True Crime with Kendall Rae - Wife Survives Husband’s Lead Poison Attempt: The Hannah Pettey Case
Episode Date: July 17, 2025In 2022, a 25-year-old Hannah Pettey got away with her life and her kids–an extremely lucky end to the situation she was in. Her husband, 36-year-old Brian Mann was charged with attempted murder aft...er authorities say he was trying to poison Hannah with lead. How did Mann get his hands on the toxic metal? As a chiropractor, he was having some lead installed in the walls of the X-ray room in his office… an X-ray room that he also made use of to try to proclaim his innocence. He was suggesting that he couldn’t have poisoned his wife, he was being poisoned with lead as well. But when questioned further on that, he could hardly hide his fear of getting caught. — Help choose a name for Our Rescue's newest ESD K9: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FA... More about Our Rescue: https://ourrescue.org/?gad_source=1&g... — This episode is sponsored by: Nutrafol - promo code: KENDALLRAE Earnin - When you download the app, type in True Crime with Kendall Rae under PODCAST. Olipop Function Health - promo code: TCKR100 Check out my foundation: Higher Hope Foundation: https://www.higherhope.org/ Watch my documentaries: 530 Days: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjUWkmOjNLk Apartment 801: https://bit.ly/2RJ9XXr True Crime with Kendall Rae podcast: Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3rks84o Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3jC66pr Shop my Merch! https://kendallrae.shop Check out my other podcasts: Mile Higher (True Crime) @milehigherpod YouTube: https://bit.ly/2ROzJcw Instagram: http://instagram.com/milehigherpod The Sesh (Current events, a little true crime, pop culture, and commentary) https://bit.ly/3Mtoz4X @the_seshpodcast Instagram: https://bit.ly/3a9t6Xr *Follow My Social!* @KendallRaeOnyt Instagram: http://instagram.com/kendallraeonyt Facebook: https://bit.ly/3kar4NK True Crime TikTok: https://bit.ly/3VDbc77 Personal TikTok: https://bit.ly/41hmRKg REQUESTS: General case suggestion form: https://zfrmz.com/yg9cuiWjUe2QY3hSC2V0 Form for people directly related/close to the victim: https://zfrmz.com/HGu2hZso42aHxARt1i67 Join my discord to chat with other viewers about this video, it’s free! https://discord.com/invite/an4stY9BCN C O N T A C T: For Business Inquiries - kendallrae@night.co Send me mail: Kendall Rae 8547 E Arapahoe Rd Ste J #233 Greenwood Village, CO 80112
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Hello everyone and welcome back to another episode of True Crime with Kendall Rae.
Thank you so much for joining me today.
As always, I'm so happy to have you here and if you're new to the show, then welcome.
Well guys, today we are going to be covering another survivor story and I am so happy that I
got such great feedback on the last survivor story we did and the one before
that as well because I love doing these stories it's very uplifting it kind of
balances out some of the tougher episodes that I do and I think these
stories are just so inspiring and today I'm gonna be telling you about the amazing Hannah Petty
and the fact that she managed to survive, man.
Oh my God.
I think you guys will agree with me.
It was nothing short of a miracle.
And this week I really wanted my weekly donation
to go directly to the victim in today's case.
So Hannah, I'm not sure if you'll see this,
but my team and I are going to work on trying
to reach out to you because we would love
to offer you a Hope Grant through my foundation,
Higher Hope, and I think we can find a good way
to support you, so you should be expecting
a message from us shortly.
And speaking of Higher Hope, today I wanna just take
a couple of minutes at the beginning of this episode
to give you guys a quick mid-year update on everything that we've been able to do so far with higher
Hope and I could not be more proud of the impact that we've been able to make and it's truly
Thanks to all of you that we've been able to do any of it
So let me just run you quickly through a couple of numbers and then like I said
I do have a very exciting announcement and a way that you guys can get involved.
So in 2025 so far,
Higher Hope has processed 18 total grants.
That breaks down to 10 Hope grants and eight Empower grants
for a total of $117,441 in total funds dispersed.
And I am so, so proud of that.
I mean, Higher Hope has been able to do even more
than I imagined it could.
And I can't wait to see where we go from here.
And we also just recently launched
our new and improved website.
So if you guys wanna learn more about what we're doing,
I definitely recommend giving it a look.
And I'll of course have that linked below.
And also our Instagram account will be linked below
so you can follow along with what we're doing there.
Now I also wanted to quickly highlight
one of our incredible nonprofits that we've worked with this we're doing there. Now I also wanted to quickly highlight one of our incredible nonprofits
that we've worked with this year called Our Rescue
and oh my gosh, they are incredible.
