Deep Dive
Shownotes Transcript
And great taste you can't resist.
Tired of endless swiping with little to show for it? Talkify is America's number one matchmaking service. They are six and a half times more efficient in finding real relationships than dating apps.
Talkify can match you in as little as three introductions compared to dating apps where people spend 40 plus hours swiping 1500 times for one date. Let Talkify be your executive assistant for your dating life. Confidential, safe, and stress-free. Visit t-a-w-k-i-f-y dot com and stop swiping, wishing, or waiting. Start your journey today. So I started taking Symbiotica because I noticed that I was having trouble focusing. I felt groggy when I woke up and I just needed an
overall reset. Since taking Symbiotica, I've noticed I have improved energy, my focus and mood are better, and I even have clearer skin. Symbiotica is the only supplement company with no seed oils, preservatives, toxins, or natural flavors. Symbiotica has transformed my life, and I'm so glad to have found a brand that actually cares about its customers.
I can finally see a difference in how I function and feel, and I look forward to taking my supplements every day. Really, really good. Feel more energized, alert, and balanced with high-quality supplements that work. Go to symbiotica.com slash betrayal for 20% off on your subscription order. Go to symbiotica.com slash betrayal for 20% off on your subscription order. Pretty soon up over the hill, I saw a caravan of dark vehicles with dark tinted windows.
They're all in FBI or U.S. Marshals jackets. They've got their sunglasses. They've got their weapons. And they come to my house. They ring the doorbell. I let them in. I'm Andrea Gunning, and this is Betrayal, a show about the people we trust the most and the deceptions that change everything. Andrea Merriman came from money, a lot of money. As a kid, her family had a huge house, a vacation home in Hawaii, and even a private plane.
We flew everywhere. We didn't do road trips. It was so my family to hop in the plane at midnight and fly to Arizona for the weekend to enjoy the sun and then be back when school started on Monday. But if you met Andrea, you wouldn't know that's how she grew up. She's not flashy. She's hardworking and honest. Her parents raised her that way.
We had jobs around the house. We didn't get allowance for it, or if we did, it was a dollar a week because my parents wanted to teach us responsibility and accountability. Her family belonged to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Some people call it the Mormon Church, but that's not the name she uses.
That's a name given to church members who are not of our faith. It's just a mouthful to say the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. From a young age, Andrea took her faith very seriously. When you're a child, they give you a ring and it says CTR on it. That stands for Choose the Right.
So part of the culture was to be obedient to good principles, doing well in whatever I attempted to do. And in her religious community, she felt empowered as a woman. The women around her were ambitious and well-educated. Many of them had both families and careers.
My mom had a master's degree, and I remember going to my dad asking for help with homework. My dad would say, I can totally help you, but who really could help you, the person who's the smartest in our family, is your mother. So I was raised that women could do and be anything. She was a straight-A student, a great athlete. She played three instruments and excelled at piano.
Anything I did, I did to the best of my ability. When she got older, she took that determination to Brigham Young University, where she immediately got to work on building her future. My dad wanted me to be a lawyer, and that's what I went to school thinking I would do. Along the way, she found a dream of her own. She wanted to start a career in advertising and public relations, and her work ethic extended outside the classroom.
She got a job in her apartment complex. That's how she met Sean. He came into the office to pay his rent, and I processed that for him. She would see him around the building, but they never really talked before. My roommates in my apartment were good friends with the guys in his apartment. People thought highly of him and his roommates, and they did fun things and seemed to be good people.
Soon after they met in the office, Sean asked her out. And right away, he impressed her. He knew she liked music. So for their first date, he took her to the symphony. After that, they started going out together every weekend. He did not do the typical cheap, low-budget, crazy college dates. He took me to the best restaurants, to concerts.
And then he'd take you out into his BMW. He was always a very engaging, outgoing, charming person. On one date, she wore a pearl necklace. Sean complimented her on it, and she told him it was borrowed from a friend. So a few days later... He just showed up at my door unexpectedly with a jewelry box. I opened it up, and it was a pearl necklace.
