Sound Familiar? | EP 5

Summary

Love Trapped: Sound Familiar? | EP 5 (March 19, 2026)

Podcast: Love Trapped
Host: Stephanie Young (iHeartPodcasts & Glass Podcasts)
Main Focus: The devastating ripple effect of Laura Owens’ manipulations, revealing striking parallels between her cases against celebrity Clayton Echard and an earlier, unpublicized campaign against Greg Gillespie.

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Episode Overview

This episode dives into the chilling pattern of behavior exhibited by Laura Owens—first notorious for her paternity scandal involving The Bachelor's Clayton Echard, but previously engaged in similar, if not more disturbing, actions against a man named Greg Gillespie. The episode explores the web of lies, threats, and legal maneuvers Laura employed, and how a community of citizen sleuths and legal professionals unraveled her deceptive strategies. It's a gripping narrative about truth, accountability, and the cost of public scrutiny.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Laura’s Shift from Clayton to Targeting Journalists and Social Media (02:43–11:40)

• After being barred from speaking to Clayton (following an injunction against harassment), Laura shifts her focus to harassing those who cover her story—journalists, content creators, and online commentators.
  • “Laura then started harassing journalists who were telling this story.” (05:00)
  • Dave Neal, a Bachelor-focused YouTuber, becomes a central target, facing multiple legal threats from Laura (06:08).
  • The Bachelor Reddit community becomes a hub for amateur investigation, leading to the creation of a separate subreddit dedicated to Laura.
• Citizen sleuth “SchnitzelNinja” emerges, initially sympathetic to Laura, but soon uncovers inconsistencies. She and others start systematically digging into Laura’s claims and public records.
  • “I was very much like a lurker online until that R. Laura Owens sub was created. That’s when I really started interacting.... There’s always another thing we found.” (07:48–08:28)

2. Online Backlash and Laura’s Attempts at Suppression (08:50–11:40)

• Laura’s public court case leads to intense online scrutiny, with comments ranging from skeptical to cruel.
• Laura retaliates by reporting videos, sending legal threats, and demanding content removal—efforts largely unsuccessful due to the case’s public record nature.
  • “If she could keep people from being able to share these documents, she could keep her lie up.” (10:08)
• Dave Neal’s personal experience:
  • “I was stuck. I was, for better or for worse, bonded to this lady in a way that I became the bad guy to her.” (11:40)

3. The ‘Chase J. Jones’ Hoax: Fabrication to Smear Clayton (03:02–17:45)

• A supposed Howard University student, “Chase J. Jones,” begins sending press releases about Clayton’s alleged racial insensitivity and pushes online creators to cover the story.
  • “Chase J. Jones became the most interesting. Like Loch Ness Monster, Bigfoot, if you will.” – Dave Neal (03:49)
• Neal investigates and uncovers digital breadcrumbs linking the “Chase J. Jones” account directly to Laura’s phone number, strongly indicating she created a fake Black persona to further discredit Clayton.
  • “If it’s possible that Laura is faking a black man, this is insanity.” (15:46)
  • Neal and his audience confirm this via YouTube’s two-factor authentication process (17:18–17:45).

4. Early Patterns: Greg Gillespie’s Story as a Precursor (23:03–48:31)

• Two years prior to the Echard case, Laura pursued Greg Gillespie, following a brief dating app fling.
• After being rejected, Laura subjected Greg to a barrage of communications, fabricated a pregnancy (even forging an ultrasound found via reverse-image search), and demanded a relationship in exchange for ending an alleged pregnancy.
  • “We kind of lost track of the lie of the pregnancy. The story wasn’t about a pregnancy. It was about this coercion thing.” – Greg Woodnick, attorney (47:59)
• Laura sues Greg for $45,000, accusing him of “abortion coercion”—an unfamiliar legal concept to even veteran attorneys.
  • “Her big allegation was that he coerced her to having an abortion. ... I’d never even heard of this.” – Greg Woodnick (36:39, 36:53)
• Greg and his attorney, Woodnick, uncover that Laura faked legal correspondence and continued harassment extended to Greg’s workplace and family.

Memorable Quotes:

• “You aren’t the first guy to coerce a girl into an abortion, and he [my lawyer] thinks there should be legal consequences for men who do that.” – Laura Owens (41:20)
• “I remember looking at the communications [from Clayton] ... wondering if they were identical.” – Greg Woodnick (41:58)

5. Legal Escalation: Protective Orders and Escalating Allegations (44:56–59:56)

• Laura mirrors her strategy with Clayton by seeking orders of protection, repeatedly renewing them despite lack of verifiable evidence.
• She accuses Greg and his attorneys of hacking, then escalates the situation by accusing them of complicity in her alleged rape—an accusation unsupported by law enforcement.
  • “As much as I knew it was complete fucking bullshit ... it was a little bit frightening because she said it with pretty good command of vocabulary that the FBI and the police were involved.” – Greg Woodnick (53:12)

Memorable Quotes:

• “You have to take a step back and consider, is this worth it anymore? ... To have someone just so cavalierly throw that out there in an email, like, maybe we need to remove ourselves from this situation because this is a very dangerous person.” – Deandra Arena, Woodnick’s colleague (58:56)

6. The Toll on Legal Professionals

• Woodnick and colleagues endure immense personal and professional strain, culminating in difficult conversations with family about the danger and gravity of Laura’s allegations.
  • “This is the most egregious of allegations. Like, I would much rather have my father, brother, any male loved one be accused of murder.” – Deandra Arena (56:21)

7. Pattern Recognition and Resolution

• After wrapping up with Greg, Woodnick encounters Laura again when approached by Clayton Echard.
• Recognizing the pattern, he resolves to pursue justice to prevent more harm:
  • “This guy who was already in the spotlight because of his role on the Bachelor, he was kind of the torchbearer to make sure that justice was served.” – Greg Woodnick (60:49)
  • “I was going to make sure I did everything I could do, that my team did everything we could do to make sure we got justice for Clayton.” (61:09)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments (with Timestamps)

| Timestamp | Speaker | Quote / Moment | |-----------|----------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 03:49 | Dave Neal | “Chase J. Jones became the most interesting. Like Loch Ness Monster, Bigfoot, if you will.” | | 05:46 | Dave Neal | “It’s hard to explain to somebody how the hairs on your neck immediately go up when you see you get an email from Laura Owens.” | | 08:40 | Laura Owens | “I don’t have any desire for Clayton to co parent anymore. I want full custody. I have very clearly stated I do not want A relationship with Clayton.” | | 15:46 | Dave Neal | “If it’s possible that Laura is faking a black man, this is insanity. I mean, it’s absolute insanity.” | | 17:18 | Dave Neal | “[...] if you type in Laura Owens’ last four digits of her cell phone number to do two factor authentication, what pops up on Chase J. Jones YouTube channel is [...] we've sent the code to this cell phone number.” | | 23:42 | Greg Woodnick | “I was remembering what had happened with Greg. I was remembering what I had learned at that point and I didn’t really want to get involved with her again.” | | 25:46 | Greg Woodnick | “I wasn’t there, but I read the investigative report. [...] Laura was clean and said she’d already taken care of it. Greg thought it was strange.” | | 41:58 | Greg Woodnick | “I remember when the communication started coming in from Clayton and his dialogue with Laura. And I remember looking at the communications, wondering if they were identical. I mean, it was very eerily similar.” | | 53:12 | Greg Woodnick | “To see my name associated with it really was troubling. Troubling’s probably an understatement. As much as I knew that it was complete fucking bullshit ... it was a little bit frightening because she said it with pretty good command of vocabulary that the FBI and the police were involved.” | | 56:21 | Deandra Arena | “This is the most egregious of allegations. Like, I would much rather have my father, brother, any male loved one be accused of murder.” | | 60:49 | Greg Woodnick | “The fact that so many people’s lives have been attempted to be destroyed by Laura was a big deal in the Clayton. This guy ... he was kind of the torchbearer to make sure that justice was served.” | | 61:09 | Greg Woodnick | “I was going to make sure I did everything I could do, that my team did everything we could do to make sure we got justice for Clayton.” |

