WebSleuths Unleashed: The New Era of Crime Investigation with Tricia Griffith

Zone 7 with Sheryl McCollum

iHeartPodcasts and CrimeOnline

True Crime

4.4 • 696 Ratings

🗓️ 12 July 2023

⏱️ 33 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this episode of Zone 7, Sheryl McCollum dives deep into the instrumental role civilians play in solving crimes.

She opens by examining the famous case of the Zodiac Cipher and segues into the tragic cold case of Ernestine Andridge. Sheryl introduces the powerful community of WebSleuths, headed by Tricia Griffith, which has changed the face of online crime investigation.

Griffith shares how WebSleuths has evolved from a small chaotic forum to a well-structured community of over 200,000 members, aiding in investigations of high-profile cases like those of Abraham Shakespeare and Casey Anthony.

The duo then delve into the pros and cons of social media in crime-solving and how online communities are reshaping the landscape of crime investigation.

Show Notes:

[00:00:00] Sheryl McCollum introduces the role of civilians in crime-solving, using the example of the Zodiac Cipher.
[00:01:22] Sheryl shares her realization of civilians' importance in crime-solving.
[00:03:11] Sheryl reveals the cold case of Ernestine Andridge, noting the challenges faced in its resolution.
[00:05:17] The role of civilian involvement in solving cold cases is emphasized, introducing Web Sleuths.
[00:07:50] Tricia Griffith, founder of Web Sleuths, is introduced to the episode.
[00:08:14] Tricia recounts the growth and transformation of Web Sleuths.
[00:09:21] Griffith highlights the importance of each Web Sleuths community member in case-solving.
[00:10:05] Sheryl likens the Web Sleuths community to a prayer group.
[00:11:06] Griffith explains the indirect, but crucial, role of Web Sleuths in solving cases.
[00:12:02] Griffith discusses Web Sleuths' contribution to the murder case of lottery winner Abraham Shakespeare.
[00:14:25] The significant role of Web Sleuths in the Casey Anthony case is discussed.
[00:16:00] Tricia shares a heart-touching conversation about online defamation.
[00:17:30] An instance where a Web Sleuths member uncovers crucial missed information is explored.
[00:18:30] Tricia discusses Web Sleuths' relationship with law enforcement.
[00:20:00] Griffith recounts the Boston Bomber incident and the importance of not spreading unverified information.
[00:21:00] Sheryl encourages listeners to consider joining Web Sleuths.
[00:23:00] Tricia expresses hope in using DNA evidence from Authrin Labs for a challenging case.
[00:24:10] Tricia invites listeners to join the army of online armchair detectives on WebSleuths.
[00:26:00] Sheryl discusses the power and potential pitfalls of social media in crime-solving.
[00:28:30] Griffith shares how WebSleuths helped solve a 23-year-old case.
[00:30:00] Sheryl acknowledges the efforts of Tricia and her army of WebSleuths.
[00:31:30] Sheryl praises Tricia Griffith's dedication to solving cold cases, both high-profile and low-profile.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	August 8, 1969. In just six days, a schoolteacher and his wife sitting at their kitchen table broke the Zodiac cipher. Donald G. Harding and his wife sitting at their kitchen table broke the Zodiac cipher.
0:23.3	Donald G. Harding and his wife Betty thought, hey, you know, this thing was published in the San
0:28.8	Francisco Chronicle. This might be kind of fun. Why don't we give it a shot and see if we can
0:34.0	solve it? Well, Donald went to work on immediately.
0:38.2	He had a little hobby of trying to decode things.
0:43.1	And Betty had the idea that if this person was a killer,
0:48.3	the word kill or killing should be in there.
0:51.9	So let's look for two symbols that are alike, and those are probably L's. And then we'll go in there. So let's look for two symbols that are alike and those are probably
0:55.5	ELs and then we'll go from there putting these words together. So in just about 20 hours,
1:03.8	they solved this thing and one of the things that Donald G. Harding said, he noticed that the spelling of this person was very poor, which
1:15.1	kind of cracked me up because I thought, well, good Lord, you can take the teacher out of the
1:20.0	classroom, but not the teacher out of the teacher.
1:22.6	He's going to zero in that this person is not a good speller.
1:26.1	But again, it was Betty that knew to look for what they
1:29.8	called the cribs, the words that are suspected to be in the cipher, something that you know
1:36.0	should be in there. That was the first time in my life that I remember that a civilian
1:43.5	helped law enforcement crack a case. Now, I didn't
1:47.7	learn about this until years later. It was 1975. And my fifth grade teacher, Ms. Anderson,
1:54.7	knowing that I had such a fascination with famous crimes, we were talking about Zodiac and she told me, hey, it was a
2:04.3	teacher that cracked that code. Well, I was dumbfounded because I was like a teacher, you know,
2:11.4	how can this be? The more I learned, obviously it began to make sense to me that the more people that were involved in something and the more varied their background, probably the more chance you had of solving something.
2:26.8	I mean, let's face it, that's the reason wanted posters worked, because no matter who saw that poster of that wanted person, whether they were a preacher, stay-at-home mom, a cowboy, a firefighter, they had a chance of spotting that person.
	...

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