Forensic Transmissions

Atlanta attorney Claud “Tex” McIver shot and killed his wife, businesswoman Diane McIver, in September 2017, as they were driving with a friend from their ranch to their condo in Buckhead, Atlanta. The friend, Dani Jo Carter, was at the wheel, Diana McIver in the passenger seat, and Tex in the back. He has maintained the shooting was an accident. Prosecutors claimed he had been arguing with his wife, who had recently changed her will. In terms of income, Tex McIver was apparently worth a lot less than Diane.

This excerpt includes the testimony of family friend and publicity expert Bill Crane. In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, according to Crane Tex McIver allegedly asked him, acting as a family spokesman to retract a statement made to the media on McIver’s behalf. Crane told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in September that Tex pulled out his gun because he was worried about unrest surrounding possible Black Lives Matter protests in the area where they had pulled off the interstate. McIver’s attorney would later step away from the claim that the couple was worried about Black Lives Matter, but Crane told McIver that he could not lie on his friend’s behalf.

McIver was found guilt of murder, and sentenced to life without parole.

Listen to the episode here.

Atlanta attorney Claud “Tex” McIver shot and killed his wife, businesswoman Diane McIver, in September 2017, as they were driving with a friend from their ranch to their condo in Buckhead, Atlanta. The friend, Dani Jo Carter, was at the wheel, Diana McIver in the passenger seat, and Tex in the back. He has maintained the shooting was an accident. Prosecutors claimed he had been arguing with his wife, who had recently changed her will. In terms of income, Tex McIver was apparently worth a lot less than Diane.

This excerpt includes the testimony of family friend and publicity expert Bill Crane. In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, according to Crane Tex McIver allegedly asked him, acting as a family spokesman to retract a statement made to the media on McIver’s behalf. Crane told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in September that Tex pulled out his gun because he was worried about unrest surrounding possible Black Lives Matter protests in the area where they had pulled off the interstate. McIver’s attorney would later step away from the claim that the couple was worried about Black Lives Matter, but Crane told McIver that he could not lie on his friend’s behalf.

McIver was found guilt of murder, and sentenced to life without parole.

Listen to the episode here.

On the evening of December 3, 1957, in Chicago, 11-year-old Maria Ridulph begged to be allowed to go outside as it had started to snow. She never came back. It was reported that she’d been approached by a man named “Johnny” who wanted to give her a piggyback ride. Almost six months later, in April 26, 1958, Maria Ridulph’s partially clothed body was discovered by mushroom hunters in a wooded area in northwestern Illinois. The case was closely  investigated but unsolved, and eventually closed. It was reopened in 2009, with a neighbor of the Ridulph family was arrested as a suspect in the murder. He was a 72-year-old man named Jack McCullough, formerly known as John Tessier. McCullough was arrested after a tip from his sister, who related a deathbed conversation with her mother in which her mother implicated Jack in Maria’s murder. On June 29, 2011, McCullough was arrested, and interrogated. He agreed to take a polygraph–even though he’d already taken and passed one in 1957– as long as it related to Maria, but quits when he realizes the examiner intends to ask him about his relationship with his sister, and other matters unrelated to the Ridulph murder.

In March 2016, the DeKalb County State’s Attorney announced that a post-conviction review of available evidence showed McCullough could not have been present at the place and time of Maria Ridulph’s likely abduction. McCullough was released from prison on April 15, 2016 and the charges against him were dismissed on April 22, 2016. The following year, McCullough was declared actually innocent of the crime by the DeKalb County Circuit Court.

Listen to the episode here.

On the evening of December 3, 1957, in Chicago, 11-year-old Maria Ridulph begged to be allowed to go outside as it had started to snow. She never came back. It was reported that she’d been approached by a man named “Johnny” who wanted to give her a piggyback ride. Almost six months later, in April 26, 1958, Maria Ridulph’s partially clothed body was discovered by mushroom hunters in a wooded area in northwestern Illinois. The case was closely  investigated but unsolved, and eventually closed. It was reopened in 2009, with a neighbor of the Ridulph family was arrested as a suspect in the murder. He was a 72-year-old man named Jack McCullough, formerly known as John Tessier. McCullough was arrested after a tip from his sister, who related a deathbed conversation with her mother in which her mother implicated Jack in Maria’s murder. On June 29, 2011, McCullough was arrested, and interrogated. He agreed to take a polygraph–even though he’d already taken and passed one in 1957– as long as it related to Maria, but quits when he realizes the examiner intends to ask him about his relationship with his sister, and other matters unrelated to the Ridulph murder.

