Bada bing badao I would imagine every college student has a little bit of a secret or two that they’re hiding from everyone else right maybe one of them slept with her best friend’s boyfriend maybe that boyfriend physically bullied a pledge for his fraternity and he suffered minor injuries I’m getting a
Little bit carried away but like maybe one of them’s hooking up with a professor maybe one of them is too scared to admit that they don’t want to be a doctor just like their mom just like their dad and the uncle and everybody else in the family they all
Have their little secrets Sydney Powell’s secret was fascinating but even more intriguing was her way of going about things her way of making sure that nobody found out her secret nobody found out the truth Sydney Powell’s secret was that she wasn’t in college at all yet
She would live in a dorm room with the roommate have her backpack on telling her friends sorry I can’t hang out right now I got to go to class she was a part of a sority she would come to all the sorority meetings she was in the library
Stressing out about the next exam that they had she wasn’t enrolled in the college at all the dean and Associate dean of student affairs Michelle and John at this University they had multiple in-person meetings with Sydney they all went something along the lines of Sydney you just can’t go to sority meetings
When you’re not enrolled here Sydney you have a few days to move out all of your belongings from the dorm rooms only full-time students can live on campus you’re not enrolled here Sydney is there something we can help you with why haven’t you moved out yet after we’ve
Already told you you can’t keep living in the dorms like we said before you don’t go here Sydney had been a student at the University of Mount Union but she had been put on academic probation and had been suspended from the school this semester meaning she no longer went here
At least for the time being that means she’s not allowed to live on campus she’s not allowed to attend classes engage in Greek sorority life as far as Michelle and John were concerned she’s not a student here but she refuses to leave they had to wonder okay did she
Tell her parents yet is she trying to buy Time March 3rd 2020 Sydney’s mom Brenda she calls to ask the dean and the associate Dean about her daughter she’s like what’s going on with Sydney is she in school is she not in school Michelle and John they had been in a meeting so
They didn’t get around to calling her back for like an hour Brenda picks up the phone and they’re like hi this is you know Michelle and John calling you from the University of Mount Union hello yes thank you for calling me back they didn’t even start their conversation
Because it sounded like Brenda was getting attacked mid phone call there was this loud thud that they heard then this crazy scream and then more pounding it was like 6 seven lb like boom boom boom boom really loud just ringing through the phone Michelle said that she heard some sort
Of eerie sound kind of like like an expulsion of air someone had like the wind knocked out of them that’s how she imagines it would sound Michelle and John are sitting in an office with the phone on speaker phone in between them and their eyes are wide
They’re looking at each other like what is going on so they keep asking through the phone Brenda is everything all right over there do you need help is everything okay it sounds like someone’s being attacked mhm there’s more screaming and then the line goes dead the office is silent immediately
Michelle and John they start calling Brenda back they call her no response they call her a second time no response they call her a third time finally the line connects Brenda is that you are you there is everything all right finally a voice on the other end says yes this is
Brenda Michelle and John look at each other and their eyes are like probably bugging out of their head they’re confused and they’re shaking their head slowly they knew this was not Brenda John says into the phone this is not Brenda Sydney I know this is you and the line goes dead Sydney Powell
Honor roll student scholarship recipient had just murdered her mom with a cast iron skillet and stabbed her in the neck 30 times with a steak knife but why As always full show notes are available at Rotten mingal podcast.com this is a fairly recent case with the verdict coming through just a month ago like September 22nd I want to say and it’s interesting cuz it wasn’t a trial of who did it and how they did it which is
Normally what we see in these murder cases homicide trials but more so a question of did the person know that murder is wrong what yeah so I feel like the tides on this case have been changing by the day while the trial was happening back in September it felt like
At one point everyone was 50/50 then later I went back to check the discourse then it was like 7030 so I’m just so interested to see what you guys have to think about this one and with that being said let’s get started March 3rd 2020 detective Kenneth is in
The car when he hears the radio two faculty members of a local college called the police requesting a wellness check on one of their former students houses the radio said that it could be a potential break-in situation at this home when he hears it’s the Powell residence and he hears the address his
Heart sinks these are his friends he went to school with Steven Powell the father of the house he was the one that actually introduced Steven Powell to his wife and and the mother of their two kids Brenda Powell 25 years ago Brenda was friends with Detective Kenneth’s
Wife so they were like ah your friend and my friend they should totally date now they’re married they have two kids together the kids are all old they’re like late teenagers and they could potentially be in danger and another thing is you know the powels they were kind of the quintessential perfect
American family and I hate saying that because what does that even mean right but genuinely by definition it would be the powels so we have Brenda and Steven pow and their two kids Sydney and then they have a younger son who’s about like maybe 2 3 years younger but if you ever
Saw a family and you thought wow they’re super cute like they know what they’re doing that’s a strong family unit it would be the powels so Steven worked as a vice president at his family’s company Brenda worked as a child life specialist at akan Children’s hospital and she
Worked in the pediatric oncology center which is a really rough job you’re dealing with children who have cancer wow and most people they don’t really last long in that department before they are requested to be transfer they just it’s a lot it takes a toll to come to
Work every single day and see children suffering holding their hand while they’re in pain when they’re losing their hair when you lose a kid and then to also be there for parents who are anxious and grieving it’s so draining but Brenda was there for almost three
Decades wow and she was the one that’s like okay if anyone’s going to be in here and make this a normal experience for the kids it’s going to be me so she would have these proms so all the all the kids could go to prom she’ take them
Bowling everyone said she’s like the mom in the hospital she was the mom to the patient she was the mom to the kids but she was also a mom to the co-workers she spent every Christmas Eve at the hospital with the kids even when she’s not on shift everybody loved prena
