Serialously with Annie Elise - 67: Suzanne Morphew's Remains Found, Crystal Rogers Arrest, & Take Care of Maya Trial

Starting point is 00:00:00 Hey true crime besties, welcome back to this week's episode of Headline Highlights on the podcast Serialistly. So for those of you who guys are brand new here, let me just kind of break down what our schedule is like and what it is we do over here on Serialistly. First, my name is Annie, and I am your true crime bestie. I am breaking down all the different true crime cases for you, giving you the updates on existing cases, just talking with you through it like we're besties, like we're friends, and just breaking it down for you. We do deep dives of true crime cases every single Monday, and then on Thursdays, we do headline highlights where we break down all of the new updates and new cases that are breaking in the true crime world, which there are a lot every single day.

Starting point is 00:01:10 So, you know, there is never any shortage. We also do ad-free bonus episodes every Friday. So if you're looking for a bigger true crime fix because you're just not getting enough during the week, you can sign up for those bonus episodes either through Apple Podcasts or over on Patreon, which I will link in the show notes below. So now that you kind of have the gist of it, welcome to this week's version of Headline Highlights. In today's episode, we are going to discuss the latest news on everything going on in the true crime world right now, because there are some updates in a few of the cases that we have been covering, and there are some new cases that have made headlines this week. In this episode, we are talking about a manhunt underway for an extremely dangerous convicted felon

Starting point is 00:01:54 who is suspected of killing a 26-year-old female tech CEO. We're going to be talking about Rex Heuermann, the alleged Long Island serial killer, and his court appearance and some new information that has been released regarding that case. We also will be talking about Rachel Morin, the Maryland woman whose unidentified murderer has now been on the run for 50 days. We've got updates in the batshit crazy Taylor Shabiznes, who is back in court, had her sentencing. She's crazy. We did a deep dive on her. I'll put that in the show notes too because that case is like wild. There's also some updates in the Justice for Maya movement. You may have heard of that from Netflix and the documentary that was

Starting point is 00:02:37 on there. And then, of course, Alex Murdoch because we can't really talk about any sort of updates without him always just creeping his way into them. And the new Netflix season two has been released, and so there are some shocking new claims with that, and we're going to talk about it. And then lastly, we're going to talk about an arrest that was finally made in connection with the Crystal Rogers case, which I did a deep dive of earlier this week on my YouTube channel, 10 to Life. I will also link that in the description. That case has been wild. It's been going on for almost a decade. There were no big arrests made until recently. And then this week, bam, her previous

Starting point is 00:03:15 boyfriend was arrested. So a lot to talk about. So let's get right into it. Let's start with the batshit crazy Taylor Shabizness. And I just want to say, every time I say her last name, I swear it's fake, but it's not. That's her name, Taylor Shabizness. So Taylor was sentenced on Tuesday following her guilty conviction after jurors found that she was not criminally insane for the death of Shad Therian, whom she quite literally butchered, beheaded, and then sexually assaulted him after she killed him. Like I said, if you haven't heard this case, there is a podcast episode and even a video version where we go over everything, and it is horrifying. There really aren't words to describe how truly

Starting point is 00:03:57 gruesome and sick Taylor is. The judge sentenced Taylor to life in prison without the possibility of parole. During the sentencing, Taylor was wearing a spit mask over her face, like covered around her face, because that is how unhinged and unpredictable she truly is. The judge and Shad's family had some interesting things to say to her during the sentencing as well. To take the cowardly path that you did and to make other people suffer because you were suffering is pretty shitty. So that name Taylor Shit Business fits you well. And I'm not a praying man, but after Judge Walsh's sentence used today, I will pray that you meet the same fate as your idolistic

Starting point is 00:04:47 Jeffrey Dahmer. So have a good life, shit business. So, Mr. Business, this is your opportunity to address me if there's anything on your mind you'd like to say before I pass sentence. No, there isn't. Okay.

Starting point is 00:05:04 In this case, you seem to run out of superlatives when describing what happened in this case. You really do. The list of superlatives don't seem to measure up to what you see, what you hear about, and what we heard about in the trial. This crime offends human decency, it offends human dignity, and it offends the human community. It really does.

