Kenia Monge and Travis Forbes | Killer Targets 19-year-old Woman Who Was Ejected from Bar

[00:00:00] This is True Crime Psychology and Personality, where we discuss the pathology behind some of

[00:00:12] the most horrific crimes, and those who committed them from a scientifically informed perspective.

[00:00:18] I'm Dr. Todd Grande, I have a Ph.D. in Councilor Education and Supervision, and I'm a licensed

[00:00:25] professional counselor of Mental Health, Dr. Todd Grande, that's my YouTube channel.

[00:00:31] Today's question is, can I analyze the case of Kenya, Moneye, and Travis Forbes?

[00:00:38] First I'll look at the background of this case, move to the timeline of the crime, then

[00:00:42] offer my analysis.

[00:00:44] Kenya Moneye was born on January 26, 1992, she lived in Denver, Colorado, in 2011 Kenya was

[00:00:52] studying broadcasting at a local college.

[00:00:56] Travis Forbes was born on October 4, 1979, and lived in Denver.

[00:01:02] He accumulated an extensive criminal history throughout his life, including charges for

[00:01:06] burglary, assault, and harassment.

[00:01:09] Eventually he started a sandwich and granola bar business, which he operated from a bakery

[00:01:15] on South Trenton Way in Denver, then moving to the timeline of the crime.

[00:01:20] On March 31, 2011, 19-year-old Kenya and two of her female friends went out for a night

[00:01:27] of partying.

[00:01:28] Kenya had fake identification, which she used to enter the 24k bar on Market Street just

[00:01:35] after 11pm.

[00:01:37] She became extremely intoxicated and disruptive.

[00:01:41] Kenya was kicked out of the bar by a bouncer at around 1am now on April 1, 2011.

[00:01:47] She was with a young man who was also escorted out.

[00:01:51] Kenya left her cell phone, purse, and car keys on a table in the bar.

[00:01:57] Later on April 1, Kenya's family members noticed that she was missing.

[00:02:02] The friends gave her property, including her cell phone, to her stepfather.

[00:02:06] He reported Kenya missing to the police at about 9.40pm.

[00:02:10] Here's what the police found during their investigation.

[00:02:14] The police tracked Kenya's movements after she was kicked out of the bar using video available

[00:02:19] from surveillance cameras in the area.

[00:02:21] They saw her enter an apartment building on 15th Street.

[00:02:25] She was with a young man.

[00:02:26] At about 1.15am, she was seen coming out of the elevator on the 5th floor.

[00:02:32] As she was walking down the hallway behind the young man, it was clear that Kenya was intoxicated.

[00:02:38] A few minutes later, she returned to the elevator and exited the building.

[00:02:43] The police spoke to the young man.

[00:02:45] He said that Kenya was in his apartment for a few minutes and then left.

[00:02:49] His story was supported by the video.

[00:02:52] At 2.04am, Kenya was captured on camera walking alone in a hotel about a block away.

[00:02:59] The police believed that she was there to use the restroom.

[00:03:02] Cameras did not capture her leaving the hotel, but she was no longer there.

[00:03:07] This appeared to be a dead end in the investigation, but fortunately, the police had another important

[00:03:12] lead.

[00:03:13] After Kenya's friends dropped off her phone at a residence, her stepfather examined

[00:03:18] it.

[00:03:19] He saw that she had received a text message at 6.56pm.

[00:03:24] The message read, quote, hey, this is Travis, the guy who gave you a ride last night,

[00:03:29] white, creepy van, did you get home okay?

[00:03:33] Unquote.

[00:03:34] It didn't take long for the police to realize that the message came from Travis Forbes.

[00:03:39] He caught up with Travis and one of his friends on April 3 at a gas station.

[00:03:44] Travis and his friends said that they observed Kenya talking to a transient man in the area

[00:03:49] of 15th Street and California Street.

[00:03:52] This was at about 2am.

[00:03:54] She appeared to be very intoxicated, therefore they offered to take her to Club Lavish,

[00:03:59] which is where she said her car was parked.

[00:04:02] The three individuals were unable to locate the vehicle, therefore Travis offered to take

[00:04:06] Kenya home in his white car, a van.

[00:04:10] He dropped his friend off and continued with Kenya in the van, so at this point only

[00:04:15] Travis and Kenya were in his vehicle.

[00:04:18] When they were on spear boulevard, Kenya requested a cigarette.

