WARNING: YouTube Tried to Ban This Story of Brutality!
True Crime Story
Nineteen-year-old Brianna Dennison was last seen early Sunday morning. Friends are worried. Police believe she was abducted by a serial rapist linked to a string of attacks near the University of Nevada. The cases are all linked by DNA. This is the field where they found the body; it was on the edge of the campus of the University of Nevada.
That is less than 10 miles from the house where Dennison was last seen. Thousands have turned out to pay tribute to this beautiful teenager whose life was taken too soon. Before we get started, drop a comment and tell me what the weather is like where you are right now and what city you are watching from. It honestly helps the channel grow so much and really motivates me to keep making even more content for you guys.
Today’s case takes us to Reno, Nevada. For 19-year-old Brianna Dennison, Reno was home. Brianna’s father suddenly passed away when she was just 6 years old. And even though it was a huge tragedy, her mom, Bridget, said it actually brought them closer and made their family bond even stronger. “We had to come together as a team. She became very protective of me, and for a good reason, because I was the only one she had left,” she said.
The connection between Brianna and her mom was really special. One of Brianna’s friends, Danielle, had known her since kindergarten. She said the mother and daughter were basically best friends. They did everything together. She also mentioned that Brianna was the sweetest person she had ever met. “Throughout my whole life, she taught me so much about kindness. She never missed a single birthday. Not friends, not close friends, not relatives, nobody. She would call everyone on their birthday.”
Two years after graduating high school, she decided she wanted to go to college, and California kind of felt like it was calling her. For her mom, it was hard, but a new chapter in Brianna’s life was ready to begin. She loved studying psychology at Santa Barbara City College and wanted to work with kids after she graduated. She had a boyfriend and an amazing group of friends. Brianna’s life was good. Even though she wasn’t in Reno anymore, she always kept her mom updated on everything exciting going on in her life. She sent photos and messages all the time. Still, for her mom, it was stressful. If she had a bad feeling or dreamed something was wrong, she would immediately call Brianna just to make sure she was okay.
Before long, winter break came around, which meant Brianna was coming back home to Reno. That January, Brianna and her friends were really looking forward to a packed weekend, snowboarding during the day and parties all the way until the sun went down in the evening. Brianna headed over to her friend Katie’s place. They had been friends since high school and were really excited for an adventurous weekend just to take a break from work and school. Katie lived in a house close to the University of Nevada, Reno campus, and that is where the whole group planned to hang out all weekend.
According to another friend, Jessica, Friday night was amazing. They danced all night long, and when they finally got back to Katie’s place, everyone squeezed into Katie’s bed, getting ready to do it all over again the next day. When Saturday morning came, January 19th, Brianna stopped by her mom’s house to do some laundry. And then the two of them went to the movies together to see the new film 27 Dresses.
Brianna was supposed to go out again that evening for a concert, but she was unsure about it. She had caught a cold and wasn’t feeling that great. Her mom later remembered that Brianna was thinking about staying in. “You might feel worse tomorrow, and you really love this band,” I told her. And at 9 that night, Brianna hugged her mom goodbye. Later on, she texted her mom and asked if she should message her when she got back. Her mom replied that she didn’t need to worry since she knew Brianna would be at Katie’s house.
After the concert, Brianna and Katie met up with Jessica, and the three of them got on a shuttle bus and headed out. They were dropped off near Sam’s Regency Casino Hotel, where the next party was supposed to happen. A few hours later, Jessica decided it was time to head home and went to try and catch a ride. She approached a man she didn’t know who was driving his SUV in the parking lot and asked if he could give her a lift. He agreed. Jessica said, “I probably could have just walked home, but it was really cold, so I ended up getting into a car in the parking lot. Someone was already pulling out. Looking back, it was a bad idea.”
Around 3:30 in the morning, Katie and Brianna got back to the house with a friend. Brianna didn’t want to squeeze into Katie’s bed again, so she decided to sleep on the couch instead. The couch was right next to the glass sliding doors—the same doors that were basically never locked. The house was kind of known as a hangout spot, almost like a hotel where people were always coming and going. Brianna and Katie said good night to each other around 4:00 in the morning. Then at 4:23, Brianna sent a text to her boyfriend in Oregon, and after that, everything went quiet.
Katie and Jessica woke up around 9:00 in the morning. Jessica later described what happened next: “We walked into the kitchen and started making breakfast. The kitchen was right across from the couch, but Brianna was no longer there.” Katie pointed at the couch and said, “Where’s Brianna?” At first, they thought maybe she had gone upstairs to sleep in one of the empty roommates’ rooms. They didn’t really think much of it at first. Katie knocked on the door of the room where she thought Brianna was sleeping and said it was time to wake up. At 9:45, she tried again, but there was no response. She started pounding on the door, getting more and more frantic, but still nothing.
That is when it hit her that Brianna wasn’t in the house. Katie said, “Her phone was there, her shoes were there. I knew she went to sleep in just a T-shirt, and her bag was there, too. Like everything that mattered to her was right there, and I just couldn’t wrap my head around where she could have gone.” It was winter in Reno, and with the freezing cold and snow outside, it seemed extremely unlikely that she would have just walked off on her own.
