Dr. Insanity - Police Discover A Killer’s Hidden Torture Forest

Episode Date: April 25, 2025

Got injured in an accident? You could be one click away from a claim worth millions. You can start your claim now with Morgan & Morgan at https://www.ForThePeople.com/insanity without leaving your couch. Remember, it's free unless you win. This cop just stumbled upon a dead body deep in the woods. What he doesn’t know yet is that the victim was brutally tortured—by a man still hiding somewhere in the same forest. This video was made for educational purposes only. The video is presented to provide genuine footage of police incidents to promote transparency in government while providing educational, informative and newsworthy content allowing viewers to examine and assess public safety material. This is a fact-checked documentary using authoritative sources. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Oh shit. S.O389, this bitch. I've located the body. It seems about 50 yards on a trail. This lone cop just discovered a dead body in the middle of the woods. What is that? Sounds like it's heading this way. I see something nice up top of the body.

Carving the blood of the place. 10-4 signal 7. Please send another unit to my location. What he doesn't know yet is that the lifeless man in front of him has been tortured for hours by the twisted man hiding in this very forest. Whoever did this, that's fresh. A little eyeball right here? There's some creepy shit right here.

Spell this right. You don't smell gas right here? Yeah. They're going to torture him? I'm not sure what it is, but I've got movement east of my... location in the wood. There's something moving around back this week. He carries three or four nights on him. He thinks he's raining, though.

You're what? I'm just like him, God. It's December 23rd, 2022, and Officer Azure has just received a 911 call from a distraught man reporting that he's found his best friend's lifeless body in the middle of the Lake Jackson Forest. Officer Azure, along with a group of first responders, quickly, arrive at the scene. Okay, y'all stay right there.

Here they encounter Jamie, the 911 caller, and his best friend Robert, both of whom urgently want to show the officer where their dead friend is. Considering the serious circumstances, Officer Azure decides to follow Robert into the forest despite being alone. 389, I'm 1012 with him. Just give me a minute. I'm 1012 or 2. I'm head down to take us a 361.

If you want to come down and 56, you need a mess in the back. I'm headed down at the scene. We're going to go back by the way, about 50 yards. Okay. Um, my watch it here is good. Yeah. Knife was laying on the ground. There's no blood on it.

Did you touch the knife? I did pick up the knife. Okay. Well, we're going to need to get fingerprints from you, okay? No problem. I walk by the top. And you put it to see James? Okay.

And then Alan walked by the turn and goes, what's that? And he picked the tarp up with your sticking on his hand, and James was way in their face down, and I dropped in the back and we left. Okay. All right. So we're going to need to get a very detailed statement from you, okay? Yes, sir. Just because...

I don't understand. Well, the thing is, I'm not accusing you of anything, but you have to be ruled out. You see what I'm saying? 100%. At this point, the officer can't yet confirm Robert's story, but with a dead body reported he has no choice but to push deeper into the woods however alone with a suspicious man he's just met and a killer who could be lurking nearby the officer knows he must proceed with extreme caution uh you just hang on down right here for me okay let me get up here and take a look

which one right here playing oh shit okay um and then please put in that back sand please Where's the knife? The knife's on the left-hand side of him. Okay. Okay, just hang out there for me, okay? Yeah, that's. Jamie was telling the truth. Wrapped inside the tarp is the body of James Layden Decker.

He's lying naked in a pool of his own blood, covered in cuts and scrapes. Realizing the severity of the situation, Officer Azure immediately instructs Jamie to head back while he investigates further. That's when Officer Azure begins to hear some unsettling noises. I'm not sure what it is, but I've got movement east of my location in the woods. Sounds like it's heading this way. Fortunately for Officer Azure, backup arrived just in time providing some relief from whatever might have been lurking in the forest. He's, I mean, there's nothing for y'all to check.

He's called to the touch. All right. We've got a knife right here, body here, tents, whole camp spread up back here. We've also got one outstanding. There's two people who live in this camp. And one's on here. And one's outstanding at the moment. Did you find the knife?

Yeah. I got a knife right here. Well, there's something right there. But, hey, did you still got those two guys 1012 up front? Yeah, they're standing in waiting for us. Good, because one that led me back touched the knife. So we need to get his prints and a statement off him. The other one touched the tart.

