Unsolved Mysteries with Dennis Farina - Season 3, Episode 14 | Forensic Files

DENNIS FARINA: Next, on Unsolved Mysteries, a con game goes bad, leaving one person dead and three injured.
[tires screeching] A bank executive is the target of a bizarre kidnapping. Just get back in the car.
DENNIS FARINA: His abductor demands $3 million. Strychnine kills a successful Texas woman.
Police believe the murderer is someone she knew. And after years of investigation,
several unexpected tips lead to a conviction in the murder of Martha Moxley. These are stories you won't want to miss.
I'm Dennis Farina, and this is Unsolved Mysteries. [music playing] Arlington, Texas.
[church bells ringing] The friends and family of 43-year-old Patsy Bolton Wright
mourn her tragic and unexpected death. Why? She was so alive. She was so healthy.
There was nothing wrong with her. When it happened, you're just in awe, because you would never, ever expect that to happen to her.
There's not a day that goes by that we can even believe that this has happened. We can all still see Patsy coming into the room
and smiling. And we can hear her laugh. And it just doesn't seem real at all. DENNIS FARINA: After Patsy's memorial service,
a routine autopsy is performed. The lab technician checks for 56,000 foreign substances
in her blood. Suddenly, the machine goes off the chart. [music playing] Within seconds, the substance is identified,
[machine beeping] strychnine. Because of its horrible side effects, strychnine poisoning is a cruel way to die.
It's also a very rare way to die. These facts make Patsy Wright's death even more suspicious.
[insects chirping] The morning of Patsy's death, a frantic phone call woke up Steve and Sally Horning.
MAN ON PHONE: Hello? I need to talk to Sally. MAN ON PHONE: Nancy, what's the matter?
I can't breathe! DENNIS FARINA: The call was Sally's sister, Patsy Wright. Hello, Patsy.
I took some cold medicine. Something is really wrong! What's the matter? What is it?
[patsy gasping] Patsy? Patsy? We got to the house and went up to the front door.
And of course, the door was locked and we couldn't get in. Patsy! Steve, try around the back.
[pounding on door] Patsy! Open up, it's Sally. I went around to the side. The window was open, I suppose for getting fresh air in there.
Open it up, jump through the window, came through and I saw Patsy on the bed. Steve!
She's in the bedroom! SALLY: When we got in, she was in the bedroom. She just looked like she had kind of fainted.
So I thought that's what had happened. So we tried to get her up, and that didn't work.
Operator, we need an ambulance at 3017 [inaudible] at Arlington immediately. My sister's not breathing.
I worked on both her heart and mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. During that, a lot of green fluid came up.
I would continually spit that out onto the bed, or there was a towel there, as I remember.
Some time after that, the medics came. When's the last time y'all talked to her?
About 3:00 o'clock this morning, and she just stopped talking to us. We think the phone dropped.
And we rushed over here as quick as we could. And she was like this. - This the way y'all found her?
Yes. SALLY: I rode to the hospital in the ambulance with her. They said that they were not able to save her,
and there just wasn't anything they could do. DENNIS FARINA: At first, no one suspected foul play.
But in her phone call, Patsy had mentioned taking cold medicine, which was later found to contain
huge amounts of strychnine. Authorities ruled out product tampering or suicide. Patsy had everything to live for.
She had two children. She and her sister owned two wax museums worth millions. Also, Patsy had just bought three quarter horses,
and planned to train them herself. Texas police believe Patsy had been murdered.
Two clues suggest that her killer was probably someone she knew very well. First, the burglar alarm had not been set on the night she died.
And second, only those close to Patsy knew that she took nighttime cold medicine
before going to bed. I can pretty much say that this case involves someone that knew Patsy, knew her habits.
And then I have to put together motive and opportunity. DENNIS FARINA: Money was a possible motive.
Patsy's wealth came from two wax museums she owned with her sister, Sally Horning.
When Patsy died, the museum's were inherited by Sally and Steve Horning. We, as family members, were being asked
questions that you never even think you're ever going to be asking. Strychnine in Patsy's cold medicine?
No. DENNIS FARINA: Authorities felt that if Steve had poisoned Patsy, he would not have used mouth-to-mouth resuscitation
to try to save her, taking potentially deadly liquid into his own mouth. Steve and Sally Horning, with other family members,
all passed polygraph tests. Police also gave Patsy's former boyfriend, Leo Fikes, a polygraph.
