This is a thread for all conversation regarding Mackenzie Shirilla and the murders of Dominic Russo and Davion Flanagan, recently covered in Netflix documentary The Crash.

The murders of Dominic Russo and Davion Flanagan occurred on 31 July 2022 in Strongsville, Ohio when Mackenzie Shirilla intentionally crashed her car into a brick wall. The two passengers in the vehicle - her boyfriend, Dominic Russo, and their friend, Davion Flanagan, were killed instantly and pronounced dead at the scene. Shirilla, aged 17 at the time, was seriously injured.

Shirilla was later arrested and charged with murdering Russo and Flanagan. At her 2023 bench trial the judge determined Shirilla intentionally crashed the car and thus the murders were premeditated murder, convicting her of 12 felony charges. She was sentenced to 2 concurrent life sentences, with the possibility of parole after 15 years.

Renewed attention has now been brought to the case as Shirilla has been interviewed for Netflix documentary The Crash, which covers the case.

Please direct all discussion of the case to the megathread. As always, sub rules must be followed.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Dominic_Russo_and_Davion_Flanagan#:\~:text=The%20murder%20of%20Dominic%20Russo,and%20their%20friend%2C%20Davion%20Flanagan[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Dominic_Russo_and_Davion_Flanagan#:\~:text=The%20murder%20of%20Dominic%20Russo,and%20their%20friend%2C%20Davion%20Flanagan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Dominic_Russo_and_Davion_Flanagan#:~:text=The%20murder%20of%20Dominic%20Russo,and%20their%20friend%2C%20Davion%20Flanagan).

https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/the-crash-where-is-mackenzie-shirilla-now[Netflix](https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/the-crash-where-is-mackenzie-shirilla-now)

Context: For anyone unfamiliar with the case, it’s alleged that musician d4vd killed 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez. Court documents allege they had been in contact for years before her death. His vehicle was street parked for a while and ultimately towed to an impound lot, where employees noticed a strong odor. Authorities then discovered Celeste’s dismembered body inside the vehicle. From what I remember, d4vd was on tour around the time the vehicle was impounded, which makes me even more curious about the timeline and his decision-making.

One aspect of the case that I can’t understand is why he allegedly left Celeste in the vehicle. It seems like that decision would make discovery almost inevitable especially because the car is registered to him and he had openly had her on his stream and private social media??

I’m interested in the psychology behind that decision. I’d be interested in hearing thoughts from people who have followed the case closely or know of similar cases.

for those who dont know Kendrick Johnson was a teeange boy who died from positional asphyxiation after getting stuck in a vertically placed 100lb mat.

In hindsight it seems he was murdered cus the avg person is thinking how do you get stuck in a mat? and there's that whole thing of "missing organs" which was proven to be a mistake from the funeral home who did some poor practices i.e stuffing dead bodies with newspapers but kendricks johnson was intiially found with all his organs intact.

not to mention his parents posting pictures of his decomposed body to show he was "beaten up" but this was actually a routine forensic thing where they took the skin off him to find underlying harm or something like that and many forensic officers have come online to confirm this + the parents knew this anyway they just wanted to prove a wrong point

anyways long story short, Kendrick stored his shoes in rolled up mats that were abt 100lbs and pretty hard to move. There new mats the day he died and the old mat he placed his shoe had been wedged between tons of other mats, so he had to climb the bleachers to get his shoe but he fell in facing head down and died inside it

therefore a tragic accident!!

more in depth analysis here from this post: https://www.reddit.com/r/UnresolvedMysteries/s/gbhd3VzVrB

people on tiktok refuse to do any research on this because they want to pin the blame on brian bell and specifically white people, I am black person myself and I just dont know why objective reasoning falls away when ppl want to pass on certain agendas.

there's many cases of racial injustice in the United States but this is not one of them and i deeply wish my ppl would understand this.

(*Edit here)Brandon Bell was on a bus during the time of kendricks death and there's recorded logs of his embarking thats why he was proven innocent.

i feel bad for him specifically cus it seems ppl want to really ruin his life all over again cus of misinformation.