They found out what was going on and they took off. I checked the camp and he's the only one back here. I've got the name of the person who's earlier with at 5 or 6 o'clock. Yeah, so, and I've got what looks like maybe his clothes right over there. So he's naked. Coors Light lance a false maison of disc and you'll offer the chance to live an experience

of an artist inobliable with access exclusive at Oceaga. Inscribe you now on disc courselight.ca. No,

no talent musical reqied no no. There's to have the age legal for consuming the alcohol, no churn at key.

And there's some calls right there on the fire. As medical staff arrives and examines the body more closely, they observe a brutal manner of death.

Blunt forced trauma to the head. Strangulation, and something even more disturbing, gasoline, found in James' lungs and stomach. Detectives are left with a burning question. Why would a victim have gasoline inside him? However, this would be only one of the many disturbing details officers uncover at the scene. Hey, Seth, take a look at this for me. What is that?

Is that just soot weird off on that? I mean, it looks awful shiny. Yeah. Just for what I can see. But he is butt naked face down on the tarp with his upper course who's covered to definitely enough. And definitely somebody put in here. So I don't know what his face looks like.

If he was stabbed in the neck or the face, the blood may be hidden by the tarp. I'm not seeing any obvious blood. Apparently, the witness picked up the knife and the knife has like a rush and stream around. Yeah, the tar's brown, but there's blood all over the tarp, like blood splatter. It looks like, I mean, he was moved post-mortem. You can tell, by the way, he was dragged. Oh, he was fucking leaf in his ass right. Yeah.

That's hollowed down below, you see that? Yeah. That's crazy. Almost looks like the carbon odors. This in the one eye. You see that? Fucking nuts. There was something.

Artif. Still gas. You smell gas? They had to cut the other chainsaw, right? And it looks like... You smell gas right here? Yeah. By now, officers were certain they had a murder on their hands.

The injuries to the body, the bloody knife, and the presence of gasoline all point to one thing. This wasn't just a killing, but a calculated act where the victim had likely been tortured for hours. With this in mind, officers would return to question Jamie, the man who had originally called 911, and what Jamie reveals would soon lead investigators directly to the killer. But before we continue, it's worth noting that tragedies like these could affect any of us. Take Yvette Torres. She was walking home from work in Philadelphia when a truck struck her without

warning. Morgan and Morgan fought for her in court and won her nearly $12 million. If you're seriously hurt, your injury could be worth millions. With over 1,000 attorneys, Morgan and Morgan will fight to give you the best results if you become their client. And unless you win, they do it all for free. In just the past few months, Morgan and Morgan has helped hundreds of people. One car crash victim in Florida won a verdict worth $12 million, and another in Philadelphia, $26 million. That was 40 times more than their insurance offered, so if you ever got seriously injured, your case could be worth millions. And it takes only a few minutes to see if you have a case. You can start your claim with Morgan and Morgan by visiting www.forthepeople.com

slash insanity found in the description. Or by scanning the QR code on the screen from your phone's camera. With that said, let's get back to the investigation. Officers were about to speak again with Jamie, one of the eyewitnesses, and he would provide them with their biggest lead yet. So I heard arguing and stuff. So I go through the woods, go to this camp. I'm all back to the camp. Because, you know, homeless people, all you all talking about don't shit. It's been a while now, and I haven't heard anything from James or anybody over there.

So I go over there to me and my friend that's with, I'm sure now, go over there, right? So when I walk, get to a certain point, I see a tarp laying there beside this tree, which is never there. And inside is... I don't even know if it's James or... All right, well, we're going to get it figured out, okay? Do you know James' last name? Do you know James? No man.

No man. I'm telling my... The person who did this, because I know who it is. Dusty McDonald's. They live right up. He just got to complain this morning. Man, come down there with the hatchet. Threatening, chopping shit up.

Called it in, Sheriff's Department. They come over. They talked to him. They told him that they're going to go over and talk to him to stay away. And James is the one who calls? No, man. Who called this morning? Rick.

Okay. Rick is the one who stays there. No, man. But Rick is the one who stays there. James is a friend of everybody. But he was staying up there with Dusty. According to Jamie, a man named Dusty McDonald had attacked another man, Rick, with a hatchet earlier that day. Police recalled, but were unable to locate or confront Dusty at the time.

