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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Herb Baumeister lived more than just a “double life."
On this episode of "Body Bags," Joseph Scott Morgan explains how it is possible that Baumeister had over 10,000 remains on his million-dollar estate, and Dave Mack dives into the background of the married, father and businessman who owned two Save-a-lot stores in Indianapolis.
Baumeister, who took his own life in 1996, is suspected of enticing gay men to his home, where he killed them and disposed of their bodies at the rear of his property.
Investigators suspected that Baumeister, a married father of three at the time who frequented gay bars, enticed unsuspecting men to his property to murder them. By 1999, investigators connected him to the disappearance of at least 16 men since 1980.
Some of the victims’ bodies were discovered discarded in shallow streams in rural central Indiana and western Ohio
For 30 years, investigators have been working to identify thousands of human remains, will they ever know the truth about how many people Herb Baumeister murdered?
Transcript Highlights
00:00:13 Introduction of serial killer graveyard
00:04:40 Discuss killer double life, wife claims she didn’t know anything
00:08:28 Talk about trying to identify bone from other items
00:12:26 Discussion of Forensic anthropologists
00:17:35 Discussion of hiding secrets from family
00:20:48 Talk about serial killer obsession with dead animals
00:24:24 Discussion of the depth of depravity
00:28:08 Discussion of skeletonized body on the property
00:31:49 Talk about trying to render body down to ash
00:36:36 Discussion of method of destruction after burning
00:40:22 Discussion of other serial killers
00:44:12 Talk about the size of the property
00:44:34 Conclusion
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Why did police serve another search warrant at the home of Rex Heuermann? Remember, his wife and children still live in the house. After his original arrest and the search warrants were served, pictures appeared in the press showing the damage done as the home was stripped. What did they miss? Why did they bring out the ME? On this episode of Body Bags Joseph Scott Morgan will take you into the house and what the ME might be looking for as well as the crime scenes and what has been found. Dave Mack will explain the “To-Do” list and go over the electronics Heuermann has been keeping for decades.
Transcript Highlights
00:00:00 Introduction: Bernice Worden last victim of Ed Gein
00:02:20 Discussion of Gilgo document release
00:06:54 Talk about being on a jury
00:09:44 Discussion – warning about content of episode
00:13:55 Discussion of why go back with another search warrant?
00:19:05 Talk about Rex Heuermann and the list he created
00:23:11 Discussion of Heuermann electronics
00:27:02 Discussion of Rex Heuermann planning note began in 2000
00:30:59 Talk about violent, sexual torture
00:34:17 Discussion of going to a scene, police don’t know what they have
00:38:35 Talk about mutilated body a few miles from home
00:42:15 Talk about access to material was different in the 1990s
00:42:50 Conclusion, why they called the ME out to the scene
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In 1985 a skull and partial remains are found in a plastic bag near Channel Islands Harbor in Oxnard, California. Thinking the remains are from a recent victim, investigators work to solve what they think is a murder. Failing to identify the victim, the case goes cold. On this episode of Body Bags, Joseph Scott Morgan will explain how the scientists at Othram Labs developed a DNA extract from the evidence and were able to identify “Ventura County Jane Doe "as the victim of a grave robbing that happened after her death in 1915. Joseph Scott Morgan and Dave Mack will share the story of Gertrude Elliot-Littlehale, a woman born in 1864 and the amazing life she lived well before she became the unidentified “cold case” of “Ventura County Jane Doe”. Othram Labs is helping solve cases that seem unsolvable with the help of everyday people willing to make a small donation at DNASOLVES.COM Please take a moment of your time and visit DNASOLVES.COM and see how you can help solve a case.