The work that they're doing is super inspiring
and very, very impactful.
And I'm really excited about this partnership
but I think you guys will be really interested to hear
what they're doing and the way that we have gotten involved
which I have been
wanting to tell you guys about for a long time.
So Our Rescue, if you've never heard of them, they work with partners and communities around
the globe to provide essential services to people who have been or could be sex trafficked
and exploited.
Their efforts work to end sex trafficking and child exploitation while empowering survivors
to reclaim their lives.
And Our Grant specifically went to their
Global Electronic Storage Detection or ESD canine program.
And it's really amazing what these dogs do, you guys.
ESD canines use their skills to help law enforcement
find electronic storage devices like SD cards,
external hard drives, and tablets during search warrants
that could possibly contain CSAM, which is child sexual abuse material. And this was so amazing to me. I will never
understand how they train these dogs to do this and how dogs just have this natural capability to
be taught to do this, but they are specifically trained to detect a chemical scent that is found
in the glue of the devices used to prevent overheating.
And because these devices are incredibly small, authorities could obviously have trouble locating
them and so after completing an initial search, ESD canines then do a search of their own,
hoping to find key evidence that otherwise may not have been found. And in 2023 alone, our rescues canines led to a whopping 759 predator arrests
and 230 victim rescues. And when I learned about all of this, I knew I wanted to get
involved. So with the help of our Empower grant, we were able to fully fund a dog to
be trained and placed here in Colorado in Loveland. Now we actually don't have one in
Colorado, which blew my mind. and I certainly wanted to make sure
that my lovely state gets one.
And these dogs, you guys, they're very expensive.
So again, I just wanted to say thank you to all of you
for your support over all the years
that allowed us to fund this dog fully.
And this is where you guys get to come in.
We have the honor to name this dog, and so is where you guys get to come in. We have the honor to name this dog and
so we wanted your input. The Mile Higher Media team came up with a bunch of different names. It
was really hard to narrow it down and at this point in time we don't know if the dog is a male
or a female so we have three male names and three female names that we settled on and we want you
guys to be the tiebreaker I guess. So the three male names that we came up with are Orion, Charlie, and Ghost.
And then the three female options that we came up with are Hope, of course, that's my personal favorite.
Also Rebel, which I really love, and Luma.
So I will have a Google form where you can vote linked in the description or show notes,
whether you are watching or listening to this episode and
Voting closes on July 27th at midnight
I will also make sure that we have a little sort of explanation of our thought process behind the names as well and the winning
Names for each gender will be announced on higher hope socials on Monday, July 28th at 12 p.m
MST and I also just wanted to thank everyone who has made a donation to Higher Hope
at any point in time since we've launched,
which we're coming up on one year.
Really excited about that.
But we have had some amazing reoccurring donors
and some really big donors as well.
And it just means the world to me.
So if you are interested and in a position
to make a donation, we would really, really appreciate
the support and it will only allow us to do more and more for victims of violent crime
and their families.
Thank you for listening to all of that.
I know that was a very long intro, but it was a lot of important information to go over.
But without any further ado, let's go ahead and jump into today's case.
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All right. So like I was saying,
today's episode is focused on the survival story of Hannah Petty.
And all of this took place in an area of northern Alabama called
Decatur. That's where she and her now ex-husband, Brian Mann, were living with their two kids.
Now, to my understanding, during the time that all of this was taking place, Hannah's primary job was
raising their children, which is a very difficult job. But I have also seen some sources report
that she worked part-time as well as an esthetician,
but I'm not totally sure on that.
I couldn't get confirmation, so I guess don't quote me on it.
Now as for Brian, he was a chiropractor and ran the advanced chiropractic business up
in Decatur.
And it seemed like he was well-liked and doing pretty well. I took a look at the reviews for Advanced Chiropractic
and yeah, they were mostly positive.
One of them said,
I have been dealing with chronic back pain for 10 years.
A coworker told me about Dr. Mann's office
and said that I should make an appointment
and that it could really help me.
I made an appointment as quick as possible
and I'm so thankful I did.
My first experience with Dr. Mann and his staff was great.
They are all extremely respectful and polite.
Dr. Mann listened to my history slash complaints,
and by the end of the visit, he had a plan ready to help me out.
There's also this one, which is my personal favorite.
Advanced chiropractic is a professional and uplifting environment.
The staff is friendly and easy to work with, including setting up appointments.
My doctor who treats me is Dr. Man, who is knowledgeable in his field and the only chiropractor
I trust, and you should too.
And obviously, this person had no idea what Lion Man actually was capable of.
