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E210: Shawn Edwards
4.4k Plays1 year ago
A custodian at Middletown High School in Middletown, New York, arrived to work just after 6 am on January 16th, 1986 only to find someone slumped over by one of the school's side-entrance doors; he immediately phoned local law enforcement. When police arrived, they discovered that the "someone" was only a child-- a child who had been violently and senselessly attacked. After his identity was discovered and an autopsy was performed, a full-scale investigation began. Despite strong efforts by law enforcement, nearly 37 years later we are still wondering how he got to the school, why he wasn't dressed for the weather, and (most importantly) who could have taken his life. This is the case of Shawn Edwards.
Sources:
* Various articles from the Times Herald-Record By: Oliver Mackson, Lance Oliver, Billy House, John Milgram, John Scavelli, Julie Campbell, and Tristan Corden
* "Unsolved: The Horrific 1986 Killing of Shawn Edwards-- More Questions than Answers." the-line-up.com By: Orrin Gray
* "Shawn Edwards Murder: How Did He Die? Who Killed Him? thecinemaholic.com By: Shraman Mitra
* Crime Junkie Podcast "Murdered: Shawn Edwards Part 1" and "Murdered: Shawn Edwards Part 2"
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Transcript
The Discovery of Sean Edwards
00:00:00
Speaker
Students at Middletown High School in Middletown, New York could see the detectives outside on that cold morning of January 16th, 1986. They were milling around below, sweeping the school grounds, searching for evidence, and collecting items here and there.
00:00:19
Speaker
After the police left, the students themselves even went down on the school grounds to search themselves, seeing if maybe they could find evidence that law enforcement had missed.
00:00:30
Speaker
Now, if you know students at all, then you probably are already aware that high schools are a breeding ground where one whisper can turn into years of agonizing taunting for some. And those rumors spread faster than you would ever believe possible. And on this morning, rumors were already flying that a body had been found. This time, though, the rumors were true.
00:01:01
Speaker
and it was a student who many of them knew. This is the case of Sean Edwards.
Podcast Introduction and Guest Introduction
00:01:42
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. We will be telling stories each week in the hopes that someone out there with any information concerning the cases will take those tips to law enforcement. So justice and closure can be brought to these families.
00:02:02
Speaker
With each case, we encourage you to continue in the conversation on our Facebook page.
00:02:06
Speaker
Coffee and Cases podcast because, as we all know, conversation helps to keep the missing person in the public consciousness, helping keep their memories alive. So sit back, sip your coffee, and listen to what's brewing this week. I am joined this week for this case with Brooke and Ashley from Teachers Talk Crime. So Brooke and Ashley, if you don't mind, tell everybody who you are. Tell us a little bit about your podcast and where we can find you.
00:02:36
Speaker
I'm Brooke. I am one half of Teachers Talk Crime podcast and we are a podcast that is put on by two teachers, active teachers. I'm an eighth grade math teacher and our podcast focuses on adolescents who have committed crimes. And every once in a while we sprinkle in a happy hour episode on the crazy full moon where a teacher is involved in a crime. Yes, indeed.
00:03:03
Speaker
And I'm the other half of Teachers Talk Crime. I'm Ashley. I've been teaching fourth grade. I've been teaching, this is my ninth year teaching. I've taught fifth grade, I've taught sixth through eighth grade self-contained. I've taught fourth grade and I've currently am teaching third grade for the third year. Nice.
00:03:25
Speaker
Okay, and when and where can we find you? Yeah, you can find us every Monday on any of your podcast streaming platforms. We are also on YouTube, finally. So if you wanna put a face to a voice, we're probably not as pretty as we sound, but hey, we try. Look. I know my voice and I know something y'all are looking like. That's what she looks like? Sure is. It's me.
00:03:56
Speaker
So we are also on YouTube. So if you do find us over there, just search teachers talk crime, make sure you subscribe and do all the things that you're supposed to do on YouTube. Um, our Instagram Ashley, do you want to take over socials? Um, our Instagram is teachers talk crime. Is it teachers talk crime podcast? Nope.
00:04:14
Speaker
Cause I get confused cause our emails podcast summer podcast summer just teachers talk crime. It's hard to get track of. Yeah. Um, but our Instagram is teachers talk crime. My personal Instagram, which I very rarely post on there. Brooke is the Instagram queen, but mine is Brandy. That's B R A N T Y Y Y underscore.
00:04:36
Speaker
Don't forget the underscore. That's right. And mine is my Instagram is KB Dozier. And my TikTok is southern.math.teacher. And that's all of our socials. And we're pretty active on those. So check
The Night of Sean Edwards' Disappearance
00:04:52
Speaker
us out. Yeah.
00:04:54
Speaker
And you've probably heard of Teachers Talk Crime because we've done a collab with them for Halloween. And we've got one coming up for New Year. So super exciting there. Okay, so Brooke and Ashley, are you ready to dive into this case? Yes. Because that intro was just really had me on the edge of my seat.
00:05:16
Speaker
Yeah, so I try to pick a case that fit with the kind of cases that you guys cover So that way it's kind of your thing and you could compare it to other cases that you know Maybe you've covered and you know, you've heard of similar things happening. So Okay, we love that
00:05:36
Speaker
The evening of January 15th, 1986, so we're going way back, was actually not much different from a typical night at the Edwards household. Cynthia Edwards' older children were out while 14-year-old Shawn, her baby, the youngest of her five children, and his 21-year-old sister, Kimberly, were at home.
00:06:03
Speaker
Cynthia the mom was home as well. And in fact, according to an article in the Times Herald record by Oliver Maxson, published January 11 2002, Cynthia had come home the night of the 15th groggy with the flu, which is absolutely the worst. Yeah. And during winter. You know, I think I've never had the flu.
00:06:27
Speaker
Oh, you are lucky. I don't think so. I'm gonna knock on wood for that. Do it. Oh, she's not lucky. She's had COVID four times.
00:06:39
Speaker
Oh, okay. You don't gotta out my business on this good podcast like that. It's all aired right here. Yeah. So she came home groggy with the flu. And it was one of those cold nights that it just makes you want to stay inside all cuddled up because it was only 11 degrees outside in Middletown, New York in January. That's a no for me. Yeah. Wow.
00:07:04
Speaker
Well, Sean, the 14-year-old, he also happened to hate the cold, which same. As well. Yes.
00:07:16
Speaker
And Cynthia mom had also decided to do just that stay and stay cuddled up at some point during the evening Cynthia Sean's mom recalled the phone ringing and Sean jumping up to answer the phone by the second ring. Now, are you guys old enough that you remember those days of a corded phone. Oh yeah.
00:07:40
Speaker
Absolutely. 100%. I knew where you were going with that the second you said it. My grandmother had the longest cord and I remember her just walking up and down the kitchen and it wrapping around her body. Yeah. Oh yeah. So you also know it was torture if a friend called you or maybe a crush called you because number one, you had to get to the phone before an embarrassing parent got to the phone.
00:08:07
Speaker
And then you've got to figure out, OK, how far, like you were saying, can I stretch this cord to get just some small modicum of privacy at all during the conversation? I just remember being interrupted with the internet dial online. I'd be like, Mom, I'm on the phone. You know what I mean? Those were the times. Wow. Or somebody picking up the other phone in the house. I know. Kids today do not understand.
00:08:37
Speaker
They do not know the straight phone. They don't. Because these phones out us every single time. Like you add a third person on that call, it's popping up on your screen. Before you be like, I'm going to three-way call. Mute your phone. She'll never know. Yes. I know. So I can picture Sean, you know, obviously he knew the phone call was coming or else he wouldn't have jumped up and answered it by the second ring.
