Dateline: True Crime Weekly
Cases to watch in 2025: Sean "Diddy" Combs and Bryan Kohberger. Plus, safety tips for AI scams.
Thu, 2 Jan 2025
Listen to this week's special lookahead episode of the Dateline: True Crime Weekly podcast. What's next for music mogul Sean Combs? The latest on the highly anticipated trial of Bryan Kohberger, the suspected killer of four Idaho college students. Plus, tips on how to stay safe from AI scams.Find out more about the cases covered each week here: www.datelinetruecrimeweekly.com
Chapter 1: What trials are anticipated in 2025?
There are so many trials set to start in 2025. Nicholas Rossi, we have a trial date. It's April 22nd, the Anna Walsh case. That's going to be a four-week trial in October.
This week, we're going to tell you about some cases we'll be paying close attention to in 2025.
I think it's going to be interesting what happens with the criminal trial and to see who shows up in that courtroom to support him, if anybody.
This is, you know, her high-powered defense team. They will all return for this second trial.
Welcome to Dateline True Crime Weekly's Look Ahead 2025. Here's what's on our docket. In Idaho, the man accused of murdering four University of Idaho students, Brian Koberger, will finally head to trial. He can face the death penalty if convicted. In Dateline Roundup, we've got a roundup of cases to watch. From Karen Reed in Massachusetts to accused poisoner Corey Richens in Utah.
I'm anxious to get to trial. And I'm ready to get this one heck of a fight. We've got trial dates and details. Plus, NBC News senior consumer investigative correspondent Vicky Nguyen will be here with tips on scams right out of the future.
A lot of that content is now being generated by AI, which makes it that much easier for the bad guys to pump out that bad information.
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Chapter 2: What is the latest on Sean Combs' legal issues?
But before all that, we're headed to New York to take a look at a blockbuster case with a celebrity defendant. And it's shaping up to be what could be one of the biggest trials of the year. The music business executive Sean Combs, also known as Puff Daddy, Puffy, and Diddy, spent Christmas at the Federal Detention Center in Brooklyn. He's being held until his trial set to start in the spring.
His charges?
Sean Combs led and participated in a racketeering conspiracy that used the business empire he controlled to carry out criminal activity. including sex trafficking, forced labor, kidnapping, arson, bribery, and the obstruction of justice.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams held a press conference the day after Combs was arrested in September, and he said Combs had accomplices.
He used his business and employees of that business and other close associates to get his way.
Combs has denied it all, and in addition to his criminal case, he is also facing over 30 civil suits accusing him of sexual violence. His lawyers continue to deny the allegations in the suits and call them cash grabs. NBC News has been on this story since Combs' ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura filed and settled within 24 hours last fall with no admission of wrongdoing.
Ventura. Tora alleges that Combs not only raped her, but over the course of a decade, physically abused her.
That is frequent Dateline True Crime Weekly guest and NBC News correspondent Chloe Malas, who's broken the recent big developments in the Combs case, a lawsuit that for the first time names another celebrity.
Tonight, explosive allegations against legendary rapper and mogul Jay-Z. A new civil lawsuit is accusing him of raping a 13-year-old girl with Sean Diddy combs, which they both deny.
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Chapter 3: What are the key details about the Bryan Kohberger case?
the Jane Joe at Tony Busby's offices in Houston, Texas recently. I stumbled upon Diddy's driver who told me that I was exactly what Diddy was looking for. What did you think when he said that to you? I thought it meant that I was just pretty. She talked about having driven from Rochester, New York to Radio City Music Hall. That would have been a five-hour drive.
And she says after the assault, her father picked her up from a gas station that she had ran to to seek help. And at times, she seemed very credible. But on the other hand, when our investigative team really dug into her claims, she said a lot of things that just didn't add up. Her father said he could not verify the claims. Quote, I felt like I would remember that. And I don't.
I have a lot going on, but I mean, that's something that would definitely stick in my mind. Tony Busby has said that he's going to polygraph his client, that she has already signed two affidavits.
If this entire thing falls apart, and I'm not saying that it's going to, if it does, though, Busby has a real problem with the rest of his cases, right? Because this is now sort of, you went for the king and you missed. If Jay-Z's attorney manages to get this Jane Doe sort of discredited, that's a strategic advantage to comms as well.
Yeah. And Laura, one thing we know is the government does not bring criminal charges unless they generally have the goods to back it up because they don't want to take a loser to trial.
Yeah. I don't want to make it seem like it's going to be a slam dunk, though, because he has the money and the power to fight this. I do find it odd that he has dropped his effort to get out of prison. Right. I think that's curious. Yeah. Why? Just it's a. losing battle? Well, it's definitely a losing battle, but who cares? He has all the resources in the world.
I mean, he's staying behind bars until this trial is completed. That's months from now.
So for 2025, there's going to be a lot happening in this case.
I mean, in terms of what's next, we know that the government is building their case. And we are expecting that Cassie Ventura will take the stand and testify. There's a lot of rumors swirling that maybe Kid Cudi will take the stand as well. There was something in the indictment about his car being allegedly blown up by combs.
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Chapter 4: How has the community reacted to the Koberger trial?
Chapter 5: What implications do AI scams have for consumers?
A lot of that content is now being generated by AI, which makes it that much easier for the bad guys to pump out that bad information.
But before all that, we're headed to New York to take a look at a blockbuster case with a celebrity defendant. And it's shaping up to be what could be one of the biggest trials of the year. The music business executive Sean Combs, also known as Puff Daddy, Puffy, and Diddy, spent Christmas at the Federal Detention Center in Brooklyn. He's being held until his trial set to start in the spring.
