Introducing: Blink - Jake Haendel’s Story. Heroin, Secrets. Deadly Betrayal.

Summary

Episode Summary: Introducing: Blink - Jake Haendel’s Story. Heroin, Secrets. Deadly Betrayal

Podcast: Scams, Money, & Murder
Host: Nicole Lapin
Episode: Introducing: Blink - Jake Haendel’s Story. Heroin, Secrets. Deadly Betrayal
Release Date: April 17, 2025

In this compelling episode of Scams, Money, & Murder, host Nicole Lapin introduces a special collaboration with the newly launched podcast Blink, hosted by Corinne Vien and Jake Handel. The episode delves deep into Jake Haendel’s harrowing journey through addiction, deception, and a life-altering diagnosis, painting a vivid picture of survival against all odds.

Introduction to Blink and Setting the Stage

Nicole Lapin begins by announcing the rebranding of her show from Money Crimes to Scams, Money, & Murder, promising deeper dives into financial crimes and insightful conversations with experts and survivors alike.

“Scams, Money and Murder is a Crime House original powered by Pave Studios. You can find it everywhere you get your podcasts.”
— Nicole Lapin [00:01]

Vanessa from Crime House introduces Blink, highlighting its focus on mature and intense topics such as drug use, sexual assault, and violence, ensuring listeners are prepared for the heavy content ahead.

“Blink is intended for mature audiences as it discusses topics that can be upsetting such as drug use, sexual assault, and emotional and physical violence.”
— Corinne Vien [00:50]

Jake Haendel’s Encounter and Arrest

The narrative shifts to Jake Handel’s personal story, beginning with his unexpected encounter with Corinne Vien. They reminisce about their first meeting and how Jake, despite his struggles, appeared remarkably stable.

“After helping him to his apartment and Jake repeating that I saved him, which is certainly a hyperbole, we parted ways.”
— Corinne Vien [05:15]

Jake recounts his deteriorating condition leading up to his arrest. His impaired driving while under the influence of heroin culminates in a tense traffic stop where his lack of motor control alarms the police.

“I kept Swerving, and I'm like, God, what's wrong with you?”
— Jake Handel [08:36]

During the stop, Jake’s inability to control his actions escalates the situation, resulting in his apprehension by multiple officers.

“I get ripped out of the car by like six cops and like thrown on the ground and handcuffed.”
— Jake Handel [12:12]

The Shocking Diagnosis

Following his arrest, Jake experiences a medical emergency that leads to a devastating diagnosis. While attempting to smoke heroin in the hospital, his body fails him, revealing he is suffering from acute toxic progressive leukoencephalopathy—a rare and fatal brain disease caused by toxin inhalation, in his case, heroin.

“You have something called acute toxic progressive leukoencephalopathy... month one, you won't be able to walk. Month two, you'll have a difficult time sitting.”
— Jake Handel [26:00]

The doctors inform him that his condition is terminal, giving him six months to live. This revelation forces Jake to confront his mortality and the consequences of his addiction.

Strained Relationships and Personal Struggles

Jake’s relationships become strained under the weight of his diagnosis and addiction. His wife, already aware of his struggles, becomes increasingly concerned as Jake’s condition worsens. Despite her initial support, the realization of Jake’s dire state leads to emotional turmoil and eventual separation.

“I really fucked up. And I'm just thinking about, you know, where I went wrong in life...”
— Jake Handel [26:00]

His ex-girlfriend Adrian appears as a pivotal character offering Jake a semblance of support, yet her involvement hints at deeper, more complex dynamics that contribute to Jake’s tumultuous journey.

“She really was the best at this. For a while, I may have been blinded by the love I had for her.”
— Jake Handel [36:35]

The Turning Point

Faced with limited time, Jake decides to fight his condition by ceasing drug use, hoping to prolong his life. His determination marks a significant turning point in his story, showcasing his resilience and desire for redemption.

