Featured True Crime Experts.

Barbara Butcher

Former Death Investigator, Medical Examiner’s Office, New York City & Author

Barbara Butcher was early in her recovery from alcoholism when she found an unexpected lifeline: a job at the Medical Examiner’s Office in New York City. The second woman ever hired for the role of Death Investigator in Manhattan, she was the first to last more than three months. The work was gritty, demanding, morbid, and sometimes dangerous – she loved it. WHAT THE DEAD KNOW: LEARNING ABOUT LIFE AS A NEW YORK CITY DEATH INVESTIGATOR is the page-turning memoir of Barbara Butcher’s more than twenty-year career.

Butcher (yes, that is her real name, and she has heard all the jokes) spent day in and day out investigating double homicides, gruesome suicides, and most heartbreaking of all, underage rape victims who had also been murdered. In WHAT THE DEAD KNOW, she writes with the kind of New York attitude and bravado you might expect from decades in the field, investigating more than 5,500 death scenes, 680 of which were homicides. 

In the opening chapter, she describes how just from sheer luck of having her arm in a cast, she avoided a boobytrapped suicide. Later in her career, she describes working the nation’s largest mass murder, the attack on 9/11, where she and her colleagues initially relied on family members’ descriptions to help distinguish among the 21,900 body parts of the victims.

This is the fascinating and stunning real-life story of a woman who, in dealing with death every day, learned surprising lessons about life—and how some of those lessons saved her from becoming a statistic herself. Fans of Kathy Reichs, Patricia Cornwell, and true crime won’t be able to put this one down!

Kristen Gibbons Feden

Prosecuting Attorney, known as “The Prosecutor Who Stared Down Bill Cosby”

Kristen Gibbons Feden is known for her fearless approach in representing survivors against high-profile individuals and large organizations. Dubbed “The Prosecutor Who Stared Down Bill Cosby” by The New York Times, Kristen is a recognized leader in the #MeToo Movement. 

Recently, she made headlines again by winning two major cases in one day, securing eight-figure verdicts against singer R. Kelly, and a well-known New York pediatrician who harmed over 100 young women. Kristen is nationally respected for her work with sexual abuse survivors, helping them find justice.

Gus Garcia-Roberts

Investigative Reporter, The Washington Post & Author

Gus Garcia-Roberts is a sports-focused investigative reporter for The Washington Post. He previously worked on investigative teams for Newsday, the Los Angeles Times and USA Today. He was a member of the Newsday team that was a finalist for the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for its series on hidden police misconduct on the eastern end of Long Island. 

He is the co-author of BLOOD SPORT: ALEX RODRIGUEZ, BIOGENESIS, AND THE QUEST TO END BASEBALL'S STEROID ERA and the author of JIMMY THE KING: MURDER, VICE, AND THE REIGN OF A DIRTY COP.

Gus lives in Los Angeles.

Joseph Giacalone

Retired NYPD Sergeant SDS, Expert on Law Enforcement & Author

Joseph Giacalone is a retired NYPD Sergeant SDS, current adjunct professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, author, and media resource. Joe is a widely sought-after expert on everything involving law enforcement.

His textbook, THE CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIVE FUNCTION: A GUIDE FOR NEW INVESTIGATORS is in its 4th Edition and has been used throughout the country to train new detectives and supervisors. He is also under contract for a new textbook involving cold cases. Joe was also the former Commanding Officer of the NYPD’s Bronx Cold Case Squad.

Joe can be heard every Friday morning for The Crime Report on Suffolk County’s only talk radio station, 103.9 FM. Learn more at josephgiacalone.com

Jason Goldman

Criminal Defense Attorney & Former Prosecutor

Jason Goldman is a former prosecutor and current criminal defense attorney based out of Manhattan. As a defense attorney, Jason has handled a wide array of crimes ranging from state matters such as homicide to federal cases such as fraud and interstate trafficking. 

Jason has also worked on private investigations for clients and companies alike. Part of Jason’s practice also includes wrongful conviction matters and exonerations of individuals who have been falsely accused and imprisoned. Given his expertise, Jason has been frequently cited by media outlets ranging from Fox to The New York Times and many of his high-profile cases have been covered through both the local and national press. 

For more information on Jason’s practice, please visit jasongoldmanlaw.com

Chase Hughes

Neuroscientist, Behavior Expert & Author

A former 20-year US Navy Chief, Chase Hughes is the world’s leading authority in interrogation, influence, persuasion, negotiation, and behavior profiling. Driven by the tragic loss of his friend in the USS Cole attack, Chase founded Applied Behavior Research with a core message of empowering individuals to become the deciding factor in their lives.