00:09:01
Speaker
But on this night, when Sean's mom obviously noticed him jump up to grab the phone, she was immediately afraid that Sean was trying to intercept a phone call from the middle school where he went to school because she had heard that the school had been making phone calls recently to parents of students who had been skipping school. So she's like, oh, Sean, yeah, what are you trying to do?
00:09:28
Speaker
But he immediately denied it and he was like, mom, that's not what this is. And I got the sense from the research that I did that even though she had that initial fear, Cynthia knew that Sean, her baby boy, wouldn't do anything like that because he was just a good kid. He was a typical
00:09:49
Speaker
14 year old. I mean, he enjoyed obviously the newfound freedoms of this, I thought was pretty cool. Actually, I never did this when I was 14. But I read that it was pretty common practice in Middletown, New York, that like 14 year olds, you know, so you're a teenager, but you're not driving yet, would take local taxis to get to places around town that he and his friends wanted to go. And I was like, I would feel like I was, I don't know, a superstar.
00:10:18
Speaker
It's definitely not 2023 because they have this, um, that's so crazy. Cause even if I had a kid right now, they have the upper teen app for you as the parent can order your teenager. And I was like, absolutely not. No, I didn't even know there was a teen version. Oh yeah. No, but you're in control and you get the location at all times. Like you watch it as it moves, but like, you don't know what's happening in that girl. Yeah. I trust no one. I remember, um,
00:10:46
Speaker
Yeah, I remember one of my good friends before her son was like practicing to drive and stuff like that. Like she would order, granted he's older, he's like a high teen, but she would order Ubers and like watch him and be on FaceTime with him the whole time. Like that's what, that would be me. Like, let me see the driver. I'm the mother and I'll be in this whole ride.
00:11:08
Speaker
Yes, that's right. Yeah, exactly. So he was kind of enjoying this newfound freedom of taking the taxis around town and things like that. He did have a bike, but a taxi is way cooler. But he also had his head on straight. I mean, he was on the wrestling team. He loved music. He played football. He was driven. He had a clear vision for his future.
00:11:32
Speaker
And I mean, she knew that everybody loved her fun loving son just as much as she did. So she kind of, you know, when he says, mom, it's I'm not skipping school, you know, she knows in her heart
Discovery and Investigation of Sean's Murder
00:11:44
Speaker
that that's true. Yeah. But
00:11:47
Speaker
his mom wasn't calm for very long, because obviously she's listening into the conversation that Sean is having on the phone. And she hears him say something about someone bothering a friend named Rob. And so now she's worried, okay, is Sean going to try to protect this friend, whoever Rob is, because it was a friend that Cynthia had never heard of, but
00:12:12
Speaker
She's thinking, OK, Sean, you better not be getting into any fights at school either. I don't know who this Rob is, but don't be stepping into somebody else's problems. Yeah, especially if you don't know him. That's what I was just about to say, Ashley. As a parent, I feel like when I wouldn't know one of your friends, why don't I know the friend you're talking about? Why have you never brought this name up? This is right to me. Yeah.
00:12:41
Speaker
And also it's just like, not only do I not know this friend, but now you're trying to, quote unquote, stick up for them. So like, again, why don't I know them? If they're, if you're cool enough with them to stick up with them, I should know them, you know? Right. So what Sean's mom likely didn't piece together with the conversation was something that Sean had only told his friends, that he was scared for his life.
00:13:11
Speaker
And he had actually begun carrying a knife on his person at all times, just in case he needed to use it for protection. Oh. But like, but why? And also I do have a question. Yeah. Does Sean have a male figure in his life?
00:13:33
Speaker
So his father is around, but they are not close. And he is no longer in the household. He does have older brothers, though.
00:13:45
Speaker
He does have older brothers. But so only his friends knew that he was carrying this knife around. But a detail that I find odd is that while his friends said that they knew of that fear for his life that Sean had, every single one of his friends maintained that Sean never told them who he was scared of. And I could be wrong, but that doesn't sit right with me. It doesn't. Absolutely not.
00:14:14
Speaker
especially if you're close enough with them to let them know like, hey, I'm carrying around this knife, but like withholding who you are carrying, why you are carrying this knife. Like as your friend, as your person, you decided to disclose this information to me like, hey man, I'm strapped, but I'm not going to tell you why I am strapped, you know? Right. Yeah, because I feel like if you're a 14 year old boy,
00:14:40
Speaker
I don't know. Telling a friend that you're scared for your life seems, because I know 14 year old boys are probably very concerned about seeming macho and masculine. I feel like admitting to someone that you're scared would be much more emasculating than telling somebody who it is who's threatened you. Yeah. And you don't really see kids that young being that vulnerable
00:15:06
Speaker
And also I think too, I think with 14 year olds, you, if you have those close friends, you kind of almost gang up on whoever's bully, like, you know what I mean? Like your 14 year seat on the hallway all the time. I'm going to tell, I'm going to tell Ashley that Alison is bothering me and me and Ashley are going to deal with it. Like, you know, or we're going to start, you know, whatever it may be.
00:15:27
Speaker
But to withhold it, that concerns me a little bit. Why? Why are we withholding a name when they're supposed to be your friends? They could help protect you. Yeah, I agree. Or did he withhold it? Did he tell them and they're just not willing to share?
00:15:46
Speaker
So after getting off, I know, I know. After getting off the phone, Sean said to his mom, he said, I have to go out to meet a friend. And I don't know how Cynthia phrased it at the time, but in my head, she's saying, not so fast, mister. You're not going anywhere. Because it was already late.
00:16:06
Speaker
And it was a school night. So she wasn't just going to let him go anywhere, especially when it's 11 degrees outside. So you're throwing that weather into the mix. And also, why are you just telling her like, I'm going to go out real quick. You are going to ask permission. Exactly. I pay the bills here. I don't really know what you thought. Yeah.
00:16:30
Speaker
Exactly. So not able to follow through with his original plans of meeting up with a friend, Sean actually found a spot in the living room, settled in to watch a horror movie. Sean's sister Kimberly was in her room and Sean's mom Cynthia had gone to bed. When mom Cynthia woke up around midnight, she came into the living room to check on Sean only to find it empty.
00:16:58
Speaker
I knew he was going to sneak out. I knew it. Once you said the mom went to bed, I was like, he's not going to. He's not going to stay there.
00:17:07
Speaker
searching around, she also discovered that while Kimberly was in her room, he wasn't anywhere in the house because at first she's like, okay, maybe he went to bed in his room. Nope, he's not there. Maybe he's in the kitchen getting a snack. Nope, he's not there. So mom's intuition kicked in and she knew that something was not right because she said, Sean,
00:17:31
Speaker
hated like I said earlier the cold and it appeared as though he had gone out into the elements wearing only this is 11 degrees
00:17:42
Speaker
sweatpants, a hoodie, and this thin junior high school football windbreaker jacket that had Sean proudly stitched on the back of it. So he's not dressed for the weather. So she's like, OK, where did he go? Because he had never done anything like this before, which unfortunately meant his mom had no clue where to even start looking.
00:18:10
Speaker
But that also tells me like what he was wearing is very important too. That to me says he did not anticipate to be out long because I'm going to go run this quick errand or I'm going to go do this real quick thing and then I'm going to be right back home.
Rumors and Suspects
00:18:25
Speaker
So in my mind, he put on clothes that were for a quick errand. Whereas if it was an intentional, I'm going to sneak out or run away, not that he would, but if it was like a runaway situation, he would have packed more things and done more items.
00:18:40
Speaker
it you look you have to look at he waited till his mom went to sleep because she'd already said no he's wearing very limited clothing so he's planning to not be out very long he doesn't want to get caught i'm sure because he's a mama's boy he doesn't want to right you know
00:18:54
Speaker
disappoint her. So that would be very alarming. And there's a tendency for people to judge, especially when a child is out late at night and to blame the parents for a lack of supervision. But Cynthia's kids, they had a curfew.
