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Betrayal- Secrets & Lies Season 1 Episode 6
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00:02My husband was making my dreams come true.
00:07They had a very idyllic life.
00:10What are you doing, Sean?
00:12Relaxing.
00:13I used to lay in bed at night and go,
00:16our life is so perfect.
00:20But that came at a cost.
00:22He starts to see the writing on the wall.
00:24He destroyed my universe.
00:26A warning tonight to be careful who you trust.
00:31He told me the whole time we've been married,
00:34I've been living a secret double life.
00:38It doesn't feel real.
00:41I'm Sean Merriman.
00:43My husband's a dark, horrible, greedy criminal.
00:51Life is ripped out from under you.
00:54Nobody can believe this.
00:56A neighbor was so angry with Sean.
00:59He had a gun.
01:01It was a terrifying situation.
01:03Everything is racing.
01:05The end was near.
01:28I'm Andrea Gunning, and this is Betrayal.
01:30A show about the people we trust the most
01:32and the deceptions that change everything.
01:37Andrea Merriman fell in love with a charming and ambitious man
01:41who made her family rich in more ways than one.
01:43But a shocking confession reveals that everything she thought she knew
01:47about her husband was a lie.
01:50Andrea, it's so good to see you again.
01:52It's good to chat with you again.
01:54How would you define the betrayal that happened to you?
01:59The ultimate betrayal on every front.
02:02The man I married turned out to be capable of things I could never have comprehended.
02:21I grew up mostly in Grand Junction, Colorado.
02:27I'm the oldest of five.
02:32We had an amazing childhood.
02:36We grew up with lots of opportunities and wonderful parents.
02:42We were a household of faith.
02:45We belonged to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
02:50So when I was going to college, I was accepted to Brigham Young University.
02:58I worked part-time in the office at the apartment complex
03:03that we lived in as college students.
03:07And one day, a boy named Sean Merriman showed up to pay his rent.
03:13He had a reputation of being a very nice guy, a successful guy.
03:19He drove a BMW.
03:21He shopped at the best stores.
03:23He had the finest shoes.
03:26I just thought he was a very nice person.
03:29But I also thought he was really intelligent.
03:32And that was attractive to me.
03:35But also, my faith is something very important to me.
03:39So I was totally happy that Sean was a man of God.
03:52Andrea was raised her whole life in the Mormon Church.
03:55And they put a huge emphasis on community and shared values.
03:58So it was important to her to find someone that was in the Church as well.
04:05He would make fun, friendly comments when he came into the office.
04:09And then he started asking me out.
04:13He took me to concerts.
04:17Took me to really amazing restaurants.
04:20He took me to do everything he knew I loved.
04:26Andrea introduced me to Sean when we were both in college.
04:31I was very happy for her.
04:33They seemed to work well.
04:35They seemed to have similar desires.
04:36They seemed to have similar ambitions.
04:38And there was nothing to dislike about Sean.
04:41He seemed to have her well-being forefront of his mind.
04:48Sean proposed to me in California on a beach because he knew the beach is my favorite place.
04:55I didn't take a lot of time to think about it.
05:02Our wedding took place in the Jordan River Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
05:11I was preparing to have a happy life and I felt like the future was ours.
05:18Prior to dating Sean, my goals were strong.
05:23I had gone to school with the idea that I would then go to law school.
05:28But after we got married, I decided to stop at a bachelor's degree and focus on supporting him.
05:38We moved to Denver, Colorado for his career.
05:45He went to work at an investment firm.
05:49And he had a lot of success at it.
05:52He worked just the last quarter of 1990 as a stockbroker.
05:58And he made about $50,000 in that last three months.
06:02The $200,000 that Sean made in his first year alone would be the equivalent of nearly a half a
06:08million dollars today.
06:09That number is an astonishing amount for someone so new in the investment world.
06:14Here's Sean, who's really happy because he just landed another big client.
06:19Let's zoom in on that smile.
