All language subtitles for CrimeFeed S01 E01_track3_[eng]

Good evening. I'm Nancy Grace.

I want to thank you
for being with us.
This is Crimefeed.

Breaking news tonight.

She goes missing
on Mother's Day

when, coincidentally,
both her daughters
and her husband away.

All that's left,
her trail bike.

About a mile away, her helmet.

In a bizarre twist,

skeletonized remains
just found beyond
the Great Sand Dunes,

40 minutes away,
identified as Suzanne Morphew.

Many believed Suzanne's body
would never be found.

And now, all eyes back on
husband Barry Morphew.

What, if any, clues
will her body reveal?

And a YouTube star mom of six,

with over
two million followers
drinking in

her so-called mommy advice
on how to raise your children
with a lot of tough love.

Bombshell tonight.

Her 12-year-old little boy,
duct tape restraints
still on his body,

crawls out a window,
runs to neighbors,

begging for food
and to help his little sister
aged 10.

Both children alone,
starved, afraid,

covered in bruises
and lacerations.

When the neighbor calls 911,
he actually breaks down
in tears.

With me, private investigator
Derrick Levasseur

and investigative journalist
Mara S. Campo.

This week on Crimefeed.

Bombshell tonight.
An incredible break this week.

Some say a miracle.

And a three-year search
for a missing Colorado mom,

Suzanne Morphew.

Her body,
now just skeletonized remains,

found scattered
near a shallow grave

on remote, arid,
windswept terrain.

Police actually in the area
on another completely
unrelated case.

Mara S. Campo, what happened?

Well, Nancy, you know,
what makes this discovery
so shocking

is that investigators
were looking for
a different missing woman

when they found
Suzanne Morphew's remains.

They performed
an autopsy days afterwards

looking for clues
in this mystery
that started three years ago.

Three long years ago
on Mother's Day,

a dedicated mother of two
goes missing.

Suzanna Morphew's
husband, Barry,

told police he'd left
early that morning.

He was on a work trip
and said the last time
he saw his wife

she was sleeping in bed.

But Suzanne's daughters
Mallory and Macy

didn't get responses
from their mother

which was odd
for Mother's Day.

Husband Barry,
knowing his wife sometimes
liked to go mountain biking,

sent a friend
to go check on her.

When there was
no sign of Suzanne,

he asked them
to call the police,

And a desperate search began.

If anyone is out there

that can hear this
that has you...

Please, we'll do
whatever it takes
to bring you back.

[Mara] Within days,
Suzanne's bike and helmet

were found
in different locations

with no signs
of an accident or struggle.

Strangely,
her sunglasses and backpack
were left in her car.

The scene
where the bike was found

was immediately suspicious
to investigators

who wondered, "Was it staged?"

[Mara] Police questioned Barry
for a total of 30 hours.

He initially told them
his marriage to Suzanne
was perfect,

but the evidence told
a different story.

Did Barry and Suzanne
get along pretty well?

[man] I think they've had
some problems.

[officer] Have they, like,
talked about separating

-or anything like that?
-[man] They have. Yeah.

[Mara]
These text conversations
with Suzanne's best friend

signaled her frustrations.

And then, this message
about wanting out

which she sent to Barry
four days before
she disappeared.

Investigators believe
her husband snapped.

They had no body to prove it,

but they did have
a puzzling set of clues
like this broken doorframe

and a bullet
found on the floor
in their bedroom.

And this needle cap
found in the dryer
with Suzanne's DNA

that matched
the tranquilizer darts
Barry used to go hunting.

Then there's
surveillance footage

of Barry placing
white trash bags

into several dumpsters
around Broomfield

where he travelled
the day Suzanne disappeared.

Today marks a major milestone
in this investigation

of Suzanne Morphew's
disappearance.

[Mara]
A year into the investigation,

detectives arrested Barry

and charged him
with first-degree murder

and several other crimes.

But prosecutors
dropped the charges in 2022,

deciding instead to wait
for more evidence.

The charges were dismissed
without prejudice,

meaning they can
charge Barry again.

Nancy, that brings us
to the discovery
of Suzanne's remains

buried in a remote area
about 45 miles
from where she lived,

far away from where
her belongings were retrieved.

An important point to make,

none of the evidence
that has been found
or revealed

places Barry Morphew near
where Suzanne Morphew's
remains were found.

And, Nancy,
we're still waiting to hear

how investigators believe
that she died.

Yeah, well,
the first thing I want to do

is ask you, Mara S. Campo.

You said you think
the shocking thing

is that they found
her skeletonized remains

when they were actually
looking for somebody else.

You're not shocked
by a skeletonized body

that has been torn apart
by animals?

That doesn't shock you?
Because it shocks me.

Yeah,
that's absolutely shocking.

There's a lot
of shocking parts

about this case.

And the fact that the remains
were found three years later

when they were
looking for someone else

is now a compelling part
of this narrative.

They have found
bodies out there,

but there was
also missing people
from that area as well.

So they're winding if it's

-a possible
serial killer connection.
-Well, now that you've

-piped up, Derrick Levasseur.
-Here I am.

