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Ashley Banfield
Hey everybody, I'm Ashley Banfield and this is drop dead Serious. And we are still in the holidays, which means you are still trying to figure out what to get somebody. And guess what? Yes, I already opened the merch store, but guess what I'm doing? I'm extending the 20% off all next week. I was gonna stop it tomorrow. Today is the 11th, but I'm extending it.
Ashley Banfield (Interviewer)
So if you still have to get.
Ashley Banfield
Your holiday presents, go get like a hoodie or a sweatshirt or a T shirt or a mug or a notepad or some accessories for your phone, et cetera. Shop.dropdeadseries.com shop.dropdeadserius.com why not? Heck, you could be drop dead serious too. I've already put in my order because I have to buy it too, which is crazy, right? But I'm waiting for the black hoodie with this graphic design behind it. So as soon as I have it, I'm going to wear it on the first episode. Once I, once I get it, it's on the way. I'm told I have a lot to cover on this episode. A wrenching case, honestly, a wrenching case out of Arkansas that really just became so much more tragic and really so much more bewildering. Look, we have talked about Charity Bialis before and her two beautiful children, Eliana and Maverick. I've just learned their names, Eliana and Maverick. But tonight we are seeing Charity and her twins in a whole new light. And the unspeakable crime that was committed against all three of them is starting to come into an even more disturbing focus. This murder of 40 year old Charity and 6 year old Eliana and Maverick has stunned this community, especially because it was so unbearably violent and so cruel and because police have not yet said who did it. Mom. And both kids were found shot to death inside the mansion that they once shared with the children's father, Charity's husband, the husband that she had literally just divorced the day before, Dr. Randall Bialis. Dr. Bialis is a prominent physician in this community, a family doctor who's had his fair share of trouble with the law. And Charity's family says that Charity was treated very violently during their 10 year marriage. And you know what? It's not just me saying it. It's not just the family. There is a mugshot to prove it and a jailhouse orange jumpsuit and an arrest and a plea deal. And I'm going to get to all of that in just a moment. But in this podcast, you're also going to hear directly from Charity's surviving adult son, John Powell, in his own words about his mother, his little siblings and, and the man that his mother was married to, the doctor. And what John Powell has to say in the aftermath of the tragic loss of his mother and his siblings is nothing short of devastating. He has his own experiences with his former stepfather, Dr. Randall Bialis, and he's got the video receipts to prove it. And I'm going to show you what Dr. Bialis did to John's truck in, in just a moment while John was a teenager. And John himself is going to fill in the context about what was going on in those moments that his tires were being slashed right in front of him by his stepfather. But this is not the first violent chapter in Dr. Bialis life. The court records outline his disturbing history, including that arrest for strangling Charity with the Twins present. And Charity was not the only woman connected to him who has been shot to death. There was another Mrs. Randall Bialis, who also died by gunfire. And I'm going to have a lot more on that in just a moment. But the Secret Service and Homeland Security are now both involved in this horrifying triple murder. Charity and the twins, again shot to death in that mansion. It's inconceivable. No fewer than five state and local police agencies are on this case as well. But still, like I said, no arrests, no suspects that they're announcing publicly. But like I just mentioned, Charity had recently divorced Dr. Bialis. And when I say recently, I mean within hours. It was just the day before that she was murdered that she divorced Dr. Bialis. And there's a big, huge asterisk attached to that point. I'm going to come back to that in a moment. The Bialysis actually split up in February of this year, 2025, after the good doctor was charged with strangling his wife right in front of those twins. Those little kids watched Mommy being strangled by their dad. In October, he pleaded guilty to third degree domestic battery. Here's the thing. Third degree domestic battery in Arkansas is a misdemeanor. And so Dr. Bialis was given a fine and a suspended sentence. But Charity's family says that he abused her for 10 long years before that. That's what they say. Dr. Bialis says he didn't. He's not involved in any of this. But then there's that matter of his other dead wife. Yeah, another dead wife. In 2012, Shawna Bialis was found dead from a gunshot wound to the head. Her death was ruled a suicide, but her family says they do not believe for a minute that she took her own life. And they also say that their Shawna also had been abused and tormented by Randall. Again, it's their allegation. They want her death reopened. They want this investigated. And I would not be surprised, given where we're at right now, that it's not at least being considered right by the authorities. Two dead wives, both shot. Both families claiming that they're assaulted, beaten one for sure. Right. Because we've got the orange jumpsuit to prove it. Would not surprise me. I certainly saw it in the case of Lori Valo and Chad Daybell. Oh, my wife just died and now. No, she didn't. They exhumed her and they determined it was murder. So it would not surprise me if the police were actually contemplating taking another look at Shawna Bialis's death in the meantime, Charity Bialis, well, she had a grown son from a previous relationship, and his name is John Powell. He is now 25 years old, an adult, and he says he witnessed Randall's anger firsthand. When he was a teenager, Randall slashed the tires of his truck, and John was rolling tape on it. Who knew that years later they would be in a situation where his mother was murdered. The two twins that you are about to see in the video, one being held by Randall as he's stabbing away at the tires of John's truck. The other one being held by Charity, who knew that years later that wife and those children would be murdered. Here's the video. Give me your phone.
