Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Beauty Queen's Drug-Sedated "Sleepovers" With Surgeon/Lover End in Murder

Episode Date: April 5, 2022

Sara Jane Harris and Dr. James Michael Ryan meet at his dental practice in the Fall of 2020. By the Summer of 2021, Harris is not only working for the oral surgeon, but they are now living together. Sarah Harris’ family members began to notice a change in her physical appearance. The family says Harris did not look healthy, and in the following months, Harri's growing drug addiction became evident. What's more, the family believes Ryan was giving his girlfriend drugs from his practice. First responders rush to Ryan's home after an overdose call. Inside, paramedics find Sarah Harris, unresponsive. Various vials of controlled substances, like Ketamine, Diazepam and Propofol are nearby. Now Ryan is charged in Harris' death, accused of providing the drugs that killed her. According to court documents, text messages between Ryan and Harris show Harris asking for different drugs, and Ryan instructing Her on how to take them.Joining Nancy Grace Today: Ken Belkin - Criminal Defense Attorney, BelkinLaw.com, Twitter: @Kenneth_Belkin Dr. Angela Arnold - Psychiatrist, (Atlanta GA) www.angelaarnoldmd.com, Expert in the Treatment of Pregnant/Postpartum Women, Former Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Obstetrics and Gynecology: Emory University, Former Medical Director of The Psychiatric Ob-Gyn Clinic at Grady Memorial Hospital Dr. William Morrone - Chief Medical Examiner, Bay County Michigan, Author: "American Narcan: Naloxone & Heroin-Fentanyl Associated Mortality", RecoveryPathwaysLLC.com Robert Crispin - Private Investigator, “Crispin Special Investigations” www.CrispinInvestigations.com Lindsay Watts - Emmy-Winning Reporter, FOX 5 DC, Twitter: @LindsayAWatts, Instagram: @LindsayWatts, Podcast: "Siege on Democracy" 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. Overdose or was it? I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us here at Fox Nation and Sirius XM 111. When police rush to the scene of a death, they find an alarming, alarming layout in the home. Was it intentional? Take a listen to this. First responders rushed to the 13,000 block of Godwit Street in Clarksburg after reports of an overdose.

It's the home of oral surgeon Dr. James Michael Ryan. Inside, paramedics find Sarah Harris, Ryan's girlfriend, unresponsive. Ryan says Harris was okay when he went to bed at 10.30 p.m., but when he came down the next morning Harris was unresponsive on the couch. Harris was pronounced dead. Okay I've got so many questions right there based on everything I'm hearing about the oral surgeon Dr. James Michael Ryan. Now before I introduce everybody to Dr. William Maroney, Chief Medical Examiner, joining us out of Bay County, Michigan, author of American Narcan. You can find me at recoverypathwaysllc.com.

And Maroney puts his money, his time, his effort where his mouth is. He actually created and travels with a rolling medical lab to help stop overdoses. That's why he is so important. Not that the rest of our guests are not important. But let me just ask you this very basic question, Dr. Maroney, before I get into the whole overdose issue. An oral surgeon, does that mean a dentist with another degree? What's an oral surgeon? Is that a medical doctor? An oral surgeon begins as a dentist and then gets training to put people under anesthesia to remove really difficult teeth. Ordinarily, in a dentist's office, you just get a number, you get lidocaine,

you get procaine, and then they yank the tooth out. An oral surgeon gets impacted teeth, broken teeth, and they do the implants where they, you know, they put the little metal screw in, and that takes anesthesia. You cannot work on somebody's mouth like that. And that's what he was doing. All those medicines he has. Did you say people get propofol at the dentist office? I've never heard of that. Well, they can put you in a surgical suite. Once you get that level. You mean an oral surgeon or just a dentist? Never, never. A regular dentist would never give you propofol because the law requires you monitor oxygen and EKG. The regular dentist doesn't do that. He just numbs up your gums and pulls.

