{"id":13609,"date":"2026-07-22T13:50:28","date_gmt":"2026-07-22T08:50:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=13609"},"modified":"2026-07-22T13:50:28","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T08:50:28","slug":"biggest-bombshells-from-netflixs-a-toxic-love-story-the-true-story-of-ian-and-angela-diaz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=13609","title":{"rendered":"Biggest bombshells from Netflix&#8217;s &#8216;A Toxic Love Story,&#8217; the true story of Ian and Angela Diaz"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/pagesix.com\/wp-content%2Fuploads%2Fsites%2F3%2F2026%2F07%2FUntitled-1-copy-9.jpg?quality%3D90%26strip%3Dall\" \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>The Netflix documentary \u201cA Toxic Love Story\u201d covers the bizarre case of a love triangle that spiraled into email threats, wrongful imprisonment and fake pregnancy tests.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In June 2016, Michelle Hadley, then 29, was arrested by the Anaheim, California, police and held in jail for 88 days.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Her ex-boyfriend, US Marshal Ian Diaz, and his then-wife, Angela Diaz (n\u00e9e Connell), accused Michelle of sending threatening emails, stalking them and luring men to their home to sexually assault Angela, who was allegedly pregnant at the time.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In 2017, Michelle was exonerated, after it came to light<a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2023\/03\/27\/deputy-us-marshal-convicted-in-fake-rape-fantasy-plot\/\"> that Ian and Angela framed her.<\/a>\u00a0Now, Page Six is breaking down everything to know about the wild story.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>The new Netflix documentary \u201cA Toxic Love Story\u201d follows the story of Michelle Hadley (pictured above), who was falsely accused of sending threatening emails to her ex-boyfriend\u2019s new wife. <span class=\"credit\">COURTESY OF NETFLIX<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Michelle was exonerated in 2017 after it came to light that Ian and Angela Diaz (both pictured above) framed her. <span class=\"credit\">COURTESY OF NETFLIX<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module aligncenter wp-block-nypost-editor-primary-tag\">\n<\/aside>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>The threatening emails from \u201cLilith\u201d\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>In May 2016, after Ian and Angela tied the knot, he told his friend Leslie that the couple had allegedly been receiving emails from an anonymous account with the user name \u201cLilithistruth,\u201d aka \u201cLilith.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The messages had a \u201cbiblical undertone,\u201d Leslie noted onscreen in the doc, adding that they were \u201csuper threatening.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Some of the alleged messages read, \u201cYou must be gone\u201d and \u201cYou have stolen my treasured home.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Ian\u2019s friend Leslie (pictured above in the documentary) described the alleged emails as \u201csuper threatening,\u201d and said the couple quickly assumed they were from Hadley. <span class=\"credit\">Netflix<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Another email shown onscreen read, \u201cAn eye for an eye, you are finished.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The messages escalated to threatening Angela\u2019s allegedly unborn child.<\/p>\n<p>They also featured disturbing images such as \u201cdecapitated people\u201d and \u201caborted fetuses,\u201d according to \u201cA Toxic Love Story.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>The Netflix doc goes into detail about how Michelle (pictured) was falsely accused by the couple of sending threatening online messages. <span class=\"credit\">Netflix<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>The dispute over a condo\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Ian and Michelle dated from 2013 to 2015, before he began his relationship with Angela in 2016. The married couple was living in a condo that Ian had originally bought with Michelle.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Leslie claimed in the doc that she and Ian \u201cwere both thinking the same thing,\u201d which was, \u201cHoly s\u2013t, it\u2019s Michelle sending the emails,\u201d amid Ian\u2019s dispute with his ex over the condo.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Reporting Michelle to the police seemed \u201cnecessary,\u201d Leslie said onscreen in the doc.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Michelle (pictured) was arrested after Ian and Angela falsely accused her of luring a man to rape the latter. <span class=\"credit\">Netflix<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>The Craigslist \u201crape fantasy\u201d ad\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Michelle was arrested in June 2016, after Ian and Angela falsely told police that Michelle posed as Angela and responded to a Craigslist ad from a man soliciting a \u201crape fantasy\u201d encounter.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>They accused Michelle of trying to lure him to \u201cshow up at the condo, to rape Angela,\u201d Leslie claimed.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Rick, the man who posted the ad, appeared in the doc anonymously and said onscreen that he received a message from the email address \u201cLilithistruth,\u201d in response to his ad.<\/p>\n<p>The \u201cLilith\u201d email account sent him photos of Angela, and gave him Ian and Angela\u2019s address.\u00a0He noted that \u201cLilith\u201d told him to \u201cjust show up\u201d for a tryst with the woman in the photos, and that she would leave her door open for him.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>However, after seeing the name Ian Diaz on the door, he got cold feet and left, because he didn\u2019t want to enter a \u201csituation where the boyfriend or husband doesn\u2019t know,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Michelle (pictured) didn\u2019t deny writing the threatening emails, at first. <span class=\"credit\">Netflix<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Michelle gave odd answers when police questioned her<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>During Michelle\u2019s interviews with police after she was taken into custody, Michelle was shown one of the \u201cLilith\u201d emails from September 2015 that said, \u201cGod\u2019s law is above all law, including the law of man, Lilith.