Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - String of young women's dead bodies leads to to mixed martial arts champ Cedric Marks?

Episode Date: April 1, 2020

Mixed martial arts champ Cedric Marks is behind bars charged in the deaths of former girlfriend Jenna Scott and her friend, Michael Swearingin. He is now facing new charges. Authorities say he killed the mother of his son, April Pease. She has been missing for more than 11 years.Joining Nancy Grace today: Ashley Willcott - Judge and trial attorney  Cloyd Steiger - 36 years with Seattle Police Department, 22-year homicide detective, author of "Seattle's Forgotten Serial Killer: Gary Gene Grant"   Karen Smith - Los Angeles forensics expert, lecturer at the University of Florida, host of "Shattered Souls" podcast. Dr. Kendall Von Crowns - Deputy Medical Examiner, Travis County, Texas   Dr. Daniel Bober - Forensic psychiatrist  Levi Page - 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. Nancy Grace is coming to Fox Nation. I want justice. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace, available now only on Fox Nation. How does a trail of missing women connect to the world of mixed martial arts. How? First, one woman goes missing, a 28-year-old mom, then another. But what does that have to do with the phenomena of mixed martial arts?

It's highly popular here in the U.S. and across the world. But right now, I'm interested in the connection between two dead bodies. I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. How does a string of gorgeous young missing women fit into the world of mixed martial arts? How does that happen? Or did it happen? I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories.

Thank you for being with us here on Fox Nation and Sirius XM 111. When a beautiful young mom goes missing, Jenna Scott, that raises the alarm. Take a listen to our friends joining us, ABC 25 KXXV News. This is Erin Heft. Listen. It's breaking my heart. I've got a 10-year-old granddaughter that I have to help find her mother. There's so many people that love you. We're all looking for you. We just hope you come home. Jenna Scott and Michael Swearengin vanished January 4th without a trace. Their car found in East Austin, but no evidence of them. With more than a week having passed, their loved ones can't sit by any longer. They don't have that many people, so we're just trying to be a resource.

Family and friends voluntarily come together, trying to find Jenna and Michael or any trace of them in places just like this that back up to Michael's property. But the family's not stopping there. Every foot on the road counts. A lot of land, though. A lot of land. Anywhere between Temple, Austin, the clean Belton area.

We're just kind of searching everywhere. Michael's mother, Deborah Harrison, explained Michael and Jenna are good friends and have a strictly platonic relationship. Since the two went missing, Jenna missed her daughter's 10th birthday, something very uncharacteristic of Jenna, the family says. Yeah, it'll be a cold day in H-E-L-L before I miss the twins' 10th birthday. That was a blowout. Cake, jumpy house, presents, the works.

In fact, if somebody doesn't get a nosebleed or throw up, it just wasn't a good time. But why would a mom miss her 10-year-old's birthday? It doesn't make sense. And then after a week, she's gone. Everybody knows something is horribly wrong. And not just her. I'm talking about a 28-year-old beauty, Jenna Scott, but her best friend, Michael Swearingen, age 32. They both go missing.

Highly uncharacteristic for this young mom to be away from her children. Joining me in all-star panel to break it down and put it back together again, judge and trial lawyer Ashley Wilcott, anchor at Court TV at AshleyWilcott.com. 36 years on Seattle PD, 22 as a homicide detective, author of Seattle's Forgotten Serial Killer, Gary Jean Grant. I haven't forgotten him. Cloyd Steiger, a renowned forensics expert, joining me and host of Shattered Souls podcast. Karen Smith, joining us from L.A. The deputy medical examiner out of Travis County.

That's Austin, Texas. Dr. Kendall Crowns, forensic psychiatrist. You can find him on Instagram. Dr. Daniel Bober joining me out of the Florida jurisdiction. Dr. Daniel Bober. But right now, let's start with CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter Levi Page. Levi is my firm belief. If anybody on the panel disagrees, let me know. Maybe you've got a better method, that the first thing you do in an investigation is start your timeline as you can best discern it at the time. And I want to start with this very tangled ball of yarn with Jenna Scott, 28 years old. Who, what, where, why, when? First of all, when was Jenna last seen?

