← True Crime Garage
True Crime Garage
Killing was Purposeful Interviews /// Off The Record
00:58:42
Killing was Purposeful Interviews /// Off The Record As a follow up to our “Killing was Purposeful” 4 part series we offer this episode of Off the Record to the masses. Nic talks with Officer Simon from the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office regarding the disappearance of 20 year old college student Sierah Joughin. Also, joining the show is Bob & Nikki Kolasinski founding members of Keeping Our Girls Safe, an Ohio non-profit working hard to educate and empower, young ladies and women. www.KOGSAFE.COM Thank you for the support. Nic & Captain www.TrueCrimeGarage.com
Loading summary
Transcript172 lines
- [00:00]
Indeed Advertiser
You just realized your business needed to hire someone yesterday. How can you find amazing candidates fast? Easy. Just use Indeed. When it comes to hiring, Indeed is all you need. Stop struggling to get your job posts seen on other job sites. Indeed Sponsored Jobs help you stand out and hire fast. With Sponsored Jobs, your post jumps to the top of the page for your relevant candidates so you can reach the people you want faster. According to Indeed data, Sponsored Jobs posted directly on indeed have 45% more applications than non sponsored Jobs shops. There's no need to wait any longer. Speed up your hiring right now with Indeed and listeners of this show will get a $75 sponsored job credit to get your jobs more visibility@ Indeed.com podcast just go to Indeed.com podcast right now and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast. Indeed.com podcast terms and conditions apply. Hiring Indeed is all you need.
- [01:07]
Host Nick
Welcome to off the Record.
- [01:10]
Nichols
I'm your host Nichols.
- [01:12]
Host Nick
It's good to be seen and it's good to see you off the Record.
- [01:17]
Jeremy Simon
Thanks for listening.
- [01:19]
Host Nick
Thanks for telling a friend. True Crime Podcast Be good, be kind.
- [01:24]
Nichols
And don't.
- [01:27]
Host Nick
Gather around.
- [01:27]
Josh Kolasinski
Grab a chair, grab a beer.
- [01:29]
Nichols
Let's talk some true crime.
- [01:33]
Josh Kolasinski
Welcome to off the Record. This is our long running subscription show. If you wish, it's easy to sign up on Apple Subscription on your listening device or go to our website to sign up on Patreon. We typically release a new off the Record episode every other week and you get all of the Apple Subscription and Patreon episodes included when you sign up. For the last two weeks on True Crime Garage we ran a four part series titled Killing Was Purposeful episodes 841 to 844. If you haven't listened to those yet, please go back before listening to this free edition of off the Record. Here we have the recordings of two interviews that were a big part of the research that we did on these cases. Also a shout out to Jessica Betancourt, my friend over at the DNAID podcast for all of her help and a shout out to Melissa Andrews, a fantastic news anchor and investigative journalist at wtol. These last two weeks are featured True Crime story focused primarily on two cases from Northwest Ohio. One, the unsolved homicide case of Lori Ann Hill. The other is a solved case with still a lot of questions remaining. 20 year old Sierra Joggin was killed by James Worley. This was proven in court with a mountain of evidence against Worley that was found at the abduction site and at his property. Worley is a suspect in The Lori Ann Hill case. The state had to prove that the killing was purposeful before they could condemn Worley to the strictest and most severe of punishments, the Ohio death penalty. And they did. Worley is a suspect in at least one outstanding homicide case. He is the primary suspect in a case of another missing woman. The interviews that you are about to hear were conducted recently and not prior to Worley's convictions.
- [03:39]
Jeremy Simon
Hello?
- [03:40]
Interviewee
Hello, Jeremy? It's Nick.
- [03:41]
Jeremy Simon
Yes. Yes.
- [03:43]
Interviewee
How are you? Are you still with the Fulton County Sheriff's Office?
- [03:48]
Josh Kolasinski
This is Jeremy Simon with the Fulton County Sheriff's Office. He was one of the K9 units back in 2016 when Sierra went missing. He was kind enough to join me on speakerphone.
- [04:01]
Jeremy Simon
Yes, I retired in 21, but I've stayed on part time, and I've actually come back to work for port security.
- [04:10]
Interviewee
You had a good amount of experience by the time this case pops up in 2016?
- [04:17]
Jeremy Simon
Yes, I had probably about 25 years at least.
- [04:21]
Interviewee
Were you. Were you in any form aware of this James Worley before the Sierra case?
- [04:31]
Jeremy Simon
Yeah, I was, actually. James Worley lived up in the northeast part of our county, right around this, the Delta Swan area. I also grew up not too far from there. And James Worley went to the same high school I went to. He went to the same high school as my family. My uncle was about the same age, so I was well aware of James Worley growing up.
- [04:59]
Interviewee
Did you have any idea of what kind of person he really was?
- [05:04]
Jeremy Simon
No, he. No, he did his own little thing. I don't ever remember him really working. He did a small engine repair, lived with his mom. Always. Always lived in that house that I knew of. I did. And then I knew of him a little bit before I got on the sheriff's office. But then it was after we got on that I got on the sheriff's office. I really got to know him more.
- [05:27]
Interviewee
I guess it looks like he was looked at in consideration for the disappearance of Claudia Tinsley.
- [05:37]
Jeremy Simon
Yes, I do remember that. I was not a part of that one, but I was aware of what was going on there. There was a couple other ones that. That he. They were looking into him for other things, but I. I wasn't involved with that. I was just a road unit at that time.
- [05:55]
Interviewee
I believe that was actually a Toledo PD case, because she lived in Toledo and was last seen with him, but never seen again.
