Unsolved Mysteries with Dennis Farina - Season 3, Episode 8 | Forensic Files

[Music] next on unsolved mysteries everyone says musician Mia Zapata was destined to be a star until she came
face-to-face with a vicious killer legend has it that Billy the Kid was gunned down by Sheriff Pat Garrett but
new evidence suggests that Garrett killed the wrong man two children from different families are
rushed to the hospital the only thing they have in common is their nanny also we journey into the shadowy world of
dreams can they predict the future our team is standing by perhaps you can help solve one of our cases i'm dennis
farina and this is unsolved mysteries join us [Music] Seattle Washington a hotspot
rock-and-roll music since the 1990s Nirvana Pearl Jam and Allison chains all came out of its local music scene many
thought a punk group called the gits would also shoot to the top and lead singer Mia Zapata would take them there
but 27 year-old Mia would never get the chance [Music] I went through many shows where
afterwards people didn't even know I was up on stage because their eyes were so transfixed on Mia
[Music] [Applause] [Music] she was someone who had something to say she was very compassionate and
big-hearted person and she brought that into into the bed but early one summer morning
Mia's incredible voice was silenced she left her friend's apartment around 2:00 in the morning
an hour later her body was found a couple of miles away she was lying face-up in an almost
christ-like pose Mia Zapata had been raped beaten and then strangled to death no one can
understand why this popular young singer had been attacked and murdered was her killer an obsessed fan a jealous enemy
or perhaps just a complete stranger you might say that Mia was born to be a star
she grew up in Kentucky the daughter of two television executives it was at Antioch College where she met the other
three members of her band after five years of performing together the gates were attracting the attention of major
record companies and planning their first US tour I don't think I can ever remember my daughter looking so
satisfied so content so at ease with herself the night Mia was murdered began at one
of her favorite bars where she met friends around 10 p.m. she only stayed there for a while then left the bar and
walked to a local rehearsal studio one block away Mia then visited a friend who lived in
the same building as the studio at around 2:00 a.m. she left her friend's apartment saying she planned to take a
cab home she could have gone anywhere from there she could have gone out the front entrance gone down to the corner
and hailed a cab as she told her friend she was going to do Mia knew many of the
local cab drivers because she didn't have a driver's license it was first thought that Mia had been murdered by a
cab driver looking good Mia did not have difficulty expressing her opinion and sometimes
this got her into trouble and other people liked it she could have said something to a cab driver that she knew
that just made that person angry that night none of the drivers said they had picked up me at that night and none of
her friends who would also have been taking cabs reported seeing her then there's Theory number two she also could
have gone into the opposite direction she lived about five blocks away she could have gone down eleventh Pasteur
reservoir and something could have occurred there in fact something did occur but no one knows if it had
anything to do with Mia's death one of the earliest clues that the police received was from a man who had
heard a scream a terrifying scream that night he was so distraught by it that he
actually rush to see what was going on but he saw nothing he lived however very close to the
reservoir on 11th where Mia could have gone and finally Theory number three perhaps
me had never left the building where she was last seen the day after her murder one of Mia's friends stopped by the
rehearsal studio and she found Mia's personal microphone which she rarely let out of her sight we don't know whether
she left it there after the practice at night or whether she went back to the studio after visiting her friend
something happened there and this was simply left Mia's body was found about two miles from the studio and about
three miles from the street where the man heard the screams police thoroughly searched the area but found nothing this
particular investigation has been difficult because we're faced with a situation where we don't know where the
actual crime scene was where the murder took place we obviously only know where we found me
at which we don't believe is the same [Music] without a crime scene or witnesses the
investigation grew cold however the pain of Mia's death did not people really were mad they were shocked
and people wanted justice and people wanted to to know what had happened the remaining gifts decided to take
