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Alleged double murder at USF. A husband accused of hexes and murder. And "Allegedly,” the new true-crime video podcast.

April 30, 2026 /

This episode covers the disappearance of two University of South Florida graduate students, Nahida Bristy and Jamil Lamone, and the investigation into their cases. It also discusses the trial of a man accused of murdering his wife after hiring a spellcaster, and features Jake Reiner sharing his story following the murder of his parents.

Jesse Kirsch provides updates on the missing students, detailing their last known communications and the alarming circumstances surrounding their disappearances. The investigation led to the arrest of Hisham Abu Garbia, a roommate of Jamil, who became a suspect after inconsistencies in his statements and evidence linking him to the crime scene.

The episode also highlights the tragic discovery of Jamil's body and the ongoing search for Nahida. Prosecutors reveal that Hisham's phone data and suspicious online searches may indicate premeditated murder.

In addition, the episode covers the upcoming trial of Larry Miete, accused of murdering his wife Maya, who vanished under mysterious circumstances. The investigation revealed tensions in their marriage and Larry's alleged attempts to control Maya through spellcasting.

Finally, Jake Reiner discusses the impact of his parents' murder and the emotional toll it has taken on him and his family.

TLDR

Two USF students go missing, investigation reveals shocking details about their suspected killer and another murder case involving spells.

