Getting Away with Murder - Part 2

by Stacy Dittrich

Today, in Part 2 of Getting Away with Murder, I’ll be focusing on the cases of Natalee Holloway, Rilya Wilson, O.J. Simpson, and JonBenét Ramsey. (Click here to read Part 1) Out of these eight featured cases, only two bodies have been found (Simpson and Ramsey), and only three suspects have been arrested in the murders (O.J. Simpson, who subsequently was found not guilty, Geralyn Graham, and Casey Anthony, both who are currently awaiting trial). While watching the various experts commentating on most of these cases, I hear repeatedly how difficult it is for the prosecution to proceed with charges without a body. Not so, says Assistant U.S. District Attorney, Tad DiBiase, an expert in the area of “No Body Cases.”

DiBiase has tracked these cases as far back as 1834, when seaman Maurice Fitzgerald was murdered at sea and his body was never found. However, his killers were tried and found guilty of murder. According to DiBiase, this case and 279 others in the United States (excluding ID, NH and VT) tracked through November 2008, only resulted in 25 acquittals or reversals on appeal due to the fact no body was found. His contention is that it is a high probability of a conviction without a body, and the case should proceed.

Unfortunately, it seems that some prosecutors are “gun shy.” The possibility of a not guilty verdict or the suspect walking free is too great in their eyes. In the meantime, the murderer is out on the streets free to kill again. In this aspect, I say kudos to the Orange County Sheriff’s Department in Florida for the arrest of Casey Anthony. If the evidence is there, take it and run with it.

Regardless, there are some circumstances that it would be highly unlikely any charges would come whether or not the body is found—these are few and far between. In the case of missing Alabama student, Natalee Holloway, sometimes politics plays a far greater role than a murdered high school student.

4. Natalee Holloway—Missing May 30, 2005, No Body Found.

I believe it’s certainly safe to say at this point that the Aruban government has thoroughly botched the investigation into missing American high school student, Natalee Holloway, 19, and failed her family miserably.

On Monday, May 30, 2005, Natalee Holloway was last seen alive in a bar in Aruba while on a senior class trip. There is no question that she was accompanied by then 17-year-old Joran Van der Sloot, and brothers Deepak and Satish Kalpoe (pictured right with Holloway) as she left the bar. She was never seen again and her body has never been found. In the meantime, all three men have been questioned in the case and no formal charges have been brought. The fact that Van der Sloot is the son of a prominent Aruban political figure raises some eyebrows. Apparently, his father's influence is enough to erase the fact he recently confessed to the murder of Holloway on videotape. Smoking marijuana, the Aruban authorities claimed they could not proceed as he “was under the influence when making that claim.”

According to Women In Crime Ink’s Robin Sax, an L.A. Deputy District Attorney, it is not for the prosecution to question his frame of mind—it’s up to the defense to prove he was “muddled by the wacky weed.” But, like all of the other claims and witness statements in the case, the information was ignored. Just recently, Van der Sloot was videotaped taking part in a sex ring in Thailand. Allegedly, there’s more to the tape than that. FOX News’ Greta Van Susteren claims to have in her possession more of the tape which has Van der Sloot confessing to Holloway’s murder—yet again. She offered to bring it to Aruban prosecutor Hans Mos in person, but he refused. Why? He said there is nothing on the tape that has any substance—a claim made even though he has never seen it.

At this point, Joran Van der Sloot is laughing at law enforcement in his country, and at the Americans that believe in his guilt. Unfortunately, it may take this sociopathic animal murdering another human being before he is finally caught. Either that or the Kalpoe brothers need to grow a conscious and start talking. But, the question remains: even if they do talk, and Holloway’s body is found, will they even prosecute Van der Sloot then? I think not.

This sends a clear message to parents out there: If your child is taking a class trip or vacation with friends—send them to Florida.

5. Rilya Wilson—Missing, unknown month, 2000—No Body Found.

There are some people who actually have not heard of 4-year-old Rilya Wilson, but you may have heard the story. Rilya was the foster child in Florida who went “unnoticed” by the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF). Living at the time with foster mother, Geralyn Graham, DCF didn’t notice Rilya was missing until two years later. According to Graham, Rilya was picked up by a caseworker for a doctor’s appointment and was never returned. DCF authorities quickly established this wasn’t the case, but admitted they had “lost this child” within the system.

