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The prosecution's entire case against Brendan Banfield comes down to one person: Juliana Peres Magalhaes. She spent a year in jail facing murder charges. Then she changed her story, took a plea deal, and agreed to testify against the man she says she helped kill. Her reward? Time served and deportation to Brazil. But there's a catch — her sentencing is scheduled after Banfield's trial. Her freedom depends on his conviction.On Day 1, Magalhaes delivered. She described in graphic detail how Banfield allegedly shot Joseph Ryan in the head, then stabbed his wife Christine repeatedly in the neck while their 4-year-old daughter waited in the basement.Prosecutors allege Banfield and Magalhaes — the family's au pair who was having an affair with him — created a fake profile on a fetish website using Christine's identity to lure Ryan to the home. Ryan believed he was meeting Christine for a consensual sexual encounter. Instead, prosecutors say, he walked into a kill room.From jail, Juliana wrote to her mother that she was "heartbroken" for what she was doing to Brendan. She said she still loved him. But she wanted to go home. So how does a jury weigh testimony from someone whose freedom depends entirely on conviction?Retired FBI Special Agent Jennifer Coffindaffer breaks down what corroborating evidence prosecutors need to make the testimony stick — and the questions defense attorneys will use to destroy her credibility.The defense argues digital forensics show Christine was the one communicating with Ryan. They say investigators who contradicted that theory were removed from the case. Banfield faces life without parole plus 13 years if convicted. The trial is expected to last four weeks.#BrendanBanfield #JulianaPeresMagalhaes #ChristineBanfield #JosephRyan #TrueCrimeToday #AuPairMurder #JenniferCoffindaffer #MurderTrial #FairfaxCounty #TrueCrimeJoin Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & 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.

For three years, the Kohberger family said nothing. While Bryan Kohberger's face dominated headlines, his sisters and parents retreated into silence — enduring tabloid stakeouts, online harassment, and scrutiny that destroyed careers and fractured their lives.Now Mel Kohberger is speaking. In a New York Times interview, Bryan's sister reveals what happened inside the family home during Christmas 2022 — just days before FBI agents burst through the door. She describes warning Bryan about the "psycho killer on the loose" near his apartment, only to learn weeks later that he was the suspect. She talks about his childhood bullying, his heroin addiction, his recovery — and the brother she never imagined could commit such violence.The "creepy drawing" tabloids claimed Kohberger held during sentencing? It was a heart Mel made for him. Bright colors. A message of love from a sister still trying to reconcile the person she knew with the monster the world now sees.Meanwhile, a 126-page lawsuit filed by the families of Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin exposes what Washington State University allegedly knew about Kohberger before the murders. At least 13 formal complaints in three months. A professor who urged colleagues to cut his funding because she recognized a predator. Mandatory discrimination training held five days before the killings — because of him.The lawsuit claims WSU was more worried about a potential discrimination suit from Kohberger than the violence he might commit. The families are demanding accountability.Two perspectives on the same man. Neither one makes sense of what he did.#BryanKohberger #MelKohberger #IdahoMurders #KayleeGoncalves #MadisonMogen #XanaKernodle #EthanChapin #WSULawsuit #TrueCrimeToday #IdahoFourJoin Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & 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.

Judge Penney Azcarate wants answers. She's ordered prosecutors to turn over all communications related to the transfer of Officer Brendan Miller — the digital forensics expert whose findings contradicted the prosecution's theory in the Brendan Banfield murder case.Miller analyzed 60 devices connected to the case. His conclusion: Christine Banfield — not her husband — appeared to control the FetLife account prosecutors claim was used to lure Joseph Ryan to his death. The University of Alabama peer-reviewed his analysis and confirmed it. Then, according to court testimony, Miller was told he'd never work another digital forensics case. He was transferred out. The lead homicide detective who disagreed with command staff was also reassigned.On February 24, 2023, Christine Banfield, 37, was stabbed to death in her Herndon, Virginia home. Joseph Ryan, 39, lay feet away, shot twice by two different guns. Their 4-year-old daughter was in the basement waiting to go to the zoo.Prosecutors allege Brendan Banfield and au pair Juliana Peres Magalhaes were having an affair and staged the murders to look like self-defense. Juliana faced murder charges for a year before changing her story and taking a plea deal that lets her walk free if she testifies against Banfield.Retired FBI Special Agent Jennifer Coffindaffer breaks down what she calls "a theory in search of facts." The original prosecutor was removed after being cited for drinking at 8 a.m. Key evidence was excluded. It took 19 months to charge Banfield. There were 24 competing theories before the au pair flipped.This case had serious problems before a single witness took the stand. Now a jury has to decide who's telling the truth.#BrendanBanfield #ChristineBanfield #JulianaPeresMagalhaes #TrueCrimeToday #FetLife #JudgeAzcarate #JenniferCoffindaffer #DigitalForensics #MurderTrial #TrueCrimeJoin Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & 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.

