The Rx Defense

20:04But I also need help. I need really, really, I need some help. I could tell he was struggling that night with, I knew this is what I felt. I knew this is what I wanted to do. But how I got here, I don't know.

20:22Connor Hilton was arrested on two counts of aggravated assault with serious bodily injury. That night, in jail, Hilton was allowed to make a phone call to his mother.

20:49The next day, Christmas Eve, Connor Hilton was released on bond.

20:55Tracy Smith:We got him home and then he just lost it. Fell on the floor. I'm crying. Did he tell you what happened? I couldn't hear any of it. I mentally didn't want to hear.

21:16The Riley family spent their Christmas Eve in the hospital and were there when their son Ethan died.

21:28Somebody spotlight these windows. On Christmas night, officers were back at Connor Hilton's door to arrest him on a murder charge. I look out the window and there's a SWAT truck outside. Johnny? Yes, sir. Hey, is he here? They came in. They came in. Where's he at? He's right there. Hands, hands, hands. Show me your hands. I was kind of like in the back of the house, sort of, and I just had my hands up. Turn around. Face away from me. And they had their guns drawn? Yes, ma 'am. You're under arrest for murder, okay, Bob?

22:05All right. Come on, Bob.

22:09May I give him a hug? No hugs. No hugs. No honor. Go. Let's go. No hugs. Hey, we love you, Connor. We're working on it, okay? Be strong. Hilton was booked into jail, but again, the stay was short-lived. He was eventually given a bond, and his family posted it.

22:33As Connor's parents began grappling with what their son had done, Shannon Bleak was still in the ICU with her son, Ben. His head was bandaged significantly. She'll never forget the moment she was first allowed to see him. I saw him, and I started to hyperventilate. And a nurse grabbed me and hugged me. I composed myself and I walked over. I said, Benjamin, Ben, Mama's here. And Ben opened his eyes and kind of like, I hear you, you know? If there is any good news in this story... Ben, are you comfortable with walking over here? It's that Ben Bleak survived. How are you feeling today? Good.

23:42He has shown more resilience and more grit than any person I could ever even know. It's just like he's on a mission to get better. And he just does it. Shannon Bleak believes it's a miracle her son Ben survived. Both bone flaps were removed, meaning the two big parts of the skull. He had a tracheotomy put in to breathe, and he had a feeding tube put in to eat. And he was paralyzed on the right side. Following the shooting, Ben spent more than three weeks in the hospital before being transferred to an inpatient rehab. Not long after arriving there, remarkably, he was up and walking. He was working so hard, so hard.

24:34According to Shannon, Ben would stay in that rehab for over a month. He had to learn to swallow again. I mean, everything. During that time, Shannon shielded her son from the details of the shooting. Ben doesn't remember anything from that night. It wasn't until he came across an article on his mom's phone that he learned his friend Connor Hilton pulled the trigger and that his best friend, Ethan Riley, was killed. I was really sad. What was Ethan like? He was just an outstanding guy. He looked on things with a positive light. You learned that this guy that you were friendly with was the one who shot you and shot Ethan.

25:28I was furious. But Ben forced himself to stay focused on his recovery. At that point, Connor Hilton was out on house arrest awaiting trial. His parents say they were still dumbfounded. We knew that our son, not in a million years in his right mind, would do that. We knew that. You think he wasn't in his right mind? Oh, yeah, he definitely wouldn't. In his right mind, he would never do this. He's always been the sweetest, loving boy ever. In search of an explanation, Connor's father, Neil, began researching a prescription acne medication his son had been taking, called Accutane. The drug label warns of risk of, quote, depression, psychosis, suicide, and aggressive and or violent behaviors.

26:17Neil encouraged his son's lawyers to look into it. Something happened here. Adam Brown. Something happened. It's an emotional case. J.L. Carpenter. These type of cases are a challenge. And Rick DiToto make up Connor's defense team. Connor had no trouble with the law, no trouble with school. This doesn't make sense. Something changed. The kid changed. What changed it? What it came down to in our research was the acne medication. And my research led me to Dr. Bremner. My name is Dr. Doug Bremner. I'm a professor of psychiatry and radiology at Emory University School of Medicine. His CV is 96 pages long.

26:59We didn't play around when we had our expert. I don't think there's another human being on this earth who knows more about this topic than Dr. Douglas Bremner. Dr. Bremner says he's done extensive research on Isot Retinoin, the generic version of Accutane. The drug is sold under several brand names. He also gets paid to testify in cases. It's a very strong medication. There's a large number of people throughout the world that have experienced side effects from it, including psychiatric side effects. Why is it still on the market? Well, it's a great treatment for acne, especially severe acne that's cystic.

