The Octopus Murders: Everything to know about the INSLAW case conspiracy

A brand-new true-crime series called The Octopus Murders was released on Netflix on February 28. The four-part docuseries explores the complicated murder of journalist Danny Casolaro while he was investigating a conspiracy he termed "The Octopus", also known as "The INSLAW" case conspiracy.

INSLAW was a D.C.-based company that created software called PROMIS in the early 1980s, which was allegedly stolen by the U.S. government. That led to probes in Congress that included William Barr and Janet Reno, two well-known politicians at the time.

Directed by Zachary Treitz, The Octopus Murders explores Casolaro's investigation, which according to his notes, led him to Martinsburg and his death. The series serves as a warning against the kind of journalism that ventures into these numerous, extremely dark corners of the globe.

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What is The Octopus Murders all about?

The Octopus Murders examines the mystery behind the death of investigative journalist Danny Casolaro. His dead body was found in his Martinsburg, West Virginia, hotel room in 1991, with his wrists slit.

The 41-year-old was said to be doing research for a narrative that included Ronald Reagan's Iran-Contra crisis, malware, and money laundering. He had named the inquiry "the octopus" because he thought eight guys were involved in the plot in addition to the several arms linked to the unclear case.

Casolaro's family rejected the official suicide verdict as the cause of his death. They believed he was murdered because he was investigating "The Octopus," a secret organization linked to some of the largest political scandals of the twentieth century, as well as unsolved killings and software that was stolen for government espionage.

The Octopus Murders tracks Christian Hansen, a photojournalist in his mission to unravel all the enigmatic clues leading up to the journalist's death. The series investigates Casolaro's death in great detail as well as the ongoing conspiracy theory surrounding it.

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What was The INSLAW case conspiracy?

The INSLAW case conspiracy and The October Murders (Image via Netflix)

The INSLAW case was about the allegations made by a software company owner against the US government for stealing its work product, PROMIS, built in the early 1980s. Casolaro was initially assigned to resolve the disagreement between the Department of Justice and INSLAW.

It was alleged that the program was employed to sow discord in international relations. The program, which was allegedly marketed to both US allies and adversaries, was described as a straightforward management tool, but some people thought it included a "back door" that allowed the US to keep an eye on them.

Casolaro's investigation into the case led him to Michael Riconosciuto, who reportedly asserted that he was the one who installed the back door in the program and that he has since been an opponent of the actual puppet masters of global governance.

It was Riconoscuito's stories that intrigued Casolaro enough to delve deeper and continue with the theory surrounding the "October Surprise" that Ronald Reagan and his allies persuaded Iran to keep its hostages until after the 1980 election to prevent Jimmy Carter from winning.

PROMIS and the October Surprise were just the beginning. The conspiracy went way beyond that as Casolaro and Riconosciuto were convinced that a strong group of leaders—eight in total, the "Octopus" was essentially in charge of the world through several illegal acts.

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Watch the intriguing story of Danny Casolaro's mysterious death in The Octopus Murders on Netflix.