The OnlyFans Killer

October 28, 2024

In this episode, Payton and Garrett delve into the case of social media power couple Christian Obumseli and Courtney Clenney. Despite their picture-perfect online presence, a much darker reality unfolded behind closed doors—one that ultimately led to Christian’s tragic demise.

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AUDIO TRANSCRIPT

You're listening to an Oh No Media podcast.

Hey everyone, welcome back to the podcast. This is Murder with My Husband.

I'm Payton Moreland.

And I'm Garrett Moreland.

He's the husband.

I'm the husband. If you hear Garrett’s chompy chomps, it’s because he’s eating Hot Tamales while we’re recording. Rule number one as a podcaster is you’re not supposed to eat and record.

I just eat in between the time you’re talking and I talk.

Oh, you know.

Yeah, luckily I don’t have to talk the whole time like you.

Yeah, I guess when you just show up and be yourself, you have time to eat Hot Tamales, huh?

I deserve it. I just worked my butt off at the gym. Got myself a little snack. Yes, my cheat snack is usually Hot Tamales. You can eat a lot of them; they’re low-calorie.

We went to Dutch Bros today, and Garrett was like, "Look, I found this new drink that’s only 40 calories." Couldn’t be me—me and my 800-calorie drink.

Don’t. I’m not that person, okay? I’m that person right now, but that’s only because I’m cutting.

I’m cutting right now, okay? Trying to shed some pounds. So, I’m going to go on like a two-month cut. And listen, I don’t care what you do. I don’t. That’s just what I’m doing. I don’t like to talk about calorie stuff, but at the end of the day, if I want to lose weight and cut, it’s calories in versus calories out. It is what it is. That’s what I’m doing. Everyone’s updated; that’s what I have.

Okay, before we get your ten seconds, I just wanted to thank everyone who listened to Into the Dark, the episode I posted on the Murder with My Husband feed. I hope you freaking enjoyed it. It is a little different than what it originally was with Binge, but I truly, truly am loving the direction it has gone in. So yeah, please go subscribe and follow Into the Dark if you haven’t already. I cover a lot of true crime over there as well, plus you know, all the fun bonus stuff. So yeah, I just wanted to give a quick thank you to everyone who supported that. Just thanks to everyone in general who listens.

How do I say this without sounding like a complete tool? We’ve had—I don’t know what’s been going on lately—but we’ve been having quite a few people come up to us, just recognizing us, I guess, and saying thank you for the podcast. And honestly, thank you guys for listening, thank you for supporting. We wouldn’t be here without you guys. We love when you come up to us; we love when you say hi.

Yeah, I just kind of wanted to get that out there. I think it goes without saying that this podcast is such a major part of not only Garrett and I's lives, but our relationship. Like, it’s truly a dream come true, and it’s something we never thought we’d get to share together. It truly is because of you guys. You’re honestly the best part of us, truly. So, we love you guys so much, and thank you for being here.

Hopping into my ten seconds here...I have a quick one; it’s a little weird, but I was just in the bathroom—okay, wait, let me restart that. See, that didn’t start correctly. I was on a phone call on hold with the power company. It was taking a long time. I’d been on hold in the car, been on hold at the gym. I just kept it open because they told me it’d be a long wait. Got back in the car, drove back home—nothing yet. And I went, "Oh, I’m going to go pee real quick. Like, what are the chances that they finally answer and I’m off hold while I’m going pee?"

She’s like, “Hey, how can I help you?” I didn’t know what else to do, so I just unmuted it while I was peeing and said, “Hey, oh, my first name is Garrett, my last name is Moreland,” and then I muted it again. It got quiet for a second. I finished peeing, and she just kind of kept going with her regular conversation. But for sure, she heard me. I don’t know—maybe she thought it was just water running in the sink. I don’t know what she thought it was. That’s my ten seconds; just thought I’d share that experience with all of you.

Yeah, what do you think about that, babe? Kind of nuts, right?

That is... traumatizing for her! That would traumatize me.

I didn’t know what else to do! I had been on hold for a long time, and I said, “I do not care. I’m not missing this.” I’m not missing this.

I mean, yeah, you did what you had to do.

I did what I had to do. I can’t believe you have just made a little pocket for those Hot Tamales in your belly right now and are eating them.

They’re good; they taste amazing.

Anyways, that is my ten seconds. I will turn the time over back to the beautiful Miss Payton Moreland, and let’s hop into today’s case.

