This is like my 3rd time listening to this podcast, so clearly I enjoy it (while agreeing with all comments about the women’s voices and Debra and Arlane’s delusions). But for the love, who edited these security ads literally mid sentence multiple times per episode?! It’s so distracting and could have been done so much better. Cmon Wondery.

Podcast is fine, but how incredibly manipulative and messed up to play home security ads in the middle of a story about stalking!

What’s wrong with this woman.don’t feel sorry for her 🙄🙄so stupid

Honestly, unpopular opinion, but the story telling was slow and okay at best. Dirty John would have been a better book, maybe? The details were great in some areas and excessive in others. The picture was painted that the family was crazy baseline. Terra, clearly is on a lot of psych medicines. The mom is ridiculous, but the grandmother takes the cake. It’s genetic. I honestly think John did a great job of picking his victims because it was obvious from the start. I couldn’t understand why the brother-in-law was even mentioned only to clarify the family is crazy and they have good reason to take meds themselves. He was portrayed as a loser, but honestly where was the 10 years backstory while he was married? He became a nurse and a nurse anesthetist. Do you realize how hard that profession is? I felt like this podcast degraded that profession in a way. There were no stories from his RN days or his CRNA days?!? Just that he lost his license because he did drugs. Why? Why not have an episode dedicated to this era of his life? If you’re going to paint this guy to be crazy then why not interview coworkers at those jobs instead of the dead ends he encountered with other endeavors. I need the full story not the long but skipped over main facts version with fluff. There’s no doubt he had issues but you definitely could have done a better job. I also have questions about the family. What were the professions of the grandmother and sister to John’s last wife (already forgot her name)? Also, you have smart kids but ones a former dog groomer (which sounds like she’s on disability now) and the other helps you in her mother’s office, but dropped out of real estate school because she was embarrassed by John’s harassing her and involving the school? Who cares. I need the background on this family because this dynamic has more to the story than what was told.

This content is great but whoever remixed it royally messed up. Sometimes the ads start literally in the middle of a word.

Great storytelling, but man, is it manipulative to intersperse home security ads while the victims are describing their fear mid-sentence.

Didn’t get through it. Mostly interviews which are difficult to understand and to keep track of who is who. Truly disappointing from this company. There’s a great story here, but presented terribly.

The audio editing on this podcast is *so bad* that I felt compelled to review. Ads are always placed abruptly in the middle of a sentence, and there are 3-4 (very long!) ads per episode. So someone is speaking, then in the middle of their sentence it cuts to a 3-minute ad, then it abruptly cuts back to the rest of their sentence. Makes me hate Simplisafe (the advertiser), even though it’s not their fault. At least once (episode 3 I think?), the audio company promoted themselves on top of the podcast, i.e. two different voices were going at the same time. The storytelling is good, but it’s borderline unlistenable.

The ads abruptly cut into the narrative at random times. The storytelling is too slow. I tried to stick with this to hear the end but couldn’t listen anymore.

I have a Wondery subscription - why am I forced to listen to commercials?! And I’m not allowed to fast forward through them. Not cool, Wondery!!

I subscribe to wondery + and I’m hearing ads.—why? Not my first wondery podcast hearing them either. Needs to be fixed

The podcast is great! But Deb made me want to slam my head in to a wall. How many red flags can you ignore!? And how can you just ignore The kids that are screaming at you to get rid of him? But Here comes Debs Mom! And it all Came full circle! These ladies are walking morons! You have no loyalties to your Children. Thank God the Daughters have a lick of Brains.

Where did that cool music go? There’s ads in very disruptive places. It sounds different and not in a good way. I know because I’ve listened to it many times. Why mess with a really good thing? I can’t listen to it any more. The impact is gone. ___________ Old review: Dirty John was my first podcast experience, which rather spoiled me for other podcasts. Because the medium is based on listening, it will by its own nature, appeal more to some individuals. I fell in love with Christopher Goddard’s unique voice and delivery, which reminded me of a hard boiled detective, in an old black and white movie. The music appealed to me so much I waited for each incidence of music. The daughters’ voices rankled until they took me over with great affection. Deborah’s voice tickled my senses. I just listened to the whole series again, and all the extras, plus I saw the Bravo series.

