Tonight on Investigation: Homicide, the focus turns to one of the most disturbing and complex fronts in modern law enforcement: Internet Crimes Against Children.

The episode features Jay Houston, a veteran investigator who spent more than two decades confronting online child exploitation in Mississippi and around the world. Houston now serves as director of training for the Child Rescue Coalition, but his expertise was earned in the field.

Houston served 24 years in law enforcement before retiring in 2021, spending more than half of his career with the Mississippi Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, where he rose from investigator to commander and earned multiple commendations. Since 2009, he has trained child exploitation investigators internationally for agencies including the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, INTERPOL, Brazil’s Federal Police and Australia’s ARGOS task force, and has been qualified as an expert witness in child exploitation investigations and victim identification.

In this episode, Houston talks with Therese Apel and Amanda Johansson about  how investigators identify predators who hide behind screens, locate victims across borders, and manage the emotional toll of work few people ever see. It is a rare look at how the men and women fighting online child exploitation do their jobs—and why it matters.

This episode is produced by Daniel Anderson at Audio Alchemy Productions.

Mississippi’s first responders are pushing back as lawmakers debate the future of public employee retirement during the current legislative session. In this episode of Investigation: Homicide, we sit down with Reservoir Fire Chief Josh Swales to break down what Tier 5 of the Public Employees’ Retirement System really means for those on the front lines.

Set to apply to new hires beginning March 1, 2026, Tier 5 requires 35 years of service for full retirement and replaces a traditional pension with a hybrid plan that includes a smaller guaranteed benefit and a market-based investment account. First responder organizations warn the changes could worsen recruitment and retention problems and ultimately impact public safety.

Swales also responds to recent remarks by Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann suggesting first responders live longer because they “stay healthy,” a claim law enforcement and fire leaders say ignores the medical realities of high-risk professions.

This conversation explores the facts behind Tier 5, the concerns being raised by police and fire leadership across Mississippi, and what’s at stake as the Legislature considers the future of retirement benefits for those who protect and serve.

This episode is produced by Daniel Anderson at Audio Alchemy Productions.

On this episode of Investigation: Homicide, host Therese Apel and Nicole Kral are joined by veteran Memphis-area journalist Ron Maxey to revisit one of the most haunting and high-profile cases in the Mid-South: the 2014 murder of Jessica Chambers.

Both Apel and Maxey covered the case from its earliest days, when the Panola County teenager was found burned alive on a remote rural road — a crime that drew national and international attention and stunned even seasoned investigators and reporters. The case went to trial twice, ending in hung juries both times, leaving Jessica’s murder officially unresolved.

Now, more than a decade later, the story has taken several chilling and devastating new turns. District Attorney John Champion, Investigator Tim Douglas, and now DOJ Analyst Paul Rowlett have all died in the years that have followed, in addition to other key figures in the case, and the man accused in the Chambers case is facing trial in Louisiana in another brutal homicide, raising new questions about whether justice delayed may still be justice pursued. 

In this episode, Apel and Maxey discuss with Kral what it was like reporting on the Chambers case as it unfolded, what the trials revealed and failed to resolve, and how the latest developments may reshape the public’s understanding of one of Mississippi’s most disturbing unsolved murders.

Investigation: Homicide examines the cases that leave lasting scars and the questions that refuse to go away.

This episode is produced by Daniel Anderson at Audio Alchemy Productions.

It’s a day Mississippi will never forget. October 1, 1997, a nerdy teenager walked into a high school and changed everyone’s life forever. We talk with Greg Eklund, who was an investigator with the Rankin County Sheriffs Dept at the time. Eklund takes us through the events leading up to that day and what the ripple effect has been over time.

This episode is produced by Daniel Anderson at Audio Alchemy Productions.

In the inaugural episode of Investigation Homicide, Therese and Nicole explore the case of an intelligent and manipulative teenager who killed her mother in cold blood through the eyes of Assistant District Attorney Michael Smith, who was tasked with prosecuting her. The Investigation Homicide team examines this sensational case beyond the national headlines.

