We Lost Them | Criminal Podcast | Forensic Files

I don't want to know I don't think I want to know what she saw. I mean I know what she saw but I don't think I want to
hear it from her. I I just don't think I want to hear it from her. You know, my father was killed from a
shotgun blast at close range. Um and my sister happened upon that. Yeah, I was in the bathroom believe it or not.
And the phone was ringing and normally I don't I don't answer the phone in the bathroom.
Uh just getting ready to wash my hands and I looked down and it was my it was my brother-in-law.
And for whatever reason I I I answered it. I was like, you know, Lane, what's going on?
And it was a very quick conversation. It was like Will, Mindy just called me and said
something about she was frantic and said something about Poppy being shot. We call my dad Poppy, that's what the
the grandkids all call him. And I said, what? This is Will Corporon. In April, his
father and nephew were shot to death by former KKK member Frazier Glenn Cross, also known as Frazier Glenn Miller,
outside of a Jewish Community Center in Overland Park, Kansas. Cross then killed a third person in
another location, a woman by the name of Terri LaManno. It was a huge news story
at the time. Frazier Glenn Cross Jr. is a well-known neo-Nazi. >> Police say he used a shotgun killing two
outside the center. Inside, about 75 mostly young children took cover in the building's theater The Overland Park
community is mourning the victims, none of whom were Jewish. Will was at his daughter's cheerleading competition when
he got the call. You know, I'm thinking at the shooting range, he accidentally shot him. I mean, you know, I
I didn't even know didn't even know what to make of it. And the phone rang and I looked down and
it was Mom's cell. And so I walked out to where I could hear. And then she And she told me
She said, you you know, your father's dead. Family members of murder victims are
often captured on television. We're shown their grief and we watch them try to respond when they're asked impossible
questions. They're given this nightmare of a task trying to introduce their loved ones to the world while at the
exact same time eulogizing them. What we rarely hear is the family's personal timeline. How they decide to
tell their story. What to share and when. I'm Phoebe Judge and this is Criminal.
The late Dr. William Corpron Sr. was 69 years old. He was a doctor, a hunter, and close to his family. He'd taken his
grandson, 14-year-old Reed Underwood, to a talent competition. Reed's mom, Mindy, was at a lacrosse
game with her other son. But when that game got rained out, Mindy headed to the community center to try to
catch Reed's performance. When she drove into the parking lot, there weren't any police, no ambulances,
there was no sign of emergency. She just happened to be one of the first people on the scene.
That's when she recognized the body of her father. So, from a distance, she saw him laying there with the door open,
thought that was strange, thought he'd had a heart attack or something. You know, your mind is racing.
Um and I'm quoting her now, you know, she got up there and looked at him and knew immediately he was in heaven.
Went around to the other side of the car and there were two men cradling Rhett. Um and very quickly
a bystander or or someone else there who she calls Mickey. I'm not sure the last
name. I don't remember. But I think he's a volunteer a worker there at the Jewish Community Center
literally I think grabbed her up in both arms and whisked her into the doors of the Community Center which
were probably maybe you know 30 ft away off to the right. That that that seems um
that seems like I can't I can't even imagine. Yeah, I I can't either. We've not talked about it and I don't
know that I'll ever really talk about it with her. Will and Mindy's mother arrived on the
scene. She forced her way through the police barricade and found Mindy inside the Community Center. That's when they
called Will at the cheerleading competition to tell him that his father was dead.
When they walked back outside, Rhett was gone. No one would tell them what hospital
he'd been taken to. Police say they do have a person of interest in custody. A shotgun was used
and possibly a handgun and assault rifle, police said. No motive has been released. The FBI is also investigating.
When did you find out about Rhett? Well, we were probably I'm thinking we were probably about 25
to 30 minutes outside of Tulsa and the phone rings. And it was Len's cell. And this is the it's the worst call I've
ever received in my life. He he's not so much sobbing or screaming or I mean I I I
I've never heard someone's soul cry. But I I I'm telling you I I heard a man's soul
cry. It was awful. And he just said, "Reed's gone." And I just remember I kept saying, "What?"
"Reed's gone." "Reed's gone. We lost him. Reed's gone." Will and his wife took their kids home
to Arkansas and began the 3-hour drive north to Kansas. It had only been a few hours since the shootings and Will got a
call from a PR woman at the hospital where they'd taken Reed. She was working on a press release and wanted Will's
approval. She'd made a comment about maybe waiting to release the names until, you know, sometime when the
police department would do it either Monday or Tuesday. And it was literally right then when she
said that that something kind of a switch went off and I kind of got my second wind and said,
"No, we you know, okay, thank you." And then I texted my sister and brother and said, "We you know, we can't do that."
Will works in insurance in Arkansas, but he used to be in TV news. So, he knows something about what it's like to make
calls to perfect strangers and ask invasive questions. He knows what it's like when your job is to make someone
else's private life public. That old news guy kicked in. Knowing that the media is going to get
the information they need. You know, they may not be able to release the names, but they're going to they're
going to find it out. So, you either let the wave crash over you or you ride the wave.
And I guess it was just instinctual. You know, I wanted to get out in front of it. I knew they were going to find
pictures somewhere and And told them I you don't want the first picture of dad and Reed also has a driver's license a
permit. I said, you don't want the the pictures of dad and Reed to be out there to be their driver's license photos.
That's not what we want. That's not who they are. And more on those two that we've confirmed were shot and killed
