Nick Reiner was under court-ordered conservatorship in 2020. A judge declared him "gravely disabled." Licensed fiduciary Steven Baer controlled his treatment. The Reiners obtained the most restrictive mental health intervention California law allows. It lasted one year. Four years later, both parents are dead—allegedly killed by the son they fought to help.

The devastating loophole: under California law, if a family provides food, clothing, and shelter for a mentally ill loved one, that person may no longer qualify as "gravely disabled." The Reiners may have lost the conservatorship not because Nick got better—but because they kept caring for him. The system forces families into an impossible choice: abandon your child or lose legal authority to force treatment.

We trace the timeline: 2019 police calls to the Reiner home. Nick's reported schizophrenia diagnosis around 2020. The conservatorship under Steven Baer that ended after one year. The medication change approximately one month before the killings that sources say triggered a "complete break from reality." And we examine why Baer will almost certainly testify—and what his testimony means for Nick's defense.

But the Reiner tragedy exposes a sixty-year failure. Before California's 1967 Lanterman-Petris-Short Act, families could petition courts to hospitalize violent, psychotic relatives. That system is gone. Today, someone can be paranoid, delusional, and dangerous but still walk free if they can say where they're going to sleep. California went from 37,000 patients in state psychiatric hospitals to fewer than 1,500 on involuntary conservatorships. Where did the patients go? The streets. The jails. Family homes where they became ticking time bombs.

The Reiners reportedly spent vast sums on treatment. None of it mattered. The system finally has authority to hold their son—but it took two bodies to get him there.

#NickReiner #RobReiner #MicheleReiner #LPSConservatorship #TrueCrimeToday #StevenBaer #Deinstitutionalization #CaliforniaLaw #MentalHealthLaw #SystemFailure

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The physical evidence is now overwhelming. Columbus police confirmed the murder weapon was recovered from Dr. Michael McKee's Chicago penthouse eleven days after Spencer and Monique Tepe were shot dead in their Columbus home. NIBIN matched shell casings from the bedroom to a firearm seized from his residence. Multiple weapons were recovered. His alibi collapsed before his arrest. ATF picked him up at a Chick-fil-A seven minutes from the hospital where he worked overnight shifts. Surveillance footage places him near the Tepe home during the murder window. Police labeled this a "targeted domestic violence attack."

But the paper trail tells a different story than the family's. Rob Misleh appeared on Good Morning America and said Monique told him McKee was emotionally abusive during their brief marriage. "She just had to get away from him." He said she was willing to do anything to escape, that the family knew about the torment. Misleh called McKee a monster, said Monique never spoke his name after the divorce—only "her ex-husband." She was always worried. But nobody thought he'd actually do it.

The 2017 divorce documents show none of this. No domestic violence allegations. No protection orders. No restraining orders. Just "incompatibility." Attorney Eric Faddis explains why so many victims choose silence—the calculation that documenting abuse creates more danger than it prevents. He breaks down how the legal system treats emotional abuse compared to physical abuse and what options exist for victims who recognize their own situation in Monique's story.

Eight years passed between the divorce and the murders. Then in June 2025, something brought McKee and Monique back into the court system. Six months later, she was dead. Eric examines what that timeline suggests and where the system's limits are when a threat was never officially recorded. McKee faces two counts of aggravated murder with prior calculation and design. Death penalty eligible. He plans to plead not guilty.

#TeepeMurders #MichaelMcKee #MoniqueTepe #SpencerTepe #MurderWeapon #TrueCrimeToday #EricFaddis #DomesticViolence #NIBIN #EmotionalAbuse

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The Brendan Banfield trial is building toward its climax, and day three delivered evidence that cuts through every defense narrative. Fairfax County detectives showed jurors what they found when they returned to the Banfield home eight months after Christine's death: fresh wood flooring where blood-soaked carpet used to be, new furniture throughout the master bedroom, and photographs of Brendan with au pair Juliana Peres Magalhães sitting on the nightstand where pictures of Brendan and Christine once belonged.

Detective Terry Leach walked the jury through graphic crime scene photographs of Joseph Ryan's body—blood covering his face, hands, chest, and arms. The murder knife wasn't in Ryan's hand. It was hidden under blankets on the floor. That detail alone challenges the defense's theory that Ryan attacked Christine. DNA confirmed Christine's blood on Banfield's jeans. Fingerprints on the knife came back inconclusive. Prosecutors added that Banfield bought a gun weeks before the killings, took Juliana to a shooting range twice, and allegedly installed $30,000 in soundproof windows.

