Unsolved Mysteries with Dennis Farina - Season 7, Episode 14 | Forensic Files

DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): Next on "Unsolved Mysteries," the charming stranger in a singles bar turns out
to be a rapist and a killer. There's only one lead, and it takes police to a list of 32,000 names.
What happened to the crew of the famous ghost ship, the "Mary Celeste?" Was it murder, a tragic accident, or something
that cannot be explained? To his neighbors he's a businessman who loves horses, to the DEA he's
an international drug smuggler. And thanks to our viewers, a violent rapist is tracked down more than 500 miles
from the scene of the crime. Five cases, some without endings. Our team is working on them and perhaps you can help.
I'm Dennis Farina and this is "Unsolved Mysteries." [theme music] Alexandria, Virginia.
Excuse me. Is anyone sitting here? No. Go right ahead. DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): On a march evening,
a divorced 43-year-old named Hilda Roche meets a man at a popular single' bar. Jack Daniels Black, straight up.
DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): Hilda room later tells friends that she had dinner with the man and plans on seeing him again.
But oddly, she never tells anyone his name. Hilda had said that the guy was single, he was attractive,
he had a lot of money. And she was impressed that he was driving this beautiful car.
I started to tell her, don't believe everything this guy is telling you. The car is probably rented, anybody
can make up a big story. You don't know anything about him. Watch out. DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): One week later,
the nude body of a woman is found in a wooded area near a school. She's been sexually assaulted and then shot execution style.
Her identity remains unknown. Four days after the body is found, police enter Hilda Roche's apartment after co-workers
report her missing. It doesn't look like there's anybody here. DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): In the living room,
officers find her wallet. We've just identified our victim. Got her picture on her driver's license right here.
DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): It is now clear that Hilda Roche is the woman who was found murdered.
Do a 360 of the room, get-- DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): Evidence in Hilda's bedroom confirms that she was sexually molested.
DON CAHILL (VOICEOVER): The bed and the whole bedroom was in disarray. And we found her blouse and a pair of slacks
and some pantyhose and some adhesive tape, and that's indicative of a struggle. And other evidence that we located in the room
also indicated that some type of sexual activity took place. DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): Because there are no signs
of a break-in, detectives conclude that Hilda was murdered by someone she knew. Most detectives was agree that the first 48 hours of a murder
case are the most crucial. Beyond that, leads grow cold and suspects disappear. After the killing of Hilda Roche,
nearly three months passed before police could zero in on a suspect. It's up to you.
No, that would be great. DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): When detectives interviewed Hilda's
his friends, they learned about the mysterious man that she met at the singles' bar just one week before her death.
DON CAHILL (VOICEOVER): Hilda had told her friends that the fellow was from Florida, drove a nice car,
he was a consultant for the government, and that he lived in these apartments over in Alexandria.
As a matter of fact, she told her that she even went over to the apartment that evening.
DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): The 1,400-unit apartment complex was the only clue to the man's identity.
Investigators searched three years of lease agreements looking for any resident, past or present,
who matched the description of the man that Hilda had met. DON CAHILL (VOICEOVER): We went through probably 25,000
to 30,000 files, and out of that, we came up with 32 possible names that fit the profile of the person
that Hilda had described to her friend. DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): All police needed was one piece of evidence that could link any of the 32
suspects to the victim. Three months into the investigation, they got their break.
My wallet's missing. Excuse me? DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): Authorities learned that Hilda had lost her wallet on the night
that she met the man. She's lost her wallet, she thinks. DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): For some unknown reason,
the man insisted that he be contacted if the wallet was found. - I'll check with the bartender. - He's down at the end?
OK. No problem. DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): A few days later, the restaurant found the wallet.
Yeah, I called before. You found a ladies wallet, tan, belonging to Hilda Roche.
She had called and said that he was going to bring the wallet back. And I'm saying, why did he go to the management
to find out about the wallet? Why did management call him when they found the wallet?
My first impression was, the guys putting you on. DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): The restaurant
the manager couldn't remember much about the man, but she did agree to undergo hypnosis
and was then able to recall a phone number. DON CAHILL (VOICEOVER): The hypnotist
told us that this would not be the exact phone number. He said, now, most of the numbers
are going to be the same. They're going to be right, he says, but they might be transposed or something.
