Latest / Crime Stories with Nancy Grace / TV Star Hayden Panettiere: Death Not An Accident?

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TV Star Hayden Panettiere: Death Not An Accident? · Crime Stories with Nancy Grace

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Speaker 1: Tonight, TV star Hayden Panettiere's death not an accident? Good evening.
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Speaker 1: I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. I want to
0:10
Speaker 1: thank you for being with us. Bags of drugs delivered
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Speaker 1: to Hayden Panettiere, allegedly labeled Brian.
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Speaker 2: And they would deliver bags to Hayden. They'd knock on
0:31
Speaker 2: the door, she'd grab the bag and go back in.
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Speaker 3: She was under the control, allegedly, of Brian Hickerson. And
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Speaker 3: money and power and greed, when there's a celebrity, everybody
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Speaker 3: gathers around and gives them whatever they want.
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Speaker 4: It turns out that the drugs that she was taking
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Speaker 4: were actually laced. They were laced with fentanyl, which means
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Speaker 4: her death was not an accident. It was not just
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Speaker 4: a simple accident. So the question is, will there be
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Speaker 4: any charges incoming for Hayden Panettiere's death? Did someone intentionally
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Speaker 4: do this to try and take her out?
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Speaker 1: And as we go to air, we learn the official
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Speaker 1: cause of death for TV and movie star Hayden Panettiere
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Speaker 1: has been submitted. Dave Mack, what's the COD?
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Speaker 2: Nancy, we now have an official cause of death for
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Speaker 2: Hayden Panettiere. The Greenville County Coroner's Office says Hayden Panettiere
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Speaker 2: died from the toxic effects of multiple drugs. And they
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Speaker 2: list out the drugs found in her system, fentanyl being
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Speaker 2: number one. Also Xanax, muscle relaxant, and Seroquel, all found
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Speaker 2: in her system when she died. Her death has officially
1:43
Speaker 2: been ruled an accident. According to this report from the
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Speaker 2: coroner's office, Hayden Panettiere was found face down in a
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Speaker 2: sitting position on a sofa bed, and the description is
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Speaker 2: that she was sitting crisscross applesauce. I have not heard
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Speaker 2: that term used for an adult. It's just something you
2:01
Speaker 2: say to children, but sitting crisscross applesauce. And according to
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Speaker 2: Brian Hickerson, this is something that she did often and
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Speaker 2: would lean forward and fall asleep. And her body hit,
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Speaker 2: but when they found her, she'd already turned deep purple.
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Speaker 2: Hickerson then administered Narcan twice. When that failed to wake
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Speaker 2: her up, he instructed his brother Zach to call 911
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Speaker 2: and while Brian Hickerson gave chest compressions. The report states
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Speaker 2: that Brian Hickerson saw Hayden for the last time while
2:35
Speaker 2: she was applying makeup in the bathroom around 10.30 in
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Speaker 2: the morning. They had a bowl of cereal. He went
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Speaker 2: back to sleep and was woken up by his brother
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Speaker 2: Zach just before 2 p.m. that afternoon. That's when they
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Speaker 2: found Hayden already purple laying on that sofa bed. Investigators
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Speaker 2: reportedly found on the scene blue pressed pills that were
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Speaker 2: on a table right next to Hayden Panettiere. The pills
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Speaker 2: tested positive for fentanyl. A straw was found next to
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Speaker 2: the pills and a white powder substance was found inside
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Speaker 2: a sunglasses case in her suitcase. This is significant because
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Speaker 2: investigators have previously been looking into whether Hayden Panettiere obtained
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Speaker 2: counterfeit oxycodone pills that were filled with fentanyl, which is
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Speaker 2: what led to her death. Now, one of the newest
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Speaker 2: developments in this report. Brian Hickerson told investigators that Hayden
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Speaker 2: Panettiere had a long history of drug abuse with drugs, alcohol,
3:36
Speaker 2: and nitrous oxide. He even added that she had recently
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Speaker 2: been in rehab in Malibu and was just out from that.
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Speaker 2: Brian Hickerson and his brother Zach said that they weren't
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Speaker 2: sure whether she used illicit drugs during the preceding couple
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Speaker 2: of days, because according to them, she was very good
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Speaker 2: at hiding them. The distinction matters. Hickerson's statements are part
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Speaker 2: of the investigative record at this point in time, and
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Speaker 2: they're not an independent finding by any stretch of the
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Speaker 2: imagination by the coroner's office that she used a particular
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Speaker 2: drug at a particular time. So that's where it stands.
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Speaker 2: We have the official cause of death. We have the
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Speaker 2: pressed pills that were nothing but fentanyl. They were not
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Speaker 2: oxycodone that Hayden Panettiere might have thought she was taking.
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Speaker 1: Tonight, where is the investigation into Hayden Panettiere's death leading us?
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Speaker 1: Nowhere good. What you just heard is from our friends
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Speaker 1: at Echo TV, and tonight we are learning that investigation
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Speaker 1: is following the avenue that Hayden Panettiere's death was not
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Speaker 1: an accident. All the talk of an accidental overdose. Who
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Speaker 1: supplied the drugs? Was it a certain drug dealer? Was
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Speaker 1: it someone within that luxury Airbnb? Now, not an accident.
