When Online Dating Becomes a Deadly Nightmare

Online dating is a risk, not just because the chances of finding Mr. or Mrs. Right are slim, but because it’s impossible to pre-verify that individuals using such sites are either trustworthy or stable. There’s simply no telling who you might meet when you dive into that great big pool of internet strangers. And perhaps no one knows the downsides to this modern mode of matchmaking more than Dave Kroupa, a mechanic who, upon relocating to Omaha, Nebraska, to be closer to his two young kids, decided to once again try his hand at love—or, at least, lust, since Dave was upfront about the fact that he didn’t want anything serious. What he got, alas, was far graver—and crazier—than he could have imagined.

Lover, Stalker, Killer (Feb. 9, on Netflix) is the story of Dave’s ordeal, and even in a crowded true-crime field, it’s something of a doozy. As compellingly recounted by director Sam Hobkinson’s feature-length documentary, Dave entered the online dating world with a desire for something casual, and he found that with Liz Golyar, a local with whom he shared an affinity for motorcycles, heavy metal, and sci-fi action movies. Like him, Liz had a son and a daughter, and they quickly hit it off, going out to bars and having a good time. For Dave, it was precisely what the doctor ordered. Nonetheless, he wasn’t interested in being tied down to any one relationship, and when single mother Cari Farver walked into his auto body shop, he took notice. Upon subsequently discovering her on a dating web site, he reached out—thus initiating a new no-strings-attached romance.

The fun wouldn’t last. While at his apartment one evening, Dave and Cari were visited by Liz, who claimed to have left something there. “A little fucking awkward!” is how Dave describes this situation, but it didn’t scare off Cari, who afterwards invited him back to her place. A short time later, however, things went hopelessly sideways when Dave received a text from Cari stating that they should move in together. Considering that they’d only been an item for two weeks, Dave balked, at which point he became inundated with angry texts (“You’ve ruined my life!” and “I never want to see you again!”) that took him by surprise. When he got home, Cari had apparently removed all her belongings. Then, the messages truly escalated: “Your life will be ruined for ruining mine,” and “I’m going to destroy the things you care about.”

Read more at The Daily Beast.