Latest / Wicked and Grim: A True Crime Podcast / The Strange Murder of Brian Egg

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The Strange Murder of Brian Egg · Wicked and Grim: A True Crime Podcast

0:07
Speaker 1: Brian was the kind of neighbor you expected to see
0:09
Speaker 1: every day until one day he simply wasn't there anymore.
0:14
Speaker 1: It was a stark and strange change, and as the
0:17
Speaker 1: days of his absence turned into weeks and then turned
0:19
Speaker 1: into months, subtle signs began to surface that something inside
0:25
Speaker 1: is now quiet home wasn't right. Then, when the truth
0:30
Speaker 1: was finally uncovered, it exposed a disturbing reality that was
0:36
Speaker 1: hidden just out of view. This is the story of
0:42
Speaker 1: Brian Egg.
0:44
Speaker 2: My name's Ben, I'm Nicole, and you're listening to Wicked Ingram.
0:48
Speaker 1: A true crime podcast. Warning the following podcasts and material
0:56
Speaker 1: intended foreman your audience listener discretion. I have a joke
1:20
Speaker 1: for you. Do you Why was Cinderella so bad at soccer?
1:25
Speaker 2: Ah, I'm terrible. I don't know, I don't know, I'm terrible. Jokes.
1:29
Speaker 1: She kept running away from the ball.
1:32
Speaker 2: Oh shit, I should have gotten that one. Actually, that's
1:35
Speaker 2: real good. That's good.
1:37
Speaker 1: I figured it would be a good way to start
1:38
Speaker 1: our Friday, sitting here with a little bit of a joke,
1:40
Speaker 1: you know, get a smile on her face.
1:42
Speaker 2: Yeah, I freaking love Cinderella. I would say that's my
1:45
Speaker 2: favorite Disney movie.
1:47
Speaker 1: Mine would be Hercules.
1:49
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, I knew that.
1:51
Speaker 1: I knew yours was Cinderella.
1:52
Speaker 2: I even have a tattoo, married gorilla tattoo.
1:55
Speaker 1: I know what does it say?
1:57
Speaker 2: It says it's on my foot. Have courage and be kind.
2:01
Speaker 1: There we go a little bit of inspiration to go
2:03
Speaker 1: along with your smiling Friday for the Yes, Yes, we
2:07
Speaker 1: have an interesting story for you today. It's a bit
2:11
Speaker 1: of a weird one. It's got an interesting twist. Yeah,
2:16
Speaker 1: I guess it's all. I'm really safe for now. There's
2:17
Speaker 1: a lot to go with it. But are you ready
2:19
Speaker 1: for it?
2:20
Speaker 2: I am?
2:20
Speaker 1: Are you?
2:21
Speaker 2: Yeah? I mean why not?
2:22
Speaker 1: Let's do her Are you as ready for the story
2:25
Speaker 1: as you were ready for the snow we woke up
2:27
Speaker 1: to this morning, Yes, almost the end of March, and
2:31
Speaker 1: we just got like two inches of snow overnight.
2:33
Speaker 2: Our weather has been a bit interesting this year in
2:35
Speaker 2: this sense. We've had many false springs.
2:39
Speaker 1: We've had a lot this year. But I will grant
2:42
Speaker 1: you this snow will be melted probably by the end
2:44
Speaker 1: of the day. Probably, But I'm just ready for the
2:47
Speaker 1: sun to shine in the warm weather. Yeah, but you
2:49
Speaker 1: guys are probably like, shut up I'm ready for the case,
2:52
Speaker 1: So let's get on the case.
2:53
Speaker 2: Let's do it.
2:55
Speaker 1: So there's a certain comfort in routine, especially in a
2:58
Speaker 1: city where everything is constantly moving. People pass each other
3:02
Speaker 1: on the same sidewalk every day. Maybe they're nodding politely
3:06
Speaker 1: or exchanging small talk, or simply just existing side by
3:09
Speaker 1: side without ever acknowledging one another or really stopping to
3:12
Speaker 1: think about it, but one way or another, over time,
3:16
Speaker 1: those familiar faces simply become part of your background. They're expected, dependable,
3:22
Speaker 1: almost invisible, even in their consistency, Like the person who
3:27
Speaker 1: comes and replaces the water jug in an office building
3:29
Speaker 1: every Friday, sort of say, he's there, You expect to
3:32
Speaker 1: see him, and it's just a part of what your
3:35
Speaker 1: life has become.
3:37
Speaker 2: And when it's a different person, you're like, what the heck?
3:39
Speaker 1: Yeah, things can feel different, and it's not unusual to
3:43
Speaker 1: notice when something new does appear, too, But it's far
3:46
Speaker 1: easier to overlook when something quietly disappears. Maybe it's a
3:52
Speaker 1: missed wave from a friendly face, or an empty doorway,
3:55
Speaker 1: or a routine that suddenly stops without explanation. At first,
3:59
Speaker 1: it's easy to brush. I mean, yeah, sure, people get
4:01
Speaker 1: busy plans, changed life pulls us in different directions all
4:04
Speaker 1: the time, but as days turn into weeks, that absence
4:08
Speaker 1: can start to feel much heavier and much harder to ignore,
4:12
Speaker 1: like a small detail that doesn't quite fit anymore. And
4:17
Speaker 1: sometimes the most unsettling part isn't what's obvious, it's what sits,
4:23
Speaker 1: just out of sight, blending into that ordinary, waiting long
4:26
Speaker 1: enough that no one thinks to question it until it's
4:30
Speaker 1: far too late. But before anything in this story was
4:33
Speaker 1: out of place, there was a sixty five year old
4:36
Speaker 1: man living in a quiet life in San Francisco, California.
4:41
Speaker 1: His name was Brian Egg, and to people who knew him,
4:44
Speaker 1: or even those who just passed by him, he was
4:47
Speaker 1: a constant, the kind of person you don't really think
4:49
Speaker 1: about at first until one day they're suddenly not there
4:52
Speaker 1: anymore now. Brian lived in the South of Market district,
4:56
Speaker 1: better known as SOMA. It's a busy part of the
4:59
Speaker 1: city that's always changing and always moving, you know, that
5:02
Speaker 1: kind of thing, But somehow Brian didn't really change with it.
5:07
Speaker 1: For over four decades, he stayed rooted in the same place,
5:11
Speaker 1: in his small home on Clara Street. Now his place
5:15
Speaker 1: wasn't anything flashy. It was just a modest, older house
5:19
Speaker 1: tucked into the neighborhood. But it was his and it
5:23
Speaker 1: had been for the most of his adult life. Now
5:26
Speaker 1: there he kept his life simple, really simple in fact.
5:29
Speaker 1: You see, Brian wasn't into technology. He had no cell phone,
5:33
Speaker 1: no computer, no social media, nothing like that. And if
5:36
Speaker 1: you wanted to reach him, you had to call his
5:39
Speaker 1: home phone, or more likely, you just ran into him
5:42
Speaker 1: outside on the street somewhere, and most people did. Because
5:45
Speaker 1: Brian was almost always out and about. He had a routine,
5:50
Speaker 1: and not just a loose one. This was the kind
5:52
Speaker 1: of routine people could rely on, like set their watch
5:56
Speaker 1: by sort of thing. Every day, you'd see him walking
5:59
Speaker 1: through the neighborhood, sometimes with a dog or carrying something
6:02
Speaker 1: or you know, sometimes just taking time to go for
6:05
Speaker 1: a stroll. But he'd stop and he'd talk to people.
6:07
Speaker 1: He'd check in, he'd ask how they were doing, you know,
6:10
Speaker 1: you name it. It was clear he was never in
6:13
Speaker 1: a rush. He also took care of things that weren't
6:16
Speaker 1: technically his responsibility. If there was trash in the alley, well,
6:21
Speaker 1: you could bet Brian would be picking it up. If
6:23
Speaker 1: someone had plants, outside and they were going dry, he
6:26
Speaker 1: would water them. Sometimes he'd even actually give plants away,
6:30
Speaker 1: and then when they're sitting outside the neighbor's house or whatever,
6:34
Speaker 1: he'd even quietly keep taking care of them himself so
6:37
Speaker 1: the owner didn't have to worry about it.