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Speaker 1: What exactly does that mean? Joining us in All-Star Panel
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Speaker 1: to make sense of what we're learning right now. To
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Speaker 1: Eileen Reslin joining us, senior showbiz exclusive reporter for Daily Mail. Eileen,
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Speaker 1: not an accident. What does this mean?
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Speaker 5: Thank you, Nancy, for having me. So investigators strongly believe
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Speaker 5: that Hayden Panettiere's drugs that she took and led to
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Speaker 5: her death ultimately were laced with something. So that is
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Speaker 5: something that investigators are looking at. Was it a dealer
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Speaker 5: in South Carolina where she passed away? Were they from
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Speaker 5: Southern California where she resided? We still don't know.
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Speaker 1: To Dr. William Maroney joining us, renowned medical examiner and toxicologist.
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Speaker 1: He is the author of American Narcan and is a
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Speaker 1: preeminent expert when it comes to opioid use. I understand
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Speaker 1: that the investigation encompasses the use of a new drug
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Speaker 1: 10 times stronger than fentanyl. What is it?
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Speaker 6: Cyclorphine is a designer novel synthetic opioid. And the research
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Speaker 6: is it came out of like the 70s and the
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Speaker 6: 80s and then it was shelved. Drug dealers find things
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Speaker 6: like this because the people making the drugs in Mexican
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Speaker 6: labs and in Chinese labs are always looking for something
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Speaker 6: that nobody can find. Cyclorphine has no testing. There is
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Speaker 6: no urine drug test you can do. And this is
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Speaker 6: the reason why the DEA is in on this. Cyclorphine
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Speaker 6: is in many different urban communities being laced into drugs.
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Speaker 6: One of those, the mecca of some drug research, is
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Speaker 6: basically San Francisco for novel opioids. And the DEA follows
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Speaker 6: things like this because it's illicit. That's half of their mission.
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Speaker 6: Their mission is to have guidelines for legal drugs and
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Speaker 6: to reduce illicit drugs. With all respect to South Carolina,
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Speaker 6: cyclorphine is way over them.
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Speaker 7: They needed federal help. And it's like an opioid. It's
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Speaker 7: like fentanyl or it's like morphine.
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Speaker 6: But it's, you know, 50 to 100 times stronger because
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Speaker 6: it binds that It binds to the brain. And what
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Speaker 6: you see is we don't have any human research on it.
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Speaker 6: Anything you have, you can't find it. So as soon
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Speaker 6: as you do the drug testing, the drug testing's done.
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Speaker 6: They're not going to tell us what it is. That's
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Speaker 6: how they work.
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Speaker 8: Dr.
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Speaker 1: Maroney, I don't understand what you're saying. That for cycorphine,
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Speaker 1: there is no tox test? In other words, Hayden Panettiere
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Speaker 1: could have been fed this incredibly powerful drug laced into
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Speaker 1: what she had taken. And there's no way to determine that.
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Speaker 1: I find that scientifically impossible. If we know about the drug,
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Speaker 1: why can't we find it in her system if it exists?
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Speaker 6: It's because the research to find it really is at
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Speaker 6: a federal law enforcement level, not as a medical examiner level. Now,
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Speaker 6: we have a test called mass spectroscopy. that looks for
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Speaker 6: the novel compound and tells you how big it is.
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Speaker 6: How big is that molecule? And then it'll be identified.
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Speaker 6: But there's no published research in humans. What's the half-life?
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Speaker 7: What's the potency? Okay, Dr.
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Speaker 1: Maroney, you're going DEFCON 4 on me. You know, I'm
8:52
Speaker 1: just a trial lawyer. What I'm asking, I think, is
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Speaker 1: very simple. So you're telling me there is no toxicology
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Speaker 1: test to run on her body that will tell me
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Speaker 1: if this new and deadly drug was fed to her?
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Speaker 7: Only if you send it to the DA.
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Speaker 1: Well, then that's a yes for Pete's sake. You just
9:15
Speaker 1: led me down the garden path.
9:17
Speaker 7: Well, I needed to get some face time.
9:19
Speaker 1: I'm a hog. I want to understand what is psychorafine?
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Speaker 1: What is it exactly? And how does it elude the
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Speaker 1: normal tox panels that are run? What I'm talking about, Dr. Maroney,
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Speaker 1: is a murder charge. We now know that the Hayden
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Speaker 1: Panettiere investigation is encompassing the avenue that it was not accidental.
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Speaker 1: So this new drug, many people have never even heard
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Speaker 1: of it, Could have been laced into what she was
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Speaker 1: already taking?
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Speaker 6: There is no urine drug test available. clinically that will
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Speaker 6: show you what this is. There is no blood test
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Speaker 6: that's clinically through addiction clinics or hospitals.
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Speaker 7: But you just told me if you send it.
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Speaker 1: To the feds, the DEA, that they can run a
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Speaker 1: panel on her tissue samples. In other words, a piece
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Speaker 1: of her skin, her blood, a part of an organ.
