04x15 - Captain Freddy

[bunniefuu]

♪♪

Narrator: a brutal mystery at the water's edge...

In my 21 years of law enforcement,

I had not seen anything like this before.

It's not pretty. Who called it in?

Robillard: the harbor master.

Narrator: ...leaves a community in tatters.

Who had m*rder*d captain freddy, and for what?

Hello?

Just that uncertainty that maybe we would never know.

Narrator: but there are witnesses hiding in plain sight.

Somebody finds a video camera in the area

That turns the case on its head.

Narrator: revealing the shocking truth.

I'm feeling like I am looking at the suspect.

♪♪

♪♪

--Captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

Captions paid for by discovery communications

Narrator: friday, july 31, 2015,

Warwick, rhode island.



Affectionately known as captain freddy,

Is happily retired,

And lives aboard his pride and joy,

The star capella.

My brother freddy just loved the ocean and his sailboat.

When he was on his boat was when he felt more at peace.

He loved to lay on his boat and just look up at

The stars and the sky.

It put him in this very comfortable state,

And that's what he loved.

Narrator: he also loves going on adventures.

And, being a popular figure around the marina,

His buddies often drop by.

Oh, he was a seafaring vagabond.

Would take off, often with no destination in mind,

Find a cove, drop an anchor, spend some time there.

When the wind changed, off he'd go again.

Permission to come aboard? -Hey, look who it is.

-How you doing? -Get in here.

Packard: he was just happy-go-lucky as ever.

Happy to be living on his boat,

Happy to be living the life he loved.

He loved that life.

[ Cellphone rings ]

Hello?

Hey pops, I'm just calling to make sure

That you're still coming over to help me fix the truck.

You betcha. I wouldn't miss it.

Narrator: this coming weekend, captain freddy has plans on land

With his son, kenneth.

Yeah, gonna go and help him do a bit of work on his car.

But for the time being,

He just wants to kick back and relax.

♪♪

August 15th, two weeks later.

Detective scott robillard of the warwick police department,

Is summoned to the marina.

We received a call that there was a foul odor

Coming from a boat.

Many times it turns out to be decomposing fish onboard,

Which might give an undesirable stench.

But this time I could tell from the other officers

That it wasn't gonna be the same old call.

As we approached the boat, the wind from the bay

Blew towards the dock...

Oh!

...and there was the unmistakable smell...

...of rotting flesh.

♪♪

Narrator: below deck, a gruesome sight.

[ Camera shutter clicks ]

As the medical examiner pulled back the mattress,

And all you could see was a severely decomposed body.

[ Flies buzzing ]

[ Sighs ]

In my 21 years of law enforcement,

I had not seen anything like this before.

Narrator: the remains are so decayed,

It's impossible to even tell the gender,

Much less make an i.d.

Robillard's partner, detective mark canning,

Soon arrives on scene.

Canning: the mattress was covering the body --

Led us to believe that this could have been foul play.

Canning: it's not pretty, who called it in?

Uh, the harbor master. Uh, he's over there.

Narrator: the harbor master's name is jeffery barris.

It was really important to us at that time

To speak to mr. Barris and get the full story

Of what had happened. -Hi.

-Robillard. -Hi.

If you could just walk us through the whole story.

Narrator: barris explains that he got a report

Of a boat adrift at the end of the cove.

So the danger to other boats. I mean, so I did --

Narrator: so he towed the abandoned craft to door's dock.

And I moored it up right there.

-Right there? -Yeah.

Narrator: but he claims it wasn't until 11 days later

That he noticed the awful smell.

I found it hard to believe that he could have found a boat,

Towed it, and brought it back to door's dock

Without noticing that somebody was deceased inside.

So, mr. Barris, we're gonna need you to come down

To the police department to give a formal statement.

-Really? -Mm-hmm.

Okay.

Narrator: meantime, back at headquarters,

The police run a check on the boat's owner.

[ Telephone rings ]

Sure thing. What's the registration number?

Narrator: the boat's name is the star capella.

Registered to a fernando silva. You're welcome.

We have the name fernando silva.

