Mind Over Murder

07/17/2025

"Mind Over Murder" podcast hosts Bill Thomas and Kristin Dilley discuss the mass kidnapping of 26 elementary school students and their bus driver in rural Chowc

07/14/2025

We had started a few weeks ago with an updated version of our editing software which seemed to result in our audio levels being too loud for some listeners. Our apologies-- we have made some adjustments and hopefully, we will have better sound going forward.

07/14/2025

Author and journalist Maureen Boyle joins "Mind Over Murder" co-hosts Bill Thomas and Kristin Dilley to discuss her book "Shallow Graves: The Hunt for the New B

07/13/2025

Has anyone had any problems with the audio quality on the Mind Over Murder podcast lately? One listener mentioned it this morning, but only the one person has brought it up. Does the podcast sound OK on your system? Thanks. Bill and Kristin

07/12/2025

"Mind Over Murder" co-hosts Bill Thomas and Kristin Dilley discuss the bombshell news that suspect Bryan Kohberger has agreed to plead guilty to murdering 4 col

07/07/2025

Guilty verdict in the mushroom poisoning trial in Australia.

Three people died in 2023 after eating beef Wellington made by Erin Patterson, whose subsequent trial gripped the country.

07/07/2025

On today’s brand new episode we take a deep dive into Bryan Kohberger’s plea deal in the Idaho 4 case. We discuss the deal itself, the response from the families, and Bill offers his personal experience on being the family member of a murder victim. This is part 1 of 2, with part 2 dropping on Thursday!

"Mind Over Murder" co-hosts Bill Thomas and Kristin Dilley discuss the bombshell news that suspect Bryan Kohberger has agreed to plead guilty to murdering 4 col

07/04/2025

Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Caroline Fraser joins "Mind Over Murder" co-hosts Bill Thomas and Kristin Dilley to discuss her new book "Murderland: Crime and Bloodlust in the Time of Serial Killers." The work explores the provocative premise that environmental toxins may have led men living in the Pacific Northwest to become serial killers. Could a poisonous mix of lead, copper and arsenic fumes spewing out of a massive industrial smelting plant in Tacoma, Washington have impacted those living in its shadow?

Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Caroline Fraser joins "Mind Over Murder" co-hosts Bill Thomas and Kristin Dilley to discuss her new book "Murderland: Crime and Bl

07/04/2025

The $40 million lawsuit filed by Abby Zwerner after she was shot in her classroom by a six-year-old student in 2023 will finally move forward in October. See the story below for who is actually going to trial.

If you want the full text of the actual court ruling, it’s at the bottom of the WAVY story. Anyone in education should take a look at that ruling; it’s…illuminating.

Former Richneck Elementary School teacher Abby Zwerner’s $40 million lawsuit, filed after she was shot by one of her students, will be heading to trial. However, now, only one person will be …

07/03/2025

New York Times bestselling author Casey Sherman joins Mind Over Murder hosts Bill Thomas and Kristin Dilley to discuss his new true crime book, "Blood in the Wa

07/02/2025

Summary of the Kohberger plea deal livestream. This is a lot, so be prepared for a read!

Wednesday, July 2 Plea Hearing:

At the beginning of Kohberger’s plea hearing this afternoon, Judge Stephen Hippler offered some prefatory remarks. He began by addressing the barrage of phone calls, emails, messages, and voicemails he and other court officials had received in the wake of the Goncalves’ family’s plea for anyone who opposed the deal to call the court and the judge directly. He stated that the overwhelming number of messages was keeping the court from being able to conduct its regular business. He stated that it was inappropriate for the public to make such calls as it kept other cases from receiving equal time and effort from the court.
“The court is not supposed to, and this court will never, make decisions based on public opinion,” he said.

He also reminded those in the courtroom, as well as the audience watching the various livestreams of the event, that the prosecution is the sole authority in deciding what penalty it is seeking for a crime. “Even if the court rejects this plea, it cannot force the state to seek the death penalty.”

Judge Hippler also acknowledged and apologized for the short notice of the hearing, which left many of the families with little time to get to Idaho. He stated that he himself was unaware of the plea deal until the rest of the world learned about it on Monday; he said up until then he was working on trial prep and the arduous task of vetting as many as 10,000 potential jurors to be able to convene a jury of 12 (and alternates) for the case. He said as soon as he received the information about the plea, he wanted to act on it quickly so that if it fell through, he could resume trial prep.

The plea hearing proceeded as expected, with Kohberger pleading guilty to four counts of first-degree murder and one count of burglary. He did not offer any additional statement other than “yes or no” answers.

The prosecution presented the evidence they would have offered against Kohberger at trial, which consisted of DNA, cell tower data, surveillance footage, and Amazon search and purchase history.

The defense and prosecution both waived pre-sentencing investigation and asked to proceed to July 23rd for sentencing. (The judge noted that this was a week that the courtroom calendar had been entirely cleared of all other cases so that jury selection could begin for the trial--which will obviously no longer be necessary).

The judge and prosecution both expressed their desire for family members to present victim’s impact statements if they chose, and set a start time of 9am on July 23rd so that the statements and sentencing could be an all-day process.

The judge ordered the gag order to remain in place until the sentencing.

If Kohberger will be required to offer an allocution for this crimes (basically outlining everything he did and why he did it) that will come at the sentencing hearing on July 23rd.

07/02/2025

We watched the livestream so you didn’t have to! We’ll do a write-up of the highlights shortly and post them here! We are recording our thoughts tonight for a Monday episode drop on the Kohberger plea. Stay tuned!