While there, he allegedly witnessed the murders. Question: What is more important than holding the killers of Kevin Ives and Don Henry accountable? Two out of three pilots interviewed in the Obstruction of Justice documentary confirmed the site and its name. It is also known as the "Boys on the Tracks" case. However, Matrisciana successfully appealed the verdict, which was overturned in 1999. 16-year-old Don Henry and a year older Kevin Ives were best mates. The two boys were identified as sixteen-year-old Don Henry and seventeen-year-old Kevin Ives. 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. I read this book years ago when it first came out. She weaves profiles and events into a smooth and chilling whole, one that leads the readers to confront, along with Linda Ives, the events' profoundly disturbing implications. Local law enforcement attributed the deaths to a massive overdose of marijuana and dismissed the crews tale as optical illusion, in the first of many suspicious official fumbles. I'm curious what the connection to Clinton is. I finally understood, Duffey wrote in a letter to the editor of the Wall Street Journal in 1997, To solve the train deaths case would be to expose the crimes of Mena, and no government agent who has come close to doing either has survived professionally., Prospective Online Copyright 2023 FLEX WordPress Theme by SNO Log in, Your email address will not be published. However, her intimation, in the epilog, of an ongoing, large-scale conspiracy is open to question. My home town, Bryant, has secrets of its own. It ranks as one of the most remembered cases in the entire series. 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. If so, who and for what reasons?\"Linda - \"Both Republicans and Democrats have exposure in the Mena /Iran /contra operation which is why they have been highly successful in the coverup. I can not say enough good words about this book !! However, he was never charged in the case or officially labeled a suspect. Special Bulletin: Wanted: Jose Blandon. Mara Leveritt's 1999 book Boys on the Tracks: Death, Denial, and a Mother's Crusade to Bring Her Son's Killers to Justice is one of the most important examples of investigative journalism in modern Arkansas history. While the Starr Report accused Clinton of obstruction of justice in covering up an affair, and other players in the Whitewater controversy were charged and sentenced, Starr declined to recommend charges for Clinton over Whitewater and cleared Clinton of involvement with Vince Foster's death. Kevin waited on the porch while Don went inside to talk to his father, Curtis. Perhaps THAT must be why George W Bush made Asa Hutchinson the head of the DEA in 2001 then right??? Covering up the circumstances surrounding the deaths of two boys found dead on railroad tracks near the airport, Protecting a state medical examiner who was repeatedly accused of misstating the cause of death in several, This page was last edited on 22 February 2023, at 01:31. He believes that others were involved or have knowledge of who was involved. It wasn't until 1990 that we learned the drugs were being dropped by plane. Kevin Ives and Don Henry. He was released in 2006 after helping prosecutors in a murder conspiracy case. She has confessed to selling cocaine to both Bill and Roger Clinton. By 1982, Seal was making regular runs on behalf of the Medellin Cartel from Columbia, bringing tons of cocaine into the U.S. before moving his operations from Baton Rouge, La. The two victims were identified as 16-year-old Don Henry and 17-year-old Kevin Ives, best friends and popular seniors at Bryant High School. Mystery: Kevin Reeder/Lost loves: Bruce and Rosa. SUPERB read. All evidence gathered from The Obstruction of Justice video documentary. Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them. It is likely that this is a direct result of Barry Seal running drugs . Several witnesses who testified before the grand jury were charged with drug trafficking and other offenses. These relationships began to tie the murders to something larger than just a homicide. Four men were possibly killed because of what they knew. The Fat Man was arrested in Florida in 1984 for money laundering and smuggling quaaludes. The appeal focused primarily on free speech and the ability to criticize public figures. Mena, Arkansas, Bill Clinton, Don Henry, Kevin Ives, Cocaine, Drugs, CIA, Conspiracy, MediaGiant Language English. Official investigations have focused on drug smuggling activities in Saline County, Arkansas. Kevin and Don were typical young men who enjoyed working on their cars (a Firebird and a Camaro . I lived in Little Rock when the events described in Mara Leveritt's "The Boys on the Track" were unfolding. A second autopsy revealed that Don Henry had been stabbed in the back and Kevin Ives' skull had been crushed prior to being run over. Families don't accept explanation, Marijuana coma? 