Melodee Buzzard: How the System Let a Mentally Ill Mom Slip Into Madness With Her Daughter

In this episode of Hidden Killers Live, we confront two of the most alarming cracks in the Delphi murder case: the collapsing appeal process for Richard Allen and the investigative leads that were sidelined long before this case ever reached a jury. With defense attorney and Defense Diaries host Bob Motta joining the panel, we break down how missing exhibits tied to the controversial 136-page Franks memo were never transmitted into the certified trial record — including documents referencing alternate suspects and investigative inconsistencies. Without those materials, the appellate court is reviewing an incomplete case file, forcing Allen’s team to file motions just to keep the appeal from dying on procedural grounds. But the structural failure doesn’t end with clerical chaos. Newly surfaced depositions reveal investigators explaining why certain suspects connected to symbolic crime-scene elements and the so-called “Odinism angle” were labeled “no further action.” One individual made a startling comment about whether his DNA would be found on the victims. Another posted imagery that resembled aspects of the crime scene and owned a .40-caliber handgun that was never seized or tested. These aren’t fringe theories — they’re sworn statements about leads that were never fully explored. Bob and I examine how narrative lock, investigative pressure, and institutional bias can steer an entire case toward a single suspect while sidelining red flags that demanded deeper scrutiny. And now, those decisions may come back to haunt the state as the appeal heads toward a legal battlefield built on missing records, disputed evidence, and a procedural mess that raises questions about the system’s capacity to deliver justice at all. If you want to understand the investigative blind spots and bureaucratic failures shaping the future of the Delphi case, this is the episode that puts everything on the table. #DelphiMurders #RichardAllen #DelphiCase #FranksMemo #TrueCrimeAnalysis #InvestigativeFailures #HiddenKillers #BobMotta #AppealProcess #JusticeSystem 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 Dec 1h 28min

In this 2025 Year-in-Review Hidden Killers special, we break down two of the most devastating developments in the Donna Adelson trial — the explosive emails prosecutors say reveal her true motives, and the jaw-dropping testimony from her own children and Wendi’s ex-boyfriend that shattered the family narrative she’s tried to control for more than a decade. First, we examine the emails Donna sent to Wendi during the custody battle, messages prosecutors use to peel back the “sweet grandmother” facade. These emails — strategic, emotional, manipulative — show Donna instructing Wendi how to behave in court, urging her to use psychological tactics, floating a $1 million bribe to Dan Markel, and making relocation “non-negotiable.” As defense attorney Bob Motta explains, emails are powerful because they don’t stutter, they don’t forget, and they don’t rewrite history. They sit in black-and-white, revealing a matriarch prosecutors say was accustomed to controlling every variable. Then we turn to the testimony that rocked the courtroom.  Wendi Adelson, testifying under subpoena and immunity, admitted her mother coached her relentlessly during the divorce and custody battles — everything from religion to courtroom performance. Robert Adelson followed, describing Donna as controlling, intrusive, and disturbingly detached after Dan’s murder. He recalled her saying, “I don’t know and I don’t care,” when asked what she thought happened to Markel. And then came Jeffrey Lacasse, whose testimony lit the courtroom on fire. He recounted Wendi telling him: “The only way I’ll ever relocate is if something happens to Danny.”  He also described Charlie discussing “all options,” including hiring a hitman. Prosecutors argue this trio of testimony exposes Donna not as a passive parent, but as the architect of a conspiracy powered by resentment, control, and entitlement — with her own family now delivering the evidence. This is the most revealing window yet into the Adelson family's internal dynamics — a portrait of loyalty cracking under the weight of truth. #DonnaAdelson #WendiAdelson #DanMarkel #TrueCrime #HiddenKillers #BobMotta #CourtroomDrama #MurderForHire #TrialCoverage #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

