- Female narrator: The tranquility of a lakefront
Community is shattered when a young son
Finds his father murdered.
- Donald: For someone to stab somebody
That many times, they're not normal.
- It was a--definitely a crime of passion.
- Narrator: As the case heats up,
Accusations fly.
- She said, "I was being the good mother."
- She was like a little goody two-shoes.
Too good to be true.
- She believed he may have,
Mob or mafia ties and that he might have something
To do with the murder.
- Narrator: Investigators begin a twisted journey
To uncover the truth.
- I think suspicions and greed
Kind of became infectious.
- Donald: They wanted to find a way
To pin something on me.
- They basically walled off communication.
They no longer were willing to cooperate
With the police.
- Narrator: When the cards fall into place,
They will reveal a vicious conspiracy
Crafted by a deadly duo.
- Jerry: It was a long-planned event.
That was not something spur of the moment.
- Patrick: They went into the apartment.
He described 'em, I think, as a home run.
- Mark: The detective asked him
What type of person would do this to somebody,
And he just put his head down and said,
"you're looking at him."
- ♪
♪♪
- Narrator: August 6, 1994.
It's a picture-perfect Saturday
In lake orion, michigan, a historic village
40 miles north of detroit.
- Not a place that you really hear much about
In the newspaper because not a lot of bad stuff
Happens there.
- Narrator: Around 10:30 a.M.,
The peacefulness of this community is shattered
When a handyman notices something alarming
In the parking lot of a local apartment complex.
- Mark: This person was out in the parking lot
Screaming and crying when, eh,
Somebody that had come to the apartment complex
To do some work had arrived, had talked to him briefly.
- Narrator: The young man identifies himself
As 16-year-old kevin boyd jr,
And says his father is in desperate need of help.
- Mark: Kevin told this individual that his dad
Was dead inside of an apartment.
This individual went inside of the apartment,
Turned on the lights and saw kevin senior
Basically lying in a pool of blood.
He was on the living room floor.
Uh, he had a pillow over his head.
Blood everywhere.
- Patrick: I was told there was a homicide
In lake orion and that the police chief uh,
At the time was requesting our assistance
With the investigation.
I responded to the scene.
I saw a, uh, male subject just inside the door.
- There were multiple stab wounds, ah,
To the victim, um, it was clear
That there was not a forced entry
Into the apartment.
Ah, and it was also clear that the victim suffered
From severe head trauma.
The level of assault, the level of viciousness
Of the attack is an important piece
Of evidence, ah, that would indicate
The type of crime this possibly could be.
- Patrick: With the number of wounds
We saw there, it appeared it was definitely a crime
Of violence and passion.
So, that led us to believe that whoever did this
Knew the victim.
- Narrator: Investigators immediately confirm
Their victim is 42-year-old kevin boyd.
- Jerry: Everyone knew kevin.
Kevin was a businessman in lake orion,
He had lived in lake orion most of his life and, uh,
He ran lake orion tool rental.
He had a, ah, very open personality,
Very likeable individual, and all around kinda nice guy.
- ♪
- Narrator: Born on September 27, 1951,
Kevin boyd grew up a half hour from lake orion
In the town of berkley, michigan,
The middle of seven kids.
- There were four half-sisters, one sister,
One brother and me.
He was a little red head with freckles.
He had the personality to match.
- Kevin was a happy-go-lucky person.
I mean, he was--he always had a smile on his face
And he--he was always joking.
- Narrator: In the early '70s,
Kevin met a woman who would change his life--
Lynn fleury.
- Lynette: He met her at a bar and started dating.
She lived in a very nice area,
But she was quiet compared to my brother.
- She was more of a free spirit,
Musician, played in a band.
- Narrator: In 1975, after 2 years of dating,
The couple tied the knot.
- It was at her parents' house,
And then they rented a hall for the reception.
He seemed happy.
- Narrator: Kevin was happier still
When their son, kevin junior, was born
Two years later.
- He was a sweet little boy.
Again, another red head with freckles.
- Narrator: To provide for his family,
Kevin started a tool rental company.
- There was a lot of new construction,
Development going on and anybody in town
That needed something, ah, you could rent it
From lake orion tool rental.
