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E102: Don Henry and Kevin Ives (Part 1)
1.9k 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
Introduction to True Crime South Africa
00:00:06
Speaker
South Africa, a country whose spectacular beauty and dynamic people are known the world over. But there's another side to our country, and one that is rarely discussed in the detail it deserves. Join me, Nicole Engelbrecht, on True Crime South Africa, South Africa's first victim-focused true crime podcast
00:00:32
Speaker
As we go beyond the headlines, focus on the victims and explore some of South Africa's most heinous violent crimes. True Crime South Africa is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.
Starting a Podcast with Buzzsprout
00:01:01
Speaker
Sleuth Hounds, 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.
00:01:20
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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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 and Cases referral code,
00:02:06
Speaker
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 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.
Kevin and Dawn's Disappearance
00:02:33
Speaker
Dawn and Kevin.
00:02:35
Speaker
The two teenage boys had become fast friends. They were always around one another, usually referred to in the same breath by their friend group. But Kevin's mom, Linda, wasn't so sure about letting Kevin stay the night with Dawn, the night of August 22, 1987.
00:02:55
Speaker
One of the most recent times Kevin had stayed at Dawn's, Dawn had argued with his dad and the two boys had gone to stay the night with another friend without letting Linda know first where they would be. She'd been worried the next morning when she didn't know where her son Kevin was. And now that Kevin was asking to stay the night again, she was worried about a repeat of that situation. But he was a strong willed teenage boy. He and Dawn were both good kids.
00:03:26
Speaker
and despite a couple hours of concern, he had been fine. So, Linda agreed for Kevin to go. At around midnight, the boys had come, loaded up with Dawn's cherished .22 rifle and a flashlight, to ask Dawn's dad if they could go spotlighting.
00:03:46
Speaker
Spotlighting is the practice of using a flashlight to temporarily blind one's prey in order to kill it. While spotlighting is illegal, the place where they would be hunting was close to home in the woods down by the train tracks in an area that Don knew like the back of his hand. So Don's dad, Curtis Henry, gave his permission for them to go. However,
00:04:12
Speaker
When Curtis rose early the next morning, only to realize that the two boys weren't home as they promised they would be, he was likely both upset and perhaps even a little bit worried about them. When Dawn's father called Kevin's mom Linda the next morning to ask if Kevin and Dawn had stayed the night at her house, I can only imagine that she was also furious. Had they done the same thing again?
00:04:41
Speaker
This time, though, Kevin didn't come home. This time wasn't just a case of misunderstanding. This time, a parent's worst nightmare had become reality. This is the case of Don Henry and Kevin Ives.
New Podcast on Solving Cold Cases
00:05:38
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.
00:05:47
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.
00:06:03
Speaker
Coffee and cases podcast and to follow us on instagram at coffee cases podcast and on tiktok 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 Maggie we are one week closer to starting our patreon in December
00:06:34
Speaker
And Sleuth Hounds, we have got such fun things in store and we cannot wait for you to find out.
Patreon Launch for Exclusive Content
00:06:44
Speaker
Like Maggie and I were just talking about it, super pumped. But we do want to share a couple of things with you first. And that is, number one, Maggie and I pretty quickly agreed that our bonus content that we will share to our patrons
00:07:02
Speaker
on Patreon once we launch will be solved cases. It might be our take on popular cases that already have a ton of coverage or lesser known cases, but ones for which there is a resolution. And of course, all the fun stuff that we had planned. But well, Maggie, do you want to tell them why we decided that?
00:07:26
Speaker
Yeah, as we were talking we just kind of decided we didn't want to cover like the normal things that we would cover because you know our goal is to help families get the lesser-known cases in the public eye and we feel like making some cases available only to like a select few would go against the mission that we have here at coffee and cases plus the fact that we would never
00:07:53
Speaker
ever want a family to feel like we are profiting off their pain so in full transparency we wanted to let you guys know that as well yeah so yeah we we just decided if we did cold cases
00:08:09
Speaker
then it would be going against our mission. And we we couldn't bear for that to happen. So when we do post full length episodes on our Patreon, those will be solved cases, which I know a lot of you are like looking for. Like sometimes you just want some closure. Yeah. So and second, we are going to launch the Patreon in December, as I said just a second ago, which means it is right in time
00:08:36
Speaker
to give yourself a little Christmas gift of patronage or a friend. Yes, or give the gift of Patreon membership to a friend. I was thinking a partridge and a pear tree, but we need to come up with a song that says a Patreon. I don't know in what kind of tree you want to be. A true crime tree. There we go.
00:08:57
Speaker
Um, but we wanted to also let you know kind of what you'll get with that membership. So we will offer our Patreon membership for our first 100 members who sign up. You will get the $8 a month level for only $5. $5. Who doesn't have $5? That is skipping one breakfast from McDonald's a month. Right.
00:09:23
Speaker
It is two Krispy Kreme donuts though that kind of puts it into perspective. I would give it up though. Yeah and for that five dollars you will get immediate access to three fun mini episodes and you will get a shout out on the show. Which I think would be the best.
00:09:42
Speaker
Once we get to 100 patrons, we will drop our first full length bonus episode. So each month we'll feature one full length episode of A Solved Case and three mini episodes. And then the higher tiers, if you choose to support us at those levels, you can get a card from us.
