Gulf Coast Confidential with Mollye Barrows: Recent Episodes
Mollye Barrows
I’m Investigative Journalist Mollye Barrows. For years, I’ve covered the stories that made headlines in Northwest Florida and all along the Gulf Coast - murders, missing persons, and mysteries of all kinds. These cases are far from over for many victims because the full story has yet to surface. Join me for Gulf Coast Confidential, where I dive into the saltier side of the South and expose the lies, greed, and corruption that often weighs down the truth.
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The bright lights of showbiz faded into a dim New York outpatient clinic on August 28, 2014, when comedy icon Joan Rivers walked in for a routine throat procedure and never spoke again.
What was supposed to be a brief examination of her vocal cords instead unraveled into a chaotic display of gross medical malpractice, where star-struck doctors reportedly suffered from "VIP syndrome" and prioritized cell phone selfies over critical patient care.
When the 81-year-old’s airway began to swell shut under the heavy sedative propofol, the clinic’s medical director famously dismissed the supervising anesthesiologist's desperate warnings as "paranoid," steering a routine medical checkup into a fatal, oxygen-starved catastrophe.
The tragedy left the entertainment world reeling, stripping Hollywood of its sharpest wit and exposing a terrifying lack of oversight in outpatient surgical centers.
Following her death from irreversible brain damage a week later, a high-stakes legal battle culminated in a confidential multi-million-dollar settlement, forcing the physicians involved to publicly accept full accountability for her death.
While Rivers spent her legendary career fearlessly exposing the absurdity of celebrity culture, her final, tragic chapter ultimately pulled back the curtain on the deadly consequences of medical arrogance.
Join us Tuesday for the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential Podcast, “VIP treatment – How celebrity clinic culture failed Joan Rivers!”
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Did FWC cut some slack to three Santa Rosa County men accused of illegally capturing and killing an alligator with a power drill?
They say “No,” but folks in our community still have a lot of questions.
“Allie” the 8.5-foot-long alligator wasn’t bothering a single soul. She lived safely inside a locked, fenced in retention pond in the Garcon Point area of Milton, Florida for about ten years, neighbors said.
She was considered to be harmless by folks who live in the area, co-existing peacefully in the man-made environment, keeping to herself and catching a few fish, birds, and sunrays.
Some thought it was kind of a beautiful thing and enjoyed seeing her when they passed the pond which sits along Avalon Blvd., situated away from homes and busy neighborhoods.
In March 2026, decorated former U.S. Navy SEAL Kevin Lacz along with two other Santa Rosa County men who were experienced in wildlife removal, Jason Giffin and Richard Reder, trapped, bound, and killed “Allie” using a power drill.
Officers with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission charged all three men with second-degree misdemeanors.
However, the law clearly says what they did – removing and killing an alligator without the proper permits - is a third-degree felony.
Wildlife advocates and neighbors this is not a paperwork hiccup or slipup by some teenagers.
These are full grown men who say they saw a “capture of opportunity” and didn’t hesitate to snatch Allie out of her home, hog-tie her, and then take her to Lacz’s house where she was killed with a hand-held power drill.
According to Florida law licensed trappers are supposed to get clearance and proper permitting to capture and dispatch an alligator and when they do, they’re supposed to kill it immediately and humanely on the spot.
Nowhere in Florida law does it say hauling the animal off alive and drilling into its head at your house is an acceptable or legal part of the process.
In fact, according to the report detailing their arrests Lacz said he used to have a nuisance complaint for the alligator – that had expired two years ago – and he and “agent trappers” picked her up because he “suspected” there would be another a nuisance complaint.
He also mentioned he got $50 an alligator. So, is this about money? If not, why?! Was it the so called "thrill of the kill?" So many questions…
These men were bold and seemingly unbothered by this incident that has turned into a heartbreaking mess and an embarrassment here in our beautiful part of the world.
Even the prettiest places have a bit of ugly.
How is this even a thing?!
Join us this week for our 200th episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential Podcast, “Outcry over ‘Allie’ the alligator drilled to death by Navy Seal & trappers.”
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Put your seatbelt on, we didn’t know some of these cases could get any wilder but apparently, they can.
From doctors behaving badly to a tragic story of child abuse, we’re running down some cases you’ve probably heard of and some you haven’t.
The worst medical malpractices cases in the state are piling up in North Florida and stretching to the Panhandle.
Dr. Thomas Shaknovsky is accused of accidentally removing an Alabama man’s liver instead of his spleen at a hospital in Miramar Beach.
In Jacksonville, an orthopedic surgeon, the late Dr. David Heekin, is at the center of one of the largest mass-medical malpractice actions in Florida’s history with 522 lawsuits.
Both incidents happened at Ascension hospitals and the executive in charge during Heekin’s tenure when he was accused of botching patient surgeries, Tom VanOsdol, has been promoted to the national leadership team where he oversees “the strategic integration of Ascension's mission and values…across all organizational policies, programs, and culture.”
From executives and doctors who patients trust to a mother of five who is expected to protect her children, sometimes alleged “bad actors” turn up when you least expect it.
Mom and former law clerk Shanda Vander Ark was an abuser who cruelly ended the life of her 15-year-old special needs son through cruel, atrocious, and systematic abuse.
On the surface Vander Ark appeared highly successful, a bit of a know-it-all, and a gruff, no-nonsense person.
She graduated from law school with honors, clerked for two judges, and aced the bar exam.
Then she ended up being tried for the murd3r of her son, Timothy Ferguson, in the same courtroom where she had previously worked, turning the trial into a circus with delays, motions, and shenanigans.
But there was no distracting from the terrible facts that she starved, t0rtur3d, and ended her boy's life with the help of another son and his older brother.
Join us for the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential Podcast, “Sadistic Shanda Vander Ark’s cruel campaign of hell against teen son,” but it comes with a sensitivity warning.
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Did Hillary Brown die from an overdose of Lidocaine poisoning?
Her husband, embattled plastic surgeon Ben Brown who was administering the local anesthetic when she went into cardiac arrest in his office, says she didn’t.
However, Medical Examiner, Dr. Deanna Oleske found that the 33-year-old mother of three did die from complications of lidocaine toxicity after she ruled out every possible cause of death.
It’s a point of contention for Dr. Brown who tried to block Oleske from being able to testify about her findings at his manslaughter trial, but the judge ruled against him and the ME will testify when the time comes.
According to official investigative documents, the medical examiner isn’t the only one who suspected lidocaine was to blame for the young woman’s death – the victim did too.
Hillary Brown did not explicitly use the words "you gave me too much lidocaine."
However, she did explicitly tell her husband that she was experiencing severe adverse symptoms—which she recognized as a sign that she was overdosing.
The details regarding her exact statements during the November 2023 procedures are documented in the Florida Department of Health’s investigation and the Santa Rosa County Sheriff's Office probable cause affidavit:
• Her Explicit Statements: During the procedures, after Dr. Brown injected her face and arms, Hillary stated that her "vision was blurry" and that she was "seeing orange."
• Her Realization: The probable cause affidavit notes that Hillary stated her face felt really "puffy". The document states she communicated that she thought those symptoms were a sign she was overdosing, right before she began convulsing.
• The Medical Response: Despite alerting him to these textbook symptoms of lidocaine toxicity, the report indicates Dr. Brown "stayed the course," continuing to inject local anesthetics (lidocaine and xylocaine) and operated on her until she suffered a grand mal seizure and went into cardiac arrest.
Based on these investigative findings and his delay in calling in 911 and beginning CPR on his unconscious wife, Brown was subsequently arrested and charged with second-degree felony homicide (manslaughter by culpable negligence).
Join us as we discuss his latest hearing in Santa Rosa County that cleared the way for his trial.
This will be the 9th Episode of the Playlist of Beauty Buyer Beware: Dr. Ben Brown.
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Louisiana Pastor Tony Spell doesn’t hold back.
He first made national news in 2020 when he continued to hold massive in-person services at Life Tabernacle Church in Central, a city north of Baton Rouge, despite health restrictions.
Now he’s back in the headlines after a video went viral of him sprinting across four lanes of highway to confront his neighbor’s son after the young man allegedly hurled insults and threats against Spell’s family.
Police say it’s part of an on-going feud between Spell and his neighbors.
The pastor was arrested for second-degree battery, and he wasn’t out of jail anytime before his neighbors called the police on Spell again when he started doing yard work at his church at 4:00 in the morning, disturbing their peace they said.
But people love Spell’s won’t-back-down spirit and for many the incident has only boosted their support of him!
Join us for the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential Podcast, “Louisiana Pastor Tony Spell goes to jail after feud with young neighbor,” and a mixed bag of other “What the feezy?!” cases!
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What is it about pickleball that it sometimes turns into pickle-BRAWL?!
For some, the fastest growing sport in America is just a game, but for others it’s almost a total obsession.
In this week’s episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential Podcast, we’re talking about the community, the weird terminology, and why a lot of folks are suddenly spending their Saturdays fighting over court time and some are fighting over more than that
In these cases, some folks ended up in the Emergency Room with direct hits to the face and head.
Drawing blood is frowned upon in most sports unless it’s boxing and that popping sound you hear isn’t just the ball hitting the paddle, it’s the ball and the paddle hitting heads, ouch!!
Isn’t pickleball supposed to be a bit more civilized than that?
Join us for more a very different kind of court…one that has some very severe consequences!!
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Thank goodness most of us feel safe in our own homes.
Botham Jean thought he was safe when he was sitting on the couch in his apartment enjoying a bowl of vanilla ice cream.
Afterall, he lived only a couple of blocks from the Dallas Police Department Headquarters.
However on September 6, 2018, that turned out to be a downside when his downstairs neighbor, police woman Amber Guyger, was so busy sexting her married mentor that she mistakenly walked into Jean's apartment believing it was her own.
When she saw the 26-year-old accountant in the living room, she pulled her service weapon and shot him twice, like he was the intruder.
Guyger never once rendered first aid and when she called 9-1-1 she repeated 19 times that she thought it was her apartment.
Although she claimed to be so weary after a 13.5 hour shift that she didn't notice she parked on the wrong floor of the garage and walked past 16 apartments, she found the time to delete the steamy text messages she was exchanging with her lover shortly before the shooting.
Join us for more on the case that nearly tore a family and a city apart in the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential Podcast, "Hot to trot and double shot – Police officer Amber Guyger shoots to kill Botham Jean."
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Have you ever seen a grown man cry, whoop, and hyperventilate for a solid seven minutes? That’s what Miami real estate broker George Pino did while his own attorney was giving opening statements during his manslaughter trial which just got started this month.
He’s accused of killing one of his daughter’s friends and leaving another severely injured after crashing his boat into a steel channel marker when a took the group of teens out to celebrate her 18th birthday.
There was one cooler filled with alcohol for the girls and another for George and his wife.
The family had celebrated with friends earlier in the day at a sandbar and were headed home when George crashed straight into the channel marker and capsized the boat.
The boat crasher is one of the cases we’re talking about in this week’s episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential Podcast.
We’re also talking about toll booth crasher Deanna Harrell, who was allegedly plowed when she plowed her pickup truck into a prefabricated aluminum toll booth operating a pickup truck in Daytona Beach Shores, Florida, and killed a longtime toll booth attendant.
And just for a little dash of “what the feezy” we’re checking in on the case of accused California killer Nick Reiner who now wants to tap into money from the trust fund that his parents set aside for him and use it to pay for his defense for killing them.
But the main course of this week’s episode is the chilling case of Scott and Lisa Pattison.
It looked like a tragic home gym accident ….until the killer forgot about his cameras.
When Lisa’s husband Scott frantically called 911 in July 2009, he claimed he found Lisa pinned by a heavy barbell across her throat at their home gym in Indiana.
He put her in his truck, racing toward the hospital, crying accident.
But investigators quickly realized the math wasn't mathing.
Was it a devastating weightlifting mishap, or a coldly calculated plot driven by a secret tawdry affair?
Join us for the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast “Scott Pattison, Van Damme look-a-like, murders wife with weight bar.”
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This week our Podcast is a lil different.
We're talking about more than half a dozen cases we're following and it’s a little bit of everything:
*Nicolette Keough the lady that urinates on items in Airbnb here along the Gulf Coast and then posts her photos of said activity on an Adult Internet Site.
We'll have more on how her latest court hearing went.
*Updates on Dr. Ben Brown and Dr. Thomas Shaknovsky.
*A little peek at the upcoming Summer episode we are doing on the Original Dr. Death Chris Dunstch. Texas let him go on practicing because they just couldn’t believe any surgeon could be that incompetent.
*Update on the icky Tennessee School Member Keith Ervin. He has now been charged with Assault.
*Update on Pace Pharmacy.
*A story about a Florida Teacher, Karen Savage, that inappropriately tied a phone charger cord around a black baby doll and left it suspended over a classroom TV.
These are just the stories we are doing along with our regular True Crime Episodes.
We have an interesting Summer coming up!
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Mean girls rule by fear – the gossip, the condescension, the ostracizing – it’s all designed to keep them at the top of the food chain and others around them so scared that no one holds them accountable for their cruelty and corruption.
Some people take whatever mean girls dish out – no matter what – because they’re afraid of becoming the next target of bullying or rumors.
Queens of mean don’t deal in facts; they deal in toxic drama. No one wears that tarnished crown better than Mackenzie Shirilla.
The 21-year-old Ohio woman is serving 15 years to life in prison for deliberately crashing her car into a brick wall at speeds of 100 mph. The 2022 crash killed her boyfriend, 20-year-old Dominique Russo and their friend, 19-year-old Davion Flanagan.
Thousands of recently released texts between Shirilla and Russo, show that Mackenzie, who was 17 at the time of the crash, threatened, insulted, and talked down to him repeatedly while they dated. She treated the young man more like an ATM and a whipping post than a friend or companion.
After years of this abuse, (they’d been together since she was 13), the messages show he wanted to break it off with her because he thought it was best for both of them.
She was not having it.
And the texts she sent her own dad Steve Shirilla, are enough to make any normal parent and child cringe. She demands he rub her feet, bring “warm milk” to her room, and fetch her bougie Starbucks to-go orders.
In our latest episode of Gulf Coast Confidential, “Texts, warm milk, and ‘Boom’ shirt – Mackenzie Shirilla’s Leap Day appeal,” we’re picking up where we left off with Mean Girl Barbie Mackenzie and the more, we learn the worse it is.
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What happens when a medical error takes your loved one's life, but the state of Florida says you have no right to answers?
In this powerful personal documentary, we follow the family and friends of 33-year-old Cameron Perritt as they fight against Florida Statute § 768.21(8)—better known as the "Free Kill" law.
Because Cameron was over 25 and unmarried, his surviving family members are barred from seeking non-economic damages, like pain and suffering, in wrongful death claims.
This legal loophole does more than block financial justice; it blocks the entire discovery process, leaving grieving families facing a wall of silence from healthcare providers.
From the heartbreaking personal loss to the high-profile billboards at the state border, witness one family’s relentless battle to repeal this controversial law and restore medical accountability in Florida.
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Mackenzie Shirilla never hit the brakes when she crashed her car into a brick building speeding at 100 mph. Two passengers in her car were killed: her boyfriend, Dominic Russo, and their friend, Davion Flanagan.
Her friends and family claim it was an accident, but the judge disagreed calling Mackenzie “hell on wheels.”
Mean Girl Regina George Wannabe Mackenzie Shirilla was sentenced to 15 years to life for premeditated murder over it.
The case is the focus of a new Netflix documentary called “The Crash” and you won’t believe the arrogance and total disregard she has for others.
And the apple didn’t fall far from the tree with this one, her parents seem to be the same way. Her father, an art and media teacher, has been suspended with pay and placed on administrative leave for comments he made on the documentary.
Now his daughter, the Queen of the Plastics, is in prison where visits with mother were recorded revealing that the young woman is not grieving but reveling in her global notoriety.
Join us for more on the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential Podcast “100 mph crash route- mean girl Barbie Mackenzie Shirilla kills boyfriend and friend.”
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Dean Faiello looked the part of a doctor. The handsome charmer wore the white coat well and spoke as if he knew what he was doing.
No one who came to his New York City officer for skincare and beauty services had any idea the so-called dermatologist didn't even have a medical license.
But behind the scenes he was cutting corners along with people’s bodies.
Faiello was busted for buying the numbing agent lidocaine off the black market, but he didn't know how to administer it properly with a syringe, or even take a pulse.
When a woman in his care started having seizures as he performed several procedures on her, instead of calling 911 he loaded up her small body in a suitcase, buried it beneath the floor of his garage, and took off for Costa Rica.
Even with law enforcement hot on his trail Faiello still tried to talk his way out of it and almost got away with all of it.
Join us this week for the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential Podcast, “Dean Faiello – fake doctor, real deaths, too many lies, lidocaine, and zero truths.”
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If Pensacola’s Judy Buenoano was the most infamous “Black Widow” serial killer, then Anniston, Alabama’s Audrey Marie Hilley was the original.
Like Judy, Hilley used poison to kill, or in several cases try to kill, her husband and one of her children. When she got caught in her murderous web, Hilley ran and took on other identities, even another husband to hide from her past, but also like Judy her lies eventually unraveled.
Hilley is one of two chilling cases we discuss. We also dive into the disturbing story of Leann Yammirino, the Louisiana “Cheer Mom” who was convicted of having sex with a 14-year-old boy who went to her daughter’s school in Ascension — while also sexting at least five other teenagers.
Her own daughter begged the judge to give her mom the maximum penalty at sentencing.
From calculated schemes to deadly secrets, these women prove that sometimes the most dangerous people are the ones you trust the most.
Join us for the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential Podcast, “If it’s not one thing it’s a Mother! The bizarre and perverse cases of Leeann Yammarino and Audrey Marie Hilley.”
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Nurses often choose their career because they care. They’d have to be dedicated to give as much time, compassion, and professionalism as so many do every minute of every day to their jobs.
So, when allegations arose that some nurses were violating not just patients’ privacy, but also their dignity at Jay Hospital, just 44 miles north of Pensacola, many people were outraged.
According to the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration patients were pictured at their most vulnerable, while sleeping or medicated, with AI assisted songs created about their medical conditions including lines like “rotten balls” and “peanut butter phlegm.”
The Santa Rosa Sheriff’s Office said the acts weren’t criminal, but AHCA found patient privacy policies were severely violated.
But before we dive into that case, we also discuss some other headline making happenings including the mall “takeover” by several hundred teenagers, the politician pole crasher who made up with the pole complete with a selfie, but not the neighbor who lost power, as well as updates on the cases of two local surgeons charged with manslaughter – see police body cam video from their cases.
Join us for the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential Podcast, “No way I’m signing an NDA – my dignity is not for sale - the Jay Hospital scandal.”
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Bill Bryan’s wife said they never dreamed he wouldn’t come back from surgery alive, but how he died is especially hard for her to take.
According to Beverly Bryan, Bill went into to have his spleen removed, but bled to death on the operating table when Dr. Thomas Shaknovsky surgically removed his liver instead.
It’s a case that by all accounts shocked the operating room staff, the public, and certainly Bill’s family who are still fighting for answers and accountability.
Shaknovsky has been charged with manslaughter with the Muscle Shoals, Alabama man’s death and he’s facing civil litigation.
He has pleaded not guilty to the charge and is out on bond. Beverly Bryan is concerned that Shaknovsky may skip - not just town - but the country because he has dual citizenship and a passport.
We sat down with Beverly and her attorney Joe Zarzaur for more on this incredulous tragedy. Listen or watch our latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast on the case.
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A lot of folks talk about their aggravation with mother-in-laws, but has your's ever hired a hitman to take somebody out?!
Well Ann Trexler, ex mother-in-law of Ron Stovall, did just that‼️
Ann had just moved from Virginia to Panama City, Florida to be near her beloved granddaughter, when Ron, a U.S. Navy vet and delivery driver, filed for full custody of his daughter and Ann's only grandchild with plans to move his new family to Montana the controlling Gee-maw wasn’t having it!
Join us for more on what she had planned in the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential Podcast, "Grandma Ann Trexler, her hairstylist, and the shampoo boy murder Ron Stovall.”
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You’re never too old for love or a love triangle, it turns out.
Judy Church was in a love triangle with her younger boyfriend, 55-year-old Leroy Fowler, who was also dating an easy-going woman who enjoyed hanging out with him despite his relationship with his Sugar-Mama.
Judy Church was the cool girlfriend. She bought her man a motorcycle, a Dodge Ram truck, and a house for them to live together in Florida when she retired from her job as a fourth-grade teacher in Massachusetts.
But it turns out playing second fiddle to the second girlfriend was not Judy’s style and that’s when the cool girlfriend turned icy.
Judy plotted to poison her lover with anti-freeze and as he writhed in pain and crawled around the room confused and suffering, she poked fun at him and recorded it all.
She only called 911 after he asked her to do it and by the time paramedics arrived all Leroy could do was lift his arms to them like a baby reaching for help.
Judy was charged with murder and even the judge described her actions as callous and heartless.
Join us for the latest of the episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential Podcast, “Senior citizen Judy Church gets life in prison for poisoning boyfriend with antifreeze.”
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Chris Coleman fancied himself to be a tough guy, and for good reason. He was a former U.S. Marine who worked out all the time and headed up security for internationally renowned televangelist and Bible teacher Joyce Meyer, working for years as her personal bodyguard.
The son of two devout, evangelical preachers, Coleman's parents helped him secure his good-paying job of $100,000 a year to support his new wife, Sheri, and their first child when he left the military.
But by 2009 Chris resented his family, which now included 11-year-old Garett and 9-year-old Gavin, for standing in the way of what he believed was “God’s destiny” and plan for his life.
Turns out Chris Coleman had started a steamy affair with a sexy mistress, his wife’s friend from high school, and he wanted a new life and family with the Florida cocktail waitress - only he didn’t want to lose his job for cheating on his loving wife who was active in the ministry and doted on him and their boys.
So, police say he concocted a bizarre plan that included sending "anonymous," obscenity filled emails ranting and threatening Joyce Meyer, himself and his family under the account “destroy Chris.”
No one knew who was behind them until the day Chris went to the gym early one morning and claimed he couldn’t get in touch with his wife and boys who were supposedly still sleeping when he left the house.
He called police on his way back home to check on them because he was "worried" when his wife still had not picked up the phone.
It was law enforcement who found Sheri and their boys strangled to death in their beds and graphic, obscene messages spray painted in cherry red on the wall over their bodies, as if the mysterious stalker had struck.
Only the killer wasn’t a mystery man. His victims knew him well and it wasn’t long before detectives realized that the tough guy bodyguard hired to protect people had turned on his own bride and children.
Join us for the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast, “Epic fail – Ex-Marine & Joyce Meyer bodyguard Chris Coleman fails to protect own family.”
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Joseph Duggar is back on camera accused of lewd and lascivious behavior with a child while on vacation in Panama City Beach, Florida.
Dr. Gerhardt Konig in Hawaii is on trial for trying to push his wife off a cliff.
Kouri Richins’ trial just ended for poisoning her husband with fentanyl.
Wisconsin man and Board of Education President, Joe Bragger, is facing charges for threatening pharmacy and medical staff with gun violence and name-calling because the doctors hadn’t authorized his prescription.
Closer to home, we revisit the Cantonment murder case of Sherri Malarik.
A beloved mother and wife to a man who was tried twice for killing her and ultimately found not guilty. It’s a one-time cold case I reported on for years.
And in Tuskegee, Alabama, Ibrahim Yazeem has been found guilty of felony murder in the kidnapping and shooting death of 19-year-old Aniah Blanchard.
The crime led to Aniah’s Law.
At the same time the college student was killed, Yazeem was out on $280,000 bond for a violent robbery in Montgomery that included kidnapping and attempted murder charges.
Many questioned why he was on the street at all, and now new legislation gives judges more leeway in allowing or denying bail.
Join us for an update on these cases in the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential Podcast.
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Hannah Pettey was just 18 years old when she married Alabama chiropractor, Dr. Brian Mann. The beautiful, blonde, Birmingham area teen fell head over heels for the handsome, successful man ten years her senior.