And he said, "Any woman as beautiful as you should not have to borrow pearls." I mean, that was what it was like to date Sean Merriman. I remember thinking, "Wow, all the other boys I've dated, if they tried to do these grand gestures or date this way, it would seem really cheesy and corny, but it works for Sean." And it was just like in the movies.
Even though he had expensive taste, Sean didn't come from money. His dad was a construction worker. They had moved all around the country during his childhood 11 times in seven or eight years. There was a lot of alcoholism, divorce, and he was one of the first members of his family to go to college.
Getting into college wasn't easy for Sean. He didn't have the grades, but he made up for it with his trademark charm. He started sending flowers to the woman in charge of admissions, and eventually he got admitted. He was proud of this story, and he always had fabulous stories to entertain people with. He was interested in things most college kids weren't.
He was into photography. He was into cars. He was into building things. Still, Sean didn't let his interests take over their relationship. We did everything that I loved. He knew that I loved the beach. He knew that I loved 80s music. He knew that I loved travel. And I thought that I was finding someone who believed the way I did on everything and
After a few months of dating, the two took a trip to California. And there, on the beach, he got down on one knee. Going through my head mostly was, wait, I'm only 22. I'm too young to do this. Andrea was still in school. She'd always planned to graduate, start a career, and then get married. But saying yes to Sean just made sense.
I don't know that I thought he was "the one," but I thought that he would be a great friend, great partner, great companion, great provider, great father. And am I going to find somebody just like him again if I pass this by? I saw enough of those good qualities and the things that I wanted as part of my future. So when he proposed, I said yes.
So they got married and graduated college, in that order. We were on a good course together. We were equally yoked as a couple to move forward and create the life of our dreams. Sean had a vision of moving to D.C. He even interviewed with the CIA. He also considered getting an MBA at an Ivy League school. But ultimately, they decided to plant roots in her home state of Colorado. ♪
We chose to move to Denver for my career. I got a job working for a government agency doing public relations for them. Sean came to love Denver, and he found a great job at an investment firm. He had immediate success. So then he actually started being a stockbroker that fall. When it came to investing, Sean had a Midas touch.
And I will tell you from September to December, that quarter, he made $50,000. And that was in 1990. That's a lot of money, especially right out of college. Sean was bringing home $200,000 a year, but that was the 90s. In today's money, that's the equivalent of $480,000 a year. And the money just kept coming.
Other firms would reach out to him and say, hey, come and work for us. We'll give you a signing bonus. And so he would take a $50,000, $60,000, $70,000, $80,000 signing bonus and go work for a different firm. He hopped from firm to firm for a few years. And then, soon after they had their first child in 1993...
Sean came to Andrea with a business idea. He came home from work and told me that he had some very wealthy, blue-blood, old-money clients in Kansas City that had been so impressed with the money management he had done for them that they had asked him to step back from his career as a stockbroker and manage their money privately for them.
She supported him 100%. So he made the leap and launched what became Market Street Advisors. It started with those Kansas City clients, but pretty soon he was investing for family, friends, and neighbors too. And even in the madness of starting his own firm and finding new clients, Sean made it a point to spend time with Andrea at the end of every day.
He came home at night, had dinner with me, had great stories about trades that he'd made that day. He had no shortage of stories he could tell, conversations he could share, ideas that he had.
Life was good for the Merrymans. Sean's investment firm was taking off, and the two of them were living comfortably, more than comfortably even. The house got bigger, cars got nicer. And for Andrea, there was only one thing missing, more kids. One of the things we talked about before we got married was that I wanted four to six children. He was like, oh, that's great. That's what I've always wanted.
They had another child, a baby girl, and Andrea was the happiest she'd ever been. When Sean got home after a long day at work, he didn't have the bandwidth to help with the babies. He was fine to play with the baby when he was home, etc. But he was not a hands-on, let me help bathe the baby, let me change diapers. And when she asked him about having a third kid, he was hesitant.
She assured him she'd take on the responsibilities that he couldn't. And so I did everything, handled everything for the baby so that it wouldn't impact his life too much and I could have another child. And I continued to do everything and manage the kids so that it didn't impact his life.
