SERIALously - 395: Anna Kepner: He Was Obsessed with His Stepsister | Breaking Down The Disturbing New Details

Starting point is 00:00:00 Get road ready with Carquest Auto Parts. Save now on premium brand name products. Castro Magnetech Synthetic Oil 5-liter jugs 297. Rain X Summer Breeze washer fluid, 3.78 liter jug 397. Air 1 diesel exhaust fluid 9.46 liters 1397. Seafone motor treatment 473 milliliters 897. Hit the road with CarQuest for the parts you need. Visit a Carquest Auto Part Store or Carquest.com.Ca for more information in full-flyer details. Only at participating locations.

Starting point is 00:00:30 Hey, true crime besties. Welcome back to an all new episode of serialously. Hello, hello, hello, and welcome back to an all new episode of serialously with me, your host and your true crime bestie, Annie, Elise. Now, I know what you're thinking. You're like, Annie, it's Friday. What the heck are you doing? Why is there an episode out today? You give us episodes on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. What's going on? Well, let me just tell you what's going on. occasionally, this is why it's important that you subscribe to YouTube or follow the podcast if you're not already, because occasionally I will release an episode outside of the regular release calendar. And the reason why is maybe there's a breaking case, maybe there's a press conference, maybe there's a case that I think needs a lot of awareness, whatever the reason may be, sometimes these episodes will drop in outside of the regular release calendar.

Starting point is 00:01:43 And that's why I'm here today, because we have an all-new episode of a case that we definitely need to talk about. Now, if you are a loyal listener to serialously and listen every Monday and Thursday, you know Thursdays are my headline highlights episodes, where I go through everything that's happening that week in true crime, news, updates, trials, whatever's happening that week. And over the last several months, we have been talking a lot about the Anna Kepner case. For those of you who are a bit unfamiliar or don't know all of the details, I'm going to give you a quick little synopsis. But Anna was a beautiful 18-year-old girl who went on a family cruise ship for a family vacation, a family get-together, and was found not only murdered, but just callously discarded and stuffed underneath the bed inside. her cruise ship cabin. Now, details have been coming out for months of what happened to Anna, who's responsible, who's been arrested, what happened leading up to the cruise. And so I've never

Starting point is 00:02:51 done a full deep dive into this case. I've only covered it on headline highlights because it's an ongoing case and there's news not every week, but almost every couple of weeks. And so it feels like that's a natural place for it to live. But so many of you have messaged me about this case or have followed up after a headline highlights being like, I feel like we need more context, like, what was the story like and the relationship like between Anna and her stepbrother before they went on this family cruise? What were some of the allegations that she had made in the past? All sorts of things. And so I decided today to release this episode where I'm going to walk you through all of it. So whether you are familiar with the case or completely unfamiliar, I want to

Starting point is 00:03:36 walk you through everything that we know in this case so far, because a lot of news also has just come out in the last couple of days from Anna's family, saying they're not even going to attend this trial. And we've got, we've now received photos of her stepbrother, which, and I'll get to that in a bit, it's a little controversial. He's a minor, technically. And so with that, because he is a minor, people have been very reluctant to say his name. In fact, he's only been referred to with the initials of TH, and there have not been many photos of him shared. And I'm kind of indifferent to that. I kind of feel like, you know, I get it innocent until proven guilty, but you're charged with a pretty heinous crime. You're being charged as an adult. I think it's okay to float your photo out

Starting point is 00:04:21 there. And I know not everybody will agree with me. It is out there in mainstream media, too. I'm not the only person who's gotten my hands on it. But anyway, my point to be, my point in all of this is that that's the purpose of today's episode to really walk you through all of it, especially if you are familiar just to give you the updates so that all of the information and all of the details in this case can live in one place. So let's start with a little bit of the background and the family dynamics. And I've got all of my notes here. I've got some court documents here. We're going to be going back and forth between the notes and the court documents. And I'm just going to, you know, we're just going to be talking together. So as I mentioned, Anna was a beautiful 18-year-old

Starting point is 00:05:05 school senior. She was a cheerleader, and she was also described as being incredibly close with her family, particularly her now blended family. Now, to give you a little bit of backstory on how that family became blended and what that all entailed, Anna was born on June 13, 2007, to her parents Chris and Heather. However, the two of them divorced when Anna was just four years old in 2011. And according to Anna's mom, Heather, once that divorce was final, she says that she was, quote, purposely left out of Anna's life. So Anna was primarily raised by her father, Chris, alongside her paternal grandparents, Barbara, and Jeff.

