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Brendan Banfield finished testifying in his own defense today — and the jury now has his complete version of what happened inside that bedroom. According to Banfield, he walked in on Joseph Ryan holding his naked wife Christine on the floor with a knife. He announced himself as police. He told Ryan he was under arrest. And when Ryan allegedly made "a very forceful stab" toward Christine, he fired. One shot. Head. Then he says he held his dying wife as she told him she was "bleeding out" and that she loved him.
The prosecution's cross-examination challenged every part of that account. Christine was stabbed seven times — Banfield says he only saw one. How? "The knife is inside of her hair. I can't tell the movement." Prosecutor Jenna Sands also forced Banfield to admit he'd used a fetish-style site for a previous affair, and introduced fourteen pages of love letters to au pair Juliana Peres Magalhães. Baby names. Declarations of love. Banfield confirmed he was "definitely in love with her."
Then came the rebuttal: Banfield's own IRS supervisor testified the "important meeting" Banfield claimed he left home for that morning never existed. Both sides have rested. Closing arguments begin Friday at 10 AM. Brendan Banfield faces life in prison.
#BrendanBanfield #AuPairAffair #ChristineBanfield #JosephRyan #BanfieldTestimony #MurderTrial #TrueCrimeToday #FairfaxCounty #ClosingArguments #TrueCrimeNews
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The prosecution's case against Michael McKee is now public. The unsealed affidavit in the Monique Tepe and Spencer Tepe murders details surveillance footage, death threats, stolen plates, cell phone blackouts, and vehicle tracking. But is it enough to convict?
Former prosecutor turned defense attorney Eric Faddis breaks down the evidence piece by piece on True Crime Today. He identifies which single piece of evidence he'd build the entire case around if he were leading the prosecution—and explains where even the strongest cases can fall apart.
The affidavit includes witness statements that McKee allegedly told Monique he could "kill her at any time," that he'd "find her and buy the house right next to her," and that "she will always be his wife." But Monique is dead. She can't testify. Eric explains the legal pathways prosecutors might use to get these statements in front of a jury—and the hearsay objections the defense will certainly raise.
There are also allegations of prior physical and sexual abuse during the marriage that were never reported to police or prosecuted. Can that evidence come in to show pattern and intent? Or is it too prejudicial?
The firearm specifications are striking—prosecutors charged in the alternative that either an automatic weapon or a silencer was involved. Eric explains what that signals about premeditation and how juries perceive that kind of detail.
This is a circumstantial case. No eyewitness to the actual killings. Eric explains why that's not necessarily a weakness—and what keeps prosecutors up at night even when the affidavit looks like a roadmap to conviction.
#MichaelMcKee #MoniqueTepe #SpencerTepe #TrueCrimeToday #OhioMurder #AggravatedMurder #CircumstantialEvidence #FranklinCounty #MurderEvidence #TrueCrime
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The Kouri Richins murder trial is two weeks away and the prosecution is facing a credibility crisis on multiple fronts.
Defense attorneys just filed a motion accusing lead detective Jeff O'Driscoll and investigator Travis Hopper of intimidating state witnesses. Text messages attached to the filing allegedly show O'Driscoll threatening one witness with arrest and jail if she didn't submit to prep sessions she had refused. His message reportedly included a threat to return with "a warrant and a catch pole for the dog." A second witness claims Hopper warned that their immunity agreement could be revoked for declining additional interviews.
This follows months of pretrial battles over evidence and witness credibility. In January, defense attorneys questioned O'Driscoll's truthfulness during suppression hearings about whether he knew Richins had an attorney when he interviewed her. Summit County brought in outside counsel to investigate. The defense also revealed that Robert Crozier — the man prosecutors say supplied the fentanyl that killed Eric Richins — has recanted, now claiming he sold OxyContin, not fentanyl.
Prosecutors maintain substantial evidence still supports the charges. Judge Richard Mrazik denied Richins' third bail request in November, finding the recantation creates holes but not enough to undermine the case.
Kouri Richins has pleaded not guilty to aggravated murder and maintains her innocence. She's been held in Summit County Jail since May 2023. Jury selection begins February 10th.
#TrueCrimeToday #KouriRichins #EricRichins #UtahMurderTrial #WitnessIntimidation #FentanylPoisoning #RobertCrozier #CarmenLauber #JudgeMrazik #TrueCrimeNews
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Two families destroyed by violence. Two different kinds of institutional failure. On True Crime Today, psychotherapist Shavaun Scott — author of The Minds of Mass Killers — provides expert analysis of the psychology behind family annihilation and the systemic failures of America's addiction treatment industry.
The Paul Caneiro trial in Monmouth County, New Jersey, has revealed staggering violence. Prosecutors allege Paul murdered his brother Keith, sister-in-law Jennifer, and their children Jesse and Sophia after Keith discovered Paul had stolen $78,000. Eight-year-old Sophia was stabbed 17 times, including a wound to her eye, and was allegedly still alive when the fire started. Shavaun explains what drives family annihilators to kill everyone rather than face accountability, what overkill violence reveals about psychological state, and how to read courtroom emotion.
The Nick Reiner case exposed the failures of a $42 billion addiction treatment industry. The Reiner family had every resource available — access, money, the best facilities — and Rob and Michele Reiner are still dead. Shavaun examines why the 28-day model keeps failing, who profits from relapse, why insurance companies control treatment length over clinical judgment, and why fifty years of dismal outcomes haven't triggered meaningful reform. Essential expert analysis of how systems fail the families they're supposed to protect.
#ShavaunScott #PaulCaneiro #NickReiner #RobReiner #KeithCaneiro #FamilyAnnihilation #AddictionTreatment #TreatmentFailure #ColtsNeck #TrueCrimeToday
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Idaho lawmakers are finally acting after a judge confirmed the unthinkable: convicted killers like Bryan Kohberger could legally profit from media deals under the state's outdated Son of Sam law. This week, Senator Tammy Nichols introduced legislation to close loopholes that have existed since 1978 — and the bill unanimously advanced out of committee.
The timing couldn't be more urgent. At Kohberger's restitution hearing in November 2025, Judge Steven Hippler noted that Idaho's current statute "leaves open the potential for Defendant to receive money from media contracts in the future." The five-year escrow period means that without pending civil lawsuits, convicted criminals can eventually pocket proceeds from book deals, streaming rights, and paid interviews.
The new bill modernizes Idaho's law to address podcasts, streaming platforms, and digital monetization — none of which existed when the original statute was written. It focuses on profit rather than speech to survive constitutional scrutiny, following the model New York adopted in 2001 after the Supreme Court gutted the original Son of Sam laws.
This matters for multiple cases. Kohberger owes over $300,000 in fines and fees after confessing to murdering four University of Idaho students. Lori Vallow Daybell owes more than $700,000 in combined restitution for murdering her children and conspiring to kill others. Chad Daybell sits on death row while his self-published doomsday novels may still be generating income. Under current law, the same loopholes apply to all of them.
Representative Elaine Price, whose district includes three of the Moscow victims' hometowns, co-sponsored the bill: "Victims should not feel continually victimized." The bill heads to a public hearing next. We break down what it means for these cases — and for victims' families fighting for basic accountability.
#TrueCrimeToday #BryanKohberger #SonOfSamLaw #IdahoLegislature #LoriVallowDaybell #ChadDaybell #MoscowMurders #VictimRights #CriminalJustice #BreakingNews
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