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Episode 16: West Memphis Confidential · Crooked Tree: A West Memphis 3 Podcast

• Paul: Welcome to Crooked Tree, a West Memphis 3 podcast. Governor Jim Guy Tucker offered Friday to bring the weight of the state's law enforcement power to bear on the case. I hope that additional resources will assist local law enforcement to catch the person or persons responsible for this horrible crime, Tucker said in a statement. West Memphis police say they are being assisted by the Arkansas State Police, the Crittenden County Sheriff's Department, the Memphis Police Department, and the FBI. For now, West Memphis police have declined an offer of more detectives from the state police, Gitchell said, but he said he might accept the offer later. We've got fifteen people on this now, and if we get too many, we'll be tripping over each other, he said. Colonel Tommy Goodwin, commander of the state police, said he called West Memphis Chief of Police Bobby Sanders shortly after the bodies were discovered. I have offered everything, anything that we've got they can have. Bobby said they would call me if they need anything, Goodwin said. The department has twelve troopers and investigators assigned to the Eastern Arkansas District. We are an assisting agency. If they need something, we give it to them, Goodwin said. Hello, everybody, welcome back. My name is Paul Day, forensic geologist and victim advocate for Christopher Byers, and I'm here with Kristen Rich, criminologist and victim advocate for Christopher Byers as well. We've been doing a slow crawl through the West Memphis three case, and we appreciate everybody who's been listening in and we appreciate all the feedback we've been getting from you that have been listening. Kristen, how you doing? You ready to jump into this next little wrinkle of the case, which I think people are gonna be fascinated by? I am. I do find it very interesting and infuriating as well. So let's let's jump in and let's start by talking about that intro clip. We talked about that last week and we've we've replayed it for a reason. Inspector Gitchell, the West Memphis Police Department, were basically offered any and all assistance from any agency in the state, as well as the FBI, to help investigate this case. Yeah, you would think that they would be jumping at the offer for money, supplies, personnel, anything they can from the state, from the federal government. And instead they're kind of cherry picking who they're getting help from. And the one group that they seem to be almost bizarrely avoiding is the Arkansas State Police. The Arkansas State Police said we've got 12 people assigned to that area that are willing to help and they get full use of these people if they need them. And the response from Gitchell is, we'll accept it if we need it, but right now we'll be quote unquote tripping over each other. You got three dead children and you don't have a solid lead. You're reaching out to the FBI, but you're saying the Arkansas State Police, we're gonna go ahead and take a pass on that for right now. That doesn't make a whole lot of sense. And so we're gonna try and dig into this a little bit over what might be behind that decision taken by Gary Gitchell. This is a peek behind the curtain of what's going on, the climate at that time with both the West Memphis Police Department and the Crittenden County Sheriff's Office. We're gonna talk about some things that you probably don't know about what was going on in law enforcement at that time and also that continued beyond the time that this case concluded. And we think it's important because I don't know about all of you. Maybe Paul has a different opinion, but I think he would agree with me in that when we see police officers, elected officials, judges, whoever, we hold them to a higher standard. We expect them to uphold the law. We expect them to be of good moral character. We expect them to make good choices. And we're gonna find out that that didn't always happen. And it it's disappointing to me that we even have to have this episode. Yeah, one of the expectations you have of law enforcement is that they're gonna be beyond reproach. They're going to be doing everything in their duty to try to resolve these questions of not only this homicide, but all cases that come across their desk. Anything that they do, they're gonna be doing with integrity and with the public's best interests in mind. And unfortunately, we're going to discover that that's not necessarily the case, not with all of the West Memphis PD, but with certain elements within the West Memphis PD that was happening at the time these murders occurred. And hopefully you'll see some of the frustrations that we have when we're going through this. We see a name, we immediately say, ⁓ this is somebody that we know a little bit about. And so it's time to start pulling back that veil so you understand some of our internal frustration when certain names come up. I've actually tried to be really lenient where the police have been concerned so far in the investigation. I do have a significant amount of empathy and compassion for all of those officers working on this case because I can't imagine the horror. I've said it before, Paul has said it before. We know that a lot of them still struggle with the things they saw and the things they heard and the things they had to investigate to this day. And that is absolutely real. And what we're about to tell you doesn't take away from that. But at the same time, some of those same people were not making good choices. And they were not people that I would hold in high regard, certainly not as a police officer. A lot of what we're going to talk about on this episode has to do with a drug task force. And some of these names will sound familiar. We'll point them out as we go. But we are going to document this through a series of newspaper articles. So we're going to start with A high note. So enjoy that because it's gonna go downhill from there. We're gonna start with the West Memphis Evening Times on March 18th, 1992, in an article entitled City Narcotics Officers Promoted. And it says two West Memphis Police Department officers who direct the activities of the city's narcotics department have been promoted, according to Police Chief Bobby Sanders. Police Lieutenant Tony Miller has been promoted to captain, and Sergeant James Sudberry has been promoted to lieutenant. Miller directs the budgeting and interstate drug interdiction unit. Sudbury handles civil matters and investigations. Miller was appointed director of the City County Drug Task Force. So it does have some officers from a couple other places, but it's primarily West Memphis and Crittenden County. So that's what they're talking about, the City County. So you've heard the names of Captain Miller and Lieutenant Sudbury before. Yes, these two guys play a major role in the West Memphis three investigation, the investigation into the deaths of these three boys. Especially the name that comes up is Sudbury. Sudbury, as we've mentioned in previous episodes, has already been neck deep in investigating four teens that were spotted outside of Thelma Turner's property right next to Devil's Den on May the eighth and May the Ninth, specifically Carlos Seals, Billy Sanders, Jason White, and Kent Lynn. So he's deeply involved in this. Already. And so he's a big deal and somebody to keep an eye on. So if you're paying attention to any names in here, I would say Sudbury is the guy that you really want to anchor yourself to as somebody that you know and you're familiar with. And let's go ahead and say that some of the names that we read in here are not people we've talked about yet, but they are gonna be people whose names you hear as we go on in this case. So we're giving you a glimpse into what's happening, what will happen with these people during this investigation, beyond this investigation, so you can see what kind of character that they have. So you will hear a lot of these names pop up as we move through the investigation. All right, on February the tenth, nineteen ninety-three, in the West Memphis Evening Times, there is an article titled Local Task Force Named One of the Best. The US Department of Justice has named the West Memphis Crittenden County Drug Task Force, the top task force in Arkansas and one of the top rural task forces in the nation. Miller said the local task force was recognized for its success in the neighborhoods and for its success in the Interstate Interdiction Unit has had making seizures on the highways. The Interstate Interdiction Squad, composed of four officers, works in conjunction with the task force, but also watches for other violations for other crimes along Interstate 40 and 55. We have made headway with the drug problem since we started the task force, Miller said. In 1990, the drug problem really got out of hand on the southeast end of town. That was when crack started to get a footing in the town. During 1992, the Drug Task Force seized more than 1 million in cash, 74 vehicles, $4,925 in property, $81,075 in stolen property, and 37 guns. The Interstate Interdiction Squad has also seized more than $1 million in cash, 62 vehicles, $1,825 in property, $40,000 in stolen property, and 17 guns. The task force has seized two thousand one hundred and fifty two pounds of marijuana, six hundred and twenty one marijuana plants, five point five kilograms of cocaine, twelve point five ounces of crack, forty seven hundred hits of LSD, two point seven grams of methamphetamine, and two hundred and ninety-two tablets of various drugs. These guys are pulling down some serious confiscations, millions of dollars in cash, sixty-two vehicles, and then you put together the drug task force, which is the Crittenden County guys working together with