11 Felonies, No Prison: Inside the Jesse Butler Youthful Offender Scandal

In the murder-for-hire case of Florida State law professor Dan Markel, one name still divides the public — Wendi Adelson. She was his ex-wife. The mother of his children. The woman whose family — Donna and Charlie Adelson — now sit behind bars for orchestrating his killing. And yet, Wendi remains free. In this episode, Tony Brueski breaks down the exact words Wendi spoke under oath and what her immunity deal really protects her from. This isn’t speculation — it’s straight from the courtroom. Wendi testified that her mother called her life in Tallahassee a “hostage situation.”  She admitted that Donna floated a $1 million bribe to get Markel to agree to a relocation. She confirmed her brother Charlie’s “TV vs. hitman” joke, acknowledged that “someone did hire a hitman,” but denied knowing anything about it. She denied giving information, denied involvement, denied any “plausible deniability” pact in her family. So why can’t prosecutors charge her — at least not yet?  Because Wendi testified under a grant of use and derivative-use immunity. That means the State can’t use her words, or any evidence directly derived from those words, to prosecute her later. But the protection has limits: it doesn’t cover lying, it doesn’t cover new evidence found independently, and it only applies when the State compels her testimony. This episode exposes how that deal works — and why it might one day collapse if prosecutors find the right evidence. 🎧 Listen to Hidden Killers with Tony Brueski for full courtroom analysis, expert insight, and exclusive updates on the Adelson family fallout. Editor’s Note: This episode discusses publicly reported testimony and legal proceedings in the State of Florida v. Donna Adelson. Wendi Adelson has not been accused or charged with any crime. The analysis presented reflects legal commentary and opinion based on the public record. #WendiAdelson #DanMarkel #DonnaAdelson #CharlieAdelson #HiddenKillers #TrueCrime #FloridaJustice #CourtTV #ImmunityDeal #MurderForHire Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/@hiddenkillerspod Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod X Twitter https://x.com/tonybpod Listen Ad-Free On Apple Podcasts Here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/true-crime-today-premium-plus-ad-free-advance-episode/id1705422872

She killed their mother — and now she wants to sue them. Convicted shooter Susan Lorincz, the woman who fired through a locked door and killed Ajike “AJ” Owens in Ocala, Florida, is back in the headlines after sending a four-page handwritten letter from prison threatening to sue Owens’ children and mother for defamation. In this episode, Tony Brueski breaks down the letter in full — every word, every excuse, every attempt to rewrite history. It’s a chilling glimpse into a mind that refuses to accept guilt and still sees itself as the victim. Lorincz, serving a 25-year sentence for manslaughter with a firearm, now claims she’s been “slandered” by the very family whose life she destroyed. From her accusations against AJ’s kids to her bizarre claims of “trespassing” and “harassment,” the letter reveals something far darker than a legal threat — it shows the psychology of denial and control that fueled the tragedy in the first place. How does someone who pulled the trigger on an unarmed mother now try to weaponize the law against grieving children? What does this say about accountability, justice, and the warped need for power even from a prison cell? Join Tony as he reads the letter aloud, analyzes the legal absurdity behind Lorincz’s threats, and exposes the emotional toll this letter could have on the Owens family. This isn’t about justice — it’s about cruelty dressed up as paperwork. 🎧 Watch, listen, and join the conversation.  👇 Comment below: Should this kind of post-conviction intimidation be legally punishable? #HiddenKillers #SusanLorincz #AjikeOwens #TrueCrimeToday #JusticeForAJ #FloridaCrime #CourtTV #PrisonLetters #VictimBlaming #TonyBrueski #TrueCrimePodcast #Manslaughter #Ocala #CrimeCommentary #Narcissism #Control #LegalSystem Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/@hiddenkillerspod Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod X Twitter https://x.com/tonybpod Listen Ad-Free On Apple Podcasts Here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/true-crime-today-premium-plus-ad-free-advance-episode/id1705422872

