Clayton Echard

Echard said he feels powerless and views the justice system as broken and glacially slow.

“Maybe we just see it for what it is, a system that's broken that is still moving forward at a glacial pace”

Love Trapped: Not Over Yet | EP 15 (Jul 9, 2026) · Listen from 33:13

Echard described Owens's look in court as resembling a scared child, mixing fear and apparent remorse.

“she was looking at me and it was almost like a scared child. So it was fear, but it was also a mix of like, I'm sorry”

Love Trapped: Not Over Yet | EP 15 (Jul 9, 2026) · Listen from 25:28

Echard said he believes the state is right that Owens targeted him to leverage his fame, given investigators' access to her communications.

“They're right. They've uncovered her motives because they have access to more than I've ever even seen”

Love Trapped: All the Best | EP 12 (May 7, 2026) · Listen from 23:17

Echard predicted Owens will reject the plea deal, go to trial, face worse charges and receive prison time.

“I feel very strongly that she will not take the plea deal and she will go to trial and she will end up with worse charges”

Love Trapped: All the Best | EP 12 (May 7, 2026) · Listen from 4:50

Echard recounted an Arizona investigator telling him the paternity scandal was the least of Owens's worries given what they had uncovered.

“what Laura doesn't realize is what we found out about her and the things that we have uncovered. The paternity scandal is the least of her worries”

Love Trapped: Where is Laura? | EP 11 (Apr 30, 2026) · Listen from 17:48

Echard said justice for him would mean Owens going to prison, noting she has never apologized.

“I hope for justice to be served. And to me, what that looks like is her going to prison”

Love Trapped: Where is Laura? | EP 11 (Apr 30, 2026) · Listen from 3:24

Echard predicted Owens would wait until the final August 28 deadline to decide on the plea.

“She's going to wait until the last minute because she's just wants to drag this out because she knows that it only harms us”

Love Trapped: Not Over Yet | EP 15 (Jul 9, 2026) · Listen from 31:46

Echard relayed that Owens's lawyer said she would already have accepted a plea if it carried no jail or prison time.

“Laura's lawyer said if there was no jail time or prison time that could be attached to the plea, she would have taken the plea already”

Love Trapped: Not Over Yet | EP 15 (Jul 9, 2026) · Listen from 30:45

Echard argued the defense's request for more time was an extension of Owens's history of delay tactics.

“I'm all for due process, but to me, this just feels like an extension of her tactic carried out by him to extend it”

Love Trapped: Not Over Yet | EP 15 (Jul 9, 2026) · Listen from 14:31

Echard argued that Owens's legal strategy consists of deliberately delaying proceedings.

“I didn't really expect an answer because Laura's tactics are delay, delay, delay. And that's just the way that she operates”

Love Trapped: All the Best | EP 12 (May 7, 2026) · Listen from 3:01

Echard says simply having Gillespie and Marraccini present in the courtroom corroborated his account for the judge.

“All you need to do is just acknowledge that they exist. Because then the judge sees it and goes, these guys showed up. There's three of them”

Love Trapped: The Third Man | EP 8 (Apr 9, 2026) · Listen from 4:04

Echard said he needed a legal document to corroborate his account, and the ruling lifted a weight from him.

“I knew my truth the entire time that I was fighting her. But I needed a legal document”

Love Trapped: These are Yes or No Questions | EP 7 (Apr 2, 2026) · Listen from 57:00

Echard described a surge of anger when Owens testified that he had raped her.

“I remember when she said it, I just felt this massive wave of anger overtake my body. And I remember clenching my fist and just closing my eyes”

Love Trapped: These are Yes or No Questions | EP 7 (Apr 2, 2026) · Listen from 14:00

Echard said Owens' side of the courtroom was nearly empty, which he found significant.

“It was her mom and her medical expert. That was it. Dad wasn't there. Sister wasn't there. No friends. And I think that, to me, also spoke volumes”

Love Trapped: These are Yes or No Questions | EP 7 (Apr 2, 2026) · Listen from 9:59

Echard said he objected to Owens's travel because she faces no inconvenience despite felony charges.

“There needs to be something inconveniencing her because as of right now, there is nothing inconveniencing her”

Love Trapped: Not Over Yet | EP 15 (Jul 9, 2026) · Listen from 28:38

Echard argued the online support community formed because Owens's claims triggered people's own trauma, and that the story is now about the community healing.

“I believe that this support system has been created from trauma triggering that Laura has done. She's triggered more than just me and other victims”

Love Trapped: All the Best | EP 12 (May 7, 2026) · Listen from 1:16:36

Echard argued Owens chose him because he was vulnerable after The Bachelor, seeing him as a wounded celebrity.

“She saw me as somebody that was a wounded celebrity, somebody that was a weak celebrity, right? Somebody that was vulnerable”

Love Trapped: All the Best | EP 12 (May 7, 2026) · Listen from 24:13

Echard said he now knows Owens was never pregnant, since she would otherwise have obtained an ultrasound to prove it.

“I know that she wasn't pregnant now because, again, if she ever was, she would have utilized that”

Love Trapped: All the Best | EP 12 (May 7, 2026) · Listen from 20:15

Echard said he rejects using his case to argue women should be believed less and wants people to believe victims.

“I don't want to be associated with a movement where we believe women less. I don't want that. What I want is for people to believe victims”

Love Trapped: All the Best | EP 12 (May 7, 2026) · Listen from 10:12

Echard said he had been told the terms of the plea offer as a victim and was unhappy with it, wanting Owens to face prison time.

“As a victim, I have been told what the plea is. And without saying too much, I'll just tell you that I'm not happy with it”

Love Trapped: Where is Laura? | EP 11 (Apr 30, 2026) · Listen from 1:17:36

Echard recalled the courtroom groaning when Owens characterized her conduct as only 'a little bit' of medical fraud.

“Deandra asked her about the medical fraud, and Laura says, well, it was just a little bit. And that's when you heard everyone just groan”

Love Trapped: These are Yes or No Questions | EP 7 (Apr 2, 2026) · Listen from 38:26

Echard said seeing roughly 50 supporters at the courthouse made him realize how much backing he had.

“There was probably 50 people that were part of the Justice for Clayton community that were there. And that's when it hit me that I was like, wow, I have a tremendous amount of support”

Love Trapped: These are Yes or No Questions | EP 7 (Apr 2, 2026) · Listen from 6:41