Unsolved Mysteries with Dennis Farina - Season 7, Episode 13 | Forensic Files

[Music] next on Unsolved Mysteries when the investigation into the murder of a Texas woman comes to a
standstill a Cold Case detective brings on the heat in Pennsylvania church goers are
certain that they've seen a miracle in the eyes of a carved wooden statue a Washington DC woman leaves the
city to find peace and quiet in the country instead she dies at the hands of a brutal
killer and Bonnie Potter searches for the mysterious woman who called her one day Bonnie now knows that she is the
sister she never knew our team is standing by and maybe someone watching can help bring in one
of these bad guys and you know what it could be you I'm Dennis finina join us [Music]
[Music] [Music] burhill Virginia is less than 70 M from Washington DC but it's like a different
world the community consists of little more than a post office and a few homes to Ethel kid and her husband Gilbert it
seemed like the perfect escape from the big city they bought a piece of land and
began building a retirement home the move was a dream come true for Ethel her children and grandchildren lived in the
area and much of her life centered around her family she was a good person she was
liked by everybody she liked to cook she lik to have cookouts and picnics and she just enjoyed
life one Wednesday after visiting her daughter who lived nearby was seen checking her mailbox around 2:00
p.m. Thursday the next morning my wife called her mother about 7:30 and the answer machine answered and she said
that's funny mom must have left early either she's on her way here to have a cup of
coffee but 9:30 I rode by and I saw the car there something hit me that something wrong if she didn't answer the
phone I saw this book and I saw that it was a an atlas a map and I just picked it up and carried it with me I thought
maybe e may have dropped it when I open the door that's when my heart come up in my throat Al I knew
something was wrong she would never leave the door unlocked she always had the door locked even during the day
Ethel are you here but there was no sign of Ethel and there was no sign of a burglary or Foul
Play everything in the house was in its place it was as if Ethel had been there one moment and then simply vanished to
the next the police mobilized a large Task Force officers fann out from methyl's
home and searched the woods and Fields acre by acre they found no sign of Ethel [Music]
kid then 8 Days Later 3 miles from Ethel's home a hunter Came Upon A shocking sight it was Ethel's body bound to a
tree facing a Logging Road less than 50 ft away investigators determined that Ethel
had been strangled they also found found evidence of sexual assault and estimated
that she had been dead for about 7 days this area had been searched by land and air she was definitely not at that
location earlier in the week the Killer is extremely Brazen to bring a body back
to the area where it was kidnapped from and place it in a position so it would be found facing a road just off of a
state road and just off of a Logan Road um it's even as if he may have been tonning the police uh saying Catch Me If
You Can police noted that the body showed no signs of decomposition it seemed that Ethel had
been kept in Cold Storage after she was killed who the medical examiner stated that in his opinion that she had been
kept in an insect free climate controlled condition which could mean Refrigeration uh either stationary or
mobile the authorities thought that the body could have been kept in a refrigerated truck or a walk-in
freezer Ethel had been tied up with a type of drapery cord used in hotels and hospitals car upholstery fibers were
recovered from her clothes but the investigation centered on items tucked inside the road atlas that was found in
Ethel's front yard these two sheets of paper from a National Motel chain contain sexually
suggestive messages however the most chilling Discovery was a handwritten list of
seven items police suspected that this was a meticulous blueprint for murder line to listed clothing and
accessories which may have been used for a disguise 3 R ID ASAP paper trip book authorities were
aware of a book called The Paper trip which described how a person could obtain a new identity item four simply
read choose location item five listed the abbreviations HC TP and SG the best that
we can come up with would be handcuffs tape and either surgical gloves or stun gun this individual is a methodical
cunning individual he is a loner he is a white male probably between 35 and 45 years
old he has not had successful relationships with females we have to assume that this individual does
traveling and stays in motels which could be considered assistant with an interstate trucker or a
salesperson Ethel was extremely security conscious authorities believe that the as salant may have used the road atlas
to trick her into thinking that he needed directions H excuse me I'm lost can you show me where Co pepper is this
was a very cunning devious calculated murder because of leaving clu bringing the body back just the way that
he did everything in this case and hasn't been caught yes it's my opinion that he will kill again hopefully if he
gets put away for doing this that it won't be done to anybody else cuz nobody deserves to be done like
