Sydney Powell

Summary

Podcast Summary: "Snapped: Women Who Murder" – Sydney Powell (May 31, 2026)

---

Main Theme

This episode of "Snapped: Women Who Murder" explores the harrowing case of Sydney Powell, a young woman from Ohio accused and ultimately convicted of brutally murdering her mother, Brenda Powell, in March 2020. Through police records, family accounts, expert testimony, and firsthand audio, the episode examines the complexities of family relationships, mental health crises, and the search for justice amid tragedy.

---

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. The Crime Scene & Immediate Aftermath

• Discovery: Police respond to a distress call from the University of Mount Union, concerned after a call with Brenda Powell is interrupted by screams and thuds (01:27-02:19).
• Officers arriving at the Powell residence find evidence of forced entry (broken window, blood) and a hysterical Sydney, with Brenda critically injured (02:23-03:30).
• Sydney's Reaction: Sydney is described as "inconsolable," "catatonic," and "not acting right" as first responders attempt lifesaving measures for Brenda (03:52-04:20, 12:29, 29:29).

“She mentioned something about an intruder. Somebody broke in, so they really don't know what they're dealing with.”
— Lead Investigator (03:07)

2. Background of the Powell Family

• Brenda Powell: A respected child life specialist at Akron Children's Hospital, known for her compassion and resilience (05:19-07:06).
• Family Dynamics: Described as nurturing and closely bonded, especially between Brenda and her daughter, Sydney (07:24-08:44).

3. The Investigation Unfolds

• Crime Scene Evidence: Blood smears, a bloody skillet, and a knife lead investigators to doubt the intruder narrative (14:40-14:48).
• Suspicion on Sydney: Discrepancies in the scene—broken window with blood on both sides, no forced entry, and Sydney’s inconsistent statements—shift the focus onto her as a potential suspect (19:12-19:54).

“The intruder scenario was highly unlikely.”
— Lead Investigator (19:12)

4. Sydney’s Mental Health and Timeline Leading to the Crime

• Academic Troubles: Sydney, once a stellar student and athlete, had been expelled from university for poor grades but concealed this from her parents (17:33-27:20).
• Deception & Stress: Sydney maintained a front of attending classes, going as far as sneaking into dorms and lying to peers and family (27:38-28:23).

"Sydney was really trying to keep up this facade that everything in her world was ok when it was all completely crumbling."
— Psychiatrist / Mental Health Expert (28:44)

• Psychiatric Crisis: Multiple experts describe Sydney’s post-crime state as a severe psychotic, dissociative break, ultimately diagnosed as schizophrenia during hospitalization (29:29-31:19).

5. The Trial: Insanity Defense vs. Prosecution

• Legal Strategy: Sydney’s defense pleads not guilty by reason of insanity, supported by evaluations from three psychiatrists concluding she was psychotic at the time (30:25-33:21).
• Family’s Stance: Unusually, both Brenda’s family and the defense agree they do not want a murder conviction or life sentence (29:47-33:49).

"I did not meet a family member that wanted a murder conviction, that wanted a life sentence for Sydney, not one."
— Defense Attorney (29:47)

• Prosecution's Argument: Maintains Sydney acted knowingly, pointing to her attempts to cover up the crime and coherent actions after the attack (34:25-34:59).

“While she may have had some mental health issues at the time, her actions around the crime are clearly consistent with someone who knew exactly what they were doing and then tried to cover it up.”
— Prosecutor (34:25)

• Trial Outcome: The jury finds Sydney guilty of murder; she is sentenced to life with the possibility of parole after 15 years (39:05-39:09).

6. Aftermath and Legacy

• Appeals and Remorse: Sydney’s family continues to support her, believing her actions were the result of mental illness. Sydney expresses deep remorse and grief for the loss of her mother (40:10-41:04).
• Honoring Brenda: A scholarship at Akron Children’s Hospital is established in Brenda’s name to help young survivors of cancer pursue higher education (41:19).

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Family Dynamics:
  “It was almost like sisters that they just really got along. Sydney was the mini me of Brenda.”
  — Family Friend (07:28)

• On Sydney’s Mental Health Collapse:
  "She was experiencing long periods of lucid thoughts, but they were interrupted by serious and significant psychotic episodes... It screams insanity."
  — Psychiatrist / Mental Health Expert (32:07)

• On the Verdict:
  “Although we were prepared for, as best you can, a guilty verdict, it was still soul crushing.”
  — Psychiatrist / Mental Health Expert (39:09)

• On Brenda’s Memory:
  “Brenda loved working with the kids at the hospital. That's just the way Brenda was. She was like the mother to them all. She was just a sweet soul.”
  — Family Friend (41:19)

---

Key Timestamps

• Discovery & Crime Scene: 01:19–04:32, 14:40–15:36
• Powell Family Background: 05:02–09:09
• Sydney’s Breakdown & Investigation Shift: 17:33–22:23
• Cell Phone Evidence: 22:42–23:47
• Mental Health Diagnosis: 29:29–31:19
• Trial Proceedings: 34:20–39:09
• Aftermath & Legacy: 40:19–41:19

---

Tone & Reflections

The narrative is compassionate but methodical, featuring law enforcement, medical experts, and family voices. The story unearths a devastating truth about mental illness, parental expectations, and the overwhelming consequences of untreated crises within supportive families.

---

For listeners interested in the intersection of mental health and crime, family tragedy, and the complexities of justice, this episode offers raw emotion, harrowing details, and a nuanced portrayal of a family and community struggling to find meaning and healing after an unimaginable loss.

Transcript

[Narrator]

A beloved health care worker is viciously attacked in her home.

[Steve Powell]

We got a female down.

[Lead Investigator]

I've never seen anything this brutal before. Severe head trauma, multiple stab wounds.

[Narrator]

Her daughter is the only witness.

[Lead Investigator]

She mentioned something about an intruder. Somebody broke in.

[Psychiatrist / Mental Health Expert]

She's completely catatonic. She has no touch with reality at all.

[Sydney Powell]

Is she going to be okay?

[Narrator]

An investigation reveals the cracks in a loving relationship.

[Family Friend]

It was almost like sisters that they just really got along.

[Lead Investigator]

Did you notice any change in her mood?

[Sydney's Friend]

I could tell she was getting more upset.

[Narrator]

The evidence points to a suspect who is desperate to hide the truth.

[Psychiatrist / Mental Health Expert]

She was really trying to keep up this facade that everything in her world was ok.

[Lead Investigator]

It was a problem that had built up, built up and finally came to a head when the truth came on.

[Narrator]

On March 3, 2020, police in Akron, Ohio receive an alarming call from a nearby university.

[Lead Investigator]

The callers were from the University of Mount Union in Alliance, Ohio. It's about 40 minutes from here. And they were calling because they were in the midd of a conversation with somebody named Brenda Powell, in reference to Brenda's daughter, Sydney Powell, who was a student at Mount Union. And the conversation got interrupted in a strange way. They reported that they heard a bunch of strange noises they described as a couple loud thuds, screams, and then some other, you know, just unusual sounds. And then the phone went dead. They tried to call back and they didn't get an answer. They were concerned that something had happened to Brenda. They wanted us to we the police to go out and just check, making sure everything's okay. When the officers arrived, they went to the front door.

[Officer Legacy]

I can hear her screaming in there. Front door is locked.

[Lead Investigator]

Officer Legacy went around towards the rear of the house and he had noticed that one of the rear windows had been broken and there appeared to be some blood around it. There was a sliding glass patio door and he had observed that that had also been broken in Acropolis. And then there was some blood. Looked like some blood smears there.

[Officer Legacy]

Acer Blaze.

[Lead Investigator]

And that's where he made entry.

[Narrator]

Inside, the officer finds a young woman covered in blood.

[Officer Legacy]

Where's your mom at?

[Sydney Powell]

No, no. There's so much blood. No way.

[Paramedic]

Trevor takeover.

[Narrator]

She says she's Brenda's daughter. Sidney Powell.

[Lead Investigator]

Sydney is just hysterical. She's preventing the officers from going down the hallway. She mentioned something about an intruder. Somebody broke in, so they really don't know what they're dealing with. She did say that her mom was bleeding, so they went to check it out. Officer Legacy made the discovery that Brenda was on the Floor in the bedroom surrounded by a massive amount of blood.

[Narrator]

Brenda is bleeding from multiple wounds to her head and neck. So the officer immediately calls for emergency services. As officers rush to provide Brenda with life saving care, Sydney is inconsolable.

[Lead Investigator]

She was very, very emotional.

[Paramedic]

Come on.

[Lead Investigator]

Screaming so their first action was to remove Sydney from the interior of the scene.

[Paramedic]

Come on.

[Sydney Powell]

Is she gonna be okay?

[Paramedic]

Come on, come on, come on. You just need to cooperate with me, all right?

[Sydney Powell]

I love my dad.

[Officer Legacy]

Huh?

[Sydney Powell]

I love my dad.

[Paramedic]

What happened? What's going on? What's going on?

[Sydney Powell]

We heard a bang. We heard a bang and she told me to get out and then I heard screaming and she was on the ground.

[Paramedic]

Okay, you heard a bang?

[Sydney Powell]

There was a victim broken.

[Prosecutor]

The police are trying to determine what's going on. You know, they see Sydney covered in blood. They don't know if there is an intruder that's gone, an intruder still on scene in the house. Police are pretty shocked to find that Brenda is still alive considering the amount of blood on scene. So they try and do anything at all, at all to stop the bleeding to keep her alive as long as possible.

[Narrator]

Brenda Doyle was born on March 19, 1969 in Salem, Ohio. She was a high achiever from an early age, excelling in Catholic school and going on to graduate from the University of Akron with honors.

[Family Friend]

She had her degree in early childhood education. She then proceeded to work at Akron Children's Hospital as a child life specialist. When she started there, she was dealing basically with adolescents and children that dealt with a cancer or blood disorders. I Met Brenda in 1995 through some mutual friends. This was a setup. We went on our first date as a group of us. Her smile is what really attracted me to her the first time. She just had that, that little snarky, sarcastic looking little smile on her face that just. She just always seemed happy.

[Narrator]

27 year old Brenda was equally sure footed in her relationship. She and 30 year old Steve Powell married in 1996, just a year after their first date together.

[Family Friend]

We couldn't really make a decision on who wasn't going to be in the wedding. So I think we put all of our friends. I had seven groomsmen and she had seven bridesmaids. So it was a large fun wedding.

[Narrator]

Brenda and Steve went on to have two children together. Their daughter Sydney was born in 2000 and three years later they had a son. For the next two decades, Brenda split her time between work and family.

[Psychiatrist / Mental Health Expert]

Brenda had one of the most difficult jobs I could ever imagine. She had to sit with families and talk to them about a cancer diagnosis, about chemotherapy, with kids who were going through the worst time in their life. Brenda was amazing. She was loved universally by everyone that she worked with.

[Family Friend]

Brenda's personality as a mother was very nurturing. I think from all those years of being at the hospital and dealing with the children that were there. I think she just did all she could to protect her child and did everything to make sure that, you know, they grew up healthy.

[Narrator]

Brenda and Sydney were especially close.

[Family Friend]

It was almost like sisters that they just really got along. Sydney was the mini me of Brenda. I mean, they had the same personalities.

[Sydney's Friend / Teammate]

I remember her and her mom were always texting. I think Sydney really did look up to her mom, wanted to be how Brenda was, be there to help people, to always put others first.

[Narrator]

Sydney appeared to share her mother's drive and ambition as well.

[Family Friend]

Sydney's grades always were good. And all throughout elementary school and high school, she did a little bit of everything sports wise and ended up really settling in on soccer, which she excelled at.

[Sydney's Teammate]

We were teammates. Sydney was a ball of fire. She was very small, but on the field, I mean, she was, you know, one of our best players. So we always looked up to her, you know, as a role model or as someone who would set an example on the field.

[Narrator]

Sydney's high school academic career was impressive enough to earn her a presidential skill scholarship to the University of Mount Union. She moved into campus housing in the fall of 2018, but maintained frequent contact with her family.

[Family Friend]

Sydney was very excited to go to college. I think she was ready to spread her wings a little bit and go out there. She was gonna get into something sports, physical, fitness, training, related. Then she eventually switched out of that to psychiatry.

[Narrator]

By her sophomore year, Sydney seemed to be flourishing, and her relationship with her mother was closer than ever.

[Family Friend]

Mount Union is approximately 40 minutes from where we live. She would come home sporadically on the weekends. Since it was so close, if Sydney had a concern, Brenda would be the first one she would talk to. They really talked, and they got along.

[Narrator]

But now the mother and daughter have been involved in a vicious attack, leaving Brenda clinging to life and Sydney traumatized.

[Paramedic]

Are you cut?

[Sydney Powell]

I don't think so.

[Paramedic]

Yeah, you're cut somewhere.

[Sydney Powell]

I don't think so.

[Steve Powell]

Yeah, you're hand.

[Sydney Powell]

No, I was helping her. I grabbed her.

[Paramedic]

All right, stop. I'll tell you what. Can you sit on the ground here real quick?

[Narrator]

While first responders tend to Sydney and Brenda, her father, Steve Powell, races home.

[Family Friend]

I got a call from my friend who happens to be a police Officer heard a call go out with my address. Sydney was down by the mailbox when I got it home, and she was almost shaking. I had no idea what was going on.

[Narrator]

Coming up, a witness's erratic behavior perplexes officers.

[Paramedic]

No, she's not acting right.

[Narrator]

And when tragedy strikes, detectives must grapple with a harsh reality.

[Family Friend]

I'm sure at that point I ended up going into shock. And then after that, it's pretty much a blur.

[Narrator]

50 year old Brenda Powell is in critical condition after she was attacked during an apparent break in. Her husband, Steve Powell, has just arrived home to find his daughter Sydney in a state of shock.

[Paramedic]

What's going on? This guy's dad.

[Steve Powell]

I'm the dad. Sydney. I don't know. I don't know.

[Sydney Powell]

Daddy.

[Family Friend]

Where's my wife?

[Sydney Powell]

The window's broken, dad.

[Paramedic]

Where?

[Sydney Powell]

The back window's broken.

[Paramedic]

So you got the daddy.

[Sydney Powell]

So I don't know. She was there with me.

[Family Friend]

I tried to go up into the house and I made it basically as far into the front room as I could. And then they proceeded to escort me out of the house.

[Police Officer]

You need to go outside, sir.

[Steve Powell]

No, I don't. Yes, you do.

[Lead Investigator]

Outside,

[Officer Legacy]

all the way back to the right.

[Lead Investigator]

You need to stay outside. Go ahead. Please have a seat.

[Officer Legacy]

Okay.

[Narrator]

As paramedics continue treating both women, officers cordon off the crime scene.

[Family Friend]

My friend got there and they took me back to his car. Very frustrating to not have any information what was going on. Where your daughter's laying down by the mailbox and you don't know where your wife is now.

[Lead Investigator]

Brenda didn't look good. However, one of the paramedics was able to find this faint pulse, so based on that, they rushed her to the hospital.

[Psychiatrist / Mental Health Expert]

Sydney is completely experiencing a psychotic break. She's completely catatonic. She continues to mumble, kind of nonsensically.

[Defense Attorney]

She's likely going in and out of things and she sees this evidence of a terrible crime around her.

[Sydney Powell]

Sydney.

[Family Friend]

Sydney.

[Sydney Powell]

Sydney.

[Paramedic]

Sydney. What's going on? Huh?

[Family Friend]

She just was just laying there shaking and climbing the street. Wasn't mumbling, wasn't saying anything.

[Family Advocate]

Something definitely was not right. It was not normal behavior.

[Lead Investigator]

She's just not acting right.

[Paramedic]

No, she's not acting right.

[Steve Powell]

All right.

[Family Friend]

What was she involved with? What is this?

[Paramedic]

Well, we don't know.

[Lead Investigator]

We couldn't really determine at the scene what exactly her injuries were. But one of the paramedics crews looked at her and they ended up taking her to a hospital to get examined.

[Narrator]

An officer escorts Sydney, hoping to gain more information with Brenda and Sydney Both on the way to the emergency room, investigators begin searching the house for evidence.

[Lead Investigator]

When I arrived, I met with Officer Legacy and he kind of took me through the path that he took through the house. We were just trying to figure out, okay, what are we dealing with. We know Sydney was screaming about somebody breaking in, but besides the bedroom and the broken windows, there was nothing out of place. I didn't see any signs of any struggle or anything like that inside the kitchen. And then he took me down the hallway that separates the kitchen and the bedroom. He was pointing out different blood smears. Appear to be blood smears on both sides of the wall. I just remember turning the corner, looking into the bedroom and just seeing all that blood. It's one of the worst scenes I've into. There was an iron skillet that was on the floor near to where Brenda was and also a knife. It looked like to us that these might have been the possible weapons that were used.

[Narrator]

In addition to the weapons, detectives also find the cell phone Brenda was using when she was attacked.

[Lead Investigator]

We're thinking what happened? Are we dealing with somebody that broke in and attacked them for a, you know, a burglary type situation? What about Sydney? Was Sydney involved in this? Does she have any information?

[Psychiatrist / Mental Health Expert]

It's about an eight or nine minute drive to the hospital. The police officers trying to figure out what's going on, asking Sydney some basic questions.

[Paramedic]

What are you saying, Sydney? What are you saying?

[Psychiatrist / Mental Health Expert]

She's not making any sense. She has no touch with reality at all. From the ambulance, Sydney's then taken to

[Prosecutor]

the psychiatric ward as Sidney is interacting with officers and her dad. Something that we hear her say over and over again is get out of the house, get out of the house. Police obviously don't know if she's a victim too. She is clearly in a state of shock.

[Lead Investigator]

She really wasn't focusing on the detectives. She really wasn't acknowledging that they were even present. So we decided not to ask her any more questions. At that point we needed more information. Sydney wasn't going to be able to tell us anything. We're going to have to figure out other ways about what happened.

[Narrator]

In the emergency room. Doctors are doing everything they can to save Brenda Powell's life. Her 19 year old daughter Sydney is being treated for wounds of her own. But she's still unable to tell anyone what happened. Investigators hope Brenda's husband Steve can provide some insight.

[Family Friend]

When they finally took me to the police station, they basically took a statement on what transpired up until the time that I got there. Any communication I had with Brenda or Sydney up until that moment.

[Police Officer]

Where'd you get a call from? What happened? Got a call from me.

[Steve Powell]

He said there was a call went out, a distress call from the University of Mount Union where my daughter was going and said, female in distress. I said, well, that's funny because Brenda's there. My wife.

[Narrator]

Steve says the day began like any other. E and Brenda had breakfast, then both headed into work. Sydney was scheduled to visit that weekend for spring break, which reminded Steve to pay her tuition for the following semester.

[Steve Powell]

I sign on, it says, you're bogging a fast writing as well. Work like that's weird. So I recovered my password and I put in the right answer and it didn't work. So I sent Mountain Union Billy an email and says, basically, what's wrong? So she called me back today and says, well, the reason you can't get on, long story short, is your daughter's unenrolled.

[Narrator]

The university informed Steve that due to poor grades, his daughter had been academically suspended two months earlier.

[Steve Powell]

So I text Sydney. I'm like, give me a call. I have a question to ask you. I call her. No answer.

[Psychiatrist / Mental Health Expert]

Steve and Brenda had installed Life360 on their phone so they could see where Sydney was at all times. So Steve sees on his phone that his daughter's home. He thinks to himself, why is she home?

[Steve Powell]

I go home and there she is. She's at home, perfectly normal. She's crying because I buzzed her. I said, what's going on? Are you not going to school? She goes, I'm overwhelmed in school and I don't really like what I'm doing. And it seems like it's a waste of my time and your money and

[Lead Investigator]

me Shocked since the winter quarter ended, she wasn't even enrolled and they never knew about it. Steve called Brenda and made Brenda aware what's going on, and he decides to go back to work. Now the mom, Brenda Powell's coming home because she obviously wants to know what's going on as well.

[Narrator]

According to Steve, he received a call from Brenda at 11:49am to let him know she was pulling into the driveway. An hour later, he received the call from a friend in law enforcement that officers had been sent to his address.

[Steve Powell]

I called Brenda. Rings it rings it all cell phone, no answer. I called right in the back, no answer.

[Family Friend]

I'm pacing around.

[Steve Powell]

My doctor calls me back. I said, oh, mom's on the phone with me with Mal. I said, well, the cops are on the way. She went there, was going to break in and she just started going off.

[Lead Investigator]

When Mr. Powell told her that the police were on their way, she immediately said there was an intruder. She starts screaming. But up until that point, there was no other 911 call from that address. So that was a huge, huge piece of information that kind of directed us a little bit about what might have happened. The focus became Sydney. Why didn't she reach out for help examining the scene itself with the broken glass, There was blood inside, outside. It's kind of odd to have blood on both sides of the window. It was the opinion of all of us that the intruder scenario was highly unlikely.

[Narrator]

As the interview progresses, victim assistance workers come to offer Steve their support. Just before detectives receive word from the hospital.

[Prosecutor]

What up?

[Police Officer]

I'm really bad news. Your wife passed away.

[Steve Powell]

What happened?

[Police Officer]

We're not sure. It looks like. I don't think someone broke into the house. I don't know if your wife or not or not. I mean, the window was broken, but there's no forced entry into the house. The window's broken, but nobody actually came through that window. The sliding door was unlocked.

[Lead Investigator]

So

[Police Officer]

did your wife and daughter ever have, like.

[Paramedic]

No.

[Steve Powell]

He.

[Paramedic]

It.

[Family Friend]

I just trying to figure out in my head, you know, what actually could have happened because nothing was adding up to me. I had nothing to go on. I'm sure at that point, I ended up going into shock of some sort because I don't remember. I don't remember talking to them after that. I had to inform my son of what had happened. And after that, it's pretty much a blur.

[Narrator]

While Steve copes with the heartbreaking news, investigators must reassess the situation. The lack of forced entry into the home combined with signs of an altercation suggest a painful possibility.

[Lead Investigator]

I think he had some kind of idea that Sydney was responsible for this. I don't think he thought that there was an intruder, even though he might not wanted to believe it at that point, we know we were dealing with a homicide investigation. It was just very unusual that we're trying to piece together. Okay, was there an intruder, or did Sydney do this?

[Narrator]

Despite her claims of a break in, Sidney Powell has become an unexpected person of interest in her mother's murder. Since Brenda was on the phone with university administrators when she was attacked, detectives review her cell phone records for more information.

[Psychiatrist / Mental Health Expert]

What we know from looking at the cell phone records is there was about three minutes and 30 seconds between that first call and the second call. And what we know is all of the injuries to Brenda happened within that 3 minutes and 30 seconds.

[Narrator]

Investigators speak with the deans to corroborate.

[Lead Investigator]

They were in the middle of a conversation with Brenda Powell, but then they heard thumping and screaming, and then the phone went dead. They were very emotional about it, and they just didn't know what to make of it.

[Narrator]

The deans say after the line went dead, they immediately tried to call back. And after a few attempts, someone answered

[Lead Investigator]

in what they described as a calm voice. This is Brenda. And dean Gaffney and dean Frazier. Having known Sydney as a student, they knew right away that that was Cindy. They asked her, sydney, is that you? And then the phone went dead.

[Defense Attorney]

Again, Sydney's behavior on the phone phone, where she says, this is Brenda, where she's pretending to be her saying, everything's fine, It's a falsehood.

[Lead Investigator]

She never said anything about an intruder. So we began more and more as we looked into this, that that was unlikely and that Sydney was actually responsible for this.

[Narrator]

Forensic analysis seems to support police suspicions.

[Lead Investigator]

When the crime scene unit came, we started taking our time looking at the scene. It appeared with the knife and the skillet, that those most likely came from inside of the house.

[Narrator]

The most damning evidence is a set of bloody footprints in the house.

[Lead Investigator]

We were able to eliminate any foreign shoe being involved. It was Sidney's. We knew that the main incident happened in the bedroom. And by observing all that blood all over the place in different locations throughout the. It was clear to us that, you know, Sydney had been moving throughout the house at different times, you, know, before and after the police arrived.

[Narrator]

Although Sydney appeared traumatized at the time, the evidence indicates she attempted to cover up what she'd done.

[Sydney Powell]

The window's broken, dad. Where the back window's broken in.

[Lead Investigator]

The broken window was at the very rear of the house. We didn't see any rock or any object that would have done it. So we think that she most likely did it with her own hands because she did have blood on her hands. After she knew the police were coming, she most likely broke out the windows to portray an intruder instead of what really happened. We're four or five hours into the investigation. We got authorization to sign charges on her for murder for murdering her mother. We took her into custody. She didn't make any further statements.

[Prosecutor]

It's no longer who done it. We know who did it. But anytime you handle a homicide that involves family members, why is always going to be the first question.

[Family Friend]

When I first heard Sidney was arrested, I had the same response. Everybody heard. There was no way that anybody that knew Sydney and Brendan would have guessed that this would have Been the scenario that played out.

[Lead Investigator]

I've never seen anything this brutal before. Brenda had severe head trauma, and she had multiple stab wounds right below the base of her neck, between her shoulders. It's going through our minds that, you know, what could happen to cause that much rage.

[Narrator]

Following Sydney's arrest, detectives visit her university to better understand her psychological state.

[Lead Investigator]

After talking with the officials at Mount Union, we learned quite a bit about the situation that was going on with Sydney.

[Prosecutor]

Sydney starts Mount Union, fall of 2018. She goes there with one of her best friends. She joins a sorority, and by all appearances, starts to just live a normal college life. She completes her first year, and everything seems to be going fine. But it's fall 2019 when we notice that her grades start slipping.

[Psychiatrist / Mental Health Expert]

Sydney went from a 3.8 grade point average down to academic probation within two semesters. So something was clearly wrong with Sydney.

[Prosecutor]

There's conversations with deans, and eventually she winds up being disenrolled as a student. In that spring 2020 semester, Sydney went

[Psychiatrist / Mental Health Expert]

home for Christmas break, and she just couldn't tell her parents that she had been expelled or suspended from school.

[Narrator]

Sydney's college friends tell investigators she came back from the break acting like nothing was wrong.

[Lead Investigator]

She even went back for the spring semester in January of 2020 and continued to even try to convince her friends and her roommates that she was still a student, when, in fact, she wasn't.

[Sydney's Friend / Teammate]

She was still going to classes even though she wasn't in them. She was trying to figure out ways of getting in the dorm building.

[Lead Investigator]

We talked to Sydney's roommate and best friend. She would see her leave with a book bag. They went to social events together like there were everybody else in Sydney's life. She had no idea that. That he was no longer a student. Did you notice any, you know, change in her mood? Was she talking about anything or when

[Sydney's Friend]

we were just talking or with our friends, she always seemed happy. I couldn't tell until the end where she was kind of just, like, struggling, and she kind of was sad. I could tell she was getting more upset and more sad. And I told her, if you need anything, I'm just. But she never really opened up.

[Psychiatrist / Mental Health Expert]

Sydney was really trying to keep up this facade that everything in her world was okay when it was all completely crumbling.

[Prosecutor]

Mount Union's a small campus. The deans are obviously aware of what's going on with Sydney and find out she's still trying to stay on campus and pretend to be a student. And they pretty much make it clear to her she can't keep doing that.

[Narrator]

Sydney's friends say she moved out of her dorm a week before the murder.

[Lead Investigator]

Through examination of her phone, computer, we knew that she was doing Google searches from various hotels and that she had not been home.

[Prosecutor]

The school has made it pretty clear she's not allowed to stay on campus anymore. But she also knows she can't go home without letting her parents know what's been going on. So she doesn't want to choose that either. She's running out of money. She's running out of options.

[Narrator]

Coming up, was this a crime of passion or a murder? Mental health crisis.

[Family Friend]

There was no leading indicators that it would be that type of diagnosis, and

[Narrator]

a divisive trial ensues.

[Defense Attorney]

I did not meet a family member that wanted a murder conviction, that wanted a life sentence for Sydney, not one.

[Narrator]

Sidney Powell's murder trial is set to begin in February 2022, two years after the brutal attack on her mother, Brenda Powell. Just before the court date arrives, prosecutors discover how she intends to plead.

[Psychiatrist / Mental Health Expert]

Our defense laws. She was insane at the time, and that prevented her from knowing the wrongfulness of her conduct. One of the different things about not guilty by reason of insanity is the defense has the burden to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the person is suffering from a severe mental disease or defect. She was being held involuntarily at the psychiatric unit during that stay. They finally diagnosed her with schizophrenia. This is the age when these serious mental diseases start to manifest. Late teens, early 20s for females.

[Family Friend]

It was very surprising to hear that that is what the diagnosis was, because there was no leading indicators that would be that type of diagnoses.

[Psychiatrist / Mental Health Expert]

The doctors started treating her immediately with antipsychotropic drugs, and she stabilized to the point where she could be released from a psychiatric hospital.

[Narrator]

Sydney is released on bond to her family while she awaits trial.

[Family Friend]

My job was now to make sure she is now going to be taken care of. I took her down to Brenda's mom's. They have a farm down in eastern Ohio. She would always be really good with the horses and the dogs out there. You know, outwardly, she was, you know, getting better.

[Narrator]

Sydney's lawyers had three doctors evaluate her, and they all had the same conclusion.

[Psychiatrist / Mental Health Expert]

What all three of these doctors said is she was experiencing long periods of lucid thoughts, but they were interrupted by serious and significant psychotic episodes. That first serious psychotic break occurred with her and Brenda. Unfortunately, the day that Brenda was killed. I mean, it just doesn't make sense that the reason she killed her mom was because she got kicked out of school. Killing Brenda doesn't solve that problem. That kind of attack, that kind of brutality is completely out of character for Sidney. And it screams insanity. When we watch Sidney on the body cam when police first arrive, she's completely disassociated.

[Officer Legacy]

Where's your mom at?

[Sydney Powell]

No, no. There's so much blood. No, please.

[Psychiatrist / Mental Health Expert]

She had no recollection of any violence with her and her mother. But she's coming to and she's seeing this horrific crime scene and she's trying to make sense of what's going on. Each and every doctor that saw that video, saw that footage, said, that's a catatonic state.

[Paramedic]

Sydney, what's going on?

[Narrator]

Brenda's family tells prosecutors they also don't think Sydney should be held responsible for her actions. And they ask that she be declared unfair, fit for trial.

[Family Friend]

I'm very supportive. Her grandparents are very supportive. Her brother's supportive. The goal for the whole family and for Sydney is just to get her better, and we want her back.

[Family Advocate]

Nobody close to Brenda or Steve or Sydney was wishing to pursue this criminally.

[Defense Attorney]

We weren't asking them to let her go scot free. Free or without any of the analysis by the doctors. We wanted them to look at seriously and consider those three separate medical opinions showing that she was not guilty by reason of insanity. It's all we wanted.

[Narrator]

The state ultimately decides to continue in pursuit of a trial.

[Prosecutor]

The standard in Ohio is that not only does a person have some kind of mental disease going on at the time, but it's because of that mental disease that they couldn't appreciate the wrongfulness of their actions. While she may have had some mental health issues at the time, her actions around the crime are clearly consistent with someone who knew exactly what they were doing and then tried to cover it up. Sydney never stops the COVID up. You know, even in the seconds afterwards when the dean calls back and she's able to talk to him, she is still saying, no, no, I'm Brenda. She pretends to be her.

[Lead Investigator]

So I'm not a psychiatrist. I don't have a medical degree. I can only look at the evidence that we have. When she called her dad, she had just brutally killed her mother. But she was still, to me, thinking, okay, I need to do something to make the police think that I didn't do this, to make them think that there's an intruder.

[Narrator]

In preparation for the trial, prosecutors hire their own expert to evaluate Sydney.

[Prosecutor]

Dr. Abradovich takes a look at the case file, interviews the defendant, gets her hands on as Much information as possible, and ultimately comes to the conclusion that Sydney is competent to stand trial and that she was sane at the time of the crime.

