Protocol | The First 48 Hours After Danny Harris’s Murder

Summary

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Everything They Missed

Episode: "Protocol | The First 48 Hours After Danny Harris’s Murder"

Host: Stephanie Tinsley
Date: September 5, 2025

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Episode Overview

In the debut episode of "Everything They Missed," host Stephanie Tinsley begins an in-depth re-investigation into the unsolved 2007 murder of Danny Harris—a father, veteran, and Tennessean whose case faded into obscurity despite glaring red flags and mishandled evidence. Stephanie, joined by attorneys and ex-cops, unpacks the initial 48 hours after Harris’s body was discovered, laying out a tangled web of questionable police procedures, lost evidence, unreliable witnesses, and the personal connections that clouded the search for truth. Through new interviews and previously unheard recordings, the episode sets out to uncover what was missed—and why the case never got the scrutiny it deserved.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Opening Warning & Context ([00:01–01:20])

• The episode begins with a legal disclaimer and tense tape of an unknown woman threatening to sue if her name is connected to Danny’s murder.

  • “If this shit don't stop, I was to sue the pants out of your little justice system. Do you understand?”
    — Anonymous Female, [00:01]

• Stephanie sets the stakes: the episode is about “one of the most savage murders I’ve ever come across,” and introduces a tape being aired for the first time.

2. Discovery of the Crime Scene ([02:01–05:42])

• Joe Jacqueline, a retired NYPD cop, describes the unforgettable nature of death’s smell at crime scenes ([02:01]).

  • “The smell of death is undeniable. It goes through sheetrock, it goes through ceilings, it goes through walls.”
    — Joe Jacqueline, [02:01]

• Danny Harris’s decomposing body is discovered after a routine welfare check in his Cordova, TN apartment, following missed rent payments.

  • Apartment details: one-story, brick, small, AC cranked, candles burned, air fresheners used, towel under bedroom door ([04:03–04:31]).
  • Stephanie’s narration of the scene is graphic—Harris is unrecognizable; the body is decomposed, and evidence of attempts to mask the decomposition (cold air, air fresheners) is everywhere.
  • “His pacemaker told the rest: he had been dead for two months.”
    — Stephanie Tinsley, [04:43]

3. Initial Police Theories and Investigation Protocol ([05:42–09:46])

• Police first consider burglary or drug deal gone wrong, quickly dismiss this as evidence surfaces the murder was personal.

• Joe Jacqueline introduces “the first 48” concept—the critical window for solving homicide ([06:18])—but notes its origin as TV dramatization, not strict procedure.

  • “It makes for great TV... the longer it goes, the worse it gets.”
    — Joe Jacqueline, [06:41]

• Police at the scene include Sergeant Carolyn Mason, one of the department’s TV-famous detectives, who finds graduation memorabilia for Chris Harris—a local sheriff and the victim’s son ([07:29]).

• Detectives, believing the victim is a stranger, eventually learn Danny Harris is Chris’s estranged father—Chris is called to the scene.

  • This decision is harshly criticized:
    • “But the issue that comes down to is it makes for investigations extremely difficult because of the condition that the body is in... What I do question is the condition that the victim was in to bring the son in to try to identify.”
      — Joe Jacqueline, [09:12, 09:46]

4. Major Evidence Mishandling & Protocol Breaches ([10:50–13:48])

• Stephanie and Jason Gishner outline multiple failures:

  • Key forensic items left untested:

    • Red rag stuffed in victim's mouth: not DNA-tested
    • Bed comforter and towels: not tested
    • Five bloody fingerprints: only two collected
    • Alarm system: never dusted for prints
    • Detectives miss or ignore women's jewelry on the nightstand and other clues

  • “Nothing was tested for DNA.”
    — Jason Gishner, [11:40]

  • “If all of these items they missed sounds sloppy and half-assed, then I don't know how else to prepare you for what's coming. Because it gets worse. Much worse.”
    — Stephanie Tinsley, [12:25]

• Stephanie contextualizes the case as another “botched investigation” but asserts its unique failures began to consume her life.

