TikTok star accused of hiring hit man. Hemlock and magic spells at a murder trial. Plus, the Bexley Box.

Summary

Dateline NBC: True Crime Weekly – May 28, 2026

Podcast Episode Summary
Host: Andrea Canning | Guests: Alexis Rivas, Haley Barber, Matt Levitas, Kirsten Brideigan

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Episode Overview

This episode of Dateline True Crime Weekly dives into an array of disturbing and headline-grabbing cases:

• The arrest and alleged murder-for-hire plot orchestrated by TikTok influencer Gabby Gonzalez.
• A murder trial in California involving a missing woman, rumors of poison, and even magic spells.
• Updates on high-profile cases, including Barry Morphew’s tranquilizer murder indictment, the sentencing of quadruple murderer Paul Canero, and the Jared Brideigan case.
• A segment on the “Bexley Box”—a new initiative aiming to comfort children in police stations, inspired by the heartbreaking aftermath of real-life tragedy.

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1. The TikTok Murder-For-Hire Plot

Segment begins at 02:26

Key Discussion Points:

• Gabby Gonzalez’s Public Persona:
  • 24-year-old influencer with hundreds of thousands of followers, known for sharing travel, motherhood, and “mermaid at heart” content.

    “She seemed to have it all, but now Gabby is attracting attention for all the wrong reasons.” – Andrea Canning (03:05)

• Allegations:
  • Gabby, her father Francisco (a personal injury attorney), and her then-boyfriend Kai Cordry allegedly plotted to kill her ex, Jack Avery (former boyband member and father of her child).
  • Motive reportedly centered on a contentious custody battle—Gabby sought full custody, did not get it.
• The Plot Details:
  • In 2021, Francisco allegedly wired $10,000 to Cordry, who in turn searched the dark web for a hitman using the alias “Lizard King 69.”
  • FBI intervened when Cordry communicated with an undercover agent posing as a hitman; taped phone calls recorded evidence of the conspiracy (07:06).
• Legal Proceedings:
  • Despite the plot never materializing (“Jack Avery is alive and well”), arrests were delayed until 2026; reasons for this lag remain unanswered.
  • Gabby is out on $2 million bail and barred from contact with her child or from posting about the case.

    “We have not heard a peep from any of them.” – Matt Levitas (08:54)

Notable Quotes:

• “In April of 2021, he [Francisco] transferred $10,000 to Kai Cordry for the purpose of hiring this hitman.” – Matt Levitas (06:29)
• “Gabby is out on $2 million bail...she is not allowed to have any contact with her daughter or to post about the case on social media.” – Matt Levitas (09:06)
• “If convicted, they face the possibility of 25 years to life in state prison.” – Andrea Canning (09:25)

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2. The Murder Trial of Maya Millete – Hemlock & Magic Spells

Segment begins at 11:32

Background:

• Maya Millete disappeared in 2021 after returning home; her body was never found.
• Husband Larry Millete is on trial, accused of murder, with the prosecution alleging motives including marital strife, a confirmed affair, and controlling behavior.

Unique Case Elements:

• Magic & Spells:
  • Larry spent thousands on spells to keep Maya from leaving.“He was willing to ask for Maya’s bones to be broken…” (15:17)
• Potential Cause of Death:
  • Poisoning: Google searches on fast-acting poisons; vial tested (inconclusively) for hemlock found in the home.
  • Past abuse: Friends testified Maya reported past choking.
  • Gunshots: Neighbors reported hearing shots, though evidence remains vague.
• Defense Assertions:
  • Claim Maya may not be dead or point to her lover as a more likely suspect; note anniversary of affair coincided with disappearance.

    “There’s so much interest in them…they're going to have to eliminate them as suspects if they're going to eliminate any reasonable doubt.” – Alexis Rivas (18:04)

Memorable Courtroom Moment (18:57):

• Maya’s father broke down on the stand, accused Larry directly of murder, causing the defense attorney to cry and request a mistrial.

  “He just stops answering questions altogether…and starts crying and screaming at Larry…‘You’re a murderer, why did you do this to my daughter?’” – Alexis Rivas (18:57)

Defendant Speaks Out:

• Larry called Alexis Rivas from jail, insisting the trial was unfair due to juror exposure and the emotional courtroom scene.

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3. Dateline Roundup: Updates on Major True Crime Cases

Segment begins at 22:06

Barry Morphew Case (Colorado)

• Suzanne Morphew disappeared on Mother’s Day 2020; her bike and helmet found separately.
• Initial charges dropped due to withheld evidence; after Suzanne’s remains were found in 2023 (with animal tranquilizers in her system), Barry re-arrested.

  “[The drug] is specifically used to tranquilize deer…it’s not something very easy for your regular citizen to get.” – Haley Barber (24:11)

• Barry awaits trial, pleads not guilty; his defense files extensive pre-trial motions.

