Episode 9: Bonus Episode - Research Chemicals

Summary

The Peacemaker

Episode 9: Bonus Episode – Research Chemicals

Release Date: January 6, 2026
Hosts: Ben Westhoff & Ryan Krull
Podcast: iHeartPodcasts

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Overview

This bonus episode follows the conclusion of the main "Peacemaker" series, which investigates the tragic suicide cluster at Truman State University's Alpha Kappa Lambda fraternity. With the trial of Brandon Grossheim still pending, hosts Ben Westhoff and Ryan Krull use this episode to revisit theories, correct previous reporting, and respond to feedback from listeners, including those directly connected to the case. The primary focus centers on new insights from a confidential source about fraternities, drugs—particularly research chemicals—and deeper scrutiny of the evidence surrounding key deaths.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Listener Feedback from a Truman State Insider

[02:19 – 09:52]

• Introduction of Source:
  Ben spoke to an unnamed former Truman State sorority member who knew several involved in the case well—including victims and Brandon Grossheim. Her decision to remain anonymous was out of respect for victims’ families.

• Perceptions of Brandon’s Behavior

  • On Dating Victims’ Ex-Girlfriends:
    The insider dismissed this as not unusual for a small college campus.

    “More likely than not, you know, everyone kind of ended up sleeping with everyone at some point.”
    — (Listener, relayed by Ben, [03:39])

  • On Wearing Victim’s Clothes:
    She also minimized this, noting the fraternity’s culture of clothing exchange and donations by victims’ families.

    “Jake gave away a lot of his clothes. In general, I had clothes of Jake’s... So it’s not super crazy to me that Brandon would have Jake’s clothes.”
    — (Listener, relayed by Ben, [04:51])

• Drug Culture as a Common Denominator

  • She believed the link between Brandon and the victims centered on intense drug use, especially "research chemicals," i.e., synthetic designer drugs.

    “Of all of the fraternities, AKLs were the heaviest of the drug using fraternities, and they were doing drugs that weren’t weed. You know, a lot of psychedelics, but also lab-created research chemicals.”
    — (Listener, relayed by Ben, [05:59])

  • Ben, citing his book "Fentanyl Inc.," explains “research chemicals” are potent, little-studied drugs imported from abroad, often with unpredictable and dangerous effects.
  • The source suspects these drugs contributed significantly to the deaths:

    “I really feel strongly that Brandon, you know, he was doing those drugs with those kids. But I think that really is the link, is that they were all doing the same kinds of drugs, the same batches of drugs. And, you know, sometimes you get a bad batch of something and it can mess your brain chemistry up.”
    — (Listener, relayed by Ben, [07:46])

• Clarifications and Limitations

  • The source is clear she cannot prove which drugs were used, nor does she accuse Brandon of supplying them.
  • She also speculates that if Brandon took drugs from Jake Hughes' safe after his death, this may have been to spare Jake’s reputation with police or parents—not maliciously.

• Host Analysis:
  Ben concludes that, given the victim’s psychiatric prescriptions, recent breakups, and the impact of strong psychedelics, the confluence of these drugs could have created a perfect—and fatal—storm for vulnerable individuals.

  “If you throw in some powerful, unpredictable psychedelics on top of that, it could put them all in an even worse frame of mind.”
  — Ben Westhoff, [09:03]

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2. Correction on the "Werther Effect"

[11:19 – 13:21]

• Listener/Expert Correction:
  Ryan reports that a listener, historian Minsu Kang, pointed out a factual error: contrary to common belief, Goethe’s novel The Sorrows of Young Werther did not actually cause a wave of suicides in Europe.

  “It’s actually a myth that has been debunked... After its publication, there was a news article about a girl who was found dead with the Young Werther book under her pillow. And… the pearl clutching class seized on it and basically made up this rumor.”
  — Ryan Krull, [12:12]

• Key Takeaway:
  While the so-called "Werther Effect" (i.e., the idea that widely publicized suicides inspire more suicides) is real and recognized, its attribution to Goethe’s novel is not historically accurate.

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3. Revisiting the Death of Glenna Haut

[13:32 – 18:46]

• Anna Scott’s Analysis:
  Anna Scott, a journalist and nursing graduate student, reviewed the medical documents regarding Glenna Haut—the only non-suicide death in the cluster.