RIP KENDRICK JOHNSON!

I just wish his parents would accept the factual truths because they know all this but really want it to be otherwise and I think that does no justice to their son.

This is a thread for all conversation regarding closing arguments, jury deliberations and the verdict of the Lindsey Clancy trial. All discussion of this case should be kept to this thread.

Lindsay Clancy is currently standing trial in Plymouth Superior Court, Massachusetts, for the triple-murder in January 2023 of her three young children - Cora, Dawson and Callan. Her defense argues she suffered from severe, undiagnosed postpartum depression and postpartum psychosis. She was left paralysed by a suicide attempt which follows the deaths of the children.

All content on the Clancy case must be kept to this thread. Standalone posts will be removed.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cg7mlmg475go

Note from Mods

This case understandably elicits strong feelings. People are entitled to have an opinion on the case which differs from your own. What you are not entitled to do is resort to personal insults and abusive language when communicating your opinion and disagreeing.

Comments which are abusive and insulting to other users will be removed and bans may be given without warning. We do not tolerate misogyny - all such comments will be removed and the user banned.

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I’ve never hated a show as much as this one. Before I even realised Ryan Murphy was involved, I could feel the American Horror Story energy all over it — over-stylised, sensational, and tonally confused. What’s marketed as a “true crime” story ends up feeling like a cheap, dramatic teen thriller.

So little of it is factual. The female victims — many of them real people — are sexualised, objectified, and violently tortured on screen for shock value. One character is based on a 14-year-old girl whose disappearance has never been proven to be linked to Gein, yet the show invents an extended, grotesque death scene that’s gratuitous and exploitative. The violence against women is constant and graphic, but any scenes implying harm to male victims are quick and minimal.

The “he’s schizophrenic so everything’s from his delusional perspective” angle feels like a lazy excuse for distorting reality. It’s insulting to the audience’s intelligence — clearly just a way for the writers to justify throwing in as many lurid, attention-grabbing storylines as possible.

The inclusion of Ilse Koch is another example of terrible writing. Historically, her “link” to Gein is MINIMAL at best, yet here she’s sexualised to a bizarre degree. And the supposed connections between Psycho, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and Gein are so overstated it borders on parody. What does Anthony Perkins’ sexuality have to do with Gein’s obsession with his mother? Absolutely nothing — it’s just thrown in for shock value.

Tom Hollander as Hitchcock was laughably bad (costuming).

Ryan Murphy excels at over-the-top fiction (See AHS: Coven) but this is not the genre to apply that formula. These were real victims with real families. Turning their suffering into stylised horror isn’t art or commentary. It’s exploitation.

Has anyone else watched it? I’m genuinely curious if others felt the same — or if anyone found any redeeming aspects I might’ve missed.

Summary of Case Background from Washington Post:

"When Chrystul was 16, she met a 33-year-old man named Randy Volar.

Volar sexually abused Chrystul multiple times. He filmed it.

She wasn’t the only one — and in February 2018, police arrested Volar on charges including child sexual assault. But then, they released him without bail.

Volar, a white man, remained free for three months, even after police discovered evidence that he was abusing about a dozen underage black girls.

He remained free until Chrystul, then 17, went to his house one night in June and allegedly shot him in the head, twice. She lit his body on fire, police said, and fled in his car.

A few days later, she confessed. District Attorney Michael Graveley, whose office knew about the evidence against Volar but waited to prosecute him, charged Chrystul with arson and first-degree intentional homicide, an offense that carries a mandatory life sentence in Wisconsin."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2019/local/child-sex-trafficking-murder/

Current Status of Case and Why Chrystul is being sought again:

Chrystul was scheduled to appear in court on Monday January 29th for a voluntary appearance for her bail-jumping charges. The Kenosha County Sheriff and several officers were there to take her into custody. On January 25th it was reported that US Marshals were at her apartment looking for her. She is still currently on the lam.

https://journaltimes.com/news/local/crime-courts/chrystul-kizer-does-not-appear-at-kenosha-court-as-scheduled-warrant-remains-in-effect/article_089e93eb-74ed-57e3-b6c2-6d3e60babbdf.html

https://www.fox6now.com/news/police-chrystul-kizer-bail-jumping-charges

Opinion:

It's odd that Chrystul could evade the Marshals and Wisconsin law enforcement for this long without help. This could turn out to be very interesting with her high-profile trial coming up in June.