Paul Canero Sentencing (New Jersey)

• Convicted of murdering his brother, sister-in-law, and nieces/nephews in 2018.
• Family read emotional statements; sentencing: four life sentences plus 16 years.

  “You are a quadruple murderer who slaughtered innocent children. That is your identity…” – Judge Lemieux (26:26)

Jared Brideigan Case (Florida)

• Microsoft employee Jared Brideigan was killed by a gunman in 2022; his 2-year-old daughter found in the back seat.
• Ex-wife Shanna and husband Mario charged with conspiracy to commit murder; both deny guilt.
• Alleged hitman Henry Tennant’s plea in question; judge rules some of his statements can be heard in the upcoming trials (set for August and September).

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4. The Bexley Box: Bringing Comfort Amidst Tragedy

Segment begins at 29:03

The Tragedy:

• After Jared Brideigan’s murder, his young daughter Bexley was found alone in the car and taken to a police station. Lacking basic comforts, the experience was traumatic for her and her mother, Kirsten.

The Response:

• Kirsten Brideigan launched the Bexley Box initiative: trauma-care kits containing comfort items like toys, diapers, coloring books, and blankets for young kids left at police stations.

  “I want a Bexley Box to become a standard resource, kind of like an AED or a first aid kit.” – Kirsten Brideigan (35:38)

Expansion & Impact:

• Over 70 boxes distributed nationwide, with a partnership poised to deliver 245 more in Florida.
• Department staff, especially women and victim advocates, are leading the adoption of Bexley Boxes.
• The initiative has also helped Bexley process her trauma and serves as therapy for the Brideigan family.

  “Knowing, like, we can take the darkest part of our lives and turn it into something bright and hopeful for other people.” – Kirsten Brideigan (35:21)

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Highlighted Quotes & Timestamps

• “He asked for [Jack] killed by, quote, whatever method was easiest.”
  — Matt Levitas (06:37)

• “She seemed to have it all, but now Gabby is attracting attention for all the wrong reasons.”
  — Andrea Canning (03:05)

• “There’s so much interest in them…they're going to have to eliminate them as suspects if they're going to eliminate any reasonable doubt.”
  — Alexis Rivas (18:04)

• “You are a quadruple murderer who slaughtered innocent children. That is your identity...”
  — Judge Lemieux (26:26)

• “Just to sit there without more to comfort her was heartbreaking...”
  — Kirsten Brideigan (31:05)

• “I want a Bexley Box to become a standard resource, kind of like an AED or a first aid kit...”
  — Kirsten Brideigan (35:38)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• TikTok Murder-For-Hire Plot: 02:26–09:36
• Maya Millete/Hemlock Trial: 11:32–20:20
• Dateline Roundup: 22:06–28:58
  • Barry Morphew: 22:12–25:11
  • Paul Canero: 25:13–26:57
  • Brideigan Case: 26:57–28:58
• Bexley Box Initiative: 29:03–36:09

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Tone

The episode balances the gravity of violent crime reportage with compassion and hope, especially in the segment featuring the Bexley Box. Reporting is fact-driven but includes moments of emotional vulnerability and advocacy.

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Summary Takeaway

From influencer scandals and courtroom drama involving magic spells to stories of healing after tragedy, this episode captures the shocking breadth and humanity behind ongoing true crime cases. Notable moments include the emotional breakdown in the Maya Millete trial, the bizarre methods proposed in the TikTok hitman conspiracy, and the resilience shown by families left behind. The episode closes with inspiration, as innovation—like the Bexley Box—brings solace where it's needed most.

Transcript

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[Alexis Rivas]

Good morning, everyone.

[Andrea Canning]

You're listening in to the DATELINE story meeting.

[Kirsten Brideigan]

Okay, so let's jump in.

[Andrea Canning]

Our producers are catching up on breaking crime news. Do you think there's going to be cameras in the trial?

[Haley Barber]

We're all on track with this.

[Kirsten Brideigan]

Everyone is losing their minds over this story.

[Andrea Canning]

Welcome to DATELINE True Crime Weekly. I'm Andrea Canning. It's May 28th and here's what's on our docket. In San Diego County, California, it's week two in the murder trial of a man accused of paying people to cast magic spells on his wife.

[Alexis Rivas]

I can't remember a time that we talk about magic or spells in general when we're talking about homicide trials in DATELINE Roundup.

[Andrea Canning]

We've got the latest from the courtroom in the case of Barry Morphew, a Colorado man accused of murdering his wife using animal tranquilizers. And a New Jersey businessman convicted of murdering his own brother and his brother's family faces the judge at his sentencing.

[Judge Lemieux]

You are a quadruple murderer who slaughtered innocent children. That is the identity you will carry for the remainder of your life behind prison walls.

[Andrea Canning]

Plus, the widow of a man murdered in front of their two year old child tells us about her campaign to bring comfort to children who end up alone and scared at the police station.

