Stay ConnectedJoin Joseph Scott Morgan every week as he explores a world that not many have had a chance to visit, the realm of death. Jo Scott will lead listeners on a journey through the blood soaked death scenes of America and then into the autopsy room to fully understand the science behind each case. Jo Scott is one America’s leading experts on applied forensics and is regularly featured on ‘Crime Stories with Nancy Grace’, ‘The Piketon Massacre’, Court TV and more.
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On September 13, 1964, Catherine Blackburn is - bludgeoned, raped, and tortured. A crime so heinous the local coroner said "We're dealing with a sadistic sex maniac." Joseph Scott Morgan and Dave Mack look at a murder that happened in 1964 and when unsolved until 2025. Joe explains the injuries that include: fractured skull, stab wound in her neck, slashed throat, and heated steak knives on a gas stove used to burn "shapes into her lips and chest". Catherine Blackburn bled to death, and her case went unsolved for more than 60 years.
Transcribe Highlights
00:01.55 Introduction
03:34.72 Exhumation - Tammy Daybell
08:17.05 Monster waiting around the corner
13:23.15 Coroner said whoever did this was a "sadistic sex maniac"
18:21.88 Mutiple areas of hemorrhage
23:40.19 Victim was targeted
28:41.02 Underlying impression of a name became a lead
33:01.64 Forensic detective got into the case in 2018
39:94.96 Exhuming the body of a suspect
43:30.97 Burglars going into private areas
48:36.67 Case Solved, Conclusion
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Does Houston have a Serial Killer dumping bodies in the bayous of Harris County Texas? The reason the headline is being tossed about is because of the number of bodies being pulled from the bayous over the last three years is now at 53 - and there will be more by the end of the year. Joseph Scott Morgan and Dave Mack break down the facts of the dead bodies and answer the question...Is a Serial Killer dumping bodies in the Bayous of Houston?
Transcribe Highlights
00:00.11 Introduction: Fondest childhood memory, cane pole and a worm
02:43.94 Bodies in the water around Houston
05:30.16 Bayou water is moving
10:06.47 Real numbers
15:02.50 Undetermined manner of death
20:03.37 Looking for patterns
25:10.00 Homeless woman dies, body decomposes between two guys over 6 months
30:35.77 Lady Bird Lake deaths in Austin
35:04.01 Truth needs to have a day
40:02.15 Theory of "Smiley Face Killers"
45:22.95 Conclusion
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He was the first to use PCR testing on crime-scene DNA, inspiring a practice that has freed thousands of wrongfully convicted people.
Edward T. Blake passed away due to pancreatic cancer at the age of 80. He is credited with being THE forensic expert that sparked the Innocence Movement, using PCR to help set wrongfully convicted people free.
Joseph Scott Morgan and Dave Mack go behind the scenes of the life of Forensic Scientist Edward T. Blake and explore how the technology he helped develop showed up on the big screen as Jurassic Park but showed up in courtrooms across the country as a way to prove a convicted person innocent of the crime as charged.
Transcribe Highlights
00:00.03 Introduction
02:12.96 Edward Blake has died, led to exoneration of more than 50 people
06:26.42 Peter Neufeld calls Edward Blake the Ted Williams of DNA
09:53.90 What is a "forensic prostitute"
15:16.69 using fragmented DNA
20:08.12 DNA Replication and Jurassic Park
25:08.04 Blake was a problem solver
30:12.93 Work as a forensic scientist
35:07.77 Testing methodology
40:01.81 Blake set the standard
42:07.71 Conclusion
D
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The fake photos, false claims and wild conspiracy theories swirling around the murder of Charlie Kirk are nothing more than click bait for people trying to build a following on the death of a man who wanted to engage in a truthful discussion of our differences in an attempt to find common ground. Joseph Scott Morgan and Dave Mack take a close look at what is really happening in the discussion about the murder of Charlie Kirk. Why does Joe call it a murder investigation? Who is really in charge of the investigation? Why are some people so ready to embrace unfounded, made up stories, while ignoring the facts of what actually took place when Charlie Kirk was murdered in front of the world?
Transcribe Highlights
00:00.03 Introduction
01:32.62 The Death of Charlie Kirk
05:06.05 Murder of Assassination
09:57.63 Prosecutor press conference
14:25.00 Solving a murder, not a political event
19:02.29 Claims about autopsy
24:28.32 APs and Laterals
29:35.10 Autopsy would take place at a specific time
34:17.85 Discussion of ammunition size and speed
39:11.01 ATF might be consulting the case
43:03.48 Candace Owens "claims" of "inside info"
48:08.91 Murder Investigation
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He is called "The Butcher of Plainfield" "Grandfather of Gore "The Ghoul of Plainfield" and has been a source of inspiration of countless movies that take a small truth about the life of Ed Gein and spin an entire book or movie series designed to scare those who dare read or watch. Joseph Scott Morgan and Dave Mack go behind the stories and tell the true story of a man who admitted to killing two women in the 50s but is suspected of so much more.
Transcribe Highlight
00:02.83 Introduction
02:11.40 Conversation about Ed Gein
05:02.30 Scary movies using parts of Ed Gein story
10:09.05 Grave Robbing
15:08.53 Body exam done in a mortuary
20:13.24 Deputy sent to Ed Gein's house, finds decapitated victim
25:24.90 Gein admitted killing two women - did he practice on the dead?