5. Host’s Personal Investment and Entry into the Case ([13:49–15:55])

• Stephanie explains her and her husband’s connection to the infamous Murdaugh murders, which stoked her interest in telling her own true crime story ([13:49–14:27]).
• She learns of Danny Harris’s case through attorney Jason Gishner (after her child’s friend presents about his parent’s job at a school assembly).
• Jason was initially terrified the story would go public, aware of its sensitive, unresolved nature.
  • “Once that happens, I lose control of the narrative.”
    — Jason Gishner, [15:46]

6. Missing Truck, TV, and Gun: Following the Trail ([15:55–19:01])

• Danny’s distinctive truck, TV, and .40 pistol are missing. Police put out BOLOs and lean on street informants.
• Enter “Snow,” real name Janice Jefferson: a police informant who rents rooms and helps police identify people in trouble.
• Snow’s account:
  • Tammy Vance and daughter Sarah Lucas arrive, battered, trying to pawn a TV, later produce a gun from the truck.
  • Snow calls police suspecting truck is stolen.
  • Police trace and arrest Tammy at a Mapco gas station, with Snow watching ([18:26–19:09]).

7. Interrogations & Key Witnesses Emerge ([19:09–25:08])

• Attorney Elizabeth Bolling helps reconstruct the aftermath—police process the tip, question Snow and accompanying individuals.
• Tammy Vance, driving the truck, acts surprised to hear Danny is dead. Under questioning, she breaks and details her relationship with Danny, leading to more suspects.
  • “It seems like Tammy was obviously considered a suspect because she was driving a stolen truck, but she pretended that she didn't know Danny was dead.”
    — Elizabeth Bolling, [20:20]
• Clark Chapman, with unique access to Tammy, recounts their dating site meeting, her moving in to help with bills, and the large flow of strangers into the apartment ([20:42–24:21]).
• Danny allows Tammy to bring men she meets back to his home for paid encounters—opening the door to numerous possible suspects.
• Turmoil mounts as Tammy, during interrogation, names "Wayne Bobo," igniting a rapid but flawed police pursuit.

8. Systemic Failures & Closing Thoughts ([25:08–27:31])

• The investigators are accused of seizing too quickly on a suspect after a single name drops, with the case rapidly and shoddily closed.

  • “This was one of the quickest cases to get closed and one of the most poorly investigated cases I've ever seen.”
    — Jason Gishner, [26:40]

• Further procedural problems: contradictory claims about interview recordings and ATM card use after the murder ([26:48–27:20]).

• Stephanie ends with a vow to keep pushing:

  • “What led me to the investigation of Danny Harris wasn’t a podcast, news story, or family member. It was actually another murder, which my entire life got pulled into... I made a decision to... trace every name, every lie, every dead end they gave up on until it’s outed who’s responsible. And if you look it up, what you’ll find is this case is closed. But we’re just getting started.”
    — Stephanie Tinsley, [25:08–26:40]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “The smell of death is undeniable. It goes through sheetrock... you can never forget that smell.”
  — Joe Jacqueline, [02:01]
• “If all of these items they missed sounds sloppy and half-assed, then I don't know how else to prepare you for what's coming. Because it gets worse. Much worse.”
  — Stephanie Tinsley, [12:25]
• “Once that happens, I lose control of the narrative.”
  — Jason Gishner, [15:46]
• “He wanted her to stick with what she was already doing.”
  — Clark Chapman, on Danny’s acceptance of Tammy’s sex work, [23:49]
• “Wayne Bobo... when Tammy Vance said his name, it was like dropping a match into gasoline.”
  — Stephanie Tinsley, [25:08]
• “This was one of the quickest cases to get closed and one of the most poorly investigated cases I've ever seen.”
  — Jason Gishner, [26:40]

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Key Timestamps for Reference

• 00:01 — Legal disclaimer, tense audio; sets the immediate stakes
• 02:01 — Joe Jacqueline describes the crime scene and recognition of death
• 03:00 — Introduction to Danny Harris’s life and apartment
• 04:03 — Discovery details: evidence and attempts to mask smell
• 06:18 — Discussion of the “first 48” and police urgency
• 07:29 — Detective connections: Carolyn Mason and Chris Harris
• 11:40 — Breakdown of forensic failures and mishandling
• 13:49 — Stephanie’s transition from observer to participant post-Murdaugh case
• 15:46 — Jason’s apprehension about reopening the story
• 17:00 — Enter "Snow" (Janice Jefferson)—the informant key to new leads
• 19:09 — Attorney Elizabeth Bolling on follow-up evidence
• 20:42 — Clark Chapman on Danny and Tammy’s relationship
• 25:08 — Tammy Vance’s interrogation: the “Wayne Bobo” bombshell
• 26:40 — Final condemnation of the investigation’s closure

