Ep 284: Bree Kuhn (Death of Collin Turner)
01:06:26 Share

Colin Turner, an ex-Marine gunnery sergeant, and Bree Kuhn, a Navy chief petty officer, were at war with each other. Colin and Bree were husband and wife, living in Gulf Breeze in Florida's Panhandle. Bree was the breadwinner of the family and worked long hours. While she was gone, Colin was the stay-at-home dad.

By all accounts, he was a devoted dad who loved his kids. The two he had with Bree, who were three and four, and Bree's 12-year-old daughter from a previous relationship. Colin also studied electrical engineering online and was two classes short of finishing his bachelor's degree. Neither 34-year-old Bree nor 33-year-old Colin seemed happy in their marriage, however. Bree had severe depression. She felt trapped.

Colin wanted a break too. He talked about taking the kids up north to Georgia to stay with his parents. Bree had made an appointment to see a divorce attorney, but she would later say she feared she would lose custody of her kids if she left. On the night of September 7th, 2021, Bree and Colin went to bed, incredibly angry at each other.

The next morning, Brie took Colin's laptop and put it in the dishwasher and then turned it on. Three 911 calls were made within a span of six hours on September 8th, 2021. This is from the third and final call. Your call is to emergency.

The dispatcher asked for his address, and he gave it to her. He was cut off by the sound of gunshots.

She just shot me, he says. Then more shots. Then silence as the dispatcher clearly tries to put together what she just heard. She just shot him. I just heard four shots. So are you there? Colin Turner lay dead on the garage floor. Three .40 caliber shell casings were near his body. Colin called 911. Unfortunately...

Colin did not call 911 in time to save his own life. But him calling 911 hopefully will ensure that his murderer does not get away with it. I think if a person is going to plan a murder like this while he's on with 911, come on.

This is Jillian in partnership with Law & Crime. You are listening to Court Junkie, episode 284. This past New Year's Eve, I had a bunch of people over, and I kid you not, two of my friends commented that they love the taste of our water from our AquaTrue water purifier we have on our counter.

I've said it before that the taste is something where you can really notice a difference. And it's definitely not just me that notices.

As you likely know, drinking water is important to staying hydrated and healthy. But if you're like me, you'd probably rather not drink tap water. After all, according to extensive research by the Environmental Working Group, three out of four homes in America have harmful contaminants in its tap water. And that's something I definitely want to avoid. That's why you've got to check out AquaTrue. AquaTrue purifiers use a four-stage reverse osmosis purification process

and their countertop purifiers work with no installation or plumbing. That's the type that we have. It removes 15 times more contaminants than ordinary pitcher filters. And if you don't want the countertop version, not to worry. They have water purifiers that fit every type of home, including higher capacity ones that go underneath your sink. They even have a Wi-Fi connected purifier and alkaline mineral options.

The technology AquaTrue uses is the same technology used by all the major bottled water brands. Now it's available in your home without the plastic waste. And the filters are affordable and long-lasting. Instead of having to change them every two to three months, AquaTrue filters last from six months to two years. I've been drinking more water, and so have my husband and our kids. And with AquaTrue, I know that it's not just filtered, but purified.

AquaTrue comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee and even makes a great gift. Today, my listeners receive 20% off any AquaTrue purifier. Just go to AquaTrue.com, that's A-Q-U-A-T-R-U.com, and enter the code COURT at checkout. That's 20% off any AquaTrue water purifier when you go to AquaTrue.com and use the code COURT.

I live just outside Chicago, so most of my winter nights are enjoyed inside with my fireplace lit, hot beverage in hand, cuddled up under some blankets, and watching my favorite TV show. Once the kiddos have fallen asleep, of course. I didn't think that could get any better until I transformed my winter bed with bowl and branch. You can build the coziest bed imaginable with bowl and branch, makers of the iconic bedding that will change the way you relax and sleep.

A good place to start is with Bowlin Branches best-selling signature sheets. They feel buttery, breathable, and get softer with every wash. These sheets are the perfect foundation for better sleep, and you can easily add Bowlin Branches bed blankets, duvets, and quilts without making your bed feel heavy or hot, which is something I really appreciate since I get hot pretty easily at night.

We've had Bowlin Branch signature sheets for years now, and I can't go back to using anything else. They're super soft, buttery-like, and they really do get softer over time. Our last sheets seemed to get thinner as time went on, but not these. Bowlin Branch products are made different, so you can sleep better at night. They're woven with the finest 100% organic cotton on earth and crafted by artisans who earn the pay and respect they deserve.

Best of all, they have a 30-night worry-free guarantee where you can try their sheets for an entire month. Seriously, you can wash, style, and feel the difference for yourself risk-free. If they don't change the way you sleep, you can send them back for a full refund. Now's your chance to change the way you sleep with Bowlin Branch. Get 15% off plus free shipping on your first set of sheets at bowlinbranch.com slash quartz.

That's BollandBranch, B-O-L-L-A-N-D, branch.com slash court to save 15% off. Exclusions apply. See site for details. Many in the outside world knew there was a situation unfolding in Bree and Colin's home on the day of the shooting. Earlier, law enforcement had been called out there twice to 6184 Jenks Drive.

