Hidden True Crime - RUBY FRANKE/ JODI HILDEBRANDT CASE: BOTH WOMEN PLEAD GUILTY

Episode Date: February 20, 2024

Ruby Franke and Jodi Hildebrandt will be sentenced February 20th 2024 and host Lauren Matthias is in St George, Utah for the sentencing. She will be reporting with Law and Crime, as well as Hidden True Crime during the day's sentencing and will be catching everyone up shortly. ...Until then, learn about Jodi and Ruby's plea deals with Lauren's live reporting. YouTuber mom Ruby Franke and her therapist Jodi Hildebrandt were arrested and charged in August 2023 after two of Ruby's children were found bound in duct tape. May justice be served. LAUREN MATTHIAS worked as an anchor and reporter for ABC, NBC, and FOX News in Boise, Idaho and Salt Lake City, Utah. She spent a decade reporting on a diverse range of topics from high profile crimes to Presidential visits. Most recently, she reported for Salt Lake City’s ABC affiliate News4Utah and in 2015 she received the Idaho State Broadcaster’s Association Best Reporter award and reported with News Nation throughout the Lori Vallow trial. She is the producer and editor of the Hidden True Crime Podcast along with her husband Dr. John Matthias, a forensic psychologist. HIDDEN: A TRUE CRIME PODCAST is: CRIMINAL PSYCHOLOGY REINVENTED. Join us on a journey into the darkest recesses of the human mind and the unconscious motivations that drive human behaviors in order to understand the world and ourselves. WEBSITE: https://hiddentruecrime.com/ TO SUPPORT: https://www.patreon.com/hiddentruecrime https://paypal.me/hiddentruecrime Our Sponsors:* Check out Acorns: https://acorns.com/HIDDENTRUECRIME* Check out Acorns: https://acorns.com/HIDDENTRUECRIME* Check out Armoire and use my code HIDDENTRUECRIME for a great deal: https://www.armoire.style* Check out Effecty and use my code HIDDENTRUECRIME for a great deal: https://www.effecty.com* Check out Happy Mammoth and use my code HIDDENTRUECRIME for a great deal: https://happymammoth.comSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/hidden-a-true-crime-podcast1836/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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A true crime podcast. Good morning. Welcome to district court. We're here in the matter of state of Utah versus Frankie. All right, I've been handed a plea agreement and it appears to be signed by Ms. Frankie. Ms. Frankie, did you sign this agreement? Yes. And you did that today? When did you sign it?

In the 18th. Okay. You've read it carefully? Every word. Your signature represents to the court that you've read it carefully, that you understand what you've read it. and that you agree to all of the terms. Is that all accurate? Yes.

Ms. Frankie, how do you plead to count one aggravated child abuse, a second-degree felony? Guilty. To count three, aggravated child abuse, a second-degree felony. Guilty. To count five, aggravated child abuse, a second-degree felony. Guilty. And to count six, aggravated child abuse, a second-degree felony. With my deepest regret.

and sorrow for my family and my children. Guilty. Hey, everyone. Am I live testing, one-two testing? Thanks for being with me again today. This is the second live I've done. We've also now posted the full court video from earlier today when Ruby Frankie pleaded guilty to child abuse. She took a plea deal, but part of that plea deal

is pleading guilty to some horrendous actions, horrendous things she did to her own children. So I'm going to preface this live with a trigger warning. I'm going to read the documents. So we have the full documents, the full plea deal, her pleading guilty to child abuse of her own two children, RF and EF. And the, I'm going to read it in full.

I'm not going to censor it. The details are difficult. So that's a warning. Yeah. So again, this is, so you can find the full docs to read for yourself on Hidden True Crime, Facebook.com slash Hidden True Crime or Patreon.com slash Hidden True Crime. I will pull them up and we will read them together. Here we go.