00:10:06
Speaker
I'm thinking maybe we should do like an initial card and then maybe a birthday card. Oh, I love that. I love getting birthday cards in the mail. I agree. So we'll do that. We should make Christmas cards. Yes. Oh, I'm all about this. This is fun.
00:10:24
Speaker
You will get a discount on merchandise so you can like proclaim your love of the podcast to everyone. And if you sign up for Patreon at our super sleuth level, you will get none other than our eternal love. And what more could you ask for? That's the best Christmas gift of all. So exciting things are in the works, people.
The Tragic Case of Don Henry and Kevin Ives
00:10:51
Speaker
All right, let's get into this week's episode, Maggie, which is, first of all, going to be a two-parter because unlike a lot of our other cases, you will have to pay super close attention to this case because there are so many turns and twists and names and things to keep in line in your head. And it's going to be a two-parter.
00:11:20
Speaker
because I read, and I'm not exaggerating, I wish I were, but I am not, over a thousand pages of research. Wow. I know. Maggie can tell you though, this case, I've been, I think I've been working on this one for a solid few months.
00:11:38
Speaker
Yeah. Cause every, every week. So like, obviously Alison's better at it than I am, but like we have, or she does at least folders of cases that are coming up next. And that like this case has been in our Google drive. Oh yeah. Like probably episode 80 something or episode one Oh two. And we're just now getting to it. Yeah. I think it was supposed to originally be episode 88, but there was so much research to do.
00:12:07
Speaker
that I had to just keep pushing it and pushing it and pushing it. But we are finally there. And a lot of the research that I read included files that were released by the FBI under the Freedom of Information Act, newspaper articles. And I actually did. This is the first time I've really done this. I've kind of listened to snippets here and there, but I did listen to several podcast episodes about the case, particularly
00:12:36
Speaker
the extremely informative series that was done by True Crime Garage. So my information is coming from all kinds of different sources and be prepared to be both shocked and infuriated. Oh, the very best kind of podcast. That's right. Here we go.
00:12:55
Speaker
So what the Henry family and Ives family didn't know after that intro that I gave you when, you know, both sets of parents are waking up and don't know where their sons are, right? What they didn't know when they were looking for their sons is that local law enforcement had responded to a traumatic scene in the early morning hours of August 23rd, 1987.
00:13:25
Speaker
of an accident that had involved both Dawn and Kevin. So from your intro, I thought two things. One, I can totally understand why spotlighting is illegal. I feel like that is super dangerous because you could easily shoot something that is not an animal.
00:13:44
Speaker
And you like temporarily blinded them. So I'm wondering if that's the type of accident They're responding to or if it's something like fried green tomatoes except worse where there's an incident with the train track the train track Okay
00:14:00
Speaker
So around 4 a.m., a Union Pacific train headed north on the tracks from Texarkana toward its final destination of Little Rock, Arkansas, came barreling through the small town of Benton, Arkansas, where our case this week takes place. As the 75 car, 6,000 ton train neared the Crooked Creek trestle in Alexander,
00:14:28
Speaker
Engineer Steven Troyer, conductor Jerry Tomlin, and crew member Delamar saw something on the tracks. At first, it just looked like a dark spot on the tracks, but because of the train speed of 55 miles per hour, the objects were quickly coming into view. The men started thinking, are we seeing this correctly? And they were.
00:14:56
Speaker
Maggie, because all the men saw the same thing. There on the tracks were two teenage boys. They were lying parallel to one another across the railroad tracks. So they're almost in like an old Tommy Western. Yes. Like they're across the tracks.
00:15:19
Speaker
Yes, so their arms are at their sides, their heads were up against one rail and their legs were draped over the other rail with their feet hanging over. Next to one young man, they also saw a glint of light reflecting off of what appeared to be a rifle. And remember, they were going out spotlighting, so that would make sense. And the boys were covered
00:15:47
Speaker
as well as the gun, but the boys were covered from waist to knees with a light green tarp that they said kind of looked like the kind of tarp that you might use to cover a boat. Immediately, members of the train crew applied the train's emergency brakes. They began blowing the horn, and I'm sure every ounce
00:16:13
Speaker
of their being was begging, like willing the boys to move out of the path of the train in time. Yeah, because it takes a while for them to stop. Yes. And I mean, these trains had hit things before, right? A train is just as likely to hit an animal as a motor vehicle is, right? So like- I didn't know that, but that makes sense.
00:16:38
Speaker
Yeah, I actually looked it up. So legit fact there but but yeah, I mean and you think like how many times have you like slimly avoided hitting say a squirrel or a cat or You know some other kind of animal and that's only because you can swerve out of the way a train can't right And these are people we're talking about Right. Yeah, and so like these
00:17:03
Speaker
members of the train crew they had they had hit like deer and dogs and things like that before but you're right Maggie these were people but what they noticed was that the train's horn had no effect they didn't move the vibrations of the track had no visible effect they didn't even flinch
00:17:25
Speaker
And according to the True Crime Garage podcast, the train crew felt as they hit the first boy, then the second, and then the gun. And the train had tried to stop. Like I said, they immediately
00:17:44
Speaker
threw on the emergency brakes as they were screeching the horn, but because of the train's momentum, they were carried around a thousand feet past the bodies before it came to a full stop. Right, because their trains are heavy and that takes some longer to stop. And Maggie, I'll bet that once they did stop, those men probably looked at one another like
00:18:09
Speaker
Begging any of the other ones to say that what just happened was a bad dream or like some sort of sadistic practical joke Anything but the truth. Mm-hmm But I'm sure they all saw in each other's eyes the horror and Perhaps in an attempt to prove their eyes wrong the men got out of the train to have a look
00:18:32
Speaker
Oh, Lord.
