MYSTERIOUS DEATH OF: Tripp Brazeale

[00:00] Hi, Crime Junkies, it's Britt, and I have big news. One of my favorite seasonal shows, CounterClock, is back with a brand new season, and it is wild. Host Delia D'Ambra is digging into the 2008 Lane Bryant murders. I mean, this isn't just a recap. It is a reinvestigation. She's talking to law enforcement, people from the community, even sources who have never spoken publicly until now. And you know I love a show that asks all the questions. Listen to CounterClock Season 8 now, wherever you get your podcasts. [00:32] - [00:37] It's 1240

m. on November 3rd, 2024. [00:41] and St. Francis County Deputy Trey Bynum. [00:44] is in hot pursuit. [00:45] He's on a rural road in Forest City, Arkansas, chasing someone on a four-wheeler, and they are both booking it down this windy road in the dark. [00:56] From the sound of it, Bynum is right on their tail. So when they come onto this raised dirt berm in the road, [01:03] Almost at once, both the four-wheeler and Bynum's truck go airborne before crashing back down to the road. [01:12] Now, both vehicles get turned around, but something happens to the four-wheeler and it stops suddenly.

[01:20] So Bynum slams on his brakes, [01:22] and calls out to the rider. Get on the ground! [01:27] But before he can even approach the four-wheeler, the rider is on foot. [01:32] He hops a fence and darts into the woods. It's all so fast that by the time Bynum draws his service weapon and aims for the woods, the writer is gone. [01:42] Now, rather than jumping the fence and following him into the woods in the dark, [01:46] Bynum decides to run back to his truck and call in the stop over his radio.

[01:53] There was another deputy following close behind. [01:56] Sergeant David Kinney. [01:58] So it only takes a minute for him to pull up. [02:01] I'm good but we went up the ditch. I said I'm good but we went up that ditch right there. [02:07] Both of us. [02:08] Me and him both. [02:10] I need the trailer because I'm telling them. There's going to be a white male on a cam fly's hoodie and blue jeans look like he went off that way. [02:19] Did he roll it or something? Hey! [02:22] turned it and jumped off and took off running across the field.

[02:26] So Sergeant Kinney goes to get the trailer so that they can tow the four-wheeler while more backup begins arriving and several deputies begin to assist in this manhunt. But they're having no luck. Not after 4.20 m. when Kinney comes back and calls the fire department and the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission to come and set up thermal night vision drones to assist. [02:49] or after 7.20 m. when the East Arkansas Department of Corrections brings tracking dogs to the scene. [02:55] though they do find signs of the man who fled on foot.

[02:59] Deputies locate a boot and a hat a short distance from where he entered the woods. Just one boot? Just one. But even with this physical trail, for some reason, the canines aren't able to track his path. [03:13] By the time daylight breaks, authorities are no closer to finding their man. [03:19] So they decide to call in even more reinforcements. By that afternoon, there's not only the sheriff's deputies searching, but also state police troopers, the state emergency response team, two local fire departments, Forest City police officers. [03:35] and volunteers. They create a search grid and form eight teams to deploy in different areas.

[03:42] And they do end up finding a second boot. [03:45] a wallet, a phone charger, and hoodie. But their man is still in the wind. And almost 19 hours after they first began their pursuit, at 7.18, [03:59] The manhunt is called off due to the dark. [04:02] and it is set to resume the next morning. [04:04] So they pick up again in the morning, but it's not until late afternoon, around 2.12, as their search radius widens, that one of the groups finds several footprints in a creek. [04:16] A search of the creek bed comes up empty, but one game and fish ward notices a trail of broken twigs from the creek leading up to the base of a steep ridge.

She follows it, one step at a time. [04:30] And when she looks up, she sees who they were all after. [04:35] and he is hanging from a tree at the top of the ridge, [04:38] with a green ratchet strap around his neck. [04:43] Now, his death is ultimately ruled a suicide by ligature hanging. [04:48] The assumption being that this writer took his life, maybe so he didn't have to face the consequences, [04:54] But Arkansas State Police still conducts a death investigation anyway. [04:59] And as part of it, [05:00] On November 12th, over a week after the chase that set off this tragic chain of events, [05:06] ASP Senior Special Agent Andre Mack interviews both Deputy Bynum and...

[05:11] and Sergeant Kinney. [05:13] Both interviews are recorded. [05:15] And both men tell pretty much the same story. So I'm just going to play you part of Bynum's interview, edited for clarity. [05:23] So you know the reason why I'm here to interview you and everything? [05:28] The only reason we're trying to... [05:30] Thank you. [05:32] Figure out what happened prior, if that make any sense. So you can relax. It ain't nothing to be all stressed out about. I'm not reading your rights and nothing like that. I saw the video and everything.

[05:42] uh... but just kind of describe [05:45] what all took place [05:47] and how you got to there and how you got, you know, [05:50] I'll wait until the end. You just, I mean, I'm on the situation. Let you talk. I'm not 100% on the actual times that we got the call before. That's fine. That's fine. But we got a call to... [06:02] SFC 308. I think the address was 7-11-SFC-308 to be exact. [06:08] for a ping that was due to two missing juveniles out of Cross County, Arkansas, a little boy and a little girl, 11 and 12 years old.

