SERIALously - 366: Nancy Guthrie, Anna Kepner’s Step Brother Arrested, Tepe Footage Released & Lil Jon’s Son

Episode Date: February 12, 2026

This week on Headline Highlights: A heartbreaking development in the disappearance of 27-year-old Nathan Smith, son of Lil John, as a body has been found that authorities believe may be his. An arrest has been made in the shocking case of Anna Kepner, whose body was discovered hidden beneath a bed on a Carnival Cruise ship. Newly released autopsy reports in the Tepe murders reveal disturbing details about the true brutality of the crimes. And after days full of questions rather than answers, major updates have emerged in the Nancy Guthrie case..If you’re new here, don’t forget to follow the show for weekly deep dives into the darkest true crime cases! To watch the video version of this episode, head over to youtube.com/@annieelise. .🔎Join Our True Crime Club & Get Exclusive Content & Perks..🎧 Need More to Binge? Listen to both of my weekly true crime series 10 to Life & Serialously with Annie Elise wherever you get your podcasts on the Annie Elise Channel!🍎 Apple Podcasts | Where you can also unlock access to 100+ and growing extra exclusive deep dives.💚 Spotify🔴 YouTube🎙️ All Other Platforms.📸 Follow Annie on Socials Instagram: @_annieeliseTikTok: @_annieeliseSubstack: @annieeliseFacebook: @10toLife.⭐SponsorsMint Mobile: Switch now at http://MINTMOBILE.com/AE to get unlimited premium wireless for just $15 per month.Factor: Head to http://factormeals.com/ae50off and use code ae50off to get 50% off and free breakfast for a year.DIME Beauty: Head to http://DimeBeauty.com for 20% off with code PODCAST20..👗 Shop Annie’s Must-Haves! ShopMY: bit.ly/AnnieElise_ShopMy Amazon: bit.ly/AnnieElise_Amazon.🫵🏻 Get Involved or Recommend a CaseAbout Annie: www.annieelise.comFor Business Inquiries: [e-mail].📚 Episode Sources ABC News | CBS News | Court TV | Daily Mail | Entertainment Tonight | Los Angeles Times | New York Post | People | The New York Times | WLWT5 | WXIA Atlanta ••••••••••••••••••🚨Disclaimers1️⃣ Some links may be affiliate links, they do not cost you anything, but I make a small percentage from the sale. Thank you so much for watching and supporting me. 2️⃣ Sources used to collect this information include various public news sites, interviews, court documents, FB groups dedicated to the case, and various news channel segments. When quoting statements made by others, they are strictly alleged until confirmed otherwise. Please remember my videos are my independent opinion and to always do your own research. 3️⃣ The views and opinions expressed in this video are personal and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any other agency, organization, employer, or company. Assumptions made in the analysis are not reflective of the position of any entity other than the creator(s). These views are subject to change, revision, and rethinking at any time and are not to be held in perpetuity. We make no representations as to the accuracy, completeness, correctness, suitability, or validity of any information on this video and will not be liable for any errors, omissions, or delays in this information or any losses, injuries, or damages arising from its display or use. All information is provided on an as-is basis. It is the reader’s responsibility to verify their own facts.

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Now, for those of you who are brand new to this podcast and maybe have not listened to a variety of episodes, let me give you the quick breakdown. Every Monday, we release a brand new episode. that is a deep dive into a single case where we go through, you know, all of the details, all of the law enforcement documents. We talk to people involved in the case. We go through Reddit theories. We just, like, bring you everything that anybody's talking about regarding the case. And then on Thursdays, come on here, and I talk you through everything that has been happening this week in true crime. Because unfortunately, as we know, there are new cases that break literally every single day. There are a lot of updates, too, that come out to cases that we've

already done previous deep dives on. So to just kind of keep you up to speed and in the know of everything. And this week, there is no shortage. And I feel like I say that every freaking week. But it's true. We have a lot going on not only in brand new cases, but in a lot of like big core cases that we have been talking about for months now. So we've got updates in the Anna Kempner case, which you probably are familiar with that case. She's the young girl who was murdered on the cruise ship. And We have updates in the Tepe murder case out of Ohio. New footage has been released. New details in the affidavit has been released.

It just really paints and illustrates this horrific picture even more so than I initially thought. There's also some breaking news with Lil Johnson. There's, of course, updates in the Nancy Guthrie case. So there is a lot that we have to go over today. Before we jump into the cases, please welcome back, Amy, to headline highlights. I felt like a news announcer. I always am like, what is she going to say today? I feel like I always say the same thing, but then I don't.

It's just in a different chown. A different chown. That one felt very newscaster. It felt very assertive. I am assertive. Not really. But sometimes I'm assertive. No, so we have a lot to go over today.

And when we actually first spoke about the Anna Kempner case, the cruise ship case, you're the one who was, like, doing the deep dive and, like, going into all of that. So I want you to definitely share what you've learned. and because I know there's been a lot, there's been an arrest, he now was in federal court, all of those things. Let's actually, before we get into some of those bigger cases that we're going to circle back to a little bit, I want to start with everything going on with Lil John's missing son, because he has now reportedly been found, although they have not been able to determine cause or manner of death. But let me just break down what happened and where we're at now. So on Tuesday, February 3rd, 27-year-old Nathan Smith, the son of famous rapper Lil John,

was reported missing after leaving his home in Milton, Georgia. Now, Nathan also took after his dad professionally and was in the music industry, so a lot of people refer to him as DJ Young Slade. That was the name he went by professionally. So you may have seen mixed reports between DJ Young Slade and Nathan Smith. But it is Little John's son. A DJ, I produce, I engineer, and I'm artists. And my dad is the king of Crunk, Liljohn.