Bree's ex-boyfriend, older brother, and even her boss knew the couple was fighting fiercely in front of the children. A phone call interrupted a military meeting at the naval airbase in Pensacola, Florida. An executive secretary warned Craig Forehand that Bree's husband was on the line. Craig was a witness for the state at Bree's murder trial.

What did Colin inform you was happening during this phone conversation? At that point, when he called, he informed us that Bree had removed their access to their financial information, as well as he put his computer through the dishwasher. At that point, he also informed me that she had been missing her therapy appointments and had been skipping work over the past several days.

And then he told me or he told us, Exel and I, that he wanted to take their children back home to his parents' home in Georgia. And then he also informed us at that time that the sheriff's office at some point that morning had come to their home as well. And about what time was that conversation? Do you remember? That was about 1400 or two o'clock.

And during this conversation, what was Colin's demeanor? He was very calm, very articulate and well-spoken at that time. Was he angry? No, sorry. It was just a very general, casual conversation like we're having now. It wasn't escalated or anything. It wasn't any hollering or screaming. It just seemed very reasonable to me.

He said the Navy views something like this, removing a spouse's access to finances or causing damage to their stuff, as a form of emotional abuse. He said they didn't have the authority to order Bree to give Colin his access back, but that they did have a program available called the Family Advocacy Program, which is designed to help families that are struggling.

sort of at the conclusion of this conversation was, um, Colin given any guidance or any further, uh,

people that he could contact. You mentioned the family advocacy program. Oh, yes, sir. So at the end of this conversation, we kind of left off. I asked him, you know, did he feel safe in the current situation in which he responded? He did. And then I also gave him the number to our family advocacy counselor as well. So he could he could communicate to them. And that would help, you know, again, help them with their family struggles as well.

And when you say you asked me if you felt safe, was that a standard question you asked in these kind of situations? Yes, sir. When typically I get a spouse calling or even any kind of event, what I call a family flare up, I always want to make sure, you know, safety is always the number one goal. So I always ask those questions. Do you feel safe? And after this conversation ended with Colin, did you have any concerns about his either his safety or Bree's safety? Yeah.

No, sir, not at all. Craig was a senior enlisted leader and knew Bree personally. She was his assistant, helping him with his calendar and day-to-day tasks for the past several months. He said he called her that day after he got off the phone with Colin. I re-edited to her what Colin told me, which was, you know, that she damaged his computer, he removed access to finances and wanted to take...

And I'm sorry. Yeah, so those two questions in which she stated that he was lying about the situation. And then – Did she say what had caused this argument to flare up most recently? Yes, sir. So I asked – right. I asked her, like, what happened? Like, how did we get here in this situation? And she said that it started the previous night before where he – where she –

where she wanted to watch a TV show and he did not. And that was kind of the start of this situation. That's what she told you started the argument? Yes, sir.

And what was her demeanor during this conversation with you? So when I talked to her, she was very calm as well. Very calm, very, very, very calm and very professional in the conversation. So that at that point, I didn't have any concerns either with the situation. He said at the time of the shooting, Bree was on active duty, but was stationed with them as a limited duty sailor. And what was the reason for that? Do you know?

I know she had in the past, she had a suicide ideation. So she was stationed with us to receive the aftercare treatment for that. And to your knowledge, was she receiving the treatment for that? Yes, sir. She was in an IOP or intensive outpatient program. As far as the specifics of the program, I'm not privy to that. Yes, sir. Now I want to talk to you about September 8th of 2021. Okay.

On the day of the shooting? Yes, sir. Did you expect Ms. Kuhn to come to work that day? Yes, sir. And at some point, did you notice that something was amiss? I noticed right around lunchtime she wasn't there. How or when did you first have contact with her? Okay, so that was about 11.40 in the morning just to check on her and see how things were going because she wasn't where I expected her to be.

Just like he did with Colin, he posed the same question to Bree. Do you feel safe at home? Yes, Bree said she felt safe. And she told him she felt her kids were safe too. Bree said she didn't want to use a barracks room to cool down for a few days. She was worried about Colin leaving and taking the kids to Georgia. Instead, she said she already had her next move planned out.

She wanted to get a lawyer and file for temporary custody of her kids. 4.45, we talked again about that time. I texted Bree and I asked her if the situation had settled down and to which she responded no.

Did you elaborate at that point as to what was going on? Oh, yes, sir. At that point, so when she texted me, no, I called her back. And she said that her and one of her younger children, I don't know which one, were in the...

Okay, she said that her and one of her younger children in the backyard and that Colin had taken the child from her. And she stated the child was crying, but she did not believe that Colin was going to hurt the child. And then she stated that Colin was outside with the child. And I asked her, okay, and that was that conversation about. And again, was there any discussions of did she feel safe? Did the children feel safe? How did she respond to that conversation? Yeah.

Yes, sir. This time I asked her if her and Colin had any guns, and she said Colin had the guns in the truck, and she stated that she had a handgun. I'm sorry. She stated that he had a handgun and a rifle in the truck and that she had a pistol. And then I read at that point in the conversation that to call the police if the situation escalated, and she said she was safe and that Colin will calm down.

And was that the last discussion you had with Bree prior to the shooting? Yes, sir. I tried to text her later, but no response at that point. Minutes later, at 4.57 p.m., the sheriff's deputies responded for the second time that day. When Sheriff's Deputy Jamison Lynn arrived, Colin was outside in the driveway holding his daughter. Bree refused to let him inside.

