Murder On The Tracks The Story of Kevin Ives and Don Henry (1hr:20mins) The fate of Barry Seals plane https://prospectiveonline.com/12135/feature/the-murder-of-kevin-ives-and-don-henry/#comment-5199, https://prospectiveonline.com/12135/feature/the-murder-of-kevin-ives-and-don-henry/#comment-5161, https://prospectiveonline.com/12135/feature/the-murder-of-kevin-ives-and-don-henry/#comment-5135, https://prospectiveonline.com/12135/feature/the-murder-of-kevin-ives-and-don-henry/#comment-5132, https://prospectiveonline.com/12135/feature/the-murder-of-kevin-ives-and-don-henry/#comment-5109. This is when Linda Ives realized that Harmon and Garrett had been lying to her and using her for nearly four years. He honked, but it was impossible to stop the . A must read if you care about justice for the innocent. It is not only extremely well written, it points out how our law enforcement - from the local police on up - fail to take an investigation seriously !. My question is, who are the individuals you feel are the most responsible for the murder and cover up of the boys?\"Linda - \"Number one on the list as far as killers would be special prosecutor Dan Harmon who orchestrated the murders and cover up. A powerful story reminiscent of A Civil Action and Not Without My Daughter, The Boys on the Tracks is destined to become one of the most powerful works published in 1999. The two deaths have remained unsolved, but have sparked public interest in the morals and intentions of those we elect to represent and protect us. Real Names:Larry Kevin Ives and Donald George Henry Reprinted by permission. It is an intensely personal story and a story of national importance. The day after the conference, the investigation was officially reopened. They began a crusade to find out what really happened and salvage the reputation of their sons. Reviewed in the United States on December 20, 2017. Years after the film was released, Clinton paid an out-of-court settlement to resolve the accusations made by Paula Jones in the movie. This time, he was leaving town, heading down a road less than 200 yards from the spot where the bodies were run over. He is not sure why someone would do that, however. Train Deaths Are Officially Homicides. Arkansas Gazette, March 6, 1988, p. 3B. Although she was no longer head of the task force, Duffey and another officer of the task force dug deeper into the train deaths case and eventually brought information to U.S. Attorney Chuck Banks, who promised that they would be able to testify with the information. Unfortunately no justice was done for the boys as there was corruption in high places. Misen Knives http://bit.ly/3sNux6V | Quip https://bit.ly/3pkPc0i | Upstart https://bit.ly/35qcF8j | Hello Fresh http://bit.ly/39mRSmP M. The story expanded to encompass the lies of the US Government concerning the Iran-Contra Affair. Hollenbeck and Thompson were willing participants in Harmons smear campaign against me and my task force, and neither reporter bothered to verify anything Harmon said; they just printed it lie after lie, article after article even when they knew Harmon was lying.. The train driver attempted to stop and blew the horn, but the momentum of the train carried it over the bodies. This is when witnesses began turning up dead, but no one connected that to Harmon at the time. These relationships began to tie the murders to something larger than just a homicide. In the months that followed, Ives's world darkened even more as she gradually came to understand that the very officials she turned to for help could not, or would not, solve the murders. The state medical examiner said the boys had been under the influence of marijuana and he ruled the deaths accidental. I cant believe how much evidence & eyewitnesses there are to this case, yet it gets blocked every time there was any positive movement. Mara Leveritt tells an awesome tale about the two young boys murdered in Arkansas after they stumbled onto the airfield where cocaine drops from Central America were flown in and arms to Central America were flown out. The director admitted the payments but denied he had instructed any paid participants to say anything that was false. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ow0yPO8g9YA. On most weekends, the two double dated. And cocaine is still just as easy to get as is was in the mid-1980s almost like once the taps were turned on, they were never shut off. I mean WOW!, what qualifications! The biggest cocaine smuggler in the history of the U.S., operating right in your own backyard, and you dont even know it, so then you get picked to be the head of the Drug Enforcement Agency??? Suddenly, while going through the town of Alexander, he saw something in his path; he could not tell what it was. Kevin and Don were typical young men who enjoyed working on their cars (a Firebird and a Camaro . They then went to Casady, who referred them to Wright, and so on. Mara Leveritt has worked for twenty years as an Arkansas