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E103: Don Henry and Kevin Ives (Part 2)
1.5k Plays4 years ago
When a train coming through Benton, Arkansas, ran over two young men on the tracks in the early morning hours of August 23rd, 1987, law enforcement seemed immediately convinced that this was an accident or a double-suicide. The medical examiner ruled their deaths an “accident.” However, after a legal battle headed by the parents forced a re-examination of details from the scene as well as a second autopsy, their deaths were ruled “probable homicide.” In addition to the normal cold case question of who could possibly have hurt 16-year-old Don Henry and 17-year-old Kevin Ives, in this case, we also have much larger questions: why is no one, even today, willing to investigate this case as a murder? And, if Kevin’s mother, Linda, were right and the unwillingness to investigate is part of a cover-up, how far up the ladder does the corruption go?
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Transcript
Why start a podcast?
00:00:00
Speaker
Have you ever considered creating your own podcast? Have you been inspired by listening to some of your favorites and thought, I'd love to try this out on my own. Whether it's a true crime podcast like ours, a motivational podcast, or maybe one filled with tips and strategies for those interested in the same activities you are.
Getting started with Buzzsprout
00:00:19
Speaker
When Maggie and I first decided to start our podcast, we knew absolutely nothing about what podcasting would entail. But when we found that the platform Buzzsprout was one for which we didn't need any special equipment, just a computer microphone, some quiet space, and each other, we knew that this was the way to go. It is intuitive to use, fun to play around with, and so helpful in getting analytical data about our number of downloads to track trends,
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Speaker
and from where our listeners hail. Best yet, Buzzsprout is affordable, even by our teacher salary standards. Buzzsprout will get your podcasts listed on every major podcasting platform. So what are you waiting for? Fulfill that dream of yours and start today. If you use our Coffee & Cases referral code, 709-643, linked on Facebook and in our show notes, not only will you help support our show, but you will receive a $20 Amazon gift card.
00:01:14
Speaker
after your second month on a paid plan. It's that easy. Podcasting isn't hard when you have the right partners. Join over 100,000 podcasters already using Buzzsprout to get their message out to the world. Now it's time for the world to hear what you have to say.
Exploring John Wayne Gacy's story
00:01:32
Speaker
One of the most infamous serial killers in history is John Wayne Gacy. There's a new podcast that will give insight into his violent history
00:01:43
Speaker
that you've never heard before. If you're looking for a podcast willing to dig deep into a case and reveal details that you've never heard of, this is the podcast for you. Check out Defense Diaries. Here's a little about the podcast.
00:02:06
Speaker
What's up, guys? I'm Bob Mata, a recovering criminal defense attorney turned podcaster, and I host The True Crime podcast, Defense Diaries, which is a serialized deep dive into some of the most prolific cases in the history of criminal jurisprudence.
00:02:22
Speaker
Now, there are deep dive podcasts, and there are deep dive podcasts, and we are the latter. And in season one of the defense diaries, the Gacy tapes, we feature 15 hours of never before heard pretrial interviews between Gacy and his lawyer, my dad.
00:02:39
Speaker
intertwined into a mind-blowing narrative, chalk filled with the interviews of those involved with the case, culminating with the trial of the century. So if you think you know the Gacy case, think again, because we literally changed the narrative of the case that everyone thought that they knew. So give Defense Diaries a listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
The mysterious deaths of Don Henry and Kevin Ives
00:03:04
Speaker
Before we get into our show, please note, Sleuthhounds, that this week is a part two of last week's episode. So if you didn't get a chance to tune in last week, go ahead and check out episode 102 and then come back here for episode 103 because it's part two of last week. And let me tell you, it's a doozy. As a recap,
00:03:30
Speaker
And Maggie, you probably need this just as much as our listeners. Last week, we heard about the deaths of 16 year old Don Henry and 17 year old Kevin Ives, whose bodies were discovered after having been struck by a train making its way through Benton, Arkansas. Originally, the train's crew were confused by how the investigation was being handled. The crew's statements weren't just taken, but questioned.
00:04:01
Speaker
And it seemed to them that law enforcement were unwilling to even consider the deaths foul play, even though the blood at the scene was minimal and was dark in color, seeming to indicate that the two young men were deceased before the train had hit them. State medical examiner Dr. Malek ruled the deaths an accident, having been caused by the excessive use of THC. However, Dawn and Kevin's parents fought that ruling.
00:04:29
Speaker
and pushed to have blood and tissue samples reexamined. After some of Dr. Malik's other rulings were called into question and police seemingly uninterested in working with a private investigator hired by Linda Ives, the family turned what they saw as their only chance of getting someone to take a second look. They turned to the media.
00:04:51
Speaker
When they did, a local attorney expressed interest in representing the parents in a grand jury challenging Dr. Malik's ruling of accident. A second autopsy revealed that Kevin Ives had suffered a blow to the head and Don Henry had a stab wound in his back. Details missed in Malik's autopsy. These injuries, inconsistent with having only been hit by a train, caused the jury to question Malik
00:05:19
Speaker
and the cause of death was changed from accident to probable homicide. However, after that change in ruling, instead of a fresh look into the case, it seemed even more people were avoiding the case altogether and definitely not looking into the case as a murder.
