MYSTERIOUS DEATH OF: Alyssa Romine-Olson Part 1

17:55Brit Prawat:I mean, I guess that's what it was like where she was found. But I mean, we don't know if her body was moved around at all in the pond. And plus, like, if it did, right, if it was like completely washed away evidence, she's in the water for so long. What are we what are we redacting? I say we're still redacting.

18:10Ashley Flowers:What are we doing? What's going on?

18:12Brit Prawat:And, you know, while we're on this, like, I can also see the fingernail clippings. Hers were tested. Those results are redacted, too. So with all of this, what's coming into view is the possibility that Alyssa might have been met with foul play in the park. And from the file, I know that Gilbert PD saw that too. In it, investigators routinely call the area where Alyssa was found a crime scene. They write that they believe, quote, someone did cause Alyssa's death. And that, quote, there were things associated with the way Alyssa was found that may indicate another person was involved.

18:52Ashley Flowers:So why won't they tell the public that?

18:54Brit Prawat:That's what I don't know. Like I get not giving away case details broadly. And it's not like they're making things up, right? They're not straight up lying to the public, but it's more like they're really not giving any proper context. What is getting published are just stories where all anyone can talk about is Alyssa's depression, her health problems, and her recent move back home. And all of that, when they read it, feels like a gut punch to Alyssa's family, who are already in a state of shock and confusion. Because, like, one minute, they do. They have police asking them for a list of people that they, like, think they should be looking into.

19:37Brit Prawat:And then the next minute, they're reading about her death in the paper like it's a suicide. Were reporters getting suicide from police? Like, this is what I'm saying. They're not getting the word suicide. side. No, like the police can't say that that would be a straight up lie. It is undetermined. But after reading the news, Michelle starts to like put something together. And she remembers that in her family's initial conversation with police, it felt like they were trying to steer the conversation in a specific direction, asking if Alyssa was depressed. Like, was she sad? Did she eat enough? And if you read the police reports, you'll see that they spend an outsized amount of time explaining that Alyssa had been keeping to herself.

20:20Brit Prawat:She'd barely eaten in the last few days and she was depressed. But what they neglected to include was that Alyssa was naturally an introverted person, that she never had a voracious appetite. And she had recently not been as hungry because she was recovering from her ectopic pregnancy, which Brayden said she had prayed over and made peace with. And more than anything, core to Alyssa's religious belief was that suicide was wrong. Forget the fact that her family, who had just seen her said that she was happy and not suicidal, never even talked about suicide. All of that is true, but she had talked about others who committed the act, and she said that those weren't true believers.

21:08Brit Prawat:One of Alyssa's good friends, Blake, told us that there was, quote, literally almost a 0 % chance that Alyssa would take her own life, just like based on her religious values. He said it would go against her whole self. And none of that that I just told you made it into the articles about Alyssa.

21:29Ashley Flowers:Did no reporters reach out to Alyssa's family themselves to get any of this context?

21:35Brit Prawat:It's worse than that. The media did try to contact the Romines early on. The family turned them away. Not because they didn't want to speak, though. According to Chelsea, investigators specifically told them not to talk to anyone about anything, especially the media. They say that everything about the case is confidential, and if anyone finds anything out, it could compromise the investigation. And so even feeling like knocked down, confused, at this point, the Romines are still putting their full trust in police, even as they are reading the stuff that is so blatantly like not their view of their Alyssa.

22:15Brit Prawat:And so they do as they're told. They don't go to the media and they don't try to correct the reports that they feel are painting a false and extremely hurtful picture. They sit back and hope that this is all part of a bigger plan. But the bigger plan takes them by complete shock. Because police don't seem to focus heavily on any of the people that the Romine family told them to look into. In fact, investigators start looking at someone that most of the family wasn't suspicious of. For no other reason, it seems, than the fact that he was Alyssa's husband of nearly four years. And Brayden and Alyssa had recently decided to separate.

23:01Brit Prawat:And you always look at the husband first, right? Before we get into Brayden's interviews with police, I want to go back to the day that Alyssa was reported missing, which is June 9th. Both the police and Alyssa's mom, Barbara, tried calling Brayden to alert him. Both calls went to voicemail. Then her dad, Ed, looked up Alyssa's cell phone activity on their shared account and found that Alyssa and Brayden had spoken over the phone the night before she disappeared for around two hours, which just made him want to reach Brayden even more. So Ed decided to call the family that Brayden was staying with.

