Crime Stories with Nancy Grace

As accused killer, Stephan Sterns,  adjusts to life in a jail cell, he complains to his brother via email about everything from the size of his cell, the noise, filth, and eating utensils.  Sterns complain his bed mat is flat with very little cushion left, his cell is small and filthy, and he claims there are spots on the wall that appear to be bloody fingerprints.  It is emails from Sterns' mother that contains shocking information as she encouraging him to tell the truth.Sterns' mother believes other people are involved in the murder of Maddie and she tells her son to stop protecting these people. Knowing the emails are not private and protected, Sterns mother alludes to a  woman being involved in the case saying she is quote "disgusted that she is free and you are not when this is not all your fault."  Some of the emails between Stephan Sterns and his mother seem a bit heavy handed, trying to make it seem as though Sterns is a "stand-up guy" who wouldn't be a "rat", possibly to try and help her son as he prepares to spend the rest of his life behind bars. -Sterns mother says " 'I keep thinking about how you would not ever rat out a friend,'  and later adds, "It really made me mad and I felt like you valued them over us when you let them get away with stuff. Don't be doing that again."  Sterns mother says things like, " 'We all know [redacted] was heavily involved in this and I am disgusted that she is free and you are not when this is not all your fault!!  'You need to think about yourself more and her less. She sure isn't thinking of you and how she can help you right now. That whole family is willing to stay quiet and let you take the fall for everything.'   JOINING NANCY GRACE TODAY:  Tim Jansen - Criminal defense lawyer and former Federal Prosecutor, Legal Analyst for Tallahassee Democrat’s Newspaper, www.jansenlawoffice.com  Dr. Jorey L Krawczyn - Psychologist, Faculty Saint Leo University; Consultant Blue Wall Institute, Author: Operation S.O.S.   Robin Dreeke - Behavior Expert & Former FBI Special Agent / Chief of the FBI Counterintelligence Behavioral Analysis Program, Author: "Sizing People Up: A Veteran FBI Agents Maual for Behavior Prediction", peopleformula.com, Twitter: @rdreeke   Dr. Eric Eason -  Board Certified Forensic Pathologist, consultant, Instagram: @eric_a_eason, Facebook: Eric August Eason, LinkedIn: Eric Eason, MD  Shannon Butler - Investigative Reporter WFTV-9  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mom beats 4-year-old to death because he wet the bed. Pickles the piglet is one hard-to-catch suspect! For more crime and justice news go to crimeonline.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the way to Bridgerton City Park in southern New Jersey, Noema Alavez Perez takes her children, Dulce Maria Alavez, 5, and her 3-year-old brother to get ice cream. Once at the park, the children play on the swings as Noema is in her car about 30 yards away helping her sister with homework on the phone. Seeing her son crying by the swings, Perez walks toward him to find out what is going on and finds someone has thrown his ice cream on the ground, noticing Dulce is not on the swings with her brother. No longer concerned about her sons' ice cream, Noema Perez begins scanning the park for Dulce. Noema Alavez Perez was about 30 yards away from her children playing on swings in the park, and when she couldn't find Dulce for a few minutes, she thought her daughter was hiding, trying to be funny. Dulce has never run off before, but Perez doesn't see her anywhere in the park. Asking everyone standing near the basketball court if they have seen Dulce Maria Alavez, she hears several stories of the 5-year-old running behind houses with two different men and another child.  Living every parent's biggest nightmare, Perez calls 911 to report her daughter missing in the park. JOINING NANCY TODAY: Noema Alavez - Mother of Dulce Alavez   Brenda Trinadad - Family friend and advocate for Dulce Alavez Kathleen Murphy – North Carolina Family Attorney  Dr. Chloe Carmichael – Clinical Psychologist, Women’s Health Magazine Advisory Board;’ Author: ‘Nervous Energy: Harness The Power of Your Anxiety;’ X: @DrChloe  Irv Brandt – (Retired) US Marshals Service International Investigations Branch, Author: “GOING SOLO: The Gospel of Luke,” and “SOLO JOURNEY: Buddha Knights;” X: @JackSoloAuthor Claudia Vargas -  Investigative Reporter at NBC10 Philadelphia; Documentary “Somebody Knows Something: The Disappearance of Dulce” is now steaming on Peacock; X: @ByClaudiaVargas   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Baton-wielding man beats victim in road rage incident. New Jersey man travels to Florida to attack online gamer who hurt his feelings.  For more crime and justice news go to crimeonline.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Arriving home from running errands, Christopher Scholtes notices his two-year-old daughter, Parker, is asleep in her car seat. Rather than disturbing her by waking her up to go inside the house, the Arizona father of three leave the toddler in the vehicle with the air conditioner running. Scholtes knows from previous experience with his Acura MDX the air conditioner and vehicle will run for about 30 minutes before shutting off automatically. Wife, Dr. Erika Scholtes, arrives home just aft 4PM. She sees her 5- and 9-year-old daughters and asks husband, Chris, "where is Parker"? Christopher Scholtes first begins looking in the rooms of the house, then darts outside, where he realizes he left Parker in the Accura. The vehicle is off, the air conditioner is not running, the outside temperature is over 109 degrees and Parker Scholtes is taken out of the car, unresponsive, strapped in her child restraint system. When first responders arrive at the scene, the outside temperature is over 109 degrees. The toddler is transported to the Banner University Medical Center, the same hospital her mother works as an anesthesiologist.  