The 20-year-old says he's heading to Waffle House for a late night food run with on-duty cop and best friend, Officer Joshua Guthrie--leaving his service weapon at home, in its holster and in the closet. Emphasis on evidence. The good old boys and his grandfather police chief should also get some time for covering up this crime. He says she started poking him in the chest with her finger, telling him that he had to admit there was another woman. It seems both Matthew and Jessica were secretly stockpiling ammunition for a bitter custody fight. That stuff apparently, from what we were able to discover through our investigation, went through several different peoples hands, which taints our chain of custody, Yates said. Crime Watch Daily reached out to Officer Matthew Boynton and got no response. Stay outside.. She says under the helm of Wendell Beam, the sheriff's department had a reputation for protecting its own. Collectively, they examine the bullets' trajectory from the closet, into the bedroom wall and ceiling. She's breathing, but unresponsive. I was excited I wasn't going to have to put up with him anymore because honestly I felt like his maid, and that's all I felt like.. The conversation bounces from officer to officer. The doctor believes Jessica's injuries may have been caused by blunt-force trauma. Griffin cop cleared in wife's shooting charged with making false I didn't, I didn't, I didn't try to brush off anything. The way our charter is structured, termination takes two or three days. DeMarco pressed Mathews. Boynton: Can you please dispatch a unit out to my location, in reference to my wife? Keyword: Admitted. She made a full recovery, but doesnt remember a thing. Around 9 o'clock on the night of Thursday, April 14, 2016, Matthew Boynton calls a lieutenant on duty and reports Jessica is hitting him again. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. Dr. Vernon Henderson, chief of Trauma and Critical Care at Atlanta Medical Center was on-call the morning Jessica came in and treated her for the next month while she was in the hospital. A Griffin Police Officer's wife herself, the reporter called DeMarco, on Sept. 28, the investigator who was in charge of the investigation for the GBI, to question him about the case and the photo that nagged her, and that for her, called into question how anything they investigated was trustworthy. After getting Matthew's phone records, Sanders discovers during that same time Matthew was making calls to 911, he was texting his mistress. My understanding of the laws of physics is that one person cannot be in two places at the same time," Mathews said in an interview with 11Alive. I was at Atlanta Medical Center for a month. "I said 'It's Jessica isn't it?' They had Tollin soon after, and were married on Oct. 24, 2015. Jessica is also slinging allegations at Matthew's brothers in blue at the Griffin Police Department, and Matthew's grandfather Sheriff Wendell Beam. The one seen in the police body-cam is not the same gray sweatshirt he was wearing at Walmart earlier that night. Jessica has given Will every piece of evidence in her case, including that divorce diary. There's little if any visible blood spatter inside the closet. A lot, she said, doesn't add up. He lied about the lock then he says he kept his gun in there hmmm. There's no way I could have shot myself in the top of the head and not kill myself. Its so obvious a coverup. Making his way outside, he calls for assistance over his radio. A Griffin cop finally arrives to take Matthew's formal domestic violence complaint. "According to my interview with Griffin police chief, that second shot had to have been fired while the gun was either on the floor or almost on the floor very close to that wall.". However, this does not surprise me how they covered this up and they wonder why good citizens dont come forward when a crime takes place.HUMMMMM, https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/10/07/what-if-your-abusive-husband-is-a-cop. I finally had the evidence that I needed that Matthew was cheating on me. On May 11, Will Sanders met withYancy and Sgt. She's having suicidal thoughts," he says calmly to the dispatcher. After you got on the radio and you were outside communicating on the radio, you never went back in to actually check, check on the kids, the agent questioned Matthew about once he removed himself from the apartment. Matthew and Jessica's two sons are still inside. In turn Jessica begins keeping a so-called "dirty divorce diary," a red notebook she kept carefully hidden in a closet. Who does the neighbor think sent that text message to Matthew's phone from Jessica's? And that's all I needed, so I was on cloud nine.". Do you think Matthew did something? he asked her bluntly. Is that what you're saying?" I would have said, 'I can't do this anymore, comma, take care of Tolin and Tyler, period.' With his gun raised and arms poised, he holds his weapon out in front of him with both hands. Five days after his wife was shot, Matthew talked with the GBI again. From her hospital bed, she spoke to the GBI. Agent DeMarco approaches Meagan Browning, who's joined by Eric Kshywonis, at 61 Ashford