The latest documentary from Netflix, Lover, Stalker, Killer, tells the true crime story of Cari Farver and Dave Kroupa but leaves out important details from the case. The case mainly involves three individuals: Dave Kroupa, Shanna “Liz” Golyar, and the woman whom Kroupa dated and is now harassing the two with threatening messages, Cari Farver. With a runtime of 90 minutes, the documentary is bound to make cuts when detailing the events of the case that spanned over a few years.
Lover, Stalker, Killer features Dave and other key individuals involved in the case, putting together a timeline of events for audiences. It’s revealed that Liz Golyar murdered Cari and is now using her identity to make threats against herself, Dave, and anyone who gets close to him. Before Netflix’s documentary, a book by Leslie Rule and an ABC 20/20 special, titled “A Tangled Web,” covered the case and provided additional information missing from Lover, Stalker, Killer.
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10 Statements From Liz
Liz still denies her involvement.
Lover, Stalker, Killer ends with Liz’s guilty verdict for the murder of Cari Farver. While the documentary hears from numerous individuals involved with the case, one voice is missing – Liz. Though it’s not always the case, some true crime documentaries will include interviews with the inmates in jail. However, Liz has shared her thoughts with another source, following her sentencing. Leslie Rule has received letters from Liz insisting she’s innocent. One letter says, “I will not stop fighting until I am set free and they find the right person” (via ABC News).
9 Liz Repeatedly Texting Dave
Liz was “blowing up” Dave’s phone.
Some details of the case are excluded to keep the twist of events a mystery and that includes some strange behavior from Liz before anything happened to Cari. On Dave and Cari’s first date, he receives an influx of messages and calls from Liz. She shows up at his apartment after Dave and Cari get there and asks to be let in and grab her things. Although Liz’s texting habits could have been the result of heartbreak and frustration, the messages she sent while impersonating Cari were of a similar pattern.
8 Clearing Todd’s Name
The investigation of Todd is unclear.
It was uncovered that while Liz was impersonating Cari, she sent a few messages from the home of her boyfriend, Todd Butterbaugh. Todd worked in Pottawattamie County’s IT department, so it’s not implausible to assume he could’ve helped Liz. Although Todd’s name was cleared after questioning, the documentary doesn’t do much to show this, leaving the possibility of his involvement wide open to audiences unaware of the other key details excluded from Lover, Stalker, Killer.
7 “Cari” Resigning From Work
Cari quit her job and has Shanna replace her.
The big twist in the case is that Cari was never the one sending threatening messages to Dave and Liz, but rather, Liz was impersonating Cari. After having seemingly packed up her belongings and left town, Cari’s close circle was reassured by “Cari” that she was alive but didn’t want to be found. A few of the messages sent are omitted from the documentary, including one sent to her boss.
A few days after Cari had been missing, her boss received a text stating that she was quitting her job and would “send Shanna Golyar to replace her“ (via Casetext). Whether it was carelessness or confidence she wouldn’t be caught, Liz used her full name while pretending to be Cari and ended up filling out an application for the position. It’s unclear when this information was shared with investigators, but looking back at the case and knowing what happened, it’s a red flag that should have been noticed immediately.
6 Liz Had Cari’s Belongings
A search of Liz’s apartment confirmed her involvement.
The documentary heavily focuses on Cari’s car, a piece of evidence that stood out from the emails sent to Liz from “Amy” (Dave’s ex-girlfriend whom Liz was posing as). However, both Liz’s apartment and a storage unit Cari’s mother had put her belongings in were also searched. As a result, a digital camera, a camcorder, and a black and white shower curtain were found in Liz’s possession. In the storage unit, instruction manuals for the devices and a receipt for the shower curtain were found, proving Liz had broken into Cari’s home after her murder.
5 Cryptic Messages From “Cari”
She didn’t reply to her son.
While pretending to be Cari, Liz sent an immense amount of texts and emails to many who knew Cari, but due to time constraints, they couldn’t all be included in Lover, Stalker, Killer. Two of the messages from “Cari” involved a photo sent to Dave and a Facebook message with her son, Max. Dave received a text from “Cari” with a photo of an unidentified woman in a trunk with a message threatening to murder Liz. She went as far as to send a fake obituary to Dave, with negative things said about Liz.
Additionally, Cari’s son, Max, reached out to his mom through Facebook, unsure of whether she’d respond. To his surprise, she did, but before communicating further, Max asked three security-like questions to prove it was his mother he was talking to. However, not knowing the answers, Liz never responded to Max again (via ABC News).
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4 Additional Evidence On Liz’s Phone
Photos and videos sent by “Cari” were on Liz’s phone.
As discussed in Lover, Stalker, Killer, a large piece of evidence connecting Liz to Cari’s murder was the vehicle in which she had been stabbed inside. On Liz’s phone was a photo of Cari’s license plate, unveiling that Liz had known of the car’s whereabouts before it had been discovered by investigators. Furthermore, the photo sent to Dave of the woman in the trunk was on Liz’s phone, as well as a video taken outside of Dave’s apartment. The video was supposedly uploaded to YouTube under Cari’s account, but the IP address was traced back to Liz’s home.
3 Liz Was Evicted
Nothing was keeping her from committing arson.
Along with threatening messages from “Cari,” she had also been framed as the person responsible for vandalizing Liz’s car and setting her home on fire. However, just as she was behind the messages, Liz had set her own home in flames. It can be confusing as to why Liz would take such a risk, but in truth, nothing was tying her to the home anymore. Liz had been evicted, and although her pets died inside the fire, her kids weren’t home and most of her belongings had already been taken out.
2 Messages Between Todd And “Cari”
Todd was aware of Cari but didn’t know much about Dave.
In 2013, Todd was getting messages from “Cari” as well, in which she claimed to be a friend of Liz’s, and when questioned by Todd, Liz confirmed this to be true. On top of Liz undergoing Cari’s identity, she was also living a double life with Todd because he barely knew anything about Dave and remained entirely unaware of the threatening messages Liz and Dave were getting. Until Liz tells the truth herself, it remains unclear what her intentions were in communicating with Todd as Cari.
1 A Scholarship Was Created In Cari’s Name
It supports students pursuing careers similar to Cari’s.
After the trial concluded, the Pottawattamie County Community Foundation set up a scholarship fund in Cari’s name. In line with Cari’s job as a program analyst, the scholarship supports students who are pursuing careers in information technology. The ending of Lover, Stalker, Killer briefly discusses Cari’s reputation in town during the years she had been heard from, but not seen.
Before Liz’s scheme was made public, many people thought Cari had gone down a dark path. Therefore, the fund was created not only to help students with similar goals to Cari’s but also to have her remembered positively. Anthony Kava, a digital forensics investigator on the case, said supporting the fund is “ensuring Cari Farver, an innocent victim, is never forgotten” (via Omaha World-Herald).
Sources: ABC News, Casetext, Omaha World-Herald
