Cold Case Files - REOPENED: NCIS

Episode Date: November 7, 2023

Ensign Andrew Muns disappeared from the Navy ship he was serving on during the Vietnam War. His disappearance was officially ruled a desertion, but Andrew's sister, and investigators, never believed that story. They believed he was murdered. And they held onto that belief for thirty years.Sponsors: Simplisafe: For a limited time, save up to 50% on any new system with a Fast Protect™ Plan. Visit simplisafe.com/COLDCASE. There’s no safe like SimpliSafe. Zocdoc: Go to Zocdoc.com/CCF and download the Zocdoc app for FREE. Then find and book atop-rated doctor today. Angi: Download the free Angi mobile app today or visit Angi.com  

Ensign Andrew L. Munns was a soldier in the U.S. Navy in Vietnam. Now he's buried in Arlington National Cemetery. He died in 1968 while serving aboard the USS Kakupon in the Philippines. But his death didn't come by way of enemy fire. His death was a mystery. Some suspected foul play. Some called it an accident. The Navy's official stance was that Ensign Munns went AWOL,

that he was a deserter and a disgrace. For Andrew's sister, Mary Lou Taylor, that was an answer she couldn't live with. She knew deep down in her gut who her brother really was and what kind of person he was. She knew he would never desert his post. And that meant he must have been murdered. From A&E, this is Cold Case Files, the podcast. I'm Brooke, and this story, adapted from a classic episode of Cold Case Files, is told

by the resplendent Bill Curtis. Well, we're going to go up the hill to my brother's gravesite. It's always hard to find it because there are so many. Mary Lou Taylor walks past row after row of headstones. Each marks the resting place of an American hero. In at least one case, the headstone memorializes a murder victim. This is it. In memory of Andrew L. Munns, Ensign, U.S. Navy, Vietnam, October 12, 1943, January 17, 1968.

Andrew Munns was Mary Lou's brother. He was serving on a Navy ship in the Philippines when he disappeared without a trace. Well, from 1968 to 2000, we had no answers whatsoever. We just had a lot of suspicions and questions. The cold case of Andrew Munns dates back to 1968 and the height of the Vietnam War. Well, in January 1968, I was assigned as a special agent with the Naval Investigative Service at Subic Bay, and my boss gave me a call and told me that he needed me aboard the USS Cacapon.

In the winter of 1968, a refueling vessel named the Cacapon docks in the Philippines. There's trouble aboard, as Special Agent Ray McGeady of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service quickly learns. He gave me a three-by- five card basically telling me that they are missing a dispersing officer and missing funds from the dispersing office safe. Ensign Andrew Munns is the man who hands out pay aboard the Kakapon. He was last seen alive above deck heading to his office. It's one of the first places that we went in order to determine what the office looked like and also to take a look see at the safe that was available muns was last seen around 2 a.m at 8 a.m he failed to report for muster later that morning another sailor noticed the ship safe open 8600 was discovered

missing it brought some suspicion as to what happened to the $8,600 that was in the safe at that time. Was he a victim of foul play, or did he take the money and run? On shore, Agent McGady ducks into local watering holes with a picture of his missing man. No one has seen him. Then McGady checks with embassies throughout Southeast Asia. We checked through Hong Kong.

We checked through Kaohsiung in Taipei. We checked Manila. We checked everywhere we could possibly believe that he could be and were unsuccessful. We couldn't find him. My mother opened a letter one afternoon that said, we're sorry to say this, but your son's missing. We knew immediately that something bad had happened to him

and that he wasn't going to come back. Because we knew Andy and we knew he never would have left that ship on his own, he never would have deserted. That was totally against his character. So for us, it was more a matter of trying to get the Navy to believe that something bad really happened to him, that he didn't leave the ship voluntarily. Agent McGady takes seriously the idea that Munns might be a victim of foul play. His suspicion grows after a talk with Munns' direct subordinate, a sailor named Michael LeBrun. I do know that during the interview, there were some things in the interview that didn't

feel right. He suggested that Ensign Munns might have gone scuba diving and was gone for that reason. It did seem ridiculous that Ensign Munns, in the middle of the night, would go scuba diving. First of all, it would be unsafe. Secondly, he couldn't see anything. And it seemed like it was probably some excuse to offer an explanation for him not being aboard the ship. Ray McGady believes Andrew Munns might very well have been murdered. The U.S. Navy's official line, however, is quite another matter.

