WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.879 Hey everyone, welcome to the show. You know, 00:00:01.899 --> 00:00:05.440 it's just, it's hard to even grasp, right? Decades 00:00:05.440 --> 00:00:08.619 passing, families holding on to hope, not knowing 00:00:08.619 --> 00:00:10.640 the fate of their loved ones. And the truth is, 00:00:10.679 --> 00:00:13.839 their loved ones are gone. Victims of this horrible 00:00:13.839 --> 00:00:16.920 person who just seemed to disappear. It's chilling. 00:00:18.280 --> 00:00:20.800 We're going deep today into Lisa Olson's book, 00:00:20.980 --> 00:00:23.800 The Scientist and the Serial Killer. It's true 00:00:23.800 --> 00:00:25.800 crime, yeah, but it's so much more than that. 00:00:26.360 --> 00:00:29.059 Olson takes us into Dean Corll's horrific crimes 00:00:29.059 --> 00:00:32.560 in 1970s Houston and the incredible efforts to 00:00:32.560 --> 00:00:35.079 identify his victims even decades later. Yeah, 00:00:35.140 --> 00:00:36.740 you really hit on something there. I mean, the 00:00:36.740 --> 00:00:39.320 darkness of the story, it's undeniable. But what 00:00:39.320 --> 00:00:42.539 struck me was Olson's ability to also illuminate 00:00:42.539 --> 00:00:44.600 the dedication, the absolute commitment of these 00:00:44.600 --> 00:00:47.119 individuals who refused to let these young lives 00:00:47.119 --> 00:00:49.060 just... fade away. Right. And that's something 00:00:49.060 --> 00:00:50.840 we loved about this book, like reading about 00:00:50.840 --> 00:00:52.640 Sharon Derrick, this forensic anthropologist 00:00:52.640 --> 00:00:54.399 and her team, how they just wouldn't give up 00:00:54.399 --> 00:00:56.700 years, sometimes with just fragments of bone, 00:00:56.820 --> 00:00:58.979 trying to bring answers to these families to 00:00:58.979 --> 00:01:00.960 give them some kind of peace. It's powerful stuff. 00:01:01.399 --> 00:01:04.719 It is. And it underscores just how crucial forensic 00:01:04.719 --> 00:01:08.379 anthropology is. It's basically using skeletal 00:01:08.379 --> 00:01:11.959 analysis to identify human remains, often in 00:01:11.959 --> 00:01:15.159 legal cases. And in this case, it's well, it's 00:01:15.159 --> 00:01:17.019 essential to understanding the scope of Coral's 00:01:17.019 --> 00:01:19.500 crimes and giving a voice back to his victims. 00:01:19.620 --> 00:01:22.810 Totally. And what's amazing is how. Olson shows 00:01:22.810 --> 00:01:25.430 us the evolution of forensic science over time. 00:01:25.930 --> 00:01:28.370 Derek and her team, they weren't just looking 00:01:28.370 --> 00:01:30.870 at old bones. They were using cutting edge techniques, 00:01:31.230 --> 00:01:33.469 things that could reveal details about a victim's 00:01:33.469 --> 00:01:35.450 age, their health, even where they might have 00:01:35.450 --> 00:01:37.790 lived. Right. Analyzing bone density, looking 00:01:37.790 --> 00:01:40.030 at the chemical isotopes within the bones. These 00:01:40.030 --> 00:01:42.090 were advancements that really pushed the investigation 00:01:42.090 --> 00:01:45.230 forward. They were able to unlock stories that 00:01:45.230 --> 00:01:48.390 had been buried for years. And that's huge. And 00:01:48.390 --> 00:01:49.969 then there's this other layer to the book that 00:01:49.969 --> 00:01:52.129 really got to us, which is this. societal context, 00:01:52.230 --> 00:01:55.189 the Houston of that time, it's disturbing to 00:01:55.189 --> 00:01:57.489 think that so many young men could vanish, especially 00:01:57.489 --> 00:01:59.730 from marginalized communities, and it wouldn't 00:01:59.730 --> 00:02:02.189 cause this massive uproar, this sustained police 00:02:02.189 --> 00:02:04.969 investigation. Exactly. And that's a crucial 00:02:04.969 --> 00:02:06.730 point. Olson doesn't