The Sinister Tale of Bison Dele’s Death

Bison Dele was a successful NBA star worth millions. He played center for the Denver Nuggets, Los Angeles Clippers, Chicago Bulls, and Detroit Pistons throughout his career. In 1997, he won a championship with the Bulls.

Despite his accomplished basketball career, one thing overshadows Bison Dele’s remarkable life: his death.

**Photograph of Bison Dele via Getty Images.**

Aged just 33, Bison was allegedly killed by his brother, Miles Dabord, aboard his 18-meter catamaran.

His body is presumed to be in the Pacific Ocean, alongside the bodies of his girlfriend, Serena, and the boat’s captain, Bertrand Saldo.

All are allegedly victims of Miles Dabord.

The sinister mystery surrounding Bison’s disappearance in 2002 has persisted over the years, and questions surrounding his final days remain unanswered.

The most common question that remains is: What really happened to Bison Dele?

Bison Dele’s Early Life

Bison Dele, whose birth name was Brian Williams, was born on April 6, 1969, in California. The Williams family already had a son, Kevin, though the couple would split shortly after Brian was born.

Their father, Eugene, would leave the marital home, and the Williams boys would be raised by their mother, Patricia.

Although they looked alike, Brian and Kevin’s personalities shared very few similarities, which became more apparent as they grew up. According to Patricia, they would fight regularly and often tried to “one up” one another.

While Brian grew up to be athletic and a keen sportsman, Kevin was the opposite. His asthma prevented him from participating in sports, leaving Brian to excel at track and field and basketball.

Kevin would remain in Brian’s shadow throughout school and, as some people believe, throughout adulthood too.

In high school, after a huge growth spurt, Brian—who now towered at 6’10”—gravitated toward taking basketball more seriously.

His coaches and peers pinpointed him as an extremely talented player almost straight away. Brian went on to play for the University of Maryland before moving on to play for the University of Arizona.

He made the leap from college basketball to the big leagues in 1991. He was the 10th pick in the first round of the 1991 NBA draft, where the 22-year-old joined the Orlando Magic.

He would then go on to play two seasons for the Denver Nuggets before spending a year with the Los Angeles Clippers in 1995.

In 1996, despite an impressive succession of seasons, Brian struggled to find a team willing to sign him. Allegedly, this is because his asking price was too high.

However, he went on to find success with the Chicago Bulls, with whom he played nine games, which led to his joining the Detroit Pistons.

Despite his success, Brian was struggling with his career choice. What was once a passion soon became something he no longer enjoyed. He felt like a “performing monkey,” and the business aspect of being a sportsman had sucked the fun out of it for him.

Amid his inner turmoil about his career, Brian changed his name in 1998. He chose the name Bison Dele as a nod to his Native American and African roots. The following year, at the age of 30, Bison quit basketball altogether.

The surprise announcement was made even more shocking when it was revealed that Bison had not only walked away from a promising career but also a $36 million contract. This didn’t faze Bison; he’d become disenchanted with basketball and wanted out.

He’d accumulated millions of dollars. Now, he was going to use his fortune to indulge in his true passion: traveling. And that’s just what he did. Bison visited Beirut, Australia, the Mediterranean, and New Zealand. He went hiking, obtained his pilot’s license, and enjoyed diving and surfing.

For three years, Bison explored the world, free from the constraints of his former career.

In a bid to travel as much as possible, he bought a boat named the Hakuna Matata. It would be aboard the Hakuna Matata that Bison’s life would end.

On July 6, 2002, Bison, his girlfriend, Serena Karlan, and his brother, who’d now changed his name to Miles Dabord, set out on an adventure on the luxury catamaran. With skipper Bertrand Saldo at the helm, the boat left the dock in New Zealand with four people on board.

However, only one person would alight from the boat days later: Miles Dabord.

Horrors Aboard The Hakuna Matata

The trip started peacefully. The group visited the picturesque island of Raiatea and spent some time in Hawaii. It’s been reported that Bison’s girlfriend, Serena, wasn’t overly fond of Miles.

In fact, prior to the trip, Bison and Miles hadn’t spoken for quite some time, and Bison was beginning to feel as if his sibling only got in touch when he needed money. As such, Serena didn’t look upon Miles too favorably.

Still, the brothers agreed to embark on the journey together, although it would be a trip that led to multiple tragedies.