- Jayson: I started working for him when I was 12.
He could make everybody laugh,
Everybody had a nickname.
- Donald: It was a steady business.
We were outgrowing the location we were in,
That's how busy we were.
- Narrator: Despite kevin senior's
Flourishing rental business, his marriage began to fracture.
Lynn secretly struggled with alcoholism.
- Lynette: She admitted herself to a rehab center.
And it seems like when she got out of there,
Everything fell apart.
- Narrator: Around christmas of 1988,
Lynn dropped a bombshell:
She was leaving kevin for another woman.
- Lynette: Kevin was totally shocked--
Totally shocked.
I think he was kind of embarrassed.
I mean, how do you be married to somebody
That long and all of a sudden, you know?
- Donald: The relationship was over, they were separated.
He just gave her the house,
Gave her everything, and he went and rented an apartment.
He wouldn't sit there and mutter over everything.
He was done with it, I mean,
He just wanted to live his life.
- Narrator: Though lynn had primary custody
Of their son, kevin senior and kevin junior
Remained close.
And while lynn forged ahead with her girlfriend,
Kevin started seeing a fellow divorcee
Named judy kaminski.
- She was like a little goody two-shoes.
Too good to be true.
- She had a bubbly personality.
Really bubbly.
You could see kevin becoming more happier
And not depressed about what happened with him and lynn.
- Narrator: By the early 1990s,
Both kevin and lynn seemed to have found happiness.
Still, kevin junior struggled.
- Lynette: The older he got the more, uh--
How can I say it--"I'm a bad ass" attitude.
- He was always--seemed to be angry at something.
You know, he always just seemed to kind of have
A little chip on his shoulder.
He had a hard time with school, and then,
I would say, like, his smoking and drinking
Would probably be the biggest issues.
- Kevin junior had damaged two cars
So far while he was 16, and his father
Was in the process of buying him another car.
- He got in and out of, like, four or five schools
Because he kept getting kicked out of schools.
Everything was an excuse to him.
Nothing was his fault.
- Donald: Kevin would just shake his head
And say, "you ain't gonna believe this one, you know.
"the kid did it again.
He got thrown out of school."
- Narrator: After his latest expulsion,
Both lynn and kevin senior agreed
That kevin junior might do better under his father's roof.
- Kevin senior had a very strong work ethic,
And ah, kevin senior, ah, had expectations
For his son and he expected him to perform the same way.
- Patrick: I think the father was just trying to be
A good dad but kind of rein him in a bit.
- Narrator: But right before his junior year
Of high school, all hope for kevin junior's future
Seems shattered when he finds his father deceased
On August 6, 1994.
- Jerry: This victim was stabbed multiple times.
There were multiple locations on the body,
And there was severe blunt-force trauma to the head.
- Narrator: When investigators arrive,
They work quickly to process the scene.
- Jerry: The condition of the body,
And the placement of the body indicated
That he had fallen asleep in a recliner chair
And was assaulted.
As officers move into the rest of the apartment,
Uh, they began to see that, uh, there were sections
Of the apartment that were ransacked, uh,
That there was the appearance that the items
Were stolen and searched for.
In addition, it was discovered
That the victim's wallet was not found at the scene.
- Mark: There were some things
That investigators saw were missing as well,
Like the answering machine
Because there was a void spot where that would have been.
- Jerry: It had the appearance of a robbery
Even though there was no forced entry.
What we don't know is: Did he leave the door unlocked?
Uh, was he expecting somebody?
Uh, could have been a delivery,
Could have been a pizza, could have been
Some stranger that had access to his home via permission.
- Narrator: Coming up:
The search for answers takes a sinister turn.
- Mark: The people that did this,
Investigators knew from the scene,
Went there with a purpose and that purpose was to kill him.
- Patrick: At the autopsy, it was learned
That kevin had been struck by a metal object
That actually crushed his, uh, skull in.
- Narrator: And detectives don't have to look far
For their first suspect.
- Kevin junior, he was probably the one
We wanted to speak to the most.
- ♪
- Narrator: In lake orion, michigan,
Where violent crimes are few and far between,
Investigators struggle to make sense
Of 42-year-old kevin boyd's savage murder.