  • Medical Perspective:
    Glenna died from an abdominal hemorrhage due to severe liver damage, amplified by acute alcohol toxicity:

    “She tore a blood vessel in her abdomen, and then because her liver was not able to clot blood anymore, she essentially bled out inside her own body... Her death really sounds absolutely excruciating and incredibly tragic.”
    — Anna Scott, [15:04]

  • Inconsistencies in Brandon’s Account:
    Anna (and the hosts) find Brandon Grossheim’s claim—of having a seemingly normal and coherent interaction with Glenna shortly before her death—dubious, given the probable state of her health.

    “It’s very hard to believe that if this conversation actually occurred relatively close to her passing away, that she would have been in any kind of coherent state and would have been able to tell him, ‘Oh, I’m fine,’ and nothing would seem amiss and he would just leave. That just doesn’t seem to jive with any of the evidence.”
    — Anna Scott, [16:26]

  • Speculation on Brandon’s Motives:
    Anna suggests—without direct evidence—that perhaps Brandon fabricated his story, not to cover up a crime but to maintain his self-appointed role as a “central character” or witness.

    “He is somebody that has inserted himself into death investigations in the past, as the podcast has covered... Maybe, maybe for some reason he had a compulsion to do the same in this situation and just invented the encounter for attention...”
    — Anna Scott, [16:26]

  • Host Reflections:
    Ben remains hesitant, noting the specificity of Brandon’s account, but concedes much about Brandon’s behavior (and the case generally) remains inexplicable.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On AKL's Culture:
  “Of all of the fraternities, AKLs were the heaviest of the drug using fraternities, and they were doing drugs that weren’t weed. You know, a lot of psychedelics, but also lab created research chemicals.”
  — Listener (via Ben), [05:59]

• On Research Chemicals:
  “These drugs are made in China and sold on the dark web. They’re branded as research chemicals to avoid scrutiny with customs... But really they’re just drugs. And more specifically, they're designer drugs, brand new concoctions...”
  — Ben Westhoff, [06:37]

• On Misconceptions about Werther:
  “It’s actually a myth that has been debunked... the pearl clutching class seized on it and basically made up this rumor that the book caused a bunch of suicides and thus a myth was born.”
  — Ryan Krull, [12:12]

• On Speculation Surrounding Brandon
  “He is somebody that has inserted himself into death investigations in the past, as the podcast has covered... Maybe... he just invented the encounter for attention or some other reason that, you know, some other psychological reason.”
  — Anna Scott, [16:26]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• [02:19] Listener account from former Truman State student
• [03:39] Defense of Brandon’s dating and clothing behaviors
• [05:59] Insight into AKL’s drug culture and “research chemicals”
• [07:46] Speculation on the role of drugs in the suicides
• [09:03] Hosts analyze intersecting risk factors (drugs, prescriptions, breakups)
• [11:19] Correction—Myth of Werther suicides
• [13:32] Anna Scott’s review of Glenna Haut’s medical report
• [15:04] Description of Glenna’s cause of death
• [16:26] Anna Scott speculates on Brandon’s possible fabrication of events

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Conclusion

This bonus episode of The Peacemaker responds directly to community feedback and incorporates new perspectives, many from those who witnessed the events or have expertise in relevant fields. Major revelations include a reframing of Brandon Grossheim’s behavior (from “creepy” to possibly culturally typical for Truman State), a powerful theory that experimental drugs might have played a more significant role in the deaths than previously understood, a correction of a widely believed literary myth, and professional speculation challenging elements of Grossheim's account of events. The episode remains measured, noting a lack of definite proof, but doubt and ambiguity continue to haunt the case. The hosts invite further listener feedback as the trial approaches.

Transcript

[Ryan Kroll]

This is an iHeart podcast.

[Ben Westoff]

Guaranteed Human.

[Evan Ratliff]

Hi, Kyle. Could you draw up a quick document with a basic business plan, just one page as a Google Doc and send me the link. Thanks.

[Ben Westoff]

Hey, just finished drawing up that quick one page business plan for you. Here's the link.

[Evan Ratliff]

But there was no link. There was no business plan. I hadn't programmed Kyle to be able to do that yet. I'm Evan Ratliff here with the story of entrepreneurship in the AI age. Listen as I attempt to build a real startup run by fake people. Check out the second season of my podcast shell game on iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Ryan Kroll]

Welcome to this bonus episode of the Peacemaker. I'm Ryan Kroll, a producer on the series. Thanks for listening to the show.

[Ben Westoff]

And I'm Ben Westoff. Usually I take the lead when it comes to hosting, but today we're doing something a little different.

[Ryan Kroll]

Yeah. Now that the main part of the series is finished, we're awaiting the trial of Brandon Grossheim, which should happen sometime this year. In the meantime, we're going to discuss some of the feedback we've gotten from our reporting so far. We've heard from many listeners, including people who were at Truman State at the time of the suicide cluster. Ben had a lot of conversation with these folks and he's going to tell us today what he heard.

[Ben Westoff]

Some of those people that I talked to knew the main characters in our story really well, and they had a lot of insight, so we're going to dive into that. This will be a short episode, but I think it has a lot of interesting stories.

[Ryan Kroll]

All that and more coming up on this bonus episode of the Peacemaker.

[Ben Westoff]

This podcast series tells the story of the most infamous suicide cluster in American history. It's a production of iHeart podcasts and Coolfire Studios. I'm your host Ben Westoff, along with Ryan Kroll. This is the Peacemaker.

[Ryan Kroll]

Before we get started, just one quick note. We would love to hear from you whether you were a Truman State student at the time of the suicide cluster and you want to share your experiences, or if you're just a listener who has general thoughts about the show, you can email [e-mail] so anyway, Ben, to kick this off, it sounds like you spoke to someone specifically who had a really interesting connection to this case.

[Ben Westoff]

Yeah, she was a student at Truman State at the time all of this was going down. She was in a sorority there and knew some of the characters in this story very well, particularly the guys from Alpha Kappa Lambda. She didn't want her name used for fear of upsetting parents of victims, some of whom she is close with. But I have confirmed that she is who she says she is. And I think she has some really useful insights and even some theories that have kind of altered the way I think about this case.

[Ryan Kroll]

Oh, whoa. Well, let's get right into it. What were her thoughts about Brandon Grossheim? Did she think he was guilty about causing these suicides?

[Ben Westoff]

You know, it's interesting. She actually gives him a pass when it comes to some of his actions that some people found suspicious, but certainly not everything.

[Ryan Kroll]

Well, what did she let him off the hook on?

[Ben Westoff]

The first thing is about Brandon's various love interests. In episode three, you'll remember, we discussed how Brandon dated some of the suicide victims girlfriends. You know, to me and to many other people, really, that sounded strange. But this source I was talking to who went to Truman State during this time, she actually doesn't think it was that strange. Here's us talking about it. Did you ever know about any of that?

So, yes, but I also don't know how unusual it would have been just because of the culture in general at Truman and kind of the girls that dated AKLs and stuff like that. I think more likely than not, you know, everyone kind of ended up sleeping with everyone at some point.

[Ryan Kroll]

Oh, interesting.

[Ben Westoff]

Yeah, a lot of people we talked to found it creepy, you know, Brandon dating the ex girlfriends of suicide victims. But she defends him, saying it was a small dating pool.

[Ryan Kroll]

I guess I can understand it would be like that at a small college. And then there was another thing that Brandon did that some people thought was weird too. Right? How he started wearing some of the victim's clothes.

[Ben Westoff]

Yeah, exactly. Following the suicide of victim number two, Jake Hughes, Brandon began wearing some of his clothes, including his popsicle print shirt, a pair of shoes, and some of Jake's silver and gold chains. As you said, many people thought that was strange and that it spoke to kind of a weird obsession with death. But again, the woman I spoke with did not think it was weird.

Oh, I would also mention Jake gave away a lot of his clothes. In general, I had clothes of Jake's. I think I still probably had clothes from Jake. So it's not super crazy to me that Brandon would have Jake's clothes.

This also jibes with our reporting because as we mentioned, Jake's parents actually donated his old clothes to the fraternity after he died. So Brandon wasn't the only one who had his things.

[Ryan Kroll]

Okay, yeah, that makes sense. So basically, Your source let him off the hook when it comes to his girlfriends and wearing Jake's clothes. But then you're saying there's some things that she kind of blamed him for, right?

[Ben Westoff]

Yeah, that's right. According to her, what tied a lot of the victims to Brandon Grosseim was drugs.

[Ryan Kroll]

But yeah, we knew that. Right. We knew Brandon smoked weed and drank alcohol with some of the victims and that even tripped acid with some of them, too.

[Ben Westoff]

Right. But according to this source, it goes deeper than that. And this is where it gets really interesting, because according to her, drugs were a major part of akl's identity.

Of all of the fraternities, akls were the heaviest of the drug using fraternities, and they were doing drugs that weren't weed. You know, a lot of psychedelics, but also lab created research chemicals.

So now we're talking about drugs that go beyond just the weed, ecstasy, and pills that a lot of fraternities are known for. What stood out to me was this term she used, research chemicals. Have you ever heard this term?

[Ryan Kroll]

No. I'm picturing something that might be cooked up on like a high school Bunsen burner or something like that in chemistry class.

[Ben Westoff]

Yeah, that's what a lot of people selling these chemicals want you to think. But really, research chemicals is just a euphemism for new synthetic drugs that get people high. I actually wrote a book, it's called Fentanyl Inc. That's largely about this topic. These drugs are made in China and sold on the dark web. They're branded as research chemicals to avoid scrutiny with customs, as if they're for like, reputable pharmaceutical labs or schools. But really they're just drugs. And more specifically, they're designer drugs, brand new concoctions that were just invented in recent years. They have odd, complicated names like AB, Fubenaka and 3MMC. And because very few people have ever tested them, they can be especially dangerous. Now, my source is saying that AKL was known for drugs like this. She doesn't know the names of the specific drugs because she said she never did any herself. But she thinks Brandon was trying research chemicals with some of the suicide victims.

I really feel strongly that Brandon, you know, he was doing those drugs with those kids. But I think that really is the link, is that they were all doing the same kinds of drugs, the same batches of drugs. And, you know, sometimes you get a bad batch of something and it can mess your brain chemistry up. And obviously I think there was multiple factors involved, but I do really think it was drug related.

Wow.

[Ryan Kroll]

That's quite an accusation. Seems like she's saying these crazy new drugs contributed to the deaths. Yeah, but we should note she doesn't have proof of this. Right, she doesn't know exactly who did what drugs and when and with exactly whom. And it also doesn't sound like she's saying Brandon supplied any of the victims with drugs.

[Ben Westoff]

That's correct on both counts. And in fact, she even defended Brandon a little bit in this realm as well. You know how Brandon was accused of stealing the drugs out of the safe of Jake Hughes, who was the second suicide victim and also a drug dealer at akl. You know about that? She believes that Brandon might have allegedly done that just to protect Jake from having his parents find out. Or the police.

[Ryan Kroll]

Okay, so what do you think is the upshot of this woman's theory? You said it changed your thinking on the case. How so?

[Ben Westoff]

Well, to me it's significant if these kids were doing these research chemicals. My source believes that some of these drugs were really powerful psychedelics. And psychedelics are known to amplify the state that you're already in. So if you're feeling great, they make you feel really great. But if you're feeling depressed, they can make you feel much more depressed, make the situation much worse. And on top of that, the suicide victims were also taking potent pharmaceuticals for which they had prescriptions. Antidepressants, antipsychotics, amphetamines. And they'd recently all had bad breakups too. So then if you throw in some powerful, unpredictable psychedelics on top of that, it could put them all in an even worse frame of mind.

[Ryan Kroll]

Okay. Yeah, thanks for that breakdown. So then let's move on. Next we'll hear from a listener who said we got something wrong.

[Ben Westoff]

Oh, no.

[Ryan Kroll]

Well, that's after the break.

[Evan Ratliff]

Hi, Kyle. Could you draw up a quick document with the basic business plan? Just one page as a Google Doc and send me the link. Thanks.

[Ben Westoff]

Hey, just finished drawing up that quick one page business plan for you. Here's the link.

[Evan Ratliff]

But there was no link. There was no business plan. It's not his fault. I hadn't programmed Kyle to be able to do that yet. My name is Evan Ratliff. I decided to create Kyle, my AI co founder after hearing a lot of stuff like this from OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.

[Ryan Kroll]

There's this betting pool for the first year that there's a one person billion.

[Evan Ratliff]

Dollar company which would have been like unimaginable without AI.

[Ryan Kroll]

And now will happen.

[Evan Ratliff]

I got to thinking, could I be that one person? I'D made AI agents before for my award winning podcast, Shell Game. This season on Shell Game, I'm trying to build a real company with a real product run by fake people.

[Ben Westoff]

Oh, hey, Evan, Good to have you join us.

[Ryan Kroll]

I found some really interesting data on.

[Ben Westoff]

Adoption rates for AI agents and small to medium businesses.

[Evan Ratliff]

Listen to Shell game on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Ben Westoff]

All right then. So what did we screw up?

[Ryan Kroll]

Well, it concerns the Johann Wolfgang von Goethe novel, the the Sorrows of young Werther from 1774, which we mentioned in the first episode of the podcast a couple of times.

[Ben Westoff]

Okay, nice. Good pronunciation, by the way.

[Ryan Kroll]

Thank you. Thank you. The book, as folks will remember, is about a young guy in love with an unattainable woman who ultimately kills himself. And this book, we said, led to a rash of suicides among European readers at the time of its publication.

[Ben Westoff]

But that isn't true. I saw it referenced, like, all over the Internet.

[Ryan Kroll]

Well, my former colleague back from when I was a college professor, the historian Minsu Kang, told me that it's actually a myth that has been debunked. And I looked into it, and it seems like Minsu is right here. It all started in the late 1700s when parents began freaking out that their kids were reading this new type of sentimental novel.

[Ben Westoff]

A sentimental novel? Okay, what's that?

[Ryan Kroll]

Yeah, I had to look it up. But it's a novel that prioritizes emotion and sensibility over logic and reason.

[Ben Westoff]

And.

[Ryan Kroll]

And parents at the time were worried it would lead to a sort of moral decay.

[Ben Westoff]

So basically, like parents not wanting their kids to be on TikTok today, maybe?

[Ryan Kroll]

Yeah, kind of like that. So parents were already primed to hate this book, the Sorrows of Young Werther, when it came out. And then after its publication, there was a news article about a girl who was found dead with the Young Werther book under her pillow. And this article implies that the book caused her to kill herself. But a lot of things are suspicious about it. For one, the article is only three sentences long and it doesn't even give the woman's full name. But nonetheless, the pearl clutching class seized on it and basically made up this rumor that the book caused a bunch of suicides and thus a myth was born.

[Ben Westoff]

Oh, wow. Crazy. But then the book still coined this phenomenon that's known as the Werther Effect.

[Ryan Kroll]

Exactly. And that's this idea that a publicized suicide begets more suicides. And it's worth pointing out that the Werther Effect is Very much real, just not in the case of the Werther book itself.

[Ben Westoff]

Okay, interesting. Well, thank you to your former colleague.

[Ryan Kroll]

Indeed, indeed. And then to the final person we'll hear from today is someone you spoke to, Ben, who had some insight on the Glenna Haut case.

[Ben Westoff]

Right, right. Her name is Anna Scott, and she's a really great journalist. She's done an investigative podcast for KCRW out in Los Angeles, and she's currently a nursing graduate student, which gives her, I think, an interesting perspective on all of this.

[Ryan Kroll]

Yeah, and I understand she even had a chance to review the medical examiner's report for Glenna Hawt.

[Ben Westoff]

That's right. I was hoping she might pick up on something that we may have missed.

[Ryan Kroll]

Okay. And just for a little background, Glenna, as listeners will remember, was the fifth death in our story. She didn't die by suicide, but rather from a ruptured liver. And then, according to her autopsy, quote, severe acute alcohol intoxication may have contributed to the death. Brandon Grosseim, though, was the last person to see her alive, and police questioned him because she was found nearly naked and he had scratches and marks on his arms.

