This case is so shocking that it’s difficult to know where to begin. It’s a mix of multiple disordered personalities and vicious actions that exploded into the incomprehensible.
The trouble apparently started when 15-year-old Seath Tyler Jackson of Belleview, Florida, a town of about 4,500 people located 65 miles north of Orlando, broke up with his 15-year-old girlfriend, Amber Wright. The breakup was public, played out in real time on Facebook.
Wright had apparently taken up with a new boyfriend, 18-year-old Michael Shane Bargo. Jackson and Bargo hated each other, and Bargo allegedly wanted to do something about it. Here is what happened, according to media reports that quoted police documents:
On Sunday, April 17, 2011, Wright sent Jackson a text message saying that she wanted to reconcile, and asking him to come to the home of a friend, Charlie Kay Ely, 18 (a female). At first Jackson declined. Wright then barraged him with texts and phone calls, wanting to see him.
Jackson went to the house. When he got there, 16-year-old Kyle Hooper, who is Amber Wright’s brother, and 20-year-old Justin Soto, began hitting him in the head with a piece of wood. Then Mike Bargo shot Jackson several times with a .22-caliber revolver.
Jackson tried to flee, Soto tackled him, and Bargo shot him again. They placed Jackson’s body in a bathtub, intending to break his knees so they could stuff him into a sleeping bag. But Jackson was still alive, so Bargo shot him again. When he died, the young men burned the body and the sleeping bag in the backyard.
Afterwards, with the assistance of James Havens III, 37, they shoveled the ashes into 5-gallon paint buckets and threw them into a dumpster and a lime quarry filled with water.
ABC News covered the story with both video and text. Watch the first two videos, which will be interrupted by a commercial:
Teen triangle and Faceboook feud lead to murder of 15-year-old Florida boy
The combustible elements of the story:
1. Michael Shane Bargo
He, apparently, was the mastermind of the plot. Here’s what the authorities wrote in their reports, according to CBS News:
Authorities said the teen, who has not been publicly identified, told investigators the group plotted the slaying because Bargo hated Seath.
Authorities, as well as family and friends, said Bargo was dating Seath’s ex-girlfriend and had gotten into a fight with him several weeks ago, WKMG reported.
Five of the suspects were gathered at the house Sunday “when Michael Bargo began to speak of his hatred for the victim Seath Jackson,” authorities wrote the 16-year-old boy told them. “The conversation then turned into a plan to lure Seath to the residence so that Michael Bargo could kill him with the assistance of other persons.”
In the ABC News video, two young girls who knew Bargo said, “He’s always wanting to fight people. Always threatening to kill people.”
2. Amber Wright
This 15-year-old girl lured Seath Jackson to the house where he was killed. There isn’t much more in the media about her, except her posts on Facebook (see below).
3. Facebook
In early March, Seath Jackson posted his love for Amber Wright on Facebook. By the end of the month, he announced that he was single, and made posts attacking both Wright and Mike Bargo. By April, Jackson and Wright were in a full Facebook battle.
Read the posts, as replicated by the Miami New Times.
4. The accomplices—Charlie Kay Ely, Justin Soto, Kyle Hooper
Jackson was lured to the home of Charlie Kay Ely. When he arrived, Hooper and Soto hit him with pieces of wood. It appears from a report on Ocala.com that these three people were followers—but they followed Mike Bargo.
See 6 arrested in teen’s murder on Ocala.com. Be sure to watch the video
5. James Havens III
James Havens is the stepfather of Amber Wright and Kyle Hooper. Havens allegedly knew about the plan to kill Seath Jackson, but did nothing to stop it. Afterwards, he helped the others dispose of the remains, and then gave Mike Bargo a ride out of town in an effort to avoid capture.
To see how self-centered this guy is, watch the video on CFN News13com:
Exclusive interview with James Havens
Havens is out on bond. All of the young people are in custody. Seath Taylor Jackson is dead.
Dear Oxy ~ Due to having a rather rebellious daughter, her mother had issued VERY strict orders: “Yes, he can come and visit the farm, and you can show him all the animals, but absolutely NO TOUCHING. NO HAND-HOLDING, NO NOTHING!” She then caught them kissing.
The girl’s mother and I have been in contact via e-mail in an attempt to work together and keep tabs on the kids. Unfortunately, egg-donor of stepson has done NOTHING to help in this regard. She has, in fact, called and pleaded with the girl’s mother to let the kids see each other since stepson was “pining away” for her. When the girl’s stepfather told her that it was not an option, egg-donor began yelling at him about being unfair, and it was affecting her son’s schoolwork, blah, blah, blah… then hung up on him.
Oh yeah, FRUSTRATION is at a very high level here.
We might be entering a whole new phase here. The girl’s mother claims that she has discovered information regarding what my stepson has done that is considered a class A misdemeanor, or a class D felony.
She e-mailed me asking my opinion on what she should do about it. Since she didn’t tell me what he allegedly did, or when, I can’t even begin to offer advice. HOLY CRAP!! I just don’t know what’s going to happen next.
