Son arrested in Rob Reiner killings. Brian Walshe verdict. Plus, Keith Morrison on deadly jealousy.

Summary

Dateline: True Crime Weekly — Episode Summary

Episode Title: Son arrested in Rob Reiner killings. Brian Walshe verdict. Plus, Keith Morrison on deadly jealousy.
Release Date: December 18, 2025
Host: Lester Holt
Contributors: Chloe Meloss, Dorothy Newell, Alex Lowray, Keith Morrison, Shane Bishop

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Episode Overview

In this week’s episode of Dateline: True Crime Weekly, host Lester Holt leads listeners through several of the week’s most gripping crime stories:

• The shocking double homicide of Hollywood icon Rob Reiner and his wife Michelle, with their son Nick arrested for the murders.
• The verdict in the high-profile Brian Walshe murder trial.
• Updates on the Sandra Birchmore and Karen Read cases, plus developments in Michigan’s Deanne Warner disappearance.
• Keith Morrison and Shane Bishop drop in to discuss their new podcast project “Something About Carrie,” exploring themes of deadly jealousy.

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1. The Rob Reiner Double Murder: Son Arrested (02:13–09:44)

Background and Legacy

• Rob Reiner: Renowned director (“When Harry Met Sally,” “A Few Good Men”), son of Carl and Estelle Reiner, known for warmth and activism (03:23).
• Michelle Singer Reiner: Accomplished photographer and philanthropist, married to Rob after meeting on the set of “When Harry Met Sally.”

Crime Details

• Sunday: Rob and Michelle Reiner found dead in their Brentwood, Los Angeles, home.
• 911 Call: Their daughter Romy discovered them and phoned police (04:47).
• Weapon: Knife confirmed as murder weapon (05:17).
• Suspect: Their son Nick Reiner was arrested six hours after bodies were found (03:13).
• Witness statements: Nick was “odd and disruptive” at Conan O’Brien’s party the evening before, prompting his parents to discuss his mental health with him (05:23).

Personal & Family History

• Nick Reiner’s history: Public struggle with addiction, co-wrote the semi-autobiographical film “Being Charlie” about father-son addiction (06:48).
• Chloe Meloss: “You heard Nick talk about his years-long battle that began when he was just 15 years old.” (06:48).

Legal Status

• Nick Reiner held without bail (07:27).
• Alan Jackson, noted defense attorney, represents Nick; who specifically hired Jackson remains undisclosed (07:50).
• Charges: Two counts of first-degree murder, special circumstances for multiple murders, and personal use of a deadly weapon (08:03–08:21). Max sentence: life without parole or the death penalty (08:26).
• No death penalty decision made yet; prosecutors will consult the family (08:26).

Reactions

• Public mourning: Candles and flowers placed on Rob Reiner’s Hollywood Walk of Fame star (08:42).
• Chloe Meloss: “So many families in this country understand the depths of addiction…this is something that is touching people in a very profound way.” (08:56)
• Family statement: Jake and Romy Reiner ask for their parents to be remembered for their lives and love (09:17).

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2. Brian Walshe Murder Trial: The Verdict (11:19–17:45)

Case Recap

• Brian Walshe: Art swindler accused of murdering and dismembering his wife, Ana, on New Year’s Day 2023.

• Prosecution: Presented evidence of post-mortem dismemberment, disposal of body, “incriminating Internet searches,” and lying to police. Couldn’t prove cause of death (11:19).

• Defense: Admitted illegal disposal, argued Ana died from natural causes, Walshe panicked, claimed no proof of murder or premeditation (11:19–12:40).

• Defense surprised many by calling no witnesses, not even Walshe himself (12:40).

  “‘Have you made a decision about whether you wish to testify at this trial?’
  ‘Yes, I have… I will not testify.’”
  — Courtroom exchange (12:40–12:48)

Trial Highlights

• Defense (Larry Tipton): “The prosecution didn’t prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt, especially that Brian Walsh planned to murder his wife… those actions didn’t make Brian guilty of murder, let alone murder in the first degree.” (13:41)
• Prosecution: Asserted motive (Ana’s affair), digital evidence pointed to covering up murder (14:25, 15:45).