I don't know. I've got a bad feeling. Ken Belkin, can you just take off your criminal defense hat just one moment? I know I would just not go into a dentist office and go under anesthesia. I mean, I'd have to think long and hard before I walk into anything but a hospital and get totally put under. Well, I think these are private discussions between a medical practitioner and their patient. And, you know, we have to give some latitude to the judgment of medical professionals. You know, they did swear the Hippocratic. You know what? Now I know why you're such a great defense attorney, because you just, you know, slipped right out of that one. OK, guys, we are talking about a young woman, 25-year-old Sarah Harris, is dead. She's dead. So let me go to Lindsay Watts,

Emmy Award-winning reporter with Fox 5 in D.C. Her podcast, Siege on Democracy. Lindsay, thanks for being with us. Let me understand this. Just let's start with the cops and the EMTs arriving at the scene at the home of James Ryan, Dr. James Ryan, who says he goes to bed at 1030 at night with the girlfriend downstairs and wakes up the next morning, comes downstairs, and she is unresponsive on the couch. Right, right. And they found all kinds of paraphernalia and drugs at the scene. Hypodermic needles. They found propofol. They found ketamine.

They found other drugs. And what I'm told is these were not little vials. These were large containers. Oh, I want to circle back to what you just said, Lindsay Watts, about the large containers. Okay, hold that thought a moment. Dr. William Maroney, ketamine, what is ketamine? Ketamine is in a classification called a sedative hypnotic.

And there is almost, there's absolutely no indication to have IV ketamine in your house. That is a hospital drug. That is, it is unethical. There's no medical diagnosis that requires that. Ketamine. That's dangerous, dangerous stuff. It is anesthesia. At the doses given for IV doses,

it has no purpose in anybody's home. Like propofol? Propofol, we could say about the same thing, but that's how Michael Jackson died. He was getting IV propofol at home. Yes, that's why I'm relating to it. Yeah. Why would you have something like ketamine or propofol in your home? Well, Mr. Ryan appears to have had a chemically hijacked sex slave. He called her a girlfriend. Well, you just put it out there, didn't you? A chemically hijacked sex slave. Let me just put that up in my head because now you've said it. It's up here. It's never going away. Never going away. Chemically hijacked sex life.

Thanks, Dr. Maroney, for just putting that in my head. That's something I can think about tonight. You know what? I haven't even introduced the panel. Ken Belkin, high-profile lawyer, criminal defense attorney, joining us. You can find him at BelkinLaw.com. Dr. Angela Arnold, a renowned psychiatrist, joining us out of the Atlanta jurisdiction at AngelaArnoldMD.com. Dr. William Maroney, who I've already introduced. Robert Crispin, private investigator at Crispin

Special Investigations. You can find them at CrispinInvestigations.com. Well, you know what? While I've got you, also with me, Lindsay Watts, Emmy Award winning reporter with Fox 5DC. Her hit podcast, Siege on Democracy. You can find her there as well. Crispin, what about it? They show up at a doctor. He's a doctor of oral, he's an oral surgeon. But they come in, it looks like a crack house for Pete's sake. First of all,

Crispin, have you ever been in a crack house? I've been in many, many, many, many. Yeah. And I'm not proud to say that,

but crack houses are unlike anything you've ever seen. The first one I went into, I thought I was going to get shot, but they would not answer the front door when they saw me and my investigator. We had to sneak around. It's about 1 a.m.m by this point i was trying to find a witness went around to the back door that's before i had children had no life at all it was all about getting the bad guys went to the back door and just walked in the place there was um a burned out sofa upside down. Somebody thrown it on the floor.

