Latest / Crime Stories with Nancy Grace / Nick Reiner Smirks in Court As His Famous Attorney Walks off The Case | Crime Alert Recap 01.10.2026

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Nick Reiner Smirks in Court As His Famous Attorney Walks off The Case | Crime Alert Recap 01.10.2026 · Crime Stories with Nancy Grace

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  Speaker 1: Crime a art hourly update, breaking crime news. Now, I'm
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  Speaker 1: Jennifer Gould. The high stakes murder trial of Hollywood air
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  Speaker 1: Nick Reiner descended into absolute chaos Wednesday when his celebrity
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  Speaker 1: defense attorney abruptly dumped his client in open court, leaving
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  Speaker 1: the accused double killer to face a double murder rap
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  Speaker 1: with a public defender. The judge then addressed him in
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  Speaker 1: court to weigh your right to.
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  Speaker 2: Be rated today so that your matter maybe continued to
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  Speaker 2: February twenty, twenty sixth for raiment.
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  Speaker 1: Ut Nick, the thirty two year old son of legendary
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  Speaker 1: director Rob Reiner and his wife Michelle Singer. Reiner sat
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  Speaker 1: in standard jail scrubs and let out an eerie, chilling
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  Speaker 1: smirk as his legal powerhouse, Alan Jackson, announced he had
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  Speaker 1: quote unquote no choice but to walk away from the case.
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  Speaker 1: The courtroom shakeup sent shock waves through the Stanley Mosk Courthouse,
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  Speaker 1: just as Reiner was slated to be arraigned for the
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  Speaker 1: grizzly December twenty twenty five slaughter of his parents. Jackson,
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  Speaker 1: who has represented Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey, and who recently
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  Speaker 1: most famously secured an acquittal for Karen Reid held a
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  Speaker 1: frantic closed door meeting with the judge before emerging to
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  Speaker 1: announce his departure outside the courthouse. Jackson hinted at a
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  Speaker 1: massive internal fracture, stating that quote unquote, circumstances beyond Nick's
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  Speaker 1: control made it impossible to continue, and that although he's
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  Speaker 1: removing himself from the case, he continues to back Nick's innocence.
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  Speaker 3: Listen, what we've learned, and you could take this to
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  Speaker 3: the bank, is that pursuance of the laws of this state,
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  Speaker 3: pursue it to the law in California, Nick Reiner is
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  Speaker 3: not guilty of murder. Print that.
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  Speaker 1: Print that insider's whisper that the Reiner family may have
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  Speaker 1: pulled the huge plug on the millions in legal fees
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  Speaker 1: required to keep a top tier firm on the case.
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  Speaker 1: The details of the crime remain stomach churning. Rob seventy
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  Speaker 1: eight and Michelle seventy were reportedly found with their throats
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  Speaker 1: slit in their beds hours after a heated holiday blowout
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  Speaker 1: at comedian Conan O'Brien's home. Prosecutor's allege Nick, a troubled
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  Speaker 1: drug addict with seventeen stintson rehabs, snapped and carried out
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  Speaker 1: a frenzied knife attack so violent it left the Brentwood
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  Speaker 1: mansion looking like a blood drenched war zone. Nick's sister,
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  Speaker 1: Romi Reiner, found her dead parents after a massage therapist
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  Speaker 1: was left waiting outside the Reiner gate with no response
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  Speaker 1: from inside. Nick was arrested a few hours later, twenty
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  Speaker 1: minutes away from the crime scene. This horror was a
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  Speaker 1: powder keg years in the making. Records revealed the LAPD
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  Speaker 1: had been called to the Reiner residence at least six
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  Speaker 1: times since twenty thirteen and two times in twenty nineteen
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  Speaker 1: for family violence, mental health crises, and welfare checks. Despite
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  Speaker 1: a decade of domestic terror and drug use, the parents
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  Speaker 1: allowed Nick to live in a guesthouse on the property
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  Speaker 1: while Reiner's new public defender, Kimberly Green, scrambles to catch up.
