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I'm John Walczak, host of the new podcast Missing in Arizona. And I'm Robert Fisher, one of the most wanted men in the world. We cloned his voice using AI. Swine off.
In 2001, police say I killed my family and rigged my house to explode before escaping into the wilderness. Police believe he is alive and hiding somewhere. Join me. I'm going down in the cave. As I track down clues. I'm going to call the police and have you removed. Hunting. One of the most dangerous fugitives in the world. Robert Fisher. Do you recognize my voice? Listen to Missing in Arizona every Wednesday on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your favorite shows.
In the early morning hours of September 6, 2016, St. Louis rapper and activist Darren Seals was found murdered. That's what they gonna learn. On for death, on for nothing. Every day Darren would tell her, all right, ma, be prepared.
They are going to try to kill me. All episodes available now. Listen to After the Uprising, The Murder of Darren Seals on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. From iHeart Podcasts comes Does This Murder Make Me Look Gay?,
9-1-1, what's your emergency? Mastavati is dead! Featuring the star-studded talents of Michael Urie, Jonathan Freeman, Frankie Grande, Cheyenne Jackson, Robin de Jesus, and Kate McKinnon as Angela Lansfair. Lick them, lick those toesies. Listen to Does This Murder Make Me Look Gay? as part of the Outspoken Network on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This podcast discusses sexual assault.
Please take care while listening. On December 30th, 2012, Spencer Herron and Jennifer Faison were married. Let us pray. God of all love and mercy, make this a sacred place, holy by your presence and by the love that we celebrate today. Help us to find in this couple's love and laughter the love and laughter you share for us. Amen. Jennifer, ever since I saw you walk into that hotel lobby last year,
I've known what I'm supposed to do with the rest of my life. I feel beyond honored to know you, to love you, and to accept the most privilege of all things, being your husband. Nearly six years later, on August 16, 2018, Herron was indicted on five counts of sexual assault by a teacher on school property in Cobb County, Georgia. You will never have to question my love or devotion to you because there's nothing else that I want to spend my time doing except showing you those things.
I am so in love with you. Nearly nine months later, on April 8th, 2019, Spencer was indicted for sexually assaulting the same student in a hotel in Cherokee County, Georgia. Spencer told the victim to stay down in an effort to hide her while driving her from Kell High School to a hotel. Having witnessed the covenant that you have made today and celebrated the love that you share, it is my privilege to pronounce you husband and wife.
You may kiss. I'm Andrea Gunning, and this is Betrayal. Episode 2, The Aftermath. The judge set a $55,000 cash bond. So we couldn't get him out if we tried. Couldn't put the house up or anything like that. $55,000 is a lot of money. So he stayed in jail. It was almost like a wake.
Almost like someone had died because people just kept coming over. In the days after the news broke, Jennifer and Spencer's friend group were in disbelief and rallied around her. Her friend Danielle was one of the first people Jennifer reached out to. And upon hearing the news, Danielle drove straight to Jennifer's house. Oh, what the fuck?
I couldn't wrap my head around there being any truth to it. All I could do was just be there for her and let her know that she had a huge community who was not going to let her down.
Jen's neighbor Jill knew Spence, and she just couldn't process it. Spence's mugshot was all over the news, not just in Ackworth, but nationally and internationally. There was no hiding it. Jennifer had to deal with the shame of what her husband had done.
The victim told investigators that during the summer of 2016, Spencer met with her at school several times for a non-existent school club meeting. She said that he would text her and tell her when he would be at the school and where to find him. That would give her a reason to be at Kell High School. Spencer began groping the victim on several different occasions, and his behavior continued into the fall semester.
Law enforcement also learned that in 2017, Spencer started having sexual relations with the student inside the school on multiple occasions. She was a sophomore. She provided some devastating details that were contained in the criminal warrant. As a warning, some of them are difficult to hear. For example, when she began crying because it hurt, Spencer told her to be quiet. Also, he insisted that he not use protection because he was quote-unquote fixed.
