Coroner Talk™ | Death Investigation Training | Police and Law Enforcement
227 episodes - English - Latest episode: 4 days ago - ★★★★★ - 184 ratingsWe are a community of professionals in the field of death investigation. Whether you’re a coroner, a member of local police or county law enforcement, an EMS professional, or medical examiner – or frankly, anyone in between, Coroner Talk™ is the right community for you. We provide training and resources to coroners and death investigators by and from professionals around the world in a peer-to-peer training environment. I recognized that the training available for coroners and small department investigators was limited by resources such as time away from the department and expense. So, I developed Coroner Talk™.
Darren is a 35-year veteran of law enforcement and criminal investigations. He currently serves as a Coroner for Crawford County, Missouri. He holds credentials as an instructor for the Missouri Sheriff’s Training Academy (MSA) and Law Enforcement Training Institute (LETI). He has served as president of the Missouri Medical Examiners and Coroners Association and is certified and credentialed in numerous fields of investigation.
He holds the position of lead instructor and facilitator for the Death Investigation Training Academy (DITA) and for the Coroner Talk™ community as he speaks and writes in the area of death investigation and scene management.
Homepage Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
Episodes
Managing the scene and Working as a Team
July 10, 2024 11:00 - 33 minutes - 23.5 MBSomeone must oversee a crime scene. This means one person is directing all activity. This might not be a ranking member of a department, though. If no one takes charge, the scene is chaotic, and nothing is done correctly. The investigator in charge should oversee the investigation and scene documentation. He or she should ensure proper chain of custody and documentation of evidence. They are in charge of maintaining scene integrity. As with any crime scene, cooperation is cri...
Photographs - Why, How, and How Many
July 03, 2024 11:00 - 32 minutes - 22.6 MBCrime scene photography, also called forensic photography, has been around almost as long as the camera itself. Investigators quickly realized that such technology could freeze time -- creating a supposedly incontestable record of a crime scene, a piece of evidence or even a body. Today, forensic photographs are essential for investigating and prosecuting a crime. Photographs help preserve not only the most fleeting evidence -- like the shape of a blood stain that will soon be mopped up...
Obstacles in Decomp Cases
June 26, 2024 11:00 - 45 minutes - 31.6 MBDeath investigations that include an active decomposing body can be challenging to work. There are many obstacles not seen in a 'fresh' death that will be present in a decomp case. In this episode, Jeff Gentry discusses many of these issues and how to successfully work a case involving a decomp.
Predetermined Manners - Don't do this!
June 12, 2024 11:00 - 10 minutes - 7.27 MBMidweek training episodes are short-focused training to help you become a better investigator and human. These short tips are a production of the Coroner Talk podcast and the Death Investigation Training Academy. Training tips are given each week by an Academy instructor or industry peer.
Treat all death with some level of suspicion
June 05, 2024 11:00 - 8 minutes - 5.98 MBMidweek training episodes are short-focused training to help you become a better investigator and human. These short tips are a production of the Coroner Talk podcast and the Death Investigation Training Academy. Training tips are given each week by an Academy instructor or industry peer.
Investigating Train Deaths
May 29, 2024 11:00 - 20 minutes - 15.6 MBMidweek training episodes are short-focused training to help you become a better investigator and human. These short tips are a production of the Coroner Talk podcast and the Death Investigation Training Academy. Training tips are given each week by an Academy instructor or industry peer.
Proper Scene Arrival
May 22, 2024 11:00 - 12 minutes - 10.4 MBMidweek training episodes are short-focused training to help you become a better investigator and human. These short tips are a production of the Coroner Talk podcast and the Death Investigation Training Academy. Training tips are given each week by an Academy instructor or industry peer.
Victimology-Why its important
May 15, 2024 11:00 - 13 minutes - 10.6 MBMidweek training episodes are short-focused training to help you become a better investigator and human. These short tips are a production of the Coroner Talk podcast and the Death Investigation Training Academy. Training tips are given each week by an Academy instructor or industry peer.
