Unsolved Mysteries with Dennis Farina - Season 8, Episode 13 | Forensic Files

[music playing] [music playing] DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): Next, on "Unsolved Mysteries," a woman is found dead on a lonely country road.
Was she the victim of an accident, or is her husband guilty of murder? Witnesses say a woman can produce
gold foil from her pores. Is she a gifted psychic or a brilliant fraud? Two televangelists receive similar packages
from a would-be assassin, and both contain bombs. And a rare, often incurable disease strikes a teenage girl.
Can belief in the power of prayer bring about a miracle cure? Five compelling cases.
I'm Dennis Farina, and this is "Unsolved Mysteries." Join us, won't you? [music playing]
DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): Merry Point, Virginia. One September night, a pickup truck
is discovered on a back road. The engine is running, the keys are in the ignition,
and the transmission is in park. Beside the truck, its owner, Kay Hall, has been crushed to death.
Whoever operated the vehicle appeared to have backed over the center of her torso.
And probably on the bump, from rolling over her with the left rear tire of the truck,
then apply the brakes suddenly, causing the vehicle to skid going backwards. The front tire, the left front tire, then caught her torso
and pulled her backwards slightly and twisted her body on the roadway, which is how she was found, with the vehicle in park
and the engine still running. DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): From the beginning of the investigation, police suspected that Kay's
husband Bob had murdered her. They believed that the motive was the $50,000 that Kay inherited the same day that she died.
All I perceive is that the investigation has focused only on me, and that I don't see any effort on anyone's part to look
into the other possibilities. DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): Kay Hall was in the insurance business until she
left her career to start an oyster farm with Bob. They had been married for two years,
though Kay had known Bob for more than 10. The two became involved while Bob was in jail for selling drugs.
She wrote to him while he was in prison, and when he was released, Kay was waiting.
It was quite an experience. That Saturday morning, Kay pulled up in her little Fiesta,
and I could see the car way off in the distance, and her waving at me. And between us with a very large electrical fence.
And she very laughingly said to me, hey, you Robert? I finally got you at last. And that was a-- that was a good feeling.
It was nice to feel wanted by somebody. Kay was definitely a rehabilitator, and I think maybe that's how it started.
But certainly with Bob, she took pity on him. When she picked him up from prison,
he had the shirt on his back. She brought him home to live with her. She fed him, clothed him, they went immediately out
and got a new wardrobe. He had difficulty finding a job, so she just supported him.
DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): Six months after the couple started their business, they were facing financial ruin.
There was tension in the marriage, and both began to drink heavily. As time went on, I'd ask her.
How's the business going? And I could tell it wasn't going so well. And then I'd say, well, and how's Bob?
And I could tell that wasn't so good either. Honey, it's time to party! Are you down there?
BOB HALL: Well, it's about time, dear. DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): Friends say that Kay and Bob often argued,
even over trivial things. - We're taking the truck. - Why? Why can't we take the Jeep?
Because you got the DWI in the Jeep. Kay called me, and she started crying. And she said, Bob is abusing me.
Physically, he's abusing me. He beats me up. And that's when she started to talk about going into therapy,
trying to get into marriage counseling with Bob. And if that didn't work, that she would
definitely consider divorce. Conversation about divorce probably came up as frequently
as it would in any couple's relationship where there were problems. And the problems were essentially money.
The oyster business had not treated us with great kindness. We had lost an awful lot of money on it.
Hi. Hi, Kay. DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): But Kay had some promise of financial relief.
She had recently inherited $50,000. On the day of her death, she transferred half of the money
into her account. That evening, Kay and Bob went to a party at the local country club.
We got to the party probably around 20 after 6:00, and Kay was-- I know was thoroughly enjoying herself.
You could just see the magic, you know. Kay walked in, and all of these faces just seem to turn.
There's Kay, and all of a sudden, things seemed to be complete. Can I have one for the road, please?
DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): As the evening went on, Kay and Bob continued to drink.
You ready to go home? Just a couple minutes. - Having a good time? - Mm-hm. Well, not as good as you.
DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): During the evening, Kay became upset. Some say because of the amount that Bob tipped the bartender.
She left without her husband and drove away in their pickup. A few minutes later, Bob was driven home by friends.