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Episode Structure & Flow

1. Scandal Aftermath: How Laura’s targeting expanded to journalists and online creators after being barred from contacting Clayton (02:43–11:40).
2. Citizen Sleuthing: The birth and tactics of the online truth-seeking community, led by casual fans like “Schnitzel Ninja.”
3. The Hoax Persona: The unraveling of “Chase J. Jones” as a likely alias used by Laura to further damage Clayton’s reputation and create new controversies (03:02–17:45).
4. An Earlier Victim: The Greg Gillespie saga, exposing Laura’s repeated use of fabricated pregnancies, legal threats, and emotional manipulation (23:03–48:31).
5. Escalation and Fallout: The cost to victims and their lawyers as Laura files dubious lawsuits and unsupportable criminal accusations (44:56–59:56).
6. Resolution and Pattern Recognition: Lawyer Greg Woodnick’s realization of Laura’s consistent pattern, leading to renewed determination to achieve justice in Clayton’s case (60:09–61:19).

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Conclusion

This episode exposes the calculated playbook of Laura Owens—her pattern of trapping targets with false pregnancies, legal threats, and fabricated evidence; her use of digital subterfuge to silence critics; and her escalation to the most serious criminal allegations when cornered. The episode is a cautionary tale about online rumor, the power of citizen investigators, and the difficulty of seeking justice against relentless manipulation. The emotional toll on lawyers, victims, and online communities is palpable throughout.

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Next Episode Preview:
A deeper dive into depositions, further legal confrontations with Laura, and the community’s ongoing effort to finally hold her accountable.

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For more information, listener feedback, or to follow along, visit:

• @glasspodcasts on Instagram
• Contact the team: [e-mail]

Transcript

[Laura Owens]

This is an iHeart podcast.

[Ryan Seacrest]

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Thirty years ago, Wu Tang Clan changed hip hop forever. Last year they sold out arenas worldwide and now the final chamber comes back home. Wu Tang Clan and Encore. If you saw it last year, you know what this means. If you didn't, this is the moment with special guests Bone Thugs and Harmony get tickets Friday at the Wu Tang Clan Wu Tang Forever. Killer bees swarming on new locations. Support for the show comes from Public, the investing platform for those who take it seriously. On Public, you can build a multi asset portfolio of stocks, bonds, options, crypto and now generated assets which allow you to turn any idea into an investable index with AI. It all starts with your prompt. From renewable energy companies with high free cash flow to semiconductor suppliers growing revenue over 20% year over year, you can literally type any prompt and put the AI to work. It screens thousands of stocks, builds a one of a kind index and lets you back test it against the S&P 500. Then you can invest in a few clicks. Generated assets are like ETFs with infinite possibilities, completely customizable and based on your thesis, not someone else's. Go to public.com podcast and earn an uncapped 1% bonus when you transfer your portfolio. That's public.com podcast paid for by Public Investing Brokerage Services by Open to the Public Investing Inc. Member FINRA and SIPC Advisory Services by Public Advisors llc, SEC Registered Advisor Generated Assets is an interactive analysis tool. Output is for informational purposes only and is not an investment recommendation or advice. Complete disclosures [e-mail] disclosures you're listening to

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[Stephanie Young]

After Laura was barred from speaking with Clayton, she became hyperactive online. She began repeatedly reaching out to online content creators like Dave Neal to refute their claims. Around this time, Dave got an interesting email from a Howard University student.

[Dave Neal]

It is basically a press release that is titled Unpacking Racial Insensitivity by somebody named Chase J. Jones. This whole unpacking of racial insensitivity is Clayton dancing on TikTok to a song where the song had the N word.

[Stephanie Young]

It seemed like Clayton couldn't catch a break. Dave tried to reach out to Chase J. Jones to talk on the phone.

[Dave Neal]

Crickets. I hear nothing. I'm going, you know, I can't report this story if I can't even confirm who this person is.

[Stephanie Young]

But Chase kept following up, asking Dave to cover the story. The fact that Chase wouldn't get on the phone raised alarm bells for Dave. He and his audience began to suspect that maybe Chase J. Jones didn't exist at all.

[Dave Neal]

Chase J. Jones became the most interesting. Like Loch Ness Monster, Bigfoot, if you will. A mystery.

[Stephanie Young]

Dave started to wonder if the Howard University student emailing him was actually who he said he was. I'm Stephanie Young, and this is Love Trapped.

[Greg Woodnick]

There's no way out.

[Stephanie Young]

You better believe

[Laura Owens]

I'll be raising holy

[Stephanie Young]

hell, my love, if you ever, ever, ever, ever

[Laura Owens]

try to leave.

[Stephanie Young]

On November 2, 2023, a judge granted Clayton Eckerd an injunction against harassment. Clayton, you heard those proceedings on the last episode. That meant Laura was legally prohibited from speaking to Clayton. For Clayton, the legal barrier worked. The messages finally stopped. But the silence was an illusion. Laura had found a new focus.

[Laura Owens]

Laura then started harassing journalists who were telling this story.

[Dave Neal]

She contacted me within the first video or two, where I started to doubt her story.

[Narrator/Host]

I'm sending you this email because I'm required to give you 30 days to

[Greg Woodnick]

retract your false statements before I sue for defamation.

[Stephanie Young]

She reports my video and it gets taken down. By filing to establish paternity in the courts and by going to the tabloids, Laura had opened the door to public commentary. After her restraining order hearing was livestreamed, everyone online knew her name. She couldn't hide. Clips from the hearings were going viral. Dave Neal started getting more frequent emails from Laura. She was not happy.

[Dave Neal]

It's hard to explain to somebody how the hairs on your neck immediately go up when you see you get an email from Laura Owens.

[Stephanie Young]

Dave had been covering Laura and Clayton's story nearly Every day since it first broke. His audience were the ones who first discovered her name and inconsistencies in the evidence she provided. Dave became a lightning rod, a target of Laura's rage.

[Dave Neal]

I was threatened nearly immediately by Laura that she was going to sue the hell out of me if I cover this.