Starting point is 00:05:31 When someone loses their life needlessly, it's tragic. It really is. It's tragic for family and friends and community. When life is taken from a person in the fashion that it was in this case, where the victim's remains are cut up and packaged in containers, it's difficult to identify a human nature in those activities. It really is. So moving over, if you haven't seen Take Care of Maya on Netflix, you absolutely 100% should watch it as soon as possible. Add it to your binging content that you are going to be doing this weekend because it is very informative and it's also just very heart-wrenching. It's a documentary about a young girl in Florida named Maya Kowalski

Starting point is 00:06:17 and her battle with a debilitating chronic illness and the medical treatments that she went through that actually helped her with this. But all of that changed when another hospital started treating Maya, and they felt like the medical treatments that she had been receiving that another doctor had allowed and her parents encouraged were actually child abuse for a condition that didn't even exist. So I don't want to give away too much of what happens in the documentary in case you do want to watch it later and you're not familiar, but it is honestly one of the most screwed up stories that I have ever heard in regards to CPS trying to do their job for once in a fucking lifetime. Sorry, I'm getting heated about this, but in reality, they were really going after a family that literally was not doing anything

Starting point is 00:07:01 wrong. It's like, great, hi, round of applause for you, CPS, for finally stepping up, but hi, try stepping up and doing something for the right family who needs it, not the wrong one, because this case is just absolutely maddening. Well, now Maya, her family, and Maya are in a $200 million malpractice lawsuit against the hospital. The lawsuit was filed by Maya's dad, Jack, five years ago, and it's expected to last a few weeks now. So I haven't been able to watch the whole trial yet, but the clips that I have seen are absolutely heartbreaking all over again. So if the trial is something you would like to see covered on the podcast, definitely let me know via in the review

Starting point is 00:07:42 section of the podcast, because we could do a full deep dive on the case on what happened and then of course on the trial so if that is something you want let me know and just as a quick little one-off reminder guys anytime you do have a case request or something you do want me to focus on on the podcast because there isn't a comment section except for on spotify if you're listening on Apple Podcasts, the best way to let me know is by leaving a rating and a review and typing that request and suggestion in the review area, the review box. So just want to remind you of that. So taking a pause on Maya, I want to talk about a breaking news story out of Baltimore. It's a story about a 26-year-old CEO named Pava Leper, who was found dead from blunt force trauma on September 25th.

Starting point is 00:08:29 Pava was initially suspected to be missing until police found her in her apartment. Police have identified the suspect, who they believe killed her, and he is identified as a man named Jason Dean Billingsley. Now, here's where it gets even worse. Police haven't been able to locate him, and there is an active, massive manhunt underway in Baltimore. Jason Billingsley now has a warrant out for his arrest for first-degree murder, assault, and reckless endangerment. In a press conference, the police commissioner said, and I quote, at this time, we know, we believe that he is probably armed and dangerous.

Starting point is 00:09:10 We ask anyone who may have seen him or knows him or knows his whereabouts to contact police immediately. We implore residents to be on the lookout at all times. This individual will kill and he will rape. It is very, very scary. So if you live in that area, please stay safe. Contact law enforcement with any information. It is absolutely horrifying. In addition to that manhunt that is underway, authorities are still searching for the suspect in the Rachel Morin case. As a reminder, Rachel is the mother of five who was found beaten to death and naked on a Maryland hiking trail in August. And it has now

Starting point is 00:09:46 been 50 days with no arrests in this absolutely just horrific, god-awful, brutal murder. Now, here's where it gets a little interesting. Police previously released ring camera footage of the suspect leaving a house in California after he had allegedly assaulted a young woman during a home invasion. In the video, you can see an arm shutting the door from inside as the suspect was leaving, and many people have wondered whose arm that was. The sheriff has identified whose arm is in the video, and it is actually not the woman who was assaulted, kind of leading a whole other series of questions up in the air. Additionally, law enforcement has conducted an interview with the person shutting the door and another interview in Chicago.

Starting point is 00:10:31 We don't know where this guy is laying his head at night. We need people to look at that video, look at that picture, and help us identify him. But indeed, from the beginning, when we had the video, a lot of questions came in about who's closing the door, whose arm is that. And I actually misspoke. I believe it was a female's arm who was the victim of the assault there. It's actually a male's arm. And investigators had it right. I just had it wrong in one of the earlier interviews. But it is a male's arm. And our investigators were in Los Angeles. They

Starting point is 00:11:00 interviewed many people in reference to what happened out there and tied back to our case. And we were able to speak to that individual as well. And he is not in any way tied to the case as a suspect at all. But he also was not able to provide us an identity of that suspect. So was there a female victim and also a male victim in the assault? The male subject was not assaulted, but there were other people in the residence. And again, I have to be very careful on what I speak about. Los Angeles is still investigating

Starting point is 00:11:33 that home invasion, that assault that occurred out there, and that's an open case for that agency. Rachel's family has also been doing their own investigative work, canvassing the trails and handing out flyers in hopes of finding out who did this to her. It is a really horrible and brutal case, especially when you consider that she's a mother of five children. She is just an exceptional mother at that. We did cover this over on my channel as well, so I will link that video in the show notes for you so you can get caught up on this case. But the way in which she was found the details leading up to when she went on the trail. I don't want to say it's highly suspicious, but there's something just weird in this whole case.

