Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - High-Brow Olympian guns down star female Equestrienne...Do Bitter 911 calls reveal motive?

Episode Date: November 29, 2019

It's a real case of he said/she said. Olympic Equestrian athlete Michael Barione is charged with attempted murder after he shoots his tenant. Lauren Kanarek tells police before the shooting she is being harassed. Barione says he's having on going problems with her. Joining Nancy Grace to put together the story is Judge Ashley Wilcott, Forensics Expert Joe Scott Morgan, Psychoanalyst Dr. Bethany Marshall, Former NYPD John Cardillo, Dressage expert Deanna Corby, and Attorney Stephen Corby. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Crime stories with Nancy Grace. A Washington Township police officer screams over the radio after responding to a call at Hawthorne Farm, an equestrian property and home in Long Valley, New Jersey. Looks like two gunshots in the chest. The wounded victim, 38-year-old Lauren Kanarek, bleeding and nearly unconscious. The alleged shooter, property and Kanarek's landlord. A criminal complaint states Kanarek and Barrison had an ongoing landlord-tenant dispute leading up to the shooting. Quote, Michael Barrison

shot me. He shot me twice, she told police when they arrived at the scene. They discovered Kanarac's fiance and Barrison on the ground wrestling for the gun. According to the complaint, when police took Barrison into custody at the scene, he reportedly stated multiple times, I had a good life. You know, it's very rare you hear of fatal shootings amongst Olympians. Now, every once in a while you hear about doping or drugging, and it tanks the entire the entire arena but when you hear of cold-blooded shootouts between equestrians and well-respected olympians i mean see grace this

is crime stories you were just hearing our friend at CBS2 that was Valerie Castro, an equestrian at the top of the game shot by an Olympian? Joining me right now, an all-star

panel. First with me, Stephen Corby, expert in safe sport. Deanna Corby, dressage trainer, expert. Dr. Bethany Marshall, psychoanalyst out of LA. John Cardio, former NYPD. Joseph Scott Morgan, professor of forensic at Jacksonville State University, author of Blood Beneath My Feet. Judge and trial lawyer, Ashley Wilcott at ashleywilcott.com. You know, first to you, Dr. Bethany Marshall, you know, when you think of Olympians, you think of the elite. I mean, I will never forget, I guess his name was Mark Spitz. And he was an Olympian and he would pose in his swimsuit with about 10 gold medals around his neck.

Then there came Bruce Jenner, decathlon Olympian winner. I mean, it goes on and on. My son talks about Usain Bolt all the time, Michael Phelps. We look up to them because they epitomize or did epitomize clean living, devoting themselves to something and hanging in there, fighting adversity until they win the gold to represent our country. When I hear that one Olympian shoots down another equestrian, that goes against everything we think we know, Dr. Bethany. Now see, when you look at these individuals, the more sophistication, money, wealth, training, gifts, and capacities and privileges in society that a person has, the more they can use these privileges to hide a very messy pathological interior. So look at that one astronaut. Do you remember? She went all the way into space. Then she was part of the love triangle. She ended up putting on a pair of diapers,

driving. Wait, I was just about to say, is that the woman in the middle of love triangle that went after her love rival and actually drove through the night wearing a pair of adult diapers? That's right, adult. Her name will forever be connected to adult diapers. I mean, but in this case, you know, you really hit on something. To Dave Mack, CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter, money. This is a former equestrian Olympian on the grounds of his ritzy 53 acre sprawl. Now, I don't get it. Barrison, a member of the Beijing Summer Games, allegedly guns down a female equestrian, shooting her twice in the chest in plain daylight in the afternoon at Hawthorne Farm. That's in rural Morris County where there's nothing but, I mean, stinking rich people with huge, huge estates.

What happened, Dave Mack? How did one equestrian go after the other one? The way it came out in court, Nancy, and the way that this is being played out is it was a landlord-tenant dispute. Barrison, as you mentioned, he owns that horse farm, this 53-acre, very expensive ritzy equestrian outlet. And Lauren Canarek and her fiancé, Rob Goodwin, were living on the property while training and raising some horses there on the farm in association with Michael Barrison. They had a conflict. They had a battle over whether or not Lauren and her fiance could remain at that property. Barrison wanted them off of his property. Kannerak said, no, I have a right to be here. And that's where the conflict began. And that's how we ended up in this horrible mess. Take a listen to our friend. And that's where the conflict began. And that's how we ended up in

this horrible mess. Take a listen to our friend Tara Jakeway at CBS2. Washington Township Police responding to a call at this home Wednesday around 2 p.m. That's where they found 38-year-old Lauren Kanarek bleeding and losing consciousness. We have one person down with a gunshot wound. The shooter is in custody, not shot. That shooter was identified by Kanarek herself. The criminal complaint states she said, quote, Michael Barrison shot me. He shot me twice. Police confirm it's former U.S. Olympian Michael Barrison. The 54-year-old, who traveled with Team USA to Beijing to compete in dressage, a lot of people may not be familiar with it. Dressage is an Olympic sport.

