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Daily Record
14-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Record
7 chilling true crime documentaries on Netflix to binge this weekend
Netflix is home to some of the most disturbing true crime documentaries that are all the rage with fans of the genre - but these are the most chilling of them all. There's nothing quite like cosying up under your duvet with a few nibbles, ready to delve into the latest true crime documentary on Netflix. Recent figures from the streaming giant reveal the popularity of the genre, with American Manhunt: Osama bin Laden and Cold Case: The Tylenol Murders both making the Top 10. And who could overlook the impact of Making A Murderer and American Murder: Gabby Petito, sparking countless theories and debates across various platforms like Reddit. If you're searching for your next true crime documentary to binge this weekend, we've got you sorted with seven of our top choices - but they're not for the faint-hearted. American Murder: The Family Next Door This 2020 documentary recounts the true story of the Watts family murders, which occurred two years prior. Utilising archival footage from social media posts and text messages to home video footage and police recordings, it unravels the mystery that shrouded the family, revealing midway through that Chris Watts murdered his pregnant wife Shanann, and her two daughters, four-year-old Bella and three-year-old Celeste. Reports of their disappearances began when friends of Shanann contacted the police saying they'd not heard from her, but Chris quickly became a key part of the search, even appearing on TV to plead for their return. He claimed to have no idea of their whereabouts, but his lies and secrets began to unravel after a failed polygraph test. Viewers eventually discover the horrific events that transpired, after Chris murdered his wife and buried her in a grave at his workplace, where he also disposed of his two daughters' bodies in an oil tank. His motives were never definitively established, but he pleaded guilty to multiple counts of first-degree murder and was handed five life sentences without the possibility of parole, with three to be served consecutively. Don't F**k with Cats: Hunting an Internet Killer In 2019, Netflix released what might be its most terrifying documentary, which traced the true story of an online manhunt. It charted an amateur investigation by social media users into a series of animal cruelty acts committed by a Canadian pornstar named Luka Magnotta. In 2010, he shared a video of himself killing two kittens in a plastic bag by suffocating them with a vacuum cleaner. After witnessing the horrifying act when the video went viral, a Facebook group was created to try and gather evidence against him. However, matters took a darker turn when Magnotta evaded authorities and began to commit more serious crimes, culminating in the murder of Jun Lin. He posted the video of Lin's death online, and sent his body parts to various institutions including the headquarters of Canada's two major political parties. He fled to Europe but was apprehended in 2014 and convicted of Lin's murder. He was given a life sentence with no chance of parole for 25 years. Bad Vegan: Fame. Fraud. Fugitives. The four-part documentary, Bad Vegan, chronicles the rise and fall of Sarma Melngailis and Anthony Strangis, founders of Pure Food and Wine, and a married couple. Their New York City restaurant was a favourite among A-listers such as Bill Clinton and Alec Baldwin, and was known for its pioneering vegan cuisine. However, when Sarma married Anthony - who is actually named Shane Fox - her downfall and that of her restaurant began. Sarma claimed that her husband, a conman, manipulated her into stealing money from their business. He managed to convince her that he had lived for centuries and could grant her and her dog immortality. Eventually, he emptied her bank account and they both went on the run, only to be apprehended while ordering a non-vegan Domino's pizza. In 2017, Anthony admitted to charges of grand larceny, criminal tax fraud, and a scheme to defraud. He received a five-year probation sentence for stealing nearly $1,000,000 from the investors and employees of Pure Food and Wine. Sarma also confessed to stealing over $200,000 from an investor and scheming to defraud, in addition to facing criminal tax fraud charges. She was sentenced to almost four months in prison and filed for divorce from Anthony in 2018. The Tinder Swindler Netflix's The Tinder Swindler revealed the deceitful actions of Shimon Hayut, who impersonated Simon Leviev, the billionaire son of a diamond tycoon. The series follows three victims, Pernilla Sjoholm, Cecilie Fjellhøy and Ayleen Koeleman, as they join forces to uncover the true identity of a man who swindled them out of thousands of pounds to fund his extravagant lifestyle. He would whisk them away on romantic trips and lavish them with luxury, only to leave them drowning in debt. The Netflix programme suggests that Hayut hopped from one woman to another, stealing an estimated $10,000,000, while also being sought globally for various crimes. Following the airing of the series, Hayut maintained his innocence and refuted claims of fraud. It was later alleged that the real Leviev family were taking legal action against Hayut for defamation and invasion of privacy, after he impersonated the son of Israeli-Russian businessman Lev Leviev, even going to the extent of photoshopping himself into family photographs. Sweet Bobby: My Catfish Nightmare Sweet Bobby unveils one of the most shocking instances of catfishing - the twisted tale of Kirat Assi's ordeal. Based on a podcast bearing the same name, the Netflix series recounts how Kirat was deceived for over a decade. The actual individual behind the account - whom she believed to be a man