a story christopher goffard of of the "los angeles times" spent months unraveling.trand by disturbing strand. >> it's a story about trust and betrayal, and it's a story about family. >> about a woman, two protective daughters and what those daughters did when the man came into their mother's life. before the death in the parking lot. >> hi. i'm christopher goffard -- >> reporter: the story became a podcast produced with the podcast network wondery. the number one podcast in the country for a time. voted by "entertainment weekly," "usa today" and "the guardian" as one of the best of 2017. downloaded 28 million times in the first year of its release. the story and the man at the heart of it was called "dirty john." >> he was a very creative, super manipulative, charismatic, handsome, charming. intelligent. >> he was a nightmare to everybody. >> reporter: but -- not to her. to debra newell, of orange county, california, the man who presented himself on the dating website, dr. john meehan, anesthesiologist, looked very promising. >> he was the total package. a doctor. v

a story christopher goffard of of the "los angeles times" spent months unraveling.trand by disturbing strand. >> it's a story about trust and betrayal, and it's a story about family. >> about a woman, two protective daughters and what those daughters did when the man came into their mother's life. before the homicide in the parking lot. >> reporter: the story became a podcast produced with the podcast network wondery. the number one podcast in the country for a time. voted by "entertainment weekly," "usa today" and "the guardian" as one of the best of 2017. downloaded by more than 15 million people in 200 countries. the story and the man at the heart of it was called, "dirty john." >> he was a very creative super manipulative, charismatic, handsome, charming. intelligent. >> he was a nightmare to everybody. >> reporter: but -- not to her. to debra newell, of orange county, california, the man who presented himself on the dating website, dr. john meehan, anesthesiologist, looked very promising. >> he was the total package. a doctor. very intelligent. family man. love

a story christopher goffard of of the "los angeles times" spent months unraveling.trand by disturbing strand. >> it's a story about trust and betrayal, and it's a story about family. >> about a woman, two protective daughters and what those daughters did when the man came into their mother's life. before the homicide in the parking lot. >> reporter: the story became a podcast produced with the podcast network wondery. the number one podcast in the country for a time. voted by "entertainment weekly," "usa today" and "the guardian" as one of the best of 2017. downloaded by more than 15 million people in 200 countries. the story and the man at the heart of it was called, "dirty john." >> he was a very creative super manipulative, charismatic, handsome, charming. intelligent. >> he was a nightmare to everybody. >> reporter: but -- not to her. to debra newell, of orange county, california, the man who presented himself on the dating website, dr. john meehan, anesthesiologist, looked very promising. >> he was the total package. a doctor. very intelligent. family man. love