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Episode Tone

Stephanie’s tone is direct, skeptical, and at times deeply personal. She’s critical of the original investigation but remains empathetic to victims and their families. The contributors (cops, lawyers, informants) provide a mix of gruff, world-weary realism and frustration at the justice system’s failures.

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Summary

This episode meticulously lays out the basic facts, missed opportunities, and unresolved questions haunting Danny Harris’s murder case. It establishes a narrative of police oversight, contaminated evidence, and the all-too-human elements that complicate real justice. The host’s vow to keep digging sets up a series dedicated to untangling what the original investigation missed—suggesting much more will be revealed.

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Transcript

[Stephanie Tinsley]

The following story discusses individuals connected to the case of Danny Harris. Except for those previously convicted in this matter. No one mentioned in this series has been officially named a suspect, person of interest or found guilty of any crime related to his death. If this shit don't stop, I was to sue the pants out of your little justice system. Do you understand?

[Jason Gishner]

Mickey, you could feel free to sue whoever you'd like, but our investigation will continue.

[Stephanie Tinsley]

For what? I didn't do anything. The investigation being discussed here, it's no small matter. It's a murder. One of the most savage murders I've ever come across. And this tape, it's being heard publicly for the first time. He killed the man, huh?

[Jason Gishner]

That's to be determined.

[Stephanie Tinsley]

Okay, well, they're telling me that you're asking questions about me. For what? That shit was closed years ago with Mullins and everybody else.

[Jason Gishner]

Well, it's open again.

[Stephanie Tinsley]

And who let you open it?

[Jason Gishner]

We opened it and we're just doing an investigation right now.

[Stephanie Tinsley]

For more than a decade this case has been considered settled. But when I was first introduced to it, there were far more questions than answers. This tape and other new evidence threatens to unravel what many would like to forget. What do they have to hide? Let's find out. I'm Stephanie Tinsley and this is everything they missed. Episode 1 Protocol.

[Joe Jacqueline]

The smell of death is undeniable. It goes through sheetrock, it goes through ceilings, it goes through walls. I mean, once you've smelled one or two, you can never forget that smell.

[Stephanie Tinsley]

Joe Jacqueline is a tough east coast retired cop. You could say he's seen his fair share of dead bodies. And over the past year he's become my go to in making sense of crime scenes. Because death and murder are not my world. At least they weren't until I came across this story. It starts simple, on an afternoon, October 26, 2007, at an apartment just outside Memphis, Tennessee. That's where 55 year old Danny Harris called home.

[Jason Gishner]

So Danny Harris had been living in this apartment complex in Cordova, Tennessee, which is about 15 minutes outside of kind of downtown Memphis area.

[Stephanie Tinsley]

This is attorney Jason Gishner, who knows this case well.

[Jason Gishner]

And just so you can kind of get a feel for what this place is like, it's kind of one story buildings where people have their own unit, parking place out front, probably 1,000 square feet or less, brick apartments, kind of all in a row, one story type deal. Well, Mr. Harris had been living there for some time and some months had passed where he hadn't paid his rent. Apparently he had a good history of paying his rent before, so the people that run the property were essentially doing a welfare check on him to be like, what's going on here? They knock, nobody answers. They're concerned. The apartment was locked and the alarm was on. So obviously the last person who left the apartment was somebody that knew the code or knew how to turn the alarm on. So they go inside, realize something really bad has happened here. And the apartment manager at that point says, police need to go in and take care of it from here.

[Stephanie Tinsley]

The apartment was silent. The AC was cranked as cold as it could go. Air fresheners were plugged in. Glass candles burned down to the wick were scattered around the living room. And a towel had been stuffed under the bedroom door. All of it were obvious signs for officers to call it in, but nothing could have prepared them for what was behind that door.

