Unsolved Mysteries with Dennis Farina - Season 5, Episode 12 | Forensic Files

DENNIS FARINA: Next on Unsolved Mysteries. First they were pen pals, then secret lovers,
but that was just the beginning for a young school teacher and a convicted bank robber.
He's called the Ice Man. A mysterious creature, half man and half ape. Is he a prehistoric human or a carnival hoax?
An exclusive interview with G. Daniel Walker paints a chilling portrait of a convicted murderer
with a 30 page rap sheet. And in Florida, a murder investigation has stalled because no one can identify
the young female victim. Five stories. They're all strange, but guess what, they're all true.
I'm Dennis Farina and this is Unsolved Mysteries. [theme music] DENNIS FARINA: Walpole, a maximum security
prison in Massachusetts. I Karen, take Richard to be my husband. For better or worse, for richer--
DENNIS FARINA: After an intense eight year courtship, Karen Walters and Richard Cepulonis
become husband and wife. This was the happiest day of Karen Walters' young life.
Karen was a shy, unassuming teacher who still lived at home with her mother and her sister.
But for inmate Richard Cepulonis, the wedding may have been something different.
Perhaps nothing more than a means to an end. Richard Cepulonis was serving 58 to 82 years for bank robbery
and armed assault with the intent to murder. All right, this is a hold up! [gunshots]
DENNIS FARINA: Cepulonis had hit the bank in Woburn, Massachusetts with two accomplices.
JACK BEAUCHAMP: One robber jumped over the counter. Two others had their automatic weapons on me,
one in front of me, one behind me. Open the door! I can't, it's on a timer. [inaudible]
JACK BEAUCHAMP: A man in front of me put the weapon under my chin, and waited what
seemed like a long time, what was probably just a second or so, and I say come on, let's get out of here.
He says if we see a cop outside, I'm gonna kill the cop, and I'm gonna come back in and kill you.
DENNIS FARINA: The armed robbers made off with more than $17,000 in cash. A silent alarm brought an unmarked police unit
within seconds. Is anyone hurt? Everyone's fine, they've got guns. The red Mustang!
JOHN P. GIBBONS, JR.: The bank manager pointed at the direction of which the getaway car
had left the bank. I followed behind the car, what was probably three to four car lengths behind him
going down the street. I'm in pursuit of a red Mustang, heading east on Cambridge.
JOHN P. GIBBONS, JR.: And that's when they started firing machine guns. I put my gun out the window and fired
two warning shots in the air. At that point, the person that was hanging out the window shooting on the passenger side
went back into the car, and they pulled in front of a car that was going in the same direction, and opened
fire on the driver of the car. DENNIS FARINA: To create a diversion, the robbers shot and
wounded a 16-year-old woman. It gave him just enough time to escape. Two months later, Richard Cepulonis was
tracked down in New York City. He was convicted and sent to Walpole state prison,
a maximum security facility. Over the next five years, Cepulonis was the perfect inmate.
Then he met Karen Walters. At the time, Karen was attending William Patterson College in her home state of New Jersey.
TOM CASSANO: Walters was doing a project while she was attending college, and this project involved writing to a prisoner
in the correctional system. And by chance she selected Cepulonis. This campaign, this letter writing campaign,
grew and grew, and shortly after that, she began visiting him. Karen. Richard. MIKE CORSINI: A typical inmate takes advantage
of people out in the community. Oftentimes, they'll latch on to women who are lonely
and want some attention, and they take advantage of them. And I think the women are beguiled by all that attention.
Karen, why don't you ever ask me about the shooting? You know why I'm here. I just thought you didn't want to talk about it.
I got nothing to hide. Karen, I did not see that innocent woman. SHEILA ISENBERG: The man on the outside has a job to go to,
he's got friends, he's got other commitments. But a man on the inside is so focused on that woman,
she feels so special and so desired and so wanted. It elevates the whole romance to a very high level.
DENNIS FARINA: Karen started leading a double life. She taught learning disabled children
and was highly regarded by her fellow faculty members, but none of them knew that she was in love with a convict.
