In this episode of Pushing Up Lilies, I’m examining the disturbing case of Shawn Michael Grate, a serial killer whose crimes spanned a decade across northern Ohio and left multiple families forever changed. What makes this case especially unsettling is not only the length of time the murders continued, but how many opportunities there may have been to stop the violence sooner. As investigators pieced together the evidence, a clearer picture emerged of a predator who targeted vulnerable women, leaving behind unanswered questions and unimaginable heartbreak. As a forensic death investigator, I walk through the timeline of the investigation, the evidence that ultimately connected the cases, and the forensic and investigative techniques that helped bring long-awaited answers to the victims’ families. We’ll also discuss how missing persons investigations, crime scene evidence, and victim identification play critical roles in solving complex serial homicide cases. But as with every case I cover, I want to keep the focus where it belongs. On the victims. Each woman had a life, a story, and people who loved her. Behind every headline was someone whose future was stolen far too soon. Their lives deserve to be remembered with dignity, not simply as part of a criminal’s history. This episode explores the realities of serial homicide investigations while honoring the individuals whose stories might otherwise be overshadowed by the person responsible. This episode contains discussion of homicide, sexual violence, and serial murder. Listener discretion is advised. EPISODE TRANSCRIPT: 00:06 Welcome to Pushing Up Lilies. I’m your host, Julie Mattson. Pushing Up Lilies is a weekly true crime podcast with spine-tingling, unusual, and terrifyingly true stories from my perspective as a forensic death investigator and a sexual assault nurse examiner. 00:24 Do I have some stories for you? Are you ready? Hey guys, welcome back to another episode of Pushing Up Lilies. I am working on my home YouTube podcast studio. My office is very, there’s a lot of echoes in there. 00:47 And so, I’m going to have to do something, I think, with the walls. As you all know, I’ve been recording for years in the floor of my closet, surrounded by my clothes hanging, which serve a great buffer from outside noise. 01:01 But I’m ready to get on video. I’m ready to do this YouTube thing. I’ve also started a YouTube channel for my MedSpa called Beyond the Needle, and I’m working on the studio there at the same time. Of course, all while going to grad school, recording the podcast, taking care of my family, and working full-time at the med spa and actually attending clinicals for $0 an hour. 01:33 So, we all know at some point in our lives what that looks like. And it’s so fun, y’all. But I’ve got to get the YouTube up and going. I know that YouTube’s kind of where it’s at, trying to work a little bit on my TikTok. 01:48 I have somebody that’s going to help me with some videos. And right now, I have someone working on an intro and outro for my YouTube channels for both the MedSpa and the podcast. So, we’re going to start really pushing out the subscription boxes, the cereal boxes. 02:04 Those are great. They have the cutest things in them. I know that y’all are going to love them. And I’ve got a lot of new items with my logo on them that I took to CrimeCon. And yeah, I really need to get up to the Merk here in Krum and get all that stuff set up in that booth so that y’all can purchase some of the new stuff. 02:24 I know I’ve had a lot of y’all asking about them. First, I want to talk a little bit about my friend Stephanie. Stephanie owns a company called Soaping Up Life, and her soaps are amazing. Let me tell you, I bought some in little boxes, super cute gifts for my girlfriends for Christmas, and they loved them. 02:49 There was a bath bomb, a soap, I think a lip balm. It was just the cutest little set ever. So, if you need some self-care in your life, you’re going to find a lot of handcrafted soaps, foaming hand soaps, bath bombs, and more. 03:07 And these are made in very small batches by Stephanie at her house with skin-loving ingredients and unique fragrances that you will absolutely love. And for the ultimate treat, you need to join her subscription box, Soaping Up Life, and get a curated collection of handmade bath and body products delivered right to your door every month. 03:32 So, visit soapinguplife.com and treat yourself today. You will not be sorry. Stephanie’s soaps smell amazing. This week, we’re going to talk a little about missed opportunities. This is a case that continues today to haunt investigators across Ohio. 03:55 But first, I do want to thank y’all for spending your day with me. I know I met so many people at CrimeCon who listen every day. And some while they’re driving to work, some might be walking their dog, cleaning their house, or just sitting in their favorite chair with a cup of coffee. 04:12 But I truly appreciate you being here. Now, again, this is a story of missed opportunities and vulnerable victims. A story about a woman who actually made one phone call that saved her life and exposed a serial killer. 04:30 This is about Shawn Grate. And I want to say that this episode actually contains discussion of sexual assault, not vivid, but there were some women tortured. There were homicides involved and violence against women. 04:47 So, listener discretion is advised. I don’t go into gory details, but I want to get started a little bit on this story. Now, September 13th, 2016, we’re in Ashland, Ohio, and there was a woman trapped inside a house. 05:08 She’d been beaten. She’d been sexually assaulted. She had been bound to a bed and
The Cleveland Suitcase Murders
In this episode of Pushing Up Lilies, we take a look at two very recent cases that highlight the severe consequences of toxic relationships and senseless violence. First, we’ll explore the tragic story of the missing Georgia firefighters who were found dead after trying to end a toxic relationship. The details of their disappearance and subsequent discovery reveal the dark side of relationships gone horribly wrong.
