All language subtitles for Murder.In.The.Wicked.West.S01E06.1080p.WEBRip.x265-RARBG

Every community has secrets.

Pocahontas is no different.

But in Pocahontas,
there's been a lot of death
and murder,

more than a town its size
should have.

I feel like
Pocahontas has had a darkness
that's always gonna be here.

There is a dark undercurrent.

There's so many skeletons
in this town.

I was advised that...

...a man was dead.

A very cold
and calculated killing.

Two entry wounds to the head.

He was shot
once in the face
and once in the neck.

Point blank.

He appeared
that he was awoken
from his sleep,

and went to sit up,

and was immediately shot
and, and fell back.

It was shocking
the way that he died.

Execution style death.

It's just awful.

Somebody wanted
him dead.

The big question is why?

The Black River flows
right through the middle
of Pocahontas.

Northeast Arkansas,

hour and a half
to two hours northwest
of where the Mississippi is.

There's a lot of things
that people have tried
to keep hidden here.

In my personal opinion,

I think Pocahontas is cursed
by the Native American Indians
that were here.

I believe that has a lot
to do with the black cloud
over Pocahontas.

I'm a Native American myself,
and they were treated
very, very badly.

I believe that's the reason
why Pocahontas is, um, cursed.

Travis Perkins
was a big guy.

He was funny. He was witty.

He was always joking.

He would say the lights
would flicker whenever
I would walk in the room,

just kinda being shady
or something, you know?

Like, there was something
shady with me.

Just joking around
and stuff, though.

One time he was calling
and I answered the phone,

and he said,
"Darkness, is that you?"

And that name just
kinda hung like Darkness.

He'd always call me Darkness
then after that.

It was so funny.

Everybody liked him.

Travis was the kind of guy

you could call day or night
with any problem.

You know good and well
he'll answer the phone

and you know
he will come to help.

He was married
for a while.

Um, I don't know how long
or anything,

but I know that they had kids.

He didn't talk much about her
after they broke up.

I know that it was
a painful breakup for Travis.

It hurt him, you could tell
that that hurt him.

And not being able
to see the kids, I think,
is what hurt him the most.

And then all of a sudden,
he got in the drug game,

and I guess maybe she knew.

Life can be hard.

There's not always
an opportunity
to make a decent living

in a, in a small town.

It's very limited sometimes.

You know,
there's very easy money
to be made with drugs,

especially in these
communities, fast money.

I suspect
that Travis's divorce
started him going

further into the drugs.

And then Travis
started hanging out
with powerful people.

Any time that you're involved
in, uh, illegal activity
in the drug world,

you very quickly find yourself
surrounded by people

who you thought
were your friends,

and you realize
that they're not.

I had many conversations
with Travis.

He hated the life
that he was in.

But he didn't see a way out.

I was aware
of what was going on.

Like I said, small town.

They were all involved
in methamphetamine.

It was a big corrupt,
corrupt mess.

But there's a fear,
if I say anything,

if, if I tried to mention this
to anybody,

what's gonna happen to me?

These are the people
that are responsible
for my, my freedoms,

you know?

And there's a fear
of retaliation.

They were very
influential people
in positions of trust

or authority.

It was corruption.

There's nothing good
about corruption.

We received
information that a local
police chief's wife

was involved in distributing methamphetamine.

And she worked
in a law firm in Pocahontas.

The FBI started
to investigate,

and then the case
just kind of grew out of that.

Travis Perkins found himself
right in the middle
of what was going on.

He thought it through,

and he was going to cooperate,

tell the truth, and testify,

and move on with his life.

I received a phone call
that Travis Perkins
had been found dead.

Travis is laying there,
uh, on the bed.

His body was positioned
in such a way,

it appeared as though
he was trying to stand up...

...and greet someone.

There were two
spent shell casings

lying on the floor
of the apartment...

...and two entry wounds
to the head.

A very cold
and calculated killing.

Travis Perkins
had been murdered.

What we have is the outside
of Travis Perkins' house,

and he lived
in a commercial building...

...that was in
downtown Pocahontas.

His door showed no signs
of forced entry.