Let's do one of the Dean handing me the diploma. DENNIS FARINA: Meanwhile, Cepulonis
became the first inmate at Walpole State Prison to earn a college degree. I can honestly say that being in prison
has been more of an asset than a liability. CHAPLAIN: Dearly beloved, we have come together in the presence of God to witness--
DENNIS FARINA: Eight years after they met, Karen married Cepulonis. Two years later, he was transferred
to a minimum security facility. MIKE CORSINI: He was very bright and very personable,
so I think once staff find that in an inmate, I think it's easy for staff to let their guard down.
I think you always have to be careful with an individual like that. DENNIS FARINA: Cepulonis's new home was literally a prison
without bars. Karen could visit unsupervised almost any time she wanted. I want that dream.
Well, be patient, and it'll happen. Not unless we make it happen. I don't know if you're ready for that.
What do you mean? DENNIS FARINA: 10 months later, Karen was forced to act. She and Cepulonis were caught having
sex on the prison grounds. Karen was barred from visiting her husband. Three weeks later, she drove to an isolated spot about a mile
from the prison. Her entire life savings, $20,000 in cash, was in her pocket. At around noon, Cepulonis appeared.
He had simply walked away from the prison grounds. I was so worried. I didn't know what had happened. - Yeah.
OK. Come on. DENNIS FARINA: Karen left behind her career and her family for a life on the run.
Do you want me to drive? Karen, get in. DENNIS FARINA: Update. After a recent broadcast, a viewer in Minnesota
recognized Karen's photograph. A task force, which included FBI and police, staked out this house where Cepulonis
and Walters were living. STEPHEN GILKERSON: As soon as he pulled into the parking lot
and got out of the vehicle, one of the task force members was right there with him.
So he jumped out, drew his weapon, ordered Cepulonis not to move. And at that point, other task force members
got there, jumped out, and assisted in the arrest. DENNIS FARINA: Karen Walters was picked up 20 minutes later.
For eight years, she and Cepulonis had completely fooled all of their neighbors.
When I found out that they were who they were, I was shocked. I couldn't believe it.
My mouth fell to the floor. I never would imagine in a million years that these two people would do anything wrong.
DENNIS FARINA: When the task force search the house, they found a bag of robbery tools.
VERN LEE: The discovery of the face mask, the gun, the rubber gloves, the large amount of cash in small bills;
we think that perhaps he's back in the bank robbery or robbery business again. DENNIS FARINA: After their capture,
Karen Walters and Richard Cepulonis were extradited to Massachusetts. Cepulonis was returned to prison to finish
out his original sentence. Karen Walters spent several months in a woman's correctional facility for her role
in the breakout. She has since been released. Next, he's called the Ice Man because he has found
frozen solid in a block of ice. Is he a prehistoric being, or just a hoax? Altura, Minnesota.
Well as you can see, gentlemen, these are not ideal circumstances in which to view the exhibit.
DENNIS FARINA: On a chilly December evening, a promoter named Frank Hansen led two scientists
into a dimly lit barn. Mr. Hansen, is the exhibit ever shown outside the trailer?
No, it has always shown only in the trailer. DENNIS FARINA: Ivan Sanderson and Dr. Bernard Heuvelmans,
experts in the study of undiscovered species, were not prepared for what they were about to see.
Gentlemen, here is the exhibit. DENNIS FARINA: Frozen inside a block of solid ice
was a creature that appeared to be half man, half ape. These are actual photographs of the Ice Man.
After Sanderson and Heuvelmans saw the creature, they were convinced that it had genuine scientific value.
But weeks later, it had vanished, and with it any chance of further examination.
Who or what was the Ice Man? Many people assume that it was just the carnival's side show created by a master entertainer.
But others are convinced that it was a prehistoric ancestor of man that somehow survived into modern times.
This machine predates the Model-T. DENNIS FARINA: It all began when a promoter, Frank Hansen,
was traveling the state fair circuit. He was allegedly approached by a mysterious stranger.
The following recreations are based upon published accounts. I find what you're doing here, sir, is fascinating.
I have an exhibit that I think would benefit from your expertise. Please give me a call.