  “Ana Walsh, dying a sudden death from natural causes, defies common sense.”
  — Prosecutor, via Chloe Meloss (15:53)

• Jury deliberation: Four hours on Friday, resumed Monday, delivered rapid verdict (16:23–16:36).

  “Guilty.”
  — Jury Foreman (16:36)

Outcome & Reaction

• Brian Walshe convicted of first-degree murder; faces mandatory life.
• Norfolk County DA Michael Morrissey:

  “It’s not about winning or losing. It’s about getting the right answer… We look at getting justice for someone.” (17:24–17:36)

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3. Crime Roundup: Case Updates (19:37–25:16)

A. Deanne Warner Missing Person and Murder Case (20:11–22:17)

• Michigan grandmother & entrepreneur; missing since April 2021.
• Husband Dale Warner suspected; charged with murder despite no body (20:11–21:15).
• Break: Remains found in a fertilizer tank on Dale’s property (21:15).
• New twist: Former detective Kevin Greca arrested as a material witness after initially thought to have fled state; released after posting bond and claims to be cooperating (21:22–22:17).

B. Sandra Birchmore Murder – Trial Venue Decision (22:17–23:50)

• Former Stoughton, MA police officer Matthew Farwell accused of murdering pregnant teacher’s aide Sandra Birchmore, staging her death as suicide; pleads not guilty.
• Prosecutors take death penalty off the table (22:58).
• Defense attempts unusual strategy: request to move trial to Rhode Island due to “pretrial publicity” bias, citing negative media coverage (23:07–23:50).

C. Karen Reed Case – Infamous SUV To Be Auctioned (23:50–25:12)

• Karen Reed acquitted in high-profile murder of her boyfriend, police officer John O’Keefe, in MA.
• Her Lexus SUV (key evidence, broken taillight) restored and set to be auctioned by JB Auto Care; proceeds to benefit Reed’s legal fees (24:34).
• Expected price: could be much higher than typical, given notoriety (24:55).

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4. Feature: Keith Morrison’s “Something About Carrie” Podcast (25:20–31:02)

Case & Series Teaser (25:44–31:02)

• New series revisits the disappearance of Carrie Farver, a computer programmer and single mother, who went missing in 2012 from Iowa.
• Story begins with dramatic 911 call from an Iowa park reporting a shooting (25:46).
• Carrie’s family bond described as intense and loving. Following her disappearance, family received years of strange, hurtful text messages, believed to be from Carrie (26:57–27:49).
• Dave Krupa, man Carrie briefly dated, targeted by threatening texts and stalking, as was his ex-girlfriend (28:06).
• Case complicated by interstate police jurisdiction; only after arson incident do agencies commit significant resources (29:13).
• Eventually, the truth emerges: the stalking, texts, and violence were orchestrated by someone else, motivated by jealousy (29:50–30:44).

  Keith Morrison: “In most murder investigations… people who know each other… have to do with either love or money and sex and jealousy almost always.” (30:44)

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Memorable Quotes & Moments

• Chloe Meloss, on Rob Reiner’s impact:

  “I think everybody has a story, Lester, and so many of us are struggling with something, and so many families in this country understand the depths of addiction… this is something that is touching people in a very profound way.” (08:56)

• Brian Walsh verdict:

  “Guilty.”
  — Jury Foreman (16:36)
  “It’s not about winning or losing. It’s about getting the right answer.”
  — DA Michael Morrissey (17:24)

• On “Something About Carrie” podcast:

  “The twists and turns and the folds of material in this story where you lift one fold and there’s another surprise underneath, it was full of those kinds of things.”
  — Keith Morrison (30:05)
  “In most murder investigations… jealousy almost always.”
  — Keith Morrison (30:44)

• On Karen Reed SUV auction:

  “This is not a sale of a typical Lexus SUV, but a sale of a vehicle involved in a very high profile case. So it could go for much more.”
  — Alex Lowray (24:55)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Rob Reiner double murder analysis: 02:13–09:44
• Brian Walshe trial details and verdict: 11:19–17:45
• Deanne Warner case update: 20:11–22:17
• Sandra Birchmore trial news: 22:17–23:50
• Karen Reed SUV auction: 23:50–25:12
• Keith Morrison’s podcast feature: 25:20–31:02

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Overall Tone & Style

• Throughout, Lester Holt’s approach is respectful, measured, and attentive to both the human and legal complexities of each story.
• The conversation with guests ranges from journalistic and inquisitive (in legal cases) to empathetic and thoughtful (in recounting families’ struggles).
• Keith Morrison and Shane Bishop’s section is characteristically atmospheric and narrative-driven, foreshadowing the deeper explorations in their new podcast.

