The Suspicious Death of Phil Williams Jr. (Maine)

Summary

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Dark Downeast – "The Suspicious Death of Phil Williams Jr. (Maine)"

Podcast: Dark Downeast
Host: Kylie Low
Date: May 21, 2026
Episode Theme:
This episode investigates the death of Phil Williams Jr., a teenager who died in 1982 while in the care of the notorious Elan School in Maine. Decades after his family was told he died of a brain aneurysm, new evidence and survivor accounts raised shocking questions about abuse, forced boxing matches, and whether his death was truly a tragic accident — or something closer to homicide. Through deeply compassionate storytelling, host Kylie Low weaves interviews, investigative records, and the journey of Phil’s sister Pam, as she confronts the painful truth and the system that failed her brother.

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I. Introduction and Background

• Setting the Scene (01:17)

  • Phil Williams Jr. is remembered fondly by his younger sister, Pam. As she recalls:
    "He was, oh my goodness, like my protector... I was everything to him." (02:18, Pam Williams)
  • The Williams children were raised in a deeply troubled, abusive family situation, with both parents battling addiction and violence. Their father was convicted of attempting to murder their mother, leading to years in foster care.
    "We were in a broken home. Our parents were alcoholics, drug addicts, very abusive..." (04:06, Pam Williams)

• Phil’s Struggles Begin (05:08)

  • After entering foster care, Phil’s behavior became more volatile, marked by outbursts and, as Pam recalls, severe, untreated headaches.
  • "He was screaming and smashing his head on walls, saying his head hurt so bad, begging for them to help it stop." (05:24, Pam Williams)
  • His pain and distress led to a pivotal incident, resulting in his removal from the home:
    "One night, the police coming to our foster home and removing him." (06:39, Pam Williams)

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II. The Elan School: Promise vs. Reality

• Elan’s Pitch (07:00)

  • Phil, age 15, was sent to the Elan School in Poland, Maine — presented to families as a compassionate residential program for “troubled” teens.
  • Elan’s brochure:
    • “Elan is a school. It is not a correctional institution, nor is it a mental hospital... it demands that each student comes to grips with wellness.” (08:02, quoting Elan promo materials)

• Family Kept in the Dark (09:28)

  • Pam was told Phil was thriving and being treated:
    • "They kept telling me he was doing better, that they were getting him treatment for his headaches." (09:28, Pam Williams)
  • But everything changed when the family received word — after Christmas — that Phil had died of an aneurysm.
  • "We were making him a gift box for Christmas, but it came back in the mail. And then a couple days after Christmas, I was told that he had already passed and that they didn't want to tell me because they didn't want to ruin my Christmas." (09:59, Pam Williams)
  • The official explanation: Phil had a sudden, unpredictable aneurysm.
  • Pam, devastated:
    • "I tried to jump in the grave with him at the funeral... That moment changed me forever." (10:57, Pam Williams)

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III. Decades Later: The Investigation Reopens

• A Stranger Raises Questions (11:55)
  • In 2016, Mark Babitz, a former Elan resident and advocate for survivors, contacted Pam.
  • He shared Phil’s death certificate and new witness statements from former residents, suggesting Phil’s death may have been related to abuse at Elan rather than a “natural” event.
    "The horror that was going on in those buildings... we were just in shock." (13:39, Pam Williams)

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IV. Elan’s Methods and Allegations of Abuse

• Discipline as Abuse (15:47 – 25:13)

  • Kylie gives context on Elan’s “treatment”:
    • Power structures run by students.
    • Psychological and physical punishments.
    • The 'Ring': Forced boxing matches as a form of discipline.
  • Historical reports revealed allegations of:
    • Handcuffs, straitjackets, public humiliation.
    • Physical punishment, food mixed with feces, and more.
    • In 1975, the Illinois DCFS labeled the program “abhorrent to all expected standards of childcare.”

• Pam’s Reaction:

  • "The stories that I was told, I didn't even know that some people would do such things. You don't treat Children like that?" (25:13, Pam Williams)
  • "When you're supposed to be nurturing children... how can you treat them like that?" (25:28, Pam Williams)

• Bombshell Revelation:

  • Mark shared that witnesses claimed Phil was put in the ring for boxing matches shortly before his death — possibly suffering blows that triggered a fatal brain hemorrhage.
  • "After Mark came and told us all this, I had to start over again. It was like he died all over again, because it was totally different." (26:28, Pam Williams)

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V. The 2016 Police Investigation

• Authorities Finally Take Notice (27:00, 30:06)

  • In 2016, the Androscoggin County Sheriff's Office and later Maine State Police opened an investigation, interviewing former residents and staff.

  • Key Witness Testimonies:

    • Phil often complained of headaches and appeared unwell.
    • Multiple residents reported seeing Phil forced into the ring for a boxing match where he fell and convulsed, became unresponsive, and later died.
    • Accounts varied on the exact sequence, but all pointed to the ring as central to the incident.

  • Notable Quotes:

    • "Several residents who spoke to investigators in 2016 believed that Phil had been put into the ring multiple times in the days leading up to his death. One witness believed it was possibly as many as 10 times over a four or five day period, in an effort to force him to admit he was faking [his headaches]." (approx. 36:00, Kylie Low)
    • "Another witness described Phil as unresponsive after the fight, choking on vomit while he was in that same office..." (36:48, Kylie Low)
    • Staff recollections were fragmented; some swore no child ever died at Elan under their watch.

