1 00:00:03,307 --> 00:00:06,093 Brandon was the full package. 2 00:00:06,223 --> 00:00:07,881 Flex your arm. 3 00:00:07,964 --> 00:00:10,662 Yeah! Do it the other way now. 4 00:00:10,749 --> 00:00:14,710 Very tall, 6'3", thick, brown hair, 5 00:00:14,797 --> 00:00:17,191 very muscular build. 6 00:00:17,278 --> 00:00:20,803 He was vulnerable, open, funny, honest. 7 00:00:20,890 --> 00:00:22,326 Brandon was a good dad. 8 00:00:22,457 --> 00:00:24,328 He adored her. 9 00:00:24,415 --> 00:00:27,723 He was very much involved, very protective of her. 10 00:00:27,853 --> 00:00:29,768 [laughter] 11 00:00:29,899 --> 00:00:30,900 I loved him very much. 12 00:00:31,031 --> 00:00:34,295 [laughs] 13 00:00:34,382 --> 00:00:36,427 [tense music] 14 00:00:36,514 --> 00:00:39,691 Stop, stop, stop talking! 15 00:00:39,822 --> 00:00:41,258 God! 16 00:00:41,345 --> 00:00:43,217 Obviously, it was too good to be true. 17 00:00:43,347 --> 00:00:47,264 And I just was dumbfounded at what I was hearing. 18 00:00:47,351 --> 00:00:49,310 I caught him cheating on me. 19 00:00:49,397 --> 00:00:51,486 I went straight to my social media. 20 00:00:51,573 --> 00:00:54,184 The floodgates opened, and more and more 21 00:00:54,315 --> 00:00:56,056 women started coming out. 22 00:00:56,143 --> 00:00:58,014 That was just the tip of the iceberg. 23 00:00:58,145 --> 00:01:02,410 Just another way that he's able to control and manipulate. 24 00:01:02,497 --> 00:01:04,715 The person that I thought he was, he didn't exist. 25 00:01:04,803 --> 00:01:06,979 When you do break up with Brandon, 26 00:01:07,067 --> 00:01:08,590 that is when the stalking begins. 27 00:01:08,720 --> 00:01:10,940 [phone chiming] 28 00:01:11,071 --> 00:01:13,595 I was really scared for her. 29 00:01:13,682 --> 00:01:16,815 He was completely unhinged. 30 00:01:16,902 --> 00:01:18,256 He knows where I am. He's following me. 31 00:01:18,339 --> 00:01:21,646 That's when I found the tracking device. 32 00:01:23,474 --> 00:01:25,741 Brandon was dangerous, and he was escalating. 33 00:01:25,824 --> 00:01:29,089 He's everywhere, trapping me, holding me by my arms, 34 00:01:29,176 --> 00:01:30,960 not letting me leave. 35 00:01:31,047 --> 00:01:33,876 Duct tape. He had knives, zip ties. 36 00:01:34,006 --> 00:01:36,183 I discover the crossbow. 37 00:01:40,056 --> 00:01:42,450 I was terrified. I saw the devil in his eyes. 38 00:01:42,537 --> 00:01:46,323 I knew something horrific was about to happen. 39 00:01:46,410 --> 00:01:48,151 They should run for their life. 40 00:01:50,066 --> 00:01:52,112 Who the fuck did I marry? 41 00:01:52,199 --> 00:01:54,418 [glass shatters] 42 00:01:56,507 --> 00:02:00,555 [blips] 43 00:02:00,642 --> 00:02:02,905 In 2013, I was 35. 44 00:02:02,992 --> 00:02:05,777 I had just moved to Portland. 45 00:02:05,864 --> 00:02:09,824 I was ready to settle down, start a family, get married... 46 00:02:09,912 --> 00:02:14,003 find a good guy, my Prince Charming. 47 00:02:14,090 --> 00:02:16,788 So I started online dating. 48 00:02:16,875 --> 00:02:17,967 I started getting the dings. 49 00:02:18,050 --> 00:02:20,227 [phone chimes] 50 00:02:20,357 --> 00:02:22,751 And then one day, I matched with a guy 51 00:02:22,838 --> 00:02:24,187 called Brandon Johnson. 52 00:02:27,886 --> 00:02:31,024 Brandon stood out. He really did. 53 00:02:31,107 --> 00:02:33,065 Brandon was in Seattle, 3 1/2 hours away from me. 54 00:02:33,196 --> 00:02:36,373 But the messages were incredibly sweet 55 00:02:36,460 --> 00:02:39,724 and incredibly sincere and thoughtful. 56 00:02:39,811 --> 00:02:42,249 And so I felt like, you know what? 57 00:02:42,336 --> 00:02:45,382 I need to give this guy a chance. 58 00:02:45,469 --> 00:02:47,776 We spoke for about a month 59 00:02:47,863 --> 00:02:51,606 before we actually met in person at a bar in Seattle. 60 00:02:51,692 --> 00:02:54,826 I just didn't know what to expect. 61 00:02:54,913 --> 00:02:56,915 I'm sitting there. 62 00:02:57,046 --> 00:02:59,048 Brandon comes through the door. 63 00:02:59,179 --> 00:03:00,484 Hi. 64 00:03:00,615 --> 00:03:03,618 And I remember just feeling so nervous. 65 00:03:03,705 --> 00:03:04,836 He's very witty. 66 00:03:04,967 --> 00:03:06,969 He's very charming. 67 00:03:07,056 --> 00:03:10,059 Most importantly, how he made me feel. 68 00:03:10,146 --> 00:03:13,410 And as the night was going on, I liked him a little more 69 00:03:13,497 --> 00:03:15,543 and a little more. 70 00:03:15,630 --> 00:03:19,808 And I just remember thinking, Okay, this is gonna be 71 00:03:19,895 --> 00:03:21,030 the start of a good thing. 72 00:03:21,113 --> 00:03:24,073 You like that, baby? 73 00:03:24,160 --> 00:03:27,990 There was definitely a spark 74 00:03:28,120 --> 00:03:32,341 very early on in the relationship. 75 00:03:32,429 --> 00:03:35,737 Every weekend, we would just have the most incredible dates 76 00:03:35,824 --> 00:03:38,043 and so much fun. 77 00:03:38,130 --> 00:03:39,305 I got the cayenne on it. 78 00:03:39,393 --> 00:03:41,308 Cayenne, okay. Now you need to chug it. 79 00:03:41,395 --> 00:03:43,788 -Okay. -Is that pretty intense? 80 00:03:43,875 --> 00:03:46,922 And I was so smitten that I just felt like I met my guy. 81 00:03:47,052 --> 00:03:49,838 I think this is it. 82 00:03:49,925 --> 00:03:52,754 We were just very happy for Amber. 83 00:03:52,884 --> 00:03:54,756 He seems very friendly. 84 00:03:54,843 --> 00:03:58,325 We were definitely hopeful that this would be the right one. 85 00:03:58,412 --> 00:04:00,501 Maybe this would go somewhere into a relationship, 86 00:04:00,588 --> 00:04:02,938 marriage, maybe a child. 87 00:04:05,506 --> 00:04:07,943 Everything was going great. 88 00:04:08,030 --> 00:04:11,728 About six weeks into my relationship with Brandon, 89 00:04:11,860 --> 00:04:14,297 we were at a bar. 90 00:04:14,384 --> 00:04:17,560 And out of nowhere, Brandon leaned over, 91 00:04:17,692 --> 00:04:19,694 opened a box, and asked me to marry him. 92 00:04:19,824 --> 00:04:21,391 [camera clicks] 93 00:04:21,522 --> 00:04:24,176 I was absolutely not expecting that. 94 00:04:25,569 --> 00:04:27,919 It was a beautiful moment. 95 00:04:28,006 --> 00:04:29,356 It was a beautiful ring. 96 00:04:29,486 --> 00:04:32,798 And I couldn't wait to marry Brandon. 97 00:04:32,881 --> 00:04:37,407 Six weeks into their relationship, they got engaged. 98 00:04:37,494 --> 00:04:39,366 I thought it was fast, but at the same time, 99 00:04:39,496 --> 00:04:41,716 I thought, well, she's old enough 100 00:04:41,803 --> 00:04:45,023 to know what she wants now. -Yeah. 101 00:04:45,154 --> 00:04:47,548 When Amber first talked about Brandon 102 00:04:47,635 --> 00:04:50,115 and all the great qualities that he had, 103 00:04:50,202 --> 00:04:52,553 I was super happy for her. 104 00:04:52,640 --> 00:04:56,644 He was somebody that was stable, financially as well as 105 00:04:56,731 --> 00:05:01,344 emotionally, and was somebody who she could settle down with 106 00:05:01,431 --> 00:05:03,085 and really have a great life with. 107 00:05:06,567 --> 00:05:09,178 After we got engaged, it made natural sense 108 00:05:09,265 --> 00:05:12,399 that I would be the one moving from Oregon up to Seattle. 109 00:05:15,097 --> 00:05:18,622 Brandon was newly divorced from his first wife, Athena, 110 00:05:18,709 --> 00:05:20,755 and they had a young daughter named Sydney. 111 00:05:20,885 --> 00:05:23,192 And then Athena also had an older child called Lexus 112 00:05:23,323 --> 00:05:25,198 from a previous relationship. 