30 Dec 43min

🔍 Unmask the chilling void inside Bryan Kohberger as psychotherapist Shavaun Scott and retired FBI behavior chief Robin Dreeke dissect his narcissistic psyche and "proud" courtroom confession – in this explosive recap from Hidden Killers 2025 Year in Review – a look back at the biggest cases of the year. Locked in four life sentences after his July 2025 guilty plea, Kohberger's dead-eyed stare and fidgety eagerness screamed anything but regret: Experts call it grandiosity-fueled basking, a psychopath's crave for spotlight over the #Idaho4 graves he dug. From criminology obsessions morphing into vengeful stabs to lifelong isolation breeding zero empathy, we probe the wiring—childhood bullying, heroin haze, and a god-complex that botched his "perfect" escape with sheath DNA and Amazon slips. This Hidden Killers With Tony Brueski: True Crime Today fusion rips open the plea facade: No tears of sorrow, just calculated dodges from the firing squad, echoing BTK's fame chase. Scott flags red flags like violent fantasies and social shutdowns ignored at WSU; Dreeke warns of his prison power plays, where he'll manipulate for eternal infamy. Tie it to November 2025 shocks—the Goncalves' WSU lawsuit slamming overlooked creeps, plus restitution drags over $30K funds and urn costs post-November 5 hearing, fueling cries for campus safeguards. True crime fiends, this is the gut-punch autopsy: A killer's empty shell craving study sessions over soul-searching. Did his "I did it" thrill him more than terrify? Essential rewind on arrogance's deadly cost and dodged executions in the Idaho nightmare. #BryanKohberger #IdahoMurders #PsychBreakdown #GuiltyPleaPride #TrueCrime #KohbergerPsyche #Idaho4 #HiddenKillers2025 #CrimeYearInReview #WSULawsuit #TrueCrimePodcast #NarcissistKiller 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 Dec 47min

Nick Reiner is facing two counts of first-degree murder for allegedly stabbing his parents — legendary director Rob Reiner and his wife Michele — to death in their Brentwood home. His defense attorney is already signaling an insanity plea, pointing to schizophrenia and a medication change weeks before the killings. The narrative being built is that Nick was failed by a broken system. But Nick's own words tell a different story. On the Dopey podcast, Nick admitted to gaming rehab — staying sober just long enough to get out, then going right back to using. He described stealing OxyContin from a sick elderly woman who needed it for pain. His words: "You throw your morals out the window." He spent reportedly seventeen rehab stints manipulating counselors, deceiving his parents, and convincing Rob and Michele that the experts were wrong and he was right. Rob Reiner said exactly that in interviews — that he regretted trusting the professionals over his son. He didn't realize what that trust actually was: successful manipulation by an addict who'd been running the same play since he was fifteen years old. The night before the killings, Rob reportedly told friends at Conan O'Brien's Christmas party: "I'm petrified of Nick. I think my own son can hurt me." By the next afternoon, Rob and Michele were dead. An insanity defense treats this crime like it happened in a vacuum. It didn't. Seventeen years of choices led to that bedroom. Every gamed rehab. Every stolen pill. Every lie. Nick Reiner made those choices. And now his parents are dead. The arraignment is January 7th. Prosecutors haven't decided whether to seek the death penalty. This is accountability — seventeen years late, but finally arriving. #nickreiner  #RobReiner #MicheleReiner #ReinerMurder #TrueCrime #TrueCrime2025 #MurderCase #Hollywood #Accountability #BreakingNews 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/@hiddenkiller... Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkille... Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkiller... 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...

30 Dec 12min

This is it — the day the case finally reached its brutal conclusion. In this special Hidden Killers presentation, Tony Brueski and retired FBI Special Agent Robin Dreeke bring you the full, unedited courtroom video from the July 22, 2025 sentencing of Bryan Kohberger, the man who pleaded guilty to the killings of four University of Idaho students: Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin. No commentary during the hearing. No interruptions. Just the courtroom, exactly as it unfolded. Before the footage begins, Tony and Robin provide essential context — the legal stakes, the emotional weight, and what this day represented for the victims’ families. After the hearing ends, they return with insight and analysis of what we witnessed, what it means, and where this case lands in the broader landscape of justice. Inside the courtroom, you will see: • Raw, emotional statements from the families of Madison, Kaylee, Xana, and Ethan — the people who have carried this grief for nearly three years. • Kohberger’s final moments in court before spending the rest of his life in prison. • Whether he chooses to speak — or chooses silence. • Judge Steven Hippler delivering the sentence: four consecutive life sentences with no possibility of parole, plus an additional term for burglary. • The final chapter in a case that shattered families, rattled a community, and captivated the nation. There is no speculation here. No dramatization. No added heat. Just the reality of a courtroom reckoning — unscripted, unvarnished, and at times unbearably human. If you’ve followed this case from the beginning, this is the moment it all lands. The consequence. The closure. The weight of the final word. #HiddenKillers #BryanKohberger #Sentencing #TrueCrime 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 Dec 2h 20min