He was officially labeled a deserter. There was an FBI form, a deserter document, sent to the FBI and to all the police in New Jersey and Pennsylvania where he lived. So they were actually looking for him in regards to a larceny. Munn's status as a deserter is devastating to his family, especially Mary Lou's father. That kind of stress really did him in,

and he died three years later. He died three years after that at the age of 57 with no record of heart disease or anything. He had a massive heart attack. That probably is the hardest thing for me to swallow, is that this man died believing that his son was wrongly accused and that no one had shown otherwise. Years go by, and Mary Lou hears nothing further from the Navy.

Everywhere she looks, however, she sees reminders of her missing brother. At that point, Vietnam was such a major part of American life. In all of the airports, there were servicemen all over the place, and for years I would kind of comb the faces of all the servicemen in the airports when I'd travel back and forth to college looking, you know, could one of these people be Andy? Is it a possibility that he's still alive? Mary Lou never catches another glimpse of her brother's face, and the mystery of his disappearance fades into memory. I was in the office in May of 1998.

I was very much part of the Cold Case Homicide Program and received this telephone call from a lady by the name of Mary Lou Taylor. She introduced herself over the phone and explained to me that her brother, Andrew Munns, who was an ensign in the Navy in 1968, disappeared off the USS Cacapon. Pete Hughes is an NCIS agent. 30 years after Ensign Andrew Munns disappeared off the USS Cacapon,

Hughes takes a meeting with a sister who refuses to forget. In some ways, I think that the not knowing and the deserter status was harder than losing him. If it had been, yes, he was killed in action, or yes, this person killed him on the ship, and we knew it, we could have gotten on with things. And the question you asked is, why should we investigate the murder of your brother? And so you let me talk for 45 minutes. I told you every reason why I thought we should investigate. And it meant a lot to me that you would let me talk,

that you actually were listening to every detail. I remember you sharing with me how you had started your own investigation in this. And to me that just rings so true of somebody who's yearning for the truth. I needed to know what happened to Andy, and I needed to clear his name. We finally, we decided as a family that we had never been able to really grieve for Andy because there was never a body,

there was never admission that he was dead by any, you know, by the Navy. Given his status as a deserter, Andy Munn's family was not given a flag at the Ensign's memorial service, an indignity that has stuck with Mary Lou through the years. I can't tell you how angry I was at that moment, thinking that I couldn't get a flag for Andy's service.

So I said, you know, I'm not that old. I got a lot of energy in me and I'm going to get a flag. It may take me years, but I will get a flag for Andy. So that became my passion was that flag was a great symbol to me of Andy's honor. And so that's when the flag became important because I thought he deserved a flag at his memorial service. I just felt compelled that I felt an obligation after having spoken with you to get a copy of the case files. This is a criminal investigative directorate up here and this is where we maintain all of our files. Pete Hughes and Jim Griebus are special agents with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, NCIS. Each one of these cases represents an individual

who was murdered. These cases mean something. And if you look at who it really means something to, it's going to be the victims, family members, or friends. After reviewing the file, Hughes and Griebus suspect Buns might have been murdered. There were a couple people who jumped off the pages that said, look at me. There were unresolved issues. There were questions about what they were saying.

And I knew that we would need to go back and revisit those folks. At the top of the list, a sailor named Michael LeBrun. LeBrun worked for Munns in the ship's dispersing office. LeBrun came up with a strange explanation when Munns turned up missing. He suggested to that dispersing officer that, well, maybe Andy Munns had gone scuba diving during the night and had gone alone and maybe had drowned, which I thought was fairly bizarre, who's gonna go scuba diving between midnight and seven o'clock in the morning in Subic Bay the Philippines

the officers response to that was I know Andy Munns Andy Munns is not gonna go scuba diving alone so that was one red flag the NCIS agents believe LeBron's 1968 statement is bizarre enough to warrant another interview. They catch up with the former seaman in the middle of the Great Plains. Well, the first time around, the approach with LeBron first time around was very informal, very relaxed. Michael LeBron is now in real estate, Mr. Average living in Kansas. Agent Hughes approaches the suspect as though he's a witness in Munn's disappearance,

and LeBron agrees to come to a local police department. We would ask him, take yourself back in time, Michael. Take yourself back to 1968. Just relax, close your eyes, and tell us what you see. Before long, LeBron talks himself into a starring role in Munn's disappearance, one in which LeBron is stealing money from the ship's safe. His eyes are half open, half closed, and he's saying,

I see myself. All of a sudden, he goes, well, I think I hear something. I think somebody's coming in the door. And during this time frame, I'm stuffing money down my shirt. And in comes Andy Munn, who I thought was secured for the door. And during this time frame, I'm stuffing money down my shirt. And in comes Andy Munns, who I thought was secured for the night. And he's saying, I can see Andy Munns confronting me. Hey, you're stealing that money. I'm going to put you on report. LeBron is talking in hypotheticals, saying maybe it happened this way. I hit him. he hits me. Maybe that's what happens. That's what he would say.

