Betrayal - Storybook Romance | Stacey's Story

Episode Date: May 23, 2024

Stacey Rutherford, a single mom, found her storybook romance in 2015 when she met medical student Justin Rutherford. They shared a deep connection, fell in love, and became a picture-perfect American family. Over time, the couple added two more children to their family. Justin progressed into a family doctor, and they settled in Pennsylvania, where he started his career. However, in August of 2021, Stacey came home to find her wonderful life crashing down. The Rutherford family would never be the same.  If you would like to reach out to the Betrayal Team, email us at [e-mail] omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Hey, it's Joel and Matt from How to Money. If your New Year's resolution is to finally get your finances in shape, we've got your back. Prices, they're still high. And the economy is all over the place. But 2026 is the year for you to get intentional and make real progress. That's right.

Yeah, each week we break down what's happening with your money, the most important issues to focus on. And the small moves that make a big difference. Kick off the year with confidence. Listen to How to Money on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm John Polk. For years, I was the poster boy of the conversion therapy movement. The ex-gay who married an ex-lesbian and traveled the world telling my story of how I changed my sexuality from gay to straight. You might have heard my story, but you've never heard the real story. John has never been anything that gay, but he really tried hard not.

to be. Listen to Atonement, the John Polk story on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is Dr. Jesse Mills, host of the Mailroom podcast. Each January, men promised to get stronger, work harder, and fix what's broken? But what if the real work isn't physical at all? I sat down with psychologist, Dr. Steve Poulter, to unpack shame, anxiety, and the emotional pain men were never taught how to name. Part of the way through the Valley of Despair is realizing if this has happened, and you have to make a choice whether you're going to stay in it or move forward. Our two-part conversation is available now. Listen to the mailroom on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, for wherever you get your favorite shows.

Stacey, would you please read this document? Okay. This is a court document, affidavit of probable cause from Berks County, Pennsylvania. Honor about Thursday, January 5, 2023, a detective received information that the defendant, Justin Rutherford was requesting to have someone murder a juvenile male. Detectives in Reading, Pennsylvania learned that a Justin Rutherford had concocted a scheme to take the life of a teenager who was set to testify against him in a criminal case. Rutherford told his hitman to use gloves and to wear layers of clothing, so no DNA would be found.

Rutherford said he could be buried in the forest somewhere, or he could be burned in a barrel. This would be a good way to get rid of any evidence. Stacey, do you know Justin Rutherford? The man who was planning the murder? I do. And who is he? My husband. I'm Andrea Gunning, and this is season three of betrayal.

Episode 1. Storybook romance. A listener note, some names have been changed to protect privacy. I'm so grateful to be back for another season of betrayal. When we started this project with Jennifer Fasen's story back in 2019, we really didn't know where it would go. Thanks to you, we're back for season three. And there's even more big news.

If you loved betrayal, this summer, our podcast will become a weekly series, addressing all kinds of betrayal, from relationships to financial deception and more. There are betrayals you won't believe, but they happened. What we've discovered is that there are people, everywhere, millions actually, who are struggling with loss and shame because something that they believed in turned out to be a lie. Sometimes the lie is so egregious, it's criminal. Other times, it's just too painful to bear. We've also learned that hearing you aren't the only one that

has been the victim of shocking deception is comforting. There is something inherently therapeutic in sharing our stories. And that brings me to Stacey Rutherford. I can talk to my best friends till I'm blue in the face, but not a single one of them have any idea what I feel like. And I hope none of them ever have to know what I feel like. Stacey heard Ashley Linton's story from season two, and they had a lot in common.

Even parts of their story are similar. It was kind of one of those things that it made me finally feel like I wasn't so abnormal for feeling some of the things that I felt. about the situation and about grieving my marriage and everything. It was just for the first time I felt like somebody knew what I felt like. But there are some very big differences. The stakes for Stacy and her family are not like anything we've ever seen. When she first reached out to our team,

it was from her home in a small rural spot called Jaredstown, West Virginia. It's about two hours west of D.C. She works in the area as administrative support, for a federal agency. She also spent many years working as a medical assistant. Her story spans three states, two husbands, two courts, four children, and 25 years in the making. It's a lot, and not everybody can handle that, because it's a wild story. It's nothing like you think you're going to hear.

