True Crime with Kimbyr - 23, Pregnant, and Murdered: The Chilling Case of Hannah Zehner Brim: Part 3

Episode Date: July 25, 2025

The final chapter of Hannah Zehner Brim’s story brings revelations courtroom drama and a family’s powerful pursuit of justice. In this conclusion of True Crime with Kimbyr, Kimbyrleigha walks us through the shocking confession the legal battle that followed and the emotional impact on Hannah’s loved ones. Was true justice served? How did Hannah’s family push through unimaginable grief to make her voice heard? This episode offers closure but not without raising haunting questions that linger long after the verdict. Don’t miss the powerful finale of the Hannah Brim case on True Crime with Kimbyr. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The samples were sent to the lab for DNA testing, and then it was a waiting game. On February 1st, a detective received a call from Nelson again. He said that he had just seen Hannah driving her silver car on North Main Street. Yeah, right. Nice try. This is why detectives try not to offer as much information to the public. They hold things close to the vest because they want to be able to catch someone

in a situation like this. Catch them in a lie. If you're ever wondering why information doesn't just come out, even though the police know what it is, this is what they're talking about when they say, well, the person responsible may say something and will know they're involved because a piece of evidence was never made public.

Now, the detectives did look in that location just in case, but they didn't find any evidence that Hannah was there. In the meanwhile, Nelson was under very heavy surveillance, especially because he was on probation for a totally different crime at the time. And on February 2nd, he very, very, violated his probation, and he was arrested while he was just hanging out with a female friend. He was held in county jail for 30 days.

And in jail, police regularly would interview him to see if he was going to reveal any more information about Hannah, but he wouldn't say anything. Now, the woman who Nelson was with when he was arrested was interviewed, and she admitted something to detectives. Nelson gave her a white plastic bag full of clothes that opened and closed from drawstrings. He asked her not to look at it, but to just get rid of it. It just keeps getting worse. What kind of friend would dispose of a car or even clothing in a bag without asking any questions? And then there was another informant. This time, it was someone in the county jail that said Nelson confessed to everything.

And Nelson said he murdered Hannah, cut her with a knife, put her body in the back of the trunk of the car, and dropped her body in a wooded area. But why would he admit this? Well, guess what? Apparently, because he wanted to cover up where he threw that knife. He actually asked his jailmate to call his wife and have her pick up the knife. He literally drew a map to show his jailmate where he dumped, allegedly dumped Hannah's body, where he had thrown away the knife. And this jailmate's wife went out there to a remote area in La Crosse and searched for the knife but didn't find him. Again, what are these people offering in return that they would risk being an accessory to a crime?

I don't know. But then the next day, Nelson drew another map for his jailmate. But this time, he was overheard on the phone talking to his mother about a burn pit in their backyard. Instead of asking his wife to go pick up a knife again, the informant told everything to police. He was taking no more chances. And on top of all this, police got two search warrants for Nelson's home, one on February 2nd and one on February 8th. He lived with his mother at the time, Maria Hernandez, on Northeast State Road 26 in Orange

Heights, so he didn't even live with his wife. And the property was multiple acres, so it took a while to search the yard. But they found those burn pits. And after sifting through all of the ashes and through all of the dirt, forensic investigators found pieces of a floor mat belonging to a Toyota Camry, as well as pieces of colorful glittery plaid cloth that matched the shirt that Hannah had worn in her selfies with Abriana. They also found fabric with a logo similar to a baby fat brand jacket that Hannah owned. And they sent everything back to the lab to be tested for DNA.

The blood on that fabric was unidentifiable, but the blood in the half-burned vehicle floor mats tested positive for Hannah's DNA. Now, inside Nelson and Maria's home, there was a white a glue cooler that was literally large enough to hide a body inside, and they found various knives and cutting tools, a Samsung Galaxy phone, and a Ghostbusters wallet that belonged to Hannah. There was no doubt about it. Nelson murdered Hannah. At that point, Detective Mullins went to deliver that news to her parents, Art and Susan. He told them that sadly they were not going to find Hannah alive,

but at least they were onto the person. who was responsible. Gainesville police believe 23-year-old Hannah Brim is dead. Her parents are thanking police and the community and asking for privacy while investigators searched the woods for their daughter's body. Action News, Jax Jenna Bourne is following the developing story in Alachua County, and Jenna, investigators say,

so far they've found no evidence out there. We were driving down this back road when we saw searchers emerge from the woods. They just cleared out of here in the past 45 minutes, but so far, no luck as they searched through this difficult terrain. But investigators tell me they're confident they're looking in the right place. Search crews are focusing on this area in Orange Heights because of specific evidence. The Alachua County Sheriff's Office says they found in Nelson Armis's home.

