Jesse Butler’s “Youthful Offender” Deal Sparks Outrage: What Went Wrong in Payne County?

How does someone accused of extreme violence walk out of court without a day in prison? In this episode of Hidden Killers with Tony Brueski, we expose the loophole that turned outrage into disbelief across Oklahoma. Eighteen-year-old Jesse Mack Butler faced serious felony charges after two teenage girls were brutally attacked. Doctors said one almost didn’t survive. But instead of decades behind bars, Butler walked free under a single year of supervision thanks to Oklahoma’s Youthful Offender Act—a law designed to rehabilitate kids, not shield violent offenders. Tony digs deep into how this happened:  ⚖️ How prosecutors and judges use the Youthful Offender statute.  🏛️ Why Stillwater’s small-town culture and power circles matter.  🧠 What psychologists say about offenders who use strangulation and control.  💔 And what this decision means for survivors everywhere who watch their trauma minimized in the name of “rehabilitation.” This isn’t just a courtroom story—it’s a case study in how privilege reshapes punishment.  You’ll hear how good intentions inside the law turned into protection for the powerful, why transparency in sentencing matters more than ever, and what Oklahoma lawmakers can do to close the loopholes that let this happen again. It’s one of the most disturbing true-crime stories of the year—not because of what was proven, but because of what the system chose to forgive. #HiddenKillers #StillwaterCase #JusticeForSurvivors #YouthfulOffender #jesseebutler 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

5 Nov 26min

Eleven felony charges. Two teenage victims. One nearly strangled to death. And somehow — not a single day in prison. This episode of Hidden Killers with Tony Brueski exposes how Oklahoma’s justice system transformed a violent felony case into a “rehabilitation” story. Eighteen-year-old Jesse Mack Butler, originally charged with rape, attempted rape, sexual battery, and strangulation, faced decades behind bars. But when the court reclassified him as a Youthful Offender, everything changed. We break down the timeline:  ⚖️ February 2024 — Police file 11 felonies.  🧾 Evidence includes partial phone video of a strangulation. 📜 August 2025 — Butler enters a no-contest plea, meaning no verbal confession, but the court treats it as guilt for sentencing. ⛓️ October 2025 — A suspended 78-year sentence turns into one year of supervision. Tony and Ret. FBI Special Agent Robin Dreeke dissect how this happened — and why it’s another example of a system protecting offenders instead of victims. From small-town power structures and family privilege to the psychology of control and the culture of denial, this is a story of justice suffocated by reputation. 💬 Join the conversation: How does a system decide rehabilitation outweighs accountability?  🎧 Subscribe for more true-crime breakdowns that challenge the official story. Hashtags:  #HiddenKillers #JesseButler #StillwaterCase #OklahomaJustice #YouthfulOffender #TrueCrime #JusticeForSurvivors #TonyBrueski #RobinDreeke #LegalLoophole 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

5 Nov 23min

She called 911 for help. And they sent her a bullet. When 36-year-old Sonya Massey phoned the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office on a quiet July night, she thought officers would protect her. Instead, Deputy Sean Grayson — a man with a trail of DUIs, firings, and a dishonorable discharge — shot her in the face inside her own kitchen. In this episode of Hidden Killers, Tony Brueski sits down with defense attorney and Defense Diaries host Bob Motta to dissect a verdict that’s enraged a nation. A jury found Grayson guilty of second-degree murder — not first — despite crystal-clear bodycam footage showing an unarmed woman holding a pot of water, doing exactly what officers asked. How does someone with Grayson’s record keep getting hired? Why did the system that should have screened him out instead hand him a gun? And what does this verdict say about how America still treats police violence as a “mistake,” not a crime? Tony and Bob dive into the broken hiring pipeline, the psychology of a cop who panics behind a badge, and the legal gymnastics that turn murder into “imperfect self-defense.” Hidden Killers — because “serving and protecting” shouldn’t mean burying the evidence. #SonyaMassey #SeanGrayson #HiddenKillers #TonyBrueski #BobMotta #PoliceAccountability #JusticeForSonya #TrueCrimePodcast #Bodycam #PoliceReform #LegalAnalysis 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

