The Fentanyl Files: Dealing Resulting in Death: A Conversation with Chief Deputy Prosecutor Zach Craig

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[00:02:32] discussion of drug abuse, addiction, and death. Just as a reminder the fentanyl files is our

[00:02:41] mini series covering the fentanyl crisis in the United States, specifically the spate of

[00:02:46] fentanyl related deaths. And today is part of that new occasional series. We're going to focus

[00:02:52] specifically on the legal side of things. Now in order to get prosecutors an extra tool to use

[00:02:59] in this crisis, the Indiana legislature passed a law making dealing resulting in death a level

[00:03:05] one felony. To be blunt, that means that if you sell someone fentanyl or another drug and that

[00:03:12] substance causes that person's death then you can face up to a 40 year prison term.

[00:03:18] But what does this mean in practice? How are prosecutors using this law? What sort of cases

[00:03:23] are they seeing? To find out we went to Muncie to speak with Zach Craig. Zach is the chief deputy

[00:03:30] prosecutor of Delaware County and has obtained many convictions under this statute.

[00:03:37] My name is Ania Kane, I'm a journalist. And I'm Kevin Greenley. I'm an attorney.

[00:03:42] And this is the murder sheet. We're a true crime podcast focused on original reported

[00:03:47] interviews and deep dives into murder cases. We're the murder sheet. And this is the fentanyl files

[00:03:54] dealing resulting in death a conversation with chief deputy prosecutor Zach Craig.

[00:04:25] So, Zach, before we get started can you tell us a bit about your professional background?

[00:04:50] Yeah, I have been in the Delaware County Prosecutors Office for about 15 years.

[00:04:56] The last five, I've been the chief deputy prosecutor before that I was a deputy prosecutor

[00:05:02] before coming to work with the Delaware County Prosecutors Office. I was an attorney for the

[00:05:07] Department of Child Services in Madison County which is so just one county over for about a year

[00:05:12] and a half and kind of went right into that right out law school. So that's me.

[00:05:17] And then can you tell us about your work in the prosecutor's office

[00:05:21] about on fentanyl cases? Like how did you come to focus on that?

[00:05:24] So, it's kind of a long story I guess. Back in 2017 we began a felony drug unit.

[00:05:33] So what we started doing and that was kind of in response to the methamphetamine crisis at the time.

[00:05:41] And so I was tasked with heading up that unit and essentially one prosecutor handling all

[00:05:49] of the different drug dealing cases to kind of ensure that they were being handled in a consistent

[00:05:53] fashion. At the same time that I was doing that the chief deputy at the time Eric Hoffman who's

[00:05:59] now our elected prosecutor, him and I were the two prosecutors in our office that were handling all

[00:06:05] the homicide cases. So those were kind of my dual roles at the time and then when the fentanyl

[00:06:13] kind of explosion began and we started seeing these overdose cases and then we're able to file those

[00:06:20] as the overdoses are the dealing control substance, resolving a death. I kind of just it was

[00:06:26] kind of a fluid transition just into handling the murder cases along with those.

[00:06:30] And just for our listeners who may not be super aware of this can you explain what

[00:06:34] fentanyl is and why it's so dangerous. And actually I'll add when this became I think well known

[00:06:40] to like law enforcement in this country, when this kind of crisis really started becoming noticeable.

[00:06:45] So unfortunately I've kind of had to be educate myself a lot over the last four or five years.

[00:06:52] So fentanyl is a synthetic opioid. So it's not an opiate, it's an opioid. So which means it's not a

[00:06:58] naturally growing substance. It is something that is made or created in a lab, but it isn't opioid.

[00:07:06] So it's related chemically and the effect that it causes it's related to opiates such as morphine

[00:07:15] and heroin. Like I said though, it's a synthetic and it's created in a lab and what it does when

[00:07:21] it is ingested. There are opioid receptors in the brain and the fentanyl will attach itself

[00:07:28] and bind itself to those receptors when that happens, the user will feel kind of euphoria,

[00:07:35] pain relief and sedation or the normal kind of effects that they feel.

[00:07:41] Unfortunately those receptors in the brain they also regulate or control our breathing so the

[00:07:47] inhaling and exhaling that our body does. So when the fentanyl binds itself to those receptors,

[00:07:53] it negatively affects those receptors ability to continue to regulate that breathing so that causes

[00:08:00] respiratory depression. So it's stopping your body from breathing as that happens an individual will

[00:08:07] become apneic which means they're just losing oxygen and they're not having enough oxygen

[00:08:12] to perform normal bodily functions. If that goes on too long without some sort of reversal,

[00:08:19] then the body will become hypoxic which means it just doesn't have enough oxygen to survive and

[00:08:25] the major organs such as the brain and the heart will shut down. So that's what fentanyl is.

[00:08:31] We began at least in Delaware County the 2017-2018 time period is when we first started seeing

[00:08:38] fentanyl in the toxic results that we were having in overdose cases and we started seeing it pop

[00:08:45] on those results. That's when we kind of became aware of this is a problem. I mean at that time

[00:08:53] there were these sporadic stories that you were seeing on national level, there was nothing local

[00:08:58] or even on a state level and nationally you'd see every once in a while a story about something like

[00:09:05] this but it wasn't really well known. It just kind of came out of nowhere. It was right in the myths

[00:09:13] of the opioid crisis but I mean I don't think anybody really had an idea of how big it got

[00:09:22] that quickly. It just kind of exploded so fast that it kind of took everybody by surprise, I think.

[00:09:28] I have to ask, it sounds so incredibly dangerous. Do people who end up with fentanyl-laced pills

[00:09:35] do they even know that the drugs they're purchasing have fentanyl in them?

[00:09:40] That's a good question. I think it's some do, some don't. There are the majority of the dealers

[00:09:47] that we have been prosecuting and the reason I know this is either by statements that they make

[00:09:53] after they've been arrested or through evidence such as text messages and things of that nature.

[00:09:59] The majority of the dealers that we are prosecuting they appear to be specifically seeking out fentanyl.

