Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 11, Episode 3 - Full Episode | Forensic Files

tonight on unsolved mysteries over a three-day period in Houston Texas investigators are called to the scene of
two brutal murders both women are found in their cars they look surprisingly alike and most shocking of all they
share the same name Mary Morris is there a connection there are these crimes an astonishing coincidence
an Oklahoma dairy farmer leaves his home with a mysterious stranger and never returns several sightings have given his
family hope that he is still alive after 35 year-old Lita Sullivan was found murdered her husband Jim had this to say
I had nothing to do with lead his death however leaders mother said this I really would like to see Tim go to the
elect attend the Jim Sullivan hire a hit man with the wave of his hands this Russian immigrant claims he can heal
dozens flocked to his Boston office every week to be treated can he relieve pain cure phobias and
help smokers quit does he truly have a magic touch or is he too good to be true these four cases are among the most
unusual and intriguing that we have yet encountered join me for this fascinating
edition of unsolved mysteries [Applause] [Music] Houston Texas very early one clear
October morning J Morris saw his wife marry off to work Mary Morris was a 48 year old bank loan officer with many
friends at a successful career however by early that afternoon Jay began to worry about his wife he had
tried to phone her several times but she hadn't returned any of his calls so I called a supervisor and found out she
wasn't at work and then that's when I knew immediately that there was something wrong because she didn't miss
work meanwhile about three miles east of the Morris home a passerby made a gruesome discovery
inside a smouldering car he found a body burned beyond recognition the police were notified and the crime
scene investigation unit was soon combing the area for evidence by that time Jay had begun to think the worst so
when he heard from a friend about a burned-out car found near the interstate he picked up his stepdaughter Marilyn
Blaylock and drove to the scene Marilyn and I went down and the police was there
but they had everything blocked off and they told us to turn around and come back home
I was frustrated that they wouldn't tell me but at that point I still wasn't thinking that it was her however within
a few hours detectives delivered the terrible news they had identified the victim in the car as Mary Morris because
of the condition of the body it was impossible to determine how Mary had been killed the crime was so brutal
police did not suspect robbery was the motive but soon every other Avenue of Investigation also turned into a dead
end there was no reason for it whatsoever she was just a really a good person you know never did anything bad
to anybody they asked everything from gambling to drugs to Affairs to anything and all the
answers were no she didn't gamble she didn't drink nothing [Music] just three days after Mary Morris's
death however the case took a strange twist and the circumstances were as chilling as they were unbelievable not
far from where Mary's body was found another woman had been viciously murdered she too was killed in her car and
incredibly her name was also Mary Morris two women both named Mary Morris both found murdered in their cars in the
Houston area just three days apart on top of all that the two mary's also bore a certain resemblance however to
find a possible link detectives would first have to piece together the events surrounding the death of the second
victim Mary McGinnis Morris was 39 years old when the first Mary was killed and like Mary Lou Morris she too was a
successful professional with a sunny disposition Mary was like an angel she was very joyful always happy making
people laugh not enough words really to describe her I mean she was just really loved by everybody Mary was a nurse
practitioner in charge of several clinics for a major industrial corporation she was dedicated and
excelled at her job anything basically a doctor would do Mary did she would work
14 hours a day not think twice go back in of an evening weekends whenever she was needed Mary got along well with her
staff but according to friends one new employee a male nurse was a poor fit right from the start and the
relationship quickly went from bad to worse Mary became increasingly nervous and
distraught she told me that she was afraid of this person that she worked with and I said
do you really think he could hurt you and she said yes I do and I think he could do worse
soon after Mary told friend she stopped by her office one evening to pick up some papers only to make a disturbing
discovery she found things out of place on her desk pictures turned to face the wrong
direction on his desk was written the words death to her which she assumed was written about her she made a phone call
to me on her way home and she I could tell that she was that she was shaken okay baby what's going on I think this
whole thing is really out of control she got home and she asked me if I would provide her with a gun to carry with her
