Ruby Franke: 15 Most Horrifying Pieces of Evidence in YouTube Mom's Case

it feels like I was being set up to end up here I mean I should be here I haven't done anything wrong this is a wi I the devil's been after me for years are you aware of the physical condition of your children no no I I've chosen to trust my wife with the children it is here we have just reviewed the newly released materials in the Ruby Frankie case interviews jailhouse phone calls and disturbing journal entries we break all of this down for you right now welcome to sidebar presented by law and crime I'm Jesse Weber well if you've been following us here on sidebar if you have been following the Ruby Frankie case from the beginning this is a very big day Utah authorities have just released a treasure Trove of new videos audio tapes and photos in this criminal case and I will tell you something right now this is a lot this is really important if you want to know a new context understanding a perspective on what went down here this is it this is a comprehensive summary of everything that was just released now before we even get into the materials themselves I'm going to set the stage so Ruby Frankie she was the on popular mommy vlogger she started the now defunct eight passengers YouTube channel with her husband Kevin Frankie documented their lives with their six children was eventually shut down in the wake of child abuse allegations people took issue with their parenting techniques in these videos like one child being forced to sleep on a bean bag for months another one where the couple's young daughter was not provided lunch for school but you fast forward to August 2023 and Ruby Frankie and her purported business partner jod hilderbrand are arrested each of them are charged with aggravated child abuse after two of Ruby's youngest children identified as RF and EF were found at Jody's home they had been malnourished they had injuries evidence suggested that RF was tied up he had duct tape on his limbs he sustained severe wounds RF had actually escaped Jody's residence climbed out of a window he was the one who ran to a neighbor who called 911 and that is when the boy's sister was found by police hiding in a closet absolutely terrified in fact the case summary that accompanied this document release reads quote the ensuing investigation revealed that Miss Frankie and Miss hilderbrand held Frankie's 12-year-old son and 9-year-old daughter in a Work Camp like setting the children were regularly denied food water beds to sleep in and virtually all forms of entertainment they were also prohibited from interacting with others and were hidden in the home when others came to visit they were forced to do physical tasks like carrying loaded boxes up and down stairs and sitting against a wall without a chair or stool for hours at a time the children were also forced to to do manual labor outdoors in the extreme summer heat without shoes or socks they were similarly forced to stand outside on a cement patio in the summer heat for hours and even days they were beaten and the 12-year-old was bound hand and foot after a previous attempt at running away Additionally the children suffered emotional abuse to the extent that they came to believe that they deserved the abuse the investigation found that religious extremism motivated Miss Frankie and Miss hilderbrandt to inflict this horrific abuse the women appeared to fully believe that the abuse they inflicted was necessary to teach the children how to properly repent for Imagined sins and to cast the evil spirits out of their bodies just unbelievable and we know that Ruby and jod they worked together as part of connections the Life Services coaching organization jod was listed as a mental health counselor Ruby was listed as a mental Fitness traitor they both ended up pleading guilty to four counts of aggravated child abuse each both sentenced to four terms to run consecutively meaning one after the other but in Utah it's not up to the judge to set the exact prison sentence it's actually up to the Board of Pardons and paroles they determine when these women would be released so what we're talking about with the law is they can't serve more than a maximum of 30 years in prison so really it's about 4 to 30 years in prison as their sentenced that's what we mean and by the way I should also tell you as we go through this when we talk about Kevin Frankie he filed for divorce from Ruby Frankie he keep that in mind well after the conclusion of this legal case the Washington County authorities released these materials and with that release came a press release that reads in part quote neither Ruby Frankie nor jod hildbrandt appealed their convictions for aggravated child abuse pursuant to the Utah government records access and management Act and the practices of this office all of the case records classified as public are now available with that let's get into it first up we are going to start with this app absolutely heartbreaking footage from a security camera outside of a home and it shows RF Ruby's 12-year-old son after he escaped from Jody's home and in this video you see him in a long shirt and either what appears to be underwear or shorts going over to this house walking over to the front door ringing the bell waiting at the door no one answers I mean it appears he's mated he has these incredibly thin legs looks like blood or wounds are on his legs no shoes he looks incredibly weak but then we actually have this other video from when RF arrived at the neighbor's home the neighbor who ended up calling 911 yes hi how is this wondering if you could do two favors well what are they uh taking me to the nearest police station well actually this one's fine what's going on son I have a seat there is this personal business have seat what's your name how' you get here I I we then see video of these neighbors giving RF food because he was clearly so hungry he's hungry and young stocking uh so he he escaped we need the police here and you remember that now Infamous 911 phone call from that neighbor very emotional well here's a different angle here is him on the phone with 911 dispatch but it's captured from his home surveillance Camp I just had a 12-year-old boy show up here at my front door asking for help and he's uh said he just came from a neighbor's house and he's emaciated he's got tape around his legs he's hungry and he's thirsty need someone immediately it's heartbreaking It's just tough to listen to No matter what angle we're showing that but let's go to the body cam footage that was big in this