This Riveting Podcast About A Newport Beach Homicide Is Your New True Crime Obsession
The first episode of "Dirty John," the Los Angeles Times' new true crime podcast, begins with a prosecutor reading the autopsy report of a homicide victim who died from 13 stab wounds in the summer of 2016. After dangling that information in front of you, reporter Christopher Goffard takes you back to the beginning of the relationship between interior designer Debra Newell and anesthesiologist John Newell. From the start, despite their whirlwind romance, something is not quite right between Debra and John — but you'll have to listen to six gripping episodes full of passion, fraud, drugs and revenge to find out the identity of the stabbing victim.
Goffard, who used to cover crime in Newport Beach for a local newspaper and wrote a crime novel called "Snitch Jacket" and last year's PTA crime story "Framed," is uniquely well suited to tell this story. "Dirty John" unfolds like a tightly plotted thriller, with a combination of slow-burn, mood-setting exposition and sudden reveals that will take your breath away, not to mention some well-placed cliffhangers. Once you start listening, you'll have a hard time tearing yourself away from your headphones.
"Dirty John" isn't just a worthy successor to "Serial" in the canon of bingeable true-crime podcasts — it's a longform series, too! If audio isn't your thing, you can read the six-part series, the final part of which was published on Sunday. But your best bet is to read and listen. The written features aren't just transcripts of the podcast episodes — they contain details that you won't get in the audio, and vice versa. They're both examples of masterful storytelling, but they aren't the same.
Here are all six episodes of "Dirty John," which you can also subscribe to on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher or wherever you get your podcasts.