Waythe apartment just downstairs from Jessica and Matthew. [I'm] gonna have to kick that door in Jones relays to the other officers standing on the other side of the closet, barreling through it in just two swift and deliberate kicks. The specific items Lester alleged Boynton had stolen included a Toshiba laptop valued at $500; clothes valued at $300; jewelry valued at $50; kitchen items valued at $500; and a retainer valued at $150. What Sanders found most alarming was the time frame Matthew Boynton says he heard those two gunshots. "The only thing that I can tell you is that Matthew Boynton's account of events are not correct.". While Trammel's body cam is out of juice tonight, Jones's bodycam spots Trammel as the other officers enter the apartment. Moments later Matthew's fellow officers from the Griffin, Georgia Police Department arrive on scene with body-cameras recording. Waiting for your permission to load facebook comments. Sanders wants to know how Matthew was texting his mistress from this very phone if he never reentered the apartment. VIDEO: Did a police officer stage his wife's suicide attempt? That phone never got back into the officer's hand. She's got good pulse. If America is really a first-world country, it will enact legislation that takes this issue seriously, and fund more studies and programs to preventing domestic violence and identifying and protecting victims. Do you know what she used? asks one of the emergency responders in the room. Since the original publication of this story, 11Alive's Brendan Keefe and Jessica Noll have taken another look at the evidence in this story, and talk to one reporter who said she was threatened when she had questions about the investigation. The court ruled in his favor, giving him custody, and granting Jessica once-weeklysupervised visitation. A text message is sent to his phone from Jessicas phone. It was actually from him. Once he arrives on the scene, Trammel makes contact with Matthew, who tells him that he and his wife got into an argument. That bullet ends up toward the top left of the closet. The paramedic begins accessing her head wound, but they're having a hard time finding it through her hair and thick blood. He checks the closet where he keeps his police-issued firearm, but the door is locked. However, the GBIs own photographs, search warrant and evidence log all corroborate that the officers phone was on the kitchen counter after Matthew had already left the apartment. Yates also said Boynton had provided a statement during the subsequent Internal Affairs investigation, acknowledging the items Sanders turned in were Lesters belongings. Making his way outside, seconds later, he calls for assistance over his radio. Matthew claims they returned home just after 11 p.m. His proof? That was the best physical evidence that we had, Yates said. The first bullet went upward at 54-degree angle. $5 plus $5 parking. Well I couldn't get it for him because I couldn't get it out of his gun holster, she said. In it, she logs Matthew Boynton's every move, including his unexplained disappearances with their two boys. A phone that text messages were sent and received to/from following his recollection of hearing,POP-POP! and running out of the apartment. She's still breathing. The quiet is broken when the baby begins to mumble from the other room. Guthrie calls Matthew and they chat for two minutes. However, he did not confirm that sequence. Here recently she did confirm that the second baby's not mine. It doesn't sound like anything I would say. I mean you can't prove that," DeMarco. I do not have any other items of Jessicas.. She alleged that many of Lesters belongings remained in Boyntons residence. Matthew sends another text to his mistress, a Spalding County dispatcher, Give me a few. Everything, he says, led to him wanting out of the marriage. Eventually, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation concluded what they believe happened inside that closet; Matthew Boynton was never charged with any connection in harming his wife. No, never. And would a dad leave his kids inside with a suicidal woman and a loaded gun? And its assigned to Matthew. One of those bullets went through the roof, the other lodged into the baby's bedroom wall. Matthew Boynton is clearly hysterical. "The Officer's Wife" is a new podcast that will examine the evidence in the 2016 shooting of a 19-year-old mother and ask: Who pulled the trigger? It's like some of my family they hear all these people say, 'Oh I think he did it and it was planned.' Just minutes after Jessica is airlifted to an Atlanta trauma center, Sheriff Beam asks deputies to deliver the devastating news to Jessica's family that she's dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. "I think what happened after they come home from Walmart, Jessica and Matthew got into an argument. In April 2016, the wife of a Griffin, Ga. police officer is found inside a locked closet. She spoke to the GBI, from her hospital bed. I told him, You're going to have to go get it, because I cant get it out of the case., Do you know how it was that you got shot?, Have you ever had any type of thoughts about hurting yourself?. But