Episode 366

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Sword and Scale contains adult themes and violence and is not intended for all audiences. Listener discretion is advised. I had to look at what he did. I had to look at it with my own eyes after putting everything I had into finding her. And I promise you that everybody involved is going down. I'm done. I'm done. I'm letting you know. Yeah, bro. Everybody who's involved and knows something and didn't tell us is going to pay. Hello and welcome to Season 13, Episode 366 of Sword and Scale. A show that reveals that the worst monsters are real. We'll be right back. In late April of 2024, something wasn't right in Denmark. The Denmark in South Carolina, that is. That's when residents of this small town turned on their nightly news and learned about a troubling situation. A young mother of three had gone missing. Tonight, rising emotions in Bamberg County as investigators search for this missing mother of three. Something's not right because she wasn't the mother. So that just drops our kids off with anybody. This is 25-year-old Megan Botterford. Investigators say she sent some concerning text messages to a friend last Thursday, and she has not been seen since. 25-year-old Megan Botterford was reported missing on April 26, 2024, by one of her closest friends, Grace Reindl. According to Grace, the last time she heard from Megan was through text messages. Megan had asked if she and her youngest baby could spend the night at Grace's. Which was something that wasn't out of the ordinary. Grace told her yes, and that she would leave the front door unlocked before going to bed, so Megan could let herself in. Just like she had done many times before. You had a follow-up call with her at 9.50? I did. 9.50 p.m., April 25th, I called her. I had to take sleeping medication to help me sleep at night, so I'd already taken it. So I told her I couldn't try it, just to get the baby to come to me. Okay. So I got up and I unlocked my door. It turned on. And I turned on the porch light and figured that she'd let herself in, as she's done so many times before. Okay. But she never did. The next morning, when Grace woke up, she realized that Megan and her baby hadn't shown up. At first, she assumed Megan had simply changed her mind, but after repeated attempts to reach her went unanswered, that assumption started to feel a lot less certain. So, Grace drove to Megan's house to check on her. When Grace arrived at Megan's home, there was no sign of Megan or her baby. At that point, she knew something was very wrong. So, she went to the police and reported her missing. It didn't take long for this story of a missing mom to reach the local media. It used to be full of life, but now, it stands empty. April the 11th, I heard from her and I told her I loved her. And she told me she loved me too, forever and always. And then. Those were the last words Megan Botterford said to her cousin. She's very strong and resilient and beautiful. She's a wonderful mother and we need her home. The pain is hard to put into words for her family, but all they want is for Megan to come home. It's my baby cousin. She's got to come home to these babies. I need her home. I don't need her lost. As Megan's family held on to hope that she would return, local authorities brought in the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, better known as SLED, to assist with the investigation. Part of that assistance involved arresting someone close to Megan, her 28-year-old boyfriend, Jarrett Davis. A missing persons report says due to prior call history, Jarrett was concerned for the safety of a baby in the home and her boyfriend having an act of arrest warrant. Deputies wanted to request SLED to assist in executing a search warrant and then arresting him on an outstanding warrant. Jarrett was the father of Megan's youngest child and when officers arrived at his home to arrest him on an unrelated warrant, they found the baby unharmed, but there was still no sign of Megan. As her boyfriend, Jarrett was an obvious person of interest. It's always the boyfriend. But it wasn't just their relationship that drew attention. According to Megan's friend Grace, several of Jarrett's own friends said he wasn't acting like himself on the day Megan disappeared. Something about him seemed off. It wasn't her. Yep. Naturally, after Jarrett was taken into custody, investigators sat down with him to talk about Megan and find out what he knew about her disappearance. Your first name is Jarrett, right? Jarrett. Jarrett. J-A-R-R-E-T-T. All right. So, the other day, you were, I got, I spoke to you briefly. You were already in the back of the police car and we talked just a little bit and really just kind of followed up. I know I told you. I told you that we would, you know, keep you updated on what was going on. And that's what I'm here to do. Since you are in custody, I have to read you your Miranda rights just because we're going to talk to you. Not long after this interview began, Jarrett became emotional. He broke down, frustrated that he was sitting in jail while his girlfriend was still missing. He wanted to know why he had been denied. He wanted to know why he had been denied bail. Really, you know, now we're going to, now we've got to figure out how it happened, what happened. So, I'm going to try to pick your brain a little bit more. I'm going to ask you, what was my mind in that? I'm sorry? What was my mind in that? Well, I have no idea on that. This was. Like, I've been looking at the jail cell. So, your previous charges are not slug charges. Yeah, I don't know. So, I wonder. Yeah, I. I don't even know what you're. You know, what were you waiting for? Can you tell. So, my baby. My baby. Let's see, we don't even know. What are you in jail for? What are you currently in jail for, Jarrett? A CDV. A CDV. When did that occur? Over a month ago. Over a month ago. And that's with the sheriff's office or the city? Sheriff's office. Sheriff's office. And that's what the charges. That's what they're holding me on. Okay. Jarrett had been arrested because of a prior incident of criminal domestic violence involving Megan, which was something that didn't exactly work in his favor. Now that she was missing. So, I want to go back into detail the last time you saw Megan. So, what day was the last day you saw her? Thursday. I don't. That Thursday? Thursday night. Thursday night. I think it was Thursday. Okay. Thursday night. Probably about what time Thursday night? Do you remember last seeing her? I don't remember the time. She walked out and was changing the baby. All right. Was it daylight? Was it dark? It was dark. It was like 12 o'clock at night. Past 12. I don't know. So, after midnight. Yeah. So, are we talking after midnight Thursday night going into Friday morning? Okay. Tell me about the conversation. Tell me about what was going on between y'all two that day. Thursday. Jarrett claimed that the last time he saw Megan was the day she went missing. He said the two of them had spent the day together, taking their baby to a baseball game. Not sure what kind of baby that was. Maybe he enjoys a baseball game, but whatever. Let's continue. He explained that everything seemed normal. Enjoyable, even. But after that, he said, they returned home, things changed. The two had sex, and then an argument started. I met her at sex