Marion and West Memphis. These guys are pulling in another million dollars, seventy-four vehicles. What's really eye popping is the number of guns they're picking off the streets. Thirty seven guns for the drug task force, another seventeen guns coming from the interstate interdiction squad. So there's a large amount of property being confiscated. This is a very lucrative trade because this money is going to wind up going straight into the budgets of the drug task force. Yes. So they're doing great work. And this job does not come without serious, serious risks. There was a police officer who had been loaned to the Crittenden County West Memphis Drug Task Force. He'd been there just a few months and he ends up being murdered while working as an undercover officer for the drug task force. So we're talking about Clark White, who was discovered on January sixteenth. And it was reported widely on January seventeenth that he'd been found. He was killed. He was poisoned. They actually wound up capturing the two guys and prosecuting them. And we'll talk about that here in a moment a little bit. But this is a very dangerous situation. He'd been doing it for about three months and apparently his cover was blown and they killed him for it. So this is an extremely dangerous job these guys are pursuing. And in fact, he had told family members in the weeks prior that he wouldn't be surprised if he was going to suffer some type of harm, even death. As a consequence of this job, and sure enough, he was killed. So it's very dangerous. It is. And he'd been undercover for quite some time. These two guys that killed him had known him as an undercover agent and they knew him as Troy. And somehow these two guys figured out that he was undercover and they poisoned him. They poisoned him with a drug used to euthanize animals. What we find out is that Officer White used to work in animal control and he actually had some of this poison at his home. They found it, put it in his beer, and he drank it, and that is what killed him. And then they stole his undercover, unmarked police vehicle and drove it to Memphis. And that is how they tracked down these two suspects. And so just before We're gonna get into this case with our three victims, they've lost a member of their drug task force in a horrific way. But in this article that was published on May the fourth, nineteen ninety-three, so the day prior to our boys going missing, this article is published. At the end of this article. It says state troopers confirmed March fourth they were reviewing operations of the ten member task force, which is composed of officers from the Sheriff's Department and the West Memphis and Marion Police Departments. Yeah, this is a very interesting revelation that there is a ongoing investigation that started right at around February, March, something like that, where they're looking at the drug task force and it's in an article talking about Clark White's murder and death. So it's a very eye opening thing to happen right before these three boys go missing. And so there's a convergence that's happening here. And of course, who's on the drug task force? Well, that's Lieutenant James Sudbury and Captain Miller. Yeah. And they do state in the article Larry Gleghorn of the Arkansas State Police, who was investigating White's death, said there was no connection between his death and the state police investigation into the Crendac County drug task force. So You can believe that or not. What we do know is that there was a newspaper article that was confirmed to be on March fourth that talked about this investigation into the drug task force. It's not one that we have gotten from the archives, so we don't have it and we can't find it anywhere online, but we have confirmed that it exists and it does mention that the drug task force is being investigated by the state police at that time. So whatever generated the interest of the Arkansas State Police It's not really known. We'd have to dig into the investigative documents. Unfortunately, those are not also available online. But we know that it's probably associated with the death of Clark White. His passing away brings this attention. We have the newspaper article saying the Department of Justice is lauding their success. And somehow in the middle of this, there's this concern from the Arkansas State Police that things aren't the way that they oughta be. And so this is gonna open up a whole can of worms right around the time the three boys go missing. Two days later, on May the sixth, during the continued search for Christopher, Stevie, and Michael, you might recall that some officers were called away from searching near the crime scene to deal with drug task force matters. So the officer that was involved in executing the search warrant for the drug task force was Shane Griffin, which is a name that you have heard previously, but we'll bring him back up here to kind of refresh your memory on who he was. He was called away At about two o two in the afternoon on May the sixth. Now, where are we at two ⁓ two? Well, seventeen minutes prior is when Mike Allen is in the ditch and he lifts his foot up and Michael Moore floats up on his leg. So Michael Moore has been discovered for 17 minutes. The other two boys have not been found yet. They're in the ditch. So they have not begun that process of removing the bodies. Michael Moore is actually resunk back into the ditch at this point and he won't be recovered until two forty five. So just to kind of tell you where this is. Shane Griffin. Executes the search warrant at two ⁓ two and he does this until three twenty-three PM. Now at three twenty-three at this point, all three boys have been discovered. They've been removed and put onto the banks. Shane Griffin is now finished. And in fact, he provides testimony about his role in what happens next. And so here we have Shane Griffin's testimony about that event. Did you state your name and occupation for the jury? ⁓ Detective Griffin, I want to direct your attention to May the sixth, nineteen ninety three. ⁓ were you also with narcotics at that time? Yes, sir I was. What part did you play in the search ⁓ for the missing boys? ⁓ that morning around eight o'clock, ⁓ we came into work around eight. We were notified that there were ⁓ three young juveniles that were missing. ⁓ as soon as I arrived at work, I started searching for the juveniles. Where did you search? there's a area that they they thought they were possibly seen north of the interstate and it's a it's a wooded area there and I was ⁓ searching that area mainly on foot. All right. And ⁓ how long did did you search I believe your search was interrupted, is that right? Yes it was. I searched most of the morning. And your search was interrupted by having to go execute a search warrant. Yes. Unrelated to this. Yes, it was unrelated. Now after you returned from completing those duties, what did you do? just as we were finishing up the search warrant, ⁓ Inspector Gitchell called ⁓ my captain and informed us that they had found the ⁓ bodies of the victims. In response to that call, what did you do? ⁓ we were asked to ⁓ arrive at the scene to ⁓ assist the detectives in this on the scene, on the crime scene. Now did you play some part in the the recovery of the children's bicycles? Yes sir. Do you recognize those bicycles? Yes sir. And what do you recognize those bicycles to be? ⁓ those are the two bicycles that I pulled out of the boat. Now did you also later assist and take up the measurements for the crime scene diagram? sir I did. And What particular measurements did y'all take? ⁓ myself and Detective Durham ⁓ took measurements of the location where we found the ⁓ three victims in the bottle. Right. In addition to being the person that removed the bikes from the bayou, he's also the person that took the measurements for where the bodies were at the crime scene. So we have a pretty good idea of how far from certain trees certain bodies were, so we can reconstruct that on paper if need be. So Shane Griffin plays a major role. in this crime scene. So he's doing drug task force work and then he goes to the crime scene and does a bunch of work there too. So he's a big deal in both of these events. Also that week there was a statewide drug bust. On May the tenth, nineteen ninety three, in the West Memphis Evening Times, there was an article entitled Marion Cocaine Sting nets three kilos of drug. And they explained that there was an undercover operation. It started in Brinkley. Arkansas and moved from there to Blytheville and then ended up in Marion. And it was said to be the largest cocaine sting operation in Crittenden County history. And they said that when they moved the operation to Marion on Friday morning, they arrested a man when he attempted to sell three kilos of cocaine to an undercover agent in a Marion motel room. So that happened on Friday of that week. So we're talking the day after. Our boys are discovered. The drug task force is taking down a man attempting to sell three kilos of cocaine in Marion. Yeah. So this massive triple homicide, which is making massive news nationwide has occurred, but the drug task force is still going full force. Shane Griffin is probably the person who was the undercover agent in this case or somebody very closely associated with him. ⁓ it just shows you how big a deal this is. Like they're not slowing down. And they're gonna go and confiscate a hundred and thirty-five thousand dollars in cash and property due to these warrants. It's a big deal what these guys are doing. But remember, there's this specter of this Arkansas State police investigation that is over their heads. And it's at this time that Gary Gitchell gives his interview where he says, Quote, We've got fifteen people on this now, and if we get too many, we'll be tripping over each