Crime Stories with Nancy Grace

Fake German heiress Anna Sorokin conned her way into Manhattan society. Posing as Anna Delvey, a German heiress, she swindled banks, hotels, and friends out of more than $200,000. She forged checks to get money from banks and charmed people into paying for extravagant meals, and travel. Sorokin was convicted on a handful of grand larceny and theft of services charges. After serving her time, the 31-year-old was released from prison, now, fighting being deported, but again Sorokin falls on her feet. First, she landed a deal with Netflix for the rights to her life story, then began selling her artwork, and now, Sorokin said her home confinement and social media ban is “more restrictive” than jail. Now her artwork is making a splash.  Joining Nancy Grace Today: Wendy Patrick – California Prosecutor, Author of “Why Bad Looks Good” and “Red Flags,” and Host of “Today with Dr. Wendy” on KCBQ in San Diego; X: @WendyPatrickPHD Dr. Donna Rockwell – Clinical Psychologist (Michigan/New York) Specializes in Celebrity Mental Health; Adjunct Faculty: Saybrook University: College of Integrative Medicine and Health Sciences, DonnaRockwell.com; CEO/Founder: “Already Famous with Dr. Donna” Jim Ellis – Certified Fraud Examiner, Former FBI Agent (29 years), JKE Texas Private Investigator Rebecca Rosenberg – Fox News Digital Crime Reporter; Author: “At Any Cost;” Twitter: @ReRosenberg See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On social media, Pastor Jonathon Elwing calls himself a husband, father, child of God, and serving Christ as a minister of his Gospel.   So, when the Manatee County Sheriff's office gets a tip from cryptocurrency company "coin base" that the 43-year-old Senior Pastor of Palm View Baptist Church may have used cryptocurrency to buy child pornography, investigators know you can't judge a book by its cover.  The Manatee County Sheriff's office secures a search warrant for Jonathon Elwing's home and Palm View Baptist Church.    Elwing gives investigators the passcode for his personal phone. And as the investigator  begins to look, Jonathon Elwing admits he sometimes purchases adult pornography from a "third party."  He adds it is possible that child pornography would be a part the purchase without his knowledge. Elwing says when he sees the child pornography images or videos, he deletes them.    Still, cops find four of the items located on Elwing's personal cellphone depict Child Sexual Abuse Material while still at the home. Infact, the forensic search of Jonathon Elwing's cell phone reveals images of him sexually battering a child, along with production and possession of 12 images child sexual abuse material. Then,  investigators are able to extract hidden files from Elwing's personal cellphone and deputies say he is using a private photo vault app to hide at least 14 pictures of him sexually abusing a two-year-old child.  JOINING NANCY GRACE TODAY: Stacey Honowitz  - Assistant State Attorney, Sex Crimes & Child Abuse Unit, Author: "My Private Parts are Private", "Genius with a Penis - Don't Touch!" and “The Bully at School is Really Uncool”, staceyhonowitz.com, Instagram: @staceybhonowitz Caryn Stark - Psychologist, renowned TV and Radio trauma expert and consultant, www.carynstark.com, Instagram: carynpsych, FB: Caryn Stark Private Practice John Pizzuro - Raven’s CEO,  Fmr. New Jersey State Police Commander of the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, Fmr. New Jersey State Police --https://raven.us/team/ Anna Sonoda - Child sex abuse/grooming expert/Clinical Social Worker/Counsels convicted sex offenders- Author, Duck Duck Groom Jordan Litwiller -  Reporter/Anchor, Reporter -WWSB - ABC 7 News,  IG: @jordanlitwiller         See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Woman attacks wife and mother-in-law with Samurai sword. This criminal's organizational skills made cops' job easy! For more crime and justice news go to crimeonline.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Shocking video released of the moments leading up to a devastating crash that claimed four lives at a nail salon on Long Island.  The horrific footage appears to show the ex-marine visibly disheveled, buying liquor, before getting behind the wheel of his SUV and allegedly turning his vehicle into a deadly battering ram.  Stephen Schwally is seen on video speeding through a parking lot at close to 80-miles-per-hour, almost hitting pedestrians in a crosswalk before charging at full-speed into the Hawaii Nail & Spa. The video appears to show no deceleration from Schwally's vehicle, and the sound of screams can be heard from the salon as customers are seen running out of other businesses to see what is happening.  Inside Hawaii Nail & Salon, four people are dead, 9 others injured, some very seriously. One of those killed is NYPD Officer, Emilia Rennhack. The 30-year-old was assigned to the 102nd precinct in Queens where her husband, Carl Rennhack, is a detective. The Rennhacks were a month away from celebrating their one-year anniversary. Emilia Rennhack was getting her nails done for a friend's upcoming wedding.  41-year-old Yan Xu, and 50-year-old  Meizi Zhang both worked at Hawaii Nail & Salon and were also killed in the crash. Yan Xu's family is seeking help in a fundraiser on GoFundMe to raise money for the care of her elderly father and her 12-year-old son, who has polio.  