Why Did You Kill Me?: A true-crime documentary with a catfish investigation

Why Did You Kill Me? is Netflix’s newest true-crime documentary about the murder of Crystal Theobold. This story is unique because Crystal’s mom and cousin created a catfish MySpace account to search for Crystal’s killer.

In 2006, Crystal was in a car with her boyfriend and brother, driving through a neighborhood in Riverside, CA. When they pulled up to a street corner, a man in the street shot at their car. Crystal was struck in the back of the head and died soon after. Her mom, Belinda Lane, was in a car behind them and witnessed the tragic scene. Belinda had a clear view of the shooter and knew she would recognize the killer’s face if she saw it again.

Belinda and the rest of the family weren’t cooperative with the detective on their case, Rick Wheeler. The family had a history of drug use and criminal activity, which opened up the prospects of who killed Crystal and why. Crystal was not like the rest of her family, so it was unknown why someone would want to kill her specifically. Belinda knew right away that it was probably related to gang activity from the 5150.

Wheeler hit many dead ends, which led to Crystal’s cousin Jaimie creating fake MySpace accounts to lure 5150 gang members and see if they could find leads independently. Jaimie chatted with several men under her two fake profiles and obtained as many tips as she could before pulling the plug. Her catfish endeavors hurt her emotionally since Jaimie was pretending to be her much-loved family member. Even though the catfish project took its toll on her, she successfully found the leads they needed.

Crystal’s death is horrifying. Her family desperately wanted to take action into their own hands because they didn’t feel satisfied with waiting around for results. While watching this documentary, you may find yourself wondering what you would do if you had a family member murdered. For Belinda, she would stop at nothing to catch her daughter’s murderer.

Unlike many true-crime documentaries, Why Did You Kill Me? has a clear beginning, middle, and end. There is a definitive conclusion to Crystal’s murder, so you won’t feel the need to speculate on what happened. Why Did You Kill Me? is a reasonably short viewing experience compared to other true-crime stories, so if you are a true-crime fan and short on time, this is a great option to stream on Netflix.

Why Did You Kill Me? is streaming on Netflix now.