Today Nancy Grace and Sheryl McCollum discuss the tragic death of Ellen Greenberg, a first-grade teacher whose death was ruled a suicide, even though the evidence points to murder. Nancy Grace breaks down the major red flags, including troubling forensic details and mistakes made by the Philadelphia police. The duo also discuss the Bryan Kohberger case, where the defense plans to use autism as part of their legal strategy and what that could mean for the trial.

Nancy’s book: What Happened to Ellen?: An American Miscarriage of Justice is available now. All proceeds will go to  National Center for Missing and Exploited Children - NCMC

Show Notes:

• (0:00) Welcome! Nancy and Sheryl introduce this week’s crime roundup
• (1:00) The autism defense in court - The Bryan Kohberger
• (5:30) The Ellen Greenberg case
• (9:30) Ellen’s final day
• (15:00) The closed-door meeting
• (17:30) Politics, immunity, and the missing video
• (22:00) Closing thoughts

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Nancy Grace is an outspoken, tireless advocate for victims’ rights and one of television's most respected legal analysts. Nancy Grace had a perfect conviction record during her decade as a prosecutor. She is the founder and publisher of CrimeOnline.com, a crime- fighting digital platform that investigates breaking crime news, spreads awareness of missing people and shines a light on cold cases.

In addition, Crime Stories with Nancy Grace, a daily show hosted by Grace, airs on SIRIUS XM’s Triumph Channel 111 and is downloadable as a podcast on all audio platforms - https://www.crimeonline.com/

Connect with Nancy:

X: @nancygrace

Instagram: @thenancygrace

Facebook: @nancygrace

Sheryl “Mac” McCollum is an Emmy Award winning CSI, a writer for CrimeOnLine, Forensic and Crime Scene Expert for Crime Stories with Nancy Grace, and a CSI for a metro Atlanta Police Department. She is the co-author of the textbook., Cold Case: Pathways to Justice.

Connect with Sheryl:

Email: coldcase2004@gmail.com

X: @ColdCaseTips

Facebook: @sheryl.mccollum

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Guest Bio and Links:

Karla Knight Deese is the elected coroner of Lancaster County, SC, and founder of the first-ever Mounted Response Unit within a coroner’s office. A certified medicolegal death investigator and educator, she’s changed laws, pioneered team-based approaches, and turned rescue horses into federally protected deputies. Karla has proved how “what’s old is new again”.

Connect with Karla Knight Deese on LinkedIn @Karla Deese, D-ABMDI

Resources:

In this episode of Zone 7, Crime Scene Investigator, Sheryl McCollum, is joined by Karla Knight Deese, the coroner of Lancaster County, South Carolina, who made history by creating the first-ever Mounted Response Unit in a coroner’s office. Karla explains how a difficult river search led to the idea, how rescue horses were trained and sworn in as deputies, and how they now help find both missing people and the deceased. She also talks about how her work helps shape public health policy and how she handles one of the toughest parts of the job: delivering death notifications. Karla has proved how “what’s old is new again”, and why horses, dogs, medics, and compassion all belong on the front lines of forensic work.

Show Notes:

• (0:00) Welcome back to Zone 7 with Crime Scene Investigator, Sheryl McCollum
• (0:10) Sheryl welcomes guest, and Chief Coroner, Karla Knight Deese
• (3:00) The tragedy that sparked the movement
• (5:00) Why horses can go where humans can’t
• (11:00)  ”Our team is built of horses who are rescued. Now they're being trained to use in rescue missions, so their work is definitely not done, and their worth is now highlighted exponentially through our group.”
• (13:30) Why federal protection for horses matters
• (16:00) Karla’s path to becoming a Coroner
• (23:00) Impactful cases that change law and public health
• (27:00) Using death data to save lives
• (30:00) The emotional toll of death notifications
• (41:30) “ There are a few who envy me. They wanna know what they have to do to get my job to be who I am. It's only death. How hard can it be? They say, here I silently reply. Take it all. Every festering remnant of the people no one cared about in life, much less death. All the broken children who will never know that I grieved for them, take it all. Just leave me my car key so I can get home permanently. Somebody else can listen to the bullshit. Death loves dispute. He never shuts up.”  -Joseph Scott Morgan
• Thanks for listening to another episode! If you’re loving the show and want to help grow the show, please head over to Itunes and leave a rating and review!

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Sheryl “Mac” McCollum is an Emmy Award winning CSI, a writer for CrimeOnLine, Forensic and Crime Scene Expert for Crime Stories with Nancy Grace, and a CSI for a metro Atlanta Police Department. She is the co-author of the textbook., Cold Case: Pathways to Justice. Sheryl is also the founder and director of the Cold Case Investigative Research Institute, a collaboration between universities and colleges that brings researchers, practitioners, students and the criminal justice community together to advance techniques in solving cold cases and assist families and law enforcement with solvability factors for unsolved homicides, missing persons, and kidnapping cases.

Social Links:

• Email: coldcase2004@gmail.com
• Twitter: @ColdCaseTips
• Facebook: @sheryl.mccollum

Instagram: @officialzone7podcast

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today Nancy Grace and Sheryl McCollum discuss the recent mass shooting at Florida State University, digging into the motive, the method, and the impact. They dissect the systemic failures, the overlooked warning signs, and the questions you should be asking.

Show Notes:

• (0:00) Welcome! Nancy and Sheryl introduce this week’s crime roundup
• (0:10) Sherly and Nancy dedicate CRU to the recent FSU shooting
• (1:00) Two people dead, six injured
• (1:30) When the unthinkable repeats
• (4:30) Shooter used sheriff deputy mom’s weapon
• (4:45) “Had to be a swipe at his mom” -Nancy Grace
• (6:30) Ripple effect mass shootings have
• (10:00) Intentionality around the time of shooting
• (17:00) “ But now is solving the case and trying to figure out how to stop this. I don't know the answer, but. Asking why and trying to figure out what was going on in his mind is like going in your crazy aunt's attic and trying to make sense of it.” -Nancy Grace
• (20:00) Support goes out to victims families
• (20:30) The power of prayer

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Nancy Grace is an outspoken, tireless advocate for victims’ rights and one of television's most respected legal analysts. Nancy Grace had a perfect conviction record during her decade as a prosecutor. She is the founder and publisher of CrimeOnline.com, a crime- fighting digital platform that investigates breaking crime news, spreads awareness of missing people and shines a light on cold cases.

In addition, Crime Stories with Nancy Grace, a daily show hosted by Grace, airs on SIRIUS XM’s Triumph Channel 111 and is downloadable as a podcast on all audio platforms - https://www.crimeonline.com/

Connect with Nancy:

X: @nancygrace

Instagram: @thenancygrace

Facebook: @nancygrace

Sheryl “Mac” McCollum is an Emmy Award winning CSI, a writer for CrimeOnLine, Forensic and Crime Scene Expert for Crime Stories with Nancy Grace, and a CSI for a metro Atlanta Police Department. She is the co-author of the textbook., Cold Case: Pathways to Justice.

Connect with Sheryl:

Email: coldcase2004@gmail.com

X: @ColdCaseTips

Facebook: @sheryl.mccollum

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.