6:38
Speaker 2: Oh my, he sounds just like a beautiful soul.
6:41
Speaker 1: Really, one hundred percent, Brian is a beautiful soul. And
6:46
Speaker 1: of course, like these aren't things he's doing for attention either.
6:48
Speaker 1: It was just how he lived, it was who he was,
6:52
Speaker 1: and all in all he was a familiar face, not
6:54
Speaker 1: just a familiar individual, not just that familiarity, but he
6:58
Speaker 1: was also very reliable. People expected to see Brian. You
7:02
Speaker 1: could almost set your watch by him, as I said.
7:05
Speaker 1: And in a city where neighbors often come and go
7:07
Speaker 1: without much connection, Brian he was different. He made the
7:11
Speaker 1: place feel smaller, more personal, like a community or even home. Now.
7:17
Speaker 1: Earlier in his life, Brian had worked at a place
7:20
Speaker 1: called the Stud, a well known bar in the city
7:22
Speaker 1: with a long history. Was a part of his past though,
7:25
Speaker 1: and after that he got by doing odd jobs, living
7:28
Speaker 1: frugally and making just enough money to stay afloat. And
7:32
Speaker 1: that's how he liked it. But what really stood out
7:35
Speaker 1: about Brian wasn't where he worked or how much money
7:37
Speaker 1: he had, It was how he treated people. Brian had
7:41
Speaker 1: a habit of helping those who needed at most. If
7:44
Speaker 1: someone was struggling down in their luck or just needed
7:47
Speaker 1: a place to stay for a while. I mean, he
7:49
Speaker 1: would often open his door with no big questions or expectations.
7:53
Speaker 1: There was just help whenever Brian could. And that generosity
7:58
Speaker 1: was a very defined part of who he was.
8:01
Speaker 2: So he may not even have enough money for himself,
8:04
Speaker 2: but he'll always make sure that he can help someone else.
8:07
Speaker 1: He was the give the shirt off his back kind
8:10
Speaker 1: of person. Gosh, okay, and I honestly have a feeling.
8:13
Speaker 1: I don't know this factually, but I just have this
8:15
Speaker 1: feeling that I'm sure there would have been a situation
8:18
Speaker 1: or two where he probably literally did give the shirt
8:20
Speaker 1: off his back.
8:21
Speaker 2: Yeah, and just from someone who doesn't live in like
8:24
Speaker 2: a huge city. When I go to a big cities,
8:27
Speaker 2: they can feel pretty lonely, So it's kind of nice
8:29
Speaker 2: just to hear that he almost to people around him
8:32
Speaker 2: makes them not feel lonely.
8:35
Speaker 1: Oh, definitely now for years, I mean decades, really, that's
8:39
Speaker 1: exactly how he lived and who he was now by
8:43
Speaker 1: the time of summer of twenty eighteen. Sometime in late
8:46
Speaker 1: May or possibly early June of that year, Brian was
8:49
Speaker 1: seen outside his home on Clara Street doing one of
8:52
Speaker 1: the things that he become, you know, almost second nature
8:55
Speaker 1: to him. Really. He was cleaning the surrounding area, picking
8:59
Speaker 1: up litter in ten to the alleyways and sidewalks nearby,
9:02
Speaker 1: making sure things were clean in public. It was the small,
9:05
Speaker 1: everyday thing that defined who he was, and because it
9:08
Speaker 1: was so typical of him, it didn't likely stand out
9:11
Speaker 1: to anyone who was passing by. In fact, it would
9:13
Speaker 1: have seemed even reassuring more than anything else. But after
9:17
Speaker 1: finishing up, Brian returned to his house and it seemed
9:20
Speaker 1: to be a completely ordinary end to a completely ordinary day.
9:24
Speaker 1: But what makes that moment significant was not what was seen,
9:29
Speaker 1: but what was not seen, because in the days that followed,
9:34
Speaker 1: Brian simply wasn't around like he usually was. At first,
9:38
Speaker 1: it didn't exactly raise any concern. In a busy neighborhood,
9:41
Speaker 1: it's easy to go for a short period of time
9:43
Speaker 1: without crossing paths with someone, right, even if they are
9:46
Speaker 1: a regular, inconsistent presence. People may have assumed that he
9:51
Speaker 1: was inside or resting, possibly out at a different time
9:54
Speaker 1: of day than usual. There's no clear reason, at least initially,
9:58
Speaker 1: to believe that anything was seriously be wrong. However, as
10:03
Speaker 1: more time passed, his absence in the neighborhood became harder
10:06
Speaker 1: to ignore. The daily pattern people had grown used to well,
10:10
Speaker 1: they were no longer there, and as the days turned
10:12
Speaker 1: two weeks, the lack of any sign of Brian began
10:16
Speaker 1: to stand out more and more clearly to the people
10:19
Speaker 1: who knew him, and even those who only even those
10:21
Speaker 1: who only knew him in just passing, just seen him before,
10:25
Speaker 1: they couldn't see him anymore, and they didn't know why now.
10:31
Speaker 1: His absence didn't immediately trigger any sort of alarm in
10:34
Speaker 1: the formal sense, but it did begin to create a
10:37
Speaker 1: unique unease. But that same unease soon began to shift
10:42
Speaker 1: when Brian's family, who lived out of state, started trying
10:45
Speaker 1: to reach him and were unable to get hold of him.
10:49
Speaker 1: See his brother, who was used to speaking with him
10:51
Speaker 1: quite regularly, attempted to call him on his home phone,
10:55
Speaker 1: expecting the usual outcome one of two is either Brian
10:58
Speaker 1: picks up or the call simply goes unanswered. What he
11:02
Speaker 1: encountered instead, though, was something that immediately felt off. For
11:07
Speaker 1: the first time ever, the call was directed to voicemail,
11:13
Speaker 1: and Brian had never been known to use an answering
11:16
Speaker 1: machine in the past before because remember, as I said,
11:19
Speaker 1: Brian kept his life simple, intentionally simple, avoiding most forms
11:23
Speaker 1: of technology. So the sudden appearance of a voicemail system
11:27
Speaker 1: where there hadn't been one before was enough to raise
11:30
Speaker 1: some questions. Now if that weren't strange enough, but made
11:34
Speaker 1: the situation even more unsettling was the voice on the
11:37
Speaker 1: recording itself, because it wasn't Brian. Now, the message sounded
11:43
Speaker 1: unfamiliar and was delivered by someone his brother just didn't recognize. So,
11:48
Speaker 1: wanting to be sure that you know, it had not
11:50
Speaker 1: been some kind of mistake, he checked the number and
11:53
Speaker 1: he called it again. This time, instead of being sent
11:57
Speaker 1: to voicemail, someone actually answered the phone. On that call,
12:02
Speaker 1: The man on the other end identified himself as Nate,
12:06
Speaker 1: and when he was asked about Brian will this, Nate
12:09
Speaker 1: responded in a calm and casual manner, explaining Brian wasn't
12:12
Speaker 1: available at the moment, and you know he was supposedly
12:15
Speaker 1: out walking the dog. He reassured Brian's brother that he
12:19
Speaker 1: would pass along the message and have Brian return the call.
12:22
Speaker 2: This is really odd. It is the even just having
12:27
Speaker 2: a voicemail would probably have been something his brother would
12:31
Speaker 2: know that he would have told him about.
12:33
Speaker 1: It right easily. He would picked up on that right.
12:35
Speaker 2: Away, because it would have been a big deal for
12:37
Speaker 2: Brian exactly.
12:39
Speaker 1: However, there is a caveat that goes with this. The explanation.
12:44
Speaker 1: It was simple enough, and given Brian's known habit of
12:47
Speaker 1: allowing people to stay at his home from time to time,
12:50
Speaker 1: it wasn't entirely impossible that someone else might be there,
12:54
Speaker 1: even maybe hooking up their answering machine on his phone
12:57
Speaker 1: for a few days.
12:57
Speaker 2: Right, Yeah, I suppose so.
13:00
Speaker 1: But even so, something about the interaction didn't quite feel right.