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. August 23, 1987 - 17-yr-old Kevin Ives and 16-yr-old Don Henry were murdered, and their bodies placed on train tracks to be mutilated by a passing train - cover-up begins immediately with authorities (Saline County Sheriff's Department) treating the scene as an "accident".. Aug-Sept, 1987 - State Medical Examiner, Fahmy Malak, does autopsy first leans towards . Check out HelloFresh here! His shirt was found in Bryant, but his body was never discovered. A second autopsy by Georgia medical examiner Dr. Joseph Burton found the equivalent of one or two marijuana cigarettes, not 20. I lived in Arkansas from 1988 to 2005 and I remember this being local news during those early years. The story expanded to encompass the lies of the US Government concerning the Iran-Contra Affair. 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. TIL of the death of Don Henry and Keven Ives, who were hit by a train as they lay on the tracks. Please try again. According to IMDB, Cruise plays Barry Seal, a notorious drug runner of the eighties. Clinton also denied ever speaking with Black when confronted about it. Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 25, 2015. 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??? You can return the item for any reason in new and unused condition: no shipping charges. She writes a column in the weekly. Guess who was the US Attorney for Western Arkansas for the entire time Barry Seal was operating out of Mena Arkansas, which is in Western Arkansas??? A powerful story reminiscent of, Not Without My Daughter, The Boys on the Tracks. On June 3, 2021, Linda passed away at the age of seventy-one. Garrett also believes that the tarp existed. Here are my thoughts: Too unbelievable, but true. The locomotive engineer engaged the brakes while blowing the horn, but the train could not stop in time and rolled over the bodies. Links: Unsolved Mysteries Wiki is a FANDOM TV Community. In late December 1988, the grand jury investigating the case released their final report, stating that the deaths were the result of foul play; however, no indictments were issued regarding the deaths. 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. In July 1988, a grand jury reversed Dr. Malaks original finding of accidental death and officially ruled their deaths "probable homicides." Filmography. Seniors at Bryant High School, Kevin Ives and Don Henry allegedly witnessed a drug drop from Mena before they were murdered. , Jon Underwood | Jan 13, 2017 at 4:29 pm. It seemed especially unlikely that it would happen to two people at the same time. Day, Chris. However, no suspects were identified. On one of his trips, he was able to capture a photograph of Pablo Escobar, a Colombian drug lord and drug trafficker, helping Nicaraguan soldiers load cocaine for shipment to the U.S. at the Managua airport. 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. McKaskle then realized that he had told the wrong person, and made his own funeral arrangement. is destined to become one of the most powerful works published in 1999. That was her immediate reaction to the ruling. While we found no evidence that any CIA employee involved in the Contra program had participated in drug-related activities or had conspired with other in such activities, we found that the Agency did not deal with Contra-related drug trafficking allegations and information in a consistent, reasoned or justifiable manner. Curtis recalls that Don came into his bedroom at around 12:15am. When police officer Danny Allen attempted to stop him, the man opened fire and managed to disappear into the night. He died on May 17, 1988, when he struck the back of a tractor trailer after apparently being in a high speed chase. Thanks for sharing the real word, this cant rest until solved. Eugene Hasenfus, who flew for the CIA, was the sole survivor of the crash, out of four men. The Deaths . Police speculated that Kevin and Don's murder may have been related to drug trafficking. 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. He determined that they had been in a deep sleep induced by the "psychedelic" effects of the drug and had never heard the oncoming train. He claimed that he was hired by a "corrupt Arkansas politician" to provide "muscle" at an Arkansas drug stop. After telling his family goodbye, he was stabbed 113 times only days later. In August of 1987, the bodies of 16-year old Don Henry and 17-year old Kevin Ives were hit by a train in Alexander, Arkansas. 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. Linda Ives, mother of the victim Kevin Ives, has devoted her life to finding out the truth behind her sons murder. It also helps the At first, I was turned off by the omniscient musings of Linda Ives in a non-fiction book. make the documentary, The Obstruction of Justice.. Garrett had another autopsy conducted on Kevin and Don. It was featured in a two-part episode of "The Trail Went Cold" podcast. Unsolved Mysteries is an American mystery documentary television show that began with a series of television . I read this book years ago when it first came out. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. This is when witnesses began turning up dead, but no one connected that to Harmon at the time. . Ask yourself, how much do you actually know about Iran/Contra and if you really dont know much about it why is that? To cover their tracks, they laid them on the railroad tracks and covered them up with a tarp. Suddenly, while going through the town of Alexander, he saw something in his path; he could not tell what it was. By Jean Duffey. 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. Baz | May 1, 2017 at 5:54 pm. Congestion was also found in their lungs which indicated that they had been hurt before being hit by the 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 believes Kevin and Don came upon the scene and were grabbed and interrogated for information they didn't have and ended up being beaten and put on the railroad tracks." At the end of the documentary the narrator says, "Eyewitnesses have implicated several people in the murders and subsequent cover-up including, Dan Harmon, Richard Garrett . Nicknames: Kevin (Larry); Don (Donald) There are many conspiracy theories about this case that say many differnet people are involved or responsible for their deaths. At the heart of the case are events surrounding the deaths of two young menbest friends Larry . In a video posted on January 23, Billy Jack Haynes, a well-known wrestler in the 1980s, said he witnessed the murders of Ives and Henry on August 23, 1987 in Alexander. 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. The state medical examiner, Dr. Fahmy Malak, said they had been under the influence of marijuana and ruled the deaths accidental. Garrett was later interviewed by Robert Stack; he claimed that there was drug trafficking throughout Bryant and Saline County that was also connected to several other counties and states. Maybe one of those with first hand knowledge will come forward to do the right thing and reveal who did what to whom in this whole ugly mess which was played out in Alexander but went from Mena to Little Rock, maybe even to Washington. Ives said that she and Harmon became good friends while he was working the case. Fearing for his reputation, Harmon used the local newspapers to destroy Jean Duffeys character. I hope I hope their murders get solved, & the families get justice. On the night Kevin and Don died, witnesses again reported seeing a man in military fatigues. They initially prevailed; however, lost the case when it was appealed. Mara Leveritt has covered this story since it first broke back in 1987. In the meeting, according to Spartacus Educational, Seal promised that the Medellin Cartel he ran for made a deal with the Marxist Sandinistas in Nicaragua. Seal used the Mena airport along with double agents, who were attempting to tie Bill Clinton to drug smuggling conspiracies, especially during his first four years as President. 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). . I wish I'd written this fine book. , Jack Olsen, author of Hastened to the Grave, has worked for twenty years as an Arkansas journalist. In 1996, Linda and film producer Patrick Matrisciana released the documentary, Obstruction of Justice: The Mena Connection, which detailed the botched investigation into the murders. The Train Deaths: Don Henry and Kevin Ives Don Henry and Kevin Ives. He also called the dispatcher. He feels that his life could be in danger. Am so glad that the author took the time to research and write this bookeven though we know there was a reason why the incident disappeared, it still makes the pointdont give up!! Please feel free to make a contribution towards helping bring this treacherous case to a close, with some Justice finally being served!THE KEVIN IVES/DON HENRY GoFundMe PAGEhttps://www.gofundme.com/KevinIves-DonHenryMurdersLinda Ives appeared on a Reddit AMA on Wed June 7, 2017. 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. If this Arkansas murder tale weren't a true-crime thriller by an established investigative journalist, it would be too crazy, complicated and bizarre to believe. Seal purchased his own plane, and as a part of the deal with the DEA, he rigged it with a hidden camera. Jerry Falwell, who also appears in the film. The parents, rejecting the official explanations, pushed for a murder investigation. Location: Alexander, Arkansas 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. [{"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"}]. Hasenfus was captured by the Sandinistas and confessed to them that the CIA was providing the Contras with weapons to fight the Sandinistas. Jeff Rhodes told his family that he feared for his life because he knew too much about Kevin, Don and McKaskles murders. Arkansas parents dispute ruling on sons' deaths, Parents Doubt Report Blaming Marijuana: Youths' Deaths on Train Tracks Probed, Forensic photos indicate teens were injured prior to being struck by train, Garrett says, Second Autopsy Report Concludes Teens Murdered, Saline County Sheriff criticizes Malak for his handling of deaths, Prosecutor says teens hit by train may have seen drug dealers before death, Prosecutor: Teens killer will be brought to justice, Teens deaths ruled homicides after parents push for facts, Patrick Matrisciana's US Court of Appeals. The case to this very day is still unsolved and no arrest. Almost immediately, however, Duffeys undercover officers discovered that there were a number of public officials involved in drug trafficking. is a horrifying story from first page to last, and its most frightening aspect is that all of the story is true. 