And there were plenty of people...
who couldn't. Channel 2's Lauren Pozen talked to one of his former students tonight. She's live outside the Cobb County Jail with what she learned. People we spoke with are skeptical of the charges. Because you don't always know what the truth is. Two former students who did not want to go on camera told me Heron was a great coach and teacher. The other student added Heron was a professional and kind-hearted. She told me she does not believe the allegations are true. But Jennifer knew they were true. Spencer had admitted it.
Now, she was confronted with something else. Two days after Spencer's arrest, Jennifer uncovered a dark, secret life her husband had been living: a trove of her husband's lovers, sex partners, and prostitutes that dated back to the beginning of their marriage and beyond. He kept everything — photos, videos, emails and text exchanges between him and at least 50 other women littered his computer.
She had gotten into his email to reset the password for his Facebook, and that's when she was able to shut down his social media. She was just looking to protect him, protect him, protect the family. But once she logged into his email, it was over, and there's just no going back. I don't think that anybody expected for her to find what she found.
I call it his trophy case. It was an entire catalog of emails and correspondence with women years and years and years. I mean, he saved everything. He saved the rejection emails. He saved every photo. He backed up the photos that he got from his Facebook. He was not who we thought he was. She told us that she was going to file for divorce.
Spence was literally living a double life. On one hand, he's living as the perfect, doting, loving husband, great father, teacher of the year, Air Force band. He was even an Eagle Scout. Jennifer's sister Chrissy was the voice of reason and probably understood Jennifer better than anyone.
She had discovered all of the other women and the emails, and I think she was obsessed about that because it was easier than actually being sad about it. She only showed me one thing because I just didn't want to see it. I didn't need to see it. But I think she had to because it was Spencer. You still don't believe it. Jennifer and Spence got married on December 30th, 2012.
She found photos of 14 different women, many of them nude, within the first year of their marriage. There were two that I knew. One is someone who became friends of ours through the wine bar. Her and her husband would come in pretty regularly. The wine bar. It was a big part of Jennifer and Spence's life. It had been a dream of Jennifer's to own one.
Spence and I talked about opening a coffee shop when we first moved here because Ackworth has this small town feel and it's got this great main street. It somehow evolved into a wine bar, which we opened and had for two years.
This was a place where the neighborhood really came together. All we had to do was open up the doors and the neighborhood just came in and they introduced themselves and they hung out and we all just became friends in this really great community. Having that wine bar was a way to play hostess to the neighborhood. And it turns out,
It was also a sexual playground for Spencer, who found new prospects, seduced women, and even had sex. Here I think we just have this great bar and Spence was basically using it as his brothel.
I have seen messages where he says, wow, that blowjob you gave me in the bathroom last night was amazing. Or photos of somebody in the bathroom taking a picture of herself and sending it to him. He used to put a sign on the door apparently that said back in five minutes or back in 10 minutes and then would have sex in there. Jennifer's mother, Gail, just couldn't wrap her head around the audacity.
It's like in my business, too. I mean, is there no place sacred? Unbelievable. It's absolutely unbelievable. But there were dozens, and he met them in all kinds of ways. Jennifer discovered evidence of a year-long affair with a woman from his running club. And then another one was in the military with him. They were all very different from who Jennifer is as a person. Spencer juggled multiple conquests at the same time.
The affairs he was having with the women overlapped, and he stayed in touch with them through sordid text exchanges. It's fair to assume that people behave differently with secret lovers during affairs than they might with their own spouses, but reading his texts was like reading a novel. He was a fictional character. The messages showed that Spencer had secret fetishes. Just a warning, the texts are explicit. And maybe the most alarming part is realizing that your own partner wrote them.
And that's what Jen faced when she discovered these text messages. All of the following were sent to adult women. - Will you actually punch me this time? I'm not fucking around. I need you to hurt me. That's the point, the entire point. - Was he into pain or was it the rush? Jennifer had no idea because she had no clue that he liked to be hit. Spencer also liked his lovers to refer to him as daddy.
"Send Daddy a picture" was a frequent request. In his fantasy life, Jennifer noticed he seemed to enjoy a playful and sometimes not so playful dominating persona. There were other texts where Spencer was in touch with former students. Here, he keeps trying to persuade one of them to get together. - I remember you being in class. You're always so much fun and so sweet. I hope you could tell that I was always super fond of you. We have a cool connection.
