12 Dead Bodies in 22 Months: Does Austin Have A Serial Killer?

The National Institutes of Health comparing 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 where the person who finds the dead body in their yard has to gather up 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.

Missy Bevers was murdered inside a church before 5 a.m. while she was preparing for her morning fitness class. Her body is found by a student and Missy is pronounced dead at the scene. On this episode of Body Bags, Joseph Scott Morgan will discuss the possible weapons used to kill Missy Bevers and Dave Mack will dig into the possible suspects in an unsolved murder where the main suspect is caught on camera wearing a police swat kit and walking the halls of the church with an unusual gait, waiting for Missy to arrive.            Transcript Highlights  00:00:24 Introducing Missy Bevers  00:01:51 Discussion of unsolved murder  00:04:12 Talk about Camp Gladiator  00:08:38 Discussion of murderer seen on video  00:12:28 Discussion of odd gait  00:17:13 Talk about suspect, man or woman?  00:21:13 Discussion of SWAT disguise  00:26:09 Talk about new kit  00:30:13 Discussion of long hammer as a weapon  00:34:31 Discussion of injuries matching weapon  00:39:05 Talk about coverage of case in media  00:43:20 Discussion of no gun belt  00:46:44.Conclusion    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On January 19, 2001, Tara Baker was murdered in her apartment. The perpetrator sexually assaulted her and then lit the apartment on fire. The case went cold in the town of Athens, Georgia, for over 20 years. On this episode of "Body Bags," Joseph Scott Morgan will break down the science of solving a cold case and Dave Mack will fill in the blanks of the story that shocked Northern Georgia for over 20 years. Recently the murder of Laken Riley brought the Tara Baker homicide back into the conversation and with great detective work and with biological evidence and DNA science, the cold case became hot again, as hot as the fire the suspect set to destroy evidence of the horror he created.           Transcript Highlights  00:00:09 Introduction of influence  00:01:24 Tragic Cold Case Solved, Tara Baker  00:04:11 Discussion of Tara Baker case and Laken Riley  00:08:32 Discussion of fire in apartment  00:09:24 Talk about find body   00:14:32 Discussion of accelerants  00:19:21 Discussion of death investigation in fire  00:24:41 Discussion of time involved in the attack  00:27:58 Talk about predators selecting their victim  00:31:33 Discussion of how to determine sex assault when body is burned  00:37:20 Discussion of how a burned body is examined  00:38:47 Talk about unsolved cold case  00:41:50 Case solved; Edrick LaMont Faust arrested  00:44:46 Conclusion, Faust is 48, Tara Baker died at 21 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this episode of Body Bags with Joseph Scott Morgan, Joe is going to break with our regular format and take a look at a man who revolutionized the Medical legal death investigation field. He was famous as a “Celebrity Pathologist” but that doesn’t do the man justice. When others walk away from trouble, Dr. Cyril Wecht said, “Where is the brain of JFK?”  Joseph Scott Morgan shares his thoughts on the passing of Dr. Cyril Wecht.         Transcript Highlights  00:00:18 Introduction from JFK movie   00:00:47 Talk about Dr. Cyril Wecht  00:04:06 Talk about passing of Werner Spitz  00:08:21 Discussion of JFK  00:11:37 Discussion of Dr. Wecht as Air Force Officer  00:14:45 Talk about Wecht running for political office  00:19:33 Discussion of Dr. Wecht from coroner’s office to medical examiner  00:24:16 Talk about Wecht didn’t play golf, life was his hobby  00:27:16 Discussion of Wecht getting sued for comments   00:31:36 Talk about Wecht discovers JFK brain is missing  00:35:02 Talk about destroying evidence to cover up a crime  00:38:34 Discussion of Dr. Cyril Wecht accomplishments  00:39:28 Discussion about over 42,000 Post-mortem exams  00:43:49 Joseph Scott Morgan share thoughts on Dr Wecht  I just want to take a moment and 1st off acknowledge his passing and certainly the wet family, the Duquesne family and all of his extended friends and colleagues. My deepest sympathies to them because he's a man. He is a man that Has impacted so many of us in the field of forensic science. He passed away peacefully on May 13th.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The autopsy of Noah Presgrove is released and for the first time in the history of Body Bags with Joseph Scott Morgan, Joe is going to issue you a warning for what you are about to hear. Noah Presgrove is at a birthday, end of summer, labor day party with friends all weekend. But something happened Sunday night to cause Noah to leave the party by himself. He is found the next morning at 5:53am, alone, dead, on the side of a rural highway. He is naked except for a pair of shoes, but one of the shoes isn't his, it belongs to a guy asleep at the house where the party took place. The "friends" he has known all of his life aren't talking. His brother sees teeth scattered near his brother's body and pieces of chain. Who or What killed Noah Presgrove? Will the autopsy help answer the question?     