The California mom, whose harrowing story of abuse at the hands of her conman husband inspired hit series Dirty John, has found love again, DailyMailTV can reveal.
Debra Newell married John Meehan after a whirlwind two-month romance - only to discover he had lied about his criminal past and glittering medical career, and was intent on controlling every aspect of her life.
When she finally plucked up the courage to leave, Meehan, 57, launched a months-long stalking campaign that ended with a vicious knife attack on her youngest daughter Terra, then 25.
Although she was stabbed three times during the assault, Terra, who stands at 5'2, weighing 130lbs, managed to wrest the blade from her 6'3, 270lb attacker.
The Newells' story was later turned into a podcast which inspired Bravo and Netflix hit Dirty John, in which Debra was played by Connie Nielsen and Meehan by Eric Bana.
Three years on from the events that inspired Dirty John, Debra, 64, now lives in Las Vegas, Nevada, where she runs her interior design business, called Ambrosia Home.
Debra Newell, who married infamous John 'Dirty John' Meehan, has found love three years after her ex-husband's death, DailyMailTV can reveal
Debra and John Meehan (pictured together) met on an over-50s dating website in 2014, and five weeks after their first date, they were living together in Newport, California, and were married within two months
The couple's story inspired a Dirty John podcast, which has been adapted into a Bravo series of the same name starring Connie Britton as Debra and Eric Bana as John
Her daughter Terra, 27, killed Meehan when he attacked her with a knife after Debra broke things off with him when he became possessive and she learned of his dark past
She has also begun dating again and is now in a relationship with a Las Vegas-based antique art dealer whom she met through friends, having sworn off dating websites after meeting Meehan on one.
Her new boyfriend, who asked not to be named due to privacy concerns, has been told about Debra's past but she says he refused to watch the TV show because 'he wants to get to know the real me'.
Debra told DailyMailTV: 'He's a great guy. I met him in a restaurant and I think during our discussions before I went on a date with him, I told him, 'have you heard of Dirty John'?
'He laughs to this day because all he could think of was that it was about cleaning bathrooms. I said 'no, it's far from that'!
'He's not willing to watch [the show] because there are things in both the podcast and series that aren't accurate so he wants to get to know the real me, opposed to what the public has seen and saw.
'But he's a great guy, I've done the background check, I've looked for any red flags I can find and so far, it's going great.'
Next month, the pair will take their first vacation together – traveling to London and then Paris, where Debra's boyfriend of six weeks is planning to purchase more art to sell.
Daughter Terra, 27, has also met her mom's new man and told DailyMailTV that although she is 'still trying to figure him out', she does like what she has seen so far.
She said: 'Well I met him recently and I have to say, I'm still trying to figure him out fully because I'm just that type of person but what I'm seeing is that I'm really liking him so far.
'He's wanting to engage with me, he's wanting to hang out with me alone too. He's such a gentleman – he took my bags to the car, didn't let me touch a finger and he was struggling.
'You can see he has a good heart so far.'
Both Debra and Terra say their ordeal at the hands of 'Dirty John' Meehan has made them much more wary about dating, and both say they would never go on a dating website 'because it's just too dangerous'.
Debra met Meehan via a dating site Our Time which is an over 50's specialist site and says she believes he planned to target her from the start, using information gleaned from her profile to inveigle himself into her life.
'I feel that God placed me on this earth to take John out and that was just part of my journey on this earth,' Debra tells DailyMailTV, saying she's learned from her mistakes
Debra broke things off with Meehan after learning he lied about being a surgeon and discovering other records that proved Meehan's story was a carefully crafted fake
She said: 'I definitely think he researched me. When you go on dating websites, you put a lot there – which I never want anyone to do again because I think that can get you in trouble these days.
'But I was on there as a successful woman looking for love, that I had it all, I had my family, I had my career, I was a very happy individual but the one thing missing was love.
Terra was stabbed three times by Meehan before she ultimately killed with the same knife
'And I believe that started him researching.'
She added: 'I was swept off my feet and I let my heart make the decisions for me but I should definitely have taken the time to get to know the person.
'But I believe that I was already his victim that he was going to pursue. So I think if I had backed away, he would have continued [to pursue her] no matter what.'
Instead of getting to know Meehan properly, Debra married him just two months after meeting him in October 2014 – despite the misgivings of her four children who all thought he seemed too good to be true.