Kenny Chen, the manager of Hawaii Nail & Salon is among the 4 killed when the SUV crashed through the salon at nearly 80 miles per hour. Chen's wife was also at the salon at the time, and she is critically injured. She has already had one surgery with more to come, doctors say her recovery will take at least two years.  The Chen's have two children, ages ten and five, and with their father dead and the mother facing multiple surgeries and years of recovery, a GoFundMe is set up by a nephew who says with the salon their only source of income, with Kenny Chen dead and his wife critically injured, they don't know where to turn for help.  Joining Nancy Grace today:  Ben Powers - Criminal Defense Attorney, Facebook: Legal Powers PLLC, https://legalpowers.com Joseph Tremblay  - Principal engineer and accident reconstructionist at Veritech consulting engineering, www.veritecheng.com Erica Linn - National Ambassador with Mother’s Against Drunk Driving and a member of the Regional Advisory Board for MADD in New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania  Dr. Kendall Crowns - Chief Medical Examiner Tarrant County, Lecturer: Burnett School of Medicine at TCU  Lauren Conlin  - Podcaster/Reporter/Host- The Outlier Podcast & Co-Host of Primetime Crime on YouTube. Website: www.popcrime.tv & primetimecrimeshow.com X- @Conlin_Lauren, Instagram- @LaurenEmilyConlin, YouTube: @PopCrimeTV  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

82-year-old woman's burned remains found buried in Vermont woods. Here comes the bride takes on a whole new meaning.  For more crime and justice news go to crimeonline.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Melissa Patton grows up in Locust Grove, Georgia with her parents and older sister, Tina. In high school, Melissa is head over heels for Christopher Wolfenbarger. The two quickly marry after graduating and move to Atlanta with their baby daughter Christina. When the couple welcomes a son, Joey, they settle in a duplex. Melissa works alongside her sister near the airport. Thanksgiving Day, Melissa Wolfenbarger visits her parents, Carl and Norma Patton. Melissa is excited for the holidays and asks her mother for a very specific gift. When Melissa doesn’t even call Christmas day, Norma Patton is unsettled. Melissa doesn’t have a cell phone or a car, so Norma assumes her daughter is busy with her own family and will pick up her gifts later. When Melissa doesn’t wish her mom a happy birthday two months later, Norma Patton asks family members if anyone has seen her. Tina Patton realizes Melissa hasn’t worked a shift with her in months.  Then, Melissa misses her mother's birthday.  Atlanta PD finds a severed human skull, that rolled out of a ripped trash bag in the middle of Avon Avenue.  Just over a month later, four more trash bags are discovered two blocks down Avon in wooded area. Inside are a pair of legs and arms. Police cannot locate a torso. It would be more than four years before the body is identified as Melissa Wolfenbarger, and 25 years before police arrest her killer.  Joining Nancy Grace today:  Tina Patton  - Sister of Melissa Wolfenbarger Norma Patton  - Mother of Melissa Wolfenbarger Darryl Cohen  -  Former Assistant District Attorney,  Former Assistant State Attorney, Defense Attorney, Cohen, Cooper, Estep, & Allen, LLC, CCEAlaw.com, Facebook: "Darryl B Cohen", Twitter: @DarrylBCohen Sheryl McCullum - Cold Case Investigative Research Institute Founder, ColdCaseCrimes.org, Host of new podcast: Zone 7, Twitter: @ColdCaseTips Joseph Scott Morgan - Professor of Forensics: Jacksonville State University, Author, "Blood Beneath My Feet", Host: "Body Bags with Joseph Scott Morgan", @JoScottForensic Sydney Sumner - CrimeOnline investigative reporter See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mom swerves car into river when boyfriend shoots her from the passenger seat, then he leaves her four young children to die. Prison nurse tries to pass out more than Tylenol! For more crime and justice news go to crimeonline.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

After several pre-trial hearings, it seems that everyone connected to the murders of Abigail Williams and Libby German is absolutely certain of who killed the girls, but they cannot agree on who that person is. Richard Allen is set to stand trial on October 15th, but theories that an Odinist cult, sex traffickers, or a now-dead violent man attacked the girls are muddying the waters.    Testimony during the hearings confirms several details about the crime scene. Both Abby and Libby’s throats are cut, and the girls bodies are covered with branches. Libby is found completely nude, and Abby is dressed in both hers and some of Libby’s clothing. Aside from the neck area, the clothing found on Abby is mostly clean.  Prosecutor Nicholas McLeland believes the case against Richard Allen, 51, is air tight, after discovering over 60 recorded confessions by the accused killer in jail phone calls to his wife and mother. McLeland says just over a year ago, Allen began speaking about the murders in very specific detail with almost anyone who would listen. A fellow inmate even testifies that Allen revealed to him that he killed the girls with a box cutter, which Allen later disposed of in a CVS dumpster.   