Transcript Highlights
00:00:08 Introduction of Ventura County Jane Doe
00:03:44 Discussion of Skull found in a bag in 1985
00:07:19 Talk about history and DNA
00:11:58 Discussion identifying bodies
00:15:13 Talk about going from 1985 back to 1864
00:20:49 Discussion of dogs and old bones
00:24:14 Discussion of forensic anthropologist
00:29:04 Discussion of “suture lines”
00:33:03 Talk about solving crimes with DNA
00:38:20 Discussion of building a family tree
00:42:12 Discussion of “Gertie” and her life
00:46:50 Talk about Othram Labs
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Imagine waking up inside a body bag, declared dead and transported to a funeral home, where you find yourself short of breath, BUT STILL BREATHING! In this episode of Body Bags with Joseph Scott Morgan we will explore something that is happening far more often than you think, people being declared dead, who wake up on a table in a funeral home! And how to make sure you are not Buried Alive!
Transcript Highlights
00:00:08 Introduction: worst nightmare come true
00:03:02 Discussion being buried alive
00:07:28 Talk about funeral homes
00:11:49 Discussion of hospice care nursing
00:16:29 Discussion of soldier Battle of the Bulge
00:20:24 Talk about forensic pathology
00:24:46 Discussion of dead body, signs of death
00:28:30 Discussion of death investigation
00:31:34 Talk about people declared dead, waking up in funeral home
00:34:16 Discussion of death and declaring someone dead
00:38:04 Conclusion: cautionary tale, death investigation is important
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The victims of the Long Island Serial Killer have been known in the media as the “Gilgo 4”, but now that Rex Heuermann has been charged with two more murders the media will have to change the name to the “Gilgo 6”. Rex Heuermann is an architect by trade, someone who can create and use blueprints. Investigators found a Serial Killer Blueprint on Heuermann’s computer. On this episode of Body Bags, Joseph Scott Morgan will explain how DNA evidence and hair might be enough to put away Rex Heuermann for good, and Dave Mack will explore some of the items found on Heuermann’s computer. From disturbing images of abuse and porn, to lists of supplies for torture, investigators found a goldmine during a recent search of Heuermann’s home.
Transcript Highlights
00:00:08 Introduction of Gilgo details
00:02:09 Discuss Rex Heuermann two new murder charges
00:07:19 Discussion of Data from a forensic standpoint
00:12:01 Talk about seeing the dumping ground and home of Heuermann
00:16:58 Discussion of more bodies found along Gilgo
00:21:18 Discussion of area, easy to be seen
00:25:25 Discussion of the court documents, new information
00:29:37 Talk about changes in DNA science since early 90s
00:33:36 Discussion of skin and injury
00:37:05 Conclusion – more bodies
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They called themselves the "Gilbert Goons", a group of teens that were suspected of assaults at parties and parking lots, as well as armed robberies. Defended by their parents, the teens' reign of violence culminated with the fatal beating of 16-year-old Preston Lord. Preston was at a Halloween Party with friends when one of the "Gilbert Goons" stole a cheap necklace from a friend of Preston Lord. On this episode of Body Bags, Joseph Scott Morgan and Dave Mack will tell the story of how a town in Arizona was terrorized by a group of entitled teens who were defended by their entitled parents for years until they almost got away with murder.
Transcript Highlights
00:00:08 Introduction: Group Think
00:03:56 Discussion of group of teens in Gilbert, Arizona
00:07:22 Discussion of Gilbert Goons videotaping the beating
00:11:15 Talk about the assaults attributed to the teens in Gilbert
00:16:09 Discussion of how the beating of Preston Lord continued
00:21:07 Discussion of a bully
00:25:45 Talk about parents joking about the beating
00:30:19 Discussion of severe blunt force trauma
00:33:52 Discussion of shoe imprint on the body of victim
00:38:02 Conclusion: judgement is coming.
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Chrystul Kizer is 17 when she is arrested for the first-degree murder of Randy Volar. The question that will be answered through investigation and the court system is whether or not Chrystul Kizer killed an innocent man, or did she kill a man who was sexually abusing her and other underage girls. On this episode of Body Bags, Joseph Scott Morgan and Dave Mack will breakdown the case and take an in-depth look at what story the forensics tell and what information a judge will have to consider in sentencing a teen who saw murder as her only way to live.
