Episode Overview

Title: MAYHEM IN THE MORGUE | Neighbors
Podcast: Crime Stories with Nancy Grace (Hosted by Dr. Kendall Crowns, forensic pathologist, guest hosting)
Date: January 18, 2026
Theme:
Dr. Kendall Crowns walks listeners through true tales of difficult, bizarre, and even dangerous neighbors he has encountered over the years—from disruptive fellow students to hostile adults wielding guns. With wit and detail, he relates these stories both for their entertainment value and to reflect on the sometimes-surreal nature of neighborly conflict.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Med School Years: Upstairs Neighbor "Lane"

• Setting: Medical school in Kansas City, apartment on Rainbow Boulevard (00:45)
• Good Neighbors: Early experiences included quiet, studious medical students.
  • “My neighbor across from me was non-existent...She too was a medical student, but a little further along than me...great neighbor, never there, kept to herself.” (01:27)
• Enter Lane: Lane, a classmate, moves in upstairs after Christmas.
• Lane’s Problematic Behavior:
  • Routine drunkenness and loudness, sometimes involving guests from a local strip club (Bazookas).
  • Repetitive “test day ritual”: blasting “Rooster” by Alice in Chains at 7 AM on exam mornings, singing loudly.
    • “At 7am on every test day it would start like clockwork...Here they come to snuff the rooster, you know he ain’t gonna die—and all the while Lane was screaming at the top of his voice along with the song.” (06:55)
  • So disruptive, Dr. Crowns altered his study routine to escape the noise.

Lane’s Response to Conflict

• Attempts to kindly ask Lane to quiet down are met with verbal hostility.
  • “I tried several times and his response always was a pleasant F off.” (13:54)
• Complaints to apartment management yield no results.

Creative Retaliation: The Phone Scheme

• Dr. Crowns finds Lane’s landline number and uses repeated, well-timed hang-up calls to disrupt Lane’s activities.
  • “My diabolical plan was when he got really loud...I would call and I could hear his phone ringing...And when his footsteps would get to his phone, click. I’d hang up.” (15:44)
• This passive-aggressive campaign creates temporary relief, even resulting in Lane damaging his own phone out of frustration:
  • “One occasion he even got so frustrated that he threw his phone across his apartment, screaming about why did his phone keep ringing and why did that person keep hanging up? Success was achieved.” (17:50)
• The noise abates for short periods, never ceasing the “Rooster” ritual.

Resolution

• Lane’s life unravels—academic decline coincides with loud, angry fights, increased drinking, and eventually a pepper spray altercation with a girlfriend.
• Lane abruptly disappears after finals:
  • “They couldn’t find him. They called the list of phone numbers. No one answered. And when his lease ran out, they entered into his apartment...trash everywhere and damage to the apartment...and there was a phone. The base had been smashed to pieces...” (27:18)
• Crowns reflects on the episode with a sense of victory and relief.

2. Texas: The Worst Neighbor of All

Introduction to New Neighbor “Doc”

• New home in Texas, only one immediate neighbor—an elderly, combative man who also refers to himself as “Doc.”
  • “He was unpleasant and sometimes aggressive, trying to always tell Beth or me how to handle our house or our yard or things like that.” (33:45)
• Engages in repeated complaints to the HOA (Homeowners’ Association) about trivial property issues (e.g., a shed an inch too close to the property line).
• “He measured this with a tape measure and filed an aggressive complaint about our shed wanting it destroyed, probably burned...The HOA looked at it and said the 1 inch discrepancy really wasn’t that important...They told him he just needed to calm down, which made him really mad.” (36:55)

Loud Karaoke and Petty Antics

• Holds late-night, drunken karaoke parties featuring the Eagles, Cher, and Bob Seeger, further souring neighbor relations.
  • “He and his friends would become intoxicated and sing songs by the Eagles, Bob Seeger and Cher and carry on like they were college kids and until well past midnight...he couldn’t sing, nor could his friends.” (39:00)

Escalation: Gun Incident (43:20)

• While Crowns is watering his tomatoes, neighbor shoots at a dove on the fence, hitting the bird and narrowly missing Crowns.
  • “I looked up and I could see my neighbor in his boxers and white T shirt and bathrobe, pointing a gun at me and taking aim. I dropped my watering can and I ran zigzagging in the yard. I heard another pop while I was running...” (44:35)
• Sheriff called; neighbor claims to be an Air Force sniper, insists his target was only birds.
  • “He claimed that he knew his way around guns and he was using a CO2 charged air rifle and shooting pellets and would never have shot at me intentionally. But he closed with, because if he wanted to shoot me, he could have done it and he wouldn’t have missed because, you know, he was a sniper.” (48:18)
• Crowns, conscious of the potential danger to his children, chooses not to press charges so long as the shooting stops. Uneasy “armed truce” results.