And the Powell daughter Sydney she’s kind of the exact daughter that you would have imagine Brenda to have honorable student near 4.0 GPA in high school the lowest grade that she’s ever received on her report card was like a bee she gets admitted into the University of Mount Union which isn’t
That far away it’s about less than an hour from their family home and she got in with not a full scholarship but a partial scholarship like a presidential scholarship is what they called it yeah and it covered a good chunk of her tuition she was always that kid that
Other parents are like why can’t you be more like Sydney Powell and the family was so close they would go on family vacations every summer they would go to the beach Disney World Brenda and Sydney they were known by everybody to just be more than mother and daughter they were like friends
Everyone said Sydney is Brenda’s mini me it’s like copy paste they would sit there for hours talking about anything books TV they love doing puzzles together they never fought it was just such a cute relationship neighbors said that the powels were just very involved in each other’s lives they’re the ones
Like the the family that you know they know everything that’s going on they want to support each other they would play sports in their yard it’s very peaceful life so when Kenneth hears that there’s a potential Breakin situation at the Powell House his heart drops he immediately calls Steven poell to make
Sure hey is anybody home is everybody okay like what’s going on Steven has no idea what’s going on he’s like I’m at work he starts calling his daughter Sydney because last he checked he was under the impression that both of them are home which means if there’s a
Breakin they could be in danger he’s frantic he’s calling and as he’s heading back allegedly something very strange happens Sydney calls her dad back after a bunch of missed calls and explains rather calmly nothing is going on Mom’s on the phone with my University right now and then suddenly Sydney becomes
Hysterical on the call and starts explaining dad someone broke in someone broke in I heard glass breaking I heard glass breaking M so she’s trying to create a whole scenario on the phone but he already knew coming in oh okay cuz he’s already on the way
So it might be that she’s creating a scenario without I guess realizing allegedly that he already knew that the cops were on the way M yeah and he lets her know yeah well police is on the way and the call goes dead so meanwhile the police rush to the scene of a potential
Breakin and this is very urgent you’re talking 1:00 p.m. on a Tuesday nice typically very safe familyfriendly neighborhood po potentially residents at home when they get to the scene there are no signs of intruders on the outside so no suspicious cars parked in the driveway or the street no masked figures
Hiding in the bushes which is either really good or really bad either they left already or they’re still in the house with two residents one officer runs to the back of the house to try and find like an alternative way in and a back window is
Broken so he rushes in and from the front there’s another officer who’s pounding on the door and finally it opens and it’s Sydney Powell she is hysterical she’s erratic she’s screaming someone broke in someone broke in there’s blood blood so much blood mom told me to get out to get out mom mom
Said get out the officer leads her outside I mean she’s in no place to even talk straight like she’s just hysterical right and they just want to get her out of the house so that they can clear the whole place the officer sits her on the
Ground outside and he’s kind of um he’s kind of holding her at arms length and he’s guiding her towards the end of the pavement so from an observational standpoint and not a factual standpoint just his body language the way that he’s guiding and holding her out at arms length a lot of
Nens felt like the officer is on high alert of her already yeah he has her sit on the ground and there is blood on Cindy’s hands and feet like very re recognizable yes at one point it does appear that maybe potentially maybe speculating here that she was trying to hide her hands
Away from the officer I’m not sure if this is us just thinking too much into it I’m not sure if that was her intention or if it was some sort of coping mechanism to just kind of put our hands away for my audio listeners I will describe all the notable parts of the
Body cam footage but it’s not necessarily the most important watch you don’t really see Sydney’s face most of the time and it’s just kind of a bunch of officers talking over each other it’s it’s very hectic so I’m going to cover all the key points now Sydney is hysterical she keeps screaming there’s
So much blood please no please so much blood no please back [Applause] Polie backer [Applause] Poli broke on the ground where’s your mom at okay stay ready no no there there’s so much one no [Applause] please stop stop we got fure what’s going on eventually Steven Powell Sydney’s dad
Shows up because remember his detective friend had called and was like there’s a breaking at your house so he’s rushing home he starts running into the house before officers can stop him Sydney is outside screaming daddyy daddy there’s so much blood dad glass blood thankfully officers stop him before he gets to
Brenda you need to go outside sir no I don’t yes you do outside back to right all the way back to the right yeah he’s uh you already called us you need to stay outside go ahead please have a seat okay because his wife was laying on the floor of their shared
Bedroom covered in blood 30 puncture wounds to her neck a cast iron skillet and a bloody knife next to her head she had been murdered and outside was her daughter laying on the pavement fully hysterical some said that she was becoming catatonic she’s clawing at the pavement um bleeding from
Her finger so she’s claing so hard that she’s bleeding now and apparently her eyes were rolling into the back of her head she just starts Whispering at one point get out get out get out get out like quietly to herself that was on cam
Yeah so the most of the get out is on the ambulance on the way to the hospital but it’s just definitely something’s going on one officer is explaining the situation to a new officer who just arrived and he says I got a female here she’s got minor cuts on her hands she’s like
Hyperventilating that’s all she has minor cuts on her hands yeah in another Moment One officer points at Sydney and just stay Ates yeah that’s the suspect which is a lot okay it’s kind of passive aggressive and it seems like law enforcement already believes a version of events right like when Sydney said
There was a break-in why did they doubt it why because the whole house felt like one of those crime scene riddles do you know I’m talking about those little riddles that you would do and it’s like oh who killed the mailman on a Sunday and you’re like okay was it the maid was
It this person it’s like you see this picture of the house and you’re like who’s lying right something’s not right here there were no signs of a Breakin other than the window so no ransacking of the home the window was curiously broken from the inside out which doesn’t make sense if there’s