In the first few days of the excursion, Bison and Serena made satellite calls to friends back home. When a few days passed, and the couple stopped their regular calls, Serena’s family became concerned. It wasn’t like her not to keep in touch. Then, a week passed without so much as a phone call.

Two weeks after first setting off, the boat eventually docked in Tahiti. The only person aboard was Miles.

However, when he registered the Hakuna Matata in Tahiti, he gave the ship’s name as the “Aria Bella.” Tahitian authorities would later confirm that Miles used an alias instead of his real name when registering the catamaran.

What was he hiding?

Miles then flew back to the US without much explanation of where his brother was. The following month, authorities began investigating the disappearance of Bison and Serena.

Around the same time, on September 5, 2002, a man resembling Bison, who had Bison’s checkbook and passport, attempted to buy over $150,000 worth of gold coins in Phoenix. However, it wasn’t Bison Dele—it was Miles pretending to be his brother.

When the bank became suspicious of the man—claiming to be named Brian Williams, Bison’s previous moniker—they called the police. Miles Dabord was quickly arrested, although he was just as swiftly released the following day.

Miles told the police that Bison was fine and that he had sent him to buy the gold coins on his behalf. With little in the way of incriminating evidence and law enforcement unable to track Bison down to refute the story, the police let Miles go.

Meanwhile, the Hakuna Matata was found just off the coast in Tahiti, with the nameplate missing. The passengers were missing. The boat had been damaged; it seemed as if bullets had been fired on board. Someone had tried to hide the holes by patching them.

After Miles’ release in Phoenix, he got in touch with a former girlfriend named Erica. Miles had something important to tell her: what really went on aboard the Hakuna Matata.

According to Miles’ version of events, Bison had killed Serena accidentally in a scuffle. Skipper Bertrand Saldo was horrified at what he saw and wanted to call the authorities.

To stop this from happening, Bison shot Bertrand dead before turning his attention to Miles. In self-defense, Miles shot Bison before disposing of the bodies in the Pacific Ocean.

By this point, Miles was aware that the police were hot on his tail, so he fled to Mexico and made a panicked call to his mother. He’d not spoken to Patricia in years, so the call was a shock to her—but not as shocking as why he was calling her.

He cried that the police were targeting him and that he would never hurt Bison. Before ending the call, he threatened to end his own life.

The authorities were now deep into their investigation of Miles. They’d discovered that just before the suspect set sail on the boat with his brother, he’d purchased $200 worth of weights.

Law enforcement surmised that Miles had used these weights to sink his victims in the ocean after murdering them, leading them to believe his murder spree was premeditated.

With this revelation, a warrant was issued for Miles’ arrest. However, the police would never catch up with him.

On September 19, Miles was admitted to Chula Vista Medical Center. He’d overdosed on insulin and was in a coma.

Only One Witness And Suspect

Miles’ mother and law enforcement quickly made their way to the hospital, both wishing the man would come around, albeit for different reasons.

Patricia was facing losing another son, and the police were faced with losing their one witness and sole suspect. If Miles died, he’d take all knowledge of what truly happened on the Hakuna Matata with him.

In the hospital, Patricia had to sit about a foot away from her son and refrain from touching him as he was under arrest, despite being comatose.

As the days passed, doctors told the bereft mother that during her son’s suicide attempt, his brain had been starved of oxygen for eight hours. It was unlikely he would come around.

On September 27, her worst fears were realized: Miles passed away. With Miles now dead, so was all hope of knowing how and why Bison Dele, Serena Karlan, and Bertrand Saldo were murdered.

**Bison Dele retired in his prime. Photo by AP.**

All law enforcement could do was piece together what may have happened with the small amount of evidence they had. They deduced that the three victims’ bodies are likely in the Pacific Ocean and are unlikely to be recovered.

Law enforcement has since rebuffed the version of events Miles gave his ex-girlfriend. They reiterate the fact that he bought dumbbells prior to the trip—which police didn’t find aboard the boat—that suggests preplanning of the murders.

The patched bullet holes on the boat didn’t align with Miles’ version of events, either.

A motive for the murderers had never been ascertained, but it’s common knowledge the brothers struggled to get on and often fought with one another.

Still, their mother doesn’t believe Miles is entirely to blame. She believes a third party is involved. Patricia has said that Bison was not a saint, nor was Miles the monster the press has made him out to be.

“I believe it could have been a kidnapping for ransom, and Miles was involved,” she said.

With no bodies, no killer, no motive, and no witnesses, the case of Bison Dele and what happened on the Hakuna Matata will forever remain a mystery.