1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:03,240 Speaker 1: Hi guys, Nancy Grace here and right now, I want 2 00:00:03,240 --> 00:00:06,840 Speaker 1: to introduce you to a podcast you're going to love. 3 00:00:07,640 --> 00:00:11,800 Speaker 1: May Him in the Morgue with our friend and colleague, 4 00:00:12,200 --> 00:00:17,959 Speaker 1: doctor Kendall Crown's chief medical Examiner Terrant County. That's Fort Worth, Texas. 5 00:00:18,000 --> 00:00:20,599 Speaker 1: Never a lack of business in that morgue. He is 6 00:00:20,680 --> 00:00:25,040 Speaker 1: the esteemed lecturer in the Burnett School of Medicine at TCU, 7 00:00:25,520 --> 00:00:30,360 Speaker 1: with literally thousands of death investigations under his belt. He 8 00:00:30,400 --> 00:00:38,000 Speaker 1: has spent a career reading silent evidence left on the body, 9 00:00:38,479 --> 00:00:43,160 Speaker 1: from blunt force trauma to the smallest trace that points 10 00:00:43,200 --> 00:00:49,519 Speaker 1: investigators in the right direction. Crowns explains how the morgue 11 00:00:49,800 --> 00:00:54,680 Speaker 1: holds answers to crimes no one else can decipher. Follow 12 00:00:54,960 --> 00:00:58,040 Speaker 1: Mayhem in the Morgue. You can find it wherever you 13 00:00:58,080 --> 00:01:02,560 Speaker 1: get your podcasts, and now here is our friend, doctor 14 00:01:03,000 --> 00:01:03,959 Speaker 1: Kendall Crowns. 15 00:01:05,280 --> 00:01:10,279 Speaker 2: Welcome to Mayhem Anymore with your host, Doctor Kindle Crown. 16 00:01:17,640 --> 00:01:21,840 Speaker 2: So today's episode is first day. So everybody has first days, right, 17 00:01:22,440 --> 00:01:24,240 Speaker 2: We all have a first day of work, first day 18 00:01:24,280 --> 00:01:26,560 Speaker 2: of school, et cetera, et cetera. So today I'm going 19 00:01:26,600 --> 00:01:28,919 Speaker 2: to talk about one of my first days in my career. 20 00:01:29,240 --> 00:01:31,360 Speaker 2: So I was on my last rotation medical school. I 21 00:01:31,440 --> 00:01:34,399 Speaker 2: was one month away from graduating, and the rotation I 22 00:01:34,400 --> 00:01:37,280 Speaker 2: had chosen to take was in forensic pathology, which was 23 00:01:37,360 --> 00:01:39,560 Speaker 2: what I wanted to do as a career. And I 24 00:01:39,640 --> 00:01:43,040 Speaker 2: arrived at the medical Examiner's office, walked through the front doors, 25 00:01:43,120 --> 00:01:46,199 Speaker 2: and I was met by the entire staff, the medical examiners, 26 00:01:46,240 --> 00:01:49,880 Speaker 2: the death investigators, the clerks, everybody. They gave me a 27 00:01:49,920 --> 00:01:53,120 Speaker 2: little cubicle in the death investigator's office where I could 28 00:01:53,120 --> 00:01:55,600 Speaker 2: put all my stuff. So I set up and I 29 00:01:55,680 --> 00:01:58,600 Speaker 2: got ready for my day. About midday, a call came 30 00:01:58,640 --> 00:02:02,120 Speaker 2: in and it was possible homicide. The cheap and death 31 00:02:02,160 --> 00:02:05,800 Speaker 2: investigator Bill says to me, Hey, let's check this one out. 32 00:02:05,840 --> 00:02:08,200 Speaker 2: You're coming with me. I was super excited. I get 33 00:02:08,240 --> 00:02:10,119 Speaker 2: to go to a homicide scene on my very first 34 00:02:10,160 --> 00:02:12,720 Speaker 2: day of my