Recognized as the top expert by Dr. Phil and a top 40-under-40 CEO, Chase has authored five bestselling books, including the worldwide #1 on advanced persuasion. Through his company, he teaches critical behavior science skills to elite groups, government agencies, and law enforcement, revolutionizing training and saving lives.

Chase’s groundbreaking tools, such as the interrogation behavior analysis tool and the Pre-Violence Indicators Index, have made a significant impact. With over 20 years of experience, Chase Hughes continues to empower others, giving them an unfair advantage in shaping human behavior and crafting their own paths for a lasting legacy.

Hugh King

Town Crier & Historian for East Hampton Town

Hugh King is the Town Crier and Historian for East Hampton Town and has been studying local history since the 1980’s.

His goal is to make people aware of East Hampton’s history, beyond the moniker “the Hamptons.” He believes it is important that all its citizens know about the village’s past to help plan for the future.

The favorite part of his job of enlightening others is learning from his own research.

Hugh is the Village Historian and Historic Site Director in charge of Home Sweet Home Museum, the most distinguished salt-box home in East Hampton, as well as the three Village Windmills, Hook, Gardiner and Pantigo.

As Village Historian, he answers inquiries concerning Village history, arranges and conducts open-air historical tours, and shares Village history at Board of Trustee meetings. As Historic Site Director, he conducts walk-throughs of Home Sweet Home and arranges guides for the Hook Mill.

Prior to working for the Village, Hugh was a teacher for 33 years, and from 1963-1999, he was an actor in local theater productions.

From 2000-2014 he worked alongside his wife, the respected historian Loretta Orion, who tended the Home Sweet Home gardens. The historic gardens reflect styles and plant species found in the United States and Europe that date back from medieval times to the nineteenth century. 

Mayor Jerry Larsen

Former East Hampton Village Police Department Chief

A lifelong resident of East Hampton, Mayor Jerry Larsen has dedicated his entire career to serving the East Hampton Village community. Motivated by his childhood dream of becoming a police officer, Mayor Larsen served as a member of the East Hampton Village Police Department for 34 years, 14 of which were as Chief of Police.

He is the former president of the Suffolk County Police Association, a county-wide organization that encompasses 2,500 local departments. Beyond his policing experience, Larsen was appointed to serve as Department Head of Emergency Services for East Hampton Village and is a member of the Village’s Kiwanis Club, which hosts and promotes local service opportunities and family events.

Mayor Larsen is a past board director at the East Hampton Chamber of Commerce, and LTV Studios. He was the former President and Coach of East Hampton Little League. 

Mayor Larsen and his wife Lisa own ProTec Security, a local business that provides home security systems. His experience as both a public servant and a Village business owner offers him a nuanced perspective that, coupled with the skills he acquired as Village Police Chief, puts him in a unique position to tackle the issues affecting the residents of East Hampton Village.

Mayor Larsen is one of the co-founders of Hamptons Whodunit, and has six children who grew up in East Hampton.

Cary London 

Trial Attorney & Civil Rights Lawyer

Cary London is a partner at the law firm of Shulman & Hill, PLLC, and Chair of their Civil Rights Division. He has previously worked for the NYPD, Bronx District Attorney’s Office, Brooklyn Defender Services, and clerked for Supreme Court Justice Richard Lee Price. 

He has handled over 10,000 civil rights and criminal cases from inception to verdict, and is considered a premier trial attorney who is one of the last “True Believers” in the civil rights context. Mr. London is a graduate of the University of Virginia and New York Law School. 

For more information on Mr. London’s practice, please visit shulman-hill.com 

Sheryl “Mac” McCollum

Founder, Cold Case Investigative Research Institute (CCIRI)

Sheryl “Mac” McCollum is an three time nominated Emmy Award winning CSI from CBS46’s CSI Atlanta, National Law Enforcement Officer Hall of Fame Inductee, Director of the Cold Case Investigative Research Institute (CCIRI), a writer for CrimeOnLine, Forensic and Crime Scene Expert for Crime Stories with Nancy Grace, and a working CSI for a metro Atlanta Police Department. 

Sheryl holds a master’s degree in Criminal Justice with an emphasis on Policing. She is the co-author of the textbook, COLD CASE: PATHWAYS TO JUSTICE. She is a contributing writer for CRIME online, a crime-fighting website founded by Nancy Grace, television personality and former. 