Intruders there was also Blood on the shattered glass indicating that the window was broken after Brenda was already attacked because Brenda’s blood was on the window parts there were signs of a struggle between Brenda and Sydney Sydney had minor cuts to her hands and she pretended to be her mom on the phone
With her University MH all signs are pointing to this was staged this is not a break-in Sydney killed her mom but why why would a perfect honorable student mom’s best friend kill her mother yeah because her House of Lies was starting to crumble down Sydney had just been suspended from the University of
Mount Union after every semester at most institutions there’s usually a committee and they’ll go through um every student that has a certain GPA and I’m sure for every school the threshold is different but they will take a look at students that all have a GPA of under like 2.3
They place them on academic probation and once you’re on academic probation that means this semester if your GPA doesn’t go up you’re going to be suspended from school like you need to get your act together we’re not going to let you take leadership positions in any organizations in sororities fraternities
You’re not even allowed to play sports you’re just here to study we’ve got counselors that are going to help you get back on track like we are going to tailor make plans and resources for you but you need to get your grades up because if you don’t you get suspended
Now suspension it sounds bad because you know it it is bad but it’s basically the school saying you’re suspended for a semester like we’re on break you and me so take a semester to go home re-calibrate your life rethink your life decision handle any personal matters that are making you out from school
Figure out what your problem is on your own time and typically when students come back from suspension they resume where they started M now it’s the next semester once they get back they can’t get their GPA up then they could be looking at dismissal which means you
Cannot come back to the school like you’re done so suspension is kind of like a a second chance it’s a reset and compared to a dismissal or like an expulsion I I’m sure it’s stressful but it’s nothing too bad like really in the grand scheme of life you’re going to be
Fine yeah Sydney pow was suspended for the spring semester of 2020 meaning she was formally suspended starting January 2020 but literally zero people in her life knew about this she didn’t what why is she suspended her GPA fell to 2.2 oh what happened I don’t know you
Know some people say that she was just struggling to adapt to college some people say that it could have been the freedom of living at the dorms instead with her parents okay so nothing big no in life that happened didn’t seem like there was a traumatic event that made
Her unfocused on her studies yeah I see so she doesn’t tell her parents this her younger brother her best friends not even her roommate that she’s known since they were kids maybe even earlier than that she told absolutely no one about her suspension and it’s not like she ran
Away and hid from the world and cut off contact so that she would never have to tell them she stayed on campus she lived on the dorms pretended to study with her friends walked to class with her friends talked about her school work even went to sorority
Meetings for almost 2 months Sydney was getting away with it and I’m genuinely so curious about exactly how she got away with it okay so first of all her key card was disconnected because she was suspended and technically no longer a student so how is she getting into the
Dorm building how is she getting into libraries or cafeterias or main buildings where the classes are held would she just wait around until she saw someone go in and tell them that she lost her card but then also how how many times can you tell your friend that you
Lost your key card and when everyone is walking to class if you have your little backpack on and she’s like oh my class is that way right and then what do you just like wait outside do you go to the bathroom like what where are you going
Do you go back to the dorm room honestly it’s kind of fascinating that she pulled it off for two full months like the logistics of this operation is very interesting every little thing would require a lot of thought it’s not just everything is a lie everything you say
Is a lie yeah and every action waiting in front of the building you know like these are all everything is thought out kind of is my opinion and a lot of people’s opinion now Sydney is pretending to be enrolled in school for almost 2 months till the associate dean
Of students student affairs has a very confusing incident with another student the president of Sydney stor comes in and is like hey this is my roster of everyone that’s going to be paying dues this semester and they have to like do a little check with all the enrollments
It’s like a whole administrative thing and the president of the sority is saying we just got like a paperwork issue because we got an email saying that one of the sority sisters is no longer enrolled at the school but she’s enrolled at the school and she just Paid
Dues and the associate Dean is like M I feel like she’s not enrolled here let me check and she’s like no I remember I remember vividly and she tells the president of the stor she’s actually not enrolled this semester now Michelle does not reveal to this other student why
Sydney was not enrolled she never said she was suspended a lot of people will just not enroll for a semester cuz they want to focus on other things it’s very normal there’s nothing bad about it but the sority student is like uh yeah she is like I just saw her going to class
Yesterday and she’s living in the dorm so she she’s for sure enrolled and Michelle takes note of this later she goes to check if Sydney had appealed the suspension because you can do that but she hadn’t records show that she was not enrolled and that so strange
How can she even go to classes when she’s not enrolled she literally can’t sign up for classes and she’s thinking maybe Sydney doesn’t even know she’s suspended but she knew the school was send out an email alerting the student of their status but they also send out a
Letter by mail and it has to be signed for Sydney signed for the letter of suspension she knew that she was suspended so Michelle called Sydney into their office and asked her what’s going on Sydney at first is acting a little confused she’s like was I suspended was
I not suspend beats me and Michelle is like no no no you’re suspended like you cannot keep living on campus okay like if you need help telling your parents if you need help packing we can try to find you help but you’re not enrolled this semester Sydney tells her okay yeah no
It’s fine I can handle it I just need a few days to move out pack my things Michelle is very understanding about this she even reinstates Sydney’s key card so that she can use it and make the process of moving out easier because how are you getting into the dorm building
Right now mhm a few days later Michelle goes to check the dorms to see if Sydney had moved out and no she had not moved out now side note it does seem like the school is being very particular about it but it’s the rules I’m sure they have
