TRUE CRIME with Bratterstein

BRATTERSTEIN

As someone who has been personally effected by homicide, I approach every True Crime case I cover with the goal of balancing facts with empathy—giving victims a voice while exploring the larger cultural and societal implications of the cases. I want you to leave my episodes not only knowing that the people who I talk about are real.. what happened to them is real but also acknowledging that they are much more than just their deaths. Each audio file from this podcast is taken from my videos on YouTube. If you want to see me in action, you can search "Bratterstein" there.

  1. 1d ago

    The Bathtub Killer : Dale Devon Scheanette

    As always, thank you for hanging out and remembering Christine Vu and Wendie Prescott with me today. In 1996, Dale Devon Scheanette committed two rapes and murders at the same apartment complex in Arlington, Texas, crimes that later led to his nickname, the “Bathtub Killer.” On September 17, 25-year-old elementary-school teacher Christine Vu was found sexually assaulted, bound with duct tape, strangled, and left face-down in a partially filled bathtub in her apartment. About three months later, on Christmas Eve, Scheanette attacked 22-year-old Wendie Prescott, a teacher’s aide. Family members went to check on her after she failed to arrive for a planned holiday gathering and found her body in her apartment bathtub. She had been sexually assaulted, bound, and strangled; the medical examiner found that immersion in the water may also have contributed to her death. The cases remained unsolved for several years. A fingerprint recovered from Prescott’s apartment did not initially match anyone in law-enforcement databases. In 1999, Scheanette was arrested for burglarizing a car-audio business in DeSoto, Texas, and his prints were entered into the system. They matched the evidence from the murders. DNA evidence subsequently linked him to both killings and to multiple sexual assaults committed between 1998 and 1999. In January 2003, a Texas jury convicted Scheanette of capital murder for Prescott’s death during a sexual assault and sentenced him to death. He was also charged with Vu’s murder but was not separately tried for it. Texas executed Scheanette by lethal injection on February 10, 2009, when he was 35.

    The Bathtub Killer : Dale Devon Scheanette

  2. 4d ago

    Children Betrayed: Heartbreaking Cases Where Innocent Kids were Taken Too Soon

    As always, thank you for hanging out and remembering Alesha MacPhail, Stoni Blair, Stephen Berry, Grace Packer, and Samiah Downing with me today.

    Children Betrayed: Heartbreaking Cases Where Innocent Kids were Taken Too Soon

  3. 6d ago

    He Asked for One Last Hug… Then Tried to Kill Her

    As always, thank you for hanging out and remembering Melissa Dohme Hill with me today. On January 24, 2012, 20-year-old Melissa Dohme agreed to meet her ex-boyfriend, Robert Lee Burton Jr., outside her home in Clearwater, Florida. They had broken up, and a no-contact order was in place after an earlier domestic battery incident. Burton had repeatedly called and texted her that night, asking for one last hug. When she embraced him, he pulled out a knife and stabbed her 32 times. Two witnesses intervened, and Burton fled. Melissa suffered wounds to her head, neck, face, and arms, as well as severe blood loss and a stroke. Doctors said she came close to dying. She survived after emergency treatment, then spent months undergoing surgeries and relearning how to walk and speak. Burton pleaded guilty to attempted first-degree murder in August 2013. That October, a judge sentenced him to life in prison without parole. At the sentencing hearing, Melissa spoke about the attack and described herself not as a victim of domestic violence, but as a survivor. One of the first responders who helped save Melissa was firefighter-paramedic Cameron Hill. They reconnected during her recovery, later began a relationship, and married in 2017. Melissa has since spoken publicly about surviving domestic abuse and helping others recognize its dangers.

    He Asked for One Last Hug… Then Tried to Kill Her

  4. Sep 28

    An Evil Witch of a Woman : The Diane Downs Case

    As always, thank you for hanging out and remembering Cheryl, Christie, and Stephen with me today. On the night of May 19, 1983, Diane Downs drove her three children, Christie, 8, Cheryl, 7, and Danny, 3, to McKenzie-Willamette Hospital in Springfield, Oregon. All three had been shot at close range in the family car. Cheryl died from her injuries, while Christie and Danny survived with severe, life-altering wounds; Downs had a comparatively minor gunshot wound to her forearm. Downs initially claimed that a “bushy-haired stranger” had tried to carjack her on a rural road and shot the children. Investigators found her account inconsistent with the physical evidence, including the slow speed at which she drove to the hospital despite the children’s critical condition. Prosecutors argued that Downs shot the children because she wanted a life with a married man who did not want children. Christie, despite lasting neurological damage, later testified that her mother had shot her. In June 1984, a jury convicted Downs of murdering Cheryl and attempting to murder Christie and Danny, as well as assault charges. She was sentenced to life in prison plus 50 years. Downs has continued to maintain that an unknown attacker was responsible. She has been repeatedly denied parole; her most recent denial was in 2025, and her next parole consideration is scheduled for 2031.

