1 00:00:00,840 --> 00:00:03,200 Speaker 1: Hey, it's Anna giving you a heads up on what 2 00:00:03,279 --> 00:00:06,440 Speaker 1: to expect in this episode. There's going to be a 3 00:00:06,480 --> 00:00:10,440 Speaker 1: lot about domestic abuse, with some examples of pretty extreme violence. 4 00:00:11,400 --> 00:00:15,120 Speaker 1: We'll talk heavily about addiction, and there's also brief references 5 00:00:15,120 --> 00:00:19,040 Speaker 1: to sexual assault and suicide. So make sure you take care, 6 00:00:20,200 --> 00:00:23,239 Speaker 1: but don't worry. It's not all bad. You'll get the 7 00:00:23,320 --> 00:00:26,200 Speaker 1: chance to learn more about Kelly, who she was, the 8 00:00:26,239 --> 00:00:28,960 Speaker 1: life she led, and you'll hear about the moments of 9 00:00:29,040 --> 00:00:33,120 Speaker 1: light that shine through the darkness. If you feel impacted 10 00:00:33,120 --> 00:00:35,199 Speaker 1: by some of the themes in this show, you can 11 00:00:35,240 --> 00:00:38,120 Speaker 1: reach out to No More. There are a domestic violence 12 00:00:38,200 --> 00:00:40,760 Speaker 1: charity with a lot of great resources to help you 13 00:00:41,080 --> 00:00:44,480 Speaker 1: or your loved ones. You can search No More dot 14 00:00:44,560 --> 00:00:46,680 Speaker 1: org and we've also put a link to their website 15 00:00:46,720 --> 00:00:50,720 Speaker 1: in the episode description. Oh and as usual, there's some 16 00:00:50,840 --> 00:00:56,640 Speaker 1: bad language. I see all of the Jeddy Bows. 17 00:00:58,000 --> 00:01:00,520 Speaker 2: Pause. Brady and Jonathan told them all about it. 18 00:01:00,520 --> 00:01:02,920 Speaker 1: They were getting so much attention they were, and I 19 00:01:02,960 --> 00:01:05,240 Speaker 1: was like, all right, I'll bring all of you, okay. 20 00:01:06,200 --> 00:01:10,520 Speaker 1: Kelly and Ronnie Hannatt have I think thirty stuff toys 21 00:01:10,560 --> 00:01:15,160 Speaker 1: and counting. They're all over the apartment they share I still. 22 00:01:15,040 --> 00:01:18,800 Speaker 2: Love stuffed animals and the fact that I was not 23 00:01:19,000 --> 00:01:22,080 Speaker 2: able to have them for so long. When I came out, 24 00:01:22,200 --> 00:01:24,720 Speaker 2: I got so many of them. So now I have 25 00:01:24,840 --> 00:01:26,600 Speaker 2: like a whole family of stuffed animals. 26 00:01:27,840 --> 00:01:34,360 Speaker 1: I love them. Kelly stuffed animal passion is lifelong. But 27 00:01:34,400 --> 00:01:36,720 Speaker 1: once she comes out of prison, it goes through the 28 00:01:36,840 --> 00:01:40,400 Speaker 1: roof to Ronnie. It starts to seem like every time 29 00:01:40,480 --> 00:01:43,360 Speaker 1: she leaves the house, she returns with a new toy, 30 00:01:43,800 --> 00:01:48,320 Speaker 1: and the apartment is overflowing. So he offers Kelly a deal. 31 00:01:48,880 --> 00:01:51,880 Speaker 1: She can only bring home a new stuffed toy if 32 00:01:51,880 --> 00:01:54,480 Speaker 1: it's a different type of animal to the ones they 33 00:01:54,480 --> 00:01:58,160 Speaker 1: already have. He's hoping that it will slow Kelly down 34 00:01:58,480 --> 00:02:02,640 Speaker 1: as she tries to find increasingly obscure animals. But the 35 00:02:02,640 --> 00:02:07,000 Speaker 1: thing about Kelly is she's resourceful. So the collection continues 36 00:02:07,040 --> 00:02:10,160 Speaker 1: to grow, and now the menagerie of toys with their 37 00:02:10,200 --> 00:02:16,880 Speaker 1: big personalities has taken over. While I'm here, I'm getting 38 00:02:16,880 --> 00:02:20,000 Speaker 1: to know a few. There's Ivan the Rhino and. 39 00:02:20,040 --> 00:02:24,120 Speaker 2: He toxic This. Hello. I just want to tell everybody 40 00:02:24,160 --> 00:02:28,600 Speaker 2: that I call Kelly Cookie because I like milk and cookies. 41 00:02:28,880 --> 00:02:32,399 Speaker 2: Alan the Bear, Hi, Yeah, Hi, Kelly, Hey doing. 42 00:02:32,520 --> 00:02:33,760 Speaker 1: Sherman the lamb. 43 00:02:34,120 --> 00:02:38,200 Speaker 2: Yeah, man, my job is called the watcher. So when 44 00:02:38,280 --> 00:02:41,240 Speaker 2: Rynnie and Kelly don't feel well, I watched them. 45 00:02:41,520 --> 00:02:43,560 Speaker 1: We can't forget about his honor. Brady. 46 00:02:43,800 --> 00:02:46,560 Speaker 2: Of course, she's every form judge. But he said he's 47 00:02:46,560 --> 00:02:48,040 Speaker 2: going to go back to the stand and let all 48 00:02:48,080 --> 00:02:53,480 Speaker 2: the prisoners out soon. The last one that I will introduce. 49 00:02:53,080 --> 00:02:57,400 Speaker 1: You to Luna, a formally incarcerated stuffed animal that was 50 00:02:57,480 --> 00:03:00,520 Speaker 1: knitted by a woman Kelly was inside with. Luna's a 51 00:03:00,560 --> 00:03:02,480 Speaker 1: sea turtle and a mother of two. 52 00:03:02,760 --> 00:03:05,799 Speaker 2: The cube part too, is she has a pouch. These 53 00:03:05,919 --> 00:03:07,519 Speaker 2: the eggs that she carries. 54 00:03:09,760 --> 00:03:15,400 Speaker 1: I did not see that coming. As I'm becoming acquainted 55 00:03:15,480 --> 00:03:18,600 Speaker 1: with Kelly's fluffy friends, my mind can't help but drift 56 00:03:18,639 --> 00:03:21,600 Speaker 1: to the night of the murder, when Kelly and her 57 00:03:21,600 --> 00:03:24,519 Speaker 1: boyfriend Tommy Donovan were arrested in a story of park. 58 00:03:24,919 --> 00:03:27,880 Speaker 1: She says. The police records show stuffed animals were found 59 00:03:27,919 --> 00:03:30,560 Speaker 1: at the scene of the crime, including a big blue 60 00:03:30,639 --> 00:03:34,960 Speaker 1: duck and a dog with wings. If you're wondering how 61 00:03:35,000 --> 00:03:38,880 Speaker 1: something as innocent and childlike as a stuffed animal could 62 00:03:38,960 --> 00:03:42,080 Speaker 1: end up in a situation so dark, You're not alone. 63 00:03:43,800 --> 00:03:46,320 Speaker 1: In the last episode, I told you that this series 64 00:03:46,440 --> 00:03:49,440 Speaker 1: is about learning how Kelly ended up where she is today, 65 00:03:50,280 --> 00:03:55,480 Speaker 1: and now we're going to start figuring that out. I'm 66 00:03:55,520 --> 00:03:58,320 Speaker 1: going to take you right back to the beginning, way 67 00:03:58,360 --> 00:04:01,680 Speaker 1: before the night of the murder, and together we'll see 68 00:04:01,680 --> 00:04:04,160 Speaker 1: if we can trace the path through Kelly's life that 69 00:04:04,240 --> 00:04:07,080 Speaker 1: led her to a Storia park in July twenty ten, 70 00:04:07,680 --> 00:04:10,600 Speaker 1: and that landed her in prison for almost twelve years 71 00:04:10,640 --> 00:04:18,080 Speaker 1: after that. I'm Annisonfield and from the teams at Novel 72 00:04:18,200 --> 00:04:22,839 Speaker 1: and iHeart Podcasts, this is the Girlfriend's Gelhouse Lawyer. 73 00:04:23,360 --> 00:04:23,680 Speaker 3: Yes. 74 00:04:38,240 --> 00:04:47,719 Speaker 1: Good, Episode two, The Good, the Bad, and the Kelly. 75 00:04:55,440 --> 00:05:00,320 Speaker 2: As a kid that was very, very shy. I hated 76 00:05:00,360 --> 00:05:03,440 Speaker 2: to shy away from everybody. When I was in an elevator. 