One of the Toughest Interviews of Her Career
This week I speak to Jana G. Pruden, an award-winning true crime writer, about her powerful story and podcast series, In Her Defence
Jana Pruden is not easily shaken. As a prolific crime writer for The Globe and Mail, she’s covered some of the most horrific cases imaginable.
But the prospect of interviewing Helen Naslund made her extraordinarily nervous.
Naslund is a petite Canadian farmer who endured years of unspeakably violent physical and emotional abuse from her monstrous husband, Miles. Unable to escape and fearful for her life, she ultimately murdered him in his sleep.
The case seemed like self-defense, but a judge sentenced Naslund to a harsh sentence of 18 years in prison, sparking outrage across Canada.
“There's a lot of people that immediately felt like this sentence was wrong, that it was way out of proportion,” Jana says. “I was one of those people. I've covered many, many murders where men killed women who had never hurt them at all and who had received much lighter sentences.”
Jana made it her mission to be the first reporter to interview Naslund. Sure, this would be a great scoop, but more importantly, she felt it was a story that needed to be told from her perspective.
“I believed her story was very important and that sharing it could help other women,” Jana says.
Even for a seasoned journalist like Pruden, getting the story right was daunting.
“Helen said very little to the people in her life really. She was trusting me to share this life and what it was like,” she says. “That is something I do not take lightly. And so that makes me tense, that makes me nervous.”
Watch her talk to me about how she scored the interview and what sitting down with Naslund was like.
Interesting story! 🇨🇦