There was no other furniture. There were all kind of people milling around. They were all high on something. And there were drugs, drugs, drugs, hypodermic needles, just anything, everything was in that room. People, you know, burning up, crack, just, it was horrible. So tell me what you make of the scene that Lindsay Watts has described. So you would think as you describe a doctor would have a nice house, beautiful inside. Oh, yeah, yeah. think is you describe a doctor would have a nice house beautiful inside oh yeah yeah you would

think it's like security a gate that's uh you know an automated gate and i imagine this beautiful home that an interior decorator has done where you look out the back patio step uh you know glass doors to like maybe an infinity pool is Is that what you would think, Jackie? Something just beautiful. But instead. It's a drug den. It's a class A drug den. And what I mean by a drug den is clearly people go to these houses to get high

and they get high and they stay for a little while and then they leave. This here was their residence and it was also a drug den that they had set up, that he had set up. So Lindsay Watts joining me, Fox 5 DC, tell me again, the cops come, I guess the EMTs get there first, the ambulance. I'm not sure. Tell me what happened exactly. Yeah, they arrived to this house. They're called for the overdose. They're finding all of these drugs, an IV pole in the home as well. And what I've heard from sources is these weren't, again, just little vials of drugs. These were like you would find at a pharmacy. He was using his position as an oral surgeon to get massive amounts of these drugs that have no business in a home. And according to the court documents, this was something that

was playing out over months that they were together. She came into his office to get her wisdom teeth removed. He offers her a job. A few months later, they're dating. She eventually moves into his home. And through the text messages, you see that she developed a serious addiction that prosecutors say he fed by giving her these drugs over time. Wow. Yeah.

I wonder where she got all that. I wonder where this woman, she's just 25 years old. How did she turn from this beautiful, young, vibrant girl to a pale, bruised up, dope addict after she starts dating Dr. James Ryan. Or as, thanks again, Maroney, for putting this in my head. What did he say? A chemically, what did you say? A chemically kidnapped sex slave.

A chemically induced sex slave. He was a predator. Yeah, he was a predator. Listen to this. On January 26, 2022, Montgomery County Police and Montgomery County Fire Rescue Service responded to an address in the 13900 block of Godwitch Street, Clarksburg, Montgomery County, Maryland, for the report of an overdose. Sarah Harris, a 25-year-old female, was discovered deceased in the residence. An autopsy later done at the office of the chief medical examiner's office in Maryland would later determine the cause of Harris' death was ketamine and diazepam intoxication.

And the manner of death at that time was undetermined. Harris' boyfriend, Dr. James Michael Ryan, was also at the residence that he shared with Harris. Dr. Ryan is an oral surgeon with a practice in Germantown. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Sarah Harris, a 25-year-old female, was discovered deceased in the residence. An autopsy later done at the office of the chief medical examiner's office in Maryland would later determine the cause of Harris' death was ketamine and diazepam intoxication. And the manner of death at that time was undetermined. Harris's boyfriend,

Dr. James Michael Ryan, was also at the residence that he shared with Harris. Dr. Ryan is an oral surgeon with a practice in Germantown. You are hearing the Montgomery County Police Chief Marcus Jones speaking. You know, I didn't quite believe Maroney. First time I didn't believe him. I never agree with him usually, but I looked up ketamine and it is, he's right, a medication used for induction and maintenance of anesthesia, inducing dissociative anesthesia in a trance-like state, providing pain relief, sedation, and amnesia. So that is typically used then, Dr. Maroney, in surgery? Well, if you have a really difficult tooth coming out, you don't want to remember what was going on, so it knocks you out.

No, I don't. No. But nobody has ketamine in their home. We have 350 million Americans. Nobody has ketamine IV in their home for this purpose. He's a predator. He doped her up and kept her for months and months and months. You know, Dr. Maroney, look.

That's a crime. And I want to interject. Police are saying that he gave it to her while she was sleeping at one point, that he was injecting it into her allegedly while she was asleep. Okay. Let me clear something up, Dr. Maroney. You are, if I'm not wrong, a medical doctor. When did you go to law school and start pronouncing the correct charges? And when did that happen? Well, I do write death certificates. Never? Never? Okay, so never?

