The Wrong Guy | EP 4 | The Confidante

Adam finally tells his side of the story. As he rebuilds his life after prison, false accusations leave him questioning his own reality and fighting to prove his innocence. Content warning: childhood sexual assault is discussed in this episode. If you would like to share your story, you can reach out to the Betrayal Team by emailing us at [email protected] mailto:[email protected] and follow us on Instagram at @betrayalpod https://www.instagram.com/betrayalpod/ and @glasspodcasts https://www.instagram.com/glasspodcasts/. To access our newsletter and additional content and to connect with the Betrayal community, join our Substack at betrayal.substack.com. If you are currently in crisis, please reach out to organizations that offer immediate support. We are including a few US-based resources here: 988 Lifeline. https://988lifeline.org/ If you or someone you know is in crisis or need to talk to someone immediately, please call or text 988 – the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline available 24/7/365. National Domestic Violence Hotline https://www.thehotline.org/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=domestic_violence. They offer 24/7 phone and chat support to help you create a personalized safety plan and connect you with local support. For resources on sexual violence, visit rainn.org/betrayal. You can also get free, confidential, 24/7 support through RAINN’s National Sexual Assault Hotline. Text HOPE to 64673 or call 1-800-656-HOPE. Every state has a domestic violence coalition. If you’re looking for help in the US, search the web for your state’s domestic violence coalition. See omnystudio.com/listener https://omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Andrea Gunning?

  This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed Human.

• 0:05Andrea Gunning?

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• 0:47Andrea Gunning?

  from applying and financial aid, to tutoring and career development. At Southern New Hampshire University, knowledge can be life-changing. Get started at SNHU.edu/Betrayal. That's SNHU.edu/Betrayal. Okay, so buying a new car or new home starts by building credit, right? So how do you start building credit? Easy, with OnePay's Builder Card. There's no credit check and no monthly or annual fees. Just a card that helps you build credit to reach goals like buying a car or a home. When you finally make that big purchase, like buying a house, it's such an incredible feeling of accomplishment. You know how much work and how many little steps went into getting there.

• 1:30Andrea Gunning?

  So finally, reaching that milestone just feels amazing. Download the OnePay app or visit onepay.com for banking that gives you more for what matters.

• 1:39Speaker 01

  OnePay is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services provided by Coastal Community Bank or Lead Bank, members FDIC. Builder Card results may vary and aren't guaranteed. Learn more about banking through OnePay at onepay.com/podcast.

• 1:53Andrea Gunning?

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• 2:26Andrea Gunning?

  Last we left Adam Mejia, he was on the phone calling his mom.

• 2:31Speaker 02

  I just can't believe it. I just cannot believe it. Just pray, please, just pray.

• 2:37Andrea Gunning?

  He was being arrested for stalking Carl, Carl's boyfriend Drew, and his best friend Paul.

• 2:45Andrea Gunning?

  It was a crime Adam didn't commit. And now, he was being taken to jail.

• 2:51Speaker 02

  When I got into the cell, I just sat there and I prayed. I'm like, "God, please let the truth come out. Please just let this truth come out. Let the truth come out." I don't know how many times a day, I prayed that. "Bring me peace and comfort and let this truth come out. Let it be told." And now, the truth's coming out.

• 3:23Andrea Gunning?

  I'm Andrea Gunning, and this is Betrayal, Season Six. Episode Four, The Wrong Guy.

• 3:33Speaker 02

  I'm a little nervous.

• 3:35Andrea Gunning?

  What you're feeling is the normal response.

• 3:38Speaker 02

  Really?

• 3:38Andrea Gunning?

  You wouldn't know. Yeah. I do this for a living, and even when I get interviewed, I start to get...

• 3:45Speaker 02

  Okay.

• 3:47Andrea Gunning?

  Let's just start with you introducing yourself.

• 3:50Speaker 02

  Okay. My name is Adam Mejia. I am 34 and from Wisconsin.

• 3:57Andrea Gunning?

  After several weeks of discussions, Adam Mejia agreed to talk with us. It wasn't an easy decision for him. He knew we would be talking about some of the hardest moments in his life. So you can understand, he was scared.

• 4:13Speaker 02

  I thought I would be looked bad upon for having a past. I was like, "Am I maybe made the bad guy?" You know, I didn't know.

• 4:24Andrea Gunning?

  The fear makes sense. When it came to framing the bad guy, Adam was an easy choice. After all, he was a convicted felon.

• 4:35Andrea Gunning?

  As you heard in Episode One, Adam had four DUIs. And on his last one, he was sentenced to 15 months behind bars.

• 4:45Speaker 02

  Not only was I in jail, but I was in one of the worst jails in Wisconsin.

• 4:49Andrea Gunning?

  You were in there with really violent people.

• 4:51Speaker 02

  I was.