Starting point is 00:12:11 Like, especially now that they have footage of this guy, they talked to the witness who actually was closing the door on this person. How has it been now 50 days? They haven't been able to identify him and they haven't been able to find him. The math ain't math in here identify him and they haven't been able to find him. The math ain't math in here for me. I don't know. You guys tell me what you think, but there's something that I just don't like about this. There also, yesterday on Wednesday, was some breaking news in the case of Crystal Rogers. Crystal is the Kentucky mother who has been missing for eight years. Now, I know I keep referencing old deep dives and videos I did,

Starting point is 00:12:44 but I actually just did a video about this case on my YouTube channel this week. So I will post that link in the description if you're interested in watching that. But basically, it is the shadiest of all shady cases. I mean, you've got a shady boyfriend who is changing his stories a million times. You've got a car on the side of the road, but all of her stuff's still there. Then her father was murdered in really shady circumstances around that. I mean, all signs, in my opinion,

Starting point is 00:13:13 pointed to the boyfriend and the boyfriend's family, especially because the boyfriend's brother was a law enforcement officer and I think knew the tricks and the trades and how to cover things. I mean, we go deep on that video, so catch up with it, because it, like, screams shady. So when I heard that there was arrest, I was like,

Starting point is 00:13:30 finally, yeah, it's been eight years, but at least finally this fucker Brooks, her boyfriend at the time, is being arrested in connection with her murder, or with, I should say, her disappearance. Suspected murder. So not only was he arrested, but we talked about it last week too on Headline Highlights because there was a previous arrest that happened a week ago before Brooks, the boyfriend, was arrested. And everyone felt like he had been involved in the first place. And this person who was arrested last week, I believe it was conspiracy charges. So I may have said it in

Starting point is 00:14:01 Headline Highlights. I know I said it in the deep dive video this week, but I was like, which, haha, voila, look what happened now. Good old boyfriend at the time, Brooks. His indictment, though, is still sealed as the investigation is still underway. However, he has been charged with murder and tampering with physical evidence. His bail is currently set at $10 million, and hopefully he does not get out. This is just incredibly amazing news for Crystal's family, and I am so glad that they are finally, after so many years, starting to see justice in this case, because it has been a very long and challenging road for them all this time. I kind of briefly mentioned it, but Crystal's father, who was demanding answers, who never gave up, was also shot and murdered, which was, I should say, sorry, suspected to have been murdered, but he was shot. Now, when he was shot, he was hunting, and so it was determined accidental,

Starting point is 00:15:14 but when you hear the deep dive video, guys, and I highly encourage you to listen to it, watch it, you hear that this probably was no accident based on the way that the terrain had been freshly cut in the pathway to get the line of fire, the person whose property it belongs to that he was hunting on. I mean, this case goes deeper and deeper and deeper. Every time you peel back a layer, there's like something new that is just like peeking around the corner. So I'm glad they are finally, finally getting some sort of justice. And I hope that that just moves forward quickly and they finally get some answers and hopefully can go and recover Crystal's remains wherever they may be and put her to rest finally. I mean, it's just been way too long. So speaking of psychopath killers and creepy-ass men, let's move over to Rex Heuermann, the alleged Long Island

Starting point is 00:16:06 serial killer. He had a court appearance on Wednesday morning, and a press conference followed. I saw a headline that seriously read, And I quoted that exactly because better for them to say it than me. But yeah, something is going on with his hair. It's like he shaved the front sides. He looks weird. He's creepy anyway, before any of this came out. But anyway, more importantly, in court, the prosecution said that a DNA sample from Rex now officially linked him to a hair that was found on Megan Waterman. Megan was killed in 2010, and also the DNA was linked to the pizza crust box that helped crack the case in the first place. Now, if you remember, originally the pizza crust only had ties to his

Starting point is 00:16:57 wife's DNA before the state could test his. So honestly, all of the information we already knew about Rex from what has been released so far and previously didn't really paint a great picture for the defense to work with in the first place. The disgusting Google searches that he had, and I mean disgusting, disgusting, foul, torture, child, you name the explicit content, he was searching it. Again, not to sound like a broken record did a whole deep dive on that too i will link it maybe that'll just be the practice going forward everyone that we every case in here that's not new that we talk about that we've covered before i'll just always link it in the show notes so it didn't paint a good picture for him because we had the disgusting google searches his burner phones all of these different things so now it's going to be really interesting

