Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Crime Alert Recap Saturday 08.16.25

Episode Date: August 16, 2025

Breaking crime news as it happens throughout the day! Follow "Crime Alert Hourly Update" now on your favorite podcast app: https://link.chtbl.com/Crime_Alert Here's some of our top stories this week:  Mom of two missing. Ex arrested after "arm" seen handing  Bryan Kohberger's phone getting much attention. Tennessee quadruple killer's surprising court action.       Stay informed, stay safe, and stay ahead with "Crime Alert Hourly Update.”See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an IHeart podcast. Every case that is a cold case that has DNA. Right now in a backlog will be identified in our lifetime. On the new podcast, America's Crime Lab, every case has a story to tell. And the DNA holds the truth. He never thought he was going to get caught. And I just looked at my computer screen. I was just like, ah, gotcha.

This technology is already solving so many cases. Listen to America's Crime Lab on the iHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Jackie Howard. Hairstallist Ashley Elkins, 30 disappears from her Michigan home just after New Year's. The mom of two goes out to run errands but never comes home. Ashley's family pushes hard for police to investigate her disappearance, and as they do, video evidence indicates a terrible outcome. Authorities begin investigating Ashley's ex DeAndre Booker 33 after her phone is tracked to Booker's home.

Family members say days before Elkins' disappearance, Booker allegedly showed up to Ashley's home salon under a fake name. The hairdresser hid until he left. Investigators then searched Booker's home, where Roseville police claim to have recovered items which indicate Ashley is a violent crime victim. Video evidence has also surfaced showing a man believed to be Booker pushing a cart toward a dumpster. According to court testimony, the cart contained something covered in a white sheet. The man struggles to lift the contents into the dumpster. An officer testified that he saw what seemed to be an arm hanging off from the cart. The man is not clearly identifiable, but the detective says he appears to have similarities

with Booker's clothing from earlier that day. A dark coat with a fur hood. A fur hood. A fur black pants with holes in them, a black hat, black shoes with white bottoms. Similar clothing was found in Booker's home. Booker has been charged with first-degree murder, tampering with evidence, disinterment, mutilation, and concealing a death. He has pleaded, not guilty. Ashley Elkins' body has not been found. War Crime and Justice News after this.

I'm Nicole. Pardon, new details emerged concerning convicted killer Brian Colberger. On Christmas Day in 2022, Coburger celebrated the holiday with his family, unaware it would be the last taste of freedom he would experience. As many settled in for the night with festivities and food, family and gifts, Kohlberger engaged in a chilling pursuit. He began downloading extensive information about serial killers. This wasn't just a casual search.

He focused on over 20 specific individuals notorious for their crimes, a task that kept him busy well into the early hours of the next day, according to digital forensics expert, Heather Barnhart. Barnhart, a Sands Institute fellow and senior director of forensic research, was enlisted by the Laitaugh County Prosecutor's Office to investigate Kohlberger's cell phone and hard drive in search of evidence. By the time her team received the devices, much had been deleted. However, they uncovered a significant amount of downloads from the fateful day due to one critical error, Colberger made.

Many believe that downloads made incognito mode remain private, but that's a misconception, Barnhart clarifies. Although Colberger attempted to erase his desktop and hard drive of incriminating files, he overlooked clearing his Android device. This oversight led Barnhart to discover his downloads on notorious serial killers, including Betty Lou Beetz, Randy Kraft, William Lee, Cody Neal, Danny Rowling, Joel Rifkin, Ted Bundy, Glenn Rogers, Carrie Stainer, John Wayne Gasey, Robert Hanson, Gary Ridgeway, David Parker, Dennis Rader, and others. Interestingly, Barnhart noted that Kohlberger had previously researched Danny Rowling, the Gainesville Ripper on November 19, just a week after the murders took place. The Idaho murders bore a striking resemblance to Rowling's heinous acts of 1990, where he killed five college students, four women, and one man by breaking into their homes through the sliding glass door and fatally stabbing them with a K-bar knife. Similarly, Kohlberger also murdered four college students, three women, one man, using the same method of entry and the same weapon. The primary distinction lies in the fact that Rowling sexually assaulted his victims, while prosecutors have found no evidence suggesting Kohlberger did the same. Unlike Kohlberger, Rowling was executed for his crimes.