“This was May 25, 2017, Memorial Day weekend, to just, you know, fight and not get high.”
— Jake Handel [33:08]

Despite his efforts, Jake's health continues to decline, leading to his transfer to a rehabilitation center where he confronts both his physical and emotional battles.

Conclusion and Ongoing Struggles

As Jake navigates his final months, he grapples with trust issues and the complexities of his relationships. The episode leaves listeners on the edge, anticipating how Jake will manage his remaining time and the secrets that may come to light.

“She was totally different, positive. She got so into trying to figure out the best things for me, like, strategies with ways to take care of me and experimental treatments.”
— Jake Handel [36:32]

Notable Quotes

• “Imagine being told you have six months to live... the scariest thing in your room is no longer the potential of dying, but rather the person sitting right next to you.”
  — Corinne Vien [02:57]

• “I really fucked up. And I'm just thinking about... I really, really screwed up and not the way I thought my life was headed.”
  — Jake Handel [26:00]

Insights and Reflections

Jake Haendel’s story is a poignant exploration of addiction, its devastating impact on personal relationships, and the fragile line between life and death. The episode underscores the hidden struggles of high-functioning individuals battling substance abuse, revealing the often unseen pain and conflicts that accompany addiction. It also raises critical questions about trust, the capacity for change, and the pursuit of redemption in the face of overwhelming odds.

Conclusion

Scams, Money, & Murder effectively brings to light Jake Haendel’s tumultuous journey, blending personal narrative with broader themes of addiction and survival. Through insightful storytelling and emotional depth, the episode offers listeners a gripping account of resilience amidst chaos, encouraging a deeper understanding of the human condition in the shadows of financial crime and personal downfall.

---

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Transcript

[Nicole Lafbin]

Hey there, I'm Nicole Lafbin, here to let you know that my show, Money Crimes is now called Scams, Money and Murder. Not only will we be diving deeper into the stories that brought the world's most financially conniving people down, but now we'll also be speaking to the experts as well as the people who experienced it all firsthand. Scams, Money and Murder is a Crime House original powered by Pave Studios. You can find it everywhere you get your podcasts.

[Vanessa]

Hi, it's Vanessa from Crime House. Today we're bringing you a special episode of the new podcast Blink, hosted by Corinne Vien and Jake Handel. If you love it, check out the entire series streaming now. Wherever you get your podcasts now, take a listen to this episode.

[Corinne Vien]

Blink is intended for mature audiences as it discusses topics that can be upsetting such as drug use, sexual assault, and emotional and physical violence. Content warnings for each episode are included in the Show Notes. Resources for drug addiction and domestic abuse can be found in the Show Notes and on our website, blink the podcast.com. the testimonies and opinions expressed by guests of the show are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of myself or affiliates of this podcast. Any individuals mentioned in the episode are presumed innocent until proven guilty in the court of law unless explicitly stated otherwise. Imagine being told you have six months to live. You have a terminal progressive disease that's eating away at the white matter of your brain. You'll soon lose your ability to speak, walk, feed yourself, and eventually you'll slip into a coma and die. No one has ever survived this. Surely you won't either. As the months progress, the doctor's warnings come to fruition. You slip into a pseudo coma. Laying there in total darkness for months, the nurses chat about their bad dates in front of you, flip through television channels and discuss the certainty that your death will soon be here. They don't know that you can hear them. They're certain you're no longer in there. Friends and family visit less and less. Now your only visitor is your wife. A wife who is certain you'll never recover and who begins to whisper strange admissions in your ear. It is here, helpless in your hospital bed, that you realize what may have gotten you here in the first place. The scariest thing in your room is no longer the potential of dying, but rather the person sitting right next to you.

[Jake Handel]

SA.

[Nicole Lafbin]

Crime House Studios has released its first audiobook called Murder in the Media. Told through the lens of five heart pounding murder cases, this thrilling audiobook traces the evolving and sometimes insidious role the media has had in shaping true crime storytelling. Murder in the Media is a Crime House Original Audiobook Find it Now on Spotify.