77 00:05:03,520 --> 00:05:06,800 Speaker 2: Anytime anyone came in that my mom knew she would 78 00:05:06,920 --> 00:05:10,040 Speaker 2: have to say say hi, Kelly, and I hid behind 79 00:05:10,080 --> 00:05:14,919 Speaker 2: her leg. Strangers, Oh gosh, they were just so scary 80 00:05:15,040 --> 00:05:15,359 Speaker 2: for me. 81 00:05:16,839 --> 00:05:20,800 Speaker 1: When Kelly's little and shy, there's nobody that quite gets 82 00:05:20,839 --> 00:05:24,039 Speaker 1: her like her big brother Ronnie. The two of them 83 00:05:24,160 --> 00:05:27,440 Speaker 1: were born four years apart, four years and one day 84 00:05:27,480 --> 00:05:30,520 Speaker 1: to be exact, their birthdays at the day after each other. 85 00:05:31,520 --> 00:05:35,840 Speaker 2: I would say I was so close to Ronnie at 86 00:05:35,839 --> 00:05:39,960 Speaker 2: the early years that my mother didn't even understand what 87 00:05:40,000 --> 00:05:40,640 Speaker 2: I was saying. 88 00:05:40,920 --> 00:05:43,800 Speaker 4: They would be like, Ronnie, come over here. We don't 89 00:05:43,839 --> 00:05:45,800 Speaker 4: know what she's saying. But I didn't know it was 90 00:05:45,839 --> 00:05:48,680 Speaker 4: going to turn into such a friendship like we have now. 91 00:05:49,640 --> 00:05:52,400 Speaker 1: The moment Kelly and Ronnie really became the double act 92 00:05:52,480 --> 00:05:55,960 Speaker 1: that they are today came after a stupid argument. Their 93 00:05:55,960 --> 00:05:58,440 Speaker 1: mom takes the two bickering five and nine year olds 94 00:05:58,600 --> 00:06:01,920 Speaker 1: and tells them to stand face each other, and she. 95 00:06:01,960 --> 00:06:05,960 Speaker 2: Said, brother and sister, look at each other. Take a 96 00:06:06,000 --> 00:06:06,599 Speaker 2: good look. 97 00:06:06,839 --> 00:06:08,839 Speaker 4: When you guys get older, all that you're. 98 00:06:08,720 --> 00:06:12,159 Speaker 2: Going to have is one another. You cannot fight with 99 00:06:12,279 --> 00:06:16,120 Speaker 2: each other. You are to protect one another, never go 100 00:06:16,320 --> 00:06:21,000 Speaker 2: against one another. You always take their side. And it's 101 00:06:21,000 --> 00:06:23,240 Speaker 2: something that resonated with us forever. 102 00:06:23,800 --> 00:06:27,120 Speaker 4: Really, we took it serious. Like now, it's like prophetic 103 00:06:27,520 --> 00:06:29,039 Speaker 4: because it's true. 104 00:06:30,120 --> 00:06:32,919 Speaker 1: Back in nineteen eighty six, a young Ronnie has no 105 00:06:33,040 --> 00:06:37,120 Speaker 1: concept of how presient his mom's words will become. He's 106 00:06:37,160 --> 00:06:40,600 Speaker 1: just focusing on being a good big brother. He spends 107 00:06:40,640 --> 00:06:44,400 Speaker 1: hours coaching Kelly about football and softball so she can 108 00:06:44,400 --> 00:06:47,400 Speaker 1: play in the streets with the big kids. But one 109 00:06:47,400 --> 00:06:49,960 Speaker 1: of the best things that Ronnie ever does for Kelly 110 00:06:50,320 --> 00:06:55,360 Speaker 1: is introduce her to a true Eighties icon, Paula Abdul. 111 00:06:57,839 --> 00:07:02,479 Speaker 2: Oh my god, it changed my world. I wanted to 112 00:07:02,520 --> 00:07:05,760 Speaker 2: be her. If there was some music video, I wanted 113 00:07:05,800 --> 00:07:12,600 Speaker 2: to see it. I copied all her moves pause, rewind, pause, rewind, pause, 114 00:07:12,640 --> 00:07:16,200 Speaker 2: rewind until I had every single thing down pet. Then 115 00:07:16,240 --> 00:07:18,600 Speaker 2: I used to call the whole family in and I 116 00:07:18,720 --> 00:07:21,760 Speaker 2: used to dance right next to the TV and put 117 00:07:21,800 --> 00:07:28,440 Speaker 2: on shows for them, and they loved them. That's when 118 00:07:28,480 --> 00:07:34,920 Speaker 2: I realized that my love for music was different than 119 00:07:35,000 --> 00:07:35,920 Speaker 2: other people's. 120 00:07:37,400 --> 00:07:40,720 Speaker 1: When the Hornet kids show an interest in something, their parents, 121 00:07:40,800 --> 00:07:44,240 Speaker 1: Kathleen and Danny go above and beyond to support them, 122 00:07:44,640 --> 00:07:48,680 Speaker 1: coaching that little league baseball teams, paying for gymnastics lessons. 123 00:07:49,240 --> 00:07:51,880 Speaker 1: One Christmas, they even bought their little pool or ap 124 00:07:51,920 --> 00:07:53,280 Speaker 1: Dolphan a piano. 125 00:07:54,160 --> 00:08:01,880 Speaker 2: Our Christmases were beyond belief. It looked like Macy's in there. 126 00:08:02,080 --> 00:08:05,840 Speaker 2: I mean the amount of toys that my brother and 127 00:08:05,920 --> 00:08:09,800 Speaker 2: I used to get. We were so spoiled. It was crazy, 128 00:08:10,280 --> 00:08:11,600 Speaker 2: but it was so much fun. 129 00:08:12,400 --> 00:08:16,240 Speaker 1: The Harnet family isn't just comfortable. They're well off, a 130 00:08:16,280 --> 00:08:20,360 Speaker 1: white collar family from queens, proud Irish Americans who made 131 00:08:20,400 --> 00:08:24,240 Speaker 1: it good. Kelly's dad is a hiring manager at MCI, 132 00:08:24,720 --> 00:08:28,200 Speaker 1: which is a telecoms company. Kelly and Ronnie say that 133 00:08:28,280 --> 00:08:31,160 Speaker 1: at this point he's earning a six figure salary, which 134 00:08:31,200 --> 00:08:35,040 Speaker 1: is a lot now, never mind back then. For young Kelly, 135 00:08:35,440 --> 00:08:38,400 Speaker 1: it feels like life is set. 136 00:08:40,280 --> 00:08:42,760 Speaker 2: When I was four, I went to Disney World and 137 00:08:42,800 --> 00:08:46,160 Speaker 2: I remember my mother and father being happy and kissing 138 00:08:46,200 --> 00:08:49,679 Speaker 2: in the pool, and I remember songs that were playing 139 00:08:51,120 --> 00:08:55,959 Speaker 2: Everybody Want to Rule the World. Yeah, I was playing 140 00:08:55,960 --> 00:08:56,760 Speaker 2: when they were kissing. 141 00:08:57,559 --> 00:09:06,880 Speaker 1: There was, But their family life isn't a Disney movie. Ronnie, 142 00:09:06,960 --> 00:09:09,880 Speaker 1: being a few years older than Kelly, starts to notice 143 00:09:09,880 --> 00:09:13,040 Speaker 1: that things aren't as they should be. The main thing 144 00:09:13,080 --> 00:09:15,960 Speaker 1: he notices is how much his dad is drinking. 145 00:09:17,320 --> 00:09:22,880 Speaker 4: He is, I guess what you call a functional alcoholic. No, 146 00:09:23,000 --> 00:09:26,120 Speaker 4: he wouldn't miss work, but the thing is when he 147 00:09:26,200 --> 00:09:30,320 Speaker 4: went to work, he would drink at work too, and 148 00:09:31,600 --> 00:09:34,520 Speaker 4: if he came home at eleven o'clock at night, that 149 00:09:34,600 --> 00:09:35,240 Speaker 4: would be early. 