INTERPOL Washington Provides Critical Support to Cold Case Murder

On December 8,  2016, a U.S. federal grand jury returned an indictment against Silas Duane Boston, charging him with two counts of first degree maritime murder.  He is accused of killing British tourists, Christopher Farmer and Peta Frampton, aboard his boat in the Caribbean Sea in the summer of 1978. Boston ran a charter boat company that was hired by the two victims who were vacationing in the Caribbean.  According to the indictment, Boston murdered the couple and dumped their weighted bodies overboard. The boat, known as the Justin B. was  owned by Boston, a U.S. citizen; therefore, maritime and territorial laws of the United States apply and the case is being prosecuted under federal jurisdiction. Boston was arrested on December 1, 2016, in Paradise, California, and was arraigned before U.S. Magistrate Judge Carolyn K. Delaney in the U.S. District Court Eastern District of California. Boston entered a plea of not guilty.

INTERPOL Washington—the U.S. National Central Bureau (USNCB)--has been supporting this cold case investigation since 2012. Since 2015, INTERPOL Washington has worked with INTERPOL Manchester, NCB; the Sacramento Police Department; the FBI Sacramento; and the Manchester (United Kingdom) Police Department. INTERPOL Washington facilitated contacts between the Sacramento and Manchester (United Kingdom) police department investigators; passed witness statements from Sacramento to Manchester; and circulated requests for information to NCBs worldwide. The bureau also researched correspondence and documentation filed with USNCB at the time the victims were reported to have been murdered. The Manchester UK Police Department expressly thanked the USNCB staff on behalf of the victims’ families for their support of the joint investigation, reinforcing the value of international police cooperation and coordination between INTERPOL member countries.

There is also a separate investigation into the disappearance and suspected murder of Boston’s wife in 1968.  Boston’s next court appearance is scheduled for January 10, 2017. To read the full indictment, click here:  https://www.justice.gov/usao-edca/pr/former-sacramento-resident-charged-murdering-british-couple-1978

A component of the U.S. Department of Justice, INTERPOL Washington is co-managed by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. As the designated representative to INTERPOL on behalf of the Attorney General, INTERPOL Washington serves as the national point of contact for all INTERPOL matters, coordinating international investigative efforts among member countries and the more than 18,000 local, state, federal, and tribal law enforcement agencies in the United States.