313. A Crime in the Digital Age - The Murder of Bianca Devins

Summary

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Podcast Summary: "313. A Crime in the Digital Age – The Murder of Bianca Devins"

Podcast: Murder With My Husband
Hosts: Peyton and Garrett Moreland
Release Date: March 23, 2026

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Episode Overview

In this powerful episode, Peyton and Garrett delve into the tragic murder of Bianca Devins, a 17-year-old from Utica, New York, whose death was not only horrific but also streamed across the Internet for thousands to see. The episode explores the impact of digital culture, online obsession, stalking, and the blurred boundaries between privacy and public spectacle in today’s social media age. The hosts also discuss the aftermath of the crime, including legal changes and the ethical implications of sharing graphic content online.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Bianca Devins – Her Life and Struggles

[02:35 – 09:28]

• Background: Bianca was a creative, kind, introverted teen who struggled with mental health issues including PTSD and borderline personality disorder.
• Family Context: Raised primarily by her mother Kim after a tumultuous split from her father, Bianca was close with her younger sister Olivia.
• Online Communities: Bianca found community and self-expression online (Discord, 4chan, Reddit, Tumblr, Instagram), adopting an “e-girl” aesthetic and channeling her creativity into art and cosplay.
• Warning Signs: Her involvement in online spaces drew both positive attention and dangerous, obsessive “orbiters”—men with parasocial attachments, sometimes escalating to threats and exploitation.

2. Online Dangers and Prior Trauma

[09:28 – 13:04]

• Toxic Relationships: Bianca’s online relationships turned dark when one ex-boyfriend assaulted her and posted the video online, leading to further trauma and a psychiatric stay.
• Running Away & Supervision: Bianca had periods of running away, house arrest, and treatment, reflecting escalating struggles.

3. The Relationship with Brandon Clark

[13:04 – 16:21]

• How They Met: Bianca met 21-year-old Brandon Clark on Instagram in spring 2019, developing what she insisted was a platonic friendship, despite his apparent infatuation.
• Red Flags Overlooked: Brandon was described as charming and helpful, even earning the family’s trust—yet he exhibited possessive behaviors, including tattoos of Bianca and excessive devotion.
• Quote:

  "Brandon just really seemed like someone who had a huge crush on Bianca." – Peyton [16:24]
  "It's more than a crush." – Garrett [16:30]

4. The Night of the Murder

[19:17 – 22:04]

• The Concert: Bianca attended a concert with Brandon in July 2019—the first she was allowed to attend alone, indicating family trust.
• Discord Message & Photo: The next morning, a graphic photo of Bianca's body was posted on her Discord via her account.

  "The message had a picture with it... a picture of Bianca with her throat slashed and her face covered in blood." – Peyton [22:04]

5. The Immediate Aftermath

[22:04 – 27:43]

• Police Response: Police arrived at Bianca’s home, simultaneously receiving a 911 call from Brandon Clark threatening suicide.

• Discovery: Police found Brandon at a dead end road, attempting to harm himself beside Bianca’s body.

  "He lays down on the tarp and then he takes a selfie on the tarp and posts it to social media. The caption of it says like ashes to ashes." – Peyton [23:43]

• Family Trauma:

  "Her sister Olivia gets online and sees this photo of her dead sister before they even know what's going on." – Peyton [26:51]

• Discussion on Social Media & Crime: The hosts reflect on how modern cases (Gabby Petito, Idaho murders) are worsened by crime scene images spread online and the lack of respect shown to victims’ families.

6. The Motive and Planning

[27:55 – 40:19]

• Rejected Affection: Brandon’s obsession intensified when Bianca kissed another guy (Alex) at the concert.

• Murder Details:

  "He then fixed his phone, like up on the dashboard, pressed record, and then woke Bianca up and sexually assaulted her on camera in the car..." – Peyton [32:38]
  "And then as the video is rolling, he begins stabbing her as she's begging for her life in the car." – Peyton [33:09]

• Not a Crime of Passion:

  "This was not a spur of the moment decision. This was well thought out, premeditated, planned..." – Peyton [36:38]

• Evidence of Premeditation: Google searches on murder, a list for “staging” the scene, spray paint, and symbolic music playing at the scene.

7. Online Aftermath – The Viral Spread

[40:19 – 44:39]

• Failure of Social Media Platforms: Instagram took almost a full day to remove Brandon’s profile; disturbing images rapidly reposted.

• Cult of Support:

  "Brandon began receiving public praise from men who agreed with him that she deserved to die." – Peyton [43:14]

• Ongoing Harassment: Bianca’s family received repeated messages containing graphic images, perpetuating their trauma.