- Jerry: The investigators, after they arrived on the scene,
And they were able to make some obvious, notations of the type
Of assault that occurred as they move through
The apartment, ah, there was indications
That items had been tossed about, a typical ransack,
Ah, for, ah, a robbery-type crime.
- Narrator: After processing the scene,
Investigators send kevin's body to the coroner's office
For an autopsy.
While officers await the results,
They turn their attention to the person
Who found kevin, his son, kevin junior.
- Patrick: Kevin junior, he was probably the one
We wanted to speak to the most because--
Because he lived with his father,
And the way he acted there at the scene.
- Jerry: Kevin junior was extremely distraught
And emotional as any child would be
Finding their parents or their father's body.
They removed kevin junior from the scene.
- Narrator: Investigators immediately escort kevin
Back to the station for questioning.
When investigators ask if he'd heard anything
Suspicious leading up to the murder,
Kevin claims to have not been home.
- Kevin junior spent the night
With his girlfriend, uh, watching movies, uh,
In lapeer, michigan, about 25 minutes away
From lake orion.
- He got up the next morning and
That's when he started looking for his dad,
Probably around 9 o'clock in the morning.
- He tried calling his dad,
Couldn't get a hold of him, got concerned,
Drove to his business,
Wanted to know if his dad was there.
He basically told investigators
When he got there, he went inside
And saw immediately that his dad was dead.
- Narrator: Obviously still shaken,
The 16-year-old then provides investigators
With what could be an important clue.
- Jerry: He began to paint a possible motive
For the investigator.
He instructed the officer that his father
Had several guns, uh, in his apartment, and, uh,
Some other items of value, and that perhaps
Or possibly, that was the motive for this crime.
- Mark: Kevin senior had recently purchased a .44 magnum.
Um, it had like a--an eight-inch barrel on it.
It had a laser scope on it.
- Patrick: It was missing along with some rifles
And another handgun.
Also, there was some coins that were taken.
- They were mint, um, collector's coins, you know?
They were polished, they were--they were in seals.
- Narrator: As for who could have committed
This crime, kevin junior has no idea.
- Jerry: Investigators were trying to figure out
Who would, uh, attack and take his father's life
And what would be the motive.
Kevin junior, he had stated that he was not responsible
And had no knowledge.
- Narrator: Shortly after wrapping up
Their interview with kevin junior,
Police receive an unexpected phone call
From a man named jeff jerome.
- Jerry: He was a musician
And the night before, he was playing,
At a bar that was, uh, about five miles south
Of the apartment complex where kevin senior lived.
He got off at about 3 a.M.
- Mark: He went out to his pickup truck
And noticed that there was a wallet, uh,
In the pickup truck.
And there was an answering machine
In the pickup truck.
And he went through the wallet,
Was able to find a business card--it was kevin boyd.
- Narrator: Jeff can't explain
How a homicide victim's belongings ended up
In the back of his truck.
- Mark: Multiple people saw him there.
So, there was never any considerate--
Serious consideration that he was a suspect.
- Jerry: He was very, uh, insistent
With the investigators that the wallet
And the answering, uh, machine was not
In the back of his truck when he parked that at the bar.
So, that helped adjust, uh, or kinda clarify the time
Of death that this incident could have occurred.
- Narrator: Investigators put kevin's death
Between 11 p.M. When their witness arrived
At the bar and 3 a.M. When he left.
When detectives obtain the wallet,
They're surprised to find cash inside,
Along with several credit cards.
- If unknown assailants were coming into the home and robbing
And they're taking guns and other items of value,
Um, why would they not take the cash?
- Narrator: The answering machine
Is also a mystery.
- Mark: When they had recovered
The answering machine, um, from the individual
At the bar, the microcassettes were not in it.
- Jerry: So, that was an interesting clue,
Is: Did someone call ahead?
Did he have an appointment?
Uh, was this a business deal gone bad?
What was on that tape that could indicate
Who the killers are?
- Narrator: With the new potential timeline
Provided by mr. Jerome in hand,
Detectives circle their attention back to kevin junior
And his alibi.
- Patrick: Investigators talk to the girlfriend
And her mother.