00:19:13
Speaker
And she actually told Times Herald reporter Lance Oliver, quote, I don't like people saying my son was allowed out all night. He snuck out. My son is not a bad boy. He didn't run the streets all night, end quote. And so I think that there is a tendency to blame parents and
00:19:34
Speaker
and all of that, sadly. But when she realized he was missing, Sean's mother immediately called Sean's brothers to start looking for him because she knows, again, this is not like him. We need to go find him. Sean's sister, according to one source I read, stayed at home just in case Sean returned, but then in another source it said that Kimberly was out searching as well. But either way, she's involved in the search.
00:20:00
Speaker
And Sean's mom even called her ex, Sean's dad, Melvin, to join in the search for Sean. But Melvin, he didn't really figure that much was wrong. I mean, it was that whole, he's a teenage boy, he's going to push boundaries mentality. Yeah. That dad had. But that's, but he's not, but he's not.
00:20:25
Speaker
Right, right. He doesn't do that. He wouldn't just come out, out the gate like, all right, I'm just gonna break all the rules. I feel like you, being a good kid, like, you ease on into it. Like, you don't, you know, you maybe slam a door here and there. Don't do your chores. You don't just go, I'm a good boy. I'm a sneak out and I'm not coming back. I just... Yeah.
00:20:46
Speaker
Yeah, that doesn't really go together for me. I know. And also somebody did probably have to stay home because they didn't have cell phones at this point. So like if he called, he's calling from a payphone and he's calling a number he's memorized because that was back when you had to memorize numbers and he's calling your home line, you know? Yeah.
00:21:06
Speaker
And it was so bad with Sean's dad, Melvin, that according to several sources that I read, Melvin was so sure that nothing was really wrong that rather than going out searching for his son, like Cynthia had asked him to do, he just stopped by a local cafe to get some coffee. This is your kid. Did he do it? We're going to talk about Melvin. We are going to talk about Melvin.
00:21:34
Speaker
Because there's no way my child is missing. And I'm like, hold on, let me just go get a Dunkin'. Let me just stop at the Dunkin'. I don't care about eating. I don't care about drinking. I care about my child. Where's my child? Right, right.
00:21:48
Speaker
And again, you've probably seen this a lot, especially in older cases, but even the police were reluctant to start searching immediately because they told Sean's mom, you know, they said, well, you know, when did you last see him? And she's like a couple hours ago. And they said, well, not enough time has passed. He's just going to return on his own. He'll, it'll be fine. And you know, but she, she knows she's a mom. So she's thinking, okay, nobody understands the danger. Yeah. That Sean could be in.
00:22:18
Speaker
the way I do and she just felt it in her gut and her gut was right. The next morning, January 16th, a custodian for Middletown High School arrived just after 6 a.m. to start his day. And while walking around the perimeter of the school, he spotted what appeared to be the body of a man slumped near one of the side doors of the school.
00:22:45
Speaker
So he immediately calls the police and this is January, remember, and it's early. So it was still dark and it didn't help visibility much that the light above the doorway where this body was had been out for quite some time. And it wasn't until the responding officer stepped closer to the body and, you know, shown his flashlight that he realized this wasn't the body of a man. It was the body of a young boy.
00:23:15
Speaker
Worst, I know, worse yet, it wasn't a boy who had tried out drinking alcohol for the first time and had just gotten too intoxicated and taken it a step far and was passed out, just maybe needing some coffee and time to sober up. This young man was hurt. And that was evidenced by the blood that was saturating his shirt at his stomach and the gash that was on his head.
00:23:45
Speaker
The officer lifted the young man shirt to find roughly 15 stab wounds on his stomach and back and brick and Ashley. These were violent aggressive wounds his stomach appeared to be quite literally cut open
00:24:06
Speaker
But stabbing someone in general to me is always a personal attack because you have to be so close to your
Investigation Challenges and Unsolved Case
00:24:15
Speaker
victim.
00:24:15
Speaker
And it's, it always, it just blows my mind when people are like, yeah, and he stabbed her 80 something. How much aggression do you have to stab somebody even more than once? And I'm not even going to give you the one time because why are you stabbing somebody anyways? But more than once, like how much anger is in you? Cause that is, you have to be right up on that person. You have to be so close to them and just the strength that it takes to stab someone. I mean, the human body is pretty tough, you know, like his bones in there.
00:24:45
Speaker
Yeah, that is that's insane. And how, how big is Sean like in stature? I know you said he played sports. So I'm assuming he's like a decent size 14 year old. Well, he is in junior high still. So he only stands about five one. And he weighed about 115 or 110 to 115 pounds. After the autopsy was performed, the medical examiner actually determined that
00:25:12
Speaker
It wasn't the stab wounds that had killed Sean, but it was the blow to the head, which also was extremely violent because it had both dented and crushed Sean's skull.
00:25:28
Speaker
The trauma to his head, they determined, was likely caused by something like a large rock, a metal bar, or even steel-toed boots. So something, again, very aggressive. Yeah.
00:25:44
Speaker
Whoever had done this had it committed the the murder so viciously That an officer said at the scene that it was quote unlike any other i've seen End quote so I mean what they also knew From the responding officer was that his death hadn't occurred very long Before his body was discovered because this young man who again, they don't know his identity yet was still warm
00:26:14
Speaker
And according to an article in the Times Herald record by Oliver Baxon, the blood hadn't yet clotted. So it had been within the hour. And it was cold outside. So yeah, he was cold outside. Well, but he left around midnight. So between midnight and six in the morning, you know, it begs the question like, where were you? Where were you that
00:26:39
Speaker
You know, because that's a long period of time. And yeah, yeah. And also how far is the school from where he lives? I'm not. It's about proximity. No, it's several miles away. Like if he had walked, it would have taken him almost an hour to walk there. So most people think that he didn't. Yeah, he didn't walk. But he has a bike. He does have a bike, but he didn't take it.
00:27:06
Speaker
Okay. I know. So we'll get into a few of those details here in a little bit too, but all around the school grounds were signs of a chase and of a struggle. So blood was found in small drops in some areas, pooled in other areas. Police collected a knife handle some distance from Sean's body and some of the blood at the scene
00:27:32
Speaker
was located up to 200 yards away from where Sean's body was located. And so if they only found the handle, I'm guessing the blade was broken in the attack. I mean, it sounds like he, it was very vicious. So it doesn't shock me that it's broken, but it's also like, is the knife still in him or like,
00:27:57
Speaker
I don't think they found it souvenir. Yeah. From what I read, they didn't find it in the autopsy. So it would have to be somewhere. But where Sean was found is really weird because like, you know, I guess in my mind, I'm picturing
00:28:16
Speaker
not only a chase, but the attack itself took place somewhere else. And the attacker, when the knife broke and he had no other weapon, this is just me, I'm visualizing what might've happened. He left and Sean trying to get to the only place of safety that is around is the school. So he's at this back door entrance and I just picture him collapsing almost. And that's just where he found solidation is at this door trying to get away.
00:28:45
Speaker
Yeah. Oh, it's so sad. But now came the burning questions of who is this young man and who had done this to him. Well, luckily Sean's jacket gave them a clue because it had the name Sean on it. And it was a football jacket from the local junior high.
00:29:07
Speaker
And actually, Crime Junkie Podcast covered this case, and they've got all kinds of funds. So they were able to send some investigative reporters and researchers to Middletown to kind of gather evidence. So there are little bits of information that they have provided that I wasn't able to find in any of my written research. But one thing that they reported
00:29:32
Speaker
is that originally the officers believed that this young man was a high school student because I mean his body is found at the high school.
