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The Jesse Butler case is far from over. The 18-year-old Stillwater, Oklahoma teen pled no contest to 11 felonies — including attempted rape, strangulation, and violating a protective order — and received no prison time under youthful offender status. But now attorney Rachel Bussett has filed a motion arguing the entire plea was legally void from the beginning.

According to court filings, the victims were never properly consulted. Critical orders were entered without required signatures. One victim was having surgery the day youthful offender status was granted — she had no idea it was happening. The DA allegedly met with a minor victim without her parent or attorney present, told her about the plea deal, and then instructed her not to tell her mother.

Bussett's argument is unprecedented in Oklahoma: if the procedural requirements weren't followed, the plea itself is void ab initio — void from the start. That means Butler's due process argument collapses, and the case could be reset for adult prosecution.

February 3rd, 2026 is the preliminary hearing to determine what this challenge looks like. Meanwhile, a federal lawsuit has been filed against Stillwater Public Schools, Principal Walter Howell, school resource officer Paul Blankinship, and Butler's parents — including Mack Butler, the former Oklahoma State football operations director who was working as the school district's assistant athletic director during the alleged assaults.

Jesse Butler turns 19 in August. If he completes his rehabilitation plan, his record gets expunged. But if this motion succeeds, he could face real prison time.

#JesseButler #JesseMackButler #StillwaterOklahoma #MarsysLaw #TrueCrime #PayneCounty #VictimsRights #OklahomaState #YouthfulOffender #CourtroomDrama

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The man accused of murdering Monique Tepe and her husband Dr. Spencer Tepe pleaded not guilty on January 23rd to four counts of aggravated murder. Michael McKee, 39, Monique's ex-husband, appeared via video before a Franklin County magistrate and waived bond. He remains in custody. Prosecutors allege McKee, a vascular surgeon, traveled from Illinois to Columbus and killed the couple in the early morning hours of December 30th. Spencer was shot multiple times. Monique sustained a gunshot wound to the chest. Their two children, ages four and one, were found inside the home unharmed. 

Columbus Police Chief Elaine Bryant has called this a "targeted" and "domestic violence related attack." Investigators say surveillance footage places McKee's vehicle at the scene before and after the killings. When multiple firearms were seized from his Rockford property, preliminary ballistic analysis linked one weapon to three 9mm shell casings recovered from the Tepe residence. The charges carry firearm specifications for using a gun and a suppressor. McKee is represented by Diane Menashe, who previously defended Dr. William Husel. Monique divorced McKee in 2017. She married Spencer in 2019. If convicted, McKee faces a minimum of life with parole eligibility after 32 years—or life without parole.

#MichaelMcKee #MoniqueTepe #SpencerTepe #TepeMurders #ColumbusOhio #AggravatedMurder #BallisticEvidence #DomesticViolenceHomicide #JusticeForTepe #TepeCase

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Today on True Crime Today, we're covering two major cases that raise the same devastating question: What does it take for warning signs to translate into action? Former FBI Special Agent Robin Dreeke—21 years with the Bureau, former Chief of the FBI's Counterintelligence Behavioral Analysis Program—joins us to analyze both the Kohberger and Reiner cases through the lens of threat assessment and behavioral analysis. The families of the four murdered Idaho students have sued Washington State University, alleging the school received 13 formal complaints about Bryan Kohberger's threatening and predatory behavior and failed to meaningfully intervene. The lawsuit describes faculty predicting Kohberger would assault future students, staff creating their own "911" alert systems, women fleeing classrooms. Robin breaks down what these behaviors signaled and why institutions often choose perceived legal protection over actual safety. 

Then we turn to the Reiner case. Nick Reiner was under an LPS mental health conservatorship in 2020 that ended after one year. His medication was reportedly changed a month before his parents were found stabbed to death. Rob Reiner had publicly said they should have listened to Nick instead of professionals. Robin explains how trust gets exploited over decades, how families lose their ability to perceive danger, and what the Reiners may have stopped being able to see. Two cases. Two mechanisms of failure. One essential conversation about what it takes to act on what you see.