06:23Sean's reputation was growing and he was getting lucrative job offers from other firms.
06:28He moved around to a couple of different firms and he would always get a large signing bonus.
06:34Getting ready for a meeting.
06:35I love this shirt on him.
06:37Having a healthy breakfast.
06:41One company would give him $50,000 or $60,000 or $70,000 to go work for them.
06:45Ho, ho, ho.
06:47And then he'd be there a year and another one would pay him another big bonus to go and work
06:53for them.
06:53So he was making a good living.
06:56With the success of Sean's job, the couple felt ready to start a family.
07:03When we married, we talked about that we wanted a large family.
07:08So when our first baby is born, I thought I had it all.
07:12Hi, pumpkin.
07:14Here is Sarah.
07:15She's just about two months old.
07:20How are you?
07:20What are you doing?
07:21Good.
07:21I'm stirring paint for Sarah's bed.
07:24I was really excited for her.
07:26I was having children at the same time and so our kids were friends.
07:31Andy, what are you doing?
07:32I'm playing with Sarah.
07:34Oh, how nice.
07:35Seemed like they had a very idyllic life.
07:37There's Andy.
07:38Wave, Andy.
07:39They had four children.
07:40Hi.
07:41Andrea just really loved being with her family and spending time together.
07:49But the thing that really stands out was the traveling.
07:54We definitely got to go to some fun places.
07:58Where are you?
07:59Zurich.
08:00In what country?
08:01Africa.
08:02Switzerland.
08:03We're in Helsinki, Finland.
08:05Sweating in Russia.
08:07My mom always thought it was important to learn about different cultures.
08:12In the limo.
08:14Going out for a night on the town in Vegas.
08:17Sean's happy and content.
08:19They traveled a lot and they accumulated things that most wealthy people do.
08:28He started to collect art, cars and toys for entertainment.
08:33Riding on the Harley.
08:39Eventually, he came to me one day and said, you know, maybe I ought to start my own company.
08:46He started his own investment company that he named Market Street Advisors.
08:53As he starts his investment firm, he upgrades our house to another home.
09:00He said, I'm going to be working from home.
09:03This will give me the space to eventually build an office outside the house, but on our property.
09:10The couple moved to a community called Stage Run in Aurora.
09:17The Merrimans lived in our same neighborhood.
09:22And their house was amazing.
09:28They had the biggest lot in the neighborhood.
09:31Three or four acres.
09:34One thing I remembered about Andrea's house is that she had a grand piano right when you walked in and
09:39she could play it beautifully.
09:47She loved the sun shining in.
09:49It was beautiful and bright.
09:50It was probably the nicest house in our neighborhood.
09:57Even though Sean's working from home, he still had to build his list of clients,
10:02which meant that he had to travel and be away from his family.
10:06At first, Sean traveled a lot for old car clubs.
10:12And then he would go on these golf trips with wealthy golfers.
10:18He was networking and making friends.
10:21A lot of them were older people that would be able to invest money with him.
10:27He also started and ran his own investment club.
10:32Hi, I'm Sean Merriman.
10:34I'm getting ready to go whitetail hunting.
10:39He also started hunting and started doing it intensely.
10:50Here we are in Kamchatka, Russia with my first ever moose.
10:55He would travel to South Africa, to Zambia, to Namibia, wherever there were trophy animals
11:03that he wanted to hunt.
11:05And he would always say, wealthy people can afford to do this,
11:10so I will be there with them for a few weeks.
11:12I'll get to know them, and I will get their money to invest.
11:19Last chance to make any money here, buddy.
11:28One trip that stands out in my mind, he was traveling in Tanzania.
11:35He came back, and he talked about how he'd been hunting, and they were on a mountainside,
11:42and it was a very narrow trail with a drop-off.
11:51One of the local trackers that was guiding him slipped and was going to plunge off the side of this
11:58mountain to his death.
