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How Does Rex Heuermann's Guilty Plea Accelerate Civil Liability For His Family?

33 min · 7. juli 2026
episode How Does Rex Heuermann's Guilty Plea Accelerate Civil Liability For His Family? cover

Description

A guilty plea to seven counts of murder, with an admission to an eighth, establishes the underlying facts for purposes of civil litigation. This look back, with defense attorney and former prosecutor Eric Faddis, examines the wrongful death lawsuit filed in the wake of Rex Heuermann's plea and what it means for his family's legal exposure. The suit, filed by the son of victim Valerie Mack, names Asa Ellerup and their daughter Victoria Heuermann as defendants, alleging the family profited from a documentary and demonstrated disregard for the victims. Counsel for Ellerup has characterized the claims as reckless. Faddis analyzes the legal theory — what a wrongful death action requires, how the guilty plea alters the evidentiary landscape in civil proceedings, and where the line falls between proximity to a convicted offender and actionable legal liability. He addresses whether the allegations as currently framed are likely to survive initial legal challenges. The segment also examines the plea agreement itself. Heuermann's attorney described the guilty plea as a "sense of relief" for his client — language that behavioral analysts read very differently than the general public might. Retired FBI Behavioral Analysis Chief Robin Dreeke assesses what that framing reveals about the defendant's psychological relationship to his crimes, and what the FBI cooperation requirement — part of the plea agreement — is designed to produce. Heuermann confirmed strangulation as the cause of death for each victim and is expected to be sentenced to three consecutive life terms plus an additional hundred years. We revisit where the matter stood at the time of our reporting. Join Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/ [https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/] Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8-vxmbhTxxG10sO1izODJg?sub_confirmation=1 [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8-vxmbhTxxG10sO1izODJg?sub_confirmation=1] Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/ [https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/] Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/ [https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/] Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod [https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod] X Twitter https://x.com/TrueCrimePod [https://x.com/TrueCrimePod] This publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice. #RexHeuermann #GilgoBeachKiller #LISK #WrongfulDeath #AsaEllerup #EricFaddis #RobinDreeke #CivilLiability #TrueCrime #HiddenKillers

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13665 episodes

episode Nolan Wells' Grand Jury Is Waiting On THIS artwork

Nolan Wells' Grand Jury Is Waiting On THIS

Everything in the Nolan Wells case is now stacked behind a grand jury, and that grand jury is waiting on findings nobody has released. Two examinations exist. One from the Mississippi State Medical Examiner's Office, one arranged by the family's attorneys, who sent the eighteen-year-old's body to Washington, D.C. Neither has been made public. Cause and manner of death remain undetermined. Tony Brueski takes the mailbag on the back half of this case — the procedural half, which the audience has turned into something more personal than procedure. The questions go straight at what a grand jury can do with a death that has never been formally classified. Whether leaving somebody behind on a barrier island ten miles offshore is a crime in Mississippi or simply a thing everyone involved has to carry. What happens on the day two examinations of the same young man say two different things. Then the credibility problem: why officials said they believed Nolan drowned and didn't suspect foul play before a completed autopsy existed — and why that same office has since emphasized that investigators are working diligently to determine exactly what occurred. Attorney Ben Crump has said Nolan's friends took his phone with them when they left Horn Island and that messages had been deleted by the time the family got it back. Crump's team and Jackson County investigators agreed to inspect the phone together. District Attorney Angel Myers McIlrath has told the family the case goes to a grand jury once the investigation is complete. Until then, a family in Ocean Springs is waiting on paperwork. END_LINKS: Join Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/ [https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/] Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8-vxmbhTxxG10sO1izODJg?sub_confirmation=1 [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8-vxmbhTxxG10sO1izODJg?sub_confirmation=1] Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/ [https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/] Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/ [https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/] Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod [https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod] X Twitter https://x.com/TrueCrimePod [https://x.com/TrueCrimePod] Disclaimer: This publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice. Hashtags: #NolanWells #BenCrump #TrueCrimeToday #JusticeForNolan #JacksonCountyMS #MississippiNews #GrandJury #TrueCrime #TrueCrimePodcast #IndependentAutopsy