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Speaker 1: That's why they needed to bring the DA in.
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Speaker 6: That's why they needed to bring the DA in the
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Speaker 6: beginning because they were having trouble here. And the DA
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Speaker 6: is the expert on all this stuff for all the
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Speaker 6: little panels of things.
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Speaker 7: It's a small molecule and it's simple. It may look small.
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Speaker 6: Chemically a little bit like fentanyl, but it's a hundred
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Speaker 6: times stronger and it will not turn a fentanyl test positive.
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Speaker 7: You need to specifically... How much.
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Speaker 1: Would it take to kill you, Maroney, of sycoraphine? How
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Speaker 1: much would it take? With fentanyl, you can breathe it in,
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Speaker 1: breathe particles in and die. What about sycoraphine?
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Speaker 7: The head of a pin, the sharp head of a pin.
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Speaker 1: So Mark Astor joining us, a veteran trial lawyer out
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Speaker 1: of Boca Raton, former prosecutor. He's also the star of
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Speaker 1: The Journey by Mark Astor. Mark, thank you for being
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Speaker 1: with us tonight. Mark, don't even bother to give me
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Speaker 1: your defense that whoever fed her these drugs or supplied
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Speaker 1: her these drugs didn't know that sycoraphine could be in it.
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Speaker 1: It doesn't matter. If I feed you rat poison and say,
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Speaker 1: I thought it was baking soda. Mistake of fact is
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Speaker 1: not a defense. We learned that in criminal law one,
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Speaker 1: day one. Mistake of fact. That's cocaine in the truck? What?
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Speaker 1: I thought it was turnip roots.
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Speaker 8: No.
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Speaker 1: Mistake of fact is never a defense, Aster.
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Speaker 9: The question is, who is the prime suspect? Can you
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Speaker 9: give me any evidence that points to anybody? I mean,
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Speaker 9: I'll fight with you on that all day long. So
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Speaker 9: you give me evidence that it points to somebody. Is
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Speaker 9: it the boyfriend? Is it the alleged drug dealer that
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Speaker 9: she was supposedly in contact with? Give me somebody, and
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Speaker 9: then we can have a debate over this. In terms
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Speaker 9: of should we prosecute somebody? Yeah, I'm good with that.
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Speaker 1: Okay. All right. I believe at the end of this
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Speaker 1: dark tunnel after our trip through Alice in Wonderland that
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Speaker 1: we will have a named suspect. And I'm going to
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Speaker 1: pull up this sound of you saying, sure. prosecute him.
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Speaker 1: Just give me the name of a suspect. All right.
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Speaker 1: You're on, Astor. You are on. And speaking of potential suspects, remember,
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Speaker 1: nobody has been charged. Nobody has been named a person
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Speaker 1: of interest. Let's just start with that. Nobody's a suspect.
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Speaker 1: These drugs just fell into her mouth and she swallowed.
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Speaker 10: So when it comes to fentanyl, They're not fake pills.
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Speaker 10: They're death pills, right? So they're pills that kill people.
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Speaker 7: And there's a federal.
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Speaker 10: Statute that allows us to go after, assuming we can
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Speaker 10: prove who the dealer is, to go after them and
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Speaker 10: put them in prison for murder. When we can prove,
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Speaker 10: and sometimes if somebody is an addict, it's difficult to
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Speaker 10: prove who they actually got the pill from. But in
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Speaker 10: the cases where we know who the dealer was and
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Speaker 10: we can prove beyond a reasonable doubt, that the person
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Speaker 10: sold the death pill to the victim who then dies,
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Speaker 10: that's a federal crime and that's something that we will
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Speaker 10: readily prosecute as often as we can.
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Speaker 8: The male individual I saw one week prior to her,
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Speaker 8: I believe, no, it was a few days actually before
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Speaker 8: she left for her trip where she passed. He couldn't
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Speaker 8: get into the building. He had buzzed their apartment quite
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Speaker 8: a few times and I was coming back from a walk,
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Speaker 8: and I led him into the building, went up into
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Speaker 8: the elevator with him, and he did, yeah, he had
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Speaker 8: a small bag on him. And interestingly enough, though, it
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Speaker 8: had Brian written on it.
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Speaker 1: That from the White House, that was Attorney General Todd Blanche,
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Speaker 1: and from our friends over at TMZ. It's all fitting together.
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Speaker 1: Is this the avenue the feds, the DEA, is pursuing?
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Speaker 1: How to Rob Shooter joining us? You know him well.
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Speaker 1: He is the star of robshooter.substack.com and the author of
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Speaker 1: a new bestseller, his third, Queen Elizabeth III, The New
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Speaker 1: American House of Windsor. Spent many, many hours with Hayden Panettiere.
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Speaker 1: Rob Shooter, Who are these parasites hanging on to Hayden Panettiere,
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Speaker 1: sucking her blood?
