The Short Family Murders /// Part 3 /// 604 | Forensic Files

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GameChanger [Music] [Music] [Music] oh on September 30th 2003 Jennifer short was exhumed for
forensic purposes no one addressed why this was done or what tests were conducted or what the results of those
tests were this is very interesting here Captain because we're sitting here in our timeline and we had to go back in
time a little bit because we we left off with the 2005 charging of the three men lying to
police lying to law enforcement getting indictments getting convictions and all of those cases but now here we are back
in 2003 we are about 13 months after the homicides took place and now we're sitting here with the situation where
they're exhuming the remains of Jennifer short we know that at one time they exhumed the remains of Michael short and
we get a little bit of clarity and a little bit of reasons why they exhumed Michael's body but in 2003 we don't get
any explanation for why they are exhuming Jennifer Schwarz body or what tests were conducted or what the results
of those tests were well that's been the the way that law enforcement has handled
this case from the beginning is very tight lipped and they're not going to give too much away but very weird right
we've not seen I don't believe that we've seen a where they've exhumed more than one victim right and in such a
short period of time they've exhumed two of the three victims within 13 months of
the actual crime itself now let's skip ahead a bit right this will lead us to Spring of 2005 the Jennifer Renee short
homicide abduction task force was assembled in 2005 with the purpose of reviewing more than 3,000 leads compiled
in the case 3,000 tips that is according to the news and record the task force consists of two FBI agents two Virginia
State Police investigators two detectives from the Henry County Sheriff's Office and one from the
Rockingham County sheriff's office in North Carolina and an agent with the US Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco firearms and
explosives the task force met once a month and initiated a complete review of the case including
re-interviewing some of the people involved in August of 2007 it was reported in the Martinsville
Bulletin that the task force had developed people of Interest according to Henry County Sheriff Lane Perry he
would not elaborate but did state that Garrison Bowman was not a suspect the FBI would not go quite that far this per
a statement to uh a local online news states that investigators aren't going as far as saying he's innocent but they
admit it's time to turn their attention elsewhere in Mr Bowman's particular case
he was someone looked at early on in the investigation the evidence has not panned out to this point that any
indictments or arrests are imminent or pending in the foreseeable future so that's really interesting where you have
this guy that there's a lot of people pointing their finger to him we know that three
of them get convicted of lying to police and it seems like within the task force
itself there's a little bit of a discrepancy as to whether he should still be considered a suspect or not
where we have some people going on record stating he is not a suspect as of 2007 and then others saying well we're
not willing to say publicly that he is not a suspect at this time yeah there was a major hiccup worth mentioning
though in the course of this investigation and although the impact if truly any at all on the short case is
absolutely unclear but we should bring this up and this took place in November of 2006 when Federal investigators
charged 13 current and former members of the Henry County Sheriff's Office and a
racketeering case including the sheriff at the time who we quoted several times Frank Cassel there was a 48 count
indictment alleging theft of impounded property using selling and distributing ketamine crack and marijuana trafficking
and guns money laundering and obstruction of justice this was a huge deal and received National media
attention The Washington Post described the whole mess as the appal version of an HBO drama series sounds like a
Tuesday to me let's hope not let's hope Tuesdays get better right Captain Sheriff
casselle disgraced got eight months in prison for lying to investigators Cassell's successor Sheriff Lane Perry
he did not think this endemic corruption in the Henry County Sheriff's Office impacted the short
investigation of course it didn't the no effect on it yeah you know you sit there
and say that Mr Perry and you could be correct but the problem becomes for us on the outside looking in is twofold
you've not solved the short family murders yet and you've been very tight lipped on it and you're going to tell me
that these extracurricular activities that you're doing have no effect on your actual performance of your real job and
there's a huge black eye on the Sheriff's Office because of this these crimes basically that some of their
members were committing the FBI's ronoke resident agent in charge Kevin faou agreed though you know this is a
separate agency agreeing saying that we don't think that all of this activity of
course had impacted the short investigation but what was their alternative right admit that the