It might be worth your while. Thank you. Thank you. DENNIS FARINA: Later, Hansen met this stranger
at a refrigerated warehouse in a little known location. What you are going to see belongs to me.
How I came by it is my business, and we need not discuss that at the moment. FRANK HANSEN: Is it real?
Where did you get this from? DENNIS FARINA: Frank Hansen agreed to take the creature on the road.
Over the next two years, the Ice Man became a star attraction at carnivals and state fairs
throughout the Midwest. Zookeeper Bob Czaplewski saw the Ice Man when he was 18 years old.
What I was looking at was not made out of latex, it was not made out of rubber. It did not appear to be a man made thing.
But as far as my opinion, I don't know what I was looking at. But I'm sure I was looking at something dead.
DENNIS FARINA: Environmentalist David Rivard also saw the exhibit. The first thing that went through the average person's
mind was that this was not a wax animal that he had there. This was some kind of a formerly live animal
that was in the block of ice. DENNIS FARINA: Dr. Terry Cullen is a zoological and veterinary researcher.
I had long been an aficionado of side shows and going to see them. Always had a great time trying to find
out what they were doing, and what they did to fool the public. DENNIS FARINA: Cullen first saw the Ice Man when he was 17.
He says the creature appeared to be a six foot tall adolescent male. It was covered with medium length hair
and had highly visible follicles. Cullen also noticed a traumatic injury to the left side
of the Ice Man's face. DR. TERRY CULLEN: There was a noticeable odor coming out of this casket.
The one thing that there is no doubt in my mind about is that the thing that I observed,
the carcass that I observed, was in fact made out of some sort of flesh. Well, young man, you've been here before, haven't you?
Yes, I have, DENNIS FARINA: Terry was hooked. He returned to the exhibit a number of times.
Once he even snuck in a magnifying glass. DR. TERRY CULLEN: There was something of a death grimace on the face.
The upper lip was pulled back a bit. I was able to observe all four incisors, which
were very large, very squarish, very much like an orang's incisors. Whatever this was, it was important enough
to get the necessary scientific personnel in there to view it. Kid, I've been to a lot of sides shows,
these things are always fake. No, this one's amazing. I think this one's real. DENNIS FARINA: Eventually, Terry convinced an anthropologist
from the University of Minnesota to take a look at the creature. DR. TERRY CULLEN: He was in there perhaps 10 to 15 minutes,
came back out again, and he started walking past where I was standing. And he had sort of a dreamy look on his face,
and I came zipping up to him. - Well, what'd you think? - It's amazing. Yeah, I mean.
Well, tell me! It's really amazing. What'd you see out of it? I mean, what did you--
Thank you. DR. TERRY CULLEN: I remember being practically close to tears from frustration, that I had finally gotten
someone who at least had some credibility in the field of anthropology to look at this thing.
And I couldn't even get six words out of the gentleman. Now, the reasons for that I can't even speculate on.
At that point, I decided I would have to pursue other avenues. DENNIS FARINA: Terry finally convinced
Sanderson and Heuvelmans to examine the Ice Man. DR. TERRY CULLEN: Sanderson and humans were both convinced
that, in fact, this carcass was the genuine carcass of some unknown form of animal or hominid.
DENNIS FARINA: When the scientists published their findings, Frank Hansen became the center of attention.
Before long, the local sheriff stopped by his farmhouse. Look, Frank, taking a cadaver over state lines is illegal.
And, if it's the real McCoy, how did it get dead? Listen, you can come with me and we'll look at it together.
DENNIS FARINA: That same night, Frank Hansen left town, taking his controversial exhibit with him.
A few months later, Hansen was back on the circuit with a replica of the mysterious creature.
The whereabouts of the real Ice Man are still unknown. This thing may one day be understood by us as a genuine
object, as a true representative of something primitive and man-like that is still living today.
If under other circumstances this kind of thing is found and described and matches
those extensive descriptions by Sanderson and Heuvelmans, then we would know that this was the real thing that they saw.
DENNIS FARINA: What was the Ice Man? A primitive humanlike species, preserved until the present day, or an elaborate hoax?
And what happened to the original? Frank Hansen may have the answers, but he declined to be interviewed.