[Stephanie Young]

Laura might have seen Dave as the instigator of the doubt and criticism she was experiencing, but the truth was the story had taken on a life of its own. It basically took over the Bachelor Reddit, so much so that a new sub was established. R Laura Owens. This one was dedicated to Laura Owens and things we found out about her and about her past. This is a woman who goes by the online username Schnitzel Ninja thought it sounded funny and never really anticipated it was going to be as popular as it is. She's not a content creator. She's a mom with a job that has nothing to do with being online. And she's a casual fan of the bachelor. Back in 2023, she had a habit of scrolling through Bachelor news. I was very much like a lurker online until that R. Laura Owens sub was created. That's when I really started interacting. We're all doing all of this research on her, but like, there's always another thing to uncover. There's always another thing we found she got sucked into the story. And I can relate. Today, Schnitzel Ninja is a central figure in the online community. We're not going to use her real name because of Laura. She's intimidating and doesn't shy away from threats. Schnitzel Ninja stumbled into the story by accident in September 2023. She was browsing the Bachelor Reddit when she came across Laura's post. The one where Laura said she was the anonymous woman in the Clayton Eckerd paternity scandal. She believed Laura because who would lie about something like that? I remember commenting on the post something like, I'm really sorry this is happening to you. I really hope Clayton steps up and gives you the support you're looking for. I was just taking it at face value and it sounded like it could be legit. She later deleted that comment. It quickly became clear to me at least, that Laura was like maybe lying about some things. And so I decided to start doing some research. At the time, Laura herself was active on Reddit, posting comments like this one, which will be read by a voice actor.

[Laura Owens]

I don't have any desire for Clayton to co parent anymore. I want full custody. I have very clearly stated I do not want A relationship with Clayton.

[Stephanie Young]

The replies were brutal, some were downright cruel and a few crossed the line.

[Narrator/Host]

You just did this for attention and to distract from the paternity result showing no baby.

[Dave Neal]

You need to stop abusing the legal

[Narrator/Host]

system and get help.

[Stephanie Young]

First you try to baby trap him. Now it's his fault he got too stoned to consent. If he was too stoned to consent, why did you give him a blowjob? Laura was clapping back in the comments. Here are some of her replies.

[Laura Owens]

You're wrong. Thanks for the sarcasm though. He gave me a gummy when I got to his house, which he would admit. So not sure how that would make me baby trapping him. We consensually did stuff when we were both under the influence.

[Stephanie Young]

Eventually someone reported the subreddit and it was banned. Users like Schnitzelninja were still active on YouTube. But Laura began reporting YouTube videos and sending threats of legal action to the people who posted them. Laura was reporting people's videos, reporting this, reporting that, trying to have this removed from the Internet. The thing is, Laura's case was in the public record. She couldn't stop people from commenting about it and sharing their opinion. But she had an incentive to try. Here's Dave Neal.

[Dave Neal]

If she could keep people from being able to share these documents, she. She could keep her lie up.

[Stephanie Young]

At this point, citizen sleuths like Schnitzel Ninja were personally invested in exposing the truth. From her perspective, Laura was repeatedly misusing public funds like the police and court system. It's a public court hearing. And I was just like, don't do it if you don't want it on the Internet. So she requested a physical copy of Clayton's injunction against harassment hearing. I found out you could request these videos. I enlisted my husband and kind of had to tell him I was following this crazy case online. The DVD arrived in the mail a few weeks later. Schnitzelninja posted the video on YouTube. Someone reported the video making a privacy complaint. According to YouTube policy, only two people would have been able to file that complaint, Laura or Clayton. And Clayton says it wasn't him. But Schnitzelninja was able to repost the video since the hearing was a matter of public record. So that's how it got started. For Schnitzelninja and dozens of others following this story became like a full time job. Laura was extremely upset about what people online were saying about her. She saw Dave Neal as kind of a ringleader at this point. He'd received dozens of personal emails from Laura, including a cease and desist and an attempt to get a restraining order. Dave had never experienced anything like this before.

[Dave Neal]

I was stuck. I was, for better or for worse, bonded to this lady in a way that I became the bad guy to her. And by the way, I'm not trying to convince anybody. Go out there, get on Google, come back to me. I'll see you in a couple days.

[Stephanie Young]

Dave's full time job was covering Bachelor in pop culture news. Once Laura began singling him out, I

[Dave Neal]

was like, you came into my business like, I do this for a living.

[Narrator/Host]

Buckle up.

[Dave Neal]

We will make as many videos as it takes to get this thing right. Justice doesn't always play out unless the public demands it.

[Stephanie Young]

Laura sent a threatening email to a group of podcasters saying, if you decide to cover the story with just Dave's point of view, my intent is to sue for defamation. Laura also said in this email that she would be extremely appreciative if you would not cover this topic at all and that if you do, you allow me to give my side of the story. Here's the thing. Numerous podcasters and creators have told me they gave her the opportunity to come on their shows and she declined every single time at the time I'm recording this, she has not agreed to an interview with me either. Here's Dave's perspective on why she refused to talk on the record with people who were questioning her.

[Dave Neal]

She wanted a story out of it, but she didn't want to deal with the ramifications of being cross examined because

[Stephanie Young]

Laura was reporting so many videos on YouTube. Dave Neal moved the bulk of his conversation about Laura to Patreon. It's a private community and subscription based platform for creators and it felt like a safer place to talk about Laura because she was so litigious.

[Dave Neal]

People wanted to be in there in like a sort of safe space in a private community to discuss this.

[Stephanie Young]

That's when Dave started getting those emails we mentioned at the start of this episode, the ones from Chase J. Jones. Clayton got wind of it.

[Narrator/Host]

Apparently the black university students. That was upset that I posted a dance video that had the N word

[Greg Woodnick]

in it, but I didn't sing it.

[Narrator/Host]

He had reached out to like Dave Neal and a couple other outlets.

[Stephanie Young]

Back in 2023, there was a viral TikTok trend where people would dance to a catchy song and add these animated penguins, making it look like they were doing a choreographed dance with them.

[Greg Woodnick]

I post on TikTok, I was dancing

[Narrator/Host]

with these like penguins.

[Stephanie Young]

Clayton didn't sing the lyrics. The Song just played in the background while he danced.

[Narrator/Host]

I didn't say it, and I danced

[Greg Woodnick]

to a lot of rap songs.

[Stephanie Young]

So, yeah, to Dave, the video Chase J. Jones was pointing out seemed like a nothing burger.

[Dave Neal]

So I decide not to report on it. I said, I'm not going to report on this press release that's clearly trying to slam Clayton for something that's kind of a little bit of a push.

[Stephanie Young]

Chase had also posted a blog about this on Medium. A few days later, Dave got another email from Chase explaining why he should be covering this story. Dave decided to Google Chase's name.

[Dave Neal]

So we look into Chase J. Jones. They've got, like, a bio on medium and on YouTube, and they say they went to Howard, which is a historical black college.

[Stephanie Young]

Dave wanted to verify that Chase was who he said he was. So he replied to the email and asked Chase to jump on a call.

[Dave Neal]

Crickets. I hear nothing. I'm going, you know, I can't report this story if I can't even confirm who this person is.

[Stephanie Young]

Several days later, Dave got another email, but this time it was from Patreon, the private online community for his audience.

