Mystery Body Found Burned on Blueberry Farm

I'm the one they would want. Yes, I'd like to record a body. What do you mean, a body? I get hurt. It's pretty badly burned. The body was found in one of those old trunks. Nobody crawls in a box and lights the interior of the box on fire. It's the kind of case that haunts detectives. And it would take years before a single person came forward with a name. I know about this case, and I know who's involved, and I'm scared I don't know what to do. We're also going to have a guy who actually changed his life and was getting his life straight. I mean, he doesn't exist anymore because of somebody else and he won't. The area where this incident starts in Ottawa County is kind of rural in nature. It was down off a two-track road in a wooded area, and that opened up into blueberry farms. The blueberry farmer that owned the property, Gordon DeVries, was driving through the wooded area to get to the field, and he noticed the body. I have a one-day one, what? I get hurt. The scene investigation was already taking place when I arrived. It still had significantly strong smell of charring. Our suspicions were it hadn't been there a long time. You could see the skull of a person. The body was found in one of those old trunks, but it was charred, charred beyond recognition. It typically demonstrates a lot of hatred for the person. The subject had been struck in the head, and also appeared that a plastic bag was put over its head, and a new-type rope was put around the neck. In the bottom of the trunk was a partially burnt hammer. And there were several pieces of what was a wood baseball bat. Just find themselves fixated on one critical question. How did this victim end up in this exact spot? The box was a major concern, because it was pretty obvious that they used that box, the transport, the victim to the location. So we're thinking that probably at least two people involved, because carrying a footlock or like that, with human remains in it, is fairly heavy. The autopsy revealed that the cause of death was blunt, forced trauma to the head. Several hits on the left side of the head and one on the right. We knew that the trauma to the skull was at least consistent with what a claw hammer would do, and with that being found at the scene that was an indicator for us that that was possible murder weapon. Also confirmed that all the fire damage was post-mortem. The medical examiner confirms that the victim is a male, but with remains this badly burned, figuring out who this is isn't going to be easy. There was no way that you could look at it and determine any type of specific facial recognition. There was no availability of fingerprints from the burning. We had no DNA. There was nothing as far as a suspect DNA and all the fire head taking care of that. We did note early on that there was extensive dental work. We checked with a number of dentists, labs, orthodontists showing them the dental photograph. The upper part of the mouth showed a dental plate, and the lower showed extensive restoration. The dentists all agreed that none of that work was done locally there. It appeared to them that it may have been done Mexico, Central America, something like that. With the proximity to the farms in the area and the migrant population, it was very possible that the subject could have come from most anywhere. We thought within no time we'd be able to identify this gentleman because of the unique dental structure, but we didn't. We probably got between 60 and 70 tips on it and ran down all those tips. We were doing nose releases and putting the information up that we had, which was not much at that point, we were checking all missing persons records. We had a Michigan State Police forensic artist draw what this person might have looked like when he was loving. We also had done extensive work on the dental aspect of it. That was put out in dental journals and talked about dental conferences across the country. None of it at all panned out. This community is rattled and in what is truly a unique and extraordinary gesture, the Ottawa County Sheriff's Office holds a funeral for this John though, because look, even without a name, his life mattered. They did a popper's funeral. The funeral home donated a headstone and he was buried in a cardboard box and the only people attending the funeral were myself, a couple detectives, the sheriff, and his headstone said unknown to man but known to God. It was sad knowing that it was not identified. We had reached a dead end as far as identifying the victim and we had nothing to hide, so it was determined that we would do the documentary. We had had a relationship with Hope College. Hope College had a program where they put documentaries together. The gentleman that ran that program, he was always looking for another homicide to do a documentary on. So we brought them in, we laid all our evidence out on a table. We were able to get it aired through a number of different media sources. Police in the college go back and forth on what to call this documentary. They want something that resonates and they end up settling on Jack in the box because that's exactly what the detectives found. Hope College did their documentary around 2005 but nothing up to that point led anywhere to help solve this. Investigators are wondering if they will ever find out who this man is but after more than a decade, they finally get the break that they've been waiting for. April of 2015 was after work hours and I started receiving a couple of