SERIALously - 47: Michael Oher Says 'Blind Side" was a LIE, Rachel Morin Murderer Still Not Found, & Naomi Irion Killer's Pre-Dug Gravesite?!

Episode Date: August 17, 2023

Welcome to this week’s Headline Highlights! In today’s episode, we are going to discuss the latest news on everything true crime related that’s transpired since the last episode. This week, we��re touching on Michael Oher the Former NFL Player who inspired the movie ‘The Blind Side’, the alleged Long Island Serial Killer’s DNA connections in Las Vegas cold cases, Rachel Morin case updates and police Info, and a chilling update in the Naomi Irion case, the 18-year-old who was abducted from a Walmart parking lot in March of 2022. Your True Crime BFF, Annie Elise Beam! Subscribe and save 20%. Plus get an additional 20% off and a free frother with my code 10TOLIFE when you click my link. That's up to 40% off!  http://www.shopbeam.com/annieelise All Social Media Links: https://www.flowcode.com/page/annieelise_  About Me: https://annieelise.com/  SERIALously FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/SERIALouslyAnnieElise/ For Business Inquiries: [e-mail]

Hey, true crime besties, welcome back to an all-new episode of Serialistly. Hey everybody, welcome back to an all-new episode of Headline Highlights over here on Serialistly. As a reminder, if you are a brand new listener, we have now started a new series that is every Thursday and we go over all of the headlines of true crime cases, any new headlines and cases that have broke during the week, any case updates for existing cases that we've been following that happened during the week that maybe aren't full enough updates to warrant a total episode, and really just kind of break down everything that has been going on this week in the true crime world. This is all in addition to our regular Monday episodes where we do full deep dives into single true crime cases. So, welcome back and so happy to have you here today because we have got a lot to talk about.

In today's episode, we're going to discuss the latest news on everything true crime related that has transpired since last week's episode. Because this week, there's a lot. This week, we're going to be touching on Michael Orr and what's going on with that. You may remember that name from the movie The Blind Side with Sandra Bullock and there has been a lot of headlines this week about him. We also are going to be talking about the alleged Long Island serial killer's DNA connections in Las Vegas cold cases. We will be talking about Rachel Moore in case updates, the woman who was found on the trail. We're going to be talking about police info there, plus a chilling update

in the Naomi Erion case, the 18-year-old who was abducted from a Walmart parking lot in March of 2022. So let's start with Michael Orr. The former NFL player Michael Orr, who inspired the film The Blind Side, is currently in a legal battle with Sean and Leanne Toohey, where he is suing them for $15 million. He claims that they took advantage of him and didn't share profits from the movie, which was a huge hit, grossing over $300 million. Now, according to new court filings, Michael argued that Sean and Leanne portrayed themselves in public as his loving, adoptive parents for their own personal gain. He felt that he was quickly handed over the conservatorship papers when he was very young and felt deceived into signing them, thinking that it was about his adoption. Additionally, in his legal submission,

his adoption. Additionally, in his legal submission, Michael claimed that he wasn't aware of the specifics of the 2004 conservatorship until earlier this year, in February of 2023, and he says that it felt like it didn't give him a genuine family bond with Sean and Leanne. According to the LA Times, in Michael's 2011 New York Times bestselling book, he acknowledged the conservatorship, saying that it was basically the same thing as the adoption process. But now, in his current lawsuit, he alleges that Sean and Leanne misrepresented their relationship for personal gain and wants legal restrictions placed on their use of his identity. Michael further claims that he was misled into signing the conservatorship documents, believing that it was part of the adoption process,

saying that they took advantage of his athletic ability and monetized opportunities at his expense. So here's my question. If these claims are true, that makes the two E's sound pretty bad, right? And not only that, but also just like how heartbreaking for Michael that is the main thing here. Sean and Leanne's lawyer responded by stating that if Michael wants to end the conservatorship, that they would happily do so. Their lawyer also emphasized that the couple was devastated over these allegations and that they would fight back against them, saying, and I quote, anyone with basic reasoning can see that the claims Michael is making about Sean and Leanne's family are both painful and overblown. The thought that Sean and Leanne would exploit Michael for

money is laughable. Given their success in the restaurant industry and selling Sean's business for over $200 million, it's hard to believe that they would scheme over money, especially when they've always treated Michael like family. Okay, so a few things here that I want to just touch on because I know that that was a lot of words thrown at you. Basically, Michael is acknowledging that he did sign into the Michael is acknowledging that he did sign into the conservatorship back in 2004, but saying that he thought that that was part of the adoption process. And now he's saying that he's learned more about those documents and what they mean. And he's challenging saying that he was never even adopted, that he was simply placed under a conservatorship. Now, I, of course, am not a lawyer, so I don't know the exact legalities of it.