All right, you guys, our case sources for this episode are NBCMiami.com, FoxNews.com, NBCNews.com, CBSNews.com, Newsweek.com, TampaBay.com, RollingStone.com, BuzzFeedNews.com, People.com, NewYorkPost.com, RestlandFuneralHome.com, and HBO Max’s Lethally Blonde, season 1, episode 3.

All right, you guys, IG versus IRL. We joke about it; we post memes about it. I mean, I’ve even looked at myself with makeup and without makeup. But if you’re online even a little bit, it’s easy to get caught up in the fantasy—to see someone living some glamorous, fast life and think, “Why isn’t my world like that?”

It puts a lot of pressure on us to fake that sort of existence, to portray to our followers that we live in these perfect little worlds where nothing ever goes wrong. When in reality, a lot of these influencers who make us feel that way do have their own problems, just like the rest of us. Their houses do get dirty, they do have bad hair days, and they do fight with their partners. And some of them have even bigger skeletons in their closets.

But you have to wonder, what dark secrets are those fake lives covering up? Because sometimes, the harder people try, the more they have to hide. And in the case of today’s story, the truth was so dark that the life that wasn’t online... it actually led to murder.

So let me take you back to the 1990s, when bands like the Spice Girls, Boyz II Men, and TLC were all the rage. I mean, Beanie Babies were flying off the shelves. This was when early internet chat rooms and AOL Instant Messenger were the cornerstone of any kid’s after-school social life. And this was the era Christian Oumi grew up in.

Born on April 12, 1994, in Dallas, Texas, Christian—who actually went by the nickname “Toby”—became the youngest son in a pretty large family. From an early age, it was clear there was something captivating about Toby. Not only did he have a smile that would light up any room, but Toby also had the unique gift of bringing levity and positivity to any difficult situation.

He was the kind of guy you wanted by your side when life just wasn’t going your way, and that infectious attitude was really what made him so popular. Growing up at Plano East Senior High School, Toby became a star linebacker on the football team, which even won him a scholarship to Abilene Christian University in Abilene, Texas. With his bright eyes and tall, athletic build, he was definitely popular with the ladies. He was the kind of person who made any situation a party.

But Toby was way more than just some jock who knew how to have a good time. He wanted to see the world. He had a deep desire to travel; he was curious about meeting new people and experiencing new things. He was extremely generous and giving, willing to go to the ends of the world for the people he cared about, which in 2020 included a new love interest who had just entered his life.

Her name was Courtney Clenney. It was the spring of 2020 when Toby spotted Courtney at a party. She was a gorgeous blonde with bright blue eyes, and nobody could blame the 26-year-old Toby for taking an interest in this 24-year-old bombshell. Now, sources differ on where they actually met. Some say it was at a social media event in Las Vegas, while others say it was Tulum, Mexico, where Courtney was with a few friends on a work trip when she was introduced to Toby.

When the bubbly Courtney asked Toby what he did for a living, he was honest. He said, “Hey, it’s 2020, I’m out of work; it has been a hard year.” He had recently been laid off from his job but was exploring a career in cryptocurrency and stock management.

And I just want everyone to get a picture—when I say bombshell, I’m using that word stereotypically, as in, she’s like a blonde, Kim Kardashian-like type, with striking features. She’s got that look that’s all the rage nowadays.

So when she asked him where he was currently living, he told her Austin, Texas, which was a pretty big coincidence because that was exactly where Courtney was living too. Whether you want to call it fate, destiny, or bad luck, it seemed inevitable that the two would see each other again. When they returned home, that’s exactly what happened. Courtney and Toby fell hard and fast for one another, especially with it being the middle of the pandemic. We know how quickly some relationships moved during that time—it was pretty make or break. For a while, it really seemed like Toby and Courtney were going to make it, like they were in it for the long haul.

Toby was really supportive of Courtney, her aspirations, and her maybe slightly controversial career. In 2020, Courtney had made a full-time job out of being an OnlyFans model.

So, if you don’t know what OnlyFans is, it’s basically a social media platform where you have to pay to access other people’s content. You can message and interact with that person, and you can request certain types of content from them. Usually, it’s sexual content. I will say, a lot of the content on OnlyFans—though not all of it—is sexually explicit, and this included Courtney’s account.

And no, Payton and I are not on OnlyFans for those wondering.