Challenges in pursuing justice
00:05:38
Speaker
When witnesses began coming forward saying they knew details about Dawn and Kevin's case,
00:05:44
Speaker
but details that placed the parents' own lawyer on the tracks the night the two were killed, and links between the lawyer and local drug trafficking, the case took a turn. At the same time, Deputy Attorney Jean Duffy, recently put in charge of a drug task force, began making those same connections between drugs and local politicians. Yet she was warned not to publicly make those connections.
00:06:13
Speaker
When the names of her informants were demanded of her by the very man who many placed on the tracks the night Dawn and Kevin were killed, she refused and began, just like Kevin's mom, Linda, wondering how far up the ladder the corruption went. Then witnesses began dying, leading us to question who was being protected.
00:06:39
Speaker
What did law enforcement not want the people to know and why was no one willing to look at this case as a murder? We will explore those questions and more as we enter part two of our coverage of the case of Dawn Henry and Kevin Ives.
00:07:31
Speaker
Welcome to Coffee and Cases, where we like our coffee hot and our cases cold. My name is Allison Williams. And my name is Maggie Dameron.
00:07:41
Speaker
We will be telling stories each week in the hopes that someone out there with any information concerning the case will take those tips to law enforcement so justice and closure can be brought to these families. With each case, we encourage you to continue in the conversation on our Facebook page.
00:07:57
Speaker
Coffee and cases podcast and to follow us on Instagram at coffee cases podcast and on tick-tock at coffee and cases podcast Because as these families know conversation helps to keep their missing family member in the public consciousness Helping to keep their memories alive. So sit back sip your coffee and listen to what's brewing this week You
00:08:27
Speaker
Just wait. Cause I thought last week was crazy and this week it's crazier. Good. I'm excited. So four years, Maggie and sluice hounds, Dawn and Kevin's deaths. I mean, they just, no one was willing to look into the case and there was no progress from law enforcement. And because of that rumors were able to spread.
00:08:52
Speaker
Since law enforcement doesn't seem interested in solving the case, many people, including Dawn and Kevin's families and Deputy Attorney Jean Duffy began trying to piece together what they did know. And Maggie, they knew a lot. Yeah, I feel like we know a lot about the case. Oh, and there are a lot of people who know more about that night. And that's what I'm going to tell you about in this week's episode. Of course,
00:09:22
Speaker
I should clarify. There were a lot of people who knew about what happened that night until nearly everyone who had information about the night died under mysterious circumstances. But first, let me tell you Maggie about two individuals.
00:09:43
Speaker
Okay. Before we get to the tracks, these are witnesses who saw Dawn and Kevin or people who we believe were Dawn and Kevin before they were on the train tracks, but that night of August 22nd. So they were hit by the train the morning of the 23rd. Okay.
00:10:04
Speaker
So I only have their first names in my research, but both of these individuals say they saw Dawn and Kevin in those hours before their deaths. One gentleman, Ron,
00:10:19
Speaker
said he was driving home around 1230 a.m. to 1 a.m. on the morning of August 23rd 1987 and as he was driving by a local convenience store he stated that he saw an undercover cop car because like well I don't know if you can but I can totally
00:10:41
Speaker
I'll be like, is that a cop car? Just by the shape of the car. Yeah. Yeah. Like, it doesn't even, and of course, you know, they have to have an official plate on them, but you can usually tell by the antennas or whatever. The mirrors sometimes. Right. Yeah. So he said he saw an undercover cop car in the lot and he witnessed two police officers beating two teen boys. And then they threw them into the back of the cruiser.
00:11:11
Speaker
When Ron came forward with what he had seen, he was just dismissed because he had been drinking that night. That would also be super scary to come forward if you had seen a cop do the bad deed. Especially if you have been like drinking and driving.
00:11:35
Speaker
Like you're breaking the law and you're telling on a cop. Right. And who are you telling on the cop too? Yeah, his best friend. Yeah, other cops. So I'm sure that took a lot of guts in and of itself that he came forward. A second witness that night, a man by the name of Jerry,
00:11:56
Speaker
also reported to law enforcement that he had driven by a convenience store parking lot. Oh, that's good. So same thing. Sometime before midnight on August 22nd or just after midnight on August 23rd. So, so far the two stores are matching exactly, right? Except Jerry is passing by just minutes before Ron, who I just told you about.
00:12:22
Speaker
So, Jerry, he's seeing this first, like in the minutes before what Ron just saw. Jerry didn't just see two teenage boys, Maggie. He saw three. That's going to come up later. He saw who we assume would have been Dawn and Kevin, and a third boy who was on a motorcycle.
00:12:44
Speaker
Jerry said that he assumed that the three boys were just like hanging out and smoking pot when he saw that they were approached by a police cruiser.