• 4:52Andrea Gunning?

  Dodge Correctional Institution, where he finished out his sentence, houses gang leaders, rapists. People such as Jeffrey Dahmer, Ed Gein, and Chris Watts have called this place home.

• 5:04Speaker 02

  I fought for my life in there. And I've never fought in my life. I was harassed, I was bullied, I heard people calling me "faggot." "You're gonna get your ass beat, faggot." I had to fight. Am I proud of it? No, but I had to take care of myself.

• 5:23Andrea Gunning?

  Those kinds of environments, they can change a person. And as the months passed, Carl worried about how prison was changing Adam. He thought about the night of Adam's accident over and over and over again. And he worried Adam blamed him for his incarceration.

• 5:40Speaker 03

  He said it quite frequently, that like, "Yeah, he was upset that I didn't call an Uber."

• 5:45Andrea Gunning?

  If Carl would have stopped him from getting behind the wheel the night of the accident, Adam wouldn't have been in prison. So when Carl started getting threatening texts, and they appeared to come from Adam, it all felt easy to believe.

• 5:59Speaker 03

  "My axe is out for revenge."

• 6:01Andrea Gunning?

  For Carl, everything added up to one coherent narrative. Prison had hardened Adam. And now, he was trying to make Carl suffer, as he suffered. But when I spoke to Adam about being locked up, I quickly realized, that wasn't the real story at all.

• 6:23Andrea Gunning?

  In this episode, you're going to hear Adam's perspective. What was really going on with Adam, while Carl was experiencing months of harassment. To understand how Adam came to be cast as the bad guy, we have to go back to the beginning of Adam's story.

• 6:40Speaker 02

  As a child, I enjoyed life. I was the kid that would play in the woods all the time with his buddies, swing on vines, catch snakes in the grass. I was, you know, hanging out with all the kids outside.

• 6:52Andrea Gunning?

  But he knew pretty early on that he was different than the kids he hung out with.

• 6:57Speaker 02

  I came out at the age of 13.

• 6:59Andrea Gunning?

  He was just a kid, wanting connection, and he tried to find it online.

• 7:04Speaker 02

  I decided that I was going to meet my first boyfriend off of MySpace. The person made me feel loved, made me feel wanted. But he had other intentions.

• 7:20Speaker 02

  This boyfriend claimed he was 16 and turned out to be 24.

• 7:25Andrea Gunning?

  Adam was still only 13. As a heads up, he is about to discuss an experience of childhood sexual assault.

• 7:35Speaker 02

  We went to a neighbor's house, and he put an Ambien and a shot of vodka. It was the first time I had a drop of alcohol. And I woke up next to him, naked.

• 7:52Speaker 02

  After that incident, I just turned into a different person.

• 7:57Andrea Gunning?

  Adam tried to keep what happened to him a secret, but his mom, Michelle, could tell something was wrong.

• 8:04Speaker 04

  For a period of time, he became more not caring about himself.

• 8:11Speaker 04

  He went through a period of cutting, and I had to kick his door in.

• 8:15Speaker 02

  She said, "Something happened to you. You're not the same person." "What happened?" And I just bawled. And I told her, "I was sexually assaulted." And she flipped out.

• 8:31Andrea Gunning?

  Adam's mom helped him to report the assault to police. His attacker went on to serve five years in prison. But the assault took a huge psychological toll. Michelle tried to be there for her son.

• 8:44Speaker 02

  She took care of me. But it's the person themselves. If they are not fully taking in the help and understanding, it's not going to benefit them. And I would say, after that, my life spiraled. I would take cold medication to get high off of. Anything that would numb the pain, I would run with.

• 9:09Andrea Gunning?

  You just want...

• 9:09Speaker 05

  To be checked out.

• 9:11Speaker 02

  Absolutely. I was huffing gasoline at the age of 16. Thank the Lord I had my dog because the gas can fell on top of me and drung some gasoline and I passed out. I woke up in a psychiatric hospital.

• 9:26Andrea Gunning?

  No interventions worked to get him on track. By 21, alcohol became his drug of choice.

• 9:34Speaker 02

  I realized that I had a problem when I turned 22 after my second OWI.

• 9:42Andrea Gunning?

  OWI stands for operating while intoxicated. In Wisconsin, it's what they call a DUI. By 2012, when Adam was in his early 20s.

• 9:52Speaker 02

  I realized, oh shit. This isn't normal. I can't stop. If it's one, it's 12. If it's 12, then I go to the bar afterwards. And then it became where I was buying booze with change.

• 10:11Speaker 02

  And then I realized I started developing patterns. I would hang out with this group of people. They would realize I had a problem, try to help me, and I would cut them off cold and say, fuck off.

• 10:23Andrea Gunning?

  But Carl was different. Carl accepted Adam in a way few people had.