8. Legal and Societal Ramifications – "Bianca’s Law"

[46:53 – 47:38]

• Legal Reform: Bianca’s family advocated for and achieved new legislation in New York (“Bianca’s Law”) criminalizing the intentional spread of crime victim images with the purpose of degrading or harassing.
• Quote:

  "If you re-share it, you can get charged. Which I think is a step in the right direction." – Peyton [47:38]

9. Reflection, Context & Respect

[48:02 – 49:14]

• Scholarship Fund: Bianca’s family established a scholarship for students pursuing psychology, reflecting Bianca’s dreams.
• Victim Blaming Rejection:

  "In no means does that mean that she was like, yes, murder me and publish it on the Internet... She wasn't messing with that kind of stuff." – Peyton [48:56]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the horror of online exploitation:

  "No one should ever be scrolling TikTok and see a picture of their dead [family member]." – Peyton [27:41]

• On the challenges of social media regulation:

  "Instagram alone has 3 billion users a month... If Instagram takes a day to remove a picture of a dead body, imagine how other sites..." – Peyton [45:34]

• Garrett’s emotional reaction:

  "I would say this is probably why I hate true crime. Like, I just cannot comprehend what is wrong with people... You're a horrible person." – Garrett [33:09]

• On the incel community response:

  "He did become a mascot for this hate fueled community after Bianca's death... they were like, yeah, this guy's amazing." – Peyton [43:17]

• On the intent of "Bianca’s Law":

  "This is an intent to, like, degrade this person, harass this person, glorify, like, praise someone for their acts." – Peyton [47:38]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Background of Bianca and Family: [02:35 – 09:28]
• Her Online World & Early Trauma: [09:28 – 13:04]
• Meeting Brandon Clark & Early Signs: [13:04 – 16:21]
• The Night of the Murder: [19:17 – 22:04]
• Discovery & Family Reaction: [22:04 – 27:43]
• Motive and Crime Details: [27:55 – 40:19]
• Aftermath Online & Legal Changes: [40:19 – 47:38]
• Episode Reflections & Respect for Victims: [48:02 – 49:14]

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Tone & Language

Peyton’s narration is empathetic, detailed, and deeply respectful, frequently pausing to contextualize Bianca’s online life and the epidemic of digital exploitation. Garrett is emotionally honest, frequently expressing disbelief and anger at the cruelty and injustice of the case. The tone alternates between investigative and heartfelt, placing strong emphasis on victim advocacy and the real-world impacts of digital crime.

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Episode Takeaways

• The digital age can amplify trauma, complicate justice, and expose families to repeated harms long after a crime.
• Bianca’s case spurred legal changes and national conversations about ethical responsibility in social media.
• The hosts emphasize the humanity of victims and the ongoing real-life suffering behind sensational headlines.

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Closing Words:

"That is our episode for today, and we will see you next time with another one." – Peyton [49:14]

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Transcript

[A]

Take the exit, turn right into the drive thru. Nope, I'm making dinner tonight. You don't have time. Josh has practice. Oh, that's right. I'll just get a salad and fries. No, just the salad. But salad cancels. Fries. Salad only. Fries. Salad, fries. Food noise isn't fair, but Mochi Health is the affordable glp. One source that puts you on the road to successful weight loss. Hey, can I get the fries? Salad? Sorry. Learn [e-mail] Mochi members have access to licensed physicians and nutritionists. Results may vary. This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. You chose to hit play on this podcast today. Smart choice. Make another smart choice with Auto Quote Explorer to compare rates from multiple car insurance companies all at once. Try [e-mail] Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. Not available in all states or situations. Prices vary based on how you buy. You're listening to an Ono Media podcast. Hey, everyone. Welcome back to the podcast. This is Murder with my husband. I'm Peyton Moreland.

[B]

And I'm Garrett Moreland.

[A]

And he's the husband.

[B]

And I'm the husband. Well, well, well. New merch. We got new merch. Got new merch. It's live.

[A]

Yeah, we did take pictures.

[B]

We took pictures. We like, we like every drop, but we took pictures. We're trying to be better at content when it comes to. Comes to that. So we took pictures. So if you want to see what you would look like before you buy it, you can see what we look like with it on.

[A]

Here's the issue. Our merch has become so redundant because it's all good. So it's like every single drop. I. I feel like I'm like, no, this is like a really good drop. Like, it's really cute. It's really trendy. It's good fits. Like, we've made sure they're good quality. How many times can I say over and over again? You know what I mean?

[B]

Yeah, we're. And we're trying to get better at content. Let's be honest.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

The goal for us. I'm also having a horrible day. Having a horrible day. So if you want to go buy merch, go buy merch. I don't know. I could.

[A]

I'm sorry.

[B]

It's fine. I'll be okay. That's my 10 seconds. Thank you for listening. Thank you for being here, truly. We love you guys and we appreciate the support. Whether you're listening on or audio on whatever platform you're listening on or whether you're watching on Netflix, we love the support. We appreciate it. Thank you for allowing us to do this. We're glad that it's entertaining for you guys. And let's get right into this week's case.

[A]

