Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 10, Episode 1 - Full Episode | Forensic Files

tonight on unsolved mysteries the legend of Bugsy Siegel handsome sexy a cold-blooded killer but one night in
Beverly Hills the Mafia's hunter became the hunted in Southern California rain slick roads lead to a brush with death
in New Jersey another accident terrifying and nearly fatal soon after both drivers claimed they could predict
the future can a car crash make you suddenly psychic for Marla's Thomas it should have been the happiest day of her
life the doctors dropped a bombshell her seemingly healthy baby had died today a
series of baffling contradictions that led Modest to believe the impossible her daughter may still be alive for
generations the streets of Queens New York have seen aspiring gangsters come and go but according to the FBI Polly
Ragusa is one of a kind a would-be wiseguy intent on making a name for himself by whatever means possible join
me as we try to help authorities and the families of crime victims bring closure
to unsolved mysteries [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] our mobsters in the 1940s life in New
York Chicago and Los Angeles was brutal mafia bosses took pride in killing and getting away with it
but there is one famous hit for which no one has ever taken credit the murder of
Bugsy Siegel in the late evening of June 20th 1947 Siegel relaxed in the Beverly Hills home
of his girlfriend the mobs top assassin had no idea that he was a target [Music]
nine shots were fired into the room four found their mark Bugsy Siegel died instantly
[Music] the list of suspects read like a classic whodunit business associates a girlfriend even a bodyguard but police
investigating Siegel's murder hit the wall of the Mafia's code of silence a wall as still exist today the main
frustration I have in the case is all my witnesses are either gone or still won't
talk so the frustration is is that I'm running out of time if I haven't lost that time already and I'm just still not
getting any information for Beverly Hills police the murder of Bugsy Siegel is still an open case but with each
passing year the chances of solving the glamour city's most notorious crime becomes slimmer
tonight the suspect list is in your hands can you figure out who killed Bugsy Siegel his real name was Benjamin
Siegel he was a mobs most feared hit man beneath the smile of the handsome New Yorker was a heart of a cold-blooded
killer Siegel's violent temper was legendary underworld figures talked for years
about how he took revenge after being injured in a bomb blast he sneaked out of the hospital at 2:00 a.m. got into a
car with his associates drove to the home of the suspect in Brooklyn when the door was answered bang bang bang they
shot him and back in the car sneaked him back into the hospital he had a perfect alibi Segal formed a
partnership with Meyer Lansky in New York an organized crime syndicate the sole liquor during Prohibition then
worked its way into gambling prostitution and murder for hire Ben Siegel and Meyer Lansky were a great
combination they complemented each other Lansky did the thinkin it was Bugsy who
did the whackin in the early forties Siegel and Lansky teamed up with another East Coast mafia boss Lucky Luciano on
the team with Siegel Lansky Luciano decided to expand their territory it was a beginning of the end for Bugsy he was
sent to take control of gambling in California there he faced a major problem suspect number one
Jack dragna right jack they'd be stupid brightener controlled a lucrative wire service used
by bookies across the country Bugsy made a simple proposal give up the wire give
up your life dragna chose to live which gave him two motives to kill Bugsy Seigel jealousy
and revenge after Bugsy died Jack dragna got his wire service back [Music] Bugsy ran the mobs business and tinsel
town with a showmanship of a Hollywood superstar he began an affair with suspect number two Virginia hill an
alleged cash courier for the mob but Hill may have had her own reasons for wanting Bugsy dead she was leading a
double life Virginia Hill was definitely connected some way which Gaga mob she was out
there keeping an eye on Bugsy and feeling the Chicago mob information on Bugsy's activities on the night Bugsy
was killed in Virginia's home she was out of town by coincidence or not in Hollywood
only one man seemed to hold his ground against Bugsy Siegel suspect number three Mickey Cohen was a Cleveland
gangster newly transplanted to LA Siegel could have killed him but instead he put
him on his payroll been like that that this case stood up to he liked it so much today he hid his personal bodyguard
really after Siegel's death Cohen was given control of West Coast gambling a promotion he would never have seen with
Bugsy alive when gambling became legal in Nevada Siegel saw the opportunity of a lifetime
he envisioned a luxurious casino like the world had never seen Bugsy figured the Flamingo would cost a million
dollars Lansky Luciano gave him the money but 1 million became - two became four and four became six
Lansky Luciano became the final suspects they needed to plug a loose cannon that
was financially out of control it has to stop and stop now Lansky did go out and visit Seiko
