In the heart of Detroit, there’s buried tales of a person so ruthless, that their name alone struck fear in those caught in his sights. A hitman with a murder toll of 30 bodies. He never missed his target with his gun and his knife sliced the flesh of many of his targets carving off body parts as proof to his clients. From inmates, to cops, to rivals, no one was free from his reign of terror, but in the end, his own people attempted to take his life. His name is Nathaniel Craft, but he is notoriously known by his alias Boone.
Growing up in the east side of Detroit, he was of a different breed since a child. His parents worked to the bone trying to provide a better life, and his father often spent time away in the army. Seeing his family working long hours and still not being stable financially impressed heavily on his mind. https://youtu.be/zrPf0blzsfA?si=zZ5kAD4DtrZW6w3Q (8:37-9:01).
At first, his intentions led him to do legal work with whatever hustle he could as a child, but Boone had an infatuation with money. Evidently, it led him to illegal means to acquire the wealth his family could never attain. At the young age of around nine, he got into the drug business through a man by the name of Charlie https://youtu.be/zrPf0blzsfA?si=xbNIZ1u8dE8bW4Nz (1:17-1:26).
Boone was just a kid, but his mentality was that of an 18-year-old with a heightened perception, so while hustling legally, he noticed the people making the money were all going to one man’s house. Connecting the dots led him to who would become his first murder victim. https://youtu.be/NVK2lVzlmKk?si=54_WuCYxV8anPc6e (1:32:21-1:32:48) https://youtu.be/zrPf0blzsfA?si=eHGQHfafW3Dqi6KT (9:52-10:45).
Boone would later recount that at 10 years old taking a life, he wasn’t haunted or felt any remorse, but he slept better knowing the person in the way of making his money was no more. https://youtu.be/qzP8Kj-_QH8?si=n-8IRV4-5t2aK0eI (20:26-20:41).
Boone’s path down a treacherous road began. He had a knack for the drug business, even more so as an enforcer who recouped any money not paid to Charlie by his customers, but it soon became apparent that Boone had a monster within him when Charlie refused to increase his pay. Instead, Charlie talked down to him even after Boone issued a warning. In a couple of seconds, the conversation led to Charlie being blown into the afterlife for constantly disrespecting Boone to his face. https://youtu.be/zrPf0blzsfA?si=0S8cRZD00NXlLeQS (1:27-3:00).
This aggression that gave him his ruthless nature was molded from days of being picked on as a kid. His reality was either to fight or be beaten by his sister who was tired of him allowing others to bully him. That pushed Boone to become a walking murder machine. https://youtu.be/zrPf0blzsfA?si=q4KK_Mi799EFoo9U 11:17-11:45).
Boone began making a name for himself along with his friend. If the price was high enough, the person you wanted gone, would be gone in a heartbeat. But sure enough, things went south when they shot a security guard after he tried to stop their plot to rob a store where he worked. https://youtu.be/zrPf0blzsfA?si=ana5Z6o95OW7IP7e (27:50-28:27).
It seemed like Boone’s violent days were done. He was sent to a youth home before being sent to Wayne County Child Development Centre which placed him in a foster home. https://youtu.be/zrPf0blzsfA?si=ana5Z6o95OW7IP7e (29:04-29:13).
Of course, Boone couldn’t contain his violent ways and ended up beating another child who messed with him, using a baseball bat. Tired of his ruthless nature, he was sent to Hawthorn Center after a psychiatric evaluation by the child development centre. https://youtu.be/zrPf0blzsfA?si=zWBP_HRJ6rX1tZnq (38:48-39:35).
Hawthorn conducted their own evaluation. When they realized Boone didn’t have a mental problem, but he just didn’t have a care for life, they tried to send him back to the child development centre, but they declined. His anger and hunger for violence were so bad, not even Hawthorn who dealt with psychiatric kids wanted anything to do with him, so they sent him on his way to terrorize somewhere else. https://youtu.be/zrPf0blzsfA?si=cvIhUPn4qykRTebW (39:37-40:12).
With his family in the wind, as they moved from the last place they lived, Boone was now left to find his own way at 16 years old. While sleeping at the bus stop, a woman would welcome him in to have a roof over his head. That turned out to be his gateway into more violence and death when Boone found out she was a prostitute being beaten by her pimp. https://youtu.be/zrPf0blzsfA?si=_jDmx2hVdtwzrvuP (41:03-42:01) https://youtu.be/zrPf0blzsfA?si=_jDmx2hVdtwzrvuP (42:30-42:34) https://youtu.be/zrPf0blzsfA?si=_jDmx2hVdtwzrvuP (43:07-43:52).
Boone was new to the pimp scene and didn’t like the idea of taking money women earned, so instead he offered to become her protector so she could make her money in peace https://youtu.be/qzP8Kj-_QH8?si=PEILy6gD6s6CDr9k (41:57-42:13) When word got around to the other women, they all wanted to leave their pimps and come under his protection, and soon enough that’s exactly what happened. The deal was that he’d take 10% for protection, but that only lasted for a time before Boone left to pursue a family with his girlfriend https://youtu.be/qzP8Kj-_QH8?si=5cthe44TA2p4yHlx (48:14-49:14).