21. juli 202620 min
episode Why Nolan Wells' Ride Home Left Without Him artwork

Why Nolan Wells' Ride Home Left Without Him

An eighteen-year-old college athlete named Nolan Wells took a boat to Horn Island on the Fourth of July with friends from Ocean Springs, Mississippi. Every one of those friends made it back to the mainland. He was found in the water off the island two mornings later by a National Park Service ranger. The mail on this case has almost nothing to do with the forensic questions dominating national coverage. It's about a decision. Somebody started an engine. Somebody untied a line. Somebody looked at an empty seat and went home anyway. Tony Brueski reads those messages and works through what makes them so hard to shake — starting with what Horn Island actually is. Not a resort island. Not a town. An undeveloped barrier island roughly ten miles offshore with no shelter, no fresh water, and no dependable way to reach anybody. Beautiful in daylight. Completely unforgiving after dark. The questions in this mailbag come down to what the friends have said and what they've avoided saying. Whether anyone thought he was on a different boat, and whether anyone checked. How a person survives a night out there with nothing. Per the Jackson County Sheriff's Office, a friend contacted the Coast Guard late that night and Nolan's mother, Christine Wonsley, contacted the sheriff's office shortly afterward. Officials have said they believe he drowned and do not suspect foul play, while also saying the work of determining exactly what happened continues. Cause and manner of death have not been released. Ben Crump is investigating independently for the family. The district attorney has said a grand jury will see it. Everything in this case starts on that island. END_LINKS: Join Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/ [https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/] Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8-vxmbhTxxG10sO1izODJg?sub_confirmation=1 [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8-vxmbhTxxG10sO1izODJg?sub_confirmation=1] Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/ [https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/] Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/ [https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/] Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod [https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod] X Twitter https://x.com/TrueCrimePod [https://x.com/TrueCrimePod] Disclaimer: This publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice. Hashtags: #NolanWells #BenCrump #TrueCrimeToday #HornIsland #OceanSprings #MississippiNews #JusticeForNolan #TrueCrime #TrueCrimePodcast #GulfCoast

21. juli 202626 min
episode Was Nolan Wells's Death Really an Accident?! artwork

Was Nolan Wells's Death Really an Accident?!

Was Nolan Wells's death a terrible accident, or did something happen on that island that nobody wants to say out loud? The honest answer is that no one can tell you yet — and that uncertainty is exactly why this case deserves more care than the internet is giving it. Nolan Wells, 18, of Ocean Springs, Mississippi, went out to a barrier island with friends and didn't come back. His body was recovered from the water two days later. The sheriff's early framing was that he chose to stay behind. The autopsy is finished but sealed. And in the absence of facts, two camps have hardened — one convinced of foul play, one convinced everyone should let it go. Neither has the evidence to be that certain. This breakdown steps back from the shouting. It examines why Nolan ended up alone out there, why the emergency response lagged, and why Mississippi's own past — the kind that includes Emmett Till and Medgar Evers — makes it reasonable for people to demand a real investigation instead of a quick official reassurance. It also insists on the other half: that a demand for scrutiny can't curdle into convicting people no one has met, and that a tragic accident, if that's what this turns out to be, deserves the same respect as any other truth. The Wells family isn't asking for a verdict. They're asking for answers. This is a look at why those answers can only come from evidence — the autopsy, the toxicology, the video, the witnesses — and never from whichever side yells the loudest. END_LINKS: Join Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/ [https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/] Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8-vxmbhTxxG10sO1izODJg?sub_confirmation=1 [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8-vxmbhTxxG10sO1izODJg?sub_confirmation=1] Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/ [https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/] Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/ [https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/] Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod [https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod] X Twitter https://x.com/TrueCrimePod [https://x.com/TrueCrimePod] DISCLAIMER: This publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice. HASHTAGS:  #NolanWells #HornIsland #TrueCrimeToday #OceanSprings #Mississippi #BenCrump #TrueCrime #TrueCrimeCommunity #Unsolved #JusticeForNolan

21. juli 202619 min
episode Why Coffindaffer Is Alarmed About Clancy, Nolan Wells, and the Siders artwork