5 Nov 26min

Tonight, we’re not summarizing — we’re reading it. This is the full, unedited November 3, 2025, letter from Congressman Jamie Raskin to Attorney General Pam Bondi, demanding answers about what he calls a “gigantic cover-up” inside the Department of Justice surrounding the shutdown of the Epstein co-conspirator investigation. In this extraordinary letter, Raskin lays out a timeline that should shake every American who believes in justice.  He reveals that until January 2025, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York was actively investigating Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell’s co-conspirators, supported by testimony from nearly 50 survivors naming at least 20 men involved in the trafficking network. Then, suddenly, the investigation was transferred to DOJ headquarters in Washington, D.C. Six months later, the case was declared closed — “no evidence found.” Raskin’s letter questions everything:  ⚖️ Why the DOJ shut down a live federal sex-trafficking probe.  💰 Why the FBI ignored over $1.5 billion in flagged Epstein-linked transactions.  🧾 Why survivors were suddenly branded “not credible” — the same survivors whose testimony helped convict Ghislaine Maxwell beyond a reasonable doubt.  🕵️‍♀️ And who, exactly, the DOJ was trying to protect. This is the document the media can’t water down and the DOJ can’t spin. Every word matters. Listen as Tony Brueski reads the full letter — unedited, uninterrupted — from start to finish. Hear Raskin’s outrage, the survivors’ betrayal, and the allegations that may define the next great political scandal in America. 🎙️ Hidden Killers with Tony Brueski — because sometimes, the truth needs to be read out loud. #JamieRaskin #JeffreyEpstein #EpsteinCoverUp #PamBondi #FBI #DOJ #SexTrafficking #EpsteinFiles #JamieRaskinLetter #HiddenKillers #TonyBrueski #TrueCrime #JusticeForSurvivors #EpsteinInvestigation #GhislaineMaxwell #Congress 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

5 Nov 16min

She called 911 for help. Minutes later, she was dead. In July 2024, 36-year-old Sonya Massey — a Springfield, Illinois mother of two — dialed 911, terrified someone was outside her home. Two sheriff’s deputies arrived. One of them was Deputy Sean Grayson, a man with a record of disciplinary problems, DUIs, and a dishonorable discharge from the Army for misconduct. Within minutes of entering her home, Grayson shot Sonya in the face. The bodycam footage showed no threat. No weapon. Just a woman holding a pot of boiling water she’d been told to remove from the stove — and a deputy who panicked. This week, a jury found Sean Grayson guilty of second-degree murder — not first-degree. The conviction came after powerful testimony from his own partner, who said he never felt threatened and never saw Sonya as dangerous. But for Sonya’s family, the verdict still felt like half-justice. She called for help, and instead the system sent her a bullet. In this episode, Tony Brueski breaks down how this tragedy unfolded, what went wrong inside the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office, and why Grayson should never have been wearing a badge in the first place. From ignored red flags to a culture of impunity, this case exposes a pattern that keeps repeating — police departments overlooking warning signs until another life is lost. We also explore the aftermath: the $10 million settlement paid to Sonya’s family, the federal investigation into the sheriff’s office, and the new Illinois legislation dubbed “Sonya’s Law,” designed to prevent officers with misconduct histories from being rehired. Was this justice — or just damage control? 🎙️ Hidden Killers with Tony Brueski — where the truth doesn’t hide behind a badge. #SonyaMassey #SeanGrayson #PoliceAccountability #HiddenKillers #TonyBrueski #TrueCrime #JusticeForSonya #Bodycam #Illinois #PoliceReform #TrueCrimePodcast #CriminalJustice 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

