Unsolved Mysteries with Dennis Farina - Season 2, Episode 4 | Forensic Files

DENNIS FARINA: Next on "Unsolved Mysteries"-- a Las Vegas millionaire is found dead by his girlfriend.
Was it an overdose or murder? A huge explosion takes the lives of six Kansas City firemen.
MAN: 106. DENNIS FARINA: See how your tips helped solve this case. After a young couple mysteriously disappears,
a human skeleton is found in their backyard. And a Fender bender and an argument turns to road rage.
[interposing voices] DENNIS FARINA: And then to murder. [gunshot] DENNIS FARINA: I'm Dennis Farina,
and this is "Unsolved Mysteries." [theme music] DENNIS FARINA: Las Vegas, Nevada-- they say what happens
here stays here. But not when showgirls, drugs, and a possible murder are involved.
That gets everybody talking. SANDY MURPHY: I need somebody to help me. DENNIS FARINA: It's 4:00 PM, and former model and dancer
Sandy Murphy is calling 911. He's just not breathing. I don't know. DENNIS FARINA: But it was too late.
Her boyfriend, Ted Binion, was dead. Binion was a multimillionaire. He was also a frequent heroin user.
And it looked like he OD'ed. Was it an accident? Suicide? Or murder? When they discovered that Binion might have been dead
for as long as nine hours before Sandy Murphy called 911, police began to wonder.
Ted Binion was the flamboyant co-owner of the Las Vegas Casino that bore his family
name-- Binion's Horseshoe. JOHN SMITH: In its heyday, Binion's Horseshoe was unlike any other casino in Las Vegas.
It was literally the place you went when you wanted to place that sky's the limit wager.
Ted was a part owner of Binion's Horseshoe at a time when it was the most successful casino in Las Vegas.
He liked the atmosphere. He really had passion for that job. DENNIS FARINA: But times have changed in Las Vegas.
Casinos turned corporate. And Ted Binion's wild ways-- they get him into trouble with the Nevada State Gaming Commission.
Number one, he had the heroin problem. He also liked to hang out at adult nightclubs.
He used to pal around with wise guys. And you just don't do that in Las Vegas these days
and expect to keep your license. DENNIS FARINA: Six months before his death, the Gaming
Commission revoked Binion's license, and Binion was forced to sell his share of the Horseshoe to his sister.
He was shut out of the place he loved the most, the world where he belonged. But was that the cause for suicide?
JEFF GERMAN: Everybody I have spoken to has indicated Ted loved life, and wanted to continue living,
and had all kinds of other goals that he wanted to pursue in life. DENNIS FARINA: Perhaps the overdose was an accident.
Toxicology reports revealed heroin and the prescription drug Xanax. But according to some, it was a very unlikely
combination for Ted Binion. JEFF GERMAN: Ted only took Xanax to get himself off of heroin.
He would not have taken both at the same time. And then we find out through the coroner
that there was a large amount of heroin in the contents of his stomach. That's curious, again, because Ted was known
to smoke heroin, not ingest it. DENNIS FARINA: At the time of his death, Ted was living with his girlfriend, Sandy Murphy.
She was a woman half his age. They'd been together for about three years. When they met, she was 23, and she was
working as an exotic dancer. JEFF GERMAN: They really had a stormy relationship.
It was kind of a love-hate relationship over the years. They were always fighting off and on.
And yet, there were times when he would say he loved her. And then there were times when he couldn't stand her
and wander out of the house. DENNIS FARINA: At 9:00 in the morning on the day Ted Binion died, Sandy Murphy reportedly
called their housekeeper with an odd request. Listen, I don't think we're gonna need you to come in today.
Oh, I know. Um, but Ted, he's just not feeling real well. And-- and things are crazy.
So we're not gonna need you to come in. DENNIS FARINA: Later-- Is Ted there? DENNIS FARINA: About noon, Barbara Brown,
Ted's friend and real estate agent, tried to reach Ted by phone. She says that Sandy told her that he
was very ill, even vomiting. BARBARA BROWN: I was really surprised with this. I said, well, do you want me to come over and help you?
