Cardinal Crimes

In early 2023 it was revealed that the Walker County Jail in Jasper, Alabama attempted to cover up the abuse and death of an inmate in their custody. The inmate, Anthony Mitchell, was forced to endure horrific conditions at the jail and was repeatedly denied medical treatment which directly contributed to his death. In this episode, we will discuss the circumstances surrounding Anthony Mitchell’s...

On July 12, 1979, a fire at the Hill Top Motel in Red Oak, Iowa claimed the life of 3-year-old Keara Coshow. Investigators were quick to rule Keara’s death a tragic accident: the result of spilled paint thinner being ignited by a gas heater. But suspicions of child abuse by Keara’s stepmother, including an incident that left the 3-year-old almost completely blind, have prompted a decades-long figh...

Elizabeth Syperda, 22 years old, was last seen on July 16, 2000, at her apartment in Mount Pleasant, Iowa. Almost immediately, her estranged husband, Michael Syperda, was suspected of having harmed her. The relationship between Elizabeth and Michael was extremely abusive, with Elizabeth having left him just a month before her disappearance.  With no sign of Elizabeth, the case went cold. However,...

In this episode, I had the opportunity to speak with Garrett B., a male victim of intimate partner violence. We have heard from victims of intimate partner violence before, but all of those were from a woman’s perspective. In this conversation, we talk about the barriers men face as victims of domestic violence, including not being believed, being laughed at, and not recognizing that they are bein...

In December of 1993, two senior citizens - Gladys Held and Jacob Biretz -  were murdered within one day and three blocks of one another, and their cases remain unsolved to this day. Residents of Waterloo, Iowa in the 1990’s were frustrated with what they perceived to be rising rates of violent crime, and specifically crimes targeting seniors. Who murdered these two elderly Waterloo residents? Did...

Support the show by subscribing wherever you get your podcasts and on YouTube. Leaving a five star review also helps us reach more listeners!  Watch this episode on YouTube! In this episode, I chat with Julia Cowley, a former FBI Profiler and forensic scientist with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and the host of The Consult podcast. We talk about her path to working for the FBI and how she...

Subscribe to Cardinal Crimes on YouTube!  On May 26, 1998, Patricia Jauron, a middle school secretary beloved by her community, was found brutally murdered outside of her old home in Sioux City, Iowa. Patricia had reportedly gone to her old home to meet someone interested in purchasing an old bed, that person, and the red car seen near her home, were never located.  Decades later, this murder rema...

In this episode, I talk with Brett Talley from The Prosecutors Podcast. Brett knew early on that he wanted to be a lawyer. After graduating from Harvard Law School, he decided against the “standard” law firm track and went into public service as a prosecutor in 2018. We talk about sexual assault conviction rates and rehabilitation programs, and I get his perspective on decriminalization and “crisi...

In this episode I sit down with Janine Latus, an award-winning journalist, domestic violence survivor, and author of the New York Times and Internationally bestselling book If I am Missing or Dead: a Sister’s Story of Love, Murder, and Liberation. In April 2002, Janine received a call that her younger sister, Amy, was missing. Janine’s response was, “That bastard killed her.” Amy had been murdered...

In this episode, we dive into the tragic murder of Mary Bernice Lange, a mother of three and respected clerk with the Burlington, Iowa Municipal Court. We review the timeline of her last known movements, discuss the evidence in the case, and discuss her relationships.  Despite investigators at the time indicating they had a clear suspect who could be arrested at any time, Mary’s murder remains uns...

Jodi Huisentruit was abducted from her apartment complex parking lot on June 27, 1995, in Mason City, Iowa. Her case is well known among many Iowans because of her profession as a morning news anchor and because of the dedication of the journalists who run FindJodi, a nonprofit organization that aims to keep her case out in the public.  In this episode, I speak with Scott Fuller, a journalist who...

In this episode, I speak with Dr. Jacquelyn Campbell, a national leader in research and advocacy in the field of domestic and intimate partner violence (IPV). She has authored or co-authored more than 230 publications and seven books on violence and health outcomes. Her studies paved the way for a growing body of interdisciplinary investigations by researchers in the disciplines of nursing, medici...

The murder of Dorothy Miller is Burlington, Iowa’s oldest cold case. Dorothy was a 48-year-old real estate agent who was brutally murdered while showing a prospective client a home in August of 1969. The man she showed the home to was never seen again, despite Dorothy’s own husband and many witnesses seeing him the day and evening of the murder.  This case is baffling, and the behavior exhibited b...

In this bonus episode, I give a quick rundown of some current missing children cases:  Leland Buchanan, a 16-year-old male, was last seen on 11/25/24 in Louisville, KY.  Iris Olivia Mae Frederick, a 5-year-old female, was last seen on 9/20/22 in Barnardsville, NC.  Andreas Enriquez, a 9-year-old male, and Lilyanna Enriquez, an 11-year-old female, were last seen in Phoenix, AZ on 10/10/24.  We also...

In this episode, I speak with Leah Zeiger, a survivor of teenage intimate partner violence and the founder of The Sunflower Project. Her organization uses art to heal and build community for young survivors of abusive relationships.  In this conversation, we discuss the impact her experience had on her friendships, how the criminal justice system can often re-traumatize victims, and how survivors...

On May 5, 2011, 50-year-old Dawn Allen failed to show up for work at Subway in Carroll, Iowa. Days later, the man investigators believed held the key to her disappearance, James Snovelle, took his own life in Kansas, leaving behind a trail of unanswered questions and unsettling revelations about his double life. If you have any information about Dawn Allen, please call the Carroll Police Departmen...

**The beginning of this video has slight audio/video synch issues, but they improve after just a minute!** I have a conversation with Jennifer Santanello, whose 20-year-old daughter, Layla Santanello, has been missing since June 27, 2023. She was last seen walking barefoot out of a patch of woods around 6:15 a.m. near the Americourt Hotel in Kingsport, Tennessee. After asking some men working at a...