Suicide by Overdose Turns Out to be Something Far More Sinister - The Murder of Francis Kelly

On Jan. 18, 2021, 46-year-old Francis Kelly’s body was discovered. Police find Kelly on his couch, in his home, and a bag of cocaine underneath him. The unexpected autopsy says he died of strangulation. All while during a heated custody battle between Kelly and Littlefield.  

In this episode of Body Bags, forensics expert Joseph Scott Morgan and Jackie Howard discuss how Francis Kelly’s death was ultimately a staged overdose, the significant differences between fentanyl and cocaine, how the body reacts to the different drugs, why strangulation was not obvious to investigators, and much more! 

Show Notes:

0:00 - Introduction to Body Bags with forensics expert Joseph Scott Morgan and producer Jackie Howard 

0:36 - Brief overview of the homicide case involving victim Francis Kelly

1:14 - Introduction of CrimeOnline’s Jackie Howard

2:09 - When Francis Kelly's body was discovered, police found him on his couch in his home and a bag of cocaine underneath him

2:57 - The difference between fentanyl and cocaine

4:32 - Left ventricular hypertrophy

8:11 - Fentanyl was originally developed as a partner for surgical use

10:00 - How fentanyl works within the body vs. cocaine 

11:08 - Narcan and its uses

16:03 - Questions: How did he get the fentanyl in his body? Is that a normal way of taking fentanyl? Is that way going to have a different reaction in the body? Would he have tasted it? Does ingesting it offer a different kind of effect?  

19:26 - What is skin popping?

24:52 - “There is nothing as an investigator that will make you stop cold in your tracks than an unexpected result at autopsy. It's something that makes you question your abilities. It's something that makes you question the care that you took with the case because this is key: Once the scene has been left, the body has been removed from the scene, and can never reset.”

25:34 - Autopsy reports that Kelly was in fact strangled and did not OD as suspected 

26:32 - Question: Kelly was strangled with a tie. Why was that not originally obvious? Specifically, because ligature marks typically leave a mark  

31:51 - We later find out that Kelly's death was a result of a custody dispute between Littlefield and Kelly. Littlefield claimed Kelly was abusive

32:22 - Question: The other thing that we find out, which I find very interesting and kind of explains some things about the cocaine, knowing that he died from fentanyl and that it was cocaine that was found. We're looking at a good case of staging here, aren't we, Joe?

38:57 - The verdict is in

39:28 - Heidi Littlefield was sentenced to 115 years in a state prison, which included 60 years for murder. 20 years for attempted poisonings, and 35 years for conspiracy to commit murder resulting in a death

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