Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - 28-year-old mom of one body found dismembered in car trunk. Did freaky neighbor stalk and kill Sara Zghoul?

Episode Date: March 26, 2020

The body of a 28-year-old mother is found in two suitcases in the trunk of a BMW. Ultimately a neighbor is arrested. Suspect Jeremiah Johnston kills and dismembers beautiful aspiring model Sara Zghoul. He then uses her cellphone and poses as her to throw police off, according to authorities.Joining Nancy Grace today: Troy Slaten - Criminal Defense Attorney, Los Angeles California Cloyd Steiger - 36 years Seattle Police Department, 22 years Homicide detective, Author "Seattle's Forgotten Serial Killer-Gary Gene Grant" www.cloydsteiger.com Joe Scott Morgan - Professor of Forensics Jacksonville State University, Author of "Blood Beneath My Feet" Caryn Stark NYC Psychologist  Levi Page - Investigative reporter CrimeOnline Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Nancy Grace is coming to Fox Nation. I want justice. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace premieres March 9th only on Fox Nation. Remains of a young mom stuffed in suitcases. It sounds like a horrible movie or some thriller or a work of fiction. But in fact, it is a horror story dreamed up in the mind of a killer. What happened to 28-year-old Sarah Zagul? Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. How does a young mom just disappear into thin air?

She's at home one moment with her little boy, there in the family home, and then suddenly she's gone. And what does that do to a child for the rest of their life? I mean, I know that after my fiance was murdered, shortly before our wedding, every day I think my husband or my children could just disappear. And I know that's not really going to happen, but you live with that thought that not only can it happen, it has happened to you.

What does that do to a little boy that was playing at home, mommy was there, and then suddenly she's gone, and he never sees her again? I can also remember September 11, of course, living in New York, working at Court TV, and that day, and the smell in the air, it's kind of an electrical burning smell, and for the longest time, no flights could fly over the city of Manhattan, New York City. So I had a habit of sneaking into the workout room at the top of our apartment building at night and would exercise in the light of just some security lights. And I remember the first time I saw a plane go overhead and I was running on the treadmill and looked up and I immediately jumped down and took off

because it didn't all register. It's something that you live with the rest of your life. So what is it going to do to this little boy? I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. And you are tuned in to Fox Nation and Sirius XM 111, the Triumph Channel. First order of business, thank you for being with us. I'm talking about a beautiful young mom of a little boy, Sarah Zagul.

And with me, an all-star panel to break it apart and put it back together again, Troy Slayton with me, renowned criminal defense attorney, joining me out of LA, Cloyd Steiger, 36 years Seattle PD, 22 years homicide detective, author of Seattle's Forgotten Serial Killer, Gary Jean Grant. And you can find Cloyd at cloydsteiger.com. Professor of forensics, Jacksonville State University, death investigator, author of Blood Beneath My Feet on Amazon. My colleague, Joseph Scott Morgan, renowned psychologist joining me out of Manhattan today, Karen Stark. But right now to CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter, Levi Page. Levi, now don't put the cart before the horse.

First, tell me about Sarah Ziegle. Tell me what you know because you know with every crime, you've got to know the victim. And then you branch out from there to find the evidence. Tell me about Sarah. What do you know? Well, Sarah Ziegle is 28 years old. She's a model. She's an aspiring actress.

And she's living in Aloha, Oregon. She has an 8-year-old son. Whoa, whoa, whoa. 28, aspiring model, actress. Gorgeous. I can see that model part. Okay. Living in, I think.

And she's not just aspiring. Go ahead. Not just aspiring, Nancy. I'm looking at her pictures. I mean, there's photographs on her Instagram where she's on the runway. She's in some glamorous dresses. She's doing some print campaigns. She looks to be like she could be very successful at this. Very attractive young lady. Yeah, she's beautiful. So hold on, 28. What was I doing when I was 28? Let's see here. Oh, okay. I was just starting the district attorney's office in inner city Atlanta. Okay. Tell me about the little boy in the neighborhood, Levi Page.