[00:04:22] Travis pulled into a conical gas station, but it was closed.

[00:04:26] Kenya exited the van and approached a man on the street who was smoking.

[00:04:31] She asked him for a cigarette and he gave her one.

[00:04:34] Travis said that the man went by the name Dan.

[00:04:37] Kenya and Dan talked in Spanish for a while as they smoked, and they were done smoking

[00:04:42] Kenya and Dan walked off together.

[00:04:46] Travis asked Kenya if she was okay, but she did not respond.

[00:04:49] At this point Travis drove to his girlfriend's house.

[00:04:54] The police looked at the inside of the white caravan and noticed that it was exceptionally

[00:04:58] clean in the cargo area, but dirty in front of the vehicle.

[00:05:02] And smelled like bleach, and the carpet in the cargo area was new.

[00:05:07] On April 5th, the police conducted a formal interview of Travis at Denver Police Headquarters.

[00:05:13] He repeated the same story.

[00:05:15] He gave Kenya a ride, they stopped, and she walked off with a guy named Dan.

[00:05:20] Travis went to his girlfriend's residence, arriving between 3 and 3 30 AM.

[00:05:25] He left for work at about 8 30 AM.

[00:05:29] This girlfriend's name was Carrie Humphrey.

[00:05:31] The police spoke to Carrie, she confirmed the alibi that Travis had supplied.

[00:05:37] Despite this alibi being corroborated, the police were still suspicious of Travis Forbes.

[00:05:43] The gas station Travis referred to was obviously closed at the time when Travis claimed to stop

[00:05:49] there looking for cigarettes.

[00:05:51] Like the station was completely dark, nobody would have hold in there believing it could

[00:05:56] have been open.

[00:05:58] So the bakery where Travis worked had supplied surveillance video to the police.

[00:06:03] On April 1, cameras at that business captured Travis engaging in suspicious activity.

[00:06:09] For example, he was seen rolling a cooler into a freezer, carrying a roll of carpet from

[00:06:14] his van, and handling a bottle bleach.

[00:06:17] Travis was spotted in an office wearing yellow gloves, and he disabled the camera system.

[00:06:23] On April 6, investigators examined data from Travis' cell phone and discovered that it

[00:06:28] was not anywhere near Carrie Humphrey's home on April 1 between 3 and 8 AM.

[00:06:36] On April 26, the police spoke to Carrie again.

[00:06:39] She told them the same story.

[00:06:41] They told Carrie that they knew she was lying.

[00:06:44] She changed her story and said that Travis asked her to lie and say that he was at her

[00:06:50] home.

[00:06:51] She never asked him why he made this request, but Travis offered an explanation.

[00:06:56] He said that he was sleeping in his van and it would look bad for him not to have an

[00:07:00] alibi when a woman went missing in the area.

[00:07:04] Later he said that he was on a marijuana run during the time when the victim disappeared.

[00:07:09] The police were fairly confident that Travis was the killer.

[00:07:12] They arrested him on May 4 in Austin, Texas on suspicion of auto theft.

[00:07:17] He was interviewed again and continued to deny any involvement in Kenya's death.

[00:07:23] Travis was released after the victim in the auto theft case refused to press charges.

[00:07:29] This turned out to be a catastrophic mistake.

[00:07:32] On July 5, 2011, Travis viciously attacked a woman named Lydia Tillman and set her apartment

[00:07:39] on fire.

[00:07:40] She survived but was severely injured.

[00:07:43] She spent five weeks in a medically-induced coma.

[00:07:47] Travis found DNA on the victim and sent it to a lab to be analyzed.

[00:07:51] As they were waiting for the results, they were getting pretty nervous about what Travis

[00:07:54] was up to.

[00:07:56] On July 10, they stopped Travis as he was walking on a street and asked him questions.

[00:08:02] He told the police his name was Travis Kennedy.

[00:08:05] One could argue that Kennedy is probably not the best choice for an alias when suspected

[00:08:10] of killing a young woman, but this is what Travis selected.

[00:08:14] Police let Travis go but then saw him following an intoxicated woman through a poorly lit neighborhood.

[00:08:20] They were concerned he was going to attack someone else if they didn't.

[00:08:24] Just before Travis was about to make bail, the DNA recovered in the Lydia Tillman case

[00:08:29] was matched to Travis.

[00:08:32] Travis was given an upgrade in his charges to attempted murder and arson.

