BONUS: The Standoff in the Swamp

2024-06-07 00:17:43

Twelve-year-old McKay Everett disappeared from his Texas home in September 1995. His father Carl returned from an Amway meeting to find the back door ajar and the telephone ringing. On the line, a woman with a raspy voice demanded $500,000. Over the next week, the FBI played a game of cat-and-mouse with the kidnappers, who used inside information to stay one step ahead of the investigation. Ultimately the FBI uncovered a series of crimes that started long before McKay was taken. Most shocking of all was the suspect. McKay had been betrayed by someone he trusted – a pillar of the community hiding a dark secret. But decades later, McKay’s mother, Paulette, still isn’t satisfied with the official story. She doesn’t think everyone involved has been brought to justice. Ransom: Season 1 - Position of Trust is a story of greed and betrayal and how one’s outward appearance can be dangerously deceiving.

5
Speaker 5
[00:00.00 - 00:17.64]

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7
Speaker 7
[00:57.78 - 01:28.12]

Hi, producer Ben Kebrick here. So this bonus episode, we're doing something a little different. We're gonna start by sharing a side story that got cut from episode five. So just after Deputy Marcus Guidry found McKay's body in the Ashok flyer swamp, he saw a car exit off the highway and head right towards him, and he nearly got into a shootout. We'll pick up the story from there, and then transition into an extended interview with Guidry and a deputy from the nearby Iberville parish, Jerry Stassi, who also went out to the swamp that night.

6
Speaker 6
[01:32.70 - 01:44.82]

Before Marcus could even radio in his findings, he saw headlights approaching from the distance. He wondered what anyone was doing out in this remote area in the middle of the night.

3
Speaker 3
[01:45.02 - 01:51.18]

I saw it coming off of the ramp and then it turned this way. Anyone coming down here, I'm cautious about.

4
Speaker 4
[01:51.52 - 01:51.70]

Yeah.

3
Speaker 3
[01:51.70 - 01:58.36]

In my career, we've found some very bad people walking here and looking for an opportunity.

6
Speaker 6
[01:58.94 - 02:13.26]

Marcus didn't know it, but the headlights were coming from Deputy Jerry Stassi. Stassi was patrolling the area that night, and he was suspicious when he saw Marcus's black Camaro parked in such a desolate area.

1
Speaker 1
[02:13.66 - 02:21.76]

I think it was, what, two o'clock in the morning, something like that. I mean, this is a place right here that's known for dumping bodies and stuff. I had to find out what was going on.

3
Speaker 3
[02:22.66 - 02:25.40]

When it got a little closer, I realized it was a patrol unit.

6
Speaker 6
[02:25.96 - 02:28.16]

But the situation was tense.

3
Speaker 3
[02:28.66 - 02:37.58]

I mean, at the time, I'm in a plainclothes, unmarked car, and I'm standing there next to the body. So it was kind of a standoff, though.

2
Speaker 2
[02:38.34 - 02:39.64]

Did you about draw your gun on him?

1
Speaker 1
[02:40.04 - 02:44.34]

It was close. It was close, yeah. Really? It was an all-out detective drill, unmarked Crown Vic.

3
Speaker 3
[02:44.56 - 02:44.78]

Yeah.

1
Speaker 1
[02:45.26 - 02:53.86]

And we didn't, that's what had me, when he was sitting in a black Camaro, it wasn't daunting on me that he was law enforcement, because we didn't have, we wasn't that high-tech, whatever we are.

3
Speaker 3
[02:55.74 - 03:01.04]

That'd be, have situational awareness. You didn't know what you were going to pull up on. You didn't know who you were pulling up on.

1
Speaker 1
[03:01.14 - 03:06.66]

I'm trying to remember, you was in plainclothes with blue jeans. Yeah. And I think you had a gun either on your side or in your hand.

3
Speaker 3
[03:07.30 - 03:11.28]

I couldn't remember. I had it on the side, but I was keeping an eye on you. I didn't know who you were.

1
Speaker 1
[03:11.88 - 03:15.58]

And then we got off, I seen the car, and we just made contact with each other.

