I've always thought the most horrific part of this case is the one brother pretending to be scared so that his younger siblings would let him in the room. I can't imagine the sheer horror those kids must have gone through, their trust betrayed like that...
The younger brother pretending to be scared so his siblings let him in the room only for him to betray their trust and attack them is beyond heartbreaking
They both are incredibly socially undeveloped and if I didn't know they weren't inbred I probably would have thought they were with that weird underbite of theirs.
Shouts out to Daniel. That kid is a true hero .He likey saved many other lives by calling the police and stopping his monster brothers mass killing spree before it started at the cost of his own.
@@mamacito1795 Daniel mistakenly believed it was only his brother Robert attacking his family, which is why he opened the door for Michael, thinking he was helping Michael hide from Robert. If you listen closely Daniel tells the 911 operator, "my brother is attacking my family."
Hearing that call was one of the most difficult things I've ever heard and ever thought about afterwards. I don't believe in god or heaven or anything so lovely as a heaven is purported to be, but I'm really hoping that somehow some way Daniel could somehow be aware that he saved _LIFE_ by losing his. I guess that's the nearest thing to the horror of his 911 call... my hope that he somehow knows what a big fucking deal he is. 😞❤️
She was completely delusional to think that. Neither parent had anything worthwhile to pass onto their children that would positively impact the world.
@@Bubba__SawyerThat makes no sense. You're literally only saying that because you have HINDSIGHT. That wasn't delusional of her at all. Those were her children.
@@Bubba__Sawyer the only thing i disagree with in this is that children can still break through the mold and become better people than their own parents if they make an effort, but you are right that upbringing will always have a lot of influence on your life. it just depends on the individual. a shame these two were rotten.
1:05:04 the detective throwing in the "you don't scare me" between the "you don't seem like a bad guy" and "I never thought you would have done this" had to be absolutely devastating to this wannabe badass
Exactly. They may look like the deformed weirdos from the hills have eyes, but nobody would be afraid if these dudes on the street. They would be buried upside down in a local park in seconds.
I see lots of these "when you hear a cop say blah blah, you know you're spending the rest of your life behind bars". Or words to that effect... It's strange what becomes a 'thing' in comments
This is just the reid technique in action. The interrogator will use positive enforcement to try to get the accused to open up and as the interrogation goes on they try to frame things in a way where the accused will admit fault for a more "socially acceptable version of events". AKA, "it's okay you killed your family because your older brother made you?" Or "your brother was the one who stabbed everyone and you didn't stab any of them right?" Once the accused has locked themselves in to this version of events they're kind of screwed because the interrogator can now ramp up the pressure on the accused and force them to admit to the rest of the details. Not to mention that the individual will usually at least confess their intent. Let's assume they say, "yes, my brother forced me and he was going to kill me if I didn't." Instead of having to prove that the kid killed his family, now they just have to prove that his brother didn't threaten him. If he says, "well I went along with it but didn't stab anyone", now they have him dead to rights because he's admitted to supporting the plan and they just have to prove that his knife was used to stab someone.
That phone call is so chilling. I feel so bad for the little brother trying to call for help. I can't imagine my own older sibling trying to kill me. Poor child. Rest in peace to the family taken by monsters that were unfortunately related to.
I can, these kinds of cases hit way too close to home... my older brother has signs of being violent too. But it takes all the family members to be on board for anything to be done. I feel like I am the only one who recognizes these signs, the rest of the family would rather stay ignorant and not do anything.
Do 911 operators ever tell the person to run or hide? So often you hear them (when there's an obvious potentially dangerous situation) asking the person to answer questions (over and over again); having the person speaking aloud and keeping them in potential danger… so awful to listen to.
I didn’t get it on the first try, but if you play the 911 call over, you hear one of the brothers saying “I’ll hold him”, and you could hear Daniel say “guys don’t do this”. That’s probably the moment he was killed. Absolutely heart shattering 911 call.
@@TheRockgremlin I don’t think many people caught that. Something like that would normally been cut out. But That slipped by somehow. And yes it was soul crushing.
The idea that the parents isolated their kids, homeschooled their very many children, but didnt notice their oldest two were buying guns, amunition, body armor online is just beyond me. I had the kind of custodial adults who were nosy as hell and wouldn't let anything get past them. Like how are parents who are overprotective also so ignorant of what their kids are up to? Why pop out so many then not bother to pay attention to their behavior? Blows my mind.
Totally agree. Parents were not raising them right. Father overly strict and cold and mother very naive and under control of husband. The kids having no social experience with anyone and letting them go on internet unsupervised is a recipe for disaster. They created an alternative universe where they are lacking in basic regard for human life. Also noticed speech impediments that parents failed to get therapy for. Sad case all around.
So, if the mom was 15 when she got married, that makes it likely an adult man in his 20s began dating her when she was 14 or even 13. And then married her and impregnated her at 15. That is sick. And don’t forget Robert was assaulted as a young child. Did his parents get him counseling? Or just isolate him in a home where he may have been abused? This family was seriously dysfunctional.
My brother did the same, but with three girls. He said he would marry whichever one got pregnant first, he didn’t care which. Thankfully, only one of them did get pregnant, as far as I know.
when did they say that the father is 5-6 years older than the mother? i totally missed that part somehow. some really unfortunate parenting in this lineage.
Two parts that will forever stick with me about this case. 1)their sister tried to tell the parents early on. 2) the brother who didn’t know which brother was doing the killing so he let one of them in the bathroom to hide with them but he ended up killing him. This story has stuck with me since it happened.
Hm, thanks, I didn't catch that, that the sister tried to tell the parents, but it fits with my conjecture that the parents had very poor connections with their children. I would hazard a guess that, barring some unknowable spiritual/cosmic element, the parents 1) had too many kids, and the eldest-plus were forced into onerous caretaking and 2) the parents had power-tripping, soul-destroying ways of handling them. Yes, it is so terrible to hear how the killers tricked some of their sibs into opening doors for them, but I bet the parents regularly used such horrible and confusing tactics on the children, themselves. Only if these two ever get long-term, caring listening will we ever know.
@@lovepet4565 How do you figure? (I do believe they must have been horribly incompetent and cruel parents, but I'm interested in what you picked up on, regarding the father.)
@@bonnies.d.1121 he picked on the one boy with the speech impediment Amd beat them, and isolated them. Then he had to just ignore then buying all the gun ammo etc? Totally just a loser father.
Can you cover Aniah Blanchard? She’s from Alabama and went to school in Auburn. She was abducted one night by a man who was out on bond for multiple violent crimes. Her car was found first in Montgomery about an hour away. We hoped she was only missing. After her body was found, the tragedy was felt all around Alabama. It has resulted in the passing of Aniah’s law, which doesn’t allow bond for violent criminals. She didn’t deserve the end she got and I hope informing others and saying her name can keep her alive.
Harris County (the Houston area) could learn a lot from this. Murder suspects out on PR bonds is a huge issue right now. I'd love to hear about Aniah and her story.
Roll tide... I'd like to see the video cuz idk much about it at all. Is that the one that happened in or around Auburn? It's the UFC fighters daughter?
This was rotten from the second the 15 year old girl was raped and her abuser was allowed to marry her and continue to have children with her. Nothing good can come from that.
yeah, nothing is ever going to convince me that everything is fine and dandy in a marriage when one of them was 15 and the other 24 when they got together. "it worked out for us" "we're still together" nah girl you got groomed and he got away with it and now you will never accept you were a victim because you don't like the implications. super gross case in all aspects.
He pretended to be scared to get into the bathroom to murder his siblings AND stopped his brother from speaking to the police but in the interrogation pretends he was forced into the situation and didn’t actually want to do it.
Moving and heartbreaking to think of how his surviving sisters will grow up seeing young Daniel as the hero brother who saved their lives - and still he was just a child. He will have a special place in their hearts for what he did
My heart absolutely breaks for Christopher, Victoria and Daniel. I cant imagine how confused and terrified they must have felt in their final moments. These poor kids deserved to live out their entire lives and all the experiences that come with it. I hope Crystal is doing as well as she possible can be, I truly dont know how anyone, much less a little kid, would deal with these events. I hope she never feels this sort of pain again.
I grew up in Broken Arrow a quarter mile from the Bever family. I was in HS and vividly remember the night this happened. I was walking to my car to get something and counted what must’ve been 15-20 cop cars speeding past my neighborhood. I knew whatever happened was serious. Where I grew up is a really safe area so something like that happening still floors me. Nobody talks about it to this day.
Oh, and nobody ever talked to the kids in my neighborhood afterwards, either. We all really could've used an adult telling us that it was a rare event and we didn't need to feel so unsafe and traumatized. But nobody spoke of it again.
mikel and Manecki Neckbeard, how amazing that this disaster was not talked about! How do you explain that? (I hear how destructive silence was and can be to children! Thanks for sharing!)
@@bonnies.d.1121 Honestly, I can't explain it...other than to say that in my experience, people in the past seemed to think that kids either wouldn't remember traumatic events and/or they thought that kids were so "resilient" that they'd just kind of automatically bounce back from anything without any support. It's still baffling to me though- when my oldest kid was pretty young, there was a shooting in my neighborhood which we could hear from our home. My kid was really terrified of loud sounds for literally YEARS after, even though we explained that it was an extremely rare thing and almost certainly wouldn't happen again. But I guess my point is that my kid did eventually get over that fear, and I can only imagine the phobias that might have developed if we hadn't talked about it!
@@maneckineckbeard1749 Thanks for your thoughtful reply. (I've heard people say that kids won't remember(!), and, yes, it's horribly common for people to say kids are resilient, not paying attention to the signs of serious distress in the adults all around us(!).) Your child benefitted from your paying attention to hir terror. God bless you! I wonder if you thought to let hir wail and cry to hir hearts content, too, though, as trauma cannot be resolved with rationality only. The body has a system for emotions (and it can even be done, later, as adults). Thanks again for responding to me!
@@Chapterhouse86as soon as they heard “attacking my family” they should have dispatched police and EMS. I don’t understand why they act like they need every single detail of the crime being committed before they decide to send anyone.
Michael & Robert asked Crystal a year before the murders whether she wanted to part of their plan. She said no, reported it to her parents and mum just brushed it off.
@@JillyMae89 I HATE this! I know they have to get information but my god. Once you hear “I’m being attacked” SEND THE POLICE! She had his address almost immediately! Stay on the phone with him, but use common sense! He can’t exactly have a full fledged conversation right now!
My heart breaks for all the first responders who experienced this case. I can't even imagine walking on that scene or reading the case files and how to handle those memories 💗
As a parent who had a child experience a massively traumatic event at a very young age, I can honestly empathize with the mother's desire to overly shelter (or smother) her kids after her son was SAd at preschool. There were years where I literally didn't even want to let my own kids out of the house, just to prevent any further harm from happening...but I forced myself to let my kids attend school, scouts, sports, etc., because I knew that in the end, keeping my kids home & tied to my proverbial apron strings all the time would be a disservice to them. Kids deserve some amount of social interaction and general interaction with people outside of their immediate family; that's how to grow them into prosocial, productive, healthy & happy members of society. It's impossible to protect your kids from the world, and tragically this family paid the price for these parents' desire to completely control their kids' lives. At some point, as parents, we need to realize that our control over our kids is ultimately limited...and that that's a good thing. It's how life is meant to be. You can't protect and shelter your kids from the world forever, and attempting to do so often leads to antisocial behavior and actions. This was an absolute tragedy, and my heart goes out to all of the victims. May their memories be a blessing.
@@TheNinnyfee Excellent point! I've met a decent amount of people who were raised (for various reasons) in very sheltered environments, and one of the very sad things I've noticed is that some of the ones raised by parents who homeschooled them due to fear of "The World" grew up with dangerously skewed ideas about so-called "Worldly" people. They were basically raised to believe that everyone who wasn't a member of the particular religious/cultural group their parents belonged to was dishonest, selfish and godless...if not outright dangerous and literally satanic and evil. The fear of "outsiders" engendered by this kind of super-sheltered upbringing makes it so that kids raised this way feel utterly powerless to reach out to anyone in the "World" for help, even if they're in an abusive or dangerous situation in which they feel deeply unsafe. It's so sad, and your comment is SO on point. Thanks for bringing that aspect up!
