Merrie Kaplan loved Christmas. Born with a rare genetic conditions, Williams Syndrome, Merrie was known as a friendly, outgoing woman, who brought joy to all. Now, her memory has given birth to an effort to extend that joy to families throughout Central Georgia’s 14-county area. ‘The MERRIE Christmas Project,’ aims to provide gifts, holiday décor, and food to families in need during the Christmas season.  
 Joining Nancy Grace today:
Mike and Nancy Kaplan, Merrie's parents
Jaime Kaplan, Director of Philanthropy, United Way of Central Georgia
George McCanless, President and CEO, United Way of Central Georgia

 United Way of Central Georgia is accepting donations for ‘The MERRIE Christmas Project’ here.   Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Spread Joy this Season to those in need with "The Merrie Christmas Project."

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!

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News

True crime

Brazilian Au Pair, Juliana Peres Magalhaes and her charge leave the Banfields' Fairfax County, Virginia home but turn around when Peres Magalhaes realizes she forgot their bagged lunches.
Arriving at the house, the au pair sees a car she doesn't recognize and a man she doesn't know entering the house. Confused, she calls her employer, Brendan Banfield, who tells her to stay in the car, that he will be right there. Banfield is at the house in minutes, and they enter the house together. The au pair takes her 4-year-old charge to the basement. Brendan Banfield goes upstairs to find his wife. 
Banfield finds his wife, Christine, nude, and a man he doesn't know, holding a knife to her throat. Banfield tells the man to put the knife down, but he starts stabbing the 37-year-old mother. Brendan Banfield carries a gun as an IRS Special Agent, and he draws his service revolver shooting the man in the head. The intruder is wounded and down on the ground. Banfield calls for Peres Magalhaes telling her to get his personal gun, a Glock, out of the bathroom safe. At Banfield's direction, shoots Joseph Ryan in the heart as he is lying on the ground.   
Police say it appeared that Christine Banfield had been posted on an adult fetish website., but investigators say they believe it was all a ruse. Someone else created the profile on the Adult Fetish website, pretending to be Christine Banfield. 
In fact, investigators believe Ryan's murder was part of an elaborate plan to kill Christine Banfield so her husband, Brendan, and their Brazilian live-in Au Pair, could be together.  Investigators found pictures of Banfield and the au pair together in the Banfield bedroom, and Peres Magalhaes' clothes were found hanging in Banfield's closet, not her own.
    
 
Joining Nancy Grace:

Amanda Rieman - Virginia Attorney, AC RIEMAN LAW, https://acriemanlaw.com/, IG: @acriemanlaw 
Barry Golden -  Fmr. Senior Inspector for the U.S. Marshals Service, Owner of Golden Consulting and Investigations, www.golden-ci.com  
Dr. Heidi Green- Clinical Psychologist, Trauma specialist, Author: ‘The Path to Self-Love and World Domination, www.drheidigreen.com, IG: @drheidigreen
Dr. Jan Gorniak - Board Certified Forensic Pathologist, Fmr. Medical examiner for Clark County  
Alexis Tereszcuk -  CrimeOnline.com Investigative Reporter, Writer/Fact Checker, Lead Stories dot Com, Twitter: @swimmie2009  
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

GLAM AU PAIR, 23, PLOTS STAB DEATH OF LOVE-RAT-BOSS’ WIFE?

Man gropes passenger seated next to him throughout three-hour flight. Man pelts roommate with pizza!
For more crime and justice news go to crimeonline.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Crime Alert 04.24.24

Katherine Aguasvivas is on a road trip, from her home in Homestead Florida, which is south of Miami, to central Florida to visit friends.
After going through Orlando, Aguasvivas calls her husband Miguel in a panic.  She tells him that she is in Winter Springs, and there is a green Acura running into her back bumper. He tells her not to stop, and keep driving, but neither of them calls 911. At 5:30 p.m., Aguasvivas stops for a traffic light at the intersection.
What goes down next is caught on camera by a witness. A man dressed in all black gets out of the Acura approaches the driver's side of Aguasvivas' Dodge Durango and threatens her with a gun. He forces his way inside, climbing into the back seat, and forcing Katherine Aguasvivas to drive.
The eyewitness calls 911.
Joining Nancy Grace:

Brian Foley –  Board-certified Criminal Defense Attorney, Former Chief Prosecutor in Harris County, (Houston) Texas; Author: “What Prosecutors Don’t Tell You;" Instagram @brianfoleylawpllc/ Youtube – @brianfoleylawyer/X @brianpllc
Irv Brandt – Senior Inspector, US Marshals Service International Investigations Branch; Chief Inspector, DOJ Office of International Affairs, US Embassy Kingston, Jamaica; Author: “SOLO SHOT: CURSE OF THE BLUE STONE” – AVAILABLE ON AMAZON IN JANUARY; ALSO “FLYING SOLO: Top of the World;” Twitter: @JackSoloAuthor
Dr. Jeff Kieliszewski – Forensic Psychologist, Author: “Darksides;” FB: forensicsandmediapsychologist/TikTok: Dr. Jeff Kieliszewski
Dr. Eric Eason – Board-certified Forensic Pathologist, Consultant; Instagram: @eric_a_eason, Facebook: Eric August Eason, LinkedIn: Eric Eason, MD  
Jennifer Torres - Senior Reporter at GulfLive.com  
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

MANHUNT: FLORIDA MOM ABDUCTED BROAD DAYLIGHT AT BUSY INTERSECTION

FBI agent kidnapped by drug smugglers. Fake cop "equipped to deceive." 
For more crime and justice news go to crimeonline.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Crime Alert 04.23.24

A police affidavit says Tifany Adams allegedly gave statements indicating she was responsible for the deaths of Veronica Butler and Jillian Kelley. 
Investigators now say they believe Butler and Jillian Kelley were lured to the location, arriving around  9:40 a.m. Besides the pools of blood, officers found Butler’s glasses on the ground near a broken hammer.  Police say they believe the women were forced into another vehicle.
Much information has been released in the probable cause affidavit, but not the women's cause of death. The bodies were found in a cattle pasture, leased by Tad Bert Cullum, the boyfriend of grandmother Tifany Adams. 
The location was narrowed down by cellphone data from three burner phones purchased by Adams. The phones first pinged at the location of Butler's abandoned car, the data then led police to the pasture property. Obvious signs of digging were discovered. A hole had been dug and filled back in. Inside the hole were the bodies of the missing women.
The motive, according to investigators, is custody of Butler’s two children: a custody battle has gone on for more than five years. Father Wrangler Rickman, Tifany Adam’s son, had custody of the children, but Rickman was confirmed to be in a rehabilitation facility in Oklahoma City. 
 Veronica Butler’s custody arrangement allowed her supervised visitation with her children every Saturday. And reportedly, according to Butler’s attorney, she was likely to be granted unsupervised visitation during an upcoming hearing.
The affidavit states that  “Adams vehemently opposed this and went to great lengths to plan and purchase items used in Butler and Kelley’s murders,” It continues... “Adams, Cullum, Cole and Cora were willing to kidnap and murder two victims to limit visitation for Butler.”
Court documents allege that Adams and the other suspects tried to killer Butler once before in February.  Adams, her boyfriend, and the other couple drove to Butler’s home near Hugoton, Kansas, intending to kill her. A witness told investigators that the planned was to throw an anvil through Butler’s windshield while she was driving. They reasoned that it would look like an accident, but Butler did not leave her home.
As state investigators pulled information from Adams’ phone, it showed web searches for “taser pain level, gun shops, prepaid cellular phones, and how to get someone out of their house."  That’s also according to the probable cause documents. 
Adams reportedly purchased five stun guns before the women’s disappearances, according to the documents. She bought three prepaid, unregistered burner phones from a Walmart near her.  All the prepaid burners stopped transmitting the mornings the women went missing.
Joining Nancy Grace Today: 

Kelly Hyman- Trial & Civil Attorney, TV Legal Analyst, Podcast Host: "Once Upon a Crime In Hollywood", Twitter: @kellyhyman1, TikTok: @kelly.hyman, Instagram: @Kelly_Hyman1 
Sheryl McCollum  – Forensics Expert & Cold Case Investigative Research Institute Founder; Host of Podcast: “Zone 7;” X: @149Zone7
Irv Brandt – Senior Inspector, US Marshals Service International Investigations Branch; Chief Inspector, DOJ Office of International Affairs, US Embassy Kingston, Jamaica; Author: “SOLO SHOT: CURSE OF THE BLUE STONE” – AVAILABLE ON AMAZON IN JANUARY; ALSO “FLYING SOLO: Top of the World;” Twitter: @JackSoloAuthor
Dr. Kendall Crowns – Chief Medical Examiner Tarrant County (Ft Worth) and Lecturer: University of Texas Austin and Texas Christian University Medical School
Lauren Conlin – Investigative Journalist, Host of The Outlier Podcast, and also Host of “Corruption: What Happened to Grant Solomon; X- @Conlin_Lauren/ Instagram- @LaurenEmilyConlin/YouTube- @LaurenConlin4
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Spread Joy this Season to those in need with "The Merrie Christmas Project."

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