This week, we’re focusing on the murders of Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner last Sunday in their Brentwood home. Their son, 32-year-old Nick Reiner, has been arrested for the slayings. This case is still developing, but it has brought questions and concerns about what exactly happened and what, if anything, could have been done to prevent it. Audacy stations around the country grappled with those questions this week with the help of experts, and that’s what we’ll be covering here.
In this episode, we’ll cover crimes to keep an ear on, including an update to the Kada Scott case. We’ll also hear two interviews – one about an app that could leave children vulnerable to sexual exploitation and another with longtime DJ Mary Lucia, who wrote the book “What Doesn’t Kill Me Makes Me Weirder and Harder to Relate To” about her experience with a stalker.
This week, we’re focusing on two crimes: the shooting of National Guard members last week in Washington, D.C. and the ongoing case of Luigi Mangione, the alleged killer of late UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
This week, we’re talking about evidence. Fingerprints, Ring doorbell camera footage, witness testimony, DNA, all those clues that eventually lead investigators to perpetrators – and alleged perpetrators of crimes. Finding the evidence and using it to piece together how crimes were committed is complicated in and of itself. Things get even more complicated in the courtroom, where prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges and jurors pore over it. And administrative issues like DNA testing backlogs can snarl the process. We’ll cover several cases today where we can see how evidence, or the lack of evidence, has played a role in the search for justice. We’ll also focus on one type of evidence in particular -- DNA evidence – and efforts to improve how it’s collected and how it’s tested.
This week, we’re covering stories that touch on red flags of abuse that are overlooked. In one case, alleged warning signs may have been glossed over due to a family connection. In another, a faith community reportedly allowed a system of abuse to go unchecked.
Today, we’re taking a look at teens who kill, in particular teen mass shooters. Since teen assailants Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold killed their fellow Columbine High School students in 1999, these criminals have faced increased public attention. According to the Violence Prevention Project at Hamline University, shooters between the ages of 11 and 19 have conducted 19 mass shootings in the US since 1966, killing 162 people and injuring 145. This episode will address four of these shooters: Payton Gendron, Salvador Ramos, Colt Gray and Ethan Crumbley, and the devastation they have left behind.
This week, we are catching up on several cases you may have missed this month. First, we’ll get an update on the case of a nurse in the Detroit area who has been accused of sexually abusing patients for years after a whistleblower complaint. Then, well look into two cold cases – one in Minnesota that’s still open and one in Pennsylvania that authorities say has been solved after more than 60 years. Finally, we’ll return to both of those states to check in on a number of cases currently under investigation, from two bodies found dead in a Best Buy parking lot to a shooting on the campus of Historically Black College.
This Halloween weekend, we’re focusing on cases that haunt us. These include unsolved crimes that sleuths are still investigating and atrocious acts that leave their imprint on the places where they were committed: the Black Dahlia murder in Los Angeles, the disappearance of University of Minnesota student Mike Olson in Florida, the horrors of Pennhurst asylum and the haunting of Detroit’s Cadieux Café.
Eli Frankel, award-winning documentarian, spent five years investigating the Black Dahlia case, where a 22 year-old Elizabeth Short was sawed in half and left in a field outside Los Angeles. He believes the case is solved, alongside a much-lesser known cold case in St. Louis. Frankel, author of 'Sisters in Death,' discusses his findings here with Christy Strawser.
This week, we’re covering news of a tip that reopened the 40-year old disappearance of Cherrie Mahan, an eight-year-old who vanished from the driveway of her own home in Pennsylvania We’re also checking in on another Pennsylvania case that’s currently under investigation, the murder of 23-year-old Penn State graduate Kada Scott. Her remains were found this month after left home to go to her overnight job at an assisted living facility and never returned. While one suspect in the case has been arrested, authorities are searching for another. In Minnesota, we’ll also get the latest updates in the Annunciation Catholic Church mass shooting that claimed two lives and inured two others in August. A girl who shot in the left frontal lobe during the attack went home this weekend in time for her 13th birthday. As she heals, so does the community shocked by the tragedy. We’ll hear from the father of girls who witnessed the shooting and a state lawmaker on efforts to move forward.
This week, we’re focusing on updates to three cases. One is the 2011 death of Ellen Greenberg in Pennsylvania. This case been covered in the Hulu documentary series “Death in Apartment 603”.
This week, we’re taking a look at cases that bring up questions about the signs leading up to crimes. Are there ways for us to predict when a perpetrator will strike, ways to prevent crimes from happening? Are we doing enough to make sure perpetrators won’t strike again? You’ll hear from KNX News’ the LA Local podcast about the man arrested for starting the massive Pacific Palisades Fire that claimed 12 lives while also ruining homes, businesses and more. You’ll also hear from a crime expert in New Orleans about a carjacker with a frightening past and from the legal team of a woman who claims she was sexually abused by a nurse in Michigan about that nurse’s alleged history of assault.
