Guide
From jail, Dirty John Meehan ordered a hit on two officers: $10,000 for each
Julia Bowman, the Laguna Beach detective who arrested John Meehan, explains how she built the stalking case, what police found, and how he plotted from jail to have her killed.
The short answer
From jail, John Meehan gave his cellmate instructions to have Julia Bowman and a fellow officer killed, $10,000 for each of them. Bowman is the Laguna Beach detective who arrested the con man known as Dirty John. She tells the story on our episode "The Detective Who Took Down 'Dirty John' Meehan." Bowman says the two officers had to be dead by October, because that was his court date. In his mind, no witness meant no case. She learned about the plot by answering the phone herself. When the jail asked if she knew Julia Bowman, she said, "I am her." Bowman says the case only reached her because she knew what stalking looks like. She had taken a four-hour stalking class at Seal Beach PD. Other officers had waved off reports about Meehan for years. She explains that in California, a few unwanted texts are only a misdemeanor. A documented pattern is what builds a felony stalking case. Bowman walks through Meehan's methods. He posed as a doctor, flooded women with affection, cut them off from family, and drained their money. She also describes the backpack of weapons found in his freezer. The story ends with a survivor who fought back. Along the way, Bowman argues that victims of men like Meehan are not naive. In her view, he would have found an angle on anyone.
Step by step
A glued garage keypad taught her to see stalking ▶0:00
Bowman says her first stalking case came to her as simple vandalism. An ex-boyfriend had super-glued the keypad on a woman's garage door. The officer who took the report never asked if she knew who did it. When Bowman called, the woman said it was 100% her ex. He drove by her house every day and honked. He kept a PO box nearby, broke in and stole her car title, and posted a video of her online. She had stayed quiet for two years, hoping he would go away. He went to jail for two years. Bowman says the key is pattern. A few texts after being told to stop is a misdemeanor in California. A record like 100 emails in 10 days or 50 texts in 3 days builds a felony case.
How Meehan got close to his Laguna Beach victim ▶0:00
Bowman says Meehan met the woman in April 2012, standing over her hospital bed after brain surgery and posing as her anesthesiologist. He was never an anesthesiologist anywhere, Bowman says. He had trained for a support role, knew the lingo and had the scrubs. Weeks later, the woman called him. He moved her to the dating site Plenty of Fish, and they had a first date in January 2013. She had told him she kept $65,000 in cash under her mattress. Bowman says he moved it into his own account. When the woman later reversed her transfers, the money was frozen. Bowman calls the method the power and control wheel: cut the victim off so she depends on him for everything.
A backpack in the freezer confirmed the danger ▶0:00
Meehan was hard to find because nothing was in his name. Bowman says a state prescription database led police to his chiropractor in Cathedral City, who invited him in so officers could arrest him. Later searches turned up an RV and an office full of papers taken from other women. Bowman says stalkers keep everything. Then, in a freezer, investigators found a backpack. Bowman says it held loaded guns, ammunition, zip ties, duct tape, GPS units and cyanide. She treated it as proof of how dangerous he was. Because Meehan was already a felon, police could add charges for having a handgun and ammunition. Bowman says her gut had told her all along that something like this would turn up.
The hit he ordered from jail ▶0:00
Bowman says she was covering patrol in September when the county jail called. An inmate was trying to put a hit out on a Laguna Beach detective. Asked if she knew Julia Bowman, she answered, "I am her." According to Bowman, Meehan told his cellmate the price was $10,000 for each of two officers, herself and the female officer who took the first report. They had to be dead by October, his court date. Bowman says the DA's office denied them a restraining order, telling them police officers could not be in fear of him. She and her future husband hid guns around the house and changed their routes home after a car followed them. She says it felt like they were on their own.
A survivor fought back ▶0:00
After his release, Bowman says, Meehan quickly found a new victim, Debra Newell, and married her. Later he attacked Newell's daughter Terra in a parking garage. Bowman recounts Terra's account. Terra grabbed the knife and, as a fan of The Walking Dead, thought of how you stop a zombie. She stabbed him 13 times, including through the eye. Bowman says Meehan was about 230 to 240 pounds when she interviewed him, and roughly 170 by the time of the attack. Terra was still very small, unarmed and caught by surprise. A 12-year-old girl who saw it from above told her mother to call police and ran down to help. Bowman calls Terra the hero of the story.
“and the specific instructions to his cellmate were $10,000 for each of us.”
Julia Bowman, former Laguna Beach detective, in the episode
Key moments
Questions people ask
what did john meehan do to detective julia bowman from jail
Bowman says Meehan gave his cellmate instructions to have her and a fellow officer killed, $10,000 for each of them. He wanted them dead by October, his court date, because he believed no witness meant no case.
what makes stalking a felony instead of a misdemeanor in california
Bowman says it is pattern, not intensity. Texting someone five or seven times after being told to stop is only a misdemeanor. A documented pattern, like 100 emails in 10 days or a plant moved every day for 30 days, is what builds a felony stalking case.
how did dirty john meehan meet his laguna beach victim
Bowman says he stood over the woman's hospital bed after brain surgery in April 2012 and claimed to be her anesthesiologist. He was not one. He later moved their contact to Plenty of Fish, and they had a first date in January 2013.
what did police find in john meehan's freezer
Bowman says investigators found a backpack holding loaded guns, ammunition, zip ties, duct tape, GPS units and cyanide. She saw it as proof of how dangerous he was.
how did the dirty john case end
Bowman says it ended when Debra Newell's daughter Terra fought back during an attack and stabbed Meehan 13 times, including through the eye. Bowman calls her the hero of the story.
why did police not stop john meehan sooner
Bowman says ex-girlfriends had reported the same pattern to other agencies, and reports were on file, but nothing was done. She credits a stalking class and an earlier case with helping her see the pattern and pursue it.
why do people blame victims like debra newell
Bowman says people blame victims to protect the belief that the world is fair and that they are in control. If something could happen to you through no fault of your own, it could happen to them, and that is hard to accept.
This guide is drawn from a full conversation on the show.
Full episode: The Detective Who Took Down 'Dirty John' Meehan · All guides · Sponsor the show