150 00:09:37,600 --> 00:09:40,000 Speaker 1: Their dad being drunk and their mum giving him shit 151 00:09:40,080 --> 00:09:42,280 Speaker 1: for it just became part of the family noise for 152 00:09:42,320 --> 00:09:46,480 Speaker 1: a while. But then Danny starts to disappear for days 153 00:09:46,480 --> 00:09:49,480 Speaker 1: on end, coming home drunk to an angry and her 154 00:09:49,600 --> 00:09:51,880 Speaker 1: wife who doesn't want her children to see their father 155 00:09:51,960 --> 00:09:55,960 Speaker 1: in this state. So even when Danny does turn up, 156 00:09:56,400 --> 00:09:59,720 Speaker 1: Kathleen often tells him to leave. Sometimes she even calls 157 00:09:59,720 --> 00:10:05,120 Speaker 1: the place on him when he refuses. Soon enough, Danny 158 00:10:05,160 --> 00:10:09,160 Speaker 1: loses his job, and without that to ground him his spirals. 159 00:10:10,120 --> 00:10:12,400 Speaker 1: He gets new jobs, but he can't hold them down, 160 00:10:12,840 --> 00:10:17,000 Speaker 1: and eventually he gives up on work entirely. It's not 161 00:10:17,080 --> 00:10:19,719 Speaker 1: long before they're evicted from their home, and the one 162 00:10:19,720 --> 00:10:23,360 Speaker 1: after that and the one after that, they go from 163 00:10:23,440 --> 00:10:27,200 Speaker 1: Christmases that look like Macy's to barely being able to 164 00:10:27,200 --> 00:10:28,440 Speaker 1: make ends meet. 165 00:10:31,960 --> 00:10:33,600 Speaker 2: The only way that I was able to get through 166 00:10:33,640 --> 00:10:36,920 Speaker 2: any of this was because of Ronnie, and like Ryannie 167 00:10:36,920 --> 00:10:41,280 Speaker 2: would always joke about things at the most inappropriate times, 168 00:10:41,960 --> 00:10:45,880 Speaker 2: And like if Ronnie had not been telling these chocks 169 00:10:45,960 --> 00:10:48,080 Speaker 2: all along the way, like I think I would have 170 00:10:48,080 --> 00:10:50,520 Speaker 2: been such a broken child. 171 00:10:51,679 --> 00:10:54,959 Speaker 1: In the middle of all of this dysfunction, Kathleen starts 172 00:10:55,000 --> 00:10:58,200 Speaker 1: to think Danny might be having an affair. She finds 173 00:10:58,240 --> 00:11:00,480 Speaker 1: a business card in his wallet. 174 00:11:00,840 --> 00:11:03,400 Speaker 2: She took down the address. You know, didn't say anything 175 00:11:03,440 --> 00:11:07,079 Speaker 2: to my dad acted like nothing. So she takes me 176 00:11:07,160 --> 00:11:12,640 Speaker 2: to Manhattan. On these steakouts. We're waiting across the street 177 00:11:12,880 --> 00:11:15,720 Speaker 2: and we would wait. We did it a few days 178 00:11:15,760 --> 00:11:18,280 Speaker 2: in a row, and then one day she was holding 179 00:11:18,320 --> 00:11:20,720 Speaker 2: my hand. She goes, there he is, and she dropped 180 00:11:20,760 --> 00:11:25,880 Speaker 2: my hand. She went running across the street. My dad 181 00:11:25,960 --> 00:11:29,040 Speaker 2: dropped the lady's hand and looked like he saw a ghost. 182 00:11:29,559 --> 00:11:32,040 Speaker 2: My mom, instead of going after him, first grabbed the 183 00:11:32,120 --> 00:11:35,240 Speaker 2: lady and beat the hell out of the lady. The 184 00:11:35,360 --> 00:11:41,920 Speaker 2: lady started running and screaming Hella, and then my mother 185 00:11:42,200 --> 00:11:46,400 Speaker 2: slept the hell out of my father and screaming like 186 00:11:46,480 --> 00:11:52,160 Speaker 2: a truck driver at both of them. 187 00:11:52,240 --> 00:11:55,880 Speaker 1: I feel for Kelly. This sounds like an incredibly traumatizing 188 00:11:55,920 --> 00:11:58,800 Speaker 1: thing to witness, so I'm honestly struck by her little 189 00:11:58,880 --> 00:12:02,600 Speaker 1: chuckle that laugh. Otherwise you're cry thing, I guess, which 190 00:12:02,640 --> 00:12:06,520 Speaker 1: is something Kelly does often. But there's also times when 191 00:12:06,520 --> 00:12:14,600 Speaker 1: the violence between her parents is no laughing matter. The 192 00:12:14,640 --> 00:12:18,520 Speaker 1: worst example of this happens one terrible night when Kelly 193 00:12:18,600 --> 00:12:22,200 Speaker 1: is just seven years old. After going a wall for 194 00:12:22,240 --> 00:12:27,240 Speaker 1: two weeks, Danny comes home. He's wasted and asking for money. 195 00:12:28,320 --> 00:12:31,040 Speaker 1: Kathleen tells him she's not giving him anything, and to 196 00:12:31,080 --> 00:12:32,240 Speaker 1: get the hell out. 197 00:12:32,920 --> 00:12:34,920 Speaker 2: My dad came in and I saw a look in 198 00:12:34,920 --> 00:12:38,560 Speaker 2: his eyes that I've never seen before. He stood on 199 00:12:38,600 --> 00:12:43,560 Speaker 2: the bed, grabbed the phone and wrapped the cord around 200 00:12:43,559 --> 00:12:48,319 Speaker 2: my mother's neck and yanked her up on the bed. 201 00:12:49,520 --> 00:12:53,200 Speaker 2: I ran and I started biting his arm as hard 202 00:12:53,200 --> 00:12:57,920 Speaker 2: as I could. It was blood everywhere, but he wasn't stopping, 203 00:12:58,520 --> 00:13:04,760 Speaker 2: so I started more more. It's like an animal. I 204 00:13:04,800 --> 00:13:06,800 Speaker 2: had already screamed to Ronnie, to cold nine and one. 205 00:13:07,400 --> 00:13:10,760 Speaker 2: My mother was turning colors. And at some point when 206 00:13:10,800 --> 00:13:14,280 Speaker 2: I bit again, he like twitched and like looked at 207 00:13:14,320 --> 00:13:18,520 Speaker 2: me and like I could see my father again and 208 00:13:18,559 --> 00:13:21,800 Speaker 2: he saw that his daughter was biting him. And then 209 00:13:21,800 --> 00:13:24,120 Speaker 2: he looked down and he saw that he had a 210 00:13:24,200 --> 00:13:27,200 Speaker 2: cord around my mother's neck, and he let it go. 211 00:13:29,360 --> 00:13:34,200 Speaker 2: And my mother was like, but I wouldn't let go 212 00:13:34,280 --> 00:13:41,679 Speaker 2: of his arm, and he was like, Kelly, Kelly, it's okay, 213 00:13:41,880 --> 00:13:44,400 Speaker 2: you could let it go now. He didn't even say 214 00:13:44,400 --> 00:13:50,560 Speaker 2: I'm sorry. I will never forget that. I thought he 215 00:13:50,600 --> 00:13:54,439 Speaker 2: was going to kill her to this day. That was 216 00:13:54,520 --> 00:14:10,440 Speaker 2: the worst day of my life. 217 00:14:14,800 --> 00:14:18,720 Speaker 1: After the horrific phone called incident, Kelly's parents somehow manage 218 00:14:18,760 --> 00:14:22,480 Speaker 1: to patch things up, but like before, it never lasts. 219 00:14:23,080 --> 00:14:26,560 Speaker 1: Kelly's dad moves in and out, over and over again. 