Mind Behind The Crime | The Psychology Of Killers

Rob and Michele Reiner spent nearly two decades trying to save their son. Seventeen rehab stays. Constant supervision. A guest house on their property so they could keep him close and try to manage the chaos. Every possible resource love, money, access, and opportunity could provide. And still, on December 15, 2025, they were found stabbed to death in their Brentwood home. Their son, Nick Reiner, now faces charges in their killings.This is not a story about parents who missed the warning signs. It’s about parents who lived with those signs for eighteen years and had no legal way to act on them.In this in-depth conversation, psychotherapist Shavaun Scott examines what was likely unfolding inside the Reiner family long before that final night. She breaks down why Nick Reiner’s own words — that drugs were never about getting high but about “killing the noise” — point to deeper psychological distress that traditional rehab often fails to address. We explore what happens to parents psychologically when they’ve exhausted every option yet remain trapped in proximity to a volatile adult child, and why wealth and access offered no real protection.The discussion then widens to a second chilling case: the Mickey Stines tragedy in Kentucky, where a sheriff fatally shot a judge inside his own courthouse after weeks of visible psychological unraveling. Witnesses described paranoia, severe sleep deprivation, rapid weight loss, delusional beliefs, and an alarming phone call to a deceased relative on the day of the incident. Coworkers saw it. Friends saw it. Authorities saw it. And still, no intervention stopped what followed.Together, these cases expose a painful reality: in the United States, families and communities often recognize danger long before the law allows action. Competent adults cannot be forced into treatment. Intervention requires “imminent danger,” a threshold that frequently isn’t crossed until lives are already lost.This conversation isn’t about excusing violence or assigning blame. It’s about confronting the limits of love, the failures baked into mental-health and commitment laws, and the impossible position families are placed in when respecting autonomy means risking their own safety.If you’ve ever wondered how people can do everything right and still end up here, this episode offers uncomfortable — but necessary — answers.#ReinerMurders #NickReiner #MickeyStines #JudgeKevinMullins #TrueCrime #MentalHealthCrisis #SystemicFailure #CrimePsychology #FamilyViolence #ShavaunScott #HiddenKillersWant to comment and watch this podcast as a video?Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/@hiddenkillerspodInstagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspodX Twitter https://x.com/tonybpodListen Ad-Free On Apple Podcasts Here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/true-crime-today-premium-plus-ad-free-advance-episode/id1705422872

A Kentucky sheriff shot and killed a judge inside his own courthouse chambers — and according to court documents, the warning signs were everywhere. Witnesses say Mickey Stines hadn't slept in days. He'd lost a massive amount of weight. He was convinced unnamed people were going to kill his wife and daughter. He woke his wife up at night to whisper because he believed their home was bugged. And on the day of the shooting, he reportedly tried calling his grandmother — who had been dead for three years. Coworkers saw it. An attorney saw it. The local police chief said "that son of a bitch has lost his mind." His friends even took him to the doctor the day before. And still, nobody stopped what was coming. In this segment, psychotherapist Shavaun Scott breaks down what these behaviors actually mean clinically — what paranoid psychosis looks like, why people miss or dismiss the warning signs, and what Stines' insanity defense might actually hold up to. We're not here to excuse what happened. We're here to understand it. Because this case is a brutal lesson in what happens when someone falls apart in plain sight and no one knows what to do about it.#MickeyStines #JudgeKevinMullins #TrueCrime #KentuckySheriff #CourthouseShooting #MentalHealthCrisis #InsanityDefense #WarningSigns #Psychosis #ShavaunScottWant to comment and watch this podcast as a video?Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/@hiddenkillerspodInstagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspodX Twitter https://x.com/tonybpodListen Ad-Free On Apple Podcasts Here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/true-crime-today-premium-plus-ad-free-advance-episode/id1705422872

Rob and Michele Reiner spent eighteen years trying to save their son. Seventeen rehab facilities. A feature film about his addiction. A guest house on their property so they could watch over him. And still, on December 15th, 2025, they were found stabbed to death in their Brentwood home. Nick Reiner, 32, has been charged with their murders.This isn't a case about parents who didn't see it coming. It's about parents who saw it coming for nearly two decades and couldn't stop it.Psychotherapist Shavaun Scott has spent thirty years working with families in crisis, perpetrators of violence, and people trapped in cycles of addiction and mental illness. She's the author of "Nightbird" and "The Minds of Mass Killers," and in this interview, she breaks down what was likely happening inside the Reiner family long before that final night.We discuss why Nick's own words — that his drug use was never about the drugs, but about "killing the noise" — reveal something critical about what treatment was missing. We examine what happens to parents psychologically when they've exhausted every resource and still live in proximity to a volatile adult child. We look at why wealth and access to the best facilities offered essentially no protection. And we explore the warning signs that families often see but can't bring themselves to act on — because acting means treating your own child as a threat.If you've ever wondered how a family can do everything right and still end up here, this conversation offers uncomfortable answers. The Reiners aren't a cautionary tale about neglect. They're a cautionary tale about the limits of love when you're up against something love can't fix.#RobReiner #NickReiner #TrueCrime #FamilyViolence #AddictionRecovery #MentalHealthCrisis #ShavaunScott #Parricide #CrimePsychology #HollywoodTragedyWant to comment and watch this podcast as a video?Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/@hiddenkillerspodInstagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspodX Twitter https://x.com/tonybpodListen Ad-Free On Apple Podcasts Here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/true-crime-today-premium-plus-ad-free-advance-episode/id1705422872