He was one of the ones that would've been close enough to her to have known about her
taking the liquid cold medicine on occasion. He was very much in love with Patsy,
but she did not want to get remarried. Do you know for sure who caused Patsy to be poisoned?
No. In realizing that I was a suspect, I think the most difficult part of it, for me, was Patsy had rejected me.
And we had not been real close for seven or eight months prior to that. DENNIS FARINA: Leo Fikes passed his lie detector test.
Patsy's ex-husband, Robert Cox, was also questioned by police. Patsy had obtained a restraining order against Cox
during their separation. I had some people give me statements that Patsy had some fears of her ex-husband, Bob Cox.
I understand there are times that Patsy believed that Bob Cox had driven by or parked close to her house.
We knew that Patsy was going to be testifying against her second husband in an upcoming
civil suit about a arson fire. We knew that he had called her on a number of occasions
and ask her to change this or that story. And she had told him that she was going to tell the truth.
He was offered a polygraph test. And he refused to take the polygraph test. DENNIS FARINA: Robert Cox says that he
is innocent, as does Leo Fikes. But it appeared that someone had been with Patsy the night
she died. Investigators found two dinner plates next to Patsy's bed. It seems unlikely that Patsy would have spent
an intimate evening with either her ex-husband or her ex-boyfriend. Could there have been an unknown visitor
that night who was familiar with Patsy's personal habits? Then, [phone ringing] a day after Patsy died,
her daughter, Leslie, received a strange phone call. Hello? I said hello. And this person asked for my mother.
And I said, well, she's not here right now, can I take a message? And this person persisted in wanting to talk with her.
She passed away yesterday. She said something to the effect that, well, good, I wanted her dead.
I don't know if it was a prank phone call, if it meant something. Maybe somebody wanted to find out
if she had died by taking the cold medicine with the poison in it. You know, it could be totally unrelated.
It could be related. I don't know. [music playing] It's frightening, because we do know somebody knew her very
well and knew her habits, and was close enough to her to know how to get in and to use that cold medicine.
And we were afraid that we do know the person pretty well. We obviously have to know them,
just because we were such a big part of my mother's life that we knew most people that she did know.
And it's hard, just because you don't really know who to trust anymore. DENNIS FARINA: The strychnine that
killed Patsy was it pure powder form, the most concentrated type of the poison available.
Very few outlets sell strychnine, and all sales are controlled by the federal government.
Authorities hope that someone will remember a suspicious sale around the time of Patsy's death.
If you have any information that can help solve this case, please log onto our website at unsolved.com.
[music playing] - Give me your arm! DENNIS FARINA: Next, he doesn't look like your typical kidnapper.
Have you got the note? DENNIS FARINA: And he isn't. I don't know what you're talking about.
[music playing] DENNIS FARINA: The FBI calls it one of the most bizarre kidnappings ever.
The suspect was an overweight, middle-aged man with thick glasses and a floppy rain hat,
hardly the profile of a dangerous criminal. But dangerous he was. Minneapolis, Minnesota, John Grundhofer,
a wealthy businessman, was on his way to work. John was the Chairman and President of First bank System.
In the past year, he had saved the bank millions by cutting nearly 2,000 jobs. [music playing]
As John arrived at work, he had no idea that he was being watched. John, you're going to have to go with me.
Just get back in the car. Oh, there must be some mistake. I have no business with you.
I think you do. This is Carl, and you are going with me. What do you want? DENNIS FARINA: John kept his cool.
Just do what you're told, and be quiet. [grunting] DENNIS FARINA: The commotion drew
the attention of a witness. And I looked over and saw two men rolling on the ground.
It was at that point I thought there was a mugging going on. So I started to run over there to help
whoever was being mugged. And I got about halfway there when the gentleman had both gotten up and started to act
like they knew each other. And so I had slowed to a walk. Do you need some help?
You better get out of here. At first, it seemed so unreal that I almost laughed at the gentleman.
And then I realized it was real, and I was in danger. And at that point, I was terrified
that I was going to be shot. And I then ran to the elevator. Just back up and get us out of this garage.
DENNIS FARINA: The gunman ordered John into the car. It had been just three minutes since he
entered the parking lot. [music playing] JOHN: Now where do you want me to drive?
GUNMAN: Just head east. Just head towards Wisconsin. And give me your arm. Well, what do you want with it?
