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The Strange Death of Keith Warren - Suicide or Murder ? · Murder Files Unsealed

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  Speaker 1: Welcome to a deep dive into a case that'll have
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  you questioning, well, everything we think we know about getting answers.
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  We're looking into the.
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  Speaker 2: Death of Keith Warren, nineteen years old.
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  Speaker 1: Nineteen years old found dead in the woods back in
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  nineteen eighty six. Yeah, and what initially seems like a
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  straightforward suicide, Well, it quickly unravels into a web of
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  inconsistencies and some really unsettling clues. And we've got a
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  lot of sources for this deep dive. Guys. We've got
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  official reports, witness statements, and expert analysis, a lot of stuff.
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  So are you ready to kind of try to unravel
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  this with us?
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  Speaker 2: I think one of the things that's so interesting about
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  this case is it really makes you realize that you
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  don't always know, even when you think you do. Like
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  sometimes you think something's really clear cut and dry, and
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  then there are all these contradictions.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, let's set the scene. So, nineteen year old Keith
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  Warren found hanging from a tree in the woods near
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  his home in Maryland, right, and authorities quickly concluded it
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  was a suicide. They pointed to like a troubled relationship
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  with his father, Cleo. A recent job, lost some financial burdens.
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  It seems pretty open and shot, doesn't it.
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  Speaker 2: It does until you start looking at some of the specifics. Like,
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  for example, one of the first responders, Dallas Lip, he
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  was a firefighter EMT and when he got there and
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  saw how the rope was set up, he was like,
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  this is way too elaborate for someone to have hanged themselves.
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  He actually, in his statement used the term lynching. Oh wow,
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  which is pretty strong.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, coming from someone like that, that's a strong statement. Yeah.
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  And he wasn't alone in kind of having those doubts.
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  Keith's family also insisted that he was not suicidal, and
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  they were kind of suspicious of this new group of
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  friends he had been hanging with. Right, So already we
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  have some cracks in this suicide ruling.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, And if you take what the family's saying and
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  you combine it with what Dallas is saying, it really
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  starts to make you think, like with someone trying to
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  make this look like a suicide when it was something
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  more sinister, you know, it's really possible.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah. And then we add another layer to this. We
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  have an account from Rodney Cadell, a friend of Keith's,
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  and he said he was approached by some people in
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  a car who were asking about Keith right before he died,
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  and he described these people as suspicious. And it seems
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  like it was a little odd because Keith mostly had
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  white friends and this group of people were primarily black men. Okay,
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  so that also adds another layer. What are they doing
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  asking about Keith right before? So could this be connected
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  to those new friends that the family was kind of
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  worried about.
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  Speaker 2: It could be. It's definitely a lead worth looking into.
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  It seems like every little detail you learn about this
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  case just makes that suicide theory a little bit harder
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  to believe.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah. And then six years after Keith's death, his mother,
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  Mary received an unmarked ennvelow hmmm on his birthday, and
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  inside she found police photos of Keith like at the
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  crime scene, oh, which she had never seen before. Okay,
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  but not only that, the clothes that he's wearing in
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  those photos didn't match the clothes that Mary received from
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  the police after his death.
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  Speaker 2: Oh wait, so different clothes? Like could this be a
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  mix up or did someone actually address his body differently?
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's it's chilling to think about, but it gets
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  even more disturbing. Oh no, The envelope also had this
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  threatening note mentioning two of Keith's friends, Mark Finley and
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  Laurent Berman, and it said that they would be next
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  Like what, I know, it's a lot to unpack. So
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  who would have police photos? And why would they send
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  these to Mary? Were they trying to intimidate her? Or
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  was this some messed up way of revealing that they
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  were involved in Keith's death.
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  Speaker 2: It's like something straight out of a movie.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, and it's not just a prank, because just four
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  months later, Mark Finley dies, oh gosh, in what's officially
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  reported as a freak bicycle accent.
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  Speaker 2: A bicycle accent.
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  Speaker 1: But even there, there's more questions and answers. Okay, so
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  a private investigator hired by Mary actually talked to one
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  of the paramedics that was on scene, and that paramedic
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  was expressing skepticism about this whole accident thing.
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  Speaker 2: What did he say, Well, he said.
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  Speaker 1: That the injuries looked more like he had been hit
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  by a car. So what are the chances that friends
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  mentioned in this note both die within just a few
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  months of each other? Yeah, that's a lot, one officially
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  a suicide and the other a freak accident. I don't know,
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  that's too much. I don't buy it. And then to
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  make matters worse, Mary's house was broken into and guess
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  what was stolen?
