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At Mindful Therapy Group, we specialize in connecting you with compassionate therapists that can support you through stress, anxiety, ADHD, and so much more. Within person and telehealth appointments available, we can get you seen in as little as 48 hours. To make things easier, Mindful Therapy Group accepts most health insurances, including Medicare, allowing you to focus on you and not your wallet. Visit Mindful Therapy Group.com to start your mental health journey today. (upbeat music) Slow Burn Media, Evergreen Podcasts, and Killer Podcasts presents Who Killed, a podcast that provides a voice for the voiceless. Hello and welcome to this week's episode of Who Killed, the Presser of the Week. On this week's episode, we are going to look at a cold case that was actually solved by one of the members that were on Creator Bro at CrimeCon in Nashville. And that would be Zone 7. And Cheryl McCollum actually is the host of that show, and she helped bring renewed attention to the Melissa Wolfenberger story. And this was a case out of Atlanta, Georgia, and she was killed in 1999. And this is one of those cases where it's important where somebody was there as far as this podcast, Cheryl's podcast, Zone 7, to dig deep and to find answers. And I think anybody who started in this business in the last decade or five years ago plus, that was always the incentive, is to be part of a case where you do play a role in providing information and new information. And this is one of those cases where she gets her due and she really earned it. And it is an incredible platform, the podcast platform. And when we get together at CrimeCon every year, it's nice to see people that have had success and that continue to provide answers for families that have been looking for answers for years and years and years. And a lot of these situations, a lot of these cases, you know, they go under the rug or they get brushed under the rug. And it's one of those things that you can't always control. So it's incredible to see something positive come out of this case. And I love the fact that Cheryl was a big part of it. And of course, obviously the investigators and the investigative unit and the cold case department in Atlanta was definitely a big part of this case. So just wanted to say that and get that out of the way before I played the press conference announcing the solving of this cold case of nearly 25 years. So enjoy the press conference. I will be back with some new shows coming soon. I'm working on the Marsh murders out of Newcastle, Pennsylvania. So I'll be interested to see what that turns out to be like. So anyway, check out this press conference and have a great day and a great weekend. Thanks. - All right, good afternoon. My name is Lieutenant Andrew Smith, Common Spelling Atlanta homicide commander. Thank you for joining us today. We're here to talk about the 1999 murder of Melissa Wolfenberger. That last name is W-O-L-F-E-N-B-A-R-G-E-R. Together with us today is the mother and sister of Melissa. And we just can't express how happy we are that you're joining us today for this moment. So specifically, on August 6, yesterday, we took into custody Christopher Wolfenberger, and he was charged with the murder of Melissa Wolfenberger. I'm going to give a brief timeline, and then I'm going to hand it over to Detective Shepherd, who led this investigation. On April 29, 1999, partial human remains were found at 858 Amon Avenue. Those remains were misidentified as a male from Twigs County. June 3 of 1999, additional human remains were found off of Hartford Avenue between Hartford Place and Avon Avenue. On January 2000, Melissa was porting missing by her mother in Henry County. On March 14, 2003, Dr. Carol Terry of the Fulton County Medical Examiner's Office properly identified the remains from 858 Amon Avenue to that of Melissa Wolfenberger. On May 25, 2021, this case was assigned to veteran homicide detective Jay Shepherd, and I will pass it over to him at this point. Morning, my name is Detective Jerry and Shepherd with the homicide unit. I'm currently assigned to our complex cold case unit within the homicide unit. This case was assigned to me. I was tasked with the job of going through the entire case file. At that time, we identified the things that we needed to do, which was re-interviewing witnesses, following up on additional leads, and of course, the new technology that comes into place. With that, I've gathered the facts, and I collaborated with the DA's office, and was able to get the facts together to come up with the probable cause to arrest Christopher Wolfenberger. Homicide unit, our cases, they never close. We worked the case until the leads are exhausted. We picked the case up, and we were able to pass it along to the next detective, which is a cold case detective, which was me. The initial detectives did a great job on it. I was able to see the case through their eyes. I picked it up from where they left off and followed up on all the leads. But it was able to get it to this part where we are. We had finally