This was not what I was expecting but in a good way. I was expecting to focus more on crime and what kinds of crimes gets people sent to facilitates for the criminally insane. I was not expecting to be more appalled by the system than by the crimes committed but I was.
This was one of the most eye opening books have read in a very long time. I knew very little about psychiatric hospitals going into this except for what I had seen in fictional movies or TV shows. I always thought those sorts of things were exaggerated for views but boy was a I wrong. Hearing some of the things these people were put though were absolutely horrible and brought tears to my eyes.
I will say I have to say if I had any criticism about this it would be the handling of the story of a former patient who is transgender. The author clearly states this fact but then goes on to deadname this person multiple times and continues to use incorrect pronouns. The only time the proper name is used is when the author says the patient was moved and goes by a different name but then she goes right back to the dead name and wrong pronouns. That chapter really rubbed me the wrong way cause it felt like the author was ignoring this person's right because of what she did despite the fact this whole books points put why that is a problem. Besides that chapter though I was really fascinated and drawn into this story.
If true crime is your thing this is definitely the book for you. This book does have some major major trigger warnings though so please do be careful and be sure you can handle this book before diving into it.

This book was fairly interesting. I thought there was going to be more information on the family. However majority of the book was about his stay in the mental facility. And the injustices that he faced.

Couple Found Slain is different from my usual true crime read; rather than focusing on a murder investigation and trial, it instead explores what happens to someone mentally ill after they plead guilty to to their crime.

In February 1992, 22-year-old Brian Bechtold killed his parents in Maryland, and then about a week later went into a police station in Florida and admitted to his crime. The first part of this book is spent on the family history, Brian’s life leading up to the crime, and the crime itself, in a typical true crime narrative fashion.

However, while the author does not ignore the family history or the murders, a huge part of this book’s focus is on what happens to Brian Bechtold AFTER he kills his parents. Brian clearly is suffering from an undiagnosed mental illness when he commits this terrible crime, and is appropriately put into the mental health care system instead of prison. But what happens to someone once they end up on this track? What is it like to live in the mental hospital? How do you get better? How do you get out? Ultimately, what has Brian’s life been like since he entered the system?

This was an audiobook, and the narrator is great. It felt like I was watching a documentary instead of listening to an audiobook. Ms. Brottman provides an in-depth look into Brian and the 27 years he’s spent in a maximum security psychiatric hospital that is engaging, insightful, and empathetic.

Couple Found Slain is a very different sort of true crime book in that it starts with the crime and follows the life of the murderer post-conviction. Brian Bechtold murdered his parents and ends up turning himself in and confessing. He is found not criminally responsible and sent to a maximum security psychiatric hospital, with a diagnosis of schizophrenia. This book sheds light on what it’s really like to live in a mental hospital. Overdrugging patients, sadistic punishments and fabrications of wrong doings in patients files had Brian wishing he’d been sent to prison. If you enjoyed One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, don’t miss this one! It’s available on 7/6

Thank you to Macmillan Audio & NetGalley for an advanced listeners copy in exchange for an honest review!

When you read the title of this book you can be forgiven for assuming that it is the story of a horrific crime. In fact, although there is very definitely a horrific crime committed, this book is more about what happened to the murderer after he was found NCR (Not Criminally Responsible) for murdering his mother and father. For those who are unfamiliar with the term NCR, in the past, NCR was referred to as "Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity."

Before listening to this Audiobook, I have to admit that I was extremely skeptical of this legal strategy. I believed (wrongly, as it turns out) that most of the defendants found NCR were using this defense to get out of having to go to jail and to have an easy time of their "incarceration."

If you have any interest at all in True Crime, and/or any interest in mental health and mental health facilities, this audiobook is a "MUST LISTEN."

I found the story fascinating and loved the fact that it was not based on a single moment in time, but actually took place over, not only several years, but decades.

I rate COUPLE FOUND SLAIN as 4 OUT OF 5 STARS ⭐⭐⭐⭐

*** Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of this book. ***

Very well written account of what caused Brian Bechtold to kill his parents and how his mental illness was addressed and dealt with.

On February 21, 1992, 22-year-old Brian Bechtold walked into a police station in Port St. Joe, Florida and confessed that he’d shot and killed his parents. He said that he was possessed and was diagnosed with schizophrenia and ruled not criminally responsible on grounds of insanity.

Mikita Brottman does a fantastic job of describing Brian's life leading up to the murders and his experiences in the psychiatric hospital. Brian is in this hospital for 27-years where he experiences some unbelievable scenarios some of which he is a part of, others where he is just a witness.

Most importantly, this audiobook brought me awareness of some issues within the psych wards and lives that can just be turned on and forgotten.

Thank you @netgalley and @macmillan.audio for this #gifted advanced listening copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Mikita Brottman for this Audio-ARC in exchange for my honest feedback and review.