Safety rules occupancy rules and also Sydney didn’t pay tuition and you know private institutions love their money yeah I mean yeah if you don’t go to school then you can’t live at the door yeah exactly so Michelle call Sydney into the office again to talk about it
Like hey you know you can’t live here if you don’t go here this time the dean of student affairs so kind of like her boss Michelle’s boss John Frasier was also in the office and they were very nice they tell her listen you can still visit your
Friends you can still hang out here but technically you can’t pretend to go to classes you can’t go to sority meetings you can’t live on the dorm this is late February of 2020 so the semester started January 2020 that is more than enough time for s to have
Found her own place or go back home which is less than an hour away Sydney’s like yeah no I get it I just need a tiny bit more time to move up and they’re thinking okay did you tell your parents what’s going on yeah do you want us to ask your parents if
They can help you move she’s like no no it’s fine like my parents are having problems with my brother and they’re on vacation right now so I’m just going to handle it myself Michelle and John tell her that you know she could still visit and it’s fine right just can’t live here she
Officially leaves Campus February 25th 7 days later she would kill her mom March 3rd was spring break everyone in the pow family was looking forward to it so Mount Union was less than an hour away but Sydney didn’t really come home on the weekends she would only come home
To visit her family on holidays on breaks on special occasions but spring break is a full week of family time so the plan was March 3rd Sydney would attend her classes then come home at night to spend the of the week with her family Brenda was so excited about this
She would call her mom telling her mom like oh I’m going to take her shopping I’m going to do this I’m just so stoked like the excitement is there but maybe it’s also a good time to talk about all the weird things that the pow parents had been experiencing because before spring break
Sydney started making more frequent trips to the house and the pals thought it was a little strange because well she never really did this but also she’s coming home at times that there would normally be classes so think weekdays 9 to 5 at one point Brenda even texted Sydney about attending classes and
Sydney said my teacher and her husband are on vacation we just have to fill out these worksheets and Brenda texted her why do I always feel like you’re scamming me just remember you need to keep your grades up to keep your scholarship Sydney responded Yes I know
My grades are good thank you very much maybe Brenda was thinking this would be a good time to figure out what’s going on with her daughter and just feel more connected with her it seemed like both parents were kind of picking up things that weren’t right with Sydney like
Something was clearly going on even January 2020 Mr Powell noticed that the tuition hadn’t been taken from his account which she has a scholarship but like I said it’s not a full ride so they need to pay tuition and it hadn’t been withdrawn he thought it’s weird so he
Goes to the online school portal to log in and see what’s going on but it won’t let him log in he’s like okay he tells Sydney about it and she’s like oh it’s probably some sort of like Tech issue like I’m going to look into it don’t
Worry I got it at first he trust her he was no reason to doubt her but slowly things get a little bit stranger and I don’t think either of them had any idea like how bad it was so she had a 2.2 GPA she was suspended for
The semester she got kicked out of the dorm room and the one week between leaving the dorm room to going for spring break at her parents house she was staying at random hotels and asking her friends if she could stay with them because she didn’t want to tell her
Parents why she was home a week early so even after that right it’s spring break for a week and then what right I so maybe she you know finally it’s it’s coming to an end for her cuz like what yeah like she can’t hide it any longer
She knows that yeah what is she planning on doing a week later well I guess she had no plans or she had other plans right so March 3rd 2020 Sydney is supposed to be back later at night for spring break but Mr Powell that day at
Work he tries to log into the online portal again again and it’s not working so he takes the initiative as a good dad to call the school personally and say Hey listen like the tuition’s not going through I don’t know what the problem is and they tell him well the tuition isn’t
Going through because Sydney is not enrolled this semester he’s so confused he checks his life 360 app which is the whole family uses it to share their locations so he doesn’t use it that often I’m assuming so he just randomly checks it because of this whole news and
Sydney is home and she said that she had classes and she’d be coming home after classes at like let’s say 6:00 it’s not 6:00 yet so maybe what the school is saying is true but that would mean that she had been lying since January wait when was this March 3rd the day of
Spring break so Mr pal leaves his workplace to go see his daughter at home but he also leaves his phone because he doesn’t want Sydney to know that he’s coming home to confront her wow yeah so he shows up unannounced at the house and they talk and it said
That she just told him that she is still going to try and take some classes do some homework on the side but she’s having a rough time she confided in him that she wanted to maybe take the semester off so he doesn’t it’s speculated that he doesn’t know that she
Was suspended the school told him that she’s not enrolled this semester but because she’s 19 she’s a legal adult they’re telling him like you got to ask her for the details I see so he doesn’t know exactly like her grades all of that okay and I think she probably lost her scholarship
I think I’m assuming right because I what I’m gathering from the trial and from what he’s stating it seems like Sydney still didn’t tell him the truth that is the speculation because he just kept saying no I think that you should finish your classes and then summer
Break we can figure something out it’ll just be a lot cleaner that way like that’s the way it should be done but she kept saying that she’s discouraged because all of her friends know what they want to do in life and she doesn’t know and she doesn’t have her
Together and he’s telling her that’s not true okay okay so maybe tonight when your mom gets home from work I still have to go back to work like we can all have a conversation about it so he starts heading back to work when he gets there he ends up calling
Brenda and telling her the gist of what happened with Sydney giving her like the spark notes version and she’s like you know what I’m going to leave work early cuz this is a big deal she says that she will talk to Mount Union she will talk
To Sydney and they’re going to figure it out it doesn’t seem like Brenda was mad at all she just wanted to help her daughter out and be there for her so Brenda actually got her degree in childhood development she’s around children and conflict all the time so
She if there’s anyone that can handle a situation like this with compassion but also a level of firmness it’s going to be Brenda just to give preface Brenda’s I just can’t imagine and I don’t think that this is what happened based on everybody’s statements she’s not the