2
Speaker 2
[03:15.58 - 03:26.64]

Yeah. But you had no idea at that time what he was here for and what he was doing. No. And then, when you noticed that there was a body, by then, did you already know who he was?

1
Speaker 1
[03:27.00 - 03:30.96]

Oh yeah, no, we had already exchanged, you know, who he was with and everything.

3
Speaker 3
[03:31.66 - 03:34.14]

I think I spotted him right before you pulled up.

1
Speaker 1
[03:34.20 - 03:54.04]

They had a possum that was eating on the body. at the time when we got there. I think we threw rocks, chewed the possum off, got it away from him, and he didn't want to contaminate the scene, so I know we didn't go on it at all. And you know, once you find a body, you get everything rolling. I think we had, what, 30 minutes?

[03:54.20 - 03:56.88]

We had 50 people out here, whatever you want to say. Yeah.

2
Speaker 2
[03:58.60 - 04:04.46]

Marcus described how, as he looks back on his career, still drives by here, remembering that. What about you, Jerry?

1
Speaker 1
[04:04.62 - 04:07.42]

This is the one that I think about a lot, yeah.

2
Speaker 2
[04:07.54 - 04:08.28]

Really? Yeah.

1
Speaker 1
[04:08.90 - 04:13.30]

I mean, at that time, I had small kids, you know, so it is home.

[04:14.96 - 04:23.58]

Life taken for no reason, you know. I mean, he tried to get a ransom on the little boy. Is that what it was? It didn't went bad or something?

3
Speaker 3
[04:23.80 - 04:27.94]

That's what they told me. I didn't know anything about the investigation. I didn't ask.

1
Speaker 1
[04:27.96 - 04:29.40]

As for what I remember, in the trial itself.

2
Speaker 2
[04:29.40 - 04:30.40]

No, you're absolutely right.

4
Speaker 4
[04:30.78 - 04:36.60]

And I think one of the questions is like, did he actually intend to return the kid alive and things went bad, or?

1
Speaker 1
[04:36.96 - 04:39.84]

Kidnap, somebody that knows you, how you gonna return them back, you know?

2
Speaker 2
[04:39.84 - 04:43.82]

Yeah, he had to get rid of his only witness, right? Yeah.

1
Speaker 1
[04:44.40 - 04:54.58]

I think it was just a bad plan to start with, and he did what he thought he had to do, I guess. Afraid. I think the little boy called him uncle, they were so close. If I remember. in the trial, they said that.

2
Speaker 2
[04:54.78 - 04:56.92]

You're right. How does that make you feel?

1
Speaker 1
[04:58.66 - 05:11.20]

Terrible thing. I mean, it's, you know, when you're in law enforcement, you kind of get, I don't wanna say cold, but you get used to what other people is not used to, you know, you see a lot of evil stuff that happens, so.

3
Speaker 3
[05:12.66 - 05:29.28]

That was my deciding factor to retire. I mean, you get callous after a while because when you work, violent crime, nothing good comes across your desk, so you tend to become callous and forget. there's a lot of good people in this world. Unfortunately, he was not one of them.

4
Speaker 4
[05:30.02 - 05:36.30]

Now, did you know he? actually, he had worked for the police and the sheriff over in Beaumont? I didn't know that.

2
Speaker 2
[05:36.30 - 05:42.78]

Yeah, he was with the sheriff's department in Beaumont. That must put some anger in you, that he was a former sheriff's deputy.

1
Speaker 1
[05:44.24 - 05:54.62]

Well, you know, there's good and there's bad, and there's any line of work you go to, you know, you can have bad out there. You hate to see it in law enforcement, especially, but.

4
Speaker 4
[05:55.06 - 06:14.00]

But you guys were talking about how it can make you kind of callous, and, you know, Hilton Crawford had, I think, worked in Port Arthur and some pretty rough places. Like, do you think that that in any way could have contributed to him being callous enough to kill this kid, or, you know what I mean?

1
Speaker 1
[06:14.22 - 06:20.28]

I don't think that had nothing to do with it. I think he owed the wrong people. some money, is what I, and, you know.

