Prosecution and Defense Give Opening Statements in Brendan Banfield Trial — The "Au Pair Affair Murder Trial"

Tonight on Hidden Killers Live, we’re taking on the uncomfortable truth institutions hate facing: sometimes the danger is right in front of them, but the structure, culture, and psychology of the environment keep anyone from calling it what it is. Retired FBI Special Agent Robin Dreeke joins us to break down how those blind spots cost Washington State University crucial opportunities to intervene. This episode digs into the behavioral complaints that circulated inside WSU long before any crime occurred: the staring, the hovering, the boundary-breaking, the fear expressed by women in the department. These weren’t isolated incidents. They were a pattern. And patterns matter. Robin explains why institutions tend to frame patterned discomfort as a paperwork problem instead of a risk-behavior problem — and why that distinction is everything. Graduate programs rely heavily on autonomy, hierarchy, and informal power dynamics. When the person generating concern holds influence over students, especially women, the risk isn’t hypothetical. It’s structural. We examine why institutions minimize threat signals: fear of liability, fear of mislabeling someone, fear of overreacting, fear of confronting what they don’t want to acknowledge. Stacy joins with psychological insight into why women's instincts responded before anyone had the “official language” to describe what was wrong. Then we explore what was missing at WSU — not actions, but training. Why were faculty unprepared to identify patterned risk? Why did warnings get siloed instead of escalated? Why did a mandatory meeting produce no meaningful change? And what could have been done differently from the moment the first complaints surfaced? This isn’t about hindsight. It’s about understanding systemic blind spots so they aren’t repeated. For anyone trying to understand the line between unusual behavior and genuine threat, this conversation is a must-watch. #HiddenKillers #WSU #RobinDreeke #ThreatAssessment #CampusWarnings #BehavioralPatterns #TrueCrimeLivestream #TonyBrueski #RedFlags #InstitutionalFailure 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

23 Nov 202549min

An 18-year-old girl goes on a family cruise and never comes home. That alone is heartbreaking. But when the details start to surface — when the reporting suggests she wasn’t simply found in her bed, but under it… wrapped… covered… hidden — the silence from authorities becomes its own kind of story. In today’s episode, we take a deep, fact-driven look at the death of Anna Kepner, the bright Florida high-school senior whose life ended aboard the Carnival Horizon in circumstances that are anything but ordinary. This isn’t speculation. This is the complete picture of what’s publicly known right now — the timeline, the evidence investigators already have, the procedures that should be happening immediately, and why these first days matter more than anyone wants to admit. Anna wasn’t the typical cruise fatality. She wasn’t elderly. She wasn’t ill. She wasn’t alone. She was a teenager with her family, with plans, with a future. And when cases like this happen at sea, history tells us something important: if you don’t get answers early, you may never get them at all. We break down why maritime investigations are so vulnerable, why evidence evaporates fast, and how cases like George Smith, Amy Lynn Bradley, and Rebecca Coriam show what happens when the early hours are lost. We look at what investigators already know — from keycard logs to hallway cameras to autopsy findings — and why that information matters right now, while the facts are still fresh. This is not about sensationalism. It’s about urgency. It’s about accountability. It’s about making sure Anna’s story doesn’t get added to the long list of “unsolved at sea” headlines we revisit ten years from now. It’s about insisting that the truth is worth fighting for — now, while it’s still within reach. #HiddenKillers #CarnivalCruise #AnnaKepner #CruiseDeath #TrueCrime #TonyBrueski #Investigation #FBI #CrimeAtSea #MaritimeLaw 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

23 Nov 202513min

Tonight on Hidden Killers, we’re diving into the lawsuit that could finally crack open the one part of the Bryan Kohberger story that’s been sealed tight: what Washington State University actually knew about his behavior before the Idaho killings — and what they did or didn’t do with it. The Goncalves family has officially taken the first major step toward suing WSU, and the claims are explosive. They’re arguing that the university wasn’t just a backdrop in Kohberger’s life — it was an institution with warnings stacking up in its hallways, complaints piling on desks, and a growing chorus of women saying the same thing: this man made them feel unsafe. We now know multiple WSU faculty and graduate students reported Kohberger for intimidating conduct, blocking doorways, staring silently at women, hovering over desks, following people to their cars, and violating boundaries over and over. Some were so scared they asked for escorts at the end of the day. Others filed formal discrimination and harassment complaints. One professor even told colleagues she feared he’d go on to harm students someday. And still — he remained in the program. Still teaching. Still representing the university. Still in university housing. Still collecting a paycheck. The lawsuit argues that WSU had enough information to intervene long before Kohberger ever crossed into Idaho. Not because anyone predicted the crime — but because institutions have a duty to respond to patterns of harassment, intimidation, and escalating hostility. The families want answers, and they want every internal document: every HR complaint, every faculty meeting, every email where someone said, “Something is wrong with this guy.” This case could reshape how universities handle red-flag students and employees. It could expose just how close institutions sometimes get to danger without ever stepping in. And it could finally tell these families whether the system that surrounded Kohberger ever tried to stop what so many people felt happening right in front of them. Join me as we break down what this lawsuit means, what the families are fighting for, and why the truth matters now more than ever. #HiddenKillers #BryanKohberger #WSU #KohbergerCase #TrueCrime #IdahoCase #KayleeGoncalves #MoscowMurders #JusticeForTheVictims #TrueCrimeCommunity 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

23 Nov 202514min

Two major true-crime cases just took sharp, unexpected turns — one in the courtroom, one in the civil arena. First, Brian Walshe blindsided the court by pleading guilty to disposing of Ana Walshe’s remains and misleading investigators — but still maintaining he didn’t kill her. It’s a move that redefines the entire murder trial and forces huge strategic shifts for both sides. Then, across the country, Washington State University is facing legal heat. The Goncalves family has filed a civil claim arguing WSU ignored repeated warnings about Brian Kohberger before the Moscow murders. More than a dozen complaints. A professor calling him a future predator. Students saying they felt trapped and unsafe. The question now is simple: Does the law say the university should have done more? On today’s episode of Hidden Killers, Tony Brueski sits down with legal analyst Eric Faddis to break down both cases: • Why did Walshe plead guilty to these charges but not murder? • Does this strengthen the prosecution’s theory — or hand the defense a new angle? • What does the jury hear now, and how will it shape perception? • And in the WSU civil case — what duty does a university owe? • What evidence matters most? • Does foreseeability apply when the crime occurred off-campus at another school? • And is the real goal here discovery — forcing WSU’s internal files out into the light? Two cases. Two seismic shifts. One conversation that lays out the stakes, the law, and the fallout. #HiddenKillers #TrueCrime #BrianWalshe #BryanKohberger #WSU 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

23 Nov 202554min