Stay ConnectedIn this casual and conversational podcast, the hosts breakdown timelines and go over the most popular (and sometimes ridiculous) theories.
Copyright: © 2021 True Crime Society
Join us for the next episode of the True Crime Society podcast where we talk about the disappearance and death of Jelani Day.
TW - We discuss graphic autopsy results in this episode.
Jelani Day was a 25 y/o man who went missing in August this year from Bloomington, IL. He was last seen on CCTV on August 24.
His car was found abandoned in an unusual spot on August 26 - the keys were missing and the car's license plates had been removed.
A body was pulled from the Illinois River in early September, and it was identified later that month as Jelani.
Since Jelani has been recovered, multiple autopsies have been conducted. The Chicago Sun-Times released an article that contained graphic details:
- Jelani's jawbone had allegedly been 'sawed' out.
- His liver, spleen and brain were unaccounted for.
- His genitalia was said to be 'flayed'.
Jelani's cause of death has literally just been confirmed - the LaSalle County Coroner has said that he drowned. His family dispute that this was suicide or an accident.
We discuss Jelani's disappearance, death and the investigation following in this episode.
We have mixed it up and our case updates are now at the end of the episode, so stay tuned after Jelani's story.
This week's updates:
- We are sick of the Brian/ Gabby conspiracy theories and click bait. We discuss all of our thoughts on the latest in the Gabby Petito case. (48:40)
- Aussie toddler Cleo Smith is still missing. Could this really be a stranger abduction? We may do a whole episode on her. Stay tuned! (1:02:35)
- The odd COD for the Chung-Gerrish family has been released and it's Olivia's hill to die on. (1:05:45)
- Missing executive Jake Cefolia's remains have been found. (1:12:14)
- A brief chat about the abandoned children in Houston, TX (1:15:00)
Thank you as always for listening!
THE TRUE CRIME SOCIETY PODCAST IS BACK, FEATURING PART TWO OF THE MURDAUGH SAGA
We start this episode off by yelling at you because we said Alex Murdaugh's name wrong last episode.
We have had some feedback that people want to hear the main content only – if this is you, please fast forward as per below to your desired start point. As of next week’s episode, we are going to make some changes to formatting our podcast, so stay tuned!
CONTENT TIME STAMPS - FAST FORWARD TO YOUR DESIRED START POINT!
Gabby/ Brian - 6:05
Missing Cleo - 10:55
Murdaugh - 15:30
First up we have a BIG update on the Gabby Petito and Brian Laundrie case. We also give a quick rundown on the case of missing girl Cleo Smith, who disappeared from her family’s tent in Western Australia over the past weekend.
For anyone who is not familiar with this one, definitely start with Part One. Alex Murdaugh and his wife Maggie lived an affluent life with their two sons Buster and Paul in South Carolina. They were/are basically South Carolina Royalty - their family has been high profile in the area for decades.
A few years ago, things started going really wrong for them - their housekeeper died mysteriously and Paul (allegedly) caused a boat crash while drunk that killed 19 y/o Mallory Beach. And then in June this year, Alex found Paul and Maggie murdered at one of the many homes they owned. Police have now reopened other cold cases in the area, looking for connections to the Murdaugh's. And to top it off, Alex allegedly paid someone to shoot him in the head in a suicide-for-hire insurance plot.
In this episode we discuss (this synopsis is very general as I don’t want to spoil the story for anyone. :
- The reopening of the Stephen Smith case
- New information from Connor Cook about the boat crash that killed Mallory Beach – Connor was aboard the boat on the night of the accident
- Alex’s ‘suicide-for hire’ plot – I can’t even begin to describe the whole debacle here
- Alex’s resignation from his law firm and his entry into rehab
- The ‘alleged’ misappropriation of funds by Alex from PMPED
- Updates on the lawsuits surrounding the boat crash
- More info on the Gloria Satterfield death settlement and Alex’s shady involvement in that case
- And we finish up with Alex in jail!