It's a residential neighborhood, Nancy. Very unassuming, very picturesque, and they lived with her family. Joe Scott Morgan, you've been to a lot of death scenes, a lot of autopsies. And when you hear someone say unassuming neighborhood, that could mean a lot of things. That could mean it's a low-income neighborhood. It's got crime in it once it gets dark outside. Or it could mean a tree-lined suburb. Unassuming can mean anything. And that's important when you're looking for a missing person. Because if it's a high crime rate, it's more likely they fell victim to crime, just statistically.

Yeah, it is. And, you know, of course, you know, that's kind of in the eye of the beholder as well. How are you going to assess this environment? The thing that we have to keep in mind, Nancy, is that in all cases, every environment has a potential to be very, very dangerous. Well, I know that. And you know what, let me circle back to you, Levi. What do you mean by unassuming? Because what I learned from our research is that it was a low crime area and a very nice neighborhood. Yes, it's a residential area, suburban feel to it, very low crime area in Aloha, Oregon. You know, Cloyd Steiger with me, 36 years Seattle PD.

Cloyd, did I ever tell you about one of my first dope cases? And it must have been a trial calendar. And I opened the file because the cop was there and they would only come to court if you were getting ready to go to trial. And I inherited this courtroom was filling in. Okay, so I opened the file, and I went, are you kidding me? You want me to believe you were in this neighborhood, and the defendant came out on the corner and held up a glassine bag, a crack at you, and you you arrested him why don't you just

take out a billboard on third avenue that says hi i'm a dope dealer please arrest me i don't believe that for one minute get that out of here and i i dismissed the case because i thought what idiot in their right mind would wave a bag of crack? They're about this big. Little bitty, like a square inch. And you might have a five rock, $5. Ten rock, $10. Twenty rock, $20. Size of crack.

Kind of a brownish white. It looks almost like a mixture of white and brown sugar in a little rock. Then, get this, Cloyd. Fast forward three months. I'm going out in my beat-up Honda, smoke coming out from under the hood. I'm going to the same neighborhood to try to find a witness. I stop at the red light, and guess what, Cloyd Steiger? A guy holds up a glassing bag, a crack. I'm like. So what I'm saying, it does depend on the neighborhood. It does.

You go missing and you check and you see. I mean, I hear Joe Scott Morgan preaching to the choir, Joe Scott, that crime can happen in any neighborhood. I know that. But the statistics are, if you've got crime in your neighborhood, you're more likely to have fallen prey to a criminal in your neighborhood as opposed to taking off with your boyfriend like is assumed by so many times when women go missing. Yeah, you know, first of all, never underestimate the stupidity and brazenness of a drug dealer. But you're right. It depends on your neighborhood. And you would not think there's anything necessarily. You'd have to really delve into this victim's And you would not think there's anything necessarily. You'd have to really delve into this victim's background and what's going on in her life.

And is there a reason she would live on her own? Live on her own? She's 28. What do you mean? Why would she want to live on her own? I was living on my own at 28. Are you judging her? Leave on her own. Okay. Leave on her own. You just got acquitted on that charge. So, Levi, I think between myself, Joe Scott, and Cloyd Steiger,

we fought about it long enough. Nice neighborhood. Nobody just broke into her house and dragged her out by her hair. Tell me about the little boy, Levi. How old is he, the son? Eight years old. And she had a very close relationship with him. Mm-mm. the son. Eight years old. And she had a very close relationship with him.

This woman, Sarah Zagul, did not just leave her eight-year-old son behind and vanish. No suitcases missing, no clothing, valuables at the home, her eight-year-old boy, the love of her life crime stories with Nancy Grace for those of you just joining us, I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. You are with us on Fox Nation and Sirius XM 111 Triumph Channel. And again, First Order of Business, thank you for being with us today. We're talking about the disappearance of this gorgeous 28-year-old mom, Sarah Zagul. And I've got to tell you something, Karen Stark, joining me from Manhattan. Karen Stark, New York psychologist.

