Season 2 of Worst Roommate Ever introduces a whole host of new messed up cases of roommates from hell, with one in particular causing “anger” among viewers.
Episode 2 of the new true crime documentary, titled ‘Housemate from Hell’, involves Anita Cowen, a woman in Palm Springs who was murdered by her tenant, Scott Pettigrew, in 2016.
But what’s frustrated viewers at home is the treatment of Darrell Hatfield, one of Anita’s first roommates. Despite having issues with other lodgers in the past, Darrell was respectful and kept himself to himself.
Cindy Stirt, Anita’s daughter-in-law, said she found him to be a “little different,” but he always paid the rent on time.
But when Scott emerged as a new tenant, Anita instantly took a shine to him, with Darrell describing him as “educated and clean-cut.” Cindy says, “She never socialized with Darrell, but with Scott she did.”
Scott started to carry out bizarre acts such as stealing items from the house and even defecating in the bathroom. When he blamed them on Darrell, Anita initially believed him and, together with Scott, they started locking Darrell out of his own home.
Around three weeks into this, Scott and Anita made false claims to the police, leading to Darrell being wrongly imprisoned for 100 days on charges of senior abuse and damage of property.
But when Darrell was gone, Scott’s behavior continued, and he grew increasingly aggressive towards Anita. She eventually admitted to the police that she had lied and Darrell was freed.
When he came to retrieve his belongings, Darrell discovered his beloved pet cats had been killed. Scott told him Anita had them euthanized, although Cindy says, “I believe that Scott did kill his cats.”
The Worst Roommate Ever Season 2 episode has left viewers at home feeling frustrated, with one taking to Reddit to share their thoughts.
“I felt really angry at her watching the episode. In no way am I saying that she deserved what happened to her, and I truly do feel bad for the horrific passing she experienced,” they wrote.
They went on to explain that they didn’t like the way Darrell was treated, adding: “Firstly, her just believing Scott’s lies was so irritating, especially when she’s believing him over a roommate she’s had for longer (Darrell).
“And even when all the issues started after Scott’s arrival she still believed him over Darrell. This next part is just my speculation, but I’m pretty sure she did not like Darrel cause he wasn’t as attractive and charming as Scott…
“And the worst part imo is what happened to Darrell’s cats. I’m 100% sure that Scott is who ended the cats. But I feel like Anita would’ve noticed that the cats have disappeared, especially if she’s had cats previously (like her friends said).”
They finished the post by saying, “RIP to Anita, at the end of the day, she did not deserve what happened to her. And I hope her children will be able to find peace.”
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Another agreed, writing, “She of course didn’t deserve what happened to her, but my god… that guy was incarcerated for 100 days for something he didn’t do, and lost his cats. Yeah, she went to the prosecutor and admitted she was lying, but it was too little, too late.”
In a separate post, one Redditor said, “I felt terrible for Darrell as he was completely terrorized by Scott while living in Anita’s home, was unjustly imprisoned for 100 days due to Anita and Scott fabricating a story against him, and then had his cats killed presumably by Scott.
“While I’m sorry about what happened to Anita, everything she did leading up to allowing Scott to live there and after he became a roommate was reckless.
“Her refusal to run background checks on tenants… allowing Scott to rewrite the narrative on things that were happening with Darrell without ever questioning why there weren’t issues with Darrell before Scott moved in… all of it just made me shake my head! What an infuriating episode from start to finish.”
Another said, “I was also confused on why she never went the eviction route, especially for Darrell. Why agree to this cockamamie scheme to lie to the police and send a completely innocent person to prison? Why not evict him instead of trying to ruin his life?
“They really f**ked over someone that was already going through a rough patch. I don’t care if she later recanted – dude still lost his job, his freedom for a third of the year, his beloved cats, the place he was living, etc.”
One jumped in to look at the situation from an alternate perspective, stating that while they “would feel this way too,” they “think there’s something to be said about age/loneliness and perhaps maybe some dementia in an elderly person.”
“Scott seemed to be a master manipulator and sociopath who could truly win over anyone, much less an elderly person with (seemingly) not a strong family unit or friendships that could see the issues that she had and help her out with them,” the Redditor continued.
“I just feel (and I could absolutely be wrong), that she was wildly lonely, and was just searching for some sort of connection and fell hook line and sinker when she got it from Scott.
“I think the most frustration I truly felt was towards her family not seeing all these warning signs and stepping in until it was too late?
“I have family members that are Anita’s age and they aren’t savvy to how bad people can be and I’m always thankful they have friends and family to protect them from that.”
Worst Roommate Ever Seasons 1 & 2 are streaming on Netflix now. For more true crime, find out who Smegma is in relation to the Sherri Papini case, what Tell Them You Love Me is all about, and whether Ashley Madison’s Sam and Nia Rader are still together.
You can also check out all of the new TV shows heading to streaming this month.