On the outside, their small and growing family looked perfectly happy and healthy, but behind closed doors Hannah said Brian could be controlling and there were fights when he got physical.
She thought they’d ironed out their problems when she started getting sick. In fact, the sicker she got the sweeter her husband became.
Her health deteriorated to the point she lost 40 pounds, could barely walk, and could not even talk.
On the verge of death, doctors were shocked to discover her colon was 100-percent packed with lead leaving no room for food.
All that lead didn’t get there by accident. The challenge for police became proving who put it there.
Join us for the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast, “Dr. Brian Mann fed his wife Hannah lead that left her nearly dead. He got life in prison instead.”
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Colin Gray gave his son, Colt, the AR-15-style rifle that his 14-year-old son used to kill two students and two teachers and injure nine others at Apalachee High School in Georgia, in September 2024.
It was a Christmas present for the boy in 2023, just months after the FBI showed up at Colin’s house to question him and Colt regarding online threats made on Discord about "shooting up a middle school."
No arrests were made at that time because the threats could not be definitively linked to Colt Gray.
But prior to the mass shooting, Colin also knew his son idolized school shooters and even had a poster of Nikolas Cruz, the former student convicted of the mass shooting in Parkland, Florida that killed 14 students and three staff and injured 17 others.
He knew Colt suffered from anxiety and needed therapy, but he didn’t follow through on making sure he got it because he was “working.” In fact, he let his son miss so much school, he missed all of 8th grade.
In a precedent setting case, Georgia prosecutors said Colt’s father ignored too many red flags about his son’s concerning behavior and for that reason had a hand in what Colt did the day he opened fire at his high school.
They not only charged Colt Gray with murder, they charged his dad with murder, too.
Colt has pleaded not guilty to the charges, and his trial has not yet been set, but just last week Colin was convicted on 27 charges including two counts of second-degree murder, two counts of involuntary manslaughter, 20 counts of second-degree cruelty to children, and five counts of reckless conduct.
Join us for more on what this conviction means for parents and caregivers in the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential Podcast out Tuesday called, “Guns for Christmas - Colin Gray blamed everybody but son Colt and himself for deadly school shooting.”
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Kendy Howard was found dead in her bathtub by her husband, Dan, a former Idaho State Police Trooper who told detectives his wife shot herself.
He called 9-1-1 to report the "suicide" and when officers responded they had no reason to doubt how she died until they started noticing inconsistencies.
Like why was Kendy's gun in the bathtub? Why wasn't there more blood if she died in the tub? And why was Kendy's bag packed like she was ready to leave, but she killed herself instead?
Her friends and family said she was the happiest she had been in years because she was ready to leave Dan, who she said had a quick temper and was abusive.
Kendy was planning to start a new life with a new house, a new romance, and more stability, but police say Dan had other plans and thought he could outwit investigators by staging the scene of her death.
But Dan Howard wasn't as smart as he thought he was.
Join us for more on how slipped up and was caught in his own lies on the next episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential Podcast, "Don’t call the cops for Kendy Howard - Suicide or murder by ex-trooper husband?"
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Missing matriarch Nancy Guthrie, a relatively healthy, 84-year-old sharp-minded woman with only a few mobility issues, has been missing from her own home in Tucson, Arizona since Jan. 31.
With no known motive and no suspects identified, it’s the kind of situation that can make anyone feel vulnerable, and there are so many theories as to what could have happened.
Was it a pre-planned kidnapping? A robbery gone wrong? A stalker, sour grapes, revenge?
With on again, off again ransom demands for bitcoin and cyber currency and utilizing the entertainment site TMZ as a go-between, it only adds to the confusion and circus that surrounds the case.
Not to mention the reported tension between the Pima County Sheriff’s Office and the FBI over mistakes, miscommunications and not sharing information.
What we do know for sure is that Nancy Guthrie has not been home in 23 days and like many others who are watching this mystery unfold we hope for a safe and happy return.
Join us for the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential Podcast “Missing mommy Nancy Guthrie vanished leaving more questions than answers.”
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Most any of us that have been on the Ole Miss Campus in the Gulf Coast state of Mississippi most likely fell in love with the sweet, syrupy, Southern charm of the campus and students.
Bubbly and fun Ally Kostial fell in love with everything about her first choice for college, from her classes in marketing and fashion, to enjoying golf, fitness, and her sorority.
The 21-year-old rising senior was also in love with the idea of marrying a Southern gentleman and building a life with someone who would enjoy family, sunsets, and college nightlife as much as she did.
Ally thought she found the perfect partner in Brandon Theesfeld, a fellow University of Mississippi student and smooth-talking young man who enjoyed throwing his doctor daddy’s money around and seemed to always skate out of trouble.
That is until Ally’s lifeless body was found on July 20, 2019, shot multiple times near Sardis Lake in northern Mississippi.
Theesfeld was unable to talk his way out of a murder charge after authorities quickly unraveled his flimsy alibi and discovered he tricked Ally into coming with him to the lake and that Ally’s murder followed their breakup and Brandon’s outrage when he thought she might be pregnant.
The case drew national attention because both were college students and it highlighted issues of dating violence and obsessive behavior in young relationships.
Join us for the latest, unbelievably sad yet familiar episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential Podcast “Ally Kostial loved pink, pearls, Ole Miss and her boyfriend and it killed her.”
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‘Kinky catfish’ arranged on a BDSM fetish site by an IRS Agent and his Au Pair - all to get rid of Brendan Banfield’s wife.
Nurse Christine Banfield had no idea that when their 25-year-old, Brazilian Au Pair, Juliana Peres Magalhaes, took her 4-year-old daughter to the zoo that she was opening the door to a diabolical plot.
Little did she know that her husband, Brendan, had been having an affair with the Au Pair, and the two had plotted to lure stranger, Joe Ryan, to the Banfield home to engage in some BDSM role play.
Joe and Christine were unsuspecting pawns in the cheating couple’s game. Brendan pretended to be his wife on a fetish website and Joe took the bait, agreeing to come to their home in a pre-arranged ‘fake’ assault and bringing a knife as instructed.
The murderous plot went off as planned, but when police began to take a closer look at the lying lovers’ story it wasn’t long before Brendan’s sweetheart got a sweetheart deal to turn on him and tell the jury what happened at his double murder trial.
Not only did she avoid a lengthy prison sentence, Juliana is now being courted by Hollywood for her story and producers are already putting money on her books.
This sassy siren appears to have almost gotten away with murder because once she’s finished with the little bit of time she got, she can cash in on her story and head back home to Brazil.
Join us for the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast called, “Oh what an Evil Pair! Brendan Banfield and his Brazilian Au Pair!!”
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This week we have cases about people devaluing the lives of other human beings. Just wicked, corrupt, evil people. In other words, diabolical.
The overly sexual Au Pair trying to help get rid of the lady of the house so she could be “the lady of the house” by implementing a Cat fishing scheme with the “man of the house” resulting in double murder.
We’ve got the stories of two of the most heinous barbaric killers Brandon Aydelott and Thomas McGill and how they are nearing being released back out into our communities neither one has any remorse whatsoever.
The story of Stephanie Perdue …she has up coming trials one for attempted murder the other for attempting to hire a hit man.
Just when you think these evil human beings couldn’t sink any further …more weird and sick details keep popping up.
Join us for the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential Podcast, “Crime collage – from jealous brothers to wonky surgeons.”
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Linda Duffey was such an animated character few questioned her wacky and wonky story about the sudden and violent death of her husband, Patrick, who was found dead on their living couch after Linda said she shot him twice in the head accidentally.
In fact, police detectives were charmed, bamboozled, and "entertained" when she described how the tragic so-called mistake happened. She said she was showin’ off her cowboy style shootin’ known as “fan firin,” a trick she learned from watching Looney Tunes cartoons.
The wacky widow said they were just reenacting a scene from Buggs Bunny when that "Wasally Wabbit" mixed it up with his persistent, dim-witted rival Elmer J. Fudd.
Just like the bumbling cartoon hunter, Linda told police she too thought there were “no more “buwwets ” in her gun when she fatally shot Patrick while he was on the couch.
No one looked too closely at her story and within no time she had moved out, moved on, and moved in with a new a husband, a professor in Mississippi.
When the law did catch up with Linda, she was sunk by her own looney defense and finally nabbed by those meddling detectives.
Join us for the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential Podcast Linda Duffey's Buggs Bunny defense - 'No more buwwets!'
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Martin Luther King Jr., who we just remembered this week, was an advocate for justice. One of his many famous quote was, “Justice too long delayed is justice denied.”
That is fitting for this week’s episode, “Justice cut short for Torrey King after convicted killer set to go free, ” the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential Podcast.
Losing a loved one is a grief many people share. Losing a loved one to a violent homicide is a club nobody chooses to join.
Two Gulf Coast families are not only living with the horror and trauma of such a loss, they are still seeking justice for it.
Thomas McGill, the man who shot Panama City teen Torrey King to death in 1994, then drug and burned the body of his fellow classmate and football teammate, will be released from prison this year despite a life sentence for the murder to which he confessed.
Brandon Aydelott, who admitted to stabbing, beating, and stomping his mother and middle school teacher Sharon Aydelott to death in 2013, is working his way through Florida’s mental health system for the criminally insane after he was found not guilty by reason of insanity.
If state mental health contractors have their way Brandon could soon be released back into the community, despite assurances from the state attorney at the time that he “would never get out” of confinement for killing his mother.
In both cases, the slayings happened at Christmas, one just before and one right after. Both families are still fighting for the justice they felt was promised; one has been pursuing it for 32 years and the other for 12 years.
Join us for a raw and unique conversation on surviving the worst thing that can happen to you and your family and despite it all believing in faith, hope, and justice in their memory.
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Convicted double murderer Ali Abulaban says he didn’t get a fair trial because it was televised and “everybody knew him as the Tik Tok Star murderer.”
It’s no surprise he’s still blaming others now that he has lost everything he wanted: freedom, a beautiful wife and family, and social media career.
The former Tik Tok creator known as "JinnKid," had what most people would consider a charmed life. Good looking with a gorgeous and fun wife, and beautiful five-year-old daughter, the likeable and charismatic social media personality had over a million followers.
But the more attention he got, the more sadistic and punishing he became to his wife, Ana, who had built her own growing following on social media.
His vivacious and beautiful wife helped him build his family and social media career after he was "other than honorably discharged" from the U.S. Air Force over abuse.
Off and on camera he continued to berate her and treat her like property until she could no longer take his violent and volatile behavior and he moved out of their luxury apartment San Diego.
Little did Ana Abulaban know Ali was nowhere near ready to let her go and the lengths he was willing to go to make sure she never moved on.
Join us for the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential Podcast, “Tik Tok star to convict; jealous, cocaine snorting Ali Abulaban murdered wife, friend.”
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Who in their right mind would brag about being related to notorious, accused ax murderer and parent killer Lizzie Borden?!
Well, convicted serial killer and nurse Kristen Gilbert not only bragged about it, she lied about it!
But it turns out lying and manipulating is something Kristen has done well since at least high school and the more you dig into her past, the more grim details emerge about a woman who would become notorious in her own right.
It seems every time Nurse Kristen Gilbert needed an Ego Boost, Distraction, Schedule Change, or a bit of excitement or drama she managed to call a Cardiac Arrest Code for patients she cared for at a Veteran's hospital.
Primarily to gain attention, seek approval and praise, and attract the notice of a hospital security guard with whom she was having an affair.
Her Crush responded to most Cardiac Codes as well so she could showboat and peacock for him. She truly didn’t care about anyone but herself.
To get all the details on this incredulous and heinous case join us on on Gulf Coast Confidential Podcast for “Serial Killer Nurse poisons patients at VA Hospital to impress Crush.”
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What goes up must come down - even if free falling from Cloud 9 without a parachute isn't part of the plan.
That's what happened to two unsuspecting women who loved skydiving and the wrong men.
Victoria Cilliers and Els Van Doren were both victims of high-altitude murder plots, tangled up love triangles, jealousy, sabotaged parachutes, and some really bizarro, messed up, so-called friends and lovers 🥴.
These two cases happened nearly a decade apart in two different countries. They just go to show greed and sour grapes can make for deadly bedfellows and there's plenty of “What the Feazy” to be found everywhere.
Join us for the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential Podcast, “Oh 'chute, love in freefall‼️ Emile Cilliers sabotages skydiving Wife."
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Two iconic fathers with adult, mentally health challenged sons. Movie director and actor Rob Reiner and renowned gospel, opera, and jazz singer Jubilant Sykes were both allegedly killed by their grown sons, a week apart, in the Los Angeles area.
The tragedies are similar in that the suspects are the victims' own children. Both young men, in their 30s, have substance abuse, addiction and mental health issues, including schizophrenia and bi-polar disorder.
Police say both men wielded knives on their parents, a particularly savage method of domestic violence.
The cases differ in that Nick Reiner allegedly slaughtered his mother, Michele Singer Reinger, too. Micah Sykes spared his mom, but CeCe Sykes witnessed him allegedly murder his dad.
Adding to the cruelty of the crimes, the Reiners and Jubilant Sykes were killed in their own homes during December right around the holidays.
Gulf Coast Confidential Podcast host Pam Hill knows first hand what it's like to lose a loved one to a violent, unprovoked attack at the hands of your own child.
Pam's sister Sharon Aydelott was brutally stabbed, beaten, and stomped in the doorway of her Gulf Breeze home on Christmas Eve 2013 by her own son, Brandon Aydelott.
His family says he also struggled with substance abuse and mental health issues. He was found not guilty by reason of insanity for his mother's homicide and continues to work his way through the system and is now in a group home.
Join us for more on these developing cases in the latest episode of theGulf Coast Confidential Podcast, "Rob Reiner and Jubilant Sykes – two iconic men allegedly murdered by their adult sons."
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When did we start calling beat downs and assaults “hazing?”
Hazing is the word you use when you’re pledging a fraternity or a sorority and now it’s being used interchangeably with locker room bullying and brawls as well as isolated attacks on individuals.
Officially, hazing is strictly against the law when it’s part of abuse, but the word doesn’t hold a candle to the terror, anguish, and sometimes death victims experience because of it.
We’re diving into several cases that stretch from Ocala, Florida, and Georgetown, Texas, to Newport, Rhode Island and all the way to Bozova, Turkey.
These are incidents that some may call hazing, but the actions are cruel, criminal, and deadly.
But before we get into those cases, we also want to remember Danika Troy, a Pace girl who was tragically killed, allegedly by classmates who deceived her.
Join us tomorrow for the next episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast, “Bullying on steroids, hazing in high school sports and the workplace.”
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Exactly two years ago I broke this story and remember standing beside the front door of Dr. Ben Brown’s office, Restore Plastic Surgery, where someone had left holiday poinsettias as a kind gesture after Brown’s wife, Hillary, had gone into cardiac arrest just on the other side of the door just before Thanksgiving 2023, after he had performed several procedures on her and later died.
Since then, Brown has been charged with manslaughter in the untimely death of his 33-year-old wife, and dozens of former patients have come forward with complaints of botched surgeries, unwanted procedures, gaping wounds, and serious infection. All allegations Brown denies.
The Florida Department of Health restricted his license to only practicing under the supervision of another doctor in 2024, and this past fall an administrative judge recommended to the Florida Board of Medicine that Brown’s medical license be suspended for a year for not immediately calling 9-1-1, starting CPR, or having life saving equipment on hand when Hillary coded from what investigators say appears to be lidocaine toxicity.
Brown was also sued for medical malpractice in 2022 after a former patient claimed he used mesh in her DIEP flap reconstruction in 2019 that caused infection, necrosis, and corrective surgeries, and also during surgery left her arm in the same position for too long and it led to permanent injury.
That case went to trial just last week, and the jury returned a verdict of not liable on both counts against Brown.
Brown’s criminal trial on manslaughter has tentatively been scheduled for May 4.
He has pleaded not guilty to the charge. He has two other hearings coming up in Santa Rosa County before that, though including a hearing on Feb. 10 on if he will be allowed to appear at specific defendants depositions and a case status check hearing on March 24.
In this latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast, we talk about the state administrative hearings that were held in September on the department of health’s allegations against Brown that led to Florida restricting his medical license.
We recorded this before the judge made her recommendation for discipline and before the outcome of the medical malpractice trial.
Join us for “Beauty Buyer Beware VIII: Dr. Ben Brown,” and remember you can catch up on all the episodes we've recorded on the embattled plastic surgeon on the Beauty Buyer Beware playlist.
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Exploring the world is normal for young people, but finding new “friends” online can be deadly.
Cybercrimes like sextortion over pictures real or A.I. generated, wire fraud, and targeted harassment are skyrocketing and children, especially teenage boys, are in the crosshairs of online predators.
These criminals aren’t breaking into homes in the traditional sense, they are crawling inside through the internet and setting up shop on websites where they can target children and teens.
A series of recent headline-making tragedies has put these serious crimes – which are a problem across the world – back in the spotlight.
The calculated attacks on vulnerable and inexperienced children use intense, fast-paced manipulation and control tactics to demand and threaten money, information, or even sadistic behavior from their victims.
One in five teens surveyed in a recent report experienced sextortion, a form of sexual exploitation that combines "sex" and "extortion" or blackmail. It involves a bad actor threatening to distribute a victim's private or sexually explicit images or videos unless the victim complies with certain demands, and victims are never at fault.
The parents who lost children to suicide in these cases never saw it coming until they awoke to their worst nightmare.
Join us for the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential Podcast, “Suicide under threat, who’s killing teenage boys online?”
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Remembered as a mother, sister, daughter and a friend, 25-year-old Tierra Binion’s life was cut short after a confrontation between her, Rachel DeRise, and Rachel's boyfriend Christian Ketchup who showed up armed to the Pensacola bar where he shot Tierra to death.
The night of August 23, 2023, Tierra and Rachel exchanged words which led to Christian sucker punching Tierra and knocking her to the ground. Rachel then pounced on her as she lay in the parking lot and repeatedly landed wide flung punches to Tierra's head.
Surveillance video shows Christian generously helping his girlfriend up off the ground, then reaching for his gun and pumping ten bullets into the unconscious woman's back.
Now Christian Ketchup is going away to prison for life for what the judge called an "unnecessary" crime that is an example of why "alcohol and guns" don't mix.
It was devastating enough for Diamond Jordan to lose her beloved sister. On top of the grief and trauma, she and Tierra's family also endured the roller coaster of emotion that came with watching the cases of Tierra's accused attackers move through the criminal justice system.
A roller coaster no one in Tierra's family ever wanted to endure but had to anyway.
The "lows" included Rachel DeRise being charged with misdemeanor battery for her role in the deadly altercation and even standing up at Christian's sentencing when the crowd of onlookers was asked to rise if they were "there for Tierra."
The "highs" included Christian Ketchup receiving a life sentence for his 2nd degree murder conviction, a sentence both the state and Tierra's family petitioned the court to give him.
Join us tomorrow for our conversation with Diamond about what this journey has been like for her and Tierra's family and the lessons she learned along the way about murder, her sister's killer and his girlfriend, and the justice system in the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential Podcast, “Dollar drink night plus ten bullets in the back equals life in prison for Christian Ketchup.”
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Christy Martin was a trailblazer who took women's boxing from novelty (kinda sideshow) to mainstream during the 1990s and 2000.
As eventful as her boxing career was it had nothing on the hits she was taking in her private life. The secrets, the abuse, the drug addiction, the sex tapes, the isolation and the domestic violence she suffered.
Her public image as an attractive, powerful, crowd-pleasing star boxer was the polar opposite of real life.
“The Coal Miner’s Daughter” was stuck in an abusive marriage yet survived the belittling, gaslighting, beating, and isolation from her Puppet Master husband. He even tried to unalive her because she was leaving him.
How could one of the most prolific and best pound for pound boxers in the Sport be controlled by this man. He had her feeling so small and “less than” because of her closeted sexuality, he told her the world would hate her if they found out that she was gay.
Her career was impressive, structured, and storied ….49 wins (31 were knockouts) 7 losses and 3 draws.
She made millions and was the consumate professional. Her personal life however was a piping hot mess with chaos, drugs, loveless marriage, destruction, and one bad decision after another.
Christy Salters Martin fought like a champ every single time she got in the ring…but nothing compares to the fight for her life in her very own bedroom on November 23, 2010.
Join us on Tuesday for our Gulf Coast Confidential Podcast …. "Box Like a Girl, Fighter Christy Martin Still a Champ after Stabbed, Shot by Hubby."
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Jesse Mack Butler faced nearly a dozen charges related to the s3xual assault of two teenage girls he dated, and he was convicted of several of them.
He pleaded no contest and faced nearly 80 years in prison for the crimes, until the court allowed him to plead as a youthful offender and reduced his sentence to no jail time, community service, curfew, and counseling. And oh, no social media.
If he complies until his 19th birthday, his record is wiped clean, he doesn’t have to register as a sex offender, and nobody would be none the wiser, not even the girls in Butler’s hometown of Stillwater, Oklahoma.
That’s not much of a punishment for the severity of his crimes and the lifetime of trauma the girls will carry. And Butler isn’t even the only s3xual offender who has benefited from the court’s leniency and disregard for current and future victims.
Two other men Seth Swaim, a teacher busted for s3xting a 13-year-old girl, and Brock Turner, a college athlete caught assaulting a drunk, unconscious woman behind a dumpster, also got sweetheart sentencing deals.
What all these cases seem to have in common is privilege, enabling parents, and an above-the-law attitude.
Join us for a detailed discussion of these headline making cases on the latest episode of Gulf Coast Confidential, “Predators gonna prey, when judges seem to play, Brock Turner, Jesse Mack Butler, Seth Swaim.”
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Self-described perfect neighbor, Susan Lorincz, was always the victim in her mind.
When she got caught trespassing on a man's private property and rammed his gate with her truck to get out, she blamed her reaction on PTSD she suffered from previous crimes allegedly done to her.
When neighborhood children played in the vacant lot next to her Ocala, Florida home, she complained they were trespassing, loud, and tormenting her on purpose.
She repeatedly called police on them for months, not long after moving into the previously family-friendly neighborhood.
When Lorincz parked her truck in front of the lot where she knew the kids would be, she set off the vehicle's alarm and blamed them for it.
When she threw a roller skate at a 10-year-old boy, hitting him in the toe, and swung an umbrella at him and other children, she claimed she had fallen over the skate and was returning it, but one of the boys threatened to kill her when she asked him to pick it up.
And when the boy's mother, Ajike "AJ" Owens, walked over to Lorincz's house and knocked on her door to confront Susan about her treatment of AJ's children, Lorincz shot through her locked, steel door.
She shot the mother once in the chest, killing her, and then blamed AJ for it, saying she feared for her life from the unarmed woman.
Turns out Susan Lorincz had been researching Florida’s Stand Your Ground law not long before the deadly confrontation.
She had called the police on her neighbors so much in the months leading up to the shooting that there was enough body cam footage from deputies responding to her incessant complaints to make a documentary about Lorincz called, “The Perfect Neighbor.”
That’s how Susan Lorincz saw herself, but fortunately a jury did not agree with her.
Join us for more on the case in the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast, “Perfect Neighbor Susan Lorincz, the uncaring Karen.”
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High school cheerleader Kimber Mills, 18, was laid to rest on Sunday after she was shot in the head and taken off of life support at UAB.
She was injured witnesses say trying to break up a fight between several young men at “The Pit,” a gathering place in the woods in Pinson, Alabama that was the regular go-to, weekend hang out spot.
Kimber was one of four people who was shot, including 21-year-old Silas McCay, who was involved in the fight and shot ten times, but survived.
The initial story is that McCay and some of his friends were defending the honor of some of the young women because 27-year Steven Tyler Whitehead allegedly hassled one of them.
In fact, Silas was called a “hero” and he shared pictures of the flowers of he received when he was recovering in the hospital, and thanking people for their support.
