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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Four University of Idaho students are brutally murdered in their home in Moscow, Idaho on November 13th, 2022. Police suspect that the murder took place between 3am-4 and their bodies are discovered by a friend that same morning around noon. Investigators believe that the murder weapon was a knife of some sort. This case is still unfolding.
In this episode of Body Bags, forensics expert Joseph Scott Morgan and Jackie Howard discuss the gruesome nature of this case, the murder weapon, making sense of the chaos of the crime scene, what police are looking for in the surveillance footage, and more.
Show Notes:
0:00 - Intro
1:25 - Background and overview of case
2:26 - The police not knowing what they were walking into
6:20 - Side door being the point of entry
8:30 - Signs of forced entry, the window, and how it could have been pried open
10:07 - Light sources
12:30 - Two roommates who survived, who was stabbed first, the murder weapon
18:26 - The style of weapon suggests that this was a targeted attack
21:34 - How do we tell who was stabbed first and what are we going to find on the other victims?
26:38 - Making sense of the chaos
28:05 - Co-mingling of blood, actions of the perpetrator, finding the knife
31:54 - Other injuries to expect in this case
35:38 - What exactly are the police looking for in the video surveillance footage?
40:38 - Outro
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Reagan Simmons Hancock, 21, is found dead in her New Boston home by her mother on the morning of October 9th, 2020. She was seven and a half months pregnant, had been stabbed over 100 times, strangled, and had her unborn child removed from her womb. The perpetrator is Taylor Parker, a friend of Hancock’s, who had been faking a pregnancy for over 10 months.
In this episode of Body Bags, forensics expert Joseph Scott Morgan and Jackie Howard discuss the blood patterns at the crime scene, the injuries sustained by Hancock, the logistics of performing an at-home C-section, and how Parker may have gone about planning the attack.
Show Notes:
0:00 - Intro
1:18 - Background and overview of case
3:14 - Blood patterns
4:42 - Two questions: 1. How much blood is in the human body? 2. With blood everywhere, how do you figure out where the murder actually occurred?
7:50 - Stab wounds/strangulation
10:40 - How Reagan’s pregnancy factored into her murder/death
13:32 - Scalpels, surgical tools, C-sections
17:25 - Langer lines
19:50 - How did the assailant perform the C-section without harming the baby?
23:11 - Finding the perpetrator: Taylor Parker
24:10 - The placenta and Parker faking the baby’s birth
27:35 - Major indicators that a woman has given birth
30:28 - What ultimately led to the death of the child?
32:30 - Wrap up and final thoughts
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
On April 16th, 2022 a mushroom hunter calls 911 to tell them he’s found an abandoned suitcase in the middle of the woods. Inside the suitcase is the body of a young boy. The boy is later identified as 5-year-old Cairo Ammar Jordan from Atlanta, Georgia. He was never reported missing.
In this episode of Body Bags, forensics expert Joseph Scott Morgan and Jackie Howard discuss the state of Cairo’s body when it was found, his cause of death, how police process a crime scene like this, what it’s like to discover a body, and much more.
Show Notes:
0:00 - Intro
1:57 - Background and overview of the case
3:10 - How did they get Cairo into the suitcase?
7:25 - The state of Cairo’s body when found
10:45 - Discovering bodies
14:55 - How do police begin processing a scene like this?
18:15 - Joe describes the tests done on evidence found
21:30 - The inside of the suitcase
27:30 - Pulling fingerprints and finding the crime scene as the perpetrator left it
31:35 - Cairo’s cause of death
35:45 - How does an electrolyte imbalance kill you?
38:10 - Viral gastroenteritis
43:10 - Wrap up
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Four men in Okmulgee, Oklahoma leave a friend's house on bikes on the evening of October 9th, 2022. Investigators believe that these men intended to commit a crime, or series of crimes. They are soon reported missing. On October 14th, their bodies are found in Deep For River having been shot and dismembered. After looking into the case officials believe that this act was premeditated.
In this episode of Body Bags, forensics expert Joseph Scott Morgan and Jackie Howard discuss the overt violence of the murder, how to track a bicycle, how you distinguish between blood types, how investigators retrieve body parts, and much more.
Show Notes:
0:00 - Intro
1:12 - Background and overview of the case
3:20 - How do you track a bicycle?
9:45 - How do you calculate how far to extend your search?
12:10 - Police using tracking information to find the victims
15:30 - Bodies dumped in the river
16:15 - How is it physically possible to kill four men in a short period of time?
20:35 - What exactly is “a violent act”?
24:15 - The steps taken in an autopsy to distinguish between blood types
29:00 - What do two different blood types look like on a slide?