- [06:07]
Jeremy Simon
Yes, the mom. Actually, from what I remember of that, the mom just had a bad feeling that night, and she's the one that got actually the Information, the plate number or something kind of pointed the investigators to him at that point.
- [06:23]
Interviewee
In regard to the Sierra case, when do you come onto the scene?
- [06:28]
Jeremy Simon
Well, how I got involved is I was working that afternoon. I was on my second canine with the sheriff's office at that time. I had a sergeant that was working second shift with me. I was. I think I was on a split shift, like an 8 at night till 4 in the morning, because the canines, we kind of just floated around and did different, you know, different shifts. Depends on where we were needed at that point. I was out of eight at night till four in the morning when I got the call from my sergeant asking me if my dog would be able to track a bike. I asked him. A bike? I mean, explain it more. He said that they had an early 20s female that was last seen riding her bike along county road, one of the county roads. I said, well, the dog is. If she was on the road, the dog's not gonna be able to pick anything up from the. By the sc. But the scent will fall and stick to the sides of the roads. And then he. He went on to explain that she had been missing. Well, her mom reported, said she hasn't been able to find her in a few hours. At that point, my mind went to. She got hit by a car or something happened that she's laying alongside the road. Actually, I was two miles south of Jim Worley's house when I got this call. I was on 61 and K. I went over to K6, went north by Jim Early's house to our county road T, just to see if I could see her, because my sergeant said the mom was frantic. It's not like this girl. And then she wanted the helicopter, she wanted FBI. She wanted. Everybody called. I asked who the mom was, and when he said, Sheila Vaculik. I went to school with Sheila. She was a year or two behind me in school, so I knew her from high school. I said, let me go talk to her. I'll see, but I'll check the area real quick. That's how I got involved.
- [08:26]
Interviewee
Were you present when they discovered Sierra's bicycle?
- [08:32]
Jeremy Simon
Yeah. What happened there is. I went up. I went to. I went up 6. It was getting to be dark about that time. I went up 6 to T. I turned left. I went down. I seen Sierra's grandfather. He was looking, and I knew him. And we talked a little bit, and he said, something's not right. He was walking alongside the road. Then I went a little bit further the next mile and I run into Howard Ice, which was Sierra's uncle at that time. I didn't really know him. After I talked to him a minute, he explained what he was doing. I went up to State Route 109. I turned around, I come back looking and I did not see anything along the way. When I turned on the County Road 6 heading north towards Sierra's house, I had my spotlights on on each side of my patrol car just to give me extra light. That's when I noticed there was a break where they. The farmer, he went in and he did his end rows off, but he lifted the machine, the planter up before he got to the road. So there was an open spot that was not planted. It was on the east side of the road. I noticed a broken corn stalk. Now, I grew up on a farm and I was in many a corn fields growing up as a kid. A broken corn stalk in July catches my attention because they're very strong stalks. They don't break down, they won't bend over a break like they do in, in October when they, when the stalks dies off and dries out, becomes a little more brittle. So at that point I stopped my patrol car. It was about halfway through the mile I got out. I walked over to look at that corn stalk to see if there was anything over there. That's when I smelled gasoline. I went into the cornfield about 5 to 10ft. That's when I noticed the. There was a set of. I don't. I couldn't even tell. It's probably 10 to 15ft long of corn stalks that were methodically pressed over with your foot. They're all laying in the same direction just to open that area up a little bit. That's when I noticed there was footprints, tire marks. There was a screwdriver, some fusees, like something fell out of a bag of something that is laying there. It wasn't there all summer. It was, it was freshly there. I backed out of that. I contacted my supervisor at that point, my sergeant, and I told him, look, you need to get people out here because I think I found something. I haven't quite found everything yet. And as I was talking to him, that's when I looked over and I seen the bike. I was looking to the west side of the road with my flashlight, just kind of looking around. That's when the reflector from a bike hit me. It caught my attention.
- [11:18]
Interviewee
The newspapers, they often described the bicycle as it looked like it was shoved back into the corn stalks. Was that the observation you made?
- [11:31]
Jeremy Simon
It was in the corn a few rows, like it was hidden, but it was. If I remember correctly, it was still standing up after looking a little further into it. The corn stalks on the west side of the road appeared to be disheveled. Like they were. Like there was some type of scuffle going on. They were. Some were broken down, some were broken halfway off. Some were laying east, west, north, south. They were in different directions. Then there was a sock laying there. Then that's when I pretty much backed out. I mean, I yelled a few times. My sergeant arrived at that time. We were yelling in there to see if we could hear anything because it's very quiet out there, you know, after dark and you can hear a lot. There was no sounds whatsoever. We pretty much shut the road down at that point. And that's when bci, Bureau of Criminal Investigations come in. The sheriff arrived, the FBI and everybody come in at that point.
- [12:32]
Interviewee
And we have hindsight to help us out to deduce what we believe took place at that scene. But I'm guessing the. The gas odor, the smell of gas is coming from he worley laid the bike down.
- [12:47]
Jeremy Simon
Yes, that's. That's what we figure. Yes.
- [12:50]
Interviewee
It's thought that he may have rode past her and then lie in wait to ambush her as she continued on that county road.
- [13:02]
Jeremy Simon
That is correct. I believe what. What it was is we believe that he passed her, went north. John Six pulled the bike off in that little pull off. That's when he laid the cornstalks over so he could pull his bike in there. Whether it fell down in the soft dirt or he laid it down. That's where he said that he had mechanical issues and he hid the bike. So. No, so he could go get his truck and come back and get it later.
- [13:29]
Interviewee
He's at some point seen on a camera. Was it the camera from the high school?
