Transcript

Forensic Files | Slippery Motives | FULL EPISODE | HD | True Crime Procedure Investigation Drama

From FilmRise True Crime · Episode page · Watch on YouTube

· 22 min · 2,967 words · 42 timestamped sections

This is the full, timestamped transcript of "Forensic Files | Slippery Motives | FULL EPISODE | HD | True Crime Procedure Investigation Drama", an episode of FilmRise True Crime published October 16, 2025 (22 min, about 2,967 words). It mentions 9 people, works and ideas, including Ed Post, Julie Post, Bolter Kelsey, Wagner Truax, Kim Otan.

What is discussed, and when

  1. – 5:00: Ed Post, Julie Post, University of Southern Mississippi, Wagner Truax
  2. – 10:00: Ed Post, Julie Post, D. Joyce Hayes, Kim Otan
  3. – 15:00: Julie Post, Bolter Kelsey, Dr. William Wines, Ed Post
  4. – 20:00: Ed Post, Julie Post, Kim Otan, Wagner Truax
  5. – 21:42: Ed Post

Notable quotes from "Forensic Files | Slippery Motives | FULL EPISODE | HD | True Crime Procedure Investigation Drama"

  • Ed Post met Julie Thigpan when they were both students at the University of Southern Mississippi in the 1960s.
    about Ed Post · at
  • After, a, few, years,, Ed, Post, became, part owner of the Wagner Truax real estate firm. Julie Post also joined the company and was very successful, selling over a million dollars of real estate every year from 1982 on.
    about Julie Post · at
  • D. Joyce Hayes was a prosecutor in the district attorney's office. Her husband Gary was a detective in the St. Louis Police Department. D had just read an article about a woman who was who had.
    about D. Joyce Hayes · at
  • Police, also, discovered, that, Ed, Post, was enamored with a married woman who worked in his office. Her name was Kim Otan. On the day of Julie Post's funeral, Ed made an unusual request to Kim Otan.
    about Kim Otan · at
  • Prosecutors hired Bolter Kelsey, an accident reconstructionist, to attempt to recreate the accident.
    about Bolter Kelsey · at
  • Next, prosecutors sent an identical towel ring and wall mount to Dr. William Wines, a professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln. Dr. Wines was asked to determine how much force was required.
    about Dr. William Wines · at

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

Companies & orgs

  • Wagner Truax — Company · 2 mentions · first at
    After, a, few, years,, Ed, Post, became, part owner of the Wagner Truax real estate firm. Julie Post also joined the company and was very successful, selling over a million dollars of real estate every year from 1982 on.
  • University of Southern Mississippi — Company · 1 mention · first at
    Ed Post met Julie Thigpan when they were both students at the University of Southern Mississippi in the 1960s.

Full transcript with timestamps

While on a business trip in 1986, Edpo spent the morning jogging near his hotel in downtown St. Louis. When he returned to his hotel room, he discovered his wife dead in the bathtub. The medical examiner ruled the death was by drowning. presumably accidental. But homicide investigators weren't so sure.

Ed Post met Julie Thigpan when they were both students at the University of Southern Mississippi in the 1960s. They married in 1967, had two daughters and moved to New Orleans. Ed went to work in the real estate business. His outgoing personality and sophisticated manner made him a successful salesman right from the start.

I, thought, Ed, was, a, good, fellow., What you'd expect a real estate salesman to be. Kind of relentlessly cheerful.

After, a, few, years,, Ed, Post, became, part owner of the Wagner Truax real estate firm. Julie Post also joined the company and was very successful, selling over a million dollars of real estate every year from 1982 on. In June of 1986, the Posts attended a real estate convention in St. Louis Missouri at the Omni Hotel at Union Station. On the morning of June 3rd, Ed Post decided to go jogging before the meeting started. He said he drew his wife a bath and woke her before leaving around 700 a.m.

Julie., doing., It's, time, to, wake, up. On, his, way, out,, he, thanked, the, hotel's concierge for a suggestion she made to the posts the day before.

Really, wonderful. I'm, so, glad., It's, a, wonderful, place., If there's anything else I can do for you just let me know.

Hello,, Siri., Having, a, nice, day? Yes,, I, am., Thank, you., Have, a, nice, run.

Sure., Ed, Post, jogged, past, Bush, Stadium around the city's famous arch and returned to the hotel at 7:40.