It really got going in the games in Stockholm all the way back in the early 1900s. And it is when the rider, the equestrian, performs a very intricate series of very precise horseback maneuvers. And the riders are scored on a scale of 0 to 10 by a panel of international judges. Now, with me right now, a dressage trainer, an expert. Her name is Deanna Corby. Okay, Deanna, don't laugh. But all I can think about is when I was on Dancing with the Stars

and my partner, an Irishman, Tristan McManus, wanted to do, every time, Tristan loved to do intricate dance steps and, you know, turning your toes this way and that way and whirling around, and he was really good at it. I, however, was not as good at it, but I can't imagine, it was hard enough for me to do that, much less get a horse to do it. Having a really bad flashback of what was that dance? Oh, the quick step. Oh, gosh. Oh, man. Okay, now go ahead. Explain to me dressage. How did it happen? And why do we call it dressage? It looks like dressage, but we call it dressage. Yeah, so dressage is a French word that means training. And it was started, it originated a long time ago when horses were used in battle.

And that's how the discipline of dressage came about. We obviously no longer use horses in battle, but the movements that were used in defense and warfare are used now today in the Olympic Games. So it is similar to the dance that you're referring to, except now we have a thousand pound animal that doesn't speak English that you're trying to communicate with through the most subtle aids using your body language, your weight, and trying to do a pattern that is judged by different judges around the arena and can be seen, of course, in the Olympics today. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Because of this, I've been looking at videos of dressage, and I grew up in a very, very rural area in middle Georgia, and we were around cows and horses and all sorts of animals. And when you say a thousand pound animal trying to get it to do these intricate, it's like the horse is doing intricate dance steps.

And it's amazing. You know what else hits me too ashley wilcott judge trial lawyer you can find her at ashleywilcott.com this guy michael barisone was named the sportsman international horseman of the year and has trained many many olympians and he operates the Beerson Dressage training facility on a Long Valley farm. You know, and it's just 11 miles from the U.S. equestrian team's headquarters in Gladstone. Now, it's very rarefied equestrian, much less this dressage. Have you noticed, Ashley, the more rarefied and the richer, and I hate to say it because I push education on my children constantly, the smarter people get, the sneakier they are, and it seems like they don't really have enough to do,

and they sit around and think about murdering each other. Now I'm going to have to pull in a shrink on that, but help me out, Ashley. Yeah, this is a crazy case so first of all you're right the equestrian world is so is an expensive sport right it is a very expensive store there you go you just hit the nail on the head that is why it's so elite and rarefied. It's the only word I can really think to describe it because nobody else can afford it. I mean, I can, as a teen, I can afford a pair of bebops because that's all I had to buy, you know, the blue and white saddle oxfords to be a cheerleader. Okay. That's all I had to buy. The school bought the uniform and the pom poms, But equestrian, that's thousands and thousands. Deanna Corby, how much would it take for a little girl, let's just say 11, to get outfitted and board a horse

and learn equestrian? A lot of money. If you want the breakdown, you know, let's see, at my facility, board is $850 a month. Excuse me, I was just gagging. Go ahead. And then training depends on how much. I'm sorry, that choked me up so much. Go ahead. Training, then what happens? Yeah, training, depending on how much you want, you could be looking at another $800 a month or so. And, you know, boots, $300 for the rider. Saddle, as much as $5,000. For what? Wait, wait, wait.

