On March 5, 2021, the 25-year-old was shot and killed in a parking lot in Upton, Kentucky. The man who shot him, Ryan Woodrum, admitted to police that he fired the shots and claimed self-defense. No arrest was made. No charges were filed. No judge or jury ever weighed that claim.

In the case finale, hosts Marcus Roland and Emily Steele turn to the people who knew Smith — a licensed welder, a hunter and fisherman, a man who lost his mother before he was old enough to remember her and who struggled with addiction and homelessness in the years before his death. His cousin Keeshia Hendrix describes the notification her family received in the middle of the night, the years of unanswered calls to Kentucky State Police, and the moment she finally read the case file. Since then she has written the Kentucky governor's office, the state attorney general, the FBI and the U.S. Department of Justice, put yard signs across Hardin County, and refused, in her words, to shut up about it.

The season closes with what the record does and doesn't answer, why a self-defense claim that costs a life deserves scrutiny, and what it means when a victim starts to look like a defendant.

This is Part 4 of a four-part investigative series. Listen to Parts 1, 2 and 3 first. The admitted shooter, Ryan Woodrum, claimed self-defense. No charges were filed. Kentucky Case Files reached out to Ryan and Brianna Woodrum for comment; they did not respond. Kentucky State Police provided records but declined to comment on our other inquiries.

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Keywords: Kentucky true crime, Kentucky Case Files, Joseph Smith, Upton Kentucky, Hardin County, self-defense shooting, Ryan Woodrum, Keeshia Hendrix, Kentucky State Police, reopen the case, victim advocacy, addiction and homelessness, criminal justice, true crime podcast, Kentucky podcast

But the closer Smith's cousin Keeshia Hendrix looked at the official accounts — the police records, the recorded interviews, the investigation that lasted less than two weeks — the more she saw cracks. And she isn't alone.

In Part 3 of Kentucky Case Files' four-part investigation of The Joseph Smith Case, hosts Marcus Roland and Emily Steele examine the questions that Smith's family says were never seriously pursued: about the confrontation, about the self-defense claim, about whether investigators made any meaningful effort to speak with people who knew him. A veteran criminal defense attorney with 42 years of experience, who was not involved in the case, weighs in on the legal realities of what happened that night.

And then there are the bystanders. Since Parts 1 and 2 aired, Kentucky Case Files has been contacted independently by people who say they were in that IGA parking lot the night Smith was killed — none of them connected to Smith, Woodrum, or their families. Kentucky Case Files found no record that police ever spoke with them. Their accounts differ on some details, as memories of traumatic events often do. But on one point, every one of them agreed: Something felt off about how this case was handled.

It's not just Smith's family asking questions anymore.

A Mountain of Questions is Part 3 of a four-part investigative series on The Joseph Smith Case. Listen to Parts 1 and 2 first. The admitted shooter, Ryan Woodrum, claimed self-defense. No charges were filed. Bystander identities are protected. Kentucky Case Files cannot independently verify every detail of their accounts.

Listen at Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

Keywords: Kentucky true crime, Kentucky Case Files, Joseph Smith, self-defense law, Hardin County, Upton Kentucky, Kentucky State Police, witnesses, bystanders, wrongful death, true crime podcast, homicide investigation, Kentucky podcast, Season 2

In Part 2 of Kentucky Case Files' four-part investigation into the death of Joseph Smith, hosts Marcus Roland and Emily Steele turn to the forensic record — the state medical examiner's autopsy, the toxicology findings, and the bullet trajectories — to examine whether the physical evidence is consistent with the account authorities accepted the night Smith was fatally shot in a grocery store parking lot in Upton, Ky., in March 2021.

The autopsy found seven gunshot wounds. All five shell casings recovered at the scene were photographed inside the vehicle. The medical examiner's report documents bullet paths on the left side of Smith's body that traveled upward and to the right — findings the hosts examine alongside the admitted shooter's own account to police.