Our sources for this episode are BBC.com usat today.com syracuse.com lawncrime.com court listener.com wktv.com CNN, the Guardian, Washington Post, Rolling Stone.com and CBS News.com Just a warning, this episode contains discussions of suicide, suicidal ideation, and the sexual assault and murder of a minor. So please listen with care. Nowadays, many of us share our entire lives with the Internet. We celebrate our little wins, our adorable families, our happy vacations. But some people share their losses, too. Whether that's a post dedicated to a lost pet, a tough time we're going through emotionally, or even when we're struggling to just make ends meet, we turn to the Internet for support and for understanding. But what we don't ever expect is for our own deaths to be shared on social media, too. And I'm not talking about an obituary or an old photo or even a true crime podcast. I'm talking about your very last breath. The exact moment when life comes to an end. It's not something anyone should have to see or experience. Not the victim, the family, the friends. But in today's case, one young woman's life wasn't just taken from her. It was broadcast on the Internet for everyone to see. And the battle that was fought after was something that feels so dystopian, it makes you wonder what the world is coming to. Because when death can just be exploited on the Internet, it raises the question, is anything in this world truly off limits? So today I want to take you to upstate New York, to a town called Utica. This is about an hour east of syracuse, where in 2019, we get to meet 17 year old Bianca Michelle Devens. Now, Bianca spent her entire life in the Utica area. But unlike most teenagers, she actually isn't that eager to get out of Dodge. She's super close with her 15 year old sister Olivia and her mom, 35 year old Kim. Now, Kim got pregnant with Bianca when she was bianca's age, a 17 year old high school student. It happened just a few months after she had met Bianca's dad, Mike. But for Kim, there was no question of whether or not she wanted to raise this baby. She always knew that she wanted to be a mom. She figured, okay, even though I'm 17, now's my chance. So Bianca was born on October 2, 2001, and her sister Olivia came just two years after that. And meanwhile, Kim and Mike actually tried to make it work until 2010. All of this wasn't easy for Bianca's mom, Kim, though. She filed several domestic incident complaints over the years. And when Mike started to take his aggression out on their daughters, Kim finally drew the line and she let him go for good in 2015. Now it definitely opened a wound for Bianca as she came into her teenage years. She felt abandoned by her father, but it also made her closer with her sister and her mother. At the same time, though, Bianca found plenty of distracting hobbies that helped her grow into her own as her home life was kind of going through this. She loved the band Nirvana, manga and anime and making art. The kids in her school said she was a shining light. One kid who was always bullied in her earth science class said Bianca was the only student who was actually nice and spent time getting to know him. She dedicated her free time to helping counsel other students who were overcoming mental health issues. And through that, she realized that she actually eventually wanted to get into psychology, mainly because Bianca had struggled herself with mental health issues in the past. According to her mom, Kim, Bianca first showed signs of mental health issues back in middle school. Kim said it was during that time that Bianca began losing interest in all activities and was no longer the extroverted kid she used to be. Suddenly, Bianca had social anxiety and became more of a loner at school. That was when she could be convinced to go. Her mother said she had developed some separation anxiety, which then around the age of 13, turned into depression. And by that point, Bianca had been seeing a therapist for some time. But things get more complicated when she switched from private to public school in ninth grade. That was when Bianca's behavior became more erratic. She would come up with stories about her ethnicity and background that weren't necessarily true. She would talk about being on the autism spectrum. Though she had never been diagnosed, she became extremely triggered by loud noises and shouting. She would sometimes just not respond to friends for weeks at a time. And eventually Bianca was finally diagnosed with post Traumatic Stress disorder and then borderline personality disorder in 2018. She got this after her anxiety got so bad that she was refusing to leave the house. But as a result of that isolation, Bianca had found communities in other ways, primarily through means that didn't require her to leave her home, meaning she had turned to the Internet for social connection. It was there that shy, sweet Bianca started to play with her identity. She created profiles on Discord 4chan, Reddit, Tumblr, and Instagram, where she Grew a modest but not unimpressive amount of a few thousand followers, and eventually she found her aesthetic and cosplayed online with colorful makeup, brightly colored hair in this combo of emo, anime, goth style. The term used to describe her in a lot of the sources was an E girl, which can have a derogatory or sexualized context. But for Bianca, I think it was just a form of expressionism, a way to bring her art into her style. And through this, Bianca actually amassed a larger following on 4chan. This is what's known as a more male centered site that can attract what people online call orbiters. And these are users who have a somewhat parasocial relationship with girls like Bianca.

[B]

Is 4chan still used, do you know? I'm sure I don't, I don't.

[A]

I mean I never used it.

[B]

Like Reddit's already. Reddit's already crazy enough. Can't imagine what 4chan looks like.

[A]

Well, you have these orbiter orbiters who have this parasocial relationship. These orbiters are also known to be obsessive and they sometimes have a history of threatening the young women on these sites with violence, stalking, or other threats, which was how Bianca came to have a love hate relationship with this community. In a way, she had found some acceptance and in other ways she found real life danger. For example, when Bianca was just about 15 years old, she met an 18 year old on 4chan and the two eventually started dating. But there was at least one incident where he sexually assaulted and drugged Bianca and then actually published a video of the assault on Discord. Okay, now if you were listening to this and you were like, this is insane. This is dark parts of the Internet that like fully exist.

[B]

Like, oh, it happens all the time.

[A]

Fully exist. There are full pages of guys who post videos of their. The sexual assaults they commit for other guys who rape. They trade videos back and forth of their own wives. Like there's full forms of like men who film their wives without their wives

[B]

of your own wife is that's kind of nuts.

[A]

And then they all just share it.

[B]

So that's nuts.

[A]

I know this might be sounding wild to you, but when Bianca entered into this world, this is like not that outrageous normal to them. It's normal to the people in this world.

[B]

Correct.