conservatorship. Now, I, of course, am not a lawyer, so I don't know the exact legalities of it, but I would imagine that there is some sense of not adoption necessarily, but adult guardianship and responsibility if you are in fact somebody's conservator, but I don't know. It just gives me Amanda Bynes vibes. It gives me Britney Spears vibes, so I feel like there's still a lot more to learn with that, And in a recent interview, Sean expressed his frustration about Michael's claims as well. He emphasized that the conservatorship was a necessity due to legal constraints and not for financial gain. He clarified that given Michael's age at the time, adoption just was not feasible and conservatorship was their best option to maintain a legal relationship. According to TMZ, and this is a quote from them,

Sean said, We were so concerned that it was on the up and up that we made sure that the biological mother came to court. As for the allegations that the Toohey family used the conservatorship to negotiate a big movie deal with Fox that netted massive profits for him and his family, Toohey said that that is simply just not the case and never happened. Sean said we didn't make any money off the movie. Well, Michael Lewis, the Blindside book author, gave us half of his share, so everybody in the family got an equal share, including Michael, and it was about $14,000 each. So when I first heard the news, I was kind of thinking, oh my god, if one more

thing comes out as fake or a scam in 2023, I'm quitting the internet. It's just absolutely mind-blowing. Everybody's faking everythingaking everything apparently and not only that but everybody loves that movie the blind side it's for me it's like a comfort movie anytime it's on tv i put it on so they just this kind of just felt like a betrayal all around and even more nuts some people online are now saying that sandra bullock should give her oscar award back which to me is kind of just absolutely insane and people need to get it together a little bit because that has nothing to do with this in my opinion. I just feel like it's a little insane, but whatever. That's my thoughts. So I don't know the truth of what transpired between Michael and the Toohey family, but I'm confident that we will see it all play out in court and we will get all of those details soon. All right, guys, you know that I've been pretty

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I guarantee it. seven months and you will be obsessed. I guarantee it. Moving in to more updates in the Rachel Morin case. Last week, we had discussed the case who is Rachel, the mother of five, who disappeared on a well-known Maryland hiking path on August 5th around 6 p.m. She was reported missing by her boyfriend Richard Tobin at 11 30 on Saturday, and her remains were found less than 24 hours later. Authorities are still frantically searching for any evidence that might point them to the direction of the individual responsible for her death. This search involved both law enforcement and local volunteers who thoroughly examined the forested area for any signs. According to the Baltimore Sun, in hundreds of posts,

reposts, and comments on the Facebook page of the sheriff's office, which made the first post about her disappearance August 5th, local residents expressed a range of sentiments, from concern to speculation. Within hours, the sheriff's office responded to the posts, discouraging people from sharing misinformation and advising anyone with a tip on the case to contact their office. The sheriff said unless it comes from them, everything else is currently unsubstantiated. One of the things that the sheriff has publicly said is not true are some of the rumors that came out last week that were published by multiple news organizations with information given by a witness who said that he and his daughter found Rachel's body in the tunnel.

He painted a graphic picture of what the scene was like, yet the sheriff's department said in a Facebook comment that the individual who made these claims had no knowledge and was not at the scene. This case has been heavily requested, so I am working now to get you more information. So once I do, I will get you guys an update and keep you posted and do a full episode on this over on 10 to Life, and then maybe we will drop it over here on the podcast as well as a bonus episode. So moving into Rex Horman, the alleged Long Island serial killer. Fox News 12 from the Bronx reported yesterday that the Las Vegas Police Department's DNA lab will be conducting a direct comparison this week of the suspected Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex Huerman's DNA, with DNA recovered in the case of murdered New Jersey mom Victoria Camara.

