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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Lizzie Borden took an axe, She gave her mother forty whacks. When she saw what she had done,
She gave her father forty-one. It is a gruesome school yard rhyme known by millions of people, but it is factually inaccurate. Joseph Scott Morgan and Dave Mack discuss the UNSOLVED Murder of Andrew and Abby Borden in August 1892. Lizzie Borden was arrested and charged in the double homicide and went on trial in June 1893. Many people have heard of the crime but very few know what really happened, including how the schoolyard rhyme is incorrect and how the prosecutor brought the skulls of Andrew and Abby Borden into court!
Transcribe Highlights
00:00.88 Introduction
03:06.17 Fall River, Mass
05:11.48 Skulls in court
11:08.63 Faces Lab at LSU
16:08.46 Andrew Borden, tightwad
20:04.96 Andrew killed Lizzie's pigeons
24:56.48 Head injuries were bad on both
30:55.64 Jury sees the skulls
34:47.96 Conclusion part 1
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Update on Tara Baker Homicide. Tara Baker was a law student at UGA when she was murdered on January 19, 2001. Her apartment was set on fire to cover-up the murder. It took nearly 10 years to get a death certificate and more than another 10 to arrest a suspect. Joseph Scott Morgan and Dave Mack discuss the case and why the trial of Edrick Lamont Faust, scheduled to begin in October, 2025, has been moved to January 2026.
Transcript Highlights
00:01.05 Introduction
02:34.58 Tara Baker, working and going to law school
05:01.75 Murders of Tara Baker and Laken Riley were less than 5 miles apart
10:08.02 Death Certificate is a "marker"
15:32.75 911 call was for an apartment fire
20:02.45 Firefighters have to be aware of their surroundings
24:56.80 Clothing might not burn - completely
29:56.47 Looking for what isn't destroyed by fire
33:17.54 Strap muscles in neck can indicate strangling
39:06.13 Fire used after the fact
43:42.43 Conclusion
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Emmanuel Haro is still missing.
His parents are both in jail and charged in his death. Joseph Scott Morgan and Dave Mack discuss the case as well as what Jake Haro did to his daughter when she was just 10-weeks-old.
Haro pleaded guilty and served 6-months in a work release program, but the 10-week-old is now seven and permanently bedridden because of the abuse inflicted by her father when she was an infant.
Transcribe Highlights
00:01.87 Introduction
02:07.37 Emmanuel Haro update
04:30.26 Rebecca Haro "black eye"
10:02.49 Looking back at 7-year-old daughter of Jake Haro
15:10.17 Soft-spot on the head of small child
20:14.87 Jake Haro beat 10-week-old daughter
25:08.74 Emmanuel Haro body not found
29:38.69 Placing child in trash very specific
33:10.04 Abuser may doctor shop
38:36.91 Police still searching for body
41:58.28 Conclusion
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In a mystery that has captured national attention, Washington father Travis Decker picked up his three young daughters on May 30 for a "planned visitation," and never came back. The three girls -- Paityn Decker, 9; Evelyn Decker, 8; and Olivia Decker, 5 -- were found dead near a Washington state campground on June 2. Joseph Scott Morgan and Dave Mack discuss the case that has one of the most shocking crime scenes of all time. Professor Morgan explains the forensic evidence left behind inside the bags and the bloody handprint on the truck. As of today, Travis Decker is still on the run, the lone suspect in the murder of his three little girls. Officials say anyone who sees Decker or knows of his whereabouts should call 911.
Transcribe Highlights
00:00.88 Introduction
02:06.17 The Murder of the Decker Sisters
05:11.48 Decker picked up his girls for visitation
10:08.63 Help is a two-way street
15:08.46 Search for Decker began June 2nd
20:04.96 Bloody handprint on tailgate of truck
24:56.48 Bags don't breathe
30:55.64 Passive Homicide
34:47.96 Decker has a decent level of training
40:04.66 Decker DNA found on the bags
45:24.15 Eric Robert Rudolph
49:27.37 Conclusion
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The recent release of police bodycam footage from Moscow, Idaho and the interview with Dylan Mortensen answers a lot of questions for those who have followed the case. Joseph Scott Morgan and Dave Mack discuss the latest information on the case including the FBI doing something they publicly said they would never do, and how Othram helped put the monster away for the rest of his life.
Transcribe Highlights
00:00.05 Introduction
01:12.31 Show recorded on August 22, 2025
02:05.82 Discussion about DNA
05:01.99 Kohberger drove around house multiple times
09:51.40 Relating to the families involved
15:06.47 Scream "someone" is in house, mistakes Xana for Kaylee
20:00.77 Sounds made on staircase
25:13.04 DNA Scientist
30:09.48 FBI inserts the agency into the case
35:28.67 Genetic Genealogy is a game changer
42:01.94 Conclusion
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August 12, 2025, Los Angeles Investigators take a missing person report for 33-year-old wife and mother, Sheylla Cabrera. The next day Detectives locate security footage showing Sheylla's husband, Jossimar Cabrera, dragging a "large object" wrapped in material from their apartment complex. Sheylla's body is found the day after she is reported missing wrapped in a sheet/blanket and tossed down an embankment in the Angeles National Forest. When police try to meet with Jossimar Cabrera to notify him they found his wife, deceased, they discover he has packed up their three children and headed for Peru. Joseph Scott Morgan and Dave Mack discuss the case and what type of evidence investigators will find inside the wrapping around the deceased mother of three, their now empty apartment and what type of digital forensic evidence might come into play.