[A]

And again, like I said, a lot of the people orbiting this site are not necessarily there for the, for good reasons. Now after this happened, Bianca and her mother actually went to the police to report the crime. But then this boyfriend threatened suicide and Bianca was like, that's it. I'M not going forward with the investigation. Now, whether or not that video was removed from Discord, I don't know. But I can tell you this. It was an omen of what was to come. And it also didn't help the circumstances surrounding Bianca's own mental health. After that, she began telling counselors that she was experiencing suicidal ideation. And then she was admitted to a psychiatric facility for the next month. And Kim said Bianca really seemed to like it there. She felt like it was helping. But when she wasn't in the facility, things were difficult for Bianca and her family. She ran away from home on more than one occasion. So sometimes to be with that same ex boyfriend who she was still like in a toxic somewhat relationship with, at one point, she was even placed under a person's in need of supervision hold and given an ankle monitor to wear under house arrest. But then she found a way to cut it off and then run away again. So it's safe to say that into her teenage years, Bianca had really taken a turn down a treacherous path. And I think a lot of teenagers explore and rebel and try to figure out, you know, who they are and what they want. But Bianca's especially just seem to be really intense and kind of maneuver into some dark places.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

By the fall of 2018, Bianca was back in treatment, working on her mental health again. And when she came home In February of 2019, it seemed like Bianca was on a great path. She was excited about finally graduating high school that spring. She was planning to stay nearby for college, hoping to attend Mohawk Valley Community College. That's just 15 minutes away from her house. And again, she still wanted to go into psychology. For her, it was important to keep close contact with her family, have a place where she could come home to when she needed it. But everything changed for Bianca when that April or May, right before her graduation, before her life was finally going to turn around for the better, she met a guy on Instagram. He was a 21 year old Lyft driver from the Syracuse area named Brandon Clark. Okay, keep in mind Bianca's still in high school. Brandon was also someone who was chronically online, but he'd also experienced his fair share of trauma as a kid. According to some sources, when he was about 12 years old, his father held his mother at knife point for 10 hours because he believed she was cheating on him. After that, Brandon's father was sent to prison while his mother was arrested on separate charges, causing Brandon to be in and out of foster care. But when Bianca finally met Brandon in real Life. After meeting him on Instagram and introduced him to her family. He did seem like a put together young man, despite the fact that he was 21 and she was still in high school. Kim said he was charming and polite. He spoke to her candidly about his experiences in the foster care system. Bianca really seemed to have found a good friend in Brandon. You know, they shared a lot of interests, from anime online world to the same type of music. The only thing that worried Kim at the beginning was that Brandon seemed to have pretty strong feelings for Bianca and she didn't necessarily return them. Bianca is insisting to everyone that they're just friends, but Brandon is openly calling Bianca his girlfriend.

[B]

Okay, interesting.

[A]

Everyone says Bianca was clear with him about being platonic. She was getting ready to start a new chapter in the fall. She was wanting to go to college. They were saying she was just a little scared to have another guy in her life to be tied down before. She's really trying to take this next big step. Brandon is aware of this, but it doesn't seem to matter to him. He hoped, he wished that Bianca would change her mind, which was why he went to great lengths to try and win her over. He would drive her and her sister anywhere they wanted to go, even though he lived about an hour away with his aunt. And he would buy them alcohol because he was 21. He would stay out all night with Bianca if she wanted, even if that meant that he would miss work the next day. He even got not one, but two tattoos dedicated to Bianca.

[B]

Oh, no. This is. Oh, no.

[A]

Brandon just really seemed like someone who had a huge crush on Bianca.

[B]

It's more than a crush.

[A]

Yeah, but I mean, it's also just like everyone around her is like, oh, this guy just loves her. How sweet. Like, it wasn't like they were red flags going off. This guy's obsessed with her. He's controlling her.

[B]

Red flags should be going. But maybe it's because he isn't controlling her.

[A]

Yeah, it's more like he just has

[B]

a really big love bombing bug, you know what? Out of her.

[A]

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[B]

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[A]

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[B]

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[A]

Bianca asked Kim if she could go to a concert with Brandon in July of 2019, just two weeks after she graduated high school, Kim was like, yeah, go. The concert was set for July 13 and Bianca was extremely excited because this was the first show her mother had given her permission to to go to alone. In fact, Kim said that she felt more comfortable knowing Brandon was going to be with Bianca because he was kind. He had earned her trust. By that point, she knew that he would take care of Bianca. So that afternoon Brandon picked Bianca up and they headed towards the city for what was going to be a long at least four hour drive. And as the night wound down, Bianca texted her mother that the concert was over and they were gonna start making the long trip back. Now, Kim probably went to sleep shortly after that, thinking she would wake up to find Bianca at the breakfast table tomorrow. But that was not the case. Instead, around 7:30am the next morning, July 14, there was a knock on Kim's door, and it was the Utica police who wanted to know if Kim had seen her daughter. Now, at this point, Kim's like, okay, so Bianca didn't come home. I'm. No, I haven't seen her. The cops are here. Her heart is racing. She just assumed that maybe Bianca had just broken their agreement to come straight home and had maybe, like, stayed the night. But now Bianca's cell phone was going straight to voicemail. And then police are like, okay, well, we need to tell you why we're here. They said earlier that morning they had received A flood of 911 reports because around 6:03am, a message was posted to Bianca's Discord account. Remember, she's very active on here. She has a message, some followers. It's a pretty. A pretty heavy group. And this message read, sorry, F word ers.

[B]

Got it.

[A]

You're gonna have to find.

[B]

Sorry. Effers.

[A]

Oh, thank you.

[B]

You're welcome.

[A]

You're gonna have to find somebody else to Orbit. Remember, orbit is like someone you follow, you're obsessed with, you have a parasocial relationship with.

[B]

Are they saying that she posted this or it was posted to her account?

[A]

They don't think she posted it?