One day he told me he wanted to learn how to DJ. This was 11 years old. It's funny, my dad never, like, wanted me to be in music. He just, like, wanted me to do whatever I wanted to do. But, honestly, I wasn't good anything else. I tried sports, and it just wasn't for me at all. Now, the reason that he was immediately reported as a missing person was because apparently he left the home under what the police describe as, quote, unusual circumstances.

Now, what exactly these unusual circumstances were have not been fully described in the press, though we do know a few different things. things, okay? For one, he left on foot. No car, no ride, no ride share, no friend picking him up, none of that. He also didn't take his phone with him. He left it behind. Now, the last thing that we know about these unusual circumstances is that he, quote, ran out of his home. So quite literally on foot. And this was around 6 a.m. on the third, so very early morning. Now, it might seem like that detail of him running out of the house versus just walking out of the house isn't that important.

in the grand scheme of things. But it does give, to me at least, a pretty good idea of what his mental state potentially was like at the time. It seemed as though he needed to get out of there as soon as possible, or wherever he was trying to go, he wanted to get there as quickly as possible. One report even noted that Nathan, quote, may be disoriented and in need of assistance. Family and friends are concerned for his safety, end quote. So right away, as you can imagine, there was a huge search with multiple different law enforcement and emergency agencies assisting. However, their searches were coming up blank. They weren't finding Nathan.

They weren't sure where he went off to. They couldn't really find any clues as to where he went or why. So then sometime between February 3rd, when Nathan first went missing, and three days later, February 6th, the agencies seemed to switch gears in their search process. They started now expanding their searches very specifically to a pond in Mayfield Park, which is pretty close to Nathan's home. Which to me, when I first heard that, that told me that, okay, at this point, they were possibly looking into alternatives that weren't necessarily a rescue, but more so a recovery mission, looking in bodies of water, looking in places where he wouldn't, you know, be concealed and they would have to actually look a little bit deeper. So on February 6th, the dive teams got involved in this pond area. And the pond was honestly pretty big. So when I first looked into it and looked at the actual scale of it and saw that dive teams were going in, I wondered if this was going to be some days long thing where they were going to have to, I forget what the tool is that they use, but like scrape the bottom of the floor. They did that with, and it wasn't a pond. I think it was a lake. But what's the case I'm thinking of? Naya Rivera, the actress from Glee, where they have to like bring all the tools and you bet probably no two adventures with. purpose gets involved in things like that and where they have to like, it take, it's a big undertaking

is my point. However, it didn't end up being that at all because just a couple of hours into this search at 1153 a.m., the investigators found something. They started pushing back all of the local media outlets who were there, which indicated that they had found something major and were trying to secure the scene. And that's when everybody started flying into a frenzy. You can see that dive team going and searching for 27-year-old Nathan Smith. Now, we can see that. see a couple of different people go in the water, a couple of people come out. They were in there for a couple of hours this morning. They got out at about 1 o'clock this afternoon, and now I want to take you to some chopper video because you can see what happened. They pushed us back from

the scene. This is the only vantage point that we were able to get. We do not know at this point what they found, but we do know they made a discovery. So you can see they put up a tent, they brought out some bags, they moved some of the people closer with tarps that were in that search and rescue area and on that search and rescue team. So we do know, again, they have made a discovery. We just can't confirm at this point what that discovery is. So that same day as the search on the sixth, the investigators announced to the public that they had found a body. And although it had not been confirmed yet, and it still has not been confirmed at the time of this recording right now, they did and do believe that it was Nathan. Now, when it comes to Nathan's death, there are a few

important things to note. The investigators have made it very clear that this is still an open and an active investigation. However, with that being said, there's also no indication of any sort of foul play being involved. They also noted that until there's an official cause and manner of death that is determined by the medical examiner, the investigators are not going to be sharing any more details. So for now, it feels like there's this halfway resolution where we have a little bit more information. We know a little bit. We can probably start to put some context behind it, at least some, you know, assumptions in our own mind. But we're not going to get as any like concrete answers as to why he was disoriented when he left home, why he left home, what happened, you know, throughout those

few days. And if he was having some sort of mental health crisis or something. We also don't know why they eventually decided to hone in on that pond specifically. So after the news broke that this body that they had found was believed to be Nathan's. Lil John, his dad, ended up releasing a statement to the public. And I'm going to read this for you just verbatim. It says, I am extremely heartbroken for the tragic loss of our son, Nathan Smith. His mother and I are devastated. Nathan was the kindest human being that you would ever meet. He was immensely caring, thoughtful, polite, passionate, and warm-hearted. He loved his family and the friends in his life to the fullest. He was an amazingly talented young man, a music producer, an artist, an engineer and a graduate of NYU.