in Nevada and I think he cautioned him and he warned him pay attention to the business don't let the course get too
high your investors are not happy there were also rumors that Siegel was pocketing some of his investors money to
support Virginia Hill she was a very very expensive playmate they probably had a feeling that he was spending some
of their money on Virginia 20 minutes after Siegel's death two members of the Lansky Luciano mob took control of the
Flamingo casino a new boss picture you have any questions you can call our friends in New York no one believed the
timing of the takeover was coincidental investigators have little doubt the Siegel's hit was a professional job but
which of the suspects could have been involved in Bugsy's death some feel the most likely scenario involves them all
Virginia Hill provided the location for the murder and possibly was given a reward she had two trillion dollars in
an Aes swiss bank account Siegel's bodyguard Mickey Cohen knew his bosses scheduled for the evening but at
the time of the killing he was not doing his job Mickey Cohen even came into the
station and said what happened what happened I was supposed to be watching him and Jack dragna he may have ordered
the hit with the approval of Lansky and Luciano he would not have dared to do it
on his own he would have asked permission from people he regarded in the New York area it's a possibility
because they were thinking of killing Sego anyway so all right let Jack dragna handle it
[Music] today none of the key suspects in the Seagal murder are still alive but Beverly Hills police still hope that the
mafia code of silence may one day be broken murder has no statute of limitations so until the case is solved
the case remains open I'm sure there's people out there that are descendants of people in the Mafia or people in the
know that have information I would love to have a phone call from [Music] perhaps there is someone just one person
who might have that vital clue that can crack this intriguing 50 year old case perhaps it's you
next one police officer dead and two wounded and the suspects are still on the run
[Music] that truck is $10.99 out of Durango May 29th 1998 45 year old police officer
Dale Claxton followed a stun and water truck out of the small town of Cortez Colorado flexin was a relative newcomer
to the force having become an officer just three years earlier care for suddenly the water truck pulled
over Dale Clarkson have no idea what he was about to encounter [Music] they'll never had cast him but your
seatbelt even go for the door it was terrible it was in 33 years of being in this business is the most violent thing
I've ever seen Dale Claxton left behind a wife four children and a grandchild there is no sense to this the men who
killed Dale were armed for war and they were ready to kill whoever and whatever got in the way
an assault sudden attack in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains done with brutal military-like precision who
were these people wielding ak-47s and assault rifles police had no idea and the killing of Dale Claxton was only the
beginning an APB was quickly put out on the water truck deputy Jason Bishop was told to search
for it what he didn't know was the suspects had abandoned the water truck and had stolen a pickup I just happened
to look in my rearview mirror and I see this yellow Ford pickup barge and really
close that's when the shot started coming in I lost consciousness and fell over into the passenger seat and wrecked
my patrol car the next five minutes law enforcement was under siege state troopers and local police were moving
targets in the rampage and they came around the corner at me it took me by surprise they went off the
road to go by me and they were doing at least 60 70 [Music] then the yellow picker is bearing down
Detective Sergeant Todd Martin [Applause] I was just overwhelmed with automatic gunfire my left arm it exploded
Martin was hit twice once in the arm once in the leg officer Kim bobwhite saw him go down I
lost so much blood they said I lost the maximum amount anybody can lose without getting a
transfusion and keeping alive so I think if it wasn't for Jim Bob thought it died
out there nine law enforcement vehicles have been riddled with 300 high caliber assault rounds police and troopers never
had a chance to get off a single shot one officer was dead and two were hospitalized It was as if they were
fighting a military battle they were dressed military fatigues a full military gear and as if they were
going to war an hour later the stolen pickup truck was found in a ravine 41 miles northwest
of Cortez on the Colorado Utah border it sports the largest manhunt in Colorado history 62 police agencies participated
well we found the vehicles some of the rugged this country in the state of Utah lots of Indian ruins in it lots of Mines
some deep canyons and just lots of places to hide police identified the suspects in the shooting 30 year-old
Alan Monte pylon from nearby dub Creek and Durango residents Robert Mason and Jason McVean both 2603 were known to
have anti-government views pile-on was also battling the IRS over back taxes though they had no criminal records the
men once tried to join a militia group in the Four Corners area but were thrown out for being too violent
