Crime Wire Weekly 6/13/25 | U.S. Marshal’s Enact “RAM” to Hunt Travis Decker, Man Arrested After Tossing Raccoon In Bar (Preview)

0:09 In Texas, a Department of Justice worker is arrested for allegedly slipping an abortion drug into his pregnant girlfriend's drink. In Louisiana, a father faces murder charges after leaving his one year old daughter in a hot car for nine hours after a drinking binge. And in Kentucky, a man is arrested for releasing a raccoon inside of a bar after he was banned entry. These crime stories dominated the headlines this week, and we have our comments on those stories and more today on Crime Wire Weekly. I'm Jim Chapman. And I'm Kelly Jenny.

0:51 And it is Father's Day weekend, So before we get started, I want to wish all of my fellow dads a very happy Father's. Day, absolutely, and I want to wish my sweet husband happy Father's Day. Thank you for being my boo boo duddy. Oh lord, We're going to start off with not a good father here in Louisiana. First, a Louisiana father was charged with second degree murder after allegedly leaving his twenty one month old daughter inside a hot car for more than nine hours. Joseph Boatman, who is thirty two, of Hammon, was arrested this past Sunday after the child died outside a home. This was in Madisonville. Detect Us with the Saint Tammany Parish Sheriff's Office Major Crimes Unit learned that Boatman had strapped the toddler into her car seat inside the vehicle after picking her up from a family member's residence.

1:49 This was shortly after two thirty a m. Sunday, which was the first thing that kind of stood out to me. That's a heck of a time to pick up your daughter. After stripping the toddler into the car seat, Boatman goes back inside the residents and he never returned to the vehicle. It was also learned that prior to that, Boatman had consumed multiple alcoholic beverages. Police said they responded to this home shortly before noon on Sunday after a family member located the girl unresponsive inside that vehicle. Temperatures in the area around that time were above ninety degrees. The Saint Tammany Pair of Sheriff for Randy Smith said, quote, this is a devastating loss and no family ever wants to face when a child is left in a vehicle, especially on a day when the heat and index climbs to over one hundred degrees, the outcome can turn deadly in just a matter of minutes. This case involved compromised judgment and the result was heartbreaking. Now, the website no Heatstroke dot com actually tracks the deaths of children inside hot cars in the United States, and it said this was the fifth instance this year already, and we're early in to summer. There's been in a case in New Mexico, California, Maryland, and New Jersey. And the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration set on its website a child's body temperature rises three

3:21 to five times faster than an adults. When a child is left in a vehicle, that child's temperature can quickly rise and the situation can quickly become very dangerous. What I would term a horrific statistic. In twenty twenty four, thirty nine children died of heat strokes in vehicles. That was up thirty five percent from twenty twenty three, So one the wrong direction. Yeah, that's terrible. I am not that animals anyway are in comparison to human lives, but just yesterday, I'll let my pups outside do use bathroom. They were outside, maybe maybe twenty minutes. And when I came back, when my little Frenchies was panting really hard and kind of struggling.

4:07 I mean, it was that hot, and that was not enclosed, and that was on a patio with fans on, and I brought her in and I had to lay her down, and I got ice packs even to kind of cool her down, which they're known, you know, for that type of situation. But to think of how that child suffered in that car, could not get out, that's something that that's torturous. That's absolutely torturous. All right, Well, let's go on to Texas Gym and the Justice Department worker was charged with capital murder for allegedly slipping an abortion drug into his pregnant girlfriend's drink without her consent, forcing her to lose her baby. Justin Banta, which is a thirty eight year old information technology staffer, was taken into custody Friday following an incident that unfolded at a coffee shop and I guess that's Terrant County. The victim reported that her boyfriend intentionally added plan C, commonly known as the abortion drug, to her drink in order to force her to have an a abortion without her knowledge or consent.