They pretty much said that he couldn't have gone anywhere.
The trailer has thin walls and the mother--
She came out I think like, 4:30, 5 o'clock in the morning
And he was there.
She confirmed that he was there all night.
- Narrator: Investigators hope the results
From the autopsy can help move the case forward.
- Mark: It took a long time to do
Because of how brutal the murder was.
There were four to five blunt-force trauma injuries
To the head.
- Patrick: At the autopsy, it was learned
That kevin had--had been struck by a hard object,
A metal object that actually crushed his, uh, skull in.
- Mark: There was a paint transfer
From an object that was used to hit him in the head
Where they hit him so hard, they split his skin open
And there was black paint that was found embedded
In his skull.
So, that let investigators know we're dealing
With a black object, an elongated object,
Such as a baseball bat.
Something that would be able to generate that type
Of force with that type of paint transfer.
There was also approximately
21 stab wounds to his body.
Um, they were all over the place.
He had one to his face.
He had multiple on his stomach.
Multiple in his back.
- Donald: For someone to stab somebody
That many times, they're not-- they're not normal anyways.
I mean, even to stab a person once is not normal.
- Jerry: The autopsy determined
That this was a knife used that was approximately
Five inches in--in length.
There were also indication
That some of the stab wounds were post mortem.
The combination of the blunt-force trauma
To the head and the stab wounds were the cause of death.
- Mark: This is not what you would expect
If somebody saw an attack coming.
Investigators thought there were two people
To inflict that many wounds, that type.
- Mark: When somebody sees a knife attack coming
Or a baseball bat attack coming,
They get into a defensive posture.
So, you're gonna find deep cuts on their hands,
Deep cuts on their arms.
And here, there were two small cuts on his right hand
And a couple of minor bruises, um,
In his wrist area.
- Patrick: I mean, I would say that the--
If the initial blow was to the skull,
He didn't have the chance to really react.
- Mark: He got up, briefly tried to defend himself,
But could not overcome the two people
That just started stabbing him
And continued to beat him.
This crime was so brutal, it was apparent
To the investigators right off the bat,
This is somebody that knew him.
That tried making this look like it was a robbery.
The people that did this, investigators knew
From the scene, went there with a purpose
And that purpose was to kill him.
- Narrator: Coming up:
Suspicious actions call into question the woman
Closest to kevin boyd.
- Lynette: The day after he was murdered,
She was on her way to canada.
- The timing obviously raised suspicions in people.
- Narrator: And a risky side hustle
Leaves investigators wondering if kevin's killer
Was out for revenge.
- Jayson: The guys would go and show up
And basically empty the apartment.
It could have been a disgruntled person
That was evicted.
- ♪
- Narrator: In the days after the murder
Of kevin boyd senior, investigators theorize
That the popular businessman was the victim
Of a targeted hit and not a robbery gone wrong.
- Patrick: Well, we're going back through his associates.
We're trying to figure out what happened that night,
Who he had contact with.
- Jerry: So, during the investigation,
Everybody is going to be looked at,
Everybody's going to be interviewed.
- Narrator: Detectives discover
That kevin had a controversial side business.
- Patrick: Kevin senior had a business,
And they did the, uh, manual work as far as doing evictions.
Uh, he had a team that would go in and--
And, uh, carry out, you know, the possessions
And stuff like that.
- Jayson: Basically, landlords would call them
In the middle of the night, the guys would go
And show up and basically empty the apartment.
It could have been a disgruntled person
That was evicted.
- Multiple names came up and multiple names were obvious.
And some of those names were--
We don't think this person had something to do
With it, but we have to talk to them to see.
- Patrick: We're following up leads.
I mean, a lot of times we'd get a lead,
We'd follow it up, and it'd just, kind of, go nowhere.
- Narrator: Investigators also have to rule out
Suspects closest to home, starting with
Kevin's ex-wife, lynn.
- Patrick: She seemed a little upset and concerned.
I mean, this was her former spouse,
And she knew that her-- her son was quite upset.
- Narrator: Lynn swears to have no knowledge
Of her ex-husband's murder.