- [13:36]
Jeremy Simon
Yes, Evergreen High School is set about a mile and a half south of the scene. And this would have been county road at just South Aston. US 20. Whirly lived on six, I'm gonna say two and a half miles south of the high school.
- [13:52]
Interviewee
Some reports state that there were blood on the stocks or some blood on the stocks. Was that. Was that obvious to. To you guys, or was that something that only after BCI comes in that they find.
- [14:05]
Jeremy Simon
No, we could. We could see the blood on the stalks. I didn't see a lot. I mean, but there was enough there that that would cons it was concerning. Yes.
- [14:15]
Interviewee
And were you present when they served the search warrant at his Home, because that's always kind of reported very strange where it says a. That you guys got a search warrant for his property. But it also says, well, he was cooperative and, and let them into the home and walk them out to the barn. But cooperative, you can take that for what you will because if there's a warrant, you guys are going to execute.
- [14:41]
Jeremy Simon
That's. That's correct. At the time that they spoke with him the first time. Well, let me back up. Later that morning, it was about. By the time FBI and BCI got there. I remained at the scene and logged people in and out. As day broke, the FBI, they asked me about what about the helmet. I said there was no helmet. Well, prior to me getting to the scene, the local farmer was taking his son to the Dairy Queen to get an ice cream cone. And they were checking fields. They see this helmet laying along the road, not on, not knowing that it was part of a crime scene. They stop, pick it up and throw in the back of the pickup and then they travel on. So it wasn't until morning when the farmer heard about this. He comes back and says, this is what I found. So that's where we, the helmet come into play along there. When you start your investigation, you start small and you kind of keep opening up that circle. One of the. The Major Smith Meyer who investigated it, he was very familiar with Jim Worley because he lived a half a mile away from him growing up. And they went and talked to him and at that point he was very, very open. I, I've heard some interviews. He basically let him into his house. He had a talk with him. I think the comment was similar to he made was, you hear about my motorcycle helmet? You know, I mean, so he. And he, like, he left it there. He, well, I dropped it or whatever. So, I mean, he kind of placed himself right there at the scene.
- [16:20]
Interviewee
In his. His statement is he went back to recover the motorcycle with his truck, but doesn't seem to add up that it. It just so happens this all happened at the same place where her bicycle's found. And all these other items that he left at that spot, he. He failed to retrieve those.
- [16:39]
Jeremy Simon
That is correct. The screwdriver and stuff like that. He tried explaining it to that he was working on the bike and that stuff was left there.
- [16:47]
Interviewee
But yeah, it's downright scary, Jeremy, to review this and think about. He was probably at that spot for a good amount of time.
- [16:58]
Jeremy Simon
Absolutely. Yeah. I mean, the way it looked is she didn't go without a fight. The sad part was that she was within a quarter of a mile of her house.
- [17:09]
Interviewee
And a lot of people that live in the. In big cities and such will not be able to have a great comprehension of this particular area. I can't imagine that there was any level of traffic that evening.
- [17:27]
Jeremy Simon
No, I mean, it's very, very minimal at that time. It's a big farming community. You have large corn fields. And I'll be honest with you, though, for somebody that's never been in a cornfield to go three rows in, you can be pretty inconspicuous. People can drive by you and nobody would see you. If you were to go 10 to 12 rows in, it gets very quiet because you're surrounded by. By the corn. It's a very big. It's a downs. A sound deadener that. I mean, somebody could be in the middle of a cornfield and scream. People get lost in cornfields all the time. You know, the kids get out there and they. They lose their way. They don't realize that they followed the same.
- [18:18]
Interviewee
You keep going in this. Yeah, keep going. Keep going in the same direction. Don't turn around.
- [18:24]
Jeremy Simon
Right. People panic and. But when you get out in the middle there, I mean, the temperature will raise in the summer when the corn is growing, it produces the heat. There's moisture in there. It's very quiet, and it's hard to walk through because you got the stalks, they're like a fiberglass. You know, they got. They're sharp. They can be sharp and they'll scrape you when you go through there. So. But it's a very big sound deadener when they go in there.
- [18:54]
Interviewee
Worley's mother at some point is moved to a nursing home. And it's. It technically is her property, as I understand it. Was she moved to a nursing home before this abduction, or was that something that took place after?
- [19:09]
Jeremy Simon
No, that's something that took place after we took control of the property to do the investigation. She was there, but I think they. They moved her out where they. And I think at that point is when they moved her to the nursing home. His brother, who had a mental handicap, also lived on the property in a mobile home behind the house. I believe he was allowed to stay there, but he ended up moving into an apartment into one of the neighboring towns.
- [19:37]
Interviewee
Did you go through the barn?
- [19:41]
Jeremy Simon
I was in the barn only to help remove some items for evidence. I did not go through it myself. No.
- [19:51]
Interviewee
It's often described as. That there was like a secret room in the barn, But I. That description to me, I don't know what to make of that?
- [20:03]
Jeremy Simon
Well, yes, it was made out of a. There was bales of hay stacked up.
- [20:12]
Interviewee
Created like a false wall.
- [20:15]
Jeremy Simon
Yes. There was also a freezer, a full size chest freezer buried in the ground. They had carpeting in it and stuff like that.
- [20:26]
Interviewee
He. He spent an alarming amount of time outfitting this barn.
- [20:31]
Jeremy Simon
Absolutely something that you normally would not have an 8 barn for animals or for. To. To store hay in.
- [20:44]
Interviewee
The investigation into Warley moved pretty quickly. I mean he's. He's all this mountain of evidence that's found at his home and then at the abduction scene. How long after. How long after Fulton county is talking to Warley that the. The bury site, the burial site is found?