For nearly four decades, the murder of Shondra May has haunted central Mississippi—until now. In this powerful new episode of Investigation: Homicide, Sheriff Mike Lee and Chief Deputy Brad Ellis return to the studio to sit down with Therese Apel and walk us through the shocking arrest of Rubin Weeks, a former suspect who had vanished into the shadows… until justice came knocking. Weeks, found living in Madison, was previously imprisoned in Missouri for a crime eerily similar to Shondra’s case.

From early suspicions to groundbreaking developments, discover the behind-the-scenes strategies, gut instincts, and relentless pursuit that finally brought a suspect into custody.

#ColdCaseSolved #ShondraMay #RubinWeeks #ScottCountySheriff #InvestigationHomicide #TrueCrimePodcast #JusticeForShondra #ColdCaseBreakthrough #ThereseApel #MississippiCrime #HomicideInvestigation

This week on Investigation: Homicide, hosts Therese Apel and Nicole Kral sit down with Sheriff Tyree Jones, who takes us back to his days as a Jackson Police Department detective working the 2007 murder of Lyneil Deshun Vaughn.

Vaughn, who was disabled, was found burned and rolled up in a blanket — the tragic end to a horrific crime that began as a kidnapping. Three suspects were ultimately charged, but the case would test the resolve, instincts, and teamwork of the detectives who worked it.

It’s a story that not only reveals the dark side of human nature but also the strength of those who stand against it. The investigation into Lyneil Vaughn’s murder became a defining moment for a group of detectives who are now leaders across the Jackson metro area — including Sheriff Tyree Jones himself.

🎧 Join us as we revisit a case that still haunts those who worked it, and hear how it helped shape the future of law enforcement in Mississippi.

Leave your thoughts and questions in the comments!

#InvestigationHomicide #TrueCrimePodcast #JacksonMS #SheriffTyreeJones #LyneilVaughn #MississippiJustice #LawEnforcementStories #TrueCrime

This episode is produced by Daniel Anderson at Audio Alchemy Productions.

Tonight on Investigation: Homicide, hosts Therese Apel, Nicole Kral, and Amanda Johansson welcome former Jackson detective Charlie Smith for an in-depth look at one of Jackson’s most haunting cases: the 1987 kidnapping and death of Mildred Spires. 

On a warm July afternoon in 1987, 22-year-old Mildred left her family’s home after a brief phone call with her mother’s estranged husband — a conversation about a “pipe” in the garage that no one fully understood. Dressed in Calvin Klein jeans and a t-shirt, Mildred told her sister she was heading out to get gas and would bring back Doritos Ranch chips. She never returned.  

In this episode, the team retraces the chilling timeline of Mildred’s last known hours, explores the behavior of those closest to her, and examines the desperate search that followed. Detective Smith shares first-hand insights from the original investigation: the missing car, the unanswered calls, and the clues that pointed to something far more sinister.  

It’s a story of suspicion and mystery that still casts a long shadow nearly four decades later.  

This podcast is produced by Daniel Anderson and Audio Alchemy.

When 73-year-old Dee Eady was found dead in her home in Forest, Mississippi, on December 30, what began as a quiet Saturday turned into one of the most intense manhunts in Scott County history. Soon after, authorities charged Sammy Patrick with capital murder, armed robbery, sexual assault, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

In this episode of Investigation: Homicide, hosts Therese Apel and Amanda Johansson sit down with Scott County Sheriff Mike Lee to take listeners inside the case — from the first call to the exhaustive search that spanned counties. Sheriff Lee shares how investigators tracked their suspect, the teamwork that brought the case to a close, and what justice means for a small community shaken by violence.

Listen as we go behind the badge for an unflinching look at how one investigation unfolded — and what it takes to bring answers to a grieving town.

This episode is produced by Daniel Anderson at Audio Alchemy Productions.

On this episode of Investigation: Homicide, hosts Therese Apel and Nicole Kral talk with retired Ridgeland Police Chief John Neal about the murder of Bobby Adams, the Party City manager whose life was taken during a robbery that shocked the community.

Chief Neal walks through the investigation that led detectives to identify and arrest Joshua Archie and what it meant to finally bring justice in a case that hit close to home for everyone involved.

Listen to Investigation: Homicide, produced by Daniel Anderson and Audio Alchemy, wherever you get your podcasts.