Our team has been keeping our eyes, ears, and inboxes open and are tracking cases where crime meets corruption, some you’ve probably read about and some are underreported cases.
Our goal in reporting on these cases is to eventually crowd-fund and partner with independent journalists to dive deeper. Keep an eye out for more information regarding this feature as we bring you along to expose the truth wherever it leads.
This month, Luna Shark Media Producer Sam Berlin, narrowed down our March list to two cases where crime met corruption.
215 Unmarked Graves Outside Mississippi Jail
Raymond, MS
In Hinds County, Mississippi–the states largest county by area–215 individual mounds of dirt separated only by a number sticking up from the dirt fill a field.
The graves were discovered on land near the Hinds County Detention Facility, in what has been referred to as the detention center’s ‘potter’s field’.
The concept of a potter’s field or pauper’s cemetery is nothing new, citing back to biblical times as a burial space for individuals who are either unidentified or deemed indigent.
However, what is peculiar about this case is that many family members were never notified of their loved one’s passing, many believing their loved ones were missing but alive.
In December, NBC News released a list of all the 215 individuals discovered in the unmarked graves. Many families were notified and many did not even know their loved ones had passed, according to reporting from NBC News.
We reached out to officials with Hinds County for more information but have not heard back regarding the reports.
Prior to the discovery of these graves, a Federal judge placed a neighboring detention center under receivership following understaffing issues and inmate violence.
In July 2022, U.S. Southern District of Mississippi Judge Carlton Reeves seized the Raymond Detention Center in Hinds County.
According to Judge Reeves, poor conditions at the prison had led to heightened inmate assaults, some even leading to death.
In October 2023, AP News reported that 200 inmates were being transferred to a detention center in another county.
Ellen Greenberg
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Ellen Greenberg, a beloved first-grade teacher, was only 27-years-old when she was stabbed to death in the apartment she shared with her fiance, Samuel Goldberg.
In a publicly released 911 call, Samuel told the operator that he went to the gym for 30 minutes before he arrived back to find the front door locked. In the call, Samuel said there was blood in the kitchen and said he couldn’t tell where the bleeding was coming from.
“She may have slipped,” Samuel said.
When asked if she was breathing, Samuel responded that he didn’t see her moving.
When prompted to start CPR, Samuel said, “I have to, right?”
As the operator proceeded to tell Samuel how to perform CPR, he exclaimed that she must have stabbed herself.
“She fell on a knife, there’s a knife sticking out of her heart.”
While Ellen was discovered with over 20 stab wounds to the back of her head, her death was ruled a suicide and the case was closed.
According to a petition written to Former Mayor of Philadelphia Jim Kenney in 2019, “while the City has since taken the view these wounds were ‘superficial,’ they include a deep gash in her scalp, a stab wound through her vertebrae to the spinal cord, and another at the base of her skull into her brain.”
A GoFundMe set up by Ellen’s family in Nov. 2021, states that the manner of Ellen’s death was changed by the medical examiner after “false information” was given by Pennsylvania Police.
According to an investigation report obtained by Philly.com, the medical examiner determined the knife used to kill Ellen was serrated and nearly five inches long.
Neuropathologist Lyndsey Emery, who was hired by the state to review Ellen’s death, examined Ellen’s body and testified that one stab wound was inflicted after Ellen was already deceased.
Ellen’s family have since stated that “numerous experts in multiple fields” have reviewed the case and disagree with her cause of death being suicide.
Her family continues to fight for justice for Ellen by pressuring police and lawmakers to look into her manner of death and determine it was not a suicide.
According to Ellen’s family, her case was shut during a closed door meeting in September 2023.
Interestingly, Sam’s uncle James Schwartzman, is a former prosecutor and previously served as President Judge on the Pennsylvania Court of Judicial Discipline. Sam’s cousin, Kamian Schwartzman, is also an attorney.
Corruption Watchlist Calendar
Canton, Massachusetts
Karen Read’s Jury Trial has been rescheduled for April 15, 2024 at 9:00 AM EST.
Read is also due in court on March 12, March 28 and April 12 for motion hearings and a pre-trial conference.
You can read more about Read here.
Louisiana, Missouri
Ex-sheriff William Jones is scheduled for his jury trial on March 11, 2024.
Alexis Thone is scheduled in court for a case review on March 5, 2024.
Read more about that here.
Marion, Kansas
A reporter with the Marion County Record, the newspaper that police raided in August 2023, filed a federal lawsuit against police in early February.
According to the Associated Press, the reporter is seeking nearly $1 million in damages from the the city of Marion and former Police Chief Gideon Cody, among several others.
Another former reporter with the Marion County Record is scheduled to meet with a mediator in April regarding a separate lawsuit, the AP reports.
Want more updates on these cases?
We are diving deeper into the facts of this case and will keep Premium Members updated with any potential leads.
Are you looking into a case?
Soak Up the Sun Members have access to various guides and helpful tips for investigating cases. Check some out here:
- How to Start Investigating Your Own Case
- How to Create a Timeline: Getting the Facts Straight and Keeping Track of your Information
- FOIA Requests: Where to look, who to ask, and how much we can find in the public records
- How to Take Notes in Court
Thanks for your help as we continue to shine sunlight on corruption around the country.
Stay Tuned, Stay Pesky, and Stay in the Sunlight.
Sam Berlin
Sam is an award winning-journalist originally from Raleigh, North Carolina and currently living in Brooklyn, New York.
She graduated from Syracuse University in 2020 where she studied magazine journalism, photography, and sociology.
She joined Luna Shark Media in 2023 where she assists with research, producing, recording and editing for True Sunlight and Cup of Justice podcasts.
Through her detailed, ethical reporting and multimedia experience, Sam creates enterprise stories and works to unravel the truth around her.
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