named Bobby - wove a web of deceit, manipulating Kirat and their relationship, lying about health issues and creating multiple false personas to convince her she was interacting with a whole community of people acquainted with Bobby. Radio presenter Kirat's romantic illusions were shattered when she uncovered the truth about the man she believed she knew, only to find out he had a family and was oblivious to her existence. Her world fell apart upon discovering the true identity of the person who had catfished her for over ten years, but she found empowerment by taking legal action, as revealed in the Netflix series, and later pursued a civil lawsuit. Speaking to Metro about the ordeal, she expressed: "It's never gone away. It's always there. I hope by coming forward, other victims are not treated the same way." The Most Hated Man on the Internet Netflix's 2022 release, The Most Hated Man on the Internet, delves into the story of Hunter Moore, infamously dubbed the 'king of revenge porn'. Moore was the creator of a notorious 'revenge porn' site that encouraged users to upload images and videos, often containing nudity or explicit content, which reportedly included underage individuals and band members. Countless victims suffered as their private photos and social media details were disseminated online. The documentary series chronicles the downfall of Moore and his infamous website, culminating in his conviction and subsequent two-year imprisonment. After the series, he made some shocking comments including that he was "proud of what [he] created" and claimed: "I did do my time, I feel like I did pay my dues, and it wasn't all negative, and I had a great time and I would definitely do it over and over again, but I would do it in a different way and I would definitely take back any of the trauma that anybody suffered from the website or anything negative that happened through the site because back then I didn't understand it." Producers on the series also shared that Moore had initially agreed to be a part of the series before pulling out, but they were later glad to be able to share the story from the victims' narrative. Cold Case: Who Killed JonBenét Ramsey This instalment of Netflix's Cold Case series follows the mysterious death of JonBenét Ramsey, a six-year-old found dead in her parents' basement. On Boxing Day in 1996, her parents John and Patsy awoke to find her missing, and discovered a ransom note asking for $118,000. After contacting the police and searching their home, John found her body dead in the basement, but the investigation that followed sparked numerous questions. The Netflix show reveals the intricacies of the police case, and alleged mistakes made, as well as the media sensation around her death after controversy over her participation in child pageants, and the possible suspects.
The Sun
10-05-2025
- Politics
- The Sun
How innocent people could be jailed because of sinister AI bot ChatGPT… and leave dangerous criminals walking free
JURORS could secretly be using ChatGPT to decide crunch verdicts, top US lawyers fear. Dean Strang and Jerry Buting, who starred in Netflix documentary Making a Murderer, warned it could see innocent people convicted - or let criminals off the hook. 4 4 The lawyers, who defended Steven Avery on the hit show, insisted it is vital jurors are stopped from accessing the AI tool during trials. Strang said jurors could be tempted to use ChatGPT as a 'sounding board' if they are uncertain about a defendant. But he stressed it could have "disastrous" consequences as jurors could get skewed answers that force a mistrial or bring them to the wrong decision. Strang, who has worked in criminal defence for more than 30 years, told The Sun: 'Jurors should be banned from using ChatGPT. 'I can't prove this and I'm not a computer engineer, but my sense is that AI, in part, is assessing what it thinks we want to hear and tailoring answers to its perception of what our human wishes and purposes are. 'That would be disastrous in a jury room, to the extent that AI decides the juror is inclined to a conviction. 'You're going to get a skewed answer. To the extent AI perceives the jurors are inclined to acquittal or if AI develops its own will, which I read is at least possible, kind of developing a consciousness. 'Either way, you're getting a skew and neither skew is good, and you're substituting out what you hope is human judgment, a human assessment of what's happening in the courtroom, credibility determinations.' Asked if he fears jurors are already using the tool, or soon will, Strang answered: 'Yes. 'Some never would, and I fear that some would be tempted to or use it as a sounding board, use it as an advisor. China's new cheap AI DeepSeek sparks ALARM as it outperforms West's models like ChatGPT amid race to superintelligence 'Even if the juror says I'm going to make the decision, but I'm getting advice from AI, that's going to be advice that's probably hard to ignore.' Strang and Buting defended Avery in the 2015 documentary, which claimed Avery had been framed for the murder of Teresa Halbach. Avery has been behind bars for the crime since 2007. Before that, he spent 18 years in jail for a rape and attempted murder he was later found innocent of. Strang and Buting continue to maintain his innocence, as does Avery himself. Now, Buting fears even more alleged miscarriages of justice through the use of ChatGPT. Buting, author of Illusion of Justice, told The Sun: 'I've seen people online take situations like the Steven Avery case or the Karen Reed case, a second trial going on right now because the jury was hung, try and use GPT by putting in the facts as they know them. 'Then they ask ChatGPT whether the person is guilty or innocent and they come up with an answer. 