13:04
Speaker 1: Days went by again, and there was no return call
13:07
Speaker 1: that ever came. Brian didn't reach out to his family,
13:10
Speaker 1: and the explanation given over the phone remained up in
13:13
Speaker 1: the air. Now, while Brian's family was beginning to feel
13:16
Speaker 1: that something clearly was wrong, a similar realization was slowly
13:21
Speaker 1: taking shape much closer to Brian's home in the Soma
13:25
Speaker 1: neighborhood of San Francisco. The absence of Brian was becoming
13:28
Speaker 1: harder and harder for everyone to ignore. People were talking
13:32
Speaker 1: to each other, and the more they discussed it, the
13:34
Speaker 1: clearer it became that this wasn't normal behavior for Brian, because,
13:38
Speaker 1: I mean, he had spent years establishing this visible and
13:41
Speaker 1: steady presence around the neighborhood, and that consistency worked against
13:46
Speaker 1: any assumption that he simply left town, because if he'd
13:49
Speaker 1: gone somewhere, that too would have been out of character
13:51
Speaker 1: for him to disappear without saying anything to anyone, especially
13:55
Speaker 1: for an extended period of time. He talked with people daily,
14:00
Speaker 1: it would have come up. One of the people most
14:04
Speaker 1: affected by this growing concern was a neighbor and longtime
14:07
Speaker 1: friend named Scott Free, who had known Brian for years.
14:11
Speaker 1: It'd even worked with each other in the past, and
14:13
Speaker 1: when Brian stopped, you know, appearing, it stood out right
14:16
Speaker 1: away to Scott. Now, its concerns continued to build. Neighbors
14:21
Speaker 1: began using online community platforms I'm assuming places like Facebook
14:26
Speaker 1: or whatever to spread awareness and ask if anyone had
14:29
Speaker 1: seen or heard of Brian. Posts started circulating with people
14:32
Speaker 1: sharing what they knew and trying to piece together when
14:35
Speaker 1: you know Brian had last been seen at the same time,
14:38
Speaker 1: some neighbors took a more direct approach. They went to
14:41
Speaker 1: Brian's house. They knocked on the door and waited for
14:45
Speaker 1: an answer, but it never came. There was no sign
14:49
Speaker 1: of any sort of activity that was going on, no
14:51
Speaker 1: indication that he was inside, and no way to confirm
14:54
Speaker 1: whether he was even there at all. But made the
14:57
Speaker 1: situation especially unsettling was the lack of any sort of
15:01
Speaker 1: clear explanation. As far as anyone could tell, there was
15:04
Speaker 1: no reason for Brian to leave like this, and as
15:08
Speaker 1: concern within the neighborhood continued, it eventually reached to a
15:12
Speaker 1: point where residents felt it was necessary to involve law enforcement.
15:17
Speaker 1: Multiple neighbors began contacting the police to request a welfare
15:21
Speaker 1: check on Brian Egg, explaining that he'd not been seen
15:24
Speaker 1: in weeks and his sudden disappearance was not like him.
15:28
Speaker 1: So officers obliged, and they responded to those requests and
15:33
Speaker 1: visited Brian's home on Clara's Street several times during August.
15:37
Speaker 1: Each time they had approached the same sort of way,
15:40
Speaker 1: police would come up to the door. They'd knock and
15:43
Speaker 1: wait for a response. When no one answered, they left
15:47
Speaker 1: the property. They couldn't see signs of forced entry. There
15:52
Speaker 1: was no visible disturbance and nothing that clearly indicated a
15:55
Speaker 1: crime had taken place. So without those indicators, officers had
15:59
Speaker 1: no legal grounds to enter the home without permission. There
16:03
Speaker 1: was simply nothing else that they can do. Police were
16:08
Speaker 1: also looking at the belief that Brian might simply be
16:10
Speaker 1: away from his home. The voicemail message that callers had
16:14
Speaker 1: begun encountering when they tried to actually reach him, along
16:17
Speaker 1: with this phone line, it also gave the impression that
16:20
Speaker 1: Brian would return at some point, which from an investigative standpoint,
16:24
Speaker 1: it doesn't immediately contradict the idea that he could be
16:27
Speaker 1: out of town. Although neighbors continued to express concern and
16:30
Speaker 1: request additional checks, each visit by the police resulted in
16:34
Speaker 1: the same outcome, with no contact, no visible signs of trouble,
16:40
Speaker 1: and no further action being taken.
16:43
Speaker 2: I kind of love that he didn't have like a
16:46
Speaker 2: lot of technology and stuff, but then now that something
16:49
Speaker 2: is kind of clearly going wrong, it makes it a
16:53
Speaker 2: lot more difficult to communicate to make sure he is okay.
16:57
Speaker 1: Yeah, there's definitely benefits to having a cell phone in
17:00
Speaker 1: your pocket.
17:01
Speaker 2: Yeah right, yeah. Or say he did just go on
17:04
Speaker 2: a holiday or something, and you know, maybe he would
17:06
Speaker 2: post on Facebook a little photo and then everyone would
17:09
Speaker 2: be like, oh, okay, like Brian's okay.
17:11
Speaker 1: Right, Like where's Brian? Don't let's check his Instagram. We
17:13
Speaker 1: go and we just see Brian getting like drunk in
17:15
Speaker 1: an all inclusive Mexican resort or something like, hell yeah,
17:18
Speaker 1: Brian lived.
17:19
Speaker 2: Brian's living his best life exactly.
17:22
Speaker 1: Now, looking back on this period, it would later be
17:25
Speaker 1: seen as a very critical window of time because it
17:28
Speaker 1: was during these early welfare checks that if Brian's disappearance
17:32
Speaker 1: might have been investigated more, the truth about what was
17:35
Speaker 1: unfolding inside his home it may have come to light
17:38
Speaker 1: much sooner, and perhaps it would have provided much needed
17:43
Speaker 1: information now as the days passed and concern around Brian
17:48
Speaker 1: continued to build. At this point, the uncertainty surrounding Brian's
17:52
Speaker 1: disappearance had largely been based on what wasn't happening, for example,
17:58
Speaker 1: him not appearing in the neighborhood, the lack of communication,
18:00
Speaker 1: the unanswered door, that sort of thing. But now there
18:03
Speaker 1: was something new to focus on. People began noticing unfamiliar
18:08
Speaker 1: individuals coming and going from Brian's home on Clara Street. Now,
18:13
Speaker 1: as I mentioned, Brian had a history of helping people
18:16
Speaker 1: who were struggling, and it wasn't uncommon for him to
18:19
Speaker 1: offer temporary shelter to those in need. However, what stood
18:24
Speaker 1: out in this situation was not just the presence of
18:27
Speaker 1: these individuals, but the way they appeared to be using
18:30
Speaker 1: his home as if it were their own. Neighbors observed
18:34
Speaker 1: them entering leaving regularly, without any sign of Brian himself,
18:39
Speaker 1: and without any indication that he was even still living
18:42
Speaker 1: there alongside them. Usually, if Brian had allowed someone to
18:46
Speaker 1: stay in his home, his own routine would typically remain unchanged.
18:51
Speaker 1: He would still be seen outside continuing his daily habits.
18:55
Speaker 1: But instead, what people were witnessing was a complete absence
18:59
Speaker 1: of him, fined with the ongoing activity of strangers at
19:03
Speaker 1: his residence.
19:04
Speaker 2: This is really alarming, yeah.
19:07
Speaker 1: And the longer this continued on, the more concerning it
19:10
Speaker 1: became for everyone, and neighbors quickly began to question who
19:15
Speaker 1: these individuals were and why they were even there in
19:17
Speaker 1: the first place. The whole situation was wrong, like something
19:21
Speaker 1: had been taken over in Brian's absence. Reports were soon
19:26
Speaker 1: made to the police once again, with neighbors explaining that
19:29
Speaker 1: not only was Brian still missing, but there were now
19:31
Speaker 1: unknown individuals occupying his house, which added a complete new
19:36
Speaker 1: layer to the situation, shifting it further away from a
19:39
Speaker 1: routine welfare check closer to something that required almost a
19:42
Speaker 1: deeper investigation. But still, despite this, the response didn't immediately
19:49
Speaker 1: change in any sort of meaningful way, because it was
19:51
Speaker 1: still difficult to prove that a crime had taken place.