[Ben Westoff]

So Anna looked at the medical examiner's report in autopsy, sort of from the medical perspective, and I was interested to hear from her because, you know, any insight into Glenna's death can help us understand what state she was in when she talked with Brandon. Does that make sense?

[Ryan Kroll]

It does. And because even though she'd be dead within an hour or so after talking with him, Brandon claimed she said she was fine. But to this day, Glenna's family and ex boyfriend are mad at Brandon for not calling 911. For not doing anything.

[Ben Westoff]

Yeah, exactly. So here's what Anna had to say.

[Anna Scott]

Her death really sounds absolutely excruciating and incredibly tragic. Apparently, she tore a blood vessel in her abdomen, and then because her liver was not able to clot blood anymore, she essentially bled out inside her own body. And in terms of Brandon, I. I just going to reiterate what you already said in the episode about this, which is that his story sounds odd because someone in her condition, given what was happening with her medically, probably would have become increasingly weak over a period of time.

[Ben Westoff]

So what do you make of this?

[Ryan Kroll]

Yeah, yeah. To me, this articulates something that I've thought about, and that has to do with the supposed timeline of Glenna's final hours and minutes and the fact that just doesn't totally add up. It's unclear how she could have had this coherent conversation with Brandon So close to her demise. It's not something I thought about until more recently. And it's something that police obviously at the time didn't pursue either.

[Ben Westoff]

That's right. Police don't appear to have asked him about this at all. And then along those lines, Anna also had an interesting bit of speculation. She thinks it's perhaps dubious to believe anything that Brandon said about all this.

[Anna Scott]

Okay, so here's what I'm wondering. I wonder if Brandon completely made up his anecdote about talking to Glenna shortly before she died. Because it just doesn't make a whole lot of sense. I mean, it's very hard to believe that if this conversation actually occurred relatively close to her passing away, that she would have been in any kind of coherent state and would have been able to tell him, oh, I'm fine, and nothing would seem amiss and he would just leave. That just doesn't seem to jive with any of the evidence. And then. But it also doesn't really seem like there is strong evidence that something else occurred, that there was some kind of confrontation between them or something that he would be trying to cover up. I mean, of course that's possible, but that also just seems a little far fetched based on what we know. And he is somebody that has inserted himself into deaf investigations in the past, as the podcast has covered, who's been in the middle of these kinds of situations a lot. And maybe, maybe for some reason he had a compulsion to do the same in this situation and just invented the encounter for attention or some other reason that, you know, some other psychological reason. Obviously I'm completely speculating, but nothing else really makes a lot of sense to me either.

[Ryan Kroll]

Yeah, a lot about his response to the situation doesn't really add up.

[Ben Westoff]

Yeah, I agree, but still, it's difficult for me to believe that Brandon just conceived an entire elaborate lie while talking to the police. I mean, he went into such great detail about getting home, doing his laundry, watching Brooklyn Nine nine. He said he heard this loud thump, and then he went over to the apartment and had this whole conversation with her. What Anna's saying makes some sense, but still, it's hard to believe that he could have just made up that entire conversation right there on the spot while he was talking to police. But, you know, then again, there's a lot of other things in this story that don't make sense to me either. So who knows?

[Ryan Kroll]

All right, well, that's about it for this short episode, but a reminder, you can feel free to reach out to us at peacemaker. The podcastmail.com and then maybe we'll do another one of these bonus episodes at some point before the trial.

[Ben Westoff]

Great. Well, thank you, Ryan, and good job.

[Ryan Kroll]

Oh, thanks, Ben. We'll talk to you guys soon.

[Ben Westoff]

The Peacemaker is a production of Cool Fire Studios and iHeart Podcasts. It's hosted by me, Ben Westoff, and Ryan Krull. Our executive producers are Jeff Keane, David Johnson, and Steve Lubert. Music and audio engineering by Brent Johnson. Executive producers for iHeart podcasts are Katrina Norvell and Nikki Etor. If you or someone you know is having suicidal thoughts, there are resources available to you. Please call the suicide and crisis lifeline 988.

[Anna Scott]

This is an iHeart podcast.

[Ben Westoff]

Guaranteed Human.