I found Stacey to be such a contradiction. She's a joyful, spiritual person with a great laugh. It's fun just being around her. But that laugh can turn to tears in a matter of seconds. It's a fragile line. She's holding it together, but not by much. First, we need to look at where Stacey came from to see how she arrived here. Stacey was still a teenager when she got married and started a family.

She still remembers the night she met her first husband back in 1998. We'll call him John. My high school boyfriend and I broke up right after senior year. I went to a party and just we connected. John was 23. Stacey was 18. He was fresh out of the military. I got pregnant pretty quick.

You know, my dad will always say, I think he did the noble thing. Stacey and John married after an accelerated courtship in their hometown of Decatur, Illinois, but eventually moved to West Virginia. They had two kids together. Michaela and Tyler. Honestly, we didn't spend a lot of time together. I know that sounds crazy, but he loved a fish. He could be out there for 12, 18 hours a day.

So usually I would just stay home with the kids. Stacey admits that the relationship wasn't perfect, but she was okay with that. I knew we didn't have this fireworks and passion and all this, but I was comfortable. And I took a vow and I took that seriously. They were busy young parents. He was a forklift operator, but he worked so many hours.

He worked like 12 to sometimes 16 hours a day. It never occurred to her that it wouldn't last forever. Divorce was impossible to me. I was just like, no, nuh, you know, like we're going to be old sitting on a porch with our grandkids. Because that's what my grandparents were and my parents were. Like, divorce wasn't in my family like that. I'd made a post on MySpace or MySpace. like thank you God for this life and I just I'm so blessed and I have two great kids and a husband

and two weeks later he rolled over in bed and he just said I'm not happy and I haven't been for a really long time I'm like what the hell I was like shut up and he was like no I'm serious and I just started screaming Michaela was eight and she ran into the bedroom and started screaming and Daddy, don't hit her, don't hit her. She thought he was hitting me because I was screaming, like agony. He said it was nobody that he just wanted to be alone, that we got married too young. You know, he was never going to get married again. Stacey is no fool.

She knew something was up. My sister calls me Angela Lansbury because I won't find it out. Within days, I knew he was seeing somebody. End up finding out it was a co-worker. That was August. I come home one day, and I had told him. him, I was going to move back where our family was. And then I changed my mind and I was like, I can do this.

You know, we can try to work this out. He was like, nope. Stacey's daughter, Michaela, remembers her mom confronting the other woman, though she didn't really know what was happening at the time. One day, we were waking up for school and we did not drive to school. We went to some random lady's house and my mom gets out of the car and is throwing gravel rocks at this lady. and I'm just in the backseat, like, I don't know what's happening.

And my dad had come out without a shirt on. Michaela was too young to understand. Stacey knew exactly what was going on. It was soul-crushing. I said, just tell me what it is and what I can do. And I remember he did tell me, you know, well, you got big and I didn't, you know, like to look at you. And then it was like, oh, it's my fault. This moment, it fractured her.

And so many people know this feeling, not feeling enough. That haunted Stacey. I had no self-worth. No self-worth. I mean, I had never in my life been suicidal. And I remember, I knew I wanted to be alive for my kids. But I just had this attitude of like, I'm not going to take my life because I'm a Christian and I don't, you know. But if you don't wake me up in the morning, that would be okay.

Stacey kept her pain hidden. Her children only saw her beauty and strength. Anything could happen to her and nothing would phase her. She's great and I want to be her when I grow up. Mom actually worked two jobs. And so a lot of the time it would be Tyler and I at home by ourselves and I'd be watching him. And even when I would go hang out with friends in a neighborhood down the street, he would always tag along with me.

