Full House

It took over four years to identify the remains of Ryan Zimmerman. Understanding how and why he was killed would force authorities to untangle a twisted knot of love, sex, and gender transitioning.

Episode Transcript

(00:23):
With every push and pull of thehandsaw, the blades tear deeper and deeper
into his flesh. The grinding andsplintering of his bones is especially time consuming.
Lubricated with the sticky blood that drainsdown into the bathtub. In time,

(00:45):
his hands and feet are gone.When a nauseous, gut churning intestinal
cramp overpowers her, she needs tolie down, But there is so much
worse work to be done. Welcometo Sword and Scale Nightmares, True Crime

(01:27):
for Bedtime. Where Nightmare beginnings Now. About one hundred miles northwest of Columbus,

(01:51):
Ohio, there is a scenic parkthat's home to Grand Lake. While
it's surrounded by highways on all sides. Closer to the lake are a fish
hatchery, several dog parks, andhiking trails within the wooded wildlife area.
On January third, twenty sixteen,a woman hiking with her dog was enjoying

(02:13):
the crisp winter air near the mouthof Coldwater Creek when she spotted what she
thought might be human bones. Shecouldn't be certain this was an area where
the occasional deer carcass might be dumped. She reported her sighting to nine one
one and when the investigation officially began, authorities transported the remains to an out

(02:38):
of state facility, where they wereultimately confirmed to be human. Over a
year later, in June of twentyseventeen, Mercer County Sheriffs revealed in a
press conference that they were still unsuccessfulat identifying who the victim was. Gruesomely

(02:59):
saw marks on the corpse's spinal columnindicated that the victim's head had been severed,
and unfortunately, the skull was nowhereto be found, also missing bones
from the knees down and bones fromthe elbows down. Essentially, they were

(03:21):
dealing with an anonymous torso one thathad been decomposing in the woods for an
estimated two to three months before itwas discovered. Experts believe that the person
had died prior to their dismemberment.I should hope so. Yet they had
no idea who this person was orwhere they came from. How do you

(03:46):
solve a crime when you don't havea place to start? Three words,
bone oxygen, isotopes. I knowthose aren't the three words who were probably
expecting, but hey, I'm alittle unpredictable sometimes. Well, what are
bone oxygen isotopes. You might asknot to get all sciencey and shit,

(04:09):
but authorities reached out to a researchgroup called ISO Forensics. This company could
measure the subtle changes in bones overtime to predict where the person may have
lived in the previous decade of theirlife. Forensics has gotten a little nutty

(04:30):
over time. Impressive, but nutty. In this process. There are actually
two different tests. One measures oxygenisotopes and the other measures something called strontium
isotopes. I think that's how yousay that. Anyway, It's not important
what those things are, but theresults of each test could be printed as

(04:55):
dots on a map indicating where inthe United States that person may have come
from. Results from both tests ontheir own spanned the entire country, from
California to Maine, but by overlayingthe two maps, there were several areas
that seemed to generate positive results forboth tests, helping investigators narrow it down

(05:20):
even further. Maybe in the lastdecade, this person lived in Michigan,
or maybe they had lived in Kentucky. Even with this information, three more
years went by. Further DNA testingrevealed that the bones were from a male

(05:40):
between the ages of twenty and thirtyfive. Standing at a height between five
foot seven and six foot one doesn'texactly narrow it down, does it.
Finally? In January of twenty twenty, an analyst within Columbus, Ohio's Bureau
of Criminal Investigations came across a missingperson's report dated November twenty fifteen. This

(06:05):
date is about two months before thedecomposing, decapitated corpse was found in the
woods by Grand Lake. At thattime, a twenty two year old male
had been reported missing by his father. He had lost touch with his son
after his son moved to Columbus.More specifically, his son had moved away

(06:30):
from Corbin, Kentucky, where thebone isotope testing predicted he may have once
lived, and where his parents stilllived. While the victims DNA had been
analyzed, it turned out that neitherof his parents had ever been tested.
Once that information was collected, thepolice could finally positively identify their mysterious victim.