medical school rotation. This is super cool. 35 00:02:12,840 --> 00:02:14,480 Speaker 2: So we head out and we go to this apartment 36 00:02:14,520 --> 00:02:17,080 Speaker 2: complex for the death that occurred. So this rotation was 37 00:02:17,080 --> 00:02:19,160 Speaker 2: in my hometown. I had grown up there and lived 38 00:02:19,160 --> 00:02:21,520 Speaker 2: there for close to twenty eight years, so this was 39 00:02:21,560 --> 00:02:24,600 Speaker 2: their apartment complex. I had driven past hundreds of times 40 00:02:24,600 --> 00:02:26,800 Speaker 2: over the years, just kind of nondescript. It was on 41 00:02:26,880 --> 00:02:29,040 Speaker 2: this way to an old arcade I used to go 42 00:02:29,080 --> 00:02:31,200 Speaker 2: to play video games and playpool at when I was 43 00:02:31,280 --> 00:02:33,120 Speaker 2: in high school and college. So we get there and 44 00:02:33,120 --> 00:02:35,880 Speaker 2: the homicide detective's already been there and they were waiting 45 00:02:35,919 --> 00:02:38,200 Speaker 2: for us. They were waiting in the dead guy's kitchen. 46 00:02:38,320 --> 00:02:40,280 Speaker 2: And so when we walk in, they're sitting in the 47 00:02:40,360 --> 00:02:43,760 Speaker 2: kitchen and they've made sandwiches from the dead guy's refrigerator 48 00:02:44,000 --> 00:02:46,280 Speaker 2: and they're sitting there eating them. And they said to Bill, 49 00:02:46,360 --> 00:02:48,600 Speaker 2: They go, hey, Bill, is it an homicide. This is 50 00:02:48,639 --> 00:02:50,880 Speaker 2: some stupid pervert. Go check him out. And so we 51 00:02:50,919 --> 00:02:53,120 Speaker 2: head on down the hallway to the dead guy's room 52 00:02:53,280 --> 00:02:55,200 Speaker 2: and when we get in there, there's pouring all over 53 00:02:55,240 --> 00:02:57,240 Speaker 2: the bed. Now, this is the day, is before the internet, 54 00:02:57,280 --> 00:02:59,880 Speaker 2: so it's paper porn. Nothing on the computer, no cell 55 00:03:00,040 --> 00:03:02,640 Speaker 2: phones back then, just paper porn. Dead guy's in his 56 00:03:02,720 --> 00:03:05,920 Speaker 2: closet and he's hanged. So at this point I had 57 00:03:05,919 --> 00:03:08,960 Speaker 2: read about hangings before this day. Hangings are usually, you know, 58 00:03:09,160 --> 00:03:11,240 Speaker 2: guy hag from a ceiling. He can be suspended, he 59 00:03:11,240 --> 00:03:13,160 Speaker 2: can be sitting down, it can be a number of things, 60 00:03:13,160 --> 00:03:16,240 Speaker 2: but he's just kind of hanged. But this one was different, 61 00:03:16,560 --> 00:03:18,440 Speaker 2: So how is it different. So he's hanged with a 62 00:03:18,480 --> 00:03:21,400 Speaker 2: white nylon rope. It's about his neck, tied with a 63 00:03:21,600 --> 00:03:25,920 Speaker 2: hangman's noose with thirteen coils. But then he's also completely naked. 