journalist. More than 1,000 feet of the decelerating train crossed the point where the bodies lay before it came to a stop. To him, it looked like they had been laid out by someone. According to WorldNetDaily, Matrisciana created the Obstruction of Justice documentary to show the connection between the cover-up of Kevin Ives and Don Henrys murder, Mena drug trafficking and Bill Clinton. As his train drew closer, he made the horrifying discovery that two boys were lying motionless across the railroad tracks. Several of these theories date to Clinton's tenure as the governor of Arkansas. One week before the boys died, a man wearing military fatigues was spotted not far from the train tracks. In a recent interview, she told me about defense attorney Dan Harmon. These Central American drug war/Cold War ops were run by Langley frat . The parents of the boys insisted on a second autopsy, and after exhumation it was ruled that homicide was likely. The 1987 case was originally ruled a double suicide, then an accidentAthe boys supposedly smoked too much marijuana and passed out. Prior to working on this case, Garrett never carried a gun. He was released in 2006 after helping prosecutors in a murder conspiracy case. Copyright 1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. The case remains unsolved, and Leveritt draws no conclusions. Everything that WAS brought out to the public centered on the West Coast aspect of the Cocaine-flow into the US Freeway Ricky Ross, Danilo Blandon, Norwin Meneses and so on What the CIA had set up in Mena Arkansas with Barry Seal etc, has never been officially explained not even as shoddily as the West Coast operation was explained away. Matrisciana created the Obstruction of Justice documentary to show the connection between the cover-up of Kevin Ives and Don Henrys murder, Mena drug trafficking and Bill Clinton. [1] Matrisciana later acknowledged that he was not in any danger, but that the interview was staged for dramatic effect at Falwell's suggestion. On June 3, 2021, Linda passed away at the age of seventy-one. He ruled their deaths an accident. On August 23, 1987, the bodies of 16-year-old Don Henry and 17-year-old Kevin Ives were hit by a freight train in Alexander, Arkansas, United States, as they were laying on the tracks. In March 1990, Kevin and Don's manner of death were officially changed from "accidental" to "homicide." The two left around midnight to go back to Dons house. A second autopsy by Georgia medical examiner Dr. Joseph Burton found the equivalent of one or two marijuana cigarettes, not 20. On August 23, 1987, sixteen-year-old Don Henry and seventeen-year-old Kevin Ives were brutally murdered in Saline County Arkansas. His shirt was found in Bryant, but his body was never discovered. However, on the night of Saturday, August 22, 1987, Kevin and Don met a group of friends on the outskirts of Little Rock at a favorite gathering place for the local teenagers. It seemed difficult to believe that they would lay on the tracks without moving a muscle, while a huge freight train was hurtling towards them blaring its horn. The secrets revolve around the murder of two Bryant seniors, Kevin Ives and Don Henry, and drug smuggling in the eighties. Why aren't they talking about this? Shipping cost, delivery date, and order total (including tax) shown at checkout. [3] The movie connected these deaths to smuggling activities at the Mena Airport, suggesting the boys had become accidental witnesses to a drug drop. Greg Collins was supposed to testify in front of a grand jury for Ives and Henry, but was shot in the head before he had the chance. After months of constant persuasion and pestering by the parents of the boys, the bodies were exhumed, and a second opinion was brought in, Atlanta medical examiner Dr. Joseph Burton. They honked their horn and tried to stop the train, but they were unsuccessful. Garrett also believes that the tarp existed. In the months that followed, Ives's world darkened even more as she gradually came to understand that the very officials she turned to for help could not, or would not, solve the murders. Here some of the Q and A with herQ - \"Thanks for doing the AMA! In 1987, Linda Ives suffered a parental worst-nightmare when her son and a friend were run over by a train, whose crew observed them supine and covered with a tarp before impact. Within about three seconds, he hit the boys. [6], A number of the incidents mentioned in The Clinton Chronicles continued to be investigated after its release. In April, 1989 his body was found in the Little Rock city dump after he had been shot in the head twice and set on fire. I read this book years ago when it first came out. The 1987 case was originally ruled a double suicide, then an accidentAthe boys supposedly smoked too much marijuana and passed out. The ninth case I selected to write about is, "the boys on the tracks.". Reviewed in the United States on October 11, 2018. The death of a child is bad enough. PRIME Shipping eligible. Read this book and you will understand why they don't. He advocated for the case to be re-opened; however, the case remains unsolved.