Disclaimer: This article contains mentions of murder. Reader discretion is advised.
Netflix’s Lover, Stalker, Killer chronicles the deadly love triangle between Liz Golyar, Cari Farver, and Dave Kroupa. The documentary premiered on the streaming platform on February 9, 2024, and delves into the bizarre case that ended with Golyar’s conviction for Farver’s murder.
The ordeal began in November 2012 when Kroupa began dating both Golyar and Farver casually. According to People Magazine, two weeks into her relationship, Farver disappeared. Shortly after, Kroupa and Golyar started receiving disturbing messages and emails from Farver. These suggested that Farver was threatening, stalking, and harassing the duo. The situation escalated when Golyar’s house burned down in a fire.
Meanwhile, detectives continued to investigate Farver’s disappearance. They eventually learned through digital evidence that Golyar had been impersonating Farver for years, sending messages and stalking Kroupa and his family. She even burned down her own house, reported Business Insider. Investigators, who believed Golyar stabbed Farver in November 2012, arrested her for murder after discovering blood evidence as well as fingerprints.
Radio Times reported that in 2017, Liz Golyar was convicted of Cari Farver’s murder and arson charges. She received life in prison with an additional consecutive term. Golyar is currently serving her prison sentence in the Nebraska Correctional Center for Women, per the Department of Corrections.
What did Liz Golyar do & how was she caught?
An investigation proved that Liz Golyar murdered Cari Farver in November 2012 while Farver was two weeks into dating Dave Kroupa. At the time, Golyar and Kroupa were in an on-again-off-again relationship. Both women had agreed to be non-exclusive, reported Business Insider. Their love triangle took a sinister turn when Golyar learned about Kroupa’s relationship with Farver after a chance encounter on November 13. That was the last day she was seen alive.
People Magazine reported that Farver’s mother, Nancy Raney, soon reported her missing. Around that same time, Kroupa started receiving hundreds of threatening text messages and emails from Farver. She would allegedly stalk, harass, and break into the houses of Kroupa and Golyar, who continued to date. The situation escalated when, in August 2013, Golyar’s house burned down with her pets and belongings still inside. Detectives suspected Farver’s involvement in the incident, but she was still missing.
Dave Kroupa said in the Lover, Stalker Killer, “I felt like Liz was being harassed because I dated this woman who’s now making her life hell too. I felt like she was the real victim in all of things and I wanted to try to protect her. We felt safe together and our relationship rekindled.” Incidents like these continued for three more years as detectives kept searching for Farver, believing she was behind all of it.
A subsequent investigation revealed that Liz Golyar had been impersonating Cari Farver, sending threatening messages, and harassing Dave Kroupa and his family. Moreover, she was responsible for burning down her own house.
People Magazine reported that detectives made the discovery using the messages and emails Farver allegedly sent. Investigators tracked down the stalker to Todd Butterbaugh’s home in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Butterbaugh told them that his on-again-off-again girlfriend, Golyar, had been living with him since her house burned down.
Elsewhere, investigators started looking into Farver’s disappearance as a possible murder case. They discovered that her bank records only showed two transactions one day before her disappearance in November 2012.
Investigators later matched Golyar’s fingerprints to a print discovered inside Farver’s vehicle. They also found blood under the fabric cover of the passenger seat. Lastly, deleted photos from Golyar’s SD card had a picture of the foot of a dead body, per Business Insider. They confirmed the body to be Cari Farver’s using a tattoo on the foot.
Authorities arrested Liz Golyar in connection with Cari Farver’s murder in December 2016 despite not having found the victim’s body. She stood trial the following year. According to KETV, in August 2017, Douglas County Judge Timothy Burns found her guilty of first-degree murder and second-degree arson. She received a life sentence for murder and an additional consecutive sentence of 18 to 20 years on the arson count.
Netflix’s true crime documentary Lover, Stalker, Killer is now streaming on the platform.