Although Michaela is six years older than Tyler, they formed a close bond during those years. I mean, honestly, I loved it. I loved being around Tyler when mom was a single mom and it was just him and I a lot. Michaela has grown up a lot since looking after Tyler. She's a master's candidate and a newlywed. But when she was a kid, she admits to being a bit of a wild child. Like, I was a hot mess express. Stacey says Tyler.

on the other hand, was a happy kid who adored his mom. When my first husband and I divorced, he was two. So Tyler and I have always had a huge bond. And he's always been a mama's boy. He loved the Kardashians. And he'd be like, when's sister wives on? And, you know, there was so much estrogen in that house at that time. Like, the poor guy had no chance.

But it made him the sweetest soul. He will die if I tell you this. But, like, I am a bath and bodyworks nut. I probably need a 12-step program. But I always have it. And so he would lay in bed when he was little and he'd smell my arm and he'd say, oh, mama, you smell so beautiful. 17 years later, Stacey has acquired the wisdom to view the end of her first marriage with a different lens.

I didn't know what I was doing. You know, I'm a young mom. I'm a young wife, not knowing how to manage money. So I completely accept that I had a hand in the demise of my marriage too. still the loss of her dream left stacy wounded i can honestly say that i've never been the same since my first marriage ended new goals and in this economy a better money plan is more necessary than ever i am matt and i'm joel we are from the how to money podcast and every week we help you to spend smarter save more and make sense of what's going on out there if you want 2026 to be the year you

finally feel in control of your money we're here to give you the tools and advice to help you make it happen. Listen to How to Money on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, I'm Dr. Priyankawali. And I'm Hurricane de Bolu. It's a new year. And on the podcast's health stuff, we're resetting the way we talk about our health. Which means being honest about what we know, what we don't know, and how messy it can all be. I like to sleep in late and sleep early. Is there a chronotype for that or am I just depressed? We talk to experts who share real experiences and insight. You just really need to find

where it is that you can have an impact in your own life and just start doing that. We break down the topics you want to know more about. Sleep, stress, mental health, and how the world around us affects our overall health. We talk about all the ways to keep your body and mind,

inside and out, healthy. We human beings, all we want is connection. We just want to connect with each other. Health stuff is about learning, laughing, and feeling a little less alone. Listen on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Every January, we're encouraged to start over. But what if this year is about slowing down and learning how to understand ourselves more deeply?

What if this year is about giving ourselves permission to feel what we've been holding and knowing that it's okay to ask for help? I'm Mike Delarocha, host of Sacred Lessons. This is a podcast for men navigating stress. emotional health, fatherhood, identity, and the unspoken pressures were taught to carry alone. We talk honestly about mental health, about healing generational wounds, and about learning how to show up with more presence and care. If you want a healthier relationship with yourself and the people you love, then Sacred Lessons is the podcast for you. Listen to Sacred Lessons with Mike Dolorotcha

on America's number one podcast network, IHeart. Follow sacred lessons with Mike Delarocha and start listening on the free IHeart Radio app today. Hey there, this is Dr. Jesse Mills, director of the men's clinic at UCLA Health and host of the Mailroom podcast. Each January guys everywhere make the same resolutions. Get stronger, work harder, fix, what's broken?

But what if the real work isn't physical at all? To kick off the new year, I sat down with Dr. Steve Polter, a psychologist with over 30 years' experience, helping men unpack shame, anxiety, and emotional pain they were never taught to name. In a powerful two-part conversation, we discuss why men aren't emotionally bulletproof, why shame hides in plain sight, and how real strength comes from listening to yourself and to others. Guys who are toxic, they're immature, or they've got something they just haven't resolved. Once that gets resolved, then there comes empathy, as in compassion.

If you want this to be the year, you stop powering through pain and start understanding what's underneath, listen to the mailroom on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your favorite shows. Even after the demise of her marriage, Stacey hoped to find love and a partner to share her life with. She was cautious. She had to be. I didn't want to be that mom that just had random different men coming in and out of her home. And then for the kids to lose that person. That was always my fear. The divorce was in 2007. Stacey has had had a few long-term relationships and some forgettable dates. Stacey's son Tyler recalls one boyfriend that left an impression.

