The Best True Crime Shows Of All Time

Key Takeaways

• The majority of true-crime viewers are women, especially with female victims like in
  Unbelievable
  .
• These viral true-crime series touch on actual historical events from the late 1800s to the early 2000s.
• Viewer discretion is advised due to the depiction of violence, abuse, and human depravity in these shows.

Statistics show that the majority of true-crime shows audiences are women, especially when there are female victims like in Unbelievable. Ranked based on IMDb great true-crime series ratings, some viral shows include The Menendez Brothers, The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, and the award-winning documentary O.J.: Made in America.

The true-crime shows on this list are all based on actual events that occurred between the late 1800s and the early 2000s. They depict violence, abuse, and the worst depravity humanity has to offer. Reader discretion is advised.

Spoilers ahead

This article addresses real-life cases of racial issues, violent crime, such as rape, murder, psychological abuse, and mental illness.

8 Unbelievable

An 18-Year-Old Woman’s Report Is Dismissed By The Police

• Streaming: Netflix
• Duration: 8 episodes, 1 season
• IMDb’s rating: 8.3/10
• Release: September 13, 2019
• Awards: Critics’ Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Movie/Miniseries, Peabody Award – Entertainment

The focus of Unbelievable is the sexual assaults that serial predator Marc O’Leary inflicted upon several women in Washington and Colorado between 2008 and 2011. It all began with an unbelievable report from an eighteen-year-old Marie Adler, played by Kaitlyn Dever in the Netflix series. She is first considered suspicious by American law enforcement and charged with false reporting, which carries a year in prison.

Meanwhile, two committed female detectives are investigating a similar case to catch the rapist. Eventually, they discover a critical detail: The rapist had access to the police’s rape forensics guide, to ensure he committed the perfect crime. The detectives also come across tapes containing photographs of all the victims, including the unbelievable case of Marie Adler.

7 O.J.: Made In America

OJ Simpson Is Wrongly Accused Of Murder

• Streaming: Disney+, Prime Video, Apple TV, and Hulu
• Duration: 7h 47m, 5 parts
• IMDb’s rating: 8.9/10
• Release: May 20, 2016
• Awards: Academy Award for Best Documentary, Critics’ Choice Documentary Award for Best Director, and more

O.J.: Made in America is a documentary that tells the story of former football player OJ Simpson, who was accused of the brutal double murder of his ex-wife Nicole, the mother of his two children, and Ron Goldman—a waiter and Nicole’s friend. The famous trial of OJ Simpson lasted eight months in California between 1994 and 1995.

Many viewers regard this series as one of the best documentaries ever produced. It covers sensitive topics like racial issues, civil rights, and the experience of Black Americans. This documentary also discusses how law enforcement has historically failed to provide equal protection and civil rights to the Black community. Simpson was ultimately found not guilty and died of prostate cancer in April 2024, at age 76.

6 Monsters: The Menendez Brothers

The Brutal Murder Of José And Kitty Menendez

• Streaming: Netflix
• Duration: 9 episodes, 1 season.
• IMDb’s rating: 7.8/10
• Release: September 19, 2024
• Awards: 13 Emmy nominations

Monsters: The Menendez Brothers is a Netflix series that focuses on an unexpected double murder which took place in one of the safest places in California—Beverly Hills. The series tells the story of Erik and Lyle Menendez, who kill their parents, José And Kitty Menendez, in their home in 1989 to inherit all their father’s wealth for themselves. This true-crime event went viral, scaring the Beverly Hills residents, and dividing opinions in America.

The Menendez defense says the Brothers committed the murders in self-defense because they were desperate and were being sexually and mentally abused by their father, José Menendez. Eventually, the Menendez brothers were found guilty and sentenced to life in jail without the chance of parole.

5 Ghosts Of Highway 20

The Disappearances Of Vulnerable Women On Highway 20

• Streaming: YouTube
• Duration: 5 parts
• IMDb’s rating: 7.9/10
• Release: September 19, 2024
• Awards: 5 Regional Emmy Awards

Ghosts of Highway 20 addresses sexual violence and multiple murders committed by a sexual predator, John Arthur Ackroyd. It all started in the 1970s in Central Oregon. Following a young woman’s rape report, local police did little to pursue her case and dismissed it as lies. Once again, American law enforcement failing vulnerable victims is a central focus here. Marlene Gabrielson was the first victim and “fortunate” survivor who still suffered lifelong trauma.