• 10:29Speaker 02

  When Carl loves, he loves. Carl would do anything, no matter what the circumstances were with dating. I know for a guaranteed fact that Carl would always be there because we did have a great friendship. We could just literally act like stupid dumb asses and scream out the window and dance in the car. And nobody judged because we both were just goofy together. We were best friends for five years and then we dated for like eight months. Sometimes friends are just not meant to be together.

• 11:05Speaker 02

  I feel like when we got into a relationship, it was a bad patch and toxic. And I wish that didn't happen sometimes because I feel like we would still be best friends to this day.

• 11:18Andrea Gunning?

  Adam knew that he could count on Carl. During COVID, Adam had a particularly hard time. He's a nurse and in 2020, he was treating the pandemic's most vulnerable patients, the elderly.

• 11:32Speaker 02

  I was taking care of patients and watched 80 people die. And I remember there was 105 year old patient. I had to call the family on and let them know that they couldn't come in and he was passing away. And that really affected me. I went to the liquor store on my break and I didn't go back to work. I drank it in the parking lot and Carl was there for me during that.

• 11:58Andrea Gunning?

  As we heard from Carl's perspective, that relationship was rocky. Carl tried to be supportive, to do anything to cheer him up. Oftentimes, that involved alcohol.

• 12:10Speaker 02

  And that's where it started spiraling with our relationship. We would drink together. We tried to live that happy little life of having our own place, both working, having our apartment. And at the time, Carl, I would say was enabling my alcoholism because we would go to the bar. He knew I had a problem with alcohol. I would get fucked up and then we'd get home and he'd yell at me for getting too fucked up.

• 12:40Speaker 05

  Maybe it was his only way of trying to find connection with you.

• 12:43Speaker 02

  I think that was because I loved booze. And I mean, what other way to show an alcoholic that you love them than to buy them booze?

• 12:56Andrea Gunning?

  They were living two different realities. Carl saw drinking as part of their social life, something they could do together. But for Adam, it was something he needed for survival.

• 13:08Speaker 02

  It just messes you up when you feel like your body actually needs this alcohol to live. I would be so sick if I didn't drink. I remember praying on my knees in the kitchen of our apartment for me not to drink that day. And then I would go and drink and then I would pray to stop feeling drunk.

• 13:32Speaker 02

  And I would drink a half a pint of vodka and then go to the bar and drink more and then come home. Shwashed, gone. And the next day I would pray for the hangover to stop. I was a mess. Anyone that had to deal with me as I was actively drinking, I feel sorry for because I was disgusting. I was wild.

• 13:59Andrea Gunning?

  Adam knew something needed to change.

• 14:02Speaker 02

  Two weeks before I moved out, I called Rogers Rehab and they put me on a waiting list. I called numerous of times and I couldn't get in.

• 14:13Andrea Gunning?

  While he was waiting for an opening, Carl reached a breaking point.

• 14:16Speaker 02

  Carl said he wanted to take a break. It's like, you're going to break up with me, really? And I was an alcoholic and I was immature. And I was like, I'm moving out. Have fun.

• 14:30Speaker 02

  I moved out that week. I was depressed. I drank even more and that led up to the car accident.

• 14:40Speaker 05

  Can you talk about that a little bit?

• 14:43Speaker 02

  I was at work. After work, I went to the bar, had a few shots. And then because the bar was so close to my old house, I went to the house. I wanted to see the dog.

• 14:58Andrea Gunning?

  Adam missed Wrigley, the dog they adopted together. He didn't realize he was walking in on a birthday party.

• 15:04Speaker 02

  I didn't remember it was his birthday because I was so drunk. And then Carl opens the door and his whole family is there. And then I remembered, oh fuck, it's his birthday. And I'm making a fool out of myself. And I know to this day, the look on Carl's face, he wanted to help me. And then he shut the door on me.

• 15:28Andrea Gunning?

  Adam felt like he had to get out of there.

• 15:31Speaker 02

  I went into my car and I put my cell phone on the mount. I was driving on the back roads and I remember my cell phone dropped and I went to go grab my cell phone off the floor. And I was so drunk that I lost control a little bit. And then I was like, oh shit, I'm really drunk. I shouldn't be driving. And I went probably a minute down the road and I blacked out.

• 16:10Speaker 02

  I remember the impact, like the airbag hitting me. And I remember hearing the glass shattering along the concrete. I remember getting out of the car and running over to the person that I hit to see if they were okay. And the guy told me that he was okay, but I don't know how I got out of the car. I don't remember any of that.

• 16:38Andrea Gunning?

  It's a miracle that no one was seriously hurt. Both cars were totaled. The rear end of the other car was crushed. The back windshield was missing and there was debris scattered all across the roadway. But we've had to gather all that from crash photos because for Adam, the entire incident is a blur.