(06:55):
His name was Ryan Zimmermann. Lovedplaying video games, watching movies,
and teaching things to his younger brother, with whom he had an especially close
connection. But there was another aspectof Ryan's life that he wasn't as open

(07:15):
about with his family. By examininghis Internet activity, it was clear that
Ryan was interested in transitioning into afemale. He was looking into vocal training,
hormone therapy, and was shopping forfemale clothing. He was also exploring

(07:39):
his sexuality using several social media accounts, including hosting a Craigslist personals where he
expressed interest in becoming the submissive femaleof a relationship. Soon after, he
connected with someone who used the screenname Laurel Emerson. As should be expected,

(08:01):
this was not the person's real name. After all, it is the
Internet. We know how that works, right, Still, don't believe everything
and stuff you guys got that.Nevertheless, Ryan packed up his things in
August of twenty fifteen and drove fromKentucky to Ohio to begin living with his

(08:24):
new friends. Ryan's parents last hadcontact with him about a month later,
on September twenty fifth, twenty fifteen. On the twenty seventh, the car
he'd driven was impounded by the police. The car was actually registered in his
father's name, so his dad wascontacted and found it odd that he could

(08:50):
not get a hold of his son. His father even went out to Columbus
himself to pick up the car.Still, Ryan was an adult and clearly
going through something private that he neededto figure out on his own. But
after another month and a half ofno contact, his father formally filed a

(09:15):
missing person's report in November of twentyfifteen. Ryan's body had been so badly
brutalized it had taken over four yearsand several twenty first century miracles to connect
the unsolved missing person's report to theunidentified torso observed at Grand Lake. Authorities

(09:41):
knew from the jagged saw marks therewas foul play, but they still didn't
know where the murder or the limbremoval had taken place. The why would
have to come later, But first, who was Laurel Emerson? And these

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online friends that Ryan had decided tomove in with. Ryan probably saw it
all as a nerve racking but excitingnew start, a chance to act on
his innermost desires and find out whohe really was. But the funny thing

(10:24):
about being lost in your thoughts isthat you may not realize you're drifting into
oncoming traffic. Let's talk a minuteabout relationship rules. You ever been in

(11:05):
a relationship? I hope you have, because otherwise you're one of them in
cells they keep talking about. Anyway, if you have, you know that
there are these little rules, alot of little rules. There are tiny
ones like leave the toilet seat downor take out the trash, and then

(11:28):
there are bigger ones like, youknow, don't have sex with my sister.
Sometimes you don't even have to saythose out loud, you just kind
of no. If you're an intelligentperson, then again, that last one
is probably a little flexible these days. Polyamory may have been taboo in the
nineteen fifties, but y'all heard ofa thrupple? Yeah that's a word,

(11:50):
or even just an open relationship,which you know they've been pushing on us
now for a good couple decades.Are cool with it if your wife likes
to make out with other women whenshe gets a little tipsy, or maybe
you just want to be like Adamtwenty two and you know, let your
wife do whatever the hell she wantswith whoever the hell she wants, as

(12:13):
long as you know she's honest aboutit and tells you what's up. I
guess that's kind of the way thingsare going nowadays. Listen, I'm not
trying to judge or kink shame,whatever the hell that is. I'm just
saying that when you're in a relationship, you set up rules to keep your

(12:35):
relationship intact, and these rules shouldbe followed by either side. Nowadays,
you can have pretty much whatever relationshipstructure you'll want, as long as it's
consensual. But in order to keepyour partner or in some cases, partners
happy, you need to lay downsome groundwork so that everyone can agree rules

(13:01):
and compromises. Ain't love grand Coreyand Sarah Buzzard lived together in a two
story apartment in Cleveland, Ohio.They were married, but as we established
the beginning of this tragic timeline,in late June twenty fourteen, Sarah was
chatting with a woman named Jen ona dating site. As the online chats

(13:28):
turned into real life dates, Coreywas aware that his wife was exploring a
new relationship. He told her hewas fine with it and would not get
involved, But something shifted when Sarahlearned that Jen was transgender biologically male,

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but six or seven years into hormonetherapy and surgery, Sarah's husband, Corey
also learned this information, at whichpoint he revealed to his wife that he
believed the perfect relationship would involve aman, a woman, and a transgender

(14:09):
individual the perfect twenty twenty three nuclearfamily. Now that his philosophy was out
in the open, it seemed toboth Sarah and Jen that Corey was starting
to get more involved with their relationshipthan he had first promised. It was

(14:30):
becoming an uncomfortable situation for all ofthem. Eventually, Corey started going out
on dates with other women, thoughnot having very much success on his own.
In spring of twenty fifteen, Coreywas using the online alias Laurel Emerson
and began talking with a young manwho had expressed desires to become the submissive