00:12:57
Speaker
That would make sense. Now remember when Ron comes by a little bit later, he sees the cop car already there. Jerry's saying he saw it pull up. Pull in, yeah. And he said just as the cruiser pulled up, Jerry said that the boy who was on the motorcycle fled the scene like he drove away.
00:13:19
Speaker
Okay, so that's why Ron only sees two. Okay. But he also saw two officers exit the car and proceed to beat the two teenage boys and throw them into the back of the cop car. Okay, so basically two exact same stories. Yes, from two different people.
00:13:41
Speaker
But when Jerry went with this information to the police, they didn't, Maggie, like show him pictures of officers to determine what cops he may have seen or anything like that. Instead, they threw Jerry in jail for 90 days due to unpaid child support.
00:14:03
Speaker
Okay. Which I get, but 90 days, like did he owe like multiple years or was it like a month? Yes. Yes. That is a lot. Um, I never saw how, like for how long he owed this back child support.
00:14:22
Speaker
But I kind of, you get the impression that the 90 day punishment was like a scare tactic. Because when he was released, Jerry left town and has never returned nor spoken about what he saw since. So if it was a scare tactic, it worked. Yes. Yeah. So like in my mind, something was said to him to make him leave and to make him stay quiet.
00:14:52
Speaker
Also, Maggie, again, like you just said, here are two separate witnesses essentially saying the exact same thing. And because of what they say, that has led many people to wonder, could these two officers have had something to do with Dawn and Kevin's deaths?
00:15:15
Speaker
Right? Like that would explain why law enforcement wanted to have little to do with this case and didn't seem willing to investigate it like a homicide. Right. Protect your own. Right. Additionally, Maggie, a third story seems to corroborate those first two that I just told you. So this story was from a young man by the name of Keith Coney. And he had been telling his mom
00:15:44
Speaker
He was getting nervous. He felt like he knew too much about what happened to Dawn and Kevin, his friends, the night they died. And now he was starting to get nervous for his safety. So when Keith Kony's dad pressed him on the issue to get more details, as any parent would, right?
00:16:04
Speaker
Yeah. So he's nervous because he tells his mom, he knows something about what happened to his friends. And so the parents are starting to like push him for details because he's kind of vague. Okay. And when Keith's dad does press him for those details, Keith told his dad that he was actually out with Don and Kevin the night they died. I wonder if he was on the motorcycle. He was.
00:16:32
Speaker
He said that they were all three hanging out when they were approached by a police car with two officers inside. And as the police car approached, Keith fled on his motorcycle. So again, as in a teen with you. Well, yeah, if you think you're going to be in trouble. And like those are the exact details that Jerry saw. Hmm.
00:16:56
Speaker
So now we don't just have two people who are telling the same story. We have three people who are telling the same story. Keith told his dad that he believes that those two officers either killed Dawn and Kevin
00:17:11
Speaker
or had something to do with their deaths. So this is what he's telling his dad. Well, Keith's father, of course, urged him to come forward with what he knew. And do you remember last week's episode when I talked about the grand jury trial, right? That the whole purpose was to reverse Malik's accidental death ruling, right? And to provide evidence of homicide. Well, Keith Coney was subpoenaed to testify at that trial. Because remember, he's basically saying,
00:17:39
Speaker
You know, I was there. These two cops showed up, and I truly believe that they had something to do with Don and Kevin's death. And then, you know, there were other witnesses who came forward saying that they saw these cops beating Don and Kevin, right? So Keith Coney is subpoenaed to testify, but he never got the chance.
00:18:04
Speaker
In July 1988, Keith Kony was killed in a motorcycle accident, yes, during which he was traveling at a high rate of speed and drove straight into the back of a truck. But Maggie, witnesses at the scene though, say it looked to them as though he were traveling so fast because he was being chased by a vehicle.
00:18:29
Speaker
Several other witnesses also reported that they saw knife marks on Coney as if he had been injured before speeding away on his motorcycle. But Maggie, I read in one source, so I couldn't verify it, but I read in one of my sources that no autopsy was performed. And in another one of the sources, instead of it saying no autopsy was performed,
00:18:55
Speaker
It said that Dr. Malik was the one to rule his death. Are you ready for this? No. A suicide. What? So either way, like whether they didn't have an autopsy done to like verify these wounds that people say they saw that were not consistent with a motor vehicle accident or Dr. Malik ruling it a suicide, like either way it's bad. So we, besides,
00:19:26
Speaker
Kevin and Dawn. How many people have died now? Well you're about you're about to hear about many many more. So you just wait. Okay. So we have Dawn and Kevin so far and then I just told you about Keith Kony. Okay. Next up with Keith McCaskill.
00:19:51
Speaker
McCaskill was a manager at a local bar and Maggie, he was like a brute of a man. He was tall. He was powerful. He was known to break up like even the toughest of bar room brawls. Like he's like the enforcer, right? Who's brought in. And as someone who managed to bar, it was said that McCaskill also presumably had a hand in the local drug trade.
