The In Between Podcast with Mel Barrett

The In Between Podcast with Mel Barrett

There’s the official story. And then there’s the truth. The In Between is an investigative narrative podcast that digs into cases where the facts got buried, distorted, or deliberately ignored. Hosted by journalist and screenwriter Mel Barrett, each season unpacks one story that was never fully told, blending deep reporting, legal analysis, and raw personal narrative. Mel doesn’t just rehash headlines—she goes digging. She’s spent over a decade uncovering new evidence in the Pamela Smart case, work that helped form the basis of a new habeas petition. In Season One, she revisits the trial that made Smart a national villain—and questions everything we thought we knew. Season Two, From Victim to Accused: The Veronika Rodriguez Story, pulls back the curtain on a case where a 26-year-old Air National Guard member reported a sexual assault—and ended up the one in handcuffs. What happened next is more than a miscarriage of justice. It’s a warning. This is the space between the crime and the courtroom, the headlines and the hidden truth. This is The In Between. Join the Investigator Club for AD FREE, exclusive behind-the-scenes, and bonus content of The In Between Podcast: https://patreon.com/TheInBetweenPodcastwithMelBarrett?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink Follow The In Between Podcast at: IG: @TheInBetweenPodOfficial FB: @TheInBetweenPod Bluesky: @inbetweenpod TikTok: @jackofalltradesdc Web: inbetweenpod.com

  1. Rebecca's back + we Recap Lank/John O'Keefe's phone + Former Prince Andrew ARRESTED + Karen Read hearings galore!

    1D AGO

    Rebecca's back + we Recap Lank/John O'Keefe's phone + Former Prince Andrew ARRESTED + Karen Read hearings galore!

    Mel and Rebecca are back together—double-fisting caffeine, single-fisting water, filling the swear jar, and trying (struggling) to keep it together after Rebecca’s near-death plague tour (DC included). We kick off with some housekeeping + sticker chaos—yes, they’re coming, yes, there’s a form, no, we’re not taking complaints—then slide into a quick, nerdy love letter to signposting (because some of you are apparently listening like it’s a scavenger hunt).Then it’s straight into the true crime/power structure blender:Michael Proctor’s phone download and Rosemary “Picchi” Scapicchio’s push in the Myles King case—plus the headline-making reality that Proctor’s filings basically boil down to: “Sure, there’s racist/homophobic stuff… but it’s fine because the targets are white and straight.”The bigger theme: toxic masculinity, institutional loyalty, and why these guys keep getting away with it—from frat-house bodycam audacity to “boys will be boys” policing.Karen Read updates you can actually use: the taillight footage (and what it does—and doesn’t—show), the recurring problem of missing videos, and why some narratives keep getting pushed even when the visuals don’t match.New-ish audio and timeline chatter (fight vs. snowplow language), plus the reality check: what’s compelling, what’s debunked, and what still stinks.We also hit the Karen Read civil-case sideshow: the infamous bcc email mishap, the judge basically begging grown adults to act like professionals, deposition wrangling, discovery stonewalling, and the ongoing comedy of “we lost the phone” in the case where the phone is the whole point.It’s messy. It’s infuriating. It’s funny in that “if we don’t laugh, we scream” way. And it’s very, very Something’s Off.If you like us, please tip us:venmo: @melbarrettwritescashapp: cash.app/$SomethingsOffTipsYou can now join the YouTube channel! Click the join button to select your favorite level.Follow @realmelbarrett on all socials / TT: @jackofalltradesdc Listen to the In Between Podcast wherever you get your podcasts! Follow ‪@reblavoie‬ on all socials Listen to Crime Writer's On wherever you get your podcasts!Links from the episode: Mel's new show - ‪@newslightwithmelbarrett‬  :   / @newslightwithmelbarrett  These Are Their Stories Podcast: https://www.lawandorderpodcast.com/You Can't Make This Up: https://www.netflix.com/tudum/ycmtuYT Member Form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FA...Frat boys: https://www.the-independent.com/tv/ne...‪@AttorneyMelanieLittle‬    / @attorneymelanielittle  Corri Hopkins doc dump: https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/fo...‪@BrotherCounsel‬  BC  v Big Case Mike:   • Karen Read Trial Debate between Brother Co...