action they hired private investigator Leigh Hearon and staged benefit concerts to
raise money for the investigation the response was overwhelming Seattle's leading musicians got involved including
Nirvana and rocker Joan Jett I want more than anything for them to be able to find out what happened and so there
could be some resolution for everybody because everyone's been working real hard trying to find this person who did
this I'm gonna use it [Applause] I just remembered the look on her face of contentment and of accomplishment
that last day when we finish the tour and how happy she was and how she was smiling with a look of real sense of
accomplishment like we had a future playing music without Mia is very difficult the chemistry that we shared
as a band having that gone forever is a hard reality to face every day I remember her as one of the warmest most
caring ultra talented people I've ever met in my life [Music] update 10 years after Mia Zapata was
killed Seattle police tested DNA from the case against the national database they found a match hey Zeus musky ax a
felon living in Miami Florida was arrested and charged with murder mesquita didn't know Mia Zapata but at
the time of her killing he lived just three blocks from where her body was found hey Zeus miss Ghia was convicted
of first-degree murder and sentenced to 36 years in prison [Music] next brushy Bill Roberts of heiko Texas
claimed that Billy the Kid was not killed by Sheriff Pat Garrett brushy says that he was Billy the Kid
billy the kid' easily the most notorious desperado of the Wild West he killed 21 men one for every year of
his young life history tells us that Billy the Kid was born William Bonney in New York City in 1859 later in New
Mexico he fought against rich ranchers in the Lincoln County cattle war and that he was sentenced to death for
killing Sheriff William Brady according to most sources Lincoln County Sheriff Pat Garrett was
eager to collect the $500 bounty on Billy the Kid in July of 1881 he tracked Billy down in Fort Sumner New Mexico and
killed him history also tells us that Billy was buried the following day in a simple grave but now some people say
that history is wrong that Billy wasn't the man in the grave this whole legend of ability kid
90% of what we've heard and been taught as students and skills is not true sixty-eight years after Billy's death a
man from Texas named brushy Bill Roberts claimed that he was Billy the Kid there
is no doubt whatever in my mind but what pressure bill and Billy kid was one and
the same person historian Donald lavash disagrees there is absolutely no comparison
whatsoever between brushy Bill Roberts known as Olie Partridge Roberts and William Bonney alias Billy the Kid most
historians completely dismiss brushy bill story but there is evidence the support has claimed evidence that's hard
to ignore it all started in 1948 when an attorney named William Morrison was told
that Billy the Kid might not have died in 1881 a client told him that he had actually fought belly the kid in the
Lincoln County Wars and that the kid was still alive and asked my father was talking to the man he referred to
Lincoln County my father said oh he said that's where Billy the Kid he said he was killed up there at Pete Maxwell's
house and the man said oh no no he wasn't killed he's still around Morrison was so intrigued that he decided to do
some of his own investigating he traveled throughout the West talking to other old-timers about Billy the Kid and
he discovered that many thought that Billy was still alive they said that he was going by the name of brushy Bill
Roberts William Morrison decided to visit Texas and to talk to brushy bill in person
[Music] Dress your bill Here I am we must keep in mind that this man did not seek publicity he did not seek to
come out from seclusion he was drawn out brushy bill last Morrison to help him get the official pardon that New
Mexico's governor had promised them back in 1879 I expect a full pardon out of this but you have to be able to prove to
me you are who you say you are I can do that I still got the scars his scars match the wounds that Billy had
supposedly received during his time as an outlaw there were 17 points of identification of similarity between the
two both men had small hands and large wrists protruding teeth protruding ears blue eyes same head size same boot size
and the weight there's no record anywhere where there's anything having to do with a boot size of Billy the Kid
a waist size of Billy the Kid or a hat size of Billy the Kid nothing but it does tell us something about his eyes
unequivocally without question that they were clear blue eyes brushy bill had speckled eyes brushy bill took William
Morrison on a guided tour of some of Billy's former haunts in Lincoln County brushy bill would give incidents that
only someone that was actually involved in the Lincoln County War would have known William Morrison talked to five