The Gainesville Police Department says Armis was the last person to see the 23-year-old alive on January 19th. He's in jail right now for violating his probation on an unrelated domestic battery charge. Police say this surveillance video shows her in a car. with him that day. Our focus right now is not only holding the person that's responsible for this accountable, but also bringing closure to the family as quickly as possible. Crews are going to be out searching tonight as long as lighting conditions will allow, then regroup and figure out where to go from here.

Detective Mullins also confronted Nelson about his findings, the car, the blood, the burn pits. Nelson said, the burn pits? That's just junk from my mom's house. And he's like, you're going to slap me with a charge? He said that he would never confess to something that he would never confess to something that he did not participate in, and at that point, he demanded an attorney. Now, they still hadn't charged him because they didn't find a murder weapon. They hadn't found Hannah's body.

This was so frustrating for everyone who loved Hannah. They were not privy to the entire investigation, and Hannah's high school friend Brianna Medlock, a different Brianna, hosted on Facebook. It was the page Justice for Hannah Zemmerbrim. She was so upset by the lack of news from March until May, and she said she was angry, and heartbroken that police were no longer searching for her friend.

But the thing was, they were searching. They just couldn't reveal that. And it was an open investigation at the time. Nelson was in jail, so he wasn't a harm to anyone, so they weren't releasing anything to the public. But using the maps provided by that informant of where Nelson had thrown the knife, investigators did a deep search of an abandoned building

and a lot in La Crosse. And finally, they did find a knife. It was a four-inch bloodstained Smith and Wesson knife that had actually been exposed to the elements for some time, but it was identified by Chad as belonging to Hannah. Chad said that it was a gift. He had given his wife Hannah that knife and she kept it in her car's console. And Aubrianna, who was her best friend at the time,

also confirmed that that knife was in the console of Hannah's car on the 19th when she was with her. It had a certain defect that didn't make the blade close properly. And Hannah had actually been fidgeting with it, as she was driving Abriana to work while talking about her failed marriage. Hannah had told Abriana that she did have feelings for Nelson, but she still loved her husband, Chad.

She was in between her feelings, and she didn't know which way to go. Now, the blood on that knife was tested for DNA. But unfortunately, those results were inconclusive. But since it was Hannah's knife, this was enough for the district attorney's office to warrant an arrest for first-degree murder, along with charges for stealing Hannah's car.

and tampering with evidence. This was against Nelson, finally. And in Nelson's indictment, on September 14th of 2016, prosecutors went through Hannah's phone records again to show that the last call she ever received bounced off of the cell tower near Nelson and his mother's home. The last person that she ever spoke to was Nelson. And the prosecution argued,

Nelson and Hannah, they got into an argument about whether Hannah would tell Nelson's wife about their affair. And Nelson deliberately tried to silence Hannah. So what did he do to keep her quiet? He killed her with her own knife, put her body in the trunk of her own car, and disposed of her body, and tried to clean up the crime scene at his house. Nelson Ariel Armis was and is a monster. And if you know me, I don't even like to talk about these people,

but I do want to tell you more about him before we go further. He was born on December 2nd of 1987 in Tampa, Florida, but he spent most of his life in Gainesville. At one point, he was evicted from his mobile home, and in 2014, he married Bridget, Diane, Panton Sullivan, who was working as a secretary at a car collision center at the time, but later went on to work in the food and catering industry. Bridget was a mom to his daughter, Siri, and Mila,

and they had a tumultuous relationship, characterized by Nelson's violence. Now, the same year that Nelson and Bridget got married, he met Hannah, who was with Chad at the time. Chad loved Hannah, and they remained civil even after they separated. But Nelson, on the other hand, he was toxic and violent. And after a domestic incident in October of 2015, he was ordered by a judge to have no contact with his wife.

So you remember when Nelson was arrested because he violated his probation? Well, that probation was for domestic battery. And my assumption is that he tried to contact Bridget and he violated the terms of that restraining order. This was not Nelson's only history of violence. Brianna O'Bannon, another Brianna, must have been a popular name in this area. She was someone who had gone to high school with Hannah, and she was contacted by both Nelson and the police after Hannah disappeared.

