Episode Transcript
When I got to the station, they asked me what I knew about the murderer in the park and do you mind telling me how your shoelace got around the victim's neck.
Speaker 2This is Kelly Harnett.
Fifteen years ago, she was arrested for murder, a murder she says she didn't commit.
Speaker 3I'm one hundred percent innocent.
Speaker 2Kelly says it was her violent ex boyfriend who committed the murder.
Speaker 3Who screams out, why won't this motherfucker die?
Speaker 4So now I really she really is going.
Speaker 2To kill this man, and that she is just another victim.
Speaker 3It was like Kelly was his possession.
I think she was afraid to walk away from him.
I'm scared to death.
Speaker 2But police don't believe Kelly.
So she goes to trial.
Speaker 5All of this way, are you going to go home?
Speaker 3But unfortunately that's not what happened.
Speaker 4She says she had been found guilty.
Speaker 3Like how how is that possible?
Speaker 2That's what I'm hoping to find out.
I'm Anisonfield and this is the girlfriend's Gaelhouse lawyer.
This show isn't about who'd done it, It's not even really about what happened.
Speaker 3Whether you think I'm guilty or not.
It has no meaning.
Speaker 2It's about how it happened, about how a woman who was a victim of the most horrific domestic abuse became a villain in the eyes of the law and served twelve years in prison.
As the journalist and producer behind The Girlfriends, I've interviewed so many women throughout my career, but Kelly Hannett is the most complicated one I've ever met.
Speaker 1All of your stories.
Speaker 2Seen shocking and like they're almost.
Speaker 3Sometimes hard to believe.
Speaker 2It's hard to believe that.
Speaker 3Yes, there's been a lot of insane stories.
Speaker 2I agree, Kelly's story is the toughest I've ever reported.
It's going to challenge your understanding of what it means to be a victim.
Speaker 6You have to think of the domestic violence aspect and not the truth finding aspect.
Speaker 3I'm trying to figure out, how the hell am I going to get out of this one?
Well, I live to see the next minute.
Speaker 2Who's the victim?
Speaker 1I think everybody's the victim.
Yeah, like they're all the victim.
Speaker 2This story will even challenge your understanding of justice itself.
Speaker 1This is the justice system in God we trust, No you know there is no god there.
Speaker 3What do you want my blood?
That's what everyone would have preferred, a dead girl in the park.
Speaker 2But don't worry, girlfriends, because along the way, I'm going to introduce you to an incredible cast of women.
Speaker 1Our sisterhood.
Speaker 5We called ourselves the Showties.
Speaker 2You shore it, women who've been through hell and back again.
Speaker 4I said, were you a victim of domestic violence?
And she was like, yeah, my father was drunk and trying to kill me.
I ended up killing him.
Speaker 5He came up behind me and put me in an Oh man, it was an awful chocol Next thing I know, I was being arrested for a murder and a first degree.
Speaker 2Women who have somehow managed to find strength in each other.
Speaker 5As terrible as an experience is, in order to survive it, We're going to find lightness and everything.
Speaker 2And in the center of all of this is Kelly Hannett, in her many complicated multitudes, a woman who went to prison on a murder conviction.
Speaker 3I said, what do you want me to do?
I was found guilty.
Speaker 2She goes ah guilty Shmelty, who ended up finding that the law would be the greatest love of her life.
Speaker 4I said, how many people have gotten other incarcerated individuals out of here.
Speaker 3He goes, like, you mean other inmates.
Nobody's ever done that.
I said, I'm going to be the first one to do that.
Speaker 2Is Kelly fought back, not just for her own freedom, but for her girlfriends too.
Speaker 4She said, Kelly, if it wasn't for you, I wouldn't be walking out of these doors.
Speaker 5Know they say they're suposed to have your faith in God, but I had nothing but faith in her.
Speaker 3I think I have a mission from God.
Speaker 1I think I was put here to save souls by getting people out of prison.
Speaker 2You're a very unique person, Kelly.
Speaker 3Thank you.
I take that as a compliment.
Speaker 5It's a compliment.
Speaker 3It is a compliment for sure.
Speaker 2The girlfriends gel House Lawyer with Me and Sinfield.
Listen from July fourteenth on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 6God, I just hope listeners can open up their hearts and give me the chance because I've faced too much injustice already.
Speaker 3Please please just be fair with me.