Chapter 1: Chris is Dead

Believe Her

Lemonada Media

True Crime

4.4 • 1.9K Ratings

🗓️ 21 October 2021

⏱️ 53 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In September 2017, Nikki Addimando, a young mom of two, shot her partner of nine years, Chris Grover. Nikki was sentenced to 19 years to life in prison for murder but she claims she was acting in self-defense. In this first episode, journalist Justine van der Leun takes us on a journey that starts with the night of the killing and ends at the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility, a maximum-security prison in upstate New York. Resources: If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic abuse, use a safe computer and contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline at www.thehotline.org or call 1-800-799-7233. You can also search for a local domestic violence shelter at www.domesticshelters.org/. If you have experienced sexual assault and need support, visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN) at www.rainn.org or call 1-800-656-HOPE. Have questions about consent? Take a look at this guide from RAINN at www.rainn.org/articles/what-is-consent. Learn more about criminalized survival in New York State at www.survivedandpunishedny.org/. Learn more about the Domestic Violence Survivors Justice Act at www.nysda.org/page/DVSJA. Read Justine’s May 2020 investigative piece on Nikki’s case at www.gen.medium.com/nikki-had-proof-shed-been-abused-but-was-it-enough-for-self-defense-bd9f196396eb. Follow the We Stand With Nikki campaign on Instagram at @westandwithnikki, on Twitter at @standwithnikki and on their webpage at www.westandwithnikki.com. Justine van der Leun is the host and lead reporter. This series is produced by Justine van der Leun and supervising producer Kristen Lepore. The associate producer is Giulia Hjort. The production assistant is Rory James Leech. Additional reporting by Kristen Lepore and Giulia Hjort. Mixing and sound design by Kegan Zema. Music by RRA aka Sara Abdelaal. Fact checking by Justin Kloczko. Additional audio engineering by Ivan Kuraev. Story editing by Jackie Danziger. Story consulting by Amy Metsch. The executive producers are Stephanie Wittels Wachs, Jessica Cordova Kramer, and Spiegel & Grau. Believe Her is created in partnership with Spiegel & Grau. Follow them on Twitter and Instagram at @spiegelandgrau. Follow Justine on Twitter at @justinevdl and on Instagram at @jvanderleun. Stay up to date with us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at @LemonadaMedia. If you want to continue the conversation with other listeners, please join our Believe Her podcast community on Bookclubz at www.bit.ly/believeherbookclubz and our Facebook group at www.facebook.com/groups/believeher/. Interested in bonus content and behind the scenes material? Subscribe to Lemonada Premium right now in the Apple Podcasts app by clicking on our podcast logo and the "subscribe” button. Stay up-to-date on everything in the Lemonada world by becoming a superfan at https://joinsubtext.com/lemonadasuperfan. Click this link for a list of current sponsors and discount codes for this and all other Lemonada series: lemonadamedia.com/sponsors. To follow along with a transcript, go to www.lemonadamedia.com/show/believeher shortly after the air date. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey Boo Hey, it's me, X-myo. I'm a comedian, writer, producer, and taco expert. Also when
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0:24.7	fall in, you know, I keep on falling like Alicia Keys, okay? But if you've ever stayed in a
0:29.9	bad relationship to avoid moving out costs or just found yourself swimming in debt, you are not alone.
0:36.2	Each week, I'll be exploring all types of financial flops and money myths that stand in the
0:41.8	way of our financial freedom. On this show, Cash is queen. We hardly know her, but baby, we are
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0:57.9	Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and guess what? I've got a podcast. It's called Wiser than me, and each
1:03.4	week I get schooled on life by women who are older and yes, Wiser than me. Older women are
1:09.9	this country's biggest untapped natural resource, and I want to hear from them. I want to know
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1:36.5	Before we get started, a content warning. This episode contains accounts of domestic and
1:41.8	sexual violence. Nikki Adamando is a young mom who would do anything for her kids. And tonight,
1:52.4	she says she made a decision to protect them and to protect herself. She made a decision to survive.
2:12.2	In the dashcam footage we're listening to, Nikki is talking to two police officers.
2:17.5	She's been idling at a stoplight. An officer drives up behind her. And even though her arms are
2:24.6	heavy and numb, she manages to open the car door and get out. Now Nikki's trembling. She's
2:33.1	frantically spitting out words. It's just after 2am and Nikki's kids are sleeping in the back seat.
2:54.0	Still at the westbound with the complainant here. And she has two young infants in the car.
	...

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