220 00:14:27,640 --> 00:14:30,800 Speaker 1: At one point, they split for a few years. Kathleen 221 00:14:30,960 --> 00:14:33,400 Speaker 1: even has a protection order put on Danny for a time, 222 00:14:34,160 --> 00:14:36,440 Speaker 1: and while all of this is going on, money is 223 00:14:36,440 --> 00:14:41,200 Speaker 1: becoming tighter and tighter. One night, Kelly, Ronnie, and Kathleen 224 00:14:41,320 --> 00:14:45,480 Speaker 1: become homeless, sleeping rough at a McDonald's. Danny isn't with 225 00:14:45,520 --> 00:14:49,000 Speaker 1: them at the time. When Kelly is thirteen, the family 226 00:14:49,040 --> 00:14:51,440 Speaker 1: get into an apartment. It's the one she and Ronnie 227 00:14:51,520 --> 00:14:55,240 Speaker 1: still live in today. With that stability, Danny comes back 228 00:14:55,280 --> 00:15:00,360 Speaker 1: into the picture. Ronnie feels a lot of resentment towards 229 00:15:00,440 --> 00:15:03,480 Speaker 1: their dad. He's seventeen now and the scales have long 230 00:15:03,520 --> 00:15:06,920 Speaker 1: since fallen from his eyes. Kelly still looks at him 231 00:15:06,960 --> 00:15:09,800 Speaker 1: through the eyes of a child. And it's here in 232 00:15:09,880 --> 00:15:13,440 Speaker 1: this new flat, this new chance, that Kelly starts to 233 00:15:13,480 --> 00:15:16,600 Speaker 1: form a real relationship with him. He helps her with 234 00:15:16,640 --> 00:15:19,520 Speaker 1: her mass homework, takes her to the movies every Sunday, 235 00:15:20,120 --> 00:15:21,400 Speaker 1: but he's still a bad husband. 236 00:15:23,400 --> 00:15:27,240 Speaker 2: I feel that my mother deserved a lot better than 237 00:15:27,320 --> 00:15:31,960 Speaker 2: what he gave her. So if I could look back 238 00:15:32,040 --> 00:15:35,080 Speaker 2: and change anything. I would have had it that he 239 00:15:35,160 --> 00:15:37,600 Speaker 2: never came back into her life and that she met 240 00:15:37,760 --> 00:15:40,920 Speaker 2: a very successful man who was great to her, because 241 00:15:40,920 --> 00:15:46,120 Speaker 2: that's what she deserved. But unfortunately that's not what happened. 242 00:15:50,280 --> 00:15:54,800 Speaker 1: The relationship and their family struggles. It's changed Kathleen, and 243 00:15:54,840 --> 00:15:58,560 Speaker 1: not just mentally. Years of grueling physical work have also 244 00:15:58,640 --> 00:15:59,760 Speaker 1: taken that toll on her. 245 00:16:00,560 --> 00:16:04,600 Speaker 2: She ends up with spinal stenosis, which they said it 246 00:16:04,640 --> 00:16:08,840 Speaker 2: was severe deterioration of her spine. What it was showing 247 00:16:09,120 --> 00:16:11,640 Speaker 2: was that her spine was collapsing. 248 00:16:12,680 --> 00:16:15,560 Speaker 1: Kathleen has to go in for serious surgery to help 249 00:16:15,600 --> 00:16:17,280 Speaker 1: save her spine. 250 00:16:17,400 --> 00:16:21,040 Speaker 2: They put four rods sixteen scowls in occasion her back. 251 00:16:21,760 --> 00:16:24,160 Speaker 2: They gave her last rites. They didn't think she was 252 00:16:24,200 --> 00:16:24,840 Speaker 2: going to make it. 253 00:16:25,680 --> 00:16:28,880 Speaker 1: The surgery is a success in that it doesn't kill Kathleen, 254 00:16:29,480 --> 00:16:33,320 Speaker 1: but the back pain she's in is still excruciating, and 255 00:16:33,360 --> 00:16:37,000 Speaker 1: with that comes an overwhelming depression. Both keep her in 256 00:16:37,040 --> 00:16:40,440 Speaker 1: bed for weeks at a time. Kelly tries to take 257 00:16:40,440 --> 00:16:43,280 Speaker 1: care of her mum, but she's still just a teenager 258 00:16:43,680 --> 00:16:46,520 Speaker 1: who's trying to cope with some really heavy shit going 259 00:16:46,560 --> 00:16:47,080 Speaker 1: on at home. 260 00:16:48,360 --> 00:16:51,960 Speaker 2: I believe I was seventeen years old. When my mom 261 00:16:52,040 --> 00:16:59,280 Speaker 2: got sick, she was being given all sorts of pain medications, 262 00:17:00,160 --> 00:17:03,560 Speaker 2: in fact, so many different ones that she was taking 263 00:17:03,600 --> 00:17:09,360 Speaker 2: one and there were three others that she didn't feel 264 00:17:09,400 --> 00:17:11,600 Speaker 2: the need to take and didn't like the way they 265 00:17:11,640 --> 00:17:15,000 Speaker 2: made her feel, so being that she wasn't getting out 266 00:17:15,040 --> 00:17:18,320 Speaker 2: of the bed. She was just handing them to me. 267 00:17:18,760 --> 00:17:20,720 Speaker 2: Can you throw this out? Throw this out along with 268 00:17:20,800 --> 00:17:21,440 Speaker 2: everything else. 269 00:17:24,080 --> 00:17:26,639 Speaker 1: Walking out of her mom's room, Kelly looks at the 270 00:17:26,680 --> 00:17:27,639 Speaker 1: pills in her hand. 271 00:17:30,160 --> 00:17:32,800 Speaker 2: I said, I wonder if these will help me stop 272 00:17:32,880 --> 00:17:39,600 Speaker 2: feeling and they did. I still felt, but I didn't 273 00:17:39,760 --> 00:17:45,920 Speaker 2: feel as gloom and doom and depressed as I normally 274 00:17:45,920 --> 00:17:50,280 Speaker 2: felt a little bit happier and a little bit like 275 00:17:50,400 --> 00:17:56,560 Speaker 2: more motivated or like I could handle things. It was potent, 276 00:17:56,880 --> 00:18:06,480 Speaker 2: and that's what I was looking for. I would say. 277 00:18:06,520 --> 00:18:13,480 Speaker 2: Within two weeks, I was physically addicted to painkillers. Eventually, 278 00:18:13,560 --> 00:18:15,960 Speaker 2: I came playing with my mother and I told her 279 00:18:16,080 --> 00:18:20,920 Speaker 2: I was hoped that didn't go over so well. However, 280 00:18:22,080 --> 00:18:24,520 Speaker 2: she was supportive and she told me to go to rehab. 281 00:18:25,480 --> 00:18:29,320 Speaker 2: I completed the twenty eight day program. I came back 282 00:18:29,320 --> 00:18:34,040 Speaker 2: home and I started taking her pills. Again. 283 00:18:35,640 --> 00:18:37,879 Speaker 1: Like her dad, Kelly is able to function with her 284 00:18:37,920 --> 00:18:41,520 Speaker 1: addiction for a time. She even attends Saint John's University 285 00:18:41,760 --> 00:18:46,520 Speaker 1: studying communications. Ronnie and her are working too. Both of 286 00:18:46,520 --> 00:18:48,600 Speaker 1: them are trying to keep a roof over their heads. 287 00:18:48,680 --> 00:18:54,600 Speaker 1: Now their mom's essentially bedbound. Kathleen's also becoming increasingly controlling 288 00:18:54,880 --> 00:18:58,840 Speaker 1: and angry at her injury and oppressions start to consume her. 289 00:19:00,000 --> 00:19:02,080 Speaker 1: It seems like she takes a lot of her frustrations 290 00:19:02,080 --> 00:19:04,960 Speaker 1: out on her kids. It's a lot of weight on 291 00:19:05,080 --> 00:19:10,520 Speaker 1: young shoulders, too much. So every weekend to blow ofsome steam, 292 00:19:10,760 --> 00:19:17,280 Speaker 1: Kelly and Ronnie go clubbing. They spend all night dancing 293 00:19:17,359 --> 00:19:20,560 Speaker 1: in hot, sweaty clubs to the best house and techno 294 00:19:20,760 --> 00:19:24,040 Speaker 1: that late nineties and early two thousands New York has 295 00:19:24,119 --> 00:19:24,560 Speaker 1: to offer. 