His charges?
Sean Combs led and participated in a racketeering conspiracy that used the business empire he controlled to carry out criminal activity. including sex trafficking, forced labor, kidnapping, arson, bribery, and the obstruction of justice.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams held a press conference the day after Combs was arrested in September, and he said Combs had accomplices.
He used his business and employees of that business and other close associates to get his way.
Combs has denied it all, and in addition to his criminal case, he is also facing over 30 civil suits accusing him of sexual violence. His lawyers continue to deny the allegations in the suits and call them cash grabs. NBC News has been on this story since Combs' ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura filed and settled within 24 hours last fall with no admission of wrongdoing.
Ventura. Tora alleges that Combs not only raped her, but over the course of a decade, physically abused her.
That is frequent Dateline True Crime Weekly guest and NBC News correspondent Chloe Malas, who's broken the recent big developments in the Combs case, a lawsuit that for the first time names another celebrity.
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Chapter 6: What can we expect from the Koberger trial?
What has the community's response been to these developments?
I mean, I can't say that I heard the change of venue decision was popular, especially with the victims' families. I mean, you have to realize that Moscow's in North Idaho, Boise's in Southern Idaho, and it's a good eight-hour, 450-mile trip. It's a huge inconvenience for the families.
Yeah, that is a long drive. And as we know, Shane, families tend to want to be there in court for their loved ones. There's so much we don't know about this case. Do you think we'll get any answers before this trial starts or do you think we have to wait to see what the prosecution has once they get into that courtroom?
Well, there's so much we don't know about this because the judges have imposed a fairly restrictive gag order. I do know that a complicating factor before the trial is that the witness list will be sealed. So we won't know who's testifying. We won't know when they're testifying.
There were two women who lived in the house who survived. One said she saw a figure in black clothing and a mask in the house just after the attacks. Shane, do you expect her to testify?
I'm sure she'll testify at the trial or at least be called to testify at the trial. I would assume, like some other witnesses, she will fight testifying at the trial because, you know, as people have told me, who wants to come face to face with Brian Goldberg in court?
Because they're just so scared of him. Correct. Oh, my goodness.
I mean, these are young women in their early 20s. I mean, I can't imagine. I have kids. We all have kids. You can't imagine having your kid go through something like that.
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Chapter 7: How are the victims of the Koberger case remembered?
No, that would be awful. Koberger has pleaded not guilty, and we've yet to hear his story. But what do you know about law enforcement's theory about why he targeted this particular house and these students?
The connection to the victims has always been a big question. A long time ago, an old LAPD homicide detective told me that motive only has to make sense to one person for one second. The word that comes up over and over when you talk to investigators and also people who grew up with him was rejection.
Hmm.
well, he's going to have a defense. What do we know about it?
Well, he's filed the notice of an alibi defense. And his alibi was he was out driving around in his car that night looking at the moon and stars. I will tell you that he seems to feel very comfortable in the dark. He runs after dark. He hikes after dark. He is out driving after dark. He's a night owl. I think the defense will focus on attacking the genetic genealogy of
Yeah, remind us how that DNA on the knife sheath, how that then led them to Brian Koberger.
So investigators very quickly found a knife sheath in the room that Maddie and Kaylee were murdered in. They submitted it to a lab. They got touch DNA off it, that DNA. They used genetic genealogy to pinpoint that DNA to a couple families in northwestern Pennsylvania. One of them was Koberger's, and the rest is history.
Any major hearings taking place before the trial in August?
So there's a very unusual hearing coming up later this month called a Franks hearing, which is the defense asked the court to contest the truthfulness of an affidavit in support of a search warrant. This Franks hearing is a very serious allegation that the police have played fast and loose with the facts to get search warrants.
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Chapter 8: What are the challenges faced by witnesses in the Koberger trial?
Shane, thank you so much for coming on the podcast and for sharing your personal experience being there so many times working on this story. We appreciate it. You bet, Andrea. When we come back, we've got Dateline Roundup and details on some cases you might want to put on your calendar. Plus, we've heard of AI or artificial intelligence.
But wait until you hear how much smarter AI makes the criminals. Welcome back to the show. We've got a different kind of Dateline roundup this week. Instead of bringing you up to speed on the latest headlines and true crime news, we've got a rundown of some of the cases we're keeping an eye on for 2025. Here to walk us through it all is Dateline producer Rachel White.
Rachel, welcome back to the podcast. Thank you for having me. Let's start in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. This is a story we've talked about a lot. This is where the Brazilian au pair and her employer turned lover were accused of a double murder last year. Rachel, just remind us of the story.
Sure. So investigators say that Brendan Banfield plotted with the family's au pair, a woman named Juliana Perez Magales, to kill his wife, Christine, and a man named Joseph Ryan, who who they allegedly lured to the Banfield family home through a fetish website.
Juliana was charged with second-degree murder of that man, and Brendan was charged with the aggravated murder of both his wife and Joseph Ryan.
Yeah, this story is straight out of a Lifetime movie, I have to say. And there was a big development in this case in late October.
That's right. So Juliana took a plea deal. She pled guilty to manslaughter in the shooting of Joseph Ryan. And as a part of this deal, she's agreed to cooperate with prosecutors ahead of Brendan's trial.
So when is Brendan's trial scheduled to start? And because of this, are we expecting then Juliana will testify against him?
So right now, Brendan's trial is on the docket for October 20th. And we don't know for sure if Juliana will take the stand, but it sounds like that's likely to happen.
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