Podcast Summary: The Knife: A True Crime Podcast

Episode: “I Know Everything”

Date: November 13, 2025
Hosts: Hannah Smith & Patia Eaton
Guest: Heather Rivette

Overview

In this gripping episode of The Knife, hosts Hannah Smith and Patia Eaton sit down with Heather Rivette, a Toronto real estate broker whose three-year relationship unraveled into a shocking saga of romance fraud and deception. Through candid first-person storytelling, Heather recounts her relationship with “Jace Peretti” (real name Jason Porter), a charming handyman whose life story and intentions were entirely fabricated. The episode exposes not only the emotional and financial toll on Heather and her family but also lays bare systemic failures in how coercive control and intimate partner fraud are handled legally and socially.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Heather Before “Jace”: Surviving a Prior Fraud

• Heather’s background: Successful real estate broker, close family ties, and a love for dogs.
• Previous scam: Before meeting Jace, Heather lost $130,000 to a financial scam and had just started to recover and move forward with her condo renovation.
  [04:42] – “Before I met Jace, I had a life. … I was actually the victim of a financial con or a scam.” (Heather Rivette)

The Meet Cute and Manipulation Begins

• Heather met Jace in July 2018 when he came to fix a cabinet in her newly renovated condo. Sparks flew instantly, leading to lunch together and flirtatious banter that quickly escalated.
  [06:33] – “I was very taken aback when I opened the front door and there was this pretty cute guy… He just had this cute grin. And I probably for a minute just got lost in taking in this nice-looking guy.” (Heather Rivette)

• Jace immediately established a romantic and empathetic connection, sharing details about being a software engineer, going through a custody battle, and being vulnerable about personal losses.
  [13:49] – “I’d never experienced that kind of banter with somebody… So I was really already getting swept in.” (Heather Rivette)

Insight

• Classic manipulation tactics: Early oversharing of vulnerabilities and aligning personal histories as a way to fast-track intimacy and trust.
  [15:49] – “Revealing intimate details too soon is a classic manipulation tactic. It’s an easy way to fast track trust.” (Patia Eaton)

Relationship Deepens—And So Do the Lies

• Moving in & Integrating Lives: Within a year, Jace moved into Heather’s condo, charmed Heather’s family (though her father was suspicious), and quickly became central in her life.
• Fabricated backstory: Jace’s stories about elite education, a sold software company, custody struggles, and financial hardship were all constructed to garner sympathy and create justifications for inconsistencies and requests.

Early Red Flags

• Missing Jewelry: In fall 2019, Heather’s mother’s engagement ring went missing during a visit, a detail that would later take on more sinister meaning.
  [18:44] – “My mom thought he was incredible. My dad… felt like Jace told a lot of tall tales.” (Heather Rivette)

• Frequent Story Changes: Jace’s explanations about his career, his legal name(s), and lack of transparency around his son raised questions, but Heather, like many targets, rationalized away these inconsistencies.

Escalation & Discovery

• Cheating Suspicion: In 2020, a friend found Jace on Bumble under another name, raising suspicions—but Jace gaslit Heather, blaming an ex’s family.
• When pressed about documents using the name Jason Porter, Jace reassured her with elaborate but plausible excuses about name changes.

“I Know Everything”: Digital Unmasking & Betrayal

• Critical Turning Point: In July 2021, Heather, feeling isolated and anxious, accessed their shared desktop computer and discovered hundreds of messages on dating sites, evidence of Jace’s continual infidelity, and listings of her mother’s jewelry for sale.
  [41:08]

  • Heather: “I found a theme in his password, so I typed it into the desktop Mac, and boom, I’m in. And I get in the computer, and I’m like, oh, my God, what am I seeing?”