The Brian Walshe case isn’t just about timelines, evidence dumps, and surveillance clips — it’s about a mindset. A pattern. A psychological profile that becomes harder to ignore the deeper you look. Today, we’re combining the trial’s most explosive Day 4 revelations with a full behavioral breakdown from psychotherapist Shavaun Scott, who helps us decode what investigators say they’re seeing in real time.In court, jurors learned that Brian Walshe allegedly searched “Ana Walshe found dead” on Christmas Day 2022 — a full week before his defense claims Ana died suddenly and unexpectedly in their bed. Prosecutors also introduced testimony from Ana’s boyfriend, William Fastow, who revealed a relationship built on plans, long-term goals, and a future without Brian. Surveillance footage and cell-tower data added even more pressure, placing Brian near dumpsters across multiple apartment complexes in the days after Ana vanished.But the evidence only tells half the story.Shavaun Scott walks us through the psychology underneath it all: the shifting stories, the image-management, the sudden claims that “no one would believe” the truth, and the digital trail investigators say points to preoccupation — not panic. She explains why certain explanations fit a familiar behavioral pattern, and how someone can publicly perform calm normalcy while privately unraveling.This episode connects the emotional framework, the alleged deception, and the forensic timeline into one picture: not speculation, but applied psychological analysis paired with courtroom testimony. If you’re trying to understand the gap between what’s being said and what’s being shown, this conversation lays it out plainly.🔔 Subscribe for daily trial coverage, expert insight, and the most complete breakdowns anywhere.#BrianWalshe #AnaWalshe #ShavaunScott #HiddenKillers #TrueCrimeToday Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video?Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/@hiddenkillerspodInstagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspodX Twitter https://x.com/tonybpodListen Ad-Free On Apple Podcasts Here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/true-crime-today-premium-plus-ad-free-advance-episode/id1705422872

The death of 18-year-old Anna Kepner aboard a cruise ship has left behind a trail of conflicting stories — and at the center of it is a blended family dynamic that now looks very different depending on who’s doing the talking. Parents and grandparents describe harmony, closeness, and three teenagers who were “the three amigos.” Yet teens who actually lived inside that home describe something else entirely: aggression, chokeholds, tension, and behavior reframed by adults as “just playing.”On today’s episode of Hidden Killers, psychotherapist Shavaun Scott joins us to break down what these contradictions reveal about denial, family image-management, and the difference between outside perception and lived experience.Shavaun explains why teens often have a more accurate read on the emotional temperature of a home than parents do — especially in blended families where adults may be overly invested in a narrative of unity. She walks us through the psychology of minimizing aggression, why “roughhousing” becomes the excuse of choice, and the gender dynamics that shape which behaviors get dismissed and which get flagged.We also look at why an outsider — in this case, Anna’s ex-boyfriend — might actually provide a more reliable account than adults with emotional or reputational skin in the game. And how cabin assignments made by a travel agent, not the kids themselves, may speak volumes about parental blind spots.This segment is a deep dive into credibility, emotional truth, and the patterns families cling to long after red flags have been waving in plain sight.#AnnaKepner #HiddenKillers #ShavaunScott #TrueCrimePodcast #FamilyDynamics #BlendedFamilies #CruiseShipCase #TonyBrueski #PsychologicalInsight #TeenPerspectiveWant to comment and watch this podcast as a video?Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/@hiddenkillerspodInstagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspodX Twitter https://x.com/tonybpodListen Ad-Free On Apple Podcasts Here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/true-crime-today-premium-plus-ad-free-advance-episode/id1705422872