@@MimiRAM0NE the boys said the reason why they k.... their family was to be famous. To me it sounds like they wanted to be acknowledged at all by the outside world, which, at least in their minds, literally meant to be famous. I think it has pretty much to do with their upbringing. Edit: and they thought that society was "pointless".Many children without connections to other people outside their closest family were either made to believe that the outside world is strange or even dangerous or they just feel that way because it's an unknown thing and the unknown is often times scary, especially for children and teenagers
This is 100% the right thing todo as a parent but I dont think it changed anything in this case. Those boys were clearly violent psychopaths, no matter what the family did they were going to have those urges, dreading has another case, called a girlfriend of a psychopath, and it describes a kid just like this one that had none of the issues or traumas that these did that still ended up the exact same way, along with the Columbine kids and the Uvalde shooter, they also had no prior traumas or serious issues that led them todo what they did.
Your content is superior. Your delivery is dispassionate yet at the same time manages to convey deep sadness and weariness about the horrors you're describing. You show sincere compassion to the victims and concern for your viewers. Easily my favorite true crime channels and right up there with any channel I follow.
@@creolesbest2544 me too! i just playlist it thru the night. kinda wonder what weird stuff is going on subconsciously while i sleep and listen at the same time though!
That poor detective, he's coping hard throughout the interrogation. There are some moments when he's visibly sick. Which is absolutely the proper reaction from a normal human being, btw. Hats off to both him and his partner; she's off camera but I can only imagine how shocked she was. They carried on and did a very professional job 💜
They were just kids. Sheltered kids with internet access that had absolutely zero guidance from their parents because they thought keeping them in the house was keeping them safe. The parents were messed up and needed help, the kids were even more messed up and needed more help.
@Chelsey Jianni are you...talking about the other kids or blaming the parents that two of their kids murdered them? Don't get me wrong, I agree the extreme sheltering was bad for development, but April at least seemed to be a good mom outside of that. Maybe it's just your wording has me confused though.
@@CeceJianni I think you’re mixing up being sheltered with being neglected.. I’d blame the dad if anyone, as the mom had no guidance since she married a 24 year old PREDATOR at 15. She has zero fault in this. But even then, it’s not anyone’s fault but the boys that they went on this killing spree. Sheltered ≠ murderer/serial killer While I agree they shouldn’t have sheltered them, they tried to protect them. That’s like saying someone that got attacked by a dog was at fault because they were walking outside.
@@omnigar9611 that is an idiot take...you can raise a kid anyway you like but you have zero control over if they want to do drugs, kill people,abuse their wife, and to pretend it is the parents fault is stupid especially considering they have 5 other kids who did not turn into monsters
He is definitely skilled in reading people to know exactly how to deal with him. He is very good at staying composed with the horrors this kid is describing. I know I couldn't do it.
As always, your prioritization of the victims and context of their situation is a shining light in the dark rabbit hole of true crime journalism. More people should be like you
Dave's Lemonade is similar. He ends most of hos videos with the victims' impact statements. It's very respectful and very sad. I'm glad more true crime youtubers are focusing on the victims and how the crimes affect their lives. ❤
@plantemor Dave's Lemonade, Dreading and Matt Orchard are the big three in my book. S tier editing, respectful but engaging content. I feel like these three do the "JCS inspired" category proud.
It took me well over 24 hours to finish this video, as I watched it in installments. As mentioned by other commenters, I really struggled to get passed the 911 call. That poor boy was trying to save one of his brothers from the other, only to be betrayed by the brother he thought he was helping. I'm the oldest of 3 brothers, and I have 3 sons myself now, and the brotherly bonds in my family are rock solid. Not without conflict, of course, but I would do absolutely anything to protect my surviving little brother (sadly, I've already lost one younger brother), and I strongly believe my sons would defend each other with everything in their power. Long story short, these two monsters have forfeited the right to ever wear the title of "brother." That title should be worn with honor and pride, just like any other familial bond (genetic or chosen). Everything they did to their family members was abhorrent, but using their little brothers compassion and bravery against him, is heart breaking to the point that words alone feel insufficient. To the Dreading team of REAL brothers, this was excellent work, as always. Please take care of yourselves, and each other, because if this case was extremely difficult to for me to HEAR, I can only imagine how hard it must have been for the two of you to research and report.
Dude thought society was pointless but he never was allowed to actively engage in it, his only view of society was through the internet which we know is full of the most deplorable things this world has to offer. I understand why the parents wanted to homeschool and I have nothing against that but you should never socially isolate your children. People really have no idea how much that stunts development. I believe Michael was scared of his brother and only followed him because he didn’t want to be a victim himself but that’s not an excuse, only an explanation. Also, the mother being married at 15 to a mid 20 year old is hella creepy and her parents failed her. She was still a kid herself.
Homeschooling lends itself to being abused by neglectful parents raising poorly adjusted humans. I'm not against in all instances, some homeschooling works out okay; but not every patent should play teacher. Each state has different rules regarding homeschooling but the system as a whole needs serious work if not complete prohibition. An unrelated person observing the children daily could have identified problems or suspicious patterns of behavior in the older kids & if reported, potentially save lives. Sometimes a loving parent cannot see the danger their child poses.
David married April when he was 24 and she was 15. She may have been mostly happy, but she sounds almost like she's been kidnapped and brainwashed. She definitely needed friends. If we assume they meant well, they made all the worst parental choices: home schooling and social isolation plus unfettered access to the world wide web, on top of abusiveness to at least one of the children.
Home education is not the same as the other factors and shouldn't be included with them whole cloth. I encourage you to edit your comment and remove it.
@@Richard_Nickerson Home education being a factor is like saying that "going to school" was a factor if you were molested by a teacher. Would anyone actually list simply "traditional school" as a factor? No, they'd list the actual incident of abuse. Should be the same here.
@Hello Again I think they actually mean the lack of socialization they received. Like, in my experience, a lot of the homeschool kids around here usually have groups that meet up to play, or they'll go on excursions together. Homeschooling done solely by you parents + never interacting with anyone your age outside the family obviously caused issues here. I for one don't think homeschooling is bad, but there's certainly a wrong way to go about it and unfortunately their parents did.
wild to me that she's so distrustful of people that she homeschools her children to "shelter" them, but then is a-okay with giving them free reign on the internet, where they are exposed to BILLIONS of strangers without their supervision. we need internet literacy courses in school again. people are WAY too comfortable with kids just doing whatever online, as if the other people on it are fake just because you can't physically see them.
Fortunately, that is a dying trend caused by ignorance of the internet. The parents likely didn't think that kind of material was on the internet because they don't spend much time online themselves. As more people are raised with the internet, they know better than to let their kids run wild online without so much as checking to see what the UA-cam algorithm is recommending them.
@@Br0nto5aurus judging by the amount of younger people I see on the internet sharing their every tiny detail in their damn twitter bios, I'm not so sure about that.
You have to think that she was an isolated person, gave up the rest of her childhood and was deeply lonely. Maybe some part of her didn't conceive of others hurting others over the internet in a way that could matter as much. Or that it was the only way any of them would get any outside connection. I dunno, I struggle to truly hate her considering everything.
So, my theory about this case is that the older boy had developed an attachment disorder when he was younger because of the molestation and tough (allegedly abusive) parenting, and then essentially groomed his younger brother to think the way he did. If you've never heard of attachment disorders in children, you should absolutely look into it. It's fascinating, and you start seeing potential signs of it in a lot of these cases.
@@Thor-Orion My mom was in a facebook group with April and a bunch of other moms from around the country, they used to talk all the time and at least once a year one of them reaches out to my mom to see how she is doing, most of them stopped talking and the group kinda disbanded after the tragedy. Anyway from what my mom has told me which isn’t too much cause the whole thing makes her uncomfortable cause she has talked to April several times on the phone and a lot in the group chat with other moms. Robert was very antisocial and shy and was not bright but the nicest boy from what my mom and the other moms had been told, it was Michael on the other hand that had a lot and I mean a lot issues, she used to talk about it a lot in there mom group. The older brother was probably autistic but April didn’t believe in any of that so she never got him any extra help, it was who Michael acted out a lot and it was Robert who followed around in his shadow and Robert was the follower not the leader. My mom told me she and other moms in the group believe fully that Michael planned it all out and convinced his mentally ill brother to help him out and then when they got caught before they were found by police he convinced his brother again to take all the blame and fault cause why wouldn’t they believe the mentally ill abused older brother was the mastermind behind it all. April told the moms she was worried about Michael on several occasions cause he was very cold and mean to all his siblings. So from everything my mom knew about them personally from April herself, she thinks Michael was the master mind and just convinced his other brother :who was probably mentally retarded and messed up from the abuse from his dad and at preschool: to go along with it. In my mom’s words “there is no way Robert could been the planner he just wasn’t smart or socially brave enough to start something like that”. In no way am I saying Robert is a victim here, I’m just explaining what I know and believe to be the truth . Michael is the real psychopath and Robert was just a horribly abused kid whose right from wrong censor was seriously messed up. I forgot to mention Michael was very smart, my mom told me that April once said out of all her kids Michael was definitely the smartest and he got it from his dad. Michael was very cold and a strictly business type of person exactly how his father is described acting towards his coworkers at work in the vid. So yea your theory was 50% right but the older brother was 100% the groomed one and Michael had no real love or attachment to his family like you stated and probably does have an attachment/empathy disorder, he just used the helpless younger brother card to make his retarded brother look like the real psycho.
Every year or so I look online and catch up on this case cause it was pretty personal for me, my mom was sad about it for awhile, she used to talk to this group of friends every day for like 2 years. my mom didn’t do too much personal talking or sharing on her part mostly just parenting advice for other moms and sometimes she said she would ask the moms for advice on things. Being a mom is challenging me and my brothers were definitely a handful lol. But April was a big sharer in the group and liked to talk to all the different women personally one on one and my mom talked to her several times one on one on the phone and I remember being a kid and thinking how weird is it to be connected to something so horrible even if it’s in small way. It’s just crazy to think about and I forgot about it sometimes but every time I see some true crime video or show I think back to this tragedy
at the end of the day, when you see the goal was to get famous this case isn’t the most well known so at least you can imagine how stupid they feel now and they won’t have any satisfaction from it
So, their dad married (or more realistically purchased) their mother when he was 26 and she was 15. There is something off about their upbringing from the start. They also look like they may have been malnourished during development.
Great work as always! Just one teensy tiny request, whenever you're able to, please do add closed captions, sometimes the interrogation audios are difficult to understand 😊
Watching Michael’s adrenaline wind down as the interrogation continues is fascinating. He’s shaking at first, then not so much, and finally not at all. Michael got life in prison WITH the possibility of parole. Robert got life without the possibility of parole. They’re both going to rot and die in prison. Good.
There is a case I think deserves more attention: the case of Adrian Jones, the child killed by his guardians after child protective services missed or ignored multiple red flags and warning signs Please take care when researching, as it's extremely upsetting
I was a bartender for years. One of the more talkative guests we had was career CPS. When he got drunk he would confess sometimes, get things off his chest. He told me once that the cases of abuse that were often the worst were often the most likely to be ignored. He let things go to save himself the trouble, the paperwork, the stress. He wouldnt ignore a child covered in bruises but an obviously neglected child? Sometimes. It upset him, but I think he believed he was doing what anyone would do. Im not a saint tho, his service changed after he told me. Then he stopped coming
@@popesinbengal check out Barbara Bawarsky. She was a cps worker before she got involved with Daniel Gray and started cooking meth. Her lover killed her grandson in between having seggs with her. She admitted to abusing him as well.