embarrassing corruption had blown the investigation or tainted it right so you're obviously
going to say no the the most the most infamous murder investigation that we have in our area was not impacted by
these wrongdoings of some of the members of our Sheriff's Office what's so wrong
with telling the truth hey this probably impacted it on some level we don't know
what level do we think that now look I would I'd have so much more respect if people would just tell the freaking
truth did did this have some effect effect or some impact probably do we think that the case would be solved if
this stuff didn't happen no see if they came out and said that I'd buy what they're selling a little bit more well
of course this made some people wonder could there be some kind of scenario where Michael short or his wife found
out that the cops were crooked and then the cops came and shut them up for good we we need to point out 100% and be
crystal clear here that there is absolutely zero evidence of this but of course this kind of malfeasance among
law enforcement is always going to stir up these kinds of conspiracy theories let's go on to some more positive
information in this investigation and this comes by way of the FBI themselves and and this is the course of 3 years
2008 2009 and 2010 when the FBI is releasing information about the short family murders so in 2008 the FBI's website on
the short family murders was updated with new information authorities had identified a possible vehicle associated
with the crime the FBI was looking for information from the public about an unidentified man seen sitting in a
vehicle near the short home along US 220 in Oak level on the morning of the murders also the website indicated that
the investigation had uncovered that Michael Short was trying to get a job as a mobile home mover in South Carolina at
the time of the murders they were looking to make contact with any people who had contact with Michael Short
regarding this relocation right apparently these Revelations did not yield sufficient information because in
February of 2009 the FBI updated the website to release a sketch of a flatbed truck that was seen parked near the
short home in the early hours the day of the murder the vehicle was described as
a 1998 to 2002 white single cab 2ton flatbed Stak body truck with wooden rails the cab of
the unknown vehicle was believed to be similar in appearance to a 4500 series International Truck the next month in
March of 2009 the FBI took the additional step of releasing a sketch of the man seen in the flatbed truck near
the short house he was described as a man in his 40s with a weathered complexion so just to make sure I'm
picking up what you're putting down seems like law enforcement saying hey maybe him trying to move and make a
transition in his life he maybe came across somebody that would want to do him harm
possibly I think they're trying to cast a wider net here but obviously you look at this situation and you see
information trickling out from the FBI and the first thing you wonder is 2008 is when we get some newly updated
information on the FBI's website and we go okay well what took you know what on Earth took so long 5 years or so to
release this information in the sketches they're selling illegal firearms and and
drugs well not the FBI this is information from the Federal Bureau of Investigation I'm sure they're doing it
too it's not very encouraging NOP to the investigation right and again this is what I just don't understand and I will
never I I don't know that I'm ever going to understand this math 2008 is when they say hey we're updating this and we
we're looking for information from the public about an unidentified man and a unidentified vehicle seen near the short
home on the morning of the murders yeah wh why why didn't this come out five years prior not only that why didn't
that come out 5 years prior why did then they wait till February of 2009 to go okay well here's a sketch to go along
with that information that we released last year wow right and then oh nothing comes of that so in in March let's
release a sketch of the man now we released a sketch of the vehicle now we're going to release a sketch of the
man it just seems like seems like their heads are shoved up their own asses look
I can get it I get it from a uh a what had corruption you know we have a sheriff's office that has corruption in
their office at the time we know this based off of the arrest and the charges that stemmed from that investigation of
corruption within the Sheriff's Office it almost appears too that the FBI in this
situation is kind of like figuring things out as they go and I know that that's how an investigation works you
figure things out as the evidence as you uncover evidence no doubt however they're making statements to the
public asking for help and not really releasing all of the information that they believe that they have at the time
cuz they're jackasses it seems very odd it just it it seems like they don't really have a leader or a direction for
this investigation and again that's not very encouraging seeing that we're looking at this thing at our timeline we
are now seven eight nine years into this timeline and it seems or would appear as though that the