Jessica's trauma surgeon, a 30-year veteran in the field, had a few thoughts of his own about what could have happened and what likely did not happen that night. Who shot Jessica Boynton? A new podcast investigates | kcentv.com She's having suicidal thoughts. Jessica Boynton was initially . While sifting through pages and pages of the report, a GBI evidence photo caught her attention. Did she try to kill herself or shoot herself in the head? Both Jessica and Matthew reportedly want a divorce. Jessica believes her suicide attempt was staged. Matthew Boynton allegedly deprived ex-wife Jessica Lester of her belongings and lied to the authorities about doing so, Griffin police Lt. Michael Natale said in a statement. Matthew Boynton interrogation video with Griffin Police Department. The air is thick with mystery, as the officers approach the locked closet. After establishing her retainer was not community property, Boynton was arrested on two felonies false statements and writings and violation of his oath of office. I think it just kind of happened. "Most people would not view it as such, I don't believe," said Sheila Mathews. That piece of evidence was a photo showing Matthew's cell phone next to the microwave inside the apartment. Jones shouts as he travels deeper insidehis weapon drawn. I never wanted to hurt myself before, she said, going on to say that shes never handled a gun, nor shot one. Jessica Boynton, 19, was a stay-at-home mom to 8-month-old Tyler and 2-year-year old Tollin. Matthew Boynton: The evidence and investigation that led to his arrest GBI begins interviewing neighbors and Matthew interviews with the GBI later that morning. | Examine the evidence yourself. This stinks, and the fact remains, it appears he tried to kill his wife, so what are you guys going to do?? Jessica Boynton was just 19 years old when she was found inside a locked closet with a gunshot wound to her head. Then he hits investigators with a jaw-dropper. "Nobody ever asked him about why he changed clothes," said Sanders. Armed with bodycams attached to their uniforms, the officers burst through the door, quickly passing Matthew's phone, a black and grey Verizon LG smartphone, on the kitchen counter. I hadn't really put much thought into it, Jessica told him. In 2016, something terrible happened to Jessica Boynton, a 19-year-old mother of two. He later tells investigators that he heard Tyler crying, and then, POP-POP!. Before he leaves, Matthew says Jessica makes a bizarre request: She asks him to call an ambulance. He's not a cop or even a private investigator. The remaining items such as a hope chest, clothing and other miscellaneous items were returned to Jessica. Who shot Jessica Boynton? A new podcast investigates | wusa9.com The air is thick with the trepidation, as officers approach the locked closet. The doctor was not contacted by the GBI until July 20. "I would want to know how he did it and how does he live with himself every day knowing that he did something like this," said Jessica. Griffin police officer wife Jessica Boynton shot | 11alive.com Her head shaved. It sounded like a gunshot. "Nobody would shoot themselves like this," said retired homicide detective Tim Miley. Dr. Vernon Henderson, chief of Trauma and Critical Care at Atlanta Medical Center was on-call the morning Jessica came in and treated her for the next month while she was in the hospital. "Another reasonable explanation is that there was a fight over the gun and during the course of that she was injured, Matthew thought she was dead and put the gun underneath.". There's so many useless words thrown in there, then there's so many words left out, she said. They're saying it was self-inflicted, she said. "I don't really know what happened in the closet, I just know that I did not try to kill myself," said Jessica Boynton. And her lawyer was useless I wrote to her years ago. A Griffin police officer who was investigated in his ex-wife's shooting was charged Friday, July 28, 2017, with making false statements and violating oath after officials say he took her belongings, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. said Sheila Mathews. Unfortunately Matthew Boynton didn't have anything to say. The subsequent investigation was short-lived, with it having been deemed a "civil matter." I'm sure as you've heard, I'm getting a divorce. Who shot Jessica Boynton? A new podcast investigates | 13wmaz.com And, the first officer on scene, as recorded by body cam footage, was not interviewed by the GBI for months after the incident. "In looking at this, this does not have the appearance of a suicide to me. Bring the little ones for a story every Saturday morning at 11 a.m. to hear Sam's favorite tales. Who does she think hit her over the head? She's even fighting with EMS, dude, the fellow officer tells Matthew. She also thinks Matthew read her diary and realized she was documenting his extramarital affair and secretly plotting to get full custody of their little boys. Please wear sturdy shoes. Womens clothing items and an orthodontic retainer turned in to the Griffin Police Department by Will Sanders has been established to have belonged to Jessica