You know, all those trials we covered together, very often sitting in a dark studio. Remember how I kept telling you I want to have children, I want to have a family? I will never get that. Well, it happened. And you were right because you said you think you love David. You just wait until you have children. What I'm saying is no offense, David, because I know you're watching Fox Nation right now. I love David.

But there is nothing like a mother's love. There is nothing like a mother's love. There is nothing like a mother's love. And I do not believe this woman would have just up and left her little boy. Karen? I don't believe it either, Nancy. I mean, there's no indication whatsoever that she would have done that. And if you look at the bond between a mother and a child, there was nothing wrong with her. She didn't, she was not psychotic. She loved her little boy. And

there is no way that this woman would have decided to take off and leave her eight-year-old son. And you know what, Levi Page, joining me, CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter, I'm looking right now at some video from KOIN, and it's showing her. That is a professional shot. It looks like she's, it's not a Burberry scarf, but the wind is blowing her hair, and it looks to be kind of a Burberry scarf-looking drape around her neck. She wasn't just an aspiring model. I mean, that's a professional shot. She was a model. So tell me, gosh, I haven't even gotten past her scarf in the neighborhood. I better move this

investigation along. Tell me about the time and if you know the day of the week, because that's significant, whether it's a work day when everybody else is at work on their 9 to 5. Was it a Saturday? Was it a Saturday night, a Sunday morning where crime is less likely to happen? Tell me about what we know, the mechanics of her disappearance. Nancy, I don't know if I could answer that because she was never reported missing. You know what? You're right in fact the first thing we know is when there is a 9-1-1 call and it's around third it's thursday at 11 p.m a 9-1-1 call from an aloha resident who claims There was a ruckus in a ravine. Now, cops respond, go with me here, Levi Page.

What, if anything, do they find in the ravine? They find a 35-year-old man, Nancy, that is crying and wailing, and he has injuries to his neck, and he's found with a knife. Tell me what you know about a BMW. And, Nancy, police got a telephone call, and it was a tip. And they said, you're going to find a body inside of a black BMW, and here is the neighborhood in which this BMW can be found. And police went to the scene with cadaver dogs and cadaver dogs alerted to that BMW. Do you know when the tip came in? The tip came in just a couple of hours after a neighbor in that area near where the vehicle was

found called 911 and said there's a strange man on my property leaning up against a tree. So hours after that tip came in saying check this BMW, there could be a dead body in sight. That's when they got another telephone call from a neighbor saying there's this strange man on my property with injuries on him and he's screaming and wailing. To Troy Slayton joining me, renowned criminal defense attorney out in LA. Defense attorneys hate anonymous tipsters, especially when they turn out to be right. Because if they truly are anonymous and your client goes to jail, you can never question the tipster. I guess that was a double-edged short because you could then claim to a jury, an unsuspecting jury, that it wasn't your guy that

did it. It was actually the tipster or how else would they have known where the body was. Anonymous tipsters are also problematic because there's no way to cross-examine them. You can't talk to them about how they knew what they knew. Didn't I just say that? You can put stuff onto them, but in this case... What do you mean you can put stuff onto them? You mean blame them instead of your client? Well, maybe they're culpable. So then, yes. they wouldn't be afraid to give their information, their identifying information. So back to you, Levi Page, CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter. Levi, so there is an anonymous tip.

Go check out this black BMW. There's a body in it. And what happens? And Nancy, what happens is they find the body of 28-year-old Sarah Zuckel. And she has been cut up and dismembered, and she is found inside two suitcases. Justice Scott Morgan joining me, professor of forensics, Jacksonville State University, author of Blood Beneath My Feet, commonly fonted as a death investigator.

Judge Scott, did you ever see Dexter? Yes, yes, I did. I mean, who didn't? But you do know that Dexter and Mystery Woman got me through my very difficult pregnancy. Did you know that? No, Nancy, I didn't know that. Well, you need to know that as a death investigator. But, okay, wait a minute. Here's the rest of that story.