Brian comes from a family that has parents who are neglectful and mean. One day he has a psychotic break and kills both of his parents. This true crime novel dives into the life of Brian before and after the crime.

This was really the first true crime book like this I’ve ever read. We get a detailed view of what happens after a crime committed by someone who is mentally ill. This book will keep your attention if you’re interested in “hospitals” for the mentally ill.

I really loved learning about the case of Brian Bechtold but it made me so very mad of how he was treated! Brian Bechtold was an abused child that grew up in Maryland with mental illness surrounding him including his own. One day, he woke suddenly to his Dad screaming and Brian went down the stairs and shot both of his parents and killed them. He took his dog and drove to Florida where he turned himself in because on the trip he found God. I don't want to go too far into his case but he was not only abused as a child but also tortured in Perkins Mental Health. I highly recommend this book and Thanks to #netgalley for the advanced reader copy!

I am having a hard time choosing how to review this book, "Couple Found Slain".
It is very well researched, and it is VERY well written. The author really joins the facts, history, and conundrums of crime vs mental illness in the narration.

Thank you Netgalley for this audio version of Couple Found Slain by Mikita Brottman.

First off, the narration was great. She had bright tones and an engaging style.

This is a true crime story, about Brian Bechtold, who confessed to shooting and killing both of his parents. But while that is a story in and of itself, this book focuses mostly on what happens to Brian after his arrest, as well as what it is like for people jailed in the psych unit.

I thought the author did a great job highlighting what is clearly a system that needs work. She definitely had me raising my eyebrows at a lot of the tactics used in criminal psychology, as well as it's legitimacy. Sometimes I did get bogged down with the details of Brian's case, but overall it was an interesting read.

Being that I have always loved the true crime genre, when I saw this available on NetGalley, I requested the audio. I discovered that this really isn't a true crime book at all because the crime was over and done with quite early on. COUPLE FOUND SLAIN is more of a look at mental illness and how it is treated, or not treated, as the case may be. Being that mental illness is a problem with my own family, I have a lot to say.

Brian Bechtold admitted that he killed his parents. He was of the age and displayed the symptoms of paranoid schizophrenia, with some other diagnoses on the side. He is found to be ill and is sent to a psychiatric hospital called Clifton T. Perkins, rather than to prison. There, he gets better. There he remains. Is that the right decision, though?

Over the years there, it is Brian's contention that he is no longer ill. Some of the doctors at Perkins concur, but only somewhat. During his incarceration, Brian outlives almost the entire staff and many of the other patients. (By outlives, I mean he stays on while the doctors, nurses, and security staff come and go.) His diagnosis keeps changing, even though he feels fine, and is otherwise a perfect patient, at least for a while. One doctor's notes get passed on to the next doctor and the next and the next, all of them pretty much parroting the one before. If that first doctor in the chain makes erroneous assumptions or diagnoses, those are taken up by the next doctor and on and on. No matter Brian's actual behavior, the view of the doctor's is already preconceived based on the patient history the doctor is given.

With each of these doctors, (many of whom seemed to think they knew everything), came a string of medicines to treat whatever was the diagnosis of the day. I am personally familiar with almost of the meds discussed because I have mental illness issues within my own family. So many problems come along with these drugs and I don't think anyone really knows all of the side effects. What I do know is that they can work very differently from person to person, they can take up to 3 months to start working and then when it's decided they are no longer working or needed, they can take months for a patient to wean off of them. During this time, the meds can make a patient feel dead inside, or they can go to the other extreme and make the patient super sensitive. They can cause weight gains and losses, and they can cause severe fatigue. It seems to me that Brian and my family both have dealt with doctors that are basically just guessing. To be fair, treating mental illnesses are not as easy as treating something quantifiable like a broken arm or leg.

In the end, what it comes down to is that sometimes, being found incompetent to stand trial and being sentenced to a psychiatric hospital instead, can be worse than going to prison. In Brian's case, that was definitely so. I know that he killed his parents, yes-that fact never escaped my mind, but if the system isn't dedicated to rehabilitating the patients so that one day they can return to regular life, what is it exactly that they are doing?

I think the author presented Brian's case in a simple way, starting with the family and Brian's history with them, then quickly moved on to the murders and past it. Every event after that has been carefully researched and documented by by the author as well. She lays everything out and leaves the reader to come to their own conclusions. I did feel compassion and empathy for Brian, mostly because what happened is not exactly just or fair. How do you reconcile all of that with the crime he committed? It's very difficult.

The narrator took a bit of getting used to, but I did get used to her. In the beginning, the narrative is a bit dry, but after the crime, in detailing all of the different events at the hospital and in the court system, she was clear and concise in her voicing.

Because of the author's extensive research and because Brian's case is a sad one, she was able to create a sense of empathy towards him and I think that can be rather difficult when a double murderer is involved. Kudos to her for that! But the fact remains that my heart goes out to the guy and I wonder if the author's heart did too?

