The Murder of Tammy Jo Blanton

Sarah Boone calls authorities to report that her boyfriend, Jorge Torres Jr. is dead in their home in Winter Park, Florida. The couple had been drinking the night before and thought it would be “funny” if Mr. Torres crawled inside a suitcase and Ms.Boone zipped him inside. She then goes upstairs and passes out in her bed. When she woke up the next morning she finds Torres still in the suitcase and unresponsive. After police uncovered video from Boone’s phone with Torres yelling Boones name and attempting to escape, they charge her with second-degree murder. In this episode of Body Bags, forensics expert Joseph Scott Morgan and Jackie Howard discuss what happens to your body when it’s deprived of oxygen, positional vs. compression asphyxiation, how much of a role the couple’s alcohol consumption played into the case, injuries sustained by Mr. Torres, and much more.    Show Notes: 0:00 - Intro 1:40 - Background and overview of case 3:25 - Cause of death 5:40 - Positional asphyxiation 8:00 - What volume of oxygen does your brain require? 10:30 - What does lack of oxygen do to your body? 15:45 - How is it exactly that lack of oxygen makes you die? 18:05 - Fear of running out of oxygen 20:25 - Other items found in the suitcase 23:25 - Compression asphyxia vs. Positional asphyxia 26:35 - How compressed does your chest have to be for asphyxiation to occur? 28:45 - How much of a role did alcohol play in this case? 30:55 - Discovering a body in a suitcase 31:35 - Injuries Mr. Torres sustained 35:40 - Could Torres have gotten out of the suitcase? 37:55 - History of domestic violence 39:14 - Wrap upSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

25 Okt 202239min

On Jan. 18, 2021, 46-year-old Francis Kelly’s body was discovered. Police find Kelly on his couch, in his home, and a bag of cocaine underneath him. The unexpected autopsy says he died of strangulation. All while during a heated custody battle between Kelly and Littlefield.   In this episode of Body Bags, forensics expert Joseph Scott Morgan and Jackie Howard discuss how Francis Kelly’s death was ultimately a staged overdose, the significant differences between fentanyl and cocaine, how the body reacts to the different drugs, why strangulation was not obvious to investigators, and much more!    Show Notes: 0:00 - Introduction to Body Bags with forensics expert Joseph Scott Morgan and producer Jackie Howard  0:36 - Brief overview of the homicide case involving victim Francis Kelly 1:14 - Introduction of CrimeOnline’s Jackie Howard 2:09 - When Francis Kelly's body was discovered, police found him on his couch in his home and a bag of cocaine underneath him 2:57 - The difference between fentanyl and cocaine 4:32 - Left ventricular hypertrophy 8:11 - Fentanyl was originally developed as a partner for surgical use 10:00 - How fentanyl works within the body vs. cocaine  11:08 - Narcan and its uses 16:03 - Questions: How did he get the fentanyl in his body? Is that a normal way of taking fentanyl? Is that way going to have a different reaction in the body? Would he have tasted it? Does ingesting it offer a different kind of effect?   19:26 - What is skin popping? 24:52 - “There is nothing as an investigator that will make you stop cold in your tracks than an unexpected result at autopsy. It's something that makes you question your abilities. It's something that makes you question the care that you took with the case because this is key: Once the scene has been left, the body has been removed from the scene, and can never reset.” 25:34 - Autopsy reports that Kelly was in fact strangled and did not OD as suspected  26:32 - Question: Kelly was strangled with a tie. Why was that not originally obvious? Specifically, because ligature marks typically leave a mark   31:51 - We later find out that Kelly's death was a result of a custody dispute between Littlefield and Kelly. Littlefield claimed Kelly was abusive 32:22 - Question: The other thing that we find out, which I find very interesting and kind of explains some things about the cocaine, knowing that he died from fentanyl and that it was cocaine that was found. We're looking at a good case of staging here, aren't we, Joe? 38:57 - The verdict is in 39:28 - Heidi Littlefield was sentenced to 115 years in a state prison, which included 60 years for murder. 20 years for attempted poisonings, and 35 years for conspiracy to commit murder resulting in a deathSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

18 Okt 202240min

On January 7th, 1972, Nancy Anderson, 19, is found dead in her Waikiki apartment with over 60 stab wounds. The case goes cold for fifty years until new DNA technology and detective work leads to the arrest of a suspect: Tudor Chirila Jr. In this episode of Body Bags, forensics expert Joseph Scott Morgan and Jackie Howard discuss the lack of evidence the crime scene, why Nancy’s roommate thought this might have been a suicide, distinguishing between stab wounds, how phenotyping lead to the breakthrough in this case, and much more.    Show Notes: 0:00 - Intro 2:37 - Background and overview of case 4:15 - How do you investigate a case once it's gone cold? 7:20 - Stab wounds 11:30 - No evidence of foul play at the crime scene 15:45 - The roommate and thinking Nancy had comitted suicide  18:40 - Water running in the bathroom 21:00 - How do you distinguish between wounds? 24:40 - The salesman as suspects 26:35 - Bathrooms as a popular crime scene 30:05 - Blood testing process 35:35 - How do you preserve evidence? 41:17 - What is Phenotyping and how did it help the investigation? 47:55 - Genealogy and a son 49:20 - The suspect is found 50:43 - Wrap up See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