Starting point is 00:05:50 Then Chris ended up marrying his second wife, Tabitha, shortly after his first marriage ended in 2011. The two of them share two children together. And according to Tabitha, once she married Chris, she ended up becoming the primary caretaker of Anna, and she raised Anna as if she were her own daughter. However, this marriage, too, ultimately ended in divorce in March of 2023. This was after 12 years of marriage, and because of, I mean, I guess not because of the length of marriage, but for whatever reason, it resulted in a very lengthy, very heated divorce with a custody battle as well. So then, third times a charm, in December of

Starting point is 00:06:34 24, Chris married his third wife, Chantelle Hudson. Chantel entered the marriage with three children of her own, a 16-year-old, or 15 at the time, unclear, named who were going to use as his initials, T.H. And two younger children. Those are also the siblings who were all on the cruise. So like I said, Anna lived in this blended household with her father, her stepmother, alongside multiple step-siblings, including the 16-year-old stepbrother, who later would be identified as the suspect in her murder. And I have to say, the family dynamic overall really became, I guess you would say, paramount or central to this entire situation, because apparently custody disputes involving the stepbrothers'

Starting point is 00:07:24 parents did reveal early concerns. And, you know, I want to be careful with what I say. early concerns about his behavior, but also a lot of tension that it caused in the household because of the custody disputes, because of some of the court filings. And some of the disputes included concerns not only about his behavior, but about him needing more supervision, citing behavioral issues, possible need for more of like a watchful eye, family disagreements about how to handle him. And so it seemed like already there was something, brewing under the surface that appeared to have some behavioral issues and some struggles.

Starting point is 00:08:08 And there were warning signs when Anna was a part of this blended family as well, because she took note of all of this. She saw it, she noticed it, and this wasn't just with his family dynamic. Anna started expressing concerns as well, now that she was a part of the mix. It was all a blended family, remember? And she reportedly expressed fear and discomfort surrounding this stepbrother of hers. And this was all prior to the cruise ship incident. According to statements from her ex-boyfriend's family, she had shared a lot of concerns about him and his behavior, saying that there were very inappropriate things that he would do or remarks that he would say, that he became infatuated with her, that he was obsessive, that he would watch her, spy on her, lurk on her, make unwanted

Starting point is 00:08:56 advances and so much so that it really bothered her. It made her uncomfortable. And she vocalized that to a lot of the people closest to her, which I have to say, and I have said this before, for any women listening, young or old or in the middle, wherever, your intuition is there as your first line of defense. It is so incredibly important that you listen to it and vocalize it. And I know in Anna's case, she was, she was speaking out to a lot of people close to her, But also, I could see where maybe she was a little bit more timid to speak out to her father or to make it a really big issue because she didn't want to rattle things at home. She wanted to appease everyone, make it pleasant, make it a nice co-blended family, all of these things.

Starting point is 00:09:45 But if something like that is affecting you and you're noticing it, it is absolutely imperative that you do speak up and that you vocalize that. And I'm not saying she didn't do it the right way. I think she did it the best she knew how. She was only 18 years old and she did confide in people. But I can't help but wonder if it had escalated and if that concern escalated, given his history of already there being some concerns around his behavior and him needing more supervision, maybe there could have been a different outcome here, possibly. I don't know. there were also reports, according to the New York Post, that he had been previously caught attempting to sexually assault her once before. So you now have this really messy situation and messy blended family.

