The Binge Crimes: Night Shift - Friendly Fire | 2. "An Incident Occurred"

Episode Date: June 13, 2022

Lori has two days to plan a funeral for John John. The town anxiously awaits a press conference that will explain how Marty ended up shooting his own partner. But the event leaves Lori with more questions than answers. A Campside Media & Sony Music Entertainment production. Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

So, how do you make meth? I'm curious. I mean, literally, what's the recipe? Well, you take a little battery acid, a little, what's that acid you clean concrete with? A muratic, a red devil lye, a pseudo 60s. Whip it all up in a certain ingredient gradient and certain amount and cook it off. It's all poison. There are a lot of drugs in Scott County?

Yeah, I mean, it's more or less went from go fast, which is what I call meth, it's went from that to opioids or something like that. Go fast. That's what I call meth because you own the meth. Did you like it? Oh, I loved it. When did Go Fast show up in Scott County? Right about the time I started making it.

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In the hours and days after the shooting, John John's death is all over the news. There are three suspects in custody tonight as a result of the drug raid. Each faces multiple charges of manufacturing meth. No one has been charged for the death of Deputy Yancey. The four people who had been at the mobile home that night had all been arrested. Three of them ran into the woods after the shooting. Mark Rector and Penny Carpenter, who had been cooking meth in the back bedroom, had managed to step over John John's body and run out the back door. They were half-dressed but hid out in the snowy

woods all night. Again, this is not the same Mark all those cops were searching for. That manhunt was for a completely different, and completely innocent, guy named Mark. Ryan Clark, who had been in the backyard when John John and Marty arrived, said he laid down in a creek most of the night. All three of them, half frozen, were arrested the next day. The fourth person, Nikki Porter, she stayed with John John while he died. She was already in custody that night. Eventually, they'll plead out to lesser charges, but initially they're all facing three counts each of

manufacturing methamphetamine. And that's what the news is focused on, because that's all the information they're getting. Deputies found evidence of two small labs on the property, though lab makes them sound much fancier than they are. Among the items seized, charcoal and paint thinner, camp fuel and grill cleaner, empty bottles of acetone, a pill crusher and toilet bowl cleaner, a gallon of bleach, a bottle cap full of phosphorus, and 25 boxes of matches. There was one lab in the bedroom and another in a shed out back. But none of the four people have been charged with shooting John John, or with anything violent. In fact, the police aren't accusing anyone of shooting John John.

The affidavit for the search warrant is written in this bizarrely passive voice that raises more questions than it answers. Here's a lawyer for one of the four arrested talking to a reporter. He says the affidavit states that once the officers entered the home, an incident occurred which caused the officer to be shot and killed. And that's kind of unusual wording. An incident occurred. Reporters have been hearing from unnamed sources that Marty fired the shot that killed his partner. They're asking the district attorney general if that's true. General Phillips would neither confirm nor deny the new Sentinel story, saying again he'll release information Wednesday at a news conference. He says he wants to focus on the community and it's grieving. It's not surprising that news coverage is pretty tightly focused on the meth

angle. If not for this meth lab, the story seems to go. If not for this scourge in the community, a good and decent deputy would still be alive. After the segments on the shooting, the TV stations could segue cleanly into drug stats and what counties are trying to do to clean up the mess. The tension sort of shifted from who did this one discreet thing to a general, drugs are bad. But there's a reason for that, other than news stations not knowing the full story. Drugs were a massive problem, and still are. It's mostly opiates now.

In 2016, just to pick a year, there were more than 37,000 opioid prescriptions, OxyContin, Vicodin, Percocet, things like that, written in Scott County. That's a prescription and a half for every person in the county, including all the kids. And those are just the prescriptions. It doesn't count the heroin and the fentanyl that inevitably follow an opioid addiction. Before opioids, it was meth. I mean, every person we talked to had a story. Meth hit, and it was like a tsunami. I think we may have gotten one of the biggest methamphetamine raids in East Tennessee.