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  Speaker 2: The note?
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  Speaker 1: That envelope with the note and the photos, like someone
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  was trying to literally erase any link between these deaths.
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  Speaker 2: Oh my gosh. So at this point, like the suicide
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  theory is really starting to fall apart. It is there
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  are too many things that just don't add up.
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  Speaker 1: So what happens next?
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  Speaker 2: Well, eight years after Keith's death, his body was exhumed
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  and they did an autopsy, and they did a toxicology screening,
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  and what they find just raises more questions than answers.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, I'm on the edge of my seat. What did
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  they find?
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  Speaker 2: So the autopsy couldn't definitively say whether Keith was alive
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  or dead when he was hanged, Okay, but the toxicology
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  report showed really high levels of TCE and DCE in
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  his system.
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  Speaker 1: So for those of us that aren't chemists, can you
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  tell us what those are and what that means?
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  Speaker 2: So those are chemicals you find in paint thinners and solvent,
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  and they're incredibly toxic. You know, they can make you dizzy,
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  they can make you confuse, they can knock you unconscious.
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  Speaker 1: Oh wow.
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  Speaker 2: And the levels that were in his body were so high.
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  The forensic pathologist, doctor Mahalicus said, there's no way he
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  could have hanged himself. Really, he would have been way
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  too out of it, like, if not completely unconscious.
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  Speaker 1: So are you saying someone could have actually drugged him
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  with these things and then staged his death.
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  Speaker 2: It's a disturbing thought, it is, but it really does
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  seem like a strong possibility, especially when you look at
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  the evidence.
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  Speaker 1: So how did these chemicals even get in his system?
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  Speaker 2: Well, that's a big question. The Maryland Chief Medical Examiner
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  actually tried to say it was from the embalming process. Oh,
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  but doctor Mahalicus was like, no, that's not something you
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  typically find an embalming fluid.
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  Speaker 1: So if it wasn't from the embalming fluid, where did
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  it come from?
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  Speaker 2: Right? And could that have been the actual cause of death?
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  Speaker 1: Wow, that's that's a big question.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, big questions that haunt this case.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah. So we've laid out a lot of really strange
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  details about Keith's death. Yeah, and it seems like the
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  more we learn, the more questions pop up. Right, So
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  if we're going with the idea that this wasn't a suicide,
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  but actually like a carefully staged holicide, right, who would
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  even do that? Like what would their motive be?
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  Speaker 2: Well, yeah, that's where things get even more interesting. We
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  need to look at, you know, who might have benefited
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  from his death, or if there is something like revenge
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  going on or jealousy, you know, those kinds of darker motives.
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  Speaker 1: Right, And we did touch on the fact that his
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  family was worried about his new group of friends. Right,
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  Is there anything in what we've learned that could give
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  us more information about these people or like why they
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  would want to hurt him?
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  Speaker 2: Unfortunately, not really? Okay, you know, the sources we have,
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  they don't give us specific details about these individuals or
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  their motives. But we know from Rodney Cadell's account that
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  this group of friends was primarily black men, right, which
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  was different from Keith's usual friends, who are mostly white.
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  So could this difference, you know, could that have been
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  a source of tension or conflict? And how does that
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  group connect with the individuals Kadell described as suspicious, Yeah,
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  the ones who were looking for Keith before his death.
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  Speaker 1: Right. Yeah, that's definitely a really strange piece of this
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  whole puzzle, it is. And then there's that note, the
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  threatening note mentioning Mark Finley and Laurent Berman. Right, could
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  that be like a sign of gang involvement or a
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  personal vendetta.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, it's definitely possible. We can't rule that out, right,
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  And you know the fact that Mark Finley died just
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  four months after that note was sent, Yeah, it really
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  does make you wonder, you know, even though officially it
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  was ruled a freak bicycle accident. Right, the paramedic we
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  talked about, he didn't seem so sure about that. Yeah,
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  he thought Finley's injuries looked more like he'd been hit
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  by a car.
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  Speaker 1: Hmmm. That's a good point.
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  Speaker 2: So is it just a coincidence that these two friends, right,
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  both mentioned in this threatening note, both end up dead
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  within months of each other, Right, one officially a suicide,
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  the others this freak accident.
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  Speaker 1: It seems like a lot.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's hard to believe that it's just a coincidence.
