April 28, 2022 • 31 mins
Jenifer Faison, a successful reality television producer, waited for love and was thrilled when she reconnected with her college sweetheart 20 years later. They were older but the spark reignited and after a whirlwind courtship Jen and Spencer married and enjoyed a wonderful relationship. Everyone thought Spencer, a two-time “Teacher of the Year” award winner, was the perfect doting, attentive husband. But on June 1, 2018, when Jen arrived home, her husband holding a search warrant. The police soon arrived and took her husband out in handcuffs. It was the last time she has seen him.
If you would like to reach out to the Betrayal Team, email us at betrayalpod@gmail.com.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
This podcast discusses sexual assault. Please take care while listening.
I want to share a story of a real life
fairy tale gone horribly wrong, A cautionary tale about a
marriage so filled with betrayal and deceit that it set
off a path of destruction that people are still recovering from.
My name is Andrea Gunning and I'm a podcast producer
(00:22):
in Philadelphia. In the summer of twenty nineteen, I had
just wrapped up a project when I met a fellow producer,
Jennifer Fasin. She pitched a story she thought was compelling
enough to make something of, and it turns out it
was her own story.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Information this Morning about a cop County teacher in jail.
Spencer Haron was arrested Friday at his home in Ackworth.
Haaren is currently in the cop County jail on a
fifty five thousand dollars bond.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
Spencer was Jennifer's husband of seven years. Twenty years after
dating in college, the stars seem to align and they
reconnected when they decided to get sirious. Jennifer moved from
la where she worked as a television producer, to Ackworth, Georgia,
where Spencer was a popular high school teacher. He was
also awarded Teacher of the Year twice.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
We've learned his arrest stems from an alleged three year
sexual relationship with a sixteen year old female student, Investigators
saying The team says it started back in twenty sixteen
when he allegedly groped her. It all happened on Kel
High School property. The school's website lists the forty eight
year old as the head of the career tech department
and a coach.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
Jennifer was blindsided.
Speaker 3 (01:35):
I came home on June first, twenty eighteen. Spence didn't
greet me. Instead, he was sitting on the couch shaking
his head. It's all over. It's all over. It's all over.
Speaker 1 (01:57):
Nothing could have been more shocking from this popular teacher,
respected coach, and loving husband. The arrest unlocked terrible secrets
about predatory behavior that went against the image Spencer Heron
fabricated for years, the cheerful neighbor, member of the Air
National Guard. The truth shook a community, devastated his wife,
(02:21):
and sent Spencer Heron to prison. I'm Andrea Gunning and
this is betrayal Episode one. The perfect husband.
Speaker 4 (02:45):
Spencer and I met at college.
Speaker 3 (02:49):
I wanted to be in video production and he was
the station manager.
Speaker 4 (02:54):
And I'll never forget our first meeting.
Speaker 3 (02:57):
He said, excuse me, do you know what time? And
I said, oh, I don't wear a watch. She said, oh,
me either, and that was kind of like the Inn
and I don't know, it was just one of those things.
We just connected right away. He was a year older
than I was. In him being the station manager, he
(03:20):
seems so cool to me. I remember I tried out
for anchor that semester and he didn't choose me because
he was afraid that if he did, everybody would know
that he liked me. The word college sweethearts, that's what
we were. We had so much fun. He had always
(03:42):
try to do surprises for me or make a mixtape.
Every day when we would pass by each other in
the hallways, he would give me a note. He was
just very attentive and he was very caring.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
I'm Jeffrey Birch and this is Berg.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
I'm her stepfather and I.
Speaker 5 (04:02):
Am her mom. She and Spence stated in college, and
she was absolutely in love with him, and we loved
him too.
Speaker 6 (04:13):
I'm Karen Bason and I'm John Fason. I'm Jenn's father
and I'm Jennifer's stepmother.
Speaker 3 (04:20):
We thought a lot of it.
Speaker 4 (04:21):
We thought it was a wonderful young man.
Speaker 6 (04:23):
He had a great personality and you know, just a
real down thearth person, very personable and michable and a
talented fellow. I mean he was a musician, and I
mean he played trumpet very good, evidently.
Speaker 1 (04:41):
Jennifer's sister Christy.
Speaker 7 (04:43):
You know, when people are in love, they just are
beautiful because they're themselves and someone just totally accepts them
for who they are, and they just shine and they're beautiful.
Like I remember seeing my sister and she was wearing
a red winter coat. She just looked so beautiful, and
(05:03):
it was because she was just so in love. I
don't know when we started calling him Saint Spence, but
there were a few reasons why he was wonderful to
my sister. When he got up, he was like, does
anybody need anything, or he would go get coffee for
my sister. He was polite and engaged with my mom
(05:26):
and my grandparents. He was really curious about everyone, and
he just didn't do anything wrong.
Speaker 3 (05:37):
It was my senior year in college and I wanted
to go out and you know, enjoy my friends and
have fun. So we broke up, still kept in touch.
I think I can honestly say I broke his heart
and he was very sad and tried to get me back.
(05:58):
And it wasn't that there was any anything wrong. It
was just not the right time. So we remained friends,
but eventually went our separate ways. My grandmother was upset.
She couldn't believe it. She just thought Spence was perfect.
She thought we were going to get married after school.
(06:20):
My sister cried, She was like, how could you leave
this great, perfect guy. You know, a lot of people
can't understand, but at the time, that's just how I felt.
I wanted to explore. We dated for a year and
a half and it was one of those relationships where
(06:45):
you realized what a good one looks like.
Speaker 5 (06:50):
She took her communication degree, She got into radio and
was on the air in Minneapolis. From there, she decided
that she wanted to see if she could get a
producing job in California. She just decided, I'm going to
la and I'm going to find my mark.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
Spencer and Jennifer stayed in touch for a while. Like
a lot of couples in college, they eventually lost touch
and started their own lives.