[06:16] myself, [06:18] Deputy Gage Milton and Sergeant Kenny all arrived on scene, checked the location and everything. While we were there, [06:27] Checking everything we could hear [06:29] a number of four-wheelers or ADVs, so to speak. [06:33] Michael and Valbrooke is still the neighborhood. [06:36] aerotic speeds and [06:37] just obnoxiously. [06:39] So we cleared that residence from the 911 ping from that cell phone that was showing up that. [06:46] juvenile was there, but we did not find anybody there. [06:50] Thank you. [06:51] As we were getting back in the trucks to clear the area.

[06:55] Sergeant Kenny, [06:56] turned out of 308 on the SFC 313 back up to 284. [07:02] four-wheelers sitting at the stop sign. Sergeant Kenny spoke with the individuals, [07:08] And that's when one of the four-wheelers took off. [07:11] And the four that turned around and come past us at a high rate of speed. [07:16] I initiated my blue lights. [07:18] I'm audible, siren, two micro traffic stop, wonderful weather. [07:22] And then that's when the chase began. We went down to SFC 409 for about a mile, mile and a half. [07:30] And then we both went up a little hill...

[07:33] and then back down, and that's when the four-wheeler lost connection with the barrier cable and the... [07:39] Still annoyed. [07:40] on the four wheeler dart. [07:42] the individuals that was riding the four-wheeler, [07:44] Wearing a camel hoodie, blue jeans, boots... [07:47] took off running through the woods. [07:49] Sounds good. What about [07:53] Did you know who the guy was at the time? You know now, but you didn't probably know at the time. When I found out. [08:00] was approximately 15 to 20 minutes later while waiting on sergeant kenny and bring the trailer back from the sheriff's department [08:06] Bynum says he never had any personal interaction with the individual.

And this is important because, you see, it seems like part of the reason this investigation is even happening is because in the week following the incident, rumors had begun to take hold in the minds of the small town community members in Forest City. [08:27] Rumors [08:28] that this manhunt and this tragic suicide... [08:33] wasn't at all what authorities were claiming it to be. [08:38] And this is on the news channel 3. [08:41] website [08:43] where they were making comments. [08:45] And it says right there by... [08:48] that they personally thought that the deputy shot him [08:53] and then harm him.

Any amount of real reporting will show you that nothing [09:01] is what it seems in this case. That "man" that they were looking for was actually a 15-year-old boy. And there is a very good reason that people in Forest City, including his parents, [09:15] think that they're being lied to. And I have a feeling you'll think that too once you hear the full story of the night Trip Brazil died. [09:45] - Yeah. [09:49] For decades, some cold cases have been reduced to files in a cabinet, but not anymore. I'm Ashley Flowers, and me and my team on the deck have been traveling across the country to report on these forgotten cases.

And in some instances, it's resulted in these cases being solved after decades. [10:09] Join me every Wednesday as we revive these stories one card at a time. Listen to the deck now. [10:16] wherever you get your podcasts. [10:21] The comment that appeared on the News Channel 3 website, the one where a community member implied that a St. Francis County deputy [10:31] shot Tripp, and then hung him. [10:33] That didn't just [10:34] come out of nowhere. [10:36] There are a number of discrepancies and gaps and red flags in this death investigation that led people, specifically Tripp's family, friends, and a private investigator, [10:47] To the conclusion, [10:48] that everything [10:49] is not as it seemed.

[10:52] And for you to understand... [10:53] We need to go back to the beginning. [10:56] to hear about the events of November 3rd, [10:59] from a different perspective. [11:01] Tripp's parents. [11:02] But before I go any further, I want to note that Deputy Trey Bynum, Sergeant David Kinney, and SSA Andre Mack declined to speak with us for this episode. [11:13] So their side of things comes from the investigative files. [11:17] those files, though. [11:18] and what we learned from speaking to Tripp's parents and the PI that they later hired to help them.

[11:24] leave a lot of unanswered questions. [11:28] So, [11:28] Let's rewind. [11:30] Jennifer and Gil Brazil shared that on Saturday, November 2nd, Tripp was riding four-wheelers all day with his brother and his younger sister. [11:38] According to them, riding was Tripp's passion. He was a pro rider at 15, wearing out three dirt bikes a year. [11:45] Jennifer said that if it did not involve riding a dirt bike or a four-wheeler, Trip wasn't interested. [11:50] It's part of the reason that he was homeschooled. [11:53] Now, when Tripp wasn't doing schoolwork or laying tile with the flooring company that he worked for, he was writing.

[11:59] So the night of November 2nd, after he's riding with his siblings, he goes to a birthday party before then meeting up with his uncle and a family friend to party. [12:07] Ride around some more. [12:08] That's who Tripp was with when Sergeant Kinney approached him in the early morning hours of November 3rd. [12:15] Right before Tripp took off and the pursuit began, [12:18] But what deputies didn't know [12:19] is that about 40 minutes after Tripp jumped off his ATV and ran into the woods, [12:25] While they had deputies out actively looking for him, [12:28] He called his mom.

[12:30] That call woke Jennifer and Gil up, but they were glad that it did because their son was asking for help. [12:37] Tripp told them that the police got his four-wheeler and asked if they could come pick him up. [12:42] And the way he said it didn't make it seem like police were chasing him or anything. Maybe he downplayed it the way that, like, teenagers do. [12:50] But all Jennifer was hearing was that he was stranded and needed a ride. So she was in the process of telling him that they would get dressed, they would head over.

And that's when Gil's phone started ringing. [13:01] And on the other end of his line was a deputy that he knew named Jason Bradshaw, [13:06] And Bradshaw was asking if Trip was home. [13:10] said that he and some other guys from the department were out there looking for him. [13:14] And I think maybe this is when the pieces started to click into place more. [13:19] And honestly, whatever was happening, this felt like a good thing since Gill knew Bradshaw. Trip knew Bradshaw too. [13:25] So Gil took Jennifer's phone and told Tripp, listen, Bradshaw is out there.