How, was, your, run,, sir?, Was great., That's, terrific., Had, a, great workout this morning. Have a nice day sir.

When, he, entered, his, hotel, room,, he, said he discovered his wife lying face down and unconscious in the bathtub. After pulling her body from the water he called for an ambulance at 7:43.

Bathroom., Could, you, send, an, ambulance, please? It, looked, as, if, Julie, Post, lost, her footing and grabbed the towel ring which pulled out of the wall. At the hospital, Julie Post was pronounced dead. She was 39 years old. The autopsy revealed that death was due to drowning. Ed Post immediately phoned his brother, who was a lawyer. Together they photographed the broken towel ring and wall mount for a lawsuit against the hotel.

His, brother, told, a, policeman, here, in, St. Louis, I'm going to sue him for $450 million. You watch. Ed Post was convinced that had it not been for the faulty towel ring, his wife Julie might still be alive. After Julie Post was pronounced dead, an autopsy was performed in St. Louis before the body was transported to New Orleans for burial. The autopsy found no sign of alcohol or drugs in her system. There were no skull fractures or bleeding in the brain that would have been present if the victim had been struck in the head before drowning. In short, the pathologist could find no evidence of foul play.

I, was, certainly, not, convinced, that, it was an accident. On the other hand, I couldn't prove that it was anything else.

On, the, death, certificate,, the, manner, of death was undetermined. When the St. Lewis Post Dispatch reported the news of Julie Post's death. There were some interesting reactions. D. Joyce Hayes was a prosecutor in the district attorney's office. Her husband Gary was a detective in the St. Louis Police Department. D had just read an article about a woman who was who had drowned in a bathtub at the Omni Hotel. And uh she said, "Gary, make sure you read this. It doesn't sound right to me." We both read the article and looked at each other and said, "Nah, no way."

The, hotel, management, found, it, hard, to believe that a 120 lb woman like Julie Post could have pulled the towel ring from the wall since the ring had been designed to withstand more than twice that weight. We went to the two adjoining rooms and I probably weighed close to 220 lbs at the time with all my weight hung on to both towel rings in both rooms and neither one of them gave nothing.

Edpost, told, police, that, he, and, his, wife had a very good relationship, but a background check of the post's finances revealed an interesting coincidence. We went to the insurance company and lo and behold um I don't know 27 29 days uh prior to Julie post death Ed had it increased her insurance like $45 $500,000. Now, this is a woman who's making uh in the low to mid $20,000 a year range in salary, and he's got this $600 $700,000 life insurance policy on his wife. Uh that's when I begin to believe maybe we have something here.

Police, also, discovered, that, Ed, Post, was enamored with a married woman who worked in his office. Her name was Kim Otan. On the day of Julie Post's funeral, Ed made an unusual request to Kim Otan.

Kim, Otan, had, a, twin, sister., And, at, the time of the funeral of Julie, Ed Post said to Kim Otan, "Maybe when this is over, you can set me up with your sister." And that seemed u a most inappropriate thing to be saying and particularly saying at the time that he's alleged to have said it. Police were also suspicious about the way Ed Post told the story of finding his wife's body. The story never varied almost as if it had been rehearsed. St. Louis police tape recorded those conversations. And uh then when she came over the edge of the tub uh being as wet as she was uh in the water there was then at that point once I got her partially out of the tub I was not prepared for what happened next which was she literally slid out at that point.

Do, you, think, that, she, she, did, hit, her head on on on the front portion? I think that's because

it's, the, fact, that, Ed, Post, in, his golden tongue glib manner uh came off as a as a non-aring person that had this alibi who had everything down pat. I mean, he didn't change his story one iota from the first time he told it to the second time he told it. And some of the hotel employees noticed that Ed Post was acting suspiciously on the morning of the accident. Before leaving the hotel for his morning run Edpost made sure that the concierge knew who he was, thanking her for a favor she did for him the day before.

I, believe, you're, the, one, that, told, us about the botanical gardens. My wife finally had a chance to visit there yesterday. It was spectacular. Really wonderful.

I'm, so, glad., And, the, hotel, doorman, said that Post introduced himself by name before going out for his run.

Hello,, sir., You, enjoying, your, stay? Yes,, I, am., Thank, you., My, name, is, Ed Post. I'm going on a run this morning. I'll be gone about 30 minutes. Uh, watch out for him, please.