people who knew Billy during the Lincoln County War each of them signed sworn statements declaring that brushy bill
Roberts was indeed Billy the Kid my father became convinced that this man was Billy the Kid if this is true then
one puzzling question remains what really happened on the night the kid was supposedly killed brushy bill said that
he was with his girlfriend and his partner Billy Barlow at hay-zu's Silva's home the following are the exact words
Russia used when he told the story to William Morrison Silva said if one of us would go next door and get beef he would
cook it for us I sensed a trap you go me yeah he started out after I refused to leave the house I thought that Garret
might still be in town and I wanted to meet him in the daytime so I could beat him to it sheriff Garrett and his posse
were waiting outside one of their first shots had killed my partner I ran out into the yard
I ran started shooting at shadows shot struck me in the lower jaw when I woke up a Mexican woman was putting beef
tallow on my head to stop the blood I told her to reload my 44 then celsa came running in and said they killed Barlow
and were passing off his body's mind she begged me to leave town brushie claimed the next day that Billy
Barlow was buried in his place in a normal procedure the chef would have brought the corpse to a place for anyone
to witness he would have demonstrated his guns his clothing his boots his rifle Pat Garrett did not follow that
procedure he took every precaution to conceal the identity of the corpse he realized he
had killed the wrong man [Music] Pat Garrett enlisted some 21 people that purportedly knew William Bonney and they
assembled passed by the casket and said yes that's William Bonney Billy the Kid in that casket
William Morrison finally believed he had gathered enough evidence to ask the New
Mexico governor for a pardon they were all saying if he is Billy the Kid he's an outlaw he's a criminal you don't
pardon him you're hanging the interview turned into a press circus ninety-year-old brushy was confused and
attacked by reporters historians and even Pat Garrett's relatives brushy who's buried in that grave of Pat
Garrett didn't kill Billy the Kid how many aliases have you had all these years governor Mabry do you really
intend to give this man apart all I am taking no action now or ever on this application for a pardon for Billy the
Kid because I do not believe this man to be Billy the Kid [Music] the governor never even gave him a
chance to present the evidence by just flatly telling him he wasn't even going to consider it a short time later
brushy bill Roberts had a heart attack and died on the street in Heikal Texas all he wanted was to have his name
cleared that's all he was trying to do giving back his dignity brushes friends have erected a memorial to brushy bill
Roberts which reads quote he spent the last days of his life trying to prove to the world his true identity we believe
his story and pray to God for the forgiveness he solemnly asked for next the mysterious injuries of two children
are traced to an abusive banana who was now on the run Los Angeles California paramedics rush four year old Ashley
Berman to the emergency room she is unconscious and barely breathing I she apparently had some sort of seizure and
fell and hit her head how far was the fall she just fell on the floor I don't know I wasn't there and this was with
the nanny a short time later the doctors make a shocking accusation yeah cat scare Ashley had been physically
assaulted by her nanny my look Dedmon said no way I said I don't know what you're talking about
you know this she Rosa would never hurt Ashley she took care of her we had neighbors that would see Rosa and Ashley
at the park they would call me up and tell me how lucky I was to have somebody like Rosa I did not believe the Berman's
met Rosa Hernandez when she applied to be the live-in nanny for two year old Ashley that first day Hernandez brought
her cousin to help translate Rosa was very highly recommended by various neighbors one neighbor said that she was
wonderful and she would be perfect to to watch our daughter and that she had experience with kids and she was very
good at what she did when we brought Ashley down to meet her Ashley seem to connect very well as well as Rosa
connected with Ashley so I felt that this was definitely going to work out and that does she be good with Ashley
the next week Rosa Hernandez moved in with the Berman's from the beginning she and Ashley were inseparable
Ashley seemed to be very fond of Rosa she always wanted to buy things for Rosa she'd always talked about Rosa she
always wanted to make Rosa feel happy for a year everything went well then Ashley began suffering from a series of
mysterious injuries at school every time we asked Ashley what happened how did you get this she'd always tell us it