5:02 Police said, and look, guys, I wasn't familiar with Plan C. I'm not even gonna lie. So I had to look this one up. And there is a difference between Plan B and Plan C. Plan B is an emergency contraceptive that prevents pregnancy, while Plan C is the one that's used to terminate and exist in pregnancy. So I wanted to explain that if you weren't familiar either. In addition to a capital murder charge from the Texas Rangers, Banta was booked on one count of tampering with physical evidence. The victim told investigators that she and Banta were in a romantic relationship in September of twenty twenty four when she discovered that she was pregnant. Now this is a police quote. The victim informed Banta of the pregnancy, who proposed to cover the cost of an abortion and suggested they order the Plan C online. The victim informed Banta of her desire to keep the baby. Police added on October seventeenth, twenty twenty four, when the victim was approximately six weeks pregnant, she went for a sonogram, where she learned that the baby had a strong heartbeat, displayed good vital signs and was said to be healthy by her doctor.

6:02 The woman said that she then met with Banta at a coffee shop later that day, and Banta gave her a drink he purchased prior to her arrival. Security camera footage showed she consumed the entire beverage. The next day, the victims stated she began to suffer from extreme fatigue and heavy bleeding, prompting her to visit the emergency room. The victim reported she lost her baby on October the nineteenth, which she believed was a result of the drugs Banta had previously placed in her drink at the coffee shop without her permission, and that was from the Parker County Sheriff's Office. Police said they interviewed Banta and collected his cell phone as evidence. During the interview, Bana admitted to buying the abortion pills on his phone and said he knew investigators wanted to talk to him about the woman's miscarriage.

6:43 Sheriff's investigators believed Banta, who works at the IT department of the US Department of Justice, later accessed the phone remotely and performed a reset. Thereby deleting crucial evidence related to the case. Banta was released from Parker County Jail on Friday after posting a five hundred thousand dollars bond with a capital murder charge and a twenty thousand dollars bond for the evidence tampering charge. I'll tell you what, one of the most horrific stories that I've ever come across is that one right there as you're read it. That is absolutely disgusting. He basically killed he did, he committed feet aside. This lady apparently wanted to have this child and he slips her a pill to kill the child. Absolutely disgusting.

7:30 But you know there's a case of this. There's a famous forensic files if anybody here watches them, and I really I should do an episode on this one. But I believe it was in Canada that there was a doctor, his name was Maynard something, and he had a wife and was messing around with this other woman who got pregnant, and then they caught she the same thing happened. He slipped her the pill. Okay, he's a doctor. Well, she told police. Police didn't believe her, and so she ended up setting up her own camera in a little firefighter like figurine, and he came over again and caught him on camera slipping another pill. It's called cidatech which is used to soften the cervix, and that he did the exact same thing. So not unheard of, but definitely devious and completely and totally uncalled for. All.

8:18 Right, now, last week we told you about a breaking news story. It was regarding the man hunt for a father in Washington State. He was wanted from the murder of his three children, and we're going to give you an update on that manhunt. So, as of this recording, Travis Decker is still evating capture, but his days may be numbered. The US Marshall Service is activated its Elite Rapidly Advanced Manhunt program. Its acronym is RAM, and this program is in an urgent search for Travis Decker. The RAM program is designed to expedite the capture of violent fugitives through real time intelligence, coordination and rapid deployment of specialized teams. So at this point, more than one hundred officers from federal, state, and local agencies are actively involved in this man hunt. And these tactics include aerial surveillance.

9:22 They have tracking dogs and backcountry patrols, and Marshall Services actually offering a twenty thousand dollars reward for information directly related to Deckers arrest. Now. The US Marshall's continued involvement comes as the Sheriff's office confirmed that they have assumed the role of the lead investigative agency in these girls' killings, and a clarification issued Wednesday, the department shared that the when that chat this is a tough one to say, when a chatty, let me see the police department, when natchi Police Department is no longer the lead agency in the killings. And if y'all want to crucify me on Facebook, have at it, baby, I've got big shoulders. The shift in jurisdiction comes as the investigation continues to focus on rugged wilderness areas within the county where Decker was last seen.

