← Serialously with Annie Elise
Serialously with Annie Elise
306: Tennessee Quadruple Murder: 28-Year-Old FINALLY Caught After Killing 4 People and Abandoning Baby
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- [00:00]
Annie Elise
This episode of Serial Less ly is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Fiscally responsible financial geniuses, monetary magicians. These are all things that people say about drivers who switch their car insurance to Progressive and save hundreds. Because Progressive offers discounts for paying in full, owning a home and more. Plus, you can count on their great customer service to help you when you need it. So your dollar goes a long way. Visit progressive.com to see if you could save on car insurance, Progressive Casualty Insurance company and affiliates. Potential savings will vary. Not available in all states or situations. Hey true crime besties. Welcome back to an all new episode of Serial Asleep. Hello, hello, hello. Welcome back to an all new episode of Serial as Lee with me, your host, Annie Elise. We have got so much to talk about today. We're going to go over all the headlines, everything that's been breaking this week in the true crime world, which there has been a lot. I also, in case you missed it, I dropped the deep dive on the Idaho case and all of the 1,000 plus pages that we went through of everything that's been released since the gag order has been lifted. So that episode released on Monday, you can go ahead and listen to it now. It's in the feed. The uncensored version, as you know, is always on the podcast because YouTube likes to censor things. So the censored version will always live over on YouTube. But yeah, so that released on Monday. And then today I want to talk with you about all of the headlines. There are a lot of cases going on and a lot of you guys have been sliding into my DMs, asking me to cover certain cases. And there's one particularly that we're going to dive a little bit deeper into today because not only have so many of you guys been requesting it, but it's been on my radar and I've been researching. I just feel like we need to talk about it. And it's the case that's happening in Tennessee where the four people were brutally murdered, yet there was an infant left right there on the lawn in the car seat. I mean, there's so much we need to talk about. We also are going to be talking about updates in the Arkansas case and the two hikers who were murdered and the arrest that's been made. We're going to be talking about some disgusting creeps who dismembered, then another one who took a selfie with the baby after he stabbed his girlfriend over 100 times. I mean, look, there is no shortage this week in like scum of the earth human beings. And unfortunately, even if you're having a good week and a good day, I'm probably going to ruin that right now because these cases are never easy to hear, Right. But it is important that we talk about them. So last thing, before I get started, I do want to mention one last time, crime con. So for those of you who don't know what crime con is, let me give you a brief rundown. But it is happening this September, September 5th through what, the 7th or the 8th in Denver, Colorado. And what crime con is is basically kind of exactly what it sounds like. It's where a big group collectively gets together regarding crime. Big networks go. Court tv, Dateline, Nancy Grace goes. A lot of victims families go. Last year, JonBenet's father went. He's going again this year. The Petito family, Ethan Chapin's mother, is going to be speaking this year. And there's a lot of panels where there's these families, these experts who weigh in on so many different cases and so many different things and share a lot of valuable information. And so we will be there again this year. Last year was my first time going when it was in Nashville. There were over 6,000 people there last year. It's expected that there are going to be about 7,000 people this year. And, yeah, it's going to be really interesting. I know that Kendall Ray is now going and doing a meet and greet. She I don't think she has a booth, but she's doing a meet and greetings. Crime Weekly. Derek and Steph, go. Stephanie and I are actually going to be doing a live episode there together. And, yeah, it's going to be a great weekend full of a lot of just, you know, education, awareness and people coming together. So my point in all of that is that I'm going to be giving away two free weekend passes in this episode. So just listen carefully. I will explain all the details to you. Or if you already know, right now, I don't even want to take my chances of winning the passes. I just want to know. I know I want to go before it sells out. You can go buy your tickets and you can use code Annie Elise and get 10% off. So that's that for CrimeCon. Stay tuned. I'm going to share details of how you can win those two free weekend passes. And let's get into this week's cases. Now, moving into this other case I want to talk to you about. It is truly disgusting and it is so crazy to even think about because a man stabbed his girlfriend 258 times. And then he took a selfie with their baby. Now this crime takes us to the Netherlands. And it all stems and started back last year when a man named Arnold O did the unthinkable, something so sinister and so shocking to his very own girlfriend. It was July 18th of 2024 and Arnold stabbed his 22 year old girlfriend, Gianni, 258 times, which. 258 times the amount of rage and pure hatred to stab somebody that many times, it's mind boggling. And I've talked about this before, I'm not trying to be grotesque in any sort of way, but think about that. 258 times, that's double the amount of, you know, up and down motions, which let me do the math really quick. I'm not that quick. 250 and 250 is 508 and 8 is 16. So 516 up and down motions, where you're clenching a weapon, you are forcing, you know that through tissue, muscle, skin. And I get it, adrenaline can come over somebody. It's certainly, you know, a crime of passion overkill. But to do 516 motions, if you just take your hand right now next to you, kind of doing like fake little dumbbell lifts up and down, not even having that amount of like resistance and force that you have to push through 516 is exhausting. Imagine that. And again, yes, overkill and adrenaline, absolutely. But for that amount, I just would imagine so much rage and pure hatred. Now, as if that weren't bad enough, the couple's two week old baby was also present during the murder. Literally right there, seeing all of this happen, which, thank God, at two weeks old, this baby will probably never remember a single moment of this, even though hearing it after the fact isn't helpful at all and is still just as traumatic. I mean, I'm just thankful that this baby was so young. They didn't, you know, they won't remember witnessing it because it's just appalling. But after, and even during the stabbing, Arnold was using the cell phone to videotape what he had done. Taking photos, taking videos of his girlfriend's lifeless body and the stabbing that he was inflicting. He also then, when he was done, used this cell phone to take a selfie with their newborn son right after this brutal murder, just right there with her mutilated body in frame, just taking a picture with their son. It is so insane and unhinged to murder her so violently and then to take videos and pictures of it and then pose for A selfie with the baby. It is sick, sick, sick, sick. So the way he was caught and how all of that went down is that on the day of the murder, a nurse was scheduled to have a visit with the mother and the baby. But when she got to the house, she heard screaming. And when she looked inside through the window, she saw a bloody leg and a bleeding foot. So she immediately called the authorities. Investigators arrived on the scene, and sure enough, they found her dead body just lying in the bed in their bedroom. And right next to