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True Crime Time For May 12, 2026 | Lindbergh Kidnapping, Child Torture Cases, Famous Felonies & Dexter’s Law
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- [00:01]
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- [03:59]
Co-Host Woody
Foreign.
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Host Cindy Overton
Hello everybody, and welcome to True crime time for May 12, 2026. And I am Cindy Overton. I had a wonderful, wonderful Mother's Day, and I hope the rest of you mothers did as well. And today has been a fun day of just getting back to work and getting things organized and planning things that are going to be happening. Come, you know, coming up, the live event. I've had calls about it. I've had calls about other events that are being planned. So it's just been a very good, positive, fun day. Back to work Monday, and let's get down to this day in history. So on this day in 1932, a small body was discovered half buried, just miles away from where Charles Augustus Lindbergh Jr. Was kidnapped two months earlier. An examination of the remains proved that the body was that of Charles Jr. And that the cause of death was a blow to the head and that the death had occurred two months prior. Money that was given for the ransom was traced back to a man named Bruno Richard Hauptman, and I hope I said his name correctly. And he was promptly arrested and tried for extortion and murder. And he was also convicted of those crimes and electrocuted for them. And so many of you know that that's the famous Lindbergh kidnapping. I'm gonna give a little bit more information about this. I don't know why I was born in 1971. I don't know why I was told about this. I don't. But I just remember learning about this, and I Always thought that it happened closer to the 70s because someone told me about it, my mother or something. But Charles Augustus Lindbergh Jr. Was born June 22, 1930. And he was the 20 month old son of the famed aviator Charles Lindbergh and Arrow Morrow Lindbergh. And he was actually kidnapped on March 1st of 1932. And then, like I said, his body was found on May 12. It was dubbed the crime of the century. The child was abducted from his nursery in East Amwell, New Jersey and later found murdered nearby, which sparked a massive investigation that, like I said, ultimately led to the execution of Richard or Bruno Richard Hauptman. So the abduction occurred around between 9 and 10pm and he was taken from his crib on the upper floor of the Lindbergh home, which was in Highfields near Hopewell, New Jersey. Now, a handmade ladder was used to enter the nursery window. And a ransom note demanding $50,000 was left on the windowsill. And $50,000 back in 1932 would be $1.2 million today as reference. So the investigation, and it was paid. And the investigation began with the New Jersey State Police and the FBI. And despite a massive manhunt, no significant fingerprints were found and only a footprint in mud. A second ransom note was sent and they increased the demand to $70,000. And a total of $50,000 was delivered on April 2, 1932, through an intermediary who was Dr. John F. Condon. And he met with a man that was nicknamed John in the Bronx cemetery. But the baby was not returned. And so on May 12, 1932, the child's body was found in shallow woods about 4.5 miles southeast of the home near Mount Rose, New Jersey. And the body was severely decomposed. And the coroner's report indicated the child had. Had likely been killed on the night of the abduction by a massive skull fracture. Arrests finally came in September of 1934. And the suspect was arrested after a gold certificate from the ransom money was traced to his car. And the man that was arrested, Bruno, was a German born carpenter. And he had $14,000 of the ransom money found in his garage. Following a highly publicized 1935 trial, Hauptman was found guilty of first degree murder and executed in the electric chair on April 3rd of 1936. And this case led to the passage of the federal kidnapping law, known as the Lindbergh Law. And the incident apparently was a global media circus, attracting immense press attention. The tragedy prompted the Lindberghs to move to Europe to escape the intense scrutiny. And despite the Conviction debates and conspiracy theories about whether Haltman acted alone or was innocent have continued to persist. So that's what happened on this day in 1932.
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Co-Host Woody
It's time for Family Matters.