27:37And that's what Connor Hilton says he has. Ever since I was little, I've always had these bumps on my bottom, sometimes on my armpit. They would be extremely painful. I couldn't even walk. That's how bad they were. We tried all sorts of medicine to make it go away. And then one day we went to the dermatologist and they said, hey, we're going to give you Accutane. That was in late July 2022, about a year and a half before the shooting. Connor was 15 at the time. His mother signed this document acknowledging the risks. According to court-admitted dermatology records, about a month later, Connor reported that he stopped taking the medication because he was, quote, feeling symptoms of depression.

28:23I was feeling real down and didn't really feel like doing anything. But Dr. Bremner interviewed Connor at the defense's request, and Connor told him that he wasn't completely honest back then. He said that it was after he started on the medication that he began experiencing homicidal thoughts, too. Did you tell anybody that you were having these thoughts? Did Did you try to get help? I was scared to tell people of my actual thoughts because I didn't want to go to a mental hospital and people think I'm crazy. Connor told Dr. Bremner that when he stopped taking the medication, the thoughts subsided.

28:57They slowly disappeared. I was feeling more energetic, more like will to do stuff, but I was also in pain because of the bumps. They got worse again because I wasn't taking Acutane. In January, 2023, After several months of being off the medication, Connor's dermatology records show that he went back on it. This time, he was given a lower dose than initially prescribed. Were you at all apprehensive? Like, oh, this has messed with my mind the first time. Maybe I shouldn't go back on this stuff? The bumps were so painful. I just needed something to cure it because it was just unbearable. Did the thoughts come back?

29:37Yes, ma 'am. Slowly, but yes, it did. Suicidal and homicidal thoughts. Connor told Dr. Bremner that the thoughts eventually became consuming. It just amplified the longer I was on it. But he never reported any issues to his dermatologist again. Connor would continue taking the medication on and off for the next 11 months, up until the time of the shooting. Connor told Dr. Bremner that on that day, he took double his prescribed dose. He said that he had missed the dose the day before, so instead of taking two pills, he took four pills. After pulling the trigger that night, Connor said he stopped taking Accutane and never experienced homicidal thoughts again.

30:20After speaking to Connor and reviewing the evidence in the case, Dr. Bremner formed an opinion. Why do you believe Connor Hilton shot his friends that night? I think he became psychotic on Accutane and he had recurrent homicidal ideation that he was not able to control. Dr. Bremner is firm in his opinion. These thoughts did not occur before he took Accutane. He went off the drug and those thoughts went away. And then he started the drug again and the thoughts came back. So that's considered to be proof, basically, of a causal effect between a drug and a symptom. You know that people are going to look at this and say, this is just a family looking for an excuse for the horrible thing that their kid did.

31:00Well, I think that, you know, there was no motivation. There was no history whatsoever of conflict. This person was psychotic. J.G. Pharma, the distributor listed on the box of Accutane that Connor Hilton was taking at the time of the shooting, did not respond to our request for comment. But Connor's defense attorneys would build their entire case around Dr. Bremner's opinion, even though they were unaware of any other homicide case in which an Accutane defense worked. You see this kid. You see how upset he is. You see how remorseful he is. It's not just some young man deciding, I'm just going to go on this rampage.

31:45That's not what we have here. But prosecutors wouldn't be so convinced. It's not Accutane. He was evil.

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35:29In August 2025, just weeks before Connor Hilton's murder trial was scheduled to begin, a hearing was held to determine whether defense expert Dr. Doug Bremner would be allowed to testify. He's the most qualified expert I've ever had on a case. Defense attorney Rick DiToto had to convince a judge that the doctor's testimony was reliable and relevant. What we're arguing is that through the expert, Connor was in psychosis from the Accutane and he could not control himself. Murder has got to be done intentionally and knowingly. He could not control his behavior. And that takes out the element of intentionally and knowingly in murder.

36:12At the hearing, Dr. Bremner testified that it was his opinion that Hilton was suffering from a medication psychotic disorder on the night of the incident.

36:24He pointed to a study he conducted which found that isotretinoin, the generic version of Accutane, impacts a part of the brain that regulates emotion. There's the brain on the left before treatment and then after three months of treatment. You can see there's a visible decrease in function in the upper part of the brain. See the reddish area on the left? It's not on the right. Dr. Bremner says that illustrates the brain on Accutane has less activity. Why is that important to what we've been talking about? Because we know that that part of the brain is involved in depression and also impulsivity.

37:02It is a bunch of poor s**t. Ben Bleak and his mother were in the courtroom. It was very convincing listening to that gentleman speak. And then once questions were asked on the prosecution side... Have you ever performed a brain scan of Connor Hilton? No. It just fell apart. What was your reaction when you heard that their defense was going to be that this acne medication caused psychosis? Well, I thought it was ridiculous.