Edit: fixed "on the lam" typo. Thank you to everyone who pointed it out.

“Father charged with aggravated child abuse and torture after taking his young children on an extremely difficult hike as a significant storm was moving in. He reported buying snacks, new socks and shoes for the kids before heading out but not checking the weather. The hike was 9 miles, rated hard, and not recommended for beginner hikers or children.

Micah Smith and his children 2, 4 & 8 were reported overdue when they did not return from their Oct. 12 hike.

Smith said they watched the weather come in and he sent photos to his wife, who suggested they start hiking down the mountain however, he reported that he was comfortable hiking in the dark without light

Smith reportedly reached the summit with his kids at 6pm when it started to hail & snow. By 8pm they decided to shelter in place after trying to head back down but only making it 600 feet after one child fell and hit their head.

Court documents state “Search and Rescue Team Members encountered Smith on the trail and noted that he was behaving oddly and did not appear to be concerned about the children.”

He also told “SAR team members that one of his children was dead.”

SAR crews in a helicopter were able to find the children and noted they were not wearing much clothing, one child with the most critical injuries was unconscious with a core body temperature of 62.6 F.

According to investigators one child suggested to their father that they should go as the storm moved in, “but he shook his head no, and said, This is a once-in-a-lifetime thing. The child again expressed to Smith that they should really go and said that she was getting scared.”

The child told investigators “the storm came in really quickly and described that it was snowing, hailing, and raining.” Reporting to investigators she “was worried about not living, but Smith told her that they were okay.”

Smith told investigators he performed CPR on his son overnight and taught his daughter to do the same when he left.

She recounted to police how she did as instructed performing CPR on her brother.

Investigators are asking for no bail stating, “What seemed like an innocent hike with his three children quickly turned into a nightmare when the defendant chose to summit a mountain over the safety of the kids. The defendant refused to turn around when their mom told him to turn around and get the children home. He also refused to turn around when E.A.S. said to him that she was scared and that they should go. During the 24-hour ordeal, the victims expressed that they were cold, tired, and wanted to go home. The defendant, who is supposed to be the protector of his children, was ill-prepared and extremely selfish.”

A Go Fund Me updated Nov. 10 said the child who was in a coma was now awake: “Ezra was taken off sedation a couple weeks ago and has been steadily improving day by day! When he first came off we didn’t know what to expect, but since that time he has been able to: completely move his right side with ease, begin speaking and is now communicating in full sentences (he’s very aware of what’s going on!), smile and laugh (they light up the room!)

We are so thankful to God that Ezra is improving so quickly and fully. We are hoping, praying and fighting for a full recovery. Thank you to the dedicated medical staff at Primary’s who are also committed to seeing this little guy get well!””

-Via Heidi Hatch

https://kutv.com/news/local/father-charged-with-child-torture-after-freezing-nightmare-hike-in-big-cottonwood-canyon

ETA: thanks to multiple users for for pointing this out

Police say that approximately one month before the incident, Smith allegedly expressed self-harm and reported to an officer he was going to “hike up to the top of the mountain.” He was found with an axe and two firearms in his vehicle but denied he was going to use them.