I have read the copy and information against me. I have read it or have read it to me, and I understand the nature and the elements of the crimes to which I am pleading guilty. In other words, Ruby Frankie pleading guilty to abusing her own children. The elements of the crimes to which I am pleading guilty are count one, aggravated child abuse, second degree felony, in that the defendant intentionally or knowingly inflicted upon a child, R.F. That's her son who escaped. serious physical injury or having the care or custody of such child caused or permitted another to inflict serious physical injury upon said child and such physical injury involving physical

torture. Count three, aggravated child abuse, a second-degree felony in that the defendant intentionally or knowingly inflicted upon a child RF serious physical injury or having the care or custody of such child caused or permitted another to inflict serious physical injury. upon said child and such serious physical injury included conduct toward the child that caused severe emotional harm. And then count five, she pleads guilty to, a second degree felony in that the defendant intentionally or knowingly inflicted upon a child, E.F, that's her daughter, younger daughter, serious physical injury or having the care or custody of such child caused or permitted another

to inflict serious physical injury upon said child. and such physical injury includes conduct toward the child that causes severe emotional harm. Count six, aggravated child abuse, a second-degree felony, in that the defendant intentionally or knowingly inflicted upon a child, EF, serious physical injury, or having the care or custody of such child caused or permitted another to inflict serious physical injury upon said child. And such physical injury included a combination of two or more physical injuries inflicted by the same person, either at the same time or on different occasions.

I understand that by pleading guilty, I will be admitting that I committed the crimes listed above. I stipulate and agree that the following facts describe my conduct and the conduct of other persons for which I am criminally liable. These facts provide a base for the court to accept my guilty plea and prove the elements of the crimes to which I am pleading guilty. From approximately May 22nd, 2023, until August 30th, 20203 in Washington County, Utah, the defendant, Ruby Frankie intentionally or knowingly inflicted and allowed another adult to inflict serious physical injuries upon her children that were ages 9, E.F, and 11 and 12, 11 through 12, RF, as more fully described below.

Count 1. The defendant's actions involve the physical, torture of RF. Initially, RF was forced to do physical tasks for hours and days at a time. These included walsets, carrying boxes full of books up and downstairs and working outside. Eventually, RF was forced to do outside labor without shoes and in the summer heat. He was forced to stand in the direct sunlight for several dates. He was forced to remain outside at all hours of the day and night for extended periods of time. I'm going to break for second.

So this is Lori now. Do you remember the house that I showed you? Do you remember the lack of shade in that desert? Do you know how hot it gets there? This is just outside of Las Vegas, Nevada. About an hour and a half from Las Vegas, Nevada, close to Death Valley. This is hot in the summer. There is no shade you saw in the house there.

So I cannot imagine what happened to his skin. So he was forced to stand in the direct sunlight for several days. He was forced to remain outside at all 10 hours of the day and night for extended periods of time. These actions resulted in repeated and serious sunburns with blistered sloughing skins. RF was denied adequate water for several of the days. He was required to remain in the summer heat and he was punished when he secretly consumed water. He was denied sufficient food. and when given food, he was given very plain meals, as in rice and chicken,

while others in the house ate regular and more flavorful meals. He was isolated from other people and denied all forms of entertainment, including books, notebooks, and electronics. In addition, after R.F. attempted to run away in July, his hands and feet were regularly bound. Binding included being tied to the defendant and to wait. many times the binding included using two sets of handcuffs, one on RF's wrists and one on his ankles. At times with RF lying on his stomach, ropes were used to tie the two sets of handcuffs together so that his arms and his lower legs were lifted off of the ground.

The bindings resulted in injuries to RF's wrists and ankles where the the handcuffs cut through the skin and damage the muscle and tissue. These injuries were treated with homeopathic remedies and covered with duct tape. Then the bindings were placed on top of the duct tape. Specific instances of abuse committed by the defendant included one, kicking RF while wearing boots. Number two, holding his head underwater. Number three, cutting off oxenact.

by placing her hands over his mouth and nose. Count two. The actions described above caused severe emotional harm to RF due to the fact that they began in May and escalated through the summer months. Additionally, the defendant and another adult regularly sought to indoctrinate RF and convince him that he was evil and possessed and that he needed to willingly be obedient to avoid punishments. and that the punishments were necessary to repent. He was also told that everything that was being done to him were acts of love. Count three, the defendant's actions also caused severe emotional harm to EF. Other than binding and the specific instances of abuse, R.F. was subjected to. EF was subjected to the same treatment as her brother.