Where? And what can you tell me about her in particular? So, Nancy, it's January 4th, 2019 in Temple, Texas. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Temple, Texas. Jackie, can you tell me the population and the gen... I think I know. Hey, hey, I've got crowns.

Wait a minute, Jack. Dr. Kendall Crowns, Temple, hey, I've got crowns. Wait a minute, Jack. Dr. Kendall Crowns, Temple, Texas. Texas is a big state. Where is it in Texas? Give it to me relationally, like it's close to Houston or it's close to Austin. And if you know the population, what can you tell me about Temple, Texas? I believe it's between Dallas and Austin, about an hour and a half outside of Austin. As far as the population is concerned, I do not know. Well, you know what? Sadly, Google beat you. Okay. Jackie's waving at me. Population of about 76,000. And where is it? Did you say, Kendall? Oh, about an hour and a half outside of Austin, between Austin and Dallas. It's north of Austin.

Okay, so it's about midway, would you say, between Austin and Dallas? I believe so, but I'm sure Google knows better. Yeah, Google. Jack, let's go to Google. Sorry, you know, I guess I didn't teach you that in medical school, Dr. Crowns. Back to you, Levi Page. $76,000 for a town in the metro area surrounding it, having come from a small town. That's small. So Levi, she comes from a small town in the middle

of Texas, about halfway between Austin and Houston. I'm just imagining that in my mind. And that's significant as it relates to her disappearance. Because, you know, Ashley Wilcott, judge and trial lawyer, Court TV anchor, the reality is if you're in New York, LA, Atlanta, you've got major interstates whizzing by your home, right? A lot different when you're looking at a small town disappearance. It narrows the pool of perps. Would you agree or disagree, Ash? Absolutely, it narrows the pool of perps. Not only that, Nancy, but you know as well as I do, in a smaller town, even one of that size,

people talk, people know the personalities, people know the people, which can make a huge difference in knowing this, something was wrong. Something was amiss for her to miss her 10-year year old's birthday. Levi Page, I don't know how you got us off the subject like that. You really got us out in the weeds. Let's get back in the middle of it. OK, I did it. Levi, back back to the beginning.

Tell me about Jenna Scott, 28 year old mom disappearance. Go. So Nancy, she was a nurse and she was going back to school to get her master's in counseling all of her friends say that this is the the girl that you went to if you had a problem to talk to so she took what she was good at and was going to be a counselor and she almost graduated until she vanished january 4th 2019 she was last seen with her friend, Michael Swearingen. He's 32 years old. They were friends for about a decade. Very close, but a platonic relationship, not romantic.

And he vanished as well. At his home, the alarm system was going off, but the security footage was missing. And then there was a search for these two friends you know a lot of people say a man and a woman can't be friends I disagree because I recall distinctly when I left Atlanta as a prosecutor and moved to New York I knew. And I made the best friend at Court TV, who turned out to be my first line producer daytime,

and we're still so close this very day. Justin, he came with me to HLN after years at Court TV. Then he went to CNN. Now he's back at Fox. Still to this day. Same thing with my executive producer on Nancy Grayson Larry King Dean so we were friends oh gosh Jackie Dean and I have been best friends since I'm went up back at Court TV as well to this very day so long story short a lot of people may raise their eyebrow that these two disappeared together.

But you heard the family say they're just platonic. I mean, it is possible, Dr. Kendall Krause, isn't it? Yes, it is. I totally agree. And what about you, Dr. Daniel Bober, forensic psychiatrist? It is possible for these two to disappear. Not off on some romantic getaway to a Caribbean island, but they go somewhere as friends and then they never come home.

A lot of people have suggested Michael Swearingen was more than a friend. That was simply not true, Dr. Bober. Well, I think in this day and age, we tend to think there's always more involved, but sure, it's possible that they're just friends. But what happened to Jenna? Back to you, Levi Page, she goes missing, but sure, it's possible that they're just friends. But what happened to Jenna? Back to you, Levi Page. She goes missing, you said, back in January. And what first gets the attention of her family?