And the irony is just kind of hard to ignore here, because that son of a bitch is really
the last person I'd ever
trust. And from what I understand, nobody in Lion Brian's life really had any idea what he was
capable of, including Hannah. I mean, she had no idea whatsoever that her husband of all people
could be evil enough to do what he tried to do. I also do want to point out before we go any further that this case is
Sort of under reported on in my opinion. There are very limited sources available and some of them have conflicting information
So there's a pretty big
Discrepancy when it comes to the status of their relationship and it's possible that I'm sort of over thinking
to the status of their relationship, and it's possible that I'm sort of overthinking the wording of things, but I do want to try to explain it.
So I guess a lot of the reporting on this case is that Hannah and Brian were going through
a divorce, which of course, in my mind and most people's mind, you would think that that
would mean that they were actively going through a divorce as all of this is unfolding.
But there's also a good amount of sources that say that she filed for divorce right after everything
happened, so just not totally sure there. I guess it's possible that they were in the process of
divorcing during all this and then the paperwork was officially filed after, so maybe that's the
case. But the wording is just unspecific enough that I'm not going to You know be super confident in saying that this is exactly what was going on in their relationship
So just be aware of that as I'm explaining. I will say though that based on what this asshole did he
You know pretty clearly wanted to get out of this relationship
but rather than getting a divorce like a normal person and
Deal with it that way,
Brian tried to kill Hannah, the mother of his children.
So this all started in the summer of 2021 and Hannah was young.
I believe she was about 23 years old and Brian at the time was 34.
And I would be curious to know how the conversation initially started.
But my understanding is that Brian
told Hannah that he had this multivitamin supplement that she should take that would
help boost her immune system.
And it sounds like it was something he was trying to tell her that he got through his
chiropractic business, which of course made it seem like he truly cared about his wife's
health as any husband should, right?
And because she had no
reason not to believe him, she began taking these multivitamins. But then starting in about August,
she started to get really, really sick. And I'm not talking about like cold symptoms or nausea
and some aches and pains, nothing like that. Hannah's health was declining rapidly
and in a very scary way.
Between September of 2021 and January of 2022,
she lost 40 pounds and at one point
weighed as little as 84 pounds.
She also experienced excruciating pain
in her back and abdomen,
as well as debilitating dizziness and extreme nausea.
And I read that at one point it even got so bad that she had to roll around in her home
in, you know, just like an office rolly chair to get around, like sort of a makeshift wheelchair.
And I'm sure this won't come as a surprise to any of you, but Lion Brian was super against the idea
of her going to see a doctor because of course he's a chiropractor, he knows how to handle this situation.
And I'm not sure how he convinced her not to,
but if I were to guess, I would,
I mean, he probably convinced her that
she just didn't need the help or that he could help her
or that this would pass or something.
I think the fact that he was a chiropractor
and like owned his own business,
he probably was trying to say like,
I am the one who can,
I can take care of you better than a doctor can.
Like these doctors are quacks.
I mean, obviously I'm paraphrasing and guessing,
but that's kind of the vibe I get about Brian Mann.
And I'm not just saying this for no reason.
I mean, part of the reason I believe that is because Hannah has come out and said that while she was sick
That was the nicest like the most caring
Brian had ever been to her in their relationship throughout their entire marriage, which mind you started in 2018
Those five or so months where she was sick was apparently the peak of his kindness.
Now like I said, we don't have a ton of insight into what their relationship looked like,
but apparently he kept her pretty isolated.
One article reads, quote, looking back, I was isolated.
On the stand, she said that man did not want her to work and deleted her social media accounts
after they were married in 2018.
And based on that alone, I think we can all agree that at the very least,
there was some type of manipulation going on in their relationship,
and, you know, we've talked about it in plenty of other episodes before,
but isolating someone from their friends and family is a form of abuse,
and also forcing them to delete their social media can be a major control
tactic and way to isolate someone.
And the fact that Hannah was getting sicker and sicker and Brian didn't want her to get
help tells me a lot about him, and I'm sure you are already starting to put the pieces
together here of what's going on, right?
So thankfully, eventually her mom had to really just put her foot down and of what's going on, right? So thankfully, eventually
her mom had to really just put her foot down and say, you know what, you need to go to
the hospital. Enough is enough. This is dangerous.
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agreement for details. Service is not available in all states. So in January of 2022, they went to the University of Alabama,
Birmingham Hospital without Brian's knowledge, mind you.
And it's a good thing that they did because Hannah was later told that if she
had waited even one more day to come in, she would have already been dead.
That's how bad things had gotten at this point. day to come in, she would have already been dead.
