The Murder of Erik Cross (pt.2)

 Erik Cross was a 16-year-old boy from Vicksburg Michigan. In 1983 Erik was brutally murdered after walking home from a party. Erik's family and friends are still waiting for justice to be served.  

Transcript

spk_1:   0:00
We didn't just pick a handful of people and say I'm gonna make their life miserable. I'm gonna make my life miserable because I'm gonna have to focus on them for the next 10 12 years. Whatever. No, we're trying to get justice for Eric Cross by pointing out there felt and what they did to create this boy's

spk_0:   0:19
death. Hello, everyone, and welcome to Crime Valley. I'm your host, amba. And today's episode is Part two in the murder of Eric Sterling Cross. Just like in Episode one, I will be using my interview with Missy Hatfield to assist in telling Eric story. We left off at the end of Episode one with the police trying to pace together the circumstances which led to Eric's horrific death. We talked about teenager Bill Cook. Bill was the boy. Eric was meant to be having a sleepover with the boy who called Erica's best friend. We wanted that the reason why Bill never turned up in Eric's house the morning after the party, the morning he had plans to attend the boat show in Detroit with Eric and his dad, I also introduced a group of teenagers known as the Core group who back in 1983 people all around Vicksburg. We're linking to Eric's murder. Eric's funeral was hold, and as you would expect, many people came to show their respects. Two of the people in attendance, but Amber Thomas and May Britt scolding

spk_1:   1:52
at its you know, they broke down. They were just sobbing and just destroyed. At the funeral, the tomb cuddle, huddled together and hugging and crying like like a family member should have cried kind of a breakdown, like a mom, or somebody would do, you know. But they were. They put on a big show, and Eric's mom actually was moved because she saw how May Britt and Amber were just destroyed by this. And they're like, Wow, you know, Eric did matter to people, and it's so sad and stuff. And this was early, obviously still early because of your investigations. Only a few days old, she didn't know that they were part of this yet, and then years later, when she found that out, it's like, you know, I I just can't imagine being his mom losing this boy in such a such a horrific way. And then I think that these girls were good people that missed that were really cared about her son and then to find out. Oh, my gosh, they were actually part of this.

spk_0:   2:49
Just two days after Eric's death, another graduation party had been thrown. Brent and his friends arrived at this party but never made it up the driveway. Witnesses saw A heated argument erupts between the group of teenagers before they all probably left. Others spoke about a pool party that was held in the preceding weeks. It seemed that the cracks was starting to form in the silence surrounding Eric's murder

spk_1:   3:14
at a party a couple days later because there were several graduation parties that whole week and pool parties and things like that because it was like the beginning of summer vacations. Um, there was another situation where someone came forward and said that, um, actually, with someone from a different school district and everything they

spk_0:   3:32
were

spk_1:   3:32
invited over and didn't really know the situation, he's like, you know, I'm talking to this guy and he's telling me that, um, yeah, I went to this pool party and and but all the girls weren't out that the pool is just guys out there, and I'm like, What's going on? And he said that all the girls were huddled into this one room in the house and you could hear somebody crying and somebody came out and said, Oh, yeah, Amber's falling apart in there. The girls are all hoping her So right there she broke down about Eric. And what what happened? None of those girls will come forward.

spk_0:   4:01
After the summer break, school started back and life returned to normal. To some for the grieving cross family, their new version of normal involved moving Jackie to a new school. They had heard the talk that was raging through Vicksburg. The talk that almost always centered on a group of teenagers who had attended Vicksburg High School with Eric, Ted and Mary Lee Cross did not want their daughter exposed to the very people that the town was saying had murdered their son. So they made the decision to enroll Jackie at another school.

