Forensic Transmissions

  On August 15, 2016, Mina Harrouff of Stuart, Florida, noticed her son Austin drinking cooking oil mixed with Parmesan cheese. Austin had been acting strangely for a while. He told his parents he needed to guard them, as he felt an evil presence in the house. He also said he’d “hypnotized himself” and was unable to sleep. Some time that day, Austin asked Google the unusual question, “What’s the weakest thing about a centaur?”. Then, after an argument with his father during dinner, the muscular college student stormed out of the family home.

He then walked four miles across town, wearing only his underwear, and attacked a married couple John Stevens, 59, and Michelle Mishcon, 53, who were sitting out on their porch. He stabbed the pair to death with a knife, and, while growling like a dog, got down on all fours and began eating John Stevens’s face. When police arrived, he told them, “Help me, I ate something bad.” When asked what he had eaten, Harrouff replied, “Humans,” and spat out a piece of flesh.

  According an FBI toxicology report, the teenager had no detectable hallucinogenic drugs in his system. He has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and other charges. The case will go to trial in November 2019. This episode contains the police interview with Austin’s shocked and puzzled parents, Mina and Wade Harrouff, the night of his arrest,

Listen to the episode here.

Listen to the episode here (warning: poor sound quality).

On February 18, 2019, Chris Watts, 33, was visited in Dodge Correctional Institution, Waupun, Wisconsin, by FBI Special Agent Graham Coder, Frederick Police Department Detective Dave Baumhover, and CBI Agent Tammy Lee, who conducted the original polygraph that Watts failed. Watts was amenable to the interview, which lasted for almost five hours. In response to […]

   After eight years together, blonde housewife Sabrina Limon and her railroad worker husband Robert decided to make suburban life in San Bernadino County more exciting. They “opened up” their marriage, joining the local swingers’ scene, hosting raucous parties taking “adult” vacations. Then, while working at Costco offering free samples to shoppers, Sabrina, 38, met Jonathan Hearn, 27, a firefighter with an impressive vocabulary. Hearn was a devout Christian, but that didn’t stop him from pursuing the older woman, and after a torrid affair, the pair fell seriously in love. Believing Robert would never countenance a divorce, Sabrina and Jonathan decided God’s purpose was for them to be together, and, as Hearn said on the stand, “Bob had to go.”

The couple’s first plan involved poisoning Robert with arsenic laced banana pudding. In July 2104, Hearn tested out the poison by feeding a “pretty obnoxious” neighborhood dog a piece of arsenic-spiked salmon. The dog became quiet, but Sabrina lost her nerve. Instead, a month later, Hearn shot Robert at the railroad in Tehachapi, where he worked. Suspicions were raised when Jonathan moved in with the Sabrina shortly thereafter; a police wiretap uncovered the murder. Hearn took a plea deal, testifying against Limon and pleading guilty to manslaughter to avoid a life sentence. He received 25 years and four months in prison. Sabrina Limon was convicted of murder and several other charges, and received a similar sentence.

This episode contains audio from Day 13 of Limon’s trial, which took place in September 2017. Sabrina is on the stand. Even on direct examination, she isn’t a convincing witness. She’s nervous and hesitant; her responses are short and vague, and she has little to offer in her own defense.

Listen to the episode here.

Last month, in response to demands from the press, the psychiatric interviews and evaluations of mass murderer James Holmes were released. In 2012, Holmes walked into a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado and opened fire during a midnight screening of Batman Returns. A dozen people were killed and 58 others wounded.

In this excerpt from 25 hours of interviews, court-appointed psychiatrist Dr. William Reid questions Holmes about his motives and his experiences after his arrest. Holmes is laconic and taciturn, giving nothing away. He doesn’t reveal a motive for the crime.  He seems bored by the questions, and repeats that he feels nothing, and has nothing to say. He expresses no regret, admitting that he replays the shooting in his head from time to time–apparently as a way to stave off boredom.

Holmes was a grad student at the time of the shooting. We learn that he expressed hostility towards his campus psychiatrist, Dr. Lynne Fenton, sending her half-burned dollar bills when she raised her fees and mistakenly wrote the wrong last name on his prescription, but he made no threats and had no history of violence.

Holmes pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, and Dr. Reid’s evaluation was intended to help determine whether or not he was competent to stand trial. He was convicted of murder, and sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Listen to the episode here.