EP. 221 - FLORIDA: The "Zombie" Murders

In August of 2016, a disturbing crime rocked the town of Jupiter, Florida. On that day, a young man did the unthinkable, and ended two lives in an unpredictable, completely random explosion of senseless violence. Join us today as we investigate the story of Austin Harrouff, and the chilling crimes that came to be known as the "Zombie Murders". - Listen to our new show, "THE CONSPIRACY FILES"!: -Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/5IY9nWD2MYDzlSYP48nRPl -Apple Podcasts - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-conspiracy-files/id1752719844 -Amazon/Audible - https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/ab1ade99-740c-46ae-8028-b2cf41eabf58/the-conspiracy-files -Pandora - https://www.pandora.com/podcast/the-conspiracy-files/PC:1001089101 -iHeart - https://iheart.com/podcast/186907423/ -PocketCast - https://pca.st/dpdyrcca -CastBox - https://castbox.fm/channel/id6193084?country=us - Stay Connected: Join the Murder in America fam in our free Facebook Community for a behind-the-scenes look, more insights and current events in the true crime world: https://www.facebook.com/groups/4365229996855701 If you want even more Murder in America bonus content, including ad-free episodes, come join us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/murderinamerica Instagram: http://instagram.com/murderinamerica/ Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/people/Murder-in-America-Podcast/100086268848682/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/MurderInAmerica TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@theparanormalfiles and https://www.tiktok.com/@courtneybrowen Feeling spooky? Follow Colin as he travels state to state (and even country to country!) investigating claims of extreme paranormal activity and visiting famous haunted locations on The Paranormal Files Official Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheParanormalFilesOfficialChannel - (c) BLOOD IN THE SINK PRODUCTIONS 2025 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Colin Brown?

  Warning: The following podcast is not suitable for all audiences. We go into great detail with every case that we cover and do our best to bring viewers even deeper into the stories by utilizing disturbing audio and sound effects.

• 0:12Courtney Brown?

  Trigger warnings from the stories we cover may include violence, rape, murder, and offenses against children.

• 0:18Colin Brown?

  This podcast is not for everyone. You have been warned.

• 0:22Courtney Brown?

  It all started with a scream. It was 9:15 PM, and Jeffrey Fisher was just getting ready to go to bed and is to Questa, Florida home. But instantly, he was startled awake. The scream had come from his neighbor's house, a beautiful home belonging to Michelle Michonne and John Stevens, two loving and kind people who were the cornerstone of their neighborhood. Terrified that something had happened to them, Jeffrey quickly rushed across the street. But as he stepped closer to their house, it became clear that things were more wrong than he could have ever imagined. There was not just the sound of screaming. There was growling, inhuman, disturbing noises

• 1:07Courtney Brown?

  that made his skin crawl. When he rounded the corner into the garage, he discovered where those noises were coming from. It was a young man he had never seen before, and he was hunched over Michelle, who laid on the floor in a pool of blood. The man turned to Jeffrey, his eyes dark and lifeless, and he hissed at him, "You don't want this. You don't want to be a part of this." Jeffrey had no time to respond before the man was rushing at him, slashing at him with a knife, slicing open his skin, and cutting a large wound in his stomach. By the time Jeffrey managed to escape and call 911, things had somehow only escalated.

• 1:52Courtney Brown?

  Because when the Martin County Sheriff's Office responded to the garage 15 minutes later, nothing could have prepared them for what they saw.

• 2:01Courtney Brown?

  Austin Haruf, a 19-year-old college student, was now hunched over John Stevens' body. And he ignored the police as he pulled out John's cheek, exposing the soft flesh and took bites out of it, swallowing the man's skin. What unraveled next was something truly out of a horror movie. The police deployed their tasers. They used physical force and even pepper spray, trying to get Austin off John's body. But it was no use. He was locked on, like a predator on his prey. And behind his eyes, all of his humanity was gone. There was never any doubt who killed Michelle and John.

• 2:45Courtney Brown?

  But to this day, doubt remains about how and why this heinous crime was committed. It's a crime that offers an unflinching look at the mental health crisis in our country, at bright red flashing signs that were missed, and ultimately, at the love of two families on very different sides of the same problem. So this is the story of Michelle Michonne and John Stevens. I'm Courtney Brown.

• 3:12Colin Brown?

  And I'm Colin Brown.

• 3:14Courtney Brown?

  And you're listening to Murder in America.

• 4:18Colin Brown?

  To Questa, Florida, a village in Palm Beach County, just north of the city of Jupiter, is a little slice of paradise to many. Once the beloved territory of the Toquesta tribe, it's an area of abundance. Located at the mouth of the Miami River at the edge of the ocean, the area is flush with fish of all kinds in the tropical waters, fruit year-round, and fair, warm days with an ocean breeze. Over time, first nearby tribes, then colonizers flocked to the area, creating homes for themselves beneath the palms. By the 1900s, a country club stood out as the town's symbol of luxury, and eventually, the town evolved into a quiet, residential community. As opposed to many communities in southern Florida, it has a small-town feel.

• 5:03Colin Brown?

  There are plenty of activities, all based around the area's natural parks, sparkling coastlines, and coastal reserves. Perfect for boating, fishing, kayaking, and enjoying all the beauty the area has to offer. The village's official website describes it as "a perfect place to call home." "The streets and neighborhoods of Toquesta are clean, family-friendly, and almost everyone knows their neighbors by name. The weather's great, the shopping and services are phenomenal, and the village offers a perfect blend of relaxed coastal vibes with convenient access to bigger cities." It's the kind of town where families can raise their kids with all the luxury that cities have to offer, but with the safety of a small community. Unfortunately, though, that safety was threatened on August 15th, 2016,

• 5:48Colin Brown?

  a day that served as a chilling reminder that even the quaintest communities are not immune to tragedy. It's a crime that was months, if not years, in the making, an unraveling of mental health that began with a seemingly perfect family and ended with the complete destruction of another.

• 6:05Courtney Brown?

  Austin Kelly Haruf was born on December 21st, 1996, to Wade and Mina Haruf in Palm Beach Gardens. And by all accounts, including his own, he had a great upbringing. Both of his parents worked in the medical field, with his father Wade owning a practice as a dentist, and his mother working as a pharmacist. Their income gave Austin an upper-middle-class upbringing. They raised him in a gorgeous home nestled right along the coast, along with his younger sister Haley, who he was incredibly close with. They were wealthy, stable, and by all accounts relatively happy.

• 6:46Courtney Brown?

  But just like any family, they also had their cracks. Austin described his father as quote "different," kind of loud, and "a redneck," end quote. He acknowledged that his dad was kind and funny, but at times he had a temper that was hard to contend with. And by that same token, the family had high expectations and a set plan they seemed to expect their children to follow. Growing up, Wade urged Austin to go fishing with him, hiking, and hunting, all activities that Austin has since stated he wasn't interested in. His mother Mina had similar expectations of how Austin should behave.

• 7:29Courtney Brown?

  She was reportedly adamant about chores and very strict on punishment. Now that being said, this is all coming from Austin's perspective and statements as an adult. But overall, he said that both of his parents were kind, loving people, and that his mom in particular was extremely motherly.

• 7:49Colin Brown?

  Growing up, Austin was a typical kid, and like all kids, he had his fair share of struggles as he grew into an adult. During his elementary and middle school years, he gained weight, struggled with acne all over his body, and as a result, he claims to have experienced bullying. The bullying made him extremely self-conscious and reserved, so as he reached high school, he decided to transform his body through diet and physical activity. He was not only dedicated to his fitness, but his education and mental improvement as well. Teachers described him as polite, quiet, and well-mannered. His grades at Sun Coast Community High School in Riviera Beach were above average. He never received a grade lower than a C, and he managed to maintain a 3.3 GPA.

• 8:33Colin Brown?

  In addition, he was athletic, wrestling, and playing defense for the Sun Coast Chargers football team. His experience on the team and in the gym allowed him to slowly come out of his shell and develop a good core group of friends. In spite of the pressures of being a teen boy and the bullying he had previously experienced, he maintained a gentle, Kind energy about him. One of his teammates, Josh Lonsberry, told the Tallahassee Democrat that Austin had had a hard time getting physical on the football field. He admitted, "We used to have to ask him during games to just get angry and more physical. We used to have to beg him, and he never would. He just always had a smile on his face. That's just the type of kid he was." And when you look at what was going on in his life at home, that becomes even more surprising.

• 9:17Colin Brown?

  In 2010, his parents, Wade and Mina, divorced. The separation was, by all accounts, amicable, but it seemed to have had a profound effect on the family. Because soon afterwards, Wade was arrested and charged with two DUIs. Once in Juneau Beach in 2011, and another time in Lantana in 2012. Wade also struggled with some legal issues around this time. The state of Florida Board of Dentistry disciplined him four times for misdiagnosing his patients, including at least one case involving unnecessary procedures. Though all the statements from the family described that all was well at home, these legal troubles do paint a picture of struggles and unhappiness behind closed doors.

• 9:57Courtney Brown?

  However, it appears that everyone remained closed throughout their struggles. His dad actually purchased a home in the same neighborhood as Austin's childhood home, where his mother lived. This allowed Haley and Austin to maintain a close relationship with both of their parents, in spite of their separation. And perhaps this dual support from his parents is part of the reason why Austin was able to continue flourishing throughout high school. During his junior year, he started dieting to lose more weight, something he said he did so he could, quote, "have a good body and look cool," end quote. He also began to hit the books even harder than the gym.

• 10:40Courtney Brown?

  He participated in a rigorous academic track that offered college-level classes, allowing students to earn college credits before graduation. He also took advanced courses in chemistry, statistics, biology, art, and math analysis, but his absolute favorite subject was science.

• 11:01Courtney Brown?

  In an updated journal entry, Austin wrote why he believed science was the best, stating, quote, "Because it never stops, even though I may not be great at it yet," end quote. Another subject he loved was art. According to school records, Austin received As in all of his advanced art courses. And at one point, he even told his mother that he could earn a living writing music. In January of 2014, Austin wrote in his journal, quote, "I also see myself as creative. I love imagining anything," end quote. Now both Wade and Mina were extremely proud of their son, and they believed he would go far in life.

• 11:45Courtney Brown?

  Wade would later tell Dr. Phil that his son was, quote, "An extremely nice, gentle person who cared a lot about people," end quote. On January 6th, 2014, not long before his high school graduation, Austin wrote a piece titled "Self-Identity Investigation" for one of his high school classes. And he reflected on his personality, saying, quote, "The way I see myself may or may not be different from the way others see me. I view myself as happy, shy, nice, positive, and I never give up. I view myself as happy because usually I have very few things to feel sad or depressed about," end quote.

• 12:27Courtney Brown?

  But the one thing he did want to change about himself was his shyness. In his writing, he continued, saying, quote, "One of the main things I dislike about myself is that I am shy, and I want to be more confident and assertive. I am not that shy around my close friends because after I get to know someone, I'll start to open up more towards them," end quote. He finished the piece by saying he was nice and enjoyed going out of his way to help people. He also claimed that he never gave up when it came to his goals, and he tended to push himself harder, especially when it came to schoolwork.

• 13:03Colin Brown?

  During the fall semester of 2015, Austin started attending Florida State University, where he studied exercise science. Although he had originally intended to study biology on a pre-med track, he changed his mind and wanted to focus on becoming a dietitian. Always a gifted athlete, Austin had aspirations of pursuing a future in sports. He also rushed and joined the Alpha Delta Five fraternity, but did not live at the frat house located at Heritage Grove. During his freshman year, he maintained a 3.2 GPA and had no disciplinary record. By all accounts, Austin was a typical college student with a promising future. But as the months went on, Austin started exhibiting bizarre, erratic behavior.

• 13:44Colin Brown?

  In fact, according to the TC Palm, Austin's father, Wade, stated that there was mental illness in the family. He later told Dr. Philip Resnick, a forensic psychiatrist at the University Hospitals of Cleveland in Ohio, that he himself had experienced two severe bouts of depression and had been previously diagnosed with bipolar disorder. For this diagnosis, he had two medications prescribed to ease his symptoms. In addition, Austin's grandfather suffered from alcoholism, and one of his aunts had been treated with electroconvulsive therapy for severe depression. There was also a history of schizophrenia. But despite the family history of mental illness, Austin had never exhibited any abnormal behavior, at least not until he entered Florida State University.

• 14:27Colin Brown?

