In part two of this two-part episode, retired agent Steve Busch and retired FBI attorney Steve Kramer review how, after the success of the Golden State Killer case, they became the co-founders and architects of the FBI’s National Investigative Genetic Genealogy (or IGG) team, assisting law enforcement agencies in the identification of suspects, training thousands of investigators, and lecturing all over the world. They also talk about Indago Solutions, the AI-based software they designed to auto...
Jan 18, 2024•1 hr 14 min
In part one of this two-part episode, retired Bureau attorney Steve Kramer and retired agent Steve Busch review how Kramer teamed up with Paul Holes, an investigator for the Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office, to use Investigative Genetic Genealogy to generate leads to identify the person known as the Golden State Killer. Different law enforcement agencies spent 43 years trying to find the serial killer. Kramer and Holes took a different approach, and assembled a team that identified Joseph Ja...
Jan 10, 2024•1 hr 17 min
Retired agent Steve Bennett reviews a case involving a 15-year-old missing girl who disappeared but returned home after a few weeks. When a relative recovered a piece of paper in Jenny's purse with the name and address of a man living in Minneapolis, MN, police suspected the stranger had something to do with her initial disappearance. After local detectives determined the inter-state aspects of the case were beyond the scope of their small department, the case was referred to the Springfield FBI...
Dec 27, 2023•58 min
Retired Agent Barbara Verica reviews her espionage assignment working as a first-time, untrained, undercover agent (UCA) in Manhattan, gathering intelligence and the evidence to prove that Norwegian diplomat Arne Treholt was selling secrets to the former Soviet Union. The investigation was initiated on behalf of the Norwegian security service who had received information that Treholt, assigned as a member of the Norwegian delegation to the United Nations, was a spy. Barbara’s assignment—move int...
Dec 21, 2023•1 hr 22 min
Retired agent Matt Fine reviews his investigation of a disgruntled Philadelphia Phillies fan who hacked computers and launched a cyber-attack against the team and the email accounts of reporters at the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News, leaving messages voicing his complaints about the Phillies management. Matt served in the FBI for nearly 23 years. Check out episode show notes, photos, and related articles. https://jerriwilliams.com/303-matt-fine-disgruntled-phillies-fan-cyb...
Dec 14, 2023•49 min
Retired agent Steve Lazarus reviews his investigation of a flight attendant for disrupting the normal operations of two commercial flights. The flight attendant set a fire in the lavatory of a 50-passenger commuter aircraft, forcing the plane to make an emergency landing. He was also charged with phoning a gate at Hartsfield International Airport in Atlanta just six days after the 9/11 terror attacks and threatening that the plane would blow up in the air and all passengers aboard the flight wer...
Nov 29, 2023•1 hr 5 min
In this episode, retired agent Zorka Martinovich reviews the extensive administrative support provided by the FBI’s Critical Incident Crisis Negotiation Unit (CNU) when a Cuban-American businessman is kidnapped for ransom in Panama by the FARC, a Colombian terrorist organization. Beyond the case review, Zorka, a subject matter expert, explains the behind-the-scenes negotiations made by the FBI and State Department officials to assist families seeking to secure the release of US citizens held hos...
Nov 16, 2023•1 hr 16 min
In this epic 300th episode celebrating a milestone in my podcasting journey, we speak to FBI Director Christopher Wray, bestselling author and National Academy graduate, Isabella Maldonado, and retired agent and TV producer Anne Beagan. FBI Director Christopher Wray speaks with authority to those who listen to learn more about the FBI. Crime novelist Isabella Maldonado 48:03 addresses those listeners who follow the show because they are reading, watching, and writing crime dramas about the FBI a...
Nov 01, 2023•1 hr 46 min
In this re-edited archive episode, retired agent Eddie Fryer reviews the investigation to recover Polly Klaas, a twelve-year-old girl abducted from her bedroom in October 1993, by a stranger during a slumber party with two friends. Eddie Freyer was the case agent who, working in conjunction with his partners from the Petaluma Police Department, worked countless hours for more than sixty-days without a single day off. This was the episode that made me realize that hosting and producing FBI Retire...
Oct 19, 2023•1 hr 43 min
Retired agent James Stern reviews Operation Tropical Storm, where he was the undercover agent in a transnational drug enterprise investigation targeting the Yakuza Japanese mob trafficking methamphetamine in Hawaii. This was the first-ever arrest, indictment and conviction of a Japanese crime boss in U.S. law enforcement history. The case was featured on an episode of the TV Series, Deep Undercover and was also the topic of the true crime book, Operation Tropical Storm: How an FBI Jewish-Japanes...