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Speaker 11: Who are these people? I wish I could tell you
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Speaker 11: it's just one person. This is an industry problem. So
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Speaker 11: we know her boyfriend, Brian, is a very, very shady
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Speaker 11: character and has been in and out of her life
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Speaker 11: for many, many years. We also know too that her
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Speaker 11: mother started out as her manager at a very early
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Speaker 11: age and was financially involved in her daughter's life for
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Speaker 11: a very long time. But that, Nancy, is just the
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Speaker 11: tip of the iceberg. Often around celebrities, particularly troubled celebrities,
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Speaker 11: you see these hanger-ons, these people that want to be
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Speaker 11: part of the spotlight. They want to be part of
15:26
Speaker 11: the fame. They want to be part of the glamour.
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Speaker 11: And so it was very, very easy for her to
15:31
Speaker 11: attract really bad people. This is true of every celebrity. However,
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Speaker 11: most of them decide to stay away. Hayden had her demons,
15:40
Speaker 11: and she let these people in.
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Speaker 1: Why do you say especially troubled stars?
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Speaker 11: Yeah, I think troubled stars, troubled people are always looking
15:51
Speaker 11: for happiness outside of themselves. And I think the more
15:54
Speaker 11: troubled you are, the more trouble finds you. So often,
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Speaker 11: if you're in a good state of mind, if you're
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Speaker 11: surrounded by good people, if you believe in yourself, then
16:03
Speaker 11: you don't allow these people into your life. I've seen
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Speaker 11: this happen before. with so many different celebrities, not just
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Speaker 11: people who are parasites, managers, agents, publicists, all these people
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Speaker 11: are on the payroll. You've got to be really careful
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Speaker 11: to surround yourself with people who have your best interests
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Speaker 11: at heart and people who don't always say yes. There
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Speaker 11: was a lot of yes people around Hayden.
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Speaker 1: You mean someone that would say, Hayden, stop taking the pills.
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Speaker 1: I'm flushing them down the commode, as opposed to here, sure. Rob,
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Speaker 1: tell me your experiences with Hayden. Who was she as
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Speaker 1: a person? Because you saw her behind the camera.
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Speaker 11: I did, Nancy. She was smart.
16:49
Speaker 7: She was bright.
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Speaker 11: She was somebody that looked as if she was very
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Speaker 11: well put together. Somebody who looked as if she really
16:56
Speaker 11: had succeeded. She always wanted to be an actress. There
17:00
Speaker 11: was parts of her career that disappointed her. But the
17:02
Speaker 11: book was something she was really, really passionate about. She
17:06
Speaker 11: was also passionate around lots of causes, particularly animals. And
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Speaker 11: she was doing this at a time when it wasn't
17:12
Speaker 11: quite as trendy for celebrities to use their fame to
17:16
Speaker 11: promote social causes. So she was somebody with a really,
17:19
Speaker 11: really big heart. But let's be honest too, Nancy, she
17:22
Speaker 11: also too had a lot of demons. It was impossible
17:25
Speaker 11: to be around her and not see the sadness. There
17:28
Speaker 11: was a real tragedy that she carried around her life.
17:31
Speaker 11: And now we are finding out, I think we knew
17:33
Speaker 11: it before too, and she had spoken about this in
17:36
Speaker 11: her book, She's self-medicated, trying to find happiness, and we
17:39
Speaker 11: know that never, ever comes.
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Speaker 7: I think it speaks for itself.
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Speaker 12: I mean, I, you know, I got arrested for, you know,
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Speaker 12: abusing her, and I wouldn't blame her friends for being pissed.
17:54
Speaker 5: Off at me.
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Speaker 13: I had a lot to drink, and I got physical
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Speaker 13: with her, and I got arrested, spent the night in jail, and,
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Speaker 13: you know, That's just what happens when you lay hands
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Speaker 13: on women.
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Speaker 14: There's a story where I was drunk, right? Hayden was
18:23
Speaker 14: standing across the room and I had a phone in
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Speaker 14: my hand and I said, Hayden, I said, I'll give
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Speaker 14: you 10 seconds. to run as fast as you can
18:36
Speaker 14: before I throw it at you.
18:37
Speaker 7: I just want.
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Speaker 12: People to know, I mean, like, people do this all
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Speaker 12: the time, you know? It's like, you think I'm the
18:48
Speaker 12: only one that did that?
18:50
Speaker 2: No.
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Speaker 14: People do that all the time.
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Speaker 12: You know, I had a couple, um, opportunities to apologize
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Speaker 12: for it and reflect on it.
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Speaker 1: So, I don't know.
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Speaker 7: You'd have to ask her what she thinks about it. But,
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Speaker 7: you know, you.
19:12
Speaker 12: Never lay hands on a woman, bottom line.
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Speaker 1: I can't ask her. She's dead. And you were there, Hickerson.
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Speaker 1: That's from our friend Harvey Levin over at TMZ. So,
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Speaker 1: Rob Sheeter, when we're talking about ticks, the blood-sucking parasite.
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Speaker 1: Why would a woman of her caliber be with him?
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Speaker 11: Yeah, it's a real million-dollar question here, isn't it? She
19:42
Speaker 11: was with him, and she was with him again and
19:44
Speaker 11: again and again. And her friends were really angry about this.