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>At the time, Michelle seemingly confessed to writing the emails.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYeah, that was me. I don\u2019t even understand where it came from, or why I wrote it,\u201d she said in interview footage that was shown onscreen.<\/p>\n<p>She added that it felt like an \u201calternate persona,\u201d and she thought, \u201cI really am losing my mind.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Angela (pictured) allegedly faked having cancer years before her involvement with Ian. <span class=\"credit\">Netflix<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Years before Angela\u2019s relationship with Ian, she allegedly faked having cancer\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>In 2013, Angela was dating a man named Jason Rayburn.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOne night, she divulged that she had cervical cancer, Stage 4,\u201d Jason claimed onscreen in the doc, noting that Angela allegedly blew him off every time he asked to accompany her to chemo appointments.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Angela\u2019s former friend Mary Bukovskis also spoke in the documentary. She claimed that after meeting Angela in 2014, she began noticing discrepancies in her story about her alleged cancer battle.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Angela (pictured) allegedly faked getting chemo treatments for cancer.  <span class=\"credit\">Netflix<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Mary noted how Angela would be wearing a hat, feigning losing hair. However, she allegedly observed her tucking her hair into the hat at times.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis b\u2014h has more hair than I do!\u201d she exclaimed while recounting the story.<\/p>\n<p>In the doc, Mary also revealed that she called the facility where Angela claimed she was getting treatment at one point \u2014 and discovered that she wasn\u2019t even a patient there.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Angela\u2019s ex-boyfriend Jason Rayburn (pictured above in the doc) also called out his ex for faking a cancer diagnosis. <span class=\"credit\">Netflix<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Jason also quickly caught on, he revealed in the doc.<\/p>\n<p>After Angela allegedly texted him a photo from a \u201cfirst person perspective\u201d that supposedly showed her view from sitting in a chair while receiving chemo treatments, he later found it on Google Images.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Both Jason and Mary then confronted Angela in 2014. According to Jason\u2019s video camera footage shown onscreen, Angela doubled down and refused to admit she was lying to them.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, in police audio played onscreen from 2016, cops later asked Angela if she\u2019d ever gotten chemo, to which she replied, \u201cNo, absolutely not.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Angela (pictured) allegedly faked her positive pregnancy tests and used a fake sonogram.  <span class=\"credit\">Netflix<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Angela allegedly faked her pregnancy\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>After Michelle\u2019s arrest, Ian called his friend Leslie to inform her that he had found out the sonogram from Angela\u2019s pregnancy was fake, Leslie recalled onscreen in the doc.<\/p>\n<p>Upon searching the condo, Leslie and Ian found pregnancy tests that Angela had drawn on with \u201cblue markers\u201d to make them look positive.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Angela (pictured) also allegedly faked her pregnancy.  <span class=\"credit\">Netflix<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Learning about her deception caused Leslie to wonder, \u201cHoly s\u2013t, did any of these emails actually come from Michelle? Is it possible that Angela sent all of these emails to herself?\u201d\u00a0she recalled onscreen.<\/p>\n<p>She felt an \u201cimmense responsibility\u201d to tell the police that there were some \u201cdoubts,\u201d she added. <\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Angela (pictured) was arrested in 2017 and pleaded guilty to all charges, including fraud, false imprisonment and falsely reporting a crime. <span class=\"credit\">Netflix<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Angela\u2019s arrest<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Angela was arrested on Jan. 6, 2017.<\/p>\n<p>She pleaded guilty to all charges including fraud, false imprisonment and falsely reporting a crime. She was sentenced to five years in prison.<\/p>\n<p>Ian annulled their marriage in April 2017.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>\u201cA Toxic Love Story\u201d is a bizarre love triangle that escalated into email threats and false imprisonment. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Michelle described her relationship with Ian as a \u201cdaily roller coaster ride\u201d\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>After Angela\u2019s arrest and Michelle\u2019s exoneration, Department of Justice investigator Jason Higley and his team \u201chad an obligation to look at the case again,\u201d he said onscreen in the doc. \u00a0<\/p>\n<p>During their interviews with Michelle, she divulged that after she and Ian bought the condo together \u2013 and she put all her savings in it \u2013 Ian\u2019s behavior allegedly turned controlling.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019ll pick out outfits for me, and tell me when he wants me to wear them,\u201d she said onscreen in the doc.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Michelle (pictured) said her relationship with Ian was a \u201cdaily roller coaster.\u201d <span class=\"credit\">Netflix<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Ian also installed security cameras, she claimed, but not outside the condo \u2014 they were \u201cinside, facing the kitchen, where I cook.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Michelle described being with Ian as a \u201cdaily roller coaster ride\u201d in the doc.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOne minute, he\u2019d be taking me to a fancy dinner and telling me how beautiful I was,\u201d she recalled, \u201cand the next minute, he\u2019d be flirting with another girl and screaming in my face.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>After she left him, Michelle claimed his \u201cend game\u201d was to find a way to figure out \u201chow to keep the condo, and destroy [her] life at the same time.