By the time we had our fourth kid, I could count the number of dirty diapers on one hand that he had changed. It really became, he was busy. He was working on his career. And I was the partner in the relationship who was focused on home and family. All in all, they had four kids together. She was the homemaker. He was the provider. And she provided very well. It was the life she always wanted.
Over time, Sean started to be more open about the life he wanted. I found out he didn't like dancing. He didn't like beaches. Let's go on a trip to California. No, I hate the beach. What? Yeah, I hate the feel of sand between my toes. I'm not doing that. He started developing expensive new hobbies, ones that required him to travel.
He was a big African safari guy. He would go to Cameroon and Tanzania and South Africa and Zimbabwe, all over the world to hunt and go on safaris for animals. And coincidentally, very wealthy people are engaged in those hobbies. He sold it as, well, I'm actually doing this for work to get more clients, to build my business.
These trips could be dangerous. One time, when he returned from a safari in Ethiopia, Sean was acting strange. He was keeping his distance. And I said, why? And he said, I have got to go to the doctor. He was worried he could have contracted something. He told Andrea a wild story.
Thankfully, Sean was negative. And even though the story was far-fetched, Andrea believed him.
He had so many stories about saving people's lives or dramatic things. I used to tell him, "If I didn't live with you and see that your life is true, I would never believe your life." What I didn't know was most of those stories were probably lies.
Have you been curious about Ozempic or Regovi but just can't seem to get your hands on it? Or maybe you've heard about their impressive results, but the cost and availability are holding you back? Well, that's where Rho comes in. With Rho, you can access prescription-compounded GLP-1s that contain the same active ingredient as those brand name options at a fraction of the cost.
And guess what? They're in stock now and could be at your doorstep in just one to four days if you qualify. No need to jump through hoops or wait in long lines. You can see if you're eligible from the comfort of your own home. No doctor's appointments, no commutes or waiting rooms.
Just a quick, easy process that gets you one step closer to your goals. If prescribed, Roe makes sure you're supported every step of the way. You'll have access to your provider on demand, so any questions or concerns you have are addressed right when you need them. Go to roe.co slash betrayal. Memberships start at just $99 for your first month. Medication costs are separate. That's roe.co slash betrayal.
Go to row.co slash safety for black box warning and full safety information. Compounded medication is not required to and does not receive FDA review or approval. Prescription only. If you're like me and trying to find that perfect holiday gift for your little ones, I've got the best recommendation for you. Guardian Bikes.
I recently bought one for my niece's birthday, and it was a total win. Guardian bikes are known for being the easiest, safest, and quickest bikes for kids to learn on. My niece went from never riding a bike before to confidently cruising around in just one day. No training wheels required. Watching her face light up with pride and excitement as she found her balance was priceless.
One thing I love about Guardian Bikes is their focus on safety. They've got this unique sure-stop braking system that makes it super easy for kids to stop safely, so you don't have to worry about your little ones taking any tumbles. If you're thinking about what to get your kids or grandkids this holiday season, I can't recommend Guardian Bikes enough. It's not just a bike. It's a gift of confidence, adventure, and unforgettable memories. Join
Join the hundreds of thousands of happy families by getting a Guardian Bike today. Their holiday sales have begun, offering the biggest deal of the year. Save up to 25% on bikes, no code needed. Plus, get free shipping and a free bike lock and pump with your first purchase after signing up for their newsletter. Visit GuardianBikes.com to take advantage of these deals and secure your holiday gifts today. Happy riding! Dating. It's tough out there. You download apps and swipe and swipe.
You know you can spend 40 plus hours swiping 1,500 times for one date? Why are you still wasting time on the dating apps? You've got to try Talkify. This is not a dating app. Talkify has real human matchmakers and dating coaches providing you with all the resources, info, and tools you need to find a real connection. Think it's all talk? Their proven process goes beyond profiles to help you find your person with less stress and more success.
In fact, over 80% of Talkify users find relationships. And you're six and a half times more likely to find your match with Talkify than on an app. Reclaim your time and let Talkify be your executive assistant for your dating life. They interview every potential match by video to ensure authenticity and safety.