Investigation Failures and Negligence
00:18:34
Speaker
What they first noticed, though, was something very peculiar. They said it was almost like what they had hit were mannequins because there wasn't a whole lot of blood like there normally was when they struck something. Yeah. It was when they began walking the length of the train, though, and located parts of a body.
00:19:02
Speaker
severed toes and the head and torso of the second boy hit That they knew that their eyes hadn't played tricks on them So do you explain the blood thing later on? Yes, okay so these these train crew phoned the railroad first to report the incident and
00:19:27
Speaker
One of the sources that I researched actually said that there was another train that was scheduled to come through on a parallel track, right? And that that train was originally stopped, you know, because here we have a crime scene. Yeah.
00:19:45
Speaker
Then the crew members of the train called local law enforcement. So the train had finally come to a stop in Benton, which is in Saline County, Arkansas. So that was who responded to the scene.
00:19:59
Speaker
Right, and that's where Kevin and Dawn live, correct? Correct. So the call was placed shortly after 4 a.m., like around like 420, 424, and by 440 a.m., so within 15 minutes of the call to law enforcement, officers from the Saline County Sheriff's Department responded to the scene. So they're there very quickly. That's quick, yeah. Yes. From the get-go,
00:20:26
Speaker
The scene was treated though, according to the train crew and even some officers present, as if it were a tragic accident or a double suicide. But I feel like, do you handle that? Like, why would that be handled differently? This is still a crime scene to me. Accident or suicide or not.
00:20:55
Speaker
Right. And like one, and I didn't even include this in the episode, but one source that I took a look at said that a member of the Arkansas State Police was actually present, but it wasn't his jurisdiction. And so he kind of just had to take a step back, I guess. Yeah. Like just a helpful role. But he was struck by the way it was being treated as well, because in his mind, it was something like
00:21:21
Speaker
He said something like, you know, I would treat it as homicide or foul play first because then the scene is handled with more delicacy. And then go to kind of lesser potential causes. But the train crew and officers present said that it was as though it were immediately assumed that this was just an accident or that it was a suicide.
00:21:49
Speaker
And Maggie, that's not the only issue. There were lots of issues with how the crime scene and the investigation into how it was handled went down. And I feel like that's been a common theme with us lately. Yeah. A lot of our cases. Yeah. Like your Lucinda Strange was treated like a car accident. And yeah. It clearly was not.
00:22:16
Speaker
No. And in this case, first, there was no care given to preservation of the scene. Remember how I said that other train that was scheduled to come through on a parallel track had been stopped, right? Law enforcement said, oh no, you can just come right on through. Oh, okay. A train coming through a crime scene. And
00:22:41
Speaker
You know, there are so many reasons why, like just that one choice is horrible. Yeah, because, you know, you don't need another train coming through an area where, and this is, I hate to sound gruesome or insensitive when I say this, but where evidence because the boys had been struck with such force was scattered for over a quarter of a mile in all directions. Wow. So you don't need another train coming through. Yeah.
00:23:09
Speaker
and contaminating, you know, it's already a difficult crime scene. And the second issue, Maggie, was the doubt. I did not see this in my research in the FBI files, but I did want to share with you a few interesting details that were contained in the True Crime Garage episode, episode one on the case.
00:23:36
Speaker
And I feel like, and I just want to pause and say this, like this to me is the beauty of research because you and I know we're continually combining sources, you know, so that maybe one day it can resemble a true and accurate account of what happened to Dawn and Kevin. So like, I know that the gentlemen of True Crime Garage have gotten their information from credible sources. I'm combining their information with what I read
00:24:06
Speaker
from the FBI files and, you know, all those newspaper articles and things like that. So, for now, I mean, it is kind of like a big puzzle that we're just trying to piece together. So, I do feel like it's okay that, you know, having a detail reported in one source that I know is a credible source, I feel okay with that being part of the process, you know, because it means we're not stopping. Like, here's just another piece that we can add to the case.
00:24:36
Speaker
Right because like you said like we're trying to piece together a puzzle as accurately as possible but it's hard to piece these puzzles together. Right well I mean and I guess that's why these cases are still cold because there are so many you know different details and conflicting stories so I just want to share everything that I can.
00:24:59
Speaker
So in this episode of True Crumber Garage, they noted that the train crew felt extremely uneasy with the way the investigation and the lines of questioning were handled as well. So on that podcast episode, they revealed that all three train crew members were actually Maggie appalled that law enforcement didn't seem to be looking around for clues.
00:25:26
Speaker
and that when those three train crew members gave their statements of what they saw, it was almost as though local law enforcement doubted them every step of the way.
00:25:39
Speaker
So they individually gave statements. But while their statements contained the same details, each one of the three was separately questioned about the validity of what they stated they saw. So they said, oh, I saw a green tarp. And law enforcement is like, well, there is no green tarp. So it must have been a figment of your imagination.
00:26:01
Speaker
But I feel like we get like so excited when we're like, oh, two people like reported the same evidence to police or whatever. And now you have three and you're questioning that in and of itself. Yeah. And it was just, it was super bizarre that all three of them reported that they felt that way. Cause I mean, first an officer shouldn't be commenting on and making judgments about the details that are given in a statement. Right. You're just taking them down. Right. Yeah. You shouldn't be like, are you sure?