[00:10:08] They go to areas that we know are kind of the main sources for fentanyl that's sold here in

[00:10:13] Delaware County and they will, they seek it out there then they bring it back here and then

[00:10:18] they dispense it. What we also know is when they're dispensing it, they will refer to it as being

[00:10:25] really strong and then they will actually take the step of actually maybe even checking on

[00:10:31] individuals that they've sold it to but there's none of that specifically telling them, hey this

[00:10:37] is fentanyl. This is what you're getting. Now the users who are buying and unfortunately overdosing

[00:10:42] and dying from it, I'd say there are some that I think have a good idea that that's what they're

[00:10:48] getting but there are definitely some who from everything that we see don't have any idea that

[00:10:55] that's what they're getting. You mentioned the pills, that's by and large the most dangerous

[00:11:02] thing out there that we're seeing right now and it's becoming, it's kind of replacing the normal

[00:11:07] powder that we used to see and we are seeing more and more younger 17, 18, 19 year old kids for

[00:11:16] lack of a better word who are trying to buy pills and they are trying to buy Xanax or trying to buy

[00:11:23] oxycodone things of that nature and these pills have been created in manufactured in a way that

[00:11:28] they look like those things and so there doesn't appear to be anything that indicates that they

[00:11:33] knew that what they were getting was actually fentanyl disguised as something else and then they

[00:11:39] end up getting a lethal dose of fentanyl that ends up killing them. There's a lot of illegal

[00:11:45] drugs out there is fentanyl somehow uniquely dangerous? It is, I talked about the chemical makeup

[00:11:53] a moment ago, it more so than any other opiate or opioid with the exception of maybe like car

[00:11:59] fentanyl which is another synthetic opioid but fentanyl binds itself for whatever reason,

[00:12:07] chemically it binds itself to the receptors in the brain tighter than other opiates or opiates

[00:12:14] in general and it's harder for the reversal agents such as narcan to pull it off of those receptors

[00:12:20] and something that I think a lot of users out in the street don't realize as well

[00:12:25] even if I have taken fentanyl and I've overdosed and thankfully I've had somebody that's administered

[00:12:32] the narcan quick enough that kind of reverses that initial overdose. It can pull me out of that overdose

[00:12:39] and without taking any more of the drug, I can overdose again a short while later. So we've actually

[00:12:45] seen instances in which somebody EMS has had to respond to a scene, they've administered narcan

[00:12:52] individual is revived, they appear to be fine, they'll take them to the emergency room for kind of

[00:12:58] a follow up and they'll overdose in the emergency room and have to have more narcan administered

[00:13:03] to them in order to pull them back out of that overdose. I'm just looking at the context, I mean obviously

[00:13:09] the United States is no stranger to other drug epidemics we've seen crack cocaine, you know heroin

[00:13:14] and meth can be scourges in some community and of course you mentioned the opioid crisis.

[00:13:20] And I'm just wondering, in terms of what you do prosecuting some of these drug deaths, are there

[00:13:27] other drug related drug overdose prosecutions that have sort of paved the way for those prosecutions

[00:13:32] or is this in some way sort of become a unique process? This unfortunately it has not been anything

[00:13:39] that's paved the way. On the federal level, before this law went into effect in Indiana,

[00:13:46] there was possible to prosecute individuals for dealing drugs resulting in death. However at a

[00:13:55] state level, before this law went into effect, there was nothing that paved the way before it.

[00:14:01] In fact, before this law went into effect, before that all we were left with

[00:14:07] was trying to prosecute somebody for a murder. We actually, I say I filed a murder case back in

[00:14:15] 2017 and I believe it was maybe the second or third time that that had ever been done in Indiana.

[00:14:21] In that particular case we felt we had the evidence to filigants and individual for dealing

[00:14:27] something that she was aware was fentanyl at that time knowing it was that and the victim did not

[00:14:33] know that it was fentanyl caused the overdose and then the death of the individual. We filed a

[00:14:38] murder charge against that defendant. Unfortunately, that charge was thrown out by the court at the trial

[00:14:45] level. That was what we had back at that time. When this law went into effect in 2018, it was kind of

[00:14:54] I mean you don't see that too often in the criminal prosecution world. The crimes that are on

[00:15:03] the books have been on the books for years and years and years. When we had this, it was just like

[00:15:08] a brand new thing and people didn't know I say people law enforcement officers and prosecutors,

[00:15:13] they didn't know what this looked like as far as in a courtroom and how to prove it. We're kind of

[00:15:19] just making it up as we go. Have you ever covered a carpet stain with a rug? Ignorant a leaky faucet?

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[00:16:33] We all have that friend who wakes up early to go get everyone McDonald's breakfast for the rest

[00:16:38] of us. Sleep in! This is your sign to thank them and if you're that friend, this is us saying

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[00:16:58] participation may vary cannot be combined with any other offer or combo meal. One thing without

[00:17:04] sounding flippant, I mean drug dealers are ultimately running some kind of business with paying

[00:17:09] clients who you know purchase these drugs and so one would think it's a bad idea to do something

[00:17:15] that would you know kill your clients bring down the scrutiny of law enforcement and prosecutors

[00:17:20] but also then eliminate your client base. So why are these dealers even messing around with

[00:17:26] fentanyl when it's so incredibly dangerous? That's another good question. For those of us not

[00:17:32] involved in this trade, it seems to defy logic and reason that you're selling something to a client

[00:17:41] base that is going to kill them. I think the thought process behind this is that there are so many

[00:17:49] people suffering from addiction now that even if you lose one customer, you can have to take their

[00:17:54] place and something else that kind of defies logic or it's hard for those of us who don't suffer

[00:18:00] from addiction to grasp this but addicts will seek out the stronger drugs. They will seek out

[00:18:08] and I know this from talking to addicts and from having officers who have been investing in these

[00:18:13] cases for years who have had contact with addicts and people who have recovered from overdoses but