Methamphetamine was detected in Smith's system at the time of death. The prosecutor assigned to the case told Kentucky Case Files that the finding would have made it harder to convince a jury that Smith wasn't behaving erratically. But toxicologists have long cautioned that blood meth levels cannot reliably predict impairment — and according to official records, the admitted shooter never described Smith as acting violently or out of control.

More than three months after the shooting, the case went to a Hardin County grand jury. A veteran criminal defense attorney with 42 years of experience, who was not involved in the case, weighs in on what is standard grand jury practice — and what he found unusual. The grand jury did not return an indictment.

This is Part 2 of a four-part investigative series. Listen to Pt. 1: Hell Is Real first. The admitted shooter claimed self-defense. No charges were filed.

Listen at Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

Keywords: Kentucky true crime, Kentucky Case Files, Joseph Smith, autopsy, forensic evidence, toxicology, self-defense shooting, grand jury, Hardin County, Upton Kentucky, Kentucky State Police, true crime podcast, homicide investigation, Kentucky podcast, Season 2

On the night of March 5, 2021, 25-year-old Joseph Smith was fatally shot in the parking lot of a small grocery store in Upton, Ky. The man who shot him admitted to it, claiming self-defense. No one was ever arrested. No one was ever charged.

Hosts Marcus Roland and Emily Steele spent months independently investigating the case, filing open records requests with authorities and obtaining crime scene photographs, police records, and recorded interrogation footage — because there was almost nothing in the public record to rely on.

What they found raises questions that Smith's family says have never been answered. The first interview with the admitted shooter was conducted by a state trooper who knew him personally — and was not recorded. And according to Smith's relatives, police never meaningfully reached out to people who knew him.

Along a busy stretch of Interstate 65 near Mammoth Cave, a billboard reads "HELL IS REAL" — a warning about eternal damnation. For Joseph Smith's family, those words mean something else entirely.

This is Part 1 of a four-part investigative series. Kentucky Case Files obtained records through the Kentucky Open Records Act. The admitted shooter claimed self-defense. No charges were filed.

Listen at Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

Keywords: Kentucky true crime, Kentucky Case Files, Joseph Smith, Upton Kentucky, Hardin County, self-defense shooting, Kentucky State Police, open records, wrongful death, true crime podcast, Kentucky podcast, small town crime, gun laws Kentucky, Season 2

His family was told he "made bad choices." They have never accepted that answer.

For Season 2, Kentucky Case Files spent months conducting original reporting — obtaining Kentucky State Police records, recorded interviews, and 194 crime scene photographs through the state's Open Records Act, and interviewing the people closest to this case.

The Joseph Smith Case is a four-part series examining what the evidence shows, what the investigation missed, and why one family is still asking questions five years later.

Season 2 begins June 16. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

In the season one finale of Kentucky Case Files, Marcus Roland and Emily Steele sit down with Louisville author Ellen Birkett Morris, whose short story "Lost Girls" was inspired by Ann Gotlib’s disappearance. Growing up near the mall where Ann was last seen, Morris transformed a city’s grief into a powerful meditation on loss, fear and resilience.

Through interview and dramatic reading in The Ann Gotlib Case, Pt. 3: Lost Girls, Kentucky Case Files explores how creative expression can give voice to tragedy — and how Ann’s story, though never fully resolved, continues to echo through time.

Listen at https://pod.co/kentucky-case-files, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube Music or wherever you get your podcasts.

In The Ann Gotlib Case, Pt. 2: How We Find Missing Kids, Then and Now, hosts Marcus Roland and Emily Steele examine the evolution of missing child investigations, from analog flyers and phone trees to digital databases, Amber Alerts, and social media. They uncover how Ann’s case helped spur reforms, leading to the creation of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and inspiring local programs like ECHO in Louisville. With expert insight, the hosts compare the fear-driven “missing children panic” of the 1980s to the data-driven systems that protect families now — and ask whether true closure ever really comes.

Listen at https://pod.co/kentucky-case-files, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube Music or wherever you get your podcasts.