[N/A]

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[Corinne Vien]

This is Jake Handle in the building where he and I first met. We lived in the same apartment complex in Boston. I had walked onto the elevator and asked how he was doing, a cordial hello to a neighbor I didn't know.

[Jake Handel]

Not good.

[Corinne Vien]

This sort of raw and honest answer describes Jake well. While Jake didn't feel great in that moment, what he was accomplishing was miraculous. For the first time in four years, Jake was standing, holding onto his walker, hands gripped and arms strained. The problem being he was only supposed to go a short distance. And now he was stuck alone in the elevator. After helping him to his apartment and Jake repeating that I saved him, which is certainly a hyperbole, we parted ways. The next time we spoke was two months later and Jake told me his story. A story involving drug deals, death sentences, medical miracles, and more than one suspected murder. Murder attempt. A story of survival with Jake being the only person in the world to ever make it out alive. What happened to Jake was so astonishing it felt implausible. Every detail trumped the next, and rarely could I predict what was coming. It felt like a Jordan Peele movie and I just couldn't understand How Jake was now sitting here drinking beers with me on our rooftop and describing his life events with such nonchalance. If what Jake was telling me was true, this could alter the medical world as we know it, change people's lives forever, and unlock the answers to phenomena we don't have, explanations for, things we deem supernatural. I couldn't understand how no one was talking about this, how Jake's face wasn't plastered on the COVID of every medical journal, and how his inbox wasn't flooded with inquiries from true crime documentarists. But his story is convoluted. The timeline of events is a bit of a complex web, and the few journalists who have spoken to Jake in the past have sometimes struggled to follow the story. But I needed to know more. And so for the following months, I set out seeking answers. The first question I needed to answer was, how did Jake get here in the first place? This is. Is blank. I'm your host, Corrine Vien.

[Jake Handel]

I'm Jay Candle. This is my story. I noticed my driving was a little off. And, you know, I used to be a fairly good driver, but I was just soaring all the time. And I would say to myself, like, come on, Jake, pull it together. At this time of my life, I. You know, I was doing a lot of drugs and a lot of reasons in my life to make me sort of at the wheel or act weird, but this was not baseline at all. And I knew something was wrong, but I. I was in denial. I guess I was just avoiding it. Didn't even think it was a big deal.

[Corinne Vien]

The first time Jake noticed something was off was in May of 2017. Five days later, on May 20, he woke up in a panic, late for work. At the time, Jake was working at a liquor store in Westboro, Massachusetts. He hopped to his feet and began his morning routine.

[Jake Handel]

The first thing I would do before I brush my teeth is free to base a little heroin off tin foil. And I had no time for that and to brush my teeth. That was already late. So I hopped in my car and I just. You know, you need that fix when you're that hooked on a substance like this. So I decided I would smoke it while I was driving, which sounds wild, and it is, but something I'd done hundreds of times. But I was, like, more in a frantic rush to get to work. So I'm, like, driving with my knee pen in my mouth, lighter under the tinfoil, and, like, speeding and kind of brain damaged, you know, which I didn't even know. And I just kept Swerving, and I'm like, God, what's wrong with you? I kept saying that. And then I looked in my rear view and I noticed there were blue lights.

[Corinne Vien]

Jake was no stranger to the police, and this wasn't his first time being pulled over while there were drugs in the car. As he pulls to the side of the road, Jake plans to simply stash away his drugs in the center console, concealing it from police.