Should You do an Area Canvass
May 08, 2024 11:00 - 16 minutes - 13 MBMidweek training episodes are short-focused training to help you become a better investigator and human. These short tips are a production of the Coroner Talk podcast and the Death Investigation Training Academy. Training tips are given each week by an Academy instructor or industry peer.
Manner Classification - Not as simple as you might think.
May 01, 2024 11:00 - 28 minutes - 20.8 MBMidweek training episodes are short-focused training to help you become a better investigator and human. These short tips are a production of the Coroner Talk podcast and the Death Investigation Training Academy. Training tips are given each week by an Academy instructor or industry peer.
Why the SUIDI Form
April 24, 2024 11:00 - 14 minutes - 11.3 MBMidweek training episodes are short-focused training to help you become a better investigator and human. These short tips are a production of the Coroner Talk podcast and the Death Investigation Training Academy. Training tips are given each week by an Academy instructor or industry peer.
Scene Assessments are Critical
April 17, 2024 11:00 - 16 minutes - 12.7 MBMidweek training episodes are short-focused training to help you become a better investigator and human. These short tips are a production of the Coroner Talk podcast and the Death Investigation Training Academy. Training tips are given each week by an Academy instructor or industry peer.
Should Coroner and MDI's Carry Guns?
April 10, 2024 11:00 - 21 minutes - 16.4 MBMidweek training episodes are short-focused training to help you become a better investigator and human. These short tips are a production of the Coroner Talk podcast and the Death Investigation Training Academy. Training tips are given each week by an Academy instructor or industry peer.
Using Approved Evidence Containers
April 03, 2024 11:00 - 12 minutes - 10.1 MBMidweek training episodes are short-focused training to help you become a better investigator and human. These short tips are a production of the Coroner Talk podcast and the Death Investigation Training Academy. Training tips are given each week by an Academy instructor or industry peer.
Implications of Time of Death Rulings
March 27, 2024 07:00 - 8 minutes - 7.32 MBMidweek training episodes are short-focused training to help you become a better investigator and human. These short tips are a production of the Coroner Talk podcast and the Death Investigation Training Academy. Training tips are given each week by an Academy instructor or industry peer.
Implications in Manner of Death Ruling
March 20, 2024 07:00 - 16 minutes - 13.1 MBMidweek training episodes are short-focused training to help you become a better investigator and human. These short tips are a production of the Coroner Talk podcast and the Death Investigation Training Academy. Training tips are given each week by an Academy instructor or industry peer.
Obtaining Positive Identification
March 13, 2024 07:00 - 11 minutes - 9.77 MBMidweek training episodes are short-focused training to help you become a better investigator and human. These short tips are a production of the Coroner Talk podcast and the Death Investigation Training Academy. Training tips are given each week by an Academy instructor or industry peer.
Avoid These Scene Mistakes
March 11, 2024 07:00 - 51 minutes - 35.2 MBDue to the very nature of sudden and/or violent deaths, many things can and do go wrong in the first few hours after discovery. Death scenes have a way of bringing together many individuals with various responsibilities and experiences. This unique group can consist of uniformed officers, detectives, crime scene investigators, forensic experts, coroner investigators, medical examiner investigators, as well as prosecutors and police administrative staff. These scenes may also have fire ...
Training Focus: Autoerotic v. Suicide Scene Features
March 06, 2024 08:00 - 16 minutes - 13.1 MBMidweek training episodes are short-focused training to help you become a better investigator and human. These short tips are a production of the Coroner Talk podcast and the Death Investigation Training Academy. Training tips are given each week by an Academy instructor or industry peer.
Training Focus: Evidence
February 28, 2024 12:00 - 18 minutes - 14.5 MBMidweek training episodes are short-focused training to help you become a better investigator and human. These short tips are a production of the Coroner Talk podcast and the Death Investigation Training Academy. Training tips are given each week by an Academy instructor or industry peer.
There's a right way to be a Coroner; and then there is the other.