@@popesinbengalim sure it meant a lot to him that you listened - sometimes that's the only way we start processing stuff is to talk about it thanks for sharing the experience without placing judgment on him. CPS is so overworked, it's a wonder any kid gets any help :(
Poor, sweet, heroic Daniel who tried so hard to save his family only to be betrayed by his own brother. Nobody will remember these two brothers, they will remember Daniel 😢
They made the mistake of allowing them to have unrestricted internet access. Living within a likeminded community and having an active social role probably would have help. The abuse the oldest brother received probably didn't help him much, but there wasn't much the family could do about that after the fact.
@@vorynrosethorn903 no one can undo what happened but parents/the adults in charge can learn about trauma and what to do to limit the amount of permanent damage it does. Unconditional positive regard protects kids, having a single safe adult look at them with unconditional positive regard protects kids from lasting effects of trauma
Also "turned out the monster was at home the whole time" is the case most of the time for women and kids. People to to scare women and kids to stay at home but statistically that's where the actual threat is
When Daniel's 911 call came in... I just had to stop. Just wow. He saved as many of his family members as he could. I feel terrible for that whole family and am satisfied that the sister braved the stand to send her family's killer and her own attacker to jail. The deserve death. Slow and painful. Agonizing, really.
it is horrifying how often teens feel inspired by other young murderers. This case is so upsetting on so many levels, I hope Crystal has a fulfilling life for herself. RIP to the family :(
I was thinking the same thing. He did a fantastic job establishing a rapport and keeping him talking. He’s even making it look easy, not betraying any of the horror I’m sure he was feeling. I’m sure he has some major trauma from it.
I always wonder if the reason they never released the interrogation video from the other brother is because the dude was so sick and brazen and clearly enjoying retelling the events that night...
Very likely. The way he wanted to be infamous and known, plus the way he was smiling in the mug shot really points to that. And I'm actually happy he didn't get that and they never released his interrogation. Can't imagine what awful things he was saying there.
I teach children Christopher and Victoria's age. I see the way they talk about their older siblings. They idolize them. I also see how upset they can get from minor trivialities and situations. I can't imagine those poor children, alone and in a situation that would be terrifying to even an adult. And then to be betrayed by their older brother? My heart hurts.
I watch/listen to so many crime channels throughout multiple platforms. I don't normally click on stories I already know about HOWEVER when *dreading* posts, i just can't help myself! This creator never fails to dig that much deeper to give me a more complete picture and this case is no exception Thank you
the fact that the neighbors didn’t even know the names of the family members until the killings is so telling. these children were isolated and cut off from society. each brother that you can hear speaking (Robert, Michael, and Daniel) had speech impediments. Their parents were almost ten years apart in age and married when their mother was below the age of consent. What a horrible upbringing. no wonder that a couple of them began to resent their family.
How is it telling? None of my neighbors know our names and my kids are very active in sports and music. Maybe you and your friends were never teenagers, but most teens resent their parents to some extent. Virtually none kill their whole family. These monsters even killed their siblings who had nothing to do with anything. To suggest that their upbringing is what caused this is incredibly ignorant. The victim blaming is really getting old.
I’m a big true crime junkie but this is easily one of the most heinous cases I’ve ever seen. Even just hearing someone that young talk about him and his brother “going after the little kids” and killing them in such horrific, not fast ways is so nauseating
"Hate is a strong word, you shouldn't hate anyone." Nah man. If I was betrayed by my own flesh and blood who i grew up with, played with, grew experiences with and survived to tell the tale, nah that warrants hatred towards those 2.
It baffles me how Robert convinced Michael to go along with this idea. If my older son said “let’s kill somebody” or “let’s be mass murders,” he’d say no. I guess maybe he started by showing him videos and praising the boldness of the killers or criticizing their technique and discussing how to do better and it started off as fantasy before he broached it. I still can’t understand why the younger brother (Michael) didn’t seek help when his murderous brother started buying weapons. He actively stabbed his little siblings! I can’t wrap my head around it.
He was lying, the sister proved his whole act was fake when she testified against him. He was committed and gladly took part in the murder, you dont stab someone more than 20x times let alone multiple people if you dont get satisfaction out of it.
I'm a little concerned with how you can't believe your younger son wouldn't go along with it, but your older son might theoretically say something like that. No offense at all, but if you feel something is even slightly off with either one, I recommend counseling! Counseling helped me a lot as a teen and boys for sure are in desperate need of talk therapy, just something to consider if they're adolescents.
he saying it as an example of course neither of his sons would never do something like that or go along with something like that, only time a little brother religiously follows the older is when there is neglect from the parents@@aqualms
This case just has always chilled me to the bone.☠And the pictures of them after committing the crimes as they were covered in blood,the slight smirk on Robert's face...😱Such a tragedy.😢May the victims rest in peace.🙏
In case you haven't heard this lately Dreading you do fantastic work and the way you dig deep into showing everyone involved's perception and follow through the entirety of the impact of each situation is incredible and I thank you for your hard work in doing what you do to bring these stories to life for us while being so respectful of all involved 🕊️💖
You have no clue how happy I am to have found a true crime channel that actually seeks justice for the victims, rather than just wanting views and fame. I love that you go for lesser known stories, and always prioritize the victims and their families over sensationalizing the crimes for views. You always leaving out the harsh details of the violence shows you have a true, deep respect for the victims & their loved ones. You don't cover this stuff just for views, for clout or for money. You do it because you genuinely care, and it shows. We _desperately_ need more true crime creators like you. Thank you dreading for being a beacon of hope in the often dark, sensationalized, and clickbait-ridden shithole that is the true crime community on this website. Thank you for all that you do for the victims and their loved ones. That's why you're not only my _favourite_ true crime channel, but you're also basically the *ONLY* true crime channel I watch at all! I hope you had a great day, and an even greater day tomorrow!
I second this..watching this channel has made it almost impossible to watch anywhere else because of how others treat the cases and victims and how the production is the sole focus for most of them.
@@ASTXREA oh god As a content creator production is incredibly important, and I suppose it’s hard for you to understand because you’re not a content creator
@@Synthpoptroubadour hahaha who are you and why are you taking this personally? 🤔 these are real victims and real peoples lives and there are so many other ways to create content that doesnt have to do with dramatizing the story and disregarding the lives that were lived and now lost and the people close to them. Don’t take things personally unless you too dont care about the real victims and thats what youre trying to say here? Weird.
Kids like this that have no real life friendships or interactions with other kids are always such a red flag. They literally have no idea what normal social situations are supposed to be. I have never heard of a kid sheltered this way that didn’t end up seriously weird, and unfortunately in this situation they ended up completely detached from reality. Nothing wrong with home school, but they still have to get out and mingle with other kids.
I was one of those kids and I have some really really major mental health problems and I am lucky to not have APD. It reall does blow my mind that just anybody can go around raising kids when they don't know what theyre doing. Human beings are the most dangerous species on the planet and we go around making more.
devastating, my god. i just, have no words to describe the pit in my stomach hearing that baby asking for help. a baby, trying to help the same brother that took his life.... im sickened.
The officer’s body language says everything. He appears that he’s trying everything to not lose his shit on this kid. So disgusting and horrific, this case.
There's no way I could ever do dispatch. You deal with insane things daily. I'm sure it takes it's toll on someone. Just the thought of some kid calling and saying their parents are hurt or dead is rough enough. Then you hear the fear and pain in their voice crying. You soon realize that the nightmare isn't quite over yet. To all you dispatch operators out there. Thank you for doing a job many people can't and won't want to do.
I live next to Broken Arrow where this happened. The house was torn down and a memorial was put up. Some say in the middle of the night, they can sometimes hear children’s screams. Police have even been called out there on occasion.
this case has always rocked me to my core. I have six brothers, me being the third child and only girl, and i cannot imagine how disturbed you have to be to hurt your own siblings. I love my brothers more than life itself and the only time i've hurt someone was to protect my younger brother. those poor babies, i hope they've found peace in the afterlife
Wonderful job on this video. So heartbreaking 💔 it's obvious that April really loved her kids...just to be murdered by two of them. That 911 call broke my heart to pieces. It just cutting off suddenly gave me chills 💔💔
This case blows my mind. Happy you’re covering it. I’ve suggested Gwen shamblin as a deep dive and Takoda Collins as his story is hard to piece together and there’s basically no pics of him.
I am so upset they tricked their little brother and 4 year old sister to open the bathroom door pretending one of them wanted to hide in their too. And then to do what they did to those poor babies..... That is just so heartbreaking, so evil. I wish we could invent a time machine and go back and rescue those terrified little kids in the bathroom. I don't know how the stabbing brothers can live with themselves for what they have done. It is one thing to be angry at your parents, but even then you should not stab them, but to kill their terrified younger brother and sister is just a whole new level of evil. Especially since the little ones were trying to save one of their brothers lives by opening the door.
I absolutely love your commentary. Your wit, kindness, compassion, disdain and disgust all come across very well while being educational and thought provoking. Your cadence and intonation is always appropriate. Thank you for producing such fine, professional content. I’m pretty sure I can speak for most of us that we all truly appreciate you!
I really enjoy that channel, and I've heard a breakdown of this case, so i am aware of what happened, but i am calling it quits about 20 minutes in. This was a rough one
This reminds me a bit of the Stockdale family, who was on the show "Wife Swap" years ago. There seems to have been some kind of psychological issues with the parents, which is likely to have been the case here too. The whole family led a rather reclusive lifestyle, which did not allow the children to form friendships outside of the family. It's not uncommon for parents like this to either downplay some of the signs of mental problems that might be showing, or avoid getting help. This is sad for all involved. Add to that the abuse they endured, and it's a recipe for disaster. While the mother might have been a naturally nice person, she allowed the children to be abused, which is horrible in itself. My heart goes out to everyone affected, particularly the siblings who were quite literally hunted down by their own brothers. To know that the boy who called 911 didn't live is beyond heartbreaking. 💔
The gentleman doing the interview is REALLY good at his job. The kid is calmly and in detail telling this guy how he and his brother slaughtered the entire family so brutally and the investigator is very matter-of-fact and just Really good at acting like he’s really interested in them and what THEY went through. Both interrogators did a great job keeping cool, and using very cool, calm voices to ask questions and confirm their understanding. This is chilling though, for real.
Wow.. that whole part where he’s like “I can tell you’re a good kid and I don’t want people to start thinking you’re a bad guy or a liar, so I want to get everything straight so people don’t report bad things about you” That is a BRILLIANT way to get a kid to spill their guts. This guy is so good.
He’s talking to a child, I’m certain he did want to know Michael’s side. Especially if how others have speculated Robert’s interrogation hasn’t been released because he displayed cold blooded remorselessness. This interrogator was specifically called in because he specializes in speech impediments, so I imagine Robert’s interview occurred first.
I have watched many of your videos now and have learned about cases and situations that should have gotten more attention than they have. I think what you are doing is incredible and possesses an amount of compassion that I thought was lost. Thank you and keep it up. Regardless of UA-cam, you will always have supporters.
I love your Chanel. You are so thorough with detailing every aspect of each case. I have always loved true crime and always wanted to research my sisters murder. She was only 2 years old and the only 2 people in the house were my mother and her boyfriend. Neither of their stories add up and my whole life I have wanted the truth. I've tried looking things up myself but I never really get further than what I already know. It would be amazing to have someone cover her case. It was a big deal in our small town for a while, the trial was on the local news. There was alot of shady things that went on and I never really felt like she truly got justice. Noone ever admitted to what happened but they both did time. Just no nearly enough. Not even 13 years between the two of them. She's been gone for 20 years now and I still think and wonder about her every day. Her name was Whitney Terri Williams we were from Princess Anne, Maryland. I know its a long shot since it's a small town case but it would be amazing to have you look into and see you cover her case. She would be 23 this year and I wish so badly to know what happened to my baby sister.
Psychopaths might identify with a killer and might be inspired by true crime, normal people just try to understand how to identify them and protect themself against them...
True, as an NDE and assault survivor, I watch these videos in hopes to understand the psychopathy and to somewhat normalize what I went through. But hadn't even thought about the fact that a psychopath would idolize these people. Seems so obvious yet I just hadn't thought about it.