At one point, Hansen said the Ice Man was a manmade illusion, but he has changed his story many, many times.
For now, it seems that the legend of the Ice Man must remain a mystery. Next, a young man becomes the innocent victim
of a killer in a neighborhood where gangs rule. Freeport, New York. A tetanus shot.
Those are what hurt. DENNIS FARINA: For Pam Corrente, it was just another day of running errands.
Then, as she was driving her teenage son to the doctor, she passed what appeared to be a terrible car accident.
I can't see anything, can you? PAMELA CORRENTE: I said to me son, look over there
and see what's going on. So he just looked over and said I don't see anything, you can't see anything.
It's just ambulances all over. So I passed it. I took him to the doctor's office.
We came back home. [phone ringing] DENNIS FARINA: It was then that Pam received a phone call about her oldest son, 21-year-old Damien.
No he's not, may I take a message? PAMELA CORRENTE: And I got a phone call from one of his friends asking me, is Damien there?
I said no he's not, he was going to go out to see his friends. Aren't you with him?
No. OK, never mind. And they hung up. Hello? PAMELA CORRENTE: And that was just-- the whole thing was off.
DENNIS FARINA: When Damien didn't answer her calls, Pam remembered the ambulances and decided
to check local hospitals. I called South Nassau Hospital-- Hi, my name's Pam Corrente--
PAMELA CORRENTE: --and said do have Damien Corrente there? Yes, who is this? I said, this is his mom.
I said is there? Is he OK? Why didn't anybody call me? Why aren't you-- why haven't I been informed?
I mean, what's going on? Just tell me what's going on. And she said didn't the detective come to your house
yet? DENNIS FARINA: Within minutes, Pam was at the hospital. Her son Damien had been involved in the incident
she saw earlier, but it was no traffic accident. PAMELA CORRENTE: My son was there on the bed.
And he was in a hospital gown, and he looked like a complete angel. And I went to hug him, and there was blood on my hand.
Oh god. PAMELA CORRENTE: When they told me he shot five times in the head, I couldn't comprehend it.
Everything went crazy at that point. DAMIANO CORRENTE: I saw my wife crying on the other side of the door with-- there was a nurse.
I said to her, what's the matter? She said, he's dead. Just like that. Something died in me that day, too.
DENNIS FARINA: Pam Corrente and her husband Damiano soon learned that their son had died in a gang shooting.
As if that wasn't enough, there were allegations that Damien himself was a gang member.
To Damien's grieving parents, it just did not make sense. PAMELA CORRENTE: Damien was a pre-med student at Stony Brook
University, and he had an ambition, and that was to go to college and get his degree
and become an anesthesiologist. My son had absolutely no gang affiliation. That was proven over and over.
It was written in every newspaper. He was absolutely not a part of a gang, and had no gang affiliation.
What time are you going to be back? - Before dinner. - Dinner's at 6:30. - All right. - OK, thanks, honey.
I appreciate it. - OK. DENNIS FARINA: In the weeks leading up to his death, Damien had returned home from college for winter break,
and started hanging around with friends from high school. BRIAN PARPAN: One of those friends
was a man by the name of Harold Zambrano. [speaking spanish] Harold was a 19-year-old member
of a local gang called Nientes. I was just looking for these punks. These punks?
Why, what's up? DENNIS FARINA: Harold told Damien that two days earlier, he was jumped by members of MS13,
a violent El Salvadorean street gang originally from Los Angeles. They hit me over head with a bottle.
That looks horrible! Yeah, I know, son. DENNIS FARINA: Harold asked Damien for help.
PAMELA CORRENTE: Damien had the biggest heart in the world, that was part of his problem.
Anybody asked him for anything, he would do it and he would be there. Even if he had his own plans.
That's not right I know, yo, that's why you got my back, son? We're gonna go look for these cats.
Yeah, I got your back. MICHAEL WOODWARD: Damien Corrente, on the day that he died, I'm sure had no idea as to what
he was getting involved in. Howard Zambrano, being a gang member, probably never publicized that fact to Damien.
DENNIS FARINA: At a local strip mall, Harold found what he was looking for. HAROLD ZAMBRANO: Yo, that's one of them.
