Unsolved Mysteries with Dennis Farina - Season 7, Episode 18 | Forensic Files

[Music] next on Unsolved Mysteries a young man is convicted of a brutal murder and sent to prison for
life why is he still behind bars then this man has confessed to the crime when a 15-year-old school girl
falls in love with a dangerous criminal she becomes an accessory to murder a Young Man shows up at a small
airport and tries to catch a ride on a private plane it's the last time that he's seen
aive strange noises and unexplained apparitions frighten a couple in their new home join us for five cases with twists
and turns that you can hardly believe I'm Dennis finina and this is Unsolved Mysteries
[Music] [Music] Aurora Missouri with a population of just 7,000 Aurora is a small town where everyone
knows everyone else and everyone in town knew Johnny Lee Wilson an easygoing mentally challenged 20-year-old with the
emotional development of a third grader Johnny had been lovingly raised by his mother and Grand
mother I'm Mrs Mar on school days Johnny would often leave his bicycle with Mrs Pauline Mars afraid that his classmates
might vandalize it Pauline was a close friend of Johnny's grandmother after school at 79 Pauline was the last
surviving member of the wealthiest family in Aurora and owned the town's largest
[Music] business one evening at about 8:00 p.m. the local fire department rushed to
Pauline's home by the time they arrived the house was totally engulfed in flames when they were finally able to
search the wreckage they found Pauline's charred body the official cause of death
was smoke inhalation but the fire was not an [Music] accident Pauline had been bound and
gagged with rope and duct tape in investigators concluded that the fire was arson it had been deliberately set
with gasoline the town was stunned by the ghastly crime Pauline had been one of Aurora's most beloved
citizens 5 days later anger turned to shock when police picked up Johnny Lee Wilson for questioning they grilled him
for nearly 4 hours until he finally confessed to the crime a confession he would later we
can't the case of Johnny Lee Wilson divided the town of Aurora some strongly believe that Johnny was innocent but
police insisted that the right man was behind bars did Johnny murder Pauline Marts or was he convicted of a crime
that someone else committed on the day of the fire John spent the afternoon at home with a
friend later he mowed a neighbor's lawn when he was finished his mother drove him back home she and his grandmother
claimed that Johnny could not possibly have been anywhere near the Mark's house when the fire was set they didn't get
home until about 5:00 and as soon as they got home the neighbor boy came back over again and
then when they left at 700 John and I put up nine posters in his bedroom and then when uh that was done then we about
258 we left and went mailed two letters when went up to Ry got some things and then when we came out that's
when we heard the [Music] sirens Johnny got out of the car to watch the fire hey Johnny how's it going
not bad how about you he was approached by 18-year-old Gary Wall a classmate in the special education program at the
local high school see you later bye basically I just said Hi how are you and you know bye you know and then I went
back to the car and and uh sat in the back seat and that was it hey Johnny hey the next morning Gary
gave police a completely different version of his conversation with Johnny this is
mar well how do you know tied up well you sound like you know something about this you tell anybody
and I'm going to beat you up okay Jerry Gary Wall took a total of six polygraphs
he failed all but one the morning after Johnny's arrest sheriff's deputies went to the Wilson
home to search for evidence they came to search the house and said they had a warrant and I gave
them permission to search because I didn't think they'd find any anything see but they did I mean they thought
they did they went to his room and just started taking things out of drawers and
cabinets and things that was in there authorities suspected that Pauline Marts had been sexually assaulted before
the fire when they found a drawer full of women's underwear in Johnny's bedroom it fit their Theory however the family
said the bureau and clothing belong to Johnny's mother deputy also found costume jewelry
which Johnny's grandmother said that she used for sewing but during his confession Johnny told detectives that
he had stolen jewelry from the Marts home when they found an empty gas can in the garage deputies were convinced that
Johnny was the killer Johnny was charged with first-degree murder but because of his
diminished mental faculties the court needed to determine if he was fit to stand trial what' you like about high
school I was a manager for the football team they gave me a jacket and everything right do you have any friends
in school when you're asked to evaluate someone's Fitness to stand trial you look at first whether they understand
what the charges are against them and then second are they able to reason and make their own decisions about whether
din or a plea uh are they able to decide whether uh they want to testify in their
own behalf at a trial are they able to help their attorney by giving him a consistent account of what happened and
in those particular range of skills I did not think Johnny was poing his D trial
