Gulf Coast Confidential with Mollye Barrows

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VIP treatment – How celebrity clinic culture failed Joan Rivers Aug 04, 2026

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The bright lights of showbiz faded into a dim New York outpatient clinic on August 28, 2014, when comedy icon Joan Rivers walked in for a routine throat procedure and never spoke again.

What was supposed to be a brief examination of her vocal cords instead unraveled into a chaotic display of gross medical malpractice, where star-struck doctors reportedly suffered from "VIP syndrome" and prioritized cell phone selfies over critical patient care.

When the 81-year-old’s airway began to swell shut under the heavy sedative propofol, the clinic’s medical director famously dismissed the supervising anesthesiologist's desperate warnings as "paranoid," steering a routine medical checkup into a fatal, oxygen-starved catastrophe.

The tragedy left the entertainment world reeling, stripping Hollywood of its sharpest wit and exposing a terrifying lack of oversight in outpatient surgical centers.

Following her death from irreversible brain damage a week later, a high-stakes legal battle culminated in a confidential multi-million-dollar settlement, forcing the physicians involved to publicly accept full accountability for her death.

While Rivers spent her legendary career fearlessly exposing the absurdity of celebrity culture, her final, tragic chapter ultimately pulled back the curtain on the deadly consequences of medical arrogance.

Join us Tuesday for the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential Podcast, “VIP treatment – How celebrity clinic culture failed Joan Rivers!”

Project Candor: Ordinary People. Unexpected Stories
How a dog taught Dr. Andy Neillie to lead. You don't have to be famous to be fascinating.

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Outcry over ‘Allie’ the alligator drilled to death by Navy Seal & trappers Jul 28, 2026

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Did FWC cut some slack to three Santa Rosa County men accused of illegally capturing and killing an alligator with a power drill?

They say “No,” but folks in our community still have a lot of questions.

“Allie” the 8.5-foot-long alligator wasn’t bothering a single soul. She lived safely inside a locked, fenced in retention pond in the Garcon Point area of Milton, Florida for about ten years, neighbors said.

She was considered to be harmless by folks who live in the area, co-existing peacefully in the man-made environment, keeping to herself and catching a few fish, birds, and sunrays.

Some thought it was kind of a beautiful thing and enjoyed seeing her when they passed the pond which sits along Avalon Blvd., situated away from homes and busy neighborhoods.

In March 2026, decorated former U.S. Navy SEAL Kevin Lacz along with two other Santa Rosa County men who were experienced in wildlife removal, Jason Giffin and Richard Reder, trapped, bound, and killed “Allie” using a power drill.

Officers with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission charged all three men with second-degree misdemeanors.

However, the law clearly says what they did – removing and killing an alligator without the proper permits - is a third-degree felony.

Wildlife advocates and neighbors this is not a paperwork hiccup or slipup by some teenagers.

These are full grown men who say they saw a “capture of opportunity” and didn’t hesitate to snatch Allie out of her home, hog-tie her, and then take her to Lacz’s house where she was killed with a hand-held power drill.

According to Florida law licensed trappers are supposed to get clearance and proper permitting to capture and dispatch an alligator and when they do, they’re supposed to kill it immediately and humanely on the spot.

Nowhere in Florida law does it say hauling the animal off alive and drilling into its head at your house is an acceptable or legal part of the process.

In fact, according to the report detailing their arrests Lacz said he used to have a nuisance complaint for the alligator – that had expired two years ago – and he and “agent trappers” picked her up because he “suspected” there would be another a nuisance complaint.

He also mentioned he got $50 an alligator. So, is this about money? If not, why?! Was it the so called "thrill of the kill?" So many questions…

These men were bold and seemingly unbothered by this incident that has turned into a heartbreaking mess and an embarrassment here in our beautiful part of the world.

Even the prettiest places have a bit of ugly.

How is this even a thing?!

Join us this week for our 200th episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential Podcast, “Outcry over ‘Allie’ the alligator drilled to death by Navy Seal & trappers.”

Project Candor: Ordinary People. Unexpected Stories
How a dog taught Dr. Andy Neillie to lead. You don't have to be famous to be fascinating.

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Sadistic Shanda Vander Ark’s cruel campaign of hell against teen son Jul 21, 2026

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Put your seatbelt on, we didn’t know some of these cases could get any wilder but apparently, they can.

