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The prosecution's sentencing memorandum in the Kouri Richins case included pre-sentencing communications in which the defendant stated she intended to "expose this county, the prosecution, the judge, the Richins, the investigation." The language — "they picked the wrong one" and "they haven't seen anything yet" — preceded a life-without-parole sentence and raises substantive questions about post-c...

Following her life-without-parole sentence for the aggravated murder of Eric Richins, Kouri Richins' defense team has secured a twenty-eight-day extension to file a motion for a new trial and indicated they intend to retain additional expert consultation. The appellate posture presents several potential issues for review: alleged prosecutorial access to attorney-client privileged communications vi...

The D4vd case has produced something ugly that nobody likes to name. In the death of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, with David Anthony Burke charged and pleading not guilty, the internet has turned a child's killing into a scavenger hunt — decoded interludes, frame-by-frame video breakdowns, side-by-side theories, a hashtag for every fragment. Tony Brueski sits in that discomfort on purpose....

A psychotherapist watched the Kouri Richins sentencing and saw things the rest of us felt but couldn't name. The contempt that overrode self-preservation. The grief that only appeared when the room validated her. The 45-minute speech that functioned as a love letter on the surface and something far more damaging underneath. Shavaun Scott breaks down the full sentencing in three parts on True Crime...

Thirteen prosecutions in ten years. That is what the New York Times investigation found for cruise ship assault cases across the entire industry. The system was built to produce exactly this result. Ships register under foreign flags for tax benefits and jurisdictional cover. Crimes at sea are initially investigated by private security employed by the cruise line. The CVSSA requires reporting but...

She could have expressed remorse. She could have asked for mercy. She could have addressed even one thing her children described — the locked rooms, the dead animals, the fear that she'd come for them if released. Instead, Kouri Richins used forty-five minutes of courtroom time to tell her sons that the murder of their father is "an absolute lie" and that they've been "influenced" into believing i...

The prosecution promised speed. The defense wants time. And the decisions being made before a jury is ever seated may matter more than the evidence itself. True Crime Today examines the pre-trial chess match in Alex Murdaugh’s retrial and why controlling the calendar is the key strategic battle for both sides. The AG’s vow to retry aggressively and quickly is driven by a political reality — Wilson...

When Andre Oliveira left his Word of Faith Fellowship congregation in Brazil for the mother church in North Carolina, he expected a spiritual experience. According to his account to the Associated Press, what he found instead was forced labor. His passport was confiscated. He was allegedly made to work fifteen hours a day, usually without pay, cleaning warehouses and working at businesses owned by...

Kouri Richins didn't shed a single tear while her own children's words filled the courtroom. Not when they described locked doors. Not when they called her by her first name. Not when the youngest said he wants her in prison forever. The tears showed up later — the instant her brother told her he knows "with 100% certainty" she didn't do it. Her sister Renee asked the judge to see "the full human...

The courtroom was told to stay composed. Kouri Richins couldn't do it. While victim impact statements described the destruction she left behind — a father who stayed in a dangerous marriage to protect his sons, a sister who miscarried twins from the stress, three boys who described being locked in rooms and having their pets threatened — Kouri displayed visible contempt on camera. Psychotherapist...

Becky Hill pled guilty to misconduct in office, obstruction of justice, and perjury. The South Carolina Supreme Court said she engaged in shocking jury interference that forced them to overturn Alex Murdaugh’s double murder conviction unanimously. Her sentence was probation and community service. Let that math sit for a second. The Murdaugh defense held a press conference to announce a federal law...

One press conference. Three significant developments. The Murdaugh defense team filed a federal civil rights lawsuit, accused the Attorney General of vindictive prosecution, and revealed evidence the prosecution may wish had stayed buried. The lawsuit against Becky Hill is a Section 1983 claim alleging she deprived Murdaugh of his right to a fair trial. The defense wants civil discovery to investi...

One-third of cruise ship assault survivors were minors, according to a Congressional report. Maritime attorneys confirm a similar ratio across more than a thousand cases. And the access that makes it possible is built into how the ships operate. Master keycards open every cabin. Youth centers run without the licensing standards required of daycare centers on land. International crew are screened a...

