Netflix's 'The Motive’ Has a Horrifying Question: Where's the Boy Who Killed His Parents?

There are some truly horrifying true-crime stories circling the internet and various TV shows on streaming services everywhere. Heck, even VH1 is getting in on the action and I'm personally counting down the days until Flavor Flav is the host of his own true-crime program.

However, it's hard to argue that there is a content provider that creates more compelling original true-crime shows than Netflix, and The Motive, which is currently airing on the streaming giant, is leaving fans with a single terrifying question: Where is the boy now?

The documentary follows the events of a tragic 1986 winter night in Israel.

Married couple Nissim and Leah Cohen were found murdered in their beds, shot at point blank range. Their daughters Anat and Shira were also found dead in bed. Jerusalem PD detective Avi Samuel immediately ruled out terrorism or forcible entry/robbery as a potential impetus for the crime.

Then he discovered that a surviving family member — a 14-year-old boy — was next door, and after their initial discussion, the boy confessed to the shooting.

"The Boy" as he's referred to in the documentary (his real identity has been protected) provided a chilling/dubious reason as to why he killed his entire family: a green monster told him to do it.

The name of the boy was never publicly disclosed due to Israel's strong laws protecting minors. The four-part docuseries does show photos of the boy as both a teen and an adult, but his name is never once highlighted. (The Cinemaholic notes that reports say he went on to have a family and work in finance, but was fired after details of his past surfaced again with the documentary.)

The aim of the show is to delve into what exactly happened, which is a hot topic of debate depending on who you ask. The Israeli justice system does have some cases where the insanity plea was argued, and that, coupled with the horrific nature of the crime and that the young boy in question was a minor when the murders were committed, meant that he more than likely had a better chance of getting away with it, presuming that he killed them on purpose.

However, not many people were convinced that the boy actually met this big evil green monster who told him to murder his mom, dad, and sisters. And that includes his own defense attorney, Yossi Arnon (who appears to still be working today according to The Cinemaholic). The young boy's uncles enlisted the help of Yossi to defend the child, who shortly stated that he wanted his parents' inheritance and a mitigated prison sentence.

This is the central question at the heart of the docuseries and one that mysteriously lies on the shoulders of Yossi, who has a theory for why the boy murdered his family but won't reveal it. When asked by the documentary makers whether or not there were reports of incest and abuse going on in the family, Yossi paused, looked ahead solemnly, and said, "no comment."

You can stream The Motive on Netflix right now by going here. What do you think happened with the Cohen family?