When I started the Hallmark movies, I said, who's that woman that played Mystery Woman? She got me through my pregnancy. It was Kelly Martin, who is now Haley Dean. A little tidbit of information that is irrelevant to this case. But dismembering a body is not like on Dexter, Joe Scott Morgan. Remember how he'd coat everything in plastic and he'd dismember the dead body? He was always a bad guy that just, you know, he had vigilante justice ideation. He had dismembered the body and get rid of it and never be seen, right? It's not like that to dismember a body. Explain.

No, it's not, Nancy. As a matter of fact, I think it goes without saying it's a body. Explain. No, it's not, Nancy. As a matter of fact, it's very, I think it goes without saying, it's a very messy business. I worked in morgues in New Orleans and Atlanta and spent a lot of time around bodies being dissected. I've dissected bodies. And I have to tell you, Nancy, it's not something to be entered into lightly because you have to have the right tools and the right skillset and knowledge. Well, when you're talking about tools for an autopsy, you need a saw. Yeah, you do.

And a lot of that is dependent upon what kind of saw you choose. You just can't run down to the hardware store and pick up, you know, a limb saw, for instance, and use that the same way we would use what's called a striker saw in the morgue, which is a little agitated saw. Everybody's seen these in the movies. They've heard the sound. There's a reason. They're much like a cast saw. Did you say a striker saw in the morgue, which is a little agitated saw. Everybody's seen these in the movies. They've heard the sound. There's a reason. They're much like a cast saw. Did you say a striker saw? Striker saw, yes.

Jackie, please pull that up or pull that up on Google. I've got to see what a striker saw is. I mean, I've been in autopsies, but I didn't know what was a striker saw. What's that? Well, it's a handheld saw that is electrically driven. It's got a very powerful little electrical motor in it, and it agitates. It goes back and forth. If people have ever had a cast on their arm, it's very similar to a cast saw. Oh, yes. It actually looks kind of like a drill. Brett's got a picture.

It looks like a drill, but on the end, there's the little round end. Is that the blade, and it goes around and around? Yeah, and it's got very, very tiny teeth. Hold on. Dear Lord in heaven, I just thought about a striker saw as it relates to Sarah Zagul. Why do you need a striker saw? Just curious. Well, the teeth, as you can see on that saw, are very, very tiny, Nancy.

And so they stay in, once you start to saw a bone, okay, if you're going through bone as opposed to a joint, one of the problems is, is it's very difficult to stay in the groove that you normally start. And you'll see people that have never dismembered a body. You'll get what are called on the bones, on the bone itself that are called stop starts. They'll start in one area. The blade will jump out of place. And that's one of the ways we can kind of tell how long someone spent attempting to do this with a striker saw. The teeth are so very tiny that it stays in one continuous groove and you can

work down through the bone. The question is when he went to dismember this poor girl's body, did he go into the direct shaft of the bone or did he do it at the joint? Why do I need to know that? Well, we need to know that because that goes to skill, the skill level of this person. If the person dissected the body, do they have any kind of experience relative to this? Okay, Jackie looks a little green in the face right now, right here in the studio, when he started talking about the striker's saw and that you need skill.

Hi guys, Nancy Grace here. I have investigated and prosecuted literally thousands of felony cases. I have covered literally thousands of cases of missing people, adults and children, unsolved homicides, violent crimes. My question is, what can we do about it? I don't want to just sit back and report on it. I want to take action. And I know you must feel the same way. And here is the news. We have all worked so hard to bring to you Don't Be a Victim, Fighting Back Against America's Crime Wave, a brand new book. You can pre-order now. Go to CrimeOnline.com. This book is for everyone. It even includes how to stay safe while you travel, in hotels, if you're abroad. What do you do to make sure you come home safely to your family? Don't be a victim fighting back against America's crime wave. Available for pre-order now.

