'Child' who turned out to be 22-year-old woman accused of threatening to 'kill everybody'
Topics: Crime, Documentaries, True Crime, TV And Film, Parenting
Rhianna Benson
Featured Image Credit: ID
Topics: Crime, Documentaries, True Crime, TV And Film, Parenting
You may never have heard of American 'orphan' Natalia Grace, but you'll almost certainly be familiar with her chilling and unnerving life story.
Husband and wife Kristine and Michael Barnett believed they'd adopted six-year-old Natalia back in 2010, but they began to grow concerned after she soon started exhibiting some rather strange and sinister behaviour.
And, in a dramatic plot twist, Kristine and Michael later discovered - after months of living in fear - that Natalia was not at all who she'd initially claimed to be.
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That's because their beloved 'little girl' - adopted from Ukraine - was actually a 22-year-old woman, who only appeared as a toddler due to a rare bone disorder.
But what was Natalia's motive for hiding her identity?
In May, the couple appeared in a chilling new documentary series - titled The Curious Case of Natalia Grace - in an attempt to uncover the reason for their adopted daughter's life-shattering lies.
Even scarier still, was the fact that Kristine and Michael even alleged on the show that Natalia - who was initially believed to have dwarfism - had made several attempts on their lives while living with them.
"We were all abused," Michael broke down whilst telling viewers. "I hate this. She tried to poison and kill my wife. [And] one night, I opened my eyes and Natalia is standing at the foot of the bed with a knife in her hand."
"I definitely didn't feel safe around Natalia," their son Jake also said.
Kristine had previously told the Daily Mail that Natalia would "make up statements and draw pictures saying she wanted to kill family members," adding that she planned to "roll them up in a blanket and put them in the backyard."
"I saw her putting chemicals, bleach, Windex, something like that, in my coffee and I asked her, 'What are you doing?' She said, 'I am trying to poison you'," she continued.
And spectators to this bizarre story of lies and loss were left even further shocked last month when it was revealed that a follow-up documentary would see Natalia telling her side of the story.
The now-34-year-old has always denied the allegations made against her by the Barnetts, and in the coming weeks, we'll see her confront 'dad' Michael about his accusations about her murder attempts.
The trailer for The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: Natalia Speaks sees her telling viewers: "In every lie is a hidden truth, but you gotta dig enough to be able to see it. This is my side of the story. Do I look like a monster to you?"
She is also seen confronting Michael, telling him: "I was never in y’all’s room with a knife."
Michael hits back, however: "You were going to kill everybody.”
A synopsis for the six-part series explains that the documentary will "showcase an extensive, emotional sit down between Natalia and adoptive father Michael Barnett as they sit face-to-face for the first time and come to terms with the accusations that have been thrown around in both directions."
Sounds like fun!