23:39Ashley Flowers:The family, like not his? He wasn't, wasn't he living with his mom?

23:43Brit Prawat:So according to the police report, he was when he first moved back to Washington, but they had a falling out over the extent of his religious beliefs, which ended in him storming out. So he ended up calling this close family friend that he'd stayed with before, this lady named Wendy Phillips, and asked if he could stay with her and her family.

24:01Ashley Flowers:And still in Washington.

24:02Brit Prawat:Yeah, this is just like an hour away from his mom's place, but in Washington. So Braden told Wendy that he had been staying with his mom, but that he, quote, determined that his mom was Satan. So I don't know if she like felt for him or what, but Wendy and her husband, Timothy, agreed to take him in. And Brayden joined them and their children, James and Samantha, in Toledo, Washington. Now our reporter, Nicole, spoke with both kids, James and Samantha. And they described Brayden as almost like a brother to them. He would go to their family lake days at barbecues. And when he married Alyssa, he would bring her around too.

24:39Brit Prawat:and they adored her. Samantha and Alyssa actually ended up becoming good friends themselves. But when Brayden came to live with the Phillips in 2016, after his separation, Samantha said that he seemed to be in this like really weird headspace. She said that Brayden would talk constantly about how much he loved Alyssa and how heartbroken he was, but there seemed to be something else just like under the surface. He would say that the separation was God's will, And obviously something must not be right with Alyssa because God pulled him away from her. Samantha said it actually made Brayden an uncomfortable person to be around.

25:18Brit Prawat:Like she couldn't quite put her finger on it, but she just got this unsettled feeling in her gut that something was off. Which brings me back to the night that Alyssa was reported missing. So Alyssa's family was like desperately trying to get a hold of Brayden. they finally reach the Phillips and they're like sorry Brayden's asleep but the Roman Hines were like okay yeah but this is really important please just tell him to like listen to the voicemails we left him like he'll understand and he'll want to call us back so Wendy like she goes to get Brayden who is sleeping she has him like listen to the voicemail messages that Barbara and the police officer had left and per her account in the police file Brayden apparently showed no visible emotion while listening to the voicemails.

26:05Brit Prawat:And after they finished, he handed the phone back to one of the Phillips and said, thank you, and went back to bed. What? Their son James said that Brayden just acted like it was any other day. And he remembers Brayden saying, she's probably off on a spiritual journey. She'll pop back up. Well, guess what? She didn't. So the Phillips managed to convince Brayden to call the police back the next day. This would be June 10th. But still, this is before Alyssa's body has been found. And on this call, according to the police files, Brayden does admit to speaking with Alyssa on June 8th. He says they spoke about what was going on in each other's lives, about religion, specifically about this trip that they're thinking of going on to Florida to learn more about a certain religious movement.

26:55Brit Prawat:They decided to leave the decision up to Jesus. Now, according to Brayden, the conversation was, it was soft. It was sweet, loving. But interestingly, he also says in it, he admitted to Alyssa that he was having thoughts of not being faithful. That he was viewing pornography and he wanted to drink and smoke and get a house and a job. All those things that like were pulling them apart, which were all still things that Alyssa did not approve of.

27:21Ashley Flowers:And does he seem concerned at this point to the officers or is he still kind of detached?

27:26Brit Prawat:It's hard to tell. Like I'm just going off of an officer's write-up of this conversation. but it seems like Brayden sort of dismisses the idea that Alyssa is in danger. He says that she didn't mention hanging out with anyone new, that she mostly kept to herself anyway, and she didn't make any indications at all that she was going to harm herself. I mean, he said, quote, she is probably just at the zoo, end quote, which is weirder than a spiritual journey. I mean, yeah, and like overnight? I guess, yeah, because this is the next day, but like, I don't know, Brayden says that he knows that Alyssa goes to the riparian.

28:00Brit Prawat:He mentions the Ripparian every day. But she had also recently started visiting the zoo in the mornings, I guess. So, like, I don't know if he just assumes that she went there instead. And was there, like, the whole time? I don't know. But as for his own whereabouts, Brayden tells police that he has been in Washington with the Phillips since the end of April.

