1
00:00:00,800 --> 00:00:04,440
Speaker 1: Hi, it's Andrea Gunning. Thanks for tuning into our first

2
00:00:04,440 --> 00:00:08,239
Speaker 1: three seasons of Betrayal. These stories have inspired so many

3
00:00:08,320 --> 00:00:11,560
Speaker 1: of you to share your own experiences with us. We

4
00:00:11,640 --> 00:00:13,400
Speaker 1: knew we had to find a way to bring more

5
00:00:13,440 --> 00:00:16,760
Speaker 1: of your stories to the podcast speed and now we are.

6
00:00:17,960 --> 00:00:22,920
Speaker 1: Every Thursday, we'll be releasing new extraordinary episodes. These are

7
00:00:23,000 --> 00:00:27,400
Speaker 1: first hand accounts of shocking deception, broken trust, and betrayal,

8
00:00:27,480 --> 00:00:32,560
Speaker 1: of destruction left behind, And these are stories you've never

9
00:00:32,680 --> 00:00:39,040
Speaker 1: heard before. I'm like, what, No, this isn't real. What's

10
00:00:39,080 --> 00:00:39,440
Speaker 1: going on?

11
00:00:39,560 --> 00:00:41,680
Speaker 2: Who are you really? I said, I can't believe what

12
00:00:41,760 --> 00:00:42,440
Speaker 2: I'm listening to.

13
00:00:43,200 --> 00:00:46,120
Speaker 3: I was like, where's the baby? What's happening?

14
00:00:47,320 --> 00:00:49,680
Speaker 4: From unbelievable romantic betrayals?

15
00:00:49,800 --> 00:00:54,600
Speaker 2: The love that was so real for me was always

16
00:00:54,680 --> 00:00:56,760
Speaker 2: just a game for him.

17
00:00:56,520 --> 00:00:59,360
Speaker 4: To betrayals in your own family. When I think about

18
00:00:59,360 --> 00:01:02,720
Speaker 4: my dad, Oh well, he is a sociopath. He is

19
00:01:02,760 --> 00:01:04,600
Speaker 4: a criminal financial betrayals.

20
00:01:04,920 --> 00:01:06,160
Speaker 1: So this is like the beginning of it.

21
00:01:06,240 --> 00:01:08,560
Speaker 4: This is not even the part where he steals millions

22
00:01:08,560 --> 00:01:11,920
Speaker 4: of dollars, right, even life or death deceptions.

23
00:01:12,600 --> 00:01:17,120
Speaker 2: She's practicing how she's going to cry when the police

24
00:01:17,200 --> 00:01:19,640
Speaker 2: calls her after they kill me.

25
00:01:20,760 --> 00:01:22,440
Speaker 4: The people we trust the most.

26
00:01:22,880 --> 00:01:27,319
Speaker 2: He was caring and loving and genuine with his wife

27
00:01:27,480 --> 00:01:30,200
Speaker 2: and his child and his patients.

28
00:01:29,920 --> 00:01:31,759
Speaker 4: The people we least expect.

29
00:01:32,120 --> 00:01:34,280
Speaker 3: And he was a psychopath.

30
00:01:36,120 --> 00:01:40,520
Speaker 1: These are cautionary tales, stories of romance, family and business.

31
00:01:40,120 --> 00:01:41,200
Speaker 4: Gone horribly wrong.

32
00:01:41,880 --> 00:01:45,520
Speaker 1: But they are also survival stories, stories of resilience after

33
00:01:45,560 --> 00:01:47,760
Speaker 1: losing the thing we all depend on.

34
00:01:48,920 --> 00:01:49,320
Speaker 4: Trust.

35
00:01:50,000 --> 00:01:53,280
Speaker 1: My story was true, even if his wasn't.

36
00:01:53,360 --> 00:01:53,840
Speaker 3: Mine was.

37
00:01:56,200 --> 00:01:59,480
Speaker 1: Now here's a sneak peek of our first episode. This

38
00:01:59,680 --> 00:02:05,320
Speaker 1: Stephany's story. Her marriage came crashing down in an instant

39
00:02:05,560 --> 00:02:09,400
Speaker 1: when she discovered the sinister truth about her husband, a

40
00:02:09,480 --> 00:02:13,280
Speaker 1: dark secret he had hidden for twenty two years.