  But sadly, this isn't abnormal. For men who are predisposed to mental illnesses like bipolar disorder, mood disorders, or psychotic disorders, symptoms most commonly show up between the ages of 18 and 25. Scientists suggest that these symptoms may be exacerbated by the stress of entering adulthood. However, something else that exacerbates the symptoms of mental illness are, of course, substances. Exposure to marijuana, party drugs, and alcohol is linked to a decrease in mental well-being, and it can actually trigger psychotic episodes. At the same time, mental illness creates a vicious cycle when it comes to drinking and doing substances. Drugs and alcohol make symptoms of mental illness worse, but mental illness also makes

• 15:10Colin Brown?

  people predisposed to drinking and doing drugs as a way of coping with their symptoms.

• 15:16Courtney Brown?

  Austin was one of these people caught in this vicious cycle. And not only did he enter a whole new world when he began college, but he did what many college students do. He experimented with drugs and alcohol. He drank frequently with his frat brothers. He used a variety of drugs, including Xanax, mushrooms, and painkillers. In a text message to a friend around this time, he claimed that he blacked out, quote, "about three times a week", which is very excessive, even for a college student. Now, whether he was drinking because of his mental health struggles or his drinking was just making his small symptoms worse, we'll never know.

• 15:58Courtney Brown?

  But what we do know is that heading into 2016, his sophomore year of college, Austin began to exhibit concerning behavior. Under the alias A. Frost, short for Osti Frosty, Austin began posting bizarre and unsettling YouTube videos. At first, he took on the alias of a country singer. Then it transformed into wanting to be a rapper. Here is a short clip from a video he posted in July of 2016.

• 16:31Speaker 02

  Hello, ladies and gentlemen, howdy, howdy. It's Osti Frosty.

• 16:38Speaker 02

  About to do the cover, Tim McGraw. Live like you were dying.

• 16:44Speaker 02

  Yep, that's all I gotta say, except for got this Tennessee Hennessy right next to me.

• 16:51Speaker 02

  Sipping slow.

• 16:54Speaker 02

  Got flow. Just kidding, it's water, baby. It's water, I don't do drugs. All right, you ready? Let's do it.

• 17:02Colin Brown?

  Now, look, we've all goofed around on videos for friends. So this in itself wasn't a huge cause for concern. What was, however, was the fact that Austin started to take on multiple personas, each talking with a distinct, odd accent. Doing a southern drawl accent for a country song cover isn't strange. However, paired with a handful of other accents in his other videos, seems to be a cause for concern. It's worth noting that a rare symptom of psychosis is foreign accent syndrome, where someone begins to speak in accents that are not their own. Often, they're unaware that they're doing it, but it's constant, with the person sometimes switching from accent to accent, and is usually inappropriate for the situation sufferers find themselves in.

• 17:43Colin Brown?

  On a more personal note, a member of our team is close friends with someone who had this as a symptom. For weeks leading up to their psychotic break, they spoke in a British accent. When our team member asked why they were talking with an accent, the person stated that they weren't. This accent carried with them into important meetings, calls home to family, and just about every aspect of life, with the person completely unaware that they were doing it. It's a symptom we felt was important to point out, as it's not widely known, and it can serve as a precursor to more serious symptoms.

• 18:15Courtney Brown?

  But that was just one of Austin's many symptoms. At the same time, his friends and family reported that he had a hard time falling asleep, often going days without rest, and that he began to have odd obsessions with wanting to help people. He was usually a jokester, someone who liked to make people laugh. But day by day, Austin seemed to be unraveling. One of his closest friends at FSU, David Yates, would later tell the Sun-Sentinel quote, "For people who don't know him, he seems kind of really odd to begin with." But there was a distinct shift in his personality. His comments became increasingly paranoid and bizarre.

• 18:59Courtney Brown?

  David stated that Austin started smoking marijuana to help him go to sleep at night, but that he believed he often quit and then restarted the drug. At the same time, Austin rapidly switched interests and obsessions. One minute, he was obsessed with fitness and swore off all drugs. Then the next, he was using drugs again and wanting to be a rap god. His obsession cycled almost daily, ranging from Christianity to Buddhism, with him fully immersing himself in each new belief. In between his rapping videos, changing up his obsession of the week, Austin started posting videos of bodybuilding, claiming he wanted to be a professional bodybuilder.

• 19:43Courtney Brown?

  Here are just a few examples of his videos.

• 19:47Speaker 02

  What's up, guys? Pulling a little Jason Genova. Driving while talking, but that's alright. Anyway, I'm gonna talk to you about why I don't do steroids. And the reason is, I don't want to, you know? I don't feel like, I don't feel like it'd be beneficial for me to do steroids, you know? It just wouldn't because it damages my health. I feel like I have to depend on it every day. That's a life not worth living for me, you know? I figure it like this. Why not just be comfortable being lean? Looking and being healthy?

• 20:32Speaker 02

  That's what makes me satisfied. I'm not saying that steroids are bad. If you wanna do them, go right ahead, man. But I'm just saying this. Appreciate your fitness, your muscles. Stay, stay at it, man. Stay at it. Nutrition, everything, bruh. Everything. Just do it, bruh. It's, uh, it's sick, it piss. Pulling a little Genova, you know what I'm saying, yo? But yeah. Uh, hello, bros. Uh, it's Austin Frosty, man. And today I wanna talk about personal trainers and why you should be cautious

• 21:17Speaker 02

  when following a personal trainer. First off, a personal trainer doesn't have the same body as you. That's the first point, okay? Personal trainers are themselves, and they found out what worked for them. They went through the trial and error, they did their research. And a lot of them don't even look good, man, that's the funny part, man. You gotta follow, you gotta listen to the personal trainer's advice. But you gotta, you gotta find your way too, man. You gotta, you gotta learn for yourself. You can't, you can't just hope and pray that someone is just gonna give you all the resources that you need because it's just not gonna happen, man, you know?

• 22:02Speaker 02

  So, uh, yeah, just, uh, be cautious when using a personal trainer and keep at it. Stay gold, stay muscular, quick video, get hoes, get money, get bitches, get sloot, fly planes, run train. I'm a man. What's up, guys? I just wanna let you know that I came to a realization of something. I no longer wanna follow Arnold or any other bodybuilder. I wanna follow myself, you know?

• 22:44Colin Brown?

  All the videos you've just heard were uploaded within a month of each other, and each one was stranger than the last. One user even commented that it appeared he was playing a different character in all of his content. In a video uploaded on August 4th, 2016, Austin described to and showed his followers how to do a bodybuilding vacuum pose using a British accent.

• 23:04Speaker 02

  Alright ladies and gentlemen, today's video is about doing the vacuum pose. Alright, now this is a pose many can't do.

• 23:16Speaker 02

  It's uh, it's hard if, if you're not like skilled with breathing. You have to practice on your breathing, okay? Sorry if you can't see my face, it's right here now, but um, I'll show you, alright?

• 23:33Colin Brown?

  In another video, he adopted a Russian-style accent where he spoke about the importance of persistence.

• 23:39Speaker 02

  Hello fellow lifters, um, today I'm going to talk about persistence in weightlifting. Um, this is very important because without persistence, you don't have anything, okay? You've got to just stick it out, take your time and learn the mechanics of lifting weights in order to truly understand, to truly obtain your goals, you know what I'm saying? Like, there's a lot of people who just start and quit when they're lifting weights. I mean, it goes with anything in life, you just start and quit, you're never going to uh, you're never going to finish, you know?

• 24:24Speaker 02

  You're never going to get the results you want because you just quit.

• 24:27Colin Brown?

  Sprinkled between these odd videos were videos where Austin focused his attention on writing and performing rap songs. He believed that he could become rich as a rapper and would stay up all night obsessing over lyrics. Under a series of videos titled "Frosty for President 2016" and "Make Trap Great Again", Austin rapped to various beats about murder, cannibalism, drugs, and other completely random themes. His mother Mina stated that the poems and songs were disgusting and upon seeing them uploaded, she urged her son to take them down, but it seems like he never did. On his cellphone, he often wrote notes with rap lyrics. In July, he wrote, "I sip drank on a Sunday, I smoke weed on a Monday,

• 25:07Colin Brown?

  I get money every day, I'm getting faded with my bay, and I just took me a little Molly." While the songs showcased Austin's sense of humor, at least from what his friends saw, there was also something completely unsettling about the content, especially knowing what was to come. Was he slowly losing his grip on reality?

• 25:35Speaker 02

  I'm gonna make you real mad.

• 25:39Speaker 02

  And fucking hit you to die.

• 25:43Speaker 02

  Pull his pants down and rip him.

• 25:47Speaker 02

  Cut his pubes off and shape him like a hedgehog.

• 25:54Speaker 02

  There's a new sheriff in town. And over the town frown. There's a new sheriff in town. And over the gold frown. I'm from the west, Texas hat and chest. I'm like Jesse James, half the gun right. I shoot all the other outlaw. Cause they stole my car slot. After I had their life, I fucked a fat white. That tire her up like a hog. Roll her down the track like a log. The train cut was whizzled through two. She explodes and shoots goo goo. It ain't nothing. I go to horse for luck.

• 26:38Speaker 02

  It's a leader's black hole. It's like one two about three, no. There's a new sheriff in town. He's gonna eat you and make you frown. There's a new sheriff in town. And he's gonna kill you and he's always dying.

• 27:02Speaker 02

  Always running from the law. There was cock and shit, blah blah blah. Kick him in his gold nads. Scalp his wife and his granddad. Shove him in a brown bag. Sheriff cries and nag. I smack him with a bag and call him sad. And put my sack on top of his head. There's a new sheriff in town. He's gonna eat you and make you frown. There's a new sheriff in town. He's gonna eat you with his hound.

• 27:47Speaker 02

  There's a new sheriff in town. He's gonna eat you and make you frown. There's a new sheriff in town. He's gonna eat you with his hound.

• 28:03Speaker 02

  There's a hobo on the street corner, And he says, "Real talk, homeboy." Oi, oi, oi, oi, oi, oi, oi, oi, oi, oi. I said to him, "Suck my chokes." And then I go back to, "Real talk, homeboy." Real talk, homeboy. Re-real talk, homeboy. Do this in line. Between love and hate, I love to be myself. And masturbate. I'd die for a whore, But she'd live for me. Bitch, what the fuck are you talking? Mouth pussy.

• 28:48Speaker 02

  Got it. Lucky.

• 28:55Speaker 02

  Hello, ladies and gentlemen, this is Music Television, And, uh, we are presenting, Ostie Frostie. The band is called The Frost Fleet, And for the vocals, we've got Ostie Frostie in this corner. For the guitar, we've got Ostie Frostie in the left. For the bass, we've got Ostie Frostie on the right. And behind, on the drums, is Ostie Frostie. They will be performing, "High Standards." Thank you. I am high right now. But my standards are higher.

• 29:39Speaker 02

  I'm too sober right now. Baby, just pass me that lighter.

• 29:57Speaker 02

  I said I'm high. Ah, ah!

• 30:04Speaker 02

  Ah, fuck!

• 30:08Courtney Brown?

  In addition to the bizarre rap songs, Austin's Google searches in the months, weeks, and days leading up to the murders revealed a deeper insight into his mind. He searched "common traits of great people. I want something so bad it hurts. How do I know I'm not crazy?" He also searched things related to hallucinations, demonic possession, sleep deprivation, and hearing voices. Other searches included "selling your soul to the devil", "Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil", "Auditory hallucinations when falling asleep", and "Difference Between Mania and Peacefulness".

• 30:51Courtney Brown?

  His mother, Mina, would later tell investigators that Austin's best friend, Alex, had mentioned to her that Austin told him that the devil spoke to him. Other cellphone records indicated that he often spoke to his friends through text message about drugs and getting together with them to smoke marijuana. He referenced a lot of drugs, including molly, weed, Vivance, shrooms, cocaine, prescription pills, codeine, Adderall, and heroin. He often bragged to his friends about blacking out. And in the weeks leading up to the murders, his father found a bag of shrooms in Austin's bedroom. He confronted his son. Austin reportedly threw away the drugs

• 31:35Courtney Brown?

  and eventually swore them off altogether. On August 11, 2016, Austin texted his mother and said, "I quit doing every drug. I realize I'm better when I don't smoke. I realize my partying is enjoying the company of other people, being sober." A few minutes later, Mina responded, "I'm very proud of you. I know you know that. And whatever life brings your way, I support you." To her, it seemed like Austin's odd phase was coming to an end. The drugs were going to the wayside, and he seemed to be eager to embark on a bright future.

• 32:16Colin Brown?

  Even Austin's friends stated that they all believed he was completely sober. He believed that his drug use was contributing to his mental health decline and sent a text message to a friend saying, "I thought I was crazy, but really not. I just know that for me personally, the drugs are taking a toll on me and I can't handle." But in the quiet of his room, the bizarre searches continued and he started researching Jesus, Gandhi, and Krishna. At one point, he believed he could become the next Martin Luther King Jr., acting as a mediator to help solve the world's problems. Austin even changed his cellphone background to a picture of Gandhi. Around the same time, he wrote a journal entry that read, "I know that one day my day will come. God will tell me when that is not Lucifer. I'm coming up for a new term for God, the unknown. It's what Satan is, it's the unknown.

