Prime Crime: Solved Murders - The Palmyra Island Murders Pt. 2

Episode Date: March 2, 2022

When human remains washed up on Palmyra Island, authorities confirmed they belonged to Muff Graham who had disappeared along with her husband seven years earlier. Immediately, the FBI had suspects in mind. But when they went to serve indictments, they learned some shocking news. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Due to the graphic nature of this murder case, listener discretion is advised. This episode includes dramatizations and discussions of murder and assault. We advise extreme caution for children under 13. In January 1981, 28-year-old Sharon Jordan and her husband, Robert, were vacationing on Palmyra Atoll. The tiny island floated in the Pacific Ocean about a thousand miles south of Hawaii. Palmyer was home to plenty of tropical birds and lush vegetation, but Sharon and Robert were the only humans in sight. Everything on the island was a challenge, especially getting food.

On January 4th, Sharon and Robert pushed their fishing boat into a lagoon, hoping to catch something for dinner. They cruised the shallow water staring down at coral reefs, mantarays, and black-tipped sharks. Nothing suitable for a meal. Then Sharon spotted something buried in the sea floor. There was a yellow boat, sunken about 20 feet below. Fascinated, they returned the next day, ready to explore. The couple dove down, spent over an hour dislodging the vessel, and dragged it to land.

The boat had a prominent U.S. Air Force logo painted on the side. Sharon knew it must have come from the abandoned military base on the island. but it only had a few barnacles on it. If it had been in the lagoon since World War II, it would have been in much worse condition. Looking closer, the couple noticed four compartments on the boat's deck. Two of them held large aluminum containers. The other two were empty,

as if the remaining canisters had been stolen. Sharon and Roberts stared at the boat, perplexed. They had no idea they'd just stumbled on a, a clue, one that would reignite a cold case and help solve a murder. Welcome to Solved Murder's True Crime Mysteries,

a Spotify original from Parcast. I'm your host, Carter Roy. And I'm your host, Wendy McKenzie. Every Wednesday, we step into the world of true crime's most fascinating murder cases and tell the tale of how real-life detectives close the case.

You can find episodes of Solve Murders and all other Spotify original from Parcast for free exclusively on Spotify. This is our second episode on the Palmyra Island murders. Last week, the FBI investigated a disappearance in paradise, but couldn't find enough evidence to charge their suspects with murder. This week, new details wash ashore and finally bring the truth to light. We have all that and more coming up.

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celebrating its 40th anniversary. You win? Details at yamava.com must be 21-20. Please gamble responsibly. Monopoly is a trademark of Hasbro. Hasbro is not a sponsor of this promotion. After discovering an old U.S. Air Force ship sunk off the shore of Palmyra Atoll, Sharon and Robert Jordan tried to go on with their island vacation. They wanted to put the strange vessel out of their minds, but sinister stories about Palmyra nagged at them. Sharon and Robert had heard whispers about pirates who stopped by the island. Legend had it, they'd masquerade as friendly neighbors before looting local ships. The young couple was also well aware that drug runners could hide out across the ocean. It was possible that the boat and missing containers had something to do with pirates or gangs.

Or worse. Sharon and Robert also knew the story of Mack and Muff Graham. The wealthy sailing couple had disappeared from Palmyra seven years earlier. Maybe the sunken vessel had something to do with them. But despite their concerns, Sharon and Robert didn't contact authorities. They put their suspicions on the back burner until they made a far more gruesome discovery. On January 25th, Sharon walked along the beach.

She scoured the sand for nice shells to add to her collection. Something glinted in the sunlight a few yards ahead. She followed the glimmer, but what she found wasn't a shell. Instead, she saw a human skull. One gold tooth glittered in the afternoon sun. Near the skull, she found an aluminum case open and on its side. It looked just like the ones she'd seen on the U.S. Air Force boat a few weeks earlier, and spilling out of it was a collection of human bones.

