EP 398 - Steven Turner and Ella Maud “Nell” Cropsey

·1 hr 17 min·5 clips

The autopsy revealed Stephen had a broken jaw, stab wounds, and a knife blade broken off in his neck.

Y'all, attention please, but also wait. The excerpt starts in full banter mode with Crime Wave at Sea 2.0, February 8th through the 12th, 2027, Nassau, Coco Cay, creators, live shows, hangouts, and joke-threat energy that makes the ad read sound like regular show chatter. Then the mood drops hard. The story turns to Stephen and the account of John Waters, who was 16, 5'8", 152 pounds, and described as beating Stephen with a log before a knife detail meant to make sure he was dead. The hosts flag that part as graphic, then respond with shock and very practical questions. Bringing a steak knife from home matters to them, and they keep pressing on what that choice says. They also work through the physical details, including the heavy rock placed over Stephen and whether a teenager that size could lift or roll 90 pounds. The trial section sounds messy. The defense apparently tried to shift blame toward Stephen, and the jury reaction is described as a hard no. There were two trials. The second ended with John Waters convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to life in prison. The grief lands through Melissa and Sherry. Their parents never recovered, their father stayed broken until he died, and their mother's deathbed requests were simple: keep Stephen remembered, and keep John Waters from getting free. For years, that seemed settled. Then 2012 changed the ground, when the Supreme Court ruling on mandatory life sentences for juveniles made John eligible for resentencing. By 2023, more than 40 years after Stephen's murder, he was back in court. The case becomes less closed than the family had been told. The excerpt later slides into unrelated podcast promotion, which makes the center hit harder. The banter is loud, the ads are there, but Stephen's story is what stays in the room.

As heard by us

A murder case shaped by family memory, a teenage conviction, and the long legal shadow of juvenile sentencing.

Stephen's murder becomes a story of family memory, teenage culpability, and consequences that keep shifting long after conviction. At 16, John Waters took a steak knife from home, beat Stephen with a log, cut his wrist to make sure he was dead, and covered him with a heavy rock.

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Why you'd press play

Press play when you want a grim case, a family's promise, and a life sentence reopened decades later.

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