The Father-and-Son Fishing Trip From Hell

Get ready, readers—this one’s a banger. Evan Lubofsky previously penned an incredible longform feature for WIRED, “A Son Is Rescued at Sea. But What Happened to His Mother?” which was turned into the recent #1 Netflix movie “The Carman Family Deaths.” He has a real knack for finding odd news items and uncovering the full human story behind them. This one is as cinematic, exciting and terrifying as it gets.

“I’m gonna kill you motherfuckers and leave you to drown!”

Fishing captain Mark Bailey is on the top deck bellowing death threats into the stifling Sarasota sky. His five frightened charter passengers cower inside the cabin below. They know Bailey’s been snorting coke and nursing a bottle of Captain Morgan’s since morning, upending what was supposed to be an idyllic fathers-and-sons fishing trip. Now he’s got a 9mm gun. Nothing’s stopping him from climbing down from the fly deck, kicking in the cabin door and having himself a round robin.

The cabin’s a sauna. The terrified passengers keep the windows shut to drown out the sound of the boat’s twin diesels. They need to listen intently for footsteps coming down the ladder. They crouch down to keep from view and whisper quietly as darkness falls over the Atlantic.

Captain Bailey guns the throttle of the Double Marker deeper into the Gulf until the 47-foot blue and white charter boat shrinks to a lone spot on the horizon, beyond cell range. Everyone holed up in the cabin realizes that they’re no longer passengers aboard a fishing charter.

They’re hostages.

Twelve hours earlier.

Normally, Chris Giuffre Jr. likes to sleep in on Sundays. At least when there are no early house showings or open houses to run to. But today, he springs out of bed at 5 a.m. with the sting of the alarm. He throws on jeans and a white V-neck and tells his young wife, Fernanda, that he’ll see her around 7 p.m. He feels lucky that, with the baby and all, she’s given him the green light to spend the day fishing.

He meets his dad downstairs. Chris Giuffre Sr. is in his mid-50s with a square-jawed face, soft features set under neatly brushed-back dark hair and an easy smile.

They gather their backpacks and fishing gear, climb into Chris Sr.’s gray Toyota pickup and roll through the manicured