her was the bloody knife that was used as the murder weapon. Arnold was arrested at the scene, and for the past year, he's been awaiting his trial. Now, while it's no secret that this murder is just absolutely shocking it in terms of violence and brutality, the court was even said, saying that this crime falls into an exceptional category just because of the level of it, because of how barbaric it was. However, get this. Arnold is not going to prison for as long as maybe you thought that he would be going for. According to experts, Arnold was psychotic at the time of the murder and also was suffering from personality disorders. In court, they said that his disorder, quote, approaches full legal insanity. They also said that at the time of the murder, Arnold was hearing voices, that he had limited intellect, and that he was not in control of his actions. He even went through a personality assessment, and the assessment said that he was basically going insane because he couldn't handle the fact that his girlfriend, the mother of their child, was putting all of her focus on caring for the newborn baby and not him. Arnold also apparently thought that he was not the baby's biological father, and he suspected his girlfriend of cheating on him. So the court said, quote, his suspicion took the form of a delusion. Yet they also said that the risks of him doing something like this, again, are high. So they're not discounting it, saying it was some psychotic break and that he'll get help and treatment and he'll be fine. They're saying the risk of him reoffending, it's high. But get this. Arnold only ended up being sentenced to five years in prison. He was then sentenced with mandatory psychiatric treatment at a facility after he serves his time, but still only five years in prison. And how long he's going to be spending in the treatment facility has not yet been finalized. I would imagine it's probably until they deem him not to be a risk, but I don't know. I'm not a professional. But after doing something like this, how can you really ever be classified as at not being a risk. Right. And it kind of reminds me of that case. And, gosh, I'm probably gonna butcher the name, so I know you'll correct me in the comments. Morgan, is it? Morgan Geyser? Morgan Geyser, I think, is the name. She's the girl who was convicted because she killed her. She's. They're young, young girls. She killed her young friend to please the fictitious character, Slender Man. It was something to, like, get in his good graces. And so she didn't kill her, she stabbed her. Peyton survived, but she now is being released into a treatment facility. And a lot of people are, like, up in arms about that. Being like, this is not at all justice. This should not have happened. It was. Gosh, it was Morgan and Anissa, and they, like, lured her, their friend Peyton into the woods and stabbed her. And I forget how many times they stabbed her. I think it was over 15 times. You know, maybe it was 19 times. But again, they were trying to appease that fictitious character, Slender man, prove his existence, prove their allegiance to him. Fortunately, Peyton was found by, I believe, somebody on a bicycle, and she survived. But now people are up in arms at Morgan's release. And again, I'm not trying to, like, deviate too much from here, but it just reminded me of that case when I heard about this, and a lot of people are up in arms. Her mother also spoke after the trial and the sentencing, saying she was not happy with how it turned out at all. She said she was very disappointed and that this five year sentence was, quote, a slap in the face and a kick to my daughter's grave. She also added that this definitely does not feel like justice to her. And I get it. Again, I am all about rehabilitation, getting psychiatric treatment, mental health, all of that. But at what point is something so barbaric, so brutal and so callous, taking photos of it, videos of it, then taking photos with the baby after the fact? At what point do you say, even if we believe there is reform and that, you know, he can get mental health treatment at a facility, he still has to do the time for doing the crime. And whether that's 10 years, 15 years, 20 years, 25 years, life, whatever it is, five years, that does not seem at all like justice to me. That's my opinion. But what do you think? Do you agree with the sentence? I mean, this baby now has to grow up without a mother and, like, learn of this as they get older. It's just so horrific. And unfortunately, we have a lot of other very horrific cases to talk about today. All right, now I want to give you guys an update in a case that we covered not too long ago. It's a few episodes back and it's the Shade Robinson case. Because Maxwell Anderson, the man convicted of this 19 year old beautiful girl, Shade, he has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Now if you're not familiar with the case, let me refresh your memory a little bit. But a warning. It is absolutely horrific and it is a total dating horror story. It left this family grieving their young daughter and it is just so brutal and disgusting and it's one that will haunt you. I'm going to just give you the top level recap. But again, that deep dive is a few episodes back on the podcast channel. And as a reminder, again, everything always is uncensored on the podcast if you want like the full legal terms and everything else that goes with it. And then we put more of the censored YouTube friendly version over on YouTube. But let me break this down for you. So back In April of 2020, 34 year old Maxwell took 19 year old Sade out on a date. They first met at a bar and then a week later the two of them went out on a first date. But this date turned into an absolute nightmare. The two were seen on security camera footage drinking at two different bars and then going back to Maxwell's apartment. Photos were also later found on Maxwell's phone of Sade lying face down on his couch while he was groping her. And she was obviously drunk. Later on, security cameras showed Sade's car leaving his apartment early the next morning and driving to a park on Lake Michigan. Now at that park is where prosecutor said that Maxwell dismembered Shade's body into pieces and scattered her mutilated remains all around the area. Maxwell then later took her car behind an abandoned building, burned it and took a bus home. So when the surge started for Shade, when everybody was looking for her and started piecing things together, they did start to find her. And by find her, I mean parts of her. Investigators found one of her legs in the park, another leg by a playground, her foot near where he burned her car. Her torso and an arm washed up on a beach in Milwaukee. And it was like just pieces of her were being found bit by bit, which you can only imagine how devastating and traumatizing that was for her family. But even worse than all of that, her head is still missing. It still has not been recovered. And again, we go into all of this in the Full episode. And it's way more grotesque than you can even imagine. Like the date, his aftermath, everything. But the point being that he was arrested. And an informant also had told the prosecutors that Maxwell had showed him these murder tools and the murder location about a month before the killing, indicating that it was premeditated. This informant also said how Maxwell confided in him about his whole plan, about how he'd carry out this murder, how he would dispose of her body, and how, you know, he was planning this sick and twisted thing. So, as I said, Maxwell was arrested a few days later and he was charged with first degree murder, mutilating a corpse, and arson. Yet to this day, he still maintains that he is not guilty. And this past Friday, on August 1st, his trial wrapped up, but he was found guilty on all counts and he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. And here's a snippet of the judge speaking at the hearing. Take a listen.
- [15:42]
Judge
But there's no answer that you briefly provided in this presentence that makes even a hint that even resonates with a hint of truth. So how do we protect society from a man who clearly has had darkness in his past, who engaged in behavior that is, it's the facts that you see written in horror novels. That's what we have to determine. And, you know, it isn't easy. I can tell you that when you think about, is there ever something redeemable in a person you'd like to say at some point? There is. And I can tell you that at the points in life where I've come to the conclusion that there isn't anything redeemable, you know, you do think about. I think it takes away a little piece of my soul. How come I couldn't find anything good? How come I can't find anything that I can say? At some point, you'll be a better person. So ultimately, at sentencing, considering the seriousness of the offense, your character, and the needs of society, this is clearly not a probation case. Probation would unduly depreciate the seriousness of the offense and isn't even allowable under our law. You are sentenced to a term of life imprisonment. And that is what the penalty is for a jury, a jury of your peers, ultimately coming back and convicting you on first degree intentional.
- [17:17]
Annie Elise
So at the sentencing hearing, Sade's family spoke to the court and I want you to hear from her mother and what she said.
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Shade's Mother
There's no such thing as justice. With what you did to my daughter, what you have done to my family. I have bust my ass for over 20 years to raise the best possible angelic lightworker kids that do nothing but good. My daughter had to cross your demonic path. You plotted and planned to kill dismember. Then you disrespectfully spread my daughter across the Milwaukee like a piece of trash. How dare you. My daughter was everything. She was everything to all of us. You will never get peace. You will never sleep. You no longer can harm and hurt my innocent baby. You took advantage of her. You manipulated her in the worst possible way. You're a coward. My daughter is a hero. My daughter is a hero. She has saved so many other women from this demonic serial killer that there's no telling how many more people that he has killed. If you had any type of decency, but you are devil.
- [18:53]
Annie Elise
It's very difficult to hear a mother's grief. I mean, you can just tell how much she's hurting, how she's trying to keep it all together. And even Sade's 16 year old little sister spoke out during this. Take a listen.
- [19:05]
Shade's Sister
Even in her 19 years, she was still incredibly hardworking, independent, kind, supportive, selfless, resilient and special. She continues to inspire me for the fighter that she was. But he took the guide and support system and role model that she was going to be for the rest of my life. He stole my big sister that always protected me and nurtured me and put me first. And he robbed her of her ability to do that and feel accomplished because she knew she was setting me up for a life better than the one she was forced to struggle through. You, us and the jury sat here for two weeks hearing all the heinous things he committed. Do not let any of that go to waste. Do not let the loss of shade go to waste. Dismay should never walk free again. Thank you.
- [19:44]
Annie Elise
I know that too was difficult to hear because you can hear the tears through her words. And also she's so young, she's only 16 years old. She probably didn't even know that this kind of evil exists in the world. Jade's father Carlos also spoke. And when he spoke, he asked the courts to make sure that Maxwell gets the punishment that he deserves.
- [20:03]
Shade's Father
She had so much life left to live, so many goals that was taken from her. And to me is not just the what that she's not here is the way that she's not here. I can't, I can't wrap my mind around it. Somebody that does something like this doesn't even deserve. I think death is a, is a, is A way out. You deserve what you get. He deserves the punishment that he gave to my daughter. Everything that he did should be done to him. That's how I feel. To me, that's justice. I don't feel like he has a right to walk around and breathe air, eat breakfast, brush his teeth. He doesn't have that right. The moment he done what he did, he lost that, any basic human rights. No man should be able to live doing what he did. I just. That's just how I feel. And I try to make peace because I am a man of God and I try to do, learn forgiveness, but I can't get past this. I can't.
- [21:32]
Annie Elise
Now, like I said, Maxwell still claims that he's innocent, that he didn't have anything to do with Sade's death. He said Sade left his apartment on her own and that somebody must have kidnapped, trapped her along the way, intercepted her, and then that's who murdered her. He also said in court at his sentencing that he hopes that one day, quote, true justice will be delivered. He plans to appeal his convictions as well, which, good luck with that. But I will say nothing surprises me these days because there are people out there who believe he is innocent. Just like people out there believe Bryan Coburger is innocent. Despite him pleading guilty, despite all of the evidence, the DNA evidence, the circumstantial evidence, the, you know, pings, all of that, people still believe he's innocent. And I'm not going to go into all of that right now. I went into it on the episode just this last Monday, so you can go take a listen to that. But people say that they believe Maxwell is innocent. And I just have. I don't know, I have a tough time with that because I think everybody's entitled to their opinions, but also, like, this is his one chance now at any sort of redemption and any sort of, like, being able to be a good human and do the right thing. Just own up to what you did. You've been sentenced to life in prison. Just let this family have some peace. Tell them where Sade's head is. Let them have some closure, some peace. But the fact that you're still now saying you're innocent, somebody else did this, you're going to appeal it. I mean, I know that wrongful convictions happen all the time, but also this guy admitted to that informant ahead of time what his plan was. He was seen on CCTV footage with her. I mean, the evidence, it does not lie in this case. So I don't know. I. It's such an insane tragedy. And I hope that by him going to prison for the rest of his life, it does give the family some sort of peace and closure. But they still haven't been able to even recover all of Sade's body parts. And they meanwhile have this creep saying he's innocent. It's just so disrespectful and disgusting and obnoxious. It makes me sick to my stomach even thinking about it. Now, before we get into this next case, we are going to talk about Crime Con. I mentioned it at the top of this episode and it's time for you to win those two Crime Con tickets. So all you have to do is go to the Show Notes for this episode. There's a link where it'll take you directly to enter to win those two free tickets to the entire CrimeCon weekend this September in Denver. And all you have to do is click on the link, fill out the form where you enter your information, and see if you win. But you have to remember this password. It's one word. All caps, no spaces. Stay safe. So I'll be announcing the winner in next week's episode of Headline Highlights. We also will be, of course, contacting the winner individually. Good luck to all of you. And for those of you who do know you want to go to CrimeCon and don't want to risk not winning and missing out on tickets, you can buy your CrimeCon tickets on CrimeCon's website and you can also use our coupon code Annie Elise for 10 off. So see you all in September. Look, it's no secret. Kids can be very picky eaters. And my kids are, I'll be honest, I try to get them good nutritional things and, you know, break out all the new things, having them try. But a lot of the times, too, I just go to the Dino Nuggets because it's Old Faithful, they love it. And you know, mom, shame me later, but I will say this because I know that they are picky eaters. I do try to make sure that they're getting all the vitamins, the minerals, the superfoods, the supplements, all of the things that they need to grow into little healthy people through vitamins. But the tough thing is a lot of these vitamins are just like gummy junk. It's kind of like candy in disguise. A lot of the vitamins have like 5 grams of sugar. They stick to their teeth. It's just like additives, all these things. And about eight months ago, through this podcast, I was introduced to Haya Health Health and these vitamins, I am telling you, I know you hate the word but they are a game changer. They have zero grams of sugar. It's this super powered chewable vitamin and they taste so good. And it also was formulated with the help of pediatricians and nutritional experts. It's pressed with a blend of 12 organic fruits and veggies, then supercharged with 15 essential vitamins and minerals including vitamin D, B12C, zinc, folate and so many others that support energy, brain function, mood, concentration, teeth, bones, I mean un name it. It's also non GMO vegan. It's dairy free, allergy free, gelatin free, nut free, everything else that you can imagine. And my kids love them. When we first got them, it's pretty cool. They send you these customizable bottles for each kid with like a sticker pack. They get to decorate them, they get to make them their own. Then it takes the stress out of parents and having to rebuy and run out and they send you the refills directly to your door. So for my kids it was fun because they got to decorate the bottles, make them their own and then now we just pop the refills in every time they arrive. So it's like they came for the bottles, they signed on and accepted it for the bottles, but they stayed for the taste. And it puts my mind at ease because I know that they're actually getting good stuff in their body that they need. And if you're also ever tired of battling with your kids to eat their greens, Haya now has Kids Daily Greens plus Superfoods, which is a chocolate flavored greens powder designed specifically for kids that's packed with 55 whole food ingredients that supports brain power development digestion. You just scoop, shake and sip it with milk or any non dairy beverage and it's this nutritious and delicious boost for that your kids will actually enjoy. And the same multivitamin that more than a million kids and parents love are now available with Disney's the Lion King with a new Lion King unboxing experience including Lion King bottle and Lion King stickers. And we've worked out a special deal with Haya for their best selling children's vitamin. Receive 50 off your first order. But to claim this deal you must go to hyahealth.com ae this deal is not available on their regular website. Go to H I Y A H E a l t h.com ae and get your kids the full body nourishment that they need to grow into healthy adults. That's hyahealth.com AE you guys know that I'm all about sharing the things that actually make a difference in our lives, right? Especially when it comes to women's health. Because while I know a lot of my true crime besties out there are men, the majority of you are women. And I feel like, you know, I got to share my life hacks with you. And when I learned about O Positive and their urovaginal probiotic, I knew that I had to come on here and talk to you about it. I've talked to you about it before, I think too, but we're going to talk about it again. O Positive is a women's health company that's on a mission to break down stigmas and offer real solutions for hormone health, for vaginal wellness and beyond. Their Eurovaginal Probiotic is specifically formulated to support a healthy vaginal ph, also to maintain healthy vaginal flora and just give your body the support that it needs. Whether it's life, stress, workouts or hormonal changes. So many factors can throw off our body's balance. And Euro is designed with four powerful strains of probiotics that work together to help keep things in check. And the best part? When taken daily, most women start to notice benefits in as little as two weeks and clinical studies show results with an 8. Customers talk about feeling more confident, more comfortable, even improvements in intimacy because they feel more comfortable in their own skin. It's a simple addition to your routine that can have a big impact on how you feel every day. And if you're somebody who appreciates science and backed ingredients and products that are crafted by experts, oh Positive has you covered. They're not about gimmicks. Their products are designed to actually work and they're one of the top women's health brands at both Target and Amazon. So take proactive care of your health and head to o positive.com ae or enter ae at checkout for 25% off your first purchase. That's o-p o s I t I v.com ae for 25% off off. Now let's move into this next case and it's also an update of the Arkansas case that we talked about last week and we have some major updates in this case. But as a reminder for those of you who haven't been following it back on July 26, 43 year old Clinton Brink and his wife, 41 year old Kristen Brink, went on a family hike with their two young daughters who are only seven and nine years old. They were at Devil's Den State park and just having a nice family hike, when all of a sudden their lives were changed forever. A man jumped out of nowhere and attacked the parents, fatally stabbing Clinton and Kristen right in front of their two daughters. Now, thankfully, the girls were unharmed and we got a little bit more information of why and how, but this guy, this creep who murdered their parents got away and he remained on the loose for days.
- [30:16]
Police Officer
Attacked a male and a female on Devil's Den hiking trail and then took off on a small black sports car with tape over the plate. And we suspect the suspect of injuries due to the witness seeing the suspect stab one of them. Be on the lookout for a white male suspect wearing black gloves, sunglasses, dark colored pants. According to witness, direction of travel was, quote, went across a bridge leaving Devil's Den and stayed on the highway, end quote.
- [30:39]
Annie Elise
So as the investigators were looking into this, they said that the husband was stabbed first about a half a mile into the hike. The mother, then trying to protect their daughters and save them, took the children to safety. But I, and I've heard some rumors that it was at the car and she locked them back in the car, then that she just pushed them away into a hidden area. And there's kind of a lot of conflicting information out there, but the point is she took the children to safety before then heading back to try and help her husband. However, she wasn't able to overcome the monster and he stabbed her to death as well. Then a hiker came along and found the two little girls all by themselves and tried to help them find their parents. But that's when the hiker found the parents, dead bodies. So they immediately got the girls safely off the trail and then called 911. The police interviewed witnesses all around and they had learned that the suspect had left the scene with what looked like blood on his face and had driven off in a KIA Stinger with its license plate partially covered with tape. Now, when this case first broke, everyone was left in shock. Nobody could make sense of it. I mean, one second this family is out together on a family hike in this beautiful area, enjoying family time, but then these girls are forced to watch as their parents get killed, like right in front of them or off to the side of them, or, you know, however it was, I just cannot even imagine the trauma. So after five days of searching and hundreds of tips, the authorities finally made an arrest. 28 year old Andrew James McCann was arrested last Wednesday at a hair salon in Springdale, which is about 30 miles north of Devil's Den, where these murders took place. Want to thank the public for providing images and videos from cell phones, home and business security footage that directly advanced this investigation. The information that was put out and the request for information back from the public directly resulted in this person being brought into custody. So Andrew was at this hair salon when the hairdresser said that she was cutting Andrew's hair for about five minutes. When police officers walked into the salon and started asking whose black car was parked outside. The hairdresser said that Andrew hesitated for a little bit before then standing up and telling the cops that the car belonged to him. The officers asked him a few questions inside the salon, and then they arrested him and took him into custody. And you can hear directly from this hairstylist what those moments were like. Take a listen.
- [33:01]
Hairdresser
I want to start off first by saying my condolences to the Brink family. My thoughts and prayers are with you all. I couldn't sleep last night thinking about them. And they'll always be in my heart to imagine those little girls. When I saw him, I. He looked pretty normal. Something did feel off about him. I noticed he. I was in the break room heating up my food for lunch, and I noticed a black car pulled up. The door is open, so I would see who would pull up. I came back up here and I noticed the. The guy just standing over here. As soon as I saw him, something fell off about him. He looked pretty scary. He didn't look like he was okay. He was very timid. He was always with his head down, long hair covering his face. But I didn't want to speak up yesterday after seeing the photos because everything. Anything can change from when those pictures were taken. And he looked to be a lot slimmer. But as soon as I saw the pictures, I'm like, that's. That's him. He just looks slimmer. Like I said, he was on the run. He probably didn't eat or, you know, took care of himself. He looked pretty confused. I don't know how to describe it.
- [34:55]
Annie Elise
He.
- [34:56]
Hairdresser
Like I saw him, his eyes just looked sunken. Pretty, kind of like soulless is what I could describe. He didn't want anything cut from the top. Top of his head. He wanted to hide his face. His. He just wanted a. A fade on the sides. He didn't really know what he wanted. So I kind of explained to him what kind of haircut would go well with him, with what he had. Yeah, he just didn't want to touch anything from. From the top. I was about five minutes into the haircut when a man pulled up and. And asking about whose car that was that was outside. And that's when he would tell him, you know, I believe this is your car. And he didn't really. He just stood quiet. I guess he felt kind of scared.
- [35:50]
Annie Elise
So after his arrest, Andrew had cuts all over his hands, and he also had blood all over his car. They tested the blood that they found in his car, and it was a match for the blood found at the crime scene. They also searched his home and said that there was, quote, articles found that are consistent with being involved in this particular crime. Crime. Police also said that Andrew literally admitted to committing these murders. However, they still have no motive. They don't know why he did this. They don't even know if Andrew knew the brink family before the killings. It all looks like some kind of random act of violence. We're not going to talk about his motive right now. We're still exploring and determine exactly what that motive was. So it'd be a little premature for us to speak on that tonight. He just recently moved here and had had gotten a job to work at a local school here. Now, in a very unsettling detail that we learned, Andrew is a teacher who moved to Arkansas from Oklahoma. He had worked in several schools, and he had just taken a new job in Springdale public schools in Arkansas. But he hadn't started yet because the school year hasn't started. Right. But as this information came out, a lot of information started to surface about his background as a teacher and allegations of grooming and favoritism and how he would always be hyper fixated on the girls in the schools and in his class. One parent who knew Andrew as a teacher at their school described him, too, as being awkward around the parents, that he would struggle to make eye contact during parent teacher conferences, and he was described as just being very timid, shy, and pretty quiet. However, all the kids apparently loved him. However, back in 2023, Andrew ended up being placed on leave over in Texas from Donald elementary school because a lot of the parents had concerns about his professionalism and about student favoritism. Some parents even said that they saw grooming behavior in Andrew. Kids said that he only played at recess with girl students. He would give candy or special prizes only to girl students. And some parents even said that at lunchtime, Andrew would send all of the kids out to the cafeteria, but he would ask some of his favorite female students to stay behind in the classroom with him. A few moms also alleged that he encouraged girl students to sit on his lap. Now, this is obviously disgusting, dangerous and predatory. And I've shared on my podcast before my experience with this. And I'm not gonna say I was groomed. I don't think I was. But in sixth grade, I had a teacher and it was kind of very similar. He had a lot of favorites, a lot of of girl favorites in the class. I was one of them. And every time when we would have like a movie day, which, you know, where they turn the lights off in the classroom, they roll the big tube TV out and you watch a movie, he would let me come over to his desk and like, either sit right next to him or kind of sit not directly on his lap, but like on his leg a little bit. And he would let me go into his software and change my grade on different tests to where then my whole entire grade would change. And I remember at the time being like, this is awesome. You know, like, like, I'm his favorite student. He lets me change my grade. Like, yeah, this is cool. And he was kind of flirty and weird. But now looking back, I'm like, oh, this guy was a sicko. Like, what a freak, right? Like, it's just so gross and sick looking back on it. So this guy, this Andrew creep, had apparently, like this long past of that. So much so that he was placed on leave at that school in Texas. And sure enough, I have a little bit of inside scoop for you. I'm not going to say her name on here because I don't know if she wants this information shared publicly. So I'm definitely not going to, like, attach her name to it. But a parent at my child's school text me saying that she had heard my episode from last week because we did cover this case a bit in last week's headline highlights. And she said that her sister used to be a student of his in Texas at. In Flower Mound or Flower Mount, I believe, at Donald elementary, that same same school that he was placed on leave from. And let me just. Actually let me pull up this text message. Let me see here. Where is it? Okay. And let me just. Yeah, share with you. She said, I just saw your podcast about the Arkansas hiking murders. This guy used to be my sister's teacher at Donald Elementary School in Flower Mount, Texas. I was not that shocked when I saw it. I always told my mom to remove my sister from that class because he was creepy. He would not let her use the restroom, and he would always say bad words in the classroom. He always gave me the creeps when my sister would talk about him. But I didn't think that he would come to the extreme of murdering people. But he always did give me the creeps around girls. She said, I sent the picture to my mom too, to confirm that it was him. And she was upset because my sister used to make excuses for his behavior, saying he was sweet sometimes to her and that he would play with her. So we went on and texted back and forth and they were just. She was saying how they all are shocked and how he escalated from being creepy with girls and. And then would do this to two innocent parents. And it's just a reminder to always trust your gut. Right. Like she knew back then that something was wrong and like, just a reminder. Yeah, always trust your gut. And something else. While a lot of information is still surfacing about this, we don't know the connection, we don't know the motive. But I can't help but wonder, with his track record of, you know, predatory behavior, alleged grooming behavior, and his just fixation on young girls, we know that these two parents were there with their daughters 7 and 9. Could he have been targeting the girls or watching them from afar or doing something and then attacked the parents for some weird reason? I don't know. I mean, I would imagine that we're going to learn a lot of information as more stuff comes and I probably will end up doing a deep dive into this case too. It's just there's still so much stuff coming out that we're trying to vet and get our hands on. But let me know if you want that deep dive. We probably will do it, but I just, I can't help but wonder if he did have this like hyper fixation on girls for years and years and years. And we know there were two young girls on that hiking trail with the parents. Like, how does that tie into it? Was he mad at the parents and angry because they had. What he couldn't have was he wanting to go after the girls first and the parents intervened and then the mom got the girls to safety. What. What really happened and why? Why? So we know despite his background with girls and teaching and all, that it led to him stabbing this couple in this insanely shocking and all around heartbreaking case. And now these two girls are not only forced to live with the trauma, but they're going to be growing up without their parents. Andrew was booked on charges of capital murder and he was appointed a public defender at his first court appearance last Friday. As of right now, he's being held without bond. And the prosecution said that they will not be waiving the death penalty. They are going to go after him with all their might. But as I said, the investigation is still ongoing. And even still, the trails at Devil's Den are closed at the moment. So I definitely will be keeping an eye on this for updates and see what happens when he goes to trial, see what other information we learn and you know, do a deep dive when we're ready. So make sure you're following the podcast so that you don't miss that. Like I said, you might have already been hearing about this because it's been all over the news, but the case that we're going to be talking about is about a man named Austin Robert Drummond. And trust me, there is a lot to go over. Now, Austin was a 28 year old man from Tennessee. He's about 5 foot 10, 190 pounds. He had blue eyes, short dirty blonde hair with like the short beard and mustache. And I'll be honest, at a plain glance, Austin really just doesn't stand out very much. Kind of basic, but if you look at his criminal record, it definitely makes more of an impression because Austin had a lengthy criminal record, some going all the way back to 2014. So much so that when he was still a minor, he was convicted for armed robbery. He was sentenced to prison in Jackson, Tennessee. And while he was in prison, he definitely was not like a model prisoner or a happy camper by any means. Not that people in prison are happy campers, but you get what I mean. But he got over two dozen disciplinary violations while in prison. Ultimately, in 2020, he ended up having his parole hearing, but he was denied early parole. He also, during his time there, allegedly threatened the jurors and the victims at his hearing. Just kind of like this garbage human being, right? And all around, authorities saw Austin as pretty aggressive, violent, even high risk. So because of that, he stayed in prison, but only for four more years. In September of 2024, after serving a 10 year sentence, Austin was released from prison. But I will say he was only out on bond because he allegedly like tried to kill someone in December. But nonetheless, this man was allowed to leave and go back to his hometown. He was now free to walk the streets. And here is a snippet from a press conference from just last Friday where the authorities explain his rap sheet and everything that it entails. Take a listen.
- [44:38]
Police Officer
Austin Drummond was convicted in Madison county several years ago for an aggravated robbery. He was sentenced to the Tennessee Department of Corrections and he was housed at Northwest Correctional, which is in Tiptonville in Lake County. He completed that sentence. So we call Flattening the sentence. So he doesn't actually come out on parole or probation. He's just released because he's done all of his time in prison. While he was in prison, he received other charges. We actually took him to grand jury in Lake county because since it occurred at the prison, then it was in our jurisdiction. He had some drug charges that we indicted him for. And then shortly after that, he actually was charged and indicted in Lake county for attempted murder, murder, attempted first degree murder, which took place inside the prison. Because he completed his sentence then, that was just like any other sentence that a person on the street would have committed. So what happened is once he was released from the Department of Corrections, the Lake County Sheriff's Department picked him up just as they would anyone else, brought him to the Lake County Jail and he made bond. So he has been out on bond on those charges when we think that this was allegedly committed.
- [45:49]
Annie Elise
Now, look, I know I'm not a professional, but I don't understand how somebody who has this violent, violent history, even while in prison and was threatening jurors and tried to kill someone in jail, why would they ever be allowed to re enter society? How does that math, math? I mean, how could you release him and not think that something bad was going to happen right Now? I will say this, though. For the next year, Austin did seem to live a pretty quiet life and pretty much managed to stay out of any serious trouble. However, all of that changed this past July, because on July 29, while Austin's family didn't know it yet, everything in their lives was about to be turned upside down. It was around 3.10pm on July 29 when the authorities got reports of an infant that had been left in some random person's front yard. Now, not much was known about where this baby girl came from them, but they knew that a dark colored minivan had dropped off this baby and now she was just left alone in a car seat in this random front yard. And the baby appeared to be unharmed. But of course, everybody was wondering, like, how the heck did she get here? Who does she belong to? What's going on? Who would just leave this baby girl on a stranger's lawn? So the authorities identified the baby and immediately started a manhunt for the baby's family. They were searching for her family for the rest of the day and just kind of looking high and low, trying to figure out what was going on and get answers. But none of that could have prepared them for the gruesome discovery that was waiting for them. Because this Baby was not only left alone in some random front yard, but the baby was also left without her family for the rest of her life. About 40 miles away from where this infant was found, the authorities found the dead bodies of four of the baby's family members. The baby's mother and father, 21 year old James Wilson, and 20 year old Adriana Williams, were both found dead. Also, the baby's 38 year old grandmother, Courtney Rose, and the baby's 15 year old uncle, Braden Williams. The bodies were found in a wooded area right off of a road in Tiptonville. And authorities didn't release exactly how all four of them were killed, but they did say that this was a quadruple homicide. Died. They also didn't say exactly what it was that led them to start zeroing in on Austin as a suspect, but they put a warrant out for his arrest shortly after the bodies were found. Now, at this point, everybody's trying to make sense of what's going on, right? What's his connection? Why would he kill these four family members and take a baby to a random person's front yard and leave the baby there unharmed? Usually when there's these maniacs on the loose and these mass murderers, they don't stop at sparing the baby's life, which I'm glad he did, obviously. Hello, don't get me wrong. But like, what's going on here? What's the connection? Well, sure enough, in a Facebook post, a relative of the victims said that Austin used to date Courtney, the baby's grandmother's sister, a little while ago. So I know that was kind of hard to track. Let me just say that again. He used to date the baby's grandmother's sister. They also, though, said that it was an incredible shock to them that Austin never treated their