Ukrainian dwarf Natalia Grace confronts her adoptive father Michael Barnett in new documentary after he accused her of being a ‘sociopath’ and lying about her age
Ukrainian dwarf Natalia Grace has come face to face with her father, who accused her of being a ‘sociopath’ for pretending to be a child, as cameras captured the tense exchange between the two.
Their meeting was captured in the latest ID documentary ‘Natalia Speaks’, which highlights the latest developments in the case.
Michael Barnett and his wife Kristine alleged that Natalia Grace had lied about being a six-year-old Ukrainian orphan with a rare genetic condition that had taken over the family. Instead, they say she was a murderous adult who wants to harm them and their children.
Natalia and Michael sat a few feet apart as Natalia Grace Barnett angrily refuted Michael’s claimsincluding her once towering over the couple as they slept while holding a knife.
“I’ve never been in your room with a knife,” an annoyed Natalia Grace tells Barnett as she puts her head in her hands.
“I know what I saw,” Michael replied.
Natalia Grace Barnett had an emotional confrontation with former adoptive father Michael Barnett in a new docuseries called “Natalia Speaks,” in which she refuted the wild accusations against her, including that she was not a six-year-old girl, as her adoptive family suspected, but a murderous woman. adult
Natalia refuted Barnett’s claim that she once stood over their bed while sleeping, holding a knife
The confrontation will be featured in a six-part docuseries titled Natalia Speaks, debuting January 1 at 9/8c on ID.
“This is my side of the story,” Natalia said of the series, adding, “Do I look like a monster to you?
She also promises to address some of the wild accusations that have been made against her, including that she tried to kill her adoptive family.
“In every lie there is a hidden truth, but you have to dig enough to see it,” she added. “They can’t get away with this.”
Natalia Gracie also says she has “lost her youth” after the Barnetts asked a judge to change her legal age to 22.
The new documentary will feature never-before-seen evidence and footage, as well as new theories and testimonies from a range of voices, including the retired FBI agents who initially investigated Natalia’s case, genetic experts who are helping determine Natalia’s true age , and the Tippecanoe County Deputy District Attorney. Jackie Starbuck who prosecuted Barnett at his trial in October 2022.
The Barnetts were taken into custody in 2019 on charges of child neglect after leaving Natalia in an Indiana apartment while they moved to Canada after changing ages.
Natalia Grace Barnett was placed in an apartment in Lafayette, Indiana, by her adoptive parents Michael and Kristina Barnett in 2011 after they suspected she was much older than she claimed.
The Barnetts left Natalia alone in an apartment, raising the concerns of neighbors
The Barnetts were accused of neglecting their child after dumping Natalia in the early 2010s and moving to Canada after petitioning the court to move her birth year back 14 years, which was granted. Kristine’s charges were dropped while Michael was acquitted last year
Michael was acquitted of the charges in October, while Kristine’s case was dismissed in March, just three weeks before her trial.
Cynthia Mans, Natalia’s new adoptive mother, claims Michael “grinned” at her when he was found not guilty.
“It was as if I saw my daughter being raped,” Mans says in the documentary. “No justice was served. If I could have caught Kristine in an alley and put on a black hoodie, I would have knocked her upside the head.”
The story of Natalia’s adoption has generated worldwide headlines in recent years amid the documentary and the arrests of her former adoptive parents.
The married couple adopted Natalia in April 2010, believing they would be bringing home a six-year-old child.
But their dream adoption soon turned into a nightmare when they realized she might not be who she claimed, and they suspected she was a threatening adult pretending to be a child.
Just a year later, they left Natalia in an apartment in Lafayette, Indiana, as they fled north, claiming she had tried to kill them.
“She tried to poison and kill my wife,” Michael alleged. “(And) one night I opened my eyes and Natalia is standing at the foot of the bed with a knife in her hand.”
The orphan claims her childhood was ‘stolen’ by the Barnetts after they legally changed her age
Kristine, who is accused in the bombshell documentary of abusing Natalia, told DailyMail.com in 2019 that her family was terrorized by the Ukrainians in the months after they adopted her.
She claimed Natalia threatened to stab the family in their sleep, pushed her towards an electric fence and poured bleach into her coffee.
“She made statements and drew pictures saying she wanted to kill family members, roll them up in a blanket and put them in the backyard,” she told DailyMailTV.
‘She was standing over people in the middle of the night. You couldn’t go to sleep. We had to hide all sharp objects.
“I saw her putting chemicals, bleach, Windex, something, in my coffee and I asked her, ‘What are you doing?’ She said, “I’m trying to poison you.”
“The media is portraying me as a child molester, but there is no child here,” Barnett said.
However, Natalia branded her former adoptive parents as ‘liars’ and claimed they had tried to make her out to be a ‘crazy’.
For their part, the Barnetts said they began to suspect their new daughter might be older than her years on one of the first nights they spent together.
Natalia, pictured days after being picked up by the Barnetts from her Florida adoption center in May 2010, quickly had her new parents suspicious because she was on her period and had an adult vocabulary for a six-year-old.
Natalia, pictured while homeschooled in December 2010, was the subject of a powerful documentary chronicling her adoption ordeal, called ‘The Curious Case of Natalia Grace’.
Questions remain about Natalia’s actual age after it was legally changed from eight to 22 in 2012
They described an incident in which Kristine let out a blood-curdling scream while bathing the girl they thought was only six, when she noticed she had “full pubic hair.”
In the months that followed, the couple claimed there was “a lot of escalation.” This included discovering that she had been hiding her period from them for months.
On another occasion, when Natalia met another six-year-old with a rare bone condition called spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia, the stark difference in age became seemingly indisputable.
Natalia, who did not speak with a Ukrainian accent, towered over her playmate, even though her bone structure and vocabulary were much more advanced.
The incidents led to them taking Natalia to a psychiatrist, who, according to the couple, diagnosed her as a “sociopath.”
The numerous warning signs prompted the family to seek a lawyer, and in 2012 a family petition in probate court was granted and a judge legally changed her date of birth from 2003 to 1989 on her Ukrainian birth certificate.
After the couple granted their petition, they decided to move her into the apartment in Lafayette – three provinces away from where they lived – while they moved to Canada.
Later in court, Natalia would testify that she mostly indulged in peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, Ramen noodles, and the occasional pizza. She said she had limited use of her hands and arms and had difficulty opening canned food.