I do write death certificates. Yeah, I take a listen to more from Montgomery County Police Chief Marcus Jones. Also located in the residence at the time were various bottles of propofol, meat as long, ketamine, and diazepam. Numerous hypodermic needles, syringes, and tourniquets were discovered nearby as well. These bottles are not the type of medication that would normally be dispensed from a pharmacy and are usually reserved for clinical medical settings. Detectives begin an investigation into the facts and circumstances surrounding the death. We know that Sarah is found dead in the home of this oral surgeon that she began dating

after having her wisdom teeth removed. But how did it get to this point? Take a listen to our friends at Crime Online. Sarah Jane Harris and Dr. James Michael Ryan meet at his dental practice in the fall of 2020. Ryan is an oral surgeon and Harris is there for a procedure. During the appointment, Harris mentions she has experience working in a dental office. Not long after, Ryan contacts Harris about a job, which Harris accepts. The couple's relationship grows outside the office. Harris and Dr. Ryan begin dating, and Harris begins spending significant time at Ryan's home. During the summer of 2021. Harris moves in permanently. And apparently it progressed

in more ways than romantically. Take a listen to the Montgomery County Police Chief. Investigators learned that family members noticed that Harris's physical appearance was changing over time and that she did not look healthy. On two different occasions, Harris was discovered in their residence, surrounded by empty medicine bottles, similar to what was discovered at the death scene.

OK, Lindsay Watts joining us Fox 5 DC. Explain to me what her family began noticing. She certainly lost her bloom of youth and you know what else also everybody especially you dr angie arnold i want you to go online i'm looking at the address gottwood street in clarksburg maryland it's a beautiful home. Anybody driving by this home would have no idea that it's a drug den. As Dr. Maroney says, a chemically induced sex slave inside. It's a classical two-door home. Beautiful lawn, beautifully kept. The interior is gorgeous.

Lindsay Watts, back to you. Lindsay, what did the family begin noticing about Sarah, their sister, their daughter, Sarah? Nancy, it's been heartbreaking talking to her mother. She sent me photos of her daughter from just around the time or just before she met the doctor she was a beauty queen she was 2020 Miss Maryland petite so I have a picture of her with her sash and her crown whoa wait wait what tell me that again she was 2020 Miss Maryland petite and so I have this photo of her with her dress and with her sash and with her crown, other photos where she looks just gorgeous, a vibrant, healthy girl. And her mother talked about just how beautiful her daughter was. And she wasted away as she became more and more addicted.

The family recognized there was a problem, and you have to imagine how helpless they felt because they saw that she was surrounded by these drugs at her new home. They saw the marks on her arm. I know her sister actually worked at the practice along with her, so you have to imagine that she really had a good sense of possibly what was happening. And what was really something that stood out to me is it was the sister after Sarah overdosed who went into her social media accounts, got into her phone and supplied police with all of these text messages between Sarah and the doctor that really set up this case for them. I mean, that is a sister who was determined to get justice, and that really gave me a lot of emotion reading that, about what she did to make sure that this case moved forward, and all of that got into the hands of police. To your understanding,

Lindsay Watts, what did the text messages say? There are a host of messages that spell out that this doctor is supplying these drugs. They're having conversations while he is at work and she is at home. She's asking for certain drugs. He is telling her what he's going to bring to her. She tells him, hey, honey, we're out of syringes. He says, I'll bring them home. He's telling her about how she's feeling, that she's feeling dehydrated, that she's feeling losing. Very extensive conversations about the drug use that also indicate that he was using himself. Well, Lindsey Watts is right. Take a listen to the police chief.

In at least one instance, she was discovered in an altered state and had arms that were covered in needle marks and bruises. Investigators were able to obtain copies of text messages and other communications between Dr. Ryan and Harris. In these communications both Harris and Dr. Ryan have frank and explicit conversations which depict Harris asking Dr. Ryan to obtain and or procure different drugs from the practice. Dr. Ryan repeatedly tells Harris that he is bringing her drugs, instructs her how to use the drugs, and where she can find drugs in their residence.