That's how bad things had gotten at this point.
Now, I learned that at first, doctors thought there was a possibility that she could have
even had stomach cancer, but within a week, they managed to give her the diagnosis that
forever changed her life.
Hannah was suffering from extreme lead poisoning, and they even ended up having
to put her in a medically induced coma. And from start to finish, she spent about two
months in the UAB hospital, and they literally described her x-rays as looking like there
was a glitter substance inside of her. And if you're watching this episode, look at
that. I mean, I totally see what they're talking about. It does look like glitter.
It reminds me of like AI Instagram glitter posts
that I've seen.
Except there is nothing pretty about these X-rays, you guys.
Those little specks are lead,
which had accumulated over time.
And what's so scary about lead poisoning too,
and I didn't actually know this,
but you don't feel the effects about lead poisoning too, and I didn't actually know this, but you don't
feel the effects of lead poisoning right away.
It really does have to build up in your body and it takes time in order for you to start
really experiencing the symptoms.
And so obviously, it makes it that much more dangerous because by the time that you know
you've been poisoned, you're likely already really, really sick.
Or it's too late.
And some of the symptoms include high blood pressure, joint and muscle pain, difficulties
with memory or concentration, headaches, abdominal pain, mood disorders, irritability, loss of
appetite, weight loss, sluggishness, and fatigue.
Lead poisoning also impacts your brain and nervous system, kidneys,
blood, heart, reproductive system, digestive system, as well as your bones
and teeth. Although I'm sure it's not really surprising to any of you out
there that lead poisoning can be so catastrophic. I mean, I think we all know
at this point that lead is something we clearly need to stay away from and I'm sure it's a
Also a pretty well-known fact that they used to put lead in paint actually and it was for many reasons
But one of which was the fact that it made paint more durable and then people realized how dangerous it was
So in the late 70s, the US government ended up banning it
however, some older homes do still have it. So the effects of lead poisoning were
and are still persistent to this day.
And in Hannah's case, it was very clear
that she had consumed a lot of it.
And doctors were confused.
One of her doctors even said
that her blood lead level was in the 80s,
which for reference,
a blood lead level of 10 micrograms per deciliter
is typically considered a level of concern.
So the fact that hers was in the 80s was just mind blowing.
And sources say that she was also admitted to the hospital
with acute respiratory failure,
which undoubtedly had to have been related.
So the big question here became,
how did she consume so much lead
and why didn't she seek help sooner?
And the answer to both of these is Brian Mann.
Now it does sound like some people suspected him literally right off the bat, but of course
with law enforcement they needed proof first.
And so the Hart Cell Police Department took on the investigation and they did so after
they were notified of Hannah's condition
by the Morgan County Department of Human Resources.
And their natural first course of action
was going to the home to see if they could figure out
where the lead was coming from.
Which brings us to Brian acting like he had no clue
how she had gotten so sick.
According to court documents, quote,
"'Brian led investigators through the house
and assisted in
looking for something that may have been in the home. Brian told investigators that he only knew
of Hannah to take one vitamin capsule, one prescription pill, one gummy, and one prescription
powder. Brian also said that Hannah always ate fast food and would pick up at different restaurants
in town. And so obviously with the whole fast food thing, it's very clear what he is trying to do,
trying to shift blame for that high of a blood lead level to fast food companies around where they live.
I mean, come on, dude, you really tried to do that? Okay.
But of course, these officers were like, what the hell are you talking about?
And they're thinking, okay, this has to have
come from the home, right? And of course, they were very concerned about that because
there were two young kids living in the home. So they did a search of the house and they
don't end up finding anything. Then just a few days later, they searched the home again,
and this time with the Alabama Department of Public Health. And it's reported that some
samples were taken from the house. However,
all of those results came back negative.
And even if it didn't appear like it was coming from inside the home,
they still wanted to know, of course,
if Brian or the kids had somehow also been infected. So of course,
they advise him to go ahead and get tested and get his kids tested as well.
And at some point he ends up telling the police that his kids tested negative, but he was
still looking for a place to get tested himself, which...
Okay, dude. Very, very illogical surprise you even tried to go with that lie, Lion Brian,
which you're... I think you're very good at lying, apparently, but it's so obvious.
I mean, if the kids were able to get tested, why wouldn't you have been able to get tested
at the same place?
Like, come on, it's not that hard.
It feels like he was just stalling at the end of the day trying to drag this on as long
as he could, which will make more sense later.
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Now it is a little unclear when exactly this happened, what span of time it was, but at
some point, Brian shows up at Decatur Morgan Hospital and he tells a nurse that he had
done an x-ray on himself, which showed that he had a substance in his colon.