It was an abrupt killing.

It was done at very,
very close range.

There was no question

that the individual
who entered his apartment
meant to kill him.

It was senseless and tragic.

Yeah, it was.

We never got an exact
ballistics match

because the bullets
were so damaged.

There were no hairs,
or fibers, or a DNA,

or anything else
that was recovered

that was usable
from the crime scene
as to who had done it.

I wept
because I'd lost
a good friend.

I originally assumed
that it was some sort
of overdose or something.

And then it comes out
that he was murdered.

It broke my heart,
uh, to be honest.

Travis Perkins,
we'd crossed paths
a few times.

Of course,
certain circles are small.

There was a rumor
that he knew too much
on certain people.

And they, they tried
to keep him quiet.

Travis was unfortunately
in the wrong place

with the wrong people
at the wrong time.

There were many theories.

Are they all in this together?

Are they covering
for each other?

What was the motive
to get rid of Travis?

There were a lot of questions.

When you come
into this town
of course it's beautiful.

It's a beautiful
little country town.

There's a lot of history here.

A lot of wonderful people.

It's a small community
where everybody
pretty much knows everybody.

But after dark,
that's when addiction
comes out

'cause that's when people
are out stealing
to get their drugs.

There's two communities
in this little town.

There's what you see today,

and then there's
what you don't see

unless you're living
in that life.

We started to try
to figure out what
was going on in his life

that would 'cause
this to happen.

We came to understand
that Travis, uh,

would cook meth at, uh,
a number of rural locations.

We eventually came to learn
that one of those locations
was Bob Castleman's farm.

Bob's farm is about six miles
down a gravel road
off of a rural highway.

It's in the middle of nowhere.

Bob Castleman
was a well-known attorney
in Pocahontas.

He had previously been
a municipal judge,

and he had a reputation.

Some people viewed him
as a person
who should not be crossed.

I think Travis
was of that opinion too.

Glen Smith was the chief
at Hoxie Police Department.

Gets a tip from his friend
at the farm supplies store

that a couple of individuals

who looked to be buying
some meth precursors.

Glen rolls out
to investigate it
and conducts a traffic stop.

And who turns out
to be in the truck...

...but Bob Castleman
and his girlfriend
Rebecca Spray.

Rebecca Spray was maybe
about half his age.

He was then about 60 or so.

Uh, a much younger lady.

When they
pulled us over,

we'd pretty much had
a rolling meth lab
in his truck.

Attempted manufacture
is a pretty serious charge.

So, we both were arrested.

It was huge.

Bob was a former
municipal judge.

We were just like...

..."How does this happen?".

Somebody with, uh,
education and influence
like Bob Castleman,

it's fairly rare
that individuals
get into this...

...seedier side
of their community.

But it happens.

And, um, methamphetamine
is a powerful drug.

I met Bob
when I was 19, 2001.

I was making meth,
and, uh, you know,

pretty much, uh, selling it.

And when I got caught up,

I had to pay for a lawyer
to keep my son.

And that's how I met Bob.

Bob is like, "Sure,
I'd be glad to help you.
What do you got?"

So, I told him
that I have like $1,200.

He said,
"Well, that's a good start."

I paid him at a nightclub.

I've passed him money
under the table.

And from that day on,
we was really tight.

Following day,
execute a search warrant
on Bob's farm.

Maybe 100, 150 yards
away from the house
in a wooded area,

we found the evidence
we needed.

A big meth lab.

When you're
cooking meth,

it has a very pungent
and distinct smell...

...that you try to, uh,
avoid people smelling.

And so, you know,
you needed that privacy
to make methamphetamine.

It was an ideal spot
for manufacturing methamphetamine.

Nobody would know
you were out there
unless you lived there.

When we went
to Bob's farm
to search the premises,

we found
Jerrod Castleman there...

...the son of Bob Castleman.

I interviewed him.

He knew the game was over.

As far as running
the operation,

Jerrod and Travis
were working together.

Um...

From what I know,

Travis Perkins would
manufacture the meth
at the farm.

Um, and sometimes
even on the porch.

I don't think he was coerced
into doing it.

