In the thrilling universe of true crime with our handpicked list of the top 10 true crime documentaries currently available on Netflix (as of 2025). These series and films expose chilling tales of crime, justice, and human endurance, re-creating history’s greatest cases. From gruesome murders to complex investigations, each documentary provides a front-row seat to the events that have enticed viewers globally.
Available on one of the leading streaming platforms, these true crime tales blend detailed storytelling with real-world evidence, providing an engaging look at the complexities of human behavior and the pursuit of truth. Having powerful narratives, showcasing the impact of real events through the lens of documentary filmmaking. Discover the stories that inform and intrigue, all on Netflix, for a thought-provoking viewing experience that highlights the realities of crime and its consequences.
10 Must-Watch True Crime Documentaries on Netflix Right Now
The Staircase (2004–2018)
The Staircase chronicles the trial of novelist Michael Peterson, accused of murdering his wife, Kathleen Peterson, at their Durham, North Carolina, home on December 9, 2001. Kathleen, 48, was dead at the bottom of a staircase with multiple head injuries and blood spatter. Prosecutors accused Peterson of bludgeoning her to death for financial problems and bisexuality, substantiated by forensic blood pattern and scalp laceration analysis.
The defense explained Kathleen’s slip by citing her blood alcohol level (0.07%) and lack of skull fractures. Peterson was found guilty of first-degree murder in 2003 and sentenced to life without parole. The series, which runs over 13 episodes, has courtroom shots, family interviews, and Peterson’s point of view, following appeals and a 2011 retrial motion following a blood analyst’s misconduct.
In 2017, Peterson took an Alford plea to voluntary manslaughter and was given time served. Forensic arguments focused on the owl theory that posited a bird attack resulted in Kathleen’s wounds, which remained unsubstantiated. The documentary, directed by Jean-Xavier de Lestrade, employs real-time trial access and home footage to examine legal intricacies, reasonable doubt, and family life and thus stands as a landmark in the true crime narrative.
The Night Stalker (2021)
The Night Stalker chronicles the crimes of Richard Ramirez, the serial killer who terrorized Los Angeles and San Francisco between June 1984 and August 1985. Ramirez, 25, murdered at least 13 individuals, raped and assaulted dozens, and burglarized more than 40 homes. Victims, ranging in age from 6 to 82, were stabbed, shot, or beaten to death, usually in their own homes. Forensic clues, such as shoe prints (Avia sneakers), fingerprints, and survivor accounts, connected the crimes.
In May 1985, a .22-caliber bullet from a victim corroborated previous scenes. Ramirez’s satanic symbols, deposited at crime sites, created media hysteria. Arrested on August 31, 1985, after citizens identified him from police drawings, Ramirez was identified through fingerprints from a stolen vehicle. DNA was not employed since the technology was underdeveloped.
He was convicted in 1989 of 13 murders, 5 attempted murders, 11 sexual assaults, and 14 burglaries, for which he received 19 death penalties. The four-part series employs survivor interviews, police reports, and crime scene photographs, chronicling the manhunt and the wild trial of Ramirez. Ramirez succumbed to lymphoma in 2013 on death row, without any executions. The case brought urban dread and forensic techniques to the forefront.
Strong Island (2017)
Strong Island, a documentary directed by Yance Ford, explores the 1992 killing of William Ford Jr., a 24-year-old African American teacher, in Central Islip, New York. William was shot to death on April 7, 1992, by Mark Reilly, a 19-year-old white mechanic, in Reilly’s garage over a car repair dispute. Reilly used self-defense as a claim, alleging William threatened him, but William had no weapon on him.
The week-long Suffolk County police investigation found nothing that countered Reilly’s version. An all-white grand jury refused to indict Reilly on the grounds that there was not enough evidence of intent. The film employs family interviews, home movies, and police reports to examine the racial overtones of the case, which William’s family claims were present in the investigation. Ford’s mother, Barbara, describes aggressive police questioning, and Yance describes the emotional impact.