Sharon's mind went right back to Mac and Muff Graham. Plenty of people speculated that they'd been killed by another couple on Palmyra. Sharon's stomach twisted. She might have just stumbled on the remains of a crime scene. The tide started rolling in. Sharon gathered the skull, the case, and as many bones as she could, then race back to her sailboat. She and Robert radioed the Coast Guard and told them what they'd found.

Coast Guard officers looped in the FBI. 48-year-old special agent Calvin Shishito got the call. memories of 43-year-old Mac and 41-year-old Muff Graham rushed back to him. Seven years earlier, he'd investigated their disappearances, and perhaps in his mind failed to deliver justice. Other sailors swore that a younger couple, Buck Walker and his girlfriend, who we'll call Michelle Jones, had murdered Mack and Muff. But Buck and Michelle maintained their innocence.

They claimed the Grams had drowned in a tragic fishing accident. Without any physical evidence to the contrary, Shishito couldn't disprove their story. All he could do was charge Buck and Michelle with stealing the Graham's sailboat, the sea wind. But the bones presented a new opportunity. Maybe the truth had finally washed ashore on Palmyra Island. An Agent Shishito could give the grams the justice they deserved. On February 4, 1981, Agent Shishito led a team of FBI agents two people, Halmyra to examine the new evidence. They analyzed the bones, the aluminum cases, and the sunken boat.

Agents discovered a wristwatch still attached to one of the bones. They also found a thin wire wrapped around the aluminum casing, which had presumably been used to hold the container shut. But after that, things wound down. Agents spent days combing the land, but the island didn't seem to hold any more secrets. If Agent Shishito hoped to reopen Mac and Muff's case, he needed more evidence. He sent divers underwater to continue the search. How much longer do they need us out here? Until we find something worth bringing back.

But we're not finding anything, period. We've searched every inch of the shoreline. Gone over that area where the Jordans found the boat with a fine-tooth comb. It doesn't make any sense. Why would one body wash ash ashore and not the other? And why is that last case still missing? Clues are still out there, and I think we should keep going. Maybe at least one more pass around the lagoon.

Fine, one more pass, but then I'm done. The divers scoured the seafloor, but their efforts were fruitless. After six days, with no further evidence, Agent Shishito and his men returned to Honolulu, Hawaii. There, they found themselves at the center of a media frenzy. We're here at Honolulu Airport tonight, as local FBI agents returned from Palmyra Island in the South Pacific. There's speculation that a number of bones discovered on the beach there belonged to either Mac or Muff Graham, who disappeared from the island seven years ago.

Agent Shishito, do you have any comment on the bones found in the aluminum case? Are you ready to refute Buck Walker and Michelle Jones' claims of innocence? Tensions run high here as a case presumed settled in 1975 is now called into question. It's unclear if the human remains are connected to this disappearance. Sources say forensic examination is required before the FBI can make a definitive statement. Agent Shishito needed proof before he could jump into a murder investigation. So he sent the aluminum case, the wristwatch, and the partial skeleton to an FBI office. Lab technicians got to work.

Right away, they saw that the outside of the metal container was charred, as if someone had tried to burn it. On the inside of the case, they found microscopic fibers, likely the last remaining threads of clothing. They also detected trace amounts of human protein stuck to the inner edges of the container. Buck Walker and Michelle Jones claimed the grams had drowned, but the evidence pointed to something much more sinister. The fibers and protein suggested that the body had been deliberately hidden inside the container. The charring made it seem likely that someone had tried to burn the evidence. Technicians then turned to the bones themselves. They noted more signs of charing on the skull,

with burn marks heaviest around the left eye socket and cheekbone. It appeared that the culprits hadn't just tried to burn the case that attempted to incinerate the bones, too. As if that wasn't enough, analysts soon found the most incriminating evidence yet a hole in the skull's temple. It appeared that the hole had been caused by a bullet, but authorities couldn't be certain. The skull had been underwater for seven years, and parts of it had deteriorated. It was possible, although unlikely, that the hole was a result of erosion. Agents would need a specialist to confirm that it came from a gunshot.