Give me your left arm and shut up! See, to avoid any further difficulties, I'm going to attach this dynamite to you.
That way if you give me any other problems, all I've got to do is push a button.
I think his intention was to frighten Mr. Grundhofer sufficiently enough that he would be very compliant
and do what he was told to do. DENNIS FARINA: Someone in the garage found what the FBI thinks was the kidnapper's cheat sheet.
It was a list of demands for his victim. I believe that the kidnapper is not really a professional criminal.
It would seem to me that, if you're going to commit that kind of a crime, you could basically do it off the top of your head,
if you will. DENNIS FARINA: About a half an hour later, the kidnapper entered Wisconsin
35 miles from Minneapolis. Who takes charge when you're not around? It would probably be some vice president.
Would Scott Taylor take over? You know Scott Taylor? Never mind. DENNIS FARINA: The kidnapper ordered John to pull
into a secluded rest area. When they arrived at the wayside, the kidnapper handed Mr. Grundhofer a note.
Mr. Grundhofer then made a phone call to his secretary, who transcribed the ransom demands.
I am a hostage of a group called Parents Against Drugs who claim-- DENNIS FARINA: The demand was for $3 million, $100, $500,
and even $1,000 bills. Once again, the kidnapper showed he was an amateur. $1 million in $100s, $1 million in $500s,
and $1 million in $1,000s. A professional criminal would never ask for $1,000 bill.
You don't exactly take a $1,000 bill and go to a convenience store, buy a cup of coffee,
and ask for change. [music playing] DENNIS FARINA: Officials at First Bank System
began preparing the $3 million ransom. About the same time, the kidnapper discovered that he
had lost his cheat sheet. Have you got the note? What note? The note from the parking garage.
DENNIS FARINA: The kidnapper became really upset. I used a note before. I'd written a few things down.
Are you sure you didn't take it? DENNIS FARINA: He forced John down a hill in a remote wooded area.
Slow up. I got to rest a minute. DENNIS FARINA: The kidnapper was so out of shape,
he had trouble following. Finally, the two men reached the spot where a sleeping bag
had been left in a plastic bag. The gunman moved quickly. He took off the bomb. He tied John's hands with a nylon rope,
and forced him into the sleeping bag, and taped his mouth shut. It took John only 20 minutes to free himself.
And when he saw that no one was watching, he went for help. He called his office from a nearby farmhouse.
The kidnapping made headlines throughout the Midwest. 10 Days later, the FBI set up a hot line
and published this composite drawing. The response was immediate. Two different callers identified the kidnapper
as a man named John Henderson. Henderson was a maintenance worker who lived 25 miles outside of Minneapolis.
Are you John Henderson? DENNIS FARINA: He had never worked at First Bank System,
and had no apparent connection to John Grundhofer. I was stunned when they start questioning me
about a kidnapping case that had just happened. Ever get over to Minneapolis, John?
They wanted to search. And I told them to go ahead. I had nothing to hide. And they searched my car in my garage, and the house.
DENNIS FARINA: The FBI found no physical evidence that connected Henderson to the crime.
But they asked him to appear in a lineup. GRUNHOFER: Can I hear number three say it again, please?
POLICEMAN: Three, step forward and say the line again. This is Carl, and you are coming with me.
POLICEMAN: Do you see the man who kidnapped you in the lineup? GRUNHOFER: It's number three.
Even though he identified me, I know I didn't do it. GRUNHOFER: It's number three.
DENNIS FARINA: Despite John's positive identification, Jeff Rasmusson, the eyewitness in the garage,
did not pick Henderson out of the lineup. JEFF: What's wrong? GUNMAN: This doesn't concern you.
DENNIS FARINA: The FBI continued to look for evidence. Now we need to get a sample of your handwriting.
So, uh, grab a piece of paper and a pencil. DENNIS FARINA: A handwriting sample did not match the note.
There was a grand jury investigation, but no charges were ever filed. John Henderson is no longer considered
a suspect by the police. So far, the FBI hasn't found anything. And they won't find anything, because I didn't do it.
John. DENNIS FARINA: Who was John Grundhofer's kidnapper? Have you got the note?
