Unsolved Mysteries with Dennis Farina - Season 8, Episode 10 | Forensic Files

[Music] next on Unsolved Mysteries a husband and father is sentenced to life in prison
for a series of rapes but two of the victims say he's not the man who assaulted them five children die after
they are trapped in a burning house police say a drug deal gone wrong led to arson and
Le a woman honored as a national hero is actually The Mastermind behind a million
dooll baby selling range and the military says that he died in accient but a photo convinces his
family that he's still [Music] alive perhaps there's someone watching who can help solve one of these cases
and maybe it's you I'm Dennis finina so stick around [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause]
Coral gaes Florida a 17-year-old girl who we'll call Judy was driving along a stretch of
Bird Road it was kind of late at night I noticed a car following me flashing its
headlights I wave from the pass I slowed down I sped up I didn't know if he wanted to go around me if it was a
friend of mine I wasn't sure what it was and I didn't pull off the road but I slowed down enough on the road where he
came up next to me and I looked over to see if it was somebody I knew or police officer get out of the car what hurry up
and get out of the car come on get in my car don't look at me don't scream I've got this gun in my hand I know what this
can do to you the man drove Judy to a deserted construction site put the gun to her
head and raped her he took her panties and driver's license then dumped her off five or six
blocks from where he had kidnapped her now like face down on the ground don't look up until I tell you
to the attack was the first of many to come in the Miami area over the next 2 years dozens of women were approached
and 24 of them were kidnapped some were sexually assaulted the identified as salent became known as The Bird Road
rapist I described him as someone who was about 6' 6'2 220 lb I described what I thought was an average sized person um
I never saw him standing I described a sitting male Judy says the rapist spoke English
with a slight Spanish accent had a mustache and a Pock marked face and drove a dark ring
Car 2 Days Later Judy was at her job at a gas station when she thought she saw the same car in which she had been raped
I think that's the car I walked out there and I I was positive it was him I got his tag number and a
and a description I called the police immediately after he left and gave them all the information they came out and
took a statement police checked the license plate and track down the car's owner
Luis Diaz a cook at a local Cuban restaurant can you tell me what kind of car you
drive and no English all right uh 2 days ago 10: in the morning can you tell did
not speak English had no criminal record and did not fit the physical description
at 5'3 and 140 lb he was a foot shorter and 100 lb lighter than the man that Judy described as her asent Luis was
dismissed as a suspect the rapes continued at the rate of one attack a month get in the car
hurry up and get don't scream or I'll kill you get in hurry up police assumed that all the Bird Road rapes were
committed by one man however the survivors described him very differently some said that the rapist
was short others that he was tall he had a mustache no he was clean shaven he spoke English with a Spanish accent no
he had no accent at all his car several different models were described it was a
tough case with a slew of conflicting leads once the rapes were leaked to the media the publicity put additional
pressure on the police to find a suspect they did everything they could to possibly find this man except of
course to go back and and reinvestigate the man that I identified as my attacker Judy convinced police to take
another look at Luis the who was still working as a cook like you come back to the station H he does speak English sure
he does we need to ask you some [Music] questions his can go with your 11 when he's finished I guess that' be all right
[Music] can you give us a minute please police decided to show a photo lineup that
included a shot of Lise to another rape victim she had been attacked only 2 months earlier just uh take a look at
their faces and see if you can recognize the guy I guess I'd have to say this guy
get here for the Third Road rapist on the night Luis was arrested police impounded the family car looking
for traces of blood seamen stains hairs and fibers that could connect him to the
rapes they found nothing they tore apart luis's home searching for the gun used in the
attacks plus the panties and Driver licenses taken from the women again they found
nothing however 16 of the women who had been assaulted came in to look at the police
lineup identified Luis as the rapist yes what number number three the rest said Luis
was not the rapist the state charged no one else with their assaults and stopped
looking for any other suspect since the rapist spoke English a key prosecution goal was proving Lis spoke
English police interviewed people who knew Luis with Detective Fernando Mendes acting as an interpreter menance would
later play a key role at the trial tell her we'd like to ask her a few questions about her former neighbor