She was isolated and forced to do the physical tasks, remain outside, and denied food and water. She was also repeatedly told she was evil and possessed. The punishments were necessary for her to be obedient and to repent. And these things were being done to her in order to help her. E.F. was convinced that she was evil and needed to go through these things in order to repent. This is Lauren. Again, I'm going to take a break really quickly and remind all of you that EF, when she was found after R.F. escaped and police were called. It took them hours to convince EF, little EF, to see doctors.

And it seemed clear from the charging docs for the probable cause that there was brainwashing going on. Here it is. EF. was convinced that she was evil and that she needed to go through these things in order to repent. Little girl thinking she's evil. Count four. The defendant's actions caused two or more physical injuries to EF. She was forced to work outside in the heat, barefoot, the southern Utah desert heat. She was also forced to run barefoot on dirt roads for an extended period of time. EF's feats were repeatedly injured by and she was repeatedly sunburned. When examined on August 30th, these wounds were apparent by scabs and blisters and sloughing skin. I am entering these pleas voluntarily.

I understand that I have the following rights under the constitutions of Utah and the United States. I also understand that if I plead guilty, I will give up all of the following. Counsel. I know that I have the right to be represented by an attorney and that if I cannot afford one, an attorney will be appointed by the court at no cost to me. I understand that I might later, if the judge determines that I was able, be required to pay for an appointed lawyer services to me. If I have not have waived my right to counsel, if I have waived my right to counsel, so she gets to choose one of those options.

I have done so knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily for the following reasons. If I have waived my right to counsel, I certify that I have read this statement and that I understand the nature and elements of the charges and crimes to which I am pleading guilty. I also understand my rights in this case and other cases and the consequences of my guilty plea. If I have not waived my right to counsel, my attorney is Lamar Winward. my attorney and I have fully discussed this statement, my rights, and the consequences of my guilty plea. Jury trial. I know that I have a right to a speedy and public trial by an impartial, unbiased jury, and that I will be giving up that right by pleading guilty. Confrontation and cross-examination of witnesses. I know that if I were to have a trial,

I would have the right to see and observe the witnesses who testified against me and my attorney or myself if I waived my right to an attorney, would have the operative. opportunity to cross-examine all of the witnesses who tested against me. The right to compel witnesses, I know that if I were to have a trial, I could call witnesses if I chose to, and I would be able to obtain subpoenas requiring the attendance and testimony of those witnesses. If I could not afford to pay for the witnesses to appear, the state would pay those costs. Right to testify and privilege against self-incrimination.

I know that if I were to have a trial, I would have the right to testify on my own behalf, and I know that if I chose not to testify, no one could make me testify or make me give evidence against myself. I also know that if I chose to testify, the jury would be told that they could not hold my refusal to testify, my refusal to testify against me. Presumption of innocence and burden of proof, I know that if I do not plead guilty, I am presumed innocent until the state proves that I am guilty or the charge of the charged crimes. If I choose to fight the charges against me, I need only plead not guilty and my case will be set for trial. At trial, the state would have the burden of proving each element of the charges beyond a reasonable doubt. And if the trial is before a jury, the verdict must be unanimous, meaning that each juror would have to find me guilty. I understand that if I plead guilty, I will give up the presumption

of innocence, and I will be admitting that I have committed the crimes stated above. Appeal, I know that under the Constitution, Utah Constitution, if I were convicted by a judge or jury I would have the right to appeal my conviction and sentence. If I could not afford the cost of an appeal, the state would pay those costs for me. I understand that I am giving up my right to appeal my conviction if I plead guilty. I understand that if I wish to appeal my sentence... Most people don't realize how much their personal information is being bought and sold every day. Data brokers are making billions, pulling details about you from public records and the internet,

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All promises, duties, and provisions of the plea agreement, if any, are fully contained in this statement, including those explained below. Number one, the defendant agrees to plead guilty to count one. Aggravated child abuse, a second-degree felony. Count three, aggravated child abuse, a second-degree felony. Count five, aggravated child abuse, a second-degree felony. And count six, aggravated child abuse, a second-degree felony. What's one financial lesson you learned the hard way? I'll go first.