February 26, 2024 07:00 - 47 minutes - 32.5 MBhttps://coronertalk.com/theres-a-right-way-to-be-a-coroner-and-then-there-is-the-otherThere has always been a discussion on removing coroners and rebuilding it with a medical examiner system. However, that is rarely done because it just does not work like some would hope. It is important to keep in mind the reason for these discussions usually stems from a coroner not doing their job and, in some way, negative attention gets paid to the situation or office. As a rule, in the Unite...
Training Focus: Doll Reenactments
February 21, 2024 12:00 - 11 minutes - 9.2 MBMidweek training episodes are short-focused training to help you become a better investigator and human. These short tips are a production of the Coroner Talk podcast and the Death Investigation Training Academy. Training tips are given each week by an Academy instructor or industry peer.
Training Focus: Algor Mortis - Body Temp Loss
February 14, 2024 12:00 - 9 minutes - 7.79 MBMidweek training episodes are short-focused training to help you become a better investigator and human. These short tips are a production of the Coroner Talk podcast and the Death Investigation Training Academy. Training tips are given each week by an Academy instructor or industry peer.
Dangers of Hoarding
February 12, 2024 07:00 - 46 minutes - 31.8 MBHoarding is a psychological condition that results in a person accumulating an enormous amount of trash and things of little-to-no value, or worse, more animals than can be properly cared for. Hoarding of any kind can pose several dangers to the occupant and neighbors, and certainly to animals if they are involved. These hazards can be deadly, and all the more reason people with hoarding disorder should have professional help to restore them to healthy living conditions. If children and ani...
Training Focus: Police v. MDI Death Investigations
February 07, 2024 12:00 - 7 minutes - 6.62 MBMidweek training tips are short focused training to help you become a better investigator, and human. These short tips are a production of the Coroner Talk podcast and the Death Investigation Training Academy. Training tips are given each week by an Academy instructor or industry peer.
Training Focus: Perception v. Reality - One matters more than the other
January 31, 2024 12:00 - 10 minutes - 8.77 MBMidweek training tips are short focused training to help you become a better investigator, and human. These short tips are a production of the Coroner Talk podcast and the Death Investigation Training Academy. Training tips are given each week by an Academy instructor or industry peer.
Technology and Paperless Office
January 29, 2024 07:30 - 38 minutes - 26.8 MBA paperless office is a workplace that has minimal paper-based processes and relies on digitized documents and storage instead. This includes on scene notes and document scanning from a mobile device rather than taking the actual papers. Some Coroner offices still use pen and paper rather than a simply reporting database created for death investigations. While still other use a self-made option combining a text document and a data base software like excel or numbers. The use of digital fin...
Training Focus: Do you inspire or manipulate
January 24, 2024 12:00 - 6 minutes - 6.09 MBMidweek training episodes are short-focused training to help you become a better investigator and human. These short tips are a production of the Coroner Talk podcast and the Death Investigation Training Academy. Training tips are given each week by an Academy instructor or industry peer.
Report Writing - (Listen Anyway)
January 17, 2024 12:00 - 5 minutes - 5.07 MBMidweek training tips are short focused training to help you become a better investigator, and human. These short tips are a production of the Coroner Talk podcast and the Death Investigation Training Academy. Training tips are given each week by an Academy instructor or industry peer.
Training Focus: Report Writing - (Listen Anyway)
January 17, 2024 12:00 - 5 minutes - 5.07 MBMidweek training episodes are short-focused training to help you become a better investigator and human. These short tips are a production of the Coroner Talk podcast and the Death Investigation Training Academy. Training tips are given each week by an Academy instructor or industry peer.
Get up - Don't Be Blue
January 15, 2024 07:00 - 54 minutes - 37.7 MBA few years ago, the third Monday in January was labeled Blue Monday by many experts in the mental health field. But no matter what day of the week it occurs on, Anita Agers-Brooks, common trauma expert, and author of Getting Through What You Can’t Get Over, believes January 15th is a good barometer to predict the most depressing day of the year. But why January 15th? If it takes about three weeks for a mindset to change, earmarking January 15th, 2024 ( or the third Monday) as the most d...