According to lynn, she and kevin were amicable
For the sake of their son, but rarely spoke about
Anything outside of parenting duties.
- Mark: Her alibi was her girlfriend.
Um, she was living with a individual
By the name of julie grain.
They had gone and rented some movies.
- She's very adamant, repeatedly told us that, no,
They were together all night, she never left the house.
- And julie grain backed that alibi up.
- Narrator: Investigators ask lynn
If she can think of anyone
Who might want her ex-husband dead.
Lynn immediately suggests don lucarelli,
Kevin's right-hand man.
- Jerry: She had given the name of don
As stating that he may have, uh,
Mob or mafia ties and that she believed
That he might have something to do with the murder.
- Narrator: Lynn also points a finger
At kevin's girlfriend, judy kaminsky.
- The day after he was murdered,
She was on her way to canada.
- She had gone with her son to canada
For the weekend.
- Mark: The timing obviously raised
Suspicions in people.
Obviously, she was interviewed.
She gave a completely logical explanation
As to what the trip was about.
She went to canada before she found out
That he was dead.
- Jerry: It was a long- planned event,
And it was ruled out that that was not something
Spur of the moment.
- Narrator: But it's not just the ill-timed travel
That raises eyebrows.
- Jerry: It was later discovered that, uh,
She had a life insurance policy on kevin senior.
And, uh, judy was a beneficiary.
That angle was investigated.
Um, it was determined that they jointly, uh,
Had decided to take that out because judy
Was a business partner, uh, as well.
And the purpose of that was to make sure
That if one of them were to die or pass away, uh,
The other one would have the funds
To run the business.
- Narrator: With kevin senior's long-term girlfriend
And business partner taken off the suspect list,
Kevin's loved ones gather to say goodbye
On August 9, 1994.
- Lynette: It was odd because the police
Were there sitting outside the funeral home.
- Narrator: Investigators keep a close eye
On one attendee in particular:
Don lucarelli.
- Mark: He was viewed as somebody
That they should look at because he had worked
For the business.
Um, there were some discussions
About him buying the, one of the businesses from kevin.
- Patrick: Obviously, we had to have don come in,
And he had to explain, you know, his alibi,
And everything.
- Donald: They asked me if I'd come down.
I said, "I have no problem."
So, I went down and took the polygraph test.
The one question that really stuck to me
Is like, "did you murder kevin boyd?"
Or, "do you have any knowledge
"of who murdered kevin boyd?" you know.
And they asked quite a few questions.
It--it was about a half-hour procedure.
- Mark: He passed it with flying colors.
After they asked him, "you know kevin,
"you know him as well as anybody, you know,
"if you had any suspects you know,
Who should we be looking at?"
And "lynn" immediately left his mouth.
- Donald: Right after the funeral,
Lynn never came up there, little kevin never came up
There to the burial site.
To find out, the next day, the reason they didn't go
To the burial site is they're too busy at the courthouse
Getting paper rights to take over lake orion rental.
- Jerry: Judy was a beneficiary
Of the life insurance policy on kevin senior.
- Patrick: But kevin was the beneficiary
Of the business and now that lynn was his, uh,
Guardian, she would be in charge of the business
And take care of stuff like that.
Kevin was convinced his dad had a lot of money
And he was going to run the business
With his mother, have all kinds of money
And life would be good.
- Jayson: Later, I went to lunch with little kevin.
The only thing he would say was, you know,
"I don't know what's going on, all's I know
"is I got to run $2 million dollar businesses now,"
And, you know, like that's all he cared about,
Like didn't even say anything about his dad.
- Narrator: Don tells detectives he fears lynn
Is destroying everything kevin worked so hard to build.
- Donald: When I wasn't there, I would drive by
And I could see her there running the place--
Her and julie, little kevin.
I know they sold an excavator
To somebody up in lapeer for half of what it was worth
Just to get cash.
- Jerry: Don, uh, became very concerned
Because there were some anomalies in the finances.
And one of the things that they had identified
Was that money was disappearing out of the safe.
- Narrator: According to don,
Only two people had access to that safe:
Him and kevin boyd senior.
- Donald: When I first started working for kevin,
He pulled a combination out of his wallet,
Put it down and he wrote right down
The same combination on a piece of paper
And he gave it to me.
