Going West: True Crime - Brooke Preston // 381

Starting point is 00:00:00 What is going on, True Crime Fans? I'm your host, Heath. And I'm your host, Daphne. And you're listening to Going West. Hello everybody. Big thank you to Sarah and Carol for recommending today's case. Yeah, this is a very perplexing and just overall unbelievable story, so thank you to everybody for tuning in today. Yes, absolutely, and I want to say in a couple days from now, before our next episode even comes out on Thursday, February 15th,

Starting point is 00:00:40 I am coming out with a new podcast. It's called Night Watch. It's hosted by me and it's gonna be full of terrifying true stories. So true crimey in a way, but not true crime in the way that we do going West. It's gonna be so much fun. So please tune in this Thursday and every week after. And also if you guys want, please go check out the Night Watch Instagram, you can follow Daphne at Night Watch Stories to get updated on new episodes and new content. Thank you guys so much in advance if you decide to listen, but enough of that, let's dive into today's case. Alright guys, this is episode 381 of Going West, so let's get into it Brian is going to take a bite of this subway six inch cold cut combo and describe it for us. Okay.

Starting point is 00:01:46 Mmm. Classic. Soft bread, the Canadian cheddar cheese, the layers of cold cuts and the veggies on the goose. What Brian doesn't know is that his sub only cost $4.99. What? $4.99? Whoa!

Starting point is 00:01:58 I've got to tell the people! Hey! There he goes. Right now, experience a Subway 6 inch black forest ham or cold-cut combo sandwich for just $4.99. Only at Subway. Price and participation may vary. Extra taxes and delivery additional expires April 8th. In March of 2017, a 21-year-old woman headed back to her old West Palm Beach home to gather

Starting point is 00:02:34 her belongings and move up to Buffalo, New York. But after having a conversation with her former roommate, he stabbed her to death, claiming to have been sleepwalking. But was that truly the case, or was this premeditated murder? This is the story of Brooke Preston. Joining older sisters Jessica and Jordan, Brooke was born in Sayre, Pennsylvania near the border of New York and eventually moved about 45 minutes southeast to Wyallucing, Pennsylvania, where her family settled for the remainder of her childhood. She was known as her family's little princess because she loved the spotlight and was bubbly

Starting point is 00:03:38 and a ball of energy. Her parents eventually separated and partnered with other people, but Brooke and her sisters remained close with both sides of the family. Her parents wrote of her quote, "'Mere words cannot capture the spirit of our vivacious, fun-loving, spunky girl.' She touched the lives of everyone she met. Her heart was huge and overflowed with kindness." After graduating from Wailucing Valley High School in 2013,

Starting point is 00:04:07 Brooke took the leap of moving away from home and all the way down to Florida to pursue her education at the State College of Florida in Sarasota. Brooke sought her associate's degree in business management, just hoping to eventually work in healthcare. And after completing her degree,

Starting point is 00:04:24 she craved a change of scenery and pace. So initially, in the summer of 2016, soon-to-be-21-year-old Brooke moved back to Pennsylvania to regroup and decide what she wanted to do next. And that's when she and her sister, Jordan, who was about three years older than her, hatched a plan. To relocate down to picturesque West Palm Beach, Florida together, but they wouldn't be alone

Starting point is 00:04:49 because a friend of theirs from their teen years in Wailu Singh decided that he wanted to come along as well. So the three set off on this new move. And you know, mind you, Brooke has already been there before she's already lived in Florida prior to this. So moving down there with her older sister Jordan and her friend from childhood seemed like a really amazing adventure for her. So let's talk about this third roommate.

Starting point is 00:05:14 So his name was Randy Herman and he grew up in Laceyville, Pennsylvania, which is a rural community that's nestled along the Susquehanna River, and it's situated about 10 minutes southeast of Wailucing, so he grew up right next to Brooke. The youngest of two, he and his older sister grew up in a blue-collar family, and remembers his parents fighting a lot. So his parents divorced when he was young, and his dad seemed to want little to do with his children afterward, meaning that they lived full time with their mom and rarely saw their dad, whose name was also Randy Herman.

Starting point is 00:05:49 In the years between completing high school and when he moved down to Florida with Brooke and Jordan, Randy seemed to get into progressively more trouble. But he was going to school and keeping a job. He began attending college to study criminal justice and also worked part-time as a corrections officer at a local prison. However, when he turned to drugs and drinking to manage the general stress that he was under, he wound up losing his job after being caught with marijuana. Between 2013 and 2014, so a couple of years before the move to Florida, he was arrested multiple times for DUI, and even served time in jail for it.