Deputy Lynn's body camera was played for the jury.

Okay. Okay.

Okay. Okay. Okay.

They put in the notes something about kids going to Georgia. Yeah, that was the most closest alligator to the boat. Okay. But she was mad that I turned off the Wi-Fi last night, so she washed my laptop and dishwasher. Okay. And that's kind of like the last straw. Are you guys still married? I mean, for now, yeah. It's still legal and it's common property? Yep. What's yours is hers and hers is yours, unfortunately. Okay.

Yeah, so she's not allowed to stop me from entering my house? If it's your house and you still live here, by all means, you've got to enter your home however you've got to enter your home. Makes sense? Yeah, so she's allowed to change the locks and I'm allowed to break a window, is that what you're saying? I'm not telling you to break a window. If you want to tear it, it's your property. However, you've got to get into your house, you've got to get into your house. If it's your home and you live here and you've got your items in there, if you've got to get in however you've got to get in. You can't, like, escort me in, though, and...

Well, I'm going to talk to her in just a second, but we'll figure out what's going on. Okay.

Lainey started screaming that she doesn't want to go inside without daddy. Okay. And she wants Lainey to go inside without daddy. Okay. So. And so here we are. So here we are. Okay. At any point was this argument, was it physical? Was it anybody hit, scratch, kick, bite, push, anything like that? Poke, anything even? Nope. Okay. Deputy Lynn turned to Bree to hear her side of the story. Okay. So I'm Deputy Lynn with San Jose County Sheriff's Office, as I said earlier. So what's going on today?

I'm 10-4, thanks. Okay. Are they your kids or are they yours and his? Okay. And so he's more... Take him to Georgia. Okay.

Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay.

he said that there's allegations of emotional abuse okay um so obviously i don't want him in there okay you know him and i arguing in front of the kids now my daughter she wakes up sometimes like in her mobile from naps or whatever sure um it's usually like him and i will pass her back and forth it's kind of you know she's fickle who she wants better um so she woke up from the nap and

When you say your daughter, you mean that one? Yeah. Okay. Yeah, meanwhile, I had been, I had called him and texted him, like, hey, you know, we should talk. This is not the path we want to go down right now. Right. Yeah, when she woke up like that, I brought her out here because I'm, you know, she's used to him and I, so I brought her out here. Okay. So he can help calm her down. He snatched her from me and then started trying to use her to... Okay.

I don't know. Okay. He said, you know, she doesn't want to come in the house unless daddy's there. Okay. Being manipulative. Okay. It's not a good environment. I don't know if you overheard what I told him. It's his house too, right? He lives here too? So we can't lock each other out of the house. I mean, if we do, he's got every right to enter the house however he's got to enter the house. Okay. All right. Um, and same thing. If you change the locks, he's got every right to get in the house. However, he's got to get in the house. Okay. He lives here. He's got property here.

Deputy Lynn tried to play peacekeeper. Couldn't they sleep in separate rooms? Maybe Colin could stay on the couch? Why not get along for the sake of their kids? He warned them that if their fight turned physical, somebody was going to jail. Whether it's you, whether it's her, I don't know, he recalled telling Colin. It seemed like the tense situation was finally cooling down, but it was only just the beginning.

Then came the third 911 call, the one you heard at the beginning of this episode, where Bree shot her husband in the garage while he spoke on the phone with a dispatcher. Deputy Lynn returned to the house again in a hurry and snapped on a pair of black rubber gloves. He arrived just in time to see the paramedics pulling out the stretcher from the ambulance and Bree being searched for weapons and ushered into the back of a police car.

According to the body cam footage, Bree made a lot of statements to officers. She can first be heard asking, is he dead? She wore a t-shirt smeared in blood. Hold on, hold on, hold on real quick. We're going to search you, okay? Hold on to your hand real fast, okay? I don't know yet, man. I just got here. This is going to be a mess.

No, I'm fine. That's just my kids. My husband. Are the kids in the house? No, no. They're with the neighbor. Christy Curtis, John. Christy and John Curtis. Any other? I have nothing. Anything on you that I need to be aware of? No. I do have a bra on. I do have a bra on. I'm just going to pull it forward and make sure you don't have anything in it, okay? It's a nursing bra, so it's fine. Okay. He was dead.

I saw him and I tried to help him. He was dead. Well, let's not talk about that right now, okay? My kids don't have a dad or a mom. I guess it's my fault. So right now, we're just going to do this for right now, okay? You're shaking for hours, okay? I'm a murderer. Listen to me. You're not under arrest right now. You're being detained, okay? We'll investigate. No, you should arrest me. I killed my husband.

Deputy Lynn said he worried Bree was in shock. He urged her to breathe and asked one of the paramedics to check on her. Back in the interview room with detectives, Bree sounded soft-spoken as she described the day of the shooting.

She said she and Colin were arguing. Colin was threatening to take the kids and said no judge would give her custody since she had tried to kill herself several months prior. The fight got physical, Brie said. He threw her on the ground and said nobody would believe her because she was a crazy bitch. And so she called 911.