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The state agrees to dismiss count two. aggravated child abuse a second-degree felony and count four aggravated child abuse a second-degree felony the defendant shall submit to a pre-sentence investigation with adult probation and parole the defendant agrees to serve a prison term the sentence received for count one count three count five and count six are to be served consecutive to each other the defendant agrees to testify truthfully against Jody Hildebrand. And in return, the Washington County Attorney's Office agrees to remain neutral regarding future hearings before the Board of Paroleals and Pardon and Parole.

I understand I have a right to preliminary hearing at which the state of Utah would carry the burden of proof to present to the court sufficient evidence to show that there is probable cause that I committed the offenses with which I am charged and that at the conclusion of that hearing failure of the state's to produce such evidence may lead to charges being reduced or dismissed, and that by entering in this agreement, I am waiving my right to said preliminary hearing. I am satisfied with the advice and assistance of my attorney. I am 41 years old.

I have attended school through the 12th grade. Signed, Ruby, her attorney. Sentencing for Ruby Frankie is February 20th. I will be there. I am sorry to have read those horrendous details. to you. I'm still processing them myself. I am so grateful that RF escaped and that he in turn also not just saved himself, but his sister. And again, if you want to see those documents in full, you can head to our Facebook page, facebook.com slash hidden true crime or you can head to our

Patreon account, patreon.com slash hidden true crime. Hit subscribe, hit notifications as we continue to bring you the very latest. I also will be on News Nation tonight on Banfield. bringing you more. So please tune in to News Nation. And I will also be on Mormon stories with an array of incredible podcasters later today as well. Hey guys, Jody Hilda Brant pleaded guilty. There's now a press conference four counts, four counts, just like Ruby. She'll be sentenced on the same day. Ruby is on February 20th. I'm going to flip you guys around so you can see everything. So we have St. George News is here, law and crime is here, 2020 is here. A lot of local journalists are here. And we're waiting.

as you can see for a press conference outside. Again, Jody Hildebrandt has just pleaded guilty to four counts of aggravated child abuse, second-degree felonies. She's going to be sentenced on February 20th, which is the same day as Ruby Frankie. It was very short in court today. Jody nodded and said yes and no as her answer. She didn't add any other words like Ruby did. It was very direct into the point.

She walked in. She was wearing her jumpsuit as well as shackles and some orange clogs. She did look concerned and worried to me. I had a good view of the side of her face. It was right by the pool camera, the news pool camera, which was KUTV. In fact, there they are. They're setting up right now. So we are waiting.

You guys can see this in real time. We are waiting for it to be set up. And we also have some other people here. And then we have, this is Ali and Aubrey. I want to talk to them in a little bit too. They came all the way from Salt Lake to be here in court. This is pretty much everyone that was in court today. Cody with St. George News here that's local.

We're in St. George, Utah right now. We are ready, go ahead and say in Spelfarestown, Dr. Terry, T-E-R-R-Y. I haven't had much to say about this case prior to today because I didn't feel it was appropriate to do so until today. Ms. Hilda Grant, my client, was called guilty today to four counts. She has done so because she takes responsibility for her conduct in this matter. Her guilty pleas, she decided to plead guilty before Ms. Frankie entered into her plea agreement

or agreed to cooperate with the state. She has pled guilty because she wants, she did not want these children to have to testify. She takes responsibility and it is her main concern at this point that these children can heal both physically and emotionally. We look forward to sentencing. That's all I have to say today. There are people all over the world that are coming out and saying that Jeldy Hildebrand has destroyed families, that she has hurt a lot of people. Has she seen this kind of the backlash that's happening and what does she have to say about it? I'm not going to have any more comment, nor is she, at least prior to sentence. Thank you.