00:26:30
Speaker
I don't think so. Are you a hundred percent? You know, but they did. So each one, like I said, each one of the three train crew members mentioned seeing the two boys, the gun that looked like a rifle and the green tarp.
00:26:48
Speaker
But each one of the three was told, nope, you're mistaken. There is no green tarp at the scene, so you had to have imagined it. And law enforcement even referred to the gun as the, quote, alleged gun. So kind of also trying to make it seem like it wasn't really there either. But we know that they had one because they were going hunting. Right. And it wasn't actually until fragments of the .22 rifle were located,
00:27:18
Speaker
that law enforcement admitted that there was indeed a gun present at the scene, but they still denied the tarp. Yeah, because the train crew would definitely have something like definitely they would lie about that for sure. Like that makes no sense. Right. There's a super bizarre and like intricate detail that you're not just going to make up. Yeah.
00:27:43
Speaker
And also what law enforcement failed to acknowledge is, you know, there was another train that came through in the middle of a crime scene. Yeah. And a tarp isn't very heavy. Right. So it could have somehow got sucked up under that train, wrapped around it. Like, who knows? So all of this is super bizarre. So and I'll come back to some of it like you asked me about. There's a lack of blood. The boys are laying on the tracks.
00:28:12
Speaker
Um, you know, like you said, almost like they're the damsel in distress, you know, like they're, but they're not saved. Um, law enforcement responds quickly, which is good, but then it's almost like they're questioning what the train crew all said that they saw. And.
00:28:32
Speaker
for engineer Shroyer of the train when he felt law enforcement were questioning him about, for example, the tarps existence. Here was the comment he he made, quote, that to me would be like questioning the existence of the boys on the track, because what's real is real and what's not is not. And it was there, as well as the boys, end quote. And like,
00:28:59
Speaker
Again, I keep going back to what would they have to lie about? Why would they need to lie about that? Yeah. What do you gain by saying that there's a green tarp? Right. By Monday morning, Dawn and Kevin were positively identified using dental records as the, quote, boys on the tracks. And if you look into their case, that's kind of what they're normally referred to.
00:29:25
Speaker
Yeah, just like the episode last week, she's like the Penn State Library murder or something like that. Yeah. And after the two boys were identified, their parents were called and informed. But also on Monday, Maggie, stories ran in the local newspaper about what had happened on the tracks. And like the only thing I can think this is akin to is like, you know, rubbernecking. Like if you see an accident and like, even though you don't really want to see, you still look
00:29:56
Speaker
And people literally came to walk the tracks to like see for themselves that it happened. I know, like I myself wouldn't want to see anything. Like I wouldn't know that far, but Maggie, they actually found things at the scene. Which is crazy because they really shouldn't even be able to be in that proximity because it's a crime scene.
00:30:18
Speaker
Exactly. So that shows you the scene was never properly secured. And it's being further contaminated because all of these people are traipsing through the area. Yeah, and potentially moving things from one location to another. Yep. And those who went up there, Maggie, they found more fragments of the shattered .22 rifle. And they also found a severed foot. What? Yes.
00:30:47
Speaker
So I mean, that detail alone should tell you how poorly the crime scene is. That's not like a pinky toe. That's an entire foot. Yep. That was just left there. One other person did walk the length of the tracks. And this part, if I'm honest, I do understand because that person was Larry Ives, Kevin's father.
00:31:14
Speaker
So for him, this walk wasn't curiosity, but maybe something more like an attempt at closure, like seeing that this was real and trying to like feel his son's presence in that spot. At least that's what I imagine it was. Or like maybe he is like trying to find pieces of this puzzle. Well, and he did also find something.
00:31:42
Speaker
he found a rather large sturdy piece of cardboard that looked like it potentially had blood on it. And because of the blood, he was led to wonder, like, maybe it's somehow linked to their deaths. Yeah. So he wanted the Arkansas State Police to run some tests. Do they do that? No. Oh.
00:32:08
Speaker
So part of the problem is that the Henry and the Ives families had not been impressed by the way local law enforcement had handled the case or the scene, which I can't blame them. Yes. And local law enforcement, Maggie, like I said a minute ago, they didn't even consider the possibility of foul play and they even vocally ruled it out.
00:32:34
Speaker
That's kind of annoying. And I feel like that happens a lot with kids cases. Like they're running away. They're committing suicide. Like it's never foul play until we've like wasted valuable time looking for a perpetrator. Evidence has, you know, been compromised and a big list of things.
00:32:57
Speaker
And the parents here, Maggie, just like the crew of the train, they weren't so convinced that foul play should be ruled out. Even the little details pointed to them of foul play. First of all, the boys were not suicidal, they said. There was one other small detail at the scene, Maggie, that told Dawn's father that whatever happened to them was not by choice.
00:33:27
Speaker
And that detail is where the train crew saw Dawn's .22 rifle lying beside him on the gravel, because Maggie, this was Dawn's prized possession. And like, just like you wouldn't take a quilt your mammy made you and dip it in a mud puddle,
00:33:50
Speaker
Curtis Henry said, uh, my son Dawn would have never laid his rifle on the gravel where it would get scratched. Like it's just not something he would have done. Yeah. That's just not his personality. Right. Well, and I mean, you think about the quilt. Yeah. I'm like, no, I do everything to keep it clean. Right. Boomer peed on it one time and I cried. Oh yeah.