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VI. Conflicting Records and Unanswered Questions

• Lack of Documentation & Accountability (42:22)
  • There was no solid record of any official investigation into Phil’s death at the time.
  • Autopsy reports were inconsistent—records both reference and appear to deny that an autopsy ever occurred.
  • Pam’s attempts to access Department of Health & Human Services records have been fruitless.
  • "A child dies while in state custody, and there's no clear record of anyone stepping in to ask why..." (approx. 49:00, Kylie Low)

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VII. Legal Barriers to Justice

• Exploring the Law (47:30 – 52:10)
  • Maine’s definitions of murder, manslaughter, and child endangerment are strict.
  • Even with troubling witness accounts, state officials said the bar for criminal charges (intention or “depraved indifference”) was not met.
  • In 2017, the Attorney General’s office declined to pursue charges because of “insufficient evidence.”
  • Pam’s heartbreaking response:
    "Well, I would think that my brother being dead would be sufficient evidence, period... They were supposed to be watching my brother. That's sufficient evidence. Somebody let him be killed. That’s plenty of evidence. There's a wrong there." (51:48, Pam Williams)

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VIII. Remembrance, Advocacy, and the Broader Issue

• No Justice, But Not Forgotten (53:22)

  • Pam, after years of fighting:
    "I don't expect justice anymore. I've made peace with that... But I love the fact that for 40 years, people have been talking about him and telling his story, and now his story's gonna be told so much more..." (53:22, Pam Williams)

• The Troubled Teen Industry Persists (54:10)

  • Pam’s warning:
    "Elan's everywhere... there are so many of these schools that are open right now. Elan's everywhere." (54:10, Pam Williams)
  • Kylie: Elan closed in 2011, but similar institutions still exist, and survivor-advocates continue the fight for justice and reform.
  • Phil’s memory endures: "The world missed out on a beautiful, beautiful soul. He could have done so much. I just wish he could have had a better chance. Our whole family could have had a better chance." (55:12, Pam Williams)

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IX. Memorable Quotes & Moments

• On Grief and Loss:

  • “I tried to jump in the grave with him at the funeral... That moment changed me forever.” (10:57, Pam Williams)

• On Institutional Betrayal:

  • "You don't treat Children like that?... When you're supposed to be nurturing children, when you're supposed to be taking care of children, how can you treat them like that?" (25:13 – 25:28, Pam Williams)

• On Responsibility and Justice:

  • _"He was killed that night. He dead. That's sufficient evidence. They were supposed to be watching my brother. That's sufficient evidence. Somebody let him be killed." _ (51:48, Pam Williams)

• On Enduring Remembrance:

  • _"I just wish he could have had a better chance. Our whole family could have had a better chance." _ (55:12, Pam Williams)

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X. Timestamps for Key Segments

• Introduction & Family Background: 00:00–06:48
• The Elan School & Pam’s Understanding: 06:48–10:57
• Phil’s Death and the Aftermath: 10:57–13:39
• Elan’s Practices, Investigation Overview: 15:47–25:13
• Survivor Testimonies / "The Ring": 30:06–42:22
• Legal Barriers to Justice: 47:30–52:10
• Pam’s Conclusion, Elan’s Legacy: 53:22–55:31

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Conclusion

Through riveting storytelling and empathetic interviews, this episode exposes how easily the most vulnerable can slip through institutional cracks, where “treatment” masked systemic abuse. The death of Phil Williams Jr. is not only a tragic chapter in Maine’s history but also a rallying cry for greater oversight, compassion, and remembering the humans behind true crime stories. Pam’s pain and resilience, and the voices of former residents, ensure that Phil’s story — and the ongoing dangers in the troubled teen industry — remain in the public eye.

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Transcript

[Narrator / Kylie Lowe]

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It can help cover checkups, emergencies, diagnostics, basically all the stuff that makes your bank account nervous. Claims are filed super easy through the Lemonade app and half get settled instantly. Get a'@lemonade.com pet and they'll help cover the vet bill for whatever your pet swallowed after you yelled drop it. Hey Dark Down Easters. If you listen to this podcast, you know how deeply I believe every case deserves careful, compassionate storytelling. New England is my home and I am passionate about zeroing in on cases within my community. But I also know the need for awareness goes far beyond one region. Crime Junkie works with investigative reporters and trusted sources to deliver thoroughly researched coverage of cases all over the world. So if you're like me and you're ready to make a difference, you can listen to Crime Junkie wherever you get your podcasts. For more than 30 years, Pam Williams believed she knew how her brother died. She was told it was a medical event, the kind of tragedy no one could have stopped. She carried that explanation with her as she tried to rebuild her life around it. But sometimes the truth doesn't disappear. It just waits. In 2016, a stranger showed up with questions about what really happened inside a school in rural Maine, a place that promised help, structure and change for struggling teenagers. What followed would force Pam to confront a different version of her brother's final days, one built on conflicting memories, unanswered questions, and the possibility that what she'd been told all those years ago wasn't the full story. I'm Kylie Lowe, and this is the case of Phil Williams Jr. On dark down East, Pam Williams smiles when she talks about her big brother, Phil.

[Pam Williams]

Oh goodness, he was the best. He was, oh my goodness, like my protector. I was everything to him.

[Narrator / Kylie Lowe]

He was about three years older, a big enough gap to make him a hero in Pam's eyes, and close enough to make them playmates when they were younger.