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Ian (pictured) allegedly pressured Michelle into participating in a cuckold fantasy. <span class=\"credit\">COURTESY OF NETFLIX<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Ian allegedly pressured Michelle to participate in a cuckold fantasy\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>During their time together, Michelle alleged that Ian told her that he had a cuckold fantasy.<\/p>\n<p>Her \u201cheart dropped\u201d after hearing that.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re not compatible in this area,\u201d she said onscreen in the doc.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>However, she claimed Ian would bring\u201d it up \u201cover and over, multiple times a week\u201d and that he even sent her profiles of men on Craigslist that he wanted her to sleep with.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Ian (pictured) allegedly pressured Michelle to sleep with another man. <span class=\"credit\">Netflix<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>It made her so \u201cuncomfortable\u201d that she \u201cwould cry,\u201d she recalled.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Michelle explained to cameras that she hadn\u2019t dated a lot in the past, so she thought, \u201cMaybe this is what women have to do in relationships.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>She alleged that she let Ian pressure her to sleep with another man, so that they could \u201cmove past this,\u201d but it made her feel like \u201ca beautiful part of [herself] had died.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Michelle (pictured) stated that she wrote the first two \u201cLilith\u201d emails after a \u201cnervous breakdown.\u201d <span class=\"credit\">COURTESY OF NETFLIX<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Michelle admitted that she wrote the first two \u201cLilith\u201d emails\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>After Michelle left Ian, she felt like she was \u201closing\u201d her mind and confessed to writing \u201ca couple very angry emails,\u201d she explained onscreen in the doc.<\/p>\n<p>She explained that she felt like her brain was \u201cdetaching\u201d and claimed she had an \u201cout of body\u201d experience. A doctor later told her that she was experiencing a \u201cdissociative episode\u201d \u2014 due to \u201ccomplex PTSD\u201d from her relationship with Ian.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI only ever sent these [first two] emails, but I was framed for all this horrible cyberstalking,\u201d said Michelle.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Angela (pictured) helped Ian frame Michelle for cyberstalking. <span class=\"credit\">COURTESY OF NETFLIX<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cMichelle\u2019s story did sound crazy,\u201d investigator Higley recalled in the doc. \u201cShe effectively had a nervous breakdown.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>However, after fully interviewing Michelle, Higley and his team started to find Angela suspicious.<\/p>\n<p>But upon further investigation, they speculated that \u201cAngela might have only been a passenger, and this was Ian\u2019s scheme.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He added that investigators suspected that Ian \u201cseized on those [first emails] to create the \u2018Lilith\u2019 [email] account and language.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Investigators went back over the case and found proof that Ian was behind the \u201cLilith\u201d emails.  <span class=\"credit\">COURTESY OF NETFLIX<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Investigators found proof on Ian\u2019s computer<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>\u201cIan tried to cover his tracks, but in digital forensics, there\u2019s always another place to look for evidence,\u201d Higley explained onscreen in the doc.<\/p>\n<p>Investigators eventually found evidence on a laptop \u201cthat Ian Diaz is Lilith.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><figcaption>Michelle said she eventually found her \u201cfairytale ending\u201d raising a daughter, while Ian is currently serving 10 years in prison for his crimes. <span class=\"credit\">Netflix<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Where are they now?\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>After serving her sentence, Angela \u201cmoved away from California\u201d and declined to participate in the documentary, per text that appeared onscreen in the doc.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Ian was dismissed by the US Marshal service in 2023.\u00a0After pleading not guilty to all charges, he was convicted of stalking, perjury and obstruction of justice.\u00a0He\u2019s currently serving a 10 year federal prison sentence in Texas.<\/p>\n<p>For Michelle\u2019s part, she sued the Anaheim police department after spending 88 days in prison. She was awarded damages for an undisclosed sum in 2021.<\/p>\n<p>Flash forward to present day, she began dating again and gave birth to a daughter \u2014 on the same day that Ian was convicted.\u00a0\u201cRaising this beautiful little girl is my fairytale ending,\u201d she said in the doc.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA Toxic Love Story\u201d is now streaming on Netflix.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Netflix documentary \u201cA Toxic Love Story\u201d covers the bizarre case of a love triangle that spiraled into email threats, wrongful imprisonment and fake pregnancy tests.\u00a0 In June 2016, Michelle Hadley, then 29, was arrested by the Anaheim, California, police and held in jail for 88 days.\u00a0 Her ex-boyfriend, US Marshal Ian Diaz, and his&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13610,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/pagesix.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/07\/Untitled-1-copy-9.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&w=1200","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13609","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pics-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13609","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13609"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13609\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13610"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13609"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13609"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13609"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}