spk_1:   4:32
Eric Sister was gonna go to a different school, but then the younger siblings of the people involved actually went to a different school, and the day that Jackie's parents were signing her up to go to a different school. They were like somebody in that office had mentioned that there were other kids coming from Vicksburg and her parents were like, Well, who are they? And when they heard the last names, they're like, Well, then she's not gonna go here. And they took her back to Vicksburg, thinking, Okay, well, they've taken their kids out of expert, so Jackie can go here. Well, unfortunately, one of them stayed because her dad was on the school board, and that was Brian's girlfriend, Amber, and, um Then there was within a short amount of time. Another one of the kids came back because it wasn't being discussed in school as Faras. It wasn't a big deal because Amber was okay. So they brought one of the they brought May Britt back and then, like a short amount time After that, um, Tim's younger sister came back and Brent Younger brother came back. So the sudden Jackie went from only dealing with one of them toe having four of them around her through school, and kids were trying to be helpful, But they'd come up to Jackie and they're like, you know, that's who killed your brother, right and She would just have to hear this constantly from kids that they were. They were meaning. They were meaning well, they wanted to help. And they're like, You know, when you're when you're like 13 14 up to 17 even 18 you don't It doesn't totally make sense to you sometimes, like I know who did it. They're right there in your point, Adam, and it's like, Why isn't anyone listening?

spk_0:   6:10
Law enforcement had tried to get to the bottom of what happened to Eric, and they certainly seem to have their suspicions. When it came to persons of interest, they kept hearing the same group of names being mentioned over and over again. Brents Podium was always at the full front of these Room is, and many believed that he was the ringleader of the group and the instigator of the violence against Eric. When Brent Scoldings car suddenly disappeared soon after Eric's murder, people was suspicious. Where had Brent's car gone? Why would a boy who had just graduated from high school suddenly be without his mode of transport? Why had it seemingly vanished off the face of the earth without a logical explanation? It was a strange scenario, a boy's murdered and the murder weapon is a vehicle. When in quick succession to the murder, the dead boy's nine bully suddenly misplaces his car. Well, I guess that you have to ask yourself, How much do you believe in coincidences? Friends. Missing car became the stuff of urban legend. The biggest story that is still perpetuated to this day is that Brent's vehicle ended up in Florida. The Sporting's had family down there, and it probably would have been their best option if they had wanted to misplace something as big as a car old. I'm a Briton. Brents father Brian Senior refused to let police speak to his Children. Police did speak to others in the group of friends in

spk_1:   7:36
1983. There were three lie detectors given and all came back, not truthful. So they failed their lie detectors. And there were, um, I've personally read to witness statements one from Tim and one from Bill and basically Built said, Yes, I was there. But if I say anything, I'll end up like Eric. But the light detectors the questions, asking the right up and stuff. It all showed that they were deceitful and then you know. Then you take the lie detector and you put it against their written statements and you can tell you can read. You can literally read like bullet points of lives right down through those Tim's with same thing. Amber's was, um, similar, but they were all of them headline in 1983. But Stalling didn't allow his kids to be interviewed by the police. No lie detectors. He he lawyered right up. And then shortly after these guys went in, I think at least Amber, I'm sure her parents lawyered up to to protect their daughter, which again? Getting a lawyer. That's fine. And that's understandable because you should protect your rights.

spk_0:   8:38
By October of 1983 the core group that people believed were responsible for Eric's murder was well and truly talking, not to the police, but they were talking nonetheless. Perhaps it was cathartic for them to confide in others. There are a group of teenage is completely out of their depth and in the middle of a very adult situation. While many of the teens confidence kept their silence, others shared what they had been told in late 1993 1 boy had the courage and the empathy to do the right thing. He was an acquaintance of Brent Scolding who came forward to make a statement to the police. Brent had told him things that distressed detain and he needed to get these concerns off his chest. His father took him straight to the police to make a statement. That statement is still maintained today. Soon after the boy made his statement, Brent was admitted to a psychiatric facility. After Eric's murder, Brent had started to act in a manner which people labeled crazy. It could have been legitimate and an indication that Brent was cracking under all of the pressure. However, most people didn't buy that for a second. It was widely believed that Brent's behavior and subsequent admission to the psychiatric facility was a cover up, a way of getting him out of the spotlight and providing him with the defense if the case ever made it to prosecution. I don't believe that anyone doubted that Brent was needing help. Enough people had experienced his anger and wall behavior to doubt that it would seem, though, that the help resonated should have been given long before he ever crossed paths with Eric Cross. After brands admissions to the psychiatric facility, the case seemed to die down. People graduated from high school, with many moving away from the Vicksburg area and the story of Eric and the coal group cited