However, due to the evidence at the scene,

We're unable to determine if the body is actually fernando silva.

Narrator: a.k.a. Captain freddy.

♪♪

Detectives are left with no choice but to get a dna swab

From captain freddy's son, kenneth,

To see if it's a match for the body.

Kenneth, thanks, have a seat.

Can we have someone come in and take a dna sample, please?

♪♪

Canning: kenneth told us he last spoke to his father

In late july and had arranged for him to come up

And work on his truck on the morning of august 1st.

Narrator: but his dad never showed.

♪♪

[ Telephone rings ]

Police contact captain freddy's family

With the dna results later that day.

[ Crying ] I heard the news, and I just totally collapsed.

It was surreal.

I just started screaming and crying.

I mean, it's bad that he died,

But when I found out he died in that manner,

That was more crushing.

Who could ever want to m*rder my brother?

♪♪

Narrator: meantime, detectives record a formal interview

With the harbor master.

He sticks to his story but remembers something else.

Harbor master barris advised us there was somebody

That had approached employees of the warwick cove

Looking for someone that was residing in a sailboat.

Narrator: and that someone with a sailboat

Might well have been captain freddy.

Robillard: this obviously meant that we had

To identify this suspect, and fast.

Narrator: next, investigators call in

Captain freddy's brother, fausto, for questioning.

Canning: it's always important to speak to family members of victims

To establish a timeline, to find out further information,

To get a background of the victim

That you're investigating,

And to establish whether they could or could not

Be involved in the incident itself.

♪♪

Narrator: fausto was supposed to drive captain freddy

To kenneth's house on august 1st.

Fausto says he went to the marina that morning as planned

But couldn't find his brother.

It wasn't unusual behavior

For captain freddy to just take off.

Seems the stranger, who the harbor master saw

Making inquiries that day

Was none other than captain freddy's brother.

Fausto can't think of anyone

With a personal grudge against his brother.

But captain freddy did have one vice.

Fausto told us his brother fernando would commonly go

To local convenient stores in the area

To play a state-run lottery called keno.

Thanks, pal.

-Not a problem. -That's great.

Robillard: fernando was several times successful at winning money.

This led me to believe

That if somebody was after his winnings,

Could possibly be a motive in the crime.

Narrator: captain freddy dropped out of communication

With his friends and family on august 1st.

So detectives determined that's when he was m*rder*d.

Robillard: at this stage of the investigation,

I needed to see if we could locate any witnesses.

Narrator: after hours of searching,

Detectives finally turn up a possible lead.

Yeah, I seen that boat. Right on the dock out there.

And we were able to locate a witness who told us

That he observed a man on mr. Silva's sailboat.

Narrator: this was around august 4th.

Three days after captain freddy was believed

To have been m*rder*d.

Smoke coming everywhere,

He was hopping around all panicky.

Starting a motor. It was smoking.

The male appeared to be very nervous.

He appeared to be not versed in piloting a boat

And was almost crashing into other boats

As he was attempting to move it.

Appreciate your time, thank you very much.

His description didn't in any way match fernando silva,

And that was very concerning to me.

Narrator: police urgently need the mystery person

Seen on captain freddy's boat.

So they head back to door's dock,

And that's when they spot it --

A camera facing out onto the water.

It could be their best witness yet.

This could take the investigation

Maybe right to its conclusion and solve the case.

♪♪

Narrator: the badly decomposed body of 70-year-old captain freddy

Has been discovered on his sailboat.

Detectives believe the m*rder took place august 1st.

And a suspicious man was spotted on the boat

Days after the m*rder.

Hi, guys. Can I help you?

Narrator: detectives hope surveillance cameras will reveal

Who that mystery person on captain freddy's boat is.

-Those cameras work? -Yes, sir.

Narrator: the building at door's dock has several cameras

Overlooking the surrounding area.

One is aimed directly at the moorings.

We can now delve into the minutes,

Days, and weeks that led up to his death.

Narrator: the investigators are joined

By audio-visual expert, detective j.p. Toussaint.