And he says, "stick this in your wallet
"behind something, so you have it
"in case you ever forget the combination."
He goes, "trust me."
So, I knew the combination was always in his wallet.
- Jayson: Don had noticed one day that,
I believe it was lynn, came in
And just opened the safe right up and he was like,
"how did she do that? 'cause she doesn't have the code."
- Kevin was very private, he was very, um,
Secure-conscious.
Then all of a sudden, after he died,
Lynn was moving in to try and take that business over
And was going into that safe repeatedly.
And the only way she could have gotten that
Combination was if she had gotten a hold of
That piece of paper with the combination from his wallet.
- Narrator: Detectives head to
The police evidence room for a closer look.
- We were aware that the combination,
It was in kevin's wallet, and, and, uh, either myself,
Or one of the investigators went through the wallet.
- Mark: That piece of paper was missing.
It was literally the only thing missing
Out of the wallet.
- So, clearly, whoever had taken
The wallet had taken the combination.
- Narrator: Coming up:
A shocking suspect comes forward.
- Jerry: She contacted authorities
And stated that she wanted to recant her alibi
And she had additional information.
- You lie about stuff like that
Because you're covering stuff up,
You're trying to help somebody.
- ♪
- Narrator: Weeks after 42-year-old businessman
Kevin boyd was slaughtered in his living room,
Investigators strongly suspect
That his 41-year-old ex-wife, lynn boyd,
May be getting away with murder.
- When investigators wanted to go back and--
And talk to her, it was basically,
I've got a lawyer.
You're not talking to my son anymore either."
And they basically walled off communication.
They, they no longer were willing to cooperate
With the police.
- Narrator: Weeks turn into months
Without any movement in the case.
- I knew they were doing everything
They possibly could.
Um, the detectives kept constant contact with me.
- Narrator: Finally, on November 23, 1994,
3 months since the brutal murder
Of kevin boyd, a lawyer representing
Lynn's girlfriend, julie grain,
Requests a meeting with law enforcement.
- Jerry: At that point, I think suspicions
And greed kinda became infectious
Between julie grain, lynn boyd, and kevin junior,
And there were infighting.
And during one of these hostile confrontations
Between julie and lynn, um,
Julie then contacted authorities and stated
That she wanted to recant her alibi
And she had additional information.
- Narrator: Detectives immediately head
To julie's attorney's office to speak with her.
- Mark: Julie grain basically said
That she had lied, and that lynn had in fact
Left her house the night of the murder
And was gone for several hours
Between approximately 10 at night to 3 in the morning.
- Narrator: Julie swears she only made up the story
Because she believed lynn was innocent.
- Mark: Lynn had told her that her son
Was having some problems and that she met him
Up in the lake orion area at a burger king,
But if the police had found out about that,
It would look really bad.
So, she asked julie to lie for her.
And so, she went along with it and gave her the alibi.
- Narrator: But now, nearly four months later,
Julie claims lynn was involved in the murder.
- She says late October, lynn admitted to her
That she had killed kevin.
And now, julie's concerned, because she was the alibi, that
She was going to get involved, she's going to be charged also.
- She had brought some coins with her that she had found
At her house, and they were coins that were taken
From kevin senior's apartment the night he was murdered.
- She did submit to a polygraph examination,
And she was found to be truthful.
- Narrator: Detectives decide not to charge julie
With making false statements to authorities
And begin putting together their case against lynn.
Then, a week later, the mother of kevin junior's girlfriend
Calls the station with some troubling information.
- Her son-in-law is concerned because kevin had given him
A gun to get rid of early October.
And she says, "you may want to talk to him."
So, needless to say, myself and another
Investigator went up to, uh, lapeer and spoke with him.
- Narrator: The man's name is gary wilson,
And he's ready to come clean.
- Mark: He told the police, "kevin asked me to get rid
Of the .44 so I sold it to a drug dealer up in flint."
- Mr. Wilson agreed to go with us to try to recover
The gun in flint.
Ultimately, after a number of hours,
The gun turned up in the backyard of a house.
- There was no doubt--no doubt that that was the gun
That had been stolen from his dad's apartment.