113 00:05:25,281 --> 00:05:27,849 And that was his whole meaning for life, was this little girl. 114 00:05:27,936 --> 00:05:29,633 Whoa! 115 00:05:29,720 --> 00:05:30,982 Whoa. 116 00:05:31,113 --> 00:05:32,332 Ow! 117 00:05:32,419 --> 00:05:34,290 -You hit your butt? -Yeah. 118 00:05:34,421 --> 00:05:38,207 I would never take a father from his child, ever. 119 00:05:38,294 --> 00:05:39,991 Brandon introduced me to Sydney, 120 00:05:40,078 --> 00:05:42,820 and she was the sweetest little thing ever. 121 00:05:42,907 --> 00:05:45,954 She was four years old, very chatty, very open 122 00:05:46,041 --> 00:05:48,086 to meeting me. 123 00:05:48,173 --> 00:05:49,436 Whoo! 124 00:05:49,566 --> 00:05:51,481 I loved her. 125 00:05:53,701 --> 00:05:56,225 It was a very big step for Amber to move to Seattle. 126 00:05:56,312 --> 00:05:57,705 She didn't know anybody in Seattle, 127 00:05:57,835 --> 00:06:01,796 so it was basically relying on Brandon for everything... 128 00:06:01,883 --> 00:06:03,537 social life, friends. 129 00:06:03,624 --> 00:06:06,714 She was unsure about work. 130 00:06:06,844 --> 00:06:09,238 He promised me the world. 131 00:06:09,325 --> 00:06:13,024 So I quit my job, sold my furniture. 132 00:06:13,111 --> 00:06:14,678 I was ready to take a chance. 133 00:06:18,029 --> 00:06:20,684 A week before I was supposed to move to Seattle, 134 00:06:20,815 --> 00:06:27,517 I got a message on Facebook that made my heart sink. 135 00:06:27,604 --> 00:06:31,478 It said, "Amber, I think you should know something." 136 00:06:31,565 --> 00:06:35,395 It said, Brandon was on match.com. 137 00:06:35,482 --> 00:06:38,837 [suspenseful music] 138 00:06:38,920 --> 00:06:40,882 ♪ 139 00:06:40,965 --> 00:06:42,967 I wanted to die. 140 00:06:43,054 --> 00:06:45,579 I about had a heart attack that day. 141 00:06:45,666 --> 00:06:49,147 How could this possibly be happening to me? 142 00:06:49,234 --> 00:06:50,714 Everything was so perfect. 143 00:06:54,849 --> 00:06:57,939 And to make matters worse, it was actually a picture 144 00:06:58,026 --> 00:07:00,028 that Brandon cropped me out of. 145 00:07:00,115 --> 00:07:02,596 It was the same night that we had our engagement party. 146 00:07:07,078 --> 00:07:12,736 I felt like my whole world was collapsing in front of my face. 147 00:07:12,823 --> 00:07:16,087 I felt trapped because I had already quit my job. 148 00:07:16,174 --> 00:07:18,960 I'd already sold half my belongings. 149 00:07:19,090 --> 00:07:20,788 And I called Brandon. 150 00:07:20,918 --> 00:07:24,661 He was begging and pleading and crying. 151 00:07:24,748 --> 00:07:26,537 You... you don't understand, Amber. 152 00:07:26,620 --> 00:07:28,186 It was just a lapse in judgment. 153 00:07:28,317 --> 00:07:30,841 And the last time I put a ring on someone's finger, 154 00:07:30,928 --> 00:07:32,713 it was my ex-wife, Athena. 155 00:07:32,800 --> 00:07:35,324 And I've told you how horrible she is. 156 00:07:38,022 --> 00:07:42,810 Brandon told me that he found out that Athena cheated on him 157 00:07:42,940 --> 00:07:44,638 at her bachelorette party. 158 00:07:44,725 --> 00:07:47,423 He's like, this was my family unit, 159 00:07:47,554 --> 00:07:50,948 and now it's being all torn apart because of her. 160 00:07:51,034 --> 00:07:52,776 I could hear it in Brandon's voice, 161 00:07:52,863 --> 00:07:55,736 how hurt he was by Athena cheating on him. 162 00:07:57,868 --> 00:08:01,568 The person that he had shown me all those weeks prior 163 00:08:01,655 --> 00:08:05,093 did not align with this one action. 164 00:08:05,180 --> 00:08:09,053 And when he said, I never went on another date, I... 165 00:08:09,140 --> 00:08:10,881 I believed him. 166 00:08:10,968 --> 00:08:13,144 I trusted him. 167 00:08:13,231 --> 00:08:14,929 And I'm a forgiving person. 168 00:08:17,018 --> 00:08:19,716 So I forgave him. 169 00:08:19,803 --> 00:08:22,763 When Amber told me about the match.com profile, 170 00:08:22,850 --> 00:08:25,509 it definitely was the first red flag for me. 171 00:08:25,592 --> 00:08:28,508 That was like, mm, tread lightly 172 00:08:28,595 --> 00:08:30,862 because this is not normal behavior. 173 00:08:30,945 --> 00:08:33,687 But I felt that Brandon was worth the risk. 174 00:08:33,774 --> 00:08:35,818 So I moved to Seattle. 175 00:08:35,950 --> 00:08:38,652 Brandon said, hey, can you do me a favor 176 00:08:38,735 --> 00:08:42,043 and block my ex-wife, Athena, on Facebook? 177 00:08:42,130 --> 00:08:44,832 He basically said, Athena meddles a lot in my life, 178 00:08:44,915 --> 00:08:48,179 and I just don't want her to get in between us 179 00:08:48,266 --> 00:08:50,403 and cause trouble. 180 00:08:50,486 --> 00:08:52,183 But I just... I don't know. 181 00:08:52,270 --> 00:08:54,189 I had this gut instinct of, you can learn 182 00:08:54,272 --> 00:08:55,709 a lot by what people post. 183 00:08:55,839 --> 00:08:59,756 And so I wanted to know what this woman is all about 184 00:08:59,887 --> 00:09:02,498 because I'm hearing from him, but I feel like I just wanted 185 00:09:02,629 --> 00:09:04,065 more info than I was getting. 186 00:09:04,152 --> 00:09:06,720 So I took a peek on Facebook. 187 00:09:09,418 --> 00:09:13,683 First thing I see is a picture of Athena looking 188 00:09:13,770 --> 00:09:18,035 beautiful but in a very sexy photo in her wedding gown 189 00:09:18,122 --> 00:09:21,256 that she married Brandon in as her profile picture. 190 00:09:21,386 --> 00:09:24,868 [intriguing music] 191 00:09:24,955 --> 00:09:29,177 Then I see a little photo that says, I bumped into my ex, 192 00:09:29,264 --> 00:09:32,441 and so I backed up and ran over him again... 193 00:09:32,528 --> 00:09:34,578 clearly meant for Brandon. 194 00:09:34,661 --> 00:09:38,665 So I kept Athena blocked. 195 00:09:38,752 --> 00:09:42,843 I knew there were some issues, but I had no idea the extent 196 00:09:42,930 --> 00:09:44,018 of how crazy she was. 197 00:09:46,716 --> 00:09:48,892 He said that she took the credit cards 198 00:09:48,979 --> 00:09:52,069 and just racked $100,000. 199 00:09:52,156 --> 00:09:56,813 She demanded that he pay $30,000 for her wedding ring. 200 00:09:56,900 --> 00:09:59,555 He said that Athena was a gold digger. 201 00:09:59,642 --> 00:10:01,731 So yeah. 202 00:10:04,081 --> 00:10:08,129 I remember Amber being very disheartened 203 00:10:08,216 --> 00:10:12,220 and nervous about what Brandon told her about Athena. 204 00:10:12,307 --> 00:10:15,096 She was jealous. 205 00:10:15,179 --> 00:10:16,485 She wanted him back. 206 00:10:16,572 --> 00:10:19,270 She was causing all kinds of problems. 207 00:10:19,401 --> 00:10:20,663 [phone buzzes] 208 00:10:24,841 --> 00:10:26,930 Brandon told me that Athena joked 209 00:10:27,061 --> 00:10:30,064 about having a third child with him 210 00:10:30,151 --> 00:10:32,501 so she wouldn't have another baby daddy. 211 00:10:32,632 --> 00:10:35,199 That was kind of the shift for me. 212 00:10:35,330 --> 00:10:37,158 I was doing good up until that moment. 213 00:10:37,245 --> 00:10:39,551 And then I was like, ooh, now she's disrespecting me. 214 00:10:42,032 --> 00:10:44,295 So at that point, I'm like, mm-mm, hard stop. 215 00:10:44,426 --> 00:10:46,127 You have a crazy ex-wife. 216 00:10:46,210 --> 00:10:52,956 ♪ 217 00:10:57,395 --> 00:10:59,093 Athena. IV. Take 1. 218 00:11:01,965 --> 00:11:03,706 Hi. 219 00:11:03,793 --> 00:11:07,014 My name is Athena, and I am Brandon Johnson's ex-wife. 220 00:11:11,453 --> 00:11:14,021 [suspenseful music] 221 00:11:14,108 --> 00:11:16,110 ♪ ♪ 222 00:11:16,197 --> 00:11:19,679 I am Brandon Johnson's ex-wife. 223 00:11:19,809 --> 00:11:23,639 I am also known as the Puppet Master, 224 00:11:23,726 --> 00:11:26,207 also known as Queen Bitch. 