A Minnesota man claims his mistress fatally shot herself with his gun. The question of Murder or Suicide plays out in this episode of Body Bags with Joseph Scott Morgan. Joe will walk you through all of the forensic problems with the story being told. And when everything is said and done, you decide, was it murder, or suicide?   Transcript Highlights  00:01:20 Would a right-handed person use left hand to shoot  00:02:19 Discuss murder or suicide  00:04:15 Talk about “accidental”  00:05:51Discuss science and determination  00:11:16 How quick does a body become stiff  00:13:50 Different jurisdictions  00:18:25 Talk about the scene  00:21:40 Difference in suicide among genders  00:26:27Discuss drying blood  00:29:31Discuss ER Nurse can’t do CPR  00:33:14 Talk about short timeline  00:38:50 Discuss can you wash away evidence?  00:41:36 Talk about skin, brain, muzzle flash   00:44:14 Discuss desire to help people and achieve and throw it all away    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Body Bags with Joseph Scott Morgan: Murder or Suicide - The Wild Life and Sad Death of Alex Pennig

Nancy Grace dives deep into the day’s most shocking crimes and asks the tough questions in her new daily podcast – Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Nancy Grace had a perfect conviction record during her decade as a prosecutor and used her TV show to find missing people, fugitives on the run and unseen clues. Now, she will use the power of her huge social media following and the immediacy of the internet to deliver daily bombshells!

Theme Music: Audio Network

News

True crime

Emotions are running high for the loved ones of Rachel Morin after police locate and arrest Victor Antonio Martinez Hernandez. The suspect in Rachel Morin's brutal murder is found casually sitting in a Tulsa, Oklahoma bar. During the arrest, Hernandez initially lies to authorities about his true identity and denies any knowledge of the attack on a 9-year-old little girl in Los Angeles and the murder of Morin.  The Morin family and investigators strongly believe that the two known crimes are not the only ones Victor Hernandez committed while in the U.S. The attack on a little girl and her mother in L.A. came just two months after Hernandez allegedly murdered a woman in his native El Salvador. Rachel Morin’s body was found nearly five months later, and another 10 months passed before Hernandez’s arrest. More than a year of Hernandez’s time in the U.S. is still unaccounted for. While there is a sense of closure, Morin’s sister, Rebekah, says it also feels like "day one all over again." Matt McMahon, the father of Morin’s eldest daughter, says the Ma and Pa trail feels like it ‘belongs to Rachel again,’ and is even more grateful for the arrest as their daughter, Faye, is now expecting her own little girl later this year. McMahon describes the news as bittersweet, knowing how excited Rachel Morin would be to learn she was going to be a grandmother.  Joining Nancy Grace today:  Patty Morin - Rachel Morin’s Mother Randolph Rice - Morin Family Attorney - Rice, Murtha & Psoras, LLCPH Website: https://RiceLawMd.com  Dr. Bethany Marshall – Psychoanalyst (Beverly Hills); X: @DrBethanyLive/ Instagram & TikTok: drbethanymarshall; Appearing in “Paris in Love” on Peacock; BOOK: “Deal Breaker: When to work on a relationship and when to walk away” Chris McDonough – Director At the Cold Case Foundation, Former Homicide Detective; Host of YouTube channel: “The Interview Room” Vincent Hill – Anchor/Reporter for FOX 45 in Baltimore, Former Police Officer and Private Investigator; Author: “Playbook to A Murder;” X & IG: @VincentHillTV See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

TRAIL-MOM RACHEL MORIN'S BLUDGEON-KILLER BUSTED: MOM BREAKS SILENCE

Newly-wed teacher sexually abuses student for a year. Amish family robbed of their horse and buggy! For more crime and justice news go to crimeonline.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Crime Alert 06.20.24