-PI, private investigator,
let me throw you a question.
-Hit me with it.

The other people,
let me ask you about

their relationships
and their marriage.

You know, Suzanne Morphew
had stated to her friend
in text,

and I've read them
very carefully,

that she was afraid
to be alone with her husband.

He comes home
that day from work,

and she's sending
her boyfriend

pictures of her
sunbathing in her swimsuit.

-Right.
-Then, suddenly,

he puts his phone
on airplane mode.

Question. Is your phone
on airplane mode right now?
Because mine's not.

How often during the day
do you put your phone

-on airplane mode?
-[stutters]

-[Nancy] Never!
-Yeah. Maybe do not disturb.

-Unless you're on an airplane.
-But not airplane mode.
Exactly. Yeah.

Okay. But I want to get back
to her body.

Mara Campo, again,
the body was torn apart
by animals.

You said it was buried
in a shallow grave.

And you're right,
it was at one time.

So, obviously,
she didn't commit suicide.

Now, some people are claiming
we don't even know
if a crime occurred.

Why do you think she's buried
out by the Great Sand Dunes?

Yeah, one of the big problems
that investigators have had
up to this point

is that they
didn't have a body,

so they're trying
to put this case together
without a body.

And without a body,
they didn't even have
a cause of death.

So now that they have
these remains,

presumably it will give them
a lot more information
to work with.

It could reveal how she died.

There could be
other evidence there,
like her clothing

-which will contain DNA
-[Nancy] Oh, yes, Mara.

-from a potential
suspect or a killer.
-[Nancy] You're so right.

[Mara] So now I think this is
a really big break for them

to get more evidence
that they have been missing.

[Derrick]
That's why it's so big

that they
dismissed the charges
without prejudice

because this is
the smoking gun
they were waiting for.

They were hoping
to have a body.

And like Mara said,

now you have the potential
to look at
what she was wearing.

Was she in bike clothes?
That's the theory, right?

-That she was riding a bike.
-Was she still in her pajamas?

-Was she still in pajamas?
-That's what Morphew said
she was last wearing

when he got up at, what,
3 or 4 o'clock in the morning

to go to a hastily arranged
out-of-town trip.

Can I, okay, I know
you've got children.

-Mmm-hmm.
-It would really
hurt my feelings

if my husband and my children
left on Mother's Day.

But that's just me, okay?

Everybody gone.

He leaves at, what,
3 or 4 o'clock in the morning

for, again, a hastily
thrown-together business trip
and leaves town.

And from what we learned,
he's calling,
putting together a crew

on the way to out of town.

Another curious thing.

Remind me to go back
to the condition
of the bones, Mara.

Is it true, Derrick Levasseur,
that he threw out trash...

[laughs]
I love this part so much.

He threw out trash
at five different dumpsters

and he's caught on video.

I mean, I pray to heaven
my husband takes out the trash

-once a week.
-[Derrick chuckles]

Five times, one day.
Amazing, right?

Don't you want
your husband to do that?

-Yeah, we saw the...
-Do you take out the trash

-five times in one day?
-No. No, I do not.

But we also saw this
in another case.

Remember Jennifer Dulos?

-We saw a similar situation.
-Oh, don't even say
Fotis Dulos around me.

Fotis Dulos,

-a similar situation where...
-Or his mistress.

Or his mistress.

-So it's not a common thing.
-Bloody clothes

-he was throwing out.
-Well, it's not

only the trash.

It's the darts that were
found around the property.

-It's the GPS coordinates.
It's all of it.
-[Nancy] Can we focus

-on the trash just one minute?
-[Derrick] Yeah.

The day she, Suzanne Morphew,
goes missing...

And again,
no one has been convicted.

Everyone is perfectly innocent
right now.

That day he goes out of town
first thing in the morning.

And, wait a minute,
we left something out.

He decides that day
to chase a herd of elk,

according to his nav system
in his phone system.

And, whoa, right in
with that herd of elk
is there is her bike helmet.

Isn't that quite
the coinkydink?

Well, and...

As an investigator,
one thing you can do.

Obviously,
looking through a vacuum,

looking at it
through a microscope here,

you have a situation where,
on the surface,

the behavior looks troubling,

it looks suspicious
at minimum, right?

But as an investigator,
I would bring him in.

I would ask him right out,

"This doesn't seem
normal to me.

Is this something
you normally did?"

If he says, "Yes,"
which you would

-assume he would...
-You better ask the jury that.

Well, if he did,

then I'm gonna go back
and look at GPS coordinates

and I'm gonna look at
previous surveillance

to try to see
if he's ever done this before.

-And if he hasn't,
-Oh.

-his own statements
could come back to bite him.
-That's smart.

That's really smart.

So, first of all,
he goes looking at elk

at, what,
3 o'clock in the morning,
4 o'clock in the morning

on his out-of-town trip
on Mother's Day.

And then he throws out
five bags of trash
at diff...

Were they different dumpsters
or one dumpster?

