← Drop Dead Serious With Ashleigh Banfield
Drop Dead Serious With Ashleigh Banfield
Cruise Ship Horror: New Bombshells Exposed in the Death of Anna Kepner
00:25:06
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- [00:00]
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- [01:01]
Ashley Banfield
Hey, this is Sarah. Look, I'm standing out front of a.m. p.m. Right now and well, you're sweet and all, but I found something more fulfilling, even kind of cheesy. But I like it. Sure you met some of my dietary needs, but they've just got it all. So farewell.
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Oatmeal Voice
Oatmeal.
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Ashley Banfield
So long you strange soggy.
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- [01:35]
Ashley Banfield
Hey everybody, I'm Ashley Banfield and this is Drop Dead Serious. And check out my very high end set design. I went to Stu Leonard's over the weekend and I got the poinsettias and I figure it kind of makes it a little holidayer if that's an adjective. But it's in honor of of the merch store. Drop Dead Serious Merch stores open. I'm pumped about this because I've been looking at it and figuring it out, designing it for months now and it's the holidays and you haven't done your shopping so you're welcome. Sweatshirts and hoodies and T shirts and mugs and blankets and phone accessories and tumblers and mugs and totes. Aha. Like the People you really like, you can buy nicer stuff. And then the people you don't like, but you have to get them something. I've got that covered too. So just go to shop.drop dead. Serious.comshop.DeadSerious.com it's easier to type it than say it, but you got all this great merch with, like, the whole graphic design kind of, you know, Dick Tracy kind of look to it. So I'm pretty excited. And guess what else I have for you because I love you so much, because we're all on the same team here. 20% freaking off until Friday this week because I miss Black Friday and I miss Cyber Monday because I'm just, you know, I try, but I drop a lot of balls. So I'm not dropping it this time. I'm giving you 20% off till Friday. So shop your little bananas off and get all your holiday presents. And you're welcome. Okay, I do want to get to this episode today.
- [03:10]
It's a head scratcher. There are some disturbing new details in the death of that high school senior who was found dead on a Carnival cruise ship. And those details are coming straight out of a custody battle involving Anna Kepner's stepmom and her ex husband. Yeah, so the lady who married Anna's dad has an ex of her own, and they are none too pleased with each other in this whole custody fight. They got three kids and they're battling like, you know, foxes. And according to the filings in their case, Anna's 16 year old stepbrother, who you now know is the boy who's been suspected in Anna's shipboard death, he is now likely to face charges. We thought it might happen. But to hear it is likely to happen and to hear that from his own mother, that's a big deal. The prosecutors at this point apparently are waiting on a psychiatric evaluation of him before they can move forward. And they're also waiting for toxicology reports on Anna. Right. To find out was there anything else that contributed to her death. Drugs, alcohol, any of that. Right. So there's this other revelation from the same case which is just as alarming, maybe even more so. That stepmother, her name is Chantel Hudson, she's got, again, three kids she's fighting over with her ex. One of the kids is 18, so technically they're not really fighting on him because he's an adult. But he was part of the custody hearing and he took the stand and told the court that there was a time that he decided to jump out of a moving vehicle because he did not want to go back to his mom and stepdad's home. That would be the Kepner family home, right? Chantal and Chris Kepner, the same family that was just all on vacation together where, you know, shit went sideways, I think we can all say one of the family members was found dead and stuffed under a bed in a stateroom. So let me break down exactly what we know and how we know it. Let's start with two words that strike fear in the hearts of trial lawyers everywhere. Family court, right? These issues are typically gut wrenching. And while each of the parties is usually more or less innocent, there are really rarely any winners, you know, in family court. And so it is with the Kepner Hudson custody case in Florida. If you have been following this program or if you have been following this particular story, you'll remember that Anna's body was found by cleaning staff on board the ship that, you know, was still at sea and somebody had tried to hide her, right, wrapped her up and put her under the bed in the cabin that she was sharing with her two brothers, her younger brother and her younger step brother. So the 16 year old stepbrother is the suspect