Transcript for Daughter of ‘Dirty John’ Meehan speaks out
to our “Gma” cover story this morning. There are new details about the so-called “Dirty John” case. The story of a con artist and sociopath who manipulated a wealthy woman and was eventually taken down by her daughter. Now that daughter is speaking out. ABC’s Marci Gonzalez has the story. Hi, I need an ambulance right away and the police. What address? Reporter: This 911 call is the end of a nightmare for 25-year-old terra Newell seen here having he roarically saved her own life by stabbing her stepfather in self-defense 13 times. He died four days later. Her attacker, 57-year-old John Meehan infamously known as dirty John. Her mother’s estranged husband who conned, terrorized and stalked her family for nearly two years. The events developed into a podcast, a show on bravo and a documentary on oxygen,. Someone has been stabbed. I thought he was going to hurt her, my sister or me but I always had the sense that it was going to be me for some reason. Reporter: That eerie hunch started in 2014 when Debra met John online. John started calling every day and we would meet after work and he started zee saying he was in love with me. I was the soul mate. Reporter: Even though Debra had only known him for two months she agreed to marry him moving into this waterfront home in California and Debra paid for everything. But soon the truth about John started to become clear. The family learning about his criminal history, drug abuse, the other women he tormented and his fabricated stories. I mean, almost everything he told me was a lie. He told me he was an anesthesiologist, he was not an anesthesiologist. He said he had one sister and she was dead. He has two alive sisters. Reporter: It would take more than a year before she realized the scope of John’s vicious duplicity. Debra finally ended it but he stalked her, terra later found John stalking her too. He called my work and made an appointment and did a fake French accent so I was thinking, oh, like this sounds weird. Reporter: But just one day later John made his final move in that parking lot. Since surviving the attack terra is recovering from PTSD and she and her mom are working together on healing. Do you forgive her? You know, I forgive her but I don’t forgive him fully. Reporter: For “Good morning America,” Marci Gonzalez, ABC news, Los Angeles. Our thanks to Marci for that. Oxygen’s documentary, “Dirty John” is available on demand.
This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.