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For listeners who missed the episode, this summary captures the key true crime stories and discussions, notable personalities involved, and the emotional and investigative insights that Dateline delivers weekly.

Transcript

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[Lester Holt]

Hey, good morning.

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[Lester Holt]

You're listening in to the DATELINE story meeting.

[Alex Lowray]

Let's jump in here.

[Lester Holt]

Our team is catching up on breaking crime news.

[Shane Bishop]

How quickly do they get to the brother and wife? What would be his motive is what I'm wondering.

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They can find no skeletons in his closet.

[Lester Holt]

Welcome to Dateline True Crime Weekly. I'm LESTER HOLT. It's December 18th and here's what's on our docket. In Massachusetts, the closing chapter in the trial trial of Brian Walsh, the art swindler accused of murdering and dismembering his wife. We've got a verdict.

[Dorothy Newell]

We saw the defense team walk in with no word. Walsh came in with a bailiff shackled in DATELINE roundup.

[Lester Holt]

The defense team in the Sandra Birchmore case makes a surprising request. And Karen Reed's SUV is back in the news.

[Alex Lowray]

The car was in disrepair, including a missing radio and the infamous broken tail light.

[Lester Holt]

Plus, Keith Morrison will be here to talk about his latest podcast, something about Carrie.

[Keith Morrison]

They had had a kind of a little flirtation. It had a sort of a quasi date. And then all hell broke loose.

[Lester Holt]

But first, we head to California for the latest on a double murder that has left Hollywood reeling. Actor director Rob Reiner was the genius behind some of Hollywood's most beloved films, from this is Spinal Tap to When Harry Met Sally. It was on the set of When Harry met Sally, where he met his wife, photographer Michelle Singer Reiner. They raised three children at their home in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles. And that's where police found Rob and Michelle dead on Sunday afternoon. Tonight, as we come on the air, we're following several breaking stories, including the murder of director Rob Reiner and his wife. Six hours later, U.S. marshals apprehended the man investigators suspect was Rob and Michelle's killer, their very own son, Nick. NBC News entertainment correspondent Chloe Meloss has been following the case closely since it first broke and is here to tell us what she's learned. Thanks for joining us, Chloe.

[Chloe Meloss]

Thanks for having me.

[Lester Holt]

LESTER Chloe, it's such a tragic story. Tributes have been pouring in since the deaths of Rob and Michelle were announced. Tell us a bit more about them.

[Chloe Meloss]

You know, Lester, it's so tragic. Rob Reiner, he came from a storied entertainment family. His father, Carl Reiner, was a very famous comedian. His mother, Estelle, was an actress and singer and a really good family friend was a man by the name of Norman Lear. And Norman Lear ended up casting him in the 1970s hit sitcom all in the Family. He played Meathead and he won two Emmys for that. And then he went on to direct movies like the Princess Bride, A Few Good Men, When Harry Met Sally, and that's the movie where he met his wife, Michelle. He and Michelle went on to have an incredible marriage. They were known for their political activism, their philanthropy, and it's just, just so tragic.

[Lester Holt]

Yeah, I got a chance to interview him at one point. What a terrific guy. Very friendly, very affable. What do they used to call him, the mayor of Hollywood. I remember the first time I saw him, I think was in a Starbucks on Santa Monica Boulevard. And he was just kind of the guy. So an apt title, certainly. So let's go to this past weekend. A lot of us got push notifications on Sunday when news apps announced that something had happened at the Reiner home. What were the first bits of information you were hearing? Chloe?

[Chloe Meloss]

Sure. I got a phone call from our news desk who said that there was police activity and that our affiliate was on the scene and that two individuals had been found deceased in the home state. Since then, we've come to find out that it was the Reiners daughter, romy, who called 911. She had gone over to check on her parents because she hadn't heard from them. And police officers were dispatched and they found the Reiners dead in their bedroom.

[Lester Holt]

And the initial indications were that there was a Knife involved. That's, that's going to be part of the evidence.