From doctors behaving badly to a tragic story of child abuse, we’re running down some cases you’ve probably heard of and some you haven’t.

The worst medical malpractices cases in the state are piling up in North Florida and stretching to the Panhandle.

Dr. Thomas Shaknovsky is accused of accidentally removing an Alabama man’s liver instead of his spleen at a hospital in Miramar Beach.

In Jacksonville, an orthopedic surgeon, the late Dr. David Heekin, is at the center of one of the largest mass-medical malpractice actions in Florida’s history with 522 lawsuits.

Both incidents happened at Ascension hospitals and the executive in charge during Heekin’s tenure when he was accused of botching patient surgeries, Tom VanOsdol, has been promoted to the national leadership team where he oversees “the strategic integration of Ascension's mission and values…across all organizational policies, programs, and culture.”

From executives and doctors who patients trust to a mother of five who is expected to protect her children, sometimes alleged “bad actors” turn up when you least expect it.

Mom and former law clerk Shanda Vander Ark was an abuser who cruelly ended the life of her 15-year-old special needs son through cruel, atrocious, and systematic abuse.

On the surface Vander Ark appeared highly successful, a bit of a know-it-all, and a gruff, no-nonsense person.

She graduated from law school with honors, clerked for two judges, and aced the bar exam.

Then she ended up being tried for the murd3r of her son, Timothy Ferguson, in the same courtroom where she had previously worked, turning the trial into a circus with delays, motions, and shenanigans.

But there was no distracting from the terrible facts that she starved, t0rtur3d, and ended her boy's life with the help of another son and his older brother.

Join us for the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential Podcast, “Sadistic Shanda Vander Ark’s cruel campaign of hell against teen son,” but it comes with a sensitivity warning.

Project Candor: Ordinary People. Unexpected Stories
How a dog taught Dr. Andy Neillie to lead. You don't have to be famous to be fascinating.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

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Beauty Buyer Beware VIIII: Dr. Ben Brown Jul 14, 2026

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Did Hillary Brown die from an overdose of Lidocaine poisoning?

Her husband, embattled plastic surgeon Ben Brown who was administering the local anesthetic when she went into cardiac arrest in his office, says she didn’t.

However, Medical Examiner, Dr. Deanna Oleske found that the 33-year-old mother of three did die from complications of lidocaine toxicity after she ruled out every possible cause of death.

It’s a point of contention for Dr. Brown who tried to block Oleske from being able to testify about her findings at his manslaughter trial, but the judge ruled against him and the ME will testify when the time comes.

According to official investigative documents, the medical examiner isn’t the only one who suspected lidocaine was to blame for the young woman’s death – the victim did too.

Hillary Brown did not explicitly use the words "you gave me too much lidocaine."

However, she did explicitly tell her husband that she was experiencing severe adverse symptoms—which she recognized as a sign that she was overdosing.

The details regarding her exact statements during the November 2023 procedures are documented in the Florida Department of Health’s investigation and the Santa Rosa County Sheriff's Office probable cause affidavit:

• Her Explicit Statements: During the procedures, after Dr. Brown injected her face and arms, Hillary stated that her "vision was blurry" and that she was "seeing orange."

• Her Realization: The probable cause affidavit notes that Hillary stated her face felt really "puffy". The document states she communicated that she thought those symptoms were a sign she was overdosing, right before she began convulsing.

• The Medical Response: Despite alerting him to these textbook symptoms of lidocaine toxicity, the report indicates Dr. Brown "stayed the course," continuing to inject local anesthetics (lidocaine and xylocaine) and operated on her until she suffered a grand mal seizure and went into cardiac arrest.

Based on these investigative findings and his delay in calling in 911 and beginning CPR on his unconscious wife, Brown was subsequently arrested and charged with second-degree felony homicide (manslaughter by culpable negligence).

Join us as we discuss his latest hearing in Santa Rosa County that cleared the way for his trial.

This will be the 9th Episode of the Playlist of Beauty Buyer Beware: Dr. Ben Brown.

Project Candor: Ordinary People. Unexpected Stories
How a dog taught Dr. Andy Neillie to lead. You don't have to be famous to be fascinating.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

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Louisiana Pastor Tony Spell goes to jail after feud with young neighbor Jul 07, 2026

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Louisiana Pastor Tony Spell doesn’t hold back.