Furthermore, the outrageous actions of the DCF ultimately caused the resignation of the DCF chief, and news laws that require officials to track missing foster children and the supervision of caregivers.

In 2005, Geralyn Graham was charged with first degree murder in the death of Rilya. While incarcerated, she allegedly told a fellow inmate, “I killed it.” She claimed Rilya (pictured left) had demons and she dumped the child’s body in a ravine—authorities have yet to locate her remains. At this time, Graham is still awaiting trial and prosecutors are confident they will attain a conviction.

The case sparked outrage against DCF treatment of African-American foster children and is presently being used to help lobby a bill that would enact the “Rilya Alert.” Similar to the Amber Alert, the Rilya Alert would be geared towards missing African-American children within the foster care system.

6. O.J. Simpson—Found Not Guilty in the Murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman, October, 1995.

Like most, the mere mention of Simpson’s name is difficult to say without vomiting in my mouth a little. One would be hard pressed to find a person that truly believed in his innocence, especially after he wrote a full blown confession in a book years later. His arrogance and mockery were never-ending (I’ve always seen a chilling connection between the attitude of Joran Van der Sloot and Simpson . . . blech). The case in which the famed football star brutally sliced and diced his ex-wife and her friend has caused prosecutors, and defense attorneys, to tighten their belts and get their acts together for the last decade. The world’s obsession with the O.J. Simpson case is never-ending. Just recently, Simpson (pictured right) was tried and convicted of armed robbery in Las Vegas for holding a memorabilia dealer in his hotel room at gunpoint. Some say it’s retribution for getting away with murder.

As Simpson sits whining away in his jail cell awaiting sentencing, he is appealing his conviction based on the fact he is black. However, some say this is precisely the reason he was acquitted in the murders over a decade ago and that he uses his ethnicity to his benefit when suited. Black or white, most prudent people of all colors believe that this is a man who deserves to live, and die, in prison. It looks like we may just get our wish. Simpson will no longer be remembered for his impressive football career—he will forever be remembered in the graduating class of the upper echelons of crime like Manson and Bundy. It would seem that miracles in the halls of crime really do happen—The Juice has finally been squeezed dry.

It’s at long last time to throw that used-up-piece-of-fruit in the garbage where it belongs.

7. JonBenét Ramsey—Murdered, December 26, 1996—No Arrests Made.

The case that, twelve years later, still is heatedly debated on the crime blogs and media, the Ramsey case is, undoubtedly, solved in the minds of many. However, it is the prosecutor who is most important and, apparently, they don’t have a clue who the murderer is. I wrote my own theory on the Ramsey case (view it here) that sparked outrage among the supporters of John Ramsey, the father of victim 6-year-old JonBenét. Referring to someone like myself as a BORG, which I think stands for “believer of Ramsey guilt.”

Either that or they’re obsessive Star Trek fans.

The small group of supporters launches an immediate attack for anyone pointing to JonBenét’s parents as the murderers—a fact I firmly believe. No doubt several of them will make an appearance in the comments section of this post.

No one but John and Patsy Ramsey (who is now deceased) really know what happened the night of December 26, 1996. After a lengthy Christmas day, they put their 6-year-old daughter to sleep, woke up the next morning, found her missing, and ultimately discovered her sexually assaulted and dead body in the basement.

The prosecutor has since cleared the parents and believes that, someday, DNA evidence will hit on a match to the true murderer. It’s my opinion that the human race will most likely witness The Rapture before an arrest in the murder of JonBenét Ramsey. It’s a shame, but the man that brutally took the life of this small, innocent child has to look in the mirror every day and live with it.

But, if he can be so cold-hearted to commit murder he probably doesn’t care.

All eight of these cases have generated millions of dollars in movie, television, and book deals, feeding society’s hunger for a good crime story, and driving those at-home-super-sleuths into a frenzy for the need to solve. There may be several more that I didn’t touch on, but these are the ones that come to mind when I think of “crime stories.” Of course, it’s a historical fact that these cases will be replaced over the next few decades with a new class of innocent victims and barbaric heathens that will get away with murder—a sad, and frightening, fact.

I have always said during my tenure as a police officer that my job security was higher than anyone’s. Now, as a full-time crime writer, my opinion remains the same.

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A "Well Deserved" Guilty Verdict

by Tina Dirmann

When the guilty verdict finally came for Skylar Deleon, he didn't weep. He didn't sigh. He didn't blink.