There’s a good reason this is often rated #1 for Wondery. It’s so much better than most podcasts. Her daughter is my hero.

It’s a well-written podcast and an interesting story. I’d say it could have been a bit shorter. Honestly, if they took out more of the victims’ interviews it may have made me sympathize with them more and helped shorten the length. Skipped the lawyer man. He was putting on the dramatics

I’m sorry but these women are complete morons. Grandma, mom and daughters are flat out DUMB! I truly hope they don’t vote or breed. Debbie deserves to be locked up at the very least and that’s me being nice.

Girl fix your personality..

Terra screamed at the most popular podcast hosts at OF because she and P couldn’t control their jealousy. Then when confronted with her insanity she went full Karen. This woman needs to step away and get some serious therapy.

This podcast is very good however it sounds as if it was edited by a high schooler on an iPhone. People are cut off mid-sentence as it cuts abruptly to a commercial for another podcast. Like another reviewer, I thought I’d accidentally hit the forward button. I thought it must be a fluke but no the entire series is like this. For real? There’s free apps that can edit sound bites better than this. It’s really distracting.

The first time I heard an ad I truly thought I had hit a button somehow and changed podcasts. It cut off in the middle of a sentence and went into the telling of another story. Turned out it was as ad for the newest season of Suspect. Each time there is an ad break it does this. Makes it hard to follow along with that part of the story when it cuts people off.

I listen to a lot of podcasts. I enjoyed the story and the way it was told however, it is extremely disappointing when you are listening to someone be interviewed and a commercial abruptly cuts in. I’m not sure who did the editing but it is horrible. Commercials should be inserted at the end of an interview or where there is a natural break not in the middle of a sentence!

This is a series that you’ll be hooked on while listening and then after think, “did that really need to be a series?” There are plenty of con men and jerks out there but this one is portrayed in some good story telling that makes you really hate him and want to make sure he’s punished, and so you’re hooked.

I listened to this podcast when it first came out. It was so interesting and it kept me on the edge of my seat. I recommended it to all of my friends and family! It was by far my favorite podcast series. All these years later I decided to re listen to the series after recommending it to more friends. I’m not sure why but the story seems like it is told differently. It is less exciting and not as interesting as I remember it being. During the Ad break, it says that “this is a special version of dirty John remixed and remastered by salt audio.” I’m not sure how much this new “remixed” version has strayed from the original but it just doesn’t have the same feel as I remember. I think the original podcast version should be brought back for us listeners!

I have to tell you, Deborah‘s family and Deborah herself, honestly, I’m not sure if they’re mentally stable beginning with her mother forgiving the murderer of her daughter and saying she still loved him. I was just floored. I think they’ve all been out in the California sun too long. I understand that forgiveness is a Christlike thing to do but when it comes to your child and the murderer of that child, umm no. and then Deborah takes John back after everything that she knows about him? Can you spell desperate & low self esteem?!?!

I don’t mean to victim blame here but can we please talk about what a moron Debbie is??? And grandma is a whack job. Good grief

This was a very good podcast. I have been with a ” Dirty Filthy Chris” .. got taken to the cleaners and 10 years to extricate myself from him!! Only difference was , I had no support from family or police .. which made it very Hard . Feel like I’m a survivor . There are so many ways that Chris was exactly like John! Unbelievable! Still makes me mad! Once I started listening I could not stop! Thank you

Truly so refreshing to listen to true crime where there isn’t a dead victim. Like I cannot express how nice it is. Anyways I’m glad he is dead :)

We couldn’t make it past 30 minutes. The daughter sounds so spoiled and we couldn’t listen to anymore of it. Might be good if you can get past that??

I’m new to podcasts and I truly enjoyed this series . Kept me coming back for more . Also I almost gave up on apple product as I have many and pay a pretty penny for them all but this series gave me a new perspective maybe apple should thank you .

Love the podcast. They mom pisses me off and I can’t believe Debra. She laughs and giggles the entire time she talks about that psychopath. Oh, he dotes on me so much and takes me wherever I want to go. He cried in church!!! Whatever. Billy served 3!years for executing her sister

Usually wonderly podcasts get an automatic 5 stars, and I usually finish them in a day. They’re well told and always super interesting. This one I kinda felt less interested, and more forced into just sticking with the story. The story was definitely done well and good but nothing comparable to the other wonderly podcasts I’ve listened to.