12:01Sean grabbed his hand, grabbed his arm, pulled him to safety, saved his life, and he was the hero in
12:10Africa.
12:11But then the very first thing he did when he got home was he went straight to a doctor to
12:18be tested.
12:21Saying, well, you know, I cut myself up when I was saving this man.
12:27Looking back, I have reason to believe that when he was in Africa, he was doing more than trying to
12:36save a tracker,
12:37and that was why he returned home and got tested.
12:50After one of Sean's hunting trips, he tells Andrea this wild story of how he saved a local hunting guide's
12:56life
12:56from tumbling down a cliff, but Andrea had her suspicions.
13:00He wasn't a superhero.
13:03Andrea thinks that this heroic story is really just a cover-up for some extracurricular activities.
13:09Looking back, it should have been a red flag.
13:13The wild stories never actually happened when I was with him,
13:17but I just believed him because I was married to him.
13:26Is Dad wearing your same hat?
13:29So Sean was always busy working, or he's got church stuff at night as bishop of our local church congregation
13:36that's similar to a pastor, but he was very supportive to help our kids develop their talents.
13:47For example, our oldest son played on a baseball team.
13:53Here's Andy in his first championship baseball game.
13:56Sean had bought a pitching machine and batting cage, and not just any pitching machine,
14:02the same pitching machine that the Colorado Rockies used so that our son could practice batting.
14:14So they have everything that they need in the world.
14:17But to Andrea, at this point in her life, the one thing that she wants is for her family to
14:22own their home outright.
14:25He would say, what do you want for your birthday?
14:27What do you want for Christmas?
14:28And I kept saying, I want my house paid off so that I know I always have a home.
14:37And so he did.
14:39He paid off my house, and that was a huge moment for me.
14:46Sean built a big structure in the back of his house for his office,
14:51but also as like a museum to all of his collectibles.
14:54It was pretty incredible.
14:57He had his own little man cave before man caves got to be real big.
15:01And I always remember thinking, golly, how cool is this?
15:03I would spend all my time down here.
15:07It was a 4,800 square foot building that had a second story on top.
15:14The second story was his Market Street advisor's office.
15:18And then if you went down, there was a wood shop.
15:23Then he had an auto shop.
15:25He had an art collection worth six to seven million dollars.
15:31He started collecting all the religious etchings that Rembrandt ever did.
15:35I think at one time he owned almost all of them.
15:37Then he had what he called the showroom.
15:40And in that were his fancy cars lined up.
15:44He had baseball memorabilia.
15:46I was in his house one time.
15:47He showed me a baseball sign by Babe Ruth.
15:50And on the far side were literally hundreds of trophy animals.
15:56That's my kudu.
15:58There's an elk.
15:59My kid buffalo.
16:00One African leopard.
16:02I usually would not go down there.
16:04It was not a fun place for a little kid to go.
16:09Sean was loving his new man cave.
16:11And he was spending all of his time there.
16:13But it came at a cost.
16:17Andrea took care of the kids.
16:19But they weren't allowed back there.
16:20That was his place.
16:21He had to, you know, be serious about his work.
16:25Sean only made time to be present for five or ten minutes a day with our family.
16:33We just didn't spend a lot of time together like we would before.
16:39When we did, there would be stories about trades he made, like his success.
16:46Even though Andrea was appreciative of everything that Sean has done for the family financially,
16:51she started to think, was it all worth it?
16:54I went to him and said, we don't need any more money.
16:58We need a dad at home.
17:00And he's like, I can't.
17:03I felt like that was crazy.
17:07I was totally happy living one reality,
17:10not realizing there might be another taking place at the same time.
17:26Sean is fully immersed in building his business, and that took a tremendous time away from Andrea and the kids.
17:35But for Sean, more clients meant more money.
17:38When Sean started his business, he wanted high-value clients that could invest $250,000 or more.
17:46But over time, people from the church or family members that didn't have as much money approached him about investing.