[00:08:37] The police once again questioned him about the murder of Kenya Mone.

[00:08:42] He told them that he would confess if he was given a deal.

[00:08:45] He did not want to face the death penalty.

[00:08:48] Travis was granted his wish.

[00:08:50] He told the police that on April 1, he picked up Kenya, drove her to a park and strangled

[00:08:56] her.

[00:08:57] He showed the police where he buried Kenya's body under a cottonwood tree in Weld County

[00:09:02] about 40 miles away from Denver.

[00:09:04] On September 26, 2011, Travis Forbes played a guilty to first degree murder.

[00:09:09] Just a month later, he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

[00:09:14] Now moving to my analysis.

[00:09:17] Here are my thoughts on a few areas that stood out to me in this case.

[00:09:20] Item number one, Travis Forbes was always looking for his next victim.

[00:09:25] He knew that he was a suspect and Kenya's murder, yet he attacked another woman, and

[00:09:30] he was seen following yet a third potential victim when he was arrested five days later.

[00:09:36] This appeared to have an obsession, which no number of compulsions could satisfy.

[00:09:41] No matter how many times he offended, he always wanted more.

[00:09:46] Item number two, Travis could have escaped responsibility for murdering Kenya.

[00:09:51] He carefully cleaned his van, destroyed other evidence, and disposed of Kenya's body

[00:09:55] in a place where the police would have probably never found it.

[00:10:00] They had searched extensively without success.

[00:10:04] This had managed to target a victim who was alone, intoxicated, and not carrying a cell phone.

[00:10:10] Kenya was in an extremely vulnerable position.

[00:10:13] The key mistake that Travis made was sending the text message to Kenya's phone after he

[00:10:19] killed her.

[00:10:20] It's almost like his anxiety pushed him into making a bad decision.

[00:10:24] He didn't know if anyone had seen him with Kenya or if surveillance cameras had captured

[00:10:29] them together.

[00:10:31] If he became a suspect, he knew the police could track his movements by looking at a cell phone

[00:10:35] data.

[00:10:36] Travis decided to be proactive and introduced himself into the investigation.

[00:10:42] He wanted to find out how much the police knew about his connection to Kenya.

[00:10:46] If Travis had simply done nothing, he probably never would have been arrested for the murder.

[00:10:52] If the police didn't know who he was, they could not have examined his cell phone data.

[00:10:57] When Travis placed himself with Kenya right before she went missing, he created a series

[00:11:01] of problems for himself, including with his alibi.

[00:11:06] This brings me to item number three.

[00:11:09] Travis convinced his girlfriend, Carrie Humphrey, to lie for him by supplying him an alibi.

[00:11:15] She did not know what Travis had been doing, but she still thought it was a good idea to

[00:11:19] lie to the police to protect him.

[00:11:21] Carrie pleaded guilty to attempt to influence a public servant, false reporting to authorities

[00:11:27] and perjury in the second degree.

[00:11:29] She was sentenced to 60 days in jail, 2,000 hours of community service, and she must seek

[00:11:35] mental health counseling.

[00:11:37] Carrie talked to the media about her relationship with Travis.

[00:11:41] She said that they met through mutual friends.

[00:11:43] Travis came very highly recommended by all of them.

[00:11:46] There was an instant attraction.

[00:11:48] Travis had a tendency to draw people into conversations.

[00:11:52] You could find a way to relate to what you've been through.

[00:11:56] Carrie said that she felt understood, let her guard down and trusted him.

[00:12:01] Travis was generous and displayed random acts of kindness.

[00:12:04] For example, one time when they were walking down the street in the snow, they passed

[00:12:09] an older woman who appeared to be down on her luck.

[00:12:13] Travis took off his scarf and gave it to her.

[00:12:16] Carrie thought to herself, wow this guy seems like a very good guy.

[00:12:20] Item number 4.

[00:12:22] Carrie wasn't the only one who was manipulated by Travis.

[00:12:25] He gave several interviews to the media.

[00:12:27] He would cry and demonstrate dramatic facial expressions consistent with sadness and regret.

[00:12:34] Many people were convinced that he was being genuine.

[00:12:37] The police spoke to several women that he dated, who found him charming and harmless.

[00:12:43] Some of the women he dated, however, had a different opinion.

[00:12:47] They said that he transformed into a different person during sexual role-playing, but look

[00:12:52] on his face indicated he enjoyed inflicting pain.