00:20:20
Speaker
Okay, which of course, there's, you know, the theory that this had something to do with the drug trade. And he was in a position where people tended to tell him things that they didn't normally tell people. Oh, right, because he's working at a bar, right? Because you can invest your whole life to the bartender. Yeah.
00:20:38
Speaker
So McCaskill was not only was said to have inside information about what happened to Dawn and Kevin, this is the rumor around town. McCaskill knows something about what happened to Dawn and Kevin.
00:20:50
Speaker
but he had also been hired by that local attorney representing the Henry and Ives family to not only be an informant and relay any details potentially relating to the murders that he happened to over here in the bar, but was also hired to take aerial photos of the crime scene. Okay, so he's like got his hands in this case. So was he hired by the attorney to be an informant like in a good way?
00:21:20
Speaker
Yes. Okay. So, well, okay. Sort of. If this local attorney is as corrupt as we are led to believe, then it could be one of those things where he's telling McCaskill to be the informant acting like he's going to use it to try to help the Henry and Ives families, but really he just wants to know who knows what. So he's one step ahead. Right.
00:21:48
Speaker
And again, hired McCaskill to take aerial photos of the crime scene. Why they needed aerial photos, I have no idea. And why would you hire the man that owns the bar? Yeah. But McCaskill was also set to testify before the grand jury. But those close to McCaskill started noticing, remember how Keith Kony started feeling like nervous and feeling like he
00:22:17
Speaker
was in danger, those close to McCaskill began to notice that he was growing increasingly paranoid, like thinking he was being followed by two police officers. And apparently Maggie for good reason. Since in November of 1988, he was murdered.
00:22:37
Speaker
Wow. Okay. I'm putting, I'm putting all of these in chronological order. So Keith Coney was July, 1988. Keith McCaskill is November, 1998 or sorry, 1988. So Kevin and Dawn die in 1987. Uh-huh. Okay. And so like a year later, that's when everybody else starts to go. Exactly. Cause this is around when they're doing that grand jury trial.
00:23:07
Speaker
And the local attorney, who remember was rumored to be on the tracks that night, is starting to get a list of all the different people who saw something that may have happened or may be related to the deaths. So this one is a little bit creepy to me, the Keith McCaskill one, because it's almost as though he predicted his own death.
00:23:34
Speaker
On the night of the election for Sheriff in Saline County, McCaskill was working at the bar that he managed, and he publicly stated that if the current Sheriff Jim Steed lost the election, that his life, his own life, Keith McCaskill's, wouldn't be worth two cents. And two days after Steed did lose the election, McCaskill was dead.
00:24:02
Speaker
Oh, that always just sits weird with me. And while his death was ruled a murder and not an accident. Okay. Well, like we're finally getting a death ruling, right? It was pinned on someone who I don't feel in my gut was responsible. It was pinned on a, as I read in several sources.
00:24:30
Speaker
mentally handicapped young man who lived nearby. Like is this man in jail for this murder? Yes. Despite the fact that the murder was blamed on only one person, what the young man who was accused of murder, the story he had to tell was far different.
00:24:55
Speaker
He said that he had gone over to Keith McCaskill's house. He had gone over there to pay for some items that he had recently purchased from McCaskill, a silver tray that he bought for his mom and some pornographic materials for himself. Okay. Okay. So he had gone over to pay McCaskill for those items. And these items were found located near the young man's home. So that seems to make his statement so far believable.
00:25:23
Speaker
But he maintains Maggie that he is not responsible for Keith McCaskill's death. He said that McCaskill was, again, and this is according to this young man, acting paranoid while he was over at McCaskill's house, which would make sense. Everybody was saying he was acting paranoid, right? He said that McCaskill kept talking about being followed and looking out the window.
00:25:49
Speaker
And it was then that a group of men broke into Keith McCaskill. What? Yeah. This is what the young man said. He said that, oh, wait till you hear this. This is so creepy. That there were three men wearing clown masks who broke in. Two of them had knives and one of them had a gun.
00:26:11
Speaker
And the man with the gun made this young man sit down and held the gun on him the whole time. So he's basically like watching Keith McCaskill be stabbed by the other two men. Then that third man, the one with the gun, took the young man outside, right? But instead of killing him, because you know, that would have been loud because you hear gunshots.
00:26:37
Speaker
the intruder, the one who took him outside with a gun, gave the young man a knife and basically said, if you want to live, you have to go in there and also stab Keith McCaskill. And this young man admitted that he did make one stab. Right. So again, it's not like he's trying to say somebody else did it and I did nothing. Right. Afterward,
00:27:07
Speaker
This sickens me because in my gut, again, I feel like this young man is not responsible. He said that the intruders took a Polaroid picture of him, bloodied, holding the knife and told him that if he ever told anybody about what happened, that they would use that photograph as evidence to prove that he was also responsible. Okay. But they wouldn't like stop to think like, because in my mind, if I see a picture of somebody holding a knife and they're bloody, I want to say, who took your photo?
