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. Leveritt tells most of the story through the eyes of Linda Ives, Keith's mother, who pursues the medical examiner, the sheriff, then-governor Bill Clinton, the CIA and everyone else she thinks is blocking or slowing the progress of the investigation. Question: What is more important than holding the killers of Kevin Ives and Don Henry accountable? Five months after the deaths, Kevin and Dons parents held a press conference. Kevin and Don set off to go spotlighting, a form of night hunting which is illegal in Arkansas. Now, Asa Hutchinson is the governor of Arkansas??? The others I believe were there are Keith Mckaskle, Larry Roushall, Sharline Wilson, narcotics detective kirk Lane, narcotics detective Jay Campbell, and deputy Danny Allen. Don and Kevins tragic story is a small glimpse through the window of some of the repercussions of the overall Iran/Contra scandal, which itself, like the Boys story, was a whitewash of the actual truth of what happened. 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.. Reprinted by permission. Kevin waited on the porch while Don went inside to talk to his father, Curtis. ${cardName} not available for the seller you chose. Official investigations have focused on drug smuggling activities in Saline County, Arkansas. Kevins father, Larry, could not believe that his son was knocked out on marijuana or into any kind of heavy drugs. At the heart of the case are events surrounding the deaths of two young menbest friends Larry . The train was over a mile long and was traveling at a speed of . 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. One week before the boys died, a man wearing military fatigues was spotted not far from the train tracks. "[2] The New York Times reported that it was a poorly documented "hodgepodge of sometimes-crazed charges. Circuit Judge John Cole appointed Dan Harmon special prosecutor of the Kevin Ives and Don Henry case in 1988, which gave him direct access to and control of information as the case developed. This Series details the many "suicides" surrounding the "Clinton Crime Family". Impressed by the details as well, I ran across similar information tying conspiracies with the Clintons and drug trafficking in South America. Much was not reported in the media at the time. They were partially covered by a light green tarp. Their parents could not accept that ruling. 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. What an amazing author Mara is - her investigative efforts are absolutely astounding. It had taken a screaming, screeching half mile. Kevin and Don were typical young men who enjoyed working on their cars (a Firebird and a Camaro . However, her intimation, in the epilog, of an ongoing, large-scale conspiracy is open to question. What is believed and what and where the case is. The Mena Connection. To cover their tracks, they laid them on the railroad tracks and covered them up with a tarp. Kevin Ives and Don Henry. Good article! In October 1988, shortly after the broadcast, the results were released. Details: In the pre-dawn hours of August 23, 1987, a seventy-five car, 6,000 ton Union Pacific cargo train made its regular night run to the UP freight yard in North Little Rock, Arkansas. The locomotive engineer engaged the brakes while blowing the horn, but the train could not stop in time and rolled over the bodies. He was released in 2006 after helping prosecutors in a murder conspiracy case. She writes a column in the weekly Arkansas Times and lives in Little Rock, Arkansas. Mother of boy found dead on tracks in 1987 suing United States of America, Judge to look at files in 1987 deaths of 2 boys found on central Arkansas railroad tracks, Former wrestler claims he witnessed murders of Don Henry and Kevin Ives, Mom of cold case victim dies; Linda Ives sought answers in the deaths of 2 teens for decades, Linda Ives, mother who sought answers in 'Boys on the Tracks' case, dies at 71, SitcomsOnline Discussion of Don Henry and Kevin Ives, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information, This case originally aired on the October 12, 1988 episode of. The picture made President Reagan ecstatic, and he went on national television with the photograph condemning the Sandinistas asdrug smugglers corrupting American youth.. 