Lester, the former wife of Matthew Boynton. They wanted me to come back Friday for orientation for the job, she said. I figured out what happened. Yeah, if we've got to get the clothes, obviously we'll bring you back up to the apartment for you to get some clothes obviously, says the agent. That's the bottom line for me. Jones checks on a locked closet door between the master bedroom and hallway, across from the bathroom. What! "When the GBI concluded their case they gave it back to Jessica, and I got it from Jessica," Sanders said. When asked if Boynton had explained why he allegedly kept his ex-wifes belongings, Yates said, No. Jessica Boynton's head is perfectly positioned on a blood-soaked pillow. | Examine the evidence yourself, calls 911, reaching Spalding County dispatch. "I left the location, I'm back en route, I'm on Carver Road right now. in the head..in hospital for a month..just an FYI. But according to Mathews, that was not the last number dialed, so it could not have just been a redial accidently called through the evidence bag. By the time Jessica was twenty, she'd had enough of Matthew, and their crumbling marriage had driven her to a dark place. "I don't want to put all the blame on him but he's the only person that could have done it," said Jessica Boynton. Matthew's attorney, however, told the court that Jessica was the one who shot the gun and that initially, Matthew believed that she was shooting at him. It doesn't sound like anything I would say. So if there is no gunshot wound, what really happened inside that closet? Matthew makes it home, jumps out of his truck, races through the breezeway of his apartment building and bolts up the stairs. Matthew's hands were not tested for gunpowder either. The ceiling fan circles on high speed. Officer Adam Trammel reports to a non-emergency call from the Boynton residence at Ashford Place on Ashford Way, in Griffin, Ga. He was going to clean his gun and he asked me to go get it for him. Uh, just my service weapon, he responds. I would have said, I can't do this anymore, comma, take care of Tolin and Tyler, period. I would have said, suicidal not suicide thoughts.. No one may have ever done anything to question this case again if not for Will Sanders. She's moaning.. Her head wound soaked into the green and white pillow, where her head rested. One of about 70 messages they exchange throughout the night. I'll be back there in about two minutes. Hewrote a letter to Jessica's attorneyJune 10, in which he questioned the finding that Jessica's head injury was a self-inflicted gunshot wound, saying there was no investigation at the hospital. GRIFFIN, Ga. Who shot the officers wife? I dont have the authority under our charter to hire or fire; it has to go to the city manager, so when you move toward a termination, it has to go through a process. But it's what those body cameras don't record that's raising eyebrows. I know that we got into an argument, but that's about all," she said, not remembering much of what had happened on April 15. There was most likely a struggle with the gun and he assumed she was dead. He hears a baby crying as he carefully steps into the bedroom where a dark brown crib is situated. As she continues to tinker with clothes, she notices that her red and black composition notebook, which is usually carefully tucked under a pile of clothes inside her closet, has been left on top of the clothes. Stephen Kruspe, 65, appears at his first appearance before a judge after the March 27, 2017, shooting of his wife, Pamela, at a Boynton Beach assisted living facility. Law enforcement was in his genes. The shooting occurred on the evening of April 14, 2016. To text back long story I'll tell you later.. I didn't try to wash my hands, anything, because I knew GSR and all that would be involved.. She was leaving her husband of just six months. Cops now know what was behind that closet door -- but the true mystery is just about to begin. If the phone was found by the GBI in the kitchenif the phone is on police body camera footage sitting on the counter by the microwave, and he was outside never returning insidehow is it possible for Matthew to text his girlfriend, while he's calling in shots fired while outside of the apartment? "It's just inconvenient. She was hit over the head. After studying Jessica Boynton's case, Miley sides with Jessica. Jessica and Matthew's neighbor, who wishes to remain anonymous for her own safety, sees the lights from her apartment and runs outside. They call in Spalding County Sheriff Wendell Beam, who happens to be Matthew's grandfather, along with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. Jessica Boynton was just 19 years old when she was found inside a locked closet with a gunshot wound to her head. You want to start recording me, and started quoting me, you'd better let me know ahead of time, or we're gonna have a problem. Updated: 11:14 PM EDT July 28, 2017. The report states Matthew left Walmart without Jessica. Why did no one ask about the comment Matthew made about the kids being in the closet too? I thought he hadnt gone inside the apartment until backup arrived, so how would he know Jessica was in the closet unless he put her there? Haha I'm sorry I didn't think about that lol he sends to her after receiving a text from her--moments following his text from his wife. But Griffin Police are treating this as a suicide attempt. Jessica Boynton | GBI changes information about evidence | 11alive.com But long hours on the force took its toll on his marriage. It appears it was self-inflicted. 