Louise Diaz after the interviews police filed a report confirming that Luis did did speak
English the police report also claimed Luis had a brother-in-law in the used car business and there could easily have
borrowed the different cars used in the assaults evidence against Luis Diaz was [Music]
mounting but when Luis went to trial the strongest evidence against him was the testimony of the eight women who
identified him as the rapist well clearly they put a lot of Manpower into this and you would think they would find
one piece of evidence connecting Diaz with these offenses either you know women had clothing stolen or other
things stolen um weapons uh whatever it may be uh but they found nothing not a single
piece of evidence to match Diaz to these offenses now this man spoke fluent English didn't he he spoke English to me
I don't know if he is fluent in the language I think the women all said their attacker had communicated with
them in English Diaz had a part-time lawnmowing business and we found a number of people
who had gone to talk to him about mowing their lawns and doing work for them and
they tried to speak to him in English and yet he couldn't speak to them he had to go get somebody to be able to talk to
them and if there was ever a situation where if a person could speak English they would use it it would be in trying
to get work like that and help him in his business and yet we had a number of witnesses who testified that he could
not use English even when it was to his advantage to use it the prosecution insisted Luis spoke enough English to be
the rapist two detectives testified that after he was arrested he spoke to them in English for 90 minutes you would
think that if they had an hour and a half conversation with the chief's suspect in these offenses and he was
speaking in English just like these women said you think they would even tape record 5 minutes of this I mean
it's just unbelievable that none of this was done and it and it wasn't done because it's not true that's why it
wasn't done according to the defense Luis had little opportunity to commit the crimes
his wife always dropped him off at work and picked him up when he was [Music] done the defense hired private
investigator Virginia Snider and she discovered that detective Mendes was wrong wrong about luis's brother-in-law
Mendes had reported that Mr Diaz had access to different cars because his brother-in-law owned or worked at a used
car lot I found out that this was a total lie his brother-in-law was an insurance
agent the defense also played up a unique side effect of Louis's job as a cook the smell you just get full of the
fat and grease and the smells from doing this all night long and yet they claimed
that after leaving work he would go and do these rapes and yet not a single woman smelled anything unusual about the
man those of us in the courtroom didn't smell any garlic when this man testified
and there were some questions and comments made about that that there was no garlic odor in the courtroom so
apparently it's not as strong as they said it was or uh it was just wasn't a true statement did you take a good look
despite all the defense's efforts none of their arguments could outweigh the power of eyewitness testimony
each of the eight women identified Luis Diaz as the Bird Road rapist that's the man right there next to the woman she
identified the and it's clear that eyewitness testimony is the least reliable of any evidence that's
presented in a courtroom for example one woman says that the man who raped me is
6'2 and turns out Diaz is 5 fo3 I mean that that is a classic example of uh the inaccuracies of eyewitness testimony
people are human and they uh see things differently they remember things differently and when they're nervous
they're traumatized and the key to a case like this is can you recognize someone you've
seen before not can you draw his face I don't know how the police came up with the theory of the one rapist except that
they fabricated it in my opinion when you have such a variety of descriptions of sizes of heights of color hair
mustache no mustache potm Mark face no potm Mark face and they're able to put that all together and say that fit Mr
Diaz's description I don't know how they're able to do it the jury took only 3 hours to reach a
verdict Luis Diaz was guilty the sentence 13 life terms plus 55 years spee fore spee fore fore
[Music] next two of the victims who testified against Luis say they helped convict a
wrong man with Luis Diaz convicted sentence and behind bars the case of the bird
Road rapist should have been over but for defense investigator Virginia Snider this job was
different after the trial the judge looked at my case File flipped through it and commented that at the time of the
trial he had been convinced that Mr Diaz was guilty but after reading my report suddenly he was not so
sure at the judge's request Virginia continued researching the case accompanied by an interpreter
Virginia talked to the same neighbors detective Mendes had interviewed and discovered stunning
discrepancies know no Mendes had stated that one or more of the witnesses had said that Mr Diaz