37:31Tracy Smith:Kayla Allen is the lead prosecutor on the case. I don't think a jury was going to buy the Accutane made-me-do-it defense. At the hearing, prosecutors argued Dr. Bremner's testimony should be excluded. and they introduced a more recent study that found that, quote,

37:54For Allen, the case is simple.

37:57Tracy Smith:I think that he just wanted to see what it felt like to kill someone. And that had nothing to do with acne medication? I don't believe it did. No. She argues Connor Hilton was in his right mind at the time of the shooting and points to that statement he made on scene as proof. He tried to make a statement. We got into an argument. That one of the boys had come at him. Ethan, he tried to grab me. He tried to grab from my throat. He's working a self-defense argument right from the beginning. Someone who's insane at the time they've committed a crime can't automatically start forming a defense for themselves.

38:39Tracy Smith:But by the time he got to the police station, it was like, look, I'm sorry I lied to you. I'm not going to lie to you anymore. I'm going to tell you the truth. And Alan says Connor's police interview is also key. He told police officers that he had been planning it. He had acknowledged that he knew right from wrong, too. I need to do the punishment. I knew what I did was wrong. He knew by loading that gun and putting up to someone and pulling that trigger that he was going to kill them. That's what he wanted to do. These were his friends. Yes. Why would he shoot them? I don't know. Because there's no clear motive in this case, doesn't that support the defense's argument that Connor went into some sort of a psychosis?

39:23Tracy Smith:I don't think it does. There's just people that are evil and do evil things. Allen argues Connor Hilton is one of those people. Have you ever seen Connor pull out this gun before? Yeah. His friends told detectives about things he'd said in the months leading up to the shooting. He would say, one day I want to be important. I want to leave a legacy. And he would make comments about killing people. And detectives also polled Conner's online activity. On YouTube, he downloaded numerous videos about murder. His social media posts referenced it as well. Conner's friends reported this post was made just hours before the shooting.

40:06It contains the lyrics, murder one, better run, killing plenty is so fun. It's chemically induced. Connor's defense attorneys argue Connor became obsessed with murder after he went on Accutane. So all of that can be blamed on the acne medication? Absolutely. And they say the police investigation supports their case because several of Connor's friends told police they noticed a change in him during sophomore year, which was after he went on the drug. And when you say they noticed a change, what are they saying? He was starting to isolate. He was getting more involved into true crime. He wanted to be a homicide detective.

40:45But Allen insists Connor's behavior had nothing to do with Accutane.

40:50Tracy Smith:That's just what the defense wants the community to believe because it gives them an excuse. He was having problems already before Accutane was even introduced in his life about not wanting to go to school. In fact, Conner was prescribed the antidepressant Prozac months before he started on Accutane. But Conner says he was only struggling with normal teenage anxiety then. I was a freshman. I was nervous. Do I fit in? Do I not? And during that freshman year, did you have suicidal, homicidal thoughts? No, ma 'am. But after that hearing, to determine whether Dr. Bremner would be allowed to testify, the judge dealt the defense a blow and ruled Dr.

41:33Bremner would only be allowed to testify during the punishment phase of the trial, if necessary. So in Texas, we have two phases, guilt and sentence, and then if there's a guilty verdict, the punishment phase. So what will you do during the first phase of the trial, the guilt and innocence phase, if you can't present your expert? There's not much you can do. You just have to sit there and take it and wait till you get the punishment, and then we put on an aggressive case regarding the Accutate. There was still a lot on the line. Because in Texas criminal court, Connor Hilton was considered an adult, and a jury could sentence him to as little as five years in prison, all the way up to 99 years or life.

42:13How high are the stakes here? I don't think you get much higher. It's a kid's life.

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43:29Tracy Smith:Are you really buying a car online on AutoTrader right now? Really? At a playground? Yeah, really. Look at these listings from dealers. Wow, your search can really get that specific. Really? And you just put in your info and boom. Cars in your budget. Mom needs a second, honey. You can really have it delivered? Really? Or I can pick it up at the dealership. One sec, sweetie. Mommy's buying a car. Mommy, look. Uh, I think your kid is walking up the slide. Kyle, again? Really? Auto Trader. Buy your car online. Really?

44:02Two weeks before Connor Hilton was set to stand trial, a big development. Prosecutors offered him a deal. 50 years in prison if he pleaded guilty to murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. He would also have to waive his right to appeal. We know Connor would have never done this if it wasn't for the Accutane. So you didn't want to take the plea deal? I didn't. You didn't want to take the plea deal? No. But Connor? Well, he did. What did Connor tell you?