Unable to resuscitate the 2-year-old, Parker Scholtes is pronounced dead at 4:58 p.m. Investigators locate surveillance footage from a neighbor and watch as Chris Scholtes arrives home at 12:53 PM, not the 2:30 PM time Scholtes told them earlier.  Scholtes is seen on video walking into the house alone and is not seen on video coming back out of the house again until after his wife, Dr. Erika Scholtes, arrives home. Investigators conduct forensic interviews with the other children and find out that their father leaves all three of them in the car alone, regularly.  It is the children that tell investigators that during the time Parker was left in the car, their father was distracted "playing his game" and "putting his food away". Joining Nancy today:  Darryl Cohen – Former Assistant District Attorney (Fulton County, Georgia) Former Assistant State Attorney (Florida), and Defense Attorney: Cohen, Cooper, Estep, & Allen, LLC; Facebook: “Darryl B Cohen;” X: @DarrylBCohen Dr. Kendall Crowns – Chief Medical Examiner Tarrant County (Ft Worth) and Lecturer: University of Texas Austin and Texas Christian University Medical School Caryn L. Stark – Psychologist, Renowned TV and Radio Trauma Expert and Consultant; Instagram: carynpsych/FB: Caryn Stark Private Practice Amber Rollins - Director, Kids and Car Safety www.KidsAndCars.org IG: KidsAndCarSafety X: @KidsAndCars   Alexis Terezscuk - CrimeOnline Investigative reporter, Writer/Fact Checker @LeadStoriesCom, and Former Entertainment Reporter X: @swimmie2009   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Man impersonates CPS worker to gain access to children. Woman smuggles drugs disguised as burritos! For more crime and justice news go to crimeonline.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A former Mayor with 28 years of law enforcement experience has been charged with first-degree murder in a triple homicide. In this episode of Body Bags, Joseph Scott Morgan will break down the weapons used in the murders and the possibility that one of the victims died while he was on the phone with 911. Dave Mack will try and explain what happened four days before the shooting  that may have led to the murders.    Transcript Highlights  00:00:00 Introduction people seeking power  00:02:12 Discussion ex-mayor suspect triple homicide  00:07:45 Discussion Triple homicide, 911 caller goes silent on call  00:12:21 Talk about different types of guns  00:17:35 Discussion suspect shows up with multiple weapons  00:22:12 Discussion triple homicide occurs four days after event that led to it  00:27:14 Discussion of defense strategy for shooting three people  00:33:17 Talk about suspect showing up armed, left home enraged  00:38:26 Discussion of victims shot with different guns See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's been years since Crystal Roger went missing. Her then-boyfriend, Brooks Houck, immediately became the main suspect.  The mom of five was last seen at Houck's home. Rogers' car was found abandoned with a flat tire on the Bluegrass Parkway two days later. Her keys, phone, and purse were inside the vehicle. Houck was interviewed, but not arrested. Houck has been charged with murder and tampering with evidence. Now we learn that an Nancy Grace episode in which Houck spoke with Nancy on HLN has been entered into evidence.  Rogers’ body has not been found.    Joining Nancy Grace Today: James Shelnutt – Attorney – The Shelnutt Law Firm, P.C.; 27-year Atlanta Metro Area Major Case Detective and Former S.W.A.T. Officer; X: @ShelnuttLawFirm Dr. Jeff Kieliszewski – Forensic Psychologist, Author: “Darksides;” FB: forensicsandmediapsychologist/TikTok: Dr. Jeff Kieliszewski Sheryl McCollum – Cold Case Investigative Research Institute Founder & Host of New Podcast: “Zone 7;” X: @149Zone Fallon Glick – WDRB Louisville News Reporter; Facebook & X: @FallonGlick @WDRBNews Jessica Noll -  Podcaster: "Bardstown" Shay McAlister - reporter WHAS,; Podcaster: "Bardstown" See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As morning news anchor for KIMV TV, Jodi Huisentruit normally arrives by 3:30 AM. to prepare to go on at 6 AM. When Huisentruit doesn't arrive at the studio by 4 a.m. producer Amy Kuns calls the 27-year-old, apparently waking her up. Huisentruit says she is heading to the station right away. Huisentruit doesn't arrive at the station. Other calls made to her phone go unanswered. At 6 AM producer Amy Kuns fills in on-air for Huisentruit and when she finishes,  she calls the police asking for a welfare check.  At 7:16 AM police are at Huisentruit's apartment complex where they find her red Mazda Miata in the parking lot. A pair of red women’s dress shoes, a blow dryer, bottle of hair spray, car keys and earrings are scattered beside the car, along with a bent car key. There are signs of a struggle. Police begin a missing persons investigation.    JOINING NANCY TODAY:  Tammara "Tammy" Baker - friend Wendy Patrick - California prosecutor, President and Founder of Black Swan Verdicts, author: "Why Bad Looks Good", wendypatrickphd.com, ‘Today with Dr. Wendy’ on KCBQ in San Diego, Twitter: @WendyPatrickPHD Steve Ridge - Private Investigator   Dr. Heidi Green - Clinical Psychologist, Trauma specialist, Author: ‘The Path to Self-Love and World Domination, www.drheidigreen.com, IG: @drheidigreen   Tara Gettman - Former anchor & reporter at KIMT   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Man busted for fixing his car while teen girl dies from crash. Escort turns to chase as police realize erratic ambulance is stolen.  For more crime and justice news go to crimeonline.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.