investigation has no real Direction well again maybe because of the corruption maybe the FBI at this point said hey
look there was some stuff that we wanted law enforcement to put out and they didn't want to and and they were the
lead so we let that not happen we let them stay tight lipped but once this corruption came out we felt it it was
our duty to put this information out and that would at least explain the lazy timeline
one good thing for the case is we know that it was featured on America's Most Wanted twice so that's always a good
thing for a case usually when you have a case that needs to drum up possible tips
and information now one thing that was revealed during the course of one of the America's Most Wanted episodes one of
the episodes was the source of the information that authorities had fingerprints and hair that they
recovered from the murder scene that's kind of the Genesis of that information which is good information in
this case positive information for the investigation now back to the FBI's website updates investigators of the
Jennifer Renee short homicide abduction task force this is a statement that they
released to the public are seeking information from General Contractors independent contractors construction
companies mobile home dealers mobile home parts suppliers mobile home Transporters or mobile home salvage yard
owners who conducted business with Michael W short or Ms mobile home movers between January 1 2001 and August 15
2002 investigators are seeking information regarding the identities and locations of individuals who worked with
Michael W short or his company Ms mobile home movers on a weekly or day-to-day basis to include migrant workers some of
these individuals may have worked solely on a cash basis they are also interviewing anyone who utilized Michael
Short's mobile home moving business and they are attempting to identify any person or persons who saw or was in
contact with Mary or Michael Short between August 1st 2002 and August 14th 2002 this all seems and sounds very
Broad and shows that even years after the crime they are pretty much clueless about where to start in their
investigation even so now looking at it through new eyes through this new task force but the scope of the investigation
was even broader per the FBI's website several years prior to their deaths Michael and Mary operated a business
moving Mobile Homes at the time of their deaths the shorts were considering moving to South Carolina as a result
during the Spring and Summer of 2002 Michael Short made several trips to areas in South Carolina surrounding the
following cities bennettville Florence Conway and Myrtle Beach to seek employment investigators
from the Jennifer Renee short homicide abduction task force will be conducting interviews from May 17th to May 20th
2010 in the following South Carolina cities and at list the same cities that they list earlier so the investigators
travel to all of these areas and they put it out there in advance before going there hey if you spoke to Michael short
or you have anything to do with this investigation or his business or the family relocating if you might have any
information at at all you can meet us in one of these cities on those dates and speak with us which seems like a
desperate move it also seems like a a reasonably smart move to me though too but again you know I don't
know it really feels like they're kind of fishing for something anything at this point in their investigation but
you got to give them kudos for covering all bases and not giving up on this investigation and then a very strange
turn of events here Captain this brings us to February 20th of 2019 when the home that the shorts were
killed in burned down even though it was vacant at the time investigators say that they do not believe that there is a
connection between the fire and the murders keep in mind it's 17 years after the fact but note that years earlier the
home owned by Gary lemon remember he's the man that rented to Garrison Bowman and accused Garrison Bowman in the
murders Gary lemon's Rockingham County home also burned down there are those out there who believe that arsonist may
have had some kind of motivation to try to hide evidence in the short family murders case now I'm going to be frank
it seems like quite a stretch a very big stretch at that since it was so long after the murders but that
theory is out [Music] there this show is sponsored by better help do you look forward to the holidays maybe
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mates to the windows to the walls crispy Frank this doesn't sound as good cheers Captain be Colonel we talked
about a theory being out there that leads us to the theories section of this week's show so let's talk about some of
the theories all sources and investigators seem to agree that the short family was completely normal no
drama no issues no secrets they almost certainly would have been uncovered you would hope in the two decades since they
were killed if they had any issues drama or Secrets it sounds like they minded their own business that they kept to
themselves and had no known enemies there is simply no apparent motivation for the murders so who killed them and