happened at school that she heard her hand on the swing that a little boy hit her with a shovel another child hit her
with a Barbie but then it happened at home I actually got a deep gash on her head that required several stitches you
fell down the stairs were you there mom no the nanny was with her what happened she's John andis said Ashley was
blacking out and having seizures although the bourbons never witnessed an episode themselves they feared that
Ashley had developed a serious physiological disorder we put Ashley through all kinds of tests we put her
through cat scans mris which were very difficult to get a four and a half year old child into an MRI with all the tests
they could find absolutely nothing related towards seizures all indications was is that she was a very healthy child
a few months later Jeff came home early from a walk he found that Ashley had been injured once again it was have
proceeded to tell me that Ashley had fallen down she was wearing some shoes and she tripped and she fell down and I
felt comfortable that she had just fallen when this thing was reenacted by Ashley
it all made sense just nine days later Ashley was rushed to the emergency room tell me what happened I thought oh she's
gonna die on us I mean I just looked at her she was all pale hooked up and I'd that one real loser and pretty much we
were told if she survived if she lived she more than likely be [ __ ] or blind or both all right give me a cat
scan after I examined Ashley I was suspicious that Ashley might have been abused she had some small hemorrhages in
the retina this is a condition that's associated with shaken baby syndrome dr. Gillingham decided to check Ashley's
medical history he called her pediatrician I have one of your patients here and Ashley Berman
it wasn't until I spoke with Ashley's pediatrician that we made a connection to a prior case and we're the same
caregiver I have been involved in taking care of a child who died of what they thought might be child abuse two years
earlier dr. Gillingham had treated a 17 month old boy who was rushed to the hospital in a state of full cardiac
arrest that day the toddler had been in the care of Rosa Hernandez the Berman's knew about the incident but had heard
the boy choked on a hot dog we were able to resuscitate the child the child was subsequently admitted to the hospital
but then died within the next I think 17 or 18 hours an autopsy revealed that the
boy had a fractured skull and internal bleeding his death was ruled a homicide however there wasn't enough evidence to
charge Rosa Hernandez but now with Ashley fighting for her life police believed they had a case against
Hernandez she was charged with child abuse and Marie Ashleigh remained in the hospital for a week eventually she made
a full recovery and with the experience behind her Ashleigh was willing to talk about Rosa Hernandez she used to push me
down the steps I would hire a remote control to get her back and so she took silverware and hit my nails and she
would also take care of earrings and poke them through my nails and she would bang my head against the walls the doors
and the wood floors Hernandez pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and child abuse despite
protests from the Berman's she was released on her own recognizance Rosa Hernandez immediately disappeared I
[Music] believe that it's been long enough period of time that she feels safe and I
fear and she may be babysitting right now another child that's going to fall victim to her abuse Maria Rosa Hernandez
is from El Salvador she's five feet four inches and weighs approximately 130 pounds she is a mother of three
Hernandez speaks broken English and has what appears to be burned scars on her right upper forearm
if you have any information please log on to our website at unsolved comm next the world of psychic dreams do some
people really see into the future while they sleep [Music] have you ever had a dream that was so
vivid you thought it was real it may seem unbelievable but you're about to meet several people who are
convinced that their dreams really do come true New York City Glenn Looney is a professor at Brooklyn
College his story begins on a cold winter night when he says he had a dream that saved his life
I was driving up a hill and there was a blind curve up at the top there came a car around the curve there's a little
two wheel trailer blind and suddenly the outside wheel of the trailer comes off and there was a shower of sparks like a
sparkler the wheel came skidding across the road toward my car and I thought step on the gas or you're a dead man
and I woke up in a cold sweat I never had a dream that I remembered every particular detail up and it was so vivid
as if it had actually happened a few months later Glenn was on a business trip with another professor
they were driving through a part of the country where they had never been before
