Best friend of US Marshal who was jailed over twisted revenge plot says she was DUPED by documentary filmmakers as she maintains his innocence after his ex exposed horrific catfish hoax

The best friend of a US Marshal who was convicted for orchestrating a twisted scheme to frame his ex-girlfriend has slammed Netflix’s depiction of herself and the hoax that captured the nation. 

Ian Diaz’s shocking plot has been revisited in the new documentary, A Toxic Love Story, which unravels the former US Marshal’s scheme to jail his ex-girlfriend, Michelle Hadley, by making it look like she was stalking his wife, Angela. 

Ian was convicted in 2023 on federal charges of conspiracy to commit cyberstalking, cyberstalking, perjury, and obstruction of justice, but his best friend, who goes by her first name, Leslie, in the documentary, has stood by his side. 

Leslie told filmmakers, ‘There is no evidence that anyone could show me that would make me doubt Ian’s innocence.’ 

Leslie’s seemingly blind support for her friend made her the target of online trolling, and she now tells TMZ she believed the documentary made it seem like she was in love with Ian. 

‘I expected them to do the research on all they heard from all those filmed for this doc. They were given so much information — and then decided to abort the truth and ignore all the actual evidence,’ she said. 

Leslie explained that she sat for interviews for two days, but only snippets were included in the final film.  

‘If this documentary would’ve given a robust report of the actual evidence involved in his conviction, more people would be speaking about the inconsistencies and the flat-out agenda to put him behind bars,’ she added. 

Leslie also denied director Alexandra Lacey’s previous claims that Ian had declined to participate in the documentary. 

The director told Netflix’s companion site Tudum that they tried to include Ian’s perspective by writing him letters, but he declined to participate.

Producer Emma Supple added that the team ‘contacted everybody who is important at the heart of the story to see whether they wanted to take part,’ but Angela, who now goes by her maiden name, Angela Connell, also declined to participate.

However, Leslie claimed that Ian was open to participating, but filmmakers had only wanted to conduct phone interviews, and he wanted to save his allotted phone time in prison for his family.

Leslie’s main contribution to the documentary was her recount of how Angela and Ian’s scheme began to fall apart. 

The saga unfolded in 2016, shortly after Ian and Hadley split up. Ian and Angela married within months, and she moved into the condo Ian had purchased with his ex. 

It was then that Angela began receiving ominous emails from an unknown address under the username ‘Lilithistruth.’ 

Lilith is a biblical name that refers to the feminine figure who was married to Adam before Eve and committed adultery with Satan. 

The messages said things like: ‘You must be gone’, ‘You have not heeded my warnings’ and ‘Watch your back’.

The emails resembled earlier messages from Hadley after their breakup. Hadley admitted to sending two emails, but said she sent them under her own name when she was at her angriest after the breakup. 

She said in the documentary that the initial messages were a result of a dissociative episode resulting from complex post-traumatic stress. 

However, they gave Angela and Ian the perfect template for crafting a string of menacing messages and framing Hadley. 

Accompanied by pictures of dead fetuses, they read things like: ‘Drop the restraining order or you will continue to suffer’ and, ‘We will steal your child and watch as it dies’.

Another read: ‘You will die tonight while someone rapes you.’

The plot thickened when Angela and Ian used the Lilithistruth moniker on Craigslist, responding to a post asking for a woman to help with a rape fantasy.

The post had said: ‘I am looking for women who have fantasies about being raped or forced to perform.

‘I’ve done this before with a couple of ex-girlfriends and found it very intense and exciting.’

The response he got read: ‘I’ve been dying to have a rape fantasy occur while walking my dog, following me home, dragging me upstairs to the bed.

‘I am 30, tall, gorgeous and ready,’ followed by Angela’s full address. The message went on: ‘Even if I scream, don’t stop.’

As police later discovered, it was actually Ian responding and inviting the man to his house to potentially ‘rape’ his own wife. The goal was to frame Hadley as a cyberstalker when she was innocent.

The man did not go through with the sick scheme, but Angela and Ian still reported it. They later staged a scene in their garage to make it look like Angela was attacked. 

In the police bodycam footage from when detectives visited the condo, Angela pointed to a black mark on the wall and said it was a makeup stain from when a figure with a black ski mask over his face grabbed her.

‘I just didn’t know what was happening. He grabbed me, he had me pinned by the hair at the neck. He told me, now you’re gonna get it, you’re finally going to get raped,’ she told officers. 

The alleged motive and similar emails were enough to arrest Hadley for attempted forcible rape and stalking.

She spent 88 days in jail until police discovered the IP addresses from the emails had actually been sent from Angela and Ian’s home. 

Hadley’s charges were dropped, and Angela was later arrested and pleaded guilty to 10 felony counts. She was sentenced to prison in 2018 and was released on parole in 2020. Angela and Ian’s marriage was annulled after her arrest. 

It was not until 2023 that Ian was convicted of conspiracy to commit cyberstalking, cyberstalking, perjury, and obstruction of a federal matter.

He initially placed the blame on his ex-wife, but due to his position as a US Marshal, a federal investigation uncovered evidence pointing to his involvement in the scheme. Ian is serving time in a federal prison in Texas with a scheduled release in 2031. 

Investigators never confirmed who was at the heart of the scheme. A Toxic Love Story explores the theory that Angela could have been a victim of Ian’s abuse. 

Hadley had been open about alleged abuse she experienced from Ian during their relationship. 

However, others have pointed to Angela’s problematic past. Her ex-boyfriend, Jason Rayburn, said during the documentary that she had lied about having stage four cervical cancer.

Leslie also revealed in the film that Angela had lied about being pregnant with Ian’s twins, recalling a late-night phone call where he revealed his wife faked an ultrasound and pregnancy tests. 

Ian and Leslie went to the police and told them they had found bags of fake pregnancy tests with the lines drawn in blue pen to make it look like Angela was expecting.

Speaking in the documentary, Leslie said she began to ask herself, ‘What’s really happening? Holy s**t. Did any of these emails actually come from Michelle? Is it possible Angela sent all of these emails to herself?’

The Daily Mail has reached out to Netflix for comment.