Dirty John is Bravo’s newest true crime anthology television series based on the real life story of local Henderson resident, Debra Newell. Newell met and married a man named John Meehan, only to find out later that he was a con artist and had seduced, manipulated, and terrorized many other women from 2005 to 2014.
When Newell left Meehan, he showed up at her youngest daughter Terra’s home, armed with a knife and the intent to either kill or kidnap Terra. Terra was able to grab the knife from Meehan and stabbed him in the eye. Meehan died just a few days later.
Now, Newell’s mission is to help save other women by sharing her story.
Watch Inside Edition‘s interview with Newell and her daughter Terra below to learn more about their incredible story of strength and survival:
“The Real Story Behind ‘Dirty John’” by Inside Edition
“Dirty John,” as Meehan came to be known, and the tale of his exploits received national attention last year when LA Times journalist Christopher Goffard launched an investigative journalism podcast into Meehan’s life and released several chapters over the course of a few days in October 2017. The podcast focused on Newell’s relationship with John and was downloaded more than 10 million times within a 6-week span. Dateline NBC then covered the story in January 2018 in a television special.
Inspired by Newell’s story and Goffard’s work, Bravo released a new television series starring Connie Britton as Debra Newell and Eric Bana as John Meehan. The first episode, which just premiered on November 25, 2018, was filmed at Treasure Island (source).
Dirty John airs on Bravo on Sundays at 10pm ET. If you missed the premiere, you can still watch it online at BravoTV.com.
For the original podcast and LA Times reporting, visit this link to get started with Part 1.
Another documentary called Dirty John, the Dirty Truth will air on Oxygen in January 2019.