other. End quote. And this is in response to the question as to why is he declining help? From the state police. I can do the math. Yeah, it doesn't seem to be a coincidence to me. He's got people investigating some of his men, and the last thing he wants to do is have them working side by side with them and exacerbating that investigation against those people. That's what it looks like to me. That's my thing. I agree. That is exactly what it looks like. So in that one week, we've got the newspaper talking about an officer on the drug task force who was murdered, the fact that there is an ongoing police investigation into the drug task force. We have three little eight-year-old boys missing and then found brutally murdered and we have a huge cocaine bust. It's a very, very busy week for all of these members of law enforcement and especially the drug task force. And you know it's gonna be an incredibly stressful week. There's public scrutiny that's building up over the drug task force. There's in the middle of this a massive triple homicide. For which the drug task force members are playing a major role in the investigation. Shane Griffin is removing the bikes. He's on the drug task force. James Sudbury is on the task force and he's interviewing Carlos Seals and his friends that weekend. And we're not done with him. He plays a major role in the investigation of somebody else. That is a big deal in this case. So we're not done. And they're in the middle of this, still confiscating $135,000 in cash. This is an incredibly big operation that they are running there along that corridor. So we're gonna fast forward a little bit and we're sticking with this investigation of the drug task force. We're gonna go to November 11th, 1993. In the West Memphis Evening Times, there's an article entitled, No Charges to Be Filed in DTF Probe. This is a long article, but it contains a lot of information that we think you should know. So we're gonna read the thing in its entirety. West Memphis Evening Times, no charges to be filed in DTF probe. So DTF is Drug Task Force. That's important to know. Officers of the West Memphis Crittenden County Drug Task Force took confiscated guns and other property for their personal use, and the unit maintained a petty cash fund for which no records were kept, according to a report of an Arkansas State police investigation into the unit's operations. So it's important to note that we're talking about guns, cash, and the Arkansas State Police. None of the actions by DTF officers or personnel constitute criminal conduct. First Judicial District prosecuting attorney Brent Davis said in a letter to DTF board members. Now, those of you that know the case, remember that name, Brent Davis. He is a big deal in the things to come. He will return as a prosecuting attorney in our case. The next line actually identifies somebody as Hunter, but we actually know that this is Davis. This is just a mistake in the article. Davis said the DTF practices, quote, Demonstrate a lack of good judgment, as well as a lack of proper administration and regulation of the day-to-day operation of the task force. He recommended the task force board hire an administrator, keep tighter control over confiscated property, and do away with its petty cash fund. Captain Tony Miller, commander of the task force, said Wednesday the petty cash fund no longer exists, and that more stringent policies have been implemented over the assignment of confiscated weapons to DTF officers. The report is unclear as to how much money. moved through the petty cash fund, but statements included in the Arkansas State Police investigative file indicate it could have been as much as $1,000. The fund was closed out in March of this year, with its balance of $79.25 turned over to the County Treasurer's Office. Money in the Petty Cash Fund came from payments made for the towing and storage of cars impounded during drug arrests. Drug Task Force Secretary Donna Kane told Arkansas State Police investigators When the payments were made in cash, they often were not issued receipts and the cash was put in the fund. All the drug task force officers had access to the fund, Miss Kane said. So just as a side note, cash going in, no receipts, can't account for anything. $79.25 was all they had. You could see that this is going to raise alarms. Miller told investigators the fund was used to buy coffee and miscellaneous supplies for the office and as a flower fund. The majority of other allegations investigated by the Arkansas State Police involve the use of firearms by officers, several of whom traded or loaned the weapons to other officers or civilians. According to the report, most, if not all, the guns have either been returned to the task force evidence locker or are being used by the officers to whom they have been assigned. So the weapons aren't where they need to be. They're being used for personal use or they're being quote unquote traded. I don't know how you could trade something you don't own, but that's what they're doing. Among the guns mentioned in the report was a nine millimeter Smith and Wesson pistol given to Circuit Judge David Burnett of Osceola three or four years ago by officers who are now assigned to the drug task force. Burnett, who was questioned about the guns by Arkansas State Police Sergeant Mike Davidson, did not name the officers who gave him the gun, but said it was prior to the task force being organized. He said the presentation was made at a law enforcement barbecue held at the West Memphis police firing range. So David Burnett is another name you need to know, like Brent Davis. David Burnett is going to be the trial judge in the upcoming prosecutions for this case. He is a very big deal and will play a massive role in this case from beginning all the way until roughly 2010. Okay. Just to recap that last part you read. This is before the drug task force existed, a nine millimeter Smith and Weston pistol was confiscated from somebody. because they had it illegally or committing a crime with it or whatever the case may be, was taken into evidence, then it was given to Judge Burnett at a barbecue at the police firing range. Did I get that right? That's what the article's saying. Okay. If you're a police officer or you're married to a police officer, or you love a police officer, your child's a police officer, let us know if this is common practice. I've never heard of this, confiscating guns and giving them out at barbecues, but Maybe that's an accepted practice. If it is, please let us know. I would like to hear about that. So the article goes on. Burnett further stated that if the weapon was a seized weapon, he would assume that the weapon had been converted to law enforcement use and and simply issued to him for use through his job as circuit judge for that area, Davidson's report says. Well being a judge it's a dangerous job. I don't have a problem with a judge carrying a weapon at all. I hope most of them do. But I have a problem with a judge carrying a confiscated weapon that isn't properly logged and is unaccounted for. So we have a whole bunch more guns to continue talking about here. Other guns in question include a forty caliber Glock semi-automatic pistol forfeited to the task force by court order and assigned to Officer Tony Bradley. Bradley traded the weapon to James Wilson, another DTF officer, for another gun in $150 cash, the report said. So these guys are making money off these transactions. A 38-caliber Smith Wesson revolver assigned to Officer Mickey Thornton and either given or loaned by Thornton to his father. Another allegation against Thornton involved $33 in cash confiscated by Thornton during a drug raid last fall that had never been turned in. Thornton told investigators he found that money when he was moving his office from the DTF office to the Crittenden County Courthouse last May and turned it in then. So they found. That he had not turned in $33. And he says, ⁓ I found the $33 when I was moving my office. Miraculously. A nine millimeter pistol, a 44 caliber black powder handgun, and a 357 Magnum revolver used by Officer Barry Davis. Davis said he had turned in the 44 caliber, which he had taken home, quote, to see if I would like it, end quote. And the 357, but he was still carrying the nine millimeter. The next gun is a 389 Walther, that police records had listed as having been destroyed, that was being used by Bradley along with a nine millimeter pistol, Bradley told investigators he had confiscated during a drug stop, and then traded to Officer George Blair. It continues. A 22 caliber rifle, a 25 caliber pistol, and a nine millimeter pistol given to Miss Kane, so Miss Kane is the secretary of the DTF, by Lieutenant James Sudbury. There's that name again. Deputy Task Force Commander. So he's somebody that should know better. Miss Kane also had a radio, a cooler, and a purse that had been confiscated and given her by Sudbury, the report said. All that property has been returned, the report said. So that's an unusual collection of things to be giving somebody, right? A radio, a cooler, and a purse for which you don't own. Along with three guns. And three guns. Interesting. The next one is a three eighty caliber pistol loaned by Miller to Dickie Powell, an employee of the West Memphis Utility Department. For Powell's wife's protection while Powell was out of town. So it's not even kept in the locker for West Memphis PD. It's now going to the utility department. To his wife. To his wife, yeah. A 22 caliber Ruger semi-automatic rifle, as well as a telephone answering machine, a radar detector. We talked about radar detectors last time, right? They weren't legal in the area at the time, yet they've got one. A $300 fishing rod and reel and a refrigerator used by Sudbury. Sudbury said he borrowed the refrigerator