No public profiles and all contact info remains private. Visit T-A-W-K-I-F-Y dot com and stop swiping, wishing, or waiting. Start your journey to finding that special someone today. Talkify. No swiping, no games, no settling.
As Andrea and Sean built a family together, Sean started to change. He was around less and less, working at his investment firm. And when he wasn't working, he was taking extravagant hunting trips on his own. It became Sean's world. And sometimes that bothered her. But she was committed to him, no matter what.
For a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, you marry forever and you make your choice and then you love your choice and you figure out how to make it work. I was taught that pretty much the only reason you would ever divorce is if in the case of like physical abuse or something. Beyond that, you marry forever.
His behavior was a challenge, but not marriage-ending. It wasn't anything that I would have divorced over. It was more, oh, I guess I'll make this work. And she really did want to make it work. There was still so much good in what they had together.
I felt like we were very connected. We went on dates every weekend together. He would call me when he had down times at work, once every morning and once or twice in the afternoon. He'd just call me to check in, see what I was doing, see how I was.
And when he did have the time, she could see he was really trying. Especially as the kids got older, he became more involved. He led 50-mile hikes for their son's Boy Scout troop. He drove their daughter around on errands. He joked with them, talked with them. And above all, he made sure his kids had everything they could ask for, all the things he didn't have growing up.
My son played baseball and they won the championship of their league. So he bought a batting cage and pitching machine that he put in our backyard.
We put in a pool, we put in a sport court so that our kids would have a great fun place to bring their friends to. Sean wanted their kids to be cultured. He took them to museums around the world. And he even started their own private art collection. We ended up with a collection of Rembrandts that was worth quite a bit of money.
and sculptures by Frederick Hart. All kinds of things like that to make things beautiful and to help educate our children. The batting cages, the private courts, the Rembrandts. Sure, it was a lot, but they could afford it. In Sean's hands, Andrea had watched their money multiply. I had watched our account slowly grow up to a million.
And then I watched our account slowly grow to $3 million. And then I watched my statement grow to total about $10 million. In the early 2000s, that was closer to $18 million.
Andrea also invested her own inheritance with Sean's firm, everything she had saved and everything she got from her parents. I had my own money. My parents had passed away at this point. And like all of his investment clients, I was getting, you know, monthly financial statements. Still, she wanted to make sure that they were being smart with their spending. I am very conservative financially.
So my first goal was I want our home paid off. And so I remember, I think it was my 40th birthday. He gave me the deed to our house and our house was paid off. And Sean kept making the house better and better. He ended up building a building behind our home that he called his shop.
It was actually bigger than our home. His work office was in the top level, and then the bottom was just cars and trophies. He had an Aston Martin. He had several Porsches, a Ferrari, Mercedes sedans, BMWs, you name it. Sean spent pretty much all his time in his shop, working on business or taking care of his cars. He would go out to his office every
from probably 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., come in, have dinner, and then he'd be like, oh, I'm going to go out to my shop and do this. And then he'd come in at 10 at night. Andrea knew all that hard work was funding their lifestyle, but she missed him. She wanted him around more. After 17 or so years of marriage, I said, we don't need more money. We have plenty for our needs and our wants and things we've never dreamed of.
but we need you. And he just said, I can't, I've got to build my business.
He'd spent 20 years prioritizing his work above everything else. He didn't know how to shift gears. Maybe he didn't want to. So Andrea made peace with the fact that her husband would be around when he could be. I was kind of raised, if you look for the good in others, you will find it. If you're looking for bad things and looking to tear people down and to hate them, you'll find reasons for that too.
He was gone a lot of the time, but when he was home, he would be there for dinner and do other things with us. Now, I don't think any life is completely perfect, but it was a good life.
March 17th, 2009 was a really good day. It was St. Paddy's Day. There is a little Irish in the Merriman side of the family, so I always tried to make it a fun day. I had gold coins and I made green pancakes and green milk for breakfast. As I sent my kids off to school, I took fun photos of them dressed in their St. Patrick's Day attire.