00:34:16
Speaker
So here's Dawn's rifle lying on the gravel where it could get scratched. And that's exactly what the train crew saw. And on top of that, the crew maintained, and this again, according to the True Crime Garage episode,
00:34:30
Speaker
that there would have been no likelihood, this is what the train crew said, no likelihood of two separate individuals who would be able to lie across the tracks and not move a muscle for the full mile or so that they would have felt the vibrations of the train coming. See, that's what I was thinking too. Like I think even if they were suicidal, like that to me
00:35:00
Speaker
would be a very difficult way to decide to carry out killing yourself, is laying on a train track, listening to the train blow its horn and laying dead still, even with the vibrations of the tracks. I feel like they were already dead when they were placed there.
00:35:23
Speaker
well and that's also what many many many people believe because like the train crew were basically like first of all there's no way one person could do that but even if one person could you're talking about two people here and you're telling me both of them like lay there so still and didn't move a muscle and maybe unless they were drugged well
00:35:48
Speaker
And I'll kind of get into that. So once you take all of those details, the gun, them not moving. The lack of blood. Yeah. Law enforcement saying that there's no foul play. Like all of these weird things that are happening. And like you said, Maggie, this oddity of the blood at the scene that I mentioned, because not only was there not a lot of it,
00:36:15
Speaker
When EMTs responded, they said that it was darker in color. Isn't that like older blood? Yes. Darker blood is older. So it was as if it had already lacked oxygen before the train hit the boys, which would then indicate, like you said, that they perhaps were already dead before the train hit them.
00:36:40
Speaker
So now with all of these details, the Henry and the Ives families, they didn't want consoling. They wanted answers. A week after the funeral, the parents were called in to speak with the state medical examiner to discuss the autopsy results.
Controversial Medical Examiner Rulings
00:36:58
Speaker
Also present were Arkansas State Police, which made Curtis Henry super happy because remember,
00:37:03
Speaker
He brought them that bloodied piece of cardboard. Oh, yeah. Yeah. So he's like, here, I found this at the scene. Please take it. There's blood on it. Would you test it? He was told that it would be tested, but it never was. But that wasn't the only disappointment from that day's conversation.
00:37:26
Speaker
The parents also heard some information from Dr. Fami Malek, who was the state medical examiner in Arkansas that just didn't make sense to them. A lot of this case so far hasn't made sense. Yeah. He told the families that he had conducted all of his required tests and that based upon what he found in the autopsies, he had come to only one conclusion.
00:37:53
Speaker
The boys had consumed so much marijuana that it had, it had caused a drug induced coma or psychosis, which is why neither of them had moved as the train approached and what had caused their, in his estimation, accidental deaths. Okay. So I know that we do not know what about marijuana. Right. We've talked about this. Yes.
00:38:22
Speaker
But is that a thing that you can smoke so much marijuana that you go into a drug induced coma? I have, I'm with the parents on this one Maggie. I've never heard of such a thing as someone being knocked unconscious. I mean like I know like sometimes don't people get like sleepy? Right. But I wouldn't be knocked unconscious. Right. And there were other pathologists I'll get into in a second who would disagree.
00:38:52
Speaker
with what Malick ruled. But so did their parents. I mean, they started asking questions like, how much marijuana would it have taken to cause something like that? And while one source that I read noted that Malick never gave a solid answer in response, another source indicated that Malick had intimated to
00:39:18
Speaker
law enforcement that it would have been around 20 joints. Maggie, that is a lot. And I feel like that's expensive. Yeah. And these are teenage boys. Yeah. 16 and the other 17.
00:39:34
Speaker
And with Dr. Malik's ruling, though, that, you know, this is a drug induced psychosis coma. The death is accidental. It's like they wash their hands. Ruling of an accident. Case closed. So is this that's literally the end of like law enforcement involvement on this case? Oh, Maggie. This is nowhere near the end of the story. Nowhere near.
00:40:00
Speaker
And I have to say, I am so impressed by the families in this case who stood up for themselves, but they actually fought against Dr. Malik's ruling because they were continually nagged by this one question. Why did no one want to treat this case like a murder investigation? Right. Like you have to realize where they're coming there, coming from.
00:40:30
Speaker
because, I mean, all the things we've talked about so far, like even from the get-go, wasn't treated like there was any foul play, like it could be a homicide. And their kids were like, okay, even if the green tarp wasn't a thing, they were still laying in the exact same position, which to me seems very weird. Very weird.
00:40:54
Speaker
And if a tarp is there, it's only covering a portion of them. Yeah. So what's it concealing? Right. Why were they only covered from their waist to their knees? And if they had planned on committing suicide, why wouldn't they have used the gun? Right. Like, why would they have laid on the train? It would be much quicker, I feel like. Yeah. So there are a lot of questions that are not being asked, let alone answered.
00:41:22
Speaker
So one might normally think, Maggie, well, you know, a medical examiner is a trained professional, you know, so they would know more than a normal person. Right. But that might not be the case with Dr. Fami Malek, because he didn't exactly have an impeccable record.
00:41:42
Speaker
In fact, there were more botched exams and rulings leveled at Malick than I can count. Like I have pages and pages and pages and pages of research all about families who fought against his rulings. So why would he still be the state medical examiner? Part of that I'm going to get into in the next episode. Oh, okay.