release and we're going to started off with body cam footage of jod hilderbrand when she is taken out of her home by officers as as they are searching her house open the door Jodie I need you step out I have I have my attorney that's great step out of the house no I'm not going to step out of the house step out the house step out the house W who who W we're just going to wait minute how do you come to my house right there look they going into my house so have a seat right there do you have a search One have a seat right there you have a search One have a seat right there I'll explain everything after have a seat right there we're here on exigent circumstances and it explain it after this after my sergeant and the officer are done clearing the [Music] house is there anybody else in the house yes two kids there's a little girl this one she's right over here okay how old is she she'll be 10 next week okay throughout this video you see jod almost shocked trying to fight crying you see her at one point sitting on the couch not really doing anything police then end up finding a child in what appears to be a closet you want un need here hey you okay is this just you in here I'm Sergeant tobler what's your name I just have one where's your sister TR contact one you okay huh you doing okay you don't want to talk to me yeah that's okay can you come with me though we got jod out here you know Jodie she's outside with us you take your time but I'm in no hurry I'm a police officer did you know that I don't mean to hurt you at all you're okay do you need help now it appears that that is EF rf's younger sister We Believe 10 years old at the time and it seems like officers think that she's a boy at first maybe because of her physical condition she was so emaciated and there's a conversation more in these recordings where it seems that Ruby had maybe cut her hair or threatened to cut her hair so that could have contributed to his well but the child doesn't appear to say anything and then you hear an officer describe this horrific situation over his body cam when he's outside underneath the table as soon as they took it off you can even outside you can smell you can smell the the Flesh and then um the transport or put them in the ambulance I went in there um they started cutting more off of it you can see the wound wounds on the back of his ankles around the front of his ankles um and then on his wrists as well yeah he said he said uh he was tied on the ground with a rope that's where the wounds came from yeah with ropes on all four of his extremities and that's where the wounds came from they put cayenne pepper mixed with uh honey he said on the wounds and then covered that with the plastic Saran Wrap and then the duct tape over the wounds there are a lot more videos too there is body cam of police Gathering evidence there is body cam of searching a room found behind a giant safe door there is more body cam where there is no audio there appears to be a video of maybe RF walking around a cemetery but I have to call out this very very disturbing video of RF in the ambulance being treated for his injuries how did you get the ropes on you who did them you're not in trouble with me okay we're just trying to figure out what's going on our main focus right now is you okay who put the ropes on you what to help you are and I will tell you going through this today was not easy it is incredibly difficult but imagine being one of the First Responders to this scene here's an EMT worker fighting back tears pictures I'll take more if you want me to now let's talk about Ruby Frankie because there is also this video of when Ruby arrives at the house she was informed the police were there she shows up and you see her being paded down and she just sits on the couch at one point doesn't say a word in fact she's not very responsive to officers in general place your hand on your back for me perfect you don't have anything on me that I should know about correct any weapons anything that we're going to find before you put you in a police vehicle we need to search your person to make sure you don't have anything on you is or anything you have on you okay I'm going to search you before we put you in his car that's just protocol so I'm just going to have you step right over here and then just widen your legs widen your stance yep perfect are you wearing a bra okay I'm just going to go like this through and make sure you don't have anything you said you're not wearing bra okay now she admits in one of her jailhouse recordings oh don't worry we're going to get into those where she said she purposely didn't say anything to law enforcement it seemed like that was the advice that she got from Her counsel to not say anything but even when she's brought to the station she's not really Cooperative do you live down here or or do you live up north do you want to talk to me about where you live or how many kids you have so we just spoke with your husband and he said you guys have six kids are those all together are those all your kids I can wait all day so it's up to you if you want to talk to us about what's going on I mean I'm not asking any crey questions if you don't want to talk to us just let us know and we'll we'll be done I've already told you the you want okay easy enough thank you when I'm watching this by the way I can't help but be reminded of what ruby said during her sentencing you might have remember this remember when she said that she was taught that the world was an evil place and it was filled with cops who control that might be why she's not saying anything that might be why she seems to have this distrust of law enforcement or doesn't want to talk to them if she was under that distorted belief there you go well let's also talk about the video of Jody's interrogation I'm a little nervous you're you know to be honest with you if I was sitting over there I'd be a little n too so don't don't worry about it we're just here to talk to get your side I watch she made detective movies how are you so I trust my attorney he said don't say anything and I said I have nothing to hide and he's like I know that it just let me be there with you when you talk so you guys seem nice people yeah I'm not hide anything that trying to be difficult this is really if you knew all the pieces I think you'd have a lot of empathy for what's going on i' I'd like to just tell you but I don't I don't know who you are I don't know if you're going to flip my words I don't know and that's the good thing about cameras everything it's pretty much double recorded audio