Starting point is 00:06:28 Then in 2015 while serving a sentence for his latest DUI, he suffered yet another blow. His father's girlfriend Gail Monahan was found shot to death, and his father was nowhere to be found. Thus, police began a manhunt for Randy Herman Sr., believing him to be the culprit. But by the time they apprehended him, he had killed himself to evade arrest, which really seemed to point to his guilt in the murder, of course. Randy Sr. was discovered dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head inside of his car in a wooded area in Alabama, about two months after he murdered Gale.

Starting point is 00:07:11 So not only did Randy Jr's complicated saga with his father come to a tragic end, but he found himself a pariah in his own community. Upon his release, he was forced to clean out his father's home, which just obviously felt extremely grim. But a slight silver lining presented itself in the form of the $10,000 that he received as inheritance from his father's estate. So eager to put the tribulations of the last three years behind him, Randy was just really thrilled to join the girls in seeking a fresh start on the shores of sunny West Palm Beach. So in July of 2017, the three of them, Brooke, Jordan, and Randy, teamed up and headed south to look for a place to live together.

Starting point is 00:07:51 They settled on a modest three bedroom, one bathroom home just minutes from the beach, and they were absolutely thrilled. I would be too. Yeah, I mean, sounds like a great situation. So they assimilated into the lifestyle very seamlessly with just sheer excitement at the prospect of you know all the outdoor Activities and the partying and the frequent beach days. It was just a totally different lifestyle than what they had grown up with in, Pennsylvania The three lived together for six months. So this wasn't a very long living situation, but during these six months,

Starting point is 00:08:27 they took full advantage of everything that Florida had to offer. They took boat trips, they went skydiving, golfed, and frequently hosted parties and events for their friends at their new house. But amidst the fun, after a few months, Brook and her sister Jordan began to see a side of their old friend Randy that they hadn't seen since Pennsylvania. A side that worried them. Randy seemed to be losing control of his drinking in a big way. When they settled in Florida, he secured a job at Walmart, but after four months passed,

Starting point is 00:09:02 he seemed to want to just prioritize partying. So Randy actually quit his job and decided to live off of the money that he'd been left in his inheritance instead. So even though they were all having fun, it seemed like Randy was making some pretty poor choices and Brooke and Jordan were noticing this. Meanwhile, Brooke was flourishing.

Starting point is 00:09:22 She had become serious with her boyfriend, Brian Brown, and the couple decided to leave West Palm Beach and move in together to a place in Buffalo, New York, which is where Brian had recently accepted a new job. So she was heading back up to the Northeast and she was really excited about this, even though I'm sure she was sad to leave Florida in some ways, she had a lot of really exciting things

Starting point is 00:09:44 coming up and with this move, she had a lot of really exciting things coming up. And with this move, she began her job search in Buffalo and wound up landing a position as a radiographer, fulfilling her dream of breaking into the healthcare industry. So really exciting stuff coming up, like I said. And she told her mom that she also planned to go back to school in order

Starting point is 00:10:01 to obtain her bachelor's degree. So things seemed perfect. She'd gotten to enjoy this unique experience with her sister and friend, she met a guy, and she was ready to move forward in life. In December of 2016, 21-year-old Brooke left Florida and their little house in West Palm Beach and settled in Buffalo with Brian.

Starting point is 00:10:23 They moved into their apartment together with Brooke even hinting that they wanted to get engaged. So the third week of March of 2017, Brooke headed back down south to Florida in order to retrieve her car and the rest of her belongings from the house. And then she planned to make the 1,400 mile or over 2,200 kilometer journey back up to New York. When she arrived back in West Palm Beach, Brooke noticed that Randy's drinking seemed to have become unmanageable, and that his vows to his sister and mom back home that he was going to clean up his act had gone unfulfilled. He was running low on the money that had been left for

Starting point is 00:11:02 him and seemed to be descending into a depressive state as well. In the early morning hours of Friday, March 24th, 2017, Brooke flew in to retrieve her car and say her final goodbyes to her friends and her life in West Palm Beach. After arriving that morning, Brooke and Randy began a celebration that would last the entirety of the day. Brooke and Randy began a celebration that would last the entirety of the day. They started with drinks on the beach and then went back to their house, or Randy continued to drink heavily, reportedly knocking back as many as 30 beers in Jisoo's, that is a whole lot of beers to consume in one day. So at that point, it ceased to be amusing for Brooke, and she texted their mutual friend Kyle asking him to come over and pick her up. Her text read quote, please pick me up and take me somewhere, ready to kill Randy already.

