S3: E5 – The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania vs. Justin Rutherford
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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. In 2009, Mitrice Richardson was released from the Malibu Lost Hill 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.

Every defendant has the right to what we call allocution. They have the right to speak on their own behalf. As a prosecutor, I have seen a lot of defendants give statements, and I have seen it range. I've seen defendants be apologetic and truly apologetic. I've seen some of them apologize to their own families. But in my opinion, his allocution was one of the weirdest allocutions I've heard in my whole career. ♪

I'm Andrea Gunning. This is Betrayal Season 3, Episode 5. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania versus Justin Rutherford. The charges against Justin Rutherford could put him in prison for decades. Tyler was the chief witness against him. So Justin had tried on several occasions to persuade Tyler to recant his statement to detectives. When that didn't work, he concocted a plan to eliminate Tyler.

Justin had sent letters to his godmother, Nanny D, begging her to find someone to murder him. And he even solicited a cellmate in county jail to do the job. None of those efforts had paid off. Monday, May 1st, 2023 at 1129 a.m., Redding, Pennsylvania. Two and a half years after Justin was arrested, Stacey, Tyler, their family and friends arrived at the Berks County Courthouse.

the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania versus Justin Rutherford. Justin sat at the defense table dressed in yellow prison scrubs and watched his former family file in. I wondered what they were all thinking in that moment. Here's Stacey's daughter, Mikayla. When I first walked into the courtroom, it was pretty overwhelming.

Tyler was taken aback. I thought, wow, he looks a lot different than I remember. That doesn't look like him. Like, he looked like a ghost.

You could definitely tell he had lost some weight. Like, it's almost like, holy shit, I can see what the monster looks like now. He turned around and it was one of the first times I had seen him in a very long time. And seeing him chained like an animal was really tough for me. And I don't know why, because I feel like I should have felt some kind of joy in that. And I and I didn't.

So it was really hard, you know, to see him for the first time. Michaela's husband, Tommy, was focused on the outcome of the proceedings. I was worried the justice system was going to let us down. He was a doctor and all that. They were going to take that into account and be like, oh, well, he's not that bad of a person. We'll just give him a slap on the wrist. We were able to obtain transcripts of the court proceedings. And what you're about to hear is a reenactment of what happened that day.

Good morning, Your Honor. Miss McCallum, representing the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

There was no jury. There would be no trial. For all of Justin's posturing and proclamations of innocence, he made a plea deal with the prosecutor in the case. Justin Rutherford pled guilty to rape of a child, rape of an unconscious victim, filming sexual acts with the knowledge that the subject is a minor, and he pled no contest to six counts of invasion of privacy for viewing and photographing people without their consent.

Justin was also charged with criminal solicitation to commit murder in the first degree, but he would not be tried or sentenced for that on this day. He would answer for that charge nine months after this one. Your Honor, the defendant pled guilty to a charge agreement open plea on October 17th, 2022. An open plea is when the defense and prosecution agree ahead of the sentencing on what the charges are.

but not on what the sentence will be. The judge has full discretion. She would ultimately decide Justin's fate. "State your name for the record." "Justin Rutherford." "Thank you." "Alright, Miss McCollum."

Thank you, Your Honor. Count one is 14. The standard range is six to 40 years. What you're hearing is the prosecutor Meg McCallum reading the prison sentence ranges for each count. The judge would have great latitude in sentencing Justin. Count 14, rape of an unconscious person. The standard range is 48 to 66 years. She was reading them fairly quickly. I'm sitting there like, you know, counting on my fingers, but I couldn't keep track.

Before sentencing, victims would have their opportunity to make a statement. And then Justin would have his. Your Honor, at this time, I would call forward Stacey Rutherford. Equipped with a victim impact statement she had written and rewritten countless times, she now faced the man she once shared a life with. I had to walk through where the district attorney and his attorney was sitting past him to a podium right in front of the judge.

And I asked if I could turn the podium to him because I wanted to look at him. I wanted him to see my face when I was reading what I said to him. When we got up to read, it was a different emotion. It was fear, you know, of finally confronting him and getting to say what we wanted to say because I felt like for the first couple years, we didn't really have a voice. We asked Stacey to reread her victim impact statement for this episode.

The last two years of our lives have been a complete nightmare because of you. When I met you, I never imagined how disgusting or destructive you would be. Our home was supposed to be a place where our children felt safe from monsters like you. You are pure evil. I'm so thankful the truth about who you are was discovered so that I am able to protect my children from you and the further damage you could have caused.