296 00:19:26,520 --> 00:19:30,440 Speaker 2: We used to dance alongside each other or across from 297 00:19:30,480 --> 00:19:33,520 Speaker 2: each other, and people used to scream brother and sister, 298 00:19:35,000 --> 00:19:38,920 Speaker 2: brother and sis, sir, and it was just the happiest 299 00:19:38,920 --> 00:19:41,000 Speaker 2: time in my life. 300 00:19:41,920 --> 00:19:44,200 Speaker 1: Now, I've been to a few clubs in my time, 301 00:19:44,359 --> 00:19:47,080 Speaker 1: all of varying degrees of corners, but I have never 302 00:19:47,320 --> 00:19:50,119 Speaker 1: heard anything like this. But maybe I'm just not heading 303 00:19:50,160 --> 00:19:52,359 Speaker 1: to the right places, the ones that go mad for 304 00:19:52,400 --> 00:20:00,399 Speaker 1: some sibling duo dancing, but these moments are just tracks 305 00:20:00,400 --> 00:20:04,439 Speaker 1: of light in a dark room. Around this time, Kelly 306 00:20:04,560 --> 00:20:08,760 Speaker 1: is drugged and sexually assaulted at a party. She also 307 00:20:08,840 --> 00:20:12,919 Speaker 1: goes through her first major breakup. She spirals into a 308 00:20:12,920 --> 00:20:17,359 Speaker 1: heavy depression and ends up in psychiatric treatment. Once her 309 00:20:17,359 --> 00:20:20,480 Speaker 1: mental health improves and at the behest of her mum, 310 00:20:20,800 --> 00:20:25,600 Speaker 1: Kelly decides to tackle her other major problem at nineteen, 311 00:20:25,680 --> 00:20:28,840 Speaker 1: She joins a methodone program, but all that really does 312 00:20:29,000 --> 00:20:33,240 Speaker 1: is replace one addiction with another. The program works by 313 00:20:33,280 --> 00:20:37,080 Speaker 1: increasing the methadone dosage each time you show signs of withdrawal, 314 00:20:37,720 --> 00:20:40,560 Speaker 1: which is how in just a matter of months, Kelly 315 00:20:40,600 --> 00:20:44,040 Speaker 1: climbs from a forty milligram dose to a whopping one 316 00:20:44,119 --> 00:20:52,080 Speaker 1: hundred and seventy. Around the same time as all of 317 00:20:52,119 --> 00:20:54,880 Speaker 1: this is going on, Kelly meets a series of boyfriends, 318 00:20:55,600 --> 00:20:58,439 Speaker 1: a lot of them in rehab or methadone clinics, and 319 00:20:58,480 --> 00:21:02,679 Speaker 1: each one more deadbeat than the last one will call Steve. 320 00:21:03,400 --> 00:21:06,719 Speaker 1: During their relationship, he throws Kelly down the stairs and 321 00:21:06,760 --> 00:21:07,679 Speaker 1: cracks her ribs. 322 00:21:08,160 --> 00:21:12,640 Speaker 2: I guess they called Ronnie during it, because Ronnie came 323 00:21:12,640 --> 00:21:16,160 Speaker 2: there with a baseball bat and with my mother also 324 00:21:16,480 --> 00:21:23,199 Speaker 2: in a cab. And when they got there, Ronnie told me, 325 00:21:23,800 --> 00:21:26,639 Speaker 2: he goes, Kelly, you kick the living shit out of 326 00:21:26,680 --> 00:21:27,040 Speaker 2: that guy. 327 00:21:28,640 --> 00:21:30,280 Speaker 1: I said, well, he broke my rib. 328 00:21:30,440 --> 00:21:33,320 Speaker 2: He goes Jesus Christ. He said, I didn't need a 329 00:21:33,359 --> 00:21:36,359 Speaker 2: baseball bat. You should. You know what you did to him? 330 00:21:37,200 --> 00:21:41,879 Speaker 2: I remember his shirt. I ripped his shirt except for 331 00:21:41,920 --> 00:21:45,639 Speaker 2: the bottom, and I think I knocked one of his 332 00:21:45,800 --> 00:21:47,800 Speaker 2: teeth out. 333 00:21:51,640 --> 00:21:54,679 Speaker 1: It's shocking, isn't it to hear someone accused of murder 334 00:21:54,800 --> 00:21:58,480 Speaker 1: so candidly talk about violence. It's something I'm still getting 335 00:21:58,560 --> 00:22:01,200 Speaker 1: used to. It's not what you'd expect from someone who 336 00:22:01,240 --> 00:22:05,840 Speaker 1: describes themselves as a victim. But there are times when 337 00:22:06,040 --> 00:22:11,120 Speaker 1: fighting back is the only way to survive. I've never 338 00:22:11,240 --> 00:22:14,080 Speaker 1: been in a fight in my life, but also I've 339 00:22:14,119 --> 00:22:17,840 Speaker 1: not been raised around fighters. Kelly laughs while telling a 340 00:22:17,880 --> 00:22:21,120 Speaker 1: story that would make me cry. And how lucky am 341 00:22:21,119 --> 00:22:23,320 Speaker 1: I to still be shocked by the violence of it all. 342 00:22:24,760 --> 00:22:30,320 Speaker 1: Back to the shitty boyfriends. There's one we'll call Joe. 343 00:22:31,240 --> 00:22:34,080 Speaker 1: Kelly meets him in rehab and she says he's the 344 00:22:34,080 --> 00:22:35,720 Speaker 1: son of a mob boss. 345 00:22:36,520 --> 00:22:40,880 Speaker 2: The father rented him an apartment in Riverdale. The Bronx, 346 00:22:40,920 --> 00:22:46,359 Speaker 2: which is a beautiful neighborhood, and he asked me if 347 00:22:46,400 --> 00:22:49,040 Speaker 2: I wanted to move in with him, clearly way too fairs, 348 00:22:49,359 --> 00:22:51,679 Speaker 2: But I don't want to come home. I was always 349 00:22:51,680 --> 00:22:57,159 Speaker 2: trying to escape, so I said, hell, yeah, I do. 350 00:23:01,119 --> 00:23:05,359 Speaker 2: And while in rehab, you know, we kissed once. We 351 00:23:05,440 --> 00:23:07,399 Speaker 2: knew we liked one another, but we had to sneak 352 00:23:07,440 --> 00:23:08,960 Speaker 2: a kiss in the launchy room. 353 00:23:09,480 --> 00:23:12,240 Speaker 1: But Kelly, being a good Catholic girl who was taught 354 00:23:12,240 --> 00:23:14,879 Speaker 1: that sex before marriage is a sin, doesn't want to 355 00:23:14,920 --> 00:23:16,200 Speaker 1: move too fast. 356 00:23:16,480 --> 00:23:19,440 Speaker 2: They explained, and moved in with you because it's rough 357 00:23:19,480 --> 00:23:23,240 Speaker 2: at home. So can you please treat me as if 358 00:23:23,440 --> 00:23:28,120 Speaker 2: we are just dating right now. And he's seem okay 359 00:23:28,160 --> 00:23:32,159 Speaker 2: with that, and he was for months, which I was 360 00:23:32,200 --> 00:23:33,240 Speaker 2: so grateful for. 361 00:23:35,200 --> 00:23:38,840 Speaker 1: During this time, Kelly keeps spiraling and falling off the wagon. 362 00:23:39,760 --> 00:23:42,879 Speaker 1: She attempts suicide, but is found in time and taken 363 00:23:42,920 --> 00:23:46,520 Speaker 1: to a hospital. Only her dad comes to see her. 364 00:23:47,880 --> 00:23:50,800 Speaker 1: Not long after. Kelly says she comes home to find 365 00:23:50,880 --> 00:23:52,080 Speaker 1: Joe smoking crack. 366 00:23:53,080 --> 00:23:55,280 Speaker 2: Even though they say a job is a drug is 367 00:23:55,320 --> 00:23:58,040 Speaker 2: a job. I will be honest with you if he 368 00:23:58,160 --> 00:24:00,480 Speaker 2: had disclosed the fact that he was in there for 369 00:24:00,480 --> 00:24:02,719 Speaker 2: a crack. There's no way I would have moved in 370 00:24:02,800 --> 00:24:04,399 Speaker 2: with him, she says. 371 00:24:04,520 --> 00:24:06,320 Speaker 1: Joe then tries to assault her. 372 00:24:06,920 --> 00:24:11,000 Speaker 2: He got my shirt off and I grabbed my cellphone 373 00:24:11,200 --> 00:24:13,960 Speaker 2: and then he took a knife and I ran to 374 00:24:14,040 --> 00:24:19,480 Speaker 2: the bathroom. I locked myself in. It was like a nightmare, literally, 375 00:24:19,760 --> 00:24:25,520 Speaker 2: because the knife was slowly coming through the door. Don't 376 00:24:25,560 --> 00:24:30,560 Speaker 2: ask me why. I call Ronnie, Poor Ronnie. He's in 377 00:24:30,600 --> 00:24:35,000 Speaker 2: a story. I'm in the Bronx. He's like, oh my god, 378 00:24:35,040 --> 00:24:36,800 Speaker 2: call nine one one, you know. 379 00:24:37,720 --> 00:24:41,880 Speaker 1: Unfortunately for Kelly, the police an't much help to her anyway. 