- Narrator: Investigators don't charge gary wilson
With any crime and turn their attention
Back to kevin's girlfriend and alibi--andrea linton.
- She took a polygraph, did not do well on it,
And ended up admitting that her and kevin had gone to
The burger king at approximately 11 o'clock at night
And had met up with lynn,
And that kevin and lynn had gone out into the car and talked.
You lie about stuff like that because you're covering
Stuff up, you're trying to help somebody.
- So, right there, they knew kevin was involved.
- Narrator: But the case is about to take
An even more dramatic turn.
- As they were working on that angle, they received
A phone call at the oakland county sheriff's department,
And it was lynn telling them she couldn't take it anymore,
And to come and get her because she was responsible
For killing her husband.
- Jerry: I think, at some point,
Lynn determined that there was enough evidence
And information that she's going to be caught.
- For so many months now, she had been lying to us, so
What the question's going to be, well,
When--was she lying now, or was she lying then?
- Narrator: After four months of claiming
Her innocence, lynn is now in police custody
And confesses to killing kevin senior,
Insisting that julie grain masterminded
The whole thing.
- Patrick: She mentioned that she had used the bat
And that julie had used the knife.
But during the--her statements,
On several occasions, she referred to julie as a he,
So that kind of drew our attention.
- Narrator: To detectives,
It seems lynn just revealed the true identity
Of her co-conspirator--her own son.
- We took kevin into custody
Because we feel we had, at this time,
Based on the circumstantial evidence,
That he was involved.
- In the beginning, he was argumentative, "you guys got
"the wrong guy. What are you guys doing? You guys are wrong
About--it's julie, it's julie, it's julie."
- Mark: Then one of the detectives pulled out
The gun with the scope, and kevin just got deflated.
And the detective just looked at him
And he goes, "kevin, stop, we know."
The detective asked him what type of person
Would do this to somebody like your father,
And he just put his head down and said,
"you're looking at him."
- Patrick: I was like, "whoa, whoa, wait a second here.
"kevin, you're tell me you, you killed your dad?"
He says, "yeah," so then he gave it all up.
- Lynn and kevin themselves thought of this,
Um, thought how to do it, and together,
Built up an anger towards him.
So, they decided to do this.
They drove to the apartment,
They waited till he fell asleep,
They went inside of the apartment.
- Patrick: His mother took a couple of
Real hard swings at his dad's head and
He described 'em, I think, as home runs.
- And to the surprise of both of 'em,
He got on his feet, so they kinda panicked,
And lynn continued to hit him in the head with the bat.
- When kevin was asked, "what did you do at that point?"
He said something to the effect of,
"I just went crazy with the knife."
He admitted that he just started stabbing his dad
Over and over and over again.
- Patrick: It's the first time
In the whole investigation I saw him cry and, uh, real tears.
I mean, he wasn't putting on a show.
I mean, I could tell that this was a--
It was a classic confession.
- Narrator: As for motive,
Kevin junior claims that his dad was abusive
And controlling.
But investigators contend there's far more
To the story.
- Jerry: When all of the evidence,
And all of the interviews, uh, are compiled, um,
It was clear to the investigators lynn
Had manipulated kevin junior uh, that the father was evil,
And that he as a bad person and, uh,
That if he were to be killed, their lives
Could be much better and safer.
- Mark: Kevin junior, I think manipulated his mom
For attention.
There was one incident where he had some--
Some bruising to his face and he told his mom,
"that he had gotten into a fight uh with his father."
It wasn't true, but it built up a rage in lynn.
I mean she was telling people, "he beat him up, he beat him up,
"I'm going to kill him, I'm going to kill him, this--
This guy is evil."
- Narrator: Coming up:
Detectives uncover the final piece to the puzzle.
- Patrick: This t-shirt fell out
And they opened the t-shirt and it,
There was a knife in there.
- Narrator: And a mother turns on her son.
- Mark: She said, "I was being the good mother
"and I initially took the fall for him, but that's not true,
I wasn't there, I had nothing to do with it."
- ♪
- Narrator: In the winter of 1994,
Lynn and kevin boyd jr separately confessed
To participating in the murder
Of lynn's ex-husband and kevin's father,
Kevin boyd senior.
