Under the Docs 007: Conspiracy of Silence (1994)

This episode of *Kill the Mockingbirds* dives deep into the 1993 unreleased documentary *Conspiracy of Silence*, a 56-minute film produced by Yorkshire Television for the Discovery Channel that alleges a vast child trafficking and sex ring involving elite Washington, D.C. politicians, centered around Boys Town, Nebraska. The documentary claims the film was suppressed due to pressure from high-level government figures, including members of Congress and even Bush senior, and that it was never aired despite being scheduled for broadcast. It details the alleged role of Lawrence King, a prominent Black Republican in the 1980s, as a central figure in a network of corruption involving the Franklin Federal Credit Union, child exploitation, and political blackmail. The episode explores the credibility of key witnesses like Paul Bonassi, Troy Bonner, and Alicia Owens, whose testimonies are central to the narrative but are also scrutinized due to their criminal histories and drug use. The hosts examine the documentary’s compelling evidence—such as timecoded VHS footage, FBI perp walks, edited deposition tapes, and a mysterious plane crash that killed lead investigator Gary Caridori and his son—while acknowledging the risks of relying on potentially unreliable sources. Despite these concerns, the hosts conclude that the documentary’s authenticity, grainy aesthetic, and real-world documentation lend it a haunting credibility, positioning it as a foundational piece in the broader conspiracy landscape that prefigures modern scandals like Epstein’s. The episode ends with a call to explore the original book *The Franklin Cover-Up* by John DeCamp and follow-up works like *The Franklin Scandal* by Nick Bryant for deeper context.