You have young teenagers walk up to you and tell you exactly how to cook a batch of meth and never miss a beat. Even Lori Yancey, John John's widow, she saw it every day at the hospital where she worked. Lori still lives in Scott County, in the same house she and John John lived in. Hi, Lori. Dogs are going to attack. Really harmless, but... She's got two big dogs with the run of the neighborhood, an old German shepherd named Maisie and a big golden retriever.

His name is Milo. They love company. Oh, yeah, they are definitely up, especially this one. Still a pup. Getting ready to leave at work. Her house is on a short street with big trees just off the main road that runs north and south through the county. Her face used to be on a billboard on that road. She's a nurse practitioner now, which means she can see her own patients. But in 2003, she was a registered nurse in the emergency room at the hospital in Oneida. That's the biggest city in the county, population 3,752.

She was employee of the year once, and that's how she ended up on the billboard. Did people recognize you, like, in the stores? Oh, yes, yeah, which a lot of people, you know, recognize me from the sign, and then I've taken care of a lot of people that's come to the ER over the years. You see a lot of drug cases in the ER? Yes. We live so close to the Kentucky state line. We see it from both the Kentucky state line and here in the county. Lots of drug overdoses. I mean, that was special. And I started working ER as a younger person. I had no clue how bad drugs were in this county. And every day we would see three or four overdoses that come into the ER. We see, you know, pretty much all of it.

That was one of the reasons John John wanted to be a cop in the first place. While Lori was treating overdoses, he wanted to chase down people who were making and selling drugs. John John and Laurie both grew up in Scott County. Laurie's childhood home is a few miles down the road, not far from the church where John John is buried, which is also where they got married. She went to college at Lincoln Memorial University, about an hour and a half to the east, but otherwise she's never lived anywhere else. Never saw a reason to. As a former Scott County sheriff told me,

there's no shopping mall or red lobster in town, but it's a great place to raise your kids. It's a small town. Most people in this community, pretty much the majority of everyone knows everybody. And a lot of family remains here. They stay, you know, close-knit with the family atmosphere. My mom and dad was here, my brothers, sisters.

Lori met John John her freshman year of high school. He was a sophomore. Pretty much just right at the beginning of the school year. I just saw him in the cafeteria, just talked to him a little bit then, and then later on, he actually stopped by my house and just asked if he could call me. I can't remember not ever talking to him from that point on. He was funny.

He just had this beautiful smile. He had a dimple. I mean, he's so friendly. He's easy. He's talkative. There's just something about him that you just instantly like, instantly. As a kid growing up in Chicago, there was one horror movie I was too scared to watch. It was called Candyman.

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winemaking map? They recently sent me some of their wines, including their Cabernet Sauvignon and their flagship wine, Isosles. I cannot wait to enjoy these with friends and family, especially with the holidays coming up. Speaking of, Justin Wine makes great gifts for friends, family, or colleagues. They have curated gift sets and even custom etched bottles, which you could add a message or logo to. It's very fancy. Shop all of Justin's exceptional wines at justinwine.com and be sure to use promo code JESSE20 to receive 20% off your order today. That's JESSE20 for 20% off. After high school, Lori got her nursing degree. John John went with her, but he wasn't much of a college man. He dropped out, but not before he married Lori in June 1990. There's this photo from their wedding day. Lori's wearing silk gloves and a dress with a long ruffled train.

John John's got on a gray tux with tails. He has a thin mustache and his hair is combed into a subtle mullet, the kind that was actually in style at the time. And they look really young, almost like they're dressed up for prom, not their own wedding. John John wanted to go into law enforcement. The only college classes he liked were the criminal justice courses. But there's not a lot of those jobs in Scott County. So John John did what he could for a few years. Washed coal, rode shotgun in a Wells Fargo truck, that sort of thing. Five years after they got married, when Lori was pregnant with their first son, John John asked the sheriff if he could volunteer as a deputy.

Here's the thing about county sheriffs. They can deputize pretty much anyone. They can give an untrained guy like John John, or hell, an out-of-state interloper like me, a gun and a badge and the power to arrest people and then send them out on patrol. That doesn't mean they have to pay them. A lot of people will take that job, that authority, for free.

