88 days behind bars and faced the possibility of life in prison after she was accused of using online advertisements to send men to sexually assault her former fiancés new wife.
Threatening emails, witnesses and men claiming to respond to “rape fantasy” ads initially seemed to support accusations against Michelle Hadley. However, state and federal prosecutors say the evidence was fabricated and the alleged victims were the perpetrators.
Netflixs new documentary, “A Toxic Love Story,” revisits the 2016 case involving Hadley, her former fiancé, Ian Diaz, and his then-wife, Angela Connell, who used the name Angela Diaz during their marriage.
Here are five things to know about the case.
Hadley began dating Ian Diaz in 2013 after they met online, according to the Orange County District Attorneys Office. The couple bought a condominium together in Anaheim, California, but separated in 2015 amid a dispute over the property and their finances.
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Ian Diaz met Angela Connell online in January 2016 and married her the following month. She moved into the condominium he had purchased with Hadley.
Beginning in June 2016, Angela Diaz told Anaheim police that Hadley was sending her increasingly violent emails and threatening her and her alleged unborn children. She also accused Hadley of impersonating her online and directing men to the home for “rape fantasy” encounters.
At least two men who intended to travel to the condominium told investigators that they believed they had been invited to participate in consensual “rape fantasy” encounters, prosecutors said. On June 24, Angela Diaz called 911 and claimed a man had entered her garage and tried to rape her.
Police arrested Hadley that day and released her on $100,000 bail. She was arrested again on July 14 and held on $1 million bail as the alleged threats continued.
Hadley faced felony charges carrying a potential life sentence as authorities initially portrayed her as a jilted former lover who had launched a calculated revenge campaign.
But there were problems with the case.
After Hadleys first arrest, Angela Diaz reported that the emails had stopped. When Hadley was released, the threatening messages resumed even though Hadley did not yet have access to her email, prosecutors later said.
Hadley remained jailed until Oct. 7, 2016, when prosecutors released her.
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On Jan. 9, 2017, Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas dismissed every charge and publicly declared her “fully exonerated.”
Investigators traced the threatening emails and sexual advertisements not to Hadley, but to the condominium shared by Ian and Angela Diaz, Angelas cellphone and her fathers home in Arizona, according to the district attorneys office.
Authorities said Angela Diaz used approximately eight email accounts, VPNs and proxy servers to hide the messages origins.
She sent herself threats, posed as Hadley and provided men with photographs of hersel
