The Gaslighting of Hannah Pettey | Post Mortem | Forensic Files

Welcome to Postmortem. I'm 48 hours correspondent Natalie Morales stepping in to host today [music]
to talk with Amarie Green about a story she reported on. It is about the attempted murder of Hannah Petty who
incredibly survived after being poisoned with lead. Ann Marie, thanks for joining
me. Thank you. It's good to be here. And what an incredible story and a survivor's story as well. But this isn't
the first poisoning case that we've unpacked together. Right. Actually, it is not. The last time we spoke about a
poisoning case, it was a case that you had worked on, uh, Angela Craig. And we did this actually live on stage at Crime
Con. It was about a Colorado dentist who was accused and then recently convicted
of poisoning his wife using milkshakes. and milkshakes actually sort of make an appearance in
this case as well. >> Yeah, we're going to get into all of that. All right, it was January 2022.
Hannah Petty, she was a 22-year-old Alabama mother of two and she was admitted to the hospital following 6
months of suspicious symptoms. By the time she got there, though, doctors said that she had just hours left to live.
Now, investigators believe she had been poisoned. And they quickly zeroed in on two possible suspects, and that would be
Hannah's mother, Nicole, and Hannah's husband, Brian. Now, I have to tell you, Anarie, as I was watching this episode,
I kept flip-flopping back and forth between the two, hearing their different stories and trying to figure out, okay,
who is actually responsible for poisoning Hannah? You know what, Natalie? You're kind of not the only
one. We had a lot of access in this case. Obviously, we had a victim who survived, so we could talk with her
about her experience, but Hannah's mother, Nicole, we spoke to several times. Hannah, we spoke to several
times, and then Brian we were able to talk to. And this is over a span of a couple of years. Um, and so with each
interview, you sort of learn a little bit more. The people that we spoke to, particularly Hannah, you see her evolve
and change over the years. Yeah, we're going to dive into that first interview, the first time you're meeting Hannah.
And as you said, it is so rare in a case like this that we actually have a survivor to be able to talk with us. And
when you first met her, what was the interview like? What was your impression of her mindset? It was 2 years ago,
right? It's 2023. I really did feel like for Hannah, she had just been sort of spit out of this incredible roller
coaster ride. Brian had been charged but had not gone to trial yet. And so she's
kind of still stuck in limbo, still trying to figure out what happened to her. For a lot of what she went through,
the memories were hazy. She sort of remembered the early days more than what happened to her in the hospital. She was
in a coma for a lot of that time. And in fact, you know, there were a number of times throughout where she sort of was
like, "Did Brian ask about me? You know, what did he say about me?" you could tell that there was still a part of her
that um was still wondering was there love? Was this by mistake? Could he have actually done this? Was
everything that I thought the life that I had built, was that all, you know, a mirage? So, you could see that she was
still wrestling with it. >> Yeah. I mean, it's very understandable that she was conflicted in all of this,
but you do see her evolve and sort of grow as you said. I I was just so amazed by her composure and she truly is a
medical miracle. I mean, you see that X-ray of the lead impacted within her colon. It was it just lit up that X-ray.
It was unbelievable to see that. Yeah. The reason she could not keep anything down and she was losing weight is
because she literally had lead filling her digestive system. So, she couldn't get the food down. She couldn't get the
water down. it would go through and then come right back up. That's how much lead
was in her system. Um, the doctors did something that they had never done before. They irrigated her bowels. Like
they had to literally, you know, flush this stuff out of her system. They did it 24/7, like around the clock until it
was all out. They had never had to do anything like that before. They didn't even know if it would work. It's part of
the reason why they put her in this medically induced coma. It's also as you see in the hour, you know, she had sort
of liquid and on her brain or in and around her brain and that stuff had had to be taken out. The fact that she has
survived is stunning. Um she is probably still going to be living with the um side effects of this for her entire
life. But think about this, Natalie. Like every pain or ache she ever feels, she's going to wonder is this is this
the lead that's still in my system that's going to be haunting her forever. has to be so incredibly painful
physically and emotionally of course what she went through. Now in the hour we do see that Hannah throughout seemed
to try to make her marriage work despite though some pretty big red flags. I mean
did their relationship start off that way too? So you know she was very young right? She's a teenager. Um he's much
older 10 years and 10 months I believe she said. Um and it did not start out that way. She says that he would bring
her flowers. He was really sweet th those first 6 months. But then slowly she started getting these kind of red
flags. So he was a little controlling. He would ask about, you know, the things that she wore. You know, if the skirt