- [21:14]
Jeremy Simon
I want to say if I remember correctly, that was about a week from the time we got this case. I knew I had bought some property in Indiana and I had to go close on was on the lake. This was it. This was during the week that this incident occurred. I had a couple days off that I had to take to go do this in Indiana. While I was in Indiana, my. Another sergeant called me and basically said at that point it was over the weekend that they arrested Jim Worley in this. So I mean within a few days they had him pinned as a. As a suspect. They started combing and they had people out looking, looking for sites. I don't believe it was much over a week if it was before they found the site.
- [22:04]
Interviewee
Did they, did they find the physical site or was there something that led them to that location?
- [22:12]
Jeremy Simon
There was a farmer that it was his field. I don't know if he was out or they were just out looking and they found something odd where there was a. Somebody tried digging a hole on the one side of the road. Didn't get very far because it must have been the ground was too hard. Then they switched locations. But once they found the one site that's when they went across. They started combing out or scoping the area and found the second site. But the FBI did also have. They have. They have planes out that can fly over and tell you if there's the disturbance in the dirt or if there's, you know, from a cornfield standpoint looking at it from the road, you're not going to see much if it's 200ft in from an airplane. You can look down and see where everything's knocked down.
- [23:02]
Interviewee
Really is probably responsible for other. I mean we have unsolved female homicides in that area dating back to the. To 1980s and it's been difficult, especially for that area. The further you go back because the Cook brothers were around for a period of time committing similar crimes. But. Yes, but I, every law enforcement officer that I've spoke to from the area is pretty convinced that Worley is guilty of one or two more. Probably the Claudia Tinsley case and then, then maybe another.
- [23:43]
Jeremy Simon
Well, exactly. There was a girl by the name of Lorianne Hill.
- [23:48]
Interviewee
Yeah.
- [23:49]
Jeremy Simon
From Swanton. She, she would have been, this would have been the mid, the late 80s. It's unfortunately it's not uncommon. We're a rural area. We have a lot of wooded areas. We have a lot of fields. Hunters find stuff a lot out here when they're out hunting or doing what they're doing. Farmers do as well. But the thing is, is when you have people from like Toledo, the Cook brothers, they think they come out here to Fulton county, it's no man's land and they can hide a body and it's gone forever. Which it's, it's probably less likely to be found right away out here. You know, when we're farming and taking the fields out or in the fall during hunting season. That's whatever. You know, we find a lot of this stuff or if people are just out walking. But that's, you know, by that time the evidence, a lot of the evidence has kind of broke down. But yeah, I mean, and going back to Whirly, the, the I want to say this had to be 84, 85 because she would have been about the same age as I am. She was like 15 at the time. Her body was found north of Wassion. I don't exactly remember where, but that was, that was at that point. And then Jim Worley was also convicted of another attempted abduction in White House, I believe.
- [25:19]
Interviewee
Robin Gardner.
- [25:21]
Jeremy Simon
Yes.
- [25:22]
Interviewee
And in her, her story was so similar to what we think happened with the Sierra case.
- [25:30]
Jeremy Simon
It was eerily similar. Correct. My biggest thing that I would love to get across to People is a 30 plus year law enforcement veteran. I, you know, I've been shot, I've been in car accidents, I've been on investigations. You know, you don't realize the evil that surrounds you on a daily basis. Whether you're in a bank, a church, a school or a gas station. You could be just driving down the road. You don't know what. You always have to have your head on the swivel and pay attention, be aware of your surroundings.
- [26:18]
Indeed Advertiser
You just realized your business needed to hire someone yesterday. How can you find amazing candidates? Fast? Easy. Just use indeed. When it comes to hiring Indeed is all you need. Stop struggling to get your job post seen on other job sites. Indeed sponsored Jobs help you stand out and hire fast. With sponsored Jobs, your post jumps to the top of the page for your relevant candidates so you can reach the people you want faster. According to Indeed data, sponsored jobs posted directly on indeed have 45% more applications than non sponsored jobs. There's no need to wait any longer. Speed up your hiring right now with Indeed and listeners of this show will get a $75 sponsored job credit. To get your jobs more visibility@ Indeed.com podcast just go to Indeed.com podcast right now and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast. Indeed.com podcast terms and conditions apply. Hiring Indeed is all you need.
- [27:25]
Host Nick
Up next, we have Bob and Nikki Kolasinski.
- [27:29]
Josh Kolasinski
This is Sierra's boyfriend, Josh. His parents, Josh and Sierra, were in a long term serious relationship. They had known each other most of their lives and dated through high school and college. As you will hear, Bob and Nikki knew Sierra well and loved her dearly.
- [27:50]
Host Nick
I'm, I'm in regular communication with, with family members of victims and, and loved ones of victims and, and I, so I understand that this is not an easy thing to talk about. So I do appreciate you sitting down with me here today and I think it's also a good opportunity for us to educate the listeners a little bit more about keeping our girls safe, about that wonderful organization that you guys have put together.
- [28:19]
Nikki Kolasinski
Sure.
- [28:20]
Nichols
And thank you.
- [28:21]
Nikki Kolasinski
Yes. And thank you.
- [28:22]
Josh Kolasinski
Bob, we'll start with you.
- [28:23]
Host Nick
It's my understanding that you worked in law enforcement at one time, is that correct?
- [28:28]
Nichols
Yes, I was a police officer for almost 30 years and before that I was a fireman and EMT and worked in the cell blocks at Child study institute for 10 years and also an.