Starting point is 00:17:44 to see how they combat this which i'm not sure that they can, to be quite honest. I think that this is their guy, but that is just my opinion. I'm not in law enforcement, so you do your own research and decide for yourself. Now let's go into the infamous Ginger out of the Carolinas, the Southern scandal that was on Netflix that was in the courtroom, he's trying to fight it, saying he's innocent, saying he's guilty for fraud only, all of these things. Well, the Murdoch murders, a Southern scandal on Netflix recently came out with season two, which of course, you know, I had to binge watch as soon as I was able to. It documents Alex's murder trial in real time, and it has some very interesting faces, including the court clerk who Alex's defense team alleges was involved with tampering.

Starting point is 00:18:28 So I highly recommend watching it. And again, I don't want to give too much away, but there are a lot of questions raised about the night of the murders and if anyone else was actually involved. And there are people who you would not expect at all to admit that they believe he was not alone in all of this. The whole tone of it was really just insane. It's like they were scared to speak publicly about it, and you guys have to watch it because I was completely shocked. Also, if you missed it last

Starting point is 00:18:55 week as another just headline update and highlight, I want to just quickly touch on the Delphi murders. The Delphi murders of Abby and Libby, which was truly horrific, there's been some new information that has surfaced where now the defense team for Richard Allen, the accused murderer, is saying that a cult was actually behind the murders and Richard is innocent. They put together a 136-page memo outlining the details of why they believe that this was a cult responsible, such as the branches that were laid at the scene, the lack of blood on one of the girls versus the amount of crazy blood on the other, some blood and runes that were written in blood on the tree. I mean, it is very

Starting point is 00:19:37 haunting and scary, to be quite honest. Cults always freak me out, but this one with the descriptors that they gave really freaks me out so there's a video i did just two days ago and you can listen to it either on audio or you can watch the video but i go through that whole series of events because now the state is officially coming out and saying uh i know the defense you're full of shit basically you're trying to turn this into some salacious sensationalized case you're trying to taint the jury pool You're trying to turn this into some salacious, sensationalized case. You're trying to taint the jury pool. You're trying to do whatever you can. You're so desperate. It reeks of desperation. Like, get out of here. Richard Allen is our guy. Yet a lot of people are still

Starting point is 00:20:17 questioning why would they write this 136-page memo with all of these details? And if this truly was how the crime scene looked, could one man truly do this alone? It seems unlikely. So listen to that to get caught up, and I'm interested to know what you guys think about all of that. In breaking news coming out of Colorado, remains belonging to missing Colorado mom Suzanne Morphew have officially been found. Now, for those of you who don't remember this case, we covered it a lot on YouTube, but Suzanne Morphew have officially been found. Now, for those of you who don't remember this case, we covered it a lot on YouTube, but Suzanne Morphew was reported missing on May 10, 2020, which also was Mother's Day. Her husband, Barry Morphew, had been indicted, arrested, charged with murder. I mean, this case

Starting point is 00:20:58 was super complex, and he ended up actually, I can't remember if he was released on bail or if he actually was released because they didn't have enough evidence to move forward with the trial. I need to go back and look because it's been a few years. But on Wednesday, the Colorado Bureau of Investigations announced that remains were found during a search on September 22nd and that they were positively identified as Suzanne Morphew. The identification was done by the El Paso County Coroner on Thursday. This is very interesting and I wonder what's going to happen. They're obviously keeping it very tight-lipped right now. We don't know a bunch of information about the state of which her remains were found, where they were found, the details, and it actually in the news release that the CBI

Starting point is 00:21:41 distributed, they said specific information about the location and the state of the remains are being withheld at this time, that no arrests have been made since the remains were located. Updates will be provided as information becomes available during this ongoing investigation. Family notifications have been made following the formal identification of Suzanne Morphew. This gives me chills. Now, I know a lot of people don't think that Barry had anything to do with it, which my personal opinion is that he did, but I know a lot of people are divided on that. His daughters, though, have stood by him the entire time saying that he's innocent, but there was so much shady stuff and so many red flags that were going on

Starting point is 00:22:21 in this case. If you remember or recall, there was the hotel room that reeked of chlorine, like a cleanup. There were all of these papers left behind. And like, I think there was even a life insurance policies. There were stories that he said to his coworker that didn't match up. There were pings on his cell phone that looked as though he was chasing her around the house before she went missing. But he later, I think, said he was chasing a squirrel. It's fucking crazy. Sorry. I know I'm dropping the F-bomb a lot today, guys, but he later, I think, said he was chasing a squirrel. It's fucking crazy. Sorry, I know I'm dropping the f-bomb a lot today, guys, but like these are some really crazy cases that have stuck with me and gotten under my skin for years now. So I'm glad that there has finally

Starting point is 00:22:55 been movement in this case, and I hope that whoever is responsible, whether that is Barry or somebody else, is fully held accountable, and that Suzanne can get justice. Her girls can get justice and we can figure out who the heck needs to be held responsible and accountable for taking this beautiful mother's life on Mother's Day in such a heartless way. And remember the bobcat story that Barry said? The whole, like this guy, I can't. I'm going to link it in the show notes.

