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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AUTOPSY REPORT WILL NOT BE RELEASED. On this episode of Body Bags, Joseph Scott Morgan will explain what happened to Madeline Soto and Dave Mack will dig into the back story of the entire family. You will find out by the time she reached 13-years-old, Madeline Soto had already been sexually abused for years. When she was a “missing 13-year-old" from Florida, the news covered every tidbit of information about the search for the teen. One piece of evidence that made it to the press was how Madeline Soto told a friend when she turned 13, she was going to live in the woods. That is why police searched the woods for Madeline.
Transcript Highlights
00:00:28 Introduction, talk about parents protecting children
00:04:28 Talk about Madeline Soto saying she wanted to live in the woods
00:05:31 Discussion of ages 12 and 13
00:09:04 Discussion of Madeline not taking cell phone
00:12:29 Talk about family being told about evidence
00:16:42 Discussion of time children go to school
00:20:07 Discussion of Madeline Soto seen in vehicle
00:21:49 Talk about being haunted by evidence
00:26:26 Discussion of Madeline Soto
00:30:26 Talk about video surveillance of suspect
00:33:22 Discussion of 60 charges against suspect
00:37:32 Discussion of evidence of previous abuse
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The fire department shows up at the home of one of their own and find Melissa Lamesch unconscious on the kitchen floor as her home goes up in flames around her. She is on maternity leave from her job as an EMT and is expecting her baby to be born any day. Melissa Lamesch and her unborn baby die in what authorities believe is asphyxiation from the fire. On this episode of Body Bags, Joseph Scott Morgan and Dave Mack will breakdown how trying to burn evidence of a crime, oftentimes creates the evidence needed for conviction.
Transcript Highlights
00:00:08 Introduction of fire set to cover-up a murder
00:01:18 Talk about fire and smoke
00:03:10 Discussion of smoke as evidence
00:05:05 Discussion of woman, 9 months pregnant, dying in a fire
00:08:35 Talk about how healing takes place after being burned
00:11:26 Discussion of hair catching fire in bathroom
00:14:43 Victim is on maternity leave from job as EMT
00:18:53 Discussion of the mother and her baby
00:22:53 Discussion of monoxide
00:28:01 Talk about suffocation
00:33:33 Discussion of fire splash patterns
00:36:55 Talk about the family talking to officials after the fire
00:40:46 Discussion of dealing with the death of pregnant mother
00:43:10 Conclusion, Matthew Plote convicted for Murder
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Deborah Frazier calls 911 and tells them two burglars have shot her boyfriend, and as she is on the phone, a gunshot is heard and Frazier tells the dispatcher she has been shot in the leg by one of the burglars.
Police arrive and discover the first person shot, Mr. Thomas Waddell, is in the back room of his apartment, wrapped in a blanket and a garbage bag and secured with duct tape.
On this episode of Body Bags Joseph Scott Morgan will explain all of the things police will have to believe for Deborah Frazier's story to be true and Dave Mack will explain how Frazier was using a second boyfriend to con Mr Waddell out of his life savings!
Transcript Highlights
00:00:42 Talk about everything that has to be believed for the story to be true
00:02:48 Discussion of not believing a story
00:04:20 Discussion of “victim” shooting her boyfriend in the head
00:05:53 Talk about cases too difficult to believe
00:10:54 Talk about self-inflicted gunshot wound
00:14:19 Discussion of the victim who just retired
00:18:54 Talk about determining how long person has been dead
00:23:19 Discuss investigation of digital background
00:28:34 Talk about GSR test
00:33:02 Discussion of police on scene, gunshot recorded
00:37:57 Discussion of what has to be believed by investigators
00:40:12 Talk about Pictures of a life shared, scattered on the floor
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Burned remains of a man found inside a foot locker and left in a blueberry field in Michigan were not identified for 13 years. In 2015 the case was called "The Jack-in-the-Box Murder because it was a catchy title. The remains were not identified until the Ottawa County Sheriff's Office received a tip in 2015 that gave them the information they needed to use dental records to identify the deceased as Robert Caraballo. Investigating Caraballo's life at the time of his death took investigators to the home he shared with his wife and stepdaughter. Joseph Scott Morgan will break down the forensics that brought this case to a conclusion and Dave Mack will help tell the story of how the Jack-in-the-Box Murder became The Fugitive Wife Murder Trial.
