FL FL - Jake & Kelly Branam, Scott Gamble, Samuel Khairy, murdered at sea, 23 Sept 2007

[CaliKid]

Very, very sad for the families of the crew. The captain and his wife have two young children.

 

[SewingDeb]

The abuse accusations -- one involving an incident in Missouri -- were just one more element in the world of trouble Archer left behind. He was wanted in the Wal-Mart case. He lost custody of his two sons, ages 7 and 9, after a bitter divorce with ex-wife Michelle Rowe. He had been ordered by a Lawrence County court to leave the home he shared with his current wife, Michelle Archer.

`EXTREMELY COOL'

Kirby Archer denied the abuse allegations. ''When we interviewed him, he was extremely cool and calm,'' Dotson said. ``We hit him with pretty hard questions, and it never seemed to faze him.''

Dotson and state police investigators conducted the investigation but then discovered the alleged abuse took place in neighboring Sharp County.

Sharp County Sheriff's Sgt. David Huffmaster said Wednesday that he likely will prepare an affidavit for prosecutors on the abuse charges ''sometime in the near future,'' though he would not give specifics, citing the open investigation.


~much more at link~


http://www.miamiherald.com/top_stories/story/251787.html

 

[Bobbisangel]

Archer's wife was on Greta tonight. She didn't have much to say but did say that her husband didn't come home in January and she hadn't seen him since. She was waiting on word to see if she could see him at the jail. Greta said that she didn't see any reason why she wouldn't be able to visit with him. Oh course Greta probably hopes that she can so Greta can get the scoop of their conversation! The wife said that she didn't know anything about the trouble her husband was in...Walmart and the abuse charges but she thinks that is why he never returned home in January.

 

[chicoliving]

MIAMI — Investigators found bullet casings on a charter boat whose four crew members are missing and one of the two men being held in the case had blow gun darts and knives when he was plucked from a life raft near Cuba, federal prosecutors said Tuesday.

The new details came as a judge ordered the two men held without bond in the still-unsolved mystery of what happened to the crew of the fishing yacht, found adrift Sept. 25 in a remote area of the Bahamas.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,299024,00.html

 

[chicoliving]

The mystery surrounding the disappearance of a charter boat crew is deepening.

Defense attorneys for the two suspects are going on the offense. They want access to the ill fated boat and they’re suggesting there was an “SOS” that has not yet been revealed.

Before the charter boat Joe Cool became a ghost ship, its four-member crew missing and now presumed murdered was their “mayday” broadcast from the boat? That’s what attorney’s for Kirby Archer and his companion Guillermo Zarabozo want to know.

http://cbs13.com/topstories/topstories_story_281230128.html

 

[MagicRose99]

MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- Federal prosecutors on Wednesday filed murder charges against two men suspected in the deaths of a charter boat crew.

Kirby Archer, 34, and Guillermo Zarabozo, 19, are scheduled to appear in court Thursday afternoon. The men are being held without bail on suspicion of killing the four-member crew last month.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/10/10/sea.mystery/index.html

 

[Buzz Mills]

MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- Federal prosecutors on Wednesday filed murder charges against two men suspected in the deaths of a charter boat crew.

Kirby Archer, 34, and Guillermo Zarabozo, 19, are scheduled to appear in court Thursday afternoon. The men are being held without bail on suspicion of killing the four-member crew last month.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/10/10/sea.mystery/index.html

why bother with a trial?? this is one of those cases where they should just be declared guilty. it's a waste of taxpayer money to grant them a trial. of course I felt the same way about the phil spector trial and look what happened there.

 

[MagicRose99]

why bother with a trial?? this is one of those cases where they should just be declared guilty. it's a waste of taxpayer money to grant them a trial. of course I felt the same way about the phil spector trial and look what happened there.

I agree... just line em' up and shoot em... that's probably what they did to these poor crew members.

 

[CaliKid]

I sincerely hope they have a lot of hard evidence against these 'men', otherwise reasonable doubt is going to play heavily in this case.

 

[Buzz Mills]

I sincerely hope they have a lot of hard evidence against these 'men', otherwise reasonable doubt is going to play heavily in this case.

