Lover, Stalker, Killer: L'ex de l'extrême

Rarely is there a documentary that will take you on the most unpredictable journey of a police investigation. The evolution of this case as detectives and forensics peel away the layers only to be thrown into a completely different direction is, for lack of a better word, simply "incredible."

A lonely man named Tony, looking for female company is bombarded, harassed and threatened via text messages from an ex-girlfriend. She knows his everything he does, where he goes, and who he's with every second of the day. The abuse is horrifying and relentless. The problem is, nobody knows where this woman is. Then the threats extend beyond Tony to his current girlfriend and her children. Vandalism. Arson. Threats, Murder? Tony is living a nightmare.

My one observation is that had the victim of stalking not been a man, and the perpetrator not been a woman, action by law enforcement (dare I say) would likely to have been taken a little more seriously at the beginning, and may had resulted in solving the case much earlier. It's as if poor Tony was left twisting in the wind. Stalking is a serious matter for anyone.

That being said, the investigators were deft and strategic. Applying both physical and digital technologies in forensics, as well as psychology, coding, and the laborious tasks of reviewing and revisiting the thousands of photos and IP addresses in evidence is a testament to these three men's endurance and patience. Their professional dedication in finding justice came at considerable personal cost.

If this were fiction, then there would be a Hollywood ending, tying off all the loose ends. This isn't a movie, and unfortunately, there are still stones left unturned and people still unavenged.

This is one of the rare exceptions where truth is not only stranger than fiction, fiction couldn't come close to this truth.

Highly Recommended!

I rate this documentary. It's well worth your time to watch.

Maybe I watch too much true crime, but I could see fairly early on who the culprit was. And so I was kind of waiting for them to reveal that.

And so it moved a little slowly in that regard. The film makers filled in the details one by one towards the end. Things like the missing car, untouched bank accounts etc.

There were a few unanswered questions such as how the offender kept their digital ID untraceable for so long. How did they gain entry to properties? What happened to the gun?

I came away feeling very sorry for the male victim. He was put through the ringer. He seems like a decent guy.

This is actually better than most Netflix crime documentaries.

For one it doesn't have several useless episodes with information that keeps on repeating in order to fill the time. It's a relatively zippy 1h30 and there is very little filler.

I've got three qualms about this that keeps me from giving it a higher rating.

1- If I could figure out within 15 minutes what was going on how come the first cops couldn't? There's no information about the cops' ineptitude in handling the initial case.

2- The prosecutor says this will be a hard case to prove, no slam dunk etc. And then the film makers spend all of two minutes on the actual court case. That's shoddy film making.

3- What was the perpetrators motives? The mindset etc. Nothing was explained or explored and that made for a less than compelling ending.

Netflix almost knocked it out of the park with this one.

A good watch for all the wrong reasons. A love triangle goes drastically wrong. Firstly I think I watch too many TV shows and too many crime documentaries, because I guessed exactly how all of this would unfold, almost to the minute details. That didn't take anything away from the film though.

Man goes on date with woman. He then dates another woman. Woman becomes scorned and unleashes hell on said man. That's pretty much a short, brief summary.

You do find yourself asking questions. Why couldn't the police get to the bottom of it much quicker? We all know how easy it is for law enforcement to track people, or ISP addresses. I feel it should never have got to the stage it did do.

Overall a good watch though for true crime fans. Give it a try.

It really breaks my mind that the investigators in this true crime case took more than 3 years to solve what took me a paltry 15 minutes. Believe me, it is all too easy to deduce and too obvious. I am even a bit angry at the primary victim, Dave Kroupa, for not figuring it out himself. And this is not the first true crime documentary either where investigators are seen doing a lazy and unimaginative job. The events unfolded in 2012 and not in 1912. Electronic surveillance technology was easily available back then and it's shocking that none of the cops thought of using it. Incredibly, it took a set of new detectives and 3 years of head banging by the Omaha P. D. to conclude that the investigation "needed an IT guy", especially when the entire volume of evidence in the case was digital in nature. It is absolutely nuts and revolting.

The documentary was well-organized and maintained a good pace, similar to many of Netflix's true crime documentaries. A notable addition in this documentary was the eerie background score, which, combined with the dark color tones, helped in sustaining a macabre environment throughout.

The twist in the case is not as far-fetched as the investigators made it appear. I'm sure many viewers would have felt the same as I. So, be ready to be disappointed in that respect. I also felt that the documentary fast-forwarded things a bit too quickly between arresting the perp and the court delivering the verdict.

I like this production and rank it as GOOD and WATCHABLE. I enjoyed it but am not too impressed by it. I don't know what Rotten Tomatoes' 100% ratings are about.