Lifetime The Neighbor in the Window is based on a novel by Kathie Truitt. It tells the fictionalized story of her life after a move to Washington, D.C.
Lifetime’s The Neighbor in the Window is the most recent of the network’s “ripped from the headlines” run of movies. It follows Karen Morgan, played by Jamie-Lynn Sigler, after she and her husband move to Seattle and meet their creepy neighbor Lisa Beasley, who is played by Jenn Lyon.
The film is based on a book that is based on a true story. The book, False Victim by Kathie Truitt, was based on the author’s experience after moving to Washington, D.C.
“What we all love about Lifetime movies is this heightened reality and drama we get to play with,” Sigler told the New York Post. “The fact that this is all real – that [Karen] did go to trial and was accused of attempted murder – is what intrigued me the most. And when Jenn Lyon signed on … I’m such a big fan of hers, and I’ve never done anything like this.”
Warning: Since the movie is based on true events, spoilers for The Neighbor in the Window follow.
Here’s what you should know about the true story behind the movie:
Truitt Says Her Neighbor Copied her Appearance
While her book tells the entire story of Truitt’s creepy neighbor under different names and locations, she said that it was based almost completely on her own life.
After moving to Washington DC, it didn’t take long for Truitt and her husband to meet their soon-to-be stalker.
“After being the victim of a crazy neighbor lady that stalked them for 4 years, they were forced to move to another county for their safety,” her author website reads.
Truitt told Oxygen.com that, like the victim in both the film and the book, she had to deal with a neighbor that made up weird lies and copied her appearance. Later, she falsely accused Truitt of neglecting her son.
Even further down the road, she reported that Truitt tried to kill her, leading Truitt to be charged with attempted murder. She was later acquitted, but she genuinely thought she was going to end up in prison at that point in her life. She was more worried about protecting her son, though. She feared that he would be taken away.
She Said the Dramatization is Less Dramatic than Real Life
In the same interview with Oxygen.com, Truitt said that while the film and book may seem highly dramatized, it actually felt more dramatic and time-consuming in real life. When writing the book, she focused purely on the most dramatic of events that happened. In reality, she said weird events happened every day.
The incidents included the neighbor calling the police almost every day to report that Truitt attacked her.
“Other people thought I was jealous of her because she was pretty until they saw what was happening and then that changed,” she said. She also said she wasn’t the first victim of “Lisa,” whose real name has not been revealed.
As far as Truitt can tell, the real person behind the creepy neighbor has not been charged with any crime related to her case including perjury.
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