41
00:02:13,720 --> 00:02:16,720
Speaker 2: We got married in nineteen ninety eight. It was a

42
00:02:16,760 --> 00:02:20,480
Speaker 2: second marriage for both of us. I came with four boys.

43
00:02:20,600 --> 00:02:22,399
Speaker 2: He had a boy and a girl. Our kids were

44
00:02:22,400 --> 00:02:26,800
Speaker 2: already friends and were thrilled about us being together.

45
00:02:29,240 --> 00:02:32,040
Speaker 1: Stephanie and her husband I'm going to call him Greg,

46
00:02:32,480 --> 00:02:36,160
Speaker 1: lived together in a tiny Midwestern town. It's the kind

47
00:02:36,160 --> 00:02:38,400
Speaker 1: of town where everybody knows everybody.

48
00:02:39,600 --> 00:02:43,120
Speaker 2: It's like a small town that you would see on

49
00:02:43,960 --> 00:02:47,600
Speaker 2: a movie or a sitcom. I didn't want my husband

50
00:02:47,639 --> 00:02:50,400
Speaker 2: to go to the grocery store with me. It just

51
00:02:50,480 --> 00:02:54,440
Speaker 2: would take so long if he went with because we

52
00:02:54,520 --> 00:02:58,320
Speaker 2: knew every person at the store and everyone would have

53
00:02:58,440 --> 00:03:00,440
Speaker 2: to stop and visit with him.

54
00:03:00,919 --> 00:03:04,760
Speaker 1: Their big, blended family was well known in town. Picture

55
00:03:04,919 --> 00:03:07,960
Speaker 1: a modern day Brady bunch. At least that's the feeling

56
00:03:08,000 --> 00:03:11,320
Speaker 1: I got from a photo she shared with me. It's Stephanie,

57
00:03:11,360 --> 00:03:14,720
Speaker 1: her sons, and Greg's kids, all six of them standing

58
00:03:14,760 --> 00:03:18,079
Speaker 1: side by side on the beach, smiling. Their family takes

59
00:03:18,160 --> 00:03:21,519
Speaker 1: up the whole three by five photo across their arm

60
00:03:21,560 --> 00:03:25,320
Speaker 1: and arm having the best beach vacation. It's really sweet.

61
00:03:26,639 --> 00:03:34,200
Speaker 3: He was the absolute ideal husband. He was my best friend.

62
00:03:34,400 --> 00:03:38,160
Speaker 2: He did housework, he cooked, he played with the kids,

63
00:03:38,960 --> 00:03:41,440
Speaker 2: and when the kids who were little, we would go

64
00:03:41,520 --> 00:03:44,640
Speaker 2: in and volunteer at their elementary school and help with

65
00:03:44,680 --> 00:03:49,040
Speaker 2: their reading groups, which was super fun and like what

66
00:03:49,240 --> 00:03:52,080
Speaker 2: their dad does that? I mean back in those days,

67
00:03:52,600 --> 00:03:55,400
Speaker 2: he was the only dad who volunteered, and the kids

68
00:03:55,440 --> 00:03:57,360
Speaker 2: all loved him.

69
00:03:57,640 --> 00:04:00,640
Speaker 1: There's another photo of Stephanie and her husband in front

70
00:04:00,640 --> 00:04:03,320
Speaker 1: of a waterfall in a forest with his arms wrapped

71
00:04:03,320 --> 00:04:06,640
Speaker 1: around her. The sun lights her face and she looks

72
00:04:06,680 --> 00:04:08,320
Speaker 1: relaxed and blissful.

73
00:04:08,920 --> 00:04:17,680
Speaker 2: He was very kind, very generous, very interested in hearing

74
00:04:18,120 --> 00:04:23,159
Speaker 2: what I had to say. He very much lifted me up.

75
00:04:24,400 --> 00:04:29,279
Speaker 2: He made me feel seen, and he made me feel

76
00:04:29,400 --> 00:04:31,960
Speaker 2: like I was smart and competent.

77
00:04:32,760 --> 00:04:36,880
Speaker 1: They had great chemistry. They made great partners, not just

78
00:04:36,920 --> 00:04:38,760
Speaker 1: in marriage, but in business.

79
00:04:40,120 --> 00:04:43,520
Speaker 2: I just ended up working at my husband's optometry practice,

80
00:04:43,560 --> 00:04:47,760
Speaker 2: because you know, it's a small practice, just him. He

81
00:04:47,920 --> 00:04:52,120
Speaker 2: always had three employees and one quit and I was

82
00:04:52,200 --> 00:04:54,599
Speaker 2: kind of in between jobs, so it's like, oh, could

83
00:04:54,640 --> 00:04:55,440
Speaker 2: you just fill in?

