213: Erasing Laura Ackerson, Part 1

Southern Fried True Crime

Erica Kelley

True Crime, Society & Culture, History

4.6 • 10.5K Ratings

🗓️ 22 April 2024

⏱️ 53 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

27-year-old Laura Jean Ackerson had a really tough start in life. The single mother of two worked hard to build her own small support system in Kinston, North Carolina. Her brother and best friend were the only people she really had. After Laura survived a whirlwind relationship with a charismatic but narcissistic musician, she faced a vicious custody battle with him. Grant Hayes was a glorified bar star and lazy husband and father. But by July 2011, Laura was finally slipping out of his controlling and abusive grasp. She was winning. Her abuser had lost control. The most dangerous time for a woman.

Hosted and produced by Erica Kelley
Researched and written by Erica Kelley Andrea Marshbank
Original Graphic Art by Coley Horner
Original Music by Rob Harrison of Gamma Radio
Edited & Mixed by Brandon Schexnayder & Erica Kelley
Case suggested by Marcia

Sources: https://www.southernfriedtruecrime.com/laura-ackerson

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Southern Fraud True Crime covers cases that are not suitable for young listeners, and there may also be some explicit language used.
0:09.0	Listener discretion is advised.
0:20.0	Domestic violence that ends in death is often called murder and slow motion. The danger builds at a pace we think we can keep up with.
0:25.0	I have this under control. I can fix it. He will change.
0:31.0	But he's the one in control.
0:35.0	Coercive control is the foundation for most forms of domestic abuse.
0:40.0	For Laura Ackerson, it seems like her whole life was a blur, a merry-go-round that was going way too fast.
0:49.8	She came from generational trauma, and she walked away from it.
0:54.9	She didn't have good role models or a stable support system.
0:59.4	She had to build one for herself. She moved across the country and met her best friend Heidi. Heidi was
1:07.5	someone Laura could count on. Unlike the charismatic musician she soon fell for.
1:15.0	Grant Hayes was the CD cliche of sex drugs and rock and roll,
1:21.0	and he was a classic narcissist.
1:24.0	For him, control equals power.
1:28.0	But when Laura became pregnant,
1:31.0	she thought she could build a family with Grant.
1:34.0	Heidi had always known Grant was a scumbag.
1:37.0	She despised him.
1:39.0	But she never wavered in her support of Laura. And Laura needed her support, especially
1:46.7	once she decided to finally stand up to a man like Grant. Welcome to episode 213, Erasing Laura Ackerson, Part 1.
2:00.0	Laura Jean Ackerson lived most of her life as a small town girl.
2:07.0	She was born on April 30th, 1984, to parents Roger and Brenda in Hastings, Michigan.
	...

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