00:29:43
Speaker
But they're calling people out, seeing administrators, if they can identify him. Nobody seems to recognize him. And it was then that they started paying closer attention to the jacket and they realized, oh, this is from the junior high. Well, one of the officers who was on the police force in Middletown was also an assistant football coach
00:30:05
Speaker
for the junior high football team. So they call him in and they say, hey, is there anybody on the team whose name is Sean? And he says, yeah, Sean Edwards. And so that officer who served as assistant coach was able to identify that the body was Sean. And Sean, I know, Sean's mom was at work the next day when she received a call from police.
00:30:34
Speaker
And they said, well, we've got to tell you something, but you have to come down to the station. So I can't imagine. Oh, I hate that. I know. Like I'm the biggest.
00:30:47
Speaker
Yeah. I always hate when like someone would be like, Oh, I got to tell you something, but I'll tell you after work. No, you're going to tell me now. Cause I overthink it all day. Right. Yeah. So imagine the police calling you and being like, Hey, so we got to tell you something, but you got to come on down here first. No, no, no, no, sir. Do not play me. Let me know how would I, cause I need to know. Cause my brain is going to think that.
00:31:08
Speaker
the worst possible thing has happened, which yeah, it did. It did. Yeah, because yeah, once she was there, she learned that, you know, her sweet baby had been brutally murdered.
00:31:21
Speaker
Well, now obviously they know who this was. So police wanted to, you know, put together a timeline of events, right? I think Brooke, you mentioned this. And maybe in this timeline, try to figure out potentially who the perpetrator is. Like, you know, what had Sean been doing? Who had he been doing it with? You know, and those sorts of things. And the problem is that Cynthia didn't know, because remember all she's aware of is that Sean was gone by midnight.
00:31:51
Speaker
And now the medical examiner had determined that he had died around an hour or less before his body was discovered, so around 5 a.m. So there's, they think maybe he left home around 1130, so we've got to figure out what happened between 1130 and 5 a.m.
00:32:13
Speaker
And what's more, a very big, I had learned also from the research from crime junkie podcasts that police actually did a routine premise check at the high school every morning, just after 4am. And that the officer who had done the premise check had seen nothing. So that almost seems to indicate that at least the crime happened in this really one hour window.
00:32:44
Speaker
from four to five. Yeah, and it happened really quickly. And he's like, where were you? Like, where were you? Yeah. That's what I can't figure out. Yeah, that's what they're asking too. They're saying, OK, well, what had Sean been doing in the hours prior? And why had he even come to the high school in the first place? Because, remember, and you guys have mentioned this, this is a day before cell phones. So obviously, this had to be
00:33:14
Speaker
somewhat pre-planned. If he knew to go outside, he didn't take his bike. He's not going to walk that distance, especially in the weather, not dressed for it. And so there had to have been something that was pre-planned in my mind. Is the junior high close to the high school like in proximity to one another? That I do not know.
00:33:37
Speaker
I am not, I do not know. Yeah. Well, it just makes me think that there was some, there's, there's multiple people involved or who, my head is he's not 16. So whoever's involved had to have a vehicle. You're not walking an hour. Like you said, Alison, you're not taking your bike for 45 minutes because that's what a bike would have done. It's freezing cold outside. Somebody's transporting you somewhere. And it's probably a high schooler, which is why you were at the high school to begin with.
00:34:06
Speaker
Yeah, because it would have to be someone with a license. Right. Or a learner's permit.
00:34:14
Speaker
But what nobody seemed able to answer was what had drawn Sean out of his home. Because again, all of his friends who were interviewed, none of them admitted to having any knowledge of where Sean went that night or of being with him. So all of the known people are called and they're like, no, I wasn't with him and I have no idea where he was. No, I wasn't with him and I have no idea where he was.
00:34:41
Speaker
In the Times Herald-Record article by Lance Oliver that was published just days after the murder occurred on January 19th, 1986, a relative of Sean's mom, a cousin named Edward Keys, said in his mind, there are only two things that could bring a young boy out into the streets in those temperatures. Quote, either a girl
00:35:05
Speaker
or a best best friend, end quote. But Sean's mom said that neither of those made sense because Sean didn't have a girlfriend. And like we just talked about, it wasn't like Sean to sneak out of the home. And besides, if it had been for a friend, then wouldn't Sean's friends have at least known about it, right? And said, Oh, yeah, we went out. But then, you know, he wandered off or whatever.
00:35:36
Speaker
But if it had been a best friend, then it wouldn't have been a sketchy phone call and not blame. I'm not blaming Sean. I'm just saying he wouldn't have been so sketchy about it, you know, with the whole Rob thing. Like if it is your true best friend and your mom knows you have a best friend and you're going to use your best friend's name instead of saying, I have to go out for a minute. If it was my best friend, I would have been like, Hey, Ashley's really struggling. I got to go meet her real quick. Like, you know, you would have name dropped. So yeah.
00:36:02
Speaker
I was thinking, I was thinking the girl scenario too, but yeah, I don't know. Yeah, but even if you had a girlfriend, you know, the mom just don't have to know, you know? Yeah. I remember being young, you know, and my little boyfriend will call the house and I'll be like, don't call this time because my parents, you know what I mean? Yeah. Yeah. You know, I'm a little sneak snake. Yeah. So.
00:36:28
Speaker
I mean, I know he's a good boy, but just because he's a good boy doesn't mean he drops everything to his mom. Right. Right. Yeah. Well, Middletown, New York, too. I mean, this is a town. It's about two hours northwest of New York City. So the population of it is just above 20,000.
00:36:47
Speaker
in 1986, a really small town. So in contrast to the hustle and bustle and big city lights of New York City, in Middletown, there aren't a lot of businesses that are open late. I mean, there were, of course, 24 hour convenience stores and the coffee shop, but I mean, that was about the extent of it.
00:37:09
Speaker
So, you know, Cynthia, she's not only wondering, like we've been talking about, where he had gone, because there aren't that many places you could go, but also, like we said, how he got there, because he did leave his bike at home, so he didn't ride anywhere. Like we said, the high school was several miles away, so he definitely didn't walk, especially since he hated the cold and he wasn't dressed for it. Well, do you remember how I said Sean liked to take cabs?
00:37:40
Speaker
Oh, yeah. Yeah. OK. So, you know, there was an investigation into that possibility. You know, maybe he called a cab and the cab showed up. But all of the town's cab drivers, most of whom knew Sean or at least had seen him around, said that they didn't drive Sean anywhere that night. And there was
00:38:05
Speaker
momentarily a turn of events. Times Herald reporter Lance Oliver and reporter Billy House said that they discovered two cab drivers who later admitted that they had heard that Sean did take a cab
00:38:23
Speaker
to the town's shopping plaza, but when law enforcement followed up on those claims made by those two cab drivers, the young man who was driven by the cab driver was actually Sean's brother and not Sean. And so just like that, we're back to square one.
00:38:41
Speaker
Oh, crazy that it was his like, brother. Right. So I guess it was, again, pretty common in the small town for people to just, you know, take cabs places. And you know, businesses don't have surveillance at this point. So it's not like
00:39:00
Speaker
It's not like they can go to the coffee shop and be like, hey, let me see your surveillance. You were open 24 seven. Did anybody happen to drive by? Right. Yeah, exactly. Well, police figure, okay, well, let's watch and see who attends Sean's funeral on January 20th. Let's watch behaviors. Maybe something will stand out as suspicious, but nothing does. And so because they were at a loss of where to look next,
00:39:29
Speaker
The cab rumor wasn't the only rumor that police followed up on. In fact, in the early stages, it was pretty much all that police had to work with were rumors. I mean, some of those rumors like that Sean had gone to a local party, they were dismissed pretty quickly, but other rumors persisted. And so I'm going to work my way through some of them chronologically so you can kind of see
00:39:59
Speaker
how the investigation developed and changed. But you're also going to be introduced to several characters here. So I'll try to keep repeating their names and who they are. OK. The first name of someone who police looked into will be a name that you recognize. And Ashley, you asked this. Rob. Yeah.