You're going to have to work with it. DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): When detectives compared the phone
number with those of the 32 apartment residents, they came up with a nearly perfect match.
The number belonged to 38-year-old Gregory Barker. He had moved out of the apartment complex
soon after Hilda's murder. Based on a psychological profile of Barker, along with crime scene evidence, Detective Cahill
developed a chilling scenario of what happened that night Hilda Roche was murdered.
I though you were going to come tomorrow. Look what I have. My wallet. Thank you.
DON CAHILL (VOICEOVER): I believe that Gregory Barker came over to the house with the intention
of returning the wallet to Hilda and possibly something else in mind. Yes, come in.
Come in, I'm sorry. DON CAHILL (VOICEOVER): During his visit with Hilda, he had a violent altercation with her down
in the living room and sometime later up in the bedroom, her clothes were taken off and a sexual activity occurred there.
He at that time took her against her will out of the house, down to the school which was located about nine and a half
miles away from the house. Get out. DON CAHILL (VOICEOVER): She was taken out of the vehicle
and she was naked and led up a path about 150 feet to a wooded area between a housing development
and the school, at which time he just brutally murdered her with a gunshot to the head.
[gunshot] From doing a background investigation on Mr. Baker, we don't believe that this is the first murder
that he committed. We don't believe that this was the last murder he committed. We believe that he could be responsible
for numerous murders. We feel that possibly he could even be a serial murderer. We're very sure of the fact that he's smart
and he's very dangerous. DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): The night we profiled Hilda Roche's story, a viewer in Phoenix,
Arizona recognized Gregory Barker as a local businessman who used the alias Alex Graham.
The next morning, FBI agents arrested him at his office. After standing trial in Las Vegas on unrelated charges,
Barker was brought back to Virginia. A jury found him guilty of first degree murder
and he was sentenced to 60 years in prison. Gregory Baker will not be eligible for parole until 2023.
Next, what happened to the missing crew of the ghost ship "Mary Celeste?" On a crisp November morning in 1872,
a clipper ship sails out of New York Harbor and into legend. Her name was the "Mary Celeste," the most infamous
of all the ships. By December, she was floating off the coast of Portugal with no one on board.
Mrs. Brinks, you must be looking forward-- DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): The evening before the "Mary
Celeste" was set to embark, her captain, Benjamin Briggs, his wife, and a guest sat down for a farewell dinner.
He came from a family of seafarers and was considered quite a religious man. Captain Briggs was a noted captain.
He could be stern and so on, but he was always noted as being fair. Are you bringing the children?
Sophie will be coming with and Arthur will remain here in school. DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): The guest that evening
was Captain David Morehouse. His ship, the "Dei Gratia," was scheduled to sail for Europe more than a week after the "Mary Celeste."
Morehouse would soon become deeply involved in the bizarre events that were about to unfold.
Well, here's to a smooth crossing and calm sea. God willing. DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): The next morning,
the "Mary Celeste" set sail with Briggs, his wife, their two-year-old daughter, and seven
crew members on board. Below deck were more than 1,000 barrels of pure alcohol, highly prized in the Italian wine trade.
It was a dangerous cargo. Alcohol fumes were volatile and could easily explode. From New York, the "Mary Celeste"
was scheduled to sail more than 5,000 miles past the Azores, through the Strait of Gibraltar, and into the Mediterranean,
finally docking at Genoa, Italy. 10 days out of port, the ship was hit by a severe storm.
Captain, I've taken in the topsails, but she's still freezing up. DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): The ship was battered by winds
and rain for more than a week. I'd like to take in more sail. Let's have a look.
DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): According to the captain's log book, the "Mary Celeste" stayed on course.
After 10 days, the weather cleared. In his log, Briggs placed the "Mary Celeste"
just six miles off the Azores. The date of the entry was November 25, 1872, the last entry ever made by Captain Briggs.
10 days passed. Something strange off the starboard bow, Captain. DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): On board the "Dei Gratia,"
the crew made a surprising discovery. Looks like she's floundering. A couple of sails have blown away.
It's the "Mary Celeste." DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): Captain David Morehouse chose the "Dei Gratia's" first mate, Oliver Deveau,
to lead a boarding party to the "Mary Celeste." They came near, saw no one on deck.