Now enter the videos. More are surfacing all the time because if it’s one thing people carry these days, especially young people, it’s phones, and it turns out a lot of them were recording the fight.
The videos show several men approaching Steven as he is walking away, and they start to beat him.
Kimber steps in an apparent attempt to break it up and then shots are fired as Steven is on the ground fending off several men and she and several other are struck. Kimber was shot in the head and leg.
Steven Whitehead, a member of the Alabama National Guard, is charged with murder and three counts of attempted murder.
We’re watching this story because it’s changing every day and it’s a tragic example of how fragile life is. Folks can be here one day and gone the next.
Join us for the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast, “Cheerleader Kimber Mills killed at testosterone fueled Alabama bonfire.”
Between The States
Three friends, zero filters, endless chaos. Tune in and see what happens.
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Tuscumbia City Schools says it’s still investigating the incident that nearly took the life of 15-year-old August Borden, a Deshler High School football player who had to be intubated for two days in the hospital with severe head and brain trauma after a so-called “freak accident” after football practice that left him fighting for his life.
Many in the community, including his family, believe the answers authorities claim to be seeking aren’t that hard to find and the Madison County DA’s version of events doesn’t line up with the boy’s injuries.
August’s own doctor says the skull and orbital bone fractures he suffered among other injuries are consistent with an “assault” and not a freak fall as coaches claim happened.
It seems the school selectively follows its own reporting and disciplinary policies. The “subject of interest” at the center of what happened to August is another student, the quarterback for the team Price Thornton.
The Madison County DA determined there was no criminal wrongdoing, but the official version of events has been inconsistent, contradictory, and ever-changing from the beginning.
With the police not filing a report for days until August’s daddy requested one and the school saying first that he fell all by himself, then later admitting another player “bear hugged him” until he passed out and he dropped him.
However, the school never disciplined any of the players allegedly involved with August’s injuries and kept playing football as if the boy didn’t exist.
As Pam Hill says, “Something ain’t right here!”
Join us for the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast, “August Borden IV, Overpriced thorn in the side of football in Tuscumbia.”
Between The States
Three friends, zero filters, endless chaos. Tune in and see what happens.
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There have been so many crimes, tragedies, and mysteries along the Gulf Coast. What is curious about the brutal shooting death of 25-year-old Tierra Binion is the senselessness of killing a woman and mother of two who was just out trying to enjoy herself like people often do.
Christian Ketchup and his girlfriend, Rachel DeRise, turned what is a routine, normal night out for many young people at the Pensacola bar Mugs and Jugs, into a headline making tragedy that took Tierra's life and ruined Christian's who is now convicted of her murder and awaiting sentencing.
He hollered about self-defense, a claim the court slapped down. Now Ketchup says he wants a new trial for a variety of reasons including the racial make-up of the jury.
Join us as we sit down with the victim's sister, Diamond Jordan, as she discusses the latest legal spike strips Christian Ketchup is laying down on the road to justice in this episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast, "Christian Ketchup convicted of murder: Victim’s sister wants maximum sentence.”
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Iryna Zarutska didn't seem much different from any of the other passengers when she boarded the late train leaving Scaleybark station a few miles outside of downtown Charlotte, North Carolina on August 22.
The pretty, 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee wore khaki pants and a dark shirt and her long blonde hair was tucked under a hat from Zepeddie’s Pizzeria where she worked.
Like other nearby passengers, she had on earbuds and her head was bowed looking at her phone as the train continued on. She had just sent a message to her boyfriend that she would see him soon.
Iryna had picked an empty row on the train, and sat in front of a man in a red sweatshirt, Decarlos Brown. Unbeknownst to her, she had caught the mentally ill man's attention, and he saw the young woman as a threat to be eliminated.
Within minutes, Brown took a knife out of his clothes, launched himself out of his seat and swiftly stabbed the unsuspecting woman who clutched her throat and cried as she slipped to the ground where she soon died.
Iryna had survived the bombs and violence of war in Ukraine to embrace a new life with her family in the United States, only to have that life snatched away from her by a man who was already well known to the criminal justice and mental health system.
Now legislators are pushing for "Iryna's Law," named after the stabbing victim, which would give death by firing squad as an option for capital punishment in North Carolina. It also increases the checks on criminals getting out on bail, prohibits cashless bail for some violent crimes and most repeat offenders, as well as alerts judiciary to take a closer look at people who pose an unusual risk of violence.
Little did Iryna know that when she boarded the late night train in Charlotte that ill-fated night, along with her accused killer Decarlos Brown, that her murder would be a rallying cry for criminal justice reform.
Join us for more tomorrow on the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast, “Iryna Zarutska: Escaped bombs in the Ukraine to be murdered on a U.S. train.”
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Maybe we should throw it back to old school, it used to be real cool before Zero Tolerance made it easier for bullies to do their worst.
Now victims simply have to take it like sitting ducks or find themselves in the crosshairs of school punishment for trying to defend themselves.
More than half a dozen cases involving teenage boys in Alabama, Florida, the Southeast, and beyond have some parents and caretakers crying foul over favoritism.
Some students who pick or start fights are getting a slap on the wrist, if any punishment at all, while others who were allegedly merely defending themselves are getting sent to alternative schools or facing extreme discipline.
In many of these cases, school administrators have the power to make a difference, but parents say instead of taking charge and evaluating incidents on a case-by-case basis, they often want to hide behind the Zero Tolerance Policy and fall back on a pre-determined punishment where the offender and the victim are punished equally.
From Tuscumbia football player August Borden to wrestler Butterbean's grandson in Walker County, some folks have zero patience for zero tolerance.
Join us for the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast, “Zero Tolerance adds up to maximum bullying in Alabama: Teenage boys being targeted.”
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Some women ain’t nothing but trouble. No one knows that better than Milton business owner and father, Sean Perdue.
In 2021, Perdue had a successful business and was a single dad to a young daughter he doted on, Lily. Divorced after 20 years, Perdue was looking for someone to build a life with and help him with his special needs child of whom he had custody.
He thought he found that special someone in Stephanie Linville Perdue, another woman from the Milton area who was a nurse and seemed to be just what the doctor ordered.
Instead, she shot him by their first wedding anniversary; the bullet went clean through his shoulder and neck. Sean survived and got a restraining order, but she violated it and ended up back behind bars and blamed Sean for it, according to her arrest report.
That’s when investigators say Stephanie and her new boyfriend, David Bollier, tried to hire inmates at the Santa Rosa County to kill Sean with fentanyl in a failed murder-for-hire plot. The goal was allegedly to take everything he owned and pay the would-be-hitwomen $10,000 for "the job" that was described in code words as a "party for my grandmother" with "party favors."
Stephanie denied the crime. Now more than two and a half years after she was arrested she still hasn’t gone to trial.
Her attorney has yet again asked for another continuance of the trial. It’s the latest in a string of continuances since she was arrested that is frustrating and worrying to Sean, who just wants to move on and get justice after the toxic relationship nearly cost him everything.
Join us for the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential Podcast, “Shot in the neck, murder-for-hire: When will Stephanie Linville Perdue go to trial?”
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This is quite the episode - we're packing in updates on two controversial cases we've been following! Before we dive into the latest on August Borden we have an update on embattled plastic surgeon, Dr. Ben Brown.
Now to Tuscumbia, Alabama where the Deshler High School football team’s motto is "Nos Non Ego," which is Latin for "We Not Me."
That begs the question: Isn’t 15-year-old August Borden, #37, part of the football team and wouldn’t he be part of the “we?”
Instead, it seems the “we” is a chosen few.
The team is playing every Friday with everyone but August, as if he had not been critically, injured allegedly after another teammate put his hands on him, after football practice on Aug. 19th.
There are conflicting stories about what happened to him, but it’s clear his coaches and Tuscumbia School administrators are doubling down on the story that he “fell” and there’s nothing to see here, even as a neighboring county begins to investigate the incident that nearly took August’s life.
All of the national attention and outrage has put this town, it’s high school football program and coaches, as well as “Player X” under the microscope.
Join us for the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast, “Cover up, huddle up Tuscumbia: August Borden Part III.”
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People lost their heads over praying mantis Lynn Turner, and some people lost their lives.
She poisoned her husband and her boyfriend with anti-freeze laced green Jello, and likely would have gotten away with it all of it, but for pushing her luck killing her second the lover who took to the first husband’s funeral.
When Lynn, 32, got caught in her own poisonous web, she took a third life with a dose of her own medicine.
She hoarded her blood pressure medication and overdosed on it, denying the families of the men she killed a sense of justice.
Join us for the latest Gulf Coast Confidential episode, “Heartless Lynn Turner: Loved policemen to death.”
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August Borden continues to recover at his home in Tuscumbia, Alabama, in the wake of an incident that has all but divided the town because it centers around Deshler High School's football program.
The 15-tyear-old football player suffered traumatic injuries to his head and face after football practice on Aug. 19 that sent him to the hospital, but there are conflicting accounts as to how it happened.
However, it's crystal clear to his family that their son's health and the truth is not a priority to school administrators and local law enforcement, who refused to provide answers or even initially make a police report about the incident that August's family believes was instigated by other teammates.
Authorities in neighboring Madison County, Alabama are now investigating while the cries of many in the community grow louder demanding answers.
This story is NOT going away and neither are we.
Please join us for an update in this latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast, "Traumatic injury or accident: Tuscumbia divided over battered 15-year-old football player August Borden: Part II."
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Just three weeks into his freshman year of high school, 15-year-old football player August Borden should have been looking forward to Homecoming.
Instead, people in his hometown of Tuscumbia, Alabama, were praying that he would come home at all, after he was severely injured walking between the stadium and the fieldhouse with his teammates on Aug. 19.
Some claim he fell down a short flight of stairs. Others say another player grabbed him in a “bear hug,” causing the teen to gasp and lose consciousness.
Some say he went limp, some say he was stiff, but what happened next led to him being taken by life flight to a Level 1 Trauma Center hospital in Birmingham, AL.
It was discovered that August had two fractured orbital bones and multiple skull fractures and a face that appeared to be pummeled.
The injuries left him unconscious in the hospital for two days.
Although the incident is now being investigated by police at the urging of August’s dad, his parents say they’ve had to push for answers because school officials and coaches, who are said to have been just 10 feet away when August was allegedly dropped or heaved to the ground, have not been forthcoming.
According to his family, August is home and beginning to recover but it’s not an easy road and it’s certainly not how the family expected his freshman year of high school would begin to play out.
Join us for the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast, “Traumatic injury or accident: Tuscumbia divided over battered 15-year-old football player August Borden.”
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The Honorable Judge Traci Soderstrom was anything but honorable when it came to how she ran her courtroom, even during a murder trial.
The Oklahoma Supreme Court investigated her for misconduct after she was caught texting back and forth with her in-court bailiff over 500 times while she sat on the bench during the murder trial of a man accused of killing his girlfriend’s toddler.
Soderstrom can be seen on camera in the courtroom constantly scrolling through social media and texting insults and comments about witnesses, jurors, and attorneys in the case, especially taking shots at the prosecution and men.
Court records say the commentary was so offensive toward the state prosecution as to be biased, which Soderstrom denied and insisted she had done nothing wrong.
Despite her insistence that she could be trusted to do her job; the Supreme Court found Soderstrom's actions to be a “gross neglect of duty and bias” and a “lack of temperament to serve as a judge.”
Soderstrom ultimately resigned from her position to avoid losing her retirement.
This is the first episode in our series of Judges of Behaving Badly.
Join us for the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast, “Judges Behaving Badly: Oklahoma Judge Traci Soderstrom: 500 texts during murder trial, not O.K.!”
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Did Whitney Cheatham read the charges right or does she know something we don’t know? ‘Cause she’s smiling so big in her police mug shot it’s making some people wonder.
Police in Cullman, Alabama say the 33-year-old salon owner is facing 25 charges related to drug trafficking and practicing medicine without a license.
Her arrest comes following an investigation into forged prescriptions used at multiple local pharmacies to obtain controlled narcotics, investigators say.
It’s a breaking story and before we even recorded this segment, Cullman Police asked the public’s help to find Whitney’s dad, Kelvin Neil Cheatham, because he’s wanted on drug trafficking charges, too.
Police say he's wanted on multiple felony charges, including drug trafficking, that are connected to the ongoing investigation at Infusion Wellness and Spa, where his daughter Whitney was taken into custody on August 16, 2025.
Besides her father also being wanted by police, Whitney Cheatham’s arrest comes three months after her newly wed husband was arrested for traveling to have sex with who he thought was a 15-year-old girl in Blount County, Alabama, but it turned out to be someone posing as a minor for the show “Take Down with Chris Hansen.”
This case has been brewing for some time, and we’ll stay with it as it plays out. Tell us what you think about the case and this bougie mug shot?!
Join us for “What in the cornbread hell is going on in Cullman, Alabama?! Whitney Cheatham and Kody Smith.”
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Gulf Breeze parent Tara Kamm is speaking out in the wake of the arrest of recent Gulf Breeze High School graduate Matthew McChesney, who has plead not guilty to possessing, trading and sharing 23 counts of CSAM.
The incident has shaken the whole community and Kamm wants to see parents take the passion they feel over the Santa Rosa County School District’s handling of McChesney and put it into action and implement changes.
Kamm is in a position to know.
Unfortunately, she’s had to deal with investigations of sex crimes involving children before, including her own daughter who former substitute teacher Richard Mack pleaded no contest to touching inappropriately in 2018.
Kamm is talking for the first time publicly about what the four victims and their families say happened after the 9-year-old Gulf Breeze Elementary students went to administrators for help when they say Mack touched them in the classroom.
She and the other girls’ families filed and settled a lawsuit against the district, several years ago, for ignoring red flags that Mack had been blocked from teaching at several local schools before he was allowed to work at Gulf Breeze Elementary.
Kamm said Asst. Principal Kim McChesney, Matthew McChesney’s mother, dropped the ball from the moment the girls told her what happened including initially only reporting two victims instead of four, asking the girls to demonstrate how he touched them, and implying the girls were “prepped” to accuse him and “egged” him on.
These allegations, the recent arrests in Gulf Breeze of more than one teacher for crimes involving sex and minors, and lackluster response some parents say they’ve seen from school district administrators have kicked the lid off of Pandora’s box.
Join us for the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast “Santa Rosa School District under fire over handling of Matthew McChesney investigation.”
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The arrest of recent Gulf Breeze High School graduate Matthew McChesney on 23 CSAM charges has set off a safety alarm for parents and the Santa Rosa County School District.
In part, because he was arrested the same month that 36-year-old Gulf Breeze High School hospitality teacher and a private team soccer coach Molly Mersereau, was arrested for grooming and having a sexual relationship with a minor student.
Both cases grabbed national headlines and in both cases the suspects seemed to allow self-will to override common sense.
McChesney's alleged crimes involving possession of images of children in sexual acts - ranging in age from infants and toddlers to elementary age students and teens - also ensnared his mother in the community's outrage and concern over the case.
Kim McChesney is Asst. Principal of Gulf Breeze Elementary School and parents are demanding answers from school district leaders about why she allowed her son to take part in the annual tradition of high school seniors walking the halls of Gulf Breeze Elementary in May, and even high-fiving students, when their home had just been searched and he was still under investigation for sharing and trading graphic pornographic images of children around the same age.
That coupled with what parents say was her mishandling of an investigation years earlier involving the questioning of several young girls who accused their substitute teacher of touching them inappropriately has many parents at a boiling point, but the school district's response has not cooled their concerns.
Although Mersereau was let go from her job by the school board, which happened the day after we recorded this episode, the district's investigation into the McChesney's is said to be focused on child safety.
However, many parents aren't convinced.
During the Aug. 7th school board meeting, the McChensey incident was sandwiched in between scolding a charter school for a poor grade and the school district leaning away from allowing fireworks at schools, two issues that seemed to draw more passion from school board members than the McChesney arrest which had also brought outraged parents to the meeting.
Superintendent Karen Barber said she understood why parents were upset and that the district was investigating and dedicated to child safety, but the questions remain about who knew what and when as to Matthew McChesney's alleged crimes.
Join us for the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast, "Gulf Breeze Grad Matt McChesney Busted for CSAM, Teacher Molly Mersereau Arrested for Illicit Student Relationship."
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A poor teenager from Louisiana had few options when he was charged with the murder of a local, prominent pharmacist in St. Martinville in 1946.
In a town full of secrets, Willie Francis was the perfect scapegoat.
He couldn’t even afford the defense attorney who eventually took over his case and his dad paid with two sacks of potatoes.
Willie was convicted after a quick trial with little evidence, but executing him for the capital crime proved to be harder than finding him guilty of it.
No parish wanted to be known for housing the electric chair, so it travelled to wherever the convicted convict sentenced to die was located.
Willie was strapped to so-called “Gruesome Gertie” by an intoxicated guard and an even drunker trustee inmate who botched the execution and Willie survived being electrocuted - the first time.
The mistake opened the door for an appeal, but the same system that unfairly charged and convicted the teen was not quick to admit any mistakes.
Join us for more on this mis execution of justice in the next episode of Gulf Coast Confidential, “Twice Electrocuted, Once to Die: the trial and execution of Willie Francis.”
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Convicted killer Bernie Tiede is such a character that his true-crime case caught the attention of Hollywood, and he was featured in the film “Bernie,” who was portrayed by actor Jack Black.
In fact, the performer was so impressed with Bernie’s magnanimous personality Black would like to see him released from prison and the film’s producer and director, Richard Linklater, liked Bernie so much he let Bernie live with him between cases.
Half the town of Carthage, Texas, would agree with them, that Bernie has done his time and should be out simply because he’s so likeable and the woman he was convicted of killing was known for being crochety.
81-year-old Marjorie Nugent was his friend and companion, but in November of 1996, Bernie shot her four times in the back after he said she repeated belittled and stayed him on so much he just “snapped.”
He hid her body in a freezer for months before friends and family finally pushed for answers.
Join us for more on the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast, “Good Ol’ Bernie Tiede – Mortician Extraordinaire – Made Millions from Make-up to Murder.”
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A beautiful, fresh-faced Carrollton, Georgia teen who openly grieved for her mother and stepdad on Tik Tok was arrested on July 8, 2025, and was accused of fatally shooting this past February.
Sarah Grace Patrick, 17, was charged with murder of her mom, Kristin Brock, 41, and her stepfather James Brock, 45. They were found dead in their home on Feb. 20th, “deceased from apparent gunshot wounds.”
Their five-year-old daughter was the one who found the Brocks dead in their bed, and then told her big sister, Sarah, who then in turn called 9-1-1.
That call would launch a five-month long investigation that involved local and federal law enforcement.
A week and a half after the shooting, Sarah posted some sweet sentiments about her mom and dad saying the she “missed them” especially at night.
The teen was active on Tik Tok before and after the crimes, her account shows everything from her glamorous side to typical teen fun. At times reaching out to popular true crime influencers to suggest that they cover her parents’ murders, adding that “it would be a big hit.”
She even reached out to Ophelia “Mama Tot” Nichols in Mobile, Alabama, because she “needs a mama.”
With no weapon found, no forced entry, and nothing stolen from the home and only the adults and two girls being in the house, some folks were shocked, baffled, and curious about what happened, while police Sarah continued to elicit sympathy and attention online.
Now she’s behind bars claiming she is innocent, and members of the family are divided over her guilt. One thing’s for certain, the Brocks’ five-year-old daughter will now have to grow up without her mommy and daddy.
Join us for the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential Podcast “Wanna be Teen Tik Tok star Sarah Grace Patrick called 9-1-1, Charged with Double Murder.”
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Right here in our little slice of Paradise is the home for fun, sun, fitness, beach, boating, swimming, surfing, dining on seafood...nothing could be more beautiful and wholesome.
It's the perfect backdrop for an enviable highlight reel for any Social Media Content Creator! So how would one know if this was Real or just an Illusion...
Well Tik Tok has never been a platform known for people holding their tongue and creators and audiences alike serve up the tea, hot, cold, sweet, or bitter.
No one knows that better now than the almost famous "Gulf Coast Stapletons," a wanna be influencer couple on Tik Tok who split their time between Pensacola, Florida and Birmingham, Alabama, showcasing their easy breezy, childless lifestyle.
The couple drew the outrage of online followers and others when Josh Stapleton, one half of the "Gulf Coast Stapletons," was sentenced to 5 years in prison and 15 years of probation after pleading guilty to 20 counts of sexual exploitation of children.
The arrest made headlines in Josh's home state of Georgia and across the country where investigators say he dowloaded some 40 images of CSAM or Child Sexual Abuse Material which according to the indictment included pictures of pre-pubescent children in various of types of bondage, even on playground equipment.
The investigation was launched five years ago and Josh Stapleton was just sentenced June 24 and started serving his time.
Many of the couple's more than 80,000 followers called the Stapletons out for pretending to be something they weren't - normal and wholesome - because it turns out the second half of the couple, Brittani Stapleton, said, "Absolutely, I knew about this," when he was first investigated five years ago and yet they were married and she was okay with it.
She even said their friends who had children were okay with it because they told them about it and a lot of those friends had their back.
The situation has highlighted that social media highlight reels aren't always what they seem and folks feel betrayed that these two were posing in the most beautiful place with some of the ugliest behavior just beneath the surface.
Join us for the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast, ’Absolutely I knew’: Gulf Coast Stapleton’s Brittani standing by her man Josh on CSAM charges.
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Jerry Odum was always trying to find a way out of commitments or promises that he made himself.
He would be the first to let you know he was the smartest person in the room and drop it in when he could that he was "a millionaire."
A non-stop pathological liar who would lie about any and every thing, even when it wasn’t necessary.
If Jerry had given Vickie Edge an ounce of the sympathy he gave himself, he might not have killed her.
But that's what he did in August of 2020. He told investigators it was the only option he thought he had when faced with the realization that his lies about having money and getting married were about to blow up in his face.
Instead, he beat his betrothed, Vickie Edge, to death with a baseball bat that he bought just for that purpose.
He didn’t even make any effort to bathe himself after the murder he just “wiped off with a brown rag."
And the ultimate insult was to disrespect Vickie not only in life but in death, too.
He just threw a pink and white comforter over her because he couldn’t stay in his own house with “the body."
The murder happened during the COVID-19 pandemic. Jerry plead guilty and was sentenced in February 2021, just seven months after he killed Vickie, and the entire incident was missed by many.
She was beloved by many for her generous spirit, kind heart and her dedication to family and friends.
Join us for the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast, "What in the murder and matrimony in Milton: The Jerry Odum story."
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What goes on in someone else’s mind is a mystery, unless they let you in on the secret.
Benjamin Elliott was a studious, intelligent teen who was “enamored” with his dad’s sword collection and a survival knife his dad gave him.
Pretty normal hobbies for a young man from Texas, but what was not normal was what he did with the knife.
He unsheathed it in the middle of the night, then walked across the hall to the bedroom of his sleeping twin sister, Meaghan, where he stabbed her twice in the neck.
As she bled to death, he placed a pillow on her face to stifle any effort she made to scream, prosecutors said.
But Benjamin says he didn’t do it any of it on purpose, that he was experiencing parasomnia, or sleeping walking, when he killed her.
He controlled the situation so well he didn’t even wake up his parents when he attacked her.
His dad awoke when he heard the voice of a 911 operator on the phone with his son who had called in the emergency without any sense of urgency or panic.
And the case only gets crazier from here.
Join us for this bizarre episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast, “Bloody Nightmare: Sleepwalking teen Benjamin Elliott stabs twin sister to death in waking ‘nightmare.’”
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Sexy, classy-looking men dancing for dollars and putting on a show for women.
The neveau concept revolutioned not only Indian immigrant Steve Banerjee's Los Angeles nightclub, that was barely getting by on disco and backgammon, but it also caught fire across the country, thanks in part to the cast of characters that helped Banerjee launch the dancers including former Playboy model Dorothy Stratten.
Women would line up out the door to experience the for-women-only "fantasy" of the Chippendales Dancers performance, which grew from the humble beginnings of guys bumping-and-grinding in gym shorts to wearing cuff and collars and sleek tear-a-way pants.