DENNIS FARINA: We may never know. What note? The note from the parking garage. DENNIS FARINA: The $3 million ransom
would have been the largest in Minnesota history. It was never paid. Coming up, it looks like an accident, [tires screeching]
but it isn't. It's a deadly insurance scam. [music playing] Previously, we brought you the story
of the tragic murder of 15-year-old Martha Moxley of Greenwich, Connecticut. The night before Halloween in 1975,
Martha did not come home from an evening out with friends. The next day, her body was found in the Moxley's
yard, hidden under a tree. She had been brutally beaten and stabbed to death. Nearby, investigators found the murder
weapon, a broken golf club. Here are the clubs you requested from that set. It's the only set like that we have.
DENNIS FARINA: The club belonged to the Skakel family, who lived across the street from the Moxley's house.
Rushton Skakel is a brother of Ethel Kennedy, Robert Kennedy's widow. 15-year-old Michael Skakel told police he had been with Martha
the night of her murder. His brother, 17-year-old Thomas Skakel, was with her too.
Thomas, in fact, was the last person thought to have seen Martha alive. It's frustrating to know that for 20 years
they've known that they lied, and they know something that's going on. And I'm not saying that they did it.
But they know something that could help us. DENNIS FARINA: Update. When Michael Skakel was 18, he was sent to a school in Maine
for troubled teens, the Elan School. After the showing of Unsolved Mysteries, several of the young people who had attended Elan,
and were there with Michael Skakel, called to say that they had known Michael there,
and that they had heard Michael confess to killing Martha. DENNIS FARINA: The tips were turned over to the police
and also to former Los Angeles detective, Mark Furman, who was reading a book about Martha's murder.
The tips from Unsolved Mysteries were so important, because it gave me one of the witnesses that actually heard
Michael confess to the murder. Very pivotal, because now you had somebody that's stating who
the suspect is, no guessing. It's just Michael. DENNIS FARINA: For more than 20 years,
Dorthy Moxley waited for a break in her daughter's murder case. An investigative grand jury was called,
and found that there was enough evidence to indict Michael. And he is going to be tried in adult court
for Martha's murder. DENNIS FARINA: A jury convicted Michael Skakel of murdering Martha Moxley.
He received a sentence of 20 years to life. There are new developments in this case.
Here's one of our staff with details. STAFF MEMBER: As a result of the Skakel family appeal,
the verdict was overturned and Michael Skakel will be retried. After posting bail, he was released from prison.
DENNIS FARINA: Los Angeles, California. It's a frightening scene. Emergency workers try to free the occupants
of a car, which had been rear ended by a big rig. [music playing] In this case, on Interstate 5 near downtown Los Angeles,
the driver of the car and the passengers are rescued. A third passenger is pronounced dead at the scene.
What makes this tragedy even worse is that it may not have been an accident at all.
Authorities believe it was part of a carefully planned insurance scam that backfired.
It's called swoop and squat, and here's how it works. A typical operation involves two or three cars.
They cruise the highway together searching for a victim. Trucks are a favorite target among swoop and squat rings.
Because one, they know that trucks will have a lot of insurance, and two, that there'll be a lot of damage,
which is compensable by the insurance companies. DENNIS FARINA: The action happens very quickly.
First, the squat car, usually filled with passengers, gets directly in front of the targeted truck.
Then a second car pulls alongside the truck boxing it in. The driver of the squat car may try
to distract the truck driver. [horns honking] Finally, the swoop car appears and makes its move,
forcing the other drivers to jam on their brakes. [tires screeching] Immediately afterwards, the people who are in the squat car
will then claim injury. Injuries are almost always soft tissue injuries, because they're so difficult to disprove.
They'll exchange insurance information. And then a couple days later, the attorney makes the claim.
We've had one situation where two attorneys made over $9 million from a two year period of time
from simply buying stage accidents. DENNIS FARINA: The ringleaders of the swoop and squat
are often attorneys far removed from the accident scene. Each accident can bring in up to $20,000 in false claims.
A large part of it goes to the attorney. Those who risk the most than the con are paid the least.
The people who are in this swoop and squat accidents as passengers or drivers may be paid as little as $250 to $300
to risk their lives in that accident. DENNIS FARINA: Usually a middle man, called a capper, looks for people who are willing to do
almost anything for money. [non-english speech] Cappers may get approximately $1,500.
All the money is made by the professionals, who are corrupt, the attorneys who are financing these staged accident
activities. DENNIS FARINA: The crash on Interstate 5 had all the signs of a classic swoop and squat.