They thought maybe at first that it might have been what they called a fever ship and they thought
maybe people were aboard down below dead of some sort of fever. DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): Deveau discovered
that one of the ship's lifeboats was missing and its compass was shattered. And he was puzzled by a long road
that snaked across the deck and off the stern of the ship. In the cabins, personal possessions, money, and
gold jewelry were left behind. The captain's navigation instruments and the ship's
papers were missing. But Deveau says that he found no evidence of foul play and no reason for the "Mary Celeste"
to have been abandoned. But one thing was certain, the ship and her cargo of alcohol
could be worth a fortune in salvage rights to whoever brought her back to port, and that's exactly what Captain Morehouse decided to do.
In England, Captain David Morehouse prepared for a straightforward salvage claim in court.
But Morehouse soon found himself facing government accusations that he was involved in the disastrous fate
of the "Mary Celeste." And you were the first to board the "Mary Celeste," is that correct?
That's right, myself and my second mate, Mr. Wright. DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): The government's chief investigator
was a flamboyant Irishman named Frederick Solly Flood. He was very suspicious. He had certainly been for the dramatic.
I think he kind of immediately saw foul play. And all during the proceedings, he
tried to indicate that there had been some sort of conspiracy involved here. When Captain Morehouse and Captain Briggs--
DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): Flood first tried to prove that Morehouse and Briggs had
planned the events in advance. Do you think it's possible that the two of them might have been in collusion?
Sir, Captain Morehouse is an honorable man. Yes, of course. DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): Faced with a lack of evidence,
Flood came up with a more sensational scenario, mutiny and murder. And how many are empty?
I've found five or six right here. DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): The "Mary Celeste" was impounded
and Flood's inspectors discovered that nine of the alcohol barrels were empty. No.
I think it more likely that the crew of the "Mary Celeste" opened up these casks.
Well, maybe we should-- DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): In the captain's cabin, Flood found what he believed was proof of a mutiny,
blood stains on Brigg's sword. And what was a sword like this-- DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): Flood tried
to prove that the crew of the "Mary Celeste" had broken into the alcohol and in a drunken
fury murdered Briggs and his family before fleeing in a lifeboat. Look at the stain on the sword.
Begging your pardon, sir, but I think you'll find that to be rust. Well, I'll have a medical expert.
DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): The test will later showed that the stains were not blood.
Flood just absolutely refused to admit that there hadn't been a murder, but he never did get any satisfaction
from the government and they just repudiated everything that he said. The "Mary Celeste" is released from custody.
A salvage settlement is awarded to David Morehouse in the amount of 1,700 pounds.
DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): What really happened aboard the "Mary Celeste?" Many believe that the answer lies
with the ship's explosive cargo and the nine empty barrels. That many barrels of alcohol leaking into the hold
would have created a lot of fumes. DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): Conrad Byers believes that on November 25, the last day
Briggs and his crew were known to be on board, the weather had finally cleared enough to allow
the hatches to be opened. Terrible odor in there. We'll have to vent the hatches.
I'll alert the captain. CONRAD BYERS (VOICEOVER): I think immediately he sounded
the alarm, knowing the dangers of this cargo and his chances of spontaneously combusting. - What's to be done?
[inaudible] CONRAD BYERS (VOICEOVER): I think he planned to get everyone in a lifeboat
and trail behind the main ship with the idea that the cargo would either vent itself and cool off or explode.
You, man the peak. Let's go! DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): Conrad believes the sails were lowered to prevent the "Mary
Celeste" from picking up speed once everyone had abandoned ship. A single rope was all that tied the lifeboat
to the "Mary Celeste." What destroyed their plan, really, was that they didn't have time to get
all the sail off the vessel. They piled into the boat and started trailing behind,
and suddenly a gust of wind came up and started moving them. DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): When the "Mary Celeste" lurched
forward, the lifeline snapped. Watch the line! CONRAD BYERS (VOICEOVER): The vessel
just sailed on without them and left them there. DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): The "Mary Celeste
drifted another 380 miles before Captain Morehouse found her. No trace of Captain Briggs, his family, or the crew
was ever found. The "Mary Celeste's" fate was sealed as the most legendary of all ghost ships.
Next, a newcomer to town is revealed as the mastermind behind a worldwide drug empire.
