Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - TEEN GIRL ALLEGEDLY TORTURED, MURDERED AND DISMEMBERED AFTER MEETING ADULT MALE ONLINE, LAWSUIT SENT TO ARBITRATION
Episode Date: November 8, 2025Miranda Corsette's estate files a wrongful-death lawsuit against Grindr, the app through which she met her killer. The estate trying to hold the app responsible for the teen's death after ...being introduced to a male adult. Grindr argued the dispute should go to arbitration, rather than to a trial. Now a judge has agreed. A 12-page ruling by U.S. District Judge Tom Barber states that Corsette, in creating the Grindr account, "had agreed to terms and conditions that included arbitration of legal disputes." Barber ruled that when Corsette electronically signed to create her account, an agreement exits that “broadly covers any dispute, claim, or controversy between Corsette and Grinder, agreeing to resolve disputes through arbitration.” This despite the fact that the 16-year-old was restrained, beaten and tortured for several days. Corsette was suffocated when a pool ball, wrapped in a sock was shoved into her mouth, and then her head and face were wrapped in saran wrap. The judge said “Corsette agreed to Grindr’s terms of service each of three times she created Grindr accounts.” Court documents reveal that at least six people knew Steven Gress, 37, and Michelle Brandes, 35, were holding Miranda against her will before she died. Gress allegedly sent photos of Miranda, visibly bruised, to three people, including his mother. She told police she did not view the images but admitted her son tried to talk to her about Miranda. She said she shut down the conversation, telling him she didn’t want to know. At least two neighbors reportedly saw Miranda in distress at the home. A woman who lived with Gress and Brandes witnessed a week of torture, the murder, and the clean-up that followed. The documents also outline a detailed timeline, including a trip to celebrate Brandes’ birthday at a Popeyes restaurant—while Miranda’s dismembered remains allegedly sat in Gress’ trunk. Joining Nancy Grace today: Dave Horton - Landlord of Gress' home Andrea Lewis - Partner at Searcy Law in Pam Beach, Florida, Former Felony Prosecutor at Palm Beach County State Attorney's Office, and President of the Palm Beach County Bar Association, Dr. Bethany Marshall - Psychoanalyst, Author of "Deal Breaker,” and featured in hit show: "Paris in Love" on Peacock; Instagram & TikTok: drbethanymarshall, X: @DrBethanyLive Paul Duffy - Senior consultant with Group 9 Security Consulting and Training, Former Deputy and Inspector with the United States Marshals Service Anna Sonoda - Child Grooming Expert, Licensed Clinical Social Worker, and Author: “Duck Duck Groom: Understanding How a Child Becomes a Target” Dr. Kendall Crowns - Chief Medical Examiner Tarrant County (Ft Worth), and NEW Podcast: "Mayhem in the Morgue" [launching on April 7]; Lecturer: Burnett School of Medicine at TCU (Texas Christian University) Dan Sullivan - Staff Writer, Tampa Bay Times; X @TimesDan, BlueSky: timesdan.bsky.social, Instagram: @timesdansullivan See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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This is an I-Heart podcast.
Crime Stories with Nancy Grace.
It's Friday night, and it's time for a Friday night special.
A gorgeous teen girl, Miranda Corset, kidnapped, tortured, murdered, and
dismembered after meeting a grown man online. In the last days, her family fights back.
I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. I want to thank you for being with us. That's right.
The estate of this little teen girl, Miranda Corset, allegedly tortured for a week, murdered and
dismembered, is suing the online app Grindr that hooked her.
her up with a grown man. This is what happened. This little girl actually dies gagging on a pool
ball forced into her mouth. Her head wrapped mummy style with kitchen saran wrap. And then
after this child's body is dismembered, the perps leaving blood and human tissue up
on the side of a house.
They didn't even take a water hose for Pete's sake to clean off this child's blood.
These two go out to celebrate with Popeyes and Puttput.
After dismembering her with a chainsaw, we obtained exclusive video of the co-defendants.
Here he is Griss.
We believe taking the teen girl's body out to his vehicle, just sauntering along without
a care in the world, not worried if he would be seen, nothing.