@@BettyWhite2171 Well, there where red flags like his fascination with knifes, idolisation of serial-killers and his strive to be fameous trough youtube and then through murder... and those are just the ones that can be seen in this shirt clip...
I think you are one of, if not, the best true crime channel out there. The effort you put into your videos is incredible. Thanks for all the amazing content.
R.I.P to this family so sorry for this tragic situation… I pray that the sister finds peace and is successful in life.. sending love and positivity to all those effected 🙏💕☀️
The saddest part of all this was the parents well intended isolation was probably their downfall. I know the internet was both my best friend and worst enemy in the darkest times of my life.
We were raised (born in 2000) by the internet in the way Gen x latchkey kids were groomed by the color televisions. We can only break the cycle by having empathy and living in reality and the outside world… was it the fathers decision to keep them in, or did he oppose it - if he was abusive?
"who never got to live on her own" Dreading, the way you phrased this really impacted me hearing true crime cases covering children is always hard but I think adding the perspective that April was married at 15 and was in the middle of raising 7 children, one just a toddler, when she died really hit me hard. She deserved to reach retirement age, she deserved to live on her own with her husband if they were still committed but she never got that. she was so kind and nice her whole life - i hope her two remaining children understand she loved them going forward
I feel super sorry for the Mother. I think her Reddit posts are extremely telling, I think not only is she trying to convince other people having children isn’t any harder than not having children but she is trying to convince herself. She must have been depressed if you look at the video of the two brothers next to the computer in the living room the house was disgusting, the rug was filthy and everything looked greasy and there was a ton of unecessary clutter all over the computer desk. I can’t blame it on having 7 kids because My Nana had 12 and her house was spotless but My Mom had 1, me and the only cleaning that got done was because she made me do it and our house was always filthy and she would blame it on me but it wasn’t me it was her being lazy and mentally ill. As soon as my Moms mental health would take a turn for the worst you could always tell by how much clutter, how much mess and how high the dishes were piled up that it was about to get really bad.
No, what would have been right for her would have been to get far away from her p*do husband who groomed and ass aulted her as a 15 year old. I feel so sorry for her and her children.
@@dickwellington8578 that's why i said if they were still committed. it don't want to assume anything more sensational since they're passed now, but I can only hope April was able to experience genuine happiness and love before her life was taken
Please cover the town of Thunder Bay, Ontario. We have had so many indigenous children killed and the Canadian government have found our police department too racist to effectively police this town. Our mayor and police chief were both charged with bribery several years ago as well. Crave recently released a documentary called Thunder Bay about the murders. I really think these cases need more coverage! Most of Canada doesn't know that a third of all hate crime in Canada happens in the Thunder Bay region despite our small population. I am a criminology student because of the chaos in my hometown.
@@Christine-jz5nk My Mom used her degree to work for the State of Maine's Fraud Investigator for DHHS. Investigating people who lie on their applications for TANF (welfare), food stamps, Mainecare. For instance, someone filled out an application asking for TANF because their partner left them with four kids and no work experience, so no income, no ownership of land, no vehicle and no money in the bank. So the person gets approved. Some time later someone calls in a complaint and says the person who has been collecting TANF, food stamps and Mainecare, actually has their partner liveing with the applicant the entire time. Not only didn't he move out but they own a really nice boat, a cpl really nice cars and it's just become known that they bought some land and are building a brand new house. So my Mom would have to investigate EVERYTHING gathering proof so those people could be arrested and charged. For costing the state sometimes hundreds of thousands of dollars. Its usually the people who already have money, look down on poor people, who lie and defraud the government. It totally depends upon where you choose to apply your degree.
Just wanted to point out the fact that Dreading doesn't shy away from any the most high profile, disturbing, interesting, or necessary cases, whether recent or past history. I personally have respect for the research, presentation, and integrity with every single upload. Way to set the bar as not many, if any, have done anything more than posting the interrogation.
Dreading has become a personal favorite. One reason being, they don't only do murders. They do videos on the worst pedophiles you can imagine or other kind of crimes that are still horrendous. I like them, jcs or the ones like em, criminally listed, and my top- this is monsters. Anytime a new dreading or monsters pops up, I watch within an hour of it being uploaded
Agree! Hate other crime channels that are so insanely disrespectful regarding the victims like Stephanie Soh (mukbang and laughing/giggling while talking about murders) and That Chapter (makes jokes and has a specific dance if someone died because of insurance money) 💔 Dreading keeps in respectful and informative!
I watch every one of your videos but hearing about tricking their younger siblings to open a locked door so they can kill them is too gut wrenching to hear about again.
I've never seen this case presented in such a way, and it's completely shifted my opinion. You can always count on Mr Dreading to approach even the most harrowing incidents with unmatched respect & empathy.
As someone with two older siblings, sister and a brother, it's truly horrifying how someone could do something as horrible as this to their own for absolutely no reason. And it's so heartbreaking that they tricked them to opening the doors by pretending one of them was in danger and they believed them. I love my siblings and just imagining the horror of realizing your own family member is trying to kill your whole family.... I feel so bad for all of the victims. It was so hard to listen to the 991 call from Daniel. Their mother, April, also seemed like such a nice woman just trying to do her best and helping others. It is truly tragic that two members of their family would plan this just for a bigger number of victims, and so that they wouldn't find out about what they were planning.
I'd heard of this case but never delved into it. Thank you Dreading for putting this together. What a terribly sad event. I can't understand the sickness involved in doing this. RIP David, April, Daniel, Christopher and Victoria. I hope that Crystal is making a good recovery both physically and emotionally and that both her and Autumn are well cared for.
Glad you’re covering this man. We lived less than a mile away from the Bever’s and couldn’t believe when we heard about this. Broken Arrow was always a really quiet and friendly town, so this was a huge shock. This happening and a mass shooting at the hospital my wife and I worked at was enough to convince us to move out of state. This was such a horrible case, thank you for bringing attention to their family. Can’t imagine what the survivors are still going through till this day.
Thank you for bringing us this case! Though I’ve seen it on other channels, but you always have a certain way of bringing us cases with respect and compassion to those involved and find as much background about each one. ♥️ keep up the good work! Also, I hope other subscribers are thanking you using that Super Thanks button if they’re in the position to do so. You deserve all the support you can get. 😊
I understand the parents hesitancy with what happened to their oldest to send their other kids to public school, but allowing them unfettered access to the internet gave them a very narrow very warped unrealistic view of the world. It’s sad all around.
i just can't grasp this...killing your own family.... for what? to be infamous? i have six siblings too. the idea that any of them (let alone two) would have ever thought about something like this is beyond my comprehension. the trust between us is on another level. we're deeply connected by so many memories and shared experiences.... listening to what these two did to their family...it's heartbreaking to imagine...
I've always thought the most horrific part of this case is the one brother pretending to be scared so that his younger siblings would let him in the room. I can't imagine the sheer horror those kids must have gone through, their trust betrayed like that...
First thing that comes to mind when I hear about this case. So fucking awful 😢
I know, right? Ugh. It makes me feel sick to my stomach if I think about it too much. 😟 Those poor babies...
Same! That made me so sick. This case is devastating
Ugh, me too. Enough to make you believe in demonic possession but then again, why blame it on demon's? Humans are awful enough.
Yeah that really bothered me too, poor kids, they trusted their brother, it does break your heart😔
The younger brother pretending to be scared so his siblings let him in the room only for him to betray their trust and attack them is beyond heartbreaking
They both are incredibly socially undeveloped and if I didn't know they weren't inbred I probably would have thought they were with that weird underbite of theirs.
Almost the worst part 💔
Yes that is unimaginable.
I truly hope those two brothers are being molested thoroughly in prison
You mean hilarious
Shouts out to Daniel. That kid is a true hero .He likey saved many other lives by calling the police and stopping his monster brothers mass killing spree before it started at the cost of his own.
I'm confused how they tricked him when he tells the 911 operator its his brothers attacking them 😢 thats so tragic that poor kid
@@HarshLifeHero 17:40
@@mamacito1795 Daniel mistakenly believed it was only his brother Robert attacking his family, which is why he opened the door for Michael, thinking he was helping Michael hide from Robert. If you listen closely Daniel tells the 911 operator, "my brother is attacking my family."
His actions saved his baby sister from the horrifyingly gruesome fate of being decapitated. A true hero indeed
Hearing that call was one of the most difficult things I've ever heard and ever thought about afterwards. I don't believe in god or heaven or anything so lovely as a heaven is purported to be, but I'm really hoping that somehow some way Daniel could somehow be aware that he saved _LIFE_ by losing his. I guess that's the nearest thing to the horror of his 911 call... my hope that he somehow knows what a big fucking deal he is. 😞❤️
Her Reddit post where she says the world will benefit from her children being in it makes me wanna cry. 😢
She was completely delusional to think that. Neither parent had anything worthwhile to pass onto their children that would positively impact the world.
@@Bubba__Sawyer every parent is hopeful that their kids will positively impact society.
Her husband was a pedo tho
@@Bubba__SawyerThat makes no sense.
You're literally only saying that because you have HINDSIGHT.
That wasn't delusional of her at all.
Those were her children.
@@Bubba__Sawyer the only thing i disagree with in this is that children can still break through the mold and become better people than their own parents if they make an effort, but you are right that upbringing will always have a lot of influence on your life. it just depends on the individual. a shame these two were rotten.
1:05:04 the detective throwing in the "you don't scare me" between the "you don't seem like a bad guy" and "I never thought you would have done this" had to be absolutely devastating to this wannabe badass
Exactly. They may look like the deformed weirdos from the hills have eyes, but nobody would be afraid if these dudes on the street. They would be buried upside down in a local park in seconds.
When cops complement you during an interview, ie:
"You seem like a really good kid..." you know you're headed for a VERY long prison term.
Yes, when they try to find what is left of your human decency and heart you are in trouble.
You are dead from that point forward.
E.g
I see lots of these "when you hear a cop say blah blah, you know you're spending the rest of your life behind bars". Or words to that effect... It's strange what becomes a 'thing' in comments
This is just the reid technique in action. The interrogator will use positive enforcement to try to get the accused to open up and as the interrogation goes on they try to frame things in a way where the accused will admit fault for a more "socially acceptable version of events". AKA, "it's okay you killed your family because your older brother made you?" Or "your brother was the one who stabbed everyone and you didn't stab any of them right?" Once the accused has locked themselves in to this version of events they're kind of screwed because the interrogator can now ramp up the pressure on the accused and force them to admit to the rest of the details. Not to mention that the individual will usually at least confess their intent. Let's assume they say, "yes, my brother forced me and he was going to kill me if I didn't." Instead of having to prove that the kid killed his family, now they just have to prove that his brother didn't threaten him. If he says, "well I went along with it but didn't stab anyone", now they have him dead to rights because he's admitted to supporting the plan and they just have to prove that his knife was used to stab someone.
That phone call is so chilling. I feel so bad for the little brother trying to call for help. I can't imagine my own older sibling trying to kill me. Poor child. Rest in peace to the family taken by monsters that were unfortunately related to.
I can, these kinds of cases hit way too close to home... my older brother has signs of being violent too. But it takes all the family members to be on board for anything to be done. I feel like I am the only one who recognizes these signs, the rest of the family would rather stay ignorant and not do anything.
Do 911 operators ever tell the person to run or hide? So often you hear them (when there's an obvious potentially dangerous situation) asking the person to answer questions (over and over again); having the person speaking aloud and keeping them in potential danger… so awful to listen to.
What is the time mark of the phone call?
@@HarshLifeHero 19:00
@@cwired9407 that’s all I can think about also.
I didn’t get it on the first try, but if you play the 911 call over, you hear one of the brothers saying “I’ll hold him”, and you could hear Daniel say “guys don’t do this”. That’s probably the moment he was killed. Absolutely heart shattering 911 call.
😭
Heartbreaking…….
Yeah, and the "guys don't do this" comment is immediately followed by a high pitched squeal then silence. Absolutely gut wrenching.