Courtney knew how to work the platform well, meaning she had plenty of loyal followers and paying customers. She was really good at keeping up her engagement on the site; she was always interacting with her fans and got to know many of them on a personal level, just like they’d gotten to know her. Toby was a great match for her, mainly because he was so supportive of the career she had built for herself.

But Courtney didn’t always dream of being an internet celebrity. She was born in 1996 to wealthy parents in Texas. Courtney was actually a really ambitious athlete in her early years. She did everything from volleyball to basketball to diving—you name it, Courtney probably mastered it or at least tried out for the team.

However, when Courtney reached high school, she realized that her looks got her a pretty good amount of the attention she wanted. She began focusing a lot of her time and energy on her appearance. She hired a personal trainer and worked out every single day after school. When Instagram launched in 2010, Courtney jumped on the bandwagon immediately.

She was part of the early wave of people who realized there was a lot of money to be made by posting their pretty face on social media. She started following other early influencers' leads, so she saw the money before a lot of us did. She found her niche by posting fitness and healthy living videos, and as her following grew, so did her brand deals.

In 2015, when Courtney was just 19 years old, she was approached by Playboy to be part of a feature on up-and-coming influencers. Courtney said yes to the opportunity, which only gave her more of a boost and exposed her to a brand-new audience she hadn’t quite reached yet. Just three months after the Playboy feature came out—keep in mind, this was 2015—Courtney had hit one million followers on Instagram.

Wait, that’s actually insane. That’s like huge-level influencer status at that time, frankly. I mean, this is a pretty big deal, and I think it’s safe to say that Courtney knew what she was doing. She had made a full-time job out of early influencing, which, believe it or not, was a lot of work for her because she was shooting and posting fresh content every single day. She was interacting with her followers, answering DMs, and constantly boosting her fan base.

And yeah, she had a lot of followers, but social media marketing and the money for influencers in 2014 is way different than the money in 2022 or 2023. But also, starting back then meant you were probably getting paid more if you were able to keep up with it because it was easier to build a following. Celebrities now hire social media teams to do all of this, but Courtney was a one-woman operation, and it paid off. Before she even hit her 20s, she was making hundreds of thousands of dollars a year from influencing.

Then OnlyFans launched in 2016, and she saw a brand-new way to boost her income by jumping on that bandwagon early.

Wow, I didn’t know about OnlyFans until like two years ago.

I think Courtney just saw things before other people did, and so Courtney's content at this point became edgier. She got more explicit, and it was well worth it for her because Courtney was now living the life she had always dreamed of. She was flying all over the world for photo shoots, going on yachts, partying, and living life in the fast lane.

But there was also a downside to some of this. Courtney had her fair share of online stalkers—people who purchased her content. She created a relationship, and they forgot that this relationship was parasocial, that this was her job, and it was content for her. But they fell in love with her. They would harass her, and sometimes she even felt pressure to give in to the demands from her fans online.

When Toby came into the picture in 2020, a lot of that seemed to change. She now had someone who supported her, who could protect her, who could say, "No, you don’t need to do that—that’s not normal." He could also enjoy things alongside her, and so the relationship became mutually beneficial.

With Toby being laid off from his job, he sort of took on a role with Courtney's business, where he would help her film and capture her content. He assisted her with managing her accounts, and in return, Toby got to enjoy all the finer things in life that Courtney was buying and receiving.

This show is sponsored by BetterHelp. It’s sometimes hard to remind ourselves that we are trying our best to make sense of everything, and in this crazy world, that isn’t easy. Here’s a reminder to send some thanks to the people in your life—including yourself.

Payton's always been a big advocate of therapy, and honestly, therapy is super important. It’s something Garrett and I both do, something we both love sometimes. But honestly, it’s good to talk about your feelings; it is good to talk about what’s going on inside your head. So, don’t forget that, and if you feel like you want to try therapy, give BetterHelp a try and see if it’s for you. Therapy in general is just important. BetterHelp is entirely online, designed to be convenient, flexible, and suited to your schedule. You just fill out a brief questionnaire to get matched with a licensed therapist, and you can actually switch therapists at any time for no additional charge.

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In January of 2022, the couple had been together for two years, and they decided to move from Texas to Miami, Florida, since the scene was more fitting for influencers like Courtney. She rented them a $10,000-a-month condo on the 22nd floor with a balcony that overlooked the ocean. With a $40,000 deposit, the all-glass condo by the sea became what many thought was the couple's little oasis.