About two hours later, guests leaving a different dinner party came upon a shocking scene.
WOMAN: There was a truck sitting there, off to the side of the road, with the lights on.
And there was a body underneath the front wheel. [inaudible]. She [inaudible] look like she's hurt real bad.
WOMAN: We felt her pulse to see whether she had a pulse. We couldn't find one, but that was
when we discovered that she was just as warm as you and I are right now. So what had happened had just happened very, very recently.
DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): When the paramedics arrived, it was too late. Kay Hall was pronounced dead.
The reconstruction from witnesses at the scene was that she had been found under the left front
tire of her own vehicle. Apparently, the vehicle had backed over her while she was lying on the road.
There were some signs which we later found in the truck that indicated there was a scuffle
inside the cab of the truck. But Kay's purse was still intact. It had all her money and credit cards and so forth in it.
The autopsy results showed that she was intoxicated at the time of her death at a rather high level.
She very well could have been disoriented, which would have caused her to have taken the wrong turn
and might have put her in the area where she was found. I think that she probably told Bob
that she wanted to divorce him and that she was very serious about it. She had enough money now to really kick him out and do it.
And he probably went into one of his drunken rages, which he was well known for amongst her friends and family.
And I think that what he saw was his meal ticket walking out the door. If Bob Hall did murder his wife,
it could only have happened between the times friends dropped him off at home, about 8:45,
and the time that he placed a phone call from his house at 9:47. And for those 62 minutes, Bob Hall had no alibi.
Shortly after 8:00 PM, Kay left the country club, located here. Bob was dropped off at his home here, 15 miles from the club,
at 8:45 PM. Just over an hour later, at about 9:55 PM, Kay was found dead here, just two miles from the club.
Bob Hall had only one hour to drive to the murder site, find his wife, kill her, and then
race back home in time to place his 9:47 PM phone call. Special Agent Riley retraced the drive from the Hall home
to the crime scene several times. DAVID RILEY: I measured the distance between the Hall residence and the spot where Kay was found.
The distance is between 14 and 15 miles. I can drive it in as little as 17 minutes,
if I drove it in a pursuit fashion. And if I drove at a leisurely pace, it took as much as 24 minutes.
DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): If Bob left home immediately at 8:45 and drove directly to where Kay's body was found,
he would have arrived at 9:05. In order to make his 9:47 phone call, Hall had to leave the scene no later than 9:30.
This would give him no more than 25 minutes to track down and murder his wife. It's terrible to have somebody taken from you in this way,
and particularly when nobody has been able to do anything about it. So I really-- I don't know that--
that I can rest until we-- till we see justice served and then murderer is apprehended and convicted.
BOB HALL: They apparently do not have anyone else to focus in on. And being put in that spotlight has been tough.
I loved Kay. I'm looking forward to this whole incident being resolved. I'd like to see Kay to literally be put at rest.
And I'll have some peace in my life and her family's life. DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): Update.
Three years after Kay Hall's death, Robert Hall was convicted of killing her and sentenced to 20 years in prison.
A year and a half later, he appealed the conviction and was granted a second trial.
The judge shortened his sentence to time served in exchange for Hall's guilty plea
to second degree murder. He was given 15 years probation and released from prison.
Next, A mail bomber targets televangelist Pat Robertson. Virginia Beach, Virginia.
Now, that's why this thing is so important. They're one flesh. God said, I hate divorce.
Wars DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): Televangelist Pat Robertson's daily broadcast over CBN, the Christian Broadcasting Network,
are seen in nearly a million households nationwide. But his outspoken views on controversial issues
have made him the target of hate mail and death threats. Robertson's broadcasts originate from his 685-acre headquarters.
Each day, thousands of letters and packages arrive at the CBN mail room, most of them donations
from viewers. But one April day, Scott Scheepers, a CBN security guard, was called to the mailroom
to check a package addressed to Pat Robertson. When I looked at the package on the monitor
of the x-ray machine, I didn't see anything that was-- that led me to believe that it was-- there
was a problem, or it was really suspicious. DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): Scheepers
decided to carefully check the contents of the package. He found several strips of newspaper
sticking out of the box. I was still somewhat skeptical about it, so I stepped away from the box, as far as I could get,
and took my left hand and extended it out, and grabbed the lid of the box. I was immediately knocked to the floor.