And she said, oh, god, no. Don't come over here. And he doesn't want anyone to see him.
He's lost so much weight lately. And I said, well, that's strange. I talk to him every night, and we have an appointment tomorrow
at 1:00. She clearly did not want me over there. And the call really distressed me.
DENNIS FARINA: Barbara Brown says that she called back twice that afternoon at 2:00, and again at 3:40.
But there was no answer. And then I got the call from a friend of mine who said, Barbara, have you heard the news?
Ted is dead. DENNIS FARINA: Shortly before he died, Ted Binion allegedly had some suspicions
about his girlfriend Sandy. The first thing that we learned was that he called a private investigator in Las Vegas,
someone who had done work for him previously, and asked the investigator to follow Sandy around town.
The implication was that he thought she was cheating on him. DENNIS FARINA: The man that Ted Binion reportedly
suspected was one of his own business associates, Rick Tabish. According to Las Vegas newspapers,
Sandy was allegedly seen with Tabish at a Beverly Hills Hotel just the weekend before Binion died.
Also the day before Ted died, he telephoned his lawyer, Jim Brown, who was handling his estate.
And he instructed Brown to cut Sandy out of his will. DENNIS FARINA: Just one day after Ted Binion was reported
dead, sheriff's deputies in Pahrump, Nevada, 60 miles west of Las Vegas, made a startling discovery.
It's the last one. DENNIS FARINA: It was the middle of the night, and Rick Tabish was loading a truck on Binion's property.
What are you guys doing out here? Uh, nothing, you know. Just, uh, moving a little dirt.
- Moving a little dirt? - Yeah. DENNIS FARINA: But along with just a little dirt was a lot of silver.
Just a load of dirt, huh? DENNIS FARINA: Several tons of silver in coins, ingots,
and solid silver bricks, silver, valued at roughly $4 million. This was silver that Ted himself had buried and hired
some friends to build an underground vault and put it in there. DENNIS FARINA: Only a few people knew
the exact location of the silver vault. One of those people was Rick Tabish. I put the vault in for Ted Binion.
He told me if anything ever happened to him, I was to take this, turn it into cash,
and put it in a trust fund for his daughter, Bonnie. Really? Why don't we put the cuffs on these three guys
and get them out of here? DENNIS FARINA: Nye County sheriff's deputies didn't buy his story.
JOHN SMITH: I think that Rick Tabish is either one of the bigger victims of circumstance,
or he's got some explaining to do. And people who know him and people who don't care for him now will wonder about his motivations,
for sure. DENNIS FARINA: News leaks, not to mention rumors and gossip, convince the Binion family to hire private investigator Tom
Dillard. Dillard discovered that Sandy Murphy took a phone call from Rick Tabish just eight minutes
before she called 911 one to report Ted Binion's death. Based upon my experience and based upon the interviews I've
conducted, I personally believe that Ted Binion's death was a homicide. DENNIS FARINA: Six months after Ted Binion's death,
the coroner ruled that it was not an accidental overdose, nor was it suicide. He believes that the fatal dose was
most likely administered by someone other than Ted Binion. The death was reclassified as a homicide.
Sandy Murphy and Rick Tabish were arrested and charged with the murder of Ted Binion.
The prosecution presented medical testimony that Binion was actually suffocated.
But for some, the most persuasive evidence was this videotape. It features Sandy Murphy, taken one day after Ted Binion died.
SANDY MURPHY: This is my personal property. MAN: OK. SANDY MURPHY: It was a gift.
But I'll leave it so that Jimmy doesn't throw a [bleep] tantrum. DAVID WALL: And she is hardly a grieving
widow in this videotape. She is narcissistic. She is possessive. She is angry. She is unpleasant.
SANDY MURPHY: We're taking this, for certainty, because this is too valuable to leave in the house.
MAN: No, you're not. SANDY MURPHY: OK, leave it. Just take a video of it. Make sure you count the pieces.
