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The First Wife: John Meehan's Reign of Terror

By: Tonia Bales, Laura Richards, AYR Media
Narrated by: Rachel Louise Snyder
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Publisher's summary

Many listened to the Dirty John podcast, which introduced the world to John Meehan, a dangerous serial predator who infiltrates the life of Debra Newell and ultimately dies at the hand of her daughter, Terra. But there was an overlooked story that’s now being told, in full, for the first time. In The First Wife: John Meehan’s Reign of Terror, Tonia Bales recounts her harrowing experiences as John’s wife of 10 years and the mother of their daughters, Emily and Abby. Highlighting new details and revelations, Tonia shares the abuse she suffered from the man she once believed to be her soulmate, but who ultimately revealed himself as a coercive and controlling terrorist. Through exclusive archival materials and all-new interviews with the people who knew her and John best, uncovering long-held secrets and including perspective from their daughters, Tonia embarks on a re-investigation of the man she thought she knew. The multiple bombshells she unearths include one that will change her and her daughters’ lives forever.
©2021 AYR MEDIA, LLC (P)2021 Audible Originals, LLC
Con Artists, Hoaxes & Deceptions True Crime
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Episodes
  • Trailer

    Trailer
    Jul 12 2021

    You can listen to The First Wife: John Meehan's Reign of Terror full podcast on Thursday, July 22.

    Many people listened to the Dirty John podcast, about a scheming psychopath who infiltrates the life of a woman and ultimately dies at the hand of her daughter. But there was an overlooked story, now being told in full, for the first time. Tonia Bales, John Meehan’s first wife, recounts the harrowing story of her life as John’s wife and mother of his two daughters. Tonia reveals the abuse she suffered from the man who started as her soulmate and became a terrifying emotional terrorist. Through new interviews with the people who knew her and John best and exclusive archival materials, Tonia learns that there’s a lot about her traumatic marriage that she never knew, including one bombshell that will change her and her daughters’ lives forever.
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    1 min
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  • Episode 1: Filthy John Meehan

    Episode 1: Filthy John Meehan
    Jul 22 2021
    As Tonia prepares to begin the podcast about her life with John Meehan, her daughter Abby gets a Facebook message from a man claiming to be John’s long-lost son, allegedly conceived during Tonia and John’s engagement. The revelation prompts Tonia to re-investigate her marriage to John, and discover what else she doesn’t know about him and their relationship. She remembers their storybook courtship and marriage, and how it began to fall apart.
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    37 mins
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  • Episode 1: Bonus Episode

    Episode 1: Bonus Episode
    Jul 22 2021
    Criminal Behavioral Analyst Laura Richards joins Tonia Bales for a deep dive into "Episode 1: Filthy John Meehan".
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    15 mins
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Aliza Rosen
Tonia Bales
Laura Richards

About the Executive Producer

Aliza Rosen is the founder and president of AYR Media, a full-service production company focused on premium unscripted and documentary content encompassing podcasts, television, and film.
A veteran producer and development executive with expertise across all mediums, Rosen launched AYR in 2019. The company has a diverse slate of premium podcasts set with Audible/Amazon Studios and iHeart Media—more than five new shows launching in 2021 alone—with additional projects and IP in development for television/streaming and podcasting.
Rosen previously co-created and executive-produced CBS’s The Case Of: Jon Benet Ramsey, which premiered in 2016 to record ratings; was a consulting producer on Oxygen’s documentary series Dirty John: The Dirty Truth; and also served as a consulting producer on E!’s For Real: The History of Reality TV, set to debut in 2021.
She spent seven years as executive vice president of development for Philadelphia-based S3 Productions, where she built the company’s slate from the ground up, developing series in myriad unscripted genres and selling to networks such as Discovery and A&E, among many others.
Rosen began her entertainment career producing news and documentary programming for CBS, VH1, and Oxygen. Her directorial debut and first feature film, the award-winning Latter Day Jew, premiered in 2019, screening at festivals across the country.

About the Executive Producer

Tonia Bales has been in continuous clinical anesthesia practice since 1991 after graduating from the University Hospital School of Anesthesia in Cincinnati, OH. She started her career in San Bernardino, CA and has practiced in Murfreesboro, TN and Dayton, OH. She now resides and practices outside of Atlanta. As the ex-wife of the infamous and disgraced "Dirty" John Meehan, Tonia’s contributions were instrumental to the international success of the LA Times podcast Dirty John. Tonia’s harrowing experience was portrayed in the Bravo TV show of the same name and the companion documentary, Dirty John: The Dirty Truth. She has also been featured on Dateline NBC, Inside Evil with Chris Cuomo, and Today with Megyn Kelly.

