Crimecon Denver 2025 Recap

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Primetime Crime. I'm your host, Kylie. Let's talk
right now in true crime, and then together we are
going to work on warming up some cold cases. Let's go.

Speaker 2 (00:15):
Well, mister Harris had been living there for some time
and some months had passed where he hadn't paid his rent.
They knock, nobody answered. They're concerned. The apartment was locked
and the alarm was on, so they go inside realize
something really bad has happened here.

Speaker 3 (00:37):
In October afternoon in two thousand and seven, Memphis deputies
were called to check on a tenant who hadn't paid rent.
What should have been a routine welfare check quickly spiraled
into something far more disturbing.

Speaker 2 (00:51):
You have some blood around the house. You have dishoveled paperwork.

Speaker 3 (00:56):
The ac was blasting, dozens of king were burned to
the wick, air fresheners stripped from outlets. Then they saw
a towel jammed under the bedroom door.

Speaker 2 (01:09):
So the police go in and what they encounter is
a horrible crime scene.

Speaker 3 (01:16):
A man was dead, and within two days multiple arrests
were made. On paper, it looked like swift justice, but
when I started looking, things didn't add up, and some
people were counting on no and noticing.

Speaker 2 (01:33):
It's just one of the most poorly investigated cases I've
never seen.

Speaker 1 (01:37):
You don't have no dealings with them. Don't let them live.
We don't let them come in your house. They'll rob
your blind She's got just real So you want to
sit here and tell us a pull face line, you
go sit here line that fuck the face. You know.
He told me like, I just didn't do this, and
he was so convincing that what.

Speaker 2 (01:53):
Worries me it is that I am not ready for
the story to be out of the world, because once
that happens, I use control of the narrative.

Speaker 3 (02:03):
This is more than an investigation into a murder. It's
about who we choose to believe, what gets ignored, and
the fact that looking the other way is still a choice.
I'm choosing not to. I'm Stephanie Tinsley, and this is
everything they missed.

Speaker 1 (02:22):
You're asking questions about me for what that shit was
closed years ago. Well it's open again. Hey, guys, welcome
to another episode of Primetime Crime. It's Kylie. We are
going to get into a real quick right now and
true crime kind of going over a couple of things
that have happened over the last couple of weeks, and

(02:43):
then we're going to get into today's episode, which is
a little bit of a longer episode because it is
my crime Con recap, which I am so excited to
share all of the crime con things with you all.
So over the last week, we have had a few
things that I need to catch up on, including Donna
Adelson filing an appeal for a new trial, which is

(03:05):
to be expected, but she is citing a number of things,
including that the jury was biased and that she didn't
have an adequate amount of time to decide if she
was going to testify or not, and so on and
so forth. There is a lot. There is the whole
filing that you can read through. It's quite long. She
has a lot to say, but I just don't think

(03:28):
any of it is going to come to fruition, and
I do not think she's going to get another trial.
But I will be sure to keep you guys updated
on that one because it is never ending with Adelson's.
Next thing I want to talk about is Chad Dabel.
He has been writing some letters to his quote unquote

(03:50):
friends or fans or whatever he wants to call them,
and his daughter Emma, who is a supporter of his
and believes in his innocence, has been publishing them on
X and Nate Eaton did a whole courtroom insider on
these letters, and they are very interesting, to say the least.

(04:12):
He very much still denies that he had anything to
do with the murders of Tammy, Tyley and JJ and
says that he mourns their loss, and he truly does
believe that he is going to be free one day,
and talks about all the appeals that are ongoing, and
he truly does think that he's going to be out.
But if you do want to see and read the letters,

(04:34):
I encourage you to seek them out and look at them.
But there is actually no way that this man has
any supporters. But he talks about people writing him in jail,
so apparently there's someone out there that is writing Chad Dabel.
I just don't even know what to think about it,
but I do think it's interesting. I don't think him

(04:54):
and Laurie have any communication between the two of them,
and I don't know if if that is because they're
not allowed to communicate or they just haven't communicated. I'm
not really sure of everything. As far as that goes.
But I do think that's interesting because I do believe
in Laurie's interview that she did with Nate Eaton, she

(05:16):
said she had not spoken with Chad, so again, it's
very very interesting. Next thing I want to talk about
is Brooks, how was officially sentenced to life in prison
for the murder of his girlfriend, Crystal Rogers. Brooks really
thought that he was something else and was going to
get away with this. He enlisted two people to help

(05:39):
him with Crystal's murder, although her body has not been found.
They found Brooks and the other two individuals guilty and
they have all been sentenced now at this point. Joseph Lawson,
who was brooks accomplice, was also sentenced to twenty five
years in prison. Court TV posted the victim impact statement

(06:00):
that were given by Crystal's family and they were all
very very powerful. Brooks actually made eye contact with them
during the impact statements. And I hope there is a
small inkling of something in Brooks that feels remorseful and
sorry for what he did. But I really don't think
that he does. Because he took a mom away from

(06:21):
her five children, and he took his child's mother away,
and he took his child's father away when he decided
to murder Crystal and take away so much from her family.
And then we have the Tommy Ballard of it all,
which they also brought up in the victim impact statements
that they believe that that was not a coincidence and

(06:43):
that that is related. And I also believe that. So
it's really going to be interesting to see if anything
more comes of that and if we do get any
charges filed in Tommy Ballard's death. And for those of
you that don't know or haven't followed, Tommy Ballard was
crystal father, and he was a big proponent of trying

(07:05):
to find out what happened to her after she went missing.
He was doing everything in his power to try and
bring awareness to Crystal's case, and he ended up losing
his life on his own property while he was preparing
to go hunting with his grandson. He was shot. And
there's just absolutely no way that you're ever going to

(07:25):
convince me that it is not related to the Hawk
family in some way, shape or form. And I really
think that Brooks thought that he was going to get
away with this no body, no case, But that has
been proven wrong, and I have never been so happy
for a guilty verdict and a life sentence ever, ever, ever,
because Crystal deserves justice. They still have not found Crystal's remains,

(07:49):
and that pos is keeping his mouth shut at the moment.
I don't know if he eventually will talk and say
where her remains are so where family can officially lay
her trees rest in a proper way. But for right now,
I guess he's keeping his mouth shut. I am still
in the process of trying to catch up from post
Crime Con, getting back to work, getting my life in order.