• Gaslighting and Denial: Jace’s response to being confronted was dismissal and emotional manipulation.
  [42:32]

  • Heather: “The first time I ever asked him [if he was cheating], he actually said to me… ‘Do you want to smell my dick?’…He just made me so confused all the time…”

Memorable Moment

• [55:26] – “[I] go running out of the bedroom hysterical…like I’m in full surging adrenaline terror…And I’m basically, I think, screaming at him saying, I know everything. I know you’re Jason Porter. I know what you’ve been doing. And he looks at me and is like, so. And goes and makes a coffee…” (Heather Rivette)

Aftermath: Reporting to Police & Legal System Failures

• Police response: Despite extensive evidence, Heather found the police were largely dismissive—unable or unwilling to intervene unless physical violence could be proven.

• Discovering True Identity: When Heather Googled “Jason Porter Toronto,” she uncovered his criminal history: previous convictions for identity theft, fraud, and running the same romantic cons on multiple women.
  [46:53] – “Jason Porter, dubbed the online Romeo, had been sentenced to 30 months in prison after pleading guilty to 15 different criminal charges.” (Patia Eaton)

• Legal Limbo: Despite reporting theft to authorities (including her parents’ jewelry and car), the process was slow and unsatisfying. Heather had to physically leave her own residence to feel safe.

Jace’s Prosecution and Systemic Failures

• Criminal proceedings: Eventually, Jace was sentenced to almost two years in prison and three years probation for theft and jury tampering, but not for the coercion and deception that devastated Heather’s life.
• Wider impact and community response: The story resonated with many listeners who contacted Heather, revealing how widespread romance scams and coercive control are—and how underrecognized by the justice system.

Notable Quotes

• [67:44] – “We need to recognize the coercion and the emotional abuse of all this…It’s just unfortunate, Heather, it’s not against the law to lie and be an asshole.” (Heather, referencing a sympathetic police officer)
• [63:50] – “People like him don’t change, and he never will change, and he never did change…he knows who he can play, who it’s going to work on. And those are like, nice, empathetic, caring women who just want love. And he uses that as a weapon. He’s perfected it.” (Heather Rivette)

Notable Segments & Timestamps

• [02:17] – Heather describes what “gaslighting” is and how her friend first opened her eyes to textbook emotional abuse.
• [06:33] – Heather recounts the first encounter with Jace.
• [13:49] – The intensity and speed of emotional escalation.
• [18:44] – The first occurrence of missing family jewelry—a future clue.
• [31:39] – The moment Heather learns about Jace’s double life on dating apps.
• [41:08]–[42:32] – Discovery of endless online infidelity and emotional manipulation.
• [45:21]–[47:51] – The shocking realization of Jace’s criminal background.
• [54:26]–[55:26] – The night of confrontation, hiding in a closet, and escalation to 911 call.
• [62:25] – The real reason for Jace’s passport issues and revelation of the full scope of his fraud.
• [65:48] – Outcome: legal battles, jury tampering, and the reality of justice for such victims.

Final Reflections

The episode is an in-depth journey through psychological manipulation, the nuances of intimate partner fraud, and the personal and legal aftermath faced by victims. Heather’s candor is both heartbreaking and empowering, especially as she addresses the need for better legal recognition of coercive control and the emotional damage caused by such cons.

Key Takeaways

• Romance scams can devastate even savvy, successful individuals; emotional abuse and fraud are often under-recognized or dismissed by authorities.
• Perpetrators may recycle the same manipulative “playbook” across victims for years.
• Digital evidence can both expose and protect victims, but existing laws often lag behind the complexity of emotional and financial abuse.
• Heather’s story highlights the resilience needed to survive, report, and eventually recover from such profound betrayal.

Recommended Resource

• Documentary: Who the F is Jason Porter? (Amazon Prime)—features Heather and other victims’ stories in more detail.
  [70:40] – “Totally recommend this documentary…great to hear from Heather…” (Patia Eaton)

For listeners affected by similar issues, the hosts encourage sharing your story with the podcast team via email or social media.

Podcast Contact:
Email: thenife@exactlyrightmedia.com
Instagram: @theknifepodcast
Bluesky: @theknifepodcast.bsky.social