The aforementioned Pro Publica article mentions that Mason had only investigated one rape before he was put in charge of Marie's case as lead investigator. It is painful to read, and difficult to understand how this type of behavior on the part of experienced police officers can happen in a professional police department. View their profile including current address, phone number 858-748-XXXX, background check reports, and property record on Whitepages, the most trusted online directory. Both Rittgarn. Detectives took that cup, tested it and found that the DNA on the cup and the DNA from the crime scene were a partial match. In recreated flashbacks that rely on phrases like the beast wouldnt rest and the monster would gather strength, the authors show him stalking women and breaking into their homes by night. The dots were connecting themselves, and amidst their search for more, they uncovered another victim who had escaped a similar attack around the same time. Miller and Armstrong teamed up for the project that became this book when they discovered they were working on it separately. Ph: 772-913-5280 Even though Armstrong and Miller are two men reporting on a crime that overwhelmingly affects women, he said during the Q&A that there was a lot of input from editors, copy editors, and early readers that were women and that had a big impact in crafting the story. Ph: 616-240-1937 Jeffrey Mason (who was the lead investigator) and Jerry Rittgarn. After seeing the series, many Unbelievable viewers became upset with how the police dealt with Marie's case. In real life, Rittgarn left the department before Maries attack was caught. They would have done their job., .css-el2e3v{background-color:#44C1C5;border-radius:0;color:#000;display:inline-block;font-family:AvantGarde,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:0.75rem;font-weight:700;line-height:1;margin-top:0;-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;text-decoration-color:inherit;text-decoration-thickness:0.0625rem;text-transform:uppercase;text-underline-offset:0.25rem;-webkit-transition:background 0.3s ease-in-out;transition:background 0.3s ease-in-out;width:auto;}@media(max-width: 48rem){.css-el2e3v{padding:0.625rem 1.25rem 0.75rem;}}@media(min-width: 48rem){.css-el2e3v{padding:0.8125rem 1.25rem 0.75rem;}}@media(min-width: 64rem){.css-el2e3v{padding:0.8125rem 1.25rem 0.75rem;}}.css-el2e3v:focus-visible{outline-color:body-cta-btn-link-focus;}.css-el2e3v:hover{color:#fff;text-decoration-color:border-link-body-hover;background-color:#088092;}STREAM 'UNBELIEVABLE' ON NETFLIX. Additionally, Mr. Crumb was responsible for pre-employment screening and the investigations of threats directed toward Amway, as well as workplace violence training. Known in the real world as Sgt Jeffrey Mason and Detective Jerry Rittgarn, the two detectives who questioned Marie were subjected to both internal and external reviews in the aftermath of this whole ordeal. He then took photographs that he threatened to post online if she went to the police. Danielle Macdonald (who plays Amber) talks with Merritt Wever (Stacy Galbraith, in real life). She experienced so many emotions at once, but mostly, she wished she would have never been swayed by those detectives. They used this DNA sample to circle in on a suspect, who was originally not Marc OLeary, but his brother, Michael. What made the story so memorable was not the methodical brutality of Marc OLearys attacks but the way his first victim, an 18-year-old named Marie, was treated by local police when she reported the assault. Ph: 269-271-0440 But not one single officer in the entire Lynnwood Police Department was disciplined for their actions. (Marie, meanwhile, received a $150,000 settlement from the city of Lynnwood and $500 to reimburse her court costs.). If youve been affected by the issues raised in this story, you can access more information on their website or by calling the National Rape Crisis Helpline on 0808 802 9999. Detective Sgt. williambylnn@thebureaugroup.com. A serial rapist first attacks a teenage girl at home in Lynnwood, and then an older woman in Kirkland, before leaving Washington to continue his horrific exploits in Colorado. According to the report, Cunningham called Sgt. What happens next is of monumental importance, and I hope the right people take the right lessons from this book. It was just nice to be on my own and not have all the rules that I had had being in foster care, Marie told ProPublica. Mr. Johnsons key skills lie in leading investigations of sophisticated organizations, uncovering facts through interview or interrogations and analyzing facts to lead to the resolution of the investigation. A dive into either version serves as a testament to how sexual assault survivors are often dismissed by the people theyre supposed to trust the most. Amber, who is an anonymous rape survivor in the original account, had Detective Stacy Galbraith (Karen Duvall in the series) on her case after reporting that she had been assaulted repeatedly in Golden, Colorado. Again, no experience with sexual . I'm torn all over again . What I cannot escape is the cruelty built into our criminal justice system when the powerful arbitrarily decide they dont want to believe someone. The Bureau Group is composed of retired law enforcement officials who hail from West Michigan and share the values of the region. Why didnt you write that you made the story up? Detective Sgt. View the profiles of people named Jerry Rittgarn. Seattleite, (mostly) retired arts/culture blogger. Marty Vander Vliet retired in November 2016 after 26 years as an FBI Special Agent assigned to the Detroit and Grand Rapids FBI Offices. Sgt. Two days later, Marie was questioned further by the detectives and persuaded to write not one, but two counter statements. He is a licensed professional investigator in the State of Michigan. Rape was a compulsion, OLeary explains, tracing its genesis to a childhood viewing of the Star Wars film Return of the Jedi, in which Carrie Fisher, nearly naked, is chained by the neck to intergalactic gangster Jabba the Hutt. Its an important and instructive book that has the potential to improve policing across the country, and contrasts good and bad policing. Hed been an investigator for more than two decades by then. He is a licensed professional investigator in the State of Michigan. It is also about how the dogged police work in Colorado led to the capturing of a serial rapist, Marc OLeary. 