A California woman spent 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 fiancé’s 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.
Netflix’s 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.
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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 Attorney’s 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 Hadley’s 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, Angela’s cellphone and her father’s home in Arizona, according to the district attorney’s office.
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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 herself, her address and details about her daily routine.
The investigation also uncovered a wider pattern of deception. Prosecutors said Angela Diaz had faked cervical cancer, pretended to be an attorney, forged doctors’ notes, fabricated a pregnancy and altered checks.
Angela Diaz pleaded guilty in October 2017 to charges including kidnapping, false imprisonment, forgery, perjury, grand theft and falsely reporting crimes. She was sentenced to five years in state prison.
Ian Diaz insisted he knew nothing of Angela’s machinations, but a federal probe into Diaz launched in 2017 revealed that he masterminded the entire plot. He was indicted in 2021 and was relieved of his duties as a criminal investigator in Los Angeles.
A jury in the Central District of California convicted Ian of one count each of conspiracy to commit cyberstalking, cyberstalking, perjury and obstructing a federal proceeding.
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He was sentenced to 10 years and one month in prison.
“Diaz’s egregious actions and lies to law enforcement stripped a woman of her freedom and liberty,” Special Agent in Charge Harry Lidsky of the Department of Justice’s cyber crimes unit previously said in a press release. “This kind of stalking, harassment and obstruction is unconscionable.”
Hadley later filed a federal lawsuit against the City of Anaheim, four city employees, Angela Diaz and Ian Diaz over the case that led to her arrest and imprisonment.
In an April 2021 court filing reviewed by Fox News Digital, Hadley’s attorneys said she and the Anaheim defendants had reached a settlement that was approved by the City Council on April 27. The agreement would result in the dismissal of her claims against the city and its employees.
The filing also said Hadley and Angela Diaz were finalizing a separate written agreement. It did not reveal the financial terms or other details of either settlement.
Fox News Digital has reached out to Hadley’s attorneys for comment.
