Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Beautiful young joggers brutally raped, killed. 'Don't Be A Victim'

Episode Date: July 8, 2021

From Karina Vetrano to Molly Tibbetts, there is a long, sad list of women who have died or disappeared while exercising.Joining Nancy Grace Today: Phil Vetrano - Father of Karina Kirk Nurmi - Jodi Arias former Attorney, Author of "Trapped with Ms Arias Parts 2 and 3, My Final Words" Dr. Bethany Marshall - Psychoanalyst, Beverly Hills, ww.drbethanymarshall.com  Joe Scott Morgan - Professor of Forensics Jacksonville State University, Author,"Blood Beneath My Feet," featured on "Poisonous Liaisons" on True Crime Network Dave Mack - Investigative Reporter, CrimeOnline  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to an iHeart Podcast. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. I didn't realize what I was dealing with when I first worked on a case where a jogger goes missing. I remember her name, Julie Love, in Atlanta. At the time, I was a felony prosecutor in inner city Atlanta. She had been out jogging. She was a kindergarten teacher, and she couldn't be found. The investigation was fierce and at one point, finally, her glass eye was found. To look at her, you would never even know she had a prosthetic eye, but she did. And that cracked the case wide open. Since that time, over and over and over, we hear about usually women who go missing or end up murdered while exercising.

Julie was murdered, and there have been thousands of women who go missing or are murdered since that time. When I first encountered that case, I did not realize that her disappearance and death was just the tip of the iceberg. That's one of the reasons I wrote Don't Be a Victim, fighting back against America's Crime Wave.

Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. One of the first chapters I worked on was safe while exercising. And joining me today is the man whose daughter inspired me to spend months and months researching and cultivating the information not to scare you, but to arm you, to arm you with knowledge to protect yourself and your family. My proceeds from this book go into the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Take a listen to this. Give me a sense for the timeline that day. That's a day that I will never forget.

I started to worry, which is unusual. I had a feeling. So I called her three times, didn't answer, and I went out looking for her. The panic just immediately set in. It didn't seem to make sense to me. There was no sign of her. Four hours after Phil's phone calls, pings from Karina's cell phone led him and police to Karina. You found your daughter? I did.

With the help of the PD. As a parent, I have a hard time even getting my arms around that. I think as a parent, you would rather you find your child than someone else. It's the last act of protection you can give your child. No parent should ever have to go through what Phil Vetrano has been through with the death of his beautiful daughter, Karina. With me today is Phil Vetrano, along with an all-star panel to break it down, put it back together again.

Dr. Bethany Marshall, psychoanalyst joining me out of L.A. You can find her at drbethanymarshall.com. Kirk Nermey, renowned defense attorney and author of Trapped with Misereus, Parts 2 and 3 on Amazon. Dave Mack, CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter. And Joseph Scott Morgan, professor ofnsics, Jacksonville State University, author of Blood Beneath My Feet on Amazon, and now the new star of Poisonous Liaisons on the True Crime Network.

To everyone joining us, thank you. I want to go first to Karina's dad. Phil, you and I talked and talked and talked when we were pushing the acceptance of familial DNA to be used across the country. And you inspired me to work on a brand new series coming out called Bloodline Detectives, which deals with cracking cases with familial DNA. You have no idea how much you have affected my life and the lives of so many other people, particularly writing this book, thanks to you. Phil, I know you don't enjoy talking about this,

but in this book, one of the main chapters is safe while exercising. Please tell us about the day Karina went missing. Well, she went alone. She went alone in a secluded area. I mean, there were many factors that should have told me and should have told her not to go, not to go where she went. But she did. And I had a little intuition before she went. I told her, I don't think it's a good idea. And she said, don't worry, daddy, I'll be okay.

