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.
Theme Music: Audio Network
Copyright: 2025 iHeartMedia, Inc. © Any use of this intellectual property for text and data mining or computational analysis including as training material for artificial intelligence systems is strictly prohibited without express written consent from iHeartMedia
In West Georgia, on the morning of February 20th, 2025, deputies with the Carroll County Sheriff's Office responded to the scene at 1531 Carolton Tyus Road. The 5-year-old daughter of James "Jamie" Brock and his wife, "Kristen Brock, discovered the bodies of her parents, both deceased, from apparent gunshot wounds. The 5-year-old told her sister, Sarah Grace Patrick, 16, and she called 911. Joseph Scott Morgan and Dave Mack discuss the scene of the crime and some of the "Red Flags" that began to fly in the days, weeks, and months that followed. The investigation of a double homicide in a small community in rural Georgia becomes an international affair with the teenage daughter/stepdaughter of the deceased begins asking for help on TikTok.
Transcript Highlights
00:00.32 Introduction - Babies
01:27.18 Teen accused of murder
05:18.49 Blended family
09:50.63 Evil visits everywhere
14:47.90 Did someone alter the scene?
20:13.45 Blood co-mingled
25:26.43 More than one weapon used?
29:56.79 Talk about son killing his family in his dad's dentist office
35:12.07 Sentencing meant to deterrent
40:02.92 Police mention possible future arrests
43:01.18 Brock's got really plugged into a church
45:03.87 conclusion
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The death of Jeffrey Epstein is back in the news and his brother, Mark Epstein, is on record saying he believes his brother was murdered.
The death of Jeffrey Epstein has been debated since the minute it was announced to the world. On this episode of Body Bags, Joseph Scott Morgan will share what it was like to be on the air with the news and notice "red flags" as certain parts of the death story didn't seem to be correct.
Joseph Scott Morgan and Dave Mack will break down the death of Jeffrey Epstein. Did Jeffrey Epstein commit suicide, or was he murdered?
Transcript Highlights
00:01:17 Joe hears story about where the meanest men in America live
00:04:47 Joseph Scott Morgan talks about covering Epstein death
00:08:23 Discuss first attack/suicide attempt
00:11:45 Talk about unusual circumstances
00:14:37 Discuss conflicting statements about noose
000:17:15 Talk about Epstein allowed unmonitored phone call
00:18:23 Discuss no cellmate to attack or stop suicide
00:20:33 Talk about two nooses in the cell
00:22:42 Discussion of cell condition and contents
00:25:49 Talk about July 23rd event
00:29:25 Discuss observing body at time of death
00:32:25 Talk about putting hospital gown on Epstein
00:34:03 Mark Epstein told his brother may have been dead 2 hours or more
00:37:40 Talk about Epstein body wheeled into hospital
00:40:34 Discussion of hyoid bone
00:42:05 Discuss facts of the body at time of death
00:44:24 Discuss agreement overturned regarding suicide
00:45:14 Talk about autopsy, who was present
00:47:00 Discuss distribution of force
00:48:16 Mentions that noose wasn't collected for evidence.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
909 people, including 267 children, died by suicide or were murdered by cyanide injection on November 18, 1978, at "The Peoples Temple Agricultural Project", better known by the unofficial name "Jonestown" after the leader of the group, Jim Jones. Joseph Scott Morgan and Dave Mack discuss the group, how they ended up in the jungle of Guyana, and how most of the men, women, and children, died. Professor Morgan explains how Dr. William Eckert described the "smell of death" a mile away and 2000 feet in the air in a helicopter as he was arriving at the facility, what took place in identifying the dead, the condition of the bodies that were exposed to the elements, and what it would have been like for the victims who "drank the kool-aid". Oddly enough, the phrase "drink the kool-aid", referring to people blindly following leadership regardless of the truth, isn't correct. The people of Jonestown did not drink "Kool-Aid". They drank a cheap, knock-off version of Kool-Aid called Flavor Aid.
