Unsolved Mysteries with Dennis Farina - Season 5, Episode 17 | Forensic Files

[Music] Next on Unsolved Mysteries, dreams of stardom turn fatal when a small town girl tries to make it
big in Hollywood. A Chicago man is sent to prison for fatally shooting a security
guard. He says he was framed by members of a notorious street gang in Simmeran, New Mexico. If you check into the St.
James Hotel. Do not ask for room 18. It's already occupied by a ghost and a police chief dies during an
attempted robbery. Then his killer escapes from prison. Perhaps there's someone watching
who can help solve one of these cases. And maybe it's you. I'm Dennis Fina, so stick around.
Heat. Heat. [Music] Chicago, Illinois. It's close to midnight on Chicago's notorious southside and
Garrison Hester, a security guard, is on his way to work. He is shot twice at close range and dies
almost instantly. 4 days later, 20-year-old Steve Shores, who lives in the neighborhood, is arrested for the
murder. He is later convicted and sentenced to 35 years in prison. I've been here for 10 years and for me
the free world has been a dream that I have dreamed about living inside a nightmare. I've never killed anybody in
my life and I did not kill Garrison H. I do know he received a fair trial. Wayne
Meyer represented the state during the clemency phase of Steve's appeal process. I know he's lied about almost
every part of his life that I could look into. All those things I know. So, knowing all those uh without having been
there, I'd say yes. Uh he is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Steve Shores claims that he was
framed for the murder by the person who actually committed the crime, a man who belonged to a Chicago street gang known
as the El Rukans. He says that he ended up behind bars because he wanted to protect his family from gang
retaliation. At the time that Garrison Hester was murdered, the south side of Chicago was
an urban war zone plagued by drugs and heavily armed street gangs. The El Rukans was one of the most
powerful. They are very bad guys. Everyone in the neighborhood was scared of them because if you open your mouth
or you said too much or if you seen something that you wasn't supposed to see, you would either end up in the
morg or in jail like my brother Steve. Steve Shores grew up on the south side. He admits that he had at least one runin
with the police, but at 18 he joined the army and was later honorably discharged.
He returned to Chicago, got a job, and says that he did his best to stay out of trouble. I was dealing with the gang
because I was living with in the neighborhood. And what I mean by dealing with the gang is that you went by the
codes of the street. You know, if you saw something that didn't have nothing to do with you, then you didn't say
nothing about it. Steve's claims that one summer night, he and a friend were on their way home from
the beach at Lake Michigan. Around midnight, they turned onto a street close to the Alukan
headquarters. Two gang members known as Bow and Blood were standing outside. At the same moment, Garrison Hester walked
down the street from the opposite direction. What you are about to see is Steve's version of what happened next.
Bring a gun on our turf. We hear a shot and I see a guy standing over a car and I see him bend down and
when he comes up I hear another pop. The guy recognized me. He pointed at me, you know, like pointed at me,
hollering to the other guy on the other side of the street. And uh I recognized him as being one of the guys from that
gang. Get him. Check him out. Check him out. I actually didn't see him kill anybody because I actually didn't see
the body. But I don't think they knew that. The next day, Steve says he was confronted by blood and another gang
member. How are you, Steve? So this guy, he grabs me in the collar, you know, and he starts roughing me up a
bit. They're trying to make me know the seriousness of the issue. Remember what you saw yesterday?
Yesterday? Yeah. No, I ain't seen nothing. I don't believe you. I'm going to ask you one more time. I didn't see
nothing. I don't believe you. I don't believe you. He tells me that if I say anything about what I saw, I'm going to
find myself in a morg. How you doing? Backing a tip. Police picked up Steve 3 days later. Initially,
he was told that he was brought in for failure to pay his child support, but Steve says that he was held for 72 hours
and was questioned repeatedly about the murder of Garrison Hester. It was then that he made what he believes was a
crucial mistake. He lied about being on Drexel at the time of the killing. I told the police that I was at home
because I had went to the dentist, which I had went to the dentist. I got a teeth
pulled and I was home all day, which wasn't the truth. I didn't tell anybody what I knew
because I was afraid of telling anybody. I was afraid for my family. I was afraid
for my life. While Steve was being questioned, Bow and Blood were also being interrogated
as suspects in Garrison's murder. Both admitted that they had been at the scene, and both claimed that Steve
Shores was the killer. The court assigned Steve a public defender named Andrea Lion. I'm
going to be your attorney. Have a seat. He told me essentially what he had told the police, uh, that he was at home, uh,
that he wasn't there. um and that he didn't do it. He always told me he didn't do it, which I believed.
