Investigators execute a search warrant at the home linked to Kristin Smart’s convicted killer. A Kentucky man is accused of kidnapping and murdering a woman then attempting to dump her body over a bridge. That’s one way to get caught. An Arkansas couple discovers a stranger living in their basement. What would you do? We’ve got this day in legal history, our quote of the day, and our dumb criminal. Let’s talk about it.
>> All right, lawyer. Lawyer. Lawyer. >> Good day everyone. My name is Scott Reisch and this is Crime Talk. Thanks for joining us. You know the drill. Subscribe if you haven’t, like if you do, leave me a comment below, and make sure you hit that little bell for notifications of when we go live or put up new content.
Now, as I told you all week, we are going live probably about 5:30 tonight and we’re going to talk about what’s breaking in the news. We’re doing this because I was out for 2 weeks and you know, kind of making it everything up to everybody for being gone as well as you know, trying to get back into the good graces of the Google algorithm. So, join us tonight 5:30-ish.
We’ll go live. We’ll take your comments. We’ll answer your questions, and we’ll probably talk about you know, Tanner Horner a little bit and what we were thinking about doing. Maybe maybe public ex- maybe pay-per-view public execution. Think about that. Anyway, uh before we get to the docket, let me remind you go to crimetalksearch.com.
There you can sign up for a background subscription service where you can look at as many people as you desire and get a background check literally prepared while you wait, emailed to you, you can have it updated. All right? And you’re going to get all types of information. You’re going to find out phone numbers of the person that you are searching, email addresses.
You’re also going to find out their social media presence. I always think it’s interesting when people find out that their spouse or someone close to them has all these email addresses they don’t know anything about or phone numbers they don’t know anything about. Oh, that’s right, cuz it’s all the burner phones and email addresses that they used to go to the websites that their spouse probably doesn’t want them going to.
Yep, it’s worth checking out, ladies and gentlemen. Anyway, or maybe you don’t want to know, I guess. You then you don’t need the background subscription service, but you probably should know. Anyway, you’re also going to find out criminal history, married, divorced, are they on the sex offender registry? So, go to crimetalksearch.
com, sign up today. I’m telling you, it’s the best money you can probably spend, and get the answers that you need to know. You may not want to know, but you need to know. And if you’re dating on those apps, it literally could save your life. crimetalksearch.com, you’ll be happy you did.
All right, let’s go ahead and open the record. Can you believe it is already May 7th of 2026? My gosh, the year is almost halfway over, ladies and gentlemen. So, let’s talk about pure evil. Okay? I’ve been thinking about this case, and I don’t know why this case has bugged me so much. And that is the case of Tanner Horner, right? The former delivery driver who was sentenced to death by lethal injection for kidnapping, sexually assaulting, and murdering a 7-year-old by the name of Athena Strand.
Now, the jury reached its unanimous decision in under 3 hours following a 4-week sentencing phase of the trial down there in Fort Worth, Texas, and both sides presented extensive evidence regarding mitigation, as well as the district attorney as it related to the offense that took place back on November 30th of 2022. Now, Horner tried to get a little bit of in good graces with the jury by pleading guilty to capital murder and aggravated kidnapping before the sentencing phase actually began.
The abduction occurred in this small rural community called Paradise, Texas, which is about 60 miles northwest of Dallas. So, while delivering a package containing Barbie dolls intended as a Christmas gift for the child, Horner encountered Athena alone near her family’s driveway. Court records indicate he seized her, let’s say it, kidnapped her, put her in the truck, the delivery truck, and told her to stand there. Wait.
Evidence introduced at trial included footage from the truck’s interior camera, which Horner partially obscured, but the recording captured the final known image of Athena alive, showing her standing behind Horner in the the van. Audio from the device documented the subsequent assault, during which Horner attempted to strangle the girl before resorting to severe physical violence.
Prosecutors presented the black sneakers Horner wore that day, noting that their tread pattern matched injuries observed on the victim. He literally tried to strangle her, he did, and then smashed her, stomped her head, ladies and gentlemen, and it’s recorded. The child’s body was later recovered several miles later on the scene in a small pool or body of water.
