Another crazy true crime doc comes to Netflix with A Toxic Love Story
- Carla Davis
- 24 minutes ago
- 3 min read
Netflix has been specializing in absolutely insane true crime documentaries, and another one just dropped. While it’s not quite at the level of Worst Neighbor Ever or Maternal Instinct, A Toxic Love Story is still pretty jaw-dropping.
Part of what made Maternal Instinct so devastating was how it all ended. The story was crazy enough when it focused on the elaborate stories Taylor Paker put together in an effort to convince her boyfriend and his family that her lies were reality. She said she was waiting for a huge multi-million dollar inheritance that her mother was intentionally holding up, and that she was pregnant.
The pregnancy lie was “backed up” by a fake belly, fake doctor’s appointments, and fake ultrasounds. When she was still pregnant far past her expected due date, the really evil part of her plan reared its ugly head – one that resulted in her murdering a pregnant woman, physically removing her baby, and the child itself dying.
There is no murder in A Toxic Love Story, but there are still plenty of bonkers details, and it’s one of those true crime stories in which you can get whiplash just by trying to keep up with it. It’s a fast-paced account of the Anaheim Craigslist case, as it is commonly referred to.
There are three “main characters” in the true story: US Marshall Ian Diaz, his new pregnant wife Angela, and Ian’s ex, Michelle. Ian and Angela met, and very quickly fell in love, moved in together, got pregnant with twins, and got married.
Angela received an odd, somewhat threatening email referencing the mythical Lilith, who is sometimes thought to be Adam’s first wife before he married Eve. In the myth, Lilith is said to be somewhat rebellious, having the audacity to demand equal treatment, and she is turned into a demon for that so-called sin.
As the Lilith emails continued to come, they rapidly became violent and threatening. Photos of aborted fetuses and decapitated bodies were sent to her, and Angela was told that she was going to be sexually assaulted and killed, along with her unborn babies.
When Ian and Angela reported the emails to law enforcement, the two said the communications were coming from Ian’s ex-girlfriend Michelle, with whom he had purchased the condo he and his wife were now living in.
Things came to a head when an ad was posted on Craigslist asking for a willing man to participate in what was presented as a rape fantasy. The poster gave instructions as to what she was looking for: She wanted the man to grab her, take her inside her home, and violently sexually assault her.
The events continue to escalate in A Toxic Love Story
Angela and Ian called police with a report that someone had grabbed Angela in her garage, slammed her against the wall, and threatened to SA her. This was the final straw, and Michelle was arrested and charged with a variety of crimes…enough that she could be imprisoned for life if found guilty.
But if you think that’s the end of the story, hold on tight, because we get two more hard twists before the case comes to a close. That’s all you are going to get from me, because A Toxic Love Story is going to be most effective if you don’t know how it ends.