But from Bree's standpoint, there was nothing authorities could do because she didn't have any marks on her. Nobody had witnessed the attack. She said while Colin was on the phone with her command, she locked the doors. She took out the batteries to open the front door. He couldn't get in. But Colin didn't leave. He remained on the driveway, camped out in a lawn chair.

It's hard to understand the timeline of events Brie gave to police. By now, she was sobbing in the interview. I was banging on my neighbor's floor, shaking him to go that one way. And I had to take the kid so I could go back and help him because I shot him. How many times did you shoot him, Brie? I don't know.

Sure. So just to kind of... I didn't mean to shoot him. It was at least twice I didn't mean to shoot him. But I hurt him. And he was... He said something and just the look on his face. He just... What was the look on his face? He was going to kill me.

And that's how I was trapped. Okay. One of the officers asked where she got the gun. She said she didn't know, but that she put it in the kitchen afterwards. She said it was normally kept in her closet. She continued to ask if he was dead, and they told her yes, he passed away. Why did you have the gun when you went to the garage door? Do you know? No.

I just wanted them to go. Why didn't they arrest him when I called the police? Why didn't they arrest him? They wanted him dead. I wasn't out there. I told them. I told them.

Just prior to the shooting, Brie had ordered her 12-year-old daughter to watch the two youngest in Brie's and Colin's bedroom. The 12-year-old told law enforcement she heard the sounds of gunshots. The detectives urged Brie to give more details to tell her side of the story, since she was the only one alive who knew what happened. Why did she shoot her husband? Brie struggled to give an answer.

In his opening statements, the prosecutor told the jury he knew why she couldn't give a reason to police. They continue to ask her questions, and you'll see that, especially towards the end, a lot of the questions she does not want to answer. She either sidesteps, ducks completely. You'll see probably four or five times they ask her, what was he doing when you went out there? Where was he standing? What was he doing? Did he have anything in his hands? Every time, she ducks the question.

Now, you will see why she ducks the question. Because Colin was sitting there with his back to the door. She can't tell the police that. So she keeps just dodging the question. Because in her version, he's attacking her. Detective Rowell asks her, why did you go out there with the gun? Obviously, she had the gun when she went to the door. She says, I just wanted to go. She doesn't. He was locked out. She's inside with the children. She did not have a good reason for going to the door. But we know the reason. She went to the door to kill Colin.

The prosecutor also warned the jury during his opening that he was expecting the defense to call Dr. Julie Harper, a psychologist, as a witness. Dr. Harper, and I expect Dr. Harper will convey to you her version of what happened with Colin when she killed him. And you'll see that this version is radically different. Now she claims that she went out to the garage with a gun because she intended to commit suicide.

Tells Dr. Harper that she put the gun under her chin. Colin gave her a thumbs up while he's on the phone. And she was so shocked by his unchill-like attitude that she lowered the gun in surprise and then accidentally shot him right in the back. She then claims that Colin said, you're fucking dead. Charges at her. She shoots him again.

Court Junkie is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Fiscally Responsible. Financial Geniuses. Monetary Magicians.

These are things people say about drivers who switch their car insurance to Progressive and save hundreds. Because Progressive offers discounts for paying in full, owning a home, and more. Plus, you can count on their great customer service to help you when you need it, so your dollar goes a long way. Visit Progressive.com to see if you could save on car insurance.

Progressive casualty insurance company and affiliates. Potential savings will vary. Not available in all states or situations. Normally, I find bras to be pretty uncomfortable to wear, especially those underwire ones. I never like to say I hate anything, but you know...

And it's usually the first thing I'm just dying to take off the minute I get home from anywhere. But I find that's not the case when I'm wearing one of my bras from Skims. And I never thought I would actually like wearing underwire bras again, but here we are.

My favorite Skims bras are, of course, the wireless ones. But when I'm looking for more coverage and support, I go with the Fits Everybody t-shirt bra. First of all, there are a whole Fits Everybody line I just love. But this bra holds me in place and feels like it was made just for me.

Another one I really like is their Fits Everybody Unlined Demi Bra. This one is great because not only does it provide the support I'm looking for, but it's so seamless under so many of my tops. Shop Skims bras at Skims.com. Now available in 62 sizes, 30A to 46H. If you're looking for a bra that's easy to use,

If you haven't yet, be sure to let them know I sent you. After you place your order, select podcast in the survey and select court junkie in the drop down menu that follows. That's at skims.com. During her interview with police right after the shooting, an emotional Brie asked to call her dad. The detectives left the room and Brie called her father, who had already been informed of his son-in-law's death.

Bree sat in the room, a blanket wrapped around her legs as she spoke. Everything that was said was played for the jury. In the video, she tells her dad she's at the police station. You're at the police station? Yeah. All right. I killed Colin. I know you did, Jamie. I know you did. I'm just trying to figure out why. Was he threatening you? I don't know.

She doesn't answer, and instead her dad asks her how the kids are. She continues to sob. We had such a good weekend. He's my best friend. Hold on, speak clearly. No, I'm not here to do what? I know. You have to what? You're saying we had such a good weekend. That's what I heard. My best friend. I can't. Your dad said you guys had a great weekend, but for some reason, Colin started this thing last night with you and I.