made it. He's in custody. And now we just need to get over the last hurdle and get him convicted. I watched the news the day that the head was found. And they said on the news that it was mailed. And I said, OK. And it was-- give the address of Avon Avenue. And I said, I thought that was on the north side of town somewhere, because I'd seen an exit off 285. And I said, well, listen. And Melissa, because I watched every news cast. Anything came on any news station about a body being found. Because she'd been missing four years. She laid in the morgue four years before she was identified. And that was a long, hard four years. I called multiple. When they said it was a female, I called multiple police departments. And I would get some firm talking to at the start of those conversations and trying to find her. And when they would find out, they would eventually say, well, if they sent in your daughter, then their tones would soften. But I don't have to watch the news anymore. Because we got him. He's in jail. And Lord helping, he stays there. It's been a long wait, 25 years. But finally, hopefully, we would get justice for Melissa. She didn't deserve what she got. And I hope anybody who's in a domestic violence situation, please get out. Don't take it. Because it could easily be you. It could be your sister. It could be your mother. Make sure they get away. And I want to thank Atlanta PD. Because without them, we wouldn't be here today. Cheryl McCollum, Nancy Grace, Karen Greer, everybody from Channel 2, Channel 11, thank y'all. Very much. Without y'all, we wouldn't be standing here. Question? This question is for mental health. Can you go into a little bit more detail? I think you mentioned DNA evidence. Can you talk specifically what linked any kind of evidence to the suspect and what do you think the motive was? So let me start off with certain things, certain parts of the evidence. I want to protect an integrated case going forward. So I can't disclose certain evidence. But we look at everything when it comes to cold case, especially DNA. We look at witnesses that need to be re-interviewed. And it's a collective effort to build a cold case. So I don't want to point to any Pacific piece of evidence. Because it's important moving forward. Eventually, it will come out on how the case was put together. But right now, I want to just kind of hold that. Any idea about a motive? Motive, not sure. But I'm pretty sure it's the massive violence base. Can you talk a little bit about where he was found and where he was and his attitude when he was taken in? Yeah, so he was captured in his home in Griffin. He hit. He took the detectives a little while to find them. And he found, I believe, hiding behind a dryer. And this message is for Tina. I'm sorry. When we spoke to 11 alive, we mentioned the look that this gentleman had in his face from while you guys felt he was the person responsible for a lot. Oh, yeah. From day one, we knew it was Christopher. There was never, ever any doubt in our minds who did this. My mom has said I don't know how many times, you know, when she first met him, there was just evil in his eyes. That is so true. If you look at a picture of Charlie Manson, you see the same thing. And it's the same thing with Christopher. And I saw his mugshot earlier, and it's still there. If my mom, you mentioned, finally you guys got here, talk about this long process. You know, from 1998 to now, and the feeling of satisfaction that, you know, what we knew forever is now coming to fruition. Well, when I got-- when Detective Shepard called me yesterday morning at 8/23 and told me that he was in custody, I yelled, thank you, Lord. And the good Lord above has gotten me through this from the first day and to this day. If it wasn't for him, it's been a hard long road. And like I said, she laid in the morgue four years before I was able to bury her. And I wasn't allowed to see her kids. His mother had custody of his kids and wouldn't let us see them. But I have a relationship with the daughter now. And it's a good relationship. She was at my house this past weekend. And we were having a discussion. But we didn't know it was going to happen this fast. And she would like to be here, but she's got three small babies. One that she takes two in from school. So she couldn't be here today, even though she wanted to be. Can you talk a little bit about maybe the last thing your daughter said to you about concern? My last conversation with her. She called me on Thanksgiving Day in 1998. Told me that she was back with Chris. And she wanted to know what I cooked for Thanksgiving. What all I cooked and who I was there, we were all sitting around the dining room table. And she wanted to come down. And she was going to ask his mother to bring her down there. And I said, you don't have to ask her. I'll come get you if you want to come. And anyway, the conversation went on a little bit longer. And my last words to her was, I love you. And you know where I am, if you need me. What do you want people to remember about Melissa? Melissa was very loving. She would do-- if she