video and it's for the safety of for you and for us cuz we don't want to flip your words and this will all be pretty much right there to support you so we're not going to use any attorney be so insistent then he's an honest good man goes to church I trust him why would he say that to me then I don't know I don't I don't know your attorney to be honest well I'm just saying he's he's a he good honest man and I'm an honest person as well so get along great and he just said do not say anything I'm a psychologist I've watch people flip things all the time so I get it I I sit on on your side I get it I wish people didn't do that they do and one of the final videos we got was of officers taking Ruby Frankie and jod hilderbrandt to jail all right I'm going to have you stand up all right thank you go ahead and face this officer go and place your hands on top of your head hce your finger please thank you just put your hands on top of your head you're good look to your left okay thank you we'll get you a card you can get with ad and schedule okay how do IU that you guys phone we'll give you a card with the phone number go out the front door to my vehicle out there h on I'll help you I had a crash on the right size my shoulders SC up okay all right step up please thank you go and face that officer put your hands on top of your head please interace your fingers thank you on top of your head look to your left thank you I just don't want to hit you in the head on accident with the cup okay go down B you want to let you know what your what criminal charges for so you're under arrest it's going to be two counts second degree felony of child abuse or neglect okay do you understand that or no are you okay I'm wondering if there's like a medical clearance that needs to like do do you need medical attention before you go to the jail no okay for the mment you guys were in direct custody of those kids okay you have any questions for me at this time no questions okay we can H in now we also received a lot of photos from Utah authorities in this document dump many of them show the inside and outside of jod hilderbrand's Home in Ivans the house itself is huge with staircases corridors doors every direction the police looked at as they searched the home we never really got a a good grasp of what this house was like until now some of the photographs show evidence that investigators were compiling against the women including pictures of the duct tape rope gauze the cayenne pepper and honey solution that they used to treat wounds other pictures showed pantries full of food that the children were clearly not allowed to eat and still there were these other photos other photos that showed the actual wounds to both RF and EF and I will tell you they are just too graphic to show show they just it's too much and as we've mentioned RF still had duct tape on his ankles and wrists when he was taken to the hospital with what appeared to be infected wounds underneath and I'll say this these wounds seeing them worse than I could have imagined now Ruby Frankie's journal entries that's where we're going to get into next this was one of the largest documents released in this massive information dump it is a 60-page journal apparently written by Ruby Frank not only does it give a timeline of events but it records the brutal treatment of these two children some parts of the journal have been completely blacked out by officials they've been redacted but what remains it really leaves nothing to the imagination at the beginning of the journal on a page titled timeline the journal says that jod received a blessing from the temple president on May 21st 2023 then Ruby along with her four minor AG children went down to Jody's house to do quote spring cleaning the first mention of punishments for RF are on June 30th 2023 when the journal States quote he refuses to do walls sits and says he's done the next day it's noted that RF has to sleep outside on July 14th we have our first mention of EF it states e refuses to work screams has hair shaved off it also states that the next day RF ran away in the middle of the night and Ruby found him a couple hours later so clearly not his first escape attempt so then there are several redacted pages and then the journal seems to jump back in time to a little bit to July 9th and July 10th on the 10th the journal States quote it's R's birthday and he doesn't even know what month it is e and r have been in so much deviant Behavior they won't control their bodily functions they are both Furious they're selfish sinful lifestyle is being intervened upon I told R he emulates snake he slithers and sneaks around looking for opportunities when no one is watching and then he scurries if he wants to emulate the savior he needs to be 100% obedient with exactness no wavering no hiding no wonder that the uh prosecutors said that this was also a form of emotional abuse as well really putting the blame on these young children what do you think they're thinking then a few pages later Ruby writes quote e is better behaved with jod she likes to think she can still manipulate me I gave her a pixie haircut all her long hair is gone no more distracting with hair R told me he would rather have a glass of water than me as his mother now we know that both children were being denied food and water Ruby even writes that RF was caught stealing water from the garden hose stealing Ruby also writes quote e told me she figures they had been here 8 weeks I asked e if she felt like she had made progress over the 8 weeks yes I told her she was delusional she made no progress she continues to lie and manipulate last night her screaming and headbanging were evidence of no change by the way we're talking about a N9 10-year-old at this time on July 14th Ruby writes quote e woke up I reminded her that if she whine cried or squinted her eyes at me or soured her face I would be buzzing her hair if she was going to act sick she can look sick she agreed with a smile I told her because she didn't listen the night before she would do two sets of boxes and stairs with a 5minute break she did the first set easily and agreeably after 5 minutes of rest she began whimpering when she got to the bottom of the stair she slipped and dropped the box I put her in the dog wash and shaved her head then back to the boxes this is disgusting and we also know that Ruby and jod forc the children to stand outside in the hot sun in the Utah Summer where it can get up to 120° in a journal entry Ruby writes quote when e was outside today and it was hot she acted like she was dying