She was just another person in the system to me, you know, and she was some person that, you know, I could I felt I
would trust with only enough information that, you know, whereas I wouldn't be harmed. And so I told her that I didn't
do it. And I felt that it was enough. And she felt it was enough to fight the case.
Steve was charged with the murder largely on the strength of bow and blood sworn statements. But there was another
witness, someone without gang ties and with no connection to Steve. Before any charges were filed, the witness was
brought into view a lineup of possible suspects. Sir, if you could just take your time. Do you see anyone up here
that you recognize? The witness gave a height and a weight and also described the person as a dark
skinned person. Steve is not dark-skinned. He's medium complexed. I I don't recognize anybody
up there, sir, that night. I think it's very significant that the independent eyewitness did not pick out Steve. Um,
and that his description did not match Steve either. I mean, I think those are very important because he had no axe to
grind at all. He was a good Samaritan. He stopped to try to help. That's all. The description he gave did fit Steve
Shores. And that's one of the reasons why the police picked him up. He saw him from about 2 or 300 ft away uh in the
dark and only his profile. I think that explains why he didn't identify Steve. 4 months later, Steve Shores went on
trial. His fate hinged on the prosecution's three primary witnesses, Bo Blood, and one of their friends, a
woman named Myra Sexton. Mr. I'm sure your attorney has indicated that you want a bench trial. Do you understand
that? Yes, sir. On the advice of his attorney, Steve requested a bench trial rather than a jury trial. That meant
only the judge would hear the evidence and decide Steve's guilt or innocence. We took a bench trial because it was
such an obvious winner for the defense, it seemed, and because the wisdom at the
time was you took a case that was really good for the defense to a bench. uh because you could skip some of the
steps, some of the fluff that the prosecution would put on for a jury to impress them um and just sort of get to
the heart of the matter. All right, Mr. Prosecutor, let's begin. Steve was so terrified of the gang members that even
as the trial got underway, he still had not told his lawyer what really happened. She still believed that he had
been at home recovering from dental work when the murder occurred. I felt that it
would be all over with once everybody got on the stand and said their stuff, you know, it would be all over with and
I would go home. I always felt that. Everybody told me that as well, you know. Now, did you see the security
guard? Yes. On the first day of the trial, Bo was called to the stand. Yes. After you saw the security guard, what
happened? The security guard was walking. Steve said, "I'm f to kill this chump."
The testimony of the two eyewitnesses consisted of saying they were out on the scene uh that evening
with Steve Shaw. They were drinking liquor, smoking marijuana when Steve decided to run across the street to the
security guard and stick him up. I'm getting tired of this. What are you going to do about it?
[Music] Two shots went off. Did you see the two shots go off? Yeah, I heard them. Who
fired the shots? Steve fired the shots. Steve fired the shots. Did you see Steve
fire the shots? Yes. B was an extremely biased witness. admitted that he'd been told he'd get charged if he didn't name
Steve as having done this. So, he had an axe to grind. He didn't want to get charged with murder. Now, what happened
when Steve ran up behind the security guard? He fired twice. When the other gang member named Blood
testified, it appeared Steve was one step closer to being convicted of murder. Next, Steve Shores finally decides to
tell his story when Bo allegedly threatens his family. Shut up. Shut up. Did Steve Shores murder Garrison Hester?
At Steve's trial, two members of the Elukin Street gang said yes. When the prosecution called a third witness,
Steve's prospects got even worse. Now, calling your attention to that night, do you remember where you were?
Yes. After the murder, Myra Sexton, a friend of Bow and Bloods, was also brought in for questioning. In court,
Ston claimed that she saw Steve 3 hours before the killing, holding a gun in an angry mood. Did anything happened as you
were standing there that night? Well, Steve and his dude got into a little argument, words, whatever. Well, this
this guy said something to Steve and it made him mad and the next thing I know, he had a gun out. Uh, who had a gun out?
