Drop Dead Serious With Ashleigh Banfield

Nine months after Nancy Guthrie disappeared from her Tucson, Arizona, home, where are the answers? The 84-year-old mother of “Today” show anchor Savannah Guthrie was reported missing on February 1, 2026. Despite blood found outside her front door, video of an armed, masked man, and purported ransom notes demanding millions in Bitcoin, her disappearance remains unsolved. In this episode of Drop Dead Serious, Ashleigh Banfield speaks with retired homicide detective Chris McDonough, host of The Interview Room and director of law enforcement relations at the Cold Case Foundation. Chris shares what he and his wife, journalist Karen McDonough, encountered during their trips to Tucson. Ashleigh and Chris debate the ransom notes, whether investigators are putting too much faith in unidentified male DNA, and Chris’s theory that more than one person may have been involved.

She said she was dying of cancer, her family raised thousands to save her, and her little nephew even emptied his piggy bank... But according to the journalists behind “The Lexi Con,” Alexandra “Lexi” Thomas, who goes by Lexi Hannon, built her story on years of lies. Investigative producers Nancy Moscatiello and Scott Eldridge say they traced $220,000 in donations, contacted a doctor who said he had never treated her, and found cancer survivors who were very much alive despite Lexi posting tributes announcing their deaths. In this episode of Drop Dead Serious, Ashleigh Banfield sits down with Scamanda producer and journalist Nancy Moscatiello and her fellow producer and co-host Scott Eldridge to unpack their three-year investigation for The Slippery’s “The LexiCon.”

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I went into “You Can See Everything” thinking I had Elizabeth Holmes figured out. Then I watched her boyfriend, Billy Evans, strip naked on camera, negotiate a cut of the documentary, and shut down interviews when he didn’t like the questions. And somehow, the movie left me questioning whether I’d gotten Elizabeth wrong. We need to talk about that shower scene, Billy posting as Elizabeth on her social media, and the fact that after the entire Theranos fraud scandal, these two are planning another blood-testing venture. Would you give them your money?

In this episode of Drop Dead Serious, Ashleigh’s husband, Chris Haynor, joins Drop Dead Serious for a very different take. They watched the same movie, sitting right next to each other, and came away with very different opinions about Elizabeth, Billy, filmmaker Nathan Fielder, and what the cameras actually captured. Spoiler warning: This episode discusses scenes throughout “You Can See Everything.”

A bitter engagement-ring fight aired on “The People’s Court,” and that same day, Michelle Parker vanished. Nearly 15 years later, her ex-fiancé, Dale Smith Jr., is charged with second-degree murder. Michelle Parker disappeared on November 17, 2011, after dropping off their 3-year-old twins at his Orlando home. Her Hummer was found abandoned with its business decals removed, her iPhone was recovered from a lake, and her body has never been found. What happened after Michelle dropped off her children, and what evidence finally moved this case forward? Smith has pleaded not guilty and is presumed innocent.

Note: This episode was recorded before the 46-page arrest affidavit for Dale Smith Jr. was unsealed. We’ll break down the newly released evidence in an upcoming episode.

Dirty cat litter dumped in their beds, dog poop on their belongings, and forced to run barefoot on a gravel driveway. That’s what three kids say they endured inside their West Virginia home, according to the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department. Erica Lynn Sayre, 45, and her husband, Clifford “Gale” Sayre, 46, are now facing a combined 12 felony charges after the children described years of alleged abuse. One child told investigators, “I can’t go back to that home.” Another said she “just wants a normal life.”

Matthew Farwell’s wife gave birth to their third child on February 2, 2021, the day after prosecutors say he killed 23-year-old Sandra Birchmore, and he was texting colleagues from the hospital asking what was happening at the police station. Sandra’s body hadn’t even been found. Now the former Stoughton police detective’s federal trial is exposing three other affairs, vile texts about sexual punishment, and sex games involving an alter ego named “Joey.” In this episode of Drop Dead Serious, Ashleigh is joined by WBZ-TV Trial Reporter Kristina Rex, who has been inside the courtroom hearing the testimony and watching Farwell as his secrets are read aloud. Matthew Farwell has pleaded not guilty to killing Sandra and her unborn child, and his lawyers maintain she took her own life.

