A video that nobody knew existed has thrown the Mickey Stines murder case into chaos. According to a defense motion filed December 29th, Special Judge Christopher Cohron was captured on video sitting next to Judge Kevin Mullins — the man Stines is accused of killing — at a mental health commission meeting just one week before the shooting. Mullins' widow was reportedly in the room. Cohron allegedly never disclosed any of this to the parties.

Now the defense is demanding Cohron recuse himself, arguing his impartiality cannot be trusted in a case where mental health is literally the entire defense. Stines' attorneys have already watched Cohron deny their motion to unseal the psychiatric evaluation and block them from using it at the bond hearing. They're connecting those rulings to the video — and asking whether a reasonable observer could see this as anything other than bias.

The December 18th hearing was supposed to address bond and venue. It lasted minutes. Cohron said there was an "issue" and adjourned. Eleven days later, we found out the issue was him.

Stines remains in jail — over fifteen months now — with no bond, no trial date, and no official motive. The prosecution still hasn't said whether they're seeking death. And now everything waits on one question: Does Cohron step aside, or does this fight go to the Chief Justice?

We break down the recusal motion, the legal standard, and what's likely to happen next in a case that can't seem to get out of its own way.

#MickeyStines #KevinMullins #HiddenKillers #TrueCrimePodcast #LetherCounty #KentuckyCrime #JudgeRecusal #CourthouseMurder #InsanityDefense #ShawnStines

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Nick Reiner started using drugs at fifteen. By sixteen, he was in his first rehab. By twenty-two, he'd been through eighteen treatment programs. The focus was always addiction. Heroin. Meth. Cocaine. The revolving door of substance abuse treatment.

But according to reports, Nick had schizophrenia. A serious psychotic disorder that was reportedly diagnosed years before the killings — but after years of being treated for the wrong thing.

Psychotherapist Shavaun Scott joins us to examine what may have been a catastrophic misdiagnosis. She explains what schizophrenia actually is and how it differs from addiction. She describes how serious mental illness can hide behind substance abuse — and how the addiction often is the self-medication, the person's attempt to manage symptoms they don't understand.

What happens when you put someone with an undiagnosed psychotic disorder through addiction treatment? What are those programs doing to them — or failing to do for them? And why does the treatment industry keep cycling patients through without catching what's actually wrong?

We also examine the medication change that reportedly occurred three to four weeks before the killings. Shavaun explains what happens during psychiatric medication transitions, why they're dangerous, and what destabilization looks like in someone with schizophrenia. Sources say Nick was "out of his head" after the switch. This is the clinical explanation of what that means.

#NickReiner #Schizophrenia #MentalHealth #ShavaunScott #HiddenKillers #DualDiagnosis #Addiction #RobReiner #Treatment #TrueCrime

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Judge Sid Harle denied the defense's mistrial motion Wednesday in the Adrian Gonzales trial, but the battle over teacher Stephanie Hale's testimony isn't over. Harle called the prosecution's failure to disclose information "negligent" and will decide Thursday whether to strike Hale's entire testimony from the record.

Hale testified Tuesday that she saw "a person in all black and a long weapon" on the south side of the Robb Elementary campus — the same area where Gonzales was positioned. The defense says that information was never disclosed and called the trial "a trial by ambush." On Tuesday, the Uvalde County DA was even sworn in to testify about what she knew and when she knew it. Her answer: she was "in and out" of witness interviews.

The families aren't hiding their frustration. Jesse Rizo, uncle of victim Jackie Cazares, said watching the prosecution stumble is "so disappointing." His brother Manuel called the prosecution team "incompetent."

Trial resumes Thursday. Gonzales faces 29 counts of child endangerment.

#HiddenKillers #AdrianGonzales #UvaldeTrial #RobbElementary #Mistrial #TrueCrime #Uvalde #Justice #SchoolShooting #Breaking

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When your own forensics expert contradicts your murder theory, what do you do? According to court testimony in the Brendan Banfield case, Fairfax County Police transferred him out of the unit.

Brendan Banfield stands accused of orchestrating the February 2023 murders of his wife Christine Banfield and Joseph Ryan with the help of the family's Brazilian au pair, Juliana Peres Magalhaes. Prosecutors claim Banfield created a fake FetLife profile in his wife's name to lure Ryan to their Herndon home as part of an elaborate murder plot. The motive? An alleged affair with the au pair.

But the prosecution's catfishing theory has a major problem. Officer Brendan Miller, who extracted data from 60 devices in the investigation, concluded in his executive summary that Christine Banfield appeared to be the one controlling the FetLife account — not her husband. He found no indication she lost control of her devices and noted she was communicating with multiple people on the site, not just Ryan. His work was peer-reviewed by the University of Alabama and confirmed.