While this incident was concerning, it wasn't enough on its own to establish Dusty as a primary suspect. Until, nearly every witness interviewed pointed to him as well. Eventually, officers had gathered enough statements to justify bringing Dusty. in for questioning. All they needed now was to find him. As police began searching for Dusty, other officers on scene would sit down with the two 911 callers to piece together a timeline. According to them, the day had started with unsettling signs that something was off. We both went down there. We live right here. We wanted to go check on our family. He's rocked up in a guitar. Okay. Sir. I heard argue earlier, right? We know who was

How are you? Okay. So I walked down. It was. I seen Dusty have change on the ground. He was saying, you shouldn't talk shit about this, not, you know what I'm saying? I heard. Like, oh, they just getting shit out, you know what I mean.

But I never hear no, nothing from over there no more. You know, Dusty's real name or? Dusty, no. Did you say that James called them today and said, hey, no. Hey, no, Rick. Oh, Rick calls. Rick. James was there.

Well, when Justin went over there and cut his tent? Cut him up, threatened with a machete, cut his tin up, all kind of shit. They called the police. Yeah, called the police. Made a report, and the police just said, stay away from him. There's a tarp laying beside a tree that's never there because I leave here. And I took the stick and went. When I flipped it up, I seen legs.

Based on these witness accounts, officers now have a fairly detailed picture of what likely unfolded just hours earlier. They also have a lead suspect, Dusty MacDonald, a name one of the officers happened to be familiar with. I think they already brought up his name that Dustin McCormick. Yeah, Dusty. Dusty, supposedly general and some militia come down there this morning for machete and started packing up some of the tents. so he wanted to clear the area, setting his signal 20 and off his meds. They said Dusty.

They said Dusty is the one that's outstanding. Yeah, they said this guy Dusty left him over here by later in the evening. By now it was clear Dusty had likely been involved in the murder. And with Jamie and Robert's statements in hand, police began piecing together the sequence of events leading up to the brutal killing. Earlier that day, Rick, another man who lived at the camps, had called 911 claiming, a Dusty McDonald had slashed his tent with a machete while searching for a man named James,

even threatening him in the process. Later that afternoon, Dusty managed to find James, and witnesses reported hearing arguing from the camp. When they checked to see what was going on, they saw Dusty on top of James wrestling and yelling. It didn't appear to be anything more than a heated argument, so they returned to their camp. However, hours would pass, and nobody had heard from James. Robert and Jamie began to worry and decided to go looking for him, and that's when they found a blue tarp covering James' lifeless body. Nearly all witness accounts lined up perfectly with this timeline of events, making the next step for officers clear, arrest Dusty, and bring him in for interrogation. Fortunately, since officers had begun the work of

locating him earlier that day, they already had Dusty's address. Soon after, they started surrounded the house ready to move in. I don't know if that's him, but there's somebody. Sheriff always put it, put a knife down, man. Come on out. Come on out. Come on out. I'm not, I don't have anything in my hands. Okay, come on.

Please, I don't have anything in my hands. Come on out. I'm right here, sir. Come on out. Dude, I'm right here. Got to see. Dude, yes. Turn around, push your hands right.

Dude, man, just trying to light me on fire, dude. You don't know what happened down there. Have a man. It's all on surveillance, too. Listen, Dusty, you try to do things, too. The dog's going to bite you, I'm done. Not even on, Doug? Look at there.

I'm not hurt at all. Sir? Sir, I ain't just left my house. And he tried to murder me down there and light me on fire. Dusty's behavior would be bizarre from the start, immediately insisting that James tried to set him on fire and that the officers, quote, already know what happened down there.

Whether he's trying to claim self-defeiting, offense or is just completely unhinged is anyone's guess. Sorry, what does with me? Yeah, sir, you know what happened down there. That's what we're going to figure out. The manside galatineal is fire, is that kind of? Okay, listen, we've got one side. That's why you need to come with us.

