Unsolved Mysteries with Dennis Farina - Season 4, Episode 16 | Forensic Files

[Music] next on Unsolved Mysteries a convicted felon is behind bars for a crime he swears that he did
not commit is the guilty man is identical twin in California authorities search for the arsonist who set this house on
fire and then videotaped The Blaze a suspected drug dealer ambushes two detectives today he's still on the
run a 20-year-old falls in love with the girl next door and now he's searching for their child who can inherit over a
million [Music] do five stories they're all strange but they are all true I'm Dennis finina and
this is Unsolved [Music] Mysteries [Music] Greensboro North Carolina it's midnight at a local
Motel don't move get down the the floor floor who else up in P the bo you money nobody make a
move the heavily armed robbers take cash and jewelry from the five people in the
room it's all over in a matter of minutes police arrest 22-year-old Frederick young based on eyewitness
testimony from one of the victims he is convicted of the robbery and sentenced to 68 years in prison
we've all heard the story before a convicted felon says that he's innocent a case of mistaken identity but in the
case of Frederick young there is a crucial difference he says that the real criminal is actually Cedric young his
identical twin brother we were very close closer than anybody you know we dressed alike all
the time did mostly everything together it was a bond there you know what I'm saying much greater than any bond you
know like friends or anything you know or any other relative in the family just close Cedric or said as he's called was
born 4 minutes before Fred from the start it was almost impossible to tell the twins
apart cousins aunts and uncle sisters Brothers nobody knows said from Fred if you don't see him when to do
something you don't know who did what if I can't do it I know you can't do it cuz I'm the one that had
them the night after the robbery luck was not on Fred's side everything that could go wrong
did how you doing officer what's the problem did you know your license play light is out no I did not I'm sorry this
your driver's license sure no problem Fred admits that he had a history of trouble with the law otherwise he might
have acted differently you know what officer I think I left it home I don't live that far away what's your name
Sedrick young spell it c e d r i c I gave him my brother's name because I didn't even
have any driver's license you know my brother did keep an eye on him at the time it seemed seemed like a good idea
to use Cedric's name instead of his own Cedric turn around put your hands behind your back that's problem officer
the license is revoked license revoked Cedric young yes you're under arrest for driving under a suspended license oh
this is ridiculous and at the same time he asked me could he search the my car I
told him sure he could things were about to go from bad to worse he's saw searching the passenger
side and you reached in grabbed a bag officer I swear to you I never seen that gun before in my life that same gun
was later linked to the hotel robbery at the police station Fred came clean about pretending to be Cedric but
by then it was too late he was charged with armor robbery and so was his accomplice Chris Ross who
was a friend of the twins now what happened after they came into the room bust and Tina was in the bathroom
during the trial one of the victims claimed that she recognized Fred during the holdup do you see that person here
in this courtroom Fred says that until that moment it had never occurred to him that
his twin Cedric might have committed the Rob with Ross when she pointed directly at
me that's when I kind of figured in my head you know if she think it was me it's definitely my
brother he says he then asked his attorney to subpoena Ross right there in the courtroom I said subpoena Chris Ross
but it didn't happen that way he didn't do anything not long after the trial Fred's
attorney would have is license to practice law suspended for a number of violations including neglecting his
client's cases he never called Fred he never wrote Fred alant as a matter of fact he
never even accepted a call coming in from Fred since the trial Ross has freely admitted that he did put the
shotgun in the car without Fred's knowledge what my shotgun and I put up under the car seat I didn't come forward
with my information for the trial CA nobody try to contact me to give my side of the story about him being charged
with something he did not do Ross plea bargain and received a 20year sentence Fred however refused to plea
bargain insisting that he was innocent Fred was found guilty of six counts of armed robbery and given a
separate sentence for each conviction total time in prison 68 years they picked up the wrong one Fred
wasn't with me it was said it was with me reason why they picked up Fred cuz he got caught with my gun so they figured
he was the one to use the way my client was sentenced even if he were guilty of something we think the sentence is out
of whack but it makes it even worse worse when he's not guilty to get that kind of sentence I'm willing to take any
polygraph test anything whatever it has to take to prove that I'm innocent you know I'm willing to to go along with it
he never said I'm innocent it was my brother you want not me he waited until it went to trial trial didn't go as he
hoped it would I think and this became a desperate effort on his part to throw the blame