380 00:24:42,680 --> 00:24:45,439 Speaker 2: He told me in the past that because of his father, 381 00:24:46,040 --> 00:24:48,359 Speaker 2: because of how powerful he is, he said that he 382 00:24:48,480 --> 00:24:52,359 Speaker 2: had almost the whole precinct paid off. And I was like, 383 00:24:52,680 --> 00:24:55,760 Speaker 2: this kid is so exaggerating whatever. He just wants me 384 00:24:55,800 --> 00:24:59,680 Speaker 2: to think that's cool, and I don't. And when the 385 00:24:59,760 --> 00:25:05,280 Speaker 2: guy he's got there the officers, I heard, Hey, what's up? 386 00:25:05,400 --> 00:25:08,879 Speaker 2: And then I heard him slapping five with two of them, 387 00:25:10,200 --> 00:25:15,240 Speaker 2: and I felt my heart sink. I hear whisper. I 388 00:25:15,320 --> 00:25:17,960 Speaker 2: opened the door. When they knocked on the door, they 389 00:25:17,960 --> 00:25:24,520 Speaker 2: put me in handcuffs. Immediately, what the hell it? Where's 390 00:25:24,560 --> 00:25:26,080 Speaker 2: a justice? 391 00:25:26,280 --> 00:25:29,880 Speaker 1: Then she meets someone who she thinks is finally going 392 00:25:29,920 --> 00:25:33,200 Speaker 1: to give her the fairytale romance she's been waiting for. 393 00:25:36,880 --> 00:25:40,280 Speaker 1: It's late spring twenty ten. Kelly and some other people 394 00:25:40,320 --> 00:25:43,240 Speaker 1: from the methadone program are hanging out in Union Square 395 00:25:43,280 --> 00:25:47,119 Speaker 1: Park at their usual spot near fourteenth Street, when she 396 00:25:47,240 --> 00:25:50,240 Speaker 1: notices there's a new face in the crowd. 397 00:25:52,680 --> 00:25:55,760 Speaker 2: There is nothing that made me think that he was 398 00:25:56,080 --> 00:26:01,520 Speaker 2: on methodone, because he was very clean shaven, very handsome, 399 00:26:02,880 --> 00:26:06,480 Speaker 2: and I was instantly attracted to him. 400 00:26:06,720 --> 00:26:08,480 Speaker 1: She hears he's got quite the reputation. 401 00:26:09,160 --> 00:26:15,080 Speaker 2: Everyone knew him as pissed Off Christoph because he was 402 00:26:15,119 --> 00:26:20,360 Speaker 2: always pissed off at someone. Right away, I was like, okay, yeah, nice, anyway, 403 00:26:20,400 --> 00:26:27,639 Speaker 2: what's your real name? And he told me Tommy. I said, okay, 404 00:26:27,680 --> 00:26:30,880 Speaker 2: well I'll be calling you Tommy and he's like, no, 405 00:26:31,000 --> 00:26:34,000 Speaker 2: don't call me that in front of people. Oh we 406 00:26:34,119 --> 00:26:36,560 Speaker 2: got games going. I said, okay, so I have to 407 00:26:36,560 --> 00:26:38,639 Speaker 2: call you Christoph when we're around people. 408 00:26:38,760 --> 00:26:42,320 Speaker 1: But then we all know that the combination of clean cut, 409 00:26:42,320 --> 00:26:45,960 Speaker 1: good looks and a bad boy edge is powerful. So 410 00:26:46,000 --> 00:26:50,119 Speaker 1: it's no surprise that Kelly falls for Tommy Fast. 411 00:26:50,600 --> 00:26:58,200 Speaker 2: I'm very much emotionally distraught person, just looking and desperate 412 00:26:58,400 --> 00:27:01,199 Speaker 2: for love. I thought he was like my hero, my 413 00:27:01,320 --> 00:27:04,639 Speaker 2: nine names, shining armor. He could protect me and he 414 00:27:04,800 --> 00:27:07,200 Speaker 2: provided me with what I thought was love. 415 00:27:11,040 --> 00:27:13,600 Speaker 1: The early dates play out like a montage in a 416 00:27:13,680 --> 00:27:14,640 Speaker 1: nineties rom com. 417 00:27:15,280 --> 00:27:17,800 Speaker 2: We would go out to dinner, we wanted to see 418 00:27:17,800 --> 00:27:22,119 Speaker 2: the Statue of Liberty. We would take tours of Manhattan 419 00:27:22,160 --> 00:27:24,720 Speaker 2: as if we were sightseers. So I had so much 420 00:27:24,760 --> 00:27:28,320 Speaker 2: fonn with him. He was so spontaneous, which was so cool. 421 00:27:28,600 --> 00:27:30,480 Speaker 2: It was just like, I'll see you at this time 422 00:27:30,800 --> 00:27:34,359 Speaker 2: and then we'll figure it out. And I love that 423 00:27:34,440 --> 00:27:37,080 Speaker 2: about him, So spontaneous and so exciting. 424 00:27:37,320 --> 00:27:42,359 Speaker 1: Tommy isn't like the other guys, Kelly stated. He's cool, fun, 425 00:27:42,720 --> 00:27:45,600 Speaker 1: incredibly sweet to her, but he can also keep up 426 00:27:45,600 --> 00:27:48,840 Speaker 1: with her intellectually. He often tells Kelly to meet him 427 00:27:48,840 --> 00:27:50,840 Speaker 1: in the bookshop Bonds and Noble. 428 00:27:51,840 --> 00:27:55,280 Speaker 2: He was by far the smartest guy I have ever dated. 429 00:27:56,240 --> 00:28:00,000 Speaker 2: His intelligence made me full head over heels in life. 430 00:28:00,480 --> 00:28:04,879 Speaker 2: For him, there's nothing more attractive than an intelligent man. 431 00:28:06,400 --> 00:28:10,440 Speaker 1: But during their romantic bookshop dates, Kelly starts to notice 432 00:28:10,560 --> 00:28:15,640 Speaker 1: that there's one section Tommy seems particularly interested in, in. 433 00:28:15,600 --> 00:28:22,360 Speaker 2: The true crime section. I was like, what is this fascination? 434 00:28:23,119 --> 00:28:30,040 Speaker 2: He bought them all the time, and then he was 435 00:28:30,240 --> 00:28:36,800 Speaker 2: ripping pages out of the books and like cutting things out, 436 00:28:36,920 --> 00:28:42,440 Speaker 2: and that was getting a little creepy. 437 00:28:43,200 --> 00:28:47,480 Speaker 1: Kelly rationalizes her weird feeling away. Tommy's a smart guy. 438 00:28:47,920 --> 00:28:52,960 Speaker 1: Maybe this is just some intellectual exercise. Plus, who doesn't 439 00:28:53,040 --> 00:28:57,040 Speaker 1: like a bit of true crime right anyway, Compared to 440 00:28:57,080 --> 00:29:00,320 Speaker 1: her past boyfriends, Tommy still seems like an night and 441 00:29:00,360 --> 00:29:04,960 Speaker 1: shining armor. But back at the park, Kelly starts to see, yes, 442 00:29:05,000 --> 00:29:10,720 Speaker 1: another side to Tommy, one that she can't explain away. 443 00:29:11,320 --> 00:29:16,240 Speaker 2: I've seen him assault people as if it was a sport. 444 00:29:16,320 --> 00:29:18,400 Speaker 2: He thought it was funny that he knew how to 445 00:29:18,480 --> 00:29:20,520 Speaker 2: choke people out and then they would come back to 446 00:29:21,160 --> 00:29:25,000 Speaker 2: like a few seconds. I was like, but what if 447 00:29:25,040 --> 00:29:41,680 Speaker 2: they don't. There's always a fine line between like being 448 00:29:41,680 --> 00:29:45,120 Speaker 2: a genius and also being crazy. Sometimes you could be 449 00:29:45,160 --> 00:29:47,760 Speaker 2: crazy in a quirky way. Sometimes you could be a 450 00:29:47,840 --> 00:29:51,080 Speaker 2: flat out cycle path And unfortunately, in this case, that's 451 00:29:51,080 --> 00:29:51,640 Speaker 2: what it was. 452 00:29:55,000 --> 00:29:58,320 Speaker 1: It's early summer in twenty ten and Tommy is standing 453 00:29:58,360 --> 00:30:03,080 Speaker 1: in Kelly's courtyard. The building wraps around him, windows glinting 454 00:30:03,160 --> 00:30:08,600 Speaker 1: in the sunlight. He's screaming for Kelly. Neighbors start appearing 455 00:30:08,760 --> 00:30:12,480 Speaker 1: in the windows, wondering what Kelly's new shithead boyfriend is 456 00:30:12,520 --> 00:30:13,520 Speaker 1: doing this time. 457 00:30:14,080 --> 00:30:15,760 Speaker 3: One day they got into a fight and I told 458 00:30:15,760 --> 00:30:17,600 Speaker 3: my mom I was going out there to help her. 459 00:30:18,160 --> 00:30:20,880 Speaker 1: This is Laurie, Kelly's childhood friend and neighbor. 