That's what we were dealing with. He goes, I can't remember that. He goes, but I'm taking myself in time. I can see that happening. But I don't know that happened because I don't remember that happening. Pete and I have done hundreds of interrogations together. And whenever somebody starts this,

I don't remember, I could have, I don't remember, it's possible, you've got your guy. So he was playing these, what I call the cat and mouse games. But clearly he's good for this homicide. We just don't know how he did it. I mean, when Pete comes back with the information, we had a roundtable strategy session. We reviewed it. What we decided to do, and Pete ultimately said, agreed to, was we're not going to play the game the way LeBron wants us to play the game.

NCIS agents decide they are going to force the action. Over the next year, they learn everything they can about LeBron. Then they put the heat on their suspect. How NCIS Turns Up the Heat on LeBrun. After the break. There's never a wrong time to protect your home. But this fall happens to be an especially good time. Because you can get up to 50% off a brand new SimpliSafe home security system.

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Ensign Andrew Munns was a naval officer whose death was ruled a desertion in 1968. But Mary never gives up. And more than 30 years later, she's able to convince NCIS agents Pete Hughes and Jim Griebus to take another look at her brother's case. Hughes and Griebus track down one of Andy's shipmates who gave suspicious testimony at the time, Michael LeBrun. To their surprise, LeBrun readily confesses to stealing $8,600 from a safe on the night Munns disappeared. In today's dollars, that's over $62,000. And LeBrun says Andy Munns caught him in the act, and they fought. The agents are confident that LeBrun took it a step further and committed the murder. Now, they just have to get LeBron to confess.

I'm really eager to see what the old office looks like where we set it up. Remember the pressure though of actually bringing LeBron in here and knowing this is it. We either get this or the case is over. In the fall of 2000, NCIS agents bring their suspect in for questioning. The strategy is to go for broke, either secure a confession or drop the case against LeBron. I just remember all the pictures on the walls. Yeah. You know, and then that flip chart here.

The interrogation room is filled with poster-sized pictures of Michael LeBron and his shipmates from the USS Kakabon. When he walked into this room, he knew we had done our homework because everything, his whole life was out. When he walks in, he pans the room, looks at all these pictures on the wall, sits down, sees how we've methodically placed these files. Pretty overwhelming. He opened the door and he looked around the room and he goes,

this is my life. NCIS agents get down to business almost immediately. I know you're responsible for Inson Mons. Yeah. I know that. We can show that. The only issue is, is did it happen in a split second from what you planned out?

So premeditation? Premeditation, or was it spontaneous? That's the one question. Quite frankly, I think it's premeditation. If the crime was spontaneous, LeBron could only be charged with manslaughter, which has a five-year statute of limitations, long since expired. LeBron sees the loophole and is quick to try and crawl through it. There's a statute of limitations regarding spontaneous act. I thought there was no statute of limitations on homicide. It depends on how the act was completed.

Part of our strategy with Michael LeBrun was, look, if it's manslaughter, you can't be charged because the statute of limitation has run five years. And you know what? You get up and you walk out of here today. Or it's premeditated murder. And if you plan to kill him, there's no statute of limitations and you can be prosecuted. I'd like to think that you didn't plan this out. I'd absolutely like to think that. But you know what? There's indications to me that you might have.

That you're a pretty selfish, cold SOB. I could see the wheels in his brain moving. If it was an accident, if it was something less than premeditation, then that statute of limitations was right. You could see his brain working. Or did you plan it? Did you plan it three weeks in advance? Did you plan it two minutes in advance? Did you plan it two minutes in advance?

If so, you can be charged. The cogs are turning. LeBron is beginning to believe he can admit to killing Andy Munns and walk away a free man. I never intended to kill anybody. I never have planned to kill anybody. I've never premeditated to kill anybody. But have planned to kill anybody I've never premeditated to kill anybody but it happened with Andy

isn't that right and if you be man enough and stamp up with the plate and say you know what guys were spontaneous we're on the phone going we have proper sexual limitations it's possible impossible you won't be prosecuted at all. Am I hearing that I won't be prosecuted? As you'll see, about 15 or 18 minutes into the interrogation, he started listening and he started shaking his head yes, and he understood what we were saying.

It started to make a little bit of sense to him, and he started to figure out, you know what, these guys have got me. That was my perception. They got me. And my only way out is to admit to a manslaughter. I'm telling you, I'm here to tell you there was no premeditation. All right. It was spontaneous. Okay. Well, once LeBron thought he wasn't going to be prosecuted

because he committed what he perceived was a manslaughter, he decided to go ahead and confess. My killing Andy Munns was not intentional. There was no intent on my part to kill him. I don't recall the exact time that I killed him. Tell us why you killed him. Again, tell us what we already know. Self-preservation.

I protect myself from being caught. Being caught? Being caught, you know, messing in the safe. Andy Munn saw him do that, and Andy Munn said, OK, I've got you, you're on report. And that's when that intent of premeditation came in, right then. It only takes seconds to form intent. And that's when he knew he had to kill him or go to the brig.

And that's what he told us. Safe door is open. None of this is premeditated. I mean, I see it all of a sudden. I see the safe door open. It's kind of like, OK, I opened the safe. I looked in it. What was it?

N.C.I.S. agents understand that the issue of premeditation will be key to their case. They ask LeBron to stand up and reenact the moment of murder. What are you doing? Say it. What are you doing? Show him how you grab him, please. How'd you grab him?

Grab him. What does he do? He grabs back. Where do I grab him? I don't know, you just grab. Grab him. And I just kind of like... We can't...

No, you can't... I'm blurting. I can't do this, I can't see this, you can't tell anybody, boom, boom, boom, no, this can't happen, leave me alone, I can't have this, whatever. I don't recall exactly what I'm saying, I'm just panicked. He's struggling, he's kicking. He's pushing. What stops him from doing that? I'm stronger than he is. Right. I'm a beast. My first thought was I've got to get rid of this body and throw it over the side.

I went out to the welding. It must be a splash. It'll float. What am I going to do? Tank. We muck tanks. We muck tanks when I'm out at night. What does that mean, muck tanks? Oh, we went down and cleaned them up. They never go in these tanks for a year and a half. And then he had to figure out what to do with the body and what to do with the money. Why throw away $8,600? Why not just keep it? Well, LeBron, already starting to figure out how I need to cover this crime up, was thinking

about latent impressions. Hey, my fingerprints are on this money. I need to get rid of this money. LeBron tells agents he panicked and dumped the money, along with Munn's body, into the ship's muck tanks, where it was later flushed out to sea. After he confesses to the NCIS agents, Mary Lou Taylor, Andy Munn's sister, is brought in. There's some truths that I've had to face here just even today, and I've come to realize that I was responsible for Andy's death. And I'm sorry to you for that.

It was awkward for me because it felt like I was supposed to say, there, there, that's okay. But it's not okay. He killed my brother. And so just confessing isn't okay. It's something that I haven't even been willing to face for the last 30-some years. And I don't know what else to say. It's just I'm so sorry. It was hard to say, oh, yeah, I understand. I didn't understand.

He killed my brother because he was stealing money, and he got caught. I don't understand. He killed my brother because he was stealing money and he got caught. I don't understand that. I'm glad to be able to lay this to rest. I'm glad it's for you and me. And it's partially laid to rest for me, but it's not done yet. At the end, when we were leaving and he said, may I give you a hug? I forget his exact words, but it was something like, can I hug you, may I give you a hug? I forget his exact words, but it was something like, can I hug you or may I give you a hug?

I was totally taken aback and I certainly wasn't ready to say, oh, sure. I'm sorry, can I give you a hug? Is that okay? No, I'm sorry. I'll say that's fine, I'm good. Cold case agents do not immediately arrest their suspect. Instead, Michael LeBron goes home,

thinking perhaps that he's gotten away with murder. He believed that he could only be charged with a manslaughter charge. I'm convinced that he thought that he was going to get a pass on this. Matt Whitworth is a deputy U.S. attorney in Kansas City. In the fall of 2000, he reviews Michael LeBrun's taped confession and concludes the suspect could be prosecuted, not for manslaughter, but for felony murder. There are, however, some problems. My first concern that I had was I knew that they had, you know,

inflated or misled him in concerning the amount of that they had, you know, inflated or misled him in concerning the amount of evidence they had that implicated him in the crime. I know you're responsible for instant loans. Yeah, I know that. We can show that. Did we push the envelope a little bit in there? Sure. I mean, this is a murder. We're talking to somebody we strongly suspect committed a murder. Whitworth suspects the confession might be vulnerable

to a motion of suppression at trial and tells NCIS to gear up for a legal fight over the tape. It's a fight the prosecutor is willing to take on. You never yelled at him. You never, you know, had your guns out or there were no weapons present. There was never any physical force. Told him he was going to go home several times and we took him home and he went home as a prosecutor if i had agents in an interview lying about what the law was then i

would take a you know i don't think i'd file a case because i you know there's a fairness issue there that i would have to take into consideration. But that wasn't the case here. They didn't mislead him about what the law was. In March 2001, Michael LeBron is charged with felony murder. His defense moves to suppress his confession. The district judge rules in LeBron's favor. The jury will not hear his statement. The following year, a federal appeals court affirms the lower court's decision. I thought we were done.