In the meantime, a forensic odontologist was brought in to examine the skull's teeth. Though they had a strong hunch, the FBI still wasn't sure if the bones belonged to Mac or Muff Graham. By cross-referencing the skull with available dental records, the odontologist hoped to figure out whose body had washed up on Palmyra's shore. Let the record state that I have examined the permanent dentician present in the skull provided to me by evidence. I've also examined the dental records, both written charts and original x-rays. All dental records for both Mac and Muff Graham have been copied and will be on file. I will now begin the process of cross-checking each dental quadrant with the provided documents.

Note that the maxillary quadrants are in excellent condition, preserved very well in the skull. Upon initial visual inspection of the skull, I would estimate the specimen to be female, Caucasian, probably, late 40s to early 50s. There are fillings in the molars in quadrant 1, checks out with the provided x-rays assigned to Eleanor Muff Graham. The skull contains a gold-capped premolar in quadrant 2, which matches precisely with the records for Muff Graham. A small chip in quadrant 3 again corresponds to Muff.

I believe I have enough evidence to reach a firm conclusion. After intense scrutiny, the forensic odontologist knew that the remains belonged to Muff Graham. That meant that Muff hadn't simply drowned. She, and in all likelihood her husband, had been victims of cruel and violent deaths. And two culprits immediately came to mind. After seven years of waiting, Agent Shishito could finally charge Buck Walker and Michelle Jones with murder. Coming up, the FBI presses charges, but one suspect isn't ready to cooperate. I'm Sarah Turney, host of Disappearances, a Spotify original from Parcast.

In 2020, I used social media to help bring justice to my sister Alyssa's nearly two decades-long disappearance. Now, I'm exploring the many reasons people disappear and finding that the truth may be even harder to locate than the person. Who forced a famed explorer to lose his way? What did a missing Hollywood starlet leave behind? And how could the heiress to a Chicago candy fortune just vanish? Every Thursday on Disappearances, join me for a deeper look into history's most gripping missing persons cases. Tracking timelines, analyzing clues, and piecing together as many answers as possible to find the actual truth. Follow the Spotify original from Parkast Disappearances.

Listen free only on Spotify. Now back to the story. On January 25, 1981, 28-year-old Sharon Jordan found human bones washed up on Palmyra Island. Using dental records, a forensic odontologist, determined that the remains belonged to 41-year-old Muff Graham. She and her husband, 43-year-old Mac, had gone missing from Palmyra Island seven years earlier.

Buck Walker and Michelle Jones were suspected in the couple's disappearance, but they had maintained their innocence. They claimed the grams had drowned. However, when the FBI proved Muff's bones had been burned and hidden inside an aluminum case, that story disintegrated. FBI Special Agent Calvin Shishito was convinced that Buck and Michelle were guilty of murder. He sought an indictment from a federal grand jury. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury,

you are tasked with determining whether there is probable cause to believe that the defendants murdered Eleanor Muff Graham. What is your decision? Your Honor, we the jury find that in September of 1974 Buck Walker and Michelle Jones carried out the murder of Eleanor Muff Graham during an attempt to perpetrate a robbery. There was probable cause to indict the defendants of murder in the first degree, murder in the first degree, and that they should be brought to trial.

Understood. Warrants for the arrest of both Mr. Walker and Ms. Jones should be issued immediately. The bail for Ms. Jones is set at $100,000. Mr. Walker, still serving time for his earlier conviction involving this case, will not be granted bail. Court is adjourned. Federal agents contacted Michelle, then 34 years old, about her indictment and requested she returned to Hawaii for trial.

The call made her stomach drop. She had long put Palmyra and the Grams behind her. Michelle and Buck's relationship had ended, as soon as they were convicted for stealing the Graham's yacht. She served her prison sentence in Southern California. She kept her head down, and in less than a year, she was released on parole. She got an administrative job and built a life for herself in California.

