Dateline NBC
A murder suspect's brother under scrutiny. Breakthrough in parents' quest for answers. And should jurors question witnesses?
Thu, 13 Feb 2025
Listen to this week's episode of the Dateline: True Crime Weekly podcast with Andrea Canning. Three months after the husband of a woman who went missing in Spain is charged with her murder, investigators have questions about his brother, too. Years after a young woman's death in Pennsylvania, her parents persuade local officials to take a second look at how she died. And the judge from the Jason Chen murder trial on why he allows jurors to question witnesses during trial. Find out more about the cases covered each week here: www.datelinetruecrimeweekly.com
Chapter 1: Who is the murder suspect's family under investigation?
The defense also called Eric Thompson's brother, Michael, to give character testimony. What did he have to say about his brother?
So he described Eric as an easygoing guy.
Like I've never seen him yell, swear or no physical anything with Joyce.
That murdering someone would be extremely out of character.
He doesn't let go. that let things affect him very much.
And then when asked about how his brother Eric behaved around the time of Takahara's murder, he said there really wasn't any change to make note of.
He was, I guess, normal. Nothing to have me suspect anything.
Eric has pleaded not guilty. What can we expect from the trial in the coming days?
So in Eric Thompson's first trial, he did take the stand in his defense. So we're waiting to see if he'll do the same this time. And of course, his wife, Joyce, is still by his side and has been there every single day sitting behind him.
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Chapter 3: Why are jurors allowed to question witnesses in trials?
Hemorrhaging means no pulse, which means Ellen could not have administered that wound because she was already dead.
Josh and Sandy Greenberg ultimately filed two civil lawsuits against Philadelphia, the city. One sought to change the manner of death. The other sought damages for intentional infliction of emotional damages by city employees who conducted the investigation. This legal battle was going on for more than five years. Last week on the eve of this civil trial, there was a big development in the case.
Yes. So Dr. Marlon Osborn, who is the medical examiner who originally ruled Ellen's death a homicide and then switched it to suicide. Dr. Osborn, on Friday night, two days before they were scheduled to go to trial, he writes in a legal verification that Ellen's manner of death should be ruled something other than suicide.
And the city and the Greenbergs also, they reached a settlement of some sort?
So I was there in court, and they were about to begin jury selection. And both sides, the attorneys for the city and the Greenbergs' attorneys, they were going back and forth. We saw them walking down the hallway multiple times that morning. And they reached an agreement that the medical examiner in Philadelphia will review Ellen's manner of death.
And is this medical examiner who's reviewing the manner of death, is this a different medical examiner or the same one?
To our knowledge, it is going to be a different one because Dr. Marlon Osborne, the original medical examiner, he no longer practices in Pennsylvania. So it is going to be an independent investigation, a new investigation with the medical examiner's office in Philadelphia.
And what is happening then with the police? Is this investigation open? Are there plans to open it?
So that's a good question. If the medical examiner's office comes back and says, we determine Ellen's matter of death to be either undetermined or homicide... that will most likely start an investigation.
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Chapter 4: How did Anna Kinesovich's case become an international investigation?
Yeah, that's right. She claims that she's been attacked by other inmates. In a motion to be released on Bond, Adelson claims an inmate actually shoved her into a bunk. And then when asked why she attacked her, the inmate replied, because you're a killer. You're an expletive killer.
And her defense attorneys say, should Bond be set, she's not a flight risk. But remember, this is the woman who was arrested as she was about to board a one-way flight to Vietnam, although her lawyer argues she was going on vacation and there was no warrant for her arrest at the time. We can expect a ruling on this motion on February 27th. When, Kelly, can we expect her trial to begin?
Her trial is currently still set to start in June of 2025. Okay, so many cases to watch. Thanks, Kelly, for joining us this week. Enjoy Hawaii. Thank you. Will do. Before I introduce my next guest, take a listen to this.
Did Jason Chen have any observable cuts or injuries on his body? Could you determine where a murder occurred? Were you able to identify the driver of the Prius that was just investigated further?
That is the voice of Judge Boyd Patterson reading out juror questions to witnesses at the trial of Jason Chen. Chen was convicted last month of murdering his 22-year-old girlfriend, Jasmine Pace. And the Jason Chen trial wasn't the first time we've come across jurors asking questions of witnesses in the courtroom this year.
Our team noticed it at the trial of Richard Allen, the man convicted of murdering two schoolgirls in Delphi, Indiana.
Once the witness has testified, the judge turns to the jurors and say, do you have any questions? and they're good questions.
More recently, jurors had lots to say in San Francisco, where Nima Momeni was convicted of fatally stabbing Cash App co-founder Bob Lee. There was quite a large stack of questions from jury members to Nima. This made us wonder, why do we hear jurors asking questions in some trials but not others? And what are the pros and the cons?
So we asked Judge Patterson to come on the podcast and share with us what he's seen in the courtroom when juries are given the freedom to ask what's on their mind. Hi, Judge. Thanks for coming on the podcast.
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