00:40:20
Speaker
No, not Rob. Sean's father Melvin. Yes. Yeah. Oh, yeah. That was my next answer. I know. I know. You almost had it. You were almost there. So, yeah, they decided to look into Sean's father Melvin, who, remember, instead of looking for Sean, had gone to get some coffee about half a mile from the school.
00:40:43
Speaker
was where this coffee shop was. Sketchy, sketchy, sketchy. Yeah. So Melvin and Sean's mom, Cynthia's relationship had ended about three years earlier in 1983. And I got the impression, like I said earlier, that he and Sean weren't extremely close. And so because of his apparent lack of concern,
00:41:08
Speaker
rumors obviously swirled that maybe he had found Sean and was so mad at Sean disobeying his curfew that Melvin had killed him. But I will say, as sketchy as it seems, him being apathetic, it doesn't jive with me that, you know, a boys will be boys reaction and then yet he's going to be so mad that he's going to
00:41:34
Speaker
Attack his own son violently and besides that shawn's family said that melvin had never been violent Before yeah, that's that's an extreme reaction. I don't I don't see that either one. I don't feel like He's not really active in the search because he does believe its boys will be
00:41:57
Speaker
Yeah, I'm, no, I mean, I think that it was just, I think it was just really bad timing that you went to get some coffee and you looked really sketchy, but yeah. And also, it doesn't seem like he's, like they have a good relationship. So I'm not sure what the relationship, him and his, the, and the mom's relationship were with one another, but like, do you even know his curfew? Right. Yeah. Yeah.
00:42:27
Speaker
And why would it? And also, if you're not as super involved or you are not a good relationship, why would you be that upset that he was out? Right. And mad enough to violently murder him. Right, exactly.
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00:46:04
Speaker
Well, the rumors continued, and they were kind of perpetuated by the fact that Melvin was given a polygraph on January 28th. And all of us in the true crime space know this to be true, that polygraphs really mean nothing, and they're not admissible in court. If you fail it, it doesn't mean that you're guilty. If you pass it, it isn't indisputable proof of your innocence.
00:46:34
Speaker
but we tend to still put stock in them. And in Sean's case, there are a lot of potential suspects who we're either suspicious of or eliminate because of polygraph results.
00:46:55
Speaker
or a lot of polygraph. That's because back then they were heavily relied on because there wasn't a lot of big DNA. There wasn't a lot of things like that. But honestly speaking, I would probably fail a polygraph on the name. Like, what's your name? I don't know. Like, I was just a panicky person. Yeah. You know what I mean? Like, so I just I feel like for the times it makes sense that that was. But I feel like they should circle back now because there's more advancements.
00:47:23
Speaker
Yeah. And really, you know, take into account everything other than that polygraph because it's not, like you said, the end all be all when it comes to solving a case. Right. And I mean, Melvin, he doesn't fail, but the polygraph examiner did indicate that he thinks Melvin knows more than what he's saying concerning his son's death.
00:47:53
Speaker
We'll circle back to Melvin. Two other avenues were explored in the month or so after Shawn's death. One was a classmate who said that she received one of those clipped magazine letter death threats in the mail. But police eventually determined that she had sent it to herself. And then there was a boy. Girl, what? I know.
00:48:22
Speaker
I guess she wanted maybe attention or I don't know. I don't know. I just will never understand that. Like I get it. Like attention to some people is attention, but death threat attention. Yeah. Girl. Then there was a boy who was bragging about killing Sean. That boy's parents, however, they said, no, he was home all night.
00:48:50
Speaker
with us. And he actually passed a polygraph. He, he ended up saying he said it basically to seem tough. Did you not know that somebody was going to be like, Hey, he said that. Right.
00:49:04
Speaker
Yeah, but these are also teenagers and like, I mean. Yes they are. Around this time, Cynthia also heard rumors that maybe Sean had seen something that he wasn't supposed to see. I mean, that would explain his recent fear why he was carrying a knife, but I didn't read any more details in any of my research that would prove or disprove that particular theory.
00:49:31
Speaker
And there were other theories that were explored by police that were actually much more detailed and or began to surface shortly after the murder but continued to be of interest to them for several decades. And the first of those involves a car, a car, and someone called Mr. Fig.
00:49:59
Speaker
So in late February, 1986, remember Sean's murder was in mid January. So in late February, so about a month and a half later, someone called into the police and they're saying that they saw a 1975 gray Chevy Camaro in a parking lot near Sean's house and they knew
00:50:24
Speaker
the Mr. Fig because there was a vanity plate on the car that said Mr. Fig. And they said, you know, I saw this car. It was sometime between 11, 15 at midnight. So police, you know, their ears perk up and they're like, okay, that was the timeframe when Sean likely left the house. But the reason they paid close attention
00:50:46
Speaker
to this incoming tip was that they had already gotten another tip, according to local research that was done for Crime Junkie Podcast, that someone else had reported a car with a similar description at the high school between 5 and 6 a.m.
00:51:07
Speaker
So they're like, okay, this- That's coincidental. Yeah, yeah. They're like, okay, this seems like it's corroborated evidence. Like maybe we're finally getting somewhere. But I feel like a tag that says Mr. Fig is very, very- Identifiable. Specific. Yeah. I feel like that's very specific. So like, I'm just, I mean, how many, how many cars are riding around with a tag that says Mr. Fig? Right. That's true.
00:51:36
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, police, they release an All Points Bulletin, you know, to be on the lookout for this Camaro in question. They even posted it in the local paper. And it was actually that description in the Times Herald record, which you'll hear me continually saying Times Herald record because all of the articles I could find about this case were only in the local paper, sadly.
00:52:01
Speaker
So a woman is reading the local paper and she immediately calls her husband in. His name is John Figlucci.
00:52:11
Speaker
And she's like, this is your car. So when he learned of this search for his car, which obviously is still in his possession, he immediately goes to the police and he says, I don't know who reported seeing my car and my plates, but they have to be mistaken because he says he didn't even buy the car until weeks after Sean's murder. And then it took even longer to get these vanity plates in.
00:52:42
Speaker
So someone's lying. So who called in that tip? Who called in that tip? They're working together. Yeah, I think it was anonymous. But law enforcement, of course, they're going to look further into the car's purchase, just to make sure Mr. Fig is telling the truth. And they were able to verify from the woman who had previously owned the car that it was indeed after Sean's murder that the car had been bought.
00:53:07
Speaker
And what's more, it wasn't even in running order when she sold it. And that fact was also corroborated by Mr. Fig's mechanic that he had hired. But despite ruling out the car, Mr. Fig was still looked into due to his connection with the local drug scene.
00:53:29
Speaker
and because of a second persistent rumor that police were investigating that Sean had started selling drugs. Now, before I even start this rumor, I want to clarify that I hate for Sean's family that there was this rumor of him selling drugs
00:53:56
Speaker
because I will go ahead and tell you there is zero evidence ever anywhere that this rumor is true.
00:54:07
Speaker
That's the sad part about these cases though, is the public, a lot of people, and we see it now, you didn't see it as much in 86 because they didn't have social media, but we see it now and they will drag these people through the mud and you're like, what is wrong with you to talk about a victim like that?
00:54:31
Speaker
You know, yeah. And you know, another reason why they probably ran with that rumor is because he's a little brown boy. Yeah. And it's in 1986. Yeah. He's a little brown boy and just like little brown boy drugs, signed seal and delivered. You know what I mean? That's not the case.
