Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
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Hi listeners, I'm Andrea Gunning, host of Betrayal, and I'm excited to share the riveting story of Season 5 with you. I'm also excited to tell you that you can now get access to all episodes of Season 1, Season 2, Season 3, and Season 4 of Betrayal, and every single episode of Betrayal Season 5 100% ad-free.
And access all episodes of Betrayal Season 5 one week early through the iHeart True Crime Plus subscription, available exclusively on Apple Podcasts. Plus, you'll get access to other chart-topping true crime shows you love, like Creating a Con, the story of BitConned, Paper Ghosts, Spiked in Massacre, Murder Homes, Unrestorable, The Godmother, The Girlfriends, and more. So don't wait.
Head to Apple Podcasts, search for iHeart True Crime Plus, and subscribe today.
People who didn't do what John of God wanted them to do, they usually disappeared.
John of God was once Brazil's most famous spiritual healer. But in this limited series podcast, we uncover the darker truth behind his global empire of faith and fear. From Exactly Right and Adonde Media, this is Two-Faced, John of God. Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Everyone needs to take care of their mental health, even running back Bijan Robinson.
When I'm on the field and feeling the pressure, I usually just take a deep breath. When I'm just breathing and seeing what's in front of me, everything just slows down. It just makes me feel great before I run the play.
Just like Bijan, we all need a strong mental game on and off the field. Make a game plan for your mental health at loveyourmindplaybook.org. Love your mind. Brought to you by the Huntsman Mental Health Foundation, the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation, and the Ad Council.
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Chapter 2: What led to Saskia's health decline before her wedding?
From her sister Marisa's perspective, Chris wasn't helping. In her first marriage, they partied too much. There was a lot of drinking and kind of over-the-top behavior. When Saskia finally ended things with Chris, it felt like a new beginning. I was confident in knowing that that was the right thing to do.
I had wrapped my head around, this is not the person that I need to put all my energy into anymore. And that felt like a relief. She started to really work on herself. I went to therapy, you know, did talk about some of the issues with childhood, worked through some past relationship tendencies. She'd never been in a stable, loving relationship or had one modeled for her.
As you heard in episode one, she gravitated towards bad boys and big personalities, chaos. And Mike felt the opposite of that. When she met her new boyfriend, Mike Levengood, she could tell right away. This guy was her chance to build something different, something real. He felt stable and he felt safe and he felt loving and he felt caring and he felt like a partner.
And I felt like, okay, I'm doing things differently this time. Everyone in her life could see this was a positive change for Saskia. Here's her sister Marisa. I've always viewed her as my baby sister as a very strong person, but somebody who's vulnerable.
And he gave her a sense of stability. He would keep routines.
He worked out. He made food that was healthy. He drank, but it didn't seem like he drank to excess. He was solid. Saskia's friend Heather thought so, too. Mike just seemed calm, put together, just chill. And at the time, I thought that was so good and what Sask really needed. From day one, Saskia's friends and family made it known that they liked Mike. The encouragement went a long way.
They thought he was great and stable and good for me. He really cared about me. I finally met someone who I was in a healthy relationship with. It didn't take long for Mike to become her confidant. He showed a genuine interest in getting to know the real her, even the fragile parts. Early on, Saskia opened up about her dad's mental illness and how it impacted her childhood.
She talked about her own struggles with anxiety and depression and how after her first marriage, she felt broken. He found me at a very vulnerable place and I really needed somebody to help me. Someone to show me real love and affection and time and all the things that I didn't get from my childhood or from my first marriage. Mike gave me all those things. Mike was there for her through it all.
If you can remember, Mike was her rock in the divorce. And he supported her as she carried her sister's baby, giving her nightly massages and talking through any challenges in the process. With Mike by her side, this pregnancy was one of the happiest, healthiest times in her life. And that all changed after I had the baby. She'd been with Mike for four years at that point, four great years.
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Chapter 3: How did Saskia's childhood shape her mental health struggles?
This moment with the computer, it was confusing and concerning. But the next morning... I didn't really remember it. I didn't process it. I didn't know what it meant. When she woke up, she only had a blurry image of what she'd seen and a quiet feeling of unease. She was about to marry this man. Was there something he was hiding from her? I was freaked out and talked to Heather about it.