But behind the scenes of the wildly successful enterprise, Banerjee grew more jealous by the day of his business partner, the creative genius Nick DeNoia, who grew the Chippendales Dancers from a sleezy nightclub act to a sophisticaed, nationwide production named after a high-end line of antique furniture because Banerjee thought it sounded "classy."
Instead of sharing the stage and their financial fortune, Banerjee's murderous greed imploded their partnership, their futures and their lives.
Join us for the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast, “Jealousy, Greed, G-strings, and Gyrations: The Chippendale Murders.”
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Jeannine Jaramillo, of Albuquerque, who was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder in connection with a fatal car crash in 2022.
Jaramillo made a frenzied 911 call claiming to have been kidnapped, leading to a police chase on I-25 in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
During the pursuit, Jaramillo sped the wrong way on the interstate, causing a head-on collision that killed Santa Fe police Officer Robert Duran and retired firefighter Frank Lovato.
Investigators found out that Jaramillo had faked the kidnapping and she alone was responsible for the deadly crash.
She had even done this fake kidnapping ruse before with the same incredulous details…similar incidents, including leading police on chases in stolen vehicles and claiming to have been held hostage.
A jury convicted Jaramillo of the murder charges, and she was sentenced to two life sentences plus nearly eight additional years.
Even after all of these facts came out in her trial, Jaramillo managed to to lob one last insult and act of disrespect to the victim’s families by claiming that SHE herself was the victim and the Police caused the fatalities and should have never even pursued her!
Can you believe that? Totally heartless!
Join us for the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast, Head on Killer: Jeannine Jaramillo."
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We all want special attention from time to time, but would you fake your own kidnapping?
Would you spin a tale that puts you as a hero for possibly saving a half-dressed toddler from the busy I-459 Birmingham traffic in the dark of the night?
Would your tale include leaving your bright red luxury car still running on the side of the road with all your belongings still inside?
Well, this is only a small part of Ms. Carlethia "Carlee" Nichole Russell did as a cry for attention or perhaps an attempt to get help for her mental health.
This self-made "Gone Girl" had even watched "Taken" a movie about kidnapping, internet searched the questions "how much does an Amber alert cost?" and "how much is a one way bus ticket?"
Hoover Police were there within five mintues after she called 9-1-1 call and said she saw a toddler toddling toward traffic. So the journey begins!
Carlee was gone and stayed that way for two days.
When she finally emerged, she popped up from the woods right near her home.
Her story of what happened was even wilder than her fake report of the imagined toddler and the details are still murky of how she spent those 49 hours.
Join us for the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast, "Carlee Russell kidnap hoax: 911’d an invisible toddler."
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“I was addicted to speed,” 18-year-old Chase Jones told the Judge at his sentencing. He pled guilty to Four counts of vehicular homicide for the deaths of 38-year-old Andrea S. Hudson, 12-year-old Boyd "Buster" Brown, 13-year-old Matilda Wilcoxson, and 12-year-old Eloise Wilcoxson.
Jones was also charged with Two counts of vehicular assault for the injuries to Hudson’s children, Nolan and Charlotte.
The crash happened in a community outside Seattle. Police say Jones was weaving in and out of traffic and reached speeds of up 112 mph when ran a red light and collided with Andrea Hudson's minivan, killing her and three children, and injuring two other children.
For his crimes, a judge sentenced Chase Jones to 17 and a half years.
The families shared the heartbreak and grief they will experience the rest of their lives, at his sentencing. Birthdays, weddings, graduations, and other moments of joy and happiness they will never have changed their lives forever.
Join us for the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast, "Teen Chase Jones Addicted to Speed Kills Four."
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Pace Pharmacy is the target of a multi-agency bust that accuses the pharmacist-in-charge of running his business like a traveling medicine show in the Wild West: Step right up and order your own customized version of a bottle of Dr. Feelgood from the head man in charge!
Pharmacist Stephen Burklow’s arrest report paints a picture of a man accused of slinging drugs just for the buck and not for your health.
People were traveling from thirty and forty miles away to buy drugs from Burklow, and he was making cash as fast as his business was making and selling pills, according to police and interviews with past employees and confidential informants.
Detectives say he took cash any way he could, at the pharmacy drive-thru, at the back door, hidden in the office generator, from special delivery drivers who passed cash from customers who paid from the comfort of their own home, as well as a good-old fashioned, slipping-you-the-cash handshake.
Most people trust their local pharmacist to do the right thing and put a patient’s health first.
In this case, investigators say he ran a highly organized pill-making and distribution operation that operated more like an auto assembly line instead of a pharmacy.
Join us for the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential Podcast, “Pace Pharmacy: Accused of compounding a pill mill.”
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As a pioneer of Robotic Surgery, brilliant and likeable Dr. Ingolf Harry Tuerk was used to things going his way.
Tall, smart, good looking, and buff he was living his best life!
Perhaps his great life could be even better when he decided to check out a dating app. That’s where he met the beautiful and fun, 45-year-old single mom of three, Kathleen McLean.
After a few years of dating, a wedding at a tacky Drive Thru Chapel in Las Vegas, a prenup, a few spirited arguments over infidelity, and even some good vacays and family nights their tumultuous relationship came to a head.
Dr. Ingolf Tuerk found himself charged with Murder!
Things got ugly and physical during a fight that went too far and good sense was blurred by alcohol and jealousy.
The former Olympian Dr. Tuerk admits he "snapped" and made some “bad moves”
What he does next is incredulous and savage, especially at the hands of one who promised to “First Do No Harm."
Join us for the heartbreaking story of "Dr. Ingolf Tuerk, renowned robotics surgeon, snapped and choked his wife."
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Alexa Bartell was simply driving home from work late one Wednesday night. Something almost everybody does every day.
She was especially happy that evening on April 19, 2023. The 20-year-old woman loved her family, she loved her job at a flooring company where she worked with her mom, and she loved her new girlfriend who she was going to see that night.
Life was going great – until three teenagers in another car hurled a heavy rock at her windshield that hit with the force of a cannon.
We’ve all had a piece of gravel ding our windshield, but a 9-pound landscaping rock, thrown at 104 mph into oncoming traffic hit Alexa with enough force to cause her skull to explode.
All because these young men were bored and wanted to entertain themselves. They were so excited when her car ran off the road they drove back and took a selfie with the vehicle, never once checking on the woman inside they had killed.
Afterall, this was the latest car in a series of rock throwing incidents, as many as 19, they are suspected to have caused and hurt several other people.
While everyone agreed the teens were to blame, there were different stories about who threw the rock that killed Alexa, until two of the young men, Zachary Kwak and Nicholas “Mitch” Karol-Chik, agreed in a plea deal that it was Joseph Koenig.
The left-handed driver had shot-put the rock straight at Alexa’s windshield as they drove past, killing her instantly.
Find out what the jury thought about these adrenaline junkies in the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast, “Rock throwing Joseph Koenig and gang punished for high-speed murder of Alexa Bartell.”
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An All-American young man was enjoying the best time of his life in college when he was arrested for the murder of Kent Heitholt, a popular sports editor in their hometown of Columbia, Missouri.
The tall and strapping Heitholt was found beaten and strangled in the newspaper parking lot after getting off late from work on Halloween night 2001.
The case went cold quickly, and police had no leads until Charles ‘Chuck’ Erickson said he had a dream after reading an article revisiting the unsolved murder.
Chuck said he dreamed that he and his friend Ryan Ferguson may have killed the reporter after partying that night in the same area where Heitholt was killed.
Chuck said he was so high on drugs the night of the murder, including cocaine, Adderall, and alcohol, he wasn’t sure they killed Heithold, but in his drug-addled mind he speculated that he and Ferguson could have been the two shadowy figures witnesses saw at the scene.
The hazy, disjointed, and incomplete account didn’t stop Chuck from confessing or dragging Ryan into the investigation.
And it didn’t stop police and the prosecution from building a case on a string of mistakes, lies, and manipulation that ended up sending both young men to prison.
Chuck Erickson cut a deal for 25 years in prison and he testified that Ryan was the main killer, who was sentenced to 40 years in prison.
But Ryan Ferguson and his dad never gave up hope that he would be freed and eventually his father’s relentless pursuit of the truth paid off and his son was exonerated.
Join us for the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast, “Chuck Erickson’s dream becomes Ryan Ferguson’s nightmare!”
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Is your mouth a murder weapon? Can a bully cry self-defense? And what's up with Kanye West and Nitrous Oxide?
We're talking about three cases in this episode of Gulf Coast Confidential.
The first is Penelope McGee. If someone is arguing with you, is it your responsibility to make sure they don't die?
Socialite Penelope McGee was arguing with her ex-husband, Andrew Savitz, when he died of a heart attack.
The prosecution claimed she was the aggressor who knew his heart was weak. She said she was defending herself from him.
When a couple is having a heated argument, it's more common for people to end up in jail than the morgue. Weigh in on this he said/she said case...
And, at a Tampa dog park, a former U.S. Marine and martial arts expert wanted his bark to be as big as his bite, but he needed a gun to do it.
Gerald Radford was charged with second degree murder with an enhancement for hate crime for shooting and killing Walt Lay, a gay man.
The two often ran into each other because they regularly brought their pets to the same Tampa dog park.
Witnesses say Radford often picked on Walt about being gay and one day Radford brought a gun to what should have been a fist fight and the unarmed Walt was killed.
In this Florida man story, Radford claimed he shot in self-defense and argued he was standing his ground when he killed him. More on his trial!
And, it's nothing new for celebrity Kanye West to make headlines, but lately it has taken a strange turn that is no laughing matter.
Kanye's ex chief of staff says the musician's dentist fed his addiction for Nitrous Oxide and even tried to get the star to support his own brand of Whippets, the slang term for using the gas for non-medical use.
Kanye's staff said he had been acting "weird," but how would one know?
Join us for the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast, “Three-Fer: Penelope McGee, Gerald Radford, and Kanye West.”
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Dr. David Diffine made himself famous on Instagram as “Naked Dr. Dave.” Now many more agencies are on to him since he sauntered naked through his Arkansas doctor’s office.
He did don a ball cap, but that’s all he had on when he walked into the reception area and exposed himself to several women who worked with him, including one who was also a patient.
Office surveillance video of Dr. Diffine casually strolling through his office and performing a sex act in front of and onto staff was sent to the Arkansas Board of Medicine, last summer, along with a complaint that he used pay raises and his position as a doctor to groom patients and employees into sexual acts.
Perhaps new signs are being printed right now that say no shirt, no shoes, no PANTS, no service.
Diffine denies the accusations and says he is a Naturist, but the Arkansas Board of Medicine issued an emergency suspension of his license, and he is facing civil litigation.
Watch with care and maybe some anti-nausea medication when you join us for the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast, “Arkansas Dr. David Diffine: The Naked Truth…and we really mean Naked!”
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Lawd hammercy, if you like drama, trauma, and incredulous cases, don’t look any further than Florida!
From one end of the Gulf Coast to another, we’re swimming in sass, sorrow, and the worst kind of decision making.
In Wauchula, Tracy Nix learned she would be spending years in prison for forgetting her 9-month-old granddaughter and leaving her to die in a hot car.
Tracy took the stand for the first time in her emotional sentencing hearing, but her daughter was perhaps the most heartbreaking, demanding justice from her own mother for the deaths of two of her children, less than a year apart. Rest in Peace Ezra and Uriel.
Over in Punta Gordon, a young fisherman was minding his own business on his boat under a bridge, when Brock Horner, the self-proclaimed “best charter captain you will ever meet in your ‘m-f’ing’ life,” decided to showboat for his buddies and pick a fight with 22-year-old Gage Towles who was by himself.
Towles recorded Horner’s angry, curse-filled tirade as Horner falsely accused him of a near collision and boarded the young man’s boat, grabbing his shirt and demanding an apology.
Now, Horner is the person apologizing as his career and character are getting picked apart on social media.
Even though every picture on Towles’ social media is a picture of him holding a fish, he is reportedly taking a break from his favorite pastime.
Throughout the entire encounter, the level-headed Towles proves to be the most mature and maybe we could all learn a little something from him that cooler heads prevail.
If the excessive use of “bro” or words that begin with “F” or “M F” offend, you listen with care.
The lives of the families in both of these cases will never be the same. Just us for an update on them in the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast!
Everybody’s got an opinion and we’d love to hear yours! Leave us a question or a comment!
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Tracy Nix was enjoying her retirement years…until two of her young grandchildren died on her watch.
Up until the back-to-the-back tragedies she had no time clock, no boss, no worries and the freedom to pursue her hobbies and passions, like playing the piano.
In fact, she was practicing piano for several hours when she forgot that her 7-month-old granddaughter was strapped into a car seat in the back of her 2019 red Lexus on a 90-degree day in Florida.
Sadly, Baby Uriel died and horrifically this was the first time that a child under 18 months died in her care.
Less than a year earlier, 16-month-old Ezra, Uriel’s brother, drowned in a duck pond while he was staying with his Tracy and his granddad.
A time of your life that should normally be joyful, delightful, and fun with family and friends has turned into the very worst years of Tracy and her entire family’s lives and they’ll never be the same.
No charges were pressed against Tracy for Ezra’s death, but she was charged with aggravated manslaughter for Uriel’s death.
Was she forgetful, medicated, or just plain evil?
Join us for more on the heartbreaking trial in this episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast, “Forgetful Grandma Tracy Nix: Hot car baby death,” and be sure to watch or listen until the end where there’s another, unexpected plot twist.
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Crime over a slip ‘n slide. Jordan Henning lied and lied. Ashley Henning was shot and died, Murder, justified? You decide.
Ashley Henning, Sgt. 1st Class in the U.S. Army, was shot to death on her 37th birthday.
Her death was no accident or crime committed at the hands of a stranger.
She was gunned by her soldier husband, 34-year-old Jordan Henning, who was angry her 8-year-old son couldn’t remove the water hose from a slip n’ slide they had set up in the yard for the party.
Jordan was so angry with the boy for failing to unhook the hose and his mother for trying to help that a next-door neighbor came over to check on them.
Ashley Henning asked the family friend to call 9-1-1 over his terrifying behaivor, which seemed to enrage Jordan Henning even more.
The prosecution said he had “hatred in his heart” for his wife over their strained relationship.
All witnesses could testify to was his constant complaints that she didn’t have fall into his arms every time he wanted to have sex, but Jordan claimed his wife was abusive and when he berated and shot her five times on her birthday he had simply “snapped.”
You won’t believe what the jury believed about the crime.
Join us for this week’s episode of Gulf Coast Confidential “Don’t invite Jordan Henning to the party: Killer husband’s wife died over Slip ‘N Slide.”
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Sweet Joanna Otto gone, missing, but never forgotten since 1992! I didn't know you, but I have met the people who did and still mourn you.
What can happen in 30 years?
We’ve had technological changes, political shifts, global changes, disasters, and even a virus that affected the whole world
We’ve broadened this thing known as the Internet. You can get all up in someone’s private business with websites called Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Tik-Tok.
We’ve got phones we can carry in our pocket 24 hours a day. They can be used as a computer, address book, calculator, television, and even a companion.
We’ve suffered through senseless school shootings where our kids are innocent sitting in class like lil’ lambs.
We lost Princess Diana to a high-speed car crash, and said good-bye to Michael Jackson, Prince, Whitney Houston, Gorgeous Liz Taylor, Betty White, as well. Thank Heavens, we’ve still got Dolly and she looks better than ever!!
We’ve had our First Black President. Prince Charles is now King Charles. We’ve had one of our U.S. Olympic Hopeful Lady Ice Skaters kneecap her very own competition/teammate. We’ve had some wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. K-Mart went bankrupt.
Country music has changed so much that it’s cool again, like Barbara Mandrell told us it always was! We even have cars that can drive themselves and run on electricity. ️
You can have Chick-Fil-A and Krispy Kreme delivered right to your front door with in 30 minutes. Speaking of donuts, a new medication known as Ozempic is helping folks drop the pounds they never could in the past.
We now get 100’s of channels on our TV sets now. Downtown Pensacola is hip, fun, and cool, and oh yes, Phineas Phoggs is still the same, lots of fun! Damian’s Frozen Lemonade is making a comeback.
Pensacola Beach is as beautiful as ever and the World’s Largest Beach Ball (a/k/a water tower) is perched prominently for all to see! Our beaches are still the whitest and most pristine with sparkling Emerald water and waves kissing up against them.
Joe Patti’s Seafood is as busy, crazy, and second to none as ever! The Blue Angels remain awe inspiring. How do you improve on precision and perfection?
Our home state of Florida is still synonymous with Sunshine, Fun, and Paradise. Our Honorary King of Florida, Mickey Mouse is now 97 years old.
So sweet girl, a lot has changed but a lot has remained the same.
Although I do not know you personally, you have loved ones such as your Mom, Kathy Hoseid, and Best Friend, Liseth Garrett who always keep you alive in their thoughts and hearts.
You also have people in the community such as Investigative Reporter Mollye Barrows who has told your story tirelessly and as often as possible for three decades.
Retired Escambia Sheriff’s Investigator Bobby Guy, is the ultimate law enforcement professional that keeps you near and dear to his heart.
There's another interesting advancement that has popped up in these last 30 years, known as a Podcast. It’s sort of a combination of Radio, TV, and Internet and it can reach millions of more folks than our TV’s could back in 1992.
So today, Joanna Otto, we share your story in love and with respect to your family, friends, and especially your sweet Momma, Kathy Hoseid.
Here's the latest we know about your case in our Gulf Coast Confidential podcast “Missing, Foul Play Suspected: What happened to Pensacola teen Joanna Otto 33 years ago?”
Signed with Love,
Pam Hill
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Susan Smith has been called a lot of names: evil, egocentric, seductress, and murderer. One name she doesn’t deserve is mother.
In 1994, the then 23-year-old young woman claimed a man carjacked her and took off with her children who were in the backseat.
A community-wide search in Union, South Carolina went nationwide as the shocking and tragic story of the missing 3-year-old and 14-month-old boys made headlines when Susan and her devastated husband and father of the children made tearful pleas for their return.
In a shocking twist, police discovered it was no stranger who was responsible for the boys’ disappearance, but their own mother. She had let the car roll into a lake with her children inside screaming for help.
She later confessed saying she thought she was going to kill herself, too, but changed her mind at the last minute and jumped out of the vehicle, leaving her children to drown alone. She thought they were the only things standing in the way between her and her paramour who was a single, wealthy young man she had been secretly seeing and he told her in no uncertain terms he didn’t want kids.
Susan almost faced the death penalty but narrowly managed to avoid it. Now, thirty years later she thinks she deserves to be out of prison and have the opportunity to start another family because she says she’s a Christian and God has forgiven her by his grace and mercy.
Where was this grace and mercy when her babies were strapped in their carseats, calling for their momma, as the water rose in their sinking car? They were later found upside down. The hand of one child was pressed against the window.
Her life behind bars has not exactly been exemplary with accusations of seducing guards, blatantly disregarding the rules, and insisting she’s ready to be released back into society, which her ex-husband has a huge problem with, in part because she has never shown any true remorse.
Join us for the latest on this heartbreaking case that even has a tie to Pensacola, in the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast, “It’s Always the Susan Smith Show: Probation denied for Killer Mom who Drowned Sons.”
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Jimmie “Jay” Lee loved to shine. The 20-year-old Ole Miss Student was known for his love of flamboyant clothes, his Pomeranian ‘Lexie,’ and helping others.
In fact, the day his disappearance was discovered the soon-to-be social worker had missed attending a baby-formula drive and his friends and family knew something was wrong.
Jay Lee was last seen leaving his university-affiliated apartment early on the morning of Friday, July 8, 2022, wearing his gray slippers, silver robe and a gold bonnet.
Police discovered he was going to meet Timothy Herrington Jr., an Ole Miss graduate from a politically and religiously well-connected family who owned his own moving company.
The strait-laced entrepreneur had been secretly pursuing the energetic social butterfly, but he was hiding the affair from his family.
Police quickly focused on Herrington and said evidence showed he arranged for the last-minute bootie call when Jay Lee left that morning, but thought he was keeping the hook-up on the down low.
Instead, police say his internet search history clued them into to his true intentions. He searched for the phrase, “How long does it take strangle someone, Gabby Petito?” It was a true-crime case of one lover killing another that fascinated Herrington and led police to find more evidence that he was involved in Jay’s death.
Although Jay’s body was not found for over two years, he was declared dead. Prosecutors charged and tried Herrington for his murder, but it ended in a mistrial after one juror refused to convict, saying there was no body.
Now his body has been found. It had not been at the time we recorded this episode, but at the beginning of February, hunters found Jay Lee’s skeletal remains at a well-known Carroll County dumping site.
He was still wearing his favorite gold necklace that bore his name “JayLee.”
It looks like there will be another trial for Tim Herrington who claims he is innocent. Join us for more on the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast, “Ole Miss Murder Mystery: Did strait-laced Tim Herrington, Jr. kill his flamboyant hook-up, Jimmie ‘Jay’ Lee, over a bootie call?”
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Killing a customer for shoplifting seems callous and cruel, but 61-year-old Taz Zarka said he was “not a monster” for stabbing 27-year-old Mark Garrity Jr. to death on April 6, 2023.
The young man was in Taz’s family-owned, neighborhood supermarket located at the City Bus Stop in Raleigh, North Carolina when the store owner thought Mark was stealing a blue Gatorade and some ice cream.
Shoplifting was a constant problem for the businessman, he had them at least twice a day, and Garrity, who struggled with addiction, had put the drink in his bag, but he had not left the store with the items and was approaching the cash register with the ice cream in hand when Taz stabbed him with his pocket knife several times.
After the violent attack, it was business as usual for Taz who immediately began mopping the young man’s blood off the floor. Mark managed to crawl outside where he bled to death on the sidewalk while bystanders took video.
Police charged Taz Zarka with second-degree murder for the crime that was caught on the store’s camera. Was a drink with monopotassium phosphate, a bit of modified food starch, glycerol, and a dash of blue food dye number one, all that Mark Garrity, Jr.’s life was worth?
Find out what the jury thought on the next episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast, “Blue Gatorade: Is it worth your life? Store owner Taz Zarka stabs Mark Garrity.”
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It’s no secret that the Pharmacy Healthcare System is broken. Join Pam and me as we dive into the ugliness of one of the main reasons the Pharmacy Profession and Independent Pharmacies are being threatened, some pharmacists say.
We invited Johnny Brooklere, Pharmacist/Owner of Brooklere Pharmacy 💊 in Birmingham, Alabama to share his expert opinion on one of the main culprits …PBM’s (Pharmacy Benefits Managers)‼️
As Brooklere points out, they have a very big fight 🥊 on their hands‼️ A fight for survival of Independent Pharmacies and for patients to have the right to choose their Pharmacy. For the past decade or so pharmacists have been dealing with pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) — they're accused of being unnecessary, greedy middlemen between pharmacies and health insurance companies as well as drug manufacturers.
They have allegedly been helping themselves to rebates, formulary making, unscrupulous pricing practices, inflating generic prices exorbitantly, pocketing differentials, creating one hefty reimbursement for chain stores and a so-called "wimpy" and watered down version to Independent Pharmacies for the exact same medication 💊.
PBM’s are owned by the Big Chains and independent pharmacists question how fair that is, when they say they welcome healthy competition.
According to some experts, PBM’s are limiting your choice of Pharmacies, causing ridiculously high costs, delaying your medication 💊 due to prior authorizations, and making deals with brand name manufacturers so you can’t have access to generics.
Watch 👀 our Special Podcast Episode and learn about PBM’s (Pharmacy Benefits Managers) called “Unnecessary Middle Men force Patients to pay 💰 more for Prescriptions‼️”
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As unbelievable as it is that a surgeon could mistakenly remove a man’s liver instead of his spleen, the lawsuit filed over the alleged wrongful death of 70-year-old Bill Bryan says that his fatal operation is just the latest in a series of surgical errors by the same surgeon enabled by a system geared to protect doctors.
