By Ruth Styles For Dailymail.com From Mailonline

Yachtsman boasted about murdering British couple in 1978 in the Caribbean in front of his young son – and told friend how beating, stabbing and drowning them was ‘funny’

A friend told police how Silas Duane Boston, now 75, told him about the killing of British couple Peta Frampton and Christopher Farmer in the Caribbean
Bryan Lodgson told police how Boston boasted of the killings, called them funny, and described them in graphic detail
The pensioner was arrested after a cold-case review of the killing of his wife and is now charged with the other two murders
Frampton was a law graduate and Farmer a young doctor who had been traveling the world when they died; both were from Cheshire

The California man charged with the murdering a British couple in the Caribbean in 1978 ‘laughed’ as he boasted about the killings, a friend has claimed.

Bryan Logsdon, 50, of Pomona, California, said Silas Duane Boston, 75, described Frampton’s dying screams as ‘funny’ while telling him about the killings during a trip to Mexico in the early 1990s.

Logsdon’s claims form part of the criminal case against Boston, who is set to go on trial for the murders of Peta Frampton and Christopher Farmer in January next year.

Investigators from the FBI also spoke to his sons, Vince, 52, and Russell, 50, whose testimony appears in documents lodged at Sacramento Superior Court last week and seen by DailyMail.com.

All three told investigators that they had been too frightened of Boston to come forward before – citing a network of shadowy contacts, who the trio claimed could harm them on his behalf.

Vince and Russell, who were aboard Boston’s boat when the couple, both 25, disappeared, claim their father broke an antique billy club over Farmer’s head and broke a fillet knife while attempting to stab him in the chest – before threatening Frampton with a spear gun.

The brothers, who are now estranged and live in different states, also told authorities that he hogtied the couple and placed plastic bags over their heads.

Vince claims he was then ordered to watch Frampton, who had been imprisoned in the galley of the Justin B, overnight – and both say they saw him throw the tourists overboard the following day.

Frampton, who was half-naked when she was eventually found, was allegedly forced to watch her boyfriend drown and could be heard screaming as she died, according to Logsdon, who met Boston through his son Russell.

‘Boston said the female [Frampton] heard the splash of the male victim [Farmer] entering the water and started calling her boyfriend’s name,’ Logsdon said in his statement.

‘After a couple of minutes, Boston threw the female in the water. Boston told Logsdon it was funny because when the bag burst over her head, you could hear her screams through the bubbles that came up while she was drowning.’

Police were probing the death of Boston’s former wife, Mary Lou Boston. She disappeared in 1968.
Police were probing the death of Boston’s former wife, Mary Lou Boston. She disappeared in 1968.

Vince and Russell separately told the FBI that Boston checked his watch ‘three or four minutes’ after throwing the couple overboard, before turning to them and saying, ‘OK, they’re dead now’.

When the couple’s bodies were discovered floating in the sea close to the fishing village of Punta de Manibique, Guatemala, on July 8 1978, they were so badly decomposed, they were of ‘monstrous’ appearance according to the doctor who carried out an autopsy on them.

Both bodies were covered in fish bites and were in an advanced stage of deterioration – forcing investigators to use dental records sent from the UK to identify them.

The discovery of the corpses later led Boston to allegedly complain to Logsdon that you should ‘always gut someone when you are going to throw them into the water because otherwise they are going to bloat and float ashore’.

The chilling new details of the murders emerged in documents filed after Boston’s arrest at a convalescent home in Paradise, California, on December 2.

Last week, the 75-year-old pleaded not guilty to two counts of ‘maritime murder’ at a hearing held in Sacramento, California, on December 8.

His arrest follows an FBI investigation into the cold case killings – and a Sacramento Police Department review of the 1968 disappearance of his 23-year-old wife Mary Lou.

Along with further details of Frampton and Farmer’s alleged murder, the documents also contain testimony from Logsdon, Vince and Russell in which they claim that Boston also murdered her.

According to Logsdon, Boston said he drove the mother-of-two into the countryside and ordered her out of the car before shooting her dead.