I had severe pain in the upper part of my left leg and my abdomen, over to my right leg.
I made the determination that this was it. You know, it's either lay here and possibly die, or get up
and get help. And so that's when I made the determination to help myself and pick myself up off the floor
and try to get to the front of the building. DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): Scheepers
was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he underwent emergency surgery to remove shrapnel from his leg.
I'm very fortunate. The trauma room doctor said if I had been holding the package,
and I had the same size hole in my chest that I had in my leg, I might not even have made it out of the room itself.
So I consider myself very, very fortunate that it wasn't any worse than it was. DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): Authorities
determined that the package contained a homemade pipe bomb. They quickly linked the bomb to an earlier
attack aimed at another televangelist in Houston, Texas. When it was founded by Pastor John Osteen,
the Lakewood Church was one of the largest in America. It could seat more than 8,000 worshippers.
Peter, who is this? He said to Jesus, thou art the Christ, the son of-- DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): Like Robertson,
Pastor Osteen used television to spread the gospel. And he was also the target of a similar mail bomb.
JOHN OSTEEN: Who is this, you demons? Speak! DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): Three months before the CBN bombing,
John Osteen's daughter, Lisa, arrived at her office to open the day's mail. I felt like it was safe to open the package, because I
open a lot of packages, as we never had any problems, and this looked like an ordinary package.
It had a label addressed to my dad, typewritten to my dad. And then it had a return address.
And you know, you don't-- you're not really suspicious of things like that. It was just a cardboard box that had a-- one piece of tape
on it. I opened the box when I was sitting down. And really, the next thing I remember
is I was standing about 5 feet away from my chair, and I was very shaken, as if I'd had an electrical shock.
I'll never forget that feeling. DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): Lisa had been the victim of a pipe
bomb wrapped in newspaper. She suffered third degree burns and cuts on her right leg and stomach.
But she recovered quickly, and just four weeks later, returned to the pulpit. I said, I'm alive and well, thank God.
Thank God. The box that was used to mail this device was a box used by home-- home sales distributors for the distribution of candles.
And there was some printed material on the outside of the box which had been scratched out, with the word
burgundy written on the box. We found that both of these packages were mailed from small towns near Fayetteville, North
Carolina. The National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crimes researched all the evidence in both the bombing cases.
They said, number one, that this individual responsible for the bombings had some type of stress or turmoil
in his life at the time of the bombings. Secondly, they felt that anyone around or in the presence
of the bomber would have known a difference in this person's behavior. DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): These two
composites depict the men who were seen mailing the bombs. The drawings were made three months apart by two
different police artists. But authorities believe they're the same man. He's described as a neatly dressed
white male with brown hair. He's 5' 10" to 6' tall with an average build and weighs between 160 and 175 pounds.
Both bombs were mailed within 25 miles of Fayetteville, North Carolina. The US postal inspector is offering a reward
of up to $50,000 in this case. If you have any information, please log on to our website
at unsolved.com. Next, a young woman develops a nerve disease so painful that it drives some patients to suicide,
but her parents believe that prayer will cure her. Phoenix, Arizona. One Christmas Eve, 14-year-old Trisha
Zemba saddled up her ex-racehorse Sly and headed out for a ride. But the horse began galloping wildly.
Trisha was powerless to stop it. No! No! [whinnying] When I fell, I hurt very much.
But I was in shock. I had so much adrenaline rushing through my system that what had just happened did not
register with me at the moment. I helped her into the house. She was a limping a little bit.
And I took her in and took everything off to look for broken bones, and she was scraped on the one side.
DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): The injuries appeared superficial. Trisha improved overnight, and the accident
barely affected the family's Christmas day plans. I got up, got myself dressed, came out,
and basically spent all of Christmas Day on the couch. I was sore, I was stiff. I hobbled around some, but I was able to get around.
DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): It all seemed like a thing of the past until Trisha was bathing 10 days later.
TRISHA ZEMBA: I remember I went to get up, and when I was standing up, I started feeling dizzy.
I heard a thump, and I called out to her, and she didn't answer me. [knocking] Trish? Trish!