44:34Tracy Smith:I don't want the family staff to go through that. They say their son didn't want Ethan Riley's family and Ben Bleak and his family to have to suffer through a trial. And he also didn't want to risk receiving a life sentence. He was trying to get us on board with it. And I said, Bud, that's just a long time.

44:59But ultimately, the decision was Connors, and he chose to accept the deal. Connor's defense attorneys say they didn't counsel him one way or the other, but they believe he made the right call. I think the consensus between the three of us was there was a very strong possibility that he would get life. That body cam video walking in the house, it's a very difficult body cam video to watch. But while Connor Hilton and his defense team had worried about the possibility of a life sentence, prosecutor Kayla Allen had worried about the opposite. it.

45:32Tracy Smith:My main concern was he was a young kid. And I think that at times it hurts jury's hearts to sentence a young kid to life. We did not plea the case because we were worried about the Accutane. It was more his age. She says she offered the deal only after confirming the victims' families were on board. All rise. On September 2nd, 2025, a plea hearing was held. It's my understanding you're here this morning to enter a plea on both of these charges. Is that correct? Yes. Yes, sir. How do you plead to each of these charges? Guilty. He was crying because he was going to prison, not because. He felt bad for what he did.

46:22Do you think that Connor's acne medication played anywhere? We know a lot of people who've taken that medication. And they don't have homicidal tendencies? Why do you think Connor pulled the trigger? Because he wanted to murder somebody. After Connor Hilton formally accepted the plea, Ben got the chance to make a victim impact statement. He made it clear to Connor how he felt. First of all, stop sniveling, stop crying. You did this to yourself. Secondly, the grief you have caused the Riley's and my own family, I will never forgive you. Shannon addressed the court next. She turned her attention to Connor's mother.

47:16We are all living this nightmare because a mother chose not to tell her son no when he asked her to buy a gun. This mother put the gun in the hand of a child who should not have had it. Shame on you. Remember, Connor had told police his mother bought him the gun. I convinced my mom to buy that gun for me. And in the hours after the crime, Janice also told that to police. What was the reason for buying the gun?

47:47Tracy Smith:He wanted to get it. Okay. But when we interviewed both Connor and Janice Hilton, they denied that the gun was purchased for him. I purchased that for myself. Why did you tell the police that you did buy it for him? I have no idea. I don't even remember that they showed me the interview. I don't have, I have no memory of that. Do you think you were covering for him? Why would you say that? I have no idea. Janice Hilton has not been charged with any crime in connection with the case. And even though she bought the gun less than two months before the crime, she insists she had no idea her son was homicidal.

48:25There were these social media posts that he made about murder cases. He watched a lot of murder videos. Weren't these warning signs? No, I didn't think so. The Hiltons continue to blame the acne medication. You bought the gun in November. You didn't see any effects of the acne and medication psychologically that would lead you to think, I shouldn't have a gun in the house? I didn't. I didn't, no. Still, Johnny says she lives with an enormous amount of regret.

48:57Tracy Smith:I'm so sorry that this happened, and I do feel responsible. I wish I could go back and change everything, and I would not have purchased the firearm. I wouldn't have made him take the acne medicine.

49:15The last person to address the court during Connor Hilton's plea hearing was Matthew Riley, Ethan Riley's father. I sit here with so much love. Love in my heart for my son, Ethan. Ethan's mother, Tara Riley, stood behind him. They declined our request for an interview. He's a beautiful soul full of love and light. You could see that light in his eyes and hear it in his laughter. After that, Connor Hilton was taken into custody. We spoke to him inside the Galveston County Jail the next day. Just the feeling of loneliness yesterday was unbearable.

50:05I mean, don't get me wrong, I did it to myself. I'm the reason why I'm here, but it just, it sucks. For Ben Bleak, everyday life remains a challenge. He plays pickleball and basketball to help restore his mobility. But he says one person has helped him the most. My mom, she's always there for me. Can you explain how difficult this has been? It is very difficult, but pouting about it is not going to get Ethan back.

50:51So... You just got to keep going. Yeah. Go easy on me, my friend. Whoops. See, my backhand is bad, too. Yours is not as bad as my mom.

51:09Oh, is that what we do? Yeah. Good game. Good job, guys. Connor Hilton will be eligible for parole in August 2050. He will be 43 years old. Where you learn matters. At Monmouth University, students study on a vibrant coastal campus with direct access to research, culture, and industry. From classrooms to competition, from creativity to career prep. Monmouth offers a vantage point shaped by location and purpose. Blending a personalized learning experience with Division I pride and a rising national profile. Bigger thinking, more inspired. You amplified. Amplify your future at Monmouth University.

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