No, it was different dumpsters

-he'd gone around.
-[Derrick] Yep, yep.

[Derrick] Small white bags
in different dumpsters, yeah.

-Multiple locations.
-[Nancy] Please let me
try this case.

And again,
nobody has been indicted
or formally charged yet.

Although, Mara,
he was charged early on,

and all charges were dropped,
were they not?

[Mara] Yes,
and I think that that speaks

to how weak this case has been
up until this point.

-It is all
circumstantial evidence.
-[Nancy] I know.

Now, that, well,
I'll explain to you
why I feel that way.

It may change
now that they have
the remains.

But up until this point,
investigators didn't even
have a cohesive theory

of how Suzanne Morphew
was killed.

And all the evidence
that they had

suggesting that Barry did it
was circumstantial.

And some of it, frankly,
was laughable.

And I'll tell you one example

that made me
actually laugh out loud.

They said that the fact
that Barry said

that she was snoring
when he left the house

was evidence, potentially,

that she had
been tranquilized.

So their own evidence
is very, very weak

and the case
they've put together is weak,

but, as I noted,
that could change

now that they have
more evidence.

And the fact that
they gave themselves more time

by dropping the charges
without prejudice
so they can retry again

-I think is going to help
with a conviction.
-Okay, Mara.

When we get back
I want to talk about
why they dropped the case

because I understood
it's because the State

didn't hand over evidence
in a timely manner for trial.

But that's a fun thing
to fight with you about,
Mara S. Campo.

Mara and Derrick,
stay right there.

We've all heard
no body, no case.

But now that missing mom
Suzanne Morphew's remains

have been found,

what, if anything,

does that mean for the man
arrested in her disappearance

then set free,

Suzanne Morphew's husband
Barry Morphew?

And YouTuber mom Ruby Franke

and her business partner
Jodi Hildebrandt

accused of child abuse.

Hildebrandt's niece joins us
with her own horror stories.

October is Domestic Violence
Awareness Month.

ID is partnering with
No More

to bring attention
to domestic violence victims

and to tell you
how to get involved.

To learn more about
how you can help
and contribute,

go to noexcuseforabuse.com.

Welcome back.

Suzanne Morphew's remains
found torn apart by animals

in a remote region 45 miles
from the Morphew home.

Tonight,
we wait for autopsy results.

What was the COD,
cause of death?

Two of the experts joining us.

Peter Valentin,
a forensic scientist

and Connecticut
State Police detective

with the Major Crime Squad
investigating homicides.

And, of course,
Mara and Derrick with us.

Peter, thank you
for being with us.

What, if anything
is your takeaway

from the discovery
of Morphew's remains

skeletonized as they are?

So it presents with a...
with a number of challenges

because the first thing
would be to try to assess
well, how long have the--

remains been on scene?

Uh, you know, if, uh,

her remains were placed there
soon after she went missing,

then the expectation is that

these remains would be
generally skeletonized

with not much in the way
of physical evidence left.

However,
if there is a disconnect

or if there is a discrepancy
between the condition
of her remains

and how long she is presumed
to have been there,

we can, uh, we can anticipate
or consider the possibility

that there's a secondary scene
someplace.

Oh, please.

This is at least a secondary
or tertiary crime scene.

No way did this woman
get dragged out

forty five miles away
from home

past the Great Sand Dunes
to be killed.

Whatever happened
happened closer to where
her bike was,

or where her helmet was.

And I'm not sure
it was even there.

But hey,
while I've got you,
Peter Valentin,

I wanna talk about
the condition of her skeleton.

I think the only way--

and of course, I'm the lawyer.

I'm not a forensic expert
like you.

But isn't it true

that the only way to determine
if she were shot or stabbed

is if we see something
like a tool mark?

A mark left by a knife
or a bullet

on one of her bones.

Of course,
if her hyoid is still there,

which, it's probably not,

uh, we may see a fracture
or break in that.

But that's gonna be hard.

And so the absence
of skeletal trauma

makes it very difficult
for you

to come up
with a manner of death
as being homicide.

Now you can presume that
because her remains are there,

that something happened.

I don't think
there's any disagreement
about that.

But the idea of what is it
specifically that happened

is gonna be very difficult.

[Nancy] Wait a minute,
Valentin.

The more...

Hold on, sir.

You said it's very obvious
that "something happened".

We know something happened.

Are you saying it's obvious
there was a homicide?

Because some people
are actually saying,

"Hey, we don't even know
if a crime occurred."

Was she dropped off dead,

have a stroke
out in the middle of a--
a sand dune?

So I think
we have to separate like,

what do we feel
as investigators,

is what do we feel as,
you know,

general people who consume
this information.

And what can I approve
in a court of law?

So in order to charge somebody
with murder,

I first need to demonstrate
that first, somebody's dead,

which is the difficulty
in a no body homicide.

And then second,
that that person died
at the hands of another,

a homicide.

Absent those two pieces
of information,

this case
is extraordinarily difficult
to proceed with.

-Mara?
-[Mara] Yeah, uh, Peter,

a question for you
about the remains.