Now, the defense tried to argue, and I understand the defense attorneys were doing their job and they were doing what they were supposed to do, but they argued that Horner acted impulsively due to underlying mental health challenges and a history of childhood sexual abuse himself. The defense contended these events escalated after Athena allegedly witnessed him using cocaine, uh prompting fears of job loss.
In contrast, prosecution experts, including psychiatrist by the name of Michael Arambula, testified that the abduction appeared premeditated and primarily motivated by sexual intent. The good doctor described Horner’s selection of a secluded location as consistent with prior planning. Now, during closing arguments, the Wise County District Attorney, James Staten, emphasized the level of violence inflicted, displaying the shoes as physical evidence of the beating that the 7-year-old had to endure. Family members of both of the
victim and the defendants provided testimony in the hearing. Horner’s grandmother, Jackie, stated that he um understood the difference between right and wrong. A man who grew up with Horner also testified about alleged childhood abuse by him. And Horner displayed minimal visible reaction throughout these proceedings, including during emotional victim impact statement delivered by Athena’s uncle.
Now, no members of Horner’s family attended the sentencing hearing. They knew it was a fait accompli. And less than 24 hours after the verdict, Horner was transferred to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice facility there in Huntsville to await execution on death row. And take a look at the most recent booking photo.
You know, they shave his head, and um I don’t know, just look at those eyes. Look at those eyes. He’s dead inside, ladies and gentlemen. Now, I understand he’s just been sentenced to death, but it is literally You can see those eyes are hollow, right? What do they say? Eyes are the windows to the soul. Yeah, and he he doesn’t have one.
And like I said, I’m not sure why this case bothers me so much. I mean, I’ve represented people over the years that have done terrible things to children. They’ve, you know, been convicted of sexually assaulting them, killing children. But there’s something about this one. I don’t know what it is.
And I do believe that he deserves the death penalty. And you know, one of the things that the death penalty is supposed to do is to have a deterrent effect, To let people know, obviously it’s going to deter Mr. Horner, right? He’s never going to do this again, at least not while to anybody in public, maybe somebody in custody if he is ever left alone with somebody on death row, but more likely he won’t kill again.
But people would be at risk, they’re not safe. He apparently has zero impulse control, but this child child murderer deserves the death penalty. He does. Now, I understand redemption and we got a great quote coming up today about redemption. Are some people redeemable? Can some people not be redeemed? I don’t know. I truly believe and I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again.
I’ve heard judges say it over the years and it truly makes sense. A society is truly judged by how people treat children and women. Do they respect them? Do they protect them? And people that abuse women and that abuse children, do they really have a place in society? I really not sure they do. I don’t know.
Kind of jokingly said about it, but maybe for deterrence effects, maybe we should start public viewing for executions. So people would know what just took place, that it’s actually serious, and maybe it needs to go a little faster than the 20 to 30 years. Mr. Horner’s appeal should be very short cuz there’s nothing to appeal on his guilty plea.
He had a, you know, 19 days of hearing as it related, 14 or 19 days of hearing as it relates to the penalty phase. He had some doctors that were hired, spent a long time with him and gave their opinion, and it wasn’t enough. So, you would think the punishment should be swift, so everybody knows about it, not only to deter Mr.
Horner, but everybody that knows about what he did and those are possibly contemplating thinking about what he did and doing it themselves. So, they would know. I don’t know, ladies and gentlemen. It’s a It’s a tricky issue. There’s a lot of issues involved. Obviously, the law allows for the death penalty.
Some people say morally it shouldn’t be done. All people are redeemable. What if they, you know, find religion or something in in prison, and they change? Maybe they’ve redeemed themselves. I don’t know. Or is there some things that are just so bad, just so bad you have no redeeming qualities whatsoever.
Let me know in the comments what you think. But, the case has really been bothering me. It really has. Next, the defense seeks a mistrial in the case of Josie Dyckman. That’s right. Testimony from child witnesses continued on the sixth day of the homicide trial for Josie Dyckman, who is accused of killing 6-year-old A.J.