West Glover, Vermont. This is where wealthy New Yorker Brian Brophil decided to buy a 30-acre farm to escape the big city.
He told people that he had made his fortune manufacturing toothbrushes and had come to the country
to settle down. He loved Vermont and he really became friendly with a lot of the local people.
He had this easy way about him that made people very comfortable. Bye-bye, baby.
- Tough to part with this one? - Oh, yeah. DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): Nancy Buckley
met Brophil when he called about a puppy that she advertised in the local paper.
He was open and friendly and was either knowledgeable in an area that you were interested in
or he was very curious and wanted to learn about something that you knew a lot about.
And both of those things ingratiate him to you. He was an accident waiting for a place to happen.
He knew nothing about country life, but he was willing to learn. He was very obviously a city boy.
He couldn't hide that. DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): Brophil impressed his neighbors
by spending thousands of dollars on a special breed of horse called a warmblood.
That warmblood, he is wonderful. DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): Brophil then paid thousands more to board the horse with another neighbor,
Peggy DuPont. There were a couple of things about Brian that seemed a little strange.
The first was that he paid in cash for his board. He had two horses so he would pay me $500 in cash.
My husband immediately said, oh, he's a drug dealer. And I said, he's not a drug dealer,
you're out of your mind. He's a nice person. And besides, he had to go to the bank first to get the money.
He told me so. DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): Peggy's husband had no idea how right he was.
One February day, 20 Vermont State Police, DEA agents, and US Marshalls paid a visit to Brophil's farm.
The agents found a crop of more than 2,000 marijuana plants. Brophil was visiting Susan and Frank Medor
at their firm in Virginia when a friend called with news of the raid. There was a marijuana bust in West Charleston.
They're looking for you, Brian. He just was real calm. He said, jeez, I better make a phone call.
So he went and made a quick phone call and he came back and said, you're going to have to take me to the airport,
he said, because I want to straighten this mess out. He said that he was worried about his reputation
and what is somebody trying to do to him and this can't be right, I've got to get home to straighten
out my reputation. I sincerely believed him. DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): The Medors
didn't know that they were driving Vermont's biggest pot dealer to the airport. Brian Brophil then dropped from sight.
Back in Vermont, authorities were just beginning to realize the scope of his operation.
The agents' initial reaction was just one of pure awe. Nobody's ever seen such an operation.
Nationwide, it was one of the most sophisticated operations that has ever been seen.
DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): Brophil's marijuana plantation featured automated irrigation
and lighting. A heating system to protect the plants from Vermont's hard winter.
Authorities estimated that the operation had been taking in as much as a quarter of a million dollars
a month. Agent Andre LaBier then contacted the international law enforcement agency Interpol.
He was stunned to discover that the giant marijuana farm was just a small part of Brophil's massive drug empire.
He got involved with a group of people who were living a good lifestyle. He traveled to a few exotic places with these people
and got addicted to their lifestyle. He wanted to become a playboy. The quickest way he could do that
was to become a narcotics smuggler. Initially, Brian traveled to southeast Asia and the South Pacific, where he procured
small amounts of narcotics. He would take these narcotics and tape them to his body
and walk through customs. He did this in countries that execute people for drug activity.
Brian would walk through customs without sweating a beat and making friends. DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): After months of work,
agent La Bier was able to find an informant who was part of Brophil's world. All right.
This is what I found out. He's working on his motherlode. His motherlode? Yeah, his motherlode.
He talked about this one for a while. This is the one he's going to retire on. DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): According to the informant,
Brophil planned to smuggle $20 million worth of heroin into the United States, most likely
along the Oregon coast. But La Bier could never pin down the exact place or time.
He confirmed our speculation that Brian is a major narcotics smuggler and is continuing
to smuggle narcotics. What we didn't learn is the specifics. When all of this happened, I was in shock
and I just couldn't believe that he could live such a double life. He lived this life so perfectly that he obviously
had no life of his own. The Brian that we liked did not exist. DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): Federal agents
pursuing Brophil might have also thought that he didn't exist. Three years passed with no sign of the fugitive drug dealer.
On the night this story aired, viewers in Paso Robles, California recognized the fugitive
as one of their neighbors. Authorities immediately moved in to make an arrest, but Brophil had vanished again.