3
Speaker 3
[06:21.24 - 06:25.46]

No, that's not a reason, and it just, that wouldn't play into a motive.

1
Speaker 1
[06:25.80 - 06:26.04]

No.

4
Speaker 4
[06:27.22 - 06:34.96]

So some people have wondered if he would have known about this place from working. violent crime in Beaumont, would you get bodies dumped here from Texas?

1
Speaker 1
[06:35.50 - 07:04.20]

Since I've been dealing with Iboville, I think we had one body that was dumped from Texas, besides, just that girl that I don't know if you're familiar with, her husband came from Texas, rode down here and dropped her off. He got killed. And that's the only other body I know of. But, I mean, like I say, if you ride any kind of way, there's no street lights, only at that time, there was, I mean, it's just rolled up, you want to say, a little bit. since then, there was nothing here in the early nineties.

[07:04.36 - 07:08.02]

I mean, you might not see a vehicle on this road for two days.

3
Speaker 3
[07:08.70 - 07:13.86]

If you saw somebody here at night, some drunk, you stop and check them out.

2
Speaker 2
[07:14.90 - 07:25.34]

You know, he had, he made frequently made trips out to, you know, Baton Rouge, Lake Charles, you know, New Orleans, he was a gambler.

1
Speaker 1
[07:25.56 - 07:26.98]

Right, so he's familiar with the area.

2
Speaker 2
[07:27.18 - 07:37.32]

So he's familiar with this area. So, yeah, do you think that he perhaps, okay, this is a remote area as we could ever find. This is the perfect place.

1
Speaker 1
[07:37.90 - 07:46.54]

I mean, it's a good place. If you check to see how many bodies has been found just in this little area, they'd probably be in their teens or twenties.

3
Speaker 3
[07:47.04 - 07:49.26]

There could be bodies here that we're not aware of.

1
Speaker 1
[07:49.56 - 07:49.62]

Yeah.

[07:51.34 - 08:02.26]

Nowadays, I mean, they got such technology with the cameras, they probably took six pictures of our cars coming down the interstate, you know? So they know where we're at. At that time, there was no cameras anywhere around here.

3
Speaker 3
[08:02.74 - 08:05.88]

Technology. I mean, right now, we're standing here, they know we're here.

4
Speaker 4
[08:06.12 - 08:10.02]

Maybe they're sending someone out, being like, what are these three cars doing out in the sun?

3
Speaker 3
[08:10.04 - 08:13.46]

They don't real-time monitor, but they can pull the data at any time of day.

2
Speaker 2
[08:13.84 - 08:14.52]

Yeah, that's true.

1
Speaker 1
[08:14.52 - 08:19.18]

As I said, so anytime you travel, you know, your cell phones, your cell phones, I mean.

4
Speaker 4
[08:19.84 - 08:23.78]

Do you guys have any memories in particular about testifying or the trial?

1
Speaker 1
[08:25.04 - 08:49.44]

I remember in the trial, they wanted me to give a candid description of what was happening with the body, you know, with the animal that was eating on it. And I remember that they told, I guess, the family that it was gonna be graphic, and they stayed in. And whenever we said what we said, it did erupt, the courtroom erupted with us screaming and crying. That's the part I remember.

2
Speaker 2
[08:49.84 - 08:50.54]

What did you say?

1
Speaker 1
[08:51.60 - 09:00.46]

They was asking me about how the body looked and about what was going on. And when I told them that they had an animal eating on the body at the time, that's when they lost it.

2
Speaker 2
[09:00.76 - 09:01.20]

Yeah.

1
Speaker 1
[09:01.48 - 09:04.40]

They wanted to know exactly what was going on.

4
Speaker 4
[09:04.64 - 09:11.02]

And that would be the DA prosecuting it? He specifically wanted you to share this detail.

1
Speaker 1
[09:11.32 - 09:14.20]

Tell exactly, so. that's the questions they asked me and I answered.

2
Speaker 2
[09:14.68 - 09:18.18]

Who broke out into crime? Was it Paulette and her?