[Dave Neal]

Chase J. Jones became a $5 member. Thank you so much.

[Stephanie Young]

Dave started talking to his audience about the emails he'd received from Chase J. Jones, and they developed a theory. What if Chase was actually Laura pretending to be a Howard University student?

[Dave Neal]

Everyone's fascinated about Chase J. Jones, because if it's possible that Laura is faking a black man, this is insanity. I mean, it's absolute insanity.

[Stephanie Young]

At the time, Laura had already taken legal action against Dave, so he had an active court case and the ability to subpoena Chase J. Jones. And that's exactly what he did.

[Dave Neal]

Chase J. Jones tries to quash the subpoena, which means they went through the California legal system to try to quash a subpoena. And all my lawyer was saying is, just get on the phone with us, just confirm your identity, and this all goes away. So we pursued Chase J. Jones as far as we legally could, knowing there was no one on the end of the phone call.

[Stephanie Young]

Dave was having a hard time proving that this might be Laura.

[Dave Neal]

Until one night. I have some audience members who cracked the case.

[Stephanie Young]

When Chase emailed Dave, he included the video of Clayton dancing with the Penguins.

[Dave Neal]

Chase J. Jones ripped that from Clayton's TikTok and put it on YouTube, probably so Clayton wouldn't delete it. Well, whoops. I know a little thing about YouTube. It's owned by Google, and when you have a password for YouTube, there is that two factor authentication.

[Stephanie Young]

That means if you were to try to enter the password, it would send you a password code if you type in the last four digits of the account holder's cell phone number. Dave Neal had Laura's number because she'd been contacting him for months.

[Dave Neal]

Well, believe it or not, if you type in Laura Owens last four digits of her cell phone number to do two factor authentication, what pops up on Chase J. Jones YouTube channel is it says, we've sent the code to this cell phone number. If you try any other number, we tried hundreds. If you tried any other cell phone number, it says wrong code.

[Stephanie Young]

On his own show, Dave created a video linking Laura to the phone number used to establish the chase J. Jones YouTube account. Dave believes Laura fabricated this Persona. A black journalism student to try to cancel Clayton Eckerd. Laura appeared consumed by a singular, relentless ambition. The total dismantling of Clayton's reputation. She was also trying to convince the public that she was the victim. In this case, according to Laura, people like Dave Neal were cyberbullying her. In December 2023, Laura posted this video on her Facebook. And just a forewarning, it's a rough listen. Dave has made more than 50 videos and more like podcast content than I could possibly count. Talking about me. He specializes in bachelor content, but what he's talking about has nothing to do with the bachelor. She sounds like she's crying, but when you watch the video, you can see that there are no tears coming out of her eyes. Dave, I've begged him to stop talking about me. I've threatened him with defamation lawsuits.

[Laura Owens]

Nothing stops him. And he keeps teasing that he's going

[Stephanie Young]

to talk about another event where it gets crazier.

[Laura Owens]

As he says.

[Stephanie Young]

Around this time, Laura made another police report. Can I say report? A violation of a protective order. Is the person on premise right now? No. Okay, and then how was the order violated? So it was violated online. The person's not supposed to try to find my location. And they reached out to somebody I'd been dating and posted a lot of false information about me online. You probably assume she's talking about Clayton or maybe even Dave Neal, but she's not. And who's the person that you have the violation against? His name is Greg Gillespie.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Hey, it's Ryan Seacrest for Albertsons and Safeway. Ready to save. It's time for cyber deals. Put a spring in your step with fresh savings that brighten the season. These exclusive week long digital offers on your favorite products are only available when you shop online. Save on eligible items from Kettle Chobani, Quaker Skippy, Hidden Valley International, Delight, Frito Lay and Signature select. Available now through March 24th on pickup or delivery orders only. Restrictions apply. See website for full terms and conditions.

[Narrator/Host]

Wu Tang Clan the Final Chamber comes back home and Encore Killer bees swarming on new locations with special guests Bone Thugs and Harmony. Get tickets this Friday at the Wu Tang Clan.com support for the show comes from Public, the investing platform for those who take it seriously. On Public you can build a multi asset portfolio of stocks, bonds, options, crypto and now generated assets which allow you to turn any idea into an investable index with AI. It all starts with your prompt. From renewable energy companies with high free cash flow to semiconductor suppliers growing revenue over 20% year over year, you can literally type any prompt and put the AI to work. It screens thousands of stocks, builds a one of a kind index and lets you back test it against the S&P 500. Then you can invest in a few clicks. Generated assets are like ETFs with infinite possibilities, completely customizable and based on your thesis, not someone else's. Go to public.com podcast and earn an uncapped 1% bonus when you transfer your portfolio. That's public.com podcast paid for by Public Investing Brokerage Services by Open to the Public Investing Inc. Member FINRA and SIPC Advisory Services by Public Advisors, llc. SEC Registered Advisor. Generated Assets is an interactive analysis tool. Output is for informational purposes only and is not an investment recommendation or advice. Complete disclosures [e-mail] disclosures let's talk about modern home shopping.

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[Stephanie Young]

Two years before Laura Owens met Clayton Eckerd, she was swiping through dating apps. That's where she met a 35 year old Scottsdale man named Greg Gillespie.

[Greg Woodnick]

According to court documents, Greg and Laura met on a dating app. And I think they were hanging out for a few days, not more than a week.

[Stephanie Young]

That's attorney Greg Wudnick. We're calling him by his last name, Wudnick, to avoid confusion. Woodnick's been practicing law in Arizona for 25 years. His law firm represented Clayton. But if you recall, when Clayton first approached him, Woodnick was hesitant to take on another case involving Laura Owens.

[Greg Woodnick]

I was remembering what had happened with Greg. I was remembering what I had learned at that point and I didn't really want to get involved with her again.

[Stephanie Young]

We're going to take a detour to tell you about Greg Gillespie. What you're about to hear will sound very similar to Clayton's story, but it happened two years prior.

[Greg Woodnick]

Greg was not a celebrity. Greg was just a regular commercial lighting sales guy.

[Stephanie Young]

Greg himself isn't ready to share his story publicly. I spoke with him late last year and he told me he won't be willing to talk until Laura is behind bars. I understand his concerns and I think you will too after you hear his story.

[Greg Woodnick]

I remember thinking during Greg's case that this would eventually be a Lifetime television movie because it was so bizarre. What we didn't know was kind of astounding. I mean, we knew a half of 1% of the story back then.

[Stephanie Young]

For now, we'll be telling Greg's story by relying on public records and his lawyer, Woodnick, who worked on the case for years. He said that after Greg met Laura on a dating app, they had hung

[Greg Woodnick]

out just a few times. And Greg knew really quickly that he was not interested in pursuing a relationship with Laura.

[Stephanie Young]

The court documents state the two had a first date, which Greg described as a fairly normal experience. The next day they went on a second date. Then Laura went back to Greg's place and they had sex.

[Greg Woodnick]

My understanding was that the sexual intercourse that they had was safer.

[Stephanie Young]

By safer, he means that Laura told Greg she was on birth control. They also used a condom. This next bit is graphic but relevant. The court documents state that when they had sex, Greg pulled the condom off and ejaculated on Laura's back.