[Jake Handel]

As I opened the center console and trying to put the stuff into was like my brain froze. And the connection that my brain was telling to move the arm in the hand to put it away, it wasn't working. So I'm like kind of frozen with all this drugs and paraphernalia in my hand. As the cop is walking to the window, he didn't even say like, do you know why I pulled you over? He was just like, man, you're driving like a psycho. What's going on? And then like stops and he's like, what's that in your hand? And I'm just kind of like. Like I couldn't even formulate sounds. And then my brain did something else weird. He didn't even ask me for my license, but I was fixated on getting him my license. And I'm like, I'm like, oh, just like, hold on, I'm just looking for my license. And I started like reaching under my seat, which obviously I dealt with cops a lot. And I knew this was like a horrible idea, right, because he thinks I'm probably reaching for a weapon. And I knew he was very nervous and freaking out. Like, stop moving around. But even though I knew all this, I could not control anything. He took out his gun and he's like, stop moving right now.

[Corinne Vien]

Jake is extremely nervous and he knows he's in a dangerous situation. No longer in control of his body's movements, he's worried he'll soon be a headline on the local news. 28 year old shot during traffic stop in Westboro, Massachusetts. But no matter how much he concentrates on sitting still, he can't. The officer radios for backup and multiple unmarked police vehicles arrive quickly to the scene.

[Jake Handel]

I get ripped out of the car by like six cops and like thrown on the ground and handcuffed. And I'm like, whoa, whoa, whoa. I'm not a bad guy. Like, I'm not trying to cost her out. Like, I'm sorry.

[Corinne Vien]

Jake is handcuffed and thrown into the back of an officer's suv. He watches from the cruiser as other officers search his car. What Jake does next surprises him and.

[Jake Handel]

I just start talking to the guy about like my drug use issues and I'm just blabbing to him something that was really off too because I mean I would never voluntarily tell a cop anything in my line of work of a drug dealer user. And I'm like shut the fuck up Jake. Like what are you doing?

[Corinne Vien]

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[Vanessa]

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[Nicole Lafbin]

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[Vanessa]

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[Corinne Vien]

Jake is brought to the Westboro police station and begins the booking process.

[Jake Handel]

My fucking wife is gonna kill me.

[Corinne Vien]

Jake's wife had been the first to notice that something was off with him. A few days before his arrest, she raised her concerns with the sudden changes in his speech. His words were slurred and higher pitched. He sounded drunk. Initially ignoring his wife's observations, Jake now worries his wife will be upset with him. She knew that Jake was struggling with addiction and so stuck by him during the few times he tried to get clean and then relapsed. Hearing of his arrest will surely upset her. While Jake wonders how he will explain his arrest to his wife, his body continues to shut down.

[Jake Handel]

I'm sure they just thought I was high.

[Corinne Vien]

Yeah.

[Jake Handel]

But I'm like, no, like I'm high 365 days a year. And this is not like, I'm very high function. This is like, not me, guys.

[Corinne Vien]

At that point, how frequently had you been using?

[Jake Handel]

Extremely frequent. I would say hourly. If I was at work, I could go four hour stretches. But the difference is I never got my morning 15 minutes of smoking because it was interrupted by the police. So I was already feeling like not 100% to begin with, but I'm like, towards the end of this hour, I'm like, ugh, I gotta, gotta get some.

[Corinne Vien]

The bail bondsman arrived and Jake posted bail. His car had been towed, so he needed a lift from the station. He calls his dad, Daron, and asks him for a ride. When Dorone arrives, Jake doesn't ask to be taken to his car. He doesn't ask to be driven home. He asks for a lift to his friend's house. He needs another hit.

[Jake Handel]

I had trouble getting into his car and I could tell that he knew something was off with me.

[Corinne Vien]

Jake's father agrees to drive him to his friend's house. The friend, his ex girlfriend, Adrian, who was, in Jake's words, a very big drug dealer.

[Jake Handel]

Bigger than I ever dreamed of from my own aspirations in that category. She was my hookup and I hit her up.

