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Sometimes your basement floods with city sewage. Sometimes your basement floods with city sewage twice in two months, and after the biohazard's cleared away and the sickening smell has dissipated (again...), you just want some pulpy brain rot to fill an evening because you don't have the bandwidth for anything more. That's exactly the situation I was in earlier this week when I saw Netflix had a new true crime docuseries releasing today (April 29). With a name like "Should I Marry a Murderer?" (uh, duh, the answer's no!), I figured it couldn't have many surprises in store.
I didn't set out to binge all three hour-long episodes in an evening, but the next thing I knew, the credits were rolling, and my heart was breaking for Dr. Caroline Muirhead, the bride-to-be at the center of this stranger-than-fiction case of a tragic accident in the Scottish highlands. A case that's not nearly as cut and dry as I'd assumed from the title, I should add.
Article continues belowWhat is 'Should I Marry a Murderer?' about?
The series follows Dr. Caroline Muirhead, a pathologist who ends up trading one nightmare relationship for another. After leaving a toxic boyfriend, she meets Alexander "Sandy" McKellar on Tinder in 2020, a whirlwind romance she'd hoped would finally be her happily ever after. Sure, he's got a temper when he drinks (red flag no. 1) and seems a little too interested in her work at the morgue (red flag no. 2), but any doubts she may have had evaporate when he surprises her with a proposal only two months into their relationship. It's the first in a long line of ill-advised decisions that had me yelling at the screen like I was watching a horror movie: "Girl, run!"
Her parents and friends are less than thrilled with how quickly things are progressing between them, but she has stars in her eyes. Even in retelling the story, it's clear she fell hard for Sandy, which only makes it more devastating when he confesses a secret that shatters her world.
Three years prior, he and his brother were driving home from the pub one night and hit a cyclist on the road. That man was Tony Parsons, a 63-year-old “much-loved” grandfather and former Royal Navy submariner in the middle of attempting to cycle 100 miles from Fort William to his home in Tillicoultry to raise money for charity. Instead of reporting the accident or helping the poor guy, the brothers leave him to die on the road, only returning to cover up the evidence of their crime. They buried his body in a peat bog on their property, where animal carcasses were dumped.
It's the kind of confession that would have any sane person running for the hills. Instead of immediately exposing him, though, Caroline decides to quietly keep the relationship going as she works with the police to build a case. She secretly gathers evidence over several months, careful not to arouse his suspicion. In one impressive moment of quick thinking, she uses a can of Red Bull to mark the ground where Sandy says the body is buried, which later helped authorities find the remains in early 2021. Because of her actions, both brothers were eventually taken into custody, albeit at an incredible cost to her mental health.
Stream 'Should I Marry a Murderer' now on Netflix
The short answer: Yes. "Should I Marry a Murderer?" is one of Netflix's stronger documentaries released this year, one that I can wholeheartedly recommend to both fans of true crimes and anyone just looking for a wild, emotionally compelling story to get lost in. I know I'll be suggesting it to my girlfriends with questionable taste in men to make a point: See, this is how crazy you sound.
The case was also previously covered in the BBC documentary series "Murder Case: The Vanishing Cyclist" if you're interested in learning more. Be sure to check out our round-up of the best Netflix documentaries and what's new on Netflix this month for even more streaming recommendations.
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