19:47
Speaker 11: She was getting advice from everybody who loved her to
19:51
Speaker 11: stay away. It wasn't like he was a secret. We
19:54
Speaker 11: knew about him. Her inner circle knew about him. They
19:57
Speaker 11: broke up. They got back together. They broke up. They
20:00
Speaker 11: got back together again. Now, part of this too, we
20:03
Speaker 11: must blame him for. He did not want to let
20:06
Speaker 11: her go. She was the cash cow at She was
20:09
Speaker 11: the one that was paying for everything. It was her
20:12
Speaker 11: that raised the money for this fabulous lifestyle. We don't
20:16
Speaker 11: really know what his job was. Also too, it wasn't
20:19
Speaker 11: just about money, Nancy. It was about power. It was
20:22
Speaker 11: about access to Hollywood. He wasn't getting invited to the
20:25
Speaker 11: fancy parties. She was, and he was her plus one.
20:29
Speaker 11: She was the one getting invited to the Emmys, the Grammys,
20:32
Speaker 11: all the award shows. And he loved being there. I
20:35
Speaker 11: have two sources. who spotted him with her at these shows,
20:39
Speaker 11: and he seemed to be having a better time than her.
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Speaker 11: If he lost her, he lost all of this.
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Speaker 1: Eileen Reslin joining a senior show business exclusives reporter for
20:53
Speaker 1: Daily Mail. What can you tell me about him and
20:58
Speaker 1: a motorcycle wreck that just happened? I don't really call
21:02
Speaker 1: it an accident. I think it's more of a wreck.
21:05
Speaker 1: And not only that, claiming the cops were leaking information
21:10
Speaker 1: about Hayden's death. Judging by what we just saw from TMZ,
21:14
Speaker 1: I think I know where the leaks are coming from.
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Speaker 3: That's right, Nancy.
21:19
Speaker 5: Well, instead of laying low, Brian Hickerson and his brother,
21:23
Speaker 5: Zach Hickerson, are just getting in more and more trouble,
21:26
Speaker 5: speaking to the press, issuing statements, and also getting into
21:30
Speaker 5: bar brawls, just bringing more negative attention to themselves instead
21:34
Speaker 5: of listening to their attorneys and trying to just cooperate.
21:38
Speaker 5: They also reportedly though are talking to investigators. So hopefully
21:42
Speaker 5: some of the information that does come out is helpful
21:44
Speaker 5: to Hayden's case.
21:46
Speaker 1: You mean this bar brawl, Eileen Resland?
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Speaker 3: That's right, Nancy.
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Speaker 5: And Zach Hickerson, he spoke to TNC or a paparazzi
21:55
Speaker 5: outside the day after he got arrested and claimed that
21:57
Speaker 5: he feels misunderstood. And there's so much more to this story. But,
22:01
Speaker 5: you know, we hope that they just spill everything that
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Speaker 5: they can and give us actually the information that's going
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Speaker 5: to help bring justice to Hayden.
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Speaker 1: From our friends over at TMZ to Dr. Bethany Marshall
22:11
Speaker 1: joining us, psychoanalyst out of this jurisdiction, the L.A. jurisdiction,
22:16
Speaker 1: author of Deal Breaker. You can see her on Hulu, Bravo, Peacock.
22:21
Speaker 1: She's a star of a hit new podcast on the
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Speaker 1: couch with Dr. Bethany Marshall. And you can find her
22:27
Speaker 1: at DrBethanyMarshall.com. misunderstood.
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Speaker 7: Really?
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Speaker 1: Why does every man who gets in trouble claim he's misunderstood?
22:38
Speaker 1: That's so tired.
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Speaker 3: Hey, you know, Nancy, I wouldn't trust those guys with
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Speaker 3: a potted plant. And he or she was alone in
22:47
Speaker 3: an Airbnb with him. I mean, the whole thing is
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Speaker 3: so tragic. You know, Rob Shooter said something important, but
22:53
Speaker 3: I slightly disagree. He said that the more troubled the
22:56
Speaker 3: celebrity is, the more they surround themselves with troubled people.
23:00
Speaker 3: That's not always true, Nancy. Hayden Panettiere may have been
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Speaker 3: a very strong person. I treat celebrities who are strong.
23:08
Speaker 3: Often they come in to better their lives. They're able
23:11
Speaker 3: to stand up to managers, momagers, people like that. But
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Speaker 3: what happens is the people around them, they engender a
23:19
Speaker 3: sense that they owe those people for their success. I
23:24
Speaker 3: know Hayden tried to sort of break up with her
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Speaker 3: mother when she was 19 years old, told her mother
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Speaker 3: that she didn't want her mother to manage her. And
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Speaker 3: her mother said, you owe me allegedly. So stars go
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Speaker 3: through life knowing that other people help them with their success.
