10 True Crime Documentaries To Watch On Netflix

If you are looking for true crime documentaries then Netflix is definitely the place to go. Though this list is a top ten, it could easily be a top 100 as there are so many amazing true-crime documentary movies and series available to binge-watch.

This list contains documentaries or docuseries that deal with one specific crime or criminal so you won’t find shows like I Am A Killer, Unsolved Mysteries, or The Confession Tapes, all of which are great shows about various criminals you should also watch.

Some of the shows on the list are small limited series with only a few parts while others are huge multi-season projects that take you through the intricate details of every aspect of the crime, criminal, and victim.

Whether you are looking for a quick binge-able show that will shock you and make sure you lock your doors at night or want to delve into a complex and confusing case that will continuously make you wonder what people are thinking, this list has it all. Let’s start with one of the recent documentaries that have been released on Netflix.

The Raincoat Killer

This is one of the newest crime documentary series to be added to Netflix. With the popularity of Korean dramas like Squid Game and movies like Parasite, the interest in Korean culture, music, entertainment, and society continues to grow.

This documentary seen through detectives, forensic scientists, and investigators, goes through the various murders committed by a serial killer named Yoo-young Chull. Starting off with crimes such as theft, identity theft, rape, and impersonating an officer, he escalates to murder.

The victims started off as older wealthy people and eventually, Yoo-young found he favored targeting and luring prostitutes to his home and killing and dismembering them before burying them all in a secluded forest area in Seoul, Korea.

If you are not familiar with South Korea, its political and societal issues, including the wealth gap, then this documentary is a good start. Before going into detail about the raincoat killer, it does a good job of setting up the political climate of South Korea at the time (2003/2004).

The twists and turns of investigating, searching, capturing, losing, and finding Yoo-young makes the 3 part documentary fly by and can easily be watched in one sitting if you are one of those people who love binge-watching seasons in a weekend.

The show also does a good job of highlighting all the mistakes and corruption in the police departments of South Korea but also shows the successes and achievements that led to the raincoat killer’s arrest.

American Murder: Family Next Door

In 2018, a man named Chris Watts not only killed his pregnant wife, but also his two young daughters. At first, the media showed a man who was distraught and desperately searching for his wife and kids, but quickly everything turned upside down.

The documentary not only uses police footage of Chris in interrogation rooms with the police but also shows a lot of body cam footage from the police officers who were called to look for the missing family.

Through this 124 minute documentary released in 2020, we get to re-watch some of the newscasts that most Americans probably saw while the family was still missing. The documentary also exhibits how his wife Shanann, was presenting her family on social media like Facebook and Instagram, as a loving, happy, and wealthy family in Colorado.

With her two daughters Bella and Celeste, she often posted videos about life as a mother and raising kids, while her husband Chris worked in the oil fields. However, the perfect American family was actually deteriorating from the inside. The family had filed for bankruptcy, Shanann was pregnant with another child, and Chris also had a secret in his life.

Watching this documentary you will realize how some people will go to extreme lengths when they feel pressured or trapped. The brutal details of the murder of his wife and two innocent children will make anyone gasp and watching Chris in the videos might be triggering for some.

If you are looking for a quick but shocking watch, this show is for you.

Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes

This show features one of the most famous serial killers of all time. Ted Bundy has been discussed in various books, documentaries, and even movies made about him (most recently featuring Zac Effron as Ted Bundy).

This four-part series is definitely an “Ultimate Guide” to Ted Bundy. From his childhood, first crimes, escapes, attempts to represent himself in court, and final conversations on death row, anyone who had only heard the name Ted Bundy, but wasn’t too familiar with him, will get a full summary of his life and death.

Along with interviews with surviving victims, victims’ families, police, investigators, as well as his own family, the documentary has a lot of archival footage and recordings from his interviews in 1980 before he was executed.

This is a good documentary for those wanting to know more about Ted Bundy and how he was presented by the media.