17:58I met Sean Merriman through the Auburn Court Duesenberg Car Club,
18:03and I found out that a couple of the club members joined his investment club,
18:07and they said, this guy is great, man.
18:10You should get in with him.
18:11Minimum investment was $25,000.
18:14Sean with Matthew watching hunting videos.
18:17All of my siblings, my two sisters, my two brothers, had invested money with them.
18:21He always handled my mom's money, and she was always very happy with it.
18:27I had a little stash that I called my Europe money.
18:29I was going to go on a trip to Europe.
18:31So I thought, invest that so it's not just sitting in the bank.
18:36Over time, I started little savings accounts for each of my kids, and I would build them up.
18:42And he'd say, can I borrow those accounts?
18:44I want to invest it for them.
18:47And I would turn it over to him.
18:50When my mom passed away, I had a small inheritance that I invested with him as well.
18:59Every month we got a statement, and we're doing very well.
19:03Don't know what he's doing, but he's doing something right.
19:06When I would get the statements, I was gaining almost $1,000 a month.
19:12It was crazy to me.
19:14Wow, my money is doing something.
19:16This is investing.
19:19Everything is going great.
19:21Sean is making a lot of money for his clients, and he's also making a lot of money for his
19:25family.
19:25And then the economy starts to change.
19:29Now, this is right around when the housing crisis started around 2008, and the market's tanking.
19:35The National Association of Realtors reported the worst month-to-month drop in existing home sales
19:39since they started keeping track in the late 90s.
19:42The ripple effects from the housing slump is, in fact, taking its toll on the U.S. economy.
19:48By that time, we probably had put maybe $50,000, $75,000 in with him.
19:52Well, he kept making money, according to the monthly statements.
19:58We were at a Christmas party for the classic car club.
20:10And another investor came up to me and says, Tim, what do you think about Sean?
20:14The market is tanking, and we're still making money hand over fist.
20:18And I says, yeah, it's kind of questionable.
20:22And another investor came up to us at the same party, and he says, no way.
20:27I mean, Sean is a bishop in the church.
20:29We put a lot of money in. They were doing very well.
20:32So we're staying with them.
20:33And we left it there.
20:38While Sean's clients are convinced that he's managing their investments well,
20:41the financial market begins to freefall.
20:45Wall Street today took a nosedive sharp enough to make investors' ears pop.
20:50We are in the midst of a serious financial crisis.
20:53Our entire economy is in danger.
20:56My name is Dave Nulenswander.
20:58I'm a securities investor for the state of Utah.
21:01And my job is to investigate and prevent fraud.
21:06What happened with the stock market in 2008, everything dropped.
21:10It didn't really matter what you were invested in.
21:13Sean starts to see the writing on the wall.
21:15I would imagine the same thing was happening to Sean's clients.
21:18They were calling, saying, hey, get me out of the market.
21:20Send me a check.
21:21I need my money back.
21:24March 18, 2009, I got the kids off to school, and my phone rings.
21:32And it's Sean.
21:33And he said, Andrea, I need you to come home.
21:39That was really uncharacteristic of him.
21:44I drive home.
21:45I went in.
21:48And he kind of looked at me.
21:50And he said, I've been living a secret double life.
22:04Sean was managing investments for clients, friends, and family for nearly 15 years.
22:09And everyone was thrilled with the results until the financial crisis of 2008.
22:16Sean said, my company, Market Street Advisors, is a sham.
22:22I was running a Ponzi scheme.
22:28I am floored.
22:29It was never a moment I expected to happen in my life.
22:36This man who I believe is a good man, an honest man, a God-fearing man, an upstanding member of
22:43the community.
22:44In reality, he's a dark, awful, horrible, greedy criminal.
22:51It was just surreal.
22:57A Ponzi scheme basically is where someone gives you their money to invest, but then this money is then going
23:05out the back door to pay for someone else who is invested as well.
23:10So it's a continual process.