64 00:03:26,080 --> 00:03:28,760 Speaker 2: He has clothes pins on his nipples and a whiffleball 65 00:03:28,800 --> 00:03:32,480 Speaker 2: bat jammed up his butt. He's leaning against this large 66 00:03:32,560 --> 00:03:36,400 Speaker 2: blue plastic barrel. Also, the rope itself had an intricate 67 00:03:36,680 --> 00:03:39,760 Speaker 2: mechanism associated with it. The rope went up to the 68 00:03:39,800 --> 00:03:42,600 Speaker 2: ceiling through an islet, then over a beam that then 69 00:03:42,640 --> 00:03:44,920 Speaker 2: went to another islet that was attached to the wall 70 00:03:45,120 --> 00:03:47,640 Speaker 2: that then attached to the side of the barrel that 71 00:03:47,680 --> 00:03:50,280 Speaker 2: he was sitting against. The piece attached to the barrel 72 00:03:50,320 --> 00:03:53,480 Speaker 2: had kind of an intricate failsafe mechanism or a tripwire 73 00:03:53,520 --> 00:03:56,200 Speaker 2: mechanism that was attached to the side of the barrel, 74 00:03:56,480 --> 00:03:59,760 Speaker 2: so essentially it was an escape mechanism. One thing to 75 00:03:59,800 --> 00:04:03,640 Speaker 2: know also is the beam itself had multiple grooves on 76 00:04:03,720 --> 00:04:06,160 Speaker 2: it from the rope, so he had done this a 77 00:04:06,240 --> 00:04:09,760 Speaker 2: number of times before and been successful. His fail safe 78 00:04:09,760 --> 00:04:12,920 Speaker 2: mechanism was if he passed out, he'd fall off the barrel, 79 00:04:13,040 --> 00:04:15,119 Speaker 2: it would trip the fail safe and cause the roupe 80 00:04:15,120 --> 00:04:18,599 Speaker 2: to become loose and completely fall off, causing the tension 81 00:04:18,600 --> 00:04:21,080 Speaker 2: to be released from the dead guy's neck and his 82 00:04:21,160 --> 00:04:23,320 Speaker 2: blood flow and his oxygen would be restored and he 83 00:04:23,320 --> 00:04:26,479 Speaker 2: wouldn't die. But on this day, instead of falling off 84 00:04:26,480 --> 00:04:29,160 Speaker 2: the barrel, he kind of leaned back onto the barrel, 85 00:04:29,440 --> 00:04:32,440 Speaker 2: so the fail safe never fired and he died. He 86 00:04:32,480 --> 00:04:35,400 Speaker 2: didn't expect to end up dead. So I'm looking at this, 87 00:04:35,480 --> 00:04:37,920 Speaker 2: I'm just overwhelmed. There's porn, there's a naked guy, there's 88 00:04:37,920 --> 00:04:40,440 Speaker 2: a whiffleball bat, there's all this stuff going on. It's 89 00:04:40,520 --> 00:04:44,760 Speaker 2: just sensory overwhelming to me. Never seen anything like this before. 90 00:04:44,960 --> 00:04:45,200 Speaker 1: Totally. 91 00:04:45,200 --> 00:04:47,920 Speaker 2: He didn't understand it's a hanging. But what's going on? 92 00:04:48,200 --> 00:04:50,760 Speaker 2: So I said to Bill, uh, what's going on? Bill? 93 00:04:51,320 --> 00:04:54,039 Speaker 2: And Bill nonchalantly says to me, Oh, this is just 94 00:04:54,080 --> 00:04:56,920 Speaker 2: aerotica sixia. At that point, I had never heard about 95 00:04:56,960 --> 00:05:01,320 Speaker 2: erotica sixia before, and I just was like, autoerotic what 96 00:05:02,040 --> 00:05:05,360 Speaker 2: he goes autoerotic asicksia. What they're doing is they're masturbating 97 00:05:05,440 --> 00:05:08,719 Speaker 2: and they hang themselves because they think the decreased oxygen 98 00:05:08,800 --> 00:05:11,520 Speaker 2: to their brain will increase the pleasure. And so sometimes 99 00:05:11,520 --> 00:05:14,520 Speaker 2: when they're doing it, they accidentally end up dying. So 100 00:05:14,640 --> 00:05:17,560 Speaker 2: I'm standing there just kind of overwhelmed taking this all in. 101 00:05:17,600 --> 00:05:19,400 Speaker 2: I didn't even know what questions to ask at this 102 00:05:19,440 --> 00:05:23,400 Speaker 2: point because this is just totally