[Chloe Meloss]

Absolutely. And we do know more, Lester, now from our reporting as to the hours that played out before their tragic ending. They were found dead Sunday afternoon. But what we know happened Saturday night was that Rob Reiner, Michelle and their son Nick went to a holiday party hosted by TV legend Conan o'. Brien. And there were a lot of celebrities there. And Rob, like you said, affable man, walked in introducing his son, according to two sources that I spoke with to the celebrities and the guests that were there. And these sources telling me that Nick's behavior was odd and disruptive and that he was interrupting conversations that people were having and just walking up to them asking odd questions. And we know that this then turned into a conversation that his parents were having with him about his mental health. They go back to their home and then they were murdered. We know from reporting that Nick was arrested after his sister called 911. You know, we haven't heard anything from Nick, but what we do know is that he had long suffered with addiction and this was something that his parents and he were actually very public about.

[Lester Holt]

But at points it sounded like he had become more stable.

[Chloe Meloss]

You know, a lot is really unclear right now. In 2016, Nick and Rob put out this semi autobiographical movie called Being Charlie about a father and his son who was dealing with addiction. And you heard Nick talk about his years long battle that began when he was just 15 years old. And you heard Rob Reiner, his father, talking about all the doctors and the help that they were trying to get for his son and that they really wanted to do this movie to pull back the curtain and say, look, just because we're this famous Hollywood fan doesn't make us immune from addiction.

[Lester Holt]

Yeah, I think that's what's so, so chilling about this. Everybody kind of looks and thinks, you know, what would I do in a situation like that? So Nick is being held without bail. The Los Angeles County Jail. Usually the prosecutor has 48 hours to file charges against someone in custody. And our cameras were outside the Superior Court of LA county waiting for news on that when our reporters spotted a familiar face.

[Chloe Meloss]

That's right, Lester Alan Jackson, who famously represented Karen Reed during both of murder trials. He is representing Nick Reiner. And when asked about who retained him, he wouldn't say.

[Lester Holt]

And later on Tuesday, Louisiana District Attorney Nathan Hockman held a press conference and announced the criminal charges Nick is facing. These charges will be two counts of first degree murder with a special circumstance of multiple murders.

[Keith Morrison]

He also faces a special allegation that.

[Lester Holt]

He personally used a dangerous and deadly weapon, that being a knife.

[Chloe Meloss]

So the maximum sentence for the charges is either life in prison without the possibility of parole or the death penalty. But Hockman said that no decision has been made yet, Lester, about whether or not they're gonna pursue the death penalty and they're gonna want to talk to the family about that.

[Lester Holt]

There have been candles and flowers placed on Rob Reiner's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. It's not just celebrities in mourning. Chloe. Why do you think his life and his body of work has had such an impact on people?

[Chloe Meloss]

I think everybody has a story, Lester, and so many of us are struggling with something, and so many families in this country understand the depths of addiction. And obviously not many can relate to a double murder. But this is something that is touching people in a very profound way.

[Lester Holt]

Lester Nick Reiner's arraignment is scheduled for early in the new year, so we'll find out more. Then on Wednesday, Jake and Romy Reiner issued a statement thanking people for their outpouring of support and asking for their parents to be remembered for the incredible lives they lived and the love they gave. Well, we appreciate you joining us. I know your team will continue to work all the angles of historian. We'll be watching along the way, but thanks again.

[Dorothy Newell]

Thank you.

[Lester Holt]

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[Lester Holt]

For eight days, a jury at the Norfolk County Courthouse in Massachusetts heard prosecutors make their case against Brian Walsh, the art swindler accused of murdering his wife Anna on New Year's day back in 2023. In devastating detail, the prosecutors showed the jury the steps Walsh had taken to get rid of his wife's body. Shopping for supplies to dismember her. Dropping off garbage bags containing bloody items at dumpsters in the area. Lying to the police. Flat out. All the actions of a man, they argued, who was methodically covering up a murder. But what the prosecutor could not tell the jury was how Anna died. The prosecutor offered no theory of the murder itself, no proof that she'd actually been killed. According to the defense, that's because Ana was never murdered at all. They admitted Walsh had illegally disposed of Ana's body. He pleaded guilty to it before trial. But they said there was a reason. Walsh had simply panicked after finding Ana dead in bed from natural causes, what they called a sudden, unexplained death. When it came time for Walsh to present his defense, his attorney made a bold decision. He did not call any witnesses, not even Brian Walsh. Him.