I think maybe he just
kind of found a friend group

that took advantage
of the skills
that he had in that area,

and he went with it.

Travis was doing the cooking.

Uh, Jerrod was helping
to provide chemicals.

And Bob Castleman,
for the most part,

was providing the, the space.

Bob refused to cooperate
with law enforcement.

I encouraged him to do so,

but he declined.

But Jerrod told me
some things of significance.

He told us about
various drug activity

involving higher-ups
in the community,
including law enforcement.

They were people in positions
of trust or authority.

The chief of police,
his brother was also
a law enforcement,

and the police chief's wife.

A local prosecutor
was brother to Bob Castleman.

How can someone
be a law enforcement officer
for decades,

uh, be trained in,
uh, drug crimes,

and get involved
in illegal drug activity?

I don't know
that you can trust
law enforcement

after something like that.

This case was very covert.

Uh, and we had to
investigate it
behind the scenes.

If we had walked down
to the Pocahontas
Police Department

and said, "Excuse me, sir,
uh, we are investigating
some of you

for connections
of illegal drug activity,"

our chances of gathering
any evidence

would have been, uh,
greatly curtailed.

We know the people
that's involved,
but we needed evidence.

So, we placed
surveillance cameras on law
via a district judge.

The police chief's wife
worked in that office.

They quickly came
to reveal the pattern
of activity.

Travis would, uh,
deliver one gram of meth,

uh, and place it
in the flower bed.

And that, uh,
she would also pay Travis,

through the same
dead rot method,
$100 for each gram of meth.

After dark, the truck arrived
in an empty parking lot.

The big figure
gets out of the truck,

and he'd saunter over there.

It was Travis Perkins.

So, we watched
Travis Perkins' home.

- This was
the drug house.
- Mmm-hmm.

And it's only, uh, two blocks
from the police department.

He's supplying
the chief's wife with meth.

That... That threatens
the community as a whole.

When we gathered
enough evidence,

there was
a [indistinct] issued
for Bob Castleman,

his son Jerrod Castleman,

Travis Perkins, Rebecca Spray,

and police chief's wife,
and others.

Chief of police was put
on administrative leave.

It was big news that the FBI
had come to town.

That was a huge bombshell.

The FBI
does not indict you

unless they know
they're gonna win.

They're not gonna
indict you and say,

"Well, we'll take our chances
in court."

That's not the way
the FBI works.

They know they're gonna win
when they come after you.

People in Pocahontas
were horrified.

No one saw that coming.

You know, can you
trust anything
the police says?

When we gathered
enough evidence
from all these people

that we heard was involved,

we submit
to the US attorney's office.

Now, there wasn't time
to arrest them.

It was about
seven o'clock in the morning

Me and Bob were still in bed,
and, uh,

knock on the door
was the sheriff's department

and then a couple
of other FBI agents.

I've never been
federally indicted.

I thought I was
going to prison
for the rest of my life.

I had Jerrod telling me like,
"Why don't you just say

that Bob was
cooking the dope?"

I would never say anything
that was incriminating him.

Travis was the one
that was in charge.

He was a good man.
He planned on like
making it, you know?

Bob's never made meth
in his life.

It was all Travis.

Bob had nothing to do with it.

Very eye-opening.

Very alarming.

It was definitely like a bomb
went off in town.

I mean, the whole town
was talking,

and there was
so much speculation.

There's no crime
more disgusting
than crime by people

who are supposed to be
upholding the law.

It definitely, uh,
changed the way

that people view
people in authority.

I received threats,

that I needed to be careful,

that I don't know
who I'm messing with.

It was a very worrying time.

It was a very concerning time.

But I'm not gonna let
someone intimidate me.

I'm not gonna live in fear.

I'm not wanting to let it
affect me doing my duty.

Before he was indicted,
everybody liked Travis.

He had as much drugs
as anybody wanted or needed.

You know,
he had a lot of money.

He could sling
that money around.

After he was busted,

Travis's life changed
in the snap of a finger.

Nobody wanted
to be around him.

He didn't' have any drugs,

and he didn't have
any money anymore.