why the first Theory would be that Jennifer who was abducted that she was actually the Target all along this is
really interesting and it's an interesting bit from the FBI's website showing that one
angle of the investigation that was still being pursued even to this day is that Jennifer was the Target and it
states investigators are attempting to identify any person or persons who had contact or was in contact with Jennifer
Renee short between June 1 2002 and August 14th 2002 for instance there may be a coach teacher friend
parent or neighbor who was in contact with Jennifer through such events and or activities as softball dance Church
birthday parties Etc anyone who had such contact with Jennifer short during this
time period is requested to notify or reot notify investigators on the FBI tip line at 1
1800225 5324 doesn't this seem like a completely different angle they're going in as far
as the investigation is concerned it seems like a a different angle yes I don't know about completely different
and I don't think that they had ruled out the possibility of it being related to Michael Mary or Jennifer at any point
you're right though at different times of this investigation over the course of the last 20 years it appears like it was
going in different directions right they honed in on Mary for a little bit they honed in on victim Michael for a little
bit and then victim Jennifer is the one that seems to be sticking well in in regard to this Theory would have to
stick because that's what this whole theory is based around now expanding on this Theory a little bit you can go back
to August of 20 5 when Henry County Sheriff Lane Perry announced that the motive in his opinion for the short
parent murder may have been the Abduction of 9-year-old Jennifer he says as we saw he called on her friends from
school and her softball team to see if they remembered anyone Jennifer might have mentioned he was quoted on Fox 8
news saying was it a sexual predator that Jennifer was the target of the crime and we do believe the house the
way what did happen around the home and The Cutting of the phone lines and the things I do think this is a person that
could have been watching for some time and it is possible they were watching for patterns and behavior some online
slle posit that someone could have seen Jennifer at the Circle convenience store
and watched her walk to her home a couple of hundred hundred of yards away the planning the the very quick style of
the attack the not taking of the bag of cash the check credit cards purse any of
those things that we know were left behind so that points away from robbery and points toward a targeted goal so
perhaps Jennifer was the target all along shooting her parents was just a quick way to eliminate the obstacle that
presented and this does remind you this should remind our listeners of the jam Claus case right in which the
perpetrator shot down the front door in the middle of the night blasted Jaime's parents before abducting her right and
we know that Jaimie Claus's abductor simply saw her getting off of a school bus so is there a chance that
maybe somebody saw Jennifer at that con venience store I saw her walking up to her home one day and that this
abduction and these two murders that went along with the abduction were just that random so Theory number two is that
somebody had a score to settle with Michael Short the father had revenge against the father and again until this
case is solved and until we understand what motivated these murders in the abduction all of these theories do seem
plausible and we this is all something you know when you look at this investigation you kind of see the dog
chasing its tail right where you where one Theory seems to be something that they're honing in on and focusing in on
for a period of time and when that doesn't pan out then they Circle back to a previous Theory and so this is one of
those theories that has kind of come in and out of the Limelight the whole time of this investigation So based on all of
the information qu requested by the the FBI's website the agency seems to have not ruled out the possibility that
Michael's business contacts are somehow connected to the murders now some people
have pointed out that the mobile home moving business is tough and attracts unsavory Shady transient types who could
have nefarious motives maybe someone had an issue with Michael but then of course
you wonder well why take the kid why why kill Jennifer why kill Mary it's believed that the parents were
killed in their sleep so Jennifer wasn't taken as some kind of message to the shorts we know that they were killed
before she was taken so I don't know it's it's certainly a possibility and I think that it's obvious that the FBI has
not ruled that out and so we should keep it as a consideration when when looking at this
case here's a weird one Weir a theory that's certainly out there and should be out there okay so the way that theory
number three goes we'll just call this Theory Joseph Duncan oh Joseph Duncan that piece of [ __ ] Joseph Duncan who
longtime listeners of this show will know that I've said repeatedly is one of the most evil persons we've ever
discussed he likes to come up often on True Crime garage and so he's he's so evil that in fact the captain and I