CrimeOnline.com, pre-order now and know that portions of our proceeds goes to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Everybody, for those of you just joining us, I'm Nancy Grace. Everybody, for those of you just joining us, I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories, and you are plugged in to Fox Nation and Sirius XM 111 Triumph Channel. Thank you for being with us. We're talking about the disappearance and then very disturbing death of a young mom, years old sarah zagul anonymous tip there is a body and a black bmw who the hay called that in well the cops get there with cadaver dogs and sure enough there is a body in two suitcases and i'm talking right now to death investigator Joseph Scott Morgan. So, Joe Scott, what that means is, just let's cut the chase,

there is one H-E-L-L, you know I gave up cursing when I had the twins, one heck of a crime scene somewhere, probably a secondary or tertiary scene, because she had to be taken from the home, she had to be murdered, and then she had to be taken from the home she had to be murdered and then she had to be dismembered so and then put back in the suitcases in the bmw and left so we've got four crime scenes but wherever that dismemberment scene is that's got a lot of evidence joe scott yes it does and it's not just blood nancy when you think about this and i don't want to go too far afield with the gruesome nature of go have to examine it we have to think about, Nancy. When you think about this, and I don't want to go too far afield with the gruesome nature of this.

Oh, go! We have to examine it. We have to think about this. Not only are you talking about, say, for instance, like blood, we're talking about things like bone dust, for instance. Bone dust. Because there is literally, yeah, there are little chips of bone that are generated from this, and they can blow about, just like you think about wood in a carpenter's shop and those are the types of things that we'd look for at the scene not to mention the things we can't see with the unaided eye for instance like dna trace elements of dna and when you're manipulating a body did he disrobe the body or did he try to cut through clothing i've actually seen people try to cut through clothing to dismember a body if you do

that then you've got fibers you've got hair that's left behind. And it's very frenzied. There are any number of accounts of people attempting to dismember bodies and they get right into the middle of it, Nancy, and they say, what in the world am I doing? And they realize what a Herculean task this is set before them. And then how are they going to get rid of the body? Because now you've dismembered a body you've just created more evidence as opposed to one intact body you've got multiple items that you have and then not only that taking the body and putting it in two suitcases in a black bmw driving the bmw and leaving it abandoned to cloyd ste, 36 years, Seattle PD, 22 years, homicide. You ever seen a dismemberment, Cloyd?

Yeah, I've actually had several. And Joseph Scott's exactly right. You've had several dismemberments? Well, yeah, or attempted. I should say several attempted dismemberments. A couple of complete. But most of the time he's right. They stop because it's so much harder than they think it is. Yeah. You know what? I'm glad you said that

because whoever did this was hell bent on dismembering this young mom. Hell bent because my point, and we got far afield and I blame you, Joe Scott Morgan, but I got to say, I egged you on. Who did this? The frame of mind required to not only commit a murder, but then go through, carry through with a dismemberment. And Levi Page, where was the little eight-year-old boy all this time? At the house? Yes, he was at home with his grandparents because his mother, they all lived in the family home. Ah, okay. So she lived, okay.

I'm glad you told me that. So he wasn't there alone. He was with her mom and dad. They all lived together. Very close-knit family. Yeah. You know, Levi Page, my mom has lived with us since my dad went to heaven. And she's certainly a handful. but I'm so glad that my

children are getting to be around her so he was not left alone wandering in the home you know Karen Stark I've said so many times we covet that which we see and that's one of the reasons I hate shopping as you know but there have been times I've gone into a mall and I'm like what is what are what is this I haven't even seen that because I hate shopping so much I think that's very a very tried and true tenet in criminal law. We covet that which we see. If we don't see it, we don't covet it. It goes all the way back to David and Bathsheba. Remember that one? Yes. He wouldn't have even been party to murder if he hadn't seen Bathsheba taking a bath on a rooftop and wanted to marry her, to put, you know, euphemistically,

and had her husband killed. You don't covet that which you don't see. Have you ever heard that before, Karen Starr? I have heard that, Nancy. And in that frame of mind, take a listen to our friend Bob Hay at KATU2. This investigation started yesterday. My deputies say they got a 911 call and found a woman's body in a car just a few blocks from here. This photo from the Washington County Sheriff's Office shows the car officers found