Things had been looking up, but it appeared she couldn't put her power. behind her. Michelle knew it was best to cooperate with authorities. On March 5, 1981, she turned herself in to the U.S. Marshal Service in Los Angeles. She promised to fly to Honolulu on April 2nd to enter her plea in court. Federal agents still needed to serve 43-year-old Buck Walker with his newest indictment. He was incarcerated at McNeil Island Federal Penitentiary in Washington State.

Agent Shishito reached out to the FBI office in Seattle and learned some shocking news. Buck Walker had escaped from McNeil Island Federal Penitentiary in 1979. No one had been able to find him since, and a missing convict wasn't under Agent Shishito's jurisdiction. Instead, a U.S. Marshal named Dick Kringle was assigned to pursue the fugitive. Kringle knew Buck's escape must have been planned meticulously.

The penitentiary was located on McNeil Island, a small piece of land in the middle of Puget Sound. It was two miles from the mainland and surrounded by water on all sides. It seemed impossible for an inmate to escape by swimming. In order to get out, Buck would have probably needed an accomplice. Kringle immediately thought of Michelle. He dug through the copies of letters Buck had sent while at McNeil. A year and a half before his release, he mailed Michelle 24 pages of love poems. But Michelle never responded, and she denied talking to Buck while he was in prison.

Kringle needed to look elsewhere. Luckily, he didn't have to go far. The prison's visitor log showed Buck had received visits from a local woman, presumably his newest girlfriend. Her last visit to the prison was just one day before Buck's escape. and the day after he vanished, she also disappeared. Kringle tracked Buck's new girlfriend to an address in Lake Tahoe, California, but someone else was already living there.

They gave Kringle a forwarding address in Las Vegas, which turned out to be just a PO box. Through the Las Vegas mailing center, Kringle learned that Bach was having his mail forwarded to yet another address in Yuma, Arizona. In Yuma, Kringle started his search at the local local. sheriff's station. He was surprised to find a federal narcotics task force, the DEA, using the office for an investigation. A 34-year-old DEA agent named Art Cash looked at a picture of Buck Walker. Oh yeah, you better believe I know him. Operation he's a part of is

the whole reason we're out here. Hey, agent, quit typing that report and come here. Tell me if you recognize this mugshot. That's Sean O'Dougall, right? The one-running heroin for Terry Conner's crew? Yep, except get this. His name's not O'Dougal. It's Buck Walker. Turns out he's wanted on a murder charge.

Murder? Well, I wouldn't put it past him. Anyone running with Connor is pretty bad news. We've got a known address for Sean, or Buck, I guess. And his girlfriend right here in Yuma. He drives a brown old mobile. We've got the plates. My partner and I can take you to visit your old pal.

Kringle and Cash drove past Buck's address multiple times a day, but there was no sign of him or the Brown Oldsmobile. Kringle probably worried that Buck had caught wind, that authorities were coming after him and made a break for it. That meant the investigator would be back at Square One. His boss ordered him to go back home to Seattle and look for new leads. As the investigation into boxwareabouts stalled, Michelle crafted her defense.

She and her lawyer, Leonard Weinglass, wanted to sway the impending case in her favor. To that end, Weinglass asked a judge to relocate the trial from Hawaii to California. Given the news coverage of the Graham's disappearances, he believed it would be impossible to get an unbiased jury on the island. An earlier lawyer also had,

said Michelle undergo a lie detector test. She claimed she had no involvement in Muff Graham's murder, and the polygraph said she was telling the truth. Wineglass petitioned for these results to be used as evidence of her innocence. But the judge ruled against Michelle on both counts. The case would stay in Hawaii, and her favorable lie detector results would not be permitted in court. It was disappointing, but Michelle still hoped she'd catch a break.