• 33:02Colin Brown?

  I have to learn from my origins. Do not be a hypocrite to help right here, right now, to give more than I take. I don't want to be worshipped, but I know that I will be. My powers, my feeling, my deep sympathy, I've been running from it all along. I know that before I die, I must have children. I must leave my mark. I know that they won't be perfect, no one is." While working at one of his father's friend's dental practices, Florida Atlantic Dental, during his summer break, Austin started to take his breaks outside with homeless people. He talked to them about religion and Jesus. But it wasn't just homeless strangers that he spoke to. It was also patients at the practice. While he worked on their teeth, he would often prattle on about his beliefs of the week, leaving the patients uncomfortable.

• 33:45Colin Brown?

  But for Austin, in his struggling brain, he was being empowering. Many days, he came home and told his family his new beliefs. When questioned by his father, Austin sometimes broke down crying, feeling criticized and misunderstood.

• 33:59Courtney Brown?

  When Austin came back from visiting his girlfriend in Tampa on August 7th, his coworkers noticed that he appeared more withdrawn. He also started conversing more with the patients, something that made them noticeably uncomfortable. He told the patient coordinator at his job that he could, "See things that others could not."

• 34:22Courtney Brown?

  Austin started dressing in light-colored clothing as he thought it would bring him closer to Jesus. He also thought that darkness was associated with evil entities, so he avoided dark-colored clothing and refused to turn off the lights at night. And one point of his obsessions was his black Kia Soul. Austin believed that the color of the car was a magnet for evil energy, attracting darkness and ill will from the devil. In order to fight this imaginary evil, he purchased a white "Don't Tread on Me" bumper sticker, and he placed it on the roof of his car. And I think this offers a great example of the strength of his delusions.

• 35:06Courtney Brown?

  To us, that makes no sense. But in Austin's mind, a political sticker was all he needed to fight the devil. As the weeks progressed, Austin's fear of the devil and demons progressed as well. And as the weeks went on, Austin's fear of the devil and demons got worse. He became consumed with fear that he would be killed in his sleep by a demon. At work, he started having bizarre delusions about the water used to sterilize dental instruments, believing he could manipulate the water and that it gave him energy. He sent a text message to a friend saying, "Why the fuck just not do what you want? Just do the craziest shit you can.

• 35:51Courtney Brown?

  I just want to be great before I die."

• 35:54Colin Brown?

  Austin started to believe that he had superhuman powers, compared himself to Jesus Christ, and thought there were evil forces inside his house. In fact, in the days before the murders, Austin purchased a knife at a gun show to use for protection and started sleeping near his sister Haley so he would be able to protect her. Apparently, Austin eventually moved his bed into the garage to escape the demons inside the house. He claimed to see dark shadow figures in the corners of his home and feared that the devil was out to get him. Text messages exchanged between Austin and his girlfriend Katie Alexander also gave a glimpse into his bizarre behavior. On Friday, August 12th, 2016, he texted, "I'm sorry you think I'm so strange now, but I guess I'm following the purpose of my life.

• 36:37Colin Brown?

  It's to give people life, to give people hope." Later that same day, he wrote, "I'm no longer afraid of anything. I'm no longer afraid to die. Everyone will remember me as a great figure, but I'm just a living example of what we all do. True hell is trying to live forever. I'm just doing what I feel now." On Monday, August 15th, he wrote, "Bitch", and then a few minutes later texted, "Just kidding, babe." Katie noticed a shift in behavior, something that wasn't there when he visited her in Tampa on August 4th. At least during his visit, he had been his usual goofy self. She confronted him on FaceTime, saying, "You're scaring me. Are you okay?" She then got upset and began to cry. Austin, cold and removed in his response, told her nonsensically,

• 37:21Colin Brown?

  "I was born in December. I want to leave a good memory on Earth."

• 37:25Courtney Brown?

  Haley Haruf stated that on the afternoon of August 14th, 2016, Austin admitted to her that he believed he was "half-man, half-dog", and his reasoning was because he could run "super-fast". Haley also said that he wanted to sit in the bushes when they visited one of Austin's frat buddies, David Yates. Austin said he wanted to "be one with the animals". When the two drove around, Austin opted to sit in the backseat because "that's where the dog sat". Haley would later tell investigators that Austin "made me uneasy because he was just being a different person", end quote.

• 38:08Courtney Brown?

  And she even suggested that Austin get professional help. Austin appeared to be interested, but it would be too late. Later on, Haley confided in her parents about his odd behavior, telling them all about how she had begun to sleep with her door locked because she was afraid of her older brother. During a 2018 interview with Dr. Phil, Austin's father Wade stated that he had consulted a psychologist for his son. Mina's fiance Larry Bud Mallow also admitted that his entire family had sat down and suggested a 72-hour mental health hold under Florida's Baker Act. But unfortunately, this would never happen.

• 38:50Courtney Brown?

  Now, on the morning of August 15, 2016, Austin confided in his younger sister and another friend that he believed he was immortal. And this time, he identified himself as half-human, half-horse. Later that same morning, he Googled "five tips to end insomnia and get restful sleep." "What is the weakest thing about a centaur?" "Sagittarius daily horoscope." "Arnold Schwarzenegger." "And Ferrari." Later on, he searched "Medusa," "Fitbit setup," and "Blade lighting." He also wrote himself a note that read, "Try to be as normal as you can be. What goes up must come down.

• 39:34Courtney Brown?

  That doesn't mean fulfill any specific role yet. I still have time. I wish to be normal, just a normal guy. Not too nice, not too mean. I can still run because I can't be tamed. I can do whatever I want. I just know it has consequences. I was called the Silent Killer for a reason. I can't go around talking to random people." End quote. A few hours later, he wrote another note that read, "Centaur, you are awoken. Don't let them kill you." End quote.

• 40:10Colin Brown?

  Austin seriously believed that he was half-man, half-dog, or half-man, half-horse, depending on the moment. And because Austin believed he was immortal and invisible, he attempted to walk in front of a moving car and blew through a U-turn red light. His father also stated that the two went for a walk, and Austin pulled out his knife when he saw two empty turtle shells, telling his father that something bad was going to happen. For Austin, the shells represented an evil entity, and he feared that his father was going to die. Luckily, Wade was able to convince Austin to put his knife away.

• 40:43Speaker 03

  We were walking through the woods for about two or three hours. And, uh... Austin would be happy. And he'd be quiet. And, uh...

• 41:00Speaker 03

  All of a sudden, I saw, "Look, look, there's a port-a-potty shell. It's empty." And there's another one. He goes, "Stop everybody." And he gets his knife, and it's about this long. And he says, "Stay behind me. I feel something is gonna happen here." I said, "Put that damn thing back up. What the hell is wrong with you?" And he did.

• 41:20Colin Brown?

  Mina said she had an interaction with Austin earlier in the day. Around 9:30 a.m., he texted her saying, "Listen, no matter what I say to you, no one protecting you, even when you think I'm evil. Nice guys finish last." Mina asked him what he meant, and he responded, "Fuck off." Mina was concerned and called her ex-husband, Wade. Wade told her that Austin was with him and was fixing the XM radio on the boat. As a result, when it was time to leave, Wade refused to give Austin the keys to his car. This enraged Austin, who usually wasn't the type to fight. He ended up jumping on the hood, acting erratic and aggressive, screaming that he would not be controlled. Wade claimed he eventually gave in and allowed Austin to leave, unsure of how to deal with his son's outburst.

• 42:05Colin Brown?

  Later that evening, on August 15th, 2016, Austin, his younger sister Haley, a friend named Sam Polacheck, Austin's father Wade, and Wade's girlfriend Carrie, all went out to dinner at Duffy's Sports Grill in Jupiter. At first, everything appeared normal as the family waited for their food. Austin asked for iced tea and chili. But suddenly, Austin's erratic behavior returned, and he became agitated when the service was too slow. He later admitted that he felt he was the "angel of death," and that he had been followed by the grim reaper.

• 42:36Courtney Brown?

  Terrified, Austin stood to his feet and abruptly left the restaurant, walking to his mother's house without uttering a word to anyone. Mina allowed Austin to come into the home, and as she continued making dinner, she turned around to see a horrific sight. Her son, with an animalistic look in his eye, was chugging a bottle of vegetable oil.

• 43:02Courtney Brown?

  In between the gulps of oil, he shoved Parmesan cheese in his mouth. The cheese stuck to the slick oil, which not only coated his throat, but his entire torso. Mina snapped at her son, asking what was wrong with him. She told him to go upstairs and change out of his oil-slicked clothes. And unsure what to do with him, Mina drove him back to Duffy's, the restaurant he was at with his father, and dropped him off. But once there, things quickly unraveled even more.

• 43:35Speaker 03

  He comes and sits down. And I said, I knew this was gonna be on tape today. So I said, "What the hell are you doing?" And he didn't say nothing. So I grabbed him by the collar and I said, "What the hell are you doing?" And he goes... And my girlfriend says, "Austin, don't." And he looks at my girlfriend, declares, leaves. Okay, so... Jesus. Did he seem agitated, or he just seemed weird? When you grabbed his shirt, you seemed weird? Okay. Did he get agitated after you grabbed his shirt? Yeah, he hit me. Yeah.

• 44:14Colin Brown?

  After the altercation, Austin stormed out of the restaurant for a second time, leaving his family in shock. Haley, a witness to this horrible interaction, stated that Austin's behavior that entire day had been aggressive. A cellphone video she had taken that day showed Austin saying, "I almost killed myself. I saw the sorrow that people have. I've become almost immortal. I have to die one day." Are you ready to have your mind blown? I want you now to imagine that in front of you was a locked door, symbolizing all that you know. Everything you've been taught in your time on Earth. The lies your government has fed you. With my podcast, The Conspiracy Files, I now give you the door's key. And, once you've listened to the show, you finally unlock this door and step inside.

• 44:59Colin Brown?

  Beyond the door is another dimension. A dimension of false narratives. A dimension of hidden evidence. A dimension of truth, lies, and murders. You're moving into a land of both shadow and substance, of deadly secrets and explosive ideas. You've just crossed over into the conspiracy zone. I'm your host, Colin Brown. Join me now on this journey into the world of secret pedophile rings, government cover-ups, and suspicious suicides on my new show, The Conspiracy Files. Available now on all streaming platforms.

• 45:31Courtney Brown?

  Now, once his mother, Mina, was back at home, her cellphone rang. It was her daughter Haley calling in a panic. She said that Austin had left the restaurant once again and that they needed to find him because something was very, very wrong. Mina eventually called one of her friends, whose husband worked for the Martin County Sheriff's Office, and they both agreed that it would be best to call 911.

• 45:57Speaker 04

  Police Department, large recorder, this is Chrissy. Um, yes, I need to, I don't know how to do this. My son, he's, um, kind of taken off and I'm concerned about his own safety.

• 46:12Courtney Brown?

  How old is he?

• 46:12Speaker 04

  He's been acting a little strange, um, nineteen.

• 46:17Courtney Brown?

  Does he live with you?

• 46:18Speaker 04

  Yes.

• 46:20Courtney Brown?

  Okay, what do you mean, acting strange?

• 46:22Speaker 04

  Um, I, it seems like he's a little, um, delusional or, like, he's acting like, and...

• 46:35Courtney Brown?

  Do you have a history of that or anything?

• 46:37Speaker 04

  No, this is just like recent, um, change and that we're noticing. Um, and he was out to dinner with his dad today and he took off and we just, you know, he was with his sister and he says, you know, he feels immortal and, um, like a superhero. So I'm just, I don't know what's going on with him.

• 47:03Courtney Brown?

  Do you know if he's been taking any drugs or anything like that?

• 47:06Speaker 04

  Nothing, I've asked and nothing recent.

• 47:11Courtney Brown?

  Right.

• 47:12Speaker 04

  That I know of.

• 47:14Courtney Brown?

  So did he leave the house or did he leave from the restaurant? Where's he left, Mina?

• 47:17Speaker 04

  He left from the restaurant at Duffy's.

• 47:20Courtney Brown?

  Which Duffy's is that?

• 47:21Speaker 04

  Um, by I-95.

• 47:24Courtney Brown?

  And what city, though? We dispatched for five.

• 47:26Speaker 04

  I'm sorry.

• 47:28Courtney Brown?

  Okay, hold on.

• 47:29Speaker 04

  You know, he wants to help everybody, he's, yeah, headed, well, last thing was going towards Island Way.

• 47:40Speaker 04

  Um, towards, like, going towards nor- north of Church Street.