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  Speaker 1: And then on top of that, Yeah, you have the
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  fact that the envelope, oh my gosh, with the note
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  and the photos was stolen from Mary's home.
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  Speaker 2: It's almost like someone was trying to like erase any
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  connection between these deaths.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, like they were trying to cover their tracks or
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  something exactly. Okay, So we also know that empty wine
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  cooler bottles were found near Keith's body, Okay, and the
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  toxicology report showed those high levels of PCE and DCE. Right,
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  could this just be like a drug deal gone wrong.
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  Speaker 2: It's possible, you know, the wine coolers being there and
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  the toxicology report. Yeah, it does suggest that maybe Keith
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  was given those drugs, maybe without even knowing it. So
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  was this related to some kind of illegal activity, or
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  did maybe a personal conflict just escalate way out of control.
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  These are things investigators would really need to look into.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, so we're looking at a few different possible motives here.
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  You know, maybe there was conflict with his new group
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  of friends, maybe even some kind of gang activity, or
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  a drug deal gone wrong, or it could be a
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  revenge plot.
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  Speaker 2: It's a lot to untangle.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, it is a very tangled web, and without any
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  solid proof. Yeah, it's really tough to say for sure
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  what the motive was behind keith death.
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  Speaker 2: It is, but we have to consider all the possibilities, right, Right,
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  But I guess before we get too caught up in
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  all the what ifs about foul play, Yeah, we can't
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  totally ignore that initial suicide ruling.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, yeah, you're right.
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  Speaker 2: Were there things going on in Keith's life? Yeah, that
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  might have made him want to do something like that.
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  Speaker 1: Well, we know that Keith had a pretty strained relationship
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  with his father Cleo. Okay, they had that big fight
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  a year before Keith died, right, and it was so
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  bad that Keith had a nervous breakdown. Oh wow, and
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  he had to be hospitalized for a few days. Hmmm.
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  So could that have been a factor?
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  Speaker 2: I mean, yeah, having a bad relationship with a parent, yeah,
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  especially one that leads to that much emotional turmoil, it
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  can definitely have a big impact on someone's mental health. Yeah,
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  you know, we can't downplay how much that might have
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  affected Keith.
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  Speaker 1: Right, And there are other things going on in his
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  life too, you know, like what he had just lost
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  his job, Oh yeah, he had a big car insurance
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  payment coming up. Oh no, and then his dad was
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  going to take back the corvette he'd given him as
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  a graduation present.
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  Speaker 2: Oh wow.
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  Speaker 1: That's a lot for a nineteen year old it is.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, financial problems, losing something you love, and then all
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  the conflict with his dad. Right, it's not hard to
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  imagine that he might have felt really overwhelmed and trapped. Yeah,
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  you know, it's unfortunately not that uncommon for people in
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  those situations to think about drastic measures, right, even suicide
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  as a way to escape.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's a really sad thought, it is. But even
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  with all that going on, we still can't ignore all
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  those strange things surrounding his death, right, you know, the
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  way the rope was set up, the fact that there
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  wasn't any thing to jump from the threatening note, and
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  then all this stuff from the toxicology report, it all
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  just points to something way more complicated than a suicide.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, we have these two conflicting stories.
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  Speaker 1: Right.
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  Speaker 2: On the one hand, you have the official ruling of suicide,
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  and it does kind of fit with the problems Keith
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  was having in his life. But on the other hand,
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  we have all these unsettling details that make you think
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  there's something darker going on.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah. It's like a puzzle with missing pieces, it is.
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  So what do we do when we're faced with this
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  kind of uncertainty? Where do we even go from here.
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  Speaker 2: Well, that's where, even after all these years, the investigation
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  is so important. To figure out a mystery like this,
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  you really have to pay attention to every little detail,
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  be willing to question everything you think you know, and
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  be ready to face some really uncomfortable possibilities.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, so we're left with more questions than answers. We
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  are was it suicide or was it a really well
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  planned murder? What actually happened in those woods back in
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  nineteen eighty six. So we've spent a lot of time
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  really digging into this really bizarre case, and it's obvious
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  that there's still so much we don't know about what
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  happened to Keith. We found things that contradict that initial
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  suicide ruling. Yeah, and we've talked about who might have
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  wanted to hurt him. But the fact is this is
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  a cold case. So is there even any chance of
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  getting justice for Keith after all this time?