[Pam Williams]

He was just always there, running around, having me cling to him and teaching me things and just making sure I was not getting into trouble but just taking care of me, just protecting me. And if I ever needed anything, he was right there. And yeah, he was. He was my life.

[Narrator / Kylie Lowe]

He loved to sing. He even played a little guitar. Phil had this presence about him that people noticed right away.

[Pam Williams]

My favorite thing was his smile. He had a beautiful smile because we're Hawaiian, we're dark skinned. So when he smiled, he just really lit up everything. I mean, it just. He was beautiful. He just lit up like the whole area he was in, all the girls would come around him and yeah, he attracted a lot of the females from a very young age. He had curls in his hair. Yeah, he was very nice looking.

[Narrator / Kylie Lowe]

Phil took his role as big brother very seriously. He had to. The world they were growing up in didn't really leave space for kids to just be kids.

[Pam Williams]

We weren't together a lot because we were in a broken home. Our parents were alcoholics, drug addicts, Very abusive to each other. That's why he took care of me so much.

[Narrator / Kylie Lowe]

Their father was convicted of conspiracy to commit murder and of being an accessory before the fact to assault with intent to murder. The victim was Pam and Phil's mother, who had been awarded custody of the kids in their divorce. Their mom survived the attack but never fully recovered. She lived nearly three decades in a nursing home. After that, Phil and Pam were placed into the foster care system. They were sent to live with a family in rockland, Maine. And that's where things started to change for her big brother.

[Pam Williams]

And that's when he started having trouble, they said, behavioral trouble. We didn't know what the trouble was.

[Narrator / Kylie Lowe]

Phil would go into fits of rage that now, with the benefit of retrospect, May have been triggered by intense headaches. He complained of fierce pain in his head constantly. At the time, their cause was unknown and untreated.

[Pam Williams]

I just remember a lot of violence, A lot of him screaming and smashing his head on walls, Saying that his head hurt so bad, Begging for them to help it stop.

[Narrator / Kylie Lowe]

Pam didn't recognize this version of her brother.

[Pam Williams]

Just remember being scared all the time, Starting to be scared of him. And it just. I didn't know what was going on, didn't know why they kept saying it was his fault. He would sometimes get down and, you know, cover his head and just. I didn't understand why they were saying it was his fault. It didn't look like his fault. It looked like he was in pain.

[Narrator / Kylie Lowe]

There was an incident of physical violence involving Phil and their foster brother. That may have been the breaking point. Pam has few memories from early childhood, after years in therapy, to understand why she's never been able to recover them. But there are a few especially heavy moments that still float to the surface, like the night her brother was taken from her.

[Pam Williams]

And then yeah, just one night, the police coming to our foster home and removing him.

[Narrator / Kylie Lowe]

Phil was picked up by police and removed from the foster home. He was first sent to a youth center and then to Sweetser, a mental health care provider before he was placed at Elan One Corporation in Poland, Maine, most well known simply as Alon. He was 15 years old. Pam didn't know anything about Elan when Phil was placed there. She was told very little by the adults in her life. But everything she did hear sounded encouraging for someone like her brother. Through some virtual digging, I came across an old brochure for Alan online. It looks like it was created sometime during or after 1985. Based on dates from quotes featured inside, according to its founders and straight from the Elan brochure itself. Quote Elan is a school. It is not a correctional institution, nor is it a mental hospital. It is a carefully conceptualized and caringly administered residential community for adolescents with quote, unquote, out of control behavioral problems. Alan works with juveniles to help them see the causes and consequences of their conduct and then to teach them the skills of responsible living. Elan was founded in 1970. It was started because there were no proper facilities for youth who did not belong in mental hospitals or in penal institutions. Those adolescents who were sent to mental institutions were not cured. They learned how to become patients. Those who were sent to juvenile justice institutions were destroyed either because they became victims of actual criminals or because they themselves became criminals. Unlike the usual institutions which operate in the medical social work model or the correctional model, Alon insists that each individual is responsible for his own behavior and only grows through practicing responsibility. Hollande's philosophy insists that each person is only as sick as he or she wants to be. The community of peers isn't fooled by the clever, manipulative actions and self defeating adolescent behaviors in the way conventional institutions have allowed themselves to be bamboozled. The Elan community will not tolerate the individual who insists upon illness. It demands that each student comes to grips with wellness. Alon is highly productive. Through Alon, several thousand troubled adolescents have freed themselves from alienation and confusion. Their obnoxious behavior has become unnecessary and fades away into unpleasant memory. End quote.

[Pam Williams]

They kept telling me that he was doing better, that yeah, they were working on his behavior, that they were getting his him treatment for his headaches.

[Narrator / Kylie Lowe]

That was the picture Pam was given. That her brother was safe, that he was in school, that people were finally listening to him, finally helping him, that this was a place where he could get better and eventually come home. She believed she would see him again. But that didn't happen.

[Pam Williams]

I didn't get to see him. I didn't get to see him. The next thing I remember is we were making him a gift box for Christmas, but it came back in the mail. And then a couple days after Christmas, I was told that he had already passed and that they didn't want to tell me because they didn't want to ruin my Christmas. And I lost it.

[Narrator / Kylie Lowe]

The next time she saw Phil was at his funeral.

[Pam Williams]

At first, we were told that he had died of a brain aneurysm.

[Narrator / Kylie Lowe]

Pam was told that he collapsed from a brain aneurysm. It was described like a ticking time bomb that no one knew had been counting down. The explanation did not make it any easier to cope with what she'd lost.

