A new podcast entitled “Anatomy of Murder” launched in mid-October and debuted with a case close to home. The cold case discussed involved Loretta M. Jones’ murder in Carbon County in 1970.
“Anatomy of Murder is a weekly true crime podcast examining homicide cases and paths to justice for the victims. Former New York City homicide prosecutor and host of Investigation Discovery’s “True Conviction,” Anna-Sigga Nicolazzi, teams up with Emmy award-winning investigative journalist, and former Deputy Sheriff Scott Weinberger, to take listeners behind the scenes for an insider’s perspective of compelling homicide cases from around the country,” the podcast’s website shared. “In every episode, listeners will also hear and gain insight from a victim’s family member, the prosecutor or a member of law enforcement directly involved in the investigation.”
Anna-Sigga Nicolazzi worked for the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office in New York for 21 years. She served as Chief of Trials during the last 16 years and worked on hundreds of investigations and tried over 50 felonies, 35 of which were homicides. She uses her experience to illustrate to the listener the details of working a case and building evidence in order to convict. Scott Weinberger is a three-time Emmy-award winning investigative journalist and served nearly 10 years in law enforcement in Florida. He helps listeners relate and understand the perspective from law enforcement officers during investigations.
In “Little Girl Turned Sleuth,” the first episode of the podcast, Heidi Jones-Asay retells firsthand details surrounding her mother’s murder and investigation. The episode also highlights Sergeant David Brewer and his committed effort to solving the case. “Talk about pressure. Even though [Sgt. Brewer] just began his assignment in cold case, this was his first homicide investigation. That’s pressure,” said Weinberger.
“[Sgt. Brewer] was pretty crafty; he tried to think out of the box,” Nicolazzi said. “Even when I think I’ve seen it all in some shape or form, one of the things that this profession always loves is that there’s always something new. Because what Brewer did, was he got this really out of the box idea, ‘Lets go and exhume the body’… Even though Sgt. Brewer and his team did not get the DNA from that exhumation they’d been hoping for, I thought what they did here was, if it could be even more crafty, this one almost rises to the level of ingenious.”
Jones-Asay speaks throughout the episode and finishes by discussing the closure she received after the conviction. “To me, it was the best feeling in the world… All I wanted was justice, all I wanted is for my mom to rest in peace,” she said. “For me, during this whole process, I had to have hope. And I couldn’t ever give up. If there’s anyone out there with a cold case, if they hear my story and it gives them a glimpse of hope. We didn’t have DNA, we didn’t have a whole lot. We had a determined detective and a really pushy little girl that wanted her mom’s murder solved. So, I believe that you’ve got to have hope.”
The episode can be streamed on your favorite podcast streaming platform.