He tucks the body into his vehicle, checks everything is just right, nothing hanging out,
slams the trunk with the child's body in the car.
car and saunters back in.
Little did he know that he is upstairs residence.
This is a duplex.
Had her ringing camera going the entire time and we got it.
It's all caught on video this and more.
He's not even worried.
This, as we learn, he
and Bilzebub, the minion from hell, Satan's assistant, forced a pool ball into this child's mouth,
then wrapped her head, mummy style, and saran wrap until she died. In the last hours, we obtain more video to determine what exactly was being said at one juncture.
neighbor comes from across the street. And we hear her say the words. We hear Gress
stating about the little girl, quote, this punk stole my ring right here. The
ate all the food in the kitchen. He's talking about a little girl. The neighbor says,
the girl in the corner? Yeah, what other girl? And Gress says, yeah.
He says, she says, that's her body.
Yeah.
Neighbor says, damn.
Listen.
I sold my ring like this, man.
Got my little, ate my room to eat a food in my ship.
The girl in the core?
Yeah.
That's what body?
Yeah.
What is wrong with these people?
I'm going to leave that to a jury.
Thank goodness.
I've got a shrink.
But the shrink is joining us in about one minute.
But first, I want to go to Dan Sullivan joining us,
writer for Tampa Bay Times at Tampa Bay.com who obtained a lot of this affidavit and search warrant
material. Dan Sullivan, did you just see the video? The neighbor just saunters over and goes,
well, that's her body? And Grest says, yeah. And all she says is, damn. What is wrong with this woman?
I can't answer that. I know that what the police put in the search warrant was that
at least that neighbor and at least a few other people were aware that this girl was with him during
this week, you know, it's not clear.
Dan Sullivan, guys, renowned writer for the Tampa Bay Times, states that his examination
of court documents we have just obtained, they got it, revealed that at least six people knew
the girl was, in his words, with
grress.
Isn't it true,
Dan Sullivan, that based on
these court documents,
an affidavit, a sworn
affidavit of what
the officer, the detective, learned.
She wasn't just with him
for an outing in the park.
She was being beaten, lying
naked in a corner, begging
for help, and everybody
knew it. All of these people
knew it. And in my
mind are complicit with it. I mean, this neighbor sees her naked in the corner, Dan.
I think it seems based on what's in the affidavit that people did know what was going on.
It's not clear if every one of them knew the extent of what was going on, but it seems, I mean,
There were a few people who received photographs that showed her in worsening physical condition throughout the week.
You mean she's getting beaten more and more and more lying there naked in the fetal position in the corner?
I'd say that is worsening condition.
Yeah, it is, you know, according to what's in the search warrant, that they did receive photos of what was going on.
Like I say, though, I mean, it's not clear if everyone that saw.
her knew the extent of what she was going through, but some of them, you know, it seems had reason
to believe that there was something, you know, very wrong happening. Yeah, something called child
abuse, child rape, and murder. Well, you're right. It is murky. And, you know, right now,
what I'm trying to figure out, Dan Sullivan, I'm trying to figure out the appropriate charges
for these six ghouls. Because right now, they're not.
charged. But believe you me, Dan, there is a way. There is a way. I mean, when you get sent
pictures, this technical legal phrase, a whole, sent pictures of the little girl, a little girl, Dan,
did you know my twins just turned to 17? My daughter weighs about 90 pounds. She's nothing but
lip gloss and eyelashes. This girl's six.
16,
Dan, and beaten to a pulp.
And these people send photos.
The man, Gress, sends photos of the little girl to various people lying there, beaten
and naked in the corner.
Did you just say, Dan, that the photos got worse.
the photos show her in increasingly worse physical condition and he kept photowing her and sending them from his phone.
Yeah, that is what the police wrote in the search warrant that, you know, the photos showed her in increasingly worse physical condition.
As far as whether, you know, anyone else might be charged, I don't know our local state attorney here, Bruce Bartlett, said that they are, that that's a possibility and that they're looking.
at that. I don't know if, you know, they might need any of these people to testify as
witnesses and what factor that might play in...