    1h 48m
  2. Tara Baker and the Cost of Cold Case Justice in GA v. Faust

    2D AGO

    Tara Baker and the Cost of Cold Case Justice in GA v. Faust

    In January 2001, Tara Louise Baker, a 23-year-old University of Georgia law student, was found dead in her Athens apartment after a fire that investigators quickly determined was no accident. Tara had been sexually assaulted, beaten, strangled, and stabbed. The fire came after — an apparent attempt to erase what happened inside that apartment. For more than twenty years, her case lived in silence. Then, in 2023, new funding for Georgia cold cases reopened old evidence. Modern DNA testing produced a profile that led investigators to Edrick Lamont Faust. In 2024, Faust was arrested. In 2026, after a trial built largely on forensic science, he was convicted on all twelve counts. But this episode isn’t just about a verdict. It’s about what DNA can — and can’t — tell us.It’s about how cold cases move from evidence lockers to courtrooms decades later.It’s about reasonable doubt, secondary transfer, chain of custody, tunnel vision, and the quiet power of probability when everything else has faded. We walk through Tara’s life, the crime scene, the stalled investigation, the CODIS hit, the courtroom battles, and the defense’s unanswered questions — including the absence of eyewitnesses, fingerprints, surveillance, phone data, and any documented relationship between Tara and Faust. We also talk honestly about race, forensic certainty, and what it means for a Black defendant to stand trial for the murder of a young white woman in the South — especially when a case rests almost entirely on DNA. Faust was found guilty. But did the jury get it right? Or are we watching a justice system still learning how to handle science that arrives decades late? This is a story about grief and proof.About science and certainty.About what justice looks like when it finally shows up — and what it leaves behind. Because cold cases don’t just reopen files. They reopen wounds. And they force us to sit in the in between. If you like Mel's work, please support her by tipping:  venmo: @melbarrettwrites  You can now join the Something's Off YouTube channel! Click the join button to select your favorite level. Follow @realmelbarrett on all socials / TT: @jackofalltradesdc Listen to the In Between Podcast wherever you get your podcasts! Follow ‪@reblavoie‬ on all socials Listen to Crime Writer's On wherever you get your podcasts!

    31 min
  3. A Perfect Storm in a Broken Ward: The Lucy Letby Story

    FEB 11

    A Perfect Storm in a Broken Ward: The Lucy Letby Story

    In this episode of The In Between, Mel takes a deep, careful look at one of the most disturbing and contested criminal cases in modern British history: the conviction of neonatal nurse Lucy Letby. Between 2015 and 2016, a spike in infant deaths inside the neonatal unit at Countess of Chester Hospital led to a massive police investigation — and ultimately to Letby being convicted of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder others. She is now serving multiple whole-life sentences. But this story doesn’t end with a verdict. In this episode, Mel walks through the trial evidence, the medical theories presented to the jury, Lucy Letby’s handwritten notes and diaries, and the appeals that followed. We also examine new developments — including a controversial Netflix documentary and a detailed briefing paper from sixteen senior medical and scientific experts who now say Letby may be the victim of a miscarriage of justice. They argue the case relied heavily on circumstantial evidence, flawed statistical reasoning, and disputed medical interpretations — and that alternative explanations rooted in systemic hospital failure were ignored. So what happens when fragile newborns die inside an under-resourced unit? What happens when doctors raise alarms and administrators worry about reputation? What happens when grief meets criminal prosecution — and certainty arrives faster than science? This is not an episode about defending the indefensible. It’s about sitting in the gray. About how medicine collides with the justice system. About institutional silence, whistleblowers, and what gets lost when we turn human collapse into narrative certainty. And about Baby A — and the tiny lives caught inside a system that may have already been breaking. Listener discretion advised: this episode discusses infant death, neonatal medical emergencies, and institutional trauma. If you like Mel's work please hit up the tip jar! venmo: @melbarrettwritescashapp: cash.app/$SomethingsOffTips You can now join the Something's Off YouTube channel! Click the join button to select your favorite level. Follow @realmelbarrett on all socials / TT: @jackofalltradesdc Listen to the In Between Podcast wherever you get your podcasts! Follow ‪@reblavoie‬ on all socials Listen to Crime Writer's On wherever you get your podcasts!

    27 min

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4.6
out of 5
148 Ratings

About

There’s the official story. And then there’s the truth. The In Between is an investigative narrative podcast that digs into cases where the facts got buried, distorted, or deliberately ignored. Hosted by journalist and screenwriter Mel Barrett, each season unpacks one story that was never fully told, blending deep reporting, legal analysis, and raw personal narrative. Mel doesn’t just rehash headlines—she goes digging. She’s spent over a decade uncovering new evidence in the Pamela Smart case, work that helped form the basis of a new habeas petition. In Season One, she revisits the trial that made Smart a national villain—and questions everything we thought we knew. Season Two, From Victim to Accused: The Veronika Rodriguez Story, pulls back the curtain on a case where a 26-year-old Air National Guard member reported a sexual assault—and ended up the one in handcuffs. What happened next is more than a miscarriage of justice. It’s a warning. This is the space between the crime and the courtroom, the headlines and the hidden truth. This is The In Between. Join the Investigator Club for AD FREE, exclusive behind-the-scenes, and bonus content of The In Between Podcast: https://patreon.com/TheInBetweenPodcastwithMelBarrett?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink Follow The In Between Podcast at: IG: @TheInBetweenPodOfficial FB: @TheInBetweenPod Bluesky: @inbetweenpod TikTok: @jackofalltradesdc Web: inbetweenpod.com

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