Introducing Season 3 of The Girlfriends: Jailhouse Lawyer

What does it mean to be a victim, or a villain? What happens when the line between the two starts to blur? 

On 7th July 2010, Kelly Harnett says her abusive boyfriend murdered a man right in front of her. 

So how did she end up in prison for it?

Anna Sinfield - the journalist behind the global number 1 podcast, The Girlfriends, returns with her toughest story yet. 

This series isn’t a whodunnit. It’s not even really about what happened. It’s about how a woman who was a victim of domestic violence became a villain in the eyes of the law. 

Found guilty of murder and locked up for over a decade; Kelly Harnett taught herself the law. And as she battled to overturn her conviction, she became a beacon of hope, fighting for the freedom of the abused women locked up alongside her.

 

If you’re affected by any of the themes in this show please reach out to NO MORE at https://www.nomore.org a domestic violence charity we’ve partnered with. 

 

The Girlfriends: Jailhouse Lawyer is produced by Novel for iHeart Podcasts. For more from Novel, visit https://novel.audio/. 

 

Because The Girlfriends: Jailhouse Lawyer has been selected as one of Apple Podcasts’ Summer Listens, we’re offering a 30-Day Free Trial to iHeart True Crime + for a limited time. This includes early access to episodes, 100% ad-free listening, and exclusive bonus content. 

Open your Apple Podcasts app, search for “iHeart True Crime+, and subscribe today!

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
When I got to the station, they asked me what
I knew about the murderer in the park and do
you mind telling me how your shoelace got around the
victim's neck.

Speaker 2 (00:18):
This is Kelly Harnett. Fifteen years ago, she was arrested
for murder, a murder she says she didn't commit.

Speaker 3 (00:26):
I'm one hundred percent innocent.

Speaker 2 (00:29):
Kelly says it was her violent ex boyfriend who committed
the murder.

Speaker 3 (00:34):
Who screams out, why won't this motherfucker die?

Speaker 4 (00:38):
So now I really she really is going.

Speaker 2 (00:40):
To kill this man, and that she is just another victim.

Speaker 3 (00:46):
It was like Kelly was his possession. I think she
was afraid to walk away from him. I'm scared to death.

Speaker 2 (00:53):
But police don't believe Kelly. So she goes to trial.

Speaker 5 (00:57):
All of this way, are you going to go home?

Speaker 3 (01:00):
But unfortunately that's not what happened.

Speaker 4 (01:03):
She says she had been found guilty.

Speaker 3 (01:06):
Like how how is that possible?

Speaker 2 (01:11):
That's what I'm hoping to find out. I'm Anisonfield and
this is the girlfriend's Gaelhouse lawyer. This show isn't about
who'd done it, It's not even really about what happened.

Speaker 3 (01:26):
Whether you think I'm guilty or not. It has no meaning.

Speaker 2 (01:30):
It's about how it happened, about how a woman who
was a victim of the most horrific domestic abuse became
a villain in the eyes of the law and served
twelve years in prison. As the journalist and producer behind
The Girlfriends, I've interviewed so many women throughout my career,
but Kelly Hannett is the most complicated one I've ever met.

Speaker 1 (01:52):
All of your stories.

Speaker 2 (01:53):
Seen shocking and like they're almost.

Speaker 3 (01:56):
Sometimes hard to believe.

Speaker 2 (01:58):
It's hard to believe that.

Speaker 3 (02:00):
Yes, there's been a lot of insane stories.

Speaker 2 (02:04):
I agree, Kelly's story is the toughest I've ever reported.
It's going to challenge your understanding of what it means
to be a victim.

Speaker 6 (02:14):
You have to think of the domestic violence aspect and
not the truth finding aspect.

Speaker 3 (02:18):
I'm trying to figure out, how the hell am I
going to get out of this one? Well, I live
to see the next minute.

Speaker 2 (02:24):
Who's the victim?

Speaker 1 (02:26):
I think everybody's the victim. Yeah, like they're all the victim.

Speaker 2 (02:30):
This story will even challenge your understanding of justice itself.

Speaker 1 (02:35):
This is the justice system in God we trust, No
you know there is no god there.

Speaker 3 (02:42):
What do you want my blood? That's what everyone would
have preferred, a dead girl in the park.

Speaker 2 (02:51):
But don't worry, girlfriends, because along the way, I'm going
to introduce you to an incredible cast of women.

Speaker 1 (03:00):
Our sisterhood.

Speaker 5 (03:01):
We called ourselves the Showties.

Speaker 2 (03:03):
You shore it, women who've been through hell and back again.

Speaker 4 (03:09):
I said, were you a victim of domestic violence? And
she was like, yeah, my father was drunk and trying
to kill me. I ended up killing him.

Speaker 5 (03:20):
He came up behind me and put me in an
Oh man, it was an awful chocol Next thing I know,
I was being arrested for a murder and a first degree.

Speaker 2 (03:30):
Women who have somehow managed to find strength in each other.

Speaker 5 (03:34):
As terrible as an experience is, in order to survive it,
We're going to find lightness and everything.

Speaker 2 (03:42):
And in the center of all of this is Kelly Hannett,
in her many complicated multitudes, a woman who went to
prison on a murder conviction.

Speaker 3 (03:52):
I said, what do you want me to do? I
was found guilty.

Speaker 2 (03:55):
She goes ah guilty Shmelty, who ended up finding that
the law would be the greatest love of her life.

Speaker 4 (04:02):
I said, how many people have gotten other incarcerated individuals
out of here.

Speaker 3 (04:09):
He goes, like, you mean other inmates. Nobody's ever done that.
I said, I'm going to be the first one to
do that.

Speaker 2 (04:18):
Is Kelly fought back, not just for her own freedom,
but for her girlfriends too.

Speaker 4 (04:26):
She said, Kelly, if it wasn't for you, I wouldn't
be walking out of these doors.

Speaker 5 (04:33):
Know they say they're suposed to have your faith in God,
but I had nothing but faith in her.

Speaker 3 (04:37):
I think I have a mission from God.

Speaker 1 (04:39):
I think I was put here to save souls by
getting people out of prison.

Speaker 2 (04:44):
You're a very unique person, Kelly.

Speaker 3 (04:48):
Thank you. I take that as a compliment.

Speaker 5 (04:51):
It's a compliment.

Speaker 3 (04:52):
It is a compliment for sure.

Speaker 2 (04:56):
The girlfriends gel House Lawyer with Me and Sinfield. Listen
from July fourteenth on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or
wherever you get your podcasts.

Speaker 6 (05:10):
God, I just hope listeners can open up their hearts
and give me the chance because I've faced too much
injustice already.

Speaker 3 (05:21):
Please please just be fair with me.