Steve, she called down to Steve and told him to come up to her apartment. Uh, he
did go up to the apartment. Uh, she talked to him. She tried to get him to give her the gun. He refused, but he did
calm down and he went back out there. She did not claim to have seen the the the murder
itself, but she was the only corroboration for this incredible tale that these gang members told.
Steve's family claims that Bo and another gang member came to their home and threatened them. Get out of here.
Hey, listen. Be quiet. Get out of here. Listen, shut up. Shut up. Listen now. You tell Steve to keep his mouth shut or
else I'mma kill all y'all. Bo said tell your brother Steve if he tell what he's seen we'd kill all you mother efers.
Now it's our turn. Steve says that he was feeling intense pressure both from inside and outside the courtroom. So he
decided to tell his lawyer the truth. They all lying. All of them. They all lying. I know they're lying and we're
going to prove they're lying. Don't worry about it. You don't understand. No. See, I know they lying because I saw
what happened. I finally understood why. Bow and blood were lying. Steve was framed for a crime he saw. We've got to
put you on this stand. Well, look, look. I I don't want to testify. All right. I
told you before. Well, I know, but he was afraid that they come after his family again. So, I said, "Don't
testify. You don't have to testify. The state's case will fall of its own weight. They're contradicting each other
all over the place. That guy Bo, I mean, he might as well confessed to murder the
way he looked and acted on the stand. You don't have to testify, and you don't have to put your family at risk. I
didn't push him to testify. After two weeks, the judge delivered his verdict. The court heard the evidence in
the matter. There is a finding of guilty. I think I was more so angry than I was
shocked. This guy could actually say guilty on me, you know, of something that he had to know I
didn't do. Sentencing is scheduled for February 15th. I lost because I made a mistake. I lost
because I waved jury and I didn't think Steve needed to testify. But I can't blame anyone but myself. Steve listened
to me. He relied on my advice. He relied on my expertise and I told him to do the
wrong thing. Something silver big and it was in his hand. Within a few weeks, Andrea asked
the judge to allow Steve to testify under oath. Even though the trial was over, the judge agreed. Would you tell
the judge who he was? Steve, you have to do it. It was both. Did you shoot Garrison Hester?
No, I didn't shoot nobody with no gun. After he realized that uh he was found guilty and he better do something, Steve
finally did testify. The I was at home with a toothache story wasn't going to fly because he knew independent
witnesses, uh a female put him on that scene at some time during the day. I think he realized he had to put himself
at least on the scene, but instead of being the shooter, he said uh that uh he was just a witness. And also, when I
learned about Steve, it's highly doubtful uh Steve spends his leisure time bicycling around the neighborhood.
I think anybody would be a little cynical that someone would sit there through a whole trial, see the real
killer, testify, and name him, and just say nothing. I want the record to reflect that I
believe the state's eyewitnesses. I still believe them. The judge refused to reconsider his verdict despite
supporting testimony from the friend who had been with Steve that night. Steve Shores was sentenced to 35 years in
prison. The conviction stands. Your honors. Andrea Lion appealed immediately. Steve's request for a new
trial was rejected by a 2 to1 vote. However, he did find an advocate, the dissenting judge, Eugene Pinchum. The
big hole, I suggest, is the fact that that was an eyewitness. If you'd him in a lineup, he said, "Never seen the man
before in my life." And the description he gave of the asalant did not fit Steve
Shaw. That's the big hole. Little hole is that all three of them, the two eyewitnesses and this person who
was supposed to seen Steve with the gun were in the police station interrogated for 7 8 hours had an adequate
opportunity to concoct their story to fit the facts as they knew them. They simply substituted Steve Shaw for
themselves. [Music] Would you say there are a lot of gang members in your neighborhood? Two years
later, hope emerged. Myra Ston, who had testified that she saw Steve with the gun on the night of the murder, admitted
that she had lied on the stand. We spoke to Myra and her testimony didn't have out face. All of a sudden, there was no
confrontation. All of a sudden, there was no attempt to get a gun from Steve. All of a sudden, Steve never had a gun.