Trisha! Oh, honey, wake up! Trish! Oh, baby. Joel! MARIJANE ZEMBA: I was panicked when I saw Trisha passed out.
I didn't know what had happened. I couldn't get a response out of her at first. I-- I just didn't know what was going on.
From there on, then she-- her condition seemed to get worse. Pain increased. Her mobility, you know, started to be less.
She had more trouble getting around and sitting. So that's when we started taking her to the round of doctors.
DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): The bathtub fall triggered severe pain that the doctors
could not diagnose or treat. After five weeks of agony, Trisha was hospitalized.
She was in a lot of pain, so they started administering morphine. And they just kept giving it to her
and giving it to her in large doses, and it wouldn't affect the pain. It did not help the pain at all.
And finally, they had given her so much, they couldn't give her any more without killing her.
It was horrible seeing Trisha in this pain and not be able to do anything for her.
And it was very, very scary until we would pray. Dear Jesus, we would just ask, Father, that you would
reach down and lay your hands-- DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): Trisha suffered constant and intense pain.
Finally, doctors diagnosed Trisha with a rare nerve disease called reflex sympathetic dystrophy,
or RSD. This is by far the worst I had ever seen. And I was feeling pretty hopeless
about her chances of getting any kind of a good recovery here. And I remember her mother being so strong in their faith,
saying, we're going to see a miracle here before this is over. And I kept thinking, no, I don't think so.
DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): This videotape of Trisha was made at the hospital. Doctors believe RSD is produced by a malfunctioning nerve
circuits. The nerves endlessly amplify and re-amplify pain, making even minor injuries horribly painful.
She was literally writhing in pain, unable to have anybody touch or move her leg, her hip.
If you even breathed on it or put a blanket over the skin, she would just jump. We continually gave her medication to try and basically
numb her legs, the idea being that if we break the cycle, kill the pain, stop the cycle of pain from renegotiating itself,
that the condition itself would disappear. [sobbing] DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): Doctors injected
the most potent painkilling drugs available directly into Trisha's spinal column, but she hardly noticed.
The RSD got worse instead of better, and Trisha's muscles began to weaken. They started telling us that they were going to have
to institutionalize her. That most patients with RSD this bad, they either die from it,
or they commit suicide, or they literally go crazy, because they cannot live with this type of pain.
DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): Despite the doctor's predictions, Trisha's parents never lost faith.
Many times each and every day, they prayed. Grant her some peace and take away this pain.
MARIJANE ZEMBA (VOICEOVER): We Would pray, and again, that sense that things would be
all right would come over us. Though Trisha would still be moaning, and our circumstances didn't change,
it was like things were all right. DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): Trisha's doctors were not as optimistic.
They suggested an operation usually reserved for terminal cancer patients, implanting a morphine pump
into Trisha's body. If it dulled her pain, they could at least try physical therapy to slow the breakdown of her leg muscles.
That was our next step. That was really all that we had left to offer her. And quite frankly, what I foresaw
was a long, painful route in rehab with a very uncertain outcome as to whether this
would ever resolve. DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): Trisha was scheduled for surgery, and then
something unexpected happened. I felt the pain in my body move down, and then finally, I felt it move all the way down my leg,
and I felt it exit through my toes. I felt it leave my body. And I heard very, very quietly, almost to the point where
I couldn't hear it, get up. And I remember thinking, I can't get up. My-- I'm physically unable to get up.
And I heard again, clearer, and a much more authoritative, get up. And I remember grabbing on to the side of the bed rail
and beginning to sit up, and I was able to sit up like I would have in the past.
I sat up, and I was sitting on the edge of the bed. And the second I set my feet on the ground,
I didn't have any pain anywhere in my whole body. I stood up, and I remember I was standing
there like, well, what now? [laughs] And I started walking. It was unbelievable to walk into her hospital room
and see her standing there. She hadn't stood for 2 and 1/2 months on her own. Tremendous relief and gratitude to God, who never let us down.
As a medical physician, I have to go by the medical data. And the medical data has no explanation for this.
On a purely personal basis, and based on my own religious beliefs, I feel that yes, she
did have a miraculous healing. DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): That very same morning, Trisha
was released from the hospital. Her parents made this videotape soon after she arrived home.