That's right, we can never conclude that we are going to have 12 reasonable people on the jury. There's always that one left wingnut, that is going to screw the process up. We can no longer afford 12 person juries, it usually results in a retrial in these cases. Time and expense.

 

[chicoliving]

A mother's need to know her daughter's fate is prompting a new, privately financed search at sea from Florida to Cuba for the still missing crew of the charter boat, the Joe Cool.

''I just can't leave any stone unturned for my daughter,'' said Leanne Van Laar, mother of Kelley Branam, 30, who along with her husband Capt. Jake Branam, 27, and two others were allegedly hijacked, shot and dumped at sea by pirates while ferrying two paying customers to Bimini last month.

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/breaking_news/story/274000.html

 

[CaliKid]

Wow, that sounds as if it's going to be a nearly impossible job.

 

[Paladin]

That's right, we can never conclude that we are going to have 12 reasonable people on the jury. There's always that one left wingnut, that is going to screw the process up. We can no longer afford 12 person juries, it usually results in a retrial in these cases. Time and expense.

What does being a left wingnut have to do with this? I know you're not generalizing about liberals, are you? :hand:

 

[Buzz Mills]

What does being a left wingnut have to do with this? I know you're not generalizing about liberals, are you? :hand:

This has nothing to do with being a liberal; it has a lot to do with not being able to add 2 and 2, and come up with 4, for any reason whatsoever. The Phil Spector trial, and the Robert Blake trial, are just a few of the examples.

 

[MagicRose99]

MIAMI, Florida (AP) -- An inmate told investigators that a suspect in the killings of four people aboard a charter fishing boat admitted his role in their shooting deaths, but insisted he did not pull the trigger, according to court documents.

The Joe Cool charter boat was found abandoned in the Florida Straits.

The inmate, identified only as CS1 in court papers, said Guillermo Zarabozo told him in a jailhouse conversation that co-defendant Kirby Logan Archer fatally shot the captain of the 47-foot "Joe Cool" along with the captain's wife and two crew members in September.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/law/12/20/missing.at.sea.ap/index.html

 

[SuziQ]

http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/07/18/joe.cool.plea/index.html

One of two men charged with killing the crew of the Joe Cool charter fishing boat last year has agreed to plead guilty to first-degree murder, a victim's relative said.
Kirby Archer is expected to change his plea to guilty in exchange for a prosecutors' agreement not to seek the death penalty against him, according to Jeff Branam, an uncle of slain boat captain Jake Branam.
He said prosecutors told the victims' relatives about the plea deal.
(more at link)

 

[joe jones]

Thanks for the update, I have been following this case, I wonder if part of his plea will involve testifying angainst his co-defendant

 

[joe jones]

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/08/13/joe.cool.plea.ap/index.html

updates about crimes and upsoming trial

 

[chicoliving]

It began as a case of six missing boaters. Then came the dramatic tale of an attack on the high seas by Cuban pirates, four fatal shootings and the rescue of two survivors from a life raft. Then the two survivors were charged with murder.

Nearly a year after the "Joe Cool" charter vessel set sail for the Bahamas, jury selection is scheduled to begin Monday for the trial of 20-year-old Guillermo Zarabozo on charges of murder, kidnapping, robbery and several violations of maritime law.

Zarabozo faces life in prison if convicted.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,422681,00.html

 

[OkieGranny]

From October 2008:

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-10-14-boat-killings_N.htm

Kirby Archer sat stone-faced Tuesday while listening to the families of the four people he killed aboard a fishing boat describe how the slayings ruined their lives...

When the relatives finished their anguished testimony, a judge sentenced Archer to five consecutive life terms. The 36-year-old pleaded guilty in July to first-degree murder, robbery, kidnapping and hijacking the 'Joe Cool' yacht in September 2007 after it left Miami for the Bahamas.

From February 2009:

http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/Joe-Cool-Highjacker-Gets-Life.html

A judge sentenced a former security guard Wednesday to five consecutive life prison sentences plus 85 years for taking part in the 2007 hijacking of the "Joe Cool" charter boat and killings at sea of its captain, his wife and two crew members.

A life sentence was mandatory following the conviction of Guillermo Zarabozo, 21, on 16 charges in February. But U.S. District Judge Paul Huck sided with prosecutors who wanted a more severe sentence, even if stringing together multiple life terms was essentially symbolic.