(14:54):
female in a relationship. His namewas Ryan Zimmerman, and Corey announced to
his wife Sarah that he wanted Ryanto move in with them in an effort
to help carry out his ideal relationshipparadigm. He was certain that Sarah would

(15:16):
become utterly infatuated with Ryan, buthe couldn't have been further from the truth.
The one time Sarah chatted with Ryanonline, she did not like him,
saying that she found him to besubservient to the point of being annoying.
There was even more arguing now asSarah felt like she was somehow lacking

(15:37):
in qualities, unable to satisfy thedesires that her husband had kept hidden for
so long, and Corey was equallypassionate, unwilling to back down from the
idyllic life he was this close toactualizing. Eventually, a compromise was a

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greet upon. Sarah said that Ryancould stay in the spare bedroom for three
months while he relocated his life fromKentucky to Ohio, as long as Ryan
paid rent, bought his own groceries, and secured a job. Sarah said
she would be fine with her husbandpursuing this relationship, she just didn't want

(16:22):
Ryan living with them permanently. Bythe end of that summer, several changes
had come to the two story apartmentthat Corey and Sarah Buzzard shared. Now
they were sharing it with two morepeople. Upstairs, as promised, Ryan
lived in the spare bedroom adjacent tothe room that Corey and Sarah had once

(16:47):
shared, and downstairs in the livingroom, an area was blocked off with
curtains for Sarah's transgender girlfriend. Shehad previously gone by Jim, but during
this time period she signed paperwork tohave her name officially changed to Nira Whittaker,

(17:07):
which is how will refer to hermoving forward. Nira also appeared too
strongly dislike her new upstairs roommate Ryan. She felt if you wanted to portray
yourself as a female, you shouldcommit fully and not let anyone know otherwise.
She referred to Ryan as a disgustingperson and often caught him eavesdropping from

(17:34):
the top of the stairs. Sarahand Nira tended to huddle together downstairs,
trying to avoid their other roommates atall costs, except for the occasional awkward
chatter in the small kitchen they allshared Brady Bunch, This was not It

(17:56):
was clear to Sarah that Nira hada dark streak within her, manipulative with
a sometimes disturbing sense of humor,But to use Sarah's words, Nira was
also fiercely loyal and, to Sarah'smind, the only person who ever truly
cared about her. Meanwhile, theother couple in the apartment, Corey and

(18:19):
Ryan, were not forming the emotionallyand sexually satisfying bond they had anticipated.
Only a month into the new livingsituation, Corey wanted his new lover,
Ryan to move out. Corey allegedlysaid that he hated Ryan and that he

(18:41):
wasn't what he was expecting. Ryanwasn't able to start hormone therapy, he
wasn't seeing a psychiatrist for it,and he also suggested that Ryan had genital
herpes. On Friday September twenty fifth, twenty fifteen, he explained to all
of his roommates that he would bestaying at a hotel with a woman he'd

(19:06):
recently met, and that he wantedRyan to pack up and leave before he
returned. On the morning of Septembertwenty sixth, with Corey out of the
house and an emotionally distraught Ryan upstairs, Nira began voicing plans to Sarah that
she wanted to actually kill Ryan.Sarah didn't take it seriously. She was

(19:36):
always making fucked up jokes anyway,so this wasn't out of the ordinary.
Ryan left a note on the staircaseto speak with Sarah in his room,
and when Ryan begged for Sarah togive him a second chance, Sarah stood
by her husband's decision to kick himout. After all, Ryan wasn't holding

(19:59):
up his end of the bargain.He'd never gone to any job interviews,
because he apparently thought he'd get rejectedanyway, so why bother showing up?
Back downstairs, Sarah told Nira abouther uncomfortable conversation, which only seemed to
strengthen Nira's resolve that today would bethe day. Sarah said that she saw

(20:23):
Nira gathering bleach a handsaw, andshe began to realize that she was actually
serious. Sarah claims to have gottenhysterical and that Nira said if she didn't
help her, she'd do it herselfanyway, and that it would be much

(20:44):
messier and harder if she did italone. They had to act fast before
Corey came home. Sarah's story aboutwhat happened next has changed over time.
In earlier accounts, she indicated thatshe was angry at Ryan. He had
been the source of so many argumentsand now a life ruining accident was taking

