Episodes

  • View From the Witness Chair: Juliet Huck, Persuasion Strategist

    View From the Witness Chair: Juliet Huck, Persuasion Strategist
    Jul 31 2024
    As a homicide survivor, the legal process is frightening, confusing, and foreign for the majority of us. And that goes double for testifying in a murder trial. The D.A. may prep us for our questioning. But that's more for content. How do we manage our anxiety and keep our peace? How do we tell our truth and have it understood without being overwhelmed emotionally or physically before, during, or after the trial? The stakes are high. The facts are complicated.

    Our next guest is a seasoned persuasion strategist. She describes her work as bridging law and real life. She helps us visualize our audience, clarify our message, and present complicated facts logically and genuinely.

    In addition to her work, she also hosts a podcast called Trauma Trial Transformation where she presents true stories from the witness chair.

    Please join us, won't you?

    For more information see my webpage at www. jancantyphd.com
    Show more Show less
    1 hr and 12 mins
  • The Murder of your "Nearly Child" featuring Natalie Bedard

    The Murder of your "Nearly Child" featuring Natalie Bedard
    Jul 17 2024
    Natalie Bedard (affectionately known as Nat Nat) is an experienced, gracious, and empathetic homicide survivor, advocate, and podcast host for Lift Oneself https://www.liftoneself.com/

    Nat Nat was a second mother to her friend's son. Everyone who knew Sheldon was going somewhere in life. He excelled at sports, friendship, academics, and compassion. Even in high school, he stood out head and shoulders. He was known as "the peacemaker." But even with all that going for him, he was the target of homicide. No one saw it coming. (He should be turning 30 this year.)

    Listen in as Nat Nat describes her own grief journey interwoven with how she came to pivot it to help others. Like me, Natalie finds solace in nature, photography, meditation, and the healing power of the ocean.

    Please tune in and get comfortable as you hear Nat Nat describe healing from tragedy.
    Show more Show less
    1 hr
  • Think You Can't Be Wrongfully Convicted for the Murder of Your Loved One?

    Think You Can't Be Wrongfully Convicted for the Murder of Your Loved One?
    Jul 3 2024
    Wrongful convictions for the murder of a loved one are rare but not unheard of (think Michael Morton, Kathleen Folbigg, Jeff Deskovick, Kristina Kurlis, Patricia Stallings, Debra Milke, Sally Clark, Nichole Harris, Hanna Overton and others). They come from all walks of life. Men and women who faced injustice on top of grief. Can this nightmare be avoided? Listen in and know what to do.

    This episode is dedicated to Melissa Lucio in Texas who is on death row awaiting execution for the wrongful conviction of her toddler
    Show more Show less
    13 mins
  • Dying to Know: Planning the Funeral & Burial with Cemeterian Heather Leigh

    Dying to Know: Planning the Funeral & Burial with Cemeterian Heather Leigh
    Jun 19 2024
    Homicide survivors are usually forced to make irreversible funeral and burial arrangements in haste without much sleep, information, or money set aside for this expense. This episode will address important "inside" information on funerals, burials, and cremation from a death care professional, Heather Leigh - General Manager of Greenhaven Memorial Gardens in Columbia, South Carolina. But she brings even more expertise from her background as an academic where she taught a course on death and dying for the Child and Family Studies program at Columbia College, Columbia, South Carolina. This helps us plan ahead. Information is power.
    Show more Show less
    1 hr and 9 mins
  • Bite Size Episode: How To Write a Victim Impact Statement

    Bite Size Episode: How To Write a Victim Impact Statement
    Jun 5 2024
    Most crime victims know they have the right to give a victim impact statement (VIS) before sentencing and at parole board hearings. But most people do not realize that judges seldom use our input. That's because we don't stick to our task: giving a rationale for our sentence recommendation.

    It's a relatively recent privilege to have our say in court. It took federal legislation to make it a reality (the Victim and Witness Protection Act of 1982). Not everyone is on board. The ACLU has consistently opposed this right. They believe it undermines due process.

    This episode provides a quick overview of the dos and don't behind giving a victim impact statement.
    Show more Show less
    13 mins
  • Lightening DOES Strike Twice: Two Homicides - Guest Barbara With

    Lightening DOES Strike Twice: Two Homicides - Guest Barbara With
    May 22 2024
    The extended family of Barbara With endured two independent homicides just a few years apart. Both killers were known to their targets. Both victims were single parents of young children. Both of their attackers were convicted.

    In this discussion, we discuss the impact of these murders on our guest Barbara With and her family. But, we also learn more about her background as an intuitive, creative performer and writer.
    Show more Show less
    45 mins
  • Jeanne Dotts Brykalski: The parole system from the viewpoint of the homicide survivor

    Jeanne Dotts Brykalski: The parole system from the viewpoint of the homicide survivor
    May 8 2024
    Jeanne Dotts Brykalski lost her parents to murder in a quiet neighborhood in East Tennessee when they interrupted a burglary in progress by three assailants in their own home. Jeanne is a veteran of the homicide survivor experience. She's been through the death notification, funerals, trial and faced the parole board before. She's served as a victim advocate for others. Jeanne has insights only an experienced "insider" could have.

    This is the second time we've heard from Jeanne. We first met her November 10, 2021, when she detailed the deaths of her parents, Les and Carol, and the comfort her parents' dog provided to her immediately following the tragic news.

    In this episode, we will glean what it's like to go before a parole board. And just as important, Jeanne invites you to get involved by signing the petition to keep David Scarbrough behind bars. (You need not be a resident of Tennessee or be personally involved with the situation.) The petition will need to be signed before December 1, 2024. Please go to:
    https://www.change.org/JusticefortheDotts-122024,
    or click on the link in the corresponding Facebook Page for this podcast and episode.
    Show more Show less
    1 hr and 7 mins
  • Lynette Duncan; A double family murder and staring down two serial murderers

    Lynette Duncan; A double family murder and staring down two serial murderers
    Apr 23 2024
    Lynette Duncan was just a happy teenager living life in southern California when the unimaginable came to her family's door at 4:00 a.m. Two serial murderers took the lives of her father and sister and seriously wounded her mother. She became the de-facto head of the household. She is still fighting parole for the one convict who remains.
    Show more Show less
    50 mins