this nobody deserves to die like this update investigators are always believed that their best clue was the road atlas
found in Ethel's yard forensic technicians lifted fingerprints from several pieces of paper that were tucked
into the atlas but without a known suspect the prints are useless but after watching our broadcast one person
thought that the handwriting looked very familiar the tipster provided a name Edward Wayne Beverly he had lived in
burill Virginia just a few miles from Ethel kid shortly after her murder he had suddenly left town Virginia authorities
located Beverly in a Tennessee prison where he was serving time for armed robbery we compared fingerprints and
they matched to Mr Bev's prints and on the victim's body there was evidence there indicating uh uh sexual contact
and we compared Mr bevy's blood through DNA testing and that matches up also I'm convinced that we have the
right guy that did this crime based on the evidence that's available Beverly was identified just
months before his scheduled release he was tried for the rape and murder of ethal kid found guilty and
given three life sentences Edward Wayne Beverly died in prison when we come back mysterious phone calls
may be Clues to the fate of a young woman who has been missing for 25 years in the days before abortion was
legal some pregnant women turned to bogus doctors to perform the procedure many women died at least one young woman
went in for the operation and simply disappear appeared in Coral Gables Florida a
22-year-old medical technician named Judith heims learned that she was pregnant here test all right if you'll
just sign your name and address here the name she gave for her pregnancy test was
a false one B Kenny an indication that she may have been trying to keep her condition a
secret Judy never said anything to me that she might have been pregnant she never even told me that she went to have
a test a pregnancy test um she called me I guess the day that she was going to have the abortion if that is what
happened uh to tell me that she was going shopping she was leaving work early and going
shopping that day Judith went to her bank in with Drew $300 she told her friends that she was
going to buy a watch police believe that Judith used the money for an illegal abortion uh we were able to determine
that she contacted a close friend of hers who uh helped arrange an abortion through the suspect uh Dr George haju
and uh through that a date and time and a price were set for it Judith made the arrangements to get the uh money the
last time she was seen we feel that she was on her way to get this abortion get plenty of rest you'll be fine in
your huh George haju was a Hungarian immigrant who posed as a doctor police say that he operated an illegal abortion
clinic in Coral Gables Judy having an abortion I don't think she really had any other choice because
nobody in those days would have a child and keep it it just wasn't done judie Judy
Judy right through here huh a lot of people have said that what happened to her was
that she died having an abortion Judy was a lab technician she had a lot of medical knowledge I find it hard to
believe that she could have died having an abortion uh I mean surely she would have known she was intelligent enough to
know to go for help someplace wherever she had gone that day Judith heimes never came
home 3 weeks later a rental car registered in Judith's name was found 650 Mi away in
Atlanta Georgia on the back seat were traces of blood unfortunately the car had sat
there for two or 3 days before it was found and then by the time we were able to conduct any crime scene on it the car
had been handled by other people other police agencies and by the time it got back to D County to be processed
whatever crime seemen resist it was totally ruined a local resident had seen a man
in his 30s parking the vehicle he removed what appeared to be a duffel bag from the trunk and then left the area
this man has never been identified 3 months later George haju was arrested for impersonating a doctor
yes G police are under arrest police suspected Hau might know about Judith heim's disappearance however haju jump
Bond and was never seen [Music] again shortly after he fled the investigation into Judith's
disappearance ground to a halt a quarter of a century past and then a bizarre series of events caused
the case to be reopened it began with a routine law enforcement seminar Captain Chuck Shear of the Coral Gable Police
Department lectured at a poli Police Academy near Omaha Nebraska when Sher returned to Florida he received a
mysterious phone [Music] call hello hello is this Captain Sher yes it is what can I do for you the
caller claimed to be the host of a radio program in Omaha he said that he had received a phone call about The
Disappearance of Judith heims but when Captain Shear called the station the f following day the radio
host said that he had never heard of Judith heims nor had he called Captain Shear a woman in well now I'm confused I
don't know what to think why would a 25-year-old case surface all of a sudden out of Omaha Nebraska when in fact I've
never been to omahoma Nebraska in my life prior to this time uh and had no knowledge or anything about the case I
never mentioned the case whatsoever the whole time we were out there for the simple reason I really didn't even know