Speaker 3 (07:18):
Jen was on a path, so we lost touch after
that for a long time. I think partly because he
was married and had kids, and I wanted to respect
that and those boundaries in that relationship.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
Jennifer was ambitious. She built an impressive resume and reputation
as a talented reality show producer and was even nominated
for three Emmy Awards.
Speaker 3 (07:47):
You Are Afoot Too entered the court room of Judge
Judith Shindlight.
Speaker 5 (07:52):
She also worked for Judge Judy. In fact, when was
nominated for a time Emmy, we got to go to
New York to walk the red carpet.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
After a few years with Judy, Jennifer made her way
from daytime to Primetime Tonight Guys.
Speaker 5 (08:19):
She ended up getting a job with Extreme Makeover Home
Edition with Ty Pennington, so she went all over the country.
Speaker 1 (08:28):
Jen was making her mark in the industry. She could
go from Judge Judy to Homemakeovers to the Craziness at
the Beach.
Speaker 5 (08:36):
One of the ones that I was shocked about was
she was doing Jersey Shore. That's what Jennifer excels at
is being able to get along with everybody. Keep peace,
amongst everybody, manage their different personalities and then produce a
great show. That's what she's good at.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
Well, Jennifer was building an impressive resume. Spencer had built
a different life back in Georgia.
Speaker 3 (09:03):
Spence got married, had three great kids, and for many
years he was the stay at home parent who took
care of those kids.
Speaker 1 (09:15):
Kevin, Spence's best friend, described Spence as trustworthy and loyal.
Speaker 8 (09:21):
It was funny, very charismatic if he came from a
big family, so you never had much like in terms
of physical possessions and stuff, so we always seemed like
a simple person. My name is Rod and I've known
Spencer since probably.
Speaker 1 (09:41):
Nineteen eighty so eighty sixth grade. Rod and Spencer bonded
over shared interests. Our high school was pretty small.
Speaker 8 (09:48):
There was probably one hundred and fifty people in the
graduating class something like that.
Speaker 1 (09:53):
I think we were both always pop students in top popularity.
I would think Spencer grew up in Avondale Estates, twenty
minutes east of Atlanta.
Speaker 9 (10:01):
It's kind of Cony Well.
Speaker 6 (10:03):
Spence's real father, Spencer's real mother. They had this other
couple that was good friends, and both couples I guess
you could say he split up and married each other.
And so Spence has step brothers, real brothers and half brothers, and.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
There was a bunch of It's a little confusing, but
Spence was part of a big blended family. There were
six boys altogether. Well, Jennifer was living her best life
in La Spence was living in Georgia as a well
regarded video production teacher. Julia Sultziak was one of Spencer's
(10:44):
students over a decade ago. She still has fond memories.
Speaker 10 (10:49):
My name is Julia. I graduated from cal High School
in twenty ten. I'm going to refer to him as
coach Haaren, if that's okay. I've never actually called him
Spencer's so everyone called him co Charan because he was
the soccer coach.
Speaker 5 (11:04):
He coached girls soccer.
Speaker 10 (11:06):
Co Charan was my high school video productions teacher, my
junior and senior year high school. Everyone who had him
loved him. He was the fun class, the fun teacher,
the fund program. You got to be on the announcements,
you know, you got to work on these cool projects.
Speaker 1 (11:24):
When Spencer was thirty seven, he joined the Air National
Guard and became part of the band he was the
oldest person in his boot camp class and kind of
played the role of dad there. And then, out of
the blue, twenty years later, Jen's first love reached out
to her on social media.
Speaker 3 (11:43):
I get a message from him on Facebook. He was
planning his college reunion and saw me like a photo
or something, so he reached out to me, Hey, how
are you, how's it going? What are you doing? He
told me that he had kept up with my career
and knew I was in LA And honestly, the first
(12:07):
thing that I wrote to him back was are you
still married? Because I'm not going to get involved with
somebody that's married. That's just not me. He wrote me
back immediately said we split up four years ago. Great. Well,
then he says, so, I know you travel a lot
(12:30):
for work. Are you by any chance going to be
in New York City in December, which was a couple
months away. He said, I'm going to be there with
the Decca group from school. I said, no, you know,
I don't usually work in New York. Then I go
to the movies with my sister two days later and
(12:51):
run into my old boss from Extreme Makeover Home Edition,
who says, what are you doing? Right now, and I
said nothing. I was in between jobs at the time.
He said, okay, I need to fly you to New
York and you need to help me out with this show.
Said okay, great, I'll do it, hopped on a plane
and flew out there. So I emailed Spence and said, hey,
(13:14):
guess what, I'm here. I'm going to be here for
about a month, and he said, great, I would love
to see you when you're here, and maybe you could
even come and speak to the students. So I agreed
to do that. One afternoon, rushed home from work changed
(13:35):
tried to look as cute as possible. You know, it's
December now in New York and hard to get a
taxi at that time of night, so I was running late.
The taxi drops me off about two blocks from the
hotel because I just figured I can get there faster
if I walk. So I walk in there and he's
(13:58):
kind of leaning up against the wall, a kind of cool,
and he sees me, and I think both of our
faces just light up and gives me a big hug,
and I just I remember thinking, wow, he looks really good.
I just I got butterflies. I was excited to see
(14:18):
him again. And then he and I went and walked
around New York and talked and learned about each other again,
and we sat in this cute little speakeasy bar. I
noticed his sleeve kind of came up on his jacket,
(14:40):
and I saw he had tattoos. And now I'm not
a tattoo person, but for some reason, this was so
sexy to me. You know, now he was cool and everything.
I remembered, everything I remembered.
Speaker 5 (14:55):
The two of them walked the city all night long,
just talking and talking and talking, and that's when they
said they just fell in love all over again.