Absolutely. You're right, Dan. You're thinking ahead. You're like five steps ahead of
most people, maybe 10, because these six people, you know, I'm not a betting person because I've
got children put through college. I don't want to waste my money on the slots. But if I were a
betting person, I would bet that these six people are either going to be states witnesses or
co-defendants. Mark my words. They can all be thrown in the same pot to stew as far as I'm
concerned. Again, they're all presumed innocent. Dan, isn't it true? The affidavit reveals that the
defendants, quote, searched the girl's body cavities. That means her vagina, her anus, her mouth.
for a stolen ring that really hadn't been stolen at all.
Isn't that true?
They did this to this little girl?
Yeah, there is one part of the affidavit that describes that.
And it does seem, based on what's in the affidavit,
that Mr. Gress apparently felt very strongly about this ring
and believed that Miranda had taken it, done something with it,
and really wanted to find it.
There was some information from...
Really wanted to find it up her anus?
That's according to the affidavit.
That is what, you know, he's alleged to have done.
There was some information from one of the other people involved that, you know,
they believed that he, you know, that Miranda had nothing to do with this ring
and that it was actually the co-defendant, Ms. Brandis.
Brandis.
At the ring all along.
Isn't it true that Brandis, that the ring was, quote, found suddenly in Gress's car.
And Brandis insinuated, intimated to the third roommate that she had taken it.
So Gress would get angry at the little girl and get rid of her.
Yeah, there was something to that effect in the search warrant.
And this was after the girl had, you know, that they had disposed.
of her body.
You know what?
We're spending a lot of time talking about the ring.
And frankly, Dan Sullivan, I don't give a flying fig about the ring.
That was just a pretext to beat this child.
We're now learning from the affidavit that you obtained that Gress has a history of targeting,
let me just say, troubled women and girls.
We know that Miranda had lost both of her parents suddenly.
She was a little girl, lost both of her parents at a young age and moved in with grandma.
And grandma was so happy that Miranda had a Valentine Day date.
That date is with her alleged killer, Gress, who lured her on line.
Speaking of the ring that was a pretext for abuse, torture.
and murder, listen to what the neighbor, who saunter's over and sees the girl and does nothing.
We have managed to enhance the video from the upstairs residence ring cam, and I want you to hear what she says.
Now, remember her last words you heard were, that's her body?
Damn.
Listen to this.
Well, how in hell you're going to get out of those?
I'm about to figure out right now.
Don't kill her.
I don't want to see the police up for you know.
Why are you at the way, honey?
She said it just getting the phone.
The neighbor sees what's happening.
The neighbor sees the little girl balled up in a corner crying.
And you hear Gress say, she stole my ring and neighbor.
How the hell you're going to get her out of here, Gress?
Well, that's what I'm trying to figure out right now.
And the neighbor says, don't kill her.
I don't want to see the police up here.
So she doesn't want them to kill the little girl
because she doesn't want the police around.
Wonder why, I think I know.
The affidavit does it not Dan Sullivan
refer to the neighbor as having sold pot to Gris in the past.
That's correct.
There is a portion of the affidavit
where I believe that it says that,
you know, I guess she came over to exchange
in a drug transaction with him.
We're not sure that this is the same neighbor, but we do know that this neighbor that
actually talks to Miranda lying there dying.
She does not want the police quote up in here.
Then the neighbor says, where you got the ring, honey?
You could have just given it to him.
It's not over yet.
There is more from the neighbor and we've been able to enhance the video and the sound.
Just the nature of this neighbor, she sees the girl lying there naked, dying, and starts
quizzing her about a ring.
Listen.
See, you don't care nobody will, Michelle.
I don't want to keep funny soap.
He'll take it y'all to jail.
Crime Stories with Nancy Grace.
The estate of this little girl, Marais.
and a corset now suing after she was allegedly tortured, murdered, and dismembered after meeting a guy on line.
Corset allegedly left unrecognizable after she was beaten for a week and suffocated when a billiard ball was shoved into her mouth, her head covered in plastic wrap.
If this is true, these perps are animals.