What I didn't know at the time was those were the last Merriman family photos that I would ever take. The next day, March 18th, unexpectedly, I was headed out on some errands. I dropped my youngest child off at daycare to have a babysitter while I quickly got some things done. And Sean called me as I was driving down the highway and he's like, what are you doing?
And I said, why? Do you need something? He said, well, actually, I was hoping to spend some time with you this morning. And I said, oh, well, I can turn around and I'll come and get you and you can do my errands with me. And he said, no, I need you to come home. So she turned the car around and went back to the house. He was waiting for her in the kitchen. And he said, I've been busy.
running Market Street Advisors for the past 16 years. But I need you to know that every day when I got up and left and went to work and was gone all day, I was actually running a Ponzi scheme.
If you're like me and trying to find that perfect holiday gift for your little ones, I've got the best recommendation for you. Guardian Bikes. I recently bought one for my niece's birthday and it was a total win. Guardian Bikes are known for being the easiest, safest, and quickest bikes for kids to learn on. My niece went from never riding a bike before to confidently cruising around in just one day. No training wheels required. Watching her face light up with pride and excitement as she found her balance was priceless.
One thing I love about Guardian Bikes is their focus on safety. They've got this unique sure-stop braking system that makes it super easy for kids to stop safely, so you don't have to worry about your little ones taking any tumbles. If you're thinking about what to get your kids or grandkids this holiday season, I can't recommend Guardian Bikes enough. It's not just a bike. It's a gift of confidence, adventure, and unforgettable memories. Join
the hundreds of thousands of happy families by getting a Guardian Bike today. Their holiday sales have begun, offering the biggest deal of the year. Save up to 25% on bikes, no code needed. Plus, get free shipping and a free bike lock and pump with your first purchase after signing up for their newsletter. Visit GuardianBikes.com to take advantage of these deals and secure your holiday gifts today. Happy riding! Dating. It's tough out there. You download apps and swipe and swipe.
You know you can spend 40 plus hours swiping 1,500 times for one date? Why are you still wasting time on the dating apps? You've got to try Talkify. This is not a dating app. Talkify has real human matchmakers and dating coaches providing you with all the resources, info, and tools you need to find a real connection. Think it's all talk? Their proven process goes beyond profiles to help you find your person with less stress and more success.
In fact, over 80% of Talkify users find relationships. And you're six and a half times more likely to find your match with Talkify than on an app. Reclaim your time and let Talkify be your executive assistant for your dating life. They interview every potential match by video to ensure authenticity and safety.
No public profiles and all contact info remains private. Visit T-A-W-K-I-F-Y dot com and stop swiping, wishing, or waiting. Start your journey to finding that special someone today. Talkify. No swiping, no games, no settling.
Introducing Groons, your ultimate solution for getting your daily greens effortlessly. Gone are the days of dealing with clumpy powders and pills. With Groons, you get all the benefits of a comprehensive health supplement packed into just eight delicious gummies per day. Each serving is crafted to provide you with over 20 essential vitamins and minerals, alongside 60 nutrient-dense whole food ingredients.
Groon's gummies are not only a breeze to incorporate into your daily routine, but they're also vegan and gluten-free, making them the perfect choice for those with dietary restrictions. And the best part, they taste just like a fruity snack, so you can enjoy the health benefits without sacrificing flavor.
For the little ones in your life, don't forget to check out Groons Kids, a specially formulated version designed to meet the nutritional needs of growing children. Right now, get 45% off your first order with code BETRAYAL. Discover Groons. Get your daily greens the easiest way possible. You're going to love it. Andrea thought that her husband, Sean, had dedicated his career to running his own investment firm.
But then, Sean confessed that it was all a lie. Their life of luxury was funded on stolen money. For the past 16 years, he had been running a Ponzi scheme. ♪
I didn't even know what a Ponzi scheme was. I had heard of Bernie Madoff. I didn't pay too much attention to those types of things. I knew he'd done something wrong, but that's pretty much all I knew about it. Sean explained that when he first started, his firm was legitimate. But in his first year, one of his investments went south, and he panicked.