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  Speaker 1: Los Angeles DA Nathan Hockman made it clear the state
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  Speaker 1: is eyeing the death penalty for the multiple murder special
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  Speaker 1: Circumstances case. At his first court appearance last month, Nick
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  Speaker 1: was forced to wear a blue suicide smock, but he's
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  Speaker 1: since been taken off suicide watch. As the thirty two
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  Speaker 1: year old stares down a potential needle. Reiner remains held
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  Speaker 1: without bail, with his next date with Destiny set four
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  Speaker 1: February twenty thirty.
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  Speaker 4: Harvey Weinstein is considering a guilty plea to address an
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  Speaker 4: unresolved rape charge and potentially avoid a third trial in
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  Speaker 4: New York, as mentioned by a judge on Thursday, during
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  Speaker 4: discussions about a possible plea, the Fallen film executive remained defiant,
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  Speaker 4: stating in court, I acknowledge my unfaithfulness and wrongful actions,
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  Speaker 4: but I have never assaulted anyone. This statement came after
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  Speaker 4: Judge Curtis Farber denied his request to overturn his sole
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  Speaker 4: conviction from a previous trial regarding the forced oral sex
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  Speaker 4: of a woman in two thousand and six, which could
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  Speaker 4: lead to a twenty five year prison sentence. In that
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  Speaker 4: same trial, a jury acquitted Weinstein of similar allegations involving
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  Speaker 4: another woman from two thousand and six, and was deadlocked
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  Speaker 4: on a charge of raping a hairstylist an actress Jessica
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  Speaker 4: Mann in a Manhattan hotel in twenty thirteen. Weinstein's attorneys
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  Speaker 4: claimed that the verdict from last June was compromised due
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  Speaker 4: to conflicts and bullying among jurors. Farber dismissed these arguments,
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  Speaker 4: setting a new trial date for March three for the
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  Speaker 4: unresolved third degree rape charge, which carries a maximum sentence
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  Speaker 4: of four years, less than Weinstein has already served. I
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  Speaker 4: am disappointed with today's ruling. Weinstein told the judge, you
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  Speaker 4: witnessed a trial and saw how external forces deprived me
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  Speaker 4: of my fundamental right to a fair trial. He accused
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  Speaker 4: one juror of having a personal agenda that influenced deliberations,
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  Speaker 4: intimidating others, and spreading false claims, which he argued destroyed
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  Speaker 4: any chance of impartiality. After Judge Farber's ruling, Weinstein's attorney,
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  Speaker 4: Arthur Adalia, expressed a desire to explore plea negotiations before
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  Speaker 4: meeting privately with the judge, sectors, and other defense lawyers
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  Speaker 4: to discuss the situation. Shortly thereafter, Farber returned to the
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  Speaker 4: bench to inform the court that Weinstein wished to take
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  Speaker 4: some time to consider his options. This latest development marks
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  Speaker 4: another complicated chapter in the former Hollywood mogul's lengthy legal battle,
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  Speaker 4: which has unfolded over seven years, including trials in two
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  Speaker 4: states and a reversal of a conviction and a retrial
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  Speaker 4: that ended in turmoil in New York last year. Weinstein
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  Speaker 4: has consistently denied all allegations against him. The charges against
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  Speaker 4: him emerged. The charges against him emerged from a wave
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  Speaker 4: of sexual harassment and assault claims that surfaced in twenty seventeen,
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  Speaker 4: igniting the me too movement against sexual misconduct. Initially, Weinstein
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  Speaker 4: acknowledged the way I've behaved with colleagues in the past,
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  Speaker 4: while maintaining that he never engaged in non consensual sex.
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  Speaker 4: At trial, Weinstein's defense argued that the women involved accepted
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  Speaker 4: his advances in hopes of securing work in the ertainment industry,
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  Speaker 4: later falsely accusing him for financial gain and publicity. The
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  Speaker 4: split verdict last June was unusual, as several jurors requested
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  Speaker 4: to address the judge about tensions within the jury. In
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  Speaker 4: a series of exchanges, one jur reported feeling ostracized by others,
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  Speaker 4: the four person referenced jurs discussing Weinstein's past inappropriately, and
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  Speaker 4: another juror claimed discussions were progressively positive. The four person
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  Speaker 4: later returned to the judge to express concerns over being
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  Speaker 4: pressured to change their stance, stating they feared for their
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  Speaker 4: safety after a fellow juror threatened, I'll see you outside.
