Betrayal Weekly - Chad | Betrayal Weekly

Episode Date: September 10, 2026

When their home becomes unsafe for his sons, Chad turns to the court for help. But soon, he finds himself questioning whether the system designed to protect families can be trusted at all.  If you would like to share your story, you can reach out to the Betrayal team by emailing us at [e-mail]. You can also find us on Instagram at @betrayalpod and @glasspodcasts. To access our newsletter and additional content and to connect with the Betrayal community, join our Substack at betrayal.substack.com.     If you are currently in crisis, please reach out to organizations that offer immediate support. We are including a few US-based resources here:    988 Lifeline. If you or someone you know is in crisis or need to talk to someone immediately, please call or text 988 – the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline available 24/7/365.   National Domestic Violence Hotline. They offer 24/7 phone and chat support to help you create a personalized safety plan and connect you with local support.   For resources on sexual violence, visit rainn.org/betrayal. You can also get free, confidential, 24/7 support through RAINN’s National Sexual Assault Hotline. Text HOPE to 64673 or call 1-800-656-HOPE.   Every state has a domestic violence coalition. If you’re looking for help in the US, search the web for your state’s domestic violence coalition. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. If you're seeking to try to understand the forensic science behind these cases that we hear about in the news, BodyBags is where you need to turn. There's no fluff. We do a deep dive into the forensics. Listen to BodyBags with Joseph Scott Morgan on America's number one podcast network, IHart. Open your free IHart app and search BodyHart.

bags with Joseph Scott Morkin and start listening. I believe that whoever was in that room and did that was a murderer. A new podcast series, Faultline Haditha, tells the story of a shocking crime and a cover-up at the highest levels of the United States Marine Corps. If you've got five players and you offer immunity to four, you better be right about the fifth because if you're not, then you've just given immunity to your killer. Listen to Faultline Haditha on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

On Big Lives, we take a single cultural icon. People like Jane Fonda, George Michael, Little Richard. And we pull apart the story behind the image. Discovering forgotten interviews that change exactly how we see these giants of our culture. We're here for the messy, the brilliant, the human version of our heroes. I'm Emmanuel Jochi. I'm Kai Right. And this is Big Lives.

Listen to Big Lives on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts. The Bury of 2024, celebrated illustrator and children's book author Patra Mathers and her husband Michael mailed letters to dozens of friends and family members to let them know they had died by suicide. Dear honies, this is goodbye. By the time you get this letter, both Petra and I will be dead. Next stop, Wonderland. Why did they do it? And what did it do to the people they left behind?

Listen to Death of an Artist on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. My mind is racing. We have another person who is absolutely trying to sabotage this. But why? I'm Andrea Gunning and this is Betrayal, a show about the people we trust the most and the deceptions that change everything. Just a note before we begin.

In this episode, we discuss domestic violence and child abuse. Please take care when listening. Today's story came to us from one of our colleagues who works on another glass podcast. It's called Burden of Guilt. Season three of Burden of Guilt is out now. It tells the shocking story of a parent who was willing to destroy a family to get what they wanted. While our colleagues were producing that story, they came across another case with disturbing parallels. When we heard Chad's story, we thought it was about abuse within one family.

But that wasn't where the betrayals ended. It ended up shining the light on alarming corruption. This is Chad Cullum's story. It was 2006 and Chad Cullum was on a road trip. He started at his home in Colorado and drove north. I left in the middle of the night and by the time the sun rose, I was going up through Idaho and over towards Oregon. Chad was 18 years old.

He had been living in his hometown. Colorado Springs. Recently, Chad had been feeling restless. I felt trapped in a small town. I just needed to experience new things and go new places and taste new food. So I thought, what's the furthest place I can go to from here? He immediately thought of Vancouver, Canada. It sounded like a fun road trip destination.

So he got in his car and started driving. And the best way I could describe that car is that it drove like a boat, sluggish movements and the whole thing leaned to the side when you turned. When he got to Seattle, he'd been driving solo for over a day. I am tired, red circles around my eyes, probably my fourth or fifth Red Bull. It started raining hard. So all I could do was just pull over in a parking lot at a 7-Eleven. The next day with Renews,

nude energy, he made it to his final destination, Vancouver. Chad hadn't done any research, and he wasn't sure where to start. So he picked a random street corner, parked his car, and got out, ready to explore. There was a bunch of people outside, and there was an English as a second language school there. The students hanging out on the street noticed Chad wandering around and struck up a conversation. They were all around the same age. They just opened up like, hey, you know, what are you up to? He got into a longer conversation with one student named Misaki.

After talking for a while, she suggested they go grab some food. I thought, all right, you know, let's go do that because, you know, I have no idea where I'm going. We went to Red Robin and got a hamburger. Over hamburgers and fries, Chad and Misaki got to know each other. Misaki told Chad she was just in Vancouver for a summer course. She's from Japan, and her English was pretty good. So, I mean, it's not like she was struggling to communicate.

Misaki was an art history major. That was exciting for Chad, because... I was also in school for 3D animation and computer art. It gave us a lot of common ground to talk about. She was very well-spoken. and seemed really intelligent. Misaki was staying with a host family, but she wasn't getting along with them.

So that night, she stayed with Chad in his hotel room. She stayed there the next night and the next. We spent a lot of time together. We got along very well. They had ventured around Vancouver together. Once, they got on the rung bus and got completely lost. This bus ended up taking us like through the countryside, like two hours or something out of the way. They laughed when they realized they were surrounded by fields, miles away from their original destination.

We didn't really care because we were just enjoying the moment. Watching the sunset from this bus window, she started telling me a lot more about herself, her family, how she grew up, talking about hopes and dreams. Their fling started to become more serious, but both of them were only in Vancouver short term. In fact, Misaki was headed back to Japan at the end of that week. Went to the Vancouver airport and dropped her off. She had bought me this souvenir piggy bank and she wrote on this, visit me in Japan, and she wrote our names on it. Misaki boarded her flight and Chad began the long drive back to Colorado.