    An Evil Witch of a Woman : The Diane Downs Case

  5. Sep 25

    They Killed His Grandparents for $20,000... Then Tried to Burn the Evidence

    As always, thank you for hanging out and remembering Shirley and Charles Severance with me today. In May 2014, Charles and Shirley Severance, both 70, were killed in their Sterling, Colorado, home by their grandson, Brendan Johnson, 19, and his girlfriend, Cassandra Rieb, 18. Prosecutors said the couple planned the murders because Johnson expected to inherit the house and about $20,000. Johnson and Rieb strangled the couple. Charles’s body was left in the home, while Shirley’s remains were burned and scattered in an effort to hide the crime. Johnson later called 911 to report discovering his grandfather’s body, but police quickly identified him and Rieb as suspects. Johnson pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and received life without parole. Rieb accepted a plea deal and was sentenced to 80 years in prison.

    They Killed His Grandparents for $20,000... Then Tried to Burn the Evidence

  6. Sep 23

    He Had His Whole Life Ahead of Him… Then His Best Friend Killed Him

    As always, thank you for hanging out and remembering Aaron Davis with me today. In November 2022, 21-year-old Aaron William Davis, a recent Brigham Young University–Idaho graduate, stopped in Rome, Georgia, to spend time with his longtime friend Brandon Christopher Risner while travelling to visit his girlfriend in Alabama. The two men had known each other since high school. After a night out, Davis stayed at Risner’s home but never continued his trip. Davis’s family reported him missing after he failed to return home. His Toyota Prius was found abandoned in a canal, and investigators later found his body in a shallow grave near Rome. The medical examiner ruled his death a homicide caused by stab wounds; reports described at least 40 stab wounds to his head, neck, and torso. Authorities concluded that Risner killed Davis during or after an altercation at his home, then tried to hide the crime. He disposed of Davis’s body, moved the victim’s car, buried the remains, and initially lied about Davis’s whereabouts. The motive was never publicly established. In June 2024, Risner pleaded guilty to 12 offenses, including malice murder, two counts of felony murder, aggravated assault, aggravated battery, concealing a death, abandonment of a body, theft, evidence tampering, and obstruction. In July 2024, a Floyd County judge sentenced him to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

    He Had His Whole Life Ahead of Him… Then His Best Friend Killed Him

  7. Sep 21

    Kenia Monge and the "Good Samaritan"

    As always, thank you for hanging out and remembering Kenia Monge with me today. In the early hours of April 1, 2011, 19-year-old Kenia Monge disappeared after leaving the 24K Lounge in downtown Denver, Colorado. She had left her purse, phone, and keys inside the club. Travis Forbes, 31, later portrayed himself to police as a “good Samaritan,” claiming he had found Monge intoxicated and offered her a safe ride home in his white van. That account was a lie intended to distance himself from her disappearance. Monge got into Forbes’s van after he approached her and offered help. After Forbes dropped off another man who had been in the van, Monge fell asleep or passed out. Forbes later admitted that he sexually assaulted her; when she woke up, a struggle followed and he strangled her. He then cleaned the van with bleach and burned clothing in an attempt to destroy evidence. Forbes hid Monge’s body in a cooler, drove around with it for a day, and stored it temporarily in a freezer at the bakery where he made granola bars. He eventually buried her in a shallow grave near Interstate 76 outside Keenesburg, Colorado. Her remains were found in September 2011 after Forbes led investigators to the burial site as part of his plea agreement. On September 26, 2011, Forbes pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and received a mandatory sentence of life without parole in exchange for prosecutors not seeking the death penalty. He also pleaded guilty in a separate attack on Lydia Tillman, for which he received a consecutive 48-year sentence for attempted murder and related offenses.

    Kenia Monge and the "Good Samaritan"

  8. Sep 18

    Nothing Good Happens After Midnight : The Sarah Ludemann and Rachel Wade case

    As always, thank you for hanging out and remembering Sarah Ludemann with me today. In April 2009, 18-year-old Sarah Ludemann was fatally stabbed by 19-year-old Rachel Wade outside the Pinellas Park, Florida, home of Joshua Camacho, the young man both women had been involved with. The case arose from months of jealousy, arguments, confrontations, and hostile online and phone exchanges linked to the volatile relationship between Wade, Ludemann, and Camacho. On the night of April 14, Ludemann went with friends to Camacho’s home, where Wade was also present. A confrontation developed outside. Wade had brought a kitchen knife with her, and during the argument she stabbed Ludemann once in the chest. The blade penetrated Ludemann’s heart, and she bled to death in the street shortly afterward. Wade said she had acted in self-defense because she feared being attacked by Ludemann and her friends. Her defense maintained that she produced the knife to frighten them, not intending to kill anyone. Prosecutors argued that bringing the knife and waiting for the confrontation showed Wade had prepared for violence; they also presented evidence of the long-running conflict and communications between the people involved. In July 2010, a jury convicted Wade of second-degree murder after deliberating for less than three hours. In September, Judge Joseph Bulone sentenced her to 27 years in Florida state prison rather than treating her as a youthful offender. Her appeal was unsuccessful, and Florida corrections records cited in recent reporting list a projected release date in March 2032.

    Nothing Good Happens After Midnight : The Sarah Ludemann and Rachel Wade case
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About

As someone who has been personally effected by homicide, I approach every True Crime case I cover with the goal of balancing facts with empathy—giving victims a voice while exploring the larger cultural and societal implications of the cases. I want you to leave my episodes not only knowing that the people who I talk about are real.. what happened to them is real but also acknowledging that they are much more than just their deaths. Each audio file from this podcast is taken from my videos on YouTube. If you want to see me in action, you can search "Bratterstein" there.

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