Be sure to check out our blog for the whole rundown on the Murdaugh case - https://truecrimesocietyblog.com/2021/10/13/m-is-for-murdaugh-a-saga-in-the-south/?fbclid=IwAR06bHzNvDCBjPiA5ClSKfDKnuW-eZhvg2o4vQstiqQ9hYnLXVHKMNwa_48
Spotify link for this episode - https://open.spotify.com/episode/7CAlKdixjAQrCQ2O5y7Hj2?si=KPr0-O4SQM6brenpWAOX9g
Spotify link for Part One - https://open.spotify.com/episode/2N6mcxxQwb7pcvjSNJyEAI?si=8oUJwXLvQR2jSrAkPEXTyw
Apple link for this episode - https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/true-crime-society/id1504300714?i=1000539256388
Apple link for Part One - https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/true-
We start this episode discussing some of the non-update Gabby Petito & Brian Laundrie updates (specifically, Gabby's family's Dr. Phil appearance and how Brian is probably NOT living in a bunker in his yard) and the disappointing news regarding Alexis Sharkey's alleged killer.
If you don't care about any of that and only want to hear about Murdaugh She Wrote (lol), fast forward approx 18 minutes.
Where to start with the Murdaugh saga? It is A LOT! We have broken down their story into two parts. For anyone who is not familiar with this one, Alex Murdaugh and his wife Maggie lived an affluent life with their two sons Buster and Paul in South Carolina. They were/are basically South Carolina Royalty - their family has been high profile in the area for decades.
A few years ago, things started going really wrong for them - their housekeeper died mysteriously and Paul (allegedly) caused a boat crash while drunk that killed 19 y/o Mallory Beach. And then in June this year, Alex found Paul and Maggie murdered at one of the many homes they owned. Police have now reopened other cold cases in the area, looking for connections to the Murdaugh's. And to top it off, Alex allegedly paid someone to shoot him in the head in a suicide-for-hire insurance plot.
I told you it was a lot!
In this episode we discuss:
- The Murdaugh Family History
- The hit-and/run/possible murder of Stephen Smith
- The death of Gloria Satterfield - the Murdaugh family housekeeper for over 20 years
- The fatal drunken boat crash that killed Mallory Beach
- The murders of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh
We will finish off the story in next week's episode - updates are happening daily at the moment!
Thank you to our Instagram followers for coming up with the name for this episode!
Check out our blog for all the latest!
Want to support the show? Click here to buy us a coffee!
In this episode we start off with a brief Brian Laundrie/ Gabby Petito update before talking about the recent murders of 19-year-old Miya Marcano and baby Neveah Allen. Miya was murdered by a maintenance worker at her apartment complex and Neveah was murdered by her mother and stepfather who tried to fake an abduction.
Then, we talk about the murder that changed reality tv casting forever. Ryan Jenkins, who starred in the early 2000s shows 'Megan Wants a Millionaire' and 'I Love Money,' murdered his wife Jasmine Fiore - who he had only met a few months prior. Jasmine had to be identified by her breast implant serial number due to her teeth and finger tips being removed. This is a crazy story that ends with a shocking twist.
And, we read some interesting FindAGrave comments - because who even leaves comments on FindAGrave?
On September 11th, 22-year-old Gabby Petito was reported missing by her family after not hearing from her since the end of August. Gabby was on a cross country road trip and vlogging living out of a van with her fiance, Brian Laundrie. It wasn't strange for her to be out of service for small stretches of time, but the silence had gone too long.
After she was reported missing, investigators discovered Brian returned to his Florida family home with the couple's van but without Gabby. Brian and his family immediately hired an attorney and gave no information about Gabby's whereabouts. The couple was last known to be visiting Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming, which is where investigators began their search.
On September 17th, Brian's parents arranged to meet with police - but it wasn't to discuss Gabby. They hadn't seen Brian for 3 days and wanted to report him missing.
The manhunt for Brian began and the search for Gabby continued until her remains were discovered in a remote area of the national park on September 19th. Her death was determined to be a homicide.
Brian remains missing.
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First, we go over the latest updates in regard to the murder of Gannon Stouch. New details were revealed during his step mother's preliminary hearing.
Then we talk about NXIVM, an MLM turned full-blown cult that blackmailed their members into having sex with founder Keith Raniere. Some women were even BRANDED with his initials.
In 2018, Keith and his associate, Smallville actress Allison Mack, were arrested and indicted on federal sex trafficking charges after a handful of victims came forward. We go over everything leading up to that moment.