84
00:04:55,880 --> 00:04:59,120
Speaker 1: Stephanie did a lot more than just fill in. She

85
00:04:59,200 --> 00:05:04,120
Speaker 1: started managing her husband's optometry practice, pushing insurance claims through

86
00:05:04,240 --> 00:05:07,560
Speaker 1: and making the business more profitable than ever. They had

87
00:05:07,560 --> 00:05:09,120
Speaker 1: a clear vision for their future.

88
00:05:09,480 --> 00:05:12,800
Speaker 2: We certainly were not rich, but we were very comfortable.

89
00:05:13,520 --> 00:05:16,640
Speaker 2: We had our own resort in our backyard. We had

90
00:05:16,640 --> 00:05:18,040
Speaker 2: a large and ground.

91
00:05:17,760 --> 00:05:21,560
Speaker 3: Pool, hot ub, basketball court.

92
00:05:22,040 --> 00:05:27,159
Speaker 2: Have this great photo of Greg on his giant pool

93
00:05:27,240 --> 00:05:32,120
Speaker 2: lounger watching the Master's golf tournament on our outdoor big

94
00:05:32,120 --> 00:05:37,599
Speaker 2: screen TV. We had just begun a plan of getting

95
00:05:37,680 --> 00:05:42,880
Speaker 2: the house absolutely perfect and maintenance free for when we retired.

96
00:05:44,120 --> 00:05:47,600
Speaker 1: Of course, there were hard moments, bumps along the way

97
00:05:48,279 --> 00:05:51,560
Speaker 1: in a twenty two year marriage. That's par for the course.

98
00:05:52,000 --> 00:05:57,040
Speaker 2: At one point he admitted that he hadn't been paying

99
00:05:57,080 --> 00:06:01,000
Speaker 2: the taxes at his business, and there was a possibility

100
00:06:01,040 --> 00:06:03,120
Speaker 2: we could lose the business, our house, he could go

101
00:06:03,160 --> 00:06:08,960
Speaker 2: to jail. That's a pretty big bump. It's like I've

102
00:06:09,000 --> 00:06:12,760
Speaker 2: invested everything. I've put my life and my kids' lives

103
00:06:13,240 --> 00:06:14,440
Speaker 2: in this man's hands.

104
00:06:15,240 --> 00:06:17,440
Speaker 3: So that was tough, but we worked through it.

105
00:06:18,279 --> 00:06:20,800
Speaker 1: They agreed to a payment plan with the irs and

106
00:06:20,839 --> 00:06:23,640
Speaker 1: move forward as a team, back on track for a

107
00:06:23,640 --> 00:06:27,440
Speaker 1: happy retirement. As the kids got older, Stephanie and her

108
00:06:27,520 --> 00:06:29,599
Speaker 1: husband adjusted well to the empty nest.

109
00:06:30,080 --> 00:06:35,320
Speaker 2: When the kids were grown, things were almost even better.

110
00:06:37,360 --> 00:06:40,880
Speaker 2: We would leave the office and walk hand in hand

111
00:06:40,960 --> 00:06:43,080
Speaker 2: down the street to the local cafe and go to

112
00:06:43,160 --> 00:06:47,839
Speaker 2: lunch together and sit and talk and laugh through the

113
00:06:47,880 --> 00:06:52,040
Speaker 2: whole lunch, not and scroll on our phones like other couples.

114
00:06:52,720 --> 00:06:55,160
Speaker 2: And then we would go back and work for the afternoon,

115
00:06:55,400 --> 00:06:58,679
Speaker 2: and then we would go home together and make dinner,

116
00:06:59,240 --> 00:07:02,239
Speaker 2: watch our favorite great game shows, and play a board game.

117
00:07:02,800 --> 00:07:06,960
Speaker 1: Even during the twenty twenty pandemic, Stephanie and her husband

118
00:07:07,120 --> 00:07:07,800
Speaker 1: got along.

