Ray William Johnson: True Story Podcast
The Creepy Fake Doctor - The John Meehan story
Tue, 25 Mar 2025
The John Meehan case, famously known through the Netflix series Dirty John, tells the true story of a charismatic con man who manipulated, deceived, and terrorized multiple women. Posing as a successful doctor, Meehan used charm and lies to infiltrate the life of Debra Newell, a wealthy interior designer, while hiding a criminal past filled with fraud, abuse, and stalking. His pattern of emotional and psychological abuse escalated into physical violence, ultimately leading to his death in 2016.
Chapter 1: Who was John Meehan and what was his early life like?
So this guy, he's a creep. Like I don't know how else to describe him. Now his name's John and John's 31 and he's kind of a turd. I mean he's been lying and cheating and scamming women his whole life. But he gets away with it because he's kind of a charming dude. One day his life starts to change a little because in 1990 he meets this woman. Tanya.
And Tanya's 25, she's a nurse, and they date for a couple of years and they end up getting married. And John eventually starts nursing school and he becomes a nurse, just like his wife. But then he screws it all up because he ends up cheating on her. And he gets the other woman pregnant. And of course, Tanya is pissed off and she's hurt. Like, how could he lie to me with so much ease?
So she starts digging into his background to see if there's anything else he lied about. And yes, there definitely is. He had apparently lied to her about a bunch of stuff, including his age. Who lies to their own wife about their age? So Tanya's fed up and she starts searching their house and she finds a bunch of meds. Meds that she knows should never leave the hospital.
So clearly he's been stealing drugs from the hospital he works at and abusing them. So she calls the police and reports him. And so John not only gets his nursing license suspended, but he gets hit with a charge of felony drug theft. And John knows it was Tanya who turned him in, so he starts calling her and threatening her.
Tanya, you enjoy your time left on this earth, okay? Because that's what it's going to come down to.
But whatever, eventually, bam, police arrest John. Here's his mugshot. And he's sentenced to six years in prison, but this isn't even close to being over because John gets out after only 17 months and he's going to go terrorize some more women.
So he eventually gets back in the dating game and he starts pulling this whole scheme where he'll match with women on dating sites and then he'll meet up with them and then he'll steal from them. And over time, he gets a bunch of complaints and criminal charges over this. He also gets charged with stalking one woman. Bro is just an absolute turd.
But one day, everything changes again for John, because he joins a dating site for people over 50. And there, he meets this woman, Debra. Debra's 59, she's an interior designer, and Debra's successful, like she's got a little money. And so they chat and they hit it off and they end up going out on a date. Now, while on this date, he's trying to riz her up.
He tells her he's an anesthesiologist, which he's not. He also tells her he just got back from Doctors Without Borders in Iraq, which he didn't. But Debra doesn't know any better, so she believes him. I mean, she's impressed. And they end up going back to her place to hang out a bit longer. And there, I guess at some point, John lays in her bed and he won't leave.
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Chapter 2: How did John Meehan's marriage to Tanya unravel?
And that is very unfortunate because this is when he really gets out of control. Because one day, Debra's daughter Tara is driving home from work, and she gets to her building, and she pulls into her parking spot, and as soon as she gets out of the car, boom, John is suddenly standing behind her. And pow, he attacks her with a knife.
And they struggle, and he tries to push her into the car like he's kidnapping her, and bam, she bites the shit out of his hand, and they both fall to the ground. And there, they wrestle, and they continue the struggle, and pow, she kicks the knife right out of his hand. And then she grabs it herself, and boom, she starts stabbing him.
over and over again until he's in critical condition and four days later in the hospital he dies and tanya's case is ultimately determined by police to be self-defense which yeah it was