Oct 2, 2007 12:26 pm US/Eastern
No Bail For Men Involved In Missing Boat Crew Case
Zarabozo Claims "Unknown Subjects" Hijacked Boat, Killed Crew Members
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MIAMI (CBS4) ―
The two men involved in the mysterious disappearance of a charter boat crew while out at sea nearly two weeks ago, will stay in jail for the time being but that could change.
While in court Tuesday morning, prosecutors told the judge for the first time that they believe this case is now a murder investigation, despite the fact that neither of the two suspects have been charged with murder.
Prosecutors announced in court that they believe the suspects, Kirby Logan Archer, 35, and Guillermo Zarabozo, 19, killed the four crew members of the Miami Beach charter boat "Joe Cool", while on a seemingly innocent trip to Bimini and then threw their bodies overboard.
Prosecutors argued against bail for Archer and Zarabozo, claiming both men are a flight risk. The prosecutors claim the men were fleeing the country at the time of the alleged quadruple murder.
The judge sided with prosecutors for now and ruled against bail at this time, but said that he may reverse his ruling in the near future if the government doesn't come up with evidence to connect the men to murder.
It's been eleven days since boat captain Jake Branam, 27; his wife Kelley Branam, 30; his half brother, Scott Campbell, 30; and Samuel Kairy, 27, all disappeared at sea.
Archer and Zarabozo were found on the boat's life raft a few miles away.
Archer, of Strawberry, Ark., is accused of fleeing prosecution for allegedly stealing more than $92,000 from a Wal-Mart in Arkansas where he was a manager. Zarabozo, of Hialeah, is charged with lying to federal agents about whether he was on the boat. Neither man has entered a plea to those charges.
Zarabozo told authorities that unknown pirates boarded the boat and fatally shot the crew members, who then ordered him to dump the bodies in the sea. Investigators have not verified his story or disclosed any evidence that would back it up.
Zarabozo later told the FBI he had never been on the "Joe Cool," even though his state identification card was found on the boat.
Court documents show that Archer and Zarabozo paid $4,000 cash to hire the 47-foot boat to take them about 50 miles from Miami to Bimini, Bahamas. But the boat failed to return as planned, and it was found abandoned and drifting far off course to the south near Cuba with no one aboard.
An FBI affidavit also states that a substance appearing to be blood was found on the stern of the boat, along with six marijuana cigarettes, a handcuff key, laptop computer, luggage, clothes and a cell phone.
Archer, a former Army military police investigator, had been stationed at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, during the 1990s, according to court records. He went AWOL in 2003 and received a "less-than-honorable discharge" as a result, according to Arkansas records from his 2005 divorce.
Less is known about Zarabozo, other than he is a migrant from Cuba and lives with relatives in Hialeah. Archer's ex-wife, Michelle Rowe, told investigators that her husband met Zarabozo as a boy in Cuba and may have helped him and his family reach the U.S. In addition, she said, the two men may have been trying to escape to Cuba to start a new life together.
"I found out he was having an affair with some men," said Rowe.
Rowe said when Archer was a military investigator at the Guantanamo base in the mid-1990's he befriended a child who had been intercepted at sea. Sometime later, Archer left the base under a cloud of suspicion.
"He went AWOL from the military after child molestation accusations were brought up," said Rowe, "he ran then. He ran after child molestation charges again."
Rowe said the child eventually came to Florida and she suspects Zarabozo is that child grown up
An attorney for Rowe, Chaney Taylor of Batesville, Ark., said Rowe has had no recent contact with Archer. Rowe has custody of the couple's two young sons, Taylor said.
"We don't know where he's been since January," Taylor said of Archer.
In the court documents, Rowe contended that her husband admitted to her that he was homosexual and had affairs with five or six men. Archer, however, denied that, saying that one man mentioned by his ex-wife was merely a roommate and not a lover.
Court records also show that Archer has since remarried, to another woman named Michelle. In court on Wednesday, Archer said he is now separated.
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