00:27:35
Speaker
Oh yeah, didn't even think about that one Maggie. Good point. Couldn't have been the only one there. Yeah. Now there are some details to his story that change. Like instead, later on when he was telling the story, it went from three men in clown masks to five men wearing black.
00:27:58
Speaker
But the other details stayed the same. Like he said, these men broke in. One of them had a gun. The rest had knives. I saw them stabbing Keith McCaskill. The one with the gun helped me at gunpoint, then took me outside, made me stab him, took a Polaroid picture. Like all of that stuff stays the same. So like important details. Right. When Keith McCaskill was found the next day, the inside of his home was covered
00:28:28
Speaker
in his blood. And McCaskill himself was in the carport area of his home with this flowered shower curtain wrapped around his body. Maggie, he had suffered 113 staff. Oh my lord. Yeah. And all of them were to his upper body. And many of them were defensive wounds to his hands and forearms. So this was like, yeah. So this was like a drawn out ordeal. This was not a quick death. Wow.
00:28:58
Speaker
They also say, though I could not find this detail verified in multiple sources, but in one source it said that McCaskill was said to have a briefcase in his home that had obviously been ransacked and much of what was inside had been taken because it like wasn't full.
00:29:19
Speaker
And that detail has led many people to wonder whether what was taken was information about Dawn and Kevin's deaths, like the aerial photos he was hired to take. Right. But we're not done yet with the deaths. Another young man, Gregory Collins, was subpoenaed to appear because he was believed to have information about Dawn and Kevin's deaths.
00:29:46
Speaker
This young man had previously been privately questioned by the local attorney representing the parents. Remember, he's the one who Duffy later claimed he was linked to the local drug trafficking attorney. This young man's body was found on January 22nd, 1989 in the woods in Prescott, Arkansas.
00:30:10
Speaker
He had suffered from three gunshot wounds dealt at close range. Two to his chest and one to his face. These gunshot wounds all came from a shotgun. Yet, guess who ruled this death a suicide? Probably the same one that did the guy on the motorcycle. Yep, Dr. Malek. And like, I don't know how that's possible. First of all, how do you hold a shotgun
00:30:39
Speaker
you know, they're long. And then you're gonna give yourself a shotgun blast to the chest. And then you're like, Oh, nope, let me do it again. And another shotgun blast to the chest. And then you're like, Oh, nope, let me do it again. Yeah, yeah, like that, that does not seem probable to me.
00:31:01
Speaker
Okay, I'm not done yet. Then there was Jeffrey Edward Rhodes. 21 year old Rhodes had mentioned to his mom, so this sounds a lot like Keith Kony. He had mentioned to his mom and his dad that he was nervous because he knew something about the boys and he said he also knew something about McCaskill's death. Remember he's the one who was stabbed 113 times. Rhodes was scared enough
00:31:29
Speaker
that he had asked his dad to find him work in Texas where his dad was because he wanted to get out of Arkansas altogether, but he never got the chance. Oh my Lord. His motorcycle, I know, his motorcycle was found abandoned in perfect running order on the side of the road with the kickstand down. Oh, so like he literally just stopped like to take a break or something. Yeah, like stopped to take a break or stopped to help somebody maybe.
00:32:00
Speaker
His body was found, this one is very gruesome. His body was found one week later in April, 1989 in a trash dumpster in Benton, Arkansas. His body was mutilated as someone had unsuccessfully tried to cut off his hands, feet and head. Then they burned his body. Oh my God. Now it was rumored
00:32:29
Speaker
that Rhodes was connected to the local drug trafficking in Benton. So most who believe that all of these murders that I've told you about so far are connected, believe that Dawn and Kevin had stumbled upon something that they weren't intended to see that night on the track, something that had to do with the drug trafficking.
00:32:49
Speaker
Then there was Richard Winters, who died in July, 1989. Winters, who was once a suspect in Don and Kevin's death, had agreed to cooperate. So he was already dismissed as a suspect. And he had agreed to cooperate with the grand jury to close the case and work for justice. So basically, he says, you know what? I didn't do it, but I will try to help you find answers.
00:33:17
Speaker
He was also found deceased with a shotgun blast to the face. Now, with shotguns, can you tell if it's like the same shotgun? Like, you know how you can like, ballistics or whatever, do they have that with shotguns? I would imagine so. I wonder if it was the same one that was used on the supposed suicide. Yeah.
00:33:39
Speaker
His death supposedly came as a result of a robbery gone wrong, but many people believe that he was just another victim to whatever was going on for which Don Henry and Kevin Ives' deaths were linked. Next is Jordan Kettleson. Yes, like the list keeps going. He died in June 1990.
00:34:03
Speaker
It was rumored that he also had information concerning Dawn and Kevin's deaths and of McCaskill's death as well. And he, like Winters, died from a shotgun blast to the face while sitting in the front seat of his pickup truck. And Kettleson, are you ready for this Maggie? No. Was cremated before an autopsy was completed. Oh, okay. So,
00:34:32
Speaker
You know, we won't know if there were any other wounds or factors. Nothing. Right. And Maggie, I'm not even naming all of the people whose deaths are rumored to be linked here. Golly. Yeah. Like there are several more. And listen.