When Katie realized that all of Brianna’s belongings were still in the house, she called her mom. While she was waiting for Bridget to arrive, she noticed something terrifying. The pillow she had given Brianna was stained with blood—two small spots and a little smear. She immediately called Bridget again, hysterical and crying, and told her there was blood on Brianna’s pillow. She asked if she should call the police. Bridget said yes and that she was on her way as fast as she could.
Not long after, Brianna’s mom, her aunt, and the police arrived at the house. There were no signs of a struggle, but the blanket Brianna had gone to sleep with was found in the kitchen. The brown stuffed teddy bear she used as an extra pillow was gone. For everyone there, it felt like a living nightmare. One friend stated, “She is one of the nicest girls. And if whoever did this is watching, just… she’s so nice. Please, please.”
Brianna’s aunt noted that she had also received a text message from her boyfriend that night. “Just awful. They were breaking up, kind of stuff, you know, and he just was saying awful things to her, you know, calling her all kinds of names and stuff like that. He was just jealous and young.” Authorities say Brianna left behind her purse, cell phone, and some clothing.
Lieutenant Robert Macdonald, who was in charge of the detective division at the Reno Police Department, was off that day, but a call from his co-workers changed everything. He said that from the start, the situation sounded really bad. Local emergency services were quickly brought in to help with the search, and officers began going door-to-door asking questions. Police interviewed everyone who lived in the house, but each of them was eventually ruled out as a suspect.
For the officers, the blood on the pillow was a huge red flag. Based on the evidence, this didn’t look like someone just leaving on their own. This was an abduction. There were three bloodstains ranging from about 1 to 3 inches in size, mixed with spit, mucus, or saliva. There were also traces of mascara. Testing later confirmed that the blood belonged to Brianna. One report stated that forensic experts believed Ms. Dennison suffered an actively bleeding injury around her mouth, throat, or nose at the moment her face was being forcefully pressed into the pillow. Since the blanket was found in the kitchen, investigators tested the back door handle for DNA. The results came back with an unknown male profile.
At the sheriff’s office, there were already around 3,000 DNA samples that still had not been processed. Local authorities appealed for money to help clear a crime lab backlog. This community came together in so many ways to look for everyone’s daughter. For Brianna’s family, hope remained for clues. In just a few days, the community raised $150,000 to speed up the DNA testing, but none of the samples led to a match. The suspect’s DNA was also run through the national database; still, no hits.
Bridget’s house suddenly filled with people—friends, neighbors, and even strangers who were desperate to help in any way they could. She knew they needed as much attention on Brianna’s case as possible, so she reached out to the media. Before long, the story was all over the news and making headlines across the country. People started wearing blue ribbons to show support for the family, as blue had always been Brianna’s favorite color. Instead of advertising the performers, electronic billboards around Reno, Nevada, now showed the face of a missing college student.
Since it was now believed to be an abduction, the FBI stepped in along with two investigators from the Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Officers, along with K9 units, searched the surrounding areas, and a reward was announced for any information that could help find Brianna. Police also said they wanted to speak with the man who had given Jessica a ride home that night. Not long after, the man came forward on his own. He was questioned and eventually cleared as a suspect.
Lieutenant Ron Holiday said, “At this point, we don’t have any other leads, items, or information that would lead us to Brianna. All signs indicate that Brianna was abducted.” Sergeant Gerald Rodus, who headed the regional sex offender notification unit, said detectives were interviewing every registered offender who lived within about a one-mile radius of the house. They also checked the neighboring house. The man who lived there shared something really unsettling: in the early morning hours, somewhere around 4:30 to 5:00, he was sitting in his living room with the lights off. At one point, he noticed a shadow near his house. Then someone tried to force the door open. “I could hear someone pushing on the handle and shoving the door,” he said, “but I didn’t get up to see who it was. I just didn’t think much of it. I figured it was probably some drunk guy trying to find his way home and went to the wrong house.”
By Monday, January 21st, police dogs and helicopters were already out searching. Hundreds of volunteers walked through the snow, scanning the area for any signs or clues. They checked storm drains, lifted manhole covers, searched fields, rivers, and ditches—pretty much everything. And for investigators, something else became clear: it looked like this wasn’t the attacker’s first crime. They believed he had done this before and that he was likely responsible for two sexual assaults that had previously happened on campus.
A 21-year-old college student was in a parking lot when someone grabbed her from behind, shoved her to the ground at gunpoint, and then attacked her. He told her not to scream, but she did anyway. That clearly scared him off, and he ran away, apparently dropping a pack of condoms as he fled.