When will the sentencing take place? February 20th. Can you show the terms of the agreement as far as how that pertains to sentencing, and is there a specific range that the court has agreed to? She's agreed to a prison sentence, court counts, consecutive descendants, the same is Ms. Frick. Exactly the same is correct. In Utah, there's rumors about consecutive sentences.

How long could her sentence term be then? all four be consecutive together. Ultimately it's up to not to speculating this. Alright, I'm gonna flip you guys around now. So again, we're here at the Fifth Judicial District Courthouse in St. George, Utah, Washington County. You know what? We have somebody else actually.

Stand by. Is that okay? Yeah. I'm Washington County at 10-year-E Park. I just have a brief statement that we'll read and then we'll be happy to release this along with the sign of plea agreement. To anybody with the request of the day.

So this morning, George, Hilda Brand pleaded guilty to the four counts of aggravated child abuse. She will remain incarcerated awaiting sentencing which will occur on February 20th, 20th. As part of the plea agreement, Ms. Hilda Grant agreed to be sentenced to consecutive as opposed to concurrent prison terms for each of the four counts. One of the toughest things we ask victims of alleged abuse to do is testifying a trial against their abusers. We are pleased that in this case and in Ms. Brinkie's case, that won't be necessary.

That both defendants will be going to prison without having to help of trial. We're grateful to the multi-disciplinaring team that investigated this case. We have great law enforcement officers, caseworkers, children's justice center, staff, both in our area and in Utah County. Additional information about Ms. Hilda Brand and Ms. Frankie's cases,

including redacted investigative materials, will be available upon request 30 days after sentencing for defendants. For further information, please refer to the statement's defendant, the statement of defendant and support of Kills. It was not. Thanks you guys. Part of Ruby Frankie's plea deal was to testify against Jody Hildebrand. That was like a big part of that plea deal.

Does that mean that is irrelevant now? She will not have to testify against Jody. That's what I have to say. When it comes to prosecutors always have to determine who they think is the more culpable. the more culpable party? Who do you believe is the more public party? I'll be more comfortable speaking about specifics in the cases after, after sentencing, and then after,

we wait for the 30 days to make sure that a pill at time has run. And that's just us being super careful to make sure that the procedurally we're not doing anything that could complicate a case down the road and overturn a conviction. So I'm not gonna get into the thought processes at this point. Agravuted child abuse in Utah is a second degree felony. Do we need to look at these laws?

Utah? I hope so. I think that's something that I've been in talks with legislative all the two thousand. Thank you. Is that as a result of this case? Like I said, I don't want to get into my talk process on this case until we're further along. When did those conversations start? In the last few months. So you guys have a great wish of your holiday. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. That was a really helpful press conference at least I thought it was. So it looks like Ruby will not have to testify against Jody. I was grateful to hear I asked the question about aggravated child abuse in Utah only being a second degree felony and I was satisfied to hear that there are talks with legislature to

increase the penalty for that the next step would have been making this attempted murder and you know the probable cause did say life-threatening injuries I won't forget that life-threatening injuries was in the probable cause the arrest warrants for Jody and Ruby so it does make me wonder you know what is in this discovery that they called voluminous discovery that they mentioned in court. And I am with actually two women that came today, Ali and Aubrey. I want to introduce you to them. This is Ali right here and this is Aubrey. Ladies, why don't you come over here so we're away from the sun? Here we go. Okay, that's better, right? Yeah. So Ali and Aubrey actually drove all the way from

Salt Lake City, which is about what, three and a half, four hours away, four hours away, depending if you're speeding. Let's say four if your mom's watching, four hours away. Can I ask you guys Why did you come today? I have grown up watching the Eight Passengers vlog YouTube channels and I actually feel a little more connected to Sherry their oldest daughter being that she's in college and kind of the same stage of life as I am and it's just been interesting to watch it all unfold. Thank you. And what about you, Arby?