• 47:46Speaker 04

  How long ago was this study left? I wanna say ten o'clock, if not, nine thirty. And he left on foot? Nobody's, yes.

• 47:58Speaker 04

  He had no ID on him, his, um, no phone. And where are you at, ma'am? Uh, I'm at home, you know, and I have, will say, I think the only thing he has on him is a pocket knife, switchblade. Is that, uh, where is that, your s- uh, your home, is that in West Jupiter, is that? Um, in the shores. And it's loft, L-O-F-T, is it? Yeah, L-O-S-T, L-O-S is in San, here's the Tom, loft. Okay, Lost Lake Way, okay. Right. And your name, ma'am? Nina Harrow.

• 48:44Speaker 04

  What's your callback number?

• 48:47Speaker 04

  Uh...

• 48:50Speaker 04

  And he's never done this before, I mean, this is like, something new? No, this is just, I mean, it's friends, I'm calling all his friends, and they're like, it's just, he's changed. Mm-hmm, okay.

• 49:05Speaker 04

  Is he white, black, or Hispanic male? Uh, he's white, um, brownish, brown hair, brown, light brown hair. Um, he's wearing white shorts, and he had a blue polo on, if he's wearing it.

• 49:22Speaker 04

  Uh, and a red hat, Make America Great Again hat. Okay, what's his name? Austin.

• 49:32Speaker 04

  Middle name or initial? K. Spell the last name for me? H-A-R-R-O-U-F-F, like Frank.

• 49:43Speaker 04

  And his date of birth?

• 49:46Speaker 04

  Twelve, twenty-one, ninety-six.

• 50:04Speaker 04

  All right, I'll get an officer by that can, um, speak to you and, um, see if they're gonna put out a missing persons alert or what they wanna do with it. Um, do you have no idea where he might have went or anything? I have no clue. Okay. No clue. Does he have any weapons that own or anything like that, that he would have on him or anything, pocket knife or anything like that? Yeah, I said he had a pocket knife, like a switchblade type pocket knife, I don't know. Okay. I think that's the only thing he has on him. Okay.

• 50:35Speaker 04

  Yeah, he doesn't own any other weapons.

• 50:43Speaker 04

  And you said he left towards Island Way and that was around ten o'clock? Um, I wanna say nine thirty, ten, yeah. Okay.

• 50:52Speaker 04

  All right, I'll get somebody by there for you, okay?

• 50:54Colin Brown?

  No one knew what a risk Austin really posed, because as his mother spoke with 911, a horrible crime of his making began to unravel. Back on southeast Kokomo Lane, in the same neighborhood where Austin's father lived, fifty-nine-year-old John Joseph Stevens III and his wife of nineteen years, fifty-three-year-old Michelle Karen Mishkin, were relaxing in the garage of their home. After a life of adventure, the two had been lucky to find one another and were celebrating the fruits of their labor. Born in nineteen sixty-three, Michelle had grown up in North Miami Beach and was the oldest of five children. Her father, Jeffrey, had served as mayor of the city from nineteen eighty-nine to two thousand and five. She graduated from North Miami Beach Senior High School in nineteen eighty-one

• 51:38Colin Brown?

  and went on to attend Florida State University. One of her lifelong friends, Barbara Kramer, admitted that everyone was drawn to Michelle. She was friendly, popular, and outgoing. The Mishkin family was extremely close, but unfortunately, tragedy struck in nineteen ninety-seven when Michelle's mother suddenly died of a heart attack. It was later determined that a popular weight loss pill, Fenfen, was the cause of the heart attack. It was devastating for Michelle, her father Jeffrey, and her siblings. Her mother was just fifty-three years old at the time, the same age Michelle would be when her own life was taken. During her 15-year tenure at Northwestern Mutual Striano Financial Group, Michelle was loved by all of her colleagues. The managing partner of the firm stated,

• 52:22Colin Brown?

  "She cared deeply for everyone. She did her job incredibly. She was instrumental in the growth of the firm." In addition to her outstanding work, Michelle also contributed to several charitable causes. When one of her coworkers' mothers was diagnosed with lung cancer, Michelle formed a team to join the American Lung Association's fight for air climb in Miami. She was the kind of person who always put others before herself. In the late 1990s, while working at Prudential Securities, she met John Stevens III, a divorced father of two. Born on July 2, 1957, John Stevens III was raised in South Miami Dade and attended Miami Killian High School. Throughout his life, John was athletic and served in the United States Air Force.

• 53:06Colin Brown?

  He was a family man and a proud father of two children from a previous marriage. According to his son, his father was more an old soul. He enjoyed reading the newspaper every day and liked to drive around, reminiscing about his childhood days. His son told the Miami Herald, "He grew up reading the newspaper and still did every day." He would drive around Miami and tell you about how this used to be a field or how that used to be something else. Overall, his main thing was kindness. He would always tell me, "Whatever you do in life, if you're kind to people, you'll be successful." I can tell you my dad was very successful. When the two met, they decided to relish in those successes together. John's son told the Miami Herald, "They met there and just loved each other. Their relationship was just so solid and never in question."

• 53:52Colin Brown?

  Michelle loved me and my sister as if we were her own. The couple eloped in Maine in 1997, and all their neighbors agreed that John and Michelle were the ideal couple. They enjoyed riding around on their golf cart with their dog Rebel. They were kind, they were fun, and always kept their garage door open for anyone who wanted to come hang out. In a lot of ways, they were the heart of the neighborhood, always having fresh-cooked meals and good conversation for anyone who needed it. In fact, the couple had turned their garage into a sort of entertainment space, equipped with three couches, a flat-screen television, a dartboard, barbecue grill, and an ice maker. Amy Laurie, who had lived in the neighborhood since 2003, told the Tallahassee Democrat,

• 54:34Colin Brown?

  "If there was something going on, there would be John and Michelle waving from their garage, watching the game or having fun. They hang out in their garage and watch the dogs and talk to the neighbors." By 2016, the couple was retired and enjoying their time together. For several years, John had owned and operated several landscaping businesses, including John on the Green Incorporated and Green Smart Lawn and Garden. As for Michelle, she had worked for several years in the financial industry at Northwestern Mutual Striano Financial Group in Boca Raton. John and Michelle always encouraged their neighbors to drop by, especially if their garage mahal was open, and more times than not, it was. John's son also said, "It wasn't classy, but it was a gathering place. That garage always brought people together."

• 55:19Colin Brown?

  In fact, John had even thrown a bachelor party for his son's best friend in the garage. Now, at the age of 59, John retired after a successful career in the landscaping business. He was now free to do all the things he loved, but his absolute favorite was spending each day fishing and lobstering with his beloved wife, Michelle. Around 5:00 PM every evening, the couple would wind down with Cocktail Hour and watch the sunset together. John's son had moved away to Kansas where he started a family. He and his wife had recently welcomed a baby daughter, and they were making plans to visit John and Michelle in Florida. John III was ecstatic to finally meet his three-month-old granddaughter. His son later said, "He couldn't wait to meet her, and he couldn't wait to take her out on the water. He was so proud of us."

• 56:05Colin Brown?

  John's son and his wife were planning on having their daughter baptized in Florida. John and Michelle were deeply proud of the life they had built together, and they were truly happy. John and Michelle often wrote notes to each other, something they had been doing for years. In one of these notes, Michelle referenced her husband as her "husbuddy", and even wrote, "Each year with you gets better and better. Each time I turn onto Kokomo Lane, I smile thinking I'm going to see you. You are my everything." Everyone who knew them all agreed. John and Michelle were not only husband and wife, but also best friends. And although the couple never had any children of their own, they considered their dog Rebel to be their family, loyal, loving, and always by their side. In fact, Rebel would go everywhere with them.

• 56:49Colin Brown?

  According to Ivy Stevens, Rebel is a huge deal to them. He was on the boat with us a lot of the time. Family time meant everything to the couple. Whether it was quiet evenings with Rebel by their side or a fish fry in the garage mahal, John and Michelle welcomed every moment with open arms. They were living their best life, but unfortunately, their peaceful and happy existence was about to be shattered.

• 57:13Courtney Brown?

  John's daughter Ivy had recently moved out of the house on southeast Kamoko Lane two weeks prior, but she had returned earlier that day on August 15th to bring food for her dog Bebe, who is still at the house. Ivy talked to Michelle, who she said was relaxing on the couch in the garage, reading her Kindle. She then found her father inside, painting to prepare the house to be sold. John and Michelle were hoping to downsize and purchase a home closer to the water. Apparently, John persuaded Ivy to take Bebe with her to get used to her new apartment. So as she left that day, she didn't tell her father goodbye because she planned a return in the morning.

• 57:58Courtney Brown?

  However, as she walked back to her car with Bebe, she turned a look at Michelle and she told her she loved her. Unfortunately, it would be the very last time she saw her father and Michelle alive. Because around 8:30 PM, after Austin left Duffy's restaurant for the second and final time, he headed back on foot to his father's house to retrieve his car. He would later state that he wasn't thinking about anything as he walked nearly four miles towards his father's neighborhood, but he would never make it back home. Instead, he stopped one street short of Wade's Road on southeast Kamoko Lane.

• 58:41Courtney Brown?

  Then he turned left towards the home of John and Michelle. At some point during his walk, Austin took off his shorts and was now only wearing a dark blue polo shirt and a pair of silky boxers. According to Austin, there were no streetlights and he believed he was, quote, "following the stars." But then suddenly, Austin saw headlights in the distance and immediately, he feared it was an evil entity. He stared at the lights, trying to ward off the evil. But eventually, the car turned down another road. In an obviously altered state, Austin then claimed that he saw a demon,

• 59:23Courtney Brown?

  someone he called Daniel, after an old middle school acquaintance.

• 59:30Speaker 03

  You say when you left the restaurant that night, the night of the incident, that when you left there, were you confused? Or were you thinking straight, in your opinion?

• 59:47Speaker 02

  I don't remember thinking at all. I just, it's like a blur. So, I don't, I don't think I was thinking straight.

• 59:58Speaker 03

  And how long was it after you left that you saw Daniel?

• 1:00:07Speaker 03

  Was it 10 minutes, 30 minutes, a mile away, half a mile away?

• 1:00:13Speaker 02

  I think, uh, maybe five minutes from the house. So, I don't know how far it would have been.

• 1:00:22Speaker 03

  Okay.

• 1:00:24Speaker 02

  But right when I saw him, I panicked and tried to get help.

• 1:00:30Speaker 03

  Were you running or walking when you saw him?

• 1:00:35Speaker 02

  Uh, I think I was running, but I don't have a clear memory.

• 1:00:41Speaker 03

  Take me through, and I mean, this is just from your experience. There's no right or wrong answer here. Just from your experience, take me through the moment you saw Daniel. What went through your mind when you saw Daniel?

• 1:01:02Speaker 02

  Um, like, when I saw him,

• 1:01:06Speaker 02

  it wasn't like a clear person. It was like a dark figure because it was like pitch black outside and I couldn't really see. But I heard his voice distinctly. And like when I saw him, I just got scared out of my mind.

• 1:01:25Speaker 03

  But you, did you know it was him by his, I'm sorry, did you know it was him by his voice or by his, the visual?

• 1:01:35Speaker 02

  By his voice.

• 1:01:36Speaker 03

  Uh huh. But you did see a figure?

• 1:01:40Speaker 02

  Yes.

• 1:01:42Speaker 03

  And what did the voice say that scared you?

• 1:01:46Speaker 02

  Said, "Hey, Austin."

• 1:01:50Speaker 03

  Uh huh.

• 1:01:50Speaker 02

  What happened?

• 1:01:55Speaker 03

  See, there we go. Okay.

• 1:01:58Speaker 02

  I just got scared for something.

• 1:02:02Speaker 03

  Uh huh.

• 1:02:03Speaker 02

  It just like, I just scared me to see him, like, all sudden, I don't know.

• 1:02:11Speaker 03

  Uh huh. And it's what you knew about him from before that scared you?

• 1:02:19Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 1:02:19Speaker 03

  Uh, he didn't threaten you that night, it's just him being there?

• 1:02:26Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 1:02:27Speaker 03

  And what did you say to yourself?

• 1:02:31Speaker 02

  I need to, I guess I need to get, need to find someone to help me or like, figure out where I'm going.

• 1:02:39Speaker 03

  Uh huh. So...

• 1:02:41Speaker 02

  I don't, I don't really remember what I said to myself, I just remember being afraid and being scared.

• 1:02:50Speaker 03

  So you, you panicked at that point?

• 1:02:53Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 1:02:54Speaker 03

  Did you run?

• 1:02:56Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 1:02:57Courtney Brown?

