What Happened to Joseph Smedley? Episode Eight: Less than 1%
A Heavy Weight1 Joulu 2025

What Happened to Joseph Smedley? Episode Eight: Less than 1%

In this episode we return to the death of Indiana University student Joseph Smedley, whose body was found in Griffy Lake with a backpack weighed down with rocks. Drawing on a twenty year study of suicide by drowning and the insight of forensic pathologist Dr Darin Wolfe and forensic aquatic death investigator Andrea Zaferes, we ask how likely it really is that Joseph died by suicide in the way his case was closed.

We unpack the challenges of determining cause and manner of death in bodies recovered from water, revisit the original autopsy and the attempted second autopsy, and explore the confusing trail of cell phone pings that suggest Joseph was not alone in his final hours. Along the way, we raise larger questions about how death determinations are made, what it means when a case is labeled suicide instead of undetermined, and why some missing students receive wall to wall coverage while others are met with silence.

Content note This episode includes discussion of suicide, death, and possible foul play.


Jaksot(64)

What Happened to Vali Davis?

What Happened to Vali Davis?

She went out with friends in 1979. And then she was gone. Vali Davis’s case is just one of many cold cases from the 1970s, where slow investigations and lack of technology left too many questions unan...

28 Huhti 202523min

Covering Tracks: Police Misconduct in Indiana

Covering Tracks: Police Misconduct in Indiana

Deputy Jeffery Freeman’s arrest for assault and strangulation wasn’t just an isolated case—it revealed Indiana’s hidden crisis of police misconduct enabled by silent transfers and systemic loopholes. ...

21 Huhti 202519min

When Protection Fails: The Jeffrey Freeman Jr. Case

When Protection Fails: The Jeffrey Freeman Jr. Case

What happens when the badge becomes a shield for abuse?In this one-off episode, I cover the arrest of Monroe County Deputy Jeffery Freeman Jr. — charged with sexual battery, strangulation, and officia...

14 Huhti 202513min

What Happened to Jeremy Jourdain? Episode 4: The Night Jeremy Disappeared

What Happened to Jeremy Jourdain? Episode 4: The Night Jeremy Disappeared

What happened to Jeremy Jourdain?We return to the moments leading up to Jeremy’s disappearance and begin to unravel theories around what could’ve happened to him that Halloween night.

7 Huhti 202521min

 What Happened to Jeremy Jourdain? Episode 3: Alone in the Search

What Happened to Jeremy Jourdain? Episode 3: Alone in the Search

In this episode, we dive into the challenges the Jourdain’s faced after Jeremy went missing, the emotional toll of searching without answers, and the systemic issues that made this case feel invisible...

31 Maalis 202520min

What Happened to Jeremy Jourdain? Episode 2: Halloween Night

What Happened to Jeremy Jourdain? Episode 2: Halloween Night

Episode 2 begins on Halloween night, 2016, as the search for Jeremy Jourdain unfolds in the hours after his disappearance.

24 Maalis 202521min

What Happened to Jeremy Jourdain?

What Happened to Jeremy Jourdain?

17-year-old Jeremy Jourdain disappeared on Halloween night 2016, vanishing into thin air in Bemidji, Minnesota. Season Two of A Heavy Weight explores Jeremy's disappearance.

17 Maalis 202525min

Who Killed Sheri Herr?

Who Killed Sheri Herr?

Uncover the chilling details of Sheri Herr’s case, where a young woman was brutally attacked in her own home in rural Indiana. This episode examines the gaps in the investigation, and the disturbing q...

10 Maalis 202517min

Suosittua kategoriassa True crime

jaljilla
maanantaimysteeri
murhan-anatomia
palmujen-varjoissa
i-dont-like-mondays
backmanholmavuo
joku-tietaa-jotain-2
kurja-juttu
piinan-kirous-2
rss-jaljilla
viimeinen-havainto
rss-paha-syntyi-pohjolassa
paha-syntyi-pohjolassa-bonuskausi
sattuman-vaara
huijarit
rss-murhan-anatomia
hiljaisia-huutoja
rss-palmujen-varjoissa
motiivina-mustasukkaisuus
rss-maanantaimysteeri-2