Beyond Belief - Season 3, Episode 10 - Full Episode | Forensic Files

[THEME MUSIC] DON LAFONTAINE (VOICEOVER): "Beyond Belief-- Fact or Fiction," hosted by Jonathan Frakes.
Tonight, your challenge is to separate what is true from what is false. Five stories-- some real, some fake.
Can you judge which are fact and which are fiction? To find out, you must enter a world
of both truth and deception, a world that is beyond belief. Sometimes it's difficult to label things accurately.
Take this display of an object that is shaped like a mouse. Yet when you rotate it, it evolves into a cat.
So which is it really? You'll find the same challenge with our stories tonight, as opposite as the mouse
is from its mortal enemy, the cat. So is the truth opposite from a lie? And still, as in this sculpture, they can be found together,
each one a part of the other. So don't jump to conclusions about whether our stories
tonight are based on actual events or completely false. We may just be playing a typical game of cat and mouse.
The art of decorating one's body has fascinated cultures back to the early days of the ancient empires.
In our own society, tattoos, once frowned upon as reserved for the lower class or sailors on a drunk,
now adorn many of the world's most beautiful people. There is something seductive yet frightening
about these intricate works of body art. And while many tattoos can be obtained these days
in fashionable salons, there still exist the seedy dens of danger and mystery known as the tattoo parlor.
This is where our next story takes place, but be forewarned-- it may leave its mark on you.
Renny Fortis wasn't the kind of guy you'd want your daughter to hang out with. That's probably what made him so attractive to a young,
sheltered girl like Amy Dwyer. Amy rebelled at just about everything her parents represented, and she truly believed
she was in love with Renny. Why are we stopping here? I told you, I had a surprise for you.
A tattoo? A special tattoo. You're going to love it. Renny, I don't know about this.
I hate needles. They really freak me out. Amy, I thought you loved me. I do love you, you know I do.
It's just that-- Hey, if you really love me, you'll do this. I do love you, but I'm afraid.
Listen, there's nothing to this. I'll be right in there with you. Come on, do it for us.
Amy, this is Wes Tronker, the best tattoo artist in town. Ain't that right, Wed?
I can't complain. What do you need, Renny? RENNY: She wants a tattoo. Have you ever had a tattoo before, young lady?
No, I haven't. What do you think you're up to-- Maybe you ought to mind your own business, huh?
WES: Yeah, you're right. It's all right, Renny. Well, I'll tell you what, young lady,
why don't we go around and see if you find anything that pleases you? She doesn't have to go around.
I want you to do this one. No, I can't do it, and I won't do it. Oh, you're going to do it.
You're going to put that tattoo on her neck. Do you understand? Renny, what are you doing?
Shut up. He's just a superstitious old man, that's all. There's a myth attached to the devil's tattoo,
but it's all bull. Can I just get a different one? RENNY: No. You're going to get this one.
There's no turning back, Amy. [BEEPING] You run along with Wes and do what he says.
I'll be right back. Young lady, come in here with me, please. VOICE (ON PHONE): What is going on?
Everything's going fine. Yeah, she's gonna do it. You climb out that window. and you get out of here now.
What? You've got to get away from that guy before it's too late. Stop it, you're scaring me.
Well you ought to be scared. The last two girls that he put that devil's tattoo on, I
never seen again. Why don't I hear the needle, Wes? I don't want to get the tattoo, Renny.
It's too late. Promises have been made. Stop it. Let go of me. Let me go. RENNY: Shut up, or I'm gonna kill you.
I thought you loved me. Wes, pick up the needle and go to work. What's going on?
I don't know. There's something wrong with the needle. Stop screwing around and do the job.
Wes, please, please don't tattoo me. Shut up. Wes, pick up the needle. What are you doing?
I'm not doing anything, it's doing it on its own. Oh my god, no. [GASPING] JONATHAN FRAKES: Tattoo artist Wes Tronker
maintained that he was not responsible for the death of Renny Fortis. Supported by Amy's testimony, the case against him
was dismissed. Did the tattoo artist cleverly set a trap for his villainous customer?
