Anna Kepner Died on a Cruise — After a Lifetime of Being Failed by Family

Here's a question nobody's answering clearly: Can Nick Reiner — the man charged with murdering Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner — legally access their $200 million estate to pay for his defense?He has no money of his own. He wasn't employed. He was living in his parents' guesthouse. And now he's facing two counts of first-degree murder with special circumstances, represented by a public defender who learned about the case the day before his arraignment.Three weeks ago, Nick had Alan Jackson — one of the highest-profile defense attorneys in the country. The family was reportedly footing the bill from the estate. Then Jackson withdrew. The family stopped paying. And nobody's explaining why.California's slayer statute is supposed to prevent this exact situation — you kill someone, you don't inherit from them. But the statute requires a finding of "intentional" killing. What if Nick mounts an insanity defense? What if he's found not guilty by reason of insanity? Does that change everything?We dig into the legal loophole that could theoretically preserve Nick's inheritance, explain why his siblings can block any distribution, and break down what it actually means to go from a $2,000-an-hour attorney to an overworked public defender in a capital-eligible case.The money is there. The question is whether Nick can ever touch it.#NickReiner #RobReiner #MicheleReiner #TrueCrimeToday #SlayerStatute #InsanityDefense #Parricide #TrueCrime #MurderCase #CriminalDefenseJoin Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISDOES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/@hiddenkillerspodInstagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspodX Twitter https://x.com/tonybpodListen Ad-Free On Apple Podcasts Here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/true-crime-today-premium-plus-ad-free-advance-episode/id1705422872This publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice

10 Tammi 15min

True Crime Today breaks down two major developments with attorney and former prosecutor Eric Faddis.In Los Angeles, celebrity defense attorney Alan Jackson has withdrawn from the Nick Reiner murder case just three weeks after signing on. Jackson told the court he had "no choice" due to circumstances "beyond Nick's control" — then held a press conference where he declared Nick Reiner is "NOT guilty of murder" under California law. Sources point to money as the reason for the split. The problem? Nick's parents — Rob and Michele Reiner's son and daughter-in-law — are the victims he allegedly killed. Public defender Kimberly Greene is now taking over with almost no time to prepare for a capital case. Eric explains what the M'Naghten insanity standard actually requires and whether Nick has any realistic chance of meeting it.Then we shift to Kentucky and the Mickey Stines case. The former sheriff is charged with murdering District Judge Kevin Mullins in his own chambers. The killing was caught on video. The defense is arguing insanity — but now they've uncovered footage showing the presiding judge, Christopher Cohron, sitting next to the victim at a mental health meeting just one week before the murder. Cohron never disclosed this to either side. He's also blocked the defense from using a sealed psychiatric evaluation. Eric breaks down the recusal motion, the venue fight, and why this case might not be able to proceed until a new judge is assigned.#NickReiner #MickeyStines #TrueCrimeToday #AlanJackson #InsanityDefense #MurderCase #EricFaddis #JudgeRecusal #CaliforniaLaw #KentuckyLawThis video is for commentary and entertainment purposes only. All accused are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.Join Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISDOES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/@hiddenkillerspodInstagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspodX Twitter https://x.com/tonybpodListen Ad-Free On Apple Podcasts Here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/true-crime-today-premium-plus-ad-free-advance-episode/id1705422872

10 Tammi 43min

True Crime Today concludes its interview series on the Charity Beallis case with former FBI special agent Robin Dreeke examining why this case resists the simple domestic violence framing many outlets have applied.Charity Beallis wrote publicly that she was a victim. She claimed she feared for her life. But the documented record shows allegations cutting in multiple directions — not just one.Randall Beallis pled guilty to misdemeanor battery. His previous wife Shawna died from a gunshot wound in 2012, ruled a suicide. But Charity had a 2013 arrest for allegedly pointing a firearm at a man. Her own father petitioned for custody of her child, alleging she was dangerous. And according to a 2021 police report, that same father allegedly told investigators Charity confessed to shooting Shawna.Randy Powell later told media he never said Charity was involved — only that "she knew who did it." That's a significant contradiction.Robin Dreeke spent 32 years in federal law enforcement. He's seen cases that looked simple on the surface but weren't. In this interview, he examines how investigators handle situations where both parties have documented allegations against them, where witness statements shift, and where the comfortable victim-perpetrator narrative may not fit the evidence.The investigation is ongoing. No arrest has been made. No cause of death has been released. We don't presume to know who is responsible. We only know that Eliana and Maverick are gone.Content on this site is based on publicly available information and reflects commentary and opinion. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty. Nothing published here constitutes legal, medical, or professional advice.#TrueCrimeToday #CharityBeallis #RobinDreeke #FBI #ElianaAndMaverick #RandallBeallis #BonanzaArkansas #TrueCrime2025 #ComplexCases #CrimeAnalysisJoin Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISDOES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/@hiddenkillerspodInstagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspodX Twitter https://x.com/tonybpodListen Ad-Free On Apple Podcasts Here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/true-crime-today-premium-plus-ad-free-advance-episode/id1705422872