Johnny when the police arrested you did they ask you anything about Miranda rights yeah I think so do you know what
Miranda rights are yeah what are they that's the difference between right and wrong Johnny was examined by two
psychiatrist and a psychologist two of them found that Johnny was not capable of understanding
the court proceedings however the third a courta apppp appointed psychiatrist determined that Johnny was fit to stand
trial Johnny told his attorneys that he was innocent but based upon on his confession and the testimony of Gary
Wall he was advised to plead guilty this meant that Johnny would lose his right to a trial by jury because he had given
a confession his attorneys told him that it would be very likely that he would get convicted if this went to trial and
they also told him that this judge was very likely to give him the death penalty based on prior cases that had
gone before this judge and so what he understood was if he went to trial and he was found guilty that he would
die what is your understanding of why you're here this afternoon plead guilty why are you pleading guilty Johnny I
don't know pardon this Recreation of Johnny's hearing is taken directly from Court
transcripts just a first deegree murder that's what you're pleading guilty too why are you wanting to enter
such a plea I I don't know the so-called plea of guilty should have been stopped about 60 seconds after
it started the judge asked Johnny if he knew what he was doing and Johnny Wilson
said no I don't understand why I'm here I don't understand what's going on and the judge said do you want to plead guil
to this charge and Johnny said no I don't want to plead guilty to it at that point the Circuit Judge should have said
gentlemen courts adjourned this case will be set for trial in two weeks I expect everyone to be here and be ready
for trial I'm not going to take this plea of guilty but he didn't the judge went further continued to cross-examine
Johnny and finally accepted the plea of guilty upon your plea of guilty in this cause the court sentences you to life
imprisonment in the custody of the Missouri Department of Corrections stands a Jer Johnny Wilson
was sent to the Missouri State Prison to begin serving his life sentence 10 months later at a prison in Kansas this
man claimed that that he knew who killed Pauline Marts and that it wasn't Johnny
Wilson up next can Johnny Lee Wilson get a new trial and prove his innocence Johnny Lee Wilson a mentally
challenged 20-year-old confessed to the murder of Pauline Mars and was sentenced
to life in prison 2 years later a convicted felon named Chris Brownfield confessed to
participating in the attack on Marx Brownfield was serving a life sentence for accessory to murder in a separate
case according to Brownfield the crime began when he was tipped off that Pauline Marts kept a lot of cash in her
home Brownfield said he made plans to Rob Pauline Marts after learning about the cash in her home Brownfield and a
partner not Johnny Lee Wilson broke into the March home according to Brownfield they
ransacked the house where's your money at lady huh Pauline was bound and gaged Brownfield and his accomplice
decided to burn down the house so that no evidence would be left at the scene in his confession Brownfield stated that
he was outside when his partner started the fight the two men then fled the sea when brownfields confession went
public it caused an up one group of citizens banned it together and erected this billboard a short time later it was
firebomb attorney D1 Wampler was hired to represent Johnny and to reopen the case Wampler was convinced that he could
prove that Johnny's confession had been coerced the first time the state of Missouri has ever put a third grader on
trial for murder okay thank you very much Johnny Lee Wilson was at a movie theater on the night that he supposedly
confessed and they tricked him into going with them to the police headquarters he had lost a billfall
several days earlier and they came and asked him to go to the police station and he thought that he was going because
they had found his billfold Johnny did you lose a wallet yeah we found it we got it down at the police station if you
come down and identify it you pick it up take it on home okay come on with me his
mother and grandmother were not told that they were going to question him that evening John is there any
possibility that you are involved in this no what if I told you I thought you was the police interrogation began at
8:30 p.m. and ended it just after midnight what if I told you you was seen at that fire before it started I'd say I
wasn't the word spoken in these scenes are taken directly from a transcript of police tape recordings what would you do
if we brought in a witness in here in this chair and he sat here and looked you right in the eye and said John you
was there before that fire started they kept on saying uh well we know you did it we know we got we got a witness
saying that that you told him you told him you did it and uh after that you know I I just I I I
REM maintained my innocence I I said I didn't I I didn't I didn't do it I I don't know who did I Didn't Do It murder
what you're in here for they started you know started yelling saying well we know
you did it you're going to tell us that you did it so we just get this all wrapped up so we can all go home didn't