She probably wanted Buck to stay missing. That way, she wouldn't have to go to trial alongside him. Buck looked and acted like a hardened criminal. Without him beside her, Michelle thought she'd cut a far more innocent figure. But after midnight on August 12, 1981, Michelle suffered yet another blow. HQ, we got eyes on Buck Walker's old mobile outside the torchlight motel in Yuma. I'm here with my fellow agent. We'll keep eyes out for Walker and move in as soon as

possible. You think it'll be as easy as that? We've been waiting long enough. Now's our shot. Look, someone's coming out of that room. It's Terry Connor. And someone's with him. It's Walker. I know it. Both are getting into the Oldsmobile. Walker just pulled a bag from under the seat. Handed it to Connor. Connor just handed him an envelope. That's enough. We got him. Let's go. Yay! Hands in the air! Hey, man. Easy. What we even do? Buck, Dwayne Walker, you're under arrest. No any Buck Walker. My name's Frank Wolf. Buck was a master of throwing out pseudonyms, but he wasn't fooling officers this time. The DEA found thousands of dollars in cash inside his car, along with barbiturates. Buck faced yet another drug charge. But that was the

least of his troubles at the moment. After being on the run for two years, he was finally back in custody on suspicion of murder. He and Michelle would go to trial as co-defendant. with their uncertain futures intertwined. Up next, Buck Walker and Michelle Jones finally face the music. And now, back to our story. The early hours of August 12, 1981, DEA agents arrested Buck Walker in Yuma, Arizona. The 43-year-old drug runner had escaped from prison two years earlier, but was now in custody on suspicion of murder.

He and his ex-girlfriend, 34-year-old Michelle Jones, were to be tried in Hawaii. The pair, once intimate partners, hadn't seen each other in years. They'd grown apart as Michelle worked to build a better life, and Buck continued down his criminal path. Both Buck and Michelle pleaded not guilty to the murder of 41-year-old Muff Graham. His remains had been found on Palmyra Island earlier that year. The judge ruled that they would be tried. together and set their court date.

Lawyers on both sides got to work. U.S. attorneys, Elliot Inoki and Walter Schroeder, were assigned to prosecute the case. Buck Walker assembled a pair of public defenders for his team. But Michelle and her family had money, and that meant better representation. Michelle's current attorney was Leonard Weinglass, one of the nation's most famous and progressive criminal defense lawyers,

in an effort to round out her team, team, Michelle's family also hired Vincent Bouliosi. He'd worked on a number of high-profile cases and had a very good reputation. Michelle's team prepared for trial. They eventually negotiated two points that worked in her favor. Your Honor, my client can't be expected to share the stand with Buck Walker. The two haven't been in touch in seven years. He's a fugitive with a criminal record a mile long. She's a young woman who made a bad choice in boyfriends. We can't continue to punish her for a connection to a man she barely knows anymore. So, what are you proposing?

Separate trials. It's unfair to tie these two together as co-defendants. My client will only receive a fair trial if she can be judged alone. I'm inclined to agree. Let the record show that the court recognizes the autonomy of both Buck Walker and Michelle Jones. They will each face trial separately. Thank you, Your Honor. I believe my partner, Mr. Wineglass, also has a request? I do. Your Honor, a recent survey carried out by our defense team

shows that 91% of registered voters in Hawaii have read about this case in the newspapers. And of those readers, 95.8% already believe Buck Walker and my client, Michelle Jones, to be guilty. Those are some foreboding figures. Yes, they are. Those numbers unequivocally show that my client will be unable to receive a fair trial in Hawaii. It's impossible to build an unbiased jury from a pool of people who've already sentenced Michelle Jones to life in prison in their own heads.

Wineglass and Bouliosi kept campaigning on Michelle's behalf. Eventually, they convinced a judge to move the trial to another city. San Francisco was agreed on as the new location. With these two wins, the nature of the trials changed. Both prosecutors and defenders needed to reconsider their arguments. Prosecutor Elliot Inoki still intended to nab both Buck and Michelle for murder. He mapped out their motive. In 1974, they were nearly out of food and had no way to survive on Palmyra Island.

