If you’re a true crime connoisseur like myself, there’s nothing better than spending an evening getting deep into a good true crime documentary. The problem is that true crime is an immensely popular genre and the options for watching are practically endless. Where do you even start? Netflix.
I find that Netflix has the best selection of true crime series out of all the streaming platforms. They have something for every kind of true crime buff, from the typical serial killer and murder documentaries to a few more unconventional shows on theft and mysteries. There are far more than 10 options, but if I had to only pick 10, the following docuseries are the best of the best.
10. D.B. Cooper: Where Are You?!
A light entry to start, D.B. Cooper: Where Are You?! is 4 episodes of intrigue about the infamous Dan Cooper. If you don’t know about the D.B. Cooper case, you should, because it is as baffling as it is entertaining: a man hijacked a plane, bargained for a load of cash, and then jumped out of the plane to an uncertain fate.
You don’t get true crime documentaries on subjects like this very often, so it’s always a treat to have something different. This docuseries is an interesting and kooky look into this case, which has developed a huge fanbase. Some are convinced Cooper is alive and out there somewhere. As for me, I think he plummeted to his death. You’ll just have to watch and develop your own theory.
9. The Sons of Sam: A Descent into Darkness
The Sons of Sam: A Descent into Darkness isn’t actually about the search for the infamous David Berkowitz, the Son of Sam Killer, but instead investigates the possibility that Berkowitz didn’t act alone—that it wasn’t Son of Sam but Sons of Sam. An investigative journalist named Maury Terry spent his life working on this theory, and the documentary dives into Terry’s investigations.
Sons of Sam is like a trip down a rabbit hole as we listen to a narrator read accounts from the now-deceased Terry and explore his theories about potential accomplices. While mostly speculative, the docuseries is an incredibly intriguing watch and forces you to question the outcome of the case. Is it just a conspiracy? Or is there something everybody missed?
8. Don’t F**k With Cats: Hunting an Internet Killer
If you were on the internet back in 2019, you’ve probably heard about this one because it went viral, which is ironic considering the docuseries is about a viral serial killer. One of the most grisly entries on this list, Don’t F**k With Cats details how a group of internet sleuths went on an online manhunt to find a person posting videos of themself killing cats (hence the title). The sleuths’ investigation provokes the culprit, causing them to escalate and murder a person.
This docuseries is unique because it’s showing a totally different kind of investigation. Usually, you have journalists or officers of the law being interviewed, but these are just ordinary people. And it really is wild to see how they tracked the murderer down via the internet. If you’re looking for something different, this is the documentary for you.
7. Night Stalker: The Hunt For a Serial Killer
The Night Stalker is likely a familiar case to you if you’re a serious true crime fanatic. Night Stalker: The Hunt For a Serial Killer documents the hunt for Richard Ramirez, the crazed serial killer known as the Night Stalker who terrorized Los Angeles and California as a whole back in the 80s.
This docuseries truly captures the terror the killer wrought on everyone in Los Angeles and beyond, including the detectives working the case and Californians. You get a really good understanding of how hard it is to catch a serial killer—how it’s nothing like what fiction depicts—and also hear about the impact of the killer from the families of the victims. Night Stalker will thrill you, intrigue you, and maybe even make you a little emotional.
6. Crime Scene: The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel
Crime Scene has a few seasons focusing on different cases, but this one is by far the best. The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel covers the disappearance of college student Elisa Lam in the Cecil Hotel. The hotel’s history is rife with death and serial killers, and this case only adds to its dark repertoire.
Not only will the case stoke your grim curiosity, but the documentary itself is thorough and makes the effort to show the perspectives of a variety of people involved in the case from the LAPD to Cecil’s staff to internet sleuths who got in on the search. The case has lots of twists and turns, and the resolution isn’t what you expect. Cecil Hotel will fascinate and frighten you at the same time—exactly what true crime buffs are looking for.
5. Unsolved Mysteries
Unsolved Mysteries is exactly what it sounds like—a series where each episode covers an unsolved mystery. Netflix’s version is actually a revival of the original Unsolved Mysteries that aired from 1987 to 2010. The show actually covers more than just murder, also looking at events like alleged hauntings and alien sightings, but there are a ton of true crime-centric episodes that look at very peculiar (and spine-chilling) murder and crime cases.
This docuseries has the most variety of crime, so you can pick and choose what kind of mysteries you want to explore. Plus, Unsolved Mysteries covers a lot of these cases to publicize and help solve them, so watching the series may even do some good for the world if you happen to know something about the case.
4. This is A Robbery: The World’s Biggest Art Heist
If you like fictional heist movies, then you’ll no doubt love a real heist. And there’s no better theft-based docuseries out there than This is a Robbery, which covers the robbery of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. This heist is commonly referred to as the biggest art heist in history, with over $500 million dollars worth of art, from legends like Rembrandt, Vermeer, and Degas, stolen.
To put it simply, this is the greatest non-murder crime documentary I’ve ever watched. The story itself is awesome and the documentary does a brilliant job of covering the case (and the music they use is fantastic). If you’re like, ugh, an art heist? Boring, you’re wrong. It’s insane that the thieves pulled it off and got away with it. Was it an inside job? No one knows, but we can have shameless fun theorizing.
3. Homicide: Los Angeles and 2. Homicide: New York
Yes, these seasons are technically part of the same show (notably brought to us by Law and Order’s creator). But they’re on opposite coasts, following different investigators, and they both deserve to be lauded for their excellence in true crime documentation.
Set in murder hotspots New York City and Los Angeles, Homicide: New York and Homicide: Los Angeles stick with the same set of investigators for each city and go over a number of different, peculiar homicides. Unlike some other shows, these seasons don’t focus on super famous serial killer cases, so even experienced true crime buffs can run into a new case with these shows.
All the cases covered are absolutely riveting. What’s more, the shows follow the same investigators the entire time, so you get to know them through them sharing their experiences on these cases, giving the show a more personal touch. New York’s cast is more interesting in my opinion, so I would rank New York above Los Angeles, but both are masterfully made true crime docuseries.
1. Catching Killers
Catching Killers is the epitome of an excellent true crime murder mystery docuseries. You get to see the chase of some of the most famous serial killers of all time—including the DC Sniper, BTK, Green River Killer, and Aileen Wuornos—from the perspectives of the detectives that worked the cases. Your heart will be racing through all 12 episodes as you see the process of hunting down and catching these murderers. When you finish after a day of binge watching, your only question will be when’s the next season?
The episodes are concise but comprehensive, packing tons of information about a case into 1 or 2 episodes. Each episode is as gripping as the last as you dive into the intricacies of cases and see exactly how these notorious killers were caught (and how they got away with it beforehand).
This show really is everything you want in a murder documentary, and if you could only watch one true crime docuseries on Netflix, Catching Killers is the one.