[00:18:19] they will seek out drugs that have specifically caused other people to overdose. They will seek out

[00:18:24] drugs that have caused themselves to overdose. They go back, that's what they want. So while it's

[00:18:31] hard to grasp, I mean knowing that your product has got that kind of a pull on individuals,

[00:18:36] I think is what they're banking on. And then you add in the financial aspect of it and how much money

[00:18:43] they're able to make selling this stuff. And with fentanyl, even though it is so much stronger than

[00:18:52] heroin, it is incredibly cheaper to obtain out on the street. So they have a drug that is cheaper

[00:18:59] for them to buy and because it's so much stronger, they can add more cutting agent to it to give

[00:19:04] themselves more drugs to sell without lessening the effect. So I mean they can buy a gram and be able to

[00:19:12] turn that into almost an ounce worth of product to sell and make even more money and sell it

[00:19:18] to more people. So I think at the end of the day, the finances or the financial aspect of it outweigh

[00:19:25] the risk to them as far as bringing that scrutiny of law enforcement down upon them. And plus

[00:19:32] we're still with a new law. We only catch a fraction of the number of people that are doing this.

[00:19:42] So I think they also just anticipate that they're going to be able to slip through the net as well.

[00:19:48] This is a question I just thought of and I was just curious if you had any insights on this.

[00:19:52] I mean, what do we know about the fentanyl that ends up in Indiana where it's coming from and

[00:19:58] sort of the trajectory of the kind of because I feel that might give us a better look at like the

[00:20:04] overall structure of the business and understanding that might be helpful to kind of combat it.

[00:20:10] Yeah, so one of the investigators that we work with and he has literally testified in every one of

[00:20:16] these cases that I've taken to trial. He is also assigned as a task force officer with the DEA

[00:20:22] and when speaking with him, by and large what we know about fentanyl especially with these counterfeit

[00:20:28] pills that we're dealing with are seeing so often now they are being shipped in through primarily

[00:20:36] the southern border from Mexico. And before they get to Mexico, they are being manufactured in China

[00:20:43] and then distributed in some fashion in Mexico to different drug cartels and then the major drug cartels

[00:20:51] down in Mexico are getting them through the border and then they are, it's basically just kind of

[00:20:59] spiders web from that point out like just two different main hubs across the country,

[00:21:06] primarily. And if you look at a map with major highways delineated on it, these main hubs,

[00:21:13] you'll see one or two major highways or thoroughfares running through these cities and inevitably

[00:21:19] that's going to be a hot spot for where this stuff is located. I'm also curious, we've talked

[00:21:24] a little bit about the law. What elements do you need to prove in order to charge someone who's

[00:21:30] dealt fentanyl with murder? So essentially breaks down into it's a two part kind of law or case.

[00:21:38] First thing we have to show is that they delivered a drug to to our victim. At times that can be

[00:21:44] incredibly easy, at times that can be incredibly difficult. Once we have established that they

[00:21:50] have knowingly delivered a drug to a victim, then we have to show the second part of this case is

[00:21:56] that we have to show that that drug was responsible, the use of that drug was responsible for the

[00:22:02] subsequent overdose and death. Now in Indiana, we have the proximate cause standard. So what that

[00:22:10] essentially means is while I have to show that that drug played a role, a substantial or

[00:22:16] significant role in that death, I do not have to show that that drug was the only thing that

[00:22:23] played a role in that overdose. In fact, the law that was passed by the General Assembly that put

[00:22:28] this on the books, it specifically lays out that it is not a defense to this charge that the victim

[00:22:36] died as a result of using the drug that they got from the defendant in addition or in combination

[00:22:41] with some other drug. And I think that makes it one that makes it significantly easier to prove

[00:22:48] these cases, but it also winds up, I think it's common sense and we talk to juries about this.

[00:22:55] When we talk about addicts, we know they are not like the quote unquote the normal person when

[00:23:02] when a normal person uses a drug, for instance that they're prescribed by a doctor.

[00:23:07] If I'm prescribed, I've got, I take a statin for cholesterol, but there are certain drugs, certain

[00:23:12] things I'm not supposed to take with that. You know, I am conscientious about that. So I follow those

[00:23:17] directions. Drug addicts do not do that. They will take what they can get when they can get it.

[00:23:22] Even if it's not their drug of choice, but it's so a lot of individuals who drug of choice is heroin

[00:23:27] or fentanyl, they will take meth and fentanyl even though those do completely different things inside

[00:23:32] the body. If that's all they have access to, that's what they'll take. And so knowing that that's

[00:23:37] what reality is out in the street, the general assembly passes a part of the law saying that you know

[00:23:44] if the drug I sell you, if it is working with that other drug that you either already have in your

[00:23:49] system or go out and acquire and then use with this drug, then I'm still on the hook for

[00:23:55] for that death that results because the drug I sold you played a role in. So essentially there's

[00:24:00] that two parts to this law. One thing I was curious about are what are some of the challenges

[00:24:06] that come up when you're prosecuting a fentanyl related death case like this?

[00:24:12] So the main challenge, I guess, and it's kind of unique to these is we are

[00:24:20] kind of tasked with recreating at least probably I would say the last 24 hours of this victim's life.

[00:24:30] And just the normal person off the street, that's a hard thing to do for anybody living in today's

[00:24:38] world trying to recreate where that person was, who they were in contact with, what they were doing

[00:24:43] over that significant period of time. That's difficult and then when you talk about individuals who

[00:24:48] suffer from addiction, by and large they tend to be more transient. They move around a lot more than

[00:24:54] other individuals and they have a lot of contact with more people in general and more

[00:25:00] individuals who are involved in the drug trade. So not only are we kind of tasked with doing that,

[00:25:06] we have to eliminate those other possible sources for the drug that we believe was sold to them

[00:25:12] by the defendant and that ultimately killed them. So that's just, that is primarily the hardest

[00:25:18] thing to do is to create that timeline. And that's one of the things that when we are looking at

[00:25:23] these cases to determine whether or not we have enough to file, that's one of the big things on

[00:25:27] the checklists is do we have a timeline that we are confident of to a certain degree that eliminates

[00:25:35] those other kind of what ifs, what if this person gave them the drug, what if that person?