loved you, you would know it, definitely. And she just-- she loved her kids. And there's no way on this earth that she would have left them. Because she wanted her kids. That's why she went back to him. That's why she kept going back to him. In all this time, had Christopher ever reached out to you guys? Have you ever spoken, either one of you who's spoken to Christopher? Never. Never. You never reached out? Never. Not once. Did she ever reveal or can't see anyone that she was in danger? I can't quite hear you. I was wondering, if she ever revealed, if anybody ever had a clue that she was in danger? She had left him in the summer of '98. And she came to the house, and she stayed with me. And we got both her kids back from Cathy. And when she went into-- in front of the judge here in Atlanta on the domestic violence, because he had knocked her down on the sidewalk and dragged her by her hair down the sidewalk. And when he went in front of the judge, he asked the judge to let him talk to her alone. And she went back to him. We've been afraid for a long time. For a long time? For a long time. This question used for the detectives. In this case, I was looking at some old scripts. Was he ever a suspect or taken into custody? I saw something made in 2003. He might have been taken in, but he wasn't charged. But he talked a little bit about that. And if he was questioned, why he was released then? So he was. We all have what we call person ventures. And we don't like to call them suspects. As detectives, we let the evidence guide us in the direction that we need to go. And at that time, the original detectives felt the need to interview him. But he was a person of ventures from the beginning. For the charges, what can you face when anything updates on them? So he's been charged a murder. He's currently in Fulton County. And we go into the next phase, which is the district attorney's office and, of course, the court proceedings. So at this point, it's going to be in that phase. I do have one last question for the mob there. You're sure that you're wearing. Was this the shirt that you had made when she first disappeared? Or is this the-- Yes, sir. It was-- it was the first shirt I had made. And Fulton County had a deck of cards that was made also. And she was the king of diamonds. And this was on the card. And those cards were delivered to the jails in the prison system and hopes to get more information. But this is the first shirt I had made. And that's the second shirt. All right, thank you, everyone. Thank you guys so much for tuning into this week's Presser of the Week. It's always great to see a cold case get solved. And it's even better when it comes from a creator that you know from this field. And it is an incredible platform, as I mentioned in the opening, to share long-form stories and to get the cases out there about individuals who may have passed way years ago. And it's just been decades. And there hasn't been much information about it. So hats off to Cheryl McCollum and Zone 7. They have earned the absolute right to pat themselves on the back and just many kudos to them. And again, the investigators who did finally put the mail in this individual's coffin. So that is some great stuff. Again, I will have new episodes coming out in tomorrow, and next week I've got some stuff lined up and working on the marsh murders at the moment, which is out of Newcastle, Pennsylvania, which might have a connection to the torso killings in Cleveland. So that will be an interesting case to look into. And again, the great Elliot Ness wasn't even able to solve the torso killings. So we shall see what this deep dive into the torso killings and the marsh murders turns up because they're only 100 miles apart from each other and occurred only a decade apart. So as always, until next time, stay healthy and be safe. Are you tired of seeing your teen or young adult struggle on a path that clearly isn't the right fit? Is your teenager confused about which direction to take after high school? The future of work is changing rapidly. And our kids need to know all of the options available after high school so they're empowered to make the choice that is best for them. In each episode, we explore the latest trends that are shaping the opportunities of today and tomorrow. I'm your host, Betsy Jewell, and this is the High School Hamster Wheel Podcast. 3 AM, the Comedy Horror Podcast that holds weekly gatherings around the campfire. Let me tell you what you're going to get. You're going to hear stories about demonic possessions, prison stabbings, skin walkers, glitches in the matrix, cult leaders, missing 411, night marchers, operation paper clip, Mesopotamian devil worship, and so many monsters it'll give Kanye West a run away for his money. Pop and meme culture also aren't off topic. The camp where laughs and scares are constantly competing for first place. We're just a group of friends trying to bust each other's balls, find the best stories, and expand the circle in the process. 3 AM, the Comedy Horror Podcast, not for the faint or fragile of heart. Let's go. (gentle music)