30:58 - Visual deception
32:10 - Would the victim's skeleton be visible by this point?
36:10 - How does the gruesome state of the victim’s bodies interfere with being able to figure out what happened to them?
39:40 - How do you retrieve body parts and keep them in the state they’re found?
46:05 - Wrap up
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Sarah Boone calls authorities to report that her boyfriend, Jorge Torres Jr. is dead in their home in Winter Park, Florida. The couple had been drinking the night before and thought it would be “funny” if Mr. Torres crawled inside a suitcase and Ms.Boone zipped him inside. She then goes upstairs and passes out in her bed. When she woke up the next morning she finds Torres still in the suitcase and unresponsive. After police uncovered video from Boone’s phone with Torres yelling Boones name and attempting to escape, they charge her with second-degree murder.
In this episode of Body Bags, forensics expert Joseph Scott Morgan and Jackie Howard discuss what happens to your body when it’s deprived of oxygen, positional vs. compression asphyxiation, how much of a role the couple’s alcohol consumption played into the case, injuries sustained by Mr. Torres, and much more.
Show Notes:
0:00 - Intro
1:40 - Background and overview of case
3:25 - Cause of death
5:40 - Positional asphyxiation
8:00 - What volume of oxygen does your brain require?
10:30 - What does lack of oxygen do to your body?
15:45 - How is it exactly that lack of oxygen makes you die?
18:05 - Fear of running out of oxygen
20:25 - Other items found in the suitcase
23:25 - Compression asphyxia vs. Positional asphyxia
26:35 - How compressed does your chest have to be for asphyxiation to occur?
28:45 - How much of a role did alcohol play in this case?
30:55 - Discovering a body in a suitcase
31:35 - Injuries Mr. Torres sustained
35:40 - Could Torres have gotten out of the suitcase?
37:55 - History of domestic violence
39:14 - Wrap up
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
On Jan. 18, 2021, 46-year-old Francis Kelly’s body was discovered. Police find Kelly on his couch, in his home, and a bag of cocaine underneath him. The unexpected autopsy says he died of strangulation. All while during a heated custody battle between Kelly and Littlefield.
In this episode of Body Bags, forensics expert Joseph Scott Morgan and Jackie Howard discuss how Francis Kelly’s death was ultimately a staged overdose, the significant differences between fentanyl and cocaine, how the body reacts to the different drugs, why strangulation was not obvious to investigators, and much more!
Show Notes:
0:00 - Introduction to Body Bags with forensics expert Joseph Scott Morgan and producer Jackie Howard
0:36 - Brief overview of the homicide case involving victim Francis Kelly
1:14 - Introduction of CrimeOnline’s Jackie Howard
2:09 - When Francis Kelly's body was discovered, police found him on his couch in his home and a bag of cocaine underneath him
2:57 - The difference between fentanyl and cocaine
4:32 - Left ventricular hypertrophy
8:11 - Fentanyl was originally developed as a partner for surgical use
10:00 - How fentanyl works within the body vs. cocaine
11:08 - Narcan and its uses
16:03 - Questions: How did he get the fentanyl in his body? Is that a normal way of taking fentanyl? Is that way going to have a different reaction in the body? Would he have tasted it? Does ingesting it offer a different kind of effect?
19:26 - What is skin popping?
24:52 - “There is nothing as an investigator that will make you stop cold in your tracks than an unexpected result at autopsy. It's something that makes you question your abilities. It's something that makes you question the care that you took with the case because this is key: Once the scene has been left, the body has been removed from the scene, and can never reset.”
25:34 - Autopsy reports that Kelly was in fact strangled and did not OD as suspected
26:32 - Question: Kelly was strangled with a tie. Why was that not originally obvious? Specifically, because ligature marks typically leave a mark
31:51 - We later find out that Kelly's death was a result of a custody dispute between Littlefield and Kelly. Littlefield claimed Kelly was abusive
32:22 - Question: The other thing that we find out, which I find very interesting and kind of explains some things about the cocaine, knowing that he died from fentanyl and that it was cocaine that was found. We're looking at a good case of staging here, aren't we, Joe?
38:57 - The verdict is in
39:28 - Heidi Littlefield was sentenced to 115 years in a state prison, which included 60 years for murder. 20 years for attempted poisonings, and 35 years for conspiracy to commit murder resulting in a death
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
On January 7th, 1972, Nancy Anderson, 19, is found dead in her Waikiki apartment with over 60 stab wounds. The case goes cold for fifty years until new DNA technology and detective work leads to the arrest of a suspect: Tudor Chirila Jr.
In this episode of Body Bags, forensics expert Joseph Scott Morgan and Jackie Howard discuss the lack of evidence the crime scene, why Nancy’s roommate thought this might have been a suicide, distinguishing between stab wounds, how phenotyping lead to the breakthrough in this case, and much more.
Show Notes:
0:00 - Intro
2:37 - Background and overview of case
4:15 - How do you investigate a case once it's gone cold?
7:20 - Stab wounds
11:30 - No evidence of foul play at the crime scene
15:45 - The roommate and thinking Nancy had comitted suicide
18:40 - Water running in the bathroom
21:00 - How do you distinguish between wounds?
24:40 - The salesman as suspects
26:35 - Bathrooms as a popular crime scene
30:05 - Blood testing process
35:35 - How do you preserve evidence?
41:17 - What is Phenotyping and how did it help the investigation?
47:55 - Genealogy and a son
49:20 - The suspect is found
50:43 - Wrap up
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Eliza Fletcher, a Memphis teacher and mother, is reported missing the morning of September 2, 2022 after she doesn't return home from her morning jog. A search is launched shortly thereafter and comes to an end on September 5th when her body is found by police. Suspect, Cleotha Abston has been arrested and charged for her murder.
In this episode of Body Bags, forensics expert Joseph Scott Morgan and Jackie Howard discuss what the autopsy report shows, what her cause of death was determined to be, what drugs were found in her system, and more.
Show Notes:
0:00 - Intro
0:50 - Background and overview of case
1:42 - The autopsy report: how you read it and what you learn from it
16:17 - Eliza’s cause of death
22:16 - What the gunshot wound tells us
26:23 - Internal and external beveling
28:03 - Le Fort fracture
32:25 - Submission
34:10 - Fentanyl
40:13 - Was Eliza Fletcher raped?
43:36 - Wrap up
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
It’s the morning of March 31st, 2020 a jogger finds Dr. Beth Potter and her husband Robin Carre shot in the head execution-style in University of Wisconsin Arboretum. Carre is pronounced dead on the scene by police while his wife, who was still alive, was rushed to the hospital where she also dies. Initially the police believed this to be a random homicide, but after reviewing video surveillance and GPS data, they redirect their sights on a potential suspect: Khari Sanford - the boyfriend of the victim’s adopted daughter Mimi.
In this episode of Body Bags, forensics expert Joseph Scott Morgan and Jackie Howard discuss the gruesome nature of this case, how the cooler temperature affected the crime scene (specifically, the blood), how conscious Dr. Potter was for the hours that she was alive after the attack and the motive of the suspect.
Show Notes:
0:00 - Intro
1:32 - Background and overview of the case
5:21 - Did Robin Carre die from his gunshot wound/was it exacerbated from the cold temperature?
7:23 - Was Dr. Potter really still breathing when they found her?
9:34 - The significance of the area where you’re shot
12:01 - How do we know the victims were killed on the pathway where they were found?
16:15 - Would the cooler temperatures affect the state of the blood found at the crime scene?
18:26 - Shell casings
21:10 - Was Dr. Potter in and out of consciousness the whole night before she was found?
25:14 - Finding the suspect, Khari Sanford (the boyfriend of the victim’s daughter)
29:41 - Hearsay and the weight is has in a court of law
33:20 - Sanford and Mimi (the victim’s daughter) reportedly spoke of the parents having “bands of money” and that they were “rich”
36:35 - Wrap up and final details
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Pamela Hargan and her daughter Helen were found dead in their home in McLean, Virginia, the victims of an apparent murder-suicide, in July 2017. Once police investigated further, they realized that the crime scene had been staged and this was a homicide that they were looking at. Eventually, police narrowed it down to one prime suspect - Pamela’s oldest daughter Megan.
In this episode of Body Bags, forensics expert Joseph Scott Morgan and Jackie Howard discuss how the police realized the crime scene was staged, the significance of where the gun was found, blood spatter patterns, how they came to suspect Pamela’s oldest daughter Megan, and much more.
Show Notes:
0:00 - Intro
1:32 - Background and overview of the case
3:35 - How did the police know that the crime scene had been staged?
7:05 - The significance of the location where the gun was found
10:08 - The forces of gravity and homicide v. suicide investigations
15:45 - Gunshot residue
19:30 - Blood spatter pattern
25:20 - After recreating the crime scene, what did they discover about Pamela’s death?
29:55 - What happens when someone is shot in the head?
34:30 - Pamela’s oldest daughter, Megan, is charged with the murder
38:35 - Megan’s phone call to her boyfriend
40:00 - After the police realized the crime scene was staged, how did they start investigating the case as a homicide?
44:25 - Wrapping up and final details of the case
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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