[Pam Williams]

I tried to jump in the grave with him at the funeral. My dad, my foster dad had to, you know, pull me, literally, to the van to get me away from the graveside. Yeah, I tried to go with him. I was horrible. That moment changed me forever.

[Narrator / Kylie Lowe]

Losing Phil altered the course of her life, and it sent her into a spiral that took many years to climb out of. Through treatment and therapy, she made progress. She found ways to navigate her grief and make peace with the Phil shaped hole in her Life. For over 30 years, Pam believed what she was told as a child about how and why her brother died. There was no reason to question it. And then she got a call from a stranger that challenged everything she thought she knew about Phil's death.

[Pam Williams]

We didn't trust him at first. We were like, you know, who is this guy Mark, and is he telling the truth?

[Narrator / Kylie Lowe]

Like Phil, Mark Babitz was a former Elan resident. According to reporting by Judith Meyer for the Sun Journal, he spent about a year there in the mid-70s, ordered by the Illinois department of children and family services. In 2016, he'd tracked Pam and her father down because he said he had information about Phil, and they agreed to meet with him, though not without serious reservations. Pam didn't know what to make of this guy from Chicago driving up in a fancy car, dropping Phil's name. Was he for real or some kind of con man or what? Worse. But if Mark really had information about her brother, Pam wanted to hear it. Mark got straight to business. During their first in person meeting, he handed over a copy of Phil's death certificate. The immediate cause of death listed on the death certificate is brain stem compression due to or as a consequence of massive cerebral hemorrhage due to or as a consequence of probably ruptured aneurysm that did not come as a complete surprise. Pam and her father already knew Phil's cause of death. They had made peace with what they understood at the time, that no one knew the aneurysm was there before it ruptured, and that once it happened, nothing could have changed the outcome. But what Pam didn't know until Mark showed up was what other residents at Elan said they witnessed before Phil reportedly suffered the probable rupture of a brain aneurysm.

[Pam Williams]

The horror that was going on in those buildings. When we found out about it at first we were like just in shock.

[Narrator / Kylie Lowe]

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[Narrator / Kylie Lowe]

Elan One Corporation was founded in 1970 by Joseph Ritchie and psychiatrist Dr. Gerald Davidson. Joe didn't come from traditional education or clinical training. He was in recovery from substance use and had spent time in treatment programs himself. Experiences the Elan brochure calls a crude precursor of Elan. He was not a physician, he was not a teacher, he had not attended college, and he was 24 years old when Holan opened its doors. The name Joe Ritchie is still well known in Maine today, even after Joe's death, for reasons beyond the school. He was a businessman, and by 1979, he and Dr. Davidson had purchased the Scarborough Downs racetrack. Joe was more than just the co founder of Elan. He also served as executive director. He was in charge of the daily functioning of the Elan program and the training and development of its staff. Below, Ritchie and Dr. Davidson were the staff carrying out the program. They were trained in Elan's special techniques and could not be manipulated by clever adolescents. According to the Brochure, by the mid-80s, Elan had about 170 beds. Kids came from 30 states and five foreign countries. Some students were placed there by their parents, who paid tuition, about $1,000 a month in 1972, rising to around $55,000 per student in 2011. Others, like Phil, were placed there through the state. It was licensed by the Maine Department of Education as a high school, authorized to grant diplomas. So how did Elan actually work? According to its own materials, the goal wasn't short term behavioral control. It was total change. Students weren't just expected to stop doing the wrong things. They were expected to rebuild how they lived and thought. Students were pushed to confront themselves directly and answer questions like why did you end up here? What are you going to do about it? When do you stop blaming others? Inside Alon, the program functioned like a miniature society, largely run by the students themselves. Each unit had jobs and a chain of command. New arrivals started at the bottom. Advancement brought more status, responsibility, and privilege, but it had to be earned. The system relied on constant evaluation. Success meant moving up, failure meant being pushed back down. Students were often placed in roles where they were expected to struggle with the idea that setbacks would build resilience. At the same time, pressure to perform was constant. Peers enforced expectations, and everything had to be earned. The Elan brochure I found addressed the concerns parents might have about sending their kids to the school and like whether they'd be able to visit. We will want you to visit your child when the time is right, when he or she has changed enough to act in an appropriate manner, has changed enough to start interacting with you productively. In about six to eight months, the student should become autonomous enough to be capable of negotiating and interacting with his or her parents in a way appropriate to an adolescent rather than a petulant child. Then we will ask you to visit Holan. In the meantime, parents were promised quarterly reports, though even those might be delayed and if the updates were difficult to read. For example, if a report noted a child suffering from depression, the brochure prepared parents for that too. Depression must occur when the resident becomes aware of how he has wasted his opportunities and hurt others. This kind of depression is desirable and useful because it leads to a new, more mature way of handling life's problems. Finally, the brochure reassured parents of where responsibility lay. Always remember, it reads, alon's philosophy does not allow you to be blamed for your adolescent's behavior. That behavior is the adolescent's responsibility, not yours. At the end, co founder Dr. Davidson leaves the reader with this over the years at Elan, we have learned much about troublesome adolescents as distinguished from troubled, that is Mentally ill. They are incompetent. Traumatic events, some accidental, some caused by ignorance, some caused by meanness, have blocked the adolescent. The energy that should go into personal development is diverted into nonsensical, useless, or self destructive behavior. When a youngster's total energy and passion is taken up with failing school to make parents suffer with getting even instead of getting ahead with drugs, with battling secret fears or whatever, then that adolescent does not grow. He or she has no time to do the work of adolescence. Dropping out of school, encapsulated with rock music all day over the Walkman, or focusing on video games and harassing adults doesn't build much of a future. It produces incompetence. On paper, Alan presented itself as structured, intentional, even therapeutic. But stern, if that's the right word for the tone that the brochure gives off a place where difficult kids could rebuild themselves from the ground up. That's the version families were given. The reality for many residents was much darker. Elan boasted clinical services and special techniques delivered with specialized care and backed by professional standards. So what were those? One of the most common forms of discipline at Elan was something called a haircut. If a resident committed an infraction, they they could be surrounded by their peers and screamed at. They were forced to listen as other kids tore them down for what they'd done. A reporter for The Evening Express, who witnessed one of these in 1972, wrote, quote, screaming and yelling is very much a part of the scene at Ulan. One of the first things a resident learns is how to scream. End quote. And then there was the ring, the infamous ring. It was quite simply student against student boxing. Not hidden, not a secret. This was being publicly reported as early as 1974. In a Lewiston Daily sun article by Jeffrey Govault, a resident named Amy was described as being, quote, forced to box another resident after lashing out at them. Just weeks later, that Same reporter documented 69 licensing violations at Elan's second location in Waterford. Among the concerns, boxing matches between kids of different sizes. One local resident questioned whether the people running Elan were responsible at all. By the mid-1970s, concerns had escalated beyond local reporting. Mark Babitz, himself, the man who brought information about Phil to Pam, he had been removed from Elan in 1975, along with 11 other residents, after the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services received allegations of abuse, both mental and physical. The Illinois DCFS report documented allegations of handcuffs, straitjackets, forced humiliation, and physical violence. One resident was allegedly made to stand for hours handcuffed to a table. Others said children were beaten. According to reporting by John S. Day for the Bangor Daily News, One account alleged that residents were ordered to pour a mixture of food and human feces over another child's head. The conclusion from that evaluation was blunt. Team members found the Elan program abhorrent to all expected standards of childcare. But in the weeks that followed, reports of other evaluations surfaced. Another team from Illinois had given Elan a clean bill of health just a month before the allegations of abuse. A psychologist from Cook county also offered a favorable recommendation weeks after that, and some students interviewed without staff present said the allegations in the Illinois report were exaggerated or outright false. Maine launched its own investigation, but I have not found public documentation showing that it resulted in substantiated findings of physical abuse, enforcement action, or loss of licensure. Joe Richie planned to sue the evaluator and the state of Illinois for defamation. The disposition of that case, if it ever came to be, is unknown. Over the years, more allegations surfaced, some paired with lawsuits against Elon Musk. But many of those cases were dropped, dismissed, or never moved forward. And still the stories persisted. Years later, when Pam sat in her home listening to Mark Babbitts, this is what she was trying to process.