119
00:07:09,920 --> 00:07:13,560
Speaker 2: So you know, during COVID, I'd hop on a zoom

120
00:07:13,560 --> 00:07:16,480
Speaker 2: call with like six or seven girlfriends, and we're pretty

121
00:07:16,560 --> 00:07:19,760
Speaker 2: much all empty nesters, so we're all just stuck in

122
00:07:19,800 --> 00:07:23,400
Speaker 2: the house alone with our husbands. And my friends have

123
00:07:23,960 --> 00:07:28,320
Speaker 2: good marriages, and still there was a lot of like.

124
00:07:28,720 --> 00:07:31,120
Speaker 3: I don't know how much longer I can take this.

125
00:07:32,280 --> 00:07:37,320
Speaker 2: I'm really bored, and I'm going, oh gosh, you guys,

126
00:07:37,400 --> 00:07:39,920
Speaker 2: I feel bad because, you know what, we're having a

127
00:07:39,920 --> 00:07:40,680
Speaker 2: blast over here.

128
00:07:40,760 --> 00:07:43,000
Speaker 3: We're trying new recipes, We've got.

129
00:07:42,840 --> 00:07:46,200
Speaker 2: This whole game thing going on. We're doing all these puzzles.

130
00:07:46,200 --> 00:07:47,560
Speaker 2: We're having so much fun.

131
00:07:48,840 --> 00:07:52,720
Speaker 1: When COVID restrictions lifted, the couple took the opportunity to

132
00:07:52,760 --> 00:07:56,760
Speaker 1: spend even more time together and enjoy a warmer climate.

133
00:07:58,080 --> 00:08:00,240
Speaker 2: Kind of on a whim, we were like, hey, things

134
00:08:00,280 --> 00:08:02,600
Speaker 2: are opening up. We didn't get to go on our

135
00:08:02,640 --> 00:08:06,560
Speaker 2: winter vacation to our time sharing cancuon let's go down there.

136
00:08:07,320 --> 00:08:09,920
Speaker 2: So we had gone down the first week of April

137
00:08:10,280 --> 00:08:12,640
Speaker 2: and had a fabulous time as we always do.

138
00:08:13,320 --> 00:08:16,240
Speaker 1: But on this little COVID getaway, she could tell that

139
00:08:16,320 --> 00:08:20,040
Speaker 1: something was off with Greg. She first noticed it when

140
00:08:20,040 --> 00:08:21,520
Speaker 1: they were lounging by the pool.

141
00:08:22,080 --> 00:08:23,200
Speaker 4: One of the things that.

142
00:08:23,320 --> 00:08:25,880
Speaker 2: Really struck me as weird on that trip was that

143
00:08:26,560 --> 00:08:28,960
Speaker 2: We had kind of sat in this same spot a

144
00:08:28,960 --> 00:08:33,040
Speaker 2: couple days and there was someone else sitting a couple

145
00:08:33,720 --> 00:08:36,880
Speaker 2: chairs down from us, another husband and wife.

146
00:08:37,400 --> 00:08:40,320
Speaker 3: And the guy made me really uncomfortable.

147
00:08:41,000 --> 00:08:43,360
Speaker 2: You know how some guys just look at you weird,

148
00:08:43,559 --> 00:08:46,199
Speaker 2: you know, when you're hanging out in your bathing suit whatever.

149
00:08:46,280 --> 00:08:48,959
Speaker 2: And I said, guy just kind of made me uncomfortable.

150
00:08:49,440 --> 00:08:52,480
Speaker 2: And I told Greg that. I said, you know, that

151
00:08:52,520 --> 00:08:54,920
Speaker 2: guy is just kind of creeping me out. Can we

152
00:08:54,960 --> 00:09:00,680
Speaker 2: sit somewhere else? And he said no, that was totally

153
00:09:00,679 --> 00:09:06,319
Speaker 2: out of character for him. He was always so accommodating

154
00:09:06,400 --> 00:09:12,040
Speaker 2: to me and never wanted me to feel uncomfortable. I mean,

155
00:09:12,080 --> 00:09:14,360
Speaker 2: does it matter if we sit over on the other

156
00:09:14,520 --> 00:09:17,800
Speaker 2: side of the gorgeous infinity pool looking out at the ocean?

157
00:09:19,000 --> 00:09:21,040
Speaker 3: So yeah, it just struck me as a little weird.

158
00:09:22,800 --> 00:09:26,280
Speaker 1: It was weird, but Stephanie didn't think much of it.

159
00:09:26,760 --> 00:09:29,880
Speaker 1: That night, the couple indulged in a long, romantic dinner.

