The Cult of Diddy: Why Silence Protected a Predator | 2025 Year in Review

As part of our Hidden Killers 2025 Year in Review series, we’re revisiting two of the most revealing — and overlooked — aspects of the Bryan Kohberger murder case: the expert witness controversy that could undermine his alibi, and the forgotten evidence that may end up sealing his fate. In this episode, Tony Brueski takes you inside the defense’s biggest gamble — building an alibi around a cell phone expert, Sy Ray, whose credibility has already been questioned in open court. In a prior case, a judge described Ray’s phone-mapping analysis as “a sea of unreliability.” Now, Kohberger’s legal team is betting his freedom on that same technology. Could this backfire spectacularly? Or will it be enough to cast reasonable doubt on the state’s timeline? We break down how Sy Ray’s controversial techniques — once criticized for their lack of scientific rigor — are being reintroduced to explain why Kohberger’s phone allegedly wasn’t near the murder scene. But with prosecutors armed with months of cell tower data, GPS pings, and digital forensics, the question becomes: is the alibi built on data, or desperation? Then we dig into the unsealed warrant documents that reveal a treasure trove of physical evidence the media barely mentioned — items that paint a far more disturbing picture than the headlines ever did. Investigators recovered: A blood-stained mattress cover, Human and animal hair, A student ID card found in his parents’ home, A mysterious handwritten note to his father, Black shoes, vacuum debris, and a mountain of trace evidence. Add to that Kohberger’s Amazon purchases, deleted computer files, and surveillance footage — and suddenly, the case doesn’t hinge on one knife sheath. It’s a mosaic of digital and physical evidence converging on one man. Tony Brueski breaks down what this means for the defense, the prosecution, and the future of high-tech forensics in American trials. Because when expert credibility collapses and overlooked evidence resurfaces, justice becomes a battle not just of facts — but of who the jury believes. 🎙️ Hidden Killers with Tony Brueski — 2025 Year in Review: The Crimes, the Evidence, and the Experts That Defined the Year. #BryanKohberger #HiddenKillers #TonyBrueski #SyRay #IdahoMurders #TrueCrimePodcast #DigitalForensics #CellTowerData #CourtroomDrama #DNAEvidence #CriminalJustice #UnsealedWarrants #ForensicAnalysis #YearInReview #TrueCrimeToday #JusticeForVictims Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/@hiddenkillerspod Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod X Twitter https://x.com/tonybpod Listen Ad-Free On Apple Podcasts Here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/true-crime-today-premium-plus-ad-free-advance-episode/id1705422872

29 Marras 1h 18min

As part of our Hidden Killers 2025 Year in Review series, we’re revisiting the case that dominated headlines, divided families, and exposed the darkest corners of privilege and power — the unraveling of Donna Adelson. Just weeks before jury selection was set to begin, Donna’s long-awaited murder trial imploded into chaos. Prosecutors dropped a stunning bombshell: a massive cache of new evidence — more than 80,000 emails, months of wiretap recordings, and what insiders say could include jailhouse informant testimony. Suddenly, Judge Stephen Everett had no choice but to halt the trial, citing an avalanche of discovery that left even seasoned defense attorneys blindsided. In this episode, Tony Brueski breaks down the extraordinary chain of events that forced the June 3rd trial date off the calendar — and what the 16 sealed court filings in a single month might really mean. From a mysterious late-2024 tip that reignited the investigation, to whispers of newly uncovered recordings featuring Donna’s own words, this is the inside story of how a decade-old murder-for-hire case keeps expanding instead of ending. Then, we zoom out to the broader conspiracy — a tangled web of lies, cash, and cover-ups connecting the Adelson family to the 2014 murder of Dan Markel, a Florida State law professor gunned down in his driveway. We revisit the evidence that prosecutors say ties Donna directly to the plot: Luis Rivera’s claim that “the lady” ordered the hit. Katherine Magbanua’s testimony about a moldy envelope of cash delivered to Charlie Adelson. Donna’s own jailhouse calls discussing “plans” and “escape routes.” And, of course, the one-way plane ticket to Vietnam — a country with no U.S. extradition treaty — purchased days after Charlie’s conviction. It’s not just a case anymore. It’s a reckoning — the culmination of years of investigation, privilege, and denial collapsing in real time. 🎙️ Hidden Killers with Tony Brueski — 2025 Year in Review: The Cases That Shattered Illusions and Redefined Justice. #DonnaAdelson #DanMarkel #HiddenKillers #TonyBrueski #MurderForHire #CourtroomDrama #TrueCrimePodcast #FloridaCrime #WiretapEvidence #VietnamEscape #LuisRivera #KatherineMagbanua #JusticeForDanMarkel #HiddenKillersYearInReview Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/@hiddenkillerspod Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod X Twitter https://x.com/tonybpod Listen Ad-Free On Apple Podcasts Here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/true-crime-today-premium-plus-ad-free-advance-episode/id1705422872

