Ukrainian orphan Natalia Grace denies plot to homicide American adoptive dad and mom, pretending to be baby
Natalia Grace, a Ukrainian orphan with dwarfism whose adopted dad and mom declare she pretended to be a toddler and terrorized their household, advised a really completely different story in a sequence of interviews that aired this week.
“The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: Natalia Speaks,” which aired on Investigation Discovery, answered some lingering questions in regards to the weird case and shocked producers with extra uncertainties that will immediate a follow-up sequence.
“‘Natalia Speaks’ is a kind of tasks the place the additional we dug in, the extra twists and turns we uncovered,” Investigation Discovery President Jason Sarlanis advised The Hollywood Reporter, detailing last-minute developments in manufacturing.
“Our viewers are so invested in Natalia’s case we felt our sequence wanted to replicate the continuously shifting fact of her state of affairs. One factor has all the time confirmed to be true with Natalia’s story — nothing is ever what it appears.”
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The six-episode sequence is a follow-up to its counterpart, launched in Could, which centered on the claims of adoptive dad and mom Kristine and Michael Barnett.
On account of flooding on the Ukrainian hospital the place she was born, she has no delivery certificates to legally determine her age. Including to the confusion, FBI Particular Agent Kenneth J. Maxwell advised producers, the decide who dealt with the lady’s adoption proceedings was later terminated for corruption.
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Anna Gava, Natalia’s delivery mom, stated in interviews that she gave her daughter up for adoption attributable to her incapacity.
The Indiana couple adopted Natalia in April 2010, believing she was a 6-year-old.
However after six months of alleged unusual conduct, the dad and mom declare they started to suspect their daughter was an grownup lady scamming their household. Natalia has a type of dwarfism known as spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia congenita, giving her a small body that left her true age a thriller with out medical testing.
In accordance with the sooner docuseries, Natalia hoarded knives, positioned thumbtacks going through upward so the household would step on them unwittingly and, at one level, tried to poison her adoptive mom with Pine-Sol.
However in her most up-to-date interview, Natalia tried to clear her identify.
“In each lie is a hidden fact, however you’ve gotta dig sufficient to have the ability to see it,” Natalia stated. “They’re not going to get away with this. That is my facet of the story. Do I appear to be a monster to you?”
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The Barnetts efficiently petitioned a court docket in Marion County to vary Natalia’s delivery 12 months from 2003 to 1989, making her legally 22.
They moved her into an house in Lafayette, Indiana, in response to the documentary, and moved with their three organic sons to Canada. There, neighbors seen that the brand new renter struggled with on a regular basis family duties and infrequently went hungry.
Though she was legally an grownup, the Barnetts had been charged in 2019 with neglect of a dependent attributable to her incapacity.
The adoptive father was discovered not responsible by a jury in 2022, whereas the mom’s fees had been dismissed this 12 months. Each dad and mom defended themselves towards accusations towards them within the documentary, claiming Natalia was an grownup able to caring for herself.
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By means of a blood pattern by way of TruDiagnostic, a medical lab specializing in organic getting old, producers of the sequence decided Natalia is 22 years outdated, disputing her authorized age of 34.
In a potential rationalization of the Barnetts’ motivation to vary Natalia’s age, documentarians assert the couple needed to use the lady for cash. Their son Jacob impressed “The Spark,” Kristine Barnett’s guide about elevating her son with autism and his educational achievements, which earned a $600,000 advance and had a pending film deal, in response to the documentary.
However when the lady was examined and located to be of common intelligence, authorized knowledgeable Beth Karas hypothesized within the sequence that the couple plotted to have her faraway from their dwelling.
First, Karas posited, the Barnetts had the lady’s age modified legally. As a result of her genetic dysfunction rendered her a dependent for whom they might be legally accountable no matter age, they fabricated particulars of her alleged sociopathic conduct to position her in a jail or psychiatric facility.
Natalia was dedicated to Larue Carter, an Indiana psychological hospital, in June 2012, however the facility shortly decided she wasn’t mentally unstable.
She was subsequently despatched to a midway home, the place she known as her adoptive dad and mom and advised them she was afraid to dwell with drug addicts.
Michael Barnett advised producers they took the lady again to keep away from damaging appearances if the lady was harmed.
However Natalia, who confronted her adoptive father within the final episode of the brand new sequence, claims she was abused by the couple. She was pepper-sprayed thrice, she stated, and Kristine as soon as gave her thrice her prescribed dose of coronary heart remedy in an try to kill her.
Natalia additionally described how her adoptive mom pressured her to insert a tampon at 7 years outdated. This prompted her to bleed, she claims, which Kristine later used as false proof she was menstruating.
However new particulars from Natalia’s newest adoptive dad and mom, Bishop Antwon Mans and his spouse Cynthia, raised extra questions.
The Mans household has publicly defended Natalia on tv reveals like “Dr. Phil” and even stood by her when she confronted her former adoptive father for the documentary.
However two weeks earlier than the sequence was slated to air and 6 months after they formally adopted her, the couple made a frantic name to producers.
“One thing ain’t proper with Natalia,” Bishop Mans stated in an audio clip aired within the final 90 seconds of the sequence. “This lady is tweakin’. I really feel like she’s the enemy of the home. And she or he stated to us we now have held her hostage. … We’re accomplished, we’re accomplished along with her.”
“Natalia is stabbing her household within the again over an entire lie,” Cynthia might be heard saying, backing up her husband’s claims.
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“Our sequence was already completed and locked, however we immediately mobilized with our producers to make sure that this surprising improvement was included in our finale,” Sarlanis advised The Hollywood Reporter of the twist. “We genuinely thought Natalia had discovered a contented ending along with her new household, so you may think about we had been all totally shocked when that decision got here from the Mans.”
Now that it has aired dwell, “The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: Natalia Speaks” is on the market for streaming by way of HBO Max and Discovery +.