He allegedly boasted that he decided to ‘snuff the b****’ after she asked him for a divorce and ordered her to ‘run b****’ before opening fire.

Tragically, her final words were about her two sons – gasping ‘but what about the kids?’ as Boston stood over her and finished her off with a final shot.

Boston’s sons Vince and Russell were initially approached about their mother’s disappearance but also told of their experiences on the 1978 voyage with their father, Frampton and Farmer.

On the same trip, Boston, who also has a daughter, Victoria, and a third son named Justin, allegedly threatened to kill his sons who told the FBI in October 2015 that they remain ‘fearful’ of their father.

The criminal complaint prepared by the FBI also includes excerpts from the initial police report filed by authorities in Guatemala – which notes that the couple were found floating in the sea by firefighters approximately 200 yards from the village of Punta de Manibique at 3.30pm on July 8 1978.

Both were badly decomposed, having been in the water for at least a week, and showed signs of torture – with Farmer’s body also bearing a wound to the right leg.

Dr Angel Marie Vasquez Cuellar, who performed the autopsy on the couple in Puerto Barrios on July 10, noted that the corpses were ‘monstrous’ in appearance and covered in fish bites.

Neither could be immediately identified and the bodies were buried side-by-side in the local cemetery – where they still remain.

Both corpses were exhumed in April 1979 after the couple were reported missing and identified using dental records sent from the UK.

The tourists, who were both 25 and from Manchester, had been planning to spend a year traveling – beginning with a visit to Australia, followed by a tour of Central and South America and concluding with a visit to the US.

Frampton was newly graduated from law school and Farmer was a doctor.

Having departed for Australia in December 1977, a letter posted by Frampton on May 19 1978 reveals the couple had reached Guadalajara, Mexico, by that Spring and were planning to travel on to Belize.

It was there, in Belize City, that Farmer and Frampton first encountered Boston who offered them passage on his boat, the Justin B – named for his son with his second wife, Katherine Quinn.

In a letter to her family dated June 13, Frampton wrote that ‘an American called Dwayne [sic] who owns a Belizean boat called Justin B offered to take us up to Chetumal [Mexico] by sail so we decided to do that’.

Her final letter, dated June 28 but postmarked July 18, talks of setting off from Placentia and enjoying ‘the perfect sail’ up to Hunting Cay – but complains of the behavior of Boston and his sons.

‘They are 12 & 13 years but behave more like 8 & 9 & I find I have no patience at all with them,’ she wrote.

‘What makes it worse is that Duane [Boston] curses & puts them down constantly, often when things are not going quite right.’

Speaking to the FBI in October 2015, Vince said the trio had ended up in Belize following an ‘incident’ in Sacramento during which they overheard a woman screaming at Boston to stop.

Russell later elaborated, telling authorities that his father had committed a ‘statutory rape’.

Shortly afterwards, Boston took his sons to get passports and drove them to Belize via Mexico, where he bought a boat and began operating an unlicensed tour business.

Vince told detectives that Boston would become ‘very violent’ when drunk and would ‘cuss and yell’ at his sons – especially the younger.

In his testimony, Russell said his father had been ‘yelling’ and punching him repeatedly when Farmer intervened.

‘On one such occasion, Farmer told Boston to leave RB [Russell] alone,’ Vince claimed in his statement. ‘Boston tried to hit Farmer, missed and fell into the water.

‘Farmer and Frampton laughed at Boston after he fell into the water. Soon after the incident, Boston began plotting Farmer’s and Frampton’s deaths.’

According to both Vince and Russell, the attack that allegedly led to the couple’s deaths began the following night, while the Justin B was anchored in deep water off the coast of Guatemala.

Both brothers claim that their father battered Farmer over the head with a billy club and stabbed him with a fillet knife, before tackling the Briton and tying him up with ropes.

In his account, Russell said Farmer fell to his knees, screamed ‘what’s your game, what’s your game?’ and attempted to cover his head as Boston hit him.

Eventually, he yelled out ‘I give up, I give up’ before pleading with Boston to tell him why he was being attacked.

Frampton, meanwhile, was tied up and placed in the galley – with Vince allegedly ordered to watch her overnight.