19:56
Speaker 1: The individual scene at the house were not actively engaging
19:59
Speaker 1: in behavior your that could be clearly identified as criminal
20:03
Speaker 1: from the street, and without direct evidence, the situation remained
20:07
Speaker 1: in that kind of legal gray area.
20:11
Speaker 2: Oh no, I feel like if we were his neighbor,
20:13
Speaker 2: we would just be obsessed with him and just love him,
20:16
Speaker 2: and I would just like go and freakin' break the door,
20:19
Speaker 2: break the door down, and be like, what's going on?
20:22
Speaker 1: For sure, But as far as like police are aware, Like,
20:24
Speaker 1: who knows, these people could be out of town friends
20:27
Speaker 1: who are starting to house it for Brian while he's
20:30
Speaker 1: on vacation. Maybe Brian has a family member or a
20:35
Speaker 1: friend who's in the hospital, a state over or something,
20:38
Speaker 1: and these people are watching his place while he's gone.
20:40
Speaker 2: I know there are a lot of reasons why they
20:43
Speaker 2: could be there, but I don't know. Still, especially for
20:46
Speaker 2: these people that know how strict he is with his routine, Like,
20:50
Speaker 2: you can see why they would be very uneasy about
20:52
Speaker 2: all this.
20:53
Speaker 1: Oh definitely, don't get me wrong, Like they have every
20:55
Speaker 1: right to be concerned, but when.
20:56
Speaker 2: It comes down to what you can do about it, Yeah,
20:59
Speaker 2: in the.
21:00
Speaker 1: Eyes of the law, there needs to be reason for
21:02
Speaker 1: concern other than while we don't know these people, well, Brian.
21:06
Speaker 2: Might Yeah, yeah, because how well every did people really
21:11
Speaker 2: know Brian right exactly?
21:12
Speaker 1: So there's always questions and they need evidence before they
21:17
Speaker 1: can act. So up until this point, there had been
21:20
Speaker 1: unanswered questions and unusual activity, but nothing had definitively pointed
21:25
Speaker 1: to a serious thing happening inside this home. But that
21:28
Speaker 1: changed when the diligent neighbors who were keeping their eyes
21:32
Speaker 1: peeled started noticing that the individuals now living in Brian's
21:36
Speaker 1: home were engaging in to what appeared to be a
21:40
Speaker 1: very intense and continuous cleaning effort.
21:45
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, you're freaking kidding me now.
21:49
Speaker 1: It was an effort that was not the kind of
21:51
Speaker 1: light tiding that might follow someone moving into a new
21:53
Speaker 1: space or reorganizing a home, or even spring cleaning. Nothing
21:57
Speaker 1: like that. Instead, it was described as excess and aggressive.
22:02
Speaker 1: One of the first signs was the presence of soap
22:06
Speaker 1: and water seeping out from underneath the front door of
22:09
Speaker 1: the house. People walking by could see SuDS being pushed
22:14
Speaker 1: outwards and pouring onto the ground. Also, there was a
22:18
Speaker 1: very strong and persistent smell that began to emanate and
22:22
Speaker 1: linger around the property, a very familiar one. It was bleach.
22:27
Speaker 1: Oh no, this was obviously not just a matter of
22:32
Speaker 1: someone maintaining a home. It looked much more like an
22:35
Speaker 1: attempt to thoroughly sanitize or remove something.
22:39
Speaker 2: Yeah here, At first I was thinking they were like
22:41
Speaker 2: getting rid of a shit or something. But yeah, this
22:45
Speaker 2: is ominous. Yeah, it really gives you an unsettling feeling.
22:51
Speaker 1: Yeah. Now, In addition to the cleaning, neighbors also reported
22:54
Speaker 1: seeing parts of the home being painted over as well,
22:57
Speaker 1: including areas near the front entrance.
22:59
Speaker 2: Which a guest would just never do. A guest isn't
23:04
Speaker 2: going to be painting your American house exactly.
23:07
Speaker 1: Now, for those neighbors, friends, and concern community members watching
23:11
Speaker 1: from nearby. The situation, of course, was not right, and
23:14
Speaker 1: it put a knot in everyone's stomach, even though if
23:17
Speaker 1: we continue down the road of Devil's Advocate with this,
23:21
Speaker 1: we might think like maybe Brian hired people to do
23:24
Speaker 1: a deep clean or renos while Brian had lived in
23:27
Speaker 1: the same home for decades is the thing, without making
23:29
Speaker 1: any major changes or renovations, and his habits had always
23:33
Speaker 1: been consistent. So the sudden disappearance of him, the sudden
23:36
Speaker 1: appearance of these individuals, the sudden appearance of heavy cleaning
23:39
Speaker 1: and strong chemicals and visible alterations to the property, it
23:43
Speaker 1: just straight up didn't match what anyone knew or have
23:47
Speaker 1: seen a Brian before. And at this point concern among
23:52
Speaker 1: neighbors began to escalate into urgency. It wasn't just concerned,
23:55
Speaker 1: it was something's not right. Clearly, we need to have
23:59
Speaker 1: some sort of intervent. And it was in early August now,
24:01
Speaker 1: which meant no one had seen Brian for about six
24:04
Speaker 1: or eight weeks, and the situation had reached a point
24:07
Speaker 1: where this concern could no longer be dismissed or explained away.
24:12
Speaker 1: It was on August seventh, twenty eighteen, Brian's sister made
24:15
Speaker 1: the decision to formally report him missing, and this marked
24:19
Speaker 1: a very significant shift in how this situation was handled,
24:22
Speaker 1: because up until that point, there had been some attempts
24:26
Speaker 1: to check in on Brian, but there was no confirmation
24:28
Speaker 1: of his condition or whereabouts. But this wasn't until a
24:32
Speaker 1: week later, on August fourteenth, that everything about the story changed.
24:38
Speaker 1: This time, neighbors noticed a professional cleaning crew was now
24:42
Speaker 1: parked outside the property. However, this was not an ordinary
24:46
Speaker 1: service vehicle or routine maintenance. Based on what they observed,
24:51
Speaker 1: it appeared to be a specialized cleaning company, the kind
24:54
Speaker 1: typically associated with biohazard or crime scene cleaning. And what
25:00
Speaker 1: made this so alarming was the fact that officially no
25:03
Speaker 1: crime had been reported at the house, yet Brian was missing,
25:07
Speaker 1: and that was it. So if nothing had happened, why
25:10
Speaker 1: was a cleanup crew being brought in, And if something
25:12
Speaker 1: had happened, why had no one been told. The reaction
25:16
Speaker 1: from neighbors was immediate, and multiple calls were placed to
25:19
Speaker 1: nine to one point one, with residents describing what they
25:22
Speaker 1: were seeing and expressed urgent concern about what might be
25:25
Speaker 1: going on in that home.
25:27
Speaker 2: Yeah, just listening to this, this is making me feel sick.
25:30
Speaker 1: When officers responded to the scene that day, it was
25:33
Speaker 1: no longer just a welfare check based on a lack
25:36
Speaker 1: of contact. The circumstances surrounding the home had changed the
25:40
Speaker 1: volume of calls from neighbors. It all made it very
25:43
Speaker 1: clear that something wasn't right, and for the first time
25:45
Speaker 1: since since Brian had last been seen, the situation was
25:49
Speaker 1: finally being approached with a level of urgency that matched
25:53
Speaker 1: what those around him had already begun to feel. And
25:56
Speaker 1: this time, instead of being met with an unanswered door,
26:00
Speaker 1: police instead made their way inside and made contact. Inside
26:06
Speaker 1: his home, officers encountered a man later identified as Robert McCaffrey.
26:12
Speaker 1: He was not someone known to the neighborhood, and more importantly,
26:16
Speaker 1: he was not Brian. When questioned about why he was
26:19
Speaker 1: at the house, Robert claimed that he was there to
26:21
Speaker 1: pay the cleaning crew. According to reports, he even had
26:25
Speaker 1: a significant amount of cash on him, while he indicated though,
26:29
Speaker 1: that the cash was meant for the purpose of paying
26:31
Speaker 1: the cleaning crew. However, the explanation raised more questions than
26:35
Speaker 1: it answered, because officers quickly learned that the cleaning service
26:39
Speaker 1: had not been paid for in cash at all, but
26:41
Speaker 1: had instead been arranged to be paid using Brian's financial information.