[Pam Williams]

The stories that I was told, I didn't even know that some people would do such things. You don't treat Children like that?

[Narrator / Kylie Lowe]

How?

[Pam Williams]

When you're supposed to be nurturing children, when you're supposed to be taking care of children, how can you treat them like that?

[Narrator / Kylie Lowe]

But it was what Mark told Pam and her father next that totally shifted the earth beneath them. Mark explained that he had spoken to former students who were at Elan with Phil in December of 1982. These former residents alleged that in the hours or days before Phil died, he had been placed in the ring for a boxing match. The idea that this could have happened, that Phil could have been forced to box and could have suffered repeated blows in a school sanctioned fight, that it could have triggered something already at risk inside his brain, had never been part of Pam's reality. And just like that, everything she thought she knew about her brother's death started to unravel.

[Pam Williams]

After Mark came and told us all this, I had to start over again. It was like he died all over again, because it was totally different.

[Narrator / Kylie Lowe]

In that big, renewed grief, something else was unleashed alongside it. Mark wanted someone to dig deeper into Phil's death, what he believed was Phil's murder. And Pam was going to help. On February 23, 2016, more than three decades after Phil Williams died, the Androscoggin County Sheriff's Office received a report of a possible homicide. The name in the case file is redacted, but through my reporting, it appears to have been Mark Babbitts walking into the lobby that day, telling authorities he wanted to report a possible murder committed on December 27, 1982. He described how kids who were residents at the Elan School in Poland, Maine, were forced to box each other while everyone else watched. According to the report, he said he had gathered information from several of his followers and that something happened during one of those fights in the Elan 7 building on December 27, 1982, he handed over Phil's death certificate to the sergeant, saying he believed this should have been investigated decades earlier, that if anyone had looked closely at the time, they would have found the same information he was now bringing forward. The sergeant completed the report and passed it up the chain of command to the chief deputy, who would then notify Maine State Police in the Attorney General's office, the agencies responsible for investigating homicides in Maine outside of Portland and Bangor. For the first time since 1982, Phil Williams death was being treated as something that deserved an investigation.