more importantly they all were well-trained in wilderness survival tactics they have supplies stored
throughout the area the same hills and canyons used as a hideout a century ago by butch Cassidy's Hole in the Wall Gang
they had been going to that area for the last four or five years had done a lot of survivalist training in that area had
done a lot of backpacking and living off the land in that area it was like them going to their backyard a week later the
fugitives struck again this time they shot and wounded a deputy sheriff and Bluff Utah SWAT teams quickly surrounded
the area a few hours later a body of suspect Robert Mason was discovered dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound
[Music] coming up two separate car crashes seem to give the accident victims astonishing
psychic powers an evening rainstorm in Southern California driver John Holland's life was about to change
forever Holland was dazed but not seriously injured but the following day he started
to feel strange I started noticing kind of like electricity building up in my body like hey I don't want to say a
power but it was more like a surge of energy was building I just felt that my body had too much energy in it that's
the only way I could describe it and then I started talking to people on the phone some friends and as I was talking
to them I was realizing I would I started to know things in their lives what was going to happen as a child
Holland had been interested in psychic phenomena but it wasn't until after his accident that he says he became aware of
his gift it became obvious that his job at a local hotel bar he knew what it was
a stranger's birthday he knew that a co-worker would have complications in childbirth Holland says he was never
wrong they would just come out of my mouth straight out and I had to learn how to stop that so it was almost like
my customers was my practice so I'm seeing 3 years for the two of you am i right
Hollan became a sensation at the hotel business executives would come to see him to ask if a big deal was going to
happen I see the merger as being something that's it's gonna be a success he said his predictions were so uncanny
the co-workers became wary of him others felt his predictions were simply clever
manipulation Holland's boss eventually asked him to stop telling the future because he was frightening the customers
I'm not out to prove anything okay this is what happened to me this is what comes out of me and this is people come
back and confirm car accidents and other sudden events that shake up a person's body and of course the inner body called
the aura have on occasion caused that person to become psychic there are a number of cases on record there's also a
case of a man who fell off a ladder and as a result became a well-known psychic something happens to the inner body of
the persons were and what was before an ordinary human being who now becomes a psychic it's perfectly natural
for two years after his accident John Holland honed his psychic skills he began seeing clients people who
wanted to know what the future held for them Holland claims his powers intensified and quickly reached a more
profound level he could communicate with the dead a client named Adrian who came
to see me and her dad passed away sadly and he's basically she wanted to know where is he what is he doing right now
so what happened her dad came and told me to tell her to look in a book on the bookshelf he wants you to be at peace he
described the bookcase he described the location of a book and he said in and there's gonna be something a message
from your father in this book and I was unclear if he meant the book it said he said no
there's a message in it a piece of paper a message from your father that will let
you know that he's okay it took two weeks before Adrian got the courage to open the book inside was a
poem written by her father 28 years ago it was called soar into the cosmic blue and it talks about finding that there's
a whole nother world to explore when you leave this world and all that's out there is open to you then and it ends
soar into the universe of light at peace and fly to the rim of heaven it's a baffling mystery can trauma spark unseen
forces that allow us to see things others cannot do we all possess the ability to see the future could we to
some day become suddenly psychic in certain River New Jersey a mother and her son were badly injured in a
devastating car accident caused by a drunk driver Elizabeth Joyce had shielded her son
Jeff from the impact she suffered massive injuries in the wreck on the way to the hospital her heart had
to be restarted three times during the blackout's she was reunited with relatives who had died a year earlier on
the left with my stepson on the right with my husband they talked to me with their mind you have to go back you have
to go back Elizabeth survived the accident without any permanent physical disabilities but
she feared neurological damage I started having a tingling sensation across my shoulders and up my neck and I started
having blackouts Elizabeth began having a frightening recurring dream it was an explosion I saw a house I saw a body I
saw it go out the roof I was aware of oil wells I was aware of a trailer park and a fence
it was so real to me and in my head I would hear your aunt died she's in Houston Texas