• 17:00Speaker 02

  I was gone. I was so gone. I literally woke up and I was in jail.

• 17:27Andrea Gunning?

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• 18:11Andrea Gunning?

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• 18:26Andrea Gunning?

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• 18:48Andrea Gunning?

  Okay, so buying a new car or new home starts by building credit, right? So how do you start building credit? Easy, with OnePay's Builder Card. There's no credit check and no monthly or annual fees. Just a card that helps you build credit to reach goals like buying a car or a home. When you finally make that big purchase, like buying a house, it's such an incredible feeling of accomplishment. You know how much work and how many little steps went into getting there. So finally reaching that milestone just feels amazing. Download the OnePay app or visit onepay.com for banking that gives you more for what matters.

• 19:23Speaker 01

  OnePay is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services provided by Coastal Community Bank or Lead Bank, members FDIC. Builder Card results may vary and aren't guaranteed. Learn more about banking through OnePay at onepay.com/podcast.

• 19:38Andrea Gunning?

  One thing I've learned from producing true crime these past few years is that life can change in an instant. Most people never expect to find themselves in a dangerous situation. They're heading home from work, walking the dog, meeting a friend, traveling alone, and they assume it's just another ordinary day until it isn't. That's why I want you to know about Saber Red Smart Pepper Spray. Yes, it's designed to help protect you, but what makes it different is the connected app. If you're ever forced to use it in an emergency, it can alert your emergency contacts and share your location. So when every second matters, the people who care about you most aren't left wondering where you are. They're not left searching. They're not left guessing. They know where to start.

• 20:22Andrea Gunning?

  We can't always predict the unexpected, but we can be prepared for it. Learn more at saberedotcom/betrayal. That's saberedotcom/betrayal.

• 20:35Andrea Gunning?

  After his fourth drunk driving incident, Adam was arrested. His mother, Michelle, had the opportunity to bail Adam out while he awaited sentencing.

• 20:46Speaker 04

  I could have put my house up as collateral.

• 20:49Andrea Gunning?

  But you weren't gonna do it?

• 20:50Speaker 04

  No.

• 20:52Andrea Gunning?

  Why not?

• 20:53Speaker 04

  Because this was the fourth time, and I didn't want him to keep doing it. It's like first, second, third. How many times is it going to take? If he didn't go through the whole process,

• 21:12Speaker 04

  he wasn't gonna change.

• 21:14Andrea Gunning?

  He was sentenced to serve 15 months in prison. And the places where he served time were no country clubs.

• 21:22Speaker 02

  There were inmates dying from overdoses, from getting drugs. There were inmates dying from slamming their head against walls. I've seen people throw up blood. And COs said, well, clean it up. And we're like, we have no cleaning materials. We're using our sheets just to clean up blood and vomit off the floor.

• 21:41Andrea Gunning?

  Immediately, Adam was targeted for being gay. On the first night...

• 21:46Speaker 02

  I stayed up 24 hours because I was afraid someone was gonna come and murder me.

• 21:51Andrea Gunning?

  In the coming months, he was often sexually harassed. There was even a time when a man threw himself onto Adam naked.

• 21:59Speaker 02

  I'm not gonna lie, I beat the shit out of him. I didn't get charged with anything because the COs didn't care.

• 22:05Andrea Gunning?

  CO stands for correctional officer. And at times, the COs could be worse than the inmates.

• 22:12Speaker 02

  I ring a bell to ask for a garbage bag, and the CO says, why are you gonna put yourself in it? When I was strangled, from behind, nails dug into my neck, the COs watched it happen.

• 22:28Andrea Gunning?

  Adam held strong throughout the beginning of his sentence, but as the months dragged on, he was worn down.

• 22:36Speaker 02

  I wanted to kill myself. I couldn't handle it anymore. Couldn't handle the harassment. I couldn't handle every second being called a faggot as I walked to the bathroom. I couldn't fight anymore. I was done. I just kept praying. I'm like, please, God, just take this away.

• 22:54Andrea Gunning?

  And then one day, after he'd already served over a year, there came a moment he'd never forget.

• 23:01Speaker 02

  I was sitting on my bunk, completely depressed. And then I look out the window, and there's a dove sitting on barbed wire. And it was a dark sky, and it was very light. And I thought to myself, oh, my gosh, that bird's gonna get hurt. And then the bird just flew away. The bird didn't get harmed, and he was sitting on barbed wire. And I felt like it was a message from God that it's gonna be okay. Look at the bird.

• 23:28Andrea Gunning?

  He realized the rest of his time in prison didn't have to only be a time of struggle. It could also be an opportunity, a fresh start. For the first time in a long time, he was off all drugs and alcohol.