It's been that way since the start of the country, local sheriffs deputizing a posse to help them chase after the bad guys. In the modern world it's arguably not the best idea, but it wasn't uncommon in Scott County. John John wanted the gig because it was an inside line on a real job, a paying job with the sheriff's department. So he started doing that like on Friday nights, Saturday nights. He would just volunteer his time. He had a uniform, you know, he carried a gun and all that. But, you know, there was no pay.

So he just volunteered pretty much every weekend. I mean, he looked forward to going to work. I think he realized that was his calling. That's what he wanted to do. And he was very happy, even though, you know, he wasn't getting paid for it. I mean, he really, really liked it. John John, I think, really just wanted to make a difference. Law enforcement is not nearly as exciting as it looks on TV. Sure, there can be drug raids and manhunts and big investigations, but there's also a lot of noise complaints and

domestic disputes and traffic accidents, and there's a lot of waiting for something to happen. It can be pretty boring, but John John knew he had to pay his dues, earn some experience. He worked for free for two years before he was officially hired. And it happened when he really needed a job, because Lori had just given birth to their second child. Blake was like a week old, so he went to the police academy. So that was eight weeks of police training. After a couple of years and the birth of their third son, John John trained to become a canine officer, and they added a dog to the family, Casey, a Malinois, who went to work with him. About a year before he died, John John was paired with a new partner, Marty Carson, the sheriff's son. That wasn't unusual.

Sheriff Jim Carson had a lot of his family working for him. Brother, cousin, kids. But Marty had some seasoning. He'd been on the job for eight years at that point. Marty had been with the sheriff's department since Jim had been in office. And there were several other family members that were also deputies at the time. John John is really more of the outsider. He's not related to these people.

It was mostly a family-run business, and that was the majority. It was family. Lori, John John, and Marty all grew up around the same time in the county. Marty even helped John John build the deck on the back of their house at one point. So they all saw each other around, but Lori says their interactions were limited. But now, as the county's drug officer, Marty was working regular shifts with her husband, the Canaan officer, trying to tamp down the drug problem. That's what they were doing the night of the shooting, chasing down a lead from an informant, taking out a meth lab. And John John couldn't have been happier. He was doing what he thought the good Lord put him on the earth to do. Now though, the day after Thanksgiving 2003, he's dead.

Shot. Not by a meth cook or a meth dealer, but because he was doing his job in a dangerous place and a gun went off. Lori had two days to plan his funeral. So a lot of arrangements, just a lot of busyness, you know, getting things ready for that, getting the boys ready, myself. So I don't remember a lot just, you know, preparing for that. So like the visitation was on that Monday night. And then on Tuesday was the actual funeral. When a law enforcement officer is killed in the line of duty, the funeral usually becomes a public event. Crowds turn out. Officers come from all over because it's one of their own. And civilians come because the death of a police officer represents a break in that perceived line between order and chaos. From Lori's perspective, people came because John John was good at his job,

and people liked him. I think he just, you know, treated everyone with respect. Even though, you know, they're out doing these things that's, you know, against the law and everything, but he still treated them with respect, even though, you know, they're out doing these things that's, you know, against the law and everything, but he still treated them with respect. I mean, he was down to earth. I mean, he would talk to them. If there was something he could do to help them, he would. He's just that type of person. And even these people that he had arrested, I mean, they liked him too. I mean, I've heard so many stories even after, you know, John John passed away. It's like, he arrested me, but he's the nicest guy I've ever met.

Here's Nikki Porter, one of the people who was arrested the night of the shooting. Yeah, I had a lot of respect for John John. He was a good cop. And he was always the type of guy that if you told John John the truth, you were good. If you lied to him, you were going to jail, you know. And if you told him the truth, he'd help you. And Roger Bowling, who used to sell meth. He wouldn't, he'd never take a bribe from nobody.