I know it was a miracle. The pain just left my body in one fell swoop. I felt like God was standing there, right there,
just taking this pain from me and saying, you know, I love you so much, I just want to set you free.
Spontaneous remission is virtually unheard of in acute cases of RSD. Medical science still has no explanation
for Trisha's amazing recovery. But for Trisha and her family, there is no mystery at all.
They thank God for her recovery. DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): Next, meet a woman who seems to perform bizarre
psychic feats that defy explanation. You're about to meet a woman named Katie. According to eyewitnesses, she can predict the future
and produce objects out of thin air. Is Katie a gifted psychic or just a talented magician?
You be the judge. I'll see people that ain't there. I hear voices that no one else hears.
Objects coming from eyes, ears, nose, mouth, you know, just popping out. Katie is a great classical physical medium, a psychic who
has the ability, or apparently the ability is a gift which she has, where things
happen which are unexplainable. Physical things, mind over matter, seeds germinating, things moving without reason,
things appearing and disappearing, and all kinds of prophesy. All kinds of things, both mental and physical phenomena.
My view, myself, is very skeptical when it comes to psychics. I view myself as very skeptical anyway.
If I can't see something that's quite tangible, I just don't believe it. And in this particular case, we've
seen some things that were quite astounding and I can't explain. DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): Before his retirement
from the police department, Jerry Burr had asked for Katie's help with several cases.
In one burglary investigation, he didn't tell Katie the location of the crime scene.
He wanted her to find it. That's it. That's the house. This is the house, here? DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): Burr says Katie not only located
the house, but she also said that artworks inside were Asian in style. She also said that something had been stolen
from a box in a blue room. As we walked in, in the entryway it was all Oriental art.
Walked into the room that the-- the bedroom that the items were taken from, and it turned out
the bedroom was blue as well. She had said it was taken from a box, and sure enough, the items that were taken
were from a cherry wood box. I didn't know what to think at first. Because she was so dead on, and because I am quite skeptical,
I started looking at Katie as a good suspect. But I just wasn't aware that she was that good.
DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): So was Katie's prediction a true display of psychic powers or just a lucky guess?
Psychics make general predictions, and it's difficult to confirm them. I don't think, on the basis of what I've seen,
that Miss Katie has any special powers. It seems like it's coming out of my face a lot.
BERTHOLD SCHWARZ: Stick your tongue out, please. DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): Katie's abilities seem
to go beyond the psychic realm. She's also been videotaped by her psychiatrist sweating
what appears to be gold foil out of the pores of her skin. It comes out all over my body; face, eyes, ears, mouth, arms,
thighs, tummy, back, wherever I've got pores, this is where it comes out at. BERTHOLD SCHWARZ: It's getting larger, it seems to me.
DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): Katie has supposedly produced the foil more than 100 times.
Psychiatrist Berthold Schwarz has examined her during some of these episodes. Miss Katie has the ability, apparently,
of having a metallic, gold-like metal foil form on her body and sometimes on objects nearby, for example, a framed
picture of her late mother. And this gold-like foil will appear on the borders of the picture on the frame.
More likely, the gold-- we're using the words loosely-- will appear on her cheeks,
under the eyes, the abdomen, forearms. Here we have something which is a medical marvel.
I saw the gold on her tongue first. As Dr. Schwarz was taking the gold off, he had to actually peel it off with a tweezer-like instrument.
And then I looked down at her arm, and I was holding her hand, and there was nothing on her arm at all.
And then she had these long strips of gold that resembled candy kiss wrapping. As we were sitting in a room with Katie,
Katie had picked up the front of her blouse, and gold flakes were covering her entire stomach area.
And after it was brushed off with her shirt still in the open position, more gold flakes appeared.
DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): Eyewitnesses insist that these incidents were not faked,
and that the gold foil appeared before their eyes. A laboratory analysis of the material
shows it to be 80% copper and 20% zinc. I don't think there's any objective hard evidence that
this is exuding from her pores. More-- most likely, the point is someone wants other people to believe this,
so they put this metallic paper on them. DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): Two of Professor Kurtz's colleagues
were able to simulate Katie's alleged abilities, using ordinary metallic foil. OK, so this is what we did.
We went to a regular art store in Buffalo. We bought something called gold leafing.
