Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Children's Author Abuses Three Adopted Children | Crime Alert 6AM 04.14.25

Episode Date: April 14, 2025

A children's book author and her husband abuse and neglect their three adopted children. New York drug counselor is dealing crack under the table! For more crime and justice news go to crimeonline.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to an iHeart Podcast. Crime Alert, I'm Nancy Grace. Breaking crime news now. Jennifer and John Woolfall, adoptive parents to three young children, rushed their eight-year-old daughter to the hospital unconscious in organ failure and injured. The eight-year-old, extremely malnourished,

doctors don't think the swollen bruise on the back of her head and severe cuts are related to a fall. On a visit to the home, police officers find their two older children, nine and 11, also showing signs of neglect and abuse. Nancy, Jennifer Wolfthal is a children's author, but her book, A Real Friend, has now been ripped from shelves. The Wolfthals adopted their children in 2014 and did not regularly feed or bathe them, spanked them to the point of drawing blood, and doused them in bed with cold water, leaving them to sleep in wet bedding. The little girl was diagnosed with

pneumonia and a staph infection, but is said to be doing better after weeks of round-the-clock care. Jennifer and John Wolfthall convicted of aggravated child abuse and neglect resulting in great bodily harm. Sentenced to 12 and 10 years in prison, respectively. In a plea deal, prosecutors struck to avoid re-traumatizing the children at trial. This dealer thought he had the perfect cover for his cocaine business. Alvin Lewis works as a drug counselor at a New York rehab, all while distributing cocaine under the table. After multiple reports from the public, cops send undercovers to visit Lewis, who happily collects their money. Lewis, shocked when he's pulled over

and arrested a few hours later, searches of his home and car reveal a large number of prepackaged baggies of crack. Alvin Lewis, 54, charged with delivery and sale of a controlled substance. More crime and justice news after this. Now with the latest crime and justice breaking news, Crime Online's John Limley. The man who shot and killed a Kentucky sheriff's deputy during a routine traffic stop will spend the rest of his life behind bars. 47-year-old Stephen Shingshang pleaded guilty in a Scott County courtroom to multiple charges, including the 2023 murder of Deputy Caleb Conley. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole plus 70 years,

though that time will run concurrently. Authorities say Shingsheng fled after the shooting, committing a string of crimes across Scott and Fayette counties. In total, he admitted to 14 felonies. Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman has declared that the outcome is justice served. Deputy Conley served four years with the Sheriff's Department and was an eight-year U.S. Army veteran. At sentencing, his family delivered emotional victim impact statements. Coleman says this case sends a clear message. Those who take the life of a Kentucky law enforcement officer

will face the toughest penalties allowed by law. A troubling case has emerged out of Washington state, involving a young woman connected to the fatal shooting of a U.S. Border Patrol agent. As Crime Online's Sydney Sumner tells us, the story has expanded nationally, linking to multiple homicide investigations. 21-year-old Teresa Youngblood has been ordered held without bail, facing federal firearms charges tied to the death of Border Patrol agent David Maland, who was shot on January 20th during a traffic stop in Vermont. Youngblood allegedly opened fire, resulting in a shootout that also claimed the life of her companion, Felix Backholt. Authorities revealed

that the weapon used in the Vermont incident was linked to prior killings in Pennsylvania, where Richard and Rita Zoschko were murdered in their home on December 31, 2022. Both Youngblood and the alleged gun buyer have ties to a person detained in the Zoschko case, which is also a person of interest in a homicide in California. Complicating matters, Jack Lasoda, another individual implicated in these events, faces separate charges of obstructing law enforcement. He was arrested a short distance from the Zoschko crime scene as authorities sought the murder weapon. Lasoda has a checkered history, including a

bizarre incident in 2022 where he was falsely reported dead after a boating accident, only to reemerge later in connection with criminal activities. Additionally, a federal alert has been issued regarding a woman named Michelle Jocklin-Zoschko, reportedly involved in purchasing firearms associated with the Vermont shooting. She shares a home address in Pennsylvania with the Zoschkos from 2016. A preliminary hearing for Youngblood is scheduled for February 7th. Thanks, John. Despite a medical condition that leads to memory loss, Valerie Smiley, 41, is a wonderful mom to four children and runs her own business in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Friday afternoon, she leaves home

in her red Ford Expedition to run errands, but oddly isn't home by dinnertime. Family check, Life 316, it looks like Valerie's all the way in Decatur, an hour north. She's reported missing, and over the next two days, her phone pings in Fayetteville and Union City, Georgia, before cutting off entirely. No one has any explanation for why she would have gone there. Police still searching for Valerie's SUV with Tennessee license plate 079BBRFQQDD and a TSU mom sticker on the back window. Valerie Smiley, African-American, 5'5", 200 pounds, long black curly hair, her name tattooed on her outer right calf, wearing pastel yellow polo shirt, denim shorts. If you have info on Valerie Smiley,

call Chattanooga, Tennessee PD, 423-698-2525. For the latest crime and justice news, go to crimeonline.com. And please join us for our daily podcast, Crime Stories, where we do our very best, along with you, to find missing people, especially children, and solve unsolved homicides. With this Prime Alert, I'm Nancy Grace. You're listening to an iHeart Podcast.