Joining me is renowned psychoanalyst, author of Deal Breaker, and you can see her now on Peacott, Dr. Bethany Marshall.
Dr. Bethany, what is wrong with this woman? She just says to dress, okay, don't kill nobody. You're Michelle. I don't want to see the police up in here. That's just so casual.
Nancy, this is so painful to hear. Actually, she says, is that the body? She doesn't say is that Miranda.
or is that the little girl or a teenager, why isn't she in school?
Already she's dehumanized and dead in the neighbor's mind.
And in terms of this alleged crime, what perpetrators do is they create something
called institutional psychopathology, where they gravitate towards one person who has a
corruption of conscience and that person gravitates towards another.
And all of a sudden, they become a little group that has criminality in common, like
a criminal morning coffee clutch. We see this with child molesters, Nancy. I mean, they gravitate
towards each other online. They pass pictures around. And this is what Gress is doing. Bethany.
Bethany. Two many words. Boil it down. Give me the concentrate. Hit me. Birds of a feather flocked
together. Joining us now is a special guest. It's Dave Horton, the landlord at the Gress home.
believed to be murder scene. Mr. Horton, thank you for being with us. Oh, no problem.
Mr. Horton, on the outside, your place looks, you know, perfect. Oh, thank you. Well, manicured,
painted, the works, but on the inside, it turns into a house of horrors for this little 16-year-old girl.
Now, you just evicted, Gress, in the last hours. Explain to me what you discovered in
Inside the murder scene.
Oh, I couldn't believe it.
You know, the place was, we had the inside fixed up just as nice.
I spent a lot of time and money over there.
And it was just unbelievable.
The damage that was in the kitchen and her bedroom, you know, I had to evict them
because there was rabbit feces everywhere in her room all over the place.
and we cleaned that up, you know, yesterday.
And we got into a corner there and opened up a box,
and we've seen a bunch of broken crystal meth pipes, a bunch of lighters,
and a little bag of math way through that,
and the bottom of the garbage took it out,
and the garbage man took that away yesterday.
It was just unbelievable, you know.
You evicted the residents.
Why?
The eviction was due to non-payment of rent.
We wanted to get him out of there.
And, you know, honestly, I started to evict him several years ago on a termination when he shot the window out of my kitchen with a BB gun.
He had a BB hole in there.
And I says, look, we don't put up with this kind of stuff around here, you know.
And I spent $300 with a lawyer, and they went out and served him.
And, you know, he ended up showing up at my house.
And I don't know now if it was a, he was threatening me or if he was just trying to plead like, you know, he would put on the nice guy.
face, you know, and, oh, I'll do anything.
Oh, my God, I'm so sorry I did that.
And I'll behave.
It'll never happen again.
Well, it happened again, you know.
You know, Dave Horton, you just says something I find very, very probative.
Because many people, and myself included, wonder, what attracted these women to this purve?
Because he could put on, as you said, the nice guy face.
Yes, he could.
And I think he did that with the police, too.
You know, they came out, oh, no need to go inside the apartment.
That was the Friday before.
When you went in the home to clean it out for the eviction,
did you see any evidence that a teen girl had been held hostage there and murdered,
only later to be dismembered?
No, there was no evidence whatsoever there, really.
You know, the place was just a complete, just like a bomb went off.
there, you know, you didn't know what happened. You know, uh, we said it looked like a bomb went off.
Are you referring to the fingerprint dust, the fingerprint powder all over the walls or something
else? They went in there on the Friday after. I just, I almost gave up on the place because
the police was out there on a Friday and they wouldn't do anything. And Gypsy says, well,
they came out and they didn't go inside. Well, obviously she heard something in there. That's why
she called the police, you know. I understand that the mother came.
by, and the only thing she cared about was the parrot?
Yes.
Now, how I ended up renting to him was through a friend of mine, and he had called me originally
years ago and said, oh, you know, he knew Steve's mother.
And apparently he kind of helps Steve's mother.
He likes Steve's mom, and they hang out, whatever.
And he had called me, and he says, Dave, is the parrot still over there at the house?
And I knew it was at the animal control.