The timeline crystallized with McDonald's surveillance footage: Banfield waiting in the parking lot, then exiting the bathroom at 7:37 AM with his phone pressed to his ear—the exact moment phone records show Juliana called to signal their target had arrived.

But prosecutors face a complicated star witness. Juliana spent a year telling police the same story Brendan did before flipping to save herself. From jail, she wrote her mother that she was "heartbroken" for what she was doing to Brendan—that she still loved him. Former FBI Special Agent Robin Dreeke, who led the Bureau's Counterintelligence Behavioral Analysis Program for 32 years, examines what genuine coercion looks like versus willing participation. The affair began six months before the killings. Juliana lived in the home, cared for the daughter, slept with the husband. Dreeke analyzes the power dynamics and tells you exactly what to watch for when she takes the stand.

#BrendanBanfield #ChristineBanfield #JulianaMagalhaes #RobinDreeke #TrueCrimeToday #AuPairMurder #CrimeSceneEvidence #FBI #StarWitness #FairfaxMurder

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Columbus police finally spoke. Sixteen days after Spencer and Monique Tepe were found shot dead, Chief Elaine Bryant confirmed investigators have a preliminary ballistic link between firearms recovered from Dr. Michael McKee's property and the murder scene. The connection came through NIBIN—the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network—which matches bullets and casings to weapons across federal databases.

Attorney Eric Faddis explains what "preliminary" means in this context and how significant ballistics evidence becomes when combined with surveillance footage and vehicle records already tying McKee to the scene. Police have labeled this a targeted domestic violence attack. The charges were upgraded from murder to premeditated aggravated murder—death penalty eligible in Ohio. Eric breaks down the legal threshold for proving "prior calculation and design."

The family's voice emerged today too. Rob Misleh, Spencer's brother-in-law, appeared on Good Morning America and described the abuse Monique endured during her marriage to McKee. "She just had to get away from him." He said the family spent eight years aware of the torment—watching Monique rebuild her life with Spencer while always looking over their shoulders.

McKee allegedly drove from Illinois to Ohio and killed both Monique and Spencer while their two young children slept down the hall. He was arrested at a Chick-fil-A in Rockford, Illinois ten days later. He waived extradition but remains in Illinois awaiting transfer. His attorney says he'll plead not guilty.

Chief Bryant indicated police are withholding evidence details to avoid jeopardizing the conviction. Eric Faddis maps out what defense strategies remain when ballistics, surveillance, and vehicle records all point in the same direction. Over 1,000 people attended the funeral. Two children lost both parents in one night.

#TeepeMurders #MichaelMcKee #SpencerTepe #MoniqueTepe #NIBIN #TrueCrimeToday #EricFaddis #BallisticsEvidence #DomesticViolence #ColumbusOhio

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The Nick Reiner case just took a turn nobody predicted. Alan Jackson—the attorney who defended Michael Jackson's doctor and built a reputation on high-stakes trials—withdrew from representing Nick Reiner while publicly declaring him "not guilty of murder" under California law. He told reporters to take that statement "to the bank." Then he told the judge he's "legally and ethically prohibited" from explaining his departure. What did he find?

The answer sits in sealed documents nobody outside that courtroom can access. A confidential medical order. Ten subpoenas Jackson's team issued before withdrawing—a list the judge has explicitly hidden from prosecutors. Three weeks of defense investigation that ended with Jackson making the most unusual public statement of his career.

Nick Reiner is charged with two counts of first-degree murder with special circumstances for the deaths of his mother Michele Reiner and her partner. He's eligible for the death penalty. Sources confirm he was being treated for schizophrenia at the time of the killings. He appeared at his first hearing in a suicide prevention smock. His medications reportedly aren't stabilized. How long before this becomes a formal competency challenge?

Attorney Eric Faddis breaks down the legal landscape this week—examining Jackson's strategic signals, what the gas station surveillance footage really proves, and how Deputy Public Defender Kimberly Greene approaches a case with this much sealed evidence. DA Nathan Hochman says he's "fully confident" in conviction.

But confidence doesn't explain what's in those sealed documents. And Jackson's declaration doesn't disappear just because he's no longer making the argument.