That's one of them right there. Stop the car, stop the car. DENNIS FARINA: 19-year-old German DeLeon.
BRIAN PARPAN: German DeLeon was known MS13 member and was wearing the colors, so there
was no question in their mind that they had found somebody. Yo, we [inaudible] now, son.
BRIAN PARPAN: They approached German DeLeon. Who are you? What you look like, stupid, did you do this?
BRIAN PARPAN: They confronted him with the injury to Harold Zambrano. I didn't do that, yo.
I was over here waiting for my girl, what are you talking about? BRIAN PARPAN: He was there at the laundromat
with his girlfriend. DeLeon admitted that he was an MS13 member and told him that he had nothing to do
with that particular incident. [indistinct shouting] Zambrano and those guys indicated that they respected
the fact that he was with his girlfriend, and they wouldn't cause him any trouble
while he was with his girlfriend. DENNIS FARINA: Damien, Harold, and the others returned to their car.
Then two more members of MS13 showed up. [gunshot] DENNIS FARINA: Zambrano was shot in the neck.
[gunshots] DENNIS FARINA: Damien was shot five times in the head. A police investigation quickly revealed the identity
of the alleged shooters. German DeLeon, Mario Portillo, and Juan Gil Ferrufino. But the suspects could not be found.
To deal with her grief, Pam started a gang awareness program in Freeport. PAMELA CORRENTE: I had no choice.
I had to fight. It was either that or go with the rage and the anger and the hate.
So I can't do that, but I can fight back by trying to educate our children and trying to find a way for them,
and to educate the parents to educate the children. DENNIS FARINA: Pam finds her new work rewarding,
though it will never take away the pain of losing her son. There is only one thing that would help, catching
the killers of Damien Corrente. Although the families of all three suspects still live in Freeport, police have
traced German DeLeon, Mario Portillo, and Juan Gil Ferrufino to El Salvador. If their specific whereabouts can be determined,
the suspects could be extradited to the United States for trial. If you have any information about these individuals,
please contact us at unsolved.com. Next, a disturbing face to face confrontation
with a diabolical mind, convicted killer G. Daniel Walker. For years, scientists and philosophers
have struggled to answer this question, are people born as psychopaths, or do they become psychopaths
because of their environment? ROBERT HARE: If I were to cast my vote in one direction
or the other, I'd probably say that it's more likely that they're born, not made.
I think that there are a fairly strong genetic contributions to all personality traits, including
the personality traits that make up psychopathy. ELLIOT LEYTON: I think it's pretty clear that while people
may have a inherited susceptibility to certain kinds of violent crimes, that individuals
who go on to produce these kinds of abominable crimes are created. They're shaped by their families.
They're shaped by their societies. They model the culture heroes in their civilization,
and they go on and commit these abominable acts. Big deal, death always went with the territory.
See you in Disneyland. The best way to understand the mind of the criminal psychopath
is to talk to the experts, the killers themselves. You're about to meet G. Daniel Walker.
Walker is a dangerous and diabolical murderer. G. Daniel Walker was serving time
for armed robbery and attempted murder when he escaped from prison. While on the run, Walker killed advertising
executive William Ashlock. He then raped Ashlock's fiancee, all the while proclaiming his love for her.
Soon after, Walker was arrested and tried for murder. Walker defended himself in court,
claiming that Ashlock was the victim of a mafia hit squad. He insisted that he had only helped to cover up the murder
to protect Ashlock's fiancee. He lost his case and received the sentence of 17 years
to life in prison. While Walker insists he is innocent of the murder charge, he brags about committing more than 300
other crimes for which he has not been charged or tried. You feel like you are pretty much, by the system,
where you belong, from the standpoint of-- Yes, yes. I'm convicted of murder. I've always denied that I was the one that
did the actual shooting in that particular case, but I've taken the witness stand--
DENNIS FARINA: We asked former FBI criminal profiler Robert Ressler to interview G. Daniel Walker.
Given the same set of facts, I would do it again. How long is your rap sheet? I would think the current one would probably
be about 29 to 30 pages. ROBERT RESSLER: Charles Manson's is only five. Well he was just a killer.