Speaker 3 (15:05):
I was on cloud nine. He walked me back to
my hotel room. Yes, he came inside. No, I don't
usually do that, but it was Spence, and I always
felt safe with Spence. I asked him if he could stay,
and he said, no, I have to go back because
he had to go back to his student's And the
(15:27):
next morning I woke up and I called my best
friend crying because I was so sad that I may
never see him again. I really thought that was it,
and something in me was really sad about that. But
that's not what happened. The whole New.
Speaker 1 (15:47):
York trip was serendipitous. After twenty years apart, Jen and
Spencer were reconnected and this time Spencer was not going
to lose her.
Speaker 3 (15:58):
He continued, you to pursue me and text me and
call me from Atlanta to LA. We would be up
all night on the phone.
Speaker 5 (16:10):
So she went back to LA. He went back to
Atlanta area and they continue with their phone conversations. He
had called us and said that he wanted to marry Jennifer,
and he asked for permission. We said, We've always felt
like you're part of the family. You know, you don't
need to ask us, You just need to ask her.
(16:31):
I said, the only thing we ask of you is
that you go to LA and you visit Jennifer and
you see what kind of lifestyle that she was living,
because she was very, very successful in her career, very
successful financially. I'm very established. And so he said, okay,
(16:54):
he would do that because he was going to be
asking her to possibly move to this small little in Georgia,
pulling her away from LA. And that was a concern
that we had too, is would she be able to
adjuste that fair to her? Is that going to affect
her career?
Speaker 3 (17:15):
So we re met in December twenty eleven. We made
the decision pretty quickly that I would move out there,
and I didn't mind doing that. I mean, it meant
giving up a lot. My career was doing great. I'd
really established myself, which in hindsight is a good thing
(17:35):
because I was able to move to Atlanta and keep working.
But his kids were there and that was important to him,
and being a stepchild myself, it was important to me
that he stay as close to the kids as he could.
So I decided I would move there. I packed up
(17:56):
my whole apartment and then he flew out and we
drove my car across the country. Our first stop was Vegas.
He gave me this booklet and in it were all
these photos of the two of us, some of them
from college and then some from New York and just
(18:17):
you know, when we had seen each other since. And
at the very end was a picture of my grandmother's
ring that he had gotten from my mom. He got
down on one knee and he asked me to marry him,
and I was so excited. I wanted to be able
to remember exactly what it felt like and what it
(18:41):
sounded like, so I said, can you ask me again,
and he just laughed and he asked me again, and
of course I said yes. It was everything that I
could have wanted.
Speaker 1 (18:58):
It was like a movie, all of the thought and
effort Spencer put into their engagement. She waited so long
for love. They were so sweet together. Like he was
very demonstrative with his affection towards her.
Speaker 3 (19:15):
You know, he would say, look at jen Look how
cute she looks today.
Speaker 11 (19:18):
He was always very.
Speaker 1 (19:19):
Proud to talk about her and about her accomplishments and
things like that.
Speaker 3 (19:22):
He would walk by her and just kiss.
Speaker 4 (19:24):
Her on the top of the head, you know, just
was very sweet.
Speaker 3 (19:26):
And their little love story was very sweet, and they
loved to tell it.
Speaker 5 (19:30):
If she was traveling, you know, producing a show then
coming back, he would always walk in and you know,
Huger and say, so glad you're home.
Speaker 1 (19:40):
Jennifer's friend Danielle. I mean, he would just say, like, hey, wife,
you know, and he was so proud of that.
Speaker 3 (19:48):
He was such a doting husband. Every morning he would
leave me a note by the coffee pot. Every single
morning for six seven years, he would text me during
the day. I'd never worried about where he was or
what he was doing. I really really thought we were
(20:12):
living a fairy tale. Every time the clock would turn
on eleven eleven, I would make a wish, and ever
since Spence and I got back together in New York,
the wish was, I hope Spence and I have a beautiful,
long life together.
Speaker 1 (20:31):
When the bottom drops out, you usually don't see it coming,
and Jennifer never did.
Speaker 3 (20:39):
I came home on June first, twenty eighteen, and Spence
didn't greet me. Instead, he was sitting on the couch
in the living room just shaking his head. So I
was joking around with him because he didn't jump up
and say, wife, welcome back. And I walked over to
(21:02):
him and he just kept shaking his head. It's all over,
it's all over, it's all over. I kept expecting him
to say, oh, just kidding, because what could be that
wrong that he would be feeling this way. He slid
(21:23):
a piece of paper to me. I just kind of
glanced at it, trying to figure out what it was,
and it said searchworn on top. I saw the words
sexual assault and.
Speaker 9 (21:38):
Studentlis arrested Kel High school teacher Spencer Herron on Friday
at his home in at Growth. Investigators say he faces
three counts of sexual assault.
Speaker 1 (21:54):
Imagine seeing that piece of paper, the search worn, and
knowing that everything in your life was a out to change.
He was charged with sexual assault with one of his
own students. It had started when she was a sophomore
in high school.
Speaker 3 (22:12):
I got up and stood in front of him and said,
is this true?
Speaker 4 (22:19):
He said yes, He said it happened three times.
Speaker 3 (22:26):
This Spens is the last person that I would have
ever guessed would have taken advantage of a kid. And
I think anybody else that knew him would have said
the same thing. To find out that he cheated on me,
not with a woman, but with a sixteen year old girl,
(22:49):
It is so hard to understand that I just started
pacing back and forth him.
Speaker 11 (23:00):
He ruined everything. He knew how much marriage meant to me,
He knew what it meant to me. I thought I.
Speaker 3 (23:12):
Knew what it meant to him. I set across from
him at that point because I didn't want to be
near him, just trying to make sense of what just happened.
In realizing that life as I knew it would never
be the same. The future that we planned was gone.