The Final Act: Neighbor’s Mysterious Death

A Bizarre Encounter (54:08)

• While Dr. Crowns is away, neighbor’s wife is seen acting oddly (shaking a stained towel, screaming) by Crowns’ wife, Beth.
  • “She was shaking her fist and screaming and waving a white towel that was stained red aggressively back and forth...This time it was really different and it was exceptionally odd.” (56:00)

Death in the Neighborhood (57:40)

• Crowns learns upon returning that his neighbor is dead—discovered at a nearby driveway with two gunshot wounds to the head, a gun at the scene.
  • “Sure enough, it was my neighbor, wearing the same white T shirt, same suspenders, and blue denim pants...The only difference was he was laying there dead on an autopsy table.” (58:24)
• The neighbor’s wife hysterically accuses Dr. Crowns (“that son of a bitch doctor”) of involvement due to ongoing hostility.
• Police consider homicide but evidence points to suicide:
  • Crowns has an alibi, proven by a letter from Chicago attorneys.
  • Forensic detail: Two low-velocity, small caliber wounds made a double self-inflicted shot possible.
    • “You can shoot yourself more than once in the head and still be able to move around and pull the trigger again...” (01:01:10)
• The “white towel” had been used by the wife to clean up remains at the scene.

Aftermath

• The wife moves away, new neighbors move in, and life returns to normal.
  • Crowns muses on the absurdity and tension of neighbor conflicts and jokes about “the call coming from inside the house—sort of.” (01:08:12)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On academic stress:
  “I would be sitting eating my Cheerios next to my kitchen sink, reading my panic notes...and I would hear the opening guitar riff to the song followed by the lyric ‘and ain't found a way to kill him yet.’” (07:02)

• On Lane’s reaction to phone harassment:
  “He even got so frustrated that he threw his phone across his apartment, screaming about why did his phone keep ringing and why did that person keep hanging up? Success was achieved.” (17:50)

• On neighbors and HOA:
  “He measured this with a tape measure and filed an aggressive complaint about our shed wanting it destroyed, probably burned.” (36:55)

• On the gun incident:
  “I told her what had occurred. And then I showed her the dead bird and began showing her the entrance and exit wounds. And I started telling her my theory about the gun. The officer looked at me, perplexed, and she said, ‘Who are you? Where did you get this bird from again?’” (47:10)

• On the neighbor’s supposed military experience:
  “Because if he wanted to shoot me, he could have done it and he wouldn't have missed because, you know, he was a sniper.” (48:23)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:45 — Introduction to med school apartment and early neighbors
• 06:55 — Lane’s “Rooster” ritual and escalating disruptions
• 13:54 — Attempts to reason with Lane; his response: “F off”
• 15:44 — The phone-calling plan begins
• 17:50 — Lane’s frustration peaks; phone destroyed
• 27:18 — Lane vanishes without a trace; aftermath
• 33:45 — Move to Texas; introduction to an even more challenging neighbor
• 36:55 — HOA complaints and petty disputes
• 39:00 — Noisy karaoke nights
• 44:35 — Gun incident in the backyard
• 48:18 — Police response and neighbor’s sniper claims
• 54:08 — Strange incident: neighbor’s wife outside, stained towel, screaming
• 57:40 — Discovery of neighbor’s death and the aftermath
• 01:01:10 — Medical explanation of gunshot wound survivability
• 01:08:12 — Reflective close and joke about “the call coming from inside the house”

Podcast Tone & Style

Dr. Crowns blends wry humor and vivid, often darkly comic storytelling, especially in his descriptions of academic and neighborhood absurdity. His forensic background brings insight into both the psychology of conflict and the medical realities of injury and death. Despite chilling moments, the tone is light and engaging, offering both cautionary tales and catharsis for anyone who’s ever lived next to a nightmare neighbor.

Summary

This episode is a lively, sometimes shocking set of neighbor stories anchored in true crime and personal trauma, all told through the sardonic, forensic lens of Dr. Kendall Crowns. Whether dealing with test-day heavy metal torture or actual firearms, Crowns’s experiences highlight that sometimes the wildest stories are the ones right next door.