Toussaint: some investigations you start off

And you've got no leads and no witnesses

And nothing really to work on.

Lo and behold, shortly thereafter,

Somebody finds a video camera in the area,

And all of a sudden that turns the case on its head.

All right, let's see what we got here.

Narrator: the witness told detectives

He saw the mystery man on captain freddy's boat

On august 4th.

They cue the footage to that time and press play...

...but what greets them is a blank screen.

Robillard: what's the deal?

I don't know. This camera seems to be offline.

Narrator: it's suspicious timing.

I got nothing here.

Narrator: but there's a logical explanation

For the camera's malfunction.

On august 4th, at about 6:00 in the morning,

We had what they call a microburst,

Which was an intense, incredible thunderstorm

That got me out of bed.

The damage to the city was extensive.

It might have something to do with the storm.

The earliest footage that we had from door's dock

Was when the power came on on the morning of august 5th.

♪♪

Narrator: the footage starts at 5:00 a.m...

...and in the early dawn light,

Investigators can make out the silhouette of a sailboat.

♪♪

They continue watching.

And as the sun comes up,

They can see its captain freddy's boat, the star capella.

But something's missing.

The one thing that did stick out to me

After viewing the video footage,

Was when I first arrived on the scene on august 15th,

I observed that there was a small dinghy in tow

On the sailboat.

The video footage for august 5th did not include a dinghy.

Narrator: somehow, a dinghy was added to the boat

After captain freddy died.

Investigators let the video play on,

Hoping to find out more.

♪♪

At 1:47 p.m. On august 10th, five days later,

Something grabs their attention.

♪♪

We were able to view somebody operating a boat

With the dinghy in tow

And attaching that dinghy to fernando silva's boat.

Narrator: but why would anyone attach a dinghy to a dead man's boat?

We knew that we had to identify

The person that was operating that boat.

That may have been the key to figuring out

Who k*lled fernando silva.

♪♪

Narrator: and there's one person who can help investigators

Find the answers they're looking for --

Harbor master, jeff barris.

Barris says that on august 10th,

A local, well-respected sailor contacted him.

Narrator: it's imperative that police speak immediately

To this mystery man docking up to captain freddy's boat.

♪♪

By now, word of captain freddy's tragic m*rder

Has spread all over town...

Whiskey, please.

...leaving the community shattered.

My first thought was that he had perhaps died aboard.

I didn't suspect any foul play.

-Enjoy. -Thank you.

I thought maybe this was either a natural death

Or an accidental one.

Never did I imagine that this would end up being a m*rder.

He was so friendly and outgoing and always,

You know, embraced everybody he met.

And I never knew anybody that hated him.

Here's to you, buddy.

Who had m*rder*d captain freddy, and for what, and why?

♪♪

Narrator: police call the man who allegedly found the dinghy.

All right.

And sure enough, he confirms he attached it

Back onto the star capella.

Investigators now know who reattached the dinghy.

But they still need to figure out how the star capella

Came to be adrift in the first place.

♪♪

Captain freddy's boat was found marooned

At a dead end in warwick cove.

It's clear that the only possible route

It could have taken to get there was northwards from the sea.

The detectives head up the cove,

Hoping to find more cameras,

And half a mile north, at the brewer's greenwich bay marina...

Hi. I'm detective robillard,

This is my partner, detective canning.

We'd like to have a look at your security system.

Sure. Let me just call upstairs.

Narrator: ...they're in luck.

Canning: there was one camera on a pole,

It was looking right at the cove.

And we crossed our fingers and hoped that we would get

The movement of fernando silva's sailboat.

Narrator: detectives gather the footage

And make their way back to the station,

Where they start viewing.

Okay, we need to start around the 5th of august,

And then work our way back from there.

♪♪

Robillard: viewing that footage, it's always tense,

And anxiety's at an all time high.

Narrator: to the left is inland, and to the right is the sea.

♪♪

♪♪

What's that right there? Stop right there.

At 8:43 a.m. On august 4th,

Three days after captain freddy was m*rder*d,

They spot something.

♪♪

The only thing you could really see

Is the sail part of the boat.