while his refrigerator was being repaired, and said he purchased the answering machine at the DTF auction of confiscated property last spring. The answer machine and rod and reel were given by Sudbury to his children, the report says. Where's the radar detector? Yeah. In his car. Are police allowed to have radar detectors if they're illegal in their personal vehicle? That's a good question. Or did he sell it? I don't know the answer. The auction was the source of part of the money kept in the petty cash fund as well, according to the report. Arkansas State Police Investigator Dale Arnold's notes indicate the auction in November nineteen ninety-two raised twenty six thousand one hundred and seventy-six dollars from the sales of vehicles turned over to the DTF, another eight hundred dollars from the sale of miscellaneous items. And all they turned over was seventy-nine dollars and twenty-five cents. I don't know what kind of rules they have. They're obviously supposed to keep track of money going out and coming in. They should obviously be keeping track of evidence seized during their work. Like I said, I don't know if this moving around of weapons in particular is normal on a drug task force. Please let us know. I have not heard of this, but it may be a common practice. It doesn't sound like it to me, and it sounds like it was certainly questioned by the Arkansas State Police that there are all of these weapons that are moving around and not just between police officers. You got a judge, you got a utility department, you got the wife of the guy at the utility depart. I mean, you got all kinds of people with weapons that probably shouldn't have access to weapons. I don't know. Well, they're confiscating millions of dollars and over a hundred vehicles between the squad and the task force. So what's a couple of guns here? You know, a couple of trinkets here, nobody would ever miss it. It feels like there's some skimming going on. It feels very, very problematic. And people being alleged To possibly be benefiting from this skimming include judges, include the people running the task force, friends of the task force. And it looks like the prosecuting attorney is turning a blind eye to it, saying, Hey, you know, we don't really like them doing it, they're making some bad calls, but we're gonna just move on. Yeah, and another article on November 15th, 1993, they're talking about the fact that they're not gonna be disciplined, but they do list the names of the people that were under investigation by the Arkansas State Police. They list those as Mickey Thornton, Marion policeman James Wilson, Harry Davis, Tony Headley, Task Force Director, Captain Tony Miller, and Lieutenant James Sudbury, all of the West Memphis Police Department. So that's quite a few members of the task force under scrutiny at that time. Then we get to hear a little bit from the public. On November 17th, 1993, in the West Memphis Evening Times, there's an article entitled Court Air's Complaints About Drug Task Force. An appeal Tuesday to the Quorum Court by a local business owner to allocate some of the West Memphis Cretenden County Drug Task Forces more than one million dollars to hire additional officers evoked adverse comments about the unit from the justices of the peace. Mel Bearden brought petitions which he said contained signatures of a hundred people urging the justices to release money to get more help so the task force could expand its efforts in fighting drugs and drug related crimes. So we've had all these articles in the newspaper, it's public knowledge that the task force is being investigated, that there's something hinky going on with their seizures, the money, everything that they've taken in these drug busts. And these people say we want more of them. We want more drug task force members. He goes on to say, people are selling drugs right out in the public. We need to make life miserable for the criminals. Justice Horace couples of Horseshoe Lake pointed out that the drug unit ignored what the Quorum Court required of the task force in order for the justices to allocate additional money to higher personnel. Couples was referring to what the Justices of the Peace said is a lack of communication and other friction between the drug unit and the court. Do you think we should throw more money at them? commented Justice L D. Callan of West Memphis. People come up here with tears in their eyes. They have nobody to go to with complaints about the drug unit. So that's interesting. The business owners, they're seeing drugs taking over, like people selling drugs right out on the street in front of their businesses. It's hurting their livelihood. They want more people, more cops on the street getting rid of these criminals and these drugs that are infesting their town. And the justice of the peace are saying they're not doing what we told them to do, so we're not gonna allocate any more money for them. Yeah, the drug task force is not exactly got a great reputation with the quorum court, do they? No. They were Having some issues with communication and friction between the drug unit and the court. There's also some friction between Crendon County and West Memphis, in particular, both of which comprise members of the task force. So on November 18th, 1993, again in the West Memphis Evening Times, they talk about what is going to happen to the drug task force. It says noting That it is best for everybody concerned. West Memphis Mayor Keith Ingram said Wednesday the city will cease being a part of the Crittenden County's drug task force as of next February first. So that's February first, nineteen ninety-four. They're going to be separated. There are some things that happened that bothered us, which we're concerned about. Yeah, that's an understatement. A whole bunch of cash and weapons and people winding up with purses and petty cash not showing up anywhere. It's just bizarre that this drug task force has Brought kind of a scotch to the reputation of the city. And the city is deciding to separate themselves off from everybody else. Yeah. The article goes on to say the task force is commanded by Captain Tony Miller and its number two man is Lieutenant James Sudbury. Ingram, remember that's the mayor. Ingram has expressed concern about a current Arkansas State Police investigation of an incident involving several task force officers. Who allegedly used racial slurs and is accused of physically abusing a sixteen year old West Memphis high school student. So the situation just keeps getting worse and worse and worse. We just have these little bits that are coming out in these newspaper articles. And one of the things we've realized it's kind of like the iceberg. We're just seeing the tip of what's going on here. Why are they harassing a sixteen year old West Memphis high school student? Who knows? But this is the type of allegation that is going to be made later on in the West Memphis three case. about some of the conduct of these guys harassing people that are under the age of eighteen about this crime. Right. So as the article said, so February first, nineteen ninety four, they're gonna become two separate entities. They're all gonna go to their respective police departments and they're gonna do their drug busts from those different departments. On March twentieth, nineteen ninety four, there is an article in the Evening Times entitled Narcotics Officers Transferred to Patrol. The six officers in the West Memphis Police Department Narcotics Unit have been transferred to uniformed patrol positions, effective today, according to Police Chief W.A. Wren. Captain Tony Miller, who commanded the Joint Task Force as well as the city unit, will become as patrol shift commander and the other officers will assume uniformed duties as well, Wren said. Inspector Stanley Nichols will take over as temporary commander of the narcotics unit, Wren said. Names of the other officers who will work with narcotics have not been announced. The transfers involve no demotions and have nothing to do with an investigation into the drug unit's operations that were conducted earlier this year by the Arkansas State Police, Ren said. The Arkansas State Police investigated the disappearance of several pounds of marijuana from the narcotics unit's evidence locker, Deputy Prosecutor James C. Hale Jr. said. A similar investigation into the activities of the Joint Task Force two years ago resulted in no criminal charges, but was critical of some officers who used drug confiscated property for personal reasons. Most of the improprieties involved the use of confiscated weapons, although the lack of proper bookkeeping on the unit's petty cash fund was criticized as well. Besides Miller, patrolman Charlie Dabbs, Shane Griffin, George Blair, Lacey Robinson, and Sergeant Tony Bradley are all being reassigned. Nichols, who was promoted to inspector last September, has spent his West Memphis police career in the uniformed division and has never worked in either detectives or in narcotics. But Wren said the lack of experience in drug enforcement should not be a problem. I am also going to make a recommendation that there be a limit on how much time a person spends in the narcotics unit, Chief Wren said. The transfers, Wren said, are aimed at getting crime in West Memphis back under control. Quote, crime is just so heavy in the city, we've got to get crime under control. We're not shutting down the drug unit, we're just transferring new personnel in, he said. So we're gonna make a bunch of changes. It has nothing to do with any investigation that's been going on by the Arkansas State Police. We're just moving everybody around. Yes. And they bring up Charlie Dabbs. Charlie Dabbs is another person that plays a role of the investigation that we're going to be covering in the upcoming episodes. Yes, they