Psychologist reveals Ian Diaz’s 'real motive' for revenge plot against ex
A psychologist who delved inside the mind of Ian Diaz has explained what she believes motivated his sinister vendetta against Michelle Hadley.
The disgraced former US deputy marshal managed to evade justice for nearly five years, but was eventually exposed as the mastermind behind the campaign of terror waged against his ex-girlfriend.
Now, chartered psychologist Dannielle Haig has told LADbible what she believes fuelled his twisted revenge plot - and explained how the 'sheer scale' of his scheme to frame Michelle offers some insight into his psyche.
Diaz is currently locked up at FMC Fort Worth in Texas and is scheduled to regain his freedom in January 2031, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
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He was sentenced to 10 years and one month in June 2023 after he was convicted of conspiracy to commit cyberstalking, cyberstalking, perjury and obstructing a federal proceeding.
Diaz's case has been thrust back into the spotlight following the recent release of the Netflix documentary, A Toxic Love Story, which explores how he went to extraordinary lengths to falsely incriminate his former partner Michelle.
Diaz and Michelle began a two-year relationship after meeting on a dating site back in 2013 - which she later revealed was marred by manipulation - and they even got engaged and moved into a condominium together.
But as the title of the Netflix production suggests, their love story was in fact 'toxic' behind closed doors and they eventually split in August 2015.
Diaz continued living in their shared condo in Anaheim, California despite his ex being the one who stumped up the money for the downpayment on what was their 'dream' place.
The former Disneyland worker then moved his new beau, Angela, into the pad weeks after they met in January 2016.
The seriousness of their relationship quickly snowballed, as they were married the following month and the newlyweds then announced they were expecting twins in May that year.
The couple then began making reports to the Anaheim Police Department, claiming that they were receiving a torrent of 'threatening messages' and raising concerns they were being stalked.
Diaz and insisted that Michelle must be the one behind it, however their allegations didn't prompt any action from authorities...until the ante was drastically upped.
The duo then alleged that Michelle had been responding to 'rape fantasy' ads shared on Craigslist while posing as Angela - and the innocent woman ended up being arrested.
Ultimately, Michelle endured what she later described as 'the most traumatic experience' of her life at the hands of this menacing pair and she spent 88 days behind bars accused of crimes she did not commit.
Diaz initially tried to pin the blame on his new wife, telling cops he must have been unknowingly 'sleeping with the enemy' all along - as it emerged her pregnancy was fake, while a host of other lies spun by her were exposed.
But his elaborate ruse was later rumbled by Department of Justice Special Agent Jason Higley, who took a closer look at the bizarre array of evidence pointing to Angela and realised that it all actually led back to Diaz.
In wake of his arrest, authorities said that Diaz had been behind the 'cyberstalking campaign to harass and intimidate [Michelle] by framing her for criminal conduct that she did not commit'.
What investigators thought of Diaz's deception
The 13-page federal indictment said, as per Law and Crime: "It was also a purpose of the conspiracy to interfere with [Hadley's] interest in the [condo]."
In A Toxic Love Story, special agent Higley expanded on this and suggested: "As much is the condo was part of this and he didn’t want to lose his home, to me, it boils down to Ian wanting to control someone. He wanted to control Michelle and she got away and that made him angry."
Now, Haig has shared her assessment of what was running through Diaz's mind while he was orchestrating the elaborate plot to take Michelle down.
The psychologist explained that what struck her most about the case depicted in A Toxic Love Story was the meticulous planning that it must have taken for Diaz to almost pull it off.
"Broadly, what strikes me most about this case is just how much the deception ran in both directions and over several years, rather than being one lie told under pressure," Haig told LADbible.
"That takes a fair amount of planning, patience and comfort with running a public self that looks nothing like what's actually going on underneath."
Haig said the most chilling part of Diaz's behaviour was documented in police bodycam footage, which showed him 'off to the side, feeding Angela lines while she's giving her statement about an alleged assault'.
"That's not a partner panicking, that's someone directing a performance in the middle of an active police investigation," she went on. "And that kind of composure in that moment unsettles me more than any outburst would."
Speaking to what his motive might have been, the psychologist reckons that Diaz was driven by a desire to keep the condo - and continue to exercise control over Michelle.
Haig explained: "The condo theory holds up since prosecutors argued exactly that in court, though I don't think it was purely about money. Keeping hold of the property gave him a nice practical goal, but the sheer scale of the plot, running for over a year with multiple staged incidents, suggests he also needed to punish her and keep control of how the story got told, rather than simply wanting to win the flat outright."
Although having the ability to compartmentalise a double life like Diaz did is a concept that would seem alien to most people, Haig says it is 'a lot less mysterious than it appears from outside'.
She continued: "It's a practised skill rather than a rare gift. People capable of sustained deception like this often feel very little internal conflict about it, simply because the everyday version of themselves and the deceptive one are never required to reconcile, and the story only has to hold up to whoever's in front of them at the time."
A Toxic Love Story is available to stream on Netflix now.
Toxic Love Story: A timeline of what happened
2013: Ian Diaz meets Michelle Hadley
Ian Diaz, a deputy US marshal, meets graduate student Michelle Hadley online and the pair quickly begin dating.
2015: The couple purchase an apartment together
In June 2015, they buy a condominium together in an Anaheim suburb in California. This wasn't cheap due to the location - Ian and Michelle obtained a mortgage worth just under $500,000 (£371,442), with Michelle paying out almost $15,000 (£11,000) as a down payment.
August 2015: Ian and Michelle's relationship ends
Just two months after buying their apartment, the couple call it quits. Their apartment very quickly becomes a source of financial frustration for the former couple, with text messages in September of that year showing them discussing the financial burden.
2016: Ian marries Angela Connell
Despite tying the knot in 2016, the early stages of their relationship are overshadowed by the financial problems Ian continued to share with Michelle over the apartment.
2016: Ian and Angela plot to frame Michelle for being a cyberstalker
In a shocking plan, the married couple open up multiple online accounts under Michelle’s name, using fake emails to create and respond to 'rape fantasy' ads on Craigslist.
They later lie to authorities by saying that Michelle had purposely invited men to their home, pretending to be Angela, so that they would sexually assault her.
A number of men respond to the ads and arrived at Ian and Angela's property, which Angela then used to fabricate her claims against Michelle.
2016: Michelle is arrested and imprisoned
After the Diaz family file several restraining orders against her, Michelle is eventually arrested by Anaheim authorities. Despite protesting her innocence, she spends 88 days in prison after being given a $1 million bail.
2016: Ian and Angela's lies begin to unravel
While Michelle was wrongly serving time behind bars, digital forensic investigators begin tracing the online accounts and posts, and what they found pointed not to Michelle, but to Angela.
The devices used to create and manage the accounts were also linked to Angela, with IP address records telling the same story.
2017: Michelle is released from prison and Angela is arrested
On the same day Michelle got her freedom back, Angela is arrested and later in the year, she pleads guilty to charges including forgery, false imprisonment and kidnapping.
She is sentenced to five years in prison.
2021-2023: Ian is arrested and charged
His involvement was investigated in more depth in 2021, and two years later, in 2023, Ian is found guilty of cyberstalking, perjury and obstruction of justice.
He is sentenced to 10 years and one month in prison, alongside three years of supervised release.
2023: Michelle speaks out following the sentencing
Michelle, who amazingly gave birth to her first child on the very day Ian was sentenced, says in a statement to NBC News: "I am so grateful to the [Justice Department Office of Inspector General] for the work they put into this case and to the jury for a conviction that has 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."
Topics: US News, True Crime, Netflix, Documentaries
Olivia Burke