It's very thin strips of foil colored gold. DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): The chemical composition
of the foil closely resembles that of Katie's foil. I put the foil on in thin strips.
Kathy helped me. And then I sprayed hairspray on it so it would stick, and it's been stuck for four hours,
since 11:00 this morning. And I have some on my tongue. And I can still talk and swallow sometimes.
[laughs] And then I put it on my stomach. And then I put it on my back. If somebody come up to me and said,
well, hey, I know this person that's got this stuff that comes out of your skin, you know, it's gold.
You know, I really-- I've seen this, I would think it was a trick. Until I had seen it myself, I would
believe that it, you know, well, what are they doing? I'm here, Katie. I can put the hair out of the way.
DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): Even more unbelievable is Katie's apparent ability to produce solid objects out of her mouth, nose, or ears.
This videotape, taken by her psychiatrist, shows what appears to be a gold charm emerging
from the area around her ear. This tape was also shot by Dr. Schwarz and shows a glass stone apparently
falling out of Katie's eye. It might look as though she's going to throw up. Out pops a gem of some kind, right out of the mouth.
Now, prior to that, the mouth and throat was examined very carefully. There was nothing there.
She sipped some water and swallowed, so nothing was secreted, which it's hard to see how it could
be anyway, in the stomach. So you have to ask the question, where did this thing come from?
DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): Are these objects being produced by a skillful sleight of hand?
This footage has been slowed down to take a closer look. In these frames, we can actually see the object
emerge from above her ring. I assume that at the point when she actually caused the gem to appear, she had the gem palmed in her hand, just
like this. Palmed between her fingers. It's a very comfortable place, and you can gesture comfortably, and nobody suspects anything.
And then when she reached her hand up to her eye, it was a simple matter to spread her fingers apart.
And you can see them spreading apart as the gem falls through, just like that. DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): Is Katie a talented fraud?
If so, it seems odd that she has never tried to profit in any way from her abilities.
Where does something like this fit into my thinking? It doesn't. It's beyond me.
It's beyond my comprehension. I was a doubting Thomas too. But if you saw it, you too would be a believer.
I've learned to accept it a little bit more now than what I did in the beginning,
but I do still have questions in my mind that are not answered yet. And I don't know if they will be answered,
but I'm going to keep trying. I'm going to find out. DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): Next, two close friends,
who were each adopted as infants, make a startling discovery. Los Angeles, California.
Barbara Smith was only five years old when she had a childhood experience that changed her life forever.
--anyway. And your own mother didn't want you. That's why she gave you up. My mother told me so.
I just started to run home, and I just burst out into tears. That's when it rang clear to me that it could be used
in a very vicious, hurtful way. Someone had given me up. Even though I had known the security
and love of my own family, it was a time of, well, what happened? What really did happen?
And I guess it was the first of the real feelings of what it meant to be adopted.
DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): Barbara knew that she had been adopted, but it wasn't until she was
a teenager that her father allowed her to see her adoption papers. For the first time, she learned that her birth mother's
name was Victoria Bumgarner. And I remember seeing my mother's signature on the paper, and I just stared at it and stared at it
and stared at it. I just-- it was the only thing that I knew that she was in existence.
And it sort of, at that point, reasserted to myself, saying, I know that they're out there.
I don't know who or what, but something is out there. DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): In 1957,
Barbara met a man named Steve Reed, and they soon fell in love. Hey, come on in.
DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): One afternoon, Steve introduced Barbara to a friend of his, named Hi Ratner.
Barbara was startled by a portrait hanging in his living room. Wow. That portrait looks almost like me.
Yeah. That's my sister, Barb. Remember I told you how much you guys looked alike?
Oh, that's right. You did mention that. Yeah. Yeah, well, you're going to meet her--
BARBARA REED (VOICEOVER): I looked at that portrait, and I thought, wow, he's right.
She does resemble me. How interesting. Then we assembled into the dining room. And Barbara came in, and just-- we briefly were introduced.
She said hello. - I'm good. How are you doing? OK. I'd like you to meet my fiance, Barbara.
Hi. BARBARA REED (VOICEOVER): And I thought, she does look a lot like me. And I just kind of thought that to myself.