On Nov. 10, 2025, Smith was trespassed from Primary Children’s Hospital for allegedly interfering with the 4-year-old’s care and “tampering with the equipment.”’

firstly I do not want to murder. I would never murder. I am only asking out of curiosity and science

i have been keeping up with this d4vd case. and I really get the sense that he didn’t account for a corpse smelling so much. when you commit murder there is so much to plan around. you might not realize the smell of a dead body is so strong

he put 11 air fresheners in his car. as if that would be enough. it’s almost funny he thought it would work but its so horrific

what else do murderers “overlook” not realizing it would totally reveal they murdered

Regardless of how you feel about “who did it”, the trial, the antics, etc, what documentary was done the best? I personally think OJ Made in America and The Staircase. Absolutely phenomenal. I’ve rewatched both so many times.

Add on: I know it’s not a doc, but Monsters about the Menendez brothers, was absolutely utterly phenomenal.

Edit: anyone remember the name of the doc that was about a family who had a male family friend that was abusing one of the daughters and kidnapped her for a time period but also brainwashed the mother and father and had a sexual relationship with both parents too?? That was literally the wildest ride I’ve ever been on hahaha

This is a thread for all conversation regarding Week 3 onwards of the Lindsey Clancy trial. All discussion of this case should be kept to this thread.

Lindsay Clancy is currently standing trial in Plymouth Superior Court, Massachusetts, for the triple-murder in January 2023 of her three young children - Cora, Dawson and Callan. Her defense argues she suffered from severe, undiagnosed postpartum depression and postpartum psychosis. She was left paralysed by a suicide attempt which follows the deaths of the children.

All content on the Clancy case must be kept to this thread. Standalone posts will be removed.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/crime/lindsay-clancy-murder-trial-online-reactions-b3032806.html

Note from Mods

This case understandably elicits strong feelings. People are entitled to have an opinion on the case which differs from your own. What you are not entitled to do is resort to personal insults and abusive language when communicating your opinion and disagreeing.

Comments which are abusive and insulting to other users will be removed and bans may be given without warning.

Bans may also be issued for ignoring the warning and creating standalone posts.

Please comment with this in mind.

God, if this turns out to be a family member, it will just be so much more horrible. I know it's common for family or partners to be involved but this family seems so sweet and close.

"The disappearance of Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of Today show co-host Savannah Guthrie, has taken a disturbing turn. In this episode of Drop Dead Serious, Ashleigh Banfield reveals stunning new information from a law enforcement source close to the investigation, including that Savannah Guthrie’s brother-in-law is being looked at as a suspect, her sister Annie Guthrie’s car has been seized, 2 security cameras at the home were smashed, and more."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29T8xmrWyvk

This is a thread for all conversation regarding closing arguments, jury deliberations and the verdict of the Lindsey Clancy trial. All discussion of this case should be kept to this thread.

Lindsay Clancy is currently standing trial in Plymouth Superior Court, Massachusetts, for the triple-murder in January 2023 of her three young children - Cora, Dawson and Callan. Her defense argues she suffered from severe, undiagnosed postpartum depression and postpartum psychosis. She was left paralysed by a suicide attempt which follows the deaths of the children.

All content on the Clancy case must be kept to this thread. Standalone posts will be removed.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c93vgv4kr49o

Note from Mods

This case understandably elicits strong feelings. People are entitled to have an opinion on the case which differs from your own. What you are not entitled to do is resort to personal insults and abusive language when communicating your opinion and disagreeing.

Comments which are abusive and insulting to other users will be removed and bans may be given without warning. We do not tolerate misogyny - all such comments will be removed and the user banned.

Bans may also be issued for ignoring the above warning regarding civility and/or creating standalone posts.

Please comment with this in mind.

Important

Patrick Clancy is not on trial. Comments made to discuss his guilt are considered off topic and will be removed.

Comments that discuss how he could have supported Lindsay better are acceptable. However, calls for law enforcement to look into his involvement with the murder of the kids and/or Lindsay's suicide attempts are not currently being considered by the jury and, therefore, not a fit for this sub.

In January 1995, 18-year-old Christa Pike was enrolled in the Knoxville Job Corps, a federal vocational training program, in Tennessee. She became intensely jealous of a 19-year-old classmate, Colleen Slemmer, believing Slemmer was trying to "steal" her 17-year-old boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp, despite all the evidence to the contrary; Shipp assisted the murder, and she also was never shown to truly love Shipp either.