spk_1:   10:40
in 2002 early two thousands like 2000 1 4002 There was a cold case in Kalamazoo, Michigan, which is a different entity because there's several different police departments, depending if it's county or city and stuff like that. So the county to county sheriffs had the case. But then Kalamazoo Kalamazoo police took the case for a while with the cold case unit, which is all retired detectives and police officers and stuff, and they actually were moving the case along. And then all of a sudden the funding was pulled for that cold case unit. But they found evidence that had been hidden and tried to be disposed of, and things like that. They have all of that they brought back, and then all of a sudden the funding is gone. So then that case sat for one all account in Kalamazoo, Then it was closed. Back up. Put the lid on the box, ship it back over to Kalamazoo County, and then they put it back up on the shelf. And then, um under Sheriff Fuller, Sheriff Ronald Fuller of the county to County Sheriff's Department. He says that he went to Undersheriff matches at the time and said, I want you to take a look at this. They're cross case. I want it closed before you retire. And then Detective Madison was the detective on the case. He was actually the beat cop, a beat cop that showed up to the scene that day in 1983.

spk_0:   11:58
So

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he was there from the moment that this case was first picked up and they thought it was a hit and run. Then they realized it was intentional. He was there from the first moment.

spk_0:   12:08
You may remember that many people was shocked when, upon joining Eriks Memorial Page, they found out that his murder had not been prosecuted. People felt that they had knowing exactly what had happened to Eric and who had been involved. They had noted in high school all of those years ago, in 1983 why had nobody listened? Where were all of the adults who should have been hearing the whispers and stepping in to get to the bottom of things. The parents, the teaches, the council is the school officials. Surely some of these adults must have heard something knowing something. One

spk_1:   12:42
day we had an assembly at school and they broke us down. They had a sit in the bleachers by grade, so the ninth graders, 10th graders, 11th and 12th were all in their own sections, and we were all sitting there, and all of these policemen and uniforms dress uniforms and stuff. We're standing up front with Eric's parents, and basically they came to talk to us about this, and they wanted to see if they could get kids to come forward. They talked about Eric and his mom talked and stuff, and I remember it was almost E. I will never forget this because I was at that time I would have been 1/10 grader, and I remember sitting there facing them, and all of a sudden they said, If you know who did this, if you know who's involved, we need you to come forward and talk to us. Reach out to your counselors, reach out to the principal and they will connect us well. It was kind of like the parting of the Red Sea, because, as he is, this, this person is saying this this man in this uniform, you can actually hear people shuffling to separate from Mai, Brit and Amber who were sitting side by side. And it was like we left. There was a gap where people had actually literally moved away from them and kind of looked at them. And that's how a 13 to 17 year old kid says they're right there.

spk_0:   13:59
With the sad passing of Ted Crossing 2007 Jackie was now left to take on the legacy of her family's fought the justice. By October of 2010 Jackie's attention had shifted to social media, and she decided to set up a Facebook page as a memorial to Eric. Jackie felt that if people in the core group could have a Facebook page, then why shouldn't her big brother? It would be a place where people who had known and loved Eric could come and share their memories off him at around the same time. And in a moment that might be described as serendipity. A lady by the name of Missy Hatfield was thinking about Eric to Missy went on Facebook to see if Eric had a memorial page and was glad to say that he did. She had no American Jackie back in high school and had run track with Jackie over the few years they had attended high school together.

spk_1:   14:50
I was six then and I thought, Well, I'm gonna go through this Facebook and see what's going on And I happened to see an a memorial page for this person, some somebody random person and I thought, You know what? I wonder if there's a memorial page for Eric and so I start looking and Jackie had just put up in a moment a memorial type page. She wanted people to share memories and you know, any stories and things like that positive stuff about her brother because she wanted to make sure he wasn't for gotten. And it's It's just so interesting and cool that she had put that up. And it was at the same time that I had slowed down enough in my life to where I took the time to look for him, and she just put it up and I found it right when she just put it up. And so I'm like, Wait a minute, I reached out to her through message and messenger and I said, Is this that solved? And she goes, No, it's never been solved And I said no one was ever arrested. Three brothers murder. She goes, No. And I said, Jackie, I'm so sorry. I said, I'm ashamed of this as someone that came out of that school because we all know who did it. I can't believe this has never been solved. And so we talked in for a while and I said, Do you want help getting justice for your brother? And she said Yes. And that's kind of where we took off with the justice for Eric. Stuff was just, you know, by accident. We we ran into each other at the same time because we both had him on our minds and for different reasons. She wanted her brother room be remembered. I wanted to see if anybody did remember her brother and you know, so there was a God God moment there. Um, I know that not everybody does believe that, but I believe in the wholeheartedly. And once we got going, it was like, You know, just it was frightening to think that a group of teenagers 1 24 year old man and a handful of 50 15 14 15 16 and 17 years year old people could keep the police at bay for 26 years.