Starting point is 00:10:40 And what makes this even more unsettling, like I said, is that Anna had already been opening up to people close to her about him. She had expressed that his behavior made her feel uncomfortable and that something about it just did not feel right. And while we, of course, don't have every detail of those conversations, I mean, it's clear that all of this leading up to the cruise, it wasn't happening out of nowhere. There was a pattern of escalation, one could argue. So then fast forward to November of 2025. And this was a little less than a year since when her dad, Chris, married this new woman and inherited this family. And I don't know how long they had dated prior to that, but I'm talking marriage. And maybe they all live together before that.

Starting point is 00:11:26 Who really knows? But this is less than a year after they got married. So the family decides that they're going to go on a family vacation, a cruise. So they board the Carnival Horizon cruise ship. Now, because there were, you know, many siblings, many members of this family, they had to bunk up, right? They had to share cabins. So Anna shared a cabin with her stepbrother and her younger sibling. And I think she was a little uncomfortable about this.

Starting point is 00:11:52 I know there have been reports out there, nothing verified, but her saying, like, again, not, you know, the most ideal situation, but also didn't want to create any sort of tension within the whole family and just kind of, I think there were some reports saying she was even looking forward to being with her younger siblings. So nothing outright worrisome immediately. But then November 6th rolls around. They had already been out at sea for a couple days at that point, I believe. And that night, Anna reportedly told her family members that she was. feeling well. So she went back to the cabin early. And there are reports that at some point during that night or in the early morning hours, somebody heard yelling or disturbances coming from the cabin. So she goes back early. She goes to sleep. She says she's not feeling well. And then there's some

Starting point is 00:12:42 sort of disturbance that is overheard. Fast forward to the following morning, November 7th. And Anna didn't show up for the family activities. I don't know, again, details are a little vague. I don't know if that was breakfast, if that was some sort of meetup by the pool deck or some other deck or what it was. But she didn't meet up for the family activity. So she's reported as missing. Obviously, this is alarming. This is unlike Anna.

Starting point is 00:13:09 She shows up for everything. This was a red flag. Meanwhile, a crew member, specifically a housekeeper, enters the cabin in which she was staying, her cabin where she was. sleeping, and they discover her body underneath the bed. She had been stuffed under the mattress and then wrapped in a blanket and covered with life jackets, as if somebody thought that that was going to conceal her body and nobody would ever find her. And in some accounts, her father even later had confirmed that he saw this traumatic discovery himself. So now you have this discovery of this 18-year-old girl on this cruise ship, stuffed under this bed, covered and concealed in life

Starting point is 00:13:50 jackets trying to figure out what the heck happened here. So of course, they're like, well, who was what last with her? Who else was staying in this cabin? Who last saw her? Who last spoke to her? And the stepbrother was in that same cabin at some point overnight. There was also no confirmed report of any sort of forced entry or an outsider that, you know, came in and was an intruder. So that's why the investigators immediately zeroed in on, you know, it had to be someone inside that room. And not only had Anna been murdered inside that room that she shared with her stepbrother, but the prosecutors allege that she had been sexually assaulted, and then her method of murder was mechanical exphyxiation, specifically by a chokehold or a bar hold, which a bar hold

Starting point is 00:14:38 is basically if you use your whole forearm and all the strength you can and that high amount of pressure to suffocate somebody. So everybody's distraught, right? People on the ship are distraught. Her family. They're trying to figure out what happened here. Who's responsible? What's going on? Obviously, there wasn't an intruder. It had to be someone in. Could he really, at 16 years old, be capable of this? What's the truth? Meanwhile, the stepbrother just completely shuts down. Claims he doesn't remember anything that happened. He blacked out. He doesn't remember things. He's not really showing any sort of concern or remorse. He's also not taking any accountability. He's saying things, details are fuzzy and he doesn't remember anything. And he starts to just shut down pretty much so much so that he ended up being removed for psychiatric evaluation shortly after Anna's body was discovered. And that's because the authorities and or his guardians either viewed him as unstable or his behavior required immediate evaluation. But that being said, his removal also limited how much interaction he had with other people on the ship after.