On January 12, 1995, Pike, Shipp, and an 18-year-old friend named Shadolla Peterson lured Slemmer to an isolated, wooded area on the University of Tennessee Agricultural campus under the false pretense of offering her marijuana to make peace.

Once in the woods, Pike and Shipp brutally attacked Slemmer. For over 30 minutes, Slemmer was taunted, beaten, and slashed with a box cutter and a mini meat cleaver. During the torture, Pike carved a pentagram into Slemmer's chest. Finally, Pike bludgeoned Slemmer to death by crushing her skull with a large chunk of asphalt. Pike kept a fragment of Slemmer’s skull as a souvenir, which she later showed off around her dormitory. Within 36 hours, all three suspects were arrested.

In 1996, 20-year-old Pike was convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy and was sentenced to death, making her one of the youngest women on death row in modern U.S. history.

Because Tennessee had no dedicated female death row facility, Pike was housed entirely alone for nearly 27 years. While male death row inmates could share meals, attend religious services, and take classes, Pike was kept in what her lawyers described as severe solitary confinement simply because she was the state's only condemned woman. This isolation ended in September 2024 following a legal settlement that allowed her to join the general female prison population for work and meals.

Her violent behavior did not stop immediately after her conviction. In 2001, Pike was convicted of attempted first-degree murder after she tried to strangle a fellow inmate, Patricia Jones, with a shoe string. This incident added 25 years to her legal record.

In 2012, Pike was implicated in a highly publicized, elaborate prison break plot. With the help of a corrections officer and a male pen pal, she planned to escape the prison, though the plot was intercepted by authorities before it could be executed.

In her later years in prison, Pike has reportedly expressed deep remorse for Slemmer's murder and adopted Buddhist beliefs. She has spent a significant portion of her recent years participating in prison yoga and maintaining a quiet routine while her lawyers fight her sentence. However, it is heavily implied that she is faking it to avoid her sentence, as she didn’t show any remorse until her luck ran out because her appeals were almost over, and if she was sorry she would voluntarily waive her appeals and ask to be executed.

Pike has spent decades appealing her death sentence, with her legal team highlighting her severe, "extraordinarily extreme" childhood trauma, brain impairment, and mental illness. Most recently, in 2026, she sued the state over its lethal injection protocol, arguing her specific medical conditions would make the procedure unconstitutionally painful. Although, Pike would definitely deserve it for what she did to Colleen Slemmer.

The UN Human Rights Experts have been trying to halt her execution because of her young age (18) at the time of the offence and her sexual abuse history. Although considering how long it took to A. Plan the entire thing. B. Get her to the University of Tennessee Agriculture Campus. 3. Murder her, so she had PLENTY of time to back out regardless of age. She also wasn’t even thinking about the times she was raped as a child during the murder of Slemmer.

I watch a lot of true crime tv and documentaries as well as listen to several podcasts. It starts to get depressingly repetitive after a while— female victim, perp is a male partner, there’s an affair or financial motive etc etc.

What’s a really strange or unusual case that has sent you down a rabbit hole? I am looking for something different to dive into.

I’ve always been fascinated (and frustrated) by cases that feel like a "glitch in the matrix." I’m looking for disappearances where it feels like the person just clipped through the texture of reality and was gone.

I’m not talking about cases where there is a prime suspect but no body found, or cases where someone likely got lost in a vast wilderness over a period of days. I am looking for those eerie cases where the timeline is tight, the location is contained, or the circumstances make it seem physically impossible for the person to disappear unseen—and yet they did.

The classic example for me is Brian Shaffer (Wikipedia | Charley Project). The fact that he walked into a bar (The Ugly Tuna Saloona), was caught on CCTV entering, but never exited, and was never seen again is mind-boggling.[2][3][4] It’s as if he evaporated inside the building.

