Heated police interviews show decline in investigators' faith in Megan Boswell

Yahoo

11-02-2025

SULLIVAN COUNTY, Tenn. (WJHL) — The fifth day of Megan Boswell's murder trial painted a picture of diminishing confidence in her from police through hours of recorded interviews.
Boswell faces numerous charges, including first-degree murder and two counts of felony murder, in the death of her baby daughter Evelyn Boswell. Evelyn's disappearance sparked an AMBER Alert in February 2020.
Jury shown multiple interviews with Megan Boswell
Monday's court proceedings picked back up with former Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) agent David Gratz returning to the stand to continue his testimony. Gratz spent much of Saturday describing his February 2020 interviews with Boswell at the Sullivan County Sheriff's Office (SCSO), as well as reviewing photos and physical evidence for the jury.
Gratz handled and presented multiple pieces of evidence on Monday, including the trash can and trash bag Evelyn's body was found in on March 6, 2020, pieces of aluminum foil that had been wrapped around her head, the onesie she had been wearing and a blanket her body was wrapped in.
The evidence drew a reaction from jurors, and the court entered a recess at one point after at least one juror felt ill due to the smell coming from the evidence.
Complete Coverage of the Megan Boswell Trial
When asked by Assistant District Attorney Amber Massengill who the investigation led to, he confidently stated Boswell was ultimately the only suspect.
'Is there any individual that the investigation continued to point out?' Massengill asked Gratz.
'There was one individual,' Gratz answered.
'Who was it,' Massengill asked.
'It was the defendant,' Gratz said.
Gratz also told Massengill and the jury that other people who have repeatedly been mentioned throughout the trial were investigated and eliminated as suspects. Those included Ethan Perry (who was once believed to be Evelyn's father), Hunter Wood (Boswell's boyfriend in late 2019 and early 2020), Tommy Boswell (Megan Boswell's father), Angela Boswell (Megan Boswell's mother) and William McCloud (Angela Boswell's boyfriend).
Boswell's attorney, Gene Scott, asked Gratz several questions about Wood. Wood's father previously took the stand and revealed to the court that his son was in a mental facility in Virginia. His father claimed that his mental health issues began when people 'started accusing him of being a baby killer.'
Scott asked if the former agent was aware of Wood's mental health issues and if investigators had looked into a possible tie to those issues and the foil found wrapped around Evelyn's head.
'And did you all investigate any connection between people with schizophrenia and people that, tinfoil hats?' Scott asked. The question was rephrased after an objection, but Gratz said he was unaware of any investigators looking into links between the foil and mental health issues.
Gratz told Massengill that Wood and all other people who were ruled out as suspects complied with law enforcement. During his cross-examination, Scott asked if he knew that Wood had refused to submit DNA for law enforcement. Gratz said he did recall hearing that Wood did not supply DNA at one point in the investigation.
Scott asked further questions about searches at Boswell's former trailer and a search at Tommy Boswell's property prior to the night Evelyn was found.
After Gratz, SCSO Lieutenant Matt Price took the stand. Price was a sergeant in the department's criminal investigations division during the search for Evelyn and interviewed Boswell multiple times with Gratz. The bulk of the rest of the day was spent with Price identifying some pieces of evidence from the trash can Evelyn was found in and showing the jury police interviews with Boswell.
The jury was shown two interviews with Price, Gratz and Boswell on Feb. 20 and one with the same trio on Feb. 21.
Price told the court that Boswell showed up at the sheriff's office unscheduled on Feb. 20, offering to help. In the first Feb. 20, 2020 interview, Boswell began to point law enforcement toward her mother, Angela.
In the interview, Boswell told Price and Gratz that her mother had been speaking with Perry since she left Evelyn with him in December.
'Maybe Ethan gave Evelyn to her,' Boswell said, though she said she could not be sure at that time. She told them places her mother might be and made mention of Mendota as a place of interest.
Gratz and Price displayed skepticism since Boswell had been telling law enforcement that Evelyn was in Louisiana with Perry.
'I know when you're not being 100% honest,' Price told her on Feb. 20, 2020.
Boswell asked them if she would be in trouble if she were to share new information, which elicited a frustrated reaction from the two investigators. She went on to tell them that Angela had taken Evelyn from her trailer on Sugar Hollow Road in mid-December, diverting from her previous story of leaving Evelyn with Perry around Christmas.
'Why in the hell did you not tell us this?' Price asked.
'I thought maybe she might do something if you all were, like, trying to get to her,' Boswell told him. She told both men that she was not worried about Evelyn being gone for a month because her mother told her the child was fine.
In a second Feb. 20, 2020 interview, Boswell's father, Tommy Boswell, joined his daughter and Gratz in the interview. Tommy made it clear that he did not believe the stories his daughter was giving the police and implored her to tell the truth
'Your mom don't have Evelyn,' Tommy Boswell told her in the video.
Gratz left the interview at one point to allow the father and daughter to speak alone, and afterward, Boswell relayed an amended series of events. She told them that Angela Boswell had taken Evelyn without permission in response to Boswell stealing money off her debit card.
Tommy Boswell told her that if an accident had occurred involving Evelyn, it would be best to come clean.
'It's gonna come out, it's just a matter of time,' Tommy Boswell said in the interview.
Gratz and Price also asked about Wood's reactions to Evelyn being missing, and her response was that he was largely indifferent to it.
'Did Hunter ever say 'Hey, where's your daughter?'' Gratz asked her.
'No,' Boswell said.
'He didn't want no babies around?' Gratz asked.
'I mean, I'm not saying that. We just never really like got into the subject,' she replied.
'Well, do you think that,' Gratz asked her.
'Think what?'
'That Hunter didn't want no babies around?'
'I don't think that, why?' Boswell responded.
When asked by investigators why she was attending a Super Bowl party, going on other trips and continuing to work instead of trying to bring Evelyn home, Boswell said she had no leads as to where her mother might be keeping her.
Ultimately, Price testified that both Angela Boswell and William McCloud were found in North Carolina, but there was no indication that they had ever had Evelyn.
In the Feb. 21 interview, Gratz and Price attempted to put a timeline together of when Evelyn was last seen alive using items from a memory box found in Boswell's possession. As it progressed, both Gratz and Price became more adamant that Boswell was not telling them the full truth and questioned how much she cared for her daughter after going so long without seeing her.
'What did you think you should do, just sit back and wait?' Gratz asked her.
'I mean, yeah,' Boswell said.
'For how long?' Price asked. 'How long were you gonna wait?'
'That's a really good question,' Gratz said.
'I don't know,' Boswell answered. She told them she did not believe Evelyn was dead because she had 'hope.'
The investigators confronted Boswell about her previous stories, calling them lies and saying she knew she was leading them astray.
'That's why in my heart, I believe Evelyn is dead or you know where Evelyn is,' Gratz told her.
Boswell told them she would never hurt Evelyn, but the pair told her she was no longer a credible source and said she was no longer helping them locate the child.
'There is no way,' Price told her. 'I'm a parent, there is no way.'
'No way, what?' Boswell asked.
'No way you don't know. It's impossible,' he answered.
'I honestly thought she was with my mother,' Boswell said.
'[Expletive]. You don't care about her,' Price told her. 'She's been gone for how long? You never picked up the phone. You never called us. DCS didn't know. We didn't know. We're two months behind finding her.'
Following the conclusion of the videos, Price answered some questions from Scott before being released. Two local news directors were called to the stand, and the jury was shown news interviews Boswell gave while the AMBER Alert was active.
Judge Jim Goodwin sent the jury back to their hotel for the evening afterward. Boswell's trial will resume Tuesday morning.
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