Body in the Bay: Patrick Mullins

[drew790]

Patrick Mullins disappeared from his fishing boat, a week later he was found tied to an anchor with a bullet wound to the side of his head. Police have been unable to determine if it was a suicide or if he was murdered.

What are everyone's thoughts with this one? From the episode I'm evenly split down the middle, like detectives said, both sides have their equal questions.

[Hot Jock]

I don’t have a definitive opinion on this case one way or the other. A lot of stuff happens on the water down in Florida. It could have been any number of things that happened to him. I’m going to have to take a deep dive on this one for sure.

[drew790]

I definitely don't buy the idea that he stumbled on drug runners or something illicit on the water. The idea that they'd tie him to that anchor with so much slack as to leave him permanently floating there is absurd if you're trying to conceal a crime.

[DarkDante]

If (and granted it's a big "if") the "Unsolved Mysteries" segment can be taken verbatim, there is no other option here other than homicide. It's actually a pretty straightforward case in my opinion although made all that much more difficult to solve given that the key witness to the homicide is now himself deceased.

Patrick is out on the water at dusk and happens upon Damon in his rather distinctive boat with the red trim down the side. It was stated in the segment that Patrick was the type of person if he saw a boat that appeared to be stranded or docked on the water he would stop and see if he could help. He would allegedly do this for strangers and given that he knew Damon it would be a forgone conclusion that he would've stopped to check in on Damon if he saw his boat docked on the water.

As detailed in the segment Damon had issues with drugs, so it's not a far stretch to assume that he was involved with individuals in that world and could've been out on the water on the evening in question trying to make a score. The open water at that time of night is probably a good place to do so as you are likely out of sight of those people who you would not want to be a party to that type of transaction. Anyhow, Patrick happens upon Damon and this other boat docked on the water and approaches them. As soon as the drug supplier notices a third party is approaching the scene of the transaction he becomes paranoid and either shoots Patrick on the spot or quite possibly shoots him once Patrick is able to suss out the transaction. Either way the murder takes place in the dealer's boat which is why no forensic evidence is found in either Patrick's or Damon's boat.

The dealer then either strong arms or threatens Damon into remaining silent and Damon agrees having seen Patrick just get blown away obviously realizes that there isn't much difference between disposing one body or potentially disposing of two. I believe in his haste to get away from the scene, Damon's boat bumps up against Patrick's causing the transfer of red paint onto Patrick's boat. I believe that Damon takes possession of Patrick's body and holds onto it for a period of time during which he ties the ropes around the body in the intricate manner that was later observed by Patrick's family during the Fourth of July celebration and then takes the body out into open water where is it is deposited later to be found by the fishermen.

Damon's rapid mental deterioration was a callback to me to Johnny Fish from the Jeremy Bright segment where it has been alleged that Johnny's mental breakdown was heavily tied to a theory where he likely witnessed Jeremy's murder. I believe the same thing happened here whereas Damon was not directly responsible for Patrick's death, he certainly witnessed it and indirectly facilitated it leading to him living out the rest of his life wracked by paranoia and guilt.

This was a murder facilitated by a party simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

[blacksymbiote]

Originally Posted by drew790

I definitely don't buy the idea that he stumbled on drug runners or something illicit on the water. The idea that they'd tie him to that anchor with so much slack as to leave him permanently floating there is absurd if you're trying to conceal a crime.

Don't underestimate the mental state of a meth addict. The delusions it causes can make them choose the most illogical decisions.

[drew790]

Originally Posted by blacksymbiote

Don't underestimate the mental state of a meth addict. The delusions it causes can make them choose the most illogical decisions.

They can't be that delusional though if they're running a drug empire and getting away with it, as that theory would have people believe. They're surely not the customers of their product

[drew790]

Originally Posted by DarkDante

If (and granted it's a big "if") the "Unsolved Mysteries" segment can be taken verbatim, there is no other option here other than homicide. It's actually a pretty straightforward case in my opinion although made all that much more difficult to solve given that the key witness to the homicide is now himself deceased.

Patrick is out on the water at dusk and happens upon Damon in his rather distinctive boat with the red trim down the side. It was stated in the segment that Patrick was the type of person if he saw a boat that appeared to be stranded or docked on the water he would stop and see if he could help. He would allegedly do this for strangers and given that he knew Damon it would be a forgone conclusion that he would've stopped to check in on Damon if he saw his boat docked on the water.