But in this case, informants were willing to talk. They led police to a man who organized the operation.
Filemon Santiago. Santiago was a Mexican national who lived in West Hollywood, California.
A search of his apartment turned up documents connecting him to Beverly Hills attorney, Gary Miller.
Investigators obtained search warrants for the office of Gary Miller. Evidence was seized.
And ultimately, the grand jury in Los Angeles County indicted Gary Miller and 29 others
for numerous charges of insurance fraud and murder. DENNIS FARINA: Update. Gary Miller was tried and sentenced to six
years for fraud and conspiracy. He received a concurrent sentence for manslaughter.
Filemon Santiago was arrested in Houston, Texas. He was convicted of vehicular manslaughter
with gross negligence. Next, a wife searches for her missing husband. She's convinced he doesn't remember who he is
or where he is. [music playing] Clintonville, Wisconsin. [music playing] Christine Reinhard's husband, Craig, is missing.
Her search becomes an all-consuming quest. Hi. My name is Christine, and I'm out here
searching for my husband, who's been missing for quite some time. My name is Craig Williamson.
DENNIS FARINA: Christine's search began in Colorado Springs, Colorado at the motel
where her husband was last seen. OK, Ms. Reinhard. This is where your husband stayed in room 112.
Over there on the chair was his luggage. It was unpacked and open. The bed was made.
It looked like it was not slept in. It looked like someone just left and walked out.
It is now my pleasure, as an ordained minister, by the power vested in me by the state of Nevada--
DENNIS FARINA: Craig was almost 46, and Christine 41, when they married at Lake Tahoe.
And Craig, you may kiss your wife. DENNIS FARINA: They had known each other for only a month,
but it was definitely love. Christine still speaks of their marriage in the present tense.
I think the thing about Craig that is most endearing is his caring and nurturing attitude toward me.
He's just wonderfully supportive and very loving. DENNIS FARINA: Craig and Christine
bought a farm in Wisconsin and began to raise exotic fish called tilapia. CHRISTINE: Do you have them on oxygen today, dear?
Yup. CHRISTINE: Any reason? [inaudible]. DENNIS FARINA: Craig rigged an old school
bus to transport the fish that he was planning to sell. He loaded up and set off for Colorado.
Christine was concerned because Craig had suffered a concussion just four weeks earlier.
If I tried to rub his head, he said, honey, don't do that. It hurts. And so I know he was still suffering
from it because he would still-- I'd say, do you have a headache? And he'd say, yes, you know.
But he wouldn't admit it. But I'd catch him taking aspirin all the time. DENNIS FARINA: In Colorado Springs,
Craig rented a car to use for business. At 9:00 PM, the night before he was to return home,
he and Christine spoke for the last time. Craig was 1,000 miles away from Wisconsin when he disappeared
in Colorado Springs. The next day, his credit cards were discovered in El Paso, Texas.
Craig's rental car was found in Juarez, Mexico just across the border. There were no signs of foul play.
Detective Robert Johnson headed up the investigation in Colorado. This is the area where we found
the bus still parked when we come out the day of the search. And what I wanted to show you is some of the things
that we found, that the bus were still part kind of along this line here. I truly believe that Craig walked up to his rental car,
and that someone came up behind him, and hit him on the head. And this is completely in keeping in character
with Craig, is that he'd get up and wouldn't go in and say, I'm hurt. Help me. He'd think, I have to get on with things.
I have to be doing something. I'm supposed to go somewhere. I have to get back. And he would wander toward the bright lights of the parking
lot and then the interchange. And he wandered off from there. REPORTER: Over the past week, Williamson's wife, Christine--
DENNIS FARINA: Television stations in Wisconsin and Colorado covered Christine's story.
When I saw him on TV, I recognized him. And I said, that man was on the train that I was on.
DENNIS FARINA: Two weeks after Craig disappeared, Judy Inman was traveling from Montana
through Washington state. She said she saw Craig looking dazed and disheveled. When he first got on the train, these two drunks,
they just kept harassing him. [inaudible]. He kept talking about this fish that he had to go pick up.
He was talking about this big building that had these big, huge tanks in it where they kept the fish.
DRUNKS: And they swam off. [laughing] That man definitely had something wrong with him.
And I knew that he definitely had some type of a head injury, because I've taken care of patients like that.