In the early morning hours, a 22-year-old exchange student was grabbed from behind right outside her home. He covered her nose and mouth, and because she couldn’t breathe, she passed out. When she came to, she was already inside a truck. The vehicle didn’t go very far before she was assaulted inside. He told her not to look at him, and when he dropped her back off, he ordered her to get out of the truck and not turn around. She told police he was a white man with facial hair on his chin and tanned arms. She was also able to describe the truck: according to her, the radio was distinctive with red and blue lights, and there was a small child’s shoe on the floor. Police were also able to collect a sample of his DNA. Both this victim and the previous one reported that he took their underwear.
Later, investigators confirmed that the DNA from both earlier attacks matched the DNA found on the door handle at the house. This was a serial sexual offender, and his crimes were quickly becoming more and more violent. Investigators also believe that the attempted break-in at the exchange student’s house was done by the same man. She had woken up to the sound of someone trying to force their way in through the back door. So much force was used that the door actually bent outward. All of these attacks happened within just a four-block area.
And now everyone knew the description of the man they were looking for: a white male between about 28 and 40 years old, roughly 5’6″ to 6 feet tall, driving either an SUV or an extended-cab pickup truck. People were terrified, and gun sales shot up almost overnight.
As the search went on, everyone was getting more and more exhausted, but the volunteers refused to give up. The hunt for him was unlike anything Reno had ever seen. More than 300 volunteers searched near the Truckee River alongside Nevada’s First Lady, Dawn Gibbons. She said no one was going to give up until Brianna was found and brought home. Police received over 5,000 tips, and more than 700 men voluntarily gave DNA samples to be tested.
About 8 miles from where Brianna was taken, Alberto Jimenez was cutting across an empty lot at work, heading to grab something to eat. Suddenly, something caught his eye. Down in a shallow ditch, hidden among some bushes, there was something that looked strange. It was a Christmas tree lying on its side. Then he noticed a pair of socks. As he stepped closer, he thought there was a mannequin lying underneath the tree. He figured it couldn’t be anything worse than that. But then he saw a wound on the shoulder, and that is when it hit him. He ran back to the office and told his supervisor. Together they went back to the ditch and called 911. Not long after, police arrived near a drainage pipe about 40 feet from Sand Hill Road.
The next day, February 16th, a press conference was held. Deputy Chief Jim Johns said, “We just see her face and we see someone we love.” The autopsy confirmed that the remains of the woman found in the field were those of Brianna Dennison. The official cause and manner of death was strangulation. This was a sexually motivated crime. Police now believe that she had been strangled inside the house and then her body was taken and dumped outside. She was naked except for a pair of socks, and beneath her right knee were two pairs of underwear: one pink and one black. Katie said the pink pair belonged to her, and she hadn’t even realized they were missing. The owner of the second pair was never identified. DNA samples taken from Brianna’s body matched the DNA from the door handle and the earlier attacks.
On March 6th, police revealed another disturbing detail. The attacker had been taking his victims’ underwear as trophies, then leaving them at the crime scene as a kind of signature. Both pairs had been deliberately placed there so officers would find them. One officer said the killer was basically mocking them.
Eventually, on November 1st, investigators received a lead that stood out. One woman told her friend that she had found women’s underwear in her ex-boyfriend’s car, and the way he reacted when she asked about it was really strange. Her ex had also suddenly moved out of the area after Brianna was found, even though he had lived there since 2002. He had also sold his truck. He had a history of animal cruelty and domestic violence. He had previously been arrested for serious domestic violence, but no DNA sample had been taken at the time.
That man was 27-year-old James Michael Biela. James worked in construction, had previously served in the Marines, and was trained in martial arts. He also knew the campus well since he had worked on a construction project there the year before. Once he was identified, police decided to put him under surveillance. When he showed up to pick up his son from daycare, he was taken into custody. After that, he was required to provide a DNA sample. It was a match.
Prosecutors decided to move forward with charges against him. He maintained that he was innocent. During the preliminary hearing on the charges of murder, kidnapping, and sexual assault in Brianna’s case, along with two other sexual attacks, more than a dozen witnesses took the stand. James Biela initially said he wanted to testify, but after speaking with his lawyers, he changed his mind.
The tense 3-week trial was finally coming to an end. After about 6 hours of deliberation, the jury reached a verdict. The jury of seven women and five men found the defendant, James Michael Biela, guilty of sexual assault, kidnapping in the first degree, and the first-degree murder of Brianna Zunino Dennison.
The next phase was deciding the punishment—either life in prison or the death penalty. James’ brothers and sisters testified that they had grown up in an extremely abusive and violent household. His attorneys pushed for life in prison without the possibility of parole, pointing to his traumatic childhood and the fact that he had no prior criminal record, but it didn’t change the jury’s decision. James Biela was sentenced to death.
On August 18th, 2010, the judge signed the death warrant. By law, the case was automatically sent to the Nevada Supreme Court for review. For Bridget, it felt like a victory. “When James Michael Biela touched my little girl, he picked the wrong family. He picked the wrong women, the wrong city, and the wrong state.” But he still had to face consequences for the other attacks. Two months after the death sentence was handed down, Judge Robert Perry sentenced him to life in prison with the possibility of parole on three counts of rape and one count of kidnapping to honor the survivors.
