Crime Stories with Nancy Grace

Shanann Watts' father, Frank Rzucek, and her brother, Frankie Rzucek, have spoken out about facing years of relentless "evil" online hate, harassment, and conspiracy theories following the 2018 murders of Shanann and her children. Family members have reported being the targets of malicious rumors, victim-blaming, and threatening messages. Trolls have distorted Shanann's character and falsely claimed the family was involved in the killings from a relationship born out of a random friend request. Two years later, she marries Chris Watts and moves from North Carolina to Colorado. Eight years later, she and her children are dead.

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In this episode of Mayhem in the Morgue, Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Kendall Crowns examines one of the rarest and most violent natural causes of death: lightning. Using a case involving two teenagers killed in a park, along with the only lightning-related autopsy he has personally performed, Dr. Crowns explains how lightning forms, the different ways it damages the body, and the statistics that show who is most at risk and when lightning strikes are most likely to occur.

Highlights:
(0:00) Welcome to Mayhem in the Morgue with Dr. Kendall Crowns
(0:45) Two teenagers are killed by lightning in a park, and Dr. Crowns reflects on growing up weather-aware in Kansas
(2:45) A substitute teacher replaces the fired teacher, and a lightning strike on his family’s house deepens Dr. Crowns’ fascination with lightning
(4:00) The aftermath of the fatal strike in the park and the severe injuries it caused
(5:45) How lightning forms and why lightning deaths are so rare
(8:45) Lightning strike statistics, who is most at risk, and when strikes are most likely to occur
(10:45) Activities most commonly linked to lightning fatalities
(12:00) Dr. Crowns’ only lightning-related autopsy
(14:00) The different ways lightning can injure or kill
(16:15) How lightning affects the nervous system, heart, lungs, eyes, and skin
(17:45) The autopsy findings that can help confirm a lightning death, including Lichtenberg figures

About the Host:
Dr. Kendall Crowns is the Chief Medical Examiner for Travis County, Texas, and a nationally recognized forensic pathologist. He has led death investigations in Travis County, Fort Worth, Chicago, and Kansas. Over his career, he has performed thousands of autopsies and testified in court hundreds of times as an expert witness. A frequent contributor to Crime Stories with Nancy Grace, Dr. Crowns brings sharp medical insight and dark humor into the strange, grisly, and sometimes absurd realities of forensic pathology.

About the Show
Mayhem in the Morgue takes listeners inside the bloody, bizarre, and often unbelievable world of forensic pathology. Hosted by Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Kendall Crowns, each episode delivers real-life cases from the morgue, the crime scene, and the courtroom. Expect gallows humor, hard truths, and unforgettable investigations.