about the case uh to give anybody any information or anything good evening coab's Police
Department Captain Shear one moment two days later sheer received another strange phone call hello Captain sheer
Judy heims is alive and she lives in Omaha who is this please Judy HS is alive and she lives in Omaha who is this
hello who is this my gut feeling is that something is going on to bring this case back up 25
years later and it very possibly is that Judy is in fact living in in the Omaha area then a story on a heimes Case
appeared in a local newspaper and Captain Sher received a third mysterious phone call this one mentioning the
fraudulent doctor george hatu hello Captain sheer the third phone call that I received was from a man that
identified himself as an informant for the FBI yeah would you give me your name please he refused to give me his name
but he said that he had just spent several weeks with haju over in Budapest Hungary and he gave me the phone number
I contacted interpole and interpole determined that the phone number that he gave me indeed comes back to the same
name of the suspect at that time the doctor that supposedly performed the abortion police couldn't locate George
haju in Hungary but they felt that it was highly unlikely that he was responsible for the phone calls Judy
heims is alive and she lives in Omaha the only real evidence that Judith was alive came from the mysterious phone
calls if they were telling the truth then where is Judith Hees today could Judith herself had made the calls or if
Judith had died during a botched abortion who was making the calls and why the only possible scenario that I
can see is that she didn't want the family to know about the supposed abortion at the time and she just
disappeared and in fact has been missing for 25 years not wanting her family to know about it who I'd like to believe
that she's someplace and that she could be found or that she'd come back or that
we'd know that she's all right um I I guess my personal theory is is it's hard to believe that she that
she would be dead but I can't understand if she's alive why she wouldn't contact somebody
after all this time [Music] after all there's no more stigmas left why wouldn't she come
back update 4 days after our broadcast an unsigned letter arrived at the Coral Gables Police Department the typewritten
note said that Judith heimes died from complications during an illegal abortion and that her body was dumped in bis Gan
Bay near Miami Police field that the letter is legitimate and have no explanation for
the mysterious phone calls from Nebraska we would like the author of the letter to come forward and to contact us
at the Carl Gable Police Department we are not interested in any prosecution because basically the statute of
limitations has expired on this case and it would be no criminal prosecution also we would guarantee
total confidentiality to the writer of the letter if you can help authorities with this
case please log on to our website at unsolved.com coming up parishioners in Pennsylvania
believe that they see a miracle in the eyes of a crucifix Ambridge Pennsylvania abandoned steel mills line the banks of
the Ohio River a grim reminder of the Region's lost Prosperity but many residents of Ambridge refuse to move out
of town some of these people gather at the Holy Trinity Church to gain strength from their Catholic faith and from each
other the congregation is proud of the beautiful crucifix which has been at the church since 19
1931 it was refurbished by a local artist Dominic Leo I became really deeply involved for
2 weeks with the crucifix it had been here at this church possibly over 60 years so now it was time to restore and
when I completed everything and finally got to the face I actually worked on all
of the face and the eyes last of all and when I got to the eyes and I just painted them and put the color of the
blue gray into the retina and then I started to put some accents into the sockets of the eye to show the the the
the color of [Music] death after Dominic finished his work on the crucifix the church held a special
3-hour mass to celebrate Good Friday Jim sukovic was the nephew of the parish priest and that night he was
serving as an altar boy everything was normal you know we had our readings and sang the songs and
veneration of the cross I got communion and I went down on the side of the altar
um just waiting for everyone else to get done that's when my brother Tom came up
next to me and I was looking up and I was praying as Jim looked upward into the face of Christ he had a stunning
surprise the eyes that were once open now appeared to be closed I was shocked I didn't know what to believe at first I
was happy but I was scared at the same time because you know you figure that God you know he did this right there
while I was kneeling right there Tom what and I turned to tell my brother Tom what just look and he looked up and
verified what I saw his eyes are closed go to the other side and check maybe the
we thought maybe it was just the lights or something just to make sure that you know we just weren't seeing things I had
to go to the other side I looked up and noticed that the eyes were still closed it didn't hit me until we went
into the back and I had time to think about it for a few minutes and that's when I I started crying because you know