He was a real bad drunk and would just scream and yell, so he wasn't too much of a good guy either. He was just good to us kids. She always kind of had bad experiences with men. And Stacey's daughter, Michaela, harbored the fantasy of many children of divorce. I want my mom and dad back together still, so I was also like, who are you coming into my house?

I was always mean to like every boyfriend she had. Anytime she would tell me she was on a date, something was dying, or my toe nail was falling off, and she had to come home because, like, F that guy. And then, like, there would be times if she had, like, a boyfriend over and they were in the living room, I would purposely interrupt and, you know, be an annoyance.

Then, in 2015, a new man came. came into Stacy's life. My name is Karen, and I met Stacy when my son dated her daughter in high school, and we've been close friends ever since. I met Justin when he was doing like a round or rotations. I worked at a lab at the doctor's office, and he was a student there, and we just started chit-chat. Justin was in medical school.

I knew he was single, and I'm like, I feel like you and my friend would really hit it off. He had a good sense of humor, and she had a good sense of, humor. So I'm not sure if I gave her his number or if I gave him her number, but either way, he ended up reaching out and they met up. Him and I met at Olive Garden. Right off the bat, we started joking. Our whole entire meal was joking. And he just kind of said to me, you know, I'm a poor med student. I don't have time for anyone. I don't have any money. I can't really take you on dates like this. You know, he actually, our biggest joke was he used a coupon on our first date. And he was mortified to bring it out of his pocket. He's like, you know, I got like a buy one, get one half

off kind of thing going on. And he was just like, you know, so do you want to adopt a poor med student? And I was like, yeah, I mean, like, why not add another kid to it? You know, I'm all for it. Our joke for years was that who once a ready made family, he was like, woo, me, you know, and that's kind of how our relationship started telling me he had no time for me and then ended up we were together all the time. He said that she was nice. But I think, that he was attracted to her sense of humor because that's what makes her really beautiful because she's so funny.

Stacey and Justin were viving. They just loved being together. I had butterflies. When driving home from our first date, I remember calling my dad and I was like, Dad, I think I just met my husband. And he was like, oh my God, did you tell him that? And I was like, no, I didn't tell him that.

Like, why would I tell him that? He's like, oh, thank God, because he would have run. Her dad didn't need to worry. The affection was mute. mutual. They hit it off and I was pretty proud of myself for being a matchmaker. All the years I had dated between my first husband and him, it was so just, ugh, assessable really. People felt like they had an agenda or there was something that they wanted from me. But Justin, it was just wholeheartedly. I never felt there was anything that he wanted from me. He just wanted to be with me. And for me,

I was like, wow, that's the first time. You know, I've ever felt like that. When it was time for Justin to meet Stacey's kids, 15-year-old Michaela had every intention of giving the new guy the same treatment every other man had received. Unwelcome. They had been dating for a couple months. And I remember I was at my dad's house when my mom was like, Justin was coming over and I was going to meet him. The whole time, I'm talking shit. I'm like, dad, F him. I already don't like him.

He's probably fat and ugly. and my dad's like, Michaela be nice. And I'm like, I don't care. I don't want to know you. And then when we walked in the house, it was immediately like, hi, I'm Justin. And like open arms. Super talkative, asking me like,

what I want to do when I grow up, how high school is, you know, just like blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, talking to me. And I was still kind of standoffish because I'm like, can you take the heat? I remember the first day we met him very vividly, actually. Tyler was about 10 at the time. He was impressed. He really just seemed like such a great guy from the start.

He came over. We're looking at it. Oh, Mom's got a new boyfriend. Here's another asshole. And then surprisingly, he was one of the first guys to ever have an interaction with me. And, like, I actually played football with me. So to me, I was like, okay, he's actually a pretty good guy. That was the first time I really saw her with another man truly happy.

And Michaela thought it. do. I liked him a lot and I was like, okay, I won't scare him away. Yeah, they had a good relationship. Like, I thought they were good together. We started dating in March and Thanksgiving, we went to Myrtle Beach with his family. And I was like, oh, this is so great. We spent a lot of time with family and friends. Time together was precious then. Medical school was all encompassing for Justin, but they made it work. I also, you know, would help him when he would study, because I was in the medical field too, so when he was studying prescription med names, we would like go back and forth as kind of like a game. Stacey didn't need to be whined and dined. She wanted kindness and connection and someone to be part of her family.

