True Crime Obsessed

Episode 465: Killer Relationship: Forbidden Love, Brutal Death (S1E5)

Release Date: October 30, 2025

Episode Overview

In this episode, the True Crime Obsessed team—Jessica, Faith, Jillian, and Patrick—recap and dissect Season 1, Episode 5 of “Killer Relationship with Faith Jenkins: Forbidden Love, Brutal Death” (available on Peacock). With their hallmark blend of irreverent humor, compassion, and incisive commentary, the hosts explore the tragic, twist-laden case of Joy Risker, a young Black woman groomed by charismatic youth pastor Sean Goff in a Southern California church throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s. The episode unpacks themes of religious authority, grooming, manipulation, polygamy, and systemic failure, exposing how a trusted church leader’s calculated abuse of power led to murder.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Setting the Scene: Joy Risker’s Early Life

[02:46–05:53]

• Hosts introduce Joy Risker as a vibrant, beloved San Diego teen, raised by her single mother, Gwen, after her father abandoned the family.
• Joy's high school friends describe her as "fun, positive, creative, and open-minded" ([03:07], Jessica). Joy and her friends acted as each other's chosen family due to their shared experiences of parental absence.
• Despite enjoying the rave scene, Joy remained devoted to her mother, attending church regularly out of respect ([05:53], Jessica: "She’d go to the raves, but she’d come home early...because Gwen was really churchy").

2. Enter Sean Goff: Grooming in a Church Context

[07:57–14:46]

• Joy and Gwen meet 27-year-old youth pastor Sean Goff at their church.
• Faith and Jessica immediately raise red flags: “Not the dynamic youth pastor—never ends.” ([08:07], Jessica).
• Sean's charisma warrants universal praise in the congregation. Jessica likens his popularity to “a pyramid scheme, but a person” ([09:09]).
• Gwen encourages Joy’s involvement, seeing church as antidote to “the party scene,” but the hosts highlight the inherently predatory danger: Joy, then 16, falls under Sean’s thrall, joining the youth group under the guise of finding stability ([10:19], Jessica: “He’s the older male figure she’s looking for…”).

Quotes

• [10:08] Faith: “There’s a reason why the youth pastor is always some hot young guy…gotta get the kids to want to come somehow.”
• [12:08] Faith: “It’s these fucking monsters who learn these systems and how to abuse them.”

3. Escalation: Grooming, Isolation, and Polygamy

[12:47–22:23]

• After two years of close mentorship, Sean invites now-18 Joy to live with him and his wife Sheila, acting as an unpaid nanny and housekeeper ([13:16], Jessica).
• Jessica calls out the racial and power dynamics: "This 30-year-old white guy is grooming an emotionally vulnerable Black teenager to be their live-in nanny and housekeeper for free” ([13:24], Jessica).
• Joy’s mother, Gwen, approves, believing this ensures Joy’s spiritual well-being ([14:02], Faith).
• Sean secretly marries Joy in a polygamous relationship while still married to Sheila, justifying his actions with biblical references, manipulating both his congregation and wives ([17:03], Jessica).

Quotes

• [16:07] Jessica: “He accidentally…copied and pasted something that was never meant for anyone else to see…”
• [18:24] Jillian (about Sean's justification): “Sean was able to make rational and believable cases for whatever he was trying to do based on the scripture.”

4. Community Reactions and Crumbling Facades

[22:54–33:34]

• Once the double marriage is exposed, Sean, Joy, and Sheila are ousted from the church, leaving Joy even more isolated.
• Joy attempts to reconnect with high school friends, whose support is tempered by confusion and concern for her wellbeing ([24:41], Faith).
• The hosts reflect on the difference between consensual polyamory and predatory polygamy, emphasizing Joy’s lack of agency due to grooming ([25:34], Jessica: “Polyamory or whatever is way different than this.”).
• Following the birth of her first child and Gwen’s death, Joy's support system is further eroded, heightening her dependency on Sean ([26:49], Faith).

Quotes

• [26:36] Jessica: “It’s so fucked because [her mother’s death is] pushing her more into the arms of these cult people.”

5. The Disappearance and Botched Alibi

[31:33–41:12]

• After a friend’s wedding, Joy disappears; Sean tells friends and police she ran off to Europe with an ex-boyfriend, “babysitting” their children alone ([32:04], Jessica).
• Sean crafts elaborate emails from Joy’s account feigning happiness and wanderlust, trying to mislead investigators and friends ([34:42], Jessica).
• Hosts lampoon the implausibility of Sean’s emails and cover story (“A girl can dream, can’t I?” [35:30], Jessica).
• Initial police investigation is hamstrung by friends omitting the polygamy from early reports, fearing legal consequences for Joy ([33:07–33:18]).

Quotes

• [35:00] Jessica, reading the fake email: "My choice, my decision. I did this. I had such a fire inside me... Also, do you remember that guy Jason that I definitely never once mentioned to anybody?”
• [37:38] Jessica: “The email references what a nightmare Sean is. Now we know Sean wrote these emails. It had to be in there for this email to be believable. Think about that. That’s fucking wild.”