They stayed in touch and started dating long distance. I would go to like a 7-Eleven and get an international prepaid phone card and then I would have to call from a pay phone. A month later, Misaki flew to Colorado to visit him. She stayed for a whole month. She was willing to fly across the world to come see me. and spend the money to do it. I felt like, okay, this is really something.

And we both were saying, I love you to each other. They dated long distance for four years and fell deeper in love. The only problem was they were across the world from each other. How do we do this? How do we get her to America? And the only honest answer to that was to get married. They started the process of applying for a K-1 visa to declare their intent to get married. Chad knew he wanted to ask Misaki's dad for his blessing.

So Chad started practicing his Japanese. I would write in English and she would translate into Japanese this multi-page speech. And I did it. I memorized this whole thing. Chad flew to Tokyo and they made the trip out to visit Misaki's dad. They were meeting up in Nassu. a ski resort town an hour and a half outside of Tokyo. As they drove, Misaki warned Chad that her dad was pretty intense.

Chad was getting nervous and kept rehearsing the speech in his head. This is wintertime. It's in the woods, in the snow. And it felt like a horror movie to me because we're driving in darkness. We're going to see how this happens. I can crash and burn, but at least I tried. Finally, they made it to the cabin. And inside is this big wooden table.

And the lights are all like dimmed down. And they're like focused on him like some sort of interrogation room. And he is sitting there smoking and drinking a beer. I sit down. My hands are sweaty. I'm wearing an old suit that didn't really fit me very well. I felt ridiculous. And he kind of just said like, well, go on.

So Chad nervously started reciting his speech. I don't think I got more than maybe a page into my memorization to where he was like, oh, okay, okay, okay, stop, stop, stop. Misaki's father got out a piece of paper and a pencil. Translating through Misaki, he made it clear that he had something important to tell Chad. He explained to me he felt that his daughter was very, very selfish and that she is always trying to run away from her problems. And here she is moving to another country to get married. And he does not feel safe with this idea because she

can't stand on her own two legs. And if I want to marry her, I have to agree to his conditions that she goes to school, that she gets a degree, and that she gets a full-time job. And that she gets a full-time job. Chad had never known Misaki to be selfish. To him, loving her and supporting her was the most obvious thing in the world. And helping her get a job didn't seem like a difficult ask. So I said, I agree to his plan. And he immediately celebrated, he popped open a beer, he handed it to me, and he told me to call him dad, and he called me son, and it was a really, truly wonderful evening. Soon after, Misaki moved to Colorado. They settled in Aurora, an hour away from Chad's parents.

I had been living in an apartment that I had worked hard to secure. Something that I could afford. I had a garage. I had all of the space. And so we were ready. Chad was so excited to have Misaki move in with him. They spent most of their time just the two of them. But sometimes they hung out with Chad's best friend, Anthony.

We worked together for years. We had a department together. Well, basically, it was just the two of us, and we had a pretty good friendship going on. Chad is a pretty private person. But when he did have something on his mind, Anthony was one of the few people he trusted for advice. He was really the only one that I would confide in.

Chad and Misaki settled into their daily routines as a couple. coming back to America went really smoothly. She was happy. A little while later, Misaki got pregnant with their first child. Their baby was born safe and healthy. Chad's parents came to the hospital to meet their grandson. But when they got there, Misaki told Chad, she didn't want to see them. She didn't want anybody around the baby except for her and Chad.

And she didn't make this decision until my parents were literally at the hospital asking to be buzzed in so that they could say congratulations. Chad tried to push back, but Misaki insisted. I had to tell them to go away. And our baby is too sensitive for outside germs. He hung up the phone. This beautiful moment was shrouded in something else. anxiety and tension. My firstborn son has just come into the world

and we're already having an argument about it. Chad took his son into his arms. He's my son. It's a feeling of warmth and happiness. But I could not fight this feeling of, I really hope that he's going to be okay. The first few months of parenting were challenging.

My firstborn would cry and scream really loudly for extended periods of time. It was exhausting, but he was a baby. This was par for the course for parenting. Chad thought he and Misaki would be on the same page about that, but he noticed that she had little compassion for their son. She would say things like, I don't know what his problem is.

Chad was thrown off by comments like that. This little human has a will of its own. This baby's not going to say, I understand that you are busy right now. That became somewhat of a contention point. Chad thought that they would eventually get the hang of parenting as a team. But as the months went by, he only saw Misaki grow increasingly frustrated with their son.

When he'd cry, she got angry. Chad started to feel concerned. He suggested they find a way to take some pressure off of Misaki. I was like, you know what, why don't we put him in daycare? And then you can go back to work. Misaki agreed. I had him go into full-time daycare and I would drop him off and I'd go to work and I'd pick him up when I come home. Chad thought Misaki would be more herself once she had time and space to breathe.

But as their son grew and learned to walk in. talk, Misaki's frustration with him never let up. Their son's distress also didn't lessen as he got older. Even as a toddler, he was still waking up in the middle of the night crying. Chad was concerned and took him to see his pediatrician. I questioned maybe, is it, you know, some developmental disability? No, it was, I mean, he tested fine for all of those things. He was my little buddy. And I, felt so bad that I couldn't understand what was giving him night terrors. It was a challenging time.

Misaki became increasingly emotionally volatile. Every day was just so incredibly stressful. In her conversations with Chad, Misaki started making degrading comments about their son. About how he's just this worthless trash kid. And, you know, he can't even do. anything right. Hearing Misaki speak about their son this way, horrified Chad.

He tried to confront her about it. But when he brought up specific things, she said, Misaki would insist that he was remembering wrong. Misaki wouldn't let the conversation end until Chad agreed with her version of events. I would be followed to bed. I would be followed to the bathroom. I would not be allowed to sleep if I didn't agree.

oftentimes it would be up until two or three o'clock in the morning. This was no longer just bad moods or a short temper. Misaki was verbally abusive. And she was gaslighting Chad when he tried to address it. Soon, Misaki told Chad she wanted to have another kid. My reaction to that was immediately, no, I don't think that that's a good idea. Chad was flailing trying to take care of one kid and stay afloat. in their marriage.