Did he commit murder in order to save the life of the young woman? Or was the tattoo gun itself possessed by the spirit
of two innocent young girls, past victims of the devil's tattoo? Is this story engraved with the permanent markings of truth,
or is it written in disappearing ink? DON LAFONTAINE (VOICEOVER): We'll tell you whether this story is true or false
at the end of our show. Next, a strange curse hounds a businessman on "Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction."
JONATHAN FRAKES: These are just a few of the products, from paper to medicine, that come from trees.
These things certainly make our lives easier, and yet some environmentalists tell
us that by destroying trees, we make our own lives more fragile. Preston G. Yates is a wealthy man
who has no time for tree huggers, as he calls ecologists. In fact, he curses them.
But he's about to find out that money earned by the destruction of nature may carry a curse of its own.
Some might see Preston G. Yates as a nerd who made good. His company was a multinational corporation.
Protesters have always been part of Preston's life. He never took them seriously.
They were just another pain in the neck. Yates was about to sign an agreement with a Japanese company to be their exclusive supplier,
and those protesters weren't about to stop him. OLD INDIAN MAN: Mr. Yates, you are
killing off the people of my tribe by destroying the rain forest. Oh, not another one.
Soon there will be nothing. You have been warned, but you refuse to listen. You are cursed.
Come on, that's ridiculous. Look, if you or your tribe has a problem with Atlantis Paper,
I suggest you contact our attorneys. OLD INDIAN MAN: Hears my words, whatever you do to our trees
will return to you forever and stick to your very soul. Yeah, well look, I'll tell you what, magic man--
JONATHAN FRAKES: This was one meeting Yates would never forget. PRESTON YATES: Gentlemen, good afternoon.
It's good to see you again, Mr. Yates. You're looking well. - Thank you. Please, be seated.
So I take it your people have reviewed the contract? We have, and everything seems to be in order.
Great. Well, then I'd like to propose a toast. To the rain forest and all the riches
it has brought and will continue to bring. I uh, just, uh-- [SPEAKING JAPANESE] PRESTON YATES: Well, uh, gentlemen,
what do you say we sign the contract before we eat? That would be fine. Great. I have it right here.
[WHOOSHING] OK, uh, I'll get the contract. Hold on. [WHOOSHING] No, whoa. Are you all right, Mr. Yates.
I'm fine, just fine. Ah, huh. Here you go, sir, the contract. That's good, just-- yeah, yeah.
[SPEAKING JAPANESE] Perhaps we should reschedule this meeting for another time. I think we need to review this contract more carefully.
We'll be in touch. Well, uh-- h-- how about later this evening? I-- I'm-- I'm available this evening.
JONATHAN FRAKES: The problem continued to worsen, and paper was sticking to Yates so often
he couldn't keep up with it. In fact, he began missing all his appointments, and eventually stopped doing business altogether.
I'm looking for an Indian. An old man, you seen him? JONATHAN FRAKES: Yates finally decided
that he had to locate the old Indian and get him to remove the curse. Stop staring at me.
Stop staring. Just stop it, stop it. OLD INDIAN MAN: You were looking for me, Mr. Yates?
You, you got to break this curse. Only you have that power. How? Tell me how. I'll do anything.
I already told you. You must give you word that you'll stop killing trees. But I can't.
It's my work. Then you must live in your paper prison. [SCREAMING] I can't take this anymore.
All right, all right, I'll change. I swear. I was wrong and I'll work to save the rain
forest from this day on. I promise. You made the promise. Now you must keep it, or the curse will return.
PRESTON YATES: Save the rain forest. Stop killing trees and people. JONATHAN FRAKES: Preston G. Yates turned Atlantis Paper
into a recycling company and began working to replenish rain forests around the world.
The curse never returned. What really happened here? Did the old Indian's curse really
stick to Preston G. Yates, both literally and figuratively? Or did Yates suddenly develop a condition
where his body conducted an excess amount of static electricity, the way some people can
walk across a carpet and then set off tiny sparks whenever they touch something?
Or was Yates so paralyzed by the fear of the curse that he willed it to come true through telekinesis?
