Camp Swamp Road Ep. 2: A Game of Telephone

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Journal. – Camp Swamp Road Ep. 2: A Game of Telephone

Release Date: September 21, 2025
Hosted by: The Wall Street Journal & Spotify Studios
Main Voices: Valerie Borlein (Narrator), Detective Allen Jones, Jennifer Foley, Deborah Spivey

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Overview

In the second episode of "Camp Swamp Road," The Journal continues its investigation into the shooting death of Scott Spivey in rural South Carolina. This chapter focuses on the aftermath: how Spivey’s family struggled to get information, the frustrating limitations imposed by “stand your ground” laws, and daughter Jennifer Foley’s transformation into an amateur detective in pursuit of her brother’s side of the story. Themes of grief, communication breakdown, legal opacity, and the search for justice underscore every conversation.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Initial Police Response and Family’s Experience (00:01 – 06:00)

• Detective Allen Jones, the lead investigator, contacts the Spivey family the day after the shooting.
• The family gathers, expecting sympathy and a thorough investigation, but encounter questioning that frames Scott as the perpetrator rather than a victim.
• Jennifer Foley describes suspicion arising as the detective focuses on Scott’s drug history rather than the events leading to his death.
  • Quote:
    • Jennifer: “Pump the brakes and tell us what happened first.” (03:17)
  • The family begins recording the conversation, sensing they may need documentation.
• Detective Jones tells the family that witnesses saw Scott pointing a gun at others, unsettling the family further.

2. Stand Your Ground Law Creates a ‘Game of Telephone’ (07:46 – 14:40)

• Valerie Borlein describes the borderland geography; South Carolina’s stand your ground law shields Boyd and Williams, complicating access to information for the Spiveys.
• The family receives shocking photos — taken and shared by one of the shooters, Weldon Boyd — of Scott moments before his death.
• Jennifer asks Detective Jones why the shooters’ phones were not immediately seized for evidence:
  • Quote:
    • Jennifer: “Why were their phones not taken and why haven’t they been taken? They have evidential pictures on them.” (16:13)

3. Opaque Investigation and the Cost of Legal Definitions (16:58 – 23:40)

• Stand your ground laws flip the investigation’s script: the dead are seen as offenders, not victims; thus, families lack access to police updates and records.
• The family is traumatized further when they learn Scott’s body was towed in his vehicle for 25 miles, making an open casket impossible.
  • Quote:
    • Deborah Spivey: “It was like he was not treated as a human being, as something inanimate. To me, it almost bordered on desecration.” (19:11)

4. Family-Driven Investigation: Jennifer Foley Steps Up (24:57 – 29:08)

• Inspired by true crime TV and trained in forensics, Jennifer uses her expertise to reconstruct her brother’s final hours.
• Jennifer charts the route, collects security footage, aligns GPS/photo data, and logs every opportunity the shooters had to disengage.
• Memorable Moment:
  • Jennifer calculates 96 possible pull-off spots in the nine-mile pursuit, arguing that the shooters had ample chances to avoid escalation.
    • Quote:
      • “There was time to think…each [spot] was an opportunity for Weldon Boyd to end the altercation.” (28:06)

5. Attorney General Declines Charges; Civil Action Begins (29:36 – 32:17)

• The Attorney General’s office considers the police file and declines to pursue prosecution against Weldon Boyd and Bradley Williams, citing insufficient evidence.
  • Quote:
    • Spivey’s father: “As far as I'm concerned, that young man murdered my son…You travel 9.75 miles chasing him, shooting, shooting at him…” (31:03)
• The only remaining option for the Spiveys is to sue in civil court.

6. Civil Lawsuit and Access to the Evidence (32:17 – 39:56)

• High-profile civil attorney Mark Tinsley takes the Spivey’s wrongful death case.
  • Both Jennifer and Tinsley question the application of “stand your ground” in a pursuit context:
    • Tinsley: “I didn’t see how you could stand your ground while you're chasing someone else.” (35:05)
• The lawsuit forces the police to share their evidence file, now available for the first time to the family.
• Jennifer, undeterred by the workload, devotes hours to combing through thousands of police files, including new audio from the night of the shooting.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Detective Allen Jones:
  “There’s always three sides of the story. His, hers, and actually what happened.” (23:01)
• Jennifer Foley:
  “In this case, there's only two sides because there's their side and then there is what happened because Scott’s not here to tell his side.” (23:08)
• Jennifer on her sense of duty:
  “If I don't go fight for him now, it will be no sense in fighting for him later.” (29:14)
• Mark Tinsley on Jennifer:
  “She is dogged in her pursuit ... She is a master of all the information.” (35:33)

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Important Timestamps

• 01:09 – Detective Jones makes the initial phone call to the family.
• 13:03 – Family trauma described; police emphasize Spivey’s alleged responsibility for his own death.
• 14:24 – 16:13 – Jennifer probes why evidence wasn’t secured and phones weren’t seized.
• 18:39 – Discussion about the treatment of Spivey’s body after death.
• 23:01 – 23:08 – The “game of telephone” and challenges of only hearing one side.
• 29:14 – Jennifer’s decision to step away from teaching and focus on the case.
• 30:42 – Attorney General’s office delivers decision: no charges.
• 34:09 – 35:33 – Mark Tinsley agrees to take the case.
• 37:08 – 39:56 – Jennifer finally receives, and begins to analyze, the police evidence file.