About the Executive Producer

Laura Richards is an international expert on domestic violence—coercive control, stalking, homicide and risk assessment was the Head of the Homicide Prevention Unit for New Scotland Yard. Laura was also trained at the FBI Behavioral Analysis Unit. Laura’s also been covering and analyzing John Meehan’s behavior since 2017 and was a producer on Oxygen’s Dirty John: The Dirty Truth. Laura was also a co-creator and executive producer on The Case of: Jon Benet Ramsey (CBS), which premiered to record ratings in 2016, and was followed by a second season, The Case of: Casey Anthony (Oxygen), that aired in 2018. Richards is also the executive producer of the forthcoming film Jennifer 42.

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About the Host

Rachel Louise Snyder is the author of Fugitive Denim: A Moving Story of People and Pants in the Borderless World of Global Trade, the novel What We’ve Lost Is Nothing, and No Visible Bruises: What We Don’t Know About Domestic Violence Can Kill Us. Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, and The Washington Post and on NPR. She was named a Guggenheim Fellow in 2020.
No Visible Bruises was awarded the 2018 Lukas Work-in-Progress Award and received starred reviews from Kirkus, Book Riot and Publisher’s Weekly. It was a named one of the best books of 2019 by the Los Angeles Times, Esquire, Amazon, Kirkus, the Library Journal, the Economist, BookPage, and others. The New York Times included it in their Top Ten books of 2019. No Visible Bruises was also a finalist for the Kirkus Award, the National Book Critics Circle Award, the Los Angeles Times Book Award, and the Silver Gavel Award. It won the 2020 BookTube Prize, the 2020 New York Public Library’s Bernstein Award for Excellence in Journalism, and the 2020 Hillman Prize for Book Journalism. Snyder holds a joint appointment as a professor in journalism and creative writing at American University.

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What listeners say about The First Wife: John Meehan's Reign of Terror

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Profile Image for Angela Times

it's an important read for single women.

I like how this story brought out the psychological aspects of a person's actions in an effort to recognize dangerous red flags.

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Profile Image for Anonymous User

Incredible insights

I first heard about John Meehan on Real Crime Profile podcast and then watched the Netflix movie Dirty John so I knew a little bit about the story. But this delves deeper into his life and the lives of the people he terrorized before Debra Newell. I really enjoyed listening to Laura Richards on the bonus episodes after each regular episode. I like hearing from a law enforcement perspective and from someone who's an expert in dealing with this type of crime about why it happens, how people can protect themselves and why it's so important for everybody to understand. The story keeps things riveting with different a variety of voices, different experiences and actual recordings. Definitely one of the better real crime podcasts I've listened to.

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Profile Image for Me

Pronounce Anesthesia correct!!

It is not anesTesia as the narrator says. Please pronounce the TH. Otherwise it’s great.

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Profile Image for Chelsea Shaw

Awesome

I loved hearing the story from the mouth of John's first wife and daughters. It was really well done. I'll admit though that I skipped all the Bonus episodes. It took me only a day to listen to them and I followed it up with the Dirty John Netflix show.

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Profile Image for tues82

Laura Richards is a bad a**

I listen to Laura on the podcast Real Crime Profile. If you loved this podcast, you will love RCP because its Laura discussing hundreds of true cases just like this and educating people about abusers. Shout out to Jim and Lisa too ❤

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Main episodes are better

I didn’t think the additional bonus episodes were necessary and just skipped over them. But the main content was very good.

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Profile Image for Eric Herman

Scary man

This is presented in a way that helps people understand what was really happening. As someone who was also a victim of narcissistic abuse, I could relate to everything. Those who have been in this position should listen with triggering facts in mind, but the story is a testimony to the resilience of family and what love can do to help people heal their wounds. John is where he belongs.

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Couldn’t stop listening

I accidentally binge listened and this story is incredible! I admire the strength of Tonia!

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Profile Image for Laurey Walper

EDUCATIONAL

Haven’t finished this podcast, but loving it. Tanya’s openness combined with the therapist’s assessment/analysis of John Meehan’s behavior makes for a very interesting podcast - thank you for your courage in telling your story Tanya.

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Profile Image for robert

Good but...

I think this was a great production except for the commentary between episodes. The woman with the British accent is annoying. I feel like it was a rubbish when she took what Dirty John said to his one daughter as threatening abuse towards the other daughter. It was quite obvious he was just joking or pandering to the little sister. I also felt it wasn't right to name the chapter "dirty sisters". If we're truly concerned with these girls lets let them have some peace and stop tying them to their scumbag deceased father. Just a quibble, but the story is good enough without this Lady trying to squeeze meaning from throw away comments. I didn't hear of the guy ever physically abusing his kids, so don't go down that rabbit hole. Otherwise it's a great story.

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1 person found this helpful