But Misaki didn't listen to his concerns. She stopped taking birth control, and soon, she was pregnant with their second son. When their oldest child was three and a half, their second son was born. And as Chad feared, Misaki's outbursts only got worse. Sometimes I would start to hear a whole lot of yelling coming from another end of the house. And by the time I would get there, whatever was going on, was already over. You know, one of the kids is crying, and she's telling me,

well, he wouldn't do whatever thing I asked him to do. Chad worried about what was happening when he wasn't around, and he didn't trust Misaki to tell him the truth. I started thinking it would probably be a good idea for me to leave my phone recording on the other end of the house so that I can actually find out what's going on. One day, Misaki was spending time with her son in the kitchen, so he left his phone recording audio on the counter.

A little while later, Chad heard his son crying. He rushed back into the kitchen and asked what happened. She wanted him to wash his hands, and he is very young. This is where he's learning to wash his hands. Misaki insisted it was nothing. So I went back upstairs and, I checked the recording, and what I heard on the recording was her telling him that he needs to wash his hands. But then you could hear a smack sound, and he started crying really hard.

Listening back to this recording, Chad felt sick. He never imagined she would lay a hand on their young children. This happened in the spring of 2020, right as the COVID pandemic was escalating. They were confined to their home and isolated from their usual support systems. Chad didn't know what to do. He reached out to his best friend Anthony. He confided in him about Misaki's abuse. Anthony listened, then told him,

Well, make sure you document that, make sure that you have that on paper, or make sure you have that recorded. Because remember, you're the guy. So if anything happens, it's automatically your fault. Chad knew Anthony was right. If he was going to be believed about Misaki's abuse, he would need documentation for his kid's safety and his own credibility. So Chad decided to install security cameras around their house so he could see if she was ever violent with the children. In the meantime, Chad knew Misaki needed professional help. She started going to therapy. But one day after therapy,

Chad and Misaki were sitting in their car when he brought up his concern for their son. And she just punched me on the side of the head, which completely caught me out of nowhere. And she was free. This incredible anger was on her face. And I was in shock. The pandemic limited his options.

Chad needed to figure out next steps. In the meantime, he felt like the best thing he could do was just be present for his sons. During this time, Misaki became increasingly physically abusive with Chad. She started throwing things, like big things. She put a hole in the drywall by throwing my oldest son's water bottle. She threw some dishes. She threw a ream of tape at me as I was walking up the stairs

and hit me in the back of the leg and it caused it to buckle. and when I fell down the stairs. Misaki's abuse and gaslighting continued to escalate. Until one afternoon, Chad had enough. He told Misaki he knew she'd been lying to him. Hearing this, Misaki snapped. They were at a drive-thru to get coffee. All of a sudden, she opened the door, jumped out of the car, and ran off.

Chad was stunned and scared. He didn't know where she went. All he could do was go home. Finally, Misaki came back to the house. I sat down on the ground, and I started trying to talk to her. She then went over and grabbed a rock about the size of the football and just threw it at me. It missed.

She walked up. She pushed me over. She grabbed a water bottle, beat me with the water bottle, grabbed her keys and while she was grabbing her keys she just punched me right in the face. Chad was in survival mode, trying to keep him and his kids safe.

He was at the store one day with his son when he received an alarming text. Misaki said that if he didn't come home with her son immediately, she was going to call the police and report him for kidnapping. Chad was scared. He decided to call the police himself

to explain what was really happening. It told them about Misaki's escalating abuse and described the incident where she attacked him on their front lawn. In that moment, it dawned on him that the security cameras he'd installed might have captured that incident. He immediately checked the footage. And sure enough, there was like three hours of the whole situation unfolding.

It was just all right there on camera. This was the first time that I had ever gotten anything on camera that showed what she has done. When the officer saw the footage, he jumped into action. The police went to their house to arrest Misaki. That day, Misaki Colum was arrested for assault and battery. There was like this part of me that was this sense of relief. But there was this other part of me.

It was a sense of anxiety. like, what does this mean? What's going to happen from here? She had to spend the night in jail. And apparently she was calling around looking for someone to bail her out. Chad focused his energy on taking care of his kids. Then his phone rang. It was his best friend Anthony.

Chad was relieved to hear from him and quickly picked up. And he's like, what's going on? I hear Misaki's in jail. What happened? he was one of the first people that she reached out to to ask for help. Chad was surprised to hear this. I wasn't aware of them being like really good friends or anything like that. Not only had Misaki called Anthony, he had gone to jail and bailed her out.

Chad was shocked. Anthony knew how dangerous she was. Misaki was facing multiple domestic violence charges, including assault, battery, property damage, and reckless endangerment. Chad and his attorney filed for a protection order, and the court quickly understood the need. Every single thing that came up, she would admit to what had happened,

but try to justify it. And so the court just like pans down, like, oh yeah, we absolutely need to have a protection order. She is not safe. Authorities were looking for Misaki. So they could serve her with a protection order to legally bar Misaki from making unsupervised contact with Chad or the kids. But no one knew where Misaki was. She just completely went dark.

She basically just went into hiding. And so we were really out of loss. Then, Anthony reached back out to Chad. And he was like, oh, hey, Misaki forgot a few things. And she was wondering if she can come by and pick some stuff. stuff up. And I'm like, why is she communicating through you to me? She had an attorney. I had an attorney. That was just very odd to me. Chad agreed to let her pick up some things if she was escorted by a police officer. But in the end, it was Anthony who came to the house with the cop.

