Disclaimer: This article contains mentions of murder. Reader discretion is advised.
Silas Duane Boston, the man behind Chris Farmer and Peta Frampton’s 1978 murders, may have committed more crimes. Authorities also suspected that Boston was responsible for the 1968 disappearance of his wife, Mary Lou. Now, Amazon Prime Video’s Dead in the Water will further his crimes and role in Farmer and Frampton’s murders. The three-part docuseries premieres on Wednesday, February 28, 2024.
As per Variety, the synopsis reads, “The letters they write and the tapes they sent home were filled with tales of exotic landscapes, cultural encounters, and the thrill of the unknown. But their dream soon turns into a chilling nightmare when they are brutally murdered and the trail for their killer goes cold. Four decades later, failed by law enforcement, their family take up the manhunt and begin the descent into an unknown world of online sleuthing and make a shocking discovery.”
Chris Farmer and Peta Frampton disappeared in June 1978 while chartering Silas Duane Boston’s boat. BBC reported that in July that their bodies were found tied up and attached to engine parts, 200m off the coast of Guatemala. Decades later, Boston’s son, Vince, who was also onboard at the time, told BBC Radio 5 Live for the podcast Paradise the gory details about the murders.
The FBI finally arrested Bostin in December 2016 in connection with the murders. However, he died the following year before his case could go to trial.
How was Silas Duane Boston linked to Chris Farmer & Peta Frampton’s murders?
Silas Duane Boston had been a suspect in the murders of Chris Farmer and Peta Frampton from the start. The Manchester couple had chartered Boston’s boat while traveling down the coast from Belize to Honduras, reported The Sun. They wrote detailed letters to their families about their travels and adventures worldwide. So, in Frampton’s last letter, dated June 28, 1978, she mentioned Boston, his two sons—Vince, 13, and Russell, 12—and his boat, Justin B.
That was the last time the couple sent out a letter, and more than a week later, on July 8, firefighters discovered their bodies floating off the coast of Guatemala. The Washington Post reported that they found the bodies hogtied to heavy engine parts in the Caribbean Sea. Meanwhile, the victims’ families began to search for them after the letters stopped coming. Since Boston was the last person to have seen the couple alive, he became the primary suspect in the murders.
BBC reported that authorities traced Silas Duane Boston to Sacramento and California. However, since there was no solid proof, they couldn’t directly link him to the murders. Chris Farmer and Peta Frampton’s murder case eventually went cold, and the truth only came out nearly four decades later. Silas Duane Boston’s son Vince, who was present when the murders occurred, detailed the incident to BBC Radio 5 Live for the podcast Paradise.
As per the report, Boston was an abusive father. One evening, while onboard, Chris Farmer tried to stop him from mistreating his sons and being aggressive. Vince said, “Dad snapped and tried to swing at Chris but he ducked and Dad fell into the water. It was nothing, but Dad felt humiliated. That’s when everything changed. That’s when he started plotting.”
Boston reportedly told Farmer to pull up the anchor a few days later. Vince recalled the horrific incident, “Chris starts pulling up the chain and Dad stealthily walks behind him. He pulls out a wooden club and starts beating Chris over the head. Peta screamed and Dad threatened her with a speargun, telling her to get below decks.”
Boston then hogtied the couple with ropes, put bags on their heads, and attached heavy engine parts to their bindings. Vince said that his father told the couple that “he was going to drop them in shallow water but we were sailing out to sea. The water was turning from turquoise to a dark, almost blackish blue. He [Boston] said, ‘OK, we’re here, I’m going to let you out now.’ He grabbed Chris’ weight and threw it overboard, then rolled him into the sea. He went to the back of the boat and did the same to Peta.”
Has Silas Duane Boston committed other crimes & what happened to him?
Silas Duane Boston reportedly had a rap sheet that included assault, carrying a concealed firearm, and rape, and the third of his seven wives had disappeared 10 years earlier. The BBC report stated that Boston had taken his sons, Vince and Russell, to Belize in January 1978. He was reportedly skipping bail on two counts of rape in the US. In Belize, he bought a boat named ‘Justin B,’ and they lived on board.
Boston’s son Vince alleged that after the murders of Chris Farmer and Peta Frampton, they returned to the US in August 1978. Vince tried to tell his family and authorities about the murders. Moreover, authorities dismissed his claims as hearsay until “finally, in 2012, I found the cold case department at Sacramento Police Department,” said Vince. He further stated, “The officer was the first one that took me seriously.”
It was around the same time Chris Farmer’s sister Penny took it upon herself to solve the murders. In 2015, Penny called cold case detectives at Greater Manchester Police, and a joint investigation led them to Silas Duane Boston’s arrest on December 1, 2016, in Paradise, California.
Through Vince’s statements, the BBC report further alleged that Boston was responsible for the disappearance of Mary Lou, his wife. He claimed that his mother, May Lou, went missing in 1968 after she told Boston that she wanted a divorce. Vince and his brother grew up knowing that Boston was Mary Lou’s killer.
Vince said, “My grandmother told us when we were very young: ‘I don’t want to lie to you kids. There is no Santa Claus and your mother is never coming back.'” He added, “We asked her what she meant and she said, ‘Your dad killed her because he didn’t want to lose you kids.'”
Boston was facing murder charges in the deaths of Farmer and Frampton. However, he died in April 2017 because of his deteriorating health, even before a trial could take place. Thus, Boston never faced justice for his crimes.
Dead in the Water will premiere on Amazon Prime Video on February 28, 2024.