All of a sudden, it wasn't at night, it was in the morning. All of a sudden, the
whole thing she'd said was a lie. It's not asking too much to say to the trial judge and to the prosecutor. Try
the case again. Let 12 people hear this case from beginning to end from the date
of the commission of defense up until this moment. All material pertinent evidence and there's no question in my
judgment that a jury would acquit him. If we were to retry him, uh other prisoners would say, "Well, why don't I
get a retrial?" There's nothing special about this case. There's really not. The
only thing special is publicity. Despite Myra's admission, Steve was denied a new trial less than a year
after Steve went to prison. One of his sisters was murdered. He believes that she was killed by the El Rukans Street
gang. While Steve spent the next 13 years behind bars, Andrea at her own expense looked for evidence that would
get Steve a new trial. I'm hoping that someone who saw this, and I know people saw it, that someone
will feel safe enough to say that they saw it and that it wasn't Steven. I'm hoping to crack the silence and find
some new piece of evidence because I can't bear the thought that an innocent person is going to spend another decade
in jail. Update. Andrea Lion's hard work paid off. Steve Shor's third appeal produced
further evidence of his innocence. The defense found one witness who admitted lying and another with new
information. Steve entered an Alfred plea, which means that he pleaded guilty but denied committing the crime. Steve
Shores was finally released after nearly 15 years in prison. Next, does the ghost of an angry
poker player haunt room 18 in the St. James Hotel? For most of us, Halloween comes
only once a year. But at the St. James Hotel in New Mexico. Halloween happens nearly every day. According to many,
this old hotel is haunted by spirits of the Wild West. When I bought the hotel, I didn't
believe in ghosts at all. Now, after the convincing evidence of the last 5 years, I'm certain that
there are ghosts here. [Music] In its heyday, the St. James Hotel offered good food, attractive dancing
girls, and comfortable beds for such wild west guests as Jesse James, Pat Mastersonson, Annie Oakley, Doc Holiday,
and Wy. But as the glory days of the Old West faded, the hotel started to fall apart.
Ed Sitsburgger and his wife Pat bought the St. James and started to bring it back to life.
But they soon discovered that the hotel had a life of its own. I wanted to see how many leaks were in
the old hotel. And so I got my friend to come with me and to go through the hotel
with her flashlight. We finished doing all the checking and put out some buckets here
and there cuz we did have some leaks. And then we turned the chandelier off and then went downstairs and out the
hotel. And for some reason, I turned back up and looked back up to the second story and the chandelier was on. Can't
believe it. I got to go back home. Sure. I turned this off. After the light came back on two more
times, Pat tried to reason with the spirit. I don't know who you are or why you're here, but I'm tired
and I really don't want to play tonight. I'm glad you're here, but could we please play another day? And at that
point, I pulled the cord on the chandelier and heard a click and we turned around and went back down the
stairs. And I looked up and indeed the light had stayed off. According to the Sitsburgers, the hotel
was haunted top to bottom. Guests in room 17 have reported hearing a constant eerie tapping noise whenever
the window is open. And Charlie Varela, a local high school student, discovered that he was
not alone while cleaning the bar early one morning. It was kind of dark in there and I was
going to the back to get some liners for the trash. And as I was going back there, I just glanced over to the bar
and I seen a little boy sitting on the bar and spinning the glass. At first, you know, I thought it was a little boy
from upstairs and he was just down messing around. You know, I was going to tell him, you know, excuse me, you're
not supposed to be in here. But when when I went to make the move to tell him, he turned
around. His face was hideous and he just jumped off and just scared me and it just took off.
I quit that morning. I just don't see that. It scared me and I didn't want to work here anymore.
Dr. Kenneth Wright, a surgeon and amateur ghost hunter, heard about the spirits at the St. James and decided to
investigate. Let's go inside. The room was cold and when I looked up in the upper leftand corner there was a
whirling that was going on the corner. You couldn't see the corner of the room. It was like a white swirl.