Oct 11, 2023•50 min
Retired agent Jonathan “Jonny” Grusing reviews his and his National Park Service co-case agent Beth Schott’s investigation of Harold Henthorn for murdering his first and second wives. Grusing gathered the evidence to prove the murders were premeditated and made to look like accidents. Henthorn’s wife, Lynn, was crushed when he caused a car to fall on her and his wife Toni died after he pushed her from a cliff while they were hiking in Rocky Mountain National Park. Check out episode show notes, p...
Oct 05, 2023•1 hr 43 min•Ep. 298
In this episode, retired Assistant Director of the FBI Victim Services Division (VSD), Kathryn Turman reviews the VSD, the victim service specialist position, and the major cases and crisis events her staff has deployed to, providing assistance and support to victims around the world. Selected for the position by FBI Director Robert Mueller, she developed and led the FBI’s response to 9/11 victims, victims of more than 100 acts of terrorism overseas, and to more than 35 terrorism and mass violen...
Sep 20, 2023•1 hr 24 min
Retired agent Kyle Vowinkel reviews how he, as a member of the FBI’s Crisis Negotiation Unit (CNU), negotiated the peaceful surrender of one of the Boston Marathon bombers. It's a powerful, first-hand insider's perspective of the capture of a violent domestic terrorist responsible, along with his older brother, of killing 3 and injuring 281 others. The bombings took place on April 15, 2013. Kyle served in the FBI for 24 years. Check out episode show notes, photos, and related articles: https://j...
Sep 07, 2023•1 hr 18 min
Retired agent Shannon McGarry reviews her assignment as an Assistant Legal Attaché (ALAT) to the FBI’s overseas office in Brussels, Belgium, which covers four US embassies in Northwestern Europe: Belgium, Luxembourg, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the European Union (EU). Her responsibilities included establishing relationships with national and international executives and appointed officials; interacting with various government entities, educational institutions, and private ind...
Aug 23, 2023•1 hr
Retired agent Darin Werkmeister reviews his adoption fraud case where the subject solicited unsuspecting hope-to-be parents via the internet, leading them to believe she would facilitate adoptions with pregnant young women seeking to find homes for their babies. The subject was convicted of scamming 43 heartbroken couples. The investigation received national news attention, warning others of the cruel scheme to defraud. Darin served in the FBI for 21 years. Check out episode show notes, photos, ...
Aug 09, 2023•57 min
Retired agent Tim Gallagher reviews his investigation of a multi-state check counterfeiting ring that operated out of Northeast Ohio. They hit banks and businesses with fake payroll checks and bogus personal checks, causing hundreds of thousands of dollars of check fraud losses. In addition to several convictions, the case also resulted in the recovery of the remains of a cooperating witness most likely murdered to stop him from testifying, but never proven. Tim Gallagher served in the FBI for 2...
Jul 26, 2023•58 min
Retired agent Frank Runles reviews a Labor Racketeering investigation where union management for Laborers Local 91 in Niagara Falls, New York, was charged with RICO and convicted of operating as a criminal enterprise. We also discuss interview techniques and deceptive language analysis, which he taught at the FBI Academy. Frank served in the FBI for 25 years. Check out episode show notes, photos, and related articles: https://jerriwilliams.com/292-frank-runles-niagara-falls-laborers-local-91/ Bu...
Jul 13, 2023•1 hr 6 min
Retired agent John Morrison reviews an ecoterrorism case involving a member of the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) who firebombed the mink research offices and destroyed laboratory facilities at Michigan State University in 1992. The subject of the investigation, Rodney Coronado, was also responsible for the arson and destruction of mink research facilities at Washington State and Oregon State Universities. Coronado pleaded guilty for the Michigan State University crimes, the first federal convict...
Jun 29, 2023•49 min
Retired agent T.C. Fuller reviews a Crimes Against Children investigation where his subject was added to the FBI's Top Ten Most Wanted list. The fugitive was the second preferential sex offender the Bureau ever placed on the list. A tip from the America’s Most Wanted TV show led to his arrest. T.C. also talks about his memoir, Painting Over Rust: Stories From a 20 Year Odyssey. He served 20 years in the FBI. Check out episode show notes, photos, and related articles: https://jerriwilliams.com/29...
Jun 14, 2023•1 hr 11 min
Retired agent Scott Payne reviews his undercover role in the investigation that resulted in averting a mass shooting at a synagogue by a copy-cat white supremacist who said he wanted to do something similar to the June 17, 2015 massacre of church attendees in Charleston, SC, only bigger. Fortunately, the person he asked to get him a gun was UCA Scott Payne. Scott served in the FBI for nearly 23 years. Check out episode show notes, photos, and related articles. https://jerriwilliams.com/289-scott...