[Greg Woodnick]

I wasn't there, but I read the investigative report. Greg went to grab a towel, which he said only took a few seconds, apparently in the bathroom. And when he got back Laura was clean and said she'd already taken care of it. Greg thought it was strange.

[Stephanie Young]

He ended up hanging out with her one more time. But shortly after that, he met up with her to tell her that he wasn't interested in continuing a relationship. The whole fling only lasted a couple of days.

[Greg Woodnick]

It was like a short term fling thing. It certainly wasn't a relationship.

[Stephanie Young]

This is where the story begins to sound eerily similar to Clayton's experience. After Greg told Laura he wasn't interested in her, she started texting him excessively. He told her if she didn't stop, he would block her. Then, around two weeks after he'd called it off, Laura sent him a picture of a positive pregnancy test. Unlike Clayton, there was more of a real possibility she could be pregnant because in this case there was actually penetrative sex. Woodnick told me that Greg had no interest in having a child with Laura.

[Greg Woodnick]

Laura said she would have an abortion if they could date long term and eventually have children together the right way. Sound familiar?

[Stephanie Young]

It's almost the exact same playbook she used with Clayton. But Greg's story has a few key differences and they're disturbing. Just a warning to listeners here, we're going to recount Laura's story of taking abortion pills. According to court documents, Laura obtained abortion pills from a telehealth clinic on July 21. They sent her detailed instructions on how to take the pills. It's a two step process. You swallow the first pill and then six to 48 hours later, you take the second dose. That second dose is supposed to absorb vaginally or between your gums and cheek.

[Greg Woodnick]

My recollection is that Laura claimed she took the first dose on July 28 and the second dose the next day, July 29. But then there was a text, I remember, to her telehealth provider. It was always telehealth indicating that she didn't take the second dose correctly or something like that.

[Stephanie Young]

And records with her telehealth doctor. Laura seemed confused about when and how to take the second dose. She says she waited a few days to take it, but finally did. Then Laura claimed she saw a doctor who said the development of the fetus may have stopped, but it was still uncertain. There aren't any public records of this doctor visit. That claim raised alarm bells for Woodnick.

[Greg Woodnick]

It seemed absolutely ridiculous at the time and internally in my office. Remember this was just dealing with this particular situation. It seemed totally bullshit. But in hindsight, when you look back at these dates and the timelines that are kind of timestamped there. It's even more incredible. It's weird what we didn't know and now, looking back, how bizarre that data set actually was.

[Stephanie Young]

The text messages between Laura and Greg about this topic became heated and emotionally charged. Here are some of Laura's texts, read by a voice actor.

[Laura Owens]

I don't want a child on my own. It probably sounds crazy, considering only four dates together, but I can see us having a kid in a few years. I felt something so special with you. I am the one taking the pills, not you. So I have made the final decision. Wow. I chose you, not the kid. I'm not changing my mind. I want to get this done and have a great and normal relationship and encourage each other to crush it at work, not fight on the phone.

[Stephanie Young]

Then on August 6, 2021, Laura sends Greg an ultrasound, along with an absolute bombshell. We obtained a copy of this message from a court document.

[Laura Owens]

Looks like you're gonna be a dad to one or two babies. Was sick enough to go to the clinic this afternoon and had to get an ultrasound to make sure I wasn't having an ectopic pregnancy. I wasn't.

[Stephanie Young]

She sent this message after she told Greg she took the abortion pills.

[Laura Owens]

I found out that I've been pregnant with twins. Looks like one of them passed or isn't doing well, probably because of the medicine I took. I had the option of a surgical abortion and elected not to.

[Greg Woodnick]

This is when we started to realize that things were really off the rails. Her claims baffled really basic concepts of science and biology.

[Laura Owens]

If I'm going through this on my own, I will let God decide if he wants both one or none to be born. And the kid or kids would deserve to know their father's side of the family. I'm giving you one. One more shot to admit you are overwhelmed and panicked. Otherwise, you're not getting any input going forward. Your behavior is appalling. Coercing me to get an abortion for your own personal agenda. And I will escalate this if I

[Stephanie Young]

don't hear back from you again. What Greg experienced is strikingly similar to Clayton's story, down to the specific language in Laura's messages.

[Greg Woodnick]

She has a tendency to have conditions and expectations that aren't normal in regular communication. If you don't respond to me by tomorrow, I will assume the answer is yes. If you don't X, then I will assume Y and proceed that way.

[Stephanie Young]

Laura's text to Greg continued.

[Laura Owens]

I talked to a lawyer who told me I can have a court order to establish paternity at eight weeks and get child support from that point on, which is 25% of your income, even if you're making less than me.

[Greg Woodnick]

Stephanie, I've been a lawyer for 25 plus years. I'm a former adjunct law professor. I taught family law, trial skills. That's not the law in Arizona.

[Laura Owens]

You would not get custody given all you have written about aborting the pregnancy. If you also had manipulated me to take abortion pills that resulted in the deformity or death of the second fetus. I would also pursue any and all legal action for that. If you're going to stick with manipulation, lies and ghosting, you are not who I thought you were and would deserve it.

[Greg Woodnick]

Laura said some unbelievably bizarre things and had some very interesting legal theories. I have no idea what she's talking about.

[Stephanie Young]

One of those claims was abortion coercion. This will come back again later.

[Greg Woodnick]

I'd never even heard of abortion coercion until she put it in writing and sent it to Greg. But the claim that if Greg caused one of her pregnancies to be deformed, that it was somehow his fault is probably legally flawed. You should probably talk to a civil attorney about that. But also, it's missing a condition prednt. The condition prednt being being pregnant.

[Stephanie Young]

Like with Clayton, Laura's texts to Greg oscillate between claims of abuse and bids to rekindle the relationship. Laura's text is read by a voice actor.

[Laura Owens]

I still want to believe that you were the guy who wanted a fresh start with me. I told you early on that you didn't need to be with me and that I would make the decision on my own with my own timeline. But you insisted that you wanted to be with me and do this the right way in the future, which I believed. This is your last chance to show me that you weren't coercing me to have an abortion under father false pretenses.

[Stephanie Young]

I can't speak for Greg, but I'd imagine anyone receiving that text message would be in total shock. Woodnick remembers being baffled by Laura's mixed messages.

[Greg Woodnick]

My recollection was that she relayed that she was pregnant and then the story eventually morphed into it was twins. And then it eventually morphed into here's the ultrasound.

[Stephanie Young]

Greg decided to do a quick reverse image search on the ultrasound and he got a hit. The image Laura sent him appeared to be from a 2015 blog post, a blog completely unrelated to Laura Owens. Greg felt like this was proof that she was lying about the pregnancy. So he called Laura in Arizona. You can record one side of a conversation and share it if it's a matter of public interest. I want to play you some of that real phone call between Greg Gillespie and Laura Owens.

[Dave Neal]

So your pills didn't work?

[Stephanie Young]

I didn't say my pills didn't work.

[Laura Owens]

I got an ultrasound today.

[Greg Woodnick]

I know, but they didn't work.

[Laura Owens]

Did you not see that?