threw a little party on off the Record when he died in prison that's show you how evil we are we don't throw parties
very often for any reason at all now Joseph Duncan unfortunately is a favorite suspect for the short family
murders on several websites this is primarily because of the modus operandi that he used that is so similar to what
may have happened here in the short family case right right so Joseph Duncan what we know that he did we Absolut he
was convicted in a federal court of law of this okay he we know that he broke into a home the home of the granies he
broke into the grony home chab Bron murdered what he would have perceived to have been obstacles that would be the
parents Brenda grony and Mark McKenzie and 13-year-old Slade who was one of the kids and then kidnapped the two younger
kids Shasta and Dylan he later murdered Dylan by shooting him in the head just like one of our Vic all three of our
victims here right just like Jennifer died by being shot in the head so the question is where was Joseph Duncan in
the summer of 2002 well there were portions of that year that we believe he was roaming the country according to
dark ideas.net he used Minnesota and North Dakota as home bases and had no known ties to Virginia where our crime
took place but he turned up in Idaho when he carried out the grony abduction even though he had no connections known
to there either so it's not out of the realm of possibility it seems like a stretch seems
unlikely but according to several online sources Duncan had a good friend that he
visited in Florida and he was known to roam far distances in search of prey we know that based off of his crimes his
other murders so Duncan would seem like a good suspect given his known modus operandi and targeting of children but
if it's true that authorities have DNA hair and prints and evidence that would seem to rule him out right we know that
he was in their custody up until the time of his death and so while we cannot safe or certain that Joseph Duncan was
either in or not in Virginia in 2002 it seems like if he would have left any physical evidence at the crime scene
that they would have by now linked him to this triple homicide yeah which makes let's just stay on that point for one
second if they have DNA at this point it has not been matched with anybody cuz we would have a
arrest yeah so it almost seems like the person that committed these crimes has just never committed another crime or
never been caught for another crime or remains unidentified in those crimes that they committed Right theory number
four well that it could have been Garrison Bowman all along he was the suspect that we discussed the most he
was the one that was pointed out by his landlord to law enforcement now we know that three men came forward and said we
think we saw him fleeing the crime scene oh boom they're convicted of lying to the police
MH so we've discussed this at length and what evidence pointed to him being the Killer and the problem though is that a
grand jury decided that there really wasn't a whole lot of evidence to pointing to him being the killer at the
end of the day because they decided not to charge him in the case now by all reports Bowman was a drunk who would not
have been this is kind of the general perception would not have been Savvy enough to eliminate all evidence that he
would have left clear-cut signs of himself at the murder scene or on the victims there is zero indication from
people who knew him that he was interested in children at all or that he was violent at all the only evidence is
the odd timing of his departure for Canada and the Unexplained map that we had mentioned and it seems like that's
kind of it I don't really think that he is the guy and I I do want to make sure that I
point out some of this other information here before we move off of Garrison Bowman the way that I look at this and
the way that I see things here Captain it looks to me that evidence against Bowman just wasn't there now per the
news and record this is from an old newspaper article and it states quote detectives say they have not
linked Bowman with the shorts neither through business or personal contacts nor through forensics test Bowman told
that media Outlet in 2004 this will hang over me for the rest of my life unless they find the person
who did it unfortunately Garrison Bowman was right he died in 2014 with his name forever linked to to
the short family murders to this very day 20 years after the short family was killed many in the area still believe
that he may be responsible and this is my problem with law enforcement sometimes in these cases is when it's
too tight lipped right they might have information like let's say they have Michael's phone records for his
business and there is no Conta between him and this individual there's there's no there is no known record of
having any contact with his business and this individual if if that's true and law enforcement can tell you that or
they can go look we looked into this guy over and over and what what we come to find over and over is that we don't
believe this guy is connected then people could could move on to other other theories and spend
time on other theories there are a couple of theories that are not so out there like the four that we just went