23:12You need to bring in new money so that you can go and take care of people who want their
23:18money back.
23:21Ponzi schemes can operate for years as long as they're a stream of new investors to keep the money flowing.
23:26But once withdrawals exceed the contributions, the entire structure collapses, leaving investors with nothing.
23:34During that era, there was a rash of Ponzi schemes.
23:37Sean Merriman's case came to light in the same general time frame as Bernie Madoff, one of the most famous
23:42Ponzi schemes.
23:43Fixture on Wall Street, Bernie Madoff arrested by the FBI.
23:47It was just shocking and overwhelming.
23:50My mind was just reeling.
23:53Then he said, I hired an attorney.
23:55I went and met him and told him what I'd been doing.
23:59And we went and met with representatives of the federal government and revealed my crimes to them.
24:07He destroyed my universe.
24:11After the first $400,000, he never invested a dime.
24:16He just spent the money.
24:17And he knew that there's just no defense to that.
24:19So he confessed.
24:21But he didn't get arrested right away.
24:23The investigators needed time to collect evidence and build a case.
24:27So it would be weeks before he would be charged and months before he could be sentenced.
24:32I didn't know what I was going to do.
24:34And I couldn't comprehend anything.
24:36Everything is racing.
24:37But I remember saying to him, well, at least the house has paid off.
24:42So the kids and I would have a place to live.
24:45And he said, no, you don't understand.
24:47The house is gone.
24:48The cars are gone.
24:49The savings are gone.
24:51The investments are gone.
24:52Everything of value was frozen and scheduled for seizure by the federal government.
24:59And that was the worst moment.
25:09I just felt like I had fallen into the center of the earth and there was not going to be
25:15any way out.
25:19And in that moment, I just thought, I got to run.
25:23I have to get out of here.
25:24And I ran to my car and picked up the phone to call for help.
25:31My first call was to my sister.
25:37I was so stunned.
25:39I sat there.
25:41I sat there for so long that she thought I hung up on her.
25:46Wow.
25:46That means he was going to go to prison.
25:49And she would probably lose everything.
25:51And that is when I just, I was so, so blown away.
25:58Sorry.
25:58I didn't even think I'd get emotional about it.
26:04And I think in hindsight now, I see how devastating it was and how scary that would be as a
26:15mother of four kids to find out all that was happening and that your whole life is being ripped out
26:23from under you.
26:26And there were other innocent victims at home.
26:31Their children were ages three to 16.
26:35And as hard as this conversation was going to be, they needed to understand what was about to unfold.
26:43That night, we're all in our family room.
26:51And he said, well, I need to tell you that I've made a little mistake.
26:58And I'm over there from the other side going, you have lied, not just once, but many times.
27:05And then he says, I have stolen some money.
27:10And I'm over there going, $20 million.
27:15And I'll be going away for a little while.
27:18And I'm over there saying, to federal prison for many years.
27:23Like, I just felt like he was minimizing all of it.
27:28The kids were shocked and stunned.
27:32They all were crying.
27:34And then my nine-year-old said, wait, does this mean you're going to divorce dad?
27:44When you're nine years old, you don't really understand things like that.
27:49You go from just being a normal kid, thinking life is life, to confusion.
27:55It doesn't feel real when something like that happens.
28:00That's how crime is.
28:03It is a mess.
28:05And the fallout is always so much more.
28:09It's a ripple effect.
28:11And it doesn't just hurt you.
28:13It destroys marriages, families, lives, friendships, relationships, sometimes for all time.
28:25It didn't take long for Sean's investors to find out that they were victims of a multi-million dollar Ponzi
28:31scheme.
28:33I had just flown into the airport from New York, and I was on my way home in my car,
28:38and I got a call from another investor.
28:40He said, hey, Tim, it's all a Ponzi scheme.
28:44We lost all our money.
28:47He did wreck a lot of lives.
28:49He stole a lot of money from investors, stole a lot of money from family.