you don't expect something like that to happen and you know it was something I was a part of they were crying and I
asked him what happened and they says the eyes on the cross are closed so I went back out with another priest who
was helping me that evening and we looked and there was a change and I started look around in church at the
people going out the doors and on the back was the artist who had refurbished a cross and I called out his name two or
three times and asked him to come to the altar area and I just simply said to him
would you look at the cross and tell me what you see first when he told I was wondering
what could possibly be wrong you know I says is it falling down and the second thing I says it
don't look like it's falling down I says is it a defect some of the plasters falling down or something you know and
it wasn't that and my eyes just went straight up to the crucifix and I couldn't believe
what I saw because not only were the eyes closed but there was like all kinds of Tears underneath it and they were
fleshy like there were the the eyelids were were moving and moving like this and all the tears
were in there and it was just like as if crucifixion had just started again from
2,000 years it looked just like that they were all on her knees and everything it was just I could never
forget that never never Dominic go ahead up you go up first you know the crucifix better than
anybody the crucifix was suspended 22 ft in the air so a ladder was brought in to
allow for a closer look do domic was the first to make the climb I went up to the tip top of the a
ladder I straddled the ladder the top of it and I had a very close look at the eyes the uh the left eye is closed and
the right eye is slightly slightly open it was just unbelievable what I saw this
eye here this eye here was close completely except for a little sliver of gray but this eye here was open slightly
and you could just see the bottom the bottom of the retina and this is what really did it because when I seen that I
it looked like it was burned that it had been burned from energy of some sort another parishioner who had to see
for himself was Pennsylvania state trooper Chris Marion I wanted to make sure nobody had
tampered with it and I got real close like a three-year-old would look into its father's face and as I looked at it
I realized there's no way it was too high I I knew no one could have tampered with it and it was fine and I felt good
about it I've been trained to look at things a little differently than Norm the normal I just like I knew the
crucifix a lot better than everybody this wasn't some hoax this wasn't a bunch of people just making
this up and everything had happened here it was for a reason and was definitely the most religious experience that I've
ever heard of in my lifetime Sue Tula was another member of the church familiar with the cross
the cross used to be in an Al Cove area where anyone could come and light the big candles and I've done that lots of
times and anybody that has ever lit a candle when you look up Jesus is looking at you I remember the eyes were opened
very clearly the eyeballs the white the bluish gray he was alive Christ dying on
the cross and his eyes were still opened and that on Good Friday they closed before church officials will
pronounce a miracle authentic they will thoroughly investigate every aspect of the event in this case the bishop of
Pittsburgh was in charge of reviewing the mysterious crucifix in Holy Trinity Church there is always value when people
return to their faith but you would want them to return for the right reasons for
what if they found out later that there was some deception here or some defraud that could be very harmful to their
faith and that's what the church is always concerned about and in an invest in investigation like this that we are
very objective we are very careful because of the harm that can come to Faith since that Good Friday Ambridge
has been visited by thousands of people who wanted to see the crucifix for themselves but what really happened in
the Holy Trinity Church was it a miracle or hallucination at times I sit here I wonder if you know is this of God is
this of something evil but I know the people who are coming here were praying they come from all over the place and
when they leave they have peace so there to me this is all positive The Bishop's Commission
reviewed videotape and photographs showing the crucifix before and after the alleged Miracle of Good Friday its
conclusion there was no convincing evidence that a miracle properly defined occurred at Holy Trinity
Church this decision meant that the Vatican will take no further action on the case but to many people in Ambridge
Pennsylvania this will always be one miror that cannot be dismissed I think my little nephew summed it up best for me
he said to me Uncle Chris I know what happened he's 5 years old and I said what happened he said well God closed
his eyes so everybody else would open [Music] theirs next a remarkable detective with
more than 400 cold cases solved maybe you can help her find the killer who has stayed just out of her reach
Houston Texas 8:00 a.m. 64-year-old Opel Zacharias leaves her home for work she has no idea that two men are
lying in weight in her garage who are you take it easy lady what do you want yes give us
a give us a p their plan may have been to Simply Rob her but there was a struggle opal Zacharias died at the