11Alive reached out to Officer Matthew Boynton, however, phone calls were not returned. Despite what many think is a smoking gun, the GBI agent asking questions proceeds as if Jessica shot herself. A lot of times, what happens, especially if theyre involved in something very serious, they throw in the towel before it can go through the citys process of termination.. He enters, checking the master bedroom. She told the agent, they were at home when they argued about his mistress and the photo that Jessica found on his phone that night. Who shot Jessica Boynton? A new podcast investigates - KTVB This case stinks to hi-heaven of a cover-up..if not, its a group of the most incompetent people ever to wear a Law enforcement uniform. At that exact point the interviewing officer detected something fishy, forced him to stop giving himself away and ended the interview and therefore night of investigation. The GRIP has reported extensively on seeming inconsistencies and irregularities in that GBI investigation. Matthew loved being part of the brotherhood. If someone from the GBI does not reopen this.. well, I have to get my ducks in a row before I open another huge can of worms.. A woman who lived across from the couple, who works with law enforcement, agreed to a Crime Watch Daily interview if we protect her identity. "She's like, 'This is exactly what I need to get my divorce from him.'". "He believes that her injuries were consistent with blunt-force trauma," said Sheila Mathews. Now she lives in terror every day because she can't remember who attacked her. He assigns another officer to standby at the door until the rest of the apartment is cleared. I love you and the boys.". In fact he's collected almost every piece of evidence from the case. Her shoulder-length, blonde hair was saturated in crimson. After just six months of marriage, the Boyntons' one-time neighbor says she saw their young love grow toxic. A lot, she said, doesnt add up, especially since, she said, she had reason to live. There was a question of what was and was not community marital property, so that took some doing to sort that out, also, Yates said, adding that many of the items reported as stolen including the clothing, computer and household items had been cited as community property during the couples divorce. Security camera captures the family walking in around 10:15 p.m. Absolutely, Matthew assures the agent. Police Interrogation and Confession of Matthew Boynton, Wife - YouTube Emergency-responders finally arrive and carry Jessica to a waiting ambulance. Griffin Police officer Matthew Boynton cleared in wife's shooting, but I just came up the stairs, two rounds be advised I smell gun smoke, and I can't get an answer at the door, he says out of breath and panicked. Despite Jessica Boynton's fiery allegations, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation closed her case, clearing Matthew to return to work. She would never have done this. She tells the Georgia Bureau of Investigation the Matthew Boynton is cheating on Jessica with another woman. A text messages is sent to his phone from Jessica's phone. Jessica Boynton was found shot in the closet with her. She's like 'I got you where I want you and you're gonna go down for this,' and he pulls his gun out and she runs into the closet to hide, and instead of shooting her, he hits her on the head with a baton," said the neighbor. "My wound was on the top of my head. She had an appointment Monday.. OR OTHER GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS. Which is very off that this happened, because I never, ever had any thoughts like this before. "I believe it's both, it's sloppy and a cover-up," said Jessica. Above Jessica, pinned to the wall, is a large black letter B for Boynton. But this wasn't the end of Jessica's story, rather a new beginningbut not the one she was hoping for. "That was when approximately 24 minutes into the conversation, his demeanor changed and everything flipped," she recalled. Ironically Jessica first met that man while she was out scouting for a wedding venue to marry Matthew. I'll be back there in about two minutes. Reliving his steps inside the apartment after he heard gunshots fired, he says, My whole upper body went numb. A grandson of the county sheriff, a career in law enforcement was in his genes. Fast forward to May 11, the day numerous items that reportedly belonged to Lester were turned in to the Griffin Police Department. Who shot Jessica Boynton? A new podcast investigates | kiiitv.com Does Jessica know whether the cops ever swabbed her hands? Griffin police officer wife Jessica Boynton shot | 9news.com GRIFFIN, Ga. Standing inside her closet, wearing tan slippers adorned with fur, black yoga pants and a red T-shirt, Jessica Boynton contemplates what to wear.