[Stephanie Young]

The other thing is, like, the tiniest thing you've ever seen.

[Laura Owens]

It clearly stopped the growth in that.

[Greg Woodnick]

Wait, what? Then that's not a child.

[Dave Neal]

There's no twins in this picture.

[Laura Owens]

Yeah, there are. Do you. Do you want me to zoom in

[Stephanie Young]

on it for you?

[Greg Woodnick]

Yeah. I don't know. There's no twins in this photo.

[Laura Owens]

Yeah, there is.

[Dave Neal]

Where?

[Greg Woodnick]

Oh, I know how to read ultrasounds. This is a single baby.

[Stephanie Young]

You know how to read ultrasounds?

[Greg Woodnick]

Yeah.

[Stephanie Young]

Greg confronted her with the blog post he'd found. To him, it seemed obvious that Laura had taken a screenshot of this image and Photoshopped it. He got heated.

[Dave Neal]

Why didn't you answer the question about the photo online?

[Stephanie Young]

I did. What did you want me to say?

[Narrator/Host]

Why is it your photo?

[Stephanie Young]

It's not my photo.

[Dave Neal]

Wait, didn't you find it peculiar how similar it looks?

[Stephanie Young]

No, I don't find anything peculiar with an ultrasound photo. They all look the same.

[Greg Woodnick]

They do.

[Stephanie Young]

All ultrasounds look virtually the same. I don't find anything weird with that. It's not true that all ultrasounds look the same. Greg sent the two images to his attorney, Woodnick, who asked Anobi gyn to review them.

[Greg Woodnick]

And he goes, they're the same image. And that's all I needed. At that point, I felt pretty confident that the images that Greg received were fake.

[Stephanie Young]

Greg blocked Laura across every platform, phone, email and social media. But according to court filings, Laura wouldn't stop. She allegedly used apps to generate new numbers to reach him. On August 11, she took it a step further and filed a civil lawsuit against Greg. She was seeking $45,000 in damages. This is the point in the story where Greg retained Woodnick.

[Greg Woodnick]

Her big allegation was that he coerced her to having an abortion. And that was the nexus of the civil lawsuit she filed.

[Stephanie Young]

I asked him to give me a legal definition of abortion. Coercion.

[Greg Woodnick]

I think it means someone forcing a woman to make a choice with their body that is not their choice. So I think it means that she was claiming that Greg made her terminate the pregnancy. I've been a practicing lawyer at that point for well over 20 years. I'd never even heard of this.

[Stephanie Young]

Woodnick manages a family and criminal law practice in Phoenix. I asked around and he's sort of a go to for cases involving complex child custody, child abuse and neglect. While paternity cases are common, cases like Laura's are not. At first, Woodnick wasn't sure if he wanted to take on Greg's case. He and his firm regularly provide pro bono work for Planned Parenthood.

[Greg Woodnick]

I'm very proud of the work that I've done and the commitment my office has to Planned Parenthood. And I truly believe all health care decisions regarding a woman and their pregnancy are theirs to make.

[Stephanie Young]

But Woodnick took the time to read over Greg's documents immediately. Laura's messages stood out to him.

[Greg Woodnick]

I saw the communication related to it and it was bafflingly bizarre. A lot of like, transactional negotiated communications. It's the kind of thing where Laura would send text after text after text and Greg wouldn't respond. She would send emails like, I'm having the baby if you don't call me. That's weird.

[Stephanie Young]

The day after Laura filed the civil lawsuit against Greg, he filed for an order of protection against her. I got a copy of Greg's filing. It paints a clear and unsettling picture of what he was going through. Here's what he told the courts, read by a voice actor.

[Greg Woodnick]

She continued to harass me via text messages through 14 different email accounts and imessages, all of which I've since blocked. She threatened to reach out to my family, located them on public records, reached out to my mother, threatened to expose me on her self help podcast. Laura Owens has shown up to my home two times after being asked not to come there. She now is reaching out, making threats of lawsuits to my work email address. She's contacted the HR department in my company to confirm my email address and is threatening my career and reputation at my place of work. As of yesterday and today, she is showing no sign of stopping. The defendant is stating that she is in love with me after three dates, roughly two hours each date, and is promising to have an abortion and dismiss pressing charges if I commit to loving her, marrying her, and starting a family with her within the next two years. I'm scared for my reputation and safety, and it's time to serve her a legal order of protection.

[Stephanie Young]

The judge granted Greg's order of protection ex parte, which means it gets issued right away without the other person being heard. But in Arizona, a protective order isn't effective until it's been served. Authorities tried to Serve Laura and failed each time. All the while, Laura kept flooding Greg's inbox with lengthy emails, and she was escalating her claims against him. Some of the messages she sent to Greg were later included in a Maricopa county investigative report. We've had them read by a voice actor.

[Laura Owens]

I have been advised to file criminal charges against you for fraud where I can easily establish my case. All I want is what you told me you wanted if I got an abortion. A real, genuine relationship where even though we have no idea if it works in the end or not, we really try.

[Stephanie Young]

It's emotional whiplash. She was constantly bombarding Greg with texts and emails.

[Laura Owens]

I think I have found representation for the case and am waiting to make a decision until or if I hear back from you. My hesitancy in hiring him is that he would want to talk about this to the media because he thinks it would be a landmark case case. You aren't the first guy to coerce a girl into an abortion, and he thinks there should be legal consequences for men who do that to prevent it from happening. I wanted to ask you one more time if you wanted to date. If that were the case, I would also keep my promise to you and not have the child. I obviously would drop the lawsuit if I don't get an apology and you don't show up, that you meant what you said about wanting a relationship with me. I will not be having a surgical abortion and will be filing for punitive damages for $75,000.

[Stephanie Young]

Some of these lines sound exactly like the ones she would later write to Clayton. Woodnick was disturbed by the similarities in the messages.

[Greg Woodnick]

I remember when the communication started coming in from Clayton and his dialogue with Laura. And I remember looking at the communications, wondering if they were identical. I mean, it was very eerily similar.

[Stephanie Young]

But there are some features of Greg's experience that don't quite line up with Clayton's. Like this one letter Laura sent Greg. She told him it was from a lawyer who'd reviewed her case.

[Greg Woodnick]

It was a letter on email letterhead from a very reputable lawyer in the San Francisco Bay Area.

[Stephanie Young]

Greg shared it with Woodnick. Here's his recollection of what the letter said.

[Greg Woodnick]

Laura, we've reviewed your case. This is the best abortion coercion case we've ever seen. And kind of implied that the case was worth a lot and she needed to sue and go after Greg. Obviously, that caused me to raise my eyebrows. I mean, it caused me to do some research. So we did some digging into those communications, and when she was attaching letters from her lawyer. I was like, wait a minute. If she's represented by a lawyer, I need to be communicating with the lawyer. So I did what I would train any associate or what I'm supposed to do ethically. I reached out to the lawyer themselves, and you'll be surprised to find out that they said they were not representing her.

[Stephanie Young]

Woodnick wanted to be clear. He does not believe the lawyer whose name is on this letter is the one who authored it.