[Dorothy Newell]

Have you made a decision about whether you wish to testify at this trial?

[Lester Holt]

Yes, I have.

[Dorothy Newell]

And what is your decision?

[Lester Holt]

I will not testify. Well, then, after some dramatic closing arguments, the case was in the hands of the jury. Dateline producer Dorothy Newell was in the courtroom for all of it. She's here now to tell us what happened next. Thanks for being here, Dorothy. It's quite a story.

[Dorothy Newell]

Hey, Lester, thanks for having me.

[Lester Holt]

You got it. Well, first, can we talk about the defense strategy? No witnesses. Brian Walsh, as defendants often discuss side, did not choose to testify. Were you surprised by any of their strategy?

[Dorothy Newell]

Sure, I think a lot of people were surprised. I'm not a defense attorney, and a case like this is complicated and it calls for all kinds of strategies that may or may not work. Keep in mind, the defense did a lot of work cross examining the prosecution witnesses and poking holes in the prosecution's case.

[Lester Holt]

Both the prosecution and defense gave closing arguments. The defense, they went up first what did they have to say?

[Dorothy Newell]

Defense attorney Larry Tipton was clear. He said the prosecution didn't prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt, especially that Brian Walsh planned to murder his wife. He agreed that, yes, Brian lied to police, he made incriminating Internet searches, and he disposed of Ana's body. But those actions didn't make Brian guilty of murder, let alone murder in the first degree.

[Lester Holt]

They may be argued that they show consciousness of guilt, but people do things, terrible things, sometimes not out of guilt, but out of fear, out of disbelief, out of confusion.

[Dorothy Newell]

Tipton described Walsh as a loving father and a loving husband and that he had no reason to kill his wife.

[Lester Holt]

Yeah, but the prosecution said Walsh absolutely had a motive, that Brian Walsh knew that his wife Anna was having an affair. Now, what did Larry Tipton have to say about that? Did he walk around it or take it on?

[Shane Bishop]

Well, they.

[Dorothy Newell]

They were pretty solidly throughout this trial saying that Brian Walsh knew his wife Ana had a crush on William Fasto, but that Brian didn't know about the affair and that the two were preparing for a future together. He showed the jury pictures of a champagne bottle Ana gave Brian on New Year's Eve and a message Ana wrote, what a year.

[Lester Holt]

And yet we are still here. And together, let's make 2023 the best one yet.

[Dorothy Newell]

So this all goes back to motive. If Brian didn't know about the affair, how could the prosecution say that was his motive to kill his wife?

[Lester Holt]

Walsh was facing a charge of first degree murder. In other words, the prosecution needed to prove that there was some kind of planning, premeditation. What did the defense have to say about that?

[Dorothy Newell]

Well, Bryan's defense attorney focused on the timing of the Internet searches. Remember, there was digital evidence that Bryan had Googled questions like best way to dispose of a dead body. But all those searches happened after Ana died. According to the defense, if Brian was planning to kill her and get rid of her body, he would have started looking for that kind of information much earlier.

[Lester Holt]

So then it was the prosecution's turn. They immediately attacked the defense's theory of Ana's sudden, unexplained death. Let's take a listen to that.

[Chloe Meloss]

Ana Waltz, dying a sudden death from natural causes defies common sense.

[Lester Holt]

She was in great shape.

[Shane Bishop]

The defendant told police that Ana was.

[Chloe Meloss]

A sturdy Serbian woman. Those are his words.

[Dorothy Newell]

And as for those grisly Internet searches, according to the prosecution, that was one of Brian's biggest mistakes. He made those searches on his MacBook, not realizing they would show up on his son's iPad. Turns out. The devices were syncing up.

[Lester Holt]

So the jury deliberated four hours on Friday before returning on Monday morning to continue deliberations. And then two hours later, they returned their verdict. What say the jury? Is the defendant guilty or not guilty?

[Shane Bishop]

Guilty.

[Lester Holt]

Guilty of what, sir? Murder in the first degree. What was it like to be there when that verdict was announced?

[Dorothy Newell]

Well, first of all, there was no big we have a verdict moment. We were all just sitting on the benches right outside the courtroom when we saw the defense team walk in with no word. One of our reporters from the NBC station in Boston just quietly told me, I hear we might have a verdict. And then Walsh came in with the bailiff. He looked calm. His mother who was there, was stoic. And when the verdict came, she took it quietly. He did, too.

[Lester Holt]

After the verdict came down, the Norfolk county da, Michael Morrissey, spoke to reporters outside the courthouse. Remember, this is the same office that tried Karen Reed and took a lot of heat after her acquittal this summer. Morrissey reflected on what it felt like to win a conviction this time around.

[Keith Morrison]

It's not about winning or losing.

[Lester Holt]

It's about getting the right answer.

[Keith Morrison]

And this was the right answer. And so we don't look at cases as a wins or losses. We look at getting justice for someone. So let's not lose sight of that fact.

[Lester Holt]

Walsh is being sentenced later this week and faces a mandatory life sentence. Well, Dorothy, thank you so much for bringing us this case.

[Dorothy Newell]

Thanks for having me.

[Lester Holt]

Up next, DATELINE roundup. Speaking of Karen Reed, we've got an update for you in that case. Also, there's news on Sandra Birchmore. Plus, Keith Morrison will fill us in on his epic new podcast series set in the American heartland. Something about Carrie.

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[Lester Holt]

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[Lester Holt]

See mintmobile.com. Welcome back. Joining us for this week's roundup is DATELINE field prod Alex Lowray. Thank you for being here, Alex.

[Alex Lowray]

Hey, Lester, thanks for having me.

[Lester Holt]

For our first story, we're heading over to Michigan for a surprising development in a story DATELINE first started covering years ago as part of our Missing in America series, the alleged murder of Michigan grandmother and entrepreneur Deanne Warner. Alex, can you give us a quick recap on that case?

[Alex Lowray]

Yeah. So 52 year old Deann Warner was reported missing by her three adult children in April of 2021. They suspected that her husband Dale might have done something to her. And it was alleged that the marriage seemed to be in trouble. Family members just wouldn't believe that she would up and leave her 10 year old daughter without a word.

[Lester Holt]

And Deanna, I know, owned thousands of acres of farmland. And Josh talked about the extensive searches investigators conducted looking for her in his episode on the case for Missing in America. More searches followed. Those were done by helicopter and on foot, canine and cadaver dog searches, drone searches, ground penetrating radar, forensic searches. They could not find Dee.

[Alex Lowray]

That's right, Lester. But even though they didn't have a body In November of 2023, Dale was arrested and charged with her murder and also charged with tampering with evidence. Then nine months later, there was a break in the case. The Michigan State Police found Deanne's remains sealed into a fertilizer tank on Dale's property.

[Shane Bishop]

Wow.

[Lester Holt]

And Dale is expected to go on trial in late January. He pleaded not guilty. So what's new this week?

[Alex Lowray]

So according to our affiliate WTOL in Toledo, Ohio, a former detective in the case has been arrested by U.S. marshals. His name is Kevin Greca. He was on the case in the early days and has since retired.

[Lester Holt]

So why is he under arrest?

[Alex Lowray]

According to the prosecutor handling the trial of Dale Warner, the former detective is a material witness someone with critical information. In October, the prosecutor filed a petition asking any peace officer officer in Michigan for help tracking the detective down to bring him before the court. So fast forward to late last week, an Ohio judge signed an arrest warrant accusing him of fleeing to Ohio.

[Lester Holt]

On Wednesday, Greca appeared in court back in Michigan. His defense attorney told the judge he hadn't fled the state.

[Chloe Meloss]

I want it to be very clear.

[Alex Lowray]

That he was not fleeing in any capacity. He was out to dinner in Ohio when your order was executed upon him. This idea that he was a fugitive.

[Chloe Meloss]

From justice simply doesn't apply.

[Lester Holt]

After paying bond, the former detective was let out of jail and his attorney says he plans to cooperate moving forward. We still don't know what he knows about the case which the prosecutor thinks is so important. We'll keep an eye on that one for our next story. We're back in Massachusetts, not far from the courthouse where Brian Walsh was on trial. We have an update for you on the case of former Stoughton police officer Matthew Farwell, who was accused of murdering pregnant teacher's aide Sandra Birchmore and staging her death to look like a suicide. Farwell has pleaded not guilty. So, Alex, just this week prosecutors made a big decision in this case.