in her death and has been almost since the start. And now we're learning that, you know, not from the FBI, but because, you know, the FBI investigates all the international waters incidents, right? If murder happens in international waters, it's an FBI case. But we're not learning this from the FBI. We're learning it from court documents, folks filed in the birth parents of that 16 year old suspect. They split up in 2022 and they've been battling over their three kids like ever since then. And on Friday, and I should say right now, it's Monday, December 8th. So three days ago, the boy's dad, Thomas Hudson, he used to be married to the boy's mom, Chantel Hudson, who decided to out, you know, get out of that relationship and go over and marry Chris Kepner. So the boy's dad, Thomas Hudson, asked for an emergency hearing and he said to the court he wanted sole custody of his nine year old daughter with Chantel, because, Judge, look what the fuck happened at sea? You know, like, I don't want my 9 year old over in that Kepner household because the Kepners went on a family vacation and one of the kids is dead. I don't want my 9 year old in an environment like that, right? Ah, she's not safe. This blended family is like not a good, not a good Environment. And the birth mom, Chantal, she wants to keep the nine year old, she and her new husband, Chris Kepner, Anna's dad. Well, the Kepner, the Kepners have three kids too. One of them is now dead. So now there's two left. But clearly Chantel wants to fight her ex husband to keep the nine year old. And in the effort to fight, it came out in court that the 16 year old, the suspect, you know, the one who's not in custody but still expected to face charges. It is not clear at this point whether the state is going to charge or the feds are going to charge. But Chantal told the judge that her child, the suspect, will not be living in the Kepner household anymore. Think about that. He is two years away from being 18 and being an adult. So technically he's supposed to live at home with custodial parents. Now, going back and forth between custodial parents is one thing. Staying with one custodial parent, that's another thing. Not being able to stay at all in a custodial home means something's up, right? So the fact that she's saying he is no longer going to be living at home.
- [08:52]
Suggests that she may know that the charges are coming and huge changes like custody, meaning custody of the state could be had. But you should know that this boy, the 16 year old stepbrother of Anna who's suspected in her death, he has not been at home since the cruise. He's been staying with a relative ever since that cruise came back to land. When they docked, he went off. The Daily Mail reports that that the mom also defended her decision to let Anna Kepner share a cabin with Anna's little brother and her 16 year old son. So it would be her brother and her stepbrother. She said that there was no problem with that. I would defend it and I would do it again.
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She said that she and her husband Chris had a stateroom right across the hall. But she did admit to this. She said they never once checked on those three kids after everybody returned to their cabins on November 6th. And that's the last night that Anna was alive. I'm gonna step in here and talk about family dynamics and you can hate me or not, but if I were on a cruise and my husband and I were in one cabin and the kids were in the cabin across the hall.
- [10:12]
There would be a certain age where I would 100% be opening that door and saying, y' all tucked in, lights out, night, night, no getting up and going out Anywhere, without question. I think if there's an 18 year old sibling and a 16 year old and a 14 year old, I think we might be past the must have a check in at night before bed. I mean, the 18 year old, Anna, is an adult. So you might feel that it is perfectly safe. She could be an au pair, she could be in charge of children. You know, she could be a legal babysitter in a program to look after children. So I don't think that's such an indictment that parents didn't check on their 18 year old, their 16 year old and their 14 year old kids. Now, there may be some of you out there who are throwing peanuts at me and I get it, you might be like, hey, I check on my kids till they're 18 or till they're out of the house on a family cruise. It's a little different. And again, you are right across the hall. So she also admitted something else that I think is bigger. She said that her 16 year old, again, this is the suspect slash son of hers. He had skipped two doses of ADHD and insomnia medication prior to anodyne. I do not know what this 16 year old is all about. There are some kids who are neurodivergent who are way over here, and there are some kids who are neurodivergent who are way over here. And skipping two rounds of meds wouldn't make you murderous, might make you annoying, but.