[Greg Woodnick]

First, he said he didn't represent her. Second, they weren't licensed in Arizona. It was absolutely an Arizona case. And it didn't read like a lawyer wrote it. Certainly not a lawyer with the gravity that the lawyer that she claimed was representing her had. And again, we didn't get this communication from the law firm. So I'm not blaming them at all. I actually believe they didn't know. I think I alerted them to it.

[Stephanie Young]

Because the protective order could never be successfully served, Laura was legally allowed to continue contacting Greg. He wasn't responding anymore. But that didn't deter her. She contacted important people in Greg's life, like his boss. Those messages were later included in that same investigative report we discussed earlier, which is how we got a copy of them. Here's an email she sent his employer, read by a voice actor.

[Laura Owens]

Hi, I filed a civil lawsuit against a salesman at your Scottsdale location, Greg Gillespie, and wondered if I could confidentially confirm the dates that he was out on COVID leave in July and August. The illness is unrelated to the case, but my father is going through radiation for cancer right now and is having Covid symptoms. I am helping to care for him and wondered if I may have been asymptomatic after being in close contact with him and then transmitted into my dad. I would really appreciate your not involving him and if I could just have help in tracing back how he had been exposed. I think it had to be through me. Although at this point, I'm testing negative. Thanks, Laura.

[Stephanie Young]

Laura was about to take it a step further. On November 12, 2021, Laura filed an order of protection against Greg Gillespie, citing that he had been hacking her computer, social media, and even her podcast's website.

[Greg Woodnick]

Laura claims or implies that Greg is some sort of master IT hackers. I don't know where the hell she's getting that from, Stephanie. There's nothing that I've ever seen in any document or record that remotely comports with that.

[Stephanie Young]

In her filing, Laura claims that Greg is a manipulative and dangerous person who has been incessantly harassing her. It reads, quote, he will not stop until he has ruined my life, my podcast, and causes serious mental and or physical harm to me. The same day, a judge heard Laura's protective order case over. Zoom.

[Greg Woodnick]

I'm going to call Laura Owens and Gregory Gillespie. FN2021 004799. Ms. Owens, are you on the line?

[Stephanie Young]

Yes, I am.

[Greg Woodnick]

Do you solemnly swear or affirm to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you guys?

[Stephanie Young]

I do, you, Honor. The judge seemed to remember Laura.

[Greg Woodnick]

You've been in front of me before on this case. These allegations. I remember them. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Narrator/Host]

You were the one who's friends with

[Greg Woodnick]

the attorney in California.

[Dave Neal]

Yes.

[Stephanie Young]

Yeah. Okay, well, all right, if the judge's voice sounds familiar to you, it's the same judge you heard in the last episode granting Laura's order of protection against Clayton. The one about the selfie of Laura that had become a Halloween costume meme. But her hearing against Greg two years prior was much more serious.

[Greg Woodnick]

You say Mr. Gillespie put his hands on your throat. When did that happen?

[Stephanie Young]

That actually happened on our first date.

[Greg Woodnick]

All right, and you've only known him since, like, June or something, right?

[Stephanie Young]

Correct.

[Laura Owens]

Okay.

[Greg Woodnick]

We had a conversation the other day, and I want to start out by saying that everything that we say in our hearing today is something that will be recorded, and Mr. Gillespie and his attorneys can get copies of it. You're aware of that, right?

[Stephanie Young]

Yes.

[Greg Woodnick]

Okay. I will grant your order of protection.

[Stephanie Young]

Thank you so much, you, Honor. Greg was served without order of protection three days later. Laura has since renewed the order twice, as recently as December of 2024. Greg has yet to contest it, but he still has the opportunity to contest it in the future and end up back in court with Laura Owens. By December of 2021, Laura's civil case against Greg was still in the court system. And Woodnick was repeatedly asking about the status of Laura's pregnancy.

[Greg Woodnick]

We kind of lost track of the lie of the pregnancy. The story wasn't about a pregnancy. It was about this coercion thing. As soon as she filed this lawsuit claiming abortion coercion, it was almost like the lore of what she was even pregnant kind of was gone. Now we were dealing with whatever she was claiming Greg had done to her, because now she was a victim, obviously. A victim of a guy who wanted nothing to do with her. A guy who was like, leave me alone. A guy was like, quit calling my employer. A guy who was like, I don't ever want to see you again.

[Stephanie Young]

After that, Greg stopped hearing from Laura about the pregnancy. He never saw verified medical records confirming a miscarriage. There are also no birth records, no death certificates, nothing. But that isn't the end of the story. There was one more very serious allegation that Laura levied against Greg Gillespie. This time it wasn't just against him. It was against him and his attorney, Greg Woodnick.

[Greg Woodnick]

I was going to answer every fucking question the police or the FBI had because I had nothing to do with this.

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[Stephanie Young]

In 2022, Woodnick was preparing to defend his client Greg Gillespie in a strange case. It was an abortion coercion claim brought by Laura Owens. For Woodnick, the case was already outside of his normal scope of practice. Then something happened that had never occurred before in Woodnick's 25 year legal career.

[Greg Woodnick]

Maybe two or three days before the hearing, I get an email from Judge Baccus, judicial assistant. And the email is not addressed to me, it is addressed to Laura and I'm on the CC being copied back. And the email accused Greg and I of somehow being complicit in Laura's rape.

[Stephanie Young]

When Woodneck first told me about this, I was shaken. After months of reporting on Laura Owens, I thought I had a sense of her pattern of behavior. But this accusation was as serious as it gets. Woodnick is adamant that he never conspired with his client to have Laura raped.

[Greg Woodnick]

To see my name associated with it really was troubling. Troubling's probably an understatement. As much as I knew that it was complete fucking bullshit. I mean, I'm not a rapist. Not only was it not true, I had no idea what the hell she was talking about, but it was a little bit frightening because she said it with pretty good command of vocabulary that the FBI and the police were involved.

[Stephanie Young]

Widnick found out about Laura's allegation because of an email she sent to the judge in the case. That email is now part of the public record and we've had it read by a voice actor.

[Laura Owens]

I hate to email you again, but there is a major issue with defendant Mr. Gregory Gillespie and his attorney, Mr. Greg Wudnick. That needs to be brought to Judge Baccus attention privately before she rules on the motion to extend filed by my now former attorney. On March 4, 2022, I was drugged, violently assaulted, and raped. I have strong reasons to believe that both the defendant and his counsel were involved, and there is a pending FBI investigation regarding the incident. To my knowledge, neither the defendant nor his counsel are aware that they are being looked into. I was worried that submitting a motion ex parte could accidentally be publicly e filed and accessed by them, which would pose a threat to my safety. I apologize for sending an email, but I could not think of any other way to alert Judge Baucus about this without giving the other side confidential information about what has transpired.

[Stephanie Young]

While Laura is adamant in her email to the judge, it seems like she never reported this alleged rape to the police. For Woodnick, the accusation was still devastating. It made him even more sure Greg was telling the truth.

[Greg Woodnick]

Listen, I mean, I don't know that in my career that I'm going to meet someone who's got such an interesting relationship with the truth as Laura Owens does. That may never happen again.

[Stephanie Young]

After Woodnick read Laura's accusation, he immediately went into action, assembling a group of his most trusted colleagues.