The next day, Boston, claim his sons, told the couple that he would put them ashore if they made over their travelers checks to him.

But after they did so, Boston moved Frampton to the rear of the boat and attached machine parts, which he carried for ship’s ballast, to the couple. Both had plastic bags placed over their heads.

Farmer was thrown overboard first, with Frampton following a few minutes later.

According to Vince, ‘three or four minutes’ after the couple went overboard, Boston looked at his watch and said, ‘OK, they are dead now’.

Later the same day, Boston allegedly attempted to justify his actions, telling his sons: ‘You know I had to do that. They didn’t give me a choice’.

The trio then set sail for Livingston, Guatemala, where they were logged arriving by the local harbormaster on July 6 1978.

While there, according to Russell, Boston allegedly disposed of the couple’s clothes – dropping them off ‘at a local business’.

He also steamed open and read Frampton’s final letter, eventually mailing it on July 18 in what Russell claimed was an attempt to throw authorities off the scent.

Boston, who has spent most of the past three decades living between Laguna Beach in southern California, and northern Mexico, is claimed to have boasted of the killings to Logsdon during a year they spent traveling in the early 1990s.

According to Logsdon, Boston spoke ‘nonchalantly’ about the murders and ‘laughed’ in delight at getting away with it.

Chillingly, he is also claimed to have told the now 50-year-old that he had learned from the murders that you should ‘always gut someone when you are going to throw them into the water because otherwise they are going to bloat and float ashore’.

A transcript of a phone conversation between Boston and Frampton’s father Charles shortly after her disappearance and included in the documents also reveals how he denied all knowledge of the 25-year-old’s whereabouts.

Boston is now incarcerated in Sacramento County Main Jail where he is recorded as being booked on a ‘FBI hold’ with the charges against him listed as murder.

In the indictment lodged with the court on December 8, Boston is charged with two counts of ‘maritime murder’ – one each for Farmer and Frampton.

But in a chilling twist to the tale, the criminal affidavit notes that further killings have been linked to Boston – including that of his wife Mary Lou.

According to Logsdon’s testimony, Boston boasted to him of her murder – telling him he decided to kill her after she asked for a divorce.

A furious Boston then allegedly drove the 23-year-old to a ‘favorite shooting area’ before ordering her out of the car and telling her to ‘run b****’.

Logsdon’s statement continues: ‘Boston fired shots at her with his gun and hit her. Boston was unsure if he hit her on the back of her skull or the base of her skull but the shot did not kill her.

‘Boston stated he walked up to her and she looked up at him and said, ‘but what about the kids?’

‘Boston told Logsdon that after she asked him the question, Boston just ‘snuffed the b****’. He said he ‘snuffed’ her in a creek bed and it caved in on her and that she will not be found for ‘a million years’.

According to Logsdon, the 75-year-old also claimed he had cut the throats of another couple, again in Belize, although authorities were unable to find evidence that the crime took place.

Also uncorroborated is Boston’s alleged claim to have shot a group of drug dealers in Sacramento after a female friend was sexually assaulted by the quintet.

But authorities did find evidence of Boston’s involvement in a hit and run in the city on June 10 1972.

The victim on that occasion was Marshall Williams, who was run over and killed on Lemon Hill Avenue close to Stockton Boulevard.

IMAGES:
British tourist Christopher Farmer (middle) was allegedly beaten and bound before being thrown overboard by Silas Duane Boston. The alleged killer’s two sons, Russell and Vince (pictured), were on board the boat at the time
Son: Russell Boston said his father plotted the couple’s deaths after the laughed when he fell into the water after trying to hit Frampton and missing
Still scared: Vince Boston and his brother said they had not come forward over fears for their own safety if they informed on their father
Silas Duane Boston, 75, has been charged with the 1978 murders of British couple Christopher Farmer and Peta Frampton when they were sailing on his boat in the Caribbean Sea

For more on this story go to: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4034422/Yachtsman-boasted-murdering-British-couple-Caribbean-son-told-friend-beating-stabbing-drowning-funny.html#ixzz4SuWktVPh