Gulf Coast Confidential with Mollye Barrows

Mollye Barrows

I’m Investigative Journalist Mollye Barrows. For years, I’ve covered the stories that made headlines in Northwest Florida and all along the Gulf Coast - murders, missing persons, and mysteries of all kinds. These cases are far from over for many victims because the full story has yet to surface. Join me for Gulf Coast Confidential, where I dive into the saltier side of the South and expose the lies, greed, and corruption that often weighs down the truth.

  1. 3d ago

    Legal loophole lets child killer Ronald Exantus walk free: RIP 6-year-old Logan Tipton

    Send us Fan Mail Logan Tipton was a typical, outgoing, football loving preschooler who loved playing with his sisters and brother and watching Christmas movies with his family.  That’s what they were doing in early December of 2015 before they were all safely asleep in their beds – or so they thought. In the middle of the night Ronald Exantus, an Indianapolis nurse who had been acting erratically all day, was driving through the Tipson family’s Kentucky neighborhood when he saw their home aglow with festive Christmas lights and decided it was time to go inside and perform surgery on the people who lived here.  Police said Exantus was obsessed with the TV medical show, “Gray’s Anatomy” and that’s all he thought about when he walked into their home, grabbed knives out of their kitchen, then walked upstairs and started stabbing 6-year-old Logan in the head.  His fathers and sisters tried to protect Logan, but it was too late. They were also injured in the home invasion, but Logan’s dad managed to pin Exantus down until police arrived.  When it came time for trial, prosecutors were seeking the death penalty, but instead of convicting Exantus, the jury found him “not guilty by reason of insanity” for killing Logan, and “guilty but mentally ill” for attacking the murdered boy’s father and sister. After only serving about half of his 20-year sentence for the crime Exantus is now out of prison - a free man with no requirements for counseling, medication or probation.  While Logan’s family is serving a life sentence of grief and trauma over the loss of their boy, Exantus is free to roam wherever he pleases.  He even ended up in Florida right next to an elementary school.  That’s one of the cases we’re discussing this week on the Gulf Coast Confidential Podcast. We’ve also got updates on two Cullman County cases - attorney Sarah Baker who is accused of trying to poison her husband with fentanyl and a former salon owner and accused drug trafficker Whitney Cheatham who prosecutors say used AI to create a phony request to travel out of state for an adult content creators event.   And we talked a little bit about the alleged overmedication of Lindsay Clancy, the mom accused of strangling her three children to death. Join us for the latest episode, “Legal loophole lets child killer Ronald Exantus walk free: RIP 6-year-old Logan Tipton.” Support the show

  2. Aug 4

    VIP treatment – How celebrity clinic culture failed Joan Rivers

    Send us Fan Mail The bright lights of showbiz faded into a dim New York outpatient clinic on August 28, 2014, when comedy icon Joan Rivers walked in for a routine throat procedure and never spoke again.  What was supposed to be a brief examination of her vocal cords instead unraveled into a chaotic display of gross medical malpractice, where star-struck doctors reportedly suffered from "VIP syndrome" and prioritized cell phone selfies over critical patient care.  When the 81-year-old’s airway began to swell shut under the heavy sedative propofol, the clinic’s medical director famously dismissed the supervising anesthesiologist's desperate warnings as "paranoid," steering a routine medical checkup into a fatal, oxygen-starved catastrophe. The tragedy left the entertainment world reeling, stripping Hollywood of its sharpest wit and exposing a terrifying lack of oversight in outpatient surgical centers. Following her death from irreversible brain damage a week later, a high-stakes legal battle culminated in a confidential multi-million-dollar settlement, forcing the physicians involved to publicly accept full accountability for her death.  While Rivers spent her legendary career fearlessly exposing the absurdity of celebrity culture, her final, tragic chapter ultimately pulled back the curtain on the deadly consequences of medical arrogance. Join us Tuesday for the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential Podcast, “VIP treatment – How celebrity clinic culture failed Joan Rivers!” Support the show

