Who Killed Strawberry?

Around a month ago, I wrote about the case of a missing scientist in New Mexico. This week that case, and other similar cases have been making headlines. At least scientists who two lawmakers say are connected to U.S. nuclear secrets or rocket technology have either died or disappeared. There are reasons why people believe these cases might be linked, and we’ll get into those. However, we’ll also hear from an expert about why we shouldn’t jump to conclusions or get lost in conspiracy theories.

But we’re actually starting this episode in Los Angeles, where Audacy station KNX News has been covering one particular murder case for months. It began with the report of human remains found in a Tesla last September. This week the owner of that Tesla, Billboard-charting musician David Burke, whose stage name is stylized as D-4-V-D, was charged with the murder of Celeste Rivas Hernandez. She was just 14 years old when she died.

Featuring audio from KNX News in Los Angeles, the Dana & Parks Show out of KMBZ in Kansas City and WBEN News and Talk in Buffalo.

A trial for the murder of 7-year-old Athena Strand and a mystery centered on a couple who went on what many speculate was a deadly boat ride in the Bahamas for Lynette Hooker are some of the developing cases we’ll cover in this episode.

We’ll also take listeners into a recent meeting where investigators explained how they finally solved a nearly 30-year-old cold case murder of Deborah Kennedy, tracking it down to a neighbor who hadn’t even been a suspect with new DNA analysis technology.

A new documentary film, “Echoes in the Night: The Jacob Wetterling Story” that is premiering his month explores another case that went unsolved for decades. We’ll hear from murder victim Jacob Wetterling’s mother of how solving these crimes impacts the families of victims.

Featuring audio from KYW Newsradio in Philadelphia, KRLD 1080 in Dallas, the Dana & Parks Show out of KMBZ in Kansas City, WBEN News Talk in Buffalo, WWJ Newsradio in Detroit and the Adam & Jordana Show out of WCCO News Talk in the Twin Cities.

In this episode, you’ll hear Eli Frankel, author of “The Black Dahlia, The Prairie Heiress and Their Hunter” discuss the lesser-known Prairie Heiress case, the murder of a woman named Leela Welsh. It mirrors the Black Dahlia case in many ways, and Frankel argues that the same killer was behind both gruesome crimes.

We’ll also dive in to the case of a Hawaii doctor who has been accused of trying to kill his wife on her birthday, the guilty plea of the Gilgo Beach murderer who authorities tried to track down for decades, the trial of a FedEx driver accused of murdering a 7-year-old girl and other cases from across the country.

Featuring audio from KNX News in Los Angeles, KCBS Radio in the Bay Area, WWJ Newsradio in Detroit, KRLD 1080 in Dallas, 1010 WINS in New York, KDKA Radio in Pittsburgh and the Dana & Parks Show out of KMBZ in Kansas City.