Honestly, Debra and her mom sound like nice people but also the dumbest people I’ve ever heard explain themselves.

The reporting is good but the casting of Debra as an innocent victim is ridiculous. She puts her children in danger because of her own selfishness. Her only defense could be that she is genuinely very unintelligent but I think she knows better. She never once says out loud that she feels guilty, the podcaster reports it which I think means she never actually expressed any remorse, they had to add it in to make her sympathetic

This story paints a clear picture of just how quickly people can manipulate others.

Although the tv show is great, hearing the actual case is brilliant!

It is SOOO hard to listen to Terra talk. I could not get through episode one. DOES IT GET BETTER? I know she was attacked, and that is tragic and she is an amazing person for fighting off her attacker, but she should NOT be speaking in the podcast. Or at least should have been coached, she comes off as not very bright. Her little baby voice makes it even worse. I am so sorry but it is awful.

It really takes all kinds in this world. I felt deep sympathy for Shad and his late mother most of all. It is no wonder Debra turned out the way she did with a mother like Arlene. “The jury’s eyes all filled with tears” made me physically ill. Debra continued the cycle and I did not get the sense she takes any ownership. Very strange group of people. I hope this teaches young women to find value in themselves beyond physical beauty, because when it fades you’ll need a strong foundation for your self-esteem to carry you the latter half of your life.

Great podcast

Could not make it through the first episode. Not one sensible human being with thoughts deeper than a puddle or interested in something more than a “blue and cream scheme.” Good grief.

They’re interviewing one daughter who has the most irritating and scathing voice. I could no longer handle it. Plenty of other podcasts to listen to without torturing myself.

Jaw dropping true story, couldn’t be told any better.

This has nothing to do with the podcast as a whole, so far it’s good, but terra’a voice makes me physically ill ISUEIAUSU This is a joke so I don’t want sound mean but the things she says in the voice she says then with makes me literally tense up Don’t worry tho terra I’m a hater and please just keep it up girlboss Your “s’s” make my ears bleed tho

Great story but quite possibly the worst soundtrack of any media in history. It gets worse with each episode, with the last containing the most terrible song I’ve ever listened to.

I am a huge fan of podcasts. The first major podcasts I really got into years ago were dirty John and doctor death. Recently I wanted to re-listen to both of these podcasts, and to my dismay I found that I, a loyal podcast fan who has listened to a number of your podcasts beyond these two, no longer have access to my favorite podcasts without paying for them. What was wrong with the ad format?? I genuinely don’t mind podcast ads, as unlike other platforms, the ads aren’t specifically targeted towards me from cookies. Nonetheless, I am disappointed to see that I am no longer able to listen and support you guys. It’s exclusionary to make your podcasts paid, as you have now limited your audience to those who can afford to hear your stories. Wondery please reconsider the subscriber format. A previously loyal fan is incredibly disappointed.

It really seems like Debra is like so many women who have put a man before their children or even common sense. The woman was married 4 times and married this guy after 2 months! I do feel some compassion bc she is a clearly broken and hurting person. The money, the business and the “OC” lifestyle don’t seem to be fulfilling. She clearly can’t set boundaries. I mean even her children treated her like a child. And their voices were annoying lol. It just seems like a delusional rich woman with a history of bad choices making another horrible choice.

i’m a huge fan of investigative podcasts, especially those focusing on crime, being told from the victim’s perspective. because of this, many people i know told me to give this a listen. honestly though, i can’t understand why. this story is so boring to me and the episodes are dragged out and made too long to be interesting at all. i’d recommend another series instead.

So good! Listened to all of it on a road trip recently and the time flew.

I loved it. I found this after listening to the first wife in auditable. Even thought I knew how the story was gonna end. This was a whole new version from someone else’s life. Thanks !!

Host has a great voice for this…. But the content is strangely structured. He tells the same tidbits over and over again slightly different in multiple episodes. Unsure if it’s a technique or he forgets that he told that part or what. Just seems disorganized.

Superb Very nice thank you