The abuse you subjected Tyler to for six years has been described as scarier than Jeffrey Dahmer. Your evil schemes were an attempt to take peace out of our home, but we refuse to stay scared. Stacey looked at her ex-husband, hoping for some kind of reaction. I did feel in control for once, but then I realized that it wasn't phasing him. At one point, he leaned over to say something to his lawyer.

Despite Justin's indifference, Stacey continued,

Murderer, monster, narcissist, sociopath, and coward. You robbed my children of growing up in a home with both of their parents. You stole from them having their father at birthdays, proms, graduations, weddings, births of their babies. Our daughter will not have her father walk her down the aisle. Our son will not have his father take him to sports or teach him to drive a car.

What Stacey yearned for was a flicker of empathy, of recognition and true remorse for the damage he inflicted. There was more.

And in your pitiful last ditch efforts to save yourself, you tried to take my son's life twice. You chose to give my child a life sentence when you put your hands on him. Why do you deserve any less than spending the rest of your miserable life in jail? You wanted mercy shown to you, but how many times did you show him mercy? When plotting his death, did you extend mercy to him? You will have to live the rest of your life tortured by the choice of who you are. We will not.

The only thing Justin did seem to care about were the two children he and Stacey had together.

I thought that maybe even bringing that part up about them would have triggered something in him. But it didn't. Your Honor, from the bottom of our hearts, we say thank you. Thank you to the DA's office, Meg McCallum, and District Attorney John Adams. We are forever grateful for your hard work and dedication. As Stacey walked back to her seat, the judge asked, Is there any other victim who wishes to speak at this time?

My mom, for the longest time, wanted me to write a victim statement. And like the court sent me something if I wanted to write one. And I was completely against it. I had no desire to do so, to talk to him or give him my word at all. He wasn't going to say anything. He didn't prepare anything. He didn't want to talk. And then out of nowhere, he said yes. And my first immediate reaction is, oh shit, Tyler's going to jail. I think Michaela and I kind of both had the same reaction.

for a second, we kind of looked at each other and it was one of those, oh shit, kind of moments. Like, this could be bad. This could be really bad. I'm like, but we got bail money and savings, so I guess we'll go get him. Once my mom had gotten done reading her statement and anyone else who had one, they were like, does anybody else want to talk? And I was like, well, I guess I'm freestyling it. Your Honor, Commonwealth calls Tyler.

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, an iHeart Podcast, a 10-part true crime podcast series. Emergency 911. This is fire in my parking lot. 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 Novoselsky 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. Your Honor, Commonwealth calls Tyler. I was definitely nervous. Like, my heart was racing walking up to there.

We also asked Tyler if he was open to reading what he said in court that day, using the transcript from the proceedings. You had me at my lowest. I had nightmares, but not anymore because I worked on myself. But at one point, I had nightmares so scary I would wake up. I would hear and see things that weren't there. I tried to kill myself, and I had to stay in the hospital for a week and a half with therapists evaluating me nonstop.

I've struggled with mental health problems, and I'm finally getting better. I have anxiety so bad I wake up every morning and I puke because of it. Every morning before I go to school, I puke. Any sort of thing that worries me whatsoever, it makes me physically sick. Now I've learned how to deal with all these problems. I was a little boy then. You could manipulate me. Now I'm a grown man. I'm just as big as you, and I'm not scared. You're the weak one. You're the one in chains.

I'm graduating early because I'm making something of my life. I'm going to have a house here in a few years, a car, family, while you're sitting behind bars. You lost all that. That's all I have to say. I was not expecting that. What he said, not even being prepared and on the fly, was beautiful and took a lot of strength.

I was really proud of myself and I felt like a badass, to be honest. And reading the transcripts back, I'm like, damn, I can't believe I just came up with all that on the spot. I think it was perfect. The victims had spoken. The prosecutor was ready to make her case for the maximum sentence. ♪

Your Honor, at the plea, the defendant admitted to his sexual abuse of Tyler for six years, and it continued until July of the year that he was caught. And he was caught only because there was a brave young man who happened to see a hidden camera in the bathroom of the defendant's home that he shared with his family. Your Honor received a sentencing memorandum from the defense counsel.