@@TheRockgremlin I don’t think many people caught that. Something like that would normally been cut out. But That slipped by somehow. And yes it was soul crushing.
I thought he said “I called them”
The idea that the parents isolated their kids, homeschooled their very many children, but didnt notice their oldest two were buying guns, amunition, body armor online is just beyond me. I had the kind of custodial adults who were nosy as hell and wouldn't let anything get past them. Like how are parents who are overprotective also so ignorant of what their kids are up to? Why pop out so many then not bother to pay attention to their behavior? Blows my mind.
If there is a will, there is a way.
Totally agree. Parents were not raising them right. Father overly strict and cold and mother very naive and under control of husband. The kids having no social experience with anyone and letting them go on internet unsupervised is a recipe for disaster. They created an alternative universe where they are lacking in basic regard for human life. Also noticed speech impediments that parents failed to get therapy for. Sad case all around.
@@Deethehiddengem this seems like an incredibly insensitive thing to say about two people brutally murdered by their own children
@@jordahnnelson9926 The adult father literally married the mom when he was an adult and she 15. I have zero sympathy for him.
@@isabelrodriguezsjolund9701 I agree he's a predator but moreso the mom it seems fucked up and victim blamey to make comment like that
So, if the mom was 15 when she got married, that makes it likely an adult man in his 20s began dating her when she was 14 or even 13. And then married her and impregnated her at 15. That is sick.
And don’t forget Robert was assaulted as a young child. Did his parents get him counseling? Or just isolate him in a home where he may have been abused? This family was seriously dysfunctional.
Plus the father went on to abuse his kids after marrying a child.
My brother did the same, but with three girls. He said he would marry whichever one got pregnant first, he didn’t care which. Thankfully, only one of them did get pregnant, as far as I know.
@@lini6243 your comment is insane. what the hell are you talking about.
when did they say that the father is 5-6 years older than the mother? i totally missed that part somehow. some really unfortunate parenting in this lineage.
@@bm-ww8kb And I missed that she was married at 15. Is that in this video?
Two parts that will forever stick with me about this case. 1)their sister tried to tell the parents early on.
2) the brother who didn’t know which brother was doing the killing so he let one of them in the bathroom to hide with them but he ended up killing him. This story has stuck with me since it happened.
I totally blame the "Father"
💯
He created these evil monsters
👺
Also- they intended to cut the baby’s head off, they just forgot. Absolutely heartless. Who thinks that way?!
Hm, thanks, I didn't catch that, that the sister tried to tell the parents, but it fits with my conjecture that the parents had very poor connections with their children. I would hazard a guess that, barring some unknowable spiritual/cosmic element, the parents 1) had too many kids, and the eldest-plus were forced into onerous caretaking and 2) the parents had power-tripping, soul-destroying ways of handling them. Yes, it is so terrible to hear how the killers tricked some of their sibs into opening doors for them, but I bet the parents regularly used such horrible and confusing tactics on the children, themselves. Only if these two ever get long-term, caring listening will we ever know.
@@lovepet4565 How do you figure? (I do believe they must have been horribly incompetent and cruel parents, but I'm interested in what you picked up on, regarding the father.)
@@bonnies.d.1121 he picked on the one boy with the speech impediment
Amd beat them, and isolated them.
Then he had to just ignore then buying all the gun ammo etc?
Totally just a loser father.
Can you cover Aniah Blanchard? She’s from Alabama and went to school in Auburn. She was abducted one night by a man who was out on bond for multiple violent crimes. Her car was found first in Montgomery about an hour away. We hoped she was only missing. After her body was found, the tragedy was felt all around Alabama. It has resulted in the passing of Aniah’s law, which doesn’t allow bond for violent criminals. She didn’t deserve the end she got and I hope informing others and saying her name can keep her alive.
Harris County (the Houston area) could learn a lot from this. Murder suspects out on PR bonds is a huge issue right now. I'd love to hear about Aniah and her story.
I just looked it up and this looks heartbreaking! Complex case, as well, from what I've seen so far. I can see why it captivated the whole state.
Roll tide... I'd like to see the video cuz idk much about it at all. Is that the one that happened in or around Auburn? It's the UFC fighters daughter?
@@HarshLifeHero yes it is. I really hope he covers Aniah’s story!
@@HarshLifeHero yeah Walt Harris. I remember googling it after hearing Jon Anik mention it on commentary a while back or something. Truly awful.
This was rotten from the second the 15 year old girl was raped and her abuser was allowed to marry her and continue to have children with her. Nothing good can come from that.
EXACTLY.
yeah, nothing is ever going to convince me that everything is fine and dandy in a marriage when one of them was 15 and the other 24 when they got together. "it worked out for us" "we're still together" nah girl you got groomed and he got away with it and now you will never accept you were a victim because you don't like the implications. super gross case in all aspects.
Huh? Assuming much. Nice !
@@JackPeloquin if she was 15 and he was 24 when they were married, statutory rape definitely happened. Go read a book, incel.
@@JackPeloquin actually just facts!
He pretended to be scared to get into the bathroom to murder his siblings AND stopped his brother from speaking to the police but in the interrogation pretends he was forced into the situation and didn’t actually want to do it.
Moving and heartbreaking to think of how his surviving sisters will grow up seeing young Daniel as the hero brother who saved their lives - and still he was just a child. He will have a special place in their hearts for what he did
May his memory be a blessing!!
Amen 🙏🏻
My heart absolutely breaks for Christopher, Victoria and Daniel. I cant imagine how confused and terrified they must have felt in their final moments. These poor kids deserved to live out their entire lives and all the experiences that come with it. I hope Crystal is doing as well as she possible can be, I truly dont know how anyone, much less a little kid, would deal with these events. I hope she never feels this sort of pain again.
I grew up in Broken Arrow a quarter mile from the Bever family. I was in HS and vividly remember the night this happened. I was walking to my car to get something and counted what must’ve been 15-20 cop cars speeding past my neighborhood. I knew whatever happened was serious. Where I grew up is a really safe area so something like that happening still floors me. Nobody talks about it to this day.
Grew up there too. It is a pretty safe area over by the Indian springs country club. I wasn't in state when this happened, though. Dark stuff
Oh, and nobody ever talked to the kids in my neighborhood afterwards, either. We all really could've used an adult telling us that it was a rare event and we didn't need to feel so unsafe and traumatized. But nobody spoke of it again.
mikel and Manecki Neckbeard, how amazing that this disaster was not talked about! How do you explain that? (I hear how destructive silence was and can be to children! Thanks for sharing!)
@@bonnies.d.1121 Honestly, I can't explain it...other than to say that in my experience, people in the past seemed to think that kids either wouldn't remember traumatic events and/or they thought that kids were so "resilient" that they'd just kind of automatically bounce back from anything without any support.
It's still baffling to me though- when my oldest kid was pretty young, there was a shooting in my neighborhood which we could hear from our home. My kid was really terrified of loud sounds for literally YEARS after, even though we explained that it was an extremely rare thing and almost certainly wouldn't happen again. But I guess my point is that my kid did eventually get over that fear, and I can only imagine the phobias that might have developed if we hadn't talked about it!
@@maneckineckbeard1749 Thanks for your thoughtful reply. (I've heard people say that kids won't remember(!), and, yes, it's horribly common for people to say kids are resilient, not paying attention to the signs of serious distress in the adults all around us(!).) Your child benefitted from your paying attention to hir terror. God bless you! I wonder if you thought to let hir wail and cry to hir hearts content, too, though, as trauma cannot be resolved with rationality only. The body has a system for emotions (and it can even be done, later, as adults). Thanks again for responding to me!
Who's attacking your family? My brother. Your dad? My brother. So who's attacking your family? My brother. Your dad? My brother.
my god
Typical 911 operator 😮
I couldn’t understand her very well but even I got it. That’s the one word I heard most clearly.
@@rebekahwolkiewicz449 To be fair, when we know what word to listen for, it's much more easily heard.
@@Chapterhouse86I am fair, I heard brother.
@@Chapterhouse86as soon as they heard “attacking my family” they should have dispatched police and EMS. I don’t understand why they act like they need every single detail of the crime being committed before they decide to send anyone.
Michael & Robert asked Crystal a year before the murders whether she wanted to part of their plan. She said no, reported it to her parents and mum just brushed it off.
I hope Daniel somehow knows the whole world thinks he’s such a brave boy.
I cry
And I hope the 911 dispatcher feels like an asshole for asking a million questions making him reveal his hiding spot 🤬
@@JillyMae89 I HATE this! I know they have to get information but my god. Once you hear “I’m being attacked” SEND THE POLICE! She had his address almost immediately! Stay on the phone with him, but use common sense! He can’t exactly have a full fledged conversation right now!
He is a hero and saved countless other people
He probably doesn't care.
My heart breaks for all the first responders who experienced this case. I can't even imagine walking on that scene or reading the case files and how to handle those memories 💗
Shout out to them, and shout out the people that clean it up. Those heroes are forgotten.
@@codexmachina1358 And shout out to the community for coming together and making this wonderful memorial.
@@WobblesandBean that lady needs a new job. He was EASILY understandable.
As a parent who had a child experience a massively traumatic event at a very young age, I can honestly empathize with the mother's desire to overly shelter (or smother) her kids after her son was SAd at preschool. There were years where I literally didn't even want to let my own kids out of the house, just to prevent any further harm from happening...but I forced myself to let my kids attend school, scouts, sports, etc., because I knew that in the end, keeping my kids home & tied to my proverbial apron strings all the time would be a disservice to them. Kids deserve some amount of social interaction and general interaction with people outside of their immediate family; that's how to grow them into prosocial, productive, healthy & happy members of society. It's impossible to protect your kids from the world, and tragically this family paid the price for these parents' desire to completely control their kids' lives.
At some point, as parents, we need to realize that our control over our kids is ultimately limited...and that that's a good thing. It's how life is meant to be. You can't protect and shelter your kids from the world forever, and attempting to do so often leads to antisocial behavior and actions. This was an absolute tragedy, and my heart goes out to all of the victims.
May their memories be a blessing.
I agree, but I can't fully blame or explain the actions of these boys as being a result of being overly sheltered.
True, you also shelter them from all the chances to meet good people that can help them.
@@TheNinnyfee Excellent point! I've met a decent amount of people who were raised (for various reasons) in very sheltered environments, and one of the very sad things I've noticed is that some of the ones raised by parents who homeschooled them due to fear of "The World" grew up with dangerously skewed ideas about so-called "Worldly" people. They were basically raised to believe that everyone who wasn't a member of the particular religious/cultural group their parents belonged to was dishonest, selfish and godless...if not outright dangerous and literally satanic and evil.
The fear of "outsiders" engendered by this kind of super-sheltered upbringing makes it so that kids raised this way feel utterly powerless to reach out to anyone in the "World" for help, even if they're in an abusive or dangerous situation in which they feel deeply unsafe. It's so sad, and your comment is SO on point. Thanks for bringing that aspect up!
@@MimiRAM0NE the boys said the reason why they k.... their family was to be famous. To me it sounds like they wanted to be acknowledged at all by the outside world, which, at least in their minds, literally meant to be famous. I think it has pretty much to do with their upbringing.
Edit: and they thought that society was "pointless".Many children without connections to other people outside their closest family were either made to believe that the outside world is strange or even dangerous or they just feel that way because it's an unknown thing and the unknown is often times scary, especially for children and teenagers
This is 100% the right thing todo as a parent but I dont think it changed anything in this case. Those boys were clearly violent psychopaths, no matter what the family did they were going to have those urges, dreading has another case, called a girlfriend of a psychopath, and it describes a kid just like this one that had none of the issues or traumas that these did that still ended up the exact same way, along with the Columbine kids and the Uvalde shooter, they also had no prior traumas or serious issues that led them todo what they did.
Your content is superior. Your delivery is dispassionate yet at the same time manages to convey deep sadness and weariness about the horrors you're describing. You show sincere compassion to the victims and concern for your viewers. Easily my favorite true crime channels and right up there with any channel I follow.