Is the story of a man who attracted paper like a magnet a tissue of lies, or are we sticking to the facts?
DON LAFONTAINE (VOICEOVER): We'll tell you whether this story is true or false at the end of our show.
Next, two dead bodies and an unsolvable crime, on "Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction."
JONATHAN FRAKES: Criminology, a fascinating science. By using the tools of the trade, specialists
can reconstruct the scene of a crime, sometimes down to the smallest detail. But what happens when the scene of a crime
is so bad the crime becomes impossible to analyze through science? It's then that detectives must turn to their greatest
tool of all, the human mind. Detective Bill Ballard has a mind that is capable of both analysis and invention,
and is going to need both skills to solve the strangest case of his career. DETECTIVE BALLARD: I had been a homicide detective
with the Beverly Hills Police for the past 10 years, and I'd seen a lot. But a murder in a locked funeral home?
That was a first. So the question was, how was he killed? The second victim was lying on the floor
next to the casket with a knife sticking out of her chest. Something was out of whack, and then it dawned on me--
there was no blood from the wound. The woman had already been dead for a few days
and was probably in that coffin. Hey Ballard, have you ever seen anything like this before?
DETECTIVE BALLARD: Never. Why would anybody stick a knife in a corpse? Six times.
And how did she wind up on the floor? Good question, she didn't just jump out of her coffin.
What about the guy by the door? My guess, he was probably poisoned. It entered through the wound in his hand.
We'll know more after the autopsy. Thanks, Angela. What the hell went on here? A corpse stabbed repeatedly outside the coffin?
Some instinct told me to check around the coffin. Somebody had spent a lot of money for this send off.
So that's how she got out. Hey Bill. Did you find the funeral director? Yeah, yeah.
He's pretty shook up, like he never saw a dead body before. The corpse's his name is Miriam Jacoby.
She died three days ago in a traffic accident. She was loaded. We're talking big money.
The guy over there is her third husband, Darrell. He probably came to pay his respects.
Yeah, looks like it. You know, the funeral director told me that his wife took him out of her will completely.
DETECTIVE BALLARD: If this is real, it's got to be worth a couple of million bucks.
No, that's real. You know, she had some pretty strange requests in her will. The body was delivered here yesterday
with specific instructions that no one was to open the coffin. And then she wants to be buried wearing this hunk of ice.
What a waste, huh? Somebody thought so. Well, so what do you think? It was a botched robbery.
What? How? Who? Darrell Jacoby didn't come to pay his last respects to his dead wife.
He came to steal her diamond necklace. He slipped into the room made sure he was alone.
He used his buck knife to jimmy open the lock, the same knife that ended up in her chest.
Then he reached in and grabbed ahold of the necklace. That released a barbed metal spike that shot
down and punctured his hand. This ticked him off, so he yanked on the necklace even harder.
That's when the spring mechanism kicked in. This is really incredible. Be careful.
I'm sure it's still covered with poison. Who do you think rigged it? My guess, Mrs. Jacoby.
What? She probably left instructions with her lawyer. Yeah, but if she didn't want her husband to take it, then
why did she wear it? It was bait. She knew he'd come after it and she wanted him dead.
Yeah, but why? DETECTIVE BALLARD: Who knows. She must have cut him out of the will for some reason.
Well, say everything happened the way you think it did. How did the corpse get out of the coffin?
As Jacoby struggled with the corpse, he pulled her free and they both fell to the floor.
At this point, he's totally spooked and very angry, so he stabbed her repeatedly.
All that activity caused the poison from the spike to kick in quickly. He was desperate to get out of the room
and away from the nightmare. He got as far as the door. Mrs. Jacoby knew what kind of man her husband was,
and she rigged a trap to snare him. You're amazing. I mean, this all fits. No, no, it doesn't all fit.
The scratches on Jacoby's face. Where did they come from? I don't know, he probably got them earlier.
If he got those scratches somewhere else, then why is there fresh skin and blood under her finger nails?
