Domino Effect of Murder MHNRN, LLC

Homicide survivors are usually forced to make irreversible funeral and burial arrangements in haste without much sleep, information, or money set aside for this expense.   This episode will address important "inside" information on funerals, burials, and cremation from a death care professional, Heather Leigh - General Manager of Greenhaven Memorial Gardens in Columbia, South Carolina.  But she brings even more expertise from her background as an academic where she taught a course on death and dying for the Child and Family Studies program at Columbia College, Columbia, South Carolina.  This helps us plan ahead. Information is power.

Most crime victims know they have the right to give a victim impact statement (VIS) before sentencing and at parole board hearings. But most people do not realize that judges seldom use our input.  That's because we don't stick to our task: giving a rationale for our sentence recommendation.

It's a relatively recent privilege to have our say in court.  It took federal legislation to make it a reality (the Victim and Witness Protection Act of 1982).  Not everyone is on board.  The ACLU has consistently opposed this right.  They believe it undermines due process.

This episode provides a quick overview of the dos and don't behind giving a victim impact statement.

The extended family of Barbara With endured two independent homicides just a few years apart.  Both killers were known to their targets.  Both victims were single parents of young children. Both of their attackers were convicted.

In this discussion, we discuss the impact of these murders on our guest Barbara With and her family.  But, we  also learn more about her background as an intuitive, creative performer and writer.

Jeanne Dotts Brykalski lost her parents to murder in a quiet neighborhood in East Tennessee when they interrupted a burglary in progress by three assailants in their own home.  Jeanne is a veteran of the homicide survivor experience.  She's been through the death notification, funerals, trial and faced the parole board before.  She's served as a victim advocate for others.  Jeanne has insights only an experienced "insider" could have.

This is the second time we've heard from Jeanne.  We first met her November 10, 2021, when she detailed the deaths of her parents, Les and Carol, and the comfort her parents' dog provided to her immediately following the tragic news.

In this episode, we will glean what it's like to go before a parole board.  And just as important, Jeanne invites you to get involved by signing the petition to keep David Scarbrough behind bars.  (You need not be a resident of Tennessee or be personally involved with the situation.)  The petition will need to be signed before December 1, 2024. Please go to: 
                 https://www.change.org/JusticefortheDotts-122024,
                 or click on the link in the corresponding Facebook Page for this podcast and episode.

Lynette Duncan was just a happy teenager living life in southern California when the unimaginable came to her family's door at 4:00 a.m.  Two serial murderers took the lives of her father and sister and seriously wounded her mother.  She became the de-facto head of the household.  She is still fighting parole for the one convict who remains.

..Reporter, author and executive producer Aphrodite Jones speaks about her career reporting true crime - the good, the bad and the ugly.