Mayhem in the Morgue | BUZZ kill
Crime Stories with Nancy Grace
iHeartPodcasts and CrimeOnline
4.2 • 8.1K Ratings
🗓️ 26 April 2026
⏱️ 26 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In this episode of Mayhem in the Morgue, Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Kendall Crowns examines how an ordinary day outdoors can turn deadly after an encounter with bees, wasps, hornets, or fire ants. Using real forensic cases, he explains the four stages of anaphylaxis, the aggressive nature of killer bees, and how forensic pathologists determine whether an insect attack caused, contributed to, or merely complicated a person’s death.
Highlights:
(0:00) Welcome to Mayhem in the Morgue with Dr. Kendall Crowns
(0:15) Why stinging insects can turn an ordinary summer day into a fatal emergency
(1:30) Dr. Crowns’ childhood story involving yellow jackets, his brother, and a very bad idea
(5:30) How stinging insects are classified and the anatomy of stingers
(6:15) The Schmidt sting pain index and the varying pain of insect stings
(9:00) Sting frequency, allergic reactions, and seasonal danger patterns
(11:00) Case one: a fatal bee swarm after a lawn mower disturbs a nest
(13:30) The difference between bees, wasps, hornets, and the threat of killer bees
(19:15) The four stages of anaphylaxis and autopsy findings that help confirm a fatal reaction
(24:00) Case two: a woman found covered in fire ants, and what really caused her death
About the Host:
Dr. Kendall Crowns is the Chief Medical Examiner for Travis County, Texas, and a nationally recognized forensic pathologist. He has led death investigations in Travis County, Fort Worth, Chicago, and Kansas. Over his career, he has performed thousands of autopsies and testified in court hundreds of times as an expert witness. A frequent contributor to Crime Stories with Nancy Grace, Dr. Crowns brings sharp medical insight and dark humor into the strange, grisly, and sometimes absurd realities of forensic pathology.
About the Show:
Mayhem in the Morgue takes listeners inside the bloody, bizarre, and often unbelievable world of forensic pathology. Hosted by Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Kendall Crowns, each episode delivers real-life cases from the morgue, the crime scene, and the courtroom. Expect gallows humor, hard truths, and unforgettable investigations.
Connect and Learn More
Learn more about Dr. Kendall Crowns on Linkedin. Catch him regularly on Crime Stories with Nancy Grace and follow Mayhem in the Morgue where you get your podcasts. If you liked this episode, don’t keep it to yourself; follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave a review.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is an I-Heart podcast. |
| 0:03.4 | Guaranteed human. |
| 0:05.3 | Today's episode includes information about the death of individuals. |
| 0:09.1 | If this sort of thing upsets you, may I suggest you watch a movie? |
| 0:13.2 | Maybe something like The Swarm. |
| 0:16.3 | Welcome to Mayhem in the Morning with your host, Dr. Kendall Crowns. |
| 0:27.5 | Today's episode, Buzzkill. |
| 0:30.7 | As summer approaches and people are outside more doing activities in nature, |
| 0:35.3 | there is an increase in attacks by stinging insects. |
| 0:39.3 | You know them all too well. They're the bees, wasps, hornets, and the dreaded fire ants. |
| 0:45.0 | These insects can make a fun summer day turn into a miserable nightmare, and for some, it can |
| 0:50.9 | result in death. In today's episode, I'm going to be discussing deaths associated with |
| 0:56.8 | stinging insects. So let's get started. It's interesting in the United States, a significantly |
| 1:02.8 | greater part of the population is killed by hornets, wasps, and bees compared to snakes. |
| 1:08.7 | For whatever reason, people are more afraid of snakes in nature than stinging insects. |
| 1:14.0 | And when they see a snake, they run. |
| 1:16.5 | But a hornet's nest? |
| 1:17.9 | No. |
| 1:18.9 | Instead, they hit it with a stick and film it on TikTok. |
| 1:22.6 | Statistics compiled from the United States spanning the years 2011 to 2021 showed 788 people were killed by |
| 1:30.9 | wasps, hornets, or bees, roughly averaging 72 per year, compared to only 50 snake deaths during this |
| 1:38.6 | time period. Probably everyone I know, including myself, has been stung at least once in their lives. |
... |
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