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Host Cindy Overton
For this next story. We're going to Utah and we have horrible parents. We have a husband and wife that are accused of killing their 11 year old son. They tortured him to death before carrying his body upstairs and attempted to make it look like he was hanged with a coaxial cable like a phone charger. Brigham young Merrill, who's 35 years old, is charged with child abuse, homicide and child torture. His wife, Melinda Marie Merrill, who's 36, faces one count of child torture in the brutal slaying of Maroni Merrill. The Investigation began on September 21st of 2025 when officers responded to a 911 call regarding an unresponsive child. But despite life saving efforts, the boy was transported to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead. Authorities later determined the death was not accidental and uncovered evidence of a pattern of ongoing physical abuse involving several children in the household. Police noted that the decision to arrest was made only after a multi agency probe involving forensic experts concluded that the parents were in fact responsible for the 11 year old's death. The probable cause affidavit, of course, provides a very grim timeline of the day the poor baby boy died. And according to the affidavit, BRIGHMAN Merrill called 911 and told an emergency dispatcher he found his minor child hanging by a coaxial cable. And those are in quotes. But during the call, Brigham reportedly told dispatchers that he was performing CPR on the boy. But however, when the officers arrived, he was kneeling by the child and was definitely not performing cpr. So officers do what officers do. And they noted that while paramedics were treating his son, Brigham reportedly left the room to change his clothes. Police described this act as obvious, obviously being consistent with an attempt to destroy or conceal physical evidence. And that reminds me of good old Brooks Cleary. Home surveillance footage further contradicted the father's account. There was a clip also found that showed the daddy or the man as what he would call him a sperm donor carried the lifeless child past emergency responders who were actively knocking on the door and continued to carry him up to the room where the hanging allegedly had occurred. The affidavit goes on to say he has since never given the same reasoning or justification of why the body was moved to a different location. Again, Brooks Cleary. Within a week of the boy's death, police say that multiple items Were discarded from the residence. Surfaces were painted over and rooms altered. They. I mean. Medical examiners noted that the child's injuries were directly contradicting Brigham's account. There were ligature marks on the boy's neck, and those appeared to be the result of another force rather than hanging. Additionally, the bruising on the child's back was indicative of bruising that occurred immediately prior or during death. And when questioned about the marks Brigham said could have been from a belt. Interviews with the couple's surviving children uncovered a history of extreme disciplinary measures. One child said, this is a quote to have seen the victim die after receiving a whooping from Brigham. The siblings go on to describe years, years of an environment of torture that included intentional starvation, corporal punishment that resulted in bruising when belts, pans, and other items were used to whip. My hand is like, literally shaking. The children also said that they were frequently forced to stay outside overnight. And one child indicated that they were no longer made to stay in the dog kennel at night because they would get scared. The affidavit also says that they also were able to locate video footage that supported several of the allegations made by the children. And they found that Melinda, the great mom, either directly participated in the beatings or stood and watched as her husband did them. In separate interviews with detectives, the couple admitted to the abuse. Melinda told investigators she would check the children for bruises two days after a whipping to adjust their methods. She also admitted to switching from spoons to kitchen pans because the spoons were leaving marks. This is disgusting. Both parents admitted to the abuse and stated that they should have looked into the laws in Utah before they moved there. Goodness gracious. Melinda specifically claims she was not taught that leaving marks on her children was not acceptable, because that still makes it okay. While Brigham is accused of murdering his son, it's quite obvious that Melinda had direct participation in the beatings and stood and watched as her husband did them. The surviving children have been placed with welfare agencies and the box elder county attorney's office as handling the prosecution. And investigation remains active as authorities review additional digital evidence. It's going to take me a minute to get through that one. She didn't know. She was never told. You're not supposed to leave marks on your kids. And, oh, we should have checked the laws, See if we could actually beat our kids here in Utah.