He first made national news in 2020 when he continued to hold massive in-person services at Life Tabernacle Church in Central, a city north of Baton Rouge, despite health restrictions.

Now he’s back in the headlines after a video went viral of him sprinting across four lanes of highway to confront his neighbor’s son after the young man allegedly hurled insults and threats against Spell’s family.

Police say it’s part of an on-going feud between Spell and his neighbors.

The pastor was arrested for second-degree battery, and he wasn’t out of jail anytime before his neighbors called the police on Spell again when he started doing yard work at his church at 4:00 in the morning, disturbing their peace they said.

But people love Spell’s won’t-back-down spirit and for many the incident has only boosted their support of him!

Join us for the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential Podcast, “Louisiana Pastor Tony Spell goes to jail after feud with young neighbor,” and a mixed bag of other “What the feezy?!” cases!

Project Candor: Ordinary People. Unexpected Stories
How a dog taught Dr. Andy Neillie to lead. You don't have to be famous to be fascinating.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

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Pickle Brawl blood sport in Florida? Anthony Sapienza and Michele Bannister think so! Jun 30, 2026

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What is it about pickleball that it sometimes turns into pickle-BRAWL?!

For some, the fastest growing sport in America is just a game, but for others it’s almost a total obsession.

In this week’s episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential Podcast, we’re talking about the community, the weird terminology, and why a lot of folks are suddenly spending their Saturdays fighting over court time and some are fighting over more than that

In these cases, some folks ended up in the Emergency Room with direct hits to the face and head.

Drawing blood is frowned upon in most sports unless it’s boxing and that popping sound you hear isn’t just the ball hitting the paddle, it’s the ball and the paddle hitting heads, ouch!!

Isn’t pickleball supposed to be a bit more civilized than that?

Join us for more a very different kind of court…one that has some very severe consequences!!

Project Candor: Ordinary People. Unexpected Stories
How a dog taught Dr. Andy Neillie to lead. You don't have to be famous to be fascinating.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

Support the show

Hot to trot and double shot – Police officer Amber Guyger shoots to kill Botham Jean Jun 23, 2026

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Thank goodness most of us feel safe in our own homes.

Botham Jean thought he was safe when he was sitting on the couch in his apartment enjoying a bowl of vanilla ice cream.

Afterall, he lived only a couple of blocks from the Dallas Police Department Headquarters.

However on September 6, 2018, that turned out to be a downside when his downstairs neighbor, police woman Amber Guyger, was so busy sexting her married mentor that she mistakenly walked into Jean's apartment believing it was her own.

When she saw the 26-year-old accountant in the living room, she pulled her service weapon and shot him twice, like he was the intruder.

Guyger never once rendered first aid and when she called 9-1-1 she repeated 19 times that she thought it was her apartment.

Although she claimed to be so weary after a 13.5 hour shift that she didn't notice she parked on the wrong floor of the garage and walked past 16 apartments, she found the time to delete the steamy text messages she was exchanging with her lover shortly before the shooting.

Join us for more on the case that nearly tore a family and a city apart in the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential Podcast, "Hot to trot and double shot – Police officer Amber Guyger shoots to kill Botham Jean."

Project Candor: Ordinary People. Unexpected Stories
How a dog taught Dr. Andy Neillie to lead. You don't have to be famous to be fascinating.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

Support the show

Scott Pattison, Van Damme look-a-like, murders wife with weight bar Jun 16, 2026

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Have you ever seen a grown man cry, whoop, and hyperventilate for a solid seven minutes? That’s what Miami real estate broker George Pino did while his own attorney was giving opening statements during his manslaughter trial which just got started this month.

He’s accused of killing one of his daughter’s friends and leaving another severely injured after crashing his boat into a steel channel marker when a took the group of teens out to celebrate her 18th birthday.

There was one cooler filled with alcohol for the girls and another for George and his wife.

The family had celebrated with friends earlier in the day at a sandbar and were headed home when George crashed straight into the channel marker and capsized the boat.

The boat crasher is one of the cases we’re talking about in this week’s episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential Podcast.