Toby and Courtney began attending more social media events. They met other influencers that Courtney could collaborate with, rented Lamborghinis, and dined out at expensive restaurants.

To Courtney's followers, it probably looked like her life with Toby was an absolute dream come true. Social media, man—social media. By 2022, Courtney was easily making seven figures a year from social media. While Toby had always taken a more behind-the-scenes role, she had recently convinced him to join her in front of the camera for some of her OnlyFans content, which is typical; there are a lot of couples who create content together on OnlyFans. Some of their friends were like, "No, Toby and Courtney are the real deal. They might be making content, but they are definitely on their path to marriage and kids." They were a power couple.

But three months after moving to Miami, this dream life they had portrayed on social media came crashing down.

At around 5 p.m. on April 3, 2022, 911 received a frantic call from a woman. She gave them the address of her condo, but that’s about all she could get into words before she hung up the phone. So she basically calls 911, gives the address, and hangs up.

Minutes later, police are rushing off the elevator toward Courtney's condo. There’s actually body cam footage from the police where they walk in, and you can hear Courtney screaming, "Baby, baby, get up, get up right now! Baby, baby, baby, baby, wake up!"

When police finally get inside, they find the condo is a disaster. There is stuff thrown everywhere—it looks like there has been a massive struggle. When they find Courtney, she is alongside a wall, completely drenched in blood, and just a few feet away from her is Toby. He has a single stab wound to his chest.

As EMTs rush Toby off to the hospital, Courtney is crying out to them, "Is he dead? Is he dead?" Shortly after, Courtney is taken down to the police station for questioning, and there are a few things that police learn right off the bat.

For starters, the front desk attendant at the condo says that around 4:45 p.m.—about 15 minutes before Courtney dialed 911—her apartment had been getting some noise complaints. Apparently, Courtney’s neighbors reported that they heard the couple fighting in the condo. Now, the front desk attendant didn’t call the police herself; she sent security up, as that’s what they have security for when they receive a noise complaint.

Security reported that around 4:58, just before Courtney dialed 911, they actually saw Courtney open the door to her unit and step out covered in blood. They also said her dogs were covered in blood as well (and to clarify, that’s her actual dogs, not her toes), and that Toby was on the floor inside the apartment, unconscious.

It’s not clear if they also called the police after this, but you have to wonder—if security had called the police, could all of this have been avoided?

Down at police headquarters, detectives try to get the full story out of Courtney, and here’s what she tells them.

Initially, around 1:15 p.m. that afternoon, Toby left the condo and came back around 4:32 p.m. with Subway sandwiches for them.

Courtney was on the phone with her mother when she and Toby began having an argument, so she hung up on her mother. Courtney said the fight was over the fact that Toby had been gone for a while without telling her where he went and that he had refused to share his cell phone location with her after she had repeatedly asked him to do so. That’s when Courtney claimed the argument got physical, and Toby pinned her against a wall and tried to strangle her.

But she said she escaped his grasp, went to the kitchen, grabbed a knife to defend herself, and told him not to come near her. Courtney claimed she had no intention of actually using the weapon, but when Toby threatened her further, she hurled the knife across the room, about 10 feet away, and it somehow impaled him in the chest.

No red flags, right? Payton and I went axe throwing a month ago, and there was knife throwing there too. I’m just going to let you know—it’s way harder to throw a knife that actually sticks, much less impales someone. Even just getting it to stick in wood is extremely difficult. The chance of getting the blade of the knife to hit something? There’s just no way. Scratch that—Courtney supposedly threw it 10 feet, hit him right in the chest, and killed him? With a random kitchen knife?

At the police station, Courtney essentially admitted to the stabbing but insisted it was honestly just a freak accident and an act of self-defense. That’s her story.

During the police interview, a detective comes in and breaks the news to Courtney that her boyfriend, Christian Toby Obumseli, did not survive the stab wound to his chest. On camera, Courtney breaks down in hysterics and even asks one of the detectives for a hug. But you have to wonder—was Courtney truly remorseful, or was she just distressed about what was obviously going to come next?

Regardless, at this point in time, police had to take Courtney’s word for it. They’re looking at this big, six-foot-tall former football player and thinking, "She stabbed him?" This situation was unusual; if the roles were reversed, it would likely be viewed very differently. But the police thought, maybe self-defense could add up here.