- [28:42]
Host Nick
Adjunct professor at Owens Community College back in 2016. And Sierra goes missing. How did your background in law enforcement, your working knowledge, how did that play effect on your, your thoughts, your feelings, your emotions? Meanwhile, your, your son is being questioned at some point.
- [29:07]
Nichols
It, it was very, very difficult. Matter of fact, I, I knew pretty much of what they were trying to do as far as where they were headed and what they had to do. And that was, that was very difficult. And you, you don't realize that until you have to turn your son over to the FBI and you know that he's going to be questioned and you know that as soon as they're done questioning him, then they can go and look for the perpetrator. And, but we knew that that had to be done.
- [29:40]
Host Nick
And of course you knew your son didn't have anything to do with this. So did you. Did you offer him counsel and say, hey, son, this is just part of the we. You got to do this. You got to talk to these. These people and. And let's get them moving in the right direction?
- [29:55]
Nichols
Well, that's pretty much exactly what. What did happen. I. The FBI says, well, we'd like to go talk to you. We'd like to talk to your son. And I said, okay, let me talk to him real quick in 30 seconds. I said, well, here he is, and he's fully cooperative.
- [30:15]
Host Nick
Were you handing him over, per se, to persons that you've worked with in the past?
- [30:22]
Nichols
No. No, I didn't know. The FBI agents and the investigators. Things have switched hands, of course, and.
- [30:31]
Host Nick
They'Re younger now, and look, my father is retired law enforcement as well, and so to be fair. And they're human beings. They don't always get it right. Were you nervous for your son? How nervous were you for your son in that moment?
- [30:47]
Nichols
I was. I was very nervous. And as far as, you know, I knew what he was headed towards. And, you know, that. That. That was just very unnerving. And my wife was probably twice as nervous as I was, but I knew it had to be done. So once again, so they can go after the bad guy.
- [31:10]
Host Nick
And speaking of bad guy, Nikki, did you have any. I mean, did anybody in this area have any idea that this kind of monster's living somewhere in their community?
- [31:22]
Nikki Kolasinski
No, we had no idea. We didn't know until after the fact, when things were starting to come out, that he had lived over there and what his background was, because it had been in, I believe, 1994. So no. No one talked about it. We didn't know.
- [31:39]
Host Nick
How shocking did you find it, Nikki, when. When we find out who police suspect, how shocking to you, was it that to learn that this man is a repeat offender, that he's a very violent, scary man, and somehow he's just living in our community?
- [31:58]
Nikki Kolasinski
I was overwhelmed with shock. It really, absolutely revolted me because in proximity, Sierra's house was literally three to five miles down the exact same road as where he lived. So if he was out trolling on his motorcycle as what is claimed to.
- [32:19]
Jeremy Simon
Be.
- [32:21]
Nikki Kolasinski
You know, he had gone by Sierra's house a lot. So it was just. Yeah, it was really heart wrenching.
- [32:29]
Host Nick
Were either of you present for portions of the trial?
- [32:33]
Nikki Kolasinski
For the whole thing?
- [32:34]
Nichols
For the whole entire thing?
- [32:35]
Host Nick
We were there and we talked briefly about this, when we revisited this story, we. We talked briefly about that moment where he, James Worley, is making a case for himself. He swears he's innocent. He even claims it's a frame job by the police because they. They couldn't bust him on. On another case that goes back years prior where, where he's last. The last person seen with a woman who's never been seen again. We have family members of Sierra, rightfully so, standing up and walking out of the court. What, what were you guys thinking? What were you experiencing during those moments?
- [33:18]
Nikki Kolasinski
Well, we took our cue from Sheila Vaculik, which is Sierra's mom. So anything that happened during that trial, she was the lead. Anything she wanted, anything she did, anything she asked for is what the rest of us did. So she was sitting in the front row. We were sitting in the second row right behind her. And she was the one that popped up and walked out. And as soon as she popped up, I looked at Bob, Bob looked at me. We popped up, I looked at Josh and I told him, come on, let's go. And we all got up and we walked out. We were not going to listen to that. And we. At least I haven't. I don't know if Bob has ever gone back and listened to his manifesto, but I have never listened to it.
- [34:05]
Nichols
And I haven't listened to it. My concern was as soon as Josh stood up, I was right behind him. We walked out of the courtroom and.
- [34:13]
Host Nick
Your son took the stand. He had to testify in a very emotional testimony.
- [34:20]
Nichols
Yeah. Yeah.
- [34:22]
Host Nick
Tell us a bit about Sierra. Because with the long term puppy love relationship that they had, this was a young lady that you guys knew. Well, knew since she was a girl.
- [34:38]
Nichols
Yep. Yeah. She. I referred to her as. She was like the perfect girl. She could hunt, she could fish, she could skin a deer, she could ride a motorcycle, she could ride a horse, she could shoot, she could sing, she could dance, she was bubbly, she could wrestle. I used to be concerned for Josh's safety when they were at our house wrestling on the living room floor because she was tough. She was a tough cookie. There's no doubt she was quite a girl. And then the last day we saw her, she gave me a hug. I gave her a hug. I told her I loved her. She told me she loved me. And that was the last time we seen her. It was a Sunday afternoon after they went garage sailing at, I believe it was called Funk's Junk.
- [35:32]
Nikki Kolasinski
Yeah. Up in Michigan.
- [35:33]
Host Nick
Up in Michigan and back to Worley. It's alarming. How many cases he may be connected to.
- [35:41]
Nichols
That's what our understanding is.
- [35:43]
Nikki Kolasinski
Yes.