Starting point is 00:11:52 When Kyle arrived at the house, he went to the kitchen to make a drink, and he and Brooke chatted for a while, but Randy disappeared during this time. Then as Brooke went into her old bedroom to retrieve something, she stumbled upon Randy, who was hunched naked in her closet. So alarmed by this, obviously, Brooke stormed out of the bedroom and alerted Kyle that they needed to leave. She was just completely freaked out by the way Randy was acting. The next day, Brooke decided to go out with Kyle to get breakfast together.

Starting point is 00:12:24 And willing to put the previous day behind them, she asked Randy if he wanted to come along, but he said that he was way too hungover and that he was just going to plan on spending the day sleeping it off. He did however request that she stop by the house to say goodbye before she left, and also said that he had a gift for her to bring back to Brian. Brooke arrived at the house at 8.35 am after breakfast to find Randy of course sleeping, but he briefly awoke when Brooke popped into his room to say goodbye. The two hugged, Randy handed over the t-shirt gift for Brian, and then she left, ready to head back to her new life back up in Buffalo.

Starting point is 00:13:04 Randy then returned to sleep, and the next thing that he knew, he was poised over Brooke's lifeless body, covered in blood, and wielding a hunting knife. Around 9 a.m. on Saturday, March 25th, 2017, so within 30 minutes of Brooke arriving back at her old West Palm Beach house to say goodbye to Randy after breakfast, police received a strange 911 call.

Starting point is 00:13:31 The caller claimed, quote, you need to send police. Someone's been murdered. I'm at Haverhill Park. Just send the police. It was me. I'm sorry. So police descended upon Haverhill Park to find Randy, clad in a t-shirt, basketball shorts and flip flops, and splattered with blood.

Starting point is 00:13:52 And for reference, Haverhill Park is less than a block away from their street, but it's about a 15 minute walk or a 3 minute drive from their house. So he's just at this public park on a Saturday morning with blood on him. I mean, it's so disturbing. He's just at this public park on a Saturday morning with blood on him. We did post screenshots of the street and the park and just the map in general on our socials for anybody who wants a better visual of this part of the story. But anyway, Randy was subdued and disoriented and willingly submitted to being handcuffed and arrested when police arrived. Police also reported to Brooks' former home

Starting point is 00:14:27 on Sarah's in Drive in West Palm Beach and came upon the gruesome crime scene. Now, based on the blood pattern on the floor, investigators surmised that the stabs began in the hallway near the three bedrooms, as if Randy had emerged from his room immediately after they said goodbye hallway near the three bedrooms, as if Randy had emerged from his room immediately after they said goodbye and attacked her

Starting point is 00:14:47 as she was walking away. The blood trailed all the way into the living room near the fireplace and then doubled back into the hallway where Brooke was found. According to the medical examiner, she was alive for a short time after she was left there, just based on the blood that she was exhaling. Randy was brought in for questioning immediately, and within an hour,

Starting point is 00:15:12 found himself in an interrogation room, crying over the fate of someone that he told police was quote like a sister to him. But he claimed to have no recollection of the horrific fate that Brooke met, explaining that the last thing he remembered was falling back asleep in his bedroom after Brooke left. Then he recalls he came to and was wielding a knife and standing over her body. Brooke had been stabbed 25 times. Randy described, quote,

Starting point is 00:15:44 "'The next thing I know, I'm standing over top of her and I have a knife in my hand covered in blood. I was confused, scared, didn't know what to do, didn't know what happened. So panicking, he quickly wrapped her in a quilt and then left the residence. And from his room, they recovered feral lined handcuffs and a hunting knife that he kept poised beside his bed at all times

Starting point is 00:16:10 Based on security camera footage from the neighbors There were just 22 minutes in between when Brooke parked at the house and when Randy was seen exiting in a bewildered days after committing the murder Brooke arrived at 8.35 AM, just 14 minutes later at 8.49 AM, a neighbor claimed to have heard screaming and police pinpointed this as the time when the murder likely took place. He attempted to flee in his own vehicle, but his blood alcohol level was still so high from the night before that his breath alcohol ignition interlock device Basically would not turn on the car for him because he was still drunk

