courtneyjfretwell

Suicide or Homicide: Death of Rebecca Zahau

Subscribe to Forensic Tales Podcast so you don’t miss an episode! Was the mysterious death of Rebecca Zahau a suicide or a staged homicide? Let’s let the forensic evidence decide. Rebecca Zahau is from Falam in the Chin Hills of Myanmar known as Falam, formally known as Burma. During her childhood she moved around a…

Read More

Episode 14: Murder of Karina Vetrano

Karina Vetrano went missing on August 2, 2016 after leaving the house to go out jogging in Spring Creek Park, New York. Her brutally murdered body was discovered along the running path a few hours later.  Medical examiners recovered a DNA profile underneath Karina’s fingernails, on her back, and on her cell phone. Did police and…

Read More

Episode 13: Murder of Shari Smith

Sharon “Shari” Faye Smith was abducted from her own driveway in May 1985. For days, her abductor tortured her family by making phone calls promising she was alive and well until her body was discovered. Forensic scientists were able to examine the letter using Electrostatics Detection Apparatus (ESDA) to reveal indentations and impressions in the…

Read More

Episode 12: Christopher Porco

Peter and Joan Porco were brutally attacked inside their Albany, New York home with a 3 foot axe in November 2004. Joan survives the savage attack, but her husband, Peter, does not. Right away, police suspect the couple’s son, Christopher, may have been involved in the attack. Let’s let the forensic evidence decide.

Read More

Christopher Porco

Subscribe to Forensic Tales Podcast so you don’t miss an episode! In Delmar, New York, a suburb just outside the city of Albany, lived Peter Porco and his wife, Joan Porco. On November 15th, 2004, Peter Porco didn’t show up to work at the Supreme Court in Albany, New York like he did every morning….

Read More

Murder of Karina Vetrano

Subscribe to Forensic Tales Podcast so you don’t miss out on a new episode! Karina Vetrano, 30-years old, went missing while jogging in Queens, New York on August 2, 2016. Her badly beaten, lifeless body was discovered a few hours later by her father, a retired New York Fire Department firefighter. Karina only had some…

Read More

Murder of Shari Smith

Subscribe to Forensic Tales Podcast so you don’t miss an episode! In May 1985, 17-year old Sharon Faye Smith, who went by the nickname “Shari”, was entering a whole new and exciting chapter in her life. She was about to graduate high school. On May 31st 1985, Sheri was just 2 days shy of graduating…

Read More

Episode 10: Cold Case: Murder of Missy Bevers

Missy Bevers, a 45-year old wife, mother, and fitness instructor was brutally murdered while setting up for an early morning fitness boot camp class in April 2016. Her killer was caught on surveillance camera dressed head-to-toe in SWAT riot gear. There’s been no arrests made in the case and Missy’s killer is still out there….

Read More

Episode 9: Murder of Leanne Tiernan

The body of 16-year old school girl Leanne Tiernan was discovered on August 20, 2001. At her autopsy, valuable forensic evidence was collected from her body, including several dog hairs. The murder of Leanne Tiernan became known as the first British murder investigation that used dog DNA profiling to catch a savage killer. 

Read More