23:42
Speaker 3: But when they surround people, surround themselves by people who say, Hey,
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Speaker 3: now you have to pay me back for that. That
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Speaker 3: I think is where the trouble begins because in healthy relationships,
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Speaker 3: there's mutual, it's always mutually beneficial. I help you, you
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Speaker 3: help me, it's mutual. But when we look at Zach
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Speaker 3: and Brian, I see a guy who feels owed. You know,
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Speaker 3: he was her personal assistant for a while. Nancy, I
24:09
Speaker 3: can see him bringing her a sandwich for lunch and saying, well,
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Speaker 3: now you owe me, you better up my paycheck. He
24:16
Speaker 3: probably did very, very small things for her and then
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Speaker 3: amplified them, which I know this word is overused. What
24:24
Speaker 3: narcissists do is they give tiny little bits to another
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Speaker 3: person and then they amplify it and they think that
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Speaker 3: they have done so much. And I think that was
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Speaker 3: the cycle that Brian was in with her. And once
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Speaker 3: the power crumbled after she died, after the gravy train stopped,
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Speaker 3: Now he's just a little man underneath and going back
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Speaker 3: to his addictions.
24:48
Speaker 1: Dave Mack joining us, Crime Stories investigative reporter. Dave, how
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Speaker 1: did that motorcycle crash go down? Where were they going?
24:58
Speaker 1: Where were they coming from?
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Speaker 2: You know, you mentioned the bar brawl a few minutes ago,
25:03
Speaker 2: and that's when Zach was arrested. Zach Hickerson, Brian's brother,
25:07
Speaker 2: was arrested after the bar brawl. So Brian Hickerson shows
25:13
Speaker 2: up to pick up Zach from jail. This motorcycle wreck
25:18
Speaker 2: happened as they were leaving the jail, Nancy.
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Speaker 7: It's amazing.
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Speaker 2: It happened at like 530 in the afternoon. Hickerson slams
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Speaker 2: into the back of a car. His brother is dead.
25:32
Speaker 2: Loses a shoe as he's thrown from the motorcycle. I
25:36
Speaker 2: point that out because when you lose a shoe, it
25:38
Speaker 2: shows you the impact of the accident.
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Speaker 8: It wasn't just a.
25:40
Speaker 7: Slight bump, Nancy.
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Speaker 2: This was a huge hit, paying absolutely no attention. And
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Speaker 2: then Brian drives away on the motorcycle, leaving Zach behind
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Speaker 2: on the curb to deal with insurance and other details.
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Speaker 2: So Brian Hickerson once again showing that he is a
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Speaker 2: stand-up guy.
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Speaker 1: Rob Shooter. This is not the kind of guy you
26:03
Speaker 1: want to introduce at Thanksgiving dinner. So let me understand this.
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Speaker 1: He's at the jail picking up his brother after they
26:12
Speaker 1: get into that bar fight we were just showing. Then
26:16
Speaker 1: he rear ends another vehicle. I mean, how dumb do
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Speaker 1: you have to be to slam into the back end
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Speaker 1: of another vehicle? throws the brother off the motorcycle with
26:35
Speaker 1: the impact, knocks his shoe off, and then he leaves
26:38
Speaker 1: the scene. Nobody's named a suspect. Nobody's been named a
26:43
Speaker 1: person of interest, but really? What good was he? I mean,
26:48
Speaker 1: you heard Maroney describing psychoraphine, the most deadly drug now
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Speaker 1: being laced into oxys.
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Speaker 11: But I think what's so interesting... about that motorcycle accident
27:02
Speaker 11: to me was just his lack of care for life.
27:04
Speaker 11: This was his brother. This was his brother he had
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Speaker 11: on his bike. And you would have thought he would
27:09
Speaker 11: have been a little bit more careful with somebody that
27:11
Speaker 11: he allegedly loved, somebody that was a family member, somebody
27:15
Speaker 11: that was a blood relative.
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Speaker 1: Is that the third wheel of the love triangle tricycle?
27:22
Speaker 1: You've got Hayden Panettiere. You've got Hickerson, the boyfriend. And
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Speaker 1: I can't get away from what we heard earlier that
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Speaker 1: the witness stated that the bags were labeled Brian. Ding, ding.
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Speaker 1: You know, have you ever gone into Chipotle and you
27:43
Speaker 1: see all of the bags for people to pick up
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Speaker 1: and your name's on the bag? Is it that obvious?
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Speaker 1: They just got Brian written across a bag of dope? Allegedly.
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Speaker 1: So obvious. Can't you just see this scenario playing out, Shooter?
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Speaker 1: And again, he's not been named a suspect.
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Speaker 11: Oh, I'm there, Nancy. I was there weeks ago. I
28:07
Speaker 11: was one of the first people that was reporting that
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Speaker 11: the police had seized cameras, had seized cell phones. There's
28:13
Speaker 11: an electronic trail here. There's an electronic map. There was
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Speaker 11: three people in that apartment when she died.
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Speaker 7: She's dead.
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Speaker 11: So suddenly now we've only got two. And so this
28:25
Speaker 11: is not going to be terribly difficult. We know there
28:28
Speaker 11: were security cameras all around the facility. We know the
28:32
Speaker 11: police have seized cell phones. And now we are also
28:35
Speaker 11: seeing a pattern of reckless, reckless behavior that Brian didn't
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Speaker 11: care less about anybody's life. Even when he was picking
28:43
Speaker 11: up his brother as a favor, picking him up from jail,
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Speaker 11: he couldn't care less about getting him to wherever they
28:49
Speaker 11: were going safely. If he doesn't care about his brother,
28:52
Speaker 11: He certainly doesn't care about his on-again, off-again girlfriend.
