Drop Dead Serious With Ashleigh Banfield

Brian Hooker’s stepmother is revealing a shocking claim she says he made decades ago: that he “had to have someone killed” after running into trouble while living on a beach in Hawaii. Now, as Brian remains the prime suspect in the disappearance and suspected murder of his wife, Lynette Hooker, sources with knowledge of the investigation say the alleged Hawaii killing is being investigated.
In this episode of Drop Dead Serious, Ashleigh Banfield speaks exclusively with Donna Hooker, who was married to Brian’s late father for more than 40 years. She describes the disturbing statement Brian allegedly made in the 1980s, his estrangement from his dying father and why she now believes he killed Lynette aboard their sailboat, Soulmate, before reporting that she disappeared from a dinghy near Elbow Cay in the Bahamas.

Six months after Nancy Guthrie vanished from her Tucson, Arizona, home, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos is making startling new admissions about the troubled investigation. In an explosive interview, Nanos takes aim at FBI Director Kash Patel, acknowledges the two have not spoken, and finally confirms investigators are using forensic genetic genealogy to trace the unidentified male DNA found inside Nancy’s home.
In this episode of Drop Dead Serious, Ashleigh Banfield breaks down the biggest revelations from Sheriff Nanos’s interview with journalist Wyatt Sharp, host of The Sharp Exchange.
EXCLUSIVE: Nancy Guthrie Sheriff Weighs In On The Investigation | Full Interview
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWEgc-GHQK8
The Sharpe Exchange:
https://www.youtube.com/@TheSharpeExchange

Explosive new reporting from The New York Times reveals that Bryan Kohberger is now declaring his innocence and fighting to reopen the University of Idaho murders case. In his first public comments since his arrest, Kohberger told reporter Mike Baker he has an “absolute claim of innocence” and declared, “My actual innocence is my truth.” Kohberger is seeking to withdraw his guilty plea, claiming it was “hinged on by false promises and blatant disinformation,” and says, “I really do want that to be heard.” Now serving four consecutive life sentences for the murders of Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin, Kohberger says he wants his case taken to trial, even if prosecutors seek the death penalty again.
In this episode of Drop Dead Serious, Ashleigh Banfield speaks with veteran criminal defense attorney and former prosecutor Mark Eiglarsh about Kohberger’s stunning attempt to undo his murder convictions.

Messages recovered from singer d4vd’s phone indicate fourteen-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez became pregnant by him at thirteen and later had an abortion. During David Anthony Burke’s preliminary hearing, prosecutors also revealed sexually explicit evidence, matching tattoos, blood spatter inside his Hollywood Hills garage, and a disturbing series of purchases allegedly made before Celeste’s severely decomposed and dismembered remains were discovered inside the front trunk of his Tesla.
In this episode of Drop Dead Serious, Ashleigh Banfield reconstructs the nearly three-year timeline prosecutors presented in court, beginning when Celeste was only eleven years old. From the alleged sexual relationship and abortion messages to chainsaws, body bags, an inflatable pool and the millions Burke potentially stood to lose, Ashleigh examines the graphic forensic evidence, the prosecution’s alleged motive and the significant gaps the defense could use if the d4vd murder case goes to trial.

Just days before an affluent Houston man was supposed to stand trial for allegedly strangling his pregnant wife, authorities say he vanished, crossed an international border, and resurfaced in Italy under a fake identity. Lee Gilley, a 38-year-old software consultant, and his wife, Christa Bauer Gilley, appeared to be building an enviable life together in Houston’s historic Heights neighborhood. But behind that picture of success, prosecutors allege something horrifying was unfolding. On October 7, 2024, Christa was found unresponsive inside the couple’s Houston Heights home as their two young children slept nearby. She was nine weeks pregnant with their third child. The medical examiner later ruled her death a homicide caused by compression of the neck and upper back, and Lee Gilley was charged with capital murder in the deaths of Christa and their unborn baby. 
In this episode of Drop Dead Serious, Ashleigh Banfield speaks with Chambers County Sheriff Brian Hawthorne about Gilley’s alleged escape from house arrest and the growing international showdown over whether Italy will send him back. Italian authorities are demanding that Texas take both the death penalty and life without parole off the table before extradition can move forward, potentially limiting the punishment Gilley could face before he ever sets foot in a Texas courtroom.