  Austin said he was frightened when he encountered the demon, and he knew he needed to find someone to help him. So from there, he rushed down Kamoko Lane, looking for anyone who was outside, any signs of life. Desperate to find a savior. Eventually, he noticed the light on at 19010 Kamoko Lane.

• 1:03:20Courtney Brown?

  The garage door was open and Austin gravitated towards it. Inside the garage mahal, Michelle Michonne was enjoying a quiet, relaxing evening, watching television, as she often did. As was typical, the garage door was open. Austin ran towards the open garage and encountered Michelle, who was immediately frightened. Though he later claimed he didn't yell or scream at her, Michelle was not expecting the sudden appearance of a half-dressed stranger rushing towards her.

• 1:03:53Speaker 03

  When you ran up into that garage, um, and the woman was there, were you running to her for help?

• 1:04:03Speaker 02

  Yeah, I, I, I don't think I ran up to her. I think I just, I think I just screamed at, and then it took place.

• 1:04:15Speaker 03

  But you think it was just your voice, you yelled?

• 1:04:18Speaker 02

  No, I didn't, I don't think I yelled, I think, I just was, I just showed up and she was shocked that I was, um, I guess almost naked, but, I mean, I, I understand that, but I didn't know, I didn't know I was not clothed properly.

• 1:04:40Speaker 03

  Right.

• 1:04:42Speaker 03

  Um,

• 1:04:46Speaker 03

  do you remember the first thing that she said?

• 1:04:50Speaker 02

  No. I don't remember what she said.

• 1:04:54Speaker 03

  Do you remember?

• 1:04:55Speaker 02

  I don't remember being yelled at.

• 1:04:58Speaker 03

  Do you remember what happened next?

• 1:05:05Speaker 02

  Not, no, I,

• 1:05:08Speaker 02

  I don't, I don't,

• 1:05:11Speaker 02

  like, I have some memory of what happened, but I don't remember how.

• 1:05:17Courtney Brown?

  We got in into the altercation or into the fighting. I don't, I don't remember.

• 1:05:26Courtney Brown?

  Michelle screamed, yelling at Austin to get off her property, but in an altered paranoid state, Austin believed she was a witch. He later said that her scream was to alert the demons of his location. The delusions took over him, and from there, he launched into a violent, unprovoked attack. He later stated that he noticed a machete in the left corner of the garage, so he quickly picked it up, rushing towards Michelle. Austin raised the machete and started hitting Michelle's body. Once he overpowered her, he bit her because he believed he was still half-man, half-dog. Michelle screamed and attempted to shield herself from the blows, but it

• 1:06:10Courtney Brown?

  was no use. Austin was too strong. Overtaken by adrenaline, he couldn't even feel the hits that Michelle lobbed at him as she fought for her life. And he also didn't notice someone coming up from behind. It was around 9:15 PM when Jeffrey Fisher, who lived directly across the street from John and Michelle, heard someone screaming as he was winding down for the night. Fearing that something was wrong, he stepped outside his front door, where he witnessed Austin slamming Michelle's car door shut, and then body slamming her to the ground. Jeffrey rushed towards his neighbor's house, but it was too late, as

• 1:06:51Courtney Brown?

  Michelle was already stiff, unmoving, and in a pool of blood on the garage floor. Then suddenly, Austin looked over at Jeffrey and spoke to him.

• 1:07:02Speaker 03

  Turned and looked at me and said, "You want no part of this. You want no part of me, one of the two." And then, from his right hand, swung.

• 1:07:12Courtney Brown?

  Austin swung the knife multiple times at Jeffrey, slicing through his face and body. He had a large cut on his head, and several puncture wounds to his lower back and neck. What happened next?

• 1:07:25Speaker 03

  We then got into the little pitter-patter fight thing. I was able to get a hold of his shirt while I ganked him. I ganked him like that, he lost his balance, and he went down to the ground right there, face first.

• 1:07:36Courtney Brown?

  At some point, Jeffrey realized he was bleeding from his head. And after temporarily subduing Austin, he rushed through John and Michelle's house and exited through the back glass sliding door. He later stated that he ran to the side of their house and hid in the bushes, fearing that Austin was following him on foot. But as he waited there, the pain of his wounds intensified. So Jeffrey emerged from his hiding spot and rushed back across the street to his own house. He would later say that he never looked back as he ran. But he could still hear Austin making odd noises from John and Michelle's garage.

• 1:08:15Speaker 03

  The words were not making sense. He was just, "Ah, ah, ah, ah." Something to that effect.

• 1:08:21Colin Brown?

  Once he was safe, Jeffrey grabbed his cellphone and immediately dialed 911. It was now 9:20 PM. 911, do you need fire, police, or medical?

• 1:08:34Speaker 04

  Please, a medical.

• 1:08:37Colin Brown?

  A medical on the line, late, sir.

• 1:08:47Speaker 04

  Don't, don't, don't open that, don't open that. Fire rescue, let's address. Young man beating up a woman across the street. Okay, are they outside or in a house? It's in a garage. Okay, can you tell if he has any weapons? Um, I think he had a knife, but I'm not a part of it. Okay, can you tell if she's injured or he's injured? Say again? Are, are either of them injured? Can you tell from where you are? Yeah, there's a girl laying on the ground. He beat her up. I ran over there, I'm bleeding profusely here at the moment. Okay. I don't know what happened. Alright, can you tell if she's conscious or is she unconscious? Say again? Can you tell if she's conscious?

• 1:09:33Speaker 04

  No, she do- not appears so, no. Okay, and how- what kind of injuries do you have? I've been stabbed in the back. With a knife? Yes, I believe so, it was tough, so. Okay, you couldn't tell how long it was or anything? I needed an ambulance, can please quickly? Yeah, we're sending them, we're sending them, and where is he, is he in the area? Yeah, I think he's in the garage, right across the street from my house. Alright, what's your name?

• 1:09:59Speaker 04

  Alright, we're gonna get the paramedics right out there. Sir, sir, what did the guy look like, was he white, black, Hispanic? He is white. And how old is he? About twenty-five years old. And what was he wearing? Um, short, t-shirt. Do you know who he is? I have no idea.

• 1:10:19Speaker 04

  Does he live at the house, or? No, he does not.

• 1:10:24Speaker 04

  Does the female look familiar to you? Um, I believe it was the daughter of the house that lives over there, I'm not positive.

• 1:10:35Speaker 04

  Can you have your wife or- I don't want you moving if you've been stabbed, but I- can you have your wife or someone look out and see if he's still there? Um, I don't know. See if that car is still there, honey. Gee, it appears he's still there.

• 1:10:52Speaker 04

  And you- you said you- you definitely saw a knife and that's what he hit you with in the back? No, I did not see it, but my wife's looking in my back and it appears I got punctured. Yeah, dad, in the neck, in the head, three, three puncture wounds.

• 1:11:13Speaker 04

  Okay, we got units in route, okay? Okay. Alright, just call us back.

• 1:11:18Courtney Brown?

  If anything changes, alright? No, don't, don't, don't tell me.

• 1:11:24Courtney Brown?

  Alright, I'm bleeding pretty bad. Okay, we got, we got an ambulance and everybody in route. Just stay right there and stay calm, okay? Okay. Alright. Now, their neighbor Jeffrey didn't mention seeing John Stevens during the attack, so it's unclear when John made his way into the garage. But we do know that when he did, he encountered a horrific scene. Once outside, he found his beloved wife, Michelle, on the ground in a pool of blood. The brutal assault left her beaten and stabbed to death. And also in the garage was the man who killed her. John quickly rushed towards Austin in an attempt to control the situation.

• 1:12:05Courtney Brown?

  But once again, Austin's strength took over and he dragged John out towards the driveway and started slashing and beating him with fury. Within a few minutes, the St. Martin County Sheriff's Office responded to the scene with deputies Grace Zoff and Wayne Trochan as the first officers to arrive. Trochan later recalled that the first thing he noticed was a horrifying blood trail on the driveway. It was at least eight feet wide. Now Deputy Zoff already had her gun drawn, but Trochan instructed her not to shoot. As Austin had John wrapped in a bear-like grip, he feared that if she fired her weapon,

• 1:12:48Courtney Brown?

  she might accidentally shoot the victim. But Austin looked up at her and begged, "Fucking shoot me," he said. Trochan said, quote, "He had his legs intertwined, his arms wrapped around him. He had his fingers like a fish hook in his mouth, trying to pull his cheek apart. He was growling." Zoff would later say, quote, "I was seeing this man biting the chest of another man and hearing the sounds of, you know, flesh being ripped. It was awful," end quote.

• 1:13:21Speaker 04

  Officer, I got this guy wrapped around him and he's fighting him.

• 1:13:26Speaker 04

  Okay.

• 1:13:30Speaker 04

  Hello?

• 1:13:33Speaker 04

  Captain, if I arrest you. Captain, if I arrest you, twenty three, thirty come.

• 1:13:46Speaker 04

  Twenty three, thirty, you're not seeing are all our people, okay? That's all we need, crime scene.

• 1:13:54Speaker 04

  Twenty three, so, let's call, I'll call Detective and Crime Scene, please.

• 1:14:02Speaker 04

  Captain, twenty three, thirty.

• 1:14:05Speaker 04

  It kind of twenty six. We're ten, we're ten four.

• 1:14:11Speaker 04

  Uh, huh, just seven, eight, four.

• 1:14:15Speaker 04

  After three five, ten nine, your radio is ten ninety nine. I told you, you got that? Captain, fifty four, your radio is or ten ninety nine. Well, I'm just, please, uh, he's a big, he's a.

• 1:14:28Speaker 04

  You're still digital, ten ninety nine. Are you aware of the possible true signal damage, we need him in here now. Captain.

• 1:14:38Speaker 04

  That's all we have, can I have an ambulance, or a private train, I'll get, I'll get him in a second.

• 1:14:45Speaker 04

  Captain.

• 1:14:47Speaker 04

  I don't know, do we have it, I do, others do, right?

• 1:14:54Speaker 03

  Thirty three, wait, I know you have your handful, do you have any suspects or not, and twelve?

• 1:15:01Speaker 04

  We have everybody, thank you all, one suspect.

• 1:15:07Speaker 03

  Careful.

• 1:15:10Speaker 04

  We are, there's, we have three victims, and we have one, but ten fifty right now.

• 1:15:17Speaker 04

  Two pounds of wood down in here.

• 1:15:21Speaker 04

  We have one confirmed, seven, four, five. Twenty six.

• 1:15:27Speaker 04

  After ten twenty six, one confirmed, signal seven.

• 1:15:32Courtney Brown?

  Both officers witnessed Austin biting chunks of flesh from John's cheek, and then spitting that flesh onto the ground. He barked, growled, and made bizarre comments, as police officers surrounded the scene and brainstormed ways to remove Austin from the victim. Deputy Zoft deployed her taser, and although it struck Austin, it had no effect. He continued to bite and tear the flesh from John's face, as if nothing even happened. Now she believed that John was already deceased, as she noticed several stab wounds to his abdomen that were bleeding profusely. When the taser didn't work,

• 1:16:14Courtney Brown?

  a dequested canine officer released his German shepherd. The canine managed to latch onto Austin's arm, pulling him away from John momentarily. But Austin ripped his arm free from the dog's mouth, tearing his own tendons apart in the process. Then, he immediately went back to holding his victim. To the officers at the scene, there was absolutely no sign of stopping him. Frustrated and terrified, Trocan approached Austin and started stomping and kicking his face in an attempt to stop the attack. He later said, quote, "I kicked him in the head. His head came off for a second, and then he went right back and took a deeper grapple hold," end quote.

• 1:16:59Courtney Brown?

  Austin continued biting and tearing off chunks of flesh. Eventually, with the help of the canine and Trocan's repeated kicks, Austin was finally forced off of John, and the police officers were able to handcuff him. But he was still struggling to get free, as he screamed, "Kill me! I'm eating people! Kill me! Fucking kill me! Fucking kill me! Shoot me now! I deserve to die!" He also told the officers that he had eaten something bad, and when asked what that was, he responded, "Humans." Now from there, Austin was transported to the hospital for his injuries. It would later be determined that at some point during the attack,

• 1:17:43Courtney Brown?

  Austin consumed a chemical or solvent he found in their garage. The substance caused severe burns to his esophagus and ultimately led to him falling in a coma. But the substance has never been revealed to the public.

• 1:17:57Speaker 03

  When you went in that garage...

• 1:18:01Speaker 03

  Did you drink something in that garage that you found there?

• 1:18:07Speaker 02

  I don't wanna talk about that.

• 1:18:11Speaker 02

  I can't talk about that.

• 1:18:17Speaker 03

  You had severe burns to your esophagus, right?

• 1:18:21Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 1:18:23Speaker 03

  And do you know what caused you to go into a coma?