[00:12:56] There is this sense that his sadism would take over like he could not resist giving in

[00:13:01] to his desires.

[00:13:02] Item number 5.

[00:13:04] The owner of the bakery where Travis worked talked about her interactions with Travis.

[00:13:10] He told her several lies.

[00:13:12] The owner confronted Travis and he admitted that he lied.

[00:13:16] He said, I need to have people think highly of me, have a high estimation of me.

[00:13:21] All my problems have stemmed from my wanting people to be proud of me.

[00:13:27] The owner also said that Travis had a violent temper.

[00:13:29] For example, he once sent a text message containing obscenities because one of his employees

[00:13:35] did not bake muffins properly.

[00:13:38] Travis's mighty meltdown to miserably mishandled muffin making was not the only manifestation

[00:13:44] of his mounting and monumental mayhem.

[00:13:47] One time he went into a half hour rage and punched his van after one of the coolers was

[00:13:52] stolen.

[00:13:53] He was probably thinking, oh great, what am I going to do with the bodies now?

[00:13:58] Into the last item, number 6.

[00:14:01] What personality characteristics may have been at work in the case of Travis Forbes?

[00:14:05] This is just a theory, my opinion.

[00:14:08] Travis appeared to have several characteristics consistent with psychopathy, narcissism and

[00:14:13] sadism.

[00:14:14] From factor 1 psychopathy, Travis was grandiose, a pathological liar, manipulative, and possessed

[00:14:21] superficial charm.

[00:14:23] From factor 2 psychopathy, he was sensation-seeking, impulsive, irresponsible, and demonstrated

[00:14:29] criminal versatility.

[00:14:31] As far as narcissism, Travis was selfish and had a sense of entitlement.

[00:14:37] His sadistic characteristics are evident with his sexual behavior.

[00:14:41] He wanted to inflict pain.

[00:14:43] He was probably on his way to being a sexual domination serial killer.

[00:14:48] What made Travis particularly dangerous was his style of manipulation.

[00:14:53] He was much more sophisticated than most aspiring serial killers.

[00:14:57] When interacting with people, he allowed them to talk.

[00:15:00] Travis appeared to be empathic.

[00:15:03] He was a good listener.

[00:15:05] He used his cognitive empathy but did not have affective empathy.

[00:15:09] So he could understand how people felt, but he could not feel how other people felt.

[00:15:15] This is like trying to understand the texture of an object without physically touching it.

[00:15:20] He was trying to behave like someone who could feel what others feel without having those

[00:15:25] feelings himself.

[00:15:28] Another element that increased the danger potential with Travis was how his manipulation strategy

[00:15:33] did not involve putting people down or turning them against each other.

[00:15:38] Other people really believed that Travis was genuine and altruistic.

[00:15:43] Travis had a level of neuroticism low enough to be cold and calculating, but high enough

[00:15:48] to be impulsive, anxious and angry.

[00:15:51] It was almost like he was designed to be a killing machine.

[00:15:55] He could win the trust of victims, attack them, and then become enough to destroy evidence.

[00:16:01] The problem for Travis was his anxiety.

[00:16:03] It was a double-edged sword.

[00:16:05] The anxiety probably helped him to appear more genuine, but it also led to self-incrimination.

[00:16:18] This has been True Crime Psychology and Personality from R's Lunga Media.

[00:16:25] This content is for educational and entertainment purposes only.

[00:16:30] R's Lunga Vita Brebis Hey podcast listeners, I'm Paul Brandis

[00:16:39] introducing my podcast Countdown to Dallas.

[00:16:43] It's a fascinating in-depth look at the seemingly unconnected events that

[00:16:47] led to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy,

[00:16:51] based on my book of the same title.

[00:16:53] In that book and in this podcast I go all the way back to 1939

[00:16:58] when Lee Harvey Oswald was born into a troubled and dysfunctional family.

[00:17:03] I'll follow his transient and often violent teenage years

[00:17:07] and young adulthood painting a fuller picture of the man who would later become Kennedy's killer.

[00:17:14] I also take a look at events unfolding in that era like Cuba and Vietnam

[00:17:19] and I'll unpack the conspiracy theories too, not one of which has ever been conclusively proven.

[00:17:26] Subscribe to Countdown to Dallas at everygreenpodcasts.com

[00:17:31] or your favorite listening app, October 31st.