According to the lawsuit filed by Beverly Bryan, Bill’s widow, what seems like a shocking, incredulous, and one-in-a million type of blunder that happened to her husband, was part of a larger pattern of mishaps, near misses, and mistakes that were either never reported or under reported.
The lawsuit says it was Ascension Sacred Heart’s reporting system that created the culture which led to Bill Bryan’s tragic death, a culture that minimized and overlooked adverse events like wrong-site surgeries and repeated mistakes by doctors including an orthopedic surgeon, Dr. David Heekin.
He worked for a hospital in Jacksonville, Florida, under the same owner and is facing 522 lawsuits for a range of surgical errors including some that resulted in amputation.
Join us as we discuss the details in this episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast, “Lawsuit over Dr. Shaknovsky’s wrong-site liver surgery: Pandora’s Box Opened.”
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Murder changes everyone. When lives are suddenly and horrifically cut short, the loss also shatters those who love them.
But they aren’t the only ones who suffer.
First responders who are first on the scene see it, too. Firefighters, paramedics, and police all witness the worst people can do to each other. It’s rewarding to help people who suffer, but it can take a terrible toll.
They may not know those who died, but witnessing the aftermath can leave long-lasting trauma. Finding others who can relate and help them process what they’ve seen can be hard.
Retired Santa Rosa Sheriff’s Deputy Patric Gibson was the first person who arrived at Sharon Aydelott’s house on Christmas Eve, 2013, after her ex-husband called 911 to report seeing her bloody body in the doorway of her Gulf Breeze home.
The 48-year-old middle school science teacher and mother of two, was lying in a pool of blood, her face stabbed and beaten beyond recognition. Sharon’s family later confirmed her identity with her hands.
Patric was the first person to witness what her then 17-year-old son Brandon Aydelott later confessed to doing. But there’s no time to process horror when you have a job to do.
As Brandon’s latest case status check hearing approaches on Feb. 20 at 9:00 a.m., his first since he was transferred from Florida State Hospital to a step-down facility in Tallahassee, here’s a first-person account from a first responder who shares his experiences and thoughts on crime, trauma, and justice.
We are grateful to Patric for accepting our invitation to talk about his experiences and we invite you to listen to what he shared in our latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast, “First on the scene: First responders suffer in silence.”
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A man’s home is his castle and that was certainly the case for Brian Camp, when an unknown intruder broke into his home and attacked him while he, his girlfriend, and their children were sleeping.
The intruder turned out to be Johnathan Letendre, his girlfriend’s jealous ex-boyfriend.
Naked, unarmed, and asleep, Brian came up out of bed fighting for his life. He didn’t know who Johnathan was at the time or that he had brought a knife and pair of handcuffs when he broke into their apartment.
For twenty minutes, the two men fought hard, grappling, gouging, and swinging for the upper hand. Finally, Brian managed to find a gun and he shot his attacker. He then called 911 and went and checked on his family, when he saw Johnathan moving and shot him again, this time fatally.
Police charged Brian with the death. Although, it seemed like a clear case of self-defense, prosecutors said the second shot wasn’t necessary and tried him for manslaughter.
What would you do to protect your family and yourself in your own home?
Find out what the jury thought in the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast, “Boyfriend shot girlfriend’s jealous ex-boyfriend: Don’t F-A-F-O with Brian Camp.”
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From historic snowfall to an unprecendented terror attack early on New Year's Day, January 2025 has been one for the record books for New Orleans.
The Big Easy is always a good time. It's a city open to celebration no matter what day of the week or month of the year, there's always good food, drink, dancing and debauchery.
For folks in Northwest Florida, and all along the Gulf Coast, it's often the first place you think of for fun and the last place you'd imagine someone would target for terror.
But that's what 42-year-old Shamsud-Din Jabbar did. He didn't come to celebrate, he came to seek, kill, and destroy.
Police say he used a truck as a high-speed battering ram down Bourbon Street, one of the most jubiliant destinations in the South, knocking people down like bowling pins and crushing them under his tires.
As if that wasn't enough, investigators say they found IEDs in his cooler and strategically placed in the French Quarter, along with an ISIS flag on the back of the truck he rented to allegedly kill people.
Jabbar's three-block reign of terror ended with the deaths of 15 people, including himself, and he injured 35 others before he was stopped.
The Crescent City is always going to be NOLA Strong and will never be dampened by devils, even though this one tried. Join us for the latest episode of Gulf Coast Confidential podcast, "Let the Good Times Roll: Terror truck attack too Easy in the Big Easy."
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Dixie Denise Villa ran an unlicensed daycare on base in Hawaii. She had several children of her own and would often help other families with their kids because of a lack of childcare.
In 2019, Anna Lobisch begged Dixie to watch her 7-month-old baby, Abi, because Anna needed to study for some classes and had other appointments. Despite having her hands full with her own children and some teenagers, Dixie agreed.
Tragically, Abi was found dead the following morning at Villa’s house and an autopsy found the baby died from an overdose of antihistamine, like Benadryl.
Dixie denied ever giving the baby any Benadryl and evidence showed with a house full of people anyone could have given it to the child including her own mother, Anna, who had taken the medication as a sleep aid, and it was likely in her breast milk that she gave to Dixie to feed her child.
Authorities charged the overwhelmed and unlicensed daycare operator with manslaughter, and Dixie faces up to 20 years in prison for Abi’s death, even though it has since come out that Anna lied, a lot.
She was actually meeting another man for an adulterous tryst when she asked Dixie to keep Abi, and she told police she was allergic to antihistamines even though it turned out she was taking the medication to help her sleep.
Police never searched the mother’s house or tested her breast milk, insisting that Dixie was to blame. Her trial has been rescheduled 13 times.
If she had lived, Baby Abi would be six years old and if nothing else, it’s a cautionary tale that just because medications are over the counter doesn’t mean they’re necessarily safe for children and it’s good to consult with a doctor or a pharmacist.
Join us for more on this mysterious overdose death in the next episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast, “Bendadryl, Babysitter, and Breastmilk: What Happened to Baby Abi Lobisch?”
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Jade Janks was a hip and fashionable young woman who had a vibrant and wholesome style that made her a favorite with family and friends, and fueled her successful career as an interior decorator in California.
Even though her mom had divorced her stepdad, Tom Merriman, Jade remained close with the co-founder of a butterfly farm and dutifully agreed to help take care of him as his health deteriorated.
Merriman’s health issues left him an invalid and Jade lived next door to help him. He relied on the young woman heavily and she even had dinner with him every night. She considered him family.
That’s why Jade vomited when she inadvertently discovered Merriman had nude photos of her on his computer in 2020. Jade didn’t confront her former stepdad, but she told friends what happened saying the experience had left her in shock and disgust, to the point she couldn’t even shower or touch her own skin.
Not long after she found the photos, 64-year-old Tom Merriman died. Police found him in the driveway under a wheelbarrow and pile of boxes and wrapping paper left over from Christmas.
What happened to Merriman depends on who you ask.
Police say Jade was angry at him because of the photos, strangled him and tried to hide his body until she could move it.
Jade admits she was upset with Merriman but adamantly denied killing him.
Merriman, who was addicted to opioids and Ambien, was often intoxicated. The night he died, Jade had just picked him up from the hospital after he had been sick again. She said he was out of it and the people she had called to help her move him inside didn’t show up, so she decided to let him sleep it off in the car.
She said she later found Merriman had died and she tried to move him back inside his house, but she couldn’t, so she covered his body in the driveway, worried she would be blamed for his death.
So, did she, or didn’t she kill her stepfather?
Listen to see, in the next episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast, “Secret stache of nudes leads Jade Janks to kill her stepdad.”
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Alabama’s oldest, active cold case is a wild, real-life tale of three cousins who disappeared one night in 1956 after heading off to a party in the moonshining, mountain country of northern Jefferson County, Alabama.
Their family never saw them again.
The theories as to what happened to Robert Earl Dye, Billy Howard, and Dan Brasher are believed to be part truth, part gossip, and part urban legend.
Did they get caught stealing from a bootlegger?
Were they thrown down an abandoned mine shaft?
Shot in a cave?
Or are they buried in their truck somewhere underneath Highway 79?
The young men were last seen leaving a relative’s home in Billy’s 1947 green, Ford truck headed for the party. The cousins worked hard and partied harder, so no one was too concerned when they failed to show up for a couple of days.
Folks got worried, though, when they missed payday at their construction job and a search began that would last decades. All they ever found was a few tantalizing clues and wild theories, but most agree moonshine was involved.
Members of their family died searching for answers and a tip line for the case is still open nearly 70 years later.
Join us for a trip into the rural backwoods of Alabama in the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast, “Moonshine, Murder, and Missing Men in the Mountains: the Unsolved Mystery of The Brasher-Dye Disappearance.”
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Money is no object, especially when it’s not yours. That seemed to be the philosophy of former Indiana Sheriff Jamey Nole who was also once the star of his own reality television show on prisons, “60 Days In.”
Even though he was the highest paid public official in his county at just under $200,000 a year, he was living like he made $2 million a year because he was misappropriating money meant for the community like EMS ambulance service, and the fire department, as well as using county resources, like inmate labor, to work on his home and rental properties, and collection of classic cars.
Noel was so brazen about his corruption, he even paid his mistress’s child support with the stolen money, and spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on vacations and shopping sprees for his wife and daughter, who are also implicated in the fraudulent scheme.
Before Noel was finally busted most people were afraid to confront the politically powerful sheriff who had been besties with the governor and thought he was untouchable, until he wasn’t.
Join us for details on how he was caught in the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast, “Reverse Robin Hood Jamey Noel: The Sheriff who Stole from the People to get His.”
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Luigi Mangione, the 26-year-old man accused of assassinating the CEO of insurance giant UnitedHealthcare on the streets of New York, is being hailed as a hero by some who, like him, have experienced the pain, stress, and outrage over deteriorating health and stuck in a quagmire of what will and won’t be covered by insurance.
Police and others say he’s a murdering menace - a calculating killer who ambushed 50-year-old Brian Thompson, a husband and father of two teenage sons, and was lying in wait for the executive who never him coming until it was too late.
Mangione has since been extradited back to New York and has pleaded not guilty to murdering Thompson. It’s the start of a case that’s about more than murder for many.
It has struck a nerve with folks across the country who feel that people’s lives and quality of life are just the cost of doing business for the healthcare insurance industry.
A media circus surrounds the accused killer to the point that it took a small army for his “perp walk” and even Mangione and his lawyer appear to be “twinning,” in near matching outfits at his court hearing.
He has become such a pop icon that even universities and other countries are having look-like-Luigi contests and the prisoners incarcerated with him adore him.
It’s a hard to pill to swallow when a killer becomes a rock star.
Join us for the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast “Sick to death: Luigi Mangione guns down UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson streets of New York.”
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Why Christian Ketchup was armed at a bar the night he ran into her sister, Tierra Binion, Diamond Jordan doesn’t know. What she does know is that she wants him to be held accountable for the murder he is accused of committing.
Investigators say Christian gunned down the 25-year-old mother of twin boys in the parking lot of Mugs ‘n Jugs, a Pensacola bar popular with people around college-age.
According to deputies, Tierra and Christian’s girlfriend, Rachel DeRise, had words and the two women fought until Christian stepped in and punched several times, knocking her to the ground.
DeRise then jumped on Tierra, who was already dazed, and began punching her, witnesses say, and that’s when Christian allegedly “unloaded” his gun into the possibly unconscious woman, hitting her 10 times, the victim’s sister said.
Ketchup is charged with second degree murder and has pleaded not guilty. In the latest court filings, he is asking for more time to raise money to find a self-defense expert. His next court hearing is today, and Tierra’s sister plans to be there for the case status check.
Losing her sister is heartbreaking enough, but staying on top of the case makes it even more emotionally grueling for Diamond, especially after Christian’s co-defendant, Rachel, received a “slap on the wrist” from the court in Diamond’s opinion for her role in what happened.
No matter what, Diamond is determined to speak up for her sister and fight for her since Tierra can no longer fight for herself.
Join us and listen in on the conversation in this latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast, “New to murder: Christian Ketchup accused of killing Tierra Binion in cold blood; Victim’s sister is her voice.”
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The morning that she died, Laken Riley did everything right. The University of Georgia nursing student let her friends and her mom know she was going for a run on campus. She even shared her location on her smartwatch and told her roommates where she would be.
Despite making every effort to stay safe, the 22-year-old rule follower crossed paths with someone who broke every rule, including crossing the border illegally.
Jose Ibarra wasn’t supposed to be in the United States much less in Athens, Georgia, but he didn’t let laws stand in the way of what he wanted and when he saw Laken Riley jogging past, he decided he wanted to her, too.
Ibarra seemed to always take what he wanted. Just a couple of hours before he attacked and tried to sexually assault Laken, he had been spotted peeping in the window and trying the doorknob of the apartment of another coed, apparently on the prowl for his next victim.
Laken fought for him fiercely for nearly twenty minutes. Prosecutors say she was determined he wouldn’t rape her. Her smartwatch, meant to help keep her safe, ended up recording the evidence of her murder.
Although Laken did everything she was supposed to do, she paid the price for others who didn’t.
Join us for the latest episode of Gulf Coast Confidential on this crime of opportunity for a criminal who should never have even been here in the first place.
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Pastor Jeff Brown was doing more than just preaching to the choir when he began a love triangle with church Choir Director Cindy Reese, and tragically for Cindy’s husband, Michael, he was on the losing end.
What started as a small-town scandal escalated into a murder investigation and the trail of evidence lead from the local Piggly Wiggly grocery store and favorite burger joint to the church and eventually the Julia Tutwiler prison.
The illicit lovers thought their affair was a secret, but everybody in the tiny Alabama town knew about it, even the deacons. Everybody, that is, except for Michael Reese. Even after Jeff and Cindy were caught, they never did seek forgiveness.
The devil is in the details even to the point where they were trying to blame Michael’s murder on each other.
You’ll want to sit on the front pew for this latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast “The Pig, the Pastor and the Music Director: Unholy Love Triangle Ends in Execution-Style Murder.”
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Phil Hartman was one of Hollywood’s leading funny men. There was no impression he couldn’t make, no character he couldn’t bring to life on screen, from appearances on The Simpsons to skits on Saturday Night Live and roles in dozens of movies.
Hartman was popular and loved, on and off screen, by fans, friends, and family alike, for his easy-going ways and ability to make people laugh.
But there was nothing funny about what happened to the comedian in 1998. His wife of 11 years, Brynn, shot him to death in his sleep with their young children in the house.
According to police, friends, and witnesses, Brynn, who was also an actor and model, struggled with drinking and drugs and had a hard time playing second fiddle, in her mind, to her famous husband’s success.
She could be a supportive, and loving wife and mother when she was sober, and a jealous, spiteful woman in a rage when she was not – which was often.
Phil typically retreated into their bedroom after one of her rages. The confrontations were so contrary to his personality he usually went to sleep. Only this time Brynn refused to let it go and she shot him three times in the throat, head, and chest in a drunken fury, before driving to a friend’s house and confessing.
It wasn’t until they returned to the crime scene and the Hartman’s sleeping children that Brynn’s friends believed her and called police. Before anyone could stop her, she took her own life too.
Join us for more on the tragic, behind the scenes drama in the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast, “Heartless Hollywood Murder-Suicide: Phil and Brynn Hartman.”
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Some people can handle temptation, but apparently Ashley McArthur isn’t one of them. When her friend, police officer turned private investigator Taylor Wright, asked her to hold onto some cash, she did. Then Ashley refused to let it go.
Taylor didn’t know at the time Ashley had a lying problem, and that men, money, and friendships were simply the cost of doing business.
No matter how many times Taylor asked for her cash back, Ashley always had an excuse why she couldn’t get it to her. Finally, she agreed to go to the bank with Taylor to retrieve it. And then Taylor all but vanished.
Fortunately for investigators, Ashley left a trail of lies and deceit from Milton to Cantonment to Pensacola, and she faced an array of charges including arson, racketeering, and murder.
Police didn’t have to dig far to find the truth. Follow the corruption with us in the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast, “Taylor Wright was dead wrong about Ashley McArthur: PI killed for cash, found in shallow grave.”
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Toby Madden couldn’t commit to his longtime girlfriend when it comes to marriage, but when it comes to murder, he committed to stabbing her 55 times.
Rachelle Brewsaugh was used to Toby Madden’s meltdowns. They had been a couple for nearly thirty years and even had a daughter together.
Rachelle’s family testified that he regularly threatened her, telling her more than once he was going to “cut off her head and put it in her mother’s lap so the whole family would suffer.”
Most of the time Rachelle could appease him during one of his temper tantrums, often drug-fueled, but in October of 2022, he made good on his threat and attacked her with a knife, stabbing the 50-year-old woman all over her chest, abdomen, head, back, knees, arms, shoulders, and hands.
Her gruesome, unprovoked murder was awful enough, but Madden’s behavior at his murder trial was unhinged.
Join us for more on the next episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast, “Whiny Toby Madden says he ‘didn’t mean’ to stab common law wife 55 times: Meltdown Madden.”
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Psychiatrist Pamela Buchbinder knows how to mess with people’s heads. When she no longer wanted to split custody of the child she shared with her baby-daddy, psychiatrist Michael Weiss, she didn’t take him to court. Prosecutors say she made a plan to kill him.
That plan included brainwashing and bamboozling her bi-polar younger cousin, Jacob Nolan. His family was delighted when the accomplished and seemingly kind and caring Buchbinder offered to let Jacob live with her and help take care of her young son.
Only instead of helping him deal with his mental instability she recruits and masterminds him to fulfill a mission to murder her son’s father armed with a bizarre map of his office, a knife and a sledgehammer.
Fortunately, the tall and imposing Dr. Weiss was able to fend off the homicidal attack from the young man who was falsely told Weiss was abusing his cousin and her son.
Jacob even took a selfie of his bloody face in Michael’s office to prove to Buchbinder he did as he was asked. At Jacob’s trial for attempted murder he claimed he was under duress and only did what he did because she manipulated him and convinced him he was killing a molester and an abuser, neither of which was true.
Did the jury believe him or blame Buchbinder?
Join us for more on the case in the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast, "Doctor's Orders: How Psychiatrist Pamela Buchbinder Brainwashed Her Cousin Patient to Kill for Her!"
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Here’s the shakedown and breakdown of the latest Dr. Thomas Shaknovsky wrong site surgery. The doctor is under investigation and has had his medical license suspended by the Florida Dept. of Health after he allegedly mistakenly removed a man’s liver instead of his spleen, two easily identifiable organs for a health care professional.
The Florida Agency for Health Care Administration launched a ten-day investigation to better understand why he could allegedly make such a deadly, egregious error in the operating room during a what should have been a straightforward surgery.
Join us as we break down the state’s report to understand this incredulous case and what others in the operating room had to say about it in the latest episode of Gulf Coast Confidential podcast, “That’s the effing liver.”
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An open marriage ended in a closed casket. Laurie and Michael Shaver were together, but seeing other people…because that always ends so well, even when you’re living in the shadow of the happiest place on earth, Disney World.
But one day, Michael, who was a monorail mechanic at Disney, didn’t show up for work or anywhere for that matter. For all intents and purposes, the husband and father had all but disappeared except for a cryptic message sent to his boss, friends, and family on social media telling everyone to “leave him alone.”
And people did, for a long time. Especially his wife, who promptly had not one, not two, but three boyfriends after Michael left. She had enjoyed her newfound freedom for years, often sharing random messages from Michael, until the day his friends and co-workers became suspicious and asked for a welfare check.
Police only had to look three feet under a new slab of concrete in the backyard to find the answer, Michael Shaver was dead. His widow, who claimed to be getting messages from him, became the prime suspect. Not only did she deny it, she blamed the couple’s then seven-year-old daughter as well as one of her lovers for killing Michael who had been shot in the back of the head.
Join us for more on the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast, “A murderous third grader, deadly paramour, and a missing husband buried in the backyard: Laurie Shaver’s blame game.”
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Mississippi 14-year-old Carly Gregg shot her mom three times in the face and saved three more bullets for her stepdad. She was upset her mom had caught her vaping pot and discovered that Carly had a secret life which included a boyfriend, burner phones, and other forbidden extracurricular activities.
Security footage in the house shows that the day her mom, a school teacher, found out Carly was rebelling against the house rules, Carly walked into her room, took a gun hidden in the house and turned it on her screaming mother. Witnesses say she then invited another school friend to come and see her mom's corpse and told her to watch while she shot her stepdad who was on his way home after Carly texted him from her mom's phone to return.
She fired three times when he walked in the door but he was only wounded by one shot in the shoulder. The teen tried to plead insanity when she was charged with the shootings, but the court wasn't buying it and it only took the jury two hours to come back with a verdict.
Join us for the chilling story in the 100th episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast, "Psycho teen caught vaping pot shoots mom in the face, wounds stepdad: the deadly ‘secret life’ of Carly Gregg."
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Killing a man over his tattoos?! That’s what happened to Josh Davies, who was enjoying date night with his wife when they stopped at a popular watering hole to meet some friends. The 39-year-old was hanging out, relaxing, and minding his own business when 64-year-old Kevin Sehmer marched into the bar, already looking for a fight, prosecutors said.
Although Josh was a complete stranger, Kevin zeroed in on the younger man’s tattoos, visible on his arms, and became incensed by them. Kevin told Josh his tattoos were a sin and obscuring the work of God.
Refusing to argue, Josh stepped outside to avoid a confrontation and let Sehmer cool off. Only Sehmer didn’t seem interested in cooling off and instead determinedly followed Josh outside.
Surveillance video shows Josh was walking away again from the enraged stranger when Sehmer punched him so hard in the face Josh fell back and cracked his head on the sidewalk. The skull fractures put him in the hospital for a month, but Josh never recovered and died from the fatal blow.
Now Josh’s family say they will never recover from losing a “loving” son, father, and husband in an angry and unprovoked attack. What was Kevin Sehmer thinking?!
Join us for the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast, “Stink Over the Ink: Is a tattoo a sin? Kevin Sehmer says so!”
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Whew! There’s so much stuff happening we added an extra episode to touch on new cases and others that just aren’t going away anytime soon!
Jury selection starts Monday in the case of “Suitcase Sarah Boone,” who is on her 9th attorney, and wouldn’t you just know it, he’s James Owens from Milton, Florida, and the former Public Defender for our area.
He’s not without notoriety here in the Panhandle, with his connection to a woman and criminal suspect who died in a shootout with police after firing at them through the sunroof of her ex-husband’s black, Jaguar, “Bonnie and Clyde” style.
If the Gulf Coast wasn’t infamous enough for doctors like Ben Brown and Thomas Shaknovsky, now we’ve got Dr. Elaine Sharp, a once well-respected 72-year-old OB/GYN in Gulf Breeze who is now charged with murder, manslaughter, money laundering, and racketeering, amongst other charges.
And we’ve got several other high-drama, headline making cases at home and across the country including a high-school homecoming King who was fatally harassed by online scammers in a sextortion case. We’ve had our own deep fake picture scandal here in Pensacola and the parents of the girls who were sexualized are up in arms about it.
Join us for this bonus episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast called, “Southern Fried Crime: updates, deaths, and sextortion.”
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“That 70s Show” was one of the most popular TV shows in the1990s, taking people on a wholesome walk down memory lane down when long hair, bell bottoms, and hanging out was the norm.
One of the stars of the show was anything but wholesome in real life, according to prosecutors. Actor Danny Masterson was convicted of raping two women and sentenced to thirty to years life.
The victims said he drugged and repeatedly raped them and when they came forward with the accusations, they were allegedly shamed and attacked by members of the LAPD and the Church of Scientology for speaking up about the “heavily protected Masterson who was seen at the time as untouchable member of the Church of Scientology.”
The victims said he groomed them prior to being sexually assaulted by initially being charming but the charm gave way to undermining insults, degradation, and eventual emotional blackmail when he used their personal fears and traumas to blame them for his abuse, leading some to consider self-harm.