In one of the most disturbing cases in modern memory, Kimberly Sullivan stands accused of holding her stepson captive for twenty years inside a locked room in their Waterbury, Connecticut home. When firefighters arrived to battle a blaze in February 2025, they didn’t just find smoke—they found a man who was 5’9” tall and weighed only 68 pounds, a skeletal figure who told police he had set the fire himself because it was the only way out. Now, in a stunning twist, a Connecticut judge has ruled that Sullivan — currently out on bond with a GPS ankle monitor — has the right to access the victim’s new name and secret location so she can “confront her accuser.” Prosecutors fought the motion, warning that the victim is terrified of her and still recovering physically and mentally from years of starvation and isolation. But the judge ruled that her constitutional rights outweigh his safety. Let that sink in: a woman accused of locking a child away for two decades now knows where that same victim lives. In this episode of Hidden Killers, Tony Brueski breaks down how the system failed at every turn — from the school that stopped asking questions, to child services that walked away after one welfare check, to a legal system that calls this “fairness.” How could this happen? How does someone vanish for twenty years while the entire state looks the other way? And how can a courtroom still prioritize an alleged abuser’s rights over a survivor’s safety? This isn’t justice. It’s a procedural nightmare — and it’s exactly why the system is broken. #KimberlySullivan #WaterburyCase #HiddenKillers #TrueCrime #TonyBrueski #SystemicFailure #JusticeSystem #VictimsRights #AbuseSurvivor #CourtroomFailure Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/@hiddenkillerspod Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod X Twitter https://x.com/tonybpod Listen Ad-Free On Apple Podcasts Here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/true-crime-today-premium-plus-ad-free-advance-episode/id1705422872

After weeks of testimony and emotional bodycam footage, the jury finally spoke: Sean Grayson is guilty of second-degree murder for killing Sonya Massey — the unarmed woman who called 911 for help. But “second-degree” feels like a technicality, not justice. In this Hidden Killers exclusive, Tony Brueski and defense attorney Bob Motta pull apart the verdict, the courtroom strategy, and the dangerous precedent it sets. How did prosecutors lose the first-degree charge when the evidence seemed iron-clad? Did the defense successfully reframe Grayson’s panic as “fear for his life”? Together they analyze how “imperfect self-defense” keeps shielding officers from full accountability, why juries hesitate to call it murder when the killer wears a badge, and what this means for police reform going forward. This isn’t about one bad cop — it’s about a system that keeps lowering the bar for justice. Hidden Killers — real verdicts, raw truth. #SeanGrayson #SonyaMassey #BobMotta #HiddenKillers #TonyBrueski #TrueCrime #JusticeForSonya #PoliceShooting #LegalBreakdown #CourtAnalysis #Accountability Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/@hiddenkillerspod Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod X Twitter https://x.com/tonybpod Listen Ad-Free On Apple Podcasts Here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/true-crime-today-premium-plus-ad-free-advance-episode/id1705422872

How does someone accused of extreme violence walk out of court without a day in prison? In this episode of Hidden Killers with Tony Brueski, we expose the loophole that turned outrage into disbelief across Oklahoma. Eighteen-year-old Jesse Mack Butler faced serious felony charges after two teenage girls were brutally attacked. Doctors said one almost didn’t survive. But instead of decades behind bars, Butler walked free under a single year of supervision thanks to Oklahoma’s Youthful Offender Act—a law designed to rehabilitate kids, not shield violent offenders. Tony digs deep into how this happened:  ⚖️ How prosecutors and judges use the Youthful Offender statute.  🏛️ Why Stillwater’s small-town culture and power circles matter.  🧠 What psychologists say about offenders who use strangulation and control.  💔 And what this decision means for survivors everywhere who watch their trauma minimized in the name of “rehabilitation.” This isn’t just a courtroom story—it’s a case study in how privilege reshapes punishment.  You’ll hear how good intentions inside the law turned into protection for the powerful, why transparency in sentencing matters more than ever, and what Oklahoma lawmakers can do to close the loopholes that let this happen again. It’s one of the most disturbing true-crime stories of the year—not because of what was proven, but because of what the system chose to forgive. #HiddenKillers #StillwaterCase #JusticeForSurvivors #YouthfulOffender #jesseebutler Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/@hiddenkillerspod Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod X Twitter https://x.com/tonybpod Listen Ad-Free On Apple Podcasts Here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/true-crime-today-premium-plus-ad-free-advance-episode/id1705422872

