TRUE CRIME with Bratterstein

As always, thank you for hanging out and remembering Nicholas Markowitz with me today.

As always, thank you for hanging out and remembering Brandon Teena, L. King, Charlie Howard, Gwen Araujo, and Matthew Shepard with me today.

As always, thank you for hanging out and remembering Anna and Gracie Kemp with me today.
On March 23, 2004, John Myles Sharpe killed his pregnant wife, 41-year-old Anna Kemp, at their home in Mornington, Victoria, Australia. After an argument that evening, he retrieved a speargun from the garage and shot her twice in the head while she slept. He buried her body in a shallow grave in their backyard.

Four days later, on March 27, Sharpe killed their 20-month-old daughter, Gracie, with the same weapon while she was in her cot. He subsequently dug up Anna’s body, dismembered it, and disposed of her remains and Gracie’s body in waste bins at the Mornington rubbish-transfer station.smh+2

Sharpe attempted to conceal the murders by claiming Anna had left him for another man and taken Gracie with her. He appeared in emotional television interviews appealing for information about their whereabouts. He eventually confessed, and investigators recovered their remains from a landfill. The case became widely known as the “Mornington Monster” or “Speargun Killer” case.wikipedia+1

Sharpe pleaded guilty to both murders in February 2005. On August 5, 2005, the Supreme Court of Victoria sentenced him to two life terms with a minimum of 33 years before parole eligibility. The sentencing judge found that Sharpe had been fully aware of his actions and had killed Anna out of resentment.

On August 6, 2000, 15-year-old Nicholas Markowitz was kidnapped near his home in West Hills, Los Angeles, by drug dealer Jesse James Hollywood and two associates. Hollywood wanted to use Nicholas as leverage to collect a $1,200 drug debt owed by the teenager’s older half-brother, Ben. Nicholas himself did not owe the money.

The group took Nicholas to the Santa Barbara area, where he was held for several days. During that time, he attended parties and interacted with people who knew he had been kidnapped, but no one contacted police. Hollywood eventually ordered his associate Ryan Hoyt to kill Nicholas, offering to cancel Hoyt’s own debt in return.

In the early hours of August 9, Nicholas was taken to a remote area near Lizard’s Mouth in the mountains above Santa Barbara. He was bound and gagged, and Hoyt shot him nine times before his body was concealed in a shallow grave. His remains were discovered on August 12.

Hoyt was convicted in 2001 and sentenced to death; in January 2024, a judge vacated his death sentence, and he is now serving life without parole. Hollywood fled the country and was arrested in Brazil in 2005. He was convicted of kidnapping and first-degree murder in 2009 and also received life without parole. The case inspired the film Alpha Dog.

As always, thank you for hanging out and remembering Carlo and Liana with me today.
On December 29, 2022, 61-year-old Carlo Secondino was killed and his 19-year-old daughter, Liana, was seriously wounded inside their home in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. Prosecutors accused Carlo’s older daughter, 22-year-old Nikki Secondino, of attacking them following an earlier argument with her father over a laptop.

According to the indictment, Nikki attacked Carlo while he was sleeping on the couch at about 5:20 a.m., striking him repeatedly with a hammer before stabbing him with a kitchen knife. When Liana heard the commotion and tried to intervene, Nikki allegedly stabbed her multiple times in the body, hands, and face. Carlo died at the scene; Liana survived but required surgery.

Nikki initially claimed that two intruders had broken into the apartment, attacked her family, and sexually assaulted her. Investigators determined that the home-invasion account was false, and police sources said she subsequently admitted carrying out the attack. Liana’s account also helped contradict her sister’s version of events.

On January 30, 2023, Nikki was arraigned on charges including second-degree murder, second-degree attempted murder, first-degree assault, and criminal possession of a weapon, and was ordered held without bail. Prosecutors said she faced a maximum sentence of 50 years to life if convicted. The reliable reporting available does not establish a subsequent verdict or sentence, so the charges should not be described as convictions.

As always, thank you for hanging out and remembering the victims of the Aurora Colorado Dark Knight Rises mass movie theatre shooting with me today.
On July 20, 2012, 24-year-old James Eagan Holmes opened fire during a midnight screening of The Dark Knight Rises at the Century 16 movie theater in Aurora, Colorado. He released tear-gas canisters and fired into the audience, killing 12 people and injuring 70 others. The victims who died ranged in age from six to 51.

Police arrested Holmes outside the theater shortly afterward. Investigators discovered that he had also rigged his apartment with explosives, creating a separate threat that required evacuation and specialist intervention. Evidence showed that he had spent months preparing for the attack.

Holmes pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. His defense argued that he was experiencing severe mental illness, while prosecutors maintained that he understood his actions were wrong. Court-appointed psychiatrists concluded that he was mentally ill but legally sane. On July 16, 2015, a jury rejected the insanity defense and convicted him on all 165 counts, including first-degree murder, attempted murder, and an explosives charge.

The jury could not unanimously agree on the death penalty, meaning Holmes would receive life imprisonment without parole. On August 26, 2015, Judge Carlos Samour formally sentenced him to 12 consecutive life terms, one for each person killed, plus 3,318 years for the attempted murders and explosives offense.