Transcript Highlights 00:00:08 Introduction: Growing up in rural area  00:03:10 Talk about List of Injuries  00:05:17 Discussion of group dynamics  00:09:12 Discussion of what happens to clothing   00:12:27 Talk about social media evidence  00:16:11 Discussion of internal injuries  00:20:26 Discussion of injuries cased by falling out of a truck   00:24:14 Talk about skull fractures  00:28:32 Discussion of brain fluid  00:32:52 Discussion of broke teeth  00:36:03 Talk about animals and body on road  00:37:52 Discussion of cervical injuries  00:40:00 Discussion of abrasions  00:41:47 Talk about being hit by car  00:43:59 Discussion of data  00:44:17 Conclusion; After the autopsy we still don’t have answers See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dr. Werner Spitz is a man who spent his lifetime looking straight into the soul of man and looking death in the eye. On this episode of Body Bags, Joseph Scott Morgan gives a heartfelt tribute to a mentor he never met, a teacher that never gave him a test but one whose approval was sought in every written word and study as a death investigator. Dr. Werner Spitz passed away at the age of 97 on April 14, 2024, and this show is a special tribute to a man that actually did write the book of his profession, "Spitz and Fisher's Medicolegal Investigation of Death; Guidelines for the Application of Pathology to Crime Investigation.              Transcribe Highlights00:33.95 Introduction to the life of Werner Spitz 05:59.93 Discussion of Spitz impact on forensic pathologists 09:53.32 Discussion of fleeing Nazi Germany 13:51.43 Talk about being the lone voice of truth that you see 17:35.73 Discussion of Mary Jo Kopechne 24:16.10 Discussion of Spitz being called into high profile situations 28:15.52 Talk about examination using photographs 31:38.41 Discussion of not being afraid to take on cases others wouldn't 36:52.60 Talk about paying for an opinion 37:01.94 Conclusion Those who fail to remember history, are doomed to repeat itSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The double homicide of Russell and Shirley Dermond rocked their gated community along Lake Oconee in Georgia.. The decapitated body of 88-year-old Russell Dermond was found in the garage and his wife of 68 years,  87-year Shirley Dermond was found in Lake Oconee weighted down with cinder blocks, 10 days after Russell's body was found.  On this episode of Body Bags with Joseph Scott Morgan, you will learn about the evidence investigators found at the crime scene as well as what can be learned from a body that may have been in a lake for 10 days. The double homicide has gone unsolved for 10 years and the head of Russell Dermond has never been found.  How was this elderly couple, married 68 years, murdered and why?       Transcript Highlights  00:00:08 Introduction about murders  00:05:00 Discussion about neighbor checking on Dermond’s  00:09:34 Talk about unsolved murders, 10 years  00:14:04 Discussion about Shirley Dermond body found in lake  00:19:05 Discussion of Russell Dermond head, it’s missing  00:23:51 Discussion about Shirley was weighted down  00:28:08 Talk after 10 years, case still unsolved  00:31:39 Discussion of lack of blood at scene  00:34:52 Talk about how head was removed  00:37:57 Talk about DNA evidence  00:40:28 Conclusion: After a decade, new evidence might solve the case See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Was 7-year-old JJ Vallow alive when he was buried? Was 16-year-old Tylee Ryan dismembered before her remains were burned? What does the autopsy say about the death of Tammy Daybell? On this episode of Body Bags, Joseph Scott Morgan will explain the forensics of all 3 victims and Dave Mack will fill in the background on the story of what really happened to JJ Vallow, Tylee Ryan, and Tammy Daybell              Transcript Highlights  00:00:08 Introduction, loving arms that didn’t hold JJ and Tylee  00:04:21 Discussion of the deaths, JJ, Tylee, and Tammy Daybell  00:07:54 Discussion of bodies buried near one another  00:11:19 Discussion of death of Tammy Daybell   00:14:57 Explaining asphyxia  00:18:45 Talk about access and opportunity  00:22:58 Discussion of Dr Warren on witness stand  00:26:02 Discussion of Bones being scattered, broken up while burning  00:29:07 Talk about JJ Vallow trying to pull bag off his head  00:30:47 Conclusion: Justice, whatever that means, is coming.  Justice, whatever that means, is coming and there is a reckoning coming.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

At least 12 bodies have been pulled from "Lady Bird Lake" in Austin, Texas in the last 22 months. Some can be explained as deaths that happen on or near a lake, but not all. On this episode of Body Bags Joseph Scott Morgan will break down the difference between a regular death in a lake and a possible serial killer, while Dave Mack breaks down the stories behind the victims.        Transcript Highlights 00:16.18 Introduction about water and murder03:37.66 Discussion does Austin have a serial killer?08:13.12 Discussion what does "serial killer" do to an area13:22.11 Talk about other serial killers, were they really caught17:54.47 Talk about witnessing a death on the water22:03.17 Discussion of toxicology27:53.13 Discussion of victims32:38.32 Talk about water as a dumping ground36:26.16 Discussion of decomposition in water40:04.57 Talk about water flow47:42.83 Discussion about rumors over factConclusionSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.