spoke English that he had access to different cars that he came and went at different hours all of the witnesses
denied making any of these statements and they did it under oath and deposition also a few years after Luis was
convicted detective Mendes was himself accused of a crime five counts of filing false police reports all unrelated to
the Diaz case he pleaded guilty to the charges but was allowed to resume work on the Metro Police
Force Virginia continued digging and came up with a new theory about the Bird Road R because of the variety of
descriptions of the asants I decided it couldn't possibly be one man and it couldn't possibly Miss be
Mr Diaz so I kept working looking for a gang and eventually I came on a gang that I felt did the rapes Virginia
located a man in prison who claimed to be a member of the gang he said that he didn't par participate in the rapes but
knew those who did we were just drug dealers you know we used to hang around together you know and like God they used
to like to have fun like that the man gave Virginia an eight page affidavit swearing Luis is
innocent I think Louis Diaz is innocent and I'd like to see this case reopened and really looked at thoroughly look
this woman who we call Debbie had her own frightening runin with the Bird Road r
rapist a man pulled up beside Debbie's car and aimed a gun at her she dropped down on the seat Gunn the engine and
managed to escape when I first described my as salent I described him as being around
6ot clean shaven dark blonde hair and an American and Louis Diaz is completely opposite when the police called me into
the lineup I trusted their decision that they had the correct man that they had the rapist but I had
seen him on the TV prior to my iding him he looked totally different from the man that I my description of my as
salent but I thought the police had the correct man they said this is a bird Road rapist it must be so I I ided
him on the day Debbie was set to testify another incident again again made her wonder if Luise truly was the Bird Road
rapist and the girl that I was with she was going to testify also against Louis Diaz well we were talking about our
experiences of the attack that day I can't remember the guy's face did you get a good look at
Diaz I saw him in the lineup right but that was so long ago and and the attorney is going to ask me to point him
out and I've got to make sure I point out Diaz maybe somebody inside I can help you thanks you're welcome and she told
one of the men in the courtroom that she doesn't know what Mr Louis Diaz looked like he took her before court started
into the court where Mr lisis Diaz was and pointed to him and said that is the man
hello so how'd it go in there great he pointed out Diaz to me so he's the guy that attacked you well I'm not certain
but I'm going to say that he is immediately I felt Maybe I'm Wrong also and maybe this
is not the man but it must be because the police said it's him after Louis Diaz had been convicted and sent to Jail
the attacks didn't stop I was approached Again by another car with flashing lights that followed
me again so this was long after he had already been arrested and even sent to prison at least one other witness had
doubts about the way the investigation was handled we'll call her Mary she declined to be interviewed but did give
us a signed statement about her experience when she was shown a photo lineup that included Luis Mary says she
initially chose no one and asked to see more photographs she was then told to look again and claims that she felt that
she was being steered toward identifying Louis we need you to look a little harder Mary we're hoping to bring in a
suspect and ask him a few questions so you guys just want someone else to point him out right right then
we can make an arrest and find some answers well I guess I'd have to say this guy good we'll take that as a
positive idea thanks a lot Mary Mary was equally unsure one week later when she saw Luis in the line SE
assaulted you I'm not sure could be three or five I'm not positive could I look a little longer no
problem after seeing a video of the lineup on two separate occasions she finally convinced herself that the
police must have proof that Lise was guilty and agreed to identify today she says he is not the man who raped
her I've have not heard from any of the witnesses who uh apparently have uh who may have changed their testimony
but after a jury verdict is in the law looks with disfavor upon people who want to say they made a mistake it could be
based upon sympathy or fear or uh any one of a number of reasons I've been investigating this case for 12 years and
there's no doubt in my mind that Mr Diaz is innocent and I feel if all the facts
can be brought to light that he'll walk out a free man our chief investigator was asked to review the case rather
recently because of some complaints uh that maybe Justice was and done and uh after he read everything
about the case he reported to the state attorney that this was a just verdict [Music]
[Music] for 26 years more than a quarter Century Luis Diaz has maintained his complete
and total innocence update the long ordeal of Luis Diaz is finally over DNA EV cleared him