If you want to just go turn yourself in, go ahead. [13:32] So that was the plan. [13:34] Wherever Tripp was in the woods, he said that he could see the blue lights from the deputy's vehicles. He said that he was going to start walking up the hill to turn himself in. [13:43] And his parents could see his location from the Find My app, and they said that they were going to meet him there. [13:47] And they actually wanted him to stay on the phone with them. But Tripp said that his phone was almost out of battery.

And so they hung up. [13:53] Now, as the Brazils are getting dressed and they're preparing to leave, [13:58] There isn't panic in the air. Like their teenage son probably did something dumb on his ATV. And like truly in the grand scheme of parenting, like the stakes for this feel low. Mm hmm. [14:09] But the mood completely shifts. [14:11] when around 20 minutes later, a text from Tripp's phone comes in. [14:16] And it doesn't make sense with the conversation they just had. [14:18] It says that he loves them. [14:20] and he loves his sister, and he's sorry to do this.

[14:23] He said that he wants all of his stuff to go to his brother. [14:27] And it goes on to re-quote, [14:28] I love you all so much. Y'all have been great parents to me. [14:32] I guess I'm just a f*** up. [14:34] And I couldn't change that. I wish I could have. I'm sorry. None of this is y'all's fault. [14:38] Only mine. [14:40] I love y'all. I'm sorry. I should have stopped. [14:43] But I'm a dumbass. [14:44] I love you all so much. My phone is about to die. So I got to go.

[14:48] I hope this makes it to y'all. I never wanted to end this way, but I guess it has to. [14:54] I love y'all. [14:55] I'm so sorry. [14:57] Now this text immediately sounded alarm bells for Jennifer, [15:01] but not because of the content. [15:04] It was because of the wording itself. Jennifer said that the text did not sound like Tripp. [15:09] at all. Like he would never say those things. He never talked that way. He definitely never texted in long paragraphs like that. Like this was all one big message.

But the thought of her son [15:21] taking his own life [15:23] wasn't even one that crossed her mind. [15:25] So she just replied, [15:27] I am on my way. [15:28] The text that she got back was more of the same. [15:31] It said, quote, [15:32] I'm so sorry. I love y'all so much. Y'all are the greatest parents anybody could ask for. I love y'all more than anything. [15:40] End quote. [15:42] 8 minutes later. [15:44] Gil and Jennifer pulled up to the woods, [15:47] and began walking to the exact spot where Tripp's phone last showed his location.

[15:52] It wasn't actively tracking him anymore, but they knew where he was just moments ago. [15:57] Except... [15:58] When they got there... [15:59] There was no trip. [16:01] And even weirder, they didn't see anyone else around. No deputies, no patrol cars, no lights. [16:08] Nothing, just the dark, [16:11] and eerily quiet woods. [16:14] They tried calling Tripp, but by then his phone was going straight to voicemail. [16:18] So not knowing what else to do, they started looking for their son themselves with flashlights and an app that Gil used to make a search grid.

[16:25] And they just began walking back and forth in the woods yelling Tripp's name. And while doing this... [16:31] they don't see a soul. Again, not Tripp, but maybe more concerningly, not a single deputy. Where is everyone who is looking for him? So, per body cam timestamps and Bynum's own narrative report, [16:46] It seems like he and Kenny are towing Tripp's four-wheeler to the sheriff's office at this point. And the sheriff's office is like six-ish miles away. Okay, that's two of them. What about everyone else? [16:57] I don't know who else is supposed to be out there looking.

[17:01] or where exactly they are. [17:03] All I know is that Jennifer said when her and Gil arrived, [17:07] They were searching by themselves [17:09] for a long time. They said [17:11] hours. [17:12] In all that time, they said they never saw any deputies. [17:14] And they're just confused and looking around on their own until Gil gets a call from Sergeant Kinney. [17:21] According to Bynum's report, this call is made right around 2:15, which lines up with what the Brazils remember, too. So how did he have his number? [17:31] A small city.

I mean, actually, Gil... [17:33] used to be in law enforcement. He actually trained Kenny back in the day. And Tripp's older brother was friends with Kenny's son. So like, it's just a small network of people. Yeah, it's not weird that he calls. [17:45] But what he says kind of is weird. [17:48] Kinney called Gil to ask if he had found or heard anything more from Tripp. [17:54] And Gil's like, [17:55] No. And why are we the only ones out here looking for it? Like he's kind of pissed at this point that they're more worried about towing the four wheeler than looking for his 15 year old son who is presumably lost out there in like the woods that he's not even familiar with.

[18:11] So according to Bynum's report, that's when Kinney went back out to continue searching. But just Kinney, not Bynum. No, Bynum writes that during that time, he and another deputy continued working leads for that other two missing juveniles from Cross County. The whole reason that they were out there that night to begin with. [18:27] And so he basically says that he is tied up with that until like 3.45 m. And then that's when he links up with the people looking for Tripp. [18:34] And we know that it's sometime after that when the search really picks up with like the drones and the dogs and everything.