Why Coffindaffer Is Alarmed About Clancy, Nolan Wells, and the Siders

Three cases dominating the national conversation. Three investigations where the questions outnumber the answers. And one retired FBI Special Agent who isn't bound by any gag order, any jurisdiction dispute, or any institutional concern. Jennifer Coffindaffer joins Tony Brueski and Robin Dreeke for an extended discussion covering the Lindsay Clancy murder trial, the Nolan Wells investigation, and the Siders family case. On Clancy: the prosecution says she mapped her husband's errand. The defense says nine medications caused psychosis she couldn't control. The judge blocked other mothers from testifying and refused to split the trial. Jury selection is four days out. On Nolan Wells: friends left him on Horn Island without a phone or water. His body was found two days later. The friends' stories conflict. His Snapchat was allegedly erased. The FBI is analyzing digital evidence. Ben Crump's team says the case goes to a grand jury. On the Siders: sixteen children found in a twelve-by-twelve room in Ohio. Some nonverbal. DNA testing is underway after the AG labeled it "intrafamily." One defendant's attorney secured a gag order covering every official in the case. Elizabeth Siders was thirteen when her first child was born. Coffindaffer addresses each case from a federal investigative standpoint — what the evidence actually proves, where the gaps are, and who is being protected by the silence. This is the full conversation covering every segment in one discussion. Three cases. Zero easy answers. One agent who has spent a career finding them anyway. Join Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/ [https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/] Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8-vxmbhTxxG10sO1izODJg?sub_confirmation=1 [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8-vxmbhTxxG10sO1izODJg?sub_confirmation=1] Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/ [https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/] Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/ [https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/] Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod [https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod] X Twitter https://x.com/TrueCrimePod [https://x.com/TrueCrimePod] This publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice. #LindsayClancy #NolanWells #SidersFamily #JenniferCoffindaffer #HiddenKillers #FBI #TrueCrime #16Kids #MurderTrial #Justice

21. juli 202659 min
episode Did Lindsay Clancy's Doctors Cause Her Children's Deaths? artwork

Did Lindsay Clancy's Doctors Cause Her Children's Deaths?

Lindsay Clancy told her doctors she was having thoughts of harming her children. They prescribed more medication. Her husband begged them to stop. They increased the dosage. Three children are dead, and the only person sitting at a defendant’s table is the mother who tried to get help. Clancy faces three counts of first-degree murder for the January 2023 deaths of five-year-old Cora, three-year-old Dawson, and eight-month-old Callan in Duxbury, Massachusetts. She is pleading not guilty by reason of insanity, arguing she was experiencing postpartum psychosis driven by command hallucinations and a catastrophic failure of medical care. According to two civil lawsuits — one filed by Lindsay, one by her husband Patrick — Lindsay was prescribed at least ten psychiatric medications in four months by providers who never coordinated her treatment or arrived at a correct diagnosis. She was a labor and delivery nurse at Massachusetts General Hospital who understood something was wrong and fought to get help. She voluntarily hospitalized herself three times. She called a crisis hotline and was turned away because she didn’t have a specific plan. Patrick Clancy, the father of all three children, filed a wrongful death suit against her healthcare providers. He is testifying for the defense at her murder trial. He has publicly blamed the medical system — not his wife — for what happened. The prosecution argues Lindsay was lucid and planned the killings. Their key evidence of her mental state: a hospital assessment that ruled out bipolar disorder. Two lawsuits and a forensic psychiatric evaluation allege that assessment was wrong. The diagnosis she needed — Bipolar Disorder I with psychosis and postpartum onset — came after her children were already gone. Jury selection begins July 20 in Plymouth Superior Court. Join Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/ [https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/] Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8-vxmbhTxxG10sO1izODJg?sub_confirmation=1 [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8-vxmbhTxxG10sO1izODJg?sub_confirmation=1] Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/ [https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/] Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/ [https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/] Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod [https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod] X Twitter https://x.com/TrueCrimePod [https://x.com/TrueCrimePod] This publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice. #LindsayClancy #PatrickClancy #TrueCrimeToday #PostpartumPsychosis #InsanityDefense #DuxburyMassachusetts #MentalHealth #TrueCrime #PostpartumDepression #CriminalJustice

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