Type of Mom that’s going to come in screaming and kicking like how dare you you’re disgusting you’re a disappointment it seems like she would be a bit more gentle you know she’s going to get to the bottom of it but it’s not going to be this horrendous
Experience so on the way home Brenda calls the dean of student affairs and they’re both now picking up so Michelle and John are both in a meeting she leaves a message and they would call Brenda back but she would already be home talking to Sydney at that point by
The end of the phone call Brenda would have three puncture wounds to her neck and she would be hit on the head multiple times with a cast iron skillet what happened next um there was a very large or a very loud sort of thud sound like a pound a
Pounding or a thud um accompanied by a by a pretty loud scream um and um the scream might have actually been first and then the thud okay as I think about it and then um there was sort of a an expulsion the other sound that I heard at that same
Time or or right after was sort of an expulsion of air like the air was knocked out of somebody okay um I’d always heard that expression of the air being knock you know having the wind knocked out of you but I didn’t that’s actually what it sounded like
What um and then several more repeated thuds Sydney’s family they paid the bail she was sent to live with Grandma Brenda’s mom wow on a 100 Acre Farm and a lot of nans wondered how her grandma is okay with living with the person who killed her own daughter or how she even feels
Safe but the whole family is standing behind Sydney they believe that she was insane at the time of the murder that she never meant to kill her mom Sydney said I blacked out that day she remembers little flashes little bits of the day she remembers crying and feeling
The need to get away and hearing these voices in her head that kept telling her that she’s a loser and she’s worthless and that she needs to kill herself and then she didn’t know what was going on at one point she remembers hearing the glass break and then there was blood
There was so much blood and she was trying trying to stop the blood and it was just there were cartoon figures and then fire was coming out of her hands so she’s saying I didn’t mean to do any of this and her whole family is sticking behind her but regardless of that the
Case was going to go to trial and Sydney’s dad Steven Powell the victim’s husband but also the defendant’s dad said this goes against what Brenda would have wanted I don’t know why we’re doing this this isn’t what anyone wants here I don’t know how she can handle it meaning
Sydney I don’t know how I can handle it I’m trying to keep my family together he said he a th% believes that Sydney was having a psychotic break the day of the murder and should not be tried now this case is going to be really really trial
Heavy because you know we know the facts of the crime right but the main reason that this case has been so controversial and honestly for lack of a better word captivating for a lot of people is the trial itself and the question of was Sydney Powell insane at the time of
Killing her mom her best friend with a cast iron skillet and a steak Knife a steak Knife a steak Knife it’s a question of was it mental illness or was it psychosis cuz clearly she’s unwell but that’s not the problem here right because there these are two very
Different things I think the whole basis of the trial and pleading Not Guilty by reason of temporary insanity the defense has to prove that Sydney was insane at the time of the murder not mentally ill not depressed not schizophrenic not anxious but genuinely psychotically broken down detached from reality does
Not understand their actions so that’s very different you can be depressed and schizophrenic and all these other things but not be psychotic at the time of a murder which I think that’s been a huge part of why there’s so much discourse around this case because some people are
Arguing no the diagnosis is like it’s very easy to become psychotic with this diagnosis some people are saying abs absolutely not it’s not like what are you talking about it there’s just a lot of discourse which is something to keep in mind while we get into the trial the
Argument is was she insane at the time of the murder not before not after but during the murder so that’s mainly what the trial focuses on and it does kind of bulldoze through Brenda’s life I think the whole situation is really sad um Brenda as a victim doesn’t seem to have
Her story shared in a way that it likely would have been had the killer not been her own daughter and the victim and the defenses families they’re the same family I don’t know I just I I guess I feel for Brenda Powell and her family I’m sure it’s a very
Complicated feeling and I’m sure that the trial makes them feel victimized twice from this incident so let’s go over what we thought were the most pivotal arguments in the trial and you can come to your own conclusion at the end the defense argued that Sydney was suffering from blackouts and
Hallucinations they brought in three experts to argue that Sydney was insane at the time of the murder they said that she was experiencing auditory hallucinations even visual hallucinations she was seeing cartoon figures that she saw water and Flames squirting out of her hands she felt like everyone was watching her analyzing her
That the FBI was monitoring her they stated that schizophrenia does tend to manifest in the late teenage years or early 20s so Sydney was 19 at the time of the murder it has been proven that there is a link between stress and triggering symptoms of schizophrenia or
Making it worse they also argued that Sydney had two concussions when she was younger so she got them while she was playing soccer as a kid and there are speculations and some loose studies done so I say loose not because there’s no correlation but Loose because it seems like most medical professionals cannot
Agree definitively the link between concussions in early childhood and psychological problems later on there’s definitely could be a cause and effect but we don’t know exactly how strong it is and mean we’ve gone through this whole thing we talked about a lot of serial killers that we covered uh when
We were just doing audio episodes but a lot of them would fall off swings and hit their heads and it’s it was always the swings there are also some studies that show that concussions and brain trauma can have early links to schizophrenia but those don’t really
Seem to be fleshed out studies but a huge argument the defense had was what would be the reason for Sydney to kill her mom it seems like taking one small problem and blowing it up you know they argued that she didn’t even go through the basics step someone would take after
Murdering she didn’t wash the blood off of her she didn’t change her clothes she didn’t flee in her car there’s like three cars parked in the driveway they said that her actions were insane she had no motive there was no planning of the incident there was no attempt to
Flee afterwards they argue she’s clearly losing her mind she’s Whispering get out get out get out to herself while being transported to the hospital she’s seeing hallucinations she’s hearing voices telling her to hurt herself maybe they even speculated during the trial maybe she saw as an extension of herself and