#TrueCrimeToday #BryanKohberger #NickReiner #RobReiner #MicheleReiner #RobinDreeke #FBI #IdahoMurders #Conservatorship #WarningSignsIgnored

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Your questions have been flooding in on three of the most talked-about cases right now, and we're dedicating this episode to answering them. First: Nick Reiner, charged with murdering his parents Rob and Michele Reiner after years of addiction, schizophrenia, and a family that never gave up — until allegedly, it cost them their lives. Why did Alan Jackson walk away? How do you reconcile "Being Charlie" with this? Then: the WSU Kohberger lawsuit. The families of the four Idaho murder victims allege Washington State University received thirteen complaints about Bryan Kohberger and did essentially nothing. A professor warned he'd become a predator. Women needed escorts to their cars. And the institution allegedly protected itself instead of its students. Finally: Michael McKee and the Tepe murders. A surgeon who allegedly drove 300 miles to kill the ex-wife who'd moved on and the husband who loved her. Monique did everything right — she left, divorced, rebuilt — and she's still dead. We tackle enabling, institutional failure, coercive control, and the common thread running through all three: systems that should have protected people and didn't.

#NickReiner #BryanKohberger #MichaelMcKee #MoniqueTepe #RobReiner #WSULawsuit #IdahoMurders #CoerciveControl #HiddenKillers #ListenerQuestions

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Rob and Michele Reiner did everything right. They showed up to every therapy session. They paid for eighteen rehab stays. They hired private instructors and family therapists. They let their troubled son live in their guesthouse even after he destroyed it—multiple times. And on December 14, 2025, they were found stabbed to death in their Brentwood home. Their son Nick, 32, was arrested that night and now faces two counts of first-degree murder.

Today on True Crime Today, we break down the troubling history of Nick Reiner—the entitled Hollywood son whose struggles with addiction and mental illness were met with endless resources and zero consequences. A 2009 rehab roommate tells the Daily Mail that Nick was "a fucking pompous little punk" who constantly ranted about hating his parents—the same parents who attended every family session while other wealthy families sent nannies.

We examine Nick's own admissions on the Dopey podcast: destroying property with "no logic," stealing OxyContin from sick elderly people, and getting high during the press tour for Being Charlie—a film about his recovery that his father directed. We look at the 2020 mental health conservatorship, the reported medication change weeks before the killings, and the disturbing scene at Conan O'Brien's Christmas party where guests say Nick was "freaking everyone out" just hours before his parents' deaths.

This is the story the headlines won't tell you. Money couldn't save Rob and Michele Reiner.

#TrueCrimeToday #NickReiner #RobReiner #MicheleReiner #ReinerMurder #TrueCrime #HollywoodMurder #BrentwoodMurder #Parricide #Breaking

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Ohio has upgraded the charges against Michael McKee to two counts of aggravated murder — putting life without parole on the table for the alleged killing of his ex-wife Monique Tepe and her husband Spencer. McKee, a vascular surgeon whose career was allegedly falling apart, reportedly drove 300 miles to Middletown, Ohio, committed a double homicide, and drove home with the murder weapon still in his possession. The marriage lasted seven months. The divorce was eight years ago. But according to investigators, McKee never moved on. Monique's family says they "immediately knew" when they got the call. We break down what aggravated murder means in Ohio, why the alibi allegedly fell apart in one interview, and the malpractice lawsuit timeline that mirrors Monique's new happiness with Spencer. This case is a devastating example of coercive control reaching its final stage — and a reminder that restraining orders and fresh starts don't always protect the people who need it most.

#MichaelMcKee #MoniqueTepe #SpencerTepe #AggravatedMurder #OhioCrime #TrueCrimeToday #CoerciveControl #DomesticViolence #StalkerKiller #ChargesUpgraded

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Today we're looking beyond the alleged double homicide of Monique and Spencer Tepe to ask a question that affects every patient in America: How did the man charged with their murders get licensed to practice medicine in the first place?

Michael McKee, a vascular surgeon, allegedly killed his ex-wife and her husband in Columbus, Ohio on December 30, 2025. He was arrested eleven days later at a Chick-fil-A blocks from the Illinois hospital where he was still employed. But the red flags existed long before the murders.

A Nevada malpractice attorney spent two years trying to serve McKee with papers. The addresses provided by McKee's surgical group didn't exist. His Nevada license expired in June 2025 while the lawsuit was still pending. Yet Illinois granted him a medical license in 2024 and OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center credentialed him to operate on patients.

The system designed to catch doctors like McKee - the National Practitioner Data Bank - only tracks paid claims, not pending lawsuits. Many state boards don't even query it. A major investigation found over 500 doctors disciplined in one state practicing elsewhere with clean records.