so pitiful I told her the heat in hell is much hotter than God is going to burn the wicked so either get used to it or start changing the journal also describes what happened when RF ran away in July he had been made to sleep outside on the patio near Ruby's bedroom she woke up in the middle of the night and he was gone she and Jody both went out in the cars to look for him and she writes quote then I see R walking on the left side of the road I call jod to let let her know I turn the car around and stop I get out of the car r is shocked to see me get in the car are you shocked to see me R nods his head and gets in me and R in the front 2:45 I Woke Up 3 we leave in cars 314 a.m I called jod with r the sun started lighting the roads just an hour and a half later the devil wants me in prison my children dead I meet jod back home Ruby continually talks about her children being evil possessed by demons and unwilling to repent she writes about locking them in closets poking them with a cactus making them do physical exercise for hours she also writes that jod has been actively looking for land to buy in Arizona where they could really dig into fixing the kids can you imagine if that happened would these kids even be alive but this also I will tell you from a legal point of view fills in a lot of those details that we read about in their respective plea agreement documents the specific details of abuse of abuse and I imagine these entries are what proved what happened to these kids and it shows how tough it would have been for them to defend themselves at a criminal trial when you have these kind of journal entries as if the physical injuries and the accounts that the kids weren't enough just read this stuff look this is incredibly tough subject matter and I know I always say it but I'm going to say it again it is our privilege to be able to bring you these stories to break them down for you and the reason we're able to continually do that is because of the support that we get from our very special partners and I just want to highlight sponsor of this episode Morgan and Morgan not all law firms are created equal that's clear Morgan 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pound law that's pound 529 on your phone but now we move on to another piece of this document release and that is when we have to talk about the jailhouse phone calls these calls are almost always recorded and inmates and defendants people on the other side of the line they know this and yet they say things but we knew about these calls remember remember when Eric Clark the Washington County attorney during jod sentencing alluded to these recorded calls as evidence that hild debrandt never has showed remorse for what she did so in these calls which are labeled October 17th and October 18th 2023 you hear jod seemingly defending her actions and there seems to be a religious justification or rationale it feels like I was being set up to end up here I I know that sounds Bizarro I mean I should be here I haven't done anything wrong and I don't know if I'm going to be like some kind of example but when I get out of here I have a story to tell and I am I'm gonna try to do everything I can to protect the children because that's what's happening it's like kids are being just horribly abused I Mar here tennis nobody wants the truth no wants the truth nobody wants the truth because these kids you know I told Doug I woke up the spirit told it's all the devil I mean you've seen him I mean I've known you what for five years you've watched him come at me come at me come at me come at me and you're exactly right because he knows I know what he's doing and he uses these kids and he uses all of us as the adults the parents that don't hold the kids accountable so now it's it's abusive to make a kid sleep on the floor it's abusive or it's abusive you know that's ridiculous it's ridiculous you can't even raise your kids anymore he doesn't seem really animated he seems like you know the pictures the pictures are going to destroy you and I'm like we didn't do that we didn't do that those pictures we did not do he did that to himself yes we put that on him and then he rubbed around and cut himself yes but we didn't do that wow I want you to keep in mind that the idea of the devil and the evil spirit keep that in mind but the idea that either she is not taking responsibility for the injuries of the children or that it's not really abuse this is why it wouldn't be so surprising if the Board of Pardons and paroles may not be so quick to release jod but the jail house phone calls weren't just from jod hbr no no no no no no we also heard from Ruby Frankie and there is a bit of a progression here because listen to what she says when she's first arrested specifically it seems about the kidss injuries and this appears to be calls that she had with Kevin Frankie her husband the day after she was arrested they're labeled August 31st 2023 this is a wit h i the devil's been after me for years they're going to be in the hospital for three days so weird it's just not necessary they're trying to exaggerate this well they didn't show me any pictures or anything but the way they described it it was very serious so the way that I hear that is she is basically saying the kids injuries are overblown which by the way if you recall during her sentencing didn't she say something to the effect of the minute the officers put the cuffs on her she had been set free she knew that she did wrong something to that effect that doesn't seem to be consistent because it seems like she was still defensive and justifying what she did in the immediate aftermath of arrest and by the way remember as I said before when she's arrested by law enforcement she's not that Cooperative she's not even talking to them by the way that reference to a Witch Hunt and that the devil had been out for her for years could possibly be referring to the fact that the Frankies had faced controversy for some time over their videos the allegations of child abuse but again in the first few days of this arrest you hear Ruby defending not only herself but Jody and the man on the call with her Kevin Frankie or it seems to be Kevin Frankie seems to be supporting her but the most upsetting thing is that I am completely misunderstood that is the most horrible feeling like my own family misunderstands me they misinterpret me and and poor jod they they misinterpret her they misunderstand her she puts her neck out on the line for people and then they get mad at her I mean it is just horrendous it's horrendous and you