28:54In situations like this, people can lose their minds, and a lot of dangerous things can happen.
29:08One night, a neighbor who lost a substantial sum of money, he was so angry with Sean, and he had
29:18a gun.
29:22And he came over to our house, climbed the steps of the front porch, made it to our front door,
29:27ready to blow someone away.
29:40Over the 15 years that Sean ran this Ponzi scheme, he had dozens of investors that invested a million dollars
29:46or more.
29:47And now it was all gone.
29:50Initially, there's this shock.
29:52Nobody can believe what's happening.
29:54Then there's this anger that comes, and the anger gets kind of directed at the whole family.
30:02For one investor, who was actually a neighbor of theirs, the loss was too great to bear.
30:08So he went over to the Merriman home with a gun.
30:12I remember thinking to myself, the end was near.
30:20I am there with kids looking at me.
30:25None of us had any idea of what was happening.
30:28It was a terrifying situation.
30:32Luckily, this man eventually came to his senses, put the gun down, and walked away.
30:41To me, I was like, this is craziness.
30:43It is.
30:43I don't understand this at all.
30:44And I remember thinking, the whole thing is ugly.
30:49I've had a chance to go and listen to some of the victims, and it's heart-wrenching to hear them.
30:56This was their life savings.
30:58They have no more retirement.
31:00In my experience, a lot of people never really get over it.
31:04Our friend, they said, we trusted him, you know, Mormon, Bishop, and all this other stuff.
31:09We trusted him with all this money, and now we lost it all.
31:13Word of Sean's crime started to spread, and news media started to take interest in the story.
31:19Among the swindled investors are even some of Merriman's own neighbors.
31:22Some lost their retirement savings.
31:24We're told in at least one case, a man is going to lose his home.
31:28Very sad.
31:29The people who had invested with him, I think, really trusted him and thought that they were friends with him.
31:33I remember feeling complete humiliation that everything related to the demise of my family was playing out on national television.
31:44The media dubbed Sean the Mormon Madoff.
31:49That was a combo of his religion and the infamous Ponzi schemer Bernie Madoff.
31:56A few weeks later, federal agents show up at Andrea's home.
32:01They just went through every room of the house looking for things of value.
32:07They start taking everything.
32:09The cars, the boats, the artwork, anything worth money.
32:14And these items were going to auction in hopes that it could pay back Sean's victims.
32:19There were federal agents, government vehicles, all on her property.
32:23I mean, it was a spectacle for her community.
32:27My neighbors took to gathering right next door and they would just drink and they're all watching the horror going
32:36on at our house, laughing, joking like they're at a party.
32:42At the same time, I remember Sean saying to me, well, at least you had a good life.
32:48At least you got to see a lot of fun places.
32:50At least you got a lot of fun vacations out of it.
32:53Here we got some of the beautiful birds.
32:56And there we have the beautiful family in Africa.
33:00And I just lost it on him.
33:02I said, I don't love that I did any of that.
33:06Everything was so tainted, even the memories.
33:12I looked at him and said, you realize I have to divorce you.
33:21And he didn't believe that that was necessary.
33:25And I said, no, no.
33:27With all you've done, all I know is divorce is the consequence of that.
33:36Andrea realizes there's nothing left for her in Colorado.
33:42I knew that I had to figure out where I was going to live, where I was going to go,
33:47make arrangements for a house, try to find a job.
33:51She was putting stuff in the car to drive to Utah to look for a place to live.
33:58And so I packed a bag and I came with her.
34:03Sorry.
34:06I drove with her to Utah to be her friend.
34:10I drove away without a backward glance to the neighborhood.
34:17And what I arrived to in Utah was I moved into my brother's basement.
34:24It was embarrassing.
34:26It was sad.
34:28It was frustrating.
34:31From where she had been in her life.
34:35I was quite a step down.
34:39Andrea's life has fallen apart.