Transcribe Highlights
00:00.00 Introduction - Sheylla Cabrera
03:33.49 Los Angeles County is huge
05:16.89 TMZ: Thirty Mile Zone
09:30.53 Suspect possibly caught dragging wife in a bag
10:37.54 Dave Talks about Movie he was in where he drug a body
14:31.19 Dead body is really "dead weight"
19:05.83 Body of Sheylla found one day after being reported missing
23:40.11 Cabrera flees before body found
28:50.65 Sheylla filed dv charge in Peru
34:10.07 Sheet will have evidence
38:17.06 Isolated in LA
39:57.35 Conclusion
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Martha Nolan O'Slattarra is a business woman on the rise in the fashion world who turns up dead on a yacht in one of the richest places in the USA, Montauk in the Hamptons, New York. Joseph Scott Morgan and Dave Mack discuss the case and what is known as of this taping but with an update coming when final toxicology results are available.
Transcribe Highlights
00:00.00 Introduction
01:17.03 The song is Ripple by the Dead
04:03.73 Woman found dead on yacht
09:08.94 Finder on dock nude
14:49.84 Without obvious injury, what do you look at first?
20:43.73 Finder invested in Martha Nolan
25:34.83 The only source for info is naked guy
30:00.31 People don't snort drugs from a seat
35:11.76 Chris Durnan bit firefighter
40:24.01 Multiple agencies working the case
42:01.53 Conclusion
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Forensic Odontology is much more than just "bite mark" evidence. It is an incredible science that helps identify people and provide answers to families. That said, most people hear Forensic Odontology think "Bite Mark". "Bite Mark" evidence has been used in many criminal cases over several decades, until science started showing it might not be as conclusive as once thought. Joseph Scott Morgan and Dave Mack talk about Ted Bundy leaving a bite mark on Lisa Levy's buttocks that later served to help convict and sentence him to death as well as other crimes solved and people sentenced to death using "bite mark" evidence that turned out to be something other than a bite mark.
Transcribe Highlights
00:03.55 Introduction
00:50.52 Forensic Odontologist
04:31.54 Wear pattern of teeth
09:01.90 Did Kohberger study forensic odontology
14:02.90 Teeth biting sadists
20:09.39 Identifying people in a plane crash 1982
24:52.28 using saw to pop the roof of the mouth and remove teeth
30:11.52 Biting an apple
34:23.79 Girl stolen from home while mom folds clothes
39:13.61 Bite marks as a science
44:24.65 Bite mark out of a hickey
46:17.22 Conclusion
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Joseph Scott Morgan gives a master class on Crime Scene Body Examination and Assessment. Professor Morgan offers insight from being on the scene and what is truly important and what needs to be done to insure justice prevails for the person who can no longer speak for themselves. Joseph Scott Morgan and Dave Mack also discuss the shocking truth of what happened at the scene of two of the most high profile crimes of the last 50 years; Trayvon Martin and Jodi Arias victim, Travis Alexander.
Transcribe Highlights
00:00.84 Introduction - Crime Scene
03:10.57 There is only one first time
05:39.41 Every site, every time
09:57.20 Different levels of comfort
15:07.57 First thing, make sure person is dead
19:37.93 Cold from a dead body
25:08.37 Suicide victim wasn't dead
30:31.89 Homicide detectives moving up
35:23.28 Everyone is watching
40:06.88 Want to transport body as if it were still at the scene
45:15.73 Trayvon Martin Autopsy report
50:07.39 Body needs to be examined at scene
52:15.60 Conclusion
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Human remains were found scattered on a Georgia Hunting club property in November 2022. The remains were found in a three-mile area covering two counties, and investigators reached out to the public for help.
Joseph Scott Morgan and Dave Mack discuss the case that was investigated by multiple agencies, including the GBI and the FBI. They explain how the agencies came to identify the scattered remains as those of Mindi Mebane Kassotis, the wife of Nicholas Kassotis a former member of the Navy's Judge Advocate General Corps (JAG).
Kassotis is on trial right now for several charges, including murder and removal of body parts from the scene of death or dismemberment.
Transcribe Highlights
00:00.00 Introduction
03:33.49 No sympathy for those who should know better
04:59.21 Body Parts found in hunting club
09:30.53 Jeffrey MacDonald Article 32 Hearing
15:11.73 Sketch Image of victim was amazing
20:10.93 DNA is great if you have a sample in the system
24:58.72 Genetic genealogy
30:52.17 Tissue on skeleton
35:27.14 Dismemberment
39:22.78 May never know how she was killed
41:12.21 Conclusion
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