When she didn't show up to the birthday party of her daughter, she just turned 10 years old. Well, okay. What we know is this. Take a listen to WC, excuse me, KCEN-TV reporter. This is Jasmine Caldwell. Well, the crime scene tape has been removed, but this is the abandoned property where Michael Swearingen and Jenna Scott were found. In this quiet backyard in this small Oklahoma town of about 56 people sits the shallow graves or temple residents Jenna Scott. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Welcome back, everybody. I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories.

Thank you for joining us at Fox Nation and Sirius XM 111. As you just heard, the bodies of Jenna Scott and Michael Swearengin were found far, far away in shallow graves. To Levi Page, what can you tell me about the discovery of their, first let's start with where were their bodies discovered? So their bodies were discovered in a makeshift grave, 350 miles away in rural Oklahoma in a town called Clairview, Oklahoma, and it was discovered 11 days after they went missing. Well clearly this tells me Cloyd Steiger it was some murder-suicide pact. Analyze

the scene for me Cloyd Steiger Seattle PD now author. Well yeah of course it's not a suicide pact because you have to kill yourself and bury yourself so. In a shallow grave. Yeah in a shallow grave. Yeah well the first thing you'd want to know is what is there about that area that these people would be in or that somebody that knew them would be in. And what was going on in their lives. And you just have to start basically a background profile on the victim. I just want to follow up on what you just said before it gets away like a runaway train. Levi Page, Chloece tiger is right

yet again the location the location is significant i'll tell you why this is a great example you've heard me use it before levi scott peterson his wife and unborn child go missing where is she his fishing hole san francisco bay some cadaverver dogs take the scent from her home there on Covina in Modesto and follow it 45 minutes by car, by the way, that's how far away it was, to the San Francisco Bay and they stop right there. So that's his fishing hole. And we've seen it over and over and over. Dr. Bober, why is it? It's like a dog that circles and then sits down. Why do people bury bodies, get rid of evidence, or always go back to familiar locations?

You're the shrink. Why? Because people tend to fall back on old patterns of behavior, and it's their comfort zone, and that's usually where they stay in. Okay, this is what I like to do. Everybody think for one moment. If you had to get rid of a dead body, just think, Jackie, you too. I'm sure you've thought about it before. Where would you hide it?

I immediately think of hiding holes back home in Bibb County, Macon, Georgia, where I grew up. I mean, you go somewhere with which you are familiar. So whoever did this, I mean, Levi Page, tell me about where is it again? It's in Clearview, Oklahoma. It's an extremely rural area. This town has a population of 56. What? 56? 56.00. 56 people, yes. Okay, that's not something you just come upon. Joining me is a forensics expert, now the host of Shattered Souls podcast. Joining me out of California, Karen Smith, what does that tell you? That tells me that somebody is familiar with that area.

I don't see this as something that somebody drove through and just decided to stop. 56 people, Nancy? Everybody knows everybody. I don't see this as something that somebody drove through and just decided to stop. 56 people, Nancy? Uh-uh. Everybody knows everybody. I don't know. I don't know. I want to hear that one more time, Jack, and I want to hear it all the way through. Our friend Jasmine Caldwell at KCEN-TV.

Well, the crime scene tape has been removed, but this is the abandoned property where Michael swearing gin and Jenna Scott were found in this quiet backyard in this small Oklahoma town of about 56 people since the shallow graves or temple residents, Jenna Scott and Michael swearing gin were found. We were very surprised and we didn't want that negativity about our town. Shirley Nero is the local historian here in Clearview. She said the nearly all-black town is historic in the state of Oklahoma. This was a former agriculture area,

and a lot of the people that a lot of them worked on these farms that were owned by whites. Lately, she says all anyone can talk about is the bodies found in the backyard. We were shocked. We were just really shocked that that could happen here in Clearview. You're hearing from local residents, one of 56, shocked that two dead bodies are found in a shallow grave. A question to you, Dr. Kendall Crowns, Deputy Medical Examiner, Travis County, Texas. That's Austin. Why do we always hear shallow grave, buried in a shallow grave? How many thousands of times have I grave, buried in a shallow grave? How many thousands of times have I announced found buried in a shallow grave? It's always a shallow

grave. Why? Because it's harder to dig deeper into the ground to get a standard depth of a traditional grave, which I believe is about eight feet. Most people get tired after about a foot, and then about three feet, they think it's's good enough and then they just cover them up with dirt and run off. Just the way you said that, I'm thinking of this young mom. I wish you could see her because I'm looking at her picture right now. Jenna Scott. Michael Swearingen, her best friend, 32 years old, also found in a shallow grave. To you, Levi Page, CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter, what can you tell me about the COD cause of death?