34:41But there was one thing that was about to happen that she did not expect.
34:53As Andrea attempts to rebuild her life in Utah, back in Colorado, federal prosecutors are building their case against Sean.
35:02During this time, Andrea's divorce is finalized.
35:04And she decides that she's not going to go back to Denver for Sean's sentencing hearing.
35:09She called and asked me, can you please go to the courthouse to see what his sentencing would be.
35:17It was hard to be in that courtroom.
35:20Sean was shackled and in his yellow jumpsuit.
35:23And he said, come here.
35:25Joel, can you come here?
35:27He just told me to tell Andrea he loved her.
35:30And it was just weird.
35:34I just turned around and walked to the back of the courtroom and sat there waiting for the sentencing.
35:40Several of the investors, the car guys, were there.
35:44Sean was crying at one time.
35:48I feel like he's very sad that he got caught.
35:50Not that he ran a Ponzi scheme.
35:54I don't think that he's ever been remorseful about that.
36:00His sentence was 12 and a half years in federal prison, convicted of stealing more than $20 million.
36:07He had around 40 or so victims.
36:13He even took his parents' money and he lost his parents' money.
36:18The fact that that was not impacting Sean really tells you kind of the inner workings of his moral compass.
36:26In addition to the prison sentence, Sean was required to pay back the more than $20 million that he stole.
36:32The sale of the assets that were seized raised about $5 million.
36:35But that wasn't enough to pay back everybody.
36:39I've never seen any restitution at all.
36:44I didn't expect to see any restitution.
36:46The million dollar guys, they're still waiting for money.
36:50They're still extremely angry.
36:53And I don't blame them.
36:54He can go to prison and pay his time, but his victims are sentenced to something for the rest of
37:02their lives.
37:06Despite going to prison, Sean was desperate to still be a part of his kids' lives.
37:11My first birthday when he was in prison, he called me and I just remember he was crying, couldn't stop
37:18saying sorry.
37:19And then reality kind of set in like, yeah, he's in prison.
37:23So you don't have the same relationship he once did.
37:27As hard as it was, Andrea and her family worked to move on from what had happened.
37:36Post-betrayal, I was really fortunate.
37:40I got offered a job in a down economy and friends helped me arrange a place to stay.
37:48So I had a house taken care of.
37:50And then eventually I was able to earn a master's degree.
37:56I never realized this could be me.
38:03I'd met a few men in the years since my divorce.
38:06Every one of them, when they found out I was basically in poverty, were like, no thank you.
38:12But the voice in my head kept saying, don't give up.
38:16I'm so glad I didn't give up because the voice in my head turned out to be right.
38:24We met for lunch and she was so easy to talk to.
38:29I was attracted to how smart she was, how talented she was, her life experiences, and I think she's beautiful.
38:41Dave had worked in the financial world his entire career.
38:45And although he didn't work on Sean's case, he understood what Andrea had gone through.
38:50And that created a unique bond between the two of them.
38:53It was just a great courtship, very easy to fall in love.
38:59We've been married going on four years now.
39:03Andrea is very happy right now.
39:05She just started to shine again.
39:08Andrea continues her healing journey from this betrayal.
39:10And her husband, Dave, takes pride in taking down perpetrators like Sean.
39:16He's working and doing that every day, and I love it.
39:19Make sure that what happened to me never happens to anyone else.
39:28Andrea, what do you feel are some of the lessons that you learned through the experience?
39:35The biggest lessons I learned were we absolutely can't control all the experiences that come our way.
39:42But I just don't believe that we can or should let them stop us.
39:49So many people are living hard experiences.
39:55And maybe instead of judging people, we should see what we can do to lift and inspire someone else
40:03and help someone else make their own comeback and overcome their own loss or their own betrayal.
40:10And then beyond that, we just each have to be good people and make sure we're never the one that
40:16commits a betrayal.
40:39So once you ever commit to this failure, you just kind of can't record all yourselves.
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