1
Speaker 1
[09:18.28 - 09:28.74]

I'm not sure, because I didn't know who was the parents or anything. They didn't point none of that out, but it was the family, there was the family members. There was more than one.

2
Speaker 2
[09:29.52 - 09:30.64]

And Marcus, is that what happened?

3
Speaker 3
[09:31.00 - 09:42.08]

I followed his testimony, but what he just described, I had to do the same thing, and that was, out of all of this, that was the hardest thing to do, knowing the family's sitting in there. Right.

1
Speaker 1
[09:42.66 - 09:47.28]

And they asked them to leave if they wanted to, but they wouldn't leave. They stayed right there and listened to it.

7
Speaker 7
[09:49.98 - 09:54.04]

After the break, Gidrey and Stassi on Hilton and Remington.

6
Speaker 6
[09:55.60 - 10:17.20]

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4
Speaker 4
[11:04.62 - 11:08.34]

Did you look at Hilton Crawford at all while you were there in the courtroom?

1
Speaker 1
[11:09.00 - 11:14.24]

Oh yeah, I made eye contact with him a couple times. I mean, he looked down a lot.

4
Speaker 4
[11:14.80 - 11:16.20]

How would you describe him?

1
Speaker 1
[11:17.22 - 11:27.58]

I think he knew that he had messed up and he knew what the outcome was gonna be. I mean, just looking at him. Like I said, I've never spoke to him ever. And that's just my take on it.

2
Speaker 2
[11:28.02 - 11:44.84]

He claims all the way until his execution that he was innocent. And that he wasn't the one who pulled the trigger and actually killed McKay. But it was this mysterious person, R.L. Remington. You don't know anything about that?

3
Speaker 3
[11:44.84 - 11:45.48]

That's the first I heard.

1
Speaker 1
[11:45.50 - 11:46.84]

That's the first I heard about that too.

4
Speaker 4
[11:47.80 - 12:02.54]

Yeah, I guess you described him as this guy you'd met out at the racetracks here in Louisiana, up in Shreveport, Louisiana Downs. And you know, he's this Cajun guy with alligator skin boots and a bowler tie.

3
Speaker 3
[12:03.20 - 12:19.82]

Well, last name, Remington, seems pretty appropriate, for if the kid was shot. You know, I don't know. Just something he came up with, or I have no idea. I have no idea if the kid was shot or beaten. I mean, I never asked.

1
Speaker 1
[12:20.08 - 12:28.08]

Yeah, I think they said, what I remember. he was shot, but I don't know if he was shot right there or shot in the back of the car. I'm trying to remember.

4
Speaker 4
[12:28.44 - 12:31.36]

Beaten in the trunk and I think shot at that spot.

1
Speaker 1
[12:31.54 - 12:35.26]

I don't remember if he found the lead or the casing right there or not.

4
Speaker 4
[12:35.36 - 12:35.78]

I mean, that's.

2
Speaker 2
[12:35.78 - 12:37.06]

Found some casings there, yeah.

4
Speaker 4
[12:37.48 - 12:40.02]

And they were Remington casings.

1
Speaker 1
[12:40.50 - 12:53.16]

And let me tell you, you could walk down this road and probably find a thousand shell casings, because this is a hunting reserve. This is Sherbin Wildlife Management Area. So I mean, you know, to find something like that. Yeah.

3
Speaker 3
[12:53.34 - 13:02.86]

It's the first time I hear that name, Remington, and I didn't know that. I just say, it would be like, I mean, is it just coincidence that you're telling me he was shot with a Remington? I have no idea.

[13:04.48 - 13:06.06]

But that's just how my mind thinks.

2
Speaker 2
[13:07.20 - 13:12.94]

Well, you've been so helpful and you've added a lot of context to what we're doing.

3
Speaker 3
[13:14.14 - 13:25.12]

You just tend to forget about these things until you have to drive by it or something brings it up. I mean, y'all brought it up. It just, I mean, that image flashed back right away.

1
Speaker 1
[13:25.60 - 13:25.86]

Yes.

3
Speaker 3
[13:26.42 - 13:33.94]

I mean, every time I pass here, I look here to the left and I look to the right coming back. I mean, I remember it distinctly.