Skylar just stood there, staring blankly, with the same cold expression I imagine he wore when he callously took the lives of three people whose biggest failing in life was to trust him.

On Monday, an Orange County jury took just two hours to deliberate before announcing that Deleon was guilty in the murders of a retired couple, Tom and Jackie Hawks, and the slaying of a former pilot, Jon Peter Jarvi. The details of the crimes, which I recounted in the book Vanished At Sea, are chilling, to say the least.

I remember, when doing press for the book, I often told interviewers that in all my 15 years as a crime reporter, I'd never covered anyone so bereft of humanity as 27-year-old Skylar Deleon. This is a man who, minutes after slitting the throat of one victim, boasted to a relative, "You're dealing with the devil now."

Indeed, if evil does exist in this world, it is embodied within the skin of Skylar Deleon and his wife, Jennifer Deleon, 25, who was convicted for her part in the murder in late 2006. The case that got the most attention from the media involved Tom and Jackie Hawks, who turned up missing in November 2004, shortly after posting an ad to sell their home, a 55-foot yacht they called Well Deserved.

Skylar and his young, pregnant wife, posing as buyers, answered the ad. After gaining their trust, Skylar arranged to return to the boat with a few associates to take the Well Deserved for a test ride.

But while at sea, Skylar used a taser to overpower the couple, then handcuffed them and held them at gun point while forcing them to sign a document transferring the boat title and power of attorney to Skylar.

With the help of associates Alonso Machain and John Kennedy, Skylar then tied the couple to one of the boat's anchors and, while Jackie tearfully begged for their lives, dropped the anchor overboard. The couple was hurled overboard and sank to their deaths.

Skylar, an unemployed bit-part actor, and his wife, a hair dresser, insisted they bought the boat and the Hawks drove off to Mexico. The Hawks' loving family knew their relatives—responsible, respectable, outgoing people—would never drop out of touch. They assumed the worst. And that worst was confirmed when accomplice McCain, a guy more dumb and naive than evil, confessed to police.

No less horrific was the death of Jon Jarvi, whom Skylar befriended only to swindle him out of $50,000 in a bogus real-estate deal. Skylar lured Jarvi to Mexico, supposedly to surf and talk over this "deal of a lifetime." But once there, Skylar drove Jarvi down an isolated dirt road, calmly slit his throat, then left him to bleed out, alone, on a deserted roadway.

It took nothing short of heroic investigative efforts on the part of the Newport Beach Police Department to tie the murders back to Skylar and his main accomplice, the innocent-looking Jennifer Deleon, who, at every turn, covered for her husband and lied to the police.

In the end, Skylar and all of his accomplices landed in jail. Jennifer is serving life behind bars. Alonso and another accomplice will probably get reduced sentences for cooperating in the investigation.

But death will surely come for Skylar, and, likely, John Kennedy, who notably kicked Tom off his feet so he would more easily slide off the boat and into the frigid waters that tragic night—then grabbed a rod onboard and fished all the way home. Kennedy, a known Long Beach gang member, will face trial next year.

Skylar's death penalty case begins on Wednesday. You can bet his attorneys will drag out all the details of Skylar's terrible childhood. Basically, his dad was a drug dealer who verbally abused his son. Yeah, his tender years were rough. But I can't imagine that's going to be enough to excuse his sins.

This jury already got it right once. I'm sure they will again.

And I know, no one is more anxious to see the ultimate penalty pronounced than the Hawks' son, Ryan, who is the spitting image of his deceased father. "Let's just get on with it," Ryan said simply after the verdict was announced.

I couldn't agree more. . . .

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Sea's Life Sees Death

by Donna Pendergast

Lana Stempien had it all. Blonde and beautiful, the 35-year-old former model had realized her lifelong dream—to become a lawyer. The life of every party, she was employed by the City of Detroit Law Department and living the good life in the summer of 2005, along with her 34-year-old attorney boyfriend, Charles "Chuck" Rutherford (couple pictured below).

Lana was the pride of her family, the first to go through law school. Rutherford, a former Wayne County assistant prosecutor who'd recently begun his own practice, was the son of a wealthy, prominent attorney. Despite any differences, their relationship seemed perfect, on the surface, at least. They were young, attractive, and on the road to success. They shared a modest home in Grosse Pointe Farms Michigan, a chichi Detroit suburb, where affluence is the norm and violent crime is rare. Yet no one really knows what happens with any couple behind closed doors. Later, Lana and Chuck's pairing would appear to have been anything but perfect. And to this day, their fates remain shrouded in conjecture.

