When most people hear the word "autopsy," they immediately think of crime shows, murder investigations, and cold stainless-steel tables.

But what actually happens during an autopsy?

In this episode of Let's Talk About Murder, we're taking a respectful and educational look inside one of the most important tools in death investigations. We'll explore why autopsies are performed, what medical examiners and forensic pathologists are looking for, how cause and manner of death are determined, and what the body can reveal long after a person's final moments.

We'll also separate Hollywood fiction from reality, discuss common misconceptions, and explain how autopsy findings can help solve crimes, uncover medical conditions, clear innocent suspects, and provide answers to grieving families.

Because despite what television often suggests, an autopsy isn't about the dead.

It's about finding the truth.

Most people know the names Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka.

Far fewer know the story of Tammy Homolka.

Before she became a victim, Tammy was a bright, athletic teenager with her whole life ahead of her. She adored her older sister Karla, trusted her completely, and had no reason to believe that trust would ultimately cost her everything.

In this episode, we're focusing on Tammy's story—not as a footnote to the crimes of Paul Bernardo, but as a young woman whose life mattered. We'll examine Tammy's relationship with Karla, the events leading up to her death, the devastating betrayal at the heart of this case, and the lasting impact her loss had on those who loved her.

This episode contains discussion of violence, sexual assault, and homicide.

For years, David Ray operated out of a remote property in New Mexico, where investigators would eventually uncover a horrifying homemade torture chamber — what he referred to as his “toy box.” The case shocked even experienced investigators because of the level of planning, psychological manipulation, and cruelty involved.

Austin Pikaart was just 17 years old when his mother, Katie Austin Lee, killed him in their Holland, Michigan apartment one day before his 18th birthday.

In this episode, we look at Austin’s case with care: the disturbing claims Katie made, the 911 call, the investigation, the guilty plea, and the devastating question at the centre of it all — how does a parent convince herself that murder is mercy?

Today we are talking about something almost everyone has heard in movies and TV shows:

“You have the right to remain silent…”

But where did the Miranda warning actually come from?

What happens if police don’t read you your rights?

And do people really understand what those rights actually protect?

Today we are covering one of the most disturbing, heartbreaking, and important cases in Canadian history… the murders committed by Robert Pickton.

But this story is about far more than one man.

It is about dozens of women who disappeared… many of whom were vulnerable, struggling, marginalized, or simply trying to survive. Women whose families fought desperately to be heard while warning signs were ignored for years.

This is not a sensationalized retelling.

This is a deep dive into:

• the victims and who they were
• the Downtown Eastside and the conditions that made people vulnerable
• the investigation
• the missed opportunities
• the police failures
• the forensic nightmare investigators uncovered
• the trial
• the victim impact statements
• the Oppal Inquiry
• and how this case changed Canada forever

This episode took an enormous amount of research because these women deserved care, accuracy, and humanity.

And fair warning my friends… this case is horrific. Some details are deeply disturbing. But I also think it is one of the most important true crime stories Canada has ever seen because it forces us to ask uncomfortable questions about whose lives society values… and whose disappearances get ignored.

Everyone you know is capable of murdering you.

And unfortunately… this case proves that sometimes institutions can fail people just as badly as killers do.

When Theresa Allore disappeared from her dorm at Bishop’s University in 1978, her family was told she had likely died of an overdose.

But years later, her brother uncovered evidence suggesting Theresa may have been murdered — and that her death was never properly investigated.

The Alex Murdaugh case wasn’t just about murder — it was about power, control, corruption, and a man who believed the rules didn’t apply to him.

In this deep dive, we unravel the murders of Maggie and Paul Murda

On the night of September 29, 1996, 15-year-old Melanie Ethier did what thousands of teenagers had done before her—she walked home after spending the evening with friends. She was dropped off just a short distance from her house in New Liskeard, Ontario. She never arrived.

How does someone disappear so close to home without a scream, a struggle, or a single confirmed witness?

While the true crime world has been fixated on the Lindsay Clancy case, another story was quietly unfolding — one that had begun seven years earlier with the disappearance of a young woman named Morgan. In 2016, Morgan disappeared. There were stories. There were suspicions. There were people who knew more than they were saying. But for seven years, there was no Morgan. Then investigators went back. What followed was a renewed investigation, an FBI ground search, evidence that finally began filling in the missing pieces — and a case that had waited years for answers. In this episode of A Million Other Choices, we follow Morgan’s story from the day she disappeared through the original investigation, the people surrounding her, the evidence that emerged years later, and the case that finally revealed what happened to her. Because while almost everyone was watching another case, Morgan’s story was finally being told. 

After some murders, killers do something unexpected.

They cover the body.

They clean the victim.

They pose the scene.

They call 911.

Sometimes they even express grief or remorse immediately afterward.

In forensic psychology, this behavior is often referred to as “undoing” — a disturbing phenomenon where offenders attempt, psychologically or symbolically, to reverse, soften, deny, or emotionally distance themselves from the violence they’ve committed.

In this episode, we’re diving into the psychology behind undoing after murder: what it means, why it happens, what crime scene behavior can reveal about emotion and intent, and why investigators pay close attention to what offenders do after the violence ends.

We’ll talk about guilt, shame, dissociation, emotional attachment, staging, remorse, domestic homicide dynamics, and the uncomfortable reality that some offenders still feel emotionally connected to their victims even after killing them.

Because murder is not always emotionally cold.

Sometimes the aftermath tells investigators far more than the crime itself.