Transcript Highlights
00:00:17 Introduction: growing up
00:02:18 Discussion of Chrystul Kizer, 17, abuse victim
00:06:52 Talk about fire debris and dead body
00:09:57 Discussion of heat causing teeth to shatter
00:13:15 Discussion of destruction of a person
00:17:05 Discussion of multiple victims
00:21:47 Talk about laws regarding sexual abuse
00:25:54 Discussion of electronic forensics
00:29:01 Talk about Chrystul Kizer trying to survive
00:33:04 Discussion of damage 2 shots to the head can cause
00:38:11 Discussion of stippling
00:41:43 Talk about victim escaping in BMW
00:44:27 Discussion of plea deal offered
00:45:18 Conclusion – sentence coming in August
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Georgia authorities find three victims tortured and murdered in Clayton County and taken to Fulton County. They were found in an abandoned car along I-85 at an exit ramp in Union City, Georgia on January 13, 2013. On this episode of Body Bags, Joseph Scott Morgan will take you into the investigation that determined the victims were tortured and murdered and Dave Mack will go into the back story on how the case remained cold for 11-years until forensics led investigators to a Middle School Assistant Principal in Alabama and 3 other suspects.
Transcript Highlights
00:00:08 Introduction – Position of authority
00:02:36 Talk about Assistant Principal arrested in cold-case triple murder
00:08:06 Discussion -11 years after 3 dead bodies found in a car, a break in the case
00:11:54 Discussion - victims found in Atlanta from Montgomery, Alabama
00:17:02 Talk about suspect was assistant principal at a middle school
00:20:51Discussion of multiple jurisdictions working on a case
00:24:23 Talk about medical examiners
00:27:40 Discussion of multiple suspects
00:30:03 Discussion of asphyxiation
00:31:14 Conclusion, what did the bodies say?
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The National Institutes of Health, comparing a medical examiner and coroner, states that Coroners are elected lay people who often do not have professional training, whereas medical examiners are appointed and have board certification in a medical specialty.
All of this is true.
On this episode of "Body Bags with Joseph Scott Morgan," Joe will take you back in history to a time when the person who finds the dead body in their yard has to gather a posse and solve the murder mystery or be stuck with paying taxes!!
The coroner system has a long history, some funny stories, some strange people, and a few mysteries to unpack.
Transcript Highlights
00:22.56. Introduction of studying the dead.
03:04.63 Discussion most people don’t die from bullet wounds
06:01.87 Talk about forensics
11:38.68 History of “Normans”
17:44.17 Discussion of power of Coroners
22:25.90 Discussion of Coroners Jury
26:18.76 Discussion of authority of coroner
31:00.67 Discussion of scientific people in coroner system
32:05.27 Talk about who backs up the coroner
37:48.5 Discussion of medical examiner state vs coroner state
42:49.50 Conclusion
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Grace Millane is in New Zealand when she meets Jesse Kempson on Tinder. Grace is on a Gap Year trip that has taken her to South America and now she is in Auckland, New Zealand where she is camping and hiking and meeting new people. Connecting on Tinder, Grace meets Kempson for dinner and drinks, most of their evening captured by CCTV. They arrive back at Kempson's hotel and we see them get on and off the elevator. It is the evening of December 1 and Grace turns 22-years-old on December 2nd. On this episode of Body Bags with Joseph Scott Morgan, Joe will breakdown what happened to Grace inside the hotel room and what Jesse Kempson did in the aftermath of the gruesome murder. And Dave Mack will try and make sense of the timeline when, even now, we don't know if Grace made it to her 22nd birthday.
Transcript Highlights
00:00:18 Introduction of Grace Millane, gap year vacation
00:04:27 Discussion of Tinder date timeline
00:09:15 Discussion murderer goes on another Tinder date
00:13:56 Talk about targeting victim, asphyxia
00:18:33 Discussion of Gap Year
00:23:46 Discussion of date captured on video
00:28:17 Talk about murderer covering up the crime
00:33:03 Discussion of destroying the victim
00:36:31 Discussion of killing someone with hands around neck
00:40:13 Talk about the sexual assault
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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