28:20Ashley Flowers:And does he mention anything about the separation?

28:23Brit Prawat:He doesn't. But it also doesn't seem like they really ask him about it. Like at this point, everything investigators seem to know about Brayden and Alyssa's relationship history comes from other sources. And remember, they're talking to him at a time when she has not been found. Like she's just missing. And I think they're really focused on just like seeing if he knows where she is. Now, as we know, it's only hours after this call, though, that Alyssa's body ends up being found. And Brayden's mom, her name's Jodi, she actually drives down to the Phillips house herself to tell Brayden once she learns the news.

28:56Brit Prawat:And when she gets there, according to Wendy, who Brayden's staying with, his behavior is weird. Wendy tells police that Jodi was trying to talk to him, but he kept screaming at her and telling her that she was Satan. And when she finally was able to tell him that Alyssa was dead, Brayden says, quote, it was prophesied that she would die.

29:20Ashley Flowers:Prophesied by who? And also, why? Because I'm pretty sure five minutes ago, you were telling us that she was just at the zoo. I don't know.

29:30Brit Prawat:Samantha, one of the Phillips, their daughter, she said that he didn't seem distraught, which was really unsettling to her. And her brother James thought that it was downright terrifying. Though apparently, Brayden does eventually break down like screaming and wailing. So he does have some reaction. And later that day, he also starts confiding in James. He says that he's afraid of facing his family or going down to Gilbert and seeing his and Alyssa's things. He says he doesn't want to speak at the funeral or even see Alyssa's body or actually go to the funeral at all. James says that they talk until James' parents come home.

30:11Brit Prawat:And then Brayden says, I don't want you talking about anything we talked about to your parents. But whether James told them or not, Brayden eventually stops trusting any of the Phillips. He starts calling their dad, Timothy, Satan, and then he stops speaking to all of them altogether. And the last thing he asks for is a ride to the airport the next day, which at this point, I assume the Phillips are like happy to provide.

30:36Ashley Flowers:Yeah, but the airport to go where?

30:39Brit Prawat:Back to Arizona. So like Alyssa's family had gotten him a flight so that he could stay with them for a while.

30:45Ashley Flowers:So they really weren't suspicious of him at all?

30:47Brit Prawat:Not at this point, no. But Samantha, who was 18 or 19 at this time, she said that she was. Like the day that he left town, this would have been June 11th, she remembers looking at her mom with this sinking feeling in her stomach and saying, Mom, did Brayden kill her? But I don't think the police were asking themselves that same question. At least not yet. So the day after Brayden gets to Arizona, he calls Gilbert PD asking to speak about Alyssa.

31:19Ashley Flowers:He calls them.

31:20Brit Prawat:Proactively. At least that's what it says in the case file. But when he comes into the station for what they consider his like first formal interview, in it, Brayden does himself zero favors.

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33:23Brit Prawat:Brayden tells police some things that they already know about his and Alyssa's relationship and the separation. Emphasizing, by the way, though, that they had their disagreements and they were living apart, but they were definitely still married. And then things start to take a turn. Brayden is asked what he heard happened to Alyssa. And this is when he begins to describe the crime scene in vivid detail.

33:53Ashley Flowers:Which is like... How do you know what it looked like, Brayden? Exactly.

33:58Brit Prawat:And he tells investigators that he knows because he saw some video of the crime scene on the news. Of the crime scene? Well, of the investigator saying that they found Alyssa. And then he said he saw this like overhead view from a helicopter. And he says, quote, it's kind of hard to see, but you can see it if you look, end quote. And when the detectives asked if anything stuck out to him, he said just her position. OK, but how is he seeing the crime scene video? Like, I'm confused. I know. This is what's, like, kind of wild. According to him, it's just, like, all over. Like, the local news station, AZ Central, AZ Family, CNN, he's saying it's everywhere.

34:38Brit Prawat:Which, in the moment, I don't think the detective could, like, prove him wrong. So he kind of just, like, pivots and he starts down this, like, different line of questioning. He wants to know Brayden's thoughts about what happened to Alyssa. And Brayden says that the Lord told him Alyssa was attacked by Satan and thrown in the water by a demon. And I'm not quite sure how that goes over with the detective because there is this like whole redaction paragraph after this. And then Brayden starts asking about Alyssa's belongings, specifically her bag. What bag? The investigator asks. But Brayden's answer is redacted.