[18:40] Now... [18:41] I want to point out the first two really big... [18:45] "Wait, what?" moments in this story. [18:48] When we started the story, it sounded like a manhunt. Yeah. [18:53] They were never hunting for a criminal. [18:56] Every bit of this search [18:59] was always a search for a missing kid. [19:02] The kid is missing because the ATV he was riding stopped working after he was [19:08] chased on it by deputies. [19:10] He was being chased by deputies because... [19:13] Oh, wait, apparently... [19:15] No one can say. [19:17] Here is another excerpt from Bynum's interview with SSA Mac.

[19:21] So we can get some clarification on one thing, you know, because it'll be brought up. The reason why you was fleeing him, you was... [19:31] chasing him was because [19:33] could appear to you [19:35] He was fleeing from David Kidney. [19:38] Yes, sir. [19:39] And do you know why David Kennedy even stopped him? Or was he just doing a welfare check on him? Was there a reason for him to stop him? Was he on a road that wasn't supposed to have no four-wheelers? It was on Highway 284 and in the area of that neighborhood that we was on.

I'm driving at a red X-speed and unnoxiously. [19:56] And so do y'all think y'all might have, this person, they may have been a part of that kid that may have been missing this opinion from Cross County? No, sir. [20:07] I don't. These two, like I said, was 11 and 12 years old. All right. So you just in that area, but then ran across them and decided to check them on. The reason why I was saying that because it's late at night. [20:20] Late at night, Highway 284. There's a lot of people driving through there at that time.

You know, someone's intoxicated and stuff like that. [20:29] So give me your reason for chasing him. I want to make sure I understood it. [20:33] I initiated the blue lights and the sirens for the four-wheelers to stop, and it didn't stop. [20:38] Okay. What was the [20:40] Probable cause, I guess what I'm trying to say. The excessive speeds and... [20:44] you know the same yeah yeah [20:48] Did you clock them on radar? No, sir. I'm not trying to... You know what I'm saying? I won't... Because what the family is going to say is...

I understand. This and that and the other. You know what I'm saying? So... [20:59] I know... [21:01] My truck speed and the four-wheeler speed on Highway 284. [21:05] was probably around 80 miles an hour. Okay. Okay. [21:08] Sounds good. Sounds good? Those are barely answers. Would Tripoli have been speeding if he wasn't, I don't know, being chased by them? This is at the heart of everything for me. [21:23] Why was he being chased? Yeah. [21:26] It seems like they can't say. [21:28] I mean, you saw the footage for yourself. Like, could he have slowed down safely with a Dodge Ram truck right behind him going 80 miles per hour?

[21:35] So to try and answer some of these questions. [21:37] We reached out to the St. Francis County Sheriff's Office. [21:41] They declined to sit down for an interview, referring us to ASP for any questions, the Arkansas State Police. [21:48] But they did provide some helpful information, specifically their agency pursuit policy. [21:55] So I'm going to have a voice actor read it. [21:58] Policy. [21:59] Vehicular pursuit of fleeing suspects presents a danger to the lives of the public, officers, and suspects involved in the pursuit. [22:06] It is the policy of this department to protect all persons' lives to the extent possible when enforcing the law.

[22:11] In addition, it is the responsibility of the Department to assist officers in the safe performance of their duties. [22:17] To effect these obligations, it shall be the policy of the Department to narrowly regulate the manner in which vehicular pursuit is undertaken and performed. [22:25] Another part of their policy reads this: [22:27] The decision to initiate pursuit must be based on the pursuing officer's conclusion that the immediate danger to the public created by the pursuit is less than the immediate or potential danger to the public should the suspect remain at large.

[22:39] If an officer does decide to initiate a pursuit, [22:43] they have to immediately notify communication center personnel and give the following information. [22:50] A, Unit Identification. [22:52] B, location, speed, and direction of travel of the fleeing vehicle. B, [22:57] C. Description and license plate number, if known, of the fleeing vehicle. [23:02] D, number of occupants in the fleeing vehicle and descriptions where possible. [23:07] and E. [23:09] Reasons supporting the decision to pursue. [23:12] why they were chasing him in the first place. [23:15] From what we can hear... [23:17] Bynum doesn't give much of this information.

[23:21] And definitely no reason supporting the decision to pursue. [23:24] Can he call it in at all? Like he's the one that went out there to the writers first, right? He was, but there's no documentation showing that he called anything in. [23:34] There is only two times in the materials that we've obtained where Kenny talks about what led up to this chase. [23:41] And it's not all that enlightening. [23:44] One time is in his interview with SSA Mac, which is, again, over a week after the incident. [23:49] And Kenny talks about how they were all at that house investigating that tip in the other case.

And as they were wrapping up there, a couple of four wheelers went by at a high rate of speed. [23:58] He doesn't chase them, but it sounds like he catches up with them down the road and everyone is stopped, but... [24:04] As he was getting out of the truck to go talk to them, one of the riders takes off on the four-wheeler. [24:09] He went a couple hundred yards and stopped. [24:12] looked over his shoulder. I said, where's he going? One of the kids popped up and said, we don't know, sir.

[24:18] Oh. [24:19] And I said, so he's just going to leave y'all here? So that's what it looks like. We come back by and he was approaching. He was slowing down like he was going to stop. Well, I was unaware that my two deputies that were with me, I thought they went out the other way. But one of them come up behind me, pulled up beside me. And as the kid on the four wheeler was approaching, he took off. Then the pursuit was on. Now, the one other time Kenny talks about what preceded the pursuit was [24:48] was when he was captured on Bynum's body cam.