was above the knee, why are you wearing that? If she was talking to, you know, she said she had been working at a
restaurant for a little bit. And if she was talking to somebody there, a man there for a little bit longer, he would
make comments. And by the time she's getting married, she is really wondering um if she should go ahead with this. And
Nicole says to her, "You can back out at any time. You can have this baby. You don't need to be married cuz just
remember everyone, she was already pregnant." But also, it was her wedding day. We hear stories all the time about
people getting cold feet on their wedding day. It's a nerve-wracking decision. So once again, she put that to
the side. But then there was this really concerning incident. A couple years into
their marriage, they went on a little vacation to North Carolina and she tells this incredible story about the couple
getting into a car accident. Um, we had her retell it. We actually sat in a car with her. So, I want to play some
portion of that interview about this accident that didn't make it into the hour. I was asleep in the passenger seat
and I woke up because like I don't know I think the smell woke me up because my like chest started burning like my nose
started burning. >> What were you smelling? >> And it smelt like chemicals. I mean
that's the only way to explain it. It was just like straight up chemicals. I wake up. I went up and I turned to Brian
and he has his shirt covered over his nose and I was like, "What is that smell?" And he just shrugged his
shoulders. Like he didn't give me an answer. He just shrugged his shoulders and just kept stra staring straight
ahead like with his shirt covered over his nose. And then I put my my oh I forgot my feet were on the dashboard cuz
that's how I was sleeping in the car. And I put my feet down and it was like slopping wet on the floorboard.
And I told him I was like something spilled. And he said oh okay or whatever. Little bit of time goes by and
he said, "I laid a jug of milk down in the back." He said, "See if that's what spilled."
>> And so, is that what you do? Sort of turn around. >> Yeah. So, I unbuck. You want me to
unbuckle? So, I unbuckled and I turned around like this and I'm like looking, but it was like dark though. So, I'm
like looking and then that's when the car went completely off the side of the road
like this, like straight into a ditch. And it just kept going and going and I was just like holding on to the back of
the seat. And I remember like I hit my head on the window really hard. I think I had a concussion cuz I started
throwing up the next day. And then we flipped the car sitting this way and then um it immediately hitches flames
under my feet. >> Scary. Yes. So, she says Brian has no problem getting out of the car, not
attempting to help in any way. She does eventually make her way out of the car, but then he tells her to tell police
officers that she was the one driving and she does and that is what's on the police report now. She says at the time
she thought it maybe had something to do in with insurance. So, she just sort of
went along with what he said. I want to remind everyone we are talking about a very young woman here who's you know
traumatized by this accident and so she just kind of went along with it. It's unbelievable. I mean hearing that story
and and that as you said was not in the hour. I mean that's a giant red flag. But then there's the other huge red flag
for me as a viewer when we learned that Hannah, she told Lieutenant McDerman that Brian had taken out a life
insurance policy while they were still dating. I mean, I had never even heard of that before. I didn't even know that
was possible. Yeah. And and you know, Hannah was aware of the life insurance policy. Her friends said that Brian kind
of framed it as like, well, this is something that adults do, you know, and of course all of Hannah's friends are
are her age, right? So, he seems like the older, more knowledgeable man, but she does remember him saying, and she
said this to me a couple of times, she remembers Brian saying things like, "If only I had a million dollars, then I
would really be able to get this chiropractic business to the next level." I mean, while she is still in
the hospital, he is trying to take out more life insurance policies. They weren't all approved, but it would have
been like $5 million if he had been successful. So, here's the interesting thing is that while Hannah is in the
hospital, let's remember she's, you know, trying to survive this horrible ordeal, Brian insinuated that Nicole,
her mother, might have actually been responsible for poisoning Hannah. Now, Brian's defense attorney suggested it
was perhaps put into some daily milkshakes that that Nicole would bring to Hannah.
>> Yes. Brian also brought up, I thought this was interesting. There was a time during Hannah's childhood, I believe in
second grade, where she had a lot of uh lapses from going to school because she was sick. She was in the hospital. And
Brian's defense attorney again insinuated perhaps Nicole was responsible for poisoning her in the
past and was now doing it again. I mean, is was there any evidence of any of this? So Chad Morgan is Brian's defense
attorney that we met. He wasn't his first defense attorney, but he was the one that ended up trying the case. He
talked about these milkshakes and um he said, you know, Nicole would come over to the house when Brian wasn't around
and no evidence of that at all, right? No evidence that as you and Hannah said she doesn't drink milkshakes. Nicole
said I was barely over there. I mean, he never liked me. So, I you know, I certainly wasn't over there every day
