Body Bags with Joseph Scott Morgan CrimeOnline and iHeartPodcasts

On January 19, 2001, Tara Baker was murdered in her apartment. The perpetrator sexually assaulted her then lit the apartment on fire. The case went cold in the town of Athens, Georgia for over 20 years. On this episode of Body Bags Joseph Scott Morgan will break down the science of solving a cold case and Dave Mack will fill in the blanks of the story that shocked Northern Georgia for over 20 years. Recently the murder of Laken Riley brought the Tara Baker homicide back into the conversation and with great detective work and with biological evidence and DNA science, the cold case became hot again, as hot as the fire the suspect set to destroy evidence of the horror he created.  

 

 

 

 

Transcript Highlights 

00:00:09 Introduction of influence 

00:01:24 Tragic Cold Case Solved, Tara Baker 

00:04:11 Discussion of Tara Baker case and Laken Riley 

00:08:32 Discussion of fire in apartment 

00:09:24 Talk about find body  

00:14:32 Discussion of accelerants 

00:19:21 Discussion of death investigation in fire 

00:24:41 Discussion of time involved in the attack 

00:27:58 Talk about predators selecting their victim 

00:31:33 Discussion of how to determine sex assault when body is burned 

00:37:20 Discussion of how a burned body is examined 

00:38:47 Talk about unsolved cold case 

00:41:50 Case solved; Edrick LaMont Faust arrested 

00:44:46 Conclusion, Faust is 48, Tara Baker died at 21 
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On this episode of Body Bags with Joseph Scott Morgan, Joe is going to break with our regular format and take a look at a man who revolutionized the Medical legal death investigation field. He was famous as a “Celebrity Pathologist” but that doesn’t do the man justice. When others walk away from trouble, Dr. Cyril Wecht said, “Where is the brain of JFK?”  Joseph Scott Morgan shares his thoughts on the passing of Dr. Cyril Wecht.

 

 

 

 

Transcript Highlights 

00:00:18 Introduction from JFK movie  

00:00:47 Talk about Dr. Cyril Wecht 

00:04:06 Talk about passing of Werner Spitz 

00:08:21 Discussion of JFK 

00:11:37 Discussion of Dr. Wecht as Air Force Officer 

00:14:45 Talk about Wecht running for political office 

00:19:33 Discussion of Dr. Wecht from coroner’s office to medical examiner 

00:24:16 Talk about Wecht didn’t play golf, life was his hobby 

00:27:16 Discussion of Wecht getting sued for comments  

00:31:36 Talk about Wecht discovers JFK brain is missing 

00:35:02 Talk about destroying evidence to cover up a crime 

00:38:34 Discussion of Dr. Cyril Wecht accomplishments 

00:39:28 Discussion about over 42,000 Post-mortem exams 

00:43:49 Joseph Scott Morgan share thoughts on Dr Wecht 

I just want to take a moment and 1st off acknowledge his passing and certainly the wet family, the Duquesne family and all of his extended friends and colleagues. My deepest sympathies to them because he's a man. He is a man that Has impacted so many of us in the field of forensic science. He passed away peacefully on May 13th. 

 
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On January 19, 2001, Tara Baker was murdered in her apartment. The perpetrator sexually assaulted her then lit the apartment on fire. The case went cold in the town of Athens, Georgia for over 20 years. On this episode of Body Bags Joseph Scott Morgan will break down the science of solving a cold case and Dave Mack will fill in the blanks of the story that shocked Northern Georgia for over 20 years. Recently the murder of Laken Riley brought the Tara Baker homicide back into the conversation and with great detective work and with biological evidence and DNA science, the cold case became hot again, as hot as the fire the suspect set to destroy evidence of the horror he created.  