Starting point is 00:16:51 And he was required to have this in his car because of how many DUIs he had right so yeah Couldn't even get his car to start so because he couldn't get his car to start Randy retreated back inside the house Stole Brooks keys and left in her car. He can be seen on surveillance footage, fleeing the scene at 8.57am. He then drove to Haverhill Park, which is again, about 3 minutes away, placing the call to 911 at 9.04am. In the short period in which he was at the park alone awaiting the police, his final moments as a free man, he texted his mom to tell her that he loved her.

Starting point is 00:17:30 When police arrived, Randy urged them to go back to his residence because someone was quote, hurt really bad. As they questioned him, Randy appeared to be confused, remorseful and in shock, but it was clear that he was responsible. In his nearly two hour interview with police just after the murder took place, he maintained that he had no idea how Brooke had been killed, only that he knew that he was involved. Randy's hands were also injured, so badly in fact, that one of them needed stitches. His left hand had sustained a deep cut to the webbing

Starting point is 00:18:07 between his thumb and pointer finger, which he incurred from his own knife. He had also received scratches on his chest and Brooke had defensive wounds, meaning that she had attempted to fight him off before he overpowered her. So there had clearly been a struggle here. The police recall that Randy gave himself up

Starting point is 00:18:27 instantly, explaining that, though he couldn't recall what happened, he and Brooke had been the only two people home at the time, so he knew that he had done it. Police also noted that his line of questioning was laden with sobs and apologies. Randy remembered quote, I was just confused, I didn't know what was happening, you know, that's why I called 911. If I wanted to, I could have ran, but that wasn't what was on my mind. I didn't do this intentionally. This was a person I cared about, this was a close friend.

Starting point is 00:18:59 I mean, my mind was just in shock. It's very interesting because of that last quote that he made where he said, you know, if I wanted to, I could have ran. And yeah, he didn't run. He immediately called 911. He wasn't trying to cover up the crime scene or anything like that, which makes this whole excuse that he just had no idea what was going on, feel plausible, but who's to say really?

Starting point is 00:19:29 Well, something I wonder about is, you know, he wrapped her in a quilt and then tried to leave. He couldn't leave in his own car, so then he stole her car and went to a park. Like, what were his, was he originally trying to leave? Was he originally trying to cover up her body and get out of there and figure out what to do until he decided? Okay, I'm just gonna call 9-1-1 like his his initial movements are odd

Starting point is 00:19:50 That's a good question because yeah if he was able to get his own car started He could have you know taken off from the scene But now the fact that he can't use his own car and he's got a steel Brooks. Maybe he's thinking oh shit They're definitely gonna connect me to this because I'm driving her fucking car, and you know what I mean? Like, how are you gonna get away with that? Well, the West Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office

Starting point is 00:20:13 was equally shocked at these super bizarre circumstances that surrounded this incredibly heinous crime. So one officer who interviewed Randy after his arrest wrote in the report quote Herman told me that all he could remember after giving Brooke the t-shirt was blood as Law enforcement shared the news of Brooks brutal murder with her family They couldn't believe the culprit someone who had been a friend of the family since he and Brooke were in middle school together And whom they described as polite and mild mannered. And you know, this could be another reason

Starting point is 00:20:49 for why he decided to go to the police immediately. Maybe there was this overwhelming guilt surrounding the situation because he had known Brooke for so long. Yeah, I mean, this was just a shock to everybody and apparently even to him, but we will, we're gonna touch on that a little bit more in a little bit.

Starting point is 00:21:06 So just dumbfounded and devastated at the loss, her family waited for the investigation to produce a motive or any discernible reason why this had even happened. So what Randy came back with felt like a total slap in the face. He concluded that when he murdered Brooke, he had been sleepwalking. Every story has a beginning. Yours can be unforgettable, with a ring as unique as the love it symbolizes. Let Design by Savan craft your one-of-a-kind engagement ring, a masterpiece that tells a

Starting point is 00:21:55 story as enchanting as your favorite audio series, or as captivating as the latest true crime podcast. I'm Savan, the master artisan behind everything we create. Our passion is bringing your dream ring to life. The story begins at designbysavan.com. Visit for free consultation. So with Randy claiming that he killed Brooke by mistake in his sleep, immediately speculation came flooding in.