[Kirsten Brideigan]

So as I reflected on that night, wishing that there had been more to comfort her, that she had a diaper that fit her, I just thought we have to do something.

[Alexis Rivas]

But.

[Andrea Canning]

But before all that, we're off to Los Angeles where a TikTok star has been charged with attempting to take out a hit on her ex, Beautiful lifestyle influencer Gabby Gonzalez, has built a devoted following on social media, documenting her life in Hawaii and beyond. Hundreds of thousands of followers tune in to the 24 year old's posts about exotic travel, beachy fashion, music every day.

[Kirsten Brideigan]

My favorite song keeps changing, but this

[Andrea Canning]

was my favorite song on day two and even motherhood.

[Kirsten Brideigan]

Where are we going to put it?

[Andrea Canning]

In the castle.

[Kirsten Brideigan]

Can you help me?

[Andrea Canning]

Yeah.

[Kirsten Brideigan]

Okay.

[Andrea Canning]

She seemed to have it all, but now Gabby is attracting attention for all the wrong reasons. Allegations of conspiracy to commit murder. LA prosecutors accusing a TikTok star of trying to hire somebody off the dark web to kill her ex. Gabby's ex and the alleged target, Jack Avery, is a former member of the boy band. Why don't we say that it's.

[Alexis Rivas]

Why is it so hard to say

[Andrea Canning]

he is also the father of Gabby's child? Prosecutors in Los Angeles say back in 2020, Gabby embarked on a years long quest to find a hitman to kill Jack. And they allege she didn't act alone. Here to bring us up to speed on the alleged plot and what took so long to uncover it is NBC News breaking news reporter Matt Levitas. Matt, thanks for being here.

[Matt Levitas]

Thank you.

[Andrea Canning]

So, Matt, let's start with some background on Gabby Gonzalez. We know she's this beautiful influencer. Tell us more about her.

[Matt Levitas]

She's this 24 year old from Florida. She has hundreds of thousands of followers on TikTok and on Instagram and like you just said, she posts these sort of glamorous shots of her in Hawaii and her in California in front of waterfalls and recording her on vacation with her, her young daughter in Paris. She describes herself on her Instagram PA as a lover of life and a mermaid at heart.

[Andrea Canning]

Yeah, it's ironic because everything in her posts, I was scrolling through the years and everything is so light. So Matt, what do we know about her relationship with Jack Avery? This, this ex of hers who was in the boy band?

[Matt Levitas]

Yeah, so they dated in the late 2010s when they were both teenagers. Their relationship was brief. They had a child together in 2019 and really been in this contentious custody battle with Gabby accusing Jack Avery of being this sort of unfit father.

[Andrea Canning]

What did Jack Avery have to say about this dispute?

[Matt Levitas]

He actually addressed it on x and on TikTok, describing the allegations against him as false accusations and painful attacks.

[Andrea Canning]

What happened with the legal side of things with regards to this, this custody dispute over their daughter?

[Matt Levitas]

We don't have those details, but what we do know from the prosecution in this case is that Gonzalez wanted full custody of their daughter, and she, you know, did not get that.

[Andrea Canning]

Yeah. So this, this actually became a part of the prosecutor's felony complaint that, you know, this was a possible motive. So as we mentioned off the top, Gabby, according to prosecutors, was not acting alone. Who do they say she was allegedly plotting with to take out Jack? With a hitman.

[Matt Levitas]

So prosecutors are alleging that Gabby plotted with her father, Francisco Gonzalez, who's the successful personal injury attorney in Florida, and her. Her boyfriend at the time, back in 2020 and 2021, a young man by the name of Kai Cordry, who lives in Hawaii. And prosecutors allege that Francisco, Gabby's dad, was sort of funding this whole scheme. Right. So in. In April of 2021, he transferred $10,000 to Kai Cordry for the purpose of hiring this hitman.

[Andrea Canning]

Okay. And then prosecutors say Kai then took that money and searched for a possible hitman on the Dark Web.

[Matt Levitas]

Right. So. So after receiving the money, Kai, in May of 2021, according to prosecutors, signed up for a Dark Web murder for hire sight using the alias Lizard King 69. And he asked for J killed by, quote, whatever method was easiest. And that included a shooting or some sort of staged accident.

[Andrea Canning]

Wow. In September 2021, the FBI came into the picture. Tell us how they get involved.

[Matt Levitas]

Right. So prosecutors say that at some point, Kai made contact with this undercover FBI agent who was posing as a hitman, and that the FBI recorded the phone call between these two, suggesting that Kai wanted the plot to take place and that he was acting at test of his girlfriend at the time, Gabby Gonzalez. And By December of 2021, Francisco Gonzalez also got on the phone with an undercover FBI agent.

[Andrea Canning]

These are wild accusations, Matt. But this alleged plot never came to fruition. Jack Avery is alive and well. What went right, if you will, for Jack, that this did not happen.