We’re also talking about toll booth crasher Deanna Harrell, who was allegedly plowed when she plowed her pickup truck into a prefabricated aluminum toll booth operating a pickup truck in Daytona Beach Shores, Florida, and killed a longtime toll booth attendant.

And just for a little dash of “what the feezy” we’re checking in on the case of accused California killer Nick Reiner who now wants to tap into money from the trust fund that his parents set aside for him and use it to pay for his defense for killing them.

But the main course of this week’s episode is the chilling case of Scott and Lisa Pattison.

It looked like a tragic home gym accident ….until the killer forgot about his cameras.

When Lisa’s husband Scott frantically called 911 in July 2009, he claimed he found Lisa pinned by a heavy barbell across her throat at their home gym in Indiana.

He put her in his truck, racing toward the hospital, crying accident.

But investigators quickly realized the math wasn't mathing.

Was it a devastating weightlifting mishap, or a coldly calculated plot driven by a secret tawdry affair?

Join us for the latest episode of the Gulf Coast Confidential podcast “Scott Pattison, Van Damme look-a-like, murders wife with weight bar.”

Project Candor: Ordinary People. Unexpected Stories
How a dog taught Dr. Andy Neillie to lead. You don't have to be famous to be fascinating.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

Support the show

Gulf Coast Confidential Gumbo - Dig in with us on several spicy cases! Jun 09, 2026

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This week our Podcast is a lil different.

We're talking about more than half a dozen cases we're following and it’s a little bit of everything:

*Nicolette Keough the lady that urinates on items in Airbnb here along the Gulf Coast and then posts her photos of said activity on an Adult Internet Site.

We'll have more on how her latest court hearing went.

*Updates on Dr. Ben Brown and Dr. Thomas Shaknovsky.

*A little peek at the upcoming Summer episode we are doing on the Original Dr. Death Chris Dunstch. Texas let him go on practicing because they just couldn’t believe any surgeon could be that incompetent.

*Update on the icky Tennessee School Member Keith Ervin. He has now been charged with Assault.

*Update on Pace Pharmacy.

*A story about a Florida Teacher, Karen Savage, that inappropriately tied a phone charger cord around a black baby doll and left it suspended over a classroom TV.

These are just the stories we are doing along with our regular True Crime Episodes.

We have an interesting Summer coming up!

Project Candor: Ordinary People. Unexpected Stories
How a dog taught Dr. Andy Neillie to lead. You don't have to be famous to be fascinating.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

Support the show

Texts, warm milk, and ‘Boom’ shirt – Mackenzie Shirilla’s Leap Day appeal Jun 02, 2026

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Mean girls rule by fear – the gossip, the condescension, the ostracizing – it’s all designed to keep them at the top of the food chain and others around them so scared that no one holds them accountable for their cruelty and corruption.

Some people take whatever mean girls dish out – no matter what – because they’re afraid of becoming the next target of bullying or rumors.

Queens of mean don’t deal in facts; they deal in toxic drama. No one wears that tarnished crown better than Mackenzie Shirilla.

The 21-year-old Ohio woman is serving 15 years to life in prison for deliberately crashing her car into a brick wall at speeds of 100 mph. The 2022 crash killed her boyfriend, 20-year-old Dominique Russo and their friend, 19-year-old Davion Flanagan.

Thousands of recently released texts between Shirilla and Russo, show that Mackenzie, who was 17 at the time of the crash, threatened, insulted, and talked down to him repeatedly while they dated. She treated the young man more like an ATM and a whipping post than a friend or companion.

After years of this abuse, (they’d been together since she was 13), the messages show he wanted to break it off with her because he thought it was best for both of them.

She was not having it.

And the texts she sent her own dad Steve Shirilla, are enough to make any normal parent and child cringe. She demands he rub her feet, bring “warm milk” to her room, and fetch her bougie Starbucks to-go orders.

In our latest episode of Gulf Coast Confidential, “Texts, warm milk, and ‘Boom’ shirt – Mackenzie Shirilla’s Leap Day appeal,” we’re picking up where we left off with Mean Girl Barbie Mackenzie and the more, we learn the worse it is.

Project Candor: Ordinary People. Unexpected Stories
How a dog taught Dr. Andy Neillie to lead. You don't have to be famous to be fascinating.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

Support the show

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