Episode

34:07
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Good morning. You are listening to the Dateline Story Meeting. Josh Flagness, Josh Minkiewicz.
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Our producers are catching up on breaking crime news. The ambulance driver thought he was just torn up about his son dying.
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The local police are now, I think, more on this case. We definitely have a family divided.
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Welcome to Dateline True Crime Weekly. I'm Lester Holt. It's April 30th, and here's what's on our docket.
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In California, a man is heading to trial for allegedly murdering his wife after investigators say he paid a spellcaster to put a hex on her.
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He paid hundreds of dollars for dozens of these types of spells or hexes to be cast.
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In Dateline Roundup, Jake Reiner, the son of legendary Hollywood director Rob Reiner
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and producer Michelle Singer Reiner shares his story for the first time since their murders.
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And nearly 20 years after the murder of rap star Jam Master Jay, there is a surprise plea.
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Bryant told the judge, I knew that what I was doing was wrong and a crime. Plus, Andrea talks to NBC's Ellison Barber about Allegedly, her new video podcast on Netflix
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that digs deep into some of the most high-profile cases in true crime. allegedly is like part a story of this case that you're curious about and then part long-form interview.
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But before all that, we're off to Florida and a story that has captured attention across the country,
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the disappearance of two college students. Two University of South Florida graduate students are missing this morning
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and investigators are asking for your help to find them. This week, there was a big break in the case.
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Two weeks ago, on the morning of April 16th, Nahida Bristy, a doctoral student at the University of South Florida, called her parents back home in Bangladesh.
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It was the last time her family ever heard from her. A few days later, the University Police Department announced that Nahida's family had reported her missing.
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And she wasn't the only student who vanished. Nahida's friend, Jamil Lamone, was missing too.
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On Friday came the devastating news. Jamil's body had been found about 25 miles from campus on the Howard Franklin Bridge.
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And a man was taken into custody and charged with killing not just Jamil, but Nahida Tu.
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Who was the alleged killer? And how did he know them? Joining me now to bring us up to speed on this fast-moving investigation is NBC News correspondent Jesse Kirsch.
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Jesse, thanks for being here. You bet. Great to be with you. So to start, tell us about these two young people. What do we know about them?
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Jamil Limon and Nahida Bristi were both 27 years old, both doctoral students at the University of South Florida.
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Nahida was studying chemical engineering. Jamil was studying geography, environmental science and policy.
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I had the chance to speak with both of their brothers and both made it clear their siblings would not just go vanish without telling anybody.
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She would never do that, never do something like this, never put her family through this pain and everything.
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And it wasn't just their family who noticed something was wrong. People close to the students began to raise red flags, we understand.
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Yeah, we've learned a whole bunch of information from a filing from prosecutors from over the weekend.
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And one of the things we learned is that, according to prosecutors, a friend of Nahid and Jamil tried calling both of them the day they vanished.
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and neither friend picked up. Two days later on a Saturday, Jamila is supposed to have a
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thesis appointment. His brother says he was very serious about his studies, but he doesn't show up.
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At the same time, police went to Nahida's office on her campus and her brother tells me her lunchbox,
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her laptop, her iPad, and a bag were all still at her office, effectively like she just
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left in the middle of the workday and left all of her stuff behind. Yeah, that sounds very alarming. And I know university police were seeking help from wherever
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they could get it. They contacted local police, the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office, and their
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officers began interviewing anyone who might have information, who might know more. Yeah. According
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to what prosecutors filed, we know that detectives early on are talking to Jamil's two roommates,
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and in particular, prosecutors are focusing in on one of these roommates, 26-year-old Hisham
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Abu Garbia. Hisham winds up becoming the suspect in this case. And according to prosecutors,
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Hisham told detectives he does not know where Jameel is. He doesn't know where Nahida is.
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But at the same time, in that early interaction, detectives notice that Hisham has a cut on
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his left pinky finger. He says it's from cutting onions, but he also couldn't remember what he had been cooking.