[00:25:41] So that's the kind of main challenge to those cases. Then taking a step back because ultimately

[00:25:47] you're running with what law enforcement is able to get you in terms of an investigation.

[00:25:51] What are some of the tools and law enforcement's arsenal when it comes to investigating these deaths?

[00:25:58] I think that there's two main tools that they have first and foremost are cell phones.

[00:26:04] We have not yet had a case in which we did not have a cell phone recovered either

[00:26:11] by our, from our victim or if we were able to identify a suspect the suspect's phone.

[00:26:17] And a lot of times we have both. So the being able to locate and then obtain data from a cell phone

[00:26:26] is huge. The other main tool that law enforcement has to their, for their use are confidential

[00:26:34] informants. People on the street that can kind of give us an idea of who's involved in what practice,

[00:26:40] what somebody's operation really looks like. Those are probably the two main tools that we have.

[00:26:47] Absolutely. And then I'm curious in terms of the dealers themselves how can those operations look

[00:26:52] like in the ones that you're dealing with in your cases? Are these huge operations, are they usually

[00:26:56] just one person down the line? It can vary. The last, we've had a couple recent trials where we've

[00:27:06] had boyfriend girlfriend operations I guess for lack of a better term. When you see those,

[00:27:16] it's not like common that she'll be in charge of acquiring the drug and he'll be in charge of

[00:27:22] kind of being the front man making contact with the buyers and actually conducting the deals. So there's

[00:27:27] kind of that diversification in what their rules are. I think in their minds that may kind of shelter

[00:27:38] them a little bit from responsibility, well if I'm not the one who's actually handing it to the

[00:27:42] person buying it then maybe I feel like I'm safer from arrest and prosecution. But that's what

[00:27:48] we've been seeing a lot lately are individuals primarily in a boyfriend girlfriend type relationship

[00:27:54] that are conducting these deals. Those though, we always we're always trying to kind of work our

[00:28:03] way up the chain now even because with how this law is written and how the law is in the state of

[00:28:10] Indiana even if I did not personally hand you or deliver the drug to you, if I have aided

[00:28:16] induced or caused that activity then I can still be held responsible. So the supplier of those drugs

[00:28:23] to that dealer can also be held responsible and be charged and prosecuted under this law. So that's

[00:28:30] always our goal is to try to work our way up that chain because obviously while this dealer may be

[00:28:37] dealing to this set number of users or addicts, whoever they're getting their drug from,

[00:28:43] they are supporting a whole other ring with their operation. So that's what our goal is to try to

[00:28:49] work our way up and I think what you find is the higher up the chain that you go, you get less of

[00:28:55] those boyfriend girlfriend type relationships and more of what we kind of picture in our mind as

[00:29:00] a drug dealing operation where it's one individual who has specifically have people working for them,

[00:29:06] for pay and kind of a more of a distribution type of operation. Is it is it difficult to kind of

[00:29:14] get people to flip on each other like that and go up the chain? It is. We thankfully we've had some

[00:29:21] success with that in some recent cases that we have filed, we have not had an opportunity to take

[00:29:27] those to trial yet but we've had some success recently in getting those individuals who were

[00:29:33] arrested and charged kind of at that direct handing the drug or delivering the drug to the victim

[00:29:40] and we've they've agreed to provide us information regarding their source that has led to us being

[00:29:48] able to go after and charge the individual that is kind of got a farther reach with the drugs

[00:29:54] that they're selling. And then one question people might be curious about is just are the dealers

[00:29:59] typically addicts themselves who do they not essentially to use the cliched get high in their

[00:30:03] own supply? If you were to ask the people that are are arrested and charged with this, I would guarantee

[00:30:12] you you're going to hear all of them say that they are addicts but when I think of the word addict

[00:30:20] and what comes to mind when I think of an addict is somebody who does not acquire a large

[00:30:26] amount of drugs at any one given point in time and also is unable to amass a large amount of money.

[00:30:34] So if I see an individual who's able to do either or both of those things then they are not

[00:30:40] what we envision as an addict because they're able to place obtaining money and that kind of

[00:30:47] that financial aspect, they're able to place that ahead of that compulsion and that addiction

[00:30:53] and you talk to an individual who is a true addict. This kind of addiction is the first thing

[00:30:59] you think about when you wake up it's the last thing you think about before you go to sleep

[00:31:03] and every point in the day it is number one. It always it it you have to address that before

[00:31:11] you do anything else. So if I have somebody who's able to acquire a large amount of money and or

[00:31:16] a large amount of drugs then they clearly do not suffer from that addiction like true addicts do.

[00:31:24] Some of these cases sound like they can get pretty complicated. I'm curious how do juries tend to

[00:31:30] react to these sorts of cases? That is rewarding is not the right word but for lack of a better word

[00:31:37] that has been one of the more rewarding things in prosecuting these cases that I've seen.

[00:31:42] The first two cases that we tried, we saw it was about a 50-50 split from the whole jury panel.