Join us for more on the “not cool and not so groovy” story of Danny Masterson in latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast “From That 70s Show to Prison: the Danny Masterson case.”
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Bree Kuhn seemed to want to win at all costs. The bossy, U.S. Navy Chief Petty Officer had moods as fiery as her red hair and although she often accused her husband, Collin Turner, of physical violence, according to witnesses she was the one who would attack him.
The night he died police were called to their Gulf Breeze, Florida home three times. First, Bree called insisting to officers he hurt her and demanding he be taken to jail.
They refused and left when they found signs of violence, but returned when Collin called to say she had locked him out of their house, and he was afraid to leave her with their three children, still inside.
Body cam footage showed him calmly explaining the situation to officers and with no evidence of a crime they left again. By the third call, there was no question a crime had been committed, but it was Collin who was the victim.
He reported to 9-1-1 that his wife, apparently outraged that he was still in the home, had tried to break his arm and locked him in the garage. The young father was still on the phone with the dispatcher calmly describing his predicament when a shot rang out and a shocked and wounded Collin cried out, “She shot me!
She then shot him three more times, killing him, while their traumatized children heard it all from inside the house. Their family ripped apart and destroyed because she couldn’t make him leave or get him arrested.
Bree made the same claims of abuse to a Santa Rosa County jury when she was tried for Collin’s murder, last week, but just like police, they weren’t buying it.
Join us for the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Co, podcast, “Bossy, brassy Bree kills kind-hearted husband: the Bree Khun case.”
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“Migrating” organs, doctored reports, and pressuring operating room staff to cover for his “egregious” mistakes - the Florida Department of Health made no bones about the seriousness of Destin surgeon Dr. Thomas Shaknovsky’s treatment of two patients that left one person permanently injured, and cost another man his life.
For now, the state of Florida has suspended the doctor’s license in the wake of the tragedy that killed 70-year-old Bill Bryan when Shaknovsky removed his liver instead of his spleen, by mistake.
In both cases he removed the wrong organ and, as if taking out the wrong organ wasn’t bad enough, he tried to make the operating room staff complicit with his blunder, all but daring them to defy him as he “blindly” operated on Bryan and refused to take responsibility when it was clear he had made a fatal error.
Join us for more on the emergency order issued by the Florida Dept. of Health in the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast, “Surgeon loses license after removing man’s liver instead spleen: Dr. Thomas Shaknovsky blames mistake on ‘migrating’ organ.”
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Marcia Thompson shot her husband at least six times while he lay on the couch in his underwear in their Florida home. Prosecutors said it was murder, but she claimed it was self-defense.
A U.S. Customs Agent, Marcia was getting ready to leave the house for work. That morning was no different than many others before it. Terry Thompson fired a barrage of insults and death threats toward her and their children. But this time, Marcia Thompson had enough.
She took her service weapon and shot the husband she had known since college to death. Terry was 13-years her senior and the father of their children, but he was also the man who Marcia said spent decades demeaning and assaulting her, physically and sexually, until in fear for her life, she put an end to the abuse and to him.
Join us for more in this episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast called, “Battered Spouse or Murderer: the Marcia Thompson case.”
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The truth hurts, but it killed 69-year-old Jeff German, an investigative reporter in Las Vegas.
The well-known reporter had spent more than four decades covering government and organized crime for Las Vegas’ two leading newspapers and was infamous for his fearless truth telling and confronting the powerful on behalf of the powerless.
Nothing daunted German, not even when a mobster once punched him in the face over one his articles. He took it as a badge of honor.
So, it was no surprise when German took on an elected official, Robert Telles, who was accused of abusing his county position and his employees, and creating a toxic workplace "mired in turmoil and internal dissension" caused by the administrator having an "inappropriate relationship" with a female staffer.
Telles, a former probate and estate lawyer, went on to lose his next election after German wrote a string of articles exposing Telles’ affair and the divisive mismanagement of his office. He was distraught over the loss and Telles’ mistress said he blamed German, even “hated” him, but it all part of the job for German.
Until the day the investigative reporter was found slashed to death just outside his home. German had been stabbed seven times in the neck and chest. Police believe he was ambushed and fought back before succumbing to his wounds.
Join us for how police were able to catch his killer in this episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast called “Dirty politics, a toxic boss, and a murdered reporter: The Robert Telles story.”
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Unconscious, exposed in every way. People are incredibly vulnerable when they go under in order to undergo surgery. They can’t argue, push back, or move out of the way once they’re on the operating table and under the knife.
Thinking of that helplessness breaks Beverly Bryan’s heart. Her tall, strong, and strapping husband was a force to be reckoned with when he was standing on his own two feet.
Not that Bill Bryan normally needed to be tough. The retired boilermaker’s family says he was an easy-going, Alabama football fan who loved his family and classic cars.
But when he had trouble with his spleen while on vacation in Florida, the Alabama man pushed back on the doctor’s recommendation to undergo surgery in the Sunshine State.
He said “No,” not just once, but many times.
Bill finally relented when the surgeon told him he could bleed out if he waited. Tragically, he bled out anyway. According to Bill’s medical records, he died when the surgeon mistakenly removed his liver instead of his spleen.
Bill could face a lot of challenges his wife said, but not one he never saw coming.
Join us for more in this episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast, “Death on the Operating Table: Dr. Thomas Shaknovsky accused of removing wrong organ.”
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Daniel and Stephanie Menard were well known and well liked in their small, close-knit community - Olive Dell Ranch, a family-friendly nudist resort in Colton, California.
The elderly couple loved the naturist lifestyle, their church and their little Shih Tzu, Cuddles, and they looked out for each other. Daniel Menard, 79, was a diabetic with dementia and 73-year-old Stephanie Menard, who walked with a cane.
The elderly couple had some good friends at the ranch, but their next-door neighbor, 62-year-old Michael Royce Sparks or “Sparky,” was not one of them.
Sparky told folks he “hated” the Menards because Daniel trimmed a tree that hung over into Sparks’ yard. Outside of that relationship, Sparky was pretty well liked at the ranch, too, although some people wondered why he often made so many trips to the home improvement store to buy cement.
Turns out Sparky, an apparent doomsday prepper, was hiding a few secrets that came to light when the Menards mysteriously vanished a week ago and he became the primary “person of interest” in their disappearance. Concerned about booby traps, police used a camera to investigate Sparky’s house and discovered human remains in a cement bunker beneath his house.
It took an armored truck to get him out of there. Now Sparks is charged with murder.
Join us for the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast, “The Menards Vanish: Did doomsday prepper murder elderly couple at family friendly nudist ranch?”
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Dr. Ben Brown, the Florida plastic surgeon arrested for the untimely death of his young wife, has legal battles on several fronts these days.
Brown has a pre-trial conference in Santa Rosa Count court next week on his negligent homicide charge. His attorney filed a motion to waive his appearance, but just two days ago Brown filed a motion asking to appear telephonically or virtual at the Sept. 3 hearing.
Also next week, Brown's office in Gulf Breeze, the place where he was performing several surgeries on Hillary Brown when she had seizures and coded from lidocaine toxicity last November, will be auctioned off since the bank foreclosed on the property.
And according to court records, another woman has come forward with a filing that she may sue him for medical malpractice.
In the meantime, Ben Brown still faces sanctions from the Florida Department of Health for failing to call 9-1-1 and perform basic life saving medical care on his wife after her heart stopped and for botching patient surgeries, but a hearing date has not yet been set for the Florida Board of Medicine to hear his case.
Join us for an update on Dr. Ben Brown in the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast, "Beauty Buyer Beware VII."
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Fashion to die for. Shopping and combing the racks for clothes is supposed to be fun, even necessary at times, but not deadly.
The ladies in these next two cases went shopping for all the same reasons many of us do, to buy a new outfit for a special occasion, to pick up a gift for a friend, or to just kill time. Instead, they were killed.
Police are still looking for the man who gunned down four customers, a part-time employee and the store manager at a Lane Bryant in Chicago, Illinois, in 2008. They were all taken to the back and shot and at least one of the victims was sexually assaulted.
The store manager managed to call 9-1-1 before she was killed. When police arrived, only one woman had survived to tell police what happened.
A Lululemon Athletica store in a suburb of Washington, D.C. was the site of an even grislier slaying in 2011, when store clerk Brittany Norwood murdered her co-worker Jayna Murray, after the young woman caught Brittany shoplifting.
Murray was savagely attacked, sustaining at least 331 wounds from at least five different weapons, including a knife and a hammer. Norwood even injured herself and tried to make it look like she had been attacked and tied up, but police soon cut through all her lies.
It turns out murder is never in fashion. Join us for the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast, “Lululemon and Lane Bryant Murders – Retail Can Kill Ya!”
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You’d have to be insane to kill your mother, but can you become un-insane? According to Florida State Hospital you can.
Several psychologists say Brandon Aydelott, who at 17 stabbed, slashed, beat and stomped his mother, Sharon Hill Aydelott, to death on Christmas Eve 2013 because she put him in rehab two weeks before he killed her, say he no longer meets the criteria for commitment at their facility for the criminally insane.
The 28-year-old Gulf Breeze man will be making his new home at the Apalachee Center in Quincy, Florida, once a bed opens up for at the 24/7 lockdown facility. Sharon’s sisters were hoping he would never be released from Florida State Hospital, and they question the criteria used to evaluate their nephew which is certainly not fool proof, but the best the field can do in measuring a person’s ability to not be homicidal.
They point out his life was charmed at the time he unleashed so much rage on his mother because she was worried enough about his violent and out-of-character behavior in the months leading up to his psychotic break that she led a family intervention to get him help, help he resented when the facility said his drug test came back clean. How would he handle stressors now after so much has happened, is their fear now.
Brandon Aydelott is in a secure facility now, but his mom’s family worries this is one step closer to the possibility of his release from state custody, where he’s been for years at their expense.
Join us for the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast, “Mommy Killer III: Brandon Aydelott, Moving Through the System.”
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Kendrick Johnson was known for being a talented athlete, so how did the strong, healthy 17-year-old basketball player end up dying upside down, head-first in a rolled up wrestling mat in his high school gym?
Three autopsies, two exhumations, six tennis shoes, and lawsuits seeking billions of dollars in damages later there are still more questions than answers.
Kendrick’s parents are not backing down from their belief that their son was killed by another student, the son of a local FBI agent, and that’s why they will never accept that what happened was a freak accident or give up their pursuit of justice in the mysterious death.
Join us as we dive into the latest episode of Gulf Coast Confidential, “Wrapped in the mat: Kendrick Johnson’s family still grappling with boy’s death a decade later.”
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Shot in the face. Sonya Massey called 9-1-1 over a suspected prowler, not imagining the police would take aim at her when she was in her own house.
Illinois deputy Sean Grayson, who had a history of policing at five other police departments in 3 years, as well as allegations of misconduct in the military and other issues, was one of the officer’s who answered Massey’s call.
Instead of easing her fears, he stoked them. He marched Sonya around her own home ordering her to remove a pot of what he thought was boiling water from her stove. When she scurried to do as he demanded and grabbed the pot, Grayson backed away as if she was the threat which seemingly surprised Massey.
In light of his barely veiled accusation, the 36-year-old woman told him she “rebuked him in the name of Jesus,” and Grayson immediately pulled is gun.
Even though she was down on her knees apologizing, and never made a move to throw the pot of water, Grayson shot her in the face and the head over and over, and then told the other officer with him, “no need to help, it’s a head shot.”
Now the hot-headed deputy is in hot water himself, charged with Sonya’s murder.
Join us for the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast, “Shot in the face: Deputy Sean Grayson in hot water now for killing Sonya Massey, woman who called for help.”
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Darrell Brooks plowed through the Waukesha Christmas Parade like he was in the fast lane driving home from work in rush hour traffic. He drove around barriers in his race through the Wisconsin town, rarely hitting the brakes and only honking at the performers and parade goers who lined the street for the small town’s annual, holiday celebration.
Brooks didn’t seem to care he mowed some of them down, leaving young and old dead, injured and running for their lives. When police finally caught up with him, he had ditched his red SUV and denied he was ever behind the wheel.
During the trial for his crimes, Darrell Brooks tried to bowl the court over with the same stubborn, pedal-to-the-metal attitude he showed at the parade, only this time he hit a roadblock and wound up in prison.
Join us for the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast: “Christmas Parade Crasher: The Darrell Brooks side show.”
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Sandra Birchmore had nothing but respect and admiration for the police. So much so, that at 13-years-old she joined a police explorer’s program in her hometown in Stoughton, Massachusetts. She had lost members of her own family, including her mother, and the close-knit department helped fill a void in her life.
However, several officers in the program did more than just take the teenager under their wing. According to a lawsuit, brothers Matthew and William Farwell and another officer, Robert Devine, groomed Sandra for years before having sex with the girl and passing her around, beginning when she was just15.
The behavior and illicit relationships continued for years and might have gone unnoticed until Sandra’s untimely death in 2021. She was found dead in her apartment, and authorities said it was suicide.
That didn’t make sense to Sandra’s friends who said not only was she pregnant, she was excited about having a baby and the child was Matthew Farwell’s, a married father and detective.
New information has come to light since Sandra Birchmore’s death, not only about the scandalous accusations of statutory rape but a new investigation determined her death was a homicide and Matthew Farwell was the last one to see her alive.
Join us for a closer look at this case in New England where protestors are calling for justice, in the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast, “Groomed by the Blue Line: The mysterious death of Sandra Birchmore.”
History Nerds United
Let's make history fun again! Come listen to interviews with today's best authors.
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Avery Pickle was a young man who looked out for others. The 17-year-old Elberta High School student was a valued member of the football team, as well as a competitive wrestler, and super likable. He was kind and the kind of guy everybody wanted to be around, thanks to his quick wit, and charm, and easy-going personality.
He made friends easily and with everyone from his fellow students to his co-workers at Pirates Cove in the small Gulf Coast city of Elberta, Alabama. This past 4th of July, Avery was leaning toward staying at home, but friends called him to come out and enjoy the holiday. And why not? The soon-to-be-senior had a bright future and his whole life ahead of him. He was excited about his last year in high school and planning to double major in college.
But those dreams drowned in a curious incident that cost the strong and strapping teenager his life on the 4th of July. A tragedy that touched a nerve in the small community and we’ve ended up with more questions than answers.
Join us for another homegrown episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast: “Drowning on the Fourth of July: What happened to Avery Pickle?”
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Aubreigh Wyatt loved making tik toks, four-wheeling, and her family. The 13-year-old Ocean Springs, Mississippi middle schooler was a lot like any all American-girl her age, she liked to laugh, have fun, and still get good grades and make it to Sunday school.
Sadly, like a lot of other children her age, finding the right friend group was also hard. Aubreigh’s mother, Heather Wyatt, thought her daughter was too forgiving and tolerant of the insults, cruelty, and bullying Aubreigh endured for years with her own friend group.
Wyatt said she repeatedly asked the school district for help, but felt ignored and minimized. It’s exactly how she feels now in the wake of her daughter’s sudden death at her own hand. In Heather’s grief and outrage, the young mother poured out her hurt and frustration on social media and although she didn’t name names, the families of the girls Heather Wyatt believe bullied her child sued her to keep quiet because they too were now being targeted and harassed.
While a court order may have partially silenced Heather, for now, the response to the handling of the case has been deafening with millions on social media watching, following, and supporting her cause because like Heather and Aubreigh Wyatt, families around the country and the world are dealing with bullies.
Join us for another homegrown episode of Gulf Coast Confidential podcast “Bully-cide: the case of Aubreigh Wyatt.”
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After being an absent father, Christopher Gregor waltzed into his 6-year-old son’s life expecting everyone to fall in line. He ran little Corey Micciollo and the boy’s mother like a drill sergeant.
Corey was the result of an unfortunate tryst between his parents, and he never knew his father until his mom applied for financial assistance and a paternity test was required.
Reluctantly and at the pleading of his own parents, Gregor stepped in as Corey’s dad for the first time in their lives. Gregor pranced his son around to his family like an adorable little puppy, but behind closed doors he ran the first grader like a racetrack greyhound.
He would force him to run so hard on a treadmill in his condo complex that the boy stumbled and fell repeatedly, and Gregor always shoved him back on, at one point even grabbing Corey in frustration and biting his head.
The abuse was caught on video and it's hard to watch, but it’s also the evidence that helped put Gregor in prison when he brought his son’s all but lifeless body to the emergency room.
Join us for the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast, “Treadmill dad runs 6-year-old child to death: the Christopher Gregor case.”
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8 is enough - lawyers that is! A judge finally put his foot down and has had it with Sarah Boone, the Orlando area woman who is accused of killing her boyfriend by zipping him up in a suitcase during a drunken game of hide-and-seek.
Boone was charged with second degree murder for the homicide of Jorge Torres Jr. whose suffocation death in a suitcase she said was his own fault. Boone even took video of his weak pleas for her to let him out, while she laughed and enjoyed his torture.
After calling her court appointed attorneys derogatory names and running them off with repeatedly rude and uncooperative behavior, the judge finally said Boone can represent herself.
Will the ruling finally bring this four-year-old homicide to trial?
Grab your popcorn and join us courtside for this true crime spectacle on the latest Gulf Coast Confidential podcast episode “Zipped to death: the Sarah Boone ‘suit’ case.”
Persons of Interest
From murderers to money launderers, thieves to thugs – police officers from the...
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Dr. Ben Brown or someone claiming to be him had a lot to say on the doctor’s Facebook page. Restore Plastic Surgery, this week. The Gulf Breeze plastic surgeon is charged with negligent homicide in the death of his wife Hillary, who died after her heart stopped during procedures he was performing on her in his office. He has denied any wrongdoing.
While out on bond, this bizarre, petulant rant appeared not only describing Hillary’s death as simply an “unexplainable tragedy,” he immediately started slinging accusations that I was spreading “falsities” in my coverage of him and a patient who shared her story with the media of gaping wounds and an unauthorized Brazilian Butt Lift was making “false allegations” about his work.
As if that wasn’t enough, he posted pictures of her near naked body and personal information for all the world to see. He added that he could go on and on and on in his own defense and used a red marker to make his points like a teacher correcting a paper.
The invitation still stands for Brown to go “on and on and on” about what happened to his wife and the patients who claim he botched their surgeries on Gulf Coast Confidential, the originator of the Beauty Buyer Beware podcast series.
In this latest episode, hear from the patient Brown exposed and what she has to say about this shocking and unprofessional betrayal of her trust with a medical doctor and her dignity, which some patients say seems to be standard operating procedure, no pun intended.
Join us for “Beauty Buyer Beware VI.”
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Have you been catfished? Lawd, I’m not even sure what that means, but when I think of a catfish, I see a big, ugly, opportunistic bottom dweller with spiky whiskers. It’s not much different with people who use “catfishing” to lure and deceive someone.
It’s ugly enough when a stranger puts on a false persona, but what if it’s your own mother?!
That’s what happened to a 15-year-old girl in Michigan who was bullied so badly online and on her phone that her school and the FBI got involved. Instead of discovering that a character crushing stranger was tormenting the teen, the investigation hooked her momma on the other end of the line.
Dive in with us into the murky waters of duping others, in the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast, “Kendra Licari: the Motha of all Catfish!”
There Are No Gays In Montana
Coming out can be hard, especially in rural America. There Are No Gays In Montana is...
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Florida plastic surgeon, Dr. Ben Brown, has been arrested for the untimely death of his young, beautiful wife, Hillary Brown. The Santa Rosa County Sheriff's Office charged Brown with Second Degree Felony Homicide: Manslaughter by Culpable Negligence.
Investigators say he not only failed to immediately call for help when 33-year-old Hillary Brown went into cardiac arrest in his office surgical chair while he was performing several cosmetic surgeries on her, he allowed her to mix and take her own meds and anesthetic solution, failed to stop when she showed signs of lidocaine toxicity, and did not have life-saving equipment on hand when her heart stopped.
Investigators say it's a pattern of "unsafe" behavior that ultimately led to Hillary Brown's death and her husband's arrest.
Join us for the latest episode of "Beauty Buyer Beware V: Dr. Ben Brown" on Gulf Coast Confidential. Listen to "Beauty Buyer Beware" episodes I - IV to catch up on how this case unfolded since we broke the story seven months ago and have been following it closely.
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Alabama politician Stephen Nodine seemed to have it all and then some. The Mobile County Commissioner was well-known for his charm and charisma which served him well in his successful political career, but became a stumbling block in his personal life.
The middle-aged married man and father met the young and beautiful Angel Downs in 2004, at the Flora-Bama Lounge Mullet Toss, a beach party on Florida’s Gulf Coast. They both loved the beach and each other, but for years Nodine refused to give up his wife or his mistress no matter who it hurt.
Until the night in 2010 when Angel died from a gunshot wound to the head in the driveway of her Gulf Shores, Alabama home. Her death launched an investigation that cost Nodine everything including his freedom and made him the focus of true crime shows across the country.
Some folks might shy away from that kind of publicity, but not Stephen Nodine. He seeks the limelight like he does the sunlight that attracted him to the beaches of Pensacola, the Gulf Coast city he now calls home.
Join us for more on the case and an update on what Nodine’s been up to since the tragedy in the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast, “No Time for Nodine - the Angel Down’s case: Suicide or Homicide?”
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The bomb that killed millionaire real estate developer Gary Triano caused an explosion so big, it sent pieces of his car crashing around the country club where it happened.
In the mid-1990s, Triano was a well-known businessman who rubbed elbows with the likes of Donald Trump and his then wife Marla Maples. He lost big on some failed business investments, but who hated him enough to pay for a professional hit?
Someone who stood to gain $2 million at his death and escaped justice for nearly twenty years before the court caught up with her.
Join us for the latest Gulf Coast Confidential podcast, “The Bitter Ex, Big Bucks, and the Bomb: the Gary Triano story.”
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Conrad Roy was no quitter. If anything, the 18-year-old marine salvage captain with an endearing smile put a lot of pressure on himself to work hard and succeed.
Maybe a little too much pressure. Sometimes his depression took a dark turn and he wanted to follow through on ending his pain, permanently.
Most of the time he didn’t give in, until attention-seeking Michelle Carter entered the “chat.” She was a summer vacation crush who took anti-depressants, too.
That’s why it was so shocking when Conrad climbed out of his fume filled truck during a suicide attempt that she urged him not to quit one last time and get back in.
No one ever saw this coming.
Join us for the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast, “Suicide by Text: the Conrad Roy case.”
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Frances Hall’s husband and business partner of more than 30 years was cheating, and he didn’t bother to hide it. Adding insult to injury, the trucking tycoon’s girlfriend flaunted their affair in France’s face.
The scorned wife couldn’t put the brakes on her fury when she saw her husband’s mistress driving the Hall’s Range Rover and chased her down the highway, repeatedly ramming the car.
Unfortunately for unfaithful husband Bill Hall, Jr., he was caught in the middle on his motorcycle and had a deadly collision with his wife’s Cadillac Escalade.
There was no question the crash killed him, but was it calculated or out of Frances’ control?
Join us for more on this deadly love triangle in the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast, “Sudden Passion: defense or excuse? The case of Frances Hall.”
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A relaxing day on the river turned into a deadly moment of terror and horror for a group of young people and a middle-aged man they had surrounded.
Video of the deadly encounter shows 54-year-old Nicolae Miu looking for a friend’s lost cell phone when a group of intoxicated teens and young adults began taunting and teasing him over unfounded suspicions he was preying on children.
Miu, who is originally from Romania, tried to avoid them, but the group kept pushing closer until he pulled a pocket-knife he had brought to cut rope and began knifing them instead. One teen died and other people with him were injured.
Miu was charged with reckless homicide, endangering others, and battery. He claimed self-defense, but the jury convicted him. Why? Because despite the video evidence, when there was blood in the water Miu walked away and initially lied about being involved.
Join us for more on the controversial case in the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast, “Deadly Apple River Stabbing: Don’t Go Pinocchio.”
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Urban legends are nothing new, but tweenagers attempting to murder a friend at a sleepover in order to appease an ominous one certainly is.