11 Okt 202251min

Eliza Fletcher, a Memphis teacher and mother, is reported missing the morning of September 2, 2022 after she doesn't return home from her morning jog. A search is launched shortly thereafter and comes to an end on September 5th when her body is found by police. Suspect, Cleotha Abston has been arrested and charged for her murder.  In this episode of Body Bags, forensics expert Joseph Scott Morgan and Jackie Howard discuss what the autopsy report shows, what her cause of death was determined to be, what drugs were found in her system, and more.   Show Notes: 0:00 - Intro 0:50 - Background and overview of case 1:42 - The autopsy report: how you read it and what you learn from it 16:17 - Eliza’s cause of death 22:16 - What the gunshot wound tells us 26:23 - Internal and external beveling 28:03 - Le Fort fracture 32:25 - Submission 34:10 - Fentanyl  40:13 - Was Eliza Fletcher raped? 43:36 - Wrap up See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

4 Okt 202244min

It’s the morning of March 31st, 2020 a jogger finds Dr. Beth Potter and her husband Robin Carre shot in the head execution-style in University of Wisconsin Arboretum. Carre is pronounced dead on the scene by police while his wife, who was still alive, was rushed to the hospital where she also dies. Initially the police believed this to be a random homicide, but after reviewing video surveillance and GPS data, they redirect their sights on a potential suspect: Khari Sanford - the boyfriend of the victim’s adopted daughter Mimi.  In this episode of Body Bags, forensics expert Joseph Scott Morgan and Jackie Howard discuss the gruesome nature of this case, how the cooler temperature affected the crime scene (specifically, the blood), how conscious Dr. Potter was for the hours that she was alive after the attack and the motive of the suspect.  Show Notes: 0:00 - Intro 1:32 - Background and overview of the case 5:21 - Did Robin Carre die from his gunshot wound/was it exacerbated from the cold temperature? 7:23 - Was Dr. Potter really still breathing when they found her? 9:34 - The significance of the area where you’re shot 12:01 - How do we know the victims were killed on the pathway where they were found? 16:15 - Would the cooler temperatures affect the state of the blood found at the crime scene? 18:26 - Shell casings 21:10 - Was Dr. Potter in and out of consciousness the whole night before she was found? 25:14 - Finding the suspect, Khari Sanford (the boyfriend of the victim’s daughter) 29:41 - Hearsay and the weight is has in a court of law 33:20 - Sanford and Mimi (the victim’s daughter) reportedly spoke of the parents having “bands of money” and that they were “rich”  36:35 - Wrap up and final detailsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

27 Sep 202237min

Pamela Hargan and her daughter Helen were found dead in their home in McLean, Virginia, the victims of an apparent murder-suicide, in July 2017. Once police investigated further, they realized that the crime scene had been staged and this was a homicide that they were looking at. Eventually, police narrowed it down to one prime suspect - Pamela’s oldest daughter Megan.  In this episode of Body Bags, forensics expert Joseph Scott Morgan and Jackie Howard discuss how the police realized the crime scene was staged, the significance of where the gun was found, blood spatter patterns, how they came to suspect Pamela’s oldest daughter Megan, and much more.   Show Notes: 0:00 - Intro 1:32 - Background and overview of the case 3:35 - How did the police know that the crime scene had been staged? 7:05 - The significance of the location where the gun was found  10:08 - The forces of gravity and homicide v. suicide investigations 15:45 - Gunshot residue 19:30 -  Blood spatter pattern 25:20 - After recreating the crime scene, what did they discover about Pamela’s death? 29:55 - What happens when someone is shot in the head? 34:30 - Pamela’s oldest daughter, Megan, is charged with the murder 38:35 - Megan’s phone call to her boyfriend 40:00 - After the police realized the crime scene was staged, how did they start investigating the case as a homicide? 44:25 -  Wrapping up and final details of the caseSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

20 Sep 202246min

Dr. Amie Harwick, a sex therapist and former fiancé of actor Drew Carey, is found unresponsive under a balcony in her Hollywood Hills home on the morning of February 15th, 2020. She is rushed to the hospital, but unfortunately, passes away. The evidence at the crime scene and on Harwick’s body indicated signs of a struggle and her having been thrown from the balcony.   In this episode of Body Bags, forensics expert Joseph Scott Morgan and Jackie Howard discuss blunt force trauma, the difference between falling/being thrown from a great height, how to tell in what order injuries occur, and why a nicotine syringe became a major factor in this case.   Show Notes: 0:00 - Intro 1:25 - Background and overview of the case 3:45 - Where do you start with a case like this? 5:10 - Amie Harwick being thrown from her balcony 7:30 - How do we know she was thrown off the balcony? 15:45 - Do the injuries differ depending on whether you are thrown from a great height or fall from one? 19:00 - Blunt force trauma 20:10 -  How does the M.E. go about examining all the injuries? 25:50 - Is it possible that Amie was beaten and that caused the injuries to her liver, not the fall? 29:40 - How can you tell what order the injuries happened in? 32:00 - If Amie fell, and was not thrown, would her death still be considered blunt force trauma? 34:00 - Suspects in Amie’s case  34:55 - How investigators suspect the murder played out 36:40 - Finding a nicotine filled syringe and what that signifies  42:10 - Harwick’s ex-boyfriend, Gareth Pursehouse, becomes the prime suspect 44:45 - Pursehouse has been charged with murder, first degree residential burglary, and special circumstance allegation of lying in wait.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

13 Sep 202246min

Eliza Fletcher, a 34-year old mother of Memphis, Tennessee went missing around 4am, September 2nd, 2022 while out for a morning run. CCTV footage shows her being forced into an SUV. An arrest has been made in connection to her disappearance. Eliza Fletcher's remains have now been found and positively identified.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

6 Sep 20228min