I, sure, will., Have, a, nice, run. Sure. You, made, it, a, point, to, say, good, morning to the dorman at the hotel. Say who he was and what room he was in and that he was going to go out and jog. I mean like, it was from the book of Who Cares? The Dorman didn't care. Why would you do that?

But, all, of, these, incidents, simply, raised suspicions. Homicide investigators had no hard evidence that Edpost played any role in his wife's death. Investigators decided to conduct more sophisticated tests on the broken towel ring to see if a woman Julie Post's size could have pulled it from the wall during a fall. Prosecutors in St. Louis were starting to wonder whether the death of Julie Post in the hotel bathtub was truly an accident. The autopsy did not find any evidence of foul play. So prosecutors decided to exume Julie Post's remains for a second autopsy. She had been buried in a cemetery outside of New Orleans. The water table is so high in New Orleans that most people are buried in above ground vaults, but Julie Post had been buried in the ground and her body was placed in a wooden casket.

Investigators feared that water damage to the body would be significant. When they opened the grave, it was almost completely filled with water. Fortunately, the foot of the casket was the part that sunk. Her head was the only part of her body that was not submerged in water

and, her, head, was, in, perfect, shape., The casket had collapsed and pushed down and had pressed flattened her nose from the pressure, but that was the only disfiguration from the collapsing of the casket. Most of the casket collapse had been at the foot end. The pathologist who performed the second autopsy found numerous bruises that were not noted during the first autopsy. That's not unusual because some bruising continues to develop even after death. Ed Post's attorney said that the additional bruises prove nothing, that they could have been caused by the removing of her organs and bones for donation shortly after her death. But the pathologist found two new bruises in a critical area. The only additional finding at the autopsy was an area of bruising that was very low far down in the back of the head in the upper neck region. Uh where in a normal autopsy I usually don't take the scalp down quite that far.

I'm, looking, at, these, bruises, and, as, far as I'm concerned, it's from a thumb and a hand. If you're holding somebody underwater, you got to hold them by the base of the neck if you're if you're going to drown them. Next, prosecutors turned their attention to the metal towel ring found inside the tub next to Julie Post's body. The towel ring was attached to metal studs inside the wall with 1 and 1/2 in screws. The ring and wall mount had been designed and manufactured to withstand hundreds of pounds of force. Prosecutors hired Bolter Kelsey, an accident reconstructionist, to attempt to recreate the accident.

Kelsey conducted his experiments at the Hotel Omni in a room with an identical towel ring attached to the wall in the same way as the towel ring in Ed and Julie Post's room. And for the test Kelsey used a woman who was the same height and weight as Julie Post. Kelsey asked the model to simulate a fall by grabbing onto the towel ring with all of her weight. Nothing happened. Then she was asked to wrench the ring back and forth.

Again,, nothing, happened. What, we, found, was, that, uh, doing, some calculations based on what information we had on the ultimate strength of the ring that we could not remove it or a person couldn't remove it at that size unless she fell about 64 ft and grab the towel ring as she went by. And of course, the hotel room has an 8ft ceiling, so there's no way that that could happen. Finally, as a last resort Kelsey asked the model to use both hands to remove the towel ring in any way she could. After considerable effort, the ring came off.

Concept, that, Julie, Post, somehow, grabbed this towel ring during a fall and pulled it off the wall was impossible. It could not physically have happened that way. Next, prosecutors sent an identical towel ring and wall mount to Dr. William Wines, a professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln. Dr. Wines was asked to determine how much force was required to remove the towel ring from the wall attachment. Those tests revealed that it took between 480 and 500 lb of force to remove it from the wall.

It was also obvious very early on the testing that those types of modes of uh force application straight pulls pulls down clearly didn't match the evidence that, the the, deformed, toler, failed, to ring didn't look anything like the tower ring in question here

the, base, plate, had, damage, underneath, the stem and on the left side the towel ring itself also had been damaged Dr. Wines performed 23 different tests to reproduce the damage found on the base plate and towel ring. All without success. But on test number 24, Dr. Wines produced something very close. That test indicated that the towel ring was removed from outside the bathtub. Our conclusion was that it was taken off the wall by by someone with considerable strength and it was uh you know the type of action where one would grab it and pull outside the tub and it was uh uh and if you look at the location of it it would be consistent for instance with someone like putting their foot on the edge of the tub and grabbing the tow ring and then pulling it off out toward the outside of the tub. Prosecutors now had scientific proof that Julie Post death was no accident.