Our understanding is that Brian watched the show. The show aired at 8:00 and Brian was gone at 8:15.
He had left all his personal belongings behind and was just gone. He was living comfortably with no fears.
We weren't even close to him. He could have wrote a textbook on how to hide, he was that good.
DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): But not good enough. After Brophil left Paso Robles, tips from our viewers
helped authorities track him to the city of Carlsbad in southern California, where he was finally arrested.
He was brought back to Vermont and convicted of the manufacture, possession, and intent
to distribute narcotics. Brian Brophil served seven years of a 10-year sentence and has since been released from prison.
Next, a woman discovers she has two siblings that she has never met. And later, a trusted apartment handyman commits a brutal rape.
On a previous broadcast, we brought you the story of Sue Scribner. When Sue was 13 years old, she learned of a secret
that her mother, Calista, had been keeping for more than 15 years. When I asked her why she had been crying,
she told me about having a boy and a girl twin that had been adopted. It's time I told you.
Told me what? I was really surprised because I was 13 and it's a shock to find out that you
have a brother and sister that you didn't know about. DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): The twins were both born
with congenital heart defects and Calista felt that she couldn't provide them with the care
that they needed. Three weeks after they were born, the twins were adopted. Calista never saw them again.
The twins being adopted, it just stayed with her forever. She never got over it.
DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): For 10 frustrating years, Sue searched for the twins but could never find
any information about them. 10 days after we featured this story, one of our viewers
reported that Sue's brother and sister were living in Orlando, Florida. The twins had no idea they had been adopted
and were shocked to learn about the family they never knew. Finally, Sue met her brother and sister for the first time.
The reunion brought together six of the Scribner children and their families. The very first time I met them, I think all of our knees
were shaking. It is emotional, but I think we've all cried enough tears and we didn't need a lot today.
I can't wait to get to know them. I'm really very excited about it. You have all these questions in your mind--
gee, what did I miss out on all these years and what they really like as kids? I think that my newfound family is wonderful.
I think they're absolutely adorable. You can lose me for another 50 years now. It's like we've known each other all around our lives
even though we haven't been around each other more than five hours. It doesn't really matter now what kind of life any of us
had because it's what's left that counts. We know where all of the children are now.
Our next story is about a courageous woman who was raped, who we'll call Deedra.
Dierdre has decided to come forward with the goal of finding her attacker and putting him behind bars.
Deedra lived on the Upper East Side in New York City. It's an expensive area, but Deedra had been lucky to find
a rent-controlled apartment. She lived there for several years until the building was scheduled to be torn down.
As the leases ran out, the tenants moved away. Eventually, Deedra was the only person
living in the building, which was badly in need of repairs. In the end, it was one of those repairs,
a leaky ceiling, that led to Deedra's violent encounter. It's me again, sorry. It's just a mess today.
DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): The landlord hired a 31-year-old handyman named David Gause.
DEEDRA (VOICEOVER): When he was first hired, it didn't seem strange at all. It was just somebody else coming in to do some work
in the building, that's all. DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): After Gause fixed the ceiling,
the landlord gave him more work. While doing the repairs, he lived in a basement apartment.
[knocking at door] At 9:30 one morning, Gause knocked on Deedra's door. I thought you coming up yesterday to paint the ceiling.
I had other things to do, I couldn't make it. I came up to borrow a frying pan. Oh, OK.
Just a second. Here you go. What are you doing? Is this a joke? No, it's no joke.
Stop! DEEDRA (VOICEOVER): After he raped me, it seemed like he was calmer. But then he got a crazy look in his eye again
and he took an icepick out of his pocket. I thought for sure that he was going to kill me.
DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): Hoping to save her life, Deedra came up with a plan. No, no.
Listen, you don't understand. Wait. No, we could be together. DEEDRA (VOICEOVER): I made him believe
that he was my boyfriend. It totally disarmed him. He got really confused about the whole thing.
Here, I have this. I have the money. Take this, too. - Really? Yes. Go find those guys.
Pay them the money and come back. We'll go for breakfast, we'll be together. DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): Gause claimed that he
needed the money to pay a debt. Deedra gave him all she had. Deedra's call to 911 brought an immediate response.
Here, I'm up here. I'm coming right up. DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): But David Gause was long gone.