know she was tied up how'd that information get out there's a whole bunch of people out there that night
that came up with information that she was tied up the language used was so aggressive what an ordinary individual
might have done at that point was to end the interview or ask for their attorney
but being a fairly uh young uh young man who was limited intellectually and no prior uh experience with the criminal
justice system and the emotional stability of an eight or nine-year-old uh they're not going to know to say say
get out of my face stop talking to me and I want to end this he didn't think he had the permission to end this you
know too much why' Gary make up something like that on you he mad at you at the end of the interrogation he he
forced my head back and that's that's when I said okay okay I did it but when I really didn't that's that's when I
lied what besides her rope was around her ankles as the interrogation continued deputies pressed for more
details you know and I know just think come on John I'm thinking what are some of the things that could be
used handcuffs I think no no wrong guess they just simply said if you'll tell us
what we want to know we can all go home and he was just acting like a a child that has a that has brain damage and he
thought okay I'll tell them what they want to know and then we'll all go home but Johnny did not go home
at the end of the confession they uh they SLA the handcuffs on me and walked me out the door and drove me to Mount
Vern and locked me up that's when I thought say no I ain't going home over over something that I
think just run my life I'd set in my jail cell you know just thinking you know I didn't do this you know the
bottom line you know I just I just want to go home a former deputy sheriff named
Dustin Toller began looking Clos clely at the evidence in the case soon he came to Johnny's
defense as I got into the reports I observed that what was being said about Johnny Wilson by the sheriff's
department and other investigative agencies and what was substantiated by evidence were not the same
thing toer discovered that the costume jewelry in the Wilson home did belong to Johnny's grandmother not to Pauline Mars
the underwear did belong to johny's Mother not Pauline and finally the gas can found
that the crime scene did not belong to Johnny Wilson but the key finding had never
been entered into evidence the more I observed the less evidence I could find I never did find anything that could tie
Johnny Wilson to the case there was one very important piece of evidence that was discovered at the
crime scene but then ignored a battery operated stun gun in his confession Brownfield stated
that he lost the stun gun during the robbery it had never been publicized that a stun gun had been used in this
crime Chris Brownfield and his confession was the first one who ever mentioned the stun gun he described the
stun gun and drew a picture of it that was identical to the stun gun that was eventually found at the crime scene
Johnny Lee Wilson didn't even know what a stun gun was he was asked about it he thought a stun gun was an electric
razor with his case well prepared D wler presented a motion to the court requesting a jury trial for Johnny the
motion was denied the Court ruled that when Johnny plad guilty he understood the charges
against him and was mentally competent to stand trial the judge also found that Chris Brownfield was not
credible justice has been very difficult to find in the Johnny Wilson case it's one of those cases perhaps there's only
one in a thousand where an innocent man is doing time in the penitentiary and Johnny Lee Wilson is innocent and it's a
shame that he never got a chance to prove his [Music] inocence all I all I want somebody to
believe in me you know you know just that I didn't do this update after a lengthy review the
governor of Missouri pardoned Johnny Lee Wilson the governor concluded that police had coed Johnny's confession
Johnny served 8 years in prison before being released today he is a free [Music]
man next a family's life has turned upside down when a powerful force refuses to leave their
home this is a quiet suburb near Atlanta Georgia where Jim and K Tatum built a new home and plan to retire but 5 months
after they moved in the tatums began to experience unusual events a series of incidents that forced them to put their
house up for sale and for this reason they requested we not show it but they did allow us to film
inside one night K Tatum couldn't sleep she sensed the strange presence in the hall outside of her bedroom
[Music] Kay caught a glimpse of a man walking past her [Applause] door it was definitely a man and he was
swinging his arm slightly and his head was slightly bent and he walked briskly past me
Jim at first I thought it was my husband and I went into the bedroom and there and my husband was in the bed so I
thought we had a burglar Jim searched the house there's no evidence of any entry
there's no evidence of anyone having been in the house and I thought perhaps Kay had been using an overactive
imagination I had fear and I was perplexed about what happened while I was tosing and Turney I suddenly
remembered that I didn't hear any sound as he passed me and I still I'm unable to figure out why it
happened 2 months passed without further incident then one night Jim was working