[Alex Lowray]

Yeah, that's right. They said in a court filing that U.S. attorney General Pam Bondi has directed the government not to seek the death penalty. So that's off the table.

[Lester Holt]

And meantime, the defense is doing something I'm pretty sure I've never heard of before. They're attempting to get the case moved to a different state because of pretrial publicity.

[Alex Lowray]

Yeah. So back in November, the defense asked the judge to move Farwell's trial from Massachusetts to Rhode Island. The defense says cherry picked details from an FBI agent's affidavit were written up in the press before Farwell had an attorney in the case. They claimed that media coverage has biased the public into believing that he's guilty. In a court filing last week, federal prosecutors pushed back. They said that Farwell has failed to show that the pre trial media coverage will prevent him from having a fair trial in Boston. So we're waiting to see what the judge is going to decide.

[Lester Holt]

Well, for our final story, we're staying in Massachusetts where the Karen Reed case continues to make news nearly six months after Reed was acquitted of murdering her police officer boyfriend John o' Keefe by reversing her SUV into him and leaving him for dead in the snow. Her SUV is now going to auction.

[Alex Lowray]

Yeah, Lester. So Karen Reed's Lexus SUV was in police custody for years. As evidence, the car was in disrepair, including a missing radio, rodent debris and the infamous broken tail light. But in June, it was acquired and restored by JB Auto Care in Weymouth. JB autocare plans to sell the car off at auction and donate the proceeds.

[Lester Holt]

To Karen Reed, the operator of JB autocare spoke to NBC Boston. I think it's really, really interesting being a part of the whole thing. Now it's up and running and all ready to go. Hopefully it goes really good at auction.

[Shane Bishop]

And hopefully, you know, helps her out and pay some of her legal fees.

[Keith Morrison]

Hmm.

[Lester Holt]

Not sure what to think about that one. What could this car go for? Any idea?

[Alex Lowray]

Yeah. So the company facilitating the auctions, JG Manning auctioneer, says a used Lexus like this would sell for about $70,000. However, they say this is not a sale of a typical Lexus suv, but a sale of a vehicle involved in a very high profile case. So it could go for much more.

[Lester Holt]

Okay. Well, with that, we will say goodbye. Alex, thanks very much.

[Alex Lowray]

Thanks, Lester.

[Lester Holt]

Well, for our final story this week, Keith Morrison and DATELINE national producer Shane Bishop are here to talk about their latest original podcast series called Something About Carrie. It's a really riveting yarn set in the American heartland that involves murder, arson, stalking, and has quite a few twists that you won't see coming. At least I didn't see them. Keith and Shane, welcome to the show. Good to have you with us.

[Keith Morrison]

It's good to be here. Thank you, Lester.

[Lester Holt]

So the first episode starts with this very dramatic scene in an Iowa park. A call comes into 911 from a woman who says she's been shot. Let's listen. Is there any serious bleeding? Oh my God. It filled some blood.

[Adobe Acrobat Studio Announcer]

Oh, Jesus.

[Lester Holt]

Shane, why did you decide to start the story at that moment?

[Shane Bishop]

DATELINE likes action at the top. It's kind of a strange story because usual DATELINE stories are in a murder case, there's some big event like a 911 call when somebody finds a body, for instance, in case. And in this one, by the time this shooting took place, the strange goings on had already been set in motion about three years before. But when this 911 call came in about a shooting in a park, it finally helped lead police to unwinding the whole confusing thing. So that's kind of why we decided to start right there.

[Lester Holt]

Well, it certainly wasn't attention getter, I would call it the carry in the title of the series is Carrie Farver, a computer programmer, single mom who went missing in 2012. You interviewed Carrie's son Max, and her mother, Nancy. Max was just 14 at the time Carrie went missing.

[Keith Morrison]

You know, there was a very intense bond in this three generations of farverse. Carrie was very close to her mother and her relationship with her son Max was unusually close. You know, a mother son relationship can be that way where if the mother is single and she has one child, a son is almost like. Like they're one person in a way. And they felt so close a bond that both were mother and son, were so flummoxed by the whole business. And Carrie, when she apparently decided to take off and she was sending them text messages and electronic communications for years that were hurtful and strange and an indication that some psychic break must have happened and they didn't know what it was. They got the police to help them and it didn't go anywhere. They couldn't find her. And it just got worse and worse.