Thought she was hurting herself that train of thinking was quickly put out by the court but they said the day of the murder she’s catatonic you know you see her in the body cam footage at the end of the driveway I mean she is not there she’s incoherent she cannot talk to
Anyone the expert said and I quote nobody’s home she’s gone nobody’s home up there she’s completely lost awareness they also argue that after being released on bail she spent 9 days in psychiatric care 9 days they argue that the doctors were only there to figure
Out what was wrong with her and she was diagnosed with schizophrenia at that point and given heavy medication they said she has no History of Violence no history of antisocial Behavior substance abuse or any major prior mental disorders Brenda was also comforting Sydney in her last moments why would she
Kill her the prosecutors argued that there is no evidence of her being broken or detached from reality so now the state you know are saying other than than her saying I hallucinated we don’t see any of these symptoms before during or after the murder and that’s not the
Argument the argument is during the murder so they’re like let’s look at during the murder right so clearly clearly Sydney was exhibiting symptoms of anxiety and panic attacks before the murder okay so a lot of her friends testified like you know she was definitely withdrawing from us in our
Friend group and the defense kind of tried to use these see she was going through it and the prosecutors are like anxiety and depression are not blackouts and hallucinations that’s mental illness we’re talking psychosis very different things they also argued that her constant lies to everyone around her
About still being in college that is not consistent with a psychotic break they said that is not consistent of a false reality that she’s living in so the defense says she’s so unhinged she created this false reality that she’s still in college and the prosecutors are saying no that’s just more consistent
With someone that is deceiving and manipulating and lying and doesn’t want to face the truth at one point the prosecutor side brought up that Lauren so a good childhood friend of Sydney and her roommate in college so she was brought up to the stand to testify and Lauren never mentioned a thing about
Sydney having blackouts or hallucinations and the state is arguing if anyone was going to see that side of Sydney it was going to be her roommate that she’s sharing these cramped quarters with she said Sydney was fine she seemed a little stressed out she seemed like maybe anxious but I didn’t
See any blackouts or hallucinations another friend of Sydney’s was brought in to testify and she said that Sydney reported having these really vivid dreams they were apparently so scary like these nightmares were so intense that Sydney would be a bit shaken up for a few days afterwards a lot of nens had problems
With this testimony they argued I also have nightmares and I Sleepwalk I have sleep paralysis like every other night and I never thought about killing my mom others argued this is just getting goofy everyone is just grasping at straws to make it seem like this girl is suffering
From hallucinations when like the rest of us she’s just having Vivid nightmares which to clarify I personally am not downplaying anyone’s experiences with vivid dreams or their emotional response to it right but I’m just informing you guys of a lot of the nzen discourse about this particular subject
Because this clip kind of went viral on like YouTube shorts even and the only thing that I can say about this is I think the ARG for Insanity just was not the strongest here like you cannot plead insanity and then one of your friends is like she would have these really intense
Nightmares did um Sydney ever talk to you about did you ever aware of any kind of hallucinations or Vivid Vivid visuals or anything like that she would mention very vivid dreams whether it was dreams while she was sleeping or Daydreams I don’t remember but she would have the these vivid dreams that she
Would tell us about that really would scare her and um she would be very shy for the next couple days after even if Sydney was genuinely insane at the moment I think this argument is bad got it so I think that’s why a lot of people
Were picking at it and like uh what what is this you know now another moment that kind of gets brought up in the same vein is one of Sydney’s High School teachers testified about an incident during junior year where Sydney was freaked out about having to give a presentation at
School and she said that all the numbers were kind of getting blurry in her mind she was so anxious they’re jumbled together I didn’t have a class so it must have been when I had a planning period And I was in alone in my room and
The two of them came in and Sydney was crying um and she was she was I would say distraught and um I said you know what’s what’s wrong and she said that she had a test or I think it was a presentation uh for chemistry class and
She said I I can’t I can’t see the numbers and I said what what what do you mean you can’t see the numbers she’s like I can’t see the numbers I can’t present I can’t see what’s in front of me and I said okay I said um you know
How can I help you what do you want me to do and um I mean she was she was really upset she was she was um yeah she was pretty upset about it so I said what do you want me to do do you want to go down and talk to the teacher
Or do you want me to and she asked me to go so I went down and I talked to her teacher and I said look Sydney’s really upset she says she can’t see the numbers she’s um asking if she could take the test on another day and the teacher said
Yes of course and so um I went up and told Sydney and uh and so I I assume she took the test on the another day wasn’t you know I wasn’t the person in charge of that test okay this was used by the defense as a way of saying hey these
Issues these psychological issues were there since she was younger and stress can make it worse prosecutors will argue that’s just a panic attack lots of people have panic attacks doesn’t mean they go kill people like that’s not a psychotic break so I don’t know you know some people like the arguments some
People people felt like is this even a strong correlation with Insanity anyway to say that she was hallucinating to the point of killing someone and then her friend saying that she had vivid dreams just overall not a great look for the defense but the same friend Amanda did
Say that whenever Sydney was stressed out she would confide in her mom and the defense used this to argue Sydney had no reason to kill her mom her mom was on her side but the prosecutors argued the same point but oppositely they said actually she was would be willing to go
To Great Lengths to not disappoint her mom even Amanda backed that up she said yeah Sydney as a friend from what I knew she would not want to disappoint her parents prosecutors argue the timing of when Sydney killed her mom seems consistent with their theory that her
Mom is on the phone she’s about to find out the full truth of Sydney’s lies not even hey I want to take some time off of school and figure out what I want to do but no your grades are bad you’re going to lose your scholarship you’re being suspended the disappointment must have