Well, we know that Michael Swearingen, the autopsy noted that he died of asphyxiation. He was strangled. The autopsy also noted that he had abrasions on his hands, indicating that he struggled with whoever killed him. Jenna Scott's autopsy, it ruled that she died of homicidal violence the medical examiner found black adhesive residue on her face her neck she had fractured ribs contusions and abrasion on her wrists and ankles her mouth had been taped and her arms and legs had been bound and she was beaten okay back to you dr. Kendall crowns let's analyze the cause of death

and the injuries to the body. What can you tell me? From the types of injuries described, for the male especially, it does appear that he tried to fight back with the abrasions on his arms and hands. The female with adhesive tape, she was probably taped up before she was killed, probably a similar manner to the male as well, asphyxiated or strangled in some way, even though they've used homicidal violence, which is a term used when they're not 100% sure exactly the method that the person died in. But the fact that they have tape residue and they're found in a shallow grave, they obviously died from a homicide. Thinking about that tape, I mean, that is a treasure trove of evidence. Wouldn't you agree with that, Ashley Wilcott? Duct tape or tape on the body? It's got to be covered in fingerprints, hair, fibers, skin cells, you name it, from the

perp. Yeah, absolutely. And so one thing, just strictly from a judicial evidence collection perspective, when you have these types of injuries, the duct tape, like you said, the good news is it is a whole source of evidence to identify the perpetrator. Like you said, fingerprints, DNA. It's hard for someone to not leave any of that behind when they've used this method even wearing gloves fibers hair from your clothes get on that duct tape but something you said was very significant to Levi Page and we also heard it from the reporter our friend that just stated, Jasmine Caldwell, about the owner of the property. Tell me about the property. So, Nancy, this was in Clearview, Oklahoma, Nancy, where these shallow graves were found. And there are 56 people that were living here.

And it has ties to one of the victim's ex-boyfriends who was an MMA fighter. Whoa, whoa, whoa. Jenna Scott's ex-boyfriend named? Yes, Cedric Marks. Cedric Marks. Cedric Marks, a 44-year-old MMA fighter. MMA, mixed martial arts. I mean, bam!

Right there. He's connected to her sexually. He's an ex-boyfriend. Ex. There's a reason they're an ex. I have people ask me all the time, Nancy, should I get back with my ex-husband, my boyfriend? There's a reason they're an ex. So she

happens to turn up dead in a shallow grave with her bestie on the property of her ex-boyfriend, who is a famous mixed martial arts expert. Hi guys, Nancy Grace here. 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. After interviewing literally hundreds of crime victims and police, we put our knowledge into Don Don't be a victim. You can pre-order now. Go to 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, we are analyzing the case of a missing beauty, Jenna Scott, a mom, 28 years old, and her best friend, Michael Swearingen. We know their bodies have been found hundreds and hundreds of miles away from Oklahoma in Texas and a town of about 56 people. Reverse, from Texas in Oklahoma and a town of about 56 people. That happens to be the property of her ex-boyfriend, a mixed martial arts star, Cedric Marks. Take a listen to this. Our friends at KCEN TV Channel 6. When they picked him up and put him on that van, he should have never

gone anywhere but Bell County. Marks was being transported from Michigan to Texas in connection to the deaths of his ex-girlfriend Jenna Scott and her friend Michael Swearingen. The day before agents picked up Marks, Kerwin says the agents called him to ask if they should transport Marks. He was accused of two

murders, maybe three, and they were going to have to put him in a van with nine other inmates. And they said that's not a good idea because he had made all kinds of threats. Kerwin says eventually the agents were told by management to put what's called a black box over Mark's handcuffs for extra security. But when they stopped at McDonald's, Kerwin says one of the agents opened the back door so inmates could get some fresh air and Mark saw his opportunity to escape. Cedric Marks, all he had to do was kick the gate and it came open and he just simply stepped out and walked away. I want to laugh, but it's horrible. They're transporting, I think, nine felony inmates,

including a guy who's suspected of two murders. And they stop at McDonald's. And of course, this professional mixed martial arts specialist escapes. Not only do they stop at McDonald's. Why? They couldn't hold it. They had to get a cup of coffee. Why?