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So, Jesse, according to investigators, if I understand it, the real breakthrough in their
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case was when they took a closer look at Hisham's movements around the time the students
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disappeared. Yeah, that's right, Lester. according to the filing we have from prosecutors. Police tracked the suspect's car and Jamil's phone,
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and they were in the same area around the same time twice. And according to this filing from
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prosecutors, the suspect told police that the victims had never been in his car, that he never
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went to that area. Then he said, okay, I went to the area to find fishing spots. And then he said
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that Jamil had asked the suspect to drive Jamil and his girlfriend to that area. And he says,
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quote, he dropped them off and left. So the story from the suspect, according to investigators,
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keeps changing. So as they keep investigating, detectives get a warrant to search the suspect's
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phone. And they find a lot of data about where his phone went. And one of the places that the
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suspect's phone went was the Howard Franklin Bridge. And that is more than 10 miles from
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Jameel's apartment. The prosecutors say the phone stopped at specific coordinates on the bridge and police went to that very spot And then the Hillsborough County Sheriff Office held a press conference to announce what they found I am heartbroken to announce the discovery of human
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remains discovered on the Howard Franklin Bridge earlier this morning. Just now, those remains were
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positively identified to Zamil. But there was still no sign of Nahida. No, no sign of her whatsoever.
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And police made clear they were still asking for the public's help to find her. And again, I implore the community, if you have any tips of where you've seen her or she's just recently seen, please report it immediately.
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Do we know how Jamil died? According to the filing from prosecutors, he had been stabbed numerous times and his cause of death was homicide by, quote, multiple sharp force injuries.
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Yeah, and in a motion filed by prosecutors over the weekend, we learned that investigators found what they believe is evidence of some kind of violent encounter at their apartment.
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According to prosecutors, investigators found substantial blood evidence at the apartment shared between the suspect and Jamil.
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We're also learning that Hisham's phone showed potentially incriminating searches, which prosecutors are saying suggest these murders were premeditated.
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Right. One of the potential key pieces of evidence here is that, according to prosecutors, three days before Jamil and Nihita disappeared, the suspect allegedly asked ChatGPT about putting a human in a black garbage bag and throwing them in a dumpster.
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Then, according to prosecutors, the chatbot said that sounded dangerous, and the suspect allegedly replied, quote, how would they find out?
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OpenAI tells us, in part, we're looking into these reports and we'll do whatever we can to support law enforcement in their investigation.
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So Hisham was arrested last Friday, and we should say Hisham has denied any involvement in the murders and has yet to enter a plea to the charges against him.
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But is there anything more we know about him at this time, Jesse, and why he would allegedly do this?
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So we've reached out to his attorney. His attorney says they don't have a comment on this case.
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But there are some questions about his history. According to that filing from prosecutors, investigators talked with the suspect's mother.
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And she says that her son has a history of struggling to manage his anger and has been violent with family.
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And what about Hisham's relationship with Jamil and Nahida? Were they close at all?
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It's not clear if the suspect and Jameel were friends, if they had any history together.
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Yeah, this is a curious one, Jesse. Thanks very much. We'll certainly be watching as this case continues.
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We appreciate you spending some time with us. Anytime. Coming up, a naval optician is heading to trial for the alleged murder of his wife.
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The prosecution's case includes surveillance tape and spells. If you were at Mount San Miguel Park on January 17, 2026,
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you would have seen hundreds of people in lime green shirts, each printed with the face of Maya Miete.
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It's just really hard to see somebody so beautiful, so loving, and she's just vanished, she's just gone.
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The gathering marked five years since Maya, a 39-year-old mother of three, vanished from her Chula Vista home just days before a planned family trip for her daughter's birthday.
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Maya's family says they knew something was wrong almost immediately when she stopped responding to text messages.
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They organized searches and vigils, but there was no trace of her. Then nine months after she went missing, even though her body has never been found, Maya's husband, Larry, was arrested.
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and charged with her murder. He has pleaded not guilty. Recently, a jury screening got underway in