5 Nov 18min

In today’s episode of Break the Case, former FBI Special Agent Jennifer Coffindaffer takes viewers deep into the troubling disappearance of 9-year-old Melody Buzzard, a case that has captured national attention. What began as a missing person report has unfolded into one of the most unsettling true crime stories of the year — a mother on the run, a child in disguise, and a cross-country trip that ended in mystery. Melody was last verifiably seen in August 2023, and new surveillance footage shows her thin, frail, and almost unrecognizable, wearing a wig and carrying a purse — odd details for a child her age. Her mother, Ashley Buzzard, was photographed in her own disguise, using wigs and glasses while leasing a rental car before driving 1,500 miles to Nebraska. According to Jennifer Coffindaffer, that grueling trip — across California, Nevada, Colorado, and Kansas — raises serious red flags about motive and intent. Coffindaffer breaks down three disturbing possibilities: Did Ashley hand her daughter off to someone secretly? Was Melody trafficked? Or was she harmed by her own mother? As the investigation deepens, FBI agents have served multiple search warrants at Ashley’s home, keeping her sequestered for hours while combing through potential evidence. The case has drawn comparisons to the Catherine Hoggle disappearance, where two young children vanished under eerily similar circumstances. This is not just a missing person case — it’s a battle for truth between law enforcement, media, and a mother who may be hiding devastating secrets. With Jennifer Coffindaffer’s insider expertise, Break the Case exposes the inconsistencies, the clues, and the unanswered questions that could finally reveal what happened to Melody Buzzard. #TrueCrime #MelodyBuzzard #AshleyBuzzard #JenniferCoffindaffer #FBI #MissingChild #BreakingNews #Investigation #Justice #CrimeNews 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

5 Nov 40min

Before he killed Sonya Massey, Deputy Sean Grayson was already a walking liability — fired from department after department, discharged from the Army for misconduct, arrested for DUI, and still somehow cleared to wear a badge in Illinois. In this powerful conversation, Tony Brueski, Stacy Cole, and Todd Michaels and attorney Bob Motta expose how that happened — and why it keeps happening. From failed background checks to lax hiring standards, the system designed to protect the public instead recycles problem officers. The result: tragedy after tragedy. Grayson’s conviction for second-degree murder feels hollow when the larger machine that put him in that kitchen still runs unchecked. Tony and Bob unpack the loopholes, the union protections, and the culture of silence that let Grayson slip through every filter. They also explore Illinois’ new “Sonya’s Law,” the state’s attempt to patch the holes after it was too late — and whether any of it will stop the next preventable death. Hidden Killers — where we hold the system accountable, one case at a time. #SonyaMassey #SeanGrayson #PoliceReform #HiddenKillers #TonyBrueski #BobMotta #TrueCrime #JusticeForSonya #SystemicFailure #LawEnforcement #Accountability #Podcast 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

5 Nov 54min

In a stunning legal reversal that’s shaking the true crime and justice world, the Florida appellate court has overturned the $213.5 million verdict in the Maya Kowalski case — one of the most emotionally charged courtroom battles in recent memory. Former FBI agent and true crime analyst Jennifer Coffindaffer sits down with legal expert Dave Ehrenberg to dissect what went wrong and what comes next in this explosive new episode of Break the Case. For those unfamiliar, Maya Kowalski suffered from a rare pain condition known as CRPS. While hospitalized, her mother, Beata Kowalski, was accused by doctors of suffering from Munchausen by proxy — a form of abuse involving fabricating or inducing illness in a child. When Beata was prevented from seeing Maya for more than 80 days, the distraught mother fell into a deep depression and ultimately took her own life, leaving behind a note pleading for her daughter’s release. A Florida jury later awarded the Kowalski family over $200 million in damages, holding Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital accountable for false imprisonment, emotional distress, and wrongful death. But now, the Second District Court of Appeals has vacated that verdict entirely, citing major errors by the trial judge — particularly around Florida’s “mandatory reporter” immunity laws. The appellate court ruled that hospital staff, acting as mandatory reporters of suspected abuse, were shielded by law and acted in good faith when they contacted child protection authorities. This means a new trial will move forward, but only for a limited set of claims: battery, medical negligence, and intentional infliction of emotional distress on behalf of Maya herself. Beata’s death, which once anchored the case’s emotional gravity, may only be referenced as context. The decision not only erases a massive verdict but also sets a crucial precedent for hospitals and medical professionals across Florida. Coffindaffer and Ehrenberg’s discussion peels back the layers of this controversial ruling — a reminder that even in the pursuit of justice, emotion and law often collide. This is more than a case; it’s a tragedy, a legal reckoning, and a lesson in how far institutions will go to protect themselves under the letter of the law. #TrueCrime #MayaKowalski #BeataKowalski #JohnsHopkinsHospital #LegalAnalysis #BreakingNews #JusticeForMaya #CourtAppeal #FloridaLaw #InvestigativeNews 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

5 Nov 20min