But at the same time, I've heard you say that your criminal record, your rap sheet,
your FBI record, whatever, does not certainly hold all that you have done. Definitely not, no.
The body of work of the criminal enterprise has been much greater, and let's hope that I've
been successful in something. See, you're meeting a failed criminal right now, and you're very happy to be meeting
me as a failed criminal. Because if you were meeting me as a successful criminal,
that means that I'd have the gun pointed at you. And you'd suddenly have this-- ROBERT RESSLER: A person like him can be extremely dangerous.
He doesn't buy our system. He does not buy our society's rules as we established them,
and again, that's a mark of a psychopath or a sociopath, is that they make their own rules in life.
You've had so many opportunities to stay out of jail, and yet you keep coming back in.
Well, then again, you see prisons not being successful. And just because you're in prison
doesn't mean you can't be successful. I think Solzhenitsyn said the greatest freedom that a man
enjoys is being in prison, because he feeds you breakfast in the morning, you can go out and kill one of your cell
mates, and they'll still feed you lunch and give you sheets for your bed in the evening.
The psychopathic individual will use several different defenses. One of those is rationalization.
He will come up with very elaborate explanations, that when thought about very carefully, make no sense.
Institutions are not that unsatisfying. You've got to remember, I don't have to go out and kill any cows.
They're going to do all that for me. I don't have to go out and cook any meals. I don't have to wash any dishes, they're going
to do all those things for me. So the institution becomes a wife by nature. They're going to wash my dirty socks for me,
they're going to do all of the things that I don't necessarily like to do. So if that's becoming institutionalized,
I'm happily married. ROBERT RESSLER: If you had the option, would you leave/ I've had the option to escape.
I have escaped, as you know. Juries have tried me and never found me guilty of escape.
I've always represented myself in those cases. There is a certain excitement when you have escaped
from a major penitentiary, and you know that the red lights are right behind you.
You know the sirens are going. There's a certain excitement that you just-- it's better than sex.
So yes, there is that possibility that there may be the 14th escape. ROBERT RESSLER: You know, I've heard that before.
Oh, it's exciting. ROBERT RESSLER: The excitement this is a high factor in maintaining life the way you have.
And oftentimes, you'll find that the people that are pursuing you will lose the scent,
so you have to go back and show them, no, no, you've got to turn this way, fellas,
you know, to keep the chase going. And I've done it. They will draw the interview into what
we call a narcissistic twinship, where they will try to do things to show in what ways
they are similar to the interviewer. And oftentimes, the interviewer is both flattered and caught off guard.
You know the minute you have taken down a perpetrator, and you've taken him down, that you guys
get together and get the high fives, and say, good god, we did it! That was a great job!
You know, the criminals do the same thing. The minute that you've outwitted them, you get together,
give the high fives. Oh, we got over on him! ROBERT RESSLER: Are you saying there's just a fine line
between you and I, then? Very fine line and you know it. ROBERT RESSLER: Do you have any true feelings of remorse?
Well, I would have to say, take a different tangent on that. Do I have remorse for the things that put me there?
We have to remember that the crime that I'm in prison for I defended myself. So I'm the one that lost that case.
So I have remorse that I didn't handle that case in a little different way. As far as--
REID MELOY: The psychopathic individual will engage in a psychology of reversals.
Pain originates and other people, problems originate in other people, and responsibility for our behavior
is really other people's responsibility. ROBERT RESSLER: Do you feel that you are truly dangerous person from the standpoint
of committing violent acts? Only if you've done something wrong to me. I think what you're referring to is the fact--
DENNIS FARINA: From prison, Walker somehow managed to have highly toxic poison imported
into the United States. A deputy district attorney who had once prosecuted Walker
became terrified that he might be Walker's target. So when suddenly the system discovered
that I had 2.2 pounds of poison in the United States, they went crazy. Like, what does G. Daniel Walker want with this poison?
Well, the little lady that lives in Dubuque, Iowa that has an antique collection that's never heard of the name G.
Daniel Walker knew that I didn't have that poison for her, so she had no concern.