of involvement in two of the bird World great cases after 26 years in prison Luis Diaz was set free he was honored by
friends and family with a party at the same restaurant where he used to work next arson takes the life of five
children and police say drug dealers are to blame Dallas Texas arson investigators sift through
the ashes of a burnt out home five children are dead as a result of the fire authorities want to know
why the house belonged to a woman named Molly Jordan the victims were her great-granddaughter 2-year-old Jasmine
and four of her grandchildren Jamal 6 Erica 9 Bernard 16 and 18-year-old Demetra Jasmine's
mother you know at 3:30 on the day of the fire the kids were all home from school their grandmother Molly Jordan
was about to leave for work got get to work you have a good night Mom okay I [Music]
will Molly's job as a nurse would keep her away until 7 the next morning but she carried a pager so the children
could reach her at any time around 3 a.m. 10 old kric Jordan woke up and heard his brother Bernard
talking to someone Bernard was deeply involved with a local drug dealer I was walking to the refrigerator and I saw
him I saw the drug dealer and Bernard talking about where's my money and Bernard say I don't know what you're
talking about Berard catrick get back to bed and don't come back out okay ketrick was afraid to go back to
his own bedroom and be alone so I went into my sister's room and I went to bed it seemed like I didn't sleep that
long but but seemed like about 5 minutes later he came he was he busted into the
door and about the house was on fire get the house is on fire fire no window bre
window he told me to start busting out windows and stuff to try to you know get air coming through the house cuz we
couldn't go through the front door the only hope of Escape was through the windows but the safety releases for
the burglar barers refused the budge I saw my sister Erica laying on the bed crying and I tried to save her
so she can get air but she was in such a panic and uh then my sister she uh was busting out of Windows and she cut
herself real bad and she got into a panic and I looked I looked over to my little brother Jamal and he was already
dead and I looked over to my my niece Jazz she was already dead by the time firefighters arrived
Flames had engulfed much of the house all six children were TR firefighters tried to break down the front door what
they didn't know was that a couch had been propped up against the door holding it
closed the burglar bars prevented any chance of a quick [Applause] rescue 10 minutes later the firefighters
finally got in while parts of the house continued to burn they searched for survivors they found kric Jordan
[Music] first ketric was burned over more than 75% of his body the meitra was also
pulled out alive but she died the next day at the hospital the bodies of the other four children were found huddled
together at the foot of a barred window at that very moment Molly Jordan was rushing home from the hospital she
had been called by a relative who only said the children are all gone when I got about a mile or
something from the house one ambulance passed me and it was just screaming and going then I started feeling sick in the
stomach then I was thinking well it didn't have to come from my house there a lot of houses up but when I got within
a few blocks it was another one past me screaming holl it seemed like I couldn't breathe I
couldn't walk I couldn't stop just everything left my body ceing arson investigators quickly
determined that the deadly fire had been deliberately set in the main living room
we found a gasoline can that had been there during the fire and later on during the investigation we actually did
find samples of flammable liquids that had been poured on the floor set on fire investigator pieced together what
they believe are the events that led up to the deadly fire drug people had come to seek
payment from Berard wanted him to come outside he did not come outside they set the house on fire to
get him to come outside but unfortunately the whole family got caught in the burger bars and didn't
come out so we have an act of arson that resulted in five murders and one severe
injury police believe Bernard piled up Furniture in the desperate attempt to keep the asants out of the house the
couch jammed up against the front door and a love seat wedged behind the hallway door trapping the children in
the house the arsonist probably entered through this window one that was not equipped with bars we worked quite hard
to try to find who was responsible for the fire we did come up with one name one of the individuals that was
supplying the drugs to yard his name was Curley the nickname Curley he's a black
male about 510 in height weigh about 160 lbs we never have found Curley or any of
his friends but Curley is known to have bragged about setting the Fire 3 days after the tragedy thousands
of people gathered to mourn the loss of the five Jordan children Krick Jordan the Lone Survivor endured a dozen
operations including the amputation of both legs okay prosthetic limbs have allowed
him to walk again after the fire contributions from the community enabled ketric and his grandmother to move to a