In education they call it "passing the trash" and there's federal law against it. In medicine? There's nothing. The AMA has fought to keep the NPDB closed to the public. And patients have no way to know if their surgeon has a troubled history in another state.

Today we examine the systemic failures - and ask how many other doctors like McKee are still out there.

#MichaelMcKee #MoniqueTepe #SpencerTepe #TrueCrimeToday #MedicalBoard #Malpractice #PatientSafety #NPDB #TrueCrime #DoctorDiscipline

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Breaking developments in the D4VD investigation. Neo Langston, the 23-year-old Twitch streamer known as NeoTheAsian, was arrested at his mother's Montana home Thursday and transported to Los Angeles. He's now in custody at LAPD's Metropolitan Detention Center on $60,000 bail, charged with felony failure to appear as a witness.

This arrest comes as a grand jury continues hearing testimony in the death of Celeste Rivas Hernandez. The 15-year-old's dismembered body was found in D4VD's impounded Tesla last September. Prosecutors reportedly believe D4VD was involved and are pushing for murder charges. The grand jury is expected to continue through February 2026.

Neo's arrest follows a pattern of witness problems. In December, prosecutor Beth Silverman had to threaten a body attachment order to force a female witness to testify after she failed to appear. D4VD's manager Robert Morgenroth testified for days and was overheard saying he didn't call police because his job was to keep the tour going.

Investigators have also identified a second suspect who may have been present during a mysterious late-night trip D4VD allegedly took to Santa Barbara County last spring — a trip sources believe involved Celeste's body.

D4VD has not been arrested or charged. Neo is charged only with failure to appear. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

#TrueCrimeToday #D4VD #NeoLangston #CelesteRivas #BreakingNews #GrandJury #TrueCrime #CelesteRivasHernandez #LAPD #JusticeForCeleste

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Breaking down the new wrongful death lawsuit against Washington State University. The families of the four Idaho murder victims — Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin — have filed a 126-page suit alleging WSU knew Bryan Kohberger was a threat and failed to act. The allegations are staggering: thirteen formal complaints in three months, female students needing security escorts, staff creating secret warning systems, and a professor who allegedly predicted Kohberger would become a predator. According to the lawsuit, WSU's response was internal hand-wringing and fear of getting sued by Kohberger himself. We break down the key allegations, the Title IX implications, and whether this case settles or goes to discovery. The victims weren't even WSU students — they attended University of Idaho and were killed in Moscow. Does WSU argue they had no duty to students at another school? What happens when those internal emails see daylight? And what does accountability actually look like when four kids are dead because an institution allegedly chose self-protection over student safety? This is institutional failure laid bare.

#BryanKohberger #WSULawsuit #IdahoMurders #KayleeGoncalves #MadisonMogen #XanaKernodle #EthanChapin #TrueCrimeToday #TitleIX #BreakingNews

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Brendan Banfield is taking the stand. His defense attorney made the announcement Friday morning in Fairfax County court, setting up what could be the most critical moment of this double murder trial.

But before Banfield gets his chance to tell his story, the defense spent Day 7 attacking the prosecution's digital evidence. Harry Lidsky, a former Department of Justice digital forensics expert, testified that the catfishing theory doesn't hold up under scrutiny.

The key moment: Within the same minutes the FetLife account was allegedly created on Christine's laptop, her phone was browsing a Lululemon sale. Lidsky told the jury he believes the same person was using both devices simultaneously. If Christine was actively on her phone while someone was creating a fetish profile in her name on her laptop, the prosecution has a serious problem.

Lidsky also pointed out that Brendan and Juliana weren't always home when Christine's devices accessed FetLife or messaged Joseph Ryan on Telegram. And the 45-minute phone call Ryan had with someone he believed was Christine? The prosecution still can't prove who was on the other end.

Judge Penney Azcarate—the same judge from the Johnny Depp trial—admonished the defense for disorganization but allowed testimony to continue. A winter storm may delay Monday's proceedings.

Banfield has pleaded not guilty to all charges. When he takes the stand, prosecutor Jenna Sands will finally get to cross-examine him about the blood evidence, the affair, and everything else. This case is about to come down to who the jury believes.

#TrueCrimeToday #BrendanBanfield #AuPairAffair #MurderTrial #ChristineBanfield #JosephRyan #FairfaxCounty #CatfishMurder #TrueCrimeNews #TrialUpdate

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