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  Speaker 4: Judge Farber highlighted the confidentiality of jur discussions and reminded
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  Speaker 4: jurors not to disclose their proceedings. Since the trial, Weinstein's
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  Speaker 4: legal team has spoken to the first juror who raised
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  Speaker 4: concerns and another who remained silent in sworn statements. Both
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  Speaker 4: expressed disbelief in Weinstein's guilt but conceded to peer pressure
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  Speaker 4: from aggressive jurors. One jurycalled feeling threatened after an insult
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  Speaker 4: regarding her intelligence and said, finally, I just gave in.
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  Speaker 4: Weinstein's lawyers argue that the tensions constituted threats that tainted
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  Speaker 4: the deliberation process, asserting that was unfair for his client.
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  Speaker 4: Prosecutors contend that the judge was made aware of only
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  Speaker 4: isolated instances of contentious interactions, which quote can be normal
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  Speaker 4: among jurors. Currently held in New York, Weinstein is also
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  Speaker 4: appealing a separate rape conviction in Los Angeles.
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  Speaker 5: A father in Tennessee is speaking publicly after investigators say
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  Speaker 5: a mother killed her two young sons and their grandmother
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  Speaker 5: before taking her own life. Investigators with the Humphries County
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  Speaker 5: Sheriff's office say four people were found dead Friday morning
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  Speaker 5: during a welfare check at a home on East Little
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  Speaker 5: Richland Avenue. Authorities believe thirty two year old Heather Thompson
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  Speaker 5: shot her two young sons and her grandmother before taking
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  Speaker 5: her own life. The victims were identified as four year
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  Speaker 5: old Arius Thompson, thirteen year old Isaiah Johnson, an eighty
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  Speaker 5: eight year old Evelyn Johnson. Jeremiah Thompson's Arius's biological father
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  Speaker 5: and Isaiah's stepfather. He says he has been part of
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  Speaker 5: Isaiah's life since the boy was a baby. He and
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  Speaker 5: Heather were separated, but still talked every day. When he
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  Speaker 5: first received the call that his family was gone, he
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  Speaker 5: misunderstood and.
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  Speaker 2: I thought, like they move out. They all moved away,
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  Speaker 2: which wow my mind because my wife and I we
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  Speaker 2: were going to get a house out here.
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  Speaker 5: Thompson tells WSMV the reality did not sink in right away.
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  Speaker 5: He describes the first hours as overwhelming.
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  Speaker 2: I was like, I'm sorry if I'm not feeling emotional,
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  Speaker 2: And the first four or five hours I think I
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  Speaker 2: cried everything out. I think I'm numb to everything. You know,
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  Speaker 2: it does suck.
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  Speaker 5: Thompson describes Isaiah becoming more involved in sports and learning instruments.
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  Speaker 5: He says Arius loved being around his older brother and
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  Speaker 5: like to pester him. Thompson says he never saw any
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  Speaker 5: warning signs.
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  Speaker 2: If you're feeling overwhelmed, why don't just let me know?
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  Speaker 2: Like he cains say hey, like hey by, like I
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  Speaker 2: need a break? Can you please take the boys for
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  Speaker 2: the summer or for the rest of the year. I
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  Speaker 2: would have glad he'd done that. No.
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  Speaker 5: The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is assisting as the case
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  Speaker 5: remains under review pending autopsy results. A community memorial for
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  Speaker 5: all four family members is scheduled at the Humphries County
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  Speaker 5: Funeral Home. It is open to the public. Thompson has
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  Speaker 5: also launched a GoFundMe to help bring his sons back
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  Speaker 5: to New Mexico for burial, which is two thousand dollars
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  Speaker 5: shy of its twenty thousand dollars goal.
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  Speaker 1: Think nine to one one call has surfaced from the
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  Speaker 1: home of a beloved Ohio dentist and his wife, revealing
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  Speaker 1: a sobbing woman reporting a heated domestic dispute just two
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  Speaker 1: months before the pair was executed in their upstairs bedroom.