He was straight up a police officer. John John was still very much the law. He was just maybe decent about it, and it bought him a lot of respect, even from the people he was taking to jail. I like John John, don't get me wrong, but I wouldn't trust John John because of the position he's in,

the position I was in. I thought the world of John John. Lonnie Gunter, the guy who told us his meth recipe a few minutes ago. He says he'd see John John around town in theter, the guy who told us his meth recipe a few minutes ago. He says he'd see John John around town and the Walmart and the country store. I'd run into him when they had the blues going and was trying to chase me down or was chasing me down. He remembers his one time John John busted him for cooking meth. John John looks at me. He said, you know, they sent us to

school for that, to make that. I said, oh, really? He said, you know they sent us to school for that? To make that? I said, oh really? He said, you was one step away from making some good stuff. I said, really? What was that? And he said, you know Ronnie, I can't tell you that. That's the way me and John John were. So imagine then this small community where everyone, cops, crooks, everyone in between, is ready to turn out for this guy. It's a big deal. As we drove in the funeral march, just people everywhere on the sides of the road, their hands across their chest as we go by. And as we got closer to the cemetery, there was fire trucks that had made an arch that we drove under. It was just very touching.

I mean, you hate to say that you've been to a lot of funerals, but I've never, you know, seen so many people just show up to pay their respect to John John. I mean, from what I was told, like, you know, long, long lines outside their funeral home waiting for people to get in to see him. It takes more than 45 minutes for the line of officers to pay their respects. They come from all over, from Campbell County and Morgan County, Knoxville and the Highway Patrol, Kentucky. It was unbelievable. Have you heard from the sheriff yet? Never, never, never. From the time of the funeral until this day.

I wasn't able to get Jim Carson on the phone to confirm this. She says she hadn't heard from Marty either. But in that swirl of grief and confusion, that doesn't seem so strange anyway. I feel bad for him, thinking, you know, he's killed someone. And I let Marty be one of the pallbearers at that time. Marty's carrying the left side of the casket, third man back. He's wearing his khaki deputy uniform. And he keeps his eyes down on the way side of the casket, third man back. He's wearing his khaki deputy uniform, and he keeps his eyes down on the way out of the church. We'll see you next time. Two scientists. One movement disorders coordinator. 58 answered questions. Two focused ultrasound procedures.

One specially developed helmet. Thousands of high-intensity focused ultrasound waves. Zero incisions. And that very same day, two steady hands. From innovation to action, Sunnybrook is special. Learn more at sunnybrook.ca slash special. The day after the funeral is the press conference that District Attorney General William Paul Phillips is holding, the one that reporters have been waiting for.

It airs live on the local channels. Lori has been waiting for it, too. At the time, she still had no idea exactly how this happened. Just above the room where she's talking to me now is where her whole family gathered then. Upstairs in the living room, my family's here, my mom, I think my dad, several other family members are here too. We're just, you know, waiting for that to come on because we all want to know, you know, what he has to say and what's going on. Phillips, the DA, was the elected prosecutor for five rural counties, including Scott.

It's his press conference. Robbie Carson, the lead detective, is there. So is Jim Carson, the sheriff. Chiefs from two local police departments and a supervisor for the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, the TBI, they're there too. They represent all the law enforcement agencies working in Scott County. A united front. The DA starts it off. On Friday night after Thanksgiving,

four officers of the Scott County Sheriff's Department proceeded to a residence on Williams Creek Road here in Scott County. Phillips says they had information that there was a methamphetamine lab there and that a dangerous fugitive was there too. He goes on to explain what we already know. Four deputies were outside. Then Marty Carson went inside. Marty realized there was a person or people in a back bedroom with a closed door. He ordered them to come out. They did not comply. And this is where everything went wrong. It was later determined that a sickle blade with a long handle was sticking through a hole in the door of this back room and holding up part of the apparatus to allegedly cook methamphetamine.