Starting point is 00:22:34 Palm Beach County Assistant State Attorney Reed Scott mused, quote, Randy said that he had no sexual interest in Brooke Preston and that there was no infatuation between them. But when you looked at the dynamic of the three of them, he's a young man, he wasn't terribly attractive, kinda smaller, a little bit heavier, and living in a home with these two very attractive ladies. The vibe that I got was like, okay, Randy was in love with Brooke Preston. Especially when the extremely tight timeline is taken into account, you know, a violent

Starting point is 00:23:06 outburst born out of jealousy and rage seemed the most accurate conclusion. The public defender who took his case supported Randy when he alleged that he had no memory of the events of the night prior. However, even his lawyer, Public Defender Joseph Walsh, agreed that the period of time in which Randy claimed to have fallen asleep to to when he began sleepwalking, just seemed unbelievably close. Now generally speaking, sleepwalking occurs during the deeper stages of non-REM, or rapid eye movement, sleep. So generally within the first 90 minutes of a person's sleep cycle.

Starting point is 00:23:45 But it's rare for sleepwalking to occur within minutes of falling asleep, as Randy was alleging. So investigators brought in a psychologist to assess whether or not Randy was telling the truth. Randy remembered, quote, I was trying to find out what happened just as much as he was. His mom, Kathy, claims that she was not shocked by their defensive sleepwalking, as Randy had been sleepwalking since he was a kid. Kathy even claimed that on one occasion, Randy had ridden his bike from their house to the bar at which she worked while he was completely asleep.

Starting point is 00:24:22 But on the contrary, Brooke's sister, Jordan Jordan claimed that in the months that they had been living together, she had not once seen Randy sleepwalking. So this seemed to be a very convenient morning for his childhood habit to kind of reemerge. I completely agree. So while Brooke's family adjusted to the horrific loss and their new reality of life without her, Randy's defense worked on building their case. His attorney Joseph Walsh brought in Dr. Charles Ewing, who is a noted forensic psychologist, and though Dr. Ewing maintained that it would have taken longer than the few minutes in between when

Starting point is 00:25:00 Randy supposedly fell back asleep and when he killed Brooke, his defense team had a justification for this. Due to the excessive amount of alcohol Randy had consumed the day prior and the fact that so much of it was still in his system, Joseph argued that the process of slipping into the deep sleep necessary to sleepwalk may have been hastened. Randy also claimed that he had been up very early the day prior anticipating Brooke's arrival, and that he had spent close to 24 hours awake

Starting point is 00:25:32 and partying prior to passing out and waking up to find Brooke at the house. Both Joseph and Dr. Ewing explained that among the triggers for sleepwalking were extreme fatigue, stress and anxiety, drinking, taking drugs and sedatives, and being startled awake by something unexpected. So at the instruction of his defense team, Randy pleaded not guilty to the murder of Brooke Preston by reason of insanity. And Joseph Walsh planned to make the case that his sleepwalking had been to blame, a

Starting point is 00:26:06 defense which painted him as merely a victim of his own circumstances rather than a vengeful murderer who took the life of a childhood friend. On April 30th, 2019, just two years since Brooks' tragic and untimely death, Randy Herman's murder trial began. When Joseph asked Dr. Ewing to describe the circumstances that led him to believe it was possible for Randy to have committed the murder while sleepwalking, Dr. Ewing cited multiple reasons,

Starting point is 00:26:39 including the fact that it happened quickly after he supposedly fell back asleep, if were to believe that the drinking and extreme fatigue allowed him to slip into a deep enough sleep that quickly. The fact that the victim was well loved by the attacker also played a factor, as an attack wouldn't seem likely. And then there was the fact that Randy had a storied history of sleepwalking, or apparently did, and amnesia surrounding the actual murder.

