Who Is Marc O’Leary? The Real-Life Rapist From Netflix’s ‘Unbelievable,’ Explained

• Netflix’s new limited series Unbelievable is based on the true story of a serial rapist in Colorado and Washington state.
• His name was Marc Patrick O’Leary, and he believed he was a member of a secret society in which the world was divided into “alphas” and “bravos.”
• Because he considered himself an “alpha,” he thought he could have sex with anyone he wanted.

Netflix has a new limited series out called Unbelievable based on the true story of a a young woman, Marie (played by Kaitlyn Dever), who reports being raped in her apartment by then later is accused of lying and recants her story. That is, until two female detectives, Grace Rasmussen and Karen Duvall (played by Toni Collette and Merritt Wever, respectively) decide to investigate multiple rape cases that are strikingly similar to Marie’s.

While the true crime show largely focuses on Marie as she deals with the aftermath of her assault and Grace and Karen as they try to crack the case, her rape (and subsequent ones) were committed IRL by a 33-year-old man named Marc O’Leary. For years, the serial rapist committed at least 28 sexual assaults in the Denver area and Washington state.

Here’s everything you need to know about O’Leary:

He was in a secret society that had intense views on sex.

When O’Leary was finally arrested in 2011, he told police that he believed he was a member of a secret society in which the world is divided into “alphas” and “bravos,” according to an arrest affidavit obtained by the Denver Post. (A friend close to O’Leary echoed his secret society claims, according to the document.)

Because O’Leary believed he was an “alpha,” he thought he could have sex with anyone he wanted. Detectives said that during O’Leary’s attacks, he also referred to “alphas” and “bravos.”

He was accused of 32 counts of sexual assault.

Besides sexual assault, those charges also include kidnapping and burglary, according to the Denver Post.

O’Leary had a girlfriend at the time.

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Amy Wozny met O’Leary on an online dating site. “He was pretty chivalrous and protective,” she later told 48 Hours. “He was very charming. He was really fun to talk to. We talked for hours at a time quite frequently. There was a lightness to him even though he had a dark sense of humor.”

The couple didn’t have a typical sexual relationship.

Wozny told 48 Hours that things weren’t exactly great in the bedroom between them. O’Leary needed the “other person to be scared of him,” she said.

O’Leary’s girlfriend was shocked to hear he was a rapist.

Wozny also told 48 Hours that she had no idea that her boyfriend was sexually assaulting women when he wasn’t with her. And, when the FBI told her about his crimes, she said, “I went and threw up. It was pretty upsetting to me.”

Take an inside look at Netflix’s Unbelievable with the stars and creators: