The Fugitive Mother (Part 1 of 2)

Summary

The Knife: A True Crime Podcast

Episode: The Fugitive Mother (Part 1 of 2)

Release Date: February 26, 2026
Hosts: Hannah Smith & Pasha Eaton
Featured Guest: Leigh Barnett

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Episode Overview

In this gripping first installment of a two-part series, hosts Hannah Smith and Pasha Eaton sit down with Leigh Barnett—once known only as the woman at the center of a notorious “parental kidnapping” case that spurred an international FBI manhunt. Leigh tells her story in her own words, offering a nuanced and deeply personal account of the traumatic events that led her to flee with her infant daughter and vanish, sparking one of the most controversial custody battles in recent history. Through first-person interviews and detailed narration, the episode peels away from tabloid headlines to reveal a complex, emotionally charged conflict—one that asks the audience to consider the ripple effects of assumptions, power imbalances, and decisions made in family courts.

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Main Discussion Points & Key Insights

1. Leigh’s Background and Relationship Origins

[03:35]

• Leigh (known as Alex Geldenhuis overseas, and Leigh Barnett in the US) opens by describing her unconventional upbringing marked by frequent moves, a hippie-leaning mother, seasons in Belize, and a spirit of adventure.
• She met Harris (her future husband) in 1986 as her stockbroker; their relationship began as friends and gradually developed into romance after Leigh left a volatile relationship.
• Noted early red flags: Harris’s tendency toward isolation, their mismatched personalities, and the clear, ongoing issue of their opposing desires regarding children.

“It was known by everybody that he didn’t want children, couldn’t stand being around them, didn’t want them. I wanted children.”
— Leigh [08:03]

2. Escalating Tensions: Pregnancy and Estrangement

[09:52]

• Leigh becomes pregnant after about seven months of marriage, despite Harris’s strong stated opposition to children.
• Harris’s reactions are described as cold, repulsed, and ultimately, hostile.
• Leigh experiences a health scare—a possible miscarriage—yet finds out she remains pregnant.

“He told me it was a fate worse than death. And I went, oh, not going well.”
— Leigh [11:01]

• The couple further fractures, leading Harris to eventually demand an abortion and then abruptly leave.

“He was sitting on the floor watching a baseball game. He said, ‘We are not going to be a family. You’re going to have an abortion.’”
— Leigh [13:57]

3. Competing Narratives & Legal Weaponization

[15:40]

• Hannah highlights the contentious “he said, she said” dynamic: Leigh claims Harris left due to the pregnancy; court documents suggest Harris blames Leigh’s alleged mental illness.
• Their split is marked by increasing accusations—violence, instability, and mental health concerns—each side seeking validation from family, friends, and eventually, the courts.
• Leigh recounts isolated incidents of conflict but denies any pattern of violence or instability.

"The only time we ever had any fight was… I slapped him one time. Then the other time, when he first told me I had to have an abortion, I went out on the porch and I … pushed [flower pots] off."
— Leigh [19:18]

4. The Psychiatrist and the Question of Mental Health

[24:02]

• A pivotal counseling episode: With pressure from her mother and Harris, Leigh begins “marriage counseling” with a psychiatrist (Dr. A), who prescribes her the antipsychotic Navane despite her being pregnant and without a known diagnosis.

“He prescribed me Navane. And Harris would call me every day and go, ‘Are you taking your medicine like a good little girl?’”
— Leigh [03:24, repeated at 28:47]

• Leigh learns from a doctor friend that Navane is inappropriate—and potentially dangerous—for her situation.

“She said, ‘Lee, that’s an antipsychotic medication. You’ll lose your child. How many have you taken?’ And I’d taken three.”
— Leigh [29:00]

• It is later revealed (court records and Dr. A’s testimony) that both Harris and Leigh’s mother met with Dr. A prior to Leigh, shaping the initial narrative of her mental health before she engaged in counseling.

“Before Lee set foot in that office, she was already painted as someone … dangerous and someone who might need medical intervention.”
— Hannah [34:15]

5. The Custody Battle: Diagnosis and Prejudice

[49:48]

• Despite continued efforts to seek independent assessment, the initial diagnosis and Harris’s testimony frame Leigh as “unfit.” Multiple psychiatric assessments ensue, with conflicting opinions from Dr. A and her chosen psychiatrist Dr. Folk.
• The trial is especially fraught: Leigh is depicted as a danger to her daughter; Harris claims family history of “hyperthymic temperament” (a dubious diagnosis, often confused with bipolar disorder, and not itself a psychiatric disease).

“He said, ‘…I’ll watch her ever so closely. And when I see one sign of hyperthymic temperament, I’ll whisk her off to one good doctor and I’ll have her medicated as young as three years old. That’s why I left.’”
— Leigh quoting Harris [55:38]

6. The Verdict & Aftermath

[53:38]

• After a strenuous trial, the judge grants Harris full custody of Savannah, despite her being a breastfeeding infant. Leigh is allotted only four days of visitation a month.
• Leigh’s visible distress in court is interpreted as a sign of instability; she feels condemned without recourse.

"I had to sit there, and I was crying. And he said, 'Now this is like the fourth time you’ve cried. You’re out of control.’ …They forced weaned her on the spot that day."
— Leigh [54:35]

• Leigh describes her devastation and sense of institutional betrayal as she is separated from her child.

7. The Spark that Leads to Flight

[57:51]

• With no written court order issued by day 46 (preventing appeal), Leigh recalls a TV segment about procuring fraudulent documents at LA’s MacArthur Park.
• She quietly returns Savannah to Harris, then travels to LA, buying time and investigating options.
• The episode ends as Leigh begins putting her plan into motion—hinting at the ultimate decision to vanish with her daughter, setting up Part 2’s exploration of years on the run.

“So on day 46, without a written court order, I had no way to appeal, so I left MacArthur Park.”
— Leigh [57:51]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “I knew it was going to be really bad. And every single person I called ... the only thing they said was, ‘Oh my god, how is Harris?’”
  — Leigh [11:01]

• “Before Lee set foot in that office, she was already painted as someone ... who was not in touch with reality, someone dangerous and someone who might need medical intervention.”
  — Hannah [34:15]

• “He had to have an excuse of why he left me. So that’s when he developed all the mentally ill stuff ... it was to try and save face throughout this whole thing.”
  — Leigh [46:38]

• “And there were cameras back in those days in there. Then I opened up the envelope and there were two brand new, beautiful, real US Passports.”
  — Leigh [59:54]

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• [03:36] – Leigh introduces herself and describes early relationship with Harris
• [09:52] – Discovery of pregnancy and Harris’s reaction
• [13:39] – Surprising result: Leigh is still pregnant after miscarriage scare
• [15:40] – The “he said, she said” legal battle begins
• [19:18] – Physical confrontations and accusations of violence
• [24:02] – The psychiatrist, Navane prescription, and questions of mental health
• [30:30] – Harris formally requests divorce during counseling session
• [34:15] – Exposé on calculated psychiatric setup
• [43:25] – Birth of Savannah (later Samantha), hospital conflict
• [48:31] – Guardian ad litem appointed, beginning of custody litigation
• [53:38] – Court grants Harris full custody; Leigh is devastated
• [57:51] – Judge delays written order, Leigh contemplates flight
• [59:54] – Closes with Leigh acquiring fraudulent passports

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Tone & Style

Through intense, empathetic, first-person narrative, the episode presents a layered picture not only of a controversial crime, but of the lived trauma and desperate choices that drove it. The hosts maintain a respectful yet probing journalistic tone, frequently noting the limitations of the narrative (as told almost entirely by Leigh), and the unreliability—and weaponization—of both memory and mental health diagnoses in adversarial legal settings. The episode leaves listeners questioning the objectivity of the courts, the consequences of institutional mistrust, and what it means to be believed.

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Conclusion

Cliffhanger Ending:
The episode concludes as Leigh begins executing her escape plan with Savannah, setting up for Part 2’s binge-worthy continuation, which will delve into years spent on the run, the eventual unraveling of their secret life, and the long-term impacts on both mother and daughter.

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For Part 2, tune in next week to hear Leigh’s harrowing journey as a fugitive and the ripple effects that followed for nearly 20 years.

Transcript

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[Hannah Smith]

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[Pasha Eaton]

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[Hannah Smith]

This story contains adult content and language. Listener discretion is advised.

[Pasha Eaton]

The claims and opinions in this podcast are those of the speaker and do not necessarily represent the Knife or exactly right media. What is it? He says, I can't take medicine. I'm pregnant. He goes, oh no, this will be really good for you. And he prescribed me Navvine. And Harris would call me every day and go, are you taking your medicine like a good little girl?

[Hannah Smith]

Welcome to the Knife. I'm Hannah Smith.

[Pasha Eaton]

I'm Paisha Eaton. And this week we have part one of a two part series. And part two will air next week.

[Hannah Smith]

We speak with Leigh Barnett, who for many years was only known as the woman who kidnapped her own child and disappeared, leading to an international FBI manhunt. And then almost 20 years later, Lee and her now adult daughter were located and Lee was arrested.

[Pasha Eaton]

Leigh Barnett joins us to tell us her side of the story. Over these two episodes, Lee tells us about the events leading up to her disappearance, why she felt she had no choice in what she did all those years on the run. Let's get into the interview.

[Hannah Smith]

Let's just start off by having you introduce yourself, whatever name you want to use. Maybe Lee, since that's what you go by now, Is that correct?

[Pasha Eaton]

I always introduce myself as overseas, I'm known by Alex Geldenhuis. In the US I'm known by Leigh Barnett and also have a prison number too, by the FBI. So yeah, Lee Barnett in the United States is what I go by.

[Hannah Smith]

Okay, great. So tell us about that chapter in your life. Right before all of this started, I

[Pasha Eaton]

was living down in Belize because I kind of grew up off and on there. I went to Africa for a long time with my best friend and moved back to the States. And when we got back from Africa, I got hired by Piedmont Airlines back then. And so I started working with the airlines became US Air, so I was a flight attendant with them. And then I invested some money and that's how I met my future husband, Harris, because he was worked for Merrill Lynch. I met him in about 1986 when I went to invest some money with him in Charleston, South Carolina. We were just friends. He's very aloof and I'm the opposite. So I always try and pull people out of their aloofness. And so I started asking to cocktail parties at my mother's house and just I have a lot of guy friends because I do a lot of guy things and I kind of included him in everything. If he needed a date to something formal, then he would ask me, and we just went as friends for about four years. And how did that end up going from, you know, the friend zone to something else? Well, I was dating a Swiss pilot guy, and he was quite volatile, and Harris convinced me into coming out to his house just to get away from this person. And one thing led to another, and then he told me how he felt, and I was shocked. And then we got into a relationship from there. Were there good times in the beginning, and are you able to share any of those with us? Yeah, we had a lot of good times. I mean, hindsight I saw that I was being isolated from Everybody. He had 10 acres. Nobody was allowed to come out there without, you know, asking him first. But we did have a lot of fun. And I kind of got him out of his hole and got him down to Belize, actually showed him where I grew up as a child, and took him to the ruins, took him to Guatemala. We had a lot of fun when it came to things like that. But he lives a very isolated life, and I had to be a part of that. And at the time, I thought it was because he loved me so much and he wanted me for himself. And, you know, my friends were very, very nervous about the whole situation.

[Hannah Smith]

Lee and Harris were two very different people. According to Lee, Harris liked to live a very organized and controlled life. Lee, on the other hand, was used to living a more spontaneous life, full of travel and adventure. In fact, traveling was something she'd grown up with. Lee, technically, was raised in Somerville, outside of Charleston. But when she talks about her childhood, it sounds like they never stayed in one place for very long.

[Pasha Eaton]

So my dad died when I was 4 months old. My brother was 3. My other brother was 4. Mom just started living kind of this almost hippie ish life. I spent first grade in Somerville, Charleston, and then we moved to Ormond beach full time. Prior to that, When I was 3 and 4, we lived in the Keys because mom would just pack us up and off we'd go. So I lived in ormond all through second grade till 12th grade. But we spent every summer and most every Christmas down in Belize, which used to be British Honduras back in the 60s.

[Hannah Smith]

Despite their differences, Lee and Harris continued to date. But Lee admits it was never a smooth or easy relationship. There were always bumps in the road.

[Pasha Eaton]

Harris, it was known by everybody that he didn't want children, couldn't stand being around him, didn't want him. I wanted children. So we dated for about a year, but we kept breaking up, and we called it our Friday night breakup. Because the seriousness of him not wanting children and me wanting him always seemed to come up on a Friday night, and then we'd get upset and we'd both be, you know, sad. And then we end up getting back together. And it was this very immature thing on both of our parts, especially mine, I suppose. And then all of a sudden, he decided he wanted to get married and because, you know, it's part of trying to heal somebody, as women all try to do. But it's also where I was missing out on something, thinking, hey, I must be special. Of all the people, and, you know, he wants to marry me. So it was kind of the combination. It was very wrong in the first place, but we got married. So you got married understanding that he did not want children? Yes, and he got married on understanding that I seriously wanted children. So it was kind of a bad combination to begin with.

[Hannah Smith]

In December of 1991, Lee and Harris got married. Lee recalls that she was 31 years old at the time, and Harris was 39.

[Pasha Eaton]

And so you guys are married in the early 90s then. And tell us about those first years of marriage. Well, there wasn't even years I was on the pill. I was having all kinds of problems with flying with the airlines, like, had super swollen lymph nodes. They thought I had Hodgkin's disease. Hindsight, I find out 15 years later, it was diagnosed as severe allergies. But they said, oh, you shouldn't be on the pill. So I got off the pill, and he was going to take care of everything. And then I ended up getting pregnant after seven months of marriage.

[Hannah Smith]

Was it a surprise to you when you found out you were pregnant?

[Pasha Eaton]

I had no idea I was pregnant.

[Hannah Smith]

He knew that you had stopped taking the pill, and there was some conversation that he was gonna get a vasectomy or something.

[Pasha Eaton]

He wouldn't get a vasectomy. He refused to.

[Hannah Smith]

So you weren't using any kind of birth control except for his rhythm method.

[Pasha Eaton]

Yeah.

[Hannah Smith]

Okay, I see.

[Pasha Eaton]

So you were like, okay, I'm vaguely aware of my cycle, and we're going with that. Yeah, I was. Well, yeah, I didn't really pay much attention to my cycle, but I was not, you know, I was like, okay, that's what you want to do, you know? You know, there's condoms or things like that. But he wasn't interested in that, evidently. I see.

[Hannah Smith]

Wow.

[Pasha Eaton]

What was the moment of finding out you were pregnant at home test? Yes. I think that's what happened. And then I went to my gynecologist and then he did a blood test, and he said, yes, you're pregnant. And you know that normal elation everybody has. I just had pure fear. I knew it was going to be really bad. And every single person I called, all of my best friends, any family members, the only thing they said was, oh, my God, how is Harris?

[Hannah Smith]

Wow.

[Pasha Eaton]

So there was never, like, congratulations or whatever. And so I was scared. But I also knew, you know, there's no way I'm going to abort my child. So that wasn't even a thought in my mind.

[Hannah Smith]

What were you scared of?

[Pasha Eaton]

I was scared I'd lose him. And, you know, it's a stupid thing because I really, really loved him. I was afraid of that. I was never afraid of what happened would happen. It didn't ever, ever come to my mind that he could be that diabolical. I just didn't know that. I just thought, okay, that's the end of it. Sounds like you tell close friends and family members when and how do you go about telling Harris? The first time I said it before I went to get the blood test, I only did the go to the bathroom on the stick one. And I said to him, I have a feeling I'm pregnant. And he said, that's okay. We can just have an abortion. And I said, I don't want an abortion. Then I did the stic and found that I was like the next day. And I told him, and he's totally cold. He just turned away, walked out of the house. Then he told me it was a fate worse than death. And I went, oh, not going well. And then we just kind of tiptoed around everything. He told me he was repulsed by pregnant women. Now, this is really early, early on. So I started sleeping in the spare bedroom, thinking, he's going to come, right? And I had friends over who had children, you know, to try to get them to say how great it is and whatever, and it just wasn't working. It wasn't working. And then I miscarried. We were at a baby shower for a co worker, and I just started profusely bleeding. And I said, harris, I didn't want to scare all the other women. I said, we gotta go. Got home, and it was just blood. And then a big plop came out in the toilet. And I called my gynecologist straight away, and it was Sunday. So he said, honey, there's nothing I can do for you now. It was very early on. He said, come in and see me tomorrow.

[Hannah Smith]

Lee had some blood work done at her Gynecologist's office, and it was sent off to the lab. She'd have to wait for the results. It was a holiday weekend, and Lee went home believing she was no longer pregnant.

[Pasha Eaton]

So I had to wait for so long, you know, to get the test back. So for all that time, I thought I wasn't pregnant. And Harris was the kindest person to me. There was nothing, you know, meantime, he hadn't spoken to me for two months, and I had to sleep in the other bedroom. And now he's back to his loving, kind, sweet thing. And then I got the answering machine recording. I'll never forget pushing it. Dr. Rumble said, I can't believe this, but you're still pregnant.

[Hannah Smith]

Somehow, Lee was still pregnant. And while she was elated, she also had a sinking feeling she knew that her husband would not be happy. According to Lee, when she told Harris that she was still pregnant, she. He turned and walked right out of the house.

[Pasha Eaton]

And so as your pregnancy progressed, how did Harris and his response change from there, if at all? I had to sleep in the other room. He wouldn't touch me. I guess it was about when I was two and a half months pregnant. It's right on the borderline of the abortion time. I came home and I just said, oh, I just saw a really cute church. I said, I think we should see about joining. He goes, you know, I'm an atheist, and I'm not a very religious person either. But I said, well, we've. We've got to have your family now. It'd be really nice to join. So just drove by this really cute place, and he said, we are not going to be a family. He was sitting on the floor watching a baseball game. He said, you're going to have an abortion. And I picked up the coffee table, was a long coffee table by the end, and I dropped it. And I said, I am not having an abortion. And then I went to the spare bedroom. I woke up the next morning, he was gone. And that was the end of that. That was the end of your relationship? Yeah. He never came back. He wanted me out of his house, and I didn't leave. And that was the next biggest mistake I made.

[Hannah Smith]

Why didn't you leave?

[Pasha Eaton]

I told everybody if I left and he changed his mind, I would never be able to forgive him. If I stayed there and he changed his mind, then I could get over what he's done. And so I thought within time and seeing the pregnancy progress, you know, and. And things like that, and people trying to speak sense into him that maybe he would change his mind. So the relationship, he's gone. You're still in the house, but you're continuing on with your pregnancy. Yeah. Harris walked out October 15, 1992.

[Hannah Smith]

Lee has long maintained that it was the pregnancy and her refusal to have an abortion that created this rift in their marriage. In an episode of 48 Hours, a close friend of Lee's is interviewed, and she said she was also aware that Harris did not want children. She also said she urged Lee not to marry Harris in the first place. Now, I want to note, this is Lee's account. We did not speak to Harris for this episode. But according to court documents, which we'll get into later, Harris offered a very different explanation as to why the marriage fell apart. In interviews, he has also said he never asked Lee to have an abortion. What becomes clear very quickly is that Lee and Harris tell fundamentally different stories about their relationship, about the pregnancy, about what went wrong and who is to blame. And as the legal battle unfolds, those differences only get bigger. Lee will face allegations she says she never could have imagined. She will walk into a courtroom that, to her, feels like a nightmare. Looking back now, she says if she'd known what was coming, she would have made different choices. Maybe she wouldn't have been so focused on trying to repair a marriage that was already fracturing. But back in the winter of 1992, as Lee's pregnancy progressed, she still held onto this hope of creating a loving family with Harris, of raising this baby together.

[Pasha Eaton]

I thought he was just licking his wounds, trying to come right, you know, I tried to show him the ultrasound results. He called the police on me. I met him at a restaurant. Did you know he was at the restaurant, or did you show up? He said he would meet me there. I said I had something to show him, which is going to be the. Because he kept telling me, there's no baby over and over again, even as big as I was. So. So I was so excited about the ultrasound pictures. So we were sitting down and I pulled him out, and he just went nuts. And he's like, that doesn't prove anything. He took off, threw some money on the table, and it was raining, and he went and he jumped in his car, and I tried to get in the passenger side. And he said, I'm calling the police. And he starts calling the police, and I'm standing out there in the rain, and then the police came up. How did he call the police? Did he have a cell phone? Yes, he did. He had one of those car ones. Oh, wow. The big, big old car ones. I don't think he called in the restaurant. No. I think he was one of the first people that had those big, chunky things. And so when the police show up, Harris has told them what he said. I'm attacking him. I'm bothering. I'm following him everywhere. And I'm like, no, I met him at the restaurant, you know, and I'm holding my little ultrasound pictures for the police to see. And I said, I just want to show them there is a baby. There is a baby. And they told him to leave. And they sat there and talked to me for a few minutes, and they were just really sweet, you know, this

[Hannah Smith]

period of time, I want to ask, because it's clear that things were becoming more and more tense between you and Harris. And it sounds like you still had this hope or belief that, like, maybe something would work out, and you were, like, fighting for that. And he was clearly holding to his stance that he was very anti having a baby. And, you know, that you wouldn't be a family if you weren't gonna have an abortion. He wasn't gonna be part of this, you know, later, he would go on to say things and accuse you of physical violence and an uncontrollable temper and talk about this time in your relationship as being very volatile. You know, what can you tell us about that?

[Pasha Eaton]

The only time we ever had any fight was prior to all this. We were in Bonaire. We were walking down the beach, and I started telling him a story about some sailboat. And Harris was very proud of his. He said his greatest weapon in the world is his language, because he's incredibly bright. And he interrupted me, and I told him, I said, why do you always interrupt me? And he said, because the stupid words that come out of your mouth and the stupid things you say, I just can't take it. Something to that effect. And I just said, I've had it. And we get back to the hotel, and I said, the things I say might not be as articulate as you, however, they're meaningful to me because he'd always used words that nobody could understand. So I get up to the room, and he kept right behind me, just going at me, and I kept walking away from him, walking away. I went into the bathroom, and he pushed the bathroom open, and bathroom door open. And then I just said, just leave me alone. And I turned around, and I slapped him. And like an idiot, I told everybody that, because I just don't keep any secrets. I slapped him one time. Then the other time, when he first told me I had to have an abortion, I went out on the porch and I just had these pots that I'd put flowers in and I pushed him off the porch and then the coffee table. And those are the only three things that ever happened, if anybody. He was very abusive physically to me one time.

[Hannah Smith]

Harris has portrayed Lee in court documents and in interviews as angry and volatile. Lee, for her part, has described Harris as controlling, cruel, and at least once physically violent. What follows is messy, contentious, the kind of unraveling where allegations pile up and clarity becomes harder to find. The line between truth and exaggeration starts to blur, depending on who you ask. It becomes kind of a classic he said, she said. And in a courtroom, that can be a tipping point because ultimately someone will be believed and someone will not. For Lee, the months leading up to the divorce trial were incredibly stressful. With every filing, every accusation, the walls seem to close in tighter, pushing her toward a future that will feel so impossible, she'll eventually decide the only way out is to run.

[Pasha Eaton]

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[Hannah Smith]

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[Pasha Eaton]

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[Hannah Smith]

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[Pasha Eaton]

Breaking news, everybody. Not everything is terrible. I repeat, not everything is terrible. The ripple effect with Jenna Kim Jones is proof that the Internet, it hasn't ruined humanity entirely. Author and member of the church Dave Butler looked at what had happened and realized that there were other victims of the in this tragedy and did something completely unexpected. He set up a fundraiser for the family of the shooter who had left behind a wife and a child. I think what people recognized is that

[Hannah Smith]

the 10 year old son of the shooter is also a victim. The widow was also a victim.

[Pasha Eaton]

So it is 9,500 people and a lot of them are giving $5, $10, $20. It's like magic, you guys. So put down your doom scroller and pick up your faith in humanity and join me, Jenna, for the ripple effect. It's a reminder that you can start a ripple that changes everything. You really can. Listen to the ripple effect with Jenna Kim Jones on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts at Amica Insurance.

[Hannah Smith]

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[Pasha Eaton]

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[Hannah Smith]

Lee has claimed there was one time when Harris was physically violent with her. She says it happened when she was about seven months pregnant and that her friend Patricia was witness to it.

[Pasha Eaton]

So I had a girlfriend over who just had a baby. So she came over, her car wasn't there, and he slammed me up against his car and he pulled his hand back to hit me. And then he stopped. And my girlfriend was inside and she was so scared for her baby and herself that she went and hid in the bedroom. And he either got a glimpse of her in there or something and he just stopped.

[Hannah Smith]

This incident that Lee is talking about was discussed at the trial. In February of 1994, Lee's friend Patricia was called to the stand and she described that incident which had occurred about a year prior, around February of 1993, when Lee was still pregnant. Patricia says that she was a reluctant witness to an encounter between Lee and Harris. At the time, Patricia was visiting Lee, helping her paint the nursery, when a car pulled up. It was Harris. And according to Patricia, Lee turned to her and said that Harris was supposed to call before coming by, but he had not called. So Lee left the house to see what he wanted. Patricia became worried for Lee, so she went into the kitchen to look through the window to see what was happening outside. In her testimony, she says, quote, I saw Lee in a very vulnerable position up against the car with Harris, in a dominating position with his one hand restraining her wrist, end quote. Patricia said that she then fled back to the nursery, afraid. Eventually, Lee came back inside the house and she seemed shaken up. Patricia also mentions that her husband did not want her getting involved because he worked at Merrill lynch with Harris. Patricia testified that at one point she and Lee became aware that Harris was screening Lee's calls at the office, so that when Lee tried to get a hold of him, she was not able to. Now, there is some debate in the trial about when exactly Harris dropped by unexpectedly to see Lee that day and whether or not it was a violation of a restraining order. But eventually, both Lee and Harris would be granted restraining orders against each other before the trial even took place. But back in early 1993, Lee continued to Hope that she and Harris would reconcile. So much so that she and Harris decided to go to marriage counseling. Lee said they went to go see an Episcopal priest, and Lee liked him, but Harris did not. So they agreed to continue looking for a marriage counselor.

[Pasha Eaton]

Then I get a phone call from my mother who said, a friend of hers goes to a psychiatrist that is really renowned, and why don't I give him a call? And I said, well, mom, Harris would never. And my mom is not a good person. So I'm just saying that out front. She is what she is. And I said, mom, Harris will never accept to go to a psychiatrist. He says, that's witch doctor stuff. So she said, well, here's the guy's name. Give him a call. And I called him. He said he'd see us for marriage counseling. I called Harris, and he said, yeah, I'll go. What's the directions? How do you get there? It was only a couple blocks from his office. So we go for marriage counseling. I set the whole thing up. I organized everything. I think I even paid for it through my insurance with the airlines. We went, and once again, he was very belligerent, very cold, and I'm crying and telling me, you know, he wants, you know, this is just a miserable situation and all that. And so we kept going for marriage counseling.

[Hannah Smith]

Lee recalls what would later become a pivotal session that she had with this psychiatrist. We will call him Dr. A. During a session with Lee and Harris, she said Dr. A turned to her and said that she wasn't handling things very well. And Lee's response was that, yes, she'd had a hard time. She described the tumultuous past few months, the unexpected pregnancy, the pressure to have an abortion, the scare of a potential miscarriage, and then the shock that she was still pregnant. She later had an additional scare that her child would have a genetic disorder, although further testing showed that that was not the case. And in the midst of all of this, her husband left her. And while she hoped they could reconcile, she was also preparing for the reality that she might be a single mom. She had been through a lot, to say the least.

[Pasha Eaton]

I've cried a few times in here. I don't think that that's out of the norm. He goes, no, no. He said, I'll give you something to make you feel a lot better. And Harris was in there when this happened. What is it? He says, I can't take medicine. I'm pregnant. And he goes, oh, no, this will be really good for you. And he prescribed me Navae And Harris would call me every day and go, are you taking your medicine like a good little girl? You being a good little girl and taking your medicine? Meantime, he'd call me all the time and go, you're sick. You're insane. This is why I said about. Things were going weird. I was out with my girlfriend, who was my infectious disease specialist, and we're out for dinner. And she said, lee, I'm so proud of how you're handling everything you've gone through. And I said, well, you should tell Dr. That he's put me on medication. And she said, what medication? I said, navajn. She goes, lee, that's an antipsychotic medication. You'll lose your child. How many have you taken? And I'd taken three.

[Hannah Smith]

Wow.

[Pasha Eaton]

And I went, it's a what? Because he kept saying, it'll just calm your nerves so you're not so upset. It'll help your pregnancy. So that's when I said everything just wasn't adding up.

[Hannah Smith]

We do not have access to Lee's medical records, but she said that she trusted Dr. A, and so she took this medicine, not knowing it was an antipsychotic. Naveen is a high potency antipsychotic medication often prescribed to patients diagnosed with schizophrenia. It seemed unusual to Lee at the time that she'd been given an antipsychotic because as far as she was aware, she did not have a diagnosed psychiatric disorder. Regardless, it was now part of her medical record that she'd been prescribed Naveen and that she had taken it.

[Pasha Eaton]

Then one day I was in there, and Harris was late, and he's never late. Then he comes walking and he opens the door and he goes, I just want to tell you I want a divorce. I don't want anything more to do with this. So I start crying. He leaves.

[Hannah Smith]

Even after everything that they'd been through, Lee was shocked. But she was finally starting to realize Harris wasn't going to change. He wasn't going to suddenly decide that he wanted to reunite with her and raise a child together. Their relationship was over. Lee's attorney filed for divorce, and Lee said it was only once the legal proceedings started that she realized how ugly things were going to get, that this divorce was going to be more contentious than she ever could have imagined.

[Pasha Eaton]

They stood up and said they were countersuing on grounds of physical abuse that he suffered from post traumatic stress disorder. I don't think that countersuit went in for divorce. I think that was just some grandiose thing to do in the courtroom. But we Just were shocked, you know, my new lawyer and I were like, what? And then everything starts tying together. Meantime, I'm still seeing Dr. Because I think I'm doing the right thing. And of course, I told Dr. I'm not touching that medication. I don't know why you give it to me. But I'm still seeing him because I'm trying to maintain some semblance of doing the right thing, blah, blah, blah. And then I got a call from my mother's childhood friend who had come and stayed with her from Chicago for three months. And she said, slee, you got to come to Somerville. I'm with your mother. And I go, what do you mean? My mom lived half the year in Belize and half the year in Charleston or Somerville. So I drove to Somerville. I walked in, she goes, your mother has something to give you. I go, what's that? Finally, her friend handed me over this paper. She said, I was at the house. It was Halloween, October 31st. Remember? He left me October 15th. When he called your mother and said, I need you to sign these papers to get Lee institutionalized. And I said, what? She said, yes. And she said, your mom said, no, two people can't sign it. You have to have a doctor's signature. She hands me the piece of paper. It was a letter he wrote to her down in Belize thanking her for getting me to see Dr. And that they had been seeing Dr. For, like, two months prior to me ever going for marriage counseling.

[Hannah Smith]

This was a letter from Harris to your mother that your mother's friend found and sort of forced your mom to come clean to you and tell you the situation.

[Pasha Eaton]

Yeah. So that was the end of March. 93.

[Hannah Smith]

Lee originally believed that Dr. A, the psychiatrist she'd seen with Harris who prescribed her Naveen, was recommended by a friend of her mother's. She'd believed that the day that she and Harris walked into his office for their first marriage counseling session was the first time that either of them had met Dr. A. But that was not true. It turns out Harris was the one who found Dr. A, and he involved Lee's mother, Dottie, all without Lee's knowledge. This is confirmed in court records. Dr. A is called to testify at trial, and he explains that he talked on the phone with and met in person with both Harris and Dottie prior to ever meeting or speaking with Lee. Based on what comes after and how critical the conversation around mental health would become in this trial, it's hard not to see this as a calculated move. Why did Harris need to speak with Dr. A first secretly. And why did he need to involve Lee's mother, Dottie? What becomes clear is that Harris legal team argues that Lee was mentally unwell, that her mental health issues were severe enough to drive Harris away. He says it was not the pregnancy that made him leave, but Lee's mental health problems. And the explanation given as to why Harris spoke to Dr. A in secret prior to him meeting Lee comes off like someone arranging an intervention. Dr. A's testimony reveals that Harris came to him in distress and told him that his wife, Lee, was out of control and needed help. Lee's mother, Dottie, seems to confirm this portrayal of Lee. Dr. A says that Dottie told him Lee was manipulative, had a flaring temper, and a history of difficulties. Dottie said that she was worried for Harris, that Harris was scared for his life, which indicates that Dottie thought there was some world in which Lee might hurt or kill Harris. Dottie even said she thought Lee might have a gun. The way that Harris and Dottie spoke to Dr. A about Lee portrayed her as a danger to Harris, to herself, and potentially, in the future, to her baby. Before Lee set foot in that office, she was already painted as someone who was not in touch with reality, someone dangerous and someone who might need medical intervention. And what was your mom's relationship with Harris at that time? Did she like him? Like, what was her relationship with Harris and with you?

[Pasha Eaton]

I guess I got mom to use Harris as a stockbroker, so all her money was invested with him. He couldn't stand my mother. She wasn't even allowed at our house. So this is how smart he is. So he knows that she craves attention. And so when he was setting me all up after I refused to have an abortion, which all the whole snowball happened like this, unbeknownst to me, he called her and said, you know, I love your daughter so much, but she's got all these mental problems. You know, I need your help because you're such an amazing single mother, just like mine, and you know all of this crap. And that's what basically the letter said, too. And I had no idea. Can you speak to any sort of questions around your mental health prior to Harris in your life? Yeah, there was zero. Nothing. No doctors. I'd never done anything untoward, never in my entire life. When your schedule sounds like this, Are you kidding me? An oil change is the last thing you have time for. So drive into take five and let our techs change your oil, check your tires, top off your fluids, and have you back on the road pit stop fast. All while you stay in your car. No putting your entire schedule on hold. No upsells, no problem. So you can get back to your to do list or not. Find your nearest [e-mail] Take 5 the Stay in youn Car.

[Hannah Smith]

10 minute oil change.