26:48
Speaker 1: That fact introduced a new and serious concern because if
26:52
Speaker 1: he was missing, which he had been reported missing, then
26:55
Speaker 1: it meant someone was using Brian's identity to access his money.
27:01
Speaker 1: As officers continued to assess the situation inside the home,
27:05
Speaker 1: they began to notice additional strange details too. Despite all
27:09
Speaker 1: the chemicals and cleaning, there was a very strong and
27:14
Speaker 1: unpleasant odor presence in this house. It was just hanging
27:17
Speaker 1: in the air, one that had not been noticed during
27:20
Speaker 1: the earlier visits from outside the property, knocking in the
27:23
Speaker 1: front door, and plus there was still no sign of
27:27
Speaker 1: Brian anywhere. Now, based on the circumstances at hand, Robert
27:32
Speaker 1: was quickly detained and taken into custody, and not long
27:36
Speaker 1: after that police identified a second individual connected with the
27:39
Speaker 1: situation too, someone named Lance Silva. Now, unlike Robert, Lance
27:46
Speaker 1: was not found at the house, but he was located
27:49
Speaker 1: shortly afterwards at a nearby hotel and also taken into custody.
27:53
Speaker 1: The two men were believed to have been staying in
27:56
Speaker 1: Brian's home and were now directly tied to the disappearance
27:59
Speaker 1: and suspen vicious activity that was taking place there. When
28:03
Speaker 1: both men were arrested, it was on a range of
28:05
Speaker 1: charges including identity theft, financial crimes related to the use
28:10
Speaker 1: of Brian's account, and a couple others, but there were
28:12
Speaker 1: also They were also initially booked on suspicion of homicide too,
28:16
Speaker 1: although investigation investigator sorry had not located Brian himself, so
28:20
Speaker 1: it was only on suspicion at this point. But despite
28:24
Speaker 1: the arrests, there was still no confirmation of what had
28:27
Speaker 1: actually happened to Brian. Soon investigators began doing their thing,
28:31
Speaker 1: trying to figure out what was going on, and this
28:34
Speaker 1: included looking beyond the house itself, and in this case,
28:39
Speaker 1: it started with Brian's finances, where there was already strong
28:42
Speaker 1: evidence suggesting someone had been actively using his identity to
28:46
Speaker 1: access his money, and as detectives worked through the financial records,
28:50
Speaker 1: a clear picture started to form transactions had in fact
28:55
Speaker 1: been made using Brian's account during the very period when
28:58
Speaker 1: no one had been able to reach him. Among the
29:01
Speaker 1: most notable discoveries was the purchase of a used BMW
29:05
Speaker 1: car reportedly bought using Brian's information now. Further investigation tied
29:10
Speaker 1: that purchase directly back to Lance, as documentation related to
29:14
Speaker 1: the vehicle was later found in his possession and surveillance
29:17
Speaker 1: footage reportedly showed him retrieving the car after it had
29:20
Speaker 1: been towed at one point. In addition to the vehicle's purchase,
29:24
Speaker 1: there were also signs that Brian's account had been accessed
29:27
Speaker 1: and used in various other ways. For example, payments had
29:30
Speaker 1: been made, services had been arranged, and funds had been moved,
29:33
Speaker 1: all within without I should say, any confirmation that Brian
29:37
Speaker 1: himself was involved.
29:39
Speaker 2: Oh okay, that is like really not good. Yeah, so
29:43
Speaker 2: this case is just gonna got me. I think.
29:47
Speaker 1: I can't say anything, but we can continue. I know
29:51
Speaker 1: it pisses you off when I do that.
29:53
Speaker 2: I know, but like, yeah, you have to continue. But
29:55
Speaker 2: it's just like all I mean, we're all just sitting
29:57
Speaker 2: on the edge of our seats. I think we kind
29:58
Speaker 2: of have a feeling of what's happened here. But you're
30:02
Speaker 2: also like, frick, you fell in love with Brian and
30:05
Speaker 2: he needs to be Okay.
30:06
Speaker 1: Brian was a good soul.
30:09
Speaker 2: Yeah, a beautiful soul.
30:10
Speaker 1: I said, beautiful soul's good way of doing it. Yeah.
30:14
Speaker 1: But now with both Robert and Lands and custody and
30:17
Speaker 1: then mounting evidence around them, investigators turned their full attention
30:21
Speaker 1: back to the one place that seemed most likely to
30:23
Speaker 1: hold answers, which was Brian's house. A search warrant was
30:27
Speaker 1: quickly obtained, allowing law enforcement to conduct a thorough and
30:30
Speaker 1: unrestricted examination of the property, and despite the relative small
30:34
Speaker 1: size of the house, the search stretched across multiple days
30:38
Speaker 1: as investigators worked very carefully through each and every room
30:42
Speaker 1: looking for any indication of what had happened or where
30:45
Speaker 1: Brian might be. And right from the beginning there were
30:49
Speaker 1: signs that something was not right. That persistent, unpleasant odor
30:55
Speaker 1: inside the home was hanging in the air. Still, the
30:58
Speaker 1: smell was difficult to place, and it seemed to shift
31:01
Speaker 1: depending on where they were standing, making it very challenging
31:04
Speaker 1: to determine its exact source. At times, it appeared stronger
31:08
Speaker 1: in certain areas, only to fade again, and then investigators
31:12
Speaker 1: would move closer trying to create it. Created this whole
31:14
Speaker 1: frustrating and disorienting search process is what I'm trying to
31:18
Speaker 1: really get at here. They couldn't exactly pin it so
31:21
Speaker 1: to assist in locating the smell and any potential remains.
31:25
Speaker 1: Cadaver dogs were brought in. Now the dogs immediately reacted
31:29
Speaker 1: to the environment, signaling that there was in fact the
31:32
Speaker 1: scent of decomposition somewhere within the home, but unfortunately, they
31:37
Speaker 1: too couldn't pinpoint the exact location of where it was
31:40
Speaker 1: coming from. However, they had that acknowledgment, which was big.
31:47
Speaker 1: The layout of the house combined with earlier cleaning efforts
31:50
Speaker 1: it seemed to complicate it, but they had this knowledge
31:53
Speaker 1: that somewhere in there was what they were looking for,
31:56
Speaker 1: and investigators continued working methodically, examining space like hidden spaces,
32:01
Speaker 1: storage areas in any part of the home that could
32:03
Speaker 1: conceal anything, and after several days of searching, the investigation
32:09
Speaker 1: inside the home of Brian Egg finally reached a point
32:12
Speaker 1: where the source of the smell could no longer remain hidden.
32:15
Speaker 1: It was simply only a matter of time until it
32:18
Speaker 1: was found, and it was on August seventeenth, twenty eighteen,
32:23
Speaker 1: when investigators focused their attention on a concealed area in
32:27
Speaker 1: the house that they had found had not been obvious
32:31
Speaker 1: earlier on in the searches, but when they found it,
32:34
Speaker 1: the space was located beneath a staircase, partially obscured and
32:38
Speaker 1: easy to overlook without a very deliberate and thorough examination.
32:42
Speaker 1: Now I'm not exactly sure how it was concealed. I've
32:46
Speaker 1: heard some stuff in reports saying it was behind a bookcase,
32:48
Speaker 1: or others saying it was walled off. Either way, it
32:51
Speaker 1: was hidden well, and once access to the area was gained,
32:55
Speaker 1: officers encountered a confined storage space that appeared to have
33:00
Speaker 1: been intentionally hidden from view. When they stepped inside the space,
33:05
Speaker 1: a strong, overwhelming smell of chemicals and decay washed over them,
33:11
Speaker 1: and there in front of them they found a large
33:15
Speaker 1: fish tank. At first, the tank itself may have seemed
33:20
Speaker 1: to be out of place in a storage area like this,
33:22
Speaker 1: but it quickly became clear that it was not being
33:25
Speaker 1: used for anything ordinary, because position within the tank, submerged
33:30
Speaker 1: in liquid was what investigators soon recognized as human remains.