(21:10):
place as she knocked him to theground and began strangling him. But later
she said it was all Nira's plan. That she loved Nira, and that
she would do anything and keep anysecret to prove that love to her.
Since all the details of that nightcome from just one person, will likely

(21:36):
never know the exact truth of whathappened, but as Sarah's version of events
continue to unfold, one thing iscertain. The sweet and soft spoken Ryan
had no idea what was coming forhim. It's the evening of September twenty

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sixth, twenty fifteen. Corey Buzzardis away for the weekend, staying at
a hotel with a woman he recentlymet. His wife, Sarah is apparently
done trying to talk her girlfriend Niraout of murdering the innocent roommate that's already
been asked to move out anyway.They wait for Ryan to use the upstairs

(23:12):
bathroom, at which point they slipinto the office area. Nira has a
bleach soaked rag and a bottle ofvinegar ready to go. The chemical reaction
may emit a highly toxic chlorine gas. Do not, I repeat, do

(23:33):
not try this at home. AsRyan walks down the hallway, Sarah suddenly
jumps on top of him from behind, getting him in a headlock and strangling
him. As she forces him tothe ground, Nira straddles him from above,
placing the rag over his mouth untilhe makes gargling, gasping noises.

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Sarah says she crawls out from underhim, curls up and cries. Nira
needs Sarah to help her get Ryaninto the bathtub, but Sarah won't do
it. She can see that hiscalves have turned white. She's certain that
he's dead, and she can't bringherself to look at his face. She

(24:22):
leaves Nira alone in the bathroom andgoes into her office to console herself.
Nira gets to work with the handsaw. First, she slides a garbage bag
over Ryan's head, and then shebegins to sever his skull from the spinal
cord. When it's done, sheputs the bagged head in the freezer,

(24:48):
covering it with packaged vegetables until shefigures out what to do with it later.
Next come the hands, and thenthe feet. It's exhausting, nauseating
work. Intestinal cramps begin to overpowerNira. She has to rest. Sarah

(25:10):
eventually comes out of the office andinto the bloody bathroom. Apparently having the
head removed means not having to seeRyan's face, which is enough for her
to get to work sawing off Ryan'sarms and legs from his elbows and knees.
Sarah also helps organize the severed limbsinto separate bags. Her disposal.

(25:36):
Got to stay organized, Maybe doa little color coding. Head down to
the container store. Anyway, allthat's left eventually is just a torso.
By now, it's four or fivein the morning, the sun is coming
up. Nira enters the room witha large tupperware bin, which they fill

(25:57):
with Ryan's torso, along with therags and gloves they used to clean up
the bathroom. Then they load upRyan's car with the bags of all his
body parts and set out for Illinois. At that point, Naira explains to
Sarah that an anonymous friend can helpthem secure Greyhound bus tickets. They'll simply

(26:22):
abandon Ryan's car somewhere along the routeand then use those bus tickets to return
to Columbus. But like a sceneout of a bad movie, they stop
for gas an hour into the tripand the car won't start again. They
try everything they can to fix theproblem on their own, but hey,

(26:45):
there are just two women out therewith a car problem, so they ultimately
have to call a tow truck.No doubt, Sweating Bullets, says the
car containing the person they had justbrutally torn apart as being brought right back
to the crime scene. Somehow,they convince the driver to leave Ryan's car

(27:07):
on the side of the road,and once he pulls away, they move
the evidence of their crime into Sarah'scar and hit the road once more.
They drive for hours until nighttime isupon them. Once it's dark, Nira
picks random exits and they look forunsupervised dumpsters to drop off bags and then

(27:30):
keep driving. But now they've beenawake for nearly thirty six hours, and
Sarah is finding it extremely difficult tokeep herself awake behind the wheel. All
they have left is the torso,and they choose what they think is an
inconspicuous wooded area to dispose of itbefore driving the long road back to Columbus.

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Sarah wrapped up her story by sayingthat when they were turned Corey was
back at the apartment and didn't suspecta thing. He was mad that Sarah
had kept her phone off and hehad no idea where she was, but
he was apparently just happy to moveon now that Ryan had officially moved out.

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Corey was oblivious to the fact thatNira had at one point stored Ryan's
decapitated head in his freezer. Andthen eventually moved it into their tool shed.
Sarah said that Nira had purchased asoup pot and that she had filled
it with some kind of lie mixtureand then had put Ryan's head in it,

(28:44):
partly to view it as a trophy, but also because she didn't know
how to properly dispose of it.And then time just kept moving forward.
Corey and Sarah's relationship was coming toa close. In November, Corey moved
in with another woman, and inDecember, Sarah and Nira left the apartment

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and brought everything with them to hermother's house. And when I say everything,
I mean everything. That's right.They actually brought the severed head to
mom's house. In January of twentysixteen, Corey and Sarah officially divorced.