[Narrator]

The psychologist interprets Sidney's behavior not as evidence of insanity, but as a trauma response caused by witnessing her own brutal actions.

[Psychiatrist / Mental Health Expert]

Sydney was also diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder As a result of what she had done to her mom and all the after effects.

[Narrator]

Prosecutors seek a trial date, but it's delayed by the COVID pandemic.

[Psychiatrist / Mental Health Expert]

Sydney was out on bond for about three and a half years before the case went to trial.

[Defense Attorney]

She actually thrived while out on bond. She helped out with the horses on the farm, and it was helpful to her. Pursuant to the doctors, she improved.

[Family Friend]

I understood what they were charging her with. I understood what happened. I understood everything. But still, in my heart of hearts, I'm still thinking, this is not. This is not happening. This is not what. Nobody wanted it.

[Family Advocate]

There were multiple attempts to come to a resolution to the trial prior to. So the family wouldn't have to go back through this. I was disappointed that this didn't happen in this case. It seemed to me prosecutors were interested in one thing, one thing only, which was a guilty verdict.

[Narrator]

After multiple postponements, Sidney Powell's murder trial begins on September 7, 2020, nearly four years after the death of her mother.

[Prosecutor]

Our heart goes out to the family in this case. I know that they had different wishes, and I do respect that. But ultimately, we have to do our job and prosecute a crime.

[Lead Investigator]

What the whole trial centered upon was, did she know what she was doing, or was it under the influence of some type of mental disability?

[Prosecutor]

What you have is a battle of the experts.

[Psychiatrist / Mental Health Expert]

It was really all or nothing. And what I mean by that is it was either guilty of murder or not guilty by reason of insanity.

[Narrator]

The trial is broadcast on television and streamed online.

[Sydney's Teammate]

Watching the trial was hard. I think myself, along with everyone else who tuned in, just wanted to know why. Why did she do the gruesome things that she did to her mom, who was her best friend, you know, confidant, or someone that, you know, really loved and supported her?

[Sydney's Friend / Teammate]

You just look into her eyes like, that's not her. She's not there. Seeing the body cam footage was, I think, harder than I thought it was going to be.

[Sydney Powell]

Hearing her yell, is she going to be okay?

[Sydney's Friend / Teammate]

The Sidney Powell I knew wouldn't ever do something like that.

[Psychiatrist / Mental Health Expert]

Sydney, we think the evidence showed clearly and conclusively that what's going on. Sydney was in the midst of a horrific, psychotic, violent break. And did not know the wrongfulness of her conduct.

[Narrator]

After two weeks of hearing the evidence, the case rests in the hands of the jury.

[Psychiatrist / Mental Health Expert]

Unfortunately, they came back and said, murder.

[Prosecutor]

They do not buy that she was insane at the time.

[Psychiatrist / Mental Health Expert]

In the state of Ohio, there's only one sentence for murder, and that is life in prison with the possibility of parole after 15 years. So the judge imposed that sentence. Although we were prepared for, as best you can, a guilty verdict, it was still soul crushing.

[Family Friend]

We understand that this was not Sydney. This was a very small little snippet in time that something went horribly wrong.

[Lead Investigator]

To the investigators and the prosecutors, it wasn't from mental illness. It was just from a problem that had built up and finally came to a head. When the truth came out that split

[Prosecutor]

second, when she realized that her lie was going to be uncovered, she snapped.

[Sydney's Friend / Teammate]

Within that state that she was in, she had more power than she realized. Deep down, I feel like she wasn't intentionally trying to kill her mom.

[Narrator]

Even after her conviction, Sydney's loved ones are pursuing an appeal.

[Family Friend]

I think she knows, and if she doesn't, we tell her that, you know, we still love her. Brenda would want us to continue to fight. I have that sense of feeling that she is right there with us, leading this charge to help Sydney. A lot of people told me how much Brenda touched, you know, maybe not even their lives, but their cousin or anybody. She just could do that.

[Psychiatrist / Mental Health Expert]

I've spent a lot of time with Sydney, and Sydney, more than anyone on the planet, is trying to search for some answer. And, you know, she is also incredibly remorseful and grieving. The loss of her mom, the loss of her best friend.

[Lead Investigator]

I really feel for the Powell family. It's tragic. I feel for Steve having to lose his wife in this manner and then essentially lose his daughter. I can't imagine what they're going through. It's just tragic.

[Family Friend]

After Brenda's passing, we tried to figure out a way to keep her memory alive, and they actually came up with a Brenda cap House scholarship. That's at Akron Children's Hospital. It gives financial reward for kids that have gone through cancer and are going on to higher education. Brenda loved working with the kids at the hospital. That's just the way Brenda was. She was like the mother to. To them all. She was just a sweet soul.