John Powell
I'm shutting it off. Here comes the next one.
Ashley Banfield
Yeah.
John Powell
What are you gonna do? It's called being the parent. Button my truck in my name. I paid for it.
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Ashley Banfield
Give me that thought. That's. That's the most unbelievable parenting I think I've ever seen. Right. We all have our ways of parenting. Some people believe in corporal punishment, etc. But that. I'm sorry, I don't see any circumstance where that's appropriate. Especially when you're holding a little baby and wielding a very sharp knife over and over again. Yeah, that's a little baby. Police have not yet named anyone as a suspect in the murders of Charity and the twins. And Randall Bialis is denying any involvement. So let's be clear as we speak right now. And Again, it is December 11, 2025. Randall Biala says, I didn't do it. And the police are not saying they think he did it, Ra. Not publicly. Right. His stepson, though. John says he lives in fear of his ex stepfather to this day, yet he is taking Dr. Randall Bialis to court anyway because it seems that while Randall and Charity's divorce had been granted the day before her death, the final divorce decree had yet to be filed with the court. So guess what? Randall wants the divorce ruled null and void. Why? Oh, I think you could probably think through a few reasons. Right? Because if you're still married, you get all the stuff. You're the next of kin. You get the bodies, the babies, all of it. You run the show. What will the court see? Personally, this is just my opinion. I think they're going to see the will of the deceased is that I don't want to be married to him, and I was given that permission if a filing just has to happen. Yeah. I don't think he just gets to unilaterally decide without the other party that he can just null and Void. I think that's what the court will see. They'll see the intention of the deceased. Cause usually that's what you try to honor. This is pretty damn clear. She got beaten to shit by the guy, he ended up in a jumpsuit. Jail jumpsuit. And she divorced him. Pretty clear. I can't wait to see how that shakes out. So Randall wants the divorce, you know, ruled null and void. But Charity's son, John Powell, he does not. He wants that divorce to be filed in part so he can take control of his mother's body and his two little siblings bodies and have a proper funeral and lay them to rest in the way that he and the rest of Charity's family would like, rather than in the way that, you know, the divorced husband who beat her up would like. Earlier on my News Nation show, Banfield, I spoke at length with Charity's adult son, John Powell. And it was a race wrenching conversation. This man has just lost his mother and his two adorable little siblings to the most violent and despicable kind of violent murder. But he is laser focused on what's really happening right now, all areas of what's happening right now. And he knows exactly what he needs to do. This is our conversation.
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Think about the last time you had to cancel a subscription. There was probably some waiting on hold, some guessing at your password, some mind numbing small talk, and maybe after all that, you still weren't able to cancel it. Good news, it doesn't have to be this way. Thanks to Rocket Money, Rocket Money tracks, manages, and can cancel your subscriptions for you. When you connect your account, you'll see a complete picture of all of your recurring subscriptions all in one place. Rocket Money organizes your subscriptions by due date and notifies you when something is coming up. So you'll never be caught off guard when you get charged. If you see a subscription you want to cancel, Rocket Money simplifies the process. Instead of waiting on hold for an hour, you can cancel it right from the app. Rocket Money will even try to get you a refund for the money you spent on subscriptions you forgot about. Stop wasting time trying to cancel subscriptions the hard way. Make your life easier and go to rocketmoney.com cancel. That's rocketmoney.com cancel. Or download the app from the Apple app or Google Play stores.
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Ashley Banfield (Interviewer)
John, can I just say right off the bat, I am so sorry that you're going through this and that we're speaking under these circumstances. I can't. I can't even begin to imagine what you and the rest of your extended family are going through. Are the police keeping you updated as to what's happening and if there may be any suspects in this series of murders?
John Powell
No, ma'. Am. I have still not figured out very much. Pretty much what I know is what the general public knows as well.
Ashley Banfield (Interviewer)
And are they at least helpful if you call, Are they keeping you at bay? Like, what's your relationship with. With the local police and now the feds.
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Right.
John Powell
I've contacted the detective of Sebastian County Police Department. They just keep telling me they can't tell me anything. It's still under investigation, so as far as I know, hopefully they find something. We still have no idea.
Ashley Banfield (Interviewer)
Can you tell me about your mother's relationship with her ex husband? I mean, it may not have been filed with the court, but it had been granted the day before she was killed. Describe for me what you knew about the relationship with her and Randall B. Ellis.