There were a lot of Deputy Attorney Generals, a lot of Assistant United States Attorneys that suddenly
became very uncomfortable. There were a lot of judges that became uncomfortable.
And they started a major investigation. They indicted me, a two count indictment
for importing this poison. They spent about a $1,300,000 working up a prosecution,
and then they folded their tent because they found out that I hadn't broken the law.
Did you use the poison? They've never found any sufficient evidence to charge me with having used it.
But it certainly caused one Deputy Attorney General in the state of California to go through his cabinets
and take all ingestible items out, toothpaste, and liquor, and finally his wife said, well, gee,
it could be in the carpets. So they re-carpeted their home, and finally they sold the home
and moved. ROBERT RESSLER: So in other words, creating paranoia in a person can be oftentimes even more insidious than just
making verbal threats. It's a better gamesmanship than doing physical violence, because fear lives with you 24 hours a day.
Fear never goes away. If you kill somebody, that's over. ROBERT RESSLER: Or attempt to kill somebody.
Yes. If you hurt them, as long as the pain is there, but fear is a pain that lives with you forever.
DENNIS FARINA: G. Daniel Walker has been denied parole at least seven times. If the state does grant him parole on the murder charge,
Walker still faces a 50 year term on federal charges that stem from credit card scams he operated from inside prison.
G. Daniel Walker will almost certainly die in prison. Next, the reunion of a young man and the woman
who saved his life. And coming up, a sheriff in Florida searches for the identity of a murder victim.
Naples, Florida. After Steve Newton's first child, Virginia, was born, he headed home on his motorcycle to pick up the family car.
He had no way of knowing that he was on a collision course with disaster. STEVEN M. NEWTON: I just remember coming
straight down on my head. As I hit, I saw poof, this big, bright light. And that was it.
Then I was just completely out. DENNIS FARINA: For Steve Newton, death was just a heartbeat away.
Are you OK? Can you hear me? Help me. DENNIS FARINA: A passing motorist turned Steve over in the water and saved his life.
She remained at the scene until Steven was transported to a hospital, and then she disappeared without Steve ever
learning her name. STEVEN M. NEWTON: If she could just see my daughter, she'll know that she did me the greatest favor or gift
that anybody can give, and that's the give me back my life. And I like to say thank you for that.
DENNIS FARINA: Update. On the night of our broadcast, a viewer in Florida recognized Steve's story as one she had heard from a coworker
named Tammy Dotson. As it turns out, Tammy was Steve's mysterious good Samaritan.
Steve and Tammy met face to face for the first time since the near fatal accident.
As a special treat, Steve brought along Virginia, then 1 and 1/2 years old. TAMMY DOTSON: Nobody's ever gone that far to come to thank me.
And he kept saying that I was his angel. I've never been called an angel before, far from it.
But it made me feel good inside to know that I've done something that's helped somebody so much.
DENNIS FARINA: That day, Tammy and Steve returned to the scene of the accident, all too aware
that Tammy's simple act of kindness had changed both of them forever. STEVEN M. NEWTON: It makes me want
to do more for other people. Is someone's in trouble, I would go that extra mile.
That extra, just to help that person. TAMMY DOTSON: I just wanted to hug him. I was so glad to see that he was OK, and the baby,
and everything. I was just thrilled that he was fine. DENNIS FARINA: Steve and his wife,
Sharon, now have a second child. Something that never could have happened if Tammy hadn't acted so quickly to save Steve's life.
Lake Panasoffkee lies in the heart of the vast Florida wetlands. Crossing the lake's eastern shore
is Interstate 75, which connects Florida with the rest of the southeast. Two teenagers are hiking along the interstate,
heading north from Tampa, when they notice the outline of a human form in the shallow water.
Hey, look at that. What is that? DENNIS FARINA: Authorities retrieve the badly decomposed
body of a young woman. She appears to have been strangled. A man's size 36 belt is still wrapped around her throat.
Investigators determine that the woman may have been in her late teens or early 20s.
She has no identification and has been dead for approximately three weeks. They are unable to find the killer,
nor determine the woman's identity. No one comes forward to claim the body. Six months pass.