29 Marras 35min

As part of our Hidden Killers 2025 Year in Review series, we revisit the opening days of one of the most chilling courtroom dramas in modern true crime — the Arizona trial of Lori Vallow Daybell, the self-declared prophet now serving life sentences in Idaho for the murders of her children, JJ Vallow and Tylee Ryan, and the conspiracy to kill Tammy Daybell. This time, Lori stands accused of murdering her fourth husband, Charles Vallow — and she’s decided to be her own lawyer. In this two-part special, Tony Brueski and Stacy Cole dissect the emotional and strategic fireworks from both sides of the courtroom, starting with the prosecution’s explosive opening  statement. Prosecutor Treena Kay laid out a devastating narrative of greed, manipulation, and religious delusion — alleging that Lori orchestrated the deaths of her husband and children to secure life insurance payouts and remove any obstacles to marrying Chad Daybell. Through phone records, witness testimony, and forensic evidence, the prosecution painted Lori as a woman willing to kill for prophecy, power, and profit. Tony and Stacy break down the psychological weight of the prosecution’s arguments — from the use of religious ideology as control to the manipulation of her brother Alex Cox, who became her self-proclaimed “angel of death.” They also analyze the jury’s visible reactions and the emotional undercurrent of a courtroom haunted by victims’ families still seeking answers. Then, in Part Two, the focus shifts to Lori’s stunning self-representation — and her surreal decision to stand as both defendant and defense counsel. Lori’s opening statement cast herself as misunderstood and unfairly vilified, arguing that her brother acted in self-defense during Charles’s death. But Tony and Stacy reveal how Lori’s calm, confident demeanor may mask deep narcissism and delusion — a belief that she alone can rewrite the narrative of her crimes. As Tony and Stacy unpack the legal and psychological implications of Lori’s “sovereign” defense, listeners gain rare insight into a defendant whose blend of charisma and chaos continues to defy legal logic and human empathy. 🎙️ Hidden Killers with Tony Brueski — 2025 Year in Review: The Trials, The Delusions, and The Crimes That Defined the Year. #LoriVallowDaybell #CharlesVallow #HiddenKillers #TonyBrueski #StacyCole #TrueCrimePodcast #DoomsdayMom #CultCrimes #ChadDaybell #SelfRepresentation #PsychologicalDelusion #CourtroomDrama #YearInReview #TrueCrimeToday Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/@hiddenkillerspod Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod X Twitter https://x.com/tonybpod Listen Ad-Free On Apple Podcasts Here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/true-crime-today-premium-plus-ad-free-advance-episode/id1705422872

29 Marras 1h 17min

As part of our Hidden Killers 2025 Year in Review series, we’re examining two of the most unnerving threads in the case against Bryan Kohberger — the alleged thumbs-up mirror selfie taken hours after the Idaho student murders, and the college paper that prosecutors say reveals the mind of a killer long before the crime. In this special combined episode, Tony Brueski brings together a powerful mix of expert voices — retired FBI Special Agent Jennifer Coffindaffer, behavioral expert Robin Dreeke, and defense attorney Bob Motta — to unpack how two seemingly separate pieces of evidence might expose the psychology and planning behind one of the most disturbing crimes in modern memory. The selfie, allegedly timestamped 10:31 AM on November 13th, 2022, shows Kohberger clean-shaven, wearing a white button-up, giving a calm thumbs-up in front of a shower — while the victims still lay undiscovered just miles away. It’s an image that feels ripped from American Psycho, echoing both Patrick Bateman’s narcissism and Norman Bates’ eerie detachment. Was it a subconscious taunt? A digital trophy? Or simply the reflection of a man who couldn’t tell the difference between performance and reality? Then comes the academic paper that prosecutors now want admitted as evidence: “Crime-Scene Scenario Final.” Written in 2020 during Kohberger’s criminology studies, the 12-page essay describes — in chilling detail — how to secure, process, and control a murder scene without leaving trace evidence. He even wrote about wearing “fiber-free protective gear” and checking neighbor alibis — years before a masked intruder allegedly slaughtered four students while leaving behind only one trace: DNA on a knife sheath. The episode breaks down what prosecutors call a pattern of preparation, bolstered by other alleged evidence — a balaclava receipt, phone pings near the crime scene, and the now-infamous Amazon purchase of a knife, sheath, and sharpener. Is the paper proof of intent, or just twisted irony? And could that mirror selfie — equal parts arrogance and emptiness — be the moment his mask slipped for good? 🎙️ Hidden Killers with Tony Brueski — 2025 Year in Review: The Crimes, the Evidence, and the Psychology That Defined the Year. #BryanKohberger #IdahoMurders #HiddenKillers #TonyBrueski #JenniferCoffindaffer #RobinDreeke #BobMotta #TrueCrimePodcast #PapaRodger #AmericanPsycho #CriminalPsychology #CourtroomDrama #Idaho4 #YearInReview #JusticeForVictims Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/@hiddenkillerspod Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod X Twitter https://x.com/tonybpod Listen Ad-Free On Apple Podcasts Here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/true-crime-today-premium-plus-ad-free-advance-episode/id1705422872

29 Marras 58min

As part of our Hidden Killers 2025 Year in Review series, we revisit one of the most surreal twists in the Donna Adelson murder trial — the moment when a novel became potential evidence in a real-life homicide case. In this special episode, Tony Brueski breaks down the unprecedented legal and psychological debate surrounding This Is Our Story, a book written by Donna’s daughter, Wendi Adelson, years before the murder of her ex-husband, Dan Markel. What began as fiction has now been pulled into a courtroom as a possible roadmap to motive. Prosecutors argue that the story — about a woman desperate to escape her marriage and rebuild her life without her husband — eerily mirrors Wendi’s real-life circumstances before Markel’s death. They claim it exposes family resentment, obsession with control, and the emotional triggers that led to murder. The defense, meanwhile, insists the book is irrelevant, prejudicial, and “a dangerous conflation of art and accusation.” Tony unpacks the courtroom fight over this bizarre piece of evidence: Why the State believes Wendi’s novel matters — and how prosecutors think it reveals intent. How Donna’s defense team is trying to block it, calling it an unfair literary witch hunt. What the novel actually says — and why its parallels to the Markel-Adelson saga are impossible to ignore. But this episode isn’t just about the legal argument. It’s about narrative control — the very thing the Adelsons have fought to maintain since the day Dan Markel was shot in his driveway. From Donna’s alleged orchestration of the hit to Wendi’s public denial of involvement, the family’s story has always been carefully curated. Now, that curation may become their undoing. Could fiction really help convict someone of murder? Or is this a dangerous precedent that blurs the line between imagination and evidence? Either way, the irony is impossible to miss: the Adelsons, who once controlled the narrative, may now be undone by one they wrote themselves. 🎙️ Hidden Killers with Tony Brueski — 2025 Year in Review: The Cases Where Truth Was Stranger Than Fiction. #DonnaAdelson #WendiAdelson #DanMarkel #HiddenKillers #TonyBrueski #TrueCrimePodcast #MurderForHire #CourtroomDrama #FloridaCrime #JusticeForDanMarkel #YearInReview #TrueCrimeToday Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/@hiddenkillerspod Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod X Twitter https://x.com/tonybpod Listen Ad-Free On Apple Podcasts Here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/true-crime-today-premium-plus-ad-free-advance-episode/id1705422872

28 Marras 52min

As part of our Hidden Killers 2025 Year in Review series, we’re revisiting the most disturbing, politically charged, and psychologically revealing chapter in the Gilgo Beach murder investigation — one that now includes the alleged discovery of Rex Heuermann’s “manifesto.” In this explosive special, Tony Brueski unpacks two powerful narratives unfolding in parallel: the discovery of a chilling document allegedly authored by Heuermann detailing methods for serial murder, and the growing skepticism of his ex-wife Asa Ellerup, who’s beginning to wonder if her former husband might be a pawn in a much darker story of corruption and cover-ups. Investigators reportedly found a meticulously written digital file on Heuermann’s computer — a step-by-step “how-to” guide for abducting, killing, dismembering, and disposing of victims while avoiding forensic detection. The alleged instructions include forensic countermeasures that mirror the real-world evidence found across multiple crime scenes, including Manorville and Ocean Parkway, where the remains of victims like Jessica Taylor and Valerie Mack were discovered. Prosecutors say this “manifesto” could become the smoking gun in proving premeditation, linking Heuermann to multiple unsolved murders, and showing a disturbing consciousness of guilt. But with a county marred by scandal — from former police chief James Burke’s porn-and-violence scandal to DA Thomas Spota’s obstruction conviction — the defense is asking: how much of this can be trusted? Enter Asa Ellerup. After watching Netflix’s Gone Girls: The Long Island Serial Killer, she isn’t pushing wild conspiracies — but she is questioning the system. Her legal team is raising alarms about Suffolk County’s history of corruption, claiming it taints everything from the DNA evidence (derived through a contested “whole genome sequencing” technique) to the investigative integrity itself. Could a broken system be capable of building a monster to hide its own sins? Or is this simply the final unraveling of one of America’s most terrifying suburban nightmares? 🎙️ Hidden Killers with Tony Brueski — 2025 Year in Review: The Crimes, The Cover-Ups, and The Chaos That Defined the Year. #RexHeuermann #GilgoBeachMurders #AsaEllerup #HiddenKillers #TonyBrueski #SuffolkCounty #JamesBurke #Corruption #TrueCrimePodcast #ManifestoEvidence #SerialKillerCase #YearInReview #JusticeForVictims #TrueCrimeToday Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/@hiddenkillerspod Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod X Twitter https://x.com/tonybpod Listen Ad-Free On Apple Podcasts Here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/true-crime-today-premium-plus-ad-free-advance-episode/id1705422872

28 Marras 53min

As part of our Hidden Killers 2025 Year in Review series, we’re revisiting the shocking new evidence and eerie imagery redefining the case against Bryan Kohberger, the man accused of murdering four University of Idaho students in one of the most haunting crimes of the decade. In this special combined episode, Tony Brueski is joined by Defense Attorney Bob Motta (Defense Diaries) and former prosecutor Eric Faddis to dissect the revelations that turned a complex case into a potentially airtight one. First, the receipts — literally. Prosecutors say Kohberger bought the exact model of knife and sheath found at the crime scene months before the murders. The order allegedly came straight from Amazon, complete with a matching knife sharpener that looks suspiciously like a vacuum attachment. It’s the kind of detail that might sound absurd if it weren’t so chilling. Tony and Motta break down how this discovery — paired with the bizarre thumbs-up bathroom selfie allegedly taken hours after the killings — creates a psychological portrait of someone who wasn’t just methodical, but disturbingly proud. Was the selfie a trophy? A taunt? Or the self-satisfied smirk of a man who believed he’d gotten away with it? Then, Faddis brings the legal heat — explaining why this evidence could be devastating for the defense, how the alleged receipts demolish claims of “planted evidence,” and what the prosecution will do with a timeline that screams premeditation. Could Kohberger’s team still angle for a plea deal to avoid the death penalty? Or has this case already crossed the line into the inevitable? Beyond the evidence, Tony and his guests explore the deeper question: Why document your own destruction? From online purchases to photos, the alleged digital breadcrumbs reveal a mindset obsessed with control — and undone by it. 🎙️ Hidden Killers with Tony Brueski — 2025 Year in Review: The Crimes That Defined a Year of Forensics, Psychology, and Pure Obsession. #BryanKohberger #HiddenKillers #TonyBrueski #BobMotta #EricFaddis #TrueCrimePodcast #IdahoMurders #ForensicEvidence #AmazonReceipts #KnifeSheath #CourtroomDrama #DeathPenalty #CriminalPsychology #YearInReview #TrueCrimeToday #JusticeForVictims Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/@hiddenkillerspod Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod X Twitter https://x.com/tonybpod Listen Ad-Free On Apple Podcasts Here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/true-crime-today-premium-plus-ad-free-advance-episode/id1705422872

28 Marras 58min