[24:51] This is right when Kenny had supposedly, like, just gotten back with the trailer to tow the four-wheeler. [25:05] That's the moment where Bynum reaches his hand up to cut his cam before Kenny can say anything more. [25:13] Wait... [25:14] turned off his body cam. He did. [25:16] for the... [25:17] Second time that night. [25:20] What do you mean second time that night? [25:23] I mean that [25:24] I haven't even gotten to the most suspicious can of worms, the missing time. [25:31] We have Bynum's body cam footage from the night of the pursuit, right?

Like it shows the pursuit. It shows the towing of Tripp's four-wheeler. But what I haven't mentioned yet is that these two things didn't happen in quick succession. [25:45] Not even close. [25:46] There is a 49-minute gap between when Bynum turns off his body cam after he stops his truck [25:54] And when he turns it back on to tow the four-wheeler, [25:58] And when he does reactivate his body cam after that time, [26:04] He all of a sudden just happens to be wearing latex gloves. [26:14] Your college decision is personal. It's a serious choice that no one takes lightly.

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A college that takes your education as seriously as you do? That's SNHU. Visit edu slash crimejunkie to learn more. That's edu slash crimejunkie. [27:05] I recently learned that after working out, performance and recovery come down to what's happening in your blood. Now, I pay a lot more attention to what's happening inside my body. And here's what most people overlook. Training gives your body the stimulus, but your internal environment determines what happens next. Thankfully, function can help you see exactly what's going on under the hood. Things like your glucose, whether your body is burning clean or running on fumes.

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[28:15] And this PI is a former detective named Cody Turner. And I think this is going to help you understand how critical the missing window of time actually is. [28:23] So let's go back to when this pursuit began. [28:26] We don't know why it started. [28:27] There was no probable cause to go after Tripp on the ATV. [28:31] But his parents start hearing concerning things from people in the community that make them wonder if Tripp was chased [28:39] just because he was Tripp. [28:41] The Brazils say that Tripp had plenty of run-ins with law enforcement.

Now, he'd never been arrested or anything, but he'd certainly been stopped on his four-wheeler before. [28:50] And they say that he knew Bynum and Kenny. [28:53] Now, we weren't able to corroborate this next part. [28:55] But Gil told us that in the months leading up to the pursuit, [28:59] A state trooper warned Gill that members of the sheriff's office [29:04] were, quote, hunting his son. [29:06] which was obviously worrisome. Yeah. So the Brazils specifically told Tripp before all this to be careful. And a woman that we spoke to named Sandra Davis, who lived near the Brazils and who helped in the search for Tripp, [29:19] She told us that about a week before Tripp's death, [29:22] He rode his dirt bike up her driveway and back behind her house.

And when she asked him what he was doing, he seemed really genuinely scared. And he said that someone was after him. [29:33] and quote, if he catches me, [29:35] He's going to kill me. [29:37] Who is he? [29:38] Sandra said that trip never specified. [29:41] But a few minutes later, she saw a sheriff's office vehicle go down the road [29:47] And then Tripp said... [29:48] "Okay, maybe he's gone so I can go." [29:52] So it seems like Tripp was clearly aware of someone in the sheriff's office. And we know that Tripp's dad trained Kenny.

Tripp's brother was friends with Kenny's son. [30:02] But there's this... [30:03] Weird distancing that both Bynum and Kenny do [30:08] where they say that they don't even know Tripp. [30:10] Kenny says that he wouldn't know Tripp if he walked up and spit on him. [30:14] Even if you want to say you didn't know he was the one on the ETV... [30:17] You said this is like a really... [30:19] Like a pretty small community. Like, why pretend you have no idea who this kid even is? I don't know. [30:25] I mean, one thing that makes the text seem like they're from Tripp, right, is that he mentions his siblings by name.

[30:31] But... [30:32] Kenny's admitting to knowing Tripp's brother. Right, so it's, I know, it's weird. [30:36] And Kenny also says that in the three years with the department, he had never heard of any law enforcement involvement with like Tripp's name. [30:44] And both he and Bynum insist that they had no idea who was on that four-wheeler [30:49] when the chase began. [30:51] Except then... [30:53] Why did Bradshaw call Gill at around 1.21 saying that deputies... [30:59] We're looking for Tripp. Oh... [31:00] Yeah. [31:01] Obviously, [31:03] This is concerning to Tripp's parents.

[31:06] Well, by the time Bynum and Kenny are interviewed, [31:09] There's an explanation. [31:11] Apparently... [31:13] At 12:59, dispatch received an anonymous call [31:18] from someone who said that they knew the individual on the four-wheeler was Tripp, [31:23] and they had his location. [31:25] The caller said that he was spotted behind a church that was, like, down the road from the crash site or, like, where the ATV stopped. Wait, just like a random... [31:35] call. [31:36] Like... [31:37] from someone. And this is like, [31:39] this wasn't known, right? There wasn't like an alert that like, [31:42] No, Bolo, no one knew that they were looking for someone.

[31:45] It's just a random call saying like, [31:47] I don't know if you need to know this. [31:49] But Tripp is out behind his church. And by the way, this is like 1 o'clock in the morning. To your point, like, yes, you might have heard some, like, or it's like scene siren, like, promotion. But yeah, it's not like they've put out this, like, statewide alert or, like, there's no news about this yet. There's, like, nothing. But there's a 911 call with someone saying that, [32:06] Oh, here's the person you're looking for.

[32:09] "How do they even know they're looking for him?" - That's exactly what I was gonna say. - And here's what stinks about this even more. [32:13] Anything about who this caller was or how they knew it was Tripp [32:18] is redacted in all of the materials that we received. [32:22] They will not reveal... [32:24] Who called? [32:25] And they say it's because the caller wanted to remain anonymous. [32:29] But like... [32:30] It makes zero sense to me. Like, you don't need to protect a witness here. This is a straightforward suicide case.