emails that night. I'd call them somewhat cryptic. The header had denaine disharmed its name on it. The first one actually said, "I'm scarred with the next one that came soon after that. I believed her to mean I'm scared, I know about this case that's possibly Jack in the box and I know who's involved and I'm scared I don't know what to do." They finally had some phone contact with her, questioning her further about who the victim was, what had it occurred and how she knew that information. The victim was Robert Carbio and even that alias of Juan Centron and that Beverly was involved in stuff. Detective Donker learns that denaine isn't just the tipster, she's the victim's stepdaughter and the woman that she's pointing the finger at Beverly McCallum, that's her mother. So clearly, detectives have a lot to process. I've been in federal prison so I started looking at the federal prison records. I noted on there that there was at least two or three Juan Centrons listed. I called the federal probation office in Grant Rapids and started inquiring on if they were involved with any of these subjects. One of the Juan Centrons on the prison list was in fact one of their probationers and the last date he checked into probation at the Grant Rapids office was May 6th of 2002 just prior to when the body turned up. In his case was assigned to a US deputy marshal and he was able to obtain those dental records. Within a couple days I did have them to a forensic expert who did make the identification at that point. We find at that point that last known address for Roberto was in Charlotte, Michigan. They made a determination with him being from Charlotte. and him probably being transported to the scene here. Go chance that it occurred down there. - And now armed with this brand new location, the Eaton County Sheriff's Office is about to get a very interesting phone call. - My boss called me into his office, and he handed me a DVD that said Jack in the box on it. He told me to go home that night, watch the video, get familiar with it, because this was a cold case from 2002 that I was probably gonna be heading up. - Within a week or two detective malt, they would be assigned the case, and I would still be allowed to work with him. - Detectives docker and malt bee start digging into the life of Robert, also known as Roberto, and the more they dig, the more personal this case becomes. - We learned that Roberto was a 37 year old male at the time of his death. Him and his family were originally from the Dominican Republic. He did have a bit of a criminal history with his family being involved in some drug activities. His wife, Beverly McCallum, had several relatives in the Shalotte, Michigan area, and he had informed her that he wanted to start a new life and that he wanted to live his life correctly and be a father. He was working two, sometimes three jobs. He was done with his old lifestyle. Living in the house with Beverly was Roberto's daughter, Sicily, who was, I believe, nine years old at the time. Also, living in the house from time to time was Beverly's 21 year old daughter, Denise Dishar. - We learned that there was some falling out between Denise and her mother that kind of led her to call at this point. - Denise was upset at that time with her mother because her grandma, Beverly's mother, had just died under whatever anyone thought in the family was kind of suspicious circumstances. - Denise also believed that her mother was holding insurance money from her that was left to her, that was supplied to her by her grandma's policy. So, Detective Donker and I jumped on a plane and we went down to Houston area and conducted interviews with Denise. - I want to do and say absolutely anything I can to help but really screwed me up on all of this was the video that I watched. I heard what you know about Robert's disappearance. - When Robert got out, he'd go down in the basement and he'd read his bottle. Even when I came over, he didn't want to be around me because of me being gay or whatever. So, he'd just go downstairs. - Let's just ask you that for the record. You have anything to do with his stuff? - No, no, not at all. - Are you worried about us being here to talk again? - I'm worried. Yeah, I'm worried my mom's gonna find out. I'm worried about who she might call to come chase me. - We're also looking at a guy who actually changed his life and was getting his life straight. I mean, he doesn't exist anymore because of somebody else. - Edel. - During those interviews, she told us that her mother had killed Roberto, that she was there the night it happened. - And as the need begins telling investigators more about the night that Roberto was killed, she reveals a name that shakes up this entire case. - I got into an argument and she started yelling and screaming and I think I went down the basement. Chris would be here, you'd have to talk to him that could come from Chris. - You know, I don't know his last name. I was like, "I don't know his last name." Oh, I don't have any clue. He played some part. Good looking guy, slender tall glasses. - Why would he do the wrong way to want to talk to? - Well, he can confirm my story when he's there. - Deneen told us that Chris was a friend of hers. Shortly after the two started hanging out together, Chris started coming over to the house. He also became friends with Beverly, which was normal. Deneen couldn't remember his last name, but thought his name started with an MC. She actually sounded like a McMillan or a McSomething. And so that was about all