And I'm sure some of you out there might be wondering, how did he do an X-ray on himself?
That's something that the average person
doesn't have access to do.
Well, remember he is a chiropractor
and he had an X-ray machine at his chiropractic business.
And I'm sure the nurse was like,
okay, that's great that you were able to do your own X-ray,
Brian, a little DIY on your own time,
but we're gonna do a X-ray here at the hospital
with our equipment, okay?
But of course, when she tells Brian that they needed to run their own tests, he became,
quote, visibly nervous, and she actually thought that he might just leave. But luckily, he did
finally just agree to go ahead and be tested, but he clearly had made an issue out of it. It wasn't
an easy process, but once they did, they actually did find a substance in his stomach.
But get this, you guys.
They could tell that the substance hadn't been in there for that long.
Not only that, but he also wasn't showing any symptoms.
And as I explained earlier, it does take a little while for the symptoms associated with lead poisoning to actually show up.
So that confirmed also that it hadn't been in there for very long either. a little while for the symptoms associated with lead poisoning to actually show up.
So that confirmed also that it hadn't been in there for very long either.
And so ultimately, the Heart Cell Police Department came to the conclusion that, quote,
Brian intentionally, that's right, ingested lead to provide the impression that he was also being poisoned.
Investigators have determined through witness interviews that Hannah has been sick for several months
and Brian has not been sick.
And big shocker here,
but by the time they came to this conclusion,
Bri-Bri had gone from responsive and helpful
to unresponsive and unhelpful.
And here's the real kicker, okay?
His motive was not hard to figure out, not at all,
because just days after Hannah left the motive was not hard to figure out, not at all, because just days
after Hannah left the hospital was when she filed for divorce, which I sort of mentioned
earlier. What I didn't mention though is that this is when she dropped her murder allegations
against him, and she had detailed in paperwork that Brian had taken out multiple life insurance
policies on her without her knowledge.
And are we shocked? This is how it always goes down. So no, we are not. And you guys,
oh, he's such an idiot. These people that do this just, I will never understand how they're
so stupid. Oh my God. In total, this guy had five policies on her which totaled 1.3 million dollars
Okay, and there were even two more policies for 1.5 million, but those were
Luckily denied the first one was taken out in 2020 and I believe she may have known about that one
But the rest he got in 2021, literally leading up to her
going to the hospital.
Like dude, you are such an idiot.
People that take out these life insurance policies, especially right before they try
to commit murder or commit murder and think they're not going to get caught.
Like there's just no thought behind these people's eyes.
There's no brain in their heads.
I don't know how they are functioning as human beings
if they really think this is a solid plan.
And for how stupid Brian is,
he is much, much more evil than he is stupid
because can you imagine actually wanting someone
that you loved at one point, hopefully, and had kids with,
was the mother of your children, pushed them out of her body.
You want her to suffer slowly from lead poisoning?
You're so sick.
And poor Hannah, she actually said when she woke up from that coma, she had a hard time
believing that Brian could have been the person responsible for putting her there.
And I just can't imagine having to come to terms with that.
I mean, to wake up for a coma and learn that your husband of all people might be the reason why,
especially since she had just talked about how in the time leading up to this when she was sick,
he was the nicest he had been to her.
He was almost caring and loving and, you know, supportive that he had ever been in their whole marriage. And to learn
that that was all a facade and he was secretly trying to kill her in one of the most painful
evil ways possible. I don't know how you ever get over that. So her family also kept him away from
her and the kids after all of this, rightfully so, which was reportedly tough
for her to deal with, and I can see why.
But the reality is, the only change in her routine during that time was the addition
of those multivitamins which were given to her by him.
And like a little sicko, he would lay them out on her bedside table every night along
with a glass of water and remind her to take them.
At the end of the day,
it just really couldn't have been anyone else,
and there was nothing in the house to suggest
that the lead had gotten into her system by accident,
especially at those levels.
I mean, come on.
And here's something else that's super messed up.
Apparently, in the doctor's visits leading up
to her actual
hospitalization, Brian was more concerned with health insurance covering her
expenses than her actual health and this, oh my god, blew my mind. I was telling
Josh about it this morning, my husband, and he was just like, wow, this is scary
stuff. So he would make her wear ankle weights while she was being weighed at the doctor's office
to cover up the fact that she had lost so much weight,
which I guess in hindsight also kind of makes sense
when you think about the fact
that he's taking out these life insurance policies, right?
He needed her to appear to be healthy
in order to get the coverage that he did.
