The Son of Sam Loophole: How Idaho Killers Could Cash In — And Why Lawmakers Are Finally Acting
Hidden Killers With Tony Brueski | True Crime News & Commentary
True Crime Today
3.3 • 908 Ratings
🗓️ 30 January 2026
⏱️ 16 minutes
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Summary
A judge just confirmed what victims' families feared most: under Idaho's current law, Bryan Kohberger could legally profit from telling his story. The same applies to Lori Vallow Daybell and Chad Daybell. The statute that's supposed to prevent this hasn't been updated since 1978 — and it shows.
This week, Idaho Senator Tammy Nichols introduced legislation to modernize the state's Son of Sam law after the Moscow student murders and the Daybell cult killings put Idaho in the national spotlight. The bill unanimously advanced out of committee. But why did it take this long? And will it actually work?
The original Son of Sam laws were born in 1977 when serial killer David Berkowitz was offered a massive book deal within 24 hours of his arrest. New York passed legislation the very next day, and 42 states followed — including Idaho. But the Supreme Court gutted these laws in 1991, finding them too broad to survive First Amendment scrutiny. Most states never fixed the constitutional problems. Idaho was one of them.
Today, the true crime industry generates hundreds of millions of dollars annually. Podcasts, streaming documentaries, and social media monetization didn't exist when Idaho's law was written. The five-year escrow period means convicted killers can potentially receive media profits if victims' families don't file civil lawsuits in time. Meanwhile, Kohberger received over $28,000 in jail donations while families argued in court over who should pay for their daughters' urns.
We break down the full history, the Supreme Court decision that changed everything, and exactly what the new Idaho bill does — and doesn't — accomplish. For the families of Kaylee, Maddie, Xana, Ethan, Tylee, JJ, and Tammy, this fight is far from over.
#SonOfSamLaw #BryanKohberger #IdahoMurders #LoriVallowDaybell #ChadDaybell #TrueCrimePodcast #VictimRights #MoscowIdaho #KayleeGoncalves #CriminalJustice
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is Hidden Killers with Tony Bruske. |
| 0:03.2 | Here now, Tony Bruske. |
| 0:06.3 | Who had Idaho on their bingo card for becoming the true crime capital of America? |
| 0:16.6 | Huh? |
| 0:17.6 | Was it, was it you? Did you have it on your card? |
| 0:19.4 | I don't know that I did. |
| 0:21.2 | But it sure seems that way, doesn't it? |
| 0:23.3 | I don't know statistically that Idaho truly is the true crime capital of America. |
| 0:28.7 | But we're getting to know the folks pretty well. |
| 0:35.1 | And I think anyone really planned it that way. |
| 0:40.6 | This is a state of about two million people. It's known for potatoes, wilderness, and staying out of the national spotlight. But in just the last |
| 0:49.3 | few years, Idaho has generated more high-profile murder headlines than states five times its size. |
| 0:55.6 | Brian Coburger, the criminology, PhD student who confessed to stabbing four University of Idaho students |
| 1:01.5 | in their beds while they slept, Chad and Lori Vallow, Daybell, the so-called doomsday, cult killers, |
| 1:09.5 | who murdered her two children and his first wife |
| 1:12.7 | after, according to trial testimony, Lori came to believe the victims had become zombies |
| 1:18.7 | possessed by dark spirits. These aren't cold cases from decades ago. These are fresh wounds, |
| 1:25.8 | and all of these killers are now sitting in prison cells. |
| 1:30.9 | Here's the part. That should bother you, though, because under Idaho's current law, every single one of them could potentially profit from book deals, streaming rights, or paid interviews within five years. |
| 1:46.3 | A judge in Koberger's case said exactly that in November. |
| 1:51.5 | The statute, according to Judge Stephen Himpler, quote, leaves open the potential for the defendant to receive money from media contracts in the future. |
| 1:59.9 | That's not speculation. That's a judge |
... |
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