family or the children badly. They never thought he was dangerous. The family member said that Austin, quote, literally had been nothing short of amazing to us and our kids. So how the heck did this even happen? Why would he just do this? Like, everyone was shocked and reeling, which I can't imagine how the family feels. And remember, the youngest of the victims was only 15 years old, a literal child. So this manhunt for Austin went on for seven days. He had last been seen back near Jackson, Tennessee. But then a lot of people thought that he maybe had fled the state, maybe even getting a flight out of the area somehow. And a big reason why people thought that is not only because so many days were going by with no arrest and no leads, but it was also believed that Austin had connections to something called the Vice Lord's gang. So authorities thought that okay, maybe he's getting help from this gang to stay in the wind. The gang does have members who have been linked to murders, drugs, violent crimes, you name it. They have groups in Illinois and Tennessee as well. So I mean, it's not unreasonable to think that now we're going to get into more of Austin. But aside from Austin, three other people have been arrested for being alleged accomplices to Austin. Tanaka Brown and giovanti Thomas, both 29 years old, were arrested and charged last year last week as accomplices in the murders, saying that they helped Austin get away and they helped with tampering with evidence. Then just this past Monday, 23 year old Diara Sanders was also arrested and charged as a third accomplice. So as I said, this manhunt went on for seven days. There was a thirty thousand dollar reward for any information that led to his arrest. They were tracking whatever they could. They ended up finding a 2016 Audi that Austin was believed to be driving, that it was abandoned in Jackson. Then they found a 1998 Ford pickup truck that was also found abandoned in Dyer county. But there was still no sign of Austin. But then just when, I don't want to say people were losing hope because they definitely weren't, but when it seemed as though there were no new updates. Bam. On Tuesday afternoon they caught him and they arrested him. Take a listen boxes alert.
- [51:07]
Shade's Sister
Now an update in the Tennessee manhunt. The Tennessee Bureau Bureau of Investigation tweeting just moments ago captured Tennessee most wanted fugitive. Austin Drummond is now in law enforcement custody after having been caught in Jackson. Steve Harrigan has the latest on this breaking news. Good morning, Steve.
- [51:25]
News Reporter
Good morning, Danny. This is a seven day manhunt that just now has come to an end. Tennessee Bureau investigation confirming that they have caught Austin Drummond. This is a man who's accused of killing four people in Tennessee. The case got a tremendous amount of attention because not only is he accused of murdering four members of a family, but also abducting, kidnapping and then leaving a seven month old baby girl in a car seat on the lawn of a random house 40 miles away from those bodies. We've seen recent video of Drummond on door cameras. He's often seen carrying a weapon and was carrying a large amount of ammunition as well. He has a very violent history. Just 28 years old, he's already spent more than a decade in jail. He threatened to kill the jurors in his trial and yet somehow he was out on bond during the time of these murders. One district attorney who spoke to us from Tennessee said this is a person who is simply not capable of living in society. Well, he's not going to be in society for anytime soon if these murder charges go through. One of killing four parents of the young girl, the uncle and the grandmother, a targeted killing. Now Tennessee authorities say they've got their man after a seven day hunt.
- [52:36]
Annie Elise
Now it's great that he has been arrested, don't get me wrong. But we need to know why the hell this guy was even out to begin with. How did they allow this monster out on the streets again given his track record? He had been incarcerated for so long for so many different reasons. He had tried to have people killed. And you heard just now in that, that clip too, like this is someone who cannot function in society. So how did the parole board release this guy and make that decision where now four people are losing their lives. Thousands of dollars was spent in taxpayer money looking for him for what he should have, in my opinion been continued to be like behind bars and locked up. And it's tough. I mean we see so many cases like this, right, where somebody gets released or they're out on bond or whatever the situation is, is and then bam, they reoffend and somebody loses their life. And here four people lost their life and this seven month old little baby was left abandoned by herself on some stranger's lawn. It's just, it's unspeakable. And it's going to be very interesting to see what other information comes out now that he has been caught. Because this manhunt, this case, it has just left everybody in shock and with so much confusion, not only are family and friends trying to grieve the deaths of their four family members and loved ones and have even set up multiple gofundmes to help cover those funeral costs. But they still don't have any answers. Why did this happen? Why did he choose to do this? And I just can't imagine what they're going through right now. So this investigation and this case is rapidly changing, of course, especially now with his arrest. And I know we're going to be learning more. We've already been filing for documents, we're trying to get ahead of it. But I will be keeping an eye out and I will definitely be keeping you updated. I'm hoping that we just get the answers to all of these unanswered questions of how were these four victims killed? Where did he kill them? What was the motive? I mean, we'll see what happens. We'll see what we learn, so stay tuned for that. We will do a deep dive into this once we have more information. And again, as a reminder, if you're not following the podcast yet, make sure you follow so that you do not miss that update when it comes out. I know that was a lot to go over today, a lot of very, very heavy cases. So I appreciate you sticking with me. I'm going to be back with you on Monday with a huge deep dive into a case that so many of you have been requesting. So if you're not following the podcast yet, make sure you take a quick second press whatever follow icon is in the Corner or on YouTube subscribe so that you don't miss those new updates episodes as they drop. But that deep dive is coming Monday. And as a reminder, if you are listening to this on Apple Podcasts and have an extra 30 seconds, please leave a rating and review. It's a free way to support the channel and the podcast. All right, guys, thank you so much. I will be back with you very, very soon. And maybe I will see a lot of you at Crimecon too. All right, until the next one, be nice, don't kill people, stay off hiking trails for the foreseeable future, and just be a good human. All right, bye, guys.