Why? They stop at McDonald's and then they open the van door. Can you imagine driving through the McDonald's with your children in the back of your car and you see an inmate transport with the door open and all the guys just sitting there like they're on their lunch break? No. and of course he escapes okay straight out to cloyd seiger what is a black box as it relates to containing someone in handcuffs well i'm not really familiar with it but i'm sure it's something to do with uh covering the locks and so we can't that's exactly what it is that's exactly what it is. You ever seen a lockbox when a home is up for sale and they put a lockbox on the door handle?

Sure. It's a box. It's hard to get into. And that's what they had, kind of a black box that's supposed to be impenetrable around his handcuffs. What happened? Levi Page, why in the hay with nine felony inmates in a van do they stop at McDonald's?

To feed the prisoners, Nancy. That just rolled off the tip of their tongue. They couldn't wait until they get to the CI, the Correctional Institute? You know, they were transporting them from Michigan, Nancy. I'm sure it's a long ride. I don't know why they had to stop at McDonald's, but they did it to feed the inmates when he escaped.

And he was found hiding in a trash can, Nancy. Okay, just hold on just a moment. I'm trying to focus on the escape. Extremely dangerous double murderer, mixed martial arts star, escapes from a police van. I'm reading a headline. During a stop at McDonald's. They go on a manhunt. Okay, you know, this sounds like something in the Keystone Cops comedy, but it's real.

If you don't, for the thought that it may be funny, imagine what this young mom's family thought when they think they finally get the guy. And then he escapes at a McDonald's. Tell me about the manhunt. Levi? So the manhunt lasted hours, Nancy. And they ultimately discovered him half a mile from the McDonald's. And he was still in his orange jumpsuit. And he was hiding inside of a trash can.

This guy is no idiot, Levi. Take a listen to a police newser. This is Lieutenant Dorsey McGinnis out of Conroe, Texas, trying to make lemonade out of some very bitter lemons. This morning at approximately 7.20 a.m., the Conroe Police Dispatch received a call from Texas Prisoners Transport Services advising of an escapee from their transport van. The escapee, identified as Cedric Joseph Marks, he's a black male with a date of birth of 7-15-74,

was able to elude custody when the transport van stopped at McDonald's at 801 North Loop 336 West. Marks escaped on foot and in an eastern direction. Marks was in transport from Grand Rapids, Michigan, after being captured by the US Marshals for a warrant for burglary of a habitation with intent to commit another felony. The Texas Prisoner Transport Services was en route to Bell County at the time of their stop. Marks also has warrants for the murders of Michael Swearingen, age 32, and Jenna Scott, age 28, in an investigation that began in Temple, Texas in January of 2019.

Hold on. I want to correct something. These were not sheriff's deputies that were transporting them. These were employees of a private company called Texas Prisoner Transport Services. So we can't lay blame at the Texas Rangers, Texas Police, Texas

Sheriffs. It was a private company that let this guy slip through their fingers and then when they get him after a massive manhunt, he's taken off his prison shirt. That was smart. Because when you see a guy walking around in an orange jumpsuit, you think, uh-oh, there's a criminal. Or a white outfit with stripes down the side. You know immediately that's an inmate. He had taken off his shirt and put on a jean jacket when he was caught. Okay, let's go back to you, Levi Page. They catch him after a massive manhunt and take him where?