35:20Brit Prawat:I don't know if she always like took a bag with her to the Riperian or if Brayden knows more than he should because from like what we can read in the report, there's no mention of a bag at the scene or anywhere. But Brayden is able to describe what is inside of this hypothetical bag. And he says he doesn't understand if it just sank or what happened, but he wants to know what she was going through and what she was writing about. The investigator says that, you know, I can't share that information with you. and then he steers Brayden back to that demon theory he mentioned. And he asked Brayden, he's like, you know, have you ever been possessed by a demon before?

35:59Brit Prawat:To which Brayden says that he believed demons were making him commit sins like watching TV and drinking alcohol. And at this point, I think the investigator might be like getting in over his head because he writes in the file that he advises Brayden that he is not a demon expert and then he just ends the interview. That's it? Well, it doesn't actually end. He tries to. But what happens is the investigator leaves to get a witness statement form for Brayden to fill out. I don't know why they're considering him a witness or if this is just like a generic. Just like a form. Yeah, for like a statement form or whatever.

36:32Brit Prawat:But when the investigator gets back into the room, it becomes clear that even if he was done asking him questions, Brayden is not done talking. Oh. And this is where things really start to go off the rails. I honestly thought we were already off the rails. You have no idea where this goes. So Brayden starts asking about the injuries to Alyssa's body. He's like, obviously, I know there was an investigation into what happened to her. But like, is there anything else that there's an investigation into? Should there be Brayden? Right. Like, you tell me. Yeah. But Brayden's like, I don't know. Like, are you investigating a murder?

37:11Brit Prawat:Are you just like trying to find every detail of what happened? Or are you? Can't it be both? Yeah. And the detective was like, yeah, Brayden, with like all of our investigations, we want to find out what happened.

37:22Ashley Flowers:We want to know what happened. Yeah.

37:24Brit Prawat:But like also I can't go into that in detail with you. And that's when Brayden's like, OK, so you couldn't tell me if there was anything on her body at all. Like if I called the medical place, would they tell me what happened to her body? And the detective is like, what do you mean? And he says, like, is there any mangling or strangling? Like, is there any, like, bruises or, like, like if somebody, like, punched her or at least tried to kill her, is there any of that on her body? What? The detective again is like, I can't tell you that. Yeah. And that, it says in the case file, is when Brayden giggled and was like, yeah, I know, I know.

38:14Ashley Flowers:Okay, so were there any signs of strangulation, though?

38:17Brit Prawat:Nothing was mentioned in the unredacted areas of the autopsy report. But there are redactions in the file that appear specifically in the sections that are describing Alyssa's neck and nervous system, which includes her brain and her spinal cord.

38:32Ashley Flowers:But that is such a weirdly specific thing for Brayden to ask.

38:37Brit Prawat:In the weirdest way possible, too. At that point, the detective just straight up asked Brayden if he knows anything about what happened to Alyssa or anything that might assist in the investigation. And Brayden says no. But of course, he is not done talking yet. Dude, go home. Get a lawyer. Stop talking. So he proceeds to ask the investigator if he can be notified of any updates instead of Alyssa's family. Like specifically Alyssa's mom and dad, because he didn't want anyone to freak out. And he kind of explains that like he's wary of misinformation. So he wants to know directly from the source what happened.

39:15Brit Prawat:And the investigator is like, yeah, no, you and the Romines can both have that privilege. Right.

39:20Ashley Flowers:Not instead. How about in addition to?

39:22Brit Prawat:But Braden doubles down. He's like, yes, these people are her family, but like they weren't very close. She was living with them. Yeah. And also like, so is Brayden at this point when he's saying this. But Brayden just says that he doesn't want anyone knowing anything before him. So the investigator must like take this opportunity to be like, maybe we should keep talking because he starts down this like new, like different line of questioning. He asked Brayden, if Alyssa was attacked by a person rather than a demon, what should happen to that person? And Brayden responds that he thinks that person should be punished and thrown in jail.