[Pasha Eaton]

Breaking news, everybody. Not everything is terrible. I repeat, not everything is terrible. The Ripple Effect with Jenna Kim Jones is proof that the Internet, it hasn't ruined humanity entirely. Author and member of the church, Dave Butler looked at what had happened and realized that there were other victims in this tragedy and did something completely unexpected. He set up a fundraiser for the family of the shooter who had left behind a wife and a child. I think what people recognized is that

[Hannah Smith]

the 10 year old son of the shooter is also a victim. The widow is also a victim.

[Pasha Eaton]

So it is 9,500 people and a lot of them are giving $5, $10, $20. It's like magic, you guys. So put down your Doom Scroller and pick up your face and join me, Jenna, for the Ripple Effect. It's a reminder that you can start a ripple that changes everything. You really can. Listen to the Ripple Effect with Jenna Kim Jones on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. At Amica Insurance, we know it's not just what's inside your home that matters.

[Hannah Smith]

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[Pasha Eaton]

That's why we work even harder to protect it. And as a mutual insurance company, we're

[Hannah Smith]

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[Pasha Eaton]

We prioritize your needs and are here

[Hannah Smith]

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[Pasha Eaton]

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[Hannah Smith]

As soon as she discovered that Harris and her mother Dottie had spoken with Dr. Prior to Lee meeting him, she stopped seeing Dr. A. She then found a different reputable psychiatrist in Charleston and began seeing him. What Lee didn't realize at the time was that the damage had been done and that Dr. A's testimony at trial would not be good for her. Lee felt betrayed by her mother that her mother would go along with Harris's plan. Lee was hurt, but not that surprised.

[Pasha Eaton]

My mom is, you know, the diagnosis could be extreme narcissism. Back then, we didn't even. I didn't even know what that meant. You know, everything's so different back then than it is now. She's very immature. You know, we had this really crazy childhood. But it's maturity. It's not where she has your belief or perspective on how this played out is that Harris was manipulating your mother, who you already did not maybe have the most trusting relationship with, and it was all calculated. Oh, yeah. My brother uses that excuse all the time. And my brother's fantastic. My other brother died while I was gone, but my brother used the excuse all the time that Harris manipulated her. I think she knew what she was doing, which is a very sad, horrible thing, but it's a realistic thing. Yeah, but you think she was motivated in part because Harris was managing her money? No, I think it's because he didn't like her. And now all of a sudden, he's paying her attention, and now all of a sudden, he likes her, and he's complimenting her on being a single mother and doing an amazing job, and he just wants to help her poor daughter. But I don't think she at all ever believed that there was anything wrong with me. All of us were really good kids.

[Hannah Smith]

So all of this is kind of coming to light for you. There's a lot going on. So can you kind of just walk us through the timeline here of, like, when that's happening when you give birth? And leading us up to the divorce proceedings.

[Pasha Eaton]

So things got pretty quiet. I had this brilliant psychiatrist and gynecologist, and then I go in to have Samantha, and we made it so there was a court order that he could not come in that day. It could not bother me while I'm trying to give birth. And I was doing everything to have her because she was way overdue. And so they finally had to induce her. So I knew when I was going to have her. So my girlfriend Patty, who went through all the Lamaze classes and everything else with me, she and I went in to the hospital, and then they could not. She was too big. So finally, after many, many hours, they had to do an emergency C section. And when they did that C section afterwards, they handed her to Patty first, and then they handed her to me. And then they said I was bleeding out. They had to chase Patti out. And then they knocked me out. And all I remember waking up and hearing Patty was the kindest, sweetest girl in the whole world, going, you're not supposed to be here. What are you doing here? And Harris and his mother had come to the hospital, and his mother said, you don't know what my son has been through. And Patty goes, I have just seen what Lee's been through. I was, you know, in the operating room, and. And it was. Got really ugly. And they. Because there was a court order, they. The police told him to leave. So Then I'm in my room, and I said, well, Harris can come and visit her. She was in my room with me. I said, but he has to come alone because I'm not going to have witnesses to say I beat him or I did anything untoward and to him, you know, because I Now I know everything he's. I thought I knew everything he'd already been setting me up with. So they agreed on that, and they came in, and I said, harris, I've got a nurse, sir, could you please walk over to the window and look out? Because this is a man who was repulsed by a pregnant woman who never wanted this baby. And I hear this noise, and I look up, and he's clicking pictures of me nursing with his camera. And I just felt so violated and so disgusting. I was like, please, just get out.

[Hannah Smith]

Can I ask, you know, as someone who has claimed that he never wants children, never wants to be a father, what did you observe in him when he came to the hospital and met Savannah? Her name was Savannah at the time?

[Pasha Eaton]

Yes, Savannah. Yeah. And he was holding her. And what does he do? If there was a definition of the first selfie, that was Harris. He would take pictures of himself everywhere. So there he is taking a picture of him with Savannah. That's all he did, was take, like, 50 million pictures so he could show people what a great dad he was. All he said to me is, why does she have that black hair on her ears? And he said, and these fingernails are disgusting. I'm going to get a nail clipper out. I said, no, you're not getting a nail clipper out. And that's all I really remember.

[Hannah Smith]

Lee's daughter's birth certificate reads Savannah Lee Barnett, which is Lee's last name, not Harris's. Savannah's name would later be changed to Samantha, which is why Lee sometimes calls her that. Lee said that Harris only visited her once in the hospital. The incident in which he snapped photos of Savannah and of Lee breastfeeding, and then he never came back. In fact, she said she left the hospital, she went home, and she didn't see or hear from Harris for weeks.

[Pasha Eaton]

The pictures thing is surprising to me because it seems like he was vocal with everyone in his life that he didn't want children. And so this about face to then be wanting to snap a lot of photos for the purposes of, you know, maybe portraying himself as a doting dad. So he had to pretend he was something he wasn't. He meets me, who's from Charleston. He's working at his uncle's Merrill lynch office. Every single thing. Way he dressed, the way he moved, the way he spoke was all an act. So when it came to me having the baby, he could not pretend that he didn't want the baby. I mean, he had to pretend that he was interested. So he had to pretend that. Then he had to get pictures and show what a good dad he was. But now, meantime, he's told everybody in Charleston that I'm so mentally insane that he fears for his life and all the rest of the stuff. So when I take her home by myself, he's still lying to everybody and telling them that he's seen his daughter and whatever. So after six weeks of not seeing him or something, like, I think it was six weeks, maybe seven, I see a secretary. I'm with Savannah, with my girlfriend at a restaurant, and she goes, oh, my gosh, she looks just like Harris. And I go, well, tell him that, because he hasn't seen her. Second biggest mistake of my life. So now everybody's saying, how can you let this mentally insane woman take your newborn home and have no supervision or, you know, she's so dangerous. So now he has to start backtracking, tracking, tracking to try and cover his tracks. And that's when they went for custody, because how could you let this horrible woman have this baby? He has said he doesn't want kids, that he has no interest in being a father. Then there's the moment at the hospital where he's taking a lot of selfies and he's told people that you are unwell mentally. And so it's like this sort of. I don't know if the word is incongruent, but it's like, it's not what I would do if I didn't want the responsibility of parenthood. If I didn't want that responsibility, I would say, well, she's got it. She can do this.