The young woman is laid to rest beneath the small, metal marker that simply reads Jane Doe.
10 Years later, Jamie Adams becomes the Sheriff of Sumter County. He begins to review the department's unsolved cases,
and is particularly disturbed by the murder of this young woman. JAMIE ADAMS: It bothered me that this young girl
had never been identified. And being a daddy and granddaddy, i just couldn't accept the fact that somebody
out there couldn't come forward and let us know who this young girl was. It's something that had to do, and I
just feel deeply that it's a mission that I've got to accomplish. DENNIS FARINA: A year after he took office, Sheriff Adams
officially reopened the case. He obtained a court order to have the body exhumed.
Dr. William Maples, one of the nation's foremost forensic anthropologists, was brought in to assist with the new investigation.
WILLIAM MAPLES: The re-examination of the remains ordered by Sheriff Adams gave us a piece of information
that is crucial, something that wouldn't have been known had it not been for Sheriff Adams.
And that was that she had orthopedic surgery to her right ankle. This was done by an orthopedic surgeon
who wound a tendon through holes drilled in the bones of the ankle. It is a Watson Jones, or modified
Watson Jones, technique. The family or the physician may remember this. DENNIS FARINA: Sheriff Adams' next contacted Linda Galeener,
a forensic artist renowned for her ability to create accurate composite drawings
based on skeletal remains. LINDA GALEENER: One of the first things we do are get photos of the skulls, and it's important for those
to be to scale, the same size as the skull. We use a crime lab to do that, and they
bring forth the profiles and facial front of the skulls themselves. Then an artist will sit down and we'll put either tissue paper
or some type of matte acetate over, so we can still see the photograph, but draw.
And we actually plot tissue depth using these charts, and just mold that face until it comes to life on paper.
DENNIS FARINA: Little Miss Panasoffkee was beginning to come alive for Sheriff Adams.
Next, he asked Linda to create age regression drawings, approximating how the victim might have appeared,
first at age 12, and then at age 6. This technique had never been used before in law enforcement.
JAMIE ADAMS: I needed something that I could put her back in time, with the hopes that maybe a school teacher, Sunday
school teacher, or even a classmate that had went to school with her say while she's
in the fifth grade or the first grade that would remember. DENNIS FARINA: Sheriff Adams has mailed flyers
to more than 3,000 law enforcement agencies throughout the United States and Canada.
He has contacted hundreds of hospitals and followed up hundreds of leads. Still, the identity of Little Miss Panasoffkee
remains a mystery. JAMIE ADAMS: I know that there's a loved one, a mother, a father, or aunt, that
know and loves this young girl. And I think I owe it to them to try to identify this young girl
and get her buried in a rightful place and take her home. DENNIS FARINA: The young woman was 5 feet, two inches tall,
weighed about 100 pounds, and was approximately 20 years old. In addition to the Watson Jones surgical technique
that had been performed on her ankle, the young woman had extensive dental work, including
crowns, caps, and fillings. The examination also revealed that she had given birth to at least one child.
These clues suggest that a victim was well cared for and may have left the family behind.
If you have any information that can help identify this young woman, please log on to our website at unsolved.com.

Brief Summary

This episode features a bank robber's romance, the Ice Man mystery, a gang murder, G. Daniel Walker's chilling interview, and a search for a murder victim's identity.

Key points

The Wedding of Karen and Richard. After an intense courtship, Karen Walters marries Richard Cepulonis, a convicted bank robber.
The Mystery of the Ice Man. A creature frozen in ice raises questions about its origins and existence.
Damien's Tragic Death. Pamela Corrente learns her son Damien was shot in a gang-related incident.
Pam's Fight Against Grief. Pam Corrente starts a gang awareness program after losing her son to violence.
A Life Saved. Steve Newton thanks the woman who saved his life after a motorcycle accident.
The Mystery of Little Miss Panasoffkee. Sheriff Jamie Adams reopens the case of an unidentified murder victim from years ago.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

They're all strange, but guess what, they're all true.

Dennis Farina introduces the stories.

0:51WatchMar 9, 2017

Tension

65/ 100Some tension

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