And I'm sure he was telling her at the time,
he had to come up with some reason
to convince her to wear the weights, right?
So I'm sure he was,
and this is just my speculation and guess,
but I'm sure he was saying something like,
we need insurance coverage
and the only cover if you're healthy,
so we've got to do this.
Like some kind of manipulative bullshit like that.
And I'm sure this will come as a huge shock to you,
but Brian was actively denying his involvement.
And in April of 2022,
he claimed there was no probable cause for the investigation.
He even said that this was just his wife's way
of extorting him for money.
Nice dude.
But Brian is the only criminal here.
And if they didn't already have enough evidence
to absolutely nail his ass, a call from someone that Brian knew just sent this case right over the edge.
In the summer of 2022, the Hartsell police got a call from a guy who said that he had
worked on a construction project at Brian's chiropractic office.
And this project, you guys, it involved installing lead into the walls of his x-ray
rooms. Now, some of you probably already know this, but if you don't, x-ray rooms need
lead in the walls because it's effective at reducing or blocking radiation exposure.
So basically, this guy tells police that he installed the lining, and when he was done,
Brian told him that he would take care
of the leftover lead. And I'm sure at the time the guy was thinking, hmm, why would you want to take
care of the leftover lead? Very strange, right? Now he said this was done in 2021 and big shocker,
it aligns exactly with when Hannah started getting sick. And so finally, in September of 2022, almost a year from when she started experiencing symptoms,
Brian was arrested and indicted for attempted murder.
However, he did manage to post his $500,000 bond, and within five days, he was able to return home.
Thankfully, though, Hannah and the kids had moved into an apartment,
which partially makes me sad that her life
had to be uprooted and moved.
But at the same time, I'm not sure I'd wanna be
in the same house where my husband attempted to kill me.
Oh, and by this point, she had decided to put a pause
on the divorce proceeding so that the investigation
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you own your health. Now, as far as Brian's bond conditions went, they were relatively strict at first.
He had to turn over his passport, wear an ankle monitor, and also hand in any of his
weapons.
You know, pretty standard stuff.
But of course, this dummy claims that he couldn't find his passport and therefore he just couldn't
turn it in. And that ended up getting him re-arrested within about a week, which is pretty awesome.
And I guess it became a bit of an ordeal, but his lawyers basically tried to assure the judge that he wasn't a flight risk.
And I guess his dad even had to file a report with the State Department demanding that Brian's passport be declared as missing.
And apparently the judge was like super Brian's passport be declared as missing.
And apparently the judge was like super on the fence about letting him out.
And one of the issues that was brought up though was the fact that if Brian remained
in jail, he wouldn't be able to keep up with his alimony payments, which he was already
like $8,000 behind.
So the judge did just end up agreeing to release him again.
But he was super clear
that he had had enough of Brian's shit.
And if he had so much as a speeding ticket while he was out,
he would be immediately put back behind bars.
And he also set out new rules that he had to follow,
which were much stricter this time.
This time, Brian was not allowed to leave his house
between the hours of 6 p.m. and 8 a.m.
and he had to return to jail every weekend
between 4 p.m. Friday and 8 a.m. Monday
and he also had to wear an ankle monitor.
He also obviously wasn't allowed contact with Hannah
and he was subject to drug and alcohol testing,
so he had to remain sober.
What's crazy and confusing to me though is
who in their right mind is going to let this man
be their chiropractor, continue going to his practice
knowing that he was out on parole for attempted murder.
I mean, I guess he's probably just hoping
some of his clients wouldn't know
or like new people would come in and they wouldn't know.
I don't know what he was thinking.
So yeah, I don't really understand
how he was planning to make money, but I guess him being out was better than being in at
least in the judge's eyes. And of course we do want Hannah to get her alimony payments.
Now I'm sure you guys are wondering about Hannah and how she is doing after all of this.
And I was grateful to learn that she was able to regain her strength as she navigated what her life now looked like.
So in a Facebook post from January of 2023, she wrote,
"'A year ago today, I was admitted into UAB hospital.
"'I had been very sick for nearly six months
"'before I had my mom drive me to UAB.
"'The doctors told me if I would have waited
"'even a day later to come, I would have already been dead.
About a week later, prayers were answered
and the doctors were finally able to diagnose me.
Looking back a year ago,
I never thought I'd be where I am today.
I was so sick for so long,
but God saw fit to spare my life
and I could never thank him enough.
Being a single mom and sole provider for two babies is hard,
but to be able to say I'm doing it feels amazing. I just want to thank everyone for all the prayers and
support this year. I can't wait to see what the future holds for my little family. These
pics aren't flattering, but they're real and raw. It's important for me to remember
what God has brought me out of to remind me that he's able to carry me out the rest of
the way." Which to me is a really inspiring post.
