Latest / Crime Stories with Nancy Grace / Independent Autopsy Results Released in Mysterious Death of Nolan Wells | Crime Alert 07.23.26

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Independent Autopsy Results Released in Mysterious Death of Nolan Wells | Crime Alert 07.23.26 · Crime Stories with Nancy Grace

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  Speaker 1: Crime Alart hourly update breaking crime news. Now. I'm Sidney Sylvanni.
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  Speaker 1: We begin in Mississippi, where the family of eighteen year
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  Speaker 1: old student athlete Nolan Wells, who publicly questioned key details
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  Speaker 1: surrounding his death after a fourth of July party, has
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  Speaker 1: released preliminary findings from an independent autopsy. On Wednesday, July
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  Speaker 1: twenty second, attorney Ben Crump presented preliminary results from doctor
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  Speaker 1: Roger Mitchell at a news conference. Attorney Crump detailed why
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  Speaker 1: doctor Mitchell could not yet determine a cause or manner
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  Speaker 1: of death without further investigation.
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  Speaker 2: Preliminary report second autopsy death of Nolan Xavier Wales. Cause
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  Speaker 2: of death undetermined pending investigation, and we'll explain that as
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  Speaker 2: we go through the report this morning. The manner of
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  Speaker 2: death undetermined pending investigation.
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  Speaker 1: While doctor Mitchell found no fractures or deep tissue injuries
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  Speaker 1: and could not rule out foul play, his report highlights
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  Speaker 1: significant limitations. Mitchell lacked initial access to the body and
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  Speaker 1: key organs were dissected during the official state autopsy as
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  Speaker 1: his standard procedure, preventing him from examining Wells, lungs, or
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  Speaker 1: stomach for drowning signs. Decomposition also hindered detecting subtle abrasions. However,
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  Speaker 1: Mitchell identified significant red discolouration in the soft tissue at
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  Speaker 1: the back of Well's head behind his ears. Mitchell outlined
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  Speaker 1: seven key questions, including whether there was intercranial bleeding, what
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  Speaker 1: toxicology reveals, and how Wells entered the water before his
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  Speaker 1: body was found two days later on Horn Island. Wells,
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  Speaker 1: a wide receiver at Southwest Mississippi Community College, was last
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  Speaker 1: seen on the Barrier Island around three pm on July fourth.
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  Speaker 1: His mother reported and missing that night, learning a friend
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  Speaker 1: had already alerted the Coastguard. While Jackson County Sheriff John
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  Speaker 1: Ledbetter told Nightline that Wells appeared to stay behind voluntarily.
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  Speaker 1: The family maintains that narrative does not add up. When
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  Speaker 1: the initial boat went to leave back, whoever was the
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  Speaker 1: boat operator, they left and went back without Nolan. From
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  Speaker 1: what we understand, he chose to stay there. Crump noted
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  Speaker 1: a young woman claimed Wells actually planned to return to
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  Speaker 1: the boat. Questions also surround Wells's cell phone, which friends kept,
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  Speaker 1: friend traced, and Sheppard told Good Morning America that Wells
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  Speaker 1: left his phone on the boat while swimming. Jackson County
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  Speaker 1: Coroner Bruce Lynde says official autopsy and toxicology results could
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  Speaker 1: take weeks. His mother remembered him as an inclusive peacemaker,
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  Speaker 1: while dad Elmore Wansley, said he made friends anywhere he went.
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  Speaker 1: More crime and justice news after this. In Tacoma, Washington,
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  Speaker 1: a man faces first degree assault charges after prosecutors say
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  Speaker 1: he intentionally used an suv as a deadly weapon. Johnny
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  Speaker 1: Clay Hartwell was charged Tuesday in Pierce County Superior Court
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  Speaker 1: following a midnight collision on East seventy fifth Street. Prosecutor's
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  Speaker 1: allege Hartwell intentionally accelerated his gmc denali into a man,
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  Speaker 1: inflicting critical, life threatening injuries. The victim was rushed to
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  Speaker 1: Saint Joseph Medical Center in critical condition. Police found no
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  Speaker 1: weapons on him. The victim was rushed to Saint Joseph
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  Speaker 1: Medical Center in critical condition. Police found no weapons on him.
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  Speaker 1: Heartwell claimed the victim had a month's long affair with
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  Speaker 1: his wife in twenty twenty five and made threats. Heartwell
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  Speaker 1: told detectives he encountered the man near his home and
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  Speaker 1: claimed the victim reached toward his waistband. Claiming self defense,
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  Speaker 1: Heartwell said he ducked behind his steering wheel at thirty
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  Speaker 1: to forty miles per hour, fell to thump, and drove
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  Speaker 1: home to call nine one one without stopping to render aid. However,
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  Speaker 1: court documents reveal a neighbor witnessed a far different story.
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  Speaker 1: The eyewitness told police Hartwell circled the block multiple times
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  Speaker 1: while the victim stood smoking a cigarette. The witness saw
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  Speaker 1: the SUV Rabbit's engine and accelerate directly into the victim's back.
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  Speaker 1: The impact threw the man into a parked car, knocking
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  Speaker 1: him unconscious, before the vehicle destroyed two mailboxes. Hartwell's wife
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  Speaker 1: confirmed the victim left his phone in her car earlier,
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  Speaker 1: and Hartwell left home searching for him. Detectives are seeking
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  Speaker 1: search warrants for the vehicle and cell phones. Turning to Utah,
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  Speaker 1: two teenagers are in custody in Mill Creek after police
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  Speaker 1: say they lured a victim into a home, then kidnapped
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  Speaker 1: and robbed him. Nineteen year old James David Waterman an
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  Speaker 1: eighteen year old Wyat Dean Hansen faced charges of aggravated
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  Speaker 1: kidnapping and aggravated robbery following the July nineteenth incident. According
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  Speaker 1: to court documents, the victim messaged a female friend early
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  Speaker 1: Sunday who stated she had just broken up with Watermen.
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  Speaker 1: The victim arrived at her residence at three thirty eight
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  Speaker 1: am and was asked to move a friend from the
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  Speaker 1: couch to a bed, a friend allegedly faking being passed
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  Speaker 1: out to lure him inside. Once inside, Waterman and Hanson
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  Speaker 1: emerged from an entryway closet, claiming to have a gun.
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  Speaker 1: They locked the door while Hanson blocked the rear exit.
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  Speaker 1: The suspects demanded the victim's phone and wallet, stealing one
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  Speaker 1: hundred dollars. They forced him onto his knees to beg
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  Speaker 1: for his life, while Waterman grabbed his hair and held
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  Speaker 1: a knife to his throat and face. When the suspects
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  Speaker 1: discussed destroying his phone, the victim warned them it contained
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  Speaker 1: an active tracker. The victim managed to escape into nearby
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  Speaker 1: yards and called for help. Hanson was arrested Tuesday and
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  Speaker 1: admitted to blocking the door and pretending to have a gun,
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  Speaker 1: though he denied stealing money. Waterman was arrested hours later
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  Speaker 1: and refused to speak without an attorney present. For more
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  Speaker 1: crime and Justice News. Be sure to join us for
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  Speaker 1: crime stories with Nancy Grace on fox Ie, YouTube, Serious XM,
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  Speaker 1: and now streaming on TWOB With this crime alert, I'm
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  Speaker 1: Sydney Silvanni