There's two pieces here and two pieces here. DAVID WALL: You see a cold, steely, self-centered woman
who is concerned with nothing but her own possessions. The video played a strong role in characterizing for this jury
exactly who Sandra Murphy was. DENNIS FARINA: Sandra Murphy and Rick Tabish were convicted of murder, burglary, and grand larceny.
They were both sentenced to life in prison. Update-- at a second trial, they were both convicted
only on the robbery charges. Murphy was sentenced to one to five years, but was released for time already served.
Tabish, who was already serving time for unrelated crimes, received up to 10 years.
He served his time, and has been released. Next, a fatal case of arson kills six firemen.
Your tips helped bring the case to a close. You may recall these dramatic scenes
from a previous broadcast. Firefighters in Kansas City, Missouri, volunteered to help us recreate an unsolved crime that left
six of their brethren dead. [siren, horns] At the time, pumpers 30 and 41 were called to a construction site where a trailer
had been torched by arsonists. Firefighters had been told that there were explosives at the site.
But they believed that they were safely stored in fire-resistant bunkers that were well away from the blaze.
Just the fact that the bunker was there-- in fact, there was two bunkers there-- led that captain
to believe that's where the explosives was, and this trailer was just a regular, normal construction
trailer with tools and equipment in it. And therefore, there was no danger. DENNIS FARINA: When the department supervisor arrived,
he learned that there were, in fact, large quantities of explosives inside the trailer.
Well, let's get them out of there, John. One oh-- [explosion] MAN: Pumper 41 or pumper 30, answer.
Pumper 41 or pumper 30. DENNIS FARINA: As the sun rose over the scene, the worst was confirmed.
Six firefighters were dead. This shocking crime triggered the biggest manhunt in the city's history.
But after nearly eight years, those responsible were still running free. Then Kansas City firemen pushed aside
their painful memories to help us get their story on the air. Update-- the efforts of the Kansas City Fire Department
paid off in a big way. More than 600 viewers contacted us here at "Unsolved Mysteries," and their tips
led directly to the indictment of five suspects. When the long-awaited news was announced
at a press conference, the excitement was tempered by lingering emotions. Jackson county.
Even though it is very difficult for many of us who participated in that recreation of that event,
it came at a time when many of our spirits were down, [inaudible], and we needed a lift, and we got a lift.
DENNIS FARINA: All five suspects were found guilty on federal arson charges. They are George Frank Sheppard; his brother, Earl;
their nephew, Bryan Sheppard; Frank Sheppard's girlfriend, Darlene Edwards; and Richard W. Brown.
At the trial, prosecutors said the fires had been set deliberately during an attempt
to steal equipment and dynamite from the construction site. Each of these defendants is now serving
a life sentence in prison. On a busy highway in Fishkill, New York-- it started as a minor fender bender, hardly worth recording.
What's the matter with you? Are you blind or something? [inaudible] easy. Geez, I don't freaking believe it.
I was in my own lane doing the speed limit. You apparently hit me, which makes--
- What are you telling me? - Hey, just settle down. First you run me off the highway, and now you
pull this self-righteous crap? You piece of garbage. Hey, you haven't got the right to talk to me like that.
Let me see your license. - Yeah. You wanna see my license? RICHARD ADERSON: Yes, I--
[gunshot] DENNIS FARINA: 47-year-old Richard Aderson had been shot in the chest.
What you are about to hear is his desperate plea for help. 911 OPERATOR: State police, [inaudible] 911.
LAURA ADERSON: I couldn't believe that he had been shot. You live in an area that you think is safe.
We came from New York City. We moved north. I couldn't believe that something like that could happen here.
DENNIS FARINA: Richard Aderson, beloved father and husband, respected educator, died less than one
hour after making his futile call to 911. It happened during rush hour on eastbound I-84
in Fishkill, New York, about two miles past the Newburgh Beacon toll plaza. Damage to the car indicates Richard was side swiped
by the other driver, and then both men pulled over to the shoulder. I have never come across another crime
that parallels this one. We're speaking here about a minor property damage automobile accident that escalates
into an argument and results in the death of one of the individuals. Yeah, you wanna see my license?