In 2014, two 12-year-old girls, Anissa Weier and Morgan Geyser, lured their friend Payton Leutner into the woods and stabbed her 19 times in sacrifice to the fictional character Slender Man.
The girls’ shared madness nearly cost Payton her life, but the girl managed to stumble, walk, and crawl to the side of a road for help. Like many parents who allow their kids to go to sleepovers, her parents never imagined her night at a friend’s house would end in terror.
Join us for the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast, “Slender Man has no face, these tweenagers have no heart.”
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The Florida Department of Health has issued an emergency order immediately restricting the medical license of Dr. Ben Brown, the Gulf Breeze plastic surgeon whose wife, Hillary Brown, died after he performed several procedures on her after hours in his office last November.
State Surgeon General Dr. Joseph A. Ladapo said Brown’s “inability or unwillingness” to follow basic medical procedure presents an “immediate serious danger to the health, welfare, and safety of the public” and to the citizens of the state of Florida.
Allegations include performing unauthorized Brazilian butt lifts on patients, leaving an unlocked medicine cabinet open in his Restore Plastic Surgery office so employees could help themselves to meds that would "take the edge off," and allowing his wife, an unlicensed medical professional, to perform procedures on patients including herself the day she went into cardiac arrest.
Brown responded to the allegations through his crisis management public relations team.
"This is an ongoing investigation, and therefore we cannot comment on specific details," Red Banyan wrote in an email. "However, this public order was issued without Dr. Brown having any opportunity to dispute the allegations against him through any hearing process. These accusations are inaccurate and misleading, and Dr. Brown looks forward to the opportunity to defend himself and present the actual facts through a hearing process in the future. Dr. Brown continues to live an endless nightmare without his wife Hillary by his side, and these inaccurate allegations only further deepen his immense pain.”
However, some of Brown's former patients, employees, and the father of his deceased wife say the state's order doesn't go far enough. Join us for details on the state's order and heartbreaking accounts from patients in "Beauty Buyer Beware IV: Dr. Ben Brown."
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Alex King, one of two brothers who made headlines worldwide in 2001 when they confessed to beating their unsuspecting father to death with a baseball bat in Pensacola, Florida, when they were just 12 and 13 years old, has died.
Now 35, Alex died of a drug overdose according to family. It's a demon he has been battling for years and his family says he lost the fight against addiction in Missoula, Montana where he was living when he overdosed.
His family is now planning a memorial service later this summer that they say will be open to everyone. I covered this case from the beginning and wrote a book on it, "A Perversion of Justice." This is not the ending myself and many others were hoping for when the boys made headlines as young murderers more than twenty years ago, but it is the end of a painful journey for a young man who has suffered for a long time.
Join us for an update on the King Brothers in "Alex King rest in peace, finally."
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Eric Smith was only 13 years old when he murdered a child. Smith, a red-headed, freckle-faced boy with thick glasses, was something of a loner and said he was often targeted by bullies. When he saw four-year-old Derrick Robie walking alone to a summer day camp at the park, in 1993, he became the bully.
Smith lured the happy, blonde headed boy neighbors nicknamed “the mayor” into the woods where he strangled him and dropped a large rock on his head, among other atrocities.
Smith spent nearly thirty years in prison for the boy’s murder, but now at 44-years-old he is out on parole, despite pleas from Derrick’s family to keep him locked up for good.
Join us for the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast, “Freckle Face Killer.”
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A popular Florida teacher happily opened the door of her home to her son when he came to visit, but her gladness turned to fear and horror when the young man pulled a knife and started stabbing his mother until she lay dead on the floor.
Sound familiar?
This is not the case of popular middle school teacher Sharon Aydelott who was stabbed to death by her son, Brandon Aydelott, in the doorway of her Gulf Breeze home on Christmas Eve 2013, but the murder of 46-year-old Elvia Espinoza, a teacher in South Florida, is eerily similar.
Espinoza’s son was a pre-med student at the University of Florida who police say drove to his mother’s home in Frostproof and waited with a knife behind his back for her to open the door. Like Sharon Aydelott, she was expecting him, but not the vicious attack.
Investigators say she had called him at school with plans to visit, but instead Emmanuel Espinoza said he’d come to see her and save her the trip. They say he stabbed her more than 70 times because “she got on his nerves.”
Will he, like Brandon Aydelott, also claim voices told him to do it?
Join us for the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast, “Mom Killer Two-Point-OHHH! Florida pre-med student stabs mom to death.”
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Cheesecake, poison, and a Russian dominatrix – what a recipe!
A Russian born woman is now serving time in prison for trying to steal the identify of her look-a-like aesthetician by killing her with a piece of poisoned cheesecake.
It turns out it was just the latest act in an international crime spree.
Join us for this episode of Gulf Coast Confidential: “Murder, it’s as easy as pie…um, or cheesecake - Russian dominatrix poisons look-a-like."
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Jealousy can kill a friendship in a heartbeat. Just ask Annette Harvey. Harvey’s best friend since childhood, Robin Leonard, took in the struggling mother’s children after Harvey had a mental breakdown in 2021.
Leonard, a college professor and mother herself, was glad to help her friend while she recovered and got back on her feet. However, Harvey grew to resent Leonard’s generous gesture and the stable life she gave her kids.
In a brutal and calculated attack, Harvey stabbed her childhood friend 15 times in Leonard’s own home. She lived long enough to name her killer, but at trial Harvey claimed she was insane at the time of the crime and deep down truly cared for her friend. What did the jury believe?
Join us for more on the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast, “Amicide: With friends like Annette Harvey, who needs enemies?”
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Dr. Charles Stamitoles is only a few months into his two-year prison sentence for lying to an Escambia County judge. The Pensacola dentist accused of inappropriately touching patients and employees wouldn’t be spending as much time behind bars if he hadn’t.
Stamitoles was convicted of multiple battery charges including cornering a young woman who worked for him and slapping her backside, kissing her neck, and grabbing her from her behind, leaving her scared and shaken.
However, it was Stamitoles’ lies to the judge about his trip to Mobile while out on bond that put him behind bars for as long as he is.
Join us for an update on Stamitoles’ criminal and civil cases in the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast, “That mouth will get you into trouble every time: Dr. Charles Stamitoles.”
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Mothers are naturally expected to love and protect their children, not torture and torment them.
Ruby Franke claimed to be a loving mother. In fact, the young, passionate mom amassed a billion views and millions of dollars from her YouTube-famous show, “8 Passengers,” which followed the daily lives of Franke, her husband, and their six children in Utah.
The wholesome show took an unholy turn behind the scenes, though, when it was discovered Ruby Franke and her friend and fellow You-Tuber, Jodi Hildebrandt, were cruelly and criminally practicing what they preached about being an authoritarian parent on Franke’s younger children.
Their on-camera teachings were bad enough. Off-camera police say it was even worse. No one knew just how awful until one day, Ruby Franke’s emaciated, 12-year-old son showed up at a neighbor’s door, wounded, bound, and begging for water.
Join us for more on the case in this episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast, “Mom-fluencer Ruby Franke makes millions peddling child abuse.”
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Confessed mommy killer Brandon Aydelott has a status hearing coming up, Tuesday, March 26, to determine where he should go now that the Department of Children and Families says he no longer meets the criteria for placement at Florida State Hospital, for the criminally insane.
Aydelott’s aunt and the victim’s sister, Pam Hill, sat down with me on the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast to talk about the possibility of her nephew’s eventual release back into the community,
Join us for the episode, “He killed his mother for heaven's sake! Update."
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Death is the last thing on the minds of most college students when they go off to school. It’s supposed to be a time of new beginnings, not tragic endings.
For three young women and their families, dreams and lives were cut short all because they unknowingly crossed paths with a predator.
Just last month, 22-year-old Laken Riley was killed while jogging on campus at the University of Georgia in February. It’s similar to what happened to 20-year-old University of Iowa student, Mollie Tibbetts, in 2018, who was attacked and killed while running near her home.
Tragically, a Gulf Coast co-ed was murdered in 1993, while leaving class at the University of West Florida. Susan Morris was 21-years-old, and wearing her new Christmas sweater when she was attacked and killed by a man who has since been executed for the crime.
Join us for more on these cases in this episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast, “Dead Degrees: from Dorm to Grave.”
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Kouri Richins was well-known in her hometown as a busy mom, wife, and realtor. In all her family and work photos the pretty brunette flashed the same sparkling, white-toothed smile, giving the appearance of a picture-perfect life.
However, behind her killer grin was someone police say friends and neighbors didn’t know – a cold, calculating woman driven by greed who would stop at nothing to get what she wanted, even murder her husband.
Investigators say the mother of three was so shameless she wrote a children’s book on grief to help her young sons cope with their father’s unexpected passing and is planning to write another novel behind bars while she waits to stand trial.
Join us for the latest episode of Gulf Coast Confidential, “Accused of fentanyl poisoning her husband, then authoring children’s grief book: “I’ll take ‘Who is Kouri Richins?’ for $100, Alex.”
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Hillary Brown’s cause of death is still pending, but answers are slowly coming out.
Besides Major Crimes with the Santa Rosa Sheriff’s Office, the Florida Department of Health is also investigating Dr. Ben Brown, who was performing procedures on his young wife at his Gulf Breeze office when she went into cardiac arrest.
Although the details of the state’s investigation aren’t being released, it comes as more patients are sharing their experiences with Ben Brown.
Some say their pleas and complaints about his “shoddy work” were not only discounted, but they were shamed and blamed into believing their suffering was their own fault.
We’re also learning more about the legal loopholes that some patients say kept them from finding justice, as more reports and information are expected.
Join us for this third installment of Beauty Buyer Beware in a continuing series on the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast.
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Armed with a steel mallet, a BB gun, a knife and pepper spray, astronaut, and married mother of three, Lisa Nowak, set out on a mission in 2007, to get rid of the new girlfriend her astronaut boyfriend was seeing.
To save time on her cross-country mission, police said Nowak wore a diaper so she wouldn’t have to stop on her way from Houston, Texas to Orlando, Florida to confront the younger woman at the airport.
Only this mission didn’t turn out as planned and it cost all three of them.
During this month of love, join us for the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast, “Diaper wearing astronaut: An out-of-this-world love triangle.”
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School shooter mom, Jennifer Crumbley, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter for missing or ignoring red flags prior to her son, Ethan, opening fire at his high school and killing four teenagers.
Crumbley faces at least 15 years in prison when she’s scheduled to be sentenced April 9, in a landmark case about parental responsibility.
It’s part of a push by some prosecutors to hold parents accountable if they’re suspected of enabling their children to commit deadly violence, like neglecting warning signs.
But is it fair or was she more than just a “bad mom?” We talked about this case before a jury found her guilty.
Join us for this episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast: “Who’s to Blame? School shooter mom charged with manslaughter.”
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Murder by yoga instructor took the life of a young, professional cyclist. All Moriah “Mo” Wilson did to make herself a target was date Kaitlyn Armstrong’s boyfriend when the two had taken a break.
Kaitlyn stalked the pro cyclist to a friend’s house, gunned Mo down, and then ran from police when evidence of the crime led them to her door. The yoga instructor went on the lam, even going as far as having plastic surgery to change her appearance, but investigators saw through her disguise.
Join us for the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast episode: “Plastic surgery loving yoga teacher on the lamb circles back to kill professional lady cyclist.”
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Can cannabis make someone a killer? During this month of love on the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast, we’re catching up on cases of romance-gone-wrong.
In this episode, a young woman took two hits of marijuana from her boyfriend’s bong and then took him out. The attack was so vicious, there was a hole in his chest where his heart used to be.
The victim’s family called it murder. She called it cannabis induced psychosis. When a jury agreed, the young man’s family said justice went up in smoke.
Join us for “108 Stabs: female kills boyfriend in weed induced psychotic frenzy.”
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Death was Dr. Bill Sybers' business. The Panama City medical examiner was the one who investigated when someone died, especially when it was unexplained.
When his own wife, Kay, passed suddenly in 1991, Sybers insisted she died of natural causes. He didn’t even order an autopsy and went straight to embalming her body.
Why wouldn’t people take the expert word of the top doc of death in the Florida Gulf Coast city?
Many people did until police found several odd injection marks on Kay’s body and discovered Sybers had been having an affair with a woman he soon married.
Join us for more on how the murderous truth was finally uncovered in this episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast: “Me and the M.E.: Married to Death. The murder of the Panama City Medical Examiner’s wife.”
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Dr. Connor and Betty Bowman had a picture-perfect relationship. They both worked for Mayo Clinic, he was a poison specialist, and she was a pharmacist.
They had an open relationship, but despite a few kinks and concerns, it all seemed to be going smoothly until the day Connor Bowman allegedly poisoned his wife’s smoothie.
It wasn’t long before detectives realized Bowman had a girlfriend, a lot of debt, and a hefty life insurance policy on Betty.
Join us for the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast, “He Picked Her Poison – Mayo Clinic doctor accused of secretly serving fatal drug to pharmacist wife.”
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Physical carnage, emotional shrapnel. Unimaginable information is coming out about Dr. Ben Brown, the Gulf Coast plastic surgeon whose wife died after going under in his office surgical chair for elective, "minor" procedures.
The untimely death of 33-year-old Hillary Brown is still under investigation, but you can hear first-hand why some former patients and employees say her husband needs to be "stopped."
Join us for the latest on the case involving Dr. Ben Brown in this episode of Gulf Coast Confidential podcast, "Beauty Buyer Beware II."
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The relationship between a 15-year-old boy and his “self-awareness” class teacher took a dark turn in 1990, when the young, married woman took an unhealthy interest in the creative teen. Before long, she seduced him and convinced the boy to not only keep quiet about their illicit affair but also to kill her husband.
Pamela Smart, whose arrest and trial inspired the movie “To Die For,” wants her lifetime prison sentence reduced for conspiring to commit the murder.
Join us for the latest episode of Gulf Coast Confidential on Pamela “Not so Smart” Smart.
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Why go under a house to die? That’s the question many people in Pensacola, Florida have been asking since Willie Junior, the first Black man elected to the Escambia County Commission in recent history, turned up dead under a house in 2004.
The coroner ruled his death a suicide.
Junior had reason to be stressed, his role in a government corruption scandal cost him his job and lavish lifestyle and was about to send him to prison, along with another powerful politician.
Junior, the man who once had everybody talking about his “drive through mortuary” business, was now the talk-of-the-town for taking a cash bribe in a collard greens pot.
Still, many thought crawling under a house to drink beer and anti-freeze seemed like an unusual way to commit suicide, especially for Junior who enjoyed the finer things in life like nice suits and flashy cars. He even got a haircut the day he disappeared.
In this episode of Gulf Coast Confidential, "Recipe for a Scandal," join me for more on one of the biggest political scandals to rock Northwest Florida.
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Secret deals, cash bribes, and a body under a house. Pensacola has a scandalous past when it comes to political corruption.
Florida's westernmost county, Escambia, made headlines in 2004 when a state investigation revealed multiple county leaders were meeting in secret and making million dollar deals at the taxpayers' expense. One commissioner even accepted a cash bribe in a collard greens pot. He was later found dead under a house from an apparent suicide.
Their corruption was exposed, in part, thanks to Florida's Sunshine Law which gives people access to governmental meetings and proceedings.
In this episode of Gulf Coast Confidential, “Cash in the Collard Greens Pot,” join us for a discussion about the scandal that put "scam" in Escambia County and why open government is important to keep history from repeating itself.
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Murder in the movies is something you only expect to see onscreen. At a Tampa movie theatre in 2014, the real drama was in the audience.
Retired police SWAT captain Curtis Reeves shot and killed Chad Oulson, a Gulf War veteran and father of a young daughter. In fact, Oulson was texting with the babysitter during the movie previews when Reeves told him to turn off his phone and complained about it to theater staff.
The two men exchanged words and Oulson tossed popcorn in the older man’s face. Reeves pulled his handgun and shot Oulson to death, he claimed in self-defense.
Join us as we talk about the trial and why jurors thought popping off over popcorn was a justifiable killing, in this episode of Gulf Coast Confidential, “Pow, Pow, Popcorn Murder.”
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It's not unusual for friends to cut loose when they visit Pensacola Beach. Whether people come for work or play, it's fun to party in paradise and Oklahoma police chief Lucky Miller and detective Mike Nealey were no different.
What is unusual is that only one of the men left alive.
In 2019, the lawmen were staying on Pensacola Beach for a conference on death investigations and soon became the focus of one.
An alcohol fueled fight between the long-time friends was so violent the coroner said the hits Miller took from Nealey had the same impact as a car accident.
What would drive a man to beat his friend to death with his bare hands? Join us as we explore what happened in a Pensacola Beach hotel room in this episode of Gulf Coast Confidential, "Blue on Blue Crime: No Bro Code!!"
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On Christmas Eve in 2013, on one of the most sacred holidays of the Christian calendar, 17-year-old Brandon Aydelott hacked, beat, and stomped his mother to death in the doorway of her Gulf Breeze, Florida home without warning. He left the popular middle school science teacher in a pool of her own blood with two knife blades embedded in her skull, among other gruesome injuries.
The teen was found not guilty by reason of insanity for the crime and his mother's family thought he would stay in custody at Florida's psychiatric hospital for the criminally insane. Yet Brandon Aydelott spent the ten year anniversary of killing his mommy close to home at the Santa Rosa County Jail, because the Department of Children and Families said he "no longer meets the criteria for continued commitment" at Florida State Hospital.
Join me for a conversation with Sharon Aydelott's sister who says the news comes as a painful disappointment, especially when they were told he would likely never get out, because "he killed his mother for heaven's sake!"
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Achoo!! Grab a tissue because it turns out "Affluenza" isn't even a real psychiatric illness, but it spread like a virus, when a Texas teenager used it to defend killing four people and injuring nine others while driving drunk.
Ethan Couch, now 26, claimed he didn't know right from wrong due to his family's wealth and is scheduled to finish probation this month, for the 2013 deadly accident.
From running to Mexico to making a psuedo-science term mainstream, join us for more on the case in the latest episode of Gulf Coast Confidential, "Achoo!! Affluenza or BS: Ethan Couch."
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Parents send their children to school for an education and trust that they are in safe hands with the people who are teaching them.
One young boy caught the eye of his pretty, blonde teacher when he was only in the second grade. Fast forward a few years later, and the married mother of four was convinced she had an "instantaneous bond" with the child, even though he was not quite 13 years old.
She pursued him like a lover and the special attention she gave the boy turned their relationship from platonic to sexual. When her secret was uncovered, teacher Mary Kay Letourneau called it "love," the law called it rape.
In this episode of Gulf Coast Confidential, we revisit the headline making case that inspired a new movie and highlighted the dangers of being the "Teacher's Pet."
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One would never think a little nip/tuck would kill you. After all, it is just a minor procedure. Or is it? Not so fast, there. Medication and sedation are part of the process. You’re still going under the knife, or laser, or needle, with trained and licensed staff. What could go wrong?
Not to be tongue in cheek, but it turns out plenty. An investigation is now underway into the death of a Gulf Breeze plastic surgeon’s wife, who according to family and police reports went into cardiac arrest while her husband, Dr. Ben Brown, was performing procedures on her at his office.
Join us for the latest episode of Gulf Coast Confidential, “Beauty Buyer Beware.”
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When retired beautician Lynn Hernan turned up dead in her living room chair, surrounded by her medications, a close friend's story that she likely committed suicide didn't seem impossible. The older woman had been down and her health had been declining.
Even when tests showed Hernan was poisoned by eyedrops, few people batted an eye because she sometimes put eyedrops in her drink to help with other health issues.
The murderous betrayal might have gone unnoticed but for another friend, one who knew something was off and refused to turn a blind eye.
Join us for more on how the truth came to light in this episode of Gulf Coast Confidential: “Don’t Blink! The Eyedrop Murder.”
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It’s one thing for a man to cheat on his wife, but one husband and father murdered his whole family rather than give up his girlfriend and their fitness-focused way of life.
In 2018, pregnant mother and devoted wife, Shanann Watts returned home late from a work trip, ready to say goodnight to her 3 and 4-year-old daughters and enjoy a romantic night with her husband, Chris Watts.
However, Chris Watts had other plans. When the young mother and their two girls disappeared, friends suspected something bad had happened, but they had no idea just how horrible it was until their bodies were found a couple of days later.
Join us for the latest episode of Gulf Coast Confidential, “Chris Watts Did What?!”
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Sometimes lending a helping hand can be deadly. A reporter in Pensacola, Florida with a generous heart and a lucrative hobby put his cards on the table with people who were playing for higher stakes.
The Cormier brothers were down on their luck when they connected with Sean Dugas over a mutual hobby - fantasy trading cards. Sean's collection was the envy of the most avid collector and it turns out, the most avarice ones, as well.
Known for his wide smile and free spirit, Dugas never suspected the twin Cormier brothers wanted anything other than a place to stay, until one of them chased him down with a hammer and killed him in his own home.
Join us for the latest of episode of Gulf Coast Confidential, Dealt a Deadly Hand, for more on the murder of Sean Dugas.
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Pensacola crimes have been making headlines, some for what happened years ago, others just weeks ago.
In this episode of Gulf Coast Confidential, “Inmate Update: Where are they now?” we’re revisiting the case of car and cocaine dealer Ron Samuels who was convicted of hiring hitmen to kill his ex-wife, Heather. His failed attempts may have left her paralyzed, but it turns out she has outlived him.
We’ve also got the latest on Pam’s nephew, Brandon Aydelott. It has been almost ten years since he killed his mother on Christmas Eve and was later found not guilty by reason of insanity. How close is he to being released from Florida State Hospital for the criminally insane?
We’ll also have more on the Alabama mother who helped her son murder his daughter’s mother inside a Pensacola Home Depot.
Plus, dentist Dr. Charles Stamitoles is out of jail, much to the concern of some of his alleged victims. What’s happened since he lost his license to practice dentistry amid accusations that he inappropriately touched staff and patients.
Join us for “Inmate Update: Where are they now?”
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A boy, a boat, and a birthday party. What should have been a celebration of life ended in a child’s death and a case that took years to surface.
Join my co-host Pam Hill and me, investigative journalist Mollye Barrows, for “No Lifeguard on Duty,” a conversation about the first case I covered on Gulf Coast Confidential called, “Sink or Swim.”
In this episode, we discuss the tragic drowning of 12-year-old Dondre Lewis in 2016, a fun-loving Pensacola middle schooler who died swimming off a borrowed yacht during a birthday party for his pastor’s son.
The boy’s parents thought their son was in good hands only to find out later that no one went after Dondre when he went under and the party continued.
Find out why it took so long for their story to be told in “No Lifeguard on Duty.”
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As far as get-away-plans go, former financial advisor Marcus Schrenker plotted one that looked like a scene out of an action movie. In 2009, the 39-year-old Indiana man attempted to fake his own death with a mid-air May Day call and phony plane problems, a stashed motorcycle with saddlebags full of cash, and an eye on hiding out in Florida.
The failed pseudocide, (fancy word for a faked death, I had to look it up), was his plan to escape from personal, financial, and legal problems, but it only landed him in more trouble.
But Schrenker has come out on the other side of his headline making get-a-way plan a survivor who’s trying to get along like anybody else.
Here’s “From May Day to Pay.”
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In 1996, an inmate on a work crew found the remains of a woman in the woods near the small Gulf Coast town of Holt in the Florida Panhandle. Investigators had no idea who the woman was or who raped and choked her to death, until now.
I’m Mollye Barrows, a longtime reporter in Florida’s Panhandle and welcome to my investigative series, Gulf Coast Confidential, where I dive into the saltier stories that surface in Northwest Florida and all along the Gulf of Mexico.
My co-host is Pam Hill. Her sister was killed by her own son on Christmas Eve 2013, and Pam has a unique perspective on many of the cases I talk about on Gulf Coast Confidential.
In this episode, ’To all the girls I’ve choked before,’ signed The Happy Face Killer, we're discussing the macabre and brutal trail of violence left across the country by serial killer, Keith Hunter Jesperson.