I know what you're thinking—it sounds unlikely, right? How did this tall, strong football player just let her escape, grab a knife, and hurl it 10 feet with perfect aim, hitting him squarely in the chest? That’s the problem with Courtney’s story. You don’t lodge a knife from 10 feet away and fatally stab someone in the chest. Even an Olympic knife thrower would struggle with that.

And yet, that’s Courtney’s story. She threw it. So how fast does an Olympic knife thrower throw? Fast, for sure. But she probably threw it at, what, five miles an hour?

Obviously, the autopsy will be able to determine from the wound whether the knife was thrown or if it was stabbed. I hadn’t thought about that.

While Courtney was taken to a hospital for a mental health evaluation, officers began investigating the history between Courtney and Toby. They had access to a lot of social media content and many friends to talk to. It turns out that when they started speaking to people who knew Courtney and Toby, there was a lot more going on than what they had been showing their followers on social media.

Originally, many of Courtney’s real-life friends thought things were going well between her and Toby. But that changed one night when Courtney had a little too much to drink and confessed something to a friend in her circle. She admitted she didn’t understand why everyone loved her boyfriend, Toby, so much and that she wasn’t in love with him anymore.

Courtney mentioned that they got into fights at times. For example, she once caught him taking her phone and transferring money to himself from her bank accounts. A few days later, they actually broke up over it. Sometimes things got so serious that Courtney would tell Toby to move out of the condo, but they always seemed to get back together somehow. The fighting seemed to subside whenever Courtney was sober, but the problem was that Courtney drank all the time, and she was easily triggered when she was drunk.

There was one particularly scary incident in Las Vegas in 2021, about a year before Toby died. Police were called to the couple’s hotel room after complaints of loud arguing. By the time police arrived, Courtney had thrown a glass at Toby after calling him names. She was arrested and taken to the station, where she gave her side of the story. She claimed she’d gotten drunk, got a tattoo, and then fell asleep, which led Toby to be upset because she slept through their dinner reservations. In the police footage, Courtney appears highly intoxicated. So yes, she does have experience in throwing things.

While it appears that no one was necessarily injured in that incident, it went on record that she threw a glass at him. This situation didn’t help Courtney address her drinking or potential anger issues because things got worse.

In October 2021, the couple still lived in Texas, but they were planning to move to Miami in three months. Courtney sent Toby a series of argumentative text messages, which police later found. In these messages, Toby called Courtney out for having taken his phone a few days earlier. He also mentioned how she had stabbed him in the leg, saying it hurt so badly that he couldn’t even walk.

A follow-up text read, “The next morning, I still woke up happy. I still gave you a good day, even though my leg was hurting because my girlfriend stabbed me. Did I make you feel like crap for stabbing me? No, I just sucked it up and hoped that tomorrow would be better.”

That’s way too much patience.

Apparently, the two still met up that evening because, the following day, another text conversation surfaced. In it, Toby mentioned how Courtney had hit him repeatedly in the head with her phone, causing him to bleed and forcing him to sleep in the bathroom that night.

We’re navigating through these texts, so there are gaps in the story. But in these messages, they are admitting to these things. Courtney replied, “I'm sorry for hitting you in the face and the back of your head and for spitting on you. Is it right? No. You just piss me off, but I still love you.”

This isn’t okay—she’s physically abusive, 100%. After this, you’d think, "Okay, time to cut your losses and move on." She’s lucky this hasn’t been reported, and it’s obviously an unhealthy relationship, so it’s time to walk away, right? Hopefully, if he can find a way out of this situation.

But something we know is that domestic abuse is not easy to walk away from. It’s nuanced. In Toby’s case, it appears Courtney might have been the one controlling the finances, which we know can be a reason someone stays in a relationship for a long time because they feel financially trapped. At this point, she’s essentially employing him and funding his life.

Statistically, men have a harder time reporting domestic violence due to concerns about looking weak or fears that the information will get back to their abuser, making things worse. But at some point, you have to wonder—when is enough, enough?

After moving into the new condo in Florida in January, a few texts showed that Courtney was planning on buying cocaine. She got upset with Toby again when he stayed out late at the bar watching a football game. Following another argument that night, Toby took some photos of his face. He had deep gashes on his chin and cheek.

The injuries were severe enough that he had to go to the hospital for stitches. While at the hospital, he texted Courtney, promising to tell people it was a football-related injury and that he wouldn’t "rat her out" or tell anyone she had done it to him.

