Episode 305 - Natalia Grace: The Orphan
RedHanded
RedHanded
4.5 • 19.7K Ratings
🗓️ 6 July 2023
⏱️ 79 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In 2009, the horror film ‘Orphan’ told the tale of a couple who unwittingly adopted a 9-year-old girl, who (spoilers) turned out to be a murderous, adult woman.
Sometimes though, reality is stranger than fiction. A year after the film’s release, the Barnetts, a wealthy picture-perfect American family, adopted 6-year-old Natalia Grace from Ukraine. But within just 3 years, they’d abandoned her and fled to Canada.
Why? According to the Barnetts, Natalia – who had a rare form of dwarfism – wasn’t a little girl at all. She was actually a 22-year-old woman who was trying to murder their whole family. In this bizarre case, everything most definitely isn’t as it seems…
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Prime members, you can listen to Redhanded early and ad-free on Amazon Music. Download the app today. |
| 0:06.0 | If you love True Crime, the Generation Y Podcast is essential listening. Hosts Aaron and Justin started this podcast over 10 years ago to dissect together some of the craziest and most notable murders, crimes and conspiracy theories. |
| 0:18.0 | And with over 450 episodes, there's a little something for every True Crime lover. Follow the Generation Y Podcast wherever you listen to podcasts. |
| 0:30.0 | I'm Sruti. I'm Hannah. And welcome to Redhanded. Yes. Welcome. Come on in. The water's horrible. It's fucking covered in algae or something equally horrible. |
| 0:50.0 | But we are here and we are ready to get started with quite a tale. |
| 0:57.0 | The noise you just heard was Mabel's Tale bashing against a metal pole. But now she's gone to bed so it's all going to be fine. |
| 1:05.0 | So in 2013, a bizarre story hit headlines across the world. An American family who had adopted a six-year-old girl from Ukraine had suddenly abandoned her in an apartment in Fayetteville, Indiana and run off to Canada. |
| 1:22.0 | The couple, Michael and Christine Barnett, claimed the Natalia Grace, a child with diastrophic dysplasia, a rare form of dwarfism, was not in fact a little girl. |
| 1:32.0 | But a fully grown 22-year-old woman who had been trying to kill their entire family. |
| 1:39.0 | There really is no subtle way to start this story with a plotline like that. And with comparisons to the 2009 horror movie, often, they came out just a year before the Barnett's adopted Natalia. |
| 1:50.0 | Believe me, this case is as fucking weird as it gets. |
| 1:54.0 | I didn't realise that this was after all. |
| 1:57.0 | Oh yes, a year after. That's bananas. |
| 2:01.0 | So to really understand just how bananas it all is, we're going to have to start the beginning. |
| 2:07.0 | Michael and Christine Barnett, plus their three sons, 11-year-old Jake, nine-year-old Wesley, and six-year-old Ethan, with a picture perfect family. |
| 2:16.0 | And I can't say the word Wesley without thinking about Wesley's types arms. |
| 2:21.0 | Now we're all thinking about it, so you're welcome. |
| 2:25.0 | Why would you name your son Wesley's never going to have arms as good as Wesley's name? |
| 2:31.0 | Something to aspire to. |
| 2:33.0 | True, maybe we all be more Wesley's like... |
| 2:35.0 | Every day is Arms Day when your name is Wesley. |
| 2:38.0 | Well, I'm going to have to start doing some serious arms days because I've got to wear a bloody strapless bridesmaid dress in September. |
... |
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