I mean, you obviously didn't put his computer in the washer. We're clear on that, right? He's dead. He's dead, right? He's dead. Oh, yes, he is. I'm sorry about that. I'm very sorry. She tells him she talked to the police and told them she killed Colin. She then says she tried to help Colin after she shot him. I'm sorry. I'm sorry, her dad says.

He tells her everybody is trying to sort it out. He asks if she waived her right to an attorney, and she says yes. I think I need one, though, she says. I mean, I can't believe there was a reason it happened. You typically don't go around shooting people without a reason. You read me, you know her. In the middle of an argument, Eric seemed to think he sounded like Tom was mocking you at the time. But I don't know. I don't know.

Her dad starts crying, saying he can't believe it. I'm sure there was a reason, he says. I don't have the answer for this one. This is a big deal. I killed my best friend. She did. My husband, father of my kids. I just fucked up everybody. I killed him and fucked up everybody else's life.

Her dad talks to one of the officers and then gets back on the phone with Bree. He tells her that if she feels like she's going to hurt herself, she better point it out to someone. She agrees. Damn it. You know, I'm really pissed right now, Bree. I'm very mad at you. I know you're going through a terrible thing, but Jesus, this is so uncharacteristic. Why did you go through it? Why did you bring a gun? Was he going to hurt you?

I don't know. What's wrong? I don't know. Colin had been shot four times, the bullets entering through his back and exiting through his chest. As Dr. Deanna Oleski testified for the state, Dr. Oleski was the District 1 chief medical examiner who oversaw about 2,000 autopsies across four counties every year.

Dr. Oleski herself performed about 200 autopsies a year. Do you have any idea how many times you've observed gunshot wounds and determining exit versus entrance wounds? I'd say out of the 2,000 cases that I've, or autopsies I've performed, a solid 30% are gunshot-related cases. So yes, I'm very comfortable determining entrance versus exit. Okay.

Dr. Oleski, can you give us, are you able to determine after these gunshots were afflicted, how long would Mr. Turner remain alive in your opinion? Several minutes. The injury to the heart takes as long as it takes until your blood, there's so much blood around your heart that it can no longer effectively pump. So not more than a couple of minutes.

That gunshot wound by itself, which I believe was the fourth gunshot we described, in your opinion, would that have been a fatal wound in and of itself? Oh, yes. Would any of the other gunshot wounds, in your opinion, been fatal in and of themselves? I believe all of the gunshot wounds are fatal within themselves if not given enough time. But the last one was certainly the quickest.

At the time of his death, Colin was focused on being a student and a dad. He spent 14 years in the United States Marine Corps, getting promoted to gunnery sergeant. His work sounded dangerous. His obituary said he was most proud of his EOD, Explosive Ordnance Disposal, accomplishments in the Marine Corps.

At 33, he had quit the Marines. The defense said he left the military because he suffered a traumatic brain injury and was receiving 100% disability. They didn't go into details about what happened and how Colin got hurt or if it was while he was on active duty. But his brain injury didn't stop Colin from living a productive life.

In addition to taking online classes, he homeschooled his stepdaughter when school shut down during the COVID-19 pandemic. He was also only two classes short of graduating from his bachelor's degree in electrical engineering at Arizona State University. And he had already been accepted into Johns Hopkins University for a master's program in electrical engineering.

After Collins' death, Arizona State posthumously awarded Collins' family his bachelor's degree. Marines from across the country traveled to say goodbye at Collins' funeral. But Bree's defense team attacked Collins' character at Bree's trial. Here's what her attorney said during opening statements. I anticipate you're going to hear testimony from Bree.

that she closed this garage door because she was afraid of what Colin was going to do. You're going to hear testimony from her about what this man did to her. You need to know this, and you're going to find out during this case, is that he was 100% disabled. He didn't retire from the service. He quit.

He had traumatic brain injury. He had issues with his brain. You're going to hear Bree say, you're unstable. You're a danger to the kids. This is on tape. She's saying this. So we're not talking about a normal person here. And this is the dynamics that was happening there. He didn't do anything. He was supposed to be at home studying. All he did was stay in his room all the time. These kids were running out there by themselves,

You'll hear testimony from Bree. They weren't clothed properly. They weren't fed properly. The house was a wreck. This guy was in his room in his own little world the entire time. This woman was out. You're going to hear testimony. She would work from like 7 o'clock in the morning sometimes until 1 o'clock in the morning the next day to try to make ends meet. He wasn't doing a squat. She was the breadwinner, and all she got from him was abuse.

Mental abuse, physical abuse. She got raped repeatedly. They were stationed in North Carolina. She was raped up there when she was up there. When they got back here to Florida, she got raped again. All right, so who's going to be the defense's next witness? Brie Kuhn. Okay, so, Ms. Kuhn, I'm going to ask you to raise your right hand for me. Do you swear or affirm, tell me the truth, hold true, nothing but the true self to God? All right, Ms. Kuhn. But Brie Kuhn would never get up on the witness stand.

After telling the judge she would testify, she and her attorneys huddled together, and the judge gave them permission to leave the courtroom to go into an interview room to strategize. The trial took a 20-minute break. In a twist, Brie changed her mind. She declined to take the witness stand. The implications of Brie not testifying affected the rest of the defense's strategy.