but Elizabeth aunt lived in Concord New Hampshire not Houston after having the dream every night for three weeks she
confided to social worker Brenda Hayes Brenda was amazed the home Elizabeth was describing was her aunt's that her aunt
had died in an explosion a week earlier there was a pipeline explosion on her property and they haven't been able to
find her body or find any remains to identify what happened to her let me go I started to explain to her what the
setup was and she said no wait I'll draw you the picture Elizabeth drew an exact rendition of the house she then
put it to a section of tall grass near an oil well and said Brenda's aunt was there Brenda call the authorities in
Houston within an hour police had found the body of her aunt it would not be the last time Elizabeth
newly discovered powers would solve a mystery in 1992 Sidney J reso the president of the Exxon corporation was
kidnapped from in front of his home police had few clues in the baffling crime but Elizabeth Joyce had a vision about
the abduction and called police I really don't give much credence to psychics I'm not a fan of psychics and
I've come across many many psychics but in this particular case with Elizabeth Joyce I did find her to be very very
accurate and black-and-white I saw a blonde haired woman and a jogging suit running behind the car
falling and screaming for help I saw the man get out of the car to go over and help this woman I saw a man come around
from the bushes I saw him grab this man that had gotten out of the Cadillac and put a gun to his
head and force him into a white van [Music] Elizabeth says she was in contact with
the FBI on a daily basis for six weeks giving them information about the case I said they're putting him in a trunk and
they're taking him off a main road and they're going to dig a shallow grave and he said describe it to me all I said
it's between two pine trees it's in it it's in a narrow space between two pine trees and it's off a main road either
the Garden State Parkway or the New Jersey Turnpike though the FBI will not talk about Elizabeth's involvement a
body of Sidney reso was found exactly where she said it would be remains she says her information also helped
catch the killers for Elizabeth the proof is in her results I don't try to ever convince anyone that there is such
a thing as psychic sensitivity I let them find it for themselves I'm there to help others if they are open to being
helped if I can reach one person that it helps them change the life for the better and they know
things about themselves more or if they know that we all go on then I've done my
job Joanne Hollender Elizabeth Joyce say they are continuing to use their powers
to help others both have day jobs and say they do psychic work on the side charging
nominal fees for their services can John and Elizabeth really see the future many
believe they can but in the unexplained world of psychic phenomena their stories
remain an unsolved mystery next it was modest Thomas's worst nightmare now the tragic loss of her newborn
infant has become an intriguing unsolved mystery [Music] [Applause] [Music] this is Marla's Thomas she's 55 years
old and in failing health more than 30 years ago vadas thought she buried her infant daughter in this graveyard now
she believes that daughter is still alive [Music] June 12 1962 Worthington Minnesota
modest was just 20 years old and separated from her husband she had moved to Minnesota to be near her mother when
the baby was born [Music] Marlys was heavily sedated during her difficult labor the next thing Modest remembers is
seeing her daughter Mary Agnes gross for the first time I can't take my eyes off
her little feet they were moving I felt so happy and I just kept watching her little feet and then I drifted back to
sleep when I woke up I looked to see where my baby was and I didn't see her and I asked the nurse where's my baby
and she said the doctor will be in to talk to you can I see my baby now I'm sorry Marlys but your baby died
how long did my baby live it's one hour I wanted to see my mother now oh no no no no relax we'll take you to your
mother soon enough not you and that was just such a shock to me you know it hurt
so bad and I couldn't hardly believe that you know because I seen her little feet when modest left the delivery room
she passed a bassinet that was on his way to the morgue and I must have only seen my daughter maybe 10 seconds 15 at
the most and my baby didn't look dead my baby looked like she was just sleeping she wasn't purple then she had
dark hair yeah she had lots of hair Morris also noticed that Mary Agnes had marks on her forehead mark slept by the
doctors forceps during the delivery Morris asked for an autopsy but was told it was too late
while modest was still in the hospital her friend Judy Voges visited the funeral home along with Marla's mother
Judy claims that the baby she saw looked different from the infant that Marlys had described
I didn't see any marks on her forehead her hair was light bro not dark bro it was light bro and not a whole lot of it
it was look you know kind of downy like I suppose I can't stranger stood on Morris's mother tried to take a picture
of the baby the funeral director would not allow it I know you can take one of the cemetery
