In July, an Ontario woman was accused of responding to “rape fantasy” ads on Craigslist – pretending to be her ex-fiancé’s wife and directing strangers to show up at the other woman’s home.

The Ontario woman was arrested and jailed. But on Monday the tale took a bizarre twist.

The wife has been charged with kidnapping, false imprisonment and perjury for allegedly framing the Ontario woman in a complex scheme for reasons that remain unclear, according to authorities.

Michelle Suzanne Hadley, 30, was arrested in July on suspicion of stalking 31-year-old Angela Diaz and responding to “rape fantasy” ads on Craigslist pretending to be Diaz. Prosecutors at the time said Hadley also sent Diaz numerous emails threatening her life and the life of her unborn child.

But authorities now believe that Diaz was actually behind the Craigslist ads and emails in an effort to set up Hadley.

In a news conference Monday, Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas said Hadley, who spent more than three months in jail, is an “innocent victim of a diabolical scheme.”

All charges were dropped against Hadley, who had been released on her own recognizance in October.

“As important as the filing of charges against Ms. Diaz is the dismissal of the previous complaint and full exoneration of Michelle Hadley,” Rackauckas said. “I wanted to make sure … that Ms. Hadley is cleared in every possible way – in the courtroom, and in the court of public opinion.”

Prosecutors said Hadley dated her former fiancé, identified in court records as U.S. Marshals Service agent Ian Diaz, from 2013 to 2015, before he married Angela Diaz. The married couple lived in Anaheim.

Court records show Angela Diaz filed a restraining order against Hadley in June. Diaz then accused Hadley of violating the restraining order and stalking her.

In a story that made national news, Hadley was accused of posing as Diaz on Craigslist, seeking partners for sexual acts resembling rape. She was accused of sending the men photos of Diaz and telling the responders that she wanted them to have forcible sexual intercourse with her, “even if she screamed or resisted,” prosecutors said last year.

On Monday, prosecutors said it was Diaz who responded to the Craigslist ads. Authorities said she called 911 and falsely claimed a man had entered her garage and attempted to rape her before she was able to chase the man away. Authorities said she even made a red mark on her neck and ripped her shirt before making the call.

But, police said, males did show up, including a 17-year-old.

Rackauckas said authorities had good reason to arrest and charge Hadley for safety concerns, because of the continuing email threats and repeated responses on Craigslist. If convicted, Hadley could have faced life in prison.

Complicating the case, prosecutors said, was that Diaz allegedly sent the emails to herself from eight accounts using private networks and third-party servers to disguise her internet protocol address.

After Hadley’s arrest, investigators began serving search warrants to uncover the IP addresses linked to the emails, which can take several months, prosecutors said.

In September, they got a break – one IP address came back linking emails to Diaz’s Anaheim condominium, prosecutors said. Investigators began uncovering more emails allegedly sent from Diaz’s condo, a cellphone and her father’s home in Arizona.

The case against Diaz further unfolded, authorities said, after authorities investigated her for allegedly altering a paycheck from an employer.

Police then uncovered, they said, other alleged fraud activity including faking cervical cancer, faking a pregnancy, pretending to be an attorney, forging doctor’s notes and impersonating two of her husband’s ex-girlfriends over email.

She is awaiting extradition from Arizona, where she moved back to, and faces up to 23 years in custody if convicted.

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Hadley’s attorney, Michael Guisti, said his client had to drop out of the MBA program at Chapman University and has been afraid to leave her home because of intense media coverage.

Hadley, flanked by her parents, appeared briefly on Monday in Orange County Superior Court in Fullerton, where a judge dismissed all of the charges against her.

“Obviously, this has been a huge nightmare for me, probably the most traumatic experience of my life,” Hadley said outside of the courthouse. “I’m glad it’s finally over, and I can move on with my life.”

Her lawyer said that Anaheim police should have investigated the case more thoroughly before arresting her. Police spokesman Sgt. Daron Wyatt said he could not go into details because of anticipated litigation.

“D.A. Rackauckas said APD did everything right,” the sergeant said in a statement. “There was a public-safety concern with strong evidence indicating Hadley was committing the crimes alleged.”

Diaz and her husband have since separated and are going through a divorce, a prosecutor said.

Contact the writer: kpuente@ocregister.com