Deputy Chief Patrick Brusch reportedly told Miller he would never work another digital forensics case in the major crimes bureau. Miller was transferred. The lead detective who also disagreed with command staff's theory was moved too. Judge Penney Azcarate called Miller's transfer concerning enough to order prosecutors to hand over all related communications.

Now the case hinges on Juliana Peres Magalhaes — who took a plea deal offering time served after changing her story. She wrote to her mother from jail that she was heartbroken to be "doing this to Brendan" but needed to come home.

This is the defense side of the Brendan Banfield case — and it raises serious questions about how this investigation was handled.

#BrendanBanfield #HiddenKillers #AuPairMurder #ChristineBanfield #JosephRyan #FairfaxCounty #TrueCrimePodcast #MurderConspiracy #DigitalEvidence #CriminalJustice

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What does it look like when a family loves someone to death — literally?

Rob and Michele Reiner spent nearly two decades trying to save their son Nick from addiction and mental illness. They had every resource imaginable. Two hundred million dollars. Access to the best treatment programs in the country. A willingness to do anything, pay anything, sacrifice anything. They restructured their entire lives around Nick's chaos.

And on December 14th, 2025, they were allegedly stabbed to death by the son they couldn't stop saving.

In this episode, psychotherapist Shavaun Scott examines the Reiner family system from a clinical perspective. What happens when one child's dysfunction becomes the center of gravity for an entire family? How do parents get trapped in patterns of enabling that they can't recognize or escape? What's the psychological experience of being Jake, Romy, or Tracy — the siblings who watched their parents pour everything into Nick while they learned to manage on their own?

Shavaun breaks down the difference between support and enabling, the psychology of codependency, and why well-meaning parents often make problems worse. She examines Michele's reported statement to a friend — "I don't know what else we can do" — and explains what's happening when someone feels helpless but keeps repeating the same behaviors.

This is the story of a family that couldn't set boundaries. And the price they paid for that failure.

#NickReiner #RobReiner #MicheleReiner #ShavaunScott #Codependency #FamilySystem #TrueCrime #HiddenKillers #Enabling #Psychology

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Defense attorney Bob Motta joins Hidden Killers to break down the seven-month delay in the Sarah Grace Patrick murder trial and what it reveals about the prosecution's case — or lack of one.

Sarah Grace Patrick, 17, is charged as an adult with two counts of murder in the shooting deaths of her mother Kristin Brock and stepfather James Brock in Carroll County, Georgia. The couple was found shot in their bed on February 20th, 2025. Their young daughter discovered the bodies. Sarah called 911. Five months later, she was arrested after the Carroll County Sheriff's Office announced they had "mountains of evidence" against her.

The trial was scheduled for January 5th, 2026. It didn't happen. Judge Dustin Hightower pushed the case to August 3rd, 2026 after prosecutors said they needed time to review a defense neuropsychologist's evaluation and potentially hire their own expert. Back in December, the judge specifically told the state to let him know if they needed a continuance. He anticipated this.

Here's where it gets interesting. The defense's earlier motion for continuance — citing incomplete discovery — was denied. The court found the state was in compliance. But when the prosecution needed more time, they got seven months without issue.

Bob Motta examines what this delay signals. No murder weapon has been produced. No forensic evidence linking Sarah to the killings has been publicly disclosed. No firearm was found at the scene. The prosecution has made claims about cameras being disabled before the shooting — but those remain unproven allegations. We also discuss the social media narrative around this case and whether a teenager's TikTok activity should be treated as evidence of murder.

#SarahGracePatrick #BobMotta #DefenseAttorney #CarrollCounty #MurderTrial #KristinBrock #JamesBrock #TrialDelay #CriminalDefense #TrueCrime

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The trial of former Uvalde school police officer Adrian Gonzales has begun in Corpus Christi, Texas. He's charged with 29 counts of child endangerment for his response to the Robb Elementary massacre that killed 19 children and two teachers on May 24, 2022.

Here's what makes this case so infuriating: Gonzales was the first officer on scene. According to CNN's analysis, he arrived more than a minute before the shooter even entered the building. A coach told him where the gunman was heading. He heard the shots. And according to his own recorded statements to investigators, he never pursued the shooter, never fired a shot, and after briefly entering the building, stepped outside and "never went back into that hallway."

This wasn't a rookie cop. State records show Gonzales had nearly 11 years of law enforcement experience and had completed multiple active shooter trainings. Two months before the massacre, he was one of the instructors for a course that included a module called "Stop the Killing: Solo Response to Active Shooter Events."