upstairs on the house he stopped when Kay called him down to dinner Jim dinner's ready in a minute I
specifically unplugged the drill because it's a very old drill I thought it might
be dangerous to leave it plugged as the evening wore on he wanted to watch a movie and I decided to go
upstairs and read 1 hour later kay heard the sound of the drill outside of her room Kay says that she just assumed that
Jim was teasing her about having seen a ghost it wasn't long before she felt the
joke had gone on long enough when she got to the hallway it was empty and the drill was unplugged I was really
frightened and I reached down it felt out and it was ice cold it had not been turned on I was very
confused I I knew very well that something was happening because K is very level-headed and uh she was truly
frightened the strange events continued one night Kay heard the sound of coins falling in a bowl but she was alone in
the room another time while cooking Kay felt two sharp tugs on her blood after that incident I decided we have a
problem in this house something going on it's not something that we can understand or
explain but there's something definitely going [Music] on these strange occurrences all seem to
be centered on Kay she and Jim were terrified by what was happening in their home so they turned to an expert for
help this is where most of uh things have been happening you know the question comes up
why is this family having these experiences is there sort of ghost that has come back to haunt them for some
unknown reason or what's taking place a lot of people have these experiences it's part of who we are as humans to
have uh so-called psychic experiences Dr Ro believes that memories can actually be transferred to physical objects and
these residual memories can be triggered by Ordinary People the nature of his presence seems to be a teasing type of
thing uh as though it's teasing us it wasn't long before Jim finally had his first strange experience come on it
started with this small bell Jim always got up hours before K when Kay woke up she would ring the bell
if she needed anything upstairs I'd grown used to climbing the stairs after hearing the bell and so I did so
and it wasn't K she was asleep so I went in and looked at the bell and it was there and I thought obviously I heard
something else other than the Bell after the third time this happened the tatums decided to make up a code in
order to outwit The Entity if it ranks three times I'll come on up the stairs all right we'll do
that so the next time it rang three times I knew this was K because this was our signal but K was sound asleep and
the bell was in the other bedroom where it stays I went in and looked at it I turned around and walked out the door
and the thing rang [Music] again are you getting up then I begin to see how K felt I mean I was frightened
the hair stood up on my neck I told k then I says no more Bell I'm not going to answer that Bell
anymore and that Bell has not rung [Music] since I've never seen him like that before there a number of haunted cases
that are not very striking not very strong but where the phenomena nevertheless are disturbing to the
family it might be a bell ringing a fleeting glimpse of an operation the events are trivial but they're deeply
upsetting to the family because they don't fit into the picture that most of us have of the world and that image of
the physical world particularly of our home is intricately related to who we picture ourselves as
being in the end things got so bad that the tatums moved out of their home and put it up for sale
they left behind the spirit or whatever it was to live in the house all alone next a courier carrying more than
$10,000 is robbed and killed by an Exon and a 15-year-old girl [Music] Hancock Maryland Melissa Monday was known as
Missy to her friends she was an honor student at the local high school and a member of the future Homemakers of
America she was in probably the top 10% of her class she enjoyed what she was doing she got a long wealth and if I
could have gazed it I would have gazed it everything was satisfactory because that's the way she seemed to be here at
school Missy was very sh person she'd only go to her basketball games her choir practice or maybe a couple ball
games we always know where she was at when she got done she'd call us we go pick her up and bring her back
home one day a stranger showed up on Missy's doorstep his name was Jerry Strickland and he said that he was
looking for a property to convert into a small orphanage he stopped by Missy's home to find out who owned the farm next
door Hi how are you today when I first met Jerry I thought well you know he's was a
smooth talker I mean it was his actions the way he talked he was so demanding I didn't care for his
attitude but Missy was intrigued by Jerry her first Glimpse was the beginning of a relationship that would
change her life forever she really liked him a lot every time it came out he brought her a gift and he gave her a lot
of attention that she didn't get it home she went out with him in the evening after her mom got home and she said that
she got home late but her mom didn't know who she was with and she lied to her told her she was with a
friend over the next few weeks Missy snuck out of the house to see Strickland he told her that he had a tragic past