we had to go on for this third suspect that we suddenly had. She painted a picture, though, where her mom did almost everything and she was kind of in the dark about most stuff. But she did place herself at the scene of the murder. She comes in there screaming and she killed him. What are we gonna do? This mat? Well, we ain't going (beep) You know, and she's freaking out. Whatever, she was shipping the concrete in the basement. Or-- - Was she using the hammer or something? - I don't, she was banging. - You didn't know that. - Probably because there was blood or something on it? - I don't remember, no. - She wanted me and Chris to put the trunk in the car in the back of the van. I didn't, her and Chris put it in the back of the truck, the van. - Well, man-- - Did you see her average body? - I really can't recall. He might have been at the bottom of the stairs. - Looking back, it could have easily turned. The interview at that point into more of an interrogation as it was apparent that there was some involvement. But again, she was basically our sole source of info at that point. - Detectives don't quite be keep working their way through the case, talking to anyone and everyone who might know something about what happened here. And that includes Sicily. This is the daughter of both Roberto and Beverly. She was only nine years old when her father was killed back in 2002. - We hadn't scheduled this ahead of time. We showed up at her door. It turned into, basically, the deaf notification of a father or father. - Our department was investigating a body with a kid, okay? And-- - You think it's like that, or is it-- - Some information came to us within the last couple years and that was your dad. - It was? - Yeah. - You know, they'll have his body like cremated or something? - He's very. - He's very-- oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh. - He'll be able to go home. - Oh, my God! - Oh, my God! - That's the best news ever. I'm sorry. - Oh, my God. - Sicily had, in fact, gone to the Dominican for a meeting with family down there. And I think the family was quite convinced that something bad had happened because it was not like him at all, not to be in touch with them. - That's been mom. You need to tell me what happened to my dad. But you need to tell me. And she's just like, what do you mean? What do you mean? And I go, if you wanna play, like you don't know what I'm talking about, you will lose me forever. So she came out and she told me everything that heard my dad were arguing. My mom says that she was downstairs in the basement. I was telling her, are you in my dad? And she was running up the stairs. And my dad started grabbing at her feet. She grabbed like a crowbar or something that was in the staircase. And she said that she took the crowbar and she like hit backward and that it smashed my dad's head. - She told Sicily that Deneen soon came home right after that and went downstairs and finished Roberto off. She also informed us about a memory she had from when she was younger. She remembers later that night being picked up from bad in the middle of the night and placed in the van. And she remembers going out a long drive and waking up at some point because she heard this large explosion and she saw the woods on fire. And the next day her dad was gone. - My reaction to my mom was why would you call like the police, call them, let them know it's not the best. I had suspicions, like what really happened to my dad? Like did he really take off? 'Cause she said he drove to Canada. That should tell you all you need to know about Beverly and what kind of person she is. It's sickening. - Now remember that mysterious guy named Chris that Deneen had mentioned to detectives? Well Sicily is able to confirm that this man is very real. - The only person I remember over there was this white guy in his mid 20s or something, he had glasses. - At that point, the only place I had heard of this Chris guy was through Deneen and I was starting to question if this guy really existed. But when Sicily brought up the name Chris that really perked me up and they knew at that point there was probably a guy out there that I need to be looking for. Finding Chris was not easy with these cryptos. clues that I had. I did the normal searches through law enforcement that I could. I also went to social media, Facebook, Sicily, eventually was able to supply me with a picture of Chris. I ran that picture through facial recognition and Michigan, Texas, and every state in between. Nothing came up. One day looking at the picture, just studying it. I noticed that he appeared to have a black and yellow, almost a Pittsburgh Stealer colored t-shirt on backwards. And then I remembered one of the Facebook postings that I had saved. That was a Christmas millen. He had some kind of a Pittsburgh Stealer's emblem on this homepage. And as soon as I started clicking on photos, I knew that was him. That was a huge breakthrough. I also was able to identify that he was living in Michigan still. And at that point, I went and made contact with Chris. He invited me inside his home. It really didn't take that long to get Chris talking about the murder. I got in with their mother. Well, she went on and that the kids were peeing a piece actually and dude was always violent and drunk. That was her story? Yeah. They wanted him gone or whatever and pretty much what they did. Who told you that the kids would be most of the stuff? Beverly and Deneen. He was approached by Deneen weeks before the murder and she told