28:58
Speaker 15: One fatal pill ended the life of Hayden Panettiere. That's
29:02
Speaker 15: what we are told by multiple law enforcement sources who
29:06
Speaker 15: are involved in this case. and who have direct knowledge.
29:10
Speaker 15: Authorities believe she took at least one oxycodone pill the
29:15
Speaker 15: morning she died, and that pill, they believe, was laced
29:20
Speaker 15: with fentanyl. Brian Hickerson, her boyfriend, gave police a bag
29:24
Speaker 15: of meds that Hayden brought with her from Los Angeles
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Speaker 15: to South Carolina, and the authorities took that bag at
29:33
Speaker 15: the condo where Hayden died. Now, if any of those
29:37
Speaker 15: meds also are positive with fentanyl, laced with fentanyl, that
29:42
Speaker 15: could be powerful evidence against the drug dealer. We know
29:46
Speaker 15: that the Los Angeles unit of the DEA is taking
29:51
Speaker 15: a hard look at this drug dealer and charges could
29:54
Speaker 15: be filed if they can link the drug that Hayden
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Speaker 15: took to the death and whether the drug was laced
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Speaker 15: with fentanyl.
30:04
Speaker 1: That's our friend Harvey Levin over at TMZ analyzing what's happening.
30:07
Speaker 1: And Mark Astor, back to the line of inquiry, we
30:11
Speaker 1: learn that the feds are pursuing that this was no accident,
30:15
Speaker 1: her death not an accident. There's plenty of people in
30:21
Speaker 1: the chain of supply in this scenario. You've got the
30:25
Speaker 1: drugs manufacturer, You've got whoever laced the drugs inappropriately, and
30:31
Speaker 1: I'm going to have to get to Moroni about how
30:33
Speaker 1: you lace something. You've got somebody pressing those pills, in
30:37
Speaker 1: other words, creating the poisonous drugs. Then you've got the
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Speaker 1: dealer handing it to the courier who has the bag
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Speaker 1: marked Brian that delivers it. And then you've got whoever
30:50
Speaker 1: took that bag from the courier and gave that pill
30:54
Speaker 1: to Hayden Panettiere. There's plenty... of blame to go around.
31:00
Speaker 9: I agree with you, and we should prosecute them. As
31:02
Speaker 9: the Attorney General said, they should be prosecuted under federal law.
31:05
Speaker 9: There's also a South Carolina law they could be prosecuted under,
31:09
Speaker 9: but the question is, who was it? I mean, Harvey
31:11
Speaker 9: Levin is saying that she brought a bag with her. Now,
31:14
Speaker 9: there's some evidence that there were bags or a bag
31:16
Speaker 9: delivered with the name Brian on it.
31:18
Speaker 7: Well, what was in it?
31:19
Speaker 9: I mean, you go to Chipotle, you see all those bags.
31:21
Speaker 7: Is it chicken?
31:21
Speaker 9: Is it beef?
31:22
Speaker 7: Who knows?
31:23
Speaker 9: We don't know what was in those bags, so You know,
31:25
Speaker 9: it's a big leap of faith to say, well, it
31:27
Speaker 9: was Brian Hickerson. And in fact, if anybody had a
31:29
Speaker 9: motive to actually keep her alive, it was Brian Hickerson
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Speaker 9: with his 15 seconds of fame, with the gravy train
31:35
Speaker 9: that was supporting his lifestyle. So potentially, he's the last
31:39
Speaker 9: person who would want to see her dead. So like
31:42
Speaker 9: I said at the beginning, Nancy, show me the evidence.
31:44
Speaker 9: Point a finger at somebody and show me evidence that
31:46
Speaker 9: connects them to her death.
31:48
Speaker 1: Dave Mack, joining us, investigative reporter, Crime Stories. Isn't it
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Speaker 1: true sources say allegedly close to Hickerson, have revealed to
31:57
Speaker 1: TMZ that they would order drugs through Postmates, just like
32:06
Speaker 1: we hear Shooter talking about DoorDash. It was just as
32:08
Speaker 1: simple as that.
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Speaker 2: Nancy, that is what a neighbor eyewitness actually reported, that
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Speaker 2: Postmates was being used delivering these black market drugs right
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Speaker 2: to Hayden Panatera's door. The connection about this does begin
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Speaker 2: with the neighbor, and it's those observations that were picked
32:32
Speaker 2: up by Harvey at TMZ. Now, The dropped off little bags,
32:37
Speaker 2: you know, at the unit over several years. That's something
32:42
Speaker 2: that we had witnesses reporting, you know, that there were
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Speaker 2: three people that oftentimes showed up with bags, two women
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Speaker 2: in their 20s and a man in his 30s, including
32:51
Speaker 2: the last week before Hayden passed. But this Postmates thing
32:55
Speaker 2: came from that same neighbor.