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Episode Tone and Style

The episode balances the methodical analysis familiar to investigative reporting with the raw emotion of a family in mourning. Jennifer Foley’s voice is both determined and wounded; Detective Jones maintains a lawman’s stoicism, but moments of compassion slip through. The episode is honest about the legal and personal obstacles in obtaining justice.

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Conclusion

Episode 2 of "Camp Swamp Road" offers an in-depth look at how shifting legal definitions can compound tragedy, isolating grieving families and leaving them to seek answers themselves. The Spiveys’ journey from confusion to investigation, and from hope for prosecution to the uncertainties of civil court, illustrates the far-reaching impact of stand your ground laws and the limits they place on transparency and justice. Episode 3 promises a dive into evidence from Boyd's phone calls, offering new perspectives on the night of the shooting.

Transcript

[Narrator (Valerie Borlein)]

A word of warning. This series contains descriptions of violence and strong language, including unbleep curse words. Please be advised. Previously on Camp Swamp Road.

[Detective Allen Jones]

I've got pictures of him aiming the gun at us, everything. He's about to put the gun out again. Sir, this guy aims that gun at me, we're gonna have to shoot him.

[Narrator (Valerie Borlein)]

There is a guy that is waving a gun in front of me, trying to shoot at my car. And the other one's beside. He's all over the road.

[Jennifer Foley]

And I look at my cousin. I'm saying, either Scott's been murdered or he's murdered somebody. What is going on? And no one will tell us.

[Detective Allen Jones]

He shot at us. Partner, we're good. You're good. Don't worry about it. Things happen, you know? I don't understand this one.

[Narrator (Valerie Borlein)]

It's the day after the shooting. The lead investigator assigned to the Scott Spivey case is Detective Allen Jones.

[Detective Allen Jones]

This is for the audio recording for the phone call with Mr. Byron and Deborah Spivey. The parents seat Scott's body.

[Narrator (Valerie Borlein)]

Detective Jones records himself on his body cam in the video. He looks tired. He had stayed up late. At 2:10am Jones had filed his initial report which said that the shooting on Camp Swamp Road appeared to be justified. It's now around 2 in the afternoon and Jones is reaching out to the Spivey family for the first time. Scott Spivey's mother answers the phone.

[Detective Allen Jones]

Hello? Is this Ms. Deborah Spivey?

[Deborah Spivey]

Yes.

[Detective Allen Jones]

Ms. Spivey, I'm Allen Jones. I'm a detective, Laurie County Police.

[Deborah Spivey]

Yes, sir. Hold on just a moment. If you hold on just a moment.

[Detective Allen Jones]

Okay.

[Deborah Spivey]

It's the detective. You want to go back there so you can hear.

[Detective Allen Jones]

Hold on.

[Deborah Spivey]

Let's go get my door. It's your speaker.

[Narrator (Valerie Borlein)]

Okay.

[Deborah Spivey]

Where is Jennifer?

[Narrator (Valerie Borlein)]

Deborah calls for her daughter, Jennifer Foley.

[Jennifer Foley]

We were sitting in the back bedroom. We take all the chairs back there and we're sitting around and we're all. He's on speakerphone and we're all sitting in the room. There's probably 10 of us back there.

[Narrator (Valerie Borlein)]

Since the early morning, family members have been trickling into this byvey house. Aunts, uncles, cousins, waiting to hear more about what had happened to Scott.

[Detective Allen Jones]

Well, I still have a couple of, I guess, unanswered questions here and there. And actually, I was hoping. And maybe talking with you guys may clear some of that up for me. Okay.

[Deborah Spivey]

We hope we can.

[Jennifer Foley]

It started off immediately with Scott going through a life crisis.

[Detective Allen Jones]

Just try to understand Scott. Did he have any kind of medical issues or Anything of that nature? No, not that we're aware of, no.

[Jennifer Foley]

Was Scott doing drugs? Was Scott this? Was Scott that. And I'm like, pump the brakes and tell us what happened first.

[Detective Allen Jones]

Has Scott ever had any kind of issues with any drug abuse issues or anything of that nature?

[Narrator (Valerie Borlein)]

No, not.

[Deborah Spivey]

Not really as a teenager. Pot and a knock.

