Uncovering the Mystery: Kara Nichols' Disappearance and a Broken Family

On March 15th in 44 B.C. Julius Caesar, the Roman dictator, was assassinated by a group of senators who stabbed him 23 times during a Senate meeting. The senators claimed Caesar's concentration of power threatened the Roman Republic. However, their efforts to restore the Republic failed, and the aftermath led to a civil war and the rise of the Roman Empire. His death also led to the earliest recorded autopsy in history. In this episode of Body Bags, forensics expert Joseph Scott Morgan and special guest co-host Dave Mack discuss the purpose of autopsies, Caesar's life, and leadership, the details of how he was attacked, the injuries sustained, and how this event shaped the course of history.    Show Notes: 0:00 - Intro 1:12 - Background and overview  2:35 - What’s the purpose of an autopsy? 4:05 - Caesar’s life and work as a leader 7:15 - The day of Caesar’s assassination 9:15 - How the attack happened 10:50 - Caesar’s autopsy 13:20 - After someone is stabbed multiple times does blood keep flowing or will it eventually stop after a few hours? 17:10 - Could the doctor have attributed Caesar’s death to blood loss?  20:10 - What was the assassination plan for Caesar? Were there other injuries and what was Caesar's condition afterward? 22:10 - Where was the autopsy done? 23:40 - The start of 3D modeling 25:30 - How this event shaped history 27:05 -  OutroSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

14 Maalis 202327min

Megan Hess, a former owner of the Colorado funeral home, Sunset Mesa, has pleaded guilty to secretly dissecting corpses and selling body parts without consent from relatives of the deceased. Hess and her mother, Shirley Koch, launched a non-profit donor service organization in 2009. They forged dozens of body donor consent forms and sold the body parts for profit. They have both been convicted and sentenced for their crimes.  In this episode of Body Bags, forensics expert Joseph Scott Morgan and special guest co-host  Dave Mack discuss the purpose of funeral homes, how one decides what is done with a loved one's remains, the legal procedures for deciding what is done with bodily remains, using bodies for medical purposes, and much more. Show Notes: 0:00 - Intro 0:45 - Background  2:40 - What is the purpose of a funeral home?  5:05 - Gross Anatomy 5:50 - Deciding what is done with a body after death 8:10 - Donor Services and Megan Hess 13:35 - Can you tell if someone’s ashes aren’t real? 16:00 - Legal procedures for remains  18:10 - Non-transplant anatomical donation 19:30 - Jeff Peacock and finding out his parents were victims of Hess 23:40 - Body parts sold having certain diseases 25:30 - Using bodies for medical purposes 27:50 - Sentencing for Megan Hess and her mother Shirley Koch 28:30 - Wrap-upSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

7 Maalis 202329min

Debbie Collier, a Georgia resident, is reported missing on September 10th, 2022 after sending her daughter, Amanda, a Venmo payment for $2,385 with a message saying, “They are not going to let me go, love you.” She was found dead the next day in a ravine more than an hour north from her home. The newly released autopsy report reveals that when her body was found 80% of it was covered in second and third degree burns. Which is one of many reasons why the public was surprised to hear that the death has been ruled a suicide. In this episode of Body Bags, forensics expert Joseph Scott Morgan and special guest co-host  Dave Mack discuss Collier’s burns, the state of her clothing, the lack of debris found in her trachea, why police have ruled this a suicide, and much more.   Show Notes: 0:00 - Intro 0:52 - Background and overview of case 4:45 - Debbie Collier’s clothing and what it tells us 8:45 - The autopsy report and Collier’s burns 11:30 - Burning to kill vs. burning to cover something up 13:05 - No evidence of debris in her trachea 15:05 - Police ruling this a suicide 18:25 - Carboxyhemoglobin level and hydrocodone 19:50 - Is there an indication that the burning took place after death? 22:10 - Manner of death 24:00 - Was this really a suicide? 25:40 - Do police sometimes downplay what they’ve seen to the public? 29:00 - OutroSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

28 Helmi 202328min

We revisit the Murdaugh trial in which South Carolina lawyer, Alex Murdaugh, is currently facing trial for the murder of his wife Maggie, and his son Paul. As the trial continues, we are learning more information about the nature of the crimes and how exactly they played out. In this episode of Body Bags, forensics expert Joseph Scott Morgan and special guest co-host  Dave Mack discuss the specifics of both Paul and Maggie’s injuries, why the prosecution uses diagrams vs. photographs when showing evidence in court, whether Paul had any defensive wounds, and much more.   Show Notes: 0:00 - Intro 1:18 - Background and overview of the case 2:35 - Using diagrams in court vs. photographs 6:05 - Paul Murdaugh’s injuries  11:15 - The second shot to Paul Murdaugh’s head 14:50 - Paul’s face left intact 19:25 - Were there any type of defensive wounds on Paul? 20:30 - Maggie Murdaugh’s injuries 23:30 - Stippling around Maggie’s wounds 26:00 - Shot to the abdomen  29:00 - Was this overkill? 31:00 - Wrap up and outroSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