To Dr. Angie Arnold, joining us, psychiatrist out of the Atlanta jurisdiction, her dependency on him for drugs then knew no bounds. She could not break out of it. Her family tried to help her. They saw all the bruising. They saw all the track marks. Well, Nancy, the help that she would need at that point would be to be detoxed from all of these things. He was probably keeping her in some sort of altered state mentally. And all she could

think about at this point was where she was a drug addict. It sounded like he created a drug addict. So what do drug addicts do? They're waiting for their next fix all the time. They're not thinking about going home. And this was way too far gone. She needed a good detox place. She needed to be in the hospital, but he was going to, it sounds like he was going to make sure that none of that happened for her. Yeah, because her family needed intervention, intervention. She needed somebody to go in family, intervene, bring the sheriff, do the intervention. She needed the detox, but she needed to be forcefully taken away. She could not make those decisions.

She was chemically kidnapped. She was hijacked. And at that point, she didn't know what she was doing, but he did. And that is kidnapping. I'm sorry, I didn't go to law school. Ken Belkin, criminal defense attorney, joining us at BelkinLaw.com. Why? Is there any reason this oral surgeon should not be charged with murder? Yeah, because, you know, he didn't murder her. She took the drugs that killed

herself. So I think really he injected her. He was the one injecting her. But she was asked for it. All right. I understand he might have made a decision that was wrong in a medical context. But, you know, all the time you hear on these pharmaceutical commercials, ask your doctor about this. Ask your doctor about that. Well, maybe she was asking her doctor about propofol and ketamine. He's not a doctor. He's an oral surgeon. Well, still a doctor, right?

And very likely, very likely having sex with her, as Maroney has described. We don't know that yet. Here's the other thing. It is impossible to say that it is ethical. It's a lot of speculation, Dr. Maroney, isn't it? What? It's a lot of speculation. We're goingoney, isn't it? What? It's a lot of speculation.

We're going from depraved heart murder, you know, basically to a chemically induced kidnapped sex slave. I mean, that's a bit of a stretch. It makes sense. Lindsay Watts joining us on Fox 5. What do we know? Well, he... Did the family try to help her?

It does look like the family wanted to help. Obviously, they knew what was going on. They had at least some knowledge. Those text messages indicate that she had overdosed in the past, not too long before she ultimately died. And so there was a lot going on. And, you know, this doctor is looking at 78 years if he is convicted on all

charges because he is facing this depraved heart murder charge. So, you know, fascinating to see where this case goes because of the argument that he didn't intend to kill her, but he should have known as a doctor where this was going, especially if she had already overdosed once and knew, you know, it happened there in his home. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. To Robert Crispin, you earlier heard Lindsay Watts refer to Miss Maryland Petite. There is a USA beauty pageant called Petite USA Beauty Pageant. And it's the largest pageant in the country for women 5, 6, and under.

And this woman, Sarah, was Miss Maryland Petite. She's a tiny, petite woman and beautiful and young. I mean, have you looked her up as Miss Maryland petite? Gorgeous. You know, while you guys were talking about, I was trying to do some quick research, but, you know, and her being such a petite girl, you know, forget about getting these drugs illegally. She needs to be even monitored, even in a medical controlled setting setting because she's so petite on how much drugs going on board in her body. So, you know, this doctor who gave her all this medicine is just giving her free reigns to do this on her own at home. It's beyond me.

Jackie, have you seen her as Miss Marilyn Petite? Yes. And now I see. I mean, to you, Maroney, Dr. William Maroney, you see her in her pageant dress and her sash and her crown. She's a classic beauty. I mean, the angles in her face. I mean, I don't think you could draw them that beautifully. She's stunning. And then her family says she had wasted away. Her arms were covered in bruises and track marks just i remember the first time i saw track marks on a junkie and i it was like um the same

you had that gut reaction i almost recoiled but i didn't want to hurt the guy's feelings. He was a witness in a case. You know when you suddenly see a snake, you're shocked. You want to recoil just instinctively. When I saw those track marks for the first time, it's horrible looking, Dr. Maroney. It's a small bruise. it's a bleeding because you entered a vein or an artery and it's a bruise on the arm and it's a dark spot and then they smooth up but on the inside of the the artery there's scar tissue and the more track marks you get the harder it is to get an injection to work there because they swell up. It's as big as a mosquito

bite, but it's a clear sign. It's what we call pathognomonic for IV drug use. I see track marks in people's jugular veins in their necks because they've blown all the veins in their arms. When somebody's that bad, they need to be removed from their environment. And he's ethically not supposed to be treating spouses, girlfriends, or family. As a medical practitioner, we're never supposed to treat spouses, girlfriends, or family. You're supposed to send them away. None of this is treatment. And you're not supposed to date patients. And you're not supposed to date patients and you're not supposed to date employees. But that doesn't mean he committed murder.