00:54:52
Speaker
Right. Not at all. And like Ashley said, you know, if you're a good kid, by all accounts, Shawn is a good kid. You don't just start out being a bad kid. I'm going to sell drugs. That's the first thing I'm going to do. Right. You know, like Ashley said, it doesn't escalate that way. That's not usually the pattern of behavior. Right.
00:55:13
Speaker
Yeah. Now, obviously, he is not involved in drugs, but that's not to say that he couldn't have witnessed something in town, you know, seen something that he wasn't supposed to see of somebody who is in that drug world, you know, and that person is behind the murder. And one of the rumors
00:55:38
Speaker
related to the drug world was that Sean had, again, I don't see this as a possibility we're going to talk about. There's actually several details that people keep going back to this theory, but there's a rumor that Sean had ripped off a Colombian drug dealer named Nelson who lived in Middletown and that Nelson had killed him as a result.
00:56:04
Speaker
Again, I don't see Sean as the type of kid who's going to rip off a Colombian drug dealer. Yeah. Five foot one, 110, 115 on a good day is ripping off. The Colombian cartel, really? Right.
00:56:24
Speaker
Yeah, I know. I feel like it's more plausible that he saw something. I feel like that's more plausible than him ripping off a Colombian drug. Exactly. Well, it was the second half of that rumor about Colombian drug dealer Nelson that police actually explored for years later. And the second part of that rumor was that Nelson had some, for lack of a better word, henchmen.
00:56:54
Speaker
under his wing who would do his dirty work. And those individuals were two local teens, 17-year-old Joseph Salgado, who went by Joey, and 18-year-old Eddie Devlin, so high schoolers. I just need to know, are we going to find Rob? Is he going to come around? No, Rob. Because I just keep waiting for you to be like,
00:57:23
Speaker
Rob. And I'm like, that's him. And no, no one's Rob. The only mention, yeah, is the phone call. Yep. Unless he saw somebody getting right. Right. Right. And that was like the key word where you're going to call somebody, Rob. Yeah. Mm hmm.
00:57:43
Speaker
So those two teenagers, so remember Joey Salgado and Eddie Devlin, I'm actually going to jump ahead in time a little bit to explain why the two, or at least Joey Salgado at the very least, continued to be looked at by police
00:58:02
Speaker
over time. So in June 1987, so about a year and a half after Shawn's murder, there was a home invasion in Middletown where two young men rang a doorbell and when the mom of the home answered the door, they forced themselves inside. And the two, one of them was masked, the other one wasn't. They terrorized the mom
00:58:28
Speaker
and the son who were at home. The mom threatening to kill her, making her walk on all fours. It was very traumatic. They eventually forced them into the basement. They ransacked the home and they left. I found it interesting that police actually first discovered the identity of the masked assailant.
00:58:48
Speaker
which I thought was bizarre. But when they go to pick him up, he identifies for Belize the other person who was involved because he says, okay, I was masked, but it was my friend. It was his idea. And that friend was Joey Salgado, one of the two.
00:59:08
Speaker
And as you would likely guess, Joey denies being involved in this home invasion. But simultaneously, Joey tried to make a deal with law enforcement while he was incarcerated awaiting trial for the robbery. And he says, listen, if I give you an eyewitness account of Sean's murder, will you drop the robbery charges?
00:59:34
Speaker
So an article in Times Herald Record by John Milgram and John Scavelli noted that Joey told them that he saw, so here's his account of Sean's murder. He says, I saw a local drug dealer, and side note, this is assumed to be Nelson, the Colombian drug dealer, stabbed Sean in the stomach.
00:59:59
Speaker
And Joey agrees to wear a wire and actually confront the drug dealer, like accuse him of Sean's murder and get this confession. So he wears the wire, but the drug dealer doesn't admit to anything. And since law enforcement, yeah, they don't get any confession from the drug dealer. Instead, they got an outright denial. So the district attorney is like, look, I'm not going to give you a deal.
01:00:27
Speaker
Like with the steel you're looking for, I'm not going to give it to you. You didn't get a confession. And a detail emerged during all of this that made Joey himself look even more guilty in Sean's murder. And that detail was that Joey used to wear steel-toed boots. And remember the police. The same that would have caused that in his head. Yes.
01:00:55
Speaker
Yeah, so law enforcement, they searched Joey's home. They find no steel-toed boots. They did collect some other items from his home. They sent it off for forensic testing. Nothing came back with any evidence. And in the meantime, Joey Salgado, because remember he's incarcerated a wedding trial for the robbery, his cellmate
01:01:17
Speaker
told the police that Joey had confessed to him that police would never be able to locate the steel-toed boots in question because he had left them with someone in Georgia. So here you get the jail cell snitch, right? So police actually looked into it. They traveled down to DeKalb County, Georgia to look for these boots.
01:01:44
Speaker
So I mean, they're using resources. They're really looking into this. And while they met someone there from Middletown who knew Joey, they were never able to locate the boots.
01:01:58
Speaker
So again, it looks like we have a lead and then it goes nowhere. Well, I think Joey has a lot of suspicion though. Yeah. Yes. He's a very suspicious character. I agree. Yes, very. Well, all three of the major players that we've discussed here, so Nelson, Joey Salgado, Eddie Devlin were after Sean's death in jail at some point. So Joey,
01:02:26
Speaker
in jail for the robbery, actually ran into Eddie Devlin, which was the other name that was given in the rumor as being involved. Times Herald reporter Julie Campbell detailed that Eddie was in jail for robbing a local motel. And Mr. Fig, too,
01:02:47
Speaker
was later sent to prison for parole violation. And Nelson was sent to prison in 1988. So like all of the people we've talked about, they're committing other crimes. Now, to be fair, robbery is very different. They're not stand-up citizens. Right. But robbery is very different than murder. I will say that. But. Yeah. Yeah. And was it armed robbery, or were they just robbing?
01:03:17
Speaker
The one, they did have weapons when the home invasion, because they were threatening to kill them. Yeah, so I mean, you're right. So they do have weapons. But I mean, clearly there's lots of possibilities to consider as responsible parties, and it was really hard to rule out any of them.
01:03:40
Speaker
And nearly a year after Sean's murder, so in December 1986, law enforcement at least tried to eliminate one of the rumors that of Sean's father, Melvin, being involved. So they're like, let's at least get this one off the table. Since his polygraph results were previously inconclusive, police polygraphed Melvin again.
01:04:04
Speaker
Well, this time they said, you know what? If you're exhausted from work, it can affect your polygraphic results. So take off work the day before, right? And the day of, get some good sleep. We're going to come pick you up. We'll take this polygraph again. The police show up at Melvin's home to take him for the polygraph exam. And Melvin nor his car were there.
01:04:35
Speaker
Neighbors. I know. And neighbors, they say Melvin never came home the night before. So police call Melvin's work and he actually answers the phone at work. And they said, you know, why aren't you home for the test? And he said, well, I had to work some extra hours, which is weird because he wasn't even supposed to be at work. And again, the results were inconclusive.
01:05:05
Speaker
but they had already told him that if you're tired, it can't affect your test. So he technically didn't fail.
01:05:12
Speaker
I know he was still tired. Maybe he purposely picked up the shift so he could would seem inconclusive again and be like, oh, I'm just a working man. My test is always going to be like this. I know. I don't know. And it doesn't make him look good. I don't see the motive that Melvin would have. I don't see a motive there, but like it doesn't make you look good, buddy. Right. Right. Was Melvin into drugs?
01:05:40
Speaker
I had that question too. I know. I didn't see any sources that even delved into that because I thought the same thing because I was like, did somebody hurt Sean because they're trying to get at Melvin?
01:05:57
Speaker
That was my curiosity. I was thinking that maybe Sean observed Melvin doing some shady stuff with the Colombian man, witnessed it. They're like, that's Melvin's boy. Get him. Sent the henchmen over with the steel boots to do their thing. And maybe that's why it's inconclusive because everybody kind of knows a little piece of the puzzle.