[Lester Holt]

Yeah. And then Carrie is simply nowhere to be found. But then Dave Krupa, a man she had started seeing just before she vanished, he tells police Kerry had been sending him threatening texts, vandalizing his car and threatening the mother of his children. This is frightening stuff.

[Keith Morrison]

It was very serious stuff. Yes, exactly. And they had had a kind of a little flirtation that had a sort of a quasi date. And then all hell broke loose when she came over and stayed at his place and strange things began to happen. And then she took off, vanished, whatever, and started sending him these terrible messages. But he was a wonderful, if I may say so, a wonderful character. Everything he said resonated. And so we wanted to play as much of that as we could. I think you'd agree with that, wouldn't you, Shane?

[Shane Bishop]

We've all been in enough interviews and we've seen people freeze up or change once they get on camera. Dave Krupa, he was just unvarnished Dave, and that's what I loved about it.

[Lester Holt]

And he really explains the idea of what it's like to be the target of stalking and the toll it takes on people's lives. Let me ask you about the stalking, though, because it escalates at one point to an incident of arson. That's a different playing field, certainly in terms of getting the attention of police. Carrie is suspected of setting fire to the home of Dave's ex girlfriend. It seems incredible that Kerry can keep committing these crimes and avoiding detection.

[Shane Bishop]

Shane it turns out that the fact that Omaha is on the west side of the Missouri river and that's where Carrie worked and her hometown in Iowa is on the east side of the Missouri river in Iowa, played a big role in that. I think that when you have several agencies across two states involved and it seemed like most of the crimes were minor things, really like stalking and vandalism, until it escalated to that arson, it was tough to get all the agencies on the same page for a couple years and for them to commit the resources to find Kerry. Until finally a sheriff's office in Iowa dedicated two detectives to the case and they finally broke it open.

[Lester Holt]

There's a lot of great detective work we see in this story, but what really stuck out to me was the willingness of the investigators to give the case a fresh look, a fresh set of eyes, their open minds and doggedness. And they realized that maybe not all was as it seemed.

[Keith Morrison]

It wasn't all as it seemed. And it took a long while for these smart detectives to unravel it. And even when it was unraveled, a lot of people weren't so sure that could be true. The twists and turns and the folds of material in this story where you lift one fold and there's another surprise underneath, it was full of those kinds of things.

[Lester Holt]

Well, we don't want to give too much away, but it turns out that the shooting in the park that you led this program with and the stalking texts are connected. They were orchestrated by the same person. And it's not Carrie. It's a person seemingly driven by one motive. Jealousy. How often do you see jealousy turned deadly in the cases you encounter? Probably a lot.

[Keith Morrison]

In most murder investigations, most of them involve people who know each other and most of them have to do with either love or money and sex and jealousy almost always.

[Lester Holt]

I'll leave it at that and let you tune into the to the podcast itself. But Keith and Shane, thank you both for being here.

[Keith Morrison]

Thank you. It's a delight.

[Shane Bishop]

Thank you.

[Lester Holt]

Well, that's it for this episode of Dateline True Crime Weekly. Next week, the DATELINE correspondence will be here to talk about the true crime stories that got our attention and yours in 2025. That's Dateline True Crime Weekly's Year in Review. And starting this Friday, don't forget to check out Keith's brand new Morrison mystery, the Snow Queen.

[Keith Morrison]

She is beautiful, that's for sure. Steely blue eyes, sweeping lashes, a heart shaped face framed by spark, sparkling white fur.

[Lester Holt]

All episodes will be available to binge wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks for listening, everyone. DATELINE True Crime Weekly is produced by Carson Cummins, Carolyn Casey, and Keani Reed. Our associate producers are Ellery Gladstone Groth and Aria Young. Our senior producer is Liz Brown Kurloff. Production and fact checking help by Audrey Abraham. Veronica Mazza is our digital supervising producer. Rick Kwan is our sound designer. Original Music by Jesse McGinty. Paul Ryan is executive producer and Liz Cole is senior executive producer of Dateline.

[Alex Lowray]

Bye, everybody.

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