Okay, is that Belkin jumping in? I'm just saying, we're throwing a lot of allegations here. You're just saying? I don't think the appellate courts will take your just saying because he has been charged with murder, not malice murder, which is, oh, I'm

going to kill Jackie and I'm going to poison her every day for the next six months until she kills over. No. Depraved heart is more akin to abandoned or malignant heart, it's sometimes called. For instance, if I take the minivan and I drive through the Cherry Blossom Festival at 90 MPH and just mow down a lot of people. I don't know who they are and I don't care who they are. I have a depraved and malignant heart and I have no concern for human life. So you dope a now underweight drug addict over and over and over. And then, wow, surprise, she dies? That is a complete disregard for human life, Belkin.

That's the charge. But what about her partners? What about the fact that she could have been on other things that the doctor wasn't aware of? Oh, okay, so you're telling me the life of a junkie is somehow less important than the life of who? A politician or a TV star? Well, Lady Justice doesn't agree. I'm not saying that. Every life is important. But, you know, at some point, does not the quote-unquote junkie bear some responsibility here? does it all get heaped on to the doctor? Have fun arguing that to a jury.

There is no responsibility because she's so far gone. She can't make those decisions. She's got track marks. She's got IV drugs of an industrial nature. You cannot expect that brain to make a rational decision. There is nothing left in her because she's a shell. He created a shell. Oh, I've got an answer. Hold on, Maroney. I've got an answer for you. Take a listen to our cut 12, our friend Cheyenne Corn at WDVM. Harris's sister provided authorities

with messages between Ryan and Harris showing Harris asking for different drugs from his practice and Ryan also instructing her on how to take them. The messages also revealed Ryan gave Harris ketamine while she was asleep and Harris overdosed once before she died in late January. So there you have it in his own text messages. Am I correct, Lindsay Watts? If I'm not, tell me. We learn that he gave her ketamine hospital anesthesia in her sleep. She had no way to say yay or nay. That is what police are saying, and yes, that is what the text messages

and charging documents indicate. It says, if you wake up, I just went out to change after I gave you ketamine just now. And so this might not have been as clear if police didn't state this in the press conference that this is something that happened. I don't know what you're saying. It looks like something that happened or didn't happen. The text messages reveal he gave her ketamine in her sleep. Yes, exactly. But just reading this, myself reading this text message, it says, I went out to change after I gave you

ketamine just now. So it's not spelling it out as specifically. However, police told us that this is something that happened, that he gave her ketamine while she was sleeping. So Ken Belkin, criminal defense attorney, joining us. If he gave her ketamine in her sleep, it's just like Conrad Murray and Michael Jackson, who doped Michael Jackson until he died and left. I mean, here he gave her ketamine, which is, I believe, intravenous, and left her with ketamine dripping through her system, just like in Michael Jackson with propofol. Ketamine leaves you sedated. Belkin.

Impaired memory and forgetfulness. Why would you give that to somebody in their sleep? There goes my best law student, Dr. William Maroney, medical doctor, William Maroney. Belkin, he's giving her ketamine in her sleep. Well, look, first of all, I don't know if there is a procedure for giving ketamine to someone when they're in their sleep. I know that people are on ketamine therapy and sometimes they may be sleeping. This girl is not on ketamine therapy. What are you talking about? Well, she is if her doctor is giving it to her.