scene and authorities could not identify either suspect The Killing remained unsolved for over a decade and then it
was assigned to one of the most successful c-case investigators in in America her name is Robin
Talton over the years she's repeatedly proven herself with amazing results detective tton found her career
by accident literally she and her partner were closing in on a wanted felon at a Texas machine
shop we were told he had escaped three different times so he was a known rabbit and we fig figured that he would run
from us the manager there was very Cooperative he he actually agreed to point the guy
out detective Toton here's County you're under ARR let him go I got him the detective that was with me kept
after the defendant and he did get him and I did not want this crook to know that I was
hurt we walked it down to where the unit was are you okay yeah man I'm hurt I'm hurt bad can you make it back to the car
yeah detective Talton chipped her left kneecap and fractured the lower leg in two
places this arrest would change her life feeling okay yeah all right while Talton recovered from her broken leg she
is assigned to the newly created cold warrant unit what we'd like to do is get you to working on a computer and see if
you can find some new sources of information where we can find these guys the unit was set up to trace and
apprehend Harris County's Most Wanted felons many of these criminals had been on the lamb for more than a decade hey
I'm in I'm in okay can we start tomorrow we can do that okay after 10 years working the street
detective Talton found herself armed with faded warrants and outdated information but she proved to have a
talent for tracking down fugitives the C- warrant unit is a little bit deceptive it's not a a band
of of detectives it's one detective Robin Talton and U after she does her research we have about an 80% rate of
arrest by the time I get the warrant it's old enough that I feel like these guys have settled down and they think
they're safe sometimes I start with just a name an age range and an old Landress and I
put together past acquaintances family members trying to find somebody that could fit it's like putting the pieces
together to see if it's going to make sense Jerry yeah sure am it's kind of like a game of Catch Me If You
Can usually she can detective talton's work has led to the arrest of more than 400 fugitives but despite her legendary
success Talton is troubled by the cases that she has not yet cracked cases like the ruthless killing of opal
Zacharias from what I remember the gunshot wound apparently entered the thigh and came out the back of the hip
so the the shot itself was not a fatal shot but they had her purse and car keys and ended up stealing the the car and
backing over and that's actually what killed her a witness reported seeing one of the
suspects flee the scene by climbing over a fence later that day authorities found
opal's abandoned car however it yielded no clues that would lead to the killers a year later a police informant
identified the trigger man as Lance bedg good he was still at large when Robin tolton got the case while trying to
locate Lance bedg good I came across some post office boxes three in fact that are still being looked at today
what we're assuming is that he's using three different post offices basically is a mail drop so he can keep in contact
detective tton discovered the mailboxes were registered to three of bedg Good's relatives and paid for by a
fourth but that's as close as she could get bedg good remains a fugitive Lance bedg good is 5' 8 in tall
he has tattoos on his arms and legs and a scar over his left eye he is wanted for the murder of Opel Zacharias bedg
good should be considered armed and dangerous well I'm glad that the investigation
hasn't been forgotten the sad part is my aunt's life was taken and she didn't get to see the
the family grow up and mature and that said if you have any information about this case please log on to our website
at unsolved.com coming up a mysterious phone call lead two women on a search for a secret half
[Music] sister Nukem New York was the home of Oscar Norton for most of his 72 years he
was a well-respected member of the community and with his wife he raised a large family no one suspected that for
more than 40 years Oscar had kept a stunning secret his daughter Bonnie first learned about it 8 years after he
died hello yes may I please speak to Oscar Norton oh my goodness my father's been deceased for 8
years may I ask why you're calling why I was informed that he's my father I was taken back by the phone
call because this is something you never expect in your life and she preceded with her conversation asking uh if she
could ask a few questions and I said well sure was his mother name Eleanor no her name was
Nelly oh as the conversation kept going on it didn't connect that this was anything feasible and I said well may I
ask you a question would I be speaking to a black woman or someone from the south well yes you are do you know
you're speaking to a white woman well yes I do and I'm thinking then there's been a mistake here and uh I said Gee
it's such a beautiful Sunday it's too bad that um I couldn't have found a half black sister and then the conversation
you know um ended goodbye Bonnie just assumed that it was a case of mistaken identity but
