Domino Effect of Murder

Natalie Bedard (affectionately known as Nat Nat) is an experienced, gracious, and empathetic homicide survivor, advocate, and podcast host for Lift Oneself https://www.liftoneself.com/ Nat Nat was a second mother to her friend's son.  Everyone who knew Sheldon was going somewhere in life.  He excelled at sports, friendship, academics, and compassion.  Even in high school, he stood out head and sho...

Wrongful convictions for the murder of a loved one are rare but not unheard of (think Michael Morton, Kathleen Folbigg, Jeff Deskovick, Kristina Kurlis, Patricia Stallings, Debra Milke, Sally Clark, Nichole Harris, Hanna Overton and others). They come from all walks of life.  Men and women who faced injustice on top of grief. Can this nightmare be avoided? Listen in and know what to do.  This epis...

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 br...

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 real...

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, creat...

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 onl...

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.

Megan Conner has known her older cousin, Lori Vallow Daybell, all her life.  They grew up within their tightly-knit, extended family in the context of the Mormon faith.  Megan eloquently explains the roots of the triple murders which her cousin was found guilty of.  This included the murder of Meegan's niece and nephew, Tylee Ryan, and Joshua "JJ" Jaxon Vallow at the hands of her cousin ("filicide...

The wind was never at the back of Delicia Niami.  She started life in a tough area of East L.A. by a devoted single mom when she (and her brother) were kidnapped by her estranged father and whisked off to Baghdad. She was only four.  With little understanding of the culture and why she was taken, she endured rejection and poverty. Just as abruptly, Delicia was returned a year later.  Without a com...

Murders of adults usually leave behind sons and daughters who must somehow move on with their lives. They are the forgotten victims of homicide - even by their relatives. It is rare for a child to get the mental health help they need and deserve following the loss of one or both parents to murder. Even worse, they are sometimes used by prosecutors at witnesses. This episode looks at a cross-sectio...

Sharon McConnell-Dickerson, equipped only with her phone, was able to set in motion a series of events that led to the capture and conviction of a serial murderer in Panama. Who knows how many lives she saved?

Captain Mike Schentrup retired in 2021 as a Bureau Commander for the Gainesville Florida P.D. where he had worked for almost 25 years. His years on the job brought him to investigate many murders. Before leaving Gainesville P.D. he founded Advanced Police Concepts, LLC in 2016. But Captain Schentrup has also experienced homicide from the view of the homicide survivor. His young niece was one of th...

Josephine Wentzel was a detective by training and retired when her 30-year-old daughter Crystal was murdered by her new boyfriend. He fled to South America on a forged Canadian passport. He had training in special operations. Even the U.S. Marshals didn't hold out much hope he'd be apprehended. But Josephine had promised she'd take care of her daughter from birth to death - and beyond. Sheer grit,...

Jessica Elise Lewis lost her husband, Russell, to homicide after moving to a remote ranch in California. In January of 2023, she explained what happened and her reactions as they unfolded. This episode picks up where that one left off. How is she doing a year later? In what ways can friends help? What recommendations does Jessica have for new homicide survivors? Were there signs that Russell expec...

Homicide survivors are often hypervigilant and over-predictive of further harm. This is unhealthy and (for most of the country) unnecessary. This final episode of 2023 explains the concentration of homicide within 13 zip codes in the U.S. (sometimes known as "kill zones") and a possible remediation to the problem.

Homicide survivor "Jessika for Justice" makes her debut as a podcast host on this episode of Domino Effect of Murder. She discusses the ethics of true crime with her guest Raul Montero as he pursues justice for the victims of the Long Island Killer.

All murders are heinous but timing it to take place in front of the victim's six-year-old son? This egregious act took place in North Hollywood on Halloween, 1985. But for our guest Susan Snow, the murder of her father seems like yesterday. In addition to her sharing her story of homicide, it is also a cautionary tale. Susan painstakingly explains why the lack of assistance given to her by adults...

The financial fallout from murder and suicide is immediate, unexpected, under-researched, and murky. But, as our guest says "It is real." Using the example of brand-new widow Sophia, we get an inside glimpse of how financial demands add to the already overwhelming shock of unexpected death for those left to grieve. One beneficial resource is suggested to take away some of the guesswork. (For addit...

Terry Gaza had an inkling there was trouble ahead with the young man who fathered her infant daughter. She put distance between them over his objections. Although Terry sensed he was capable of violence, she was unprepared for the news that he murdered his own mother, attempted to murder his brother immediately afterward then killed a passing motorcyclist as he fled the scene - in handcuffs no les...

The wind was not at the back of our next guest. Ever. She never knew her biological father. She grew up trapped in abuse and poverty. Her large family lived in a hot, isolated stretch of California dotted with Joshua trees, few people, and even fewer opportunities. When her mother was bedridden with cancer she became her caregiver, all the while working to support the family and caring for her you...

It's impossible to explore grief following violent death without stumbling across compelling accounts of unexpected, metaphysical communications with the deceased. It may be the scent of their perfume precisely when they are thought about. Or, it could be a vivid dream that awakens the griever and persists. In other instances, it's a special set of numbers that recur over and over. While seemingly...

The carefree life of southern California teenager Lynette Duncan was abruptly stolen by a pair of serial murderers on a crime spree. She was only 16. It was 4 am. Her father was followed coming home from work with a bank deposit. As he stepped onto his front porch his life was cut short. So was the life of his eldest daughter who heard the commotion and was the first to get to the door. Listen to...

Ryan was a senior at the U of Tampa and a star athlete when his life was cut short. A young man with a criminal past took Ryan's life early one morning in a botched robbery. So started the enduring grief of Ryan's close-knit family. His father, Kevin, reflects on how grief changes with the passing of years and the pressure it puts upon families. He discloses what he did to keep his family united d...

Four years ago Jessika learned her fiance, Austin, had been stabbed to death in the leasing office of their Texas apartment complex. He was the most unlikely person to meet a violent end with his polite countenance and love of animals and people. To compound her misery, the investigation was compromised from the get-go and ultimately left unsolved. In time Jessika pivoted her intense grief and ang...