Transcribe Highlights
00:01.72 Introduction - environment
01:42.95 Jonestown "Don't Drink the Kool-Aid"
05:16.89 Remembering the reporting of Jonestown Suicide
09:41.90 Describing bloated bodies
10:34.71 What is left of Jonestown
12:18.99 Jim Jones cultivated political relationships
16:25.53 Jonestown was very isolated
20:06.23 Flies would be all over the scene
25:28.77 Have to determine how people were killed
29:54.63 Rep Leo Ryan killed at airstrip 6 miles from Jonestown
34:47.87 Jim Jones was not a "man of the cloth"
39:20.62 Value of Dark Tourism
40:25.99 Conclusion
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Ryland Headley was 34-years-old when he raped and murdered 75-year-old Louisa Dunne in her home in Bristol (UK) on June 28, 1967. The biggest lead investigators had was to be found ‘lifted’ from the dusted powder of a window frame at the back of Louisa Dunne’s house and the residual trace of a palm print. It triggered the biggest finger and palm print operation in the history of the force. No suspect was found and the case went cold. Joseph Scott Morgan and Dave Mack discuss the rape/murder of 75-year-old Louisa Dunne, the evidence left behind, as well as similar attacks 10 years later and 212 miles away credited to the 'Ipswich Rapist', Ryland Headley. Joseph Scott Morgan explains how investigators careful collection of evidence in 1967 was used to convict 92-year-old Ryland Headley 58 years after the crime.
Transcript Highlights
00:00.43 Introduction - 1967 Cold Case
05:23.79 1967 unsolved murder - SOLVED 2025
09:43.05 Neighbor checks on Louisa Dune, 75
14:43.95 The icy fingers of death
19:24.99 Neighbor calls police after finding body
24:11.77 Scarf used to strangle victim
29:09.05 The Ipswich Rapist - 1977
34:15.57 Ipswich victims were 79 and 84
35:11.95 Ryland Headley sentenced to life, sentenced overturned, released in 1980
40:06.98 Evidence lost
44:12.49 Partial Palm Print from 1967
47:03.59 DNA from 1967 matched to Ryland Headley
Conclusion
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
AEA: Autoerotic Asphyxia—David Carradine gained fame on TV in the early 70s as Kung Fu. Michael Hutchence was the frontman for hitmaking rock group INXS.
Both men died doing the same thing: autoerotic asphyxia. Joseph Scott Morgan and Dave Mack discuss AEA as well as other public deaths by asphyxia, including the hanging of Jeffrey Epstein, the suicide of Robin Williams, and a story about the death of a man accused of being a witch during the Salem Witch Trials and how he died of asphyxia by "pressing."
Transcript Highlights
00:02.49 Introduction
00:39.43 "Blood Beneath My Feet"
04:48.20 Asphyxia by hanging
10:00.77 Suffocation - positional asphyxia
15:06.68 Compression of the neck
19:39.06 Hanging of Lewis Payne
24:40.59 Execution by "pressing"
30:12.40 Killed by hanging in public
35:11.67 Suspension Hanging vs Supported Hanging
39:15.66 Auto-Erotic Asphyxia
45:20.99 Strangle to point of death, and stopping, to cause more terror in victim
50:42.24 Conclusion
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Update on the decapitation of Baby Isaiah during his birth. Joseph Scott Morgan and Dave Mack discuss what happened and how the family is still having to fight for justice. The parents, Jessica Ross and Traveon Taylor Sr. have filed lawsuits against the hospital and the doctor but the first suit is about the damage done to the family by the doctor hired to do the autopsy of baby Isaiah, Dr. Jackson Gates. Dr. Gates posted pictures and video of the autopsy without the parents knowledge or permission and a jury awards the parents $2 million in damages.
Transcript Highlights
00:04.96 Introduction
00:48.33 Parental grief with loss of a child
04:45.27 Use of forceps during childbirth
06:37.45 The death of baby Isaiah
10:04.56 Explanation of child birth options
14:28.88 Doctor applied enough force to decapitate baby
20:30.53 Baby Isaiah head placed on body so it wouldn't fall off
25:19.76 Funeral home reported decapitation
30:06.68 Head removed during delivery
35:09.52 Paying for autopsy
39:42.33 Lawsuit filed when autopsy doctor placed images of autopsy on social media
44:59.93 Conclusion
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Joseph Scott Morgan and Dave Mack discuss the Manson family murders and the real injuries suffered by the victims, as well as beheadings carried out hundreds of years ago in an effort to explain the difference in the type of injuries created by all manner of weapons that can be used to stab, slice, carve, and disembowel. Professor Morgan explains the difference between the facts of a case and how injuries and weapons are shown in film and how difficult it is to determine the source of a sharp force injury.