225 00:11:26,337 --> 00:11:29,906 He also refers me to as the woman who has 226 00:11:29,993 --> 00:11:32,561 sought out to ruin his life. 227 00:11:34,215 --> 00:11:37,871 Brandon was seriously involved with a woman named Amber. 228 00:11:40,003 --> 00:11:42,484 Brandon told me that Amber was very insecure 229 00:11:42,571 --> 00:11:43,746 and very jealous of me. 230 00:11:45,617 --> 00:11:47,750 Now that I knew Amber was gonna be a part 231 00:11:47,837 --> 00:11:50,753 of my daughter's life, I felt I needed to meet her. 232 00:11:50,840 --> 00:11:53,321 That's when I invite her to Sydney's 233 00:11:53,408 --> 00:11:55,279 gymnastics performance. 234 00:11:55,366 --> 00:11:58,805 Leading up to meeting Athena was a little nerve-wracking 235 00:11:58,892 --> 00:12:01,590 because Brandon gave me a little bit 236 00:12:01,677 --> 00:12:05,376 of a prep session before. 237 00:12:05,463 --> 00:12:08,684 I was told she was gonna be fake. 238 00:12:08,815 --> 00:12:11,818 Don't talk to her. Don't stand next to her. 239 00:12:11,948 --> 00:12:13,384 It was nerve-wracking. 240 00:12:13,471 --> 00:12:15,386 I didn't know what I was gonna walk into. 241 00:12:19,129 --> 00:12:22,959 At that gymnastics practice, she was cold as ice to me. 242 00:12:25,135 --> 00:12:28,356 I didn't wanna cause any trouble, but in my periphery, 243 00:12:28,443 --> 00:12:30,163 I could just feel the daggers staring at me. 244 00:12:32,926 --> 00:12:35,410 The way she acted towards me, 245 00:12:35,493 --> 00:12:37,800 it felt like she was following orders, 246 00:12:37,887 --> 00:12:39,628 that she wasn't allowed to speak to me. 247 00:12:42,674 --> 00:12:45,246 It was so uncomfortable. 248 00:12:45,329 --> 00:12:46,853 You could just feel it. 249 00:12:46,940 --> 00:12:50,465 I felt like, oh, God, this is such a mess. 250 00:12:50,552 --> 00:12:51,814 This is such a mess. 251 00:12:56,079 --> 00:12:58,212 Brandon made it very clear to Amber 252 00:12:58,342 --> 00:13:01,258 that she should stay as far away as possible from Athena. 253 00:13:03,260 --> 00:13:05,088 I didn't have any communication with her, 254 00:13:05,175 --> 00:13:07,874 so it was all what Brandon told me. 255 00:13:07,961 --> 00:13:12,182 Then I'd have his family saying how terrible Athena was, 256 00:13:12,313 --> 00:13:15,098 and then his friends would say, mm, yep, Athena, 257 00:13:15,229 --> 00:13:17,144 she's a monster. She's the devil. 258 00:13:17,274 --> 00:13:18,406 She's the worst ever. 259 00:13:21,322 --> 00:13:26,153 Amber did not take a liking to my mom whatsoever. 260 00:13:26,240 --> 00:13:27,589 We didn't know why. 261 00:13:27,676 --> 00:13:29,983 She was, like, just so brash. 262 00:13:32,420 --> 00:13:35,035 I was really just trying to start my new life 263 00:13:35,118 --> 00:13:39,644 in a positive way, and I just felt this ex-wife 264 00:13:39,731 --> 00:13:41,559 that was just constantly involved. 265 00:13:44,040 --> 00:13:46,695 It was like this crying for attention. 266 00:13:46,826 --> 00:13:49,437 [phone buzzes] 267 00:13:49,524 --> 00:13:54,094 Then I'd be sitting on the couch, and she'd be calling. 268 00:13:54,181 --> 00:13:57,097 He would just pick it up and be like, ugh, it's Athena. 269 00:13:57,184 --> 00:13:59,403 And there'd be an emergency, and, oh, I need this. 270 00:13:59,534 --> 00:14:01,188 Oh, can you do this? 271 00:14:01,318 --> 00:14:03,712 Just the constant, constant stress 272 00:14:03,799 --> 00:14:05,496 of him and her going back and forth. 273 00:14:05,583 --> 00:14:09,196 It was collective over months and months and months. 274 00:14:09,283 --> 00:14:12,329 I told him, you need to protect me and our relationship. 275 00:14:12,416 --> 00:14:13,853 And that's on you. 276 00:14:13,983 --> 00:14:15,380 You need to give her some boundaries. 277 00:14:15,463 --> 00:14:21,295 ♪ ♪ 278 00:14:21,425 --> 00:14:22,996 Sydney would say that she could hear them fighting 279 00:14:23,079 --> 00:14:24,385 behind closed doors. 280 00:14:26,953 --> 00:14:28,780 And it was a lot of fighting about me, 281 00:14:28,868 --> 00:14:30,565 a lot of calling me names. 282 00:14:30,652 --> 00:14:32,045 It pisses me off. 283 00:14:34,612 --> 00:14:36,963 I felt like I did everything in my power 284 00:14:37,050 --> 00:14:41,576 to help create some balance in this cop a renting situation. 285 00:14:41,663 --> 00:14:42,663 And nothing was working. 286 00:14:45,623 --> 00:14:47,799 I just... I couldn't do it anymore. 287 00:14:50,019 --> 00:14:51,590 And so I just made the decision, I'm done. 288 00:14:51,673 --> 00:14:52,761 I'm just done. 289 00:14:57,070 --> 00:14:59,420 I felt like maybe if we could get rid of the toxicness 290 00:14:59,550 --> 00:15:03,206 that was in Seattle, maybe if he came to Oregon, 291 00:15:03,293 --> 00:15:04,690 we could cop a rent better in a long distance, 292 00:15:04,773 --> 00:15:05,948 having some space. 293 00:15:08,385 --> 00:15:10,431 When we moved to Oregon, Brandon told me 294 00:15:10,561 --> 00:15:13,434 that we were court ordered to use a parenting app, 295 00:15:13,521 --> 00:15:15,527 and the only way that we could communicate with Athena 296 00:15:15,610 --> 00:15:17,829 was through that app. 297 00:15:19,831 --> 00:15:20,920 You can communicate. 298 00:15:21,007 --> 00:15:22,577 You can coordinate schedules. 299 00:15:22,660 --> 00:15:25,141 There's calendars, 300 00:15:25,228 --> 00:15:26,708 places you can upload pictures. 301 00:15:26,795 --> 00:15:28,627 So when Sydney's at our house, we can upload pictures 302 00:15:28,710 --> 00:15:30,277 of what she's doing. 303 00:15:30,364 --> 00:15:32,805 I knew that in high-conflict relationships, 304 00:15:32,888 --> 00:15:37,244 it was often advised to use a parenting app. 305 00:15:37,327 --> 00:15:40,765 And according to this parenting plan that he gave me, 306 00:15:40,852 --> 00:15:45,118 he told me, Amber, you are not ever, ever to reach out to her 307 00:15:45,205 --> 00:15:46,510 and break this court order. 308 00:15:46,641 --> 00:15:50,471 So I did what the court order told me to do. 309 00:15:50,558 --> 00:15:52,299 So that was it. 310 00:15:54,518 --> 00:15:58,435 You know, for the most part, the app was really good. 311 00:15:58,522 --> 00:16:03,875 Get a little bit frustrated with cop a renting, sure. 312 00:16:04,006 --> 00:16:06,313 She would just make excuses for why 313 00:16:06,400 --> 00:16:11,231 she couldn't drop off or pick up Sydney on our agreed time. 314 00:16:11,318 --> 00:16:14,408 It was like, you can work around my schedule, 315 00:16:14,495 --> 00:16:16,976 is kind of the vibe, really. 316 00:16:19,717 --> 00:16:22,242 So we got married in May of 2017. 317 00:16:22,329 --> 00:16:27,290 It was a very quick and simple wedding in a park. 318 00:16:27,377 --> 00:16:28,977 This was just kind of to make it official 319 00:16:29,075 --> 00:16:30,859 because for me, I wanted to know 320 00:16:30,946 --> 00:16:33,470 how committed he was to me. 321 00:16:33,557 --> 00:16:37,087 Amber's moving back home lit a fire under Brandon, 322 00:16:37,170 --> 00:16:40,434 where all of a sudden, he started coming back 323 00:16:40,521 --> 00:16:41,830 with all the things that she had wanted 324 00:16:41,913 --> 00:16:43,306 and had been asking for. 325 00:16:43,393 --> 00:16:45,182 Amber wanted to have a house and have a family, 326 00:16:45,265 --> 00:16:47,136 and he's finally committing. 327 00:16:47,267 --> 00:16:49,530 So I think that felt good for Amber. 328 00:16:49,660 --> 00:16:52,359 [ominous music] 329 00:16:52,489 --> 00:16:58,669 ♪ ♪ 330 00:16:58,756 --> 00:17:02,108 It's Halloween, and my phone dings. 331 00:17:02,238 --> 00:17:05,459 I pick it up, and it's a woman asking me 332 00:17:05,546 --> 00:17:07,503 if I was married to Brandon Johnson... 