10:20 And that's a lot of the problem with locating this guy is the terrain is just treacherous. This is Washington State, very mountainous type area, and so there's a lot of hiding spots. Quite frankly, on Tuesday, June tenth, authorities announced they were zeroing in on the Army veteran, so apparently Monday, June ninth, the agency received a tip from a group of hikers and they said they saw a man who appeared kind of evasive when they saw him, look like he didn't want to be seen. He looked very unprepared for hiking, if you will, and he was near what's known as Ingles Creek in the Valley High areas, and it was very late at night. As you can imagine a lot of these escapes, they move at night because of obvious reasons. I'm going to quote here the Sheriff's office.

11:12 They said they recently received a tip from a hiking party who stated they spotted a loane hiker who appeared to be ill prepared for trail in weather conditions and appeared to be avoiding others. Authorities subsequently acted on that tip and they did spot a lone off trail hiker from a helicopter. He was near lake and he ran from that site when the helicopter passed. Search teams were able to establish a trail and they deployed canines, several canines throughout the area that led them to Ingles Creek, which he probably jumped in the creek and got the scent off of him right. The wooded area is located approximately thirty miles from what's known as Rock Island Campground, and that is the boy where the bodies of Decker's three daughters, Peyton nine, Evelyn eight, and Olivia five were found on June second. So, as we reported to you on last Friday's episodes, these bodies were found three days after they did not return to their mother following a court approved visit with Decker, and authorities have noted that Decker is a former Army infantryman and he has survival skills.

12:26 He may have used his rugged survival skilled tactics to evade capture. Authorities previously described him as dangerous, warning residents not to approach him and describing him as armed. Quote, this is someone with military training who's lived off the grid before. We're dealing with a highly capable survivalist who may be using the terrain to his advantage. That from the Sheriff Mike Morrison. So kJ with all this technology these days, how does anyone stay on the run this long? Well? Hell ask New Orleans because they still looking for those two cut out of the jail. You know, I this is not like the movies. This is not where you know, you just go up in a helicopter or shoot some heat flear and oh look there's somebody moving.

13:15 It's way more complicated than that. And also where do you even start to search in that area? Lots of manpower, lots of time. The dogs can get a scent, and then that scent like you know, he hits the waterway, well, then the scent is cut. So even if he picks up on the other side, that again is another whole you know, bag of worms when they get over there and then they have to pick up on a scent and try to go. And dogs aren't infalluable. There is a valuability rate where they're not always going to be perfect. People aren't perfect, and so this is really going to have to come down to sightings, I think, and locating that area, making it smaller, trying to, let you know, making it smaller and smaller until they finally can get him.

13:56 But if he's been living in that area off the grid, then he knows it well yeah, and that's probably one of the issues, the bigger issues, i'd say. And it complicates things a lot that you know, as I said, the terrain is not. I mean, this guy ain't hiding in the middle of a bat room. You know, an urban area where you know all your side streets and it's really easy to spot somebody. I mean, he's picture being in the middle of just nothingness, and that's where he's at. So you're right. I mean, it's gonna come down to someone actually spotting. And the frustrating thing is they soil. Yeah, the head and the helicopter had a beat on him and he slipped through their cracks.

14:36 And I'm sure no one's more frustrating than the police are right now that uh, there was a good shot at him, But look, you can't stay out there forever. You're gonna run out of food eventually. He seems to be so mentally ill at this point based on everything that I've read, and even the mom before this happened, or when the kids were still missing, was saying, you know, he was a good dad his kids, He was involved until he broke and so I'm not convinced this will end very well. Yeah, I'm not either. This will probably be one of those shootout situations. If I'm guessing either that or he you know, maybe he'll just go until he can't anymore because he's.