Chad was confused. He asked Anthony where Misaki was. He was like, I have no idea. She just tells me to meet her at the end of the street, so I do. After Anthony left, Chad had an idea. Misaki was still on his phone plan. So he checked the call logs. He saw that Misaki had been calling Anthony every single day. Oh, Anthony knows a lot more than he is telling me. And I thought, you know what?

I'll go see him and just talk to him face to face. I felt like somewhere in there is still my friend. So Chad drove over to Anthony's house. And as soon as I drove into this little street, I could see at a distance him coming out of his garage. It was both of them standing together, getting out of his car. And that was the moment I found out they were living together. The music you love. Your favorite radio stations.

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The Forensic Science Behind these cases that we hear about in the news. Body bags is where you need to turn. There's no fluff. We do a deep dive into the forensics. Listen to body bags with Joseph Scott Morgan on America's number one podcast network, iHeart. Open your free iHeart app and search body bags with Joseph Scott Morgan and start listening. Hey, what's up? I'm Tony Gonzalez. And I'm October Gonzalez, but you can call me Toby. We want you to join us on our new podcast, No Safe Words with October and Tony Gonzalez. We get real about marriage, parenthood, sex, divorce, and all the nitty-gritty stuff we all think about, but just

don't say out loud. I hate that job. You're probably just going to meet with some rich guy and he's going to whisk you away and I'll never see you again and, oh, wow. Would you say a D-less actor? D? I don't even know there's this thing as D. No, no, no. I mean like, I can't even get on the C-list. Like, I'm not even average. I'm not even passing. I'm failing. Listen to a No Safe Words with October and Tony Gonzalez, part of My Culture Podcast Network, available on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. A shocking crime and a cover-up at the highest levels of the United States Marine Corps. Someone opened the door and was the primary shooter.

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If you've got five players and one of them is guilty of murder at least, and you offer immunity to the other four, you better be right about the fifth. Because if you're not, then you've just given immunity to your kill. Listen to Faultline Haditha on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. After Misaki's arrest, Chad was trying to get full custody of his kids and divorced Misaki. He was also dealing with a betrayal from his best friend, who was not only protecting Misaki, but it seemed in a relationship with her. They were actually living together at that point. I was really angry about it. After these years of him being supportive, he was going behind my back to try to help save her.

It was like all along either he didn't believe me or he didn't care. The protection order against Misaki went through. The judge ruled that it was not safe for the kids to be around Misaki unsupervised. So in the meantime, while their custody case was in process, the kids would live with Chad full time. He loved being with his kids. Things were finally calm at home. Dinner time was dinner time. Playtime was playtime. It's like they were relieved. But the decision to have full custody wasn't up to Chad. The courts would need to decide that, and it would take a while. Misaki wanted to see the kids, so she started working with a court-ordered supervisor to facilitate supervised visits.

The court decided that their custody case would require a designated parental responsibilities evaluator, or PRE. PREs are licensed mental health professionals that assess high-conflict custody cases. They are considered the investigative arm of the court. They actually come back and say to the court, I have reviewed everything. Here are the best recommendations that I think that should be taken for the kids. Chad was relieved to have a professional on board who would take the time to understand the situation in depth. The PRE, the court assigned, was named Shannon McShane.

My attorney said, hey, I've worked with this PRE before, just so that you're aware. She's very non-conventional, and she has a tendency to ask questions that are very hard-hitting to try to get the truth out of you. But his attorney assured him, Even though Shannon McShane could be intense, she was good at what she did. She was a licensed clinical psychologist with years of experience.

She had another client that was talking to her, and she did a really great job on their report, so I highly recommend her. Chad was grateful for the heads up. Shannon McShane reached out to him, and they scheduled their first meeting. It was over Zoom. Chad mentally prepared himself for some hard-hitting questions and joined the call. He was greeted by a woman with blonde hair cut into a bob with a tight smile, Shannon McShane. Just as his attorney had said, Shannon was intense.

She started grilling him right away. She was just calling me a liar on everything that I had been through. And I asked her, like, have you seen the evidence? She's like, yeah, I have seen the evidence. And I think you know exactly what to say in order to try to game the system. And I'm on to you. And then she would like stop. Be like, I'm just doing that just to see if you're telling the truth.

I can see you're telling the truth. I appreciate it. I'm sorry. I'm being so hard and so rough on you. And it would just go back and forth like this. It was as if I was being interrogated for a crime. Chad took a deep breath and tried to stay calm. His attorney had told him about Shannon's approach, but he didn't expect it to be this personal.

She's invalidating everything I've been through. She's telling me that it's all a lie, even though I had hard evidence recording. It really did hit me hard. I cried on that call, and Shannon McShane told me, oh, don't give me your crocodile tears. He tried to be as polite and cordial as possible, despite the fact that she was pretending the abuse he experienced wasn't real. This is a person who has the power by the state of Colorado to literally just say, take his kids away. And they'll just do it. It's not that they have the power to order it, but they're so influential that almost always the judge will just be like, oh, okay.

Eventually, the call ended. Chad tried to regulate his emotions. I got through that. So, you know, it's going to be okay from here on out, right? that was the hard part. After their initial Zoom call, Shannon started setting up interviews with Chad and Misaki's family members.

Shannon went to Chad's parents' house to conduct an interview. After she left, they called Chad and filled him in. According to my parents, she was very boastful about herself and her abilities and how incredibly amazing she is at being a analytical psychotherapist.

Talked about how she was. She has been on all of these really important investigations and that she has talked to supposedly some murderer who threw their bodies in a wood chipper and an axe murderer. It seemed like a strange thing to boast about. But the interviews with his parents and kids had gone smoothly, and that was all Chad cared about. After that visit, Chad didn't hear from Shannon for two months.

In February, she popped back up again. She sent him a psychological evaluation. I answer it, and I send it back. Shortly after that, she was like, I'd like to schedule a visit with you in your home. Can I come see you? It's like, sure. That's fine.

Chad's kids were in school during the day, so they'd have the space to talk openly on their own. When she showed up to the house, I go and I open the door. Shannon was standing on the doorstep. flipping through his mail. And she's pretending like she's reading it. She's this big investigative person, right? She's investigating.

And she walks inside the house and she's looking around. And this is like a typical Peary thing, is that they're supposed to see your place of residence? Is it safe? Chad followed her inside. He was ready to show her the whole house. But Shannon didn't look around for very long. She kind of walks in very briefly

and then turns around and this quickly tells me, so I've been talking to your coworkers, and they say that you're a bit of a weirdo. The very first thing that goes through my head was, what co-workers? Chad had been working from home since COVID. His co-workers didn't live locally.

They'd never hung out. My co-workers were located anywhere between New York to Ireland. So like, who did she talk to? So I said, what co-workers? And she said, you're co-workers, you know the ones. They said that you're a weirdo, that you're really strange, and that they're actually afraid of you. I said, well, if by co-workers, you mean you're talking to Anthony. He used to be my boss, and he is now her partner and boyfriend.

So if you're talking to him, that is incredibly. biased information. But Shannon wasn't interested in hearing him out. She cleared her throat. Let me just cut to the chase that you are both very hurt people. You have both been through a lot. And I think that most likely the way that this is going to end is that you're both going to have 50-50.

50-50 custody. The words wrong in Chad's ears. Immediately it's like emotional override. Wait, what are you saying? This couldn't be right. A judge had already ruled that their kids couldn't be around Misaki, unsupervised. It wasn't safe. Chad was desperate, but he tried to stay calm.

My voice was shaking at this point. I said, I respect your opinion. But have you looked through the protection order hearing? Have you looked through the evidence of things that's happened? But Shannon wasn't listening. She was gathering her things and getting ready to leave. She starts heading towards the door. She's shaking my hand.

She's acting all friendly. And she's like, don't worry, Mr. Cullum, it'll all work out. This is really for the best interests of the kids. Then she left. Chad was dumbfounded. I'm really just completely confused what just happened here. Within maybe like 20 minutes, my attorney is contacting me, what happened?

His attorney forwarded him an email Shannon had sent to her and Misaki's attorney right after leaving Chad's house. Chad started reading. Shannon was describing their cordial 15-minute conversation like a dangerous encounter she narrowly escaped from. I could not get out of there fast enough. I have talked to axe murderers. I have talked to people who have loved.

raped children. He is the worst person. He is the only person who has made my hair stand up on the back of my neck. I couldn't get away from him fast enough. You were right about him. Chad was stunned. Just like, what? My mind is racing. Nothing happened in our interaction. I didn't raise my voice. I didn't yell at her. What Shannon wrote in her email wasn't a difference of opinion or a miscommunication, it was a complete fabrication. In that moment, it became clear to Chad. Something about Shannon McShane wasn't right. We have another person who is absolutely trying to sabotage this.

But why? Shannon's report was doing less than a week. Chad had to act fast. He'd started dating someone new, so he turned to his girlfriend for support. He told his girlfriend that he suspected something was up with the PRE he'd been assigned. When she heard what happened, she immediately understood his concern. We were like, okay, this doesn't make sense. Let's start looking her up. Let's Google her.

They found that Shannon was a busy clinical psychologist. In addition to working for the court system, she had another job as a criminal forensic psychologist at the Colorado Mental Health Institute in Pueblo. They quickly found Shannon's CV. Her CV seems very straightforward, right? Like she went to this school and that school, she got her master's, and then she got her doctorate in the UK at this place called University of Hertfordshire. But there was one small detail that stood out.

For her doctorate, she also put down the title of her dissertation. So we Google that dissertation. It exists, but under someone else's name. There is something seriously wrong here. So I filed a report, an anonymous report, to Dora. Dora is the Department of Regulatory Agencies, a government agency in Colorado, that manages the licensing and registration for various professions, including PREs. I said, there is something wrong here.

It does not make sense about her dissertation. I'm starting to doubt her credentials. Can you guys please help look into this? A few days later, Chad got an email. This person contacts me through an anonymous email and says, hey, I'm an employee of Dora, and I'd like to talk to you about your report. Her name was Jessica. She'd heard about Chad's complaint and wanted to reach out to him personally because she had her own negative experience with Shannon. She agrees with me that this is really highly suspicious, and she would like to know whatever she can do to try to help me out.

and if maybe I can try to help her out too. Chad was relieved to hear from someone who had noticed the same red flags he had. They're going through the same thing I'm going through. I might have somebody who might have my back here. So he responded to Jessica, and they started emailing back and forth. Chad told her about an interview his sister had with Shannon McShane,

where Shannon made racist comments. So I reported that. to Jessica, like, oh, she said these racist things to my sister, and I think it's really important that this information be shared and reported. Jessica responded right away. She wanted more details about Chad's concerns. Can you tell me more about what your sister said? Like, what kind of evidence do you have? And I'm like, oh, well, I can't share that with you right now. But what I can tell you is that it's enough evidence to share with Dora and help them see what's maybe really going on here.

here. As soon as he declined to share his evidence, Jessica's tone changed. She says, like, look here, dude, you're probably better off canceling this report because I can tell you right now, if they feel like you're just filing this out of retaliation, then they're going to come down on you hard and you're going to end up losing your kids, and I wouldn't want that to happen to you. Chad called his girlfriend over to read this email with him. She immediately noticed some strange detail.

Like how Jessica was meticulous about using the correct title for Shannon. Whenever Chad referred to her as Miss McShane, she would respond back by saying, Dr. McShane. And I was like, this is kind of weird, right? As we were reading her messages, my partner was like, look at her cadence in the way that she speaks. Jessica had certain quirks in her writing. She capitalized some words that didn't need to be capitalized.

And she would put a double space at the end of, each sentence before the period. Chad had seen those quirks before, but only from one person. It is the exact same double space in a period. It is the exact same capitalization. This was absolutely Shannon McShane. Music you love, radio stations, everywhere you go, the podcasts everyone's talking about, all in one place, and it's free.

Whatever you want to hear. Listen anytime, anywhere. Music, radio, podcasts, unlimited audio. It's on the free IHurt Radio app. Let's go! One app, no subscription. Always free. Grab the free app.

I heart radio. Every app today. If you're seeking to try to understand the forensic science behind these cases that we hear about in the news, BodyBags is where you need to turn. There's no fluff. We do a deep dive into the forensics. Listen to body bags.

with Joseph Scott Morgan on America's number one podcast network. Eyeheart. Open your free IHeart app and search body bags with Joseph Scott Morgan and start listening. Hey, what's up? I'm Tony Gonzalez. And I'm October Gonzalez, but you can call me Toby. We want you to join us on our new podcast, No Safe Words with October and Tony Gonzalez. We get real about marriage, parenthood, sex, divorce, and all the nitty-gritty stuff we all think about, but just don't say out loud. I hate that job.

You're probably just going to meet with some rich guy and he's going to whisk you away and I'll never see you again. Oh, this is awkward. Would you say a D-less actor? D? I don't even know there's this thing as D. No, no, no. I mean, like... Can't even get on the C-list?

Like, I'm not even an average. I'm not even passing. I'm failing. Listen to No Safe Words with October and Tony Gonzalez, part of My Culture Podcast Network. Available on the IHeart Radio app. Apple Podcast or wherever you get your podcast. A shocking crime and a cover-up at the highest levels of the United States Marine Corps.

Someone opened the door and was the primary shooter. Is it possible you could do that and then suppress the memory? A new podcast series, Faultline Haditha, tells the story the United States government wants to keep buried. How can you not know? There were women and children in there. You're going to tell us here that you don't know what happened that day? Based on thousands of pages of previously classified documents and over 100 hours of secretly filmed video. The truth about one of the most infamous crimes in Marine Corps history

can finally be told. If you've got five players and one of them is guilty of murder at least, and you offer immunity to the other four, you better be right about the fifth. Because if you're not, then you've just given immunity to your killer. Listen to Faultline Haditha on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Shannon McShane had created a fake email address and pretended to be a Dora employee in order to trick Chad into telling her what his evidence against her was. But he'd realized it was her just in time.

This was absolutely Shannon McShane. Now that small sliver of doubt that Shannon McShane might be hiding something was cranked up to a hundred. Chad had to act fast. Shannon McShane had just released a preview of her findings to the court. She was already saying to the court that she is recommending that we split the kids 50-50,

but that she is deeply troubled by me, that she finds me to be a very seriously disturbed person. Chad went to his attorney and raised his serious concerns about Shannon, that she was biased against him and willing to do anything to prove he was in the wrong. But Chad's lawyer didn't see it that way. And her advice to me was, well, she's a court official. So you better beg for forgiveness and see what you can do to get on her good side. Chad wasn't willing to gamble his kid's safety on something as precarious as Shannon McShane's good side. There was too much at stake.

Something in my head just kind of snapped. And I was like, I'm going to do. do everything in my power to take her down because there is something seriously wrong with this person. His girlfriend agreed they couldn't just go along with this. Even if we lose everything, if we can show what's going on here, we can stop her from harming other people. So they decided to figure out what was really going on with Shannon McShane. And the only thing that we knew that we had was her faking to be a Dora employee. Not only had Shannon been emailing him under the false identity of Jessica, she also claimed

that Jessica was a Dora employee. That was like the only crime that we knew of, faking a government agency. So I took all of that Jessica communication. I threw that right back at Dora. As soon as Chad filed that report to Dora, Shannon filed a complaint to the court. Saying, oh, he's falsely reporting me to Dora, but I do ask the court pay me a fee for the mental anguish

that he is putting me through. And now I'm afraid to stay in my own home. And that wasn't all. Shannon had also reached out to Chad's employer, claiming that he was cyber-stalking her. Now, she was threatening not just his custody battle, but his employment. But Chad wasn't intimidated.

If anything, he saw this as a sign to keep digging. So he did. He knew she lied about her Ph.D. dissertation on her CV. He suspected this wasn't an isolated lie. Her dissertation doesn't exist. Does she even have a Ph.D.? On Shannon's CV, it stated that she got her PhD from the University of Hertfordshire in the UK.

So Chad contacted them and asked if they had any record of a past student by the name of Shannon McShane. And they said, oh, we can't tell you that because European law has this thing where you're not allowed to get someone's personal information without that person's express permission. This is what made it the perfect lie. She says she got her Ph.D. at this university in the UK that can't be validated. Chad reported what they found to Dora. We don't believe any of this to be true. We don't think that she has a valid PhD. We don't think that she even went to the university.

In response, Shannon submitted documents to prove that she did attend that university. See, absolute dead proof. I was a student of the University of Hertfordshire and I have my diploma. Chad started looking through the documents, starting with her transcripts. She got a letter A in this and a letter A in this, and she's just a straight A student. There was just one problem with that. The UK doesn't use letter grades. They use numbers. Chad sent the documents to the University of Hertfordshire.

I was finally able to get an official email chain of the University of Hertfordshire to actually then say, we have never had a student by the name of Shannon McShane. These are not real papers. We do not have a PhD program like. this. They just went through the whole list and just shot it all down. Chad was getting warmer. He was onto her. And soon, they both knew he'd hit the center of her web of lies. We were getting close to something and the closer that we got to it, the more frantic she would get. She asked the court, I think, three times for a bill of $10,000 and

fees. She said that she was going to have to move out of her home and find a new place to live because she feels unsafe because she thought I was going to show up with a gun. Like she tried everything she could to pin me as this dangerous lunatic who was going after her in retaliation. Chad kept up his investigation, despite Shannon's intimidation tactics. If she had lied about her dissertation and her PhD, how did she get her license? I was doing a background search and looking through what she completed to get her license with Dora. Dora actually told me that she didn't have a test on file.