CRAIG: I got to get back to the fish. I knew that that was Craig. I knew it! And I packed up everything that I would need, packed up
a suitcase for Craig in the outside chance I would find him, and went to look for him.
DENNIS FARINA: Christine followed Judy Inman's train route from Whitefish, Montana
to Portland, Oregon. She photographed every train station along the way. JUDY: That's not it.
DENNIS FARINA: Christine then met Judy and showed her all the photos. CHRISTINE: There's really nothing much around there.
It's pretty empty. Then there's this one. JUDY: That's it there. CHRISTINE: You think this is the one?
This is the one where he got off. DENNIS FARINA: The station was Wishram, Washington.
Christine believes Craig might have mistaken Wishram for Washougal, a town where he had once lived.
Craig's son plastered the area with this poster, but no new clues surfaced. I will never give up.
I will just constantly look for him. I know he's alive. And I know someday I'll find him.
The trouble is, I don't know when. DENNIS FARINA: Update. After seeing himself on our broadcast,
Craig called Christine from Key West Florida. He was now going by the name of Ron.
He said that he had lost his memory when he was beaten and robbed by two men. And the phone rang.
And he said, hello, Christine. This is Craig. And it didn't really sound like him.
He sounded like a shell of himself. From what phrases he used, and things like that,
I knew it was Craig. But his voice was really, oh, very weak. And I was just shaking.
I was in total shock. DENNIS FARINA: Craig said that all he could remember was that he had been attacked by an unknown assailant
in Colorado Springs. What followed were two years of painful headaches, blackouts, and amnesia.
When I saw this whole thing on Unsolved Mysteries, I realized that I was Craig Williamson.
But I didn't know who Craig Williamson was. I didn't have a clue who he was. I knew that he had a family someplace.
Um, I knew that he was married. I didn't know that he had a fish farm. I didn't know a lot.
DENNIS FARINA: He and Christine met in Colorado Springs hoping that it might help jog his memory.
Does that look at all familiar to you? It doesn't. It doesn't. It looks familiar from the Unsolved Mysteries segment,
but it doesn't-- there's nothing here. I feel nothing, no attachment it, so no, it doesn't.
DENNIS FARINA: In the end, Craig remembered nothing. And the reunion Christine had long dreamed of ended
in a bittersweet parting. We've decided it's best for us to go our separate ways
and still be friends. And we still love each other. But were not the same people that married.
You take good care of yourself, OK? I will too. Take care of yourself too. Everything I've done has been worth it, the search,
all the effort that I've put in trying to find Craig was worth it. I would do it all over again.
And I can't imagine doing it any other way. [music playing] DENNIS FARINA: Next, a man considered brain
dead makes a complete recovery. Was it medical science, or divine intervention? [music playing]
The power of prayer. For centuries, people have believed that, through spiritual devotion,
anything is possible, even miracles. [phones ringing] Could they be right? Sacketts Harbor.
It was summertime. Linda Gordon, a divorced mother of four, was longing to meet a man she could love,
a man she could marry. I was sitting outside my front porch, and I was reading my Bible.
And I glanced up and I saw a man jogging. I had written in my prayer journal that I felt I was ready for a husband,
and that if God wanted me to have one to send him to my door. And then I called all my friends and family and said,
I'm praying for a husband. And they laughed and said that the only guy I was going to marry that came to my door
would be the pizza guy. DENNIS FARINA: This guy was not delivering anything. He was searching for love, just like Linda.
Come forward and introduce myself. I'm-- I'm David Shoeblack. I'm Linda. Nice to meet you.
Yeah, nice to meet you. DENNIS FARINA: David Shoeblack was a major in the army on temporary assignment at nearby Fort Drum.
I've seen you sitting here before. I just felt a warm glow, and then goosebumps on top of that.
And a voice spoke to my heart, and said, this is the man you've been praying for.
DENNIS FARINA: It was a match made in heaven. David and Linda were married just hours before David
was shipped out to Louisiana. After that, Linda would join him in Arizona. Early one morning, David set off for his usual run.
When the sidewalk ended, David ran along the shoulder of the road. He was headed east directly into a blinding sun.
[music playing] [tires screeching] [crash] David was hit full force by a car traveling 52 miles an hour.
He was thrown 60 feet through the air, and landed head first on the pavement. Traffic accident!
DENNIS FARINA: Within hours, he was airlifted to Tucson. David had several massive skull fractures.