[00:31:50] So when we are trying these cases the very first thing we do is pick the jury. We bring in about 65 to

[00:31:55] 70 people from the community as potential jurors and we get a chance to talk to them. Those first two

[00:32:01] trials we saw about 50-50 split on half of them saying you know this makes sense to me if the

[00:32:08] evidence is there I'd be willing and able to convict and the other half saying nope this is if the

[00:32:14] user is doing something and it's caused them to die that's their responsibility. Nobody else should

[00:32:18] be held responsible by that third trial and I think a large large amount of this was due to the

[00:32:26] positive publicity that we were seeing but by that third trial that had almost completely gone

[00:32:33] away and we had almost the entire jury pools telling us that if the evidence is there it makes

[00:32:40] sense to hold the drug the other responsible. So that like I said is one of the more rewarding things

[00:32:45] because we have been able to see a direct what I think as a direct result what we had done with

[00:32:51] our prosecutions we had been able to see an actual change in our community and how this case

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[00:34:45] I was curious you know when you see in these cases on the other side of things what are the

[00:34:49] typical defense strategies that are raised when it comes to defending defendants accused of

[00:34:54] these crimes? Primarily it's the Saudi defense if you're familiar with that it's some other dude did

[00:35:02] it and my I was talking to my wife and she thought I made that up but that was actually something

[00:35:07] that I learned in law school in criminal law and law school but that was that primarily is the

[00:35:13] defense strategy that we see is that it was another individual that was responsible for dealing

[00:35:19] the drug that resulted in the death. We don't we haven't always seen them specifically say my client

[00:35:25] didn't sell anything they may concede that and say well while my client may have sold them

[00:35:32] something it wasn't what actually caused the death but primarily that's what we're seeing.

[00:35:38] I wonder can we zoom in and talk about some of those specific cases you've worked on?

[00:35:44] Yeah so the very first one that we filed this law went into effect in Indiana July 1st of 2018.

[00:35:53] July 28th of that year Ashley Rudasal what who was eight months and one week pregnant

[00:36:02] overdose and died as a result of drugs that she had received from multiple individuals one of

[00:36:11] those individuals being a female named Jessica Campbell. She what she bought from his Campbell was

[00:36:21] are Ashley believed from the text messages that we had it appears that Ashley believed or

[00:36:27] thought it was heroin. It turns out that it was fentanyl that had been obtained over in the

[00:36:32] Dayton Trotwood area in Ohio. Ashley came back to Muncie with a friend of hers they used at his

[00:36:42] residence he woke up the next morning and found Ashley faced down in his living room suffering from

[00:36:50] an overdose. EMS and police responded to the scene attempted to resuscitate Ashley she was taken

[00:36:58] to our local hospital where even though she had been down for a while the doctors at the hospital

[00:37:06] continued to vigorously attempt to resuscitate Ashley and then performed an emergency C section

[00:37:13] and then attempted to resuscitate the baby unfortunately both Ashley and her unborn child succumb

[00:37:21] to that overdose on that day so that was yeah and I don't know if you guys ever post anything I

[00:37:29] know you guys have a website but that's Ashley right there that was taken I think about a week before

[00:37:36] she died. Zach shared several pictures with us we will put them all on our Facebook page the

[00:37:44] image of Ashley shows a very young very pregnant woman proudly showing off her baby bump that was

[00:37:51] like I said that was the first case that we had after this law went to effect and it's one of those

[00:38:00] it was difficult on a couple of different levels one it was difficult because Ashley had

[00:38:07] contact with multiple dealers in that day and a half before she died so we had the issue of trying

[00:38:15] to eliminate whose drugs were actually not responsible and whose drugs actually played a role in her

[00:38:22] overdose so that was difficult but then just the on the emotional level yeah seeing a somebody

[00:38:32] who is that far along in her pregnancy watching body cam video where they are I mean trying to

[00:38:38] resuscitate her and then having to you know observe and look at autopsy photos for Ashley and for

[00:38:44] her baby I mean it's that's just something you don't forget and it's one of those things I think

[00:38:52] like I said the people they end up investigating these and becoming involved in these cases

[00:38:57] to a large extent it's the same almost the same witnesses not every single time but there's

[00:39:04] some of the witnesses that we've had in these cases they've been witnesses in every single one of

[00:39:08] these and I think that's that case in particular stays in all of our minds with every single one of

[00:39:15] these that we have prosecuted and it's you know while it was a unique in her case that she was pregnant

[00:39:22] being young and having a long life potentially in front of her and having that cut down that is in

[00:39:29] no way unique we have seen that in virtually every other case that we've had as well so yeah but I

[00:39:37] think that one is what at least for me it's one that really it's always there because if you're

[00:39:44] exposed to that it's just there's no you know you try to distance yourself to some respect whenever

[00:39:52] you do this job especially if you're doing homicides and any kind of case in which there's a death

[00:39:58] you you try to detach yourself from it but it's just impossible when you're dealing with facts like

[00:40:04] this but in the on this flip side of that coin though at least when I prosecute these cases and

[00:40:10] I've talked to juries after the fact and I've talked to victims families who have sat in on these

[00:40:15] trials I think they appreciate when we prosecute these cases that kind of emotion that that should be

[00:40:24] involved is there when we try these cases because to be honest as hard as it is you know thinking back

[00:40:32] on that case and you know the facts behind it I wouldn't want to be able to experience something like

[00:40:39] that and not have some kind of an emotional reaction to it because that's what makes it real

[00:40:46] that's what makes it real for juries that's what makes it real for the families that have to go

[00:40:52] through this and so you know but like I said that's one of those cases that it sticks in my mind every

[00:40:59] single one that we that have that we have come across our desk that we prosecute. So it's so scary

[00:41:05] about fentanyl for me is that like you know other drugs might have a horrific impact on your life and

[00:41:10] certainly may kill you but like if if taken in a different way you know you still have the opportunity

[00:41:16] to maybe get sober and get off them whereas like something that's sort of like lightning quick

[00:41:21] as this it's just like any opportunity like that is lost. You know and and that's absolutely correct

[00:41:27] I grew up in the 80s and what I remember obviously the dare program was really big in Indiana when

[00:41:34] I was in elementary school and middle school but what I remember about drugs and about

[00:41:42] and when I would speak to my parents when I was growing up about drugs there was there was not

[00:41:47] that threat that a one time use of a drug was going to kill you and for better or worse that allowed

[00:41:54] for kids or for people in that generation and generations before to experiment with drugs

[00:41:58] for better or worse that was that would you could do that and not lose your life now there was

[00:42:03] that threat of I remember parents talking to two us as kids that downrange potential of becoming an

[00:42:12] addict you know that was that was there and you know I'm sure parents were concerned about that but

[00:42:17] primarily the big concern at that time was if you were using and you got behind the wheel of a car