And she went off, you know, a hundred yards from our house. She went into it, onto a trail. And there was a trail you had run many, many times with her. In fact, you guys normally ran together. Like I would exercise with my dad for years and years and years together. Yes. Yes. We, We ran that trail just the Saturday prior to the Tuesday when she was murdered. So what, three days, three days before? You know, Dr. Bethany Marshall, Phil, who I consider not only as a colleague but a dear friend now, he and his wife, who have just been to hell and back. Did you hear what he said,

Bethany? Because he said, and you know what I'm going to ask you, because I've asked you this before. He said, I had an intuition. I told her, I don't think you should go today. And she said, I'll be fine, Daddy, and left. That intuition. And I can't explain explain it but maybe you can. Nancy yes we have a certain way of knowing that bypasses the right lateral part of the brain the part that is responsible for language and speech and reading and all of that there's a whole nother part of our consciousness that is is what we call prescient it can help us to look into the future and see what might happen. We could call it psychic or having good judgment, intuition, whatever you want to call it.

We all have it. And this book you're writing, you know, Safe While Exercising, I would say, I don't know what your research showed, but that following your intuition is the number one thing that you need to do. Phil had a bad sense. He did tell his daughter and she went anyway. And the sound you played earlier about him wishing that he could have found his daughter, that it's the final act of safety. I mean, he had it from the moment she went to exercise.

He really did. And wait till you hear this, Bethany. Phil, Karina had been gone for, I don't know, 20, 30 minutes, and you had another overwhelming feeling. What was it? Something was wrong. I was just sitting there, just watching the news, eating my dinner. And then this feeling just came over me. First, it was slight. And then it got stronger and stronger, like something was amiss. she left she shouldn't even been back yet but i called her and she didn't answer i called her one minute later and she didn't answer i called her two minutes after that and she didn't answer and i gave out a yell with a curse on the end of it and my wife had just came back from abdominal surgery i just picked her up at the hospital and she was up in bed and she heard me yell and she said what's the matter and i said karina's not answering the phone i'm going out she didn't even know karina went out

so how how's that you know she didn't even know she went out the last time she saw her she just came home from the hospital she went upstairs and the next thing you know she hears she's dead. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Guys, we're talking about the disappearance and the murder of a beautiful, beautiful and brilliant young woman, Karina Vetrano, but she is not the only one. I'm not saying that women shouldn't go exercise. I do it every day if I can. And I'm not saying don't wear a sports bra, don't wear tights.

No, I'm not saying that. That's so misogynist. But there are ways for you to protect yourself. Don't be a statistic. I talk about it after so much took me two years to research and write this book for you. This is based on cases I investigated. Thousands of them. Cases I personally tried and cases I've personally covered, including Karina Vetrano's case.

Listen to this. Her body was discovered just 15 feet away from a trail that she and her father ran together nearly every day. But back pain forced him to stay at home the afternoon she was killed. The retired firefighter now has a message of his own for the attacker. Justice will be served. On Friday, detectives discovered a sneaker and headphones near the crime scene and sent them in for testing in the hopes of finding fingerprints or DNA evidence. Meanwhile, Vetrano's devastated parents laid their daughter to rest Saturday.

Her casket was met with salutes as hundreds gathered for the funeral. Even actor Donnie Wahlberg took a moment this weekend to remember her, writing on Twitter, "'I've met thousands of amazing New Yorkers "'while filming Blue Bloods. "'None were as kind as Carina Vetrano.'" So many people attended Saturday's funeral service

that they had to set up speakers outside where people were standing. Anyone with information will now get a $10,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest. If we can stop, if we can prevent one person from being attacked while exercising, this will all be worth it. Now you can hear with us today Phil Vetrano speaking so calmly and so coherently, but it hasn't always been that way. Take a listen to our friend Lindsay Davis at ABC GMA.

Just one day after laying their 30-year-old daughter Karina to rest, both of her parents spoke publicly, but it was her mother who had some especially blistering words. To stress her point, she started off by taking off her sunglasses and telling everyone to look in her eyes as she could address the man directly that she called a coward. I guarantee you, you will pay forever. A mother's unbridled pain and anguish on full display. Soon we're going to have a face to the piece of garbage that you are. On Sunday afternoon, Kathy Vetrano shared this chilling message to the person who killed her daughter, Karina.