There was this anger and hatred and instantly I was filled with terror. I was gasping for breath because I had not
expected it. Did not encounter it. I've never been that terrified in my life. And as this was happening to me, I heard
Pat saying, "You can go. You're free to go. You can go." I couldn't believe what was happening to
me. I don't know what this swirling presence was. It didn't want me there. That was
very obvious. Ed then contacted Jackie Little John, a psychic from Albuquerque. I was able to sense physical violence, a
gunshot. It was so strong I stepped backwards. I I could see and feel and smell and uh you know the the evidence
of violence was so intense. During her tour, Jackie claims that she had a vision of a deadly poker game.
The poker game had been going on for a long time and it was a feeling that either the hotel was a stake or a very
large herd. According to Jackie, one of the card players was the man whose ghost now
haunts room 18. He died of blood poisoning. Very slow, very painful, very dreadful, desperate.
desperate man, very fearful. Jackie says that the dead man's name was TJ Wright and that he probably won the
hotel in a poker game just before he was killed. We wanted to look back in the records and corroborate the story. So,
we went back and looked at the hotel register in 1881 and found TJ Wright registered three different days in 1881.
It is reasonable to me that he believes he owns a hotel still and wants to maintain possession or at least live
here. Ed keeps the old registry locked in a glass case and he is positive that Jackie never saw it. There is of course
no way to prove that the ghost of TJ Wright is now haunting room 18, but Ed is not taking any chances. There's no
construction activity in that room or renovation work that's going to be done. That's his room as far as I'm concerned
as a permanent resident for as long as I have the hotel. Is it possible that the St. James Hotel
is haunted by the spirits of the Old West? The firsthand accounts you have just heard are definitely difficult to
believe, but if you have a better explanation for what goes on in the old hotel, the owners of the St. James would
certainly like to hear about it. Coming up, a young woman dreams of becoming a Hollywood movie star, but
ends up dying under mysterious [Music] circumstances. For as long as she could remember, Crystal Spencer pictured
herself as a famous Hollywood star. And yet her search for fame and fortune led only to frustration, failure, and death
in a manner that has never been fully explained. Crystal Len Spencer was raised in a small Northern California
town. At 17, she dropped out of high school and took a job to help support the family. A short time later, she
moved to Los Angeles to chase her dream. Her early years were a struggle, and Crystal quickly realized that stardom
was not easy to come by. Crystal reluctantly took a job as an exotic dancer to pay her bills. On a
good night, she took home up to $400 in tips, but she never fully accepted the fact that she was basically a stripper.
Sometimes she would just start crying like she felt degraded about herself for what she'd done.
One spring day, friends invited Crystal to a barbecue. She was eager to socialize with people who might help her
with her acting career. I'm An. Nice to meet you. It's nice to meet you. Oh, this is your place then? This is There
was something very alluring and compelling about Crystal that would readily catch your eye. She knew that
she would become not only an actress, but she would become a very famous actress, and it was just a matter of
time. Anton Klene was an aspiring screenwriter and PhD candidate. He and Crystal came
from totally different backgrounds, but they soon fell in love. Anton took it upon himself to help Crystal broaden her
horizons. He introduced her to art galleries, museums, and concerts. She loved classical music. She loved fine
art. She wanted to know more about these other wonderful things of life that she
had never been exposed to before. Anton had absolutely no idea that Crystal worked as a stripper. She walked
a fine line, discovering art and culture by day and working Hollywood's dark side by
night. Crystal loved Anton very much. She was very scared about him finding out. She says, "Well, I better change. I
better quit dancing then before he finds out." Finally, 4 months after they met, Anton
found out about Crystal's other life. A neighbor saw her dancing at the club by the airport where she worked. And he
said, "I saw that girl on stage." I said, "No, you couldn't have." He said, "That was her." Of course it was her.
And I was shocked. He was very upset, but he said it was okay. He accepted it, which shocked her.
And it she didn't know what to say. Oh no, Anton has my cold. One day, Crystal was homesick with a flu. Anton
stopped by and they talked about an offer she had received to work in Japan. So, what's happened with Japan? I don't
know. Um, they haven't called yet. When are you leaving? I'm not even sure if I have the job or not yet.
The next night, Crystal and Anton spoke on the phone and Crystal said that she was feeling better. How you doing? And
the conversation lasted about 15 minutes. I said, "I'll be in touch." And she said, "Okay." I hung up the phone.
And that was the last time I ever spoke with her. 3 days later, Anton tried to reach
Crystal by phone, but kept getting a busy signal. An operator told him the receiver was off the hook.
Can I help you? Yeah, I'm looking for Crystal Spencer. She's not working tonight. Did she work here last night?
She was punch in. Anton just assumed that Crystal had left for Japan without saying goodbye.
I was expecting any day to receive a very excited phone call from Crystal saying, "It's wonderful here."
And instead, I got a phone call from the Burbank Police Department. Police discovered Crystal's decomposed
body in her apartment. She appeared to have been dead for almost a week. They at first just said she was found dead in
her apartment and they wanted to know when I'd last seen her. And I said, "I last saw her on Wednesday." And how was
she? I said, "Well, she had a cold." And uh they said they believe she died of natural causes.
An autopsy revealed no traces of drugs or alcohol in Crystal's system. There were no obvious signs of foul play or
suicide. The coroner ruled that her death was the result of undetermined causes. The body of Miss Spencer was in
such an advanced state of decomposition, they were not able to ascribe the cause
of death. Uh, so they have no finding. I was suspicious because I did not believe
that Crystal Spencer died of illness. When I last saw her, she was a young woman with cold. I was suspicious
because the way I was told the body was found in an obscure corner of her apartment knew from the waist down. And
I learned that neighbors had heard terrible screams coming from her apartment that some had described as the
sounds of torture. 3 days after Crystal had been home sick, two of her neighbors were woken up
around 4:00 a.m. by a strange crying sound. Listen, do you hear that? But even before I even woke him up, I
laid there thinking, "Someone's being tortured. Someone's being hurt. Something's going on." Why don't we?
Susan was very adamant about calling the police. But out of my fear of what I heard, I didn't want to get involved.
I don't think I'll ever be able to live with the fact that I didn't call the police. If I had, maybe she would still
be alive. Crystal's body was discovered a week after her neighbors heard the screams.
They finally told their story to the public about a week ago. He just took my statement, took my name, asked me for my
driver's license. That was it. It was just very nonchalant about it. Crystal's family requested to view the
body several times, but the coroner's office continually refused, claiming the body was in no condition to be seen.
Anton was denied access to the police reports. However, four months after Crystal's death, he was able to obtain
the autopsy report. He was shocked by what he found. Crystal Spencer was barely 5' tall. The autopsy report
claims that she's an amazing 5'7. Crystal weighed approximately 105 lb. The autopsy claims the body is a
well-nourished 140 lb. I I was stunned. I said, "This is not the body of Crystal
Spencer." And where is the real body of Crystal Spencer? We do have the remains identified by fingerprints from two
different agencies and those really eliminate any possibility of the coroners autopsying the wrong
remains. I was told by one law enforcement official, "Bad things happen to bad girls." And I said, "You mean bad
girls die of natural causes?" and he said, "You know what I mean." And hung up on me on the
phone. 2 weeks after Crystal's body was found, family and friends gathered for a
private memorial service. Crystal's ashes were scattered beneath the famous Hollywood sign.