elsewhere I had no idea you know that my twin brother committed these robberies until the lady pointed directly at me
that's when I come to conclusion I know it was my brother at some point in time did a year
after the verdict Fred got another chance the court of appeals agreed to consider new evidence Chris Ross took
the stand did the two of you in fact commit these six armed robberies yeah the but his testimony
failed to persuade the Judge Fred was denied a new trial finally the most important witness came forward Fred's
twin brother Cedric on a national talk show with Millions watching the question was put
to S are you the guilty party no I'm not to be in his shoes I'll be saying the same thing exact same
thing uh why you won't lie man we brother man Dam don't do me like that man let make
me suffer for something you done man if I was a rich man if I had money I would spend all of my money to get my
brother out of jail I I'll spend all my money I was spent all my money to get a high paying lawyer to get my brother out
of jail because I miss him Fred served his time and was released as far as the courts are
concerned this case is closed but if the twin's mother was the judge the verdict would be very
different I'm hoping that something will come out of this that I'm dealing with now that Fred is released and he can go
on with his life and say it is punished cuz he has done a great hurt to me and everybody was it Cedric or Frederick if
you have any information about this case please log on to our website at unsolved.com
next a deranged arsonist videotapes his fire and adds disturbing commentary you're about to go inside the mind of an
arsonist who is so coldblooded that he set a fire and then stayed around to videotape it this case begins with the
discovery of his jacket Stockton California it was a scorching hot summer day after overheating A car pulled off
the road the owner was a man will call Joseph via he and his son went looking for the
nearest phone on the way they noticed a camouflage jacket on the ground inside a
pocket they found an unlabeled videotape they decided to take the videotape home
and to watch it this is the actual video the family turned it over to the police who are convinced that the person
holding the camera also set the fire it was assumed the disturbing voice on the tapable belonged to the
arsonist look at the fire beautiful look at that do you see what I could do later
down do what I know I've never run across anything as Eerie as this tape frightened me as a matter of fact uh I
thought about it that night when I went to bed investigators studied the tape in
order to pinpoint the location of the fire it Omar okay look at it Omar look at it Omar look at it Omar when we
listen to the tape it was hard to understand uh certain words that this person was saying so we sat down and we
actually went through this tape I mean hundreds of times and came up with a script look at
itar this is what I've been doing on your week's vacation I sat all done I sat all he says I told you I'd do it
Omar um is Omar the property owner it's a it's a Revenge Type burn is Omar the construction person that maybe hired
this person and fired him and made that a Revenge motive for the fire don't really don't know we don't we really
don't know who Omar is okay is this the jacket yes that's okay did you see anything else a county arson
investigator accompanied Joseph via's brother to the spot where the tape was found amazing amly the jacket was still
there in it they found a wooden pesel the kind sometimes used to grind herbs for Satanic
rituals nearby they also found a glove that matched the jacket and a ceramic skull the skull like the pestle
suggested Satanism as did the words of the arsonist I call it home my hell the whole sky is black with
smoke the that I will too hard so ancient of evil those are basically the clues all
we have on the video and that's why we need to find out where this went down where is this
home look at it the fire department's trying to put it out what a laugh as we viewed the tape we realized
that there was fire suppression equipment uh that had responded to the incident and we thought if we can
enhance the tape bring those shots in a little bit closer to us we may be able to get a door Mark or a house number or
maybe even a fire department Insignia on the door a frame by frame analysis did not
reveal any new details investigators were still unable to match the tape with any reported fires in the state of
California the tape was found here just a few yards from Interstate 205 near Stockton the 205 feeds into several
major highways authorities believe believe that the fire could have happened anywhere in the US and that the
arsonist might have only been traveling through California I think the person who made
this videotape and is responsible for the fire will without a doubt in my mind continue to set fires and the person
needs to be apprehended and stopped before his fires become more destructive and then there's a few of these type of
Serial arsonists that will move into another criminal area uh you may recall called the uh the Son of Sam back East
who had killed six people with a 44 magnum uh he was responsible for about 2,000 fires in the city of New
York and then he stopped setting fires and started killing people look at the fls listen to the cow
[Music] yell lone good night ladies and gentlemen h the house appears to be a one-story
ranch with two chimneys there is another house on the left side of the picture partly hidden by a white trailer the
