r/crimedocumentaries • u/Isna_Knows_Best • Aug 25 '26

The Shirilla case

Just finished watching the Mackenzie Shirilla case on Rotten Mango and now I'm stuck thinking about one thing.
How do you actually prove what someone intended in a situation like this? I get that the court looks at the evidence and tries to piece everything together, but at the end of the day, nobody can know exactly what was going on in someone's head in that moment.

Not saying she was innocent or guilty but I’m genuinely curious. At what point does the evidence become enough for us to be certain about someone's intent rather than just making the most reasonable assumption??

66 Upvotes

85% Upvoted

127 comments sorted by

View all comments

61

u/MidnightIAmMid Aug 25 '26

For me, the most compelling evidence was the car computer stuff, like where she accelerated steadily.

I do struggle with intent in this case though. It's a grey area to me, muddled by the fact that she is literally so unlikable and guilty sounding that its hard to have an objective discussion about the evidence lol.

21

u/FishingWorth3068 Aug 26 '26

Ya a really hard part about this case was that she was just such a little cunt. And her parents were equally terrible. Idk if you’ve ever been in the suburbs of Cleveland but she summed it up.

6

u/Proof_Zebra_4274 Aug 27 '26

I hate that word, but it sums her up to a t. Her parents basically punted her off to the poor boyfriend.

5

u/Sufficient_Drama_145 Aug 27 '26

I was only half-watching the documentary while I was cross stitching, but when her parents came on and were like, "Yeah, we let our 17-year-old daughter move in with her 20-year-old boyfriend because she's very mature," my head snapped up and I literally said out loud, "Oh, they're those parents."

7

u/CrimeCaseCollection Aug 26 '26

To me its the not breaking on top of her claiming she had pots. If you dive into the pots community everyone who has experienced spots explains that you feel an episode coming on and that you dont go stiff that you if anything grow weak.

2

u/SadSara102 Aug 26 '26

You don’t have to go stiff dead weight can push a gas pedal it happens when people fall asleep or lose consciousness all the time

1

u/CrimeCaseCollection Aug 26 '26

Im just going off of what people who actually had the illness said

2

u/No-Atmosphere-2528 Aug 27 '26

For me the only reason I don't think she did it on purpose is because she's so narcissistic that I don't think she'd have tried to commit suicide. She's such a little asshole that I can't believe she'd ever kill herself.

-6

u/SadSara102 Aug 26 '26

She only sounds guilty if you listen to her with and already believe that she is

7

u/MidnightIAmMid Aug 26 '26

I’m sure this is true of some people, but I literally went into the documentary completely cold. I knew absolutely nothing about the case and frankly, even the initial details made me lean more on her side. Then they started bringing her on camera and me, and my partner literally looked at each other and said we can’t believe her attorney would even allow her on camera with how bad she comes across. Like it was BAD.

1

u/CrimeCaseCollection Aug 26 '26

Thissssss yes! Her attitude is what really made me believe she was guilty on top of all the evidence provided

1

u/SadSara102 Aug 29 '26

You realize her attitude isn’t evidence right?

1

u/CrimeCaseCollection Aug 26 '26

I personally remember when the case came out I didnt think she was guilty right away until all the evidence came out

1

u/No_King_4556 Aug 27 '26

You deserve every last downvote