Transcript Highlights
00:00:44 Introduction of story a burned body in a trunk found in blueberry field
00:02:40 Talk about conspiracy and escaping to other side of the planet
00:05:28 Discussion of victim being alive with hammer stuck in skull
00:08:02 Discussion of injury caused by falling downstairs
00:12:34 Talk about how remains could not be identified
00:15:11 Discussion of evidence in hammer attack
00:19:49 Discussion of hitting head with a hammer
00:23:51Talk about how the skull breaks
00:28:19 Discussion of destroying a body
00:32:37 Discussion of “old school” identifying remains
00:35:15 Talk about the plan to push victim down the stairs, hit him with a bat
00:35:53 Talk about the conspiracy
00:38:01 Discussion of law in Italy for hotel guests
00:39:15 Discussion of cover-up
00:40:06 Beverly McCallum guilty on all charges
00:40:42 Talk about keeping a secret
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Suicide or Murder? Kendy Howard is found in a bathtub full of water with a gunshot wound to the head. His body is cold, but the water in the tub is warm! Red Flag number one. On this episode of Body Bags Joseph Scott Morgan and Dave Mack will take a look at all of the "Red Flags" present in the reported suicide of Kendy Howard. Why is there so little blood in the water? Why is her ex-trooper husband arrested at the airport? The biggest question of all, is the death of Kendy Howard a Suicide or Murder?
Transcript Highlights
00:00:27 Joe talks about admiration for Troopers
00:03:03 Discussion of law enforcement
00:05:59 Discussion of “Red Flags”
00:08:14 Talk about the water is warm, body is cold
00:12:23 Investigation of suicide/murder
00:16:33 Discussion of damage caused by gunshot in mouth
00:17:49 Talk about direction of bullet
00:21:26 Comparing murder of Travis Alexander
00:25:53 Defining different types of asphyxiation
00:30:08 Talk about injuries “frozen in time”
00:35:33 Discussion of how much blood would be expected
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The victim was alive when her head was cut from her body. As disturbing as that sounds, today's episode of Body Bags with Joseph Scott Morgan will attempt to breakdown the just released autopsy report of Mei Li Haskell. Her husband, Samuel Haskell IV is accused of killing her, removing her head from her torso, placing the torso in a bag and dropping it in a trash bin where a homeless guy would find it 14 hours later! Joseph Scott Morgan will breakdown the forensics that will come into the trial and Dave Mack will dig deep in the Hollywood that can give us a true horror story that is scarier than anyone would ever dare put on film.
Transcript Highlights
00:00:49 The son of a hotshot
00:03:04 “Don’t you know who I am?”
00:05:03 Discussion of “the finder”
00:08:58 Talk about the bags felt like meat
00:09:26 Discussion of workers bring back bags
00:12:20 Discussion of cross contamination
00:16:58 Talk about hiring workers
00:20:56 Discussion of what police can do
00:26:22 Talk about the person who found the body
00:30:54 Mentions victim’s parents still missing
00:33:01 Discuss autopsy report, victim alive when head cut off
00:38:20 Discussion of using power tools in dismemberment
00:42:54 Mentions trial will be all forensics
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Iris, 1, comes home from a weekend with her father and his girlfriend and mom finds a water bead in her diaper.
Taking her to the hospital, the toddler passes more water beads, button-shaped batteries, and a screw. Thinking she was finding things and putting them in her mouth, nobody realized a monster was watching the baby.
Joseph Scott Morgan and Dave Mack break down the case that is more than the murder of a toddler, it's how evil came into the child’s life and plotted and planned her death for more than half of her life.