Chelsea Grimm attends Pace University in New York to study psychology. She graduates with a master's degree in social work. Putting her degree to good use, she works for the New York City Department of Education as a  social worker. Chelsea Grimm makes a change, heading to the West Coast, and settling in Ocean Beach, California.  Chelsea making plans to meet her parents at a wedding in Connecticut, but when she can't find an airline that will let her fly with her pet Bearded Dragon, Chelsea decides to make it a road trip, using the travel to take photos of forgotten soldiers and other special people at cemeteries across the country. On September 24, Chelsea Grimm leaves San Diego and heads for Connecticut.   Three days into her cross-country trip, Grimm arrives in Phoenix, Arizona, where she meets her sister and a friend. Grimm makes plans to meet the same friend for lunch the next day but cancels the plans.  On that same day, she stops at a motel in Seligman, about 160 miles north of Phoenix. The clerk says Grimm seems confused as she tries to book a room, exchanging Euros instead of US Currency. She mentions wanting to be "off-grid" and asks if there are any places in town that would exchange Euros.   From a motel in Seligman, Arizona, Chelsea Grimm calls her parents and tells them she isn't going to make it to Connecticut on time for the wedding, the trip is taking too long. She tells them she is going to camp out nearby for a couple of days and head back home to San Diego. The next day, September 28, Grimm leaves the motel and heads 40 miles east to a war memorial cemetery in Williams, Arizona. Williams police are alerted to a suspicious vehicle and when the officer checks, he finds Chelsea Grimm seated in her car, crying. She tells the officer she gets emotional taking photos for a lost soldier project and doesn't want to drive while crying.  The officer spends nearly 9 minutes with Grimm and asks if she has a hotel room for the night. She says she is going to camp and the officer directs her not to camp in the city, but she can sleep at Love's Truck Stop nearby, he tells her she won't be bothered there   Two days after talking to the police officer in Williams, Arizona, Grimm finds herself 19 miles west of Williams Ash Fork, Arizona. She is camping out in her Ford Focus SUV. A local woodcutter sees Grimm and talks to her for a few minutes, saying she isn't in distress or need of help. It is September 30. The woodcutter in Ash Fork, Arizona, is the last person to see Chelsea Grimm.  Grimm's parents report her missing on October 4. The next day, her 2019 White Ford Escape SUV is found abandoned on the side of the road with two flat tires in the middle of Forest Service Road 6 in the Kaibad National Forest, northeast of Ash Fork. Inside the vehicle, all of Chelsea Grimm's personal belongings such as her wallet, driver's license, clothes, sleeping bag, and her bearded dragon are gone. Police say there is no evidence of foul play  The area where Grimm's locked SUV is found is an area popular with hunters and loggers. An extensive search is conducted of a 3-mile radius around where her car is discovered. Her family believes that due to the intensity of the search, if Chelsea is in the area, she will be found. Hunters and loggers in the area also strongly believe she is not there. Chelsea Grimm's family hires a private investigator, Kelly Townsend, to help with the case. Joining Nancy Grace Today:  Marc Klaas – Founder, KlaasKids Foundation; X: @PollyDad Andrew Stoltmann - Chicago Attorney and Adjunct law professor at Northwestern University, co-author of the book Waging War on Wall Street: My Battles Suing Banks and Brokerage Firms; X: @Stoltmann1971  Dr. Leslie Dobson - Clinical and Forensic Psychologist    Justin Yentes - Private Investigator for Grimm Family and Criminal Defense Investigator at Arizona Investigative Associates  Zara Barker - Reporter, Fox 5 San Diego; X @zarabarkertv   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

PACE GRAD DISAPPEARS ON WAY TO FAMILY WEDDING: WHERE'S CHELSEA?