#NickReiner #AlanJackson #RobReiner #MicheleReiner #TrueCrimeToday #SealedEvidence #InsanityDefense #EricFaddis #DeathPenalty #CaliforniaCourts

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It's official. The South Carolina Supreme Court has set February 11th, 2026, as the date for oral arguments in Alex Murdaugh's appeal. And the timing couldn't be more significant.

Just two months ago, former Colleton County Clerk of Court Becky Hill pled guilty to perjury, obstruction of justice, and two counts of misconduct in office. She admitted to lying under oath at the very hearing that denied Murdaugh a new trial. Now his attorneys are asking the Supreme Court to add her guilty plea to the appeal record — arguing that if she lied about one thing under oath, her denials about jury tampering can't be trusted either.

Today we break down what's actually at stake on February 11th. The defense is running two consolidated appeals: one challenging alleged jury tampering by Becky Hill, and another challenging Judge Clifton Newman's decision to allow extensive financial crimes testimony as motive evidence. The prosecution says the evidence was overwhelming and the jury convicted Murdaugh because he was "obviously guilty."

We walk through the critical legal question: Does South Carolina apply the federal standard for jury tampering — where any attempt to influence a jury is presumed prejudicial — or the state standard that Toal applied, requiring proof that tampering actually changed a vote?

We also explain why this appeal matters even though Murdaugh will never get out of prison regardless. He's already serving 27 years for financial crimes. His attorneys say this is about the integrity of fair trials in South Carolina.

The hearing will be livestreamed and open to the public. A decision could take weeks or months. And if Murdaugh loses, he's already signaled federal court is next.

#TrueCrimeToday #AlexMurdaugh #BeckyHill #MurdaughAppeal #SupremeCourt #JuryTampering #SouthCarolina #TrueCrime #MurdaughTrial #BreakingNews

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Today on True Crime Today, we're examining two cases that demand accountability—one from a jury, one from an institution—with former felony prosecutor turned defense attorney Eric Faddis. In Columbus, Dr. Michael McKee faces aggravated murder charges for allegedly executing Monique Tepe and Richard Tepe in their home while their children slept feet away. Police recovered what they say is the murder weapon from McKee's Chicago apartment eleven days later. His alibi reportedly collapsed. But McKee has resources and a defense team looking for every weakness. Faddis breaks down what prosecutors must prove and where the defense will attack—from chain of custody challenges to the absence of eyewitnesses in a circumstantial case.

In Washington, the families of Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin are suing WSU over Bryan Kohberger. According to their 126-page lawsuit, 13 formal complaints were filed against Kohberger during his single semester as a teaching assistant. Women requested security escorts. Staff created warning systems. A professor allegedly predicted he'd abuse students. The families claim the murders were "foreseeable and preventable." Faddis analyzes the Title IX violations, gross negligence claims, and what this lawsuit could mean for institutional liability nationwide.

#TepeMurders #MichaelMcKee #BryanKohberger #WSULawsuit #KayleeGoncalves #MoniqueTepe #TrueCrimeToday #EricFaddis #AggravatedMurder #TitleIX

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Today on True Crime Today, we're examining what may be the most painful aspect of the Reiner case—how a family's ability to perceive danger can erode over time until the unthinkable feels normal. Former FBI Special Agent Robin Dreeke joins us to break down the family dynamics that allegedly led Rob and Michele Reiner to go to sleep on December 13th, 2025, in the same house with their son Nick—hours after watching him behave erratically at a holiday party.

Robin spent 21 years with the FBI, including serving as Chief of the Counterintelligence Behavioral Analysis Program, and he specializes in understanding how trust gets exploited and how threat perception changes over time. The Reiners called police twice in 2019—a welfare check and a mental health call. They perceived danger then. But Rob publicly said he regretted listening to professionals instead of Nick. Robin explains how that shift happens—how someone can train their family to distrust outside expertise over decades.

Nick co-wrote a semi-autobiographical film with his father about their relationship. Robin analyzes what that level of narrative control means for family power dynamics. The Reiners had tried tough love. It hadn't worked. They blamed themselves. Robin explains how manufactured guilt functions as a manipulation tool—and how legitimate frustration with a broken system becomes a vulnerability. Sources say the parents became distrustful of medical professionals over the years. At what point does that become something a manipulative person can exploit?

#TrueCrimeToday #NickReiner #RobReiner #MicheleReiner #RobinDreeke #FBI #FamilyDynamics #ThreatBlindness #MentalHealthCrisis #HollywoodTragedy

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