Boone however, was one of those people made for that lifestyle of crime. His reputation grew over time, and with it, his trail of bodies and bloodshed. He became known as the Grim Reaper and Ice Man https://youtu.be/qzP8Kj-_QH8?si=xfM_4exNZ9HP93ow (6:40-6:50) The name Ice Man originated during his stint in jail because he was an ice cold killer who would even knock off a prison guard. https://youtu.be/qzP8Kj-_QH8?si=IVO4u2Gp_qZpOq2i (1:01:05-1:01:36) The quickest way to lose your life was to disrespect him or hurt his family, and some people, like a man by the name of Leroy learned that the hard way after hitting Boone’s sister. What was even more terrifying and showed Boone’s true dark side, was him basking in the warmth of his victim’s blood after slicing his neck wide open https://youtu.be/qzP8Kj-_QH8?si=2jeYe62JsrMpceBr (31:32-32:24).
This didn’t mean that family was out of the equation to be killed. Boone attempted to take the life of one of his brothers when he learned that he had stolen from him https://youtu.be/qzP8Kj-_QH8?si=k9xEjVIcnTDRWFLn (24:11-24:33) It was his mother who had to step in the way of the shotgun and save his brother from certain death. https://youtu.be/qzP8Kj-_QH8?si=k9xEjVIcnTDRWFLn (25:50-27:18).
Along the way, Boone would join a crew of some of the most dangerous and violent men in Detroit.
They went by the gang name “Best Friends,” an ironic name because in the end, they became enemies. The members consisted of gangsters like Boone, Demetrius Holloway,
Stacey Culbert,
brothers Ezra “Wizard” Brown and Gregory “Ghost” Brown
Reginald “Rockin’ Reg” Brown,
and Terrance “Boogaloo” Brown,
https://theranreport.blogspot.com/2018/01/the-infamousbest-friends-gang.html
Boone’s power was now elevated to another level, and his growing reputation as a hitman would only bring him into the lives of men higher up the crime chain. One such person was drug kingpin Richard Carter, known as Maserati Rick who first employed Boon as his bodyguard https://youtu.be/d9YMqKG_A7k?si=HEBLp2ghAr79D-fh (0:19-1:10) https://youtu.be/zrPf0blzsfA?si=AZC9H7j6o5PRNSFb (1:19:09-1:20:00).
Rick had the Colombian connect that kept him at the top of the food chain, but with Boone and the Best Friends employed to do his dirty work, things eventually went left. In that line of business, someone is always looking to take the top spot and increase their payday. That person was Terrance “Boogaloo” Brown aka Boo. Rick made the mistake of introducing Boo to his connect without realizing Boo was making a move to cut him out of the equation since he no longer needed him as the middle man https://youtu.be/zrPf0blzsfA?si=7Oda3XWMZn6eWMUa (1:38:34-1:38:55) https://youtu.be/d9YMqKG_A7k?si=Et2TaOnpqXZD_vBz (14:34-14:46) https://youtu.be/d9YMqKG_A7k?si=Et2TaOnpqXZD_vBz (15:47-16:15).
That’s exactly what happened. Rick was targeted and shot up, but survived. From Boone’s perspective, he believes Boo was the one behind Rick being finished off at the hospital https://youtu.be/d9YMqKG_A7k?si=GfXGlS8ZvREfaVPd (23:30-25:04) https://youtu.be/zrPf0blzsfA?si=0vFMFgGo5OoR7y-8 (1:33:35-1:34:15) https://youtu.be/zrPf0blzsfA?si=0vFMFgGo5OoR7y-8 (1:36:14-1:36:25).
With Maserati Rick out of the way, Boone and the Best Friends were making more money and extending their reign of terror, but the clock was ticking on how long that conquest would last.
They would be contracted for the assassination of Richard Wershe Jr. aka White Boy Rick,
who became the youngest informant to the FBI at age 14. His work resulted in the convictions of several Detroit drug kingpins. He was later arrested in 1987 with 9,000 grams of cocaine and $30,000 cash and sentenced to decades behind bars before his release in 2020.
The price was right, so Boone accepted the hitman job. The first attempt on White Boy Rick’s life didn’t get the job done, so the plot changed. Instead, they would get themselves thrown in jail over something small to catch White Boy Rick who was placed under federal protection on the inside, then the case would be scrapped and they would be released. That was the connections and power of Boone and the people he associated with https://youtu.be/zrPf0blzsfA?si=khJpX1RJgz6XGRsK (1:54:12-1:56:12) https://youtu.be/Ooa8ZpWu9Ow?si=nD2HSA7ibA5ch5K5 (1:30-2:39) Luckily, the plot was foiled and Rick was whisked away in time by the feds.