What costs $5,000? The saddle. The saddle. The saddle alone. Okay, you know, Ashley, you hit the nail on the head. It's all money. It is all money. And let me just, I'm sorry, Nancy, I have to say this as you and I both know, listen,

just because you have money and expertise, super smart, doesn't mean you can't be a criminal or do something that you shouldn't. I mean, this man, for God's sake, shot someone over a landlord-tenant dispute. How many people in America have landlord-tenant disputes? A lot. I think it was more than that. Shoot each other. I think it was more than that. There has to be more to this than over rent or her moving out of their ritzy compound. Joining me right now, former NYPD, John Cardillo. John, I don't believe this is just over landlord-tenant. You don't just blast some lady,

much less some ritzy equestrian highbrow woman. No. No, no, no. Just the rent? I'm not buying that. I think there's more to it. You've seen so many homicides. What are you in, John? Yeah, i tend to agree with you nancy and i'll look at this uh in a dual fashion i actually own horses myself i ride quite a bit there's a lot of drama out at the barn people get

very upset over the littlest things wait a minute that sounds like an episode of something drama out at the barn go ahead thebys will tell you though. I mean, the one, one girl puts her horse in a pasture with someone else's and the horses kick each other. There's a little cut. My God, you, you would think they ran over each other's kids. It's it's, there's a lot of drama. So I tend to agree, but everybody on the call is correct from the Corbys to the doctors.

It doesn't, your net worth doesn't matter. Look at Jeff Epstein, right? Your net worth doesn't matter as to whether or not you can be a heinous criminal. But I do think this was over more than, hey, I no longer want you to train here. And as I read the history and the fact pattern of the case, we had these allegations. Now, that in itself deserves an investigation. Wait, what allegations? Well, the allegations that the victim made against Barrison, that he had abused, sexually molested his children, things of that nature. Okay, stop everything. Stop everything.

Cardillo has just struck a nerve. You just cut the chase, right? Dave Mack, hello? Crime Online, emphasis, investigative reporter. Investigate. You investigate, then you report. I didn't hear anything about claims of sex abuse. Why did I get that from John Cardillo dave mack investigative reporter the reason you got

that from john and not me is because when this was discussed at his bail hearing okay when barrison was in court it was all about a tenant landlord issue that was their argument however in the week before this shooting occurred nancy there were six calls by police to the farm. Lauren Canarac had made a number of complaints against Barrison as her landlord about the condition of the home and that he was violating codes. But another call was made to the New Jersey version of Child Protective Services where Canarac. And now this is purely us guessing as to what she said. We know she made a call to Child Protective Services. We don't know what she alleged, but we know that about an hour before the shooting occurred, New Jersey Child Protective Services were in, they were there at

the farm interviewing Barrison about his potential abuse of his future stepchildren. He's engaged to a woman who has minor children. As soon as New Jersey CPS leaves the property, he marches out to the house. It's a two-story house in the middle of his property, and he walks out there and confronts Lauren Kannerack and her fiance, Rob Goodwin. That's what happened. That's what led up to this actual shooting. So this is not over rent. This is not over rent at all. I knew it. I knew it. And I knew it. Hold on, guys. I'm being joined right now by Stephen Corby, a renowned lawyer in a niche area, an expert in safe sport. Stephen Corby, you know, at first blush, people may think, well, he had a weapon in his barn for some reason and it went off. That's not what happened at all.

But I want your opinion on what went down and weigh in on how this relates to safe sport, Stephen Corby. Well, I think it's important, Nancy, to look at the timeline of events that occurred leading up to the shooting. So right before, only a few days before the shooting occurred, another Olympian was banned permanently by SafeSport, George Morris, who was given a lifetime ban due to allegations of sexual assault on minors. And the victim in this case had made comments on Facebook that she was interested or maybe even had contacted SafeSport to tell them about some things that Barrison had allegedly done. And so in his mind, he's thinking, well, if I get banned, that's my entire livelihood.

And this other Olympian who's even bigger than I am just got banned for life after other allegations of the sort. So this is only a couple of days later. And what you have to know about SafeSport, Nancy, is it was put in place after everything happened with the horrible Larry Nassar situation. And it got moved over and it covers all Olympians. And it also now covers the entire United States Equestrian Foundation or Federation. And so its purpose is mainly to investigate claims of sexual assault of members or by members in that community and to determine

whether or not they can continue to stay a part of the organization. And for some of these big guys, if they can't be a part of the organization anymore, they lose millions and millions of dollars. I have dedicated my life to crime victims, to giving a voice to those who can no longer speak for themselves. And that is why I work with Oxygen to create a new show, Injustice with Nancy Grace. We investigate cases that I believe never got it right, from wrongly accused to botched investigations to unclear motives to unjust sentences. I don't just cover cases. I solve them. I put my heart and soul in it. Dig deep. Look at the background, at the crime scene, at the families, at the witnesses. I look at every tiny detail because what matters to me is justice. Join us in our search for the truth.