[Jason Gishner]

So the police go in and what they encounter is a horrible crime scene. You know, Mr. Harris is in his bedroom. He has obviously been dead for a long time.

[Stephanie Tinsley]

Dana Harris was on the bed, one foot hanging off his arms above his head. The white bedspread had so much blood on it, it had turned pink. His face was unrecognizable. His skin was so decomposed, it had turned black. His shirt and shorts had white stains like they had been splashed with bleach or kerosene. Hanging from his mouth was a towel jammed in with such force it drove a tooth into his lung. His pacemaker told the rest he had been dead for two months.

[Jason Gishner]

You've got a crime scene in the bedroom where he's essentially laying on the bed. He's been like this for a long time. You have some blood around the house, you have disheveled paperwork, things of that nature. It appears that some things in the apartment have been removed. Looks like a TV's been taken out of there.

[Stephanie Tinsley]

Who would have so brutally murdered this father of four, a 30 year veteran of the Tennessee Air National Guard? At first they considered maybe this could have been a random break in or a drug deal gone wrong. But if that were the case, we wouldn't be here. Because the things that they would uncover made one thing clear. This murder was personal.

[Joe Jacqueline]

Well, Yeah. I mean, first 48, you hear that a lot. In New York City, we used to call it the golden hour, the first hour of the investigation, because that's when your perpetrator is as close to you as possible. They're not that far away at this point.

[Stephanie Tinsley]

Again, this is retired NYPD detective and the voice you Heard at the start of this episode. Joe, Jack alone, the first 48.

[Joe Jacqueline]

It makes for great TV. It just kind of gives you the urgency, let's put it that way. There's an urgent thought to get this thing done as fast as you can because the longer it goes, the worse it gets.

[Stephanie Tinsley]

You've probably heard the phrase the first 48, the idea that the first two days of an investigation are the most critical. But the reason Joe says it makes for great TV is because it is an A and E reality show that was filmed in Memphis.

[Jason Gishner]

For homicide detectives, the clock starts ticking the moment they are called. Their chance of solving a murder is cut in half if they don't get a lead within the first 48 hours.

[Stephanie Tinsley]

And the detectives who arrived at the crime scene are the same detectives who starred in it.

[Jason Gishner]

Sergeant Caroline Mason, a four year homicide veteran, will work the investigation.

[Stephanie Tinsley]

While we can't confirm the first 48 cameras were rolling the day Danny Harris was found, what we do know is this. One of the first discoveries inside that apartment would shift the stakes entirely. Inside the bedroom, Sergeant Carolyn Mason found a photo and a program from the sheriff department graduation ceremony. She stepped outside and told the officers, he's a friend of ours. The photo was of Chris Harris, a well known officer of the Shelby County Sheriff's Department and SWAT team. What detectives didn't know is that Chris was the son of the victim. At first, they actually thought Danny was a black man. His body was so decomposed that his skin had discolored. So they asked Chris if he knew anyone who lived at the apartment. And they were stunned to learn that Danny was his father. Confused, Chris asked them what was wrong. And instead of giving him an explanation, they told him, just come to the scene.

[Joe Jacqueline]

I mean, you walk in and you saw somebody who was in full decomposition, right? I mean, it's just there's no question about. The skin had already started to turn different colors. So rigor mortis was already come and gone. Livomortis is the blood that settles in the dependent areas. That's now don because of the decomposition, just totally eats the body away. So most people have seen things worse in horror movies at this point. But the issue that comes down to is it makes for investigations extremely difficult because of the condition that the body is in.

[Stephanie Tinsley]

His father decomposed for two months in bed. That was the scene Chris was invited to. The two had been estranged for some time. After his divorce, Danny turned to alcohol and had become distant, not just from Chris, but from his entire family. Even estranged, who knew What Chris felt knowing his father was in that condition. Guilt, rage, horror. The fact that he was allowed at the crime scene at all, Jacqueline tells me, was not by the book.

