Credit: Netflix

Netflix has plenty of original true-crime content lined up this November, but for starters, it just added Lifetime’s Kidnapped in Her Own Home: The Martha Carelli Story to its platform.

The 2026 Lifetime thriller is based on a real-life 1978 kidnapping case where a dangerous, escaped convict abducted a young Washington woman.

On April 18th, 1978, Marth Carelli went about her day like any other normal day, running errands and returning home by noon after seeing off her husband to work and school. But her routine every day was upended when a prison escapee held her and her family at gunpoint by evening, which is the true-crime story at the centre of the Lifetime thriller, Kidnapped in Her Own Home: The Martha Carelli Story.

Just two days ago, two inmates reportedly broke out of the Franklin County Jail in Pasco, Washington. The prison break was all over the news, and police sent alert notifications to residents across the Tri-Cities of Kennewick, Pasco, and Richland.

One of the escapees was 24-year-old Michael Anderson, who served time for armed robbery and attempted murder, a rap sheet that deemed his escape a high-level threat. While police launched an extensive search, releasing mug shots and tracing potential leads, hours passed without sightings, and residents thought the men had possibly fled the area.

It turned out they weren’t exactly right, since Anderson briefly stayed with his acquaintance and arranged a gun before hiding out in Carelli’s home. Anderson went undetected in her home for 36 hours. He concealed himself in the garage before eventually making his way to the basement through an unlocked black door.

But when Carelli went downstairs to do laundry, they ultimately faced each other. Driven by fear, Carelli screamed, prompting Anderson to warn her, “Shut up! You know I just got out of jail.” According to Ann Rule’s story, who documented the case later on, Carelli’s attempt to flee was met with excessive force until she submitted, which left her with severe wounds to the head.

As the screams and noise alerted her children and neighbour, Anderson also captured them at gunpoint the minute they entered the house. Her husband, John Carelli, had no different fate, as he, too, was taken hostage upon arrival. To scare them further and ensure absolute submission, Anderson bluffed, lying that one of his fellow escapees was in the house to “take care” of the family if Carelli didn’t follow his instructions.

The horror intensified as Anderson forced Carelli to cook for him and his colleague before deciding to leave the house with Martha still held captive and forcing her to drive throughout the Tri-Cities area for hours to ensure his location wasn’t easily detected. Meanwhile, John managed to escape and contact law enforcement with the help of a neighbour and the subsequent investigation confirmed there was no accomplice.

While Carelli remained in captivity, Anderson looted several thousand dollars in cash from a Giant T department store in Kennewick and took its general manager, 28-year-old Edward “Doug” Parry, a former EMT, hostage, before leaving the place. When police tracked down the abandoned Carelli vehicle, they realised that the case had escalated into a multi-victim kidnapping. As the police search widened, Anderson forced Parry to drive throughout the city and in and around Seattle.

They stopped at a motel to rest, and Parry alerted the hostage situation to the hotel clerk without making Anderson suspect. Thankfully, the police acted quickly to evacuate the rooms before taking an armed Anderson into custody, and found both victims safe and sound.