Court Junkie

In October 2011, a 32-year-old Ohio teacher went on trial for sexual battery, accused of having inappropriate relations with 5 of her students. Her plea? Not guilty by reason of insanity. Please consider supporting Court Junkie with as little as $3 a month via Patreon.com/CourtJunkie. Help support Court Junkie with $6 a month and get access to bonus monthly episodes. Follow me on Twitter @CourtJun...

Hazing is unfortunately a common practice that can often turn deadly. In this episode, I cover the unfortunate deaths of three college students - 26-year-old Robert Champion, 19-year-old Michael Deng, and 19-year-old Tim Piazza. Thank you to Emily Pualwan from HazingPrevention.org, and Doug Fierberg from tfnlgroup.com and schoolviolencelaw.com. Please consider supporting Court Junkie with as littl...

On April 9, 2016, a road rage shooting took place in New Orleans, Louisiana that would claim the life of former NFL star Will Smith. With conflicting stories from both sides, what would happen during the trial of the man accused of killing him? Incident Video #1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6jWeIfPoU8 Incident Video #2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4iSPfn3Rm4    Please consider supporting...

It's a story that has been told numerous times before - On Halloween night in 2001, Kent Heitholt, a 48-year-old sports editor, was brutally murdered in the Columbia Tribune parking lot as he was leaving work.  Ryan Ferguson and Charles Erickson were arrested years later and charged with murder, although none of the forensic evidence at the scene matched either of the men. The case would slowly fa...

In September 2014, the Blooming Grove Barracks in Pike County, Pennsylvania came under attack by a sniper, hiding in the woods.  What followed was a tragedy, a manhunt, and a death penalty trial. Please consider supporting Court Junkie with as little as $3 a month via Patreon.com/CourtJunkie. Help support Court Junkie with $6 a month and get access to bonus monthly episodes. Follow me on Twitter @...

In March 2017, former NFL star and already-convicted murderer Aaron Hernandez went on trial for the murders of Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado. Daniel and Safiro were murdered in July 2012, after a possible encounter with Aaron Hernandez at a Boston nightclub. Five days after his trial was over, an unexpected turn of events would change Aaron's criminal record forever.  Please consider supporti...

On July 30, 2011, 30-year-old Lisa Cecilia Harnum died, after falling from her 15th floor balcony. Her fiancé, Simon Gittany, was arrested and charged with murder. Thank you to Melissa for suggesting this case, and a special thank you to Andrea Alden and Amy Dale, for helping me out with this episode. Follow Amy Dale on Twitter: @amydale_tweets Check out Amy Dale's book about the case, The Fall: h...

On Thursday, February 5, 2015, 19-year-old Cornell University student Charlie Tan suddenly left campus to return to his hometown, over 100 miles away. Four days later, his mother would place a 911 call that would change their lives forever. Please consider supporting Court Junkie with as little as $3 a month via Patreon.com/CourtJunkie. Help support Court Junkie with $6 a month and get access to b...

19-year-old Kenia Monge disappeared after a night out with friends on April 1, 2011. As her family launched a desperate campaign to find her, her father met with the man who last saw her - a man who said he had tried giving her a ride home the night she went missing. From then on, her father knew they would never find her alive. A special thank you to Tony and Maria Lee, Kenia's parents, for speak...

In August 2014, 22-year-old Christy Mack and her friend Corey Thomas were abruptly awoken in the middle of the night by Christy's ex-boyfriend, an MMA fighter named War Machine.   What followed was a brutal attack that would land both of them in the hospital with severe injuries, and cause War Machine to go on the run. War Machine was captured and went on trial in March 2017. Christy had to face h...

In this Court Junkie Brief, I interview Dave Wenger, a prosector from Pennsylvania. We talk about the process of a plea deal, what factors go into the decision to offer one, and I ask him to defend some arguments against the idea of guilty pleas. Please consider supporting Court Junkie with as little as $3 a month via Patreon.com/CourtJunkie. Help support Court Junkie with $6 a month and get acces...

In November 2010, 20-year-old Cody Legebokoff was pulled over by an RCMP officer while speeding away from a dark abandoned road. Little did the officer realize that his actions that night would be stopping a serial killer in his tracks. This episode covers the case and trial of Cody Legebokoff, one of Canada's youngest serial killers. Thank you to Mark Nielsen for helping me cover this story. You...