10 Tammi 12min

The Mickey Stines murder case is frozen — and the reason is a video nobody knew existed until now. Defense attorney and former prosecutor Eric Faddis joins True Crime Today to break down the recusal motion that could change everything.Former Letcher County Sheriff Mickey Stines is charged with murdering District Judge Kevin Mullins in his courthouse chambers in September 2024. The shooting was captured on video. The defense isn't disputing Stines pulled the trigger — they're arguing he was legally insane. But now, before any of that gets argued in front of a jury, the defense is fighting to remove the judge.According to court filings, Special Judge Christopher Cohron was filmed seated inches from Mullins at a Kentucky Judicial Commission on Mental Health meeting — seven days before Mullins was killed. The defense claims Cohron never disclosed this. They're now arguing that his rulings — blocking the psychiatric evaluation from being unsealed, barring it from the bond hearing — show an appearance of bias that cannot stand in a case where mental health is the entire defense.Eric Faddis has been on both sides of fights like this. He walks us through the legal standard for recusal, what happens if Cohron denies the motion, and how this could escalate to Kentucky's Chief Justice. We also get into the venue battle, the death penalty decision that still hasn't been made, and what fifteen months of procedural gridlock tells us about how the system handles a case this tangled.#MickeyStines #TrueCrimeToday #EricFaddis #JudgeCohron #KevinMullins #RecusalMotion #KentuckyMurder #TrueCrimeNews #CourthouseShooting #CriminalJusticeJoin Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISDOES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/@hiddenkillerspodInstagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspodX Twitter https://x.com/tonybpodListen Ad-Free On Apple Podcasts Here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/true-crime-today-premium-plus-ad-free-advance-episode/id1705422872

9 Tammi 15min

Today we're breaking down everything you need to know about what comes next in the Nick Reiner case.Alan Jackson quit as Nick's attorney this morning — but not before delivering a statement that sounded more like a closing argument than a goodbye: "Nick Reiner is NOT guilty of murder under California law. Print that." Three weeks of investigation. Ten sealed subpoenas. And now he's gone.Here's what that statement actually means. California's insanity defense works in two phases. First, the jury decides guilt based on the evidence. Then — if guilty — a second trial determines whether the defendant was legally insane at the time of the crime. That's where Jackson's words apply. Under the M'Naghten Rule, the defense must prove Nick couldn't understand what he was doing or couldn't tell right from wrong at the exact moment of the killings. Less than one percent of defendants plead insanity. Only about a quarter succeed.Nick is now represented by Deputy Public Defender Kimberly Greene, who met him for approximately thirty seconds before the hearing. But the LA County Public Defender's Office has one of the best capital case records in the country — between 2006 and 2015, only one of their clients was sentenced to death out of thirty appeals.Here's what most people miss: even if the insanity defense works, Nick doesn't walk free. He goes to a state psychiatric hospital — potentially for life. Facilities where the DOJ found civil rights violations and patient murders.The insanity defense isn't an escape hatch. It's a different kind of cage. And whether Nick goes to prison or Patton State Hospital, he's not coming back.#NickReiner #RobReiner #TrueCrimeToday #InsanityDefense #CaliforniaLaw #MurderCase #AlanJackson #PublicDefender #CriminalJustice #ReinerCaseJoin Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISDOES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/@hiddenkillerspodInstagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspodX Twitter https://x.com/tonybpodListen Ad-Free On Apple Podcasts Here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/true-crime-today-premium-plus-ad-free-advance-episode/id1705422872