460 00:30:21,320 --> 00:30:22,760 Speaker 3: You know, I yelled, Kelly, is she okay? 461 00:30:23,240 --> 00:30:24,960 Speaker 1: But Kelly just waves Lorie off. 462 00:30:25,280 --> 00:30:26,840 Speaker 5: We called the police. We tried to get her to 463 00:30:26,880 --> 00:30:29,240 Speaker 5: stay in the house. Many times he was over here 464 00:30:29,360 --> 00:30:31,400 Speaker 5: throwing rocks at the windows and stuff like that. 465 00:30:32,000 --> 00:30:35,240 Speaker 1: This is Eileen, Laurie's mom and the matriarch of the 466 00:30:35,280 --> 00:30:36,040 Speaker 1: apartment block. 467 00:30:37,320 --> 00:30:39,760 Speaker 5: He always had this call stare, and he always looked 468 00:30:39,880 --> 00:30:42,719 Speaker 5: argue with anybody like. People say good morning to him 469 00:30:42,720 --> 00:30:44,720 Speaker 5: and he would just say he he had to jump 470 00:30:44,840 --> 00:30:47,800 Speaker 5: right in. My brother one time was getting out of 471 00:30:47,840 --> 00:30:51,200 Speaker 5: the car and my brother's know Kelly from growing up too, Hi, 472 00:30:51,360 --> 00:30:54,000 Speaker 5: Kelly Hawaii. He started arguing with my brother and my 473 00:30:54,040 --> 00:30:56,640 Speaker 5: brother said, what are you doing? I'm saying, kid, what's 474 00:30:56,640 --> 00:31:00,400 Speaker 5: wrong with you? It was like Kelly was his POSSESSI. 475 00:31:03,320 --> 00:31:06,000 Speaker 1: Kelly and Tommy have barely been together for two months, 476 00:31:06,520 --> 00:31:10,440 Speaker 1: but already he's managed to scare, threaten, and offend everyone 477 00:31:10,520 --> 00:31:14,440 Speaker 1: in her life, all while his grip on Kelly becomes 478 00:31:14,560 --> 00:31:19,200 Speaker 1: tighter and tighter. Tommy also threatens a friend of Lorrie's 479 00:31:19,440 --> 00:31:21,640 Speaker 1: with a knife he's hidden under a trash can near 480 00:31:21,720 --> 00:31:25,280 Speaker 1: Kelly's apartment, just because she was gay. 481 00:31:25,520 --> 00:31:28,160 Speaker 5: Another time, I was on a bus a city boss 482 00:31:28,680 --> 00:31:30,840 Speaker 5: and Kelly happened to be on the bus and he 483 00:31:30,920 --> 00:31:33,200 Speaker 5: started like pulling her hair and really choking on then 484 00:31:33,240 --> 00:31:36,000 Speaker 5: he tore it to the floor. I told the bus 485 00:31:36,080 --> 00:31:39,440 Speaker 5: driver stopped this bus. Me and him started arguing. He says, 486 00:31:39,440 --> 00:31:41,320 Speaker 5: you're not taking her anywhere, and he was dragging and 487 00:31:41,320 --> 00:31:44,080 Speaker 5: I said, Kelly, what the hell, this is not right. 488 00:31:44,120 --> 00:31:46,440 Speaker 5: I mean, he had her on the floor, and you know, 489 00:31:46,520 --> 00:31:48,680 Speaker 5: I called the police and and by the time the 490 00:31:48,720 --> 00:31:52,760 Speaker 5: police came, he was gone. So I spoke to Kelly's mother. 491 00:31:53,120 --> 00:31:55,479 Speaker 5: I said, listen, something's going to be done. But he 492 00:31:55,560 --> 00:31:57,600 Speaker 5: was dangerous because the man always carried a knife. He 493 00:31:57,720 --> 00:32:00,440 Speaker 5: always said something. She said, There's nothing you can do. 494 00:32:01,520 --> 00:32:04,040 Speaker 5: He didn't want Kelly go home anymore. But I don't 495 00:32:04,040 --> 00:32:05,880 Speaker 5: think it was the point that Kelly was staying with him. 496 00:32:05,920 --> 00:32:08,160 Speaker 5: I think she was afraid to walk away from him. 497 00:32:11,280 --> 00:32:14,239 Speaker 1: One day, Tommy asked Kelly whether she'd care if her 498 00:32:14,280 --> 00:32:15,160 Speaker 1: mom went missing. 499 00:32:17,720 --> 00:32:21,880 Speaker 2: Now I'm scared to death. I have to stay with him. 500 00:32:22,320 --> 00:32:25,560 Speaker 2: It's not just me anymore now, it's my whole family. 501 00:32:26,000 --> 00:32:28,840 Speaker 2: Because if he's talking about getting rid of my mother, 502 00:32:30,520 --> 00:32:32,920 Speaker 2: what about my brother? He knows that I love my 503 00:32:33,040 --> 00:32:35,720 Speaker 2: brother so much because I had tried to leave him 504 00:32:35,720 --> 00:32:39,120 Speaker 2: a couple of times, but he was stuck me. Now 505 00:32:39,240 --> 00:32:41,680 Speaker 2: I was stuck with him because I had to keep 506 00:32:41,680 --> 00:32:42,600 Speaker 2: my family safe. 507 00:32:48,360 --> 00:32:51,200 Speaker 1: By this point, Kelly knows how dangerous it can be 508 00:32:51,320 --> 00:32:54,800 Speaker 1: to stand up to Tommy. He's huge, built like a 509 00:32:54,800 --> 00:32:58,280 Speaker 1: brick shit house, and he's much much stronger than she is. 510 00:32:59,280 --> 00:33:01,760 Speaker 1: He's already her her more times than she can count, 511 00:33:02,320 --> 00:33:06,000 Speaker 1: threatened to kill her and her family. He's dangerous to 512 00:33:06,000 --> 00:33:11,040 Speaker 1: be around, but even more dangerous to leave. Kelly, like 513 00:33:11,160 --> 00:33:14,760 Speaker 1: so many women who've been in her same situation, becomes 514 00:33:14,800 --> 00:33:19,880 Speaker 1: increasingly isolated, cut off from her family and friends, which 515 00:33:19,920 --> 00:33:23,960 Speaker 1: is exactly where Tommy wants her. He even tells Kelly 516 00:33:24,080 --> 00:33:26,960 Speaker 1: that they can't go near the methadone program. He's been 517 00:33:27,000 --> 00:33:29,200 Speaker 1: fighting with people who hang out in the park next 518 00:33:29,240 --> 00:33:31,280 Speaker 1: to the program, and he doesn't want to show his 519 00:33:31,360 --> 00:33:36,320 Speaker 1: face so neither can she. For three days, he stops 520 00:33:36,360 --> 00:33:39,120 Speaker 1: her from getting the medicine she needs to properly function. 521 00:33:40,200 --> 00:33:43,000 Speaker 2: I said, well, I'm going because I can't. I'm going 522 00:33:43,040 --> 00:33:47,200 Speaker 2: to be sick, and he said no, not no, not no, 523 00:33:47,400 --> 00:33:49,880 Speaker 2: not like we had a big fight, like I was 524 00:33:49,880 --> 00:33:51,959 Speaker 2: trying to get on the train, he was pushing me around. 525 00:33:52,600 --> 00:33:55,880 Speaker 1: Kelly doesn't go to the clinic because, as she told me, 526 00:33:56,400 --> 00:33:59,320 Speaker 1: she knew she wasn't going to make it there. I've 527 00:33:59,360 --> 00:34:01,360 Speaker 1: not really been able to figure out if she meant 528 00:34:01,440 --> 00:34:05,480 Speaker 1: back casually like that was a losing argument or fatalistically. 