- [35:45]
Host Nick
I was on the. I was on the phone with a detective from Toledo just a week or so ago, and I couldn't even get the last name Wardley out of my mouth before he interrupted me and said, oh, that guy's a serial killer. We just couldn't, you know, we. We're convinced of it. We just don't have the evidence. And some of those cases are so old that there's not a lot we can do about it.
- [36:11]
Nikki Kolasinski
Correct.
- [36:12]
Nichols
That's what our understanding is, too. Yes.
- [36:15]
Host Nick
And, you know, everybody has a different opinion, rightfully so, about the death penalty, but that this is the correct sentence here. I mean, if there. If there was a. You know, I hate that, that we have to have a punishment so severe, but when you have crimes that are so severe and this guy, I mean, he. He did this and he. He harmed an entire community. The. The amount of stuff. I have no idea how many lives he. He may have taken. I'm. I believe that it's probably three. I feel very confident saying two or three. And then the poor woman that he abducted or attempted to abduct in the 90s, there's no doubt in my mind what. What he. What he was up to that day.
- [37:12]
Nikki Kolasinski
I agree.
- [37:13]
Nichols
Yeah, I agree.
- [37:14]
Nikki Kolasinski
I totally agree that this is not. Sierra was not the only one.
- [37:19]
Host Nick
And with the current state of our state, the state of Ohio, they're not carrying out any of these death sentences, these executions as it is now, are you guys keeping track, trying to stay up on the. The news? Are we. Are we any closer to getting back on track? There's a bill or a law that's. There's. It could swing either way that we may be using different drugs. But there's also another push to try to abolish the death penalty here in the state of Ohio.
- [37:57]
Nikki Kolasinski
Yes, we do keep abreast of it, as a matter of fact. Just this, actually, last few months, we've been kind of watching it, and there is a moratorium in Ohio as far as the death penalty goes. His execution is, you know, is set for May 20, 2025, but that's not going to happen. There are still post conviction petitions that are pending at the state level here in Fulton county that have not been ruled on yet. There had been something that went to the supreme Court, and then it came back down, and then they set the execution date. But then there was another petition that was filed that has an opposition, of course, from the state of Ohio. Against it. But that has been pending for two years. And they just filed another petition to amend a motion for leave to amended the petition that's pending asking to add another element to their petition that was just filed in March of 2025.
- [39:06]
Host Nick
And I hate to say this, but it's, I mean it's the truth. I spoke with my Melissa Andrews. She interviewed James Worley and she told me, she said, nick, I'm, I'm shocked. I expected it to be one thing. And she says, I get there and he doesn't have it that bad in there.
- [39:26]
Nikki Kolasinski
And no, he probably doesn't. He gets three square meals in a bed and he's warm and dry and.
- [39:32]
Nichols
You know, has to make no decisions.
- [39:35]
Host Nick
He wasn't doing anything before he went in other than these, you know, horrible things that he was up to. He wasn't a good citizen. He wasn't, he wasn't doing anything productive when he was out. He just, he's just this evil, lazy guy.
- [39:55]
Nichols
That's what our understanding is.
- [39:56]
Nikki Kolasinski
Yeah, I can. I absolutely agree with that. Absolutely agree with that. Evil walking the earth for sure.
- [40:05]
Nichols
Yeah, it's a shame.
- [40:07]
Josh Kolasinski
Yes.
- [40:07]
Host Nick
Well, earlier this year we were very excited to and, and happy that we could partner with, with Keeping our girls Safe. It's a, it's a fantastic organization that you guys have put together. I did during that campaign I did try to inform the listeners about keeping our girls safe. We'll have a little FaceTime together later this year. I'm going to join you for one of your events. Bob was kind enough to invite me and thank you for that. Bob, please tell the listeners what is keeping our girls safe. What are you guys doing currently for 2025?
- [40:45]
Nikki Kolasinski
Well, we are all co founders of Keeping our Girls Stay Safe. I'll give you a little background. It started in our living room with me and Bob, Josh's sister Mary, who is a co founder and Josh and we had as a family wanted to begin or do something that supported him actually is how this all started. So we created this organization. It's a nonprofit. 501c3 In September of 2016, we held a motorcycle ride because Josh was on his motorcycle with when him and C parted ways. So we put together a motorcycle ride the very first year and you know me as a mom, we're setting this all up and I'm just praying to God that a couple people show up. I was hoping for 50 bikes. 50 bikes that year, 2016 and we counted 475 showed in support of us. Josh, Sheila, her family in support of everyone from the community, which just absolutely blew our minds. So why we began this is that we wanted to do free self defense classes, personal safety classes for women, for young women, which is what started the whole thing. Because of course Sierra was unable to do that. However, I don't know, I think it was a couple months before we lost her that she had attended a personnel safety class herself. So that's kind of where the idea stemmed from. So the funds that we've raised since 2016 go towards that effort. So we pay instructors and our instructors are all law enforcement officers because we wanted to do community policing policing to where, you know, lots of times that a woman's first interaction with a police officer is when something bad happens. And we wanted the community women to feel more comfortable around police officers. So that's the reason why, one of the reasons why we chose to have only police officers as our instructors, so women can feel comfortable around them and get to know them and know that they are humans just like they are. So we have police officers that do all the instructing. And I think to date we have had over 3,500 women given free self defense classes. We do them in the community. But my ultimate favorite is going into the high schools. We get invited to high schools to be able to give classes to the girls within the classroom setting, which is just awesome to me because we also not only give them the personal self defense, we also talk about sexual violence and we talk about dating and we talk about domestic violence. We talk about violence in any way, shape or form that can harm a woman, a young woman. And then we even go one step further is when we are going into the, into the schools, we are in cooperation with any of the social workers that work in the high schools. So you never know in one of these classes what you're going to bring up in somebody's background. So we make sure that the counseling people, the people that are around them every single day are aware that we're doing this and, and that this may bring up some things that they may need to talk about and to keep an eye out for that. And then we also give them resources, local resources. I hand out information, they all get a little goodie bag which includes the self defense keychain, angel in disguise. And then resources that they can reach out to. There's especially dating apps and about good relationships and the domestic violence hotline and of course the violent offender registry. I show them in the resources how to look all of those things up. Because we do believe that knowledge is power. So that's what we continue to do and we will continue to do it until.