If there were clothing
that were there with her,

is there any
usable information

that would have
potentially survived
that environment,

being out in the wildlife?

[Peter] Potentially.

And so the thing
that I'd be looking for

if the clothes, uh,
were still in a condition
that they could be examined

would be tool marks,
uh, incisions, cut marks,

uh, circular
or elliptical holes

that might have
gunshot residue on them

or be suggestive
of bullet strikes.

Um, and in--

Whether or not
they are consistent

with the clothing
that she was last reported
to be wearing.

Uh, but three years
in a remote area like that

would probably
render most clothes

difficult to examine
conclusively.

[Nancy] Guys, I think--
We're like the ostrich,

with our head in the sand
and our butts in the air.

Because are-- are--
is anybody seriously saying,
[chuckles softly]

that she died of accidental
or natural causes?

And then instead
of calling 911 like,

"Oh, no, my--
my neighbor just choked
on a porkchop.

And-- I need 911 right now."

Nobody called 911.

No one notified husband
or children, nothing.

They just went,
"Oh, she's dead.

Let me go bury her
out past the Sand Dunes."

I mean, really,
let's look at this
realistically speaking.

Well, that-- that's why
I wanted to ask Peter,

because we may not
be able to determine
how she was killed.

But we have a-- an idea
of if she was attacked or not.

And Peter,
I wanted to ask you,

I know we're talking
about the clothes.

We also know that
Barry had scratches
on his arm.

Right?
They took photos of that.

And I'm wondering
based on the conditions
of the,

the desert
where she was found,

let's presume she was there
this-- this entire time.

Would they still be able
to find DNA

under her fingernails
at this point?

Because if they can,

one, it could obviously link
back to Barry or someone else,

or more so,
it might line up the--
the injuries that he-- were--

-he was found with
at the time of the incident.
-[Nancy] Mmm-hmm.

So, yes,
while DNA is obviously,
a very critical--

Well, it is a critical piece
of evidence,

the challenge that you have
in this particular case,

is simply finding
the husband's DNA
on the wife

does not prove anything,

even when it comes
from a biological fluid.

because you would expect that
because they live together,

there would be this
transferred DNA between both
the husband and the wife.

[Nancy] But under
the fingernails, Peter?

-Uh, that's an inference...
-[Derrick] Yeah.

...that would need to be drawn
from where the DNA is found

and how much of it is there,

if you can even save
that much about it, so.

It's not quite as simple
as-- as simply discovering DNA

and then connecting it
to the husband.

Hey, Peter, a question to you.

I think the--
the bigger challenge
is the, uh...

[Nancy] Do fingernails--
Do fingernails still exist
after three years?

Oh, gosh,
it's hard for me
to look at her.

Look how beautiful she is.

Apparently, a--
a loving wonderful Mom.

Um, do fingernails still exist
after three years?

[Peter] I would expect them
to survive.

Whether or not
the material underneath them
would be, uh,

still viable for the recovery
of DNA

- is another matter entirely.
-[Derrick] That's--
That's my concern.

-[Nancy] Go for it, Mara.
- [Mara] And-- and what about

[Mara] the things like blood
or hairs?

If-- If that--

Would that survive
the elements in a way
that is usable?

[Peter] Certainly, hair would.

Hair is a very persistent
evidence.

Uh, blood, potentially.

If it's in the clothing

or if it's, uh,
soaked into the clothing.

The other thing
that considers--

The absence of blood
underneath where her body
is recovered

is another piece
of information

that would be suggestive
of a secondary crime scene.

[Nancy] Peter,
I got a quick question
for you.

When you make an analysis
of the--

like a discovery
of a body like this,

do you look at it in a vacuum,

or do you take in
extrinsic evidence?

Like, uh, very quickly
after her disappearance,

her husband moved
all of her money
into his accounts

and sold their family home.

I think it was back
in Indiana.

And even decided
to vote for her.

Uh, I mean,
isn't that election fraud
or voter fraud?

That said,
if you expected your wife
to walk back in the door,

like Scott Peterson
immediately ordered
the porn channel.

He knew Laci
wasn't coming home.

But do you look
at extrinsic evidence
like that

when you come up
with your idea, your analysis?

So I can-- I have this--

We can certainly recognize

that the husband
is the prime suspect

in almost any situation
like this.

And that is one
of the scenarios

that we'd be evaluating
as investigators.

But I also have to consider
what if it isn't him?

What if
there's another scenario

that is sort of lurking
in the details,

but we're not looking at it

because we're so laser-focused
on the-- on the husband?

So, you know, it--

in case like that,
if it is the husband,

is that much stronger?

Because as an investigator

what I did was
I disproved the other scenario

that would've been raised
by the defense.

And so I don't wanna go
just in one direction,

and say,
"This is who I think it is,

Let me amass
all the information

to show that I'm right,

but let me also consider
the absence of evidence

to show that somebody else
was involved."

-Well, you're totally right,
Peter Valentine...
-So I'm trying to do--

-...again.
-Right.

And again,
no one has been named.