You're gorgeous. Fact. We need to hang out. I can't wait. I dig you. Eventually, the young woman asks, how are you and your wife though? Okay, I guess. You know how relationships are. Can you see how I might have a crush on you?
You know how relationships are. He barely acknowledges the question and brings it back to the conversation he really wanted to have. In another exchange, he mentions withholding sex from Jennifer. - When I know that we're going to meet, I like depriving myself, so I avoid sex with her, if it even comes up. - And to another, he references tension at home for more excitement.
By the way, Jen and I are fighting right now. So I am in an even freakier and more amped up mood to test the waters. And then there was this. I am a single man for the next six days if you want to hook up. I'm still very interested. That's a text Spencer sent when Jennifer was traveling for work. But the person Jennifer saw when she returned was someone happy to see her. He'll be jumping up, you know, saying, Hi, wife. Welcome home.
It's almost like an outer body experience because you can't prepare yourself for something like that, especially when it's the last thing you expect to happen. I'm John Walzak, host of the new podcast Missing in Arizona. And I'm Robert Fisher, one of the most wanted men in the world. We cloned his voice using AI. Oh, my God.
In 2001, police say I killed my family. First mom, then the kids. And rigged my house to explode. In a quiet suburb. This is the Beverly Hills of the Valley. Before escaping into the wilderness. There was sleet and hail and snow coming down. They found my wife's SUV. Right on the reservation boundary. And my dog flew. All I could think of is him and the sniper me out of some tree.
But not me. Police believe he is alive and hiding somewhere. For two years. They won't tell you anything. I've traveled the nation. I'm going down in the cave. Tracking down clues. They were thinking that I picked him up and took him somewhere. If you keep asking me this, I'm going to call the police and have you removed. Searching for Robert Fisher. One of the most dangerous fugitives in the world.
Do you recognize my voice? Join an exploding house to hunt family annihilation today in A Disappearing Act. Listen to Missing in Arizona every Wednesday on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your favorite shows.
New from Double Asterisk and iHeart Podcasts, a 10-part true crime podcast series. Emergency 911. This is fire in my apartment life. This car is on fire. In the early morning hours of September 6, 2016, St. Louis rapper and iconic Ferguson activist Darren Seals was found shot dead. Every day Darren would tell her, they are going to try to kill me.
A young man in 2016 was killed on this block. I'm a podcast journalist. And I'm a former state senator, Maria Chappelle Nadal. I was in the movement with Darren, and I've spent two years with co-host Ray Novoshevsky investigating his death. Even if I did want to tell you something, that's a dangerous game to play. The FBI did this to myself. They've been following him for months. That's enough proof right there. All episodes available now.
Listen to After the Uprising Season 2, The Murder of Darren Seals, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey guys, it's Andrea Gunning. The Trail is now releasing episodes every single week. We're bringing you new stories about the people we trust the most and the deceptions that change everything. Every week, we'll share firsthand accounts of broken trust. I was sitting there thinking, what?
Who did I marry? Shocking deceptions. I said, I can't believe what I'm listening to. And the trail of destruction they leave behind. To me now, a rom-com is a horror movie. I couldn't watch that if you paid me. Now you can get access to Betrayal Weekly 100% ad-free and one week early with an iHeart True Crime Plus subscription. Available exclusively on Apple Podcasts.
Plus, you'll get access to other chart-topping true crime shows you love, like There and Gone South Street, Creating a Con, The Story of BitCon, Paper Ghosts, Unrestorable, The Girlfriends, and more. So don't wait. Head to Apple Podcasts, search for iHeartTrue Crime Plus, and subscribe today. Jennifer needed to get away from it all. So she went to stay with her sister in LA. During the time that she stayed with me, she went from angry to really, really sad.
She started thinking it was because of her that she wasn't enough. And I didn't cry when she was here, but as soon as she left, I cried, I think, for two days straight because she hated herself, you know? Like, we did have plans to go and meet some friends, but she didn't want to go because she didn't want people to think she was a loser, and a loser turned into ugly, a loser turned into fat. She's none of those things.