When you get your psychology license, you're supposed to take a test. But she didn't have one on file. It was now abundantly clear. Shannon had fabricated her credentials. She had somehow lied her way into becoming a PRE. But she was not a real mental health professional. She was a con artist. Dora had a quarterly meeting where they reviewed a variety of concerns.

Chad submitted what he'd found on Shannon as an agenda item. He watched the meeting via live stream. But when the issue came up, the Dora employees dismissed his concerns and found excuses for Shannon. One of them straight up says like, well, I'm a doctor and I never had to publish my dissertation. And then they say, well, it's not necessary for her to have a doctorate. She just needs to have a license in psychology. Well, then that sounds good. Chad watched the whole thing unfold on the live stream.

And I'm like screaming, guys, you can't have a license unless you have your daughter. Like, why are you doing this? You're doing everything you possibly can to make it okay. Even when all the evidence was incredibly clear, Dora was looking the other way. Not only was Shannon McShane betraying his trust, the system was betraying him too. Eventually, with all of the evidence against Shannon piling up, Chad's own attention. attorney shared his concern. She filed a motion to remove Shannon McShane from his case because of the alleged fraud and alleged falsification of her credentials. My attorney was able to get Shannon McShane

dismissed from our case at the very least. A new PRA was assigned to Chad's case. Chad could finally exhale. This is what he'd been pushing for. This guy named Kevin Albert and his doctor and credentials were real. Now, Kevin Albert needed to do his own investigation. It was another time-consuming and expensive process. During the time that Kevin Albert was doing the investigation, my partner and I ended up having a kid. We're also facing foreclosure on our home because we had run out of money.

We spent the last bit of money that we had on the PRE. Chad's partner's family lived out in California. They wanted to move out there to get a fresh start for their family. Living in Colorado didn't feel healthy for them or the kids anymore. We were living in constant paranoia and fear. Like, who's going to knock on the door next? Who's going to show up and be a problem next? Chad got the court's permission to move to California with the kids

while Kevin Albert finished his investigation. Once they got settled, Chad resumed his. effort to expose Shannon McShane. It wasn't about his case anymore. It was about doing the right thing. The government kept dismissing his complaints. After over a dozen follow-ups, Chad tried a new avenue. Can we go to the news about this?

We went to news agency after news agency, and we were just ignored over and over and over again. Until we got to this guy named Chris Vosher. for the Colorado Springs Gazette. Chad sent Chris Osher everything he'd found, and Chris ran with the investigation. The article really dug into, this person doesn't have any degree, and she's a licensed psychologist in the state of Colorado.

How does this possibly happen? How is it that she is able to work at this hospital for the criminally insane as a licensed forensic psychologist? and it really showed so many holes in the whole process. As soon as he published that story, all of a sudden, the Attorney General is very concerned about this. The Colorado Attorney General's office began an investigation into Shannon McShane. Chad worked directly with the lead investigator.

He provided them with all of the evidence he gathered and continued to share new clues as he found them. He was treated as the victim in this case. The Attorney General's Office kept him in the loop on each step of the process. When they started investigating her, she ran away to Texas. And she managed to get her psychology license in Texas very quickly. On August 29, 2024, the Colorado Attorney General's Office filed a 15-count indictment against Shannon McShane, eight counts of attempt to influence a public servant,

five counts of forgery, one count of perjury, and one count of retaliation against a victim or witness. That victim or witness was Chad. Several of the attempts to influence a public servant were also about her conduct in Chad's case. More than one of the forgery counts were uncovered by Chad himself, including the falsified University of Hertfordshire, Ph.D.

There was now a warrant out for her arrest, but they needed to know where she was in Texas to be able to arrest her. She started selling things on Facebook. She was trying to sell a car through Facebook Marketplace. And through the reflection of the car, I was able to see the street sign. And based on the street signs intersection and location, we were able to match that to the known address of her mother's house. So we figured out that she was actually staying at her mother's house.

They contacted her and they said, We are going to arrest you, and she pleaded with them not to arrest her at her place of work. And she would meet them in some small town. And she met them there. And she peacefully turned herself in. Shannon took a plea deal. She pled guilty to just three of the charges brought against her. One count of retaliation against a victim or witness.

One count of an attempt to influence a public servant, and one count of perjury. She was sentenced to four years in prison. I felt like it should be so much more. The harm Shannon McShane cause is a lot deeper than just fabricating credentials. She used those falsified documents to gain power and authority in Colorado's legal system. And then, she weaponized that power. She often awarded custody to the abusive parent. Originally, I thought, like, oh, she's citing with whoever pays her the most,

or something. But no, it actually seems like what she would do is that she would find out what would be the worst possible scenario for the kids and then go for that. She also racially profiled parents she worked with, like in the case of one father named Stephen Ramirez. He had a nickname, Sleepy Mellow. She reported to the court based on this nickname alone that he has a gang member. And they just ate it right up.

She would say things that was abusive and terrible because she knew she could get away with it. After Shannon was sentenced, her ex-husband reached out to Chad and shared his side of the story. He let me know that she had kind of gotten a taste for this back when she was younger. Supposedly, she had to stand as a witness for a friend and lied about something that got someone in big trouble. it really just fueled her. It was like it was scratching that itch of control and power that she was looking for. She liked to cause pain. And she profited off that pain.

Shannon had multiple salaries from her various jobs as a P.R.E. Psychologist and addiction counselor. The way Chad sees it, Shannon is just one piece of a bigger problem. The way she was able to infiltrate the court system and Colorado highlights broader systemic issues. The process that is in place doesn't work, and it allows this sort of manipulation and fraud to occur. You may be wondering what happened with Misaki and the domestic violence charges she was

facing. She ultimately took a plea deal in September of 2022. She accepted a deferred judgment and agreed to complete a year of domestic violence and mental health counseling. The judge ruled that once those terms were met, her assault, battery, reckless endangerment, and property damage charges would all be dropped. This is typical for first-time domestic violence offenders in Colorado.