40:01Brit Prawat:But when they have fully changed and repented, they should be let out. And then the investigator asks about the death penalty. But Brayden says that he wouldn't want that for that person, which I can totally see being against his religious beliefs, right? Like, that's not odd to me. But then he's asked, okay, well, like, what kind of punishment would you want for them? I have to read. I know it's, like, dry to read a report, but I have to read it to you in his words because, like, I don't want you thinking I'm making any of this up. So Brayden then replied, I wouldn't want that for them. I asked Brayden to clarify, and Brayden replied, I wouldn't want death for them.

40:37Brit Prawat:Right? No death penalty. We know that. So this is where he says, I asked Brayden, what would you want? And Brayden replied, I would want them, honestly, I would want them to change. I would want them to know the Lord, and I would want them to find him and for them to receive forgiveness, but have true, honest repentance. Then there is punishment, and there needs to be change. If there's no change, then that person should have a severe punishment. I asked if the person responsible should be sentenced to prison. Brayden replied, I can say possibly I don't know because there are so many things that could, like, go different ways.

41:08Brit Prawat:Brayden went on to say, I guess I'm judging a man by his heart and what's in his heart. And if the man is turning and he's changing and he's willing to turn and obey and follow, Brayden believed that he, the person responsible, should be built up slowly and gradually. Brayden said, he's still in trouble. He's not off the hook and there's punishment. But there, I think that if someone is progressing to that there is proof, then I think that maybe a little bit more mercy. Brayden went on to say, if they have fully changed, I think that maybe they should not be in jail. And at this point, I'm reading still from the file.

41:48Brit Prawat:At this point, I advised Brayden, had this situation occurred to me with my wife being killed, then I would want the person responsible put to death. I advised Brayden, the two of us have separate backgrounds, which is why we have different views. Brayden replied, no, honestly, I feel the same way, actually, what you said. But I asked Brayden why he did not tell me this previously. Brayden gave a deep sigh and stated, I don't know. I just don't want them to be in trouble.

42:18Ashley Flowers:Okay. I know. You read this whole thing and I was like, okay, okay. I feel like I'm getting a picture of Brayden and like his thought process. And then he's like, you know, you make a lot of sense. What you said.

42:29Brit Prawat:Just go with what you said. Write down what you said. At this point, the investigator says to Brayden, point blank, like, if you want to tell me something, like, now would be the time to tell me. But Brayden says there is nothing to tell. So this is when the interview wraps up. Again. Again. With the investigator asking Brayden if his DNA would be found at the scene. Brayden says, nope, he was in Washington the whole day on June 9th, which can be verified by the family he was staying with. And he has this sort of defensive moment where he says that he feels like he's being accused of something and he needs to prove his innocence, which like.

43:13Brit Prawat:I mean, what you needed to do is stop talking. Exactly. Like, I don't think they were ready to accuse him of anything when he walked in there for sure. But they're definitely going to start really looking into him more now. So, on June 16th, officers take a trip up to Washington. And when they talk to Brayden's mom, Jodi, she says that she can't imagine Brayden being involved in Alyssa's death. She says that he has never hurt anyone. And until this happened, he's been the best son and brother.

43:46Ashley Flowers:Until Alyssa's death?

43:48Brit Prawat:No, I actually think she means more like since he started becoming more like extreme with his religion and like cut the family off. Here, I actually have another part of the police report I'm going to have you read.

43:59Ashley Flowers:He just isn't my son. Like I don't. His personality used to just be so fun and funny and light and a joy to be around. Him and Alyssa both. They just seem so intense. It's all about God. You can't have a conversation with them without, you know, Jesus being in the mix. So yeah, it had gotten difficult.

44:23Brit Prawat:According to Jodi, Brayden is the kind of person where if you're not with him, you're against him. Investigators also have an interesting conversation with Timothy Phillips, right, the dad of the family he's staying with. He says that back when Brayden moved in with them, he kept referring to himself as the condemned man. Timothy says that he felt like Brayden was implying that his sins were violent or dangerous. And he thought that Brayden must have been worried about getting a divorce from Alyssa because of how that would affect his religious progression. He also says that Brayden's response to Alyssa's death was not normal.