We loved Nathan with all of our hearts, and we are incredibly proud of him. He was loved and appreciated, and in our last times together, we're comforted in knowing that we expressed that very sentiment to him. So obviously a very powerful and emotional statement, but also, I know I mentioned that even at the time of this recording, they haven't determined cause or manner of death or even a solid identification, like through forensics and all that, but it's pretty clear that everybody is on the same page that this is Nathan. His dad's even giving that statement. Now, regardless of whether this was the result of a mental health crisis or something different,

maybe even something suspicious, which, remember, as of right now, that does not at all seem like the case. It is definitely devastating for the friends and family of Nathan because this is something that hopefully, I don't know, not, I don't want to say could have been avoidable, but I mean, at 27 years old, you still have your whole life ahead of you and whether that struggle is for mental health, whether it's, I don't want to imply anything, but if it's potentially substance-related or anything like that, it's just devastating to think about. And who knows if somebody had seen him leave the house that day, if they could have intervened or what could have happened. So, obviously a very, very sad story. That is sad. I know when you said he left running, you think

like something was making him feel like desperate or fear or some sort of urgency. So maybe the phone gave some sort of insight. And you left it behind. I know. No, it's so sad. So sad. I know. Well, speaking of sad, let's move along to the Anna Kempner case because I know that there's a lot going on there. And people have kind of been like itching for updates in this case.

I know. Because there really hasn't been much. No, it's just been like, is the word dormant? Kind of, right? Like silent. Yeah. Silent. Okay.

Well, yeah. Today, guys, we have some big breaking news on the heartbreaking homicide of 18-year-old Anna Kepner. And for those of you that maybe haven't known a whole lot about this case or didn't follow it when we talked about it on headline highlights last fall. I'll give you just a quick recap. But basically what started off as a normal family vacation aboard the Carnival Horizon Cruise ship in Florida ended in complete tragedy on November 7th when Anna was found deceased inside her cabin room aboard the ship. She was wrapped in a blanket. She was covered in life

preservers and was found underneath the mattress of her bed inside the cabin. And she was sharing that cabin with her younger stepbrother and her biological brother. Later that autopsy report confirmed that she died from mechanical asphyxiation, specifically from what's called a bar hold, which is essentially when a perpetrator takes their arm and holds it against a victim's neck. So immediately her death was ruled as a homicide. And when the news first broke about the case, everyone was shocked, including us, because who would want to do this to this sweet 18-year-old girl who was in her senior year of high school on this family vacation with her family. And we've heard so many cases over the years about cruise ships, people going missing and just deaths that are unsolved. However,

early on in this case, this one seemed a little bit more personal than what a lot of people had anticipated. Because even as early as December, a lawyer for Anna's stepmom announced that Anna's 16-year-old stepbrother, who is being referred to as TH because he's a minor, was sharing a cabin at the time of the death with Anna and was looked into as a suspect by the FBI. In fact, the FBI at the time was even considering pressing charges at that time. Even back in November in the days in the weeks just after Anna's murder, there was word of security camera footage showing that he was the only one to go in and outside of that cabin room that night and was the last person to enter the door. So even before there was confirmation about potential charges,

fingers were already being pointed at the stepbrother. And at the time there were even rumors circulating that her stepbrother had this obsession with her and that she may have even felt uncomfortable around him. Which leads us to our breaking news because just this past week, he has actually been arrested and charged as a juvenile in connection to Anna's case. And I know that sounds pretty vague, but the reason it's vague is because he's a minor, so the case is sealed and there just aren't very many details being shared. In fact, all we saw was that he was being walked into the courtroom by his attorney,

and that's really all the details were shared. There is some speculation that the reason there isn't a lot of information coming out, that they're still trying to decide if he's going to be tried, in fact, as a juvenile since he's 16, or because of the harshness and brutality of this crime and the cover-up, that he might be charged as an adult. So if he is charged as an adult, we'll obviously be seeing some more details come forward, but for now the case has been sealed. The only information that we do know is that there are charges again,

him and that as of now he's been released into the custody of a relative who I'm assuming is his mom, Chantal Hudson, which is Anna's stepmom. But we don't really even know that for sure. That's just a guess on my part. Something else we also know is that he has appeared in federal court. We just don't know what happened, but that he did appear in federal court with his attorney. So something that a lot of people have been struggling with is just what could have possibly happened to this teenager to randomly attack his step-sister, and obviously in time, I think that we'll get some answers to that.

Anna's dad, Christopher Kepner, has spoken out and was quoted saying, he was just a normal kid, and I would have never thought that any of this would have happened. I want him to face the consequences and we'll be fighting to make sure that happens. And what we saw also back in the fall

was his grandparents. They were actually kind of the first family members to speak out in an interview, and they kind of echoed those same sentiments. They said, well, you know, he was the only one seen on the footage. He was the one staying in the room. So while we don't want to accuse him, you know, we also want to see justice for Anna. They even went on to describe their relationship as Anna and her stepbrother being two peas in a pod.

And it was rumored that the stepbrother, Anna's brother, and Anna all wanted to stay in that cabin together. And there's some conflicting reports there because, again, the grandparents said those two were two peas in a pod. pod, they were all really close, and that although they had other options of where they could have stayed because the whole family was there on vacation, they had multiple cabins, the kids really wanted to stay together. So who even knows what was going on behind the scenes? Because it's definitely interesting to imagine this normal kid who then goes and does this horrific thing to a step-sister. However, other news sources have reported that these claims about him being a normal kid and close with Anna might have been debatable, like I was saying.

Apparently, the family actually sent him away to live with other relatives after Anna's death, just to ensure that he wasn't a harm to any of the other kids. But then according to the same source, those relatives also kicked him out of their home in late December. So we really don't know what was going on there. And if you remember, Anna's ex-boyfriend had also come forward, saying that Anna was allegedly afraid of her stepbrother. He claimed that she didn't feel safe when she was around him. The ex-boyfriend also added that the stepbrother was infatuated with Anna, which I referred to a little bit earlier. I think there was even a mention of some FaceTime call where the ex-boyfriend had witnessed the stepbrother do something inappropriate on camera to Anna and kind of spoke to her fear of him.