A sickle is that staff that the Grim Reaper holds, a long pole with a curved blade at the top attached to a 90-degree angle. If the tip of that blade is stuck into a hole that's been poked into a door, it can work like a hanger that a meth cook can drape a hose over to keep everything trickling in the right direction. But then to open that door, that meth cook would have to take that apparatus apart. He'd have to pull the sickle blade out of the door. Carson heard a sound that he thought was a shotgun being racked. have to take that apparatus apart. He'd have to pull the sickle blade out of the door. Carson heard a sound that he thought was a shotgun being racked. Phillips says someone pulled that blade

out of the door and was holding it in the doorway, which Carson thought was a shotgun. Carson jumped into a small bathroom near this back bedroom. So Marty, the DA says, is now taking cover in a bathroom. He thinks he's the only officer in the trailer. But then John John comes inside, probably, Philip says, out of concern for Marty. Officer Carson then thought that someone had come out of the back bedroom and was armed and advancing on him, and he fired his weapon. Tragically, it was Sergeant Yancey who had come to assist him. From there, Phillips went on for a bit about the scourge of methamphetamine. We have lost a wonderful public servant, John John Yancey,

who was vigorously working to rid this county of the methamphetamine. We have never seen a worse drug in its impact on this community. Marty Carson is also a fine officer, a veteran of nine years in law enforcement who, like John John, put his life on the line many times in the war on illegal drugs in this county. He has lost his partner. He has lost his best friend. He is completely devastated by this tragedy. He needs the prayers of this community, which he loves. Phillips praises John John. He asked for prayers. His life was given to protect and to serve Scott County. And he says the state legislature needs to toughen up the meth laws. It's what John John would have wanted. We, all of us in this county, must turn this tragedy into a renewed and maximum effort to rid our county of these filthy drugs. The sheriff, Marty's dad, he speaks too.

He says Marty and John John were close as brothers You know, when something like this happens, it's like you've lost one of your family And it's the same way with me, just like I've lost one of my own family members He's worried about Marty, as any father would be I've just got to help him every way that I can, if he can get through it Maybe we'll give him some counseling Phillips will say later that he didn't mean to make any formal declarations about whether Marty did anything wrong that night, and that the case was still being investigated.

But once he started taking questions from reporters, he said, The TBI has conducted a thorough investigation, and there is no wrongdoing on the part of any of the officers who were there. So if there are any further charges, it will be against the one or more of the four defendants who are recharged. In the case of Deputy Carson, it'll be real, what, accidental? It was. It was.

From his perspective, it was accidental, yes. And that's what's reported. Accidental. He tells viewers that Lori was briefed by investigators before the press conference, that she already knew the circumstances of her husband's death. But Lori's troubled by what she's just heard on the TV.

She'd been told earlier that they were looking for a man named Mark New, but now he's got nothing to do with it? And there wasn't anyone with a shotgun? A shotgun that had Marty scared so bad he shot his partner? When I started watching that press conference and listening to that,

I just thought, this is just not adding up to me. And we thought, you know, there would be more detail that led up to the whole situation. But there's not. The press conference, the only official word on what happened, just ends. Lori's in the family room, watching. Her parents are there, some friends. They're all very quiet. No one knows what to say,

because none of it makes sense to them. They close this case within five days and say that there's no wrongdoing. I don't know how that could be a thorough investigation and say there's no wrongdoing on Marty Carson's part. That's when I really just felt like, yeah, there's more to this. Something just doesn't seem right.

Next time on Friendly Fire. Did the bedroom door ever open while the officers were in the house prior to the shooting? No. No, not at all. When the witnesses tell another story. He hollered at John John and said,

"'John, he's in here. "'Come in here.'" So John John came directly into the trailer. ¶¶ Witness is a production of Campside Media and Sony Music Entertainment. Friendly Fire was reported and hosted by me, Sean Flynn. Lindsay Kilbride is the senior producer, and Callie Hitchcock is the associate producer. The story editor is Daniel Riley. The series was sound designed by Shani Aviram, with mixing by Iwen Laitremuen. This episode was fact-checked by Alex Yablon.

The theme song is Booey by Shook Twins. Archival news clips you heard are from Nextar Media Group. A special thanks to our operations team, Amanda Brown, Doug Slaywin, Aaliyah Papes, and Allison Haney. Campside Media's executive producers are Josh Dean, Vanessa Grigoriadis, Adam Hoff, and Matt Scher. If you enjoyed Witnessed Friendly Fire, please rate and review the show wherever you get your podcasts. Thank you.