[Jennifer Foley]

But like we got no clue what's happened. And when those questions started coming in, we were like, this is not. This is not normal questioning. This is. Scott's the criminal. We need to record this.

[Narrator (Valerie Borlein)]

Jennifer's husband takes out his phone and he starts recording.

[Deborah Spivey]

I will say this much. Scott by his nature will not start something.

[Narrator (Valerie Borlein)]

Now.

[Deborah Spivey]

He may not back down from it, but he is not one to start something.

[Narrator (Valerie Borlein)]

Detective Jones tells the family that they have witnesses who saw Scott Spivey waving his gun on Highway 9.

[Detective Allen Jones]

Scott pointed a gun at other people.

[Deborah Spivey]

Other people pointing it directly at him or at behind out the wind at the man behind him.

[Detective Allen Jones]

There you go. Yes, ma'.

[Jennifer Foley]

Am.

[Detective Allen Jones]

He pointed that. We have two other witnesses and different. Two other different vehicles that say he pointed a gun at them.

[Deborah Spivey]

That just does not sound like him at all. I could see him if he was frightened, pointing the gun out and down behind him. I just don't see it. I just do not.

[Narrator (Valerie Borlein)]

This is not how the spavvies expected this call to go. They thought Detective Jones might say he was sorry for their loss. He didn't. They thought he was starting an investigation into who killed Scott. He wasn't. And these cross wires would only continue. It wouldn't be until months later that the spavies would figure out why. I'm Valerie Borlein and this is Camp Swamp Road, a series from the Journal. Coming up, episode two, A game of telephone.

[Detective Allen Jones]

Foreign.

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[Narrator (Valerie Borlein)]

Scott Spivey was killed on his way home. If he'd kept going on Camp Swamp Road, he would have made it to his trailer. Spivey lived just across the state line in North Carolina. A few months ago, I made that same drive with my producer Rachel Humphries. We're coming up, we're getting ready to cross underneath Highway 9, actually the main thoroughfare just north of the line. And hold on. Now I'm looking at the GPS Highway 9's going across. The shooting took place in South Carolina. Had it happened across the state line, things might have been different. North Carolina has a stand your ground law, but multiple lawyers and legislators there told me they would not have considered this a stand your ground case. And driving around, I realized how close Spivey was to that state line. About two miles. It's very hard to know when you've crossed it. Are we still on the North Carolina.

[Detective Allen Jones]

Side of the line?

[Narrator (Valerie Borlein)]

Think it's so porous. It's so hard to tell. Scott Spivey's trailer sits next to his parents house where he and Jennifer grew up. As we pull in, I notice an old barn that's collapsed in on itself. The family has been farming in this area for over 100 years. This Bobby house is small, red brick, one story, set back from the road on a freshly mowed lawn. As we walk through the front door, Scott Spivey's mom Deborah and his sister Jennifer are there to greet us. Good morning. How are you?

[Jennifer Foley]

I'm good, I'm good. How are y' all letting us come back? Oh, you're welcome.

[Deborah Spivey]

You're welcome.

[Narrator (Valerie Borlein)]

It's been almost two years since Scott Spivey died, but there are traces of him everywhere. In the living room, there's a huge portrait of him over the mantel. The first thing I notice is his piercing blue eyes. One family keepsake is a video that Scott Spivey made for his father, Byron Dale Spivey. It was recorded a couple months before he was killed.

[Detective Allen Jones]

Happy father's day. I love my dad because he knew how important it was to do the right thing, even when it wasn't doing the right thing. And at times we don't understand, but as we get older, we realize where we come from. And I appreciate my dad for all the things he did for me. Happy father's day.

[Narrator (Valerie Borlein)]

Scott Spivey worked as an insurance adjuster. He would travel around the country in the wake of natural disasters to assess the damage done to people's houses. He moved home the year before he died, just before his 32nd birthday. He wanted to be close to his family, especially Jennifer. What was yalls relationship like when you were little?

[Jennifer Foley]

He did anything I asked him to do. Dressing up, playing dress up, playing anything. I mean, like, come have a tea party with me.

[Deborah Spivey]

And he'd be like, okay.

[Jennifer Foley]

I mean, I could get him to do anything I wanted.

[Narrator (Valerie Borlein)]

Like a lot of kids who grew up out in the country, Jennifer and Scott Spivey were each other's first playmates. They were siblings, but they were also friends. They went to church and youth group together. And in high school, when Jennifer made homecoming court, she asked her brother to be her escort.

[Jennifer Foley]

Who else would I want to walk me out there on the football field than my little brother, you know, who's my biggest cheerleader other than my little brother. So I'm gonna let him, you know, be there for me. So.

[Narrator (Valerie Borlein)]

Scott spivey's mom, Deborah, has a calming air about her. She's a retired special education teacher. Deborah was the last member of the family to see her son alive. Tell me about September 9th. How did the day start for you?