♪♪

Toussaint: as it comes into view,

It seems as though it matches the description

Of the star capella.

Narrator: then it vanishes behind a tree.

♪♪

When it reappears a few seconds later,

It's only visible for a moment.

That's when detectives make a critical discovery.

What is that?

♪♪

Narrator: detectives working the captain freddy m*rder case

Have spotted the star capella being piloted up the cove

Three days after captain freddy was m*rder*d.

As the star capella emerges from behind the tree,

Something catches their eye.

You're able to see absolutely that there is

Some type of figure on the boat.

Canning: you could tell that there was a person

Standing towards the engine and the rudder,

Piloting that boat towards the end of the cove.

Narrator: the sailboat carries on traveling

Further inland, and out of the camera's view.

With captain freddy's body likely below deck,

Detectives suspect that the person they saw

Has something to do with his m*rder.

I'm feeling like I am looking at the suspect.

♪♪

Detective canning.

Narrator: two days into the investigation,

The autopsy results for captain freddy are in.

The initial autopsy results were inconclusive.

And the medical examiner stated that it might be impossible

To determine the actual cause of death.

All right.

Narrator: without that information,

It'll be even harder to find captain freddy's k*ller.

♪♪

With the manner of captain freddy's death unexplained,

And his k*ller still at large,

His family are at their wit's end.

[ Crying ] I would go to bed crying.

And when I would wake up,

Of course, it would hit me again,

And I would just wake up crying.

I mean, I did that for a lot of days.

Just that uncertainty

That maybe we would never know who did this.

Narrator: detectives pick up their investigation

At warwick cove marina, half a mile closer to the scene,

Where captain freddy moored his boat,

Hoping for more footage of the mystery sailor.

Excuse me, detective canning.

We're doing an investigation in the area.

Just wondering if you have any security cameras.

Yeah, we've got one on the road out here.

Narrator: the marina is equipped with two camera systems,

One covering the road leading to the marina

And a second system monitoring the marina's parking lots

And the harbor itself.

♪♪

♪♪

Detectives start viewing from august 1st,

The day they believe captain freddy was m*rder*d.

♪♪

Most of the footage has been wiped from that day.

But one camera angle remains,

Covering the road, into the marina.

♪♪

♪♪

At 4:20 a.m., A dark-colored pickup truck

Is caught on camera leaving the marina.

Canning: 4:20 in the morning is an odd time

For movement to be in that area.

Our hopes at that time was that this truck

Could have possibly been involved

In whatever happened with fernando silva.

Narrator: it's the only vehicle caught on camera

In the early hours.

♪♪

Detectives keep watching that camera.

♪♪

And almost 12 hours later, at 3:21 p.m...

...the same pickup is back.

♪♪

There it is again.

That's the same truck.

Narrator: in the daylight,

They can see that it's a maroon dodge ram.

But they can't glean any more than that.

The image itself was not sharp enough to make out

The actual license plate or how many people in the truck

Or who they were.

Narrator: to see if they can find the pickup again,

Detectives pull up the footage from the next day,

August 2nd, the day after captain freddy was m*rder*d...

♪♪

...and spot something in the distance.

-Right there, same truck. -That's right.

Where are they going?

Narrator: but they still can't i.d. The driver.

It's a bit frustrating knowing you're kind of right there,

You're about to get what you need,

But it's just a little bit out of reach.

Narrator: detectives roll the recording on.

♪♪

At 7:07 a.m. The next day, on august 3rd,

A familiar sight.

-Look, there's the truck. -Hmm. Back again.

Narrator: and this time,

Investigators can make out a driver and a passenger.

It was clear that the driver was wearing a red shirt,

And the passenger was wearing a white one.

Narrator: detectives have footage

From the other cameras on this day.

So they switch to the next camera along.

Which overlooks the north parking lot

And pick up the mysterious vehicle again.

Seconds after it parks, someone gets out.

Finally, a suspected k*ller

Is about to show his face on camera.

Narrator: detectives investigating the mystery

Of captain freddy's m*rder have honed in on a maroon truck,

Spotted several times near the marina

Where he moored his boat.