30:09.33 Waste basket made of human skin, skulls mounted on bedposts
35:10.80 Gein made belt out of nipples
40:23.39 Movies using parts of Ed Gein story
42:03.25 Conclusion
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Franz and Theresia Kraus are a retired couple. In 2025 he is 92 and she is 83. The problem is that nobody has seen them in several years. Their social security checks are automatically deposited and their adult son, Lorenz Kraus, tends to other matters for them. After years of attempting to contact the couple without success, the social security office asks police to do a "welfare check" on Franz and Theresia Kraus. Joseph Scott Morgan and Dave Mack take a look at what happened when police do the welfare check and how their "loving son" Lorenz Kraus ends up on local tv confessing to killing his parents and burying their bodies in the backyard.
Transcribe Highlights
00:00.11 Introduction
01:16.21 Man buries mom and dad in backyard
04:36.12 Mountain Family Comes to big city to transport body of their loved one on a flatbed truck
08:59.11 News Anchor gets son to admit murder during interview
14:37.45 Early Luminol story
20:10.37 Body decomposing in soil will cause sinking
25:11.76 Newsman interviews murderer
30:14.33 Suffocated father
34:31.88 Admits killing in 2017
40:13.36 Skeletal remains can breakdown
44:27.65 Conclusion
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Christa Pike killed a classmate in Job Corps, carved a pentagram in her chest with a box cutter, kept a piece of crushed skull as a trophy, and showed it to friends.
Sentenced to death for the January 1995 murder, she finally gets her date with death, but it is still another year away!
On January 12, 1995, Colleen Slemmer, 19, was lured to her death by Christa Pike, Tadaryl Shipp, and Shadolla Pederson. Pike believed Colleen was trying to steal her boyfriend, Tadaryl Shipp. Colleen's friends say she was not involved with Shipp. J
oseph Scott Morgan and Dave Mack look at the beating that brought about Colleen's death. And how Christa Pike saved a piece of Colleen's skull as a trophy she shows to other members of Job Corps. Shadolla Pederson turned informant and got probation.
Tadaryl Shipp was sentenced to life but comes up for parole this month. Christa Pike was sentenced to death, and the date of her execution has been set for September 2026.
Transcribe Highlights
00:03.86 Introduction
03:29.97 What Christa Pike did in killing Colleen
08:31.69 Must be death penalty qualified
13:02.52 Job Corps
18:02.64 Christa Pike lured Colleen
23:32.31 Brain coming out of skull
27:37.26 Moving skin around skull
31:37.68 Long cut down Colleen's back
36:29.24 Colleen endured great pain during beating
41:07.05 Crime solved within 36 hours
44:26.51 Conclusion
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Kirby Carpenter was a 36-year-old entrepreneur dealing in gold, silver, and coins. He was known to carry large sums of cash at all times, was found dead on December 2, 2022. Authorities believe he was murdered with a shotgun or a firearm that fires shotgun-style shells on November 30, shortly after returning home from a grocery trip. Joseph Scott Morgan and Dave Mack break down the case behind the murder and the trial that has just ended.
Transcribe Highlights
00:05.83 Introduction
03:23.12 Sounds like "movie of the week"
05:00.85 Spence steals horse "Goliath"
09:59.19 Murdered by gun that fires "shotgun like" shells
14:43.31 Different guns for different hunting
20:12.78 Multiple bullet holes using shotgun
25:09.84 Drag marks lead to shooting location
30:07.44 If a robbery, body wouldn't have been moved
35:02.15 $2,000 in cash in a pocket
40:04.25 Caitlin is the one who "found" Kirby
45:36.01 SHOCKING MISTRIAL!
Conclusion
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The remains of an unknown female were discovered in a well shaft in Saskatoon's Sutherland neighborhood in 2006. Now, almost 20 years later, she has been identified as a woman born in 1881! Joseph Scott Morgan and Dave Mack go behind the shocking find and discover who the woman was and how she was murdered! Alice Spence (nee Burke), a woman of Irish ancestry who was about 35 years old at the time of her death, sometime between 1916 and 1918. Saskatoon and Toronto Police Services Team with Othram to Identify Canada's "Woman in the Well". Check out DNASolves.com
Transcribe Highlights
00:08.72 Introduction -History
03:17.40 Ben Franklin's bathroom
05:20.03 Human remains in burlap bag, placed in a barrel, found in a well
10:01.36 Murderer did good job hiding body
15:30.58 Forensic anthropologist at work
20:25.39 Joe Loves the Saints
25:05.77 Atl, body stashed down manhole
30:12.75 Hyoid bone could still be intact
35:20.77 Gilgo, burlap sacks used
40:14.48 Othram is changing lives
45:12.44 Body finally identified with trauma from murder
47:03.89 Conclusion
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After hitting Kjersten Strang on her Ebike with such force her body lands wedged in the windshield of his Nissan Altima, Xavier Rigby, 22, continues driving with the single mom embedded in his windshield.
Finally, after eight blocks, her body dislodges from the windshield and lands on the ground, but Rigby doesn't stop, he keeps driving.
He is captured a mile away at a closed liquor store!
Joseph Scott Morgan and Dave Mack take a look at the vehicle vs bicycle story and Joe explains how investigators will determine what happened and where, even when the crime scene is 8 blocks long.
Transcribe Highlights
00:02.52 Introduction
00:31.09 Learning to drive
04:20.61 Kjersten Strang hit riding bike, lands in windshield
09:25.84 Driver continues driving
13:59.45 Accident investigation course
18:18.40 Car hit rear tire of bike
22:56.58 Looking for pieces of body
27:03.60 Suicide by vehicle
31:31.94 Pimp hit by cab
35:39.82 Fatal Vehicle vs Bicycle crash
39:47.92 Woman has armed ripped off body
41:35.31 Conclusion
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