A POI,
person of interest, suspect,

or defendant in this case.

Peter Valentin, thank you.

Mara and Derrick,
stay right here.

Famous YouTuber Franke,

Ruby Franke doles out
tough love parenting

to over
two million followers
who watch her show.

But after her own children
found starving

and bound with duct-taped,

Franke actually blames,
who else?

The children themselves.

Making all sorts of claims
about sex abuse, even porn.

How can a three-year-old child
be addicted to porn?

And later,
after all these years,

an arrest
in the cold blooded murder
of Tupac Shakur.

Welcome back. I'm Nancy Grace.

YouTube star Ruby Franke

parades her children
for the world to see.

The picture perfect image
of the perfect family.

Until her youngest
boy and girl ages 10 and 12,

found bound, wounded,
malnourished,

a sick story of alleged abuse.

This is the case
of Ruby Franke
and Jodi Hildebrandt,

the YouTube Mom
and her business partner.

Are they also partners
in child abuse?

Mara, what happened?

Well, Nancy, Ruby Franke,

along with
her business partner
Jodi Hildebrandt,

have been charged
with six counts of felony
child abuse,

against the very kids
she documented online

in a popular vlog.

And it all stems
from a gut-wrenching 911 call.

[Nancy]
A neighbor brought to tears

after Ruby Franke's
12-year-old son Russell

ran to his house
from Jodi Hildebrandt's home.

What was it he saw
that made him cry?

Russell was bound
by duct tape,

emaciated
and with open wounds.

Investigators later found
another child

ten-year-old Eve
in the same sad state
of malnourishment.

Ruby Franke showed off
her children

on her YouTube channel.

Her video vlog
was called "8 Passengers",

where she showcased her life

with her husband Kevin
and six kids.

The show took a candid look

into the Mormon family's
home life

in Springville, Utah.

Soon after its debut in 2015,

Franke had viewers hooked
with her commanding presence
over the household,

and her unique
parenting style.

[Franke] Everyone in the car.
Go, go, go, go, go.

Where's your coat?

[Nancy]
She filmed nearly everything
they did together,

and her audience grew to more
than two million subscribers.

My kids never go
to bed on time.

Go to bed.

[Nancy] But was her happy home
even happy at all?

Viewers started raising
red flags about
Franke's parenting.

If you cut one more thing in
my house,

I'm going to take
the scissors, look at me,

and I'm going to cut
its head off.

-[exclaims]
-I'm gonna be so mad.

-[sobs]
- [Nancy] They got so worried
that in 2020,

viewers started
an online petition

to have Child Protective
Services intervene.

They cited aggressive actions
by Franke against her kids,

including taking away
oldest son Chad's bed

for seven months.

My bedroom was taken
away from me...

[laughs] I don't think
our viewers know that.

-I was sleeping on a beanbag
since October.
-[laughs]

[Nancy]
And letting six-year-old Eve
go hungry at school.

I know that her teacher
is uncomfortable

with her being hungry
and not having a lunch.

Eve is responsible for making
her lunches in the morning.

She's just going to need
to be hungry.

[Nancy] By 2022,
the backlash had
grown so strong that Franke

ended the show while still
defending her actions.

It was around this time
in the summer of 2022

that Franke teamed up
with another Mormon mom,

Jodi Hildebrandt, to join
her therapy podcast,
Connections.

You wonder where
I've been on my vlogs.

You wonder why I left YouTube.

[voice breaking]
It's to save my kids.

And I'm telling you,
I was making millions.

And I left it.

[Nancy] This partnership is
important because

as we know it was
from Hildebrandt's residence

that Russell escaped
and where some of
the alleged abuse took place.

Hildebrandt has been in hot
water in the past including

a license suspension
in 2012 over

her controversial
therapy style.

Former clients have claimed
that Hildebrand

encouraged them
to cut themselves off

from loved ones,
separating spouses

and ruining
their relationships.

So now what?

Franke and Hilda Brand
are now in jail awaiting

hearings on their six counts
of felony child abuse,

while the four Franke
children who are still minors

have been placed
in protective custody.

-Nancy?
-Okay, stop everything.

Where's the father?

Where's he in all
this scenario?

When the children are being
duct-taped and starved?

Listen, do you remember
the House of Horrors
in California?

The Turpin family, when
they were all being starved,

they had that one.

A teen girl crawled out
a window

to get help to save
her siblings.

Same thing going on here.

So where's the father
in all this?

Yeah, I have a major issue
with it.

Kevin Franke,
it's one of those things,
as a father myself,

we're in a situation
where ignorance

is not an excuse, right?

The fact that he didn't even
know Jody was living

in the home bothers me.

He clearly wasn't talking
to his kids enough.

I don't know if
he's criminally liable
at this point.

I know he hasn't been charged.

But at minimum, he should
have been more involved,

and he should have known
this was going on.

Exactly to that point when
they were arrested,

Franke's sisters came out
and said it was time
for this to happen.

-This should have happened.
They've been saying it's time
-Yeah.

for this to happen.

Well, why didn't
they call 911?