Sheryl “Mac” McCollum has worked with criminals like famed Mafia hit man Frank Cullotta, Johnny Lee Cleary, the ex Imperial Wizard of the KKK, the Flint River Killer, Alcatraz Inmate #1355 Robert Schibline and Jimmy Hoffa’s driver, The Weasel, to gain intel on how to solve certain cold cases. She has also worked side by side with notable family members such as Lana Wood, Beth Holloway, Sue Savio, Lois Duncan, Donna Pettis and Susan Levy. She not only admires them but has genuinely befriended them all. For almost forty years, Sheryl has used her training and experience in criminal justice to solve some of the country’s most difficult cases.

McCollum’s law-enforcement career began in 1982 at the Rape Crisis Center at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia. From there, she was director of the Metro Atlanta Cold Case Crime Analysis Squad. During the 1996 Olympic Games, she was the coordinator for the Crisis Response Team that planned and trained for four years and responded to the Centennial Olympic Park bombing, providing victim services.

McCollum in 2004 founded Cold Case Investigative Research Institute (CCIRI), which unites researchers, practitioners, students and the criminal justice community to work collectively to advance research, training and techniques in solving cold cases. CCIRI is a nationwide volunteer network that assists victims’ families and law enforcement by working on unsolved homicides, missing persons and kidnapping cases. So far, more than 8,000 students and 600 experts have volunteered their time and talents. 

She added her own branded acronym for law enforcement. Among the famous, ABA (all points bulletin), BOLO (be on the lookout), Sheryl added the A-WIC (anyone with information contact)! 

Sheryl has reviewed, consulted and worked on thousands of criminal cases across the USA and has appeared on Dateline, Nancy Grace, Dr. Oz, CSI Atlanta, Fox Nation, and Discovery ID.  

Some of her most famous cases include: The Boston Strangler, Natalie Wood, Kathleen Savio (Drew Peterson), Don Lewis (Tiger King), Natalee Holloway, the Missing and Murdered Children (Wayne Williams) and Tu Pac Shakur. 

Some of Sheryl’s accolades include The President’s Innovation Award, an Emmy for CSI Atlanta: True Crime Special, a Department of Justice Award for the 1996 Olympic Games Crisis Response, a Metro Atlanta Crime Commission Award, and she was inducted into the Law Enforcement Officer Hall of Fame with a 2023 Lifetime Achievement Award. 

Sheryl is a native Atlantan and graduate of Woodward Academy where she met her husband, and Georgia State University. She is most proud of her marriage to Walt who was her high school sweetheart and their two accomplished college age children, Huck and Caroline. Sheryl has four sisters who all volunteer for the CCIRI.

Joseph Scott Morgan, M.F.S., F-ABMDI

Podcast Host, Death Investigator & Author

Joseph Scott Morgan, M.F.S., F-ABMDI is the Distinguished Scholar of Applied Forensics at Jacksonville State University where he holds the faculty rank of Associate Professor of Applied Forensics. Morgan holds a Master of Forensic Sciences degree from National University and is a Board-Certified Fellow of the American Board of Medicolegal Death Investigators.

In 1985 Joseph Scott Morgan began working for the Jefferson Parish Coroner’s Office in New Orleans. During his tenure as the Senior Investigator with the Fulton County Medical Examiner in Atlanta, Georgia, Morgan helped establish the national training guidelines for Medicolegal Death Investigators. To this day, Joseph Scott Morgan remains one of less than 200 people nationwide to attain “Fellow” status through the American Board of Medicolegal Death Investigators.

Morgan is considered one of the leading experts on the Coroner System in the United States. He has a particular research interest in the areas of:

• Estimation of time since death

• Injury assessment on the scenes of deaths

• Mass fatality investigations

• Training curricula and development for state coroner systems

• Notification of next of kin methodologies

• Impact of notification of next of kin on practitioners

• Forensic practice in rural settings

Joseph Scott Morgan has appeared, for the past two years, on both Headline News and CNN as the on-air forensics expert. In 2013 Morgan was named “Georgia Author of the Year” for his memoir entitled BLOOD BENEATH MY FEET: THE JOURNEY OF A SOUTHERN DEATH INVESTIGATOR.

Lisa Ribacoff

Polygraph Examiner & Licensed Private Investigator

Lisa Ribacoff is an Advance Trained Polygraph Examiner and Licensed Private Investigator and Manager of the Credibility Assessment division of International Investigative Group, Ltd. She is a court-certified expert for polygraph examinations and private investigations on the Expert Panel for the City of New York, and conducts testing for criminal accusations, employee theft, insurance fraud, family issues, abuse allegations, and advanced post-conviction sex offenders.

She is a member of the National Cold Case Task Force dedicated to investigating possible ties to Dennis Rader, the notorious BTK Serial Killer. She liaises with the Osage County Sheriff’s Office and assists the Task Force Coordinator. Ms. Ribacoff also serves on the Board of Directors as Seminar Program Chair for the American Polygraph Association, and is President of the New York State Polygraph Examiners Association.