[Deborah Spivey]

It was a normal Saturday, Doing things around the house that you would do. I walked outside to get something out of the car, and he was leaving, and I waved at him, and he waved and smiled. I wish I had gone over and banged on the window and knowing what I know and just pulled him out, not let him go anywhere.

[Narrator (Valerie Borlein)]

On the night of the shooting, Deborah was driving back from dinner with her husband when she got the call from Jennifer.

[Deborah Spivey]

Have you heard from Scott? Do you know what's going on with Scott? And my heart just about skipped a beat, and my throat began to feel like it was closing up.

[Narrator (Valerie Borlein)]

It was dark. When Deborah arrived at camp swamp road, all the cops would tell her family was that Scott Spivey had been road Raging and was dead.

[Deborah Spivey]

It's something that you can't believe that would happen because we've never experienced anything remotely close to that in a family or an extended family. So it's just difficult to even explain. It's like the bottom of your. Your whole being, your soul, everything just kind of drops out because here you are, you are a wife, a mom of two kids, and now you have one, and you don't know what to do with what used to be.

[Narrator (Valerie Borlein)]

Horry county police said that Scott Spivey had played a major role in his own death. He'd been drinking before he got behind the wheel, and for Jennifer, it was hard to hear that he'd allegedly pointed a gun at drivers on Highway 9. She and her brother both owned guns, but Jennifer didn't know how to reconcile what the police told her with how they'd been raised.

[Jennifer Foley]

So my dad's a veteran. We grew up respecting firearms. They were in our home. Is it something that we went and had Sunday shootout like shoots in the backyard? No, they were used for hunting. And that was the only purpose after. After Vietnam. My dad said. I don't. Honestly. Other people took Scott hunting because my dad was like, I.

[Narrator (Valerie Borlein)]

My dad was the same after Vietnam.

[Jennifer Foley]

Yeah. Not even like. Daddy loved squirrel hunting when he was a boy, but not after he came back. It just. It took something out of him. Guns are used for one purpose, is to protect yourself at home or it is to go hunting to provide food for your table. Scott has tons of hunting rifles and things like that. He owned one.

[Narrator (Valerie Borlein)]

One handgun.

[Jennifer Foley]

One handgun.

[Narrator (Valerie Borlein)]

Scott Spivey was killed just before 6pm on a Saturday. By Sunday morning, photos of his last moments are being texted around in group chats among people in the community. Friends start forwarding the photos to the family. One shows Scott Spivey in his black truck holding a gun out the window. The Spiveys meet to talk about the photos. Jennifer records it.

[Detective Allen Jones]

Well, you see the pictures that we sent to you? That was. And I'm sorry, who took that picture? That's the driver. That's the shooters. That's the shooters. That's the shooters. They took those pictures.

[Narrator (Valerie Borlein)]

The family is shocked to discover that the source of the photos is one of Scott Spivey's killers.

[Detective Allen Jones]

Who posted those pictures? This is the shooter sharing the shooter sharing it with who?

[Jennifer Foley]

No, it's not on social media. These are things that he's sending his friends.

[Narrator (Valerie Borlein)]

People keep sending Jennifer photos. She's hearing rumors that an image is being shared of her brother's dead body. And Jennifer also hears that the person sharing the photos is Weldon Boyd. But his involvement in her brother's death wasn't confirmed until three days after the shooting. On Facebook, Boyd posted, quote, the events that unfolded were truly tragic and have left a lasting impact on me. He then addressed the spavvies directly, saying, quote, my thoughts and prayers are with you. I hope you find the strength and peace you need during this incredibly difficult time. Boyd thanked the witnesses and his supporters. He ended the post by thanking Horry police for their professionalism and empathy. All of this Boyd thanking the police, the photos being texted around. They raised a question for Jennifer. Did the police ever take the shooter's phones as evidence?

[Jennifer Foley]

I do have one question for you, and I'm not. I'm not trying to. Please don't take this the wrong way.

[Narrator (Valerie Borlein)]

Four days after the shooting, Jennifer and her mom called Detective Jones to ask about Bradley Williams and Weldon Boyd's phones.

[Detective Allen Jones]

Why.

[Jennifer Foley]

We can't get Scott's phone back because it's evidence, and I understand that. But the two individuals that were let go with their phones and they walked out and they were texting people at midnight that night and they took pictures, and they have shared those pictures of the scene with individuals since then. Why were their phones not taken and why haven't they and why haven't they been taken, making.

[Deborah Spivey]

They have evidential pictures on them?

[Detective Allen Jones]

Short answer to that, ma', am, is no, we're being cooperative. As a matter of fact, there's an appointment set up for them to come in and bring us their phones so they can be downloaded.

[Deborah Spivey]

How long before that? Why was that done immediately before they had chances to destroy, destroying the phone itself.