Injustice with Nancy Grace. Watch now on demand and every Saturday at 6, 5 central. Only on Oxygen, the true network for crime. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Dr. Bethany Marshall joining me, psychoanalyst out of L.A. This shooting victim, absolutely beautiful. I'm looking at a photo of her right now. She looks like she's at a cocktail party in a slinky black dress, just beautiful, and a renowned equestrian.

That doesn't happen overnight, Dr. Bethany. She didn't just get there overnight, but she walked in fear. At 3.15 in the morning, there was a very, very suspicious-looking vehicle that came into the driveway going very slowly with a large SUV, and it was going very slowly. I texted the barn owner. Are you calling about the suspicious vehicle now? Yes, it just came back. Okay, hold on. Were weapons involved or mentioned? No, all that happened was this blacked out SUV with some guy smoking a cigarette in the front who I've never seen before except for last night at 3 15 in the

morning and we overheard them talking about like getting guys to like hurt us kill us whatever we told the officers this afternoon and they know how we have this situation and everything are you or anyone else in danger right now am I say it again am I what are you or anyone else in danger right now? Am I, say it again, am I what? Are you or anyone else in danger right now? We feel very much that he could be. You were just hearing 9-1-1. And listen to one of her posts. I'm being bullied by a six foot three inch man. Bullied to the point I'm afraid. Another post. Some people in life seem to feel they are untouchable by anyone. They feel that just because they have one accomplishment under their belt that everyone will believe every word they say. I must be very careful and take every single legal precaution I can as well as employ every resource to rectify this.

Everything from my life, livelihood, and even my writing career have all been threatened. Should I refuse to adhere to the things I've been being put through constantly? Those are some of her posts, Dr. Bethany. Wow. Wow. You know what that tells me, Nancy, is that he was obsessed with her. He was violating her rights. And we know if somebody, let's look at Harvey

Weinstein, if somebody has the kind of personality where they violate the rights of others, where they lack empathy, they relate to others on the basis of power, they want to exploit and take advantage of other people, the more money and the more wealth they have, the more access they have to abusing everybody around them. And this Michael Barrison may have had something that we call obsessional paranoia. That is the belief that somebody's presence here on Earth, another person's presence, is there to humiliate you, hurt you, harm you in some way, or is making your life worse in some way. And people who have obsessional paranoia become preoccupied with going after the victim to punish them.

And you know, Nancy, if she was writing about this on Facebook, she wanted other people to know. I mean, she really did feel frightened. It's not like she's just saying it to her fiance at night. She is putting this out in a public forum so people will know that if something happens to her, it's because of Michael Barrison. And it's interesting that she says he has one accomplishment.

She has many accomplishments. So he's using this one accomplishment to have power over her. So, no, this is not a rental or tenant dispute. This is somebody who wanted to have power over her and wanted to punish her, and it escalated. Take a listen to our friend at CBS2, Tierra Jakeway. According to the complaint, when police arrived, they found Canarec's fiancé and Barrison on the ground, wrestling for the gun after Barrison fired shots and missed. We have two additional people possible for broken arms.

The second man was a laceration over his head. That's the shooter. Barrison was taken into custody at the scene and reportedly stated multiple times to police, quote, I had a good life. The shooting taking place just days after Lauren Kanarek's close friend confirms to CBS2 she posted on her Facebook page, quote, I'm being bullied by a 6'3 man. Bullied to the point I'm afraid. Her neighbors at a loss for words. Stuff like that doesn't usually happen around here.

So that's odd. And he's right. Our town has been fortunate that for the last four or five years, we've actually been listed as one of the safest towns in the nation. According to the Morris County Prosecutor's Office, Michael Barrison is being evaluated at a local hospital. Ashley Wilcott, judge trial lawyer at AshleyWilcott.com. Have you noticed how rich and educated people don't think crime can ever enter their neighborhood?

