In “Double Jeopardy,” a 1999 thriller co-starring Tommy Lee Jones, Ashley Judd plays a woman whose apparently loving husband fakes his own death while on a romantic yachting trip with her, leaving behind manufactured evidence that gets Ashley convicted of murdering him. To be fair, Wisconsin resident Ryan Borgwardt wasn’t quite that diabolical. He just faked his death while pretending to be on kayaking fishing trip and fled the country. Then again, Ashley Judd’s husband only inflicted his plot on his wife and a single child, while Borgwalt has three kids.
On August 12, Watertown, Wisconsin’s big news was the disappearance of devoted family man, Borgwardt, 44. An emergency search found his capsized kayak on Green Lake and his vehicle and trailer parked nearby. A local fishermen found Ryan’s fishing rod and a tacklebox containing his wallet and other belongings. Such a tragedy!
But Borgwalt was not as clever as the husband in “Double Jeopardy,” however, so an investigation eventually uncovered evidence that he was alive and had crossed into Canada. Border authorities confirmed that they had checked his passport a day after his “drowning.” After that, Borgwardt’s elaborate plot to abandon his family, apparently to begin a new life with another woman (this was also the motive of Ashley’s evil spouse), began to come into focus.
Investigators tracked down Borgwardt in Uzbekistan (Boy, that other woman must be something!) and spoke with him. He told investigators that his disappearance had been planned for months: he had an electric bike hidden near the boat launch on Green Lake, and brought a small inflatable boat with him in his kayak. He flipped his kayak in the middle of the lake, tossed his phone in the water and secretly returned to shore in the inflatable boat.
Next, Borgwardt rode the electric bike 80 miles through the night to Madison, then boarded a bus to Detroit, crossed into Canada and flew across the Atlantic using a new passport. Borgwardt had changed the hard drive in his computer and erased his search history before playing dead. He also transferred some funds to a foreign account. Now, he did take out a $375,000 life insurance policy so his family would have something to live on: See? He’s not so bad! And at least he didn’t try to frame his wife for murder.
“Great news: We know that he’s alive and well!” Green Lake County Sheriff Mark Podoll told reporters during a news conference this month. Wait: why is this great news? Great news would be that he had been eaten by a bear in Uzbekistan.
Sheriff Podoll explained that Ryan “ just had personal matters going on and he thought this was the right thing to do.” I’d be fascinated to know the thought process that would lead anyone to conclude faking their own death, abandoning a wife and three children, engaging in insurance fraud and moving to Uzbekistan is “the right thing to do.”
Podoll also said that Borgwardt “expressed regret” regarding his actions. Awww, that’s nice! He is sorry that he has put his family through this ordeal and that his scheme cost US authorities so much in resources and man-hours to track him down. Ryan told Podell that he thought the investigation would peter out after a couple weeks. “He expressed concerns that if he does come back, it’s going to be hard to live and no one will accept him,” Podoll added. Gee, ya think?
Now, now, Podell reassured Borgwith, the community is willing to forgive him, and he should return for the sake of his children: “Christmas is coming, and what better gift he could give his kids to be there for Christmas with them?”
How about not being there for Christmas with them and vanishing from their lives for the good of all concerned? Daddy’s a sociopath, and he’s not coming home.
Ethics Alarms 
Perhaps the Sheriff is trying to trick him into returning so he can be arrested?! There is a long list of crimes here, not to mention financial compensation for resources used. Otherwise why have laws or Sheriffs any longer?
According to this, he wouldn’t face insurance fraud charges because his family never tried to claim the insurance.
There is almost always a crime that one can be charged with!
He could be charged with a Class A misdemeanor charge for obstruction if he returns home. This charge could apply because he provided false information and planted evidence to mislead authorities.
Even though his family did not file a claim on the life insurance policy, the act of faking his death could still be considered as causing a fraudulent claim to be made. This could potentially lead to a Class I felony charge for insurance fraud, which carries a sentence of up to three and a half years, although this might be reduced since no claim was filed. If they really wanted to pursue this a case might be made of the tax implications if the Internal Revenue Service viewed his act as an attempt at fraud, which it was.
His coordinated actions could further be seen as evidence of a conspiracy to commit fraud or other crimes which likely increase the levity of the above potential criminal charges.
If I was his wife and he came home, I think I would press to have all of these options explored…
In the movie, having escaped from prison and tracked down her husband, his new girl friend and her child who was spirited away after she was locked up, Ashley ends up shooting the guy, and since she had already been tried once for killing him when he wasn’t dead, she couldn’t be prosecuted again.
Faking one’s death is far more difficult than it was, say, thirty years ago. Unless you have multiple disguises (to confuse the millions of cameras pointed at you), the ability to arrange passage out of the country without using a passport or credit card, and the ability to live overseas using currency that can’t be traced, you might as well forget about it.
Borgwardt’s attempt was doomed as soon as he flashed his passport…so…Day 1.
Years ago, I ran across Ed Pankau’s book “Hide Your A$$ets and Disappear.” I bought it, read it (twice), and found it to be fascinating, though some of the material is now outdated, given the pre-eminence of the internet and webcam technology. Clearly, Ryan Borgwardt didn’t read the book.
The book is still available for purchase. And by the way, the it makes for a VERY interesting conversation starter when your spouse-to-be sees it on the bookshelf. I speak from personal experience on that bit.
Uzbekistan is in Central Asia, not Eastern Europe. Been through there.
Alas, my state of domicile juuuuuust can’t bare to stay out of the limelight for too gosh darn long.
FTR: Green Lake is the deepest inland lake in America’s Dairyland. Double Jeopardy happens to be one of my wife’s favorite flicks; lots of water scenes and an unctuous, scumbag husband who gets his just desserts at the end.
PWS