9 Tammi 19min

Today we're breaking down the defense strategy everyone's talking about — and why it almost never works.Alan Jackson made his intentions clear before walking away from Nick Reiner's case: "Nick Reiner is NOT guilty of murder under California law." Translation: insanity defense.Nick was reportedly being treated for schizophrenia at the time he allegedly killed his parents, Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner. TMZ reports a schizoaffective disorder diagnosis. His medication was changed weeks before the killings, and sources describe his behavior as "erratic and dangerous."But California doesn't care if you're mentally ill. It cares if you were legally insane at the exact moment of the crime. That's the M'Naghten Rule — and it's brutal. The defense must prove Nick either didn't understand what he was doing or couldn't tell right from wrong in that specific instant.Less than one percent of defendants try this defense. Only about a quarter succeed.Attorney and former prosecutor Eric Faddis joins us to explain how California's insanity defense actually works — the two-phase trial process, how medication changes factor in, and what evidence prosecutors will use to argue Nick knew exactly what he was doing.We also examine the addiction angle. Nick has a documented history of cocaine and stimulant abuse. California recognizes "settled insanity" from long-term drug use — but psychosis from voluntary intoxication at the time of the crime doesn't qualify. How do these two factors interact?If the defense wins, Nick goes to a state psychiatric facility. If it loses, he faces life in prison or worse.Here's what you need to know about the hardest defense in criminal law.#NickReiner #RobReiner #InsanityDefense #TrueCrimeToday #CaliforniaLaw #Schizophrenia #MurderCase #MNaghtenRule #LegalExplainer #MentalHealthJoin Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISDOES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/@hiddenkillerspodInstagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspodX Twitter https://x.com/tonybpodListen Ad-Free On Apple Podcasts Here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/true-crime-today-premium-plus-ad-free-advance-episode/id1705422872

9 Tammi 15min

The prosecution's case took a devastating hit Thursday. Judge Sid Harle struck Stephanie Hale's entire testimony from the record in the Adrian Gonzales trial. The jury has been instructed to disregard everything the former Robb Elementary teacher said — including her account of seeing the gunman on the south side of campus and her testimony about children arming themselves with safety scissors.Hale returned to the stand Thursday for cross-examination. Defense attorney Jason Goss exposed inconsistencies between her courtroom testimony and what she told a Texas Ranger four days after the massacre. Hale admitted it was "kind of implied" she saw the shooter based on dust clouds — not the specific sighting she described Tuesday."There's no doubt that this was crucial to the defense strategy," Judge Harle said before striking the testimony.Three days into the only criminal trial from the Uvalde massacre, the prosecution has been called "negligent," lost a key witness, and watched their own DA testify about failures in witness prep. Gonzales faces 29 counts of child endangerment. Trial continues Friday.#HiddenKillers #AdrianGonzales #UvaldeTrial #RobbElementary #TrueCrime #Uvalde #Justice #SchoolShooting #Breaking #TestimonyJoin Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISDOES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/@hiddenkillerspodInstagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspodX Twitter https://x.com/tonybpodListen Ad-Free On Apple Podcasts Here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/true-crime-today-premium-plus-ad-free-advance-episode/id1705422872

9 Tammi 18min

Today in the Nick Reiner case: his defense just imploded.Alan Jackson, the criminal defense attorney who took Nick's case within hours of his January 6th arrest, told a Los Angeles judge he had "no choice" but to withdraw. He cited circumstances "beyond Nick's control." Sources tell Deadline that money is the issue — but Jackson's exit statement tells a different story.Standing outside the courthouse, Jackson declared: "Pursuant to the laws of California, Nick Reiner is NOT guilty of murder. Print that." That's not a withdrawal statement. That's a closing argument.Nick is now represented by LA County Public Defender Kimberly Greene, who told reporters she'd had about thirty seconds with her new client before the hearing. She said she'd had no contact with the Reiner family and didn't believe they knew Jackson was leaving.On today's episode, attorney and former prosecutor Eric Faddis explains what this withdrawal actually means. What happens to the ten sealed subpoenas Jackson's team issued? Does Greene inherit his investigation? How does a public defender prepare for a capital case on this timeline?We also look at who's prosecuting: Deputy DA Habib Balian, who handled the Menendez resentencing and secured a conviction against Robert Durst. Does the defense chaos give him an opening?Arraignment is now February 23rd. No plea has been entered. The insanity defense is being signaled loudly. And the man accused of killing Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner just lost his hand-picked legal team.This case is moving fast. Here's what you need to know today.#NickReiner #RobReiner #TrueCrimeToday #AlanJackson #ReinerMurders #BreakingNews #MurderCase #LACounty #CriminalDefense #TrueCrimeNewsJoin Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISDOES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/@hiddenkillerspodInstagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspodX Twitter https://x.com/tonybpodListen Ad-Free On Apple Podcasts Here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/true-crime-today-premium-plus-ad-free-advance-episode/id1705422872

9 Tammi 12min