So he omitted the $5,000 loss from his statement. And I'm sure he thought that he could make that up with another trade. And then he never did. So he kept fudging the books, selling people on his big wins, and using money from new investors to pay old ones. There were no million-dollar trades or miracle investments. The conversations he told her about and all the financial documents she'd seen were fake. He was a total fraud.
His clients had lost millions of dollars. Some of them lost everything they had. Not only did he lose other people's money, all of their own money was gone too. The money she'd inherited from her parents and their kids' college funds. It was gone. Then he said, yesterday I, in the company of my attorney, turned myself in to the U.S. Marshals, to representatives of the federal government,
and I will be going to prison. And when he said the word prison, I about died. My mind was just swirling when he said that. I thought, this cannot be real. She thought back to all the outlandish stories he told over the years, like the one about saving someone's life on a safari. Was any of it real? As the reality set in, she tried to cling to anything she could.
I was trying to find the positive, like I'd been raised to do. And I said, at least the house has paid off. And he said, no, you don't understand. The house is gone. The cars are gone. Everything's gone.
I just kind of felt like I was witnessing the apocalypse. I remember apologizing, saying, I'm so sorry, but I have to get out of here. And I got up and I ran out and I got in my car and I took off at my driveway and started driving out of my neighborhood. Uncontrollably, tears were just streaming out of my eyes. Andrea pulled over just minutes after leaving her home.
She couldn't see, much less drive. And as she sat there alone in her car, the weight of it all finally hit her. I felt like everything had been destroyed. Everything was a humiliation to me, as well as a shock, as well as deeply sad and devastating. My biggest wish and desire would have been to just walk to the edge of the horizon and drop off the face of the earth.
But I couldn't because I had four kids relying on me. I was their only resource. She had to keep going. So she made a plan.
When I went back to the house, I told him that he was going to be the one to tell the kids. So that night we gathered our family together. He was in a chair in the corner of the room. I was on the couch across the room from him. And he told the kids, I have done something wrong. I've made a little mistake.
And from across the side of the room, I am just furious, shaking my head, going, you've committed a crime. You've made huge mistakes over and over every day, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. That is not one little mistake. Andrea was angry. The kids, they were terrified.
I was standing there with four kids, ages three to 16, tears streaming down their face, looking at me for answers and strength before I could even say anything. My little third grader said, does this mean you're going to divorce dad? She knew in that moment that the answer was yes. It wasn't an easy answer though.
I was so humiliated, humiliated to be married to a criminal, humiliated at what he'd done, humiliated to know that I would be getting divorced. I was raised that divorce is not what you do, knowing that I had been married in a temple forever added a layer of difficulty, a layer of guilt, a layer of regret.
But she was done. She couldn't be with a man who had spent decades cheating so many others out of millions of dollars. She would walk away while making the transition as easy as she could for her kids. I felt like my kids had been in such shock that they probably needed things to be as normal as possible in whatever ways they could be. So I fed them that night.
Sean stayed in the home with us. And he continued to stay in the home and come to family dinner, just as he had for the last 20 years. Even though Sean had turned himself in, the feds still needed time to build a case against him. So they waited. I even remember cooking dinner for my kids saying, would you like to call your dad and let him know dinner's ready? I am appalled that I am doing this for this man who's done this
But it was for my kids. I was trying to be kind, set an example of divorce and not changing who you are just because you've been betrayed. You choose the right. You are kind. You are good to people no matter what. The destruction of her life didn't happen all at once. She watched it being taken apart piece by piece. ♪
After a few weeks of this purgatory, she got a call from the U.S. Marshals. They set a date to come to her house and seize the family assets. Pretty soon up over the hill, I saw a caravan of dark vehicles with dark tinted windows. They all pull up in front of my house. Everybody starts getting out of the cars. They're all in FBI or U.S. Marshals jackets. They've got their sunglasses. They've got their weapons. And they come to my house.
I think the only difference is I knew they were coming and they didn't break my door down. They rang the doorbell. I let them in. The authorities took everything of value. Sean's computer, his cars, his art collection, and most of what Andrea owned too. I had the thought, you should hide some of your jewelry. And I thought, what?