What stuck out to me most is the leniency that they are requesting on the fact that the defendant was a doctor. The fact that he was a doctor is not something that this court should indicate as a mitigator for any sentence your honor chooses to impose. Asking for leniency because he was a doctor? If anything, that would be an aggravating factor. A doctor should know just how damaging his actions were.

Like the court did when she first became a lawyer, and when you took the oath to become a judge, the defendant took the Hippocratic Oath when he stood up to be a doctor. And part of that oath says, "May I always act to preserve the finest traditions of my colleague, and may I long experience the joy of healing those who seek my help."

The defendant betrayed those words in the worst way possible. He swore an oath to protect people, violated that in secret in hopes that he would never be caught. The defendant, who I will describe as a narcissist, is only worried about the repercussions to himself.

He went to great lengths because he doesn't like how hard the bed is and that he's depressed because he's jailed and all of these things that affect him. And went through the lengths of trying to convince his godmother to hire someone to kill Tyler. Your Honor, the defendant deserves to remain in jail for the rest of his life. And how much time was the state specifically asking for?

I ask your honor to impose a sentence of 26 to 70 years, followed by 12 years of probation. Additionally, your honor, I would ask for special conditions that the defendant have no contact with any minor, including his biological children. You heard that right. The state was asking for up to 70 years in prison and absolutely no contact with any minor.

Before the judge would hand down her sentence, the defendant has the right to address the court one last time. So Justin Rutherford made one last attempt to explain why he deserved mercy. He first addressed the judge. Today, I stand before you a broken man. Over the course of these charges, there's been a lot of pain and hurt. I lost my family, my friends, my career, my home.

And the DA's preventing me from seeing my kids. I'm at rock bottom. I know I'm not the only one hurting. I would like to say that as a physician though, I served my community well. I never had any patients complain on me. I treated them all with respect. None of the invasion of privacy charges stem from my patients or the office.

I never violated their HIPAA or their privacy. I put all of my energy into being the best I could professionally and taking care of my patients. Unfortunately, I forgot to take care of myself. The strange thing is, I don't know how to explain it, except to say that I was hiding from myself my sexual orientation. Not everyone's mind agrees with their body.

After participating fully in the treatment at the jail, I figured out a lot about myself. I straightened myself out, as well as coming to terms with some of the traumas I experienced in my past as well. I wish I had the wisdom to have gotten help before, but I was scared and worried about what it would do to my family and my career. Your Honor, in every other area of my life,

I am a law-abiding citizen. I'm just a boring old family man who made some poor errors in judgment due to a condition I suffer from. I love my stepson with all my heart. I've never physically assaulted my wife, kids, stepkids, or anyone. I rarely ever even raise my voice at them.

He didn't seem to make the connection between pleading guilty to raping a child and physical assault. Your Honor, I'm asking you, pleading with you, and begging with you to ignore the DA's recommendation for sentencing. I'm asking you for mercy this one time. My first ever charge. God sent me here to correct my temptation and force me to repent.

As I ask for God's mercy, I ask for yours. Thank you, your honor. It's like he's talking about a speeding ticket. Justin still thought he was entitled to some kind of pass. Can I turn to address my family? No, you can direct it at me if there's something you want to say. Tyler, I have prayed for an opportunity to face you, to look you in the eyes and work this out.

This might sound strange to you, but just like when your mom and I argue, I can't stand there being tension between us. For several years, you were my best friend, my shadow. I'm going to stop you. They stopped him about like a few words into a statement and was like, whoa, whoa, whoa. This is not about you directing your comments to the court. Are the victims comfortable with him addressing you?

If you are not, I will stop it. I like rose my hand in the middle of the court and I was like, nope. I wanted to hear what he had to say, even if it was all bullshit. He'd already written it. So I was like, fine, say what you want to say. The judge allowed Justin to continue. I have become aware through all of this that you experienced bad times as well. I'm totally sorry that I have caused you pain. It was never my intention to cause you harm.

You know it's not me. I will fully admit I had fear expressing my sexual orientation for a long time. I don't know what you heard about me since all of this came out, but I swear to you that you know you were the only one that I was like that with in that way. You were the only one I ever planned to be with in that degree.

To be honest, it might sound crazy, but it had nothing to do with your age. It had only to do about who you were, who you are. I didn't take my eyes off of him. He didn't take his eyes off me. I just kept my Billy badass mean face. I was mean dogging him and just kept staring at him. It wasn't bothering me at the start, but as he kept going, it just got creepier and creepier. Then Justin revealed something.