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preparation for Larry's trial next month. Here to break it all down for us is NBC7 investigative
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producer Mike Dorfman. Mike, we appreciate you being here. Absolutely, sir. Let's start with Maya.
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Who was she? Well, I think you could call it a story of young love. Maya and Larry married pretty
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young in Hawaii. She was 19. He was 18. And they really built a life together here in San Diego
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County. They both worked for the U.S. Navy, Maya as an administrative specialist for the Naval
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Information Warfare Center, and Larry worked as an optician at the Naval Medical Center.
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When did her family start to think that something had actually happened to her? She's very close to her siblings. So within a day of her not responding to messages,
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they're very concerned. They're going over to the house to find out why she's not responding.
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They find Larry there. He tells them she's upstairs in the bedroom. That door is locked.
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They try to get in and were able to force entry into that bedroom, but she was not inside.
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At the time, Larry told them that, oh, I believe that she probably went for a hike or maybe she's out with friends.
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But within a day after that home visit, my sister is making a phone call to the police to officially report her missing.
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This case actually landed on Dateline's radar just a few days after Maya disappeared.
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We featured it in our Missing in America series and reached out to Larry. He told us he hoped our coverage would help bring Maya home.
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What we didn't know is that behind the scenes, investigators were already building a case.
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Mike, how did this investigation turn into a case against him? The arrest affidavit lays out what led investigators to zero in on him specifically.
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They said that they interviewed 87 different witnesses and quickly learned that the marriage had been under strain for some time, for months.
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One witness in particular told investigators that Maya described incidents of physical abuse including one particular accusation that Larry once choked her until she lost consciousness Then the day before she disappeared Maya texted a friend saying
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I'm filing for divorce whether he likes it or not. I'm done trying to make things amicable for the kids.
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Do investigators think that Larry knew about her plans to split? They certainly do.
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They say that Larry was closely tracking Maya's movements, also accusing him at one point of planting a cell phone in her car.
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showing up at her workplace because he suspected that she was having an affair and had plans to
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leave him. And investigators say Larry took some unusual steps in response to his suspicions that
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Maya might be leaving, including reaching out to so-called spellcasters. First of all, what's a
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spellcaster? Something that I also was wholly unfamiliar with before I started working on this
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particular story. According to investigators, these are people and provide a specific service online
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to create charm spells that benefit your life or hexes against the people that you don't like.
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And they said for Larry, he paid hundreds of dollars for dozens of these types of spells or hexes to be cast.
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For him, they started out really focused on his own marriage. He wanted to get Maya to fall back in love with him.
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He wanted to make the relationship be repaired so that they could live happily together.
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Later on, some of the messages start to reflect his frustration with that not happening.
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And it gets pretty dark. In December of 2020, he allegedly asked whether Maya could be hexed in some way that would
00:13:33
cause her harm. Essentially, he wanted to incapacitate her in some way so that she would be wholly dependent
00:13:39
on him for care. On January 7th, the day that Maya was last seen, investigators say he sent multiple messages
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to spellcasters, including one that said, quote, I think she wants me to snap. And quote, I'm shaking inside, ready to snap.
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So allegedly, lots of tension building up before Maya disappeared. But what do investigators think actually happened that night?
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Their case stands upon this circumstantial evidence. And some of it has a lot to do with
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surveillance video, some from the neighbors around their home in Chula Vista. So according
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to that arrest affidavit, the video shows Maya arriving back at the home that evening.
00:14:17
And investigators say they did not find any footage of her leaving after that. It was really the last time she's been recorded alive.
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The same footage from that neighbor's surveillance camera recorded nine loud banging sounds just right before 10 p.m. that night.
00:14:33
To be clear, we don't know for sure what those bangs were. Investigators consulted with the FBI who could not determine if they were gunshots or not.
00:14:42
Mike, what did investigators learn about Larry's whereabouts around the time Maya went missing on January 7th?