(08:14):
I am trying to plan out my next month accordingly
and work on these episodes, and I have a couple
of interviews set up, and I am just diligently working
behind the scenes to get all of that organized and together.
So I am slowly but surely getting all of that
going and going to be bringing you guys some cases

(08:35):
that I learned about at Crime Con, and I cannot
wait to be able to share those with you. They
all desperately need our attention, so stay tuned for that.
So we are going to go ahead and call this
good for right now, I true crime, and we are
going to get into the twenty twenty five Crime Con recap. Okay, guys,
it is officially time for Crime Con Denver twenty twenty

(08:57):
five recap. So I never write these episodes out prior
to this is just off the cuff my crime Con experience.
I'm going to go through each day, each session, talk
about all of the things. And I did get a
really good idea. It was given a good idea while

(09:18):
I was a crime con by two of my newest listeners,
Kelly and Yolanda, gave me an idea about doing a
no before you go type of episode pre crime Con
because we were in line together. I'll get to it,
but we were in line together and I was just
kind of giving them a few like little tips and

(09:39):
tricks and what to do, what not to do, those
kind of vibes. So the next day we met up
again in the creator row and we were chatting with
some of my other podcasting friends and they were like, literally,
everything I know about crime Con I learned from you.
So that was kind of the start of this idea
no before you Go crime Con addition, which I will

(10:01):
be doing before crime Con in May. I don't know
when I'm gonna release it, but I'll release it at
some point in time, all right. So Crime Con I
went out on September fourth to Denver, and Thursday is
just kind of a get in and get settled, pick
up your crime Con stuff, and then there also is

(10:23):
a kickoff party, which is a separately ticketed event. This
year it was campfire themed, so I dressed as a
girl scout, actually a true crime Scout. I was extra
and I love a theme party, so I'm always going
to dress up. There's never going to be a time
when you give me a theme that I don't dress up.
So it was so much fun. I got to reunite

(10:46):
with Rachel and Heather from Like Mother, Like Murder, Stephanie
Morim from Wicked ever After. They were my kickoff party
buddies last year and they were my kickoff party buddies
again this year. And then I got to meet Danny
from Any after Dark on YouTube at the kickoff party,
and my cousin was there and we had a really

(11:06):
good time. It was crowded when we first got in there,
but things quickly dissipated and then at one point my
cousin and I went outside and it was just like
so calm and breezy and nice, and we just kind
of sat and hung out, and I was exhausted. I
am like the worst traveler. I get such bad jet
lag and I just want to sleep. So that is

(11:29):
what I did. I went up to the room about
nine o'clock and well, I waited for an Uber Eats
order because I needed water because I drank like a
gallon a day. So after that, which took forever longer
than I wanted, I went up to the room and
crashed out because I knew that Friday was going to
be a busy day. So first thing everyone always looks

(11:52):
at when they get their crime con info is where
crime con is the following year. It is a big thing.
Everybody talks about it every but he wants to plan.
Crime Con at twenty twenty six is in Las Vegas,
which at this point is my home away from home.
I think I'm going to be in Las Vegas next
year as of right now, at least two times, probably three,

(12:15):
could be four. We don't know, because the backstrip boys
are there, and you know, if the backstrip boys are anywhere,
I'm also going to be there. So we will definitely
see on that. But I will be at Crime Con
next year. I'm also going to apply for a table
on Creator's Row. I likely will not get it on
the first time, but I do want to try and apply.

(12:36):
I said I would never apply because I love the
sessions too much, but you don't know if you don't try,
so I definitely will try to get a table for Vegas.
All right, So first thing I want to start off with.
There was a little thing in our book. It was
just kind of one of those little things that's stuck
in and I wanted to start off with it because

(12:57):
I think it's really really important talking about Crime Con.
A lot of people have this misconception that it's like
a sensationalized convention for true crime, and that is not
what it is. It is a very ethical and educational
type weekend for those that are interested in true crime

(13:17):
because there is a fascination with true crime. And I
don't know why other people like it, but for me personally,
I grew up on it. I used to watch America's
Most Wanted, I watched Rescue nine one one throwback for
those of you that haven't heard that. In a hot minute,
I watched Unsolved Mysteries. I grew up on that stuff,
so I always really enjoyed it. I used to watch

(13:40):
trials as a child. I remember watching the OJ Simpson trial.
My mom always had court TV on and that is
what I watched. So as an adult, I don't think
it's too far of a stretch to think that I
still enjoy true crime. And I want to say enjoy
it in a way of I find it very fascinating

(14:00):
to kind of delve into these cases, and I like
the psychology behind it. Why do people do bad things?
Why do people do what they do? What makes somebody
go from a normal person one day to not a
normal person the next. I enjoy kind of breaking that
down and also something kind of unexpected. Starting my podcast,

(14:22):
I have very much become very passionate about victim advocacy
and advocating for these people that can no longer advocate
for themselves, sharing their stories, trying to do it in
a ethical way, because I think it's important, and so
many of these people, so many of these cases, they

(14:42):
just want somebody to cover their loved one's case. I
can't tell you how many times I've had people tell me,
thank you so much for covering my loved one's case.
I've had so many people reach out asking me to
cover their loved one's case. And that's the side of
things that I never really knew about well prior to
starting a podcast. I obviously knew that there were these

(15:03):
stories that we would hear about, and you know, their
families obviously are trying so hard to get their loved
one's name out there. But I never really realized that
there was going to be a side of podcasting where
I would be interacting with people that have been through

(15:23):
some of the hardest times in their lives and they
were coming to me to tell their loved one's story.
So it is one thing that I will never ever
take for granted. I am honored in privileged to be
able to do that, and I want to make sure
that I'm approaching it in a very ethical way. So,
with all of that being said, eight simple roles for

(15:45):
being an ethical true crime fanatic. Now this is from
the National Center for Victims of Crime. Number one, there
is no victimless true crime. Number two, There is no
timeline for trauma. Number three, Investigate, Investigate, Investigate. Number four,
require the presence of victims voices number five, Do no

(16:06):
harm number six, Respect boundaries. Number seven don't fall victim
to true crime and number eight turn your interest into impact. Now,
when I saw number eight, I was like, oh my god,
that is me to a tee because I never thought
that I would ever even delve into this true crime space.