including the death of his first wife and child in a terrible car accident Missy was swept off her feet
she had boy crushes at school you know like childhood sweethearts stuff like that but as far as going out boy she
never paid that much of an interest in them that's what I don't understand about this and Jerry got something for
you oh it's beautiful you like it yeah it she had bought a ring she said for a souvenir I come find out later Jerry had
gave her the ring and I took her at a word cuz Missy never did lie to me that's why I never dreamt it's was going
to happen up next Bye Mom the bus is here it was an ordinary school day and Missy left to
catch the bus I'll never forget that day she said I'm going to school now I'll see you to
City and I said all right that was it those the last words you spoke to me Missy hadn't gone to school she got
in Jerry's car and left the state I didn't believe it Missy would that kind of a person cuz I know Missy I
raised her it was just a big change in that one day when she just [Music] left even as she drove away with Jerry
strickman Missy had no idea who he was Jerry Strickland's wife and child had not died he just left them behind
Strickland had also been arrested for ing bad checks and convicted of assault he had also raped his sister-in-law then
cut her throat and left her for dead this was not a nice guy Jerry what I think the baby's sick
when Missy gave birth to a son Jamie she never told her family did she get some medicine or something she told me that
she was very unhappy at home and that's why she was with Jerry was cuzz he took her away from
home look I'm working all right I never seen him kiss never held hands I thought
that was a so strange I remember asking her about it once and she said that he wasn't very
affectionate to help make 's meet Missy took a job at a gas station there she met Elmer dor a courier for the oil
company who picked up cash deposits for the local gas stations over over time Missy and Elmer became friends how's CH
oh it's kind of distant lately he understood that she was going through a really rough time being married to this
guy and they didn't have anything for the baby and stuff like that he very understanding man very
loving on a Monday morning Elmer came by as usual to pick up cash from the station when customers sto by an hour
later the station was deserted the police arrived and found Elmer's car in the parking lot the
office was locked we checked the interior of the station and found that there was nobody
inside but the safe had been opened and there was an excess of $10,000 stolen just nothing but change in here David
Melissa knew Elmer's r because of her position as assistant manager to that particular station she
knew when he was going to pick up and work police believe that strickman planned the crime and was waiting with
Missy for Elmer when Elmer opened the safe Strickland made his move don't move Elmer don't move all
right all right all right stand stand put your arms up put them up Missy put the cups on him move
move hurry up on yourself too now on yourself too Missy let's go police guessed that Strickland wanted to
convince Elmer that Missy was also a victim we feel that Elmer was handcuffed to missing on the pretext that she was
going to be hurt and uh Elmer went along with it reluctantly but to protect Melissa
happened I'm Missy with me you're just going to wait here all right then he unlocked the handcuffs to show Elmer
that he wasn't really going to hurt Melissa but he just wanted the money and then he shot Elmer twice in
the back of the head at first I couldn't believe that it could have happened that way it was
unbelievable it was something that you'd never expect out of Melissa well what do you think you want
to take her home the morning after the murder Strickland and Missy were seen in Pontiac Michigan buying a truck and
paying for it with cash thanks a lot yeah I appreciate it while Strickland went to get insurance Missy chatted with
a Salesman now you got this 2 and 1/2 hours that she was alone she could have told the salesman of Lucky Auto Sales
she could have picked the phone up and called the police herself to say let me out of this I'm in trouble I need help
she's as guilty as Jerry Strickland is even though she did not pull the trigger she's just guilty of first deegree
murder they are obviously aren't the people that they made everybody believe they're
Liars they're phonies there wasn't any reason for him to die and they could do that to somebody
like that who knows what they've done or what they could do now I never noticed a change
in I didn't notice a split in her personality unless I didn't want to but mess he's gone I don't know if I
see her again or [Music] [Applause] not update when this story aired more than a
dozen viewers recognized the two fugitives and called police Jerry Strickland and Missy Mundy were
arrested murder and kidnapping charges against Missy were dropped in exchange for her testimony against Strickland in
the murder of Almer deor Missy pleaded guilty to one count of armed robbery she served 7 months in a juvenile facility
and was released when she turned 19 Jerry strickman was found guilty on several charges including kidnapping and
the murder of Elmer D'Or he was sentenced to serve two life terms without the possibility of
Corona next a young man disappears after trying to hit a flight from a remote Airfield
