Chilling Docuseries About 2002 Murder Case Dominating Netflix’s Top Charts

Who hasn’t binged away an embarrassing amount of time reliving the horrific experiences of other people via one of the many true crime documentaries available in the streaming era? True crime will seemingly never go out of fashion, which is good news for Netflix as the company has consistently pumped out documentaries recounting tales of murder and missing persons ever since the streamer had a mega-hit with 2015’s “Making a Murderer.”

This year alone, Netflixers have flocked to the tale of online dating turning deadly with “Lover, Stalker, Killer,” and have binged themselves into a stupor with “What Jennifer Did” — a true crime doc that used nightmarish AI images. Now, a new obsession has arrived in the form of “American Murder: Laci Peterson.” It follows 2020’s “American Murder: The Family Next Door,” a Netflix true crime documentary which told the harrowing story of murderer Chris Watts. This latest installment, however, is an all-new tale of misery.

“American Murder: Laci Peterson” is a three-part limited series that tells the story of the titular wife and mother-to-be’s disappearance on Christmas Eve 2022. It then follows her husband, Scott Peterson’s, trial, and his eventual conviction for the murder of his wife and their unborn son. Through interviews with detectives, lawyers, jurors, and for the first time, Peterson’s mother Sharon Rocha, the new series recounts yet another shocking true crime episode in recent American history. All of which should ensure it becomes yet another hit for Netflix — and according to the most recent streaming numbers, that’s certainly the case.

FlixPatrol, a site that aggregates streaming viewership figures, shows that “American Murder: Laci Peterson” is seeing global success on Netflix. The film debuted on the service on August 14, and immediately charted in 85 countries the following day. Even more impressive is the fact that it hit number one in eight of those countries, including the United States.

Yes, U.S. viewers were immediately hooked by this unsettling tale, propelling “American Murder: Laci Peterson” to the top of the most-watched TV charts and keeping it there for five straight days. The documentary dipped to number two on August 16, but shot straight back into the top spot on August 18, where it still sits at the time of writing. That goes for Canada, too, where the series is also at number one following several days in the number two position.

“American Murder” continues to see success worldwide, too. At the time of writing it’s sitting at number two in an impressive 50 countries. It also remains charting in 88 countries, which is about as successful a reception as any true crime doc can hope for on Netflix. Not that the company needed yet another hit in this space, but based on this latest reception, you can bet there’ll be another installment of “American Murder” coming in the very near future.