Their tiny sailboat wouldn't have. survived the trip back to Hawaii, they were a thousand miles from civilization surrounded by shark-infested waters. The only other boat on the island, the only way off of Palmyra, belonged to Mac and Muff Graham. Buck and Michelle were trapped, staring down the barrel of their own mortality. With no witnesses on the island, they had the opportunity to carry out the murder and take off in the sea wind. The motive was clear, so all Inoki needed was airtight proof that Muff had been murdered. One of his first points of contact was San Francisco's chief medical examiner, Dr. Boyd Stevens. Dr. Stevens worked alongside the FBI and Agent Shishito to further examine Muff Graham's remains.

The medical examiner knew that if Muff had simply drowned, her body would have sunk into the seafloor and become food for animals and insects. sex. But there were no bite marks on Muff's remains. She couldn't have been floating freely in the ocean. Plus, the left side of Muff's skull had been worn flat. According to Dr. Stevens, this meant the bone had probably been resting against the bottom of the aluminum case, rubbing against it with each wave. If she'd been buried in soft sand, the skull would still be rounded. Dr. Stevens also determined that the hole in Muff's skull was consistent. with damage caused by a bullet. And the charing found on her bones

came from extreme heat, perhaps an acetylene torch. Agent Shishito knew that Buck Walker had that exact kind of torch with him on Palmyra Island. The evidence looked conclusive, but Agent Shishito wanted more. Buck and Michelle claimed

they'd found Mack and Muff's dingy floating upside down in a lagoon at Palmyra, as if they drowned while fishing. But that same dinghy, was on the sea wind when Buck and Michelle returned to Hawaii in 1974. Seven years later, FBI agents examined it up close. Interesting. The motor didn't have any trouble starting up.

If those two found it upside down, it would have been totally flooded. The salt water would have mucked things up too. No idea how the grams would have been able to flip it. That Palmyra lagoon's always calm. You sit over there. I'll sit over here. Let's try to rock it. That's harder than it looks.

Maybe we should grab another agent, see if the extra weight helps. There were only two of them in the boat, and the woman was pretty small. I'll tell you this. I don't believe for one minute that the grams flipped in this boat and drowned. No matter how hard the men tried, they couldn't flip the boat. The idea that Mack and Muff had capsized was absurd. With that, prosecutors were confident they could convict their suspects. Buck Walker's trial began in May 1985.

There was a mountain of evidence against him. In addition to everything Agent Shishito and Dr. Stevens had gathered, 52 witnesses lined up to testify. It didn't take long for jurors to decide on Buck's fate. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, you have only discussed the case for two hours and 23 minutes. Are you entirely sure you have reached a verdict? Yes, Your Honor.

Very well. How does the jury find the defendant? Your Honor, we the jury find Buck Walker guilty on the count of first-degree murder. After decades of thieving, drug-dealing, and murder, 47-year-old Buck Walker could no longer run from the law. A judge sentenced him to life in prison. But the prosecution's work wasn't done. they still hope to convict Michelle Jones.

Her trial began in 1986. The prosecution pointed out that Michelle had lied to authorities when she was first interrogated in 1974. But she claimed she only dodged the truth to protect Buck, who was running from drug charges. She swore she never hurt anyone and didn't know Mac and Muff had been killed until it was too late. Michelle's lawyers characterized her as an interesting,

innocent woman who got mixed up with a bad boyfriend. They claimed Buck committed the murders alone right under her nose. In the end, the jury believed Michelle's story. She was acquitted and walked free. Because Mack and Muff's murders took place in such an isolated location, it's impossible to know exactly what happened. However, we can use the information uncovered by the FBI and the testimony given it Buck and Michelle.

trials to paint a picture of how the murders on Palmyra Island likely took place. Sometime between August 28th and September 4th, 1974, Buck Walker stood in his rickety sailboat, which was anchored just off Palmyra's shore. He and Michelle had been sharing the cramped corridors for months, and tensions ran high. They'd eaten nearly all their food and used up their supplies. The seeds they'd planned to use for a guard, garden had been eaten by hermit crabs. They argued constantly, their angry voices cutting through the peaceful atmosphere on the atoll. Conflict also flared up between Buck and the Grams. Mac hated

Buck's attempts to gather food by cutting down coconut trees and shooting at fish with his revolver, and Buck envied the Graham's luxurious yacht. Buck knew he and Michelle only had one chance at leaving Palmyra Island. Their run-down boat, the Iola, would never get them home. They needed to catch a ride aboard the sea wind, but the Grams would never willingly offer such a favor, and they weren't sure their friends or anyone else would reach the island soon enough to help them.