Connect and Learn More
Learn more about Dr. Kendall Crowns on Linkedin. Catch him regularly on Crime Stories with Nancy Grace and follow Mayhem in the Morgue where you get your podcasts. If you liked this episode, don’t keep it to yourself; follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a review.
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Breaking crime news as it happens throughout the day! Follow "Crime Alert Hourly Update" now on your favorite podcast app: https://link.chtbl.com/Crime_Alert
Here's Sydney Silvagni with some of our top stories this week:
We're learning from court transcripts that investigators tested a second male cruise passenger as a potential match to DNA recovered from Anna Kepner's rape kit. U.S. officials are now treating Lynette Hooker's Bahamas missing person case as a homicide. 5-year-old Daleza Fregoso is missing in Mexico after police say her father killed her mother in Los Angeles. An accused triple murderer in Hawaii arrested after members of the public spot him hiding in a vacant field. The man accused of infiltrating former state rep C. Wesley Morgan's home and killing his daughter to access his 'survival bunker', may eventually walk free again.
Stay informed, stay safe, and stay ahead with "Crime Alert Hourly Update.”
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Iryna Zarutska, a Ukrainian refugee, came to the United States with her family to escape her war-torn country for a better life. Iryna took English classes, had a job and was making a productive life for herself, but all her aspirations were cut short by an unprovoked violent attack from a man with a criminal history.
Video shows Iryna getting on the train in Charlotte North Carolina, taking a seat and looking at her phone quietly. Video shows a passenger sitting directly behind Iryna, who we later came to know as Carlos Brown Jr. A close-up of Brown's hands can be seen opening and unfolding the knife in order to prepare to stand up to stab Iryna. Although Iryna's hat covers a lot of her face, the shock in her eyes, along with the terror she silently expressed during her final moments of life, bleeding out, surrounded by panic is heartbreaking to watch.
Video also shows Brown, in an orange hoodie, walking the aisles of the train with blood dripping on the floor. One passenger notices blood drops and avoids stepping in it, while another witness on the phone with 911 tells them a man just stabbed a woman for no reason and she needs help.
Moments after allegedly stabbing Iryna, Brown is captured on video non-chalantly walking the platform of the train station. On the train, Brown was wearing a hoodie, now he is wearing a black t-shirt, with the now bloody hoody, wrapped around his hands.
A Grand jury indicted Brown, formally charging him with first-degree murder. Now medical experts have determined that he is incompetent to stand trial.
Joining Nancy Grace today,
Randy Kessler - Atlanta Trial Lawyer, Emory Law School Professor, Past Chair ABA Family Law Section, Author: "Divorce, Protect Yourself, Your Kids and Your Future", www.KSFamilyLaw.com, Instagram: @rkessler23, Twitter: @GADivorce
Caryn Stark - Forensic Psychologist, renowned TV and Radio trauma expert and consultant, www.carynstark.com, Instagram: carynpsych, FB: Caryn Stark Private Practice
Andy Kahan - Director of Victim Services and Advocacy at Crime Stoppers of Houston, crime-stoppers.org
Ron Bateman - Former homicide detective, former undercover narcotics agent, former sheriff. Author crime fiction series, “Silent Blue Tears”, and now soon to be released his newest book with Billy Joe Nichols, “opposing sides, memoirs of a drug dealer and a detective”, Website: Ronbatemanbooks.com , TikTok: @Ron.Bateman.655
Dr. Thomas Coyne - Chief Medical Examiner, District 2 Medical Examiner's Office, State of Florida; Forensic Pathologist, Toxicologist, Neuropathologist; X: @DrTMCoyne
Susan Hendricks - Journalist, Author: “Down the Hill: My Descent into the Double Murder in Delphi", IG @susan_hendricks X @SusanHendicks
Dave Mack - Crime Stories, Investigative Reporter
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It's been more than 26 years since a 17-year-old New York girl disappears during a spontaneous Spring Break trip to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Ultimately, Brittanee Drexel 's remains were found and her killer confessed.
Drexel was last seen on video after she walked out the Bar Harbor hotel near downtown. She texted her boyfriend that she was returning to her hotel and was never seen again.
Convicted sex offender Raymond Moody was first questioned about the girl's disappearance when Drexel when missing. Police searched Moody's residence but found nothing to link him to the crime. Technology advance in the years since rekindled suspicions that Moody was the killer and he has pleaded guilty to the charges of murder and first-degree sexual misconduct. He has been sentenced to life in prison.
Dawn Conley, mother of 17-year-old Brittanee Drexel, filed a wrongful death and emotional distress lawsuit and was awarded $700 million in damages. Raymond Moody has not paid the judgment.
Joining Nancy Grace Today:
Dawn Drexel - Victim's Mother
Jarrett Ferentino - Pennsylvania Attorney/Homicide Prosecutor, Attorney to Dawn Drexel
Angela Arnold - Psychiatrist, Atlanta GA www.angelaarnoldmd.com, Expert in the Treatment of Pregnant/Postpartum Women, Former Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Obstetrics and Gynecology: Emory University, Former Medical Director of The Psychiatric Ob-Gyn Clinic at Grady Memorial Hospital
Sheryl McCollum - Forensic Expert & Cold Case Investigative Research Institute Founder, ColdCaseCrimes.org, Twitter: @ColdCaseTips
Dr. Michelle DuPre - Former Forensic Pathologist, Medical Examiner and Detective: Lexington County Sheriff's Department, Author: "Homicide Investigation Field Guide" & "Investigating Child Abuse Field Guide", Forensic Consultant DMichelleDupreMD.com
Nicole Boone - Special Events Anchor, WBTW (Myrtle Beach), Host and Producer: "Conversations with Nicole" podcast, www.wbtw.com, Facebook.com/Conversations.Nicole.Boone, Instagram: @nicoletvnews, Twitter: @WBTW_NicoleB, Youtube: "Conversations with Nicole"
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