As detailed in the segment Damon had issues with drugs, so it's not a far stretch to assume that he was involved with individuals in that world and could've been out on the water on the evening in question trying to make a score. The open water at that time of night is probably a good place to do so as you are likely out of sight of those people who you would not want to be a party to that type of transaction. Anyhow, Patrick happens upon Damon and this other boat docked on the water and approaches them. As soon as the drug supplier notices a third party is approaching the scene of the transaction he becomes paranoid and either shoots Patrick on the spot or quite possibly shoots him once Patrick is able to suss out the transaction. Either way the murder takes place in the dealer's boat which is why no forensic evidence is found in either Patrick's or Damon's boat.

The dealer then either strong arms or threatens Damon into remaining silent and Damon agrees having seen Patrick just get blown away obviously realizes that there isn't much difference between disposing one body or potentially disposing of two. I believe in his haste to get away from the scene, Damon's boat bumps up against Patrick's causing the transfer of red paint onto Patrick's boat. I believe that Damon takes possession of Patrick's body and holds onto it for a period of time during which he ties the ropes around the body in the intricate manner that was later observed by Patrick's family during the Fourth of July celebration and then takes the body out into open water where is it is deposited later to be found by the fishermen.

Damon's rapid mental deterioration was a callback to me to Johnny Fish from the Jeremy Bright segment where it has been alleged that Johnny's mental breakdown was heavily tied to a theory where he likely witnessed Jeremy's murder. I believe the same thing happened here whereas Damon was not directly responsible for Patrick's death, he certainly witnessed it and indirectly facilitated it leading to him living out the rest of his life wracked by paranoia and guilt.

This was a murder facilitated by a party simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

It's certainly possible, could explain why the body was left like a buoy to find because he wanted it to be found.

But on the flip side, if he had possession of the body for a time then there'd surely be biological evidence on his boat from the disposal. And it's worth pointing out that the red paint can't be tired directly to the brother because of how widely used it was.

[ghosthouse]

This appears to be the first of the new iteration to question suicide vs murder where there is no real giant push towards suicide -- at least that I can find online.

LOL, in fact I can't even find the typical "What Unsolved Mysteries Left Out.." link that typically comes up in these cases.

There doesn't appear to be any evidence that he was depressed or had a reason to kill himself and they don't have any proof that he had a gun or acquired one on the down low.

The story about the drug addict friend is compelling and could lead somewhere but IDK what proof they could get at this point without someone else coming forward. That sucks for the family.

[TheCars1986]

Originally Posted by DarkDante

If (and granted it's a big "if") the "Unsolved Mysteries" segment can be taken verbatim, there is no other option here other than homicide.

Well we know that it cannot be taken verbatim. A man leaves on a tiny boat for an undetermined, but presumably short fishing/boating trip. He brings multiple gas containers with him. His neighbors see him leaving on his boat alone. His body is found with an anchor found tied around his waist but his hands are not bound. Family and friends think this is suspicious and evidence that he was killed elsewhere before being dumped back into the water. Oh, and the CSX Railroad is also in on the conspiracy to help cover up this obvious murder. "But he didn't own a shotgun!" Did he have access to one? We'll never know, because the "Solved But in Denial" reboot didn't tell us. This guy clearly committed suicide and his family is in denial. Very telling that his older son wasn't interviewed, just like Tiffany Valiante's siblings didn't appear on the show. They know what happened and have accepted it.

[ghosthouse]

Originally Posted by TheCars1986

Well we know that it cannot be taken verbatim. A man leaves on a tiny boat for an undetermined, but presumably short fishing/boating trip. He brings multiple gas containers with him. His neighbors see him leaving on his boat alone. His body is found with an anchor found tied around his waist but his hands are not bound. Family and friends think this is suspicious and evidence that he was killed elsewhere before being dumped back into the water. Oh, and the CSX Railroad is also in on the conspiracy to help cover up this obvious murder. "But he didn't own a shotgun!" Did he have access to one? We'll never know, because the "Solved But in Denial" reboot didn't tell us. This guy clearly committed suicide and his family is in denial. Very telling that his older son wasn't interviewed, just like Tiffany Valiante's siblings didn't appear on the show. They know what happened and have accepted it.

Several things:

-As I mentioned above, every other case that UM mis represents is pretty much torn to shreds online -- the Tiffany Valiante case is the most recent example. Where are those articles for this case?

-Why do his hands have to be bound? Something happens, someone shoots him and then they tie the anchor to his dead body. It all probably happened very quickly. Perfectly simple and reasonable explanation.

-Why kill himself? No one has offered even a speculative reason.

-It's not like every case had every family member every time. I always point to the Ethel Kidd case -- she was married with children and the only single family member that appeared on camera was her son in law. There are a million reasons why someone wouldnt want to go on camera.

[blacksymbiote]

Originally Posted by drew790

They can't be that delusional though if they're running a drug empire and getting away with it, as that theory would have people believe. They're surely not the customers of their product

Well, many are assuming he came up on a deal. It could just have been Damon and maybe someone else were out using on the water that time. Many low level dealers are also customers though as it makes them easy to control. This one just has me leaning either way. If it was suicide, why tie himself to the anchor and where's the rifle? If it was murder, why make the body and boat so easy to find?

[BlueGalexy]

I guess there are a few questions that I would need credible answers to before I could accept a suicide finding in this case. To start with, how did Mullins kill himself with a shotgun without leaving ANY biological evidence on the boat? It was stated that the GSW wasn't a "contact wound", and as such, I need an explanation for how Mullins managed that while using a shotgun. And speaking of the shotgun...what happened to it?

Now with regards to the nature of the GSW, the best I can come up with is the old foot method. While that would certainly explain why one of his shoes was missing, this method still doesn't address the lack of a "contact wound" or the trajectory. As for the missing weapon, I suppose it's possible that it could have either been carried away with the current or became buried somehow in the silt/sediment of the river bottom. When it comes to the lack of any biological evidence in the boat, I got nothing quite frankly.

[drew790]

Originally Posted by BlueGalexy

I guess there are a few questions that I would need credible answers to before I could accept a suicide finding in this case. To start with, how did Mullins kill himself with a shotgun without leaving ANY biological evidence on the boat? It was stated that the GSW wasn't a "contact wound", and as such, I need an explanation for how Mullins managed that while using a shotgun. And speaking of the shotgun...what happened to it?

Now with regards to the nature of the GSW, the best I can come up with is the old foot method. While that would certainly explain why one of his shoes was missing, this method still doesn't address the lack of a "contact wound" or the trajectory. As for the missing weapon, I suppose it's possible that it could have either been carried away with the current or became buried somehow in the silt/sediment of the river bottom. When it comes to the lack of any biological evidence in the boat, I got nothing quite frankly.

Old foot method?

re: suicide / murder, for me I too can't reconcile the lack of biological evidence on the boat.

Like investigators I can't move my needle beyond "undetermined". I can't imagine a reason he'd tie himself to the anchor and have it be an accidental drowning. It doesn't make sense that you could be anchored to the ocean floor and shoot yourself in the head on your boat and have zero splatter on the boat. I can't imagine murderers would intentionally leave a body floating at the end of an anchor rather than somewhere further up on the line, or to the anchor itself, so it wouldn't be an easily discovered buoy of a crime.

[BlueGalexy]

Originally Posted by drew790

Old foot method?

re: suicide / murder, for me I too can't reconcile the lack of biological evidence on the boat.

Like investigators I can't move my needle beyond "undetermined". I can't imagine a reason he'd tie himself to the anchor and have it be an accidental drowning. It doesn't make sense that you could be anchored to the ocean floor and shoot yourself in the head on your boat and have zero splatter on the boat. I can't imagine murderers would intentionally leave a body floating at the end of an anchor rather than somewhere further up on the line, or to the anchor itself, so it wouldn't be an easily discovered buoy of a crime.

Yeah drew, there are other notable cases of shotgun/rifle deaths where the manner of death is in dispute. One of the confusing issues almost always becomes the difficulty a person would have reaching the trigger of a longer barrelled weapon. In those cases it's frequently argued that the victim somehow pulled the trigger with their foot/toe and I've started to think of that as the old foot method.

[drew790]

Originally Posted by BlueGalexy

Yeah drew, there are other notable cases of shotgun/rifle deaths where the manner of death is in dispute. One of the confusing issues almost always becomes the difficulty a person would have reaching the trigger of a longer barrelled weapon. In those cases it's frequently argued that the victim somehow pulled the trigger with their foot/toe and I've started to think of that as the old foot method.

Ah ok. Had never heard it described that way before.

You'd think the anchor being tied around his legs would have worked against that though, right? Dangling over the side of the boat, presumably facing forward given how his body was found, weighed down, but legs up maneuvering a shot gun. And it was a side of head shot too, right?