Outside the jury's ears, Bre's attorney and Judge James Duncan discussed whether PTSD could be admissible in self-defense and whether it was required for the defendant to testify on the stand in order for the defense to be allowed to bring it up. Citing prior case law, the judge said if Bre didn't testify, the defense could not call any expert witnesses, like Dr. Julie Harper. No defendant on the stand, then no expert witness.

Remember, the prosecutor had told the jury in opening statements that Dr. Harper was planning to testify about Brie's mental health and her new version of what happened. That Brie was originally planning to die by suicide, but shot her husband instead on accident when he gave her a thumbs up sign.

The defense continued to argue that Brie killed Colin in self-defense under the battered spouse syndrome. Jurors would not learn more about Brie's PTSD and what had caused it, but they did learn that Brie had bad mental health and a history of suicide attempts, starting when she was just 13 years old.

One of the most interesting witnesses, since Brie herself would not testify, was her older brother, Eric Kuhn. The defense called Eric, now 38 years old, to the stand. Eric grew up with his younger sister Brie in Pennsylvania and Texas until he was in ninth grade. Her nickname for him was Bubba. Then Brie moved to live with their dad in New York.

Was there any, and again briefly, was there any physical abuse at all in the family? Yes, our mom was very abusive our entire childhood, even into adulthood. Was she ever physically abusive to Bree? Yes. Okay. Terribly. And to yourself? Oh, yes. What role, if any, did Bree play in being the big sister?

With regard to your... Well, she was the little sister, but I would always go along to get along. I would just... I figured if I kept my mouth shut, it wouldn't last nearly as long. My sister would even try to defend me and yell at my mom saying, why are you hitting him? And she would get hit very bad as well for trying to protect me. Was Bree a protector of yours, for lack of a better word, in that dynamic?

Yes, she's a little sister only by age. The siblings kept in touch even when they weren't living together. Eric was there to see his sister graduate from boot camp in Chicago and then at advanced training in Texas. When he went to visit her in Florida, both Bree and Colin confided in him that they were having marital problems. They thought telling a third person might help.

Did you notice any physical abuse on that trip? At least, obviously, in front of you. No, not that I saw, sir. Okay. Did you learn anything about Colin that you didn't know on that trip? Yes, sir. What did you learn? It was in my deposition, but I know he told me that the reason him and Bree got along very well is that they were both psychopaths and narcissists.

He seemed to think that was entertaining, I believe. I know we would talk about, I would go to the gym at that place and he would talk to me about like steroids and supplements and things like that, which I didn't. Eric testified that Bree was depressed. He said she was unhappy in the marriage and wanted out, but she thought she would lose the kids.

Colin came from a wealthy family who could afford a good divorce attorney and had resources to fight her. Bree, he said, thought she was trapped. I do know she tried to kill herself. I was with her on the phone, and I had even called Colin to tell him

This is what she's doing. She's in the house, and he couldn't care less. I actually had to call the medics to tell them to go to the house for her, pump her stomach. Let me back you up a bit, but then we can talk about that a little bit more. Now, I guess as the big brother, even though she's the de facto or de l'heure –

big sister, if you will. Did you ever give her any advice in terms of what she should do when she's telling you this stuff about the marriage and she's depressed? And did you ever tell her to like, just leave? Yes. And did she? No, she was quite scared, not for herself, but for her kids. Is that what she reported to you or you just assumed that? No, she told me that.

He said Brie was so worried that Colin would kidnap the children. When she had surgery, she asked Eric to come down to Florida, not to pick her up from the hospital or help her to recover, but to make sure the kids were OK. Eric testified that he had actually been on the phone with Brie when she shot Colin. He said they had been on the phone for 45 minutes. What are you hearing during that time?

In my sister's voice, utter fear. And then I heard a lot of discourse, Colin screaming, things being hit. At one point, he was on the phone with the police, I believe, trying to tell them that my sister was doing something and she was on the phone with me. Did you ever hear Colin make any threats or raise his voice or anything of that nature?

You did hear his voice raised a few times, yes, and I did hear at some point children crying. And there was a... Were you aware of a point in time when Bree got a gun? Were you aware of that? I don't believe that. Yeah, I believe... She grabbed the gun and I said, just get out of the house, get out of the house, and she said they killed the kid. She couldn't. And was there...

A point in time where you heard like, did she say, oh, he's hurting me or he kicked me or? Oh, yes. I heard slamming. She did say that she was even telling him, why are you doing this? And then she screamed that out. And at another point, the phone fell to the ground and I heard a scuffle. Did your sister, did you hear your sister say you're not taking the fucking kids? She said, you're not taking them. And she said, you're not killing them.

On Cross, the prosecutor asked Eric more about the trip to Florida when he stayed with Bree and Colin. So I want to touch on this trip that you and your sister took to Key Largo, was it?

With Colin. Yes. And you're there for approximately a week. Is that correct? Yes, sir. And you never, as you said, you never saw any physical abuse during that time, did you? No, sir. Did you suspect any physical abuse? No, sir. You never suspected anything other than the marital issues. You never suspected any kind of physical abuse, domestic abuse, rape, anything, did you? No, sir. And you thought Colin was a nice guy, didn't you?

