Ray William Johnson: True Story Podcast - The Creepy Fake Doctor - The John Meehan story

Episode Date: March 25, 2025

The John Meehan case, famously known through the Netflix series Dirty John, tells the true story of a charismatic con man who manipulated, deceived, and terrorized multiple women. Posing as a successful doctor, Meehan used charm and lies to infiltrate the life of Debra Newell, a wealthy interior designer, while hiding a criminal past filled with fraud, abuse, and stalking. His pattern of emotional and psychological abuse escalated into physical violence, ultimately leading to his death in 2016.

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But he gets away with it because he's kind of a charming dude. One day, his life starts to change a little. Because in 1990, he meets this woman, Tanya. And Tanya's 25, she's a nurse, and they date for a couple of years, and they end up getting married. And John eventually starts nursing school, and he becomes a nurse, just like his wife. But then, he screws it all up, because he ends up cheating on her, and he gets the other woman pregnant. And of course, Tanya's pissed off and she's hurt. Like, how could he lie to me with so much ease? So she starts digging into his background to see if there's anything else he lied about.

And yes, there definitely is. He had apparently lied to her about a bunch of stuff, including his age. Who lies to their own wife about their age? So Tanya's fed up and she starts searching their house and she finds a bunch of meds, meds that she knows should never live. leave the hospital. So clearly he's been stealing drugs from the hospital he works at and abusing them. So she calls the police and reports him. And so John not only gets his nursing license suspended, but he gets hit with a charge of felony drug theft. And John knows it was Tanya who turned him in, so he starts calling her and threatening her. Tanya, you enjoy your time left on this earth, okay? Because that's what it's going to come down to. But whatever, eventually, bam, police arrest John.

Here's his mugshot. And he's sentenced to six years in prison, but this isn't even close to being over. Because John gets out after only 17 months, and he's going to go terrorize some more women. So he eventually gets back in the dating game, and he starts pulling this whole scheme where he'll match with women on dating sites, and then he'll meet up with them, and then he'll steal from them. And over time, he gets a bunch of complaints and criminal charges over this. He also gets charged with stalking one woman. bro is just an absolute turd.

But one day, everything changes again for John, because he joins a dating site for people over 50. And there he meets this woman, Deborah. Deborah's 59, she's an interior designer, and Deborah's successful. Like, she's got a little money. And so they chat and they hit it off, and they end up going out on a date.

Now, while on this date, he's trying to ris her up. He tells her he's an anesthesiologist, which he's not. He also tells her he just got. back from Doctors Without Borders in Iraq, which he didn't. But Deborah doesn't know any better, so she believes him. I mean, she's impressed. And they end up going back to her place to hang out a bit longer, and there, I guess at some point, John lays in her bed, and he won't leave. And Deborah's like, all right, it's time to go. And I guess he's just like, nah. And so they get into some kind of

argument about it. But eventually, he does leave. The next day, he calls her and apologizes, and he begs her for a second chance. And so they end up going out on more dates and over time he does win her over. And Deborah kind of falls in love with his weird ass. Here's the thing about that though. Despite how much Deborah is into him, people around her really aren't. I mean, they know a creep when they see one, particularly her adult daughter, Jacqueline. And Jacqueline thinks he's weird and he's a loser and not only that, she's pretty vocal about it. Now Deborah's other adult daughter, Tara, she also thinks something's off about John. And they think this because there is something off about John. Like, remember he said he's an anesthesiologist, yet he doesn't even have his own car. Like,

what kind of anesthesiologists can't afford his own car? He also chills and plays video games all the time, despite having an important medical career. He also only ever wears scrubs. Like everywhere, like even to formal events, he'll show up in some dirty, ass scrubs. I guess he really wants everyone to believe he's a doctor. But the thing that bothers Jacqueline the most is that he constantly has dirty, disgusting fingernails, which doctors are usually known for keeping their hands clean. Oh, but not this guy. Not only that, they don't know it yet, but being an anesthesiologist is not the only thing he lies about. He lies about having a job like all together. Bro is just unemployed. Like he leaves the house for work every day

as if he's going to his job, but he doesn't actually have a job, so where the fuck does he go? Regardless, Debra and John end up moving in together, and shortly after that, they get married in Vegas. Now, by this point, Jacqueline and Tara are like, nah, something's up with this guy, and they go and they hire a private investigator to look into him, and this private investigator finds out a bunch of stuff about John. That not only is he not an anesthesiologist or any kind of doctor, but that the period when he was supposed to be working with doctors without borders in Iraq, he was actually in prison. And so Jacqueline and Tara, they try to tell Deborah all of this, but I guess Deborah just isn't ready to hear it. Now eventually, Deborah does start investigating

and she looks into John herself. And she discovers that, yeah, everyone was telling the truth about him. He's not a doctor at all. In fact, he's a criminal with a history of victimizing women. And so, one day while John is in the hospital getting back surgery, she low-key moves out of their house. And while he's still recovering at the hospital, she lets him know, I've moved out. And he, of course, gets super pissed. And over the next few months, he, like, calls her and he sends her messages, just like bullshitting and trying to explain away all the stuff she found out about him that he was lying about. And he, of course, tells her that she's the love of his life and just all these things.

and eventually, unfortunately, it works, and she decides to give him another chance. And they move in to a new apartment together and they try and make it work out again. Until. Here's the thing about John. John is very controlling. And he doesn't want Deborah to really contact her daughters anymore. Because, you know, they don't like him. And one day in 2016, he catches her sneaking out to meet up with her daughter Jacqueline.

And he gets mad and blows the fuck up at her. And he threatens to throw Jacqueline into the ocean if Deborah tries to meet with her again. And so finally, Deborah's like, nah, this is not going to work out for me. And she leaves him for good. And of course, John, well, he doesn't respond well to this at all. And over the next few months, he starts going crazy. Crazier than he's ever gone. He starts sending her threatening messages.

He files for divorce and demands half her income and ownership of her property. business, he starts stalking her, he steals her Jaguar and sets it on fire, he gets spicy photos of her and emails them to her family, just like all kinds of insane stuff. And at this point, Deborah's getting really scared, he'll try and hurt her. So she goes and she files a restraining order against him. But because he now lives in a different state and hasn't actually tried to harm her before, the restraining order gets denied. And that is very unfortunate because this is when he really gets out of control. Because one day, Deborah's daughter, Tara, is driving home from work, and she gets to her

building, and she pulls into her parking spot, and as soon as she gets out of the car, boom, John is suddenly standing behind her, and pow, he attacks her with a knife, and they struggle, and he tries to push her into the car like he's kidnapping her, and bam, she bites the shit out of his hand, and they both fall to the ground, and there, they wrestle, and they continue the struggle, and pow, she kicks the knife right out of his hand, and then she grabs it herself and boom, she starts stabbing him over and over again until he's in critical condition. And four days later, in the hospital, he dies. And Tanya's case is ultimately determined by police to be self-defense, which, yeah. Starting a business can seem like a daunting task,

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