There's nothing to witness, right? That's what everyone is saying. Like, just tell us who called. [32:39] Where is that person in the community? Like this case has gotten traction in the community. That one person could probably solve a lot. Where are they? [32:48] Also, this isn't like a neighborhood. No, it's like reminding me of like where I grew up, right? Where there's just like land and land and then some trees and a couple houses here and there, but not like. [32:57] on top of each other, right? There are really just like a few properties out this way, literally just three that are even within like a half mile of the church where there's callers saying like he's in like the woods behind.

And by the way, one of those people claims that they weren't even home that night. [33:12] So who called? [33:14] Could it be the people that Tripp was writing with? Like, wouldn't they have told Kenny who was with them? Like, when Kenny stopped them, though? I'm sure they would have. Like, given Tripp's name, given the opportunity, but... [33:24] Kenny didn't stick around. It seems like once Tripp takes off and then everything happens kind of quick. Bynum comes up, he takes off, Kenny jumps back in his car, basically tells these other guys to go home.

[33:35] And Jennifer says that she doesn't think any of these people were the ones to have called. [33:39] But you want to know something... [33:41] Weird. [33:42] I don't know how common [33:44] like the Bynum last name is in this part of Arkansas. [33:48] But one of the three houses that I mentioned, like in a... The only places that are close to this area. Right. [33:55] It's [33:55] Tied to someone with the last name Bynum. [33:58] But here's the caveat. Like, we pulled a bunch of records. I can't tie any of those Bynums to Deputy Bynum.

[34:07] - Oh. - So it might just be like, [34:08] the weirdest coincidence of the century. [34:11] So. [34:12] We've got all of that. All of that. [34:14] On to my wait what moment number two. [34:18] So we don't know why the chase started. [34:20] An anonymous person calls into ID Trip as the kid that they're looking for. And we don't know why or how they know that. So Bradshaw calls Gil while Jennifer is on the phone with Trip. Parents tell Trip, turn yourself in. He says he's going to start walking toward the blue light.

Which he can see from wherever he is. Then they get the weird text from him. But when they get out to the location where his phone last pinged, there is nothing. And no one. So they had to start searching themselves, right? Right. [34:43] Former law enforcement dad, I told you, he set up his own grid. He knows what he's doing. [34:49] Now! [34:49] Once other first responders showed up, they began guiding the search and setting up their own grid maps. [34:57] But there are three weird things about this search. [35:00] One...

[35:02] The location of Tripp's things that are found [35:06] makes no sense to me. [35:08] So the road that they're on, 409, it is a small road, forest, woods on either side, few houses. [35:15] They're traveling east, think left to right. [35:18] They hit the berm. [35:19] The ATV stops. And it actually like turns them around. So now they're like facing west. Mm-hmm. [35:24] Tripp runs into the woods just north of the road. That's where one of his boots and his hat is found. Then the call about him being spotted at 1259.

[35:36] That is like [35:37] West of this road, this like behind this church area, right? [35:41] But then all of Tripp's other stuff and eventually him... [35:45] is found south of the rope. Like, he would have had to cross back over. Yeah. Which is just odd to me when you really look at the map and also, like, how spread out everything is. Like, I just don't understand the path that he would have taken on his own. [36:00] And like not run into other people. Right. [36:03] But that is assuming... [36:05] that all of the items found were left by Trip.

[36:09] But what if they weren't? [36:11] Where Tripp's sweatshirt and phone charger end up being found? [36:15] This is the second weird thing. Gil says that he swears he had walked through that area over a dozen times that night and he never saw anything at all. [36:25] Now, it was a camo hoodie. Okay, but they're literally looking for a camo hoodie. They knew what he was wearing. Yeah, I feel like you see it because that's what you're looking for. Yes, exactly. [36:34] So that's weird. I don't know how to explain it.

Again, it was dark. [36:38] you probably could make excuses, but [36:41] But let me tell you about weird thing number three. [36:43] So remember Sandra Davis? She's the neighbor whose house Trip hit at that one time. So she also had come out to help with the search. [36:51] And she told us that when she and her husband got to the search area to help, [36:55] On November 4th, [36:57] There were a lot of people by that point. So her and her husband told a nearby deputy that [37:01] He would go park at a friend's house in this place called Crow Creek.

[37:05] But according to Sandra, the deputy responded, [37:08] You better not go to Crow Creek. [37:10] That's done been searched. You are not going to Crow Creek. You go to Crow Creek. I'll have you arrested. [37:15] For what? [37:17] Sandra's husband asked. [37:19] And apparently the deputy just said, don't go there. It's already been checked. [37:24] Except... [37:26] Guess where Trip ends up being found that very same day? [37:31] in the area of Crow Creek. [37:34] Which? [37:36] Weird. [37:37] The Brazils say... [37:38] That area was right outside of the search grid, the one that the deputies set up.

[37:45] So it theoretically actually shouldn't have been checked when Sandra's husband was being told that they'd already looked there. So why? [37:51] Fine. [37:52] Say the parents missed the items because it was dark or whatever reason you want to give. [37:58] and say that [37:59] everyone's wires just got crossed or there was miscommunication or like straight up bad luck. And that's why trip wasn't found earlier by searchers. [38:08] Let's then talk about how he would have gotten to the place where he was found. [38:13] It was a game and fish warden who found Tripp.