know what every Joseph Smith every every wonderful man of God has had to be misunderstood that's right I'm going to get out of this who knows I may maybe in 10 days I'll get out of this if I'm you know if if truth prevails right now or you know who knows like 20 years I I don't know I don't know how long but I'm going to step out I'm going to say I went through everything God told me when I was driving before I called you I didn't have any information they didn't know anything in the spirit said your children are going to be removed truth in our family and thank you I'm I am committed to our family I'm committed to you and our marriage no matter what happen thank you thank you I will be here to support you in any way that I can oh thank you for stepping up if she really believes that yeah we're going to get to Kevin in just a minute because he has a police interview but I mentioned how there was this change with Ruby defending herself defending jod that changed as time went on because this is only the next month labeled October 27th 2023 I really did feel like the arrest with like arrest rescue like I just felt so many angels around and it was like a relief it was just really kind of sural that's consistent with what she said at her sentencing the brainwashing her eyes finally waking up to what she had done and that jod hilderbrand had controlled and manipulated her if you believe that but listen to what ruby says now in December 2023 on two separate phone calls I could not come out of this without without his grace without his Mercy without his help this has been the strangest and the most miraculous intervention it it put everybody where they needed to be it separated me from Jodie so I'm not hearing her and I think just being gone and not hearing her has cleared a lot of things up for me did you did you see that jod ple guilty today I did see that yes is that a relief for you mhm yeah it's a big relief it's a big relief there there would have been positive the other way too had she not pled guilty there's enough evidence that she would have been could have been convicted for life but um yeah that would have been messy it would have been really messy Jodie she can lie on her paperwork and she probably will I don't think she's going to give them her history but I think in the interview it's going to be apparent that she's mentally ill um and so that will affect how long someone you know because they're looking how how repentant are you how much responsibility are you taking how how are you aware that what you've done is wrong and she's not she's the only reason she pled is because she didn't want to do life and she knew I would testify how Gable was I oh my gosh how how much power I gave this person and I didn't see it he's like jod denies everything she denies having anything to do with this and I was shocked I was like what and I'm I'm still telling Lamar like you know all all the justifications and all of the you know I'm talking like a criminal I sound like a mad person he was so patient with me he was so patient with me he would just look at me and like kind of dumbfounded like like I said 2 plus 2 is seven and I really believed it and he would just stare at me I'm like what am I saying that's so off and um but but that's cuz I really believed it but but then when I heard that Jody was not talking like that she was denying the whole thing it told me she knew all along and then I was like crap what what am I sound and that's when things kind of started turning I was like she was she's not been honest I didn't I didn't know she wasn't honest I didn't know she would lie and it's like what else has she been lying about where else or have I been deceived and by the way Ruby Frankie had already pled Guilty by this time so again if you believe Ruby if you take her at her word on this call and what she said during sentencing then she was completely manipulated by jod hildbrandt right I do Wonder after her mental health evaluation that she referenced and some of this other evidence if it would actually help her to be released earlier than jod hildbrand it's hard to say she did plead guilty to severely abusing her own children so manipulation or deception or brainwashing maybe can only go so far okay now moving on in this evidence drop there were two interviews with Kevin Frankie Ruby's husband now estranged husband he's filed for divorce one was in person with the police at the Ivans police station on the day that jod and Ruby were arrested and the children were taken to the hospital and we're going to start uh with this first in-person interview the police are trying to piece together exactly what is going on here Kevin seems to not really know what's going on he tells the police he got a call that he needed to come pick the kids up in Ivans but he won't tell them who called him we learned through Kevin's attorney as the investigation progressed that it was Ruby that called Kevin to say that there was an emergency but at the time of this interview he kept that to himself we actually heard that before when he was speaking to Ruby about how she called him but let's hear what he had to say to law enforcement so are they all living with you or no I haven't seen them for over a year any of them no none of them for a year over a year okay I've been in a separation from the from my wife and family what's your wife's name Ruby Ruby when's the last thing saw Ruby the last time I saw her yeah was um the 18th of of this month we met to she requested me to sign over vehicles for the titles to the vehicles the vehicle that she drives were all in my name when's the last time you physically saw russler eeve um the day that I moved out July 24th 2022 24th of 2022 or July 25th Joy so it's my understanding that that at least home here in in K and Ivans have you been to that home no you've not been to that home no I don't know I don't know what anything that's been going on like this is good man like I would love to be able to help you out with this and like I'm seeing the light of because I'm I'm unaware of your involvement in in what's really going on so for you to say that you're unaware of the status of your kids kind of makes I know that sounds kind of crummy to you but it sounds kind of good to me like who lives in that home with your is it ex-wife is it currently a separated wife like who lives in that home with your children to be honest I don't know I I know that she's there with um four of the children and our two older children and has moved out Have you communicated with your wife regarding like discipline