In Part 2 of this episode, you'll hear about the third arrest in the murder of 62-year-old Sheila Von Weise-Mack. And with this arrest, comes some additional shocking evidence against Heather and Tommy, in the form of their own words. You'll also hear how Heather and Tommy are coping at the Kerobokan Prison in Bali, and what's next in the investigation. Please consider supporting Court Junkie with...

In this episode, I explore the case of Sheila Von Weise-Mack, a Chicago mother who was murdered while on vacation in Bali with her 19-year-old daughter. After wheeling a suspicious-looking suitcase out into the lobby upon checkout from their resort, Sheila's daughter, Heather Mack, and Heather's boyfriend, Tommy Schaefer, flee the scene.  Investigators are horrified to find Sheila's body inside th...

In the early morning hours of June 14, 2007, a 32-year-old man is found walking down the side of a frontage road off I-55 in Channahon, Illinois. He's bleeding and seemingly in shock. A passerby calls 911 and investigators arrive at the scene. They find the man's wife and three children, dead in the family's SUV.  In this episode, I cover the trial of Christopher Vaughn, a husband and father accus...

In this episode, I cover former NFL player Aaron Hernandez's harsh fall from grace. In 2015, Aaron was convicted of the murder of 27-year-old Odin Lloyd. As he sits in prison, he is now preparing for yet another trial, scheduled to begin next month. I speak with Kevin Armstrong (@KevinGArmstrong) from the New York Daily News about Aaron's arrest, trial, and upcoming trial. Please consider supporti...

Kelsey Smith was just 18 years old when she was abducted from a Target parking lot in Overland Park, Kansas in June 2007. Finding her would take a battle with a cellular phone company and heartbreaking surveillance video from Target, that shows that no one is ever really safe, even if you're running a simple errand in broad daylight. A special thank you to Kelsey's mom, Missey Smith, for speaking...

In this episode, I take you behind-the-scenes of each case I covered in the Court Junkie podcast, as well as go over the latest updates. You'll also hear from Pravin Varughese's mom and family friend, as well as other Court Junkies.  Please consider supporting Court Junkie with as little as $3 a month via Patreon.com/CourtJunkie. Help support Court Junkie with $6 a month and get access to bonus mo...

We all have cases that we follow and that stick with us, whether it's on a personal level or because we're oddly fascinated with them. In this episode, I count down the top cases that affected me the most this year.  Please consider supporting Court Junkie with as little as $3 a month via Patreon.com/CourtJunkie. Help support Court Junkie with $6 a month and get access to bonus monthly episodes. F...

In August 2012, 66-year-old John Wise went to the Akron General Medical Center to visit his ailing wife of 45 years. He would leave there in handcuffs. It's a case that isn't as it seems and the twists and turns may leave you with more questions than answers. It's a case that begs the question, does the act outweigh the intent? Please consider supporting Court Junkie with as little as $3 a month v...

In this Brief, I speak with Russ Richelsoph, a criminal defense attorney from Tempe, Arizona. Russ talks about how he chooses his expert witnesses, what sort of credentials expert witnesses need to have (the answer might surprise you), and what it's like to cross examine an expert witness. Please consider supporting Court Junkie with as little as $3 a month via Patreon.com/CourtJunkie. Help suppor...

In Part 2 of this episode, Kristine and her newly-formed defense team fight to win back her freedom. Armed with advances in fire science, a potential Brady violation, and some shocking revelations about the State's evidence at trial, Kristine and her team fight till the very end. A special thank you to Kristine Bunch for helping me tell her story. Please consider supporting Court Junkie with as li...

In part 1 of this episode, you'll hear about one woman's nightmare come true. In 1995, 21-year-old Kristine Bunch was abruptly awoken in the early morning hours to discover that her house was on fire. After escaping the flames, she watched in horror as firefighters were unable to save her 3-year-old son who was still trapped inside. Within hours of being released from the hospital, she discovered...

In this Court Junkie Brief, I speak with Alan Hirsch,  a professor and chair of the Justice and Law Studies program at Williams College, in Williamstown, Massachusetts. Alan has also testified as a false confessions expert in over 25 different trials across 16 different states. We talk about why people falsely confess to crimes they didn't commit, the different techniques law enforcement uses in t...

Ryan Poston and Shayna Hubers had been dating on and off for about a year when one night in October 2012, a 911 call was placed from Ryan's condo. When officers arrived, they found Ryan dead from multiple gunshot wounds. Shayna claimed it was self-defense even though Ryan had been shot 6 times. I'll go over Shayna's bizarre behavior, the details from the trial, and tell you about a shocking new de...