She described an encounter where she had to give a statement about how scary Nelson's behavior was, and multiple other women came forward about his violence. And Nelson said it himself. He was having struggles with his wife. But he was in denial that she had legally wanted to be separated from him. And at this point because Hannah and Chad were separated, Hannah had made it known that she was going to date other people. So she and Nelson reconnected. After only a week of dating in December of 2015, Hannah moved in to Nelson's mom's house,

Maria's house. And according to Maria, Bridget knew that Nelson was dating Hannah. And it made things really awkward. And by Christmas, Hannah and Nelson were getting into these explosive fights of one They both had very strong personalities and opinions, and they clashed. Nelson didn't want anything serious, and Hannah wanted him to care about her more. It was complicated, it was messy, and it resulted in police intervention.

On December 26th, right after Christmas in 2015, a 911 call came in and reported that Hannah and Nelson had gotten into a physical fight. Their stories were very different, but from what was gathered, Hannah was responsible for it escalating, and she ended up getting charged with aggravated battery.

Allegedly she punched Nelson, she grabbed the knife from the kitchen, but whether she intended to hurt him or defend herself, that wasn't clear. But Nelson told his friends that Hannah had literally stabbed him. And after police did an assessment on both of them, law enforcement found multiple marks on Nelson's body and a cut on his finger, while Hannah, who at the time was almost five months pregnant, had a bruise on her left shoulder.

What wasn't clear just by this information was who, who was the initial attacker. She could have been defending herself from a threat of violence from him. After police realized that Hannah was likely murdered, the aggregated battery charge was dismissed, even though friends of Nelson's were saying that he was innocent, that he had no motive to kill Hannah,

that his wife already knew that they were dating. They knew about their relationship, and that Hannah was the one that was aggressive. But when you look at the power dynamic between them, Hannah was 5'2, she was 100,000,000. 10 pounds, 23, and pregnant. While Nelson was 31, over 6 feet, he was jacked, and he had other domestic charges. Nelson wasn't just an innocent bystander.

And I'm not making excuses for either one of their behaviors, but Hannah did not deserve to have her life ripped away, especially with an innocent unborn child. After Nelson was indicted, he was feeling guilty, and apparently he told another inmate that he had murdered Hannah. And once again, this new jailmate informed the police about what Nelson said he had done. According to this new version by this new jailmate, Nelson said that he and Hannah were in the car, and Nelson saw Hannah writing down the vign of the wife's vehicle in her makeup bag. Nelson claimed that his wife actually did not know about Hannah, and he suspected that Hannah was going to get in contact with her

and reveal everything about their affair. He couldn't risk that. Nelson was so scared that his wife was going to find out he was cheating and she wouldn't get back with him. But I was thinking, she had a restraining order against you. So that's pretty delusional thinking that you're going to get her back. Nelson told his cellmate that as soon as he saw Hannah writing down that number, he knew that she was a threat. He said at that point he snapped. And then afterward, he knew he had to eliminate all possibilities of Bridget ever finding out.

And that meant hiding all the evidence. He took Hannah's body to his mom's house, he removed her head and her hands. He made a pile of tires, wood, and motor oil and lit everything on fire. I know I just went through that so fast, but you have to understand what a monster this man was. The fact that he was trying to remove anything that made Hannah who she was, taking away her face, taking away her fingerprints, things that could be used to identify her in the future. and then burning her body. But the bones didn't burn. And that's when Nelson got frustrated.

He put the rest of her body into a black garbage bag, drove to a remote area outside of Gainesville near the old railroad tracks, and dumped the bag there, and dumped the rest of her body in a lake near his mother's house. Wow. Nelson knew that Hannah was pregnant, and he only cared about protecting his own image.

He only cared about his wife, finding out that he was cheating, and he would, kill over that? He used her. He discarded her. It's so cruel and disgusting. He's a total monster. And to think that she actually cared about this man. That's September, 150 people, this large search party of deputies were deployed around the intersection of US 301 and State Road 26 in Orange Heights. They conducted a five-square-mile search with Canaver Dogs, horses, off-road vehicles, and on foot, which was difficult.

This is a dense area in Florida swamp water, and it had rained recently. Officers were hacking down bushes with machetes. They were combing through muddy areas trying to find Hannah or what was left of her. Dive teams were going through the water, trying to find this black trash bag or any human remains, and for several days, they didn't find anything.