Starting point is 00:15:46 afterward. So as he's saying he doesn't remember anything and that, you know, it's all fuzzy and he shuts down. Reports indicate that he had not taken prescribed medication for sleep, insomnia, nothing like that during the course of the crew. So it's not like he took an ambient and blacked out and doesn't remember. Or if you've ever taken a sleep aid where it's fuzzy and you don't remember the details and you kind of hallucinate a little bit, nothing like that. So as I said, he was later evaluated psychologically, and then after the ship docked and everybody disembarked, he ended up moving and shuffling between relative to relative after this. And I have to say, because the incident, first let me start here, because the incident happened at sea, the ship contacted federal

Starting point is 00:16:33 authorities before they docked, because this was obviously, it happened at sea. It was a maritime crime. It was something that they needed the FBI to get involved in. And the stepbrother was not immediately arrested. However, he was treated as a key person of interest from the very, very start. Because he was the one sharing a room with her. He was the last one who had been with her. He starts shutting down. He's not talking.

Starting point is 00:16:57 He's not remorseful. He's not sharing information. There are these reports in the past of him being obsessed with her and making moves on her. And now you find her she's sexually assaulted and dead. Coincidentally in a room she shared with him, it's not looking good, right? So he starts shuffling from family member to family member and where he's staying. And he's free, but under a high level of scrutiny, not only from the public, but also from the authorities. So this goes on for a couple of months.

Starting point is 00:17:25 And everybody pretty much knows he's the guy. Family even is speaking out saying, why haven't they arrested him yet? Meanwhile, they are all building their case. And it's like this weird limbo period. For how many months was that? November, December, January. months about where he's free, hasn't been arrested. The family pretty much knows that he is the one who did this. He's shuffled between family members and there is some family who is trying to be there for him as a

Starting point is 00:17:56 family member, but then other family who was speaking out saying, why hasn't he been arrested? Why aren't the police doing their job? What is going on here? Like, what's happening? So then fast forward to February of 26. He was finally arrested and he was charged. But initially, this was handled as a juvenile case because he was only 16 years old. And that enraged a lot of people from the very start, myself included, because it seemed to me that there was a pattern, that there was escalation. I get it 16 years old. But if you have the wherewithal to not only commit such a heinous crime and a sexual assault on someone close to you, on anybody, but on someone close to you, then try to conceal her body, cover it up, then personally shut

Starting point is 00:18:41 down, evade questions, not cooperate in any regard. That shows planning. That feels a little methodical to me. So when it was first announced that he was going to be, it was going to be handled him as a minor, I was like, this is bullshit. Because also in Florida, and I get that this is a federal case, but in Florida, one of the main things in a lot of cases I've covered is that if somebody is tried as a minor, if they are convicted, they are out by, I believe it's, is it 21, it's either 21 or 23, no matter the crime. So what, this guy could be in for four or five years and then be out after a sexual assault and a murder? It did not sit right with me. But then things started escalating. And on April 13, 2026, a federal grand jury indicted him

Starting point is 00:19:33 as an adult on first-degree murder and aggravated sexual assault. So that made the case move to adult court, which that made a lot of people happy, myself included, because now there can be some real accountability here, some real justice for Anna. So as of now, the stepbrother is currently scheduled to go on trial on June 1st, 2026. This is going to be in federal court in Miami, Florida. He has pleaded not guilty by it through his lawyers, but get this, he's out, he's released, he's on bond, he's out there walking freely, which also angers me, because I get that he's, he's, young, but if somebody now is getting notified that they're being charged as an adult and the walls are closing in, who's to say he's not going to, A, try and flee, B, try and Brian Laundery himself

Starting point is 00:20:26 and take his own life because he's too much of a coward to face the music, who's to say that you're going to actually get justice for Anna here? And that's been a lot of what's been in the media lately because the prosecutors are pushing back saying like, look, you need to revoke his release and his bond. You need to hold him while the defense is arguing, no, he should remain out while he's awaiting trial. The trial is scheduled, though, to start, as I said, June 1st, which we are planning to attend. It's a little bit more difficult being a federal trial, but we are doing our best right now to get everything in line so that we can attend that. Now, in the meantime, over the next several weeks, there have been and there will be even more hearings and motions and all sorts of things because, of course, the custody status, jail versus release. Because this is a federal case, it's going to be a lot more complicated as well because it's maritime jurisdiction. It didn't happen on land. It happened on a cruise ship. And I think one of the biggest things that people are holding on to is the fact that he's being tried as an adult despite being 16 years old. But if convicted, because he's being tried as an adult,

