WCSU professor launches true crime podcast, "Criminal Appeal with Dr. Casey Jordan"

Press release

Criminologist Casey Jordan’s new true crime podcast launches
WestConn will host a screening and Q&A for “The Family I Had” on Nov. 18

DANBURY, Connecticut — Western Connecticut State University Professor of Justice and Law Administration Dr. Casey Jordan has launched a new true crime podcast, “Criminal Appeal with Dr. Casey Jordan.” The podcast, which premiered on Tuesday, Nov. 4, features Jordan, a well-known criminologist, profiler and attorney with more than three decades of on-air experience, and co-host Dr. Colleen Butler-Sweet, a sociology professor at Sacred Heart University. Together, they discuss real cases through the lens of Jordan’s actual analysis as the case unfolded, and Butler-Sweet’s exploration of how society, identity, and inequality shape our understanding of crime and justice.

The podcast can be found on YouTube, Spotify and Apple, as of November 4.

According to the podcast’s website, “… the difference between ‘Criminal Appeal’ and other true-crime podcasts is that Dr. Jordan features cases that she knows firsthand because she worked them in real-time. The show confronts tough questions about the justice system, media influence, and the gray areas of morality that surround every accused offender and determine every verdict. It’s smart, bold, and unflinchingly honest true-crime discussion with intellect and heart.”

Jordan’s significant experience providing analysis and commentary on high-profile crimes on major media outlets for decades has provided her with access to criminal case files, courtroom strategies, subject interviews, and previously unreleased evidence that she now is able to share with her podcast audience. Each episode will deliver not just a retelling, but a forensic-level breakdown of why crimes happen, how investigations unfold, and what justice really looks like behind closed doors.

“When I talk about a case, it’s not conjecture, it’s experience,” Jordan said.

The podcast’s first season will feature six full-hour episodes and six “mini” episodes. The first two-part episode focuses on convicted murderer Paris Lee Bennett, a 13-year-old who murdered his 4-year-old sister, Ella Bennett, in Abilene, Texas. Jordan analyzed Bennett during a prison interview with TV host Piers Morgan for his series, “Psychopath.” Podcast listeners will get to hear excerpts from that prison interview.

WCSU’s Kathwari Honors Program will host a free screening of “The Family I Had,” a documentary about the Paris Lee Bennett case, at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 18, in the Student Center Theater on the university’s Midtown campus, 181 White St. in Danbury. A discussion of the film with directors Katie Green and Carlye Rubin of Smoke & Apple Films, and Jordan will follow. “The Family I Had” tells the story of intra-family violence and juvenile incarceration through a mother’s unwavering love for her son who killed her daughter. After premiering at Tribeca Film Festival in April 2017, it won the Special Jury Mention for Best Documentary at Raindance International Film Festival and The Gracie Award for Best Documentary in 2018.

The second two-part episode is about a Connecticut murder case. Linda Bigazzi, a 76-year-old woman who killed her 84-year-old husband in 2017, will be the topic of Jordan and Butler-Sweet’s discussion in this episode. Jordan interviewed the accused killer and will share never-before-heard excerpts on the podcast, revealing that Bigazzi had been abused by her husband for decades, something that was not disclosed by the media.

Jordan is recognizable to television news and true crime show viewers for her expertise in explaining the behaviors and motivation of serial killers and other violent criminals. She has served the In Session Criminologist and Legal Analyst on TruTV, as well as the in-house CNN Criminologist covering unfolding crime stories and offering play-by-play assessment during live trials. Jordan has represented WCSU as a guest criminologist, legal analyst, or expert commentator with more than 1,200 television shows and newspaper stories, including “48 Hours Mystery,” ABC News “20/20,” NBC “Today Show,” CBS “Early Show,” “Good Morning America,” and on many current events shows, including “Anderson Cooper 360.” Jordan has appeared on CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, Court TV, and “America’s Most Wanted.” She has been quoted or featured in The Boston Globe, Christian Science Monitor, The New York Times, Yankee magazine, USA Today, and Oprah’s ‘O’ magazine.

A frequent guest speaker at criminology associations, forensic conferences and justice forums, including annual presentations at Danbury Hospital’s Pediatrics Conference and the Exploration Program at Yale University, Jordan appeared in TruTV’s reality show “Unsolved Murder Unit,” where she teamed with a forensic pathologist and police detective to reprocess evidence and develop leads in unsolved homicide cases. She currently offers case analysis for Investigation Discovery’s series, “I (Almost) Got Away with It” and “Scorned: Love Kills,” as well as interviewing female subjects and analyzing their behavior for ID’s show “Wives with Knives.”

Jordan holds a B.A. in Political Science, Law & Society, from the University of Tulsa; an M.A. in Criminal Justice from the John Jay College of Criminal Justice; a M.Phil. in Criminal Justice from CUNY Graduate School (John Jay College); a Ph.D. in Criminal Justice, CUNY Graduate School (John Jay College); and a J.D. from Quinnipiac College of Law. She has more than two decades of university teaching, mediation, scholarly research and criminal justice consulting experience. Emphasis on teaching excellence and curriculum development has resulted in several pedagogical publications, including Allyn & Bacon’s Blockbuster Approach series (Blockbuster Approach to Teaching Criminology and Criminal Justice, Sociology, and Anthropology). Grant-funded research and scholarly journal articles reflect her studies on homicide trends, serial killing and multicide, human trafficking, victimology (child abuse, domestic violence, homicide and sexual assault), and police studies, including articles in the Encyclopedia of Law Enforcement, the Encyclopedia of Crime and Punishment, and the Praeger Handbook of Victimology, and African Americans & Criminal Justice: An Encyclopedia. Jordan also is certified in Alternative Dispute Resolution and Health Law.