shy away from that. She 00:02:06.730 --> 00:02:08.949 forces us to confront this indifference, this 00:02:08.949 --> 00:02:11.409 lack of attention, really. And it makes you think, 00:02:11.449 --> 00:02:14.210 right, about whose disappearances matter, whose 00:02:14.210 --> 00:02:17.490 stories get told. Yeah. It's like, these were 00:02:17.490 --> 00:02:20.550 teenagers. often labeled as runaways yeah and 00:02:20.550 --> 00:02:23.569 that label it almost made them invisible and 00:02:23.569 --> 00:02:25.550 that's something that allowed corell to keep 00:02:25.550 --> 00:02:28.270 doing what he was doing for so long it's a chilling 00:02:28.270 --> 00:02:31.469 reminder of how societal biases can have these 00:02:31.849 --> 00:02:33.909 These really devastating consequences. Absolutely. 00:02:34.110 --> 00:02:36.590 And it makes you wonder, are there similar vulnerabilities 00:02:36.590 --> 00:02:39.050 in our society today? Whose stories are we still 00:02:39.050 --> 00:02:41.289 overlooking? Whose disappearances aren't getting 00:02:41.289 --> 00:02:43.789 the attention they deserve? It's a question we 00:02:43.789 --> 00:02:46.169 need to keep asking ourselves. You know, shifting 00:02:46.169 --> 00:02:47.969 gears a bit, one thing that really impressed 00:02:47.969 --> 00:02:50.449 us was Olson's ability to balance the science, 00:02:50.569 --> 00:02:53.030 the really detailed forensic work, with the deeply 00:02:53.030 --> 00:02:55.830 personal stories of the victims and their families. 00:02:56.360 --> 00:02:58.759 Yeah, she does that incredibly well. You understand 00:02:58.759 --> 00:03:01.280 the complexities of the identification process, 00:03:01.479 --> 00:03:05.099 but it never feels cold or detached. It's always 00:03:05.099 --> 00:03:08.219 rooted in the human impact, the emotional weight 00:03:08.219 --> 00:03:10.979 of what these families went through. Right. You 00:03:10.979 --> 00:03:14.139 get both the meticulous science and the raw grief, 00:03:14.300 --> 00:03:17.099 the desperate need for answers. And what's interesting 00:03:17.099 --> 00:03:20.680 is how the science, in a way, becomes this tool. 00:03:21.690 --> 00:03:23.930 For reclaiming the identities of those who were 00:03:23.930 --> 00:03:26.509 so brutally dehumanized. Exactly. It's like through 00:03:26.509 --> 00:03:28.650 the science, their stories are finally being 00:03:28.650 --> 00:03:31.389 told. Their voices are being heard. And that's 00:03:31.389 --> 00:03:33.629 a powerful, powerful thing. Now, talking about 00:03:33.629 --> 00:03:35.569 the difficult parts of the book, I'm trying to 00:03:35.569 --> 00:03:37.189 be careful here not to spoil anything about the 00:03:37.189 --> 00:03:39.150 specific crimes or the outcomes of individual 00:03:39.150 --> 00:03:42.840 cases. But the sheer scale of this tragedy. It's 00:03:42.840 --> 00:03:44.939 immense. It's hard to wrap your head around the 00:03:44.939 --> 00:03:47.219 number of victims, the years that passed between 00:03:47.219 --> 00:03:49.139 the murders and when some of them were finally 00:03:49.139 --> 00:03:51.439 identified. The timeline is definitely a key 00:03:51.439 --> 00:03:54.580 part of the story. Olson meticulously lays out 00:03:54.580 --> 00:03:57.620 the years of silence. the dead ends, the slow, 00:03:57.719 --> 00:04:00.319 painstaking progress in identifying these young 00:04:00.319 --> 00:04:02.500 men. And it makes you realize, right, the immense 00:04:02.500 --> 00:04:04.780 challenges investigators faced, especially before 00:04:04.780 --> 00:04:07.979 DNA technology became widespread. And you feel 00:04:07.979 --> 00:04:10.360 the agonizing uncertainty, the limbo that these 00:04:10.360 --> 00:04:13.219 families were trapped in for so long. Yeah. And 00:04:13.219 --> 00:04:15.719 even though Olson handles the details with respect, 00:04:16.079 --> 00:04:19.470 the nature of Coral's crimes is... Well, it's 00:04:19.470 --> 00:04:21.670 undeniably disturbing. It's a harsh reminder 00:04:21.670 --> 00:04:24.050 of the capacity for evil that exists in the world 00:04:24.050 --> 00:04:26.129 and the devastating ripple effects of violence. 