True Crime Today | Daily True Crime News & Interviews

A court clerk’s ambition destroyed the most consequential murder conviction in South Carolina history. Becky Hill, the elected Clerk of Court in Colleton County, was writing a book about the Murdaugh trial while simultaneously overseeing the jury. The SC Supreme Court found she told jurors to distrust the defense, urged them to watch the defendant’s body language, and inserted herself into the process to steer a guilty verdict that would make a better ending for her book.

True Crime Today breaks down how one official’s conduct triggered the reversal. The Supreme Court called Hill’s behavior unprecedented in South Carolina’s judicial history. It found her actions were so egregious they created an automatic presumption that the trial was unfair — a presumption the state couldn’t overcome when challenged to prove her interference was harmless.

The legal mechanics matter. A lower court initially denied Murdaugh a new trial after finding Hill was not credible but ruling the defense hadn’t proven her comments changed the outcome. The Supreme Court flipped that analysis. Under its standard, the state bore the burden of proving the interference didn’t matter. It couldn’t. That’s the distinction that erased two life sentences.

Hill pled guilty to four charges including perjury and misconduct and received probation. The justices praised everyone else involved — prosecutors, defense counsel, the trial judge — and placed blame squarely and solely on Hill. Her book was pulled before legitimate publication. Her career is over. And the damage she caused is measured in a retrial that will cost millions, take years, and force families to relive the murders of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh. All because one person decided fame mattered more than her oath.

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/channel/UC8-vxmbhTxxG10sO1izODJg?sub_confirmation=1

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/

Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod

X Twitter https://x.com/TrueCrimePod

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.


HASHTAGS

#BeckyHill #AlexMurdaugh #MurdaughTrial #JuryTampering #SCSupremeCourt #TrueCrime #ColletonCounty #MurdaughRetrial #HiddenKillers #SouthCarolina

Imagine being surrounded by a group of people — their mouths inches from your face — screaming at full volume for hours. That was reportedly the starting point of a practice called blasting inside the Word of Faith Fellowship. Former members told the Associated Press the screaming was meant to cast out demons. But over time, according to dozens of accounts, it allegedly became physical. Members were reportedly punched, choked, held down, and beaten. Injuries including cracked ribs went untreated because the church allegedly prohibited members from seeking outside medical care. The compound maintained a four-room former storage building called the Lower Building where males perceived as serious sinners were reportedly isolated for up to a year. Jamey Anderson, who entered the church at age four, described treatment that other former members called some of the harshest anyone endured. Michael Lowry alleged he was beaten in 2011 over his sexual orientation. Matthew Fenner said he was beaten for approximately two hours in 2013 and has spent more than a decade pursuing charges. Five church members were indicted, a mistrial occurred in 2017, and by 2026 the cases had been transferred to a special prosecutor. Tony Brueski continues a five-part Hidden Killers investigation into the Word of Faith Fellowship with the violence that former members say was dressed up as spiritual warfare.

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/channel/UC8-vxmbhTxxG10sO1izODJg?sub_confirmation=1

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/

Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod

X Twitter https://x.com/TrueCrimePod

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.

#WordOfFaith #JaneWhaley #Blasting #Cult #TrueCrime #Spindale #CultAbuse #HiddenKillers #MatthewFenner #ReligiousAbuse

Marian Proctor took the stand in 2023 and said something the defense couldn’t undo: Alex never talked about finding who killed Maggie and Paul. That was one family member on one day. Now multiply it by three years of financial crime convictions, public betrayals, and a family that’s had time to process exactly who Alex Murdaugh is.

Tony Brueski and Robin Dreeke address listener questions about the shifting family landscape heading into trial two. Buster is reportedly furious and distant. The brothers who spoke up in 2021 have gone quiet. And the prosecution has three more years of ammunition to use if any family member takes the stand.

Robin breaks down what silence communicates in a courtroom. A family that shows up tells the jury one story. A family that stays away tells another. And sometimes the second story is louder. The defense team has to decide whether to put Murdaugh relatives on the stand knowing the prosecution will have devastating cross-examination material, or leave those seats empty and hope the jury doesn’t notice.

The listeners pushed on whether Buster specifically could be forced to testify. Robin and Tony work through the legal and psychological implications of that possibility.

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/channel/UC8-vxmbhTxxG10sO1izODJg?sub_confirmation=1

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/

Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod

X Twitter https://x.com/TrueCrimePod

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.

#AlexMurdaugh #BusterMurdaugh #MurdaughFamily #MurdaughRetrial #TrueCrime #MurdaughTrial #HiddenKillers #SouthCarolina #CriminalJustice #MurdaughMurders

David Pascoe says he’d convict Murdaugh in two weeks. Stephen Goldfinch took a swipe at Pascoe’s ties to the defense while pledging his own retrial. Alan Wilson is leading the governor’s race and just said the death penalty is on the table. South Carolina’s entire political class is building their campaigns around one defendant.