John Powell
I knew that it wasn't very good and she was just trying to do what she could to survive. And I think she finally had enough nine months ago when he was arrested and pled guilty to choking my mother in front of the kids. And he actually pled guilty to those. So she was hoping that would help her in this divorce to protect her family and children and be able to make it out alive. But it doesn't seem that's the case.
Ashley Banfield (Interviewer)
John, did she ever confide in you that she feared for her life living with Randall Bialis?
John Powell
Yes, multiple times. She was just doing what she could to survive and keep her family safe.
Ashley Banfield (Interviewer)
And she'd reached out to others, make no mistake. She may have said something to you, but she had reached out to others regarding her situation. Can you fill that in a little bit for us?
John Powell
Reached out to state senators, she wrote letters to the governor, kept sending stuff to the prosecuting attorneys, all kinds of stuff. Everything she could do. She begged for nine months for somebody to listen to her and protect her and them kids, but it seems like nobody wanted to listen. And she was actually an at. She if she made it through this divorce, she was going to be an advocate for pushing domestic violence cases like this so this would stop happening and women and children would have a voice and people would listen.
Ashley Banfield (Interviewer)
When you say that she was reaching out for help, did she ask for restraining orders? Were there other requests that she made? And if so, what was the response?
John Powell
Yes, she reached out for restraining orders. And even my little brother, I know he testified to law enforcement about things that Randall Bialis was doing to them, and he would tell them, if you tell anyone what has happened and what I'm doing, I will kill you. That's on file. And it seems like they still.
Ashley Banfield (Interviewer)
Can you expand on that? Can you expand on that a little bit?
Ashley Banfield
Like what?
Ashley Banfield (Interviewer)
What are you suggesting that your. Your little half brother said. Said to the authorities about what happened in the household?
John Powell
He stated that Randall Bias would smother him until he passed out, was unconscious, and hit him in the stomach. And things like this. Just really bad things, including to his little sister, twin sister, Eliana, just really bad things. And all this is on file, but they still just blew it off. Like, my mother was in the wrong and trying to persuade them to say these things, which she wasn't. They were trying to tell the truth. And they were also, at that point, really scared for their life because they were told if they said anything, that he would kill them.
Ashley Banfield (Interviewer)
I should say that Randall B. Ellis has said that he didn't do any of these things and that he's not charged with any of these things. It's very distressing to hear a report of a child making that kind of an allegation. Very distressing indeed, and I'm so sorry, again, that you're having to cope with all of this. John, I don't know what it's like to walk in your shoes. And I'm trying to be very sensitive, knowing every time I see the picture of your mom and those kids, it's just so upsetting. I was very upset to see that video of you as well. As a teenager, I think it was you holding the phone and filming as your mom's husband, Randall, was slashing your tires.
Ashley Banfield
Can you.
Ashley Banfield (Interviewer)
Can you walk me through what was happening and what preceded this video?
John Powell
Right. Glenn, I just want to be clear. This wasn't the only time that he's tried to abuse me in mentally or a physical way. This is just one of the only times I could actually get it on video and. And get it out there to the public or the authorities to let them know. But I'd Actually just came back from being across the state at a lineman school thing, trying to become a lineman. And as I came through the door of the house, he was in a bad mood and was being a little irate and throwing a fit and cursing and just using bad profanity. And I had no idea why. And I guess it's because I wasn't texting or letting them know anything quick enough. And he's very abusive and controlling. So he told my mother to grab a knife and try to go stab my tires or do something so I couldn't drive anywhere. So her being scared for her life as well, she did what she did everything he wanted her to do, it didn't matter. So she tried to do that. And then that's when you see Bialys come in right behind her with another knife and go to stabbing my tires and taunting me with it, acting like he's the man, you know, like he's the one in control and I can't do anything about it. And my mother was just doing what she felt she needed to do to keep everybody safe from something worse happening.
Ashley Banfield (Interviewer)
Well, and we can clearly see that one of the children is in Randall Bialis arms while he's wielding this knife aggressively and stabbing at these, these tires. It's a very distressing picture to see without regard. It is upsetting to see that happening with children present, but also so proximate to that kind of aggression and dangerous weapon as well. I'm so sorry that your family has been coping with this kind of thing. I wanted to ask you about the battle over burying your mom and your siblings. Tell me where things stand. Because as I understand it, correct me if I'm wrong, John, you want to get, you know, the custody of your mom's remains and your siblings remains so that you can bury them. And I think it's now sort of held in limbo because her ex husband is now trying to petition to have the divorce thrown out. What's the circumstance that, that you find yourself in currently?