And I says, no, no, it's still.
there at the house and she goes through it was a three thousand dollar parrot i'm thinking i've got
about five six thousand dollars and damages we got a dead 16 year old girl and all you're
worried about is the damn bird the mother so when the mother came out preach it brother preach
it she's all upset about the bird and the girl was tortured for days lying there and a heap
in the corner naked bruised did you know that according to witnesses you're
Your resident, your tenant, would take pictures of the little girl, like, lying there all bruised and send them to people.
And as he continued to send them to people, Mr. Horton, every time there would be more bruises and she would look worse and worse and nobody did a thing.
I can't believe this, man.
I can't believe.
And I heard he sent pictures to the mother, too.
No, yeah, so I had the police detectives greet his mother when she came out there.
She thought she was getting the bird, but she got to talk to them,
and that's when she found out about the murder and everything else.
She didn't even know about it, you know, until then, when she drove out there.
Well, wait a minute.
She got the pictures of the little girl naked, beat up in the corner,
and she didn't know anything was going on?
That's what I was told was on the news yesterday.
I'm not sure, you know.
Well, somebody lied to you, man.
They did?
Well, yeah, she's getting pictures.
of the little girl, Miranda,
just turned 16. We're showing pictures
over as a little girl right now,
curled up in a ball in the fetal position
in the corner, picture after picture
after picture, and every time
there'd be more bruises and more beatings
on the girl. And so she cannot
with a straight face
state, hey, I didn't know anything. Where's my
parent? Wow. Unbelievable.
You know what? I bet a jury's going to believe it.
The civil suit alleges
that the perps savagely
beat Miranda, targeting her body with, quote, such ferocity. She was left battered, swollen, and
unrecognizable. They also claim, the victim's life was brutally extinguished when at the
grinder user's direction. A pool ball wrapped in a sock was shoved in her mouth. Oh, my stars.
How did everything go so wrong?
Pop-Eyes, Put-Put, and a chainsaw.
You know, when I graduated Law Review from law school, I never thought that I would put those three ideas in one sentence, much less a pool ball.
To Anna Sonoda joining me, Child of Sex, Abuse, Grooming Expert, Social Worker, Author of Duck, Duck, Groom.
the backdrop of what we're talking about right now
is that the grandma was so happy
that Miranda was going to have
a Valentine's date
with gris
a devil from hell
what's your message
I want every parent listening to know that children
are actually following our lead
they're using dating apps
The average 13 to 17 year old, 11% of those kids in that age group are on dating apps.
We're talking Tinder, OkCupid, Match.com, Bumble, and we have to throw in Instagram because children are using Instagram as a dating tool.
And every parent, my tip, is pay attention to all online activity, discuss the risk factors of meeting people online.
and we need better, more robust age verifications.
Just like minors are misrepresenting themselves, so are adults.
You really think a minor, a child is, what do you mean by more robust age of verifications?
If they want to get on Tinder or Grindr, they're going to.
Do you really think a child that wants to get on a dating app is going to go,
I better not lie, better not check that box.
Of course they're going to check the box that they're 21 or older.
You're absolutely right, Nancy.
What we've done is we've modeled to children that it's perfectly acceptable to use dating apps to meet people.
And as a result, the world is open to them.
Predators know this and they are the ones who are winning.
They have a direct path to access minors, children who are vulnerable, children who want affection, want attention, are seeking love.
This poor young child.
Well, hold on.
You know, I agree with everything you're saying, Anna, Sonoda, except I don't know that there's so much seeking love as an adult would describe it.
But I think they're seeking acceptance that they may not be getting at school or in their world.
And they're seeking friends.
I mean, look at Miranda.
She was 15 at the get-go.
This little girl right there.
with her little critter.
Both parents die suddenly.
She's now living with grandma.
She wants that dream she sees on TV with the boyfriend,
taking her out and having fun, going places.
This is what she got, Anna.
She got one of these crammed into her mouth,
then her head wrapped in cellophane,
which I'm about to get to.
So I don't know if more robust
age verifications are going to help anything, but I think it's more on the parents to stop it.