Brittany Furr Storms: Buried in Silence
On this episode of Pushing Up Lilies, we’re delving into the twisted tale of David Tronnes, a Florida man whose obsession with home renovations and dreams of reality TV stardom ended in murder.
Teen Murderer: The Case That Shook Fairfax
Hey y’all, it’s Julie Mattson, your Forensic Nurse Death Investigator and host of Pushing Up Lilies. This week, we’re diving into a case that stunned an entire community, Fairfax, Virginia, where a teenage boy brutally took a life in a way no one could have imagined. I’ve seen a lot in my years of working crime scenes, but when someone so young commits such a calculated act of violence, it hits differently. In this episode, I’ll walk you through the chilling details of what happened, the shocking motive behind it all, and how the community, and law enforcement, responded to the horror that unfolded. Grab a blanket, turn down the lights, and let’s talk about the teen murderer who changed everything in Fairfax. * Listener discretion is advised. EPISODE TRANSCRIPT:00:06 Welcome to Pushing Up Lilies. I’m your host, Julie Mattson. Pushing Up Lilies is a weekly true crime podcast with spine tingling, unusual and terrifyingly true stories from my perspective as a forensic death investigator and a sexual assault nurse examiner. 00:24 Do I have some stories for you? Are you ready? Hey guys, welcome back. We’re here for another week and it’s been kind of a, I don’t want to say it too loud, a slow week at work so far. I mean yesterday was a little bit… a little bit busy. 00:46 We had a couple hospital deaths, some hospice deaths. Those you would think would be super quick, but many times a hospice death can take just as long as a case. I mean, there’s a lot of information to get. 01:02 It’s not always easily accessible, especially when the person is new to hospice. Many times, they’ve barely been admitted before they pass because, I mean, their prognosis is not good, right? So, we don’t expect them to live a lot longer, but sometimes they’re barely placed on hospice before they’re pronounced. 01:26 It’s always still sad though, because it’s close to the holidays and you know, you know that these families are going to be struggling to be without their family members for the holidays. So even though it’s expected, I know it doesn’t make it any easier for these families. 01:43 So, we just always try to remember that, you know, it’s every death is a loss of a person, and the families still have to survive. And it’s not always easy. Anyway, I’m so glad. that you’re here with me today you’re gonna hear one of the most shocking cases to come out of Ohio in years, and this is the murder of Sheila Tenpenny. 02:12 Sheila was only 64 years old she lived in Fairfax and she was very loved by her family. She was a second mother to her nieces and nephews, and she was known as someone who showed up for people and cared about people and we should all be that way but not everyone is. 02:36 Sheila was loved is what it sounds like. Her death was very sudden, her death was violent and it was carried out by a boy who lived nearby but the really sad part I mean it’s all sad, but he was only 13. 02:54 The case is disturbing and it raises real questions about premeditation at a very young age. It raises questions about warning signs, and it raises questions about what justice looks like when the suspect is a juvenile. 03:16 And it’s scary that kids think the way they think sometimes. And a lot of it could be related to social media and a lot of it could be related to what they’ve seen on television or just curiosity. But I want to walk you through this story step by step because you will hear what happened inside her home. 03:39 You’ll hear how investigators solve the case, what the boy researched before the murder. And you will hear the fear expressed by the lead investigator and also the pain carried by her family. Take a deep breath if you need it because this case might stay with you. 04:03 Sheila Tenpenny lived on Germania Street in Fairfax, Ohio. Sheila was 64 years old, very young as I get closer to that age. She was a sister. She was an aunt. And again, her family described her as nurturing. 04:24 Her nieces and nephews called her their second mother. She lived a very quiet life. She kept a peaceful home. There were no signs of turmoil, no disputes with her neighbors, nothing about her background, really put her at risk for being a murder victim. 04:45 Her home became the location of a brutal homicide, the kind of homicide that leaves the whole community shaken. This is the interesting part. The suspect lived nearby. He was only 13 at the time of this murder, and he was a juvenile with no criminal history at all. 05:08 His mother had concerns, she kept a journal, and she wrote that he was interested in serial killers. She sensed that something was not quite right, something was wrong, but she did not realize how far he’d gone. 05:27 Investigators later found out that he had spent months researching violent topics. So, he was looking at things like how to strangle someone. He looked at how to find the perfect victim. He searched for guidance on how to defeat a police interrogation. 05:48 Now that’s really scary too, because not only is he trying to find ways to do it, he’s asking for help finding a victim and ideas on how to trick the police. His online activity revealed deliberate planning. 06:06 It was not impulsive. It was not sudden. He obviously prepared for this. So, the night of the murder, this was February 2nd, between 2 and 5 in the morning, he entered Tenpenny’s home and he went through the front door. 06:25 She was asleep in her bed, and I know that I’d talk to y’all about the importance of locking