No, that would be stealing. No, you don't know where you're going to live, how you're going to keep your kids alive. You don't have a job. Your parents are dead. If you could just end up with something, then you'd have something to sell, to start a life with.
And I went back and forth in my mind a couple of times, and then I thought, nope, I am not going to abandon my integrity just because the person I'm married to has. And I left it. I left it all in my jewelry box because I am not compromising my ethics. She watched all their belongings get carted away, and she wasn't the only one.
several of my neighbors at the house next door, up on the deck, drinking, barbecuing, having a great time, rejoicing in the downfall of my family and the asset seizure. Sean had scammed so many people, neighbors, friends, and family alike. She couldn't blame anyone for wanting him to pay. And yet people wanted her to pay too, even though she had done nothing wrong.
She'd been married to the Mormon Madoff, as the media soon dubbed him. Even neighbors and friends assumed that she must have known something. One time I was out front with my three-year-old. He was just playing, you know, around the trees or the bushes. And I could hear, ka-ching, ka-ching, ka-ching. And I turn around, and one of my neighbors is over the fence with a lens photographing every move I make.
For the short time she had remaining in their house, she was paranoid for the safety of her family, and for good reason. One of the victims, who was also a neighbor in the neighborhood and who had lost probably all of his money, came all the way up my steps to my front porch to my front door with his loaded gun ready to blow Sean Merriman away, and who knows who else, before he came to his senses and he turned around and went home without hurting anyone.
Andrea wanted nothing more than to take her kids and get out of that house, especially since Sean continued to live there, waiting to be taken to prison. It took time, 90 days, for the divorce to be processed. But then finally... On July 13th, I drove to the courthouse with him.
to finalize the divorce. We came home. I packed my car with my two dogs and my kids, and I moved that day. And I didn't say goodbye to anything. I did not look back. I drove away, and I didn't look in the rearview mirror the whole way out of Denver. While Sean went away to prison, Andrea went to Utah. Thankfully, she was able to leave her old life behind without her husband's debt hanging over her head.
I had to write my own divorce because I couldn't afford an attorney. I made sure that I wrote that he was responsible for his debts and I was responsible for mine. Now, credit card companies don't apparently have to abide by that.
But I think they saw that I was penniless, so they didn't actually come after me. She and her kids moved in with her brother, and a friend connected her with a job in marketing so that she could rebuild. But she was starting from nothing. For the first time in her life, she was worried about having the money to eat. For years, I would just have a knot in my stomach every time I drove to the grocery store.
Thinking, oh my gosh, I have to buy this food, but it's so much, I don't have money. I mean, we just had to adjust. Part of that adjustment meant facing her own self-blame. I was ridden with guilt that I had enjoyed a nice life at the expense of others.
I remember Sean said to me before we parted ways, well, at least you got a lot of good trips out of it. And I just looked at him and went, I hate every trip I went on. I hate every photo. I hate every memory. There was all kinds of guilt. Guilt that I'd brought him into the lives of my friends and family that got shafted by him. Guilt that I had chosen him to be the father of my children.
She turned to the church for support and started meeting regularly with a church leader. And he said, "How are you doing?" And I said, "Honestly, I am trying to figure out how this happened. I've tried to do everything right in my life. I've tried to be a good wife, a good mother, a good citizen, a good person. How did I get here?"
And he goes, well, in all of that, you forgot one thing, the agency of the other person, the other person's opportunity to choose. This is not on you. He did this. There's nothing you could have done. What I had to do was recognize and forgive myself for the fact that I made the best decision I could with the facts I had at hand.
But she also knew that she wanted to forgive Sean. That was the only path forward. I had a couple of friends who'd gotten divorced and who had not gotten past it. They were very, very hateful toward their former spouse. And I saw how it was impacting their kids and destroying their family. And so the one thing I knew was we are going to forgive, not for him, but for us both.
So that our hatred doesn't destroy us. Sean was ordered to pay $20 million to his victims. On top of that, he was sentenced to 12 and a half years in prison. During that time, Andrea was a single mom. She raised her kids with honesty, kindness, and forgiveness, just like her parents raised her.