45:03Brit Prawat:That was a quote. Not normal. But the most important conversation investigators have is with Wendy, who indeed confirms that Brayden was at her house every day of the week that Alyssa went missing. and that she saw him physically each day up until she drove him to the airport on the 11th. I mean, you're kidding me. No, like he has a rock solid alibi. But it doesn't mean he still wasn't involved. Which is why they keep digging. And luckily for investigators, Wendy hands over something that could help them test this theory, right? Like was he maybe involved but not like physically responsible? She gives them the devices that Brayden had been using while he was staying with them, including a phone and a tablet.

45:56Ashley Flowers:And he didn't take those with him to Arizona?

45:59Brit Prawat:No, because they weren't his. Remember, Brayden and Alyssa shared a phone. And so when Brayden left for Washington, Alyssa kept that phone. So while he was staying with the Phillips family, he was borrowing their son's devices. That's how he would communicate with Alyssa. And their son, James, told police that Brayden used his tablet constantly. So when the forensic analysis comes back a month later on these devices, that's what investigators expect to see, right? Like all these communications, constant use. But there's a little problem. Or if you're Brayden, there is a big problem. Because it turns out Brayden had deleted almost all traces of his activity on the phone and tablet.

46:46Brit Prawat:And according to Wendy, the day he left, Brayden did the same thing with his Xbox Live account. She tells police, quote, it's like he was never there.

47:02Ashley Flowers:YouTube is already an essential part of daily life. The go-to place for every mood, moment, and deep dive. If you like YouTube, you'll love YouTube Premium. YouTube Premium supercharges the entire viewing experience by removing every single interruption. That means completely ad-free watching across the world's largest creator ecosystem. Beyond continuous viewing, Premium is perfect for on-the-go, busy routines. One of my favorite features is background play. All of my favorite videos and podcasts stream smoothly, even while I'm using other apps or walking with a locked screen. And when I'm traveling, offline downloads makes it so easy to save full videos and shorts for flights, long drives, or areas with spotty Wi-Fi.

47:43Ashley Flowers:It gives me total control over my screen time and flexibility anywhere I go. YouTube Premium turns the platform that everyone already knows and loves into an even more immersive, uninterrupted destination. I used YouTube Premium to build a playlist to set the vibe at my friend's birthday party the other day. I'm talking endless videos of their favorite artists, BTS, in concert, all without any ads to take us out of the moment. Watch anywhere, anytime, completely uninterrupted. YouTube.com slash premium. Sign up now for your free trial. Terms and conditions apply.

48:14Brit Prawat:How's the new place? Get your Wi-Fi figured out? I got T-Mobile 5G home internet and I'm loving it. It's the fastest 5G home internet. My old provider was so slow. Mine is slow. And only$35 a month. Do I need to try this? Try it for 15 days. Love it or get your money back.

48:30Ashley Flowers:I love it already.

48:31Brit Prawat:There are over 250 reasons to join T-Mobile. Find yours and check availability at t-mobile.com slash home internet. This is according to Ooglu Speed Test Intelligence data. Second half of 2025. All rates reserved. 3D money back guarantee within 30 days of cancellation. Three months after these data records come back, investigators feel like they're ready to talk to Brayden again. to lay out everything that they've learned since their first discussion and see what he has to say. And if you didn't pick up on this from Brayden's first interview, he's going to have a lot to say. This time around, they go to him because he's back in Washington at this point.

49:10Brit Prawat:And they start off with an open-ended question. What do you know about Alyssa's death? And Brayden answers, I don't know anything. I know that she went to the riparian preserve. I don't know how she died. I literally don't know what happened is what he said. OK, I thought he knew all about the crime scene. That. So that is exactly what they bring it back to. They're like, hey, so remember how you said you knew about the crime scene because you saw it on TV? So weird thing, we can't find news coverage of it. We even asked your mom last time that we were in Washington if like the media up there was showing something like maybe they show something we can't find here in Arizona.

49:49Brit Prawat:She said no. At one point, she even said information regarding Alyssa's death was non-existent in the media. But Braden doubles down and he starts describing the footage in even more detail. I mean, like he literally draws a map for investigators with details down to where the bathrooms and the benches were in the preserve. He says that he watched a clip on AZ Family of a helicopter flying over a pond and he saw this hourglass figure that, quote, looked like my wife. But police are like, dude, again, where? Because we cannot find this thing. So Brayden is like, okay, whatever. He whips out his phone.