From the start, I had an exceptional interest in this case. A friend of mine lived next door to the couple and knew them on a casual but friendly basis. My previous employment with the Wayne County Prosecutor's office began shortly after Chuck Rutherford left that office, so many of my former colleagues knew and worked with him.

At the heart of the matter is the mystery of what happened to the couple three years ago today, on August 11, 2005.

The Beginning of the End

The previous day, August 10, Chuck and Lana left her parents' house in Belle River Canada, across the river from Detroit. Lana was at the helm of her 27-foot boat, Sea's Life.

They were headed to Mackinac Island, a vacation paradise located just east of the Mackinac Bridge, which connects Michigan's lower and upper peninsulas. Although the journey to Mackinac was an ambitious undertaking, Lana's father, a former Coast Guard officer, was not overly concerned with the couple's plans. He knew his daughter to be an experienced and extremely safety-conscious boater.

The boat followed the eastern coast of the Michigan shoreline that first day, making its way up Lake Huron as far as Oscoda. That night, Lana and Chuck docked at a marina and shared dinner and cocktails with a couple they'd met. Afterward, they returned to the boat where they spent the night.

The next morning, Chuck and Lana put the boat in gear and left the marina. A little after noon, they stopped for gas at Presque Isle State Harbor, a few hours from their planned destination. Both Lana and Chuck were seen wearing sweatshirts to ward off the coolness of the day. Once they were back en route, at approximately 1:30 p.m., Lana spoke by cell phone to a favorite aunt. In her statement to police, Lana's aunt recalled that her niece gave no indication that anything might be amiss.

Cell phone records indicate that call was the last Lana ever made.

A Frightening Observation

The next morning when the couple didn't arrive as scheduled on Mackinac Island, Lana's parents reported them missing. A few hours later, nearly 24 hours after Lana and Chuck were last seen, a couple out boating discovered Sea's Life adrift in the turbulent Lake Huron waters. The boat was near Marquette Island, ten miles from Lana and Chuck's planned Mackinac Island destination.

When the Coast Guard arrived, they found the boat abandoned with the engine idling. The radio was tuned to a Christian station, not the missing couple's usual musical fare.

There were other unusual things that puzzled authorities. For instance, Lana's torn running shoe was discovered on the deck. Embedded in its sole, as if implanted with great force, was a knob from the boat's GPS system. And that wasn't all. The Coast Guard also found the boat's swim ladder in a pulled-up position, which seemed to contradict the likelihood that an impulsive swim had turned into a tragic accident. The previous day's cool air and water temperatures also made investigators question that theory.

Two other issues were of interest to police investigating the bizarre circumstances. First: the couple who notified authorities of the abandoned boat described blue bumpers, the sort used when boats hook together, floating on a line off the boat's back. The Sea's Life was not known to have had such equipment aboard, and when the Coast Guard arrived the bumpers were nowhere to be found. Second: it appeared that the boat's GPS system was activated around 1:20 a.m. on August 12, many hours after the couple was scheduled to arrive at Mackinac Island.

Where were Lana and Chuck?The first part of that question was answered two weeks after the couple disappeared, on August 23, 2005, when Lana's body washed ashore north of Hammond Bay, miles from where the boat was found. She was nude, wearing only a gold chain necklace and her treasured Omega watch. Close friends and family say that Lana never swam with the expensive watch, which was only water resistant, not waterproof.

An autopsy showed a negligible amount of alcohol in Lana's system. An unusual finding was an elevated level of carbon monoxide in her blood. The medical examiner's determination was that Lana's death had been caused by drowning.

Many Unanswered Questions

As the police investigation progressed, many questions remained unanswered. Where was Charles Rutherford? If Lana's body had washed up, why hadn't his? What was the significance of the blue bumpers? Had another boat hooked up to hers? If so, was that the source of the elevated level of carbon monoxide in Lana's blood?

The police had other questions as well. Why was the GPS knob embedded in Lana's shoe? Did her body enter the water nude or were her clothes washed away in the water? Did one person fall into the water accidentally and the other jump in to save the first? And why was the GPS turned on at 1:30 a.m. on August 12th? None of it made sense.

Meanwhile, relations between Lana's and Chuck's families became increasingly strained, as members of her family wondered if Chuck (pictured right) could be alive and responsible for their loved one's death. At the root were reports from friends who described the couple's relationship not at all as idyllic as it appeared from the outside. One even said Lana had once commented that if anything happened to her, Chuck should be the suspect.