Speaker 1 (23:38):
It couldn't be true. Not her husband the nicest, kindest
man in the world. A predator. Not possible, except it
was possible. It happened.
Speaker 3 (23:52):
It didn't take too long before I saw two Cobb
County police officers drive past our house. I knew they
were on their way back for Spence. They had already
been there once with the search warrant and busted down
our front door. They took a bunch of his stuff,
(24:13):
his computers, hard drives, and a pair of his underwear.
All Spence could talk about was killing himself at that point.
So I sat down on the coffee table right in
front of him where he was sitting.
Speaker 11 (24:29):
On the couch, and I just begged him not to
do anything stupid.
Speaker 1 (24:36):
Her life was upended, Her husband was sitting across from
her talking about suicide. It was all so scary and
so much to digest. Jen felt conflicted by a feeling
of obligation to Spence because of the vows they took.
Jennifer repeated after me, I Jennifer.
Speaker 3 (24:58):
I Jennifer the Spencer. Take the Spencer to be my
wedded husband, To be my wedded husband. I wanted him
to know that somebody would be there for him.
Speaker 4 (25:10):
We were married, They're supposed to.
Speaker 3 (25:13):
Stick by your spouse for better or worse, for better,
for worse, till death do us part, till death do
us part. The cops came.
Speaker 4 (25:28):
I opened up the door and looked across to Spence
and was so relieved when I saw him walking into
the foyer, because if he had run, I don't know
what would have happened.
Speaker 3 (25:43):
But he turned around.
Speaker 4 (25:46):
He let them put the cuffs on him.
Speaker 1 (25:49):
Even after seeing the words sexual assault and student on
the search warrant, Jennifers still needed to hear the police
say it.
Speaker 3 (25:59):
I said, what are you arresting him for? They looked
at him like, is it okay if we tell her?
And he yells out no, don't tell her anything, which
is weird because he'd already admitted what he had done.
(26:19):
I guess he was still hoping to hide stuff. They
walked him out of the house. I shut the door
and I couldn't watch them put him in the back
of the car. And the four year was the last
time I've seen him.
Speaker 1 (26:38):
Jennifer was trying to process what had just happened. Unfortunately,
what she learned that day was only the tip of
the iceberg.
Speaker 7 (26:49):
I was on a walk one morning, and I just thought,
I need to call Jennifer. When I got home, I
called her. She picked up the phone and she was
like in hysterics and I was like, what's wrong, and
she's like, they took Spencer away. She was in shock.
Speaker 1 (27:07):
It was like.
Speaker 7 (27:08):
Spence of all people, Spence, Saint Spence. Jennifer wasn't in
problem solving mode. I think because I was distant from it,
I could get into problem solving mode.
Speaker 10 (27:22):
My thought was.
Speaker 7 (27:24):
If it's a student, it's going to get around really fast.
Then my thought was, oh god, the kids, they worshiped
their father, and that was my thought. I was like,
oh my god, do they know? How are they going
to find out? Social media these days? He needs to
take down his social media like all of this stuff.
Speaker 3 (27:41):
My sister called and said, people are making comments. You've
got to go in there and take down his account.
I had never been in his account before. I never
looked at his phone, his text, his computer, his Facebook nothing. Ever,
I trusted him with every piece of my being. Never ever,
(28:07):
ever would I have snooped. But I knew Christy was right.
So somehow I got into his Facebook account, which got
me into his email.
Speaker 1 (28:19):
To say what she learned next with shocking would be
an understatement. The student, well, she was one of dozens
of affairs that Spencer had been carrying on for years,
and he was soliciting photos from these women.
Speaker 3 (28:34):
I only had to scroll down one row before the
pictures of all these naked women were showing up on
his computer, woman after woman after woman. I literally didn't
know what was happening. Spence would never want women to
(28:55):
send him pictures like this. He wasn't like that.
Speaker 1 (28:59):
He was not No one wants to think that the
person they love that they're married to has a secret life.
Jen had to face the hard truth her husband had
betrayed her, not once, but every single day of their relationship.
Through this podcast, Jen's about to go on a journey
(29:22):
of discovery she never could have imagined on this season
of Betrayal, Jen's going to talk to the sexual SA victim,
who is an adult now.
Speaker 10 (29:34):
The first thing he said to me was, I've never
done this with a student. I've never felt this way
about anyone. That's because I love you that we're doing this.
Speaker 1 (29:43):
There were dozens of affairs simultaneously, some women she knew personally,
like this one.
Speaker 2 (29:51):
I put this because it's not very kind towards myself.
Speaker 7 (29:56):
I was being used, but I really thought that.
Speaker 1 (29:59):
He and even Spencer himself.
Speaker 3 (30:03):
This is a direct pay call from an inmate at
the Cherokee County Jail, Georgia.
Speaker 1 (30:09):
The lies, affairs, shame, the broken marriage, and stolen innocence.
We're going to talk about it all on Betrayal. If
you'd like to reach out to the Betrayal team, email
us at Betrayal Pod at gmail dot com. That's Betrayal
Pod at gmail dot com. Betrayal is a production of
(30:34):
Glass Podcasts, a division of Glass Entertainment Group, in partnership
with iHeart Podcasts. The show was executive produced by Nancy
Glass and Jennifer Fason, hosted and produced by me Andrea Gunning,
written and produced by Kerry Hartman, also produced by Ben Fetterman.
Our iHeart team is Ali Perry and Jessica Crinchick. Special
thanks to voice actor Todd Gans. Sound editing and mixing
(30:57):
done by Matt Tavecchio. Betrayal's theme was composed by Oliver Bains.
Music library provided by my Music And For more podcasts
from iHeart, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever
you get your podcasts
This podcast discusses sexual assault. Please take care while listening.