We met, and it was just instant like. You know how sometimes you meet somebody, and you feel like you've known them for a long time?
DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): The two Barbaras became instant best friends. They were even married to two men who were also best friends.
Our friendship developed almost instantly. We really became very close. We shared a lot of our life's events.
Having children, we raised our children together. To the point that Barbara was Aunt Barbara,
and I was Aunt Barbara for her children. Barbara never knew that she was adopted,
and I had been told that she was adopted. So it was a thing that I knew never talk about it.
But I talked about it from my point of view later on. I told her that I was adopted and the name of my mother
and what I knew. She just asked a couple of questions, and that was it. And nothing more was ever thought about it
until her mother passed away. DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): After her mother's death,
Barbara Ratner found a box containing some old family documents. Among them were papers revealing that she had also been adopted.
And like Barbara Smith, Barbara Ratner's birth mother had the name Bumgarner. I was dumbfounded.
I didn't know that I was adopted. But I didn't connect it with Barbara at that moment.
It was a few minutes later, when I started reading the correspondence. And there was one paragraph where they were describing
the mother as being a healthy woman already having one previous child, a daughter,
living in Beverly Hills, that was in very good health. I just knew it was Barbara.
I just knew. [phone ringing] Hello? DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): Barbara Ratner immediately
called Barbara Smith. What was your natural mother's name again? Victoria Bumgarner.
And I said, well, you're not going to believe this. [laughs] I said, I just found some papers,
and I am baby girl Bumgarner. And there was a long pause, and then she said, I'll
get back to you, and hung up. DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): Barbara Smith called her adopted parents.
Her father agreed to call the doctor who had arranged the adoption. He confirmed that the two Barbaras were indeed sisters.
It's just the most wonderful thing. To me, I mean, your best friend is your sister,
and that couldn't be more wonderful. I mean, we were already Auntie Barb. And I remember running in to her children at one point
and saying, but I'm really Auntie Barbara. But I'm really Auntie Barbara! And they looked at me and thought,
what is she talking about? [laughs] DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): The two Barbaras contacted the Children's
Home Society of California. They found out that in 1940, a pregnant and unmarried
23-year-old woman named Victoria Bumgarner arrived in Los Angeles. She had turned to Dr. Maurice Silton for help.
Having any discomfort? DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): On July 31, a baby girl was born.
She was adopted by Jack and Rose Smith, who named her Barbara Ann. 15 months later, Victoria gave birth to a second daughter, who
was also given up for adoption. Against all odds, the two young sisters ended up
living just five miles apart. Each was named Barbara Ann, and each was raised by an adoptive mother named Rose.
As we started to compare some of the facts and the dates, it was just a lot of similarities.
Even some of our outfits as children were similar. I mean, it's-- I don't think a lot of twins have
as much similarities as we do. And the fact that we married best friends, and the fact
that we are best friends. You know, it's just a-- it just goes on. [chuckles] DENNIS FARINA (VOICEOVER): With the sisters reunited,
their greatest wish was to find their birth mother. Update. As a result of this broadcast, the two Barbaras
found their mother. Because she had never told her family that she had given birth
to two babies out of wedlock, their mother did not allow us to film the reunion.
Both Barbaras were thrilled to locate her and to share their unusual story of friendship.
[music playing] [music playing] [music playing]

Brief Summary

Five cases include a suspicious death, a mail bomb, a miraculous recovery, psychic phenomena, and two sisters reuniting.

Key points

The Mysterious Death of Kay Hall. Kay Hall is found dead under her truck, raising suspicions about her husband Bob.
Televangelist Targeted by Bomb. Scott Scheepers survives a bomb explosion meant for Pat Robertson, highlighting the dangers faced by public figures.
Trisha's Battle with Pain. 14-year-old Trisha Zemba suffers from a rare nerve disease, leading her family to seek miraculous healing through prayer.
Miraculous Healing. Trisha experiences a sudden and unexplained recovery from her debilitating condition.
Sisters Reunited. Two women discover they are sisters after being adopted as infants.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

I loved Kay. I'm looking forward to this whole incident being resolved.

Bob Hall expressing his feelings about Kay's death and the investigation.

10:26WatchMar 9, 2017

Tension

65/ 100Some tension

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