mention Shane Griffin here again, Captain Nichols, who was on duty on May the sixth when they were searching for the boys. And then he was promoted. after that in September of nineteen ninety three, and then he has now been made the commander of the newly formed West Memphis Drug Unit, although he has never worked in detectives or a drug unit. Apparently none of those things have anything to do with the Arkansas police investigation. And maybe this doesn't either, but we find out on May seventeenth, nineteen ninety four, from a headline in the newspaper that says, Gitchell resigns job as head of detectives. West Memphis Police Department's chief of detectives, Gary Gitchell, has resigned from his position, Mayor Keith Ingram confirmed this morning. He confirmed Gitchell has left to take a position with a private security agency in Memphis. Gitchell was promoted to inspector a little more than a year ago after the retirement of Inspector Mickey Miller. Sanders and Lieutenant Sudbury, who most recently had been deputy commander of the joint West Memphis Crittenden County Drug Task Force, is serving as interim head of the detective division and as public information officer for the department. So Inspector Gary Gitchell decides to resign about a year after the three boys were murdered. And in the interim, Lieutenant James. Sudbury, who has been a focus of this Arkansas State Police investigation over the last few years, has been named the interim head of the detective division and public information officer for the department. He has assumed Inspector Gary Gitchell's role at the West Memphis Police Department. Yeah, that's pretty eye opening. So Gary Gitchell, of course, is the one that is running the entire police investigation. He's in charge of all of this stuff. And Lieutenant James Sudbury who is fresh off this investigation where there are allegations of misconduct for which he was not prosecuted is now running the show. And let's be fair for just a second, just because someone has the finger pointed at them doesn't mean they're guilty, right? Innocent until proven guilty. Yeah, he was never prosecuted. I think the most relevant questi well, there's a couple here. One, it's very public knowledge. He's mentioned in every article over the last several months about this police investigation and he's got to have Police officers respect him, respect his command, follow his orders, believe that he's making the best decisions possible in whatever case we're talking about. And two, he's the inspector. He's holding a very high-ranking position in the police department. His name has been splashed across the news and the newspaper, and the public is supposed to trust him. So whether he's guilty or not, there's a perception that he's in with these guys on the drug task force and he may. possibly be guilty of something. And now he's in this position where he has to have the trust of other officers and the public. Well hopefully he'll clean this thing up and there won't be any more issues with the drug task force. Let's see about that. All right, we're gonna go forward several years. Okay. The drug task force is still being investigated. This time by the FBI. So we're gonna go to May twelfth, two thousand and two in the commercial appeal. There is an article titled FBI Checks Drug Task Force for Signs of Cash Skimming. This is also a very long article with a lot of information in it, but we're gonna read it to you. I'll read part and then Paul can finish it. All right, federal law enforcement officials are looking into whether interstate drug interdiction officers in Crittenden County and West Memphis have skimmed cash seized from couriers along the lucrative quote money route, end quote, through the Mid South crossroads. West Memphis police personnel records indicate the FBI was investigating drug interdiction operations on the interstate highways well before three West Memphis drug enforcement officers were fired last year. We'll get to that in a second. Crittenden County interstates have been the source of more than 5.4 million in cash ceased from suspected drug couriers in the past several years, records show. One focus of the probe is whether officers helped themselves to some of that money. Federal officials would not confirm whether a Little Rock grand jury investigation is underway. But West Memphis police chief Robert Powder says he assisted in the federal probe after going to the FBI with his suspicions more than a year ago. Records indicate he wanted to know whether officers had planted evidence in order to make some cases. And Crittenden County's sheriff Dick Busby says he's aware some of his deputies are under suspicion, but he won't say more than that. Arkansas state police investigation in the early nineteen nineties turned up some wrongdoing involving seized evidence and sloppy record keeping involving an earlier version of Crittenden County's drug task force. At the time, a few rifts were slapped, including those of two of the three recently fired West Memphis police officers and a sheriff's deputy still working in the interstates. But prosecuting attorney Brent Davis elected not to file charges in nineteen ninety-three, records indicate. During a lengthy county audit of the old task force, which was composed of officers from Marion, West Memphis, and the Sheriff's Department, the Sheriff and West Memphis police went their separate ways and now work the highways independently. Almost a decade later, federal authorities are now looking closely into the highway interdiction effort that fuels the legal forfeiture of cash, guns, and cars. In some cases, they're looking at the lifestyles and purchases of drug officers whose salaries are in the low $30,000 range. The interstate turkey chute has always been lucrative. Cops say that if you want to find drugs, stop the suspicious eastbound traffic. If you're looking for money, check for Texas or California plates heading home. Almost every asset forfeiture case in circuit court in Crintenden County involves couriers with Spanish surnames who have signed prepared forms disavowing knowledge of the contraband police found in their searches. Because they say they don't know where the money came from. The drivers are often given only traffic citations for whatever offense was the pretext for the stop, and they're on their way, leaving the cash behind. In Crittenden County, which produces a lion's share of seized cash for the state, arrests and convictions of the cash couriers for drug offenses are secondary. If pursued at all, they want the money. ⁓ James Sudbury said in his pre-termination interview with Mayor Bill Johnson last October, quote, our main objective has been to put money in the bank, and I was doing that as best I could. His own bank? Court files in Marion indicate that in the past thirteen months, deputy prosecuting attorney James C. Hale, the third, has filed lawsuits seeking to forfeit eighty-eight automobiles, a few firearms, and five hundred and four thousand seven hundred and fifty nine dollars in cash to the Crittenden County prosecuting attorney's office. The automobiles, including tractor rigs, fancy sports cars, and luxury SUVs, are used in undercover work or sold at auction. Crittenden County received $551,210 in forfeiture funds last year. Crittenden County has been responsible for a little more than half. $5.43 million out of ten point eight two million of the cash seized statewide since January 2000, in one high profile 1999 case that went to the Arkansas Supreme Court. Lawyers for the State Highway and Transportation Department fought local prosecutors over three point one million seized at a Crittenden County way station. The availability of that kind of money has always raised suspicions. Powdert said officers came to him with their concerns shortly after he became police chief in nineteen ninety nine. Powdert is the former head of Metro Narcotics under the late Shelby County Sheriff Jack Owens and a former police chief in Bartlett. He was too new to West Memphis to know whom he could trust, he said. So he took his concerns to the FBI. So now we know how this came to the FBI's attention. From the police chief. From the chief of police, turning in his own people. Powdert said he can't say much about those concerns except that they involved, quote, money missing from the interstate, end quote. He said he lent his assistance to the federal probe when requested. West Memphis personnel records involving the three fired officers. shed some light on that investigation. A transcript of an interview with Sudbury quotes Powdered as saying, quote, as I told others, we don't know where that investigation is going. As I told you before, it's kind of a one-way street. They tell us what they want us to know. An FBI sting operation involving forty five thousand dollars in counted money, quote, seized by West Memphis patrolman Joseph Applegate on Interstate 40 last March led to his firing, according to a transcript of a pre-termination conversation Applegate had last August with Powder. Applegate's official report of his broken taillight traffic stop as well as a forfeiture lawsuit on file in Marion indicate marijuana was found with the cash, making it subject to forfeiture under state law. But Powder said the FBI assured him the pickup and cash were clean and did not contain a trace of marijuana. Quote, the local FBI agents and assistant U.S. Attorney Dan Stripling Have verified that there was no marijuana residue in the bed of the truck used in this operation, according to a September 7th memo from Powdert to Mayor Johnson. Interestingly, the forfeiture lawsuit, filed by the son of long-term deputy prosecutor James C. Hale Jr., in connection with that seizure, seeks the forty-five thousand dollars. But it says a different figure, $107,785, was found in