How to watch the Butcher Baker documentary – is it streaming?

You may have spotted deep dives on Robert Hansen over on TikTok, but if you want to go even further into the depths of this depraved serial killer, we’ve got the Butcher Baker documentary streaming details for you. 

There’s plenty of new true crime to sink your teeth into over Halloween, whether that be the catfishing scandals outlined in Netflix’s Sweet Bobby and Hulu’s Fanatical, or you’re looking forward to Anna Kendrick’s highly-rated, thought-provoking movie Woman of the Hour. 

But thanks to TikTok, we often see old cases rehashed for new audiences. The Alison Botha documentary, for instance, went viral years after it first released, and the same can be said for the “the man with many wives”.

Now, it’s the turn of the insidious serial killer nicknamed the “Butcher Baker.” If you want to learn more, the 2020 title The Butcher Baker: Mind of a Monster can be watched right now. Warning: some may find this content distressing.

How to watch the Butcher Baker documentary

The Butcher Baker: Mind of a Monster is available to stream on Investigation Discovery and Max, or you can watch it for free on Tubi. 

Alternatively, if you don’t want to commit to another streaming service and you don’t like free things, the true crime documentary can be purchased digitally via various on-demand platforms including Amazon Prime Video. 

What’s The Butcher Baker doc about?

The Butcher Baker: Mind of a Monster is a feature-length documentary that delves into the chilling case of Robert Hansen, one of Alaska’s most notorious serial killers. 

Known as the Butcher Baker due to his job working as a baker, Hansen abducted, raped, tortured, and hunted women in the Alaskan wilderness during the 1970s and 1980s. 

The documentary uses first-hand interviews with the killer, as well as archival footage and expert analysis, to uncover the twisted psychology behind his violent spree, and how he evaded capture for over a decade. 

As per ID’s description, “Tapes of his confession have been lost for 35 years, but now, together with the testimony of his friends, victims, and the officers involved, The Butcher Baker: Mind of a Monster finally pieces together the truth about Robert Hansen. 

“He was a man who seemed to have it all. As a mild-mannered family man, he ran a successful bakery and held world-record hunting trophies that brought him respect among his peers. But behind this carefully cultivated exterior lurked a cold-blooded serial killer.”

The Butcher Baker: Mind of a Monster initially released in 2020 as part of ID’s Serial Killer Week, with the then-group president, Henry Schleiff, stating, “The fascination behind serial killers continues to be unmatched, with our viewers consistently asking for more.

“We chose these cases not just because of these macabre monsters, or that each investigation is a self-contained mystery, but because each story will leave our viewers gripped to the screen until the final scene, when justice is ultimately served.”

Robert Hansen’s crimes explained

Although he was an unassuming man who operated a bakery in Anchorage, Alaska, beneath this innocuous exterior Robert Hansen was a ruthless killer who murdered at least 17 women between 1972 and 1983.

One of the most chilling aspects of the case was that, after abducting his victims, the Butcher Baker would release them into the wilderness and hunt them down with a rifle and hunting knives. 

ID

His actions were eerily similar to a predator stalking its prey, making his crimes not only sadistic but disturbingly calculated. Many of his victims were teenagers and sex workers, and all were women. 

Hansen’s reign of terror was finally brought to an end in 1983, when teenager Cindy Paulson was able to escape and lead the police to him. When they searched his home, they found trophies from his victims and weapons. 

At the time, he was suspected of murdering four women, whose bodies had been discovered in Alaska between 1980 and 1983. In February 1984, Hansen agreed to plead guilty to the four murders and several other felony crimes, and was sentenced to 461 years in prison plus life without parole. 

As reported by the Alaska Department of Public Safety, he eventually admitted to murdering a total of 17 women, and he accompanied detectives on a helicopter flight to identify the grave sites.  

The killer died in 2014 at the age of 75, while serving his sentence at Alaska’s Anchorage Correctional Complex. His crimes remain among the most infamous in US history, with the brutality of his acts causing shock once more as they circulate on TikTok.

Nicolas Cage movie based on the Butcher Baker

The Frozen Ground, a 2013 thriller movie starring Nicolas Cage, is based on Hansen’s crimes. It’s currently available to stream on Paramount Plus.

In the film, Cage portrays Jack Halcombe, a character inspired by sergeant Glenn Flothe, the Alaska State Trooper who brought in Hansen.

Meanwhile, John Cusack plays Hansen, Vanessa Hudgens takes on the role of victim Cindy Paulson, and 50 Cent portrays a pimp named Clate Johnson.

For more true crime news, read about ID’s upcoming Chris Brown doc, the details left out of the Menendez documentary, and whether Vicky White was manipulated.