with your kids or their care or their physical well-being no so she doing this on her own and just telling you how your kids are she's not telling me anything about KS the investigators ask about jod hilderbrand the owner of the home where the children were found a female Jodie that your wife lives with do you do you know a female named Jodie she she is a a therapist and a life coach I know and she's do you respect her uh do I respect her I think she's a very honest truthful person yes okay very honest beautiful person I want you to marinate on that one for a second as we get to what he says in a future interview Kevin explains a little bit more about Connections and how his wife Ruby had got involved with the business are you involved with their business efforts or no okay so just Ruby and Jody no in the business yeah yes okay and were you involved in the eight passengers account with your family um yes I was in the videos and that's what you mean I briefly learned about this two hours ago so did Ruby Moro do the videos for the family MH and how long did you guys do that for uh she started the channel in 2015 and as far as as I'm aware from the time I left the last video she uploaded was towards the end of 2021 okay and I but again I'm not aware of anything she's done since our setion Kevin continues to insist that he has no idea what could be going on with the kids and says he focuses on the financial side of things are you aware of the physical condition of your children no no I'm I've chosen to trust my wife with the children that was part of the agreement of our separation is that you allow her to physically provide for the needs of the child just removed from that I mean you pay support I know this is personal questions but yes job was to financially provide for I'm just trying to figure out like how how much of a role do you play in the caretaking of specifically is it of those two kids I I pay the bills okay with my my job I provide the money goes into a shared bank account now this is interesting because Kevin tells police he was dealing with a pornography addiction and that he needed to focus on his problems before returning to be with his family Jody and Ruby have a a close relationship and and Jody saw the need for me to get help and um frankly I agree I the space um has been exactly what I need to face you know my own um addictions and and receive the support and help that I've needed and so this space has been um very very good for me so when you uh stated that you and Ruby had this no contact that you guys just verbally agreed upon was that an idea given by Jodie that she recommended you guys have that space and not contact one another I'm not aware of that it the the invitation for me to leave take space was from my wife again take note of how he's blaming himself remember that comes up later on well after more than 20 minutes in the interview room police finally start to reveal a few details about what they discovered at this Ivan's home well you're the you're the custodial parent of these children I don't see why we can't explain to you what why we're involved so I don't recall the exact time but sometime before 11:00 today we received uh a phone call from 911 on our dispatch that uh a 12 to 13y old boy was knocking on doors in a neighborhood asking for food and water that he was severely emaciated that he had what do emaciated mean skinny scrawny uh malnutritioned not enough food not a flaughter to sustain life so he had I'm sorry what he he had duct tape on his extremities on his hands on his ankles and those were covering rope Burns that were used to tie him down take a second and think about what I just said that's the condition of your son given that information your son was taken to the hospital a warrant has been applied and granted by the Department of Child and Family Services to remove both from your wife's care so no one right now is going to have access to these two children based on their physical condition do you understand that I understand do you would you condone that that behavior when I canone that behavior um that's my job my job is to find out your knowledge of the treatment of these these based on no again I don't know the details or I don't know what's going on but as you describe that that sounds horrible horrible disgusting no human being should be treated like that I yeah okay that's my thoughts but again we might be different on that we're going to let sit here for a second okay we're going to go out and talk um I'm not saying you're you're still not free to go are you under arrest absolutely not we just have lots of questions that we need to figure out Lots okay okay because your children are under medical care right now and what does that mean it means that you don't have access to my understanding is that they are what is that they're in the custody of DCFS and they will be for the next 7 there's a medical hold on them right now so for at least the next 72 hours based on our understanding at least the next seven during observation you're being watched is going to provide you that information and they can better answer your questions along those lines that's hand them okay so we'll be back so I want you to think about some things though I don't I don't know listen to me listen to me look a lot of questions have been raised about what Kevin did or did not know about his children but the police leave Kevin alone in the interview room for a while where he sits quietly sometimes crying when the officers return Kevin has a question what's going to happen it's my wife I love my wife I don't know I being honest with you I don't know you charges against my life possibly I think given the circumstances that's highly appropriate but again I don't know your wife I was hoping to gain some insight from you but I don't necessarily know that that's something you wanted to I trust her a you wanted to travel down with me so not without legal representation yeah no I I get it but I love that wife I I trust no one and so I mean this feels like getting run over by a steam truck while you're sharing with me today yeah I can tell you're caught off car I thought I was just coming here to pick up my kids and for what I don't know what or why I just want my kids I just want my kids I just want my family now Kevin was never in custody he left shortly after this he's never been criminally charged he's never been named as a suspect but at a later date Kevin had an interview with law enforcement again and he told a very different story Kevin seems to explain that Ruby started