That's exactly what I was thinking during this. They don't think it can enter their neighborhood. But here's the other half of it. Sometimes those are the very people that think they're beyond the law, that they can get away with it because they have such, such a belief that they're right. Everybody else is wrong and they're untouchable. You know, to Joseph Scott Morgan, joining me, professor of forensics at Jacksonville State University and author of Blood Beneath My Feet on Amazon. Joe Scott, I find these these postings to be very probative as to the victim's state of mind at the time she was shot. Now, whether they could come

into evidence is a whole nother can of worms. That's an evidentiary matter. But I find them very probative. What else jumps out at you as forensic proof in this case? Well, obviously, the shooting itself, Nancy, is going to give you an idea of the relationship, physical relationship between them relative to things like range of fire. The police officer that was calling in on the radio had said it looks like the subject has sustained two very close range gunshot wounds. But you got to dig a little bit deeper, Nancy, with these statements. This cuts both ways. This person is saying she's being bullied. This person is filing claims relative to things like, you know, city ordinance violations.

And she's actually going out there saying this man is a sexual predator. And, you know, I got to tell you, Nancy, it seems as though she's throwing a lot of stuff against the wall relative to this man's life to see what's going to stick. Yeah, she's saying that he had one accomplishment. Well, another major accomplishment is he's a businessman. He runs. He runs this facility. And when it comes down to it, these people very well may have been squatting and have been kneeling him all these years or all these months just taking advantage of him. Oh, okay.

So all these months, they've been taking advantage of him. That's one of your working theories. But then when she reports alleged sex abuse on his part, then he suddenly shoots her. Interesting. In keeping with Joe Scott Morgan's working theory, take a listen to Barrisone's defense lawyer, Jeff Sims. In 54 years, Mr. Barrasolman has not had a blemish on his record. We also know that it is well known within the community he owns the property on which the alleged victims or squatters, Judge,

were asked to leave numerous times, have taken over the property. What do you say you characterize them as squatters? They are, Judge. Squatters in the law has a particular connotation different than tenants, lawful tenants. That's my understanding, it's my understanding, you can correct me if I'm wrong, what was the nature of their relationship? The relationship was, Judge, that once they were finished training the horses they were no longer allowed to stay on the property. Was that written in a lease agreement?

I don't believe so. But these people had not paid rent. When I say squatters, Judge, I mean squatters simply because they were no longer allowed to be on the property pursuant to their verbal agreement with Mr. Barrasso. So I'm so glad they said that. That really cleared everything up for me. So they're squatters, so he shot her twice in the chest. You know what? I don't think that's how the eviction process is supposed to work.

Straight out to Stephen Corby, not only an expert in safe sport, but lawyer as well. Stephen Corby, what about it? Yeah, I completely agree with you, Nancy. I'm actually a bit surprised that the defense counsel focused so much on that that would justify any of the actions that occurred. In fact, if anything, it just goes further to show that his own client was frustrated at the process because he believes that they are squatters instead of lawful tenants. But, you know, the relationship between these parties goes back pretty far. It sounds like the victim had been training horses with Barrison in 2018 as well throughout the whole summer and had trained

at the beginning of this summer as well. And some of these problems, it looks like, didn't start until the end of June or July. And when you're talking about moving this many horses and you've been at a facility for so long, of course you can't get immediately out. And so even without a contract, I don't see how there wouldn't be a landlord-tenant relationship that would require some sort of lawful eviction. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Yeah, I own this place. I have some people who have been living on this place and were told to not be in the horse barn after 9 p.m. And they're in the horse barn.

They're scumbags, and I want them warned. They have chased us out of our house, and I need this dealt with tonight. You were just hearing a series of 911 calls, calls that were brewing before the double shooting went down to suggest that he shot them because they were squatters. That's not self-defense. That is shooting out of anger or revenge. That equals, in many cases, murder charges when you shoot someone out of anger or revenge. Take a listen to what the prosecutor there in Morris County says.

Christopher Schellhorn. She sustained two gunshot wounds to the torso, Judge. She is receiving excellent medical treatment at Morristown Medical Center, as we've come to know through other cases. The second victim, R.G., has returned to the residence. He's continued to care for the horses that are on the property, has continued to maintain that, I guess, association with the stables. Certainly, there is a real danger to the victims here.

The defendant went there on August 7th with a particular goal in mind, and that was he could not find resolution through the civil courts, he could not find resolution through the civil courts, he could not find resolution through the police, and he went there that day with an intention to find resolution by murdering his adversaries. You know, this woman sustains two gunshots to the torso over what? Dave Mack, CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter, explain the timeline to me again where you believe she made a sex abuse claim against the equestrian Olympian Michael Barrison just before the shooting. Well, what we know,

Nancy, is that just before the shooting, the New Jersey version of Child Protective Services actually was on the premises doing a one-on-one interview with Michael Barrison. They were there discussing his future stepchildren, the children, the minor children of his fiance. After they left, that's when Michael Barrison grabbed that black and pink gun and went to confront Lauren Canerac and her fiancé, Rob Goodwin. So, bottom line, how do we prove or disprove this? To you, Dr. Bethany Marshall, psychoanalyst, joining me out of L.A. Dr. Bethany, what do you make of the sequence of the events? And now she's fighting for her life in a hospital bed.