[Matt Levitas]

So the last we know about this case, what the prosecution laid out, that Gonzalez and Kai spoke about the matter over the phone in October of 2022, with Gabby suggesting that she had some concerns that they were going to get caught. We know that a month Later, November of 2022, her home was searched and raided by the FBI. But we don't know what happened from then until now. And that's sort of the large question here. Why. Why was no action taken?

[Andrea Canning]

Yeah, because that was three and a half years ago. It's very interesting, you know, to think like, what. What has transpired in. In these years. Gabby and her dad were arrested just last week and Kai was arrested over the weekend.

[Matt Levitas]

Right. So that's what I've been asking the authorities in Los Angeles. And you know, they keep pointing me to this statement that they gave us last week. The LA da, Nathan Hockman said that, quote, this was a lengthy investigation that was initiated by the FBI and eventually turned over to our office resulting in criminal charges.

[Andrea Canning]

Being there been any comment from any of the defendants?

[Matt Levitas]

We have not heard a peep from any of them. They have not entered pleas to our knowledge. We know that Francisco was arrested in his home state of Florida and X ray to California. We know that Gabby is out on $2 million bail that she posted and as a condition of that bail, she is not allowed to have any contact with her daughter or, or to post about the case on social media. We know that she is expected to make her plea this summer.

[Andrea Canning]

All right, more hearings to come on this and if convicted, they face the possibility of 25 years to life in state prison. Matt, thank you for coming on.

[Matt Levitas]

Thank you for having me.

[Andrea Canning]

Coming up, five years after a woman disappeared from her California home. Her body has still not been found, but her husband is on trial for her alleged mur. Prosecutors say he may have used hemlock to kill her.

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[Andrea Canning]

Chula Vista is a city in San Diego county known for Its peaceful neighborhoods and suburban charm. In Spanish, the name means beautiful view. But what happened to a working mom on a winter's day back in 2021 would cast a dark shadow over the area. Thursday, January 7th, a security camera captured 39 year old Maya Miliete pulling into the driveway of the house she shared with her husband Larry and their three young children. But investigators say there is no footage of Maya ever leaving the house after that. Five years later, Larry is now on trial for her alleged murder. Prosecutors believe he killed Maya, but can't say certain how or where he disposed of her body because it has never been found. What they do point to is a trail of evidence they say includes poison, an alleged affair, and even magic spells. Larry's defense attorney, on the other hand, says there is no proof Maya is even dead. And if she is, there were other people who may have killed her, like her married lover. As Larry's trial enters its second week, NBC 7 investigative reporter Alexis Rivas is here to tell us more about the proceedings. So which Alexis includes a call you got from Larry himself right in the middle of trial?

[Alexis Rivas]

That's right. I definitely wasn't expecting that and it's definitely a first for me.

[Andrea Canning]

Yeah. Well, thank you for joining us. We're gonna get to that in just a moment. But you've been covering this story from the very beginning. Give us a sense of who Larry and Maya were before all this happened. At least who they seem to be to the outside world.

[Alexis Rivas]

Well, they got married very young. They were teenagers in Hawaii. Eventually, through the Navy, Larry gets relocated over to Southern California. Maya goes with. And they both wind up working very successful jobs. He's in optometry. She's an administrative specialist for the Navy. And from photos, they had kind of the perfect family.

[Andrea Canning]

As we talked about off the top of the segment, the last confirmed sighting of Maya was when she was captured on her neighbor's security camera pulling into her driveway.

[Alexis Rivas]

She was.

[Andrea Canning]

Maya's sister reports her missing a few days later.

[Alexis Rivas]

That's right. So she had her daughter's 11th birthday coming up. There was a big family trip that they were all supposed to go on together in Big Bear. And then just a couple days before this trip, she stops responding to anyone. It seemed completely out of character. Ultimately, her sister drove down to Maya's house and insisted that she go inside and see what was going on. And that's when she called 911.

[Andrea Canning]

Maya's sisters and brothers started vigils and searches and trying to find her.

[Alexis Rivas]

That's right. I mean, we saw hundreds of people from Chula Vista come out looking for Maya. Very early on, notably not at those events, was Larry Meliente. And that's something that police mentioned when they initially arrested him about nine months after she vanished.

[Andrea Canning]

Which brings us to this trial that has been five years in the making. Assistant District Attorney Christy Bowles gave the prosecution's opening statement. And she painted a picture of a marriage in serious trouble.

[Alexis Rivas]

You absolutely get that picture when you listen. Her friends and her co workers have started to take the stand. And her family members, everyone kind of said that she said that she was done with him. And there was also the fact that he had found out she had an affair with a coworker. And after that, he sort of started to be to engage in behavior, constantly asking other people to help him convince her to stay in the marriage.

[Andrea Canning]

And he also reached out to something called a spellcaster.

[Alexis Rivas]

Yeah, this is something that I think makes this case particularly unique. I can't remember a time that we talk about magic or spells in general when we're talking about homicide trials that we've never. In San Diego. Yeah.