As the search continued, they extended the area from Orange Heights to the cross and northwestern Alachua County. It wasn't until three weeks later, after Nelson's indictment, and days of searching that a deputy was standing on a bridge next to the train tracks, looking down into a creek bed, and he noticed something strange, a strange puddle. The deputy called Detective Mullins, who arrived and climbed down to the railroad tracks into the grassy area next to the creek. This area had already been searched before, but now he was able to confirm that there were partial remains there, which showed some. signs of being burned and exposed to the elements. This evidence was collected.

It was sent to the North Texas Center of Human Identification, but there was no question in Mullin's mind that he had found Hannah. He and Officer Byrd drove to arts workplace. He only had to look at their faces to know they found his daughter, and her unborn daughter, and they could finally be laid to rest in Forest Grove Cemetery. On September 28, the Gainesville PD

held a press conference along with the family. And spokesperson Ben Tobias told the public that the family's presence was a testament to how Hannah was loved and how kind of person she really was. Tobias announced that the search was now suspended into the lab released the results. The Elatchew County Sheriff's Office dive team recovered what we believe to be,

or some of the remains of Hannah Brim, who was reported missing back in January of this year. Since the indictment of Nelson Armis, in this case, we have been expanding some search areas based on some information that we've obtained through an investigation. Our investigation has led us to this spot, which is about two and a half miles northwest of Orange Heights along some railroad tracks. As the dive team was searching, they were assisted by members of the medical examiner and the C-8-pound human identification laboratory here in Gainesville. We're very lucky in Gainesville to have so many experts in this field that can help us out with a search such as this. The dive team members found some human bones earlier today.

At this point, just based on the totality of the investigation, we do believe that it is, the remains are those of Hannah Brown. Of course, there will be some additional testing to be done by the medical examiner and by the CA pound human identification laboratory. A really poignant moment for me personally, and I think for anyone who was there, once Word reached the search area in the command post that Brehm had been discovered, There were officers that knelt in prayer and in thanks that we finally have located Hannah. This has been a very personal case for a lot of us, and working very closely with the family, it hurts us when we can't have resolution to a case as well. And I got word from some of our victim advocates earlier today that spoke with the family. They sadly could not be here for this conference, but they wanted to pass along.

Their sincere thanks to anyone, not just law enforcement, but anyone that has. has assisted some way in the search for their daughter. Currently, members of our Marine operations and in order recovery team are still out at the site assisting the medical examiner and the C.A. Members of the CA Pound Lab with the search for additional bones or evidence related to the case.

It could take years to process these kind of forensics for some cases, and the prosecutors were still waiting on a bunch of subpoenas. But in August of 2017, DNA matching showed there were 286.8 trillion to one odds that they had found Hannah, meaning it was clear this was her body or what was left of it. And her death was, of course, ruled as homicidal violence, but they couldn't tell what happened.

And the medical examiner did not conduct a full autopsy because of the condition of her remains. But one thing I will note is that they had large post-mortem cuts on them. It takes a truly evil person to pre-revement meditate someone's murder, but it's even more messed up that they would do this to her body. Nelson Armis had a two-week trial in August of 2019 after going through multiple attorneys. I mean, nobody wanted to deal with him. His temporary defense attorney, Bill Salmon, tried his best for his client saying that all the relevant

information in this case came from jail informants. They were just snitches. They were just trying to help themselves. It wasn't true. They just wanted out of jail. He said, these testimonies were not credible. they were fabricated, and that the wife Bridget already knew about Hannah. It made no sense that there was a motive for Nelson to harm Hannah to keep a secret.

But I have to say, the prosecution's evidence was super convincing, enough that two-thirds of the way through the trial, Nelson filed paperwork requesting that he speak for himself, as his own witness was just pretty bold. A man suspected of killing his pregnant ex-girlfriend was expected to take the witness stand today in his own murder trial, But he apparently got cold feet right before it was his turn. Nelson Armis is accused of killing 23-year-old Hannah Brim while she was five months pregnant.

TV 20s Julia Lauddy is at the Alachio County Courthouse where the trial continues. Julia, how did Armis react to testifying today? He was expected to give his own testimony on the murder, but when it came time for him to take the witness stand, he had some second thoughts. He was seen in the courtroom, holding his head down and covering his face with his hands. The court took a 10-minute break for Armas to make a decision, and he chose to, postpone his testimony. And after just six hours of deliberation, the jury found Nelson are misguilty of first-degree murder.