I'm coming. I know you are. With the supposed killer in custody, officers concluded the disturbing on-scene investigation and began preparing for interrogation. If Dusty was their killer, given what had been done to the victim's body, it pointed to someone deeply disturbed that suspicion would soon be confirmed by now dusty had already raised serious concerns he had slashed rick's tent and threatened him on top of that multiple witnesses had just reported seeing him argue with james hours before the murder however

despite how clear things seemed there was one major complication dusty was claiming self-defense he He alleged that James had thrown gasoline on him and threatened to set him on fire. This wasn't a claim detectives could easily dismiss, especially given the distinct smell of gasoline at the scene, meaning there was a possibility he could get away with his crime. Even though it's clear who's behind the murder at this point, Dusty's story now carries a shred of credibility. Detectives have one goal to break that story, either by disproving his self-defense claim using witness statements, or, ideally, by getting a confession. Either way, the investigation is about to get a lot more complicated.

To move forward, detectives start by bringing in people from the encampment who knew Dusty well and interacted with him regularly. If Dusty had a pattern of violent behavior, these individuals were the most likely to have seen it firsthand. My goal here is to kind of get, from your perspective, kind of what you saw, what you heard. He ain't really been fussing with me at all, right? He never had no gross word. He's always assistant.

Oh, come up me and do your laundry and all that get it, you know. Come up and get a shower. That's what I'm going to get a shower. Come to get a shower all the time. So I fucked up and got a shower and get him $2 afterwards, you know, just a gesture. Rick explains that Dusty often offered showers and laundry to homeless individuals in the area, sometimes charging a small fee. This catches the attention of detectives.

These seemingly generous acts may be a part of a larger pattern of manipulation, a way for Dusty to assert control over the homeless community. It's a detail that could support their efforts to build a stronger case against him. I tried my best to get along with him. He had a shower that we all used, you know, sometimes. Try to keep him good with him for those reasons and stuff, you know? Yeah, I knew that. I remember my wildestrian stuff, I think he was capable of murder, and that's honest truth.

I was just over there basically using his anestesties like we all were. We had a chance, too, you know, a shower. usually offered it. That's his way of making friends with us, I think. I had stayed with him before, and he kicked me out. I thought I was in a lot. I saw I was taking pictures of him and stuff like that. With my phone, I didn't even have a phone.

Like, I saw you taking pictures of me with your phone. Dusty, I didn't have a phone. You said, you got to go. I left. That's out. Dusty lives in a house near the homeless camps, a property owned by his grandfather. At first, much like Rick, Busby describes Dusty as someone who seems generous, allowing members of the homeless camp to use his home for basic amenities.

As investigators continue interviewing members of the homeless community, a more troubling picture of Dusty begins to emerge. He has a history of strange and violent behavior marked by paranoia and delusions. However, officers face a challenge. The interviews so far have been too vague, highlighting patterns of behavior, but lacking concrete details to build a solid case. This leads detectives back to Jamie, the original 911 caller, and the person with the clearest recollection of events so far. And he's able to offer meaningful insight into who Dusty really is. Mr. Ewan, my role here in all this, it's just kind of to get from your perspective, your side of the thing, what you saw, what you observed,

He came to my camp last night. I used to stay up there with him. He's a violent person. Okay. Just pop-offs and he let me stay there because he's the one owns the property. The reason I don't stay there is because you don't do what he says and he gets all angry and threat energy.

It just crazy shots. What? That's usually caring. He has to stick this time. But he's either got to stick. He's got a stick, machete, or not. Listen, he carries like three or four nights on him. Machinele sticks, just, it's like he thinks he's rainbow.

While Dusty had a reputation as a bully who routinely harassed the homeless community, no one expected his behavior to escalate to cold-blooded murder. His so-called generosity, offering his home for showers and laundry, masked a deeper need for control and manipulation. The same people he claimed to help were also the ones he intimidated and threatened, revealing a warped sense of power and superiority. In the end, this contradiction may have set the stage for the gruesome murder. When Dusty was brought in for questioning, his demeanor was strangely calm.

At this point, he seems to believe that he is seen as a victim of an attack by this homeless man. He didn't seem like he was in his right mind at all. Detectives were hoping to learn about dusty side of the story, but instead were met with, well, a lot of nonsense. You know I'm an owl, right? You're what? You know what that means, right? Yes, sir, I do. Okay.