In The Ghosts of Highway 20—streaming on YouTube—Marlene tells her story, how it happened, and how the local officers handled it. After Marlene, Ackroyd assaulted and murdered other vulnerable women like Kay Turner and Rachanda Pickle, his 13-year-old stepdaughter. More names followed before law enforcement locked Ackroyd away, and he eventually died in jail. The Lost Women of Highway 20, streaming on Amazon Prime Video, is another adaptation of what happened in Ghosts of Highway 20.

4 Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story

The Story Of The Milwaukee Cannibal

• Streaming: Netflix
• Duration: 10 episodes, 1 season
• IMDb’s rating: 8.4/10
• Release: September 21, 2022
• Awards: Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film, Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie

Jeffrey Dahmer is one of the most horrific serial killers in American history, and his story is dramatized in Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story. Seventeen males were killed and cut into pieces to be eaten by Jeffrey Dahmer, known as the Milwaukee Cannibal. These horrific crimes took place between 1978 and 1991 in Wisconsin. Dahmer took advantage of the system by targeting the BIPOL and LGBTQ communities, which he knew were viewed with disinterest and often ignored by American law enforcement.

Curtis Straughter, Matt Turner, and Jeremy Weinberger are some names of the lives Dahmer destroyed. Dahmer was a pedophile and psychologically ill man who showed no remorse for his deeds. His murder trial went viral and broke his family’s hearts, including his father and grandmother, who always tried to understand him.

3 The Act

The Heartfelt Story Of Gypsy-Rose Blanchard

• Streaming: Hulu
• Duration: 8 episodes, 1 season
• IMDb’s rating: 7.8/10
• Release: March 20, 2019
• Awards: Winner Golden Globe

The Act tells the shocking true story of a mother, Dee Dee Blanchard, who manipulated and abused her daughter, Gypsy-Rose Blanchard, by telling everyone that she suffered many severe illnesses like cancer and muscular dystrophy to get attention and financial support from the State government.

As a result, Gypsy Rose ended up murdering her mother. She pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, claiming self-defense as an escape from her mother’s abuse, but was still placed in jail for eight years. She’s now free and trying to rebuild her life. The Hulu series The Act, starring Joey King as Gypsy, is full of intense themes like abuse and manipulation, offering a peek at one of the most disturbing true crime cases in recent years.

2 Six Schizophrenic Brothers

12 Children, 6 Diagnosed With Schizophrenic Disorder

• Streaming: Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV +
• Duration: 4 episodes, 1 season
• IMDb’s rating: 7.1/10
• Release: June 10, 2024
• Awards: N/A

Six Schizophrenic Brothers is a four-part documentary on Amazon Prime Video that tells the tragic story of the Irish Galvin family. There were twelve children, ten boys and two girls, and six of the boys were diagnosed with schizophrenia disorder at a young age—Donald, Jim, Brian, Joseph, Matthew, and Peter—leaving the parents feeling guilty, confused, and disoriented.

Acts like brutal animal violence, domestic vandalism, murder, and suicide happened in the household. As a result, the majority of the brothers ended up in a nursery home. This true-crime show depicts the hard-to-watch impact of mental illness on a family and a deeper understanding of schizophrenia.

1 Night Stalker

Americas Most-Wanted Serial Killer

• Streaming: Netflix
• Duration: 4 episodes, 1 season
• IMDb’s rating: 7.5/10
• Release: January 13, 2021
• Awards: Nominated for the Best Real-Life Mystery or Crime Series

Night Stalker covers the story of the most wanted serial killer in Los Angeles: Ricardo Leyva Muñoz Ramirez, known as Richard Ramirez. The series highlights the dedication of the detectives to catching the person who killed 13 people. Richard wasn’t following any predictable pattern; he brutally murdered women, men, and children of various ages.

Richard Ramirez committed these crimes in the mid-1980s and the majority, if not all of them, were committed inside the victim’s house, leaving Los Angeles residents in fear for their safety. He did not just murder his victims, he also sexually assaulted them, which made his eventual capture a massive relief to the residents of Los Angeles.