[Greg Woodnick]

I got my team together. I'm fortunate. I've got seven lawyers in my team and some really experienced, wonderful lawyers who are family to me and work with me.

[Stephanie Young]

One of the people with him was his colleague, Deandra Arena. Here's what Deandra thought of Laura's accusation.

[Laura Owens]

She has a tendency to throw these random, very concerning red herrings out there to detract or deflect from what maybe is going on at the time. So I think it could have been. I think she certainly did not want Greg Widnick on this case anymore. I think she certainly did not want to deal with my office anymore. And what better way to do it than make probably the most horrific allegation you can about an individual?

[Stephanie Young]

Deandra saw how the accusation cut deep, professionally and personally.

[Laura Owens]

It was awful. I mean, this is the most egregious of allegations. Like, I would much rather have my father, brother, any male loved one be accused of murder.

[Stephanie Young]

She helped Wudnick figure out what to do next.

[Laura Owens]

I think he just went into a more logical mindset of this is someone who has fabricated a lot. So I guess I shouldn't be surprised by this. And then how do we deal with it?

[Stephanie Young]

Woodnick has a wife and two teenage kids who were in high school at the time. So after talking with his firm, he called a family meeting.

[Greg Woodnick]

And we don't do serious family meetings. We are not a serious family. So I brought the boys in, I sat them down. I said, hey, guys, you need to understand that in a case, I was accused of being involved in a woman's rape. I want you guys to know that it's not true. I know you know it's not true. I want you to hear from me that it's not true. But if you come home and the police are here, that I've got it under control. If the police show up, we have a game plan. This fucking pisses me off. We spent the next two days contacting the local police and the FBI.

[Stephanie Young]

Woodnick wanted to get ahead of it. He had nothing to hide.

[Greg Woodnick]

I contacted the FBI, Stephanie. I contacted multiple police departments. Not a soul knew what Laura was even talking about. No one even said, oh, yes, there's an open investigation. I mean, nothing. They had no idea what I was talking about. I don't even think there was ever a police report involving it because no one has ever contacted me this many years later. It was all, in my opinion, a lie. So, yeah, this one pisses me off pretty good. This one pisses me off pretty good.

[Stephanie Young]

I've spent hundreds of hours researching this case. And honestly, it takes a lot to shock me at this point. But sitting in Woodnick's office listening to him tell me this story, I actually started to tear up. I believe Woodnick when he says he wasn't involved in any criminal conspiracy to have Laura raped. Even after all these years, Laura's allegation is still an emotional topic. It's deeply personal for him. Wudnick's colleagues urged him to leave Greg's case and find a replacement. Here's Deandra.

[Laura Owens]

You have to take a step back and consider, is this worth it anymore? I mean, I went to law school for three years. I put my blood, sweat and tears into this career. And to have someone just so cavalierly throw that out there in an email, like, maybe we need to remove ourselves from this situation because this is a very dangerous person.

[Stephanie Young]

Ultimately, Woodnick stepped away from the case.

[Greg Woodnick]

Greg and I had financially part ways at some point. It's just the nature of the beast. But he and I have stayed close. He's a great guy. We ended up handing it off to a dear colleague of mine, a guy I really like, a great lawyer who help resolve it for Greg.

[Stephanie Young]

It took years for the abortion coercion case to finally get dismissed. And in the end, nothing came of Laura's rape allegation against Greg and Woodnick. No charges and no further documentation in the public record. I asked Woodnick if he considers himself another victim of Laura Owens.

[Greg Woodnick]

I think people have suggested that I'm a victim in this, too. It was never about me being a victim. The victims are these guys. I'm just a lawyer. A lawyer who's doing his job. And I think we did a pretty okay job.

[Stephanie Young]

Two years later, Woodnick would read about a former Bachelor contestant involved in a bizarre paternity case. Woodnick immediately recognized the pattern. This was Laura Owens. And when Clayton's supporters raised the funds for him to retain counsel, Woodnick would hesitate for just a moment.

[Greg Woodnick]

Was I not happy with what Laura said about me? Absolutely. Was that in my head? I'm sure it was somewhere in my head, but it certainly wasn't my dominant thought process.

[Stephanie Young]

To Woodnick, Clayton's case represented something bigger. This was a pattern. And maybe Clayton could be the one to finally bring this to an end.

[Greg Woodnick]

The fact that so many people's lives have been attempted to be destroyed by Laura was a big deal in the Clayton. This guy who was already in the spotlight because of his role on the Bachelor, he was kind of the torchbearer to make sure that justice was served.

[Stephanie Young]

That's how Woodnick and Deandra found themselves back in the courtroom with Laura Owens.

[Greg Woodnick]

I was going to make sure I did everything I could do, that my team did everything we could do to make sure we got justice for Clayton.

[Stephanie Young]

Coming up on the next episode of Love Trapped.

[Greg Woodnick]

I'm gonna remind you again that you're not really supposed to be dishonest in depositions.

[Stephanie Young]

I'm well aware.

[Greg Woodnick]

I thought maybe she had actually successfully trapped me by inseminating herself.

[Stephanie Young]

I did not send this ultrasound video.

[Laura Owens]

This is the greatest programming in the history of YouTube.

[Dave Neal]

This is why you do it live.

[Stephanie Young]

I've never seen anything like it ever.

[Narrator/Host]

I need to hold this woman accountable.

[Stephanie Young]

This isn't about her. It's about the people that she's victimized. Thank you so much for listening. Please be sure to follow Love Trap on Apple Podcasts, the iHeartRadio app, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. And please leave us a review. A five star rating helps others find this show. We're grateful for your support. If you would like to reach out to the Love Trapped team, email [e-mail] that's lovetrappedpodmail.com Love Trapped is a production of Glass podcasts, a division of Glass Entertainment Group in partnership with iheart Podcasts. This show was executive produced by Nancy Glass, Andrea Gunning and Ben Federman. Written, produced and hosted by me, Stephanie Young. Our story editor is Monique Laborde. Producer on this episode is Sydney Gladue. Additional production support from Todd Ganz. Our Production Manager is Kristin Melkiri. For iHeart podcasts. Ali Perry was our Executive producer. Audio editing and Mastering by Anna McLean. Additional editing support by Zac Proteau and Matt Del Vecchio. Thank you to our voice actors in this Leslie Tolley, Kristin Melciri, Todd Ganz and Trey Morgan. This podcast was developed in collaboration with Danny Passman and Leb Abramoff at Crybaby Media. The Love Trapped theme is composed by Oliver Baines Music Library provided by MyB Music. A special thanks to Carrie Lieberman, Will Pearson, Jessica Krijnczyk, Allie Kanter and the entire iHeart podcast team. And for more podcasts from iHeart, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Ryan Seacrest]

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[Stephanie Young]

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[Greg Woodnick]

a message for everyone paying Big Wireless Way too much.

[Narrator/Host]

Please, for the love of everything good

[Stephanie Young]

in this world, stop with Mint. You can get premium wireless for just $15 a month. Of course, if you enjoy overpaying. No judgments.

[Greg Woodnick]

But that's weird.

[Stephanie Young]

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[Laura Owens]

This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.