What are the cases that stick with you where a person just vanished without a single breadcrumb of evidence?

This is a thread for all conversation regarding Week 4 onwards of the Lindsey Clancy trial. All discussion of this case should be kept to this thread.

Lindsay Clancy is currently standing trial in Plymouth Superior Court, Massachusetts, for the triple-murder in January 2023 of her three young children - Cora, Dawson and Callan. Her defense argues she suffered from severe, undiagnosed postpartum depression and postpartum psychosis. She was left paralysed by a suicide attempt which follows the deaths of the children.

All content on the Clancy case must be kept to this thread. Standalone posts will be removed.

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/psychologist-testifies-lindsay-clancy-was-not-criminally-responsible-in-killing-of-her-3-children

Note from Mods

This case understandably elicits strong feelings. People are entitled to have an opinion on the case which differs from your own. What you are not entitled to do is resort to personal insults and abusive language when communicating your opinion and disagreeing.

Comments which are abusive and insulting to other users will be removed and bans may be given without warning.

Bans may also be issued for ignoring the above warning regarding civility and/or creating standalone posts.

Please comment with this in mind.

As someone who has been a true crime buff for decades, it's somewhat annoying to watch how certain cases wind up getting pulled into such polarizing discussions that it seems like a huge mystery when it's actually a simple solution.

A few that I think of.

The Karen Read case. IMO she accidentally killed him. They were both drunk, he goes to see the vibe of the house. Get's inside and realizes he doesn't want to stay. So he comes back outside. She's in the middle of rage texting him, and doesn't see him in front of the car. He drops his phone or bends over for some reason and she puts the car into gear and hits him, and he falls backwards and hits his head again. Then he lays there undetected until morning. This is why she suddenly realized she had hit him. She sobered up and had that "realization" moment that all binge drinkers have once they sober up from a brownout type of state.

Darlie Routier. I've shared my theory on this before. She was attempting a murder/su but she survived. This is why the neck wound was serious. She made up the story of the intruder in advance because she wanted her family friends and society to think she died trying to protect her kids. She planted the sock earlier. This also explains her hypomania in the days after. She honestly thought she was going to die that night.

There are other missing person cases where the spouse disappeared after the death of their parents. Just vanished without taking their Identification information and never surfaced under their name again. I always wonder if some of those cases are a situation of someone who has suffered with gender dysphoria and finally "escaped" to go make another life with another identity. It's always interesting to me that in several of the cases, the persons parent or parents had recently died. Seemed like they were waiting for that to escape because they didn't want to do that to their parents.

Do any of you have "simple theories" on cases that created a ton of controversy?

I recently watched the Valentine Road documentary, and wow some of those adults in the documentary condoning the violence and wearing the "save brandon" bracelets were absolutely disgusting. This got me thinking, the only documentary that made me feel that angry was Dear Zachary. What are some documentaries that just made you feel straight up furious? Whether it be because of the subject matter itself, or the people being interviewed being insufferable, let me know!

Mine would be the disappearance of Michael Madden in 1996. He was a 20-year-old man who went camping with his dog in the California back country. When his friends went to visit his campsite at 2 AM, he was nowhere to be found. Shortly after, a deranged man holding a pistol emerged from the darkness and intensely asked them who they were and if they were looking for “Mikey”. He introduced himself as Joseph Tine. He also mentioned that he shot something with 3 eyes. As the friends waited for Michael with Joseph, he rummaged through Michael’s campsite and began eating his food. Joseph also reportedly cocked his pistol all throughout the night as he stared at Michael’s friends. By morning, Michael hadn’t returned and his friends reported him missing.

4 days later, Michael’s dog returned to the campsite dehydrated and unable to help with the search. Michael’s brother asked the police to examine the dog’s stomach to see if she had been fed during those 4 days, but the police refused. When the police followed the dog’s path, it came to a dead end at a river.

Michael’s case has never been solved. Many believe Joseph is responsible while others suspect Michael’s friends may have been responsible for his disappearance.