Sucker puncher poses for victim's photo. Suspect leads wild chase, then casually asks for a cigarette.  For more crime and justice news go to crimeonline.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Crime Alert 06.19.24

The day Madeline Soto vanished, her mother, Jennifer, writes in a sworn statement that she saw her daughter getting ready for school that morning.  In a later interview, Jennifer Soto instead says she heard someone in the kitchen. She assumes it's Madeline, but that isn't the only change in the mother's story. Jennifer finally tells investigators she last saw her 13-year-old daughter the night before, when she sent Madeline to another bedroom with Stephan Sterns.  According to Mom, this is a common arrangement when she needs to get a good night's sleep.  Early in the investigation, Stephan Sterns was a person of interest. The day Madeline Soto is reported missing, investigators allegedly found 1,700 sexually explicit images on Sterns's cell phone. Investigators have also said they found images and video on Sterns’ phone showing he molested her for years.  Initially, Stephan Sterns tells investigators he drops the girl off near Hunter's Creek Middle School. However, around that same time, investigators say a license plate reader detected Sterns's car miles away from the school. Using data from license plate readers and surveillance video, investigators track Sterns's car as it travels east from Kissimmee toward St. Cloud and Old Hickory Tree Road, where Madeline Soto's body is found lying face down near bamboo trees covered in debris.  Investigators obtain surveillance video from the morning Madeline Soto is reported missing a trash compactor where a tread from Stephan Sterns's car is found as well as items belonging to Madeline Soto, like her black backpack. Sterns is caught on video throwing these objects in the trash compactor.  Minutes later, Sterns is caught on surveillance video at 7:36 a.m. driving away from the Kissimmee, Florida neighborhood with a female in the front passenger seat.   Investigators believe the female seen at 7:36 a.m. in the surveillance video in the front passenger seat of Stephan Sterns's vehicle is Madeline Soto's dead body propped up and buckled into the seat to appear as a living person, but closer inspection of the video shows her head leaning toward her shoulder with her mouth open.  Sterns is caught on surveillance video again at 8:19 am when he is seen entering the front security gate of the neighborhood with a female, in the same position as the surveillance video. Stephan Sterns's car is seen on surveillance footage again, this time turning into the parking garage of Holiday Inn Club Vacations in Orlando. He drives to the top level of the parking garage and gets out of his car around 9:42 a.m. A man matching Sterns's description is seen allegedly opening the trunk, walking around to the passenger seat, opening the door, and carrying what appears to be a "limp female body" to the trunk of the vehicle. At 9:44 a.m. the vehicle is seen on surveillance video leaving the parking garage and driving away. The Florida State Attorney's office release more than 900 pages of information showing how investigators, using surveillance videos and license plate readers tracked Stephan Sterns leaving an apartment complex in Kissimmee on the morning of February 26, and driving to an area of St. Cloud where Madeline Soto's body is found four days later. It remains unclear as to how Madeline Soto died. The Orange-Osceola State Attorney’s Office announced that it filed 60 counts against Sterns, including:  Eight counts of Sexual Battery on a Child Under 12 Five counts of Sexual Battery with a Child, 12-18 Seven counts of Lewd or Lascivious Molestation 40 counts of Unlawful Possession of Materials Depicting Sexual Performance by a Child, 10 or More  Stephan Sterns will face the death penalty if convicted of the murder of Madeline Soto.  JOINING NANCY GRACE TODAY:   Terasina Niles - Madeline's Aunt    Jarrett Ferentino – Pennsylvania Attorney/Homicide Prosecutor,; Facebook & Instagram: Jarrett Ferentino; Host: “True Crime Boss” Podcast Dr. Jorey Krawczyn – Police Psychologist, Adjunct Faculty with Saint Leo University; Research Consultant with Blue Wall Institute, Author: Operation S.O.S. – Practical Recommendations to Help “Stop Officer Suicide”  Joe Scott Morgan – Professor of Forensics: Jacksonville State University, Author, “Blood Beneath My Feet,” and Host: “Body Bags with Joseph Scott Morgan;” X: @JoScottForensic Shannon Butler - Investigative Reporter at WFTV-9 Florida See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Body Bags with Joseph Scott Morgan: Murder or Suicide - The Wild Life and Sad Death of Alex Pennig

Download our free app to listen on your phone