Ms. Ribacoff holds a Bachelor of Science in Childhood Special Education from the State of NY University at Old Westbury, and holds a dual Master’s of Science in Educational Leadership and Curriculum and Instruction from Concordia University. She is a graduate of the Academy for Scientific Investigative Training and the PEAK Credibility Assessment Training Center.

Ms. Ribacoff is also a member of the UK Polygraph Association, the British and European Polygraph Association, the International Society of Polygraph Examiners, as well as the National Polygraph Association.

She has been featured on NewsNation, Fox 5’s GoodDay NY, the Rachael Ray Show, the Jeremy Kyle Show, the Bill Cunningham Show, the Dr. Oz Show, and various radio stations.

Casey Sherman

Honorary True Crime Chair & Bestselling Author

Casey Sherman is an acclaimed journalist and New York Times bestselling author of books including HELLTOWN, HUNTING WHITEY, 12, THE FINEST HOURS, and more.

His brand new book, A MURDER IN HOLLYWOOD, delves into the dark secrets behind the bright lights of Tinseltown. It tells the story of a Hollywood starlet whose personal life became violent when she began dating a mobster—a relationship that ended in a shocking murder trial.

A MURDER IN HOLLYWOOD is also being adapted for the big screen! Read about it here in Deadline Hollywood.

Kristin Thorne

WABC Investigative Reporter for Eyewitness News & True Crime Series MISSING

Kristin Thorne is an investigative reporter for WABC-TV Eyewitness News. She is the creator, writer, and producer of WABC’s Emmy-award winning true crime series MISSING, in which she investigates the disappearances of people from the New York City area.

Before joining the Eyewitness News team in January 2012, Kristin was a reporter at News 12 Westchester. Before that, she worked at WHTM-TV ABC 27 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

Kristin graduated magna cum laude from Georgetown University in Washington, DC and earned her master’s degree in broadcast journalism from the prestigious Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. She is an adjunct professor at Hofstra University teaching journalism in the Lawrence Herbert School of Communication.

She is the recipient of an Emmy Award and has received numerous Emmy nominations. She has also been honored with two regional Edward R. Murrow Awards and has received several Folio awards, which honor the best of Long Island journalism. Kristin was also honored with the Excellence in Newscasting Award at the 2021 Long Island International Film Expo.

Dave Wedge

New York Times Bestselling Author

Dave Wedge is a New York Times bestselling author of six books, including BOSTON STRONG: A CITY'S TRIUMPH OVER TRAGEDY, a non-fiction drama about the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings adapted for the 2017 movie PATRIOTS DAY and co-written with acclaimed author Casey Sherman; 12: THE INSIDE STORY OF TOM BRADY'S FIGHT FOR REDEMPTION; HUNTING WHITEY: THE INSIDE STORY OF THE CAPTURE AND KILLING OF AMERICA’S MOST WANTED CRIME BOSS; and THE LAST DAYS OF JOHN LENNON, written with Sherman and James Patterson.

His most recent true crime thriller, RIDING WITH EVIL: TAKING DOWN THE NOTORIOUS PAGAN MOTORCYCLE GANG, was released in 2021 via Harper Collins and is the story of the only law enforcement officer to ever infiltrate the infamous biker club. 

Dave is also a frequent writer for Boston magazine, has written for VICE, Esquire, and Newsweek and was an award-winning investigative journalist for the Boston Herald for 14 years. He has worked in podcast development for VICE and Double Elvis (DISGRACELAND) and co-hosted the acclaimed true crime podcast SAINTS, SINNERS & SERIAL KILLERS with Sherman, which became a live stage show at Boston’s historic Wilbur Theater.

Dave has offered commentary for a wide variety of national and local broadcast and radio networks, including CNN, MSNBC, E!, France 24, Fox News Channel, and Good Morning America. He was a guest at the inaugural Hamptons Whodunit.

Find him on Twitter @DaveWedge or Instagram @davidmwedge.

Sarah Weinman

Crime and Mystery Columnist & Author

Sarah Weinman is the author of THE REAL LOLITA and SCOUNDREL and editor of several anthologies, most recently EVIDENCE OF THINGS SEEN: TRUE CRIME IN AN ERA OF RECKONING. She writes the Crime & Mystery column for the New York Times Book Review and her work has also appeared in New York Magazine, The Atlantic, Esquire, and Vanity Fair.

Weinman also writes the “Crime Lady” newsletter, covering crime fiction, true crime, and all points in between. She lives in New York City.