00:34:49
Speaker
you know this about me. I am not a conspiracy theorist. Like in fact, anytime my students mentioned something that they've seen on TikTok, I immediately dismiss it as conspiracy. I'm like, that's just a conspiracy theory. Like I am a doubter first. In this case though, it's kind of hard to be a doubter when you hear the conspiracy theories because like
00:35:15
Speaker
Even if we don't want to think that all the deaths were carried out by the same person or group of people, we can't deny the fact that all of these people ran around in the same crowds.
00:35:26
Speaker
Right. There's connections. Yeah. It's not like this was a big city and crimes taking place all over the place and, you know, unconnected people and families are dying. Literally every single person I mentioned knew each other, were part of the same friend group, were known to associate with each other or were somehow linked to Dawn and Kevin. Usually through having, you know, received a subpoena to appear for their grand jury trial. So.
00:35:57
Speaker
It's easy to see why conspiracy theories sprout. It's once you realize that connection that many have made the leap to associate their deaths with that local lawyer who had the list of witnesses or who had interviewed them himself.
00:36:15
Speaker
When you hear how many of those were set to testify for the grand jury, subpoenaed to testify for the grand jury, and then they end up dead before they testify? Yeah, I mean, it had to be somebody that had some type of list. Right. There were also those who argue a link with the drug trafficking and Dr. Malik, since as the state medical examiner, he had performed many of the autopsies and, well, as you saw by our scoffing, incorrectly. Yeah.
00:36:46
Speaker
So as the rumor goes, the local attorney was in cahoots with local law enforcement in a drug trafficking operation that was going down near the train tracks. So like a combination of everything. Yes. It's all one big thing. Yes. Now some people take the operation to a higher level that I will mention in a moment, an operation that also linked malloc
00:37:15
Speaker
to some higher ups, but I'll stick with the local level for right now. So this local attorney was not just rumored to have been involved in the drug trade in Benton, Arkansas, Maggie, but he admitted years later, of course, to the use of drugs and was later
00:37:34
Speaker
in June 1997, convicted of, among other crimes, possession with the intent to distribute marijuana. So like we know there's proof he's been convicted of it. This local attorney is involved in distribution of drugs. This is just a lot to process. It is.
00:37:55
Speaker
I just feel like I'm running out of comments because I'm trying to put all of it in my brain. Well, because you've just heard about like 20 million bazillion deaths. Yeah. And I'm bringing up this local lawyer now because not only did he have access to the witness list and interview some of the witnesses himself, like
00:38:16
Speaker
people he might want to keep quiet if he were indeed involved in Don and Kevin's deaths, but there seemed to be an unspoken protection between the attorney and law enforcement. So when this local attorney was accused of other crimes, many people took notice that this local lawyer wasn't suffering any repercussions from law enforcement and Maggie
00:38:42
Speaker
Not only do we have witnesses who saw the two cops beating up Dawn and Kevin, not only do we have all of these witnesses who are now dead, who said that they have knowledge of Dawn and Kevin, but we also have at least three witnesses who place that local attorney on the train tracks the night Dawn and Kevin were murdered. Are those three witnesses dead? No.
00:39:12
Speaker
They are all living. The first didn't come forward until 1993. Well, yeah. I would be scared to say anything. I would be too. And especially once you hear about how old he was when Dawn and Kevin were murdered. This man's name is Tom Newhouse. And when Dawn and Kevin were killed, he was only 12 years old. And remember, this happened in August. So it was during the summer.
00:39:43
Speaker
And he said that he and some friends were out playing. I don't know if they had snuck out. I didn't read that because it is like in the early morning hours, right? But they saw some flashlights near the train tracks. So they snuck up close to see what was going on. Well, Tom Newhouse came forward when he turned 18 to say that he saw the local attorney, the one who represented the Henry and Ives families on the tracks that night.
00:40:12
Speaker
And Tom Newhouse would know that it was this local attorney because at the time his mother was dating the attorney. Yeah. So he, he knows who this is. You know what I mean? It's not like a, yeah. Like he knows this is that local attorney.
00:40:35
Speaker
When Tom Newhouse came forward with this information, he was given two separate polygraphs by the FBI and he passed them both. And his story was at least believed enough that he was put into the witness protection program, likely because of all the deaths that had occurred. Wow.
00:40:56
Speaker
And we only know what his name is now because he later decided that he no longer wanted to be in the witness protection program and he has publicly stated what he saw. Wow. That's our first witness. A second witness also didn't come forward until 1993. So the same year that Tom Newhouse comes forward. This was a woman by the name of Charlene Wilson.
00:41:20
Speaker
Wilson has stated that she believed Dawn and Kevin were curious about what was going on at the tracks that night, potentially hearing that there was supposed to be a drug drop. And she says she knows who was on the tracks because she was there. And she said that one of the other men who was there was the local attorney. Then Maggie, she mentioned a very interesting detail. One that we talked about in last week's episode.