It was a life or death situation, and the way Buck sought, there was only one way out. One afternoon, Buck told Michelle, he had things to do, and she didn't pry. According to her testimony, she was readying the Iola to sail to another island for more supplies. She stayed aboard their boat as he slinked away. With a revolver tucked into the back of his pants, but cut through the jungle towards the World War II military base on the interior of the island. He found a yellow Air Force boat with four large aluminum cases strapped into the flooring. He dragged the containers to the sea.

sea wind and slowly crept aboard. Mac and Muff looked up surprised at the unexpected visit. Before they could speak, Buck shot each of them in the head. Mac and Muff died instantly. Apparently unfazed by the brutality of his actions, Buck set to work hiding his neighbor's bodies. He shoved their remains into the aluminum cases. Then he lit up his acetylene torch and tried to burn them. While the torch burned hot, there was too much moisture for the flame to take hold. So Buck simply sealed the containers with wire and considered his work done. He lugged the cases onto the U.S. Air Force boat and paddled far out into the lagoon. When he felt like he'd gone far enough offshore, he dumped the containers overboard.

The Graham's remains rested on the seafloor. where the evidence apparently hidden, Bach sank the Air Force boat. He returned to the Iola. According to Michelle, they searched for the couple for a few days before she finally decided Mack and Muff must have died in a fishing accident. Buck didn't want her to believe otherwise, so he just let her think the Grams drowned. At that point, Buck convinced Michelle to board the sea wind

and sail away from Palmyra Island. To Bach, it seems, like the perfect crime. He had no idea that the evidence he'd hidden at the bottom of the ocean would wash ashore, finally bringing the truth, or at least part of it, to light. While some seblance of justice had been carried out for muff, Mack's remains have never been found. Buck wouldn't help authorities track down the remaining aluminum container because he wouldn't admit that he killed the grams. Even after his conviction, he maintained. his innocence. After serving just 22 years of his life sentence, 69-year-old Buck was paroled in 2007.

Upon his release, he wrote an 895-page book arguing that he didn't murder Mac and Muff. It was a last-ditch attempt to repair his legacy, and it didn't work. Very few people, if any, believed him. Buck died in 2010 at the age of 72. A few months after suffering a stroke. He took his secrets to the grave, never telling anyone where to find Mack's body. Without physical evidence, authorities can only presume Matt Graham was murdered alongside his wife.

In all likelihood, his remains are trapped in the aluminum case that Buck Walker transformed into his coffin, stuck underwater near Palmyra Island. Thanks again for tuning into solved murders. We'll be back next Wednesday with the new episode. For more information on the Palmyra Island murders, amongst the many sources we used,

we found In The Sea Will Tell by Vincent Bulliosi with Brucey Henderson, extremely helpful to our research. You can find all episodes of Solved Murders and all other Spotify originals from Parcast for free on Spotify. We'll see you next time. If we live till next time. Solve Murders, True Crime Mysteries is a Spotify original from Parcast. It is executive produced by Max Cutler.

Sound design by Michael Langsner with production assistance by Ron Shapiro, Trent Williamson, Carly, Madden, and Freddie Beckley. This episode of Solve Murders is written by Kayla Westergard-Dobson, with writing assistance by Sarah Batchelor, Karis Allen, and Giles Hofsef. fact-checking by Claire Cronin and research by Mickey Taylor. The amazing cast of voice actors includes Brian Kim McCormick, Drew Lawn, Ellie Schiff, Leith Walshleger, and Jen Wong.

Solve Murder stars Wendy McKenzie and Carter Roy.