[Andrea Canning]

No.

[Alexis Rivas]

But Larry Meliente spent thousands of dollars requesting spell after spell after spell from a couple of spellcasters. If you talk to the prosecution, they say it shows that he had intent to harm his wife. And in fact, one of the spells was. He was willing to ask for Maya's bones to be broken so that she wouldn't leave the house and be reliant on him. But if you talk to the defense, they'll say all these bills show that he was just in love with her and so badly wanted to keep her and hold her close.

[Andrea Canning]

Seems bizarre. The prosecutors do have a lot of missing pieces as to how they believe this alleged murder happened. What are they telling the jury?

[Alexis Rivas]

Oh, up front in the opening statements, the prosecution said, we're not going to be able to tell you how she died. We don't have a body in this case. But they've thrown out a couple of things. They said there were some suspicious Google searches Larry was making about poison. What kind of poison acts the quickest? Is there a plant poison where you never wake up? And the big moment in trial came when they talked about a vial where they tested it for hemlock.

[Andrea Canning]

And according to the prosecution, the results came back positive. And investigators found this vial in the house. Right.

[Alexis Rivas]

Well, it wasn't right away. It wasn't during the initial search of the house. The defense said that they tested that multiple times and that the vial came back negative for hemlock three out of the four. So they're arguing it's inconclusive.

[Andrea Canning]

What other theories did the prosecution have for the jury about Maya's cause of death?

[Alexis Rivas]

There's testimony she had been talking to friends leading up to her disappearance about how Larry had once choked her to a point of unconsciousness. That might explain why there's no direct forensic evidence. And then, last but not least, a neighbor told police that they heard nine gunshots and they have surveillance video. However, the FBI said the video just wasn't good enough quality to confirm or identify those sounds as gunshots. So there's different kinds of ways that they're sort of hinting this might have happened, but the reality is no one really knows yet what happened to Maya and where is she now?

[Andrea Canning]

Alexis, we've talked about this alleged affair with a coworker.

[Alexis Rivas]

The affair is confirmed, according to the prosecution. They said that Maya and a coworker named Jamie Laird began having an extramarital affair. So you have the affair playing into Larry's motive. But on the flip side, you've got the defense saying there's a couple loose ends on the other side of that affair that should have warranted some investigating of more people than just Larry.

[Andrea Canning]

In their opening statement, Larry's defense team suggested that Jamie Laird had acted suspiciously around the time of Maya's disappearance.

[Alexis Rivas]

That's right. And something the defense has pointed out that I think we didn't know until last week. Their anniversary of their affair is the day that Maya vanished January 7th. And Jamie Laird stopped texting Maya after Maya vanished. Granted, his wife, who was pregnant at the time of their affair, gave birth on January 8th. So there could be a variety of reasons. Right. But there's also the fact that when police eventually did talk to him, he had a new phone. The wife's phone was investigated, but her mother also, apparently there's reports that. That she was harassing Maya. So you have some other people here that we really never learned very much about at all until now. The prosecution alluded that we're going to hear from these people. There's so much interest in them. I think they have to bring them to the stand, and I think they're going to have to eliminate them as suspects if they're going to eliminate any reasonable doubt, according to some of the experts that we've talked to.

[Andrea Canning]

So that's the nuts and bolts of the cases so far for both sides. But before you go, Alexis, let's talk about one moment that stopped the trial in its tracks. Maya's dad was on the stand.

[Alexis Rivas]

Yes. Her father was, I think, one of the most difficult things to witness in a courtroom. He's just answering questions about kind of some of Larry's behavior. And then he just stops answering questions altogether. And he starts crying and screaming at Larry and pointing at him and saying, you're a murderer. Why did you do this to my daughter? Why did you do it? Wow. And Larry's own defense attorney starts crying. And so because she's crying, she's worried about how that looks in front of the jury. So she calls for a mistreatment trial.

[Andrea Canning]

Oh, my God.

[Alexis Rivas]

And it comes close. We come back, though, and the judge asked the jury if they can basically disregard the accusations of murderer that they watched. The jury says that they can do that. And we decide to keep moving forward. And it's kind of a couple hours after that that my phone rings from your county jail.

[Andrea Canning]

Larry.

[Alexis Rivas]

It's Larry.

[Andrea Canning]

Why is he calling you in the middle of a trial?

[Alexis Rivas]

I know after the fact now that his attorneys had no idea he was doing this, but mainly Leary wanted to talk about the fact that he doesn't think he's getting a fair trial. He is really worried about the jury for a couple reasons. As they were going through selecting jurors, 80% of them had already heard about the case, and he didn't like that. This emotional, raw moment with Maya's father happened right in front of the jury, and he is worried about that.

[Andrea Canning]

Yeah. Alexis. Wow. This trial is absolutely fascinating. I look forward to having you back on to see how this all unfolds.

[Alexis Rivas]

Well, thank you so much for having me.