close proximity to the marijuana that evidently never existed. So they're making up the drugs in order to justify the taking of the money. Right. They're taking the cash and what they're claiming they're turning in is a different amount than what was taken from the vehicle. So they can pocket the difference. Applegate also gave what were apparently undercover FBI agents driving the pickup a receipt for an undetermined amount of cash that violated the department's policy of counting the money and making out a receipt for the exact amount seized. So here we've got a big wrinkle in this, the FBI did a sting on the officers and busted ⁓ In October, Mayor Johnson concurred in Podart's decision to fire Applegate. Well, of course you gotta fire him. Sudbury, then head of the Department's narcotic officers, and highway interdiction sergeant Tony Bradley, all three were accused of failing to follow departmental policy on handling seized cash. West Memphis police officer Sudbury Bradley and a Sergeant Griffin are mentioned in a footnote To the City of West Memphis's annual audit for 1996 after auditors said $5,267 of $246,900 confiscated that year never made it to the bank. City attorney David C. Peoples said that the city's surety bond coverage wasn't used to make up the difference because no charges were filed concerning the loss. Then Sergeant Shane Griffin is now a deputy working the interstates. The FBI has searched the homes of both Applegate and Bradley according to their lawyers. Agents also surveyed their property holdings according to the county assessor of property Bill Eddings. Those records show Bradley, who made $34,800 a year, owns a home valued at $159,350, two 2002 Jeeps together valued at $43,000, a 2002 Harley Davidson motorcycle valued at $17,250. And a 1999 Camaro worth $12,550. Applegate, who has since relocated to Oklahoma, but made thirty thousand eight hundred and sixty four dollars as a West Memphis patrolman, has a twenty-one thousand one hundred dollar Chevy Silverado and a fourteen thousand five hundred dollar Harley, along with a Mitsubishi eclipse. Prosecuting attorney Brent Davis said he is aware of an investigation going on in Crittenden County, but has not been kept apprised of its progress. Davis declined to pursue theft of property charges against Sudbury Bradley, Sheriff's Drug Task Force Coordinator Mickey Thornton, Deputy Barry Davis, and several others after the 1993 state police probe in which the Drug Task Force officers were listed in police reports as quote suspects. In a letter, Prosecutor Davis told the task force directors that what he discovered demonstrated lack of good judgment and probably violated departmental policies regarding forfeited evidence was But did not constitute criminal activity. Eddings said FBI officials also sought information about the real estate and personal property of some Crittenden County deputies. Both deputies Shane Griffin and Barry Davis still work the interstates, Busby confirmed last week. So we've got these officers who are being paid a modest amount living well beyond their means. operating sting and you pull their truck over and you seize their cash and you give them a receipt with no amount on it, you might get fired. Yeah, it was bad. I mean they walked right into it and got busted. Yeah, it's it's not looking good. And it's some of the deputies' names are different 'cause people rotate in and out of these drug task force, but we got a lot of the same names over and over and over again, under suspicion, being investigated by the police, by the FBI. It's amazing to me that they lasted that long. And I don't know if that's because the prosecuting attorneys were friends with them and just didn't want to prosecute them and assumed that they were just making bad judgments, but they had no ill will or they're just turning a blind eye. I don't know how it went on this long. Well, it's gonna get worse. It is gonna get worse. Just based on some of the names that have come up ⁓ in these last couple articles, I found another article that was semi-related about how dangerous it is to be on this drug task force. And I'm simply only bringing it up for that reason and because you will recognize some of the names. Briefly what happened is in May 2010, ⁓ Officer Evans of the West Memphis Police Department was in pursuit of a vehicle called for backup. The person who responded for backup was actually the son of the West Memphis Police Department's chief. And that was Sergeant Brandon powdered. What happens is they pull this car over. It's a father-son in the vehicle. They end up getting out. They have AK-47s. They shoot at these two officers, hitting them and killing both of these officers. Other officers are en route. The guys jump back in the car. They take off they are chased. They are stopped. When they get out there's an exchange of gunfire with these two suspects. And there were two officers who were critically wounded. during that exchange, and that was Crittenden County Sheriff Dick Busby, who we've mentioned several times in these last few articles, and Crittenden County Chief Deputy Wren, who we've also mentioned several times these articles. So they're chasing down these suspected drug dealers. And this is how quickly it turns and they kill two young police officers, including the son of the chief, and then wound two veteran officers from Crittenden County. And It feels like it's tragedy after tragedy after tragedy, you know, in this area, whether it's we're talking about the murders of our boys, of other children that have died in the last few years, officers being killed, including, you know, officer White that we mentioned at the beginning. It just seems like there's a lot of tragedy around here. And it also highlights again the fact that this area, being a police officer in this area, especially being on the drug task force, is very dangerous. They get so many people. going through that area because of the exchange there from I-40 and I-55. And they probably never know what they're gonna come up against. And that is frightening. Yeah, it's horrifying. That's terrible. It's horrific. All right, so back to our investigation. We move to July twenty sixth, two thousand two in the commercial appeal for accused of pocketing drug money. Indictments list three ex-Crittenden officers. Four drug enforcement officers who worked the interstate highways of Crittenden County were indicted late Thursday by a federal grand jury and charged with stealing money from suspected drug couriers. Deputy Barry A. Davis, a Crittenden County Sheriff's Deputy now on leave, former Deputy Lewis F. Perani, former West Memphis police sergeant Tony Bradley, and Joseph Applegate, who worked at times for both departments, were charged in multi count indictments by a grand jury working for months in Little Rock. Separate indictments spell out that in four traffic stops at which the officers seized a total of five hundred and twenty-two thousand nine hundred and seventy-five dollars, one or another of the officers pocketed a total of one hundred and sixteen six hundred and ninety dollars. They're also alleged to have engaged in mail fraud and various financial schemes intended to obscure the source of purchases that also violate federal laws. So they're even being accused of laundering the money. Like this is really, really bad stuff. A hundred and sixteen thousand dollars. Yeah. My God. Yeah. In a written statement, US attorney H. E. Bud Cummins said that the acts alleged in these indictments, if proven, dishonor each of the thousands of honest law enforcement officers who protect us each and every day. Dishonesty on the part of any single officer threatens the civil rights of every citizen. It cannot be tolerated and will not be tolerated in the Eastern District of Arkansas. They go on to say that these Officers have been under suspicion since Powdert took office. Powdert agreed that the indictments were a sad reflection on, you know, the past practices by the police department. They go on to talk about, again, assets that are owned by all of these police officers that raise eyebrows for sure. What's particularly interesting is this information here that Bradley is accused in two counts. In one, he is charged with stealing money from the FBI. He Bradley is a You can't make this up. Yeah, you can't make this stuff up. Somebody actually had to do it for it to happen. I mean you you couldn't think of this. Bradley is accused in two counts. In one, he is charged with stealing money from the FBI after allegedly reporting a seizure of only forty thousand dollars when the FBI had placed forty three thousand dollars in a Mazda six two six parked at the Southland Greyhound Park. In the other count He is alleged to have pocketed ten thousand dollars of a thirty-six thousand five hundred and seventy-five dollar seizure made in February nineteen ninety-seven. Yeah, both Applegates and Bradley's homes were searched by the FBI on july seventeenth, two thousand one, and both were fired for violating departmental policies last October. Until Thursday, neither had been charged with a crime. West Memphis police inspector James Sudbury, whose duties included the narcotics unit, was also fired last year for violating policies related to cash seizures. So now we know who those three fired officers were. Applegate, Bradley, and Sudbury. Sudbury, who was the acting West Memphis PD inspector and public information officer, was fired. Yeah, th it's a nightmare. That's a nightmare situation. So the allegations of nineteen ninety three where they might be skimming off the top might have some validity to it because we know that within ten years Sudbury is accused and dismissed over similar allegations. So this is going to play a role in our consideration of the honor and honesty of people like James