Dateline Originals: "Something About Cari"

Episode 6: "Something… About Liz"

Release Date: February 4, 2026
Host: Keith Morrison, NBC News

Episode Overview

This episode of Dateline's podcast miniseries "Something About Cari" takes a hard look at Liz Golyar—the woman charged and ultimately convicted of the murder of Cari Farver—even as it scrutinizes her defense, her past, and the broader implications of her earlier possible misdeeds. Episode 6, "Something… About Liz," focuses on Liz’s trial, her celebrated defense attorney, the bombshells from her pre-crime life, and how a previous tragedy in her orbit raises complex questions about truth, justice, and manipulation.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Liz Golyar’s Trial and Defense

• Attorney James Martin Davis: Renowned Midwest defense attorney, took on Golyar’s case with vigor. Known for his charisma and his willingness to defend unpopular clients.
  • “Everybody, no matter how nasty people might think they are, deserves a robust defense.” (Keith Morrison, 02:28)
• Bench Trial Strategy: On Davis' advice, Liz chose a judge over a jury, aiming to avoid the emotional sway her alleged deceptions might have had on laypersons.
• Prosecution’s Evidence: No body was found. The state relied heavily on circumstantial evidence, alleged digital manipulation, and a deleted photo from Liz’s SD card, possibly showing Cari’s decomposing tattooed foot.
• Davis’s Defense: Emphasized the absence of physical evidence and challenged speculative leaps made by the prosecution.
  • “You may have smart cards and you may have phones, but you don't have a body and you don't have a cause of death from a medical examiner. ... Their belief, their speculation, their notion that this is what happens, that can't convict.” (James Martin Davis, 03:27)
• Direct Witness Examination: Davis questioned all those closest to the case, including Carrie’s partner, ex-partner, and mother; underscored that none had firsthand knowledge of the murder.
  • “You don't have any firsthand knowledge about what happened to Carrie Farver ... do you?” (James Martin Davis to Dave Krupa, 04:17)

2. Verdict and Aftermath

• The Verdict: The judge delivered a guilty verdict on all counts—first-degree murder and second-degree arson—stressing the overwhelming evidence despite the missing body.
  • “Carrie Farver did not voluntarily disappear ... she was murdered. ... [The defendant] intentionally killed Carrie Farver with deliberate and premeditated malice.” (The Judge, 06:21)
• Emotional Reactions: Carrie’s family, particularly her mother Nancy and son Max, finally found some closure, despite the enduring pain of not knowing how or where Carrie’s body was disposed.
  • “It was just a total relief to me.” (Nancy Farver, 07:51)
  • “Not knowing is the worst part, but at least ... well. And now not knowing where she is.” (Nancy Farver, 08:18)

3. Liz’s Version & New Revelation

• Liz’s Refusal to Comment: While Liz declined to speak for this episode, Dateline read from her 2017 correspondence denying any involvement and expressing supposed sympathy for Carrie’s family.
• A Shocking Claim: Liz claimed to empathize as she too “lost a child,” prompting the Dateline team to investigate this previously unknown part of her life.
  • “I can say in my heart that I would not have hurt her. I know all too well their pain, since I myself have gone through a loss of a child.” (Liz Golyar, 09:21, letter to producers)

4. Unearthing Liz’s Past—A Story of Another Death

• Author Leslie Rule’s Investigation: True crime writer Leslie Rule, daughter of famous author Ann Rule, stumbled onto news from Michigan tracing back to Liz: her five-month-old son Cody died in 1998, and Liz’s boyfriend Glenn Hur was convicted of the child’s murder based largely on a confession and letters—possibly forged.
  • “I had never seen anything like this before. Liz Goliar is a sadistic sociopath. ... I just couldn't believe that she would be bumping along in this normal life and all of a sudden commit this violent act. And I thought, there has to be something in her past.” (Leslie Rule, 13:45-15:29)
• Phyllis Hur (Glenn’s mother) described Liz as an “unwilling” mother and raised doubts about her motives and capability as a parent. (18:14)
  • “At first I was pretty sure that having this child was not on the top of her list of things she had wanted to do in her life.” (Phyllis Hur, 18:14)
• Cody's Death: Cody was left in Glenn’s care; later found unresponsive. Diagnosed as shaken baby syndrome. Glenn confessed during a police interview under questionable circumstances.
  • “You shook the baby, didn't you Glenn? ... I broke and I shook him, but no, I did not mean to kill that child.” (Police Interview Transcript, 27:00)