00:42:12
Speaker
potentially friends in high places. But I will tell you now about a couple of the rulings which are questionable. Some are before and some are after Don and Kevin's case. So a case in 1988, a young man's death was ruled a suicide.
00:42:36
Speaker
despite the fact that the gun supposedly used to commit the suicide was found outside the home and the young man was inside the kitchen with the bathtub water running. And for this to be a suicide, the young man would have had to have shot himself in the chest while outside.
00:42:57
Speaker
come back inside, turned the water on in the bathroom, then come into the kitchen, all without getting blood on the door handle into the house or on the faucets. And the gun, which had been handled by the stepmom only the day before, was absent of all fingerprints except for her stepsons. And there were no powder burns on his hands and arms.
00:43:25
Speaker
any proof of him actually firing a weapon, but Dr. Malek ruled it a suicide. In the previous year, in 1987, a woman's death was ruled a suicide, despite the fact that the night before she had filed a police report saying that her husband had been trying to kill her.
00:43:48
Speaker
And there were at least two cases in which Dr. Malik testified about a body during an autopsy when he himself wasn't even present while the autopsy was being performed. Can you do that? No. And one article in the Gazette by Bob Wells noted that one case had Malik testifying about an autopsy that was done
00:44:15
Speaker
while evidence revealed that Dr. Malek was actually on vacation, not present at the autopsy. He doesn't have very much credibility. No. I mean, I'm not even telling you the crazier ones. There was one where a guy, he died of an ulcer, but his body was found, his head was missing. Okay. I don't know how you die of an ulcer, and then all of a sudden your head is gone.
00:44:43
Speaker
your brain, your head just explodes. Right? So like, there was all kinds of questionable rulings. And in terms of Don and Kevin's case, according to one resource, Dr. Malek made the judgment that the THC intoxication had immobilized them on the track. And he had come to that conclusion without doing
00:45:04
Speaker
a mass spectronomy, which is the only way to fully reliably test for drugs present in Don and Kevin's systems. So he's like, this is what it is, but he doesn't do like the actual reliable tests to see.
00:45:22
Speaker
I feel like we need a second opinion. Well, and the Ives and Henry family felt the exact same way, Maggie, and I couldn't agree more. So Linda Ives asked for an official second opinion from Dr. J.T. Francisco, who was a forensic pathologist out of Memphis, Tennessee, and he actually came to the same conclusion as Malik.
00:45:45
Speaker
But the families soon found that even this Dr. Francisco had only tested Kevin's urine and had not tested blood from both boys nor urine from Dawn and that he had agreed with Malick because he just assumed that because one test that he did matched Malick's results
00:46:12
Speaker
And he believes that Malick's labs use standard procedure. Well, you know, if one result matches, well, then the others probably would have as well. Right. And so he just agreed with Malick based on that one common test. Yeah, I was gonna say like, I feel like it's not very thorough, like, okay, when they matches at all, it's correct. Moving on. Right. And notice I said testing the urine like he's not doing that mass spectronomy test either.
00:46:39
Speaker
Luckily, the parents, particularly Kevin's mom Linda Ives, refused to stop until pathologists who specialized in marijuana were able to test the samples.
00:46:53
Speaker
especially after other doctors like Dr. James Gariot in March 1988 agreed with Linda Ives saying that it was not probable that any amount of THC could have the effects that Malek alleged they had. Like this doctor saying it would not make you pass out and be immobilized. Like that is not an effect. And especially
00:47:16
Speaker
couldn't make like this doctor saying especially Dr. Malek shouldn't be making claims like that without checking for the presence of the drugs in the boys systems like using that mass spectronomy.
00:47:30
Speaker
Another doctor, Dr. Arthur J. McBray from North Carolina, who was a toxicologist, agreed that he had never heard of anyone being rendered unconscious from exposure to THC, and he actually said that Malik's ruling was quote, very bizarre, end quote.
00:47:49
Speaker
Oh, absolutely. But when Linda Ives tried to bring in those specialists, Maggie, she's like, I'm not going to stop until you have, you know, these forensic pathologists who specialize in marijuana test the fluids. When she tried to bring in those specialists, they were blocked from access to fluid and tissue samples.
00:48:12
Speaker
Really? Can they do that though? Apparently they can. The Ives family also hired a private investigator who according to Unsolved Mysteries felt resistance from law enforcement anytime he began asking questions and it was his opinion that law enforcement were not willing to cooperate. Which seems so strange to me because they were so quick to get on the scene.
00:48:38
Speaker
But then, like we said, they're automatically treating this. It just kind of goes downhill from there. Yeah. So out of options for getting help through law enforcement and medical channels, the families actually turn to the media.
00:48:54
Speaker
Like they were thinking, you know, perhaps if enough people heard about their son's case, they might force Sailing County law enforcement to reopen the investigation. Because remember, they were like, case closed. This is an accident. And at first, the Sailing County Sheriff told the Benton Courier that there wasn't anything at the scene on the railroad tracks that would indicate foul play.
00:49:19
Speaker
He, in this news article, called what happened merely a, quote, strange accident, end quote, like they're refusing to even look at it like there's a potential homicide. But after Linda Ives wrote an openly critical response to the sheriff and his office in that same paper, a local lawyer, according to FBI documentation,
00:49:44
Speaker
had requested the, quote, presiding judge appoint him special prosecutor to supervise investigation of the deaths, end quote, and to represent the parents. So the local lawyer, yeah, hears about the case, and he's like, no, I'm going to represent them. I want you to reopen the case, and I want to supervise the investigation. Wow, that's awesome. For a while. Oh.