But this grandma, I mean, what did she know?
She probably doesn't even know what Google is, for Pete's sake.
I want to go quickly to Dan Sullivan.
Dan, we're learning so much from the documents.
As a matter of fact, listen.
Court documents show that at least six people knew Stephen Gress and Michelle Brandis were holding 16-year-old Miranda Corset against her will and beating her.
Gress allegedly sent photos of Miranda covered in bruises to three people, including his mother.
Gress's mom denies viewing the photos, but admits to police that her son tried to tell her about Miranda.
She shut down the conversation, telling her son that she didn't want to know.
At least two neighbors also saw Miranda in distress at the home.
And finally, a woman living with Gress and Brandes stood witness to a week of torture, Miranda's murder, and the cleanup.
Isn't it true based on the documents that you obtain?
at Tampa Bay Times, that after the child was murdered, transported in the trunk,
we see them all packing the car like they're going for a weekend in the country.
They go where, Dan Sullivan?
Well, according to what's in the search warrant affidavit, they went put-put-golfing
and to Popeye's to eat fried chicken.
The affidavit states that I guess they went there because it was brand-a-sabit.
his birthday that day.
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, wait, wait, repeat.
They said it, the affidavit states that it was Brandis's birthday, so they went to eat fried
chicken at Popeyes and put-putt golfing.
And joining me right now is Paul Duffy, senior consultant with Group 9 security consulting
and training, former deputy inspector with the U.S. Marshal Service.
You can find him at Group 9.
dot us. Paul,
thank you for being with us.
Quick question regarding the evidence
in this case. The
photos are going to be damning
they're going to have to be obtained
off of cell phones
or from the cloud.
But Dan Sullivan has just
described
these ghouls from hell
taking
the little girl
and Dan did they go out for Popeyes
and put put put before or after
the dismemberment of this child.
Yeah, the way the affidavit is written, it sounds like it was after they had dismembered
the girls' remains that they went golfing and to Popeyes.
Okay, Paul Duffy, Popeyes, and I believe it was Congo River.
Correct me if I'm wrong, anybody on the panel, Congo River Putt Putt.
Popeyes and Puttut is going to be a treasure trove of evidence.
Because it's my belief that they go, they dismember the body at Brandis' mother's house.
And the mother and the granny-nanny are in there.
And they can hear a chainsaw outside.
What do they think is happening?
Human tissue and blood is found on the side of Michelle Brandis's co-defendant.
Mother's house.
They didn't even take a garden hose to, like, clean.
off the side.
They just left the little girl's blood on the side of the house.
But after they dismember her, and correct me again, if I'm wrong, Dan Sullivan,
they put her dismembered remains back in the car.
And to celebrate Brandis's birthday, he wanted to make her feel special.
They go to Putt Putt and Popeyes.
Now, Paul, this is what I would like to show a jury.
I would like to show video surveillance of these devils from hell playing put putt.
How many rounds did they play?
Did they keep score?
Were they like, whoa, I got a hole in one?
And then I'd like to find out from the drive-through, or did they eat inside?
I'd like to see the video of them eating a fried chicken.
While this girl chopped up is in the car, what do they talk about at lunch?
Did they talk about where we're going to dump the body?
I just, I want to see the video.
What about it, Paul Duffy?
That video would be compelling in court, Nancy.
It would paint a picture that they were remorseless and depraved.
And add to the indications that this is perhaps not Steve's first rodeo.
Speaking of the evidence, speaking of that video, I pray to heaven Paul Duffy.
And I learned this the hard way in the Chandra Levy case where Chandra Levy, you remember the D.C. intern that was murdered.
The high rise where she lived in D.C. would restart and tape over surveillance video like every 72 hours.
And I could have learned a lot if I had known when she left her apartment for the last.
time was she dressed up to go out? Was she, um, did she, she was going jogging? Was she with
anybody? Could I see her go out and get in a cab and I can find that cab and I can find where
she went from that cab driver? You know, every cab is identified with a number. But no, they
re-racked it every 72 hours. So all that evidence was lost. I pray to heaven that Popeye's and
Congo River Put Puttut doesn't do the same thing.