It’s heartbreaking. When people feel trapped in a domestic violence situation, it’s just so sad. I can’t speak from experience, but I know it’s a common struggle in many abusive relationships, regardless of gender. You can’t blame the victims or ask why they didn’t report it. It’s just not that simple. There’s so much more to it, and it’s heartbreaking—it just shouldn’t happen.

Also, it’s important to note that these text messages reference multiple incidents. Police have been involved in domestic violence situations with this couple where Courtney is the abuser. In this instance, Toby went to the hospital, got stitches, and still texted her, saying, “Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone.”

The text messages between them imply that Courtney made these gashes on Toby’s face with a knife. It wasn’t just her nails or anything superficial; she actually slit him, if you will. After this incident, according to the texts, Courtney heavily "love-bombs" Toby, apologizing, insisting it won’t happen again, and expressing deep regret and humiliation. She says she’s so sorry for hurting him, and Toby responds by accepting her apology.

This pattern—abuse followed by apologies—repeats between them, according to the messages. But there was one text Toby sent her that night that feels especially haunting, given the circumstances. In the chaos of everything, Toby actually texted Courtney and asked, “Is our love going to kill me?” And if only he knew how true those words would become.

Some people who saw their fights firsthand said that Toby never fought back. He always tried to deescalate, to calm her down. He might argue verbally, but he never fought her physically. When she reached a certain point, he would just take the abuse because he was bigger and felt he could handle it. This was later confirmed through security footage from the condo’s elevator, which captured another fight between them in February, just a couple of months before Toby died.

The footage actually went viral on social media after his death. The video shows Courtney pounding on Toby, going wild in the elevator, punching and attacking him, while he tries to dodge her blows, not responding. This was only days before another incident where Toby himself recorded an argument on his iPhone. When someone starts documenting the abuse, it’s a clear sign they feel unsafe, even if they’re not openly telling others.

In this recording, Courtney was angry because Toby said hi to one of her friends on the street. During the argument, Courtney called Toby a racial slur and, chillingly, told him, “I’m going to effing kill you.” She said this directly on video.

One of their most explosive fights happened on a work trip in 2022, just weeks before Courtney would stab Toby to death. This time, it wasn’t behind closed doors—others saw it unfold and recorded it. At this point, it was clear how unhealthy the relationship had become. Courtney was in Aspen, Colorado, with friends, staying in a house she had rented. Earlier that day, she had shown up to a photo shoot drunk, with a bleeding cut on her arm.

Courtney was actually fired from this photo shoot because of her behavior. When she returned to the rental property, she took her anger out on Toby. She came in swinging at him in front of other people, blaming him for why she got fired. She accused him of always flirting with other women, claiming that’s why she had to drink, which led to the cut and showing up drunk at the shoot.

She yelled at Toby, saying, “You’re the reason I have this problem. Your behavior makes me do these things.” The argument escalated into violence, and Toby ended up with more stitches in his face after this incident.

The scariest part about all of this is that there were so many red flags leading up to Toby’s death, almost down to the minute. It makes you wonder if someone’s small intervention could have made a difference. Police discovered that the noise complaints from their condo had become so frequent that the couple was on the brink of eviction due to the severity of their arguments. The only thing that seemed to prevent this was that on March 28, Courtney told management her loud arguments were due to her recent diagnosis of borderline personality disorder and that she had just started treatment, so it would improve. Whether or not this was true, we can’t say.

On April 2, the day before the murder, Courtney kicked Toby out of the apartment, forcing him to sleep in the hallways and lobby of their building until she allowed him back in. Since she wasn’t paying him directly, but rather supporting him by providing for him, Toby didn’t have the means to get a hotel or find somewhere else to stay. At some point, she came downstairs, and Toby approached her, trying to talk. She pushed him, leading to the police being called to the condo.

Toby didn’t speak with the police, but Courtney did, claiming that Toby was the one who was violent toward her. She requested a restraining order, but the police explained she’d need to go to court for that. However, her insistence didn’t last long, as she let Toby back into the apartment that same night. By the afternoon of April 3, everything seemed normal between them—at least to her fans—because Courtney went live on Instagram for a Q&A session with her 1.9 million followers.

During the session, Courtney answered a question about where she saw herself in five years, saying she envisioned living with two kids, owning multiple houses. She even made a comment about the police, saying she didn’t think they always did their job, but she supported them. Then, just a few hours later, the police would indeed be doing their job, as Courtney was brought down to the station for questioning after the murder of her 27-year-old boyfriend—a boyfriend she had a documented history of domestic violence against.