through those four are by far the most popular theories but a couple of thoughts that I have before we move on
to some more recent movement in this case if you want to call it that would be a couple of ideas of people that we
do know that are either close to the case or somehow injected themselves into the
investigation itself so one this Timothy Samson remember he's one of the three that was charged with lying to
police he is one that was charged with threatening the lives of two of the investigators that worked this triple
homicide the thought is that he wanted to claim he and his friend wanted to claim the reward money that was out
there now look this guy this guy this guy sharpest tool in the shed nah no nah not this guy no
playing with the full deck no not this guy does that elevator go all the way up Captain no not this guy elevator's
broken out of order my friends this guy smells like turds think about his scenario mhm he and his Idiot Friends
devis this plan of well we were going to burglarize some places out in the that area that night and we just so happened
to hear two gunshots come from the crime scene and we saw a man who looked like Honest Abe Lincoln fleeing the scene
child and gun in hand oh now I see a picture of Garrison Bowman that's the honest Abe that I was
talking about now give me me that reward money well wait a second here Timothy Samson CH
Ching i' I'd say dumbass but dumass as the commercial says It's Dumas it's Dumas this guy how does he think he's
going to get any of this reward money Gary lemons is the one that told police about Garrison Bowman to begin with and
then you have to wonder when they're cooling on Gary lemon's accusations against Garrison
Bowman did he somehow get in cahoots with these other three guys to come up with well now we need a witness to kind
of seal the deal here maybe we can split up some of this money I don't know I look at it and I see I don't know how he
thought he was going to be getting the money uh you want to say like you said earlier that you would hope that good
people good honest people are coming forward because you want to believe eyewitnesses especially when we're
talking about homicide but then we learned that these guys lied to police so much so that they were
convicted of doing so the other thing too with this Timothy Samson is and I I can't figure out how
this thing ended up shaking out but at one point he was charged with being involved in The Disappearance of a Dawn
inz Phillips age 28 so she disappears she lives with Timothy Samson and disappears the day
after Christmas in the year 2000 in the year 2000 he tells police she went out to buy
drugs never came back they eventually charge him with being involved with her Disappearance in some form or fashion
but he's not charged with this until 2004 this is after he's all wrapped up in this lying to police about the short
family murders case so this dude is not a good dude he doesn't make good decisions is he responsible for this Don
Phillips and what happened whatever happened to her we don't know because there's no conviction for that but we do
know that several newspapers reported him being arrested and charged with some kind of involvement in her disappearance
then that leads us back to Chris Thompson the man who found his employer Michael Short dead on the couch in the
garage and remember he was there the night before he was there the night before this is look this guy could be a
saint for all we know we do know in Chris Thompson's defense police have been vocal they've not been vocal about
a whole lot of things in this case but one thing that they've been clear about to the media is Chris Thompson's been
very Cooperative we've spoke with him on many occasions about the case and he is a witness he's a person that
can provide information to the police and to their investigation they've never considered him to be or publicly stated
for him to be a suspect or even a person of interest again another again I think
sometimes law enforcement needs to go if if we have all these suspects coming up
in the Public's eyes that maybe we need to clear some of them or or or at least to say this person is uh not a person of
interest so I've read two different accounts of the night before now I cannot say I want to be
clear here I cannot say that Chris Thompson's story doesn't match up that he has a different version of what went
down MH all I can say is that there were two versions reported and they're very short and and I and I'm a little ticked
off that they are so short because Captain's pointed this out everybody knows out there that the devil is in the
details what we need here in Chris Thompson's story is the details because one report that I read was that he state
that he worked with Michael Short until late and that when he left he presumed that they would be going to bed shortly
afterwards and that Jennifer short was already in bed when he left the other version of that story
is that the family went to Burger King came home and then after they got back it's thought that they went to bed right
what we need to know those two those two stories sound very different both of them could be absolutely true if we had
all of the details right is there a version where Chris Thompson says I went with the family to Burger King or only a