After a news story aired on the couple's disappearance, more reports of trouble between Lana and Chuck surfaced when someone came forward saying he'd witnessed a physical altercation between Lana and Chuck outside of a Detroit bar. A segment about the case on Dateline further fueled speculation that Chuck could be alive and on the run.

Yet there were other indications that suggested such reasoning could be wrong. For instance, from the time of his disappearance, Chuck's credit cards and bank accounts remained unused. His parents filed a petition, and on August 3, 2006, a week short of the one-year anniversary of his disappearance, a Circuit Court Judge declared Charles Rutherford legally dead.

Only recently have discoveries washed up on the rocky Lake Huron shoreline that may finally end at least some of the speculation.

Secrets of the Deep

On May 28th of this year, human remains were found near Cheboygan, MI, roughly three miles from the location where Lana Stempien's body was found. DNA results are expected in late August. Only then will authorities know if the body belongs to Charles Rutherford. The Michigan State Police have cautioned that the torso could be unrelated to the Stempien/Rutherford case. Several persons are missing from that general area, including a man who jumped off the Mackinac Bridge. If DNA tests peg the corpse as Chuck's, they will put an end to rumors that he's alive and on the run.

If that torso belongs to another missing person, perhaps still another body part found less than two weeks ago will be identified as Chuck's—a foot that belongs to a man Rutherford's age.

Yet even DNA will not answer a number of other questions revolving around this case, including what happened to or between Rutherford and Lana Stempien on that fateful day three years ago today.

Those are secrets that Lake Huron may never reveal.

But Lana's family isn't giving up. "I'm gonna find out the truth," her father told Dateline. "And believe me, trust me—I'm gonna do it." For the past few years, the family's search has continued unabated, as has their faith that someday they will know what happened to their daughter. In the Detroit Free Press just yesterday, this memorial appeared:

Our Loving Daughter and Sister LANA ANN STEMPIEN September 22, 1969 - August 11, 2005 It's three years tomorrow Lana, we will forever keep praying and searching for the answer. Love, Mom, Dad and Lori

Statements made in this post are my own and not intended to reflect the views, opinions, or position of the Michigan Attorney General or the Michigan Department of Attorney General.

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“Joe Cool” Murder at Sea Update

by Andrea Campbell

A federal judge is scheduled to decide on whether to toss out statements made by two jailhouse informants. The cellmates were to provide testimony about suspects, Guillermo Zarabozo, 20, and Kirby Logan Archer, 36, who are accused of murdering four people on the Joe Cool charter fishing boat. Zarabozo and Archer could face the death penalty if convicted of murder. Both have pleaded innocent.

Prosecutors say they hired the boat for a trip to Bimini and tried to divert it to Cuba, fatally shooting the captain of the “Joe Cool” charter fishing boat, his wife and two deckhands.

Here is some backstory on the case as reported by WIC writers: Vanessa Leggett, Donna Pendergast, Pat Brown and myself, in November of last year.

Kirby Logan Archer, a one-time Military Police officer from Arkansas, told others he did “undercover” work. Upon his capture, Archer was a fugitive from justice, wanted for molesting boys, and for stealing close to a hundred grand from his most recent employer, Wal-Mart.

Archer’s Beginnings

Born to Betty and Sam Archer in Stuttgart, Arkansas, Kirby never stayed in one place for long. The Archers lived in Kansas and Oklahoma before settling in Oro Valley, Arizona. In high school, Kirby applied to the National Guard and was a member of the ROTC’s Color Guard at Canyon del Oro High School. In the early 1990s, the Archers returned to Arkansas. Kirby, by then an adult, had gotten into some trouble in Tucson; he was sentenced to probation for “contributing to the delinquency or dependency of a minor,” a misdemeanor. Mid-1990s Kirby joined the Army, becoming a Military Police investigator. He was stationed at the U.S. Naval Base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, during the Cuban Rafter Crisis , when tens of thousands of Cubans fled the island on rafts. It was during this time that Kirby met Guillermo Zarabozo.

About Guillermo Zarabozo

Zarabozo's family was intercepted at sea and brought to the base where Archer was stationed. Kirby, then 23, took an interest in the eight-year-old Zarabozo boy. Zarabozo and his mother, Francisca Alonso Zarabozo, legally immigrated to the United States and settled in Hialeah, Florida, living with family in an apartment.