As always, thank you for hanging out and remembering Nicole Van Den Hurk with me today.
On October 6, 1995, 15-year-old Nicole van den Hurk disappeared while cycling to her supermarket job in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. Her bicycle and backpack were subsequently recovered, but there was no sign of Nicole until November 22, when her body was discovered in woodland between Mierlo and Lierop. She had been sexually assaulted and fatally stabbed. Despite an extensive investigation, the case remained unsolved for years.

In 2011, Nicole’s stepbrother, Andy van den Hurk, posted a confession on Facebook and was arrested. He was released because investigators lacked evidence supporting his claim, and he later retracted it. Andy subsequently said he had deliberately confessed falsely to revive the investigation and have Nicole’s remains exhumed for DNA testing. The renewed forensic investigation uncovered evidence that would eventually identify her attacker.

In January 2014, police arrested a convicted rapist identified in Dutch reporting as Jos de G. His DNA matched traces recovered from Nicole’s remains and clothing. In November 2016, a court convicted him of rape and sentenced him to five years in prison, but acquitted him of manslaughter because uncertainty surrounding the DNA evidence left open the possibility that another person had killed her. Prosecutors appealed.

On October 9, 2018, an appeals court overturned that acquittal and convicted Jos de G. of both rape and manslaughter, increasing his sentence to 12 years in prison. The ruling came almost exactly 23 years after Nicole’s disappearance.

As always, thank you for hanging out and remembering Tessa Rane Majors with me today.
On December 11, 2019, 18-year-old Tessa Majors, a first-year student at Barnard College in New York City, was attacked during an attempted robbery in Morningside Park, near her campus. Three teenagers approached her, and 14-year-old Rashaun Weaver stabbed her repeatedly during the confrontation. Tessa managed to reach a staircase leading out of the park, where a security guard found her. She was taken to a hospital but died from her injuries.

Investigators identified Weaver and two other teenagers: Luchiano Lewis, also 14, and a 13-year-old whose case was handled in juvenile court. The youngest admitted participating in the robbery and described Weaver stabbing Tessa. Lewis also identified Weaver as the person who wielded the knife.

In 2020, the 13-year-old pleaded guilty to first-degree robbery and received 18 months in juvenile detention. Lewis, who was prosecuted as an adult, pleaded guilty to murder and robbery in September 2021 and was sentenced the following month to nine years to life in prison.

Weaver pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in December 2021, admitting that he intentionally killed Tessa by stabbing her. On January 19, 2022, he was sentenced to 14 years to life in prison. That sentence allows him to seek parole after the minimum term; it does not guarantee his release. His sentencing concluded the criminal proceedings against the three teenagers.

As always, thank you for hanging out and remembering Martha Moxley with me today.
On October 30, 1975, 15-year-old Martha Moxley went out with friends in the Belle Haven neighborhood of Greenwich, Connecticut, for “Mischief Night,” the evening before Halloween. She spent part of the night at the nearby Skakel family home but never returned to her own house. The following afternoon, her body was found beneath a tree in her family’s yard.

Martha had been beaten with a golf club and stabbed with its broken shaft. Investigators traced the club to a set belonging to the Skakel household. The investigation initially focused on several people, including her neighbor Thomas Skakel, but no arrests were made for more than two decades.

In 2000, authorities charged Thomas’s younger brother, Michael Skakel, who had also been 15 at the time of the killing. Michael, a nephew of Ethel Kennedy, maintained his innocence. Prosecutors presented witness accounts of statements they said implicated him, but there was no forensic evidence or eyewitness testimony directly linking him to the attack. In June 2002, a jury convicted him of murder, and he received a sentence of 20 years to life.

After serving more than 11 years, Skakel was released in 2013 when a judge ordered a new trial. Following further appeals, Connecticut’s Supreme Court overturned his conviction in 2018 because his lawyer had failed to present important alibi evidence. On October 30, 2020, prosecutors announced they would not retry him, saying they could no longer prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt. Martha’s murder remains unsolved, with no standing conviction.

As always, thank you for hanging out and remembering Denise Lee with me today.
On January 17, 2008, 21-year-old Denise Amber Lee was abducted from her home in North Port, Florida, by Michael Lee King, leaving her two young sons alone inside. King took her to his house, where he sexually assaulted her, then drove away with her bound in the backseat of his green Chevrolet Camaro.

Despite being restrained, Denise managed to get King’s cellphone and call 911, pleading to be released so she could return to her husband and children. A passing driver, Jane Kowalski, also called after hearing screams and seeing Denise struggling in the car. Although Kowalski provided detailed location information, dispatchers failed to relay crucial details to officers searching nearby. King later took Denise to a remote construction site, shot her in the head, and buried her.caselaw.

Police stopped King shortly afterward because his vehicle matched the description provided in a witness’s call. In 2009, a jury convicted him of first-degree murder, sexual battery, and kidnapping, and he was sentenced to death. Following years of appeals, Florida executed him by lethal injection on March 17, 2026.

The failures in the emergency response became a central part of the case. Denise’s husband, Nathan Lee, advocated for improvements in emergency dispatch, and Florida passed the Denise Amber Lee Act to strengthen training for 911 operators. Her death became a nationally recognized example of why accurate communication between dispatchers and responding officers is critical.