[38:16] And in the Game and Fish Commission's incident report, they recorded the exact coordinates of his location. [38:22] Cody, the PI, and the Brazils took those values, went out into the woods themselves to try and find the exact tree where Tripp would have been found. [38:31] And they did. [38:32] They even later got confirmation from some law enforcement materials that it was the right tree. [38:37] Now, if you look on a map, the exact location is about a mile and a half south of where Tripp jumped off his ATV, like as the crow flies.

[38:46] But it was... [38:47] Pitch... [38:48] black out there that night. There is no walking path or anything that trip could have taken. The terrain is what Gill described as, quote, violent ground with, like, broken bottles, barbed wire, ditches, snakes, [39:01] And he knows this because he and Cody have walked this path that Tripp would have taken [39:05] multiple times since his death, at night. [39:09] And they say that it would have taken hours on foot to [39:12] And that's with shoes. [39:14] Tripp's first boot, remember, is found pretty close to the ATV.

Right. The second boot is found in the woods, the ones like south of the road, maybe like a quarter of the way into the trees, like based on where he's found. [39:27] That means that he would have had to have made this like [39:30] hours-long trek [39:32] without shoes over whatever is on the forest floor, man-made or otherwise. [39:37] So riddle me this. [39:39] When Tripp's parents go up to the funeral home and get their first chance to look at Tripp's feet, Gil says there wasn't so much [39:48] as a scratch on them.

[39:49] Why? [39:50] Now, he was wearing socks. And in one of the autopsy photos, you can actually see them. They look dirty. [39:57] It appeared like there's even maybe a hole in the right one, like a toe is popping out. [40:01] But there aren't, like, close-ups of the socks to help us determine if he actually, like, walked all that way. I mean, I'm still stuck on where his boots were. Like, why would he... [40:10] ditched them the way he did, like so far [40:14] apart. I mean, it looks like [40:16] Based on where it is, like the first boot might have come off when he jumped the fence.

So I don't know if like... [40:21] walking, it became kind of uneven. Like, I don't know. I think I would still keep [40:25] my boot on? Yeah, at least one of them. And listen, we asked Tripp's parents if they've been able to examine the socks, because again, I feel like if you walked out that way, you'd be able to tell them. For sure. The answer is no, because [40:36] Even though Tripp's boots and his phone and ATV and charger and sweatshirt were all returned to the family... [40:43] For some reason, the sheriff's office won't release Tripp's clothing.

[40:47] including his socks. [40:49] Okay, but... [40:50] Like, this is a... [40:51] what are they calling it, like a closed suicide case, right? [40:54] Yes, Brett. [40:55] Why? [40:57] Now, [40:58] Meanwhile, [40:59] For what it's worth, Gil says that... [41:01] If you were to drive from where the pursuit ended to the area of the road closest to where Tripp's body was found... [41:10] that's like a [41:10] Five minute drive. [41:12] tops. [41:13] And in that scenario, if someone did drive trip that night, [41:18] that [41:19] could also explain why the canines lost his scent so quickly in the woods.

[41:25] You know what? Let's keep suspending reality. Let's pretend there is a good reason why they won't let Tripp's family have the clothes that Tripp was wearing when he died. [41:33] By suicide, they say. [41:36] We'll just... [41:36] Take them at their word that he walked shoeless through the forest for hours to take his life. [41:41] This is the next "Wait What?" moment. [41:44] Do the logistics of the hanging itself [41:48] actually make sense. [41:50] I mean, surely... [41:51] This part has to be completely solid, right? For them to close this case and to be so sure, this has to be rock solid.

It has to make every other weird thing that's happened up to this point easy to write off. [42:03] But this is a Crime Junkie episode, so I'm betting that's not how it goes. Of course it's not. [42:09] When family went out to the tree that Tripp was found hanging from, [42:13] They found the exact sawed-off branch that was cut down to get Tripp's body. It was still right there on the ground at the base. [42:22] And once they saw it, [42:23] They had immediate concerns. You see, the family consulted with an independent medical examiner and forensic pathologist out of Kentucky.

Her name is Dr. Ashley Matthew. [42:33] Now, all she had to go off of were the autopsy photos and the Emmy reports themselves. [42:39] And while she does say that... [42:41] On paper, Tripp's death does appear to be due to ligature hanging, [42:45] She adds that without photos from the scene itself, like when they found him, she can't opine on the position that the body was found in or whether it corresponds to the injuries that she can see on Tripp's body. [42:58] What she did do was her freaking homework, though.

[43:02] In her report, Dr. Matthew writes that based on her own research, [43:06] branches that are five inches in diameter are reportedly able to hold the weight [43:11] of approximately 115 pounds. [43:14] But the branch that the Brazils found [43:17] Looks barely more than two inches in diameter. And how heavy was Tripp? He's 119 pounds. [43:23] I'm not good at math. It's not mathing. But it's not mathing. No. [43:27] Especially when you consider like the drop force and any sort of struggle afterward. And we actually have a photo of the branch.

Jennifer took it home with her and she can fit her thumb and pointer finger all the way around it. [43:42] Plus, [43:43] Even if the branch could hold Tripp, [43:47] Without a ladder or a stepstool or something, Cody's not sure about the physics of the situation anyway. [43:53] And what really got Cody thinking when they went out there is the fact that [43:57] There was a deer stand about like 30 feet away from this tree. [44:01] Investigators write that the ratchet strap used in the hanging, quote, appeared to match the rope from that deer stand.