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[Narrator / Kylie Lowe]

Maine State Police opened an investigation into Phil's death in 2016. Detective Herbert Layton tracked down former Elan residents for interviews, many of them brought forward by Mark Babbitts. I obtained 71 pages of records from that investigation. They are heavily redacted on top of names, including Phil's name, which I had to provide to request the documents. Nearly every pronoun is inexplicably blacked out, which makes it difficult to identify exactly who is speaking in each account. But taken together with my other research and reporting, the picture is clearer. One former resident, who lived in Elan 7 between 1981 and 1986, told Detective Layton they remembered Phil for two things in his curly hair and the fact that he complained of headaches all the time. That resident also remembered being present during a boxing match believed to involve Phil. They described a group of residents forming a circle around the ring. At some point during the fight, Phil fell and began to convulse. He was taken away, and later the residents were told that he had died. The former resident explained that the ring was never really seen as dangerous, but after Phil's death, there was a growing fear among the kids that Alain might actually be capable of seriously harming them. Another witness recalled retrieving the boxing equipment that day. Gloves and headgear. They remembered that there were three rounds, but only two people boxing Phil, suggesting that one of them may have fought him twice. A different former resident who had known Phil for several months before his death described what led up to that moment in more detail. They remembered a general meeting shortly after Christmas in 1982, where Phil was called to the front and confronted by other residents. During that meeting, people accused him of faking something, likely his headaches, but this part is redacted. And were encouraged to say whatever they felt about him. After that, according to this witness, Phil was sent into the ring. The account states that two residents boxed him with one going two rounds. The witness said Phil did not fight back. He kept his gloves up, covering his head. At one point, the power went out and the fight continued in the dark. When it was over, Phil was taken into an office and left there. Another resident was assigned to sit outside and watch him. After a short time, they heard a noise from inside the room. When they looked in, they could see him sitting, hunched over with his hands covering his head. The resident asked if he was okay, but his response is redacted in the report. Concerned, they went to get a staff member and said that Phil didn't look right, that he appeared to be in pain, and they were told to return to their seat and were scolded for leaving their post. A few minutes later, they heard what they described as flopping sounds. When they went back into the room, they found Phil on the floor, convulsing like he was having a seizure. They called for help. People rushed in. Someone told them to hold him down. Phil was then removed, possibly on a stretcher, and the next day the resident was told by a nurse that he had died. Another witness described Phil as unresponsive after the fight, choking on vomit while he was in that same office. According to that account, a staff member instructed them to roll him onto his side. At some point after his death. That same witness asked why Phil had been placed into the ring if it was known that something was wrong with him. They were told it was safe because he had been wearing headgear. Another account describes Phil in the days before he died as visibly unwell, complaining of pain, dizzy, losing his balance, and crying. According to that resident, staff did not believe him and told him to continue working. When he said he couldn't, a general meeting was called and the ring was set up. Several residents who spoke to investigators in 2016 believed that Phil had been put into the ring multiple times in the days leading up to his death. One witness believed it was possibly as many as 10 times over a four or five day period in an effort to force him to admit he was faking it. But not every account aligns. One former resident told Detective Layton that Phil was not left alone in an office after the fight. In their version, Phil returned to the cottages that night. The following day, Phil said he still didn't feel well. A staff member responded that they would see what they could do. According to this witness, while sitting on a bench outside the kitchen later that day, Phil stood up, his eyes rolled back, and he collapsed. That resident said. They were right there at his feet as he had a seizure and stopped breathing. The sequence of events is not identical in every account, but across nearly all of these statements, there is one consistent thread. Former residents talked about the ring. According to witnesses who claimed to be there, the ring was somewhere in the hours or days leading up to Phil's death. Detective Layton also tracked down a number of former Elan staff members as part of the 2016 probe, including someone who worked in Elan 7 at the time Phil was there. That person didn't remember Phil by name and had no independent memory of him. But they did remember the day a boy was taken to the hospital and the call that came afterward saying that the boy had died. At first they couldn't recall whether that boy had been in the ring, but later in the interview, they remembered that staff had reported behavioral problems and sought permission to put him there. That same day, they got the call that the boy was being taken to the hospital, then another call reporting his death. Detective Layton also interviewed a former staff member who worked at a lawn years later in the mid-1990s, possibly in a medical role. Redactions make it difficult to say for sure. Now, this witness described how most kids were taken from their homes, sometimes pulled from their beds, and transported to the facility in the dead of night. Once there, they were required to remove personal items and were bathed for what staff referred to as bugs. According to this former staff member, nurses did not receive complete medical histories for residents. They were told what medications a child was on, but not necessarily a full picture of their health. The former staff member confirmed that the ring existed and that residents did box one another. They said they didn't personally recall treating any serious injuries, though mostly things like bruises or split lips, sometimes days after the fact. But the former staff members experience added another layer. They also said that when they personally raised concerns about the program internally, they were told it was none of their business. And when outside officials came in to review or recertify Elan, there were never any problems noted. The former staff member believed those officials may have been told not to believe anything the kids said. This is just one account from one person who worked at Elan at least a decade after Phil was there. Elan described its own medical care as attentive and comprehensive. The brochure boasted their focus on improving each student's physical, psychological and dental health. On campus. Nurses handled daily care, coordinated with outside providers, and worked under a physician who regularly oversaw treatment in serious cases. Students were taken to St. Mary's Hospital, about 15 to 20 minutes away, where Elan maintained a working relationship and shared medical records. The program also emphasized early detection of psychiatric issues, stating that staff were trained to recognize warning signs and intervene quickly. Now, another witness, a retired Maine probation and parole officer who supervised a juvenile placed at Elan in the late 1970s, described the structure this way. Elan used kids to control kids, which not only solved the problem of staffing but also solved the problem of adult staff members being accused of assaulting the juvenile residents by having another juvenile strike the child at the behest of Elan. But there's one account in the case file, documents I received that throws a wrench into the whole thing. Detective Layton interviewed a person described as the Overall supervisor of Elan 7, someone who worked there before, during and after the time Phil was a resident. That person said they had no recollection of any child dying at Elan, and aside from one resident who may have died from a contagious illness. In fact, they told investigators it made no sense that a child could have died while living there without them knowing about it. As Detective Leighton continued the investigation, there were a few other details that stood out, some clarifying, others raising even more questions. None of the witnesses he interviewed, whether staff or former residents, could recall any kind of formal meeting among leadership to discuss Phil's death. At the time, there was no clear memory of a review, a debrief, or any internal response that you might expect after a child dies in a residential program. There were also no consistent memories of an ambulance being called. Instead, multiple witnesses described Phil being placed into a station wagon and driven off campus. It's also important to note that not every person interviewed had negative things to say about Elan. One former resident said the program changed their life, helping them break a cycle of substance use. They described the ring as controlled, saying only bullies were made to participate and that no one was brutally beaten while boxing. There were also questions raised about the motive for bringing these allegations forward. More than 40 years later, one witness suggested that the stories surrounding Phil's death and what may have led up to it could have been influenced by the possibility of a future lawsuit. Which brings us back to Mark Babbitts.