• 1:18:30Speaker 02

  I didn't, I didn't know, I didn't know at the time, but I guess I know now.

• 1:18:39Speaker 03

  And what have they told you caused you to go into the coma?

• 1:18:43Speaker 02

  Whatever, drank.

• 1:18:45Speaker 03

  Okay. And, yes, Wade, go ahead. Wade, go ahead. The psychologist is coming in five minutes. Okay. All right, we'll be done by then, you just tell me when we need to click off, okay? Okay.

• 1:19:02Speaker 03

  You felt like you had some superpowers and that you could read people, right?

• 1:19:07Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 1:19:08Speaker 03

  Okay. And, um, did you ever remember putting yourself in harm's way by stepping into traffic or anything like that?

• 1:19:21Speaker 02

  Um, well, when I was walking alone to my dad's house to get my car, I remember like,

• 1:19:31Speaker 02

  like walking in front of cars and stuff like that. I don't know why.

• 1:19:41Speaker 03

  So, in looking back,

• 1:19:46Speaker 03

  you recognize that there has been a period of time, weeks, even months, that you have been losing touch.

• 1:19:57Colin Brown?

  With reality. Yeah. John and Michelle's neighbor Jeffrey Fisher was also transported to St. Mary's Hospital to be treated for his significant injuries. Fortunately, he survived the attack, but had to undergo exploratory surgery due to a stomach bleed, had several puncture wounds to his lower back and neck, his face was slashed open, and he had a broken thumb. His recovery mentally and physically was not easy. Given the brutality of the crime scene, that's not a surprise. Back at the crime scene, investigators located several weapons, including a knife under John Stevens arm, a machete, a pair of scissors in the driveway, and a screwdriver inside the garage. As for the victims, John and Michelle, the unprovoked violent attack had left them both dead,

• 1:20:42Colin Brown?

  struck down after a lifetime of work, love, and adventure. A later autopsy determined that John died from multiple injuries stemming from eighteen stab wounds, and Michelle died from blunt force trauma injuries. She had a broken nose and all of her teeth had been knocked out. Both victims had bite marks and chunks of flesh ripped from their bodies. The manner of death for both was homicide. As police were dispatched to alert their loving families, their killer left even more trauma in his wake. Austin was transported to St. Mary's Medical Center, handcuffed to a gurney screaming, "Fuck America, just kill me." He howled, making animal-like noises, and contorted his body in unnatural positions.

• 1:21:24Colin Brown?

  He could not provide any information to medical staff and first responders, but lied and told them that his name was Austin Moore. Staff tried to sedate Austin, but he kept waking up. One of the nurses stated, "A normal person should never wake up with the amount of sedation he is on." Everyone believed that he was experiencing a drug-induced psychosis, as he was physically violent and combative. But Austin denied using drugs. He had injured his hands during the attack. The muscles and nerves were damaged, and he had nearly severed off his right thumb. Investigators believed that his hand had slipped during the frenzied knife attack. There were chunks of flesh in his teeth. But whatever chemical he drank inside the garage had also done extensive damage.

• 1:22:07Colin Brown?

  There were severe burns to his esophagus and stomach, his liver and kidneys were failing, he had an infection in his colon, and there were blood clots in his brain. He was hospitalized from August fifteenth to September fifteenth, during which time he was placed on a ventilator, fed through a tube, and required multiple blood transfusions to keep him alive. Now, after the devastating news spread through DeCuesta, friends, family members, neighbors, and those closest to John and Michelle were left in shock. The horrifying nature of the attacks stunned the tight-knit community as questions began to swirl. How could this happen? Why were John and Michelle targeted? What had driven a 19-year-old FSU student to such unthinkable violence?

• 1:22:50Colin Brown?

  For the time being, there were more questions than answers. In a once-safe community, where people often left their doors unlocked and garage doors open, people no longer did that. The trust and safety of the neighborhood was forever broken. Ivy Stevens stated, "I'm feeling every emotion there is. Anger is at the top of the list at the moment." Ivy, as well as numerous others, wanted Austin to be held accountable for what he had done. Although he was still in the hospital, heavily sedated, and unable to speak with investigators, Ivy hoped that he would pull through without brain damage. It was a devastating loss and a completely random attack that made absolutely no sense. John's son felt the same way as his sister. Both John and Michelle were in the prime of their lives, and regardless of what was

• 1:23:35Colin Brown?

  going on with Austin during the crimes, it was still a double homicide and an attempted murder of another. Right now, family heartbroken, trying to understand the unthinkable, a random heinous attack that killed John Stevens and his wife, Michelle Mishcon.

• 1:23:50Speaker 04

  For the first time, John's son is speaking out about his loving parents and his anger about their murders. News Channel 5's Alyssa Hyman, joining us live from outside the family's home tonight. Alyssa? As you can imagine, this neighborhood's still in shock over what happened here Monday night. Today, I spoke with John Stevens' son, who tells me that now, his father will never have the chance to meet and hold his new granddaughter. John Stevens IV, named after his dad, opened up to talk about his father and stepmother. You know, my dad and Michelle, I mean, uh, they were dead.

• 1:24:27Speaker 03

  They were great people, you know, and we were super close.

• 1:24:31Speaker 04

  Their deaths are hard for him to bear. His daughter's baptism is set for next month. That's when John's dad was going to meet his new granddaughter.

• 1:24:40Speaker 03

  He was just super excited about, uh, it's made it really, I mean, it's just that much more, um, hard for us.

• 1:24:47Speaker 04

  John Stevens the fourth is a former Marine who now lives outside Kansas City. He talked about John and Michelle's love of boating and fishing and their chocolate labs and that garage, the place they loved so much. John told me they called it their garage mahal.

• 1:25:03Speaker 03

  Yeah, everybody loved them and they were just kind, he was kind.

• 1:25:06Speaker 04

  Mixed in with their unimaginable heartbreak is outrage. Why did the 19-year-old suspected killer suddenly, without reason, attack his parents?

• 1:25:15Speaker 03

  Normal people don't make the decision to go take drugs, um, and then kill people regardless of what was on the drugs.

• 1:25:25Speaker 04

  John told me he believes there's more to this violent behavior than drugs.

• 1:25:29Speaker 03

  You know, obviously the kid was violent, repressed, entitled and upset and wanted to hurt somebody. Um, and now he's hurt a bunch of people.

• 1:25:38Speaker 04

  And John tells me that he wants the prosecutors to seek the death penalty in this case, although he says he fears they will not.

• 1:25:47Colin Brown?

  On Friday, August 19th, a memorial service was held for John Stevens the third and Michelle Mishkin at Parker Playhouse in Fort Lauderdale. Over 500 people attended, including John's children and Michelle's father, Jeff. Friends and family members shared memories of the couple and read some of the notes they had written to each other over the years. Jeff Mishkin stated, "They were a dream couple and truly two of God's best children." John and Michelle were laid to rest after the memorial service, both being cremated, and their ashes then spread on the water of the Jupiter Inlet, one of their favorite fishing places. The opportunity of spending their golden years together was taken from them, and the public was left with no answers.

• 1:26:28Colin Brown?

  Because, back at St. Mary's Medical Center, Austin still laid in a coma. The state attorney's office stated that once he woke up, he would be officially charged with two counts of first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, burglary of a dwelling while armed, and resisting an officer without violence. The Haru family attorney, Robert Watson, issued a statement saying, "The Haru family expresses their deepest sympathy for the pain and suffering caused by Austin Haru. The Haru family loves Austin, as they know the Stevens and Mishkin families, love John Stevens III and Michelle Mishkin. There are no words we can offer to give any real comfort for this tragic loss. There are no words we can offer that can make up for the injury sustained by Jeff Fisher,

• 1:27:11Colin Brown?

  who was doing what we would want all good neighbors to do, which was trying to help innocent people from being hurt or killed. We love our son and know that he is not the person some are making him out to be for their own purposes. We allow the full legal process to find the facts and the truth here." On September 15th, 2016, Austin was released from St. Mary's Hospital and transferred to St. Mary's Rehabilitation Center. During this time, medical staff noted that he suffered from severe headaches, drainage from his right ear, and double vision. He also needed speech therapy and suffered from memory loss and a reduced ability to solve problems. He was officially released from the Rehabilitation Center on October 3rd, but needed constant supervision due to his injuries.

• 1:27:54Colin Brown?

  He was taken to the Martin County Jail's Medical Housing Unit. Interestingly, on the day that Austin walked into jail for the first time, he already had a package waiting for him. A book titled, "When Life Is Over: The Truth About What Awaits You After Death", from an anonymous sender. He was not allowed to take the gift, and he was placed on suicide watch and given special status. Whenever he left his cell, he had to be escorted by two police officers in handcuffs. He was held without bail and officially charged with two counts of first-degree murder. He pleaded not guilty. Once released from the medical unit, Austin was required to wear leg restraints and a bell chain whenever he was moved due to the severe nature of his charges.

• 1:28:35Courtney Brown?

  In November of 2016, toxicology results revealed that Austin did not have hallucinogenic drugs, flakka and bath salts, in his system. He also didn't have methamphetamine, cocaine, or heroin in his system either. However, he did have an ethanol level of .17 and trace amounts of marijuana. Martin County Sheriff William Snyder said, quote, "We were surprised at the results of the blood work," end quote. With how random, brutal, and frenzied the attack was, everyone expected there to be drugs in his system. It would at least help explain the psychotic behavior.

• 1:29:16Courtney Brown?

  So without seeing that, investigators began to believe that perhaps he suffered from a severe psychotic break. During pre-trial hearings, the court ordered Austin to undergo comprehensive psychiatric and psychological evaluations to determine his mental state during the crimes. His defense attorneys were already planning on building an insanity defense. In early 2017, Dr. Philip Resnick, a highly respected forensic psychiatrist, was hired by Austin's defense team to conduct an evaluation on him. And Dr. Resnick had been a consultant on several high-profile cases, including Andrea Yates,

• 1:29:57Courtney Brown?

  the Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh, Jeffrey Dahmer, and Casey Anthony. But after his evaluation on Austin, the 38-page document was officially released in February of 2019. In it, it showed numerous interviews with Austin, his family members, law enforcement, and mental health professionals. It detailed his behavior leading up to the attacks and his state of mind during the crime. Dr. Resnick firmly believed that Austin suffered from severe mental disease, specifically bipolar I, an acute manic episode with psychotic features, including, quote, "grandiose delusions,

• 1:30:39Courtney Brown?

  like anthropathy delusions, and persecutory delusions," end quote. He highlighted that during the time of the murders, Austin believed he was, quote, "invincible and godlike," compared himself to Jesus, and had superpowers, end quote.

• 1:30:57Courtney Brown?

  He also wrote that Austin "believed he had special aerobatic powers and jumped from rock to rock on car roofs. He thought that his anatomy was changing and that he was getting more muscular. He believed that sometimes he was half horse, half man, and sometimes he was half dog, half man. When he heard a group of dogs barking, he thought that the dogs' souls were asking him for help. At the time he was biting the male victim, Mr. Haruf believed that he was a dog."

• 1:31:28Colin Brown?

  In terms of persecutory delusions, Dr. Resnick stated, "Mr. Haruf believed that evil forces were coming after him and they were present in his home. Mr. Haruf became focused on light and dark. He associated dark with lack of clarity and evil. He became fearful in the dark. He believed that the devil had power in the dark. He was so fearful that a dark spirit would kill him in his sleep and he couldn't sleep at night." Mr. Haruf was experiencing confused, irrational thoughts on August 15, 2016. For example, he attempted to drink Wesson oil at his mother's house that evening and he drank a toxic substance that he found in the garage of the homicide victims. In addition, Mr. Haruf believed that putting a hat on backward would propel him forward.

• 1:32:13Colin Brown?

  Ultimately, Dr. Resnick determined that Mr. Austin Haruf, as a result of severe mental disease, did not know that his conduct was wrong. Although his defense was trying to prove that he was legally insane, the loved ones of John and Michelle still believed he should be held accountable for his actions. For John's son, it was extremely hard to watch Austin's defense attorneys rubbing his shoulders in court and listening to Austin's phone calls from jail with his father. Birthdays, holidays, and family events were a struggle. The absence of his father and stepmother was a painful reminder every day of the brutality that took them. The entire family believed that Austin was more supported and comforted in the courtroom while their pain and the memory of what happened to John and Michelle

• 1:32:56Colin Brown?

  didn't matter. For them, it appeared that Austin Haruf was the victim.

• 1:33:05Speaker 04

  From.

• 1:33:06Speaker 02

  Austin Carroll.

• 1:33:09Speaker 04

  An inmate at the Martin County Jail.

• 1:33:12Speaker 02

  Hello.

• 1:33:13Speaker 03

  Hey, Austin.

