A conversation with former FBI agent Julia Cowley

DNA: ID

AbJack Entertainment

Society & Culture, True Crime

4.8 • 871 Ratings

🗓️ 30 June 2025

⏱️ 71 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Episode 153 A conversation with former FBI agent Julia Cowley

Our guest today is Julia Cowley, who retired from the FBI after 22 years at the agency. She has a bachelor's degree in chemistry from the University of Oregon and a master's degree in forensic science from The George Washington University. Before joining the FBI, Julia was a Special Agent/Forensic Scientist with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. When she joined the federal agency, Julia was first posted to the Boston Division. She was also a member and team leader on the Boston Division's Evidence Response Team. Julia then joined the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit, and was also assigned to the Evidence Response Team Unit. In her career as an FBI special agent, Julia investigated serial killings and sex offenses, white-collar crime, public corruption, and civil rights. She is certified in Behavioral Analysis by the FBI and was the lead FBI profiler on the Golden State Killer case. She now hosts the hit podcast "The Consult."

This is the last episode of DNA: ID before the show goes on summer hiatus. We’ll be back in late August with all new episodes!

This episode is sponsored by Mint Mobile; wireless service that's easy. Listeners of DNA ID qualify for the following special offer from Mint Mobile; as a new Mint Mobile customer, you will get 3 months unlimited wireless plan for just $15 a month when you use our special link to signup at mintmobile.com/DNAID. (up front payment of $45 required, limited time new customer offer for first 3 months only. Speeds may slow above 35GB on unlimited plan. Taxes and fees extra. Visit our special link above for full details.)

To listen to every episode of DNA: ID ad-free and get other benefits, simply visit our channel page on Apple Podcasts to get started with an AbJack Insider subscription. Of course, you can also support DNA: ID with a Patreon subscription.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	You're listening to DNAID.
0:03.2	Brought to you by Abject Entertainment, be sure to check out some of the other great true crime podcasts from this network, including The Murder in My Family, Missing Persons, Scene of the Crime, Zodiac speaking, Beyond Bizarr True Crime, and Campus Killings.
0:20.7	All of these podcasts are available for you to binge on right now, wherever you listen to podcasts.
0:26.2	Subscribe where you're listening to this podcast so you don't miss an episode. The
0:40.3	The The
0:57.0	The Over the four and a half years that I've been doing DNA ID, many of you have asked for me to consult with an expert to provide some kind of insight as to the types of killers that I've been doing DNA ID, many of you have asked for me to consult with an expert
1:28.0	to provide some kind of insight as to the types of killers that IGB is flushing out. Long-time
1:34.3	listeners might remember that very early on in the show, I spoke with Paul Holes about the advent
1:39.6	of one and done killers. These are men who escaped detection for years because they killed only once,
1:46.4	and were not ever entered into the violent offender DNA databases. It is only thanks to IGG that
1:52.5	they are now being exposed, after many of them lived, quote, normal lives for years. So today,
1:58.4	I'm bringing you my conversation with Julia Cowley, former profiler with the FBI's
2:03.0	behavioral analysis unit, and host of the terrific podcast, The Consult. I sent Julia some synopsies
2:09.6	of the cases I thought epitomized these one-and-done killers, and we will discuss patterns,
2:14.6	MOs, and other trends that Julia finds helpful in understanding
2:18.3	this type of killer. All the cases are ones I've covered on DNA ID in the past. I recommend that
2:24.6	you listen to the full episodes on these cases before listening to our discussion, as we will
2:29.7	refer to details from those episodes. Here are the cases we'll be discussing.
2:37.3	Lisa Ziegert. Lisa was killed in 1992 by Gary Shara, who confessed to her murder after he was arrested. Their relationship was
2:43.2	unclear, although they were possibly acquainted. Lisa was abducted from the Western Massachusetts
2:48.1	gift shop she was working at, probably at knife point.
2:51.3	She was vaginally and anally raped and stabbed to death. She was left for dead in a clearing in the
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from AbJack Entertainment, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of AbJack Entertainment and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.