[Andrea Canning]

Up next, it's time for Dateline Roundup. Barry Morphew, the Colorado man accused of murdering his wife with animal tranquilizers appears in court. And the New Jersey businessman convicted of murdering four members of his own family learns his fate. Plus, a mother's mission to bring comfort to young children who find themselves alone at the police station.

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[Andrea Canning]

Welcome back. Joining me for this week's roundup is DATELINE producer Haley Barber. Thanks for being here, Hailey.

[Haley Barber]

Thanks for having me.

[Andrea Canning]

So, Hailey, first we are heading to Colorado where Barry Morphew, a man who has been accused of murdering his wife with a cocktail of animal tranquilizers, was back in court recently. And Haley, you have been reporting on this case since it broke. Give us a quick refresher on this one.

[Haley Barber]

Yeah, absolutely. So Barry's 49 year old wife Suzanne went missing on Mother's day back in 2020, and her mountain bike was found in a ravine close to the house and her helmet was actually in a different location.

[Andrea Canning]

You were actually there, Hailey, as hundreds of people started searching for Suzanne, what was Barry saying at the time about what might have happened?

[Haley Barber]

Barry actually, in a video that was posted on Facebook at the time, he made a kind of very emotional appeal, asking for tips and begging for Suzanne to come home.

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[Andrea Canning]

that can hear this, that has you, please, we'll do whatever it takes to bring you back. We love you.

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We miss you.

[Andrea Canning]

Your girls need you. A year later, however, Barry was arrested and charged with Suzanne's murder. Her body had not been found. Why did investigators zero in on him?

[Haley Barber]

Investigators say they learned the marriage was in trouble. Suzanne wanted out. She had told friends she was afraid of Barry. Barry insisted that he was innocent. And about nine days before trial, the case against him imploded. When the judge ruled that the prosecution had failed to hand over evidence to the defense, the charges against Barry were ultimately dropped at the time.

[Andrea Canning]

Haley, how did Barry end up getting charged a second time? Because it wasn't over.

[Haley Barber]

Yeah. In 2023, three years after Suzanne went missing, her remains were found. An autopsy indicated that she had animal tranquilizers in her system. And according to prosecutors, it's a very rare drug that's used just to specifically tranquilize deer. It's not something that's very easy for just your irregular citizen to get investigators were able to determine that Barry Morphew had that chemical. Within four years of Suzanne's disappearance, Barry was arrested for a second time and he has pleaded not guilty to first degree murder. He's actually out on bail and he's awaiting the start of his trial which will begin in October.

[Andrea Canning]

Let's get the latest from the courtroom. Barry's defense team has filed 31 pre trial motions. Seems like a lot of motions. What are they arguing?

[Haley Barber]

Yeah, a lot of them are run of the mill motions. You know, there are motions to get more information about the backgrounds of prospective jurors. Also a couple that stood out to me, including one in which they talk about these kind of statements that Suzanne had made, which are basically some text messages she was sending to friends at the time. Barry is not being nice to me. I'm very concerned about the status of our relationship.

[Andrea Canning]

Okay, we'll definitely keep an eye on that case as we get closer to the October trial date. Our next story is in New Jersey where 59 year old convicted killer Paul Canero appeared in court last week for his sentencing. He was convicted back in February for the 2018 murders of his younger brother Keith, Keith's wife, and their two young children. Hailey, what was happening in the courtroom during sentencing?

[Haley Barber]

Yeah, the courtroom was packed with family members, Andrea. And you know, based on local reporting we're seeing, it looks like he was just kind of stone faced sitting there as the judge ultimately sentenced him.

[Andrea Canning]

Yeah, there he is. You know, once a businessman, now he's wearing a yellow jumpsuit. It's quite the fall from grace. There were several emotional statements from the family. Paul did not just take Keith and his family's lives. He tried to steal the man. The legacy of a man whose character, compassion and integrity he could never ever come close to being. Haley, did Paul give a statement at all?

[Haley Barber]

Paul did not speak and his defense informed the judge that he maintains his innocence and he didn't wish to say

[Andrea Canning]

anything in court before he handed down the sentence. The judge walked through the events of the murders. Let's take a listen to Judge Lemieux.

[Judge Lemieux]

You are no longer Paul Canaro. You are an intimate number in the Department of Corrections. You are in quadruple murderer who slaughtered innocent children. That is your identity. That is the identity you will carry for the remainder of your life behind prison walls.

[Andrea Canning]

So Haley, what sentence did he get?

[Haley Barber]

Paul was sentenced to four life sentences plus an additional 16 years.

[Andrea Canning]

For our final story, we are heading to Florida for an update in the case of 33 year old Microsoft employee Jared Breidegun, who got out of his car in February 2022 to move a tire blocking the road and was shot dead by a gunman. Breidegan's ex wife, Shanna, and her second husband, Mario Fernandez Saldana, were charged with conspiring to murder Breidegun. They have pleaded not guilty and are scheduled to go on trial later this year. Central to the case against them is the man prosecutors say the couple hired as a hitman. Haley, before we get to the latest on this, just remind us what we know about this suspected gunman.