how's your classes going by the way Oh fine good halfway up I realized this is the hill of my dream this is the place
there was no traffic coming the other way nothing all right I said my god it cars gonna come around
that curve and wheels going to come off the trailer and it's going to come out our car I got a step on the gas or dead
[Music] some would say that what happened to Glenn was just a coincidence however
there are many people who believe that what he experienced was a psychic dream a dream that predicts the future there's
a clear distinction between ordinary dreaming which we all do every night and the psychic dream and the clear
distinction is that a psychic dream wakes you both up right out of bed it's a vivid dream that literally shocks you
awake and after you wake you have this urgency to do something about it this urgency to expect something dr. David
Rybak is a leading authority on psychic dreams he and freelance author Letitia Switzer have written a book which
contains more than 80 case studies dr. Rybak concluded that as many as one out of every 12 people have experienced a
psychic dream when I first realized that I had the ability to see into the future
through my dreams was when I was a teenager Rhonda who is featured in dr. Rybak's book was living in Knoxville
Tennessee when she began dating Joe Anderson Joe went camping for the weekend and that night Rhonda had a
dream that an uninvited guest came to his campsite my heart was pounding so hard that I had
to sit up in my bed and I looked at the clock and it was three o'clock in the morning
hello oh I'm so glad you called I told it we'd had an incident with a bear and decided to leave come back home early he
told her that a sound outside his tent woke him up she had to dream about three o'clock it must have been about the time
that the bear had come into camp and torn things up about a year later Joe and Rhonda got married not surprisingly
his new stepdaughter Roxanne also claimed to have psychic dreams some families have two or three people in the
family who not only has psychic dreams would have the same psychic dreams which is a really astounding event Rhonda and
Roxanne have had that experience one night Rhonda dreamed that Joe was in a terrible accident
a week later Roxanne said that she had the very same dream our car was on the side of the road and then I saw a
glimpse of Joe his head his face and then I saw police right in the police report it was really really disturbing
to me it really upset me because it just you know it scared me and it felt like it was something that was going to
happen I said let's just think positively about it and let's just pray that everything
will be okay and from then on I would just ask Joe to please be careful Joe was driving to the mountains for another
camping trip when he took his eyes off the road for just a second luckily I wasn't injured of course the
first thing I thought about after that happened was that Ron did warned me to be very careful and I had not paid
attention to the road and slid off and had the accident had we not warned him over and over again to please be careful
we don't know what would have happened the Andersons were lucky their story had a happy ending but that wasn't the case
for Katherine Webb [Music] so I'm so glad you're back it's so good to see you 20 year old Catherine Webb
fell in love with a soldier named Joe Stuart but they decided not to get married because of family obligations
yes I've always regretted that instead of being so conscientious about our obligations we should have thought of
ourselves and though she would marry someone else Catherine never forgot her first love
years later she began having a disturbing recurring dream all I saw was these nurses and doctors a lot of
confusion a doctor seemed very concerned probably working on someone that would be how it would look and then it seemed
to me that I just got the intuition that it's about Joe Stuart a short time later
Catherine had another dream I turned around and Joe was standing there Joe came to tell you that I died Joe I don't
understand this I'll explain I could smell flowers and fern thanks to your prayers I'll have a Christian
burial and I look down at the man in the casket I came to tell you that I'll always love him a few days later
Katherine visited Joe's sister and brother-in-law she was shocked to find out that Joe had gone into a coma the
same day that she had the first dream he had died of a brain aneurysm just two days before he appeared to Katherine and
her dream about the church Joe came to me in a dream and when I did tell them his sister said yes she's every detail
you've told us she said it's just the way it was perhaps the phenomenon of psychic dreams will always be beyond our
understanding there is no way to explain them they are truly an unsolved mystery