Both of his legs and his left arm were broken. Mr. Shoeblack's intracranial pressures continue to increase.
Shortly after his admission to the intensive care unit, the normal functions of his brain just
obviously were stopping. Major Shoeblack's intracranial pressure was really three to four times what we normally
would consider survivable intracranial pressure in an individual. DENNIS FARINA: That pressure was causing David's
brain to swell uncontrollably. Dr. Smith told Linda there was little hope for his recovery.
I felt like I was being sucked down a drain. And I wasn't going to allow that to happen.
And I wasn't going to lose hope. And I wasn't going to accept the negativity that the doctor was saying, even though it
was true medical science. Mrs. Shoeblack, David is clinically brain dead. I have to get spiritually radical,
because things were getting very intense. I know these are difficult decisions. I knew in my heart that David wasn't dead.
DENNIS FARINA: Linda turned to the Bible for inspiration. She was immediately drawn to the story of Lazarus.
According to the Bible, Jesus brought Lazarus back to life after he had been dead four days.
Linda prayed that God would do the same for David. And Jesus said, he who believeth in me though he
were dead shall still live. And whoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.
I did all I knew how to do spiritually. Medical science couldn't save David. They said he was dead.
Money couldn't save David. Only God could save David. [music playing] We had a meeting with the family last night regarding
the options they face. DENNIS FARINA: A few hours later, Dr. Smith went in to check on David's vital signs.
I was amazed when I examined him, that instead of maybe one or two primitive reflexes,
he actually opened his eyes and started to look around. [machines beeping] David, David, can you hear me?
It was not something that we expected to see. [inaudible] gave me chills up and down
my spine when I saw this. DENNIS FARINA: When Linda returned to the hospital, David's father was waiting with amazing news.
Linda, now don't get your hopes up, but there was a flicker of response when the doctors
checked David this morning. That wasn't a flicker. That was the flame of God. Linda, we'd like you talk to David.
We need to see if he'll respond to commands. DENNIS FARINA: Linda was convinced that David's vital signs were the miracle she had prayed for.
[music playing] Sweetheart, it's me. Can you move your left hand, David? [machines beeping]
[music playing] Good. [linda gasping] I knew that David wasn't going to die. Because when I met David, God spoke to my heart and said,
this is the man I'm giving you. And you will have a long life together serving me.
So I knew that he wasn't going to die. To me, it was just a waking up from a sleep.
That's all it was. It was just coming back into contact, literally, with life. But I remember nothing else.
It was just like I woke up from a nap. DENNIS FARINA: Just months after he was given up for dead,
David Shoeblack was discharged from the hospital. He has since made a complete recovery.
I think he was jogging. They said he was hit from behind. DENNIS FARINA: Was Dave Shoeblack's remarkable return
from near death just luck? LINDA: Though he were dead, he shall still live DENNIS FARINA: Or was it divine intervention
and the power of prayer? DAVID: I'm truly amazed every day at what happened to me.
DOCTOR: David, can you hear me? There's no way that a person cannot be amazed. Linda proves what moving a mountain calls for.
[chuckles] Determination and faith will do all things. [music playing] I have never seen someone survive the pressure this high.
The fact that he returned to normal function after that is remarkable. Is it a miracle?
It very may well have been. [music playing]

This, Episode includes: Strychnine Death, Kidnapped Executive, Murder in Connecticut, Swoops and Squats, Wandering Fishman and Major Lazarus.

Brief Summary

This episode covers Patsy Wright's poisoning, John Grundhofer's kidnapping, Martha Moxley's murder, and an insurance scam investigation.

Key points

Patsy Bolton Wright's Mysterious Death. Patsy Wright's sudden death raises questions after strychnine is found in her cold medicine.
Bizarre Kidnapping of John Grundhofer. John Grundhofer is kidnapped by an unlikely suspect demanding a $3 million ransom.
Michael Skakel's Murder Conviction. Michael Skakel is convicted of murdering Martha Moxley after years of investigation.
Christine's Search for Craig. Christine Reinhard embarks on a relentless quest to find her missing husband, Craig.
David's Miraculous Recovery. After being declared brain dead, David Shoeblack makes an astonishing recovery against all odds.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

She was so alive.

Family reflects on Patsy's unexpected death.

1:40WatchMar 9, 2017

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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