Everyone froze in their seats. "I mean, love can strike you at any point. You know, look at Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher. There's 15 years of an age difference. To counteract any negative feelings you've ever had about me or feel towards me, I hope you think of all the times I tried to steer you down the right path."

how I rewarded you for good grades that led you to being a straight A student. I was there when you cried about a bully on the bus. He said some pretty odd things to Tyler. I think that it turned from an abusive situation to ultimately the end. He believed he was in a relationship with Tyler, that he was Tyler's lover. Every day for the past 21 months, I've been apart from you. I'm very sorry.

I gave you every piece of my heart and soul, and I'm sorry if I failed you. Even in his elocution, Justin still tried to manipulate Tyler. I hope for your success, and I hope you still consider going into sports medicine. I'm proud of you. I pray for your healing, love, forgiveness, and mercy. And I'll love you always, buddy. Justin was looking at Tyler, and Tyler was staring back at him.

Stacy, on the other hand, had her eyes squarely fixed on the decision maker in the room, the judge. As he read his letter, you could see the disgust on her face. At one point, she took her glasses off and she put her face in her hands. And all I could think of was, are you not looking at this? Are you not watching her? She was going to throw the book at him. Once he was done talking to me, I kind of just shook it off and I was good.

After that, Justin turned his attention to Stacey. Stacey, I'm not even sure what to say to you because there are no words to tell you how sorry I am for what I put you through. Every part of my personality was genuine when it came to caring, hoping, loving, or helping, laughter, etc. All of that was my true me.

But I did deceive you about my sexual orientation. And for that, I'm sorry. I must stop here for just a moment. Justin is implying that he was deceptive about being gay. Maybe he is gay. Maybe he isn't. It's irrelevant.

Justin is a sexually violent predator. It's important not to conflate his supposed sexuality with acting on his impulse to sexually abuse children, as well as observing non-consenting people in their private time. Voyeurism. I failed you. I failed our marriage. And I wish I could have been everything you wanted. I still believe we were made to be soulmates.

You were an amazing spouse and didn't deserve any of this. At least out of all of this, we have our two wonderful kids. Finally, Justin turned to Stacy's daughter. Michaela, I'm sorry for any pain or suffering I've caused you as well. I'm sorry for the worsening of your mental health. I'm sorry I couldn't be the father you wanted and deserve. I love you so much.

So the first part of his letter to me started out basically saying like, you're the only one in this courtroom who understands me because you dated a woman before.

I'm ready to flip my lid, right? Like, do not compare me dating two girls in my lifetime to...

you being a predator. I wish you the best of life and I'm happy I played a part in getting you there. I hope you will maintain contact. Just know I'll always consider you my daughter and I pray for your success, love and healing. Thank you. So I'm sitting there like, fuck you. To me, that was like, you're literally showing no remorse, which we already knew that from his letters to mom and Tyler, but that was just more ammo to be like, you don't care.

The judge would consider everything she had just heard. She would take the prosecutor's recommendation, victim impact statements, and letters that supporters had submitted into her chambers. When she returned, she would deliver the sentence. ADA McCallum had one last request. Your Honor, if I just may, I know I asked for no contact with minors, but I would also ask for no contact with any of the victims. Thank you, counsel. I'll be back.

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 going to 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 fucking 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.

13 minutes. That's all the time the judge needed to decide on Justin's sentence and emerge from chambers. First, I'd like to say to the victims and their family, I hope that today brings you some type of closure. I can't undo what was done. It sounds to me like you guys are sticking together, taking care of each other, and getting yourselves the services that you need to begin to heal from all of this. But I'll do my part.

I think the difficult thing about these is the insidiousness that comes with this type of abuse, especially within a family, because the abuser is, in fact, someone in a place of trust and maybe even love. It is very confusing for a young person to decipher all of those feelings, and that's squarely on you, Mr. Rutherford. I don't know if it was you or your defense counsel

who said about this being difficult for me to render a sentence. I can assure you, I don't find this difficult. You and your choices have removed that difficulty from me. Your own biological children, sadly, are collateral victims of all this. Because of your choices, you're right, they will grow up without a father. I'm of the mind that, at this point, that could be a really good thing for them.

As soon as the judge started laying out everything, I immediately was like, "Oh, he's fucked." When I read your letter and your desire that somehow, if I could mitigate or be in the bottom of the standard range, that you would be able to get out and be a family man. That ship has sailed, my friend, long ago. Long ago. You stopped being a family man the second you laid your hands on those boys.