The convicted murdered is currently three life sentences for some of his crimes at Oregon State Penitentiary.
Join us as we discuss how police finally identified the young woman and determined she was the sixth victim of the so-called Happy Face Killer - a murderer who made sure he got credit for his crimes by leaving the macabre signature on notes and letters.
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Hi, I’m Mollye Barrows, a longtime reporter in Florida’s Panhandle and welcome to my investigative series, Gulf Coast Confidential, where I dive into the saltier stories that surface in Northwest Florida and all along the Gulf of Mexico.
My co-host is Pam Hill. Her sister was killed by her own son on Christmas Eve 2013, and Pam has a unique perspective on many of the cases I talk about on Gulf Coast Confidential.
This episode, “Murder on the Clock: It’s Killing Time,” is in response to several Gulf Coast cases where women were killed while they were simply going to work or in one case working out.
They all knew their killers. Two victims were allegedly murdered by former lovers, and one was killed by a co-worker.
It’s bad enough when home isn’t safe, but going about your business shouldn’t cost you your life.
Here’s “Murder on the Clock: It’s Killing Time.”
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Hi, I’m Mollye Barrows, a longtime reporter in Florida’s Panhandle and welcome to my investigative series, Gulf Coast Confidential. Here I dive into the saltier stories that surface in Northwest Florida and all along the Gulf of Mexico.
My co-host is Pam Hill. Her sister was killed by her own son on Christmas Eve 2013, and Pam has a unique perspective on many of the cases I talk about on Gulf Coast Confidential.
In this episode, “The Bad Nurse,” we’re talking about the case of Charles “Charlie” Cullen, one of the most prolific serial killers in America. He copped to 29 murders, but investigators believe the number could be closer to 400.
The movie, “The Good Nurse” on Netflix, is based on a true-crime book of the same name and it shows how the confessed killer moved from hospital to hospital, killing people, and the corporate healthcare system allowed him to get away with it.
Cullen might have continued killing had it not been for his fellow nurse and friend, Amy Loughren.
Here's more on how she helped stop “The Bad Nurse.”
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Hi, I’m Mollye Barrows, a longtime reporter in Florida’s Panhandle and welcome to my investigative series, Gulf Coast Confidential. Here I dive into the saltier stories that surface in Northwest Florida and all along the Gulf of Mexico.
My co-host is Pam Hill. Her sister was killed by her son in a brutal not-guilty-by-reason-of-insanity and she has a unique perspective on many of the cases I talk about on Gulf Coast Confidential.
In this episode, "Ted Bundy wuz here: He fooled around and found out!" we're talking about infamous serial killer Ted Bundy. A seasoned killer who escaped over and over again parked in the wrong town at the right time to be stopped.
We have Pensacola Police to thank for catching one of America's most notorious killers.
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Hi, I’m Mollye Barrows, a longtime reporter in Florida’s Panhandle and welcome to my investigative series, Gulf Coast Confidential. Here I dive into the saltier stories that surface in Northwest Florida and all along the Gulf of Mexico.
My co-host is Pam Hill. Her sister was killed by her son in a brutal not-guilty-by-reason-of-insanity and she has a unique perspective on many of the cases I talk about on Gulf Coast Confidential.
In this episode, “Making Killer Deals” we’re talking about the failed murder-for-hire plot that put wealthy, Pensacola car dealer Ron Samuels in prison and left his ex-wife paralyzed and on a ventilator for the rest of her life.
Samuels was used to making deals that worked for him. He was willing to pay anything, including hiring cocaine addicted hit men to kill her, rather than pay what the court ordered him to give to his ex-wife and the mother of their three children.
Here’s how the final deal went down that finally sent him to prison.
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Hi, I’m Mollye Barrows, a longtime reporter in Florida’s Panhandle and welcome to my investigative series, Gulf Coast Confidential. Here I dive into the saltier stories that surface in Northwest Florida and all along the Gulf of Mexico.
This episode of Gulf Coast Confidential spans the 1980’s and 1990’s and includes what you might expect from that time – cool cars, cocaine, and hired hit men. But this is not an episode of Miami Vice, it’s the true story of what happened when a rich, violent man didn’t get his way.
In 1993, the young, pretty wife of a wealthy Pensacola car dealer left her husband out of fear for her life and the lives of their three children.
She was so afraid of him she got permission from the court to move out of state, all the way back home to Minnesota where she could be with her parents and family.
Only her ex wasn’t willing to let her go or at least let go of the money the court had ordered him to pay her.
He doubled down on his determination to keep his cash and kids and make her pay for leaving him.
Even before the shot rang out, she believed it was only a matter of time before he came for her, because when it came to what he wanted, the cocaine and car dealing businessman had always been…
“Relentless”
On Labor Day, 1995, a baby girl was born in Pensacola, Florida. She was perfectly healthy except for the fluid still in her mouth and nostrils from birth and the towels and garbage bags wrapped tightly around her body that made it difficult for her to breathe.
If it weren't for two sisters arguing over lunch next to the dumpster where the newborn had been tossed with the trash, she likely would have gone unnoticed and died.
One of the young women did hear the infant's tiny cries as she rustled in the trash bags, struggling to breathe and she was rescued in the nick of the time.
Join my co-host Pam Hill and me as Pam recalls the Labor Day when she helped rescue the discarded infant in the episode, "Trash or Treasure: The baby in the dumpster."
Hi, I’m investigative journalist Mollye Barrows and welcome to my podcast Gulf Coast Confidential. From murders to mysteries, I explore some of the saltier stories that surface in Northwest Florida and all along the Gulf of Mexico.
My co-host is Pam Hill. Pam’s sister, Sharon Aydelott, was murdered by her son on Christmas Eve 2013. As a survivor of violent crime, a grief and loneliness researcher, and pharmacist, Pam has a unique perspective on many of the cases I talk about on Gulf Coast Confidential.
This is the second of a two part series called, "Kid Killers," a title that is jarring like the crime and tragically, it's all too common.
In this episode, we discuss the case of Lam Luong, a Mobile area man who is spending the rest of his life in prison for murdering all four his children. They were only 3, 2, 1, and four months old when they died.
Killing his own kids was horrible enough, but it was also how Luong did it that sent the Gulf Coast community into shock and grief.
Join us for part two of Kid Killers, the case of Lam Luong.
Hi, I’m investigative journalist Mollye Barrows. I’ve been covering crime in Florida’s Panhandle for years and welcome to Gulf Coast Confidential Conversations. Here we dive into the deep end and discuss what we can learn from the true crime cases I talk about on Gulf Coast Confidential.
My co-host is Pam Hill. Her sister, Sharon Aydelott, was murdered by her son on Christmas Eve 2013, and she has a unique perspective on crimes and scandals, as a survivor of violent crime, a grief and loneliness researcher, and a pharmacist, as well.
This is the first of a two part series called, "Kid Killers," a shocking title for a dreadful crime. From Mobile, Alabama to Clermont County, Ohio, we take a closer look at the cases of two fathers who took out their unhappiness on their innocent children.
In the case of Chad Doerman, he allegedly chased his young sons down with a shotgun just before Father's Day weekend and executed them one by one. Here's Part 1 of Kid Killers.
Hero worship is alive and well in the sports world and the coaches who call the shots can be revered as much as the players. From the Super Bowl and college playoffs to a Little League game, coaches are assumed to be trustworthy, whether or not they've actually earned that trust.
In this third and final case in the "Lambs to the Slaughter" series, we dive into the arrest of Camilo Campos. A "popular," trusted soccer coach who investigators say had a horrific secret.
His secret was safe until Campos left his cellphone behind at a restaurant and staff discovered images so appalling they called authorities. Now police are trying to identify all the boys he allegedly drugged and raped and parents are left to wonder how he got away with it for so long.
Join us for Lambs to the Slaughter, Part 3: The arrest of soccer coach Camilo Campos.
Back to school is such a fun and exciting time for most of us, but for some families it's a lesson they never wanted and one they'll never forget.
Hi, I’m investigative journalist Mollye Barrows. I’ve been covering crime in Florida’s Panhandle for years and welcome to Gulf Coast Confidential Conversations. Here we dive into the deep end and discuss what we can learn from the true crime cases I talk about on Gulf Coast Confidential.
My co-host is Pam Hill. Her sister, Sharon Aydelott, was murdered by her son on Christmas Eve 2013, and she has a unique perspective on crimes and scandals, as a survivor of violent crime, a grief and loneliness researcher, and a pharmacist, as well.
This is part 2 of our series on abusers in positions of authority who prey on children called, “Lambs to the Slaughter." In this episode, we're talking about the arrest of a Pensacola teacher who befriended and groomed vulnerable girls online and in the classroom, starting when they were innocent middle schoolers.
Join us for Lambs to the Slaughter, Part 2: The arrest of Washington High School teacher Mark Lua.
Hi, I’m investigative journalist Mollye Barrows. I’ve been covering crime in Florida’s Panhandle for years and welcome to Gulf Coast Confidential Conversations. Here we dive into the deep end and discuss what we can learn from the true crime cases I talk about on Gulf Coast Confidential.
My co-host is Pam Hill. Her sister, Sharon Aydelott, was murdered by her son on Christmas Eve 2013, and she has a unique perspective on crimes and scandals, as a survivor of violent crime, a grief and loneliness researcher, and a pharmacist, as well.
This is the first of a three part series called, “Lambs to the Slaughter.” We're discussing several cases that involve abusers in positions of authority who used their power to prey on vulnerable children and sexually abuse them.
Lambs to the Slaughter: Part 1 is on the arrest and conviction of Gulf Breeze United Methodist Church youth minister, Ryan Walsh. He was arrested in 2020 for sending sexually explicit texts messages to a 13-year-old girl in the church’s youth group and later touching her behind the local recreation center.
Not only did Ryan Walsh and church leadership know the girl had been abused before she and her family became members, but according to a civil lawsuit filed against them, Walsh had virtually no oversight during his time with the vulnerable young girl.
Join us for Lambs to the Slaughter, Part 1: The arrest of Ryan Walsh.
“Death to Pigs,” those are the words murderous followers of convicted killer Charles Manson wrote in their victim's blood at one of their infamous crime scenes.
Now one of those faithful followers, is out of prison on parole. Leslie Van Houten once faced the death penalty. Now she's learning how to use a smart phone and make a life for herself in the modern world, after more than 50 years behind bars.
In this episode of "Death to Pigs, " join my co-host Pam Hill and me for more on Van Houten's release and the shocking and horrific murders that sent her to prison in the first place.
Hi, I’m investigative journalist Mollye Barrows. I’ve been covering crime in Florida’s Panhandle for years and welcome to Gulf Coast Confidential Conversations. Here we dive into the deep end and discuss what we can learn from the true crime cases I talk about on Gulf Coast Confidential.
My co-host is Pam Hill. Her sister, Sharon Aydelott, was murdered by her son on Christmas Eve 2013, and she has a unique perspective on crimes and scandals, as a survivor of violent crime, a grief and loneliness researcher, and a pharmacist, as well.
In this episode, we’re talking about Gannon Stauch, the 11-year-old boy who was killed by his stepmother in Colorado in 2020. She stuffed his small body in a suitcase then drove clear across the country to toss him over the side of a bridge in Northwest Florida where he was found.
In May 2023, Letiticia Stauch was convicted of first-degree murder after deliberation, first-degree murder of a child by a person in a position of trust, tampering with a deceased human body and tampering with physical evidence.
She tried to defend herself by saying she was insane at the time she attacked him, but jurors didn't buy it and we say, "Bye-bye, Leticia!"
How do some sex offenders manage to escape notice? That is, until something awful happens. In this case, a child paid the price.
In this episode of Gulf Coast Confidential, Pam Hill and I talk about the abduction and murder of a 12-year-old Pensacola girl by a registered sex offender. How did he go unnoticed? Because Robert Howard thumbed his nose at the justice system.
The Alabama man moved in part-time with his girlfriend across the state line in Florida, where no one was the wiser that he had just served 15 years in prison for rape.
Join us for a closer look at the heartbreaking case of Naomi Jones and how her disappearance stunned the community who came from every corner of the county to search for the girl.
Until fishermen found the little girl where Howard left her, leaving them to wonder, "It's her, isn't?"
Hi, I’m investigative journalist Mollye Barrows and welcome to my true crime podcast, Gulf Coast Confidential. Here, I cover some of the saltier murders, mysteries, and scandals that surface along Northwest Florida and all along the Gulf Coast.
In this episode, I talk about the disappearance of 12-year-old Naomi Jones, who went missing from her Pensacola apartment in 2017. A massive search brought the community together to bring the Hello Kitty loving little girl home, but the outcome was not what they had hoped.
Sadly, police didn’t have to go far to find her body or her killer. The tragic discovery left many feeling as helpless as a child, because no matter how old you are, when faced with evil, we can all feel powerless.
Welcome to my true crime podcast, Gulf Coast Confidential.
This is an update to a previous episode called, Unwanted Baggage. In Unwanted Baggage, I talk about the discovery of a boy's body in a suitcase under a Pensacola area bridge that turned out to be the remains of 11-year-old Gannon Stauch.
The boy was reported missing from his Colorado home by his stepmother, Letecia Stauch, who was charged with his murder and convicted in May of this year. In this short episode, Update: Unwanted Baggage, I run down what happened at her trial and why her insanity defense failed.
Hi, I’m Mollye Barrows, a long-time reporter in Florida’s Panhandle and welcome to my true crime investigative series, Gulf Coast Confidential, where I explore the saltier stories that surface in Northwest Florida and all along the Gulf of Mexico.
This is a companion series called Gulf Coast Confidential Conversations where my co-host, Pam Hill, and I dive deep to discuss crimes and scandals.
In this episode, we’re digging into the documentary series about reality TV stars, the Duggar Family, called Shiny Happy People: Duggar Family Secrets.
The Duggar Family was once a household name, synonymous with faith and family values. Now some family members say that behind the scenes of their popular and lucrative reality TV series, “19 and Counting,” it was a house of horrors, rampant with sex abuse, fraud, and exploitation within the family and the powerful religious organization that dominated their lives.
The series was popular with people across the country and the documentary exposes a culture where women and girls say they're abused and silenced, accusations that surface in similar crimes and organizations along the Gulf Coast and nationwide.
Join us and find out why "I Don't Dig the Duggars.”
Going to the dentist already makes some people grit their teeth. The tools, the noise, the concern about pain, plus what can you do if something does go wrong? Patients are in a vulnerable position, lying powerless in a dental chair.
While most people are better off after seeing the doctor, that wasn’t the case for some patients and employees of a prominent and well-known Pensacola dentist. They say he abused his power and his profession to touch, terrify, and terrorize them for years, in and out of the office.
Join my co-host Pam Hill and me as we explain how he left them with "Nothin' to Smile About."
Hi, I’m Mollye Barrows, a longtime journalist in Northwest Florida. Welcome to my investigative series, Gulf Coast Confidential, where I report on some of the saltier stories that surface in the Florida Panhandle and all along the Gulf of Mexico.
In this episode, meet the gun-toting, Pensacola dentist who called himself a "Greek god," and seemed to think he was above the law after beating accusations for decades that he repeatedly sexually harassed employees and patients.
Now Dr. Charles Stamitoles is behind bars and has lost license to practice dentistry. For victims who say he abused, terrified and terrorized them for years, it's a relief. For the doctor who turned up everywhere from surveillance video to multiple police reports it's a hard pill to swallow. Find out how investigators caught up with him in, Armed to the Teeth.
Death is a life-changing experience.
Hi, I’m Mollye Barrows, a long-time reporter in Florida’s Panhandle and welcome to my investigative series, Gulf Coast Confidential, where I explore the saltier stories that surface in Northwest Florida and all along the Gulf of Mexico.
This is a companion series called Gulf Coast Confidential Conversations where my co-host, Pam Hill, and I break down some of the crimes and scandals I cover on GCC.
In this grisly episode, "Witness to a Florida Execution," we’re talking about the death penalty and just how close Pam and I have both come to it, as witnesses to a controversial part of the American justice system.
Judy Buenoano, Florida's so-called "Black Widow" serial killer was executed for her crimes in the Sunshine State and she wrote Pam Hill from death row. The two knew each other because Judy had once set her sights on Pam's father.
On May 3, 2023, I watched the execution of convicted murdered Darryl Barwick, a man who sat on Florida's death row for more than thirty years for killing a pretty young woman he saw sunbathing beside the pool at a Panama City area apartment complex.
While this was the first time I witnessed a man's execution in person, I had been to death row years earlier, in Angola, Louisiana, as part of a college assignment and met the anti-death penalty advocate and nun, Helen Prejean, who inspired the movie Dead Man Walking.
Join Pam and I as we talk about these eye-opening yet tragic experiences, and what it was like to come so close to those marked to die.
Welcome to my true crime series, Gulf Coast Confidential. From murders to mysteries, I explore some of the saltier stories that surface in Northwest Florida and all along the Gulf of Mexico.
Gulf Coast Confidential Conversations is a companion series I've started with co-host Pam Hill to discuss the crimes I cover. Pam's sister, Sharon Aydelott was brutally murdered by her son on Christmas Eve 2013, and she is passionate about helping others learn from her tragedy. In this episode, we talk about the case that inspired my story, “I’ll Do the Cooking,” about Pensacola’s most famous serial killer, the Black Widow, Judy Buenoano.
We were both interviewed for an ID Channel documentary about the case that aired on the series "Very Scary People." Pam's dad had a relationship with Judy and their families often spent time together. The convicted killer even wrote Pam from death row. Here's more on The Black Widow.
Welcome to my true crime series, Gulf Coast Confidential where, from murders to mysteries, I explore some of the saltier stories that surface in Northwest Florida and all along the Gulf of Mexico.
Gulf Coast Confidential Conversations is a companion series I've started with co-host Pam Hill to discuss the crimes I cover. Pam's sister, Sharon Aydelott was brutally murdered by her son on Christmas Eve 2013, and she is passionate about helping others learn from her tragedy. In this episode, we talk about the case that
inspired my story, Done it Plenty. It's the story of a federal prosecutor who police say flew across the country carrying toys, gifts, and lubricant for a 5-year-old girl who he had arranged to have sex with. The case was shocking and as Pam and I discuss, so was community reaction.
Here's Cartoon Panties and a Plane Ticket.
Welcome to my true crime series, Gulf Coast Confidential. From murders to mysteries, I explore some of the saltier stories that surface in Northwest Florida and all along the Gulf of Mexico.
Gulf Coast Confidential Conversations is a companion series, I started with my co-host Pam Hill to discuss the crimes I cover. Pam's sister, Sharon Aydelott was brutally murdered by her son on Christmas Eve 2013. An act so henious, it ripped their family apart and continues to haunt them to this day. This is the second of two episodes where we to talk about her nephew's case and why she will never give up fighting for justice for her sister.
Welcome to my true crime series, Gulf Coast Confidential. From murders to mysteries, I explore some of the saltier stories that surface in Northwest Florida and all along the Gulf of Mexico.
Gulf Coast Confidential Conversations is a companion series, I've started with co-host Pam Hill to discuss the crimes I cover. Pam's sister, Sharon Aydelott was brutally murdered by her son on Christmas Eve 2013. An act so henious it ripped their family apart and continues to haunt them to this day. This is the first of two episodes where we to talk about her nephew's case and why she will never give up fighting for justice for her sister.
Hi, I'm investigative journalist Mollye Barrows and here's a preview of what's coming up for the next season of Gulf Coast Confidential. I'm excited about the response the podcast has received and I'm taking a short break to prepare for Season 2. I'll be back in Spring 2023, with another round of salty, headline making murders, mysteries, and scandals - the kind that only wash up on Florida's shores and all along the Gulf Coast. Stay tuned!
I’m investigative journalist Mollye Barrows. On this episode of Gulf Coast Confidential, I remember a horrific crime that happened on Florida’s East Coast, where I grew up in Jacksonville, Florida. A pregnant mom and her 5 and 9-year-old girls were shot and beaten to death in their own home. The victims were my playmates and the execution of the man who killed them changed the state’s capital punishment law. Join me on your favorite streaming platform for my podcast Gulf Coast Confidential and let’s dive into the saltier side of the South.
I’m investigative journalist Mollye Barrows. On this episode of Gulf Coast Confidential, most of us have heard of a “wicked stepmother;" a cruel, ruthless woman depicted in bedtime stories like Cinderella or Snow White. In some cases, though, these aren’t just fairytales. Investigators believe 11-year-old Gannon Stauch, had a stepmother who killed him, stuffed his body in a suitcase, then drove clear across the country to hide him, where her secret surfaced. Join me on your favorite streaming platform for my podcast Gulf Coast Confidential and let’s dive into the saltier side of the South.
I’m investigative journalist Mollye Barrows. On this episode of Gulf Coast Confidential - Assistant U.S. Attorney Roy Atchison was admired in his community as a father, husband, and youth sports coach. No one knew he had the kind of secret that would just kill him if people found out and eventually, they did when the FBI stopped him at the airport carrying lubricant and a Dora the Explorer doll he planned to give to a 5-year-old girl the feds said he arranged to have sex with. Join me on your favorite streaming platform for my podcast Gulf Coast Confidential and let’s dive into the saltier side of the South.
I’m investigative journalist Mollye Barrows. On this episode of Gulf Coast Confidential, Cynthia Harrison was a young, petite, woman who had already overcome a lot in life including physical disabilities. In 1998, she was newly married, new to town, and starting a new job as a manager at a Pensacola fast -food restaurant. She was living her dream life until her co-worker stabbed her to death and left her small body in the freezer. She had been stabbed so many times the coroner quit counting. Join me on your favorite streaming platform for my podcast Gulf Coast Confidential and dive into the saltier side of the South.
I’m investigative journalist Mollye Barrows. On this episode of Gulf Coast Confidential we take a closer look at murder and madness. Four Florida defendants - all accused of killing family, all said they were insane at the time. But some victims’ relatives say what’s really crazy is that they are all but getting away with murder. Join me on your favorite streaming platform for my podcast Gulf Coast Confidential and let’s dive into the saltier side of the South.
I’m investigative journalist Mollye Barrows. On this episode of Gulf Coast Confidential –a former high school coach was busted for secretly sexting a 14-year-old girl in his science class, but when the “come on” was discovered, the teacher’s principal and fellow coaches huddled around him and left the victim on the sidelines. The coach’s wife wanted to stop him and protect their own children, but she died trying. Join me on your streaming platform for my podcast Gulf Coast Confidential and let’s dive into the saltier side of the South.
I’m investigative journalist Mollye Barrows. On this episode of Gulf Coast Confidential - the lives of four, little children had barely begun when they were cut short by their own father. He threw them off a bridge more than eight stories high near Mobile, Alabama, because he was mad at their mom. It’s the kind of crime people thought he would die for, but the court refused to execute him. Join me on your favorite streaming platform for my podcast Gulf Coast Confidential and let’s dive into the saltier side of the South.
I’m investigative journalist Mollye Barrows. On the this episode of Gulf Coast Confidential - moving on from murder isn’t easy. Just ask Derek and Alex King who were 11 and 12-years-old when they were arrested for beating their father to death in 2001. I covered the case from the time Terry King was killed to when his sons were released from prison. So, what has life been like for the King Brothers since they got out? Join me for an update on my podcast Gulf Coast Confidential, on your favorite streaming platform and let’s dive into the saltier side of the South.
I’m investigative journalist Mollye Barrows. On this episode of Gulf Coast Confidential - Serial killers. They can live right next door to you. And Pensacola, Florida’s most notorious murderer and I lived in the same neighborhood, although not at the same time. After researching the so-called “Black Widow,” Judy Buenoano, I’ve decided that if I hang out with a new friend from now on, “I’ll Do the Cooking.” Join me for my podcast Gulf Coast Confidential and let’s dive into the saltier side of the South.
A preacher, a party on an attorney's yacht, and a boy who drowned. In the South, it can be deadly to live like a king. No one went in after the boy, and the party went on without him. Check out my first story for Gulf Coast Confidential: Sink or Swim.