The 11 best crime documentaries on Amazon Prime Instant are sure to chill you to the core. The popularity of crime documentaries has risen in recent times mainly due to the unexpected and unrivaled acclaim received by the Netflix series ‘Making a Murderer‘. The series caused outrage among the American population, who were shocked to find out that the justice system is not perfect and can be exploited to fulfill one’s purposes.
However, this is not the first documentary to tackle such an issue. True crime documentaries have existed for decades and their main aim is often to either try to understand the mind of the person committing the crime or emphasizing the imperfect nature of the country’s justice system which can lead to the incarceration of innocent people.
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After Making a Murderer was released, tens of thousands of people signed a petition demanding the release of the convict the documentary was based on, Steven Avery. The reaction was so strong that even President Barack Obama had to come out and say that he had no power in this regard. Things have taken an even more interesting turn after Avery’s nephew’s conviction was overturned some time after the documentary aired on the basis that the police coerced him unlawfully in order to obtain a confession.
Amazon Prime is host to some of the most bone-chilling and nerve wracking documentaries out there when it comes to true crime. If you intend not to sleep for days, the list of 11 best crime documentaries on Amazon Prime Instant is the perfect fix for you. You will be left with your head shaking, your eyes unable to comprehend what they have seen and you will finally appreciate the depths a person can sink to. The twist is, it is not always the convict who sinks to such depths.
People who are into crime documentaries also generally tend to be history buffs. If you fit into this category, then you might also be interested in watching the 11 Best History Documentaries on Amazon Prime Right Now.
For our rankings, we assigned each documentary a score based on how many times it was mentioned in similar lists. The greater the number of mentions, the greater the score. Further, we considered the IMDB rating of each documentary and used that as a basis for our ranking as well.
Let’s delve into a world of crime, where often crime pays and being innocent doesn’t.
And now, let’s see the list of best crime documentaries on Amazon Prime Instant.
10. Kids for Cash
Average score based on the number of mentions: 2; IMDB Rating: 7.1;
Overall Insider Monkey score: 4.55
This documentary is unique in the list of 11 best crime documentaries on Amazon Prime Instant as it focuses on the crime of judges. It revealed that the judges were offered kickbacks or bribes so that they would send juveniles convicted of minor offenses to jail. This was the sentence implemented even when lesser penalties such as probation would have sufficed. Thousands of juveniles were sent to prison in this scheme.
9. The Seven Five
Average score based on the number of mentions: 2; IMDB Rating: 7.5;
Overall Insider Monkey score: 4.75
The Seven Five ranks ninth in our list of 11 best crime documentaries on Amazon Prime Instant. Another documentary which focuses on the corruption of those entrusted with the safekeeping of our society, with the culprits being police officers this time. A cop in the 1980s is the focus of this documentary, in one of the most dangerous precincts in New York. Mike Dowd, believing he was underpaid, resorted to stealing money from drug dealers and protecting drug lords. He was finally caught after spending 10 years on the force, showing how easy it was to continue a double life without getting caught, and served 13 years in prison for his offenses.
7. 3½ Minutes, Ten Bullets
Average score based on the number of mentions: 4; IMDB Rating: 7.2;
Overall Insider Monkey score: 5.6
This documentary shares the 7th spot in our list of 11 best crime documentaries on Amazon Prime Instant. Only a few titles are as ominous as this one. The film focuses on a shooting which took place in 2012, at a gas pump. An argument between a man and a teenager resulted over the playing of loud music, led to the man, Michael Dunn, killing the teenager Jordan Davis, who was African American.
The film focuses not only on the incident but also on the subsequent coverage by the media, the trial of Michael Dunn and the protests that took place due to the shooting. It also focuses on the protests led by the Black Lives Matter movement, which has attracted significant reactions, both positive and negative, from the public in recent events.
7. Aileen: The life and death of a serial killer
Average score based on the number of mentions: 4; IMDB Rating: 7.2;
Overall Insider Monkey score: 5.6
Aileen Wuornos was a prostitute and a serial killer, who killed 8 men and was arrested and also sentenced to death. The documentary focuses on her death sentence, which was deemed to be very controversial because she was thought to be of unsound mind. The closing interview with Wuornos focuses on this aspect while showing that the judge deemed her to be of sound mind. After the documentary had aired, she was subsequently executed.
6. Murder on a Sunday Morning
Average score based on the number of mentions: 4; IMDB Rating: 8.1;
Overall Insider Monkey score: 6.05
Murder on a Sunday Morning ranks 6th in our list of 11 best crime documentaries on Amazon Prime Instant. You have to hand it to the creators of such documentaries; they come up with the most innovative names. Winner of the Academy Award for the Best Documentary in 2002, Murder on a Sunday Morning, focuses on the conviction of a 15-year-old boy for murdering a tourist in the state of Florida, in 2000.
The boy was actually wrongfully convicted, with the primary pieces of evidence being the husband of the victim identifying the boy and his own confession, which was claimed to be illegally coerced from him. The film follows the case of the boy, and how the defense team strives to try and prove his innocent.
5. Cropsey
Average score based on the number of mentions: 6; IMDB Rating: 6.4;
Overall Insider Monkey score: 6.2
Cropsey ranks 5th in our list of 11 best crime documentaries on Amazon Prime Instant. This film focuses on some of the most disturbing content out there, namely child kidnappings. The film initially begins with an urban legend, famous in New York, discussing a boogeyman-like creature used to frighten children. However, it seemed that the urban legend wasn’t really a myth, as proven by the kidnapping of 5 children from a similar location. The film continues to create a link between the legend and the actual kidnappings, before discussing the story and history of a convicted child kidnapper, Andre Rand, the real life Bogeyman.
4. Paradise Lost Trilogy
Average score based on the number of mentions: 8; IMDB Rating: 8.4;
Overall Insider Monkey score: 8.2
Paradise Lost Trilogy ranks 4th in our list of 11 best crime documentaries on Amazon Prime Instant. The trilogy follows a tragic case where 3 prepubescent boys were murdered in what was deemed to be a Satanic ritual, by 3 teenagers, who were subsequently convicted of the atrocious crime. However, the trilogy focuses not only on the trial, but also on the time after the conviction, the time spent in prison and their subsequent release after 18 years. The documentary trilogy achieved fame throughout the nation for bringing the case into the spotlight and led to support for the three boys convicted as it was believed that they were convicted wrongly.
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.
1. The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst
Average score based on the number of mentions: 10; IMDB Rating: 8.8;
Overall Insider Monkey score: 9.4
Topping the list of 11 best crime documentaries on Amazon Prime Instant, the series is a six-part documentary pertaining to accused murderer, Robert Durst. Robert Durst was being investigated for three disappearances/murders, namely the disappearance of his wife Kathie, the murder of his longtime friend Susan Berman and the murder of his neighbor Morris Black. The series focuses on the background of the murders and the investigation, including Robert Durst’s involvement in it. The series lived up to its name when Durst was arrested just a day before the finale of the series aired, on murder charges.