Don't expect the same old-same old true crime book here folks. This is an in-depth look at only a few of the problems regarding how we care for mental illnesses in this country. No matter what you think about Brian's case, this book WILL have you thinking.

*Thanks to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the audio download of COUPLE FOUND SLAIN in exchange for my honest feedback. This is it!*

This is a story about a true crime involving a family, and the murderer from within. The author takes a deep dive into the family history and focuses on what led to the events, starting with their childhood. The author then continues to review the murderers life after he has been declared insane and sent to a mental institution.

For the most part I enjoyed the investigation. I love reading about the past events that may have contributed to a horrible crime. For this audiobook version, however, the monotone reading really made it hard to trudge through the already meticulous details. It was a struggle to get through the book for that reason. The narrator’s voice was smooth and well read, but boring in tone.

Overall I recommend the book to true crime readers, but I may suggest text over audio on this rare occasion.

I try and read at least one true crime book a year. This one did not disappoint. I loved how the author took us through the life of Brian and showed us what he went through before and after. You can definitely see where the system failed him before the murders and definitely after the murders. I understand this is only one point of view. I felt like I was watching it fold out on tv. The narrator did a fantastic job.

I love reading true crime books, the fascinate me. I like getting into someone else’s mind and figuring out why someone would commit such a heinous crime. And a lot of the times it’s a crime against a loved one.

Couple Found Slain definitely engrossed me, I listened to this in a day. This book was so much more than a true crime book though. It followed Brian Bechtold’s stay at the mental hospital after being found incompetent to stand trial. I felt for him throughout his torturous stay in that hospital. He was treated horrible by several doctors. And after seeing numerous patients leave while he was left behind, he tried to escape in hopes of being put in prison over staying in the mental hospital.

I think that Mikita did a great job of telling Brian’s story and letting the public know of the injustice some of these mental patients receive. I would recommend Couple Found Slain to anyone who likes true crime or mental health books.

I listened to the audio book and the narrator Christina Delaine did a good narration. She had a good voice and was very easy to listen to.

A heart wrenching story about Brian Bechtold who murdered his parents and was diagnosed with schizophrenia. The author goes in depth to what the family dynamics were leading up to the murder. After he was diagnosed with being criminally insane and sent away to the psychiatric hospital for 27 years, the treatment and abuse were very painful to hear. I almost felt sorry for what he had to go through. It was a very well written and very well researched.

Thanks to NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for the advanced audio for an honest review.

What an in-depth look at a murder, horrendous killing of his parents, but why, is there a reason.
The author takes us on a journey from before the murders, his growing up years, and then when Brian, himself reports the Crime at a Florida police department.
This is riveting as we follow his time in the mental hospital, meet other inmates, and what happens too many of them.
Once you're in this hospital, we see up close how the patients are treated, over medicated, and I felt sorry for him. He seems highly intelligent, and aware of what is going on, so maybe that is harder.
Will he ever be let go? He seems to have a lot of people rooting for him, but is he capable of living in society?
I still have some questions, but the author did a wonderful job at giving a complete picture of what his life is like.


I received this book through Net Galley and the Publisher MacMillian Audio, and was not required to give a positive review.

Overall a dark and twisty tale. I love non fiction books that read like they are fiction! The story is very detailed. It is very interesting to see behind the windows of a family. You really never know your neighbors!

I am very interested in true crime and the psychology behind certain crimes. This book was particularly interesting because it didn't really focus on the crime itself, but what happened after the murderer was deemed mentally incompetent to stand trial.

Essentially, he had a psychotic break and was mentally unwell for many years. But what happens when you are no longer as sick?

It is overwhelming and depressing to think of people who are essentially forgotten in some of these institutions. Those who don't "comply" can be held for decades longer than they would have served in prison. Those who do comply (which may include over-medicating and hiding their true thoughts) may be released as "rehabilitated."

I found this book an interesting look at the mental health system for those considered criminally insane aka "criminally not responsible".

The beginning of the book felt a little dry while covering the family history and events leading to the murder by Brian Bechtold of his parents. But once I realized that was not the focus of this story and we started following Brian through the mental health system it became more intriguing.

It opened my eyes to how poorly the mentally ill are treated even in the last 20 years and most often worse than prison. How a place to help heal and recover is more to sedate and control. It brings to light a lot of ethical questions regarding how much power the medical staff have over the patients and that getting better is more about complying with doctor orders regardless of consent. Even the absence of mental health symptoms are considered signs of hiding tendencies once you gave been branded with a diagnosis.

Unfortunately I found the story very one sided and though I can agree it seems like the system was working against Brian's progress to recover from his mental issues it seemed much of the story was his accounts which you could argue would be an unreliable narrator.

Thank you to NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for this advanced audio for review.