next it's the real-life CSI coroner's try to solve some of the law-enforcement toughest cases
when a corner is called to the scene of a death it's their job to remove the body and determine how the victim died
often not an easy task Seal Beach California early one fall morning two lifeguards find the body of a young boy
floating in a channel near the ocean the body is so badly decomposed they can't identify it
coroner's investigator Joe lucky was sent to the scene it takes a while sometimes to get over the fact that you
can't identify these people you think about your own families and know that there's somebody out there who's missing
a relative somebody but we don't know who he found no evidence of foul play an autopsy later revealed that the young
boy had drowned but who the boy was and where he came from was still a baffling mystery Joe sent a description of the
boy to every law enforcement agency in the area only one possible match turned up a boy who had disappeared from
Fullerton California but Fullerton was 16 miles from where the body was discovered
fart Joe met the boy's parents who said their son had disappeared shortly after taking a walk to a local park
I went over to the park and I found that there was a flood control channel right
adjacent to the park I also discovered that because of the rainfall the day of his missing that the Flood Control
District had opened the local dam and allowed the overflow to come through that channel raising it approximately
six feet higher than normal the boy was only nine years old he had fallen into the flood channel and been swept 16
miles to Seal Beach blood samples later provided a positive identification but some cases remain
unsolved even after years of investigation a corner is probably a good mixture of being a surgeon a
detective and an attorney every day is a challenge that's new all the time one case in particular continues to haunt
Cullen elenberg the body of a woman in her early 20s was found at the bottom of a steep cliff in Southern California
what are you God the woman had apparently fallen to her death sometime during the night we weren't
sure at that point if it was an accident or intentional or as she had been pushed
I went to the top of the cliff and there I found a small purse half consumed soda
and a map of Southern California strangely there was nothing else in her purse but the men led Cullen to the last
person who saw her alive there was a phone number on the map the phone number was that of a cab company and the cab
company was contacted and they indicated they had a fare picked up from the area
and dropped off at the area of the Dana Point cliffs at about 3:00 or 4:00 that morning
the cab driver described the Jane Doe who fell to her death at Dana Point you the lady called for
cab she wanted to go to Laguna Beach but didn't have enough cash [Music] the cabdriver agreed to take her as far
as the money would go ya sure get the bag the only thing the taxi driver said was that she had very little to say
other than that she was very quiet and he didn't notice anything really unusual about her
the meter says 18 bucks man that's the best I could do thank you good night the next morning the young woman's body
was found at the base of the cliff she was 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighed 127 pounds
she had light brown hair brown eyes and was wearing what appeared to be secondhand clothing including a pair of
men's underwear update there are new developments in this case here's one of our staff with details
after remaining a mystery for 26 years this case has finally been solved the remains have been positively identified
thanks to DNA testing as those of Hawley Joe Glen Polly was 21 years old when she
died her death was ruled a suicide [Music] [Music] [Music] you

Brief Summary

Mia Zapata's murder, Billy the Kid's legend, child abuse, and psychic dreams are featured in this episode.

Key points

The Tragic Murder of Mia Zapata. Mia Zapata, a rising star in Seattle's music scene, was tragically murdered at 27.
Brushy Bill Claims to Be Billy the Kid. Brushy Bill Roberts claims he is Billy the Kid, challenging historical accounts of the outlaw's death.
Child Abuse Case Unfolds. Four-year-old Ashley Berman's mysterious injuries lead to shocking accusations against her nanny.
Glenn's Life-Saving Dream. Glenn Looney recounts a vivid dream that warned him of a deadly accident.
The Shared Psychic Dream. Rhonda and her stepdaughter Roxanne experience the same disturbing dream about Joe.
Catherine's Disturbing Dreams. Catherine Webb has recurring dreams about her first love, Joe, leading to shocking revelations.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

Mia's incredible voice was silenced.

Describing the tragic end of Mia Zapata's life.

2:36WatchMar 9, 2017

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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