♪♪

At 7:07 a.m. On august 3rd, two days after investigators

Believe captain freddy was m*rder*d,

One man gets out of the vehicle.

You could see the passenger exit the truck

And start walking down seminole street,

Towards where fernando silva docked his boat.

Narrator: and where his body was probably left to rot.

♪♪

Investigators watch as the man heads past the camera

Towards the marina.

They're eager to pick up his trail on the next camera.

But that's when they run out of luck.

I can't believe it, we're blind here.

That camera is motion-based.

The only time that camera was gonna record

Was when somebody was close to the camera.

If there was activity at the boat,

That wasn't gonna be enough to trigger the camera.

Narrator: then...

A passerby walks down the marina's jetty,

Activating the system.

The camera overlooks the marina.

Captain freddy's sailboat can be seen in the far corner,

Moored to its private dock.

Toussaint: we were lucky.

This camera activated and began to record at the same time

That there's activity over on the boat for the first time.

Narrator: detectives suspect

This is the passenger from the maroon pickup truck.

Detectives look more closely.

And it's clear the man is doing something on the boat

The day after captain freddy was k*lled.

His body is probably onboard.

The camera stops recording soon thereafter.

So with nothing else to go on,

Detectives switch back to the parking-lot camera...

♪♪

...and see the man walking back across the parking lot.

♪♪

He and the man in the red shirt then drive away.

Canning: it was interesting to see that this person --

Was he coming back to check on fernando silva?

Was he coming back to cover up the scene?

Narrator: detectives keep watching.

And just 30 minutes later, the men are back.

Canning: shortly thereafter,

A subject is seen walking from that area...

...down the dock toward the star capella.

Narrator: and back onto captain freddy's boat.

This time he's not empty-handed.

Toussaint: he's carrying something large.

Can't tell what it is,

Not sure what it is, but at the same time,

I'm feeling that there's gonna be something here

That's gonna be important to the case.

Narrator: the man proceeds to spend five minutes

Working on the back of the boat,

But what he's doing isn't clear.

He then makes his way back in the direction of the truck.

The two men in the maroon truck

Make multiple trips to the marina

Throughout the course of the afternoon and early evening...

...each time, returning to the boat and working away.

Robillard: what type of action would have to be done on the boat

To make these two subjects return to it

Several times in one day?

Narrator: the sheer volume of activity

Leaves detectives with no doubt

That these men have something to do with captain freddy's demise.

And all this activity must be the process of covering it up.

Detectives pull up the footage

From the following day, august 4th.

♪♪

At 8:17 a.m. On august 4th, we see the maroon pickup truck

Entering the lot of warwick cove marina

And the passenger exit the vehicle

And head directly towards the dock

Where fernando silva's boat was.

♪♪

Narrator: then the truck heads back out.

But this time there's something different.

Toussaint: this was curious, 'cause it was the first time, really,

That the truck showed up with two people.

One person got out and stayed behind,

And the truck left.

Narrator: investigators switch to the harbor camera,

And they're in luck.

The motion-activated camera is rolling.

♪♪

♪♪

Robillard: we could see

That this male continued down the dock

And was boarding fernando silva's boat.

Narrator: after just a few seconds,

The camera shuts off due to lack of motion.

After 47 minutes of downtime,

The dockside camera is reactivated by a passerby.

But something's missing.

During those 47 minutes, the star capella has vanished.

Toussaint: because the camera was motion-based,

While it was not recording,

Somebody either towed or piloted that boat away.

Narrator: investigators pay a visit

To the manager of the private dock

Where captain freddy usually moored his boat

To see if he recognizes the suspects.

I just wonder if I could show you

A few photos of some suspects we have in the area.

I saw these two guys.

Robillard: the witness remembers the two males

Attempting to install a new motor.

Narrator: the two men told the dock manager

They'd come to move the boat at captain freddy's request,

And he thought no more of it.

Canning: we learned that a boat was possibly obtained

By a couple of individuals from an ed stansel

Who was only a couple of streets over

From warwick cove marina.

