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Zone 7 with Sheryl McCollum

The Anatomy of a Cold Case: Re-examining the Murder of Ann Ledger with The Investigators Podcast

Zone 7 with Sheryl McCollum

iHeartPodcasts and CrimeOnline

True Crime

4.4696 Ratings

🗓️ 27 September 2023

⏱️ 44 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

On January 16, 1987, Ann Ledger is found raped and murdered in her apartment in Sandy Springs, Georgia.  

In this episode of Zone 7, Crime Scene Investigator, Sheryl McCollum, teams up with Jessica Noll and Todd McComas as they dive into the intricacies of solving cold cases. The trio explores the unique dynamics of their partnerships, emphasizing the invaluable role of media in aiding law enforcement. Todd opens up about the human side of police work, while Jessica sheds light on the hurdles journalists face in accessing information.

 

Show Notes:

  • [0:00] Welcome back to Zone 7 with Crime Scene Investigator, Sheryl McCollum  
  • [1:55] Sheryl introduces guests, Jessica Noll and Todd McComas to the listeners
  • [2:00] Check out The Investigators Podcast HERE
  • [5:50] Sheryl discusses the invaluable resources that news organizations can offer
  • [10:10] Todd shares a story of a time he lost a weapon
  • [15:00] Jessica shares an instance where Todd's keen observational skills proved invaluable
  • [20:00] The trio dives into the murder and rape of Ann Ledger. This is a cold case from 1987
  • [27:30] “The First Amendment is a real thing. And the reporter that you were running from is going to write that story anyway, The best thing you can do is put yourself in the best light.”
  • [37:00] If you have information about Ann Ledger, reach out to Jessica or Todd, or call the Sandy Springs Police @ 770-551-6900 
  • [37:50] Final words on Ann Ledger's unsolved case 
  • [43:10] “If you're not going to offend somebody, you don't need the First Amendment.” -L.F
  • Thanks for listening to another episode! If you’re loving the show and want to help grow the show, please head over to Itunes and leave a rating and review! How to Leave an Apple Podcast Review: First, Open the podcast app on your iPhone, Mac, or iPad. Then, hit the “Search” tab at the bottom right-hand corner of the page and search for Zone 7. Select the podcast, scroll down to find the subheading “Ratings & Reviews”. and select “Write a Review.” Next, select the number of stars you’d like to leave. Please choose 5 stars! Using the text box which says “Title,” write a title for your review. Then in the text box, write the review itself. The review can be up to 300 words long, but doesn’t need to be much more than: “Love the show! Thanks!” or Once you’re done select “Send” in the upper right-hand corner.

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Sheryl “Mac” McCollum is an Emmy Award winning CSI, a writer for CrimeOnLine, Forensic and Crime Scene Expert for Crime Stories with Nancy Grace, and a CSI for a metro Atlanta Police Department. She is the co-author of the textbook., Cold Case: Pathways to Justice. Sheryl is also the founder and director of the Cold Case Investigative Research Institute, a collaboration between universities and colleges that brings researchers, practitioners, students and the criminal justice community together to advance techniques in solving cold cases and assist families and law enforcement with solvability factors for unsolved homicides, missing persons, and kidnapping cases.  

You can connect and learn more about Sheryl’s work by visiting the CCIRI website https://coldcasecrimes.org

Social Links:

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

We became partners on the crisis response team in 1994 in preparation for the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta.

0:17.0

Bay, as we call her, was twice married, had grown children, and was solid in her career.

0:25.1

I was single-ish, while it was still around, but we weren't married, we'd never been married,

0:30.2

and we had no children.

0:32.4

Bay was 16 years older than me.

0:35.1

We were opposites in many ways, but we were alike in the ways that

0:39.8

mattered the most, our family, fighting for justice, being advocates for victims. But still,

0:47.3

with that age gap in where we were in life and our careers, we weren't obvious friends,

0:53.6

but that partnership worked. We balanced each other,

0:58.6

we respected each other, we had a great time with each other. We laughed 90% of the time and worked

1:05.8

about 10th. We worked things like the Adamsville Slayin, Nicole Smith, the Shotgun House Double Murder,

1:13.6

the Olympics, and 9-11.

1:16.6

Our guest today know a little bit about partnership, and they sure Lord know about laughing.

1:22.6

They came from different careers, both good ones, solid ones.

1:28.1

One is a reporter.

1:29.4

One is a detective.

1:31.1

Now, historically, they have not always trusted each other.

1:35.9

That First Amendment can be challenging sometimes law enforcement.

1:40.4

Sometimes they don't want things leaked.

1:42.9

They don't want information out.

1:44.7

And sometimes that reporter wants to be the first one to tell people information.

1:49.0

Today, we've got two of the best, Jessica Knoll and Todd McComis.

...

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