It really is remarkable how his delivery is able to project such a deep tone within
I sometimes fall asleep listening, his voice is soothing to me
@@creolesbest2544 me too! i just playlist it thru the night. kinda wonder what weird stuff is going on subconsciously while i sleep and listen at the same time though!
I agree with every word you’ve said
Couldn't have said it better myself 💞🔥
That poor detective, he's coping hard throughout the interrogation. There are some moments when he's visibly sick. Which is absolutely the proper reaction from a normal human being, btw.
Hats off to both him and his partner; she's off camera but I can only imagine how shocked she was. They carried on and did a very professional job 💜
Right?! I was awed by their professionalism. Amazing job.
Amazing! When he Said -and the Victoria
Cop: how old is she?
4 y i think.
Hand up im done! Done! 4 y old and they stabbed her 20 times 😭😭😭😭😭
😣@@thequeenofsweden111
This case has made me physically sick. My heart hurts for everyone who lost their lives over these fuccing losers. Oh my god.
They were just kids. Sheltered kids with internet access that had absolutely zero guidance from their parents because they thought keeping them in the house was keeping them safe. The parents were messed up and needed help, the kids were even more messed up and needed more help.
@Chelsey Jianni are you...talking about the other kids or blaming the parents that two of their kids murdered them? Don't get me wrong, I agree the extreme sheltering was bad for development, but April at least seemed to be a good mom outside of that. Maybe it's just your wording has me confused though.
@@CeceJianni I think you’re mixing up being sheltered with being neglected.. I’d blame the dad if anyone, as the mom had no guidance since she married a 24 year old PREDATOR at 15. She has zero fault in this. But even then, it’s not anyone’s fault but the boys that they went on this killing spree.
Sheltered ≠ murderer/serial killer
While I agree they shouldn’t have sheltered them, they tried to protect them. That’s like saying someone that got attacked by a dog was at fault because they were walking outside.
99% of these cases come down to shitty parenting.
do better, break the cycle
@@omnigar9611 that is an idiot take...you can raise a kid anyway you like but you have zero control over if they want to do drugs, kill people,abuse their wife, and to pretend it is the parents fault is stupid especially considering they have 5 other kids who did not turn into monsters
This case gives me the chills like no other. Siblings should never have to fear each other.
Happens a lot.
I’m 28 and still have nightmares from my siblings
@@Mommy55555 ; I’m 66 & still cringe at some terrible memories.
@@fluffypink6unny :( sometimes the biggest predators are in your home
@@Mommy55555 ; indeed.
This interrogator did an amazing job managing to not get emotional and make the guy feel comfortable talking like this is truly a skill
He is definitely skilled in reading people to know exactly how to deal with him. He is very good at staying composed with the horrors this kid is describing. I know I couldn't do it.
As always, your prioritization of the victims and context of their situation is a shining light in the dark rabbit hole of true crime journalism. More people should be like you
Easily the best channel of this kind on UA-cam for that reason. No exploitation at all.
Dave's Lemonade is similar. He ends most of hos videos with the victims' impact statements. It's very respectful and very sad. I'm glad more true crime youtubers are focusing on the victims and how the crimes affect their lives. ❤
@plantemor Dave's Lemonade, Dreading and Matt Orchard are the big three in my book. S tier editing, respectful but engaging content. I feel like these three do the "JCS inspired" category proud.
@@noonespecial9233 agreed 100%!
I prefer the truth, like they were bad parents, for example. i know he can't say irt because "there is no proof" but it is clear.
It took me well over 24 hours to finish this video, as I watched it in installments. As mentioned by other commenters, I really struggled to get passed the 911 call. That poor boy was trying to save one of his brothers from the other, only to be betrayed by the brother he thought he was helping. I'm the oldest of 3 brothers, and I have 3 sons myself now, and the brotherly bonds in my family are rock solid. Not without conflict, of course, but I would do absolutely anything to protect my surviving little brother (sadly, I've already lost one younger brother), and I strongly believe my sons would defend each other with everything in their power. Long story short, these two monsters have forfeited the right to ever wear the title of "brother." That title should be worn with honor and pride, just like any other familial bond (genetic or chosen). Everything they did to their family members was abhorrent, but using their little brothers compassion and bravery against him, is heart breaking to the point that words alone feel insufficient. To the Dreading team of REAL brothers, this was excellent work, as always. Please take care of yourselves, and each other, because if this case was extremely difficult to for me to HEAR, I can only imagine how hard it must have been for the two of you to research and report.
God damn bro it’s just a video
Godspeed Daniel, you were a brave little man. May you rest easy, you didn't deserve to go out like that.
Dude thought society was pointless but he never was allowed to actively engage in it, his only view of society was through the internet which we know is full of the most deplorable things this world has to offer. I understand why the parents wanted to homeschool and I have nothing against that but you should never socially isolate your children. People really have no idea how much that stunts development. I believe Michael was scared of his brother and only followed him because he didn’t want to be a victim himself but that’s not an excuse, only an explanation. Also, the mother being married at 15 to a mid 20 year old is hella creepy and her parents failed her. She was still a kid herself.
I absolutely agree with you on everything you said 👍
Michael had choices.
Homeschooling lends itself to being abused by neglectful parents raising poorly adjusted humans. I'm not against in all instances, some homeschooling works out okay; but not every patent should play teacher. Each state has different rules regarding homeschooling but the system as a whole needs serious work if not complete prohibition. An unrelated person observing the children daily could have identified problems or suspicious patterns of behavior in the older kids & if reported, potentially save lives. Sometimes a loving parent cannot see the danger their child poses.
@@It-is-me...Melsie He absolutely did.
@@H1ST0RYWriter there is literally zero oversight of homeschooling in my state. It's quite shocking that's even a thing
So insane to think the child was being murdered while on the 911 call…
David married April when he was 24 and she was 15. She may have been mostly happy, but she sounds almost like she's been kidnapped and brainwashed. She definitely needed friends. If we assume they meant well, they made all the worst parental choices: home schooling and social isolation plus unfettered access to the world wide web, on top of abusiveness to at least one of the children.
Home education is not the same as the other factors and shouldn't be included with them whole cloth. I encourage you to edit your comment and remove it.
@@thareelhelloagain no
@@thareelhelloagain
It was an obvious factor here
@@Richard_Nickerson Home education being a factor is like saying that "going to school" was a factor if you were molested by a teacher. Would anyone actually list simply "traditional school" as a factor? No, they'd list the actual incident of abuse. Should be the same here.
@Hello Again
I think they actually mean the lack of socialization they received. Like, in my experience, a lot of the homeschool kids around here usually have groups that meet up to play, or they'll go on excursions together. Homeschooling done solely by you parents + never interacting with anyone your age outside the family obviously caused issues here. I for one don't think homeschooling is bad, but there's certainly a wrong way to go about it and unfortunately their parents did.
wild to me that she's so distrustful of people that she homeschools her children to "shelter" them, but then is a-okay with giving them free reign on the internet, where they are exposed to BILLIONS of strangers without their supervision.
we need internet literacy courses in school again. people are WAY too comfortable with kids just doing whatever online, as if the other people on it are fake just because you can't physically see them.
Fortunately, that is a dying trend caused by ignorance of the internet. The parents likely didn't think that kind of material was on the internet because they don't spend much time online themselves. As more people are raised with the internet, they know better than to let their kids run wild online without so much as checking to see what the UA-cam algorithm is recommending them.
@@Br0nto5aurus judging by the amount of younger people I see on the internet sharing their every tiny detail in their damn twitter bios, I'm not so sure about that.
You have to think that she was an isolated person, gave up the rest of her childhood and was deeply lonely. Maybe some part of her didn't conceive of others hurting others over the internet in a way that could matter as much. Or that it was the only way any of them would get any outside connection. I dunno, I struggle to truly hate her considering everything.
So, my theory about this case is that the older boy had developed an attachment disorder when he was younger because of the molestation and tough (allegedly abusive) parenting, and then essentially groomed his younger brother to think the way he did. If you've never heard of attachment disorders in children, you should absolutely look into it. It's fascinating, and you start seeing potential signs of it in a lot of these cases.
Older boy Robert, definitely had something up. The lack of outside socialization doomed Michael.
I think its much more likely that he downtoned his involvement and he’s just as sick as Robert. 1:16:12
My theory is these kids were not abused at all. Just plain and simple POS.
@@Thor-Orion My mom was in a facebook group with April and a bunch of other moms from around the country, they used to talk all the time and at least once a year one of them reaches out to my mom to see how she is doing, most of them stopped talking and the group kinda disbanded after the tragedy. Anyway from what my mom has told me which isn’t too much cause the whole thing makes her uncomfortable cause she has talked to April several times on the phone and a lot in the group chat with other moms. Robert was very antisocial and shy and was not bright but the nicest boy from what my mom and the other moms had been told, it was Michael on the other hand that had a lot and I mean a lot issues, she used to talk about it a lot in there mom group. The older brother was probably autistic but April didn’t believe in any of that so she never got him any extra help, it was who Michael acted out a lot and it was Robert who followed around in his shadow and Robert was the follower not the leader. My mom told me she and other moms in the group believe fully that Michael planned it all out and convinced his mentally ill brother to help him out and then when they got caught before they were found by police he convinced his brother again to take all the blame and fault cause why wouldn’t they believe the mentally ill abused older brother was the mastermind behind it all. April told the moms she was worried about Michael on several occasions cause he was very cold and mean to all his siblings. So from everything my mom knew about them personally from April herself, she thinks Michael was the master mind and just convinced his other brother :who was probably mentally retarded and messed up from the abuse from his dad and at preschool: to go along with it. In my mom’s words “there is no way Robert could been the planner he just wasn’t smart or socially brave enough to start something like that”. In no way am I saying Robert is a victim here, I’m just explaining what I know and believe to be the truth . Michael is the real psychopath and Robert was just a horribly abused kid whose right from wrong censor was seriously messed up. I forgot to mention Michael was very smart, my mom told me that April once said out of all her kids Michael was definitely the smartest and he got it from his dad. Michael was very cold and a strictly business type of person exactly how his father is described acting towards his coworkers at work in the vid. So yea your theory was 50% right but the older brother was 100% the groomed one and Michael had no real love or attachment to his family like you stated and probably does have an attachment/empathy disorder, he just used the helpless younger brother card to make his retarded brother look like the real psycho.
Every year or so I look online and catch up on this case cause it was pretty personal for me, my mom was sad about it for awhile, she used to talk to this group of friends every day for like 2 years. my mom didn’t do too much personal talking or sharing on her part mostly just parenting advice for other moms and sometimes she said she would ask the moms for advice on things. Being a mom is challenging me and my brothers were definitely a handful lol. But April was a big sharer in the group and liked to talk to all the different women personally one on one and my mom talked to her several times one on one on the phone and I remember being a kid and thinking how weird is it to be connected to something so horrible even if it’s in small way. It’s just crazy to think about and I forgot about it sometimes but every time I see some true crime video or show I think back to this tragedy
The lack of emotion, after the terror they just inflicted on their whole family, is just....chilling and devastating
at the end of the day, when you see the goal was to get famous this case isn’t the most well known so at least you can imagine how stupid they feel now and they won’t have any satisfaction from it
Shut up.
@@DW51380 And their own lives really are pointless. Just a pointless existence with every day the same until they die in prison.
I'm beyond relieved that they forgot about the baby. One bright spot in this sick, twisted mess.
They forgot about the baby? That’s honestly amazing. I’ve seen this story before but I never knew what happened to the baby.
@@Doglookshin the video he says they forgot about the 23 month old but planned to decapitate her. May the victims rest easy.
So, their dad married (or more realistically purchased) their mother when he was 26 and she was 15. There is something off about their upbringing from the start. They also look like they may have been malnourished during development.
yeah i noticed to that the younger one, micheal, kinda has like a baby voice? like, the kind of speech impediment that little kids have.
@@rachelallen4240 Robert kind of looks like a meth addict to me.