with the body of 28-year-old Sarah Zgul of Aloha inside. Authorities wouldn't confirm reports that Zgula's body had been dismembered and put inside the car's trunk. Deputies came to the spot where the car was found on Thursday after a 911 caller contacted the sheriff's office worried that someone had been killed. The site where the car was found is just three blocks from the house searched by investigators all day Friday. Those are my neighbors right next door. Um, really nice people. We see them every day. Maureen Triplett knows the couple that lives in the house and saw them with investigators outside the home Friday morning. But she hasn't seen their adult son since the investigation

began. He lives there as far as I know. Um I think since last summer kind of when I started seeing him. But yeah, other than that, I don't really know much about him. Well, the sheriff's office confirms a man is in custody in connection with their investigation. They haven't said who he is. They also haven't said what evidence led from the car where serves the ghouls body was found thursday to this home three blocks away from where that car was parked. And that was Myrene Triplett and Christine Saras talking about a neighborhood home where parents lived with a grown son, a 35-year-old male.

Guys, I want you to also take a listen to KPTV Fox 12 reporter Jamie Wilson, keeping in mind the tried and true. We covet that which we see. Listen. It all started with a tip they got yesterday. Well, horrible and shocking, but as I just mentioned to you, with crap that's going on everywhere, it seems like it's just not too surprising. Mike McHugh was at home in Aloha last night when deputies converged on his neighborhood. Cops say they got a tip about a murder leading them to Southwest Sorolla and Hargis Street. That's where they found this BMW and a woman's body in the trunk. The victim is 28-year-old Sarah Zagul from Aloha. Then around 11 p.m.,

police say they found the suspect near the intersection of Teal and Murray Boulevard and they took him into custody. Neighbors can hardly believe it. Because you're always seeing this kind of thing happening elsewhere, you wonder if anything like this is ever going to affect your life. And then something like this happens, and you start wondering even more, you know. Sarah Zagul's Facebook page says she was a model, actress, and she went to PSU. Now neighbors want to know how and why her life ended here. How did her life end? Why did her life end there? To Levi Page, CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter, Levi, just one question.

How far away was the BMW from Sarah Zagul's home she shared with her parents and son? Half a block. Half a block. Half a block. And that tells me very clearly that her killer lived in that neighborhood. He knew her habits. He knew her schedule. How many times had he watched her go in and out of the home. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Welcome back everybody. I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories and you are watching Fox Nation and listening to Sirius XM 111. Thanks for being with us. You know, when you pass your neighbor in the street or in your apartment building in Manhattan,

you usually don't think anything odd about them or suspicious of them. In fact, you see them every day. But isn't it so true to Joseph Scott Morgan and our line of business? It's those very people. I mean, you start a homicide investigation with the, really, the love partners, husband, ex-husband, boyfriend, ex-boyfriend, then you move to other family, then you move to neighbors, then you move to coworkers, you move out in that order for statistically sound reasons. So maybe we should be looking sideways at our neighbor. Oh, you're not kidding, Nancy. And, and also those that, that immediately have very intimate contact with us that, you know, statistics talk about, you know, you're more at risk with the person you're laying in bed next to

than you are, you know, a total stranger that you've never met. You know, I met your wife and I just don't think, I'm not sure she wouldn't stab you in the night, but I'm pretty sure she wouldn't. Joe Scott, guys, take a list to our friends at Portland KOI and Jennifer Dowling. I'm still trying to process this disturbing crime. The home that sits behind me, it doesn't sit far from Sarah's house. It is still surrounded by police tape, and it was the scene of a massive investigation earlier today. You never would expect that to happen to somebody that you know. Sarah Zagul's friends say she was outgoing and friendly, always ready to brighten the room. YOU NEVER WOULD EXPECT THAT TO HAPPEN TO SOMEBODY THAT YOU KNOW. SARAH ZAGUL'S FRIENDS SAY SHE WAS OUTGOING AND FRIENDLY,

ALWAYS READY TO BRIGHTEN THE ROOM. SHE WAS A VERY FUNNY PERSON. EVERYBODY KNEW HER AND HER WHOLE FAMILY. GREGORY GREW UP 10 MINUTES FROM HER HOUSE. HE SAID THE TEENS IN THIS