I want to share a story of a real life
fairy tale gone horribly wrong, A cautionary tale about a
marriage so filled with betrayal and deceit that it set
off a path of destruction that people are still recovering from.
My name is Andrea Gunning and I'm a podcast producer
(00:22):
in Philadelphia. In the summer of twenty nineteen, I had
just wrapped up a project when I met a fellow producer,
Jennifer Fasin. She pitched a story she thought was compelling
enough to make something of, and it turns out it
was her own story.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Information this Morning about a cop County teacher in jail.
Spencer Haron was arrested Friday at his home in Ackworth.
Haaren is currently in the cop County jail on a
fifty five thousand dollars bond.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
Spencer was Jennifer's husband of seven years. Twenty years after
dating in college, the stars seem to align and they
reconnected when they decided to get sirious. Jennifer moved from
la where she worked as a television producer, to Ackworth, Georgia,
where Spencer was a popular high school teacher. He was
also awarded Teacher of the Year twice.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
We've learned his arrest stems from an alleged three year
sexual relationship with a sixteen year old female student, Investigators
saying The team says it started back in twenty sixteen
when he allegedly groped her. It all happened on Kel
High School property. The school's website lists the forty eight
year old as the head of the career tech department
and a coach.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
Jennifer was blindsided.
Speaker 3 (01:35):
I came home on June first, twenty eighteen. Spence didn't
greet me. Instead, he was sitting on the couch shaking
his head. It's all over. It's all over. It's all over.
Speaker 1 (01:57):
Nothing could have been more shocking from this popular teacher,
respected coach, and loving husband. The arrest unlocked terrible secrets
about predatory behavior that went against the image Spencer Heron
fabricated for years, the cheerful neighbor, member of the Air
National Guard. The truth shook a community, devastated his wife,
(02:21):
and sent Spencer Heron to prison. I'm Andrea Gunning and
this is betrayal Episode one. The perfect husband.
Speaker 4 (02:45):
Spencer and I met at college.
Speaker 3 (02:49):
I wanted to be in video production and he was
the station manager.
Speaker 4 (02:54):
And I'll never forget our first meeting.
Speaker 3 (02:57):
He said, excuse me, do you know what time? And
I said, oh, I don't wear a watch. She said, oh,
me either, and that was kind of like the Inn
and I don't know, it was just one of those things.
We just connected right away. He was a year older
than I was. In him being the station manager, he
(03:20):
seems so cool to me. I remember I tried out
for anchor that semester and he didn't choose me because
he was afraid that if he did, everybody would know
that he liked me. The word college sweethearts, that's what
we were. We had so much fun. He had always
(03:42):
try to do surprises for me or make a mixtape.
Every day when we would pass by each other in
the hallways, he would give me a note. He was
just very attentive and he was very caring.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
I'm Jeffrey Birch and this is Berg.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
I'm her stepfather and I.
Speaker 5 (04:02):
Am her mom. She and Spence stated in college, and
she was absolutely in love with him, and we loved
him too.
Speaker 6 (04:13):
I'm Karen Bason and I'm John Fason. I'm Jenn's father
and I'm Jennifer's stepmother.
Speaker 3 (04:20):
We thought a lot of it.
Speaker 4 (04:21):
We thought it was a wonderful young man.
Speaker 6 (04:23):
He had a great personality and you know, just a
real down thearth person, very personable and michable and a
talented fellow. I mean he was a musician, and I
mean he played trumpet very good, evidently.
Speaker 1 (04:41):
Jennifer's sister Christy.
Speaker 7 (04:43):
You know, when people are in love, they just are
beautiful because they're themselves and someone just totally accepts them
for who they are, and they just shine and they're beautiful.
Like I remember seeing my sister and she was wearing
a red winter coat. She just looked so beautiful, and
(05:03):
it was because she was just so in love. I
don't know when we started calling him Saint Spence, but
there were a few reasons why he was wonderful to
my sister. When he got up, he was like, does
anybody need anything, or he would go get coffee for
my sister. He was polite and engaged with my mom
(05:26):
and my grandparents. He was really curious about everyone, and
he just didn't do anything wrong.
Speaker 3 (05:37):
It was my senior year in college and I wanted
to go out and you know, enjoy my friends and
have fun. So we broke up, still kept in touch.
I think I can honestly say I broke his heart
and he was very sad and tried to get me back.
(05:58):
And it wasn't that there was any anything wrong. It
was just not the right time. So we remained friends,
but eventually went our separate ways. My grandmother was upset.
She couldn't believe it. She just thought Spence was perfect.
She thought we were going to get married after school.
(06:20):
My sister cried, She was like, how could you leave
this great, perfect guy. You know, a lot of people
can't understand, but at the time, that's just how I felt.
I wanted to explore. We dated for a year and
a half and it was one of those relationships where
(06:45):
you realized what a good one looks like.
Speaker 5 (06:50):
She took her communication degree, She got into radio and
was on the air in Minneapolis. From there, she decided
that she wanted to see if she could get a
producing job in California. She just decided, I'm going to
la and I'm going to find my mark.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
Spencer and Jennifer stayed in touch for a while. Like
a lot of couples in college, they eventually lost touch
and started their own lives.
Speaker 3 (07:18):
Jen was on a path, so we lost touch after
that for a long time. I think partly because he
was married and had kids, and I wanted to respect
that and those boundaries in that relationship.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
Jennifer was ambitious. She built an impressive resume and reputation
as a talented reality show producer and was even nominated
for three Emmy Awards.
Speaker 3 (07:47):
You Are Afoot Too entered the court room of Judge
Judith Shindlight.
Speaker 5 (07:52):
She also worked for Judge Judy. In fact, when was
nominated for a time Emmy, we got to go to
New York to walk the red carpet.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
After a few years with Judy, Jennifer made her way
from daytime to Primetime Tonight Guys.