House of Secrets

Another new international docuseries released in 2021, this time the location is Dehli, India. In a small area called Burari, the three-part series slowly but shockingly goes through the discovery of a family of 11 who is found dead. Ten of them are hanging from an overhead mesh, while the oldest, the 80-year-old grandmother was found on the floor in her bedroom strangled.

The documentary starts with the media circus that ensues when someone who took a video of the crime scene before the police arrived, uploaded it on the internet and it went viral. The mass panic of the media, citizens, and chaotic situation that police walked into is a good view of how Indian society and media operate.

The police, neighbors, friends of the family, and psychologists attempt to explain, describe, and analyze what seems to be mass suicide. Questions of was this a mass murder? A mass suicide? And who was leading this event is slowly answered.

Ten years of notebooks reveal many hidden secrets, truths, and strange circumstances which not only explain what the family of 11 went through but also what led to this mass death and why. Definitely, an amazing story that will shed a light on families, media, religion, mental health, and society in general.

The Keepers

Over the years, the Catholic church has been intertwined with a variety of scandals and linked to sexual abuse of children. Many news stories and exposes have come out about priests who molest or rape children and are then hidden away and protected by the Catholic church.

In this seven-part docuseries, the main focus is on the murder of a young nun Catherine Cesnik in 1969. Still an unsolved case, the story begins from Catherine’s life and entrance into the catholic school as a nun and teacher. Unlike other nuns, she is modern and fun. Her students love her classes and her fresh outlook.

However, as the show progresses, we see how some of the students have been fearful of certain priests at the school and entrust Catherine to protect them. The series features many of Catherine’s past students who still to this day want answers and claim that there was a cover-up at the school.

Why was Catherine murdered? Who killed her? What did Catherine know about the school and its staff that would make her a target for murder? All these questions are raised in the documentary and the show does a good job of showing how this case has continued to be fought but strongly resisted by those involved. A mixture of murder, sexual assault, politics, and a legal battle makes this docuseries a thorn in the side of the Church.

The Staircase

Originally a miniseries made in 2004, the show was updated, new episodes were added, and a 13 part series was released on Netflix in 2018. The show starts off with the death of Kathleen Peterson, who is the wife of famous writer Michael Peterson.

From the original 911 call where a distraught Michael calls in to report the accident, it seems like Kathleen fell down the stairs after a night of drinking and died from injuries to her head. Interviews with Michael himself describe the event and how he discovered the body.

As the show progresses, we find many odd circumstances related to Michael’s past as well as a secret life that Kathleen may or may not have known about. The wealthy couple with a nice home and wonderful family start revealing hidden truths.

The show is truly a wild ride as from episode to episode new information is released which makes us wonder if Michael killed his wife or if it really was an accident. Even within episodes, the viewers jump from believing Michael’s recollection of events to thinking everything coming out of his mouth is a complete lie.

Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel

You might have seen some black and white footage of a girl in an elevator hopping in and out, looking as if she was escaping someone. Or maybe she had seen a ghost? This footage was on every social media platform and many theories came out about what the girl was seeing and trying to escape.

As the clip gained worldwide attention, people started realizing this was some of the last footage from a girl named Elisa Lam. A 22-year-old student from Canada, she had taken a trip to the US and was staying at the famous Cecil Hotel in Los Angeles, California when she disappeared.

While she was missing, the police released the elevator footage and since then everyone has been theorizing about her disappearance and death. Five days after that footage, her naked body was found in a water tank on the roof of the hotel. Her clothes and belongings were floating next to her when a maintenance man found her after reports of a strange taste and color from the tap water.

This four-part series goes through not only the circumstances around her death, but all the various people around the world who became obsessed with the case, and web sleuths who started pointing fingers at various people.

The reporting from both credible and untrustworthy media outlets created a mystery that still to this day has people believing it was murder, supernatural forces, and even a conspiracy with the government.

Whichever side you are on, you will learn much more about not only Elisa Lam’s death, but her life, her mental state, and the things she was up to before she died.

The Tiger King

The Tiger King was so successful and grabbed so many people’s attention that season two was released at the end of 2021.