new home in a different part of Dallas update Dallas police arrested 31-year-old Vincent Thomas and charged
him with capital murder in this case however the charges were ultimately dropped the district attorney concluded
that he didn't have sufficient evidence to try Vincent Thomas authorities considered this case unresolved but
closed next an orphanage that literally stole children off the street and sold them to out of state couples
[Music] Memphis Tennessee in 1949 the Tennessee Children's Home Society was considered a model orphanage
its director Georg tan was nationally recognized for single-handedly placing 5,000 children with new
[Music] families but Georgia Tan had a much darker side that she kept well hidden
from the children and her care and the parents who would adopt them the effects of transactions are still being felt
today when I was growing up I was told that I was adopted from Memphis Tennessee after my adopted mother passed
away I was packing her things I found correspondence from the Tennessee Children's Home and that's
when I started my search 2 and 1/2 years later I found my name 2 hours later I found my
mother Cindy lesto discovered that she was separated from her family when she was just 2 years old but after Cindy
found her birth mother Evelyn Bridgewater she learned about the Sinister events that led up to her
adoption I was playing on a playground and Georgia Tan and drove up in her proverbial Black
Limousine hello pretty girl would you like to ride in my new car with me can you
run yes you can okay George let's go home Cindy was simply stolen by Georgia Tan sander Le
Bridgewater she and several other children were taken to juen Court in Memphis where she was brought before
judge Camille Kelly good morning children Cindy's mother had no idea that her daughter had
been kidnapped until she got a call from the juvenile court incredibly she was asked to sign papers making Cindy
eligible for adoption she refused thank you judge Kelly judge Kelly overruled Cindy's mother and Cindy
was taken away judge Kelly was a well-respected citizen of Memphis a national poll
selected her as one of the six most wholesome women in the world along with Queen Elizabeth of
England I'm confident that Camille Kelly was involved with joyan in this operation Joan could not have carried it
on without her and Camille Kelly could not have lived in the style she lived unless she had outside
income for 12 years Georgia Tan used the Tennessee Children's Home Society as a cover for kidnapping and selling
children but in 1950 the governor ordered Memphis attorney Robert Taylor to investigate her
activities how many of these little ones do you need for California we need two infant boys a girl and there's a toddler
upstairs getting ready right now Taylor followed georg's assistant on her next trip to Los
Angeles time to go George call me as soon as the last baby's delivered don't worry George I'll
take care of everything Mr and Mrs miles say hi to your son Ashley she would call the
adoptive parents to meet her in the lobby and she would go down into the lobby with one baby and she had some
maid there in the hotel staying with the rest of them sit down right there after talking with them
for a few minutes they were anxious to leave and so was she and she'd go back and get another baby and it went on that
way till she got rid of all of them do you have the receipts for the I found that Georgia Tan had placed out over
12200 babies for adoption in New York City and Los Angeles alone tan made over $1 million in
adoption fees a remarkable sum in 1950 she owned a lot of real estate around Memphis and she owned a big
tourist Court down Mississippi she owned a summer home down on the Gulf Coast and
over a million dollars passed through our hands Robert Taylor sent his report on
Georgia 10an to the governor 3 Days Later tan died of cancer judge Kelly resigned soon after
and the Tennessee Children's Home Society was closed I get very angry when I think of Georgia Tan and Camille Kelly
because of what they've done to me and thousands of other people we're not talking about just a couple of people
here we're talking at thousands of children it makes me very angry because of the 32 years that we were
apart and all that we had missed my mother had missed my growing up and those yours can never be replaced
we've been robbed update after this story aired another child placed by Georgia Tan was reunited
with her family Lynn Heights was 5 years old when she was adopted by a wealthy California
couple I was adopted into a very very fine family but there wasn't a lot of love in the family and so it meant a
great deal to me to find that I really had a true family just 3 weeks after our broadcast Lynn
learned that her father and two brothers who were still living in tennessy one of the things that I had
been fearful of is that the family did not want me to find them when I did finally get hold of Randall Randall said
if you don't come here we're coming there like tomorrow you know it wasn't soon enough the next day Lynn met her
brothers for the first time in more than 40 years took me that long to find you guys she walked all the plane I knew who