Sudbury in our West Memphis three investigation. Yeah, I I want to point out this other one. We really haven't talked about Pirani a lot. He was also on duty on May the sixth, ⁓ during the search for our boys. This says he was accused of lying to the FBI agents about his ownership of a nineteen ninety seven ProStar ski boat, which he allegedly bought for twenty six thousand five hundred dollars, shelled out in one hundred dollar bills. Perani got a job as a federal air marshal after leaving the sheriff's department earlier this year. So he's under investigation. He's throwing hundred dollar bills around, but he got a job as a federal air marshal after he was fired by the West Memphis Police Department for misconduct. That's astonishing. That's astonishing. As a result of all of this, two of the officers we have talked about in this episode were actually officially decertified. There is a Giglio Brady list for all of the United States. You can look it up by state. You can go to Arkansas and look at this for yourself if you want to, or if you're curious about someone in your state. The Arkansas Commission on Law Enforcement Standards and Training Brady list includes all known issues of misconduct, do not call status, decertification, public complaints, use of force reports, and citizen reports. Criminal charges or conviction refer to the legal process of accusing a police officer of a crime and determining their guilt through a court of law. This type of police misconduct occurs when a police officer engages in behavior that violates the law, such as theft, assault, or misconduct in office. So that's the reason given here. So we have Bradley, Anthony, West Memphis Police Department, Brady Offense No. 1632-169546-577-45-6667. This is on October the 10th. 2003 as a result of criminal charges and or conviction. His decertification number is 1633981945-177-6517668. Also occurring on October the 10th, resulting from criminal charges and or a conviction. The second officer on this list from West Memphis is James Sudbury. Brady offense number 1632 169-546-SUV. two three zero eight five zero six three eight. This was given on january the first, two thousand and four due to criminal charges and or conviction. And his decertification was on the same day for the same reason. His number is one six three three nine eight one nine three six dash one zero four five one eight three one four eight. So while others were charged and convicted, these guys are decertified. They are stripped of being able to work in law enforcement ever again. So we're done with the drug task force. There's more. We skipped a bunch of it. You're welcome to go read it for yourselves. If you need references for the newspaper articles, let us know. We'll be happy to give those to you if you want to read more about it because there's lots more to read. But we're gonna move on to an even more disgusting case of a police officer who was involved in our case. This is from an article published September 24th, 2008, entitled Arkansas State Police investigating former West Memphis Police Inspector. Arkansas State Police are conducting an investigation in West Memphis, talking with people after a complaint was filed against West Memphis police inspector Billy Sanders. The complaint involves two young teenage girls. Sanders spent 17 years as a West Memphis police officer before unexpectedly turning in his resignation letter September eleventh. Citing health reasons. It came after West Memphis police received a complaint. In the next article published October 30th, 2008, entitled Former West Memphis Officer Appears in Court. It is going to spell out what Sanders is accused of. Sanders is accused of sexual indecency with a child, furnishing alcohol to minors, and terroristic threatening. Sanders, according to the complaint, used a police issued cell phone to send almost 500 text messages in a 72 hour period to a 14-year-old girl. Sources said Sanders, texting anonymously, told the teen he knew her, quote, dirty little secrets, and I am going to tell your secret if you don't pay me money. End quote. Sources said in another text, Sanders wrote, quote, The only way I am going to keep your secret is if you have sex with Billy Sanders. End quote. Sanders is also accused of writing very graphic sexual things he wanted the girl to do. The terroristic threat charge involves the fourteen year old's boyfriends. According to the complaint, Sanders threatened some of the boys that the fourteen year old girl was dating. In one instance, the complaint said he approached one of the boys and said, quote, I will kill you. Billy Sanders is also accused of using his credit card to buy alcohol for the 14-year-old and another teenage girl. West Memphis police turned this case over to the Arkansas State Police for investigation. Billy Sanders is out on a $25,000 bond. Billy Sanders was on duty on May the 6th during the search for the boys. He worked the 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. shift with Officer Perani, who we just spoke about. He was in fact charged. with all of those things. I pulled up his arrest record. He was charged with two counts of sexual indecency with a child, two counts of terroristic threatening in the second degree, allowing a minor to handle an alcohol beverage times two. From what I can tell, none of this was disposed of prior to his death. He died relatively young at the age of 51 in West Memphis, Arkansas on November thirtieth, 2014. Yeah, this is just alarming. These are officers that are engaged in such horrible conduct, right? It makes me sick. I mean I'm almost without words. The stories kind of make you just kind of want to vomit in the back of your throat. You thought that the skimming of cash and property was bad enough. If they weren't police officers, they would have been in jail. Up and down the line, a lot of these guys. How long were these guys doing all of these things and flew under the radar because of their jobs. How long did they get away with their criminal and it is criminal with their criminal behavior because of the revered positions they held in the community? Yeah, absolutely. I don't believe that someone at age fifty one just becomes a child predator. That's not what the statistics tell us. So this guy likely was doing the same sort of thing before he got caught. And he was a police inspector. Yes. You're suggesting that there's a high likelihood that he has undiscovered victims. Absolutely. Yeah. This is I mean, it's horrifying. And these are the ones that were around in nineteen ninety-three, again, reviewing this case, investigating this case, being a part of this case, working in the same department. Is that to say that everybody is doing that? No. There are certain people that did hold themselves with a high level of respect and honor. And we can name those people. Tony Anderson is one of them. Mike Allen. Of course, Mike Allen, of course, is one of my favorite at the West Memphis PD. He's now over at the sheriff's department. He is the sheriff of Crinton County. Yeah. Brian Ridge didn't get involved in any of this stuff. That we know of but that we know of, right? We don't want this to go everywhere, but we want to say there's the stain that's within the department that these guys are going to have to deal with reputationally. And to a certain extent They're almost using the investigation of the death of these three kids as a way to try to rehabilitate that reputation that is pulling them down in the eyes of the public. West Memphis PD to this day does not have a high reputation in the eyes of their constituents, the people that they're there to serve and protect. And you can see here a lot of these guys, they were serving and protecting themselves. And a lot of these guys, let's go back to Officer White, the guy who gave his life in the line of duty, right? You know, drug task force dies in January of nineteen ninety three. And this is the way that their legacy is carried forward. This is crazy to me. Two men shot down with AK forty sevens and their colleagues are skimming money. This is contemptible. It's awful. So the last person we want to talk about is a gentleman by the name of Jerry Driver. Jerry Driver is the chief juvenile intake officer for the Crittenden County Juvenile Services. And He is somebody that is not only important for this case, but he's important because he has a direct connection to the discovery of the victims, which is he is the supervisor of Steve Jones, who is also a probation officer for the county. And unfortunately, Jerry Driver has some dirty hands too, and we need to cover this so that people understand his moral shortcomings in this case. In a West Memphis Evening Times article from February the seventh, nineteen ninety-seven, there is a article entitled Check stubs show $18,000 to Driver. A review of copies of check stubs for the Crittenden County Juvenile Services checking account, Thursday, revealed that checks written payable to Jerry Driver totaled almost $18,000. Notations on many of the stubs reflecting checks made payable to Driver indicated the payments were for computers and software, trips to various cities, overtime, and other travel. Several of the stubs did not indicate what the payments were for, and others could not be read. So we have a situation here where Jerry Driver is commingling his funds with that of the county, right? Yep. Well, we don't know. We don't know if it's just poor bookkeeping or if he's actually guilty of something. It's being alleged, right? Yeah. Yes. Yes. So another article on that same day in the Evening Times entitled Driver Suspended Audit Sought says Circuit Chancery Judge Ralph Wilson Thursday suspended the county's chief juvenile intake officer. Through the end of February, after reviewing records of a county juvenile department checking