External Body Exams - Yes or No?
January 10, 2024 12:00 - 8 minutes - 7.56 MBMidweek training tips are short focused training to help you become a better investigator, and human. These short tips are a production of the Coroner Talk podcast and the Death Investigation Training Academy. Training tips are given each week by an Academy instructor or industry peer.
Having a Preparedness Mindset
January 03, 2024 12:00 - 5 minutes - 4 MBMidweek training tips are short focused training to help you become a better investigator, and human. These short tips are a production of the Coroner Talk podcast and the Death Investigation Training Academy. Training tips are given each week by an Academy instructor or industry peer.
Spontaneous Suicide
January 01, 2024 13:54 - 14 minutes - 10 MBIn this episode Darren has a conversation with a student about spontaneous suicide. They discuss what it is and does it really exist. Referred to sometimes as Acute Suicide or Impulsive Suicide, the debate is whether there are suicide deaths by people who just decide for no apparent reason to end their life and no reasoning is known or can be found during investigation. Also discussed in this episode is an invitation to you, the listener, to be a guest on the show. If you have a topic to d...
Jan Canty-What Now
June 14, 2023 06:30 - 48 minutes - 33.6 MBAfter having to identify her husband by his severed head, Jan Canty started a life journey of discovering what being a survivor of violent crime is like. In this episode we discuss the crime that changed her life forever and what she has done to survive this journey. One accomplishment is her new book What Now - Navigating the Aftermath of Homicide and Suicide. This work is a guide, not only for survivor families, but also as a resource to investigators and support teams in how best to...
Understanding Blood Patterns
June 03, 2023 13:09 - 48 minutes - 33.6 MBIn this episode I talk with Jeff Gentry about the importance of understanding blood stains. You don’t have to be an expert to recognize something is not adding up. We also discuss his new online courses and a new Blood Pattern Guide he has written. Links to all material discussed can be found below. New Guide to Blood Patterns https://www.amazon.com/Visual-Guide-Bloodstain-Pattern-Analysis/dp/B0BLQSFDX9/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2JCZH3L5RPIGO&keywords=gentry+blood+pattern&qid=1685798433&...
Introducing the all new MDI Investigator Course
February 01, 2023 06:30 - 18 minutes - 12.6 MBIn this episode, I introduce the all-new and expanded Medicolegal Death Investigator classroom course. The course has a new location, new training, and many additional perks and features. You can learn more about the course and the updates at: https://ditacademy.org/mldi
Don't F*up the Crime Scene
January 18, 2023 06:30 - 32 minutes - 22.2 MBOn this episode, I am a guest on the Don't F*up the Crime Scene Podcast with Kevin Hearst. You can find more of his show at - https://www.spreaker.com/show/dont-fuck-up-the-crime-scene I also introduce the all-new Medicolegal Death Investigator classroom course. New location, new training, new experience. Check it out at https://ditacademy.org/mldi/
Introduction to Blood Pattern
December 21, 2022 06:30 - 18 minutes - 12.8 MBIn this episode, I share a small portion of a new online course, Introduction to Blood Pattern Analysis. You can find more about that course at the link below. https://www.ditacademyonline.org/courses/bpa-introduction
Analyzing Statements for Deception
December 07, 2022 06:30 - 54 minutes - 37.3 MBIn this episode, you will learn the importance of detecting deception in interactions with victims, witnesses, and suspects and be introduced to techniques used to analyze verbal or written statements. I talked with Mark Bailey about how a written statement can be analyzed for truthfulness or deception. You can learn more about how to participate in classroom training on this topic by going to. www.mebailey.com
Court Room Preparation and Testimony
November 22, 2022 06:30 - 29 minutes - 20.3 MBTestifying in court can be terrifying if you are not used to it. Even experienced investigators need good reminders now and then on how to perform better. When testifying in court; the eyes of the jury, the judge, the prosecutor, the defense, and the public– are on you! Your reputation and that of your department may be enhanced or destroyed by your courtroom presentation. A single ineffective presentation in the courtroom can result in the acquittal of a defendant, no matter the amount o...