Eleven felony charges. Two teenage victims. One nearly strangled to death. And somehow — not a single day in prison. This episode of Hidden Killers with Tony Brueski exposes how Oklahoma’s justice system transformed a violent felony case into a “rehabilitation” story. Eighteen-year-old Jesse Mack Butler, originally charged with rape, attempted rape, sexual battery, and strangulation, faced decades behind bars. But when the court reclassified him as a Youthful Offender, everything changed. We break down the timeline:  ⚖️ February 2024 — Police file 11 felonies.  🧾 Evidence includes partial phone video of a strangulation. 📜 August 2025 — Butler enters a no-contest plea, meaning no verbal confession, but the court treats it as guilt for sentencing. ⛓️ October 2025 — A suspended 78-year sentence turns into one year of supervision. Tony and Ret. FBI Special Agent Robin Dreeke dissect how this happened — and why it’s another example of a system protecting offenders instead of victims. From small-town power structures and family privilege to the psychology of control and the culture of denial, this is a story of justice suffocated by reputation. 💬 Join the conversation: How does a system decide rehabilitation outweighs accountability?  🎧 Subscribe for more true-crime breakdowns that challenge the official story. Hashtags:  #HiddenKillers #JesseButler #StillwaterCase #OklahomaJustice #YouthfulOffender #TrueCrime #JusticeForSurvivors #TonyBrueski #RobinDreeke #LegalLoophole Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/@hiddenkillerspod Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod X Twitter https://x.com/tonybpod Listen Ad-Free On Apple Podcasts Here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/true-crime-today-premium-plus-ad-free-advance-episode/id1705422872

She called 911 for help. And they sent her a bullet. When 36-year-old Sonya Massey phoned the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office on a quiet July night, she thought officers would protect her. Instead, Deputy Sean Grayson — a man with a trail of DUIs, firings, and a dishonorable discharge — shot her in the face inside her own kitchen. In this episode of Hidden Killers, Tony Brueski sits down with defense attorney and Defense Diaries host Bob Motta to dissect a verdict that’s enraged a nation. A jury found Grayson guilty of second-degree murder — not first — despite crystal-clear bodycam footage showing an unarmed woman holding a pot of water, doing exactly what officers asked. How does someone with Grayson’s record keep getting hired? Why did the system that should have screened him out instead hand him a gun? And what does this verdict say about how America still treats police violence as a “mistake,” not a crime? Tony and Bob dive into the broken hiring pipeline, the psychology of a cop who panics behind a badge, and the legal gymnastics that turn murder into “imperfect self-defense.” Hidden Killers — because “serving and protecting” shouldn’t mean burying the evidence. #SonyaMassey #SeanGrayson #HiddenKillers #TonyBrueski #BobMotta #PoliceAccountability #JusticeForSonya #TrueCrimePodcast #Bodycam #PoliceReform #LegalAnalysis Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/@hiddenkillerspod Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod X Twitter https://x.com/tonybpod Listen Ad-Free On Apple Podcasts Here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/true-crime-today-premium-plus-ad-free-advance-episode/id1705422872

Tonight, we’re not summarizing — we’re reading it. This is the full, unedited November 3, 2025, letter from Congressman Jamie Raskin to Attorney General Pam Bondi, demanding answers about what he calls a “gigantic cover-up” inside the Department of Justice surrounding the shutdown of the Epstein co-conspirator investigation. In this extraordinary letter, Raskin lays out a timeline that should shake every American who believes in justice.  He reveals that until January 2025, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York was actively investigating Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell’s co-conspirators, supported by testimony from nearly 50 survivors naming at least 20 men involved in the trafficking network. Then, suddenly, the investigation was transferred to DOJ headquarters in Washington, D.C. Six months later, the case was declared closed — “no evidence found.” Raskin’s letter questions everything:  ⚖️ Why the DOJ shut down a live federal sex-trafficking probe.  💰 Why the FBI ignored over $1.5 billion in flagged Epstein-linked transactions.  🧾 Why survivors were suddenly branded “not credible” — the same survivors whose testimony helped convict Ghislaine Maxwell beyond a reasonable doubt.  🕵️‍♀️ And who, exactly, the DOJ was trying to protect. This is the document the media can’t water down and the DOJ can’t spin. Every word matters. Listen as Tony Brueski reads the full letter — unedited, uninterrupted — from start to finish. Hear Raskin’s outrage, the survivors’ betrayal, and the allegations that may define the next great political scandal in America. 🎙️ Hidden Killers with Tony Brueski — because sometimes, the truth needs to be read out loud. #JamieRaskin #JeffreyEpstein #EpsteinCoverUp #PamBondi #FBI #DOJ #SexTrafficking #EpsteinFiles #JamieRaskinLetter #HiddenKillers #TonyBrueski #TrueCrime #JusticeForSurvivors #EpsteinInvestigation #GhislaineMaxwell #Congress Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/@hiddenkillerspod Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod X Twitter https://x.com/tonybpod Listen Ad-Free On Apple Podcasts Here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/true-crime-today-premium-plus-ad-free-advance-episode/id1705422872