[Narrator (Valerie Borlein)]

In that call, Detective Jones mentioned that Boyd and Williams were going to hand over their phones that day, but that didn't actually happen for another two months. South Carolina stand your ground law was protecting Weldon Boyd and Bradley Williams, and it was preventing the Spivey family from accessing information. In stand your ground cases, the killer is considered the victim, making the dead person the offender. In these cases, the dead person's loved ones aren't granted the usual victim's rights, like briefings from investigators and access to police files. Essentially, for the loved ones left behind, the investigation is a black box. The Spiveys don't know what's going on because they aren't entitled to know what's going on. But they did get some information from the autopsy on Scott Spivey's body. Spivey was shot twice. He was killed by a bullet to the back after the autopsy. The family scheduled the funeral for Saturday, September 16, a week after the shooting. The spiveys had wanted an open casket, but the body was too damaged. Not just from the bullets and the autopsy, but from the way the police handled spivey's remains.

[Jennifer Foley]

The right side of his body was so bruised, and that was a side. That was the viewing side in the casket. We just. We had to have a close casket. And Scott was such a handsome man.

[Narrator (Valerie Borlein)]

On the night of the shooting, the horry county police department towed Scott spivey's body in his own truck from camp swamp road to the police impound lotion, 25 miles.

[Deborah Spivey]

It was like he was not treated as a human being, as something inanimate. Yes, it was a dead body, but it was the body of my son. You would expect more compassion, more reverence for a body than he received. To me, it almost bordered on desecration.

[Narrator (Valerie Borlein)]

Horry county police said they towed Scott spivey's body in his truck because heavy rain was in the forecast, which might have compromised evidence. It's been more than a week since the shooting, and what Jennifer is hearing is more rumors from other people Than information from the police. Jennifer says that when she got a hold of the initial police report, it didn't contain much detail. Jennifer calls detective jones again.

[Jennifer Foley]

I guess it's put doubt in my mind, not saying that y' all aren't doing a good job and you're doing all you can. I just. You have to understand it from my point of view. I hope I'm not.

[Detective Allen Jones]

I do. I. I get it. Like I said, I understand that. And that's the reason, you know, I've been. I have with you guys, Trying to give you what I had versus bad information. Because I'm sure you guys have gotten a lot of bad information. That's part of my job. I get all that bad information to you that I have to sort through and make. Figure out what of it makes sense. And whatever it is, just bad information and complete and utter hearsay.

[Jennifer Foley]

Yes, sir.

[Detective Allen Jones]

I mean, it's not like a game of telephone.

[Narrator (Valerie Borlein)]

Eventually, the spivey's game of telephone with detective Jones does get somewhere. Even though they're not entitled to much. Jones invites the family to come to the police station so that they can hear a key piece of evidence.

[Detective Allen Jones]

901, location of emergency. Hey, I've got a guy pointing a gun at me, driving. We're armed as well. He keeps throwing the gun in our faces.

[Narrator (Valerie Borlein)]

This is the first time the spiveys Hear Weldon Boyd's 911 call, but instead of clarifying things, it makes them question the shooter's claims of self defense. The spavvies thought stand you'd ground was an extension of the Castle doctrine, A centuries old legal principle that allows a person to use lethal force against an attacker in their own home.

[Jennifer Foley]

The way we understand stand your ground is like if I'm at a stop sign, if I'm at a red light, if I'm somewhere that I have, I'm in my car, minding my business and someone intrudes on my space. If you're in your home and a intruder comes in, you can do what you can take the force that you need to in order to keep your home safe. I get that.

[Detective Allen Jones]

Listen, this dude shoots at me, we're gonna put him down. I mean, this dude's insane. Are you following him or is he following you? He's been following us, now we're behind him.

[Jennifer Foley]

But if I get into my car, which is an extension of my home, I can chase them down until they turn around and say, what the heck.

[Detective Allen Jones]

He'S stopping, he's stopping. Hey, we're about to have a fucking shootout, dude. This dude's got a gun. He's got a fucking gun.

[Jennifer Foley]

And then I can shoot and kill him and say I'm in fear for my life as long as I don't get out of my vehicle. That's a, there's a flaw there. There's a huge flaw there. And then when you, you start putting these pieces together, you're like, something's just not. Something's not right. Like I'm trying to ask questions to get to the root. What started this? Where did it start? And you still can't tell me any of that.

[Detective Allen Jones]

You know, I was told one time there was always three sides of the story. His, hers, and actually what happened.

[Jennifer Foley]

In this case, there's only two sides because there's their side and then there is what happened because Scott's not here to tell his side.

[Detective Allen Jones]

Yes, ma'. Am. And that's one thing, what happened.