Pendron back in February of 2023. Danielle Swedberg, a representative of the Family and Children Center, returned to the witness stand to provide additional details regarding interview she conducted with children who had been in Dyckman’s care. Now, jurors viewed two video recordings of interviews Swedberg performed back in 2023 with A.J.
‘s brother, who was just 5 years old at the time. In the recordings, the boys reported that Dyckman punished his brother by kicking him and striking him with a spoon. During his live testimony on Wednesday, the now 8-year-old witness stated that Dyckman would apply hot sauce to A.J.’s food and require him to eat it. When asked by defense attorneys what would occur if A.J.
did not consume the food, the child replied that he would be hit, kicked, and choked. Probably not the answer the defense counsel was looking for. Under cross-examination, the boy did acknowledge lying to police about his father, Derek Pendron, consuming alcohol. He explained that he feared his father would face jail time.
The child added that he had observed Pendron being abusive towards Dyckman, And he affirmed, however, that his account of the abuse inflicted on A.J. were truthful. Derek Pendrin previously testified that he had been abusive toward Dyckman, but not towards the children. Now, the defense team moved for a mistrial on two separate occasions, asserting that a child witness had been coached during testimony the previous day.
Attorneys informed the court that the video evidence exists showing voices whispering no in response to defense questions. The defense further claimed the child could be heard making insulting remarks towards one of the witnesses. Anyway, the La Crosse County Circuit Judge Elliott Levine denied both mistrial motions, but stated that he would review the defense video evidence. The trial is ongoing.
Interesting issue, ladies and gentlemen, most courts state that a child is presumed competent if they are 10 years or older. Then we get into all this child hearsay nonsense. You see it in child, you know, child abuse cases, you see it in sex assault cases where there are children involved.
And they go in and there’s forensic interviewers who are supposedly highly trained after attending a 32-hour course into asking questions of who, what, when, where, why, and how. Cuz detectives are nothing more than scheduling individuals these days in courts. They don’t actually talk to any witnesses because, well, they apparently didn’t learn how to ask who, what, when, where, and why questions anymore.
They have to be left to the specialist to attend a 32-hour class, but detectives don’t do that anymore. I got a real problem with child hearsay. It comes in and they allow it in these trials if the witness testifies, the child testifies. I think it’s nonsense. I think that it should be, you know, for specific instances of prior inconsistent statements or prior consistent statements, it should be brought in, but to just allow it to play in court is unbelievable, okay? Like I said, there’s a presumption anyone under 10 is not competent to testify as a
witness, but then they get around and they say, “Oh, if I’m holding up this keychain and I were to say it was yellow, would that be a truth or a lie?” They’re like, “Oh, that wouldn’t be truthful.” Up, competent to testify, okay? And I literally have had those cases where they would found competent to testify, the child hearsay testimony comes in, the child comes and testifies, and actually testifies that they were put up to testifying by a family member.
It’s nonsense. The only thing that matters is cross-examination under oath. That’s the only thing that matters in an open courtroom, ladies and gentlemen. All those pretrial interviews, transcribe them, do whatever you want, but they shouldn’t be played as substantive evidence in a court of law.
Bottom line, they’re garbage, and I will tell anybody that fact. It’s garbage. The only thing that matters is confrontation clause. In court, under oath, subject to the pains and penalties of perjury. And we’ll just leave it at that. All right. Next, we had a dentist that was convicted of killing his wife here in Colorado about 8 months ago. Well, the hits the hits just keep on coming for this guy.
So, 8 months after his conviction of first-degree murder, a default judgment in a civil case has been entered against the Colorado dentist, James Toliver Craig, in a civil lawsuit filed by the couple’s six children. Now, Craig, who is only 48, was sentenced to life in prison following a jury verdict that found him guilty in the death of his wife, Angela Craig, and prosecutors alleged that he repeatedly poisoned her smoothies and protein shakes with toxic substances.
The evidence showed that Craig, who owned the Summerbrook Dental Group with another dentist, used a secret email account accessed on an office computer at the practice to purchase the materials used in the killing. And then on February 27th, 2023, while at the Summerbrook Dental Group, he conducted multiple internet searches, including “How many grams of pure arsenic will kill a human?” And is arsenic detectable in an autopsy? Hm.