[B]

Well, no, but it did it. Sorry, I'm saying, did it come from her account?

[A]

Yes.

[B]

Got it. So obviously, yeah.

[A]

Okay, well, here's the thing. The message had a picture with it, like a post. And the post is a picture of Bianca with her throat slashed and her face covered in blood.

[B]

Oh, my.

[A]

So the police show up, hoping this is fake. Oh, that is like, this was just an online stunt.

[B]

Awful.

[A]

But then her mom's like, yeah, she never came home. She's not. Her phone's going to voice. Well, we don't know where she is. And now this picture, it probably is.

[B]

What is. What is wrong with people?

[A]

As her friends started to wake up that day and check their social media. I mean, yes, they're all into this online world, but that doesn't make murder. Okay, you know?

[B]

Well, it also doesn't mean that they're

[A]

in the killing Exactly. So the image and the caption does begin circulating. Many did think it was a prank, but others were like, no, this is way too far. This is pushing the boundaries. We're calling police to like check in on her. But as officers are speaking with Kim, there is another call coming in over the radio. 911, what is the emergency?

[B]

My name is Brandon. The victim is Bianca Michelle Devins. I'm going to kill myself.

[A]

So dispatchers are like, okay, what's going on? Like, they try to keep Brandon on the phone to pinpoint his location, to which he says, quote, I'm not going to stay on the phone for long because I still need to do the suicide part of the murder. Suicide, okay. But he called 91 1. Eventually though, he reveals where he is on a dead end road, actually not that far from Bianca's house. So a team of officers rush to the spot where they find Brandon still alive. He has a knife and a gun. He's threatening himself. And he does start stabbing himself.

[B]

Oh my gosh, dude.

[A]

In the neck.

[B]

Insane.

[A]

He had like a tarp under him. Like it was set up. He lays down on the tarp and then he takes a selfie on the tarp and posts it to social media. The caption of it says like ashes to ashes. But as Brandon's doing this, surrounded by police. But you have to understand the reason police aren't rushing in is like, this is a, like a, like a standoff kind of, because he does have a gun and they're, they are worried he's gonna hurt himself. But also them, they don't know the situation.

[B]

You have no idea what's gonna happen. You have no idea.

[A]

And so he lays down, he's surrounded by police on the tarp. But police have also noticed, and this is another reason they didn't rush in is Brandon is not alone on this tarp. This green tarp that he's laying on now has like a patch of dark hair sticking out from underneath.

[B]

Oh yeah. So Bianca's body's there as well.

[A]

And here's the thing, like they're like, is this person alive? Is this a hostage? Is this beyond? Like they know, they're not really sure what they're dealing with. Either way, they move in, there's a struggle. They do get Brandon in handcuffs. They remove the tarp and underneath they find a body of a young woman. And of course it is 17 year old Bianca Devins. And before Kim can even hear the news of Brandon's arrest, her daughter Olivia sees the photo circulating online. You have to understand the police did not show which. Which. Why would you. They're like, you don't need to see this photo.

[B]

And I feel like this does happen a lot with social media now, where. Yeah, there'll be a photo that no one should see where, like, parents find out on social media before anywhere. It's just. It's hard. It's really hard. There's so many cases. I mean, I think the Gabby Petito cases probably one of the most, I guess, talked about social media cases. Same thing with, like, the Idaho case and everything.

[A]

Well, I was just gonna say with the Idaho case, like, someone just requested to get the crime scene photos released, which is a right. Like, citizens do have a right to request it if it's available. But the issue is, is they then take those and they're not posted on, like, you know, some. True. They're posted on Tick tock.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And you have family members who are on tick tock and are swiping and then you see the. And listen, this is a. This is a hard situation.

[B]

It's a hard. It's. It's. It's. It's a. It's hard. It's hard.

[A]

Citizens do have the right to understand what's going on around them. Like you. We have the right to understand what other human beings are doing.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

But at the same time, there is that just thinking about someone else. Thinking about. In this case, the police didn't show her mom the photo because there was no need. They explained there was a photo post online. She looked like she was in, like, not a good situation. We're wondering if you've seen her. But then her sister Olivia gets online and sees this photo of her dead sister before they even know what's going on. Like, they don't even know that he's been arrested.

[B]

Yeah, it's hard. I mean, I know there's so many gray lines everywhere. I mean, I think it's part of it is why, like, when we do these cases, obviously, partly for entertainment, but also to bring awareness, and we try to be as respectful as possible. It's just. It's. It's hard. It's.

[A]

It is. It really.

[B]

There's. There's a lot to it. I mean, but you have, like, news. You have your news sources and you have articles, and it's just what's. It's part of the world and social media these days.

[A]

Well, here's the deal. We can't live in a world where everything bad is kept secret.

[B]

No.

[A]

Because that's not safe for Anyone, like everyone needs to understand the dangers out there. They need to understand what people are capable of. They need to understand how to look for red flags, psychological things. Honestly, this is just an unfortunate situation. Like, like I said at the beginning, no one, no one should ever be scrolling tick tock and see a picture of their dead.

[B]

Correct. That's horrible.

[A]

That's not.

[B]

That's absolutely horrible. Horrible.

[A]

I mean, Even in the Idaho 4, everything's blurred.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

In these pictures. And that, I'm not saying that that makes it perfect.

[B]

I mean, it makes a difference.

[A]

It does.

