Zone 7 with Sheryl McCollum

In this episode of Zone 7, Sheryl McCollum is joined by retired Secret Service agent and polygraph examiner Brad Beeler to discuss what 25 years of talking with suspects, witnesses, victims, and some of the worst offenders taught him about getting people to open up and tell the truth. Brad covers why trust has to come before truth, the damage one accusatory word can do to a conversation, and how respect gets peo...

In this episode of Zone 7, Sheryl McCollum is joined by investigative journalist Angeline Hartmann, along with Kevin Verville Sr. and Angelica Ramsey. Together, they revisit the unsolved 1980 kidnapping of newborn Kevin Verville Jr., taken at 17 days old from off-base military housing near Camp Pendleton by a woman posing as a social worker. For more than 45 years, the Verville family has never stopped searching...

In this episode of Zone 7, Sheryl McCollum is joined by retired Las Vegas Police Sergeant Jenn Benjamins for a look inside undercover police work. Jenn explains what separates basic surveillance from true deep cover, where officers must build believable identities, speak the language of the street, and think fast enough to avoid being “made.” She discusses prostitution stings, pimp culture, human tra...

In this episode of Zone 7, Sheryl McCollum is joined by retired Police Chief Frank Frederickson and Michelle Linn for a case that began with a violent 1988 Cape Cod assault and, years later, became something neither of them could have imagined. Frederickson, then a newly assigned detective, recalls a summer of escalating attacks across Hyannis and Barnstable, Massachusetts, and the unconventional decision to bri...

In this follow-up episode of Zone 7, Sheryl McCollum is joined by retired NYPD detectives Tom Smith and Dan Murphy of Gold Shields to take an investigative look at the unresolved case of Stevie Bates. After revisiting Stevie’s 2012 disappearance and the 2020 discovery of her remains in Glendale, Queens, Sheryl, Tom, and Dan discuss the key questions that remain. They examine why the deleted Facebook messag...

In this episode of Zone 7, Sheryl McCollum is joined by Caroline McCollum and Huck McCollum to talk about the case involving three horses who were stabbed during a barrel racing event at South Point Casino in Las Vegas. Caroline, a longtime horse rider and criminology student, shares her perspective on what it means to compete with and care for these animals, and how the open, trusting culture of barn life can b...

In this episode of Zone 7, Sheryl McCollum is joined by former U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service special agent Ed Newcomer and retired Idaho Fish and Game conservation officer Tony Latham for a look at the danger, isolation, and critical work of wildlife law enforcement. They discuss the murders of Idaho game warden Bill Pogue and Conley Elms by Claude Dallas, the cold case of Art Teed, an Idaho game warden who dis...

In 2012, 19-year-old Stevie Bates vanished after calling her mother from a Greyhound bus during a layover in Pittsburgh; she made it back to New York but never made it home. Eight years later, her skeletal remains were discovered wrapped in a blanket at an abandoned house in Queens, the same property where her boyfriend had reportedly been squatting. In this episode of Zone 7, Sheryl McCollum welcomes Stevie&rsq...

Bestselling true crime author and investigative journalist Aphrodite Jones returns to Zone 7 with Sheryl McCollum to discuss her book Dog O’ War and the fatal 2001 dog mauling of Diane Whipple in San Francisco. Drawing on her extensive reporting on the case, Aphrodite details the connections to the Aryan Brotherhood, the Presa Canario dogs Bane and Hera, and the attorneys whose relationship with an incarce...

In this week’s episode of Zone 7, Sergeant Eric McCants joins Sheryl McCollum to talk about leadership, community policing, and the mindset required to serve well in high-pressure environments. He discusses the importance of communication, building community trust, getting out of the patrol car, and knowing the people you serve before a crisis ever happens. Eric also addresses first responder mental health...

In this week’s episode of Zone 7, Sheryl McCollum is joined by former judge, legal analyst, and former Court TV anchor Ashley Willcott to discuss her decades-long career advocating for children in the legal system, her transition from the bench to television, and her new microformat focusing on fast, fact-based case analysis. Sheryl and Ashley also reflect on cases they have carried with them over the year...

In this week’s episode of Zone 7, more than three months after Nancy Guthrie vanished, Sheryl McCollum returns to the case with one central question: what does the evidence actually prove? From the masked suspect’s behavior on camera to the blood patterns at the front door and the complete absence of credible ransom activity, she argues that the scene shows signs of staging, not a financial motive, a...

In this week’s episode of Zone 7, Sheryl McCollum talks to Court TV correspondent Matt Johnson about what it takes to cover high-profile criminal cases and trials, from the Lori Vallow Daybell case and Rex Heuermann to Karen Read and the Delphi murders. Matt explains how deadlines, jury reactions, and the pressure of live television shape the way he turns hours of courtroom testimony into clear, accessible...

In this week’s episode of Zone 7, Sheryl McCollum talks with retired FBI special agent Jodene Weber about the parallels in their careers and the many times their paths nearly crossed before they officially met. Jodene reflects on the cases that shaped her years in the FBI, from piecing together the timeline of the Olympic Park bombing through crowd photographs to processing debris at the Pentagon after the...

In this week’s episode of Zone 7, Sheryl McCollum welcomes Julie Grant for a special Legend Series conversation about her path from journalism to the courtroom and the commitment to justice that drives her today. As a former prosecutor and Court TV host, Julie discusses her advocacy for domestic violence survivors, explaining how systemic failures, including those seen in the Gabby Petito case, leave victi...

In this week’s episode of Zone 7, Sheryl McCollum talks with forensic DNA expert Suzanna Ryan about how powerful DNA evidence can be and why it is so often misunderstood. They discuss how DNA is analyzed, how touch DNA and mixtures can complicate a case, and how newer tools like genetic genealogy and next-generation sequencing are changing the field. Using the Nancy Guthrie case as an example, Suzanna and ...

In this week’s episode of "Zone 7," retired NYPD detective Mike Alcazar joins Sheryl McCollum to talk about what hostage negotiation looks like when a scene is tense, the stakes are high, and one wrong move can change everything.

Drawing on decades in law enforcement, Mike discusses the Nancy Guthrie case, explains how negotiators read people in real time, and highlights the importance of patience, trust, and teamwo...

In this week’s episode of "Zone 7," Sheryl McCollum talks with author and investigative reporter Casey Sherman about the murder of his aunt, Mary Sullivan, long believed to be the final victim of the Boston Strangler, and the lasting impact her murder had on his family.

Casey explains why his family has long questioned the official story, pointing to evidence that, in his view, complicates what many people...

After weeks of testimony and a defense case that ended without a single witness, the jury in the Kouri Richins trial returned a guilty verdict in the death of Eric Richins.

In this week’s episode of Zone 7, Sheryl McCollum talks with investigative reporter Nate Eaton, who has been in court following the testimony, key witnesses, and the evidence surrounding Eric's death.

Together, they discuss the prosecution's theory of moti...