21 Helmi 202330min

On May 9th, 2021, in St. John’s County, Florida, 13 year old Tristyn Bailey goes missing. She was last seen by her sister just after midnight and is reported missing that morning by her family. The police and community begin searching for her that same day and at 6 p.m. that night her body is found by a neighbor in a remote area in the woods. She had been stabbed more than 100 times.  In this episode of Body Bags, forensics expert Joseph Scott Morgan and special guest co-host  Dave Mack discuss the timeline of this case, how police track and identify suspects using surveillance footage, the different kinds of stab wounds, the importance of taking photographs of potential suspects, and more.    Show Notes: 0:00 - Intro 1:32 - Background and overview of case 3:40 - Thrill killing 6:20 - The timeline  8:50 - How can investigators get blood out of something that’s already been washed? 13:30 - How do police identify and track a suspect from footage used for evidence? 16:00 - Mother’s day and siblings not finding Tristyn in her bedroom 17:40 - Different kinds of stab wounds 23:00 - Presenting medical evidence in court and defensive vs. non-defensive wounds 26:10 - Tristyn attempting to fight off the killer 27:20 - Importance of taking photographs of potential suspects and all parts of their body 30:40 - Aiden Fucci 32:50 - Aspects of premeditation and Fucci’s mother’s awareness of the crime 34:50 - Fucci pleading not guilty, his story constantly changing, and then finally pleading guilty 36:30 - Wrap-up and outroSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

14 Helmi 202335min

Ana Walshe, a property manager for Tishman Speyer, goes missing January 1, 2023. She is reported missing by her employer and by her husband Brian Walshe. Her husband is arrested on January 8th and charged with misleading the police investigation. Police then obtained a search warrant to the couple’s home where in the basement they find a damaged and bloody knife. In this episode of Body Bags, forensics expert Joseph Scott Morgan and Jackie Howard discuss the timeline of Ana’s disappearance, the bloody knife found in the basement, the logistics of dismembering a body, looking at suspects deviating from their behavior, and much more.   Show Notes: 0:00 - Intro 1:18 - Background and overview of the case 2:45 - The disappearance timeline 4:20 - Bloody knife in the basement 7:20 -  Evidence found from blood 10:40 - The husband and tracking his moves 14:20 - Hacksaw 15:20 - Dismembering a body 18:45 - Determining the search radius for a missing body 23:00 - Suspects deviating from their regular behaviors 26:20 - Investigators relying on intuition 28:20 - Death threats 29:45 - OutroSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

7 Helmi 202330min

On the evening of February 16th, 2022 Jared Bridegan is dropping off his daughter at his ex-wife’s home. On the drive over he has to stop because there’s a tire in the middle of the road and he cannot go around it. He steps out of the car to go and move it whereupon he is shot multiple times. Henry Tenon has been charged with Bridegan’s murder. His only known connection to Bridegan is that he is a former tenant of a property owned by Bridegan’s ex-wifes current husband. In this episode of Body Bags, forensics expert Joseph Scott Morgan and Jackie Howard discuss the longevity and complexity of this case, the logistics of the shooting itself, the charges against the suspect, the evidence found from the tire and shell casings, and much more.   Show Notes: 0:00 - Intro 1:18 - Background and overview of the case 3:25 - The logistics of the shooting 6:25 - Charges against the suspect 10:00 - Tenon’s truck  11:15 - Evidence from the tire 13:15 - Car rims and fingerprints 15:40 - Planning and pre-meditation 20:20 - The choke point and Florida climate  24:55 - Shell casings 30:15 - Video surveillance and tracking down the owner of the blue truck 32:45 - The longevity and complexity of this case 35:00 - OutroSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

31 Tammi 202334min

South Carolina lawyer, Alex Murdaugh, is currently facing trial for the murder of his wife and son. Due to the gruesome nature of the crime, people have begun to look extensively into the family’s history and background and in doing that have found connections with them and other deaths that had been initially ruled as accidents or deaths from natural causes. However, upon further investigation it seems that there may be something much darker at play.  In this episode of Body Bags, forensics expert Joseph Scott Morgan and special guest co-host  Dave Mack discuss the Murdaugh family history and background, the various victims of this family, the injuries each of them sustained, how you marry anecdotal evidence with physical evidence, and much more.   Show Notes: 0:00 - Intro 2:30 - Background and overview of case 6:50 - The 911 call 9:50 - Victims were shot with different weapons 11:40 - Injuries sustained by Paul 15:05 - Differences ammunition makes in injuries 19:10 - Gloria Satterfield 21:20 - What happened the day that Gloria Satterfield died? 25:00 - Tying together anecdotal evidence and physical evidence 28:20 - Steven Smith 31:20 - Steven’s injuries 35:30 - Using a car as a weapon 37:00 - How are the Murdaugh’s connected to Steven’s death? 38:30 - Mallory Beach 42:45 - How Mallory’s death shined a light on the Murdaugh family 44:35 - OutroSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

24 Tammi 202345min