[B]

Makes a huge difference.

[A]

It does, yeah. This is obviously going to haunt this sister. But with Brandon now in custody already being charged with murder, the question isn't so much a who done it rather than why. I mean, he's, he's. He clearly did it. He clearly said this was a murder. Suicide. He murdered her and then was going to commit suicide, but called the cops first. So I don't actually think he was wanting to commit suicide. We're wondering what happened leading up to this moment. Well, it turns out there is so much more to the story. It was clear that Brannon was way more into Bianca than she was into him. And like everyone in her life said, it seemed innocent enough. It seemed like he just had a major crush on her. But here's the thing, like I said, she told him their relationship was purely platonic, which might be where things started to fester for Brandon. I mean, immediately she rejected him. Not even like a, oh, let's just date and see. Immediately she was like, no, this is platonic.

[B]

There's a difference between liking someone and being enthralled in. Enthralled with someone's life and so on and so forth and liking what they do and their content. But like, these celebrities that have actual, like, stalkers, where they think they have like a right to their lives, or they get so obsessed where they try to get into their houses. It's dangerous.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Like, it's crazy. It's obviously what happened here to an extent, and it's pretty wild.

[A]

So Brannon invited Bianca to the concert, offered to take care of her. Maybe he thought, okay, this concert, our one on one alone time. Alone time, four hours away from her home, in the car, together. Maybe he thought this was a chance to, like, make it more than platonic for her. But instead she proved to him that he definitely wasn't the one she was interested in. Because during the concert, Bianca met up with another guy. So he invited her, she said yes, and then told another Guy, hey, I'm going to be at this concert with a friend. Because she's clearly told Brandon this is platonic. So the other guy comes up.

[B]

Yeah, I mean, that's kind of all. It pissed him off. And. Yeah.

[A]

Does this suck? Yeah, sure.

[B]

Welcome to life.

[A]

Welcome to life.

[B]

Welcome to life.

[A]

If you can't handle being told no, go back to preschool.

[B]

You can't handle a little rejection.

[A]

I don't know what to tell you exactly. So this is another person that she had met online, this guy. His name is Alex. Now, Bianca had had a crush on Alex for a while. She was like, I just like him. He's perfect. I'm literally in love with him. So Bianca was looking forward to that concert, not just for the music and definitely not because she was going with Brandon, but because she knew Alex was going to be there. During the show, she introduces Alex to Brandon. This is how platonic she thinks this is.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

She comfortably is like, hey, this is my friend Alex. And after Brandon disappeared to get rolling papers, he returned to find Bianca and Alex kissing. Alex said that after this point, like when he saw he came up on them kissing, Brandon became cold and nasty to them. But when Bianca got in Brandon's car for the long ride home around 10pm, things got much worse. Bianca texted Alex because she was picking up on Brandon's, like, cold behavior and said, I think he saw me kiss you. So she's clearly like, oh, no, he's upset. Like she's picking up on Brandon's behavior that, like, he's upset. And now she's texting Alex being like, shoot, like, I think that I hurt his feelings. Which became clear when Brandon picks a fight with Bianca in the car. He tells her he felt like she had used him to get to the show just to meet up with another guy. Eventually, though, things seem to kind of calm down because apparently Bianca fell asleep on the long ride back. But when they get close, instead of bringing Bianca home to her house, Brandon turned off onto that dead end road. He then fixed his phone, like up on the dashboard, pressed record, and then woke Bianca up and sexually assaulted her on camera in the car when she thinks they were just going home.

[B]

Okay, oh, this is. This is horrible.

[A]

Now, in total, he made five videos this night, and each video lasted about a minute or two. So he didn't just keep the camera rolling. But then about 30 minutes later, he takes another video and this time he's accusing Bianca of basically being unfaithful to him. And then as the video is rolling, he begins stabbing her as she's begging for her life in the car.

[B]

I can't like this stuff. This is. I. I would say this is probably why I hate true crime. Like, I just cannot comprehend what is wrong with people. Like, I cannot comprehend it. I don't care. Honestly, I don't care. I don't care what you have going on in your life. I don't care what's going on in your mind doing something like this. I just. I don't care. Like, I just don't comprehend it. You're a horrible person.

[A]

Here's the thing. Like, we've seen people, you know, video or take evidence of their crimes. And a lot of time it's just for them to revisit their crime, right?

[B]

Like, sure, yeah.

[A]

He wasn't even videoing these things just for himself. Because the second, like, from there, he begins posting to all of his social media accounts, to all of his sick and gross dirty friends. One story showed a photo of the New York state three way with the caption, here comes hell. It's redemption. Right. Shortly after that, he posts a blurry photo which I think went to his feed that showed a bloody torso.

[B]

I also would say that I pro. I mean, I could be wrong. It's probably. He's probably watching this type of content.

[A]

100%. 100. This is what I'm saying.

[B]

This is like, this is something he's sick and twistedly into.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Like, it's not just like, oh, let me just do this. Like, no thing. It's a thing. He's watched it. He's just.

[A]

Find an episode of Law and Order SVU that has to do with the dark web and you'll realize that like,

[B]

Brandon, that's not like.

[A]

No, I know. Even they cover things about like these twisted groups online.

[B]

Yep.

[A]

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[B]

Let's do this.

[A]

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[B]

Hey, you weren't listening to me.