[44:08] But then Cody's question is, like, if Tripp stopped by this deer stand to get this strap, why not make use of the actual deer stand and its ladder? [44:16] while you're right there. [44:17] Why walk another 30 feet to a tree on the edge of a gully where the act would be far more difficult? [44:24] And Cody said that he has worked hangings where people have even used their phone chargers as a mechanism. Trip had one with him that night and abandoned it long before he even made it to the deer stand.

[44:36] Also, [44:37] How did Tripp even find the strap? [44:40] Because Cody interviewed the owner of that deer stand, and he said that he'd cut that strap down two years earlier when he first put the deer stand up. And he hadn't seen it since because it had gotten like [44:51] buried under foliage. [44:53] He said that he forgot it was even there. [44:56] Which to me raises the question of how Tripp would have possibly found it in the dark unless somehow he knew to look for it. And why did investigators believe that's where the strap came from?

Maybe they were just making an educated guess. I don't know if they like spoke to the owner of the deer stand like Cody did. And personally, I haven't even seen the rope that they're saying it looks similar to. So I don't even know if it's really a match. [45:19] So, I mean, it's certainly a possibility that the strap could have come from somewhere else. [45:24] And listen, while we're on the ratchet strap, [45:26] There's another thing. [45:27] The autopsy report states that it was tied into a slipknot with two loose ends.

But Jennifer said Gill still tied Tripp's fishing lines on for him and sincerely doubted. [45:39] that he would know how to make a sophisticated knot like that. [45:43] In the end, Dr. Matthew... [45:45] said this. I'm going to have you read it. [45:47] In the presence of a circumstance such as the decedent being involved in a law enforcement pursuit, [45:52] and reportedly fleeing from them into the woods. [45:55] I would have liked to have had more information regarding Tripp's behavior and health history to confidently rule his death a suicide. [46:02] In my opinion, the manner of death would best be classified as undetermined.

[46:06] as the role of law enforcement, if any, in the death. [46:09] is unclear. [46:11] know what would make it clear [46:14] that. [46:14] - Body cam footage. - Yeah. [46:16] So let's go back to that and take a good hard look. [46:21] at what we have, [46:22] in light of everything you now know. [46:26] At 1240, Bynum turns his body cam on. That's when we get the start of the pursuit. At 1242, Tripp takes off on foot. There's no more vehicle chase. [46:39] Bynum parks his truck, gets out to check the four-wheeler, manhandling it with his bare hands, [46:45] And then, at 12.51, Bynum turns his camera.

[46:50] off. [46:51] The next video that comes from his camera is from when it's turned back on [46:56] at 1:40 m. And all of a sudden, [46:59] He's wearing latex gloves. [47:01] So 1251, camera off. [47:04] Then 1259 is when they get that anonymous call telling them that it's Trip and Trip is in the woods behind the church. [47:12] 121 [47:14] Tripp calls his mom, tells her he can see the blue lights, he's going to walk toward them, turn himself in, [47:20] They hang up. [47:22] We have no idea what is happening with Tripp in the next 20 minutes.

[47:27] But at 1.40, [47:29] Bynum's body cam starts again. [47:32] and he's got those gloves on. [47:34] A minute later, [47:35] 141. [47:37] That's when Jennifer receives that text message from Tripp's phone that I read earlier. [47:42] And are we sure that Bynum turned the camera off in between? Or do we just like maybe not have access to that footage? You can literally see his hand like reach up and manually turn it off. [47:53] Now, based... [47:54] on their statements. This 49-minute window should be the time where Sergeant Kinney was getting the trailer.

But we have no way to know that for sure. [48:04] Because there is no... [48:06] body cam for him. [48:08] Now, what's unclear, though, is if there was camera footage and then it just didn't get released in the FOIA, [48:13] or if he was not wearing a camera at all that night. [48:18] I know when I see him on the 140 video, he's just in like a polo. So he definitely didn't have one on then. And I don't know about earlier. [48:26] But interestingly, I know at least one other person was wearing a body cam that night, [48:32] And it was actually one of the deputies that went looking for Tripp after he was spotted in the woods behind the church.

[48:39] But when Jennifer requested all of the body cam footage from that night, [48:44] She just got Bynums, [48:46] With that missing time, [48:48] And then... [48:49] Another disk [48:51] But that disc was totally blank. I mean, is anyone freaking out about this? Like, this feels like it has to be some kind of [48:58] Like, what's the point of body cams if you can just... [49:00] Turn them on and off willy-nilly. [49:02] Tripp's family is freaking out about this. Me and our reporter, Nicole, are freaking about this. Like, we are all freaking out about this now.

Yeah. [49:09] Listen, we asked the sheriff's office for their body cam policy, and it states that deputies are required to turn on their body cams for every official interaction with the public, whether that is a routine conversation and arrest. [49:22] or something more serious. The cameras are supposed to help back up things like probable cause and give supervisors a way to review a deputy's actions later. [49:30] But here's the key. [49:32] Once that camera is on, it is supposed to stay on until, quote, [49:37] The event is completed in order to ensure the integrity of the recording.

[49:42] End quote. [49:43] which makes sense. [49:44] Now, there are a few exceptions. [49:47] Deputies are not allowed to record communication with other officers without permission, undercover officers, confidential informants, or private locations like bathrooms. [49:58] Now, I don't know if Bynum's actions fall under one of these exceptions. [50:02] It sounds like each deputy has to kind of decide for themselves when an event is completed. [50:07] So maybe when the chase ends and the ATV is stranded, [50:13] That's complete in Bynum's mind.