trailer indicates that the burning house was possibly under construction because fire engines arrive
at the scene it seems certain that a report of this fire would be file somewhere
update within minutes of our broadcast several viewers called and identifi the house seen burning on the video
table it was located in Redwood City California 80 Mi west of Stockton as we were sitting here and we
looked at the film on the TV we realized with utter shock that it was the house behind us that was on TV and our family
was scared to say the least cuz we didn't realize that the film even existed and we called in it Unsolved
Mysteries and gave only information surprisingly on the night of the plays Woodside fire Captain John
dingis also videotape the fire while I was setting up the command post directing companies in to extinguish the
fire I had set up my video camera to film The Fire for training investigation purposes by compar ing Captain Del's
tape with the video shot by the arsonist investigators were able to confirm that
this was definitely the fire's location some of the calls received led us to a 17-year-old Woodside
youth we interviewed that youth through that interview it led us to a 19-year-old Redwood City youth he was
arrested and interviewed and subsequently admitted burning the house taking the video and was the one who
talked on the video tape both suspects were underage when they set the fire and were tried as
miners one served time at juvenile hall the other was committed to a state mental
hospital next a suspected drug dealer faces a long stretch in prison after he ambushes police
[Music] Oakland California all right he's he's got something he's giving it to the guy okay
the deal's going down acting on a tip detectives stake out a liquor store parking lot all right R is backing out R
is out a suspected drug dealer Roberto Ramirez has set up a sale Ramirez is no ordinary
dealer he distributes cocaine from Oakland to La the word is that Ramirez will do absolutely anything for
money he would often deal out of his house he'd often have his children two small children uh grammar school age uh
carry the cocaine in backpacks and uh bring it to the buyers that way after obtaining a search warrant
police police Converge on the Ramirez home Oakland and Fairfield officers are in on the
raid no one knows what to expect from Ramirez my assignment was to pry the iron grade on the front door the safest
entry that we make is a quick entry it gives the people inside less time to prepare and normally we catch them in in
that surprise mode my position was to cross in front of the house and I would cover the
window um and the side of the house for anybody trying to flee or or any attack coming from outside the window through
the front window 1:42 a.m. show that police officers search War open the door police officer search War open the
door Ramirez's silence is a challenge loud and clear come and get me suddenly he appears at a side
[Music] window two officers fall detective Smith is severely injured and is dragged from the line of fire
officer brell takes Refuge under R's window hold your fire I'm coming out I took a physical check on myself my
legs worked um I was clear thinking my left arm didn't work uh my shoulder was numb go get him out get him out but the
other officer isn't so lucky Detective Smith is bleeding profusely and must be quickly evacuated
through a neighbor's house to a waiting ambulance Ramirez still won't budge reinforcements arrived from eight other
police departments and now 30 Heavenly armed officers surround the house he's coming out okay he's coming
out after a 2-hour standoff Ramirez finally comes out however he is hiding behind his wife who is 8 months pregnant
and their children ages 10 and six when Ramirez came outside there was a lot of tension he had shot two of our police
officers and he had a lot of time to think about what he had done anything can happen uh you don't
know what's going through their mind at that point Ramirez was arrested on two counts
of attempted murder and a laundry list of drug and assault charges Ramirez was released after
posting bail of a million 6 months later just before his trial he and his wife packed up their children
and disappeared they are still on the run I was shot through the upper left arm um it was basically in and out um it
severed the nerves in my left arm and left me with no feeling although I have a must uh um strength and muscle uh
flexibility in the arm I just don't have any feeling in it [Music] I remember muzzle flashes and then my
next memory it felt like I had been pit with a baseball bat in the stomach I can't pronounce most of the
things that had damaged but it was most of the internal organs in my abdomen I'm always going to have the
scars and and the pain and and uh and all from it but it would give me some satisfaction if he was cotton and was in
jail serving his time and pain for what he's done Roberto Ramirez is 5' 6 in tall and
weighs 210 lb he is considered to be armed and dangerous detectives have searched for him throughout California
and Mexico if you have any information please log on to our website at unsolved.com
next the Queen Mary once a luxury ocean liner it is now said to be [Music] haunted Long Beach
California this is the famous Queen Mary now permanently docked on her decks and in her corridors
people have seen ghostly figures and heard mysterious sounds that they just can't explain i'
been here about 14 years when IID first had the first experience with actually seeing what I thought to be a