[A]

I said thunderbolts, the New Avengers is

[B]

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[A]

Disney plus. Meet the New Avengers.

[B]

That's cool.

[A]

Marvel Studios. Thunderbolts, the New Avengers, rated PG 13. Now streaming on, you guessed it, Disney Plus. And then he posted the image on her discord. It was very clear. Bianca's dead body with the message, sorry, Effers, you're gonna have to find somebody else to orbit, which is just, like, grow, like, the disrespect. On top of that, he then continued posting to Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, other social media sites. And after that, he made phone calls to his family saying goodbye. He called his grandmother, left her voicemail, called his brother in Alaska, his aunt, who he lived with at the time, and then, like, pretends to kill himself, but calls police first to make sure that they.

[B]

Oh, poor me. Let me call my family.

[A]

Find yourself.

[B]

Get out of here. I'm like, bro, but get out of here. Like the. I just don't feel bad at all.

[A]

I'm not gonna say what I was gonna say, but, like, he clearly wanted the cops.

[B]

This case is kind of pissing me off.

[A]

He wanted the cops to intervene. You know what I mean? Like, he wanted to walk the walk and make it seem like I could.

[B]

Yeah, I see what you're saying.

[A]

But, like, he had zero plans to.

[B]

Maybe he's trying to make himself seem like a victim at this point.

[A]

Yeah. After his arrest, Brandon was brought to the hospital, treated for his wounds, and the following day, he was formally charged with second degree murder. However, the more investigators dig into Brandon's life, the more they realize, which is kind of like what Garrett was talking about. This was not a spur of the moment decision. This wasn't a murder of passion done in the heat of the moment that he just, like, came up with in his mind. This wasn't second degree murder. This was well thought out, pre meditated, planned, and Brandon was a lot more disturbed than he ever let on. So early on in his arrest, Brandon began writing letters to a vlogger from prison saying that he had blacked out after the concert. He had no memory of what happened that night. And this might have been on the advice of his attorney, so he could try and make it look like he was insane. But the reality was, there was evidence that Brannon had been planning this before that day ever came. So the blackout excuse doesn't really work. For starters, When Brandon was texting and saying his goodbyes to people, he told his aunt that there was a will in the top of his dresser. What 21 year old has a will? Investigators also learned how truly obsessed Brandon was with Bianca. He had searched for images of her repeatedly online, definitely to the point of stalking. He took screenshots of all of their conversations and, like, saved them in, like, a folder. As I mentioned, he got tattoos for her. What I didn't share was that he got the first one just a week after they met in person. When he went to a graduation party, he, like, showed all her friends. He was like, look, I got this for her. And it. I mean, now looking back, that seems like ownership or power, like some type of I have this and you don't thing. But according to a jailhouse diary taken from Brandon's cell, he got extremely mad at Bianca about a week before the murder when he saw another guy show up on her phone. The was the ex boyfriend who she tried to, like, take that case to. And after this, Brandon is like, are you cheating on me? And she's like, we're not in a relationship. Like, I'm not cheating on you still. As a way to make Brandon feel better, she then added him to her Discord server, which meant he then had all the time to go through her complete history on Discord as well. And that's when he saw there were a few guys who had been asking Bianca for nude photos. And investigators think this is when his obsession with her really escalated. Brandon realized he had a lot of competition for Bianca when he had access to her Discord and realized, like, what was happening over there. And he decided if he couldn't have her, well, then no one else could either. Turns out he had also done multiple Internet searches before Bianca's death on how to kill someone.

[B]

Oh, my God.

[A]

Quote, how to choke someone out. How do you hit the artery to kill someone? How do you stage a hanging? And then two days before Bianca was killed, Brandon had made a list in his notes app on his phone for how he would stage a crime scene, which police noted in their report. When they found Brandon, he had spray painted a phrase at the crime scene that read, may you never forget me, and bought that spray paint and put it in his car days before.

[B]

Yeah, I mean, so it sounds like he's gonna get charged with first degree murder.

[A]

Police later learn this was a phrase actually from a series of Japanese comic books that he and Bianca loved called Pun Pun. Brandon also had a Bluetooth speaker at the crime scene when they arrived, and it was playing the same song on repeat over and over again. And this makes me sad because it's actually a song I like. It's called Test Drive by an artist named Joji. And the song's basically about someone who is more invested in a relationship than the other person. And then there was the fact that Brandon had planned to tape Bianca's murder so he could post it, watch it back on later. Now, thankfully, the actual murder video didn't make it onto the Internet. But when police discovered the video, they discovered that Bianca fought back. She fought back hard. So with all of this evidence, prosecutors are like, yep, we think we have enough to get a conviction. The only thing is, in the state of New York, they would still consider this a second degree murder, even if it's premeditated. Turns out New York doesn't use first and second degree murder in the same way that other states do. Their first degree murder is reserved for more specific situations, like killing a police officer or a judge or multiple victims or terrorism. But before they can even get to court, there's another battle that the family and lawyers have to fight, and that is social media themselves. Now, unfortunately, the image of Bianca after her death spread like the plague across social media platforms. And even after Brannon was locked up and charged, this image continued to circulate. Why? Because Instagram was extremely slow to shut down Brannon's account. And again, this was on his Instagram account.

[B]

What year are we in again?

[A]

2019.

[B]

Okay. I'm surprised they weren't a little faster, but I feel like that wouldn't be the thing now. I feel like they're pretty fast at that stuff now, but, I mean, that was seven years ago.