John Powell
Yes, my legal team is working. Help me be able to put my mother to rest and if possible, my little brother and sister as well. Because I believe that they deserve to be buried right next to each other because they loved each other more than anything. You know, they were very, very close with each other. But we're doing everything we can. I can't disclose too much information about it, but if I. I'm going to do everything in my power to get control of her body to at least, you know, because I can't picture somebody else getting the body and being able to do whatever they want with it. With all this going on, it just. I never pictured I'd have to do something like this. It just blows my mind.
Ashley Banfield (Interviewer)
I'm watching the pictures of your little siblings opening birthday presents. Do you know if this. I'm guessing this is age four or five, Maybe five. Do you know what birthday this was? That's on the screen right now?
John Powell
Think this was five or six. I'd have to look at the. The timeline, but it's just one of the many videos I've got. I've got a lot of pictures and videos that I've been going through all week, just mourning and just keep looking back on and just sick to my stomach and just don't know why this. This has happened, you know?
Ashley Banfield (Interviewer)
John, what do you want us to remember about these two incredibly beautiful children, these siblings of yours and your beautiful mom?
John Powell
I would like to like for people to remember my little siblings is very, very smart and innocent. They were 100% innocent in this. This should have never happened to them. My little brother, I mean, he learned how to play chess in 45 minutes. I mean, he was extremely smart. So was Eliana. I mean, she could draw and paint pictures at 6 years old like a professional would almost. You know, he just very, very talented and smart. And my mother was so loving and kind. It didn't matter if you was poor or rich, she'd give you the shirt off her back. She loved God, loved her family and friends. I mean, anything, if you needed help in the middle of the night, she'd wake up and go and help you. And if she was to make it through this divorce, she was gonna be an advocate and push and strive to spread awareness to the problems we have in our nation with domestic violence, not only in small cities and small states, but she was going to try to make it through the nation.
Ashley Banfield
Every day that goes by, every hour that goes by, I truly think a shoe is going to drop. A big one. You can't walk into someone's mansion and slaughter a family and not have left forensic information everywhere, right? Everybody thinks they're so much smarter than the system, right? They think they've got it all figured out. If I had a dime for every killer who thought they thought through every step, only to be hoodwinked by the simplest ones, like the GPS on your car, right. Or a hair or just a fiber from your outfit, you know, and that's what I'm really hoping this sadistic, twisted killer did left the clues behind. And I'm going to go out on a limb here. I think we're going to get an arrest and I think it's going to be pretty soon and I think that forensic information, it'll be there. You can't slaughter two six year old babies and their mom without leaving some kind of signature behind somewhere. Maybe not exactly where you think it is, maybe somewhere else. But I guarantee as we continue to give you the developments on this story, it's going to explode. So I do ask you to subscribe because these things tend to come at us very quickly once there's an arrest, once there's an announcement, everything tumbles out very, very fast afterwards. And so I'm going to keep trying to keep up with it to give you every single development. I want to see whoever did this, I want to see them go down. I want to see them suffer like Coburger. I want to see justice served for this mother and her kids. It's the holidays. I can't imagine a worse time for families to be coping with this kind of tragedy. But that's why we're here. We're here for the victims and we're here for justice. I'm Ashley Banfield.
Ashley Banfield (Interviewer)
Thank you so much for watching.
Ashley Banfield
Thank you for listening. And remember, the truth isn't just serious, it's drop dead serious.
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Podcast: Drop Dead Serious with Ashleigh Banfield
Host: Ashleigh Banfield
Guest: John Powell (Charity Beallis's adult son)
Release Date: December 12, 2025
Episode Length: ~28 minutes
This emotional episode centers around the shocking murders of Charity Beallis and her twin six-year-old children, Eliana and Maverick, in Arkansas. Host Ashleigh Banfield brings her signature directness and empathy to a wrenching true crime tragedy that has outraged the community and spotlighted systemic failures in responding to domestic abuse. The episode features a deeply personal interview with John Powell, the surviving adult son, who shares first-hand insights into the family's turbulent life with Dr. Randall Beallis—Charity's ex-husband and father of the twins—whose actions and history are under mounting scrutiny.
Timestamps: [03:00 – 08:00]
Timestamps: [07:00 – 10:00]
Timestamps: [09:00 – 24:15]
Timestamps: [23:30 – 24:15]
Timestamps: [25:15 – 27:08]
Ashleigh Banfield maintains an empathic yet unsparing tone—mixing irreverence and outrage with reporting gravity. John Powell speaks with raw emotion, clarity, and pain, offering a window into the relentless strain of living under threat and now fighting for basic dignity for his family.
This episode is a powerful indictment of the systemic failures that allow domestic violence to escalate unchecked—even when victims desperately seek intervention. Through Banfield’s reporting and John Powell’s brave testimony, listeners gain both the devastating intimacy of the Beallis tragedy and a call to demand accountability from institutions meant to protect.
For more developments on this case, Banfield encourages listeners to subscribe, promising to bring updates as the investigation progresses and justice (hopefully) unfolds.