Naman Shrestha
What was supposed to be a fun and relaxing getaway to the Bahamian coast for Jake and Kelley Branam, along with two family members, on a luxury charter boat, turned into something totally unexpected. When the ship was discovered near the Cuban waters without a single passenger, a murder investigation was launched as all the signs pointed towards the fact that all the passengers had passed away. The mysterious case is the subject of Investigation Discovery’s ‘Fatal Destination: The Ghost Ship,’ which also provides a detailed account of the investigation that ensued.
Jake and Kelley Branam’s Remains Have Still Not Been Found
On July 28, 1980, Jake Haley Branam was born into a loving household, where he lived with his parents and siblings, Scott Gamble and Amie Gamble. As for his future wife, Kelley Sue Van Laar Branam was born on July 11, 1977, in Kalamazoo County, Michigan. Growing up in the Kalamazoo area, she completed her education from multiple local schools and attended Kalamazoo Valley Community College. In 2002, she moved to Miami but returned home to Kalamazoo frequently to visit her grandparents, Donna and David VanLaar. At some point, she crossed paths with Jake, the Captain of a charter boat, Joe Cool, and the two formed a romantic connection.
Jake and Kelley eventually got married and welcomed two lovely children into the world — Taylor and Morgan. On the fateful day of September 22, 2007, the Branam couple was accompanied by Jake’s half-brother, Scott Gamble, and a family friend named Samuel “Sammy” Kairy on the 47-foot charter boat. During their journey to the Bahamas coast from the Miami Beach Marina, something unexpected happened. Joe Cool disappeared from the radar of the United States Coast Guard (USCG), following which an official search operation was launched to locate it. Eventually, the vessel was spotted several miles off-course of its planned route.
The USCG team boarded the abandoned ship and didn’t find any passengers inside. All they could find were wallets, car keys, and fishing poles. Upon the second and thorough search, they found 9mm spent shell casings, darts, throwing stars, a blowgun, handcuff keys, and expensive fishing equipment. Furthermore, blood was also found on the ship. The passengers on board, 27-year-old Jake, 30-year-old Kelley, 35-year-old Scott, and 27-year-old Samuel, were officially declared dead, with their remains seemingly disposed of into the ocean.
An Unexpected Hijacking Led to the Murders
During the search for the passengers of Joe Cool, the air search led the authorities to a couple of individuals in a lifeboat, which had Joe Cool written on the side. The two individuals were identified as 36-year-old Kirby Logan Archer and 18-year-old Guillermo Alfonso Zarbozo, who claimed that they had never been on Jake’s boat. The detectives found it strange as they were found in the Joe Cool lifeboat. Due to that lie, suspicions against them were raised, and they were eventually questioned. Guillermo told the investigators that three Cuban pirates hijacked the boat and killed Jake Branam, Kelley Branam, Scott Gamble, and Sammy Kairy. As per his accounts, the pirates forced Kirby to drive the ship toward Cuba.
Upon interviewing Kirby, the detectives found several inconsistencies and holes in both stories. For the next step, they dug deeper into the suspects’ backgrounds and learned that Kirby had an outstanding arrest warrant against him in Arkansas, where he was employed at a Walmart. He was reportedly accused of stealing more than $92,000 from his workplace and fleeing the scene. Moreover, the authorities searched Guillermo’s house, where they found a receipt for the purchase of 9mm ammunition of the same brand found on the boat. After confronting Kirby with the evidence against him, he agreed to tell them the truth about what had transpired. He claimed that he had met Guillermo at an auto body shop and pretended to be a CIA agent.
According to Kirby, he then offered Guillermo a job with the CIA if he successfully completed a mission with him. They paid $4,000 and booked the Joe Cool to travel to Bimini, Bahamas. During their ride, Kirby claimed that he first killed Jake and his wife, Kelley, before Guillermo killed the other two passengers on the ship. They then steered the vessel towards Cuba. As per the investigators, it was Kirby’s attempt at fleeing to Cuba to avoid the charges of child molestation and theft against him. However, the plan failed when the boat ran out of fuel just a few miles outside Cuban waters. Thus, on October 10, 2007, Kirby Archer and Guillermo Zarabozo were formally charged with the four murders.
Logan Archer and Guillermo Zarabozo Are Serving Their Life Terms in Separate States
In July 2008, Kirby Logan Archer pleaded guilty to first-degree murder, robbery, kidnapping, and hijacking in connection with the deaths of Jake H. Branam, Kelley S. Branam, Scott M. Gamble, and Samuel A. Kairy on the ship. Although he avoided the death penalty by taking a plea deal, he was sentenced to five consecutive life terms on October 14, 2008. On the other hand, Guillermo Alfonso Zarabozo stood trial on a 16-count indictment, which included charges of robbery, murder, conspiracy, hijacking, and various other charges.
Initially, he was only found guilty of firearms violations, with the jury being deadlocked on other serious charges. However, on February 19, 2009, his retrial ultimately led to his conviction on four murder charges as well. Finally, on May 7 of the same year, he was sentenced to five life terms in prison in addition to 85 years for his crimes. Following the conviction and sentencing of the perpetrators, the families of the victims got some much-needed closure and justice. While Kirby Archer is serving his sentence at FCI Jesup in Jesup, Georgia, Guillermo Zarabozo is incarcerated at FCI Coleman Medium in Wildwood, Florida.
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