confusing. So the homicide 103 00:05:23,400 --> 00:05:25,520 Speaker 2: detectives come down the hallway and they go, hey, Bill, 104 00:05:25,600 --> 00:05:28,000 Speaker 2: who's the new guy. Who's the rookie? And Bill says, oh, 105 00:05:28,000 --> 00:05:30,360 Speaker 2: this is Kendall Crowns. He's our medical student who's rotating 106 00:05:30,400 --> 00:05:32,680 Speaker 2: him with us this month. And the detectives say, okay, 107 00:05:32,839 --> 00:05:34,480 Speaker 2: have the new guy cut him down. Have the rookie 108 00:05:34,480 --> 00:05:36,240 Speaker 2: cut him down. And Bill goes, hey, that's a great idea. 109 00:05:36,279 --> 00:05:38,039 Speaker 2: He pulls a pocket knife out of his pocket and 110 00:05:38,040 --> 00:05:39,800 Speaker 2: he hands it to me and goes cut him down, Kendall. 111 00:05:39,839 --> 00:05:41,800 Speaker 2: And I'm like, yeah, all right, I'll do that. This 112 00:05:41,920 --> 00:05:45,239 Speaker 2: is cool. I'm doing forensics, you know. So I crawl 113 00:05:45,320 --> 00:05:48,279 Speaker 2: up on this barrel. I'm standing on it. Barrel's about 114 00:05:49,360 --> 00:05:51,960 Speaker 2: four foot off the ground. I grab hold of that 115 00:05:52,080 --> 00:05:55,159 Speaker 2: rope with one hand and I start cutting with my other. 116 00:05:55,839 --> 00:05:58,280 Speaker 2: I am not the strongest person in the world, and 117 00:05:58,320 --> 00:06:00,200 Speaker 2: there is no way, even on a good day, I 118 00:06:00,200 --> 00:06:02,200 Speaker 2: could hold one hundred and eighty pound naked guy with 119 00:06:02,279 --> 00:06:06,159 Speaker 2: one hand, but I'll continue. So I'm cutting, I'm cutting, 120 00:06:06,200 --> 00:06:09,279 Speaker 2: I'm cutting, and I'm getting through this rope. I'm getting 121 00:06:09,279 --> 00:06:11,200 Speaker 2: close to the end, and in my peripheral vision, I 122 00:06:11,279 --> 00:06:14,320 Speaker 2: noticed the homicide's detectives are stepping backwards and they're kind 123 00:06:14,320 --> 00:06:16,880 Speaker 2: of laughing, and Bill's stepping backwards. He's kind of laughing. 124 00:06:16,920 --> 00:06:19,159 Speaker 2: I mean, they all know what's going to happen. Of course, 125 00:06:19,240 --> 00:06:21,600 Speaker 2: you know what's going to happen at this point. I didn't. 126 00:06:21,800 --> 00:06:24,120 Speaker 2: For whatever reason that day, I was so laser focused 127 00:06:24,120 --> 00:06:25,880 Speaker 2: on this rope and I couldn't even think of what 128 00:06:25,920 --> 00:06:27,400 Speaker 2: was going to happen once I got to the end. 129 00:06:27,680 --> 00:06:29,400 Speaker 2: So I keep cutting, and I get to the end. 130 00:06:29,839 --> 00:06:32,000 Speaker 2: I cut through that rope and all of a sudden, bam, 131 00:06:32,040 --> 00:06:34,120 Speaker 2: I'm holding one hundred and eighty pound naked guy with 132 00:06:34,200 --> 00:06:36,520 Speaker 2: one hand on a wabbly barrel, and one hundred and 133 00:06:36,520 --> 00:06:38,680 Speaker 2: eighty pound naked guy falls to the ground like a 134 00:06:38,720 --> 00:06:41,479 Speaker 2: sack of potatoes, and I come falling right on top 135 00:06:41,520 --> 00:06:44,400 Speaker 2: of him. My land on him with my elbow right 136 00:06:44,440 --> 00:06:46,960 Speaker 2: into his abdomen. So if I'm hitting him with's my 