The vicious rape and murder of 50-year-old nurse Sherry Crandell inside the DC-area hospital where she worked has mystified not only the police but her family for the past two decades. Police have DNA evidence and fingerprints – even a witness to the attack – but no suspect. In “Murder in a Safe Place,” veteran DC reporter Paul Wagner tells a story that, by the final episode, will have you thinking there may be a chance for justice after all.

 

S2 EP8 – Q&A PART 2
In part 2 of our interview with Tiffany, Luke and Darren Crandell, and Prince George’s County Detective Bernie Nelson, Det. Nelson takes us deeper into the world of genealogy. We...
S2 EP7 – Q&A Part 1
Join host Paul Wagner for Part 1 of a 2 part in-depth conversation with Tiffany, Luke and Darren Crandell, along with Prince George’s County Police Detective Bernie Nelson. Detective Nelson...
S2 EP 6 – The Link
Ten months after Prince George’s County Police Detective Bernie Nelson began using genealogy to track Sherry Crandell’s killer through his relatives – the research continues on a promising family tree.
S2 EP5 – A Break in the Case
Prince George’s County Police Detective Bernie Nelson turns to genealogy after seeing another Maryland cold case solved after 28 years. Can the murder of Sherry Crandell be solved the same...
S2-E4 The War Room
In the days after Sherry Crandell was viciously raped and murdered in January 1998, the police in Prince George’s County, Maryland, set up what they called a ‘war room’ to...
S2 EP3 – THE DRAGNET
With no one in custody and no prime suspects, Prince George’s County police devise a plan to get DNA from the hundreds of men working at Prince George’s Hospital Center....
S2 E2 THE INVESTIGATION
As Prince George’s County Police detectives investigate the murder of nurse Sherry Crandall, they learn of a witness to the attack. A fact police kept deep in their files for...
S2 E1 The Murder
In 1998, a nurse was found brutally raped and strangled in the Maryland hospital where she worked. Despite DNA evidence and a fingerprint of the killer left behind at the...
Season 2 Trailer
The brutal rape and murder of 50-year-old Sherry Crandell inside the Maryland hospital where she worked rocked the D.C. region in 1998. It’s been more than 23 years since Sherry’s...

 

 

WTOP Announces New Podcast Partnership with Former FOX5 Crime Journalist Paul Wagner

Paul-Wagner-Headshot[2]

Washington, D.C. (November 9, 2020) – WTOP is honored to partner with veteran D.C. crime reporter, Paul Wagner, on a new podcast, Murder in a Safe Place.

For the past 20 years, Wagner has covered some of the most well-known and heinous crimes the D.C. region has ever seen. As a reporter for FOX5 News (WTTG-TV) from 1999-2020, Wagner covered everything from the murder of Congressional intern Chandra Levy to the Mansion Murders and the police-involved shooting of motorcyclist Terrence Sterling. Prior to his career at FOX5, Wagner worked as a reporter for WTOP from 1989 to 1999.

Now, Wagner returns to true crime in a different capacity through his new podcast in partnership with WTOP. In this series, Wagner examines a local cold case from 22 years ago: the murder of Sherry Crandell, a 50-year-old hospital worker who was brutally assaulted and later found dead in her office at Prince George’s Hospital Center.

“The vicious rape and murder of Sherry Crandell more than two decades ago has mystified not only the police but her family as well,” said Wagner. “The police have DNA evidence and fingerprints – even a witness to the attack – but no suspect. In this podcast, we tell a story that, by the end, will have you thinking there may be a chance for justice after all…”

The podcast includes interviews with the victim’s children, former colleagues, the detective who investigated the case – which still haunts him to this day – and more as it works to uncover clues that could help move this case forward.

“Paul is a part of the WTOP family and we are so excited to partner with him on this project,” said Julia Ziegler, Director of News and Programming at WTOP. “This 22-year-old cold case is a horrific and baffling one that will have listeners asking questions. Our hope is that through the reach of this podcast, we can bring closure to this case and the Crandell family.”

The podcast will launch as the second season of WTOP’s American Nightmare Series. Season 1 of the series debuted in June 2019. 22 Hours: An American Nightmare, hosted by WTOP award-winning journalists Megan Cloherty and Jack Moore, covered the horrific murder of a D.C. couple, their 10-year-old son and housekeeper inside their burning D.C. mansion. The podcast was honored with a regional Edward R. Murrow Award, reached #2 on the Apple Podcast charts and was ranked the #2 podcast of the year by The Associated Press.