I grew up watching the Eight Passengers YouTube channel too, especially when I was younger so like years later now seeing like all this come out. It's like just crazy to see all of it when like they have daughters' minds daughter's my age and it's just like insane to see all the documents and everything. Did you guys feel like as you watched this eight passengers channel through the years, did you see a change in Ruby's parenting? I know you guys were probably younger watching it, but did you guys notice a shift in anything? I definitely noticed that she was very strict like parent in general, but I feel like her vlogs were pretty consistent from the time I

started watching to about when all this went down. Obviously it's closer as you know all that these things happened I think there was a little bit of a shift and you know she wasn't wearing her wedding ring and then the way that she would talk about her children and herself was kind of different but other than that I feel like it was pretty consistent I totally agree agree okay one of the same and what about you know there's a lot of talk of Kevin Frankie people feeling like he should be charged or he knew what was going on any thoughts there any opinions um I think knowing my family and where I come from I don't understand why he wouldn't be charged. He's a father.

He's in charge of taking care of his kids, and he's liable for him. And that's just the end of story for that. I'm saddened that he didn't protect his kids more than he should have. Yeah. And what about you, Aubrey? Well, I just noticed in, like, her later vlogs when I was growing up watching him that he was more absent in the vlogs than he was at the beginning. So it was, like, weird saying him disappear.

But, like, even when people say he was gone when all this happened, he should have been there checking in on his kids. when all of this was happening. Yeah. And of course, this plea, this hearing, this waiver hearing today where Jody Hildebrand accepted a plea deal was not about Ruby Frankie. Ruby Frankie pleaded guilty. Was it last week?

I've lost track of time. Yeah, last week they're nodding. Thank you ladies. Was, you know, pleaded guilty last week for a plea deal. But did you guys, you know, you watched Ruby's channel. Did you guys know about Jody Hildebrandt as you watched the channel? I didn't know anything about her until I did some more research in Adam Poli's. Steve's crime podcast came out and with Mormon stories and that was crazy to hear and then obviously

her niece coming forward as well. Yeah, Jesse, both of those Mormon stories podcast, Jesse Hildebrand, the niece of Jody Hildebrand on Mormon stories as well as Adam Paul Steed's interview on Mormon stories, which has now been taken down, but we do have an Adam Steed interview on our channel, Hidden True Crime and his story is worth listening to. Any thoughts as well about like, did you know of Jody at all? I like had no idea who she was until this case came out and I just started seeing videos and interviews and documents about her and it's just like also crazy that it's just all surfacing now. So you know obviously you two felt like you knew the eight passengers family, the Frankie family. You said you're similar ages to Sherry, is that right? Any thoughts or any words

to her? You are peers of Sherry in the same state going to college. Anything you want to say to her thoughts about Sherry and the children? have been affected. I would just say Sherry you're watching this for some reason. I feel for you and I'm very very sadden to hear everything that's happened to you and your family and I think that she has a lot of support out there and I think that with all of this coming out and I definitely think she'll she'll get the support that she needs and the help and I'm just here for her and I just feel so bad. Yeah. Anything else do you want to say, Aubrey? I would just say that like I'm so happy that she's there for those siblings and she was there for them when they were growing up.

And even with all the kids, I'm so glad they have each other. And now that they're out of this situation, they can all start healing. Thank you, ladies. Thank you. All right, I am going to take off. I'm going to go meet with some other reporters. But I just, I'm going to sign off for now. I did not know. It was a waiver hearing. So it was clear that maybe there was an agreement, admittedly, but I just thought that maybe there wouldn't be a plea agreement simply because Ruby had said part of her deal was to testify against Jody. So to find out that Jody had actually accepted this plea deal before Ruby was interesting. I don't know what to think. Four counts. Again, aggravated child abuse in Utah is only a second degree felony. Let's hope that the legislator

looks at that. All right, everyone. We'll be in touch. Stay here. Hit notifications because I will be going live again and we'll have some additional videos. I might even go visit Jody's house leader today. Check that out. See what's going on. We'll see you guys. Bye-bye. Hello, Hidden Jems. It's Lauren with Hidden a True Crime podcast for exclusive content thinks Dr. John and I only dare say behind a paywall become a Patreon member at patreon.com slash hidden true crime. You'll find bonus episodes, early releases, and insider info. Thank you for your endless support. Your old or broken phone can let you down.

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