portion of the family went to Burger King to pick up food for the rest of us and when they got back I left after they
had returned you know there's any number of ways that both of those stories could
be true true the problem though is what are the details fill in the blanks of that story
because if he says that he left the house and Jennifer short is already in bed yeah she could have got up yeah they
could have woke her up and taken her to Burger King doesn't seem very likely with right with her being N9 years old
yeah doesn't doesn't seem likely but but but also there but at 9: there's she's out of school for the
summertime see I could somebody going hey I'm going to run to Burger King really quick you guys stay here but I
don't see both of the parents jumping in a car and leaving her in her bed so make
a lot of sense and again we need more details of that Burger King version of the story right does somebody see all
three family members does somebody see all three family members plus an extra person with them which could be Chris
Thompson riding along do they only see two of the family members you you see what I'm getting at
there right we need more details of that night I think that that there in lies a
big problem with th this case as far as the public anyway looking at it and questioning and rightfully so
questioning law enforcement as to why they've not solved this case and you talk about moving on from
somebody look again Chris Thompson could be an absolute saint for all we know the
person that we know that is not a saint is Timothy Samson he lied to police he threatened
law enforcement with their lives he is beli to be somehow involved in The Disappearance of Da Phillips this person
is not a saint and I would be really curious I'm I'm I'm really suspicious of this individual who is pointing the
finger at somebody else and he seems to be all wrapped up into criminal activity
I just feel like this has when you bring up Joseph Duncan that this just has a lot of similarities and
and not saying that he's involved but just this idea that this person would know that this 90-year-old was
there they abducted her they abducted her for a reason I think that's the cause of her parents being killed it's
so that they could abduct her and move her to a different location and and and who knows how long she was there for
that's what my gut feeling um tells me and and I think you were bringing up the point you know it could be somebody that
saw her you know playing a sport or somebody that met her through school um but I think this was very
calculated especially with I think there was a taunting uh and that is that's what the
message was but also the The Cutting of the phone line I think this was very calculated and we
we have you know almost zero physical evidence that we know of I mean they've stated that there's some items that
they're testing but we don't know if that has come back conclusive that it's the
perpetrator you could find hair on the the husband or hair on the wife and then later on find out that they're at their
friend's house and it's some dog hair or whatever so I just I think this leans towards and this is a scary crime it it
it leans towards the idea that they were targeting the 9-year-old they're targeting Jennifer I agree with that and
I'm going to base that simply off of the idea that that I'm so smart yes case closed case closed but let's go back to
the other ideas the Jamie Claus case and the yes Joseph Duncan the groy family case case in both of those cases very
weird scenarios where people are murdered at the scene there's some type of breakin into the home and then the
younger the youngest child or the child is abducted and both of those scenarios those are incredibly rare
crimes just like this short family case that we're working on here and in both of those cases it was a perfect stranger
it was somebody that didn't know the family at all but but for whatever reason locked in on one of the kids they
were targeted and then the perpetrator watched the home for a bit of time before making his
move right and I almost feel like cutting the phone lines is indicative of a person watching the home before they
make their move I hate to say this but I agree with you in October of 2021 so Les less than
a year ago and here we sit now Captain almost 20 years to the day that the short family was killed I'm hoping and
praying that we receive some kind of update some kind of movement some kind of proof that today the case is still
very active and heading in the right direction finally once we get to this 20th anniversary of such a dark day but
less than a year ago in October of 2021 the Henry County Sheriff Lane Perry held
a press conference about a new multi-jurisdictional task force he had convened earlier in the year to reopen
the short case making up the new investigative team he said is the Henry County Sheriff's Office the Rockingham
County Sheriff's Office the Virginia State Police and a Federal Officer they intend to reexamine all the evidence and
the case from start and will make use of any new technology and testing that is now available at the presser Sheriff
Perry seemed to imply that they have DNA evidence by saying that they need to sit