NEIGHBORHOOD FORMED A TIGHT-NIT GROUP THROUGHOUT HIGH SCHOOL. I JUST FEEL SO BAD FOR HER FAMILY. THE 28-YEAR-OLD WAS AN ASPIRING MODEL AND ACTRESS. HER FRIEND AND PHOTOGRAPHER LESTER SAI TOOK THESE PHOTOS OF

HER. HE SAYS IT WAS SOMETHING SHE REALLY ENJOYED DOING. A FRIEND OF HIS SAID HE WAS A FRIEND OF HIS AND HE WAS A FRIEND OF HIS. HE SAIDESS. HER FRIEND AND PHOTOGRAPHER LESTER SAI TOOK THESE PHOTOS OF HER. HE SAYS IT WAS SOMETHING SHE REALLY ENJOYED DOING. OTHERS TELL US SHE HAD A YOUNG

SON THAT MEANT EVERYTHING TO HER. Nobody knows if it was like a stranger, if it was like somebody close to her. It's like so, um, yeah, scary. DEPUTIES SAY THEY FOUND HER BODY IN THE BMW AFTER RECEIVING

A TIP. THEY I.D.ED A SUSPECT AND EVENTUALLY PICKED HIM UP LAST NIGHT NEAR SOUTHWEST MURRAY BOULEVARD AND TEAL. NOT BAD FOR THEM. THE DEPUTIES SAY THEY FOUND HER BODY IN THE BMW AFTER RECEIVING A TIP. THEY I.D.ED A SUSPECT AND EVENTUALLY PICKED HIM UP LAST NIGHT NEAR SOUTHWEST MURRAY Deputy say they found her body in the BMW after receiving a tip. They ID'd a suspect and eventually picked him up last night near Southwest Murray Boulevard in Teal,

not that far from the home that was under investigation today. They found the guy down by the little creek down here. Neighbors say the people that live in the house are quiet, and there's never been any sign of trouble before this. Guys, I want you to listen to KATU2 anchor Steve Dunn, but first to Levi Page, CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter. Wait, hold on, Levi. Let me go to Troy Slayton. Troy, I want you to take off your defense hat for just one moment because you've, no offense, really been around the block. You've tried a lot of cases on the

other side of the fence from me. How often is it that we see defendants and victims from the same neighborhood? They know each other, even if just by sight. They know each other. And in this case, how many times do you think this perv, and yes, I'll call him a perv, had watched her go in and out, maybe in the front yard playing with her little boy, bringing in the groceries. She had no idea he was watching her. Probably he watched her thousands of times.

And oftentimes we see in cases like this where the people know each other. And that's why police investigators first try to exclude every single person that's within the victim's orbit. And here, this suspect was entirely within her orbit. And he had probably been watching her, her family, her interactions with their children, possibly boyfriends or other suitors. That pushed him over the edge. In and out of her life. Right. And that that may have made him covet what he couldn't have. First, I'm going to go to Floyd Steiger, 36 years, Seattle PD. You know, peeping Tom is typically a misdemeanor. It's not a felony. So I never

prosecuted any peeping Toms. But, Cloyd, this is what I noticed. When I would finally get a case that I would take to trial, it would obviously be a felony, I would find peeping Tom in the rap sheet. Either allegations, and there'd usually be several of them and i'm certainly not a shrink we've got karen stark for that but cloyd there's something about these guys that spy on neighbors that watch them that peep into homes or dressing rooms just peeping toms i i don't know that psyche but they graduate cloyd they graduate there's something about their psyche yeah they do that's just that you know we always consider those stepping stone crimes when they're young and they work their ways up to uh maybe uh grabbing or

you know for taj or one of those type crimes and then eventually what did you say grabbing or what what was the other one for taj for taj rubbing your body against someone in a crowded elevator or uh you know for sexual arousal of yourself okay just stop please just don't want to hear about that i'm talking about murder and rape that they graduate to that stepping stone not some freak in the elevator rubbing against you i'm talking about a violent crime. They graduate. Have you ever seen that? They do. Oh, yeah.