So those are obviously both very specific claims. So I'm definitely curious to know more about the family dynamic and see if more details come out later. but I think we kind of saw this coming. Yeah. And if you remember also, the brother had had what they described as like a psychotic break right after Anna's death as they were getting off of the boat. Oh, that's right. And they ended up taking him to a hospital, which is where he was then released to those relatives that he later got kicked out of the home. And there were also text messages that came out later between his, the step.

brother's mom, so Anna's stepmom and his dad, they were in a custody battle at the time. And shortly after, while they were still on the cruise ship and they had learned about Anna's death, she texted his dad saying, I need to talk to you. It's an emergency. And she basically said she was only allowed a couple minutes with TH and that he just kept explicitly saying he could not remember what happened. And that was kind of the sentiment that we last heard was that he didn't know what happened. He went to this hospital.

He was released back into family custody, and then that was the last we've heard until now. He blacked out or something, right? Or he said he blacked out, not during the act, but afterwards. And he just didn't know what happened. Yeah. I mean, I think we all expected this at some point. We expected the arrest. Even the family members, I remember, were vocalizing, like, they expected an arrest being, like, why haven't they arrested him yet if, like, he was the only one in the cabin? But to your point, we don't know all the details, what we do know and what we have heard, I think. it is fair to say this kid is very troubled and like we unfortunately even though they're not biologically related have seen so many cases where they're sibling on sibling crime like that and the first thing that comes to mind in my mind is the Lily Peters case I don't even know if you're

familiar with that it's it was a cousin and it was her older cousin Carson it's a disgusting case please do not look it up if you have not heard of it but basically she was over at his at her aunt's house at Carson's house and she was riding her bike home and he's like, oh, I'll help her get home. She, like, lived a few blocks away or whatever. And then he attacked her, sexually assaulted her and killed her, his own cousin. And I think she was, I want to say she was seven or something like that. Maybe not quite that young, but she was definitely young. So my point is we have seen these things where especially when it's boys, and I'm not trying to make an excuse, but when it's guys who are going through puberty or things like that and they do get infatuated and they're obsessed and you're in close

quarters and you said something to the grandparents said that they were always like two peas in a pod I think it's easy for grandparents and parents alike to not always know the full dynamic between siblings or kids or cousins because it's like it's almost like you see from an outsider's point of view in I even think about like all of us are our cousins and it's like we obviously are very close and there's never been any like crazy friction but it's like you would anybody would think oh they're like family they're like siblings actually but it's like you never know actually what conflict is happening within that because when you're younger, you don't really vocalize that that much if that makes sense. Well, and from what I read, and I'm not sure if this is

completely true, but the courtship between the stepmother and the father was pretty quick. So some people were saying, like, was there enough thought put into having this blended family vacation together with, you know, sharing a room? It's obviously like one girl, two boys and like what's that dynamic? I also actually saw a reporter say that she had gone on if she goes on Carnival Cruises regularly, specifically the Horizon cruise ship. And there's a really strict policy in place that if you have a minor on the cruise ship, they need to stay with somebody 25 years or older. So I do kind of see like if our parents and, you know, aunt and uncle were like, you guys go ahead. Totally. And, and, but this reporter had said so when she goes with her husband and,

family, they actually have to get two rooms and that they separate the kids so that they can each be with one. Who knows how many people really follow those rules? But that's something to kind of consider. That's interesting. And that makes a lot of sense, not only for like, who knows what could happen behind closed doors if they're sharing a room, but to the point of like, I would think I told you when we talked about this case before. It's so easy to sneak alcohol onto a cruise ship. It's so easy for minors to get access to that. So it's like, I wonder if that rules in place, not because people think that anything like this is ever going to happen, but like the reckless behavior of falling overboard or being funny and like pushing people around or like kids being

kids. And so it's like, no, you need to be with adults because like we don't trust your judge. Exactly. Which there was no alcohol found in her system and no evidence of any type of assault. No, didn't she go back up to the room because her braces were hurting her? Yeah, they said that she wasn't feeling while at dinner. She went back upstairs, but then she appeared to be feeling better because she came back downstairs and gambled for a little while, then went back to the room. So that's where it was kind of like, did he know she was going back to the room? Was it planned? Was it this moment of just something suddenly happened? I mean, even though it's

sealed because he's a minor, it will be unsealed in the future. Or, I mean, it's going to, information will be released. So I'm sure you'll have updates for us in the future on it. Well, and what I heard, and I'm again, not an expert on this, but I heard that in Florida, if you're convicted, even if it is something as terrible as murder, they can't hold you past the age of 21. So I think that's a compelling reason for them trying to push to try him as an adult. Yeah, I forget what that is. There's a certain rule where you're if you're charged as a minor, you either transfer to a facility that's not a prison at 21. I'd have to look into that because 100% I've heard that before. And I think that was part of the reason with Aden Fucci,

why he was tried as an adult. I might be blending two cases together. Because, he was in Florida too. He was in like St. John's or whatever and he was the one who was like 14 years old. That's crazy. I've never heard that. And then what six years you're out? Like that's wild. I know. That is really wild. Oh my God. Well, let's hope that she gets justice. It sounds like she will be. Yeah. Ugh. Every friend group has that one person in the group who insists on doing things the hard way. The friend's still paying for the subscription that they forgot they had or the one for refusing to update their phone because it still works. I'm not going to like break something that isn't broken. Yet somehow,

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and it's made with total transparency. No hidden toxins, no weird ingredients, just skincare that actually works. So if your skin is begging for hydration, head to dimebeautom for 20% off with code podcast 20. That's dimebeautom or you can also find dime at Amazon and Ulta. Your winter skin will thank you. Okay. So now I want to talk about everything that is going on. in the Tepe murders because there has been some shocking updates released, new footage, and very unsettling autopsy details that really just paint how grim of a crime this truly was. So new autopsy reports are revealing just how brutal the killings of Monique and Spencer Tempe allegedly were. And like I said, these details are deeply disturbing.