Starting point is 00:21:33 he could face life in prison. Now, the family's response to all of this, they have not spoken out in a big way, at least not many of them. And that's why a lot of details in this case have been hard to come by because there's a minor involved, family's not really speaking, a lot of things have been sealed. The majority of the information will come out during the trial. However, Anna's father has publicly said that the trauma of finding her body, that it's too painful to relive. And so because of that, the family plans to honor her life rather than attend the trial, which I think is a pretty big statement and kind of actually is reminiscent of what happened with the Idaho murders. Some of the family members, not all, but some of the family members of the four students who were brutally murdered by Brian Coburger had said even while the trial was still scheduled to take place that they would not be attending because they didn't want to remember their loved ones that way. They didn't want to give Brian the attention and that they prefer to just honor their lives.

Starting point is 00:22:36 And so this is something that we have seen in the past. Now, let's talk more about the issues leading up to this. Because family members had told news outlets that Anna and her brother, her stepbrother, were, quote, two peas in a pod, just like any other brother and sister. She also said that she knew that the two of them really cared about each other in what she says is the right way. Interpret that how you want. But going more towards the allegations that Anna made against her stepbrother, her ex-boyfriend Joshua said that the relationship between Anna and T.H. was far from perfect. He mentioned that in the time he dated Anna, she confided to him multiple times that she was afraid and very uncomfortable being around her stepbrother. According to her ex-boyfriend Joshua, the stepbrother

Starting point is 00:23:27 was obsessed with Anna, and she would often sleep over at her friend's house because she was too uncomfortable to be around her stepbrother. And get this, nine months before Anna was murdered, there was a very disturbing incident involving her stepbrother during a FaceTime call. During the call, her stepbrother entered Anna's room and then inappropriately tried climbing on top of Anna. Joshua, the boyfriend at the time, confronted him about the incident, and he allegedly ran away. Now, a younger sibling who was staying in the same cabin as Anna and her stepbrother allegedly told the ex-boyfriend that there was a heated altercation in the room involving the stepbrother, where there was, quote, yelling and chairs being thrown inside the cabin.

Starting point is 00:24:15 According to Josh, the younger sibling, though, stopped talking to him after the FBI intervened and warned the family about speaking out about the investigation. And that's probably because they don't want to taint the evidence. And like I said, we're going to learn so much at trial. But Stephen, Josh's father, told a news source inside edition to be specific that Anna was scared of her stepbrother, not only because of his advances that were obviously not wanted, but also because he, quote, always carried around a big knife. He also reiterated his son Josh, the ex-boyfriends, claims that he allegedly caught

Starting point is 00:24:54 Anna's stepbrother climbing on top of her. So a lot of things that, again, in my opinion, look like clear escalation and repeating patterns and a predator. But it's going to be interesting what comes out in the trial. Number one, I absolutely think that there are going to be text messages shown, if not from before the cruise and showing Anna's discomfort and what she confided in people, certainly probably from that night and phone calls she made or text messages. I also think that his digital footprint, T.H. The 16-year-old stepbrother, his digital footprint is going to come into play in a very large way. What had he been searching? What had he been Googling? What kind of porn sites was he watching? What kind of how often was he visiting her profiles? Did he have photos that he or videos that he, you know,

Starting point is 00:25:47 snuck on his phone and would record of her in secret? There is going to be so much. that comes into play, not to mention the actual act itself, the sexual assault, the DNA evidence, the DNA left behind from his skin cells if doing the bar hold, allegedly, if it was him, which I think we all collectively know it was, but, you know, innocent until proven guilty, I get it. I think that there is going to be a lot of evidence. So with that, too, if he knows or even has any sort of inkling, and I get it, 16-year-olds are immature, but if he has any sort of idea, the amount of evidence that they have against him,