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 state medical examiner, Dr. Malak, concluded they had smoked the equivalent of twenty marijuana cigarettes. When Stephen laid down on the diesel horn, he got no reaction from them. 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.. According to ID Files, Harmon was convicted in July 1997 of racketeering, extortion and drug conspiracy, and sentenced to eight years in prison. 1996-2023, Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates, Select a location to see product availability, Free returns are available for the shipping address you chose. Both Clinton and Elders had the authority to remove Malak from office after his false ruling, but they continued to support him and even gave him a $32,000 pay raise. He honked, but it was impossible to stop the . They're afraid you will learn the truth. They were best friends and popular seniors at Bryant High School. Burton concluded that Kevins skull had been crushed and Don had been stabbed in the back hours before they were run over by the train. I know in August of 2016, Linda Ives filed another suit under the freedom of information act. It is an intensely personal story and a story of national importance. Kevin Ives and Don Henry allegedly witnessed a drug drop from Mena before they were murdered. So when I saw that there was a movie filming called Mena, starring Tom Cruise, I was shocked. Copyright 1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. On August 23, 1987, sixteen-year-old Don Henry and seventeen-year-old Kevin Ives were brutally murdered in Saline County Arkansas. In October 1997, prosecutors brought more drug charges against Harmon, and he was sentenced to three years in prison, for a total of more than 11 years. The train was over a mile long and was traveling at a speed of fifty-two miles per hour. However, Linda and her attorney did not find anything in the documents related to the murders. In the early hours of August 23 rd, 1987, they also died together. Update: August 23, 2019. On the same night the boys died, a similar-looking man dressed in military fatigues was spotted nearby. The case was the subject of journalist Mara Leveritt's award-winning book The Boys on the Tracks.. On Sunday, August 23, 1987, at around 4:00 a.m., the bodies of the two boys . If you want a window into the corruption of our government at the state and federal levels, read this book. 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. Leveritt brings up every wild conspiracy theory in Arkansas and ties each to the boys' death; some of the theories are wacky right-wing fantasies, others are simply small-town oddities. He also found evidence to indicate that one of them was already dead and one unconscious when the train hit them. So much of the nonsense I see in the media everyday is meaningless. Lying parallel to both of them was Dons .22 rifle. [4] The fact checking site TruthOrFiction.com states that "There is no credible evidence that any of the deaths is related or can be attributed to Bill Clinton". Almost like, huh? Just sayin. I have not been able to find out anything since. Neither Kevin nor Don owned such a tarp. The picture made President Reagan ecstatic, and he went on national television with the photograph condemning the Sandinistas asdrug smugglers corrupting American youth.. 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. At first, police believed that the boys had died after smoking . Neither of them was moving. [1], The movie helped perpetuate the Clinton body count conspiracy theory about a list of associates Clinton was purported to have had killed. Clinton Body Count Series: #9. I have known about this case since the late 80s. 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. One week before Kevin and Don were killed, a man wearing military fatigues had been spotted in the vicinity. He stated he had flown that \"route\" a number of times and we were able to corroborate geographical information he provided.\"Q - \"Do you think any other state officials or officials in the federal government know the truth about your son's death and are staying silent about it for some reason? The film mentioned that her son's death was controversially ruled accidental by an examiner who had a history of questionable rulings. At first, I was turned off by the omniscient musings of Linda Ives in a non-fiction book. Bill Clintons old job Hmmm Real Names:Larry Kevin Ives and Donald George Henry To learn that the child was murdered is worse. 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. It is likely that this is a direct result of Barry Seal running drugs out of Mena in the early eighties.