And Judge Philip Peña sentenced him to life in prison, as well as five years for stealing Hannah's car and five years for trying to cover up this crime. He appealed the case, but those requests were denied. He's still imprisoned at the Liberty Correctional Institution in Florida Liberty. That's pretty ironic, isn't it? Because that's what you will never have, freedom.

And you all know that I do not like to give the perpetrator a place to speak, not here on this channel, but I do think it's important to convey how much I despise of this monster. He is currently, I kid you not, studying criminology at Florida State College through a jail education program. And somehow, he's still able to post on Facebook, probably through his little prison tablet. And on June 21st of 2020, he posted a very disturbing comment. He said, happy birthday, Hannah. You are forever in my heart. You visit me in my dreams. You reassure me that you, God and myself, know, I am innocent.

And that is all the matters with you helping God as my guardian angel. I know I will be home. End quote. I don't know what it seems like to you, but it's like he's trying to convince himself that he isn't guilty. With all this evidence, we know you are. And then in March of 2022, he posted again. He said,

I have come to realize I love batshit crazy. By the way, bat shit is spelled with $8 sign replacing the S. It must have been a character trait that I want in my future girlfriend, Wifi and Baby Mama Soulmate. I want her to be so crazy if a person asked, why are you with that monster? She would reply because every girl should have her own pet monster. Gross.

No. And as of this year, posts have conveyed that his visitation rights got suspended. and that he's still continuing toxic relationships with women from prison. This man deserves to be locked up forever. And any person, any woman that thinks they should contact this man or get into a relationship, don't. A few years ago, investigation discovery

filmed the documentary about Hannah's disappearance. And they interviewed both Art and Susan. An art set that Nelson slaughtered both his daughter and his unborn grandchild. And that Art had to be held back because he wanted to hurt him when he went to trial. His wife had to physically hold him back. She took him out of the courtroom,

and together they grieved their daughter's loss. He said the wound is not as fresh as it used to be, but it still hurts. And the best way for him to honor his daughter is to talk about her daily, which is one of the reasons I do cases like this. Susan's Facebook account was unfortunately hacked in 2022. She lost every message from Hannah, every picture and video that she posted them together,

so she doesn't have as many physical memories as she used to, but she still tells the stories about the good times in Hannah's life. When Hannah was happy, when she lit up her world, my heart breaks for her parents who are now retired. Hannah's sister Hillary is now a licensed massage therapist, she has kids of her own, and Chad is working full-time to raise Xavier, who carries on his mother's legacy.

Now, that investigation discovery episode is the reason why I wanted to go deeper into Hannah's life. Like many episodes, you know, they're not as deep, and they left out a lot of relevant details. It was probably out of respect for Hannah's family's privacy. But because of that, the top comments on pages about this tragedy and on social media were about why Susan and Art would let their daughter live in a hotel,

accusing them of neglecting Hannah while she was pregnant and going through hard times. And they would say, spread inappropriate rumors about details of her pregnancy without the context of what Hannah was really going through, and that her family loved her so much. And I know how easy it is for people to judge. I don't want to erase certain parts of who Hannah was, but I also don't want people coming to the wrong conclusions about Hannah. She was a victim of her circumstances. It is important to treat her as a human being with empathy. She was in a very difficult situation. She's human just like all of us. We're not

But Hannah was loved, and I want her to be remembered for her lovable, kind, and beautiful person that she was. This case is about a monster with serial domestic altercations who knew that Hannah was recently pregnant, who knew that she was cared for, who knew that she cared for him. And still, in cold blood, he killed her to protect his own reputation. She had a husband, a son, parents, a sister and friends and family that cared deeply about her. And to add to all of that tragedy, he has never taken responsibility for her murder. Instead, he just keeps on posting from his prison tablet. I'm very thankful for law enforcement. They worked diligently on this case. And for Hannah, who documented so much of her life on Facebook

so that we could learn about who she was, a passionate and energetic person that she will always be in the memories that people have of her. So I want to leave you with Hannah's favorite quote, which continues to haunt me. She said, quote, you never know what you have until you lose it. And once you lose it, you can never get it back. End quote. We cannot bring Hannah back. Nothing can. We can keep her memory alive by sharing her story. That's all I have for you today. I will see you in my next video. Bye.