The police background check on Gause turned up a long list of previous arrests and felony
convictions, including armed robbery, assault, and grand larceny. After we identified David Gause,
I also contacted other police departments and learned that Gause was also wanted for a rape that occurred
in Nassau County, Long Island. In that rape, he raped an acquaintance of his and a warrant was issued for his arrest.
DEEDRA (VOICEOVER): It still affects my life. I don't trust anybody. There's no enjoyment left.
I know that he's raping other women and I know that other lives are being destroyed.
I'd like to see him off the streets. I'd like to see him put away forever. Rape is a crime that is usually repeated until they're
caught and put away. So there's no doubt in my mind if David Gause is not caught that he will go on doing what he's
used to doing, raping women. DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): Update-- after this story aired, we received numerous tips
from our viewers reporting that Gause was living under the name David Johnson in Lawrenceburg, North
Carolina. He was then arrested at his home. Part of the healing of a rape victim
is the person being apprehended and her getting her chance to gain her power back.
I was happy for the victim's sake that after five years, she now gets a chance for justice in the court system.
DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): Davis Gause was returned to New York, where he was convicted of rape,
sodomy, burglary, and robbery. Gause was sentenced to a prison term of 20 to 40 years
and will not be eligible for parole until 2017. Coming up, a man has only one clue
to the identity of his father, a monogrammed handkerchief. Previously we brought you the case of 18-year-old Lisa Marie
Kimmell of Denver, Colorado. Lisa left home on a Friday afternoon to visit her boyfriend in Cody, Wyoming and her parents
in Billings, Montana. That night, a Wyoming Highway Patrol officer stopped Lisa for speeding
about 60 miles south of Casper. I was patrolling southbound on March 25 and noted a small car northbound at 88 miles an hour,
according to my radar. I turned around and pursued the car. I stopped her near Oren Junction.
Miss Kimmell, I had you on my radar back there at 88 miles an hour. DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): Lisa signed her ticket
and drove off, but she never arrived in Cody. As days passed with no word, her family began to fear the worst.
As the week went on, we realized the gravity of the situation. The outlook was looking a little grim.
But even at that, even if the outcome wasn't as we hoped, we still needed to find her.
DEEDRA (VOICEOVER): One week after Lisa disappeared, a man fishing on the North Platte River in Casper
found a body in the water. She was found nearly nude. She was sexually assaulted and there were seven
stab wounds in the chest area. And I can't tell you how they were done to the body,
but it would leave the appearance that somebody took their time in doing this. It's hard to understand why somebody
would do something like that to another human being. DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): Police
discovered Lisa's blood on an old highway bridge a quarter of a mile away. They suspected that the killer had bludgeoned
and stabbed Lisa there and then dumped her body into the river. There was no trace of Lisa's car.
Update-- 14 years after Lisa Marie Kimmell was murdered, authorities cracked the case.
Their check of the Wyoming DNA database matched an inmate named Dale Wayne Eaton, who was
in prison on a weapons charge. When police searched Eaton's property about an hour's drive
from where Lisa was last seen, they found Lisa's car buried underground. It had been there for 14 years.
They also learn that Eaton had kept Lisa at his house for six days. The jury found Eaton guilty and he was sentenced to death.
Lisa's parents were awarded Dale Eaton's property in a civil suit. They burned all the buildings to the ground
on what would have been Lisa's 36th birthday. Clues about family history you can turn up in unlikely forms.
For a man named Charles Stubin, the clue was embroidered on a handkerchief that was tucked away in a dusty old file
more than a half a century old. Los Angeles, California. Charles Stubin was born in 1935 and grew up an only child.
When he was a teenager, Charles discovered a clue that made him question his place in his own family.
I found a photo of my parents together on vacation in 1935. The picture is annotated September 1935,
but my mother's not pregnant. So I began to think, well, if I was born on the 17th of September, that
would have to be after that. But we know that a woman who's just had a baby first of all
is not going to go on vacation and she's not going to leave the baby behind. And so that's odd.
But when I found it, I was probably a teenager and I just, oh, that's interesting, and filed
it away in the back of my mind. DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): When Charles earned a Navy college
scholarship, he wrote to the State Department of Public Health for a copy of his birth certificate.
When it arrived, he was disturbed to see that it was mostly incomplete. There's some stuff missing here.