(16:27):
But here we are, two and a half years into
this podcast and trying my very best to try to
make a difference. Okay, so I talked about the kickoff party.
Now we're going to get into the meat and potatoes
of the start of Crime Con, which starts on Friday
at twelve o'clock. So the main things that I want

(16:47):
to do a Crime Con. I want to see as
many sessions as possible. I do want to spend some
time on Creator Row, although it gets very crowded and
it overwhelms me. So I have to pick like the
most opportune time to go into a creator row. So
that is a big part of me trying to plan
out my weekend. I also want to go to the

(17:09):
bookstore because I always buy a book for my friend Aisa,
and I get somebody to sign it, and then I
want to go to the merch store. So again there's
a lot of people at this event. I think they
said seven thousand people, so you're gonna be waiting in lines,
and I hate waiting in line. And I have a
standard badge, which I know it doesn't compute, but I

(17:29):
feel like I get all that I need with a
standard badge besides waiting in line. So I try to
time things just right so that way I don't have
to stand in line as much and I can kind
of avoid crowds as much as possible because I really
really do not like crowds. All right. So first session,
they had four different sessions going on at the twelve

(17:50):
oh five to one o'clock hour, and I wanted to
try to change it up this year and go to
a few different sessions that I normally wouldn't go to
because I've seen Chris Hansen speak many a times. I've
seen David Milman speak many a times. I love listening
to them, but there's also other sessions that I'm interested in.

(18:10):
So the first session I went to this year was
the Active Shooter Response, which was really cool because they
had a shooting simulator that they actually used to train
people who are getting their concealed handgun license and they
also use it to train law enforcement officers. It's really interesting.

(18:31):
They have real life situations loaded into the simulator and
then in this case, during this presentation, it was the
law enforcement officers that were presenting it that were going
through the simulator and kind of showing us how it works,
how they use it for training, the importance of it,
and it was very very interesting. So I really very

(18:52):
much enjoyed that and I would go to that again
because again it was kind of a different type of session.
I got to see something I haven't seen before. And
at the end of the day, it's all about education.
And unfortunately, at this point in time in our country,
we are dealing with active shooter situations almost weekly, which

(19:15):
is really really sad, and I'm really glad that there
are people out there who are trained in these type
of situations. They know what to do in these type
of situations, and they're trained to run towards it versus
run away from it. So for me, that was a
really good session. So the session lasted until about one
o'clock and then at one twenty the next session started.

(19:36):
So the next session that I went to was called
Bone Valley Leo Schofield's Road to Exoneration. Now, this was
presented by Gilbert King, who had a big hand in
Leo's story, Leo getting released, all of the things. Leo
was supposed to be there himself, however, he had been
in a motorcycle accident a few months prior and had

(20:00):
to have a bunch of different surgeries, was having like
some ongoing medical issues, so he was not able to
be there due to health reasons. But he did send
a message from the hospital, so we got to hear that.
And then the session was moderated by Brett and Alice
from The Prosecutor's Podcast, who I've never seen speak before,
and they did a really good job. I really enjoyed

(20:20):
listening to them, So the session was everything and more
that I would have wanted. If you have not listened
to the Bone Valley podcast, I highly recommend it. I
would say over the last year it's probably been one
of my favorites. They did a season one and a
season two, and the whole story is just it's a crazy,

(20:44):
wild story, and then Gilbert getting involved in it and
leading up to the point where Leo was let out,
but he is still unfortunately guilty in the eyes of
the state of Florida. It's a whole process. Listen to
the podcast, I highly retd re commend. It explains everything.
I don't even know how they ever convicted Leo. Well,

(21:06):
I do, because confirmation bias, I guess, but the fact
that somebody confessed to the crime of the murder of
his wife and they still don't believe that Leo's innocent.
They don't want to believe the guy that's saying he's guilty,
and I don't want to believe the guy he's saying
he's innocent. It's a crazy story. Highly recommend because there

(21:28):
are so many layers, so many facets to it. But
I very much enjoyed that session. Gilbert King is amazing
and everything that he's done to help Leo is amazing,
and I just can't say enough good things about what
they put together with the Bone Ballely podcast, So I
highly recommend it. So the next hour, I went in

(21:52):
to the merch shop, I got what merch I wanted.
I went into the bookstore and got a book from
my friend, and then I went into Create a Row,
which was actual insanity because first day is so crowded.
There are so many people in there, I can barely
hear myself think. I get very overwhelmed very easily, and honestly,

(22:13):
I'm quite overwhelmed all weekend. But Friday in creator Row
is crazy. But I went. I spent a little time
in there. I went and saw my friends Jules and Jen.
They have a booth, and I wanted to say hi
to them. Of course, see them, and I walked around
for a little bit. I was so overwhelmed. I was

(22:34):
trying to find like I had a couple other friends
that had booths. I wanted to find Courtney with forensic tales.
I wanted to find Danny after dark. I felt like
they weren't even in there because I couldn't focus on anything.
I was looking for Poppy killed Mommy. I swear I
walked that place four times, could not find her. She
was there, I just I don't know. My mind was

(22:55):
not not functioning properly on Friday. So I did go
back on Sunday. I'll talk about that in a little bit.
And I was able to find everybody I wanted to find,
but it was for sure, very very overwhelming. So after
that I went to the DA bill case inside the
investigation and it was moderated by Nate Eaton from East
Idaho News. He is the one that has been following

(23:18):
the Day Bell Valo investigation from a start. He is
the first one that boots on the ground in Hawaii
asked Laurie and Chad where are the kids. He has
been there from the very very start, so he was there.
Detective Ray Hermasio was there who had a big hand
in this whole thing finding the children. He and his

(23:39):
team have been on this case since the very beginning,
and he has a big hand in everything, the trial
of Lorii Vaalo, the trial of Chad Dave Bell. He
has done a lot, so we got to hear from him.
We also got to hear from Lorii's son, Colby Ryan,
who lost his entire family when you really break it down,

(24:03):
he lost his uncle Alex, he lost his stepdad, Charles Vallow,
and he lost his brother and sister, and he also
lost his mom. So getting to hear from them their
perspective on everything, kind of how they have processed everything,
how they're still processing everything, how their friendship has formed

(24:28):
with each other, Ray and Colby, and how they have
truly turned something so horrible and tragic into something where
they're trying to spread awareness and be educational. Colby started,
I think it's just a YouTube channel. There might be
a podcast also called scar Wars. They've really taken this

(24:49):
horrible thing that they were thrust into and turned it
into something that has a more lasting effect than what
Colby's mom did. And Colby is very much focused on
talking about his brother and sister, focusing on all of
the happy memories they had and everything good that Tylee

(25:12):
and JJ did in their lives. They were young, they
were children, but hearing Colby talk about them, it makes
you understand that these were real people who were just
living a normal life before a horrible evil struck their family.
And it was just really good to be able to
hear Colby talk about the memories of Tylee and JJ

(25:36):
and put kind of a positive spin on things, because, yes,
it is so tragic and sad that he lost everybody
the way that he lost them, but to see him
kind of out on the other side. Obviously he's still
processing and still daily dealing with everything that has happened,
but he's choosing to remember them and speak about them

(26:00):
and put those positive memories forward, so it becomes more
about them than it becomes about his mom doing the
horrible thing that she did. And I think that that
is commendable, respectful, and I think in this situation that
is what you have to do or you'll never be
able to come out on the other side and find

(26:21):
the silver lining, so to say. So that was a
really good informational session. The next session is one that
just enrages me so much, which was a session with
Nancy Grace and Joe Scott Morgan called what Happened to
Ellen Greenberg? Now, I covered Ellen's case. It was the
second episode I ever did. I want to go and

(26:42):
re record it because I was brand new to podcasting
and there's a lot of stuff that I want to
add now that we have a little bit more information,
and it was just not it was my second episode.
What can I say? So I will eventually get around
to rerecording it and re releasing it because I feel

(27:02):
like it needs to be done. But this case enrages
me so much, because if you're not familiar, Ellen was
a teacher in Pennsylvania. She taught first grade. She was
engaged to a man named Sam, She was planning a wedding.
She was looking forward to starting her life with her

(27:23):
new husband, and she was making a fruit salad one
day after school and was found brutally, brutally stabbed and
it was ruled a suicide. She was stabbed many times
in the front and back of her head and neck,

(27:44):
and they ruled this a suicide. Now, there is a
lot of speculation, there is a lot out there. There
has been no suspects named publicly. I cannot do that
on here. Everything, of course, is alleged. I do believe
that Ellen was murdered. She was murdered in her home,

(28:04):
and there was some powers that be allegedly in my opinion,
that helped cover this up and made sure that it
was deemed to suicide. And I think they thought that
people would just let it be swept under the rug
and it would just go to sleep, and nobody would
make a big deal over the fact that Ellen was
stabbed numerous times. Many of those stab wounds occurred after

(28:28):
she had already died, which we're all very smart people here.
You can't stab yourself when you're already deceased, which means
somebody else did stab Ellen. And they stabbed her so
many times, and they stabbed her some after she had
already passed away from severe blood loss because she was
stabbed numerous times, so The most frustrating part of all

(28:51):
of this is her family. Her parents. Ellen was their
only child. They have fought so hard to get Ellen's
case reopen, and they have been met with roadblock after
roadblock after roadblock, and it's very frustrating because there's obviously
a heinous monster on the loose that did this to Ellen,

(29:14):
and they do not deserve to be out seeing the
light of day, breathing the air that we breathe without
paying for what they did to Ellen. So be on
the lookout for a new episode on Ellen Greenberg, because
I very much do want to re record my original
one and talk a little bit more about where the
case stands today, because there has been some movement here

(29:36):
and there, but unfortunately, as of right now, we are
kind of at a standstill with her case. And that
is unacceptable that anybody with eyeballs cannot see that Ellen
did not take her own life and there's someone out
there that is responsible for it and they got away
with it, and that is not okay. And there are

(29:59):
many more Ellen Burke's out there. She is one of many.
I've covered a few on this podcast, and in my opinion,
time is running out for the people that are responsible
because people are not going to let off the gas
on this one. Ellen did not take her own life,
and I think the proof is in the pudding. But

(30:20):
her family's not going to stop and they shouldn't because
this is a major injustice. Okay, So after that session,
there was a separately ticketed event which was the Evening
with Iced Tea, which was moderated by Chris Hansen. Again,
if you have watched SVU for the last twenty something years,

(30:42):
you know I see I know him also from his
music career, so getting to see him live was really
cool getting to listen. It was an hour and a
half conversation of him and Chris Hansen just kind of
talking about everything, talking about his upbringing, him growing up,
how he kind of got into a life of crime

(31:04):
and then got right and then became the guy who
is playing in the longest running SVU type of show
on TV. So it was a really interesting night. He
is hilarious, He is so funny. I really enjoyed listening
to him speak, and if he comes back, I would
highly recommend anybody going to see him because it was

(31:26):
such a good, open, candid conversation. One thing that really
made me laugh is. He said when he first got
the SVU job, he had a lot of people ask
him like, Hey, did you do ride alongs to kind
of prepare yourself for what you were getting into, And
he said, the only ride alongs I did were when
I was younger, from the backseat, which if you know

(31:47):
iced Tea, you know that he had some criminal history,
so that was pretty funny. But really enjoyed his session.
I thought it was great, and it was a late night.
I was so exhaust I think we got out of
there like eleven thirty and I was just beat by
that point, and I went to bed and slept hardly

(32:11):
none because my body has this internal cloth that wakes
itself up at five and I was up the next
morning at five am trying to catch up on my
weekly podcasts. So the next day started at nine am,
and I started off with the session with John Ramsey
and Paula Woodward about the murder of John bin A