Is there any chance they would store that in the cloud, even if they, you know, tape over?
All security systems aren't equal.
Nancy, it all depends on what the business invested in their security system.
Crime Stories with Nancy Grace.
The civil suit goes on to claim, quote,
This final act of violence suffocating a defenseless minor child.
already broken by days of torture was the culmination of a week-long torture, set in motion by
Grinders' dangerous sex hookup app that ensnared the child into a deadly trap.
Wow.
Paul Duffy, you and I can explore the ins and outs, the intricacies of saving digital data
on the cell phones, the nav system in the car, and I think there was.
one toll roads Florida is full of toll roads where I'll get video of them just driving happily
along going on their merry way with the child's dead body in the trunk I want it all I want
license grabbers showing their route to Brandis's mother's house I want to find out if there's
video surveillance video at the mother's house is there stoplight cam is there anything that
I can show this jury to corroborate testimony I want all of
that digital data, every bit of it. But what is very powerful is the ring camera from the
upstairs residence home. And I would have this neighbor on the hot seat explaining to her what
accessory after the fact means. And this is why. Listen.
The neighbor says Miranda stayed at the home for several days with no issues until Gress woke up to find he's missing a ring given to him by a friend.
She says Gress accused Miranda of stealing it and flew into a rage when she only trembled in fear at his accusation.
After two days of brutal beatings, Brandis sneakily shows her roommate that she has the ring, hiding it from Gress.
The woman believes Brandis took the ring to provoke Gress into hurting Miranda.
Okay. So the female roommate turned murder code defendant. Brandis, Michelle Brandis, had the ring all along. Okay. To Dan Sullivan, isn't it true? Dan joining us from Tampa Bay Times, who's cracked this case wide open. Isn't it true that Grez says it was Brandis after he shoved the pool ball in the little girl's mouth as she's tied up naked, I guess, on a chair, that Brandis wrapped her head in saran wrap?
And he said, don't cover.
Hey, don't cover her nose.
But she did cover her nose.
And that Gress says, he rushed over and punched holes in it so she could breathe, but she was already dead.
Isn't that in the affidavit?
Yeah, I believe, according to the other witness, she said that Brandis actually put the pool ball in Miranda's mouth and then was wrapping her head in.
saran wrap um and there was some uh discussion about um you know uh gress saying that he wanted to
put holes or not to cover her nose and wanted to put holes in the in the wrap so she could
breathe but couldn't get her to her quick enough um you know it it's there there was there was
right so let me understand something angel lewis joining me veteran trial lawyer partner at surcy
law firm, Palm Beach, former felony prosecutor.
Andrea, you're not a prosecutor anymore.
You're on the other side.
So let me understand, is Grest's going to somehow?
They're all doing this.
They're all pointing the finger at each other.
And we've got more video to show you of that.
But Andrea Lewis, I see Greas swooping in with a she done it.
And I tried to save her.
I tried to punch holes in the saran wrap.
Why did you let Saran Wrap get wrapped around?
had to start with. So what is he going to try to blame Brandis and Brandis is going to blame him and
the roommates like, I had nothing to do with this? Nancy, I am sure that that's what they're going
to try to do. But here's the problem with that, right? We have this man that went online and actually
found this child enticed her into coming over to his home for nefarious. We know he had nefarious
motives. We know that they were sexually motivated. He's the one who brought her over there. This is
his house of horrors that we know that there were crimes being committed inside there.
This man is evil at his core.
And it's going to be very difficult, if not impossible, for him to direct all of the guilt here
onto his co-defendant.
Now, he is not going to be able to escape unfazed here, in my opinion.
So, Andrea, what would the defense be?
Well, the defense in this case has got to be, it wasn't me. It was my co-defendant. It was somebody else. And I think what they're going to try to do here is that when the, we know that the death penalty is going to be on the table as it should be. So I think what given all of the evidence in this case and the video is going to be overwhelming, their best bet is going to try to be just to plea this case out to something less.