- [45:23]
Nichols
And we give them tips on passwords for their phones, for their computers because that was an issue with c is that we spent a lot of time trying to get into her computers and phone account because nobody had her password.
- [45:43]
Nikki Kolasinski
Yeah. To ping it that night.
- [45:45]
Nichols
So we spent some time on that in the classroom and with the ladies and that seems to help. And it drives it home and makes everybody aware that this stuff is important. It's not good to have secrets sometimes. So we hope that we've really helped and we know from the teachers that they've thanked us a lot and I'm sure we've helped some girls out there.
- [46:19]
Host Nick
What are those tips? Is it just something as simple as sharing your password and your pin numbers and such with, with a trusted family member if they, if anybody ever needs to access that, that, that there is someone that has the ability to do so?
- [46:36]
Nikki Kolasinski
Yes, exactly. That's exactly what we tell them. Because time is of the essence. God forbid anything were to happen. The law enforcement family members need to get into the computers, need to get into telephones and depending on the circumstances you have to go to the policeman to get search warrants and things like that. And it took time for Sierra. We are almost 10 years out now. I think things would be a little faster now but still if we had passwords it would be even faster. So that is like one of the main important things we share is to share that information information with other at least one other trusted person.
- [47:16]
Host Nick
Does the, does any portion of the self defense class, does it include the use of the keychain that you guys designed?
- [47:27]
Nichols
Yes, we, our instructor shows them the keychain and advises everybody that they get one when they leave the class and shows them how to use it. It's a, that's probably about a five minute instruction on the use of it. And we teach to get away. We don't teach to beat somebody up. That's not the thing that's not going to happen. We teach the students to get away, get out of that situation. Time is of the essence and the.
- [47:58]
Host Nick
Keychain is designed in a way if you're using it in self defense, deliver that blow, get a good solid solid hit and and it should stun the perpetrator long enough that that you can get out of there.
- [48:11]
Nichols
That is the hope. That is the yes, that's what we want.
- [48:16]
Host Nick
Describe what it looks like for the listeners. I I and it comes in some really brilliant colors as well, some really cool colors.
- [48:24]
Nichols
Sure. It's described, it's, it has angel wings and it has two holes at the bottom of the angel wings where the fingers go. And it's used to poke in a vulnerable area such as the eyes, such as the chin, such as the throat.
- [48:43]
Jeremy Simon
The.
- [48:45]
Nichols
Ears and other body parts where we don't want to mention right now. But if that happens, and I remember the last time I told Sierra is that you kick, you fight, you bite, you do whatever it is to get away because if you don't, then the worst could happen to you.
- [49:09]
Nikki Kolasinski
And we talked about this with her.
- [49:11]
Nichols
And we talked about it, we had that conversation and our daughter, the last Sunday we saw her.
- [49:16]
Host Nick
And the self defense classes are for females of all ages 16 and up. 16 and up, which is brilliant because I know we've all been there, right? Daughter going through high school and then some of them go off to college and, or, or becoming of, of age. And that's a terrifying thing for moms and dads out there. So a lot of these attendees of your classes are probably 16, 17, 18 year old young ladies.
- [49:48]
Nikki Kolasinski
Yes, yes they are. But, but honestly, the demographic goes from 0 to 100. We just had a community class the other day of elderly women. And you know, unfortunately these crimes are opportunistic. They go after people that are in a vulnerable place. They're crimes of opportunity and they're crimes of control and they want to control their subject. And a lot of times it doesn't have a whole lot to do with their age. We know that younger women are targets for sure, but if someone of that magnitude wants that ultimate control also he'll pick somebody who's just vulnerable.
- [50:37]
Nichols
And we've had real life testimonials already of people in parking lots that have said, you know, that stuff you teach in the class that actually works. I used it when I was in the parking lot and I saw a person and I saw another person and they described what, there was two people in the parking lot and it was an uncomfortable situation and they didn't focus on this lady. And then we have other situations like in department stores and other situations where they've said, you know, this, this stuff from their class, it works. And that in itself just makes it worth it.
- [51:20]
Host Nick
God forbid that anybody listening to this or somebody that attends one of your classes ever finds themselves in a real life experience of somebody approaching them or grabbing them. But they've at least, they've run through it in their head a couple of times of what do I do? What Can I do? What would I do in that moment? And if. And if you start acting on instinct, which most of us would, in that sit in that scenario, you're acting on the instincts that you've already kind of trained yourself and thought through prior to that unfortunate incident.
- [51:54]
Nikki Kolasinski
Yes. And we encourage women to come more than once to our class because it is muscle memory. You think about it, you're going to do what you thought about. So, yeah, for sure.
- [52:03]
Nichols
And one thing we stress is do not look vulnerable. Don't be walking with your phone in your hand and looking at your phone. Keep awake and look at your surroundings. Look for all the people that are, that may be around you and make eye contact with them so that they know you're looking, you're watching, and you're on guard. That doesn't mean to be paranoid when you go out, but look, but when you do go out, you know, be aware of your surroundings, be aware of the people that are there. That, from the testimonials that we've received, that in itself has helped.
