Dateline NBC
Former MLB pitcher on trial for murder. New evidence in Karen Read. Plus, testifying anonymously.
Thu, 22 May 2025
Listen to this week's episode of the Dateline: True Crime Weekly podcast with Andrea Canning. In Placer County, California, a former MLB pitcher is on trial for gunning down his in-laws at their home. He says he didn't do it. A new expert testifies at the Karen Read retrial about data pulled from Read's car. He says it nails down the prosecution's timeline of what happened. Updates on the Menendez brothers and Lori Vallow Daybell. Plus, an attorney talks about witnesses who testify anonymously.
What happened in the Placer County murder trial?
Well, Andrea, the prosecution case is so streamlined this time around, the second trial, there are many fewer witnesses.
What we have seen is a very strong emphasis on technical, on science, on data, on things like the dwindling battery power in John O'Keefe's cell phone the night he died, showing what the prosecution says that, you know, he lay out on the lawn, he was slowly dying of his injuries and hypothermia.
And, of course, we have another accident reconstructionist to come in the prosecution's case, and he's expected to lay out exactly how prosecutors believe John O'Keefe was killed. And prosecutors hope that he'll wrap up the case for them.
It's also fascinating. Thank you so much for bringing us this latest chapter in the Karen Reid retrial. Thanks, Andrea. Coming up, it's Dateline Roundup. We've got updates on the Menendez brothers' fight for freedom and Lori Vallow Daybell is back in court. Plus, everything you didn't know about testifying in court anonymously. Welcome back.
Joining us for this week's Roundup is Dateline producer Rachel White. Welcome back, Rachel. Hi, Andrea. Let's get right to it. First up, an update out of Pawpaw, Michigan in the Linda Stermer retrial. Rachel, quickly remind us about that case.
Sure. So Linda was accused of killing her husband, Todd Stermer, by setting him on fire and then running him over with a van back in 2007. And as you mentioned, this was her second trial and now her second conviction.
Yeah, so she was convicted of his murder, as we reported on the podcast last month. And now we're back in court for sentencing.
That's right. And Todd's family was there. His mother, sister, and brother all gave victim impact statements.
Todd's death was nearly 20 years ago. You could still sense how much his death has affected the family.
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