Maggie Murdaugh had unknown male DNA beneath her fingernails. Investigators collected it. And then, according to the defense, nobody ever ran it through CODIS — the federal database that exists to match exactly this kind of forensic evidence. Jim Griffin disclosed this at the press conference and made clear the defense plans to use it at the retrial. It joins a list of investigative shortcomings t...

Alex Murdaugh’s defense team didn’t just get a second chance — they got a court-issued roadmap showing exactly where the prosecution went wrong and how far the next trial judge should limit the state’s evidence. True Crime Today examines how Harpootlian and Griffin turn the Supreme Court’s ruling into a defense strategy that could produce an acquittal. The financial evidence firewall is built dire...

A former teacher at the Word of Faith Christian School told the Associated Press that in the middle of class, children would surround a classmate accused of having demons, throw them to the floor, and beat them. Teachers were allegedly told not to stop it. The school, which operated on the Spindale compound under Jane Whaley’s authority, was one piece of the church’s alleged control over children...

The Murdaugh defense team came out swinging at Attorney General Alan Wilson — and the accusation they leveled is not one that gets tossed around lightly. They called the death penalty announcement vindictive prosecution. Here is what that means: when a prosecutor escalates charges not because the evidence supports it, but because the defendant exercised a constitutional right — like winning an app...

When the South Carolina Supreme Court granted Alex Murdaugh a new trial, it confirmed what the defense had argued for months — Becky Hill’s conduct compromised the verdict. But the court’s ruling only opened a door. The federal lawsuit the defense just filed is designed to walk through it. The Section 1983 claim targets Hill directly, alleging she deprived Murdaugh of a constitutional right that i...

The defense team in the Anna Kepner federal case just made its first move that doesn’t look like confidence. After three months of waiving rights, requesting adult prosecution, and charging toward a June 1 trial date, they filed a motion asking for ninety more days. The prosecution signed off. Document 74 — an Unopposed Motion to Continue Trial — was entered on the docket May 13. Lead defense coun...

A governor candidate threatening the death penalty. A son who won’t visit his father. Defense lawyers hinting at mystery suspects on national television. None of this existed a week ago. All of it is shaping Alex Murdaugh’s retrial right now. Tony Brueski and Robin Dreeke bring the full picture together in one listener-driven conversation. Robin’s behavioral analysis ties the threads that mainstre...

Federal filings show three crew members charged on the Disney Dream in early 2024. A Royal Caribbean cabin attendant sentenced to 30 years after pleading guilty to secretly recording passengers as young as two inside their cabins. An FBI affidavit describing a Celebrity youth counselor who allegedly targeted children for four months while avoiding security cameras. A 6-year-old was the one who put...

Three months after Maggie and Paul were found at Moselle, Alex Murdaugh drove to a rural road and allegedly paid Curtis Eddie Smith to end his life in an insurance scheme. The plan fell apart. Smith didn’t finish. Alex survived with a scratch and a story that collapsed within hours. That incident established something critical about Alex Murdaugh: he recruits other people for violence. He sets up...

A court clerk’s ambition destroyed the most consequential murder conviction in South Carolina history. Becky Hill, the elected Clerk of Court in Colleton County, was writing a book about the Murdaugh trial while simultaneously overseeing the jury. The SC Supreme Court found she told jurors to distrust the defense, urged them to watch the defendant’s body language, and inserted herself into the pro...

Imagine being surrounded by a group of people — their mouths inches from your face — screaming at full volume for hours. That was reportedly the starting point of a practice called blasting inside the Word of Faith Fellowship. Former members told the Associated Press the screaming was meant to cast out demons. But over time, according to dozens of accounts, it allegedly became physical. Members we...

Marian Proctor took the stand in 2023 and said something the defense couldn’t undo: Alex never talked about finding who killed Maggie and Paul. That was one family member on one day. Now multiply it by three years of financial crime convictions, public betrayals, and a family that’s had time to process exactly who Alex Murdaugh is. Tony Brueski and Robin Dreeke address listener questions about the...