Starting point is 00:26:25 wouldn't that be all of the more reason for him to Brian Laundry himself, too, and, like, not show up? So the fact that he is walking free right now, and take all of that aside, I don't know what the court order has been, I've seen mixed reviews, what the court order has been about him being around his other siblings or step siblings. There's been, I can't speak on that entirely because there have been mixed sources out there. But this kid, who is being tried as an adult, so arguably you could say it doesn't even matter that he's a kid. This person is allegedly a predator, a child predator. So the fact that you are allowing him to just walk freely on the streets, who's to say he's not going to do this again? Who's to say he's not

Starting point is 00:27:08 thinking in his mind, I'm going to go away, life in prison, might as well get my kicks in now while I can. Like, this is a danger to society and to other children. Why would you allow him to do? just walk around. And maybe there's something that I am totally missing that is way over my head because I'm not a lawyer, which fair totally get that. But this just seems grossly irresponsible, in my opinion. It truly does. And where is the justice for Anna and her family and all of that? As I said, we are going to learn so much more when the trial comes. I will be keeping you updated with that in real time as it's happening. But right now, there are a lot of key takeaways from all of this. There were clear warning signs before the crime itself.

Starting point is 00:27:51 There was fear. There was alleged prior assault. There was alleged obsession and infatuation. We know that this crime also occurred in a very enclosed, shared space, that cruise ship cabin, making the timeline and the access critical in this case. And it's also very complicated. You have blended family dynamics. You have this juvenile suspect being treated as an adult. You have conflicting early narratives, him saying memory loss.

Starting point is 00:28:19 It was medication. It was this. It was that. And you have Anna's outcries from prior to the crews. So how is it all going to be wrapped together? I'm sure the prosecution obviously has their game plan in place. But it's going to be interesting to see what else we learn as this continues to move forward in the court system. But like I said, I wanted to just have it all here for you in one episode so that you can be fully caught up with the case,

Starting point is 00:28:46 of the details. And look, I know not a lot of people are going to agree with naming him or showing his photo. I haven't said his name on here, although I know it. But I have shown his photo. And the reason why is very similar to Aden Fucci with Tristan Bailey, another case in Florida. He was a 14-year-old boy who murdered his 13-year-old classmate, stabbed her over 100 times in the woods. And he was tried as an adult as well. His photo long-released before, and Snapchat videos and everything long released before he ever was convicted because, you know, I don't even know. Like, it looks obvious. And I get it. Air on the side of caution. But like, look, other mainstream media outlets have published it. So what's the problem with little me if I'm publishing it too?

Starting point is 00:29:33 And not for nothing. But when you see his picture, especially a side-by-side with Aden Fucci, it feels very similar, at least to me, which if you're listening to the podcast version of this, maybe scoot on over to YouTube so you can see the side-by-side. it feels way too close for comfort for me. Anyways, I will keep you posted on what happens in this case. Let's all hope that Anna and her family get the justice they deserve. And this predator, in my opinion, this alleged predator, I'll just say that, throw him a bone, is taken off the streets so that no other person is harmed by him.

Starting point is 00:30:09 Or so that Anna gets justice and he doesn't off himself, like coward-ass Brian Laundry. All right, guys, I know. this one was a little bit sloppier than usual because I had my notes, my tablet, all of the things going at once, but appreciate you listening. And as a reminder, too, these episodes that come out as bonus episodes, not in the regular release schedule, the only way you'll get notified of them is if you are pressing the button to follow the podcast or if you're watching on YouTube, press the subscribe button. So go push that right now because these do come up pretty often. All right, thank you so much for listening today and until the next one. Be nice. Don't kill people.

Starting point is 00:30:45 be a creep and always have your guard up unfortunately. All right. Bye.

SERIALously - 395: Anna Kepner: He Was Obsessed with His Stepsister | Breaking Down The Disturbing New Details

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