account, Wilson said the suspension would allow Jerry Driver time to produce supporting documents relating to a checking account for Crittenden County juvenile services at the Citizens Bank. Driver will be paid while on suspension. The account, which was active from mid-1993 through October 1996, held fees paid to the department by juvenile promotioners. Some payments from the state of Arkansas were also deposited in the account. The account was kept in the juvenile office and did not go through the County Treasurer's Office. I am also going to ask for a legislative audit of the County Juvenile Office, Wilson said, and I have asked Judge Williams to conduct a physical inventory of all property in the juvenile office. Wilson also rescinded an earlier order that authorized juvenile officers to be armed and said that all weapons in the possession of the juvenile office. would be turned over to Sheriff Dick Busby and inventoried. So he's been suspended. As a result of their bad practices, all the juvenile officers have lost their weapons and he has a month to come up with receipts. Sounds more like a threat than it is a suspension. You're suspended to give you time to go and find these receipts that justify your expenditures. But with pay, could be worse. Yeah. On March the third, nineteen ninety seven, the West Memphis Evening Times published an article entitled Driver resigns. Audit starts Tuesday. Jerry Driver has resigned as Crittenden County's Chief Juvenile Intake Officer, and an audit of his former office is scheduled to begin in the morning. Circuit Chancery Judge Ralph Wilson confirmed the resignation this morning, saying that he had received a letter from Driver asking that the resignation be made effective Friday, the same day the two were scheduled to meet to discuss office expenditures and record keeping. He, Driver, did not really give any reason for resigning. The judge had given Driver until February the twenty eighth to produce invoices to backup purchases made through the checking account. Williams said no additional records had been turned in since the initial conference early last month. ⁓ maybe it's just a coincidence, right? It's just a coincidence that he's gonna resign right after those receipts were due. Absolutely. I see no problem with the timing at all. No smoke. There's no smoke. And there's certainly no fire here, right? None whatsoever. So January 14th, 1998, there's a headline. Former Crittenden official wrote unauthorized checks. The former juvenile officer for Crittenden County wrote unauthorized checks for more than $27,400 and purchased a $210 chainsaw that remains unaccounted for, according to an audit of the office obtained Tuesday. Jerry Driver, 58, a former commercial airline pilot, resigned last April after questions were raised about disbursements from an account of fees. Paid by juvenile probationers. Driver started with the county in March 1992. He pointed police in the direction of Damien Eccles. So this is the first time we're bringing him up. He pointed police in the direction of Damien Eccles after the murders of three West Memphis eight-year-olds in May 1993. Driver told reporters at the time he had come to Crittenden County from Miami, where he'd flown cargo runs into Haiti and become familiar with voodoo practices. The audit committee lists pages of checks written to and endorsed by Driver, all but one for even dollar amounts ranging from twenty to two thousand dollars. The checks were written between September nineteen ninety-three and december thirty-first, nineteen ninety-six. So what happened to him? So the next article, which is dated September twenty-seventh, two thousand, ex-Crittenden official to pay up. The former juvenile officer for Crinton County, Arkansas, charged last year with theft after a state audit, found he'd written twenty seven thousand four hundred in unauthorized checks, has been ordered to repay the debt in two hundred and forty one dollar monthly installments. Jerry Driver, sixty, pleaded no contest to the theft charge March twenty seventh, and circuit judge David Burnett, ⁓ that's a name that we heard earlier, and we will definitely be hearing again, ordered him placed on probation. Then authorize a transfer of the probation to authorities in Michigan, where Driver now lives. By the way, I also looked up his arrest record, he got 120 months of probation. Ten years. Crittenden County Quorum Court member Jim Turner has been adamant that the county get its money back and was harshly critical Tuesday that the county, the victim of the crime, allowed Driver to get away without some time behind bars. Quote, Tell me when Crittenden County has put someone in jail for stealing our money, he told a specially called meeting of the Quorum Court. No one has been to jail for stealing the county's money. Court records indicate that on august third, Burnett revisited the issue of restitution and ordered twenty seven thousand six hundred and eighty-four dollars and nineteen cents repaid in monthly installments beginning September fifteenth. At two hundred and forty one dollars a month, it would take more than nine years to pay off the debt. Because of the complexity of accounting for monthly fees and fines, it could not be determined whether the first installment was made on time. Well, so at least he's paying two forty one a month. In restitution. I mean if they can't tell whether or not it was paid on time, he might still be paying it. I don't Sounds like they're on top of it. They're doing a stellar job. Interesting though, because of the amount and he pleaded no contest, which is a guilty plea. He got charged with a felony. So he's actually a felon now. It's eye opening to see who the people were that were investigating this. Jerry Driver as revealed in the article is in fact the person that will direct the police department towards Damien Eccles. Something we will be covering in a few episodes into the future. So if you're this far into the podcast, you want to know when Damien's gonna be brought up, he's coming very soon and we'll be talking more about Jerry Driver at that time. So we're done highlighting the missteps of some of the officers in this case. We just wanted to give you a a background of what's going on, whether it was actually during the time of this investigation or after, I think it points to the character of these officers to know what they were up to, no matter what time in their career it was. But the main reason we're highlighting this is because some of these guys were very involved in the case and some of them were just peripherally involved. But a couple of them are on the West Memphis Police Department police call logs for May sixth while the search was going on for Christopher, Stevie, and Michael. They're on Barton. They're on WE Cat. They're on Goodwin. They're on Proctor. They're Little Elton. You know, all of these roads you guys are familiar with now from us talking about canvassing the neighborhood and where certain things went on. So they're there. They are out helping assist in the search for our boys. Their shift ends just after the boys have been removed from the creek. So they're there. They are On site, on scene, in the area when all of this is happening, when the boys are discovered and removed from the creek. So they don't have a big involvement from what we have seen in the case, but they're part of it. And we know that several of them are involved on the drug task force. They all work together. They're part of a culture. And that's what we want to talk about in this episode. That we wanted to talk about what is allowed. to go on behind the scenes, the things that the public may or may not know about, about, you know, a good old boy system that allows these things to go on, about them protecting each other so that what they're doing that is illegal is not discovered. Those are the things that we wanted to highlight in this episode so that you would understand what is happening while the investigation is going on when they should be focused on finding out who murdered Christopher, Stevie, and Michael, and they're at least somewhat consumed with all these other activities that they're involved in that are quite frankly criminal. Yeah, there's a clear preoccupation with this situation that's going on. It's blowing up in their faces with the drug task force. But Shane Griffin, he's the one that removes the bikes from the pipe bridge. There's no request for assistance from the Arkansas State Police. I don't know if you're working this case and the Arkansas State Police wanted to help you, knowing that they're also investigating you, would you want them poking around? So twelve officers were available from the Arkansas State Police. None were asked for help. So right when they needed it, they don't request it. And of course, Steve Jones, his supervisor, his direct report is Jerry Driver, who right around the middle of 1993, they open up this fund that he's later on is going to be convicted of taking money from. So we need to be mindful of these ethical barriers and these connections between our case and what is going on with these different law enforcement bodies, whether it's the drug task force, whether it's the juvenile probation officers, or it's the West Memphis P D. It's just sad. It just adds kind of disbelief and disgust to a tragedy. Yeah, it takes a bad situation and makes it worse. If you want to join the discussion, we strongly encourage you to contribute to the case by following Crooked Tree Pot on Facebook, on X, or to follow us on YouTube. Next time on Crooked Tree. At this time, I observed Damien to have a tattoo on his chest of a five pointed star or pentagram, and as best I remember, one other tattoo on his shoulder or arm. I am unsure of the nature of this tattoo. Signed, Lieutenant James Sudbury.