May 31, 2023•57 min
Retired agent John Tamm reviews his tenure on the Boston Division’s Justice Task Force and the investigation and conviction of former agent John Connolly for racketeering, obstruction of justice, and bribery related to his handling of informant Whitey Bulger and Stephen Flemmi. Connolly was sentenced to ten years in federal prison. A Florida jury convicted Connolly of second-degree murder for the killing of business executive John Callahan by a mob associate of Bulger and Flemmi. Connolly was se...
May 18, 2023•1 hr 11 min
Former agent Chris Tarbell reviews his investigation and takedown of the billion-dollar, cryptocurrency-based drug underground marketplace “Silk Road” and the arrest of its founder. The investigation, code-named Operation Onion Peeler, resulted in the largest seizure of bitcoins to date. Chris was also the lead investigator on several of the Bureau’s most complex and cutting-edge cybercrime cases, including the investigation and arrest of the leadership of Anonymous and the LulzSec hacking crews...
May 03, 2023•1 hr 8 min
Retired agent Cory McGookin reviews the investigation he led targeting the Latin Kings operating in the city of Aurora, IL and “Operation First Degree Burn,” a cold case multi-agency task force which resulted in the nation's largest ever cold case murder takedown. Thirty-one Latin Kings gang members were convicted of 22 murders going back two decades. Cory McGookin served in the FBI for 20 years. Check out episode show notes, photos, and related articles. https://jerriwilliams.com/286-cory-mcgoo...
Apr 20, 2023•1 hr 25 min
Retired agent Tom Simon reviews his investigation of Las Vegas couple Perry and Rochelle Griggs for orchestrating a prison Ponzi scheme. While serving 8 years in federal prison for securities fraud, Perry Griggs started another scam, where fellow prisoners and their families were the victims. When Griggs was paroled, he and his wife disappeared. A national fugitive manhunt ensued. CNBC featured this prison Ponzi scheme case on American Greed. Tom Simon served in the FBI for 26 years. Check out e...
Apr 06, 2023•48 min
Retired agents Jim Lewis and Renae McDermott review their 1999 kidnapping case where a mother and her two children were kidnapped for ransom and held for four days before they were located and rescued by the Miami Division SWAT team. In addition to the safe return of the family, the spectacular work of the investigative team and detectives from the Sunny Isles Beach Police Department, with assistance from FBI polygraphers, SWAT, surveillance, ERT, technically agents and phone tracking, resulted ...
Mar 23, 2023•57 min
March is National Women’s history month and this year's theme is, "Celebrating Women Who Tell Our Stories." So I’m republishing Episode 264: History of Women in the FBI, which celebrated the 50th anniversary of the modern-day female agent. In this encore episode, active and retired agents share personal stories from their FBI careers, historical details about Director Hoover's initial rejection, and the Bureau's eventual acceptance of women as agents. I hope you’ll listen or re-listen to the sho...
Mar 16, 2023•1 hr 10 min
In part two of this two-part episode, retired agents Phil Torsney and Tommy MacDonald review how, during the unresolved fugitive investigation of James “Whitey” Bulger, they altered their investigative strategy by focusing a public media campaign, including a national 30-second Public Service Announcement, on photos they had acquired of Bulger's female companion, Catherine Greig. Bulger had served as an informant for the FBI for several years. His FBI agent handler, John Connelly, was charged an...
Mar 09, 2023•1 hr 4 min
Retired agents Phil Torsney and Tommy MacDonald review how they were selected for a special assignment in Boston to work the unresolved fugitive investigation for James “Whitey” Bulger, a long-time FBI Top Ten Fugitive and Boston organized crime boss who had been in hiding for sixteen years with his girlfriend Catherine Greig. Bulger had served as an informant for the FBI for several years. His FBI agent handler, John Connelly, was charged and convicted for revealing to Bulger that he was about ...
Feb 22, 2023•1 hr 6 min
Retired agent Debra LaPrevotte explains the difference between oligarchs and kleptocrats, breaks down the indictment of former FBI SAC Charles McGonigal, and reviews the Nigeria OPL 245 oilfield license bribery case. The investigation involves two major oil companies charged with paying government officials to license natural oil resources originally gifted by former Nigerian military ruler Sani Abacha to his son and to the country’s oil minister. Debra served in the FBI for 20 years. She is the...
Feb 16, 2023•59 min
Retired agent Kyle Vowinkel reviews the 2013 Alabama bunker child abduction case, known as the Boy in the Bunker, one of the FBI's greatest hostage recovery operations. January 2023 marks the 10th anniversary of the crisis event, which took place from January 29, through February 4, 2013 in Midland City, Alabama, when a man boarded a school bus, killed the driver, and took a five-year-old boy hostage. Having served for eight years on the FBI's elite Hostage Rescue Team (HRT) and, at the time of ...
Jan 23, 2023•1 hr 26 min