00:50:13
Speaker
I know. I feel like this is the Christy Cornwell episode where you're like, oh, yay, the grandma. And then I'm like, well, well, just wait. So finally, though, the families felt like you just did, Mackie. They're like, we're finally getting somewhere. The investigation was officially reopened. The bodies were exhumed. Okay. Fluids and tissues turned over, evidence examined and a real
00:50:41
Speaker
Second autopsy was performed by Dr. Joseph Burton, along with some evidence that was provided before a grand jury to examine the cause of death that Malick had ruled as accidental. So this grand jury trial began in April 1988, and based upon all of the evidence provided and the new autopsy, a month later,
00:51:07
Speaker
they ruled Dawn and Kevin's death as a quote, as quote, probably homicide. Can you just, can you do that as a ruling? Yeah. Probably homicide. Right. So, but at least for the family, we've gone from. We finally have the word homicide in there. Yeah. And we've gone from accident. Suicide. To now probably homicide.
00:51:34
Speaker
Which means evidence is leaning toward it being homicide. So here's how they came to that conclusion in that grand jury trial with the new information that came out. The second autopsy Maggie revealed that there was bruising on Kevin Ives left cheek akin to an injury as if he had been hit hard with the butt of a rifle.
00:52:01
Speaker
This blunt force trauma to the head wasn't obviously the kind of injury that would be sustained if he were in good health before the train hit. Right. Additionally, part of the evidence was the shirt that Don Henry had been wearing that night. The shirt, when they found it Maggie, was not on his torso. It was found separately.
00:52:23
Speaker
However, Dr. Burton, when he was doing the second autopsy, had noticed what appeared to be a defect in the back of the shirt that was in the same spot that would correspond with a cut that he had noticed on Dawn's back.
00:52:39
Speaker
When the shirt defect was analyzed under a really powerful microscope, there was evidence of blood and it was clear that the hole in the shirt was made, it was a cut. So like someone had stabbed him? Right. Yes, this was a cut made by something sharp like the blade of a knife and it wasn't a tear. So again, like this is an injury not consistent to the boys being run over by the train.
00:53:06
Speaker
Those details combined with Dr. Burton finding large amounts of blood and fluid in their lungs at the time of death and the responding EMTs noting the lack of blood at the scene and it being dark ruled that none of those details were consistent with Dr. Malik's ruling that their death was instantaneous and accidental.
00:53:31
Speaker
Instead, it was extremely probable given the injuries that Dawn and Kevin were either incapacitated by their injuries. So I like literally as you were reading that I was like, I wonder if he was paralyzed. Yeah, they were either incapacitated by their injuries or were dead before being placed on the tracks. Hmm. Which then goes back to like that piece of cardboard. Like was that used to like drag the bodies onto the tracks? And we'll never know because that cardboard wasn't tested.
00:54:01
Speaker
But even now, Maggie, it seemed with all of the evidence pointing to foul play, with all of the momentum in the parents' favor of looking at this case like a murder, right? Because they said, probably homicide. Things were sluggish. Law enforcement still didn't seem to be invigorated with like a renewed sense of urgency and purpose. Instead, quite the opposite was true. Like almost like they're dragging their feet on purpose? Yeah.
00:54:31
Speaker
It felt like they were even more reluctant to investigate than before. According to one source, the sheriff of the town wouldn't provide any funds to aid in a new investigation. But witnesses were beginning to come forward, many of whom were telling similar stories, most linked to local drug trafficking activity,
00:54:59
Speaker
And much of that activity, Maggie, was allegedly linked to both law enforcement and political figures. So now many began to speculate, was that the reason that no one wanted to truly investigate Dawn and Kevin's deaths?
Rumors and Corruption Allegations
00:55:18
Speaker
Because too many powerful people were linked? This kind of reminds me of what was the case where the girl was in the Kudzu vines in the graveyard? Karen Swift.
00:55:29
Speaker
Yeah, this kind of reminds me of her case a little bit. Yeah. So like, and you can understand why people were beginning to speculate because it did seem like they're dragging their feet. They're not wanting to view this as homicide, you know?
00:55:44
Speaker
Yeah, like they're trying to protect somebody. Right. Because of Malik's mistakes, particularly in Don and Kevin's case, many were calling for his job. So they were putting a lot of the blame on him, right? Like how could you call this an accident when it's clearly not an accident? Like obviously this jury overturned your ruling. So it wasn't a very good ruling in the first place.
00:56:09
Speaker
In fact, according to an expose in the LA Times by James Risen and Edwin Chin, after the grand jury overturned Malick's ruling, then Governor Bill Clinton hired two pathologists to perform a job review of Dr. Malick. However, they determined that Malick had done a wonderful job as state medical examiner. And instead of being fired,
00:56:36
Speaker
He should actually get a pay raise. Something that two months later actually happened when the state legislature passed a proposal from Clinton that raised Malik's salary by 41.5%. What? Yep. Okay, well, I feel like I do a wonderful job every day. Can we raise teacher pay by 41.5%? Yeah, yep.