Now, before we get into those, I do want to give you a quick reminder of how this case unfolded in case you are unfamiliar and you're hearing it for the first time, so that you're not like, Annie, what are you even talking about? Give me the backstory. So Monique was 39 years old, and her husband, Spencer, was 37 years old. The two of them were found shot to death inside their Columbus, Ohio home. This was back in the early morning hours of December 30th. Now, investigators believe that the couple was killed just before 4 a.m., with their bodies discovered roughly six hours later. But here's what is like horrible and my worst nightmare truly as a parent. Inside the home, six hours after they were gunned down and killed, police also found the couple's one-year-old son and four-year-old daughter.

Luckily, the two of them were unharmed, and they also found the family dog also unharmed. So for a couple weeks, nobody really knew what happened. They didn't know if this was a home invasion gone wrong, if this was targeted, who was behind it, and there was like a 10-day manhunt trying to figure out who was responsible. However, less than two weeks later, Monique's ex-husband, Michael McKee, a 39-year-old vascular surgeon, was arrested. This was following that 10-day manhunt, I mentioned. He was located in Rockford, Illinois, which is about 440 miles away from Columbus. He ended up being extradited back to Ohio.

It's now where he's at current. He's being held without bond. And he's been charged with four counts of aggravated murder and one count of aggravated burglary. He's also pleaded not guilty. Now, we heard early on once they made this arrest that investigators had said this was targeted, it was domestic violence related, and that this was just, you know, an attack from Michael aimed at Monique. And the truth is, when you really look at the alleged steps leading up to it, it is hard to ignore the level of effort that went into this. And let me break that down.

Because surveillance footage allegedly shows Michael entering Monique and Spencer's home on December 6th, which was three. weeks before the murders. They weren't murdered until the 30th. This was while the couple was out of town for a big game in Indiana. So investigators believe that this visit of his, it could have been like this recon style visit. Basically, an opportunity for him to understand the layout of the home, different entry points, timing, all while he concocted his master plan. We also don't know if Monique and Spencer, while they were at the game, were notified that Michael was at the property, or if maybe Michael sent Monique some sort of like taunting text message being like, oh, I see your coffee maker is left on, or I see like, look, how easy it was for me to get into your house or something of that nature. But what we do know is that during the game, according to friends, Monique ended up leaving the game early before it was over and went back to the hotel saying that it was because of something that upset her involving her ex. Then in the weeks that followed, a silver SUV linked to Michael was reportedly seen near the home multi. multiple times. At different points, that vehicle also allegedly switched out the plates with different stolen Ohio and Arizona license plates, a detail that investigators, of course, are saying, suggests intentional steps to avoid being identified. Then there's the actual trip,

the night of the murders itself, because according to cell phone data, Michael allegedly left his phone all the way back in Illinois at the Illinois Hospital, where he worked, for roughly 17 hours. This was spanning from December 29th into the afternoon of December 30th, which as we know, not so coincidentally, is the exact same window of time when police believe that the murders occurred. So investigators also believe that he drove that roughly 900 mile round trip during that window of time when he conveniently left his cell phone behind. Which let's just pause for a moment really quick because I know I just had a 900 mile trip. And let's put that into perspective. Driving a 9,000 900 mile round trip is about 14 to 15 hours of driving, nearly nonstop, in winter conditions also.

Meaning that this wasn't some sort of casual drive or a spontaneous decision on his part, it was something that would have required planning, adrenaline, maybe even like stamina, and truly just a clear commitment to executing this plan all without being detected. So as I mentioned, police believe that Monique and Spencer were killed just before 4 a.m., suggesting Michael would have had to have arrived in the middle of the night, you know, meaning when the family was most vulnerable, asleep, you know, not having their wits about them, not awake, not knowing what was happening. Then after he allegedly gunned them down, he immediately fled the state. Now, after his arrest, Columbus police confirmed that Michael was found with a gun and also that multiple weapons were recovered from his property. Investigators say that there is already a preliminary forensic link between one of those weapons and the murders, and the police also. And the police also, also believe that the firearm that was used was equipped with what they are calling in their report as a suppressor, but also known as a silencer, which again is just one more detail that suggests he wanted to go as undetected as possible, especially with these two young children inside the home.

Now, autopsy reports that have been obtained from the Daily Mail and People magazine are laying out the full extent of the violence. Early on, it was reported that Spencer was shot multiple times and that Monique was shot once. However, that is completely different now, according to the autopsy reports. According to the Franklin County Office of the coroner, Monique was shot nine times, including once directly to her face. She was shot three times in the chest, twice in her left upper arm, once in the right side of her torso, once in her right forearm, and once in her right hand. She also suffered abrasions on her chest and left forearm, along with a contusion on her left calf. Now, we don't know if they were, in fact, asleep when this happened or who he shot first at this point.