  3. Jul 28

    Outcry over ‘Allie’ the alligator drilled to death by Navy Seal & trappers

    Send us Fan Mail Did FWC cut some slack to three Santa Rosa County men accused of illegally capturing and killing an alligator with a power drill? They say “No,” but folks in our community still have a lot of questions. “Allie” the 8.5-foot-long alligator wasn’t bothering a single soul. She lived safely inside a locked, fenced in retention pond in the Garcon Point area of Milton, Florida for about ten years, neighbors said.  She was considered to be harmless by folks who live in the area, co-existing peacefully in the man-made environment, keeping to herself and catching a few fish, birds, and sunrays.  Some thought it was kind of a beautiful thing and enjoyed seeing her when they passed the pond which sits along Avalon Blvd., situated away from homes and busy neighborhoods. In March 2026, decorated former U.S. Navy SEAL Kevin Lacz along with two other Santa Rosa County men who were experienced in wildlife removal, Jason Giffin and Richard Reder, trapped, bound, and killed “Allie” using a power drill.  Officers with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission charged all three men with second-degree misdemeanors.  However, the law clearly says what they did – removing and killing an alligator without the proper permits - is a third-degree felony.  Wildlife advocates and neighbors this is not a paperwork hiccup or slipup by some teenagers.  These are full grown men who say they saw a “capture of opportunity” and didn’t hesitate to snatch Allie out of her home, hog-tie her, and then take her to Lacz’s house where she was killed with a hand-held power drill. According to Florida law licensed trappers are supposed to get clearance and proper permitting to capture and dispatch an alligator and when they do, they’re supposed to kill it immediately and humanely on the spot.  Nowhere in Florida law does it say hauling the animal off alive and drilling into its head at your house is an acceptable or legal part of the process.   In fact, according to the report detailing their arrests Lacz said he used to have a nuisance complaint for the alligator – that had expired two years ago – and he and “agent trappers” picked her up because he “suspected” there would be another a nuisance complaint. He also mentioned he got $50 an alligator. So, is this about money? If not, why?! Was it the so called "thrill of the kill?" So many questions… These men were bold and seemingly unbothered by this incident that has turned into a heartbreaking mess and an embarrassment here in our beautiful part of the world.   Even the prettiest places have a bit of ugly.  How is this even a thing?!  Join us this week for our 200th episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential Podcast, “Outcry over ‘Allie’ the alligator drilled to death by Navy Seal & trappers.” Support the show

  4. Jul 21

    Sadistic Shanda Vander Ark’s cruel campaign of hell against teen son

    Send us Fan Mail Put your seatbelt on, we didn’t know some of these cases could get any wilder but apparently, they can.  From doctors behaving badly to a tragic story of child abuse, we’re running down some cases you’ve probably heard of and some you haven’t.  The worst medical malpractices cases in the state are piling up in North Florida and stretching to the Panhandle.  Dr. Thomas Shaknovsky is accused of accidentally removing an Alabama man’s liver instead of his spleen at a hospital in Miramar Beach. In Jacksonville, an orthopedic surgeon, the late Dr. David Heekin, is at the center of one of the largest mass-medical malpractice actions in Florida’s history with 522 lawsuits.  Both incidents happened at Ascension hospitals and the executive in charge during Heekin’s tenure when he was accused of botching patient surgeries, Tom VanOsdol, has been promoted to the national leadership team where he oversees “the strategic integration of Ascension's mission and values…across all organizational policies, programs, and culture.” From executives and doctors who patients trust to a mother of five who is expected to protect her children, sometimes alleged “bad actors” turn up when you least expect it. Mom and former law clerk Shanda Vander Ark was an abuser who cruelly ended the life of her 15-year-old special needs son through cruel, atrocious, and systematic abuse. On the surface Vander Ark appeared highly successful, a bit of a know-it-all, and a gruff, no-nonsense person. She graduated from law school with honors, clerked for two judges, and aced the bar exam. Then she ended up being tried for the murd3r of her son, Timothy Ferguson, in the same courtroom where she had previously worked, turning the trial into a circus with delays, motions, and shenanigans.  But there was no distracting from the terrible facts that she starved, t0rtur3d, and ended her boy's life with the help of another son and his older brother.  Join us for the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential Podcast, “Sadistic Shanda Vander Ark’s cruel campaign of hell against teen son,” but it comes with a sensitivity warning.   Support the show

