Death of An SMU Co-ED: Media Tangent

In this month’s print version of FrontBurner, our story about the life and tragic death of Meaghan Bosch has an aside that I wanted to develop. It comes near the end and it concerns the Texas Rangers, who think a leak from the Dallas Police Department tipped off the prime suspect in Meaghan’s death about the search warrant being served on his townhome. Rangers think because of this leak, the suspect, James McDaniel, had time to hide or destroy evidence. The Texas Rangers are notoriously tight-lipped, but in this case they’re so sure and so bothered by it that they were willing to talk to me on the record, directly pointing the finger at someone high up in the DPD command. I couldn’t go much into this issue in the story because it would have gone too far afield from the story we were telling. But if you’re interested, jump for more.

On May 17, Texas Rangers and local police served search warrants on James McDaniel’s home in Pleasant Grove and his townhome on Winton Street near SMU. The Winton Street townhome was the last place Meaghan was seen alive. Investigators found some drugs and guns, but little else. Channel 8 was on the scene almost immediately. Investigators also say the neighbor in the adjoining townhome, Bradley Hullum — who had seen Meaghan in the throes of overdose the Friday before — informed them he had heard there was going to be a warrant served. They say Hullum said he heard that through the townhome landlord, Chris Prideaux.

Ranger Sgt. Terry Welch, who heads the investigation, was incensed. “That’s the kind of leak that gets officers killed,” he said, much less gives suspects time to get rid of evidence, he added.

Welch’s theory: a leak from high up in DPD went to Channel 8 and from Channel 8 through a third party and possibly fourth party to McDaniel.

We have it solid the leak was from a high-ranking DPD officer. We have it solid it went to Channel 8.

We know of at least two Channel 8 employees this leak may have come from. These two had direct or indirect ties to the landlord or residents of the Winton Street location. Now, the job of a good reporter is to develop the trust of sources in organizations like the DPD, so no one is calling foul on that. But implicit in such a relationship is the understanding you use that information for the story — not to pass along to the wrong people, or to interfere with the development of a story. And the worst sin is using the information in a way that potentially endangers lives.

The neighbor, Hullum, flat-out refused to talk to us at all. The landlord, Prideaux, spoke to us through an intermediary, and their side is that they knew about the arrest warrant being out for McDaniel, not the search warrant.

Maybe. Maybe Channel 8 is just that good. They were on the scene minutes after officers kicked in the doors on Winton Street. Sgt. Welch certainly doesn’t buy it.

This is going to play out, directly or indirectly, as the Rangers try to put together a murder charge against McDaniel.

At his Pleasant Grove home, McDaniel kept videotapes of himself having sex with women who appear unconscious. Rangers found those. Investigators also found a video camera in his Winton Street townhome hidden in the bedroom closet, set up to surreptitiously tape the bedroom. There was no tape in it.

What’s coming up? In the next week, McDaniel faces a hearing to have his parole for a 1978 murder revoked. It’s a sure bet it will be. Between drug charges, the parole revocation, and an indictment on federal firearms charges, McDaniel is going to spend the rest of his life behind bars.

Both Welch and the Bosch family are sure someone out there knows more that can help them discover what exactly happened to Meaghan. Or maybe someone knows something that could cement the murder charge against McDaniel. McDaniel is certainly no longer a threat, if that’s someone’s concern. Steel bars and prison food are all his future holds.