I would have your husband talk to the mother in person, rather than by telephone or e mail….since he is the parent, and get the whole thing clarified as to what is going on.
Sometimes it is best to get the law involved, depending on the situation….might scare him straight…might do nothing. But, I would let the girl’s mother be the “rat” rather than daddy—at least at this point. But might be that the law would set some curfews and limits that your husband could see were enforced.
Dear Oxy ~ We keep hoping that stepson’s mother will finally hang herself out to dry with the shiat she keeps pulling.
Things are kind of “on hold” right now. There is apparently some kind of family crisis going on with the girl’s stepfather. That was the last that I heard from the girl’s mother. So, for the time being, we are trying to get our calm, cool demeanor on.
We will have stepson for a visit again on Wednesday evening. I just might make myself scarce while he’s here so that I won’t be tempted to figuratively kick his butt!! I do NOT want to do that at this point in time. Much as I feel he deserves it, it shouldn’t come from me, but from his so-called mother. Fat chance of THAT happening LOL
This situation with Michael Bargo is almost like a “Lord of the Flies” case scenario. I’ve been keeping tabs on this one reading up on it. I’m emphatic and can sense “sociopaths” a mile away.
I have a ton of experience with many of them.
I had one plot & scheme and get me fired from a job many years ago. He did this because I could identify him & the worst thing a sociopath hates is when he get’s called out. He turned several people in my office against me. These were people I previously was on good terms with.
It seems the sociopath always surrounds himself with “disciples”.
People who are under his spell. Weak minded folks whom he has power over. If the sociopath targets someone like this young man he can get others to turn against the victim. I’ve seen this time & time again. The victim was murdered in almost a sexual occult type fashion. Tortured & mutilated while still alive. Some news reports said he was hog-tied & had his knee caps broken while he was still alive & stuffed into the sleeping bag. It’s possible he could have been burned alive in the bon-fire. Sociopaths are cruel sadists.
I have spoken to his brother on some of the news blogs.
He & the family are asking the public to emotionally support them during the long court procedure.
Joanie, I wouldn’t generalize that all the enablers of a spath are weak minded people.
I wasn’t weak minded, still don’t consider myself as such, and yet still under the spell of a spath for almost 2 years and in several ways I was his enabler.
Sorry I didn’t mean to generalize. What I was getting at was this spath Michael Bargo was able to get these “weak-minded kids”
to go along with the murder. I was married to a spath too in my younger years. I don’t consider myself “weak-minded” either.
Maybe “naive” at the time. But I didn’t mean it to be taken personally.
Joanie
I was reading up on the Reena Virk case up in Canada and the comparisons are somewhat similar but in that case scenario
the ring leader was a female personality.
I wish this kind of “case” was rare, but unfortunately it isn’t….it is like the P-parents who kill the kids to get back at the other parent. There is an article here about Dr. Amy Castillo whose X threatened to kill the kids and the judge gave him unsupervised visitation over her protests,, and guess what? YEP…he killed them. That was the first case I had read about but now that I am attuned to that kind of murder, I find that the news sources are FILLED with this kind of murder it is NOT A RARE THING at all.
I know what you mean, Joanie about the “weak minded” individuals being FOLLOWERS of the psychopaths….and they aren’t ‘all stupid or retarded, just followers, and the Ps are generally controllers and will surround themselves with people who are more liable to be followers….and sometimes these groups act like a pack of feral dogs going after some farmer’s cows. The individual dogs might not even be a problem at all, but put them together with an aggressive leader dog and they are off killing stock.
My own family “packed up” against me and recruited the church and minister….and my P son, and one of his ex convict friends, also diagnosed an ASPD, and 3 x convicted child molester, and one dysfunctional son, and my egg donor and my P DIL…..and my somewhat more normal cousins opted out of believing what was going on….even after P DIL and The Trojan Horse P ex convict tried to kill my dysfunctional son, and robbed my egg donor. The thing is that the emotional “harp” belonging to the dupes on which the Ps play the songs on is not one that can be EASILY “tuned” to the truth. People are programmed to believe what makes them feel good, what excites them, and what others are validating as okay, good, etc.
Many people are also, and especially juveniles, very impulsive and do not think “ahead” to the consequences. The frontal lobe (the executive of the brain) is not fully developed until about age 25, so it is much easier for young people to make some really BADDDDD decisions on impulse and to fail to see the ultimate consequences…like jail or prison for life.
@Oxy “The thing is that the emotional “harp” belonging to the dupes on which the Ps play the songs on is not one that can be EASILY “tuned” to the truth. People are programmed to believe what makes them feel good, what excites them, and what others are validating as okay, good, etc.”
What a wonderful statement. Soooo true.
Have read all comments and am in much agreement – wanted to note that there is mention of meth and other drug use in the FB messages. If this is true, and I tend to believe it is – then there is a large reason for the lack of empathy. Meth in particular effectively removes empathy – so that is why Moms will pimp out their daughters for money – and other horrors you read. The effect of drugs on the brain is not well enough known – but it is ENORMOUS…. None of these kids sound very empathetic, even the young man murdered, he write some very nasty things – not that that justifies his murder…