• 23:45Speaker 02

  I was sober that whole time, and I was learning myself. And I feel as though if someone would have bailed me out, I would have probably have gone back to it. And my mother told me absolutely not. Hard love here, honey. Hard love. I'm not doing it. I hated her for it, I'll tell you that much. But now I love her for it. I needed that time to mature. I needed to sit, rest, and just be silent and hear my own thoughts. And I did.

• 24:22Speaker 02

  And then I was released 16 months later, and I'm sober.

• 24:32Andrea Gunning?

  Adam was released from prison in February of 2023. In those first few months after his release, Adam was focused on building a new life, staying sober, finding a job, establishing a routine. But in May 2023, out of the blue, he got a strange text from a mutual friend of him and Carl.

• 24:54Speaker 02

  She messaged me, and she was like, you need to leave Carl alone. I don't understand why the first thing you do is you get out and you start harassing Carl. And I'm like, hold on. What are you talking about?

• 25:11Andrea Gunning?

  Adam and Carl had ceased communication shortly after Adam went to jail. It had been nearly a year and a half since a word had passed between them. But this mutual friend had evidence that Adam had sent messages.

• 25:24Speaker 02

  So she sent me screenshots. And the screenshots show a profile picture of me in my nursing uniform on Grindr.

• 25:34Andrea Gunning?

  And they showed texts between Adam and Carl's friend Paul, with Adam warning Paul that Carl was no good.

• 25:42Speaker 06

  He's a pathological liar and a sex addict that switches up his boys on the daily.

• 25:47Speaker 02

  I said, I can definitely reassure you. That is not me. One, I don't speak like that. And two, Carl knows me very well. I hate Grindr. Why would I be on Grindr?

• 25:59Andrea Gunning?

  Adam assured their friend he had no interest in communicating with Carl.

• 26:04Speaker 02

  I care about Carl. I wish him the best. But we're in two different stages of our life, and I'm trying to get my life together. I don't need this drama.

• 26:13Speaker 02

  What were you thinking? I literally was like, what the fuck is going on? Like, I was right about ready to go to bed. I stayed up half the damn night because I'm like, I just got out of prison.

• 26:26Andrea Gunning?

  Adam was being especially careful because he was on probation. He had to meet with his probation officer regularly. And if he was found to be violating any of the terms, he could be sent back to prison.

• 26:40Speaker 02

  In prison, I heard so many stories about people being on PO, and it's easy to get put back in jail. I thought Carl hated me from the whole situation with the car accident and for my being drunk, that whole relationship. I thought he had built up anger, and he was gonna come after me.

• 26:59Andrea Gunning?

  Maybe it sounded a little paranoid. But after all that he went through behind bars, Adam had PTSD. Going back there was his worst fear. Seeing this text, his mind started to spin. He worried that Carl was already trying to get his probation revoked. During a routine meeting with his probation officer, Adam's fear was validated.

• 27:25Speaker 02

  She's like, do you know a Paul, a Carl, and an Andrew? And I'm like, I know a Carl. And she's like, well, he is calling and saying you're harassing him. They're all calling and saying you're harassing them.

• 27:41Andrea Gunning?

  Adam was confused. He was being accused of harassment, but these people were strangers to him. He had no idea who Andrew was, and he knew Paul in name alone.

• 27:52Speaker 02

  And I told my PO that. I'm like, I never even met that man. And she's like, I know, calm down. I know you had no part of this because you have told me from day one that you think that something like this might happen. So we're gonna put it on the back burner for a little bit. If it happens again, I have to question you. I'm like, okay, cool. So a few weeks go by, and I get a phone call. And she's like, honey, it's happening again.

• 28:22Andrea Gunning?

  Adam felt a wave of panic. The PO told Adam about new messages he'd supposedly sent, but they couldn't have been him. These texts were sent at times he was down asleep or when he was in the middle of busy work shifts. Adam sent all the evidence he had.

• 28:38Speaker 02

  Watch logs from my sleep, my work schedule. She believed me. It was good.

• 28:45Andrea Gunning?

  But then, Adam got a new probation officer, one who didn't know him yet. Now he was receiving reports that Adam was harassing Carl. And law enforcement down in Kenosha was getting more and more convinced of Carl's version of events.

• 29:01Speaker 02

  I wanted to prove I was in the clear. I had nothing to do with anything. They changed my number, and I got off social media. And it was still happening. I had detectives calling me, telling me I was doing this stuff. And I said, no. I would never do anything like this, ever. They wouldn't listen. They would not listen.

• 29:26Andrea Gunning?

  He was being framed, and he didn't know where to turn for help.

• 29:31Speaker 02

  How do you report it to police when police are the ones telling you? You're doing this.

• 29:37Andrea Gunning?

  Adam remembers the day he realized just how serious these accusations had become.

• 29:43Speaker 02

  When I was served restraining orders from Andrew and Carl, I was fucking terrified. I got a lawyer.

• 29:53Andrea Gunning?

