Netflix is known for its incredible true crime documentaries and their latest is no exception. Why Did You Kill Me? centers on a mom who was devastated by the murder of her 24-year-old daughter but decided to hunt down the murderers herself rather than wait for the police to find out who took the young woman’s life. The crazy thing is, she actually succeeded by creating and using fake MySpace profiles. How wild is this story?
- Crystal Theobald was shot to death by gang members in February 2006. Her mother, Belinda Lane, wasn’t only devastated by the loss of her daughter but she was furious that the perpetrators thought they could get away with it. She made a vow to hunt them down no matter what and she never gave up, working for years to put the killers in prison.
- Lane created fake MySpace profiles to reach out to potential suspects. She used this method to find out the suspects’ whereabouts so she could report them to police as they continued their investigation. Thanks to Lane’s work, the man responsible for Theobald’s death was finally arrested and brought to justice. After 10 years, Lane fulfilled her promise to her late daughter.
- William ‘Jokes’ Sotelo ran away to Mexico following Theobald’s death. That’s where they found and arrested him in May 2016 before extraditing him back to the US and putting him on trial for the crime. This never would have been possible without Lane’s hard work. As Riverside Police Lt. Christian Dinco told The Washington Post following the arrest: “She was very instrumental, working on social media to help us identify where he might be. She provided important information that helped lead us to the capture of William Sotelo. Without her help, he would likely still be outstanding right now.”
- Netflix reveals the horrifying details of the case and Lane’s hunt for justice. Theobald was killed while out with her boyfriend when a gang rating for a rival gang mistook her car for someone else’s. Netflix’s true crime documentary Why Did You Kill Me? doesn’t focus so much on what happened as it does on Lane’s incredible dedication to find her daughter’s killers and punish them for what they did, and it’s an incredible story. The documentary will premiere on Netflix on April 14.