Six months before Monique and Spencer Tepe were shot dead, court records show contact between Monique and her ex-husband Dr. Michael McKee. We don't know yet what that filing contained. But experts believe it may have been a form of legal stalking — McKee forcing Monique to respond after years of silence.McKee, a 39-year-old vascular surgeon, is now charged with two counts of aggravated murder. On December 30, 2025, at 3:52 AM, Spencer and Monique Tepe were killed in their Columbus, Ohio home while their two young children slept nearby. Emilia is 4. Beckham isn't yet 2. Both were found unharmed.The timeline leading to that night is damning. June 2025: court contact with Monique and McKee's Nevada medical license expires. September 2025: he purchases a Chicago condo. October 2025: a former colleague tells a process server that McKee has "disappeared." December 30: double murder.McKee and Monique divorced in 2017 after a seven-month marriage. The paperwork reveals the dynamic: she bought her own engagement and wedding rings, never took his name, and was required to reimburse him $1,281.59 with a 23% interest penalty. Her family told reporters they'd been waiting eight years for this arrest.Retired FBI agent Maureen O'Connell calls McKee a "grievance collector." Therapist Darby Fox believes he started planning when Monique filed for divorce. Retired LAPD Lieutenant Jeff Weninger says McKee likely sees himself as the victim in all of this.McKee maintains his innocence. He faces death penalty-eligible charges. Police tracked him through surveillance footage showing a vehicle arriving before the murders and leaving after. His neighbor's summary: "I used to talk with him by the pool — and then he turns out to be a killer."#TeepeMurders #MichaelMcKee #MoniqueTepe #SpencerTepe #TrueCrimeToday #ColumbusOhio #GrievanceCollector #FBI #AggravatedMurder #TrueCrimeJoin Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & 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.

Habib Balian is leading the prosecution against Nick Reiner. If that name sounds familiar, it should. He prosecuted the Menendez brothers. He prosecuted Robert Durst. Now he's handling the case of a man who reportedly admits killing his parents but allegedly doesn't understand why he's in jail.According to TMZ sources, Nick Reiner believes his incarceration is part of a conspiracy against him. That could be textbook psychosis from his documented schizoaffective disorder. It could also be the groundwork for an insanity defense being laid in public consciousness before trial. His own father admitted that experts repeatedly told the family Nick was "lying or manipulating them." Eighteen rehab stays. A fortune spent on treatment. And still, his parents couldn't determine when to believe him.The TMZ documentary revealed that Nick's medication was changed approximately one month before the murders because he complained about weight gain. Sources say the medication still isn't stabilized in jail. His family paid for dual-diagnosis facilities, but Nick would only stay 30 days — long enough to detox, never long enough to treat the underlying condition.Retired FBI Special Agent Jennifer Coffindaffer examines Nick's post-offense behavior: a Santa Monica hotel the night of the alleged killings, wandering near USC the next night. She breaks down what the sealed autopsy reports might contain, why the murder weapon hasn't been found, and what years of wellness checks at the Reiner home tell us about the escalation pattern.The surviving Reiner siblings reportedly don't support seeking the death penalty. The case won't reach a courtroom for at least two years. And twelve jurors will eventually have to answer the question Nick's own parents never could: is he genuinely ill, or has he spent a lifetime learning exactly how to appear that way?#NickReiner #RobReiner #MicheleReiner #TrueCrimeToday #HabibBalian #MenendezBrothers #InsanityDefense #JenniferCoffindaffer #TrueCrime #SchizoaffectiveJoin Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & 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.