  Carl was taking this to court. To Adam, the possibility of returning to jail now felt closer than ever, especially once Adam saw the evidence against him, the calls and texts that he supposedly sent. Whoever was behind all this, they knew what they were doing.

• 30:10Speaker 02

  It looked so legit, the conversations. I asked my mom, I'm like, do you think I really did this?

• 30:19Andrea Gunning?

  His anxiety was so severe, and the messages were so convincing that he began questioning his own mind.

• 30:26Speaker 02

  I started to think that it was me, that I could have possibly done this and not be aware of it. I thought maybe I could have sundowning after four, and you start doing things that you don't know, you know? And my mom's like, no, you didn't do it. And I'm like, well, I'm starting to think maybe I'm not fully here.

• 30:50Speaker 02

  I thought maybe I was going crazy.

• 31:10Andrea Gunning?

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• 31:50Andrea Gunning?

  Download the One Pay app or visit onepay.com for banking that gives you more for what matters.

• 31:56Speaker 01

  One Pay is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services provided by Coastal Community Bank or Lead Bank, members FDIC. Builder card results may vary and aren't guaranteed. Learn more about banking through One Pay at onepay.com/podcast.

• 32:10Andrea Gunning?

  One thing I've learned from producing true crime these past few years is that life can change in an instant. Most people never expect to find themselves in a dangerous situation. They're heading home from work, walking the dog, meeting a friend, traveling alone, and they assume it's just another ordinary day, until it isn't. That's why I want you to know about Saber Smart Pepper Spray. Yes, it's designed to help protect you, but what makes it different is the connected app. If you're ever forced to use it in an emergency, it can alert your emergency contacts and share your location. So when every second matters, the people who care about you most aren't left wondering where you are. They're not left searching, they're not left guessing, they know where to start.

• 32:54Andrea Gunning?

  We can't always predict the unexpected, but we can be prepared for it. Learn more at saberred.com/betrayal. That's saberred.com/betrayal.

• 33:08Andrea Gunning?

  Adam's mother, Michelle, knew her son wasn't behind the harassment, not only because she trusted him, but because she was getting targeted too. She was getting calls from unknown numbers at all hours of the night, just like Carl and Drew were. And one evening around 11 o'clock, Michelle noticed a strange truck outside of her house.

• 33:29Speaker 04

  I saw the flashing lights first. What are these flashing lights doing? I went outside, I'm like, can I help you? Oh, yeah, we got a call that we're supposed to pick up a car. And I'm like, no, I don't have a car for you to pick up. I had no idea what was going on. There were phone calls being made to me at this time that were bizarre. But here's somebody standing in my front yard, coming to pick up a vehicle at 11 o'clock at night. And I'm just like, you gotta be kidding me. And then it kept getting more and more and more. And then I, locksmith's calling me, yeah, you need to have your locks changed? Just bizarre things.

• 34:12Andrea Gunning?

  In her mind, it was so clear that Adam wasn't behind this. Why would her own son harass her? They loved each other. Meanwhile, in Kenosha, Carl Bryan was sitting at his computer, continuing to add to his spreadsheet, certain that his ex-Adam was behind every message. But Adam and his mother had their own theory.

• 34:34Speaker 04

  I honestly thought Carl was involved. Carl was the only one I knew. And I was like, why is he taking it out on me?

• 34:41Andrea Gunning?

  And then in early November 2023, Michelle received an anonymous message that made her blood run cold.

• 34:49Speaker 06

  He knows what he's done, and he will pay the consequences for breaking the law. Can't wait to see it.

• 34:57Andrea Gunning?

  They were talking about her son. She was right there with Adam, terrified that he'd be sent back to jail for something he didn't do. And she was scared for her own safety.

• 35:09Speaker 04

  I was not sleeping. I was afraid to go outside. I took my gun outside with me because I didn't know what was going on. And then I started having nightmares about someone standing outside my window. I was always looking, always looking after that.

• 35:28Andrea Gunning?

  She knew her son would never put her through that kind of hell. Through it all, she stayed grounded in that truth. But more and more, Adam was losing his grip on reality.

• 35:41Speaker 02

  Because I had people telling me I'm doing this stuff, I thought I was losing my fucking mind. Like, what if I did do it and I just don't remember?

• 35:49Andrea Gunning?

  By this point, Adam had a new boyfriend, Josh. And Josh had a front row seat as Adam fell apart.

• 35:57Speaker 02

  Josh would reassure me all the time, babe, I was with you. You didn't do any of that. And I'm like, Josh, how is it that all of these people are telling me I'm doing something and I didn't do it?

• 36:10Speaker 05

  What is that like, to feel that someone else is recreating reality?

• 36:17Speaker 02

  I felt my skin crawl every day. I was paranoid. I would lock the door when Josh would leave. I started drinking again, which only made matters worse, you know? And then when I did drink, I'm like, did I do something when I was drunk? I had panic attacks. I lost a lot of weight. I was vomiting every day. I was sick.

