logo
episode-header-image
Apr 2024
56m 37s

316: What if a masked man appeared at th...

Wondery
About this episode

Growing up with a narcissistic father, a woman learns to play small, but one night when an unknown masked man enters her room, she faces the worst night of her life, and emerges on the other side with a new found ferocity. 


Today’s episode featured Danielle Leukam. You can learn more about Danielle on her website, danielleleukam.com. And you can find her on Instagram @danielleukam, as well as Twitter and Facebook. You can also learn more about her story in her two memoirs, Four Pounds of Pressure: A Memoir of Rape, Survival, and Taking Back My Power https://amzn.to/3QHxMJW and Another Four Pounds of Pressure: Case Files, Statements, & a Survivor's Redemption https://amzn.to/49I0umr, and lastly, you can check out her novella The First Sister: A Dangerous Bloodline, https://amzn.to/3TjLaXq, as well as the two children’s books she’s authored. Danielle now works full-time at the Mayo Clinic. She is passionate about public speaking, writing, and advocating against sexual violence. And she also the president and founder of a non-profit organization called WISH: We Inspire Survivor Healing. Learn more about WISH on their website WeInspireSurvivorHealing.com


Listen to exclusive episodes of This is Actually Happening ad-free by joining Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Start your free trial by visiting wondery.com/links/this-is-actually-happening/ now.


Producers: Whit Missildine, Andrew Waits, Aviva Lipkowitz


Content/Trigger Warnings: rape, violent assault, child endangerment, gun violence, alcoholism, explicit language

 

Social Media:

Instagram: @actuallyhappening

Twitter: @TIAHPodcast


Website: thisisactuallyhappening.com


Website for Andrew Waits: andrewwaits.com

Website for Aviva Lipkowitz: avivalipkowitz.com


Support the Show: Support The Show on Patreon: patreon.com/happening

 

Shop at the Store: The This Is Actually Happening online store is now officially open. Follow this link: thisisactuallyhappening.com/shop to access branded t-shirts, posters, stickers and more from the shop. 


Transcripts: Full transcripts of each episode are now available on the website, thisisactuallyhappening.com


Intro Music: "Illabye" – Tipper

Music Bed: “Re-Entry” – Lee Rosevere

 

Services

If you or someone you know is struggling with the effects of trauma or mental illness, please refer to the following resources:


National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline: Text or Call 988 

National Alliance on Mental Illness: 1-800-950-6264

National Sexual Assault Hotline (RAINN): 1-800-656-HOPE (4673)

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Up next
Oct 7
378: What if your private nightmare was also theirs?
A woman, who ignores her instincts, enters a marriage that soon spirals into betrayal and control. When the truth finally comes to light, she must choose between devastation and the chance to reclaim her life. Today’s episode featured Amy Irvine. If you’d like to reach out to Amy ... Show More
59m 14s
Sep 30
377: What if you were a gay, Mormon, drug-dealing, federal informant?
After losing himself to meth and a double life as a federal informant, a man’s world collapses after one of his buyer’s overdoses, and recovery begins as he confronts the child within. Today’s episode featured Sean Hemeon. His forthcoming memoir, The Good Little Drug Lord, does n ... Show More
1h 10m
Sep 23
376: What if a car crash shattered your world?
When a sudden car crash shatters her world, a woman’s grief and struggle to keep living leads her to an unexpected rebirth of love.Today’s episode featured Polly Vickery. If you’d like to contact Polly, you can email her at pollyvickery81@gmail.com. Polly is on Instagram and Face ... Show More
54m 25s
Recommended Episodes
Apr 2025
Poison Expert Allegedly Spikes Wife’s Smoothie?! The Case of Betty Bowman
On August 20th, 2023, 32-year-old Betty Bowman died in the hospital, where she suffered from heart problems, lung problems, and needing part of her colon removed. Toxicology reports showed a drug in her system that was not supposed to be there. Her husband, Connor Bowman, was cha ... Show More
48m 57s
Feb 2025
Jennifer Corbin & Dr. Dolly Hearn: “A Chilling Coincidence”丨MURDERISH Ep. 180
On December 4, 2004, Jennifer Corbin was found lifeless in her bed, the victim of an apparent suicide. Soon, a mysterious death that happened over 10 years prior would provide answers for more than one grieving family.  Follow Jami on Instagram & TikTok @JamiOnAir where she comme ... Show More
59m 9s
Feb 2025
Ep 234: Sexsomnia: Rape Case Closed with Jade McCrossen-Nethercott, Part 1
Jade Blue McCrossen-Nethercott contacted police in 2017 after waking up to discover she was half-naked, and with the sense that she had been raped while she slept.Three years later, the man who was charged with her rape was acquitted. The Crown Prosecution Service dropped Jade’s ... Show More
59m 56s
Mar 2025
Ep 238: He Gouged My Eyes Out Whilst My Children Slept with Tina Nash, Part 1
Laura interviews courageous Tina Nash in her first exclusive podcast interview. On 20 April 2011 Tina’s life changed forever. Shane Jenkin held her hostage for 12 hours, beat and strangled her and gouged her eyes out. Due to Tina’s quick thinking, she saved her own life. Now she’ ... Show More
1h 11m
Sep 18
The Murder of Lena Bruce (Massachusetts)
Lena Bruce had a bright future ahead of her. She’d just graduated from a top university and landed a great job, and she was settling into a new apartment in the heart of Boston’s South End neighborhood, already living the life she’d worked for since she was a child. But one night ... Show More
34m 58s
Oct 2
Netflix’s Unknown Number: There’s More to the Story in Lauryn Licari’s Case
In October 2020, Lauryn Licari and her boyfriend Owen, both 13-years-old at the time, started receiving weird text messages about themselves from an unknown number. These weird messages would ramp up over the next few years, getting violent, graphic, and encouraging Lauryn to sel ... Show More
1h 10m
Sep 13
Case 329: Roseanne Beckett
*** Content warnings: Domestic violence, child sexual abuse, sexual assault, animal cruelty***In mid-1989, in the small New South Wales Town of Taree, local residents and law enforcement alike began investigating a woman named Roseanne Catt.There were allegations that Roseanne wa ... Show More
1h 36m
Aug 21
448: The Murder of Hadas Winnick (from "I'm Related to a Killer")
On September 25, 2007, 22-year-old Amy Winnick left her job near Calabasas, California, and headed home. Her cell phone rang. It was was her 25-year-old brother Jesse. "Don't go home," he told her. And then he said "I just killed Mom," and then he hung up. This unimaginable night ... Show More
56m 21s
Apr 2025
Who Killed Emily Pike? No More Stolen Sisters
On February 14th, 2025, 14-year-old Emily Pike’s dismembered body was found in garbage bags in a remote part of an Arizonan forest. This discovery came about three weeks after she had gone missing. Not only was this a horrible crime committed against a child, but Emily was also a ... Show More
1 h
Aug 21
Love Triangle Ends in Horror Because of This Psycho… the Case of Alex Woodworth
On March 22, 2018, 24-year-old Alex Woodworth was stabbed 16 times and killed by 20-year-old Ezra McCandless. The two had an unusual relationship with one another, in that McCandless left her boyfriend Jason Mengel for Woodworth, who was a barista at a local coffee shop that she ... Show More
1h 37m