It just never felt complex. We spent a lot of time with like family and friends. And if we weren't, we were studying. You know, we didn't do a whole lot in our first year. Justin was also willing to be a father figure and wanted to be involved in the kids' lives. He was really nice to me and would do stuff with me. He was a big video gamer. He helped me build my first big gaming computer, which was really cool. And he was very tech savvy. If I wanted to play games, he was a guy to play games with it. So I was happy to have what I thought would be a father figure.

It was like the dad and best friend in one. New year, new goals, and in this economy, a better money plan is more necessary than ever. I am Matt, and I'm Joel. We are from the How to Money podcast, and every week we help you to spend smarter, save more, and make sense of what's going on out there. If you want 2026 to be the year you finally feel in control of your money, we're here to give you the tools and advice to help you make it happen. Listen to How to Money on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast.

Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, I'm Dr. Priyanko Wali. And I'm Hurricane de Volo. It's a new year. And on the podcast's health stuff, we're resetting the way we talk about our health. Which means being honest about what we know, what we don't know, and how messy it can all be. I like to sleep in late and sleep early. Is there a chronotype for that or am I just depressed?

We talk to experts who share real experiences and insight. You just really need to find where it is. you can have an impact in your own life and just start doing that. We break down the topics you want to know more about. Sleep, stress, mental health, and how the world around us affects our overall health. We talk about all the ways to keep your body in mind, inside and out, healthy. We human beings, all we want is connection. We just want to connect with each other.

Health stuff is about learning, laughing, and feeling a little less alone. Listen on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get. at your podcasts. Every January, we're encouraged to start over. But what if this year is about slowing down and learning how to understand ourselves more deeply? What if this year is about giving ourselves permission to feel what we've been holding and knowing that it's okay to ask for help?

I'm Mike Delarocha, host of Sacred Lessons. This is a podcast for men navigating stress, emotional health, fatherhood, identity, and the unspoken pressures were taught to carry alone. We talk honestly about mental health, about healing generational wounds, and about learning how to show up with more presence and care.

If you want a healthier relationship with yourself and the people you love, then Sacred Lessons is the podcast for you. Listen to Sacred Lessons with Mike Dolorotia on America's number one podcast network, IHeart. Follow Sacred Lessons with Mike Delocho and start listening on the free IHeart Radio app today. Hey there, this is Dr. Jesse Mills,

director of the men's clinic at UCLA Health and host of the mailroom podcast. Each January guys everywhere make the same resolutions. Get stronger, work harder, fix, what's broken? But what if the real work isn't physical at all? To kick off the new year, I sat down with Dr. Steve Polter, a psychologist with over 30 years' experience, helping men unpack shame, anxiety,

and emotional pain they were never taught to name. In a powerful two-part conversation, we discuss why men aren't emotionally bulletproof, why shame hides in plain sight, and how real strength comes from listening to yourself and to others. Guys who are toxic, they're immature, or they've got something they just haven't resolved. Once that gets resolved, then there comes empathy and compassion. If you want this to be the year you stop powering through pain and start understanding what's underneath, listen to the mailroom on the iHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever. you get your favorite shows.

It was now 2016. Stacey and Justin had been together about a year, but he was on the medical track and needed to relocate to continue his training. Stacey and Justin's relationship was getting serious. Sometimes he'd stay at her place for several days at a time, or she'd spend the weekend at his apartment. They couldn't imagine being apart.

So the couple decided that Stacey and her kids would move with him for his residency. It was the last stage of training before becoming a doctor. It was just kind of like our not really silent deal, but our deal that he was going to take care of me, I was going to take care of him. Justin matched with a hospital system in Pennsylvania. So Stacey, Michaela, and Tyler packed up their life and moved with Justin.