2
Speaker 2
[13:34.38 - 13:40.46]

Well, sorry, you had to experience all of that. I mean, what an awful image to have in your mind the rest of your lives.

3
Speaker 3
[13:41.16 - 13:44.34]

Yeah, I know, of course. Yeah. I knew what I was getting into.

1
Speaker 1
[13:44.82 - 13:45.04]

Right.

2
Speaker 2
[13:45.44 - 13:49.04]

Yeah. Well, good luck, and God bless you in all you do.

1
Speaker 1
[13:49.40 - 13:49.66]

Thanks.

7
Speaker 7
[13:50.68 - 13:55.16]

As we drove the four hours back to Houston from Whiskey Bay, we discussed what we just learned.

4
Speaker 4
[13:56.10 - 14:02.22]

You know, it's hard to imagine that he's just driving along, hoping he comes across a place like this.

2
Speaker 2
[14:02.26 - 14:19.82]

Yeah, no. In my view, he knew exactly what he was doing. And I don't think he just made an exit. It's in the middle of the night. He would know that this was a no man's land and that it was right in the middle of a massive bridge and swamp, thinking that nobody's ever gonna come here.

[14:21.16 - 14:39.54]

I just think he had a clear idea, because he was familiar with the road between Houston and some of the biggest gambling sites, that he would have known that this is a remote, dark, seedy area where he could quietly dump a body without anyone knowing.

4
Speaker 4
[14:40.60 - 14:55.10]

And it's far enough away from Texas and Conroe that the sheriff hadn't even heard of the case, didn't know anything about it. So if someone did stumble upon the body, who knows whether they would connect it to McKay.

2
Speaker 2
[14:55.40 - 15:36.58]

You know. what was clear to me, perhaps more than anything else, from that interview, is that, of all their years, combined nearly 40 years of experience in covering homicides and investigating literally hundreds of them, that this is the one that stands out more than any other. This is the one that's embedded in their minds as the worst, the most grotesque, the most horrifying. I mean, one of the deputies, well, I think both of them said, they can't drive this bridge without thinking of McKay Everett, that 12-year-old kid who they found.

4
Speaker 4
[15:38.06 - 15:50.60]

It's interesting, I've heard that same thing maybe two or three other times, like specifically this bridge, because it's such a distinct place that every time people drive across it, they think about it.

2
Speaker 2
[15:52.24 - 16:06.74]

Yeah, because it's the only exit, you know, in the middle of a massive bridge, nearly 20 miles long, this bridge, over a swampland, and you have one exit, and that's where he dumped the body.

[16:08.28 - 16:18.46]

So it's tough on them. You know, it's nearly 30 years later, but yet you can, it was clear to me that this case has affected them more than any other.

4
Speaker 4
[16:20.06 - 16:34.98]

It does make you think that this case has had such a profound impact on these people that were just part of it for one night, basically, and then you think about what Paulette went through,

?
Unknown Speaker
[16:35.34 - 16:38.50]

and I don't know, you know?

6
Speaker 6
[16:45.74 - 16:54.14]

For more information, including pictures, find us on social at The Ransom Podcast, or visit our website, ransompodcast.

[16:54.14 - 17:12.94]

com. Ransom is researched and written by Ben Kebrick and hosted by me, Art Rascone. Production and sound design by Ben Kebrick, Aaron Mason, and Trent Sell, who also did the mixing. Co-created by Austin Miller. For Podcast One, executive producer Eli Dvorkin.

[17:13.28 - 17:27.80]

For Workhouse Media, executive producer Paul Anderson. And for KSL Podcasts, executive producer Cheryl Wortley. Ransom is produced by KSL Podcasts in association with Podcast One and Workhouse Media.

7
Speaker 7
[17:28.86 - 17:41.12]

Thanks so much for listening to this bonus episode of Ransom. We'll be back on Wednesday with another full episode, so make sure you follow and subscribe. if you haven't yet. And if you feel like you've gotten anything out of Ransom so far, please share it with a friend.

1
Speaker 1
[17:41.54 - 17:41.94]

Thanks.

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