JONATHAN FRAKES: Were the scratches on the husband's face a result of a struggle with his wife's corpse?
If not, how do you explain the samples of fresh skin and blood under the wife's nails?
Could the crime scene have been manipulated by a third party? Or is it possible that the wife's
restless spirit returned to her body for one last act of revenge? Is this story open to a judgment of truth,
or have we placed the last nail on a coffin of lies. DON LAFONTAINE (VOICEOVER): We'll
tell you whether this story is true or false at the end of our show. Next, two young thieves break into the house of a dead hero
on "Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction." Whoever said nostalgia isn't what it used to be
hasn't seen the latest market prices for memorabilia. Collectors items similar to these
fetch huge prices, thousands of dollars at auctions and conventions around the world.
Even something as simple as an autograph can be worth th-- Patrick Stewart. Lash Connors was an action adventure star in the heyday
of the Western hero. In his movies, Lash stood for truth, justice, and the cowboy way.
Something has just happened to Lash in real life that's never happened in any of his adventures--
he's dead. Now the real adventure is about to begin. Legendary cowboy hero Lash Connors
was considered the King of the Western two reelers back in the 1940s. The year was now 1957, and Lash was
on the comeback trail with a new Western television series. Then tragedy struck.
At the age of 41, Lash Connors was found dead in his bedroom with a mysterious gunshot wound.
His death was officially ruled a suicide, but questions remain to this day. Whatever the cause, a great American hero is dead.
Hundreds of mourners came from across the country to pay their respects. Johnny Pope and Larry Rucker had driven in that morning
from Bakersfield, California. Gee, look at that house. JONATHAN FRAKES: But they didn't come
to offer their condolences. He was quite a man. My daddy took me to see all his movies when I was a kid.
I bet it's worth at least 20,000 bucks. I just can't believe he's dead. What? Lash Connors.
He's dead. Get over it, Larry. We're here to rob the place, not cry over some dead cowboy.
LARRY: I know, I just feel a little funny about it all of a sudden. You'd better not be chickening out on me.
You hear? I ain't chickening out on you. Good, because there's stuff in that house worth a fortune,
and it's all ours for the taking. You sure make it sound easy, Johnny. It is easy.
If anyone gets in our way, they'll be sorry. What are you looking at? Buzz off, kid.
Somebody forgot to lock it. Piece of cake. I can't believe we're in Lash Connors' kitchen.
Come on, we've got work to do. He actually ate here. He probably sat right here at this table, drinking his juice,
reading the morning paper. Won't you come on? We've got to get moving. Somebody might come home.
Sorry, it's just kind of amazing to me. Ah, oh, look at this place. It's almost like being in church.
We just hit the treasure of the Sierra Madre. Start filling your bag. Those are from "Ambush Gulch."
That's from "Outlaw Stampede," and those are from "The Legend of Steel." Would you stop it?
Oh my gosh. I don't believe it. JOHNNY: What are you doing now? LARRY: It's Lash's saddle.
He rode on it in all of his movies. Yeah, well now it's just a big old hunk of silver.
You know, we ought to melt it down and sell it for scrap. Melt down Lash Connors' saddle?
You can't do that. I can do anything I want. Who's going to stop me? You? Wait a minute. [HOOVES CLATTERING]
Do you hear something? It sounds like a horse at a full gallop. Maybe someone just left the TV on.
No, that ain't no TV. That's-- that's a real horse, and it's coming this way. All right, grab the bags.
All right, the window's closed. Who closed the window? Not me, I never touched it.
Oh man, oh man, what is happening? I can't get it open. Somebody's coming. I don't believe it.
It's him. Don't you boys know that stealing is wrong? If you two keep riding down this trail,
pretty soon you're going to be hightailing in it from a posse, and end up kicking air at the end of a rope.
Let's get out of here. LARRY: Open it. JOHNNY: I'm trying. LARRY: Open it up. JOHNNY: I'm trying.
Open it. I'm trying. [WHOOSHING] Where'd he go? I don't know. [NEIGHING] JONATHAN FRAKES: Johnny Pope and Larry Rucker both changed
for the good that night. They went on to lead honest, productive lives, and neither of them ever forgot the words of a local hero--