[00:42:22] and you either killed yourself or killed somebody out in the road that that is just not how it is

[00:42:27] anymore especially with these counterfeit pills it is absolutely a situation where one time use

[00:42:36] could very likely kill you and I mean a flip of a coin and it's it's frightening it absolutely

[00:42:43] is a frightening reality that we have been thrust into when it comes to drugs and with the fentanyl but

[00:42:50] that's where we are what other cases that you've tried to stand out to you as far as memories and

[00:42:58] and looking into this another one that really jumps out victim by the name of Mandy Hart

[00:43:07] that's Mandy right there Mandy's picture shows her sitting down and smiling up at whoever

[00:43:13] takes a photo of her Mandy was a young mother herself I think her daughter was three or four at the

[00:43:21] time of Mandy's death Mandy was suffering from addiction however at the time of her death she

[00:43:30] by all counts by family and friends she was doing the right thing she was undergoing rehab treatment

[00:43:37] an inpatient rehab treatment facility down in Indianapolis she would come home on the weekends to see

[00:43:44] her daughter spend time with her daughter and as happened as happens with addicts she would suffer

[00:43:51] relapses from time to time the week before her death she came back and had contact with two dealers who

[00:44:00] were a boyfriend girlfriend operation and the week before her death they sold her fentanyl that they

[00:44:08] had went to Ohio the Dayton Troutwood area to obtain and once again it was a dealer who had specifically

[00:44:15] went there to obtain fentanyl they sold to Mandy the week before her death and she overdosed they

[00:44:22] actually had to revive her in their residence where she bought and used the drug she recovered from

[00:44:29] that overdose went back to rehab that week that next weekend she came home again for a weekend pass

[00:44:37] and unfortunately was beginning the process of relapsing and reached back out to those individuals

[00:44:45] what really jumps out at me about Mandy's cases after the initial it was on her drive home

[00:44:53] to Muncie from the rehab facility she reached out to the dealers to ask about buying something for

[00:45:00] that evening about an hour later she sent them another text message and told them specifically

[00:45:06] told them that she was talking herself out of dealing she didn't want to relapse and as hard as

[00:45:13] it was for her at that time she was had actually managed to get to the point where she was able to

[00:45:18] talk herself out of it but unfortunately within minutes after sending that text message the two

[00:45:26] individuals that she bought from began sending Mandy text message after text message after text

[00:45:33] message multiple phone calls and you could it was like you could see it in the messages they had

[00:45:39] decided they were not going to lose that sale and what we know about addicts you know and why they

[00:45:47] relapses because of that compulsion is just impossible for them at times to put it out of their brain

[00:45:53] she had already started that process and then they have that kind of that pushing behavior

[00:46:00] of the dealers that she bought from not letting her kind of have that separation that she needed

[00:46:08] the other really disappointing thing about that case is from looking through Mandy's cell phone

[00:46:15] and her text messages she had no other options to obtain drugs that evening they're look like maybe

[00:46:22] one or two other individuals she at times had purchased from she could not make contact with them

[00:46:28] so we have an individual who if not for the actions of those dealers she would not have used that

[00:46:34] night and what we know about addiction is while I may fail once may fail twice I may fail a

[00:46:41] hundred times it only takes one time to be successful to help you get over that hump and that night

[00:46:48] could have been that night for Mandy but unfortunately that didn't happen they sold to her the same

[00:46:54] type of drugs from the same supplier that they sold her the week before she used that night and she

[00:47:00] died that night but it's another one again young mother had a whole life in front of her had her

[00:47:06] daughter's life in front of her and then cut down by this drug next one I've got there are no

[00:47:13] particular order but the next one we have is Kirin Voorhees Kirin's picture depicts a young man with

[00:47:20] glasses grinning at the camera as he sits on what looks like a park bench Kirin was in his mid-twenties

[00:47:28] another individual suffering from addiction his dealer was a friend of his who knew that

[00:47:37] Kirin had undergone rehab in the you know not too long before he had passed away from using

[00:47:47] he was sold again fentanyl he was at that time Kirin had been living with his grandmother

[00:47:56] came home from work had contact with the defendant the defendant sold him the drugs and about 30

[00:48:04] minutes later his grandmother finds Kirin and he is in his room and had suffered an overdose

[00:48:11] something that stands out to me in Kirin's cases he did not die right away from the overdose

[00:48:18] law enforcement EMS were able to arrive quick enough that they were able to stabilize him and

[00:48:23] get him to the hospital he remained in the hospital on a vent I think for about four days

[00:48:33] and in that interim several major organs were able to be harvested from Kirin and donated

[00:48:41] to other individuals so even though he had this horrible disease that played a role in his death

[00:48:49] he still was able to provide kind of a second chance at life for other individuals who were in need

[00:49:00] and that kind of jumps out because again with jury sometimes

[00:49:05] and another thing that makes these cases difficult is

[00:49:10] that tendency to sometimes think of addicts as bad people they're doing things absolutely

[00:49:16] that they should not be doing that can that is bad for our community as a whole however I mean

[00:49:23] it is a disease that they're suffering from and even somebody who is in a position where

[00:49:28] there's succumbing to that addiction they still can they still can be a good person

[00:49:33] and they still don't deserve the kind of fate that these victims have suffered

[00:49:39] as a result of taking this poison that's been provided to them yeah and I think

[00:49:44] unfortunately the more and more that we go down this path with these drugs and in particular

[00:49:52] fentanyl you're just naturally going to have more and more people in our community whose lives are

[00:49:57] touched by this which I think is another factor in why we have seen kind of that shift in how

[00:50:03] jury's responded these cases because it is more common to have somebody in your friend family or

[00:50:12] someone close to you that has been touched in some respect by addiction than not at least in the

[00:50:19] people I talk to who are potential jurors so I think that absolutely plays a role in why

[00:50:25] we've seen that kind of that shift in it shift in kind of feelings towards what we're dealing with

[00:50:32] next individual I've got a photo of that's Kelsey Klamm. Kelsey's photograph looks like a professionally