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Co-Host Woody
You know, I've spent a lot of years investigating some of the darkest cases out there and seeing things most people couldn't imagine. But I'll tell you this, the hardest thing I'VE ever had to deal with wasn't out on the scene. It was happening in my own mind. I have ocd and for a long time I didn't even realize that's what it was. You see, OCD is nothing like the stereotypes you hear about. It's not being need or organized, and it's a serious condition and it's a lot more common than people think. It's these persistent, unwanted, intrusive thoughts that come in and don't let up. They cause real distress. And then you feel driven to do certain things, mentally or physically, and just to try to get some relief. But no matter what you do, those thoughts keep coming back. And the hardest part, they latch onto the things that matter most to you. Your family, your health, your relationships, even your identity. They can feel real. And that's what makes them so upsetting. I know a lot of y' all reached out to me about this over the years. So if any of this sounds familiar for you or someone you love, I want you to hear this. Real help exists. OCD is a highly treatable with the right kind of specialized therapy, specifically erp, or exposure and response prevention therapy, which has proven to be the most effective treatment. That's where NOCD comes in. NOCD provides specialized treatment for OCD and is the world's leading provider of OCD treatment. It's covered by insurance for over 138 million Americans. And all their licensed therapists specialize in the ERP therapy. They'll work with you in live, face to face virtual sessions to help you learn how to take the power away from your intrusive thoughts so they don't cause the same level of distress. And they also provide support between sessions when you need it most so you're not facing OCD alone. If you think you or someone close to you might be struggling with OCD, please don't wait. Go to nocd.com to schedule a free 15 minute call with their team and find out how they can help. That's nocd.com you know, people think losing weight is just about willpower, but that's not real life. I've seen it time and time again. You can be doing everything right. Diet, exercise, all of it, and still feel stuck. And keeping it off, that's where it really gets frustrating. That's why weight loss by hers makes sense. They now offer access to an affordable range of FDA approved GLP1 medications, including WeGovy pill and the Wegovy pen. Wegovy is designed to help you lose weight and keep it off with WeGovy at hers you can lose up to 20% or more of your body weight when combined with diet and exercise. It helps regulate your appetite so you're not constantly fighting cravings and there's even appeal options so no needles are needed. Everything is 100% online. You can connect with a licensed provider who will determine if treatment is right for you and if prescribed, your medications deliver right to your door. No insurance necessary. And it doesn't stop there. You also get 24.7care team messaging and in app support like meal plans, recipes, fitness videos and more. It's weight loss designed to work with your life. Ready to reach your goals? Visit fourhers.com rlrc to get personalized, affordable care that gets you that's f o r h e r s.com rlrc forhers.com RLRC Weight loss by hers is not available in all 50 states. WeGovy is the registered trademark of Novo Nordisk as to get started and learn more, including important safety information, WeGovy's clinical study information and restrictions, visit for hers.com
- [22:15]
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- [22:31]
Host Cindy Overton
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Co-Host Woody
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- [23:03]
Co-Host Woody
it's time for Family Matter.
- [23:09]
Host Cindy Overton
If Woody was here he would say I love me some Wisconsin. I love that. Whatever. Well this Wisconsin stepmom is accused of starving and imprisoning her 14 year old autistic stepdaughter until she weighed just 35 pounds and the woman entered a no contest plea to multiple felony charges in this child abuse case. Now here's the deal. Melissa Goodman is the stepmom. She's 52 and she appeared by video from jail in a wheelchair and pleaded no contest to chronic neglect causing great bodily Harm, chronic neglect, causing emotional damage, and false imprisonment. She faces up to 46 years in prison and she'll be sentenced on July 1st. This is the criminal complaint. The teenager was found in critical condition on August 21, 2025, after her father, Walter Goodman, called 911 and reported that she had not eaten in four to five days. You are not that age and only weigh 14 years old and weigh 35 pounds for not eating for four to five days. And she was lethargic, vomiting and nearly comatose. So investigators, officers go to the family's house and they described it as a house of horrors. They found the 14 year old weighing, like I said before, 35 pounds. Her bones were visibly protruding, and police actually mistook her for a child half her age. She was rushed to the hospital suffering from severe malnutrition and life threatening complications including untreated diabetes, acute respiratory failure, cardiac dysfunction, severe hepatitis, pancreatitis, hypothermia, hypoglycemia, and I think it goes on and on. Nurses said the teen also had pressure sores and a massive bruise on her forehead and required feeding tubes before she was able to eat on her own. I'm sorry, that's not four to five days. It shouldn't be four to five hours. But prosecutors said she was locked in her bedroom for years, deprived of food and