Paduka Kentucky a small Airfield yes are you a pilot um no I'm sure not do you know a pilot I can talk
to U no I sure don't a young man approaches airport worker West Weaver out west is there anybody here I can
talk to Sure listen I'm really in a bind I really need to get out west I kind of
thought that maybe he was running from something cuz he honestly he didn't act drugged up and he didn't act like he was
drunk and he really didn't act crazy was kind of desperate come on man I mean look I've got this jacket isn't there
some way I could trade this jacket for for a lift you know what began as an odd encounter would soon become a tragic and
puzzling mystery maybe I finally just kind of told him no and and made it to the point to where you know he should
leave and he stood around for a little while and finally he he went back through the
hanger 30 minutes later West Weaver saw the stranger again again and he had the jacket on and I
thought it was kind of strange so I kind of slowed down and watched and I saw him
run across the ditch and and jump up on the fence and jump over and run towards a plane and that's when I radioed for
someone to call security we got a guy jumping over the fence at 22 there were other Witnesses who saw
the young man running across the airst strip me and my husband was out in the yard and we saw this guy running in the
field and he run over to on the other side of the plane well we never did see him no more
the way he was running to it so fast you know he was up to something at the time the only aircraft
on the runway was a commuter flight Bound for Memphis Tennessee Just Before Sunset the plane was cleared for
takeoff everything seemed normal the plane got way up in air and I stood there you know was watching in a few
minutes I seen something fall and I told my husband I said something fell out of that
plane shortly after dark airport authorities mobilized the search looking for any sign of the man the witnesses
had seen at the North End of the runway Ron Jones noticed that the fence had been
damaged lying on the ground was the crumpled body of the young stranger it really hit me then that this
actually happened that someone actually got onto an aircraft some kind of way and that someone had fallen to their
death no identification of any kind was found on or near the body as we examine the hand we knowe
that the nails appear to be manicured and well groomed blood test revealed no traces of drugs or alcohol in the
victim's system this is the jacket worn by the young man sewn into the collar was an ID
tag inscribed Lieutenant LF price United States Air Force a check of military records could find no such person when
we go back and look at the series of events that led up to this incident the individual had a
approximately 90 seconds to 2 minutes to climb over a 7 1/2 ft high fence Traverse approximately 800t of terrain
including one digit system run around the aircraft's tail section and then climb on the aircraft although we have
no actual eyewitnesses to his climbing on the aircraft and again the time interval is
between 90 seconds and 120 seconds it's quite an accomplishment within seconds the plane
was barreling down the runway at 125 mph once Airborne its speed increased to more than
190 mph and that obviously is a substantial wind Force upon anyone trying to stay on the wing of an aircraft with
really no handholds we judge at this point that he managed to stay on for approximately
3,000 to 3500 ft after the aircraft Departed the I wonder what was so important to make
him take a chance on trying to catch a ride on the outside of an aircraft I think that there's an answer
with his family his his family may not have even known that he was coming home and I think that that's probably if
we could just get over that hurdle there I think we can find out why update the identity of the young man who
fell to his death remained the mystery for nearly 8 years and though the locals didn't know who he was they often
brought flowers to his grave the story was kept Alive by a reporter from Paduka who included an
account on his website and that's where the young man's stepmother found it fingerprints confirmed that he was Brian
deaker a 28-year-old old schizophrenic Ryan was known to disappear for long periods of time his reasons for climbing
onto the airplane remain a mystery [Music] [Music] [Music]

Brief Summary

Five cases of crime, hauntings, and mysteries unfold, including wrongful conviction and a tragic murder involving a young girl.

Key points

The Case of Johnny Lee Wilson. A mentally challenged young man confesses to a murder he may not have committed.
Confession Under Duress. Johnny's confession is questioned as evidence emerges of coercion and mental incapacity.
A Shocking Revelation. A new confession from Chris Brownfield claims he was involved in the murder.
The Tatum's Haunting. The Tatum family experiences a haunting bell that leads to their departure from home.
Missy's Dangerous Encounter. Missy meets Jerry Strickland, leading to a life-changing relationship.
The Tragic Murder. Elmer D'Or is murdered during a robbery planned by Jerry Strickland.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

I don’t know why I’m here.

Johnny's confusion during his court hearing.

9:41WatchMar 9, 2017

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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