Remains are found in two locations along the New York Coast.
Legs are found in a plastic bag on Fire Island’s Blue Point Beach. A skull was found near the remains of Long Island Serial Killer victim Jane Doe No. 3, also known as “Peaches,” on a beach in Nassau County.  We now know the body parts are from the same victim:  Karen Vergata, 34, a mother of two. 
It took nearly 30 years to identify the dismembered remains. The cause of death isn't known. 
Joseph Scott Morgan and Dave Mack look at the case of Fire Island Jane Doe. 
   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Karen Vergata: Fire Island Jane Doe No More

Join Joseph Scott Morgan every week as he explores a world that not many have had a chance to visit, the realm of death. Jo Scott will lead listeners on a journey through the blood soaked death scenes of America and then into the autopsy room to fully understand the science behind each case. Jo Scott is one America’s leading experts on applied forensics and is regularly featured on ‘Crime Stories with Nancy Grace’, ‘The Piketon Massacre’, Court TV and more.

Theme Music: Audio Network

True crime

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.

Tara Baker Cold Case Murder SOLVED After 23 YEARS

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.

Dr. Cyril Wecht – Doctor, Lawyer and Legend, A Tribute

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.

SHOCKING AUTOPSY: Who or What Killed Noah Presgrove?

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 Highlights
00:33.95 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 it See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Werner Spitz, The Original Medical Detective, a Body Bags Tribute

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.

Karen Vergata: Fire Island Jane Doe No More

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