True Crime Experts 2026

 

Barbara Butcher

Television personality, author & former Death Investigator, Medical Examiner’s Office, New York City

Barbara Butcher, MPH, is one of the nation’s leading experts in medicolegal death investigation and the former Chief of Staff and Director of the Forensic Sciences Training Program at the New York City Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. Over her 23-year tenure, she investigated more than 5,500 death scenes (680 of which were homicides), led major disaster responses including the 9/11 World Trade Center recovery, and directed the creation of the federally funded Forensic Sciences Training Program to promote national standards for death investigation.

An internationally recognized consultant, Barbara has advised the World Health Organization, assisted in global disaster responses, and lectured widely on mass fatalities and forensic science.

 

She is the author of WHAT THE DEAD KNOW (Simon & Schuster, 2023), featured in Netflix’s Homicide New York, and the host of Oxygen’s true-crime series The Death Investigator with Barbara Butcher. Watch the trailer.

Learn more at www.barbarabutcherofficial.com

 

Photo by East 27 Creative

Sheryl “Mac” McCollum

CSI, podcast host, author, forensics expert & cold case investigator

Back by popular demand, Sheryl “Mac” McCollum is a three-time nominated Emmy Award winning CSI from CSI Atlanta, National Law Enforcement Officer Hall of Fame Inductee, Director of the Cold Case Investigative Research Institute, a writer for CrimeOnLine, a forensic and crime scene expert for Crime Stories with Nancy Grace, host of award winning podcast Zone 7, and a working CSI for a metro Atlanta Police Department. 

Sheryl’s first book, SWANS DON’T SWIM IN A SEWER, is about a serial killer whose daughter is viciously murdered, the case goes cold, and he turns to Sheryl for help. It will be published in 2026.

Sheryl is also the Director of the Wildlife CSI Academy and the US Ambassador for the Wildlife Forensic Academy in South Africa.

 

This year Sheryl will be hosting TWO of her famous Wine & Crime dinner events: Two different cold cases = twice the fun. She’ll also be conducting a hands-on forensic competition, so you can examine a crime scene with her during the day and solve a cold case with her at night. This is your opportunity to work alongside one of the top experts in the field and learn from the best.