[Corinne Vien]

Adrian and Jake had dated during a very difficult time in Jake's life. The period after his mom had died from a nine year battle with cancer. Jake and Adrian remained good friends. So when she sees Jake struggle up the stairs to her apartment, she too inquires about his health. He assures her he is fine and then freebases heroin off of tinfoil. Jake takes as many hits as he can in the three minutes he's inside. He then goes back to the car and is driven home. Jake had used his one phone call at the police station to let work know that he wasn't coming. Still, his wife had somehow found out about his arrest and she is waiting for him when he gets back.

[Jake Handel]

She wasn't happy when he got home and I was, you know, weird voice, weird balance, falling apart, kinda. She's like, you need to go to the hospital. Something's fucking wrong with you. I think deep down I knew probably a good idea, but I didn't want to go.

[Corinne Vien]

Just a day later, Jake's wife calls an ambulance for him.

[Jake Handel]

Just like Junkies do. I'm thinking, well, I'm gonna be at the hospital. I better, like, get my fix in before I go. So I'm in the bathroom and this was the moment I really knew I was fucked. I opened this like 5 gram baggie. All I would do is take the baggie and pour it, like, pinch out a little of it. But I couldn't even untie the bag. My fingers, my hand, like, they weren't working, so I couldn't even get the bag open. So I put on my teeth and I just pulled it off and I go to dump a little and I dumped the whole fucking thing all over the place.

[Corinne Vien]

Jake's attempt to smoke heroin had failed. The contents of the gram baggie now scattered across the bathroom floor. The paramedics enter his home and his wife directs them to the bathroom. The paramedics get Jake into the ambulance and begin tests. They theorize he may be having a stroke. Once in the emergency room, Jake undergoes a series of tests. They give him fluids, some time to rest and assure him that he is fine. The hospital is preparing to discharge him when his wife pleads with the staff to take her concerned seriously.

[Jake Handel]

This is not my husband. She's like, listen to his voicemail. She takes out the phone and plays my voicemail. And I really did have like a totally different voice.

[Corinne Vien]

When Jake and I decided to create this podcast, he raised a concern about his voice. Despite the miraculous accomplishments he's made in speech therapy, this new voice is something he's still getting used to. It's slower, wobbly at times, and he occasionally loses control over the volume. Jake shifts uncomfortably when hearing recordings of his current voice, but smiles proudly when showing me a clip from before his diagnosis. This clip is from a video he had posted on his YouTube channel called the Many Voices of Jake. There are a few sound effects, but in the start of the video, you're able to catch a single snippet of his old voice.

[Jake Handel]

There's all these soldiers there, like probably like 400.

[Corinne Vien]

In the hospital, an emergency MRI is ordered. Jake assumes he will get to go home in the morning, so to make it through the evening, he calls his dad to bring him a pack of Marlboro Reds, his cigarette of choice.

[Jake Handel]

That was the last pack of cigarettes that was bought for my life was never the same.

[Corinne Vien]

Hearing that Jake had assumed life would continue as usual, that he'd go back to work the next day and resume his regular drug use. I asked him how he'd been able to keep a job, how he could have Lived a high functioning life up until this point.

[Jake Handel]

My routine turned into like, I'd wake up in the morning before I did anything. I'd smoke heroin for five to eight minutes, cigarette, brush my teeth. But I would have a very productive day. So another thing, a lot of people would like nod out and be incapable of doing much. It was like a cocaine for me. I was amped up, I was ready to conquer the world, do everything. It was like my spinach, like if I was Popeye. I just needed a little more, a little more, a little more. You know, I could be high out of my mind, put out 250 person wedding easy, no issues, and then walk out and like talk to like the bride's family after and like, oh so yeah, so oh yeah. But I would duck off to my produce cooler, take a hit. I duck off to the bathroom over time, take a hit. You know, that was just like, you know, that's how it was.

