Carl Everett and the complicated FBI investigation

Episode 2 of the true crime podcast “Ransom: Position of Trust” looks at the first suspects in the case and explores the background of Carl and Paulette.

After the disappearance of 12-year-old McKay Everett, McKay’s father Carl came into the public eye.

“Whenever there is a kidnapping or domestic violence, the first person you look at is the spouse,” said Guy Williams, who was sheriff of Montgomery County, Texas, in 1995. “It’s like the person who finds a dead body. That’s the person you look at first.”

Sheriff Williams questioned Carl’s involvement. “As parents, we could hardly believe that a parent would go that far, because the question is what benefit it would have for them.”

However, the FBI wondered if there might be a financial motive. An earlier report noted that despite the Everetts’ stately home and obvious wealth, there were some indications of financial problems.

The first person to be subjected to a lie detector test by the FBI was Carl Everett.

Lie detectors

Polygraphs, or lie detector tests as they are sometimes called, do not measure deception directly. Instead, they measure stress responses such as sweating or increased heart rate. They are controversial tools because they have limited accuracy in determining whether someone is lying. Nevertheless, many law enforcement officials – including the FBI – believe that polygraphs are useful.

“It’s routine when you don’t know who you’re dealing with,” said Beth Martin, who was on site as FBI director in the McKay Everett case.

Investigators say that polygraphs are like medical screenings – they are not 100% accurate, so you shouldn’t make a diagnosis based on them. However, if a polygraph result suggests someone is lying, that’s a red flag. Then investigators can ask more questions and do more research to verify the results.

While the FBI gave Carl a lie detector test, Paulette reflected on their relationship and how they got to this point.

Carl and Paulette

Carl and Paulette first met in the summer of 1969, when they were both teenagers living in rural Mississippi.

Carl had a friend who was dating Paulette’s younger sister, and during an overly ambitious soccer practice session, the two boys ran 10 miles from their hometown of Mendenhall to the town of Magee, where Paulette lived.

When they finally arrived, Carl and his friend spent the rest of the day, sore and recovering, in Paulette’s front yard.

“He was alive and happy – a very handsome boy,” Paulette said. “I call him a child because he was a child.”

At the time, Paulette was nineteen and Carl was fifteen, and since the age difference was four years, there was nothing romantic between them. But Paulette met Carl more and more often and enjoyed his company.

Paulette had an abusive father and a turbulent home life, so she tried to spend as much time away from home as possible. When she met Carl, she began spending more and more time on Carl’s family farm.

“They had a real working farm,” Paulette said. “Sixty thousand chickens that laid eggs, sixteen or seventeen horses. They had cows and calves.”

“And they had piglets everywhere. And I love piglets. So I went to their house and I was just in heaven.”

At some point, Carl and Paulette started dating. “It just developed over time because the age difference was so big,” says Paulette.

The two married, graduated from college, and moved to Conroe, Texas. And in March 1983, they had McKay.

“McKay was a really pretty baby and very well behaved,” Paulette said. “He wasn’t a big challenge. A lot of people have colic and stuff with their babies, but McKay was really easy-going.”

That same year, Carl started his own oil business and Paulette gave up her job as an elementary school teacher to help out.

Carl and Paulette had their normal marital problems and resentment, but when Paulette looked back on their relationship, she could not see any serious warning signs in him.

The FBI polygraph also concluded that Carl showed no signs of deception. The FBI cleared Carl as a suspect and continued to go down the list.

Neighbor Ric Metts

The next person the FBI wanted to put through a polygraph test was Ric Metts, a family friend who sometimes did manual labor and babysat for the Everetts. “We had him wash windows, plant flowers and mow the lawn,” Paulette said. “And he had a key.”

It’s not entirely clear how Metts came onto the FBI’s radar, but one of their reports mentions that the Everetts’ cleaning lady mentioned his name and hinted at his sexual orientation.

It was an open secret that Ric Metts was gay, but homosexuality was still taboo in Conroe, Texas at the time. “Nobody talked about it as openly as they do today,” says Metts.

And his sexuality probably made him a person of interest in the eyes of FBI profilers.

Metts had an alibi the night of the kidnapping. It was his sister’s birthday and he had been at a well-attended party with many witnesses, but the agents required him to take a lie detector test.

“Look, everyone has their job to do, but they were rude bastards. Absolutely terribly rude,” Metts said.

Metts agreed to take the lie detector test in the hope that it would clear him as a suspect and give FBI agents a chance to find out who actually kidnapped McKay.

“I was really angry, but I knew everything would be OK. I hadn’t done anything,” said Metts. “But then I suddenly got scared and said: ‘Yes, but there are innocent people in prison too.'”

Metts passed the lie detector test with flying colors.

“I kept telling them Everett was part of Amway,” Metts recalled. “If anyone did anything, I thought it was someone from Amway. And that wasn’t so far-fetched.”

Neighbor Hilton Crawford

Hilton Crawford was a friend of the Everett family. He had known McKay since he was a toddler, and McKay even called him Uncle Hilty. Paulette shared a home video of Hilton visiting on Christmas morning to give McKay a gift.

Hilton was one of the first people Carl Everett called after McKay disappeared. Hilton had experience in the police force, so Carl thought he might have some good advice on what to do.

But Hilton wasn’t home. Hilton Crawford’s wife, Connie, told Carl that Hilton was away on a business trip, but she would pass on the news that McKay had been kidnapped.

The next morning, while Carl was waiting for the ransom call, Hilton called him back. The conversation was recorded by the FBI:

Audio attached

“I had a meeting in Silsby this morning and I’m on my way there now,” Hilton said in the recording. “I’m coming to your house, I’m coming straight there.”

Hilton, however, did not come directly to the Everetts’ house. In fact, none of the Everetts’ friends had seen him or his wife since McKay’s disappearance.

So where was Hilton Crawford and what was he doing the night McKay disappeared?

“Ransom: Position of Trust” is a 9-part true crime podcast from KSL Podcasts.
Follow the Ransom podcast for free on your favorite podcast app. New episodes are available every Wednesday, with bonus episodes available on Fridays.