On this roundup of true crime news reported from Audacy stations across the country, we bring you updates on the Michigan church shooting, the yogurt shop murders and other crime headlines you might have missed, including the gripping story of a young mother who was murdered at a gas station. Here is a link to our overage of the Yogurt Shop Murders: https://www.audacy.com/wwjnewsradio/news/national/yogurt-shop-murders-solved
The yogurt shop murder in Dallas, Texas, 34 years ago was one of the most infamous cold cases in the United States until this week, when police announced it was solved. Here's how that happened and whether this case could have repercussions across the country. Also, Tara Servatius at WORD Radio discusses why she believes serial killing is 'obsolete' and new evidence revealed in the Betty Ann New case in Florida.
Kwame Kilpatrick went from being the future of Detroit to one of the city's most notable felons. While Kilpatrick is out of prison, he still owes hundreds of thousands dollars. On a new Daily J, WWJ's Zach Clark wonders what it will take for Kilpatrick to clear his debt. (PHOTO: Phillip Faraone/Getty)
No one wants to believe a mother could actually kill her own son; holding a belt tight around his neck and squeezing until he took his last breath. No, an act this disturbing would defy comprehension, go against every innate parental instinct to protect, care for, and love your child. According to prosecutors, the evidence was conclusive: a suburban Philadelphia mom knowingly and purposefully strangled her 11-year old in an act of retribution. She wanted to get back at her husband for letting her down. Could this really be true? Was Ruth DiRienzo-Whitehead the monster Montgomery District Attorneys made her out to be? Or, did she snap? Did the pressures in her life become too much to bear? In Ruth DiRienzo-Whitehead: the Mother, the Monster, KYW Newsradio Suburban Bureau Chief Jim Melwert empties his notebook from nearly a year of covering this chilling, gut wrenching case that left a trail from the Philadelphia suburbs to the Jersey Shore. Be sure to listen to both parts. Further reading: Horsham mom tells police she strangled son Ruth DiRienzo-Whitehead sentenced to life in prison
She was described as a loving, doting mother. From the outside, Ruth DiRienzo-Whitehead checked all the right boxes - the suburban mom who would go above and beyond for her only child, including sending him to an elite, pricey private school. From within, the pressure was mounting. Money problems, having to care for an elderly parent with dementia, maintaining a lifestyle beyond her family’s means - all of these factors pushed DiRienzo-Whitehead to the brink, and in April 2023, she did the unthinkable. She murdered her 11-year old son. Did DiRienzo-Whitehead suffer a psychotic break? Did she snap? Or, was the 51-year old Horsham resident out for revenge? Was the killing deliberate, as a way to get back at her husband? In Ruth DiRienzo-Whitehead: the Mother, the Monster, KYW Newsradio Suburban Bureau Chief Jim Melwert empties his notebook from nearly a year of covering this chilling, gut wrenching case that left a trail from the Philadelphia suburbs to the Jersey Shore. Be sure to listen to both parts. Further reading: Horsham mom tells police she strangled son Ruth DiRienzo-Whitehead sentenced to life in prison
In August of 1989, Larry DeLisle drove a station wagon with his wife and four children in it into the Detroit River, killing the kids. On a new Daily J On The Case, WWJ's Christy Strawser and Zach Clark explore whether he had a leg cramp and a deficient car, or if he's a cold-blooded killer. (PHOTO: Fox 2 Detroit/YouTube)
Dr. Devon Hoover was one of Detroit's most well-respected doctors who lived in one of the city's most beautiful mansions. All of that came crashing down last spring when he was found brutally murdered inside of his house. On a new Daily J, WWJ's Christy Strawser and Zach Clark dig into the quest for justice for Dr. Hoover. (PHOTO: Ascension Michigan; Eric Seals/USA Today)
Gun violence is a national crisis. In Philadelphia, more than 10,000 people have been shot in the last five years. 2,100 people have died. Every bullet fired has a ripple effect. In this series from Gone Cold, we’ll examine the issues through stories from those affected the most: victims, defendants, law enforcement, medical workers, judges and families, while highlighting unsolved cases. What makes someone pull the trigger? What is the lasting impact? And what, if anything, can make it stop? Hear the first episode of “Ricochet” on Wednesday, January 24 on the Gone Cold: Philadelphia Unsolved Murders feed. Subscribe wherever you get podcasts for free downloads delivered to your phone every week. Host: Kristen JohansonProducer: Sabrina Boyd-SurkaProduction Assistant: Winston Harris
Sharifah Eltahir
I find it compellingly odd that so many folks who knew about this case and were closely handling it are refusing to speak. And for folks to treat Strawberry's death as "beating a dead horse" when her case is still unsolved is sickening!