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[Narrator / Kylie Lowe]

A little more about Mark Babbitt's after he was removed from ILAN by the Illinois dcfs, he eventually returned, possibly by choice, but he did not graduate from the program. He later spent time in another residential facility. In the years that followed, after his own struggles and time in prison, he became a vocal advocate for former Elan residents. He helped connect survivors, supported efforts to share their stories, and was even involved in projects like the Last Stop documentary, which focused on experiences inside the program. His advocacy apparently involved the possible pursuit of legal action. In a 2016 written response from Maine Assistant Attorney General Lara Nomani. It's clear Mark had been in regular contact with the AG's office about the investigation into Phil's death. In the letter sent to Mark, Nomani reminded him that she cannot discuss aspects of the investigation with him. And then she wrote, you recently informed me that you are contemplating filing a $52 million civil action against the State of Maine for monetary damages relating to the Elan School. You requested advice in the filing of such a suit. If this is a matter you intend to pursue, you should consult with your private legal counsel, end quote. She went on to clarify that the Attorney General's Office could not provide him with legal advice, and they would represent state agencies in any such. For some, yes, that raised questions about Mark's motivation for stirring this all up. But for Pam, it doesn't change how she sees Mark or his mission. She believes he cared deeply about what happened to kids at Elan and about making sure those stories were heard at the same time. Like many survivors, his advocacy existed alongside a pursuit of accountability, including the possibility of compensation for what they say they endured. By 2016, investigators were trying to piece together what might have happened to Phil. But that raises a more basic question. What happened in 1982 when he actually died? What's striking, what's hard to ignore, is how little evidence there is that anyone looked into his death. At the time, I could find essentially nothing to suggest that Phil's death was investigated by any law enforcement agency at any level in 1982, when Detective Layton checked. Decades later, the office of the Chief Medical examiner had no record of conducting an autopsy in Phil's case. Reporting by Katherine Skelton and Lindsay Tice for the Sun Journal suggests the OCME was notified of his death, but because the attending physician determined it was due to natural causes, an autopsy was not ordered. That's one version of events. But the records from the 2016 investigation complicate that. In those case files, Detective Layton writes, I reviewed the report of post mortem examination of, and later notes that another individual was listed in the report as a witness to the autopsy. If someone witnessed an autopsy, it suggests one may have taken place. There is also a heavily redacted interview with that witness. While details specific to Phil are removed, the witness speaks generally about the type of condition believed to have caused his death, likely a brain aneurysm, saying that people are born with them, that they are difficult to diagnose, and that they most commonly rupture between the ages of 25 and 45. Rare in someone Phil's age But not impossible. So even at the most basic level, there are inconsistencies. It's not entirely clear whether an autopsy was done or how thoroughly his death was examined. What is clear is what didn't happen. There's no record of an official criminal investigation by police or the Attorney general's office. In 1982, the Maine Department of Education did not investigate Elan in connection with Phil's death. And then there's the question of dhhs, the Department of Health and Human Services here in Maine. Phil was a child in state custody. He died while placed at a facility the state had approved, one that already had documented allegations of abuse. So was there an internal investigation by dhhs? Pam has tried to find out. She has requested records from the Department of Health and Human Services, from the Office of Child and Family Services, but she has never been able to see them. She still doesn't know how or even if the state examined what happened to her brother. A child dies while in state custody, and there's no clear record of anyone stepping in to ask why, to ask if he was receiving proper medical care, to understand the conditions he was living in. Why was this not an immediate cause for a closer look, if not a full investigation of his death and the circumstances surrounding it? I'm not a prosecutor. I'm not a legal expert, but here's what I've come to understand through research and reporting. Under Maine law, murder requires proof that someone intentionally or knowingly caused that death or engaged in conduct so extreme that it shows a depraved indifference to human life. That is a very high bar. Without clear evidence of intent or conduct that a jury would view as that level of indifference, a murder charge becomes difficult to sustain. In Maine, manslaughter covers situations where someone causes a death without intending to, but does so either recklessly or in a way that reflects a serious failure to recognize an obvious risk that crosses into criminal negligence. Recklessness means a person is aware of a substantial risk and consciously disregards it. Criminal negligence means they fail to recognize a risk that any reasonable person should have seen. But both fall under the umbrella of manslaughter. In Maine, witnesses described Phil as visibly unwell in the days leading up to his death. He complained of severe headaches, struggled with balance, and appeared physically compromised. And yet, according to those same accounts, he was still placed into what essentially was a forced boxing match. If a jury believed that staff understood the seriousness of his condition and still allowed him to be physically struck, that could meet the definition of recklessness. If instead, the evidence showed that staff failed to recognize how serious his condition was, but should have. That would fall closer to criminal negligence. Either way, the legal question is whether their actions or their failure to act created an unjustifiable risk that led to his death. Now, side note, have you heard of the eggshell skull rule? I hadn't until I started looking for other cases where someone died from a brain aneurysm after being struck, resulting in murder charges. Turns out there are some cases I was curious if murder could still be a charge if, for example, the force of the strike wouldn't have caused death if a brain aneurysm wasn't a factor. The eggshell skull rule accounts for this. The idea is that you take a person as you find them. If someone has an underlying vulnerability and your actions trigger a fatal outcome, you can still be held responsible, even if another person might have survived the same situation. Now, there's also a charge in Maine for endangering the welfare of a child, which may be one of the more direct frameworks to think about here. Under current Maine law, a person can commit that crime by recklessly endangering a child's health, safety, or welfare by violating a duty of care or protection. That kind of charge would not necessarily require proving that the alleged boxing caused Phil's aneurysm to rupture. The question would be whether forcing or allowing a visibly ill child to participate in a dangerous physical activity violated a duty of care or protection. In Phil's case, the questions become less about certainty and more about responsibility. If Phil was placed in the ring, as witnesses claim, should someone have stopped it? Should someone have intervened sooner? Should someone in a position of authority have recognized that the situation had crossed a line from discipline into danger. Because under the law, responsibility isn't only about what you do. It can also be about what you fail to do when the risk is right in front of you.