In March 2016, the DeKalb County State’s Attorney announced that a post-conviction review of available evidence showed McCullough could not have been present at the place and time of Maria Ridulph’s likely abduction. McCullough was released from prison on April 15, 2016 and the charges against him were dismissed on April 22, 2016. The following year, McCullough was declared actually innocent of the crime by the DeKalb County Circuit Court.

Listen to the episode here.

(1) On December 20, 2010, rescue crews were called in to search for Casey Speed, 28, who fell off a sailboat when drunk into the San Francisco Bay. The search was suspended after eight hours. The water was 50 degrees  and Mr. Speed was not wearing a life jacket.

(2) On May 9, 1980, the southbound span of the Skyway Summit bridge over Tampa Bay, Florida was destroyed when the freighter Summit Venture collided with a pier during a thunderstorm. The collision caused six cars, a truck, and a Greyhound bus to fall 150 feet into the water, killing 35 people. The pilot of the ship was cleared of wrongdoing by both a grand jury and a Coast Guard investigation.

(3) On August 14, 2013, UPS flight 1354, crashed upon landing at Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport, in Alabama. The captain and first officer were killed and the airplane was destroyed. The accident was caused by the flight crew’s failure to monitor the aircraft’s altitude during landing.

(4) January 31, 2000, Alaska Airlines 261 crashed into the Pacific Ocean about 2.7 miles north of Anacapa Island, California. The accident was caused by faulty mechanical equipment. The 2 pilots, 3 cabin crew members, and 83 passengers on board were killed, and the airplane was destroyed.

Listen to the episode here.

(1) On December 20, 2010, rescue crews were called in to search for Casey Speed, 28, who fell off a sailboat when drunk into the San Francisco Bay. The search was suspended after eight hours. The water was 50 degrees  and Mr. Speed was not wearing a life jacket.

(2) On May 9, 1980, the southbound span of the Skyway Summit bridge over Tampa Bay, Florida was destroyed when the freighter Summit Venture collided with a pier during a thunderstorm. The collision caused six cars, a truck, and a Greyhound bus to fall 150 feet into the water, killing 35 people. The pilot of the ship was cleared of wrongdoing by both a grand jury and a Coast Guard investigation.

(3) On August 14, 2013, UPS flight 1354, crashed upon landing at Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport, in Alabama. The captain and first officer were killed and the airplane was destroyed. The accident was caused by the flight crew’s failure to monitor the aircraft’s altitude during landing.

(4) January 31, 2000, Alaska Airlines 261 crashed into the Pacific Ocean about 2.7 miles north of Anacapa Island, California. The accident was caused by faulty mechanical equipment. The 2 pilots, 3 cabin crew members, and 83 passengers on board were killed, and the airplane was destroyed.

Listen to the episode here.

On September 13 2016, a 911 dispatch operator in Ashland, Ohio received a call from a woman who had being held captive and sexually assaulted for three days by a male acquaintance. The woman, Laurie Scihlik, 38, whispered that Shawn Grate, 40, had tied her up and would not let her leave the room. She is still partially tied up, and calling on Grate’s phone. The recording is punctuated by periods of silence, as Scihlik is terrified of waking up her abductor.

A little over a year later, on the fourth day of testimony in Grate’s capital murder trial, Scihlik testified about her ordeal for almost two hours, most of it on direct examination from Ashland County Prosecutor Chris Tunnell. Dressed in a blue blouse and dark, loose-fitting pants, she never looked in the direction of the defendant, who sat impassively at the defense table. During her testimony,  Tunnell stood only a few feet from Scihlik as if to reassure her. Both here and in the 911 call, Scihlik maintains her composure admirably.

Scihlik said she was reading Bible passages while Grate went to the kitchen of his house at 363 Covert Court. She said his demeanor changed when he returned.”He started pulling the Bible out of my hand,” she said. “I looked up at him, and that’s when he said, ‘You’re not going anywhere.'”