I am very, very impressed with her and her strength.
I don't know if I wouldn't have the strength to recover
and then go back into mom mode the way that she has.
I think it's yeah, very, very impressive and inspiring.
But that being said, and I'm sure some of you know this,
Hannah will always have to
live with the effects of having been poisoned by lead.
To my understanding, she still experiences pain in her hands and she'll never be able
to get pregnant again, and I'm sure time will tell what other side effects she has to live
with.
From what I learned though, it really does seem like a miracle that she's been able to
function in the capacity that she is. Now, when it came to Brian's defense leading up to the trial, they
really tried their best to push back on the evidence and specifically how it was collected.
They argued that the lead that was extracted from Hannah's urine was extracted using a five gallon
bucket and a strainer, and that it was strained in the back
of a police station parking lot.
And because of possible contamination
and lack of chain of custody,
that evidence should be thrown out.
And I know that does sound pretty wild that they did that,
but it does appear that that was a method that was used.
During the trial, police chief Alan McDiarmid testified
that before they got the search warrant for Brian's office,
they got a stool sample from Hannah.
And because they couldn't find a lab to test it,
I guess they used a strainer
to separate the stool from the lead.
And I think the point was that they were going
to compare the lead from inside Hannah
to the lead at the office.
Although what's interesting is it doesn't look like
that test was actually ever performed,
and I'm not totally sure as to why,
but as you can imagine,
the defense brought that up in trial.
And since I'm already kind of telling you about the trial,
let's just go ahead and get into it.
So the trial began with jury selection, of course,
on June 9th, 2025,
and it was not a very long trial at all.
Hannah was the first to take the stand, and there isn't any footage of it,
but I can imagine her testimony had to have been very, very emotional.
I know that she did talk about the progression of getting sicker,
as well as the fact that she was unaware of the life insurance policies
that had been taken out in her name.
And it's really pathetic, I'm surprised they even tried to do this, but the defense did
try to argue that she did know about these policies because her signature was on the
documents, but that signature was electronic and we all know how easy it is to forge that.
Clearly they had been forged by Lion Brian.
And then she also talked about how Brian discouraged her from seeking medical help and when she
started getting sick, and how he had been trying to keep her family from her as her
condition got worse.
She also said that there were points where he was begging her to stop investigating him.
But obviously, it's a good thing that she didn't.
And another key piece of testimony actually came from their insurance agent.
He talked about the policies that Brian
had taken out, and how he believed that it was strange that she had more policies than he did.
I'm sure a lot of you know this, but typically the breadwinner, or I guess the person who
makes more in the relationship, is the one with the higher policy. And that way, in the event that they pass,
the other person who makes less income or no income
would be left with more support.
So right off the bat to them,
seeing that Hannah had significantly more coverage
than Brian was a big red flag.
And not only that,
he didn't just have policies with the same agency,
he had them with multiple agencies. Hence why it took a little bit of time for them to connect the
dots.
Now, what's interesting and was quite frustrating when trying to put this episode together is
I couldn't totally figure out how they realized that the lead was actually coming from the
vitamins.
I mean, it seems just incredibly obvious, right?
But you would think they would have had to prove that in some way, and I'm sure there was some sort of testing that happened.
And every source that I looked at reported that it is just a known fact, but none of
those sources, and I looked at like every available source on this case, no one explained
how they actually determined that or if the pills
were tested, which I thought was strange.
And apparently, the hospital had asked Brian to bring in the bottle of vitamins while she
was still in the hospital so that they could test them, but he only ever brought them a
picture of the bottle.
How convenient.
But his defense attorney did claim, which I don't know if I believe this, that all he
was ever asked to do was bring in a photo of the bottle, which I mean, that could be
possible.
I feel like I actually there have been several times at doctor's appointments where they
just especially when I was pregnant, they wanted to know what you know, supplements
and vitamins I was on.
And I remember a picture was fine.
But also this is a lead poisoning case.
So you'd think they'd want to see exactly what she was being given.
I don't know. It's strange to me, but I guess it could be true.
However, I will say I did see it reported that the nurse was very clear that she had asked for the bottle and
he never brought it in.
So I guess there is a possibility that he could have just chucked the bottles once he
started getting worried that the jig's up here and they're asking to see everything. He's obviously
probably starting to freak out a bit. He probably got rid of them, right?
And then that's why they weren't able to find them in any of the searches and test them.