Kirby kept up with the Cuban boy and appeared to have had an impact on Zarabozo's life. At Hialeah High School, Guillermo was in ROTC and told classmates he wanted to be in the Army.

A Man with Nothing Left to Lose

Though his life seemed fine on the surface, Kirby had an unstable relationship with his wife and two young sons and his marriage began to unravel according to divorce records. As an investigator, Kirby was often away from home. His wife, Michelle, claimed that when he was around, he could be physically abusive. Kirby denied abuse although his wife fell into depression and reportedly attempted suicide. The boys lived with Kirby and even though his relatives were nearby to help, it was not enough. Archer claims he had to leave the military—in the best interest of his boys—and received an “other-than-honorable” discharge.

Michelle Archer filed for divorce, and the court awarded Kirby custody of his boys, primarily because he had family in Arkansas. Kirby appeared to have moved on. He married again, settled in Strawberry, Arkansas, and took a job as customer service manager at a Wal-Mart in neighboring Batesville.

But soon Archer's past caught up with him. He was under investigation in Arkansas and in Missouri for allegations that he had sexually abused minor boys. Then his ex-wife appealed the custody decision. Within the span of a few days, Kirby was in danger of losing his reputation, his children, and, if arrested, his freedom. To make matters worse, he'd also recently lost his dog.

“He knew we were turning the information over to pursue charges,” said the investigator who'd interviewed the complaining children. “A couple of days later he took off.”

But not before leaving Wal-Mart’s for the last time. From the cashier's office, Kirby is suspected of stashing over $92,000 in cash and checks in a microwave he purchased with his employee discount and walking out, and away from the life he had known.

“I really messed up this time,” Kirby reportedly text-messaged his current wife. She claimed it was likely he would be going to Miami or Cuba, because that's where his closest friends were.

A Man on the Run

Within days, Kirby was in Florida. According to sources at the Miami Herald, he died his blonde hair brown and used an alias. Soon he connected with Guillermo Alfonso Zarabozo, now a buff 19-year-old gun enthusiast, who had graduated and was working in private security. Zarabozo was licensed to carry handguns and living in Hialeah.

By summer's end, Archer had been on the lam for eight months. A couple of weeks before his capture at sea, Kirby told the Cuban family he had to leave town for an investigation.

A Man with a Plan

Kirby had planned that they would both go to Cuba, which has no extradition treaty with the United States. Zarabozo appears to have been willing to help Archer find freedom. Both men spoke Spanish.

Zarabozo told the security agency he was to work for that he was leaving town. Cameras in the Miami area captured images of Archer and Zarabozo at a gun store and a local hotel. A cell phone was purchased with what authorities believe is a fictitious subscriber's name. How to get out of the country? Archer was wanted on an unlawful flight prosecution warrant out of Arkansas. Flying anywhere was out. Late September, an idea occurred to them.

The men were at Monty's restaurant, overlooking the Miami Beach Marina when Archer and Zarabozo approached the Joe Cool. A crewmember was on board the 47-foot yacht, a sportfishing charter boat with two staterooms and bathrooms. The men inquired about chartering the boat; said they wanted a ride to the Big Game Resort and Yacht Club in Bimini, where they were planning to meet “girlfriends.” The crewman gave the pair a business card to make a reservation.

An Unsuspecting Crew

On September 22, the passengers presented themselves with six pieces of luggage. One owner, Jeff Branam, greeted them and helped them with their bags, unaware of the contents, which included various weapons. Kirby paid the $4,000 fee. For fishing charters, the Joe Cool routinely carried a crew of four men. Because this was simply a boat ride—the first to the Bahamas—the captain's wife, Kelley, 30, decided to go along, leaving the couple's two small children with family. Rounding out the crew was Captain Jake Branam's half-brother, Scott Gamble, 35, and First Mate Sammy Kairy, 27. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

Jon Branam, the captain’s cousin, said that Archer seemed friendly, and spoke in a Southern accent. Riding a Jet Ski, Jon even followed the boat out of the harbor. Everyone seemed happy. The crew's objective was to make sure their passengers had a blast.

The trip stopped about halfway into the fifty-mile ride. According to GPS, the boat, heading east toward Bimini, veered south toward Cuba, then drifted. The Joe Cool was due back Sunday, and had another charter scheduled for Monday. So when Branam saw no return and hadn't heard from the crew, he alerted the Coast Guard.

