3. There’s Something Wrong with Aunt Diane
Average score based on the number of mentions: 10; IMDB Rating: 6.9;
Overall Insider Monkey score: 8.45
In 2009, Diane Schuler was driving on the Tectonic State Parkway. The only problem was, it was on the wrong side. This ended in the most tragic way possible, with a head-on collision resulting in the deaths of 8 people, one of the worst road disasters in the state’s history.
While the media and subsequent evidence portrayed Diane to be drunk or under the influence of drugs, the documentary has examined other possible angles as well, such as possible tooth pain, which was so intense that it resulted in these actions.
2. The Central Park 5
Average score based on the number of mentions: 10; IMDB Rating: 7.7;
Overall Insider Monkey score: 8.85
The Central Park 5 ranks second on our list of 11 best crime documentaries on Amazon Prime Instant. Released in 2012, this documentary didn’t cover the story of one of the most famous and heinous crimes of the 1980s, but the wrong acts which followed the crime.
When a jogger was assaulted, raped and sodomized in Central Park in 1989, the police arrested 5 juveniles, four of whom were blacks while one was Hispanic. They were convicted of the crime and sentenced to jail, with sentences ranging from five to fifteen years, while the time actually served amounted to six to thirteen years between the defendants.
As you can guess, the defendants were wrongly convicted and this was discovered after the actual rapist confessed to his crimes. The defendants after being released, took legal action which saw them win a settlement of $41 million, while they are still suing for an additional $52 million.
The documentary emphasized on the element of racism which was present in the coverage of the trial which may have played a hand in how events turned out while also showing evidence with which police should have been able to nab the actual rapist. All in all, this makes for a compelling 2 hours.