But here's my question,
how did the sisters know that

these children were
being abused

-and the husband didn't so...
-The father was living
somewhere else.

-He was living somewhere--
-He was living there
for 13 months,

-but Nancy this abuse
has been going on alleged.
-I--

You're preaching to
the choir right now.

I'm on board with this.

There was incidents
of before he moved out.

There were things
that were going on
while he was living there.

So he knew what Ruby was doing
even beforehand.

Excuse me.

Can we first talk about
the person that's actually

charged in this case,
Ruby Franke?

-Yep.
-Because I've got a problem.

She said, not letting
my daughter have lunch,

she's six years old,

may make her teacher
uncomfortable.

It made me uncomfortable
just watching her say that.

And another thing,
did you hear the 911 call
or the neighbor?

A grown man

started crying when
he saw the lacerations

and bruises on
the little boy's body.

And did you hear Ruby Franke
say, "I gave up my show

because I did it
for the children?"

I think she did it because
she had CPS,

Child Protective Services,
about three inches up
her tailpipe.

What about that?

Well, and this is someone
who practically bragged about

withholding food
from her children.

She would say things like,
my children are
literally starving.

I'm going to withhold
the privilege of having
dinner.

Let me let me
let that sink in.
She said what?

She talked about...
She said that her two sons

were losing, "The privilege
to eat dinner

if they did not stop
wrestling."

In another video, she said,
"My kids are literally
starving.

I'm not going to let you eat
breakfast until you get

your chores done."
So these were things

-that...
-Is that supposed to be
a good thing, Mara?

-used as parenting tactics--
-You have children.

I chased mine around trying
to get them to eat.

I cannot imagine punishing
your child by
withholding food.

Hey, hey, when I was
prosecuting child abuse cases,

did you know that's really
common to basically starve

your children, withhold food?

That's a real thing.

Nancy, you mentioned CPS.

That's another concern
I have here.

There was an opportunity
for law enforcement

to intervene a year ago,
September of 2022.

-You're right, Derrick.
-They showed up.

They were called.
The kids were in the window.

They couldn't get in contact
with the parents,

and yet they didn't enter
the house.

They allowed CPS
to get involved,

and they kicked the can
down the road.

So we shouldn't even
be here right now.

Mara and Derrick, don't move.

When we come back,
Jodi Hildebrandt's
ex-client speaks out

with details about
how manipulative she was.

YouTube mom Ruby Franke's
business partner,

Jodi Hildebrandt.

What is her role
in the alleged abuse

of Ruby Franke's children?

Did she ratchet up the tough
love take just for ratings?

With us now, Hildebrandt's
niece, Jessi Hildebrandt.

And with us,
a former client of

Jodi Hildebrandt, ex-client,

Adam Steed.

To Jessi and Adam,
thank you for being with us.

Jessi, I don't understand
how you,

you're Jodi Hildebrandt's
niece,

-Yeah.
-but how in the hay
did you end up

living with her against
your will?

Yeah, I mean,
it's complicated,

but I was left there when
I was 16 years old. Um...

And within the culture
that I come from,

my behaviors were seen as,
you know,

rebellious and erratic,
but really they were
just normal.

Well, you don't seem erratic
to me, so let me understand.

-Your mother
and father left you...
-With Jodi.

-Yes.
-With your aunt.

Yes.

Jodi Hildebrandt,
so she could what?

-Toughen you up and make
you behave,
-Yeah.

disciplining you to be what
they wanted you to be?

Um, well, it's even more
complicated than that

because in this culture,
it's more my eternal soul.

My salvation was on the line.

I needed to be saved.

And when you put God
and religion into

these types of abuse tactics,

they become incredibly
convincing

and incredibly controlling.

That's why abusers seek out
these disempowered systems,

because there's loopholes
everywhere for them.

What did you endure living
with Jodi Hildebrandt,

now charged in child abuse?
Wait, wait, wait.

What was your first reaction

when you found out
your aunt,

who according to you,
abused you for years,

was finally charged?

Yeah, it was just under
a year.

It was, I mean,
my reaction was just complete

and utter shock.

I almost fell over. I was
just, luckily, my roommate

was there. I was in
the middle of moving, like,

filling my U-Haul
as I moved from L.A.

to Seattle, and I just,
I couldn't reconcile it.

It was after nearly 15 years

of something being
so minimized
and so invalidated,

and then to have it
suddenly be...

public, you know,
national news,

it's, I still, I'm like,
to reconcile those,

that separation is really
complex and confusing.

Do you feel validated that
now there are formal claims,

although they weren't made
in time to help you?

Yeah, I mean, I did go
to the police when I was 16.

-Yeah. Yeah.
-16, ran away, and got found.

-You went to a shelter, right?
-I did, yes.

Got found, got dragged back.

Well, I bet that was
a happy reunion.

Yeah.

What were some of the...
you mentioned abuse.

I mean, I was accused
of being a sex addict.

I was accused of,
I was accused of

just being an addict
in general.

I was forced to do 12-step.
I was...

-But you had never had sex
at the time.
-No, no.