Well, I think that there are no perfect victims. Obviously, they were playing into the situation with Barrison in some way. But look, only one person pulled the trigger. That is the perpetrator. And that tells me that he is the one who had the homicidal thoughts. He is the one who's mostly at fault. It seems like, you know, sometimes people can fight, but they don't really understand completely what they're fighting about. And it seems to me that these three individuals were engaged in some vicious fight that we as the outsiders cannot be privy to. And the fight may have even been about the horses, like how well the horses were cared for. It could have been about values and ethics that they felt that they were better,

you know, horsey people than Barrison was, or they didn't like the way he was taking care of the property, or maybe they became obsessed with the new stepchildren and that he was going to violate them. But there was some colossal war taking place between the three of them over something that we cannot know about. It is not about tenants' rights. It is really not. And I don't think it was about the stepchildren. It was probably some ideology. But I think that when they reported him as a possible perpetrator to the stepchildren, they were taking something precious away from him, which was this potential marriage. And we know

when somebody's already homicidal and they're about to face a big loss, they become even more homicidal. So I think that that was the final precipitating event before he went over and shot her twice in the chest. He wanted to kill her, Nancy. He shot her in the chest. He aimed to kill. And not once, but twice. To Deanna Corby, Dressage trainer and expert. Deanna, it's hard for regular people like me, like a lot of us, to relate to this world, this elite world of multimillionaires, equestrian experts. In that culture, are the coaches and the trainers like demigods. How do they get away with it?

Well, yeah, they kind of are like celebrities. Michael Barrison is a highly accomplished and sought-after Olympic-level dressage trainer, and he actively trains many, many students. And in these instructor- trainer, and student relationships, the relationship becomes really, really close because the large amount of time that they're spent together and the trust that's required to work together. So here you are as a student trusting your trainer, spending a ton of time with the trainer. You admire this person. You want to learn from this person. You want to be like this person. And you sort of become

jaded in your vision of that person, or you can become jaded in your vision of that person, because that person that you're training with is your idol. So it's easy to overlook things, I guess. Stephen Corby, what will happen now? Stephen Corby with me, lawyer and renowned expert in safe sport. Nancy, yeah, so I agree that I think it's very unlikely to be a landlord-tenant issue. I don't think that that's probably what triggered it, and I think your instincts are right there. You know, again, I think this is really about the accusations of child abuse and how it ties in with the safe sport world because of the loss of livelihood and possibly the loss of a significant amount of money.

And to your point earlier, when you asked Deanna about why people allow these, these trainers to really have so much power and why they don't speak up against them. And that's the whole reason SafeSport exists. It's because people were afraid to make allegations or accusations against persons because then they would be ostracized in their communities and possibly not allowed to train with other famous professionals. And so it was this real big fear of silence. And so SafeSport came along and said, OK, make your accusations to us. We'll investigate. We'll keep everything quiet. We won't let anyone say anything about the accusers or the victims.

And we'll make an independent determination that won't harm your future career. And that's the reason it's really been put into place is to help make people feel safe in making these accusations. Unfortunately, it didn't seem to make the victim, people feel safe in making these accusations. Unfortunately, it didn't seem to make the victim, Lauren, here in this situation safe. Dave Mack, this guy now sitting behind bars, a U.S. equestrian Olympian, after, you know, pounding this woman with at least two gunshot wounds to the torso. I think it was about money. I think it was about the alleged sex allegations. But I think more than that, I really believe it's about status and reputation and the way he perceives he's viewed in this rarefied equestrian community. I think that's what he didn't want. He didn't want to be embarrassed by her and her claims.

I think that was the motive. I think you're absolutely right. See, Lauren had been around Barrison for a long time, and apparently there were no complaints. Then all of a sudden, all of a sudden, in the last couple of months, one complaint after another. It was like throwing complaints against a wall. We wait as justice unfolds.

Nancy Grace, Crime Stories, signing off. Goodbye, friend. This is an I Heart podcast.