to speak to jod at the end of 2018 early 2019 with the intention of her being a therapist for either one or more of the children some of the call is bleeped out but that's probably why and then you're going to listen to what happened next jod always had a larger interest in um communicating with the parents more than with the actual patient which I always found curious um but her theory was if if you want to help your child you have to help yourself first and then you'll know how to help the child so she spoke with r frequently it it got strange around the um the fall of 2020 the Hannah were trying to convince and bringing Ruby into um thank you thanks into this um organization called connections and um that particularly were focused on things like like lust versus love and and healthy marriages happier marriages happier relationships um she invited me to go to a um it was like a conference or something held at Thanksgiving Point um in Lehi and my impression that that time was this is this is absolute craziness this is a bunch of man hating women that are just looking for excuses to you tear down their husbands and I mean that's what it felt like to me when I was in there but it did it was confusing because there were people that I respected a lot that were up on the stage with microphones in hand you know giving testimonials of how great this was and how it changed their lives and their marriage and like the Hannah were among them you know and and and and so yeah it was confusing assuming this is all True by the way this provides context on how the relationship started with jod and how and why Kevin started becoming involved and he talks about how he would join the men's groups but he was questioning it he didn't really think that he did anything wrong and when he talks about that he then refers to having a deep conversation with his wife Ruby for two hours Ruby very emotionally just shared how she felt in our marriage and how the things that I um over 20 years of marriage you know asking for sex as a husband frequently or um asking her to wear lingerie or or things like that how that made her feel and it was really emotional and it touched me like I didn't realized that she felt so strongly about that that she felt so hurt by that and so I committed that I would really give it a go and I stayed in the men's group and so you know in that men's group I met with Jody every week and from there he goes on to talk about a passengers the YouTube channel how it fell apart particularly after the release of the infamous video of their son Chad revealing he'd been forced to sleep on a bean bag for months says they lost 90% of their income when this channel basically fell apart and he said how Ruby became so distraught over this how she found validation in jod hilderbrandt but he also said that things were actually going very well with him and Ruby they were less intimate but they were closer so he started to think that this whole connection stuff may be working and he was happy to be the guy on stage he believed in it which I want you to think about because again you're going to hear where he's questioning everything that jod did and everything Ruby believed in but he's also the same guy who just heard earlier kind of giving different answers to police in his initial interview just something to think about but he does say in this interview that things took a turn when jod revealed something at a dinner after a connections conference we went out to like a dinner afterwards and that's where jod really opened up to the women in a private conversation that she believed she was being tormented and haunted by shadow figures every night and um that was spooky then he seems to suggest that these connections members picked jod up and had her live with them for six weeks doesn't know what happened but says that there were two different sides of this event you got to listen to this according to jod she was held against her will for six weeks and was kidnapped and she escaped and got out according to the Hannah after six weeks of jod stabbing herself with forks and knives cutting herself and um wanting to commit suicide and trying to seduce the husband of the family they kicked her out I don't know what's the truth right maybe a little bit of both I don't know but the point is somewhere around mid April Jody was back in her home in Ivans and she was a hot mess yeah that's something so he says after this jod was a wreck and asked Ruby for help listen to what happened when they went to Jody's house for the first time in 2021 and how bizarre this is I got to say like I'm a smart guy I'm an engineer I've designed and helped build some really big stuff I've been a college professor I can't explain some of the stuff that happened why while we were there like crashes in in the basement while we were talking upstairs and and plates like in the kitchen just flying off by themselves like full speed smashing on the wall and and falling to the floor like by themselves I I can't explain it but I saw it with my own eyes and and I don't have any way to explain it other than there's some crazy going on Wow a supernatural element of this was not something I was expecting aside from there according to Kevin by the way this is bizarre stuff Ruby was convinced that they could help Jodie and intervene and an idea came up about why doesn't jod just live with them Kevin says he was very resistant to that idea but he was told he was being insensitive and selfish so he ended up agreeing but listen to what he says happened when she showed up at their home the moment she showed up at my house just the weirdest crap started happening lights turning on and off said sounds of people walking in walls and like sounds like Footprints going up walls and across the the ceiling and and like stuff floating around and and it was just it was weird and I hated it look I don't know what any of this means it is just B bizarre and it is wild to hear but what does Kevin say happened next he said he became the resident Exorcist in the house yeah that jod had transes visions that she went into possession that Ruby would go in and check on her and that progressed into Ruby even sleeping in the same bed with Jody and Kevin made sure to highlight that Ruby Jody and Pam botcher we have mentioned before here on sidebar this was another connection employee actually Ruby's middle daughters were staying with Pam and her husband when Ruby was arrested but Ruby Jody Pam according to Kevin they would do these interventions where they lock themselves in a room for four to five