The whole entire world knows what a pathetic, puny, weak piece of filth that you are. These words are the first we've heard from Vetrano's family since the 30-year-old was found dead less than a week ago. You are hearing Karina's mother speaking out, lashing out. But I can tell you, during the trial of Karina's killer and attacker, there were times she had to be helped to carry, to almost carry her, lift her to walk out of that courtroom. She was so wracked with pain hearing the evidence. I remember she was actually holding on to, I thought she was kissing a crucifix for strength to get her through the trial. Now, you'll hear her father, Phil Vetrano, describe how healthy, how physically fit. And if you go on CrimeOnline.com, look at Karina Vetrano. She looks like she works out every day. Very strong. Listen to Chris Hansen, Crime Watch Daily.

And Boyce tells me what they found made even a hardened detective turn away. Give me a sense for the injuries, Karina Summer. Facial injuries. She also had bruising on her body. We believe from being dragged through those weeds. Rough area. So that's what we believe, where that bruising of the body came from. And when you found her, she was still grasping to the weeds?

She had the weeds, stems of the weeds in her hands. What does that tell you? She fought not to go into those weeds. Karina's dad took me to that jogging trail in Howard Beach where police found his beautiful daughter. I don't know if this person was waiting for her. I don't know if this person was waiting for her. I don't know if this person was following her. Phil Vetrano, your daughter, you would think,

because she was so physically fit, she could have fought back and won, right? Well, Nancy, I have to tell you, Karina, for those who don't know it, was 4'11", 100 pounds. She looked extremely fit, and she was. But when someone outweighs you by 50 pounds and is a foot taller, and this is the key, he socket punched her.

He hit her from behind. She was passing him, not probably giving a second thought, and then he turned on her. So she was definitely, if it was a fair fight, she would definitely have gotten away. But he suckered her, and he did outweigh her and was a foot taller than her. 4'11", little baby. The man who attacked and killed her, Chanel Lewis, had been spotted in the neighborhood before walking around with, I think it was a crowbar,

looking in cars and homes. A police officer saw him. There wasn't enough cause to arrest him for anything, but he made a note in his police notebook. And because of that note, when the trail went dead in finding Karina's killer, that notebook was resurrected, and that person, Chanel Lewis, turned out to be Karina's killer. You are hearing her dad describing how physically fit she was, but she was no match for a guy that snuck up on her and sucker punched her. Would you say, let me go out to Kirk Nermy, this is renowned defense attorney, that very often in cases like this, the woman is taken by surprise. It's more like a crime of opportunity. You don't always think of the defendant lurking,

waiting on an empty stretch of road, waiting for somebody to run by. They see the person and attack. Right. I mean, I think you're right, Nancy. Sadly, we have a lot of people of this mindset that are looking, kind of looking for that crime of opportunity, right? This is why he's lurking around the cars. This is why he has a crowbar. This is why he's

doing this. He's looking for these opportunities. And when it came, he decided to take advantage of it, for lack of a better word, is to play out his sick, twisted game. And this is exactly what happened because we have to be, and this is why we have to be aware that there are people like this all around us that require us to be conscious of everything and every place that we're at. And as it turned out to Dr. Bethany Marshall, this guy, Chanel Lewis, had a very deep-seated hatred of women. But how's Corrina supposed to know that?

She passes a guy and has no idea who this guy is. Just like when I go walking or jogging or biking, I don't know who I'm passing. Nancy, a deep-seated hatred for women, probably a serial killer in the making, serial rapist, somebody who actually has a compulsion to torture and to kill. That was who Chanel was. And if you think about the fact that he was walking around the neighborhood with a crowbar, looking in cars, that speaks to somebody who is so preoccupied with doing damage to another human being that that is their only motivation in life. So Karina didn't have a chance once she passed this guy on the trail. He had been practicing for this moment for months and perhaps even for years.

They practice. They think about it. They fantasize about it. So the victim has no chance. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. We've been talking about Karina Vetrano and how to protect yourself when you're exercising. Do you remember the name Molly Tibbetts?