Gee, they’ll never find that search, will they? Of course they did. Anyway, records indicated that he purchased 10 g of arsenic metal, 99.999 crystalline metaboloid, and he got that from Amazon on that date with delivery to the family home occurring on March 4th of 2023. Angela Craig visited a local emergency department 2 days later reporting symptoms described as global heaviness and possible vertigo.
Prosecutors stated that Craig later acquired potassium cyanide from the Midland Scientific on March 9th, 2023. He completed the required usage form using his professional license number and indicated the intended purpose as electroplating over medical prosthesis. The substance was delivered on March 13th, and Angela Craig died on March 18th.
Coincidence? Anyway, in the months following the conviction, the Craig six children initiated civil lawsuit against their father, Summerbrook Dental Group, and the Midland Scientific Company because obviously they should have known that they were going to use that to poison his spouse, right? That’s what people are saying.
Anyway, the complaint alleges that the Summerbrook Dental Group supplied Craig with the professional credentials and facilities to obtain these substances and failed to exercise reasonable care in supervising his activities. Now, he was an owner of that as well, ladies and gentlemen. Anyway, the default judgment was entered because James Craig after he did not respond to the lawsuit and the civil proceedings continue with respect to the remaining defendants.
Um I get it, ladies and gentlemen. The company that sells this stuff to a doctor and because the doctor lied, that company should somehow be held responsible? Really? How about a little personal responsibility, ladies and gentlemen? Like the doctor’s the one that got it through deception, gave it to his wife, killed his wife, and yet we’re suing the company that supplied it? Just it doesn’t fly with me, ladies and gentlemen. It doesn’t fly.
Anyway, you know what we always say around here? It’s always about the money. And when they say it’s not about the money, then you know it’s really about the money. Next, still working on the Kristin Smart’s case, even though the convicted killer, well, has been found guilty, right? So, police in the San Luis Obispo County executed a search warrant Wednesday at a residence connected to Paul Flores, the man convicted of murdering Kristin Smart as part of an ongoing effort to locate the missing student’s remains. Now, the San Luis
Obispo County Sheriff’s Office confirmed the action in a Facebook post stating that investigators served the warrant on a property at the 500 block of East Branch Street. Public records indicate the home is occupied by Susan Flores, Paul Flores’ mother. Well, the Sheriff’s Office is conducting an additional investigation into the property and the investigation is related to the Kristin Smart disappearance.
Now, the Sheriff’s Office remains committed to bringing Kristin home to her family, right? They don’t have her remains. So, as you may recall, Paul Flores was convicted back in 2022 of murdering Smart following a 3-month trial and he was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison. Now, Smart, a 19-year-old student at the California Polytechnic State University disappeared back in May of 1996.
Prosecutors alleged that Flores killed her during an attempted rape in his dormitory room and her remains have never been recovered. The District Attorney issued a statement affirming his office’s dedication to the case. Now, while those responsible for Kristin’s death and those with knowledge of her whereabouts could provide answers at any time, we remain firmly committed to using every lawful tool available to locate Kristin’s remains and to support her family until she is brought home.
Now, back in 2024, a judge ordered Paul Flores to pay more than $350,000 in restitution to Smart’s family for expenses related to her death. The family previously indicated it would cease pursuing the payment if Flores disclosed the location of her remains. Flores’ attorney has maintained that the convicted murderer does not know where the remains are located.
Flores says he didn’t do it, went to trial, found guilty anyway, says “I don’t know where the remains are. Sorry, can’t help you.” I’ve Remember when this case was going on, they they were digging up the backyard, they were they were using all kinds of machinery to scan the ground to see if anything was under there.
Still haven’t found her. Now, I really hope for the family’s they they find Miss Kristin Smart’s remains. That’s just, you know, people need peace. People need closure. And you would think if Mr. Flores knew, now would be the right time to do it, right? But he won’t. He won’t. But he has been found guilty by a jury of his peers.