He just felt lonely.

That Christmas I remember
I texted him to see
how he was doing.

And he was alone,
and it just broke my heart.

So, I went over there
with the Christmas dinner.

He had tears in his eyes,
and he was just...

I was like, "Nobody cared."

He didn't have anything
anybody wanted anymore.

And he was scared.

When I heard
the tragic news that Travis
had been murdered...

I was very surprised.

This really, really changed
the, the nature
of what the case was.

There was a lot
of speculation.

Who killed Travis?

Who had a motive?

The FBI and the local
law enforcement did follow
a number of different leads,

but there just wasn't anything
that materialized.

The only motives that we had
that made sense
were within the case.

As we were approaching
the trial date,

most of the defendants
pleaded guilty.

Jerrod and Bob
were the final two defendants
that had yet to do that.

Bob and Jerrod
had a reputation

of taking the law
into their own hands
to protect each other.

They sent a live
copperhead snake
through the mail

over a small
financial dispute.

A copperhead is a venomous
pet viper.

Bob takes it,
puts it in a box,

puts some Styrofoam peanuts
in with it,

wraps it up, mails it to this,
this individual.

The wife comes home from work.
She puts the mail in her car.

Goes up to the carport
and opens the box.

And as she opens the box
the snake came out.

It's a very aggravated snake
at this point.

Not happy.

The sheriff's office arrived
and, uh, killed the snake
with a shotgun.

They blew its head off.

You literally cannot mail
a poisonous snake.

It was mind-boggling.

How can someone
get involved in this?

Someone, you know,
who had been a judge,
who'd been an attorney,

someone who was smart enough
to know better than do that.

His whole life
fell apart.

Started with
the snake incident...

...and went downhill
from there.

He was no longer
able to practice law.

So, both Bob and Jerrod
were convicted felons.

And Travis was witness
to the illegal drug activity.

So, Bob and Jerrod
had a motive.

About a week before
Travis Perkins was
going to testify,

that's the week
in which the murder happened.

Either one
could have shot Travis Perkins
twice in the head.

Murder is an extreme act.

But Jerrod and Bob
were staring at long
prison sentences

for conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine.

What's the saying?

"There's no man more dangerous
than a man who has
nothing to lose."

Bob Castleman and Jerrod
were recorded
discussing the case,

discussing, you know,
who was going to plead
and not plead,

and, and discussing
that they hoped that Travis
would not turn on them.

The prime suspect
for Travis Perkins' murder
were Bob and Jerrod Castleman.

But Jerrod couldn't
have done it

'cause Jerrod was in jail
for violating his
supervised release.

We ruled Jerrod
out of the equation.

So, I began paying
very close attention to Bob.

Bob had a reputation
of being a vengeful person.

And he had much to gain
by Travis not being available
for trial.

A second-grader
could have figured out
the motive.

That's a no-brainer.

Uh, when I heard
that Bob was accused
of Travis Perkins' murder,

I was scared, but I was like,
"Well, they gotta know
that he didn't do it."

Then the, uh, lady,
uh, by the name of Kim Caudle

uh, told us that the night
of Travis's death...

...Bob had taken her,

uh, down to the dog track
in West Memphis.

We were able to substantiate
with phone records

that Bob's phone
was at the dog track
back in West Memphis

the entire evening.

So,
as it came to pass,

Bob also had an alibi.

The whole thing
is just bizarre.

You get to a point
where nothing surprises you.

Everybody was in a tight spot
because of what was
going on here.

But then Jerrod
decided to testify.

His attorney
approached us about,

uh, Jerrod offering
some very valuable information.

It has to do
with Travis's murder.

And he would have
taken the witness stand
the following day.

When we arrived
that morning for court

and we were told
by the US Marshals

that there had been
an incident at the jail...

...immediately we started
to try to figure out
what happened.

Then we got the news.

Bob Castleman had taken
a big razor
and tried to kill himself.

Bob said to me,
"If anything was to happen

and you felt like, you know,
this was all gonna go south,
he would end it himself."

There's no way to know
whether Bob was seriously
trying to kill himself,

or whether he was trying
to delay the trial.