RICHARD ADERSON: Yes, I-- I don't think we are dealing with it. I don't think that you can deal with this.
My youngest son this morning told me when I came here, how long are you going to be?
You have to be really careful in the car. Something could happen to you. Those are the fears that he has, because I'm
his only parent that's left. My two older daughters can't even speak about this.
DENNIS FARINA: Richard Aderson's family still hopes the killer can be caught. Though no one saw the accident or the shooting,
there were witnesses to the argument. The gunman was middle-aged, balding, and wore glasses.
Richard added another detail. His assailant had a beard. The gunman drove a green 1997 Jeep Cherokee
with New Hampshire plates. If you have any information that can help solve this case,
please log onto our website at unsolved.com. Next, the dramatic account of a young pilot's
mysterious close encounter. It's not an aircraft. DENNIS FARINA: And later, meet a man who spied for the CIA
using psychic powers. Just south of Melbourne, Australia, a single engine Cessna lifted off from Moorabbin Airport.
The pilot was 20-year-old Frederick Valentich. Valentich had been flying for two years
and logged over 150 hours of solo time. He was headed for King Island. His flight plan called for a 40-minute trip west
along the Australian coast. And then at Cape Otway, he would head south for a half hour
run over Bass Strait. KEN LLEWELYN: It was a fairly normal exercise. He had an appropriate instrument rating for the trip.
It was a very straightforward flight. And I mean, I could see no reason why it shouldn't have
been concluded successfully. What happened three quarters of an hour into that flight
I think'll be one of the great mysteries of Australian aviation. DENNIS FARINA: Valentich was in contact with the flight
service center on the ground. Delta Sierra Julie. DENNIS FARINA: The following recreation
is based on the actual transcript of his exchange with the air traffic controller.
Ah, Delta Sierra Juliet, there seems to be a large aircraft below 5,000. It is a large aircraft.
Confirm. Is there any Air Force aircraft in this vicinity? Delta Sierra Juliet, no known aircraft in the vicinity.
Ah, Delta Sierra Juliet, it seems as though he's playing some sort of game up here.
He's traveling over at me at two and three times at speeds I cannot identify. Delta Sierra Juliet, as it passes by, it's a long shape.
STEPHEN ROBEY: He wasn't to the point where he was panicking, but he was genuinely concerned with what he saw.
He was worried. He sounded confused. Then, as he described what the aircraft was doing--
FREDERICK VALENTICH: This thing's just stationary. STEPHEN ROBEY: --now I become a little bit concerned too.
What I'm doing now is orbiting. And this thing's just orbiting on top of me. It's got a glowing light.
[breathing heavily] FREDERICK VALENTICH: [inaudible]. And it's sort of metallic.
It's just disappeared. Is this some sort of military aircraft or what? Delta Sierra Juliet, is the aircraft still with you?
I've got it set on 23, 24, and this thing's just coughing. Melbourne, this strange aircraft's just
hovering on top of me again. It's hovering, and it's-- it's not an aircraft. DENNIS FARINA: Suddenly, an unidentifiable clicking noise
came over the radio. [clicking] DENNIS FARINA: The sound lasted 17 seconds, then silence.
Delta Sierra Juliet, this is Melbourne. DENNIS FARINA: For four days, a flotilla of search vessels
criss-crossed Bass Strait. There was absolutely no sign of Valentich or his aircraft.
There was no evidence to suggest there had even been a crash. All that remained was a final baffling radio transmission.
It's hovering, and it's not an aircraft. These were Frederick Valentich's final, haunting words.
So what was it, then? Well, people can only speculate, until a witness came forward with this startling firsthand account.
Around the time of Valentich's disappearance, an eye witness and his family were returning
from an afternoon outing when they noticed unusual activity in the sky. - Hey, that's-- that's a plane. - No, I can see the plan.
It's the green light above the plane. Up there. DENNIS FARINA: The witness has asked that we
do not reveal his identity. EYEWITNESS: And I looked up and I saw this lime green light-- about 1,000 or 2,000 feet
above the aircraft. So I sat there and watched it for a few seconds. And the green light got closer to the plane.