[Haley Barber]

Prosecutors say the alleged gunman is 65 year old Henry Tennant. He was a tenant of Mario Fernandez Saldana and he drove a truck similar to the one caught on security camera at the scene of the shooting. After being questioned, Tennant told investigators he had in fact been hired by Mirio to carry out the murder. He pleaded guilty to second degree murder in March of 2023. As part of his plea, he agreed to testify against both Shanna and Mario.

[Andrea Canning]

Earlier this year, Tennant abruptly changed his mind and withdrew his guilty plea. His defense attorney also asked the judge to throw out all the statements Tenen made to prosecutors.

[Haley Barber]

That's right. The defense argued that anything he said to prosecutors should never be heard by a jury. That's a big deal because presumably if Tennant's jury can't hear it, then neither can the juries. At Shanna and Mario's trial, the judge

[Andrea Canning]

made a ruling on the motion this week. What did she decide, Haley?

[Haley Barber]

The judge ruled that the conversation between Tenen and prosecutors before he pleaded guilty could not be presented as evidence, but his sworn statement when he pleaded guilty can. So the jury is going to hear some of Tennant's, you know, original story that he had given.

[Andrea Canning]

Okay, so what can we expect next for Tennant?

[Haley Barber]

Yeah, that's a good question. There's no trial date set for him yet, but in the meantime, Jared Breidegan's ex wife, Shanna Gardner, will head to trial in August. Her now estranged husband, Mario Fernandez Saldana, will stand trial in September.

[Andrea Canning]

Okay, thank you for all these updates, Haley.

[Haley Barber]

Of course. Thanks for having me.

[Andrea Canning]

We just told you about the latest developments in the case of Jared Brideigan. What makes this story even more heartbreaking is that Jared wasn't the only one in the car that night. A couple passing by found Jared's 2 year old daughter, Bexley strapped in the back seat. They made this call to 911.

[Alexis Rivas]

He's just laying there and he has a little kid in the car, my husband right now is holding her. She was crying, so I think it's just him and this little girl.

[Andrea Canning]

Bexley was taken to a nearby police station, where Sergeant Tanya Tater tried to comfort her, but said there was only so much she could do. She later talked to NBC12 about the experience.

[Alexis Rivas]

Me being a stranger to her, her not knowing who I am, and obviously the trauma she just went through. You try to do the best that you can.

[Andrea Canning]

When Bexley's mom and Jarrod's widow, Kirsten Breideggan, reunited with her daughter at the Police stat, she realized there were few resources to comfort kids who find themselves in the care of law enforcement. So Kirsten came up with the Bexley Box. It's a kit containing items designed to help calm young children during moments of crisis. There are now dozens of them in police stations across the country. We invited Kirsten to come on the podcast to tell us more about what's inside those boxes and how she and Bexley are doing. Welcome to the podcast, Kirsten. Thank you for being here.

[Kirsten Brideigan]

Thank you for having me.

[Andrea Canning]

First off, I just want to say all of our hearts go out to you and your. How are you doing?

[Kirsten Brideigan]

I'm doing okay. I think it helps that the trials are coming up finally. We've been waiting for almost four and a half years, and it's finally here.

[Andrea Canning]

Yeah, it's like you say, you never get closure, but you can certainly have closure on the legal portion of it, which is very difficult.

[Kirsten Brideigan]

Right.

[Andrea Canning]

I'm so sorry for all of you. And I also commend you because out of this grief, you have created something good for other children. First off, take us back to the day when you walked into that police station to get Bexley, and she's there all by herself with law enforcement, and that must have just been excruciating. As a mother, it was.

[Kirsten Brideigan]

You know, it was at night, we walk in, and she's in essentially the break room. She's sitting at a table. She's got one little squishy toy. I believe it was like a stress ball type of a toy. And then a few crayons and a coloring book. And she's two and a half. She's little. And just to sit there without more to comfort her was heartbreaking. She also needed a diaper change, and I didn't have a diaper back. So there's just several things that sat with me for months after that experience that I wish had been different for her.

[Andrea Canning]

And you had been looking for Jared.

[Haley Barber]

Right?

[Andrea Canning]

Like, until that point, you didn't know what had happened.

[Kirsten Brideigan]

I had been calling him repeatedly and there was no answer until finally a different voice answered his phone. And it was a police officer. They wouldn't tell him anything except to come to the police station. And so I walked in there and I had no knowledge of what had happened up until that point.

[Haley Barber]

Wow.

[Andrea Canning]

I can't even imagine you, that evening, having to go through all of that. Has Bexley ever talked to you about that night? Does she remember anything?