50:29Brit Prawat:Like, here, I'll show you. But all of a sudden, Brayden can't seem to find it either. And now he sort of tries to walk the whole thing back. He says, well, I thought I saw a body, but maybe what I saw was a bush.

50:43Ashley Flowers:He just said he saw an hourglass figure that looked like his wife.

50:48Brit Prawat:I know. And at this point, investigators are like straight up, listen, we're having trouble ruling you out as a suspect. And this is the moment where I would say, if this were me, I didn't do this. I am innocent. Brayden chooses to go with, well, there's no evidence or anything. No, not the right answer. And the detective is like, how do you know there's no evidence? And Brayden says, well, you know, obviously there isn't. And so the detective asks again, like, but how do you know that? And that's when Brayden has to admit he doesn't know that. And at this point, I can only imagine that things are like feeling tense.

51:28Brit Prawat:So Brayden takes the opportunity to reiterate what should be his rock solid alibi. He was in Washington. He didn't have his own devices or any money or even a car. I mean, but he was still using devices and they were basically all wiped. Yeah. Brayden says that that, by the way, was because he was watching porn and sports and didn't want the Phillips to think badly of him. But like, by the way, he also deleted his communication. So like that doesn't totally add up for me. And listen, there are a whole lot of redactions in the file at this point. I mean, I can't even imagine what more he could have said.

52:05Brit Prawat:I don't know. But the next thing that I can see is the point where the investigator starts walking through some theories. One is that this was a murder. Two is that someone was trying to help Alyssa rid herself of demons, went too far, and this was an accident. And Brayden's like, yep, that second one. But he says he doesn't think that it was an accident because, quote, demons wanted to kill Alyssa. And then, as if things couldn't get any worse, Brayden, like, sort of goes off on this rant about how he is this, like, wretched and evil man because of the things that he has done. He says that he's hurt people.

52:45Brit Prawat:He's lied to them about who he is. Hurt who? I don't know. And the detective actually asks a different question. That would have been my question. He wants Brayden to tell him the worst thing he's ever done to a person. So maybe kind of the same question. And Brayden has an answer. He tells this story about this one time that he and Alyssa were in California together ministering at a woman's house. And Alyssa was like praying to God to rebuke the demons inside of him. But she wouldn't stop when he asked her to. So Brayden threatened her to be quiet with a knife. So now the detective asks if maybe that same thing happened at the preserve.

53:32And Brayden says, the devil, yeah, he manifested.

53:38Brit Prawat:I wasn't physically there, but he manifested. And then, of course, as soon as it feels like we are on the brink of something, redactions, pages of them. When I can read again, all I can see is that Brayden refused to take a computer voice stress analysis because the Lord told him not to. And that must be good enough for detectives because that is the last time that they speak to Brayden.

54:11Ashley Flowers:You're kidding me.

54:12Brit Prawat:No. Now, granted, I've told you there are a lot of redactions in the file. But this is the last interview with him that I can see. And I think that is because they could never put him in Arizona or connect him to someone who was there.

54:30Ashley Flowers:Okay, but like, how do you explain him drawing a map of the crime scene?

54:36Brit Prawat:Our team actually got to the bottom of that. So that video that Brayden was talking about, this aerial footage over the riparian showing the discovery of Alyssa's body, Alyssa's sister Michelle says she saw it too. She said that it was on the evening news a day or two after Alyssa was found, and it was clear enough for her to observe something white in the water, which she also thought was Alyssa's body because she was, like, naturally very pale.

55:07Ashley Flowers:Okay, so how come the officer couldn't seem to find it?

55:11Brit Prawat:Well, that's because by the time the officer was searching for it, I don't think there was anything there to find. It seemed like it had been taken down. And we even dug into this a little deeper with the help of our breaking news reporter, Brianna Whitney. She worked for AZ Family. Literally, she came here from AZ Family. And that's the station that Brayden specifically referenced in this police interview. And she said that, like, as a matter of policy there, the station would not post any footage showing a body or human remains of any kind. Which makes sense. Yeah. Now, Brianna wasn't with the station at this time, but she said what's very likely is that if there was breaking news, like a breaking news broadcast that showed something that the newsroom later realized might depict a body, it would immediately be scrubbed from their channels.