I didn't even, no.

And I was, I was
also duct taped.

I wasn't allowed to speak.

When you, whoa,
whoa, wait, wait.

Please don't just...

gloss over...
You were duct taped.

What?

So, she had--
The thing that Jodi does

is that she first strips you
of identity,

then she strips you
of validity,

so then all of a sudden
everything that you say

is no longer true or valid.

She isolates you, and then
she has you believe

that you did it to yourself
and that you are deserving

-of these punishments.
-Back to the duct tape.

So yeah, she was, I was
convinced that I was,

or she would tell me over
and over and over again

that I was a masterful
manipulator, that every word

that came out of my mouth
was a lie.

And so the duct tape in
her words was

a physical manifestation
and reminder that
I'm a compulsive liar.

-[Nancy] She put duct tape
over your mouth?
-Yes.

[Derrick] What happened
when you went to the police?

-How-- You were 16, you said.
-I was 16 I had run away

to a neighbor's house
and then to the police

and it was...

[sighs] The power
that a narcissist...

if not a sociopath of Jodi.

The power that they have is,
it's so hard to explain

to people.

But when I went to the police,
I was first interviewing
or talking to a cop,

and they were right there
with me.

They showed so much empathy
and so much kindness.

But I was also
so terrified that

I was going to be, because
she had convinced me that

I just destroy
everyone's life.

She would tell me this over
and over and over again,

that you just destroy
everyone's life,

you destroy everything
that you touch.

And so when I did go
to the police,

I was so afraid that I was
just going to ruin her life,

because I had been convinced
that I was deserving of this.

Can I ask you,
did you have food withheld?

Did you have food withheld?
Were you ever...

-I was...
-Beaten, left alone, isolated.

I had moments, like
there were a couple moments

of being punched in the back.

There was, I was duct taped,
I was tied,
I was thrown into a car,

I was blindfolded, I was drove
into the mountains.

And what she does,
her rationale,

these are her words,
she wanted

to make my life
so uncomfortable

that it would force
the sin out.

Because she operates from
this idea that the reason

why you are struggling,
the reason why you have

these neuroses,
the reasons why you have
mental health issues

is because of sin.

Joining us right now,
one of Jodi Hildebrandt's

former clients, Adam Steed.

Adam, thank you for being
with us.

What was your connection
with Jodi Hildebrandt?

My Mormon bishop
sent me to her.

It was horrific.

She is a mastermind.

She is super, super dangerous.

It was the single most
worst decision

I ever made in my life.

And once I was in,
I couldn't get away.

Let me ask you this, Adam.

I understand you went
to her at the advice

of one of the Mormon bishops,
but she ended up

treating you for porn
addiction or sex addiction,

but that wasn't your problem.

Yeah, it was a,
it was a deceptive entrance

and, uh, she just like,

put her abstract models,

it was like on top of us,

just rubber stamping us,
didn't know anything about

the people in the group.

She just talked and talked
and talked

and brought these abstracts
into place.

It didn't, in the beginning
it was real inviting

and she was funny and she used
these little models

on small things
and made lots of jokes

and so it was
really deceptive.

I understand that
you believe Jodi Hildebrandt

nearly ruined your life.

How much money did she make
off your family in fees?

Oh, it was like multiple
times what rent costs.

You know, I was just
a 26, seven-year-old
college student,

and I was paying more money
to Jodi Hildebrandt

than I was for college
for my family.

[Nancy] I still don't
understand how porn
or sex addiction

got into your treatment
or your counseling.

Well, to understand
Jodi Hildebrandt,

you've got to understand
the Mormon faith crisis.

You know, when
the internet came out,

the bishop started
sending everyone

who had ever looked at
pornography to therapists.

I mean, literally
like a million people

were going to therapists.

And in the midst of this,
Jodi Hildebrandt evolves

from like somebody who loves
money and power so much that

she doesn't just do
like sensitive

back-to-back therapy like
every normal therapist would.

She's like creates this
multi-level marketing
company thing

where she's literally
taking clients

and turning them into
lieutenants for her

and using them to punish
the rest of the people
in the group.

She's using pure pressure.

She weaponizes
the other clients.

Hey, Adam, were you surprised
when you heard about
these charges?

Felony charges?

Uh...

When I first heard about
those felony charges, I was...

Well, I think normally people
would be really surprised.

I wasn't surprised at all.

Completely expected it.

Wow, that says a lot to me.

Jessi Hildebrandt
and Adam Steed,

to both of you, thank you
for sharing your insight on

what's happening right now
in this felony case.

Mara and Derrick staying
right here.

The murder of music icon
Tupac Shakur

was a cold-blooded hit
in the last days.

Police arrest the man
they say pull the trigger.

Was Tupac murdered in Vegas?

Hundreds of people
standing around.

Nobody saw a thing?

No way.

But did cops really have
to wait till the killer
publicly brags about

the murder to finally make
an arrest?

Welcome back.

The murder of Tupac Shakur
spun out hundreds of

conspiracy theories,
but now, finally, an arrest.

