The Perfect Neighbor Delusion: Psychotherapist on How Fear Becomes a Weapon

In this Hidden Killers deep dive, Tony Brueski examines what really happens to a mind like Bryan Kohberger’s when the walls close in and the audience disappears. After being sentenced to life in prison for the murders of four University of Idaho students, Kohberger now faces the one force he can’t manipulate: time. For nearly three years he’s lived under lockdown—no stage, no admirers, no power. What does that do to a brain built on control, superiority, and a complete lack of empathy? Using insights from decades of psychological research on psychopathy, narcissistic collapse, and long-term solitary confinement, this episode unpacks the internal decay of high-control offenders once their delusions of dominance meet the reality of prison life. From the first days of agitation and rage to the later stages of emotional flatlining and obsessive routine, Tony explores how predators like Kohberger adapt—or fail to adapt—when stripped of power. What happens when a narcissist can no longer perform for an audience? When his intellect stops being an asset and starts becoming his tormentor? This episode digs deep into the science and the psychology of isolation, boredom, and self-destruction—where every day becomes a mirror, and the only reflection staring back is guilt he’ll never acknowledge. There are no redemption arcs here. No grand awakenings. Just a slow-motion unraveling inside a concrete box—a living case study in how control-obsessed minds corrode under the weight of silence. Tony Brueski pulls no punches in this brutally honest look at the narcissistic decay of Bryan Kohberger, the illusion of control that built his ego, and the quiet, endless punishment that awaits him behind bars. 👉 Subscribe for more true crime analysis, forensic psychology breakdowns, and exclusive expert interviews on Hidden Killers with Tony Brueski. #BryanKohberger #HiddenKillers #TrueCrimePodcast #Psychopathy #Narcissism #IdahoMurders #BryanKohbergerTrial #PrisonPsychology #BryanKohbergerPrison #ForensicPsychology #TrueCrimeAnalysis 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

30 Loka 13min

In a quiet neighborhood in Ocala, Florida, a mother of four simply knocked on her neighbor’s door to ask for answers. What happened next was anything but simple. AJ Owens’ life ended when her neighbor, convinced her peace had been stolen, reached for a gun and fired through a locked door. This isn’t just a story of a shooting — it’s a psychological breakdown in full display. I’m Tony Brueski, and in this episode of Hidden Killers, we go deep into the mindset of one woman who couldn’t tolerate other people living. She didn’t see children playing. She saw disrespect. She didn’t hear laughter. She heard a threat. With the veneer of the “perfect neighbor” and the weapon of her choice, her answer to disruption was final. We’ll trace the two-year buildup: the constant complaints, the phone recordings, the police visits. Then we’ll walk you through the shot itself, the locked door, the children, the devastation. But most of all, we’ll shine a light on the malignant psychology behind it all — entitlement that morphs into threat, control that masquerades as safety, and a system that responded but never interrupted. This longform narrative isn’t about sensationalizing death. It’s about accountability. It’s about understanding how narcissistic control can completely retract someone from reality, until the world either bends to them — or lives break. If you’ve ever lived next to someone who demands their world be silent except for their voice, this one’s for you. Because quiet isn’t always peace. Sometimes quiet is the calm that follows a gunshot. Listen in. Watch the patterns. Recognize the danger. And subscribe to keep uncovering the hidden killers lurking behind everyday facades. #TrueCrimeStory #HiddenKillers #NeighborhoodMurder #PsychologicalProfile #NarcissismInCrime #MotherOfFour #StandYourGround #CrimeAnalysis #FatalEgo #ControlAndViolence 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

30 Loka 18min

Before Charlie’s smirk, before Donna’s letters, before the Adelson name became synonymous with murder — there were the first flips. In this haunting episode of Hidden Killers with Tony Brueski, we go back to where it all began: the deals, the confessions, and the whispers that cracked open the Daniel Markel murder-for-hire case. This is the untold story of how Luis Rivera — a gang member with nothing left to lose — traded silence for survival, and how Katherine Magbanua — caught between love, money, and manipulation — became the bridge that connected killers to the Adelson family. It’s a chilling portrait of greed, control, and the illusion of safety that defined the Adelsons long before the world saw their faces in court. This is how justice began — not with headlines, but with the first domino that dared to fall. #HiddenKillers #AdelsonFamily #DanMarkel #TrueCrimePodcast #KatherineMagbanua #LuisRivera #DonnaAdelson #CharlieAdelson #MurderForHire #FloridaCrime 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