01:06:27
Speaker
Right. Yeah. Well, after Melvin's inconclusive polygraph, years actually pass before any substantial leads come in. That is until fall of 1992.
01:06:44
Speaker
when they hear that one, Timothy, yeah, there you go. When Timothy Fairweather, who was 15 when Sean was murdered, remember Sean was 14, Timothy might have some information. So when Timothy is brought in to the police station, he asks police, how much trouble would I get in
01:07:11
Speaker
if I didn't kill Sean, but if I was there and I held him down while other people did. You are an accessory. Thank you. Yes. Yes. But if you give us names, we won't charge you because they always make that deal. They always make that deal. But you have to give them names and testify against the other people. Yeah. Especially for all this time when Brian is the only lead that you have.
01:07:39
Speaker
Right. And the names of who he says committed the murder, according to documents from this discussion with police, were Eddie Devlin and Joey Salgado.
01:07:53
Speaker
So the same two names. Yes. A reporter for Times Herald Record, Tristan Corden, noted that Timothy, this is the guy who's brought in who gives the two names, told law enforcement that Eddie had called him to say that he was going to beat someone up who had messed with the business of a cocaine dealer.
01:08:15
Speaker
And that detail was also corroborated by reporter Oren Gray. So this is the story that Timothy is telling. He further told police that the three of them, so Timothy, the one who's giving the confession, Eddie and Joey, show up at the high school and that Sean shows up. But he didn't say how Sean got there.
01:08:38
Speaker
when he's giving this confession. But he says that Joey and Sean got into an altercation and then Sean took off running.
01:08:47
Speaker
Well, Timothy, Eddie, and Joey had run after him, obviously, around the school building. And he said that when Timothy finally caught up to Eddie and Joey, he said that they already had Sean pinned to the ground and were kicking him. And he said it was then that Joey brandished a knife.
01:09:11
Speaker
Well, police, they felt, you know, Timothy gave us information that only someone who was there that night would be able to provide. Absolutely. Absolutely. While that is true, there are still a few gaps. So for example, in his account, he doesn't tell how Sean got there. We know he didn't know he could have taken a cab to
01:09:34
Speaker
a place nearby and then walked. But it also, in his description of the events, it doesn't explain how blood got in places nearly 200 feet from Sean's body. Because in his account, they're just chasing him around the school building when it appears as though the crime scene is a much wider, larger area. Yeah.
01:10:03
Speaker
Did they release that to the public? Because I remember you were talking about earlier that it did appear that there was a chase at the crime scene. So that would, but I don't know if they reported that when they were reporting the case. Not that I saw, no. And so I think that's why they were like, OK, I think this guy was there because he's saying that there was a chase. And like we said, I mean, there were spots around the school where there's droplets of blood, other places where it's pooled. So, yeah, that part.
01:10:33
Speaker
An article by Julie King reported that Eddie had actually, in the meantime, by the time, you know, because we're years later now, Timothy comes forward with this information. Eddie was in Florida. He had moved there after he got out of jail for the hotel robbery and he was working as a mechanic. And after Timothy implicating Eddie in the crime, police actually went down to Deltona, Florida to find him.
01:11:02
Speaker
And Eddie reportedly began laughing when he turned around and he sees police, not because, you know, he's just that cocky, but because he said, like, it was almost comical that he kept proclaiming his innocence. And here is the police again and again coming after him. Well, this time
01:11:23
Speaker
They also want Eddie to implicate Joey in order to quote unquote prove Timothy's claim right that it was the two of them involved. Eddie refuses to implicate Joey and he said something to the extent of how can I give you details when I wasn't there.
01:11:41
Speaker
Now I'm going to go back to the polygraph test, those pesky polygraphs that like we trust, we don't trust, don't know. Eddie was given a polygraph. The polygraph examiner said it was his opinion that Eddie passed, that he was telling the truth. Joey Salgado given a polygraph test in jail also passed.
01:12:03
Speaker
So then, of course, we're left with this Timothy Fairweather like could he be saying somebody else did it and it's because he did it. And so he's blaming other people. Right. You know, so he's the one who and these are names that he's heard for years. So it's like easy to pinpoint when you've heard the rumors.
01:12:22
Speaker
for this long period of time and over this span of years. And you're like, actually, I can't live with this guilt anymore, but I'm going to point the finger at the two people that keep getting brought up in this case. And I'm going to, you know. Yeah. Yeah. So he had already at this point written a confession stating that he was an accessory to the murder. And
01:12:42
Speaker
And since Timothy was a juvenile at the time, you know, he was 15, the sentence that he was facing for the charge of second-degree murder, it was between 9 and 25 years. But Timothy actually changed his story before trial. Now, he told his lawyer, he argued that, well, I only confessed because I felt like if I told police what they wanted to hear that they would release me.
01:13:13
Speaker
So now he's saying, you know, that confession I made, yeah, it was false. But didn't he willingly go into the police station? Like didn't he come? Well, they, yes, they heard rumors that he knew something. And so police asked him if they could, you know, if he would come in for, you know, a discussion or whatever, and he does.
01:13:36
Speaker
So Timothy's lawyer argued, no, because obviously this was also in the day before confessions and interrogations are videotaped. So his lawyer says, was this confession coerced? Because there's no proof. And I struggle with this a lot with interrogations.
01:14:01
Speaker
because it's so easy that you can influence an answer that someone gives. And so since we don't have the video evidence, it's hard to prove whether Timothy said the names Eddie and Joey, or whether police suggested those names to him.
01:14:21
Speaker
That's what Timothy's lawyer is arguing. And additionally, and this is a fact that's hard to get around, Timothy's mother said that he couldn't have taken part in Sean's murder because Timothy was in a youth home at the time and a youth home that was over an hour away from Middletown, New York.
01:14:44
Speaker
And a youth home where there are hourly nighttime checks to make sure that everybody who's there is in bed. And they do some digging. And the night of January 15th into the morning of the 16th, the report says that Timothy was there all night.
01:15:01
Speaker
which means he couldn't have been there to witness Sean's murder. Which means it was definitely coerced. They were like, just give us these two and you can, you know, you can go. Yep. And who knows how long that interview was. He was probably like, I just want to get out of here. Right. And he also was given a polygraph and passed it.
01:15:21
Speaker
Now, unfortunately, despite all of the advances of DNA over the years, the evidence in Sean's case is plagued with issues too. So first, the clothes, the blood wasn't fully dried, which is one of the things that you have to do before you're preserving evidence, before they were placed in plastic bags, which is also a no-no. So the clothes had grown mold and mildew.
01:15:47
Speaker
So, you know, yeah. And second, there hadn't been a clear chain of custody for the evidence that had been collected. So multiple issues are plaguing Sean's case. And the department did still send a lot of those items away to see if anything could be usable from it. But I didn't read about any results. So I don't know if any of it was still usable.
01:16:14
Speaker
And you also said that the high schoolers were out just like roaming the crime scene looking for things. So there's no telling what they contaminated. Right. Yeah. And sadly, Cynthia, Shawn's mom told reporters that a lot of the leads that had been given to her and to law enforcement over the years had been just that stories.
01:16:38
Speaker
She told a Times Herald record reporter, Oliver Maxin, that quote, a lot of people brought stories to me and a lot of people, it turned out that were just mad at their neighbor and they just wanted the police to harass their neighbor. End quote. That is the dumbest thing I've ever heard of. I mean, how sad is that? I know. Wow. Yep. Is this a nice shout? Exactly.