[Kirsten Brideigan]

We haven't spoken in detail about it for probably a couple of years. But when she was younger, she would repeat mostly about sounds that she heard that night. And daddy on the ground was another phrase that she would repeat mostly. Now we talk about who her dad was, the memories that we have. We look at pictures and videos, you know, his photos all over our home.

[Andrea Canning]

And she's six now, turning seven this year.

[Kirsten Brideigan]

She'll be seven in the summer. She's excited.

[Andrea Canning]

So let's talk about your initiative. After that terrible day, you launched a foundation and you created something called the Bexley Box. So tell us about how this came about, what this box is, what it entails.

[Kirsten Brideigan]

So as I reflected on that night, wishing that there had been more to comfort her, that she had a diaper that fit her, I just thought, we have to do something, something that'll make this better for other kids that might, you know, hopefully not be in the same situation, but similar situation where they need to be comforted while at a police station. And so I share this idea on social media. I said, you know, I want to get a cute toy box and I want to fill it with things and just donate it to them so that this doesn't happen again. And once I shared that, it kind of just caught fire. And a whole bunch of moms, some dads too, were like, oh, you should put this in there and what about this? And so I gathered some of that feedback and very carefully selected the items to go into the first Bexley box and delivered it to the Jacksonville Beach Police Department where this happened. And then from there, the fire, not only behind myself, but behind the community and mothers across the world, really was so contagious and so large that we knew, hey, we gotta, we have to start a foundation. Because I can't keep having people send me Amazon and Target boxes to my house. Like, that's just not gonna be a long term solution. So we founded the Brideigan foundation. And through there we have done almost 70 Bexley boxes across the country to this date. And within the Next month we will do an additional 245.

[Andrea Canning]

Oh, my gosh, that's amazing. Do you have departments reaching out to you now saying, hey, we'd like one of those?

[Kirsten Brideigan]

We do. We have departments reaching out. Mostly it's women actually on the staff at police departments that are saying, we want one victim advocates that work at police departments or sheriff's offices. And then we also have people in the community that said, I want one from my police station. So we've had several sponsored by families and communities across the country that want to make sure that their police station has a Bexley box ready to go. We have just partnered with Walmart for the entire state of Florida. So they had originally committed to doing about $100,000 in funds and in kind donations, and they have since doubled that. And they are the reason we are going to be doing 245 agencies in the state of Florida by the end of June.

[Andrea Canning]

Congratulations. And how has this affected Bexley that she. I'm sure she's a part of this, right?

[Kirsten Brideigan]

Yeah, she is. She was at the press conference where we announced the partnership and she was excited. What she really enjoys, though, is helping to pick out the items for the box. And some of the things that we put in there are based off of one of her favorites from when she was little.

[Andrea Canning]

Is that a jelly cat?

[Kirsten Brideigan]

No, it's just a little security blanket. She calls it her lovey. So there's several of those. And she gets excited. And I think she likes that something's named after her. I mean, what kid wouldn't enjoy that? And she knows why we did it and that's meaningful to her.

[Andrea Canning]

I mean, it has to be a part of her therapy, right? In a way, doesn't that all kind of go hand in hand?

[Kirsten Brideigan]

It does. I think it's therapy for our whole family just knowing, like, we can take the darkest part of our lives and turn it into something bright and hopeful for other people.

[Andrea Canning]

You've already come so far, Kiersten. What is sort of the goal for the future with your endeavor that is exploding at this point?

[Kirsten Brideigan]

My biggest hope is that a Bexley box will eventually be available in every law enforcement agency in the country. I want a Bexley box to become a standard resource, kind of like an AED or a first aid kit, something that departments know that they can count on long term, that will be refilled and kept updated for them so that they can serve the children in our communities the best that they can.

[Andrea Canning]

I just love this. I mean, as much as I am so sad for you and everything that's happened. This makes me really happy. Thank you, Kirsten, for joining us today.

[Kirsten Brideigan]

Thank you, Andrea.

[Andrea Canning]

That's it for this episode of dateline True Crime Weekly. To get ad free listening for all our podcasts, subscribe to DATELINE Premium. And coming up this Friday on dateline, Keith has a brand new twist to tell you about. In the incredible tale of Sante and Kenneth Kimes, the mother and son grifters who became killers, there's a lot of times over 35 years where you just,

[Judge Lemieux]

you know, your mind kind of runs wild.

[Andrea Canning]

It's nice to be able to put it to rest. Watch the Devil Wore White airing this Friday at 9, 8 Central on NBC or stream it starting Saturday on Peacock. Thanks for listening. DATELINE True Crime Weekly is produced by Carson Cummins, Caroline Casey and Keani Reed. Our associate producers are Ellery Gladstone Groth and Aria Yellow. Our senior producer is Liz Brown Kurloff. Veronica Mazeca is our digital producer. Rick Kwan is our sound designer. Original Music by Jesse McGinty, Paul Ryan is executive producer and Liz Kuhl is senior executive producer of dateline.

[Alexis Rivas]

All right, thanks very much.

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