333 00:17:11,247 --> 00:17:13,423 Because he's been trying to date 334 00:17:13,510 --> 00:17:15,425 her friend for a few months. 335 00:17:23,651 --> 00:17:26,741 And she immediately responded with a picture of Brandon 336 00:17:26,871 --> 00:17:28,308 and Avery, her friend. 337 00:17:31,093 --> 00:17:33,400 Stunned, I was absolutely stunned. 338 00:17:33,487 --> 00:17:36,403 It was beyond shocking, what I was hearing. 339 00:17:36,490 --> 00:17:38,535 I called Brandon, but I was not ready 340 00:17:38,622 --> 00:17:39,671 for what I was about to hear. 341 00:17:39,754 --> 00:17:42,104 What is going on? 342 00:17:42,191 --> 00:17:43,279 Who is Avery? 343 00:17:48,850 --> 00:17:51,418 [suspenseful music] 344 00:17:51,505 --> 00:17:55,378 ♪ ♪ 345 00:17:55,465 --> 00:17:57,076 I immediately reached out to Brandon. 346 00:17:57,206 --> 00:17:58,903 He was in Seattle, and I was in Oregon. 347 00:17:58,990 --> 00:18:01,297 So I said, what is this? 348 00:18:01,384 --> 00:18:03,952 What is this? Who is this? 349 00:18:04,039 --> 00:18:07,086 And he said, she's someone I went to school with. 350 00:18:07,216 --> 00:18:10,089 And I reconnected with her on our ten-year reunion, 351 00:18:10,176 --> 00:18:13,092 and she's been stalking me ever since. 352 00:18:13,222 --> 00:18:14,749 He's like, I don't know what to tell you, Amber. 353 00:18:14,832 --> 00:18:16,312 He's like, I promise. 354 00:18:16,399 --> 00:18:18,271 I promise you that nothing has ever happened. 355 00:18:18,358 --> 00:18:20,233 I've never cheated on you. 356 00:18:20,316 --> 00:18:23,276 He had a full text string of their conversations, 357 00:18:23,406 --> 00:18:26,757 of him repeatedly saying, I'm married. 358 00:18:26,844 --> 00:18:28,672 I can't meet up with you for lunch. 359 00:18:28,803 --> 00:18:30,544 I'm not interested. 360 00:18:30,631 --> 00:18:32,720 You know, just putting her off and showing 361 00:18:32,807 --> 00:18:35,201 that she was a stalker. 362 00:18:35,288 --> 00:18:37,598 And I just couldn't believe this is happening to me, 363 00:18:37,681 --> 00:18:39,292 could not believe it. 364 00:18:39,422 --> 00:18:42,773 We just got married, literally just got married, and now this. 365 00:18:42,904 --> 00:18:45,428 I asked him like, why? 366 00:18:45,515 --> 00:18:48,257 Why didn't you tell me that you were having 367 00:18:48,388 --> 00:18:50,868 a stalking problem with this woman? 368 00:18:50,999 --> 00:18:52,653 I didn't think it was that big of a deal. 369 00:18:52,783 --> 00:18:55,090 I didn't think that it would escalate to this level. 370 00:18:55,221 --> 00:18:57,571 And I said, I wanna talk to her. 371 00:18:57,658 --> 00:18:59,620 Put her on the phone. 372 00:18:59,703 --> 00:19:00,703 And he did. 373 00:19:02,837 --> 00:19:07,237 And she said, I'm so sorry for my friend reaching out to you. 374 00:19:07,320 --> 00:19:09,239 There's never been anything between me and Brandon. 375 00:19:09,322 --> 00:19:10,801 I've always had a crush on him. 376 00:19:10,888 --> 00:19:14,022 But I respect your marriage, and I am so sorry 377 00:19:14,153 --> 00:19:15,632 if there was any misunderstanding. 378 00:19:18,113 --> 00:19:20,594 I'm feeling incredibly insecure. 379 00:19:20,681 --> 00:19:22,683 So after this incident, Brandon went to the court 380 00:19:22,770 --> 00:19:25,076 and said he got a restraining order on Avery. 381 00:19:25,207 --> 00:19:29,951 ♪ ♪ 382 00:19:30,081 --> 00:19:33,476 It was at that point where I thought 383 00:19:33,563 --> 00:19:35,261 I was at the end of my rope with Athena 384 00:19:35,348 --> 00:19:38,089 and five more crazy things happening. 385 00:19:38,220 --> 00:19:41,180 And it's just... it's never ending. 386 00:19:41,310 --> 00:19:44,404 I mean, I thought I only had one psycho ex to deal with, 387 00:19:44,487 --> 00:19:47,316 and now I have two psycho women to deal with. 388 00:19:51,146 --> 00:19:54,236 Brandon started working for Nike, 389 00:19:54,323 --> 00:19:57,631 and he was gone more than normal. 390 00:19:57,718 --> 00:19:59,198 Then he would send me pictures 391 00:19:59,285 --> 00:20:02,070 flying on the Nike private jet. 392 00:20:02,157 --> 00:20:03,637 Their airport that they fly out of 393 00:20:03,724 --> 00:20:06,901 was about a mile from our new home in Oregon. 394 00:20:06,988 --> 00:20:10,343 So it was very convenient for him. 395 00:20:10,426 --> 00:20:11,953 But he would show me these pictures like, wow, 396 00:20:12,036 --> 00:20:15,649 this is the most incredible private jet. 397 00:20:15,736 --> 00:20:19,566 I just felt something was off. 398 00:20:19,653 --> 00:20:21,872 It was just a lot of bragging, too much this, 399 00:20:21,959 --> 00:20:25,136 too much that, too many stories. 400 00:20:25,224 --> 00:20:27,791 And I don't know. It just didn't sit well. 401 00:20:29,532 --> 00:20:32,013 Here's the Nike offices in LA. 402 00:20:32,143 --> 00:20:33,627 They have this basketball court in there. 403 00:20:33,710 --> 00:20:35,234 And he would just send these pictures. 404 00:20:35,321 --> 00:20:36,961 I thought it was really cool and exciting. 405 00:20:39,934 --> 00:20:42,066 I should be feeling better. 406 00:20:42,153 --> 00:20:43,590 We're married, we have a house, 407 00:20:43,720 --> 00:20:46,070 that things are going well. 408 00:20:46,157 --> 00:20:48,725 I was still suspicious. 409 00:20:48,812 --> 00:20:52,298 There's a woman named Avery that's stalking him. 410 00:20:52,381 --> 00:20:54,427 We have Athena being problematic. 411 00:20:54,514 --> 00:20:56,124 [phone buzzes] 412 00:20:56,211 --> 00:20:57,691 How much more can I take? 413 00:20:57,821 --> 00:20:59,693 And I was just... 414 00:20:59,780 --> 00:21:02,304 I was at the end of my rope at that point. 415 00:21:02,391 --> 00:21:06,269 He said, I have something else to tell you, Amber. 416 00:21:06,352 --> 00:21:09,920 And that's when he said, I have leukemia. 417 00:21:10,007 --> 00:21:12,710 [somber music] 418 00:21:12,793 --> 00:21:16,714 I was shocked, obviously. 419 00:21:16,797 --> 00:21:19,800 You have a million things going through your head. 420 00:21:19,887 --> 00:21:21,976 I... when? 421 00:21:22,063 --> 00:21:24,195 When did this happen? 422 00:21:24,283 --> 00:21:25,675 I felt awful. 423 00:21:25,762 --> 00:21:27,416 Of course, I don't want that to be true. 424 00:21:27,503 --> 00:21:29,505 I don't want him to leave me or our family. 425 00:21:29,592 --> 00:21:31,290 I don't want anything to happen to him. 426 00:21:34,467 --> 00:21:38,297 Brandon was very specific that I was not to tell anyone. 427 00:21:38,427 --> 00:21:40,560 He didn't want his work to know that he had cancer. 428 00:21:40,647 --> 00:21:43,349 He didn't want his daughter to know he had cancer. 429 00:21:43,432 --> 00:21:47,001 I had to be very tight-lipped about it. 430 00:21:47,088 --> 00:21:48,959 I thought, well, how... how interesting. 431 00:21:49,046 --> 00:21:51,092 Amber's really fed up. 432 00:21:51,222 --> 00:21:53,747 I think she was probably getting to that point of being 433 00:21:53,834 --> 00:21:57,533 ready to try to leave, and then all of a sudden, he has cancer. 434 00:21:57,620 --> 00:21:59,927 So to me, it seemed like a convenient time for him 435 00:22:00,014 --> 00:22:02,277 to have cancer. 436 00:22:02,408 --> 00:22:06,934 Brandon immediately lost about 40 to 50 pounds. 437 00:22:07,064 --> 00:22:10,546 He said, I was in stage 1, and it was jumping into stage 2. 438 00:22:10,677 --> 00:22:12,200 When he started doing these treatments, 439 00:22:12,287 --> 00:22:14,028 he said, well, this is a special treatment 440 00:22:14,115 --> 00:22:15,986 only available in Seattle. 