In 1986 New Orleans was going through its worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. Many local businesses were affected and real estate was just one more casualty. Ed Post was 10% owner of the Wagner Truax real estate business and was responsible for 10% of the losses which in 1985 and 86 were substantial. And the Post's marriage was going through a downturn of its own. Friends said that Ed and Julie fought frequently fights which were sometimes physical and Kim Otan who worked with the posts said that Ed Post had made advances towards her in the months before Julie's death.

I, think, that, Ed, fell, in, love, with, Kim Otan. Just him being a free man wouldn't get Kim. He had to be a free man with lots of money to compete with her husband. And he hatched this plan. Prosecutors believe that plan was in motion one month before Julie's death when Ed Post increased his wife's life insurance.

On June 3rd, 1986 before going out for his morning run prosecutors believe that Post drowned his wife in the hotel bathtub. Afterwards, he pulled the towel ring from the wall, not only to corroborate his cover story that Julie fell while holding on to the towel ring, but also for the money, the potential settlement from the hotel in a civil lawsuit. After the murder, Post made sure to speak with both the hotel concierge and doormand to cement his alibi. Yes, sir. Thank you. My name is Ed Post. I'm going to be going on a run this morning. Thank you.

The, whole, business, with, the, towering, which is really what killed him, not literally, but figuratively. You know, he had to go pull that off the wall. He had to go pull that off the wall so that he could set up a lawsuit against the Omni Hotel and get more money. The greedy sob.

3, years, after, Julie, Post's, death,, Ed Post went on trial for firstdegree murder. Ed Post pleaded not guilty and took the stand in his own defense.

Ed's, demeanor, on, the, stand,, I, think, could best be described as follows. He was very well-dressed. He was very articulate. Spoke uh at a very uh sophisticated level. Uh including his use of the language. Um spoke I think uh far differently than the jurors were accustomed to speaking or hearing. Uh he did not speak with a southern accent at all although he was from New Orleans. Um, and he came across as as Ed often came across as condescending. And I think that um, those things did not play well.

And, the, scientific, experts, provided powerful testimony that Julie Post was not capable of removing the towel ring during a fall. It took the jury less than a day to reach its verdict. Ed Post was found guilty of firstdegree murder and was sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole. Ed Post and his attorneys appealed the conviction. And in a plea bargain, Post agreed to plead guilty to seconddegree murder and confessed to the murder of his wife in exchange for a 30-year prison sentence that included the possibility of parole. If he doesn't take the tower ring off, he gets away with it. It's just an accidental drowning.

I mean look at how it happened. Almost everybody classified it as undetermined or accidental. But for that, Ed Post would be on his merry way. He probably sued the army got a couple million dollars, and had 700,000 in life insurance. We wouldn't even know who he was. In my opinion the most important thing uh in the trial was the science. It was the tile ring. When you when you can show that it was red back and forth, back and forth until it until it broke or until it came loose. Um that convicted him. If he would have left that out of there, he might be a free man today.

Why? Heat.

Questions about this episode

What is discussed in "Forensic Files | Slippery Motives | FULL EPISODE | HD | True Crime Procedure Investigation Drama"?

In order: 0:00 Ed Post, Julie Post, University of Southern Mississippi, Wagner Truax; 5:00 Ed Post, Julie Post, D. Joyce Hayes, Kim Otan; 10:00 Julie Post, Bolter Kelsey, Dr. William Wines, Ed Post; 15:00 Ed Post, Julie Post, Kim Otan, Wagner Truax; 20:00 Ed Post.

What is mentioned in this FilmRise True Crime episode?

9 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including Ed Post, Julie Post, Bolter Kelsey, Wagner Truax, Kim Otan, University of Southern Mississippi. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "Forensic Files | Slippery Motives | FULL EPISODE | HD | True Crime Procedure Investigation Drama"?

The episode runs 22 min; the transcript is about 2,967 words in 42 timestamped sections.

More from FilmRise True Crime

About this transcript: the episode's spoken words as captioned on YouTube, split into timestamped sections. Reclip.Me locates every person, work and idea in the text, keeps the time it is first named, and quotes the words around it verbatim. Last updated January 24, 2026.