00:41:50
Speaker
She mentioned. Is it the tarp? It is the tarp. I know. Yep. She said that this local attorney was one of the men responsible for Dawn and Kevin's deaths. And then she said that the other men who were there on the tracks had taken a green tarp from her car to partially cover the bodies.
00:42:17
Speaker
So like it's all coming together, right? And it looks like now at least multiple witnesses are placing this local attorney on the train tracks. But after Wilson's confession, nothing was ever followed up on based on her statements, even though it corroborated Newhouse's statement. So we're just going to pretend like we don't have all of these like people saying the same stories.
00:42:43
Speaker
Right. And when her confession was discovered again in 2015, yes, I said that right. She gave the confession in 1993 and it wasn't quote unquote discovered again until 2015. So it seems like her confession was not only ignored, but buried. Yeah. And it makes me very sad for Kevin and Dawn's families. Yeah. I can't imagine the frustration.
00:43:13
Speaker
And while Charlene Wilson was not killed Maggie, she was later convicted of a first time drug offense. And you want to know who she was convicted by? Who? The local attorney. The one who she said was on the train tracks. I'm assuming she didn't get a very easy first sentence. She did not. Like instead of the normal sentence for a first offense, she got 31 years in prison. What?
00:43:43
Speaker
A final witness came forward on January 23rd, 2018. So this is just a couple of years ago, but the person who came forward was a public figure. He was a wrestler for what was then the WWF, what is now the WWE named Billy Jack Haynes. He said he was there on the railroad tracks the night that Dawn and Kevin were murdered.
00:44:09
Speaker
He acknowledged that he used to be involved in drug trafficking and that he had often been hired to be at drug drops as the strong arm in case anything went wrong. And he said that the drops were orchestrated by, in his words, quote, a politician drug dealer from Arkansas. This is just getting crazy.
00:44:34
Speaker
In a video that Haynes released, he said that the politician thought some of the drops were being stolen, and that's why he had hired Haynes. And in a moment of directness, Haynes states in the video, quote, I come with no mask. I come with no hidden voice. I come to you straight face to face because this is reality, man, end quote. And he claimed that he witnessed Dawn and Kevin be murdered.
00:45:04
Speaker
by people working for that quote, criminal politician, end quote. Again, this is just getting more and more crazy. And well, and that's the thing with this wrestler guy, since Haynes was like often over the top as a character in the WWF, there were many who doubted his story.
00:45:28
Speaker
And they wondered if like he said those things for attention. But remember, he isn't the only one saying them. And people are dying for saying things like that. So why would you say it? Right. Exactly. Yeah. It's like a death wish.
00:45:42
Speaker
Okay, now we do have some other theories, Maggie, so let me go through them. These are gonna be super quick, these other theories. First, there is a remote, maybe, possibility that their deaths were suicide, as Malik ruled. What do you think about that theory? Suicide, no. Yeah, there's no way. No way. That two of them could have laid there? Mm-hmm. No, I disagree too. No, we only talked about that before, like there's no, literally no. Okay.
00:46:12
Speaker
There had also been a man in military fatigues seen near the railroad track in recent weeks. In fact, one week before Don and Kevin's deaths, this man dressed in the military fatigues was spotted there on the railroad tracks. And when a local officer tried to stop him to ask questions, the officer said this man opened fire on him and then slipped away.
00:46:37
Speaker
So we're saying this man could have been responsible for the deaths of Kevin. That is a theory that some people have because on the night of August 22nd into the morning of August 23rd, a similar looking man in military attire was seen in the area again. But that's all we really know about that theory. It's a no for me. Yeah. Well, because like, okay, Kevin was hit in the face with the butt of a gun.
00:47:06
Speaker
which we believe was Don Henry's rifle, but then Don Henry was stabbed in the back. Like if you've got a gun, why, you know what I mean? Yeah. Yeah. A third theory is that their deaths were caused by local cops. Cause remember we had several reports of people who claim they saw two local cops beating up Don and Kevin by the phone booth outside of the convenience store. Those two officers, Maggie were named by witnesses.
00:47:36
Speaker
But those two officers sued for defamation of character because of these accusations against them, and they lost that suit. Now, we don't know whether they lost the suit because there was enough evidence to prove that they were involved, or did they lose the defamation suit because whatever the people said about them didn't fit the legal definition of defamation of character by some technicality. You know what I mean?
00:48:05
Speaker
So I don't know. OK, so with this theory, then we say that the police officers beat Kevin and Dawn to death and then they get rid of the corpses by laying them on the train tracks to make it look like an accident. That's basically where most people go with this theory. I don't know that I really like this theory. I don't either. I mean, I get that there were witnesses that saw that.
00:48:36
Speaker
But I'm just like, it doesn't feel like that's the, that's not the theory for me. Yeah. Well, and like the Arkansas FBI was also involved in the investigation and I don't feel like they would have covered for local law enforcement. Yeah. And we have all these witnesses who are linking Dawn and Kevin's death to local drug operations. You know what I mean? Yeah. I just don't, I don't, I don't do the local cop one. I'll fill it.
