As of Jan. 20, 2012, Lester Vann Waters, 47, and Michael Keith Spell, 22, still sit in the Willams County Jail in North Dakota for aggravated kidnapping of missing Montana teacher Sherry Arnold of Sidney, MT. And the Billings Gazette bemoaned on Wednesday the inability to get the FBI to give an update in the case, or provide more information about the evidence against the suspects being held.
Before the two men were arrested by law enforcement--who both boast criminal records--and/or prior charges that include driving and drug offenses--at least one of them was ratted out by someone in the public, according to the FBI.
“Based on a tip from the public, law enforcement took one adult male into custody, and another adult male is being questioned by police,” an FBI press release stated. (Article continues below)
Much speculation has surrounded the question of how the FBI learned of Lester Waters and Michael Spell’s alleged involvement in the case. Oftentimes, law enforcement gets a needed break in a case when someone is arrested for something else, and has inside knowledge of another crime, offering up information to gain a reduction in potential sentences for their crime(s).
This can include, as some have put forth in the missing Montana teacher’s case, one party to the crime turning on another party to it, seeking to shift blame altogether--or come clean after the fact.
The FBI’s press statement makes it clear that Lester Vann Waters was the first man apprehended by law enforcement--and that he was arrested, not merely questioned initially, compared to the case of Michael Keith Spell.
That says the public tip zeroed in on Waters and so did police, and that Spell came into the investigative picture after the fact, when he was also brought in for questioning. And Spell wasn’t immediately taken into custody, according to the FBI’s own statement, which can indicate police sought to determine the extent of his potential involvement first.
It can also mean that the law enforcement agency investigating the Sherry Arnold case hoped to put Spell at ease about a possible arrest, so he would be more willingly to provide potential details about Arnold’s possible location.
After Waters’ arrest and the questioning of Spell, the FBI and local law enforcement agencies involved in the investigation began releasing potential body locations for the then-believed dead Montana teacher.
That information had to come from one of the suspects questioned, the person who gave the tip to police--or from dirt and debris found on the suspects modes of transportation, once retrieved. Authorities had Sherry Arnold’s shoe in their possession early on in the investigation and yet they didn’t produce the location lead then.
References: FBI, Billings Gazette
Additional Radell Smith Criminal Profile articles on this topic and more:
Ryan Brunn: The many victims of the Jorelys Rivera killer
Georgia convicted child killer Ryan Brunn allegedly commits suicide
Comments