• 1:33:15Speaker 02

  Hey, Dad.

• 1:33:16Speaker 03

  How you doing, buddy?

• 1:33:19Speaker 02

  I'm doing okay.

• 1:33:21Speaker 03

  I'm real proud of you, how you didn't answer any questions.

• 1:33:25Speaker 02

  Yeah. Well.

• 1:33:27Speaker 03

  It's good.

• 1:33:29Speaker 02

  How are you doing?

• 1:33:31Speaker 03

  I'm all right.

• 1:33:33Speaker 02

  Can you put money in my commentary account?

• 1:33:37Speaker 03

  Huh?

• 1:33:38Speaker 02

  Can you put money in my commentary account?

• 1:33:42Speaker 03

  Yeah, I can.

• 1:33:43Speaker 02

  Can you do it soon?

• 1:33:46Speaker 03

  Yeah, did the Bob do two hundred?

• 1:33:49Speaker 02

  Did he?

• 1:33:50Speaker 03

  Yes.

• 1:33:51Speaker 02

  Okay. Um, well, how, how, how's life?

• 1:33:59Speaker 03

  It's tough one, I thought, we're not used to this.

• 1:34:02Speaker 02

  Am I gonna be okay?

• 1:34:04Speaker 03

  Yeah, you gonna be okay.

• 1:34:08Speaker 02

  Is everyone scared?

• 1:34:11Speaker 03

  Yeah, but, no, it's pretty confident that we can pull something off here.

• 1:34:17Speaker 02

  Yeah. Um, how's you doing?

• 1:34:20Speaker 03

  Are you taking your medicine?

• 1:34:23Speaker 02

  Yeah, I'm taking my medicine.

• 1:34:27Speaker 03

  What it comes down to is, I got you two lawyers and, and, um,

• 1:34:32Speaker 02

  Is Bob gonna quit?

• 1:34:32Speaker 03

  We're gonna do the best we can.

• 1:34:34Speaker 02

  What?

• 1:34:35Speaker 03

  Uh?

• 1:34:36Speaker 02

  Is Bob quitting?

• 1:34:36Speaker 03

  I got you two lawyers and, and it's, it's, we're gonna do the best we can, it's looking better.

• 1:34:41Speaker 02

  Is Bob gonna quit?

• 1:34:44Speaker 03

  No.

• 1:34:45Speaker 02

  He's not? Okay.

• 1:34:47Speaker 03

  I don't think so, no. Did he tell you he was?

• 1:34:51Speaker 02

  He said he might, but drop the case. Departed, adjusting to, to jail.

• 1:34:59Speaker 03

  I know, you, you, you need to, you, you need to get a Bible, Austin.

• 1:35:02Speaker 02

  I have, I asked for one.

• 1:35:06Speaker 03

  You have one?

• 1:35:07Speaker 02

  Are you getting me a therapist or anything?

• 1:35:11Speaker 03

  Yes, I plan on it.

• 1:35:13Speaker 02

  Can you do it soon?

• 1:35:14Speaker 03

  Have you called, have you talked to your mama yet?

• 1:35:16Speaker 02

  Uh, I tried to, but she didn't answer, so I'm gonna call her after.

• 1:35:21Speaker 03

  Well, let me call her first and tell her to wait on your call, okay?

• 1:35:24Speaker 02

  Okay.

• 1:35:27Speaker 03

  When you gonna call her?

• 1:35:29Speaker 02

  Uh, like, like right after you call.

• 1:35:32Speaker 04

  So, maybe ten minutes?

• 1:35:36Speaker 03

  Okay, she'll like that. The thing's gonna be alright, I mean, don't worry about nothing, we're gonna, we're gonna get through this.

• 1:35:43Speaker 04

  Okay. Anything new on the news? Not, not about me, but, anything new on the outside world?

• 1:35:53Speaker 03

  Yeah, the hur- there's a hurricane coming.

• 1:35:55Speaker 04

  Yeah, I heard.

• 1:35:58Speaker 03

  Yeah, so I'm, I'm just think I'm going to Tampa.

• 1:36:02Speaker 04

  You are?

• 1:36:04Speaker 03

  Yeah, I'm gonna put my boat up and stuff.

• 1:36:07Speaker 04

  Mm-hmm.

• 1:36:09Speaker 04

  When are you going?

• 1:36:12Speaker 03

  Here about one o'clock.

• 1:36:17Speaker 03

  So, did Doc, Bob tell you for sure he's gonna quit, or he might?

• 1:36:21Speaker 04

  He said he might.

• 1:36:25Speaker 03

  That's not very good to tell you. Huh?

• 1:36:28Speaker 04

  Is that bad?

• 1:36:31Speaker 03

  No, he's been, it's not bad, might be good.

• 1:36:39Speaker 03

  Um...

• 1:36:40Speaker 04

  Do I can now?

• 1:36:41Speaker 03

  I'm, I'm upset with him for telling you that.

• 1:36:46Speaker 04

  Okay.

• 1:36:48Speaker 03

  But, I'll promise you this, I'll have you another, I'll have you another one, and I'll have you better ones.

• 1:36:56Speaker 04

  Okay.

• 1:37:00Speaker 03

  I'll never, I'll never give up on you.

• 1:37:03Speaker 04

  Okay.

• 1:37:05Speaker 03

  I promise, okay?

• 1:37:08Speaker 04

  Alright.

• 1:37:09Speaker 03

  You, listen, Austin, you gotta stay strong here now.

• 1:37:13Speaker 04

  I know, I know.

• 1:37:13Speaker 03

  It's the toughest thing you've ever done.

• 1:37:15Speaker 04

  I know.

• 1:37:16Speaker 03

  But you gotta stay strong.

• 1:37:19Speaker 04

  I, I'm just adjusting.

• 1:37:22Speaker 03

  I know, it's gonna be hard to adjust, but you'll get used to it.

• 1:37:26Speaker 03

  And we'll, we'll, we'll, we'll, we'll get the best thing we can do to get... Huh?

• 1:37:30Speaker 04

  You know, I'm, I'm gonna be here.

• 1:37:35Speaker 03

  I don't know how it works yet, but, but hopefully we can get you into a mental, mental place.

• 1:37:41Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 1:37:41Speaker 03

  As, as time goes on.

• 1:37:43Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 1:37:46Speaker 03

  That's what the first step is.

• 1:37:49Speaker 04

  You think they can?

• 1:37:52Speaker 03

  Yes, I do.

• 1:37:58Speaker 03

  I definitely do, Austin.

• 1:38:03Speaker 03

  Okay.

• 1:38:07Speaker 03

  And you did a good job not talking to those evil people. How's the house?

• 1:38:13Speaker 03

  Huh? How's the house? I sold the house. I live in my condo now. Yeah, I know. How is it?

• 1:38:22Speaker 03

  I like it.

• 1:38:26Speaker 03

  I like it.

• 1:38:29Speaker 03

  You unpack everything? Not... I haven't unpacked. I've been seeing you every night for six weeks. Yeah. It's time for me to start unpacking. Yeah.

• 1:38:43Speaker 03

  Well... But I'll never give up on you, buddy. I'll surrender whatever it takes to get you out of there, okay? Okay.

• 1:38:54Speaker 03

  I love you, bud. I love you, Phil.

• 1:38:57Colin Brown?

  There was also the fact that Wade appeared to downplay Jeffrey Fisher's injuries during Austin's interview with Dr. Phil. While discussing the events of the night, Wade stated that Jeffrey wasn't seriously hurt despite being stabbed multiple times and needing emergency surgery. For the family members of John Stevens and Michelle Mission, this was infuriating. They believed that the insanity defense was, for lack of a better term, absolute bullshit. They did not believe that Austin was insane and instead blamed his history of drug use.

• 1:39:27Speaker 04

  I've lost many nights of sleep going over these texts.

• 1:39:32Speaker 03

  Cindy Mishcon has read every word.

• 1:39:34Speaker 04

  I know these texts inside and out.

• 1:39:37Speaker 03

  More than once.

• 1:39:38Speaker 04

  I only had one older sister.

• 1:39:42Speaker 04

  And now I don't.

• 1:39:43Speaker 03

  They are the personal texts and they are the private web searches. From the cellphone of accused murderer Austin Harrouff.

• 1:39:50Speaker 02

  I don't need drugs.

• 1:39:53Speaker 04

  Molly, acid, mushrooms. Every single time he does drugs, he seems to want to text about it.

• 1:39:59Speaker 03

  Harrouff is charged with stabbing and killing Michelle Mishcon and her husband John Stevens in their garage in DeCuesta in August 2016. Harrouff also attacked a neighbor who tried to intervene. He was found growling and eating Stevens' face when police showed up. The attack was random. Harrouff had stormed out of a restaurant and began walking.

• 1:40:22Speaker 04

  And he can't remember what happened, and he murdered my sister and my brother-in-law.

• 1:40:26Speaker 03

  Local 10 News has obtained 4,000 pages of Harrouff's phone records. Starting in October 2015, quote, "I literally blacked out while talking to you. I blacked out, lost my hat, my tennis shoes, and my muscle shirt. Blacked out last night, and I texted Sarah. I have no idea why. Apparently, I passed out in Harmon Bathroom with pants off." March 2016, "Sorry, I'm asking a lot of questions. I blacked out at like 8 o'clock." A month before the murders, Harrouff's website searches include "How to know if you're going crazy, hearing things in my sleep, exploding head syndrome overview and facts."

• 1:41:08Speaker 03

  Six days before allegedly killing Mishcon and Stevens, Harrouff inquired and agreed to buy illegal mushrooms, which when chewed could cause a hallucinogenic effect. He even asks, quote, "How much would it take me to trip? But not too bad."

• 1:41:25Speaker 04

  His father texted him hours before the murders. "Did you throw the drugs out? I don't see how drugs are irrelevant to this case, and it angers me."

• 1:41:35Speaker 03

  The defense will try to prove Harrouff was insane. They're expected to rely on a report produced by a forensic psychologist who says Hareff suffers from a rare psychiatric syndrome where the affected person is delusional and thinks he's been transformed into an animal. Hareff's attorney says there is no evidence Austin was under the influence of any psychotropic drugs at the time of the murders, but the FBI lab report clearly states they don't test for the active ingredient in mushrooms, the drug he allegedly bought the week before.

• 1:42:10Speaker 04

  I think the defense is total bull. Well, they hold up the FBI report and you say, see, he didn't do any drugs. Drugs aren't an issue in this case, but what they're not telling the public is what wasn't tested for.

• 1:42:26Speaker 03

  The trial's set for this November.

• 1:42:29Speaker 04

  I'm a little more worried every day that he's going to get away with murder. I did our chest exercise. With his, um, false defense.

• 1:42:41Speaker 03

  Hareff faces life behind bars. Jeff Weinseer, Local 10 News.

• 1:42:46Colin Brown?

  It's worth noting that during initial reports, it wasn't stated explicitly to the public that Austin was tested for hallucinogens, but court records indicate he was. Throughout his time in jail, Austin continued to display bizarre and erratic behavior. In a visit with his mother, Mina, in early 2018, Austin sang weird songs and made off-the-wall comments. When he raised me, I forgot the rest of the lyrics. Brian, Brian, Brian, Brian, Brian, Brian, Brian, Brian, Brian, Brian, Brian, Brian, Brian, Brian, Brian, Brian, Chris, that's the night, Chris, that's the night.

• 1:43:30Colin Brown?

  Jean shorts, jean shorts, cauliflower, cauliflower.

• 1:43:34Speaker 02

  David.

• 1:44:01Speaker 02

  You're coined a character.

• 1:44:06Speaker 02

  You.

• 1:44:10Speaker 02

  I'm just kidding.

• 1:44:26Courtney Brown?

  At other times, Austin was emotional. He admitted to his father that he just wanted to be a normal kid again. But that was never going to happen. Austin's trial was originally scheduled to start at the end of 2019. However, the judge postponed it to May of 2020. But then when that date came around, the trial was delayed again due to state prosecutors wanting a second opinion regarding Austin's mental health during the time of the murders. Eventually, the state hired Gregory Landrum, a forensic clinical psychologist. During his evaluation, Gregory noted that Austin was currently taking Zoloft, Giadon,

• 1:45:08Courtney Brown?

  and Trazodone, but he complained about the Trazodone, saying that it made him sleepy and hungry. In fact, in the few years he had spent in jail, Austin had gained 90 pounds. He also reported that Austin was being treated for schizophrenia in jail.

• 1:45:25Colin Brown?