00:04:26.329 --> 00:04:28.629 Right. It's a heavy subject matter, no question. 00:04:28.810 --> 00:04:31.470 But Olson doesn't sensationalize it. Her focus 00:04:31.470 --> 00:04:33.649 is on the impact on the victims, on the efforts 00:04:33.649 --> 00:04:35.490 to bring them home. And that's what makes it 00:04:35.490 --> 00:04:37.990 so powerful, so important. It's a testament to 00:04:37.990 --> 00:04:39.730 the gravity of these crimes and the importance 00:04:39.730 --> 00:04:42.410 of uncovering the truth. So to sum it all up, 00:04:42.490 --> 00:04:45.290 The Scientist and the Serial Killer is a powerful 00:04:45.290 --> 00:04:47.170 book, a really important book. We're giving it 00:04:47.170 --> 00:04:50.509 a 4 .5 out of 5. The meticulous research, the 00:04:50.509 --> 00:04:52.470 way Olson tells the story, the focus on the fight 00:04:52.470 --> 00:04:54.689 for justice. It's a read that stays with you. 00:04:55.000 --> 00:04:57.480 It really does, and it leaves you thinking about 00:04:57.480 --> 00:05:01.220 so many things. Societal vulnerabilities, the 00:05:01.220 --> 00:05:04.180 power of forensic science, and that basic human 00:05:04.180 --> 00:05:07.160 need for answers, even when faced with something 00:05:07.160 --> 00:05:10.310 as horrific as this. Think about it. The dedication 00:05:10.310 --> 00:05:13.449 of these investigators, these scientists, contrasted 00:05:13.449 --> 00:05:16.170 with the initial indifference. It's a stark contrast. 00:05:16.410 --> 00:05:19.069 And it tells us something about the long, difficult 00:05:19.069 --> 00:05:21.110 road to justice. Couldn't have said it better 00:05:21.110 --> 00:05:24.529 myself. So if you found this deep dive into the 00:05:24.529 --> 00:05:26.310 scientist and the serial killer interesting, 00:05:26.709 --> 00:05:29.209 hit that like button and subscribe. There's a 00:05:29.209 --> 00:05:31.310 link to buy the book on Amazon down in the description 00:05:31.310 --> 00:05:33.589 if you want to explore this story further. And 00:05:33.589 --> 00:05:35.970 let's keep the conversation going. What resonated 00:05:35.970 --> 00:05:38.019 with you the most? Share your thoughts in the 00:05:38.019 --> 00:05:40.500 comments. We love hearing from you. Absolutely. 00:05:40.879 --> 00:05:43.300 Thank you all so much for joining us today. We're 00:05:43.300 --> 00:05:46.360 unpacking a tough, a really tough part of true 00:05:46.360 --> 00:05:49.139 crime history here. But it's important to remember 00:05:49.139 --> 00:05:51.800 these victims, to acknowledge their stories, 00:05:51.920 --> 00:05:54.600 and to recognize the incredible work done to 00:05:54.600 --> 00:05:57.459 bring them some measure of peace. Share this 00:05:57.459 --> 00:05:59.600 deep dive with anyone you think might be interested 00:05:59.600 --> 00:06:02.439 in true crime, in forensic science, or in the 00:06:02.439 --> 00:06:05.060 ongoing pursuit of justice, even for those who 00:06:05.060 --> 00:06:07.500 have been forgotten. It's a reminder, isn't it, 00:06:07.540 --> 00:06:09.579 that even in the face of darkness, there are 00:06:09.579 --> 00:06:12.600 people fighting for truth, for justice. And those 00:06:12.600 --> 00:06:15.019 stories deserve to be told. They absolutely do. 00:06:15.180 --> 00:06:16.920 Thanks again for being here with us today. We'll 00:06:16.920 --> 00:06:18.699 see you next time for another deep dive. See 00:06:18.699 --> 00:06:18.920 you then.