 

 

 

 

Transcript Highlights 

00:00:09 Introduction of influence 

00:01:24 Tragic Cold Case Solved, Tara Baker 

00:04:11 Discussion of Tara Baker case and Laken Riley 

00:08:32 Discussion of fire in apartment 

00:09:24 Talk about find body  

00:14:32 Discussion of accelerants 

00:19:21 Discussion of death investigation in fire 

00:24:41 Discussion of time involved in the attack 

00:27:58 Talk about predators selecting their victim 

00:31:33 Discussion of how to determine sex assault when body is burned 

00:37:20 Discussion of how a burned body is examined 

00:38:47 Talk about unsolved cold case 

00:41:50 Case solved; Edrick LaMont Faust arrested 

00:44:46 Conclusion, Faust is 48, Tara Baker died at 21 
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The autopsy of Noah Presgrove is released and for the first time in the history of Body Bags with Joseph Scott Morgan, Joe is going to issue you a warning for what you are about to hear. Noah Presgrove is at a birthday, end of summer, labor day party with friends all weekend. But something happened Sunday night to cause Noah to leave the party by himself. He is found the next morning at 5:53am, alone, dead, on the side of a rural highway. He is naked except for a pair of shoes, but one of the shoes isn't his, it belongs to a guy asleep at the house where the party took place. The "friends" he has known all of his life aren't talking. His brother sees teeth scattered near his brother's body and pieces of chain. Who or What killed Noah Presgrove? Will the autopsy help answer the question?

 

 

Transcript Highlights

00:00:08 Introduction: Growing up in rural area 

00:03:10 Talk about List of Injuries 

00:05:17 Discussion of group dynamics 

00:09:12 Discussion of what happens to clothing  

00:12:27 Talk about social media evidence 

00:16:11 Discussion of internal injuries 

00:20:26 Discussion of injuries cased by falling out of a truck  

00:24:14 Talk about skull fractures 

00:28:32 Discussion of brain fluid 

00:32:52 Discussion of broke teeth 

00:36:03 Talk about animals and body on road 

00:37:52 Discussion of cervical injuries 

00:40:00 Discussion of abrasions 

00:41:47 Talk about being hit by car 

00:43:59 Discussion of data 

00:44:17 Conclusion; After the autopsy we still don’t have answers 
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Dr. Werner Spitz is a man who spent his lifetime looking straight into the soul of man and looking death in the eye. On this episode of Body Bags, Joseph Scott Morgan gives a heartfelt tribute to a mentor he never met, a teacher that never gave him a test but one whose approval was sought in every written word and study as a death investigator. Dr. Werner Spitz passed away at the age of 97 on April 14, 2024, and this show is a special tribute to a man that actually did write the book of his profession, "Spitz and Fisher's Medicolegal Investigation of Death; Guidelines for the Application of Pathology to Crime Investigation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Transcribe Highlights00:33.95 Introduction to the life of Werner Spitz

05:59.93 Discussion of Spitz impact on forensic pathologists

09:53.32 Discussion of fleeing Nazi Germany

13:51.43 Talk about being the lone voice of truth that you see

17:35.73 Discussion of Mary Jo Kopechne

24:16.10 Discussion of Spitz being called into high profile situations

28:15.52 Talk about examination using photographs

31:38.41 Discussion of not being afraid to take on cases others wouldn't

36:52.60 Talk about paying for an opinion

37:01.94 Conclusion Those who fail to remember history, are doomed to repeat it
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The double homicide of Russell and Shirley Dermond rocked their gated community along Lake Oconee in Georgia.. The decapitated body of 88-year-old Russell Dermond was found in the garage and his wife of 68 years,  87-year Shirley Dermond was found in Lake Oconee weighted down with cinder blocks, 10 days after Russell's body was found.  On this episode of Body Bags with Joseph Scott Morgan, you will learn about the evidence investigators found at the crime scene as well as what can be learned from a body that may have been in a lake for 10 days. The double homicide has gone unsolved for 10 years and the head of Russell Dermond has never been found.  How was this elderly couple, married 68 years, murdered and why?

 

 

 

Transcript Highlights 

00:00:08 Introduction about murders 

00:05:00 Discussion about neighbor checking on Dermond’s 

00:09:34 Talk about unsolved murders, 10 years 

00:14:04 Discussion about Shirley Dermond body found in lake 

00:19:05 Discussion of Russell Dermond head, it’s missing 

00:23:51 Discussion about Shirley was weighted down 

00:28:08 Talk after 10 years, case still unsolved 

00:31:39 Discussion of lack of blood at scene 

00:34:52 Talk about how head was removed 

00:37:57 Talk about DNA evidence 

00:40:28 Conclusion: After a decade, new evidence might solve the case 
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