later that night. So y'all, you and her had sex? Yeah. Alright. So, things were okay? At this point? Until, like I told you the other day, I didn't, she wanted me to nut in her. Yeah, and you didn't. And that's when she started getting upset. Alright. According to Jarrett, Megan became upset after they had sex. He claimed that he tried to calm her down. So she's mad. She pulled out because she wants to get pregnant. Wants another baby. She want a boy or a girl? I want a boy. You want a boy? Any kind of, at that point, she's mad. She throwing anything in the house. She, like. You know, usually if I get around a baby, or I get to hold a baby, or I do a little baby shoot, it won't escalate it up. If you're holding the baby? Yeah. If I'm messing with the baby around, the baby, it won't escalate. Is that what happened? Yeah. That's why I told her whenever she left, I was changing the baby. Okay. You know what I'm saying? I'm trying to de-escalate everything, get her near the baby. So if you got the baby close by, she ain't gonna do nothing. Everything's usually fine. Now, if the baby ain't close by, she might throw something at you. She might throw something at you. Yeah. She ever hit you? Anything like that? Jarrett admitted that past arguments between him and Megan had become physical. But he insisted that it didn't happen the night she went missing. Instead, he claimed that after the argument, Megan simply left the house, and he never saw her again. You ever hit her? That's my number four. Okay. Did any of that happen Thursday night? So there was nothing physical Thursday night? No, it was just one side of the heap, really. It was just she was the only one really upset. Okay. That time. Alright. How long after all this do you think it was before she left? How long do you think she stuck around the house? It wasn't too long. It was as she was as the bickering was going back and forth, she was when she left. Okay. And what did she tell you when she was leaving? She said that she was going to leave the baby with me since she always has a baby. Which, the way she left, I'm pretty sure I told nothing with this. I thought she was coming right back. Where do you, had she been leaving, where would you have thought she would have went? I thought she would have just went to Grace's for a little bit or came back or anything, just left and came back or. I gotcha. But she didn't come back that night. That's why the next morning when she came home to go to the baby, I was like, it's about 9 o'clock in the morning, I contacted her mama. I asked if she talked to her at all. Much of what Jarrett told the investigators appeared to check out. They confirmed that he and Megan had gone to a baseball game earlier that day. And that he had called Megan's mother the following morning, asking about her. But something about his story just didn't sit right. By this point, investigators already learned that Megan was a devoted mother. If she had stormed out in anger, it seemed very unlikely that she would leave her baby behind. Still, while keeping Jarrett firmly on their radar, investigators started to consider another possibility. There was someone else who had been among the last to hear from Megan. Her friend, Grace. When did you report her missing? I believe it was somewhere between 6 and 7 p.m. Friday. I know people probably ask you a lot, but why did you wait so long? That was a tough question. Like I said, I'm not judging you. No one's judging you, you know. Well, I heard her on the phone. You know, we had a thing that if she was ever in danger, send me the address so I could send help. That's why I immediately called her when I saw that. And she told me, no, don't, don't call, I'm just gonna leave. Grace claimed that when she woke up and realized Megan had never arrived, she went looking for her, eventually forcing her way into Megan's home to check on her. Yet despite this urgency, it took nearly 24 hours for Grace to go to the police and report her missing. If she was that concerned, then why wait? There was also another detail investigators couldn't ignore. Grace and Megan's boyfriend, Jarrett, had a romantic history. Did you have a relationship with Jarrett Davis? We, that's actually how I met Megan, was me and Jarrett had a brief, you know, kind of like a one night stand. And when I saw him posting Megan, she had messaged me and we, you know, we talked about it and we decided to be best friends instead of fighting over somebody I didn't want. Gotcha. That's how our friendship started and we have been super close ever since. I have not ever touched Jarrett since. Grace claimed that there was no animosity between her and Megan over Jarrett. And based on how investigators handled that response, it seemed like they believed her. By this point, detectives had spoken with the last two people known to have contact with Megan before she disappeared. And they were no closer to understanding where she had gone or, what had happened to her. Meanwhile, Megan's family, which included her three daughters, waited anxiously for answers and hoped for Megan's safe return. Now, Megan was a young mom. Her family tells me she has three young daughters that are waiting for their mom to come home. Her youngest daughter is only about four months old. And again, like I said, all her family wants is for her to come home so she can be a mom to those young daughters. On April 30th, five days after Megan was reported missing, investigators finally got a break in the case. All afternoon, the Bamberg County Sheriff's Office has been in the woods right here, right off of Barnwell, excuse me, Highway. Now, we aren't sure what they were looking for exactly, but we did just get confirmed that they found a burned vehicle with human remains inside. We aren't sure whose those remains belong to, but just a couple of miles down the road, you can find Megan Bodeford's family holding on to hope that it was not her. Just a few miles from Jarrett's home, investigators made a horrific discovery. On a desolate back road, they found a burned-out vehicle with charred human remains inside. Still not 100% positive that it was her. It's just a possibility, like I said. Vehicle found. Not even sure what kind of vehicle it was because it was burned pretty bad. And then there was evidence of a body being in there. So we haven't gotten the results back, whether that was Megan or not. Given the condition of both the car and the body, investigators couldn't immediately confirm whether it belonged to Megan. An autopsy and DNA results were needed. But all signs pointed in the same direction. This was likely Megan Bodeford. After all, who else could it be? There was, however, one thing investigators were able to determine early on, with some degree of certainty. The victim, in the burned-out car, hadn't been killed inside the vehicle. They had been shot first, and then placed there. That was placed in a driver's seat. It was not put in, it wasn't from driving, it was placed there. This body was placed there, and then burned. Placed there and burned. She was dead before it was burned. She had already been killed. She was shot by a shotgun in the skull. Somebody drove her out there, left her in the vehicle, set it on fire, and it burned. It burned her body up, and it burned the vehicle up. Following the discovery of the burned car and the human remains, the investigation into Megan Bodeford only became more complicated. As investigators dug deeper, the list of suspects continued to grow. And for a time, a chilling question loomed over the case. What if Megan hadn't been killed by one person, but instead by a group of people she trusted? If you've been sitting on a business idea, Shopify makes it easy to turn it around. You can turn it into something real. Kind of like one of our monsters here. At TornScale, we use Shopify for our storefront, where listeners can browse our merch and check out without a bunch of friction. That matters because once someone decides they want something, you don't want to stand in their way. 