But my thought, and I could totally be wrong, but when I read that she was shot in her arms, in her hand, to me, that appears to be defensive, as though she was trying to block things. So perhaps he shot Spencer first so that because Spencer is maybe the stronger one and he wanted to subdue him first and then go after Monique and maybe that woke her up and then she tried protecting herself, I don't know, but quite a lot of injuries. The dancer was also shot seven times. Twice in the chest, once in the back, once in the neck, once in the left ear, once in the left hand, and once in the right arm. He also had an abrasion on his left arm. So both deaths pretty early on were officially ruled as homicides because it was multiple gunshot wounds. And when you step back, I mean, truly the alleged history between Monique and Michael, her ex-husband, it starts to give more context as to why this may have happened. Because Monique, and Michael were briefly married back in 2015. They also divorced less than two years later. According to court documents and also witness statements, Monique had confided in friends that Michael had been abusive and that he had threatened her life multiple times, both during their marriage and after their marriage.

One witness even told detectives that Michael allegedly said that he could kill her at any time, that he would always find her, that she would, quote, always be his wife. Another witness alleged that Michael choked Monique and that he also sexually assaulted her during their relationship and marriage. Which that is horrifying to think about. But then when you think about the next level this went to, I mean, to carry such a grudge, such this high level of resentment for nearly a decade. They divorced back in 2017. She's remarried. She has kids with this new husband.

I mean, it's terrifying to think about that somebody is just like lying in wait, like stewing on this and just like so upset. You'll always be my wife, you'll always be mine, and just, like, feels that they have that entitlement and ownership and power over you. However, a family member told the Daily Mail that Michael's arrest came as zero shock. They said that the family did feel a little bit of relief because the truth was they had been expecting this all along, saying, quote, we are all breathing a bit of a sigh of relief because they got him. So now we're waiting on the next steps.

But here's the thing. The newly released footage that has come out shows Michael in the most of the moment. moments after his arrest, and what stands out in this footage to me is just immediately how calm he appears. The Franklin County Sheriff's Office released several clips to court TV, and they show Michael as he arrives at the jail. And in one video, he's seen walking behind a wall, just methodically handing over all of his articles of clothing and personal effects to the officers. They, of course, collect each item and log it as evidence. And then in another clip, he continues removing his clothing, including his socks, before an officer conducts a full body pat down.

But the point is that throughout the footage, Michael just appears pretty much expressionless, just very calm, cool, calm collected. And at one point, he even appears to yawn. He just remains standing there, compliant, and is seen speaking very calmly with the officers as their search of him continues. There's no visible struggle. There's no yelling. There's no stillness. it just, it appears that he is completely unfazed, almost like he's happy that he got what he wanted, that now it's over, that his goal was to kill her and he did so now he can like rest easy. It's very eerie when you see this footage. And this case, this footage, it is something that will haunt me for years because it really

truly shows like you never know what is going through somebody's mind that whether you've been in a previous relationship with them, a current relationship. it's like this guy for a decade tormented her, stalked her, wouldn't let her go. And then once he finally kills her with her two children in the house, he gets arrested and just is so calm. And just like, yeah, fine. Like, sure. Yeah, I'm yawning. I'm bored.

Like, it's fucking unhinged. I mean, I have a lot of thoughts. But when you said the calm thing, it kind of makes sense only if you think like this person for 10 years has been obviously stewing over this, like emotionally, mentally, just putting all his thoughts and effort into this. And then it's like it's over. It's almost like his body is probably like releasing and just like now he doesn't have to be tormented about whatever thoughts he was thinking and this planning. It's now all over.

It's like finality. And like there isn't this like I'm thinking about her with another guy. But to that point, that's crazy that this has been festering for that long. And like, I immediately, I don't know why, it thought, I thought of Betty Broderick, but only because I was thinking like she was fueled by jealousy, but also she felt very wronged. And like the situation kept snowballing to where she went into their house. But she wasn't intending on having any type of premeditated killing. It just kind of happened. She went in the bedroom. I don't know. I think it was premeditated. You do? I mean, if I remember right, though, she was like full of rage, like went into the house. But I think she went into the bedroom. But, like, I don't, yeah, I guess I, yes, but I don't think it was, like, premeditated the way this was, like, changing out your plates, leaving your phone behind. Yeah. This is more methodical, for sure.

And he's been, like, thinking about it for a long time and, like, planning it. Left his phone behind, all of that. Which, that doesn't mean that she wasn't premeditated. It just means he thought he was smarter or smart enough. And who knows how long he'd been planning it. But you're going to leave your phone behind, change out your plates. But there's cameras everywhere and you're driving your same car. And like you're a moron.

I hate people like this. And like get a life. She's moved on. She has children. I mean, thank God he didn't harm the kids. Thank God. Which I don't know. I would need, I need like a psychologist in here to tell me why somebody like that wouldn't

harm the kids. I mean, not that I think he should have, obviously. But like, if he had such a rage and if he hated that she moved on and had this new life and have these new kids, like you would think he wanted to wipe out the whole family. and there was hatred, but like, luckily he spared them. Or that he would have done something to the kids to hurt her. Right. So, I mean, it's disgusting.

