A new Netflix docuseries with quite the attention-catching name is currently dominating the charts, easily becoming the most-watched show in 21 countries. It’s also the #1 show on the Top 10 Most Watched list for the United States. And with a premise like this one, it’s honestly no surprise that it’s racking up the views, especially with all the true crime junkies out there.
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The provocatively titled Should I Marry a Murderer? centers on a young forensic pathologist from Scotland who has just broken free from a traumatic and abusive relationship. Soon after, however, she meets a charming man who lives on a remote estate. Attraction blossoms, and within weeks, the pair finds themselves engaged. It’s only then that Dr. Caroline Muirhead is told her fiancé’s secret: a few years before they met, Alexander “Sandy” McKellar was involved in a fatal hit-and-run crash with a cyclist. He and his brother, who was present at the time of the accident, didn’t call the police, but instead buried the man on their remote property. But later, the full truth comes out: the victim, Tony Parsons, a cancer survivor taking part in a charity bike ride, was still alive when they moved him to their remote property.
It’s a Truly Shocking Crime That Has Viewers Throwing Stones
With many of those stones aimed at Muirhead and how she coped with not only the abusive relationship that left her rebounding with McKellar, but for staying with him even after he told her what he had done and the fact that by the time the trial rolled around, Muirhead had ended up so deeply traumatized and stuggling not only with mental health issues, but addiction, that she didn’t show up for the court date. However, following McKellar’s initial confession, Muirhead did go to the police. But with little evidence, there wasn’t much they could do. Instead, the police spent the next year building a case against the brothers. And it was the recorded evidence that Muirhead kept while remaining in her increasingly toxic and abusive relationship with McKellar that helped them put both brothers away.
One viewer said, “This woman got exactly what she wanted. She got to be the star of her own show and had all the cringey, self-absorbed videos ready to go for her documentary.” But another countered with, “She didn’t just drop into this situation with excellent coping skills and fantastic mental health. This woman comes across to me as someone already considerably vulnerable, and not just from her previous devastating breakup. Reality is, if we want to support mental health more, we need to have more discussions like this, and more understanding of what mental illness, trauma, and attachment wounds look like, how they manifest. This is a very extreme and crazy example, but she is a human; it did happen to her, and we can choose to hold compassion for her while holding her accountable.”
What are your thoughts on Should I Marry a Murderer? Let us know in the comments. And don’t forget to check out the ComicBook forum to see what other true crime fans are saying.
