The three went to the Lynnwood police station, where the detectives escorted Marie to a conference room. One was her former foster mother, with whom D.M. In 2011, Galbraith worked on a Denver case where a young woman living alone was sexually assaulted by a man in a black mask who documented the rape with a digital camera. 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. Also named in the suit are Rittgarn, Mason and Lynnwood Police Chief Steven J. Jensen. The description of his background comes from his LinkedIn profile. In 2008, Marie, as the article refers to her, was an 18-year-old woman who lived in subsidized housing in Lynnwood, WA, for young adults previously in the fostercare system. She got married and has two kids, and they live "somewhere in the middle of the country" as of 2018. As Marie told Sergeant Jerry Mason and Detective Jerry Rittgarn, she'd fallen asleep after a late-night phone chat with her friend Jordan, an ex. Jayne Tainis Doris Laird is based on the 65-year-old fraternity housemother whose teddy bear, like her fictional counterparts, yielded some DNA. To determine the rate of rape crimes declared unfounded, or groundless, by law enforcement agencies, we analyzed Uniform Crime Reporting data collected by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Based on her answers and body language it was apparent that [Marie] was lying about the rape, Rittgarn later wrote. Nonprofit journalism about criminal justice, A nonprofit news organization covering the U.S. criminal justice system, This story was produced in collaboration with, International Association of Chiefs of Police, National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, Policing and Prosecuting Sexual Assault in Los Angeles City and County. Marie was then charged with a gross misdemeanor for false reporting. charged with making a false report in Lynnwood Municipal Court when she tried to take back a statement in which she had recanted her story of being raped. The records obtained through these requests included investigative reports filed by detectives in Lynnwood and elsewhere; crime-scene photos and surveillance footage collected by the various law-enforcement agencies; the two case reviews of how the Lynnwood police handled the investigation of Maries rape report; and video of Marc OLeary being interviewed by police after his arrest in Colorado. They told her the Lynnwood case was closed. Yet, after conversations with the victims stepmother, her friend, and anonymous caller, police began to have doubts. The people interviewed for this story include Marie (in our story, we agreed to use only her middle name); Maries foster mothers Peggy Cunningham and Shannon McQuery; Maries friend Jordan Schweitzer; James Feldman, Maries public defender when she was charged with filing a false police report; H. Richmond Fisher, Maries attorney in her civil suit against Lynnwood, Washington; Golden, Colorado, police Det. Mason told ProPublica, "It wasnt her job to try to convince me. Jerry Rittgarn threatened Adler with . Mason is still with the Lynnwood Police Department. in court documents, was gagged, bound and sexually assaulted at knife-point in her Lynnwood apartment by an intruder five years ago. Violating her rights, Rittgarn and Mason told Marie to write out what "really" happened. When Marie's rapist was caught, Detective Rittgarn had already left the Lynnwood police department. "I would spend hours at the beach watching the sunset go down and that was one of my favorite things," she said. Trevor Materasso; Lakewood, Colorado, police detective Aaron Hassell; Kirkland, Washington, police officer Audra Weber; Lynnwood police Sgt. None of them had any firsthand knowledge of what had happened, the lawsuit says. Virtually every real-life detail of the rape and the Lynnwood police investigation plays out onscreen in Unbelievable. In Unbelievable, the detectives that team up to catch the serial rapist who also attacked Marie are a breath of fresh air compared to Lynnwood's botched operation. She walked away with $150,000, according to the Seattle Times. The program's counselors had made Marie stand in front of the other program members to tell them she'd lied, and said she'd be evicted unless she underwent more counseling. She spoke 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. Like the real college student whose rape brought Galbraith to Hendershots door, Danielle Macdonalds Amber Stevenson remembers important details: the rapist using a pink Sony camera that had been stolen from Hendershots 59-year-old victim (Vanessa Bell Calloways Sarah) and an egg-shaped birthmark on the attackers calf. The series shows her driving off in a new Jeep in hopes of establishing a better life elsewhere. Meanwhile, several years and states away, detectives Grace Rasmussen and Karen Duvall (Toni Colette and Merritt Wever) merge their investigations in a skilled search for a serial rapist. The police on her case, Sgt. By using this website, you accept the terms of our Visitor Agreement and Privacy Policy, and understand your options regarding Ad Choices. Jeff Mason didnt believe her. Toni Collettes intensity as Detective Grace Rasmussen doesnt line up with Edna Hendershots reportedly easygoing demeanor. VIDEO: Rape victim was called a liar by police. We excluded agencies that did not report crime statistics in any given month, as well as those that reported no crimes of any kind in a year. with a butcher knife, bound her wrists with a shoe string he had removed from her shoes, stuffed a pair of underwear in her mouth as a gag, blindfolded her, and took photographs of her, according to the lawsuit she filed. In Marie's case, neither of her foster moms thought she was behaving like it really happened, for different reasons: Shannon decided Marie didn't seem sad enough just hours after the crime, telling ProPublica, "There was just no emotion. While Hendershot never suspected or chatted up an off-duty police officer in a bar to get his DNA, as Grace does in episode six, she did stay behind so Galbraith could arrest OLeary solo, as seen in episode seven. She named Mason and. Rittgarn wrote that, Based on her answer and body language it was apparent that D.M. D.M. You cant use our work to populate a website designed to improve rankings on search engines or solely to gain revenue from network-based advertisements. In August 2008, the victim, identified only as D.M., was in transitional housing after being in foster homes. returned to the police station with Cocoon House representatives and asked to withdraw the denial and insisted that she had been attacked. The police on her case, Sgt. When Mason, accompanied by Detective (Jerry) Rittgarn, went to pick up Marie at about 3:30 p.m., they found her outside her apartment, sitting on the grass. Also named in the suit are Rittgarn . The