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There's a lot of question marks, that's for sure. Investigators say he didn't report to work on January 8th, 9th, or 10th.
00:14:56
The days after Maya disappeared, he claimed he'd gone to the beach with his son.
00:15:00
But investigators say they just really couldn't confirm that. We mentioned that Larry Miette was arrested on charges of first-degree murder and illegal possession of an assault weapon.
00:15:10
And he pleaded not guilty and remains behind bars. Your team actually sat down with him in 2023.
00:15:18
Tell us about that. It was interesting. It took place over two different recorded interviews.
00:15:23
And it was kind of odd from the outset because he didn't want his whole face to be shown.
00:15:29
He seemed concerned over whether the things that he would be talking to us about would be used against him by prosecutors.
00:15:36
But he did stress repeatedly that he was innocent, but he really wasn't able to provide a lot of answers to a lot of very specific questions and punted repeatedly.
00:15:47
Here's Larry talking to NBC7 investigative reporter Alexis Rivas. I know you've told me you think she's still alive. Is that still true?
00:15:56
Yes, ma'am. But I'm kind of the guy that's like a prefer the best prefer the worst.
00:16:01
Where did you go for 12 hours with your cell phone turned off the day after Maya vanished?
00:16:06
Again, I'd rather not answer that question. We've talked a lot about the evidence prosecutors say they have against him.
00:16:14
Do we know yet what the main defense points will be? I think like a lot of defense attorneys, the name of the game for them is injecting as much doubt.
00:16:23
They're going to focus on what's missing. No body, no murder weapon, and really no direct forensic evidence that's linking Larry to the killing.
00:16:31
Yeah, and last week, the defense attacked the prosecutor directly, accusing her of misconduct. Tell us about that.
00:16:37
Yeah, last Friday, the defense filed a 29-page motion accusing the prosecutor of eliciting false testimony from witnesses during the preliminary hearing.
00:16:46
The defense has essentially asked not only for the case to be thrown out, but barring that, they want to replace the prosecution's team with the California Attorney General's office.
00:16:56
That would be just a major change in what's been happening, could delay the trial by a year or more.
00:17:00
That's happening this week. So we'll find out what a judge will rule. Either way, the trial is still on the books, scheduled for May 11.
00:17:08
We'll see if that changes. Well, Mike, we really appreciate you coming on and walking us through where this stands.
00:17:13
We'll certainly be following this case closely. All right, sir. Thank you. Up next, it's time for Dateline Roundup.
00:17:21
A New Jersey businessman convicted of a quadruple homicide calls out the judge at his trial.
00:17:27
And Jake Reiner, son of slain Hollywood director Rob Reiner, shares his story for the first time.
00:17:35
Plus, Andrea previews Allegedly, a new video podcast on Netflix about the true crime cases you can't stop talking about.
00:17:44
welcome back everyone joining me for this week roundup is dateline field producer alex Lohre Thanks for being here Thanks for having me First up we going to head to Los Angeles for updates in the case of Nick Reiner the son of legendary Hollywood director Rob Reiner and producer Michelle Singer Reiner
00:18:14
What's the latest on this one, Alex? As you remember, Lester, Rob and Michelle Reiner were found stabbed to death in their Brentwood home in December.
00:18:21
The double homicide stunned people around the country who were fans of Rob Reiner's movies and the couple's charitable work.
00:18:28
Even more shocking was the identity of their alleged killer, their younger son Nick, who was arrested within hours of their bodies being discovered.
00:18:36
Nick has pleaded not guilty to charges of murder and he's being held without bail.
00:18:40
We've been hearing bits and pieces about Nick since his arrest, but the public really hasn't heard much from the other two Reiner children, Jake and their daughter Romy.
00:18:49
But that changed last week when Jake shared a personal essay on Substack. What did he say, Alex?
00:18:56
Yeah, so his essay touched on his experience learning about his parents' murders.
00:19:01
He wrote, My world as I knew it had collapsed. I was in a trance. I needed to figure out what the hell just happened.
00:19:08
He goes on to say that he was robbed of so many things that day, and that this is truly my living nightmare.
00:19:14
Did he say anything about his brother, Nick? He did, though he never mentioned Nick's name.
00:19:20
He wrote, sure, any loss of a parent is devastating, but nothing compares to losing both of them at the same time.
00:19:26
And on top of that, having your brother be at the center of it. It's almost too impossible to process.
00:19:32
Jake ended his essay asking for love and compassion, the same principles my parents lived by.
00:19:39
Well, for our next story, we're going to head to New Jersey, where the stakes were high at a Monmouth County courthouse last week.
00:19:45
for Paul Canero. He's the businessman convicted in February of murdering his brother Keith,
00:19:51
Keith's wife and two children, in a plot prosecutors said was motivated by greed
00:19:57
and desperation. Alex, remind us what happened here. Lester, in addition to murdering his
00:20:03
brother's family, Paul Canero was also convicted of setting fire to his brother's house
00:20:08
and his own in an attempt to cover his tracks. What did the prosecution say the motive was here?
00:20:14
So prosecutors said that Paul was in serious debt and that his brother Keith, who was also his business partner, was threatening to cut him off financially.
00:20:22
The day before the murders, Keith confronted Paul about stealing money from a trust that he managed for Keith.
00:20:28
And instead of explaining what happened to the money, Paul concocted a plan to murder his brother's family.
00:20:33
After Paul Canero was convicted, his team immediately filed a motion requesting a new trial.
00:20:39
And the arguments were a little unusual. They pointed the finger at the judge for turning the jury against Paul.
00:20:46
In their brief, they wrote that Judge Lemieux was often impatient, critical, and hostile towards the defense.
00:20:52
In contrast, they argue that his demeanor toward the jury was lighthearted. He often made jokes or engaged in banter.
00:20:58
And the defense wrote that the jury adopted the judge's unfavorable feelings towards defense,
00:21:03
and it meant that Paul couldn't get a fair trial. Well, Paul and his defense team appeared before Judge Lemieux last week to hear what he had to say.
00:21:11
What did he decide? Judge Lemieux said he didn't show hostility towards Canero's defense team
00:21:17
