In recent years, true crime series have figured heavily across various streaming platforms. The cases they present vary wildly, from the shocking to the outright vicious. These shows also put a spotlight on the victims as much as the suspects themselves.
Whether it’s a huge fraud case or a senseless murder, these shows take a closer look at some of the most notorious criminals in the world, even delving into the circumstances that led to their fateful act. Oftentimes, they also come with a very recognizable cast, which makes these limited series all the more compelling to watch.
The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story
The senseless death of designer Gianni Versace in 1997 left much of the world in shock as people grappled with the sudden loss of a fashion icon. Versace, who didn’t appear to have any enemies, was gunned down right outside his Miami home by a man named Andrew Cunanan. Cunanan would later take his own life.
The FX series American Crime Story dedicated its second season to the Versace murder, examining the events that led to the tragic shooting, along with the other murders related to the case. Darren Criss portrays the deranged murderer Cunanan, while Edgar Ramírez plays the late designer.
The Staircase
Back in 2003, Michael Peterson, a military veteran and novelist, was convicted of murder following the mysterious death of his wife, Kathleen Peterson, in 2001. That year, Kathleen was found unconscious at the bottom of the staircase inside the couple’s home in Durham, North Carolina. Not long after, she was pronounced dead. A medical examiner would later discover lacerations on Kathleen’s scalp, turning the case into a homicide. Michael, who called 911 after supposedly discovering his wife, would become the prime suspect.
Michael’s case gets further scrutinized in the Max Original show The Staircase. In the limited series, Colin Firth portrays Michael while Toni Collette plays his late wife. Meanwhile, the cast also includes Patrick Schwarzenegger, Sophie Turner, Rosemarie DeWitt, and Juliette Binoche.
The Girl From Plainville
This Hulu crime series is a dramatic retelling of the events that led to the suicide of Conrad Roy III and the girlfriend who convinced him to take his life. As evidence would later show, Michelle Carter sent Roy several text messages urging him to kill himself. Carter also stayed on the phone with Roy as he suffocated from carbon monoxide inside his pickup truck. Carter would later be found guilty of her role in Roy’s death and sentenced to prison. She was released early in 2020 due to good behavior.
The Girl from Plainville begins with Roy’s tragic texting-suicide death before it examines the relationship between Roy and Carter leading up to the fateful day. In the series, Elle Fanning portrays Carter while Colton Ryan plays Roy.
Under the Banner of Heaven
This FX series takes a closer look at a 1984 murder case in Salt Lake Valley, Utah, involving a woman named Brenda Wright Lafferty and her infant daughter. Both were found lifeless inside their home. The investigation into their murders would eventually lead to Dan and Ron Lafferty, Brenda’s brothers-in-law, whose religious fanaticism with the LDS convinced them to murder the mother and child. The Lafferty brothers have since been convicted of the killings, and they haven’t shown remorse for their actions since being behind bars.
Under the Banner of Heaven is inspired by the book written by Jon Krakauer, which recounts the real-life murders. In the limited series, Daisy Edgar-Jones portrays Brenda. Meanwhile, Andrew Garfield and Gil Birmingham play the detectives assigned to the case, while Sam Worthington and Wyatt Russell portray Ron and Dan Lafferty
The Dropout
By now, everybody has probably heard of Elizabeth Holmes, the once-promising entrepreneur who became the world’s youngest self-made female billionaire at one point, according to Forbes. The Stanford University dropout quickly rose to fame after founding a startup that could reportedly perform several medical tests using just a prick of blood as specimen. Many saw Holmes’s business as a game-changer, leading to massive investments from some of the world’s wealthiest people. However, they’d later discover that Holmes was a fraud. The startup founder was later sentenced to over 11 years in prison, although her sentence has since been reduced.
The Dropout chronicles Holmes’s fall from grace, starting with the time she decided to leave Stanford. The series stars Amanda Seyfried as Holmes. Meanwhile, Naveen William Sidney Andrews portrays Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani, the former COO of Theranos and Holmes’ ex-boyfriend, who was also convicted and sentenced to prison time for fraud.
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