Okay, yeah, well, if the D.P. is on the table. I don't see a plea happening. And in addition, I imagine either the first or the last witness. If I was trying the case, it would probably be the first witness, although that would be going out of chronological order, which the jury really likes.
Dr. Kendall Crowns, I think the jury needs to know at the get-go, the COD cause of death of this little girl.
Dr. Kendall Crowns is a renowned medical examiner, joining us out of Tarrant County.
That's Fort Worth, Texas.
He is launching a new podcast in a week, April 14, Mayhem in the morgue.
He is an esteemed lecturer at Burnett School of Medicine at TCU.
Dr. Kendall Crowns, what would be, after all of this, what would be the COD?
Could it be the beatings?
is their internal bleeding as she bled out on the inside.
Did she die of asphyxiation when the pool ball gag in her mouth?
Or was it the saran wrapped taken right out of the kitchen drawer and wrapped around this child's head?
Well, how do I determine with all of that happening to this little girl, Miranda?
What is the COD?
Plus, she was dismembered.
We don't have a body.
But in your expertise, Dr. Crowns, what would be the COD?
Based on all the information we have that she's beaten, she's gagged, surround wrap put around her face.
To me, it would be more likely than not a suffocation.
With the gag being put in her mouth, then the saran wrap covering her head,
she wouldn't be able to get oxygen in and she would basically suffocate from lack of oxygen.
Now, was the beatings bad enough?
You have a progression of the beatings seen in the pictures of her head.
having multiple bruises over time.
So I don't think the beatings were actually bad enough to have killed her.
I think that was more of a torture method.
And their final thing that killed her was actually shoving the pool ball in her mouth
and putting saran wrap over her head.
So I feel cause of death would be asphyxiation or suffocation, manner of death homicide.
Dan Sullivan, it's a no-body case.
We don't have a body.
The body's very likely been incinerated.
So that's a problem.
But I don't believe the defendant sheeted a gold star or an A plus because they managed to get
rid of the body. What do you foresee happening? Do you believe the six ghouls that knew this
child was being tortured and killed and sat by him? And they actually heard the chainsaw outside
as this child was being dismembered. And nobody did a thing, nothing. Do you expect charges of
accessory after the fact?
It's hard for me to answer that.
Not being a lawyer, I think there is a possibility, and our local state attorney has said
that, you know, they're looking at, you know, whether anybody else could face charges.
But again, you know, it's also possible that they will need these people as witnesses.
So that could influence, you know, any decision about other charges.
It's also unclear, you know, at least with the upstairs neighbor, the one who had the surveillance video, if she, you know, was aware of what was going on, it doesn't seem like she was, but it definitely seems like there were other people who were aware that Miranda was in trouble.
Right. I agree. The upstairs neighbor was very, very cooperative and very distraught when we spoke to her, and she gave us all of that video.
Guys, what more do we know?
Nancy, we've learned that a federal judge has cited with Grindr that the lawsuit should go to arbitration.
A 12-page ruling by U.S. District Judge Tom Barber states that Miranda Corset, in creating the Grindr account, had agreed to terms and conditions that included arbitration of legal disputes.
Barbara ruled that when Corset electronically signed to create her account, an agreement exists,
that broadly covers any dispute, claim, or controversy between Corset and Grindr,
agreeing to resolve disputes through arbitration.
This despite the fact that the 16-year-old was restrained, beaten, and tortured for several days.
Corset was suffocated when a pool ball wrapped in a sock was shoved into her mouth,
and then her head and face wrapped in saran wrap, suffocating her.
The judge said, quote,
Corset agreed to Grinders' terms of service, which includes arbitration,
each of the three times she created grinder accounts.
The estate's attorney objected raising a series of arguments, including pointing out the victim
was a minor.
But Barber rejected that argument, saying a failure to comprehend or negotiate arbitration
or unequal bargaining power does not justify a repeated refusal to read an agreement
and should not negate the enforceability of an arbitration agreement, unquote.
Both parties are required by the judge.
judge's order to notify the court of the arbitration proceedings within 14 days.
As the alleged killers head to trial, we wait as justice unfolds.
Goodbye, friend.
This is an I-Heart podcast.