Tony Brueski and Robin Dreeke work through the listener questions that cut to the bone: What happens to a retrial when every politician in the state is competing over who’s toughest on the guy awaiting trial? Robin examines the behavioral dynamics of political escalation—when one candidate says retrial, the next says speedy retrial, and the next says death penalty, the ratchet only turns one direction.

The conversation maps the specific ways political pressure changes a prosecution. Jury pool contamination from constant media coverage. Prosecution decisions driven by what sounds strongest, not what the evidence supports. Defense motions for change of venue that suddenly have teeth. And a death penalty threat that changes everything about how the case gets tried—from jury selection to sentencing structure.

Robin’s conclusion about what this political environment means for Murdaugh’s chances at a fair trial is worth the listen alone.

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/channel/UC8-vxmbhTxxG10sO1izODJg?sub_confirmation=1

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/

Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod

X Twitter https://x.com/TrueCrimePod

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.

#AlexMurdaugh #MurdaughRetrial #SouthCarolina #AlanWilson #DeathPenalty #TrueCrime #MurdaughTrial #SCGovernor #HiddenKillers #CriminalJustice

Prosecutors’ sentencing memo in the Kouri Richins case reveals a pattern of retaliation that went far beyond the courtroom — and every target was someone connected to her children, her case, or the man she was convicted of killing.

According to the memo, Kouri filed what prosecutors describe as false DCFS reports against her sister-in-law Katie Benson while Katie was raising Kouri’s three sons. She hired a lawyer to pursue Katie’s criminal prosecution. She had family members pursue federal firearms charges against Eric’s father for securing his dead son’s guns. She had family post a fake gay dating profile of the lead detective. She reported Eric’s sister to police. She filed bar complaints against both prosecutors. None of it had merit, prosecutors say. All of it had a purpose.

And then she gave a forty-minute speech in court about forgiveness, love, and the importance of not holding hate — while, according to the memo, she’d been holding lists. Tony Brueski puts the speech next to the receipts and breaks down the psychological pattern prosecutors described as “irredeemable.”

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/channel/UC8-vxmbhTxxG10sO1izODJg?sub_confirmation=1

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/

Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod

X Twitter https://x.com/TrueCrimePod

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.

#KouriRichins #EricRichins #TrueCrimeToday #KouriRichinsTrial #TrueCrime #HiddenKillers #SentencingMemo #FentanylMurder #UtahCrime #Justice

Two cases where the people left behind are still fighting to be heard.

Buster Murdaugh sat behind his father at the first trial and told a jury Alex wasn’t capable of this. Three years of silence later, sources say he’s furious about the retrial. He reportedly called Alex a “selfish old man.” Jennifer Coffindaffer and retired FBI Special Agent Robin Dreeke break down what that means for both legal teams, why Buster’s survival may break the state’s own motive theory, and the critical question of what Alex told his surviving son privately after the killings.

Coffindaffer and Dreeke also put SLED’s investigation under a microscope. A vehicle lead dismissed on the day of the killings. A crime scene compromised by rain. No weapon. No DNA. And a key witness whose accounts have shifted across multiple settings. Without the financial crimes, every gap in the physical case is now front and center.

Then: Kouri Richins at sentencing. Her children gave their words to therapists because they couldn’t be in the room. They described locked doors, dead animals, and years of fear. All of them asked the judge to keep their mother away. Kouri’s response was a forty-minute speech that ignored everything they said, attacked the jury, and told her boys she was coming home. Coffindaffer and Dreeke examine the behavioral dynamics and whether Kouri’s courtroom choices helped or hurt her appeal. Tony Brueski, Robin Dreeke, and Jennifer Coffindaffer.

LINKS & DISCLAIMER

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/channel/UC8-vxmbhTxxG10sO1izODJg?sub_confirmation=1

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/

Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod

X Twitter https://x.com/TrueCrimePod

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.

HASHTAGS

#AlexMurdaugh #KouriRichins #BusterMurdaugh #MurdaughRetrial #KouriRichinsSentencing #JenniferCoffindaffer #RobinDreeke #HiddenKillers #TrueCrime #Coffindaffer

A family’s personal dining host on the Disney Magic served them breakfast, then was loaded into a federal van in handcuffs forty-five minutes later. The passenger who filmed it had no idea what was happening — and neither did anyone else for two weeks. According to CBP, Operation Tidal Wave detained 27 crew members across eight cruise ships in San Diego, all allegedly connected to exploitation material. NCMEC intelligence drove the operation. Ten reportedly worked for Disney. Four from Holland America. Disney’s response was the same line they have used before: zero tolerance, full cooperation, terminated. What they did not address is prevention. KPBS confirmed federal prosecutors in San Diego and Los Angeles filed no criminal charges against any of the 27. All deported within two weeks. No names. No registry entries. Nearly 200 crew accused of possessing CSAM across the industry in approximately two years, according to Cruise Law News. This is Cruising with Predators, a Hidden Killers investigation into what happened in San Diego and what it means for every family booking a cruise.