she could not get the call out of her mind she immediately phoned her twin sister phone call I just got what this
woman called and said I asked Bonnie did you get her name or phone number or what
part of the country she was from and she said no she hadn't and then when she said she was uh of mixed race I thought
no that really can't be possible because uh where would dad have ever met a woman
of mixed race because we live in the northern part of New York State and it's primarily Caucasian and my father was
always very busy raising a family and where could he have been to meet this woman
before he was married Oscar had enlisted in the Army one of his favorite War Stories was about a motorcycle crash he
had in the summer of 1942 while training at Fort Hood in Colleen Texas but there was a part of
the story that he kept secret hey you hear the good news what's that you getting
up oh I guess that is good news you don't have to eat this Army hospital food anymore
hey come [Music] here what's what's that I'm going to miss you what why don't you let me give you a
call oh I don't think that's such a good idea no come on please I'll think about
it I have to tell you Oscar and his former nurse were soon dating you look so beautiful but interracial
relationships were not tolerated by local residents at the time looks like it's some menu excuse me sir I'm the
manager and I'm terribly sorry but this table is reserved for some other folks well I had a reservation your name
sir Oscar Norton well we have no reservation in that name and I'm afraid it's going to be some time before we
have another table available might I suggest y'all be more comfortable in an establishment across town we aren't
going anywhere Oscar it's okay we can go go to another restaurant okay your hat sir take care okay we
will got to go Oscar and his girlfriend eventually had a baby they lived together off base for
more than a year but in the fall of 1943 Oscar was transferred overseas he never saw either of them
again Dad wanted the information to be given out to all of us ironically the one family member that my father
conveyed this story to was to a family member that is is having a difficult time dealing with his own um Prejudice
he didn't tell the rest of the family after my father passed away and then when we got the phone call from the lady
he felt apparently some twinge of conscience that he should come forward and tell us was his mother's name
Eleanor no her name was Nelly oh my goodness when Connie thought back to the conversation she realized that the woman
referred to as Elanor could have been her grandmother Nelly and I said Bonnie Nelly and Nelly are nicknames for elanar
and Bonnie goes oh my God she goes maybe we had the right woman I've talked about it several times
s the phone call with family members and we're just hoping that she's not ill we're actually hoping her mother's
alive we' we'd like to meet her mother why don't she let me give you a call oh I don't think this was a woman
he had feelings for and that was too bad if someone else couldn't deal with it you look so
beautiful thank you Oscar it was an ongoing relationship it wasn't a army weekend out with the boy's
relationship he stuck with her he stayed with her he had a child that he didn't deny with her granted the denial has
been for many years to our family because he was protecting his children from Prejudice that Society instills on
all of us there's times when people still find that kind of uh Prejudice now but hopefully our family's gotten beyond
that the majority of our family at least has gotten have gotten beyond that she's going to be received with
open arms and a whole lot of love Bonnie Potter and Connie fontain are still looking for their half sister
they want her to know that they care about her and hope that she contacts them again their sister was born in 1943 in
Colleen Texas her mother worked at a hospital near Fort Hood when she met Oscar Norton
oh I don't think that's such a good idea no come on un fortunately all military records from that time were destroyed in
a fire if you have any information about this case please log on to our website at
unsolved.com [Music] [Music]

Brief Summary

Ethel Kid's murder, Judith Heims' disappearance, and a church miracle are featured in this episode.

Key points

The Mysterious Disappearance of Ethel Kid. Ethel Kid vanished without a trace, leading to a shocking discovery days later.
Judith Heims: A Case Reopened. 25 years later, mysterious phone calls bring Judith Heims' case back into the spotlight.
Miracle in Ambridge. Parishioners witness a miraculous event at their church, leading to emotional reactions.
The Miracle Investigation. The church investigates a supposed miracle involving a crucifix, raising questions of faith.
Detective Robin Talton's Success. Detective Talton has solved over 400 cold cases, showcasing her remarkable skills.
A Family Secret Unveiled. Oscar Norton's hidden past comes to light after a mysterious phone call.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

She would never leave the door unlocked.

A husband reflects on his wife's habits before her disappearance.

3:24WatchMar 9, 2017

Tension

70/ 100High tension

More from True Crime Files

Solve the Crime

Read a real case one clue at a time, then see how your call held up against the investigators.