[Jennifer Foley]

And I'm sorry if you feel like, if we have been a little bit pushy, but I guess we've just been trying to advocate him because we don't know his side and we want his side to be told, whatever it is, if it's good or bad. When I say that we were dismissed at every turn, that's what I'm talking about.

[Narrator (Valerie Borlein)]

Jennifer wanted to know her brother's side of the story, but she wasn't going to get that from the police. So she began her own investigation. That's next. Optimism isn't sunshine and rainbows. It's fixing things, changing things, changing the way we fix things. Rolled up sleeves, breaking through growing power to meet growing needs. Working to run the world on smarter energy every day. Taking power where the grid's never been, then getting up and doing it again. Because if optimism never stops, then change can't either. Ge vernova the energy of change.

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[Jennifer Foley]

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[Narrator (Valerie Borlein)]

In the mid-2000s, TV shows about true crime, forensics were having a moment. And Jennifer Foley, loved one in particular.

[Jennifer Foley]

CSI Miami was. Everyone was watching it. You know, Horatio with the glasses, taking the glasses off at the beginning, I.

[Narrator (Valerie Borlein)]

Am gonna get to the truth.

[Jennifer Foley]

I was like, you know, that looks. That's just so interesting.

[Narrator (Valerie Borlein)]

You watched it every week.

[Jennifer Foley]

Yeah.

[Narrator (Valerie Borlein)]

Jennifer was inspired. In college, she studied biology and criminal justice. She got an internship at the North Carolina State Crime Lab. There, Jennifer got to actually work in forensics, examining carpet fibers, fingerprint analysis, the whole nine yards. What was satisfying to you about that type of work?

[Jennifer Foley]

Most of the time, when you get those cases that come through, those are the voiceless. Like, the evidence is the only thing left to speak. And you have to make sense of that, and you have to put those physical pieces together to create a story that that person's not here to tell.

[Narrator (Valerie Borlein)]

In the weeks after the shooting, Jennifer began putting together the physical pieces of her brother's story. She scoured social media for leads. She documented evidence inside her brother's truck, and she began to make a timeline of everything that happened on the night of the shooting. Witnesses said that the shooting on Camp Swamp Road had begun with the dispute nine miles south on Highway 9. So Jennifer made that drive herself over and over to try to make some sense of it.

[Jennifer Foley]

Somewhere in here is where this thing gets kicked off at. And they say that Scott comes the.

[Narrator (Valerie Borlein)]

Right earlier this year. I went along with her.

[Jennifer Foley]

And on the right is Bell and Bell. It's a car dealership.

[Narrator (Valerie Borlein)]

And there's a huge red bell that Bell is about two stories tall. Jennifer approached businesses that her brother had passed on his final drive. She asked for their security camera footage.

[Jennifer Foley]

So we have Scott on camera coming here at 5:48 on the dot.

[Narrator (Valerie Borlein)]

Jennifer was able to pinpoint when Boyd's white truck and her brother's black truck first pulled onto Highway 9.

[Jennifer Foley]

To the left of us is where the tractor supply where Boyd's truck is leaving from.

[Narrator (Valerie Borlein)]

Jennifer lined up the photos taken by Boyd and Williams with locations along the drive.

[Jennifer Foley]

So right here, we know there's a picture taken right here because there's a snag of trees right here on the right side.

[Narrator (Valerie Borlein)]

Oh, yes. And, like dead trees.

[Jennifer Foley]

Some dead trees. So somewhere in here maybe is where they're saying that Weldon gets run off the road through a brake check. Scott brake checks, and he goes off into the median.

[Narrator (Valerie Borlein)]

Jennifer matched the location of the photos with the time they were taken in order to figure out how fast both trucks were going.

[Jennifer Foley]

Right through here. When we're dropping pins of GPS pictures from picture one to picture two, they're to going. Going about 80 miles an hour right here, through here, through here, 80, 85.

[Narrator (Valerie Borlein)]

And I'm going 645.

[Jennifer Foley]

They're flying. They're flying.

[Narrator (Valerie Borlein)]

I've never really thought about just how long it takes to go nine miles down the highway. But on this drive, it hit me. This wasn't a sudden event. There was time to think. As we drive, Jennifer points out all the places that someone could pull off the road. Driveways, parking lots, intersections. To Jennifer, each one was an opportunity for Weldon Boyd to end the altercation. She logged every spot. According to her count, there were 96 by the time of the shooting, Jennifer had been a biology teacher for 12 years. She worked at the same high school that she and her brother went to. After Scott Spivey was killed, Jennifer took three months off work to focus on the case. The other teachers donated their sick days so that she wouldn't miss a paycheck.

[Jennifer Foley]

The day after Christmas break ended, I went into my principal's office. Like, I'm not. I can't do this. I've been here in body. My mind's not here.

[Narrator (Valerie Borlein)]

But by the end of the year, she knew she needed to spend all her time on the investigation.