01:17:05
Speaker
Exactly. Just because you manage your neighbor, you don't play around when it comes to this mother finding out who did this to her child. I don't care how mad you are at that neighbor. I don't care if his dog pooped on your lawn every day and you step in it every morning. You don't play around with justice for that baby.
01:17:28
Speaker
Now, before I ask for your opinions on the theories, and which sounds the most plausible to you, I did want to share with you one final detail. And again, I did not read this in any of the news articles that I read in the Times Herald record, only in the crime junkie coverage of the case. But I do think it's significant enough that I wanted to share it with you. But according to them, Cynthia used to have a notebook
01:17:55
Speaker
in which she kept record of every rumor, every story, every detail, every speculation that anyone told her about Sean's murder, about what happened to her baby boy. Someone broke into her home
01:18:13
Speaker
And the only thing they stole was that notebook out of her filing cabinet. And so that detail of them taking it from her filing cabinet almost makes me think that it's someone close to her or to the family because they knew where she kept the notebook, right? But who had something that they wanted to keep secret? So Brooke and Ashley, what are your thoughts?
01:18:44
Speaker
Um, I would, I would love to know who she told about the notebook, who was aware of the notebook, who was aware of where exactly it was. And I'm curious. But if this person, see, this is where I'm torn because if this person was close to them, then that person wouldn't be written in the notebook. Right. Hmm.
01:19:13
Speaker
because I feel like unless she's like, let me tell you this rumor I heard that they think that you killed Sean, ain't that crazy? And I wrote it in my notebook just cause you know, that's where I keep all my things in my notebook. And this wacky, that's the only, but I feel like she would remember who she had that conversation with in order to be like, this is the person. Right. Cause when it disappears, yeah. Well, I just told this person about it. Yeah.
01:19:44
Speaker
So I think there's definitely a connection to the stolen notebook and to who's done it. So I would just like to know who knew about the notebook and were there names written in the notebook? Right. In some capacity. That's what I would like to know.
01:20:05
Speaker
I don't, I don't think that if you ask my opinion, I don't think that any of the drug rumors make sense to me. I really just, I don't, I mean, you're, you're 14. I'm not saying 14 year olds cannot be involved in stuff like that. I mean, I teach 14 year olds, but I just don't believe that that's, that's, that's the route that we need to take. I'm going to go back to what the family friend said.
01:20:31
Speaker
about there's two things that drive a 14 year old boy outside the house and it's his best friend or a girl. Yeah. And I'm sticking to, you know, one of us can keep a secret if the other one is dead. Okay. Pretty little liars. Okay. Yeah. See, here's the thing. I'm thinking, I don't have names. I'm just thinking,
01:20:54
Speaker
I'm thinking that it was one of his good friends and there's no evidence to prove any different. And we've seen it, friends kill friends. Unfortunately, we've seen it. We've covered cases about it. We've seen people kill their absolute best friends. And this person is going to take it to their absolute grave. And I would imagine that as soon as they graduated, they left. So who no longer lives there that can be tied to this town?
01:21:25
Speaker
you know, but who was probably also consoling the family. Cause they knew like these were my son's friends, blah, blah, blah, blah. And all the siblings seem to be somewhat close in age, not like too terribly close, but somewhat close in age. Whereas if I bumped into you years later, I could be like, Oh, how's your mom? You know, if I saw one of Sean's siblings, I could check in. And if I heard about this notebook,
01:21:53
Speaker
Because I'm sure her kid, I don't know. I think one person's involved and I think it's the theory that one person can keep a secret as long as the other one is dead. And I will say, I think Sean's mom has the same feeling that you do.
01:22:12
Speaker
So in an article in the Times Herald-Record by Lance Oliver, he spoke with Sean's mother, Cynthia Edwards. She was sitting at her kitchen table and she told him, quote, I'm just a mother and I lost my son and I hurt bad, end quote. And she also told Oliver that the only way they'll get to answers is if Sean's friends
01:22:41
Speaker
overcome the fear that they seem to still feel concerning Sean's death. She, like you said, obviously feels like at least one of them holds a key to unraveling the entire mystery because she noted that them overcoming their fear, well, quote, it's the only way we are ever going to find out what happened. End quote. Yeah.
01:23:12
Speaker
Yeah, they definitely, I feel like as your best friends, just being like, oh, he was scared and carrying a knife. They have to know more, in my personal opinion. I feel like he wouldn't just drop like, yo, I'm carrying around a knife because I'm scared. And I imagine that they would be like, well, who are you scared of, man? Like, we got your back. And I just don't imagine him being like, nah, it's cool, man. I got it handled. You know what I mean? Right. But also, what are you like?
01:23:41
Speaker
You're afraid, but then you're leaving the house against your mother's wishes when you don't do something like that. Right? Like Brooke said, with limited clothing, so you're going out. Who are you going to meet? Your friends. Because you're like, all right, they're my boys, you know, that maybe it was over a girl. It could be. It's also very rare though that
01:24:05
Speaker
Not saying impossible. Again, we've seen cases like this, but it is very rare that if, if hypothetically one of his friends did do this, uh, at such a young age that they haven't done it since. You know what I mean? Like it's very rare that you see people only act on one killing or one similar situation.
01:24:29
Speaker
If the other two boys that have been brought up multiple times, if they did this and this was their first murder, but then they went on to like rob houses, I feel like they still would have been killing people because hey, we've done it once, we got away with it for years, why not just keep killing people? So I don't know. That's a tricky one. But that book is the key. That book is the key and the friends are the key.
01:24:58
Speaker
Yeah, and I don't I don't know. I will just rob her of that book. Oh, right. Exactly. There's something in that book that has your name in it or some or your son's name or whoever's name. Your name is in the book. Yeah. Yeah. And I don't know if police have really looked
01:25:22
Speaker
as much into the notebook as they probably should, but I mean, I don't want to imply that they haven't done their due diligence because over the course of the investigation, police, they actually interviewed more than 450 people and many of them multiple times. So, I mean, they did put in the hours, they traveled various places, but
01:25:42
Speaker
I mean, it's just sad. It's just sad all around. And that reporter Lance Oliver, he ended his article with Cynthia's words saying, quote, he was an ordinary boy, 14 year old kid who was between being a boy and a man.
01:26:02
Speaker
But to me, he was special. Could you ask anyone out there reading this if they have anything, no matter how small, that could help this investigation to call police?" And I mean, to all of our listeners, I'm going to ask of you the same thing. I mean, if you know anything, even if you feel law enforcement has already heard it before,
01:26:25
Speaker
call them because the way you tell it might just add in what seems to you a minuscule detail, but it's important to the case. And if you don't have knowledge of this case, you still can do your part by sharing Sean's story. I mean, these families need to know that they're not alone.
01:26:45
Speaker
In closing, I too want to use Cynthia's words. These come from the Oliver Maxson article in the Times Herald record titled Fresh Hope in 1986 Killing that was published on January 11, 2002.
01:27:03
Speaker
Maxon details the struggles that Cynthia Edwards has faced, having to live a life with one foot in the present and quote, one foot in that world, end quote, obviously meaning the past. He goes on to quote Cynthia as saying, quote, I can't think of Sean past that age when he died. It just stopped there.
01:27:33
Speaker
I just can't get past that." Anyone with information about the murder of Shawn Edwards is asked to call the Middletown Police Department at 845-343-3151.
01:27:51
Speaker
Again, please like and join our Facebook page, Coffee and Cases podcast, to continue the conversation and see images related to this episode. As always, follow us on Twitter, at casescoffee, on Instagram, at coffee cases podcast, or you can always email us suggestions to coffeeandcasespodcastatgmail.com. Please tell your friends about our podcast so more people can be reached to possibly help bring some closure to these families. Don't forget to rate our show and leave us a comment as well. We hope to hear from you soon.
01:28:21
Speaker
Stay together. Stay safe. We'll see you next week.
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