she was it like that she's spitting image of her mother a very spitting image that afternoon Randall and Paul
took Lynn to meet their 86-year-old father Rufus gken we naturally had to compare all our pictures and all that
type of thing and it was very exciting very thrilling you know just like yesterday
but you know somebody to love and be loved by that you never had before I would have to say that this is
like Christmas New Year's everything rolled up into one next a sailor has lost that seed but
a newspaper photo seems to show he's alive [Music] Ziggler Illinois where Frank Joseph
Bloomer was born on October 12th 1921 when World War II broke out he enlisted in the Navy against his
parents' Wishes Frankie served as a radio technician aboard the USS ROM a destroyer that was operating in the
Mediterranean Sea on September 11th 1943 just off the coast of Italy a German OT targeted the
Rowan and it sank in less than a minute 200 and2 American soldiers were killed reported missing in action was
22-year-old radiom man third class Frankie Bloomer his parents heard that the Roland was sunk on their car
radio in a short time they were notified that it was missing an action less than a week later Frankie's mother
saw a newspaper article with this photograph of the three survivors of the USS Rowan she thought that she
recognized the man in the middle as her son look she quickly contacted Frankie's
sister-in-law Dorothy yeah see the eyebrows I do the two women compared the newspaper photographs with pictures of
Frankie I noticed that too how it is him when I first saw the newspaper picture of the three survivors I was positive
the one was Frankie it had characteristics he had features and um I knew it was Frankie Jane took the photographs to a
local mortician who was an expert at photo identification see how he h holding his
arm there did he ever break his arm maybe as a child or yes he did I would say that these two men
are absolutely the same when the Martian told my mother-in-law that uh he felt this
picture was a Frankie it gave her a lot more hope she wrote to the American Red Cross
to see if they could help her and they said they got all of their information from the war department and that they
could not find any information that she did not already have Frankie's mother never stopped believing
that her son was alive when she died she passed her hope to her granddaughter Jamie as a very small girl the first
time I can remember hearing or or finding out about my uncle Frankie was at my grandma's
house I noticed the picture sitting on the mantle I went over and I asked my Grandma I said well who is this and she
said this is your uncle Frankie he went into the Navy a long time ago he just hasn't come back yet and I'm sure he
will I would say that my grandmother and grandfather lived with this haunting feeling of never knowing if he was alive
or dead until the day they died awesome I think my grandparents would commemorate Frankie's birthday in
different ways from year to year it never went forgotten I can recall a time when and
we were over at my grandmother's house to eat dinner and there happened to be a cake on the table and and I asked why
there was a cake there and she told me that it was because it was Frankie's birthday I'm searching to find the
answer whether he is alive or dead so that I don't end up the same way that my grandparents did because they both died
not knowing the real truth of whether he was alive or dead eventually Frankie's family erected
a memorial headstone in his honor I do go to the Grave occasionally and our family is all
buried in the same proximity it's kind of strange though when when I look at my Uncle Frankie's grave marker and know
that he's not in there and think of the possibility that he could be walking a street somewhere yet there's a marker
here with his name on it update after this story aired we received letters from one of the other
men in the photograph he informed us that the man in the middle was not Frankie Bloomer although this news was
not what the Bloomer family had hoped for they were relieved to have a resolution to their long search
[Music] [Music]

This, Episode includes: Diaz Dog Days (Pts. 1 & 2), Murder by Arson, Baby Broker and Lost Sailor.

Brief Summary

Luis Diaz was wrongfully convicted of rapes, five children died in arson, and Georgia Tan's orphanage kidnapped children for adoption.

Key points

The Bird Road Rapist. A series of rapes in Miami leads to the wrongful conviction of Luis Diaz.
Luis Diaz's Exoneration. After 26 years in prison, DNA evidence finally clears Luis Diaz.
A Tragic Fire. Five children die in a house fire, linked to a drug deal gone wrong.
Tragic Fire Claims Five Lives. A deadly fire, set deliberately, results in the loss of five children.
Georgia Tan's Dark Legacy. The Tennessee Children's Home Society was a front for kidnapping and selling children.
Frankie Bloomer's Mysterious Fate. A family's decades-long search for their missing son leads to unexpected revelations.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

I think that's the car!

Judy identifies the car of her attacker.

3:31WatchMar 9, 2017

Tension

70/ 100High tension

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