I had some qualms after he told me that he believed himself to be a psychopath, but that was it. I thought it made... Do you remember previously? Well, let's talk about that. The psychopath. He makes a comment, we're both psychopaths, and then he and Bree both laugh, don't they? At the time they were together, he made it other times as well, alone. Okay, and they both laughed when he said it when they were together? Oh, when they were together, yes. So they both laughed and agreed they're both psychopaths? Mm-hmm. Is that a yes? Yes, sir. Okay.

And that comment, that's the worst thing you saw and heard during that time together? No, my sister confided in me about what the issues were at home, but none of them involved the other things you mentioned. Right, they were marital issues, right? It comes to chores. Yes, sir. And she had told you she was stressed about that she was working and was financially responsible, correct? Yes, sir. Those kind of marital issues. Yes, sir. Okay.

And up until the day Calum was murdered, you never had any reason to suspect anything untoward in terms of a physical nature, did you? No, sir. As murder trials went, the case against Bree Kuhn moved swiftly. Day three of the proceedings began on September 26, 2024, the final day of witness testimony. The jury watched more body cam footage from the sheriff's deputies responding to the couple's home earlier that day.

One of the deputies asked Colin to come into the house as he walked up the driveway. Colin said that was no problem. He mentioned he put his big dog away and casually foreshadowed that Bree kept a shotgun and a pistol in her bedroom. I want you to tell me what happened and why she called us. So she called you right now because she figured out that I want to take my kids to my parents' house in Georgia for her and I to have sex.

More for me, I guess, for me to have a break from her. A little bit of backstory. In March, she tried to kill herself and did inpatient. After she was inpatient and then she was outpatient group for a while, she got kicked out of that group and then went back in, paper acted a second time for suicidal actions. She was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder. Are you familiar? Mm-hmm.

So she was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder in March or April. Got kicked out of her first therapy group, got kicked out of her second therapy group, and she skipped her last two individual therapies. Okay. Well, what leads us to what's going on today? Because that's not being rude, but that's irrelevant to what's going on right now as far as she called us.

Colin said it started the night before after an argument about watching TV. He went over how the following morning she put his $2,500 MacBook laptop in the dishwasher and cut him off from all the credit cards. When he went to take the kids to his parents' house, she called the police. By the end of the day, Colin would be dead in the garage.

Each time an officer took the stand, the defense's line of questioning appeared to be meant to show that police had not properly investigated the allegations Brie made against Colin when officers had responded to the home earlier in the day. Brie had told one deputy that she had been raped that weekend, but she said it while the children were making noise and the deputy testified that he didn't catch it. It was almost a side comment, the prosecutor said.

Colin told another deputy that Bree told her kids she called 911 to keep Daddy from hurting Mommy. The deputy didn't explore that further. James Joyner, a special agent with the DEA, was Bree's ex-boyfriend and father of her older daughter. The 12-year-old lived with Colin and Bree but saw her dad, who lived in Alabama, every other weekend.

The two men were on good terms. Colin seemed like a great stepdad, James said. James was in the dark that Bree was suicidal, although he knew she had been hospitalized for depression. On the day of the shooting, Colin texted James that he was fighting with Bree. Colin alerted him that Bree put his computer in the dishwasher because he turned off the Wi-Fi. James read their text messages out loud to the jury.

I'm planning on getting out of here with the little kids, but she's already told me she'll press charges if I take Kylie with me. I don't know what you can do legally, but I wanted to give you a heads up. And how did you respond to Colin? I said, damn, dude, I hate that. I'm not sure what to do, but thanks for the heads up. I was really hoping that she, referring to Bree, had gotten better. And what was Colin's response to you? She got kicked out of two group therapies and she skipped her last two individual therapies, still drinking a lot.

And what was the time of your next message back to Colin? It's 18.09, 6.09 p.m., I believe is what it was. And what did you say to Colin? I said, everything okay, man. And how did Colin respond to you? He said, nah, gonna be worse before it gets better too. She's always told her stories about you and I thought you sucked. But now that I think about it, she's crazy as hell and probably did the same stuff to you. And how did you respond to Colin?

I said, I definitely had my down days and I did my share of wrong in the past, but I'm sure there's plenty more to the stories you don't know, as you can probably see now. And what was Colin's next message to you? Yep. She just locked me in the garage because I wouldn't talk to her. And what was the time Colin sent you that message? 6.13 p.m. approximate. And how did you respond to Colin's statement about being locked in the garage? I said, if you ever want to talk, I probably know more about what...

You were able to keep her happy a lot longer than me, and you somehow have been able to get through to her more than I ever did. At some point that day, did you speak with Bree? I did. How did that come about? She contacted me. She called me. I answered the phone, and she said, you need to come get your daughter to some extent. And I thought, maybe she's just being a 12-year-old. And I said, why do I need to come get my daughter? And she said, I just shot Colin. And I responded, I said, why?

And she said, I don't know. She said, you just need to come get Kylie. And I said, okay, I'm on the way. Did she give any more description about what had happened? No. Did Brie Kuhn shoot her husband, Colin Turner, in self-defense? Or did she kill him because she didn't want him to take away their kids? For the prosecution, Assistant State Attorney Mark Alderman gave the closings. And I hope you'll see that it's very clear what happened.

She's getting increasingly frustrated throughout the course of the day. She's not getting her way. Colin is just, he doesn't want to talk to her. She knows he wants to take those kids. She knows he's going to win the custody battle. The evidence shows, and we'll never know exactly how much time, she locked him out, went and got a gun, went to the door, came back, and shot him in the back four times. That's the evidence. That is premeditated murder.