6. Breakthrough: The Investigation Focuses on Sean

[41:06–48:37]

• Detectives Linda and John Taft ferret out inconsistencies in Sean’s shifting stories and unreported final phone calls.
• Linda interviews Sheila, who reveals Sean orchestrated her absence—and upon her return, told her to clean a bloody crime scene and accept “Joy’s” sudden departure without question ([47:06], Jessica).
• The hosts note Sheila's brainwashed compliance and candid interview with investigators as pivotal ([48:56], Jessica: “She’s so brainwashed…”).

Quotes

• [42:02] Detective Linda: “I’ve been talking to people, and they were holding that back. I was like, why didn’t you tell me that?”
• [44:43] Detective John Taft (on Sean’s admission): “He then told me that there was an accident and that she was killed. When I then used the word murder, he corrected me and said, no, she was killed.”

7. Forensic Evidence & Sean’s “Murder Kit”

[50:13–52:33]

• Investigation reveals Sean bought a shovel, hacksaw, ice pick, sledgehammer, tarp, etc., on his credit card in a single purchase; he also rented a car and drove 800 miles ([50:13], Federal Ranger).
• Jessica and Faith lampoon Sean’s stupidity for leaving such an obvious paper trail ([51:20], Faith: “So it’s literally a murder kit. He paid with his credit card. He didn’t even pay cash.”).
• Lack of a body stymies prosecution—until two hikers find Joy’s remains in Arizona, almost exactly 400 miles away from San Diego ([52:22], Jessica).

8. The Grisly Discovery & Murder Timeline

[52:33–55:32]

• Joy’s remains are found in a makeshift grave, showing evidence of brutal post-mortem dismemberment to avoid identification ([53:03], Faith).
• Sean's actions, including spreading body parts along the route and fabricating the email alibi, are recounted with horror and disbelief.
• The hosts highlight how church culture and deference to patriarchal authority enabled these crimes ([53:34], Jessica: “So when you think, why the fuck would Sheila do what he did? This is why…”).

Quotes

• [53:03] Faith: “…to be the kind of person who can do a thing like that, you have to be a level of depraved that I can never understand.”

9. Resolution: Trial and Aftermath

[55:36–56:39]

• Sean is tried for murder in 2006 and takes the stand, feigning grief and insisting the killing was an accident ([54:00], Faith: “He’s on the stand, weeping, fake—not a tear in sight…”).
• Forensic evidence supports premeditation and malicious brutality; jury deliberates just three hours before a guilty verdict ([55:36], Faith).
• Hosts note the comparatively light sentence (26 years), and celebrate that Sheila swiftly divorced Sean and testified against him ([56:07], Jessica; [56:25], Faith: “Good work, Sheila. We see you. We’re proud of you.”).

Notable Quotes & Moments

• On Youth Pastor Stereotypes and Grooming:
  “[00:05] Jessica: It’s not all men, but it’s always a man.”
  “[10:08] Faith: There’s a reason why the youth pastor is always some hot young guy…gotta get the kids to want to come somehow.”
• On Racial Dynamics:
  “[13:24] Jessica: So this 30-year-old white guy is grooming an emotionally vulnerable Black teenager…live in nanny and housekeeper for free.”
• Catchphrase Satire:
  “[15:23] Jessica: It’s why we say stay stupid.”
  “[51:20] Faith: So it’s literally a murder kit. He paid with his credit card...”
• Sheila’s Compliance:
  “[48:02] Jessica: Sheila is so brainwashed because she doesn’t ask any questions. She just does it because her husband told her to.”
• On Joy’s Isolation:
  “[26:58] Faith: It really put me in the moment of, like, how sad Joy must have been in this moment.”
• Detective Linda’s Genuine Annoyance:
  “[42:02] Detective Linda: I’ve been talking to people, and they were holding that back. I was like, why didn’t you tell me that?”
• On the Nature of People Like Sean:
  “[53:03] Faith: To be the kind of person who can do a thing like that, you have to be a level of depraved that I can never understand.”
• On the Resolution:
  “[55:36] Faith: It took three hours for that jury to decide that.”

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Early Life and Joy’s Community: 02:46–05:53
• Sean’s Grooming and Joy’s Church Involvement: 07:57–14:46
• Escalation: Grooming, Isolation, and Polygamy: 12:47–22:23
• Exposure and Fallout: 22:54–33:34
• Friend’s Wedding, Joy’s Disappearance, Sean’s Coverup: 31:33–41:12
• Police Investigation & Sheila’s Interview: 41:06–48:37
• “Murder Kit” and Discovery of Remains: 50:13–52:33
• Forensic/Trial Details & Aftermath: 52:33–56:39

Conclusion & Takeaways

The OCO team uses their signature balance of empathy and dark wit to analyze how Joy Risker’s quest for belonging was weaponized by a trusted authority figure, exposing failures in church oversight, community protection, and systems that disproportionately endanger women of color. The episode highlights systemic manipulation, the long-term effects of grooming, and the importance of vigilant, supportive friendships (“Everyone be like Tara”—be the friend who will answer the phone no matter what).

Final Words:
“Call your friends. Tell them you need help. We won’t judge you…We love you and we miss you. Call us. We will help you.”
—[57:24], Jessica

For listeners: This episode is a powerful, infuriating, and illuminating journey through a case emblematic of larger cultural issues, handled with clarity, compassion, and candid humor by the True Crime Obsessed team.