Transcript Highlights
00:13.87 Introduction - Sharp Force Injuries
01:11.86 Description of a beheading
04:56.77 Sharp force injury
10:02.83 Executioner refusing to execute
14:59.68 Stabbing injuries
20:27.08 Studying the margin - edges of injury
24:48.30 Always look for the "winking eye"
29:58.47 Thorough autopsy - tongue comes out
35:03.25 First documented autopsy, Caesar
38:58.59 Manson family knife attacks, Sharon Tate
45:03.35 Manson Murders shown in movie shows fork bouncing up and down, ridiculous
46:2 9.07 Conclusion
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
A solid understanding of firearms and their function and purpose is essential to being a successful investigator. Failure to understand the things encountered in the street... there is no telling what kind of interpretation one will wind up making . Joseph Scott Morgan and Dave Mack look at the weapons used in the murders of Lincoln, JFK, and Oswald and Joe explains why It is important to be "studied up" when working in the field.
Transcript Highlights
00:00.07 Introduction
02:33.91 Brief History of firearms
06:08.03 $12 mail order gun supposedly killed JFK -- how do you figure it out
09:04.62 The Rifleman
15:48.72 The weapon used to kill Lincoln
20:12.47 Baseball bat favored by Dave
25:20.33 Never say gunshot wound on report in the field
30:25.58 JFK neck wound used for creating airway
35:14.95 The "Magic Bullet"
40:12.97 Oswald shooting injury
45:05.23 Projectile would have defect
49:28.41 Round traveling out of weapon
55:46.90 Conclusion
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Blunt Force Trauma and the trial of Karen Read in the death of her boyfriend, police officer John O'Keefe. Read was accused of hitting O'Keefe with her SUV in 2022 and leaving him to die in blizzard like conditions. Joseph Scott Morgan and Dave Mack discuss the case and how Blunt Force Trauma plays a critical part in the death of O'Keefe. Joe Scott also talks about a case involving the death of a woman confined to a wheelchair and requiring 24 hour care. At first glance her death seemed natural due to her medical conditions, but upon examination determined to be a homicide due to blunt for trauma. The woman had over 160 contusions on her body caused by a dryer belt.
Transcribe Highlights
00:00.03 Introduction - Blunt Force Trauma
04:21.19 Taking a hit from Jesse Tuggle
05:04.72 Motor Vehicle accidents, number one cause of blunt force trauma deaths in USA
10:11.73 Bleeding out due to blunt force trauma
15:45.67 Brain injuries
20:01.76 Abrasions caused by blunt force
25:17.35 Describing victim with 167 contusions
30:05.95 Looking for item that caused injury
35:06.97 O'Keefe injuries, Karen Read case
40:13.55 "Grading" Bruises - age of bruise
45:00.87 Bruise created by a bat
49:46.82 Conclusion
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Suzanne Morphew vanished on Mother's Day 2020. Her husband Barry Morphew was later charged with her murder, even though her body had not been found. Due to many issues, the judge dismissed the case one week before it went to trial and Barry Morphew walked out a free man. The judge dismissed the case "Without Prejudice" meaning the Morphew could be charged again at a "later date". That "later date" came when Barry Morphew was indicted by a grand jury charging him with Murder in the first-degree of his wife Suzanne Morphew. He was arrested in Arizona on Friday, June 20, 2025. Joseph Scott Morgan and Dave Mack discuss the case and why it was dropped the first time and why it is being brought again now. Professor Joseph Scott Morgan will explain the forensic evidence that is "the smoking gun" of the case.
Transcript Highlights
00:00.00 Introduction
00:49.42 Case of Suzanne Morphew
05:08.01 Mother's Day, Suzanne missing
09:47.15 Sasha Krause similar story
16:17.97 Barry Morphew hotel room smelled like bleach
20:26.86 Vigils, volunteers searching, Barry Morphew not helping much
25:13.43 Charges dropped, investigators believe they know where bones are but can't get to them
30:30.99 Suzanne remains found 45 miles from her home
35:05.68 Remains bleached, no maggots or other bugs feasting on her remains
39:59.83 Barry Morphew used BAM on deer
45:06.59 Conclusion
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Our TOPPODCAST Picks 