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. Reviewed in the United States on June 1, 2018. These Central American drug war/Cold War ops were run by Langley frat . He does not believe that anyone could sleep through that kind of noise. I lived in Arkansas from 1988 to 2005 and I remember this being local news during those early years. Within about three seconds, he hit the boys. The 1987 case was originally ruled a double suicide, then an accidentAthe boys supposedly smoked too much marijuana and passed out. In 1994 the University of Arkansas named her Arkansas Journalist of the Year. He feels that his life could be in danger. I feel he came upon something tried to flee and he lost his life. The fate of Barry Seals plane The documentary drew a line in the sand between Ives and Harmon. The case remains unsolved, and Leveritt draws no conclusions. It has to be death.". The 1987 case was originally ruled a double suicide, then an accidentAthe boys supposedly smoked too much marijuana and passed out. They were best friends and popular seniors at Bryant High School. Ives and Duffey helped Pat Matrisciana make the documentary, The Obstruction of Justice.. Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 25, 2015. 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. I ordered the book immediately and devoured it over the course of about 2 weeks. The train's crew reported the incident to railroad and law enforcement authorities. Aftermath The Kevin Ives and Don Henry case. The philandering and sexual harassment claims in the film have since been reported, and in some cases confirmed, by mainstream media. Date: August 23, 1987. All public officials who had indictments against them were cleared of all wrongdoings. 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're afraid you will learn the truth. Keith Coney, who was believed to be with Kevin and Don the night they were killed, told friends and family members that law enforcement officials were responsible for the murders. All information was gathered from The Obstruction of Justice documentary. Garrett had another autopsy conducted on Kevin and Don. Hassle free customer service through Amazon. After facing all of these drug charges, it may not be so far-fetched that he was at the tracks when Ives and Henry were murdered. Ships directly from Amazon! The book's subject is one of the state's most famous unsolved cases. The state medical examiner, Dr. Fahmy Malak, ruled the deaths an accident as a result of marijuana intoxication, saying the boys had smoked the equivalent of 20 marijuana cigarettes and fell asleep on the tracks. Misen Knives http://bit.ly/3sNux6V | Quip https://bit.ly/3pkPc0i | Upstart https://bit.ly/35qcF8j | Hello Fresh http://bit.ly/39mRSmP M. 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. Several people were implicated in this conspiracy, which involved numerous investigations and two grand juries. By the time the engine shuddered to a standstill, Conductor Jerry Tomlin was on the radio notifying an approaching train on a parallel track to stop because some boys had been run over. 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. Known as the Fat Man, Seal was said to be smuggling about 1000 pounds of cocaine out of Mena at the height of his career, as reported by the Louisiana Voice. Much was not reported in the media at the time. After facing all of these drug charges, it may not be so far-fetched that he was at the tracks when Ives and Henry were murdered. The task force obtained information that tied public officials, including Richard Garrett and Dan Harmon, to drugs and the murders of Kevin Ives and Don Henry. [2] Over 300,000 copies of the film were put into circulation[3] with perhaps half that being sales.[1]. The film alleged that Kevin and Don were killed after they accidentally witnessed a clandestine drug deal that involved top state officials. The claims in the video are controversial; some have been discredited, while others continue to be debated. The Deaths . A federal judge later dismissed many of the agencies listed, but ordered three of them to turn over the pertinent documents to him. About 4:00 a.m. on August 23, 1987, the crew on board a 75-car, 6,000-ton Union Pacific freight train, more than a mile long and traveling at a rate more than 50 miles per hour, en route to Little Rock, Arkansas, spotted two boys lying motionless across the tracks, about 300 feet ahead. I'm sure we've got death. They passed under us. At first, police believed that the boys had died after smoking . Spotlighting was a fairly widespread activity among the local boys. What had caused Kevin and Don to lie side-by-side on the railroad tracks? I hope I hope their murders get solved, & the families get justice. Eugene Hasenfus, who flew for the CIA, was the sole survivor of the crash, out of four men. It looks like WhatsApp is not installed on your phone. Mara Leveritt told the story of the boys on the tracks as a journalist should: facts only and told in a narrative style. Kevin Ives and Don Henry allegedly witnessed a drug drop from Mena before they were murdered. Here some of the Q and A with herQ - \"Thanks for doing the AMA! Exposing a web of silence and complicity in which drugs, politics, and murder converge. Years after the film was released, Clinton paid an out-of-court settlement to resolve the accusations made by Paula Jones in the movie. The Railroad Tracks (Documentary) m.youtube comment sorted by Best Top New Controversial Q&A Add a Comment He ruled their deaths an accident. 