I know. I also want to take a second really quick to talk about everything that's going on in the Nancy Guthrie case because it is getting wilder by the day. And I'm going to keep this pretty tight, you know, succinct because I have been putting out bonus episodes on the feed, you know, outside of the normal release schedule with these updates as they've been happening just so that you guys can all keep up. But basically, what we know as of right now is there was a lot of activity over the weekend at Annie Guthrie's house. Also at Nancy Guthrie's, there were a lot of searches. They were said to be consensual. At one point, there was a septic tank or a water storage manhole type situation that was being searched. Then earlier this week, they had detained somebody, a person of interest that they wanted to question in connection with Nancy's abduction. However, they released him a few hours later saying that the tip that they got, you know, was a false lead. He didn't have any sort of connection. He has sent spoken out. His mother-in-law has also spoken out. There also was a third note just as of yesterday that TMZ reportedly received, but this note wasn't from the kidnappers. It wasn't a ransom note, but it was a demand for Bitcoin still in exchange for them naming the suspect. In this note,

they provided a new Bitcoin wallet or however that works saying, I'll tell you who's involved if you transfer one Bitcoin, which is approximately $65,000. And they said, you know, time is of the utmost importance, which is interesting because so this came from a different Bitcoin account, some person trying to make a quick buck, but that amount is also pretty similar to the current reward that is out there. I believe the reward amount is about $50,000. So if this person truly was sitting on information, I mean, first and foremost, how about be a cryptic big gumbag and just share what you know? But also, why do you need this cryptic Bitcoin exchange when you could just contact the FBI and get the reward money and be like,

you know, a great citizen? I have a lot of thoughts. I think that this whole situation, I know a lot of people are saying the brother-in-law. I'm not ready to say the brother-in-law, but I do think that it is somebody close to the family or adjacent somehow that potentially there is something going on with money and financial issues, whether this person was caught stealing from a family member or a relative or whether they're in financial trouble themselves and they were trying to make a quick buck. And I think that this whole situation got so out of control that now it's just spinning constantly. Because think about it too, if this was like a real abduction, and I'm not saying it's not a real abduction. But like if this were like a true professional abduction and they're

demanding millions of dollars in ransom money and the family is now saying, we will pay. We will pay you $6 million. We just want our mother back. Yet you're ghosting the family. You're not even contacting them. You're sending these messages to TMZ to Fox News to wherever it is like you're the fucking zodiac. And you're not contacting the family. You're not contacting the FBI. When they clearly have vocalized, we will pay you. Obviously, you're not trying to get. that money. I mean, not in any real tangible way, which leads me to believe it's either something to deflect or they haven't thought it all the way through. I think they're just throwing shit to the wall at this point, the abductor or whoever was involved in this, because I think it's now

spiraled out of their control. And I broke this down way more in detail as to why I believe this, what I believe to be the truth as to who's involved and what's going on on the bonus episode that released on Tuesday. So rather than like rehash and regurgitate all of that here, just go back one episode in the feed. And it's all about that case. And we talked to about the public pleas from Savannah and her family members and, you know, little statements that were said in the press conference and in those pleas that make me

believe they are talking to somebody that they know and that they want to work in part, like in a partnership with them to get Nancy back. But what is interesting, I've been saying that. Unfortunately, I just don't believe that Nancy is alive any longer because I think that these people who are sending these ransoms would have shown proof of life by now. Again, if they actually were truly interested in getting the money. And we know they haven't shown any sort of proof of life. But I also think that something is weird. So I break all of that down and talk more in depth about that.

But something that I was thinking about earlier this morning and last night, Savannah and her brother Cameron have both not only put out videos publicly where they all are side by side, all three of the citizens. siblings, but Savannah and Cameron have put, her brother have put out videos independently on their social medias, playing for their mother safe return for the public's help. Annie has not. And look, I know a lot of people are looking at Annie, a lot of people are looking at her husband. And I'm not saying that she isn't doing that because she's guilty or has some sort of inside knowledge, not at all. But my first thought was, oh yeah, she's not posting on social media and she's gone private and she's underground and all of these things because of all the public scrutiny, right? Everybody is like saying that her husband is involved in this. Like I would get you want to lay low. You don't

want to like divert attention from the investigation where people are just polarized by you and they're focusing on you. And like you also don't want to be scrutinized for your every single move and whatever you say and everything being dissected, which she has been. So I understand that. But also then I took it a step further and thought if my mother been abducted and was being held against her will and there was a ransom, even if people thought I was prime suspect number of. one, I'd be posting on social media because I know that everybody would be lurking my shit, that everybody would be watching my every move. So it's like, that's the way to spread the word faster to get more people involved. So the way that she has just not posted anything while her

other siblings have, not that it makes me think that she's guilty or involved necessarily, but there is something about that that just doesn't rub me the right way. I don't know why. And I could totally be overthinking. It also could be the FBI telling her, you know, go silent. Be radio silent. Don't say anything because there is, you know, bad attention on you right now. There's obviously a lot more people involved in this that are running the strategy behind everything. But that was just kind of my thought. So now we're waiting to hear what the next situation is going to be. Is Nancy alive? They say that they believe that she is, although they haven't given us any sort of indication as to why. We saw the new footage of this person approaching Nancy's house with a full backpack, holster on their hip with either a gun or a taser, full gear, full mouth.

like gloves ready to go. I don't know. Again, I'm not going to just rehash it here because if you listened to the episode two days ago or a day ago, you're going to be like, you're saying the exact same thing. So go listen to that if you haven't yet. But I will keep you updated for sure on everything that goes on with Nancy. I have been posting like wildfire on my Instagram account, which is seriolously pod where I'm posting every like few minutes every time we hear something new, whether it's a video of me, a still graphic, whatever it is. So follow that as well. and make sure you're following the podcast or the YouTube channel because I'm posting these on YouTube as well.