00:49:04
Speaker
A final theory is that Dawn and Kevin were either at the tracks accidentally while out spotlighting, right? Or they had gone there on purpose because they were curious about a drug drop that they had heard about. Or the two officers from the convenience store were somehow connected to the drug operation going on at the tracks that night. And they took Dawn and Kevin there in their car.
00:49:33
Speaker
Right. So for whatever reason, whether they stumbled upon something while spotlighting, they had gone there because they were curious about a drug drop or because, you know, I mean, Dawn and Kevin, they did smoke some marijuana that night. So they were buying some drugs. Right.
00:49:54
Speaker
The third option is that these two officers who we have multiple witnesses who see them beating up Dawn and Kevin, right? And throwing them in the back of the car, they took them to the tracks. So for some reason Dawn and Kevin, no matter which theory you believe they were seen as a threat and they were killed. So maybe it's the police officers caught them smoking marijuana. They arrested them. And then maybe the police officers were,
00:50:23
Speaker
part of the drug trafficking. Yeah or maybe if we're saying they're good guys they heard about it and they were going to investigate it and something went wrong. Yeah that could be a possibility too. But then why would only Dawn and Kevin have been killed and not the police officers? Well that's why many believe that they were also involved in the drug trafficking. Or it could have just been an accident like they just stumbled upon this when they were out spotlighting and they kind of like
00:50:52
Speaker
you know, had to be taken care of or whatever. Right. But all of those possibilities go back to the theory that there was a drug trafficking operation going on on the train tracks that night that somehow Dawn and Kevin got mixed up in and that they were killed because of what they saw.
00:51:16
Speaker
I don't know, they're so, I mean, I think it does, like you said, it goes back to the drugs. It's something to do with the drug ring. And especially because we know that the local attorney, who many people are putting on the tracks that night, is also involved with the local drug trafficking. Now, while a lot of people end their speculation there that it just had something to do with drug trafficking, I did want to bring up
00:51:47
Speaker
that many, and I mean many Maggie people, believe that the drug operation going on in Benton, Arkansas went way above the pay grade of local politicians. Many, including Kevin's mom, Linda Ives, and Deputy Attorney Gene Duffy, believe that the corruption extends even into the FBI.
00:52:12
Speaker
Wow. Yeah. They wonder why with so much evidence against the local attorney linked to drug trafficking, including three witnesses placing him on the tracks, one of which passed two polygraph tests given by the FBI and all of these witnesses who died under mysterious circumstances. They wonder if the FBI knew about all of those things.
00:52:40
Speaker
Why was the local attorney never investigated by the FBI? And I mean, they have a point. Many believe and
00:52:53
Speaker
While I won't go into great detail because there have been whole books made about the incident, that there was a connection between the drug drops and trafficking that was going on in Benton, Arkansas, and that being done by Barry Seals and Mina, an operation linked with corruption within the CIA and linked to at least three presidents.
00:53:20
Speaker
And they even believe that Dr. Malick is tied to one of those presidents, Bill Clinton, who was governor of Arkansas at the time of Don and Kevin's deaths by a ruling that Malick gave that cleared one of Clinton's relatives of guilt in an accidental death. If you want to fall down that rabbit hole, sleuth hounds, feel free to look up Mina, Barry Seals, Arkansas drug trafficking in the 1980s,
00:53:48
Speaker
and Dr. Malek's rulings, but if they're right, that would explain why everyone is so bent on keeping what happened on those tracks to Don Henry and Kevin Ives under wraps. Linda Ives claimed that in the last meeting she had with the FBI on November 29th, 1996, that a special agent looked at her and said, quote,
00:54:15
Speaker
In light of the fact that there's no evidence of anything, it's time you consider the fact that a crime was never committed." The special agent later said that he was misquoted, but I feel like that's a comment a mother would remember. And of the FBI's involvement, Gene Duffy posted an article on June 29, 1997, which poses some very difficult and enlightening questions.
00:54:45
Speaker
She says of the FBI, quote, the investigation was shut down, not because there was a sudden determination that the boys weren't murdered after all, but because it became impossible to ignore the Mina connection, end quote. She then asks if we are really to believe that, quote, the FBI conducted an 18 month long murder investigation before they determined there was even a murder.
00:55:16
Speaker
And she continued, quote, even if the boy's bodies were never exhumed and second autopsies were never performed. And a team of seven forensic experts did not agree and report that the signs of murder were clear. Questions surrounding the case cries cover up and accidents are not covered up.
00:55:42
Speaker
If the boys had accidentally laid down on the tracks and gotten themselves run over by a train, why have local, state, and federal agencies put money and manpower into seven separate investigations spanning nearly a decade?" All excellent questions, Miss Duffy. But nothing will change in this investigation.
00:56:11
Speaker
Nothing will end local corruption unless those with information, with the truth, are willing to step forward and force the hands of justice once and for all.
00:56:26
Speaker
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00:56:54
Speaker
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