Starting point is 00:23:22 I just can't with this guy. So I'm so happy that there's finally movement. Everything's kind of under lock and key right now, but as soon as more information comes, I will let you know. Now before we go, I want to touch on one more case. It is a very, very controversial case, and that's kind of why I waited until the very end of this episode to talk about it. There are so many theories out there, which really does happen with a lot of these true crime cases, but this one specifically, it involves suggestions of a police cover-up in Boston, a police murder now being pinned on the officer's girlfriend. I mean, it goes pretty deep, and it is very contentious out there. If you hit Reddit or hit Twitter, you will see that the world is literally

Starting point is 00:24:05 divided, like split 50-50 on who's responsible for this and if the person being charged is innocent. I even did a poll on Spotify because my Monday episode was on this case, and it's literally down the middle, like 50-50 on whether Karen Reid is innocent or not. So the case is Karen Reid. She's been charged with murdering her boyfriend, John O'Keefe. There was a blizzard outside. They're saying that she was wasted, that she backed her car into him, ran him over, left him in the snow to die. But then the next morning, you hear in the police report how she came to the scene, how there was blunt force trauma as well, how he was buried under the snow. Then there's some suggestions of weird Google searches from people who were at the house party that he went to that night. I mean,

Starting point is 00:24:48 it's very interesting because when you first hear about it at first glance, it does sound like, okay, she probably was blacked out. She probably backed into him, didn't hear the beeping while her car was in reverse, you know, then drove off, didn't feel the hump or the thud because she was so intoxicated. And then that's, and then he died of hypothermia. He was in the snow and his injuries. But then as you start to, again, kind of peel back the layers of this onion, it seems like there's a lot more information there that kind of contradicts that entire way of thinking. So that deep dive episode was on Monday's podcast. You can listen to it. And today I uploaded the video version so that you can see the visuals with it as well.

Starting point is 00:25:28 That's over on my YouTube. But it's a case that I'm going to be following very closely. But again, I just want to give a disclaimer. Everybody's entitled to their own opinions because I already am seeing some people sound off in the comments arguing with each other because there are such strong opinions about this case on both sides. So I encourage you to listen to the deep dive and come to your own conclusions. And the truth is none of us really know what really happened yet.

Starting point is 00:25:51 So I'm going to be following it closely and I'll keep you updated. Other than that, guys, that is all I've got for this week's episode of Headline Highlights. I will be with you bright and early tomorrow morning with the ad-free bonus episode, another true crime episode if you're looking to get your fix. And as a reminder too, you can sign up for that either through Apple Podcasts or over on Patreon. If you head over to Patreon, you can also sign up for our monthly giveaways, personalized videos from me, any Q&As you want, private live streams, our private group chat. I mean, there's so many different things just bundled over there. So go

Starting point is 00:26:24 check that out. It's in the show notes. And as my last little PSA reminder, let me do a little drum roll here. Please take 30 seconds, rate the podcast, leave a review. And in that review, let me know what you want to hear more of and any cases you want me to cover more or do a deep dive into, such as the one that we were talking about earlier, the Take Care of Maya documentary on Netflix and the trial that's going on now. So let me know. And other than that, I hope you all have a great rest of your week. I will see you tomorrow for the bonus episode, or I will see you bright and early on Monday with another deep dive.

Starting point is 00:26:58 Spoiler alert, it is a deep dive again on eight passengers, Ruby Frankie and Jodi Hildebrandt. More a little bit on Jodi Hildebrandt more a little bit on jody hildebrandt and her cult connections in my opinion allegedly her cult but you know what i'm talking about because even more information has now surfaced and let me just tell you the amount of contradictions the old footage we were able to source from the archives where they think they've scrubbed it from the internet but they really haven't it's pretty enlightening so that is coming monday spoiler alert all right guys thanks again take care and I will be talking with you very soon. Bye.

Serialously with Annie Elise - 67: Suzanne Morphew's Remains Found, Crystal Rogers Arrest, & Take Care of Maya Trial

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