Okay, now, Maroney, I need some help. Clearly, I'm not getting through to Ken Bell. Giving industrial IV anesthesia to a woman at home that you live with is not therapy. That's abuse. She has no insight to stop. And if he's using these drugs, he has no insight to stop because he is also hijacked. But there's nothing that's ever going to come good from a 50-year-old anesthesia oral surgeon dating a 20-year-old woman and then doing drugs together. Hi, hi, hi, hi, hey, hey, hey. I'm asking you for a medical opinion, not your moral judgment. You and I may agree

that what is this 50-year-old man doing with a 25-year-old woman? That's none of our business. I'm a little more focused on the murder. Take a listen to our cut one WDVM. Right here at his own practice is where Dr. James Ryan was taken into custody. The oral surgeon is now facing 78 years behind bars. Police say that the 49-year-old dentist was providing 25-year-old Sarah Harris with drugs. Police also tell me that Harris was not only a former patient, but the two were also any relationship. Police say Harris visited Ryan in the

fall of 2020 for a medical procedure, and he then offered her a job as a surgical technician. Investigators say they then began dating early 2021 and the two moved in together. And that's when police say Harris's family members noticed a decline in her health. Her mom even noticed track marks on her arm. So Robert Crispin, private investigator at Crispin Special Investigations, how do we go about proving a case like this? I find it really difficult to believe that all on her own she could

set up an IV drip of ketamine to the point she OD'd. You know Nancy you know how many families out there wish they had this type of evidence when they walk in and find one of their loved ones dead from an overdose. They just wish they could figure out who gave it to him. This case right here rises and falls on the doctor himself. His own text messages are the epic evidence that are going to they could figure out who gave it to him. This case right here rises and falls on the doctor himself. His own text messages are the epic evidence that are going to sink him. And even more so is the initial responding officers in that crime scene is going to finish putting the prosecution's touch on how she died, who supplied her with the evidence. I mean, with the drugs.

And it's an open and shut case. If you ask me, as an investigator, I will tell you, I've had so many families come to me and ask, how can we charge this person? I know they gave them the Oxycontin or they gave them this or that. I'm like, listen, I wish there was more we could do back when I was in law enforcement. I really wish we could. This was handed to law enforcement on a silver platter. The doctor handed them his own evidence through his text messaging. You know, Dr. Angie Arnold, I will never forget, it was maybe the first year I was prosecuting, and I was taking the stairs instead of the elevator in the building. There were many, many floors, fleets of attorneys. And I got off on one floor

and there was a ton of media. The floor was packed. I got right back on the elevator and continued to my floor where my office was. I said, what's happening on seven? Do you remember all in the family? Or what was the other one?ol o'connor was the heat of the night or something anyway his son carol o'connor's son died of a drug overdose and he civilly sued the supplier and that was what was happening but this case goes so much beyond being a supplier this is a depraved murder tell me what the family goes through when they see their loved one literally wasting away. Well, I imagine they feel completely hopeless. Nancy, you can feel completely hopeless about a family member if they're not even wasting away, if there's nothing that you can do that you can seemingly do to help them because families aren't equipped

to to really help people out of this at least they were trying to get to her and get her out of this situation but nancy there is so much wrong in this from the very beginning the mere fact that this doctor was bringing this stuff to his home, who was counting it? Who was counting it? It is awesome. Oh, wait, good question. Dr. Maroney, it's alleged that he illegally obtained the drugs from his practice, including medical apparatus like IV stands, needles, and IV bags. Don't medical practices or dentist practice keep count of the medicine and the paraphernalia and notice when it goes missing? For him to bring this stuff home and say that it was legal, he had to show prescriptions, he had to show medical

needs, he had to show progress notes, and he had to have a billing relationship to supply the drugs and the equipment. And you can guarantee that none of those four things are done. This guy's throwing this stuff in the back of his Audi or his BMW, and he's sneaking it out, bringing it home in a relationship that's inappropriate to somebody who's chemically kidnapped. We wait as justice unfolds. As Lindsay Watts told us, the good doctor is now facing 78 years behind bars. As far as I'm concerned, that's not enough.

If you or someone you love needs help, and we all know that person that needs help please call 1-800-662-HELP 1-800-662-4357 that's the substance abuse helpline goodbye you're listening to an iHeart podcast Goodbye.