529 00:34:06,280 --> 00:34:10,600 Speaker 1: I imagine it's both. In any case, Tommy gets his 530 00:34:10,640 --> 00:34:12,359 Speaker 1: way as usual. 531 00:34:13,280 --> 00:34:15,080 Speaker 3: Like when she was with him, she wouldn't really want 532 00:34:15,120 --> 00:34:17,759 Speaker 3: to interact with us, which I found funny because we 533 00:34:17,800 --> 00:34:20,239 Speaker 3: always had a pack. No man or nobody can come 534 00:34:20,280 --> 00:34:23,200 Speaker 3: into your life and take away of friendship. But she 535 00:34:23,280 --> 00:34:25,799 Speaker 3: was never somebody that wanted people to be concerned about her. 536 00:34:26,480 --> 00:34:28,919 Speaker 3: Kelly was always just independent and wanted to do things 537 00:34:28,920 --> 00:34:31,680 Speaker 3: her way, and that's why she started living in the park. 538 00:34:35,120 --> 00:34:37,680 Speaker 1: This is the Kelly Hannett that walked into a Storia 539 00:34:37,719 --> 00:34:41,719 Speaker 1: park that night in July twenty ten, A woman who 540 00:34:41,760 --> 00:34:45,880 Speaker 1: witnessed extreme violence and dysfunction at home as a child, 541 00:34:46,160 --> 00:34:49,960 Speaker 1: who then experienced it herself over and over again in 542 00:34:49,960 --> 00:34:55,000 Speaker 1: increasing intensity throughout each one of her romantic relationships. A 543 00:34:55,040 --> 00:34:58,160 Speaker 1: woman who had experienced sexual abuse as a teenager, who 544 00:34:58,200 --> 00:35:01,719 Speaker 1: then attempted to take her own life multiple times, who 545 00:35:01,800 --> 00:35:05,080 Speaker 1: fell deeper and deeper into a year's long addiction as 546 00:35:05,120 --> 00:35:08,440 Speaker 1: she tried to medicate through all the pain, who was 547 00:35:08,480 --> 00:35:11,160 Speaker 1: held back from her methadone dose by the most violent 548 00:35:11,280 --> 00:35:15,200 Speaker 1: of all her partners. A woman who then watched that 549 00:35:15,320 --> 00:35:18,880 Speaker 1: same partner choke another man to death right in front 550 00:35:18,920 --> 00:35:24,560 Speaker 1: of her. This is why Kelly calls herself a victim, 551 00:35:24,800 --> 00:35:29,120 Speaker 1: and I do too. It seems so painfully obvious to 552 00:35:29,200 --> 00:35:32,600 Speaker 1: me that Kelly's volatile childhood set her on a path 553 00:35:32,680 --> 00:35:37,000 Speaker 1: where she would come crashing into Tommy, who undoubtedly was 554 00:35:37,040 --> 00:35:51,120 Speaker 1: then extremely controlling, coercive, and violently abusive towards her. So 555 00:35:51,160 --> 00:35:53,520 Speaker 1: we know what brought Kelly to the point of the murder. 556 00:35:54,360 --> 00:35:57,680 Speaker 1: But now it's time for the next question, how does 557 00:35:57,719 --> 00:36:01,560 Speaker 1: she end up in prison? For it to answer that, 558 00:36:02,239 --> 00:36:04,040 Speaker 1: we need to go back to a story a park. 559 00:36:08,400 --> 00:36:12,279 Speaker 1: It's around four am on July seventh, Angel Vargas is 560 00:36:12,320 --> 00:36:16,560 Speaker 1: dead and police are quickly arriving on the scene. First 561 00:36:16,600 --> 00:36:18,640 Speaker 1: they focus on Tommy. 562 00:36:18,800 --> 00:36:21,239 Speaker 2: There was a fifteen of them that jumped on him, 563 00:36:21,440 --> 00:36:23,920 Speaker 2: and I felt such a sigh of relief, and I 564 00:36:24,080 --> 00:36:28,120 Speaker 2: just waited there like on a curb, waiting, waiting, waiting. 565 00:36:30,120 --> 00:36:32,120 Speaker 1: But then they turned to Kelly. 566 00:36:32,920 --> 00:36:39,759 Speaker 2: They put me a haircuffs and I was confused, but 567 00:36:39,960 --> 00:36:42,799 Speaker 2: then I said, well, this is probably prolocore. 568 00:36:43,800 --> 00:36:47,839 Speaker 1: The police put Kelly into a car and then they 569 00:36:47,880 --> 00:36:55,000 Speaker 1: read her her Miranda rights, and that's when she realizes 570 00:36:56,000 --> 00:36:59,960 Speaker 1: she's not being taken in as a witness. She's a suspect. 571 00:37:01,840 --> 00:37:05,959 Speaker 2: This bat This is very bit. 572 00:37:10,840 --> 00:37:14,600 Speaker 1: Next time, on the girlfriend's Joe House lawyer, the police 573 00:37:14,600 --> 00:37:17,160 Speaker 1: build their case against Kelly. 574 00:37:18,880 --> 00:37:21,320 Speaker 4: She's like, Kelly, you got arrested for murder. 575 00:37:21,880 --> 00:37:26,600 Speaker 2: Disgusting pigs. I have absolutely no respect for them. I 576 00:37:26,600 --> 00:37:28,560 Speaker 2: didn't even fucking commit this crime. 577 00:37:28,760 --> 00:37:31,680 Speaker 1: Who's the victim? I think everybody's the victim. 578 00:37:32,080 --> 00:37:34,880 Speaker 2: You have to think of the domestic violence aspect and 579 00:37:34,960 --> 00:37:38,960 Speaker 2: not the truth finding aspect. The domestic violence aspect of 580 00:37:39,000 --> 00:37:41,560 Speaker 2: the matter is that I was afraid of Tommy. 581 00:37:42,160 --> 00:37:44,400 Speaker 1: No, I'm not gonna worry about going to kick someone. 582 00:37:44,840 --> 00:37:45,960 Speaker 1: I adopted what. 583 00:37:46,040 --> 00:37:53,000 Speaker 2: They stated, so they leave me the fuck alone. 584 00:38:06,120 --> 00:38:10,719 Speaker 1: The Girlfriend's Gelhouse Lawyer is produced by Novel for iHeart Podcasts. 585 00:38:11,280 --> 00:38:15,359 Speaker 1: For more from novel, visit novel dot Audio. The show 586 00:38:15,440 --> 00:38:18,719 Speaker 1: is hosted by me Annisonfield and is written and produced 587 00:38:18,760 --> 00:38:22,480 Speaker 1: by me and Lee Meyer, with additional production from Jako 588 00:38:22,600 --> 00:38:26,960 Speaker 1: Taivich and Michael Jinno. Our assistant producer is Madeline Parr. 589 00:38:27,360 --> 00:38:32,080 Speaker 1: The editors are Georgia Moody and me Annasinfield. Production management 590 00:38:32,120 --> 00:38:35,799 Speaker 1: from Sie Houston and Joe Savage. Our fact checker is 591 00:38:35,880 --> 00:38:40,920 Speaker 1: Daniel Suleiman. Sound design, mixing and scoring by Daniel Kempson 592 00:38:41,000 --> 00:38:45,640 Speaker 1: and Nicholas Alexander. Music supervision by me alis Infield, Lee 593 00:38:45,680 --> 00:38:50,640 Speaker 1: Meyer and Nicholas Alexander. Original music composed by Nicholas Alexander, 594 00:38:50,880 --> 00:38:55,440 Speaker 1: Daniel Kempson and Louisa Gerstein. Story development by Willard Foxton. 595 00:38:55,640 --> 00:38:59,239 Speaker 1: Creative director of Novel, Max O'Brien and Craig Strachan are 596 00:38:59,400 --> 00:39:03,400 Speaker 1: executive producers for Novel, and Katrina Norvell and Nikki Etor 597 00:39:03,719 --> 00:39:07,200 Speaker 1: are the executive producers for iHeart Podcasts, and the marketing 598 00:39:07,280 --> 00:39:11,040 Speaker 1: lead is Alison Cantor. Thanks also to Kerry Lieberman and 599 00:39:11,120 --> 00:39:12,920 Speaker 1: the whole team at WME