today. A family statement released read in part Dr. Corcoran was a well-loved physician who moved to Johnson County to
be closer to grandchildren. He cherished his family and more than anything had a
passion for others. Reed was a 14-year-old freshman Blue Valley High School a school he loved. Reed had a
passion for life and touched so many people in his young age. We take comfort knowing they are together in heaven.
Just 14 years old Don one of the victims in today's shooting. Of course, we will
learn more about that third victim who is yet to be named. All three morning shows I think had called.
Mindy chose the Today show because frankly she likes Savannah Guthrie. Never met her. She just likes her. You
know, just one of those things. There were people that called that I did not feel comfortable with that I turned
down. Local, national, print. You could just kind of hear an edge to their voice. Um,
they didn't sound the least bit sympathetic. They just sounded like they were they were doing a job. You know?
Will was scheduled to talk to CBS at a church in Kansas City. He expected an intimate sit-down. But when he and his
sister arrived, the church was mobbed by reporters. And there are satellite trucks everywhere,
live trucks everywhere, cables running here and there. We walk in and look off into the the main, you know, narthex
and there's a bank of cameras and a you know, the the the whole news conference scene, you know.
So, we went in as a family went into um to just a side room. Kind of a a little chapel off to the side and
just kind of gathered ourselves and I said, you know, Mindy, we didn't you know, this news
conference is not anything that was in the plan. I said, if you're okay, that you know, they're
here and we can certainly go and talk to them. If not, um you know, we don't have to. You know,
what do you want to do? Uh and she said, no, I'm okay. I talked to the transplant group today.
That was not an easy call. And um hopefully my son will be um a tissue donor, possibly an organ donor. They don't
know. He was 14 and he had his permit and he had already signed up to be a donor on
his own and they knew that. Your sister speaks with such detail about the events
and it's so surprising to hear her not only I mean, I have I have no idea the strength and courage to be able to
stand up and do that, but also to speak so so rationally about about what she saw
and wanting everyone to know, hey, this is exactly what you want to know what happened. This is exactly what happened.
Did that surprise you at all? You know, I it did it did surprise me. Um her strength of
character, you know, and all that, no, not at all. I none of that surprises me, but but the way she's handled herself
with such dignity and strength after losing her son and her father and seeing her father, you know,
lying in the rain on the blacktop, you know, obviously dead. You know, to be able then to
to articulate that um yes, that that that did surprise me. Did you ever think about while this was
happening, about how your father would have been handling it? Yes and no. You know,
we've talked about this after the fact. You know, you look for any little glimmer of something.
There are ways we think this could have ended worse even than it did. How? >> Um well,
if Dad would have somehow survived and Reed had been killed, that would have been a slow torturous
death for my father. It would have killed him, but it would have taken a while. But I I want to ask you one question and
and that is um do you think that you did that the way that you handled this, that you did
justice to your father and Reed's memory? I felt like the decisions we made were good. The pictures we released, the
news release that we did early on, um were great pictures. The information was good.
And you know, I do. I feel like that we did my father and Reed proud. And I think we continue to. And maybe helping
people figure out how to get through it. You know, that it is okay to release the
names and release some pictures. It's okay. Tell your story. Tell your loved one's
story the way you want it to be told. It's going to get told one way or the other.
You may as well be the ones, you know, trying to do the telling. Reed's mother, Mindy Corporon, telling
Fox 4 News her son was a beautiful singer. She was proud to post video of her son's performances on YouTube. She
said >> Reed was 14 and he wanted to sing. He was with his grandfather at the time of
his death. Frasier Glenn Cross has been charged with three murders. Will Corporon Sr.,
Reed Underwood, and the third victim, Terri LaManno. She was 53. He's being held in a jail in Johnson County, Kansas
awaiting trial. Criminal is produced by Eric Mennel, Lauren Spore and me. You can find out
more information about the show on our website thisiscriminal.org. We're on Facebook and also on Twitter at
Criminal Show. If you like what we're doing, you can subscribe in iTunes where you can find all of our previous
episodes. I'm Phoebe Judge and this is Criminal.

On April 13, 2014, former KKK member Frazier Glenn Cross pulled into a Jewish Community Center and ambushed William Corporon and his grandson Reat Griffin Underwood, killing both. He then killed another woman named Terri LaManno a short distance away.

What does the family left behind do when they are thrust into a national spotlight? How do they figure out what to disclose and what should be private?

Criminal is a show about people who’ve done wrong, been wronged, or gotten caught somewhere in the middle. Hosted by Phoebe Judge. Part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.

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Episode 6 originally published May 23, 2014. https://thisiscriminal.com/episode-6-we-lost-them-5-23-2014

Brief Summary

Will Corporon and his sister Mindy recount the tragic shooting of their father and nephew by a neo-Nazi at a Jewish Community Center.

Key points

A Family's Tragic Loss. Will Corporon recounts the moment he learned of his father's death from a shooting.
The Impact of Violence. The story of a family affected by a hate crime and their struggle to cope.

Episode highlights

The Impact of ViolenceThe story of a family affected by a hate crime and their struggle to cope.“Reed was 14 and he wanted to sing.”13:10May 19, 2026

Episode quotes

I don't want to know what she saw.

Reflecting on a traumatic experience.

0:01WatchMay 19, 2026

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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