ghost I was in the work area and there was a lady sitting there she appeared to be in a late
afternoon cocktail type dress from the' 40s no makeup on she seemed to be very pale but I never saw a movement I left
the table turned around cuz I wanted to take another look and there was nothing there I am probably the last person that
should have had these experiences because I'm such a skeptic one day I was standing on the
stairs of the pool and I saw a woman probably in her 60s or 70s in black and white so I went down the stairs and
around the pillar expecting to find her standing there and she wasn't anywhere to be
found it was only a matter of seconds she couldn't have gone anywhere it is said that one way or
another all places are haunted and that they hold on to memories of past events perhaps that explains the ghostly
apparitions and unexplained sounds that haunt the queen the Queen Mary took her maiden voyage in
1936 during the 5-day trip across the Atlantic she was a floating party a symbol of luxury travel in a Gilded Age
one of the first people to work on board was a marine engineer John Smith part of my duties was to check and
learn this ship thoroughly and so I explored it in the evenings on my regular day's work was done several
times over a two-month period John heard something unusual in the ship's bow where there should have been only
silence the sounds of metal tearing water rushing and then men screaming it's sounded like there had
been a rupture of the ship's hole it was frightful I went up to the extreme bow section of the ship the sound was here
but there was no water and nothing to cause it I don't believe in Supernatural things but in all my experiences as a
marine engineer I've never seen anything like this years later John read about a
tragedy dating from World War II after being converted into a troop ship the Queen Mary accidentally
collided with a British Cruiser called the kirawa over 300 men were killed the Queen Mary's bow sliced to curasawa in
half after I read that article I was so shook up and so overwhelmed the very area I heard that
mysterious water rushing was this exact same area that was damaged when the ship
hit the kiraan I said this is what it would have sounded and felt like if I had been in that compartment at the
time but I know it couldn't be that was 30 years earlier it couldn't be anything dozens of other sightings have
been reported late one night in the pool area a maintenance supervisor ER Kathy love and her coworker heard mysterious
sounds after we came into the pool and I heard giggling uh sound of a little girl or a
child playing in the [Music] area and at that point I noticed there was splashing the splashing stopped the
giggling continued and we observed the footprints of a small child walking across into the locker
room I know that I saw what I saw I'm not sure exactly why I saw it but I know it was
there several other encounters have occurred in shaft alley deep within the ship near the
engine room here during a routine fire drill a man named John pet was crushed to death
by a watertight dog some believe pet still haunts the area I was working in the capacity of a
lead guide which meant my job was to close down the tour route and make sure that there weren't any stragglers behind
and I don't know why I turned around standing right behind me on the step was a man he had blue overalls they
were dirty when I stepped aside to let him go by he wasn't there he was gone I don't necessarily believe any
other ghost stories that other people have come up with I only know what I saw and I only believe what I saw with my
own eyes there's nothing like actually seeing a ghost to turn a skeptic into a Believer and judging from the reoccur
heing stories if you do want to become a Believer just jump aboard the Queen Mary next a man searches for his child
who he met only once and who is the heir to his estate worth over a million do Mona
California stay away from her for most parents holding their baby for the first time fills them with joy
it's our baby Mac but for this young father it was a moment of sheer Panic that drove him away from the girl he
loved and his newborn [Music] child Max don't go don't operation the Hydraulics the water
system and the fire system all the young man was WB Mack McDonald now a wealthy businessman with a sizable estate but no
one to give it to M McDonald knows that he made a terrible mistake when he ran away from
his newborn baby for decades he has tried to find his child McDonald's Story begins when he was 20 and he fell in
love with a girl next door her name was Mary Helen Carr and she was just 16 the first time that I I noticed my
neighbor she was in a swing on her front porch there was uh definite attraction both
ways nice bike yeah the romance began slowly and discreetly back Mar Helen nice to meet you I've seen you
before uh I'm just cleaning my bike uh you like to go for a ride sometime my mother would forbid me to ride that
especially with you is your mother always here Mary Helen's mother didn't trust Mac but the two young lovers saw each
other every every chance they could until Mary Helen's mother caught them together her mother blew her stack
you're lying to me now it was very hostile lying to me if she had have been a man I think it would have been a
physical conflict on the spot I felt that the world had just collapsed it upset me you know because I
was in love with a girl at that time and we were planning on a future together and here were these uh tremendous
