Hidden Killers With Tony Brueski | True Crime News & Commentary

The Kouri Richins murder trial begins February 23rd, 2026, and the prosecution's case looks nothing like it did when she was arrested nearly three years ago. Robert Crozier — the man who allegedly sold fentanyl to Kouri's housekeeper Carmen Lauber — has signed a sworn affidavit saying he never sold fentanyl at all. He now claims it was OxyContin, and that he was detoxing and "out of it" during his original police interview. The defense says this throws a grenade into the state's entire theory. Without Crozier confirming fentanyl, the chain connecting Kouri to the drug that killed her husband is broken. But Judge Richard Mrazik isn't buying it — he says there's still substantial evidence, and Kouri remains in jail without bail for the third time. Meanwhile, prosecutors lost their bid to introduce 26 financial fraud charges to the murder jury, their domestic violence expert was blocked entirely, and their FBI profiler can barely testify. The defense also got key statements from a 2022 search suppressed after detectives failed to read Kouri her Miranda rights. What's left? A housekeeper's testimony, a handwritten notebook prosecutors say details the night Eric died, and a letter found in Kouri's jail cell that looks a lot like witness tampering — unless you believe her claim it was fiction. After years of delays, appeals, and pretrial warfare, this case finally goes to a Summit County jury. We break down everything — the evidence that survived, the evidence that didn't, and what both sides need to prove when testimony begins.
#KouriRichins #EricRichins #KouriRichinsTrial #TrueCrime #FentanylMurder #SummitCounty #UtahMurderTrial #WitnessRecants #HiddenKillers #MurderTrial2026
Join Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/

Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/@hiddenkillerspod

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/
Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod
X Twitter https://x.com/tonybpod

Listen Ad-Free On Apple Podcasts Here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/true-crime-today-premium-plus-ad-free-advance-episode/id1705422872

This publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice.

Former FBI Special Agent Jennifer Coffindaffer breaks down two cases where the warning signs were allegedly clear — and no one acted.
The Michael McKee case: how investigators tracked a surgeon across state lines in eleven days using surveillance footage, ballistics databases, and digital forensics. Then the behavioral profile — eight years of alleged death threats, strangulation allegations, and pre-offense surveillance before Monique and Spencer Tepe were murdered.
The WSU lawsuit: 13 formal complaints about Bryan Kohberger's stalking behavior in one semester. A professor's warning that he would become a predator. Female students creating their own protection systems. And an institution that allegedly had threat assessment protocols and didn't use them — until four students were dead.
Coffindaffer analyzes what both cases reveal about how systems fail the people they're designed to protect.
#MichaelMcKee #MoniqueTepe #BryanKohberger #WSULawsuit #JenniferCoffindaffer #FBI #DomesticViolence #IdahoMurders #InstitutionalFailure #HiddenKillers
Join Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/

Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/@hiddenkillerspod

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/
Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod
X Twitter https://x.com/tonybpod

Listen Ad-Free On Apple Podcasts Here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/true-crime-today-premium-plus-ad-free-advance-episode/id1705422872

This publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice.

In 1975, a woman named Gloria Ladd killed her two teenage sons. Drugged them. Smothered them. She was charged with murder, pled insanity, and was committed to a state hospital. Then she inherited their money.
The California Court of Appeal ruled that an insanity verdict does not trigger the Slayer Statute — the law designed to prevent killers from profiting off their crimes. The statute requires proof of "intentional" killing. Insanity negates intent. Gloria Ladd inherited from the sons she murdered. That case, Estate of Ladd, is from 1979. It's still good law. It's never been overruled.
Now apply that to the Reiner case.
Rob and Michele Reiner's estate is estimated at $200 million. Nick Reiner is charged with their murders. His former attorney declared him "not guilty of murder" under California law. Legal analysts expect an insanity defense. If Nick is found NGRI, he may still be entitled to inherit — potentially $50 million or more, depending on the estate plan.
The only way to stop it? Jake and Romy Reiner would have to sue their own brother in probate court. They'd carry the burden of proving Nick acted intentionally — against an NGRI verdict that already found he lacked the capacity to form intent. They'd relive their parents' deaths in civil litigation while their brother potentially collects his share.
That's the position California law creates. A 45-year-old loophole. A $200 million estate. And an impossible choice for the surviving family.
This episode breaks down the legal mechanics, the precedent, and the financial incentive structure behind the insanity defense that nobody wants to talk about.
#NickReiner #RobReiner #MicheleReiner #SlayerStatute #EstateOfLadd #InsanityDefense #CaliforniaLaw #Inheritance #HiddenKillers #TrueCrime
Join Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/

Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/@hiddenkillerspod

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/
Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod
X Twitter https://x.com/tonybpod

Listen Ad-Free On Apple Podcasts Here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/true-crime-today-premium-plus-ad-free-advance-episode/id1705422872

This publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice.

Brendan Banfield will die in prison. A Fairfax County jury convicted the former IRS special agent of aggravated murder Monday in one of the most disturbing domestic murder plots in recent memory. The 40-year-old federal law enforcement officer now faces mandatory life without parole for the February 2023 killings of his wife Christine and Joseph Ryan — a stranger prosecutors say was lured to the family home and set up to take the fall.
                    
The prosecution's case hinged on testimony from Juliana Peres Magalhães, the family's 25-year-old Brazilian au pair who was having an affair with Banfield. She told jurors Banfield wanted to "get rid of" his wife so they could marry and have children together. According to her account, they created fake profiles on FetLife posing as Christine, catfished Ryan into believing he was meeting a willing woman for a violent sexual encounter, then executed him when he showed up.
Magalhães testified she watched Banfield stab Christine seven times in the neck, then stage the scene — smearing his wife's blood on Ryan's body to frame him as the attacker. She admitted firing the second shot into Ryan herself. In exchange for her testimony, prosecutors reduced her murder charge to manslaughter with time served.
The defense called her a liar who sold out her co-conspirator. They pointed to missing DNA evidence, challenged the digital forensics, and accused investigators of tunnel vision. Banfield took the stand and called the allegations "absolutely crazy." The jury deliberated nine hours and disagreed.
We break down the conviction, the evidence, and the appeal that's coming.
#BrendanBanfield #HiddenKillers #AuPairAffair #ChristineBanfield #TrueCrime #MurderConviction #JulianaMagalhaes #FairfaxCounty #LifeWithoutParole #JosephRyan
Join Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/

Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/@hiddenkillerspod

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/
Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod
X Twitter https://x.com/tonybpod

Listen Ad-Free On Apple Podcasts Here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/true-crime-today-premium-plus-ad-free-advance-episode/id1705422872

This publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice.

A professor warned colleagues that Bryan Kohberger would become a predator. Female students created informal warning systems to avoid being alone with him. At least 13 formal complaints were filed about his stalking, harassment, and predatory behavior in a single semester. And Washington State University allegedly did nothing.
The families of Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin have taken their lawsuit against WSU to federal court. The allegation: the university had threat assessment protocols in place, received documented warnings from faculty and students, and allowed Kohberger to keep his position, housing, and salary until four people were dead.
Former FBI Special Agent Jennifer Coffindaffer analyzes what this case reveals about institutional negligence — what it means when a community develops its own protective protocols because the institution won't act, how documented internal foreknowledge affects civil liability, and what discovery in federal court might expose.
#BryanKohberger #WSULawsuit #IdahoMurders #KayleeGoncalves #MadisonMogen #XanaKernodle #EthanChapin #TitleIX #JenniferCoffindaffer #HiddenKillers
Join Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/

Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/@hiddenkillerspod

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/
Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod
X Twitter https://x.com/tonybpod

Listen Ad-Free On Apple Podcasts Here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/true-crime-today-premium-plus-ad-free-advance-episode/id1705422872

This publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice.