Lizz Melgar Rose went from being interested in true crime to living true crime. Back in 2012, relatives found her mother Sandy Melgar shut in a closet, her hands bound behind her back. Her dad Jim Melgar had been murdered. There was no time to finish the university course Lizz had signed up for, inspired by her teenage fascination with violence and serial killers. She needed to figure out what happened. If it weren't for her strange interest, she believes she’d have been lost. It enabled her to protect her family and herself and helped her try to fit the pieces of a seemingly unsolvable puzzle together. Award-winning journalist and host Maggie Robinson Katz will take you inside the police investigation that followed, inside the courtroom drama as a jury wrestles with who’s responsible for a truly shocking crime, and inside Lizz’s ongoing battle for answers and for justice. Because there is one thing Lizz is convinced of, the wrong person is in prison for her dad’s murder.Hands Tied is a new eight part true crime podcast from iHeartPodcasts and BBC Studios.
New insights from the lead detective, the task force tackling home invasion gangs and the role religion played in the trial... Host Maggie Robinson Katz and producer Maggie Latham share the revelations and the conversations that have stayed with them while making the show.
Host: Maggie Robinson Katz
Series producers: Maggie Robinson Katz and Maggie Latham
Sound designer: Tom Brignell
Production support from: Dan Marchini and Mabel Finnegan-Wright
Managing Executive Producer (iHeart): Cristina Everett
Executive Producer (BBC Studios): Joe Kent
See omnystudio.com/listener (https://omnystudio.com/listener) for privacy information.
1 Oct 2025TRANSCRIPT
Episode 9 - Amanda Knox
Exoneree Amanda Knox on prison life, Manic Pixie Dream Girls, and the similarities she sees between her case and Sandy Medgar’s.
In the first of two special, bonus episodes, we also hear the latest developments in Sandy’s case from The Innocence Project of Texas’ Mike Ware.
Host: Maggie Robinson Katz
Series producers: Maggie Robinson Katz and Maggie Latham
Sound designer: Tom Brignell
Production support from: Dan Marchini Mabel Finnegan-Wright
Managing Executive Producer (iHeart): Cristina Everett
Executive Producer (BBC Studios): Joe Kent
See omnystudio.com/listener (https://omnystudio.com/listener) for privacy information.
24 Sept 2025TRANSCRIPT
Episode 8 - Hope?
It’s been thirteen years since the murder of Lizz's father and she no longer recognizes the person she has become. But she hasn't given up, and is still fighting for justice every single day.
Her spirit, her father's and those of her ancestors give her the strength to keep going, because this story isn’t over.
Host: Maggie Robinson Katz
Producers: Maggie Robinson Katz and Maggie Latham
Script consultant: Emma Weatherill
Music research by Aisha Antwi
Sound designer: Tom Brignell
Production support from: Dan Marchini, Elaina Boateng and Mabel Finnegan-Wright
Managing Executive Producer (iHeart): Cristina Everett
Executive Producer (BBC Studios): Joe Kent
Hands Tied is a BBC Studios production for iHeartPodcasts
At iHeart podcasts:
David Wasserman is the Brand Marketing Manager and
Ally Cantor-Graber is the director of marketing
At BBC Studios Audio:
Micahel Fadda is the editorial standards advisor
Ella Squire is Podcast Marketing Manager
Lucy Matthias is Commercial Lead
Helen Penbury is the Commercial & Business Development Director
James Cooke is the creative director of Factual for Audio
Richard Knight is the Director of Audio
See omnystudio.com/listener (https://omnystudio.com/listener) for privacy information.
17 Sept 2025TRANSCRIPT
Episode 7 - Aftershock
The jury has reached a verdict in the murder trial of Sandra Jean Melgar, but it’s not over yet.
Host: Maggie Robinson Katz
Producer: Maggie Latham
Script consultant: Emma Weatherill
Sound designer: Tom Brignell
Production support from: Dan Marchini, Elaina Boateng and Mabel Finnegan-Wright
Managing Executive Producer (iHeart): Cristina Everett
Executive Producer (BBC Studios): Joe Kent
Hands Tied is a BBC Studios Audio production for iHeartPodcasts
See omnystudio.com/listener (https://omnystudio.com/listener) for privacy information.
10 Sept 2025TRANSCRIPT
Episode 6 - The Trial
A woman found tied up in a closet, her hands tied behind her back, the door jammed shut from the outside. Now, she’s on trial for stabbing her husband, without a motive.
Nearly five years after Jim Melgar’s death, Sandy Melgar is in court, accused of his murder.
Host: Maggie Robinson Katz
Producer: Maggie Latham
Script consultant: Emma Weatherill
Sound designer: Tom Brignell
Production support from: Dan Marchini, Elaina Boateng and Mabel Finnegan-Wright
Managing Executive Producer (iHeart): Cristina Everett
Executive Producer (BBC Studios): Joe Kent
Hands Tied is a BBC Studios Audio production for iHeartPodcasts
See omnystudio.com/listener (https://omnystudio.com/listener) for privacy information.
3 Sept 2025TRANSCRIPT
Episode 5 - Warrior Spirit
Lizz has entered what feels like a parallel universe. Her mom is no longer Sandy Melgar, or Nana, but The Defendant - accused of first-degree murder. As the wheels of justice slowly grind on, they prepare for trial.