feeding her milkshakes. In regards to Hannah being sick in second grade, Chad Morgan did have evidence of that. We
went over to his office and it's true that second grade nurse in elementary school had notes that indicated that,
you know, she had seen Hannah several times, that Hannah complained about stomach aches, that eventually she was
taken to UAB hospital and then she got better. Um, when I spoke to Hannah and her mother about that period of time,
they they basically said, "Yeah, I was sick and then I got better. We went to the hospital and got better." That
happens sometimes. Um, zero evidence that Hannah was poisoned in any way, shape, or form in second grade, but
certainly there was evidence that that the nurse remembers her being quite ill. Did Lieutenant McDer look into Nicole
much at all? It seemed like he she was cleared pretty quickly. McDarman says she behaved like a concerned mother
whereas Brian didn't seem to behaving the way you expect. But it was really more than that. They knew from the
doctors that Hannah was intentionally [music] poisoned. And based on just the volume of lead in her system, they
believe that it was something that was probably happening on a daily basis. Only Brian had access to Hannah on a
daily basis. All right. Well, Amry, you also interviewed Hannah's mother, [music]
Nicole. Was she eager to share her side of the story? >> She was not. Um, the first interview
that we did, the first time we went down to Huntsville, it was really just to talk to Hannah, but Nicole was there um
to be supportive. She was in another room and but she was she was talking the whole time to our producer and she was
saying things like, you know, that's not exactly correct. Hannah doesn't really remember. And so after the interview was
over, I said to Nicole, you know, why don't you sit down with us because you have a much better memory of what was
going on with Hannah while she was sick, while she was in the hospital. And we do
this first interview and I thought, what happened to the woman who was doing all
this talking in the other room? She was very limited um and conservative in the way she answered my questions. So once
we were finished, she told me a story that kind of put it a little bit in perspective. Um she said that while
Hannah was in the hospital and she thought her daughter was going to die, she was praying and she actually got up
and found like a closet where nobody was and closed it and got on her knees and was praying to God to save her daughter.
[snorts] And then she realized that it was the wrong prayer. And she began praying to
God that she could forgive whoever did this to her. And she believed it was Brian, that she could forgive Brian. And
once she started praying to to develop a forgiving heart, she believes that Hannah's health turned the corner. And
she did not want to shatter that. She did not want um to say anything that would allow
a a lack of forgiveness to seep into her heart. >> Wow. Well, let's go back to the
investigation because Lieutenant McDerman clearly felt that it was the life insurance policies that were the
clear financial motive, but was there any more concrete evidence that police had against Brian at that time? Um
Hannah said that he made her take these supplements every day which investigators believed it's was their
theory that those may have been the capsules that were filled with lead. Brian of course denies that completely.
>> Yeah. But interestingly I don't think they found any evidence of the pills anywhere, right? Or the capsules. You
would think, you know, yes, he's a chiropractor, probably has access to supplements and all of that, but they
never could really find the the the vehicle with which the lead was administered, right? They never found
any capsules, any empty capsules, any filled capsules, anything at the house. Brian told them they could search and
they did a thorough search. What is sort of interesting is that Hannah told us that Brian would keep tons of
supplements at the house, but when investigators got there, they didn't find anything. Um doctors asked him,
"Listen, can you just bring in these supplements or these capsules, whatever, whatever you were giving her?" And you
know, he doesn't. And I thought what was so evasive of Brian is when he sends pictures of, you know, what are
over-the-counter supplements that a lot of us have at home. I mean, that right there is like, come on. Yeah. So, it was
in September 2022, Brian was arrested. He pleaded not guilty to attempted murder. But as you were talking here,
you know, police really didn't have any concrete physical evidence to link the lead to Brian until they got a phone
call, which was very key in the case from Danny Hill, who's a contractor who had worked in Brian's office to install
what is sort of like lead walls around the X-ray room. And investigators then they go and get a search warrant. They
open the walls and get a piece of the lead from the walls. And I I was at that point I was like, "Okay, that's it.
They've got their evidence." Was that the smoking gun, Amarie? I mean, almost. The prosecution told me that it's really
important if you can to figure out a way to put the murder weapon in the hands of
the defendant. They had already arrested Brian, which I thought was pretty risky
to arrest him before you even knew, you know, where the lead was coming from. And you don't have the capsules. So this
this was one of two key pieces that were was missing. You know, at least they know that he had access to lead. Well,