hours and then they would be on Cloud9 and Ruby would say that wow you know they had this or or jod had this amazing vision and we have to do God's work by the way Pam botcher has never been criminally charged with anything in this case however earlier in the interview Kevin did say that she is tied to all of this so then Kevin says that at one point jod got upset that during an intervention Chad their son was in the backyard with his friends and to turn to this whole big thing and that is when he says Ruby for the first time mentioned the separation and he talks about what an inhome separation looked like it was hard basically there were all these rules now placed on me like I could leave when I wanted but I couldn't come back until Ruby gave me permission I couldn't come into the kitchen to eat until Ruby gave me permission and the upstairs where jod roamed was completely off limits I couldn't go upstairs anymore in my own house um and there would be Ruby would dictate all of the terms of how our interactions would be when we would talk when and um and that was hard and it was during that time that I really became I would say dependent upon Ruby like if she said a kind word to me like my whole day was me right Kevin talked about how there was an apparent effort for jod to gain control of the eight passengers brand the channel and give nothing to Ruby in return and how their YouTube manager was like this is a red flag Jodie is scamming you so Kevin says Ruby fired the YouTube manager and threatened Kevin with another separation she allegedly claimed that this is not about money but doing God's work all the while Ruby went on trips with jod and Pam and he goes on to say how his interactions with J jod became more strained that she isolated him that she told him he can't be a part of the men's groups that he needs to be alone with God says he started to question his sanity after all of this and then there was this very weird interaction with Ruby around that time things with Ruby started like picking up and I didn't understand why but like Ruby wanted to meet in a parking lot and wanted me to sign over titles of documents like the two of our cars wanted me to sign them over to her name and to Ruby MH but I was like okay you know I'm just not I'm I'm in total compliance mode at this point just like I'm a good husband you see you can trust me and and so whatever she asked like sign over the the the cars to me no questions just okay and then another thing she was like I might want to do an investment but I will need your signature do you trust me enough that I could get your signature if I wanted to pursue my own investment uh yeah sure whatever you say um how big investment what she talking about did she sell you she never did and I never signed anything she never brought anything to me but when I returned to the house everything was packed up and a neighbor came over and said she asked for the HOA rules and and mentioned to him that she wanted to rent the house out which I was like are you kidding me and he apparently she wanted to sell the house but couldn't because my name was on the mortgage and I think I think that's what she was talking about of will you sign something if I just put it in front of you and you know what I probably would have like that's how messed up I was I'm glad you didn't me too that would have been disastrous but I can't describe to you what torture and hell it was to live an entire it was more than a month really in complete isolation believing that I was like evil and I mean manipulative and lying and selfish and I that I had abandoned my family and that I was more interested in my selfishness than my family now in one of the recorded phone calls between Ruby and Kevin Ruby says in light of the separation she was thinking of ways to make money maybe that's why she wanted him to sign over stuff but moving to the kids we know that Ruby and Kevin were separated Kevin acknowledged that he had no idea what was happening with the kids during this summer period that he was made to believe everything was Blissful and good good from Ruby he says he still didn't understand how he was being accused of abandoning his family because he was like I want to be with my family and then of course we know how everything went down but there is one more nugget from this interview that I have to share and it is about what was found at the Ivan's home of jod hilderbrand when she and Ruby were arrested when the warrant was issued there was a back with $85,000 cash in it and I understand her lawyer Ruby's lawyer has all that I'm not which home are we talking about Island in island in the island home we we don't know we the money was left where it was left we didn't take keep with us the house secured when we left we're assuming that uh Lamar wward to retrieve it but we don't I can't tell you yeah one or the other so here's kind of the issue that money she cleaned out their bank accounts the kids savings accounts yeah and yours too your joint account yeah and that's where that money came from mhm so I don't know if you can have or if I need to have a discussion with the County Attorney Kevin would kind of like his kids money back yeah so it would be civy so I would go address that oh yes that is something we didn't know before little discussion there about whether Ruby Frankie would be criminally charged for allegedly taking money away from her family there you have it that is a summary of what has been released today we are actually planning on doing more episodes that can dig deeper into each piece of evidence so want you to be on the lookout for that we're going to get into that next week in the meantime I think the most appropriate place to end this whole conversation is with a statement from the Washington County Attorney's Office upon the release of these materials it states the Washington County Attorney's Office is grateful for the law enforcement officers medical personnel case workers Children's Justice Center staff and others who were instrumental in ensuring the children's safety and administering Justice to their abusers that's all we have for you here on sidebar everybody thank you so much for joining us as always please subscribe on Apple podcast Spotify YouTube wherever you get your podcast I'm Jesse Weber I'll speak to you next time [Music]

Channel: Law&Crime Network

Views: 5,451,170

Keywords: law and crime, law and crime network, true crime, truecrime, true crime videos, court, trials, law&crime

Id: 81wy-WgoQ3w

Length: 65min 34sec (3934 seconds)

Published: Sat Mar 23 2024