No forensic information, such as ballistics, was made public, but the movie emphasizes contradictions in Reilly’s account. The case never went to trial and no charges were laid. Ford’s personal history incorporates his being transgendered, giving added meaning to the family’s loss and to the larger picture of systemic racial injustice in Long Island in the 1990s.
American Murder: Gabby Petito (2024)
American Murder: Gabby Petito covers the 2021 disappearance and murder of 22-year-old vlogger Gabby Petito on a cross-country van trip with her fiancé, Brian Laundrie. She was reported missing on September 11, 2021, by her family in New York, and on September 19, her remains were discovered in Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming. Strangulation was the cause of death as ruled by the coroner, with death being 3–4 weeks earlier. Laundrie, 23, was designated a person of interest when he drove back to Florida alone on September 1. A Moab, Utah, police stop on August 12, filmed on bodycam, revealed Petito upset, bringing domestic violence into question.
Laundrie’s notebook, found after his October 20, 2021, suicide by gunshot in Myakkahatchee Creek Environmental Park, confessed to killing Petito, claiming it was a mercy killing after an injury. The documentary uses social media posts, family interviews, and police footage to trace the investigation. No trial occurred due to Laundrie’s death, but forensic evidence, including ligature marks, confirmed homicide. The case drew massive media attention, spotlighting missing persons disparities and domestic violence.
American Nightmare (2024)
American Nightmare covers the 2015 kidnapping of Denise Huskins in Vallejo, California. On March 23, 2015, Huskins, 29, and her boyfriend Aaron Quinn were awakened by intruders in their residence. Huskins was kidnapped, and Quinn, tied up and drugged, was reported to police, who suspected him, with no forced entry reported. Huskins surfaced on March 25 at Huntington Beach, 400 miles away, saying she was held captive and raped.
Vallejo police discounted her account as a hoax, likening it to Gone Girl. Neither ransom was paid, however, until the case broke in June 2015 with the arrest of disbarred attorney Matthew Muller for a similar offense in Dublin, California. Muller’s vehicle had evidence on it, including Huskins’ hair and a recorded ransom demand.
DNA and cellular information tied him to the Vallejo crime. Muller pleaded guilty to rape and kidnapping in 2017 and was sentenced to 40 years. The three-part series utilizes police interviews, court documents, and Huskins’ testimony to expose investigative failures and mistreatment of the victim, with forensic analysis such as hair analysis being pivotal.
Wild Wild Country (2018)
Wild Wild Country charts the Rajneesh movement’s creation of a commune in Wasco County, Oregon, between 1981 and 1985. Under the leadership of Indian guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, the followers constructed Rajneeshpuram, a 64,000-acre utopia home to 7,000 devotees. Conflicts with residents accelerated over land controversies and attempts at vote tampering. The cult in 1984 carried out a bioterror attack, contaminating 10 restaurants with salmonella, infecting 751 individuals, the first ever in U.S. history. There were no fatalities, although 45 needed hospitalization.
Investigation showed that the inner circle of the cult, led by Ma Anand Sheela, had planned to render voters incapacitated. Forensic analysis validated salmonella strains found in cult laboratories. Sheela pleaded guilty in 1985 to attempted murder and assault, serving 20 years (paroled after 29 months). Rajneesh was deported for immigration fraud, with no explicit bioterror charges.
The six-part series draws on archival footage, follower interviews, and sheriff reports to chronicle the rise, crimes, and fall of the cult. Evidence ranged from wiretaps and lab equipment. Cult dynamics and rural-urban divisions were revealed by the case, with no subsequent convictions.
American Manhunt: The Boston Marathon Bombing (2023)
American Manhunt: The Boston Marathon Bombing is about the April 15, 2013, attack in Boston, Massachusetts, when brothers Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev exploded two pressure-cooker bombs at the marathon finish line, killing 3 (one an 8-year-old child) and injuring 264, of whom 17 lost limbs. The four-day manhunt is told in a three-part series through FBI interviews, survivor accounts, and CCTV footage.