While officers waited for 77 minutes, children inside the classroom called 911. Ten-year-old Khloie Torres stayed on the line for 46 minutes, whispering that her teacher was shot, that there were dead bodies, begging for police to come. They were already there.

Gonzales has pleaded not guilty. His attorney says he was focused on helping children escape. The families say he's a coward. The jury will decide if his alleged inaction was a crime. This episode breaks down every detail of what happened and what's at stake.

#AdrianGonzales #UvaldeTrial #RobbElementary #TrueCrime #Uvalde #SchoolShooting #Justice #TexasCourt #PeteArredondo #Accountability

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The night before he died, Rob Reiner reportedly told friends at Conan O'Brien's Christmas party: "I'm petrified of Nick. I think my own son can hurt me."

He wasn't guessing. He was describing something he'd been living with for years.

An LAPD insider said police had responded to the Reiner home "quite a few" times over the years for incidents involving Nick. A neighbor told the New York Post this wasn't the first time Nick had been violent. Professionals had reportedly warned the family. Nick himself admitted on podcasts to manipulating his parents, gaming rehab programs, and convincing them to trust him over the experts.

Everyone saw the warning signs. No one could stop what was coming.

California's mental health laws are designed to protect individual liberty — but they leave families like the Reiners with almost no options. You can't force an adult into treatment unless they're about to hurt someone right now. A 5150 hold gives you 72 hours before they walk out. Conservatorship takes years to obtain and has to be renewed annually.

Rob and Michele did everything they could. Millions on treatment. Seventeen rehab programs. Keeping Nick close because the alternative was watching him die on the streets. And in the end, their son allegedly murdered them anyway.

Bob Motta joins Hidden Killers to talk about what law enforcement sees in cases like this — the repeated calls, the escalating incidents, the families begging for help. When officers respond to a home over and over, what can they actually do? And why does the system keep failing the people it's supposed to protect?

This is the conversation about everything that happened before the crime.

#NickReiner #RobReiner #MicheleReiner #HiddenKillers #WarningSigns #MentalHealth #TrueCrime #LPSAct #California #FamilyTragedy

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Mel Kohberger was training to become a mental health therapist when her brother was arrested for murdering four University of Idaho students. In one phone call, her entire life changed. Her job offer evaporated. Tabloids camped outside her parents' house. Online sleuths picked apart every detail of her family's history — including her sister Amanda's appearance in a 2011 horror film that featured stabbings.

For three years, the Kohberger family stayed silent out of respect for the victims' families. Now, in a new interview with The New York Times, Mel is finally telling her side of the story.

She reveals the last normal Christmas the family spent together — just days before the FBI raid. She describes her brother's struggles with bullying, autism, and heroin addiction, and the pride the family felt when he seemed to turn his life around. She explains the drawing Bryan held during his sentencing — not a "creepy" symbol, as tabloids claimed, but a colorful heart she made to remind him he was still loved.

This isn't a defense of Bryan Kohberger. He pleaded guilty. He's serving four life sentences. This is about what happens to the people connected to someone who commits an unthinkable act — and what the true crime obsession costs the people we never think about.

Featuring reporting from The New York Times, CBS News, and ABC News.

#BryanKohberger #IdahoMurders #KohbergerSister #TrueCrimePodcast #IdahoStudentMurders #MadisonMogen #KayleeGoncalves #XanaKernodle #EthanChapin #HiddenKillers

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Day one of the Adrian Gonzales trial ended in chaos. The judge halted testimony, sent the jury home, and canceled Wednesday's proceedings after the defense accused prosecutors of withholding evidence from a key witness. Defense attorney Jason Goss called it a "trial by ambush." A mistrial is now on the table.

Before it fell apart, the jury heard gut-wrenching testimony. Gilbert Limones, a funeral home worker across the street from Robb Elementary, described watching the gunman fire into classroom windows while walking "very nonchalantly." He told jurors Gonzales' police vehicle drove past the shooter before he entered the building. His 911 calls were played in court — a man screaming for help, invoking God, begging police to save the children.

Teacher Stephanie Hale testified that staff tried to barricade their classroom with an extension cord and grabbed scissors to fight. When the kids were finally evacuated, Hale noticed they'd armed themselves too. Fourth graders holding safety scissors. She said both her back pockets were full of scissors by the time it was over.

Prosecutor Bill Turner's refrain echoed through the courtroom: "Adrian Gonzales remains." The defense says he did what he could. The families say he failed their children. Now no one knows if this trial will even continue.

#HiddenKillers #AdrianGonzales #UvaldeTrial #RobbElementary #TrueCrime #Uvalde #Mistrial #Justice #SchoolShooting #Breaking

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