Her self-esteem, I mean, the saddest part is the effect it had. No matter how many times you say that it wasn't her fault, she couldn't hear it. It was so sad just to watch someone who was so beautiful and vibrant and confident and smart turn into someone so small or thought that they were so small and unlovable.
Christy remembered something from a past conversation she had with Spencer at a dinner party. I had asked Spence and his friend, I said, you know, do you guys ever get nervous with the young girls these days? And Spencer had this look on his face because he was being thoughtful about it. And Spence said, well, I never meet any of my students alone. And if I do, I always have the door open.
But there was a pause there that made me think. It didn't make me pause because I thought he had done something, but it made me pause because I thought he wasn't saying something he wanted to say. And I'm not going to lie, that was the first time that I thought, say Spence. Spence never made bail. And although all of his friends and family knew that he was incarcerated for sexual assault with a student, he was determined to stay in touch and make amends however he could. Jennifer mentioned that he wanted to write me an email
He wants us all to love him. He has this need for everyone to love him. He wants to send emails and talk about how he's found God and all of this stuff. I was like, don't bother. It's never going to happen. He's insane. Nothing he says is true. Jennifer returned home to Ackworth to pick up the pieces. The next casualty of Spencer's crimes? Jennifer's day-to-day life. Spencer's income, all that household money was lost.
On top of that, her work was suffering from a lack of sleep and horrible stress. She had spent a lifetime building a reputation as a dependable and highly skilled producer. But coworkers could see that she was distracted. Finally, there would be the cost of a divorce attorney. And eventually, she had to sell her home. The house that Jen and Spence bought together represented much more than their marriage. Jen's sister understood it symbolized something greater: stability.
Growing up after my parents divorced, we moved around a lot. When we were younger, my sister Jennifer, John and I, my brother John, we were all very close. But we also were always going into different schools, 12 different schools before eighth grade. It was kind of just needing to survive. For Jennifer, she always wanted a home. She wanted to stay in one place. She wanted a house.
She wanted the white picket fence because we didn't have that. You can't hide from the reality when those bills are due. Here I have a mortgage on a home we just bought together. As hard as I tried, I can't make ends meet. Jennifer was broke and practically homeless. Her friends offered up their basement apartment rent-free and she accepted. It was humiliating. Like she was starting over. All over. And then there was Spence. She was done with him.
He was behind bars, but he had nothing. Even after everything that he had done to her, she couldn't live with the thought of him not having toothpaste or deodorant. She was not that kind of person. He's still a human being. And he, at the time, is my husband. I'd put money in his commissary account. But it was never a lot. It was like maybe $20 here and there.
I'm John Walczak, host of the new podcast Missing in Arizona. And I'm Robert Fisher, one of the most wanted men in the world. We cloned his voice using AI.
In 2001, police say I killed my family. First mom, then the kids. And rigged my house to explode. In a quiet suburb. This is the Beverly Hills of the Valley. Before escaping into the wilderness. There was sleet and hail and snow coming down. They found my wife's SUV. Right on the reservation boundary. And my dog flew. All I could think of is him and the sniper me out of some tree.
But not me. Police believe he is alive and hiding somewhere. For two years. They won't tell you anything. I've traveled the nation. I'm going down in the cave. Tracking down clues. They were thinking that I picked him up and took him somewhere. If you keep asking me this, I'm going to call the police and have you removed. Searching for Robert Fisher. One of the most dangerous fugitives in the world.
Do you recognize my voice? Join an exploding house, the hunt, family annihilation today, and a disappearing act. Listen to Missing in Arizona every Wednesday on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your favorite shows.
New from Double Asterisk and iHeart Podcasts, a 10-part true crime podcast series. Emergency 911. This is fire in my apartment life. This car is on fire. In the early morning hours of September 6, 2016, St. Louis rapper and iconic Ferguson activist Darren Seals was found shot dead. Every day Darren would tell her, they are going to try to kill me.
A young man in 2016 was killed on this block. I'm a podcast journalist. And I'm a former state senator, Maria Chappelle Nadal. I was in the movement with Darren, and I've spent two years with co-host Ray Novoshevsky investigating his death. Even if I did want to tell you something, that's a dangerous game to play. The FBI did this to myself. They've been following him for months. That's enough proof right there. All episodes available now.
Listen to After the Uprising Season 2, The Murder of Darren Seals, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey guys, it's Andrea Gunning. The Trail is now releasing episodes every single week. We're bringing you new stories about the people we trust the most and the deceptions that change everything. Every week, we'll share firsthand accounts of broken trust. I was sitting there thinking, what?
Who did I marry? Shocking deceptions. I said, I can't believe what I'm listening to. And the trail of destruction they leave behind. To me now, a rom-com is a horror movie. I couldn't watch that if you paid me. Now you can get access to Betrayal Weekly 100% ad-free and one week early with an iHeart True Crime Plus subscription. Available exclusively on Apple Podcasts.
Plus, you'll get access to other chart-topping true crime shows you love, like There and Gone South Street, Creating a Con, The Story of BitCon, Paper Ghosts, Unrestorable, The Girlfriends, and more. So don't wait. Head to Apple Podcasts, search for iHeartTrue Crime Plus, and subscribe today. As Spence's sentencing date got closer, he appealed to his friends and family, which included Jen's close social circle, asking them to write letters on his behalf.
He asked Jennifer to pass a message onto the group. Here's an excerpt from the letter: Dear villagers, I am a man who comes to you with a humble heart and zero pride for all of the obvious reasons. I am not asking for your forgiveness because I'm not there yet, and I don't deserve that anyway. I am asking for your help, however. Why am I doing this? It's because I am fighting for my life. It's because I have clearly never been in such a place of need, but I am now.
What I did to Jennifer and how I treated our marriage is something that I can not only never fix, but also something I cannot ever apologize enough for doing. I will never be able to give back to her the things that I have taken. My only hope is that she moves on from this life bomb that I dropped on her as soon as she possibly can.
I am coming to you because despite how horrible I was to Jennifer, I hope and pray that you don't see me as the person the media and my charges are making me out to be. I hope that the Spencer you know or knew is not that person that has been described. For my upcoming arraignment hearing, I'm asking people who know me to consider writing a character reference letter to be given to my judge and the DA. Obviously, I'm wanting to get out of jail as soon as possible.
You all know, of course, that the three kids are all in college, and I am desperate to get out so that I can support them in every way, emotionally, spiritually, parentally, and financially. What it will do for my case, I believe, will be so very important. I wish you all the very best, and thank you for being such an incredible friend to Jennifer. Much love. Thanks. Spencer. He brings up the kids?
That is when my blood started to boil. That is his first thing that he tried using those kids. He says, I hope you remember the person that you know and not the one that the media is making me out to be. Well, he is the person the media is making him out to be. It's all true.
Several people did write letters of support for Spencer, but none of them were the villagers. Sentencing day came without much warning. I had planned to go and sit in the back. Jill planned to go with me and said she would hold my hand, but I wanted to go. Not as support for him, but just to witness everything and hear it for myself. Unfortunately,
The court date came up all of a sudden, and there wasn't any preparation for it. Spencer pled guilty to five counts of sexual assault by a teacher. For each count, he was sentenced to 20 years, with five years to be served in confinement, serving them concurrently. He was going to state prison. I'm pretty sure that the evidence was stacked way, way against him. As soon as it was over, he called me.
He said he asked to say something to the victim's parents. And the mom said, we don't want to hear anything you have to say. You know, he went into all of this thinking, I am an Eagle Scout. I'm in the Air Force Reserves. I'm a school teacher. I was teacher of the year. I'm a great dad, whatever.
look at these people that are speaking on my behalf. And it didn't work. He couldn't talk his way out of it this time. There was one very small consolation. Spencer could be sentenced under the first offender statute. The intent of the law was to give first-time offenders a chance to learn from their mistake and move on with their lives without the burden of a conviction. The benefit is that after the 20 years...
Everything will be wiped off his record. So he will not be considered a felon anymore. He can vote again and the slate is wiped clean. For him, having that title of first offender was like, you know, a notch on his belt, I think. But remember how he took the student to a hotel? That was not in Cobb County, but in Cherokee County, a different jurisdiction.