In that lifestyle, Boone was no stranger to death, but there would be one death that sparked the end of the Best Friends, resulting in a hit being placed on Boone’s life by those same people he did so much dirt with.
The death was that of his little brother Andre, while Boone was doing time in prison https://youtu.be/zrPf0blzsfA?si=L6zXwFx1iUxQLKvP (1:43:38-1:43:50) He would be allowed to go to his brother’s funeral before coming back to serve the remainder of the few months left on his sentence. It was at the funeral that he got word it was Boo who called the shot on his little brother. Apparently, his little brother had something for Boo and refused to give him the money https://youtu.be/zrPf0blzsfA?si=L6zXwFx1iUxQLKvP (1:44:01-1:45:33).
Boone left the funeral and went back to serve his time, and it was there that he and his affiliates plotted to set Boo up. The plan was to implicate Boo in a crime when he got out and have him sent to jail where his affiliates would butcher him to death https://youtu.be/zrPf0blzsfA?si=L6zXwFx1iUxQLKvP (1:45:33-1:47:00).
The Best Friends now became his main enemies because as far as Boone saw it, Boo knew if anything happened with his brother he could have contacted him and whatever money owed would be paid, but instead, he stole his brother’s life and that was crossing the line.
Boo was no fool himself, so it became a chess game of who could out best the other while still keeping up pretenses. Little did his Best Friends associates know, Boone was caught up with the feds and decided to become an informant to have them locked up so he could get revenge behind prison walls. Unfortunately, they would get the drop on Boone when he went to a funeral for one of their associates named Mark https://youtu.be/zrPf0blzsfA?si=y7xrqNfzzvOhZzbh (1:47:12-1:47:23).
Boo would be present and Boone thought it was the perfect opportunity to try and take him out. However, Boo had his affiliates around and was never out of their sight. Reg was locked up at the time and there was a witness to be taken out so the case would fall through. Boo enlisted Boone to go on the hit, but wanted all of the Best Friends to go along as well. They were going to take out Boone by using this hit as cover https://youtu.be/zrPf0blzsfA?si=iJ9t11Zlr5fY-VZ4 (1:47:24-1:48:37).
Boone and his crew paid a cab driver to remain parked when he went to pick up the person they were targeting. Sadly, when bullets started flying the cab driver became spooked and drove off, bringing him into the line of fire https://youtu.be/zrPf0blzsfA?si=l3oEtZ6-jcwBNalM (2:02:05-2:03:30).
Boone would turn around to get the car and that’s when he felt something pierce his back. When he reached around at the spot and then looked at his hand he saw blood. Soon after, another shot went through his hand knocking out a piece of his bone. His very friends were trying to kill him. As he looked up, another shot him close to his neck sending him backward. While in motion, he drew his gun causing everyone to run. Unbeknownst to them, one of the shots also injured his other hand leaving him unable to pull the trigger https://youtu.be/zrPf0blzsfA?si=l3oEtZ6-jcwBNalM (2:03:37-2:05:24).
Boone survived the failed hit with scary scars that tell the tale of the day he was turned on by his own https://youtu.be/qzP8Kj-_QH8?si=zeocSKVHPT-iw_5m (1:39:10-1:39:30).
The feds now tied Boone to the murders just because he was there, especially since it involved the death of an innocent cab driver. Boone would reveal in a later interview that he had already passed on information to the feds about guns owned by the Best Friends so they could make an arrest. He knew they were going to try to take his life, but authorities brushed off his claims as paranoia. https://youtu.be/aTL32vZhQdg?si=VwQ6m06pRopNhHN7 (23:24-24:23) Boone would try to explain that he was forced into taking the hit job because if he didn’t, they would have killed him right in the house. Still, authorities disregarded it. Boone agreed to give up the 6 members of the Best Friends to get them in jail where he could take his revenge, but it turns out they also ended up snitching as well https://youtu.be/aTL32vZhQdg?si=u1cqNzbZDidUXSHY (4:51-5:45) https://youtu.be/aTL32vZhQdg?si=u1cqNzbZDidUXSHY (6:50-7:40) https://youtu.be/zrPf0blzsfA?si=rZhoQ16qmXvLXS3l (2:07:25-2:08:50).
Boone, unlike many of his peers in that line of business, made it out alive.
In total, he admitted to 30 murders in order to be granted immunity as an informant and he was placed in witness protection before moving back to Detroit https://youtu.be/Ooa8ZpWu9Ow?si=qDir0W1TpFHGZhwI (0:51-1:30) To this day, the only murder he feels remorse over that causes him to wake up to cold sweats and nightmares, is that of the innocent cab driver because his principle is never to involve people who aren’t in that life https://youtu.be/qzP8Kj-_QH8?si=U97WjPJ1cxEDa4vb (1:43:32-1:44:03) https://youtu.be/qzP8Kj-_QH8?si=U97WjPJ1cxEDa4vb (1:52:22-1:52:48).
His legacy in Detroit was etched into the graves of all he killed, and in the bloodshed that followed behind him everywhere he went.