water, forced to sleep on the floor without a mattress. I mean, is there a society of people that do this legitimately? Are there people that get online and say, what is the worst way I can torture my children? And there's this community that says, oh, this is what you do. This, this, this is the. I gotcha. I got you. Boo. You go, you lock them in their room, you put padlocks on the doors, you give them a mattress if you really want to torture them. You don't even give them a mattress. You don't give them a place to go to the bathroom and you don't feed them. Perfect. This is the way you do that. She was also monitored by surveillance cameras. Again, like I just said in my rant, the girl was given limited bathroom access because that just seems to be the M.O. of these people, and was not allowed to speak except into a surveillance camera mounted in her bedroom. Investigators recovered text messages from Melissa Goodman's phone in which she instructed family members to remove the girl's bed, limit her access to water, and slap her ass again, per the complaint. Police also found photos of the teen lying on the bare floor wearing only underwear and socks. Once the victim was able to speak and, you know, get food in her. She was able to tell the hospital staff that she believed it had been. She had no idea. She believed it had been two to four years since she had last played outside. Two to four years. No idea. She also wrote notes asking, I need a snack. Can I watch tv? I need to poop and I can't breathe. And again, once she gained more strength and was able to communicate more, she had scribbled messages including I'm hungry. And asking when she would be allowed to eat. After she was given chocolate pudding, she said, my dad will be so mad. When the nurses told her she would receive three meals a day, her eyes lit up. The teen said she was looking forward to eating pancakes, tacos, M&MS. And vegetables. Medical staff discovered that the teen did not know what deodorant was and lacked the strength to turn on the sink faucet by herself. She told the nurse that she bathed only weekly or monthly. I mean, she didn't know she was held for two or four years, so how would she know a week or a month? And she also told staff she no longer had the strength to reach the bathroom on her own and had to pull herself along using walls and furniture. Melissa Goodman is the first of four defendants to enter a plea in this case. Her husband, Walter. Now remember, Melissa's the stepmother. That doesn't make it right. But the father and her stepmother's daughter, Savannah Lafever and Lefever's partner, Kayla Stimler, were also charged. The family told relatives that the teen was on vacation or staying with other family members to explain why they had not seen her in years. A neighbor, Pam Medina, said she had no idea a child was living in the trailer. She also said she saw regular grocery deliveries. The neighbor recalled seeing the girl looking very small when first responders carried her from the home. Despite the years of abuse, the child reportedly still said during a police interview that she had love for her family, but also no longer wanted to be locked in her room or be monitored with a camera. And thank goodness the teenager has since been released from the hospital and is gaining weight. And hopefully she does not have long term side effects or residual issues because of all that was done to her body with the starvation. Now, what I did not say in this story is that the headline of this story is, and it just is. And if you go look at this story, you will see it. I'm no way body shaming anybody. The woman, the stepmother and the child and the child's partner and the father are all obese and the stepmother has the wheelchair is like one of the wider wheelchairs for larger people. And they're going to do this to a teenager and make her weigh 35 pounds. I don't understand.
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Co-Host Woody
It's time for famous felonies.
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Host Cindy Overton
I don't know how many of you have ever watched How I Met yout Mother. I have never watched it. I was, I'm not. I'm a real life. I'm a, I'm a Real Housewives person. Bravo person. But How I Met your Mother was a huge show. Very, very successful show with an actor in it. Nick Pasquale has been found guilty of attempted murder and a array of other charges in court on Friday. And this was two years after he attacked his estranged girlfriend inside her home. So the 36 year old appeared on an episode of the sitcom and he's facing the maximum sentence which is life in prison and will be sentenced at a later date. He was found guilty of attempted murder, first degree residential burglary with the person present and injuring a spouse, cohabitant fiance, boyfriend, girlfriend or child's parent. So Nick broke into his estranged girlfriend Allie Shehorn's home in May of 2024. He didn't stop there. He decided that he was just going to stab her 20 times. And then he ran like a little
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Co-Host Woody
bitch
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Host Cindy Overton
and he went to Mexico. Well, and then he attempted to flee to Mexico. He was caught in Texas and brought back to California to face charges. The makeup artist recounted the horrific incident in court sharing. I locked the door and he just started punching holes in that door and broke that open. And I just ran into the bathroom because I thought there's another lock on the door. So his ex girlfriend was a makeup artist, the one that was stabbed. At the time of the stabbing, Allie had already taken out a restraining order against the actor for previous incidents including an assault in January of 2024 and sexual assault in April. After Nick left, she was found by her roommate and friend Christine White, who luckily acted fast when she found Allie bleeding out. And of course that move saved her life. And Christine says, I found her and I had to go into the bathroom where it happened. It wasn't a pretty sight. This is not the kind of thing that should happen to anybody. You don't think this is ever going to happen to you. Allie was then rushed to the hospital and almost died before making a recovery. And she really hopes that justice will be served. And she goes on to say people should know that this shouldn't happen and he can't get away with it. I'll be at every court hearing, even if I don't have to be, just to show him that I am still here. Now that's just, that's, that's what you thank goodness she's strong like that. Allie shared that she hoped to return to work as a makeup artist despite the damage to her hands and vision. And of course she said that's the goal. I still don't have feeling back in my hands and I have partial vision loss that I can't get back. Every day is different and it's a struggle and just dealing with the permanent damage is really hard. I can't go back completely to how I was at the time of the attack. District Attorney George Gascon shared a statement condemning Nick's stories. My thoughts and heartfelt sympathies are with the victim in this horrific accident. Our office, including our Bureau of Victim Services, extends our support and resources to her as she embarks on the long and difficult journey of healing from both the physical and emotional trauma inflicted upon her. This heinous incident is a stark reminder of the dangers of domestic violence and we will ensure that the individual responsible for this egregious act is held accountable for their actions. Thank goodness he will and I hope he gets the maximum that he can. Here is a segment we usually don't make a segment he ran like a little. Judge Peyton Judge Peyton Peebles has ordered forfeiture of Lee Gillies one million dollar bond after he fled to Italy before his capital murder trial, which means the state can begin the process of collecting the money from the bonding company and the individuals who co signed for his bond. I tell you if I give you money for your bond and you flee the country, which I'm surprised they didn't take his passport, but it says the payment will not be due right away. It could take months and months. Fully hinges on Gilly's return to the US to stand trial. Attorneys appeared in court Friday after the Harris County District Attorney's office filed a late night request for a gag order in the case as reasons for the request prosecutors cited. Defense attorney Nick Deguirin recently had done an interview with with KPRC 2 News and People magazine. Prior to the hearing, attorneys met and agreed to conditions of a gag order which is now being reviewed by Judge Peebles. He could sign the gag order as early as Friday morning, but for now it still remains unclear as to when Gilly could be extradited back to the U.S. daguerrean previously said Gilly was scheduled to appear in an Italian courtroom on Friday, when he understood Italian, authorities would consider whether to charge him for presenting fake documents to enter the country on Sunday. And if that happened, it could significantly delay the process of getting him back. Yeah, because then he's broken their laws. So apparently he had a fake passport or whatever document he needed. He might have been on a private jet. I don't know. So
- [38:27]
Co-Host Woody
it's time for famous felonies.
- [38:33]
Host Cindy Overton
There's a rapper, Kodak Black. He's been arrested. Never heard of him. But the rapper was arrested and charged with drug trafficking in Florida on Wednesday, May 6. The rapper, who's 28 years old, whose actual name is Bill Capri, was arrested and booked into the Orange County Jail. If you work in university maintenance, Grainger considers you an MVP because your playbook ensures your arena is always ready for tip off. And Grainger is your trusted partner, offering the products you need all in one place, from H VAC and plumbing supplies to lighting and more. And all delivered with plenty of time
- [39:14]
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- [39:15]
Host Cindy Overton
So your team always gets the win. Call 1-800-GRAINGER visit grainger.com or just stop by Granger for the ones who get it done. He faces a felony charge of trafficking. MDNA and reports of gunfire outside of the Child Safety Village in Orlando in November led to authorities to investigate Capri. Orlando police, who were responding to multiple reports of gunfire in the area, found a BMW and a Lamborghini parked outside, and one of the officers said he smelled marijuana coming from the cars. Capri apparently approached the officers while they were conducting the search, and officers found a pair of of scissors on the floor, actually a pink pair of scissors on the floor of one of the cars, which matched a pair of scissors Capri posted on his Instagram account a week earlier. They found rings inside one of the cars that matched jewelry seen in one of the rapper's Instagram photos. They also found a gun inside one of the vehicles that looked like a weapon seen in a photo Black posted on Instagram. He had all of that in his vehicles. Officers also found drugs inside the vehicle, which led to his arrest. So Black was arrested before in connection to other drug charges. So he wasn't new to him and an attorney, and that's that. So he was arrested and now the whole court. Now everything else begins. So maybe we'll give you updates as that comes along.
- [41:10]
Co-Host Woody
It's time for family matters.