It's probably what happened, right? And since her taking those vitamins was literally the only thing to change in her routine, I'm
sure, they just assumed that that was how he was poisoning her, which to be very clear,
I believe is true.
And it really is the only thing that makes sense.
But I also learned that it's not hard to get your hands on lead, unfortunately.
In this scenario, as I explained, they do believe it came from the contractor for the
x-ray room, but you can just as easily buy lead powder online.
But thankfully, the jury ultimately agreed that Brian had obtained it one way or another
and used it to try and kill Hannah.
And so, after seven witnesses for the prosecution testified and zero witnesses for the defense did, it only took them a few hours to come back with a big guilty verdict.
Hannah and Brian's family broke into tears after the verdict was announced.
Hannah had to step out of the room with her mother and she told me she wasn't expecting
to get that emotional.
He kind of glanced over at me when the guilty verdict was announced and I just kind
of lost it from there.
Just kind of wasn't expecting my reaction.
So of course you don't want to see somebody taken away in handcuffs.
You know, of course you want justice to be served, but also you don't want to see someone
go away for a long, long time that you've known and cared about for so long.
Now what's so interesting to me is that the defense
talked this big game about how there was no hard evidence
against his client, but yet they had no one to testify.
Interesting how that works.
And what makes it even more interesting is they even said
that they had seven witnesses ready to testify,
whatever that means, but they didn't put them on the stand
because they believed that the state failed
to prove their case.
They just didn't need to.
Brilliant move, guys.
Sounds to me like they were just scared or dumb.
Probably both.
But right now I am happy to say,
and again, we're gonna have to see how this shakes out,
but Brian is facing a sentencing of up to life in prison.
But that hearing actually isn't until August 27th, 2025.
So coming up here shortly, and at this time he wasn't given bond.
So he is sitting his ass in the Morgan County jail until that hearing takes place.
Now, as for the divorce, I'm not super clear on the status of things there,
but I'd imagine that they're hopefully through all of that by now.
Now, this is totally just my opinion but even from jail I personally don't believe he deserves
to have any contact with his children.
Of course that is not a decision that is up to me, that is you know up to the court system
ultimately but also Hannah and the kids, I guess. I just feel that, I don't know,
you don't really deserve to see your children ever again
after you tried to kill their mother
in a very, very brutal, sick way.
But I don't know, like I said, it's not my call.
This is not my family, not my kids.
And maybe they want a relationship with him.
Maybe they don't. Maybe Hannah wants And maybe they want a relationship with him. Maybe they don't.
Maybe Hannah wants them to still have a relationship
with him.
I don't know.
That is going to be up to them and the courts to decide.
That's all I'll say on that.
But another thing that I thought was really interesting,
and I think this is just because it's such a small town,
but the judge for the divorce case is the same judge
for the criminal case.
So he knows everything, which you would think Brian's team would probably want to have him
recused for the divorce portion of things, but I don't know.
I don't know what the status of that is.
I think that's, I don't know, very rare.
I guess I'll say that.
But I don't know.
I mean, ultimately, I hope that means that things favored Hannah in the divorce.
But at the end of the day,
I'm just really grateful that this attempt in her life
was a failed one because it was very close
to not being the case.
And of course, like I said,
we don't know how severe the long-term effects
are going to be on her body,
but I really do hope with all my heart that those remain minimal.
And then the really scary thought crossed my mind at one point while researching this case is,
what if he had tried to poison the kids as well?
I mean, he poisoned himself.
I'm glad he didn't take it that far to poison the kids because, you know,
it would have made it look a lot more like something was going on in the house if the kids had blood poisoning as well.
And thankfully, you know, they're okay.
Now, I definitely want to hear your thoughts on this case as a whole, and I really want to hear what you think the appropriate sentence would be.
I've got to say, in my opinion, I think he deserves life in prison. I don't think someone
who is capable of trying to kill their wife and mother of their children deserves another day of
freedom. I mean, that is just, that is so evil. Slow, to be able to slowly poison someone like
that, slowly watch them suffer and go to the extent of like making them wear weights. I mean, he's just so sick on another level.
I think he needs to finish out his life behind bars, but that's just me.
And we'll have to see what actually happens.
But let me know your thoughts, of course.
And man, my heart truly goes out to Hannah.
If she sees this again, we would love to get you a hope grant.
So please, um, once we get in contact with you, please reach out to us and we can have some
conversations and see how we can help you.
That is going to be it for me today, guys.
Thank you for joining me for another episode and make sure you follow the show on Spotify
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If you want to watch the video version of this show, you can find it on my YouTube channel, which will be linked, or you can just
search Kendall Rae. I will be back with another episode soon, but until then, stay safe out there.