In the last days, Vegas cops
bust Duane "Keefe D" Davis

in the murder of music legend
Tupac Shakur.

Davis,
the strong-arm leader of
the Southside Compton Crips,

finally in the cops'
crosshairs.

He publicly brags about
the murder

in his tell-all biography.

Really?

This guy writes
a tell-all memoir?

Well, he told a little
bit too much.

I'm sure his defense attorneys
think.

He felt so confident
in this immunity deal of sorts

that he had reached
with prosecutors about

something else that
he thought he could tell all

the details about what
happened with Tupac.

So in his 2019 memoir,
he details

what happened that night.
And here's some of what
he says.

-I'm just so happy.
-It's unbelievable to me.

He says that he was the one
who got the gun to kill Tupac.

He ordered this hit because
he was the general,

the five-star general,
if you will, of this faction.

And he stalked him
and they looked for him.

And he says, quote, "For us,
Vegas was another day

at the office, nothing more
than collateral damage.

Tupac chose
the wrong game to play."

referring to the fight
at the MGM Grand.

[Derrick] He definitely felt
too comfortable

with the proffer agreement.

He went in there thinking,
hey, as long

as I speak to them,
I'm untouchable.

And as he kept talking
and talking,

probably some of
the things he said

turned out not to be true
based on what they found,

which opened him up again.

I think even one detective
said he walked himself

into jail with this one.

So long story short,
Keefe D

had an immunity agreement
on another case

and he thought that
was blanket immunity.

He could say whatever
he wanted to,

including confessing
to murdering Tupac.

What I don't get,
you want to tell me in Vegas,

I mean you guys have been
to Vegas,

you can't swing a stick
and not hit somebody
in the head.

All these people standing
around, he gets murdered

in public and nobody saw
a thing?

But we also cannot
minimize, Nancy,

that Las Vegas police,
I mean, you're gonna have

to explain to me how
they were not able to put
two and two together.

[Nancy] Oh,
it's the police's fault.

But I'll explain to you why,
because initially,

they completely discounted
the shooting

having any connection
to the fight at the MGM Grand,

when in reality,
that was the cause.

That fight was a violation
of street code that was

so severe that they then felt
they had to retaliate
that night.

Las Vegas police missed that,

and they didn't have
any sources

in the Los Angeles
gang community.

-Yeah.
-They were not equipped
to handle this investigation.

So, are you attempting
to argue that was some

sort of provocation,
the fight at the MGM?

'Cause provocation under
the law has to be
instantaneous.

You can't get mad and you
and I have a fight,

then tomorrow I come shoot
you down while

you're getting in your car.

That's called
a cooling off period.
That is--

-That is not going to work.
-You didn't make it--

Mara's not making
a defense for it.

She's basically saying,
hey, police should have put

two and two together here.

-You're right.
-You have a flight.

Orlando Anderson gets beat up
by Death Row Records members.

They carry it out later
that night.

They say, listen,
that's not going,
you know, unresponded to.

They head out there.

But the problem
with the police is,

yeah, they might know
the individuals in the car,

but they have to put the gun
in someone's hands.

And at that point,
they didn't know that.

-So you can have three people.
-Did Suge Knight know?

I mean, I've known
for 10 years

-that Suge Knight knew.
-The thing about Tupac...

Tupac was shot.
He was on the ground.

First responders were there
asking him who shot him,

and I can't say it on TV,
but he responded in a way

with some profanity,

basically telling them,
I'm not saying anything.

That's just the code.

Even in the moment where
he probably felt like

he was going to die,
he wasn't willing to snitch
on someone.

Nancy, there are two people
alive today

who were alive then who know
what happened.

Suge Knight

-and "Keefe D" Davis.
-Absolutely.

And neither one of them,
Suge Knight has not said

a word about what happened,

and Davis confessed
in this book after

he believed that
he had immunity.

But here's another thing
that people forget.

Suge and Davis, they were
known to each other.

They grew up together.

They played football together
when they were nine years old.

So Suge knows exactly
what happened that night

-and who was involved.
- [Nancy] You know what
I don't want, Mara?

What I don't want, Derrick?

I don't want, because time has
passed since Tupac Shakur

was gunned down,
that they take a cheap deal

and it just goes away.

They've already failed
Tupac Shakur

and his family once,
and I want justice for him.

It's been a long time coming.

-Mmm.
-Yeah, no, I absolutely agree.

You know, a lot of family
members have passed away

without having an opportunity
to get justice.

And again, this is not
something that
should have taken

almost 30 years to solve.

This was, if it had taken
place in Los Angeles,

I would argue that with
an understanding of

the gang culture and with
the right sources,

they would have been able
to put this to bed
a long time ago.

Mara, Derrick, thank you
so much for being here tonight

on Crime Feed,
where every single week,

we bring you
the breaking crime

and justice news from across
our great country.

In the coming weeks,
we will focus on

the biggest bombshells
on some of

the biggest crime stories
in the headlines,

and many you haven't even
heard about yet.

I'll see you next week.

Good night, friend.