  5. Jul 14

    Beauty Buyer Beware VIIII: Dr. Ben Brown

    Send us Fan Mail  Did Hillary Brown die from an overdose of Lidocaine poisoning? Her husband, embattled plastic surgeon Ben Brown who was administering the local anesthetic when she went into cardiac arrest in his office, says she didn’t.  However, Medical Examiner, Dr. Deanna Oleske found that the 33-year-old mother of three did die from complications of lidocaine toxicity after she ruled out every possible cause of death.  It’s a point of contention for Dr. Brown who tried to block Oleske from being able to testify about her findings at his manslaughter trial, but the judge ruled against him and the ME will testify when the time comes. According to official investigative documents, the medical examiner isn’t the only one who suspected lidocaine was to blame for the young woman’s death – the victim did too.   Hillary Brown did not explicitly use the words "you gave me too much lidocaine."  However, she did explicitly tell her husband that she was experiencing severe adverse symptoms—which she recognized as a sign that she was overdosing. The details regarding her exact statements during the November 2023 procedures are documented in the Florida Department of Health’s investigation and the Santa Rosa County Sheriff's Office probable cause affidavit:  • Her Explicit Statements: During the procedures, after Dr. Brown injected her face and arms, Hillary stated that her "vision was blurry" and that she was "seeing orange."  • Her Realization: The probable cause affidavit notes that Hillary stated her face felt really "puffy". The document states she communicated that she thought those symptoms were a sign she was overdosing, right before she began convulsing.  • The Medical Response: Despite alerting him to these textbook symptoms of lidocaine toxicity, the report indicates Dr. Brown "stayed the course," continuing to inject local anesthetics (lidocaine and xylocaine) and operated on her until she suffered a grand mal seizure and went into cardiac arrest. Based on these investigative findings and his delay in calling in 911 and beginning CPR on his unconscious wife, Brown was subsequently arrested and charged with second-degree felony homicide (manslaughter by culpable negligence). Join us as we discuss his latest hearing in Santa Rosa County that cleared the way for his trial. This will be the 9th Episode of the Playlist of Beauty Buyer Beware: Dr. Ben Brown. Support the show

  6. Jul 7

    Louisiana Pastor Tony Spell goes to jail after feud with young neighbor

    Send us Fan Mail Louisiana Pastor Tony Spell doesn’t hold back.  He first made national news in 2020 when he continued to hold massive in-person services at Life Tabernacle Church in Central, a city north of Baton Rouge, despite health restrictions.  Now he’s back in the headlines after a video went viral of him sprinting across four lanes of highway to confront his neighbor’s son after the young man allegedly hurled insults and threats against Spell’s family.  Police say it’s part of an on-going feud between Spell and his neighbors.  The pastor was arrested for second-degree battery, and he wasn’t out of jail anytime before his neighbors called the police on Spell again when he started doing yard work at his church at 4:00 in the morning, disturbing their peace they said.  But people love Spell’s won’t-back-down spirit and for many the incident has only boosted their support of him! Join us for the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential Podcast, “Louisiana Pastor Tony Spell goes to jail after feud with young neighbor,” and a mixed bag of other “What the feezy?!” cases! Support the show

  7. Jun 30

    Pickle Brawl blood sport in Florida? Anthony Sapienza and Michele Bannister think so!

    Send us Fan Mail What is it about pickleball that it sometimes turns into pickle-BRAWL?! For some, the fastest growing sport in America is just a game, but for others it’s almost a total obsession. In this week’s episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential Podcast, we’re talking about the community, the weird terminology, and why a lot of folks are suddenly spending their Saturdays fighting over court time and some are fighting over more than that In these cases, some folks ended up in the Emergency Room with direct hits to the face and head. Drawing blood is frowned upon in most sports unless it’s boxing and that popping sound you hear isn’t just the ball hitting the paddle, it’s the ball and the paddle hitting heads, ouch!! Isn’t pickleball supposed to be a bit more civilized than that?  Join us for more a very different kind of court…one that has some very severe consequences!! Support the show

  8. Jun 23

    Hot to trot and double shot – Police officer Amber Guyger shoots to kill Botham Jean

    Send us Fan Mail Thank goodness most of us feel safe in our own homes. Botham Jean thought he was safe when he was sitting on the couch in his apartment enjoying a bowl of vanilla ice cream. Afterall, he lived only a couple of blocks from the Dallas Police Department Headquarters.  However on September 6, 2018, that turned out to be a downside when his downstairs neighbor, police woman Amber Guyger, was so busy sexting her married mentor that she mistakenly walked into Jean's apartment believing it was her own. When she saw the 26-year-old accountant in the living room, she pulled her service weapon and shot him twice, like he was the intruder. Guyger never once rendered first aid and when she called 9-1-1 she repeated 19 times that she thought it was her apartment. Although she claimed to be so weary after a 13.5 hour shift that she didn't notice she parked on the wrong floor of the garage and walked past 16 apartments, she found the time to delete the steamy text messages she was exchanging with her lover shortly before the shooting.  Join us for more on the case that nearly tore a family and a city apart in the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential Podcast, "Hot to trot and double shot – Police officer Amber Guyger shoots to kill Botham Jean." Support the show

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About

I’m Investigative Journalist Mollye Barrows. For years, I’ve covered the stories that made headlines in Northwest Florida and all along the Gulf Coast - murders, missing persons, and mysteries of all kinds. These cases are far from over for many victims because the full story has yet to surface. Join me for Gulf Coast Confidential, where I dive into the saltier side of the South and expose the lies, greed, and corruption that often weighs down the truth.

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