In the aftermath of the murders, Kohlberger closely followed the developments of the case, downloading updates from the Moscow Police Department. nine times between November 26 and December 28, including four different versions on December 28 alone. Just three days later, he was arrested by Pennsylvania state troopers, leading to Barnhart's involvement in examining his digital evidence. Having lent her forensic expertise to high-profile cases, including Crystal Rogers case and the Delphi murders, Barnhart led a team that included Jared Barnhart, Josh Hickman, N. Wiffin, and others. They face the challenges of piecing together evidence left by Kohlberger, a former criminology student who had been meticulous in erasing his digital footprint. Fortunately, the extensive downloads on serial killers provided a crucial

breakthrough. In the end, everyone makes mistakes, Bart Hart concluded. Listen, this is a shooting that is so ridiculous in nature that you can't even expect. I'm Drew Nelson. Four senior citizens are recovering after a shooting at a Detroit senior living complex. The police say began as a love triangle. The incident happened at Sheridan Place apartments on East Jefferson Avenue. Prosecutors say 78-year-old James Albert Britton argued with a 65-year-old man during a barbecue behind their building. Witnesses say Britain was angry over his former girlfriend, a 65-year-old woman dating the man who is in a wheelchair. Some neighbors first thought the conflict was about loud music.

Deputy Chief Arnold Williams said Britain told the group if they did not stop, he would, quote, come down and take care of them. He came down, start firing shots. Three people were wounded from him firing those shots. One of the individuals who was shot tackled him, took him to the ground. He dropped his weapon. August America picked a weapon up in his self-defense, fired a weapon and wounded him. All three victims thankfully survived.

When you're in your 70s, this shot. should not be what's going on. All four people were taken to Detroit receiving hospital in stable condition. Britain was arraigned on Thursday on four counts of assault with intent to murder and multiple weapons charges. He's being held on a half million dollar cash or surety bond with conditions of GPS monitoring on house arrest. A bond hearing is set for Monday with more court dates on August 27th and September 3rd.

The shooting prompted Detroit council member Mary Waters to call for the establishment of conflict resolution teams and what she called quote unquote high priority senior living facilities. She said her office will work with police and health officials to address gun violence and such trauma in those settings. I'm Jennifer Gould. A quadruple murder suspect accused of executing four family members in a West Tennessee slaughter is about to become a father with a woman who is not only a former prison guard

where he was incarcerated, but is also the relative of his. victims. Austin Drummond, 28, who is facing the death penalty for the brutal killings, appeared in court to face his charges. But the shocking twist came when his attorney requested a judge modify a no contact order so Drummond could communicate with his pregnant girlfriend, Caitlin Speed. Drummond's attorney spoke to the media. The family has indicated, at least reached out to me, that she would like to at least give him a message. We don't want to violate any the no contact restraining orders, so I just wanted to clarify. The judge denied the request, but the public now knows the full disturbing truth of their

relationship. Speed, a former corrections officer, is reportedly carrying Drummond's child a boy due in October. The baby will be a first cousin to two of his alleged victims. The heinous crime unfolded on July 29th, when the bodies of James Matthew Wilson 21. Adrianna Williams, 20, Courtney Rose, 38, and Braden Williams 15 were discovered in a wooded area in Tiptonville. Authorities later confirmed that all four victims had been shot to death. A seven-month-old infant, the daughter of Wilson and Adriana Williams, was found abandoned but safe in a front yard, nearly 40 miles away. Drummond was captured after a week-long manhunt, hiding in a poolhouse. The relationship between Drummond and Caitlin Speed began while he was serving a 13-year sentence for armed robbery at Northwest Correctional Complex.

At that time, Speed was a corrections officer at the facility and is the sister of victim Courtney Rose. Photos and videos posted on a Facebook account believed to belong to Drummond show a disturbingly lavish prison life with him posing with self, phones, a handheld video game system, and even a bottle of Chirac liquor. These privileges and contraband items strictly prohibited have fueled speculation that his romance with speed enabled these actions. The Tennessee Department of Corrections fired speed in October of 2024, citing her relationship with Drummond. Despite her termination, they continued their relationship.

The motive for the killings remains under investigation. One of the victim's relatives wrote on social media that Drummond had been, quote, nothing short of amazing, end quote, to the family making the alleged crimes and even more profound shock to all. Drummond's next court date is September 4th. For the latest crime and justice news, follow the Crime Alert hourly update on your favorite podcast app. With this crime alert, I'm Jennifer Gould. Every case that is a cold case that has DNA right now in a backlog. will be identified in our lifetime.

On the new podcast, America's Crime Lab, every case has a story to tell, and the DNA holds the truth. He never thought he was going to get caught, and I just looked at my computer screen. I was just like, ah, gotcha. This technology's already solving so many cases. Listen to America's Crime Lab

on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Thank you.