I said, that plane is coming down pretty steep [inaudible] a 45 degree angle. I said, I think it's going to crash.
DENNIS FARINA: The eyewitness account suggested that perhaps Valentich had an encounter with a UFO.
He never saw whether the plane crashed. The only certainty was that Valentich had vanished.
Six weeks later, an amateur photographer came forward with even more startling evidence.
On the evening of the flight, Roy Manifold had been setting up to photograph a sunset at Cape Otway, almost directly
under Valentich's flight path. ROY MANIFOLD: I'd done the normal thing, and I just had the camera on automatic exposure.
And I took six photographs of the sun disappearing into the sea. When developed, one of Manifold's photographs
displayed a peculiar blemish. ROY MANIFOLD: I observed this mark on the print that looks like a developing or something
or they just mucked it up. And I said, just a minute, that was taken-- that night I
took that sunset is exactly the night that this guy disappeared. DENNIS FARINA: A leading Australian photo lab
found neither dirt nor damage on the negative, determining that the strange mark
was actually in the picture. The negative was later sent to the United States for computer analysis by a team of UFO researchers.
They claim that the blot was actually a solid, metallic object. To them, it appeared to be enveloped
in a cloud of exhaust situated about a mile from the camera. A second analysis, however, stated that the mark
could be a developing error. Either way, Roy Manifold believes the photograph does
show something of consequence. [camera shutter] ROY MANIFOLD: Unfortunately, I didn't see it.
And I didn't hear anything that particular night, either. The first time I've had something
on any of my printing-- and I've done thousands of photographs, and without any incidents of anything like that on them.
DENNIS FARINA: Many years have passed since Frederick Valentich flew off to his uncertain fate.
FREDERICK VALENTICH: Before me right now-- DENNIS FARINA: However, the questions
raised by his mysterious disappearance are just as disturbing today. FREDERICK VALENTICH: This thing's just stationary.
DENNIS FARINA: What exactly did Valentich see in the minutes before his radio contact was lost?
Perhaps the secret of Frederick Valentich does lie many fathoms beneath Bass Strait.
Or perhaps it lies far from our planet, light years beyond our understanding. Next, workmen digging a pool unearth
clues to a mysterious disappearance, and the case is reopened. San Marino, California-- while digging a swimming pool,
a workman made a grim discovery-- [grunting] DENNIS FARINA: --three plastic bags
in a fiberglass box full of dismembered sections of a human skeleton. DETECTIVE RONNIE LANCASTER: We didn't really
know who this person was. And we were later told by uniformed officers from San Marino that in 1985, the people
that lived in that house had reported two people missing. DENNIS FARINA: The two missing persons who were
John Sohus and his wife Linda. They had once lived in that house with John's mother.
Their sudden disappearance 10 years earlier had mystified everyone who knew them.
Now, it appeared that either John or Linda or both may have been killed and buried in their own backyard.
According to their friends, John and Linda felt trapped living with John's mother,
and looked forward to escaping to a place of their own. Oh, wow. That looks great.
DENNIS FARINA: John held several part-time computer programming jobs. And Linda was beginning to find success as an artist.
Now in their late 20s, it appeared that the young couple had finally gotten the break
they'd been hoping for. Linda announced that she and John had been asked to interview for important new jobs.
SUE: Linda called me and informed me that we have to go to New York. All she could tell me was that he's
got a job with the government, and they want us both. DENNIS FARINA: Linda told Sue that the trip was
scheduled to last two weeks. But Linda and John never returned. The mystery would deepen in the coming months.
LINDA SOHUS: Hi, there. WOMAN: Hi. Um, I'm gonna be gone for about two weeks. DENNIS FARINA: Linda had boarded her six
cats been paid in advance for the two week stay. But at the end of eight weeks, she
still had not claimed her pets. - Come here. DENNIS FARINA: The kennel owner tracked
down Linda's sister, Kathy. You be good. I'll miss you. KATHY: I immediately thought that something was wrong.
I feel that inside very strongly that Linda would not have left her animals behind.