30 Loka 16min

A mother is dead. A neighbor claims fear. But what really drove Susan Lorincz to pull the trigger through a closed door?  In this exclusive conversation, psychotherapist Shavaun Scott joins Tony Brueski. Stacy Cole, and Todd Michaels to dissect the psychology behind The Perfect Neighbor case — where paranoia, entitlement, and grievance collided in one deadly moment. Scott unpacks the behavioral descent that transforms everyday irritation into lethal certainty. Was Lorincz truly afraid, or was “fear” the mask for long-nurtured anger? From chronic irritability and confirmation bias to the self-righteous delusion of being “under siege,” Scott breaks down the cognitive distortions that rewrite reality until violence feels justified. Together, they examine how “stand-your-ground” culture, racialized fear, and emotional dysregulation converge — and what this case reveals about the American obsession with safety at all costs. This isn’t just a crime story; it’s a psychological autopsy of modern paranoia. #ShavaunScott #HiddenKillers #ThePerfectNeighbor #AjikeOwens #SusanLorincz #TonyBrueski #TrueCrimePodcast #PsychologyOfFear #StandYourGround #BehavioralAnalysis 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

30 Loka 25min

Alex Murdaugh’s name has become synonymous with deceit, greed, and betrayal. The former South Carolina attorney confessed to stealing millions from clients, friends, and even his own firm — but does that make him a murderer? In this explosive episode of Hidden Killers with Tony Brueski, we strip away the money, the scandals, and the headlines to ask one uncomfortable question: did the jury convict Alex Murdaugh for murder, or for being a monster they already hated? In March 2023, Murdaugh was found guilty of killing his wife, Maggie, and son, Paul, at their Moselle property. But with no murder weapon, no direct forensic link, and no eyewitnesses, the case depended heavily on his financial crimes to establish motive. His own attorney, Dick Harpootlian, admits Murdaugh is a “horrible person” for what he did financially — but insists that doesn’t mean he pulled the trigger. As the South Carolina Supreme Court weighs whether to grant a new trial amid allegations of jury tampering by former court clerk Becky Hill, the debate over guilt versus prejudice is heating back up. Tony breaks down the real evidence: what points to guilt, what points to innocence, and why removing the financial narrative changes everything. Was Murdaugh’s conviction built on facts — or on disgust? Is he a murderer, or just a morally bankrupt man who became the perfect villain for America’s true-crime obsession? It’s time to separate what can be proven from what just feels true. 🎙️ Subscribe now for more unfiltered true crime breakdowns with Tony Brueski on Hidden Killers. #AlexMurdaugh #HiddenKillersPodcast #TrueCrime #MurdaughMurders #MaggieMurdaugh #PaulMurdaugh #SouthCarolina #JusticeSystem #TrueCrimeCommunity #TonyBrueski 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

30 Loka 25min

When Ajike Owens was killed through a closed door, her four children lost their mother — and a nation faced the consequences of unchecked paranoia. In this exclusive episode, psychotherapist Shavaun Scott joins Tony Brueski, Stacy Cole, and Todd Michaels to dissect the mental chain reaction behind that fatal moment. Scott explores how chronic resentment, fear scripting, and entitlement converge in what she calls “justified aggression”—the mind’s way of excusing harm under the guise of self-protection. She breaks down how fear, when reinforced over years, becomes not a response but an identity. The discussion turns toward healing: what happens to children who witness or lose parents to violence, what recovery actually looks like, and how society can stop mistaking grievance for danger.  This is not just analysis — it’s a human reckoning with how far distorted thinking can go when no one intervenes. #ShavaunScott #HiddenKillersPodcast #ThePerfectNeighbor #AjikeOwens #SusanLorincz #TonyBrueski #TrueCrimeToday #PsychologyOfFear #TraumaRecovery #FearVsAccountability 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

30 Loka 51min

Before there was a “haunted house,” there was a family. And before The Amityville Horror became a pop-culture phenomenon, there was a very real crime scene — six members of the DeFeo family, murdered in their beds on November 13, 1974. In this Hidden Killers deep-dive, Tony Brueski strips away the myth and exposes the true story of Ronald DeFeo Jr. — the 23-year-old son who turned a picture-perfect Long Island home into one of the darkest chapters in American true-crime history. This isn’t about ghosts. It’s about control, pressure, and collapse inside a family that looked flawless from the outside. Through court records, trial transcripts, and eyewitness accounts, we unravel the DeFeo family’s life before the murders — a world of strict rules, generational pride, and a father-son relationship that spiraled from conflict to catastrophe. What happened inside 112 Ocean Avenue wasn’t supernatural. It was psychological. A slow burn of resentment, addiction, and identity loss that ended with a rifle and six bodies. Ronald “Butch” DeFeo Jr. claimed he heard voices telling him to kill. The jury didn’t believe him. He was convicted on six counts of second-degree murder and sentenced to six consecutive life terms. He died in prison in 2021 — leaving behind a trail of lies, contradictions, and one chilling constant: he never showed remorse. Decades later, the Amityville myth still overshadows the truth. This episode reclaims it. Because before it was a franchise, it was a family. And the real horror wasn’t the house — it was what happened inside it. 📺 Watch now and hear the story behind the legend — the DeFeos, the murders, and the night the American Dream died. #AmityvilleMurders #DeFeoFamily #TrueCrime #HiddenKillersPodcast #TonyBrueski #Amityville #RonaldDeFeo #TrueCrimeCommunity #RealHorrorStory #AmericanTrueCrime 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 Loka 14min