I am angered that they are attempting to suppress the police reports in this case
forever. We need to know what happened to her. It's important to all of us who cared
about her to learn the truth. That's all we want is the truth. The truth about how Crystal Spencer died
remains as elusive as her dreams of stardom. If you have any information about this case, please log on to our
website at unsolved.com. Next, an Oklahoma police chief is gunned down during a robbery, but his killer
has been found thanks to one of our viewers. Katusa, Oklahoma. Just after 8:00 a.m. one September
morning, two men pulled up in front of a tag agency. A popular target for thieves
who deal in stolen cars. This a robbery? Get out of the ground, lady. Don't look
at me. We're being robbed. Call the police. Come on. Keep your head down. Don't look at me,
lady. Do not look at me, lady. Don't hurt us, please. Chief, there's a robbery in progress at the Kusa Tag
Agency. At least one employee inside. Out. 10. The only police officer in town was Chief JB Hamby, a 24-year veteran
whose devotion to his work was well known. JB was on call all hours, no sleep, come in, shower, change clothes,
right back out. For those people that was on the wrong side of the law, he could become probably their worst
nightmare. He was relentless. Hey, get out of here. 20 rounds flew through that small store
in just a few seconds. One robber was killed, shot in the head by his own ricocheting bullet. The other was hit
twice, but somehow managed to escape miraculously. Both women were unharmed, but Chief Hami was not so lucky. He
staggered outside, bleeding profusely. JB attempted to reload his gun and at that point he probably sensed that he
was, you know, gravely injured and uh from there went right on in the laundry to get him help. He needed help. JB
JB, it's all right. Call the ambulance. Repeat after me, JB. Stay with me. Our Father, Our Father, who are in heaven,
you are in heaven. JB Hamby died before he could finish reciting the Lord's Prayer. The robber who escaped,
25-year-old David Gordon Smith, was captured only two hours later while being treated for gunshot wounds at a
nearby hospital. At first, Smith thought he was being arrested for armed robbery,
but instead he was booked on charges of firstdegree murder. Ballistics proved that the
bullet that killed Chief Hamby had been fired from Smith's gun. David Gordon Smith was convicted of murder and began
serving a life sentence in an Oklahoma prison. Smith was the classic good boy gone bad, the son of a respected
university professor. This was his first and only brush with the law and he set out to become a model
prisoner. Smith was wellliked by the staff that had to deal with him. He was also wellliked by the other inmates and
as he served his time and as his years grew and his behavior was excellent, he was uh according to Oklahoma law
classified to a trustee status and his job at the time was to monitor equipment at our
lake. Smith was assigned to live and work all alone at a small water pumping station. A prison guard checked up on
him every hour. On three separate occasions, he was allowed unsupervised visits to his doctor's office. Smith
even got married. I don't think there's any way by any stretch of the imagination that
he deserved any sort of lenient treatment. I I think it's unheard of. I think he should have got the death
penalty. I think he should have gotten maximum, you know, hard time. Uh I could have lived with that.
For more than a year, Smith remained a model prisoner. But one day, when a prison guard stopped by for his regular
1:00 a.m. check, he discovered that Smith was missing. He probably walked from the room at the lake, out to the
nearest highway, a mile or so away, where Joe Beth, his wife, picked him up. They went into Mallister, which is a
mile or so from the prison, and mailed two letters. We know that authorities learned that one week
before the escape, Smith's wife closed her bank account, sold her furniture, and borrowed $1,000 from friends. She
told the travel agent that she was going to Mexico. She never mentioned her husband.
4 months later, David Gordon Smith was seen with a woman in Arkansas, just 90 miles from the prison. The authorities
were alerted, but by the time they arrived, Smith had vanished. I want to see David Gordon Smith serve
his time. I just think it's one of the most unjust things that could ever happen. JB lived his job as a police
officer 24 hours a day. a very intense person that took his job extremely serious. That loss can never be feel.
And I I just don't think it's fair. Update. After we aired this story, authorities received the tip that Smith
was working at a car dealership in Spearfish, South Dakota. He was using the name Gary Johnston and he admitted
that he had seen his story on Unsolved Mysteries. Smith was returned to prison with an extra 4 years added to his
sentence for his escape. [Music] [Music] Heat. Heat.

This, Episode includes: Gangbusters (Pts. 1 & 2), St. James's Ghost, Crystal and Cop Killer Escape.

Brief Summary

Steve Shores was wrongfully convicted of murder, a haunted hotel is explored, and actress Crystal Spencer's mysterious death remains unsolved.

Key points

Mysteries, dreams of stardom turn fatal. A small town girl’s Hollywood dreams lead to tragedy.
Steve Shores claims he was framed. Steve Shores insists he was wrongfully convicted for a murder he didn’t commit.
Myra Ston recants her testimony. Witness admits to lying about seeing Steve with a gun, raising doubts about his conviction.
Steve Shores released after 15 years. After years of fighting for justice, Steve finally gains his freedom.
A Terrifying Encounter. A worker quits after a chilling encounter with a ghostly child.
The Haunting Presence. Dr. Kenneth Wright investigates the St. James Hotel and encounters a terrifying swirl.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

I’ve never killed anybody in my life.

Steve Shores claims innocence.

2:21WatchMar 9, 2017

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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