33:34
Speaker 2: Oh no, no, no.
33:38
Speaker 1: Now, the condition of the remains made immediate identification difficult
33:42
Speaker 1: for starters. The body had been somewhat butchered. It consisted
33:46
Speaker 1: of a torso with the head and hands missing, and
33:50
Speaker 1: the remains were in advanced state of decomposition, likely from
33:54
Speaker 1: the chemical solution that they were being submerged in. Investigators
33:58
Speaker 1: also noted the presence of empty containers associated with drain
34:02
Speaker 1: cleaning chemicals in the surrounding area, suggesting exactly what the
34:06
Speaker 1: liquid in the tank was and how it had been
34:09
Speaker 1: intentionally used in an attempt to break down or conceal
34:13
Speaker 1: the remains. But all in all, the scene was both
34:17
Speaker 1: shocking and methodically concealed on purpose. The location of the tank,
34:23
Speaker 1: hidden beneath the stairs and block from view, it showed
34:26
Speaker 1: that whoever was responsible had taken the steps to both
34:29
Speaker 1: hide the remains and eliminate any traces of what had
34:32
Speaker 1: occurred as much as possible. Following the discovery, the remains
34:36
Speaker 1: were soon transported to the Medical Examiner's office for formal
34:40
Speaker 1: identification and examination, and though the head and hands were
34:45
Speaker 1: removed and nowhere to be found, through DNA testing, the
34:48
Speaker 1: remains were ultimately confirmed to be that of Brian Egg.
34:53
Speaker 2: Holy shit. Okay, I mean I saw this coming obviously,
34:58
Speaker 2: but that is just okay. So there are some freaking
35:03
Speaker 2: bastards out there that just took complete advantage of him
35:06
Speaker 2: and his kindness is what I'm assuming has happened here.
35:10
Speaker 1: That's the likely scenario.
35:11
Speaker 2: Yeah, holy shit, that is so so so.
35:16
Speaker 1: Sad, Like one of the world's kindest souls, like the
35:18
Speaker 1: kindest kind of person you could imagine, and they did
35:22
Speaker 1: this to him.
35:23
Speaker 2: The person that gives someone a plant and then takes
35:26
Speaker 2: care of it. Okay, Like I don't know that. It
35:29
Speaker 2: just makes you sit here and feel what is this
35:32
Speaker 2: world really? You know?
35:33
Speaker 1: Yeah? Do you want me to continue or you need
35:36
Speaker 1: to keep decompressing here?
35:39
Speaker 2: No, you can continue, Okay.
35:41
Speaker 1: So with identification established, attention then turn to trying to
35:44
Speaker 1: determine his cause of death. Now, despite the condition of
35:49
Speaker 1: his body, which had been significantly affected by the decomp
35:53
Speaker 1: and chemical exposure, the medical examiner was able to identify
35:57
Speaker 1: several key findings. The cause of death was ultimately ruled
36:01
Speaker 1: as blunt force trauma, indicating that Brian had been subjected
36:05
Speaker 1: to a violent physical force prior to his death. There
36:09
Speaker 1: were fractures present, including broken ribs, as well as damage
36:13
Speaker 1: to part of the spine. These injuries were consistent with
36:17
Speaker 1: repeat impact, suggesting that the force used against him was
36:22
Speaker 1: not isolated to a single moment, but occurred over a
36:25
Speaker 1: period of time. While the full sequence of events could
36:29
Speaker 1: not be reconstructed, with certainty. The evidence made it clear
36:32
Speaker 1: that the attack had been severe and prolonged.
36:36
Speaker 2: What the shit does that mean that it was they
36:38
Speaker 2: were torturing him?
36:39
Speaker 1: Basically, we don't know.
36:42
Speaker 2: Oh okay, that makes it almost seem.
36:46
Speaker 1: Worse, I know now. The absence of the head and
36:49
Speaker 1: hands was particularly significant, as those parts of the body
36:53
Speaker 1: are often used for identification, and their removal suggests an
36:57
Speaker 1: attempt to delay, hide or complicate identification, making it more
37:01
Speaker 1: difficult for investigators to confirm the victim's identity. But despite that,
37:05
Speaker 1: the use of DNA ultimately ensured Brian could be identified.
37:08
Speaker 1: I think people kind of forget that DNA exists. Now
37:12
Speaker 1: I'll remove the head and hands, dental records, fingerprints, it's
37:14
Speaker 1: called DNA dumbass.
37:16
Speaker 2: Well, yeah, these people are stupid too, because they're also
37:19
Speaker 2: living in his house and taking over his life, and
37:22
Speaker 2: this partial dead body is in the basement, like it's
37:27
Speaker 2: would not take a rocket scientists to figure this shit out,
37:30
Speaker 2: yeah at all.
37:32
Speaker 1: So, with the remains of Brian being identified and the
37:34
Speaker 1: cause of death officially ruled a homicide, investigators move forward
37:38
Speaker 1: with what appeared to be the next logical step, holding
37:41
Speaker 1: those who had already been detained accountable, and soon prosecutors
37:45
Speaker 1: moved to charge both the men with homicide in addition
37:49
Speaker 1: to elder abuse, fraud, and a range of financial offenses
37:52
Speaker 1: tied to the use of Brian's identity and as assets.
37:56
Speaker 1: On the surface, the case was all coming together. The
38:00
Speaker 1: suspects had been living in Brian's home, they had access
38:02
Speaker 1: to his belongings, there was clear evidence of financial exploitation
38:06
Speaker 1: occurring after his disappearance. Combined with the discovery of the
38:09
Speaker 1: body inside the house, it seemed like a strong foundation
38:12
Speaker 1: for a prosecution, almost a slam dunk, if you will,
38:16
Speaker 1: But that foundation began to weaken and fracture almost as
38:19
Speaker 1: quickly as it had formed. See, despite the severity of
38:24
Speaker 1: the charges and the disturbing nature of the evidence, the
38:28
Speaker 1: San Francisco District Attorney's office determined that there was not
38:32
Speaker 1: enough direct evidence to proceed with. The homicide case at
38:36
Speaker 1: hand is that a joke. Critical elements were missing, including
38:42
Speaker 1: definitive proof linking either man to the act of killing Brian.
38:49
Speaker 1: While the circumstances were highly suspicious, suspicion alone was not
38:54
Speaker 1: enough to meet the legal threshold required to move forward
38:57
Speaker 1: with a murder prosecution. As a result, the charges began
39:03
Speaker 1: to unravel.
39:05
Speaker 2: Okay, I have trouble with that because I'm sorry, but
39:09
Speaker 2: this man is dead and these people are living in
39:12
Speaker 2: his house. That's just not okay.
39:15
Speaker 1: Yes, but here's the thing. Can you argue in a
39:19
Speaker 1: court of law that they had a hand in his murder?
39:24
Speaker 1: Maybe maybe they just went into his home and were
39:28
Speaker 1: squatting and had no idea Briand's body was hidden downstairs
39:31
Speaker 1: or anything, and they were just simply trying to get
39:33
Speaker 1: rid of the smell. Can you prove they had anything
39:36
Speaker 1: to do with it? Trust me, I get you. I'm
39:38
Speaker 1: with you. It's total fucking bullshit. However, law needs proof.
39:44
Speaker 1: Is there technically proof?
39:45
Speaker 2: I am aware of that. But also I don't know.
39:48
Speaker 2: You can't just let they got to be charged with
39:52
Speaker 2: something like you can't just let them go. Really this,
39:56
Speaker 2: I don't know. That's not really how the world works either.
39:58
Speaker 1: Well, since things were unred it didn't take long for
40:01
Speaker 1: the homicide charges against both men to be draped, pending
40:05
Speaker 1: further investigation and the possibility of new evidence emerging in
40:09
Speaker 1: the future.
40:10
Speaker 2: And what are they going to just let them continue
40:12
Speaker 2: living in this man's house, well.
40:14
Speaker 1: Not his house, but Ultimately they were released from custody.