The first season of seven episodes plus one bonus episode (with interviews of some of the people who knew or worked with him) will no doubt have you laugh, question, hate, love, and feel sorry for Joe Exotic (Joseph Allen Maldonado-Passage).

A dumpster fire filled with guns, tigers, mullets, and animal skins, you will definitely be entertained by this true-crime docuseries about a man who owns a private zoo. He struggles to be the best entertainer and animal keeper ( especially wild cats) while PETA and his biggest rival Carole Baskin ( a wild cat conservationist) are at his throat.

Joe has a funny, wild, outlandish personality, and is in an openly gay marriage with three men. He has run for both the president and the governor and is bigger than life. With non-stop musings about his life, his pursuits, his hatred for his enemies, and his love for his zoo and himself, it makes for great entertainment.

The viewer almost forgets that this man is currently in jail for various crimes including attempting to hire a killer to kill his rival Carole Baskin, as well as many felonies involving obtaining and even killing wild cats.

Some things that really make this documentary hard to stop watching are the randomness, and shocking footage that is unplanned and really makes the viewers feel we are watching in real-time. Be prepared to say WTF many many times.

Making a murderer

A docuseries that was released in 2015, probably put Netflix on the map for original true crime docuseries making. The show is a 10-year long delve into the arrest and conviction of Steven Avery for the rape and murder of Penny Beerntsen despite having an alibi.

After spending 18 years in prison, a shocking discovery using DNA resulted in the exoneration of Steven and he was finally a free man. He sued the town and police department for 36 million dollars.

However, the celebration is short-lived as he is arrested for the murder of Teresa Halbach, a photographer who visited Steven’s property to take a picture of his vehicle. She disappeared and police found her car on his salvage yard property with bloodstains that matched Steven’s DNA.

The first season with 10 episodes goes through all the possible cover-ups, potential framing of Steven by the police, and possibly illegal tactics police used on Steven and his nephew Brandan Dassey who might have been coerced to say he and Steven worked together to murder Teresa.

The second season then continues as Steven and Brandan are both found guilty. With new legal teams, various appeals, and more information about potential tampering of evidence, the second season continues off where the first season left off.

Personally, the first season is much more memorable and shocking, with the second season dealing more with the legal loopholes, and fights in court to once again try to exonerate Steven and his nephew Brandan.

Don’t f**k with cats

Despite the title, this is probably one of the most interesting and addictive true crime documentaries I have ever watched. Originally, when I first started watching this show, within the first five minutes I stopped. Not because it was boring or looked lame, but because it started out with a Youtube video of someone suffocating cats.

As a pet lover and owner of a dog and cat, I knew if I watched more, I might never get that image out of my mind. However, my good friend and fellow true crime lover insisted on powering through because the show was about anything but cats.

The show which is only three episodes long with about an hour each, is riveting right from the beginning. An online group of web sleuths sees the video of a man that is seen torturing and killing cats and begins an online hunt to find the culprit.

The chase that starts from just a few in a forum sharing ideas and pictures hoping to find and report the man, find themselves with thousands of people who join the cause and reveal something more than just animal cruelty, but murder as well.

The people being interviewed are so emotional, enthusiastic, and raw, it’s hard not to be lured into the entire hunt. As the show progresses, more and more details emerge including the killer himself.

Outed by the internet and on the run, he directs his anger and violence at the web sleuths and challenges them to find him. The twists and turns along with the finale will definitely be worth the time and energy you put into watching this show.

This documentary really shows how social media is not only in our life as entertainment but as part of our communications, connection, and contact with society. No longer can you hide behind a username or avatar. A true testament to how the internet can find anything anywhere.

These are just ten of the great true-crime documentary and docuseries I have watched and enjoyed on Netflix. There are plenty more and are just as good. Netflix is also doing a good job of releasing more and more original true-crime series so you should always find something worth watching.

This list is a good gateway or stepping stone for those who are interested in the crime genre and are tired of the dramas like NCIS or Law & Order and hope to learn about real cases involving real people. Hopefully, you will find some if not all of the shows listed above a great way to not only be entertained but be educated about true crime, law, and society around the world.