people interviewed for this story include Marie (in our story, we agreed to use only her middle name); Maries foster mothers Peggy Cunningham and Shannon McQuery; Maries friend Jordan Schweitzer; James Feldman, Maries public defender when she was charged with filing a false police report; H. Richmond Fisher, Maries attorney in her civil suit against Lynnwood, Washington; Golden, Colorado, police Det. Because of Adlers calm demeanor, McQuery also had doubts about the rape and, as portrayed in episode one, was confounded when Adler wanted to replicate her bedding. When Mason, accompanied by Detective (Jerry) Rittgarn, went to pick up Marie at about 3:30 p.m., they found her outside her apartment, sitting on the grass. Helmed by Erin Brokovich screenwriter Susannah Grant, the new miniseries follows the story of Marie, a young woman charged with lying about being raped, as well as that of two female detectives who, through a winding road of evidence, discover the truth. It wasnt until 2 years later, when former Washington state resident Marc OLeary was arrested for several rapes in Colorado, that Lynnwood police reopened their investigation. Though she found it hard to watch, she said the series was excellent and even encouraged both of her foster moms, with whom shes still in touch, to watch it. Rittgarn asked Marie. They exchanged tidbits about their liveslike how they both had two kids. If anyone is at all (still) curious as to why so many sexual assaults go unreported, this should be exhibit A. I have watched videos of police officers planting evidence on innocent people that are less infuriating. Well never put our work behind a paywall, and well never put a limit on the number of articles you can read. He tied her hands behind her back with a lace from her tennis shoe, blindfolded her and gagged her. Other reporting included pulling transcripts of television news coverage from when Marie was raped and later charged; 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. At first he could not recall the case, except that he thought it involved that guy from Colorado.. UnitedHealthcare Tried to Deny Coverage to a Chronically Ill Patient. 17-Down, Three Letters: Party for One artist Carly ___ Jepsen. Talk to us You can tell us about news and ask us about our journalism by emailing . Rapes by strangers were uncommon maybe about 13 percent of cases. From the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, 2011, Only about one-fifth to one-third of rapes get reported to police, national surveys show. From National Crime and Victimization Survey, 2014 and National Violence Against Women Survey, 2006. Galbraith first learned of Hendershot's similar case through her police officer husband (just as Duvall, Merritt Wever's character, did). The article also notes that Lynnwood reported 21.3 percent of rape cases "unfounded," or rather, lied about. After OLearys arrest in Colorado in February 2011, Lynnwood police Cmdr. They ignored all the objective evidence collected by the Lynnwood Police Department and Providence Hospital on the day of the rape, the lawsuit alleges. Pretty positive or actually positive? Unbelievable will debut on Netflix on Sept. 13. We excluded agencies that did not report crime statistics in any given month, as well as those that reported no crimes of any kind in a year. Lynnwood, Washington No one came to court with her that day, except her public defender. Its okay to put our stories on pages with ads, but not ads specifically sold against our stories. She also accuses them of threatening to have her thrown out of her apartment, owned by an at-risk youth home called Cocoon House, when she insisted it did take place. KIRO 7 News Seattle facebook feed(Opens a new window), KIRO 7 News Seattle twitter feed(Opens a new window), KIRO 7 News Seattle youtube feed(Opens a new window), Woman loses $29K after being targeted by banking scam with victims in 9 states, Driver killed after car goes off overpass in Georgetown, Tacoma police looking for two alleged retail thieves, Man caught with nearly $3K in stolen fragrance, allegedly planned to trade for fentanyl pills, Cheerleader performs solo after team quits before state championships. The rapist, Marc O'Leary, is. Cocoon House, and two of its employees. Lynnwood, Washington, United States 3 connections. If you havent read it yet, I recommend reading the whole thing soon. Jensen refused to comment to the newspaper because of the litigation and Rittgarn, who has since left the Lynnwood Police Department and now lives in San Diego, said he was unaware of the lawsuit and couldn't remember the case. She agreed, so they left her alone for a few minutes. He actually met with Marie again after the truth came. Like her fictional counterpart, played with heartbreaking vulnerability by Kaitlyn Dever, Adler was a product of the foster-care system and had been abused. We also restricted our examination to only those agencies that reported at least one rape over this timespan. three days after the assault, officers picked up D.M. Sgt. Jerry Rittgarn declined to be interviewed. You don't just go with some family member who was not even a witness. He's declined to speak with any outlets and told Miller and Armstrong he'd only discuss the case if they paid him towhile maintaining his non-factual beliefs about "victims who lie" and a "biased story.". Jerry Rittgarn Detective at Lynnwood PD Lynnwood, WA. When the detectives returned, they saw that Maries new statement described the rape as a dream, not a lie. The woman, identified only as D.M., was gagged, bound and sexually assaulted in her Lynnwood, Washington, home by Marc O'Leary in 2008, Claims detectives Jerry Rittgarn and Sergeant Jeff Mason discounted her story and ignored evidence including doctors reports and DNA samples, She was later fined $500 when she again insisted the rape did take place, Case was reopened two years ago when O'Leary was found with her ID, He was later convicted of a string of rapes and is serving a 327-year sentence in a Colorado prison. 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. Claiming police coerced her into recanting her story, the woman was charged with false reporting and fined $500 when she later tried to insist the rape did happen. Stacy Galbraith; Westminster, Colorado, Sgt. Jeffrey Mason and Detective Jerry Rittgarn, and this is what happened to them after incorrectly seeking a false confession from Marie. This includes publishing or syndicating our work on platforms or apps such as Apple News, Google News, etc. Jeffrey Mason and Jerry Rittgarn, pressed on the inconsistencies in her story. You cant state or imply that donations to your organization support ProPublicas work. 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." The police on her case, Sgt. 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