Deciphering Ashli Ehrhardt’s Death: John Wonder’s Messages and Unthinkable Acts

Body Bags with Joseph Scott Morgan

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True Crime

4.8 • 1.8K Ratings

🗓️ 17 October 2023

⏱️ 39 minutes

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Summary

Ashli Ehrhardt, a woman embroiled in a tumultuous marriage, meets a devastating end in her laundry room. With signs of struggle all around and her body bearing multiple types of wounds—a belt around the neck, stab wounds, and puncture injuries—Ashli's father is the one who horrifyingly discovers her. Her husband, John Wonder, becomes the prime suspect in what appears to be a crime of passion layered with complex clues. Joseph Scott Morgan and Dave Mack unravel the chilling details surrounding Ashli’s death. From the puzzling written messages left at the crime scene to the suspect's unsettling social media behavior, this episode dives deep into the importance of forensic documentation. As the narrative unfolds, listen in for insights into unusual wounds, psychological profiles, and the critical role of time-stamped messages.

Time-coded Highlights:

00:00:20 — Joseph Scott Morgan opens the episode by discussing the power of written communication and its ability to express deep emotions.

00:02:20 — Dave Mack introduces the case involving John Wonder and Ashli Ehrhardt, a married couple going through a divorce. Mack speculates on their use of social media and text messaging.

00:07:00 — The importance of co-workers in death investigations is highlighted, especially in cases of suicide.

00:08:06 — Dave Mack discusses John Wonder's peculiar behavior.

00:10:20 — The heartbreaking moment Ashli's father discovers her body.

00:11:00 — Joseph Scott Morgan brings the horror of the scene to life by discussing the amount of blood present.

00:12:00 — Questions are raised about the cause of death when a belt is found around Ashley's neck.

00:16:42 — The unusual circumstances at the crime scene, including the belt and potential staging, are questioned by Dave Mack.

00:19:00 — Morgan stresses the necessity of a thorough examination at the autopsy table for determining the cause of death.

00:21:42 — Distinctions between stab and puncture wounds are explored.

00:29:50 — A disturbing text message from John to his sister is revealed.

00:30:20 — Mack shares an alleged text message from John indicating his plans to flee.

00:31:40 — The role of forensic document examiners in cases like this is introduced.

00:34:00 — Focusing on the writing in blood, the possibility of the defense claiming a setup is discussed.

00:40:47—The episode closes on a serious note as Joseph Scott Morgan shares the National Domestic Violence Hotline, urging those in abusive relationships to seek help.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	When we think about a written language of English, there's a couple of phrases that come
0:24.6	to mind one in particular. It goes something like this when people are communicating verbally. They
0:31.4	might say something to someone such as words fail me. But yet that same person, if they were to
0:37.4	take the time, they could perhaps take a pen or even on their computer. And they can communicate
0:43.8	those things through the written word as opposed to the spoken word. It's just like there's a connection
0:50.4	between that action of writing and those things that are contained within us that are written
0:56.2	down. Today, I'm going to talk about a case that is in the very early stages of investigation,
1:03.2	but it was so striking to me because this involves two people that were married and were in the
1:11.5	throes of a divorce. And those, as many of you know, are very painful and contain a lot of emotion.
1:18.8	But the alleged perpetrator in this case did leave a written note. His writing was allegedly
1:26.3	scrawled in blood. I'm Joseph Scott Morgan and this is Body Bags.
1:36.5	I'm a bit more roast today, I think. I haven't dealt with this case and to talk about it with you
1:41.6	because it is evidence of a relationship that has come to a brutal end. And it seemed as though
1:50.2	that in these writings that we're going to discuss, something fell apart as far as communication.
1:57.2	And I don't know in what sense that occurred, but many times these cases that we cover on Body Bags,
2:02.5	there we have no rhyme or reason to try to understand what motivation there is behind something. But
2:09.1	when you see people that are writing text messages and leaving notes behind written in blood,
2:15.6	that takes us to a completely different level. John Wanderer is 31 years old. His wife
2:21.6	Ashley is 29 and they've been married for a couple of years. They have two children, two boys,
2:27.8	four year old and a two year old. Actually, and John worked for the same company. They also
2:32.3	had gone through many ups and downs in their relationship, a financial and other. And they actually
2:38.3	were still living together in their home, but were in the process of getting a divorce.
	...

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