But they are telling two very different stories
Of the same crime.
- Mark: You know, it-- right off the bat,
They weren't able to get their stories straight.
- Lynette: I didn't believe a word they said.
Lynn said different things in the confession
From kevin.
You really don't know what to believe.
- Jerry: And both of the individuals, at that point,
Then were incarcerated, pending trial.
- Narrator: In may of 1995, 9 months
After the murder, there's a stunning development.
- Jerry: Now you have a business that no one owns, right?
The people that, uh--the heir apparents
Are all incarcerated and charged with the murder.
So, uh, the building was being sold.
- Patrick: The last item that was sold was a compressor.
And as they're moving it, this t-shirt fell out,
And they opened the t-shirt and it--
There was a knife in there.
- Donald: Kevin had these shirts made up
For all the guys, on evictions, and
He never left little kevin out either,
So the shirt the knife was wrapped up in
Was a medium, and he only bought a medium shirt
For little kevin.
- Patrick: They couldn't find any blood, uh,
Or prints or anything like that.
I did speak with the, uh, medical examiner.
He says, "this knife is consistent
With what could have been used."
- Narrator: It's not a smoking gun,
But it may be as close as the prosecution
Is going to get.
Mother and son are tried separately
The following year, in complete disregard
Of their earlier confessions, both now claim innocence.
- Lynn tried to put it on kevin
And kevin tried to put on julie during the trial itself.
- Narrator: At both trials, the prosecution argues
Lynn boyd was motivated by greed
And a long-standing hatred of her ex-husband.
- Patrick: Lynn's, uh, alimony was running out
And she figures that if--and because kevin is a juvenile
Right now, had she waited three weeks,
It might have been different at the time but, uh,
Uh that way she'd be his guardian
And she could run the business and, uh,
Everything would work out okay.
- Mark: Lynn didn't take the stand at her trial,
But the defense at her trial, clearly from the questioning
And from the argument, was to blame her son.
"my son did this and I was being the good mother
"and I initially took the fall for him,
"um, but that's not true I wasn't there, I had nothing
To do with it, it was my son that did it."
Kevin went from, "I was in the trailer park
"the whole night with my girlfriend, I never left,"
To "I was there, I had the knife, this is what I did,
"this is what I took" um, to then, later on,
Reverting back to "I gave them the keys,
But I wasn't there. It was my mom and julie."
- Jerry: They whip-sawed back and forth.
And they still tried to bring julie into it.
But when you play a taped interview of a, uh,
Suspect confessing to a crime,
That has a lot of weight with the jury.
Um, and in this case, the taped interviews
Of both lynn boyd and kevin junior
Were very damning.
- Narrator: Both mother and son are found guilty,
And with now 18-year-old kevin tried as an adult,
Both are sentenced to life without parole.
- Jayson: I believe kevin acted on his own "tuitions,"
At the end of the day.
Yet, did she put in his head, like, "oh, you'll be rich
"and have all this money, and you won't have to
Deal with your dad anymore?"
Sure, she probably did say that.
But do I buy that as an excuse? I don't.
- Lynette: I wanted them to know
That they killed somebody that loved them dearly.
He did.
Probably even after the divorce,
I think he still loved her, you know.
- Narrator: Almost 30 years after the murder,
Lynn boyd remains behind bars,
But kevin junior had a change of fate, thanks to
A 2012 ruling by the us supreme court.
- Jerry: There was a recent supreme court
Ruling on, uh, juvenile offenders
That were sentenced as an adults, uh,
For life or long sentences.
Uh, as a result of that supreme court ruling,
Kevin junior's case was brought before the court.
Um, he was re-sentenced.
- The judge basically vacated
The life without parole sentence
And sentenced him to a minimum of 25 years
In prison, which he had basically already served,
And he was paroled in January of this year.
- Lynette: I don't believe he should be free.
I'm not gonna wish him harm,
But I can't welcome him with open arms right now.
- Donald: It's just sad, I mean it's very sad,
'cause the kid doesn't understand
How much his dad really loved him.
Dad woulda done anything for that boy.
He just couldn't see it.
- ♪