'It's bulls*** basically, because it depends on what you put in as the facts. What are the arguments against AI? Artificial intelligence is a highly contested issue, and it seems everyone has a stance on it. Here are some common arguments against it: Loss of jobs - Some industry experts argue that AI will create new niches in the job market, and as some roles are eliminated, others will appear. However, many artists and writers insist the argument is ethical, as generative AI tools are being trained on their work and wouldn't function otherwise. Ethics - When AI is trained on a dataset, much of the content is taken from the internet. This is almost always, if not exclusively, done without notifying the people whose work is being taken. Privacy - Content from personal social media accounts may be fed to language models to train them. Concerns have cropped up as Meta unveils its AI assistants across platforms like Facebook and Instagram. There have been legal challenges to this: in 2016, legislation was created to protect personal data in the EU, and similar laws are in the works in the United States. Misinformation - As AI tools pull information from the internet, they may take things out of context or suffer hallucinations that produce nonsensical answers. Tools like Copilot on Bing and Google's generative AI in search are always at risk of getting things wrong. Some critics argue this could have lethal effects - such as AI prescribing the wrong health information. 'This would be the problem with jurors doing it because jurors listen to the evidence. "If they go back in there and they can't really resolve something themselves, well then that's probably reasonable doubt in most cases. 'But if they say, well, we can't resolve this, you think this and I think that and there's a dispute, let's put it into ChatGPT and see what it says, and then it comes up with an answer, then somebody may be swayed by that. 'AI, at least in its current iteration, has built in biases because of the algorithms.' Buting previously told The Sun he fears AI could destroy the entire justice system by sending innocent people to jail with fake CCTV. ChatGPT exploded onto the scene in 2022 and has since become an essential tool for individuals and businesses worldwide. Buting said: 'We don't know at this point exactly how it's filtering, how it's learning. 'The idea is that it learns from more fact situations presented over and over, but what fact situations, what trials, for instance, is it looking at? 4 4 'Are there already ones where there has been a built-in bias? Because there is a lot of bias in America's legal system. Bias against minorities in particular. 'So are they kind of underrepresented in the algorithm, machine learning that is happening with AI? A lot of people wonder about that. 'I just know I've seen people use ChatGPT. I can use it and put in facts, and leave out facts that I want to, and it'll come up with an answer probably that I want. 'So I think there's a real problem.' When The Sun asked ChatGPT if Avery was guilty, the response was: "Legally: Steven Avery is guilty, he was convicted and remains in prison. What does the law say? UNDER UK law, judges are allowed to use ChatGPT to assist them when making rulings. AI assistance was given the green light by a landmark ruling in 2023. Guidelines from the Judicial Office sent to thousands of judges across England and Wales said that the tech can be useful for summarising large volumes of text or carrying out administrative tasks. However, it cautions that chatbots should relied upon for researching legal frameworks, because there is a risk it will fabricate cases or legal documents. The guidelines also warn that generative AI technology could be used to create false evidence - such as deepfake pictures or videos. The US is currently grappling with the integration of AI in its legal proceedings. Spearheading progress is the Illinois Supreme Court, which issued guidance on the use of AI by judges and lawyers in December 2024. The document encouraged the responsible and supervised use of AI, and suggested that the use of chatbots in drafting pleadings need not be declared. Its tone is generally pro-AI, and emphasises that existing legal and ethical guidance can be applied. In early May 2025, a federal judicial panel advanced a proposal to seek the public's feedback on a draft rule designed to ensure AI-produced evidence meets the same standards as human evidence. 'Public opinion and expert debate: Divided. Many believe he may have been wrongfully convicted again, especially given the suspicious handling of evidence. 'No definitive proof of innocence or of a frame-up has yet convinced the courts.' It comes as fears continue to be raised about its threat to jobs, and the dangers of the software outsmarting humans. Many experts have also warned of the security dangers of advanced AI – and how cyber-crooks could abuse them to scam innocent victims. The Sun has approached ChatGPT for a response. Who is Steven Avery? STEVEN Avery is serving a life sentence at Wisconsin's Waupun Correctional Institution. He and his nephew Brendan Dassey were convicted of the 2005 murder of Teresa Halbach. He has been fighting for his freedom ever since he was found guilty of murder in 2007. Avery argued that his conviction was based on planted evidence and false testimony. In 1985, Avery was falsely convicted of sexually assaulting a young female jogger. It took 18 years for his conviction to be overturned and he was given a $36million (£28.2million) payout in compensation. But days later, he was re-arrested for the murder of Teresa Halbach. The 62-year-old is continuing serving life in prison without the possibility of parole. In the 2015 Netflix original series Making a Murderer, Avery documented his struggle for "justice." In the last episode of the series, viewers were told that Avery had exhausted his appeals and was no longer entitled to state-appointed legal representation.