him that her mom wanted to kill Roberto and that Roberto was actually molesting the children and abusing them, which was not true. That is the first thing from the kind of father he was and even Deneen amidst that. But that's what was told to Chris to get him to go along with this. Basically, I was in a compost. Okay. How did it all start? How did it go down? That was in the basement. Who hit him first? I think it was Deneen. Deneen? What was she holding at the time? I think she had the bat. What kind of bat was it? I don't know. It was positive. It was Beverly's. They had him with him. Extremely brutal. Beverly continued to hit Roberto in the head until the hammer. What Chris said, the hammer stuck in his head and Roberto fell on the ground and the rest of the way. And according to Chris, Beverly sat on his chest and they put a plastic bag around his head with a rope tied around his neck until he stopped breathing. Once he was in the truck, we took him upstairs and put him in a van, drove out somewhere where she went off the dirt road. Do you remember where you guys drove? Do you remember the exact location? Not. So what happens when you get to that location? Take the trunk out and take it down the road and they don't fire. You remember any more cleanup going on though? I didn't do that. They needed the concrete mix. I did that. Was there reason though why that particular area got a concrete patch just when I'm getting that blood? Look, detectives aren't just going to take Chris's word for it. They need real solid evidence. So they go out and secure a search warrant for the home because if what Chris is saying is true, then investigators might finally be able to pin down where Roberto was murdered. When they went to the basement, they didn't see any blood on the ground but they saw a concrete patch that was newer than the other concrete that was around. The Michigan State Police Crime Lab came in and they were actually able to find Robert's blood underneath that patch. Almost everything that Chris told us we were able to match up with other evidence and other facts we had already known about the case. I issued warrants for murder in the first degree conspiracy to commit murder in the first degree as well as burning bodies and disenterments. So all three of them got issued charges. Chris said, you know what, I murdered somebody I want to take a plea deal. So he ended up pleading to murder in the second degree and burning bodies and he received a 15 year prison sentence for his agreement to testify. And now that this case is gaining real momentum, law enforcement needs to find a need again because she's no longer just an informant. She's an accomplice and they track her down to Florida, but here's the thing, she's already in custody on unrelated forgery charges. If you're missing something or not, it's a plan to do anything, especially to Roberto. Basically what they found supports Chris's story doesn't support what you were telling. I told you everything I could remember. I've got a warrant for your mom's arrest, so for felony murder. Michigan's going to come into the into the freaking lottery too, you know. 'Cause you're going to have charges. What charges am I going to charge with? Murder. He's serious. Now Chris took the deal, but what about the need? Nope, she's not interested. She rejects the plea. She wants to put all her chips on the table and take this to a jury to decide her fate. We went to trial. She was found guilty of murder in the first degree, conspiracy to commit murder, as well as the burning bodies. If Deneen would have never said that initial email, she probably would have never been convicted of a crime. None of this may have happened. While Chris and Deneen have been accounted for, Beverly is an entirely different problem. The woman they believe is the mastermind behind her husband's murder is no longer in the country. Within several weeks of Roberto's homicide, she cleared out of the house in Charlottes and ended up in Jamaica. Beverly got in a relationship with another gentleman there, had another child. It wasn't long after that that McCullum was now all of a sudden in Pakistan. And sure enough, Beverly has moved on with another man. She married the guy she hadn't met on the internet that was, I believe, like 20 years younger than her. I had filled out what is basically international warrant for murder for Beverly. We were hopeful we were going to be able to get Beverly out of Pakistan. In 2020, she was actually caught in Italy with her son at a hotel. They will run you through Interpol and they will run your name for warrants when you stay at these hotels. And that's exactly what happened to Beverly. That began a long journey of trying to get her back to the United States to stay in trial. She appealed to the European Human Rights Commission. They would not allow extradition unless I was willing to remove murder one because that was a life without parole. And I was unaware that in reality that was a violation of her treaties at that time, but was only told that that's the only way that we're going to get her back. So I had to drop the murder one, the murder with conspiracy charges and go straight with the murder two and burning dead bodies. After more than two years of extradition proceedings and legal wrangling, Beverly McCallum is finally back in the United States to face her charges. But as the state prepares for trial in March 2024, prosecutors have to figure out how to explain Beverly to a jury and show what she's capable of. I do think