Saskia drove to her friend Heather's house to pick up favors for her wedding. Right away, Heather could tell Saskia was upset. Heather brought her into her living room and Saskia explained what little she remembered. With so few details, Heather didn't see cause for alarm. Here's Heather. I took it as like, he was probably just watching porn and testing the waters.
And I said, you know, maybe he thought you'd be into it. I definitely minimized it and did not think anything of it. That is, until the day she found out what Mike had done. And I was like, holy shit. Knowing what I know now, I should have been like, get out. Hi listeners, I'm Andrea Gunning, host of Betrayal, and I'm excited to share the riveting story of Season 5 with you.
I'm also excited to tell you that you can now get access to all episodes of Season 1, Season 2, Season 3, and Season 4 of Betrayal, and every single episode of Betrayal Season 5 100% ad-free. And access all episodes of Betrayal Season 5 one week early through the iHeart True Crime Plus subscription, available exclusively on Apple Podcasts.
Plus, you'll get access to other chart-topping true crime shows you love, like Creating a Con, The Story of BitConned, Paper Ghosts, Spiked in Massacre, Murder Homes, Unrestorable, The Godmother, The Girlfriends, and more. So don't wait. Head to Apple Podcasts, search for iHeart True Crime Plus, and subscribe today.
Everyone needs to take care of their mental health, even running back B. John Robinson.
When I'm on the field and feeling the pressure, I usually just take a deep breath. When I'm just breathing and seeing what's in front of me, everything just slows down. It just makes me feel great before I run the play.
Just like Bijan, we all need a strong mental game on and off the field. Make a game plan for your mental health at loveyourmindplaybook.org. Love your mind. Brought to you by the Huntsman Mental Health Foundation, the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation, and the Ag Council.
Hey listeners, I'm Sean Flynn, host of the Brothers Ortiz Podcast. And I'm excited to share this riveting story with you. But I'm also excited to tell you that you can now get access to all episodes of The Brothers Ortiz 100% ad-free and one week early through the iHeart True Crime Plus subscription, available exclusively on Apple Podcasts.
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Chapter 4: What role did alcohol play in Saskia's coping mechanisms?
And I was like, what do you mean you couldn't get her awake? She was so looking forward to this party. I don't understand it. How could she have slept with this? She was so excited.
The party went smoothly thanks to Mike and Saskia's friends. But Saskia's absence put a dark cloud over the whole event. Afterwards, Bridget got a text from Mike. He was like, thanks again for helping today with the candle and other stuff. And I said, anytime you guys are family, is Sauce okay? And he said, yes, she thinks she took more sleeping pills accidentally last night.
So she was completely zonked out, but is awake and okay now. Megan, Saskia's sister-in-law, felt frustrated by this explanation. At the time, we were all kind of like pissed. Like, what are you doing? This is your son. And you can't come to his birthday party at one o'clock in the afternoon or whatever it was. You know, it's like you can't just like muster up enough energy to get there. Nope.
To this day, this is one of the most difficult moments for Saskia to look back on. I was so excited for the birthday party. Sorry. And then in the morning, I couldn't get up. And it broke my heart. I felt so guilty about it. I just wanted to be a good mom and a good wife. And my kids remember those things. My son knows I didn't go to his birthday party that year.
It ate her up inside, still does. And in moments like this, she was all the more indebted to Mike. He helped her get the care she needed, supported her as she took more time off work. And on top of all that, he was stepping up as a dad, driving her kids to school, scheduling their activities, and cleaning the house. He was showing up for her family in ways she couldn't.
It would make me rely on him more because I just felt worse about myself. And then I would just rely on him more. I'm so lucky to like have this guy, even though I'm losing it. And even though I have these mental health problems and I'm drinking too much and, you know, it made me hold on harder. His support became more and more important. Nearly three years into her medical crisis,
Saskia was no closer to a solution. One morning in 2018, she found herself on the bathroom floor. I just remember waking up to him in a frenzied voice like, get up, get up. And I remember opening my eyes and I was on the cold floor and there were two perfect lines of blood. And I was just like, so in like a twilight, right? Like so kind of out of it. Mike was terrified. She must have fallen.
With his help, she slowly stood up. I remember looking in the mirror and seeing my eye. It was swollen shut. and completely closed. It was the day of her high school reunion. All of her friends were ready to go. Saskia texted them she wouldn't be able to make it. She sent Bridget a photo. She had the darkest black eye and she was like, I'm not showing up looking like this.
She wouldn't be able to explain it. She didn't even understand it.
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