She says she looked on Grate as an “older brother,” believed him to be “kind,” and thought he shared her interest in reading the Bible. Grate claims he did not plan to kill Scihlik, and that they were going to get married. He pleaded insanity, a grand jury indicted him on two counts of aggravated murder in the deaths of two women, and he is believed to be responsible for the deaths of at least three others.

Listen to the episode here.

On September 13 2016, a 911 dispatch operator in Ashland, Ohio received a call from a woman who had being held captive and sexually assaulted for three days by a male acquaintance. The woman, Laurie Scihlik, 38, whispered that Shawn Grate, 40, had tied her up and would not let her leave the room. She is still partially tied up, and calling on Grate’s phone. The recording is punctuated by periods of silence, as Scihlik is terrified of waking up her abductor.

A little over a year later, on the fourth day of testimony in Grate’s capital murder trial, Scihlik testified about her ordeal for almost two hours, most of it on direct examination from Ashland County Prosecutor Chris Tunnell. Dressed in a blue blouse and dark, loose-fitting pants, she never looked in the direction of the defendant, who sat impassively at the defense table. During her testimony,  Tunnell stood only a few feet from Scihlik as if to reassure her. Both here and in the 911 call, Scihlik maintains her composure admirably.

Scihlik said she was reading Bible passages while Grate went to the kitchen of his house at 363 Covert Court. She said his demeanor changed when he returned.”He started pulling the Bible out of my hand,” she said. “I looked up at him, and that’s when he said, ‘You’re not going anywhere.'”

She says she looked on Grate as an “older brother,” believed him to be “kind,” and thought he shared her interest in reading the Bible. Grate claims he did not plan to kill Scihlik, and that they were going to get married. He pleaded insanity, a grand jury indicted him on two counts of aggravated murder in the deaths of two women, and he is believed to be responsible for the deaths of at least three others.

Listen to the episode here.

On Monday Aug. 20, 2013, a young man with a AK47 and close to 500 rounds of ammunition briefly took control of the Ronald E. McNair Discovery Learning Academy just east of Atlanta. Michael Hill had not been taking his medication and was not mentally stable.

The students were evacuated and the school went into lockdown mode. When police arrived, Hill repeatedly fired shots at them. The intermediary between Hill and the police was a school bookkeeper named Antoinette Tuff, who was left alone in the front office with the shooter. In between negotiating with the police on Hill’s behalf, Tuff told him about her life struggles, including the collapse of her marriage after 30 years, and her struggles with opening her own business. She eventually convinced Hill to surrender, put his weapons aside, and allow the police come in to take him to the hospital.

“I just want you to know that I love you, though, O.K.?” she tells him as he prepares to give himself up. “And I’m proud of you.” Ms. Tuff sounds completely calm, poised, articulate and in control all the way through the call, maintaining a good rapport with both Hill (whom she refers to, before she knows his name, as “the gentleman,” and then “Michael”), and the 911 operator. Yet when the police finally arrive to arrest Hill, she breaks down in  relief

Listen to the episode here.

On Monday Aug. 20, 2013, a young man with a AK47 and close to 500 rounds of ammunition briefly took control of the Ronald E. McNair Discovery Learning Academy just east of Atlanta. Michael Hill had not been taking his medication and was not mentally stable.

The students were evacuated and the school went into lockdown mode. When police arrived, Hill repeatedly fired shots at them. The intermediary between Hill and the police was a school bookkeeper named Antoinette Tuff, who was left alone in the front office with the shooter. In between negotiating with the police on Hill’s behalf, Tuff told him about her life struggles, including the collapse of her marriage after 30 years, and her struggles with opening her own business. She eventually convinced Hill to surrender, put his weapons aside, and allow the police come in to take him to the hospital.

“I just want you to know that I love you, though, O.K.?” she tells him as he prepares to give himself up. “And I’m proud of you.” Ms. Tuff sounds completely calm, poised, articulate and in control all the way through the call, maintaining a good rapport with both Hill (whom she refers to, before she knows his name, as “the gentleman,” and then “Michael”), and the 911 operator. Yet when the police finally arrive to arrest Hill, she breaks down in  relief

Listen to the episode here.