DENNIS FARINA: Kathy telephoned John's mother, Didi Sohus, hoping that maybe she had an explanation.
Hello? Is Linda back from her trip yet? I'm not supposed to tell you anything. DENNIS FARINA: In several phone calls,
Didi kept insisting that John and Linda were on some sort of a secret mission. Well, that's all I can tell you.
KATHY: So it did appear to me as though she had been drinking. Sometimes, it depended on what time of the day
you called as to how wild the story became. DENNIS FARINA: Linda's family filed a missing persons report.
And San Marino police started an investigation Ma'am, we have a missing persons report on John and Linda Sohus. Do you know where they are?
They're not missing. They're on a secret mission. Can you tell us how we can reach them?
DENNIS FARINA: Didi refused to identify the person that she called her source. And I keep telling them the same thing.
DENNIS FARINA: With no further evidence of foul play, the police were powerless to investigate further.
Finally, a full three months after the Sohuses had supposedly left for New York, Linda's friend Sue
received this picture postcard. SUE: I have no clue as to how going to New York could ever wind up being France.
I was just like, I can't wait. She's finally gonna tell me where she is, what's going on.
And I read the back of it, and all it said was, dear Sue, kinda miss New York. Oops.
But this can be lived with. John and Linda. It just didn't sound like her. DENNIS FARINA: Then another card was sent
from France to Linda's family. KATHY: My mother received a postcard from Linda. It did not say when she would return
or how she had come to be in Paris. If they were planning a trip to Europe, she would have been very excited about going
and would certainly have expressed that to my mother, and perhaps myself as well.
I have a source. DENNIS FARINA: Three months after refusing to help police, Didi Sohus had a change of heart.
Well, can we talk to your-- DENNIS FARINA: She too filed a missing persons report on John and Linda.
You see, I had to talk to John and Linda myself. Have you had any contact at all since they left?
Well, I've been sending their mail through my source. DENNIS FARINA: Didi reveal that her source was actually
the tenant in her guest house, a man who called himself Christopher Chichester. He'd lived there for the past two years,
but suddenly moved out, leaving no forwarding address. The man has been in contact with me.
DENNIS FARINA: Didi also reported that her son's pickup truck was now missing, although she had
no idea when it disappeared. There was, however, no proof that a crime had been committed.
And therefore, the investigation stalled again. If I think of anything else, I'll call you.
[inaudible]. Thanks a lot. DENNIS FARINA: Soon after finding her missing persons
report, Didi would sell her house and move to a trailer park. Thanks a lot. You're welcome.
DENNIS FARINA: She died two years later, the fate of her son is still a mystery.
The case sprang to life again nine months after Didi died. The Sohuses truck turned up 3,000 miles away
in Greenwich, Connecticut. Well, this is it. DENNIS FARINA: A man calling himself
Christopher Crowe tried to sell the pickup to the son of a local minister. Rather than buy the truck, the minister's son
reported it to the police. SERGEANT DANIEL ALLEN: The reverend's son decided not to purchase the vehicle based on the fact
that there was an outstanding lein on the truck. My continued investigation ultimately
ended in me discovering that Mr Chichester and Mr. Crowe were the same individuals.
DENNIS FARINA: Crowe, Chichester-- by any name, the ex-tenant seemed to be the one person who
might be able to shed some light on the Sohuses' disappearance. But he vanished, again.
The investigation stalled until the dismembered skeleton was discovered five years later.
At that time, a forensic anthropologist examined the remains. He determined that they fit the physical description
of John Sohus. A lack of dental records, however, prevented a conclusive identification.
Police are still trying to figure out how the bones came to be buried in the Sohuses' backyard.
DETECTIVE RONNIE LANCASTER: Nothing about the bones themselves that say there was murder--
there was no bullet holes. But the fact that the bones were buried in three separate plastic bags and the head in a separate bag
makes one think that there was murder involved. DENNIS FARINA: Detectives hoped to learn more
by using a chemical called luminol which, emits a distinctive glow when it comes in contact with blood.