down and evaluate new testing methods and see whether they have evidence that might be suitable I'm going to break in
with my own little thought here for a second captain before finishing up this information that was released in this
presser but going back to the exclam of Michael's body and when police came out and said that we exed him because we
needed to collect hairs that we failed to collect during the course of the autopsy it makes you wonder did they
Identify some kind of physical evidence that was found on Mary short because keep in mind they had not recovered
Jennifer at this point had they had they found some kind of evidence some forensic physical evidence on Mary short
and then they go well let's compare that to our other victim did we find that on
our other victim and that's when they something alerted them that they had not collected hairs from Michael Short's
body right if that statement from law enforcement to us the public is true I wonder if it's as simple as a couple FBI
agents lending their time to the case because it got some higher profile and they go hey guys you you missed this you
you forgot to collect hair samples off off this victim it could be really something that simple and then back to
one of the other suspects that has been publicly named uh the man who passed away in 2014 Garrison Bowman so
interestingly enough at this press conference when asked about Garrison Bowman Sheriff Perry said no one could
be ruled out until the case is actually solved but he seemed to point in a different direction when it said we do
have people that this is focused around we're not at Liberty to say who but yes we do have things that point us in the
directions with people and we are working those leads and have worked them in the past Perry goes on to say that
there are some people that the evidence points to but they don't have enough to ensure a successful prosecution he said
quote I believe there's a couple key people that have information they know who they are and they have
been approached numerous times and he said he hopes that they are watching this press
[Music] conference there's still a reward for $2,500 leading to the arrest of the
suspects if you have any information please call the FBI tip line at 1 800225 5324 that's 1
1800225 5324 really fascinating case that we covered this week if you have thoughts
and opinions make sure you go to True Crim garage.com and comment on our blog Colonel do we have any recommended
reading for the beautiful listeners thank you Captain this week we are recommending met her on the mountain by
Mark Pinsky in June of 1970 the body of 24-year-old Nancy Morgan was found inside a government-owned car in Madison
County North Carolina it had been 4 days since anyone had seen or heard from Nancy met her on the mountain tells the
story of this murder and Chronicles pinsky's efforts to solve the 40-year mystery once and for all check out met
on the mountain by Mark Pinsky you can find that great title and many more on our website true Crim garage.com on the
recommended page and until next week be good be kind don't [Music] lter [Music] the Angie's List you know on trust is
now Angie and we're so much more than just a list we still connect you with top local pros and show you ratings and
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The Short Family Murders /// Part 3 /// 604

Part 3 of 3

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Around 9AM August 15th, 2002 a man named Chris Thompson went to his employer’s home. This was a scheduled work day and Chris was to be there at the home to start work that morning. When he arrived Chris found the overhead garage door to the home open. He found his boss inside the garage, dead. Michael Short had been shot once in the head. Inside the Henry County Sheriff’s department located Michael’s wife Mary. She too had been shot once in the head. As if things weren’t already bad enough, the Sheriff’s department could not locate the Short’s 9 year old daughter. What was the motive here in this double homicide? Where was the little girl? Join us in our Garage as we take a deep dive and look at a case that is now 20 years old and 20 years unsolved. This week we spotlight this case and the investigation that ensued over the years. Plus we look at some theories and suspects.

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Brief Summary

The episode discusses the unsolved Short family murders, investigation challenges, and various theories about the case's motives and suspects.

Key points

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Jennifer Short Exhumation. In 2003, Jennifer Short's remains were exhumed for forensic purposes, raising many questions.
Corruption in Sheriff's Office. 13 members of the Henry County Sheriff's Office were charged in a racketeering case.
FBI's Investigation Updates. The FBI released new information about the Short family murders, seeking public help.
Theories on the Murders. Several theories emerge regarding the motivations behind the Short family murders.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

This is very interesting here, Captain.

2:16WatchNov 16, 2023

Tension

65/ 100Some tension

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