He is transported to Texas to face charges for burglary, Nancy, because he broke into the home of Jenna Scott. She had called police because she was asleep with her child, nine years old. He broke into her home and threatened to kill her. She called police and he ran away. So he was taken back to Texas on those charges and then later charged with the double murder of Jenna Scott. Okay, I want you to take a listen to KCEN-TV reporter Jasmine Caldwell. A few weeks ago, I wrote a letter to Cedric Marks to ask if he had anything to do with the murder of Jenna Scott and Michael Swearingen. He did not give me a yes or no answer, but he did tell me he knows who harmed Jenna Scott,

but did not provide a name he also told me that maya maxwell is eight months pregnant with his baby maxwell is the woman who told investigators that marks killed jenna scott and michael swearingen she is facing capital murder charges and tampering with evidence related to the case. Marks claimed that Maxwell received threats from her lawyer and that her lawyer was blocking her email, her mail, and visits. Now, I reached out to Maxwell's attorney, who told me at no point did he ever threaten her or block her from calling anyone or refused her visits. Marks says he thinks prosecutors are trying to force Maxwell into a plea deal later this week.

Now, Maxwell's attorney says she was scheduled to appear in court later this week, but that court appearance was moved to sometime in June. I don't get it. So he's got one dead ex, who is the mother of one of his children, I think, and her best friend dead. And now this other woman is coming forward, Maya Maxwell, pregnant with his child. Dr. Daniel Bober, what do women see in guys like this? I mean, I know a lot of women may think he's handsome or buff.

He's a lean, mean fighting machine. I mean that literally. He's a mixed martial arts star. But what do they see in these guys? Well, is a lean mean fighting machine but i think you know women sometimes go for the bad boy the rebel the one that sometimes skirts the law so i think that's what it is i think that's the attraction okay so that same old theory that women are after bad guys that they don't like the good guys i'm happy to say that my husband is one of the good guys, and I don't fall for bad boys.

Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Guys, we are talking about the disappearance and the death of a beautiful young mom, Jenna Scott, and her boyfriend, Michael Swearingen. And it's all tied into the world of mixed martial arts and an MMA star, Cedric Marks, who has the 31-win record. Pretty impressive. But that's not the end of it. It's not the end, I'm sorry to say, with the death of Jenna Scott,

when she doesn't show up for her child's 10th birthday. Take a listen to our friends at KCEN-TV. This is Channel 6 News reporter Cole Johnson. At this point, Marks has not been charged with murder, but today he was named a person of interest in the 2009 disappearance of April Pease. You want answers. I do. The last we heard, she's going to go to Minnesota for treatment,

and my sister is hopeful with that, and we didn't hear anything after that. Pease's uncle says the worst part is the not knowing. Not knowing if she's just hiding somewhere or she's in fact dead. Since her disappearance, Pisa's son has been living with Marks, but now that Marks is behind bars waiting to be extradited back to Texas, and authorities say his wife, along with his girlfriend, are locked up in Muskegon for harboring a fugitive and tampering with evidence. Pease's family is now trying to get custody of the boy. I'm just sick in my heart to hear this. So after

Jenna Scott and Michael Swearingen are killed, transported hundreds of miles, left in a shallow grave. Somehow, this mixed martial arts star escapes police custody, and now we have another dead body? Apparently, this young woman, April Pease, the mother of Cedric Mark's four-year-old son, had been beaten horribly. Can you imagine having a fight with an MMA star? She had been beaten brutally by Cedric Marks and had fled to a battered women's shelter. But somehow she was lured out of the shelter and she's never been seen alive again. Levi Page, tell me about April Pease, the mother of Cedric Mark's little boy. Okay, she's 20 years old, Nancy, and she vanished in 2009, like you said,

from a domestic violence shelter, and here's what happened. We know that she left Cedric Mark. She had a four-year-old with him. were involved in a custody battle and she fled to this domestic violence now let me understand something is this before or after Jenna Scott goes missing this is before this is in 2000 so this predates Jenna Scott okay go ahead and ten years before so he had a girlfriend at the time named Christine Sorensen, Cedric Marks did, and they went to look for April Peace, and they found her at this domestic violence shelter. And Sorensen said that she helped Cedric Marks find her. They waited outside the shelter. They saw her, and Cedric Marks grabbed her, attacked her, and put her in Christine Sorensen's vehicle. They started driving. Cedric Marks told her to pull over. She did. And then Cedric Marks dragged April Peace to a wooded area out of her eyesight, and he returned moments later crying, and he said that he killed her. her and also removed her hands and teeth so if her body is ever discovered that they will