Transcript Highlights
00:00:20 Introduction
00:02:39 Discussion of toddlers
00:04:22 Talk about items in diaper
00:07:34 Discussion of beads, batteries, screw
00:10:12 Talk about toddlers putting things in their mouth
00:14:34 Discussion of solvent
00:16:18 Discussion of evil
00:18:27 Talk about taking child to hospital by plane
00:22:08 Explaining a subdural hematoma
00:24:01 Discussion of optic nerves
00:27:16 Talk about how healthy baby dies in 4 days
00:30:15 Discussion of notes made by doctors and nurses
00:32:54 Talk about children swallow everyday items
00:35:31Discussion suspect researched how to beat a polygraph
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Two severed heads, an arm here, a leg there, on this episode of Body Bags with Joseph Scott Morgan, the Reel Amityville Horror will meet the Real Amityville Horror. A group of Long Island High School students find a severed left arm on the side of a road in Babylon on their way to school. While Police investigate the scene, a K-9 officer locates a leg sticking out of a pile of leaves in a wooded area, not far from the original scene. Over time more body parts were found in multiple areas. Joseph Scott Morgan and Dave Mack will detail what was found and where and what the suspects were up against when they began writing their own Amityville Horror.
Transcript Highlights
00:00:07 Introduction – to horror
00:01:39 Discussion about charges for dismembering a person
00:04:48 Talk about how the bodies were treated in death
00:08:03 Discussion of arm with tattoo found in tree limb
00:11:51 Body part found by high school students on the way to school
00:15:16 Parts of 2 bodies found, 4 people charged
00:15:17 None of the 4 people is charged with murder
00:16:14 Discuss what the ME will have to do with parts
00:18:04 Talking about Black Dhalia
00:19:49 Discussion of none of the drains work in the rental
00:21:30 Discussion of body parts from more than one person
00:25:11 Talk about unique case
00:28:51 Joe describes investigation taking place
00:31:30 Discussion of dismemberment
00:34:01 Discussion of blood, muscle, skin, hair, Drano won’t work
00:37:13 Talk about revisiting the case in the future
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
School Principal Cornelius Green arrives at the Amtrak train station in St. Louis after spending a few days in Chicago. Leaving the train station Green goes to straight to the apartment of his girlfriend, 3rd grade school teacher, Jocelyn Peters. Arriving at her apartment Green finds Peters, who is 7-months pregnant, in bed. He immediately calls 911 and tells them his girlfriend has been shot in the head, send help now! Jocelyn Peters is pronounced dead on the scene and the investigation begins with the person who found her, Cornelius Green. Joseph Scott Morgan and Dave Mack will break down the story that leads to stolen school funds, a hitman, and a potato gun silencer, on this episode of Body Bags.
Transcript Highlights
00:00:57 Joe talks about the impact of 3rd grade teacher
00:03:12 Discussion of victim
00:08:54 Discussion of Green sending money to Cutler
00:11:23 Talk about alibi set up by Green taking train to Chicago
00:14:20 Discussion about finding pregnant woman shot in the head
00:16:02 Talk about investigation, alibi
00:19:50 Talk about no sign of forced entry
00:23:18 Discussion of “potato silencer”
00:28:12 Talking about objects changing trajectory
00:32:30 Discussion of Federal and State charges
00:36:29 Discuss Phillip Cutler in court
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
When Phillip Chism, 14, doesn't come home from school, his mother calls the police to report him missing.
As the town begins to look for the 9th grader, word spreads around town that a 24-year-old teacher, Colleen Ritzer, is also missing. Chism is found walking along a road just after midnight. After a quick search of his backpack, he is arrested.
Later in the morning, Colleen Ritzer's body is found on school grounds, sexually positioned with a folded note next to her body that says, "I hate you all."
Joseph Scott Morgan and Dave Mack break down the story of the student from Tennessee and the horrifying final moments in the life of Colleen Ritzer.
Transcription Highlights
00:01:00 Introduction of location, suspect, and victim
00:02:53 Suspect is student, 14, victim is a teacher
00:04:04 Discussion of suspect family
00:08:22 Talk about motive and possible “trigger”
00:11:49 Discussion of why victim went to public bathroom
00:15:28 Discussion of witness and surveillance video
00:19:07 Talk about investigation, pinging cell phones
00:21:47 Discussion of suspect on surveillance video
00:27:25 Talk about body being covered
00:30:36 Breaking down the evidence
00:34:35 Discussion of sentence
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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