12 Likes, 0 Comments - Jule Saynes (@resident_of_collinwood82) on Instagram: "Happy Birthday Actor Jerry Lacy, he played Private Investigator Tony Peterson, Reverned Trask," "It is showing Amber's detectives were educated about survivors, they understand these cases, and Marie's detectives never really had cases like this before, and they didn't know.". It was a story out of a horror movie or a Law & Order script. He is also a member of the American Society of Industrial Security. Mr. Crumb is a Certified Fraud Examiner. Netflix After seeing the series, many Unbelievable viewers became upset with how the police dealt with . That included Maries, whose story is the central focus of the series due to the incredible lack of concern shown by police when she first reports her rape. And to make matters worse, she received a letter stating that she was wanted in court and being charged with false reporting, punishable by up to a year in jail. It broke me, she said of the doubt she was raped and its repercussions. ronaldneil@thebureaugroup.com. Maries case forced him, for the first time, to question his fitness for the job. .css-lwn4i5{display:block;font-family:Neutra,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif;font-weight:bold;letter-spacing:-0.01rem;margin-bottom:0;margin-top:0;text-align:center;-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;}@media (any-hover: hover){.css-lwn4i5:hover{color:link-hover;}}@media(max-width: 48rem){.css-lwn4i5{font-size:1.375rem;line-height:1.1;}}@media(min-width: 40.625rem){.css-lwn4i5{font-size:1.375rem;line-height:1.1;}}@media(min-width: 48rem){.css-lwn4i5{font-size:1.375rem;line-height:1.1;}}@media(min-width: 64rem){.css-lwn4i5{font-size:1.375rem;line-height:1.1;}}'WoF' Fans Say This Is the Biggest Choke on Show, Mayim Bialik and Her Boyfriend Post Powerful IG, Jennifer Love Hewitt Got Honest About Aging on IG, Jenna Ortega Wore an Epic Leather Corset Dress, Sarah Michelle Gellar Wore a See-Through Bra on IG. When you purchase an independently reviewed book through our site, we earn an affiliate commission. Both former foster moms apologized for mistrusting her. He told Miller and Armstrong he would talk to them only if. Mr. Blynn took a transfer to the Grand Rapids office of the FBI in 1995. She was jolted awake by a masked man with a knife who tied her up with her own shoe strings, blindfolded, gagged, and raped her. Marie realized that surrendering to a lie was her only way out, and wrote the following statement: After leaving the station, Marie told her case managers that the police accused her of lying and decided to go back and refute it. As a Tech Agent, he was responsible for the installation of the most cutting-edge electronic surveillance devices, which included cameras, microphones, telephone wiretaps, GPS trackers, and other devices. Here are eight important details you should know about the true story that inspired Unbelievable. T Christian Miller and Ken Armstrong, the investigators who broke the story for Pro Publica, also interviewed Steve Rider, the commander of Lynnwoods Criminal Investigations Division. After weeks of running into dead ends, detectives Galbraith and Hendershot decide to broaden their scope. The in-depth piece considers every disturbing detail, most of which were studied and implemented (many times word for word) into the storys TV rendition. No other investigative firm in West Michigan has this capability. Submit a white paper on any investigative topic. "Bullying" and "hounding" are two words his report used to describe the male detectives who questioned Marie and it goes on to label them further as "coercive, cruel, and unbelievably unprofessional". Jerry L Rittgarn Jr, age 50s, lives in San Diego, CA. Others were less willing to engage publicly in such self-reflection. According to the ProPublica report, Marie spent most of the night on the phone with her friend Jordan before finally dozing off. He was charged with multiple counts of rape, and shortly thereafter, plead guilty and was sentenced to the maximum. She attended the hearing with only a public defender and no one else, where she was offered a plea deal of counseling, supervised probation, and $500 in court costs. For me, its the case even the most craven apologists for unrestrained police power cant explain away. The book-length version fills in his portrait, and it is chilling. It was an incredible, serendipitous moment both in the series and in real life and it is that conversation that sets the entire story in motion, eventually leading to Maries vindication and the capturing of a serial rapist. Though stranger rape isnt the norm for sexual assault, or the focus of the sexual misconduct fueling the #MeToo moment in which this book appears, it offers broadly relevant lessons. Detective Jerry Rittgarn/Pruitt (Bill Fagerbakke) Photo: Beth Dubber/Netflix The real-life counterpart of Bill Fagerbakke's hard-hearted Detective Pruitt, Jerry Rittgarn threatened Adler with . His investigative experience includes major crimes, fraud, larceny, internal investigations, and vehicle identification. Gerard B. Alexander is a graduate of the American University in Washington D.C. They informed her that multiple other women were assaulted in the same exact fashion, and evidence was found to prove her innocence. The co-author of A False Report: A True Story of Rape in America will speak at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 7, at Elliott Bay Book Co., 1521 10th Ave., Seattle (206-624-6600 or elliottbaybook.com). While still dealing with the trauma of what had just happened to her, Marie eventually buckled under the pressure and retracted her statement in a desperate attempt to escape and return home. 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