She wasnt his type, not really. She let it go and hung up, thinking, Okay, I hope that works out for you guys.. He tied her hands. They needed more information. 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. "Unbelievable" recounts the true story of how the teenager reported to Lynnwood police in 2008 that she was raped at knifepoint by a masked intruder in her apartment and how she later. Because she craved normalcy, she would bury the hurt. Peggy, too, apologized. Marie was born in Heidelberg . The dog, outside, had tracked to the south, toward an office building, but was unable to lead officers to anything that might identify the rapist. Lynnwood police found Marie south of Seattle, Washington and told her what had happened. You should get help, the woman, a house mother at a local fraternity, told the man. But in fresh light, it appeared very much like a failed rape attempt, committed by an attacker who closely resembled the description of the rapist. Marie, her face in her hands, looked down. She was Peggys first foster child. FBI figures show that police annually declare around 5 percent of rape cases unfounded, or baseless. Throughout 2015, he had been reporting on the failure of law enforcement to trace rapists, including the case of Darren Sharper, a football player who raped nine women. She was 17, starting to stay out late, worrying Peggy, creating tension between the two. He wore a black mask. OLeary had no criminal record. A friend from 10th grade called to ask: How could you lie about something like that? He stuffed cloth into her mouth to muffle any sound. It was just nice to be on my own and not have all the rules that I had had being in foster care, Marie said, according toProPublica. . How can I obtain the complete court record? For Marie, this was a familiar drill, one she could trace to her years of being abused as a kid, and to her years in foster care, bouncing from home to home and school to school. Police found Maries purse on the bedroom floor, her wallet on the bed and her learners permit, for some reason removed from her wallet, on a bedroom window sill. He looked confused and shocked as he stepped out into the bright winter sun. Unbelievable | Official Trailer | Netflix, Netflix's 'Unbelievable' is Based on a True Story, The Best Movies Based on True Stories in 2019, Toni Collettes 'Unbelievable' Role, Explained, charge her with with making a false report to police, Pulitzer Prize-winning 2015 joint investigation, trauma can sometimes cause victims to give differing accounts of their attacks, Armstrong told National Public Radio last year, reported the story in part by interviewing. Link your TV provider to stream full episodes and live TV. Warning: This material may be disturbing to some listeners. In 2011, her rapistMarc OLeary pleaded guilty to raping three women, including Marie, and trying to rape a fourth in Colorado. discuss pitfalls and best practices of sex crimes investigations. An external report by Sergeant Gregg Rinta, who worked for the Snohomish County Sheriff's Office as a sex crimes supervisor, condemned the handling of Marie's case. Her lawyer was surprised she had been charged. The officer filed a brief report on the vehicle. I felt like she was telling me the script of a Law and Order story. In 2008, an 18-year-old woman was brutally raped at her apartment in Lynnwood, Washington, gagged and bound by an intruder in the middle of the night. Snow covered the ground in patches. In this written statement, she described calling him while still tied up. It was parked half a block from the Lakewood victims house, by an empty field adjacent to her backyard. Juries were hesitant to throw someone in prison when it was one persons word against anothers. 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