I do. Listen to our friends at WOITV5 Des Moines. This is not like her. Dalton Jack is living in a nightmare. I figured I'd speak to her in an hour or so. And right now, it's one he can't wake up from. I came home as soon as her mom said that she called the hospital and she wasn't there. The last time the 20-year-old saw Molly was on Wednesday at 10 p.m.

when he opened a Snapchat from her. It was just a selfie with a caption, and I don't remember what the caption said, but it looked like she was inside. He never thought he wouldn't hear from her again. When he said her early Thursday morning he didn't notice the message hadn't been read until her friend called late that afternoon. One of her co-workers called me said Molly had not called into work that day and she hadn't showed up and then I looked at the messages and she hadn't opened or read any of them so I started getting in contact with her friends and her family saying,

hey, have you seen her? Have you heard from her? Of course, the boyfriend is always the first place you look at when a woman goes missing. That was not the case with Molly Tibbetts. Take a listen to our friend at ABC, Alex Perez. The search for missing Molly Tibbetts has come to a tragic end today. A body was discovered early this morning in a farm field southeast of Brooklyn, Iowa. We believe it to be the body of Molly Tibbetts. She was found in a cornfield and there were corn stalks placed over the top of her. And tonight, a suspect in custody, 24-year-old Christian Rivera.

Police say Rivera led them to her body this morning and confessed to her murder. The case will be prosecuted by the Iowa Attorney General's Area Prosecution Division, and first-degree murder carries a penalty of life without the possibility of parole. According to authorities, Rivera encountered Molly Tibbetts near the intersection of Boundary and Middle Streets in eastern Brooklyn while she was out jogging. He actually tells us that he ran alongside of her or behind her. And then at one point, he tells us that Molly grabbed a hold of her phone and said, you need to leave me alone. I'm going to call the police. And then she took off running. He in turn chased her down. This shows that no matter where you are, there are people around predators, just like out on the Serengeti. When you think of the gazelle joining

each other at the water, the side of the water and in the distance, there lurks a predator waiting for one gazelle to be the slowest. We're talking about safe while exercising, and I want to go to you, Joe Scott Morgan. I also say, as much as I've done it because of my schedule, try not to run at night or at nightfall. Molly Tibbetts was running around night fall. Also, I say take ID, whether it's your driver's license, library card, a scrap of paper, stuff down your sports bra with your name, address, and number. When you need help, this helps first responders identify who you are. I also tie my key into my shoelaces so my hands are totally free. And don't put earbuds in your ears.

Don't do it. Phil, was Karina jogging with earbuds? Yes, she was, and she always did. You know, she had her music playing. She was oblivious to what was going around her situation. She often described in her writings how she would put her earbuds in and hit the pavement and all the BS that happened during the day would all fade away. So she was actually in a very spiritual place at that time. You know, she was with God, you know,

when that happened. You know, Phil, I do it too. I jog or run or walk with earbuds in. I've quit since I met you and learned about Karina because one of the last video surveillance was her jogging by

and you can distinctly see, I think it was a cord from earbuds. All of this so important to Joseph Scott Morgan, professor of forensics. When Molly Tibbetts was found, no ID, nothing on her. We know the perp came up beside her, kept kind of jogging beside her. She said, go away or I'll call police. That pushed him over the edge. Why is it so important to have some kind of ID on you? Well, obviously you want to, you know, have proof of who you are relative to the people that you're going to encounter on the road.

But in Molly's case, I sit there and I think about this guy was literally laying in wait for her. He is a predator, just like with Phil's beautiful daughter. This guy, this scumbag, was a total and complete predator. And what happens, unfortunately, many times is you have what's referred to as asymmetry with these attacks. You've got people that are in a dominant position over somebody that's in a very weakened state. They see them, they go after them, and unfortunately, they'll wind up ripping them to shreds. Another out of pages and pages and pages of tips for you that I've gleaned from cases, some of which you're hearing about today, don't leave home. Don't get angry because nobody ever tells this to men, but don't leave home without letting someone know you're heading out,