[Hannah Smith]

She doesn't need me.

[Pasha Eaton]

Well, let me. Let me explain that better. So because of his status that he feels he was holding in Charleston, even though people knew he never wanted children, he couldn't say he left me at two and a half months because I wouldn't abort. So he had to have an excuse of why he left me. So that's when he developed all the mentally ill stuff. The baby he acted like he wanted because now it would look really bad if he said, oh, I don't want it. And my friends all tried to get me to move to another state. I should have done that. And there's a lot of things I Should have done, because then it would have been out of sight, out of mind, and I didn't do it. Not because I thought I would get back to together, But I thought he didn't want her. But then I never thought about. His reputation is the most important thing to him. He's worked his whole life to be looked at like he's something that he wasn't. So you don't just walk out on your pregnant wife, especially back then. So there had to be a reason why he left his pregnant wife. And that's where it all stemmed from. Right. So I hope that makes more sense. Yeah. So if I'm understanding correctly, your feeling is that culturally, in the south and also his own personal sort of upbringing has informed this state of mind where he now needs to save face at all costs, which is going to have to mean taking the baby from you because he has proclaimed that you're mentally ill. Yeah. So that's what the whole idea was. It wasn't ever for him to have her. It was to try and save face throughout this whole thing.

[Hannah Smith]

Lee was shocked to find out that Harris wanted full custody of their daughter, Savannah. But she felt comforted by the fact that a court would probably side with her, the mother. After all, she was still breastfeeding, and Harris had not been involved in the pregnancy or in the first few months of Savannah's life.

[Pasha Eaton]

The court appoints a guardian, alitemus, and it's a paid guardian item. Everybody said, just be really careful what you say to her. I tiptoed around her. She starts telling me. She goes, lee, you've got to trust me. Everything I'm doing is for you and for your baby. And then she starts taking her away and giving her to Harris, like, for an hour or three hours. And I'm nursing, and I had a terrible time trying to pump. Pumps back then were horrible. They're not like they are now. He, she take away. And then I like you taking her. And, like, I don't even know where you're going. But I wasn't allowed to know anything. So every time we turned around, she take me back into court because she wanted to extend the hours or she wanted to give him. Instead of two hours, he got three hours. And every single time, you have to have all your lawyers pile in and it cost you all the money you can imagine. From there, we set a court date. It took forever to go to court, and everybody kept saying to me, don't worry. A good mother. There's no records of any problems, Will not lose a Baby, a nursing baby especially, it's not going to happen. So we end up going back and forth for these tit for tat things. Meantime, I'm losing all the money I have. I'm not able to work. And then we finally have a court date set.

[Hannah Smith]

The trial started on January 19, 1994 and lasted 13 non consecutive days. It ended on February 18, 1994. The psychiatrist Dr. A's testimony was not good for Lee's case. He had diagnosed Lee with a mental health disorder. Since he also saw her mother Dottie on multiple occasions. Dr. A claimed that this mental health disorder was genetic. It also affected Dottie and he guessed probably Lee's grandmother as well. The diagnosis, something called hyperthymic temperament. In his testimony he describes it akin to bipolar disorder and states multiple times that it is treatable with medication. He states that if Lee had not been pregnant, he would have prescribed her lithium, but instead he prescribed her navine. Now this was 1994 and things obviously change. But Dr. A's description of hyperthymic temperament is very inaccurate based on today's understanding. In fact, hyperthymic temperament is not considered a disorder at all. It's classified as a personality style characteristics include increased energy, productivity, talkativeness, cheerfulness, as well as tendency for risk taking. People with hyperthymic temperament can sometimes be mistaken for having bipolar disorder, but they are very different things. And it is not standard practice to prescribe a person with hyperthymic temperament an antipsychotic drug like Navine, because again, hyperthymic temperament is not a psychiatric disorder. Now if you'll recall, after Lee stopped seeing Dr. A, she sought out psychiatric treatment from another doctor. She knew that she would need a second opinion and she wanted to see a doctor who was unbiased, who had not conferred with her estranged mother or her soon to be ex husband. That was Dr. Folk. Dr. Folk also testified at the trial and he disagreed with the diagnosis of hyperthymic temperament. He said that he saw no signs of any emotional or mental problem that would justify putting Lee on medication. He also noted that he had seen Lee interact with her daughter Savannah, and that she was a patient and attentive mother. These two doctors testimonies were wildly different from one another. And perhaps in anticipation of that, the judge had decided that they would need a third psychiatrist to testify.

[Pasha Eaton]

Then the judge decides that he wants a tiebreaker psychologist. So he appoints a paid tiebreaker because

[Hannah Smith]

there's the doctor who had diagnosed you and then there's your reputable psychiatrist who I assume testified that there was Nothing wrong with your mental health, over and over.

[Pasha Eaton]

Yes. And depositions and my other psychiatrists that I had too.

[Hannah Smith]

Right. So then the judge wanted another psychiatrist to testify.

[Pasha Eaton]

Yeah, well, psychologist.

[Hannah Smith]

Psychologist.

[Pasha Eaton]

This is prior going to court. So we had, I think it was seven sessions each. I had seven. Harris had seven. And he said, I'd have to agree that I believe at times Lee was hyperthymic and lithium might have been a good option for her. My lawyer didn't do anything. Just very suspect.

[Hannah Smith]

Throughout the trial, the case is built that Lee is unstable, unfit and mentally unwell. It is proposed that she could be a danger to her daughter Savannah. At one point, it's even said that if she went unmedicated, she could become homicidal or suicidal. Finally, In February of 1994, the trial concluded.

[Pasha Eaton]

It was Friday morning. I got there at 8 in the morning, as usual. My lawyer pulled me into another room and said, we gotta talk. And I said, what's up? And he goes, last night we all had a meeting. I said, who's we? And he said, me, Harris's lawyer. And the judge called us up. Harris is getting full custody. And I said, well, how can that even happen? And he goes, well, it has. So I, of course, was hysterical. I went and called my brother and my friends. I called my mother's friend Ann to come, and they let her sit with me.

[Hannah Smith]

Savannah was nine and a half months old and still breastfeeding. Now, Lee would only legally be able to see her four days out of each month. She was in shock, horrified that this was really happening. And she said the judge seemed to only take her emotion as further evidence that she was mentally unwell.

[Pasha Eaton]

And I had to sit there, and I was crying. And he said, now this is like the fourth time you've cried. You're out of control. And I was just crying. I mean, they'd taken my baby from me, my nursing baby. And he force weaned her on the spot that day, and they took her from me. And I'm the only one that ever had her, you know, it's horrible.

[Hannah Smith]

Yeah.

[Pasha Eaton]

I mean, being postpartum is already a very difficult and vulnerable time for a lot of people. Crying to me, doesn't feel like an abnormal reaction for someone to feel. Yeah.