(32:31):
Ramsey and again getting the DNA tested in this case
is pivotal, so important, and they kind of discuss the
ins and outs of that, how things have been over
the last twenty nine almost thirty years since John Binat's
life was viciously stolen, and just how they are not

(32:52):
letting their foot off the gas to try to get
Boulder Police departments to test the DNA. So I am
hopeful that it will eventually happen and we will have
a resolution in this case. The next hour, I went
to meet John Ramsay and Paula Wood were because they
are working tirelessly to try to get this case solved

(33:14):
and keep it out in the public spotlight. So I
went to the meet and great with them. And while
I was in line, I met my two new friends,
Kelly and Yolanda, and I had on a podcasting sweatshirt
that I did with my podcasting crew, and I had
all of our podcasts on the back. And I am
probably like the worst person to have a podcast because

(33:36):
I don't bring it up in everyday conversation. I don't
present myself as a podcaster. I probably should, but I don't.
So I had kind of talked to them about like
a couple of the other podcasting friends I have, and
then one of them said, oh, I took a picture
of the back of your sweatshirt, and I was like, oh,
my podcast is on there, so I, you know, let

(33:57):
the cat of the bag I have a podcast, and
it was really cool to meet with them and talk
to them, and I kind of talked to them about
crime con in general and like tips and tricks, and
that's kind of where that idea for the no before
you go crime con situation came to be. So they
were great. If you guys are listening, hi, I loved

(34:19):
meeting you and I loved meeting John Ramsey. It was
it was amazing, all right. So next session up after
John Ramsey was the tragedy in Idaho and how the
case was solved. So this session was about the four
college kids who lost their life in Idaho at the

(34:40):
hands of he who shall not be named. And this
session had Stacy Chapin, who is Ethan's mother, and Kristin Middleman,
who is one of the founders of Authoram Authorom Labs
in the Woodlands, Texas. And they are changing the way
that DNA is analyzed. They have a bunch of new technology.

(35:02):
They are solving cases left and right. I think while
we were at crime Con alone they released I think
it was five or six cases that had been solved
just in that short span of time that we were
at crime Con. They are doing amazing things, and they
were responsible for helping solve the Idaho case and bringing
the perpetrator to justice, and now he will never see

(35:24):
the light of day again. So listening to them speak
very interesting, very informational, very intriguing, and it was a
great session. I did not get to stay for all
of it because I had to leave a little bit
early because I was going to be meeting in Creator
Row with my podcast and crew for a little photo
op sesshon where we could all get together, so I

(35:46):
had to leave a little bit early for that. I
went and met them, we took some photos, and then
I went ahead and saw Derek and Stephanie from Crime Weekly.
Their line wasn't as long as typically is it's normally
around the Creator row, but it wasn't super long, so
I went ahead and stood in line so I could
meet with them, and I told them the story about

(36:08):
how I met them in twenty twenty one and I
didn't really know who they were, but I got my
picture with them anyway, and now their podcast is a
weekly podcast for me. I listened to it all the time.
I listened to Derek Levaster's detective perspective. I rooted for
him on Traders like I am a big fan, and
they actually remembered the twenty twenty one meeting Greek because

(36:30):
they said they had like fifteen people come through the line,
and I was one of those people because I was
there with my friend Natasha, who was a big fan.
So it all came full circle and I now have
an updated picture with them, and they are just lovely
individuals and I really love and adore their work. All right.
Then we had lunch and I don't remember what we

(36:53):
did for lunch, but whatever we did was really good.
Oh I know what it was. We went to this
English Irish and I make sucker for a shepherd's pie
and I got the shepherd's pie and it was so good.
I every single bite of it. Our waiter was amazing.
It was just it was great. The food there was
so good. I am gluten free, so I have to

(37:17):
obviously be mindful of what I eat and all of
the things, so it was pretty easy. I'm pretty good
at like knowing what I can and can't have. But
I was thoroughly impressed with the food and thoroughly impressed
with the hotel itself. It was a really nice venue.
I didn't have to walk thousand miles to get from
point A to point B like last year, So I

(37:39):
really overall was so impressed with the venue. I think
it was my favorite so far. And I've been to
every crime Con since twenty twenty one, which I know
isn't as many as some other people, but for me,
it was likely my favorite so far as far as
the venue and everything goes. So then the next session
was a conversation with John and Callahan Walsh, and again

(38:00):
they have done amazing work over the years. John and
his wife started the National Center for Missing and Exploited
Children and they have done amazing work through that, and
Callahan John and Revey's son has gotten involved and he
is very prominent in that as well. So they just

(38:20):
kind of talked about their experience and how they are
still to this day, you know, helping children and fighting crime,
and it was just a great session. The next session
was the Scott Kimball case, which I was not familiar with.
And again I'm really trying to go to different sessions
that I don't really know a lot about because my
whole goal of going to Crime Con is to learn

(38:42):
more and try to broaden my knowledge on these different cases.
So going to this one, Scott Kimbol case, it was
really interesting. So Scott is not only a murderer, but
he's also a con artist and looking at him, he
looks like a super normal individual. Well, there was a
girl who went missing named Casey MacLeod and Casey's mom

(39:07):
actually was in a relationship eventually married Scott Kimball. So
he presented this big case to her about how he
was an FBI agent and he was going to help
track down Casey. Well, it turns out that he is
the one who took Casey's life. So Casey's father was
able to connect with another missing and murdered girl's father

(39:30):
who had also lost her life, and they all had
this connection, which was Scott Kimball. So they did discover
Scott was responsible, and he also murdered his uncle and
he's likely responsible for many many other deaths. He is
a corn artist through and through. He is just one
of those people that is able to manipulate and tell

(39:53):
people certain things and they tend to believe him because
he is a very normal type of individual. But that
is why these type of people are so dangerous, because
they do blend into society. They look normal, they act normal,
They're very charming, they're able to manipulate, and obviously this
is a type of situation where he went so far

(40:17):
as to separate Casey from her mother and from there
took advantage of the situation and ended up taking her life.
He is a horrible human. But I really enjoyed that
session getting to hear from Casey's father and kind of
learn about everything how everything went down. So that was

(40:37):
a really good one, all right. The next session, this
was my favorite session of Crime Con also the most
heartbreaking and saddest session ever. So this session was Stolen Babies,
presented by Neck Mek and Angeline Hartman, who Angeline Hartman
is literally one of my idols in this true crime space.

(40:58):
She works for a Neck, She does amazing things, and
she for the session really tried to shine a light
on how do you find somebody who doesn't know they're missing,
like a stolen baby, somebody who was stolen at seventeen
days old and doesn't realize that they are a missing person.

(41:19):
They have been raised in an entirely different life, probably
with an entirely new identity, and they do not know
that they are missing. So she told us about the
story of seventeen year old Kevin Reville Junior, who was
taken by this woman who basically was presenting herself as
a social worker and Kevin's parents. Kevin's dad was in

(41:44):
the military and they were living on an off campus,
lower income military housing. They were new parents. This was
their first baby. They were offered these services to help
with diapers and formula, and Kevin Junior ended up being
kidnapped by this heinous human And that is their story

(42:06):
and for all of these years this happened in nineteen
eighty in California. This family has endured a lot and
they are still to this day so devastated by what
happened to their family, and it was absolutely heartbreaking. Kevin's
mother has had a couple of strokes and she is

(42:27):
no longer verbal. They had their daughter with them, who
even though she never got to meet Kevin Junior, she
has become a voice, her mother's voice, and is telling
the story. I'm going to do a more in depth
episode on Kevin Junior because this story is one that
needs to be shared. They have a rendering of what

(42:49):
Kevin might look like today. There is a high possibility
that Kevin is out there living his life, not even
knowing that he was a stolen baby. And it was
absolute heartbreaking seeing this family get up on stage and
share their grief and their trauma that they've been through
with everybody. It was so emotional. My heart just completely

(43:12):
shattered for them and being in this true crime space,
I know that there's something that I can do to help,
and that is to share Kevin junior story, share the
rendering of what Kevin might look like today. And I
do think Nechnik does an incredible job with these renderings
and the age Progress photos because a lot of the

(43:32):
times there are people who have a sneaking suspicion that
they're not who they think they are and they take
a DNA test and it leads to them finding out
their true identity. Carlena White is one that just pops
in my head, and when you look at the age
progress photos, it's amazing how true to what they look

(43:53):
like they actually look like when you look at the
age Progress photos. So I do think they do a
really good job. There's also a composite sketch of this
fake social worker that again multiple people contributed to, so
I do think that there is likely somebody out there
that might know something. And the whole concept of sharing

(44:13):
these stories, this is what crime con is all about,
is to spread awareness and get these images out there
because maybe someone is going to see it that realizes,
oh my gosh, this looks like so and so, or
oh I might know something about this. I was in
California around nineteen eighty. Maybe it'll spark something in their
brain where they realize they saw something. So that is

(44:36):
the whole reason we do what we do. And I
will be sharing Kevin Verville junior story a little more
in depth in a future episode, So that will be
coming hopefully in the next month. I hope to get
it together and get it recorded and get it out asap.
So that was Saturday in a nutshell, and then Sunday
again started at nine am and I went to the

(44:59):
nine one one Experience with Brandon Hall, who is a
nine to one one operator out of Tennessee, and that
was a fascinating panel. I really enjoyed it. He played
multiple different nine one one calls, talked about being a
nine to one one operator. They even brought up people
from the audience to come up and pretend to be

(45:22):
a nine to one one operator and take the call,
and you know, they're multitasking. They're having to have a
conversation with this person on the other end of the phone.
They're having to type it out, they're having to get
the location, the description, what's going on, keep the other
person on the other end of the line who's making
the call calm so they can understand, and it was

(45:42):
just really interesting. I really enjoyed the session and props
to nine to one one operators out there, because it
is truly one of those jobs that I don't think
I could ever do. It's a very high stress type
of experienced job, and I do not think that I
could do it. So after that session, I ventured back
in to Create a Row and I wanted to see

(46:05):
all of my podcasting people. I didn't really get to
spend a lot of time in Create a Row because
it was very overwhelming for me. But on Sunday, a
lot of people had kind of dissipated and there wasn't
as many people there. A lot of people leave crime
con on Sunday, so there wasn't as many in there,
and I felt like it was for me personally a
lot more manageable because I just get very overwhelmed and

(46:28):
big crowds, lots of noise make me very anxious. It's
just part of who I am as a person. And
going in there on Sunday was mellow and I got
to see everybody. So I got to see Courtney from
Forensic Tales. Her podcast is amazing. She is great. If
you guys have not checked her out, please check her out.

(46:50):
I got to hang out a little bit the Fireeyes
Media Table, which is run by my friends Jules and Jen.
They have multiple different podcasts under Fire Eyes Media. They
do Missing in hush Town. Season two is getting ready
to come out. They are doing amazing things in the
true crime space and they do it ethically, which I

(47:11):
think is so important. I met Jowles through covering Kayalana
Turner story, and as soon as we met, we realized
we're the same person and we've just been close ever
since I met genter her. I've met all of my
other podcasting friends through Jules, so I am forever grateful
for her. I got to meet and chat with Hope Houton,

(47:32):
who is the host of Voices Against Philoicide, which is
a mom Cast production, and Hope bravely shares the story
about her two children who she lost to philiside, which
a lot of people don't know what philocide is, so
the Wikipedia definition of philicide is the deliberate act of
a parent killing their own child. If you guys remember,

(47:55):
I shared an episode of Like Mother, Like Murder from
Rachel and Heather where we heard from Brandy Maury Poles,
who is the mom of Rowan Maury, who also she
lost to phill aside, and they are both Hope and
Brandy really trying to raise awareness about everything in that

(48:17):
space and spread awareness share these stories. So please check
out Voices against Philiside. I'm going to link all of
these podcasts I'm talking about in the show notes below
so you guys can have easy access to them. But
Hope was doing amazing things and it was such a
pleasure and an honor to meet her. And I just
can't wait for all of the good that both of

(48:39):
these moms who had something so tragic in their life happened.
I can't wait to see all the good that they do,
because that is, honestly, the best way to honor their
children and to remember their children is by turning such
a horrible tragedy that happened to them and their children
into a mission and making it their number one priority

(49:00):
to spread awareness and take their grief and channel it
into something bigger than they even know. So check out
Voices against Philocide again. I will look it in the
show notes. I also got to spend some time with
Danny after Dark. She has a YouTube channel and she's amazing.

(49:20):
She does like two or three episodes a week, probably three.
She's fantastic. Highly recommend checking her out on YouTube. I
talked about Like Mother, Like Murder. I talk about them
all the time. I'm going to link them below as well.
I got to meet Kadra from Perplexity, a mystery podcast.
I have had her do a guest episode drop on

(49:42):
my podcast before, so you guys have heard from her before.
She's great. She does true crime. She also does the
mystery of it all, which I love a good mystery,
and she really does nice deep dives into all of that.
So check out her podcast. And last but not least,
Stephanie Morom from Whatever After podcasts and YouTube you can

(50:02):
find her. She's amazing, she does great work and I
am honored truly to know all of these women and
to work alongside of them. It is never about competition.
It's always about the community that we formed, and I'm
grateful to be a part of this crazy podcasting girls community.

(50:24):
I am blessed to know them and work alongside of
them and just get to bounce ideas off each other.
And they're just the best. That's all that I can
simply say. I got to meet the guys from True
Crime Cast, who I listen to on the regular, and
I again met them because of duels, because I am

(50:46):
part of the collaborative podcast You Should Be Here. I
participated in The Homicide Tree last year, and I'm going
to be participating in The Cases That Haunt Us along
with True Crime Cast and many many other creators, and
that is set to launch in the fall, so be
sure to go follow You Should Be Here. They actually

(51:07):
have three seasons that you can catch up on while
you're waiting for the new season to launch. There is
The Homicide Tree, which I participated in, or Know, which
is about domestic violence relationships. And there is also a
series called Death Not Yet, which is a survivor series,
So be sure to check that out and watch out

(51:31):
for us in October coming to you with The Cases
That Haunt Us. Another thing I quickly wanted to talk
about was doctor Maggie, who is the mom of Britney
Phillips who was murdered in two thousand and four, and
Maggie has created this movement. She has something that she

(51:51):
calls Caravan to catch a killer and she travels around
in this wrapped van to spread awareness about her daughter's
I am also going to be covering Britney's case on
the podcast in the coming months, so be sure to
stay tuned for that because her case needs our attention desperately.

(52:11):
And getting to meet and chat with doctor Maggie was
a true honor and privilege. Also as always getting to
see Gigi from Pritty Lizon Alibis and her parents again,
such a pleasure to chat with them and get to
see them year after year. Gigi is eight thousand percent

(52:31):
in my podcast Idol. I found her during the Lori
Valo and the Murder of it All, and I have
been obsessed ever since. I have gone back and listened
to all of the previous episodes. She first started the
podcast the day that the bodies were found on Chad
dave Ball's property, and she started with a co host

(52:53):
who her nickname is fruit Loop and she has started
a nonprofit domestic violent shelter called The Hiding Place, and
they are doing amazing work. I got to meet Fruitlub
at Crime Con and it was also an honor, so
I just wanted to shout them out because they are
amazing and The Hiding Place is doing amazing work and

(53:14):
I'm glad that I got to meet them. So after
that session, I went to the session with Beth Carris
and I really enjoyed her session. She was a really
good speaker. She had a lot of really cool insight.
She's the one that does the Curious Case of series,
so she did the Natalia Grace of it all, and

(53:35):
then there's other episodes of course as well. Her session
was good. I really enjoyed listening to her, and I
would have loved to have gotten to meet her. She's
one that I am going to put on my list
if she's there next year to try to meet because
she was really cool and I very much enjoyed listening
to her. The last session I went to was a

(53:55):
ride along with Scheryl McCollum. If you don't know her,
she's fantastic. She's amazing. She has the Zone seven podcast again,
she's somebody that I would very much love to meet.
I did not get a chance to meet her this weekend.
Every time I was in the Creator row where I
could meet her, she was off doing a session or
a meet and greet, or one thing or another. So

(54:18):
our paths did not cross, but I know that they will.
I'm hoping next year at Crime Con in Vegas. So
her session was really interesting. During her session, she spoke
with Barbara Butcher, who is a death investigator, and they
presented a case to us that is still in the
process of being adjudicated, so I'm not going to speak
about it, but it was very interesting. They talked about

(54:41):
everything how they came up with a profile of this
person and then ultimately how they ended up finding the
person who was allegedly responsible. They also briefly touched on
a case that they are looking for help with, which
is the West Point Lake John Doe, I'm going to
do an episode on this kind of separately because there

(55:05):
is there's not a ton, but there is some stuff
that they are trying to identify, pretty significant things that
they think seeing an image of or a description of
might help possibly be able to identify who this person
could be. Because a lot of the times with these
Jane Doe's and John Doe's, you don't know their identity.

(55:26):
So if you don't know their identity, you can't figure
out what happened to them and who could be responsible.
So step number one is figuring out their identity. Once
you know their identity, then you can go and dig
in a little further to figure out what exactly happened.
So I do think I'm going to do a separate
episode on that because I want to share the photos
that were shared with us to try to share because,

(55:49):
like I said, all of these cases, somebody out there
knows something. So that was a really amazing way to
end crime con I've looked up to. Cheryl for a
long time is a crime scene investigator. She does amazing,
amazing work, and like I said, she has the Zone
seven podcasts, which I'm also going to link so you
guys can check it out. And Barbara Bitcher has a

(56:12):
new show starting and it's coming out in the fall
of this year and it's going to be on Oxygen,
So I'm going to link that as well. You can
check it out on her website right now. But both
of these ladies have made a career of doing amazing
work and doing it for the right reasons. And that
is something that as somebody in the true crime podcasting

(56:33):
space that I respect in a huge way. So crime
Con was amazing. It was a great year of chatting
and networking with other people in a similar space as
I am, who have reasons for doing it, but are
all doing it for the right reasons. When I think
that that's so important, I think crime con as a whole.

(56:56):
If you don't understand it, you think that it's glorified
and it's not educational, But it is very, very educational,
and that's really what matters at the end of the day,
because we don't want there to have to be a
crime con. We want there to be a day when
all of these horrendous cases are solved, and a crime

(57:16):
con is simply about networking with each other and talking
about how these cases were solved and how there are
no more unsolved cases. There's also this giant board which
I've talked about in years past, where family members can
put up their missing persons, missing loved ones, unsolved homicide flyers,

(57:37):
and by the end of the weekend that thing is filled,
and it's filled with stories of people that those stories
need to be told. So I have many, many, many
stories coming your way of stories that I learned about
while I was a Crime Con, important ones that need
to be shared, and that is what we are here for.

(57:59):
I would say Crime Con twenty twenty five was my
favorite so far. The venue was my favorite. I'm comfortable
now as a podcaster to tell people I have a podcast,
even though I don't super like share it with everybody.
I also feel confident in my ability and what I
bring to this space. So it's a lot different than

(58:21):
when I went in twenty twenty three, and I think
I told three people that I had a podcast, So
I definitely feel a lot more comfortable now. I'm two
and a half years in. I've worked with various families.
One thing I did want to talk about is I
got to meet Nicole wash Alition Nicki, who is the
mother of murdered Stephanie Stacy is what she goes by,

(58:44):
wash Alition, and I covered her case on my podcast,
so it was really nice to meet with Nicki and
connect with her. Check out Poppy Killed Mommy. That is
the podcast that Nicki started in honor of her mom
to tell her mom's story because as her mom's murder
is one that really needs our attention because it is

(59:05):
a domestic violence type of situation, and Stacy lost her
life in a horrific way, and Nikki was only a
child when it happened, and she is now using her
voice to tell her mom's story, and I hope that
there is something that comes of it, because it's obvious
if you listen to the facts of the case. It's
obvious allegedly in my opinion, what happened. But check her out.

(59:30):
I'm also going to link her below. So it was great.
It was a great experience, a great weekend. I usually
come home from crime Con and I feel so drained
and I just feel terrible, and I have what I
told Rachel from Like Mother Like Murder is like my
impath hangover, because I am a very empathic person and

(59:51):
I absorb all of this energy from everybody and being
around true crime all weekend. It's obviously not lighthearted and
it's sad, but I left crime Con this year feeling
so invigorated and almost reborn, to the point where I
just can't wait to get on the mic and tell
these stories and really dive in head first to a

(01:00:13):
lot of what's going to be coming up on this podcast.
So I really appreciate all you guys listening. I think
that we have turned a corner in the unsolved true
crime community with more people wanting to hear these stories
because I say it all of the time. These are
real people and their real lives, and we might do

(01:00:34):
a forty five minute episode on somebody and then once
you listen to that, it's over for you. Before these people,
they replay it every single day, every single year, every
single week of their life, every single minute of their life,
trying to find out what happened to their loved one
who is missing, or who was taken, or who was

(01:00:55):
murdered in a horrible way. And that is why I
chose to do Unsolved, Lesser Known unsolved, because those are
the stories that really need our attention. And everybody that
says I don't like to listen to unsolved cases because
I like resolution, also same. However, these are the cases

(01:01:17):
we need to be listening to because the families also
would like resolution and their loved one's case. It's not
about you, It's just not. It's not about me as
the person telling these stories. It is about the victim,
and it is about their families, and we need people
that care enough to hear these stories and maybe they
learn something from it, maybe they have a thought in

(01:01:41):
their head that could help solve these cases. That is
what it's about. And I just will never stop advocating
for people actually sitting down and thinking about the fact
that these are real people, real families that we're talking about,
and it's not just entertaining. There is obviously an entertainment

(01:02:03):
factor to true crime, because that is why we like
to consume it, but there's way more to it. And
once you realize there's more to it and that these
are real people, it completely changes the frame of reference
of what you're thinking about and why you're consuming it.
From the time I went to crime con in twenty
twenty one to present day twenty twenty five, I have

(01:02:25):
completely changed my mindset around why I attend and why
I do what I do. So if you're one of
those people that constantly says I don't want to listen
to cases that don't have answers, then you need to
look a little deeper inside and ask yourself why that is.
And if you're not listening for the right reasons, then

(01:02:47):
true crime consumption is probably not for you, and I
don't want to say that to be rude or disrespectful,
but the people on the other side of these stories
are the ones that matt and that is what we
really need, is more people speaking out, being a voice
for the voiceless, and helping these families in their journey,

(01:03:10):
not hindering the case, not getting in the way, but
simply sharing. That is what we are here to do.
So thank you guys for letting me go off of
my little soapbox, because that is probably one of my
biggest pet peeves when I hear people that just casually
consume true crime tell me that they don't like unsolved
cases and that's why they don't listen to my podcast. Fine,

(01:03:32):
whatever makes you happy, but just know that we're here
for a bigger purpose. Everybody I met at Crime Con,
of course, was very receptive. I found some new listeners
out of it, and I'm forever grateful because the more
eyes and ears we get on these stories, the better.
So thank you guys so much for listening to my
little Crime Con twenty twenty five recap. I can't wait

(01:03:54):
for Crime Con twenty twenty six and I cannot wait
to share my no before you go, the insight tips
to getting through your first crime con, what to do,
what not to do, little tips and tricks to make
it through and get the most out of your experience.
I will be sharing that prior to crime Con twenty
twenty six, so stay tuned for that. And if I

(01:04:17):
met you over the weekend at crime Con, I loved
meeting you, and I loved networking and chatting and I
will never ever take it for granted, and I appreciate
you all for listening, thank you for tuning in this
week for this crime Con recap. And next week I'm
going to have a brand new unsolved for many many years,

(01:04:41):
but now solved case for you, So stay tuned for
that and I will see you then. Bye.

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