Previous Episode: https://youtu.be/Kv-Cq3_tvi4

From beauty pageants and college cheerleading to a ten-year prison sentence for killing her newborn son, Laken Snelling is facing a VERY different future. The former University of Kentucky cheerleader pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter after her baby, McCoy Cade Hall, was found dead inside a trash bag in her bedroom closet. In this episode of Drop Dead Serious, Holli Coulman of Pink Lady Prison Consultants joins Ashleigh to explain what life behind bars could look like for a 22-year-old with no prior criminal record.

Previous Episodes:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxEAbh-aNbMImS1SzzUl8aZo3V5xf2bsF

Matthew Farwell allegedly told Sandra Birchmore she was “the worst person on the face of the earth” after she announced her pregnancy, and now a federal jury is reading the messages he wanted deleted. The married former Stoughton police detective is accused of killing Sandra and her unborn baby to conceal a secret that stretched back to when she was fifteen.... But his vile texts are only part of what makes this trial so outrageous, because jurors are also hearing how police handled her death before the FBI stepped in. In this episode of Drop Dead Serious, Ashleigh Banfield breaks down the Sandra Birchmore trial so far. Matthew Farwell has pleaded not guilty, and his defense maintains Sandra took her own life.

Disturbing new details in the case of a mother accused of cutting her own daughter’s baby from her womb: Rebecca Park’s fiancé testified that before he dated Rebecca, he was sleeping with her biological mother. Rebecca was just 22 and nearly full-term when she disappeared in Michigan. She was later found dead in the woods, and her baby was missing. Her biological mother, Cortney Bartholomew, and Cortney’s husband, Bradly Bartholomew, are charged with murder, torture, and a slew of other crimes.

Do Jane Doe’s own words undermine her allegations—or should investigators have dug deeper before closing the door? In this episode of Drop Dead Serious, Ashleigh Banfield is joined by former Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Jill Konviser for a fiery debate over the Cornell 7 rape allegations, Jane Doe’s conflicting accounts, and the district attorney’s decision that no crime occurred. Judge Konviser calls his handling of the case a “dereliction” of his duties, and explains why she believes the investigation fell short.

Previous Episodes:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLD0nJNrz1biE

Florida mother Nathalie Belizaire is accused of leaving FOUR children home alone while she took a tropical getaway. Police found the siblings hiding together in a bathroom, and when their mother got off the ship, authorities were waiting. In this episode of Drop Dead Serious, Ashleigh Banfield breaks down the shocking bodycam footage and Judge Mindy Glazer’s blistering reaction. The mother denies the child neglect allegations and claims the baby’s father set her up.

Lynette Hooker is still missing. Her husband Brian Hooker is making weed runs in California and hanging out in his mom’s garage. In this episode of Drop Dead Serious, Ashleigh Banfield and former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani examine Brian Hooker’s pot-store outing, his behavior amid the federal investigation, and the potential legal consequences if investigators can disprove his story. Could evidence aboard Soulmate become the key to the Lynette Hooker case? Brian has not been charged in connection with his wife’s disappearance.

Previous Videos: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxEAbh-aNbMJM9aXDZC-jSEPRZCcbEALS

New text messages and Jane Doe’s full six-page police statement are fueling a fresh firestorm over the Cornell University fraternity allegations, with disturbing details and messages that demand a closer look. From her account of sex and ketamine use inside the Chi Phi fraternity house to the revealing texts she sent afterward, it’s fueling a question a lot of people are asking: if the media had these full text exchanges from the beginning, why are we only seeing them now? In this episode of Drop Dead Serious, Ashleigh Banfield examines Jane Doe’s text exchanges with two of the fraternity members, and the FULL six-page police statement about the October 2024 encounter at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.

Could the missing women’s bodies have been dissolved and washed down the pipes? The FBI is searching floors, walls, and basement plumbing at Philadelphia’s “House of Horrors” as investigators examine whether chemicals were used to dispose of human remains through “wet cremation.” At least seven missing women have been linked to the home of filmmaker and suspected serial killer Raymond “R.C.” Horsch, where authorities recovered more than a million digital files. No bodies have been recovered. In this episode of Drop Dead Serious, Ashleigh Banfield breaks down the new forensic search, the wet cremation investigation, and a family’s account that missing woman Nicole Fusaro was identified in the disturbing footage. Plus, women describe their experiences inside the house.

Christa Pike kept a piece of her teenage victim’s skull as a trophy, but after surviving Tennessee’s botched execution, her lawyers are demanding mercy. Convicted of torturing and murdering 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer in 1995, Christa Pike survived two doses of lethal injection drugs and has now regained consciousness. But can Tennessee take her back to the death chamber? In this episode of Drop Dead Serious, Ashleigh Banfield is joined by criminal defense attorney and former homicide prosecutor Paul Callan, who helped prosecute “Son of Sam” killer David Berkowitz, to break down the latest updates on Pike’s condition, whether she can be executed again, and the fight over her death sentence.

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One of the men accused in the Cornell rape case says Jane Doe sexually assaulted HIM while he was incapacitated, and that Cornell University failed to tell him about his rights as a sexual assault survivor. In this episode of Drop Dead Serious, Megyn Kelly joins Ashleigh to challenge the discrepancies between Jane Doe’s original police statement and her civil lawsuit, question the media’s coverage, and discuss whether the accuser should remain anonymous while the accused men are publicly named.

For a limited time, get 60% off your first order, plus free shipping and free treats for life, when you head to https://Smalls.com/DDS

Case Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLD0nJNrz1biE

Jane Doe texted “none of the sexual stuff was illegal" and "i love u king” to a man she later accused of rape, and now her private messages and secretly recorded calls are fueling explosive questions about the Cornell fraternity case. In this episode of Drop Dead Serious, Ashleigh Banfield is joined by Dan Abrams to examine Jane Doe’s texts, the recorded conversations, and the allegations in her civil lawsuit. They discuss the renewed investigation led by New York Attorney General Letitia James, Governor Kathy Hochul’s intervention, and the questions facing Cornell and the district attorney. The accused men deny wrongdoing and have not been criminally charged in this case.

Crybaby pastor Caleb Flynn had the nerve to quote scripture and deny murdering his wife while his own daughters tore into him for taking their mother’s life and destroying the family he claimed to love. At his sentencing for Ashley Flynn’s murder, the former American Idol contestant wept as his parents pleaded for mercy and insisted he was remorseful, even as he refused to admit what a jury had convicted him of doing. One daughter asked him to finally confess and made clear she had no plans to visit him in prison, where he will spend the rest of his life without parole. In this episode of Drop Dead Serious, Ashleigh Banfield breaks down Caleb Flynn’s sentencing, including his daughters’ blistering statements and Ashley’s father offering forgiveness to the man who murdered her.

Previous Videos:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQk4x4082JeQ

Apparently, nine guilty verdicts still aren’t enough for Caleb Flynn’s mom, who insists her son is innocent and blames the media. The “worship pastor” and American Idol reject was convicted on all nine counts, including aggravated murder, for killing his wife, Ashley Flynn. So why is the murder weapon still missing, and could someone else know where it went? In this episode of Drop Dead Serious, Ashleigh Banfield sits down with Law&Crime’s Angenette Levy, host of Crime Fix, who was inside the courtroom, to unpack the mother’s finger-pointing, the lingering questions about mistress Alleigha Botner, investigative gaps, and what the cameras didn’t catch as Ashley’s family endured those vile texts.

Crime Fix with Angenette Levy:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLoW1SIeAWaWaucjKyz7lAmqMxO86PVzZi

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Lindsay Clancy’s lawyer wants her acquitted of killing her three children, claiming prosecutors never proved she did it. After the first murder trial ended in a mistrial, Kevin Reddington trashed the police investigation and demanded a not guilty ruling. Prosecutors fired back, calling his argument “laughable.”

In this episode of Drop Dead Serious, Ashleigh Banfield breaks down the courtroom clash and holdout juror Michael Desronvil’s statement after conflicting accounts of what happened inside the jury room. With prosecutors pushing for a gag order and the defense fighting to dismiss the case, will Lindsay Clancy face another trial in the deaths of Cora, Dawson, and Callan? The next court date is November 2.