00:57:03
Speaker
So instead of those who were involved in the Henry and Ives investigation who had botched justice at every turn being reprimanded or sanctioned for their mistakes, it felt to many like they were instead being rewarded for impeding justice. Here it had to be so infuriating to these parents though, like this guy didn't even do the proper tests. You know what I mean? And he's making a ruling that other
00:57:31
Speaker
medical professionals disagree with like it goes to trial and he's overturned, but instead of being reprimanded, he gets a pay raise. Yeah.
00:57:42
Speaker
While Clinton later claimed that he raised the salary of the state medical examiner position in order to make it a more competitive salary for when they hired Malick's replacement, to the Henry and Ives families, it didn't feel that way. It seemed just another overly complicated roadblock.
00:58:04
Speaker
But let me give a concrete example to illustrate how complicated this investigation was becoming and how unlikely it was seeming that the Henry and Ives family would ever get the full truth, at least not without working through a lot of yellow tape first. And the problem was Maggie figuring out who was putting up the yellow tape.
00:58:34
Speaker
In an article in the Wall Street Journal by Micah Morrison entitled The Lonely Crusade of Linda Ives, when a new sheriff took office in Saline County, he vowed to crack down on local drug use, right? That's just what we need. Remember, all the stories are law enforcement and local politicians are involved, right? Deputy prosecutor Jean Duffy was put in charge of a new drug task force.
00:59:01
Speaker
Based upon community interviews, Duffy quickly believed that the community was being utilized for planned drug drops. So they heard all these stories about planes that had been flying low without their lights on, dropping something and then quickly flying off. But what Duffy really recalled was the odd comment that the previous prosecuting attorney had told her when she took office. Quote,
00:59:31
Speaker
you are not to use the drug task force to investigate any public official." That's a weird comment and perhaps became more concerning when her forces undercover agents began coming back to her to inform her on the links between local drug trafficking and several public officials.
00:59:57
Speaker
She actually reported those links to her supervisors at the US Attorney's Office, but instead of being rewarded for her work and potentially rooting out the corruption, only eight months into her role, she was fired. Let me guess, that's what I was gonna say, she was fired. Yep.
01:00:12
Speaker
According to that Wall Street Journal article, quote, amid allegations of financial mismanagement, child abuse and official impropriety, end quote. But Maggie, those charges were investigated and the Arkansas State Police found no basis for any of them. So it's almost like she's finding connections and when she tries to report them, she's fired.
01:00:38
Speaker
And these are connections to drugs that we think could have a link to Dawn and Kevin's deaths. I feel like this is going to be like a common occurrence with this case. Yes. There were even more stories that surfaced placing one very interesting public official, not only with the local drug dealings, but also
01:01:05
Speaker
Placing him at the train tracks the night Dawn and Kevin died.
Witness Deaths and Obstruction Suspicions
01:01:13
Speaker
And that man just happened to be the local lawyer who asked to be the parent's lawyer and be special prosecutor in the new investigation into the case.
01:01:27
Speaker
Please tell me we go into more detail about why he would have been at the train tracks that night. We will in the next episode. Okay. So this is someone who Maggie, as a result of that position, would have his hand in all of the evidence. Right. And a list of all of the witnesses who said they had knowledge of the crime. So when not one, not two, not three,
01:01:55
Speaker
But multiple witnesses end up dead before the trial. Things are looking even more suspicious. Oh, I would be moving towns. Well, when Duffy, remember she was in charge of that drug task force, was subpoenaed to provide a list of her confidential informants to the very person her informants were saying was linked, she refused.
01:02:21
Speaker
And instead of the judge issuing the normal misdemeanor charge for failure to appear in court, the court issued a felony arrest warrant and called her a fugitive. But I mean, she felt that many more powerful individuals were linked.
01:02:40
Speaker
individuals who would do anything to prevent the truth from coming out. And Duffy knew that she wouldn't be safe if she were placed in a local jail. So she did actually flee the state. I would be like, hello, I need to be placed in the witness protection program. Right. And that's the thing. Like who exactly was she afraid of? What did these witnesses say? And how far up did this corruption go? And why?
01:03:11
Speaker
In February 1998, despite all of the testimony and witnesses supposedly coming forward, did the Arkansas FBI special agent in charge write to the local U.S. attorney to say that there was, quote, not sufficient information to support a continuance of our investigation. We cannot state with certainty a murder even occurred.
01:03:37
Speaker
There is no indication of interstate character beyond the train that ran over the victims, and there is no definitive information that supports the drug distribution matter." There are no credible interviews, nor is there any forensic evidence that supports continued investigation." So was this special agent in charge of the FBI in Arkansas right?
FBI Accusations and Cover-Up Concerns
01:04:06
Speaker
was Linda Ives when she accused even the Arkansas FBI of the involvement in a cover up. Maggie and Sleuth Hounds, to hear that information, I'm going to make you have to wait until next week. But what I will say is that if you think what you heard in today's case is wild and unbelievable, you just wait until next week.
01:04:33
Speaker
Until then, sleuthounds. Again, please like and join us on our Facebook page, Coffee and Cases podcast to continue the conversation and to see images related to this episode. As always, follow us on Instagram at CoffeeCases podcast and on TikTok at Coffee and Cases podcast, or you can always email us suggestions to coffeeandcasespodcast at gmail.com.
01:04:59
Speaker
Please tell your friends about our podcast so that more people can be reached to possibly help bring some closure to these families. Don't forget to write our show and leave us a comment as well. We hope to hear from you soon. Stay together. Stay safe. We'll see you next week.