[Joe Jacqueline]

The golden rule is you treat every death as if it's suspicious until proven otherwise. And this way, you don't run the risk of trampling a crime scene if it's a potential crime scene. Right. There are certain things that you just can't control, right? So anytime the cop enters the room, you technically have disturbed the crime scene. So the protocol should be, every death, the detectives are notified. The detectives should come in and do a preliminary investigation, which would include snapping some photos, taking a look at some of the things in the room, see if there's something missing, something like that. If you couldn't figure out that this was a homicide just by looking at what's going on, then, you know, maybe the cops should be writing parking summonses instead. I mean, there's blood spatter on the walls. There's something stuffed in his mouth. I mean, it just. It screams homicide. What I do question is the condition that the victim was in to bring the son in to try to identify, you know, what's going on right there. I mean, that could have been very traumatic for this individual. But, you know, there's other questions I have is like, it's been two months since the last time you spoke to your dad, right? So there could be some other kind of incident where they're estranged, or there's other issues going on. And if you're the police, do you really want to now bring all that into this?

[Stephanie Tinsley]

At this moment, should Chris Harris have been kept away from the crime scene? For all they knew, he could have been a suspect. He could have lost control. But he was one of their own. So if there were rules, they bent quietly. And the more I started to ask about what happened that day, I'd find it wasn't the only questionable decision they made. So when they start processing the scene now, there's a rag stuffed down Danny's throat. A red rag. So was the red rag tested for DNA?

[Jason Gishner]

No.

[Stephanie Tinsley]

Was the comforter that he was found laying on tested for anything?

[Jason Gishner]

Nothing was tested for DNA. You know, the only real testing that was done on the scene was blood spatter testing that was done by a police officer who I have some pretty serious concerns whether he was qualified.

[Stephanie Tinsley]

There was no shortage of evidence that this was a homicide. The blasting ac, the candles burned down to the wick, the air fresheners and outlets, all of it, like someone was desperate to mask the smell. But did the cops treat this scene with proper protocol and care? I'd say that's debatable at best. There was an alarm system that was never dusted. A bath mat and towel in the washing machine, and women's jewelry on the nightstand next to his body. The other towel that was under the bedroom door left untouched. The one stuffed in Danny's mouth. Same. And if that's not bad enough, there were five bloody fingerprints. But detectives only collected two that day. And if all of these items they missed sounds sloppy and half assed, then I don't know how else to prepare you for what's coming. Because it gets worse. Much worse. If you're a true crime fan, you've probably heard all this a thousand times before. Another botched investigation. I'll admit these flaws aren't exactly new or shocking. I know I've heard them all before. I've been a true crime junkie since before that was a known phrase. I'm talking decades. But what led me to the investigation of Danny Harris wasn't a podcast news story or family member. It was actually another murder, which my entire life got pulled into.

[Jason Gishner]

This is alec Murdoch at 4147 Moselle Road. I need to collect his answers immediately. My wife and Tom stuff badly.

[Stephanie Tinsley]

It's the most twisted and high profile murder of recent history. One of the most notorious murders that we've ever had in South Carolina. Two members of a prominent and powerful legal family found dead on a sprawling estate. The Murdoch murders. The wealthy South Carolina attorney who killed his wife and son in 2021.

[Jason Gishner]

Breaking news.

[Joe Jacqueline]

The very latest in the Alec Murdoch.

[Jason Gishner]

Trial that has captivated the country.

[Stephanie Tinsley]

A husband and father facing decades behind bars. My husband, trial attorney Mark Tinsley, was connected to the case. And we found ourselves at the center of a media firestorm. Netflix filmed a documentary at our home. So did Dateline 2020. All the major crime shows. For years, I'd just been a viewer. Now I was watching top tier producers getting a behind the scenes look at how my favorite shows were made. But I also began to see another side. There were some journalists exploiting victims for clicks and headlines. And that's when it hit me. I realized I wanted to tell one of these stories myself. So I started looking. The week I started researching, if you believe in coincidences, a case found me. My son came home and said his friend Lucy got up at school assembly and did a presentation on her dad, a lawyer. His work sounded fascinating. So I gave him a call and explained to him the type of story I was looking for. That lawyer was Jason Gishner. He told me about a handful of cases, but there was one that stood out. It was ongoing, one that made him the most nervous to talk about.

[Jason Gishner]

That's what worries me, is that I'm not ready for this story to be out in the world, because once that happens, I lose control of the narrative.