The judge sentenced Justin Rutherford to 26 years and 10 months, up to 70 years in prison, along with 12 years of special probation after his release. "You will have no contact with the victims in this case."

In addition, though, you will have no contact with any minors, including your own biological children. He would also be required to register as a sexually violent predator. But remember, this sentence didn't include the solicitation to commit murder charge. That was still to come. Although the sentence had been handed down, the judge wanted to be even more explicit about one part of her sentence.

I found your comments, specifically to Tyler, to be extremely disturbing. So no contact means no contact.

including through third parties. That means not by letter, not by text, not by phone, not by carrier pigeon, not through Nanny D, not through anyone. You cannot say, tell my children that I love them. You cannot say, tell the kids Daddy was thinking of them. Nothing.

No contact means no contact whatsoever with any minors whatsoever. Am I clear? Yes, ma'am. Can I ask a question? That applies until they're 18, right? No. This order applies through the length of your sentence and well beyond the day either of your children turn 18. You can have no contact with them for as long as you are on supervision.

for the length of your supervision, you may have no contact with them, including their families. And she said, nope, you'll never see him ever again. And I was like, oh my God, like she's not playing around. And she was like really firm about it. Unless you live to be 110 years old, you will never see or talk to your children ever again. He kind of just dropped his head and said, okay. And you just heard like the defeat in his voice.

You almost want to look at him and be like, did you really think you were going to see your kids? He like sealed his fate pretty much with the letter he read to me. He kind of admitted to some shit in it and like admitted to his fucked up way of thinking and proved that he should not be allowed on the streets again. As Justin was escorted from the courtroom, Stacey was finally able to take a deep breath.

I think there was a huge part of me that was relieved at how long it was because I knew there was a possibility that it could be less. Meg had been in constant contact with me as far as what she was going for as the sentence. But, you know, ultimately at the end, it was the judge's decision. My way of looking at that court hearing was after today, I'm ready to move on with my new life. I told everyone I was like, all right,

I'm ready to stop letting this shape our life. We just got all the news we needed. Everything's done now. That was like my sense of completion, I guess, and it being over. Even though it really wasn't, it was over for me. I was done with it. Michaela's husband, Tommy, summarized the overall feeling. Leaving the courthouse, nobody was happy, but everybody was happy.

Well, with one exception. Justin's godmother, Nanny D. Her and I had a conversation afterwards and she just was so angry that nobody heard him. Nobody listened to him. Oh, we listened. We listened. Everybody listened.

I said, I just don't think you heard the same thing we did. She saw it as he was being sincere and he was pouring his heart out. And every one of you just didn't care what he had to say. It just it blew my mind that she thought that justice had been served. The kids would never have to worry. Stacey could finally be alone with her grief for the first time.

On the next episode of Betrayal, Stacey finally confronts the feelings she's been too afraid and ashamed to explore. It was anything that I ever felt real. And she talks with a well-known relationship expert to confront the truth. The darkest of possibilities to face is actually nothing about this person, nothing about the memories we shared together are real.

If you're a man who has experienced sexual abuse or assault, or you know someone who is seeking support, go to oneinsix.org. That's the number one, I-N number six dot org. Find a path to a happier, healthier future.

If you would like to reach out to the Betrayal team, email us at BetrayalPod at gmail.com. That's BetrayalPod at gmail.com. Also, please be sure to follow us at Glass Podcasts on Instagram for all Betrayal content, news, and updates. 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 Trey Morgan and Carrie Hartman. Also produced by Ben Fetterman. Associate producers are Kristen Malkuri and Caitlin Golden. Our iHeart team is Allie Perry and Jessica Kreinchuk.

Voice acting by Andrew Dobby, Rose Carr, Esty Miller, and Mason Klinder. Special thanks to Stacey Rutherford, Tyler, and the rest of Stacey and Tyler's friends and family. And to the Berks County Courthouse and District Attorney's Office. Audio editing and mixing by Matt Zalvecchio. Editing support from Nico Arruca. Betrayals theme composed by Oliver Baines.

Music library provided by MIB Music. And for more podcasts from iHeart, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. 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. Hi, hi.

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're going to 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? Mr. Vati is dead! Featuring the star-studded talents of Michael Urie, Jonathan Freeman, Frankie Grande, Cheyenne Jackson, Robin de Jesus, and Kate McKinnon as Angela Lansferry. 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.