Luminol was applied to the cement floors in the guest house on the former Sohus property.
Within moments, it would become apparent if there was evidence of a murder. [inaudible].
DENNIS FARINA: The telltale glow was unmistakable. MAN: Yeah, what do you think about that?
Looks like it could be blood. MAN: There's a lot of blood around. DETECTIVE ROBERT CARR: Although luminol can detect chemicals
and other compounds, this was not just a trace element situation. There was a copious amount of something put on that floor.
In our opinion, that was blood. DENNIS FARINA: But whose blood? Was John Sohus murdered in the guest house
and then buried in the backyard? And if so, what happened to Linda? Officially, both John and Linda are still missing.
Authorities would like to speak to this man. They have since learned that his real name
is Christian Gerhartstreiter, a native of Germany. Update-- more than 20 years after John and Linda Sohus
disappeared, a man calling himself Clark Rockefeller was identified as a person of interest
in the investigation. Rockefeller was arrested in a parental abduction case. Fingerprints prove that he was, in fact, Christian
Gerhartstreiter, alias Christian Chichester, the man who'd lived in the guesthouse
next to John and Linda Sohus. There are new developments in this case. Here's one of our staff with details.
STAFF MEMBER: After further investigation, the Los Angeles County District attorney recently filed charges
against Christian Gerhartstreiter for the murder of John Sohus. Gerhartstreiter has denied any involvement in the case.
However, he was convicted of the murder of John Sohus and sentenced to 27 years to life.
No trace of Linda Sohus was ever found. DENNIS FARINA: Next-- PSYCHIC: It's him.
DENNIS FARINA: See how one man's psychic powers made him a top secret spy for the CIA.
Fort Meade, Maryland-- a nondescript wooden building may have been the headquarters for a
bizarre clandestine operation. It's hard to believe, but according to published reports,
the CIA secretly studied people with psychic powers, and then used them to spy on our enemies all over the world
without ever leaving the base. Keep your focus. There's a great deal of emotion here.
DENNIS FARINA: It's called remote viewing. AGENT: Relax. PSYCHIC: My god, it-- it's him.
Remote viewing is the ability to witness distant events by using the psychic powers of the mind.
Code-named Stargate, it was a top secret espionage program the government never wanted us to know about.
And we wouldn't, if it hadn't been for one man with a very unusual story. David Morehouse was gung-ho military.
His father and grandfather were career officers. He graduated from Bringham Young University
at the top of his class and went straight into the Army. [explosion] Morehouse quickly became a company
commander with the Army's elite fighting unit, the Rangers. He and his company were on a desert training exercise
when a freak accident occurred. [bullets ricocheting] OFFICER: Cease fire! Cease fire!
DENNIS FARINA: A bullet lodged in Morehouse's helmet, knocking him out cold. It was then that he claims he experienced
a vision of overwhelming power. DAVID MOREHOUSE: I had a messenger, or I could call it an angel or a spirit
that came to me during this time that I was knocked out. I had spent some 13 years of my life
practicing the art and science of taking human life. And yet, here I stood, in the presence of something who
said to me-- very vividly, I recall-- said to me, the path you have chosen in life is the wrong path.
And you are now to choose a path of peace. And then, it was over. DENNIS FARINA: But these sketches by Morehouse show
that it wasn't over. He began having nightmares so horrifying that they drove him to an Army psychologist.
The psychologists suspected the concussion had somehow released in Morehouse a latent psychic ability.
His commanding officers invited Morehouse to join a secret CIA unit studying psychic powers.
Working with a monitor, he learned to use biofeedback to control his brain waves and send his consciousness
to the far points of the globe. Hell, I don't know. I think it's a mountain. DENNIS FARINA: During David's first session,
his supervisor concealed a photograph of Mount Fuji, the target site, in an envelope.
I missed it, didn't I? DAVID MOREHOUSE: My first target was Mount Fuji. I was shocked.