  In the 12-page report, Gregory ultimately agreed with Dr. Philip Resnick's findings and wrote, "It is reasonable to conclude that Mr. Haruf was experiencing a decompensated mental state associated with an emerging mood and thought disorder in an acute psychiatric episode. As a result of this condition, it is opined that... Mr. Haruf was unable to distinguish right from wrong. With both sides agreeing that Austin did not know right from wrong during the time of the murders, he met the criteria to be acquitted by reason of insanity. On November 28, 2022, Circuit Judge Sherwood Bauer allowed family members of the victims, John and Michelle, to speak in court before he issued his ruling.

• 1:46:06Speaker 04

  Can I look at the defendant, or I have to look this way?

• 1:46:09Speaker 03

  You can look over there if you'd like.

• 1:46:12Speaker 04

  Can I turn this?

• 1:46:13Speaker 03

  If you'd like to. If you could go ahead and just state your name.

• 1:46:17Speaker 04

  Yeah, go ahead. And please bear with me because I have a lot to say.

• 1:46:22Speaker 03

  Okay. It's a lot.

• 1:46:32Speaker 04

  For those of you that don't know me, my name is Cindy Mishcon. I am Michelle Mishcon's sister. You can't even look at me?

• 1:46:45Speaker 03

  Ma'am, ma'am. If you would like to.

• 1:46:48Speaker 04

  Oh, wow, okay. I am Michelle Mishcon's sister and John Stephen's sister-in-law. I started writing my victim's impact statement a long time ago, at a time when I was naive enough to think that there would actually be justice, at a minimum, a trial, and at a time when I thought you might actually care to hear how you destroyed my life and the lives of my family members. In my statement, I told you all about my sister, Michelle, about her amazing blue eyes, about how she too went to Florida State, about how we were only 16 months apart and

• 1:47:31Speaker 04

  best friends, about how she used to rub my stomach for hours when I was debilitated by terrible stomachaches as a child.

• 1:47:40Speaker 04

  And how I bought a house in Jupiter so we could grow old together, sitting on my patio, watching the boats go by.

• 1:47:47Speaker 04

  Those are just some of the things I was going to tell you about my amazing sister. But that was then, and this is now. Everything changed for me a long time ago, just as the ink dried on my heartfelt victim's impact statement. Everything changed, not because I miraculously recovered from the excruciating emotional pain you caused me, but because I started listening to your jailhouse calls and quickly realized that you were intent on causing me and my family even more unbearable pain.

• 1:48:20Speaker 04

  I quickly realized from listening to those calls that you don't care about how your actions have affected me. You don't care about how your actions have affected my family. You don't care that you murdered my parents' firstborn child. You don't care that you... You don't care about anyone but yourself. In fact, the only victim that you and your family see in all of this is you and a hair off name.

• 1:48:44Speaker 04

  So what exactly did you and your family say on the jailhouse calls that led me to this conclusion? Well, for starters, your parents repeatedly told you, over and over, ad nauseam, that you did nothing wrong, that you have nothing to be sorry for, that you are a good boy. It sent a toss-up for me between two statements that were the hardest for me to hear and made me realize that you just don't care.

• 1:49:14Speaker 04

  I have a question. If I'm quoting, am I allowed to use a swear word?

• 1:49:20Speaker 04

  I'm going to repeat that, then. It sent a toss-up for me between two statements that were the hardest for me to hear and made me realize that you just don't care.

• 1:49:30Speaker 04

  The first was having to hear your father refer to Michelle how he celebrated and took the entire office out for drinks the day the FBI lab report came back.

• 1:49:41Speaker 04

  It didn't matter to your father that you stabbed Michelle multiple times in the back, neck, and face, that you fractured Michelle's nose, arm, and ribs, or that you knocked out her teeth. No, none of that mattered. All that mattered to you and your father was that the lab report is what the lab report meant for you and your high-priced fabricated defense, and how you could use the report to bolster the illusion, or delusion, that you are the victim. So what else did I hear on the jailhouse calls that made me quickly realize that you thought of yourself as the only victim in all of this? Well, in one call, you likened yourself to a POW.

• 1:50:25Speaker 04

  In another call, you likened yourself to a Holocaust survivor. And in another call, you likened yourself to an African, which I believe you were referring to a slave. Is it really so hard for you to understand that you are just a cold-blooded murderer, not a victim, and certainly not a POW, Holocaust survivor, or slave? Like, how insulting can you be to the real victims? You are disgusting. And how terrible has it really been for you while waiting for your day in court? Well, when I was still listening to the jailhouse calls, you were fed three meals a day, you

• 1:51:09Speaker 04

  had your magazine and newspaper subscriptions delivered to you, you had your own toilet, your own shower, and for good measure, your own personal phone to use all day long, which you did. You also had a new girlfriend, and let's not forget that you had your weekly care packages from mommy. Listening to you refer to yourself as a POW, a Holocaust survivor, and a slave reminded me of the game on Sesame Street. One of these things is not like the other. Your team is going to walk out of this courtroom and proclaim victory, that you've been fully vindicated, and that you are truly the victim in all of this.

• 1:51:51Speaker 04

  And I couldn't live with myself if I didn't let the world know exactly who you really are in your own words. Because not only did I spend hundreds of hours listening to your jailhouse calls...

• 1:52:04Speaker 04

  But I also spent countless nights going through your text messages and notes on your cellphone. So this is who you are, Austin Harof.

• 1:52:13Courtney Brown?

  For hours, the court listened to victim impact statements from John and Michelle's family. As they addressed Austin, the Harof family sat in silence with their heads down. Ultimately, the judge accepted the plea of not guilty by reason of insanity, meaning that Austin would not face prison time, but instead be committed to a secure mental health facility indefinitely.

• 1:52:38Speaker 03

  The defendant was evaluated by Dr. Philip Resnick and Dr. Gregory Landrum, who both opined that at the time of the offense charge, the defendant was suffering under such a mental defect that he was unable to distinguish right from wrong or understand the consequences of his actions. Dr. Landrum found that due to the defendant's illness, he is manifestly dangerous to himself or others, and therefore meets the criteria for commitment to a secure treatment facility of the Department of Children and Family Services as provided under the law. The state and the defense stipulated and agree that the defendant was not legally sane at the time of the offense and is therefore not guilty of the offense by reason of insanity.

• 1:53:20Speaker 03

  Therefore, the court finds that the defendant is found not guilty on the offenses charged in the indictment for the cause of insanity due to mental illness as defined in Florida statutes. The defendant currently meets the criteria for involuntary commitment to the Department of Children and Family Services as provided under Florida law and Florida rules, and in that the defendant, because of his mental illness, is manifestly dangerous to himself or others. Based upon those facts and conclusions of the law, it's ordered that the defendant is not guilty of the offenses charged in the November 8, 2016 indictment by reason of insanity. The defendant meets the criteria for involuntary placement of the Department of Children and Family Services.

• 1:54:05Speaker 03

  The defendant is hereby committed to the Department of Children and Families to be placed in a secure mental health treatment facility.

• 1:54:12Courtney Brown?

  After his ruling, the judge addressed the court and said, "In this case, the defense and state have agreed to this particular outcome. I'm sure based upon all the facts and circumstances they had." The judge went on to say, "It's a sad case. It's an awful case. Nobody is losing sight. I tell you, I know I'm not, of the deaths and injuries that were sustained in this case. But when it all gets said and done, the state and the defense have made the determination that the mental intent was not formulated. It wasn't there. And therefore, the defendant is technically not guilty by reason of insanity."

• 1:54:56Colin Brown?

  For the loved ones of John Stevens and Michelle Michigan, justice was not served. When Michelle's younger sister Cindy was asked how she felt, she replied, "Four words come to mind: white, rich boy justice." Instead of the three-week trial they had hoped for, Austin's fate was determined in a two-hour sentencing. Ivy Stevens said it best when she stated that the only thing that will be remembered of her father and stepmother were the outrageous and disgusting headlines, graphically talking about what happened to them in their final moments. The horror of the crime overshadowed the lives they had lived: kind, generous, and deeply loving lives. For the family, John and Michelle deserved to be remembered, not for the cruelty that they suffered, but for the warmth, joy, and light that they gave to everyone around them.

• 1:55:41Speaker 04

  Sure, I can tell you that my sister was the best. My sister and John were the most loving, caring, giving, warm people. I said in court today, sadly, the only blessing of us all is that they were together, because neither would have survived well without the other. We talked a lot in court today about why they were in their garage, and why their garage was open every night, and how they welcomed everybody in. So I think like most people feel about their siblings. We loved them with everything that we had. I said in court today, we are all still living here. There were five of us. We spent every holiday, every birthday together. We traveled together.

• 1:56:25Speaker 04

  We were a family that really loved and enjoyed being with one another. So this has devastated us. This has, this has broken us. My father has not been well since the day he learned of this happening. And when you have great people like this and they go in this way, it's, you know, it's devastating. It ruins your life forever.

• 1:56:45Courtney Brown?

  The state of Florida, loved by both John and Michelle as a place of peace and happiness, would never be the same for their family members. Instead, it would always be a reminder of the cruelty that shattered their lives. John the Fourth said of John the Third, quote, "He thought Florida was the best place in the world, and he couldn't understand why anyone would want to live anywhere else," end quote. But now, moving forward, Jupiter Martin County and even the Atlantic Ocean were, quote, "ruined forever for us," end quote. But to keep their memory alive, their families try their best to talk about them

• 1:57:28Courtney Brown?

  as much as they can. They never want to forget what great people John and Michelle were. They never want their memory to fade away.

• 1:57:36Colin Brown?

  In January 2023, Austin was transferred to the Florida State Hospital in Chattahoochee. For Austin's family members, friends, and his defense attorney, Robert Watson, they all believed it is the place that is best for him. According to reports, Austin will undergo a psychiatric review every six months, followed by annual evaluations afterwards. The results of these evaluations, including detailed recommendations for his ongoing treatment and risk level, will be submitted to a judge for review. Although Austin now claims that he has been stable for a long time, the decision to release him will ultimately rest in the hands of the court and the mental health professionals at the Florida State Hospital. For John and Michelle's family members, it wasn't good enough, and they

• 1:58:20Colin Brown?

  still believe that Austin was never truly insane. They felt that Austin had been coached by his family and defense team to pursue an insanity defense. When John's son found out that Austin had been transferred to the Florida State Hospital, he said, "Just amazing that you can kill two people and get treated this way by the justice system as long as you're a white kid. We all know this would not be the outcome if he were not who he is." For them, Austin will always be a cold-blooded killer who knew exactly what he was doing on the night of August 15th, 2016.

• 1:58:53Courtney Brown?

  In the end, John Stevens III and Michelle Michonne were brutally murdered, an act so violent, so unimaginable, that it forever changed the lives of their loved ones and the town of DeCuesta. And although Ivy Stevens moved away for a brief period, unable to live with the memories of what happened, she eventually returned, as she believed her father and stepmother would have wanted that. Today, all she has are memories: John's fishing poles hanging in the living room alongside Michelle's visor with her name written across the top. For her, there will never be closure.

• 1:59:33Courtney Brown?

  And as for Austin Haruf, he will remain at the Florida State Hospital under involuntary commitment. But one day, Austin could be released and returned into society, and the possibility of that will continue to haunt the loved ones of John and Michelle.

• 1:59:51Colin Brown?

  For today's episode, we will be making a donation to the JED Foundation, a nonprofit organization that focuses on the mental health of young adults and college students. Hey, everybody, thank you so much for listening to today's episode of Murder in America. Courtney and I are so thankful to have so many people that listen to this show every single week, and we're just blessed. We're just really thankful that everybody has joined us on this journey. And yeah, we're just filled with gratefulness, and we hope that you learn something during today's episode, because we learn a lot every single week. If you want to support the work that we do here on the show, please consider joining us on Patreon. On Patreon, you can get access to early ad-free versions of every episode of the show.

• 2:00:36Colin Brown?

  So if you don't like the ads and you want to listen a day early, please consider joining us there. And in addition, on Patreon, you can also get access to full-length bonus episodes of Murder in America. These are full-length episodes that will not ever be posted on the main feed, with both Courtney and I the same Sound design and music. These bonus episodes sound exactly like something you would listen to on our main feed, but they are exclusively for our Patreon members. And thank you to everybody who has joined us on there. We are so incredibly thankful. Don't forget to follow us on Instagram at Murder in America to see photos and videos from every case that we cover here on the show. And if you're listening to the show, once again, please do not forget to give us a

• 2:01:18Colin Brown?

  five star review wherever you're listening to the show, whether it's Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or another streaming platform. Those reviews are amazing. Courtney and I love to hear the feedback from you guys and it would be super helpful if you could take 10 seconds out of your day and do that for us. Anyways, y'all, it's the end of the episode. Thank you for tuning in. We will be back next week on Halloween with another episode of the show. I hope all of you guys have an absolutely incredible weekend. If you're celebrating Halloween, please be safe, do it safely. And yeah, I will see you guys on the next one.