441 00:22:16,073 --> 00:22:19,250 And he wouldn't lose his hair, but he was very confident 442 00:22:19,338 --> 00:22:20,556 that in six to eight weeks, 443 00:22:20,643 --> 00:22:22,776 they would get him in remission. 444 00:22:22,863 --> 00:22:27,132 So it was very imperative that he stay in Seattle. 445 00:22:27,215 --> 00:22:29,130 Everything seemed fishy. 446 00:22:29,260 --> 00:22:31,306 Okay, he's just trying to stay up there more. 447 00:22:31,393 --> 00:22:33,569 Super odd that he would never let her 448 00:22:33,656 --> 00:22:35,876 go to a doctor's appointment. -Never once. 449 00:22:35,963 --> 00:22:38,226 Who... most people would want their spouse with them 450 00:22:38,313 --> 00:22:41,098 when they're in the middle of a cancer situation. 451 00:22:41,185 --> 00:22:42,752 Yeah. 452 00:22:42,883 --> 00:22:44,541 And he kept saying, no, no, no, you can't come. 453 00:22:44,624 --> 00:22:46,234 You can't come to my treatments. 454 00:22:46,321 --> 00:22:48,497 And he told me that he had the bloodwork, 455 00:22:48,628 --> 00:22:51,587 the documentation from the doctor. 456 00:22:51,674 --> 00:22:53,546 One night, I could hear him throwing up 457 00:22:53,633 --> 00:22:55,809 in the bathroom violently. 458 00:22:55,896 --> 00:22:58,076 And I ran to the door, and I said, Brandon, are you okay? 459 00:22:58,159 --> 00:22:59,378 Do you need anything? 460 00:22:59,465 --> 00:23:01,205 And he was like, it's the side effects. 461 00:23:01,292 --> 00:23:03,299 It's the side effects. 462 00:23:03,382 --> 00:23:06,994 I stood by him because I was his ride-or-die. 463 00:23:10,606 --> 00:23:14,305 It was right around that time, for whatever reason, 464 00:23:14,436 --> 00:23:17,661 I started thinking about Avery. 465 00:23:17,744 --> 00:23:21,225 Avery lived about an hour outside of Seattle. 466 00:23:21,312 --> 00:23:23,489 It had been months, a few months, 467 00:23:23,576 --> 00:23:25,404 and I had talked to her on the phone. 468 00:23:25,491 --> 00:23:28,450 She said, I respect your marriage, 469 00:23:28,537 --> 00:23:30,021 and I'm so sorry there was any confusion. 470 00:23:30,104 --> 00:23:32,019 So I should have been okay with that. 471 00:23:34,151 --> 00:23:37,894 But for some reason, I started looking online. 472 00:23:37,981 --> 00:23:39,548 And I found her. 473 00:23:42,029 --> 00:23:44,553 There was a picture that she had posted 474 00:23:44,684 --> 00:23:47,991 of Brandon and herself. 475 00:23:48,078 --> 00:23:49,950 And I just... what? 476 00:23:50,037 --> 00:23:51,865 Are you kidding me? 477 00:23:51,952 --> 00:23:53,736 What is this? 478 00:23:53,867 --> 00:23:56,173 You know? 479 00:23:56,304 --> 00:23:57,610 And I reached out to her. 480 00:24:00,047 --> 00:24:02,136 So I reached out to her and asked her, 481 00:24:02,223 --> 00:24:05,226 why are you posting pictures of my husband and you? 482 00:24:05,356 --> 00:24:07,489 And she basically says, 483 00:24:07,576 --> 00:24:09,756 my boyfriend is not married to you. 484 00:24:09,839 --> 00:24:12,842 My boyfriend, Brandon Johnson, is not married to you. 485 00:24:12,973 --> 00:24:15,196 And she proceeds to say he's always been in love with me, 486 00:24:15,279 --> 00:24:16,919 and I don't believe anything that you say. 487 00:24:18,892 --> 00:24:22,069 And I call Brandon, where are you? 488 00:24:22,199 --> 00:24:23,723 I'm... I'm on fire. 489 00:24:23,853 --> 00:24:28,075 I wanna talk this out about Avery and what happened. 490 00:24:28,162 --> 00:24:30,730 And he's saying, she's crazy, she's crazy, she's crazy. 491 00:24:30,860 --> 00:24:32,344 And I said, well, we're gonna get on a FaceTime 492 00:24:32,427 --> 00:24:34,647 with Ms. Avery because she's been 493 00:24:34,777 --> 00:24:37,345 blowing up my phone all night. 494 00:24:37,432 --> 00:24:40,130 He said, you can't contact Avery. 495 00:24:40,217 --> 00:24:41,701 You'll be breaking the restraining order 496 00:24:41,784 --> 00:24:42,784 if you do that. 497 00:24:45,005 --> 00:24:47,703 Avery was not gonna go away that easily, 498 00:24:47,790 --> 00:24:49,618 and she continued to stalk Brandon. 499 00:24:49,749 --> 00:24:52,665 She continued to post pictures. 500 00:24:52,752 --> 00:24:56,059 She continued to violate the restraining order. 501 00:24:56,190 --> 00:25:00,063 And so eventually, I said, this is enough. 502 00:25:00,194 --> 00:25:01,325 This is enough. 503 00:25:01,456 --> 00:25:02,766 Like, she needs to be held accountable 504 00:25:02,849 --> 00:25:04,590 for what she's doing. 505 00:25:04,677 --> 00:25:07,244 So he said, I'm gonna send her to jail. 506 00:25:07,375 --> 00:25:10,770 She's going to jail, tonight. 507 00:25:12,728 --> 00:25:14,730 Brandon left our home in Oregon. 508 00:25:14,817 --> 00:25:17,298 And he said, Amber, they're doing it. 509 00:25:17,385 --> 00:25:19,430 She broke the law one too many times, 510 00:25:19,518 --> 00:25:22,172 and they're ready to arrest her at her home. 511 00:25:22,259 --> 00:25:24,435 And I want to see this. 512 00:25:24,523 --> 00:25:26,220 He said, I need to see it with my own eyes. 513 00:25:26,307 --> 00:25:29,876 She's terrorized me and you and our whole entire family. 514 00:25:30,006 --> 00:25:34,315 So he drove up to Seattle to take a picture 515 00:25:34,445 --> 00:25:37,666 of Avery getting arrested. 516 00:25:37,753 --> 00:25:39,367 And I vividly remember sitting in our living room 517 00:25:39,450 --> 00:25:41,888 with my phone... ding. 518 00:25:42,018 --> 00:25:44,804 And there's Avery with her arms behind her back, 519 00:25:44,891 --> 00:25:46,457 getting arrested. 520 00:25:48,721 --> 00:25:51,680 The thing with Brandon is, weird became the normal. 521 00:25:54,509 --> 00:25:58,691 It really makes you wonder, what is it about this guy 522 00:25:58,774 --> 00:26:02,952 that he has such bad luck with women? 523 00:26:03,083 --> 00:26:04,867 You have a crazy ex-wife. 524 00:26:04,954 --> 00:26:07,304 You have a stalker who's just as crazy. 525 00:26:07,435 --> 00:26:10,133 At a certain point, like, why? 526 00:26:10,220 --> 00:26:14,573 [tense music] 527 00:26:14,703 --> 00:26:18,751 2018, his behavior started to change. 528 00:26:18,881 --> 00:26:21,841 And so while he was living in Oregon with me, 529 00:26:21,971 --> 00:26:25,279 all of a sudden, the work travel was picking up. 530 00:26:25,366 --> 00:26:27,368 And you're going to work with cancer, 531 00:26:27,498 --> 00:26:29,065 and then every single night you're gone 532 00:26:29,152 --> 00:26:32,808 for two to three hours for treatment. 533 00:26:32,939 --> 00:26:35,724 There was more going up to get Sydney. 534 00:26:35,811 --> 00:26:37,904 You know, and I... you know, I'm just so tired, Amber. 535 00:26:37,987 --> 00:26:39,598 I'm not gonna drive back. 536 00:26:39,728 --> 00:26:41,208 I'm just gonna get a hotel in Seattle. 537 00:26:42,992 --> 00:26:44,559 It just... no. 538 00:26:48,432 --> 00:26:49,520 I knew something was off. 539 00:26:54,308 --> 00:26:58,355 Brandon's a very messy guy, and he would always 540 00:26:58,486 --> 00:27:00,314 have mail laying around. 541 00:27:00,401 --> 00:27:02,403 And, you know, I was picking things up 542 00:27:02,533 --> 00:27:05,667 and saw some bills that were for a townhouse up in Seattle 543 00:27:05,754 --> 00:27:09,018 that didn't make sense 544 00:27:09,105 --> 00:27:11,804 and some parking tickets and things of that nature 545 00:27:11,891 --> 00:27:15,198 that was not in line with what he was telling me. 546 00:27:17,853 --> 00:27:20,900 The light bulbs went off, and I was on a mission 547 00:27:20,987 --> 00:27:24,077 to figure out what the truth was, the real truth. 