- [11:48]
There'S a range, right? So you can't judge there either until you know the sitch that that 16 year old is living in. The insomnia medication is really interesting though. Might just be you're on ADHD medication, it amps you up and so you need melatonin or something else to bring you back to be able to sleep at night. Without sleep, you're not healthy, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. I know this. As a mother, I've been through it. Despite all of this though, and this is where I was like, do what now?
- [12:19]
The judge found there was no evidence that the nine year old kid, the one who's being fought over in the custody hearing, the judge said no evidence that this nine year old child is in imminent danger.
- [12:33]
No evidence. And I'm like, well, there is some. I mean, there's a dead child in the other family where the nine year old's staying. Uh, you can't call that no evidence. But, but the judge said the girl will be allowed to stay with her mother and stepdad, Chantel and Chris Kepner again. So Chantel wants her nine year old. She's fighting her ex Tommy. Tommy's like, I don't want my fucking child in that house where they went on vacation as a blended family and a child died at the hands of another child.
- [13:05]
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Right.
- [13:06]
Ashley Banfield
And the judge says, too bad.
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I'm surprised at that. And don't forget that there has been a lot of talk and reporting and witnesses and people who say they, you know, knew the family. Anna's ex boyfriend told reporters that this 16 year old had an obsession with Anna, an uncomfortable obsession with Anna that would not pertain to this nine year old necessarily. That wouldn't be part of the evidence in court. But it does sort of give you an idea that there might have been something wrong in the house. But there's other evidence that the mom said in this custody hearing, Anna was given a choice. Did she want a room with her two brothers, a brother and a stepbrother, or did she want another cabin? And then she chose that. So Chantel Kepner was trying to suggest to the court Anna was not terrified of the 16 year old stepbrother. There was no acrimonious or adverse relationship between them because she said, I'm going to hang with them. Okay. It's kind of embarrassing how bad I am at budgeting.
- [14:14]
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- [14:15]
Ashley Banfield
Ugh, fine.
- [14:16]
Rocket Money Advertiser
You spent over $600 on takeout last month.
- [14:18]
Ashley Banfield
I can't cook. You know this.
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Rocket Money Advertiser
Yes, I have had your disgusting food, but you're literally paying for a meal subscription on top of that.
- [14:26]
Ashley Banfield
Whoa, wait, wait, wait.
- [14:27]
Josh Boswell
That can't be right.
- [14:29]
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Ashley Banfield
So you mean I don't have to call anyone to cancel?
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Ashley Banfield
Okay. Okay.
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- [15:04]
Ashley Banfield
All right, Emin, what do I have to do?
- [15:05]
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- [15:12]
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- [16:11]
Ashley Banfield
So 6, 1/2 dozen of the other, whereas the kids would say 6 7. But there's a lot of sort of competing wisdom throwing around here. I am just surprised that a judge would say to a dad who is clearly terrified that his nine year old is in a family where there is serious shit going down and death that the judge wouldn't grant him that kind of relief and say maybe for now until this shit storm gets cleared up, the nine year old should stay in a quiet, safe environment. Here's the only thing I can say to that. I don't know jack shit about this Tommy guy, this dad. I don't know if his environment is worse. I don't know. Judges always make determinations theoretically on the basis of the best interests of the child. And so if it is more safe with these crazy people than it is with these crazy people, the judge will choose the lesser of the evils. So again I cannot tell you because I'm not privy to to dad's environment, right?
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But here's something super weird. And maybe not super weird, but super enlightening to say the least. Chantel and ex husband Thomas, they have this, this 18 year old boy, this third child, the 18 year old kid and his name is Andrew. And the Daily Mail reports that he was absolutely dead set against moving in with with mom Chantel and her new husband Chris at the Kepner residence. I'm guessing he might have been under 18 when this was all going on because they're like nope, you're coming with me. Which you know legally you're not allowed to do. He's an adult. But this 18 year old kid, now 18 year old kid was so dead set against moving in with the Kepner family, that he literally jumped out of the family's moving vehicle on the way to the Kepner house. Like, I'm not going. Pew. He actually went into the family court and testified to this. And he went further about the incident. He said, okay, I did not succeed in getting away despite the fact I jumped out of the fucking moving car because mom Chantel and her husband, Chris Kepner, stopped me.
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How did they stop him? This is where it gets batshit crazy. He told the court, quote, I was put in a chokehold.
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I was put in a chokehold. And he goes on to say, I was held against the seat. They held me against the seat until I couldn't fight back anymore, end quote.
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Just let that sink in. Picture it. They grabbed the kid, they put him in a chokehold, and he now physically is in a chokehold to a point where he can't fight back anymore.
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Mom, Chantel and stepdad, Chris Kepner, they say they were restraining Andrew for his own safety. But y', all, you remember how Anna Kepner died? His stepsister, how she died? Asphyxiation, likely caused by an arm across her throat, a bar hold, a chokehold. Holy shit.
- [19:40]
Anna Kepner died as a result of a fucking chokehold. So did her older stepbrother. And the experience that Andrew had in the back of that family vehicle when he was trying to jump out and they were grabbed him and put him in choke hold, did that kind of rub off on the troubled younger brother and give him some ideas for what he might be able to do in a cruise ship stateroom?
- [20:05]
Hard not to think, right? Is that where possibly, if it's true, the little brother learned what to do with a chokehold? Earlier on my NewsNation show, Banfield shout out to News Nation. I talked to Josh Boswell, senior reporter for DailyMail.com and he knows a lot about this. They're on the leading edge of the reporting on this story. Here's our conversation. Josh, I don't know about you, but that one thing, the 18 year old telling family court that his mom and his mom's husband Chris put him in a chokehold in the back of the family vehicle. To me, it's not going to bode well if this other child ends up in trial.
- [20:46]
Josh Boswell
Yeah, that was a really significant detail. And I think that, you know, what we've got to remember here is it's not just us watching that case going through family court. My colleague Ben Ashford at the Daily Mail has been doing a Great job covering that case. He was sat there in court watching this, you know, a bunch of media were. But you know, who else is going to be paying close attention to that is the FBI. You know, and when they're putting this case together, they're going to be looking at details like that and, you know, constructing a case. It may well be that these kind of instances come up in what the prosecutors are building, presenting to a jury. If it gets there, if, you know, in fact, member of the family is charged and we do get a murder trial here. I think that is a significant detail.
- [21:32]
Ashley Banfield
Yeah. I mean, look, sometimes trials can be just a lot of show and jazz hands and drama, but all those things matter because they get to the gut of the juror. And if, if the juror thinks that this family's normal restraint technique or discipline is a chokehold, and then they find out that the 16 year old allegedly put his sister in a chokehold and she died, it's a little easier to get there.
- [22:00]
Rocket Money Advertiser
Right.
- [22:01]
Ashley Banfield
You're a little closer to reasonable. Getting past reasonable doubt. Can I ask you about the custody hearing? Because that seems to be where everything's coming from. Right. No one's talking about the issue of the minor child and the crime that they're investigating, which is normal. But the custody hearing is just rife with details and it looks like, you know, according to the mom. Right. And a stepmom, they're getting close to charging the kid. What have you found out?
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Josh Boswell
Yeah, so there were some really interesting statements that were coming from Chantel, from Chantel's lawyer as well, the stepmom's lawyer in that custody case. So what they were saying was that it sounds like we're getting close to the point of charges. It's just a discussion of whether it's going to be federal charges or state. And there is a law where the federal law enforcement can pass a case like this over to the state law enforcement bodies to prosecute. You know, it is a difficult thing and a not standard thing to prosecute a juvenile in federal court. There are all kinds of restrictions and, you know, it might be a difficult case to fight because of that. But there is an issue there, although there is a kind of legal precedent for doing that, the fact is that this murder, and I think we can call it that now, this murder seems to have occurred in international waters while that boat was sailing towards Miami. And so there is a question of jurisdiction. If they try to pass it over to state bodies will, you know, Miami, for example, would they actually be able to prosecute. If it wasn't in Miami, it was in international waters. So it may actually end up in federal court. But that is if they do decide to charge the 16 year old stepbrother who, you know, according to these court documents coming out of the custody case, is a suspect. The FBI are remaining very tight lipped on this. So this is all information we're getting from that custody case. Right. But another detail that makes us think that maybe we're getting close here is there are these various tests that are nearly back. They're not back yet, but we have a psychiatric evaluation of the 16 year old and we have a toxicology report which has been out for a while now, several weeks. And so we should be getting that fairly soon. I would have thought once those things are in, you know, that's kind of putting together the key pieces of evidence that you would need in hand as.
- [24:26]
Ashley Banfield
A investigator before you think about charging huge, huge toxicology. I want to know what the situation was with Ana, because if she had any kind of drugs or alcohol that could have contributed to her death, and I'm going to play devil's advocate here, I think they could easily say this was not a murder, this was a homicide. Man kills man, it's called a homicide, it's a cause of death. But they might just say this is a kid who was rough housing, did not realize what he was, that he'd gone too far, which takes you away from the, you know, premeditated murder charge. And certainly there's going to be some recklessness in there and there could be easily a manslaughter or even a second degree. But I do see that it could come out as a murder or maybe not a murder. But it all depends on like what you just said, those test results. Real quick. Last thing I wanted to ask you, that nine year old girl, the third child that belongs in this, you know, this custody fight, dad, biological dad of the nine year old girl, is telling the court, I do not want my 9 year old in that house. Kids die. Kids die with that family. And the judge said it's not a problem, the child can stay where kids die. Why? How did that happen?
- [25:38]
Josh Boswell
Yeah, you know, it is a real stunning example, I think, of how difficult it is to actually meet that legal threshold to remove a child. You know, it's that imminent danger that the judge was looking for. And what was crucial there was the fact that the stepmother was able to. And a stepmother was able to say, no, you know, the 16 year old, he's not going to be in the house. And he's the potential threat, the alleged threat. And so the judge was able to conclude, well, you know, it seems like no one else is a problem in the household. Now that does seem to be a bit of an assumption potentially, but we don't know all the facts and the judge here is just looking at what you can prove. And that's a very high bar in family court to take a child away, especially a young child like that, nine years old. But it does put the mum in a very difficult position, right? She's having to kick out the 16 year old in order to keep the 9 year old. I mean, it's a real Sophie's choice for her and not a great situation.
- [26:40]
Ashley Banfield
I mean, because there's so little information with the family court and also with juvenile justice, it's entirely possible he's being held somewhere, you know, and it's just not public information at this point. But listen, you gotta come back because you're really leading on this reporting and doing a great job. Thank you for this, Josh. I appreciate it. So that's where things stand on this case right now. But I feel like any minute another shoe could drop, right? Especially since mom is telling a custodial court, my boy, my 16 year old boy is never going to live at this home again. She knows something we don't know. We are certainly going to continue covering this case as every detail comes to light and as they finally decide what they're going to do about it. Like is there going to be an arrest and if so, who's going to be the arresting body? Federal, FBI, international waters, but they don't deal well with minors or the state. And is the state going to say we're going to arrest him as a juvie and treat him as a juvie? Or. Or is the state going to arrest him and treat him as a grownup? Because Florida.
- [27:42]
Florida's serious. He's not. He would never qualify for the death penalty. Not at 16. That's Supreme Court says nothing like that. But there's a lot of possibilities that could happen here. So we're waiting to see what the machinations finally deliver. And I will give those to you. You got to subscribe, okay? Because if it comes and you miss it because you didn't know, I told you. All right. I also told you at the top of this episode that our official drop dead serious merch is finally live. Shop.dropdead serious.com. just go to shop.dropdeadserious.com. we got a discount on there. And it's really great because I don't think you did your holiday shopping yet. If you're like me, way behind. Hey guys, I'm Ashley Banfield. Thank you so much for watching and listening. And remember, the truth isn't just serious, it's drop dead serious.
- [28:37]
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