after them after the caskets of an artist later that day Morris's mother did take these pictures
of the casket just before the burial the day was marked by an additional bizarre
occurrence Morris's mother told her that another family was at the gravesite mourning the death of a child and they
took it so hard and they prayed and prayed and they had tears I could never figure out who those people were and my
mother never could figure out who those people were a week after the funeral Mardis was well enough to visit Mary
Agnes gravesite there was only one grave there at that time and I took it so hard just so bad
and from that day on I was off to that cemetery like three four times a week Martis accepted her baby's death as a
natural occurrence but just three months later another unsettling development Morris received a mysterious photograph
in the mail there was no letter no return address just a picture of a husband a wife and three children one of
them a baby girl the baby look like my husband and I didn't know these people I've never seen these people in my life
and I showed it to my family and my family didn't know who those people were either but they also thought the baby
looked a lot like my husband strange indeed but it would be nearly three decades before Modest would come to
realize the significance of the picture a year passed before Morris saved enough
money to buy a headstone but inexplicably Cemetery workers did not place a stone atop Mary Agnes burial
plot instead it was positioned a few feet off to the side though she moved away modest periodically visited her
daughter's grave on one visit she got the shock of her life in 1989 a headstone for a different baby
had been placed on Mary Agnes's burial plot that baby's name was Pamela r.a.dickey Marlys immediately questioned
the funeral director I says well this can't be I says I even bought a stone and laid it out there and then he said
right away he said I often wonder what that stone was doing out there because there never was a grave and I says well
I know they laid it on the wrong spot at that time well he says no he says your daughter's not buried out here not
buried here Loras was deeply disturbed the old doubts and questions came flooding back she began researching the
details of her baby's supposed death and burial and discovered an odd coincidence
Pamela Dickey had died only a few hours before Marla's daughter on the same day in the same hospital and even more
startling Mary Agnes and Pamela Dickie were also buried on the same day there was not to funerals out there that day
there was only one funeral one grave and after the funeral there was only one heap of dirt that's all there was out
there there was more modest found Mary Agnes lastname gross written in the upper corner about a Pamela Dickies
funeral papers even more positive hospital records said Mary Agnes was healthy at birth but the death
certificate said she had never drawn a breath the birth certificate said she was born as 6:23 p.m. incredibly the
death certificate said she died three minutes before she was born at 6:20 every place that I go and check this out
the papers just just like my daughter had never died you know there's no nothing that shows me that my daughter
died mara says Pamela Dickies mother for help but understandably Margaret Nikki preferred not to disturb her daughter's
grave nonetheless modest had to make certain Mary Agnes his body had not been moved
without her knowledge she had the grave that lay beneath her daughter's tombstone exhumed the remains were old
and difficult to identify but Marlys was right DNA testing revealed that the child buried there was not Mary Agnes
gross nor was it Pamela r.a.dickey Mardis then showed the pictures her mother had taken a Mary Agnes as casket
to Pamela's mother Margaret Dickey she looks at the picture she says that's my baby my husband bought that casket
and then I asked her I said did anyone go to your baby's funeral she said yes my in-laws and my husband I believe that
my mother now went to that pamela ray Dickies funeral that that it's only one baby there and that's Pamela ray Dickie
if Morris is right and Pamela Dickie is buried where she thought her own daughter was laid to rest what happened
to Mary Agnes today mortis is only one possible explanation she is convinced that Mary Agnes is still alive and that
the baby and the pictures she received more than 30 years ago was her firstborn daughter but I think today that picture
was was a family that adopted my baby and they wanted to show me that my baby was in a family and that's why they sent
me that picture I was 20 years old I lived by myself and maybe they thought that I couldn't take care of the baby so
they had another family raised my baby Marla still suffers the agony of not knowing what happened to her daughter if
Mary Agnes is indeed alive she was born in 1962 and would today be 35 years old the birth took place at Worthington
Regional Hospital in Worthington Minnesota I want so bad to find where my daughter
is you know I really got to know where she is and I'll never give up never give up until I find where she's at
[Music] next the FBI says Pauly Ragusa did it all racketeering robbery attempted murder is
that any wonder they want your help to track down this fugitive wise guy New York City the Big Apple money media and