So, he’s not entitled to the presumption of innocence, now is he, ladies and gentlemen? How about this? Um man accused of kidnapping a woman, accused of killing her, and then gets caught throwing her over the bridge. Yep, that’s right. A Kentucky man stands accused of kidnapping and murdering a Lexington, Kentucky mother of three before attempting to dispose of her body by throwing it from a bridge.
Please meet Ryan Todd Crawley of Salyersville, Kentucky. Now, he faces charges including murder and kidnapping in the 2019 death of 39-year-old April D. Arnett. A separate cousin, Ronald Doug Crawley, is also linked in this particular case. So, the Kentucky State Police launched an investigation after the body of an unidentified woman was discovered about 9:00 p.m.
back in August of 2019 off Kentucky Highway 2328, also known as Old Lexington Road. Officials later identified the victim as Ms. Arnett. Well, Ronald Doug Crawley was arrested in Oregon on October 6th of 2019 and charged with tampering in physical evidence and abuse of a corpse. Ryan Crawley was arrested later that month and initially faces the same charges.
Well, court records indicate that Ryan Crawley allegedly wrapped Arnett’s body and stored it beneath his trailer in He and Ronald Crawley then reportedly transported the remains wrapped in a tarp with cinder blocks attached to the Old Clays Ferry Bridge in Madison County. Police allege the pair attempted to throw the body over the bridge, but it became caught on a guy wire.
The suspect then placed the body back into their vehicle and left it along the Kentucky Highway 2328 where it was ultimately recovered. Both men previously pled guilty to charges of evidence tampering and abuse of corpse. Ryan Crawley has pled not guilty to the additional counts of murder and kidnapping. Now, three other individuals, Jenny Keller, Bridget Lyons, and James Watson, were also arrested in connection with the case.
Keller faces accusations of assisting in arranging the kidnapping while the Crawleys, Lyons, and Watsons are charged with participation in the kidnapping and evidence tampering. Ryan Crawley remains in custody. His trial is scheduled to begin on May 17th of 2027. Interesting issue there. When they plead guilty to the evidence tampering.
Wouldn’t that bar the homicide? Hmm, interesting issue called compulsory joinder. Next, what would you do if you found somebody living in your basement and eating your food? Well, that happened down in Searcy, Arkansas. A um Arkansas professor and his wife made an unexpected discovery in their basement last week when they found an unidentified man hiding there after noticing food missing and small items out of place in their home.
Preston Scott Landis was arrested on April 29th on charges of residential burglary and theft of property. Now, Dutch Haggard, a professor at the Harding University, and his wife Sharon first observed that food from their kitchen had been taken including a partially eaten donut and an apple. They also reported that a pair of work shoes belonging to Haggard had disappeared and that chairs had been rearranged around the house. Ooh, creepy.
A ghost, right? Well, the couple’s daughter, Cherise, and her husband, Mark Gregory, joined the investigation. And while exploring the storage area beneath the basement stairs, Sharon Haggard spotted what appeared to be a person’s leg or jeans inside a closet. Gregory entered the area armed with a baseball bat and uh struck the doorframe while ordering the man to come out.
Landis complied and was taken into custody. Police determined that Landis had entered the unlocked basement door on the morning of April 27th. He reportedly spent the night in a crawlspace before moving into the basement the following day, you know, seeking shelter some some from uh severe weather. Gregory later expressed mixed feelings about the incident in uh one way he said uh kind of felt bad for the guy.
You know, he told uh local media down there. He says he he he knew what he did was wrong, but he was struggling with things. Haggard stated that uh he was not angry with Landis and felt sympathy for him. And uh he’s glad that uh they figured it out uh uh that there was somebody living in the house because this could have gone on for a much longer time than it did.
Now, according to Cherici, Landis apologized before leaving the residence asking her to tell her parents that he was sorry and that they seemed like really nice people. Isn’t that touching? I guess the only question is is the professor going to allow him to come back home? Maybe he won’t even press charges if he really felt sorry about it. I don’t know.
Would you be that sympathetic to somebody living in your basement eating your food moving around your furniture? Oh, I’m not sure I would. I don’t know. Anyway, let’s talk about this day in legal history. May 7th, 1992, Michigan became the 38th state to ratify the 27th Amendment making it part of the Constitution after a 203-year delay.