This was the beginning of their next chapter as a growing family. Stacey's sister, Heather. It was like the storybook growing. My sister wanted more children. He didn't have any children. He loved her kids. And Justin won a kids too. A year after the family moved to Pennsylvania, the couple had a baby girl together. And shortly after, Stacey became pregnant again. She shared an amazing family moment with me, a video where Justin opens a gender reveal envelope. Oh, God, thank you, Jesus. It actually says it's a boy. Oh, wow.

I was about two seconds away from asking a job into the ground. Yay! Little brother! Their baby boy was born in 2019. He delivered both of our kids. My OB, right when the baby was about to come out, she stepped to the side and let Justin deliver the babies. I remember I made a Facebook post, like after it, and I said,

I didn't think I could love this man anymore. But when I saw him with his... his babies. It made me love him in a whole different way, you know, on a different level. He was just so happy. Like you could tell he just was so excited to be a dad. They had their love, their children, their family was complete. As they set their sights on the future, Justin received a full-time job offer. It was official. They were staying in Pennsylvania. After residency was over, he accepted a position with their family med office in Exeter, Pennsylvania. My sister worked extremely hard to bring in enough money to take care of her kids and still

try to give them a life that they deserved. But Justin offered her a sense of freedom. I mean, the salary. And Stacey also had support. When the family moved to Pennsylvania, Justin's godmother moved with them. Her name is Deborah, and she helped Stacey with the little ones. We called her Nanny McDee, like the Nanny McPhee movie. She was a part of our family.

Dee was living with Justin's mom since he was a baby. When his mother died tragically during his college years, Nanny continued to maintain a close relationship with him. Here's Justin's college friend, Stacey Hayden. Justin's mom got cancer and passed away. and her best friend was Dee. And she had promised to always take care of Justin. As soon as they moved to Pennsylvania,

Dee was living with them in like a taking care of role. So she was a living nanny and helped around the house. The extra set of hands made a huge difference. Dee could watch the kids while Justin and Stacey worked. Although the couple were financially comfortable, Stacey learned a lot from her first marriage. Finally, those hectic years would pay off. He made basically like what I make right now.

So we lived tight during that time. And then once he graduated from residency, I was going to continue working for the next five years instead of being a state-home mom. Like he gave me that option. But I was like, no, I want to work. Stacey carried a lot of baggage from her divorce and old debt. So Justin stepped in to help get control of her financial life.

He was real focused on me. making sure that I was out of debt and that I was in a good financial position. He paid off my student loans. He got my credit score back up to where it was actually a normal, decent credit score. Justin didn't just look out for her well-being. He looked out for the kids. He was more active in my life than my biological dad, and I felt closer to him. Stacey's father, Rodney.

I saw the good impact, Justin, had on Michaela, because Michaela was not a great student in school. You know, I hope Michaela doesn't mind me say this, but the joke of the family was always, thank God she's cute. If you had told me she was going to be going for her master's degree, I would say, well, I don't know what you're smoking, but I'll take some of it. And I think Justin helped her, inspired her even, to go farther than even I think she thought she could go. I had two dads. Like, they were both great and I loved them equally. But, I mean, he was a great dad. Like, I called him dad.

I didn't say stepdad. I had everything that I wanted. He took care of us. He gave us the life that, you know, I always wanted my kids to have. It was the life they both wanted. It was in a card or something like that where he said something to the effect of, thank you for giving me the family that I never thought I would have. And eventually, they made it official.

Our plan was get married this year at the courthouse, and then the following year on our actual anniversary have a big reception. In 2018, Justin and St. Stacey were married in a civil ceremony with just family in attendance. She had waited so long for this moment. I remember just saying to him, if I knew that I had to go through eight years of shitty relationships and devastation to get to you, I would do it all over again. I would tell him that all the time.

I would walk through every bit of it again to find you. And, you know, when I was single, I would think of like, I wonder what his name's going to be. You know, and like I remember I tell it him one time, like, I just love saying your name. Because I wondered for so long, like, what your name would be. She finally knew her person. And she was now Mrs. Justin Rutherford. Life got even sweeter when they bought their five-bedroom dream house, complete with a fool. The kids were in heaven.

