Cold Case Files - A Son's Memory

Episode Date: April 5, 2022

A mother of three goes missing on Christmas eve in 1994, and suspicion surrounds her sudden disappearance. In 2004, her case is still unsolved, until her son opens up about a memory that’s been buried for a decade. Check out our great sponsors! Purple: Go to Purple.com/coldcase10 and use code "coldcase10" to get 10% off any order of $200 or more! Check out The Jordan Harbinger Show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or where ever you listen to podcasts! Progressive: Be kind to your budget! Get a quote today at Progressive.com  Download June’s Journey free today on the Apple App Store or Google Play!

Children have brains like sponges. They absorb information in the world around them faster than an adult. Children aren't afraid to tell the truth to spare someone's feelings, but oftentimes their statements are dismissed as unreliable. Children are also impressionable and the memories can be easily manipulated by adults

who feed them information. Dustin Cunningham was a 9-year-old child when his stepfather started feeding him lies about his mother's disappearance. He knew deep down that she hadn't just disappeared. That she had actually been murdered. From A&E, this is Cold Case Files. I'm Brooke and here's the iconic Bill Curtis with a classic case, A Son's Memory. This is the missing persons unit of the Polk County Sheriff's Office.

These are some of my old cases. Ruth Hodges works for Polk County, Florida. And she was 24 years of age when she disappeared. Her specialty? Missing people everyone else has forgotten. Fred Wright was 76 years of age. Cynthia Robinson disappeared. has forgotten. Fred Wright was 76 years of age. Cynthia Robinson disappeared. Clifton Patrick Leonard.

No one knows what has happened to him. Among the hundreds of names, hundreds of faces, one in particular catches Hodge's eye. The missing persons file on Andrea Boyette. She was reported missing around Christmas Eve of 94. She allegedly

just up and disappeared because there was some argument or something and then allegedly, according to her husband, she walked away. What woman that cares for her children is going to go off right on Christmas Eve and never come back again? Ruth Hodges suspects Andrea Boyette was murdered. Andrea's grandmother believes she knows exactly who did it.

I said, my God, he's killed her, because we knew she wouldn't go off and leave the children. She couldn't wait for them to see those presents, you know. Mary Yon tells Hodges that Andrea's husband, John, killed her, and recalls conversations the family had with Andrea shortly before she disappeared. Well, to me, she said, Grandmother, you was right. I think I did make a mistake, which she told my daughter she was afraid of him. That was the day she come up missing. For seven years, Mary Yon has told anyone who would listen, her granddaughter's missing person case is in reality a murder. Now, in the persons of Ruth

Hodges and her supervisor, Sergeant Gary Klinger, Mary has two investigators who believe. Somebody finally cared. Up until then, it seemed like nobody cared. Even my own family, I guess, got tired of me talking about it. And this Miss Hodges and him was the only ones that ever seemed to. It was really important that we go down and talk with the children. Hodges asked Sergeant Klinger to speak with Dustin Cunningham,

Andrea's eldest child, and someone never questioned by police in 1994. They were there the night that she disappeared, and I felt like that was really important, that we needed to get down there and to talk to him. Klinger heads to the Florida prison, where Dustin is currently serving some time, to see what he remembers about his mom. She had these beautiful eyes, you know, and beautiful face,

and it's like, she was like, she fell for the bad guys all the time, you know. On February 12, 2004, Dustin Cunningham sits down with Sergeant Klinger, ready to share a memory that's haunted him since he was a nine-year-old boy looking out the window on Christmas Eve. I didn't go to sleep because I wanted to see Santa Claus. I was going to stay up all night. Dustin's excitement, however, dissolved into fear when his mom pulled into the driveway with Dustin's stepfather, John Boyette.

He seemed so angry. I mean, I don't know what they was arguing about or why or what, I don't know nothing, but they was arguing, and whenever he got out of the car, he just, it was like he was a different person, you know, like the person inside of him was just like the devil or something. He saw John put his hands around Andrea's neck and started strangling her.

He just wouldn't stop and just kept choking her and was cussing at her and telling her he hopes she dies and crazy stuff, you know. She was trying to scream, but she couldn't, and then she was just gagging. And he just kept hitting her. Every time he let go of her throat, he just hit her in the face. Boom. Dustin had seen his mom fight with John Boyette before. This, however, was different.

She was bleeding from her nose nose and all in her mouth was blood and there was puke on her shirt. She wasn't moving at all. I didn't even think she was breathing, you know. According to Dustin, his mother's body was slumped in the back seat of the car when John and his brother Robert pulled back out of the driveway and drove into the night. I kind of knew, like, in my mind, in my heart, that my mom was never coming back, you know? The next morning, instead of opening Christmas presents, Dustin was told his mom had left the family. He told us that she ran away and that she needed time by herself to think about the relationship and all kinds of crazy stuff. Within months, John Boyette abandoned the children, never to return, leaving Dustin to wonder what really became of his mother.