After a year went by without incident, the criminal charges against Mizaki were dismissed. Finally, the new PRE assigned to Chad's custody case finished his investigation. He recommended that the kid stay with me primarily. and that I would have 100% decision-making, medical school, all of that. And he recommended that the kids do have visits with their mother and do have phone calls with their mother.

The court agreed, and today, the kids live primarily with Chad. But Misaki is still in their lives. The court decided that they should still spend time in Colorado with Misaki over the summer and holiday breaks. Chad's sons are still living with the impact of growing up with an abusive mother. Most of all, his oldest son. A lot of his behaviors ended up being linked with PTSD. Today, he is supported by a therapist, and he's really enjoying school.

He's doing amazing in school now. He's in the Gates program. He's excelling. He's very intelligent. And at home, Chad has worked hard to create stability for him and his brother. The kids need to have a normal life. They need to have a life to where they can go to class. They can have events.

I mean, they're in Boy Scouts, and they love being in Boy Scouts. They love gymnastics. Today, Bissaki is still in a relationship with Chad's former friend, Anthony. Chad and his partner navigate parenting challenges with both of them. There has been tons of pushback on taking them to extracurricular activities. It's like wherever they could possibly try to throw a monkey wrench into something, they try very, very hard.

Once Chad and his kids moved to California, Misaki was able to end the protection order against her. However, the court ordered that any communication between Chad and Misaki needs to be through a court-approved messaging system and any in-person communication needs to be within view of a police station. Chad has dealt with layers of betrayal. He was betrayed by Misaki, his best friend, Shannon McShane, and then by the system. These were distinct betrayals, each with their own impact.

But they are also woven together. When Shannon McShane sent that message that said that I was an axe murderer, well not a literal axe murder, but like an axe murderer, Misaki and her attorney were very quick to say, oh my gosh, thank you, thank you so much, I knew it, he's a monster, which to me was, of course, a huge red flag. This feels like they are collaborating on this. Despite Shannon's retaliation,

Chad challenged the powers at B over and over again to take his concerns seriously. Until finally, someone listened. It was his detective work that cracked this case open. He risked everything to expose her lies and was courageous enough not to give up. The number one thing that people should take away from this is you should always do a background check on anybody who is important. I mean, it sounds paranoid, but there's no reason for you to say that they're credible.

because it really is that easy for people to fake it. We end every weekly episode with the same question. Why do you want to share your story? You don't hear it much, men saying that they're going through this. Specifically, when it comes to emotions and relationship things, men are not taken very seriously. They're called overdramatic or too sensitive. They should just deal with it.

It's that that allows people like Misaki to easily exploit the system. When you are in a situation where you can't seek help because you're scared, that's a legitimate thing. More transparency overall is what we really need because lack of transparency is what allows things to hide. On the next episode of Betrayal Weekly. I remember I was sitting on the bed and I opened it and I screamed. I was shocked. Horror was all I could feel. All the color drained from my husband's face.

If you'd like to share your story on betrayal, please email Betrayalpod at gmail.com. That is Betrayal P-O-D at Gmail.com. Please note that we are not a mental health organization. If you are in crisis or currently experiencing domestic violence, we encourage you to seek local help or dial nine one-one. Please contact organizations that offer immediate support. In our show notes, we've included a list of U.S.-based resources. You can follow us on Instagram at Betrayal Pod or find me at

It's Andrea Gunning. To access our newsletter and additional content and to connect with the betrayal community, join our substack at Betrayal.substack.com. We're grateful for your support. One way to show support is by subscribing to our show on Apple Podcasts. And don't forget to rate and review Betrayal. Five-star reviews go a long way. Big thank you to all of our listeners. Betrayal is a production of Glass Podcasts, a division of Glass Entertainment Group in partnership with IHeart Podcasts.

The show is executive produced by Nancy Glass and Jennifer Fasin, hosted and produced by me, Andrea Gunning. Written and produced by Olivia Hewitt. Our story editor is Monique Labore. also produced by Ben Fetterman. Our associate producer is Leah Jablo. Production management by Kristen Mulcuri. Booking support by Curry Richmond.

Our I-Heart team is Ali Perry and Dressica Crinecheck. Audio editing by Tanner Robbins and Dean Welsh. With additional editing and mixing by Matt Dalbekio. Betrayal's theme composed by Oliver Baines. Music library provided by MyMew Music. And for more podcasts from IHeart, visit the IHart Radio app. Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you're seeking to try to understand the forensic science behind these cases that we hear about in the news,

BodyBags is where you need to turn. There's no fluff. We do a deep dive into the forensics. Listen to BodyBags with Joseph Scott Morgan on America's number one podcast network, IHeart. Open your free IHeart app and search BodyBags with Joseph Scott. I'm working and start listening. I believe that whoever was in that room and did that was a murderer. A new podcast series, Faultline Haditha, tells the story of a shocking crime and a cover-up

at the highest levels of the United States Marine Corps. If you've got five players and you offer immunity to four, you better be right about the Fed. Because if you're not, then you've just given immunity to your killer. Listen to Faultline Haditha on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. On Big Lives, we take a single cultural icon. People like Jane Fonda, George Michael, Little Richard. And we pull apart the story behind the image. Discovering forgotten interviews that change exactly how we see these giants of our culture.

We're here for the messy, the brilliant, the human version of our heroes. I'm Emmanuel Jochi. I'm Kai Right. And this is Big Lives. Listen to Big Lives on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts. In February of 2024, celebrated illustrator and children's book author, Patra Mathers, and her husband Michael, mailed letters to dozens of friends and family members to let them know they had died by suicide.

Dear honies, this is goodbye. By the time you get this letter, both Petra and I will be dead. Next stop, Wonderland. Why did they do it? And what did it do to the people they left behind? Listen to death of an artist on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. This is an IHeart podcast, guaranteed human.