The Coast Guard found the Joe Cool empty and the interior was in "disarray." Officials found shell casings and blood around the steps that led up from the stateroom. More blood was discovered on the stern and a fourth shell casing was located outside. A small key, which turned out to be a handcuff key, was on the bow. The life raft was missing.

Men in Dire Straits

In the Florida Straits, a Coast Guard helicopter spotted two men on an orange life raft about 12 miles from the Joe Cool. Kirby and Guillermo and their luggage were lifted from the raft to the chopper for transport to a Coast Guard cutter. It was immediately apparent that the castaways were not happy to be rescued. Archer and Zarabozo were “calm, stoic, emotionless and failed to make eye contact with their rescuers,” according to the criminal complaint. They claimed the boat they’d been on had been hijacked by three Cuban pirates and all four members of the Joe Cool were shot to death and thrown overboard. (The bodies have never been recovered.)

A search of the men's belongings found $2,200 in hundred dollar bills, the cell phone of a bogus subscriber, a blowgun, darts, several knives, a handcuff key, and a receipt for a gun.

Men with Fishy Tales

The men were separated and interviewed. Numerous inconsistencies in their statements came up beginning with how the two men knew each other and their history together. They also stuck to their "babes in Bimini" storyline.

Zarabozo said that the Joe Cool was cruising when a distress signal came over the radio. The captain steered the boat toward another vessel and a pirate came on board and commandeered the Joe Cool. Two other armed hijackers followed. They shot Jake Branam, and the captain's wife “became hysterical,” and she was also shot. The other two crewmembers were gunned down when they refused to dump the bodies overboard. Guillermo said the pirates told him that if he refused to cooperate, he would meet the same fate so he threw the crew overboard and complied with orders to clean up the blood.

The suspects both maintained that Archer was forced to drive the Joe Cool. After several hours, the boat ran out of gas. At this point the pirates radioed for help and a third vessel came and carried the hijackers away. The suspects would have authorities believe that after witnessing four murders and getting a good look at the killers Archer and Zarabozo were left behind, with luggage and $2,200 in cash. And that Joe Cool's navigational equipment and pricey fishing gear was of no interest to the “pirates.”

Authorities recovered three casings from the interior of the boat, and later confirmed that all four shell casings were fired by a single weapon, a Glock 9 millimeter.

Federal authorities searched Zarabozo's home. They didn’t find a weapon but discovered an empty lock box for a gun, an empty handcuff case, and also a receipt for a Glock 9 and ammunition.

Men with Everything to Lose

Though there are no bodies, no weapons, and no witnesses, Kirby Archer and Guillermo Zarabozo were each charged with four counts of murder, robbery, and kidnapping. The prosecution's theory is simple. "This was a one-way trip out of the country that resulted in the elimination of witnesses to that flight by way of murder," federal prosecutor Michael Gilfarb said to the judge.

So, in question are:

—Is there such a thing as a reliable and credible jail informant? Defense attorneys want to know whether the informant was an assigned jail house snitch and, if so, they say it would violate their client’s right to counsel if he’s allowed to testify at trial.
—If the statements are thrown out, what will that do to the prosecution’s case?
—Defense also filed a motion to suppress evidence taken from Zarabozo’s apartment.

What do you think?

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Tina Dirmann on Montel tomorrow!

Dear readers,

I recently had the opportunity to sit down with Montel Williams on his daily talk show to discuss the case featured in my most recent book, Vanished at Sea (released in January). I want to thank Montel for taking the time to highlight this most heartbreaking story, which took place in Newport Beach, California. This beautiful seaside community is where retired couple Jackie and Tom Hawks lived on their yacht, appropriately named Well Deserved -- because the couple had worked a lifetime to buy her. They weren't rich, just cautious with their money. But after a few years of life at sea, the couple decided to sell their dream boat, to be closer to a new grandbaby. A murderous young couple, Skylar DeLeon and his pregnant wife, Jennifer, posed as buyers and coldly conspired to drown this gentle couple, whom they'd never met.

With little evidence of what happened on the boat that night, investigators and the Hawks' relatives scrambled to get to the truth, to find justice for Tom and Jackie. The Hawks' son, Ryan, appears on Montel with me. As does Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas.

The show, titled "Shocking Motives for Murder," airs Thursday. Check www.montelshow.com for the time and channel in your area. Watch a preview of the program here.

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