Ashlee Buzzard SECRETS EXPOSED: False Imprisonment, a Box Cutter, and a Missing Child
When nine-year-old Melodee Buzzard vanished in early October, few could have predicted how fast her mother’s behavior would spiral. Now, new court documents and witness statements reveal a terrifying encounter — one that prosecutors call false imprisonment by violence, menace, fraud, and deceit. According to the sworn statement of Tyler Brewer, a legal document assistant and mandated reporter, he went to meet Ashlee Buzzard on November 6, 2025, to discuss helping locate Melodee. What happened inside her Lompoc home instead sounded like something out of a psychological thriller. Brewer says Ashlee became “visibly distressed,” produced a box cutter, and locked him inside with multiple locks while refusing to let him leave. He eventually escaped and reported the incident. Now, Buzzard sits in the Santa Barbara County Jail on a felony charge — her bail set at $100,000 with a 1275 hold, meaning even if she posts it, she must prove the funds are clean. Authorities insist this charge is not directly connected to Melodee’s disappearance, but it exposes what looks like a mental health emergency spiraling into criminal territory. In this episode of Hidden Killers with Tony Brueski, Tony dissects the full chain of events — from the wigs and swapped license plates to the psychological breakdown that ended in a locked door. How did a mother this unstable still retain custody? How did the system miss every red flag until someone else got trapped behind that door? And what does this tell us about how America handles mental health crises inside families — especially when a child’s life is at stake? This is not just a case of one missing girl. It’s a portrait of a system that keeps giving unstable parents second chances until it runs out of children to protect. If you know anything about the whereabouts of Melodee Buzzard, contact the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office immediately. #AshleeBuzzard #MelodeeBuzzard #HiddenKillers #TonyBrueski #TrueCrime #MissingChild #MentalHealthCrisis #FalseImprisonment #SantaBarbara #Lompoc #ChildProtectionFail #ParentalRights #SystemFailure 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
11 Nov 202519min
He Assaulted Two Girls And Strangled One Almost To Death and Got Zero Jail Time, Meet Jesse Butler
A rape. A strangulation. Video evidence. Multiple felony counts. And an 18-year-old who should’ve faced decades in prison — but didn’t. In Payne County, Oklahoma, Jesse Butler pleaded no contest to multiple violent felonies: rape, attempted rape, assault by strangulation, and rape by instrumentation. Each count carried heavy time — up to 78 years combined. But thanks to a stunning plea deal, Butler walked free. No prison. Just community service, counseling, and “youthful offender” status. The agreement was signed off by Judge Susan C. Worthington, prompting outrage from victims, advocates, and law-abiding citizens who can’t fathom how this could happen. A young woman nearly strangled to death — doctors saying seconds longer and she’d be gone — and the man responsible goes home. On Hidden Killers with Tony Brueski, former FBI Special Agent Jennifer Coffindaffer joins to break down how plea mechanics, influence, and institutional apathy intersect to create decisions that mock justice itself. We explore how Oklahoma’s Youthful Offender Act was never intended for predators like Butler — and how misuse of that statute now threatens public safety statewide. This conversation asks the questions prosecutors and judges won’t: What message does this send to survivors? How many future victims will stay silent after seeing a predator walk free? And what does it say when violent offenders are given “second chances” while victims are left with life sentences of trauma? This isn’t about vengeance. It’s about proportion. It’s about a justice system that’s supposed to protect the vulnerable — and instead, too often, protects the well-connected. #JesseButler #HiddenKillers #TonyBrueski #JenniferCoffindaffer #TrueCrimeToday #JudgeWorthington #OklahomaJustice #RapeCase #PleaDeal #YouthfulOffender 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
11 Nov 202522min
Bryan Kohberger’s Reading: How “Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway” Became His Mindset
When police arrested Bryan Kohberger — the criminology Ph.D. student accused of murdering four University of Idaho students — they found a single book with underlining on page 118. Months later, reporting from the Idaho Statesman revealed that book was Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway by Susan Jeffers — a self-help classic about conquering fear through action. In this episode of Hidden Killers with Tony Brueski, we dig into what that detail really means. Was Kohberger simply reading a popular motivational book? Or was he absorbing a philosophy that, in his hands, took on something much darker? Tony breaks down how Jeffers’ message — “The only way to get rid of the fear of doing something is to go out and do it” — could have resonated with Kohberger’s obsessive need for control and dominance. Through psychological analysis and factual reporting, this episode explores how self-help principles can be warped by pathological minds — transforming courage into justification, empowerment into entitlement, and action into violence. We examine the context of the discovery, Kohberger’s academic writings about “emotions and criminal decision-making,” and his disturbing fascination with overcoming hesitation. The result is a chilling portrait of a man who may have misread a book about personal growth as a guide to fearlessness at any cost. It’s not about blame. It’s about understanding how ordinary ideas can become extraordinary distortions inside extraordinary minds. 🎧 New episodes daily. 📺 Watch full coverage and interviews with top experts — retired FBI agents, prosecutors, and psychotherapists — only on Hidden Killers with Tony Brueski. #BryanKohberger #FeelTheFearAndDoItAnyway #IdahoMurders #HiddenKillers #TrueCrime #TonyBrueski #PsychologyOfMurder #Criminology #SusanJeffers #FearAndControl #IdahoCase #TrueCrimeAnalysis #HiddenKillersPodcast 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
11 Nov 202516min
Mother Arrested — But Where Is 9-Year-Old Melodee Buzzard?
A mother under arrest. A daughter still missing. And an investigation that keeps stretching across states and logic alike. On Hidden Killers with Tony Brueski, we break down the case of 9-year-old Melodee Buzzard, missing since early October 2025. Her mother, Ashlee Buzzard, was arrested November 7 in Santa Barbara County on a felony false-imprisonment charge with $100,000 bail. The sheriff’s office insists this arrest is not directly related to Melodee’s disappearance — but investigators rarely say those words without a strategy behind them. Here’s the chilling timeline: Ashlee rented a white 2024 Chevy Malibu in Lompoc on October 7. Surveillance later captured wigs, and authorities allege a license-plate swap during the trip. The last verified sighting of Melodee occurred near the Utah-Colorado border on October 9. Days later, Ashlee returned to California — without her daughter. Former FBI Special Agent Jennifer Coffindaffer joins Tony and Stacy Cole to decode what “not directly related” really means — and how investigators may be using this charge as a containment tool while reconstructing Melodee’s final known route. From vehicle forensics to cell-tower triangulation and search-grid coordination, we analyze the likely behind-the-scenes maneuvers law enforcement won’t yet discuss publicly. We also examine the psychology of silence — when a parent refuses to cooperate, how do investigators keep hope alive without compromising the case? And what should the public be looking for right now that could truly help? This story is still unfolding. And somewhere along that route between Lompoc and Utah, the answers may still exist. #MelodeeBuzzard #AshleeBuzzard #HiddenKillers #TonyBrueski #JenniferCoffindaffer #TrueCrimeToday #MissingChild #FalseImprisonment #SantaBarbara #UtahColoradoBorder 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
11 Nov 202535min