Great work as always! Just one teensy tiny request, whenever you're able to, please do add closed captions, sometimes the interrogation audios are difficult to understand 😊
Watching Michael’s adrenaline wind down as the interrogation continues is fascinating. He’s shaking at first, then not so much, and finally not at all. Michael got life in prison WITH the possibility of parole. Robert got life without the possibility of parole. They’re both going to rot and die in prison. Good.
I wonder if they share a cell 😂
@@Woodman-Spare-that-treeThey wouldn't even been in the same prison.
Michael got life with the possibility of parole after 255 years. I don’t understand why they just didn’t say life without parole.
There is a case I think deserves more attention: the case of Adrian Jones, the child killed by his guardians after child protective services missed or ignored multiple red flags and warning signs
Please take care when researching, as it's extremely upsetting
I was a bartender for years. One of the more talkative guests we had was career CPS. When he got drunk he would confess sometimes, get things off his chest. He told me once that the cases of abuse that were often the worst were often the most likely to be ignored. He let things go to save himself the trouble, the paperwork, the stress. He wouldnt ignore a child covered in bruises but an obviously neglected child? Sometimes. It upset him, but I think he believed he was doing what anyone would do. Im not a saint tho, his service changed after he told me. Then he stopped coming
I would like to see a deep dive into this one too. That poor baby deserved soooo much better.
@@popesinbengal check out Barbara Bawarsky. She was a cps worker before she got involved with Daniel Gray and started cooking meth. Her lover killed her grandson in between having seggs with her. She admitted to abusing him as well.
@@popesinbengalim sure it meant a lot to him that you listened - sometimes that's the only way we start processing stuff is to talk about it
thanks for sharing the experience without placing judgment on him. CPS is so overworked, it's a wonder any kid gets any help :(
CPS is useless
Poor, sweet, heroic Daniel who tried so hard to save his family only to be betrayed by his own brother.
Nobody will remember these two brothers, they will remember Daniel 😢
Imagine protecting your children from the outside world only to have your killer right under your nose the entire time. Very sad 😔
Self fulfilling prophecy.
They made the mistake of allowing them to have unrestricted internet access. Living within a likeminded community and having an active social role probably would have help. The abuse the oldest brother received probably didn't help him much, but there wasn't much the family could do about that after the fact.
@@vorynrosethorn903 no one can undo what happened but parents/the adults in charge can learn about trauma and what to do to limit the amount of permanent damage it does. Unconditional positive regard protects kids, having a single safe adult look at them with unconditional positive regard protects kids from lasting effects of trauma
Also "turned out the monster was at home the whole time" is the case most of the time for women and kids. People to to scare women and kids to stay at home but statistically that's where the actual threat is
@@no_peace Women abuse children at higher rates than men.
When Daniel's 911 call came in... I just had to stop. Just wow. He saved as many of his family members as he could. I feel terrible for that whole family and am satisfied that the sister braved the stand to send her family's killer and her own attacker to jail. The deserve death. Slow and painful. Agonizing, really.
it is horrifying how often teens feel inspired by other young murderers. This case is so upsetting on so many levels, I hope Crystal has a fulfilling life for herself. RIP to the family :(
Man. Props to those police officers keeping such a casual tone in light of the horrible shit that kid is spewing.
Yeah, I can't imagine doing that at work, then going home to watch tv with the family tbh
I was thinking the same thing. He did a fantastic job establishing a rapport and keeping him talking. He’s even making it look easy, not betraying any of the horror I’m sure he was feeling. I’m sure he has some major trauma from it.
@@lifesabeachnyc8568 what a thoughtful comment ❤️ it must have been horrible, yes…
Just too horrific, never let these kids out.
I completely agree!
I always wonder if the reason they never released the interrogation video from the other brother is because the dude was so sick and brazen and clearly enjoying retelling the events that night...
Very likely. The way he wanted to be infamous and known, plus the way he was smiling in the mug shot really points to that. And I'm actually happy he didn't get that and they never released his interrogation. Can't imagine what awful things he was saying there.
@Ira S yeah, it's freaking sick to think about. They made the correct call not releasing that to the public
Probs
We the public still have the right to see/hear it.
@@Bubba__Sawyer why?
I teach children Christopher and Victoria's age. I see the way they talk about their older siblings. They idolize them. I also see how upset they can get from minor trivialities and situations. I can't imagine those poor children, alone and in a situation that would be terrifying to even an adult. And then to be betrayed by their older brother? My heart hurts.
I watch/listen to so many crime channels throughout multiple platforms. I don't normally click on stories I already know about
HOWEVER
when *dreading* posts, i just can't help myself!
This creator never fails to dig that much deeper to give me a more complete picture and this case is no exception
Thank you
the fact that the neighbors didn’t even know the names of the family members until the killings is so telling. these children were isolated and cut off from society. each brother that you can hear speaking (Robert, Michael, and Daniel) had speech impediments. Their parents were almost ten years apart in age and married when their mother was below the age of consent. What a horrible upbringing. no wonder that a couple of them began to resent their family.
No, Robert speaks pretty normally. The rest that you hear all have this similar mumbly cadence.
How is it telling? None of my neighbors know our names and my kids are very active in sports and music.
Maybe you and your friends were never teenagers, but most teens resent their parents to some extent. Virtually none kill their whole family. These monsters even killed their siblings who had nothing to do with anything. To suggest that their upbringing is what caused this is incredibly ignorant.
The victim blaming is really getting old.
Doesn't give them a reason to kill, especially their brother && sister's.
I don't know the names of any of my neighbours, or their kids.
@@Adelicowsyea I immediately started questioning myself. I was like, wait a minute, we didn't know our neighbors 🤔
I’m a big true crime junkie but this is easily one of the most heinous cases I’ve ever seen. Even just hearing someone that young talk about him and his brother “going after the little kids” and killing them in such horrific, not fast ways is so nauseating
"Hate is a strong word, you shouldn't hate anyone."
Nah man. If I was betrayed by my own flesh and blood who i grew up with, played with, grew experiences with and survived to tell the tale, nah that warrants hatred towards those 2.
It baffles me how Robert convinced Michael to go along with this idea. If my older son said “let’s kill somebody” or “let’s be mass murders,” he’d say no.
I guess maybe he started by showing him videos and praising the boldness of the killers or criticizing their technique and discussing how to do better and it started off as fantasy before he broached it. I still can’t understand why the younger brother (Michael) didn’t seek help when his murderous brother started buying weapons. He actively stabbed his little siblings!
I can’t wrap my head around it.
Family dysfunction is powerful
He was lying, the sister proved his whole act was fake when she testified against him. He was committed and gladly took part in the murder, you dont stab someone more than 20x times let alone multiple people if you dont get satisfaction out of it.
I'm a little concerned with how you can't believe your younger son wouldn't go along with it, but your older son might theoretically say something like that. No offense at all, but if you feel something is even slightly off with either one, I recommend counseling! Counseling helped me a lot as a teen and boys for sure are in desperate need of talk therapy, just something to consider if they're adolescents.
he saying it as an example of course neither of his sons would never do something like that or go along with something like that, only time a little brother religiously follows the older is when there is neglect from the parents@@aqualms
My god, Daniel's phone call and hearing his little voice and then knowing what happened after has made me feel so sick. Those poor babies :(
I listen to a lot of these cases, but this one is... I have no words. The depravity is overwhelming.
This case just has always chilled me to the bone.☠And the pictures of them after committing the crimes as they were covered in blood,the slight smirk on Robert's face...😱Such a tragedy.😢May the victims rest in peace.🙏
I know, that's the most shocking part. I just could never imagine my children doing something like this.
In case you haven't heard this lately Dreading you do fantastic work and the way you dig deep into showing everyone involved's perception and follow through the entirety of the impact of each situation is incredible and I thank you for your hard work in doing what you do to bring these stories to life for us while being so respectful of all involved 🕊️💖
You have no clue how happy I am to have found a true crime channel that actually seeks justice for the victims, rather than just wanting views and fame. I love that you go for lesser known stories, and always prioritize the victims and their families over sensationalizing the crimes for views. You always leaving out the harsh details of the violence shows you have a true, deep respect for the victims & their loved ones. You don't cover this stuff just for views, for clout or for money. You do it because you genuinely care, and it shows. We _desperately_ need more true crime creators like you. Thank you dreading for being a beacon of hope in the often dark, sensationalized, and clickbait-ridden shithole that is the true crime community on this website. Thank you for all that you do for the victims and their loved ones. That's why you're not only my _favourite_ true crime channel, but you're also basically the *ONLY* true crime channel I watch at all! I hope you had a great day, and an even greater day tomorrow!
It’s not really lesser known
I know this case well
@@Synthpoptroubadour Well, it's lesser known to me 🤷🏻♀
I second this..watching this channel has made it almost impossible to watch anywhere else because of how others treat the cases and victims and how the production is the sole focus for most of them.
@@ASTXREA oh god
As a content creator production is incredibly important, and I suppose it’s hard for you to understand because you’re not a content creator
@@Synthpoptroubadour hahaha who are you and why are you taking this personally? 🤔 these are real victims and real peoples lives and there are so many other ways to create content that doesnt have to do with dramatizing the story and disregarding the lives that were lived and now lost and the people close to them. Don’t take things personally unless you too dont care about the real victims and thats what youre trying to say here? Weird.
Kids like this that have no real life friendships or interactions with other kids are always such a red flag. They literally have no idea what normal social situations are supposed to be. I have never heard of a kid sheltered this way that didn’t end up seriously weird, and unfortunately in this situation they ended up completely detached from reality. Nothing wrong with home school, but they still have to get out and mingle with other kids.
Not just kids like these.
I was one of those kids and I have some really really major mental health problems and I am lucky to not have APD. It reall does blow my mind that just anybody can go around raising kids when they don't know what theyre doing. Human beings are the most dangerous species on the planet and we go around making more.
I never had and grow up in bad bording schools and i am fine so no red flags there
Then why were all the other siblings completely normal 😐
devastating, my god. i just, have no words to describe the pit in my stomach hearing that baby asking for help. a baby, trying to help the same brother that took his life....
im sickened.
The officer’s body language says everything. He appears that he’s trying everything to not lose his shit on this kid. So disgusting and horrific, this case.
There's no way I could ever do dispatch. You deal with insane things daily. I'm sure it takes it's toll on someone. Just the thought of some kid calling and saying their parents are hurt or dead is rough enough. Then you hear the fear and pain in their voice crying. You soon realize that the nightmare isn't quite over yet. To all you dispatch operators out there. Thank you for doing a job many people can't and won't want to do.
I live next to Broken Arrow where this happened. The house was torn down and a memorial was put up. Some say in the middle of the night, they can sometimes hear children’s screams. Police have even been called out there on occasion.
this case has always rocked me to my core. I have six brothers, me being the third child and only girl, and i cannot imagine how disturbed you have to be to hurt your own siblings. I love my brothers more than life itself and the only time i've hurt someone was to protect my younger brother. those poor babies, i hope they've found peace in the afterlife
Wonderful job on this video. So heartbreaking 💔 it's obvious that April really loved her kids...just to be murdered by two of them. That 911 call broke my heart to pieces. It just cutting off suddenly gave me chills 💔💔
This case blows my mind. Happy you’re covering it. I’ve suggested Gwen shamblin as a deep dive and Takoda Collins as his story is hard to piece together and there’s basically no pics of him.
I am so upset they tricked their little brother and 4 year old sister to open the bathroom door pretending one of them wanted to hide in their too. And then to do what they did to those poor babies..... That is just so heartbreaking, so evil. I wish we could invent a time machine and go back and rescue those terrified little kids in the bathroom. I don't know how the stabbing brothers can live with themselves for what they have done. It is one thing to be angry at your parents, but even then you should not stab them, but to kill their terrified younger brother and sister is just a whole new level of evil. Especially since the little ones were trying to save one of their brothers lives by opening the door.