Been huge Maybe even the biggest that Sydney would have to get from her mom and maybe the anticipation of that the stress of that in that moment it was a crime of passion for her wanting to prevent her mom from finding out the truth they argued as for Sydney freaking
Out when the cops arrive Whispering get out because a lot of people use this s c she was having a psychotic breakdown they’re saying actually that could be a very normal trauma response to killing someone even if you’re not in psychosis if you kill someone you’re going to have
A strong mental emotional reaction it doesn’t mean that she was necessarily insane the whole time she killed her mom she could have been very well sane and then had a breakdown after the shock kicked in that oh my God I just killed my mom they argued that her answering
The phone during and right after the murder and pretending to be her mom does not feel like she was disassociating from reality they said It felt more like she was trying to buy time the prosecutors also poured through her text email search history before the murder and everything seemed normal they said
At that that point when you’re in that state where you can’t even tell that murder is wrong and that you’re murdering your mom your search history is going to be weird your actions are going to be weird your call log history your text messages they’re going to be
Weird they’re not going to be normal she even went to a viewing party of the bachelor with her friends the night before the prosecutors argue what are we talking about temporary insanity for 5 minutes in the end they argued that the defenses experts relied heavily on everything Sydney said to them after
The murder but that’s not the point the prosecutors are arguing it’s during the murder was she insane during the murder and they think all signs lead to no they argued all the defense experts are drawing from their interactions with her after the murder instead of during they also don’t even think Sydney had
Schizophrenia during the murder they said she had borderline personality traits mingering which is someone who exaggerates and stretches the truth to get out of work or obligations and probably had some sort of anxiety disorder there are are a few people um well not a few people a lot of people
Online that have armchair diagnosed her with narcissism a lot of people speculate that she did this because Sydney’s whole identity became being smart being The Honorable kid being the kid that everybody else’s parents are so jealous of she based her superiority and her identity based on that and when that
Was about to come crumbling down she had to prevent people from finding out the truth so she did something so drastic because that really be the only way to I guess for a lot of people to connect motive to the situation yeah I feel like we’ve heard of that before yeah I mean
There are a few more notable parts of the trial that netizens have been talking about so we’re just going to quickly cover those for one Sydney was crying a lot throughout the trial some neens argue that cdy kept squeezing her eyes trying to make sniffling noises but
No tears ever came out I will say that she did exhibit some really intense facial emotions during the trial so whether they were natural and in a byproduct of her feeling those said emotions or her faking it I I guess that’s up for you to decide but she was
Seen constantly crying she was seen covering her ears cringing like physically reacting to what people were saying at on the stand specifically people who are not on her side I guess right she covering her air yeah so that’s a huge argument as well right so when she’s covering her ear a lot of
Neens didn’t like it they were saying the act of covering her ear feels very childish and it’s like a little kid that’s like M I can’t hear you I don’t want to hear you right she’s 23 at the time of the trial I don’t think that I
Would have done that at 23 it’s just very odd there must be some psychological reasons behind that motion right so um there’s two sides to it so the people that are very not pro Sydney right like they think that she’s faking it this is all a plea to get out of jail
They think that she’s doing this to kind of seem like a baby seem like a baby to the jury or maybe it’s just so natural to her like this is how she handles herself with her family she doesn’t like something she covers her ear she doesn’t
Like it she doesn’t look at it mhm okay I mean maybe that’s how she approached the whole school thing she just won’t look at it mhm so people think that this is a type of behavior that her family must have cultivated and encouraged somehow and it’s showing up in court
Other people are saying well no like we also struggle with mental illnesses and it could be so that she doesn’t trigger something in her when she’s listening to it but I I don’t know right like what do you guys think about her covering her ear she’s 23 at this point seems very
Interesting W yeah it’s interesting another point of contention during the trial was Sydney was allowed to be excused a lot during the more intense parts of the trial during the body cam footage viewings and the forensic pathologist testimonies she was allowed out of the courtroom and that bu felt
Like again why are we babying a full- grown woman this is what she did and she can’t even confront what she did others said she’s already on her path to recovery this would unnecessarily send her back why like do you think that she doesn’t know what she did so it kind of
Feels like there’s two main camps one Camp who’s like yeah no she’s not mentally insane at the time of the murder look at the things that she did she picked up the phone pretending to be your mom staged a crime scene broke a window did all of these things so no no
Insanity then you have another camp that’s like well I’ve struggled with something like this and you truly don’t know what it’s like until you’ve been there but there’s actually a third group that’s like I struggle with schizophrenia and I would never do this and the fact that she’s trying to use
Schizophrenia as a way to get out of this heinous crime makes it harder for us the people who struggle with it nonstop and don’t commit crimes it only further stigmatizes schizophrenia and becomes yet another link made by the general population between the diagnosis of schizophrenia and violence and then
You have a lot of nens who just blame the family and Sydney for what happened they believe that Sydney was spoiled and made to believe that she would get away with anything they think that she did this because she doesn’t understand the consequences of her actions and they
Argue that them bailing her out immediately and babying her and rallying around her is a prime example of that this is what they’re saying I genuinely have no opinion on this case a big point of contention though for these this group was that um Brenda’s mom was testifying so this is Sydney’s grandma
And a lot of netizens felt like branda’s own mom doesn’t seem that emotional that her granddaughter killed her own daughter she seemed more emotional on the stand talking about how the police made her go to the wrong Hospital the day of and how it took them so long to
Take out the audio recorder to record the interview they were like it’s just so weird that she doesn’t seem gutted but then again we really don’t know these people we don’t know how they grieve and I don’t think we are able to dictate that so I really don’t know so
On the defense side we had three expert psychologists that testified she was schizophrenic and insane at the time of the murder the prosecutor brought forth one expert now something to note is that the defense side did you know that you have to pay for these experts so you
Know they’re not doing it out of the goodness of their heart I’m sure part of it is but um it was reiterated over and over again during the trial that each of the three defense experts were paid anywhere between $8 to $15,000 to testify so they’re paid around 250 to
350 an hour that’s so interesting yeah so you can pay like for a bunch of quote experts to to defend you in court yeah but I mean definitely if they’re lying it could damage their reputation and they could lose this source of income but I you know it’s one of those things
Where humans aren’t perfect though so you have to wonder how much confirmation bias is playing a role in either side both sides really and what’s interesting is that while all this online discourse is happening it does seem that Sydney’s lawyers were taking note so which it’s a
Speculation but if it’s true I guess it’s good that’s what good attorneys do but to give you an example early on in the trial Sydney showed up with black nail polish and a lot of nin pointed to the fact that it just seemed like she didn’t care she just they hated her
Nails it stood out when she was wiping her face with her tears and very soon after the rest of the trial Natural Nails no black nail polish so it does seem like someone on the team was listening to Social Media discourse potentially speculating here also they requested that she have a therapy dog
During the trial which a lot of people were so upset by like emotional support dogs yeah this you know listen I’m all for therapy dogs I’m all for emotional support dogs but when wait so there was a big dog sitting next to no no they rejected oh okay cuz you know it’s like
During trials there was another case we recently did where they asked for like a a blanket or something yes a comfort blanket and you’re like M just I’m sorry but you’re GNA have to suck it up sometimes this is kind of one of those situations yeah especially in front of I
Mean this case is different but when there’s victim’s families and yeah yeah yeah it’s kind of like all right you don’t get to you don’t get to do that right now I mean this trial is just filled with a lot of heated moments the most questionable moment outside of the
Murder itself was when Sydney’s attorney had this really odd intimate moment with her in the courtroom so Sydney is sitting down and he’s approaching his chair so he’s standing walking towards her he puts one hand on her shoulder but it’s near her neck which you know one
Would argue is kind of an intimate positioning and then he leans his head down and Whispers something super close to her ear it almost looks like he’s kissing her head that’s how close he is and she mounts something to him and it seems like she says I love
You later the attorney stated he whispered Brenda loves you and so do I Sydney reminds me a lot of my daughter and throughout this trial I’ve tried to ask you know what would Brenda do and I asked that question before I started my closing argument what came back to me
Was was make sure that Sydney knows I love her and before I started my closing argument I leaned over and I said Sydney Brenda loves you and I do too a small group of people felt like that’s refreshing for someone to have an attorney that genuinely cares about them
That’s good others argue not the time nor the place some people said it just felt really strange like a little unprofessional a really weird like never seen before in a courtroom type vibe in the end 23-year-old Sydney was found guilty of murder assault and tampering with evidence she was
Sentenced to life in prison but she can get out in 15 years on parole which means if she serves the minimum sentence she will be 38 years old when she gets out which honestly is not that old cine and her team planned to appeal this decision and her attorney said this was
Injustice so there’s just been a lot of mixed reactions you know half the people I would say a good majority of the people seem very happy that she was found guilty um they believe that Sydney is a narcissist using mental health to try and get away from her consequences they
Think that she was feeling Superior to everyone by being a good student and now that she had lost that she was losing her ego and narcissists will kill to protect their ego aneta in said she was sane enough to pose as her mom on the phone with the Deans and sane enough to
Make up a story about strangers breaking in if you’re insane you don’t have the capacity to cover up your crimes I hope the jury sees all that and holds her accountable even if her condition is severe and that’s what caused her to murder her mother then she’s sick enough
To live in a mental institution for the rest of her life you don’t allow a person like that that’s capable of things like this to walk amongst the rest of us another nzen said when you’re schizophrenic you can absolutely lie and try to cover up things when you’re in
The middle of an episode or psychosis the part of her brain during psychosis that made her kill her mother would be the same part of her brain that is telling her to lie and cover it up schizophrenia is a very scary illness especially when left treated I don’t know what are your
Thoughts how do you think the appeal is going to go do you think this was Justice do you feel safer knowing that Sydney’s not going to be on the streets at least for 15 years or do you think this was a major Injustice and now mental health will be even more
Stigmatized and this is just another reminder of that right I don’t think that I have a personal opinion on this one um just mainly because of how complicated it is even though there’s technically Justice the victim’s family feel even more Injustice with the V verdict so it’s just a situation where I
Don’t think I can really have an opinion it’s just hard for me to say one way or another but I will say just an observation of years of being interested in these types of cases Sydney is eligible for Pearl in 15 years for a violent murder that to me just from like the
History of what we’ve seen so far personally doesn’t seem like a lot and I’m not saying she deserves it doesn’t deserve it it’s not like a take on that it just seems like it it it does seem like the sentencing itself was a little more lenient even though the verdict was
Not what they were hoping for yeah it’s just sad um a lot of netizens said for Brenda’s family and her co-workers that loved her they’re being robbed twice they’re robbed of Brenda but some of them might even feel robbed to the right to get Justice like you want to hate the
Person that took this mother figure out of your life but it was her own child that she cherished and loved so how are you supposed to feel about it and that is the current viral case of Sydney Powell what are your thoughts not to be confused with the other Sydney
Powell that’s also in a trial but that one’s a political one yeah it’s all about the election and stuff anyway yeah let me know your thoughts and I will see you guys on Wednesday for the main episode bye
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