Karen Stark, what is that? Cloyd is a cop and an author. I'm just a trial lawyer. What is that phenomenon that you want to peek on somebody you don't even know? Well, you're really enjoying the anonymity of it, Nancy. And it's definitely a personality disorder and somebody who can become a killer because they are really thrilled with the idea that they don't have to at first have a close contact and they can just view the other person. And he did make a good point, which is that if you begin to you know cuddle up to

somebody know they're trying to touch them that's the next step to actually wanting to touch somebody grab them you just gave me a thought karen stark because can you even imagine he's been watching her all this time in the neighborhood maybe going dates, maybe with her little boy coming in and out of the car. And then when he finally approaches her, can you imagine her reaction? I'm sure she wanted nothing to do with him. Guys, take a listen to our friend Steve Dunn at KATU2. The convicted felon suspected of killing an Aroa mother is due in court tomorrow. 35-year-old Jeremiah Johnston is being held in the Washington County Jail without bail tonight.

This follows nearly a week in the hospital before he was booked. Johnston is accused of killing 28-year-old Sarah Zagul. He's charged with her murder and abuse of a corpse. Our main priority is making sure we do a really thorough investigation, that we honor her legacy and bring closure and justice for the family. Her body was found inside a car last Thursday, less than a half mile from her house on 171st Place. Johnson has been in and out of jail since 2011 and most recently last September. Investigators have not released details about Johnston's charges

nor how he got those marks on his neck. Oh, please. Levi Page, did he claim he was trying to kill himself and then he went in the hospital for a week? Yes, when police responded to the neighbor that said, there's a strange man in our backyard leaning against a tree yelling, he had a knife to his throat, and he threatened to kill himself. But police were able to detain him.

What, he was holding himself hostage? Yes. Okay. Joseph Scott Morgan, please help me. He's holding himself hostage with a knife. And how many times did the killer say, oh, I meant to kill myself? Oh, then how do you explain the dead body in the two suitcases? How could you pull that off?

But you, Joe Scott, have you ever seen this before? No, I've never. Well, I've had people that have threatened to kill themselves. Yes, absolutely. But this is kind of bizarre. How do you hold yourself hostage with a knife? I guess he's threatening to cut his own throat. It's kind of bizarre, Nancy. So Levi Page, bring me up to date. Where does it stand right now? So Nancy, he was arrested and he was charged with murder, desecration to a corpse. He has a criminal record that involves possession of cocaine, drug dealing, cocaine, methamphetamine. He was a felon.

He was arrested one time for being in possession of a firearm. But here is what happened. He was arrested, charged with murder, and when he was behind bars, he knew the person that called in the tip because he confessed to someone else, a friend of his named Jeremy Mooney. And he became friends with a police officer behind bars, an ex-police officer, disgraced. This police officer was charged with soliciting a minor online for sex and he confessed to him he says I killed this girl you know we were hanging out and then I tied her up she got loose and we got into an argument and I pushed her down the

stairs she started vomiting so I told her to take a shower and while I was in the shower I grabbed the knife while she was in the shower, I grabbed the knife. While she was in the shower, I grabbed a knife and then slit her throat. And this police officer took notes and turned his notes into law enforcement. And police just didn't take this, what we call a snitch for their word. They actually went to the jail, to the rec area where this conversation had taken place, and they got video of it, Nancy. There's no sound, but you can see Jeremy Johnston motioning with his hands, slicing a throat. He did that to his own throat, and you can see him describing how he killed this young woman to stop you know what it's all on video Levi I know

that you're accurate but when I think about the eight-year-old little boy and this guy Jeremiah Johnson's lies about what happened even I sometimes get oversaturated with violent crime. Here's the good news. Jeremiah Johnson's sentenced to life. And I've got one word for you, Johnson. Rot in hell. Nancy Grace, Crime Story, signing off. Goodbye, friend. This is an iHeart Podcast.