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In the days that followed, investigators worked to piece together her last known movements, focusing on two people who had been in contact with her just before she disappeared. Her boyfriend, Jarrett Davis, and her close friend, Grace Reindl. Both were questioned. Both denied involvement. And neither could explain where Megan had gone. Then, five days later, investigators discovered a burned-out vehicle on a remote road with a burned corpse inside. But at that point, one question remained. Was this Megan? Our top story is now a family on edge waiting for autopsy results after the discovery of a burned vehicle with human remains inside. All of this happening with one question on a lot of minds. Where is 25-year-old Megan Badaford? Nearly a week has passed since Megan Badaford's family laid eyes on her. They don't want to believe she's gone. All they want is for this young mom to come home. But for right now, it's the agonizing waiting game they are being forced to play. That's hard. It's really hard. I just miss her so much. I really can't describe it. I walked outside the other day and just said, Lord, I don't understand this. This is hard. While Megan's family waited anxiously for the results of the autopsy, Megan's boyfriend, Jarrett, also waited as he sat in a jail cell on an unrelated warrant. Have you heard anything new? Just some news. What's been on the news? Body found. Body found. You think that was Megan? What's your thoughts? So I will confirm, yeah, a vehicle was found that was burned. With more than likely, it does appear that there was a body in it. I know it's tough, but I wanted, like I told you that day, if anything came up, I would be, I would come and tell you. When investigators confirmed the news reports of a burned body, Jarrett appeared genuinely shaken. His concern for Megan seemed real. About three days after the car and the body were discovered, the autopsy results came back. And it was the outcome no one had been hoping for. April 30th, deputies from the Bamberg County Sheriff's Office discovered a burned vehicle here with possible human remains inside. Three days later, we now know those remains belong to Megan Botaford, a young mom of three young daughters. Tragically, this was no longer a missing person case. It was now a homicide. And not just any homicide. Someone had shot a mother of three in the head, then loaded her body into a car and set it on fire, burning Megan beyond recognition. You know, we have arson experts that were out there that have been doing this for 18 years. He said that was the worst body that he has ever seen in his life. He's been doing this for 18 years. That body was burned so bad that in 18 years, that is the worst body he has ever seen. Who would do that to Megan? Who would do that? It was personal. Whoever did it, it was personal. It wasn't something random. It was personal. Investigators were left with the obvious question. Who would have done this to Megan? And why? At first, there were only two possible suspects to consider. Her boyfriend, Jared, and her close friend, Grace. But that list didn't remain small for long. Danielle Simmons, she was actually talking about what happened to Megan before her body was over-discovered. And it kind of rubbed me the wrong way. What was she talking about? It was Sunday. And her body was burned. She said that, I bet Jared shot her and set her on fire in her car. As the investigation expanded, detectives became aware of a recent acquaintance of Megan's. A young woman named Danielle Simmons. Her name came up more than once. And according to several people, Danielle had been talking about Megan's body being burned days before the car and the remains were discovered. I had just given this girl a ride that I don't know. I don't know her like that. But she was talking about the Megan, what happened to Megan. And she said she knew this girl named Danielle Simmons. And he was running her mouth before everything had came out on Facebook and all that. Where there was no way this girl should have known what she'd known. So, maybe they need to look into her or look in her phone or something. Because she might know more than what she's saying or has something to do with it. Once Danielle's name surfaced, investigators moved quickly. They tracked her down and brought her in for questioning. All right, Danielle. What we're doing, we're investigating the case with Megan. And we've beat the bushes. We've talked to a lot of folks. Your name's come up. It's having some information. Don't want you to get yourself back in the corner or anything. But anything you've got is definitely important. Okay? If you happen to be there earlier or later or whatever, it's all important. So, what I don't want you to do is sit here and tell us a story and it not be real. Because then you're going to find yourself in a pickle. Okay? After advising Danielle that it was in her best interest, to be honest, investigators got straight to the point. Asking where she had been on the day that Megan went missing. Let's start with Thursday the 25th. I seen her at 2 o'clock that afternoon. Like, me and Earl, he went over there to work on his truck. When you say her, you mean Megan? Yeah. That's the last time I've seen her. She was leaving from Jared's. Jared came out with Falcon and was like, "I'm about to ride somewhere." And I was like, "Okay." They left. And Megan comes out and sits on the porch. Walked over there and was talking to her or whatever. And she was telling me that, you know, she was tired. She was leaving. She was done. Tired of him putting his hands on her and stuff. And I was like, "Yeah." Jared said, "He was knocked out." She said, "Yeah, 'cause he knocked me out the night before." Or whatever. She said she was going home and not tell Jared where she was at. I was like, "Okay, hold on." And she got in her car. Danielle admitted that she had seen Megan at Jared's house on the day she went missing. She claimed that Megan confided in her, saying she was tired of being abused by Jared. And when Jared left the house with a friend, Danielle said Megan took the opportunity to leave. According to Danielle, Megan simply got into her car and drove off. And she never saw her again. Jared and Falcon came back up. He was like, "Where's Megan?" And I said, "I don't know. She said she was leaving. And, um, he seen the clothes and stuff and got mad and grabbed a bag from the shed and got in the car with Falcon and left." Danielle said that when Jared returned and realized Megan was gone, he and his friend Falcon—yeah, yeah, his name's Falcon. Let's continue. The two of them went out looking for her. She claimed she didn't go with them, but later that