Thirty years ago today — July 17th, 1996 — Joseph John Savino Jr. was executed by the Commonwealth of Virginia for the murder of Thomas McWaters Jr., a wealthy farm owner in Bedford County. For a year, the story played out in local headlines: a farmhand, a lover, a robbery gone wrong. Then Joe was executed, and the story disappeared.

Two years ago, host Austyn Castelli — a forensic mental health clinician and distant relative of Joseph Savino — found his name buried in a facility records system where she works inside the Virginia prison system. She first learned about the story the same way the public first heard it: through newspaper headlines, court filings, and the official record that sent a man to the death chamber. It's the version everyone thought they knew.

It's also only part of the story.

Threat to Society is a documentary podcast investigating the case of Joseph Savino and the death of Thomas McWaters — a story about capital punishment, psychiatric testimony, and two men neither the courtroom nor the headlines ever fully saw. Content warning: this episode contains descriptions of violent death.

SOURCES

Jim Stratton, "Bedford Man Found Slain in His Home: Friends discover body of Thos McWaters; assailant at large," The News and Advance, December 1, 1988

Jim Stratton and Leslie Postal, "Slain Man's Housemate Arrested: Joseph Savino Charged with Forging Thos McWaters' Checks," The News and Advance, December 2, 1988

Laurence Hammack, The Roanoke Times, December 3, 1988

Audio: "Going Through a Prison Sally Port: A Rare Look Inside Perryville Women's Prison Lumley Unit," Blank Canvas Documentary — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1UPUKrg-Os

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What would you do if you discovered that a relative had been executed for murder?

When forensic mental health clinician Austyn Castelli received a text message about an executed family member, she expected to find a straightforward true crime story. Instead, she uncovered a tangled history and a death penalty case that raised more questions than answers.

Threat to Society follows one woman's attempt to understand the life, crime, and execution of Joseph Savino—and what that journey reveals about crime, punishment, and human behavior.

This is where the investigation begins.

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