that she thought she was going to manipulate everybody, but it's hard to manipulate facts and my officers had spent a lot of years working on those facts. On May 7, 2002, Robert Carbell was coming back to his home as he did on most days. On that day, though, people had already put a plan into place to kill him. And when he arrived home, they put that plan in action. Robert died in the basement that day, but that wasn't the end. Those same people then placed him in a trunk, carried him up the basement and put him in a van, drove him away to a two-track road, took him up that road and let him on fire. One of the individuals who helped plan Robert's death, who actually helped kill Robert is the defending who sits here today. But to the defense, it's not so clear-cut. The legends they had occurred on or about May 7th of 2002. This is significant because this is just over two decades ago. We're in 2024, as of right now. Do you all remember around this time where you all were? Do you remember the state of the country that we were in? Even the state of the world? When you're in defense attorney, you have a cold case file. It can be both rewarding and challenging because, first of all, 20 years on, people's memories fail. There's also potential for degradation though the crime scene itself. If there is any part of you that believes that there is any other logical theory that you're going to hear about being possible or that the prosecutor has not ruled out beyond a reasonable doubt, then not guilty is the only verdict that you can render in this case. The one witness that both the prosecution and the defense are locked in on is Chris McMillan. He was there. He claims to know what happened that fateful night. He was able to talk about how Bev led the charge and wanting this killing and directing Danine as to what should be done for it to happen. Beverly starts to tell Danine, give me the hammer. Give me the hammer. Beverly jerks the hammer away. And with their left hand on the right, the left side of the head hits him like three or four times until the hammer was in his head. He was the only witness to the scene as it was told to be and it was his tell to tell. After the state rests their case, Beverly makes a decision that any attorney will tell you is a gamble. She decides to testify in her own defense. It was very clear to me that she wanted to tell what had happened that night and that she felt that she was the only person that could actually explain what happened that night. The person we've come to know as Robert Caravio, how do you know Robert? Well, constantly involved in even if he's deceased. Did Robert want some new rules to happen at the house? Yes. What were those new rules supposed to take? We discussed that he wanted me to tell my daughter, Deneen, because of her sexual preference, that he didn't want her there at the house anymore. I've told her that I wasn't going to argue with Robert and that if she wanted to stay there, she would have to talk to Robert today to come up with something. Yes, she told me she was going down to talk to Robert. OK. So the name went to the basement. Yes, we did. Yes, yes. And then Beverly looks at the jury and tells them her version of what happened. I remember Deneen coming upstairs and as she. she said that she needed help that something happened and that she said that she killed Robert. What did you do? I couldn't even breathe. I was so thinking this must be a bad dream and that she's still alive. You know why you and I have called the police? I didn't know what to think. I didn't know what happened. What did she do when she came back into the bedroom? She said, "Mom, get up. I need you to give us a ride. Please give me a ride." Did you at any point in time see what was in the back of the van? No. What did you observe, Chris and Deneen do after they'd opened up the back of the van? I couldn't really see them. Chris came back to the van, running and screaming. Go, go, move, move, go and I turned back to ask him, "Go, we're, we're, we're going to go." And that's just when the whole earth shook. The whole earth shook. I mean, the whole earth shook. I mean, it was like a big explosion, huge. What did you say? When I look back, all I can see is fire and big flames. Was there ever a time when you developed a plan to kill Robert? No, absolutely not. Did you ever use a hammer to hit Robert? No. What did you gain by losing Robert? I couldn't gain anything by losing Robert, no. Nothing to gain. But now it's the prosecution's turn, cross-examination. And this is the moment when Beverly Story is really going to be tested. I know that they killed Robert that day, yes. The day you killed Robert. Can't hear what you said. I did not kill, I did not kill Robert. Cross-examination really should be more about pulling out the points you want. And so that's really when I saw the manipulation attempting to be used. You were the matriarch of the family. You were the one in charge. I was, yes. Yeah, he wasn't there in the house. So he wasn't the patriarch of the family. It was all you, correct? Yes. You were the boss of the family. I was the parent. You were the mom. Yes. They listened to what you said. And they're supposed to. You've sent Danine and Chris down to talk to him because Robert's upset. I didn't send them down then. You didn't send them down? No. Did you not just say on direct that you said, Danine, if you want to deal with this, you better deal with it today. Yeah, is she made it to talk to him today? And you being the matriarch of the