not be able to identify her. And that body, her body, April's body has never been found. To Dr. Kendall Crowns, deputy medical examiner joining me out of Travis County, that's Austin, Texas, removed her hands and pulled all of her teeth out of her head so she could never be identified if her body was found. This is the mother of his little boy. Have you ever seen anything like that? I've never seen someone actually remove someone's teeth before. But I have seen them cut the appendages off and cut heads off in an attempt to make it so you couldn't identify him. One time there was an individual who killed his girlfriend and then sawed her body into parts

with a bandsaw and distributed them all over a park. And he made sure to make the hands disappear. But the sad thing is, is they don't seem to realize that we can still get DNA from these body parts and still identify the person that way. Just curious, Dr. Kendall Crowns, when you, you know, go out for a pizza, what do you talk about? What do I talk about? Not this, I hope. I don't usually talk about this. No, I actually have five children, so I talk about my kids quite a bit.

Good, good to know. Do you catch yourself doing that Ashley Wilcott you just start talking about murder when you probably shouldn't do I ever I mean absolutely just because of what I do for a living and what I see could I just add to this though I mean it's so gruesome it's so horrible it's so horrific, okay, I don't even know where to start. This martial arts fighter and the acts of violence that he's allegedly committed and confessed to mean that he is a hardcore criminal. And the good news is by having all this evidence that he's put out there because of how he's done things, that's good news so that the system can seek and receive justice.

That's true, but what I don't understand is why the system screwed up. He killed April Peace, and I don't understand why now, in the last days, he's just getting charged with the murder of April Peace, the mother of his child. This happened back in 2009. If it had been handled then and he had gone behind bars, what were they blinded because he's a mixed martial arts star? Because I'm not. He looks like the devil to me.

So if he had been arrested then, maybe Jenna and Michael Swearingen would be alive right now. And speaking of evidence, which as as she will correctly just did, Karen Smith, you are the forensics expert. Why hasn't her body been found, number one? But have you ever seen a case where they tried to hide the ID of the victim by cutting off the hands and pulling out all the teeth? No. Like the doctor, I've never seen the teeth pulled. Hands cut off, yes. Heads cut off, yes. Unfortunately, I have. Going back to why they haven't found her body, I'd like to know that as well. You have a witness who states she was there. Have they taken her back to try to find the location where they

pulled off to the side of the road by these woods to find the body. I've had that done before. We took a young man out to, we drove around for hours and hours trying to find this location, drove down a dirt road and he started screaming, there it is. Oh my God, there it is. So you have to take this, I think it was Christine Sorenson, I think it was her name, take her back back try to find the location and see if you can find that body that should be priority right there right there you just mentioned the name it's kelly sorenson and you're right karen smith yet another woman under his spell and this one apparently goes with him to lure April out of the Batter Women's Center. And she does. She comes out and she ends up dead.

Take a listen to Jasmine Caldwell, KCEN. District Attorney Henry Garza announced he's pushing for the death penalty against Cedric Marks. He's the former MMA fighter accused of killing Jenna and Michael, his ex-girlfriend and her friend. In a recent phone interview, Marks told me he's innocent. But I'm not guilty at all. I did not kill Michael Swanton. I definitely didn't kill Jenna Scott. Legal analyst Liz Mitchell says death penalty cases are slow moving and expensive. And you see that these cases really are saved for the worst of the worst, the most egregious, the most heinous cases. Now that the state is seeking the death penalty, lawyers from the Regional Public Defender for

Capital Cases Office in Austin have been appointed to represent Marks. I reached out to the families of the victims. In a statement, Michael's mother told me, we are all in agreement that the death penalty was best. Cedric Marks already lived longer than Michael and Jenna. There is a such thing as righteous anger and punishment. We are good Christian people, but we feel this was the best option. Finally behind bars. I wonder if there are any other bodies to be discovered. We wait as justice unfolds.

Nancy Grace, Crime Story, signing off. Goodbye, friend. You're listening to an iHeart Podcast.