And these updates as they're happening in real time. Last night, I put one out at like 10 p.m., another one this morning at 6 a.m. So sometimes it's not easy for me to record in the studio on the mic, the full update. That's the way to get you the faster information. So make sure you're following Serialessly Pod on Instagram, Annie Elise on YouTube, and of course follow the podcast if you're listening to the audio version of this on Apple or Spotify, so that you don't miss the bonus episodes like the one from yesterday or whatever as they drop. Now, I want to mention something really quick, and I know it's your favorite person on the planet,

and you're going to be so excited. It's about Mike King. Oh, my God. Amy has a crush on Mike King. I love Mike King. I love him, too. He is like a teddy bear. Can I say that? I was just going to say, I just want to give him a big hug. I know. He's the best. So I want to mention a very new interesting podcast by my favorite person in the world, Mike King. He has a true crime channel.

and podcast called Profiling Evil. He's been a guest on my show before. He is, like, the best person in the world. He's a former criminal investigator. He's also a former profiler. So he always will give, like, unique perspectives on cases. He talks a lot about his past history in the field. And he now, he's worked a lot with cults.

Okay, so I've had him on a lot of Cole episodes, too. And he now launched a new seven-part podcast called The Gardens of Evil inside the Zion Colt Society. Now, it's a deep dive into this very secretive cult that was totally embedded in like this seemingly perfect suburban neighborhood in Utah. Think like these manicured lawns, these perfect little houses, friendly neighbors, this tight-knit community, however, behind all of it. It was like the whole community was in a cult. It was psychological warfare going on, sexual exploitation, bringing kids into the fold. And it was all, of course, centered around a very charismatic cult leader. They all are, right? And Mike is the one who,

actually helped dismantle the cult in real life. He wrote a book. The book's called Deceived. And he literally sent me a copy like a couple years ago when he wrote it. And it's about the Zion Society cult. And I read it within one afternoon. It's so good. He gets in there. It talks all about the raid, which he was a part of, the woman who came forward. It's just unbelievable. And even better than all of the amazing work that he's doing, proceeds from his work, support children's advocacy and criminal justice scholarships. So I want to play a quick 30-second trailer for you of his new podcast so that you can hear for yourself. Gardens of Evil Inside the Zion Society cult tells the story of a cult in a Utah suburb

operating in plain sight. I said, you have messed with the wrong woman as I went out the door. And he did. It was our whole life, some form of abuse. Like, I can't think of any time that was just joy. Gardens of Evil Inside the Zion Society cult is the fifth season of the award-winning series American Nightmare. subscribe now on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen.

So definitely check that out. It's going to go on your listening list. No, I was just saying I'm so interested to listen to that. Oh my gosh. And especially because he's got the firsthand experience. So he's always so interesting to listen to. I know. Every single CrimeCon too, he does panels.

And every time I go, I sneak away so I can listen. They're full. They're full. And I cry every time. He's just so good at what he does. So I don't know, guys, check out that podcast or just check out his YouTube channel and podcast Profiling Evil. He's extremely smart and just amazing.

I love him. So thank you guys so much for tuning in to another episode of headline highlights over here on Serialessly. Don't forget, follow the podcast if you're not already. Subscribe on YouTube. If you're not, sometimes YouTube unsubscribes people too. So hit the subscribe button. And I will be back with you on Monday with an all new deep dive.

As a reminder, too, head on over to the Instagram at Seriallessly Pod and follow that because for all of these cases where there's updates breaking every, freaking hour, it seems like, especially like the Nancy Guthrie case, it's easier for me to post over on there. So make sure you're following there. Other than that, I'm winded. It was a lot today. It was a lot today. We're at 52 minutes. It's a lot today. I know. I'm out of breath. I need water. People are going to be like, your vocal fright. I'm just dehydrated. Okay, so have a great weekend. Have a good rest of your Thursday. I will be back with you on Monday. And actually, I'm not done yet. If you did not listen to this week's episodes, go back and listen to them.

We have two, okay? Two brand new ones. Monday on this feed, we put out, actually, I probably shouldn't even tell you to listen to it because it's that awful. And I don't know if you know about this case. The family murders. It's the Australian sex cult. It's like they think like Epstein Files, almost like it's crazy.

And so we talked about that on Monday. And that was a recommendation from someone on our team, right? I think so. They wanted to look into it. Yeah. It's horrific. I don't even know how it. got approved by YouTube, but it did.

And then on Tuesday, we released an episode on our second podcast feed called 10 to Life about a case of a girl who met a guy on Tinder. They hit it off. Things were great. Then she decided to move on, like so many girls do, broke up with him. And he did not take that very well. And it is one of the more, I don't want to say brutal, but like it was invasive a good word. I don't even know a word described, but it's awful and it is so scary to think about.

So two brand new episodes on both of those feeds. Follow both podcasts if you're not already so that you don't miss those. All right. And until the next one, be nice. Don't kill people. Don't join any cults. Stay safe. Stay safe.

What else? Don't go on any cruises for a while. Happy Valentine's Day. Happy Valentine's Day. I know. I hate that I even said that. I don't have a Valentine. Just kidding.

You be my Valentine. You be with you. I have a long time. Yeah. Actually, Jair's going away for the weekend because he has a stupid race again. So you can come out. Valentine's? Valentine's.

You can come be Valentine's with the kiddos? I'd love to. Okay. Emmy will probably like eat all the candy though and steal it and like punch you in the face. But it's fine. All right. Bye guys.