Spencer was indicted for that charge several months later, on July 5th, 2019. After he'd been sent to prison, they woke him up in the middle of the night to transport him from Wilcox Prison back up to Cherokee County to have a hearing for that case. He was really disappointed because he didn't think that they were going to move forward with that.
So just by picking a hotel that happened to be in another county, he got another 20-year sentence. For Cherokee County's district attorney, Spencer Hearn wasn't a first-time offender. He was now a repeat offender, and he would no longer qualify for first offender status. Cherokee County gave him the same sentence also to run concurrently. Upon release, Spencer Hearn will have to register as a sex offender.
Cobb County District Attorney Flynn Brody Jr. As a sexual predator, that is a scarlet letter for the rest of your life. It'll limit the type of jobs he can have. It'll limit the places that they can live. They'll have to report everywhere they go. Anytime they cross state lines, they have to report that they're a sexual predator in that particular state. It really limits them as far as their future is concerned, and rightfully so because we know they're a predator and they have to be controlled.
The court proceedings, lengthy apology letters from Spencer, they were all distractions. Most days after the arrest, Jennifer was alone with her thoughts. She was simmering in the sadness, fury, and trauma of this massive betrayal. How did she get here? A successful, confident, secure woman with everything was now just fighting to get through every day. None of this had anything to do with her. She had not done anything wrong at all.
And this horrible thing happened to her. Jen needed to put all the pieces together. She needed to make sense of it all. Jennifer was tormented by the spends she didn't know, by the women that were involved with him, especially the high school student. But she didn't want to sit at home with her trauma, buried under the covers, hiding from the world. So she decided to confront it, to go out and meet the other people who had been impacted by Spencer.
Instead of hiding, she wanted to know everything about who she married and what he had done. For the past 11 years, Jennifer had been living in a sea of lies. Now, she wanted the truth. That would be the start of her healing. On the next episode of Betrayal, Jennifer meets with Spencer's most vulnerable victim, his former student. The young woman in her 20s now is breaking her silence. I'm shaking. Yeah, me too. ♪
If you'd like to reach out to the Betrayal team, email us at BetrayalPod at gmail.com. That's BetrayalPOD at gmail.com. Betrayal is a production of Glass Podcasts, a division of Glass Entertainment Group in partnership with iHeart Podcasts. The show was executive produced by Nancy Glass and Jennifer Faison, hosted and produced by me, Andrea Gunning, written and produced by Carrie Hartman, also produced by Ben Fetterman. Our iHeart team is Allie Perry and Jessica Kreinchick,
Special thanks to voice actor Todd Gans, sound editing and mixing done by Matt DeVecchio. Betrayal's theme was composed by Oliver Baines. Music library provided by MyMusic. And for more podcasts from iHeart, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm John Walczak, host of the new podcast Missing in Arizona. And I'm Robert Fisher, one of the most wanted men in the world. We cloned his voice using AI. Oh my God.
In 2001, police say I killed my family and rigged my house to explode before escaping into the wilderness. Police believe he is alive and hiding somewhere. Join me. I'm going down in the cave. As I track down clues. I'm going to call the police and have you removed. Hunting. One of the most dangerous fugitives in the world. Robert Fisher. Do you recognize my voice? Listen to Missing in Arizona every Wednesday on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your favorite shows.
In 2009, Mitrice Richardson was released from the Malibu Lost Hills Sheriff's Station, and she never made it home. Nearly a year later, Mitrice's remains were found in a canyon six miles from the station. Her death is Malibu's greatest unsolved mystery. I'm Dana Goodyear. In Lost Hills, Dark Canyon, what happened to Mitrice Richardson?
Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
From iHeart Podcasts comes Does This Murder Make Me Look Gay? 911, what's your emergency? Mr. Vandy is dead! Featuring the star-studded talents of Michael Urie, Jonathan Freeman, Frankie Grande, Cheyenne Jackson, Robin de Jesus, and Kate McKinnon as Angela Lansfairie. Lick them, lick those toesies. Listen to Does This Murder Make Me Look Gay as part of the Outspoken Network on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.