I absolutely love your commentary. Your wit, kindness, compassion, disdain and disgust all come across very well while being educational and thought provoking. Your cadence and intonation is always appropriate. Thank you for producing such fine, professional content. I’m pretty sure I can speak for most of us that we all truly appreciate you!
the fact they wore body armor to protect themselves from children 😵💫😵💫😵💫
I really enjoy that channel, and I've heard a breakdown of this case, so i am aware of what happened, but i am calling it quits about 20 minutes in. This was a rough one
Wow just wow… glad you opened with info on mother, so tragic.
This reminds me a bit of the Stockdale family, who was on the show "Wife Swap" years ago. There seems to have been some kind of psychological issues with the parents, which is likely to have been the case here too. The whole family led a rather reclusive lifestyle, which did not allow the children to form friendships outside of the family. It's not uncommon for parents like this to either downplay some of the signs of mental problems that might be showing, or avoid getting help. This is sad for all involved.
Add to that the abuse they endured, and it's a recipe for disaster. While the mother might have been a naturally nice person, she allowed the children to be abused, which is horrible in itself.
My heart goes out to everyone affected, particularly the siblings who were quite literally hunted down by their own brothers. To know that the boy who called 911 didn't live is beyond heartbreaking. 💔
I 100% believe Robert would’ve killed Michael had he not participated. But Michael had EVERY CHANCE to stop this. Every chance.
The gentleman doing the interview is REALLY good at his job. The kid is calmly and in detail telling this guy how he and his brother slaughtered the entire family so brutally and the investigator is very matter-of-fact and just Really good at acting like he’s really interested in them and what THEY went through. Both interrogators did a great job keeping cool, and using very cool, calm voices to ask questions and confirm their understanding. This is chilling though, for real.
Wow.. that whole part where he’s like “I can tell you’re a good kid and I don’t want people to start thinking you’re a bad guy or a liar, so I want to get everything straight so people don’t report bad things about you”
That is a BRILLIANT way to get a kid to spill their guts. This guy is so good.
He’s talking to a child, I’m certain he did want to know Michael’s side. Especially if how others have speculated Robert’s interrogation hasn’t been released because he displayed cold blooded remorselessness. This interrogator was specifically called in because he specializes in speech impediments, so I imagine Robert’s interview occurred first.
I have watched many of your videos now and have learned about cases and situations that should have gotten more attention than they have. I think what you are doing is incredible and possesses an amount of compassion that I thought was lost. Thank you and keep it up. Regardless of UA-cam, you will always have supporters.
This is one of the most horrific tragedies I've ever heard. So unbelievably sad.
He was angry at society so he kills a 4 year old girl, his sister. Doesn't make sense. Sick minds!
I love your Chanel. You are so thorough with detailing every aspect of each case. I have always loved true crime and always wanted to research my sisters murder. She was only 2 years old and the only 2 people in the house were my mother and her boyfriend. Neither of their stories add up and my whole life I have wanted the truth. I've tried looking things up myself but I never really get further than what I already know. It would be amazing to have someone cover her case. It was a big deal in our small town for a while, the trial was on the local news. There was alot of shady things that went on and I never really felt like she truly got justice. Noone ever admitted to what happened but they both did time. Just no nearly enough. Not even 13 years between the two of them. She's been gone for 20 years now and I still think and wonder about her every day. Her name was Whitney Terri Williams we were from Princess Anne, Maryland. I know its a long shot since it's a small town case but it would be amazing to have you look into and see you cover her case. She would be 23 this year and I wish so badly to know what happened to my baby sister.
"We'd be on wikipedia"
Cop: "That'd be a big deal"
Adding captions during the interrogation parts would be nice :/ it’s hard to understand sometimes and the automated captions aren’t always accurate
Yeah ... The volume is too low and the kid does not enunciate properly, its hard to follow.
I put on the yt closed captions and reading it was almost worse than this kids mumblings. I agree, captions on interrogation videos really helps.
Psychopaths might identify with a killer and might be inspired by true crime, normal people just try to understand how to identify them and protect themself against them...
I don't think the parents had a clue. No signs or none detected. What a nightmare. Your killer is a family member that lives in your house.
True, as an NDE and assault survivor, I watch these videos in hopes to understand the psychopathy and to somewhat normalize what I went through. But hadn't even thought about the fact that a psychopath would idolize these people. Seems so obvious yet I just hadn't thought about it.
@@BettyWhite2171 Well, there where red flags like his fascination with knifes, idolisation of serial-killers and his strive to be fameous trough youtube and then through murder... and those are just the ones that can be seen in this shirt clip...
I think you are one of, if not, the best true crime channel out there. The effort you put into your videos is incredible. Thanks for all the amazing content.
Please don’t pit these channels against each other. They hall have their pluses and minuses. Thank you
R.I.P to this family so sorry for this tragic situation… I pray that the sister finds peace and is successful in life.. sending love and positivity to all those effected 🙏💕☀️
The saddest part of all this was the parents well intended isolation was probably their downfall. I know the internet was both my best friend and worst enemy in the darkest times of my life.
We were raised (born in 2000) by the internet in the way Gen x latchkey kids were groomed by the color televisions. We can only break the cycle by having empathy and living in reality and the outside world… was it the fathers decision to keep them in, or did he oppose it - if he was abusive?
"who never got to live on her own" Dreading, the way you phrased this really impacted me
hearing true crime cases covering children is always hard but I think adding the perspective that April was married at 15 and was in the middle of raising 7 children, one just a toddler, when she died really hit me hard.
She deserved to reach retirement age, she deserved to live on her own with her husband if they were still committed
but she never got that. she was so kind and nice her whole life - i hope her two remaining children understand she loved them going forward
I feel super sorry for the Mother. I think her Reddit posts are extremely telling, I think not only is she trying to convince other people having children isn’t any harder than not having children but she is trying to convince herself. She must have been depressed if you look at the video of the two brothers next to the computer in the living room the house was disgusting, the rug was filthy and everything looked greasy and there was a ton of unecessary clutter all over the computer desk. I can’t blame it on having 7 kids because My Nana had 12 and her house was spotless but My Mom had 1, me and the only cleaning that got done was because she made me do it and our house was always filthy and she would blame it on me but it wasn’t me it was her being lazy and mentally ill. As soon as my Moms mental health would take a turn for the worst you could always tell by how much clutter, how much mess and how high the dishes were piled up that it was about to get really bad.
No, what would have been right for her would have been to get far away from her p*do husband who groomed and ass aulted her as a 15 year old. I feel so sorry for her and her children.
The dad was 24 when he married that 15 year old.
The dad basically had 8 kids. Disgusting.
@@dickwellington8578 that's why i said if they were still committed. it don't want to assume anything more sensational since they're passed now, but I can only hope April was able to experience genuine happiness and love before her life was taken
Please cover the town of Thunder Bay, Ontario. We have had so many indigenous children killed and the Canadian government have found our police department too racist to effectively police this town. Our mayor and police chief were both charged with bribery several years ago as well. Crave recently released a documentary called Thunder Bay about the murders. I really think these cases need more coverage! Most of Canada doesn't know that a third of all hate crime in Canada happens in the Thunder Bay region despite our small population. I am a criminology student because of the chaos in my hometown.
Good luck on that Crim degree. Couldn't use mine.
@@Christine-jz5nk My Mom used her degree to work for the State of Maine's Fraud Investigator for DHHS. Investigating people who lie on their applications for TANF (welfare), food stamps, Mainecare.
For instance, someone filled out an application asking for TANF because their partner left them with four kids and no work experience, so no income, no ownership of land, no vehicle and no money in the bank. So the person gets approved.
Some time later someone calls in a complaint and says the person who has been collecting TANF, food stamps and Mainecare, actually has their partner liveing with the applicant the entire time. Not only didn't he move out but they own a really nice boat, a cpl really nice cars and it's just become known that they bought some land and are building a brand new house.
So my Mom would have to investigate EVERYTHING gathering proof so those people could be arrested and charged. For costing the state sometimes hundreds of thousands of dollars. Its usually the people who already have money, look down on poor people, who lie and defraud the government.
It totally depends upon where you choose to apply your degree.
That's so upsetting. I was welling up just reading about it. Those poor children!
@@Christine-jz5nk you could use your knowledge to start a UA-cam channel
Godspeed with your studying and work after that. It’s not easy to be the change, but it’s worth it and worthy of praise.
Just wanted to point out the fact that Dreading doesn't shy away from any the most high profile, disturbing, interesting, or necessary cases, whether recent or past history. I personally have respect for the research, presentation, and integrity with every single upload. Way to set the bar as not many, if any, have done anything more than posting the interrogation.
💯
Dreading has become a personal favorite. One reason being, they don't only do murders. They do videos on the worst pedophiles you can imagine or other kind of crimes that are still horrendous. I like them, jcs or the ones like em, criminally listed, and my top- this is monsters. Anytime a new dreading or monsters pops up, I watch within an hour of it being uploaded
shut up
I don’t dread seeing a dreading video, that’s for sure! 😂
Agree! Hate other crime channels that are so insanely disrespectful regarding the victims like Stephanie Soh (mukbang and laughing/giggling while talking about murders) and That Chapter (makes jokes and has a specific dance if someone died because of insurance money) 💔 Dreading keeps in respectful and informative!
One thing that I would really love to see on this channel would be subtitles for the interrogation!
I watch every one of your videos but hearing about tricking their younger siblings to open a locked door so they can kill them is too gut wrenching to hear about again.
I've never seen this case presented in such a way, and it's completely shifted my opinion. You can always count on Mr Dreading to approach even the most harrowing incidents with unmatched respect & empathy.
As someone with two older siblings, sister and a brother, it's truly horrifying how someone could do something as horrible as this to their own for absolutely no reason. And it's so heartbreaking that they tricked them to opening the doors by pretending one of them was in danger and they believed them. I love my siblings and just imagining the horror of realizing your own family member is trying to kill your whole family.... I feel so bad for all of the victims. It was so hard to listen to the 991 call from Daniel. Their mother, April, also seemed like such a nice woman just trying to do her best and helping others. It is truly tragic that two members of their family would plan this just for a bigger number of victims, and so that they wouldn't find out about what they were planning.
I didnt know the mom posted all of that on reddit! This is why i love watching vids about cases ive heard before. Always some new info!
I'd heard of this case but never delved into it. Thank you Dreading for putting this together. What a terribly sad event. I can't understand the sickness involved in doing this.
RIP David, April, Daniel, Christopher and Victoria. I hope that Crystal is making a good recovery both physically and emotionally and that both her and Autumn are well cared for.
Glad you’re covering this man. We lived less than a mile away from the Bever’s and couldn’t believe when we heard about this. Broken Arrow was always a really quiet and friendly town, so this was a huge shock. This happening and a mass shooting at the hospital my wife and I worked at was enough to convince us to move out of state. This was such a horrible case, thank you for bringing attention to their family. Can’t imagine what the survivors are still going through till this day.
Thank you for bringing us this case! Though I’ve seen it on other channels, but you always have a certain way of bringing us cases with respect and compassion to those involved and find as much background about each one. ♥️ keep up the good work!
Also, I hope other subscribers are thanking you using that Super Thanks button if they’re in the position to do so. You deserve all the support you can get. 😊
Thank you for donating! I hope to be able to afford to do so soon. They definitely deserve it.
@@meganwilson2742 🤩 it’s the thought that counts ♥️ have a wonderful evening
i’ve heard this story at least once before but you guys manage to somehow find extra info for every story you cover bravo
I understand the parents hesitancy with what happened to their oldest to send their other kids to public school, but allowing them unfettered access to the internet gave them a very narrow very warped unrealistic view of the world. It’s sad all around.
i just can't grasp this...killing your own family.... for what? to be infamous? i have six siblings too. the idea that any of them (let alone two) would have ever thought about something like this is beyond my comprehension. the trust between us is on another level. we're deeply connected by so many memories and shared experiences....
listening to what these two did to their family...it's heartbreaking to imagine...
He was 26 and she was 15 when they married.
That part
It is so similar to the "Wife Swap" case in that very sheltered and socially awkward son(s) killed their mother
11:20 he looks so happy and carefree. this is one of the most depressing videos i have watched. excellent work.