Lash Connors. Who was the cowboy who confronted Johnny and Larry that night? Was it really Lash Connors?
Had he somehow faked his own death, or was it some caretaker who lived in the house who decided to dress up like Lash
to teach the boys a lesson? Was it really the ghost of Lash Connors, playing the hero one last time for a couple
of misguided buckaroos? What's your guess? Did this story really take place, or are we just roping you in?
DON LAFONTAINE (VOICEOVER): We'll tell you whether this story is true or false at the end of our show.
Next, a young man tries to capture a ghost from his past on "Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction."
Those that are gone need not be forgotten. By keeping photos or personal items, their presence stays with us in our daily lives.
Danny Truitt has vivid memories of his father, although he was a young boy when his dad died.
But the photos and souvenirs his dad left behind have stayed with Danny all of his life.
Right now, Danny's facing a crisis of his own, and he has no family to help him out.
What Danny does have is a loyal girlfriend, a strong spirit, and a life that's about to take a twist of fate and travel
to a place beyond belief. KIM (VOICEOVER): Danny and I have been going together all
through high school. He had lost his father in the Gulf War eight years earlier.
Then his mom got sick and she died. We'd both been accepted to Cal Berkeley, but with both his mom
and dad gone, Danny was putting college on hold. I can't do it, Kim. There's just no way, even if I got
a part-time job and financial aid, it still wouldn't cover tuition. Then I'm not going neither.
Oh, yes you are. I'm not letting you wreck your life because of my problems. Well your problems are my problems.
Look, I know how rough these past few months have been. I've gone through them with you, and I
can't just run off to college and leave you all alone. You have to go, OK? I'll get a good job and join you in a year, I promise.
No you won't. What kind of job are you going to get? You'll never make enough money.
KIM (VOICEOVER): I sat there in silence, trying to hold back my tears. Kim, I love you.
No! [TIRES SQUEALING] What are you doing? What happened? Why'd you punch on the brakes?
[HONKING] It's my father. You see that? Are you OK? DANNY: It was my father. I'm sure it was him.
He looks just like I remember. He's alive. Danny, he can't be. But it was him. Maybe he's got amnesia or something, I don't know.
There, he just went into the surplus store. You saw him, didn't you? No, I didn't.
Come on. Let's go. Dad? Dad? It's me, Danny. He's not here. Kim, I didn't imagine it.
I saw him. We have to keep looking. Dad, where are you? Dad? Dad? That soldier that just came in here a few minutes ago,
where did he go? No soldier came in here. I would have seen him if he did. But I saw him.
He was my father. Maybe you weren't looking. Hey, take it easy, kid. Look around if you want, but I'm telling you,
there ain't nobody else in here. He's in here somewhere. Dad? Dad? It's Danny. Maybe we missed aisle.
We'll split up. If you see anyone, just yell. KIM (VOICEOVER): I felt horrible. I thought Danny was actually flipping out--
all the stress of losing his mom, and he idolized his father. DANNY: Dad? Where are you?
Dad? Dad? Dad. Kim? Come here, quick. KIM: Danny, where are you? I'm right here.
Look at this. Look at the name. J. Truitt. James Truitt. It's my dad's. Well, was he here?
Did you see him? No. I don't know what's going on, but something led me to this jacket.
It fits you. What's that? It's addressed to my mom from my dad. Open it. It's dated June 8, 1990.
That's the day he was killed. He never got to mail it. KIM (VOICEOVER): I couldn't believe
Danny found his father's jacket and the letter. Something was happening that neither of us could explain.
I don't believe this. What? My dad wrote my mom to tell her that he took out a life insurance policy on her
in my name. Kim, it's worth $100,000. KIM (VOICEOVER): The insurance company told Danny
that his father had paid off the entire premium on his mother's policy prior to his death.
The company paid out $100,000 plus interest. Danny and I are now both enrolled as first-year students
at Cal Berkeley. Who was the man Danny saw that day? Was it just a soldier who looked like his dead father?
If so, how do you explain the fatigue jacket with the insurance policy inside? Could Danny have been hallucinating?