family. You being the one that everybody is supposed to listen to. You don't get involved with this conversation, is that what? No, absolutely not. Absolutely not because now you're nothing. You have no responsibilities. It's all on Robert at this point, is that correct? I think you don't understand foreign men. I think you have a problem with that. Basically, in result was, don't believe them. Don't listen to anything they have to say. They're children. I'm the mom. The injuries to Robert were a little more than superficial. Would you agree with that? No, they were terrible. If he died in your basement, correct? Yes. I know that they had killed Robert that day, yes. I can't hear what you said. I did not kill Robert. I believe you just said you killed Robert. I would never say I killed Robert, I never killed Robert. So you were okay with your daughter just going downstairs and killing the father of your child. No, no. But it happened. That's what you said, it happened. It happened. And you did nothing about it. So you were okay with it. No, I was not okay with it. So I'm still not okay with it, sir. You wanted the fun life that you had before. Robert actually came back from prison, didn't you? You didn't want it from life that you had Robert. And that's why within six weeks of it happening, you're selling the house. I didn't want to, I don't know. I couldn't stay in that house for one. There was a lot of things going on. You couldn't stay in that house any longer because you knew that Robert was dead. Yeah. Yeah, because you helped kill Robert. No. No, no. I don't think it helped her that she decided to take the stand and give her version of the events. With everything on the line, both sides stand before the jury one last time to make their closing arguments. When the defendant took the stand, I found that interesting to say, I loved and passed death. I mean, that'd be a heartwarming statement to make, except for the fact that a man was killed and his body was burned. And this is where we come back to memorable events. You're not always going to remember the day of the week. But it's losing the love of your life. Who you love even past death. Worthy of a memorable event. In those months that Robert was there, the defendant was figuring out that Robert being around was cramping her lifestyle. That had to change. And then the minute Robert's dead was in six weeks, the defendant has left that town with the new love of her life. Now, if you're like me, listen to the prosecution's arguments throughout the last week or so. You'll notice that I'm present. There's theory of the case that my client, Beverly, was an individual who was in charge of the entire operation. Chris is the only person that was down that basement that night that knows what happened. And he played guilty. The people who murdered Robert, Irrevaldo, are already convicted and in jail. Their story only serves to try to bring another person in after the fact. I put forth the use of reasonable doubtfully that she had a participatory role in the actual death of Robert. From the time that they actually left to came back, I think they had the jury verdict in like an hour and a half. On count one, we the jury found a defendant guilty of second-degree murder. On count two, we the jury found a defendant guilty of dead bodies disinterment and mutilation. At sentencing, now 31-year-old Sicily Caraballo, the little girl who believed for all this time that her father had simply walked out of her life, now gets the opportunity to stand up and address her mother directly. May these next words make their way to what was once the soul of my mother. This will be the last time that you see me in the flesh and the last time you hear my voice in the same room. As the mother of two beautiful children, I cannot fathom your hatred and your greed and lifetime of terrible actions you've committed to your family, to your own family and all those you've ever learned into your presence. You have taken the life of a beloved man who was striving to improve himself for his own well-being and for his own daughter. Roberto Alejandro Caraballo was dearly loved and respected by many and his memory continues to be cherished and missed by all who knew him. While you may have taken my father's life, you will have no hand in his legacy. I am his legacy. My children are his legacy and his legacy will live on through us. Your legacy will end with you, Beverly. And if Beverly thought Sicily's words were difficult to hear, the judge has something to say too. This case is replete with examples of your dishonesty. The worst is really not lying about killing your significant other. What I cannot fathom is that you lie to your daughter that her father abandoned her and you cut that lie alive for so long. It is my opinion that at this stage of your life, your longest free of dishonesty. Reformation and rehabilitation is simply not possible. How long is the sentence of this court that you will serve forty to sixty years? How two? You will serve ten years to fifteen years. Our direction has always been to remember their victim and work for the victim. He wanted to be a father to Sicily and he had been waiting a long time to be a father and he was taking Sicily to school. He was taking her to extracurricular activities, teaching her how to play softball and just being an overall good father. I think we got justice for Roberto and for Sicily and Roberto's family. Not as much justice as I wanted but Beverly finally got what she's deserved for a very long time.