spk_0:   16:54
Now, the foundations for a group who would call themselves Eric's Army were being formed people from all walks of life, some who would know American, Jackie and some here with strangers. All of these paper would come together with a common goal. Seeking justice. Very Cross and his family. Under the guidance of Missy Hatfield, Eric's Army became a constant reminder of a decades old murder in Kalamazoo County. More importantly than that, though, Eric's army was a reminder of Eric himself, a boy who needed a voice, a boy who still lived on in the hearts of many. It was of the utmost importance to Mary Lou Cross that everything done in her son's name remain above board and fair. That's not to say that our examine he hasn't had to be a search, even blunt at times because it has the group is, Ah, Holder, a very conscious of fighting their cause within the boundaries of the law. They fight hard, but they fight fair.

spk_1:   17:52
We follow the laws. We also don't call him protests. We call them peaceful walks because we're out there representing Eric and his mom and dad. So we make sure that we have a certain composure about us that makes sure that we're we don't come across ever as unapproachable or is violent or anything like that. And that's been so important. And I have actually had people get downright nasty and angry with me because I'm like, We don't do that that way. Yeah, we could, But it's only a five minute gain of attention. I don't want

spk_0:   18:24
that. We

spk_1:   18:25
kind of go at people at times. But the the way that people respond to us is like a more positive and more people want to be part of Eric's justice and his community and help and, you know, we mail posters and decals and stuff all over the world. Um, I've mailed posters and details to Australia. I've mailed him to England. We have them all over the United States and even even another you know Japan and things like that. We have people that follow through things like your podcasts and TV shows and stuff. And it's like, Look, that person in another country could even see how this family's hurting and how this family means justice and if them just following and asking for a poster that they can hang up or just havin a or decode that they could put on their vehicle in another country. It's like, Absolutely, we're gonna send that to you because we want to spread awareness

spk_0:   19:19
when members of the cool group are required to attend court as defendants. Eric's Army there, even when the defendant in question doesn't show up, Eric supporters sit close to the front, all wearing their purple shirts, complete with Eric's name and picture. And they have been a lot of court sessions that needed their attendance. Bill and Brent in particular, have been in trouble with the law. See years? Yet

spk_1:   19:44
if you look at his arrest record, he's intimidated witnesses he, you know, had weapons. He's had drugs. He had drunk driving offenses in another county because elegant county, which is where him and Bill Cook both like to drive drunk. They put him in jail. Then they let him out, too. And so it's always like, you know, it's not just centrally located one little area. It just these guys. Any time Brian comes into contact with anybody, they need to wash your back because something bad is gonna happen if he's around you.

spk_0:   20:14
One of the issues that may have been a factor in the cover up surrounding Eric's Mehta was the core group standing in the town. Or perhaps more accurately, they parents standing old by one of the cool grapes. Families were part of the town's very life blood with reaches that extended across the church, the school system and construction and development. It may have felt intimidating and unwise for some potential witnesses to come forward in situations where keeping quiet means not rocking the boat remaining silent. Probably same liken ese decision. To some,

spk_1:   20:50
the falling head kind of a myth about those people because they were such hotheads and and, um, just violent type people. The myth became they were almost like the Mafia, the mob, because it was like, don't mess with him because you'll end up like Eric and don't do this. And I'm like, Okay, first of all, if they're that dangerous, then somebody needs to do something so that you're not so that none of us all fear these people. But secondly, this boy deserves, You know, First Informants Air deserves justice. Second, they need to be off the streets. Because are they doing this to other people? Have they done this to other people? To a lot of scared now grown people, they're dangerous. Then, as I got to work more and more with Jackie and more and more on this case and I got to know the detective and I got to work with the police a little bit more on the case. I'm like, Oh, my gosh, that's another urban myth these people don't have reach. Maybe they did back then because they had connections in the village of experts. These people are just a family that have you know, a child that helped murder another child and they covered it up. So why are so many grown people afraid of these people? Still, in 19 4020 it just does not make sense.

