# Prosecutors Cracked Mackenzie Shirilla’s Prison Code — What Was Her Family Hiding?

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/hidden-killers-live-daily-true-crime-news-breakdowns-5650841/prosecutors-cracked-mackenzie-shirilla-s-prison-code-what-was-her-family-hiding
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/hidden-killers-live-daily-true-crime-news-breakdowns-5650841/prosecutors-cracked-mackenzie-shirilla-s-prison-code-what-was-her-family-hiding.md
Podcast: [Hidden Killers Live! Daily True Crime News & Breakdowns](https://stenobird.com/podcast/hidden-killers-live-daily-true-crime-news-breakdowns-5650841)
Published: 2026-06-27T13:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://audioboom.com/posts/8920872
Audio file: https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/audioboom.com/posts/8920872.mp3?modified=1782400054&sid=5078367&source=rss
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/hidden-killers-live-daily-true-crime-news-breakdowns-5650841/episodes/prosecutors-cracked-mackenzie-shirilla-s-prison-code-what-was-her-family-hiding
Duration seconds: 3270

## Resource

Prosecutors cracked the code. Mackenzie Shirilla and her mother Natalie built a fabricated language to communicate on monitored prison lines without being understood. In one decoded conversation, Mackenzie asked her mother to do something that tells you exactly who is directing this family’s post-conviction strategy. In another, Natalie told her daughter that rehabilitation is for “actual criminals.” She called the Russo family “evil.” She encouraged Mackenzie to write a book. Steve Shirilla appeared in the Netflix documentary, said on camera he was fine with his daughter’s substance use while employed at a Catholic school, and subsequently lost his teaching position. A fellow inmate described Mackenzie as showing no remorse and compared her to Regina George. Thirty-six conduct violations. Guilty on thirty-two. No engagement with programming. The Ohio Supreme Court declined the appeal. Parole eligibility begins in 2037. The question this episode answers: what does a parole board do with a family like this? What does the coded language tell investigators about Mackenzie’s mindset? And what did she actually ask Natalie to do on that decoded call? A look back at the most compelling stories of the week. Join Our SubStack For AD-FREE ADVANCE EPISODES & EXTRAS!: https://hiddenkillers.substack.com/ Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video? Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8-vxmbhTxxG10sO1izODJg?sub_confirmation=1 Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/ Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod X Twitter https://x.com/TrueCrimePod This publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent unti…

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