In January 1981, Verna Johnson-Roehler and her young son, Doug, drowned while boating thirty miles off the coast of Malibu. Verna’s husband, Fred Roehler, was the sole survivor and only witness. 

Initially, the deaths were ruled accidental. But a phone call from a Malibu neighbor changed everything. Was Fred a monster, masquerading as the perfect Malibu dad? Or was an innocent man convicted by his gossiping neighbors?