Narrator: the detectives quickly follow up with stansel,

A local man known for selling secondhand boat parts.

They were here a couple weeks back.

They bought a motor off of him for $80,

And they loaded the motor into

What he said was a maroon pickup truck.

You wouldn't happen to know their names, would you?

We were able to ascertain the names

Of the individuals

To be richard baribault and troy gunderway.

-Thank you very much. -You're welcome.

Thank you.

Narrator: police believe these men k*lled captain freddy,

But they're still an ocean away from proving it.

I need to put out an apb for richard baribault

And troy gunderway.

[ Siren wails ]

♪♪

Narrator: surveillance footage

Has put troy gunderway and richard baribault

Square in investigators' sites

For the m*rder of captain freddy.

♪♪

Police track down the two suspects and make an arrest.

Troy gunderway is taken from his residence...

...and richard baribault is caught driving

The maroon dodge ram seen in the footage.

Investigators get the interrogations underway.

They won't have an airtight case

Unless one of the suspects cracks.

Baribault is up first.

After hours of grueling interrogation

Richard baribault maintains he didn't k*ll captain freddy.

So investigators try to get troy gunderway talking.

Detectives turn up the heat on gunderway.

Eventually, after confronting him

That we're going to analyze several pieces of evidence

Including surveillance tapes,

Cellphone records,

I mentioned it to him numerous times

To the point he finally broke.

♪♪

Narrator: investigators determined that in early july,

Baribault and gunderway overheard captain freddy

Talking about his recent keno winnings.

You live around here?

Yeah, actually just down by the marina.

Sensing an opportunity,

They tried to befriend captain freddy.

Star capella. She is the love of my life.

They devised a plan to, in his own words,

"Roll the old man," which essential meant rob.

Narrator: in the early morning of august 1st,

Baribault and gunderway sneak on to the star capella

While captain freddy sleeps.

Robillard: richard baribault entered the boat

And knocked something over while entering it.

At that point, fernando silva woke up,

Was struck several times by mr. Baribault.

[ Silva grunting ]

Narrator: when the beating finally ends,

Captain freddy is unconscious on the floor.

The marina cameras capture baribault and gunderway leaving.

Later that day, they return

To check if captain freddy is still alive.

A recorded search request made by baribault

On august 3rd is recovered from his cellphone...

...supporting gunderway's confession.

Original plan was to clean up the crime scene,

Get the boat started,

Move it out into the bay,

Drop anchor.

Narrator: gunderway planned to pour gasoline

Around the boat and set it on fire.

Then use the dinghy to get to shore.

But they couldn't start the motor.

♪♪

Baribault and gunderway finally get the motor running.

Troy gunderway sets off with the boat

While richard baribault drives to their agreed meeting point.

Canning: when troy finally got the motor started

And go south towards the bay,

He saw harbor master barris' boat in that direction.

He basically panicked,

Called richard on the phone, and told him, "change of plans.

I'm gonna pilot the boat up in a northerly direction."

Narrator: when he reaches the north of the cove,

Gunderway abandons ship,

Leaving freddy's remains onboard.

He then takes the dinghy to the shore,

Where baribault is waiting.

The two men then make their getaway.

But there was no hiding their horrendous crime.

The surveillance, in this case, was imperative.

It played a very intricate and key role.

Without the surveillance, it's a very good possibility

It would've remained unsolved.

Narrator: gunderway and baribault

Are both charged with the m*rder of captain freddy.

Gunderway pleads guilty.

Baribault denies any responsibility

And heads to trial.

When I first saw...

...him walk into the court room,

I was so filled with rage and hatred

And anger to see this person

That did this to my brother.

Narrator: in november 2017, troy gunderway is sentenced to 55 years.

Richard baribault gets life-plus-10.

The verdict gives captain freddy's loved ones

Some sense of peace,

But the heartache still lives on.

The fact that he was a part of my life has enriched me,

And, I think, enriched those people

That he's come into contact with.

Packard: he always made me feel like I was his special sister.

I miss him tremendously.

Everyone does.

The pain will get a little duller,

But it'll never go away.

It'll always be there.