[Jennifer Foley]

I feel like I've been a very effective teacher for the last 12 years. But I don't feel like I'm an effective teacher right now because I'm distracted and that if I don't go fight for him now, it will be no sense in fighting for him later.

[Narrator (Valerie Borlein)]

While Jennifer was working as an amateur detective, there was someone else looking into her brother's case. The state attorney general's office. In the week after the shooting, the attorney general had been asked to review the Horry county police file and determine whether any charges should be brought against Boyd and Williams. The review process took months, and the spavvies were hoping that the AG's office would bring criminal charges. In early April 2024, the Attorney General's office came to a decision, and the spavvies got to hear it in person. Jennifer records the meeting.

[Detective Allen Jones]

So I thank you for y' all coming up as quickly as you did, especially on short notice. I wasn't sure how that would work out this morning. I know y' all have been waiting for what the AG's office was, what decision they were going to make.

[Narrator (Valerie Borlein)]

Jennifer and her parents, Byron Dale and Deborah Spivey, sit at a conference room table. A lieutenant delivers the message.

[Detective Allen Jones]

They felt that there was insufficient evidence to merit a criminal prosecution.

[Narrator (Valerie Borlein)]

Insufficient evidence to merit a criminal prosecution. That's all. The Attorney General's letter was just a few lines long. There would be no criminal charges in the killing of Scott Spivey. At this point in the meeting, Scott Spivey's father speaks up.

[Detective Allen Jones]

I haven't said a word. Go ahead, sir. No, absolutely. As far as I'm concerned, that young man murdered my son, and I mean flat out murdered him. When you go down a major highway on a weekend and you travel 9.75 miles chasing him, shooting, shooting at him, and the other young man she was talking about, he was shooting, too. Yes, sir, that's true. All I know is the other guy said, he said before this he was going to take him out.

[Narrator (Valerie Borlein)]

The Spiveys back their cheers away. The meeting is over.

[Jennifer Foley]

Well, I thank you for your time.

[Deborah Spivey]

And.

[Detective Allen Jones]

This is for the information. Just present it to us. I don't know what your feelings are about this or about anybody in this situation, but this stuff, you can go down the road and shoot somebody dead. That ain't right.

[Jennifer Foley]

Now, it's to it, Daddy. It's to it.

[Detective Allen Jones]

All right, thank y'. All. Appreciate it. Thank you for your children.

[Jennifer Foley]

We've always said that Scott played a part. We've never denied that. Obviously, whatever happened farther up the road, there was a handgun involved. Like, I don't know. I just don't. And had we gone, had he gone another mile, this would be a completely different story. North Carolina does not. There's a very fine line there as far as what's considered justifiable and what's not. Excessive force versus redneck justice.

[Narrator (Valerie Borlein)]

@ a later meeting, the Spiveys would get more information. Deputy Attorney General Heather Weiss defended her office's decision, arguing that the case did meet the criteria for a stand Aground defense. She cited witness statements and Boyd's 911 call as proof that Spivey was threatening people on Highway 9. She said that when Spivey got out of his truck, he became the aggressor. Weldon Boyd and Bradley Williams stayed in their truck. According to Weiss, once Spivey raised his gun at Borden Williams, quote, they had a right to fire because they were in fear for their lives. The Attorney General's decision was a huge blow. But the Spiveys had one final option. Suing the shooters in civil court.

[Jennifer Foley]

That was the only. The only way we were left to get any kind of justice for Scott was to have to file a civil state.

[Detective Allen Jones]

My involvement is I am a civil lawyer. At the end of the day, the only thing that I can do is try to get a jury to award money damages.

[Narrator (Valerie Borlein)]

Mark Tinsley is a personal injury lawyer. He made a name for himself when he led a wrongful death claim against Alex Murdaugh, a wealthy South Carolina lawyer. That story got a lot of national attention after Murdoch was later convicted for the murder of his wife and son. Jennifer thought getting Mark to take her case was a long shot. But she gave his office a call, and to her surprise, Mark called her back.

[Jennifer Foley]

I said, you know, the problem that we have is flaw in South Carolina, they're saying it stand your ground. But how can that be stand your ground when you're behind somebody?

[Narrator (Valerie Borlein)]

And what did Mark say about that?

[Jennifer Foley]

Mark was like, you can't. That's not stand your ground. I was like, yeah, we're saying the same thing, but that ain't what the law's saying.

[Detective Allen Jones]

I didn't see how this could be. I didn't see how you could stand your ground while you're chasing someone else's.

[Narrator (Valerie Borlein)]

No one has ever challenged a stand your ground case in South Carolina civil court. That's according to the court office and a half dozen of the state's best known attorneys. This would be a very tough case to win. But Jennifer walked Mark through everything she had discovered, and he was impressed.

[Detective Allen Jones]

She is dogged in her pursuit of the what happened. She is a master of all the information and sorting through the information and finding it and going back and pulling it out. And so I'm very impressed with Jennifer.

