Caught in the Net: How did scrapyard owner Ricky Saxton die?

Caught in the Net's new episode, titled Digital Crumbs, will revisit the murder case of Mississippi car mechanic Ricky Saxton on Investigation Discovery on September 27 at 10 pm ET.

The official synopsis of the episode, as per Rotten Tomatoes, reads:

"When family man Ricky Saxton is found murdered, investigators turn to a forensic data specialist at the FBI to help locate a missing piece of the puzzle; a deleted snapshot buried deep within the data leads them to Ricky's killer."

Ricky's death baffled the police, and it was labeled as a cold case for almost two years. Despite the clarification of the timeline of events that led to Ricky's disappearance and his eventual murder, the police were not able to track down the killers due to a technical glitch.

Furthermore, the Cinemaholic reveals the police were not able to come up with a plausible motive and suspect for Ricky's murder as each one of his friends and families had airtight alibis. Additionally, everyone who knew him described him as diligent, kind, and amiable.

However, with the consistent efforts of the police and technological advancements in the digital field, the police were finally able to track down the killers.

Who was Ricky Saxton, and how did he die?

Ricky Saxton was a 57-year-old scrapyard owner who owned Ricky Saxton Wrecker Service. According to his uncle Kenny Saxton, he was one of Ricky's closest pals who recalled their happy times fishing together in Venice, Louisiana, just before Ricky went missing. He enjoyed working in his salvage yard, selling used auto parts, and then crushing the leftovers.

Therefore, it came as a shock when, on November 13, 2013, the 57-year-old left the house in his truck to reply to a caller about checking a vehicle but never came back.

Authorities and community volunteers explored the area in search of Ricky and his recognizable tow truck. A landowner on Dale and Wildwood roads noticed his truck inside the boundaries of his property and immediately called the police. In response to the landowner's warning, the detectives located Ricky's dead body buried in high grass not far from the house.

He had died from three gunshot wounds, two to his side and one to the head, according to law enforcement, and it looked like someone had gone through his personal stuff.

The next area of emphasis for the detectives was Ricky's call history, where they discovered a number that kept coming up repeatedly and belonged to a burner phone. When they served the carrier with a subpoena, they learned that the cell phone in question had been purchased at Fred's Dollar Store in Yazoo just before it was used to call Ricky.

When the police arrived at the department store on November 13 at around 10:30 am, they found that only one burner phone had been sold. When they reviewed the store's surveillance system, they were disappointed to discover that the database did not contain the videos.

They subpoenaed the hard disk and sent it to FBI Quantico for additional examination in the hopes that the federal forensic experts could recover some important information. But to their surprise, not even the FBI was successful in getting the data off the drive, and the case was closed.

How were Ricky Saxton's killers caught?

Johnny Mack Brown and Shontina (Images via Central Mississippi Correctional Facility)

The investigation accelerated once more two years later when Wayne Mitchell, an FBI digital forensic expert who is now retired, was able to effectively extract video clips from the hard drive.

The sought-after footage was eventually located by the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation after searching all the samples and comparing the date stamps. With the assistance of local law enforcement, the investigators recognized the African-American male as Johnny Mack Brown, a convicted felon, from a blurry photo of the people purchasing the phone.

Although there was no concrete proof against Johnny, the police's suspicions were confirmed when a neighbor reported an incident involving Johnny and his wife, Shontina Moore Brown, in early June 2015. The couple had been fighting about Ricky Saxton's murder.

On June 8, 2015, while Johnny eluded capture, officials detained Shontina and filed an active search warrant in his name. But when his aunt turned him in the following day, the police accused him of being a criminal in possession of a firearm as well as capital murder, conspiracy to conduct capital murder, armed robbery, and conspiracy to commit armed robbery.

In addition, Shontina was accused of committing armed robbery and conspiring to commit armed robbery, as well as capital murder and conspiracy to commit capital murder.

Johnny admitted to getting a Tracphone and luring Ricky to a secluded location with the help of his wife in order to rob him. When Johnny came, he raised his gun, but Ricky begged him not to shoot and made an attempt to flee. Johnny pursued him and shot him three times in spite of his requests.

He claimed they planned the heist because they were short on cash for rent and that they took about $650 from their victim. In July 2019 and October 2019, respectively, Johnny and Shontina received sentences after entering guilty pleas to the charges.

For second-degree murder, Johnny, 45, received a sentence of 40 years with 26 years to serve on second-degree murder, followed by 30 years with 26 years to serve for armed robbery, 10 years for having a firearm while a felon, and five years for conspiracy.

Shontina, 31, received three sentences totaling 30 years: 20 years for second-degree murder, 20 years with 15 years to serve for armed robbery, and 5 years for conspiracy. Both are incarcerated and serving their sentences at the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility. Johnny and Shontina are expected to be freed in 2056 and 2035, respectively.

Caught in the Net's new episode premieres on ID on September 27, 2023, at 10 pm ET.

Edited by Somava