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  Speaker 1: Spencer Teppe thirty seven, and his wife Monique thirty nine,
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  Speaker 1: were found with bullets, while their two toddlers and family
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  Speaker 1: dog remained unharmed downstairs. This early morning distress call from
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  Speaker 1: April fifteenth, twenty twenty five, captured a woman wailing to
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  Speaker 1: dispatchers that she end quote, my man got into it
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  Speaker 1: end quote at two forty five in the morning.
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  Speaker 3: Listen, good name when one we just got to hang
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  Speaker 3: up calling?
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  Speaker 2: Is everything? Okay?
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  Speaker 4: Yeah, I'm sorry, I'm okay.
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  Speaker 2: Don your crime, I'm okay. How do you call it?
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  Speaker 2: Name on one in the first place?
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  Speaker 4: I'm okay.
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  Speaker 2: You guys are just argue and nobody hit each other.
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  Speaker 4: Yes.
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  Speaker 1: While the caller insisted the fight was not physical, Monique's
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  Speaker 1: brother in law, Rob Missle, says the voice is quote
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  Speaker 1: obviously not Monique end quote, suggesting a guest or a
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  Speaker 1: third party was involved in the late night drama. The
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  Speaker 1: mystery deepens as a neighbor just down the street reported
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  Speaker 1: a terrified nine one one call on December nineteenth, just
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  Speaker 1: eleven days before the murders, claiming a stranger was smashing
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  Speaker 1: and banging on her door at two thirty am. The
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  Speaker 1: woman told dispatchers someone was trying to get in, but
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  Speaker 1: the intruder vanished before police arrived at the home, located
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  Speaker 1: just a three minute walk from the Tepees. The nightmare
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  Speaker 1: officially unfolded on the morning of December thirtieth, when Spencer's
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  Speaker 1: boss at Athens Dental Depot called nine one one from Florida,
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  Speaker 1: frantic because the devoted dentist, who was always on time,
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  Speaker 1: had failed to show up for work. Coworkers and a
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  Speaker 1: friend rushed to the Wineland Park residence after an uneventful
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  Speaker 1: police response, and were met with the sound of children
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  Speaker 1: crying inside. Looking through a window, they made a bone
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  Speaker 1: chilling discovery. Spencer's body was crumpled on the floor in
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  Speaker 1: a pool of blood next to the bed. Officials say
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  Speaker 1: Spencer had reportedly been blasted multiple times and Monique was
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  Speaker 1: hit in the chest with a bullet sometime between two
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  Speaker 1: am and five am. The calculated violence stands in jarring
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  Speaker 1: contrast to the couple's private life. Friends say the Tepees
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  Speaker 1: were quote madly in love end quote end quote, still
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  Speaker 1: acted like newlyweds as they approached their fifth anniversary. In
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  Speaker 1: a tragic twist of fate, the couple was brutally slaughtered
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  Speaker 1: inside the very house where they were married. Back in
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  Speaker 1: twenty twenty one, detectives recovered nine millimeters spent shell casings
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  Speaker 1: on the second floor, but found no weapon and no
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  Speaker 1: signs of a break in. Authorities have emphatically dismissed the
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  Speaker 1: possibility of a murder suicide. The hunt continues also for
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  Speaker 1: a person of interest caught on grainy surveillance footage trudging
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  Speaker 1: through a snow dusted alley behind the home during the
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  Speaker 1: morning hours, in which authorities believe the couple was killed.
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  Speaker 1: Glad in a dark hooded coat and light pants, the
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  Speaker 1: figure moves with a calculated slowness and their face is
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  Speaker 1: not seen. Authorities have been tight lipped about a possible
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  Speaker 1: motive in the murders. As the Tepe children remain with relatives,
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  Speaker 1: Columbus police are desperate for les. Detectives are asking anyone
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  Speaker 1: with information on the video figure or more to call
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  Speaker 1: Homicide at six one four, six four five forty seven
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  Speaker 1: point thirty or Crime Stoppers at six one four or
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  Speaker 1: six 't one eighty four seven seven More Prime and
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  Speaker 1: Justice News After this