• 36:49Andrea Gunning?

  Adam was constantly looking over his shoulder.

• 36:52Speaker 02

  I would be at Goodwill with Josh and hand him my card and say, I have to go. I'm freaking, I can't do this. He saw me get up with a butcher knife out of bed because I heard a noise. I was a cat on a tin roof. I heard a noise and I had a fucking knife in my hand.

• 37:14Speaker 02

  Like, I was losing my fucking mind, to the point where Josh was like, let's get you some help. We're gonna get you in a treatment program where you can get help with your alcoholism and also work on this.

• 37:30Andrea Gunning?

  So Adam entered an intensive outpatient program.

• 37:34Speaker 02

  And those counselors were amazing. One of them's Danielle, and she was so kind. And she talked me through to reality, like, this is reality, and this is what's in your head right now. And there's no way you could be the one doing it.

• 37:50Andrea Gunning?

  By then, Adam wasn't just trying to prove his innocence. He was trying to convince himself of the truth. But it would take something happening in court for him to finally recognize what was real.

• 38:02Speaker 02

  So I had to go to court after hiring a lawyer for these restraining orders. And when I went to court down in Kenosha, they said, oh, I'm sorry, Carl and Andrew dismissed the restraining orders.

• 38:16Andrea Gunning?

  There wasn't enough evidence connecting Adam to the harassment. You'd think Adam would be happy to hear the news. Instead, he was outraged.

• 38:25Speaker 02

  I'm like, fuck, no. These motherfuckers are fucking with me and my fucking mental status now.

• 38:32Andrea Gunning?

  To Adam, this was proof that Carl was inventing all of this, just to get back at him. As much as Carl was convinced that Adam was the mastermind behind the harassment, Adam was now equally convinced that Carl was trying to destroy him.

• 38:48Speaker 02

  They're trying to get me put back in prison. And then I realized, I'm not going crazy.

• 38:55Andrea Gunning?

  Towards the end of 2023, things seemed to quiet down. Adam didn't hear much, but after the new year, he went to his regular probation meeting.

• 39:05Speaker 02

  And I go in, I check in, and I sit down in the lobby, and I see all these police coming in. And I thought in my head, oh, fuck, what now?

• 39:19Speaker 02

  And I met George for the first time.

• 39:24Andrea Gunning?

  He's referring to Detective Allison George.

• 39:27Speaker 02

  And she said, are you Adam? And I said, yeah. And she said, give me your phone. And I'm like, okay. And she's like, do you know why I'm here? And I'm like, I kind of have a feeling this might be regarding the Carl situation. And she says, do you mind if we go down to the station? I have a few questions for you. And I'm like, that's fine. I'll do whatever you need.

• 39:50Andrea Gunning?

  Very quickly into questioning Adam, Detective George brought up the Cubs hat. You've heard about this hat before. It's the one Carl received so many taunting texts about, the one he knew Adam had taken. Adam couldn't believe detectives were questioning him about a baseball cap.

• 40:09Speaker 02

  When I moved out, I took the damn hat because I thought I looked cute in it. That's it.

• 40:16Andrea Gunning?

  He'd forgotten all about it.

• 40:18Speaker 02

  I think I was packing drunk. Like, how am I supposed to remember a hat from over two years ago? And then Detective George says, if we find this hat in your house, you are coming into custody. And I'm like, okay. And then they left. And I'm trying to think, and as I'm sitting there, and I'm like, do I have this fucking hat?

• 40:39Andrea Gunning?

  You heard this earlier. He did have the hat. And when detectives searched his partner's house, where he was living, they found it.

• 40:48Speaker 02

  In my basement, in a frickin' storage tote, on my storage rack, back in the corner, in the dark, they found this hat. And she said, well, Adam, turn around. We are going to take you into custody. We have to take you to the Kenosha County Jail. We will be booked and see a judge. Yes. I was kind of just in shock.

• 41:11Andrea Gunning?

  It was everything he had feared, losing probation, being returned to custody, to a cage. A crime was being committed against him, and he was powerless to do anything about it.

• 41:24Speaker 02

  What can I do?

• 41:26Andrea Gunning?

  For detectives, it all added up. The story about the hat just made sense. Still, Detective George let Adam know the investigation was not over.

• 41:38Speaker 02

  I can tell you that I'm gonna be digging a lot deeper into this. And if there is someone else who is causing it...

• 41:43Speaker 05

  Whether it's someone else also bothering your mom, I will find out. Okay.

• 41:49Andrea Gunning?

  Detectives placed him in the car for the drive to Kenosha. You've probably guessed by now that Adam is a spiritual person. And as he sat in the back of the police car, Adam steadied himself. He heard a sign.