Speaker 5 (08:19):
She ended up getting a job with Extreme Makeover Home
Edition with Ty Pennington, so she went all over the country.
Speaker 1 (08:28):
Jen was making her mark in the industry. She could
go from Judge Judy to Homemakeovers to the Craziness at
the Beach.
Speaker 5 (08:36):
One of the ones that I was shocked about was
she was doing Jersey Shore. That's what Jennifer excels at
is being able to get along with everybody. Keep peace,
amongst everybody, manage their different personalities and then produce a
great show. That's what she's good at.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
Well, Jennifer was building an impressive resume. Spencer had built
a different life back in Georgia.
Speaker 3 (09:03):
Spence got married, had three great kids, and for many
years he was the stay at home parent who took
care of those kids.
Speaker 1 (09:15):
Kevin, Spence's best friend, described Spence as trustworthy and loyal.
Speaker 8 (09:21):
It was funny, very charismatic if he came from a
big family, so you never had much like in terms
of physical possessions and stuff, so we always seemed like
a simple person. My name is Rod and I've known
Spencer since probably.
Speaker 1 (09:41):
Nineteen eighty so eighty sixth grade. Rod and Spencer bonded
over shared interests. Our high school was pretty small.
Speaker 8 (09:48):
There was probably one hundred and fifty people in the
graduating class something like that.
Speaker 1 (09:53):
I think we were both always pop students in top popularity.
I would think Spencer grew up in Avondale Estates, twenty
minutes east of Atlanta.
Speaker 9 (10:01):
It's kind of Cony Well.
Speaker 6 (10:03):
Spence's real father, Spencer's real mother. They had this other
couple that was good friends, and both couples I guess
you could say he split up and married each other.
And so Spence has step brothers, real brothers and half brothers, and.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
There was a bunch of It's a little confusing, but
Spence was part of a big blended family. There were
six boys altogether. Well, Jennifer was living her best life
in La Spence was living in Georgia as a well
regarded video production teacher. Julia Sultziak was one of Spencer's
(10:44):
students over a decade ago. She still has fond memories.
Speaker 10 (10:49):
My name is Julia. I graduated from cal High School
in twenty ten. I'm going to refer to him as
coach Haaren, if that's okay. I've never actually called him
Spencer's so everyone called him co Charan because he was
the soccer coach.
Speaker 5 (11:04):
He coached girls soccer.
Speaker 10 (11:06):
Co Charan was my high school video productions teacher, my
junior and senior year high school. Everyone who had him
loved him. He was the fun class, the fun teacher,
the fund program. You got to be on the announcements,
you know, you got to work on these cool projects.
Speaker 1 (11:24):
When Spencer was thirty seven, he joined the Air National
Guard and became part of the band he was the
oldest person in his boot camp class and kind of
played the role of dad there. And then, out of
the blue, twenty years later, Jen's first love reached out
to her on social media.
Speaker 3 (11:43):
I get a message from him on Facebook. He was
planning his college reunion and saw me like a photo
or something, so he reached out to me, Hey, how
are you, how's it going? What are you doing? He
told me that he had kept up with my career
and knew I was in LA And honestly, the first
(12:07):
thing that I wrote to him back was are you
still married? Because I'm not going to get involved with
somebody that's married. That's just not me. He wrote me
back immediately said we split up four years ago. Great. Well,
then he says, so, I know you travel a lot
(12:30):
for work. Are you by any chance going to be
in New York City in December, which was a couple
months away. He said, I'm going to be there with
the Decca group from school. I said, no, you know,
I don't usually work in New York. Then I go
to the movies with my sister two days later and
(12:51):
run into my old boss from Extreme Makeover Home Edition,
who says, what are you doing? Right now, and I
said nothing. I was in between jobs at the time.
He said, okay, I need to fly you to New
York and you need to help me out with this show.
Said okay, great, I'll do it, hopped on a plane
and flew out there. So I emailed Spence and said, hey,
(13:14):
guess what, I'm here. I'm going to be here for
about a month, and he said, great, I would love
to see you when you're here, and maybe you could
even come and speak to the students. So I agreed
to do that. One afternoon, rushed home from work changed
(13:35):
tried to look as cute as possible. You know, it's
December now in New York and hard to get a
taxi at that time of night, so I was running late.
The taxi drops me off about two blocks from the
hotel because I just figured I can get there faster
if I walk. So I walk in there and he's
(13:58):
kind of leaning up against the wall, a kind of cool,
and he sees me, and I think both of our
faces just light up and gives me a big hug,
and I just I remember thinking, wow, he looks really good.
I just I got butterflies. I was excited to see
(14:18):
him again. And then he and I went and walked
around New York and talked and learned about each other again,
and we sat in this cute little speakeasy bar. I
noticed his sleeve kind of came up on his jacket,
(14:40):
and I saw he had tattoos. And now I'm not
a tattoo person, but for some reason, this was so
sexy to me. You know, now he was cool and everything.
I remembered, everything I remembered.
Speaker 5 (14:55):
The two of them walked the city all night long,
just talking and talking and talking, and that's when they
said they just fell in love all over again.
Speaker 3 (15:05):
I was on cloud nine. He walked me back to
my hotel room. Yes, he came inside. No, I don't
usually do that, but it was Spence, and I always
felt safe with Spence. I asked him if he could stay,
and he said, no, I have to go back because
he had to go back to his student's And the
(15:27):
next morning I woke up and I called my best
friend crying because I was so sad that I may
never see him again. I really thought that was it,
and something in me was really sad about that. But
that's not what happened. The whole New.
Speaker 1 (15:47):
York trip was serendipitous. After twenty years apart, Jen and
Spencer were reconnected and this time Spencer was not going
to lose her.
Speaker 3 (15:58):
He continued, you to pursue me and text me and
call me from Atlanta to LA. We would be up
all night on the phone.