While threatening self-harm, Bryan Kohberger is reportedly reaching out to serial offenders across the country — trying to build relationships with the very people he once studied academically. It’s a pattern that has stunned investigators and raised deeper questions about identity, belonging, and psychological validation.Today on Hidden Killers, psychotherapist Shavaun Scott helps us untangle what this behavior reveals. Why would someone convicted of killing four college students seek connection not with family, supporters, or advocates — but with other violent offenders? What does that choice of outreach tell us about how he sees himself and the world around him?Sources say Kohberger views himself as “above” the general prison population. He expected notoriety, maybe even dark fascination, when he entered the system. Instead, he got contempt — rejection from inmates who taunt him, mock him, and refuse to engage. For someone craving recognition, rejection can feel like psychological collapse.So why turn to serial offenders? Shavaun explores whether this is about validation, identity fusion, or the need to belong to a group he believes mirrors his own self-image. She also explains the recognizable profile of individuals who study violent offenders not to prevent harm — but because they identify with them emotionally or intellectually.Kohberger’s behavior is happening in tandem with his escalating demands and self-harm threats. These aren’t random, disconnected acts, Shavaun says — they’re part of a larger pattern: a man whose sense of identity relies heavily on external reinforcement. And inside prison, he’s not getting the reaction he believed he deserved.We also discuss why he clings so tightly to the “why” behind his crime — the one thing prosecutors never demanded and the one thing he refuses to give up.#BryanKohberger #HiddenKillers #SerialOffenders #ShavaunScott #PrisonPsychology #TonyBrueski #CriminalIdentity #StatusDynamics #TrueCrimeAnalysis #PsychologicalProfilingWant to comment and watch this podcast as a video?Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/@hiddenkillerspodInstagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspodX Twitter https://x.com/tonybpodListen Ad-Free On Apple Podcasts Here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/true-crime-today-premium-plus-ad-free-advance-episode/id1705422872

Some cases are about evidence. Others are about timelines. The Brian Walshe case is about psychology — about behavior that doesn’t match the story being told. Today, we bring in psychotherapist Shavaun Scott to break down that gap and explain what the patterns reveal.We look at the alleged deception: the shifting narratives, the claims about Ana leaving for a spontaneous work trip, the hesitation to report her missing, the sudden insistence that “no one would believe” the truth. Shavaun walks us through why these types of explanations fit a known psychological profile — one where control, image management, and self-preservation override all else.Then we tackle the digital footprint prosecutors laid out: the early-morning searches, the questions about legal consequences, and the behavior that investigators say unfolded before anyone even realized Ana was missing. From a clinical perspective, Shavaun explains what this kind of preoccupation suggests about intent and mindset.We also dig into the deeper emotional framework: jealousy, perceived betrayal, financial desperation, and what happens when a relationship is crumbling under the weight of lies. Shavaun talks about how someone can publicly perform normalcy — even affection — while privately preparing for loss of control.For anyone trying to understand how deception works, how manipulators construct believable narratives, and how victims often sense danger before anyone else does, this conversation is essential. This isn’t speculation — it’s behavioral psychology applied to one of the most unsettling cases in recent memory.#HiddenKillers #BrianWalshe #ManipulationPsychology #TrueCrimeAnalysis #ShavaunScott #CrimeMindset #CourtroomBreakdown #AnaWalshe #DeceptiveBehavior #TrueCrimeChannelWant to comment and watch this podcast as a video?Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/@hiddenkillerspodInstagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspodX Twitter https://x.com/tonybpodListen Ad-Free On Apple Podcasts Here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/true-crime-today-premium-plus-ad-free-advance-episode/id1705422872

Jurors aren’t just weighing evidence in the Brian Walshe case — they’re weighing behavior. They’re deciding which version of events feels psychologically possible, which narrative aligns with human behavior, and which actions simply don’t match the story being told.Today, psychotherapist Shavaun Scott helps us understand the psychological patterns prosecutors are highlighting. We explore why certain types of deception — calculated lies, rehearsed narratives, contradictory explanations — point to deeper issues than simple panic or misunderstanding.Shavaun walks us through the mechanics of deceit: how people maintain double lives, how they separate public persona from private behavior, and what happens internally when the truth starts closing in. We look at the early-morning searches revealed in court and discuss what they suggest about planning, awareness, and emotional state.We also examine the defense’s theory that Ana died suddenly and Brian responded in fear rather than violence. Shavaun explains what a real shock response looks like, how grief manifests, and why certain behaviors line up more with self-protection than panic.Then we broaden the view: the warning signs in troubled relationships, the risk spike when someone prepares to leave, the emotional danger of perceived betrayal, and what it means when financial motive intersects with escalating conflict. These are the patterns professionals see every day in cases that end in violence.Shavaun’s perspective gives viewers the tools to understand not only this case, but the psychology behind deception itself — and why credibility is often the real battleground inside the courtroom.#HiddenKillers #BrianWalsheTrial #PsychologyExplained #TrueCrimeInsights #ShavaunScott #CrimeBehavior #CourtroomCoverage #AnaWalshe #ManipulationTactics #TrueCrimeCommunityWant to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/@hiddenkillerspodInstagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspodX Twitter https://x.com/tonybpodListen Ad-Free On Apple Podcasts Here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/true-crime-today-premium-plus-ad-free-advance-episode/id1705422872