Episode 368

SPEAKER_1 (0:00)

Sword and Scale contains adult themes and violence and is not intended for all audiences. Listener discretion is advised.

Brian Wimbley (0:13)

Well, I'm too drunk to even really row in. What do I do?

Oh my god, this is actually happening right now.

Mike Boudet (0:23)

Episode 367, episode 267, episode 276 Who gives a shit? Will you quit correcting me? It doesn't really matter. Just listen to the goddamn show and enjoy it, or don't. I don't care. Stop telling me things. I don't want to hear it.

I am not having a good week, as you can tell. But that's not your problem. A duck keeps shitting in my pool, if you must know. I can't get rid of it. Anyway, that's not your problem. Let's get to some murder, shall we?

This is a story I discovered back in November of 2022 He checks the thermostat setting, and then starts preparing for his next interview. It's the one he hopes will finally explain how a dead man ended up in that field.

SPEAKER_5 (2:22)

Oh, hi. How are you doing?

Chris Heyward (2:24)

Oh, what did I say? I have a chair here, sir.

SPEAKER_7 (2:27)

You're Mr. Ochoa?

Chris Heyward (2:29)

Ochoa.

I'm Chris Heyward, nice to meet you. It's an apartment call, I reckon. You guys have probably already met.

Mike Boudet (2:36)

Mr. Ochoa was taken into custody for what he assumes is a traffic violation.

But he won't be surprised by what Detective Heyward wants to discuss. He's hoping Ochoa can provide all the answers.

Chris Heyward (2:50)

Yes, we're hoping to talk to you about another case, one of our many cases we got going. It's a case that ties you into it with some DNA.

Mike Boudet (2:59)

Detective Heyward has been doing this for quite a long time. He served the state of Michigan for 25 years and is close to retirement.

This case might very well be his last. But his years of experience taught him a gentler approach to interrogation.

SPEAKER_7 (3:17)

I'm trying to ask what it's for, if you don't mind me asking.

Chris Heyward (3:19)

Yep, it's tied into a body that was found in the field up by Geneva.

SPEAKER_7 (3:25)

Got you.

Mike Boudet (3:26)

It was November 3rd, 2022, when he had been called to a field in Van Buren County, just east of South Haven. A man had called in and said that he found a body while scouting for hunting locations.

The field wasn't easy to access, not by vehicle anyway. The only way into the field was a muddy path cutting through the woods.

Chris Heyward (3:48)

Based on some of the background that we've done on you, I kind of have my thoughts on, and we do too, on our thoughts on maybe how this thing went down. But we still gotta put it together, so.

But yeah, your DNA was found right there at the scene. So do you know which one I'm talking about?

SPEAKER_7 (4:08)

No, sir.

Mike Boudet (4:09)

In this field, next to a large pond was the body of a man.

The first thing Detective Hayward noticed was the man's position. His body lay east to west directly between a set of tire tracks. Everything about the scene suggested that the body was dumped in that field. A theory further supported by the lack of shoes on the body. No one walks into a field in their stockings, especially in November. The man's t-shirt was pulled up under his arms as if he'd been dragged. His clothes were disheveled and badly worn.

It was the kind of wear that looked older than the night he died.

SPEAKER_7 (4:52)

Because I ain't gonna lie, some of the stuff I'm talking about, a friend of mine did bring something up to me about something like that.

Mike Boudet (5:00)

The body was beaten and bruised, but the most noticeable injury was on the leg. His right leg was contorted in an unnatural position.

It appeared his femur was broken. Identifying the body wasn't difficult. And one of his socks was his wallet which contained his license. His name was Lashaun Keith.

He was a 33-year-old, 310-pound, 6-foot-1 man whose only relatives lived in Georgia. The only clues as to where he came from and who put him there were the light-colored sand covering his body and a single glove found nearby.

SPEAKER_7 (5:42)

You know, he said somebody that he knew needed something.

Not like, you know, weapon or nothing, it was just like gloves and all of this. And the guy that he was telling me about, he said he do construction, so I'm thinking it's for a job, job.