[Hannah Smith]

Leigh had always held out hope that she would get custody of Savannah. She said she'd never been opposed to Harris having visitation and being in Savannah's life. But the decision to give full custody of her infant child to the man who'd begged her to have an abortion was overwhelming. She did not trust that he would care for Savannah. And she said there was something else said in the courtroom that terrified her for her daughter.

[Pasha Eaton]

What happened in the courtroom was Harris was on the witness stand and my lawyer said, you think this woman's so mentally ill, don't you? And Harris said, yeah, me and all the doctors and, you know, it's obvious she is. And so he said, well, you've said she's a third generation with this hyperthymic temperament. And Harris said, yeah. And he said, you're saying it's genetic. And it's like, yeah. He said, so your daughter, he said, because he'd already written a poem called the fourth generation about his baby girl with this mental illness. So he said, so are you going to watch her to see if she shows any signs? And he said, yeah, I am. And he goes, I'll watch her ever so closely. And I'm just chills. And as a 32 or 3 year old woman, if I can't prove I'm not mentally ill, how can a little baby? So because I'll watch her ever so closely, and when I see one sign of hyperthymic temperament, I'll whisk her off to one good doctor doctor and I'll have her medicated as young as three years old. That's why I left. I mean, yeah, that's a very scary thing to hear. And especially if you already feel like you're being mis portrayed and misdiagnosed and losing custody, that's hell for someone. So I had to wait to get my visitations. My lawyer called me and said, you get her four nights a month, nursing baby. So first week I get her, she's got a contusion on her head, bloody nose.

[Hannah Smith]

In the 48 Hours episode, Harris is interviewed and he admits that this is true, but claims that his mother was watching Savannah and the bruising was caused by an accidental fall. For Lee, it was only an escalation of an impossible situation. She felt that her daughter was in unsafe hands. She called the police and attempted to block Harris from getting Savannah back, But it did not work. Lee was determined to file an appeal to the court order as soon as she could, but she legally had to wait until the written decree of divorce was released. Her legal team expected it to arrive within 30 days of the trial ending. But 30 days came and went, and they still waited.

[Pasha Eaton]

So in the state of South Carolina, A judge has 30 days to do a written court order. Without a written court order, you can't go to the appellate court. I watched a 60 Minutes show, which was my favorite show back then, and they showed how you could get at MacArthur park in LA. You could get anything illegally. You wanted to. And I just kind of put it back because it was before we went to court that I saw that show, and I was like, that'll never happen. But I stuck in the back of my head. So on day 46, without a written court order, I had no way to appeal, So I left MacArthur Park.

[Hannah Smith]

So you left South Carolina?

[Pasha Eaton]

Yeah. Oh, wait.

[Hannah Smith]

They're like, wait, what?

[Pasha Eaton]

Yeah.

[Hannah Smith]

So you flew to la, but this

[Pasha Eaton]

girl has never even smoked pot. And I'm going down to MacArthur park to get something.

[Hannah Smith]

Did you take Savannah with you to la, or did you return her? And then you went on this, like, trip? So you. You did end up returning her to Harris?

[Pasha Eaton]

Oh, yes.

[Hannah Smith]

Leigh felt she was out of options. Her child had been taken away from her and she saw no way forward. Her experience with the court system and with the judge on her case led her to believe that they were not acting impartially. She felt she'd been framed, told she had a mental illness when she did not. And so Lee made a decision. It was a decision that would impact the rest of her life. Lee had decided to flee. She didn't quite know how or when, but she decided she would take Savannah and disappear. Her plan started with a flight to Los Angeles and a trip to MacArthur Park, a park known in the 1990s for crime and illegal activity. She went there looking for something very specific. Passports.

[Pasha Eaton]

That's it for part one. Please join us next week to hear the second part of Leigh Barnett's story when she tells us about her life on the run. And I just waited every minute to be swarmed in on by cops. You know, I just knew I was going to get nailed. And there were cameras back in those days in there. Then I opened up the envelope and there were two brand new, beautiful, real US Passports. If you have a story for us, we would love to hear it. Our email is thenifexactlyrightmedia.com or you can follow us on Instagram henifepodcast or blueskyenifepodcast.

[Hannah Smith]

This has been an exactly right production, hosted and produced by me, Hannah C.

[Pasha Eaton]

Smith and me, Pasha Eaton. Our producers are Tom Breifeogel and Alexis Amorosi.

[Hannah Smith]

This episode was mixed by Tom Breifogel.

[Pasha Eaton]

Our associate producer is Christina Chamberlain.

[Hannah Smith]

Our theme music is by Birds in the Airport.

[Pasha Eaton]

Artwork by Vanessa Lilac.

[Hannah Smith]

Executive produced by Karen Kilgariff, Georgia Hardstark and Danielle Kramer. This is Matt Rogers from Las Culturistas

[Pasha Eaton]

with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang. This is Bowen Yang from Las Culturistas

[Hannah Smith]

with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang.

[Pasha Eaton]

Hey, so what if you could boost

[Hannah Smith]

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[Pasha Eaton]

And what if your WI fi could

[Hannah Smith]

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[Pasha Eaton]

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[Hannah Smith]

Bottom line, Xfinity is smart and reliable. You deserve the peace of mind of having WI fi that's got your back. Xfinity. Imagine that.

[Pasha Eaton]

This podcast is supported by FX's Love

[Hannah Smith]

Story, John F. Kennedy Jr. And Carolyn Bessette.

[Pasha Eaton]

The new limited series from executive producer Ryan Murphy.

[Hannah Smith]

It explores the complex courtship of the

[Pasha Eaton]

iconic couple considered to be American royalty, whose love story captured the attention of the nation.

[Hannah Smith]

Their fairytale romance would unfold in front

[Pasha Eaton]

of the public eye, where their private love would also become a national obsession.

[Hannah Smith]

FX's love story, John F. Kennedy Jr. And Carolyn Bassett.

[Pasha Eaton]

Watch now on FX, Hulu and Hulu

[Hannah Smith]

on Disney plus for bundle subscribers.

[Pasha Eaton]

Breaking news, everybody. Not everything is terrible. I repeat, not everything is terrible. The Ripple Effect with Janet Kim Jones is proof that the Internet, it hasn't ruined humanity entirely. Author and member of the church, Dave Butler, looked at what had happened and realized that there were other victims in this tragedy and did something completely unexpected. He set up a fundraiser for the family of the shooter, who had left behind a wife and a child.

[Hannah Smith]

I think what people recognized is that the 10 year old son of the

[Pasha Eaton]

shooter is also a victim.

[Hannah Smith]

The widow was also a victim.

[Pasha Eaton]

So it is 9,500 people and a lot of them are giving $5, $10, $20. It's like magic, you guys. So put down your doom scroller and pick up your faith in humanity and join me, Jenna, for the Ripple Effect. It's a reminder that you can start a ripple that changes everything. You really can. Listen to the Ripple Effect with Jenna Kim Jones on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.