I was young and I knew that she didn't leave us like that. I knew that. But after a while of hearing it and hearing it and hearing it, you kind of, you're young so you want to believe she just ran away, you know. Maybe she will come back, you know. I think he felt in his heart his mother was probably dead. Dustin says he tried telling people what he saw that Christmas Eve, but as a child, was never taken seriously. That was the key that opened everything up. What he saw was obviously his father in the process of killing his mother. It was obviously after talking to Dustin that we were looking at a homicide case versus a missing persons case.

This would have been the bedroom on Christmas Eve of 1994 that he would have looked out of when he saw his stepfather, John Boyette, strangle his mother. Detective Louis Gempovolo, otherwise known as Detective G, picks up the cold case, one that now hinges on a young boy's memory and no physical evidence. The biggest challenge would have been, one, we don't have a body, but that does not preclude the state of Florida from charging someone with murder without a body. But it makes the case a whole lot tougher. Detective G's case will soon get a boost when another family member shares some memories

of a body, some chains, and a midnight drive. So he asked you to go with him to dump the body? Yes. Is that exactly what he said? That's his words? He asked me if I'd go with him to help get rid of the body. We often push unpleasant or traumatic memories away, not wanting to cause any further problems. However, Andrea's grandmother wasn't afraid to speak up about her belief that Andrea had been murdered. The police then turned to another family member, Andrea's son Dustin.

He'd only been nine years old when she went missing. Could the memory of a child really be useful in figuring out what happened to the missing woman? So we suspect that she was killed at home. Yes, sir. In 2004, the Polk County Cold Case Squad gets a hot lead in the case of Andrea Boyette, a 26-year-old mother reported missing nine years ago. The tip comes from Andrea's son, Dustin. December 24th of 1994, he looked out his window and saw his stepfather, John Boyette, choking his mother in the driveway by the car.

He saw her vomit, and then he saw John push his mother in the vehicle and drive off with her. According to Dustin, John Boyette's brother, Robert, was in the car with John as they drove away with Andrea's body. Detective Jim Pavolo, otherwise known as Detective G, locates Robert and asks him to come down to the station for a chat. We said we were with the Sheriff's Office Homicide Unit and we wanted to speak to him about the disappearance of Andrea Boyette. So he agreed to come and while we were there,

he said, you know, she's alive, I've seen her before. Detective G doesn't buy it, but saves the tough talk for the interrogation room. Everything you're going to tell me is going to be the truth, nothing but the truth, so help you God. I'd like you to go over the events of Christmas Eve, 1994. We basically told him that Dustin had come forward. Dustin said he saw from the bedroom window that night his mother being strangled. And he pretty much quickly came off on it and said it's been bothering him for a long time and he wanted to tell the truth.

I went back in the house and he come in there and asked me if I'd go with him to dump the body. You know, the real story is John choked her that night. You know, I went out to the car and saw her body in the car and helped dispose of her body. Robert Boyette takes Detective Gee back to Christmas Eve, 1994, the night his brother had a fight with his wife. And she wound up in the backseat of their car, dead. Detectives believe Dustin's memory of how his mother died,

and then question his stepfather's brother, Robert. Robert Boyd is able to share information that Dustin doesn't have about the Christmas Eve when Andrea disappeared. When you saw her body, was there any trauma or just blood from the side of the mouth? We asked him, how do you know she was dead? And he said, well, one, with the eyes open and two, he could see she wasn't breathing. Robert says his brother then asks him for the favor of all favors. So he asked you to go with him to dump the body?

Yes. Is that exactly what he said? That's his words? He asked me if I'd go with him to help get rid of the body. And you said no at first? At first, yes, I did. And then what? He threatened me, told me he'd kill me. Robert says the two made a midnight drive

out to the mines where John Boyette worked. They arrive out there, and John directs them to a lake, which is near a plant on the property. And once they're there, they find some chains and some cinder blocks. Where did you wrap it? Around the arms and around the legs. Okay.

And locked it with padlocks around the blocks. He said that he did help wrap her up with the chains and the cinder blocks and put her in the water. I helped him dump the body into the water. And you just rolled her right in? Just tossed her in. And he told me if I ever told anybody, he'd kill me. Robert says the two then drove back home and never spoke of the favor again.

According to Robert, he told the police that he saw her, and John would do the same thing. That way, if anyone came asking questions, they would just say, we saw her recently and leave it at that. Robert's story picks up where Dustin's leaves off, filling in the missing pieces for police. If she was placed in a lake, as Robert has said she was, and the companies have come out here and mined the area, there's basically no telling where she could be. She could be moved 100 feet away. She could be moved a mile away from the location where they placed her body. In other words, the chances of recovering a body at this point, impossible. And here's a picture of John. Detective Gee hooks up with Sergeant Britt Williams

to discuss the next step, talking to their suspect, John Boyette. We all kind of came to a group decision that it was best to go ahead and see what John was going to say. He came outside of the house or the trailer and it was me and you standing there looking at him and his wife was on one side and he was on the other. It's 11 p.m. when John Boyette gets a surprise visit from Polk County investigators. We asked him, you know, we're detectives from Polk County with the Homicide Unit, and we want to talk to him about Andrea. He kind of looked at us with that blank stare, and we said again, Andrea. He's like, who?