548 00:27:28,559 --> 00:27:33,521 Regardless of the bad blood between myself and Athena, 549 00:27:33,608 --> 00:27:38,482 she... she knew all about Brandon, being an ex-wife. 550 00:27:38,613 --> 00:27:42,748 So I knew that she was someone that I needed to speak with. 551 00:27:42,835 --> 00:27:45,054 I knew that calling Athena would violate 552 00:27:45,185 --> 00:27:48,971 the no-contact order, but I didn't care. 553 00:27:49,058 --> 00:27:52,583 I'm done with being kept away from her. 554 00:27:52,671 --> 00:27:55,325 I need to speak with her. 555 00:27:55,412 --> 00:27:57,806 Out of the blue, I get a text message from Amber, 556 00:27:57,893 --> 00:28:02,158 and she's asking if she could speak with me. 557 00:28:02,245 --> 00:28:04,987 And I'm completely shocked because 558 00:28:05,074 --> 00:28:07,947 I haven't heard from her pretty much in a few years. 559 00:28:10,645 --> 00:28:13,735 We speak, and she continues 560 00:28:13,822 --> 00:28:15,868 to tell me information, what's going on. 561 00:28:18,479 --> 00:28:21,090 I start discussing some of the conversations 562 00:28:21,221 --> 00:28:22,661 that we've had on our FamilyWall app. 563 00:28:22,788 --> 00:28:24,398 What's a fam wall? 564 00:28:24,485 --> 00:28:26,356 And I'm like, you know, the FamilyWall? 565 00:28:26,443 --> 00:28:28,968 What FamilyWall? Athena? 566 00:28:29,098 --> 00:28:31,622 She keeps referencing FamCal thing, or whatever it was, 567 00:28:31,710 --> 00:28:33,973 and I had no idea what that was. 568 00:28:34,103 --> 00:28:36,109 Athena, the one that we've been using for the last year. 569 00:28:36,192 --> 00:28:39,630 I had zero idea what she was talking about. 570 00:28:39,718 --> 00:28:40,958 Brandon told me that according 571 00:28:41,067 --> 00:28:43,852 to this parenting plan court order, 572 00:28:43,939 --> 00:28:46,119 we are to only use the family app. 573 00:28:46,202 --> 00:28:48,248 That was the only way I was communicating with her. 574 00:28:48,335 --> 00:28:49,645 That's when I had to put my foot down. 575 00:28:49,728 --> 00:28:51,642 There is no new parenting plan. 576 00:28:51,730 --> 00:28:53,209 There is no court order. 577 00:28:53,296 --> 00:28:55,342 I really... it took me a second 578 00:28:55,472 --> 00:28:57,653 to believe that she didn't know what I was talking about. 579 00:28:57,736 --> 00:28:59,650 And that's when she said, um, what? 580 00:28:59,738 --> 00:29:01,565 Okay, hold on one second. 581 00:29:01,652 --> 00:29:06,440 She logs in, takes screenshots of all of these messages. 582 00:29:09,095 --> 00:29:12,751 It was a full year back and forth on a regular basis. 583 00:29:16,363 --> 00:29:18,021 And I'm super confused. 584 00:29:18,104 --> 00:29:20,628 And I kept telling her, no, that wasn't me. 585 00:29:20,715 --> 00:29:22,499 What the fuck is going on? 586 00:29:22,586 --> 00:29:25,154 It just... I'm like, what in the hell? Like... 587 00:29:25,241 --> 00:29:28,418 And that's when we uncovered that 588 00:29:28,505 --> 00:29:30,594 Brandon was pretending to be me. 589 00:29:30,681 --> 00:29:33,032 I was like, you... 590 00:29:33,119 --> 00:29:37,605 are you saying that he's being you for the last year? 591 00:29:37,688 --> 00:29:41,040 Holy shit! Holy shit! Okay. 592 00:29:41,127 --> 00:29:43,303 Oh, my God! 593 00:29:43,390 --> 00:29:46,828 For an entire year, all of the messages from Athena, 594 00:29:46,915 --> 00:29:51,659 all the canceled trips, all of it, 595 00:29:51,746 --> 00:29:55,619 every single one of those problematic things 596 00:29:55,750 --> 00:29:57,883 that happened wasn't Athena. 597 00:29:57,970 --> 00:30:00,276 It was Brandon. 598 00:30:00,363 --> 00:30:02,931 It was just so fucking weird. 599 00:30:03,018 --> 00:30:06,108 And I'm just like, you fucking prick. 600 00:30:06,195 --> 00:30:08,415 We were just dying, like, oh, my God! 601 00:30:08,545 --> 00:30:12,071 He went to this length to keep us apart. 602 00:30:12,201 --> 00:30:14,595 He's not even close to the person that I thought he was. 603 00:30:16,510 --> 00:30:18,773 But we knew nothing. 604 00:30:18,860 --> 00:30:20,514 That was just the tip of the iceberg. 605 00:30:24,083 --> 00:30:26,999 [suspenseful music] 606 00:30:27,129 --> 00:30:30,785 ♪ ♪ 607 00:30:30,916 --> 00:30:34,180 It took a minute for all to sink in. 608 00:30:34,267 --> 00:30:38,097 I had this feeling in this pit in my stomach. 609 00:30:38,184 --> 00:30:42,496 He messed with my head the worst way possible. 610 00:30:42,579 --> 00:30:47,371 My reaction was shock. 611 00:30:47,454 --> 00:30:50,326 This had gone on for over a year 612 00:30:50,413 --> 00:30:52,676 that he had that much time, 613 00:30:52,763 --> 00:30:55,201 the back and forth conversations 614 00:30:55,288 --> 00:30:57,290 that he had created between us. 615 00:30:59,248 --> 00:31:02,425 Reading the content of what I was supposedly saying, 616 00:31:02,556 --> 00:31:04,123 that really pissed me off 617 00:31:04,210 --> 00:31:06,865 because he was portraying me terribly. 618 00:31:09,868 --> 00:31:13,610 I... I couldn't even fathom that Brandon would 619 00:31:13,697 --> 00:31:18,010 actually pretend to be Athena. 620 00:31:18,093 --> 00:31:20,661 [sighs] Shock. I was shocked. 621 00:31:20,791 --> 00:31:23,446 It's so strange how your brain... 622 00:31:23,533 --> 00:31:25,971 it's almost like it goes blank, like you're mad, 623 00:31:26,058 --> 00:31:28,258 but you're just... I... I don't even know what to think. 624 00:31:28,364 --> 00:31:29,626 Like, what else? 625 00:31:29,757 --> 00:31:34,457 ♪ ♪ 626 00:31:34,544 --> 00:31:37,286 Me and Athena came together and compared stories 627 00:31:37,373 --> 00:31:38,988 and just start throwing stuff out. 628 00:31:39,071 --> 00:31:40,598 What about this? What about that? 629 00:31:40,681 --> 00:31:42,074 What do you know about this? 630 00:31:42,204 --> 00:31:45,037 And we just turned into these, like, FBI agents. 631 00:31:45,120 --> 00:31:48,210 It was like all the dots were starting to connect. 632 00:31:48,297 --> 00:31:51,870 Like, if... if this was a lie, was that a lie? 633 00:31:51,953 --> 00:31:56,479 I had zero clue that Brandon and Amber ever got married. 634 00:31:56,566 --> 00:31:59,439 And I just was like, ah, yep, we absolutely are. 635 00:31:59,526 --> 00:32:02,616 Let me show you our marriage license. 636 00:32:02,703 --> 00:32:06,054 So Brandon also claims that I ran up a bunch of debt 637 00:32:06,185 --> 00:32:07,577 on his credit card. 638 00:32:07,664 --> 00:32:08,970 And another lie. 639 00:32:09,057 --> 00:32:11,494 To my knowledge, he never had a credit card 640 00:32:11,581 --> 00:32:13,148 that I was ever aware of. 641 00:32:13,279 --> 00:32:16,677 I remember telling Athena about Brandon's job with Nike 642 00:32:16,760 --> 00:32:19,067 and that it was sending him all over the place 643 00:32:19,154 --> 00:32:20,155 on a private jet. 644 00:32:20,242 --> 00:32:21,809 Well, that was a lie. 645 00:32:21,896 --> 00:32:24,594 And the pictures that he sent me, 646 00:32:24,681 --> 00:32:25,948 those were pulled from the internet. 647 00:32:26,031 --> 00:32:28,294 There was always more and more 648 00:32:28,424 --> 00:32:29,777 and more information that we didn't know 649 00:32:29,860 --> 00:32:31,862 that Brandon was doing. 650 00:32:31,950 --> 00:32:34,169 So I told Athena that what Brandon told me 651 00:32:34,300 --> 00:32:37,868 was that she cheated on him right before they got married. 652 00:32:37,999 --> 00:32:39,870 He cheated on me. 653 00:32:39,958 --> 00:32:42,007 I was the one that divorced Brandon 654 00:32:42,090 --> 00:32:44,745 and not the other way around. 