I noticed that, too. I think it's sometimes when it's a copy they just don't put everything in.
DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): There was no hospital listed, no city, no attending physician,
and no time of birth. CHARLES STUBIN (VOICEOVER): There were more blank spaces than filled in spaces.
I said, this is a funny-looking birth certificate. How come this other stuff isn't there?
And my mother didn't know quite how to answer my question. Mom, they don't even say what state I was born in.
DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): Charles began to suspect that he had been abducted but could never bring himself to ask his mother again.
Charles was 54, with two grown children, when his mother passed away. He decided that it was time to try to uncover
the secret of his past. A family friend finally told Charles that he had, indeed, been adopted.
Charles visited the Children's Home Society in Los Angeles, where the adoption had been handled in 1935.
He had no idea what his file would contain. CHARLES STUBIN (VOICEOVER): In the envelope
was a handkerchief, which had been found with me back in 1935. On the handkerchief, a purple W had been embroidered in silk.
Here was a tangible connection with my past that someone, probably my mother, had put this handkerchief with me
as a kind of a token, a memento. To me it meant that I'm sorry I've got to do this
and maybe someday we'll get together again. DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): Charles' research took
him back to September 25, 1935. It was a typical Wednesday evening in Boyle Heights, which at the time
was the Jewish neighborhood of Los Angeles. At around 8:30 PM, a woman named Gladys
Roswern went out to move her car from the street to her driveway. Oh, my god. My god.
DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): The abandoned baby was only a few days old. He was wrapped in a blue blanket.
Tucked inside was a linen handkerchief with the embroidered W. Gladys notified the Children's Home Society.
The baby was eventually adopted by a Jewish couple, Harry and Yetta Stubin, whom Charles would come to know
as his mother and father. 55 years later, Charles still didn't know who his natural parents were
or why they had abandoned him. he began searching through the Los Angeles birth records for September 1935.
His only clue was the handkerchief. The W was probably the last name of my father.
This was a man's handkerchief and it was the custom at the time for a man to have embroidered
handkerchiefs with their initial of their last name embroidered on them. So that allowed us to narrow our search down to boy children
whose last name began with W. DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): Charles placed several ads in the "Los Angeles Times,"
and surprisingly two different people came forward with the same information. The most plausible story regarding
how I came to be abandoned is probably that the father was probably Jewish and my mother was not.
There was a businessman who was very prominent in the '30s and '40s in Los Angeles.
This gentleman had a number of girlfriends and it was quite possible that I could have
been his illegitimate child. I'm sure that my mother was put under tremendous duress
and having to make a very difficult decision in very trying times and she did what she thought was best.
DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): Charles never gave up hope that one day he would discover the truth
about his birth family. Update-- after this story aired, Charles was contacted by a viewer, Dr. Steven Baskin.
He recognized parts of Charles' story and suspected that he and Charles might be half brothers.
DNA confirmed their relationship. However, their birth mother, Rose Wasserman, has passed away.
This photograph was found in her scrapbook. Charles believes that it may hold a clue
to his father's identity. If you have information, please log on to our website at unsolved.com.
[theme music]

This, Episode includes: Singles Bar, Mary Celeste, Drug Playboy, Update: Coffee Pot Twins, Lost Gause, Update: Li'l Miss and Mystery Baby.

Brief Summary

Five mysterious cases include a murder, a ghost ship, a drug lord, sibling reunion, and a rape case solved through viewer tips.

Key points

The Mysterious Murder of Hilda Roche. A charming stranger leads to a tragic murder. Hilda Roche's story unfolds with chilling details.
The Ghost Ship: Mary Celeste. The Mary Celeste sets sail but disappears without a trace. What happened to her crew?
Brian Brophil's Drug Empire. A newcomer in Vermont is revealed to be behind a massive drug operation.
Brian Brophil's Double Life. Brian smuggled narcotics without a trace, living a dangerous double life.
Sue Scribner's Emotional Reunion. After years of searching, Sue finally meets her long-lost siblings.
Deedra's Fight for Justice. After being attacked, Deedra seeks to bring her rapist to justice.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

What happened to the crew of the famous ghost ship, the "Mary Celeste?".

Introduction to the mystery of the Mary Celeste

0:19WatchMar 9, 2017

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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