[9]. Excellent book - tragic story - Beautifully Written! The Boys on the Tracks is the story of a parent's worst nightmare, a quiet woman's confrontation with a world of murder, drugs, and corruption, where legitimate authority is mocked and the public trust is trampled. I hope and pray all the families who have been affected by these crimes and cover-ups will get justice someday. I ordered the book immediately and devoured it over the course of about 2 weeks. So far, the run had been clear sailing, as engineer Stephen Shroyer approached the small town of Bryant, Arkansas. Police speculated that Kevin and Don's murder may have been related to drug trafficking. That night, they chose their usual hunting ground, along the railroad tracks that ran behind Dons house. "[3] The producers were criticized after it came to light that a number of the people in the documentary had been paid to appear. Ives compelled a series of investigations that began promisingly yet were inexplicably stifled by such malign forces as the states notoriously incompetent medical examiner (protected by then-Governor Clinton) and an admired local prosecutor who championed her cause as camouflage for his own criminal activities. But few tragedies compare with the story of Linda Ives, whose teenage son and his friend were found mysteriously run over by a train. This is a topic everyone in Arkansas should be informed on. In July 1988, a grand jury reversed Dr. Malaks original finding of accidental death and officially ruled their deaths "probable homicides." Three hours later, Stephen Shroyers locomotive came speeding down Bryant Hill. True story of a parents passion to find justice for their sons killed on the rail tracks going by a typical small town, near the Metroplex of Little Rock. Other medical experts and researchers stated that it was highly unlikely, if not impossible, for a person to pass out from smoking marijuana. Four men were possibly killed because of what they knew. the dispatcher asked. In exchange for this information, Seals sentence was reduced to six of months probation, and he was enlisted as an undercover informant for the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). The train then went over them. By all accounts, Kevin and Don were typical teenage boys who both loved to work on their cars and hunt. It wasn't until 1990 that we learned the drugs were being dropped by plane. The parents, rejecting the official explanations, pushed for a murder investigation. The action grips readers from the beginning, with the death of two teenagers, Don Henry and Kevin Ives, told from the perspective of the train engineers who accidentally ran over the boys' bodies. He claimed that he was hired by a "corrupt Arkansas politician" to provide "muscle" at an Arkansas drug stop. Kevin Ives and Don Henry; On October 23, 2018, Garrett passed away at the age of seventy-two. Your email address will not be published. Mara Leveritt has covered this story since it first broke back in 1987. According to the documentary The Mena Connection, Clinton was approached by prosecutor Charles Black, who wanted to fund an investigation about the Mena criminal activity. It is a tale of multiple murders and of justice repeatedly denied. The deaths were initially ruled an accident, the result of the boys in a deep sleep on the tracks while incapacitated due to high amounts of THC allegedly present in their blood. They were lying exactly across the tracks; their legs were across the rails, their torsos were between the tracks, and their arms were straight down by their sides. . Her approach is one of scrupulous reporting and lively narrative. The state medical examiner, Dr. Fahmy Malak, said they had been under the influence of marijuana and ruled the deaths accidental. It is not only extremely well written, it points out how our law enforcement - from the local police on up - fail to take an investigation seriously !. They were lying motionless on the tracks, in a position nearly identical to Kevin and Dons. I remember when this happened and it was on the newsthen faded. June 13, 2020 - Latest Upload: Murder On The Tracks - The Billy Jack Haynes Storyhttps://youtu.be/utCKt6GYmBkDec 20 2019 Upload: American Re-Made - The Real . The ensuing investigation unearthed an intriguing lead. Much was not reported in the media at the time. He was released in 2006 after helping prosecutors in a murder conspiracy case. They went to high school and did everything together. Question: Now that the criminal complicity of these presidents has been exposed and is not disputable, what is the justification for continuing to protect the killers? Date: August 23, 1987. According to ID files, the day Duffey was hired, her boss, Gary Arnold, instructed her not to investigate any public officials. According to the documentary "The Mena Connection," Clinton was approached by prosecutor Charles Black, who wanted to fund an investigation about the Mena criminal activity. Teenagers Don Henry, 16, and Kevin Ives, 17, popular students who were gearing up for their senior year at Bryant High School, had decided to hang out with a group of friends at a local commuter parking lot, a popular gathering place for teens. She did know about it, but thought it was discredited, until her Police friend dug it up and found a lot of corroborating evidence in it in 2015. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ow0yPO8g9YA. Ships directly from Amazon! I have known about this case since the late 80s. Paula Jones, who appeared in the film accusing Clinton of harassing her, sued the president for sexual harassment. I hope I hope their murders get solved, & the families get justice. Alexander, Arkansas, US. is the new crime journalism at its best-understated though bizarre, carefully documented, full of twists and surprises, and devoid of the flights of fancy that mar so much 'true crime.' They denied any involvement in the case and sued Matrisciana and his film company for defamation, and the judge awarded them $USD598,750. Perhaps THAT must be why George W Bush made Asa Hutchinson the head of the DEA in 2001 then right??? Heres a documentary that is LOADED with footage, documents, info etc, about what happened to Kevin Ives and Don Henry, and the following cover-up of their murders, right up to the latest news about their story in August 2016. Law Lib., Washington, DC, Award-winning investigative reporter Leveritts debut is a wrecking-ball tale of tragedy, malfeasance, and machine politics that resembles an all-true Arkansas Confidential. Reviewed in the United States on December 27, 2021. Ives said that there was a possibility that Harmon was dealing drugs, but she was sure he had intentions of helping her find out what happened to her son. [7], Linda Ives continued to search for justice for her son's death. A grand jury ruled the deaths a "probable homicide. It had taken a screaming, screeching half mile. The investigation was rushed, and the infamous state medical examiner at the time, Fahmy Malak, was quick to rule the deaths as accidental due to a marijuana-induced coma. [5], To promote the film, Falwell aired an interview with Matrisciana, who was silhouetted to conceal his identity as he pretended to be a journalist who was afraid for his life. A portrait emerges of state governance as a deeply corrupted good-ol'-boy network, funded by drug money and protected by blackmail and violence. However, it was never found. [10] Keith McCaskle, also implicated in the murder,[10] was stabbed to death by an unknown attacker[11] on November 10, 1988. She writes a column in the weekly. By the time Allen got up from his seat, the man was gone. [{"displayPrice":"$49.99","priceAmount":49.99,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"49","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"99","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"w3E7e2s62kzqS2WP1ccU8wj3YjT3CD4VlwP1lgknh0J7%2BPgOTuIYE1mKohQHwqUIBBJWwiCUz0Nv7ZW%2B6yhvpEtJHQUfz6UaG5M9D9kmbOeFKdhfE%2Fy8FsXTGU4VHSNrQ%2FM%2FwjE8N0urABBffRNFw58FaNy8J%2FmEjXWFR81o%2BeGUtzctB5s3xg%3D%3D","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"USED"}]. One of them would shine a light in the animals eyes, transfixing the prey while the other fired. The case to this very day is still unsolved and no arrest. His autopsy also showed that Malak had mutilated Ivess skull by sawing it in many different directions, which made it virtually impossible to determine where the initial skull fractures were. The list of those directly involved in the coverup not listed already includes deputy prosecutor Richard Garrett, then sheriff Jim Steed, detective Chuck Tallent, detective Rick Elmendorf, Judge John Cole and many, many others who have been willing to look the other way over the years.\"Q - \"Do you think the Clinton's and the CIA drug trade were involved in your son's death?\"Linda - \"We knew early on that there were drugs drops involved but assumed it was a small local operation. My home town, Bryant, has secrets of its own. Hope Harkins | Jun 7, 2019 at 4:15 pm, Clark Kent | May 27, 2017 at 4:09 pm. This book kept me up at night until I had read the whole thing! Kevin waited on the porch while Don went inside to talk to his father, Curtis. It is likely that this is a direct result of Barry Seal running drugs . Neither Kevin nor Don owned such a tarp. Furthermore, he found evidence that Dr. Malak did not follow proper procedures when conducting the autopsies. It looks like WhatsApp is not installed on your phone. Sheltering me from what the truth might be, my mother never told me about the conspiracy behind the deaths. However, this never happened, and the federal investigation regarding corruption in Saline County was unexpectedly terminated. Links: Unsolved Mysteries Wiki is a FANDOM TV Community. Location: Alexander, Arkansas It also helps the At first, I was turned off by the omniscient musings of Linda Ives in a non-fiction book. The appeal focused primarily on free speech and the ability to criticize public figures. He placed the train into an emergency stop position and laid down on the horn. I read this book years ago when it first came out. There are many conspiracy theories about this case that say many differnet people are involved or responsible for their deaths. The cartel gave a cut of their drug profits to the Sandinistas, members of the socialist Nicaraguan political organization and militarily opposed by the US, so they could access a Managuan airstrip to run drugs. Self - Kevin's Father (segment "Unexplained Death: Don Henry and Kevin Ives) Getting Started | Contributor Zone . Imagine a true story that opens with two dead teenagers being run over by a train! Not satisfied with that finding, Ives launched a series of investigations that eventually touched on the malfeasance of a prominent medical examiner, the misconduct of a local prosecutor, drug trafficking, and governmental corruption. Ives and Duffey helped Pat Matrisciana make the documentary, The Obstruction of Justice.. He believes that others were involved or have knowledge of who was involved. To cover their tracks, they laid them on the railroad tracks and covered them up with a tarp. This was presented to a Grand Jury, which ultimately decided the case should be treated as a homicide rather than an accidental death. The claims in the video are controversial; some have been discredited, while others continue to be debated. He was sentenced to 30 years in a Nicaraguan prison, but was replaced by a spy after serving only a few months. Leveritts prose is less than taut, and she too often indulges in repetitive emotional rhetoric regarding the Iveses loss. Lying parallel to both of them was Dons .22 rifle. However, many do not consider him to be a credible source. An optional selection for larger public libraries.APatrick Petit, Catholic Univ. On August 23, 1987, in Bryant, Ark., three train conductors noticed two bodies lying across the tracks with a tarp covering them. (Nov.), This book documents a long and tangled criminal investigation that began in 1987, when Linda Ives's teenage son and his friend were killed by a train near Little Rock, AR. They hoped to force the authorities to reopen the investigation. He determined that tears in Don's t-shirt fabric indicated that he had been stabbed in the back with a large knife and that Kevin had apparently been struck in the head with a rifle butt, possibly Don's (the wound to his cheek matched the shape of the rifle butt). Although Burton gathered that the boys were murdered, that did not explain why Malak would falsify his ruling. The weight of the heavy cargo train carried it for a full half mile. Clinton Body Count Series: #9. Exposing a web of silence and complicity in which drugs, politics, and murder converge, The Boys on the Tracks is a horrifying story from first page to last, and its most frightening aspect is that all of the story is true. I lived in Little Rock when the events described in Mara Leveritt's "The Boys on the Track" were unfolding. While the film was directed by Patrick Matrisciana, who has a production company called Jeremiah Films, the production was credited to Citizens for Honest Government, a project of a Westminster, California organization named Creative Ministries Inc. that has connections to Matrisciana. [8] In February 2018, Billy Jack Haynes, a professional wrestler with a history of making controversial claims on camera, claimed to have been hired as a body guard for drug smugglers and a witness to these murders. In 1987, two teenage boys, Kevin Ives and Don Henry, were found dead on train tracks in Alexander, Ark. That said, her investigatory efforts seem impeccable; little within this page-turner reads as implausible conspiracy theory. Leveritt does an excellent job in capturing Mara Leveritt tells an awesome tale about the two young boys murdered in Arkansas after they stumbled onto the airfield where cocaine drops from Central America were flown in and arms to Central America were flown out. If you want a window into the corruption of our government at the state and federal levels, read this book. What is believed and what and where the case is. Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations. The authorities arrived soon after, and some claim this is when they began a massive cover-up. They were best friends and popular seniors at Bryant High School. The pivotal event that began to unravel the mystery of Mena was the death of Don Henry age 16, and Kevin Ives age 17. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. The train was over a mile long and was traveling at a speed of . ${cardName} not available for the seller you chose. Mara Leveritt told the story of the boys on the tracks as a journalist should: facts only and told in a narrative style.