Thank you. This has been a really hard day. Sir. I waved all right and a long time. You know, I still have a great sense of innocence. of innocence within me if it ain't obviously that's not my case. Throughout his interrogation,

Dusty's responses are filled with incoherent delusions and deflections. In Dusty's mind, he's, quote, an owl, constantly watched, monitored, and under surveillance. It's clear that without his medication, his schizophrenia is spiraling out of control. And I'm heading remarkably well If you know, man, that was some crazy shit,

and still be able to get us some usable intel, you know? You don't get why staying at that place is so dangerous for me. I know a lot of trust is giving to me. I like that, but, man, I think he was saying we'll be talking about this. Dusty seems to believe he's outsmarted the cops, thinking he's there to provide valuable intel as the victim. But he will soon. find out that he's actually a suspect in the cold-blooded murder of an innocent man.

I haven't shut tears all day, you know, I've been going hard, you know, I'm so exhausted. How long have you done? But this kind of work? Not very long. That was my first. I think everybody knows that. I'm gonna get good. You know, uh, thank you for this deep psychological gun now for. Uh, it's helping a lot. Good.

Listening closely to Dusty's words, it seems as if he's openly admitting to the murder. Although his statement is scattered and unclear, it gives detectives the impression that he's acknowledging responsibility without fully grasping the seriousness of his actions. But Dusty's bizarre admissions wouldn't stop there as he continues rambling incoherently. I was brushing and then, uh, and then he throws it gas on me because you saw how I was rolled up down there. I did, I thought I was just doing it for the other. You know what I mean?

Because that was my intention. They're going to do this. I then managed to hit that Neo-U-I and come out like that. I don't know how I do it sometimes. You know what I mean? Yeah, exactly. I mean, when I'm just experimenting in the house, blades, like before I, uh, back when I took the a bunch of knives and throw any curve on it.

Like, I mentioned, I don't know how I do it, sir. I just know of my beautiful mind that I am just, it's a three-way, you know, it's the photographic, the audio again and again take, and then they love and connect. Yeah. You know, I, if y'all don't ever think I'm so amazed at it, that I'm just like a God. Man, I never thought it would be something like that.

But my God, what that thing was. While Dusty's ramblings could be interpreted as an admission that James was his first murder, the statement is buried in a mix of delusions about retinoids, his photographic memory, and other incoherent claims. The detective picks up on this and pushes further, trying to separate fact from fiction in Dusty's fractured account. For me to verify everything that I can see elsewhere, I got to know, I'm trying to tell me this.

I know you're not mad at it. I don't want you to think I'm asking my personality is I can't talk to people but I don't want you to think I'm being in that certain I am very deadly regret. Dusty claims he's not mad and that people don't understand how he communicates. This shows he might have a twisted view of himself, possibly because of paranoia, delusions, or mental illness. What's strange is how calm and relieved Dusty seems. Most guilty people would be nervous or scared during an interrogation. But Dusty is different. He seems to still believe he's the victim and doesn't grasp the seriousness of his actions.

Instead of taking responsibility, he thinks people just don't understand him. This becomes even clearer when Dusty asks one final question to the detective. Well, I'll be able to go home. I'm going to figure that out. Yeah, because that's just our mind on today or we're going down to dance. We'll go ahead to figure that kind of out, because you'll have this thing kind of goes from here. I guess. I'm going to come talk to you about it, just a little out of that.

After this bizarre exchange, the detective had heard enough to know it was time to wrap up the interrogation. Dusty's lack of remorse and distorted grip on reality made it clear they were dealing with someone who didn't fully understand the weight of his actions. According to the pathology report, the victim, James Layden Decker, was subvers. subjected to horrific torture before his death. His body showed severe blunt force trauma, including cuts, bruises, and fractures to his face, nose, ears, and mouth. His eyes had severe bleeding, and many of his teeth were broken. The injuries also extended to his neck with heavy bleeding in the muscles and a broken hyoid

bone, suggesting he had been strangled. His torso displayed several broken ribs and internal bleeding was found in his chest and abdomen. of the most disturbing details from the report was that James had been exposed to gasoline. His skin had begun to slough off in areas and a strong smell of gasoline was found on his arms, thighs and hands. Gasoline was also detected in his lungs and stomach, indicating he had inhaled and swallowed it before he died. This made the murder even more gruesome. Dusty was processed for forensic evidence and transported to the Leon County Detention Facility. The witness statements, his vague confession, and the forensic evidence from the scene were enough to formally charge him.

Dusty McDonald was charged with one count of first-degree murder, and as of this video's upload, his case remains ongoing.