spk_0:   22:07
In 2015 the tides were starting to turn on Eric's case. After a vigil was held in Vicksburg to remember Eric on what would have been his 49th birthday, it seemed that people were finally taking notice. News crews and the reporters covered the vigil, and after it was broadcast, police received multiple Frankel's, one of which contained a key piece of information. According to Paul Matches, who was the Kalamazoo County undersheriff at the time. That key piece of information, she had a very clear light on what had transpired. Paul matches urge those who were involved, to a lesser extent to come forward before there were lumped together with the most culpable And now, for a bit of legal jargon under Michigan law, the following is relevant to this case. Any person who conspires together with one or more persons to commit an offense prohibited by law is guilty of the crime of conspiracy punishable as provided hearing. If commission of the offence prohibited by law, is punishable by imprisonment for one year or more, the person convicted under this section shall be punished by a penalty equal to that which could be imposed if he had been convicted of committing the crime he conspired to commit. So, in other words, anyone who is found to have been involved in any facet of Eric's murder as long as that involvement made certain criteria can be charged with conspiracy, which is punishable to the same extent as if they had physically been the one to murder him. Shakespeare once wrote, Something is Russian in the state of Denmark and in Kalamazoo County, something was definitely off. The question has been raised. How could a group of youths cover up a murder and walk free for decades? How was what police called a conspiracy of silence perpetuated and upheld without any of the individuals cracking? At some point, it seemed highly improbable that a bunch of scared kids could carry the weight of what they had been involved in. We thought one or more of them caving under pressure. In 2017 the Kalamazoo Sheriff's Department, headed by Undersheriff matches publicly named to five people that had been suspicious off for years. The people named with Brenton Sporting Brian's Folding Sr and Thomas Bill Cook and Team Martin Brian Spalding may have been the K answer to why the group had kept their silence for all of this time and adult conspiring to help the youth after that had killed Eric. We don't know how many of the coal group's parents knew about their Children's involvement or if they did it all. But given that Brian saying he was named, it wouldn't be much of a stretch to believe that others were, too. Tim Mountain is not a person that we have talked about thus far, but he wasn't the keg party with Brent. And he is part of the suspect group team was 24 years old at the time of Eric's murder, and his younger brother was friends with the other members of the core group. I would also like to note the fact that Branch Younger System, a brute scolding, passed away years ago. She was with the coal group at the keg party on the 25th of during 1993. But maybe it's potential knowledge or involvement in the crime is a moot point now that she is no longer living. In late 2017 the Sheriff's department asked the Kalamazoo Prosecutor's office to issue five open arrest warrants for Brian Senior Amba Brent Bill and Team and the reason for those warrants was murder and conspiracy. The warrants were never executed. Eric's case sat on then Kalamazoo prosecutor Jeff Gettings desk for close to one and 1/2 years.

spk_1:   26:28
If that mistake had been made in the county to county prosecutor's office, the attorney general prosecutor, A. Rondo, said, If that if that hadn't happened years ago, all of the people listed as suspects so all five of them would have already been in prison. So we fought all this time. We're waiting for shooting to do something. We're waiting for getting to do something. Neither one of them is making a move, and then way have to go to 2020 to find out. Three years later, two years, two and three years later, we gotta wait until then to find out. Oh, so you purposely tank its case to cover up your mistake because you don't want it to affect your record in

spk_0:   27:09
the public

spk_1:   27:10
eye because it's political.

spk_0:   27:12
Eric supporters had had enough. They raise money through can drives and were able to put up billboards asking the new attorney general, Dana Nessel, to take on Eric's case. And in February 2019. The case finally ended up with the Michigan attorney general's office. Detective Medicine and Undersheriff Paul Matches had retired in early 2018. These were two men who were committed to seeing Eric's case through to prosecution. Paul matches continues to tirelessly advocate for Eric's family. Even in retirement. He

spk_1:   27:47
made a promise. Tears Dad before Eric died many years before that, he said, I will feed it through to the end. I'm not gonna leave you guys. And then when Eric's dad died, he you know they got the case full time afterwards, like in 2011 or so 10 or 11. And so he made Eric said that promise back then and he he's keeping his promise. He's a man of his word, Um, you know, in the I respect him so much. I mean, I can't even begin to explain. You know how how it's been getting to know and work with him and Detective Madison and and I respect them both extremely. You know, they're extremely important in Eric's case and the family, because they mean what they say they and they and they are trying everything they possibly can and right now. I mean, look, he's retired and boom, He's right back on top of this case and saying he's right out in front of the cameras and he's telling him, Look, this case isn't closed. We're still working it.

spk_0:   28:46
On the 23rd of January 2020 the attorney general prosecutor How dumb 18. With Eric's family and their representatives at this meeting, facts about the case and the likelihood of prosecution was shared. It was announced the attorney general's office would not be prosecuting Eriks case at this point in time, although prosecutors confident that they would be successful in a preliminary hearing that would consent where the case would stand. After that, many news outlets started to publish headlines, which said that Eric's case was being closed. This is definitely not the case. Eric's case is still very much open and has been put back into the capable hands of the Kalamazoo County Sheriff's Office. There is a piece of information that the sheriff's office is seeking, and when it is found, the case can be handed back to the attorney general's office and prosecuted. According to media reports, former undersheriff matches who had attended the meeting was the livid about the mistakes made by the Kalamazoo prosecutor's office. Amber Thomas Waas just a few weeks ago offered a full immunity deal by the attorney general prosecutors. The deal men that Amber would need to explain exactly what happened the night of Eric's murder, including naming the people who were involved for her travel and would have walked free with no conviction instead and pled the fifth. And for those who don't know pleading, the fifth refers to the Fifth Amendment of the US Constitution, which says that citizens of the U. S cannot be required to give testimony that could be used against them in a court of law. This is a definition that I found regarding plating the faith in a conspiracy case. In the example of a conspiracy trial, a witness may be called upon to testify against alleged co conspirators if, by answering questions under oath that weakness implicates themselves in a crime which prosecutors could lay to use as evidence in charging them with a crime. They may play the fifth. So by pleading the fifth, Amber has implied that she won't answer questions because if she does, the answers will sure that she was somehow involved in the murder and all cover up of Eric Cross H here on the weekend closest to the date that Eric was killed, Eric Sami holds a walk. Very Carm event. The War covers the route that Eric would have walked on that fateful night in 1983. The event is a way of saying that unlike that night back in 1993 there are now people who stand with Eric and symbolically walking home safely. Anyone listening to this podcast is welcome to follow Eric's page, just such justice for Eric Sterling Cross on Facebook. I can't begin to tell you the blood, sweat and tease that the members of Eric's Army and the members of law enforcement putting to fight for Eric and his family. Although it has been 37 years since Eric was merited, it is important to remember these. All it takes is one person, one piston to fight for a loved one, one member of law enforcement to review a case, one member of the public to give some pertinent information, one person to take that immunity deal and to leave their life with a clear conscience. no amount of time makes Eric's death okay, No amount of denial makes a person less guilty, and no amount of closure will ever replace what the Cross family has lost. However, we can't underestimate the healing that closure will bring. There is an immunity deal waiting. If Bill Cook would like to preserve his freedom and take it, Amber knocked it back. So this is Bill's chance to step up and do what should have been done in 1983. Immunity deals are a rare and valuable commodity, and rejecting one is not something that should be done lightly. If anyone listening has information about Eric's case, then you may be the one to finally provide much needed closure for Eric's mother, Mary Lou, and for he ceased to Jackie. The numbers to call with information are the Kalamazoo County Sheriff's Office on 269383 double 8 to 1 or Silent Observer on 269343 to 1 double zero as we finish up this episode, it would be nice if we could all think of Ted Cross for a moment on that terrible morning, when Ted Workup walked outside and had his life shouted, Ted was able to do one last thing for Eric. He insisted that the police collect every scrap of evidence of that same not just the clothes, watch and wallet every last piece. Even though the police at the time believed Eric's death to be accidental, they agreed to Ted's request and a collection of crime scene evidence carried out to placate a grieving father insured that Eric's case would be as solid as possible. Thank you so much to me. See Hatfield for your time and for sharing so many memories and to you, the listener. Thank you so much for listening to Eric's story. If you enjoyed this episode and would like to help me grow my podcast by leaving a positive review on apple podcasts or whichever you're using, I would be ever so grateful. Have a wonderful day and thank you for coming to run belly