When it comes to true crime on Netflix, Killer Inside: The Mind of Aaron Hernandez and Don’t F*** With Cats: Hunting an Internet Killer are two of the newest and most fascinating additions to the list. And they are also two of the most troubling.
The first tells the story of former football star Aaron Hernandez, who was charged with murder and eventually committed suicide while in prison. The latter, meanwhile, looks at how clever Internet sleuths tried to hunt down killer Luka Magnotta who posted several videos online of him harming animals before brutally killing a young student.
Both series are compelling in their own way, but which one should you watch if you’re a fan of the true crime genre? Here are 5 reasons Killer Inside is better and five reasons Don’t F*** With Cats is.
Deeper Psychological Dive: Killer Inside
Both series delve into the psyches of the two men, looking at what might have driven them to do the horrendous things they were accused of, and in some cases were proven to have done. Hernandez’s troubled family life was discussed, along with his post-mortem diagnosis of Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a neurodegenerative disease caused by repeated blows to the head that can lead to behavioral and mood problems. It shed light on a major issue that has been popping up among football players.
While Don’t F*** With Cats discusses Magnotta’s deteriorated mental state as well, it doesn’t discuss his mental illness as much, including a previous diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia.
Gruesome And Cringeworthy: Don’t F*** With Cats
While Killer Inside discusses Hernandez’s alleged murders and showed video footage before the shooting of Odin Lloyd, it is nowhere near as heinous and gruesome as Don’t F*** With Cats. That series showed clips from videos Magnotta posted online harming cats, as well as snippets of the video with his human victim, Jun Lin, tied up before being murdered.
While Hernandez got along well with others and seemed like a pretty normal guy, there was always something off with Magnotta who simply seemed creepy. And his acts were enough to make you gasp more so than any true crime documentary out there if that’s what you’re into.
Sympathizing With The Accused: Killer Inside
While you can’t help but loathe Magnotta after seeing and hearing about what he did, there’s still a moral dilemma for those who want to sympathize with Hernandez. He had a terrible childhood with a very strict father, was sexually abused, then lost his father at a young age. He took up with the wrong crowd, went down a bad path, and was supposedly struggling with his sexuality.
This doesn’t excuse what he did, of course, though his CTE diagnosis might suggest that some of the behavior was out of his control. But there are more sympathetic emotions about Hernandez than there are about Magnotta, despite his severe mental illness.
Brought To Justice: Don’t F*** With Cats
Thankfully, in the end, Magnotta was captured at an Internet café in Berlin, convicted, and put in prison. He tried to claim diminished responsibility due to mental disorders but he was found guilty of all charges and is currently serving a mandatory life sentence. He will, however, be eligible for parole in 25 years.
Sadly, no true justice was brought to the families of Hernandez’s alleged victims since the former football star committed suicide in his prison cell days after being acquitted of a double homicide.
More Relatable Scenario: Killer Inside
While serial killers like Magnotta certainly exist in society, Hernandez’s story was far more relatable. A young, ambitious boy with big dreams who was struggling with a tumultuous family life, and allegedly with his own sexuality.
Magnotta is so far beyond comprehension and did such vile and unnatural things that it’s tough to believe that he really exists and that someone would do such things. Hernandez, meanwhile, was more like the boy next door who had major success but was hiding a lot behind his smile. You could imagine having known Hernandez while Magnotta also seemed like a fictional character.
No Question Of Guilt: Don’t F*** With Cats
Hernandez was convicted for the murder of Odin Lloyd, and while many suspect he was involved in the double homicide of Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado, he was acquitted of those charges and they were never proven in court.
On the flip side, there was far more resolution in terms of guilt with Magnotta. It was clearly him in the videos and he admitted to performing the acts, including murdering Jun Lin. But evidence of his premeditation suggested that Magnotta was not just in a psychotic state during the murder as his lawyer tried to claim but had made moves to plan it ahead of time.
Looks More Into The Family: Killer Inside
While Magnotta’s family life was touched upon in the docuseries, including interviews with his mother, the focus was more on his acts as an adult and not necessarily his upbringing. If they included more details about his childhood, it might have offered a new perspective on how and why Magnotta came to be how he was.
Killer Inside, on the other hand, delved really deep into Hernandez’s childhood, talking with several childhood friends, his brother, and discussing his relationship with his father. It painted a much more detailed picture of his youth.
Totally Addictive: Don’t F*** With Cats
While you can probably watch an episode of Killer Inside one night and wait until the next to continue, watching Don’t F*** With Cats is totally addictive. Every episode ends on a cliffhanger that makes you want to – no, absolutely have to - keep watching.
It’s real edge-of-your-seat stuff that’s all the more compelling (and disturbing) since it’s a true story. Killer Inside is interesting all the way through as well, but there’s nothing gripping you to want to know right away what happens next.
Shocking Details Revealed: Killer Inside
Both stories were pretty heavily covered in the media, and both docuseries revealed some pretty chilling and shocking facts. The focus on the Internet sleuths who discovered Magnotta’s identity before the police did, and before he even murdered Lin, was interesting in and of itself. But the bare-bones facts about the case were already known.
While people followed the Hernandez case very closely, tons of new revelations came out in the docuseries, including more commentary on his alleged sexuality and stories about his time as a child. Meanwhile, a lot of details were left out about Magnotta’s childhood.
Integrates Modern Technology: Don’t F*** With Cats
In terms of modern technology, Don’t F*** With Cats takes the cake since the story is told from the perspective of two Internet-savvy folks who start a Facebook page to track down this animal killer who they believe might move on to humans. They use every tech tool at their disposal to play detective, and it’s fascinating to see how they connect the dots.
The extent of technology in Killer Inside involves security camera footage that caught many acts that raised questions, such as Hernandez’s fiancé taking a large box out to the trash, Hernandez at a gas station just prior to a murder, and Hernandez’s alleged accomplices playing and laughing with his baby daughter the day after the murder occurred.