Evidence in Infant Deaths
November 09, 2022 05:00 - 28 minutes - 19.7 MBOnline Course Click Here: Investigating Infant and Child Death Death Investigator Newsletter: Click Here for Newsletter Info. When it comes to all death investigations, but especially where an infant or child is involved, you should be led by the thinking that you only get one chance at your first chance. The trouble with infant death, more so than any other type of death, is the body is always moved from the place of discovery, making multiple scenes that need to be secured...
Infant Death - Scene Arrival First Contact
October 26, 2022 05:30 - 30 minutes - 21.3 MBOnline Course Click Here: Investigating Infant and Child Death Death Investigator Newsletter: Click Here for Newsletter Info. When it comes to all death investigations, but especially where an infant or child is involved, you should be led by the thinking that you only get one chance at your first chance. The trouble with infant death, more so than any other type of death, is the body is always moved from the place of discovery, making multiple scenes that need to be secured...
Infant Death Investigation - The Foundation
October 12, 2022 05:30 - 27 minutes - 19.1 MBOnline Course Click Here: Investigating Infant and Child Death Death Investigator Newsletter: Click Here for Newsletter Info. When it comes to all death investigations, but especially where an infant or child is involved, you should be led by the thinking that you only get one chance at your first chance. The trouble with infant death, more so than any other type of death, is the body is always moved from the place of discovery, making multiple scenes that need to be secure...
Preparedness Mindset
September 28, 2022 05:30 - 40 minutes - 27.7 MBBut having a preparedness mindset is critical as an investigator. We get used to the day-to-day calls and never put a lot of thought into the time we will be thrust into a large investigation. Whether that be a large, emotionally draining investigation or one that might be, or seem to be, above our ability to manage. We can never prepare for everything. But we can do a lot to prepare for the unexpected. In this episode, I talk about having a preparedness mindset and how to prepare for the ...
Death Investigator Newsletter Announcement
September 27, 2022 19:28 - 3 minutes - 2.88 MBWe have revamped an old idea into an interactive monthly newsletter—best of all, it's totally free. To learn more and subscribe, go to deathinvestigatormagazine.com
Survivor Support Programs
September 14, 2022 05:30 - 37 minutes - 26.2 MBSupport Services staff are trained professionals from various fields, including medicine, mental health, and law enforcement. The team is committed to providing sincere and compassionate support at a pace survivors are comfortable with. We maintain the highest level of confidentiality. We are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. In the event of a death, Summit County provides support services to family and friends of the decedent. Services can include counseling, emotional support,...
Suicide Investigations - What can the Body Tell Us?
August 31, 2022 05:30 - 27 minutes - 19.3 MBCheck out the online course here: https://www.ditacademyonline.org/courses/Suicide-and-Self-Harm An initial exam while still on the scene is imperative for the overall determination of cause and manner of death as well as collecting time sensitive facts and evidence. This exam is only the first of two external exams. This one being on the scene and the second one at autopsy. The on-scene exam documents what the investigator sees and what wounds, scars, tattoos, etc., are present on the...
Suicide Victimology
August 17, 2022 05:30 - 29 minutes - 20.3 MBCheck out the online course here: https://www.ditacademyonline.org/courses/Suicide-and-Self-Harm Victimology is the collection and assessment of any significant information as it pertains to the victim and his or her lifestyle. Investigators must know the victim and complete a victimology study on every suicide, you cannot properly investigate a death without it. Ultimately you need to find out, in detail, who the victim was and what was going on at the time of their death. The best s...
Suicide Statistics Degrees of Certainty
August 10, 2022 16:42 - 31 minutes - 21.6 MBCheck out the online course here: https://www.ditacademyonline.org/courses/Suicide-and-Self-Harm Suicide deaths account for nearly 46,00 deaths in the United States, about one death every five minutes. The number per year has continued to grow for the past several years. Investigators face many challenges in this death, including when to rule a death a suicide and what degree of certainty must be obtained before making that ruling. More information and statistics can be found on t...