[Stephanie Tinsley]

Jason was hesitant at first about me, about the idea of putting the story into a podcast. But eventually he opened up for me. What started as a side project quickly became something else entirely. I had no idea where the story would take me, the people I would meet, the dangerous places I'd end up. It wasn't just true crime anymore. Jason and I spoke about the case often, and to him, his focus came back to the first 48 hours, the people and the things that were missing. For instance, Danny's truck, a 2006 GMC Sierra, along with a large TV and a.40 caliber pistol. Detectives put out a BOLO, be on the lookout for the truck, and tapped into their networks of pawn shops, back alleys, and confidential informants for tips. They were shaking trees, and that's when someone came forward. She went by the name Snow.

[Jason Gishner]

Snow, his real name is Janice Jefferson. She's a woman who was living in Memphis, who was a confidential informant who had been working for the police and also had a home where she would rent a room out of her house. I. I think Snow is the kind of person that probably had her own substance problems, is working with the police both to make money and also probably to make some of her own personal charges go away.

[Stephanie Tinsley]

Late August, two women showed up at Snow's doorstep. Tammy Vance and her daughter, Sarah Lucas. Tammy was a heavyset, sharp tongue woman from Louisiana who Snow knew from running around at the local smoky bars. Sarah wasn't far off from her mama, but that day, something was off. Tammy had a black eye and a circular wound on her forehead. Tammy said a man named Danny had roughed her up while drunk, then felt so guilty he checked himself into rehab and left her his truck. They were broke. Claimed they tried pawning a bulky tube tv, but no one would take it. Snow had heard a hundred stories like this before, but she needed the money, so she took the TV as payment. She figured that'd be the end of it. But the next month, Tammy was broke again. So she popped open the truck's front seat and pulled out a gun, asking Snow to help her sell it.

[Jason Gishner]

So Tammy Vance is driving around in this truck, and Snow doesn't think it's Tammy's truck. She thinks that Tammy's driving around in a stolen truck. She calls up the police, drops the dime on Tammy and says, look, I think this looks ladies driving around town, her and her daughter in a stolen truck, and they run the truck. They figure out that it's stolen. And pretty soon after that, people start connecting the dots that not only is this a stolen truck, but this is a stolen truck that belongs to a guy that they soon find out has been murdered.

[Stephanie Tinsley]

Snow knew where Tammy was that day and directed officers to a Mapco gas station just down the street.

[Elizabeth Bolling]

Snow was sitting there on the porch and heard all the sirens and couldn't help herself and goes over there to see what's happening.

[Stephanie Tinsley]

That's Elizabeth Bolling. She's a talented attorney who's great at finding cracks in the story. And the two of us have been working to piece everything together.

[Elizabeth Bolling]

And then when she gets there and watches them arrest Tammy, she goes over to him and tells those police officers that there's more possible evidence at their house. So she invites them back to the house. Andrew, her son in law, opens the door and lets the police in and they want Snow and her daughter to come down to the station to give their statements about it. They were riding down in a police car, but Andrew, even though he doesn't have a license, he follows them down to the police station. So he'll be there when they're finished and given their statement and he can give them a ride home.

[Stephanie Tinsley]

Police question everyone, including Andrew, the man who gave the women a ride to the station. But no one is providing anything useful until Tammy Vance starts to talk.

[Elizabeth Bolling]

It seems like Tammy was obviously considered a suspect because she was driving a stolen truck, but she pretended that she didn't know Danny was dead.

[Stephanie Tinsley]

Eventually, she gets tired and starts to break when she recalls the strangest chance encounter that began nine months earlier.

[Clark Chapman]

Tammy met Danny through a dating site, and I believe that was to be around January 2007.

[Stephanie Tinsley]

Clark Chapman isn't a man of many words, so I was glad to talk to him. For this podcast, he's interviewed Tammy Vance more than anyone else. He tells me back in early 2007, Danny Harris was lonely. He wasn't looking for love, just someone to share a beer or a cigarette with. He was so lonely, he started dialing strangers.

[Jason Gishner]

888 megamates Memphis.

[Stephanie Tinsley]

Are you a woman seeking a man?

[Jason Gishner]

If yes, press 1.

[Stephanie Tinsley]

If no, press 2. Before Tinder and Bumble, before webcams, before OnlyFans, there was the phone and the phone could sell anything. You describe yourself as someone who is Caucasian. Press 1. In the early 90s, phone chat lines were a billion dollar industry. One of the biggest players, Megamates, billed as the fun, fast, easy, easy way to meet local singles. Now I would like you to record a public message. Briefly describe yourself and the type of person that you are looking for. The industry's almost vanished now, but Megamates, it's still running, still waiting for someone to pick up the phone. You describe yourself as someone who is looking for a friend. Press 1. A casual date. Press 2. Harmless on the surface. No names, no faces, no keys exchanged at motel doors. Anonymous, intimate, safe. That's the Megamate's promise. In fact, they have rules to keep it that way. Rules not everyone follows. When lines are crossed and phone hookups become face to face encounters, that's when the danger begins. That's when Danny Harris met Tammy Vance, the woman on the other end of the line.

[Clark Chapman]

And from then, from understanding she, she came to his house, they had some relationships and then, then there was some pause from my understanding what she told me, that she didn't come around for a while. Then it was, you know, some months later, Danny calls Tammy, asked her, you know, come back, he needs her help.

[Stephanie Tinsley]

July 2007, Tammy Vance moves in with Danny. He's barely scraping by, falling behind on rent, and she steps in to help.

[Clark Chapman]

She said that house was very unkept, there was beer cans everywhere and cartons of cigarettes. And so she helped him and she said she felt sorry for him.

[Stephanie Tinsley]

Tammy also says she offered to go to work at a restaurant, but Danny shot her down. He wanted her to stick with what she was already doing.

[Clark Chapman]

She had been meeting men on this chat line that she had met Danny through and that she was going out on dates with these men and bringing back some of that money to help him pay some of his bills. And Danny was aware of that and so he was in agreement that, you know, she keep doing that and he allowed her to have these men come over to his house.

[Stephanie Tinsley]

This is where things get messy because according to Tammy, there were a lot of people coming and going from Danny's place leading up to his death. Mostly men, criminals, drug users. All hours of the night, police were questioning Tammy, but the suspect pool was now open to any man she'd brought over.

[Jason Gishner]

So as these interrogations are going down, the police have different people in different rooms and they're talking to Tammy. And initially Tammy is making denials. But at some point during the interrogation, Gang gets to the point that she admits her involvement in this crime. She's mitigating what she did, but she admits that she's involved in it. And she throws out the name of this other guy named Wayne Bobo.

[Stephanie Tinsley]

A new name entered the investigation. Wayne Bobo. And when Tammy Vance said his name, it was like dropping match into gasoline. You see, I've spent months combing through what happened, talking to lawyers and investigators, peering through the evidence, the interrogation, the lies. And much of it comes back to this moment. A single name. One that kicked off a series of mistakes, missteps, and assumptions that spiraled into one of the most catastrophic failures of justice I've ever seen. Earlier, I said, there are people who would rather this story stay buried, people who made decisions they'd rather not have questioned. I didn't anticipate how far I'd take this, but once I understood everything that happened in 2007, I made a decision to. Not just to make this podcast, but to ask the questions the cops didn't. To trace every name, every lie, every dead end they gave up on until it's outed. Who's responsible. And if you look it up, what you'll find is this case is closed. But we're just getting started.

[Jason Gishner]

This was one of the quickest cases to get closed and one of the most poorly investigated cases I've ever seen.

[Elizabeth Bolling]

I read in those statements, the very end of it, it says, you understand that this interview has been recorded, but.

[Stephanie Tinsley]

The day after, they say they do not have recording capabilities. Would getting it out to the public help you at all?

[Jason Gishner]

I don't know yet. I mean, I'm thinking through kind of all my options at this point. She was using his ATM card dozens of times on the day of the murder. After the day of the murder, it's like, come on.

[Stephanie Tinsley]

Well, they're telling me that you're asking questions about me for what? That shit was closed years ago.

[Jason Gishner]

Well, it's open again.

[Stephanie Tinsley]

Foreign thank you for listening to everything they missed. If you want more before next week's episode, follow me on social media he Stephanie Tinsley for extended interviews and deeper details into the story. And visit us [e-mail] to see photos, videos, or leave a voice message for me or on our tip line if you think you have information to help this case. Also, don't forget to follow, rate and review this show. It helps more than you know.