However, defense attorney Bradley Rozzi argues that Allen’s numerous confessions are not valid and should not be allowed into evidence. Rozzi argues that Allen’s mental state is degrading due to near constant solitary confinement, fueling his client’s admissions of guilt. Rozzi goes on to show the details Allen describes are inaccurate. In one recording, Allen tearfully expresses regret for molesting the girls, but their autopsies do not show any signs of rape or sexual abuse.   On the witness stand, Dr. Monica Wala, an Indiana Department of Corrections psychologist treating Richard Allen, claims that she noticed the accused killer spiraling just before the confessions began.  Walla testifies that staff is providing Allen anti-psychotic medication at least once a month.  While Special Judge Fran Gull has yet to rule on the admissibility of Richard Allen’s many confessions, testimony did sway her to vacate a “safekeeping” order and remove Allen from the Westville Correctional Facility. Allen will instead be held at the Cass County Jail for the remainder of his pre-trial lock up. JOINING NANCY GRACE TODAY:  Rich Schoenstein - Trial Attorney and partner with Tarter Krinsky & Drogin    Twitter: @LawfulRiches Chris McDonough - Director at the Cold Case Foundation, Former Homicide Detective, https://www.coldcasefoundation.org/chris-mcdonough---law-enforcement-relations.html,  Host of YouTube channel, The Interview Room. Dr. Mark Mirabello - Former Professor of History at Shawnee State University, Author: “The Odin Brotherhood”, https://www.markmirabello.com Joseph Scott Morgan - Professor of Forensics: Jacksonville State University, Author, "Blood Beneath My Feet", Host: "Body Bags with Joseph Scott Morgan", @JoScottForensic Susan Hendricks - Journalist, Author: “Down the Hill: My Descent into the Double Murder in Delphi’, IG @susan_hendricks X @SusanHendicks  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Feces-covered 4-year-old boy kept in make shift cage 24/7. 'Protect and Serve' takes on a whole new meaning! For more crime and justice news go to crimeonline.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ellen Greenberg is a first-grade teacher in Philadelphia.  At 27-years-old she and longtime boyfriend Sam Goldberg have just sent out "save the date" cards for their upcoming wedding.  A blizzard is bearing down on Philadelphia and school has dismissed everyone early. Home with her fiancé, Sam Goldberg leaves around 4:45 pm to work out in the apartment complex gym. When Sam arrives back less than an hour later, the door is locked from the inside.  Over the next 20 plus minutes, Sam pounds on the door, texts, and calls Ellen, but she doesn't reply. He breaks down the door at 6:33 pm. He finds Ellen on the floor of the kitchen, stabbed 20 times in the chest, neck, and head. As he is on the phone with 911, they ask him to perform CPR, and he tells them there is a knife still stuck in her chest. First responders arrive within minutes and Ellen is pronounced dead at 6:40 pm.  Police investigate. Initially, the medical examiner declares Ellen's death as a homicide, but later after meeting with police, that finding is changed to suicide. Ever since the day the medical examiner changed the manner of death from homicide to suicide without any explanation, Ellen Greenberg's parents, Josh and Sandee Greenberg, have fought to have the ruling changed.   Josh and Sandee Greenberg file a lawsuit against the city of Philadelphia, seeking to have the manner of Ellen's death changed back to homicide, or at least, undetermined, but the suit grinds to a halt when the Commonwealth Court rules against Josh and Sandee Greenberg. In the ruling, the judges acknowledged that the investigation of Ellen Greenberg's death was a “deeply flawed investigation” by the Philadelphia Police, the District Attorney’s Office and the Medical Examiner’s Office. But none of that matters because the court says Josh and Sandee Greenberg don't have standing in the case.  Attorney Joseph Podraza says they will take the case to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.  The Pennsylvania Supreme Court is now going to hear the Greenberg's case saying  it will consider whether “executors and administrators of an estate have standing to challenge an erroneous finding recorded on the decedent’s death certificate where that finding constitutes a bar or material impediment to recovery of victim’s compensation, restitution or for wrongful death, as well as private criminal complaints.”  Joining Nancy Grace Today:  Sandee & Josh Greenberg - Ellen Greenberg's Parents, Twitter: @justice4ellentw, Facebook: @justice4ellenFB, GoFundMe:www.gofundme.com/f/justice-for-ellen?fbclid=IwAR1kH2pxp0jWpWBFD6tX9JfiWGCE-sKf9VrSGmjAltcz-g81mY7hVhqOcGo,  on Facebook: #Justice For EllenSandee: Tom Brennan -  PI Consultant for Ellen Greenberg's family Benee Knauer  - Author, "What Happened To Ellen?: An American Miscarriage of Justice"    Joseph Scott Morgan - Professor of Forensics: Jacksonville State University, Author, "Blood Beneath My Feet", Host: "Body Bags with Joseph Scott Morgan", Twitter: @JoScottForensic John Luciew - Journalist for PennLive.com and The Patriot-News of Harrisburg, Pa., specializes in true crime and cold case investigations for PennLive.com, Author: “Kill the Story”, Twitter: @JohnLuciew   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.