Speaker 5 (16:10):
So she went back to LA. He went back to
Atlanta area and they continue with their phone conversations. He
had called us and said that he wanted to marry Jennifer,
and he asked for permission. We said, We've always felt
like you're part of the family. You know, you don't
need to ask us, You just need to ask her.
(16:31):
I said, the only thing we ask of you is
that you go to LA and you visit Jennifer and
you see what kind of lifestyle that she was living,
because she was very, very successful in her career, very
successful financially. I'm very established. And so he said, okay,
(16:54):
he would do that because he was going to be
asking her to possibly move to this small little in Georgia,
pulling her away from LA. And that was a concern
that we had too, is would she be able to
adjuste that fair to her? Is that going to affect
her career?
Speaker 3 (17:15):
So we re met in December twenty eleven. We made
the decision pretty quickly that I would move out there,
and I didn't mind doing that. I mean, it meant
giving up a lot. My career was doing great. I'd
really established myself, which in hindsight is a good thing
(17:35):
because I was able to move to Atlanta and keep working.
But his kids were there and that was important to him,
and being a stepchild myself, it was important to me
that he stay as close to the kids as he could.
So I decided I would move there. I packed up
(17:56):
my whole apartment and then he flew out and we
drove my car across the country. Our first stop was Vegas.
He gave me this booklet and in it were all
these photos of the two of us, some of them
from college and then some from New York and just
(18:17):
you know, when we had seen each other since. And
at the very end was a picture of my grandmother's
ring that he had gotten from my mom. He got
down on one knee and he asked me to marry him,
and I was so excited. I wanted to be able
to remember exactly what it felt like and what it
(18:41):
sounded like, so I said, can you ask me again,
and he just laughed and he asked me again, and
of course I said yes. It was everything that I
could have wanted.
Speaker 1 (18:58):
It was like a movie, all of the thought and
effort Spencer put into their engagement. She waited so long
for love. They were so sweet together. Like he was
very demonstrative with his affection towards her.
Speaker 3 (19:15):
You know, he would say, look at jen Look how
cute she looks today.
Speaker 11 (19:18):
He was always very.
Speaker 1 (19:19):
Proud to talk about her and about her accomplishments and
things like that.
Speaker 3 (19:22):
He would walk by her and just kiss.
Speaker 4 (19:24):
Her on the top of the head, you know, just
was very sweet.
Speaker 3 (19:26):
And their little love story was very sweet, and they
loved to tell it.
Speaker 5 (19:30):
If she was traveling, you know, producing a show then
coming back, he would always walk in and you know,
Huger and say, so glad you're home.
Speaker 1 (19:40):
Jennifer's friend Danielle. I mean, he would just say, like, hey, wife,
you know, and he was so proud of that.
Speaker 3 (19:48):
He was such a doting husband. Every morning he would
leave me a note by the coffee pot. Every single
morning for six seven years, he would text me during
the day. I'd never worried about where he was or
what he was doing. I really really thought we were
(20:12):
living a fairy tale. Every time the clock would turn
on eleven eleven, I would make a wish, and ever
since Spence and I got back together in New York,
the wish was, I hope Spence and I have a beautiful,
long life together.
Speaker 1 (20:31):
When the bottom drops out, you usually don't see it coming,
and Jennifer never did.
Speaker 3 (20:39):
I came home on June first, twenty eighteen, and Spence
didn't greet me. Instead, he was sitting on the couch
in the living room just shaking his head. So I
was joking around with him because he didn't jump up
and say, wife, welcome back. And I walked over to
(21:02):
him and he just kept shaking his head. It's all over,
it's all over, it's all over. I kept expecting him
to say, oh, just kidding, because what could be that
wrong that he would be feeling this way. He slid
(21:23):
a piece of paper to me. I just kind of
glanced at it, trying to figure out what it was,
and it said searchworn on top. I saw the words
sexual assault and.
Speaker 9 (21:38):
Studentlis arrested Kel High school teacher Spencer Herron on Friday
at his home in at Growth. Investigators say he faces
three counts of sexual assault.
Speaker 1 (21:54):
Imagine seeing that piece of paper, the search worn, and
knowing that everything in your life was a out to change.
He was charged with sexual assault with one of his
own students. It had started when she was a sophomore
in high school.
Speaker 3 (22:12):
I got up and stood in front of him and said,
is this true?
Speaker 4 (22:19):
He said yes, He said it happened three times.
Speaker 3 (22:26):
This Spens is the last person that I would have
ever guessed would have taken advantage of a kid. And
I think anybody else that knew him would have said
the same thing. To find out that he cheated on me,
not with a woman, but with a sixteen year old girl,
(22:49):
It is so hard to understand that I just started
pacing back and forth him.
Speaker 11 (23:00):
He ruined everything. He knew how much marriage meant to me,
He knew what it meant to me. I thought I.
Speaker 3 (23:12):
Knew what it meant to him. I set across from
him at that point because I didn't want to be
near him, just trying to make sense of what just happened.
In realizing that life as I knew it would never
be the same. The future that we planned was gone.
Speaker 1 (23:38):
It couldn't be true. Not her husband the nicest, kindest
man in the world. A predator. Not possible, except it
was possible. It happened.
Speaker 3 (23:52):
It didn't take too long before I saw two Cobb
County police officers drive past our house. I knew they
were on their way back for Spence. They had already
been there once with the search warrant and busted down
our front door. They took a bunch of his stuff,
(24:13):
his computers, hard drives, and a pair of his underwear.
All Spence could talk about was killing himself at that point.
So I sat down on the coffee table right in
front of him where he was sitting.
Speaker 11 (24:29):
On the couch, and I just begged him not to
do anything stupid.
Speaker 1 (24:36):
Her life was upended, Her husband was sitting across from
her talking about suicide. It was all so scary and
so much to digest. Jen felt conflicted by a feeling
of obligation to Spence because of the vows they took.