In this first of a three-part season 1 finale, hosts Marcus Roland and Emily Steele retrace the day Ann disappeared, explore the cultural and political backdrop of the early 1980s, and revisit the investigation that transfixed a city and helped forever change how America responds when a child goes missing.

Listen at https://pod.co/kentucky-case-files, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube Music or wherever you get your podcasts.

In the final episode of The Eric C. Conn Case, hosts Marcus Roland and Emily Steele tell the story of the people left behind in the Conn scandal: the victims who were punished for their lawyer’s crimes.

Listen at https://pod.co/kentucky-case-files, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube Music or wherever you get your podcasts.

In the third episode of The Eric C. Conn Case, hosts Marcus Roland and Emily Steele tell the story of Conn on the run — his ego, his theatrics, and the manhunt that ended with a bowl of soup.

Listen at https://pod.co/kentucky-case-files, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube Music or wherever you get your podcasts.

With Judge David Daugherty pocketing bribes and doctors signing off on sham medical files, Conn’s fraud machine churned out approvals by the thousands.

But then came whistleblowers Jennifer Griffith and Sarah Carver.

In the second episode of The Eric C. Conn Case, hosts Marcus Roland and Emily Steele unravel the web of corruption that made Conn untouchable for years — and the two women who risked everything to stop him.

Listen at https://pod.co/kentucky-case-files, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube Music or wherever you get your podcasts.

In the first episode of The Eric C. Conn Case, hosts Marcus Roland and Emily Steele trace Conn’s rise from humble beginnings to Appalachian celebrity, and how his flashy persona masked a system of lies, bribes, and corruption.

Listen at https://pod.co/kentucky-case-files, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube Music or wherever you get your podcasts.

Ross's mother turned grief into advocacy, pushing for stronger protections for victims of domestic violence. The result was Amanda’s Law, a measure designed to use GPS monitoring to help keep survivors safe. But the law that ultimately enacted was far weaker than intended — and heartbreakingly, would not have protected Ross herself.

Hosts Marcus Roland and Emily Steele explore the politics, compromises and obstacles that shaped the law, as well as the programs and resources created in Ross's name.

Trigger warning: This episode discusses domestic violence and intimate partner homicide. Listener discretion is advised.

Listen at https://pod.co/kentucky-case-files, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube Music or wherever you get your podcasts.

In The Steve Nunn Case, Pt. 2: From the Statehouse to the Jailhouse, hosts Emily Steele and Marcus Roland trace Nunn’s arrest, the twists and turns of his prosecution, his surprising plea deal, and the multimillion-dollar civil judgment that would follow. The story of Steve Nunn’s fall from power is one of pursuit, justice, and consequences that echo long after sentencing.

Trigger warning: This episode discusses domestic violence and intimate partner homicide. Listener discretion is advised.

Listen at https://pod.co/kentucky-case-files, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube Music or wherever you get your podcasts.

Hosts Emily Steele and Marcus Roland trace Nunn’s fall from political royalty to convicted murderer, revealing a harrowing story of power, control and ignored warning signs. From a fast-moving relationship to escalating violence, the episode exposes the dangerous facade of a man who once helped pass a law meant to protect domestic abuse victims like Ross — the same law that would ultimately seal his fate.

Featuring expert analysis, firsthand accounts and archival media, this episode sets the stage for a haunting tale of love turned lethal and the system that couldn't stop it in time.

Trigger warning: This episode discusses domestic violence and intimate partner homicide. Listener discretion is advised.

Listen at https://pod.co/kentucky-case-files, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube Music or wherever you get your podcasts.

Listen at https://pod.co/kentucky-case-files, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube Music or wherever you get your podcasts.

Listen at https://pod.co/kentucky-case-files, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube Music or wherever you get your podcasts.

Listen at https://pod.co/kentucky-case-files, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube Music or wherever you get your podcasts.

CAUTION: This episodes contains descriptions of violence that listeners will find disturbing.

Listen at https://pod.co/kentucky-case-files or wherever you get your podcasts.