[A]

This is like a dead body, but unblurred.

[B]

I think people think, like, Instagram and other. These other social media websites were for some reason, when they. Not that they just started in 2019. It's been around for a bit, but they didn't think, like, oh, like, no one would do that. You know, like, no one would actually do that. It's like, no people would do that.

[A]

So it took close to a day for them to remove his profile for violating their terms of service, which then removed his posts. And in the meantime, both he and Bianca, like, both of them had amassed thousands of new followers. And like Garrett and I were talking about, Brandon began receiving public praise from men who agreed with him that she deserved to die. Like, publicly saying this, that she led

[B]

him on, oh, I already know the type of people they are.

[A]

And then just Even after they remove the account. I mean, screenshot, screen grab shared to different platforms like it's, it's already everywhere. Even though the account is taken down. The damage had been done after that. Images of Bianca's death had spilled over from mainstream social media to the fringes of the Internet. Places way less regulated than Instagram. Because if you comment that on an Instagram picture, your comment is most likely going to take, get taken down. But if you comment this on a darker site, well, they're going to just like encourage this conversation to keep going. So a lot of Bianca's friends, as well as complete strangers began reposting happy images of her to try and like when you search her name, push these images away. But that didn't stop trolls from sending those disturbing images to Bianca's friends, family, and even her own mom. Many of them were, I guess what you could say, like incels, essentially. Like they just have their own little community and they thought that this was so funny. And while Brandon doesn't, didn't necessarily like openly be like, oh, I'm an incel. He did become a mascot for this hate fueled community after Bianca's death. Like, they were like, yeah, this guy's amazing. All of which brings up a much larger conversation. How do you even police this? Which is kind of what we were talking about earlier.

[B]

No, we, and we've talked about it in another, another, in another case where we were talking about freedom of speech. But at what point does it. Because we were talking about how, what point is it just like harmful and effective to someone's like mental health and the sense that it makes them kill themselves? I think this is when we were talking about how. What case was it? Word. He convinced. She convinced him to commit suicide.

[A]

Right.

[B]

And we're talking about at some point, like, is it freedom of speech or we just, is it just full blown hate speech and it's just not okay,

[A]

like, yeah, we need regulation on this.

[B]

Correct.

[A]

It is, it is such a sticky. And here's the thing, sites like Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, who like you would say are more.

[B]

Well, they're right. They're regulated.

[A]

They're regulated. They do use human moderators.

[B]

Correct.

[A]

But like, how do you even monitor all of this? Like, even on those sites, you then get to the darker sites. How is this even possible? Instagram alone has 3 billion users a month. That's over a third of the world's global population. And if Instagram takes a day to remove a picture of a dead body, imagine how other sites who don't have that much power.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So unfortunately, this is why a lot of it works on an honor system. You have to trust other people to flag it, hopefully get it to their attention sooner. Right now, there's nothing immediately stopping people from posting something like this. Like, when you go to post, there's not something that, like, can immediately flag it and not post it. At least in this case, the person responsible was caught quickly, though. At first, Brannon was pleading not guilty to second degree murder charges, but on February 10, 2020, right before his trial was set to begin, he changed his plea to guilty. And then in June of that year, right before his sentencing hearing, he changed it back to not guilty and his motion was denied. He was sentenced to 25 years to life and will be eligible for parole around 2044. Now Bianca's family is working to make changes regarding content on the Internet, obviously.

[B]

Gosh, it really is such a. It's. It's a never ending battle, I feel like.

[A]

And that included actually helping the state of New York pass Bianca's law in December of 2022. This law criminalizes the posting, sharing, and publishing of personal images of crime victims with intent to degrade. Harassed by. So, yeah, there's an intent behind it. Right. Like, this isn't for information. This isn't for case study. This is an intent to, like, degrade this person, harass this person, glorify, like, praise someone for their acts. And then it's not just a poster if you share it, like, if you re. Share it, you can get charged. Which I think is a good, like, is a step in the right direction.

[B]

Well, I just think majority of it, like, majority of, like all of our stuff we post, we, like, we blur it.

[A]

Right.

[B]

And I think it should be blurred for a reason. Like, you don't need to see the unblurred versions.

[A]

No.

[B]

Like, we just, we don't. We don't. As humans, like, we don't. Honestly, we don't really need that.

[A]

No.

[B]

There's just something we weren't meant to have that I don't even think we were meant to have. Social media. But hey, here we are.

[A]

Yeah. The family has also set up a scholarship in Bianca's name. It will go to students who want to follow the same ambitions. Bianca did pursue a degree in psychology and helping other adolescents overcome their mental health struggles. And we have provided the link. But before I end the case, I did just want to say I clearly covered Bianca's history. I covered that she had struggled, that she had gone down a darker path on the Internet, she had stumbled upon forms that allow people to have this parasocial relationship, be obsessed with you. But in no means does that mean that she was like, yes, murder me and publish it on the Internet. You know what I mean? That doesn't mean that she was on murdering forms. That doesn't mean that she was on the dark web. I mean, she really was just basically being an influencer in a different space. And so I don't want any of it. Like, well, when you mess with this kind of stuff, it's like, she wasn't messing seen with that kind of stuff. That is our episode for today, and we will see you next time with another one.

[B]

I love it and I hate it.

[A]

Goodbye.