And my kids have turned out to be everything I could have hoped for. Hardworking, educated. They all help others. They all have skills. They're kind, good people. And couldn't ask for anything more. Andrea's been able to rebuild her own life, too. I can honestly say I am super happy today. I am a homeowner. I have a great career that's been so memorable.
I've gotten to travel. I have done many things that I've dreamed of. I've actually even remarried, if you can believe it or not. She ended up married to another man in finance. Someone who is everything I thought I was getting but didn't get the first time and more. He's even tall and handsome. And here's the kicker. After they got married, her new husband started a second career.
as a fraud investigator, busting Ponzi schemes. We end all of our weekly episodes with the same question. Why did you choose to tell your story? Life can be good. That's what we're all here to have and to be. I believe in being happy. So yeah, maybe I chose to be optimistic more than I should have. And I did smile when the smiles were totally fake.
And I remember having my heart so broken, it literally ached in my chest. But I've plotted one foot in front of the other for a decade when I wasn't sure if it was making any difference. But when you lift your eyes up and you see you're on the top of a mountain, that's a view worth all the persevering for. On the next episode of Betrayal. Betrayal.
The minute I did that, I had this deep shame flood over me. Like, you've made a really grave error here. You've divulged something super private and you'll now never know why this person's in a relationship with you because is it for the money or is it for you? If you would like to reach out to the Betrayal Team or want to tell us your betrayal story, email us at BetrayalPod at gmail.com. That's BetrayalPod at gmail.com.
We're grateful for your support. One way to show support is by subscribing to our show on Apple Podcasts. And don't forget to rate and review Betrayal. Five-star reviews go a long way. A big thank you to all of our listeners. Betrayal is a production of Glass Podcasts, a division of Glass Entertainment Group in partnership with iHeart Podcasts. The show is executive produced by Nancy Glass and Jennifer Faison. Hosted and produced by me, Andrea Gunning.
Written and produced by Caitlin Golden with additional production by Monique Laborde and Ben Fetterman. Our associate producer is Kristen Malkuri. Our iHeart team is Allie Perry and Jessica Kreincheck. Audio editing and mixing by Matt DelVecchio. Additional editing support from Nico Arruca and Tanner Robbins. Betrayals theme composed by Oliver Baines. Music library provided by MIB Music.
And for more podcasts from iHeart, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Tired of endless swiping with little to show for it? Talkify is America's number one matchmaking service. They are six and a half times more efficient in finding real relationships than dating apps.
Talkify can match you in as little as three introductions compared to dating apps where people spend 40 plus hours swiping 1500 times for one date. Let Talkify be your executive assistant for your dating life. Confidential, safe, and stress-free. Visit t-a-w-k-i-f-y dot com and stop swiping, wishing, or waiting. Start your journey today. So I started taking Symbiotica because I noticed that I was having trouble focusing. I felt groggy when I woke up and I just needed an
overall reset. Since taking Symbiotica, I've noticed I have improved energy, my focus and mood are better, and I even have clearer skin. Symbiotica is the only supplement company with no seed oils, preservatives, toxins, or natural flavors. Symbiotica has transformed my life, and I'm so glad to have found a brand that actually cares about its customers.
I can finally see a difference in how I function and feel, and I look forward to taking my supplements every day. Really, really good. Feel more energized, alert, and balanced with high-quality supplements that work. Go to symbiotica.com slash betrayal for 20% off on your subscription order. Go to symbiotica.com slash betrayal for 20% off on your subscription order.
CBS Thursday Academy Award winner Kathy Bates stars as Matlock in the new CBS original series that critics are calling brilliantly witty with great storytelling and a suspenseful joyride. You won't be able to take your eyes off Kathy Bates in this reimagining of the original classic.
Madeline Matlock is rejoining the workforce at a prestigious law firm and using her unassuming demeanor and wily tactics to win cases and hide a secret from everyone around her. The next great CBS mystery, Matlock, continues with a new episode Thursday, 9, 8 central on CBS and streaming on Paramount+.