night, she returned to Jared's house. Megan still wasn't there, but Jared was. Did you at any time go back over to Jared's house? According to Danielle, when she returned to Jarrett's house, she found him outside burning items in a fire pit. And somehow this didn't trigger any alarms. What a dolt. To investigators, that just didn't sit right. Shouldn't sit right with anyone. Because despite seeing something like that, Danielle still claims she had no idea what happened to Megan. We already know a lot of stuff, so hear me out. You know, if you know something or if you've been told something, you heard something, then that's your opportunity to be straight with us. I haven't heard anything. Do you have any idea where? Where she went? No. How was your relationship with Megan? I just met her. Like, you know, I didn't know her. What do you think happened to Megan? I really don't know. I really wouldn't surprise me being honest with you. Jarrett didn't do nothing. Okay. What was the last thing you said? It really wouldn't surprise her if Jarrett would do something. I don't know if he'd be able to. I don't know. Danielle seemed reluctant to implicate Jarrett, but when pressed, she admitted it wouldn't surprise her if he was responsible for Megan's death. In fact, she said that was the only explanation that made sense. Jarrett's the last one that seen her. How do you know that? Because, I mean, she left his house with the baby. Okay. For him to have gotten, I mean, the baby was with him when we seen him. So she had to, he had to have been like, oh, my God. He had to have been like, oh, my God. Despite Danielle's insistence that she didn't know what happened to Megan, investigators clearly weren't convinced as they continued to press her. If Danielle had any involvement in or knowledge of Megan's murder, she didn't admit it. And by the end of the interview, investigators were no close to finding answers. If anything, the case was becoming more complicated. Rumors started to spread. And with those rumors came more names, each one adding to a growing list of potential suspects. Which is why web sleuths, people on the Internet that try to solve crimes, in between runs to Walmart, should stay the fuck out of a case and mind their own goddamn business. They often make crimes harder to solve, not easier. The problem is we have to verify everything that people tell us. Right. So, you know, we're still a lot of the problem is the rumor mill around town is crazy. And everyone thinks that everyone was involved and did stuff. Eventually, the rumors surrounding Megan's murder made their way into the local jail where Jarrett was being held. Before long, another inmate, someone who actually knew Megan, asked to speak with investigators. All right. What's your first and last name, sir? Corey Cuddy. I got a request from you saying that you have some information on Megan's disappearance. Well, um. Well, for starters, I know Megan from the streets and stuff. I know who she hangs out with. I actually seen her several days before I got locked up, which was in February. Who do you think is our suspect? Well, I mean, I don't like pointing fingers without reasonable suspect. But, I mean, I know who she used to hang out with. I know who she was real close to. Who'd that be? That'd be Ariel. Why do you think she would do something? Well, I know in the past. Um, she's had problems with her before. Um, like I said, if anything were to happen to Megan, I would think that Ariana would definitely know about it, you know. You think she would actually do something to her? She's crazy. Um, she's, she's, she's pretty crazy. Inmate Corey pointed the finger at another friend of Megan's, a woman named Ariana. But when investigators followed up on that lead, it went, Nowhere. Still, during the interview, Corey said something that did catch their attention. When asked what he'd heard inside the jail, he told them something that echoed what Danielle Simmons had already said. the two, the boyfriend of the baby daddy, Jarek. Is it Jarek or Jarek? I think it's Jarek. Yeah, Jarek. Between Jarek and him, they argued all the time. It was no secret that Jarek had been abusive towards Megan. An interview after interview seemed to end the same way, with the person being questioned suggesting that, more than likely, Jarek was responsible for this murder. What do you think happened? I think Jarek, in my head, like I told you, I think he might have put his hand on too hard that time, and in my head, I think he hurt her and just hurt too bad. He couldn't do nothing about it. And he might have, you know what I'm saying? I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. Another name investigators kept hearing was an unusual one. You know the one. Falcon. Falcon Joyner, to be precise. Falcon was a young man who was close to Jarek. They'd been friends and he'd been with him on the night that Megan disappeared. Just kind of give me a rundown of what you want to talk about here today. The audio of Falcon telling what went on this weekend with him and Jarek and Megan. So give me a gist. Does he ever admit to anything? He admits to picking picking Jarek up, Jarek called him and he came over and he was like, man, I'm gonna kill this bitch and all this through an axe in the back of Jarek. Jarek threw an axe in the back of. So he picked up Jarek at Jarek's trailer down the road? Okay. He threw an axe in the back of the truck and he told Falcon, I'll give you $40. You going to Aiken anyway, just run me to her house. Drop me off at her house. And Falcon's like, oh, I don't know about that. He's like, come on, I'll give you $40 so Falcon ends up taking it. Eventually, investigators started hearing that Falcon may have helped Jarek carry out the murder or at the very least gave Jarek a ride to the place where Megan was killed. Supposedly, Falcon was paid $40 for that ride. After that, he said he finally pulled up again at Jarek's house. He said Jarek was acting all weird. On Saturday? Friday, my brother. He said Jarek was acting all weird and shit. Was asking crazy questions and was like, you think she he was trying to put like she overdosed or some shit. You think she overdosed on something more or something like that because she left me with the kids, said she was going out. Like, why would that automatically be the first thing you're trying to throw out there unless you're trying to come up with a story? Okay. Then Falcon's like, he's like, well, I honestly think Jarek killed her. He said because after that, he was like, well, the police don't think I killed her. And Falcon was like, I don't even understand why he would even say that. Yeah. But then Falcon, I feel like Falcon's involved in it. He's just trying to separate himself, make it seem like he ain't did everything that he did. Like every other name that surfaced in this investigation, the detectives eventually tracked Falcon down and questioned him. Sorry, I had to. I couldn't help myself. Here's the real interview. Everybody calls me Falcon. Falcon's my middle name. Alright, Falcon. Falcon. Yes, sir. We know everything that went on the other night. Everything. I know everything because people with consciences are talking and your name's in the middle of all this. And I know. And it's not matching up. Some of what you told us is true. Some of it isn't. And I can prove it. You have, you know more than you told