After all, he was the only one who saw his father's image, but then there's that insurance policy.
Was this tale of the ghost in the Army Navy store based on an actual event? Or are we just presenting a surplus of lies?
ANNOUNCER: Next, you'll find out which of our stories are fact and which are fiction, when "Beyond Belief: Fact
or Fiction" returns. Now it's time to find out which of our stories tonight are inspired by actual events
and which are total fiction. Now let's take a look back at the strange curse of the devil's tattoo.
Was it fact or fiction? Wes, please, please, don't tattoo me. Shut up. Wes, pick up the needle.
What are you doing? I'm not doing anything. It's doing it on its own. Oh my god, no.
Do think this one actually happened? If you did, we hooked you in. It's a work of complete fiction.
What was your opinion of the man who was the victim of his own uncaring attitude about paper products?
You've got to break this curse. Only you have that power. How? Tell me how. I'll do anything.
I already told you. You must give me you word that you'll stop killing trees. I I can't, it's my work.
Then you must live in your paper prison. [SCREAMING] I can't take this anymore. All right, all right, I'll change.
Was this story too far fetched to be true? Our research shows absolutely nothing.
This one never happened. How did you judge the bizarre story of the wife who exacted revenge on her husband
from her own coffin? Did this one happen? Hey Ballard, have you ever seen one like this before?
DETECTIVE BALLARD: Never. Why would anybody stick a knife in a corpse? Six times, and how did she wind up on the floor?
Good question. She didn't just jump out of her coffin. What about the guy by the door?
My guess, there was probably poison that entered through the wound on his hand. We'll know more after the autopsy.
According to our research, reports of this story actually exist. A similar event took place in Europe around the time
of the Great Depression. What did you make of the mysterious ghost of the cowboy hero who returned to set two
young men on the right path? Fact or fancy? All right, the window's closed. Who closed the window?
Not me, I never touched it. Oh man, oh man, what is happening? I can't get it open.
Somebody's coming. This story was actually based on a similar event that took place in Hollywood during the 1950s.
What did you make of the tale of the young man who saw the image of his late father going
into the war surplus store? DANNY: Dad? Where are you? Dad? Dad. Dad. The story of a young man whose college education was paid
for by the unexplainable appearance of a ghost is inspired by an actual event that happened
to a young man in the Midwest in the early '90s. So, were you able to accurately label what was truth and what
was falsehood tonight? Or did the two concepts seem to blend into one? When we hold them up to the light,
fact and fiction seem to have the same face, a face that fits the description beyond belief.
I'm Jonathan Frakes. DON LAFONTAINE (VOICEOVER): The story entitled "War Surplus" is true based
upon firsthand research conducted by author Robert Tralins. For "Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction,"
this is Don LaFontaine. [THEME MUSIC]

This episode features the following cases: Devil's Tattoo, Static Man, The Bloody Hand, Where Have All the Heroes Gone, War Surplus.

Brief Summary

Five stories challenge viewers to distinguish between fact and fiction, featuring tattoos, curses, crime, ghosts, and family legacies.

Key points

The Devil's Tattoo. A young girl faces a terrifying choice at a tattoo parlor, leading to a deadly confrontation.
The Curse of Preston Yates. A businessman learns the hard way that destroying nature may come with dire consequences.
The Locked Funeral Home Mystery. Detective Ballard investigates a bizarre murder scene with no clear answers.
The Ghost of Lash Connors. Two thieves encounter a legendary cowboy hero, leading to a life-changing moment.
Danny's Crisis. A young man grapples with memories of his deceased father as he faces his own struggles.
Danny's Crisis. Danny faces a life-changing decision about college after losing his parents.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

You must give your word that you'll stop killing trees.

A curse demands a promise for redemption.

1:21WatchJan 20, 2021

Tension

70/ 100High tension

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