Mayhem in the Morgue | The Weather Outside Is Frightful

Content Warning: This episode contains discussion of death of individuals. If you’re sensitive to this topic, this episode may not be for you.

When winter weather hits, the danger is not only what happens on the roads, but also what happens when the heat goes out, help slows down, and people misjudge how quickly the body loses it margin for error. In this episode of Mayhem in the Morgue, Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Kendall Crowns breaks down hypothermia through three cases: a bascule bridge immersion event, an elderly woman whose final behavior included paradoxical undressing and terminal burrowing, and an unidentified man recovered frozen inside a Chicago railcar.

Highlights

• (0:00) Welcome to Mayhem in the Morgue with Dr. Kendall Crowns

• (0:15) Winter storm context, power outages, and why hypothermia cases spike

• (2:00) Common scenarios in cold exposure fatalities

• (2:30) Dry vs. immersion hypothermia and why water changes the timeline

• (3:00) Case one: bascule bridge repairs, harness failure, and near-freezing immersion

• (4:30) Cold water heat transfer, loss of consciousness, and arrhythmia risk

• (5:15) Hypothermia progression: early shivering and impaired judgment, then shivering stops as confusion escalates and paradoxical undressing can appear, including alcohol’s role

• (8:00) Case two: elderly woman, initial foul play concern, paradoxical undressing, and terminal burrowing

• (10:45) Case three: unidentified man recovered frozen from a railcar in Chicago and what it takes to thaw remains before autopsy

• (12:30) Thawing protocol: warming lights, artifact risk, and the unglamorous “poke test”

• (14:30) The classic triad and why hypothermia is a diagnosis built from findings plus context

About the Host: Dr. Kendall Crowns

Dr. Crowns is the Chief Medical Examiner for Travis County, Texas, and a nationally recognized forensic pathologist. He has led death investigations in Travis County, Fort Worth, Chicago, and Kansas. Over his career, he has performed thousands of autopsies and testified in court hundreds of times as an expert witness. A frequent contributor to Crime Stories with Nancy Grace, Dr. Crowns brings unparalleled insight into the strange, grisly, and sometimes absurd realities of forensic pathology.

About the Show

Mayhem in the Morgue takes listeners inside the bloody, bizarre, and often unbelievable world of forensic pathology. Hosted by Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Kendall Crowns, each episode delivers real-life cases from the morgue, the crime scene, and the courtroom. Expect gallows humor, hard truths, and unforgettable investigations.

Connect and Learn More

Learn more about Dr. Kendall Crowns on Linkedin. Catch him regularly on Crime Stories with Nancy Grace and follow Mayhem in the Morgue where you get your podcasts.

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