Host: Maggie Robinson Katz
Producer: Maggie Latham
Script consultant: Emma Weatherill
Sound designer: Tom Brignell
Production support from Dan Marchini, Elaina Boateng and Mabel Finnegan-Wright
Managing Executive Producer (iHeart): Cristina Everett
Executive Producer (BBC Studios): Joe Kent
Hands Tied is a BBC Studios Audio production for iHeartPodcasts
See omnystudio.com/listener (https://omnystudio.com/listener) for privacy information.
27 Aug 2025
Episode 4 - Suspects and Suspicions
Lizz knows her best chance of convincing the cops her mum didn’t kill her dad is to find out who did. So she starts investigating.
Host: Maggie Robinson Katz
Producer: Maggie Latham
Script consultant: Emma Weatherill
Sound designer: Tom Brignell
Production support from Dan Marchini, Elaina Boateng and Mabel Finnegan-Wright.
Managing Executive Producer (iHeart): Cristina Everett Executive Producer (BBC Studios): Joe Kent
Hands Tied is a BBC Studios production for iHeartPodcasts
See omnystudio.com/listener (https://omnystudio.com/listener) for privacy information.
20 Aug 2025TRANSCRIPT
Episode 3 - Homecoming
Sandy is back home, but her home is now a crime scene besieged by journalists. Friends rally around her, Lizz flies in to be with her and the police continue to suspect her.
Host: Maggie Robinson Katz
Producer: Maggie Latham
Script consultant: Emma Weatherill
Sound designer: Tom Brignell
Production support from Dan Marchini, Elaina Boateng and Mabel Finnegan-Wright.
Managing Executive Producer (iHeart): Cristina Everett
Executive Producer (BBC Studios): Joe Kent
Hands Tied is a BBC Studios production for iHeartPodcasts
See omnystudio.com/listener (https://omnystudio.com/listener) for privacy information.
13 Aug 2025TRANSCRIPT
Episode 2 - The Interview
Sandy Melgar finds herself in a cramped interview room being questioned by cops, but is she there as a witness or a suspect?
Just hours after her husband was found murdered and she was found shut in a cupboard, her arms tied behind her back, Santy agrees to a police interview. She tells detectives she’s not well and that she can’t remember what happened. They want her to take a lie detector test.
Host: Maggie Robinson Katz
Producer: Maggie Latham
Script consultant: Emma Weatherill
Sound designer: Tom Brignell
Production support from Dan Marchini, Elaina Boateng and Mabel Finnegan-Wright.
Managing Executive Producer (iHeart): Cristina Everett
Executive Producer (BBC Studios): Joe Kent
Hands Tied is a BBC Studios production for iHeartPodcasts
See omnystudio.com/listener (https://omnystudio.com/listener) for privacy information.
6 Aug 2025TRANSCRIPT
Episode 1 - The Call
A phone call that changes everything; something unimaginable has happened and Lizz needs to figure out how. In an instant, she goes from being interested in true crime to living it.
Award winning journalist and host Maggie Robinson Katz take you inside the police investigation that followed, inside the courtroom drama as a jury wrestles with who’s responsible for the shocking crime, and inside Lizz’s ongoing battle for answers and for justice. Because there is one thing Lizz is convinced of, the wrong person is in prison for her dad’s murder.
Host: Maggie Robinson Katz
Producer: Maggie Latham
Script consultant: Emma Weatherill
Sound designer: Tom Brignell
Production support from Dan Marchini, Elaina Boateng and Mabel Finnegan-Wright
Managing Executive Producer (iHeart): Cristina Everett
Executive Producer (BBC Studios): Joe Kent
Hands Tied is a BBC Studios Audio production for iHeartPodcasts
See omnystudio.com/listener (https://omnystudio.com/listener) for privacy information.
30 Jul 2025TRANSCRIPT
Introducing: Hands Tied
Lizz Melgar Rose went from being interested in true crime to living true crime. Back in 2012, Lizz’s world cracked in two when relatives find her mother locked in a closet, her hands and feet bound, and her Dad, Jim – murdered just a few feet away. Lizz was meant to continue a university course inspired by her teenage fascination with violence and serial killers. But all that is put on hold as she tries to put the pieces together and figure out what happened to her parents – and who killed her Dad.Hands Tied is a new eight-part true crime podcast from iHeartPodcasts and BBC Studios.
See omnystudio.com/listener (https://omnystudio.com/listener) for privacy information.
Inside a recent episode
Episode 10 - Unanswered Questions
Published 8 Oct 2025 · Transcript excerpt
[…] So basically death is not the end. Death is like a deep sleep or waiting resurrection. And this was sort of relevant in the trial. How did Jim and Sandy become Jehovah's Witnesses? Because neither Jim or Sandy were brought up in that religion, right? No, that's right. They converted through a call call. They were interested. They were both open to it and they were adults when they converted. So when you say called call, it was literally someone knocking on their door. Yeah, yeah. Just like we've probably all had the Jehovah's Witness knocking on our door. But yeah, Sandy and Jim went door to door evangelizing just like other Jehovah's Witnesses. […]
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