She called 911 for help. Minutes later, she was dead. In July 2024, 36-year-old Sonya Massey — a Springfield, Illinois mother of two — dialed 911, terrified someone was outside her home. Two sheriff’s deputies arrived. One of them was Deputy Sean Grayson, a man with a record of disciplinary problems, DUIs, and a dishonorable discharge from the Army for misconduct. Within minutes of entering her home, Grayson shot Sonya in the face. The bodycam footage showed no threat. No weapon. Just a woman holding a pot of boiling water she’d been told to remove from the stove — and a deputy who panicked. This week, a jury found Sean Grayson guilty of second-degree murder — not first-degree. The conviction came after powerful testimony from his own partner, who said he never felt threatened and never saw Sonya as dangerous. But for Sonya’s family, the verdict still felt like half-justice. She called for help, and instead the system sent her a bullet. In this episode, Tony Brueski breaks down how this tragedy unfolded, what went wrong inside the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office, and why Grayson should never have been wearing a badge in the first place. From ignored red flags to a culture of impunity, this case exposes a pattern that keeps repeating — police departments overlooking warning signs until another life is lost. We also explore the aftermath: the $10 million settlement paid to Sonya’s family, the federal investigation into the sheriff’s office, and the new Illinois legislation dubbed “Sonya’s Law,” designed to prevent officers with misconduct histories from being rehired. Was this justice — or just damage control? 🎙️ Hidden Killers with Tony Brueski — where the truth doesn’t hide behind a badge. #SonyaMassey #SeanGrayson #PoliceAccountability #HiddenKillers #TonyBrueski #TrueCrime #JusticeForSonya #Bodycam #Illinois #PoliceReform #TrueCrimePodcast #CriminalJustice Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/@hiddenkillerspod Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod X Twitter https://x.com/tonybpod Listen Ad-Free On Apple Podcasts Here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/true-crime-today-premium-plus-ad-free-advance-episode/id1705422872

In today’s episode of Break the Case, former FBI Special Agent Jennifer Coffindaffer takes viewers deep into the troubling disappearance of 9-year-old Melody Buzzard, a case that has captured national attention. What began as a missing person report has unfolded into one of the most unsettling true crime stories of the year — a mother on the run, a child in disguise, and a cross-country trip that ended in mystery. Melody was last verifiably seen in August 2023, and new surveillance footage shows her thin, frail, and almost unrecognizable, wearing a wig and carrying a purse — odd details for a child her age. Her mother, Ashley Buzzard, was photographed in her own disguise, using wigs and glasses while leasing a rental car before driving 1,500 miles to Nebraska. According to Jennifer Coffindaffer, that grueling trip — across California, Nevada, Colorado, and Kansas — raises serious red flags about motive and intent. Coffindaffer breaks down three disturbing possibilities: Did Ashley hand her daughter off to someone secretly? Was Melody trafficked? Or was she harmed by her own mother? As the investigation deepens, FBI agents have served multiple search warrants at Ashley’s home, keeping her sequestered for hours while combing through potential evidence. The case has drawn comparisons to the Catherine Hoggle disappearance, where two young children vanished under eerily similar circumstances. This is not just a missing person case — it’s a battle for truth between law enforcement, media, and a mother who may be hiding devastating secrets. With Jennifer Coffindaffer’s insider expertise, Break the Case exposes the inconsistencies, the clues, and the unanswered questions that could finally reveal what happened to Melody Buzzard. #TrueCrime #MelodyBuzzard #AshleyBuzzard #JenniferCoffindaffer #FBI #MissingChild #BreakingNews #Investigation #Justice #CrimeNews Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/@hiddenkillerspod Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod X Twitter https://x.com/tonybpod Listen Ad-Free On Apple Podcasts Here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/true-crime-today-premium-plus-ad-free-advance-episode/id1705422872