55:56Brit Prawat:which tells me that Brayden was likely telling the truth in his interview with police. And I know that he drew a map, but like Brayden had been to the riparian over a dozen times before this, like which he did actually relate to investigators. Now, Michelle and the rest of the Romine family back up Brayden in other ways, too. Yes, the stuff he was saying was off the wall, but they said he had no motive because even though he and Alyssa were separated, everyone in their lives said that the two were not even close to heading for divorce. They just wanted a little bit of space for like a hot minute.

56:34Brit Prawat:No one ever witnessed any arguing. They were still talking on the phone for hours a day, even during the separation. And they had plans to go to that like Bible conference a week or two after Alyssa died. And what's more, according to Chelsea, the only reason that Brayden even went back to Washington, rather than stay in Arizona during this little time apart, was because his grandfather had passed away. Otherwise, she said he probably would have just stayed local. So this motive, not really as solid as it seemed.

57:05Ashley Flowers:And if there's no motive, then you can rule out, like, any sort of, like, hitman theory, right?

57:09Brit Prawat:Listen, I can't say anything for certain. And for what it's worth, the Phillips family, who hosted Brayden after the separation, said the thought has always lingered with them that Brayden knows what happened to Alyssa. They still see him around in Washington sometimes, like at church or the grocery store. But none of them have spoken to him since he got on that airplane to Arizona back in 2016. They actually left a church service and went home after seeing him because they, like, didn't even want to deal. But, like, I mean, play this theory out, right? So, like, we know Brayden didn't have a job.

57:44Brit Prawat:He and Alyssa survived off donations. I mean, the Romines literally had to pay for his travel to Arizona. So if this was a hit-for-hire situation— How is he paying for it? With what money? Exactly. And listen, maybe he had, like, a friend in Arizona who would have helped him free of charge. Or maybe we're trying to connect dots that don't connect because Brayden had nothing to do with this. Either way, there is no explicit explanation as to why Brayden's name sort of just fades from reports. And I actually can't say for certain that the police have cleared him. Now, I know that James said they still have his cell phone, laptop and tablet, like all the ones that Brayden was using.

58:28Brit Prawat:But it's hard to say if the police are actually doing anything with them or if they're just holding on to them.

58:34Ashley Flowers:And I'm assuming we tried reaching Brayden for comment?

58:37Brit Prawat:Of course.

58:38Ashley Flowers:But as of this recording, we haven't gotten a response.

58:42Brit Prawat:Alyssa's sister Michelle told us it felt like investigators took one look at Alyssa and Brayden's lifestyle, heard about their religious beliefs, and instantly wrote them off as religious lunatics. And from that point on, she believes the investigation was driven by a simple assumption. Either Alyssa did this to herself or Brayden did it to her. And they were going to figure out how to put the pieces together to fit that story. But guess what? it's over 10 years later. And this case is just in undetermined purgatory. And the more that we investigate it, the easier it became to see Brayden not as somebody who killed his beloved wife, but rather somebody who was distraught, overwhelmed, and in desperate need of a lawyer.

59:29Brit Prawat:Because when you remove him from the equation, There are some other very viable leads that have been haunting not only me, but Alyssa's family too. And when you hear them, I think you'll understand why. Because girl, even through the redactions, what we found is shocking. And this case takes some wild turns involving a family stalker, an ex-boyfriend, two strangers who knew things they shouldn't have, and Alyssa's ties to a controversial religious movement which many online have likened to a cult. But that's on next week's episode. Or if you are in the Crime Junkie fan club, you can listen to part two right now, ad-free.

1:00:20Brit Prawat:Crime Junkie is an AudioChuck production. I think Chuck would approve.

1:00:31Brit Prawat:Hey, crime junkies. If you're wondering what to listen to next, I got you. Check out another audio Chuck show, Park Predators. A recent episode is about a couple named Danny and Sue who left for a camping trip in New York's Adirondacks and never made it home. When Danny's abandoned car was found, investigators thought that they were dealing with a missing persons case. But then another attack happened. And suddenly, the whole investigation became something much bigger. It's one of those cases where every new clue changes what you think you know. For the full story, listen to The Adirondacks on Park Predators wherever you get your podcasts.