and ultimately concluded that the trial was fair and said the jurors weren't influenced by anything other than the evidence presented.
00:21:25
What's next then? We move ahead to sentencing? Yeah, so Paul Canero's sentencing is scheduled for May 19th.
00:21:31
He faces a max of life in prison without the possibility of parole, and he can still appeal his conviction.
00:21:37
well for our final story this week we're going to head to brooklyn new york for a big update
00:21:43
in a case that made headlines in both the world of true crime and pop culture i'm talking about
00:21:49
the 2002 murderer former run dmc member jam master jay his real name was jason mazel alex
00:21:57
first off for listeners who don't know mazel's work he was a pretty big deal in the music world
00:22:02
Yeah, Mizell began working with hip-hop group Run DMC in the 80s and helped produce some of their biggest hits like the song It's Tricky.
00:22:14
He also mentored artists like 50 Cent. But in 2002, Mizell was found fatally shot in his Queens studio in what prosecutors say was a killing over a drug deal.
00:22:24
No one was prosecuted for the crime until nearly two decades later, in 2020, when two men were charged with his death.
00:22:31
Both were later convicted, but one had his conviction overturned. But the news this week is about an entirely different defendant, a third man.
00:22:39
Exactly. So in 2023, prosecutors indicted a third person in Mizell's murder, a man named Jay Bryant.
00:22:46
They said that he knew the murder was going to happen and that he opened the door to the studio to let the men in who eventually killed Mizell.
00:22:55
Bryant initially pleaded not guilty to a murder charge, but on Monday he changed his tune and pleaded guilty to being an accomplice in Mizell's murder.
00:23:03
There were no cameras allowed inside the courtroom, but Bryant told the judge, I helped him kill Jason Mizell. I knew a gun was going to be used to shoot Jason Mizell. I knew that what I was doing was wrong and a crime.
00:23:16
Do we have any idea why he decided to change his plea and what's next in the case for Bryant?
00:23:21
He didn't say why at the hearing, and his lawyer declined to comment after the fact.
00:23:25
He's now facing 15 to 20 years in prison. All right. Well, thanks for all these updates, Alex. We appreciate it.
00:23:31
Sure thing. Thanks for having me, Lester. For our final story this week, Andrea has a sneak peek of Allegedly.
00:23:39
This is Allegedly. A brand new video podcast on Netflix hosted by our NBC News colleague,
00:23:48
Ellison Barber and produced by NBC News Studios. New episodes drop every Wednesday,
00:23:55
and if you love true crime, you won't want to miss it. Here's Andrea. Hi, everyone. I'm really excited to talk to our next guest, Ellison Barber. You've probably seen her reporting from the front lines in Ukraine or Gaza, covering some of the world's most intense conflicts. But now she's taking on a very different kind of story. It turns out Ellison, like me, like many of you listening, has a passion for true crime.
00:24:20
So every week in her new podcast, allegedly, Ellison and a guest will be digging into a case that's either making headlines right now or people just can't stop talking about it.
00:24:30
They'll be scouring case files and court records for evidence you've probably never seen before and angles you might not have thought of and breaking it all down in smart, unfiltered conversations.
00:24:40
The first episode focuses on a case I know very well, the murder of 22-year-old blogger Gabby Petito.
00:24:47
Ellison and her team got their hands on some new depositions from a civil suit connected to the case.
00:24:52
We'll get into what they uncovered in a minute, but first, Ellison, welcome to Dateline True Crime Weekly.
00:24:58
Hi, Andrea. Thank you so much for having me. Of course, we're so excited about Allegedly.
00:25:03
All right, so Ellison, tell me, how did you get interested in true crime? What led you down this path?
00:25:07
I've always been an avid watcher, an avid listener of stories related to crime, true crime, the criminal justice system, all of that.
00:25:16
but like I don't know if you ever feel this way but like one of the things that kind of sounds
00:25:20
cheesy but it's the same reason too of why I like wanted to cover conflicts when people would be
00:25:25
like why do you cover the worst stuff like who did you make mad and I would be like I asked to
00:25:28
cover this and same when I was in local news I would be like can I cover this vigil after there
00:25:32
had been some sort of shooting and I'm like for me it's because I really do care about people and
00:25:37
like I'm interested in people and and also trying to look at what maybe led up to this and is there
00:25:44
anything that even me as just like a regular person can learn from it. There's a lot of shows out there in the true crime space. What is different about allegedly,
00:25:53
aside from this amazing set that you have, it looks like a really cool living room.
00:25:59
Right. That's why it keeps him like, I want it to be my living room. It's like dark and moody.
00:26:02
A lot of the wall art is based off like, I have a ton of tattoos. It's like based off of things
00:26:06
from my tattoos. So I'm like, I think this is going to be it. I have to put this in my house,
00:26:09
everything that I look at. So yes, our set is different, but I do think, you know, I don't want
00:26:16
to rush. And like our goal with this podcast and this video podcast is not to cover the biggest
00:26:21
cases making headlines the fastest Our goal is to cover the biggest cases making headlines accurately and thoughtfully And something that we really trying to do is like allow people to sort of experience that process with us take them through court documents show them the court documents all of that so they can make sense
00:26:39
of it on their own and with us. I feel like allegedly is like part a story of this case
00:26:44
that you're curious about and in part long form interview with one person who has a specific
00:26:49
expertise or they have a direct connection to the case. You call them like your trusted friends.
00:26:56
Yeah. And it does feel like you're friends. And you can tell that you like each other because, you know, Misty Maris, she's a trial attorney, NBC News, legal analyst, and she jokes that, you know, that your set is good for redheads because she's a redhead.
00:27:10
Yeah. So, you know, it's a nice camaraderie that you have with these guests of yours. So why for the first episode, the premiere episode, did you choose Gabby Petito? Obviously, so many people know that name for very sad reasons.
00:27:26
It has been a few years. Let's just give a quick recap. Gabby went missing in the summer of 2021 while she was traveling across the country in a van with her fiancé, Brian Laundrie.