160
00:09:30,200 --> 00:09:33,520
Speaker 1: This was always part of their vacation, a few dinners

161
00:09:33,559 --> 00:09:35,040
Speaker 1: where they could really treat.

162
00:09:34,800 --> 00:09:41,000
Speaker 2: Themselves, many many courses and lots of different drinks and

163
00:09:41,080 --> 00:09:43,080
Speaker 2: wine and all of that.

164
00:09:43,760 --> 00:09:46,960
Speaker 1: The next morning, Stephanie was in a fog I was

165
00:09:47,240 --> 00:09:50,160
Speaker 1: very out of it, like it was really hard to

166
00:09:50,240 --> 00:09:50,760
Speaker 1: wake up.

167
00:09:52,040 --> 00:09:53,240
Speaker 3: I've had this feeling.

168
00:09:54,040 --> 00:09:57,000
Speaker 2: It was almost like I was at the bottom of

169
00:09:57,080 --> 00:10:02,319
Speaker 2: the lake and I could just see light way up ahead,

170
00:10:02,679 --> 00:10:05,560
Speaker 2: but it was so hard to try to get there,

171
00:10:06,120 --> 00:10:08,880
Speaker 2: and then I would just feel so awful, like very

172
00:10:09,040 --> 00:10:15,440
Speaker 2: cotton mull, very dehydrated, headache, miserable waking up.

173
00:10:15,440 --> 00:10:16,800
Speaker 3: Shouldn't feel like that.

174
00:10:18,920 --> 00:10:21,520
Speaker 1: But Greg was there to help take care of her.

175
00:10:21,920 --> 00:10:22,400
Speaker 3: Last night.

176
00:10:22,440 --> 00:10:24,080
Speaker 2: You had a lot to drink, and we were out

177
00:10:24,080 --> 00:10:27,240
Speaker 2: in the sun a lot. I'm sure you're dehydrated. Let's

178
00:10:27,240 --> 00:10:29,840
Speaker 2: get you some water, Let's get you some coffee. Let's

179
00:10:29,920 --> 00:10:32,760
Speaker 2: try to stay out of the sun a little bit today.

180
00:10:33,640 --> 00:10:35,800
Speaker 2: You know, very comforting, very kind.

181
00:10:37,600 --> 00:10:40,480
Speaker 4: But Greg wasn't the man who was pretending to be.

182
00:10:42,040 --> 00:10:43,120
Speaker 3: I had that feeling.

183
00:10:44,080 --> 00:10:45,680
Speaker 2: I was like, I got to check all his stuff

184
00:10:45,720 --> 00:10:49,240
Speaker 2: while he's gone. I saw his laptop was sitting there

185
00:10:49,240 --> 00:10:53,240
Speaker 2: by his recliner. I picked it up and I took

186
00:10:53,280 --> 00:10:57,720
Speaker 2: it over to the kitchen counter and that was where

187
00:10:57,760 --> 00:11:00,000
Speaker 2: I was sitting, and I literally just lifted it up

188
00:11:00,080 --> 00:11:02,080
Speaker 2: up and it was there.

189
00:11:03,280 --> 00:11:04,920
Speaker 3: The pages were open.

190
00:11:07,559 --> 00:11:13,880
Speaker 2: He readily confessed to all of it, no tears, no remorse,

191
00:11:14,559 --> 00:11:16,559
Speaker 2: no regret.

192
00:11:16,400 --> 00:11:17,760
Speaker 3: No care whatsoever.

193
00:11:19,480 --> 00:11:23,680
Speaker 2: He talked to me like he was telling me I

194
00:11:23,760 --> 00:11:25,480
Speaker 2: went to the store and got a gallon of milk.

195
00:11:27,640 --> 00:11:30,840
Speaker 2: He said, I have those pictures of those other women

196
00:11:30,960 --> 00:11:38,679
Speaker 2: because I trade like kids trade Pokemon cards. I would

197
00:11:38,720 --> 00:11:43,240
Speaker 2: trade your image.

198
00:11:43,960 --> 00:11:46,320
Speaker 1: Be sure to listen in on July twenty fifth to

199
00:11:46,400 --> 00:11:50,040
Speaker 1: hear all of Stephanie's story, and subscribe to the Betrayal Feed,

200
00:11:50,280 --> 00:11:52,840
Speaker 1: where you'll hear news stories every Thursday.