me the other day. Investigators immediately took a hard line with Falcon, which made their theory pretty clear. They believed Jarrett had committed the murder and that Falcon had either helped him or, at the very least, knew some details about what had happened. Every bit of what I told you the other night is the truth, as far as my timeline goes. No, I know your timeline. You know exactly what happened. We know exactly what happened. No, I know what I've heard happened. I mean, I've been told throughout. No, I know that he told you. No, I never told you. I swear, I'm telling you. Despite Despite the investigator's certainty, Falcon maintained that Jarrett never confided in in him about killing Megan. At 10, I believe it was 1055, he started blowing me up, calling me, calling me, calling me. I never once answered that phone for him, not that night at all. Okay. I assume what he was trying to do was he wanted an alibi, or he wanted somebody to be there to verify that, hey, I'm sitting here with the baby, you know, don't know where Megan is. Falcon claimed to be on the same page as the investigators. He had his suspicions about what Jarrett may have done, but he didn't know for sure what happened. I don't talk to him none that night at all. All right, Friday comes in, that's when he called me, and that's the first time I answered the phone. And I knew immediately that something, you know, the way he was talking, I could hear it in his voice. I said, something ain't right, you watch, something ain't right, something's going to, I don't know what he's done, something's happened. Falcon also claimed that Jarrett had subtly asked him to hide his firearms, one of which may have been the murder weapon, but Falcon refused. And he goes, he's just sitting there and he goes, yeah, I should probably do something with these guns, shouldn't I? Just like that. And I said, I mean, aren't you a felon? Be honest. I swear to God, all my kids, that's what I said. I said, aren't you a felon? He goes, well, I mean, I don't know. Technically, I don't know. And I said, I mean, he looked at me like, hey, you'll take them? He never asked me. Or, you know, he just kind of looked at me like, I should probably get rid of these guns, ain't I? And I'm sitting there with the only vehicle, right? Similar to the other suspects investigators spoke with, Falcon's story seemed credible. He may have been just another person caught up in a rumor mill, and someone who actually knew nothing about the murder. What have you heard? This is what I heard. The latest I heard today was when I talked to his sister. She called me this morning and said, did you hear how she died? And I said, well, I mean, I've heard a lot of things. She said, well, I talked with Megan's mom today. And she said, so it's a pretty reliable source, that he beat her to death. Well, beat her unconscious. And that he. While she was unconscious, he took her and loaded her up and wherever the hell he went and did his thing, burned the car. And I was like, well, unconscious, you mean like she was alive in there? And she was like, yeah. And I said, God damn. Even though Falcon seemed genuinely ignorant about the facts of the case, investigators made it clear that if he had any involvement with the murder or knowledge of it, they would find out. I had to look at what he did to her. So I'm letting you know, everybody who's involved and knows something and didn't tell us is going to pay. I've been trying to help all I can, but me and Megan, we're friends, man. I mean, I'm going to tell you, I'll show you my messages with her. Do you want to see how about how she was trying to, you know, he was beating her ass. We know. Oh, we know all that. I told her, I'll show it to you. I said, man, he's not a good person, man. You need to get your kids and get out of there. Well, I would, but the motherfucker tried to burn my house down like he did yours. And I'm like, well, you know, I mean, you still need to get out of there. I can show it to you. I ain't got nothing to hide, man. That's it. Because, I mean, I haven't done anything, I swear to God, on everything, bro. If y'all want to go look at my house or my shed, anything around there, y'all welcome to go do it. I'll go with you. It don't matter. Y'all want my phone? Y'all want to take pictures? Whatever y'all want to do, I'm willing to help you. I don't got nothing to hide, bro. Ultimately, it wasn't an interview with a potential suspect that led investigators in the right direction. It was Megan herself and her final words to a friend. She sent me messages in where Megan is basically scared for her life. She said that her child's father had a gun, and if nobody contacted in the next 30 minutes to send the police because he killed her. I have those messages screenshotted. Megan was basically begging for help again. This report says she sent text messages on April 25th to a friend saying if they didn't hear from her in 30 minutes to call law enforcement and that her boyfriend was going to kill her. In a text message to her friend Grace, Megan wrote the following. Jarrett's about to kill me. If you don't hear from me in 30 minutes, call the law. After receiving this text message, Grace asked Megan if she should call the police. Immediately. Megan told her no, and instead asked if she and her baby could spend the night at Grace's house. And I asked if everything was okay, and she was crying, and she said that he was beating her. And I asked her if she wanted me to go ahead and call the police. She said no, that she would try to leave and get the baby and come to my house. And so I had to take sleeping medication to help me sleep at night, so I'd already taken it. So I told her I couldn't try just to get the baby to come to me. So I got up and I unlocked my door, turned on the porch light. Figured that she'd let herself in, as she's done so many times before. Okay, but she never did? She never showed up. Sadly, Megan and her baby never showed up at Grace's home that night. And the obvious assumption was that she never got the chance to actually go there. Jarrett probably stopped her. And when she resisted, he shot her. Placing her body in her car, driving her to a desolate road, and setting it on fire. It was a theory that made sense, but investigators would still need proof. And as it turns out, they were about to get it. Because nearly everything that happened that night was caught on camera. If you've been sitting on a business idea, Shopify makes it easy to turn it into something real. At Torn Scale, we use Shopify for our storefront, where listeners can browse our merch and check out without a bunch of friction. And payment processes can be complicated. Shopify Checkout helps. It helps more customers complete their purchase. And returning customers can check out with their details already saved. So, go make one. Again, that's shopify.com slash sword and scale. The U.S. Thomas, St. Croix, and St. John. The U.S. And the best part? For most, the U.S. Virgin Islands is just a quick nonstop flight or a simple connection away. What's up, everybody? It's Bretzky, and America is turning 250. And I can't think of a better way to celebrate that than playing on an American-owned social casino, SpinQuest.com. With all of your favorite games, live craps, bubble craps, live blackjack, there's no better place to play for free and win real cash