• 42:05Speaker 02

  On the way down, there was Christian music playing on the radio. And I felt like God was telling me, just calm down and be okay. Just pray. And I didn't get into the cell until like midnight. So when I got into the cell, I just sat there and I prayed. I'm like, God, please let this truth come out. Let the truth come out.

• 42:25Speaker 02

  Next thing I know Detective George is pulling me out of the cell. And she says, we need to talk in my office. And I'm like, okay. And as we're walking down, she goes, I know it wasn't you.

• 42:42Andrea Gunning?

  You see Detective George had told Adam she was going to dig deeper into the case. And she did. Back when she first joined the investigation, she had subpoenaed the spoofing apps used to make the fake texts and calls. They would reveal the real name and number of whoever was behind the harassment.

• 43:00Speaker 05

  Unfortunately, that process takes some time.

• 43:03Andrea Gunning?

  Originally Detective George expected the answer to support their working theory that it was Adam, which is why she moved ahead with his arrest.

• 43:12Speaker 05

  It was actually the day after we arrested Mr. Mejia that I received back the results from one of the spoof companies.

• 43:19Andrea Gunning?

  And the records changed everything.

• 43:24Speaker 05

  In every big case, you have a moment where it's like, holy shit. And everything falls together. And usually it is the best moment in the world. But in this case, it wasn't. After I got those subpoena records back, I grabbed Nick Morrow.

• 43:39Andrea Gunning?

  Her detective partner.

• 43:40Speaker 05

  And I said, we gotta do something right now because we had Adam Mejia sitting in jail for something he really didn't do and had nothing to do with. I started making phone calls. I called the attorney's office and I said, hey, we got the wrong guy. And I said, I am 100% sure you need to release him right now.

• 43:57Andrea Gunning?

  She herself went to the Kenosha County Jail and let him out of his cell. When she told him he was free to go.

• 44:04Speaker 02

  I just started bawling and I still get emotional talking about it. That was probably the biggest blessing she could have ever told me because there's been so much mental discombobulation in my head where I thought it was me. I thought it was Carl. I didn't know who it was. Now it's back to me and I'm in jail and now it's not you. We know it's not you.

• 44:28Speaker 02

  And I just lost my shit. I lost my shit.

• 44:33Speaker 02

  I'm like, what do you mean? Who is it? She's like, I cannot tell you right now, Adam. I'll let you know in three days when I arrest the person.

• 44:44Speaker 02

  She goes, but I do want to tell you that this is the most fucked up situation she's ever been in her career. She's like, I thought it was you. I literally thought it was you.

• 45:01Andrea Gunning?

  On the next episode of Betrayal, detectives go after the real perpetrator. What's on that phone that you think we know about that you don't want us knowing about? What do you mean? Like, well, because like I don't. You know what I mean, dude? I don't mean to be rude, but we just told you that your phone number is being associated with a spoof thing and it's a little bit more than just one time doing it.

• 45:29Andrea Gunning?

  If you would like to reach out to the Betrayal team or want to tell us your betrayal story, email us at [email protected]. That is [email protected]. Or follow us on Instagram at BetrayalPod or me at It's Andrea Gunning. To access our newsletter and additional content and to connect with the Betrayal community, join our Substack at betrayal.substack.com. We're grateful for your support. One way to show support is by subscribing to our show on Apple Podcasts. And don't forget to rate and review. Five star reviews go a long way. A big thank you to all of our listeners.

• 46:07Andrea Gunning?

  Betrayal is a production of Glass Podcasts, a division of Glass Entertainment Group in partnership with iHeart Podcasts. The show was executive produced by Nancy Glass, hosted and produced by me, Andrea Gunning, written and produced by Carrie Hartman and Caitlin Golden. Our story editor is Monique LaBord, also produced by Ben Fetterman. Our production manager is Kristen Mulcory. Our associate producer is Leah Jablow. Additional support by Curry Richmond and Olivia Hewitt. Our iHeart team is Ally Perry and Jessica Krychek. Audio editing and voice acting by Tanner Robbins. Mixing and mastering by Matt Del Vecchio. And special thanks to Carl Bryan, Adam Mejia, Matt Rolsey and their communities. Betrayal's theme composed by Oliver Baines.

• 46:53Andrea Gunning?

  Music library provided by MyB Music. And for more podcasts from iHeart, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

• 47:08Andrea Gunning?

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• 47:44Speaker 01

  OnePay is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services provided by Coastal Community Bank or Lead Bank, members FDIC. Builder card results may vary and aren't guaranteed. Learn more about banking through OnePay at onepay.com/podcast.

• 47:58Speaker 03

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• 48:38Speaker 05

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• 49:17Speaker 05

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• 49:26Speaker 03

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• 49:33Speaker 06

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• 49:56Andrea Gunning?

  This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed Human.