40:18
Speaker 1: I mean, Robert was lance. He remained in jail only
40:22
Speaker 1: temporarily due to an unrelated probation violation. But in time though,
40:26
Speaker 1: he too was released. And for everyone, I mean, the
40:28
Speaker 1: outcome was very difficult to reconcile as far as I
40:31
Speaker 1: could find. And the look on your face is telling
40:34
Speaker 1: me you are feeling the same way.
40:35
Speaker 2: Well, yeah, I am not okay with this because regardless
40:39
Speaker 2: if they can't prove that they murdered him, they were
40:42
Speaker 2: living in his freaking house and using his shit and
40:45
Speaker 2: his money and stuff like that. They got to be
40:48
Speaker 2: able to keep him in there for quite some time
40:50
Speaker 2: while they're figuring this out, because this is bizarre to me.
40:54
Speaker 1: Well, as far as I know, they did face some
40:56
Speaker 1: minor charges in regard to theft and fraud that sort
40:59
Speaker 1: of thing, but outside of that, I mean, they just
41:02
Speaker 1: got away with murder.
41:04
Speaker 2: Oh okay, I don't like this one.
41:08
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's tough to swallow.
41:10
Speaker 2: Mm hm.
41:11
Speaker 1: Now, there had been a body, clear evidence of a
41:13
Speaker 1: violent death, and individuals directly connected with the victim, his home,
41:17
Speaker 1: his finances, Yet despite all of that, no one was
41:21
Speaker 1: being held legally responsible for the killing. Itself. In the
41:24
Speaker 1: gap between what seemed apparent and what could be proven
41:28
Speaker 1: in court, it became painfully clear, and in the span
41:31
Speaker 1: of just a few days, the case had moved from
41:33
Speaker 1: a major breakthrough to a stalled prosecution. What should have
41:38
Speaker 1: been a turning point, well it wasn't. It just stopped,
41:44
Speaker 1: and soon frustration began to spread widely throughout the neighborhood
41:47
Speaker 1: where Brian had lived for decades. For many of the
41:51
Speaker 1: residents in the Soma community, the outcome felt deeply unsettling,
41:56
Speaker 1: not only because of the violence of the crime itself
41:58
Speaker 1: or the charges being dropped, because of how long it
42:01
Speaker 1: had taken for the situation to finally be taken seriously
42:05
Speaker 1: in the first place. Neighbors had been raising concern for
42:08
Speaker 1: weeks before police made a decision to enter that home.
42:12
Speaker 1: They had noticed Brian's absence, you know, something that immediately
42:15
Speaker 1: stood out given how consistent and visible he'd always been.
42:19
Speaker 1: They had also reported the presence of the unfamiliar individuals
42:22
Speaker 1: coming and going from the house, along with the unusual
42:25
Speaker 1: activity that did not align with Brian's routine. And when
42:28
Speaker 1: those observations escalated into visible cleaning efforts, including the soap
42:33
Speaker 1: leaking under the door, the strong smell of bleach. Many
42:35
Speaker 1: felt the situation had already crossed into something far more serious.
42:40
Speaker 1: Yet despite every single one of those warning signs, early
42:43
Speaker 1: police visits had ended without further action, potentially losing precious
42:49
Speaker 1: evidence that could have convicted those responsible. Officers knocked at
42:55
Speaker 1: the door multiple times and received no answer, then left
42:59
Speaker 1: the property without going inside, simply assuming Brian left town
43:03
Speaker 1: or something. There must have been something else they could
43:06
Speaker 1: do beyond that. In hindsight, that assumption that he was
43:10
Speaker 1: just fine became the focal point of criticism, as it
43:13
Speaker 1: represented a period where vulnerable time may have been lost.
43:18
Speaker 1: Residents began to ask whether more could have been done sooner,
43:21
Speaker 1: and whether earlier entry into the home might have changed
43:24
Speaker 1: the course of the investigation. There were, of course, concerns
43:27
Speaker 1: about potential evidence being lost and altered during the time
43:30
Speaker 1: between initial welfare checks and the eventual search, and the
43:34
Speaker 1: extensive cleaning that had taken place inside that home only
43:37
Speaker 1: intensified every single one of those concerns everyone had. But
43:42
Speaker 1: whatever the case was, with no one being held accountable
43:46
Speaker 1: for the homicide, the sense of resolution that often follows
43:50
Speaker 1: an arrest or conviction never came. Instead, the case currently
43:56
Speaker 1: remains open, with key questions unanswered and the individuals initially
44:02
Speaker 1: suspected no longer facing charges related to Brian's death, And
44:06
Speaker 1: in the weeks and months that followed, as the investigation continued,
44:10
Speaker 1: attention gradually shifted away from the investigation itself and towards
44:14
Speaker 1: the life that had been lost. For those who knew
44:19
Speaker 1: Brian Egg personally, the case was never just about the
44:23
Speaker 1: details found inside his house. It was about the absence
44:27
Speaker 1: that now lingered in the neighborhood where he had once
44:30
Speaker 1: been in a constant presence. Brian had been the kind
44:34
Speaker 1: of person people noticed, not because he demanded attention, but
44:38
Speaker 1: because he was always there, whether it was tending to
44:42
Speaker 1: small tasks around the block, greeting neighbors politely, or quietly
44:46
Speaker 1: helping wherever he could. His routine had made him part
44:50
Speaker 1: of the very fabric of the community, and after his death,
44:54
Speaker 1: that absence became impossible to ignore. In response, members of
45:00
Speaker 1: the community came together to honor him. A vigil was
45:03
Speaker 1: held on what would have been his birthday, bringing together neighbors, friends,
45:08
Speaker 1: and those who had simply known him even in just passing.
45:12
Speaker 1: Candles were lit flowers were placed and stories were shared,
45:15
Speaker 1: many of them centered around the small, everyday moments that
45:18
Speaker 1: had defined Brian's life. Now, this vigil wasn't large or elaborate.
45:24
Speaker 1: It wasn't a huge, massive gathering, but instead it was small,
45:29
Speaker 1: simple and private, and it reflected the kind of person
45:32
Speaker 1: that he had been, someone who liked the simple things
45:35
Speaker 1: in life and whose impact was felt in those consistent,
45:39
Speaker 1: quiet ways. For his family, the aftermath was very complicated.
45:46
Speaker 1: Beyond the emotional toll of losing Brian himself, there were
45:48
Speaker 1: practical challenges that followed. His financial accounts had been accessed
45:53
Speaker 1: and used after his disappearance, creating additional layers of loss
45:56
Speaker 1: and untangling those issues required time and effort, and as
46:00
Speaker 1: they worked to regain control over what had been taken
46:03
Speaker 1: and trying to understand the full extent of the damage,
46:05
Speaker 1: it was difficult. There was also the matter of his home.
46:09
Speaker 1: The place where Brian had lived for years and where
46:12
Speaker 1: his life had ultimately ended, became a difficult space tied
46:16
Speaker 1: both to memory and tragedy. Eventually, his house was sold,
46:21
Speaker 1: and it marked a final physical separation from the place
46:24
Speaker 1: that had once been central to his daily life. For
46:28
Speaker 1: all of those who had known him. It was another
46:30
Speaker 1: reminder that things would not return to the way they
46:32
Speaker 1: had once been no matter what had happened. Brian's memory
46:37
Speaker 1: continues to be preserved in these small personal ways. Though
46:41
Speaker 1: neighbors speak about him, they share stories and remember the
46:45
Speaker 1: routines that had once seemed so ordinary, and in doing
46:49
Speaker 1: so they keep a version of him still alive that
46:51
Speaker 1: existed outside the investigation, one that was not defined by
46:55
Speaker 1: the way he died, but defined by the way he lived,
46:59
Speaker 1: and in many ways that became the only form of
47:01
Speaker 1: closure available today. The case of Brian Egg remains unfortunately unresolved.
47:08
Speaker 1: It is sitting in that uneasy space between what is
47:11
Speaker 1: known and what cannot be proven. Investigators were able to
47:15
Speaker 1: determine that Brian had in fact been killed and murdered,
47:18
Speaker 1: that his body had been dismembered, that the efforts were
47:20
Speaker 1: there to try and conceal his remains and identity, and
47:23
Speaker 1: all the evidence within his home. Yet despite those established facts,
47:27
Speaker 1: no one has been convicted in connection to his death.