Sean “Diddy” Combs is no longer fighting from the top of a music empire — he’s fighting from a federal prison cell. And the battles are piling up faster than he can keep his story straight. In this explosive Hidden Killers breakdown, Tony Brueski analyzes two major developments shaking the already-fragile foundation of Diddy’s legal future: new allegations of witness tampering and a pattern of early prison violations that reveal a deeper psychological unraveling. First, Danity Kane alum Dawn Richard has filed a stunning new court document accusing Combs of interfering with a key witness while incarcerated. Her attorneys argue that even behind bars, Diddy’s ability — and willingness — to intimidate has not stopped. Prosecutors warned about this pattern from day one, citing years of coercion and obstruction when the court denied his bail four separate times. Now Richard’s team says their fears were justified. Then comes the second blow: reports that Diddy has already faced disciplinary action inside FCI Fort Dix, including an unauthorized three-way phone call and possession of contraband. His projected release date has reportedly been pushed back — a consequence that would crush any inmate, but especially someone whose entire identity was built on control, dominance, and carefully curated image. Tony Brueski and former prosecutor Eric Faddis break down what these behaviors mean legally and psychologically. From narcissistic collapse to entitlement conflict, we explore why high-control personalities often implode when confronted with structure they cannot manipulate. We also look at why these violations could damage Diddy’s appeal, affect his program eligibility, and create a record the government may later use to argue he remains a risk. This isn’t just a celebrity scandal. It’s the story of a man losing control of the one thing he valued most: the narrative. #Diddy #SeanCombs #DawnRichard #HiddenKillers #WitnessTampering #PrisonLife #TrueCrimeNews #CelebrityCase #TonyBrueski #FederalPrison 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 Dec 33min

The Gilgo Beach case just took a seismic turn. A judge has ruled that all seven murder charges against Rex Heuermann will be combined into one massive, high-stakes trial — a decision that reshapes the legal battlefield and raises the pressure on everyone involved. In today’s episode, Tony Brueski and defense attorney/former prosecutor Eric Faddis break down what this ruling really means for the prosecution, the defense, and the jury tasked with navigating one of the most disturbing serial murder cases in American history. We examine why combining the charges could create a devastating narrative advantage for prosecutors, who will now be able to present a sweeping pattern of alleged behavior instead of siloed incidents. But this strategy also risks unfair prejudice, especially in a case already saturated with headlines, documentaries, and public speculation. Eric explains how jurors may psychologically struggle to separate evidence tied to each victim once everything is presented together. Then we turn to the wildcard that could influence the entire trial: Heuermann’s family. Could his ex-wife, Asa Ellerup, be compelled to testify? Would their daughter take the stand? And what about the documentary footage that captured intimate, raw emotional moments — could that become part of the evidentiary record? This episode explores the legal complexities of spousal testimony, impeachment risk, and whether family cooperation helps or hurts the defense. We also break down jury selection, the challenges of finding impartial jurors in New York, and the role advanced DNA techniques may play in establishing — or undermining — the state’s case. The ruling to consolidate the charges is not just procedural. It is transformational. If you’re following the Gilgo Beach case, this is the turning point you need to understand. #RexHeuermann #GilgoBeach #HiddenKillersLive #TrueCrimePodcast #SerialKillerCase #AsaEllerup #DNAEvidence #TrueCrimeNews #Justice #EricFaddis 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 Dec 27min

This episode pulls back the curtain on two of the most controversial and emotionally charged elements of the Delphi murders case: the evidence linked to Ron Logan that jurors never heard, and the personal devastation endured by Richard Allen’s wife, Kathy Allen, in the aftermath of his conviction. We start with the Logan file — an FBI affidavit outlining a falsified alibi, phone data placing Logan near the crime scene, past incidents of violence, and physical characteristics some believed matched the figure seen on the Monon High Bridge. Investigators executed a full search of Logan’s property, yet none of this information reached the jury in Richard Allen’s trial. Why was such a significant alternative lead effectively erased from the courtroom narrative? Was it investigative error, strategic omission, or an institutional decision to narrow the lens too early? These questions go to the heart of public confidence in the Delphi investigation. Then we shift to the human cost. Richard Allen’s transfer to an out-of-state facility placed him far from Kathy Allen, isolating him from the support system most defendants rely on during the appeals process. Kathy’s voice — steady, emotional, and often overlooked — brings forward the deeply personal reality of a case dominated by legal battles and public speculation. Defense attorney Bob Motta explains why she never took the stand and how her testimony might have reshaped the jury’s understanding of the man they were judging. This is the intersection of overlooked evidence, investigative blind spots, and the collateral damage left behind when a community demands closure before all questions are answered. #DelphiMurders #RonLogan #RichardAllen #KathyAllen #TrueCrimeNews #JusticeForAbbyAndLibby #HiddenKillers #WrongfulConvictionConcerns #DelphiCase #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

29 Dec 43min