prizes. SpinQuest.com. Voidware prohibited. In late April of 2024, Megan Botaford vanished. Days later, her body was found inside a burned car on a remote road. SpinQuest.com. Investigators questioned those closest to her, and as the case unfolded, more names began to surface, each one adding to a growing list of potential suspects. But even as the list grew, all roads continued to lead back to one person, her boyfriend, Jarrett Davis. Megan Botterford was last heard from on Thursday, April the 25th, when she texted a friend that she feared that Davis was going to kill her. Days later, human remains were discovered in a burnt car not far from where the couple stayed. The Bamberg County Sheriff's Office executed a search warrant at the couple's residence on Saturday, and took Davis into custody on an active domestic violence arrest warrant. Botterford was nowhere to be found, but her four-month-old baby was there, unharmed. After his arrest, Jarrett was questioned, and he denied any involvement in Megan's disappearance. He claimed the two had gotten into an argument, and that. Megan simply left, leaving their baby behind. As ridiculous as that sounds. So Thursday night, when you got home from baseball and the stores and stuff, you and Megan had sex. She got mad. She left. Did she pack anything? Her car was state-packed full of stuff. Oh, really? Yeah, her car was state-packed full of stuff. So she had clothes and all that in the car? Yeah, she had everything she needed always in her car. So she. She could leave in the car at any point? At any point in time, yeah. After Jarrett laid out his version of events, investigators quickly began poking holes in his story, starting with the text Megan had sent Grace, warning that Jarrett was going to kill her. We ended up getting some text messages that Megan sent some of her friends. What in the world do you think that's about? I don't know. She was very dramatic. You can see why she was very dramatic with everything. I don't know. So, at any point, did you have a gun to her head? No. Tell her you don't have a gun. I don't even have a gun. Oh. No. But not a. No. You ain't got a gun. No, I don't have a gun. Jarrett tried to explain away Megan's text message as her being overdramatic. He insisted he didn't have a gun and couldn't have shot her even if he wanted to. What a strange thing to say. But Jarrett had a big problem. Investigators had arguments. He'd already gone through his phone and on it was a fitness app. One that tracked his movements on the night of the murder. What a dumbass. I'm good at tracking people on their phones and looking at health data. And that tells a lot about what someone does. And we got your health data for you that night. So, around 10 p.m. ish, give or take. Scott, you. You're doing a lot of walking from 10 to. I mean, for a good solid hour. I mean, a lot of walking. Where we're looking at over a mile and a half of distance covered. Like, not just making circles in the yard, but a lot of walking. Like, you walk down the road and things like that. Where would you have been going at that point? I didn't walk anywhere. Nowhere? You walked back from the. The shed to the house? Yeah. Well, that ain't. Yeah. Here's the thing. I went through your health data for the whole day and analyzed it. And I can see, you know, the short distance, stuff like that. These are massive movements. Significant. This is not like you just walking to and from the shed. Or even walking to and from your parents, probably. This is like massive amounts of walking. Based on the data in Jarrett's phone, investigators had pieced together a clear picture of what happened. They believed Jarrett had driven Megan to a burn site, set the car on fire, and then walked back to his house. Jarrett, what I want to know, I mean, I feel like there's more to it that you're just not telling us. And I just want to know, did something else happen between you and Megan that night? Did she do anything to you? I mean, this is our. There was nothing like that done. I told other people there was. I mean, I'm telling you how everything that happened that night. I got it. And I feel like you've told me a good. I just feel like we're leaving out just a little bit of key details because during some of this. All this walking was from 10 p.m.-ish to a little after 11. I don't think Megan's at the house at that time. I think Megan's already gone. It looks like you were walking back from Turnray Road and back to your house. You know where Turnray Road is? Yeah, that's where they found. I mean, y'all are trying to say I went and put Megan there and I didn't. I'm putting you there because I believe we have some. Yeah. We have some coordinates that put you at Turnray Road. GPS phone data placed Jarrett at the burn site on the night Megan went missing. And yet, he denied ever being there or ever hurting her. So we have your GPS data showing you there. We also have pinpoint data. That shows you were there. And then, conveniently, when those dots are plotted, I have your activity going the same distance from Turnray Road back to your house. Like on foot. So, I mean, we're not stupid. We know what happened, but this is your time to just tell us what happened. Explain why. What happened to make this happen? No, but listen to me. Something happened that night. She might have just pissed you off, driving you nuts. No, there was nothing like that. I didn't do anything to her. Here's the thing. We know what happened. Because I didn't do anything to her. Despite irrefutable evidence placing him at the scene, Jarrett insisted he had not hurt Megan. Obviously, investigators weren't buying it. Data doesn't lie. And that's kind of where I'm at. So I think we're at the point where, you know, we know something happened. And you just, you want your story to sit there. It's going to stick, but it's just not sticking. That's what happened. I mean, we all know something happened. We just need to move on from that and figure out what happened and why so we can understand what happened. And we're going to figure this out. I think nothing happened. Between me and her, nothing happened. When she left, when I was changing babies, she was well alive. She was still kicking, breathing, mad. She was still alive. Was she injured? Was she hurt? No. I mean, I'm no rocket scientist, but I'm not sure. I think that everything that I have here from you, from your phone, from your activity, everything from what people are saying is all adding up that conveniently where her car is found burnt is matching up with your location on the map specifically. And then y'all's phones are together. How is all of this just conveniently adding up? But then you're, something didn't happen. We're together all the time. We're together. Throughout this interview, Jarrett continued to deny any involvement as investigators kept pressing him for the truth. They eventually reminded him that one day he would have to explain his obviously made-up story to the child he shared with Megan. So you're going to tell your baby one day that you walked from Turnway Road where this was at, back to your house conveniently. I didn't walk from Turnway Road. I don't know why you're holding on to this story. I'm not holding on to this story. There's nothing I'm holding on to. Thing is, Jarrett, there's no question. There's no question. I didn't do anything to Megan that night at all. Did something happen to her before? No, when she left, she was fine. Did something accidentally happen? No, but that's what I'm telling you. There's nothing that happened. Jarrett, something happened. Nothing happened. Between me and Megan, nothing happened. Did something happen between her and somebody else that you know about? No. Okay, Jarrett, there's more to it and you're just not telling me. No, there's more to it. There's not. As this interview came to an end, investigators laid out pretty much every bit of evidence that proved Jarrett's guilt. But he never confessed. The last anyone heard from Megan was 950. And then we have your story. And what was that message that was said at 950? I know what it said. I know what it said. So you know what that said? Yeah. What does it say? That I had a gun and I was going to kill her. If you don't hear from her, call the law. Yep, it said 948, Jarrett's about to kill me. If you don't hear from me in 30 minutes, call the law, 642 Gantt Branch Road. And then at 10 o'clock, we have you in that area where her vehicle's found. Jarrett, what happened? Nothing happened. That's the honest, God's truth. Nothing happened between me and Megan. Jarrett, we've talked to everyone. Your story does not match anyone else's. You're excluding some very key points. What was it? You're excluding pretty much the time when Megan was killed. You're leaving that part out. I didn't kill her. That's what y'all don't understand. I didn't kill her. What happened? How did she die? I don't know. Why would she tell someone you're about to kill her? And then she died that night. I don't know. Everything points to you. So the only thing we can do is get an understanding on why. I didn't do it though, that's fine. You don't want to be me so bad. I don't. I just want I want it to be whoever did it. That's the thing. I mean, the problem is it's all pointing towards you. Investigators wrapped up the interview and sent Jarrett back to his cell. But less than 24 hours later, after stewing in there and realizing how obvious it all was, he asked to speak with them again. When this follow up interview started, Jarrett seems ready to confess. And he's arguing she grabbed it. When she grabbed it, she pulled it to her and said, what about me? And it went off. OK. And when it went off, it just all happened so fast. I understand. Well, I told you that I felt like something happened. Yeah. It wasn't like I tried to kill her or nothing. When she grabbed it and pulled it to her, it just went off. OK. And then there was so much blood, she didn't have pulse. Jarrett changed his story. He now claimed that during an argument, he pulled out. He pulled out a gun while Megan was sitting in her car. According to him, Megan grabbed it, turned it on herself, and while it was still in his hand with his finger on the trigger, it went off. You're standing beside her car. Yeah. And you got a gun. How do you have the gun? I just had a gun. I was just holding it in my hand. OK. You told her you was going to. Yeah, we were talking and just yelling back and forth. She grabbed it and pulled it to her. She said, what about. Nothing. She said, what about me? And it just went off. Gotcha. Yeah, she just went limp. Had you threatened to shoot yourself or anything? Harm yourself? Yeah. So I was just trying to get her to leave. Essentially, Jarrett's story was this. His girlfriend shot herself with the gun he was holding. He claimed that after this happened, he initially intended to take Megan to a hospital. But somehow, he didn't. He didn't. He decided it was a lost cause because she was already dead. So instead, you know, why not burn the car down with her body inside? Yeah, that makes sense, Jarrett. Ya fuck. What did you do? I grabbed her and I started yelling and there was so much blood. And I checked her pulse and she didn't have pulse. I went to go take her to the hospital. But she was already dead. She was already gone. All right. Did you take her out of the driver's seat or out of the post? How'd you take her to the hospital? I just scooted over. You just kind of slid her? Slipped inside her? Yeah. Okay. Where was the baby at then? Did you lead the baby home panicky or did you? No, the baby was already in a seat from what's going on earlier. I got you. So she hadn't even taken the baby out of the seat of the car. Okay. Horrifically, Jarrett claimed that when Megan shot herself in the driver's seat, their baby was in the backseat of the car. Surprisingly, investigators didn't push back on this story. Perhaps they didn't need to. Between what Jarrett told them and their evidence, they had more than enough to charge him with murder. Let a jury sort it all out. Arrest warrants from SLED say Davis shot and murdered Megan on April 25th in the Gents Branch Road area. Afterwards, he set her car on fire with her inside. I obtained a copy of that search warrant Thursday. It says the sheriff's office seized an iPhone, multiple security cameras, a laptop, and a baby monitor. All in the hopes that those items and video evidence could provide some clue as to what happened to Botterford. As part of Jarrett's arrest and accompanying search warrant, deputies see several things from his property, including footage from his deer camps. If you're not familiar, a deer cam is basically just a surveillance camera meant for observing wildlife. But in this case, it captured something else entirely. It recorded much of what happened on the day Megan was killed. And in yet another interview, investigators confronted Jarrett with what the footage revealed. I've been working on this nonstop, and I appreciate you manning up and telling us what you did tell us. We've just got a couple. inconsistencies we need to clear up. What you told us don't match. You want to just get it off your chest and tell us what really happened. I mean, I can show you the video. What do you mean? I would. You chasing her down, dragging her lifeless body back to the car, and fumbling trying to get it in the car. You can shoot her in the car like you said. The footage showed a violent confrontation between Jarrett and Megan. Then, at around 5 o'clock in the morning, at around 10 p.m., Jarrett chased her off-camera with a gun in his hand. Minutes later, he reappeared, dragging Megan's lifeless body across the yard, struggling to lift it into her vehicle. Then, covered in blood, he drove away with her body. A short time later, Jarrett returned and started burning clothes and washing blood from the ground. What really happened? Well, the gun did accidentally go off. That wasn't an accident. That honestly wasn't an accident. You chased her down with a gun. I mean, she knew you had that gun because she came out that door, saw that gun, and took off running. No, she got off running because I had her keys. She was going to the neighbor's house. Once again, Jarrett tried to spin this story as an accident. But, come on. Who's going to buy that? People that are dumb think you're dumb, too. Jarrett is living proof. We were walking back. She was yelling. And I was walking back. And then I turned to her. And I just wouldn't put my hands up. Like, I just wanted to really, like, grab her face so that she'd chill out. And the gun went off. How long did it take her to die? Well, to me, like, instantly. There were no sounds, no nothing. So she never saw it coming. Of course, if Jarrett's story were true, and that's a big if, he would still have to explain why he went to such lengths to hide the evidence. Why didn't you call us? I was scared, honestly. I mean, if it's an accident, I mean. I mean, not at all, honestly, but I was scared. And you changed your clothes, I don't know how many times. And then the black ski mask and black clothes, what was all that for? To get back to the house and people not recognize you? Yeah. And you still want to say that you just lit some clothes and didn't use an accelerant? Because, mind you, Sled Arson has completed their report on the findings of the vehicle. And the ground and everything else. So what did you use to set the fire? Oil. Between the phone data, the camera footage, the autopsy, and the arson report, Jarrett's story had fallen apart. But one important question remained. Was anyone else involved? And did Jarrett have help covering it up? Now, after you get back, does Earl and Daniel come over there? Yeah. All that's true, too. All that's true. Do you tell anybody? I don't tell a soul. Eventually, investigators determined that the rumors of others being involved in Megan's death were just that. Rumors. There's a lot of them on the internet. People have nothing better to do these days, it seems. They never found out if there was anybody else involved. So, you know, the investigation is still open. But all I can say is that, you know, with everything that we have ran down, we have. All the alibis and everyone, I don't believe anyone else is outstanding, I think. Everyone involved is in custody, has been charged. Unless we find some evidence that proves that, you know, someone else is involved. But there is nothing that is indicating. And, like, you know, people have thrown out Falcon Joyner, all these other people. You know, I have ran down everyone's whereabouts, everything like that. And no one is showing to be involved. As of right now, I do not have any evidence of anyone else being involved. Ultimately, investigators concluded that Jarrett had acted alone. And he ended up facing the consequences of his actions alone as well. First at 6, a Bamberg County man is charged with the murder of his girlfriend, a 25-year-old mother of three who was reported missing last week after sending an ominous text to a friend. Jarrett Davis is facing multiple charges, including murder and desecration of human remains. Megan Botterford, a Bamberg County mother of three, vanishes after texting a friend. She worried her boyfriend may kill her. Eight days after sending that text, the boyfriend, Jarrett Davis, is now being. charged with her murder. Arrest warrants allege that Davis shot and killed Botterford last Thursday night and then set her car on fire while she was inside. Human remains were found in a burnt car days later along a dirt road beneath some utility poles. That discovery less than two miles from Botterford's last known location on Gents Branch Road. Jarrett did not take the case to trial. He pleaded guilty to murder, possession of a firearm during a violent crime, arson, and desecration of human remains. He was sentenced to 43 years in prison and could potentially be released in his early 70s. That is, unless some retroactive law passed by some bleeding heart in the future changes that. Anyway, it's a sentence that just doesn't feel like enough, especially when you consider that Megan's three daughters will grow up without their mother. For Megan's family, this was a measure of justice, but certainly not an adequate one. It just wasn't enough. Because in their eyes, what happened to Megan should never happen at all. They believe Jarrett was responsible, but they also believe this could have been prevented if the system had done its job. We're tired of it. We're tired of this. And our friends' kids. And it's time for the law to do their job. If the laws better do their job, because this community is fed up. The murder of Megan Botterford is especially frustrating because her abusive and idiot loser boyfriend shouldn't have been a free man in the first place. At the time of the murder, there was an active warrant out for his arrest. And it's not like he was hiding. He was sitting there at home, drinking beers and watching Netflix, I assume. The very place where Megan would later be killed. Would it have taken much effort to send a police officer down there to pick him up? Or were they having a sale at Dunkin' Donuts that day? Another warrant accuses Davis of illegally possessing a shotgun based on his prior criminal history as a convicted felon. Plus, the many warning signs were there. Megan had reached out for help more than once. She reported the abuse. She made it known that she was afraid, even contacting Jarrett's probation officer in an effort to get someone to step in. A probation officer who should have lost their fucking job, I might add. But the system is the system, and nothing changed, of course, other than you getting an hour of so-called entertainment today. It's frustrating. I wish I never had to make this episode. I wish I never had content to make this entire podcast. That would be a happy day in my book. Megan says the enforcement failed in its duty to protect Botterford. It could have been prevented. It could have. It definitely could have. My cousin, Megan, she called his probation officer. She called police multiple times. It's just different occasions where she reached out for help. Nicken says that she hopes Botterford will be remembered for how she lived and not her tragic death. Her cousin says that she had a beautiful soul. And was a wonderful mother. This murder wasn't a mystery. Not really. It was the end of something that had been building for a long time. All of the warning signs were there. Stamped and certified by the local authorities, I might add. Reports were made. Fear was real. And still, nothing stopped it. Can we stop telling men to do better and start voting better? To put assholes like this in a cage and throw away the key? That would be good. That would be real good. Prison overcrowding my ass. We'll build more. We have the technology. Jared Davis pulled the trigger. He dragged the body. He set it on fire. All of this is true. But he didn't get there in a vacuum. He was given time. He was given opportunity. And space to escalate. And by the time anyone stepped in, it was already too late. Meghan tried to get help. She told people she was in danger. She said he was going to kill her. And, in the end, she was right. That does it for this episode of Sword and Scale. If you are a victim of domestic violence, do not wait. Call 1-800-799-7233. That's 1-800-799-7233. Or you can text the word BEGIN to 88788. Again, text the word BEGIN to 88788. Please, stay safe. Well, that does it for yet another one. Another episode of Sword and Scale. Yep, we're always here. You can always count on us to come back and deliver more true crime entertainment for you. Now, can we count on you also to help us do that? Head on over to swordandscale.com and throw a few bucks our way, won't you? Quit being a communist. Shit costs money in this world. Finite resources. It's just the way it is. The U.S. Thomas, St. Croix, and St. John. And the best part? Go to visitusvi.com to start planning your trip. And for more information on planning your next vacation, that's visitusvi.com. It's Bluff here. Visit spinquest.com for more details.