00:27:35
Gabby's body was eventually found in Grand Teton National Park. She'd been strangled, and Brian, her fiancé, was declared a person of interest in the case.
00:27:43
But before the investigation went any further, his body was found in a Florida park, and police determined that he had died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
00:27:53
Well, you know, it was a case that we knew a lot of people, particularly among the Netflix audience, was familiar with in general, but particularly because they had that documentary and that there was a lot that had happened since the Netflix documentary about Gabby Petito had come out.
00:28:07
There have been three civil lawsuits related to her case, two in Florida, one that was against the estate of Brian Laundrie, one that was against Brian Laundrie's parents, as well as their attorney, and then one that is in Utah against Moab City police.
00:28:22
And there was so much information in them that we could pull from to help us expand our understanding of what really happened from the time Gabby went missing to when her body was found and even before that.
00:28:32
So many just really interesting tidbits that you found, especially revolving around Brian Laundrie's parents.
00:28:41
Yeah, I mean, it really is stunning. Like we know at some point kind of in late August,
00:28:48
if I'm remembering correctly, it's like Gabby's mother, Nicole Schmidt, sent a text after she
00:28:52
hadn't heard from Gabby in a while saying to Brian's mom, Roberta, have you heard from the kids?
00:28:58
And they just get nothing They just get absolute silence And what you realize when you go back and look through all these documents is that he had called his parents on August 9th and said
00:29:09
Gabby's gone. All that time that they had an awareness that maybe something wasn't okay.
00:29:14
Nobody calls Gabby's mom or dad to say, hey, have you heard anything? Are they okay? I'm worried
00:29:18
about her. They just carry on. And based on everything they claim in their deposition,
00:29:23
they didn't ask. Their son called hysterical saying Gabby's gone and they didn't have a follow
00:29:27
And you and Misty, you don't shy away from what you discover. I want to play a little bit from the episode.
00:29:32
Here's a clip. Neither parent calls Gabby's parents and says, hey, something's happening with the kids.
00:29:36
We're worried maybe you should call Gabby. Neither parent calls the police. They call an attorney.
00:29:41
They pay a $25,000 retainer. And they do not help or cooperate in looking for Gabby.
00:29:47
And when the Gabby's gone call comes in, if they really knew nothing, if they really did not know that something nefarious had happened,
00:29:54
Why wouldn't you call her parents and say, this is a concern? You know, the thought that came to mind, I watched three of your episodes and the thought that came to mind was like three dimensional podcast.
00:30:07
Oh, wow. So it's kind of like you're listening. But then if you're actually also watching on Netflix, you're able to see the podcast come to life with especially like Gabby.
00:30:19
You know, you feel like, oh, my gosh, you're right there with her. The video, you know, the court documents that you're talking about, like the depositions.
00:30:26
Or at one point, you show people a letter that Brian's mom wrote him. This is a photocopy of the letter that they say they found that Roberta had written, handwritten.
00:30:36
What stands out to you? So I obviously the language in here. If you're in jail, I'll bake you a cake with a file in it.
00:30:44
If you need to dispose of a body, I will show up with a shovel. I mean, of course, there's a huge question mark about when this was written. We know what she says. She says it was written before. I think there's some things that are a little weird about that, to say the least. We have no way of verifying when this was written. I mean, tell us about this letter. It was chilling.
00:31:09
I mean, you go through that line by line and every bit, you're just like, why would someone say that?
00:31:16
Why would someone say that? She claims that this was a letter she'd written way before any of this happened.
00:31:20
And almost every time when the attorney is going through every line of saying, you said in here, if you need to dispose of a body, I will show up with a shovel and garbage bags.
00:31:31
Why would you say that Her answer is it a weird jokey thing I don know any mom that jokes like that again and again with their kid We reached out to the Laundrie family when we were
00:31:41
going through this and doing this episode, and they declined our request to do any sort of
00:31:44
interviews or give comment. So the civil lawsuit related to Brian Laundrie's parents, that was
00:31:50
settled, I think, publicly since then they've said they just want to move on from this.
00:31:55
So what other cases can we look forward to on Allegedly? You know, on some of these, we're going to try to do some follow ups, like particularly with Gabby's case, like we are going to talk to her mom, Nicole. But a lot of it, I mean, it's going to be anything that you have really seen big in the headlines, right? We're going to do Corey Richens. We have the Alexander Brothers coming up. That's our second episode.
00:32:16
The sky's the limit for Allegedly. Ellison, we can't wait to watch more Allegedly. And it has been a pleasure watching your podcast and having you on this podcast.
00:32:26
Thank you so much. I appreciate you so much. And I literally watch every single episode you ever do. So I can't wait for your next one.
00:32:32
Thank you. Thanks, Andrea and Ellison. Allegedly drops every Wednesday only on Netflix.
00:32:41
That's it for this episode of Dateline True Crime Weekly. To get ad-free listening for all our podcasts, subscribe to Dateline Premium.
00:32:51
Coming up this Friday, Blaine's got an all-new episode. It's a gripping story about the murder of a law student who went unsolved for decades
00:33:00
until untested DNA cracked the case. Blaine sits down with Tara's boyfriend, Chris Melton, in his first television interview.
00:33:09
I figured that I was going to have to be involved somehow because I was her boyfriend.
00:33:15
Watch A Window of Time this Friday at 9, 8 central on NBC. or you can stream it starting Saturday on Peacock.
00:33:24
I hope you'll join us. Thanks for listening. Dateline True Crime Weekly is produced by Carson Cummins,
00:33:30
Caroline Casey, and Keanu Reeves. Our associate producers are Ellery Gladstone-Groth and Aria Young.
00:33:38
Our senior producer is Liz Brown-Kurloff. Veronica Mazzaka is our digital producer.
00:33:44
Rick Kwan is our sound designer. Original music by Jesse McGinty. Paul Ryan is executive producer and Liz Cole is senior executive producer of Dateline.
00:33:56
See you all soon.

