The Truth About Amy

This podcast is a wonderful examination of a pretty typical DV / intimate partner violence (IPV) homicide. They do an incredible job for many episodes portraying wonderful Amy and her “murder in slow motion” (as Laura Richards calls it) and how the male system ignored and / or incompetenced the murder and stonewalled perpetrator accountability while gaslighting the family for years. Great job-excellent investigating and reporting! Then in the most recent episode the reporter (male) and the attorney (male) veer off into a bizarre tangent that most IPV murders - femicides- are primarily increasing because of meth. I have a degree in criminology and studied and work in the IPV and family violence field. Over 90% of IPV perpetrators are male. Male violence against women is a centuries old, world wide public health crisis rooted in power and control, patriarchy, and misogyny. (Not meth). Ask any DV- IPV- femicide expert anywhere worldwide why DV is increasing and the answer is “not meth”. That is an erroneous and simplistic view of a complex societal construct of male power over women. It was deeply disheartening to hear these two males talk about women being murdered by men, blaming it on meth, and talking OVER the one female in the room, because THEIR experiences of women’s lives (and deaths) are more valid. When you study the history of DV, going back to England several centuries back, when crime laws were first created (and then adopted worldwide), you’ll learn that DV/IPV/Femicide/child abuse was 100% looked at as a “family problem that should be handled by the man of the family.” Standard Police routine was NOT to intervene until the late 1970’s and then it was still more of “why didn’t she leave” victim blaming, as opposed to holding perpetrators accountable, similar to … blaming it on the meth. Yes, meth is horrible, it’s an epidemic, and it exacerbates violence and anger but it is NOT a root cause of increasing femicides. Amy’s unseen murder is a typical example of how police, courts, prosecution, and the system in general systematically fails women. That’s why women don’t come forward - they are blamed and made to feel “crazy” and … they are much more likely to be killed when leaving and after a TRO is filed. When women are murdered by their current/former/ex-partner, if the perpetrator is charged he usually gets a small “crime of passion” sentence. I beg you. Please stop calling male-violence against women a “crime of passion”. That is language that has been used for centuries to minimize men murdering their partners and get them a manslaughter and not a murder conviction. I live in the U.S. and some of our states are now finally getting rid of that horrific “crime of passion” false defense. It’s why now with a deeper understanding of DV, when men batter women we don’t give them anger management classes, we give them Batterers Intervention treatment. Because their “passion” for homicide is almost always only against their female partners as an act of power and control. It’s also why “the meth made do it” is not a defense in most courts. But the men in the room think they know everything about how women live in the world facing male violence every day. When are you going to bring in Laura Richards or Jess Hill? Please bring it all together with someone who actually knows the world-wide facts, history, and current stats on IPV and femicide.

I love this podcast the hosts are committed to continuing to shining a light on this case and all cases like it. What a lot of reviewers are saying is that it drags or is too long or information is repeated…imagine what it’s like for families waiting for justice in these cases. These cases and the horrors women, families and communities face needs to be shared and repeated over until the problems are taken seriously by government and the justice system. Also, it shows…there is no end for Amy, for her daughters and her family. Amy’s story is a heartbreaking one that highlights the impact of domestic violence, femicide, police negligence/incompetence/corruption, recurrent systemic problems in the justice system for victims and their families, and male violence, entitlement, mental instability and toxicity. The experts and guests on the show who share their knowledgeable insight and examples that resonate with Amy’s experience really support the prevailing need for addressing men’s failing mental health and toxic masculinity that perpetuates these terrible crimes and terrorizes communities. The fact is, women are not safe when it comes to men. The horrifying statistics that prove that women are being victimized by domestic violence, rape and murder at disturbing levels is unacceptable. I appreciate the dedication of this podcast and how seriously they take this reporting.

Edit/Update Season 2: Please look into the senior investigators’ case background, their political connections, and especially whether or not they have any relationship with David’s family (his father or him etc.). The thing that strikes me is how these specific investigators show up immediately to vigorously shut down the original police officers’ observations and conclusions and how they and the entire police department hangs onto this outcome as if their lives depend on it. This is in addition to how well protected David is regardless of circumstance or actions. This is extremely suspicious to me. Here in the US when you see this kind of thing it often is related to illegal drug dealing on the part of the police in collaboration with criminals. Did David’s father call these specific cops? Is this family involved with any kind of illicit activity? What are is the track record of these investigators who were so certain of a suicide even though forensics experts were denied? Please look into this! It’s the only angle that hasn’t been explored. Original Review: These are the crippling vestigial limbs still attached to our lives that comes from our dark understanding of people as property; whether they be women, children, or men. We then have to take a critical look back into our long journey through history and cultures that glorify so many aspects of this, with critical race theory, feminism, post colonial trauma syndromes, etc and then even see how this has carried us forward into the present day where our institutions are failing those who we would have protected. It’s then we need to look at the legal jargon of words such as “custody”, the strange separation between domestic and other forms of violence, understand why one is not seen as serious, marriage or divorce courts, and on and on. It’s only when you realize that the systems are working exactly as intended. It’s we who have begun to wake up to the fact that they harm us mostly. Whole philosophies of paternalistic morality and power trips must be unwound and reimagined. This story proves the point that for many people, especially smaller people who are physically marked by their identity classes, well, we’re damned if we do and damned if we don’t, and mostly blamed for things we never had control over. I hope for Amy’s little ones and mom that they get the truth they need to set her life’s end straight once and for all. David, it seems, is being punished by a greater force and has no real peace for himself. His life is not enjoyable and the road he is on has very well defined endings, whether he ever ends up in prison or not. Tragedy is never one sided.

I have such admiration for Allison and Liam’s investigative journalism for Amy and her family. Their work to expose this injustice is so important for women living in domestic violence relationships today. Both are asking questions to people in positions to right this wrong but those people can’t and won’t answer. Those lack of answers say a lot, it’s not a new investigation, most of the case is out in the public already.