whether it's day or night, text, call, email, somebody you trust. I'm going jogging. I remember so many nights before the twins were born, I would get home from doing my program at HLN, plus Larry King after that. That would be 10 o'clock at night. I would get home and then go jogging on the East River in New York at, say, 11-ish o'clock. That is crazy talk, but nobody could tell me different. I would, however, take my phone with me, not use earbuds, and would text somebody and let them know where I was going. Do you remember Joe Scott Morgan when Molly first went missing? A lot of people thought she was last at the home of her boyfriend who was out of town doing online homework because she had posted a picture or

something like that of her there doing homework. So a lot of people thought she had gone jogging and come back because no one knew where she was or that she was going jogging. You remember that, Joe Scott? Yeah, I do, Nancy. And I remember at the time, you and I were actually covering this case together when Molly disappeared. And do you recall also there were all of these signs. Do you remember people were spotting her in like four or five different states, far-flung areas. And all the while there her body lay in that cornfield after

weeks, after weeks, where this guy had placed her there. And no one had any idea where she had wound up. You know, Phil Vetrano, father of Karina Vetrano, often called the Long Island jogger. Phil, when I think about Chanel Lewis and his hatred of women and the guy that murdered Molly Tibbetts, remember he had put Molly in his trunk? Yes. And then he said he looked down and saw blood on his hands and went,

oh yeah, she's in my trunk and went and hid her in a cornfield. That guy's not insane. That is total BS. He murdered her and he had the wherewithal to go hide her body and stay quiet as the search for her raged on around him. And my point being, you look around, you don't know who's legit and who is like Chanel Lewis. Well, there were signs. There were a lot of signs.

I mean, he was, he was, excuse me, when he was in high school, you know, he actually got put into a special school for troubled students, for troubled children, for troubled kids, because he had behavioral issues. And he was doing well in high school. But when he got out, his family dropped the ball. He no longer went to therapy. He no longer took his medication. And they just used to let him roam the streets at night.

He was a ticking time bomb. That's exactly right. You said it exactly right. That's what he was. And you mentioned it before. He was definitely a serial killer in the making. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Guys, two years and literally thousands of individuals, whether they were part of investigations, prosecutions, or cases that I covered,

people I met that changed the course of criminology like Phil Vetrano are all in this book. My proceeds going to National Center of Missing and Exploited Children. Don't be a victim. Fight back against America's crime wave. Fight back against the Chanel Lewises of this world lying in wait. You have heard about Karina. You've heard about Molly. Listen to this. A murdered Midlothian woman was remembered as a devoted mother who motivated others. 45-year-old Missy Beavers was found dead inside Creekside

Church of Christ last Monday. Police say she was ambushed and died from a blow to the head. At her funeral yesterday in Waxahachie, family and friends described Beavers as those she loved. Before fitness, first, she was a mom. She was just, she was a mom mom and she loved everybody and she loved her husband. They babysat when they had date night and this is just very difficult. Police are still looking for the person who killed Missy Beavers. Midlothian police released more surveillance video Friday of the person walking around Creekside Church of Christ wearing police tactical gear. That person is believed to be the one who killed Beavers. Well, of course it is. Here you've got Missy Beavers, a mom of several

beautiful little girls. She was teaching gladiator training classes. This woman is so fit. And where else could you be safer? She's in a very small town, Midlothian, Texas, and she goes to teach a class at the church at about four or five o'clock in the morning so other moms can come and work out before they take their children to school. She is attacked in the church and murdered. You were listening to our friend just in Shannon Murray at KDFW Fox for talking about the death of this mom, Missy Beavers. Straight out to Dave Matt Crime Online dot com investigative reporter. What happened in the Missy Beavers case? It's still open.

Nancy, it's one of those I hate to call a murder, a mystery. OK, like it's some kind of entertainment. What happened here is there was surveillance video inside the church. As you mentioned, Missy Beavers was there to teach a class. She arrived at 420 that morning to the church. By 506, she'd been murdered. On that surveillance footage, police were able to see some person. I can't even say it's a man.

