Dirty John

Dirty John is a true crime podcast based on the life of serial abuser and nurse John Michael Meehan (1959-2016). The podcast is hosted by Christopher Goffard and was created by Wondery and the Los Angeles Times. The first two chapters were launched on October 2, 2017; the following four chapters were released over the following days. The podcast was downloaded over 10 million times within six weeks of release.[2]

Title

The title Dirty John is one of the nicknames John Meehan's classmates gave him during his time at the University of Dayton. Other nicknames from this time included "Filthy John" and "Filthy". The exact origin of these nicknames is never divulged during the podcast.[3]

Synopsis

Dirty John is a true crime story focusing on the life and exploits of John Meehan. Los Angeles Times journalist Christopher Goffard first heard of Meehan when he learned that the police were investigating a possible murder in Newport Beach. Upon investigating, Goffard discovered a bizarre web of deceit and abuse.[4]

The main focus of the story is Meehan's relationship with businesswoman Debra Newell, whom he met via an Internet dating site and married within months, as well as her immediate and extended family. The podcast deals with themes of abuse and manipulation, as well as the behaviors of those being abused.[5]

Meehan was killed by Newell's younger daughter, Terra, who acted in self-defense when he tried to abduct her on the rooftop parking lot of her apartment building on August 20, 2016. He was hospitalized and died on August 24.[6] The story was covered by Dateline NBC on January 12, 2018 and included interviews with Goffard.[7][8][9][10][11][12]

Individuals involved

• Christopher Goffard – the host, a journalist and 2007 Pulitzer Prize finalist in feature writing[13][14]
• John Meehan – the titular "Dirty John"
• Debra Newell – a successful businesswoman looking for love online
• Jacquelyn Newell – Debra's older daughter
• Terra Newell – Debra's younger daughter
• Cash – Terra's dog, a miniature Australian Shepherd
• Shad Vickers – Debra's nephew, the son of her late sister Cindi
• John Dzialo – Attorney
• Tonia Sells – John's first wife

Episodes

Reception

Dirty John proved to be very popular with audiences, and spent over three weeks at the top of the US iTunes podcast charts,[21] whilst also topping the charts in Australia,[22] Canada,[23] and the UK[24] and was downloaded over five million times in three weeks.[25] It was downloaded over 10 million times within six weeks of release,[26] and as of November 23, 2017, is the sixth most downloaded podcasts on iTunes America.[27]

Critical reception was also positive, with the NME calling it "the best true crime podcast since Serial",[28] while The Guardian listed Dirty John as their podcast pick of the week.[29] Dirty John also received positive reviews from Mashable,[30] The New Yorker,[31] Rolling Stone[32] and The Daily Telegraph[33] amongst others.

Vulture.com, meanwhile, praised the story as "stunning" but questioned the necessity of using a podcast as a way to share the story.[34]

Ethical concerns

In the March 13, 2025 episode of the podcast The Dream, Terra Newell discussed with host Jane Marie her experiences with the Dirty John podcast and Dirty John TV series in the wake of the Los Angeles Times series.[35]

According to Newell, while no one from the L.A. Times mentioned doing a podcast when her family first agreed to be interviewed, it seemed clear afterwards that a podcast had been planned well ahead of time. Jean Marie stated that her production company was one of several that were approached to produce the podcast months before the Newells even consented to be interviewed.

Newell stated that Goffard told her that he was making audio recordings of his interviews with the family for his notes, and that the audio was used in the podcast without their consent. She also described the ways in which TV companies and producers took advantage of her professionally, emotionally, and financially during and after the production of the TV series. She stated that while she was paid $100,000 in compensation for use of her story in the TV series, this was far less than what the production companies have made on the hit show.

In response to a request for comment by The Dream, Goffard referred the show to a Los Angeles Times spokesperson, who in turn responded that there was professional audio equipment present when Goffard interviewed Newell, such as a Tascam audio recorder and a boom mic. The spokesperson also stated that since the paper's use of the audio material was for editorial purposes, it hadn't required signed releases.

Television adaptation

A limited series based on the podcast debuted on Bravo on November 25, 2018. It was created, produced, and written by Alexandra Cunningham, and stars Connie Britton and Eric Bana.[36][37][38][39][40][41][42]

See also

• List of American crime podcasts

External links

• Marie, Jean (March 13, 2025). "The Dream: Dirty Dirty John". Little Everywhere.