They had made it. Cynthia worked with Justin and went to his home for, parties. They seemed like the best American family. They had a beautiful home. They had a pool. They had the space for the kids to run around. They had a beautiful life. The Rutherford House was always a hub for social activity. Tyler and Michaela's friends spent a lot of time there. The pool, a movie theater, and all the video games, it was a big draw. And Stacey thrived playing hostess. I loved when Tyler had all of his friends over in the summertime. He never had to ask, I had friends over.

It was just all such and such as staying the night. Four of them are, and here I am cooking eight pounds of food. But we loved it. I joked that I was going to claim some of his friends on my taxes because they were there so much. Their home life is something that I strive for. Pure happiness. For the better part of six years, that's how Stacey viewed her life too. Pure happiness.

That was until August 10th, 2020. when she returned from work in the afternoon. When I first walked up to the house, I just saw a bunch of like vans and SUVs, and I thought that he had like a bunch of Tyler's hockey people over. But there were no cars she recognized. Stacey quickly learned that these were unmarked police cars. Her house was being raided.

The detective came out. He was like, ma'am, calm down. Your family's okay. Just come with us. I walked into the house. He was sitting at our kitchen table. The cops were on each side of him, guarding him. Detective Weaver said, well, I'm sure you know why we're here.

And I looked at him and I was like, no, I absolutely don't know why you're here. There was such a deep feeling of knowing this is going to be bad. And our life is never going to be the same. The police then wanted to meet with Stacy privately. I went downstairs into the man cave with the detectives and Detective Weaver had kind of laid everything out on the couch. I was sick. It was a sickness that I felt as soon as I saw it.

Why were the police surrounding Justin? And what did they show Stacey? It was just like, what is going on here? What in the world is going on? That's next time on betrayal. On this season of betrayal, a family is thrown into chaos. I mean, I was going to shoot to kill if he was coming after me and my kids. A husband, doctor, and father shocks his family.

There's no way that he could have done this. And his patients. It was a totally different man. I said, I don't know who that idiot was, but it clearly was not Dr. Rutherford. As they learn who Justin Rutherford really is. And what? he is capable of. He to me is scarier than Jeffrey Dahmer.

You know, the level of manipulation was like a serial killer. If you would like to reach out to the betrayal team, email us at BetrayalPod at gmail.com. That's Betrayal POD at gmail.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 along. long way. A 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 Carrie Hartman, also produced by Ben Federman, Associate producers are Kristen Melkiri and Grace Bollinger. Our IHeart team is Ali Perry and Jessica Kreinschuk. Special thanks to Stacey Rutherford, Tyler, and the rest of Stacey and Tyler's friends and family. Audio editing and mixing by Matt Zovecchio. Editing support from Nico Aruka, the trails theme composed by Oliver Baines, music library provided by Mib Music.

And for more podcasts from IHeart, visit the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, it's Joel and Matt from HowTo Money. if your New Year's resolution is to finally get your finances in shape. We've got your back. Prices, they're still high, and the economy is all over the place. But 2026 is the year for you to get intentional and make real progress. That's right. Each week we break down what's happening with your money, the most important issues to focus on,

and the small moves that make a big difference. Kick off the year with confidence. Listen to How to Money on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm John Polk. For years, I was the poster boy of the conversion therapy movement, the ex-gay who married an ex-lesbian, and traveled the world telling my story of how I changed my sexuality from gay to straight. You might have heard my story, but you've never heard the real story.

John has never been anything but gay, but he really tried hard not to be. Listen to Atonement, the John Polk story, on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. This is Dr. Jesse Mills, host of the Mailroom podcast. Each January, men promise to get stronger, work harder, and fix what's broken. But what if the real work isn't physical at all? I sat down with psychologist Dr. Steve Poulter to unpack shame, anxiety, and the emotional pain men were never taught how to name.

Part of the way through the Valley of Despair is realizing this has happened, and you have to make a choice whether you're going to stay in it or move forward. Our two-part conversation is available now. Listen to the mailroom on the IHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your favorite shows. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.