137 00:06:47,000 --> 00:06:48,760 Speaker 2: elbow and his abdomen, you know where the rest of 138 00:06:48,800 --> 00:06:50,960 Speaker 2: me is in relation to the rest of him, so ew. 139 00:06:51,600 --> 00:06:54,679 Speaker 2: But anyway, my elbow digs into his abdomen and creates pressure, 140 00:06:54,680 --> 00:06:58,240 Speaker 2: and that pressure that's created forces that whiffleball bat out 141 00:06:58,240 --> 00:07:00,320 Speaker 2: of his button across the room. I roll off of 142 00:07:00,360 --> 00:07:01,960 Speaker 2: him and I jumped to my feet and I'm like, oh, 143 00:07:01,960 --> 00:07:04,760 Speaker 2: I'm okay, I'm okay. No one cared if I was 144 00:07:04,800 --> 00:07:06,920 Speaker 2: okay at that point because they were all too busy laughing. 145 00:07:06,960 --> 00:07:09,840 Speaker 2: They were bent over laughing so hard. So once everybody 146 00:07:09,840 --> 00:07:12,320 Speaker 2: calmed down, we got out a body bag and we 147 00:07:12,440 --> 00:07:15,240 Speaker 2: rolled him into the body bag and Bill said to me, yeah, 148 00:07:15,280 --> 00:07:18,200 Speaker 2: you're picking that bat up. Buddy handed me a pair 149 00:07:18,240 --> 00:07:20,360 Speaker 2: of gloves, thankfully, and I walked over and I picked 150 00:07:20,440 --> 00:07:22,400 Speaker 2: up that bat and I threw it in the body bag. 151 00:07:22,520 --> 00:07:25,800 Speaker 2: We zipped him up. Homicide detectives left probably tell everybody 152 00:07:25,840 --> 00:07:28,400 Speaker 2: about what happened about the stupid medical student, and we 153 00:07:28,440 --> 00:07:31,560 Speaker 2: waited for body transport. Body transport showed up, they picked 154 00:07:31,600 --> 00:07:34,000 Speaker 2: up the body, Bill told him the story. They all 155 00:07:34,000 --> 00:07:37,200 Speaker 2: got a good laugh head back to the medical examiner's office, 156 00:07:37,440 --> 00:07:40,760 Speaker 2: and the dead guy was later on autopsyed. He was found 157 00:07:40,760 --> 00:07:43,560 Speaker 2: his cause of death was hanging man or death was accent, 158 00:07:43,600 --> 00:07:46,840 Speaker 2: and we'll go into why that is on another episode. 159 00:07:47,520 --> 00:07:50,160 Speaker 2: But anyway, and then that day came to an end. 160 00:07:50,400 --> 00:07:51,760 Speaker 2: So at the end of the goal, I learned a 161 00:07:51,840 --> 00:07:54,240 Speaker 2: very important lesson. I can't hold one hundred and eighty 162 00:07:54,240 --> 00:07:57,000 Speaker 2: pound naked guy while balancing on a barrel. Never have 163 00:07:57,040 --> 00:07:59,320 Speaker 2: done it again in the rest of my career. Very 164 00:07:59,320 --> 00:08:02,200 Speaker 2: important lesson. I always look back on it, and I 165 00:08:02,240 --> 00:08:05,200 Speaker 2: always think, thank goodness of Internet and cell phones weren't 166 00:08:05,240 --> 00:08:07,680 Speaker 2: around back then, because if they had been, I would 167 00:08:07,720 --> 00:08:10,760 Speaker 2: have been a viral sensation that probably would still be 168 00:08:10,840 --> 00:08:17,040 Speaker 2: going on for the next hundred years. So that brings 169 00:08:17,080 --> 00:08:18,960 Speaker 2: us to the end of the episode. I hope you 170 00:08:19,040 --> 00:08:22,320 Speaker 2: learned something. I hope you were entertained until the next time.