32:57
Speaker 6: Dr.
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Speaker 1: William Maroney joining us. He is our country's preeminent expert
33:02
Speaker 1: when it comes to opioid addiction and treatment. Just that simple. Dr. Maroney,
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Speaker 1: just order it on Postmates.
33:11
Speaker 7: Amazing.
33:13
Speaker 6: We see drugs come to your house. You don't even
33:17
Speaker 6: have to leave the house anymore. It kind of started
33:19
Speaker 6: around COVID and it just kept picking up and it's common.
33:25
Speaker 6: Now where the drugs get made and delivered to, that's
33:30
Speaker 6: the side that the interdiction comes from. We can't track
33:35
Speaker 6: things that go through electronically and end up at your doorstep.
33:39
Speaker 6: But it's demand reduction. That's the other reason why the
33:43
Speaker 6: DA's in this is to see where they can cut
33:46
Speaker 6: this stuff off. They're the people that identify it. They're
33:50
Speaker 6: the people that have all the resources. But that last mile,
33:56
Speaker 6: you know, delivery systems, they always say the United States
34:00
Speaker 6: Post Office is the last mile. What you have is
34:04
Speaker 6: people coming to the house and they're the people that
34:08
Speaker 6: order it because it all goes through pseudonyms and you
34:12
Speaker 6: can't have a star doing this kind of stuff. You
34:15
Speaker 6: can't have an athlete doing this kind of stuff. You
34:17
Speaker 6: can't have a politician doing this kind of stuff. So
34:20
Speaker 6: there's surrogates. One of the things to realize about how
34:23
Speaker 6: these drugs are made, and this is a very simplistic visual,
34:27
Speaker 6: these drugs are made like making cookies, right?
34:32
Speaker 7: It's powders.
34:33
Speaker 6: You put something in a bowl. Sometimes it's a really
34:36
Speaker 6: big bowl. You mix the powders and then they go
34:40
Speaker 6: through a press. That is the visual about whether it's cyclorphine, fentanyl, oxycodone, xylosine.
34:51
Speaker 6: That's the way all this stuff goes through a culinary model,
34:56
Speaker 6: just like making cookies.
34:58
Speaker 7: Sometime the batch is as big as.
35:00
Speaker 6: A 55-gallon drum, but that's enough to kill the entire
35:05
Speaker 6: state of California. So they usually make this in one-gallon lots,
35:10
Speaker 6: just like making cookies.
35:13
Speaker 15: Dr.
35:14
Speaker 1: Maroney, I understand why drugs are cut with something like
35:20
Speaker 1: baking soda. It's cheap and you can make more pills
35:28
Speaker 1: from the same batch of, let's just pretend, Oxy. But
35:32
Speaker 1: why is Oxy laced with fentanyl or cyclorophene, which costs money?
35:40
Speaker 6: Okay, so you have to take this in two different directions.
35:43
Speaker 6: The first direction is You cut it with something like
35:47
Speaker 6: powdered milk or bicarbonate to save money. You cut it
35:53
Speaker 6: with something like fentanyl and cyclorphine to boost the image
35:59
Speaker 6: to drive a higher price. So that's the thing, because
36:04
Speaker 6: for 40, 50 years, we just had heroin, and the
36:08
Speaker 6: idea was to make as much money on the heroin
36:11
Speaker 6: as you could, so you cut it with something useless.
36:15
Speaker 6: Now the idea is to super brand your drug, that
36:19
Speaker 6: the high you get is going to be something that
36:22
Speaker 6: you can't get from anybody else. So in the heroin,
36:27
Speaker 6: you added fentanyl. Now we get people just getting fentanyl. Well,
36:31
Speaker 6: how do you get higher than fentanyl? You add xylazine.
36:34
Speaker 6: You add cyclosporine. The goal is a super branding. You
36:42
Speaker 6: no longer try to save money. Now you try to
36:45
Speaker 6: push price. That's the economics.
36:47
Speaker 1: And that is what he meant when he said earlier tonight, novel... opioids,
36:55
Speaker 1: designer drugs.
36:56
Speaker 13: Yes.
36:58
Speaker 1: We wait as the investigation unfolds in the death of
37:02
Speaker 1: TV and movie star Hayden Panettiere. Again, no one has
37:05
Speaker 1: been named a suspect or a person of interest. If
37:09
Speaker 1: you know or think you know anything regarding this case,
37:12
Speaker 1: please dial 864-232-7463. We remember American hero, Border Patrol agent
37:16
Speaker 1: Michael Gallagher.
37:24
Speaker 6: U.S.
37:24
Speaker 1: Department of Homeland Security, just 32 killed in the line
37:28
Speaker 1: of duty and leaving behind a wife, Samantha, and children,
37:33
Speaker 1: Quincy and Ryan. American hero, Border Patrol agent Michael Gallagher.
37:41
Speaker 1: Thank you to our guests, but especially to you for
37:42
Speaker 1: being with us tonight. Nancy Gray signing off for tonight,
37:45
Speaker 1: but I'll see you tomorrow night. And until then, good night, friend.