15:17 Just well not after what he did. Square. Yeah, I mean, I'm not pressed either way. All right, Let's move on to Arkansas. Grant Harden, an escaped Arkansas inmate known as the Devil in the Ozarks, has been taken into custody. The Izard County Sheriff's office this past Friday. Said Harden is a convicted murderer and rapist, and he was reported missing from prison on May twenty fifth. Harden was taken into custody by county authorities just a short distance from the North Central Unit in Calico Rock. The Arkansas Department of Corrections said Harden managed to escape by impersonating a law enforcement official. He passed off as one. In dress manner caused the corrections officer operating a secure game to open the gate and allow inmate Harden to walk away from the North Central Unit. Board of Corrections member Benny Magnus said Harden was captured about a mile from the unit in the woods with the help of specialized border patrol units. Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Arkansas can be relieved that he has caught thanks to the great work of local, state and federal law enforcement Arkansas can breathe a sigh of relief and I can confirm that violent criminal Grant Harden is back in custody. Sanders said, I'm grateful for all law enforcement who contributed to his capture and give special thanks to the Trump administration and Secretary Christinoum, who sent a team from Border Patrol that was instrumental in tracking and apprehending Harden. A twenty twenty three television documentary titled titled Devil and the Ozarks drew national attention to Harden. Harden had been serving a thirty year sentence for murder in the fatal shooting a fifty

16:50 nine year old James Appleton, for which he was arrested in twenty seventeen, and he was also serving a fifty year sentence for raping an Arkansas elementary school teacher in nineteen ninety seven. What do you think? I think that it's pretty good that we actually have one that got caught after covering one still on the loose and look grand Harden stone cold murderer, period and rapist. But I mean, this guy will kill you as quick as a look at you. What made him so dangerous on the run. Keep in mind, he's a former chief of police. He knows how law enforcement works, and so it made him difficult to catch. To start with, the way that he escaped, total black eye for the state of Arkansas. I mean, you put on a freaking uniform and walk right up the front door. You didn't jump a gate, someone opened it for you. And this is a very high profile inmate. This is not This is not somebody that was arrested for jaywalking. This is a guy that was a chief of police. He dominated the Arkansas headlines. You think we're here in Louisiana, it would be equivalent to Derek Todd Lee being let out of jail.

18:06 I mean, how the hell he got out? Yeah, And I'm crazy. I'm curious about this too, because I mean, we have what's called out of area in prisons and jails. I mean, there's an area you're allowed to be in. And it seems like not only was he out of area number one, number two where you got that uniform from. There's going to be more to this. There's gonna be more. Well it was, from what I understand, it was homemade. He made it. Yeah, but but officer uniforms in no way shape or form will resemble what an inmate wears. So how he got anything that would even resemble an officer? Where did that come from? Because all inmates, for example, at Angola, your inmates are going to be in like the chambray blue top or a white T shirt and jeans, or they may be in they have clubs out there. They might be in a club T shirt or something like that.

18:54 But they're not going to be in a button down, blue starched with a patch uniform. It's nowhere near the same. And so I am curious to know how was he in that area? I mean, it sounds like he walked out into a sally port? Is that what it was? Operating a secure gate to open the gate to all out? Yeah, so let him out? What that either completely and totally inept employees. And another thing is based on my experience in jails, because there's so many employees and sometimes they're so large, they'll have employee boards up on the up on the wall and they'll have pictures with names of employees and you can kind of validate. So this was absolute lapse in security and they better have a talking to with those employees.

19:37 Yeah, yeah, that I agree, And I'm sure some policy is going to change and some heads are going to roll over that situation. We're glad to see grain Harden back behind bars. Look, I research and cover a lot of crime, and when I came across this, I'm like, the links people will go to over a divorce is just amazing. Wait till you hear this an Alabama Cara practor. He is accused of attempting to kill his wife by lacing her pills with lad and he is insisting he was also a victim of being poisoned, So let me tell you about it. Hey everyone, Crime wiar Weekly has moved to its own new channel.

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