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. By all accounts, the engineer did a masterful job of bringing his train to a stop. The story, interestingly, unfolds against the backdrop of both the Arkansas and Washington Clinton administrations, so Clinton associates like Jocelyn Elders; Clinton's mother, Virginia Kelley; his brother, Roger Clinton; and Webster Hubbell pop up throughout the narrative. They have spent many hours at the spot where they were killed, wondering how it could have happened. 16-year-old Don Henry and a year older Kevin Ives were best mates. Matrisciana was a video journalist who also filmed The Clinton Chronicles in the early 90s. Enhancements you chose aren't available for this seller. 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. Shipping cost, delivery date, and order total (including tax) shown at checkout. Support Our Sponsors! On the same night the boys died, a similar-looking man dressed in military fatigues was spotted nearby. Item may be missing bundled media unless noted. Clinton promised Black that he would get a man on the case, but never did. Location: Alexander, Arkansas 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.. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Today Kendall and Josh discuss the case of Don Henry & Kevin Ives. Duffeys boss, U.S. Attorney Chuck Banks, concluded that the media whirlwind created by Harmon had made her ineffective, and decided to fire her. 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. Former Saline County prosecuting attorney Dan Harmon investigated the case and presented evidence to the grand jury. As a result, the families were not able to move forward with their investigation. The two teens were hit by a . 10 various investigations into drugs, money laundering and so forth, in and around Arkansas, from the 1980s and 1990s, were all shut down with no results made public. Reviewed in the United States on March 1, 2021. In March 1988, Dr. James Garriot of San Antonio offered a second opinion and was skeptical of the findings about marijuana. [6], A number of the incidents mentioned in The Clinton Chronicles continued to be investigated after its release. However, it was never found. However, Linda and her attorney did not find anything in the documents related to the murders. On the night Kevin and Don died, witnesses again reported seeing a man in military fatigues. He believes the assailant(s) incapacitated one of them, and then, felt like they had to do something to the other one. Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations. [10] Keith McCaskle, also implicated in the murder,[10] was stabbed to death by an unknown attacker[11] on November 10, 1988. However, many do not consider him to be a credible source. The train driver attempted to stop and blew the horn, but the momentum of the train carried it over the bodies. Garrett also believes that the tarp existed. One of them would shine a light in the animals eyes, transfixing the prey while the other fired. The ensuing investigation unearthed an intriguing lead. The two boys were identified as sixteen-year-old Don Henry and seventeen-year-old Kevin Ives. [1], The New York Times interviewed some of the participants in the film after it aired for followup developments. The Clinton Chronicles: An Investigation into the Alleged Criminal Activities of Bill Clinton is a 1994 documentary that accused Bill Clinton of a range of crimes. It is a tale of multiple murders and of justice repeatedly denied. She writes a column in the weekly. This time, he was leaving town, heading down a road less than 200 yards from the spot where the bodies were run over. The ninth case I selected to write about is, "the boys on the tracks.". ${cardName} unavailable for quantities greater than ${maxQuantity}. A second autopsy by Georgia medical examiner Dr. Joseph Burton found the equivalent of one or two marijuana cigarettes, not 20. 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. As a result, the grand jury changed its ruling from "probable homicide" to "definite homicide." However, I came to find them helpful in feeling Linda's utter frustration with trying to crack the veneer of corruption of the good ol' boys network in Arkansas. What a sad tragic story and shame on the US Government (especially the Clintons!). Your email address will not be published. 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. 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 . As his train drew closer, he made the horrifying discovery that two boys were lying motionless across the railroad tracks. It is an intensely personal story and a story of national importance. His documentary accused many men holding high rank, such as Dan Harmon, of being corrupt and involved in drugs. He also points out that Dons gun was laying on the gravel. Man Claims to Have Seen "Boys on the Tracks" Murders", "Unsolved Mysteries - Episode #2 - TheTVDB.com", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Killing_of_Don_Henry_and_Kevin_Ives&oldid=1151905070, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles with unsourced statements from March 2023, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 26 April 2023, at 23:59. Afraid to go against Arnolds orders because he mightve been one of the public officials involved in drugs, Duffey brought the information to Assistant U.S. Attorney Bob Govar, who was in charge of a federal investigation of corruption in Saline County. 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. All rights reserved. Nearby were a .22 caliber rifle and a flashlight. I learned of this book while listening to a true crime podcast and was fascinated by the story. The cocaine aspect of Iran/Contra wasnt publicly well known until Gary Webbs Dark Alliance series was published in 1996 Even though AP reporters Robert Parry and Brian Barger, first broke the Contra-Cocaine-association story in December 1985, the press and the networks refused to put the story out and it was ignored, although it was thanks to their reporting that the Kerry Committee was formed sadly to no avail though(even though Kerry DID uncover quite a lot of evidence). You might think it sounds like crime fiction but this is real.crime. Murder On The Tracks The Story of Kevin Ives and Don Henry (1hr:20mins) 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. 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. Several witnesses who testified before the grand jury were charged with drug trafficking and other offenses. In 1995, the investigation into Kevin and Don's murders was officially closed without their killer(s) captured or identified. Gary Parks, who appeared in a segment of the film discussing the suspicious circumstances of the death of his father while investigating Clinton's womanizing, admitted he embellished some details in the film, but still believes his father was killed for political reasons. These relationships began to tie the murders to something larger than just a homicide. [3] The movie connected these deaths to smuggling activities at the Mena Airport, suggesting the boys had become accidental witnesses to a drug drop. As Dan Harmons investigation pushed forward, many potential witnesses started to turn up dead. They went to high school and did everything together. 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. SUPERB read. Reviewed in the United States on October 11, 2018. The deaths were ruled accidental. Kevin Ives and Don Henry; I can not say enough good words about this book !! Excerpt. 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. However, he was unable to stop it in time. Mena, Arkansas, Bill Clinton, Don Henry, Kevin Ives, Cocaine, Drugs, CIA, Conspiracy, MediaGiant Language English. Lying parallel to both of them was Dons .22 rifle. I cant believe how much evidence & eyewitnesses there are to this case, yet it gets blocked every time there was any positive movement. 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 . Just a few months later, on August 24, Kevin's sister, Alicia, passed away at the age of fifty-three. 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. She successfully had the original examiner's ruling overruled and the cause of death for Kevin Ives and Don Henry was changed from accidental to homicide. Newly appointed prosecutor Richard Garrett had Kevin and Dons bodies exhumed for a second autopsy to be performed by a noted expert. Seal continued to smuggle drugs into the U.S. as an undercover agent until 1986, when he was gunned down by the Colombian Medellin Cartel. Unfortunately no justice was done for the boys as there was corruption in high places. 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? According to ID Files, Harmon was convicted in July 1997 of racketeering, extortion and drug conspiracy, and sentenced to eight years in prison. Mystery: Kevin Reeder/Lost loves: Bruce and Rosa. Update: August 23, 2019. It seemed especially unlikely that it would happen to two people at the same time. Seal purchased his own plane, and as a part of the deal with the DEA, he rigged it with a hidden camera. Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them. Mara Leveritt has covered this story since it first broke back in 1987. 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. Special prosecutor Ken Starr was assigned to investigate a number of incidents mentioned in the film. In the documentary, two veteran sheriff's deputies, Jay Campbell and Kirk Lane, were alleged to be the killers.