Mayhem in the Morgue with Dr. Kendall Crowns

Content Warning: This episode contains discussion of human remains and skeletal material. If you’re sensitive to this topic, this episode may not be for you. After death, decomposition proceeds predictably, but the fate of what remains is not always controlled. In this episode of Mayhem in the Morgue, Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Kendall Crowns examines the journeys skeletal rem...

Content Warning: This episode discusses the death of an individual. If you’re sensitive tothis topic, this episode may not be for you. Proximity has a way of revealing character, especially when the walls are thin, and patience runs thinner. In this episode of Mayhem in the Morgue, Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Kendall Crowns reflects on neighbors whose actions left an enduring impres...

If you ever suspect a chemical or toxin exposure, contact Poison Control at 1-800-222-1222 for immediate assistance. Content Warning: This episode contains information about the deaths of individuals. If you’re sensitive to this topic, this episode may not be for you. In this third installment of Exposure, Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Kendall Crowns explains the chemical hazards that...

Content Warning: This episode discusses the deaths of individuals. If you’re sensitive to this topic, this episode may not be for you. In this episode of Mayhem in the Morgue, Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Kendall Crowns reflects on how celebration and death often share the same season. From Christmas music echoing through the medical examiner's office to a door-decorating contes...

Content Warning: This episode contains graphic descriptions of death, decomposition, and violence. If you’re sensitive to these topics, this episode may not be for you. i In this episode of Mayhem in the Morgue, Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Kendall Crowns revisits a case from his years at the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office in Chicago. He recounts a death investigation that began as...

Content Warning: This episode contains graphic descriptions of death, decomposition, and violence. If you’re sensitive to these topics, this episode may not be for you. In this episode of Mayhem in the Morgue, Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Kendall Crowns examines the fallibility of non-scientific identification and the consequences when it fails. The case of “Crackhead Carl...

Content Warning: This episode contains graphic descriptions of infectious disease, autopsy procedures, and workplace exposure. If you’re sensitive to these topics, this episode may not be for you. In the morgue, danger doesn’t end when the heart stops beating. In this second installment of Exposure, Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Kendall Crowns recounts two life-threatening&...

Content Warning: This episode discusses the deaths of individuals and animal scavenging. If you’re sensitive to this topic, this episode may not be for you. It started with a song lyric: “She was a winner that became a doggie’s dinner.” But behind that darkly humorous line lies a story stranger (and sadder) than the myth it inspired. In this episode of Mayhem...

Content Warning: This episode discusses the deaths of individuals. If you’re sensitive to this topic, this episode may not be for you.   A leg on the shore, a hand with no body, and a pair of feet in yellow socks. Every fragment tells a story, and every story leads somewhere unexpected. In this episode of Mayhem in the Morgue, Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Kendall Crowns investigates the u...

Content Warning: This episode contains graphic descriptions of autopsy findings, field investigations, and animal-related trauma. If you’re sensitive to these topics, this episode may not be for you. What begins as a curious question about a patterned injury turns into a full-scale ranch investigation involving a horse, a farrier, a sheriff, and one very angry Chihuahua named Pepe. In this s...

Content Warning: This episode contains graphic descriptions of autopsies, workplace injuries, and bodily hazards. If you’re sensitive to these topics, this episode may not be for you. They say the dead can't hurt you. Anyone who's worked in a morgue knows better. In this episode of Mayhem in the Morgue, Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Kendall Crowns begins Exposure , a two-part look at the hidden...

Content Warning: This episode contains disturbing descriptions of the death of an individual. If you’re sensitive to this topic, this episode may not be for you. In the stillness of dawn at the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office, a baby’s cry echoes through the halls, breaking the silence of the morgue. In this special Halloween episode of  Mayhem in the Morgue, Chief Med...

Content Warning: This episode contains graphic descriptions of autopsies, bodily fluids, and morgue mishaps. If you’re sensitive to these topics, this episode may not be for you.   In ninth grade, Kendall Crowns spent a day at the local morgue, arranged through his father’s friendship with a medical examiner. One autopsy was enough to set his course for life. Decades later, he has...

Content Warning: This episode contains graphic descriptions of decomposition, autopsy findings, and homicidal investigation. If you’re sensitive to these topics, this episode may not be for you.   A floating trash can on the Chicago River leads to a grisly discovery. Inside, duct tape, chains and tarps conceal a body. Nicknamed “the submarine,” the case exposed just how stra...

Content Warning: This episode contains graphic descriptions of autopsy practices and morgue mishaps. If you’re sensitive to these topics, this episode may not be for you. A $50-a-case job, a scalpel, and almost no training.  In this episode of Mayhem in the Morgue, Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Kendall Crowns looks back on his early days as an autopsy technician. From botched haircuts and...

Content Warning: This episode contains graphic descriptions of autopsy findings and the accidental death of an individual involving animal trauma. If you're sensitive to detailed accounts of injury and investigation, please proceed with caution. In this episode of Mayhem in the Morgue, Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Kendall Crowns unpacks the strange case of a 75-year-old man found dead beside a horse...

What happens when a classroom of fourth graders learns that their guest speaker once autopsied a Star Wars actor? In this episode of Mayhem in the Morgue, Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Kendall Crowns recounts his career day presentations, the bizarre questions kids love to ask, and the one time he was derailed by a child named Monty. From explaining forensic pathology to grade schoolers to calming a...

Content Warning: This episode contains graphic descriptions of autopsy findings, decomposition, and animal predation. If you’re sensitive to these topics, this episode may not be for you. A fisherman’s disappearance, his empty boat, and circling alligators lead to a grim discovery. In a separate case, a family Labrador retriever trots home with her latest find, a human head. In this ep...

Content Warning: This episode contains graphic descriptions of fatal injuries and autopsy findings related to a fireworks-related death. If you’re sensitive to detailed accounts of trauma, please proceed with caution.   What happens when alcohol, bravado, and high-powered explosives mix? In this explosive episode of Mayhem in the Morgue, Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Kendall Crowns breaks...

Welcome to Mayhem in the Morgue, an unfiltered, often absurd look inside the world of forensic pathology. In this episode, Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Kendall Crowns recounts the day a routine courtroom testimony over a strangulation case turned into a showdown with a defense attorney, a sticky note, and a very impatient judge. What began as standard expert witness work spiraled toward a contempt c...

Content Warning: This episode discusses the death of an individual, including details of electrocution and injury, which some listeners may find distressing.   Two burn marks on the chest. No sign of fire. A man collapses at work and is pronounced dead. In this episode, Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Kendall Crowns walks through a case that seemed straightforward until a witness came forward with...

Welcome to the debut episode of Mayhem in the Morgue — an unfiltered, insightful look into the world of forensic pathology, hosted by veteran medical examiner Dr. Kendall Crowns. With more than 35 years of experience in death investigation, Dr. Crowns brings a unique perspective shaped by countless real-world cases. In this premiere episode, Dr. Crowns rewinds to his very firs...

It’s chaos, blood, and body parts. Join Dr. Kendall Crowns each week as he discusses stories and cases from his over 35-year journey with death, from the tornado alley of Kansas, to the bloody Memphis shoreline of the muddy Mississippi River, to the ultra-violence of Chicago, and finally, the methamphetamine fueled insanity of Texas. Encompassing his days as an autopsy tech, medical student,...