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  Speaker 2: That's the really tough thing about court cases. Yeah, time
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  can really work against you. You know, witnesses move on,
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  people forget things, evidence can get lost or damage, and
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  then in Keith's case, you have that initial ruling of
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  suicide and that can make it almost impossible to reopen
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  the investigation and get the authorities to look at it
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  with fresh eyes.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's almost like that ruling created a wall. It did,
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  even though we've seen how weak the evidence for that
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  ruling actually is exact, right, So, how do you even
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  begin to untake something like this after so many years.
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  Speaker 2: Well, in Keith's case, his sister Sherry has been incredible.
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  She's been the one keeping his memory alive and really
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  fighting for answers.
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  Speaker 1: She wants the case reclassified, and she's been pushing for
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  an independent investigation.
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  Speaker 2: Wow, that's amazing. It's so important in these cases to
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  have family members who keep fighting.
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  Speaker 1: They're the ones who become the voice for the victim.
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  They keep the pressure on and make sure their loved
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  ones aren't forgotten.
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  Speaker 2: It's so inspiring to see how dedicated she is to
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  finding the truth it is. But what kind of challenges
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  does she face trying to do that after all these years.
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  Speaker 1: Well, one of the biggest things with cold cases is
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  that there usually isn't any new evidence. You often need
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  that one missing piece of information to really break the
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  case open. Maybe a new witness comes forward, or there's
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  a piece of evidence that can be retested with new technology,
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  or even just someone looking at the old evidence with
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  a new perspective.
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  Speaker 2: So is it basically just a waiting game?
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  Speaker 1: It can feel like that sometimes, Yeah, But it's not
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  just sitting around hoping for something to happen. Okay, you
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  know Sherry has been really active.
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  Speaker 2: She's been raising awareness about Keith's case, Okay, trying to
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  keep his story in the public eye. Right, Sometimes that
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  pulic pressure can lead to new tips, or it can
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  encourage someone who knows something to finally come forward.
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  Speaker 1: It's a reminder that even when things seem really impossible.
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  Yea hope can be a powerful thing.
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  Speaker 2: It can.
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  Speaker 1: But it's also sad to think that sometimes justice delayed
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  feels like justice denied. It does.
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  Speaker 2: And we can't forget about the families in these cases, right,
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  the ones who are left behind. Yeah, imagine living with
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  not knowing how your loved one died or if they suffered,
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  or if the person who hurt them is still out there.
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  Speaker 1: It must be so hard.
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  Speaker 2: It is. That kind of trauma can stay with you
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  for a very long time.
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  Speaker 1: And Keith's mother died never knowing what really happened to
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  her son. That must be incredibly painful for Sherry and
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  the rest of the family.
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  Speaker 2: It is, and it shows us why it's so important
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  to keep these cases alive, not just for the victims,
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  but for the families who need answers.
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  Speaker 1: Right, who deserve some peace. Well, we've come to the
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  end of this deep dive and we're left feeling like
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  there's been a real injustice. Yeah, we've seen that there's
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  a lot of evidence that suggests Keith was murdered, right,
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  but without that one key piece of information, Yeah, it
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  feels like we may never know what really happened.
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  Speaker 2: It's a tough reality, but it reminds us that we
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  need to support the people who are still searching for justice.
• 15:35
  We need to keep these stories alive and demand answers,
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  even when it seems like all hope is lost.
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  Speaker 1: Right, cases like Keith's deserve our attention, they do and
• 15:45
  our empathy. Absolutely, And maybe by talking about these cases,
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  by keeping the conversation going, yeah, we can help bring
• 15:52
  some closure to the people who've been waiting for answers.
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  Speaker 2: I hope.
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  Speaker 1: So we've considered a lot of possibilities in Keith's case,
• 15:58
  we have I want you to think about this. If
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  you were sharing, Yeah, knowing everything we know now about
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  all the strange things surrounding Keith's death, what would you
• 16:11
  do next? How would you try to uncover the truth.
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  Speaker 2: That's a really good question, Yeah, it is. And if
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  you have any thoughts about Keith's case, yeah, we'd love
• 16:22
  to hear him.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah. Every idea, every perspective, every voice matters.
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  Speaker 2: It does.
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  Speaker 1: This Deep Dive has been a journal.
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  Speaker 2: It has.
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  Speaker 1: It shows us how curious we are as humans, how
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  important it is to find the truth, and it shows
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  the strength of people who refuse to let their loved
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  ones be forgotten.
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  Speaker 2: It does.
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  Speaker 1: Let's hope that someday justice will be served, not just
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  for Keith, but for all the victims of unsolved crimes.
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely,