Is 'Death Saved My Life' based on a true story? Find out the source of the thriller film

Lifetime Network has produced some amazing horror television shows and films. Ripped from the Headline is one of the most popular crime shows on Lifetime that dramatizes real-life crime scenes. Death Saved My Life is Lifetime’s brand new venture and it stars actor Meagan Good, who is best known for her performance in The Intruder. Good plays Jade, a woman to literally fakes her own death to escape from her abusive husband. Read on to find out is death saved my life a true story.

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Is Death Saved My Life based on a true story?

According to Lifetime's official synopsis, Death Saved My Life is inspired by the story of "a woman who faked her death in order to trap her husband after he hires a hitman to kill her." Jade is a successful marketer, and she and her husband Ed (Chiké Okonkwo) are admired and respected in their community.

But behind closed doors, Ed is controlling and abusive. When she attempts to leave, he warns her, “If I can’t have you, nobody will.” When she discovers he's hired a hitman to kill her, Jade realizes the only way to escape is to convince Ed that the hitman succeeded. So far the streaming channel has not revealed if Death Saved My life is based on a real story or not. While the streaming giant is yet to confirm the exact source of the story, a report in Bustle claims that it is most likely based on the case of  Noela Rukundo, who faked her own death in 2015 after her "violent" husband Balenga Kalala attempted to have her killed.

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Death Saved my Life real-life story

The news story was broken by BBC and revealed details about the couple’s abusive marriage. According to the report in BBC, Rukundo and Kalala were both living in Melbourne, Australia at the time of the incidence. Rukundo had to travel to Bujumbura, Burundi, on Feb. 19, 2015 for her stepmother's funeral. She was dozing at her lodging in Bujumbura when Kalala suddenly called and encouraged her to go outside for "fresh air." Rukundo took his advice, but was kidnapped by a gunman and taken away in a car. They called the man who paid to have her abducted, and Rukundo heard her husband's voice say, "Kill her". The incident sent shockwaves across the world. Despite being given the order to kill Rukundo, the hitmen later refused to do so saying, "we don't kill women and children." They gave Rukundo 80 hours to leave the country, and even-handed over the evidence to incriminate Kalala.

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Source: Still from Death Saved my Life (Trailer)