Results are expected in six to eight weeks, and the situation could expand to include four other cold cases that News 12 has reported on in recent weeks. All of the cases involve young sex workers in Las Vegas who were killed in similar circumstances to the Gilgo Beach victims. We've known for a while now that investigators were looking into other states, but I think as we learn more and more about this case and if there are connections across the U.S., we are all in for a haunting and disturbing twist. Was this just limited to the East Coast? How far does this go? How many victims are really out there? It seems like we are just now scratching the surface of that, so more to come on that. Now moving into Naomi Erion. She was a 18-year-old woman who vanished one night from a

Walmart in Nevada on March 12, 2022. Surveillance cameras showed a man walking toward her car and foul play was immediately suspected. During the initial press conferences, the sheriff said that they believe Naomi was kidnapped against her will and that the subsequent emergency phone pings indicated that her phone was turned off. Her body was ultimately found on March 29, 2022, in a remote part of Churchill County, in an abandoned mine, and this was about 90 minutes away from where the alleged kidnapping site was. Now, her story is in the headlines again, because the man responsible killed himself in jail last week. Lyon County Sheriff Brad Pope and District Attorney Steve Rye said that there was no

question Troy Driver kidnapped, raped, and murdered Naomi. In a joint press briefing now 10 days since Driver was found hanging in his jail cell, the sheriff and the DA laid out the case against Driver, who was charged with kidnapping Naomi from that Walmart on March 12, 2022. According to KTVN 2 News Nevada, the Lyon County Sheriff's Office provided new details about his death at a press conference on Wednesday. Deputies say that Troy died in a cell last week, and deputies believe he had strangled himself. Authorities say that the resulting investigation did not show a connection between Troy and Naomi. Also, during the press conference, the sheriff said that Troy already pre-planned the kill site along with a pre-dug grave site.

Troy was also said to have written notes on a deck of cards to his girlfriend last year in August of 2022 that said, there's always been a terrible darkness inside of me. Also, a note that said guilt is crushing, and it also contained information that said he would kill himself rather than pain his family members with his alleged crimes. While in custody, Troy had tried to kill himself twice already before this past week when he ultimately died. Naomi's brother, Casey, posted this on social media, and I quote, We got the call a while before the press release. I deeply regret that he took the easy way out before the trial, but I have no doubt in my mind, given what I have been made privy to, that he is the perpetrator.

A lot of mixed feelings at the moment. been made privy to that he is the perpetrator. A lot of mixed feelings at the moment. Sheriff Pope had said on the record, Troy Driver proved that he was the coward I knew him to be when he took his own life instead of facing justice. I have no empathy for the damned soul of Troy Driver. Sorry guys, I'm really sick, so my voice keeps going out. This is just an incredibly horrible situation, and I can't imagine the mixed emotions and heartbreak that Naomi's family is going through at this time to feel like you're getting justice and that the perpetrator is going to be held accountable and you're going to have a trial for this only to then hear that he took the easy way out and killed himself.

I feel like for myself, I would have a lot of mixed emotions with that. On one side, I would be so happy that the person is dead and no longer living, but not before getting justice and not before having them pay for the crimes and have to take accountability for what they had done. So there's still a lot more going on here, guys. These were some of the main highlights that came out this week in the true crime world. I hope that this new series, Headline Highlights, is useful for you and you find it valuable. If you can, just take a quick second, please,

to rate and review this podcast wherever you're listening to it on. And in the review, if you could just let me know if you enjoy these Headline, that way I know to keep doing them week to week every Thursday. Also, feel free in the reviews to let me know what kind of cases you're interested in and a specific case that maybe you want me to do a deep dive on because it really helps me just figure out how to pivot, how to really figure out what it is you want me to deliver on this podcast for you so that I can pivot and really just like make sure that we are giving you the content that you want. So thanks again for listening to this week's episode of Headline Highlights. I hope you

enjoyed it. I hope you found it useful. Let me know again in the review section what it is you want to hear more of, any specific cases, and if you like this current series. All right guys, I hope you all have a great rest of your week. I will see you bright and early Monday morning with a fresh new deep dive episode and just a little spoiler, it's similar to Alexi Treviso. It is wild. It is crazy. You are not going to want to miss it. So I will catch you on Monday and I will also catch you again next Thursday for headline highlights and some bonus episodes that you know I'm going to secretly drop between now and then. Alright, thanks again for tuning in and until the next one guys, stay safe, have a great week and I will talk with you very, very soon.