stumbling blocks being thrown out into the path Mac felt that he had no choice but
to pack up his bags and leave his destination the oil fields of [Music] Texas we both agreed that this was the
best thing to do but it didn't didn't make it any easier 3 weeks later Mack found himself
in Houston soon afterwards Mary Helen ran away from home to join him Mary Helen called me from the uh bus
station there in Houston and I tore the tore the streets up getting down to the bus station it was a very happy
reunion posing as husband and wife Mack and Mary Helen found a place to liveb but their world would soon collapse
again hello just a minute Mac was tipped off by a friend that the police were on their
way I can't believe this is happening okay right now Mary Helen's mother was charging him with statutory rape and
illegally living with a man something it's okay it's I know that's that's fine I'll call
you mack made his escape with only seconds to spare I left Texas and it was in the
afternoon and I didn't stop till I was out of the state of Texas I was devastated they jerked her back to
California and I had no way of contacting her again A year had passed and Mac returned
to California for a new job one evening he and a friend stopped off at a drive-in in Long Beach
Mac Mary where she got it oh almost fell out of the car the waitress the car hop
that came to wait on us was Mary Helen Los Angeles is a big city it was a big city then and the possibilities of
driving into a restaurant and having her the waitress was like hitting a Keno ticket here in
Reno well listen I can't really talk to you but I get off work at 9 you want to come by my apartment
yeah here's my my dress great you can see our baby I have a baby no I almost had heart
pure I took my breath away cuz I had no idea she was pregnant there was a possibility
though so I told her I'll be right [Music] over come her mother opened the door stay away from her with this baby
in her arms I can press charges on you well I thought with the police department is probably on premises you
know this is just a matter of time till I'm going to be Shackled and in jail over this see you I was so distraught
when her mother opened the door hold that I overlooked the fact that she was about half civilized the first time she
had ever spoke to me civil beautiful I was in such a traumatic state of fear the benefit of being able to hold hold
your baby for the first time I I missed that Mack was terrified that Mary Helen's mother still had a warrant out
for his arrest you in California statutory rape was punishable by up to 30 years in prison Max stayed for less
than 5 minutes don't go he never even learned if the baby was a boy or a girl I feel that I made the greatest
mistake of my life by not staying there and riding it out 40 years that's what it's cost me I
feel that the youngster is entitled to my estate I'm not entitled to uh be its father probably but I'd want that
youngster to know that even with a m Stakes that I love them and I want them to have the
best update on the night of our broadcast Mack learned that he had a daughter her
name was Sher the news came from Mary Helen Carr herself one week after our broadcast Mac
arrived at Cherry's home in Denver Colorado for what would be a Bittersweet reunion a especially for Sherry who had
been raised by a caring stepfather no hi come on in right place yes hi Mac it's hard to
describe the feeling that I had for my daughter when I opened the door and she was there and I was able to hold
her sitting on I want to sit down I want to hold you I just try to come to the realization that it really
was my father standing there I don't know what to say I'm still in a State of Shock this at this point in my life to
find that there is someone who is my father and who wants to establish a relationship with me is just emotionally
very traumatic apparently he wants to be part of her [Music] life and if that's the case it's
okay I hope since he's gone to this much effort to find her that he doesn't bring
any sorrow to her the fact that I didn't stay and fight the battle it's most unfortunate I
don't believe I would do it that way again however yesterday unfortunately can't be
redone I'd like to no matter how you look at it he left my mother with a with a tiny baby you
know and I have to deal with that um I have to deal with the fact that I have a father who loves for me who's raised me
who's cared for me but I believe there's enough room in this family for everyone
and I sincerely mean that [Music] [Music]

Brief Summary

Five true stories of wrongful conviction, arson, police ambush, haunting, and a father's search for his child.

Key points

Mistaken Identity. Frederick Young claims he was wrongfully convicted due to his identical twin Cedric's actions.
The Arsonist's Tape. A disturbing videotape reveals the chilling mindset of an arsonist who filmed his crime.
Police Standoff. A tense standoff ensues as suspected drug dealer Roberto Ramirez ambushes police officers.
The Haunting of the Queen Mary. A marine engineer recalls eerie sounds linked to a tragic shipwreck.
A Father's Regret. Mack McDonald reflects on the life-changing moment he left his newborn child.
Bittersweet Reunion. Mack finally meets his daughter Sherry after decades apart.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

I’ll spend all my money to get my brother out of jail.

A brother's desperate plea for his twin's freedom.

9:40WatchMar 9, 2017

Tension

65/ 100Some tension

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