The story of Dirty John continues on the small screen in 2019. The Oxygen network is airing a two-hour documentary about the real John Meehan, the man behind the crimes and the deceit documented on both a podcast and a scripted television show over the past year.
The story started early with Christopher Goffard’s podcast called Dirty John, a production he created for the Los Angeles Times. Bravo’s scripted show followed in 2018, with Connie Britton and Eric Bana playing Debra Newell and John Meehan respectively.
The documentary will focus on John Meehan and show the manipulative personality that started before he met Debra Newell.
As documented on the podcast by Goffard, Meehan deceived other women in his life years prior to Debra, including tricking former girlfriends and his first wife Tonia Bales. Now, the women are speaking out for the first time, sharing their experiences with his betrayals and lies.
In the Oxygen press release for the documentary, Meehan is described as a monster who is wired for psychopathy. It’s no secret that he has a troubled past, one that Goffard briefly talked about in his podcast, Dirty John.
In Dirty John, The Dirty Truth, viewers get to learn more about the women before Debra, including his first wife Tonia and her two daughters, Emily and Abigail Meehan. They were briefly featured on the podcast, but their stories are just as important in exposing Meehan’s betrayals.
Plus, the documentary will also share never before heard phone calls with John threatening the women in his life. Viewers will also learn about alarming police reports, and hear from Detective Dennis Lukens and Detective Julia Bowman who both struggled to lock him up.
Until January 14, fans of this story can continue to watch Bravo’s scripted version of the show. It airs Sundays at 10/9c on Bravo and the final episode of the scripted show will air Sunday, January 13, 2019 – one day before the premiere of this new documentary.
Dirty John, The Dirty Truth airs Monday, January 14 at 8/7c on Oxygen.