Jennifer repeated after me, I Jennifer.
Speaker 3 (24:58):
I Jennifer the Spencer. Take the Spencer to be my
wedded husband, To be my wedded husband. I wanted him
to know that somebody would be there for him.
Speaker 4 (25:10):
We were married, They're supposed to.
Speaker 3 (25:13):
Stick by your spouse for better or worse, for better,
for worse, till death do us part, till death do
us part. The cops came.
Speaker 4 (25:28):
I opened up the door and looked across to Spence
and was so relieved when I saw him walking into
the foyer, because if he had run, I don't know
what would have happened.
Speaker 3 (25:43):
But he turned around.
Speaker 4 (25:46):
He let them put the cuffs on him.
Speaker 1 (25:49):
Even after seeing the words sexual assault and student on
the search warrant, Jennifers still needed to hear the police
say it.
Speaker 3 (25:59):
I said, what are you arresting him for? They looked
at him like, is it okay if we tell her?
And he yells out no, don't tell her anything, which
is weird because he'd already admitted what he had done.
(26:19):
I guess he was still hoping to hide stuff. They
walked him out of the house. I shut the door
and I couldn't watch them put him in the back
of the car. And the four year was the last
time I've seen him.
Speaker 1 (26:38):
Jennifer was trying to process what had just happened. Unfortunately,
what she learned that day was only the tip of
the iceberg.
Speaker 7 (26:49):
I was on a walk one morning, and I just thought,
I need to call Jennifer. When I got home, I
called her. She picked up the phone and she was
like in hysterics and I was like, what's wrong, and
she's like, they took Spencer away. She was in shock.
Speaker 1 (27:07):
It was like.
Speaker 7 (27:08):
Spence of all people, Spence, Saint Spence. Jennifer wasn't in
problem solving mode. I think because I was distant from it,
I could get into problem solving mode.
Speaker 10 (27:22):
My thought was.
Speaker 7 (27:24):
If it's a student, it's going to get around really fast.
Then my thought was, oh god, the kids, they worshiped
their father, and that was my thought. I was like,
oh my god, do they know? How are they going
to find out? Social media these days? He needs to
take down his social media like all of this stuff.
Speaker 3 (27:41):
My sister called and said, people are making comments. You've
got to go in there and take down his account.
I had never been in his account before. I never
looked at his phone, his text, his computer, his Facebook nothing. Ever,
I trusted him with every piece of my being. Never ever,
(28:07):
ever would I have snooped. But I knew Christy was right.
So somehow I got into his Facebook account, which got
me into his email.
Speaker 1 (28:19):
To say what she learned next with shocking would be
an understatement. The student, well, she was one of dozens
of affairs that Spencer had been carrying on for years,
and he was soliciting photos from these women.
Speaker 3 (28:34):
I only had to scroll down one row before the
pictures of all these naked women were showing up on
his computer, woman after woman after woman. I literally didn't
know what was happening. Spence would never want women to
(28:55):
send him pictures like this. He wasn't like that.
Speaker 1 (28:59):
He was not No one wants to think that the
person they love that they're married to has a secret life.
Jen had to face the hard truth her husband had
betrayed her, not once, but every single day of their relationship.
Through this podcast, Jen's about to go on a journey
(29:22):
of discovery she never could have imagined on this season
of Betrayal, Jen's going to talk to the sexual SA victim,
who is an adult now.
Speaker 10 (29:34):
The first thing he said to me was, I've never
done this with a student. I've never felt this way
about anyone. That's because I love you that we're doing this.
Speaker 1 (29:43):
There were dozens of affairs simultaneously, some women she knew personally,
like this one.
Speaker 2 (29:51):
I put this because it's not very kind towards myself.
Speaker 7 (29:56):
I was being used, but I really thought that.
Speaker 1 (29:59):
He and even Spencer himself.
Speaker 3 (30:03):
This is a direct pay call from an inmate at
the Cherokee County Jail, Georgia.
Speaker 1 (30:09):
The lies, affairs, shame, the broken marriage, and stolen innocence.
We're going to talk about it all on Betrayal. If
you'd like to reach out to the Betrayal team, email
us at Betrayal Pod at gmail dot com. That's Betrayal
Pod at gmail dot com. Betrayal is a production of
(30:34):
Glass Podcasts, a division of Glass Entertainment Group, in partnership
with iHeart Podcasts. The show was executive produced by Nancy
Glass and Jennifer Fason, hosted and produced by me Andrea Gunning,
written and produced by Kerry Hartman, also produced by Ben Fetterman.
Our iHeart team is Ali Perry and Jessica Crinchick. Special
thanks to voice actor Todd Gans. Sound editing and mixing
(30:57):
done by Matt Tavecchio. Betrayal's theme was composed by Oliver Bains.
Music library provided by my Music And For more podcasts
from iHeart, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever
you get your podcasts
Host
Andrea Gunning
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Betrayal Season 5
Saskia Inwood woke up one morning, knowing her life would never be the same. The night before, she learned the unimaginable – that the husband she knew in the light of day was a different person after dark. This season unpacks Saskia’s discovery of her husband’s secret life and her fight to bring him to justice. Along the way, we expose a crime that is just coming to light. This is also a story about the myth of the “perfect victim:” who gets believed, who gets doubted, and why. We follow Saskia as she works to reclaim her body, her voice, and her life. If you would like to reach out to the Betrayal Team, email us at betrayalpod@gmail.com. Follow us on Instagram @betrayalpod and @glasspodcasts. Please join our Substack for additional exclusive content, curated book recommendations, and community discussions. Sign up FREE by clicking this link Beyond Betrayal Substack. Join our community dedicated to truth, resilience, and healing. Your voice matters! Be a part of our Betrayal journey on Substack.