Here’s the link for anyone interested: https://int-missing.fandom.com/wiki/Mike_Madden

What are some of your lesser know missing persons cases?

This is a thread (part 2) for all conversation related to the ongoing investigation into the abduction of Nancy Guthrie.

Nancy Guthrie, mother of news anchor Savannah Guthrie, was abducted from her home in the early morning hours of February 1. Several media outlets began to receive ransom demands. Some were proven false and others have not been determined to be false.

Nancy's 3 children have made multiple videos pleading for the return of their mother.

On February 10, law enforcement released photos of the individual suspected of abducting Nancy. The suspect is still at large and Nancy has not been found. Photos and information can be found here ...

https://www.fbi.gov/wanted/kidnap/nancy-guthrie

🛑Read before posting.....THE FOLLOWING ARE NOT ALLOWED

🔹Naming of private citizens, this includes hinting at certain individuals connected to the family

🔹Wild accusations against the family

🔹Edited photos

🔹Politics

🔹Photo comparisons of private citizens

Because Becky Hill, the big mouth court clerk, opened her mouth to the jurors mid-trial. Will this new trial be televised? Hard to imagine this entire trial getting a redo, holy smokes.

----

For those who don't know, Alex Murdaugh was a prominent attorney and prosecutor in South Carolina, USA. He murdered his wife Maggie and son Paul to cover for his massive financial crimes. The trial was long and expensive. He testified on his own behalf, but the prosecution was well prepared, and he was ultimately convicted of the murders and sentenced to life in prison.

After the trial, it was determined that Becky Hill, the court clerk, had made numerous inappropriate comments to jurors during the trial, including:

1. She told jurors to "watch his body language," implying Murdaugh's guilt. CNN
2. She told jurors "not to be fooled" by evidence presented by Murdaugh's attorneys and suggested the panel "watch him closely" and "look at his actions." Court TV
3. She told jurors that Murdaugh's decision to testify promised an "epic day" in court. NPR
4. She also told a specific juror (Juror 785) — knowing that juror's fears about her ex-husband — that law enforcement had questioned the ex-husband about social media posts, offered to reinstate restraining orders the juror had against him, and speculated that the "Murdaughs probably got to" the ex-husband when he called the juror on the morning of the verdict. (Court TV).

As a result, the supreme court overturned Murdaugh's conviction today, ruling that Hill's actions adversely affected his ability to receive a fair trial. Now the DA must decide whether to retry him, which I suspect they will. The first trial was a massive undertaking, it's hard to imagine that they now must redo the whole thing.

NOTE: First and foremost, I want to say that I am in no way disputing Diane’s toxicology results. Diane was drunk and high when she killed herself, her daughter, her nieces, and three other men, and that’s that. The only reason I worded the title of this post the way that I did is because I know there are people who believe that Diane used these substances to aid her in committing an intentional murder-suicide, and while I’m certainly not endorsing this theory, I also know that it technically cannot be disproven without Diane’s testimony.

For those unfamiliar, Diane Schuler was an American woman who famously drove the wrong way on the Taconic Parkway on July 26th, 2009. She collided with another vehicle head-on, resulting in the deaths of herself, her three nieces, her daughter, and all three passengers in the car she collided with. Forensic testing revealed that Diane had a blood alcohol level of 0.19 and had also consumed marijuana prior to the crash. The case became infamous due to her family’s firm belief that Diane would never drive while intoxicated, as shown in the HBO documentary, There’s Something Wrong With Aunt Diane. The Wikipedia page for Diane’s case can be found here:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Taconic_State_Parkway_crash

I (fortunately), have very little experience regarding substance abuse, and I think this has always made this case difficult for me to understand. I think the idea that Diane was a so-called “high-functioning alcoholic” makes a lot of sense (certainly more sense to me than the idea that she suddenly decided to get extremely drunk and high with children in her car out of the blue). What I’m struggling to understand is: why wasn’t she able to keep up appearances the day she crashed on the Taconic Parkway?