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/channel/UC8-vxmbhTxxG10sO1izODJg?sub_confirmation=1

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/

Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod

X Twitter https://x.com/TrueCrimePod

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.

#CruiseShipSafety #OperationTidalWave #DisneyMagic #CruisingWithPredators #CBP #HiddenKillers #CruiseIndustry #ChildSafety #TrueCrime #FamilyCruise

Her children had therapists read their words because they couldn’t be in the room with her. They described locked doors, dead animals, a brother sneaking food to a sibling confined to his bedroom. They described fear. All of them asked for the same thing: keep her away.

Kouri Richins stood up after hearing all of that and didn’t address one word of it. She announced an appeal. She told the judge this courtroom couldn’t get justice right. She told a jury that spent less than three hours convicting her that they decided her family’s future too quickly. And she looked at her boys and said she was coming home. She told them to stop trusting the family who finally made them feel safe.

Jennifer Coffindaffer and retired FBI Special Agent Robin Dreeke have spent decades reading people in high-stakes moments, and they don’t let any of this slide. They dissect the behavioral meaning behind Kouri’s total non-acknowledgment, the legal calculus of attacking your own verdict at sentencing, the deliberate way Kouri admitted to marital flaws while refusing to concede the conviction, and the moment she floated doubt about her husband’s death in the middle of a speech supposedly about her children. Tony Brueski, Robin Dreeke, and Jennifer Coffindaffer.

LINKS & DISCLAIMER

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/channel/UC8-vxmbhTxxG10sO1izODJg?sub_confirmation=1

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/

Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod

X Twitter https://x.com/TrueCrimePod

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.

HASHTAGS

#KouriRichins #KouriRichinsSentencing #EricRichins #JenniferCoffindaffer #RobinDreeke #HiddenKillers #TrueCrime #Utah #Coffindaffer #JusticeForEric

Alex Murdaugh’s murder convictions were overturned unanimously by the SC Supreme Court — and the ruling didn’t just vacate the verdict. It told the prosecution exactly where their case went wrong. The court said weeks of financial crimes testimony was excessive, prejudicial, and unnecessary to prove motive. That testimony was the engine of the first conviction. Without it, the state has to rebuild from the ground up.

The motive theory itself remains. Murdaugh was facing simultaneous exposure of years of financial fraud on the day Maggie and Paul were killed. The CFO confrontation and the pending hearing that would have unraveled everything — those facts are still admissible. But the court drew a clear line between establishing motive and conducting a character trial. The prosecution crossed that line the first time, and the Supreme Court made sure everyone knows it.

True Crime Today looks at what the new trial demands from the prosecution. The state built its first case around making the jury understand what kind of man Murdaugh was. Trial 2 requires making the jury trust the physical evidence on its own terms — the timeline, the lies, the forensic record from the night of the murders. Those are different prosecutorial skills and a different emotional temperature in the courtroom.

Jurors from Trial 1 said the financial testimony wasn’t the deciding factor. They pointed to the kennel video evidence and Murdaugh’s behavior. But whether those jurors reach that same conclusion without weeks of testimony painting Murdaugh as someone capable of anything is the question hanging over every strategic decision the prosecution makes heading into Trial 2. The state says it’s committed to retrying. Commitment and capability are about to be tested.

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/channel/UC8-vxmbhTxxG10sO1izODJg?sub_confirmation=1

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/

Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod

X Twitter https://x.com/TrueCrimePod

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.


HASHTAGS

#AlexMurdaugh #MurdaughTrial #MurdaughRetrial #SCSupremeCourt #TrueCrime #MurdaughCase #SouthCarolina #MurderTrial #Prosecution #HiddenKillers

Jane Whaley had no seminary degree, no ordination, and no formal ministry credentials. She was a former high school math teacher from rural North Carolina. And according to former members of the Word of Faith Fellowship, she allegedly controlled which of her followers could date, marry, have intimate relations with their own spouses, and have children. The church reportedly started in a converted steakhouse in Spindale in 1979 and grew into an organization with hundreds of members and affiliations across multiple countries. Former members told the Associated Press that the early days felt like an answer — community, purpose, belonging. But over time, according to their accounts, the warmth became a cage. Members were allegedly instructed to sever ties with family outside the church. Jobs, housing, and social connections all reportedly ran through church-controlled channels. Whaley was considered a prophet whose word was taken as gospel, and former members said they were taught that leaving meant damnation. According to multiple accounts, the church conducted invasive interrogations about members' private lives and allegedly kept the confessions on file as leverage against anyone who considered departure. In this opening episode of a five-part investigation, Tony Brueski traces how a small-town math teacher reportedly built a global organization built on dependency, fear, and control so total that hundreds of adults handed over their most intimate decisions to a single woman.

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/channel/UC8-vxmbhTxxG10sO1izODJg?sub_confirmation=1

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/

Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod

X Twitter https://x.com/TrueCrimePod

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.

#WordOfFaith #JaneWhaley #Spindale #NorthCarolina #Cult #TrueCrime #BrokenFaith #HiddenKillers #ReligiousAbuse #CultSurvivor