We also discuss tips to identify a cult and whether or not modern day MLMs should be considered cults.
**Trigger warning: sex abuse**
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In this episode we first talk about more updates from Barry Morphew's trial and the recent searches for Crystal Rogers, who went missing in 2015.
After hearing the horrific story of Matthew Coleman, who murdered his two children with a fishing spear gun after crossing the border into Mexico last month - we decided to do an episode on Deadly Dads.
Join us as we jump into the mix of Australian and American deadly dads. Along with Matthew Coleman we discuss:
Henry Shepherdson strapped his baby daughter Kobi into her carrier on his chest. He then stepped off a huge wall, plunging them both to their deaths.
John Edwards had a history of domestic violence and abuse. Yet, his request for a gun license was still approved. He drove to his ex-wife's house and shot their two children as they cowered under a desk. Who failed the Edwards family?
Aziz Yazdanpanah dressed up as Santa to hand out gifts to his family on Christmas Day. He then turned a gun on them all and himself.
Rowan Baxter - a psycho who poured petrol his estranged wife and their children as they sat in their vehicle. He then stabbed himself to death.
Why do these men snap and kill their whole families? Revenge, jealousy or mental illness?
Check out our blog on these cases - https://truecrimesocietyblog.com/2021/08/31/deadly-dads/
Wanna buy us a coffee (or a vodka, wine, margarita etc)? - https://ko-fi.com/truecrimesociety
Thank you as always for listening!
Support the show (https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/TrueCrimeSociety)
In this episode we go over some updates in the case against Barry Morphew, the husband of Suzanne Morphew who has been missing from Colorado for over a year.
Then we talk about the mind-boggling unsolved murder of Judy Smith. Judy went missing from Philadelphia where she tagged along on her husband's worktrip. While he spoke at a conference, she went sightseeing around town but never turned up again that night.
After 5 months of searching and some bizarre possible sightings of Judy, her remains were found near Asheville, North Carolina. Over a 9 HOUR DRIVE from Philadelphia! Even though her remains were skeletal, the medical examiner was able to determine Judy had been murdered.
What happened to Judy? How did she get from Pennsylvania to North Carolina? Who did she meet along the way? There are a lot of theories to dive into with this one.
In this episode we cracked open the box of 'old cases' and pulled out a few John Does.
First, we talk about the 4-6 year old Doe known as the "Boy in the Box." In 1957 this unidentified murder victim's battered body was found inside a bassinet box in the Fox Chase section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was determined the boy died of blunt force trauma. Investigators were puzzled because it appeared the boy had been abused and neglected but seemed well-groomed at the same time. Over the years this case garnered a lot of attention, but to this day the Boy in the Box remains unidentified - which has left us with some wild theories and ~*interesting*~ investigation tactics.
Then, we talk about a few more lesser known John Does and for once, we leave you with a happy ending... Kind of?
Today we are going to talk about two different cases of spousal murder that will leave you feeling very differently.
The first is the murder of Pastor David Evans who's wife of 30 years, Kristie Evans, convinced their mutual lover to kill David. What was initially reported as a 'love triangle gone wrong' turned out to be something much darker. Kristie suffered years of abuse at the hands of her husband and was pressured into uncomfortable sexual situations to appease David's kinks. In March, 2021, Kristie had enough and arranged David's murder - which she eventually confessed to. Kristie's defense team will most likely argue that the years of abuse altered her mental state in order to reduce her sentence. Which raises the question, should victims of domestic abuse receive lesser murder sentences?
The second case is the murder of 19 year old Caroline Crouch by her 33 year old husband Charalambos ‘Babis’ Anagnostopoulos. On May 11th, 2021, Caroline was found strangled to death and tied to her bed after what Babis claimed was a merciless robbery. He told police foreign robbers tied him up in the basement before murdering Caroline and their puppy, and ransacking the house for cash. Of course, this was all a lie to cover up the fact that Babis murdered Caroline after a heated argument. Police were able to use data from Caroline's smart watch to figure out when her heart stopped beating - which didn't match up with Babis's story. After confessing to what police already knew, Babis claimed Caroline was the aggressor and pushed him which left him in a 'blurred state of mind.' Believe us, there's A LOT to unpack with this one.
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