Badges

This episode stands out for the following:

  • 80
    Most shocking
  • 75
    Most heartbreaking
  • 75
    Biggest twist
  • 70
    Most dramatic

Episode Highlights

  • Murder Trial for Spellcaster Case
    A man is heading to trial for allegedly murdering his wife after hiring a spellcaster.
    “He paid hundreds of dollars for dozens of spells or hexes to be cast.”
    @ 00m 31s
    April 30, 2026
  • Disappearance of College Students
    Two University of South Florida graduate students are missing, raising alarms in the community.
    “Nahida's family reported her missing after she vanished without a trace.”
    @ 01m 59s
    April 30, 2026
  • Jake Reiner's Heartfelt Essay
    Jake Reiner shares his emotional response to his parents' murder in a personal essay.
    “My world as I knew it had collapsed.”
    @ 19m 01s
    April 30, 2026
  • Mizell's Murder Case Developments
    In 2023, a third man was indicted in the murder of Jason Mizell, revealing new details.
    “They said that he knew the murder was going to happen.”
    @ 22m 46s
    April 30, 2026
  • Allegedly Podcast Launch
    Ellison Barber's new podcast explores true crime cases with fresh insights and interviews.
    “If you love true crime, you won't want to miss it.”
    @ 23m 55s
    April 30, 2026

Episode Quotes

  • I think she wants me to snap.
    Alleged double murder at USF. A husband accused of hexes and murder. And "Allegedly,” the new true-crime video podcast.
  • My world as I knew it had collapsed.
    Alleged double murder at USF. A husband accused of hexes and murder. And "Allegedly,” the new true-crime video podcast.
  • It's almost too impossible to process.
    Alleged double murder at USF. A husband accused of hexes and murder. And "Allegedly,” the new true-crime video podcast.
  • I helped him kill Jason Mizell.
    Alleged double murder at USF. A husband accused of hexes and murder. And "Allegedly,” the new true-crime video podcast.
  • Why wouldn't you call her parents and say, this is a concern?
    Alleged double murder at USF. A husband accused of hexes and murder. And "Allegedly,” the new true-crime video podcast.

Key Moments

  • Family Divided00:19
  • Devastating News02:12
  • Alarming Evidence03:56
  • Circumstantial Case14:02
  • Trial Scheduled17:08
  • Mizell's Legacy21:57
  • Bryant's Confession23:06
  • Allegedly Podcast23:34

Tension Over Time

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