Tamerlan, 26, was killed on April 19 in a gunfire battle in Watertown, shot by police and bulldozed over by Dzhokhar, 19, who was apprehended hiding in a boat. Forensic materials, such as bomb pieces and backpacks, connected the brothers, with their apartment providing bomb components. Dzhokhar’s boat confession included jihadist ambitions.
He was convicted on 30 federal charges, including murder, in 2015 and was given the death penalty. Ballistics and DNA implicated the bombs in the Tsarnaevs, with no other suspects charged. The series covers the city lockdown, police cooperation, and resilience of the public, from 1,000 hours of archive video footage and analysis of phone data, providing a comprehensive perspective on a major U.S. terrorist attack.
Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal (2023)
Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal examines the 2021 killings of Maggie Murdaugh, 52, and her son Paul, 22, who were shot dead on June 7, 2021, at their family’s hunting lodge in Colleton County, South Carolina. The murders were discovered by Alex Murdaugh, a well-known attorney. The three-part series explores the Murdaugh family’s law dynasty and Alex’s demise. Forensic evidence indicated Maggie was shot with a rifle (5 shots) and Paul with a shotgun (2 shots, head one). No firearms were recovered, but the rifle was ballistically linked to the family.
Alex was indicted in July 2022 for double murder, convicted of it in March 2023, and sentenced to two life terms. Charges of financial fraud, with $8.8 million embezzled from clients, surfaced, with Alex entering a guilty plea in 2023. The series employs the use of court footage, interviews with friends, and 911 calls to unveil Alex’s opioid addiction and motive to deflect fraud investigation. No other suspects were indicted. The case revealed corruption in South Carolina’s Lowcountry, with appeals pending as of 2025.
A Deadly American Marriage (2025)
A Deadly American Marriage is a reexamination of the 2015 murder of Jason Corbett, an Irish businessman of 39 years, in Davidson County, North Carolina. On August 2, 2015, Corbett was bludgeoned to death in his house, with skull fractures and scalp lacerations using a baseball bat and a brick. His wife, Molly Martens, 31, and her father, Thomas Martens, a retired FBI agent, used the defense of self-defense, accusing Corbett of attacking Molly. Neither had any defensive wounds, and blood spatter indicated Corbett was attacked when he was on the ground.
The documentary chronicles the trial in 2017 when Molly and Thomas were both found guilty of second-degree murder and sentenced to 20–25 years each. Forensic evidence, including DNA from a bat and the pattern of blood, opposed their account.
In 2020, their convictions were reversed for judicial mistakes, but in 2023, there was a retrial that confirmed the guilty verdicts. The show incorporates family interviews, 911 calls, and court tapes, tracking Molly’s custody struggle over Corbett’s children and her return to Ireland. There were no other suspects, and the case is still controversial because the two accounts do not match.
American Murder: Laci Peterson (2024)
American Murder: Laci Peterson covers the 2002 disappearance of Laci Peterson, 27, eight months pregnant, from her Modesto, California, home on December 24. Her husband, Scott Peterson, reported her missing, claiming he was fishing. On April 13–14, 2003, Laci’s torso and son Conner’s body washed ashore in San Francisco Bay. Autopsies showed Laci died of homicide, likely strangulation, with no clear weapon.
Scott was arrested after phone calls revealed an affair with Amber Frey, who cooperated with police. Forensic evidence included Laci’s hair in Scott’s boat pliers and concrete residue at his warehouse. In 2004, Scott was found guilty of second and first-degree murder of Laci and Conner, and sentenced to life without parole after the death penalty was abolished in 2020. The documentary employs media footage, testimony by Frey, and family interviews, covering Scott’s 2024 appeal for juror misconduct. No other suspects were indicted. The case, garnering 1,500 media representatives, brought attention to domestic violence and missing persons cases.
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Hilfa, Senior Writer at Hilvaro, excels in pop culture journalism. She crafts engaging content on movies, TV, & trends, fueled by her love for storytelling & entertainment.
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