[Corinne Vien]

For years, this hidden world of high functioning heroin users amazed me. I had family members whose lives were ruined from the drug and classmates who lost their lives to it. And so I always thought of it as this thing that debilitated people and then killed them. Learning that Jake and many others in his circle could function on heroin and present themselves in the world just like me or you was brand new information for me. Did people really not know something was wrong? For Jake, this lifestyle was something he would never partake in again. And he was about to learn why.

[Nicole Lafbin]

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[Nicole Lafbin]

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[Vanessa]

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[N/A]

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[Jake Handel]

Ooh.

[N/A]

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[Vanessa]

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[Corinne Vien]

Early the next morning, Jake wakes to multiple doctors in his room. One sits on the bed next to him. Jake remembers the somber expressions across each of their faces. The doctor seated next to him placing a comforting hand on his knee.

[Jake Handel]

It's like, I'm so sorry to tell you, you have this really rare brain disease. And thank you for being honest with us about your drug use because I'm not sure we'd realize otherwise. You have something called acute toxic progressive leukoencephalopathy. And this was caused by inhalation of a toxin. And you know, it's pretty catastrophic in your, in the white matter of your brain. And they laid it out for me, they were like, acute means it's happening right now. Toxic means inhalation of a toxin. Progressive means it will only get worse, never get better. And leukoencephalopathy means of the, like, disease of the white matter of the brain. I didn't know what it really looked like for me, but then they got into that and they were like, so like you might survive, you know, that would be very rare. But month one, you won't be able to walk. Month two, you'll have a difficult time sitting. Month three, trouble talking and swallowing. Month four and five is when you're, you know, stage four end of life type thing, and then you'll likely slip into a coma and die. And I said out loud, I was like, I really fucked up. And I'm just thinking about, you know, where I went wrong in life and thinking about my mom who died, and I'm just like, I really, really screwed up and not the way I thought my life was headed.

[Corinne Vien]

Toxic leukoencephalopathy is a very rare disease that causes progressive damage to the white matter of the brain. Drug abuse through inhalation and extravenous injection can both lead to this disease. But it's not just heroin that causes it. Alcohol, cocaine, ecstasy, chemotherapeutic drugs, and even environmental toxins can lead to this diagnosis. For Jake, it was heroin inhalation of heroin. The disease is complicated, and the research on it is sometimes conflicting. Some researchers believe that heroin induced leukoencephalopathy may be caused by a contaminant in heroin, a bad stash. But others disagree. Here in the hospital, with doctors surrounding him, Jake is told that for his particular diagnosis, acute toxic, progressive leukoencephalopathy. Only a few people have survived past diagnosis, and no one has ever survived. After entering stage four of the disease, the odds are stacked against him. He is given six months to live.

[Jake Handel]

I sat there with my thoughts. Lie there for 20 minutes. I kind of said to myself, well, well, fuck it. You did anyway, and picked up the phone and called my ex, Adrian. And I said, can you. Can you bring me a package to UMass Memorial Hospital? And she's like, what's wrong? I go, it's not good, but I just need a little something. She's like, yeah, of course I got you, but what's happening? I'm like, oh, they just gave me six months to live. She was like, oh, my fuck, Jake. I can't bring that to you. And I was like, I'm dead anyway. I'm gonna die. And she's like, don't make me do this. I'm like, I don't want to make you do anything, but please. And, yeah, she came. I started getting high in my hospital bed, smoking off tinfoil. I was having a hard time even smoking it anymore. I was, like, deteriorating that rapidly. I couldn't even do something I did multiple times a day, you know, for years. And a nurse walks in and sees me, and she's like, huh? What? What are you. And I'm like, like, what's the difference? I'm like, I'm. She's like, hold on. Leaves the room, and a bunch of doctors come in.

[Corinne Vien]

The hospital police and a team of nurses accompany the doctors. The doctors tell Jake, yes, he has about six months left to live, but if he keeps smoking and doing drugs, that window Will shorten significantly.

