126: Police Officer Daniel Holtzclaw & a Shocking Medical Diagnosis

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Buckle up. This first story is awful.

Daniel Holtzclaw had been an officer with the Oklahoma City Police Department for a few years when a woman came forward with an accusation. Her name was Jannie Ligons. She told officers that she’d been stopped by a police officer late at night, as she was coming home from bingo. He’d sexually assaulted her. Jannie was traumatized, but she remembered enough details to give detectives key information. They zeroed in on Daniel Holtzclaw. But as they dug into his past, they grew increasingly disturbed. It appeared Daniel had a pattern of targeting vulnerable black women, and in at least one case, a vulnerable black girl. Jannie Ligons’ bravery got this investigation moving forward, but she wasn’t the first woman to alert police to Daniel’s modus operandi. She was just the first to be taken seriously.

Then Brandi tells us the story of Richard Mason, a multi-millionaire who appeared to have it all. He had three children. He’d co-founded a successful business. But his health was failing him. Finally, when he was in his mid-50s, doctors gave him upsetting news. He had cystic fibrosis. That part wasn’t a complete surprise. Cystic fibrosis ran in his family. But what did surprise him was the revelation that he was most likely infertile, and always had been. Richard was stunned. If he was infertile, how had he fathered three children?

And now for a note about our process. For each episode, Kristin reads a bunch of articles, then spits them back out in her very limited vocabulary. Brandi copies and pastes from the best sources on the web. And sometimes Wikipedia. (No shade, Wikipedia. We love you.) We owe a huge debt of gratitude to the real experts who covered these cases.

In this episode, Kristin pulled from:
“A guilty verdict for Daniel Holtzclaw,” by Matt Ford for The Atlantic
“The 13 women who accused a cop of sexual assault, in their own words,” by Jessica Testa for Buzzfeed
The episode of 20/20 “What the Dash Cam Never Saw”
The interrogation video, on YouTube
“Former OKC police officer’s attorney offers explanation for evidence in rape trial,” by Kyle Schwab for the Oklahoman
“Closing arguments to begin for former Oklahoma City police officer accused of rape, sexual assault,” by Kyle Schwab for the Oklahoman
“Jury deliberating in trial of former Oklahoma City police officer,” for kfor.com
“Former Oklahoma City cop Daniel Holtzclaw sentenced to 263 years on rape charges,” by Andrea Cavallier, for the Associated Press
“Oklahoma court denies appeal of ex-police officer,” by Tim Willert for The Oklahoman
“Daniel Holtzclaw” entry on wikipedia

In this episode, Brandi pulled from:
“Millionaire Reveals Moment a Doctor Told Him He Couldn’t Be the Father of Three Adored Boys” by Nick Craven, The Daily Mail
“Father learnt that three sons from 20-year-marriage were not his after doctor told him he was infertile” by Jack Hardy, The Telegraph
“Multi-millionaire who found out sons weren't his reveals why he went public” by Amber Hicks, The Mirror
“Richard Mason paternity row: Son breaks silence to claim millionaire father was 'very manipulative’” by Phoebe Southworth, The Telegraph