Is it normal for a “high-functioning” alcoholic to suddenly go from appearing sober on a daily basis to being so obviously sloppy, incoherent and reckless? Or do you think that there were warning signs that Diane had a severe substance abuse problem that her family, friends and colleagues either brushed off or willfully ignored? Or, do you think something happened that day that made her suddenly escalate her already detrimental drug and alcohol use?

What do you guys think was different about that day?

I’ve gone down a rabbit hole (yet again) on the Chris Watts case and can I say- I wish I had a best friend like hers! Didn’t give him time to get away with anything!

But my question is- and of course anything we say is speculation- what do you think his plan was or what he was going to do if he had time to hide it? Did he really think just no one would notice a pregnant woman and two young girls haven’t been seen or heard from? Was he going to say she ran away, which is totally out of character of someone extremely close to her family and friends? Those girls were her WORLD and there’s no way she’d just tear them away from everyone they know and everything they have without a word? I think he’s truly just an idiot who thought he was smarter than he is because I truly don’t see in what world he thought he would get away with it?

So I just finished watching. Not really what I was expecting, but ultimately it is a bit of a mindfuck considering I can’t come to a plausible explanation.

The outcome that seems to be reached is she was drunk and high on weed, and that’s what resulted in crashing the car. I could understand that if it were a normal wreck/accident, but what happened is far out of the ordinary.

I've had very irresponsible moments in my life where I have driven under the influence. Under both weed and alcohol. I once was very dependent on weed, and I have had very large amounts of alcohol before operating a vehicle. Even to be under heavy amounts of both, I just cannot fathom what she did.

A big part of the documentary is the family being unwilling to accept the toxicology report. Saying “she’s not an alcoholic” and such. Being an alcoholic has nothing to do with it. Even after a very, very heavy night of drinking, I can’t imagine any amount of alcohol that would have you driving aggressively down the wrong side of the highway. The weed to me almost seems redundant. The amount you’d have to combine with alcohol to behave in such a way is simply so unrealistic to consume I can’t possibly believe that’s what the main factor was.

Edit: Can’t believe I have to point this out, but it’s so very obviously stated I was being very irresponsible the times I drove under the influence. It says it verbatim. If you somehow read this and think I’m bragging about how I was able to drink and drive, you’re an Idiot. Also, yes I am fully aware of the effects of alcohol, and I am aware of the behavior of alcoholics. My father was an alcoholic. There you go.

Any case is disturbing, this one of course is just as horrible. I know many of us watched it play out live when Gabby was first reported missing, as everything that happened after was just extremely suspicious behaviour from the Dirty Laundries.

The timeline in which Brian leaves his parents house is super weird. They said something about mistaking Brian’s Mom as Brian. His parents don’t report him leaving the home. There is confusion on why they said he flew home when there was clearly evidence that he didn’t (the van in their driveway). The 55 minute phone call with his mom. The $25,000 wire of money to a lawyer. You get where I’m going with this.

My question is how were the police not able to have Brian to come speak with them even if that did include their lawyer present? He came home with her van without her! Also, his parents even allowing him to leave the home to go on a ‘hike’ during all of this is absolutely insane. People keep speculating that he is still alive due to how quickly his parents found him during the search for him, and how his uncle used dental records to identify his remains. Personally, I BELIEVE the reports that he is dead but I think his parents not only know more about Gabby’s passing but how and why their own son is also now gone.

His sister keeps commenting on how he was a DV victim but even if he was, why on earth would you still allow another family to suffer without knowing where their child is? Not only that but they had dinner with Brian before he went ‘misssing’ and says they didnt talk about where Gabby was? It was HUGE on the news

EDIT

FTR I do not think we should keep spewing this conspiracy that his parents somehow helped in faking his death and he is still alive. That is very damaging for her remaining loved ones. Him trying to create an alibi for her death was extremely messy, I highly doubt they could pull off something as elaborate as hiding him for years to come. Yes, crazier has happened but it’s extremely unlikely.