[Narrator (Valerie Borlein)]

Mark agreed to represent Jennifer. In June 2024, he filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Weldon Boyd and Bradley Williams. If he and Jennifer could prove this was not a stand you'd ground case, the Spiveys could be entitled to damages. Boyd and Williams have denied Any wrongdoing. For months, Jennifer had been fighting with the Horry County Police Department for information. But because it was considered a standard ground case, her brother wasn't a victim, and the family wasn't entitled to much. However, after the lawsuit was filed, Weldon Boyd's lawyer pressured the Horry County Police Department to turn over their evidence file in order to help Boyd's defense. Because of that move, Jennifer's lawyers now had access to reams of evidence connected to her brother's death. There was so much there that it was taking a long time for Mark Tinsley's office to actually go through all the files. So Jennifer decided to do it herself.

[Jennifer Foley]

And then I was like, can I have. Can I see what y' all have? And because they were saying, have you seen this? I'm like, no. They're like, oh, well, let me share that with you. I mean, you should be able to have access to that, you know? And then that's when the digging started.

[Narrator (Valerie Borlein)]

Finally, Jennifer would get to see the evidence for herself. On February 7, 2025, a Friday, she drove to her lawyer's office to pick up a flash drive containing the police file. She had no idea what to expect. Jennifer took it home to look through over the weekend.

[Jennifer Foley]

It took a day for them to download on the flash drive. I mean, thousands of files.

[Narrator (Valerie Borlein)]

Jennifer isn't someone with a lot of time on her hands. She has two young kids. And that weekend, her family had plans to watch the Super Bowl. But Jennifer really wanted to see what was in those files. She told her husband that she needed some time alone.

[Jennifer Foley]

And he was like, I'll take the babies with me, and we'll go to Mama's and we'll watch the Super Bowl. And they sat over there from, like, 3:30 until, like, 11:30 that night.

[Narrator (Valerie Borlein)]

Jennifer sits down at the kitchen table. She opens her laptop and starts clicking through the police files.

[Jennifer Foley]

I didn't know what to look at first, so I just opened the first folder, and there they were.

[Narrator (Valerie Borlein)]

What?

[Jennifer Foley]

The 90 phone calls. The first file I click on is a. It says it's an audio file. And I open it up, and I hear Terry Richardson's voice.

[Narrator (Valerie Borlein)]

Jennifer is very confused. She knows who Terri Richardson is. Richardson is a reporter with the Myrtle Beach Sun News.

[Jennifer Foley]

And I'm like, I know that voice. Why is she in this dump?

[Detective Allen Jones]

Hi, Weldon.

[Narrator (Valerie Borlein)]

This is Terri Richardson calling with the Sun News.

[Detective Allen Jones]

How are you today? I'm all right. How are you doing?

[Jennifer Foley]

And I realized that she's. This is a phone call that she's called. She's talking to Weldon and asking Weldon to give comment. And I'm like, that's weird. And then the next one. And then the next one was a 911 call.

[Detective Allen Jones]

Hey, I've got a guy pointing a gun at me, driving. We're armed as well.

[Jennifer Foley]

And I'm like, that doesn't sound like what I heard. In the Horry county version, there's no dispatch. There's no noise in the dispatch room. Like, there's. There's. Why the f. Couldn't you just left him alone?

[Detective Allen Jones]

God damn it. Why couldn't we fucking leave him alone?

[Jennifer Foley]

There's a lot there that I couldn't hear before, and I just. I mean, at that point, you can't stop looking.

[Detective Allen Jones]

I chased him. Oh, I was on his ass. And he couldn't. His truck couldn't outrun my truck. And he knew it. So, yeah, he was terrified.

[Narrator (Valerie Borlein)]

Next time on Camp Swamp Road, Weldon Boyd's phone calls.

[Detective Allen Jones]

Bradley, I know it's fucked up to say, but I had a fucking blast. I know it's fucked up, but I'm a fucked up person.

[Narrator (Valerie Borlein)]

Camp Swap Road is part of the Journal, which is a co production of Spotify and the Wall Street Journal. I'm Valerie Borlein. Our producer is Heather Rogers. Our senior producer is Rachel Humphries. Editing by Colin McNulty. Fact checking by Nicole Pasulka. Music, sound design and mixing by Nathan Singapach. Additional music by Peter Leonard. Our theme music is by so Wiley. Remixed for the series by Nathan Singapop. Special thanks to Kathryn Brewer, Miguel Bustillo, Sam Enriquez, Pia Gokari, Carlos Garcia, Mack Huang, Jennifer Levitz, Jessica Mendoza, Bruce Orwal, Falana Patterson, Sarah Platt and Cam Pollack. Thanks for listening. Episode three will be released next Sunday.