And I said, your wife Andrea, the one that's missing from 1994. Oh, you mean Andrea or, you know, acted like we mispronounced her name. Short of him confessing. I mean, that was a huge thing to me. I think to both of us, it was, you know, the normal reaction would be, oh my gosh, have you found her or is she okay? Or, but instead he acted like he completely did not know who she was. John Boyette agrees to talk with detectives at a local police station. There, he coughs up the same story he told detectives ten years ago. That Andrea walked out on the family, Christmas Eve of 1994. Detectives decide it's time to show Boyette their evidence.

They pull out a VCR, insert an evidence tape, and press play. I helped him dump the body into the water. During the time he watched the video, he just progressively became more and more angry. And there were a couple points you could hear him outside of the room yelling at the TV. But what incites Boyette aren't the details of murder. You just watch this whole admission that your brother has admitted that y'all have dumped your wife's body in a lake, and he says that, you know, you just choked her. And he just kind of sat there and shook his head during that point, but when they talk about drugs, he just kind of sat there and shook his head during that point, but when they talk about drugs, he stands up and starts yelling and saying that's bullshit.

He missed the whole point. The point is his brother saying, you killed Andrea. Sergeant Williams decides to spell it out for John Boyette. I said, you know you choked and killed Nikki. And he kind of shook his head and he goes, I didn't choke and kill her. I just, and he made his hand in a choking motion. And he said something to the effect of, you know, you didn't offer me an attorney. And I think I want one before I answer any more questions. The interview ends, but detectives can't arrest John Boyette, at least not yet.

The decision was that we were going to take everything to a grand jury. We did not have a body. That, you know, we would take all these statements and have these people come in and tell a grand jury exactly what had occurred. And that was the decision. We decided that we were going to let John go on home. Boyette is released. Meanwhile, Detective Gee begins digging up additional witnesses, women who, like Andrea, were abused at the hands of John Boyette. His favorite thing to do was to grab me by the throat.

Rhonda Price is a former girlfriend and tells Detective G about one particular beating that almost ended her life. It went from me telling him no, leave me alone, casually, to him, hand on the throat, and me begging him to let go, just that fast. It happened so fast. I knew I couldn't breathe. I was trying to get his hand out from around my throat. It happened so fast. I knew I couldn't breathe.

I was trying to get his arm off, his hand out from around my throat. And now the last thing I remember before I went out was my oldest son hollering, let my mama go, let go of my mama. It could have been me. Could have been my kids being raised without their mother. In all, Detective G locates four women who say they were abused, often choked, by Boyette. I think that just made the case stronger against John. Not only did we believe Andrea was strangled, but you could go back and say his previous girlfriends and wife were strangled, as well as his current wife. In August 2004, a grand jury indicts John Boyette for the murder of Andrea Boyette.

It was going to be interesting to see if a jury was going to be able to convict somebody on basically very, on no physical evidence and really just the testimony of, you know, of two people. Newspaper reporter Jason Geary secures a front-row seat at Boyette's murder trial. The defendant, however, pleads guilty to manslaughter and pulls eight years in prison. I spoke with John afterward. He had spoke with his lawyer. He accepted a plea because he didn't know

whether or not he really could be successful at trial. John was emphatic that he did nothing wrong. He gets away with murdering my mother and ruining my life, my brother's life, my sister's life. The plea isn't good enough for Dustin Cunningham, who finds himself in police custody on an unrelated offense, and then in the same holding area as his stepfather. Polk County Sheriff's put me in the dorm with him in the county jail. I pulled a shank on him. I had a knife in there. Pulled a knife on him. Tried to kill him. I was going to

kill him, but his roommate stopped me. Dustin is never charged with the attack against his stepfather. She's gone, and I'm stuck in here, and I can't... I feel like I'll never get out. As for Boyette's brother, Robert, he is never charged in connection with Andrea's murder. The victim's grandmother lives with it all. Well, I'm not happy at all about it, but there's nothing I can do.

I just feel like if you take a life, you should pay, and eight years is not even half enough. I hope one day he will feel just like she felt, that he will pay for what he did, because he didn't only take a life, he ruined three children's lives, too. And all the people that loves her. Because eight years have passed, I have to assume that Boyd has been released from prison.

His ex-mother-in-law, Mary Yon, was disappointed in his sentence, feeling like he didn't pay for his crime. Her feelings are understandable. Losing a child is a terrible tragedy. However, the result of this case isn't unexpected or even uncommon. A plea deal is reached in more than 95% of cases. Is the purpose of our justice system to make people pay for their crimes or to rehabilitate those who have committed crimes? Does a person who's able to act as a productive member of society

need to spend the rest of their life in prison? It's a hard question to answer, especially if you've been impacted by a violent crime. Cold Case Files, the podcast, is hosted by Brooke Giddings, produced by McKamey Lynn and Steve Delamater. Our associate producer is Julie Magruder, and our executive producer is Ted Butler. Our music was created by Blake Maples. This podcast is distributed by Podcast One.

The Cold Case Files TV series was produced by Curtis Productions and is hosted by Bill Curtis. Check out more Cold Case Files at AETV.com or learn more about cases like this one by visiting the A&E Real Crime blog at AETV.com slash realcrime.