47:32
Speaker 1: The two men initially arrested, Robert McCaffrey and Lance Silva,
47:35
Speaker 1: they were never ultimately held accountable for the homicide, and
47:38
Speaker 1: while both were linked to Brian's home and the use
47:41
Speaker 1: of his financial accounts. After his disappearance, investigators were just
47:45
Speaker 1: unable to produce the level of direct evidence required to
47:48
Speaker 1: secure a conviction. As a result, the most serious charges
47:53
Speaker 1: were dropped, leaving the case without a clear legal solution
47:56
Speaker 1: in the sense of murder. Are also key elements of
48:01
Speaker 1: the crime that also remain missing, ones that would have
48:04
Speaker 1: been disposed of during the early clean up methods. For example,
48:10
Speaker 1: the absence of Brian's head and hands continues to be
48:13
Speaker 1: one of the most significant gaps in the investigation, not
48:17
Speaker 1: because of what it represents, but because of what it
48:21
Speaker 1: could have potentially revealed. Their whereabouts have never been determined,
48:27
Speaker 1: and with that, any additional forensic evidence that might have
48:30
Speaker 1: helped clarify the timeline or circumstances of the crime were lost,
48:35
Speaker 1: and now the case is just stalled and it sits
48:38
Speaker 1: in a file as a cold case. While law enforcement
48:42
Speaker 1: has indicated they could move forward if additional evidence emerges, well,
48:46
Speaker 1: no such breakthrough has been made public, and for those
48:49
Speaker 1: who knew Brian, the lack of resolution leaves a lasting
48:53
Speaker 1: sense of incompleteness. What remains is only a collection of
48:58
Speaker 1: partial facts suspicion and unanswering questions that, when placed together,
49:04
Speaker 1: form a picture that is clear in some ways and
49:07
Speaker 1: deeply uncertain in others, like a large puzzle that is
49:10
Speaker 1: only partially complete. And in the end, the case is
49:14
Speaker 1: a disturbing discovery that it led to no clear answers.
49:18
Speaker 1: But what we do know is that Brian Egg did
49:20
Speaker 1: not simply disappear, and that his death was uncovered in
49:24
Speaker 1: one of the most unsettling ways imaginable, hidden in plain sight,
49:28
Speaker 1: within a gruesome scene in his own home. And yet,
49:33
Speaker 1: despite the intensity of the investigation and the attention it drew,
49:37
Speaker 1: the most important question remains unanswered. Who killed him? And how?
49:43
Speaker 1: Has it never been proven? And that's the story of
49:47
Speaker 1: Brian Egg.
49:49
Speaker 2: You're absolutely shitting me with this one.
49:52
Speaker 1: What that it's unsolved?
49:53
Speaker 2: Like, I am not okay with this case because you're
49:56
Speaker 2: telling me that someone can literally take over someone's life,
50:01
Speaker 2: murder them, hide their body in their home, and just
50:04
Speaker 2: get away with it. What's to stop them from doing
50:07
Speaker 2: this again? Then? Really, this is absolutely fuck to me.
50:12
Speaker 1: I know it's bonkers. I understand what the law is saying,
50:17
Speaker 1: but at the same sense, the circumstantial evidence is so
50:21
Speaker 1: fucking strong, you know what I mean. You're actively covering
50:27
Speaker 1: up the smell. He is tied to his bank account,
50:31
Speaker 1: he's living in his fucking home, and his body's in
50:33
Speaker 1: the hundred the stairs. How could that not be enough
50:37
Speaker 1: for a circumstantial conviction?
50:39
Speaker 2: Like I am almost sitting here thinking that you're pranking us. No,
50:43
Speaker 2: not because I cannot My brain can just not comprehend
50:48
Speaker 2: that this has happened. And in twenty eighteen, So like
50:53
Speaker 2: maybe I can think in the nineteen fifties or something,
50:56
Speaker 2: right when they're when we don't have stuff to be
51:00
Speaker 2: able to solve these cases, so well, but in twenty eighteen,
51:05
Speaker 2: I don't know. I'm not going to be able to
51:06
Speaker 2: live my day today. Like, this is just not okay.
51:09
Speaker 2: I am not okay.
51:10
Speaker 1: Well, do you want me to continue with the rest
51:11
Speaker 1: of the story.
51:13
Speaker 2: You're kidding right right now? I'm kidding, Ben, You're going
51:17
Speaker 2: to make people literally rage.
51:20
Speaker 1: No, that is the end it is. It is an
51:22
Speaker 1: unsolved case in the eyes and the law's eyes as
51:25
Speaker 1: the law.
51:25
Speaker 2: Sorry, but I can't believe it. I can't believe this.
51:29
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's a frustrating one. There should be a conviction
51:32
Speaker 1: on this. The circumstantial evidence is so strong, ridiculously so.
51:38
Speaker 2: Well, because these like can you believe that these two
51:41
Speaker 2: people are out there just living their life and probably
51:44
Speaker 2: laughing that they got away with this?
51:47
Speaker 1: Probably, but that is unbelievable that I think in itself
51:51
Speaker 1: is something that law enforcement may be able to benefit
51:54
Speaker 1: from if time passes and they speak of it to
51:58
Speaker 1: someone and we get a witness statement, that might be
52:04
Speaker 1: the key piece to finally putting him away.
52:07
Speaker 2: I guess. But also I don't know, like there's what, what
52:11
Speaker 2: are they going to find other.
52:13
Speaker 1: Than that, I guess, you know, confession or something might
52:15
Speaker 1: be the way to do it. Finding a confession, getting
52:17
Speaker 1: that to come out.
52:18
Speaker 2: This just this one just guts me, just the fact
52:21
Speaker 2: that this like how did you have it in there?
52:24
Speaker 2: How old he was?
52:25
Speaker 1: Uh? Was it fifty six?
52:28
Speaker 2: Oh so like not even really that old?
52:30
Speaker 1: Or was it sixty five? Sixty five? He was sixty
52:32
Speaker 1: five years old, okay.
52:33
Speaker 2: But still like so many more years of him that
52:36
Speaker 2: he could have just lived his life and he was
52:39
Speaker 2: he was a person that was benefiting our world.
52:41
Speaker 1: Yeah, And honestly, for the simple fact on the kind
52:45
Speaker 1: soul that Brian was, he is one percent or badass
52:49
Speaker 1: of the day. He gifted plants to neighbors and then
52:52
Speaker 1: secretly took care of them for them.
52:54
Speaker 2: Well, and then you know, it's almost certain, really that
52:57
Speaker 2: these he probably I can almost be sure that he
53:01
Speaker 2: did some sort of act of kindness to these people.
53:05
Speaker 1: Right, I'm pretty certain too.
53:07
Speaker 2: And then they just they just dimmed his light.
53:13
Speaker 1: They snuffed his light. Yeah, they shattered that light bulb.
53:17
Speaker 1: They took it out of the socket, shattered it and
53:19
Speaker 1: stomped on it. And he was the brightest, fucking one
53:21
Speaker 1: of the brightest lights in the fucking world.
53:24
Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, this one, this case is really really hard
53:27
Speaker 2: to digest.
53:28
Speaker 1: It's a tough one to swallow. Now, if you guys
53:31
Speaker 1: have some thoughts or opinions, feel free to reach out
53:34
Speaker 1: to us. We are happy to hear what you have
53:35
Speaker 1: to think on this case, whether it's email, social media
53:38
Speaker 1: links are in the description of this podcast. We are
53:41
Speaker 1: an independent podcast. We're here doing this because of you,
53:44
Speaker 1: and we get to keep doing this because of you.
53:46
Speaker 1: So thank you very much for listening, for the interactions
53:48
Speaker 1: you give, and even for the reviews those go so
53:52
Speaker 1: long and so far, with people being able to look
53:54
Speaker 1: at the reviews and say Hey, this is a cool
53:56
Speaker 1: podcast and I want to listen to as well, so
53:58
Speaker 1: it helps a lot. Thank you guys for being so
54:00
Speaker 1: amazing and until next time, stay wicked.
55:01
Speaker 2: Booh oh abo