The amendment prohibits members of Congress from granting themselves a pay raise that takes effect before the next election. Now, this originated as one of the original proposed amendments back in 1789 and then was revived in the 1980s through a grassroots effort including a college student’s term paper. This event marked a rare successful late ratification of the constitutional provision addressing congressional self-dealing. Better late than never.
Next, May 7th, 1984, seven chemical companies including Dow Chemical and Monsanto agreed to pay $180 million to settle a class action lawsuit brought by thousands of Vietnam War veterans exposed to the toxic herbicide Agent Orange. Now, the out-of-court agreement was announced on the day the jury selection was scheduled to begin in that uh particular case and it represented major resolution in product liability and veterans compensation litigation stemming from the long-term health effects of wartime chemical
exposure. Yeah, I bet those companies would like the settlement for $180 million these days, right? Now, they pay billions and billions of dollars. Not to mention all the attorneys’ fees. And on May 7th, 1873, Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase of the United States Supreme Court died in office.
Chase was had served from 1864 and was a prominent figure in the Reconstruction Era jurisprudence. And just weeks earlier, he had dissented in the landmark Slaughter-House Case of 1873 and was the lone dissenter in the Bradwell versus Illinois case that significantly shaped the interpretation of the 14th Amendment privileges or immunities clause and women’s rights under the Constitution.
How about a legal quote? We talked about it regarding redemption. And uh one of the most powerful and frequently cited legal perspectives on redemption comes from Bryan Stevenson, founder of the Equal Justice Initiative and a leading voice in criminal justice reform. Quote, “Each of us is more than the worst thing we’ve ever done.” End quote.
Many varieties about that statement. Basically, nobody wants to be judged based upon the worst thing they’ve ever done in their life, right? It’s a small blip often times, but hey, you can be judged upon what you did. Doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re a bad person, but it does mean that you have to have consequences for what you did on that particular day.
Anyway, that particular statement has been drawn from his book Just Mercy and his advocacy work that underscores the principles in obviously American jurisprudence that the inherent dignity of every individual and the possibility of redemption even for those who have committed serious offenses. It challenges the retribution approach to punishment and emphasizes rehabilitation, mercy, and second chances within the legal system.
And finally today, our dumb criminal of the day. Congratulations, Christopher Jones. You just earned the coveted dumb criminal of the day trophy for turning a simple commute into a high-speed comedy of errors. So, back on Saturday, May 2nd, the Brevard County Sheriff’s Deputy Caleb Sanchez was minding his own business enforcing speed limits on I-95 when he clocked a vehicle doing a blistering 101 mph, roughly 31 mph over the posted limit.
After pulling the car over, officers discovered the driver, 29-year-old Christopher Jones of Orange Park, was not only dressed to impressed in a sharp black suit and white dress shirt, but was had a perfectly reasonable explanation. He was late to a wedding. Anyway, Sheriff Wayne Ivey couldn’t resist the obvious punchline. And in an Instagram post that was uh since gone viral, he dubbed the incident super speedster Saturday, wedding crasher edition, noting that Jones was dressed to impress as he raced towards the big day. Unfortunately for our
well-tailored speed demon, Brevard County doesn’t hang out get out of jail free cards for fashionably late arrivals. No warnings, no sympathy, just a shiny new misdemeanor charge for operating a vehicle at 100 mph while threatening persons or property. Needless to say, Mr. Jones was booked into the Brevard County Jail and was released the same day on a $500 bond.
His court date is pending, but one thing is absolutely clear. The only aisle he’ll be walking down anytime soon will be the one leading to traffic school. Well played, Mr. Jones. You showed up to the wedding in style, just not the style anyone was expecting. Today’s dumb criminal of the day is crowned officially yours.
Wear it proudly, preferably under the speed limit. All right, everybody, that’s all we have for you today. Thanks for watching. We’ll see you next time, and remember, the Constitution matters.
Disclaimer : This content may be created by AI for entertainment purposes. Any resemblance to real persons, events, or places is coincidental.