fashion but in the shadows of the skyscrapers another world the underworld across the river from Manhattan alized
the borough of Queens for generations these streets have been home turf for powerful mobsters and a fertile breeding
ground for young wannabe wise guys like Pauly Ragusa orig wood Queens by all accounts Pauly was on the outside
looking in to get the attention of the important crime families Raguse apparently felt he had to make a
statement he made it guns and violence paul Ragusa was the leader i think based on his propensity to engage in violence
a Ragusa is known as a fighter as somebody that is not adverse to using his hands and to using firearms Pauly
Ragusa allegedly did it on robbery assault racketeering arson and he got away with it because his victims refused
to press charges for Pauly winding up on the FBI's ten most wanted list was probably inevitable some say he was
literally born into a life of crime his father Filippo was a major heroin trafficker who smuggled in many kilos of
heroin from Sicily his older sister Francesca was a member of his father's heroin ring her husband was also a
member of the ring and so was another of Pauly's brother-in-law's with his father behind bars Paulie set
his sights on being a big-time crime boss with his own family he organized the Giannini crew a gang of aspiring
mobsters who reportedly had their headquarters in the heart of Queens at the cafe Giannini it's a place that the
young wannabes aspired to go to just to be closer to the real tough guys to make
guys according to police Raghu sued his gang spent countless hours sipping espresso and plotting the
crimes that they hoped would put them on the map Paul and his gang were extremely
dangerous they just didn't have any regard for life she got in their way they were gonna shoot you you know it's
not a birthright you have to be Italian to get into the mob but you have to earn
your way into it you have to show that you're a tough guy I'm willing to do just about anything that's required to
make money for the family these guys however went too far a perfect example Ragusa and his Giannini crew robbed the
same Bank in their own neighborhood three times in a row netting more than $200,000 but for sheer audacity nothing
matched the events that took place in Maspeth Queens two security officers carrying $20,000 in cash arrived at a
bank to make a light deposit joy either got out of the van proceeded over through the night deposit box he walked
over the night deposit box he realized there's a van across the street he turned at that time three suspects
exited van approached him and fired at him a rapid session he returned fire emptying his revolver he then fell to
the ground and crawled to safety his partner taking cover behind a wall also returned fire a wild shootout
ensued you can still see some of the results from that shootout the shootout left one security guard
seriously injured authorities later linked Ragusa and the Giannini crew to the robbery investigators believe the
gars might have been executed if the gunman had not run out of ammunition the main factor that makes these types of
individuals so dangerous has won their youth and to their total disregard for human life by early 1996 a joint
investigation by the FBI and the New York City police led to a 32 count indictment against Ragusa and 13 members
of his gang Ragusa did not wait around to be arrested if you want to be a tough guy you have to show you're not afraid
of anything but deep down all of these guys have some kind of a fear that they're going to be caught it was this
knowledge that Paulie was going to get caught that forced him to run away Paulie Ragusa has been on the run since
June of 1996 he reportedly speaks fluent Italian frequents high-priced prostitutes and is a heavy gambler
Raguse is 27 years old stairs 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighs 170 pounds [Music]
[Music] [Music] some mysteries may never be explained but others may be solved with a single
phone call from you join me for our next edition of unsolved mysteries [Music] [Music]
[Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music]

Brief Summary

The episode covers Bugsy Siegel's murder, psychic abilities from car accidents, and a mother's search for her missing daughter.

Key points

Psychic Powers from Car Crashes. Two separate car accidents lead victims to discover astonishing psychic abilities.
The Legend of Bugsy Siegel. Bugsy Siegel, a notorious mobster, was murdered in 1947, and the case remains unsolved.
Elizabeth Joyce's Psychic Vision. Elizabeth Joyce helps solve a kidnapping case with her psychic abilities, leading to the discovery of a body.
The Tragic Loss. Marlys learns of her newborn's death, a moment that changes her life forever.
The Mystery Deepens. Marlys receives a mysterious photograph that raises questions about her daughter's fate.
The Grave Confusion. Years later, Marlys discovers a headstone for a different baby at her daughter's grave.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

Can a car crash make you suddenly psychic?

Exploring the strange phenomenon of psychic abilities after accidents

0:33WatchMay 23, 2019

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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