And then you call back and you say there's this process called en banc. You said, I feel like you guys pushed the envelope, but you did not cross the line. And you stayed within the limits, and we're going to take a shot at it. On Bonk is an appellate hearing before the entire Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. Five years after Michael LeBrun's confession, the circuit court hears the case. We got to argue the case in front of the full court in bank, and we won this time, seven to four. And that was a great day and we finally got that decision. You know, in all honesty, and I've told Pete and Jim this, I wish I would have had a little bit more input on how the interview was conducted before it happened. We always felt somehow things were going to turn out right.

Things were going to turn out okay. Why? Because we knew we didn't violate his rights. Well, hey, listen, next time you have one of these cases out here, though, why don't you call me first? We had a lot of critics in this case. And all I can say to the critics, God forbid that any of them ever lose a loved one the way Mary Lou Taylor and her family did, I can guarantee you they'll want us to do the same thing we did in this case. And that is pull out all the stops.

Get down to it. Get hard. Get gritty. Get dirty. But get to the truth. I was there, and I believe that those officers did, or those agents, did everything they could possibly do to do a legal and honorable and ethical confession. It's hard to get somebody to confess after 30 years.

They couldn't just say, well, did you do it? In the fall of 2005, Michael LeBrun pleads guilty to voluntary manslaughter. He is sentenced to four years in prison. I was just pleased that we were able to get justice for Mary Lou Taylor and her family. And I just remember how pleased they were that we finally won. Here's this picture right here. You know, Andy Munns. That's what it's all about. That's what it's all about.

For Andy Munns' family, the final chapter plays out at Arlington National Cemetery, a memorial service for Ensign Andrew Munns and a flag for his family. The ceremony itself was one of those perfect days. A sunny, warm Washington day and the caisson with the horses and the Navy band

and an admiral at the head of the Honor Guard. It was just, it was absolutely what Andy deserved. It was perfect. it was absolutely what Andy deserved. It was perfect. I have gotten to really love and know Pete and Jim. And in a way, I got two brothers when I lost just one.

And so it was a real gift for me. This whole process has been a gift because I feel like they cared so much about Andy and about his honor that they're part of my family. What is it that makes a murder premeditated? Does it have to do with a timeline or an attitude, an intention? Where is the line between planned and spontaneous? These questions will likely plague Michael LeBrun for the rest of his life, as will the guilt of knowing that he took the life of his fellow Navy men.

For Mary Lou Taylor, though, the importance of that distinction pales in comparison to the grief of never seeing her brother again. And while her brother may never have completed his mission, Mary can take some solace in knowing that she eventually was able to complete hers. After close to four decades,

her brother's honor was restored and his killer was brought to justice. Cold Case Files, the podcast, is hosted by Brooke Giddings. Produced by Scott Brody, Thank you. Cold Case Files TV series was produced at Curtis Productions and presented by Bill Curtis. Check out more Cold Case Files at AETV.com and by downloading the A&E app. Dive into true crime on Pluto TV. Unravel the mysteries with forensic files and 48 hours. Investigate crimes with Dateline 24-7 and unsolved mysteries. With thousands of free crime movies and TV shows, Pluto TV is the true home of crime.

Download the Pluto TV app on all your favorite devices and start streaming true crime. On live channels and on demand. Pluto TV, stream now, pay never. Two sisters, one a respected TV producer, Jill Blackstone, and the other, Wendy. She was disabled, nearly blind and deaf, and Jill had devoted herself to taking care of Wendy. Jill was her best friend, her sister, her everything. But the sister bond was shattered when Wendy and some of the sister's rescue dogs were found dead in a garage next to a top-lover barbecue grill. Jill says accidental carbon monoxide poisoning killed everyone.

Police do not believe her. Police arrested Jill Blackstone for the murder of her sister. Investigators think it was staged to look like an accident. Who will you believe, especially now that a secret source has come forward with evidence never made public before? Jill was a good producer. There's no doubt about that. But would she produce murder is the question. Season two of Bad, Bad Thing, The Blackstone Sisters, available now wherever you get your podcasts. I always say, show me a your podcasts. I always say,

show me a perfect family, I'll show you a family with secrets.