It was an individual, approximately 5'2 to 5'6, dressed in tactical gear, police SWAT tactical gear, at about 3.50 that morning roaming the hallways of this church. We know that Missy got there at 4.20, and we know at some point in time, Missy came in contact with this individual walking around that church, breaking windows and doing other assorted things. And by 506 that morning, her students taking her exercise class called 911 because she was dead. Guys, that goes back to when Karina or Molly, they were jogging on their own in an isolated area. Here, Missy Beavers is going into a completely empty church at a very odd hour when no one is out in about four o'clock in the morning,

this does not mean you have to stop living the life the way you live it. But be careful. For instance, if you have to run at night, minimize your risk. Stick to a route you've run before so you know the pitfalls and the danger areas. If you can, run in a neighborhood of homes. Why? Because most likely people are home. Not in a rural area, which I've done many times, where there's nowhere to run to. I remember when the woman I started this program with, Julie Love, was out jogging. She realized she was being followed. So she ran up to a house. It was in the middle of the day. Nobody was home, but she pretended to be going in the home. Her perps waited until she came out. And that's when they attacked her. But you've got a better chance in a neighborhood of

houses that you can approach. If long work hours make it impossible to run during the day, just consider working home, out at home, or at a gym. To Phil Vetrano, Karina's father, here you've got Missy Beavers who for for Pete's sake, taught gladiator classes. Have you seen a picture of her? Her biceps, I bet they're bigger than yours, Filvatrono, and you are fit. I mean, this woman was so buff. If it had been a fair fight, she would have won. I'm telling you, just like with Karina. So no matter how fit you think you are, you're not a match for somebody that takes you by surprise, comes up from behind, or sucker punches you.

That's why the only way you can fight back is to follow tips and be careful. Now, speaking of your route, I don't know if this name rings a bell to you, but it does to me. Allie Brugger. Take a listen to our friends at WXYZ 7 Detroit. It was on a Saturday afternoon in July when 31-year-old Allie Brugger was abruptly shot and left for dead during a routine 10-mile run on Fish Lake Road in Holly. her daughter's father, Nicky was shot dead in the car. Nicky was shot dead in the car and was abruptly shot and left for dead during a routine 10 mile run on Fish Lake Road in

Holly three years since her passing and her parents say the pain of losing their only child hits just as hard today as the day they learned she would never come home. This happened our life. There's no joy. Um. Just nothing. Her mother, Nikki, still drives her daughter's old red Hyundai as a way, she says, to keep her close while her father struggles to face a new normal. You think of like maybe she's on vacation or some she's at work and so on. You don't you don't really think about it that she's gone for good. She worked hard to be a nurse. She worked hard to almost complete that master's. And for somebody to just snuff out her life like that, just for what reason?

I need to know why. The case still unsolved. Allie had gone running on a Saturday. It was July 30, 2016, and this is significant. It was a familiar route. She had been jogging almost every day for the past 10 years. It was 2.30, broad daylight. No theft, no rape that we know of. What was the motive? She was gunned down on this route, And that is why I advise change your route. You know, every day when I go jogging or running, I turn the same way. I always turn left.

I do the same loop. Once in a while, I take a different route home. That's totally not a good idea. Explain it, Joseph Scott Morgan. You know, people become, particularly if you, you know, I used the word predator a few moments ago, Nancy. The idea is that these people watch. They watch for recurrent patterns. You know, you mentioned the gazelle at the watering hole. They watch to strike at any moment in time. And by not readjusting, they can time what you're

going to do day after day after day, and they'll wait till it's at their advantage to strike when no one else is around. By varying that pattern, you throw them off. They don't know where you are or when you're going to leave the house. This was a predictable route that Allie Bruger took every single day. Now her parents not only are left wondering what happened, but are waiting for justice to play out. This book is not to scare you. This book is based on thousands of cases compiled together to arm you with evidence that may save your life. You know what? After my fiance's murder, my life didn't mean very much to me.

I would do anything regardless of the risk. But now that I have the twins, I'm dedicating my life to protecting them as long as I can. And that means having a mother. Don't be a victim. Fight back. Nancy Grace, Crime Stories, signing off. Goodbye, friend. You're listening to an iHeart Podcast.