- [41:14]
Host Cindy Overton
Going back to Harris County. I don't know what it is. I don't know. I know crime happens other places, but let's just go back to Harris County A Texas mother as wanted for abandoning her two young children in an unkempt home for six weeks. And thank goodness she was nice. She uber eated them. She would send meals to them remotely. Rayshana Deanna Dowdle, who's 34 years old, left her 11 year old child to take take care of her 6 year old sister for over a month at their disheveled home in Katy without proper food. And a concerned woman reported to police in late March that the kids were staying with her after they confided in her at a neighborhood park that their mother had been gone for an extended period. Investigators learned the children were abandoned in the home somewhere between, we don't know, somewhere between February 17th and March 30th. And of course, like I said, the 11 year old girl was tasked with taking care of her younger sibling who's 6, which these tasks included waking the child up for school, getting them dressed for school, finding them food, going to school, coming home from school, all of that. The absentee mother continued to communicate with the children remotely, including, like I said, sending meals through Uber Eats. Text messages sent by the 11 year old showed she expressed distress, fear, lack of food and inability to continue caring for her siblings. What the heck kind of stress is that on an 11 year old? I was 11, babysitting for just a few hours kids and sometimes the parents would come home later than they said and it wasn't cell phone days or text messaging days and that was stressful enough that I remember it. At 55 years old. Imagine what this poor child mm the home where the two girls had been fending for themselves was cluttered, unkempt and lacked available food, police wrote, noting a back door to the property was also unlocked. Dowdle admitted to deputies that she was out of town for a funeral, though there was actually no digital evidence that she ever told her daughters when she'd come home. Child Protective Services placed the two children with their aunt, but the arrangement crumbled when Dowdall got into a physical altercation with said aunt. She then snatched her kids up and did not offer information about their whereabouts and she evaded welfare checks. The two girls were later found out of state in Ohio. Thank goodness they continued to look for these children and as of Wednesday, Dowdle remains on the lam and prosecutors have already set her bail at $50,000 on a felony charge for abandoning a child without the intention to return. And the Harris County Sheriff's Office Never mind, cut that out. What a p I don't understand y'. All. If you know, someone that's struggling as a parent or just, I don't know, we need to talk. I don't know what we need to do as a society. This is way too much. This is reported way too much. And I promise you, for everyone that is reported, there's at the very least a hundred more out there, I mean, I'm talking worldwide that are dealing with something like this. Jeez Louise, we're going to good old Cobb County. And authorities have caught a 51 year old man accused of molesting at least nine children in Cobb county and Douglas County. And thank goodness they called him because there was a multi jurisdictional manhunt. So this is what we know. Hyson Lamar Rowan of Lawrenceville is being held without bond at the Cobb County Adult Detention Center. Police finally caught Rowan following a search that spanned several counties. And he faces charges of child molestation, enticing a child for indecent purposes, and loitering by a sex offender. Authorities say more charges are pending from other areas. So here's the backstory. The search for Rowan involved the Douglas County Sheriff's Office handing out roughly 300 flyers to local businesses and apartments to warn neighbors. Police say several cases happened along the Thornton Road corridor. Cobb county police said they are currently working on two active cases involving boys. And the investigation remains active as authorities look for potential links to other cases. So again, this is what we know. We don't know a lot. Investigators have not named the exact locations where the crimes happened, obviously to protect the privacy of the children involved. And it's not yet clear how many charges Rowan may face as other jurisdictions finish their work. Well, I'm just glad that they found him and hopefully he won't get out of jail. If he was already a molester, he's kept from doing it again. There's certain things that we don't need to get out after we do. I just believe that. But maybe I'm not one of those perverts that does stuff like that. So I don't understand that. Maybe it can be fixable. I don't know. But more times than not, it seems, and I'm not saying that it's true, but it seems like there are many other 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 25th, 500th offenses after they were caught once and if they maybe got the proper help they needed, they wouldn't do it again. I don't know.
- [48:08]
Co-Host Woody
But beast mode.
- [48:11]
Host Cindy Overton
Well, we went from Cobb county to another famous fun favorite county, Pinellas county. And there was a man who killed a dog that he adopted from a Pinellas county shelter leading to the passing of Dexter's Law. The man who killed a dog adopted from a Pinellas county shelter which led to the passing of Dexter's Law, has been remanded back to jail again. They had a whole law passed because of this man and he somehow is out of jail, but now back in jail. Court records showed that Domingo Rodriguez, who's 66 years old, was sent back to jail Wednesday, being ordered to serve his sentence of a year, a year and 60 days in the Pinellas County Jail for the killing of a dog named Dexter. Authorities said Rodriguez decapitated the dog and left its body in Fort DeSoto park in 2024 days after he adopted Dexter from the shelter. After he was convicted, Rodriguez attempted to appeal his sentence and received a post trial release bond while the case was pending. Public outcry over Dexter's death led to Florida passing a law in its name which allows judges to give lengthier sentences for severe animal cruelty cases and establishing a public database for anyone convicted of animal abuse. In addition to serving jail time, Rodriguez was ordered to pay over $5,000 in fines and I hope there's a way to develop some type of help that people need so that they stop this, I don't know, stop the insanity. This is my last story of the day we're going to the Bronx. A 28 year old woman faked being a 16 year old to attend a high school in New York City. Was busted when the principal found her Facebook profile, which of course wasn't updated and the profile shows her real age in bold font. Casey Claussen enrolled at the Westchester Square Academy in the Bronx last month claiming to be Shamarra Rashad. Born in 2010 and apparently she had just moved to the Big Apple from Ohio with her sister. She attended classes for two weeks and she was even issued a school ID with her phony name and age until she was confronted by the school principal, thank goodness. And the school principal confronted her with a screenshot of her Facebook page, which of course revealed her true identity. Now here were the dead giveaways on social media. Says her birthday was July 29, 1997 and she declares that she has a beautiful daughter alongside a photo of her holding a toddler aged girl. The same little girl is featured in numerous photos spanning several of Clawson's social media accounts, but strangely enough, investigators aren't sure she even has a kid. The wannabe teenager soon admitted that she had lied and claimed a friend made her enroll in the school so she would qualify for more public assistance. Cops believe that she was trying to cash in on a benefit scheme, but didn't give details about how this whatever benefits scheme worked. Probably doing a deeper search, but in a recent scheme, a ghost student. There's so called ghost student scammers that pocketed financial aid by stealing identities, often through data breaches, then applying for online community college classes. And that is seemingly what this appears to be. And after financial aid comes, they disappear. Community colleges are often targeted because of their open enrollment policies. And it wasn't clear how Clawson could get more public assistance by pretending to be in high school, though. But she was arrested on April 27 at the school's campus and charged with endangering the welfare of a child, trespassing and criminal impersonation. At this time, she has pleaded not guilty and is due back in court on June 15th. And New York City Public schools says that enrollment fraud is a serious crime that fundamentally undermines New York City Public Schools values. The NYPD is actively investigating these allegations and will pursue all appropriate legal action against those responsible. They say we're providing all necessary and suitable support to the school community. The Bronx District Attorney's office had nothing to say. So there's just fraud, beaten up, torture children everywhere. It's ridiculous. So I wish I had a good story to end this on, but I don't. I will say that the live tickets are continuing to sell. I will say that. And. And we are just please know that we are doing the best that we can to record together. And I received a very sweet email the other day from someone begging us to just do it together. The email basically just said, you know, make this your priority. People want to hear you and Woody together for the true crime time force, you know, for the real life. Real crime, yes, that's a given. Woody's going to be alone. We love that, you know, but for this, we tune in not to hear a solo person because we want to hear the banter between you two. It kind of breaks the momentum of just a solo person maybe think about getting, you know, other guests to come on the show, if possible, that type of thing. And I get that usually it something happens. Like right before we came out today, there was a phone call that I almost didn't even get to record at this time because a phone call happened that I had to take. But the truth of the matter is, is that when, after we record, I have to edit and produce and get this episode posted. And we have to do it when we can, and we do it this way because it is our priority. We do not have a. A contract with Red Circle that says we're going to push out episodes. We're going to give content six days a week. This is our choice. So one of us showing up every single day like this is our priority. When I hear you would rather us be together, I feel like I need to explain it. And I think Woody feels like we, you know, explain it. We need to explain it, too. Otherwise we would not. So, that being said, I thank y' all for tuning in every day. I thank y' all for listening to me solo. I thank you for Woody, you know, listening to Woody solo. And I just thank you for showing up in the community. And we love each and every one of you. We really do. We appreciate you. We wouldn't have anything without y'. All. But our mission is to provide what we provide. And I promise you, at this moment in time, we're doing the best that we can to provide it. And when we can get better, we will do better. And thank you all so much, and we will see you tomorrow.
- [57:08]
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