Courtney, however, was allowed to go home the night Toby was murdered. She wasn’t under arrest yet, and it wasn’t until the following day, April 4, that Toby's family learned of his death—but not in the way they should have. Toby’s family hadn’t heard much from him since he started dating Courtney; he had become isolated and had grown apart from them. Unfortunately, this is common in domestically abusive relationships, so it wasn’t entirely surprising.

What was shocking, however, was how Toby's mother received the news. She got a call from the medical examiner, but rather than being informed of her son’s death, she was asked if she would like to donate his organs. That was how Toby’s family learned not only that he had died, but that he had been murdered.

Naturally, Toby’s family was desperate to learn what had happened, and when they finally did, they were furious. They couldn’t understand why Courtney had been allowed to walk away. They felt that, even if her story of self-defense were true, there would still be grounds for charges given the circumstances. But while police were digging into the text messages, reviewing video footage, and gathering eyewitness accounts, Courtney remained free. They were still piecing together the truth about her and Toby’s relationship.

In the meantime, Courtney returned to Texas. On June 16, 2022, the Travis County Sheriff’s Department responded to a call from an 18-year-old boy who reported a disturbing encounter. He said he had been walking in his neighborhood when a drunk woman approached him with her two dogs. She followed him home, made sexual advances, and, when he declined, began threatening to burn down his house. The boy’s father, hearing the commotion, came outside to intervene.

As it turned out, the woman was Courtney. When the father told her to leave, Courtney, still drunk, became explosive and slapped him in the face. He didn’t retaliate but instead called the police. Following this incident, Courtney was reportedly sent to a rehab center in Hawaii for substance abuse and PTSD.

Finally, on August 9, 2022, after gathering substantial evidence, police were ready. With the mountain of circumstantial evidence, the documented history of violence, and the medical examiner’s confirmation that the stab wound was inflicted intentionally at close range, police had enough to arrest Courtney on second-degree murder charges.

The following day, authorities in Hawaii took Courtney into custody, and she was then extradited back to Miami to await her trial. But she wasn’t the only one arrested for a crime connected to Toby's death—her parents were arrested too. It turns out Courtney's parents made a huge mistake in trying to help her after her arrest. When police no longer needed access to Toby's laptop, it was returned to the apartment. Courtney's dad, while cleaning out the Miami apartment for her, took Toby's laptop back to Texas.

In September, a month after Courtney's arrest, her parents and her lawyers seemed desperate to help her cover her tracks. They attempted to hack into Toby’s iCloud account to erase incriminating text messages. It’s unclear if they assumed police didn’t already have these messages, but they seemed intent on helping Courtney by deleting them. In one message, Courtney's mom texted the attorney, saying, "Will be sending the laptop pin ideas so we can try them before you see her again." A few days later, Courtney's lawyer responded with some possible suggestions, even advising, "I would try all together and mix some of the capitalization and see if we get lucky." The lawyer was essentially encouraging them to tamper with evidence.

On September 30, Courtney's mom texted the attorney, "Hell yeah, that pin worked." They had successfully accessed the computer. In January 2024, both of Courtney's parents were arrested for one count of unauthorized access of a computer system or electronic device. However, the charges were dropped in July 2024, after the parents argued they had shared access to the computer and Courtney’s authorization to use it.

Although her parents are now off the hook, Courtney, who is now 28, has been denied bail and remains behind bars awaiting her trial date. If Toby's story tells us anything, it’s that social media doesn’t always paint the full picture. And more importantly, it reminds us that men can be just as much victims of domestic violence as women. Thankfully, awareness is growing around this issue.

According to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, one in four men will experience domestic abuse at some point in their lives—a shocking statistic, often underreported. If you or someone you know needs help, you can contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-799-7233 or visit thehotline.org.

Remember, it’s always darkest before dawn. And that is the story of Christian Toby Obumseli. It’s heartbreaking—he put up with it for so long, and as he once asked, "Is this relationship going to kill me?" Tragically, it did.

Today, it’s not just celebrities who draw attention. Ordinary people can achieve fame through social media, which leads to a different level of public scrutiny. And as with anyone, they can turn out to be flawed, even dangerous. It’s a reminder to be cautious about parasocial relationships and idolizing people online.

Alright, everyone. I'll see you next time with another episode. I love it.

And I hate it.

Goodbye.

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