Starting point is 00:27:08 Dr. Ewing also claimed that the attack lacked a clear motive, and seemed so spur of the moment. He said of the explanation for the murder quote, I looked high and low. Usually in my work, one of the premier motives is to find out why the defendant did what he or she did. I was truly puzzled by this case. Then Dr. Ewing summed up his findings of a possible sleepwalking defense by saying quote, that really made sense to me because I really couldn't make

Starting point is 00:27:38 any other sense of the case. With Joseph Walsh echoing quote, there is no other rational explanation for this killing other than this could have been sleepwalking. Well Brooks sister Jordan was subpoenaed to speak at the trial and explained that she was not aware in all of her years of knowing Randy that he had any history of sleepwalking and that in all the time that they lived together, it had never happened or even come up in conversation. So she was very frustrated by the fact that she and the rest of her family had to be put through the pain of a trial for an insanity plea, when it seemed like such a clear-cut

Starting point is 00:28:16 case of murder. Through tears, Jordan said, quote, the last few years without her have been awful. Our lives are totally different The prosecution brought up their own doctor forensic psychiatrist doctor Wade C. Myers and he alleged that it would have been merely Impossible for Randy to sleep through such an incident Especially when his left hand had been cut so severely that it had required medical attention And I I agree with this because that's a good point. You know you think that you would feel the pain of cutting yourself that deep or even the scratch marks that you have to your chest that

Starting point is 00:28:52 you would wake up suddenly but apparently you know in Randy's defense that didn't happen. And he stabbed her 25 times. Right. Assistant State Attorney Reed Scott said quote, This is skin, this is bone, this is muscle he's stabbing. You're not going to sleepwalk through that. The prosecution also raised questions about the extremely tight timeline laid out by Randy, which alleged that in the span of just 22 minutes, Brooke could have a conversation with Randy. Randy could fall back asleep, sleepwalk, brutally murder Brooke, wake up, cover her up, and then

Starting point is 00:29:33 flee the house. And that is such an important part of this conversation because it's not like this happened while she was living there, where there were, you know were large windows of time while they were both asleep. I mean, how could he possibly have fallen back asleep so fast and then murder her while sleepwalking before she's able to simply walk out the door after their short conversation and get into her car to drive back to New York?

Starting point is 00:30:01 It would have been a matter of seconds between her exiting Randy's room and exiting the front door. This wouldn would have been a matter of seconds between her exiting Randy's room and exiting the front door. This wouldn't have been hours. So even if he immediately fell back asleep, he would have had to fall back asleep immediately and then immediately after that stand up, grab his knife and murder her before she's even out of the hallway. Yeah, that's definitely a good point. Like there's just not enough time for him to actually have fallen asleep or, you know, as the prosecution is saying, there wasn't enough time for him to get into that REM cycle

Starting point is 00:30:35 to be able to sleepwalk in the first place. Unless he fell asleep and she sat there and watched him for minutes, but you have to remember, this was only 22 minutes since she entered and was killed. So this is not enough time for that either and I don't see her doing that, you know? Like there's no way in my mind that he was sleepwalking. I would understand if he suffered from blackouts, from drinking or drug use, or even some type of psychological disorder, way more than I would understand sleepwalking in this case, yet that is the defense that he chose,

Starting point is 00:31:08 and that's what he's claiming. Well, and on top of this, it seems like, because you know when usually you leave somebody's house or you're picking something up, you grab your stuff and then the very last thing you do is you say goodbye, right? Exactly. So it's not like she said goodbye to Randy

Starting point is 00:31:24 and then she had some more things to grab around the house before she exited the front door. She was on her way out, ready to leave, ready to get in her car and make that drive back up to New York. Yep, it is outlandish. And ultimately, this tight timeline is what tipped the scales in the favor of a first degree murder charge. After deliberating for five hours, a 12-person jury chose to convict Randy of first degree

Starting point is 00:31:52 premeditated murder, and he was sentenced to life in prison where he remains today. However, that was sadly only the beginning of the conflict that Brooks family faced. Because just a couple years later in 2021, Hulu produced a documentary about Brooks' murder entitled Dead Asleep. The director, who is Skye Borgman, claims that she hoped that it would shed more light on both sides and also give the audience a renewed understanding for just how dangerous the effect of sleep disorders are. Sky, who also directed the popular true crime documentary abducted in plain sight,

Starting point is 00:32:32 I think that one's on Netflix, says that she sought to strike, quote, a good balance between telling Brooke Preston's story and Randy Herman's story and looked at it in a really balanced kind of way and incorporated the science and the psychology She desired to start conversations about the effects of sleep on our mental health saying quote I really would love for people to walk away from it and really question and ask each other and talk about sleep Is it possible to kill someone in your sleep? talk about sleep. Is it possible to kill someone in your sleep? Though it was sympathetic to Brooks' experience

Starting point is 00:33:09 and raised legitimate questions about the validity of Randy's argument, the documentary also heavily featured Randy himself and even presented him as a sympathetic character. Brooks' family declined to participate in the documentary and were saddened and disgusted by the outcome, claiming that it unfairly glorified Randy, who described in detail his troubled upbringing and dicey relationship with his father as if that was to blame for him snapping

Starting point is 00:33:38 and killing Brookes. On social media, Brookes sister Jordan has led a crusade against Hulu for the production of this documentary, which they produced without any guidance from the family once the Prestons declined to be involved. Though they were not interviewed, Dead Asleep did use footage of the family, including closed circuit recordings from the police station of Brooke's parents finding out that she had been murdered. Jordan slammed the production saying, quote, we're a grieving family.

Starting point is 00:34:12 Why do they want to exploit us? They're putting our pain up on the screen. What they're doing is hurting our family. Though Hulu has yet to remove it from their platform, Jordan was successful in getting it taken off of streaming on all Delta flights after being alerted that it was in their catalog. So this was a step in the right direction for her efforts, and Jordan said on TikTok proudly quote, Never stop fighting for the ones you love.

Starting point is 00:34:40 Thank you, Delta. I truly hope Hulu follows in your footsteps and chooses human decency over profit. In 2021, the same year as the release of Dead Asleep, Jordan started a petition on Change.org to remove the documentary from Hulu. She writes, quote, I'm glad that mine and my family's outlook on the documentary reached all of you. We have been very clear since the first outreach that we do not approve of this and do not want it ever aired. Randy is a psychopath and the fact that he sought out people to exploit the fact that he murdered my sister only

Starting point is 00:35:32 confirms that. He has no remorse for what he did or what he continues to do to every person that ever cared for Brooke. We clearly will never be given the opportunity to grieve in peace. From her brutal murder to the drawn-out trial, to the appeals still taking place and now to this, that much is apparent. Brooke was known and loved by our entire community. I'm not exaggerating when I say that this community that we grew up in, 100% supports and stands behind my and my family's decisions and outlook when it comes to this documentary. I hope that we can eventually stop this from airing entirely.

Starting point is 00:36:14 My sister's story was told to a judge and jury that all came to the same conclusion. Her murder was not a result of a mental instability. Her murder was premeditated and 100% the result of a decision that Randy Herman made on March 25th, 2017. Randy, who was still in prison today, maintains that Brooks' death was accidental, and has held fast to his sleepwalking defense. In 2021, he attempted to appeal his conviction on the grounds that his attorney shouldn't have pushed for an insanity plea, but the motion was denied. He's now engaged to a young woman named Nicole, whom he met while he was incarcerated and continues to hope for an early release. But Jordan continues to fight for her sister's side of the story to be told.

Starting point is 00:37:03 She says, quote, We clearly will never be given the opportunity to grieve in peace. My sister deserves more. My family deserves more. Our friends and community deserve more. Thank you so much everybody for listening to this episode of Going West. Yes, thank you guys so much for listening to this episode and on Friday we'll have an all new case for you guys to dive into. Such a confusing story. I mean I have never heard in a case before somebody claiming to have been sleepwalking

Starting point is 00:37:42 when they murdered somebody. I think that it's definitely a very convenient excuse. To me, the timeline doesn't match up or work at all. So I also look back to the fact that Randy was insistent on Brooke returning. Like they could have said bye before she went to breakfast, but he said, oh, come back and say bye to me before you drive off.

Starting point is 00:38:03 Like why? Yeah, I mean, to me, you drive off like why yeah, I mean to me It seems pretty clear what was happening here and props to Jordan for being on tiktok and you know pushing For dead asleep to be taken off of Hulu. She's already been successful with the Delta flights So if you want to support her go follow her on tiktok and also I just want to remind you guys again The Daphne Wilsoncroft Maryman's new podcast is coming out this Thursday. It's called Night Watch. It's about spooky listener tales. I know you guys are gonna love it. So please go follow her on Instagram. You can find her at...

Starting point is 00:38:36 No, no, thank you. I was worried that Night Watch stories. Night Watch stories. It's coming out on Thursday, February 15th, wherever you listen to podcasts. Alright guys, so for everybody out there in the world, don't be a stranger. වවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවවව� Thank you for watching!

Going West: True Crime - Brooke Preston // 381

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.