5. Investigation into Glenn’s Conviction

• Letters Used as Evidence: At trial, Liz presented jailhouse letters supposedly written by Glenn, potentially implicating her in dropping the baby but also providing a confession to shaking. His learning difficulties cast doubt on their authenticity.
  • “My son can't even spell those words, let alone write those words ... I don't even think he knows what most of those words are.” (Phyllis Hur, 32:23)
• Forensic Handwriting Expert: Wendy Carlson found Glenn did NOT write the incriminating jailhouse letters—evidence pointed to Liz as author. (40:55)
• Controversy of Shaken Baby Syndrome: Modern science questions its diagnostic validity; new research offers alternate explanations (e.g., accidental falls, infections).
  • “We're not going to use the term shaken baby anymore. We're going to use the term abusive head trauma.” (Dr. Ashley Saucier, 35:57)
• False Confession Concerns: Legal expert Stephen Drizen suggests police interrogation “scripts” and scientific fallacies have contributed to wrongful convictions in similar cases.
  • “This could very easily be a false confession. ... False confessions happen in shaken baby cases more than almost any other kind of criminal case.” (Stephen Drizen, 37:27–39:18)
• Did Liz Manipulate the Case?: With evidence surfacing that Liz may have authored damning letters and manipulated the legal outcome, the question lingers if she avoided blame by framing Glenn—a pattern mirroring her later framing attempts related to Carrie Farver.

6. Lasting Impact and Reflections

• On Glenn Hur: Now free, Glenn bears the burdens of his conviction, struggles to find work, and avoids public comment, traumatized by both the crime and prison.
  • “If I don't have to think about that, my life goes on.” (Phyllis Hur for Glenn, 33:58)
• Vindication for Carrie Farver’s Family: After years of being haunted by Carrie's disappearance, her family finds some solace in justice, though questions and pain endure.
  • “She would have wanted people to say, this was not me.” (Nancy Farver, 44:22)
• Max’s Tribute: Carrie’s son, now a software engineer, credits his mother for his love of computers.
  • “She was the one that really got me to understand computers. ... I think she'd be pretty proud of you. ... I hope so.” (Keith Morrison & Max, 44:30)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “But what about that deleted photo found on an SD card once used in Liz's cell phone? The one that prosecutors said showed a decomposing human foot bearing a tattoo of a Chinese symbol, just like the tattoo Carrie Farver had on her foot. How in the world would Liz's defense explain that?”
  – Keith Morrison, 04:49

• “You may have smart cards and you may have phones, but you don't have a body and you don't have a cause of death from a medical examiner. What we have is their belief, their speculation, their notion that this is what happens, that can't convict.”
  – James Martin Davis, 03:27

• “Liz Goliar is a sadistic sociopath. She doesn't care about anybody's feelings but her own. She's violent. She manages to manipulate everybody around her.”
  – Leslie Rule, 13:45

• “My opinion in this case, I'm completely confident that Glenn did not write those documents in question. Glenn's handwriting is more crude than what the handwriting is in the question documents.”
  – Wendy Carlson (handwriting expert), 41:07

• “Everything bothers me about this case. The road to reopen this conviction is extreme, difficult, but not impossible. ... If he is innocent ... he shouldn't bear the burden of a murder conviction for the rest of his life.”
  – Stephen Drizen, 42:01

Important Segment Timestamps

• 01:02–03:44: Davis lays out Liz’s defense, questions witnesses
• 06:01–07:37: The judge’s verdict and emotional reactions in court
• 09:21–10:25: Liz’s letters and startling claim about losing a child
• 12:15–17:00: Leslie Rule discovers Liz’s past in Michigan and details of Cody’s death
• 27:00–32:57: The jailhouse confession, trial, and disputed letters
• 34:19–41:41: Modern science challenges shaken baby diagnosis; handwriting expert findings
• 42:01–44:22: Reflections, broader questions about both cases, and ongoing consequences

Tone & Language

Keith Morrison and guests maintain Dateline's signature narrative style—measured, probing, and skeptical, often laced with empathy for victims and a quietly relentless pursuit of truth. This episode, while deeply tragic, is propelled by intrigue and a sense of justice seeking, never sensational but always engaged.

In Summary

Episode 6, “Something… About Liz,” deftly completes the arc of the series’ central mystery: not just how Carrie Farver came to be murdered, but how Liz Golyar—a manipulator with a dark past and a penchant for framing others—created chaos and grief long before and well beyond a single crime. The story is meticulously reconstructed with new evidence, expert assessments, family testimony, and hard questions about the limits of the justice system when confronted by a cunning sociopath. The episode delivers closure for Carrie’s family but opens new wounds and uncertainties about an older, unresolved tragedy linked to Liz.