[Pam Williams]

We were right out hoping for justice. We wanted to see someone go to jail, someone get in trouble, someone pays.

[Narrator / Kylie Lowe]

But In February of 2017, the AG's office announced that there would be no charges of any kind due to insufficient evidence.

[Pam Williams]

Well, I would think that my brother being dead would be sufficient evidence, period. He's dead, been dead for 40 years. That's sufficient evidence to me. He was killed that night. He dead. That's sufficient evidence. They were supposed to be watching my brother. That's sufficient evidence. Somebody let him be killed. That's plenty of evidence. There's a wrong there. I'll never make peace with the fact he was murdered because I don't think anyone really took responsibility. I don't think the child's responsible at all. He was forced. He was a child, too.

[Narrator / Kylie Lowe]

To be clear, there have been no criminal charges or public findings of wrongdoing against Elan Juan Corporation, its founders, former staff, or anyone associated with Joe Richie's estate in connection with Phil's death. It's been nearly a decade since Phil's case was closed for Pam. His death and what she sees as a failure of the justice system isn't something she can just move on from. It's something she's learned to live with and carry, something she's still working through and will be for the rest of her life.

[Pam Williams]

I don't expect justice anymore. I've made peace with that, that I will not get justice. But I love the fact that for 40 years, people have been talking about him and telling his story, and now his story's gonna be told so much more, so much further. I'm just so thankful now.

[Narrator / Kylie Lowe]

Elan itself shut down in 2011, in part because of mounting pressure from survivors and advocates who refused to let their experiences be buried. But the broader system, the troubled teen industry, as it's often called, still exists in many forms.

[Pam Williams]

Elan's everywhere. Elon Musk. There are so many of these schools that are open right now. Elon's everywhere.

[Narrator / Kylie Lowe]

And there are still people working to expose the darkest parts of the industry, to tell these stories, to push for change. Mark Babitz was one of those people, but I was not able to reach him for this story. Some online discussions suggest that he may have died in 2025, but I've been unable to independently confirm that Pam holds on to what Mark set in motion and the truth he brought to her, even when it changed everything. For decades, Phil's life was reduced to a single explanation. A medical event, a tragic but natural death. Now there are questions, complicated ones, unresolved ones. But there is also something else. Through it all, Phil is known, honored, and remembered.

[Pam Williams]

The world missed out on a beautiful, beautiful soul. He could have done so much. I just wish he could have had a better chance. Our whole family could have had a better chance.

[Narrator / Kylie Lowe]

If you want to learn more about Elan, I released a full episode of Dark Down East a few years ago that digs deep into the history and demise of the controversial school, including the role it played in Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel's trial for the murder of Martha Moxley. Find it in the show Notes. Thank you for listening to Dark Down East. You can find all source material for this [e-mail] Be sure to follow the show on Instagram arkdowneast. This platform is for the families and friends who have lost their loved ones and for those who are still searching for answers. I'm not about to let those names or their stories get lost with time. I'm Kylie Low and this is Dark Down East. Dark down east is a production of Kylie Media and Audio Chuck. I think Chuck would approve. Some cases fade from headlines, some never made it there to begin with. I'm Ashley Flowers, and on my podcast, the Deck, I tell you the stories of cold cases featured on playing cards distributed in prisons, designed to spark new leads and bring long overdue justice. Because these stories deserve to be heard and the loved ones of these victims still deserve answers. Are you ready to be dealt in? Listen to the Deck now. Wherever you get your podcasts.