[00:50:38] shot portrait it depicts a casually dressed young person leaning against a fence and what appears

[00:50:46] to be an absolutely lovely autumn day Kelsey it's a little bit unique in respect to the other

[00:50:55] cases that we've been talking about in that Kelsey who was 18 years old when she died she by

[00:51:02] large we don't believe Kelsey to have been an addict she definitely was an individual though who

[00:51:09] at her young age had just gotten out of high school and was going through that experimentation with

[00:51:16] different substances that you know is not all too uncommon she was living or residing in Blackford

[00:51:23] County in Hartford City with her parents after she graduated she made contact with an individual

[00:51:29] here in Muncie and then traveled to Muncie in order to purchase drugs from an individual she was

[00:51:36] sold a press or counterfeit pill that contained fentanyl in it took that and then was found by her friend

[00:51:45] the next morning having passed from an overdose the individual that we were able to track down as

[00:51:54] providing Kelsey the drugs that killed her we have charged and he has actually pled guilty

[00:52:00] to the level one dealing resolving in death and is actually awaiting sentence at this point next

[00:52:07] what I have is Jennifer Thomas Jennifer's image shows a young smiling woman in a tie-dye shirt

[00:52:14] wearing sunglasses the most recent trial that we did which was two weeks ago was one of the individuals

[00:52:20] that was involved in dealing drugs to Jennifer the other individual we had already prosecuted last year

[00:52:29] so we had both the individuals that were involved in the drug deal that resolved in Jennifer's death

[00:52:35] have now been tried and convicted the more recent individuals still waiting sentencing

[00:52:43] Jennifer was in her younger 30s when she passed she had two small children

[00:52:53] who unfortunately now do not have a mother who one of those children resides with

[00:52:59] Jennifer's parents the other resides with his father

[00:53:04] it's very similar to the Mandy Hart case in that about two or three days before Jennifer died

[00:53:11] she purchased the same kind of drugs from the two individuals that were subsequently charged with

[00:53:17] her death or in connection with her death they sold to her a couple days before she used the

[00:53:25] drugs in their motel room overdosed and then they had to revive her two days later she has

[00:53:33] contact with them again and then they sell her more of the same type of drugs that they had sold

[00:53:39] previously she uses once again this time back at her parents house back up in Eden which is just a

[00:53:46] little north of Muncie and the neck are I think it was a day and half later her mother found her

[00:53:53] in her room already deceased but like I said that was the more the most recent trial that we had done

[00:54:01] just a few short weeks ago next individual is Zach York Zach's picture shows a smiling man in a

[00:54:09] Nike t-shirt taking a selfie outside of house this was supposed to be our most recent trial it was

[00:54:16] the week after the Jennifer Thomas trial we came in that Monday morning ready for trial and the

[00:54:22] defendant pled guilty to in that case as well so she is currently waiting sentencing

[00:54:28] so and she faces a potential sentence of 40 years for that conviction Zach was in his mid-20s

[00:54:36] was friends with his dealer actually they resided together and the dealer's parents home

[00:54:44] she sold him by her accounts a quote unquote a line of heroin even though she subsequently admitted

[00:54:53] that it was not heroin it was fentanyl that she had specifically sought out and purchased

[00:54:59] the thing that jumps out at me about Zach's case aside from him being a young father himself is that

[00:55:08] the defendant in that case where it was for not only was she friends with Zach she was quite aware

[00:55:13] of his problems with addiction however she was aware that at the time of his death he was not

[00:55:19] an opiate user he actually apparently was addicted to cocaine so she was quite aware that he

[00:55:26] had not been using and therefore had not built up a tolerance to something like heroin or fentanyl

[00:55:33] but despite that she still under our took part in the sale of fentanyl to him

[00:55:40] and what we know about fentanyl is if you have not acquired any kind of tolerance for it it can be

[00:55:46] a such a minute amount of it can cause you to overdose and die it's shocking but

[00:55:53] she still engaged in that and by her accounts it was a sale for two dollars so that's essentially

[00:56:01] what she accepted in exchange for Zach's life was two dollars and then he overdosed and died in the

[00:56:10] residence I think he was 26 at the time of his death and the last photo I've got is Jake Adams

[00:56:18] Jake's photo is a close-up that shows a young man with long hair smiling at the camera Jake

[00:56:25] actually was not a fentanyl related death he was we believe his overdose in death was primarily

[00:56:35] as a result of methamphetamine that was sold to him again he was friends with his dealer

[00:56:43] his dealer was aware of his addiction knew that Jake had a small child but despite that

[00:56:49] engaged in the sale to Jake and about I think it was about an hour after that sale Jake had used

[00:56:58] and then appears to have suffered a some sort of a acute overdose of related to his consumption

[00:57:06] or ingestion of that methamphetamine that caused his death but they're as I mentioned they're all

[00:57:15] they're not the same but they are all say are similar in certain respects they're all young

[00:57:20] they all have so much life still in front of them and despite that and despite the risks associated

[00:57:29] with it the individuals that sold them the drugs that killed them decided to place their

[00:57:35] desire for money ahead of the risks that these individuals faced I know we're nearing the end

[00:57:43] of our time with you but I have to ask hearing all of these stories of these young people losing

[00:57:50] their lives how do you deal with that personally does it ever become depressing do you ever feel

[00:57:56] hopeless yeah I apologize um yeah at times um but it's you know I think about

[00:58:11] how it affects me in prosecuting these and despite the negative effects that I feel from it

[00:58:22] um I know from the relationships that I build with these families who have lost these loved ones

[00:58:32] um and um excuse me I apologize um it's a parent us how much you care about this

[00:58:49] I think that's wonderful because this is I mean this is I mean seeing all these faces

[00:58:54] all these young faces all these happy people who are just like struggling with something and now they

[00:58:59] never have the opportunity it makes me want to cry because again like I went through my own thing

[00:59:04] and people using their the woman who was trying to say I don't want to do this tonight and that