- [52:41]
Host Nick
And when you're walking alone, have that angel in disguise keychain, have it ready, have it, have it in your hand for that short walk from, from the building to your car, from the car to the building. It's. It's something easy to train yourself. It's a good habit to get into. If you need it, you're ready to go.
- [53:00]
Nichols
Absolutely. Could you just never know?
- [53:02]
Host Nick
Tell the listeners real quick about the website if they want to learn more.
- [53:07]
Nikki Kolasinski
Sure. It's www.kogsafe.com. the whole story is there, and the programs that we offer are there. And if they feel like they would like to donate, that would be great. Every single dime goes back into helping the community in one way, shape or form. If I could take a second and just touch on another program we offer, if time allows. Of course, we have another program that we started about three years ago. It's called Honoring good Deeds. And what it is is that Keeping our girls Safe has trained first responders to be peers to other first responders in time of need. So we have a critical incident stress management team of 35 first responders that if we are asked to come out, even on one, on one basis to another first responder who's struggling, we will offer that service free of charge to any first responder. We have done debriefings in group settings and we have done individuals. And one of the reasons why we started the secondary program was because through the trial, we were pretty isolated during that time. So we really didn't know what was happening in the outside world for quite a while after we lost Sierra and then the trial itself. And we learned through that that first responders from all over the state came to help search for her and the Red Cross was even there to help search for her. And we had learned that they all had a really hard time processing and going through this. So whether they've been through 100 million of them and this is the one that, that just, you know, brought it all home for them or whatever have you. But the thing is, is that there really wasn't a whole big response that was available out there to them for their own purposes. So here they were giving everything they had of themselves to other people and there was nobody to give back to them. So we decided to start this program. It is really important, mental health wise. We want to keep our first responders resilient. So, you know, the old adage is, is that the firemen's running into the fire as everybody's running out is absolutely true. And if we can help keep them healthy and if they have a peer to talk to, then we've done good things that way. Also, because we also found out that jurors, the jurors on Sierra's trial had a really hard time afterwards processing through everything that they had to hear and that they had to see. You get called in for jury duty. Just because you're a registered voter doesn't mean that this is something that you signed up to listen to, but you do, because that is what you should do. And they did a great job. But then afterwards, so they had mental health professionals come in and help them and assist them. And that is another reason why we started this team. So we sponsor it, we are sponsored by the four county mental health board out in our area that also supports that team. So we're trying to give back to the community any way that we possibly can for all the people that came out and helped us and any way we can keep people safer moving forward is just a plus.
- [56:50]
Nichols
And for example, last year alone in 2024, we were deployed 14 times to incidents, traffic accidents, et cetera, et cetera. Wow. And it's completely free and we do it of ourselves and the entire team, 35 plus people we call when people show up to give back.
- [57:17]
Host Nick
That's incredible. That's incredible. Well, yes, and, and I love to see that, that you've taken one good, one very, very good non profit organization and you've. Now we've turned it into two and you guys are, you guys are helping so many people. And you said, I, I think you said 3,500 attendees to your self defense classes.
- [57:45]
Nikki Kolasinski
Yes, sir.
- [57:46]
Nichols
Yes.
- [57:47]
Host Nick
That is amazing. And then you, you periodically, once or twice a year you do these purse bingo fundraising events right there. And there's one coming, there's one in November.
- [58:00]
Nikki Kolasinski
Yes, the first Saturday in November.
- [58:03]
Host Nick
And I don't think tickets are on sale yet for that one. But when would they go on sale for that one, do you think?
- [58:10]
Nikki Kolasinski
They probably won't go on sale until September. Ish. And yes, we did switch genre, so to speak. Josh stepped down from being on the board and we switched over from motorcycle rides to purse bingos. So Bob, myself, Sheila, Sierra's mom and our daughter Mary are all co founders and run the organization now as it sits. So we, this will be our fourth.
- [58:38]
Host Nick
Bingo, I believe, and we sell tickets to it. People can reserve a table, but it sounds like a really fun event because there's prizes, there's raffles, there's things of that nature and a lot of people just having a good time.
- [58:53]
Nikki Kolasinski
Yes, absolutely. We serve a really nice dinner. We have mystery boxes, we have all kinds of raffles, 50, 50s. And then of course bingoing off the designer bags that we have. And we get a really good turnout. I think we had 325 people this last one. So yes, people support very much what we do.
- [59:17]
Nichols
And Nick, I can tell you, these ladies show up to party.
- [59:20]
Host Nick
I'm going, I'm going to be there 100% in November. So I'm hoping that we have a lot of listeners here in Ohio and you guys are, I mean, very close to the Michigan border. A lot of listeners in Michigan as well. So I'm hoping people will hear this and, and buy tickets and join us there. That it has something that I'm a big fan of, which is called a cash bar.
- [59:41]
Nikki Kolasinski
There you go.
- [59:41]
Host Nick
As I understand. And I, So if, if you, if you buy a ticket and you want to come in and see me, just look for the guy standing next to the cash bar. That'll probably be me. Hey guys, thank you so much for joining me today and talking to us and educating our listeners a little bit. And, and let's get some people to go to the website, let's get some people to go to the, the bingo fundraiser event. And, and if you can't go to that, if you can't buy a ticket for that, go and pick up a keychain for you and for somebody that you love.
- [60:13]
Nikki Kolasinski
Thank you very much. We appreciate it.
- [60:16]
Nichols
We appreciate it.
- [60:28]
Nikki Kolasinski
Sa.