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When Michelle Hadley was arrested in June 2016, the list of crimes the 29-year-old graduate student was accused of shocked California.

It was alleged that Hadley had sought revenge on her former partner, deputy U.S. Marshal Ian Diaz, and his new wife, Angela, by carrying out a vicious campaign of intimidation. A series of anonymous threats had been sent to the couple, and it emerged that someone had been posting on the classified ad website Craigslist to solicit men to carry out a “rape fantasy” and directing them to Ian and Angela’s home.

Hadley served almost three months in prison over the accusations until the entire case unravelled in 2017.

The truth about what really happened was somehow even more shocking than the original allegations. The revelations, which are now being explored in the new Netflix true crime documentary A Toxic Love Story, caused a scandal that rippled through their well-to-do suburb of Anaheim.

When the real culprits finally faced justice, Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas confirmed that Hadley had in fact been merely an innocent victim of a “diabolical scheme.”

Michelle Hadley was arrested in 2016 before it became clear she was the innocent victim of a 'diabolical scheme' (Netflix)

Hadley first met Ian Diaz online in 2013, and they began a relationship that quickly became serious. The couple bought a condo together in a suburb of Anaheim. The Californian city, about 25 miles south-east of Los Angeles, is best known for being the home of Disneyland. The condo was a serious financial investment for both of them, requiring a $500,000 mortgage and a $15,000 down payment that Hadley paid.

Diaz and Hadley eventually split in August 2015. Just months after their break-up, in February 2016, Diaz married his new partner Angela after meeting her on a dating website. By May, the couple were receiving threatening emails from an anonymous account named “Lilithistruth.”

In reality, it was Diaz and his wife themselves who were behind the messages. The reason they dreamed up the twisted plot? To force Hadley to drop her claim to her half of the condo.

After creating multiple online accounts in Hadley’s name, they posted and responded to “rape fantasy” ads on Craigslist, leading several men to turn up at their home. They staged what an eventual indictment called “hoax sexual assaults” before contacting the police.

On June 13, 2016, police turned up at Diaz’s home and were firmly pointed in the direction of Hadley. According to the indictment, Diaz told officers that his ex-girlfriend “needs to be in f***ing cuffs and in a padded room.”

He added: “At what point does this girl get arrested for sending this s*** and hiring guys off Craigslist to rape [Angela].”

Ian and Angela Diaz appeared to being stalked and harassed - but were in fact the perpetrators (Netflix)

On June 24, Angela Diaz again called 911. She said a man had tried to rape her in the garage of her home, and police found her with her shirt torn and redness on her neck and breasts.

That same day, Hadley was arrested and charged with felony counts of attempted forcible rape and stalking. She faced up to life in prison if convicted, and ultimately spent 88 days behind bars before the truth came out.

Digital forensic investigators were able to establish that the “Lilithistruth” accounts had in fact not been created by Hadley, but by Angela Diaz. Device logs and IP addresses all contradicted the story that the Diazs had been telling. Hadley had never stalked anyone.

Ian and Angela Diaz in footage from the Netflix documentary 'A Toxic Love Story' (Netflix)

The charges against Hadley were dropped in January 2017, and Angela Diaz was arrested. That October, she plead guilty to 10 felony counts and was sentenced to five years in prison. She also divorced Ian Diaz.

It took much longer for Diaz himself to face justice. In 2018, Hadley sued the city of Anaheim and four of its police officers over their conduct in the case, alleging that she had been charged for horrendous crimes based on emails that were “clearly doctored.”

Her lawsuit stated: “At its heart, this is a case about the ‘blue wall of silence’ — law enforcement officers and officials enabling fellow officers to violate civilians’ rights. The Anaheim Police Department and its officers abdicated their duties to adhere to investigative norms, instead conspiring to do the bidding of a corrupt federal marshal… They appear to have willingly become Ian Diaz’s weapon in his tortious campaign to ruin the life of his ex-girlfriend, plaintiff Michelle Hadley.”

In April 2021, Hadley accepted an undisclosed settlement from the city of Anaheim.

Michelle Hadley speaking to the media in 2017 after being cleared of all charges (Jeff Gritchen/AP)

A month later, four years after his crimes had initially been exposed, Ian Diaz was arrested on federal charges of cyberstalking, conspiracy to commit cyberstalking and perjury. He was ultimately found guilty on all counts, and sentenced to serve 10 years and one month in prison.

At the time of Diaz’s conviction, Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. said in a statement: “Ian Diaz abused his position as a deputy U.S. Marshal to execute an intricate cyberstalking scheme that framed an innocent person for sexual assault, leading to her unjust imprisonment for 88 days.

“As this prosecution demonstrates, the Criminal Division is committed to preserving the public’s confidence in law enforcement by holding accountable any official who violates their oath of office and victimizes the community they are sworn to serve.”

In a statement to NBC News, Hadley said she was “grateful” to the Justice Department for finally prosecuting Diaz, and added that the verdict “brought so much peace to my family and restored some of the faith we lost in the justice system as a result of Diaz’s crimes against me.”

In a twist of fate, the same day Diaz was convicted, Hadley gave birth to her first child, a baby girl.

“My life has been filled by strange, often symbolic, and sometimes beautiful coincidences like this,” said Hadley. “My daughter represents my rainbow after a very long storm, and my heart has never felt so full.”

A Toxic Love Story streams on Netflix from July 22