[00:59:12] they manipulate her yeah it's just it's horrifying or I'm in the fact that like it's so hard with

[00:59:19] addiction because people just keep going back to it even if it's dangerous it uh I don't know

[00:59:27] it it's hard um but as I you and you can't help uh but build the relationships with the families

[00:59:36] of these victims and it's hard I mean because I also as I mentioned I also uh handle homicide

[00:59:44] or murder cases and it seems like it is uniquely difficult for victims families because of some

[00:59:53] that stigma that is attached still to the state to addiction um it's how how they grieve or even

[01:00:04] are permitted to grieve by society is different and it's um it it's uniquely difficult for them

[01:00:12] and but to see and what I do it it doesn't change at the end of the day that they still have lost

[01:00:20] this person but what I think it does do is allow them to feel like their loved one had their day

[01:00:27] in court and and that justice was obtained however small uh for their loved one and it doesn't

[01:00:34] I don't know that it lessens any of the hurt or pain that they feel but I know uh that they get

[01:00:42] something out of the fact that the person who is who is also responsible for their for that death

[01:00:49] is being held responsible they get there is something that that they gain from this process

[01:00:56] that regardless I mean it's obviously um it affects you it affects me um and but like I mentioned

[01:01:05] earlier I would rather it affect me um than not um because feeling that effect I think allows

[01:01:14] me to do my job better and you bring that empathy to it I mean like also it takes people out of the

[01:01:21] equation who might sell to somebody else and get somebody else killed frankly I mean and

[01:01:25] preventing other families from experiencing that loss I think you're right because

[01:01:32] while while I'm hopeful that it does what we do does serve as some sort of a deterrent

[01:01:37] out there for the next dealer um you can't ever know that um what I can what I do know is

[01:01:45] that the the defendants or uh the dealers who sold to these victims they are individuals

[01:01:51] that absolutely were willing to place that financial gain over the risk to somebody else and I know

[01:01:58] for each one of those defendants I know exactly how long it's going to be before they have

[01:02:03] the opportunity or or the chance to do that to somebody else and so I know that at least in

[01:02:08] those specific instances is deterring them um we're just wondering in terms of high level systemic

[01:02:16] legal and societal changes that could occur over time that could help this kind of ongoing slow

[01:02:23] rolling disaster that's affecting so many people what what could you envision happening that

[01:02:28] could help deal with this issue like more funding for addiction services more education changes in

[01:02:34] ways that state prosecutors offices statewide help you know are a deal with these cases legislatively

[01:02:40] to changes that can be added to that 2018 law um there's a lot um I think by and large the first

[01:02:50] has to be education because as I mentioned we are seeing young uh 17 18 19 year old kids

[01:03:00] using and dying from these drugs so first and foremost there has to be education for those

[01:03:05] for those children to know the actual reality it cannot be sugarcoded for them um I have actually

[01:03:12] engaged my children's school um with uh and and slowly in the works of getting some sort of

[01:03:19] in of a program put together for kids in that school district so that they see what an overdose looks

[01:03:26] like um because for if it's that may be what it takes to prevent somebody from trying that

[01:03:34] experimentation with these drugs so first and foremost education it's it's just it's always

[01:03:40] going to be the silver bullet for any societal problem second thing is there has to be more

[01:03:46] dedication uh of money and resources to drug treatment um I could prosecute every single dealer

[01:03:53] that we come across but if that demand is still there there's gonna be somebody that's gonna step

[01:03:58] in and fill that demand so it's two sides to the same coin uh you have to have aggressive prosecution

[01:04:05] of the dealers and you have to have aggressive treatment plans and uh potential rehabilitation for

[01:04:11] the users um by way of a state level uh and speaking with some of these victim families

[01:04:19] I personally think that it uh the potential sentence needs to be higher as high as it is which is

[01:04:25] 20 to 40 years uh we are dealing with homicides we're dealing in my eyes we are dealing with murders

[01:04:33] so it should be on par with what a sentence is for somebody who knowingly takes part in an act that

[01:04:39] results in a murder of an individual um I think it needs to be on par with that aside from that

[01:04:48] you know on a federal level um we have to get serious about how we tried to prevent this

[01:04:56] from coming into the country uh I mean what we know about it coming in uh from outside of the

[01:05:02] country uh it needs to be kind of a um uh flash point as far as what we focus on when we talk

[01:05:10] about our foreign policy uh with other countries uh because it is killing so many of our citizens here

[01:05:18] it's it's just it's staggering absolutely and then what's your message for possible drug users

[01:05:23] who are out there right now and maybe realize they need help about how to get that help before

[01:05:29] they become really at risk for a fentanyl related death uh I think uh I think back to Mandy's case

[01:05:36] and and what I mentioned that even if you have failed time and time again it only takes that one

[01:05:45] last time um to uh get over that I mean to get over the hurdle with that addiction to where

[01:05:55] you can be successful uh to where you can put that addiction in your rearview mirror um so don't lose

[01:06:02] hope there are um people out there who who do try to help who do want to help people that are

[01:06:07] suffering from this addiction um problem uh there are people that do want to help there are resources

[01:06:14] they can be hard to find and access at times up there they're definitely are people in the community

[01:06:18] that want to help and then I just want to say like thank you so much absolutely

[01:06:24] your dedication and passion for for these cases and for these victims really shyness through so

[01:06:29] we just want to thank you for absolutely I appreciate you guys uh coming and talking to me about it

[01:06:33] yeah i know it was delightful to meet you and and just uh but just like hearing the emotion and

[01:06:38] the passion in your voice when you're talking about this is just incredible we'd like to thank

[01:06:42] Zach for taking the time to speak with us we really appreciate the passion and care with which

[01:06:47] he tackles this work thanks so much for listening to the murder sheet if you have a tip concerning

[01:06:55] one of the cases we cover please email us at murder sheet at gmail.com if you have actionable

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[01:07:36] Kevin Tyler Greenley who composed the music for the murder sheet and who you can find on the web at

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