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Didn't see that coming, just sayingall right, I'll shut up now.
Later that month, Sarah and Niragot married. I'm sure that'll work out
just fine. But happening in thebackground of these life changing events. On
January third, twenty sixteen, awoman walking her dog alongside Grand Lake and

(29:49):
Coldwater Creek came across the decomposing torsothat Sarah and Nira had abandoned several months
earlier. When they saw the newsof the discovery, Nira wanted to make
a suicide pact. If it lookedlike they were going to get caught,
Nira would shoot Sarah first and thenkill herself. She knew that going to

(30:15):
prison was a death sentence in itof itself. Nira was still anatomically male
and very feminine. She would ratherdie than face that fate. Sarah was
terrified of dying, but agreed withthe plan. Incredibly, years went by,

(30:37):
so much time that Sarah and Niraeventually stopped checking the news and instead
started focusing on planning for their future. Unfortunately, for them, the past
has a way of catching up withyou thanks to advancements in DNA and bon
isotope analysis. As we mentioned previously, though it took authorities over four years

(31:03):
to identify Ryan Zimmerman. Once theydid, they were given access to his
entire digital footprint, from Google searchesto phone records to social media activity.
They learned about Ryan's communications with LaurelEmerson aka Corey Buzzard, and they eventually

(31:25):
searched the apartment everyone had lived inback in twenty fifteen. Additionally, they
searched Sarah's Toyota, which she hadpreviously sold. Traces of human blood were
found in both the apartment and thecar. By August of twenty twenty one,

(31:45):
Sarah and Nira were living in Indiana, not exactly clear if the severed
had made the move with them again, that piece of evidence was never recovered
anyway. When police arrived to arrestSarah, Nira denied any involvement. Sarah

(32:07):
was brought in for questioning, atwhich point she admitted to strangling Ryan to
death and helping Nira with the dismemberment, saying that she did it all for
love. With Sarah and custody andfully cooperating, police returned to arrest Nira
Whittaker. Five police officers approached thehome to serve the search warrant they had

(32:32):
obtained, but just as they toldher she was under arrest, Nira pulled
a handgun out of her purse andkilled herself. No other rounds were fired.
When there's only one person left standingthat can tell the story, you're

(32:53):
forced to take them at their word. There will always the question marks surrounding
the motivations behind these disgusting crimes againstRyan Zimmerman. Maybe Nira Whittaker was as
ruthless and sociopathic as Sarah suggested.Or if Nira hadn't put a bullet through

(33:15):
her brain, maybe we'd get anentirely different perspective on who did what and
why. Maybe we'd even get alittle victim blaming to go with it.
The other bystander, Corey Buzzard,was conveniently out of town for the weekend,

(33:35):
but has never been considered to beinvolved. In the end, Sarah
will not have to hold up herend of the suicide pact. She will
continue living, albeit in prison.While she was originally charged on eighteen charges
ranging from multiple counts of murder totampering with evidence and felony abuse of a

(34:00):
corpse, most of these charges weredismissed as part of her guilty plea agreement.
At her sentencing in January of twentytwenty two, Sarah accepted responsibility for
her part in the murder and gruesomeaftermath, insisting she was a good person
who made horrible mistakes. She said, quote, not a day goes by

(34:23):
that I don't wish for a chanceto take it all back. I will
live every day for the rest ofmy life attempting to redeem myself through positive
actions and deeds. Wow. Howgeneric. In any case, the judge
pointed out that Sarah had no priorcriminal convictions or signs of delinquency, and

(34:50):
has otherwise been a law abiding citizen. Ultimately, Sarah Buzzard pled guilty to
a single charge of aggravated murder.It resulted in a sentence of life in
prison, no chance of death penaltyin fact, a shot at parole in
thirty years. Apparently the justice systemand relationships have something in common. Rules

(35:19):
and compromises. Ain't justice grand.If you enjoyed the show, please consider
joining plus at Sword and Scale dotcom slash plus. But if you can't,
consider leaving us a positive review onyour preferred listening platform. Sweet Dreams

(35:44):
and good Night.