655 00:32:44,832 --> 00:32:48,927 And incredibly, it turns out Avery wasn't a stalker at all. 656 00:32:49,010 --> 00:32:51,970 She was actually Brandon's girlfriend. 657 00:32:52,100 --> 00:32:53,754 Those messages that Brandon showed me, 658 00:32:53,841 --> 00:32:56,061 they weren't from her. 659 00:32:56,148 --> 00:32:58,806 That woman I spoke to on the phone who I thought was Avery, 660 00:32:58,889 --> 00:33:00,674 well, it wasn't her at all. 661 00:33:00,761 --> 00:33:04,983 I have absolutely no idea who I actually spoke with. 662 00:33:05,070 --> 00:33:06,680 The picture of Avery getting arrested, 663 00:33:06,767 --> 00:33:10,075 yet another pull from the internet. 664 00:33:10,162 --> 00:33:13,034 Avery clearly was someone he was cheating on me with. 665 00:33:15,167 --> 00:33:18,953 I told Athena about Avery, and Sydney said 666 00:33:19,040 --> 00:33:22,217 that she had a bedroom at Avery's house, 667 00:33:22,348 --> 00:33:25,960 and she was not allowed to tell anyone about Avery 668 00:33:26,091 --> 00:33:29,050 or having any bedroom in her home. 669 00:33:29,137 --> 00:33:30,834 And I had zero clue. 670 00:33:30,921 --> 00:33:34,273 That once again pissed me off. 671 00:33:34,403 --> 00:33:38,277 Brandon's having an affair and making her lie. 672 00:33:38,364 --> 00:33:41,715 It was... it was heartbreaking. 673 00:33:41,845 --> 00:33:43,108 Yeah. 674 00:33:46,198 --> 00:33:47,725 I explained to her that at the beginning 675 00:33:47,808 --> 00:33:49,814 of their relationship, he had told me he had lung cancer. 676 00:33:49,897 --> 00:33:52,465 He had given me documents. 677 00:33:52,595 --> 00:33:55,207 I cried at this restaurant, feeling sad for him. 678 00:33:57,252 --> 00:33:59,171 I absolutely told her about the leukemia, 679 00:33:59,254 --> 00:34:01,648 and she was dumbfounded. She... she had no idea. 680 00:34:01,735 --> 00:34:04,694 And it was all kind of coming together that there was a theme 681 00:34:04,781 --> 00:34:07,741 going on with his stories. 682 00:34:07,828 --> 00:34:09,830 And it made us question whether these illnesses 683 00:34:09,960 --> 00:34:13,098 were actually even real. 684 00:34:13,181 --> 00:34:16,402 Brandon was just a master of tech. 685 00:34:16,489 --> 00:34:20,801 So he could create email threads, fake message threads. 686 00:34:20,884 --> 00:34:24,105 He would draft up medical records. 687 00:34:26,585 --> 00:34:28,630 One of the craziest parts of 688 00:34:28,762 --> 00:34:31,591 was that she had no idea that Brandon actually married me 689 00:34:31,678 --> 00:34:33,418 and moved to Oregon. 690 00:34:33,549 --> 00:34:36,034 I didn't even know they lived in Oregon. 691 00:34:36,117 --> 00:34:38,994 Sydney was absolutely being shipped from Seattle 692 00:34:39,077 --> 00:34:41,560 to Oregon multiple times. 693 00:34:41,643 --> 00:34:43,210 He was making my daughter lie. 694 00:34:43,297 --> 00:34:45,826 He was driving up and down from state to state. 695 00:34:45,909 --> 00:34:47,868 He was waking her up at the butt crack of dawn, 696 00:34:47,998 --> 00:34:50,130 putting her in the car, and flying up here with her 697 00:34:50,217 --> 00:34:52,786 and forcing her to lie. 698 00:34:52,873 --> 00:34:56,572 It was a clear disconnect. 699 00:34:56,703 --> 00:35:00,359 Every single thing we were saying, we couldn't align with. 700 00:35:00,446 --> 00:35:02,187 I was told this, but I was told this. 701 00:35:02,274 --> 00:35:06,582 You know, it was just... it was the most bizarre thing ever. 702 00:35:06,669 --> 00:35:09,933 From the very beginning, from the first time 703 00:35:10,020 --> 00:35:13,241 Amber and I meet, Brandon was already 704 00:35:13,328 --> 00:35:15,939 creating false narratives to make sure that 705 00:35:16,026 --> 00:35:18,028 we did not like each other. 706 00:35:18,116 --> 00:35:20,165 He had tricked Amber and made her 707 00:35:20,248 --> 00:35:22,729 believe all of these things. 708 00:35:22,816 --> 00:35:26,080 He said I would call or text him at all hours of the night. 709 00:35:26,167 --> 00:35:29,475 But really, the ping on the phone 710 00:35:29,562 --> 00:35:33,305 was him probably messaging one of his, you know, 711 00:35:33,392 --> 00:35:35,872 mistresses or other secret girlfriends, 712 00:35:35,959 --> 00:35:40,399 and he just used me to further enhance the evil witch Athena. 713 00:35:43,880 --> 00:35:47,406 Brandon put me through 15 years of hell. 714 00:35:47,493 --> 00:35:51,018 I met Brandon in 2007. 715 00:35:51,105 --> 00:35:54,064 At the start, he just ticked a lot of my boxes, 716 00:35:54,152 --> 00:35:57,416 and we had a lot in common. 717 00:35:57,503 --> 00:35:59,505 The dating period didn't last very long. 718 00:35:59,592 --> 00:36:02,290 Then shortly after he moved in, and then 719 00:36:02,377 --> 00:36:06,642 a little bit after that, they were pregnant with my sister. 720 00:36:06,729 --> 00:36:10,385 July of 2011, Brandon and I were married. 721 00:36:10,472 --> 00:36:13,083 On the outside, Brandon and I appeared 722 00:36:13,171 --> 00:36:16,043 like the all-American good-looking couple, 723 00:36:16,130 --> 00:36:18,567 married, two children. 724 00:36:18,698 --> 00:36:22,876 But on the inside, it couldn't be further from the truth. 725 00:36:22,963 --> 00:36:29,012 And it was nothing as people probably imagined it was. 726 00:36:30,231 --> 00:36:32,277 After they were married, it got pretty rocky 727 00:36:32,364 --> 00:36:33,887 pretty quickly. 728 00:36:33,974 --> 00:36:38,500 And we just kind of tiptoed around it. 729 00:36:38,587 --> 00:36:40,241 From the beginning, he was always really 730 00:36:40,328 --> 00:36:42,678 weird about our relationship. 731 00:36:42,765 --> 00:36:45,464 He wasn't affectionate at all. 732 00:36:45,551 --> 00:36:47,727 All he ever did was tell me what I was doing wrong 733 00:36:47,814 --> 00:36:49,472 but never told me what I was doing right. 734 00:36:49,555 --> 00:36:52,692 Watching Brandon's behavior towards Lexus, 735 00:36:52,775 --> 00:36:54,342 it felt malicious. 736 00:36:54,473 --> 00:36:57,127 And I said, like, knock this shit off. 737 00:36:57,215 --> 00:37:02,132 And the way he acted towards me, that was horrible. 738 00:37:02,220 --> 00:37:05,575 He was becoming increasingly controlling, 739 00:37:05,658 --> 00:37:09,314 isolating me, accusing me of cheating on him. 740 00:37:09,401 --> 00:37:14,406 And that's when I found out he cheated on me. 741 00:37:14,493 --> 00:37:16,847 I discovered a phone that Brandon had 742 00:37:16,930 --> 00:37:18,936 to communicate with another woman, and I read the text. 743 00:37:19,019 --> 00:37:21,500 And he connects with this woman. 744 00:37:21,587 --> 00:37:24,067 She sleeps in the hotel room. They have sex. 745 00:37:24,154 --> 00:37:27,941 That was... that was the final straw. 746 00:37:28,071 --> 00:37:29,159 I was done. 747 00:37:31,466 --> 00:37:34,339 The marriage was awful, but when it started to end 748 00:37:34,426 --> 00:37:39,300 is when things got really scary, really bad. 749 00:37:39,387 --> 00:37:41,694 He refused to move out. 750 00:37:41,824 --> 00:37:45,397 He did anything he could to try to win my mom back. 751 00:37:45,480 --> 00:37:47,047 There was a time where I was upstairs. 752 00:37:47,177 --> 00:37:52,748 I looked out my bedroom window, and he was in the backyard 753 00:37:52,835 --> 00:37:56,448 at my swing set, trying to tie a noose to hang himself. 754 00:37:58,450 --> 00:38:01,322 Threats of suicide and self-harm, 755 00:38:01,453 --> 00:38:03,977 it is something he did multiple times with me. 756 00:38:04,064 --> 00:38:07,241 And it was definitely a form of emotional abuse 757 00:38:07,372 --> 00:38:09,852 and another form of control. 