7 New True Crime Documentaries To Check Out This Fall

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With so many true crime documentaries available, it’s hard to know what’s recently been released. These days, you can find most of them on streaming platforms, and as autumn begins, Netflix, Hulu, Max, and Amazon Prime are adding new true-crime shows and movies. Typically, streaming services release entire seasons of these shows all at once.

However, services such as Max sometimes choose to release episodes weekly over about a month. It’s good to remember this if you usually watch a limited series all at once. These shows and movies typically focus on a single investigation. The topics covered vary widely, from drug trafficking to homicide. Some of these documentaries can be quite intense, so it might be helpful to learn a bit about the topic beforehand. Viewer discretion is advised.

This fall, check out 7 new true-crime documentaries available on various streaming services. They’re sure to keep you on the edge of your seat!

‘The Tech Bro Murders’

Releases Weekly Starting on Sept. 9 (Max)

As a total film buff, I’ve seen a lot of true crime docs, and this one caught my eye. Over the years, some seriously strange stories have come out of Silicon Valley, and a few are genuinely chilling. The Tech Bro Murders is a new Investigation Discovery series, and it’s fascinating. It follows retired Palo Alto PD detective Sandra Brown as she looks into a number of murders connected to the tech world in San Francisco. In the show’s trailer, Brown says, “There’s a lot of pressure to succeed and that pressure is like a valve,” and she really hits the nail on the head-it seems like when that pressure finally explodes, it can lead to some really terrible outcomes.

Each installment of the series examines a separate case using interviews and dramatic recreations, and all the crimes have ties to Silicon Valley. The first episode details the 2018 murder of 62-year-old Kathleen Anderson in Menlo Park. The second episode investigates the 2013 murder of 51-year-old tech executive Forrest Hayes, which took place on his yacht in Santa Cruz. There are a total of six episodes, with the first one becoming available earlier this month. The remaining episodes will be released throughout October. Currently, The Tech Bro Murders has a rating of 6.2/10 on IMDB.

‘Who Killed Our Daughter?’

Releases Weekly Starting on September 18 (Max)

Debanhi Escobar, an 18-year-old law student, disappeared on April 9, 2022, in Monterrey, Mexico. Her body was found thirteen days later in a water tank at a motel in General Escobedo. Authorities determined she died from blunt force trauma to the head. Sadly, Escobar wasn’t the first woman to go missing in the region, and her death sparked protests. This case brought attention to ongoing safety concerns for women in the area.

Who Killed Our Daughter? is a four-part documentary series, with the first episode becoming available earlier this month. The show takes a detailed look at the disappearance of Escobar and the following forensic investigation. It also considers how Escobar’s death became a symbol of a larger push for Mexico to increase its efforts in resolving missing person cases. The limited series is directed by Reed Rickert (The Third Root) and led by showrunner Veronica Alvarez (The Power of Clean Water).

‘Cocaine Quarterback: Signal-Caller for the Cartel’

Released on Sept. 25 (Amazon Prime)

As a movie lover, I was immediately hooked by the title: Cocaine Quarterback: Signal-Caller for the Cartel. It’s one of those true stories that just *feels* like it should be a film! This is a three-part documentary series produced by Mark Wahlberg (Uncharted). Back in the early 2000s, a guy named Owen Hanson was a college student and football player at the University of Southern California. USC was a powerhouse team – they’d just won the national championship – but what people didn’t know was that Hanson was secretly smuggling steroids and selling them to his teammates.

Not long after, Hanson began dealing cocaine. He connected with a drug cartel and created his own criminal organization. Hanson owned a handful of businesses that appeared legal, used to explain his lavish spending, but everything fell apart when the FBI started investigating in 2015. The series features interviews with Hanson’s former teammates from USC and other people he knew. Hanson himself is also interviewed, sharing his story from his prison cell.

‘Death in Apartment 603: What Happened to Ellen Greenberg?’

Released on Sept. 29 (Hulu)

In 2011, Ellen Greenberg, a 27-year-old teacher, was discovered dead in her Philadelphia home. Authorities found 20 knife wounds and 11 bruises on her. While her family thought she had been killed, the pathologist at the time, Dr. Marlon Osbourne, determined her death was a suicide. Now, 14 years later, Dr. Osbourne has changed that ruling.

I just finished watching Death in Apartment 603: What Happened to Ellen Greenberg? and it’s really stuck with me. It’s a three-part series made by Dakota and Elle Fanning, and it dives deep into the details of the case. It’s not just about the facts, though – it’s also about Ellen’s parents, Sandy and Joshua Greenberg, and their fight to show that the police didn’t handle the investigation into their daughter’s death properly. The director is Nancy Schwartzman, who I recognized from her work on the 2023 Netflix true-crime doc Victim/Suspect, so I knew it would be well done.

‘The Perfect Neighbor’

Release Date: Oct. 10 (Netflix)

In 2023, Ajike Owens, a 35-year-old woman from Florida, was fatally shot by her neighbor, Susan Lorincz, who was 58 years old. Owens had gone to Lorincz’s home to discuss a previous conflict involving Lorincz and her children. The two neighbors had a history of disputes, with police having been called to their properties on several occasions over the prior two years. Lorincz shot Owens through her own front door, and despite being taken to the hospital, Owens did not survive. This incident ignited a nationwide conversation regarding the use of stand-your-ground laws and their implications.

The Perfect Neighbor is a documentary film by Geeta Gandbhir, a Peabody Award-winning director. It looks into a specific case and the broader effects of gun laws. The film first shown at the Sundance Film Festival in January, where it received the Directing Award for U.S. Documentary and was also a contender for the Grand Jury Prize. Critics on Rotten Tomatoes have given it a perfect 100% rating.

‘My Father, The BTK Killer’

Release Date: Oct. 10 (Netflix)

Dennis Lynn Rader, also known as BTK (Bind, Torture, Kill), was an American serial killer responsible for the murders of at least ten people in Kansas between 1974 and 1991. A former marine and a father of two, he was arrested in 2005. He received ten consecutive life sentences in prison for his crimes and is still incarcerated today.

My Father, The BTK Killer is a full-length documentary film directed by Skye Borgman (American Murder: Laci Peterson). Rather than concentrating on the killer, the film focuses on the story of Rader’s daughter. Kerri Rawson was born after her father began his crimes in the 1970s and was 26 years old when he was finally arrested. “My mother and I agreed early on that if we had known, we would have immediately alerted the police…” Rawson shared with Esquire in 2019. “[We] had no idea we were living with a psychopath.” My Father, The BTK Killer is adapted from Rawson’s 2019 memoir, A Serial Killer’s Daughter: My Story of Faith, Love and Overcoming.

‘Aileen: Queen of the Serial Killers’

Release Date: Oct. 30 (Netflix)

Aileen Wuornos was a serial killer from the United States who killed at least seven men in Florida between 1989 and 1990. She was found guilty of six counts of first-degree murder and given the death penalty. After her execution in 2002, her life story gained widespread attention thanks to the critically acclaimed 2003 film Monster, where Charlize Theron (Bombshell) played the role of Wuornos. Because there are far fewer female serial killers in prison compared to men, Wuornos has continued to be a subject of public interest for many years.

Aileen: Queen of the Serial Killers is a documentary that takes a fresh look at the story of Aileen Wuornos. Director Emily Turner (Accused: The Hampstead Paedophile Hoax) uses past interviews and footage, viewed through a modern perspective, to gain a deeper understanding of both the case and Wuornos’s reasons for her actions. Aileen: Queen of the Serial Killers features previously unseen interviews with Wuornos conducted while she was on death row.

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2025-10-03 05:06