[Jake Handel]

The cops are like, we know what's going on here. You do it if you want to do it, but you should think about how you want to live your remaining days. And they left me with that. My wife came back after the cops looked around for the sash, and she was like, I'm leaving you. Like, I'm out of here. You're on your own. I'm like, I'm thinking about, you know, when I was watching my mom die in hospice and how that led me to this rough path of self medicating and, you know, really me up emotionally. And I'm like, you know, I love my wife. And I'm just like, yeah, you should not stick around for this. You know, like, it's not good. I don't blame you. I could tell she was so angry and hurt. That's why she was. She was just being rough with her words. And, you know, she's like, I'm going to Seattle. And I knew it was in Seattle, her ex and going back with him. She took off. She got a flight. She went to Seattle. She's gone, I think gone forever. Kind of after two hours smoking this, I'm just kind of like, all right, I know how I want to, like, live my last days. I threw the shit, like, on the floor, and I was like, I'm done with that for me, but also for my dad and my siblings and even my wife, even though she's gone. So I make the decision. This was May 25, 2017, Memorial Day weekend, to just, you know, fight and not get high.

[Corinne Vien]

Two weeks after admission, Jake is moved from UMass Memorial Medical center to a rehabilitation center, where he becomes progressively more sick while simultaneously going through withdrawals from heroin and nicotine. He is sick, dying, and in extreme pain.

[Jake Handel]

There was a side of me that was like, well, I know there's no chance, but maybe. Maybe if I get my shit together and do everything I can do, I could be. And I asked them, is there any medicine for this? And they're like, no. And I'm like, is there anything I can be doing?

[Corinne Vien]

To start, Jake has put on extremely high doses of three vitamins. Coenzyme Q10, vitamin E, and vitamin C.

[Jake Handel]

And they were also like. And eat blueberries, like, as much as you can. Do you like them? And I was like, oh, I fucking love bluebirds.

[Corinne Vien]

Easy.

[Jake Handel]

I would eat pints. You know, I just had that mindset of, like, I'm gonna try and prolong my life or. And. Or maybe beat this.

[Corinne Vien]

Jake spends two weeks in UMass Memorial Medical center before being transferred to Fairlawn Rehabilitation Hospital. It has now been 10 days since his diagnosis, and before his transfer, Jake receives a call from his wife.

[Jake Handel]

I'm losing the ability to text by now already and hold the phone to my ear. So get a call from her and I answer it and she's like, crying. She's like, I miss you. And I'm like, I miss you too. And she's like, can I come home? And I'm like. I'm like, well, there isn't much of a home to come home to. This is kind of it. She was like, I fucking hate it out here. There's too many drugs and I'm doing too many drugs and I'm miserable, and I just. I just want to come home. Am I allowed to come home? I, like, wanted her still, but I also, like, knew this would be horrible for her. So I was torn. I miss you terribly, and I'm sad and like, but. But this is not. And she was like. You know, I told her, I was like, this is not gonna be good for you. And she was like, I don't care. I wanna, like, take care of you. And I was really torn. I was like. Like, I knew it would be a good thing for me. So, like, I was like, kind of like screaming in my head, just say yes. But I knew how hard it'd be for her, and she came back and she was like, totally different, positive. She got so into trying to figure out the best things for me, like, strategies with ways to take care of me and experimental treatments. And, like, she was just all in.

[Corinne Vien]

Threw herself into the caretaker role in advocate.

[Jake Handel]

She really was the best at this. For a while, I may have been blinded by the love I had for her. And I'm just realizing there was a lot I overlooked, perhaps sinister stuff.

[Corinne Vien]

Jake's health continues to rapidly decline. Not only will he have to find a way to survive this terminal death sentence, but he will soon, soon have to figure out who around him he can trust.

[Vanessa]

Check out the entire series streaming now. Wherever you get your podcasts ready to.

[Nicole Lafbin]

Rethink everything you know about true crime? Check out Murder in the Media, the first audiobook from Crime House Studios. Find Murder in the Media on Spotify.