758 00:38:09,939 --> 00:38:12,768 Finally, I just kicked his ass out of my house, 759 00:38:12,899 --> 00:38:15,771 and he flipped from manipulating me to win me back 760 00:38:15,858 --> 00:38:18,648 to now wanting to be in control, 761 00:38:18,731 --> 00:38:22,387 of scaring me in a way to control me in a different way. 762 00:38:24,824 --> 00:38:27,261 There's that quick change in his demeanor, 763 00:38:27,348 --> 00:38:29,350 this coldness about him, the darkness 764 00:38:29,481 --> 00:38:32,266 that kind of comes over him in his face, his eyes. 765 00:38:32,397 --> 00:38:34,877 When he felt backed into a corner, 766 00:38:35,008 --> 00:38:37,445 he would almost explode out of his skin. 767 00:38:39,317 --> 00:38:43,103 I was really worried for my mom's safety. 768 00:38:43,233 --> 00:38:46,149 I remember him punching holes in the walls, 769 00:38:46,280 --> 00:38:51,590 slamming doors, just explosive behavior... 770 00:38:51,720 --> 00:38:55,768 trapping me, holding me by my arms, not letting me leave. 771 00:38:55,855 --> 00:38:58,858 I don't feel like he's in control of himself. 772 00:38:58,945 --> 00:39:02,078 And I didn't know what he was capable of. 773 00:39:04,472 --> 00:39:06,996 When he finally moved out, 774 00:39:07,083 --> 00:39:10,652 I was always looking over my shoulder. 775 00:39:10,739 --> 00:39:12,919 He's showing up everywhere I am. 776 00:39:13,002 --> 00:39:16,919 Any time of day, work week, weekend, it didn't matter. 777 00:39:20,706 --> 00:39:23,622 He wanted to make sure he knew what was going on every day. 778 00:39:26,320 --> 00:39:29,541 Brandon went out of his way to sabotage everything... 779 00:39:29,628 --> 00:39:33,327 I mean, essentially ruining my life, my reputation. 780 00:39:35,677 --> 00:39:37,901 He creates the most disgusting, 781 00:39:37,984 --> 00:39:40,987 horrible things about me, that I'm a whore. 782 00:39:41,074 --> 00:39:42,771 I'm a terrible mom. 783 00:39:42,902 --> 00:39:45,861 And then, um... [sniffles] 784 00:39:45,948 --> 00:39:47,907 [indistinct] 785 00:39:47,994 --> 00:39:53,521 What hurts the worst is him telling Sydney, our daughter, 786 00:39:53,608 --> 00:39:57,873 I cheated on him, and that he divorced me, 787 00:39:57,960 --> 00:40:01,747 and that he struggled with that big time. 788 00:40:01,877 --> 00:40:04,445 And this change happened in her. 789 00:40:04,576 --> 00:40:08,623 And she didn't wanna respect me anymore. 790 00:40:08,710 --> 00:40:10,582 A huge part of me wanted to go, no, no, no. 791 00:40:10,712 --> 00:40:12,065 Your dad did this. Your dad did this. 792 00:40:12,148 --> 00:40:14,020 I'm not the one, I swear. 793 00:40:14,150 --> 00:40:16,940 But a good mom would never do that. 794 00:40:17,023 --> 00:40:18,154 And I knew that. 795 00:40:20,896 --> 00:40:23,555 But he even lied to her. 796 00:40:23,638 --> 00:40:25,945 She was three years old. Three. 797 00:40:26,032 --> 00:40:28,382 And that just continued. 798 00:40:28,513 --> 00:40:32,172 But he was essentially brainwashing her. 799 00:40:32,255 --> 00:40:34,257 That is an evil soul. 800 00:40:37,870 --> 00:40:40,220 By the time I finished talking with Athena, 801 00:40:40,350 --> 00:40:44,920 I knew that Brandon was a sick and disturbed person. 802 00:40:47,532 --> 00:40:49,795 I went straight to my social media, 803 00:40:49,925 --> 00:40:52,406 and I posted something to the effect of, 804 00:40:52,493 --> 00:40:54,499 be aware of who you end up marrying 805 00:40:54,582 --> 00:40:57,498 because you may not know who they are. 806 00:40:57,629 --> 00:41:00,414 And within a day, I had a woman reach out to me 807 00:41:00,501 --> 00:41:02,938 and said, I need to talk to you. 808 00:41:04,331 --> 00:41:06,464 Well, women like to talk, 809 00:41:06,594 --> 00:41:08,422 and that's exactly what was happening. 810 00:41:08,553 --> 00:41:10,076 The word was getting out in Seattle. 811 00:41:10,206 --> 00:41:12,212 While it's a big city, it's actually a very small city. 812 00:41:12,295 --> 00:41:16,996 So, you know, we were hearing from multiple women. 813 00:41:17,083 --> 00:41:19,389 So very, very quickly, you know, 814 00:41:19,477 --> 00:41:22,305 the floodgates opened, and more and more women 815 00:41:22,392 --> 00:41:26,009 started coming out because we were all talking now. 816 00:41:26,092 --> 00:41:28,834 All these women that are now coming forward, 817 00:41:28,964 --> 00:41:31,532 they are all women that Brandon 818 00:41:31,619 --> 00:41:33,273 is currently having affairs with 819 00:41:33,403 --> 00:41:38,060 or was while in a relationship with Amber. 820 00:41:38,191 --> 00:41:41,760 What I was hearing from these women, 821 00:41:41,890 --> 00:41:44,023 some of them were saying they were stalked. 822 00:41:44,110 --> 00:41:47,200 Some talked about having to get a restraining order on him. 823 00:41:47,287 --> 00:41:51,421 It was absolutely horrifying. 824 00:41:51,509 --> 00:41:54,033 I decided to do a deep dive into Brandon. 825 00:41:54,120 --> 00:41:56,474 We initially thought we were gonna discover a few lies, 826 00:41:56,557 --> 00:41:59,821 but what we uncovered was so much more than that. 827 00:42:02,215 --> 00:42:04,347 Brandon had multiple protection orders 828 00:42:04,478 --> 00:42:07,786 filed on him, dating all the way back to 1997. 829 00:42:10,832 --> 00:42:14,009 I was stunned. I had zero clue. 830 00:42:14,096 --> 00:42:16,229 Amber and I are now questioning, 831 00:42:16,316 --> 00:42:18,579 why the hell don't we know this? 832 00:42:18,666 --> 00:42:20,668 In detail was some pretty horrific facts 833 00:42:20,799 --> 00:42:21,930 from these women. 834 00:42:22,061 --> 00:42:27,632 ♪ ♪ 835 00:42:27,719 --> 00:42:30,247 What is incredibly shocking is that 836 00:42:30,330 --> 00:42:33,376 these restraining orders span decades... 837 00:42:33,463 --> 00:42:35,901 the '90s, the 2000s, 2010s. 838 00:42:36,031 --> 00:42:39,121 He's been doing this since he was a very young man. 839 00:42:39,252 --> 00:42:40,645 The first restraining order 840 00:42:40,732 --> 00:42:43,125 was from when he was 19 years old. 841 00:42:47,565 --> 00:42:49,958 When I discovered what Brandon had done 842 00:42:50,045 --> 00:42:52,961 and all the lies, I really just had two concerns... 843 00:42:53,048 --> 00:42:56,269 one, how to help Athena protect her daughter, 844 00:42:56,356 --> 00:42:59,406 and two, how to get away from him. 845 00:42:59,489 --> 00:43:06,584 ♪ 846 00:43:09,717 --> 00:43:12,154 [keys jangle] 847 00:43:19,031 --> 00:43:23,296 You know, it... it did not sink into my head yet. 848 00:43:23,383 --> 00:43:28,301 I felt, in a way, that he was never gonna treat me like that, 849 00:43:28,388 --> 00:43:29,781 because he hadn't yet. 850 00:43:29,911 --> 00:43:33,741 And naive as it sounds, I really didn't think 851 00:43:33,828 --> 00:43:38,180 that he would ever do something like that to me... 852 00:43:38,311 --> 00:43:40,574 until he did. 853 00:43:40,705 --> 00:43:44,447 He's going to crack and explode. 854 00:43:44,534 --> 00:43:45,670 Why are you doing this to me? 855 00:43:45,753 --> 00:43:47,407 Please let me go. Please let me go. 856 00:43:50,105 --> 00:43:51,237 He really is a monster. 857 00:43:51,324 --> 00:43:53,543 Shut up. God! 858 00:43:53,674 --> 00:43:55,154 What the fuck? 859 00:43:58,418 --> 00:43:59,898 He's gonna take her to punish me. 860 00:43:59,985 --> 00:44:01,381 Or I fucking shoot your fucking head off. 861 00:44:01,464 --> 00:44:03,249 Fuck him. 862 00:44:03,336 --> 00:44:04,646 We're gonna tell everyone what he did. 863 00:44:04,729 --> 00:44:11,779 ♪ ♪ 864 00:44:24,574 --> 00:44:27,490 [tense music] 865 00:44:27,577 --> 00:44:34,672 ♪ ♪