In that instant, I had gone to Mount Fuji and was describing what I saw, smelled, heard,
and felt at that location. DENNIS FARINA: Over the next year, David Morehouse worked with seven other remote viewers
at Operation Stargate, steadily refining his psychic talents. One of his most difficult assignments
came when a marine Lieutenant Colonel named William Higgins was taken hostage in Beirut by a group of Shiite Muslims
while working with a United Nations peacekeeping group. DAVID MOREHOUSE: My god, it-- it's him.
AGENT: Are you certain? Of course I am. This is Colonel Higgins. Morehouse and the other remote viewers
were desperate to find Higgins. And they began a marathon series of psychic sessions.
MAN: [non-english speech] DAVID MOREHOUSE: He's not doing well. He looks worse. MAN: [non-english speech]
DAVID MOREHOUSE: Even though we could see him being moved, and we could describe his surroundings in the room,
and the beatings and his physical conditioning and his emotional condition, we still could not or were not
ever able to provide an address that would allow a rescue team to go in and affect the hostage rescue.
He's gonna die. I can taste it. DENNIS FARINA: Morehouse claims that the remote viewers
physically sensed Higgins death a year and a half into his captivity. Just a few days later, the kidnappers
confirmed that Colonel Higgins had been murdered. Another major challenge for the remote viewing unit
came when Pan Am Flight 103 exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland all 259 people aboard and 11 more on the ground
were killed. Hours later, with the cause of the crash still unknown, the remote viewers were called into an emergency session.
They were not given any details. They were only given a set of coordinates. AGENT: The encrypted coordinates are 18, 75, 29, 38.
DAVID MOREHOUSE: For us remote viewers, it was a tremendous emotional toll to us
to watch that catastrophic event take place, and to see the confusion of these souls
that were instantly there. As everything that was physical about them plummeted to earth, their souls that remained
there in this ethereal state. My god. DENNIS FARINA: Within a day of the crash, Morehouse and the other viewers had pieced together a scenario.
They believed Flight 103 was blown up by a terrorist bomb hidden inside a suitcase
in the forward cargo hold. After two months of detailed investigation, the FBI and the Scottish police came to that exact conclusion.
At Fort Meade, Morehouse continued his remote viewing, but he was becoming disillusioned.
We were starting to develop the protocols to be able to access the mind of another human being
for the purpose of destruction or death. And that is when I finally drew the line and said I cannot
any longer be a part of this. I can't see this tremendous gift turned into a very powerful and tremendous and very elusive,
dark weapon, which is what we were going to do with it. DENNIS FARINA: David Morehouse decided to go public.
When the government threatened a court martial, he resigned his Army commission.
He eventually wrote a book, "Psychic Warrior." Since then, the CIA has admitted the existence
of Operation Stargate. In the wake of the negative publicity, the program lost its Congressional support
and was shut down. How great are the untapped powers of the human mind? Can remote viewing really be used
to reveal the secrets of the past, the present, or even the future? If you believe David Morehouse, the potential is real.
If you have any information about any of the cases on this program, please log onto our website
at unsolved.com.

Brief Summary

The episode covers Ted Binion's suspicious death, a firefighter explosion, a road rage murder, and the Sohus couple's disappearance.

Key points

The Mysterious Death of Ted Binion. Las Vegas millionaire Ted Binion is found dead, leading to questions of overdose or murder.
Sandy Murphy's 911 Call. Sandy Murphy calls for help, but it's too late for Ted Binion.
The Shocking Discovery of Silver. A startling find of buried silver raises questions about Ted Binion's death.
Valentich's Final Transmission. Pilot Frederick Valentich reports a strange aircraft before disappearing without a trace.
The Mysterious Disappearance of John and Linda Sohus. John and Linda Sohus vanished without a trace, leaving behind a haunting mystery.
Remote Viewing: A CIA Secret. The CIA's secret program explored psychic abilities for espionage, led by David Morehouse.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

I need somebody to help me.

Sandy Murphy calls 911 after finding her boyfriend dead.

1:37WatchMar 9, 2017

Tension

75/ 100High tension

More from True Crime Files

Solve the Crime

Read a real case one clue at a time, then see how your call held up against the investigators.