Brian was freed on half million dollar bond, but he was required to report to jail every weekend, which again, I was
surprised. I mean, I'd never heard of weekend jail before that exists. >> Yeah, we asked uh Madame about it. Um he
said he's not sure exactly why he got that, but his guess is that the judge kind of wanted to give him an
opportunity to work and support his family. He's got two little kids at that point. Um of course he wasn't going to
be working as a chiropractor. And so what we know what ended up happening with him is he was living in a trailer
in his grandmother's backyard. Um he said it was really difficult to find work because he had to always check in
every Friday. So as rare as it is for us to hear directly from the victims. I mean it's very rare that we get to
interview the defendant before the trial and you had that opportunity. I mean we
saw him with the ankle monitor. You're talking to him, sitting on the bench with him. We did. We, you know, we
interviewed him for a few hours and then we went on out to a park and then we were able to talk to him again there
talking about what it was like to come to that very park with his kids and the things that he misses about his family
and it was a really interesting conversation but also very frustrating. I found him to be evasive to the point
where a few times I'm like, "Can you just answer the question?" Like, I'm going to ask you again, Brian, this
direct question. I need a direct answer. Now, keep in mind, he flat out denied poisoning Hannah. I asked him directly
and he said, "No." But I left there not knowing whether I I felt anything about his guilt or innocence. I had no idea.
So, it was June 2025. Brian's trial finally gets underway. Brian's defense team said that the state lacked
clear-cut evidence. I was shocked though at trial, they didn't present a single witness. I mean, what was the defense's
strategy with that? I mean, you were shocked. I was shocked because the last time we had spoken to Chad Morgan before
the trial, he really kind of talked a a big game. I mean, he's a like I don't know if you could really tell you. I
know we show those bodybuilder pictures. He's huge. You know, he's quite a presence. Um, and he's a former police
officer. I really thought he was going to come out like gang busters and he just didn't. And you know, part of the
his argument was um the state didn't prove their case. The state doesn't even have a single capsule or supplement and
they searched his house. And so he thought that would be, you know, strong enough. Chad Morgan says it was kind of
like a team decision to go forward simply poking holes in the prosecution's case. So the jury then gets the case on
a Wednesday afternoon. The very next day, they come back, they return a verdict, guilty. And you spoke to a
juror who called Brian a monster. I mean, why do you think they were so clearly um convinced of his guilt? so
quickly. Here's the thing. Sometimes defendants testify even when they don't testify. And the jury was watching Brian
the entire time, at least with the juror that that we spoke to basically said he
did himself no favors. He was smirking. He was making faces. They did not like him. did not like his
behavior and felt that he acted like a guilty person, at least like a person that didn't care. Well, in August 2025,
Brian was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole. He's now appealing that verdict. After everything
that Hannah went through with her two beautiful kids. I mean, how is she doing today? She's amazing. Um, with each
interview she has gotten stronger, clearer, but she is every bit as sweet as she appears on camera. You know, once
again, I'm going to reiterate, she was very young when she met Brian, and she is not that same person now. She
went back to college. She got her, you know, teaching degree. She is now a teacher. Like, she is someone who makes
things happen. Um Hannah and Brian are still married. Uh she has not been able to get a divorce yet. The criminal case
really complicated the divorce proceedings. A lot of stuff had to be put on hold. So the next date for these
divorce proceedings, December 2026, and that will ultimately kind of move her towards the freedom that she wants.
The kids do not visit Brian, but Hannah does come from a very loving, supportive
family, and she also has the support of [music] Brian's family as well. So, those two kids are going to be all
right.

48 Hours correspondents Natalie Morales and Anne-Marie Green discuss Hannah Pettey's survivor story after the young mother was poisoned with lead.

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Brief Summary

Hannah Petty survives lead poisoning; her husband Brian is convicted of attempted murder after a complex investigation.

Key points

The Poisoning of Hannah Petty. Hannah Petty survived a poisoning attempt that left her fighting for her life.
The Shocking Life Insurance Policy. Brian took out a life insurance policy on Hannah before the poisoning incident.
Brian's Evasive Behavior. Brian's behavior raises suspicions during the investigation into Hannah's poisoning.
Brian's Guilty Verdict. The jury quickly returns a guilty verdict, influenced by Brian's demeanor during the trial.
Hannah's Journey. Hannah has grown stronger and is now a teacher, despite her struggles.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

Did Brian ask about me?

Hannah's conflicted feelings about her husband after the poisoning.

3:00WatchJan 17, 2026

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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