And Jerrod's testimony...

...about Mr. Castleman
wasn't very successful.

But he did require
some stitches.

So, we recessed court,

I believe until
the next morning,

um, for him
to be taken care of
and then return.

They were staring
at long prison sentences.

For Bob, it probably
will be a life sentence.

Jerrod was still at this point
mid-20s, late-20s.

So, probably would not be
a life sentence for him.

Jerrod had to make
a Hobson's choice here.

Um, do I tell what I know
and set my moral
conscience right

and set, set it right
for Travis?

And do I do that
at the expense of my father?

I was there when Jerrod
testified against his father.

I was really surprised
when Jerrod turned on his dad.

That was not
what I was expecting.

He said his father
confessed to him
that he did it.

He had taken care of business
and got rid of Travis Perkins.

It was always our feeling
that Jerrod was bothered

by what had happened
to Travis Perkins.

He was a close friend
to Jerrod.

And Jerrod's moral compass...

...said that that's wrong.
"I can't let that happen."

Bob had taken great lengths
to cover up his involvement
in that shooting.

One was going
with Miss Caudle
to the race track.

Then he left his phone
with her

so that it could not be traced
to the murder scene...

...and drove
from the dog track
back to Pocahontas.

It was in the wee hours
of the morning.

And Travis lived downtown
in that commercial building.

Um, so it's not surprising
that nobody saw Bob.

There was no evidence
of a forced entry,

so it's quite likely
that his door was open
that night.

One of the things
that was not publicly known...

...was that Travis Perkins
was shot twice.

And the fact that Jerrod knew,

would corroborate that Bob
had actually shot him,

and told Jerrod the story.

FBI determined
that Jerrod Castleman
and Bob Castleman

both had 9-millimeter
Glock firearms.

Um, same class of firearms
that could have fired
that bullet.

Bob then returned
to the dog track that evening.

In his sentencing,
Jerrod got greater
than a 50% reduction.

Got the best deal
that I've ever seen
anyone get.

No one was ever charged
for the murder.

The jury
was not asked to find

whether or not Bob Castleman
had murdered Travis Perkins.

They were simply asked to find
whether or not he was guilty
of the drug conspiracy.

And we presented
the murder evidence

as evidence of why
Travis Perkins was murdered.

They didn't
have enough to get him
for Travis's murder.

So, he got a huge sentence
for this drug involvement.

This call
is from a federal prison.

This call is from...

...Bob Castleman.

You know,
there was no getting out of it
no more.

So it's time to come clean
I guess, you know.

His dad didn't want him to lie

and get himself
into any more trouble.

They were very close, I know.

Jerrod and Bob were close,
they were.

But I absolutely think
that Bob killed him.

There's definitely
a rumor that goes around town

that Bob took the fall
for Jerrod. Um,

Bob and Jerrod
went to a lot of lengths

and had a reputation
of what lengths
they would go to

to protect one another
over the years.

And for that to be
the final chapter of the story
is somewhat ironic.

When we heard
the news of Bob
and he was being convicted,

people were astonished.

For our small rural community,
it was big news.

It went a long way
to rid ourselves

with what potential corruption
that we might have had.

I'm proud we did what we did.

I think it was necessary.
I think it was needed.

It does show
that nobody is immune
from breaking the law.

But it also shows
that nobody is immune
from being prosecuted.

Yeah,
I miss him a lot.

Terribly.

I got, um... My second tattoo
was, um, his initials on my,
my ass cheek, you know.

But, uh...

So, yeah, I miss him a lot.

Bob asked me to marry him
several different times,
you know,

and I, you know,
I was still young.

and I didn't really wanna
settle down.

But, um, I wish I had have.

Maybe it would change
the whole outcome
of everything.

It's been a dark time
and a dark cloud over our,
uh, community.

It's very, very sad
that Travis had passed

and that he had passed
in such an awful way.

It's just sad.
It just breaks my heart still
for Travis.

And I can't imagine
what he went through.

You know,
those last moments, I...

It's just awful.

But I like to think
he's in a better place

is how I have to
kind of think about it.