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In this episode of Unseen Witness, we dive into one of the most misunderstood crime scenes in modern Christian true crime: the brutal, unsolved murder of Pastor Carol Daniels inside her small Oklahoma church in 2009. Her body was discovered staged behind the pulpit, a detail that fueled years of speculation about ritualistic intent, symbolic desecration, or calculated misdirection.

Using forensic psychology, crime scene analysis, and verified reporting, we examine what is known about Carol’s murder: the staging, the chemical cleanup, the lack of forced entry, and the troubling precision of the attacker. Then, to understand whether her killing carried ritualistic meaning or merely appeared that way, we compare her case with two others:

Pastor Bill Schonemann, murdered in 2025 by Adam Shaafe in an explicitly religious, ideologically motivated “crucifixion”: a verified ritual killing.
And the Great Basin murders, where a victim’s cruciform positioning was later proven to be the result of decomposition and terrain, not ritual intent.

Through these cases, we explore how investigators distinguish staging, posing, and true ritualistic crime, and where Carol’s case sits uncomfortably between all three.

This episode seeks truth, honors Pastor Carol’s life, and calls for clarity, prayer, and justice.