According to prosecutors, Brie had no idea her husband was on the phone with 911 when she shot him. Meanwhile, defense attorney James Barnes insisted that there was no evidence of premeditation. He also told the jury that no one witnessed the shooting, then backtracked and acknowledged Colin was on the phone with 911, so maybe that was a witness. Brie Kuhn is supposed to put her kids here that

And I'm going to get my gun and I'm going to walk into the garage. And I don't know that he's on with 911, but what difference would it make who he's on with? It makes it a little interesting, obviously, that he's on with 911, but he's on the phone. That's a witness anyway. I mean, if it's premeditated, wouldn't she wait? I mean, you do it a different way. Just don't go in and

I'm going to do it this way, right? If that's her, this is her scheme, right? This is her, you know, her plan. It makes no sense. There isn't any evidence of that. You can tell afterwards she's in shock. Everyone says she's in shock. Anybody that came in touch with her, she's in shock. You can tell she's in shock. You're not in shock if you deliberately, intentionally, deliberately

and more importantly, planned to kill somebody. You're in shock if you run somebody over in the road and you're surprised. That's the shock. Man, she must be the greatest actor in the world because one minute she's this, you know, I'm going to plan it out. I'm going to put the kids here. I'm going to go get my gun. I'm just going to go in and shoot them.

And then the next minute she's saying, why isn't somebody in an ambulance? Is he dead? It's kind of what happened. And then, you know, it's flashing out. If he's dead, I'm a murderer. And it's all haywire. He said Brie needed the police to help her that day. And they let her down. She cries out for help to them. She's relying on them. She's raped. And for anybody that thinks

a husband can't rape his own wife. Well, you know, you can go back to about 1950 with those kinds of thoughts, obviously. And she calls the police. She's had enough. She gets thrown around, thrown on the ground. And, you know, she makes the call. They get there. And it's really kind of just a checklist deal that they go through. And while

You know, you've got the kids running everywhere, too, which is odd, right? She's giving her, like, she's telling the cop that she was battered. He's saying, you know, you have to have signs of the injury. This is Hartbarger, obviously. You have to have signs of the injury. Can't do anything about that.

She says, you know, while her kids are there, right? So she can't really get into too much detail. So she says, you know, was also raped. Had he already made up his mind? Was it just going to come in here and I'm going to checklist thing and I'm going to head out? If he had heard that, well, you know, a rape kid, there'd be action taken. At least the two would have been separated.

Nothing. Nothing. And conveniently, well, I didn't hear her. All right, well, that's too bad, right? That's too bad because we rely on the police. He said there's zero evidence that this was premeditated. First-degree murder? Come on, man. You know better. Yeah, I'm going to object, sustain as to, you know better. I'll strike that. The jury began deliberating Bree's fate for the next four hours.

Then they reached their verdict. They were not swayed by the defense's self-defense theory. 37-year-old Bree Kuhn was found guilty of first-degree premeditated murder. The penalty phase of Bree's trial began next. Colin Turner's parents gave victim impact statements before her sentencing.

At times, the defense had portrayed Colin as an uncaring husband, unsympathetic to his wife's mental health while she was the hardworking breadwinner.

Now his loved ones could finally speak in the courtroom. Not only has Brie Kuhn killed our son, brother, father, but she's done her best to destroy his reputation. I know Colin was not a perfect man. There is no such thing. But he was not the evil man she described.

He was a man who loved his wife and tried his hardest to make things work. He loved his children, retiring from the Marines early so he wouldn't miss any part of their young lives. And now he's not there for them at all due to Bree's actions. We believe Bree would do anything to get her way. She killed our son because he wanted custody of the children, and I believe she would kill again. Our hope is that Bree will receive a life sentence without parole.

Collins' parents were now raising Collins and Bree's children. The greatest impact has been watching how this loss has impacted Collins' younger children, John, JP, and Lainey. We have custody of them and expect to raise them for the rest of our lives.

It's been three years and they're still fearful that we will die and leave them once again without parents. They worry that if we bicker, one of us may kill the other. They still ask if we have guns in the house, though they know the answer is no. No matter how many times we remind them that killing a loved one is very rare, their reality tells them differently. We talk about their dad often, but they'll never really know him as they were so young when he was killed, only three and four years old.

All our family ever tried to do was love on Bree and make her part of our family, but she couldn't accept that for some reason. Bree has never once showed remorse to us, sympathy, empathy, comfort, or consolation. If Bree were to go free at some point, I am concerned for our lives. She's continued to have an adversarial relationship with us, and I believe she would seek out to murder us as well.

Our personality is such that she must win at all costs. I have the same fear for Colin's son from another marriage, Brody. Most important part of this whole letter of one thing I am certain, we serve a God that loves us so much that he gave his son to make a way that we could spend eternity with him and with our loved ones. I am confident that I will spend eternity with Colin. Our prayer is that God would make himself real to Bree and her family and that she will join our eternal family.

Brie Kuhn was sentenced to life in prison. And that's all for this episode. This episode was researched and written by Gabrielle Rusan. Hope you all had a wonderful holiday. Thanks again for listening. Until next time.