for her own protection she asked me to go over the the handling and use of the gun when we were finished she asked me
to place the gun in her car under the driver's seat a few weekends later Mary met her friend
Laurie gemmell at the clinic to give her an allergy shot Mary seemed fine that Sunday and we chatted a little bit about
her making dinner for the family and she had a couple of errands to do and she was only going to stay a couple of hours
and then she was gonna go home later that afternoon Laurie says she received an alarming phone call from Mary hates
me when she was in the drugstore she saw somebody that gave her the creeps she said I'm just gonna run across the
bridge and turn off my computer and sign out of the building and and go home police aren't sure what happened next
the 12 minutes after saying goodbye to Lori Mary made a frantic call to 911 we're not releasing the content of the
tape it covers the attack that happened to Mary and anybody that's ever heard that tape has just had their blood
shield listening to it it's very chilling disturbing call the details of Mary's abduction are unclear however the
medical examiner's report revealed that she was viciously beaten and shot in the
head the investigation first led police to Mary's co-worker at the clinic allegedly it left on bad terms quitting
his job after several failed attempts to discredit Mary detectives say they have
evidence that may link the co-worker to the crime and he remains a suspect investigators also had questions for
Mike Morris Mary's husband Morris claimed he was at the movies with his daughter at the time of the murder
detectives had concerns about his alibi and uncovered several other troubling issues first according to police Morris
intentionally stonewalled the investigation through his own actions and by refusing to allow his daughter to
be questioned he wouldn't meet with us without an attorney witnesses don't need attorneys suspects generally have
attorneys Mike Morris says he was simply following the advice of some trusted friends
several of these people suggested that I'd take an attorney with me not because I had anything to hide but just to have
somebody with me that was familiar with the procedures detectives were also suspicious about Morris's refusal to
take a polygraph test I was on anti-anxiety medications I was on antidepressants I wasn't really sure
that that this polygraph examination that they were talking about could adequately compensate for all of those
conditions further according to friends Mike and Mary Morris are having serious problems with their marriage when microd
rumors of an alleged affair between Mary and a family friend he confronted them head-on I can tell you that at the time
that that happened they both looked me in the eye and they both told me that that there had been nothing
inappropriate in their relationship and I didn't see any betrayal in their eyes then there was a question of motive what
detectives say compelled them to follow the money a life-insurance policy that would payout $700,000 there was a large
amount of life insurance on Mary Morris which Mike Morris was the beneficiary to
there were a lot of reasons right there for in the way of a motive for Mike finally would police consider most
curious of all the evidence against Mike Morris was a call he made to Mary cell phone around the time detectives believe
she was murdered there was a phone call some two hours after Mary Morris made a very desperate
and chilling call to 911 was made by Mike Morris the problem is this phone call lasted for four minutes this was by
all indications of the cellular telephone company a completed call what you have to wonder is what did that
phone call either set in motion or end normally the the cellular service would have kicked in and and said that the
that the party you were calling was unavailable I didn't get that I don't know why I didn't get that but as long
as the phone was ringing and I thought that there was a possibility that she would answer it I let it ring but if the
call went unanswered detectives questioned why it showed up on Mary's cell phone bill I don't accept that Mike
made this phone call and at the phone rang for four minutes it's not possible the the question is who answered the
phone on the other end that's what the big question is and what did they talk about for the four minutes
was Mike Morris talking to his wife's killer he adamantly denies any involvement in her death
I had absolutely nothing to do with the arrangement of Mary's murder it's a hurtful insinuation but you know I know
that it's it's absolutely untrue despite Mike Morris's denial police say they have not eliminated him
as a suspect in his wife's murder Mary's co-worker is also still under suspicion perhaps the answer lies in the
possible link between the deaths of Mary McGinnis Morris and Mary Lou Morris one
Theory speculated that an inept contract killer had been hired to murder the second Mary Morris and kill the first
Mary Morris by mistake that theory was fueled in part by a telephone call allegedly made to a Houston newspaper a
call came in to the Houston Chronicle and I verified this with somebody at the Chronicle
between the time the first Mary Morris was killed and the time my friend was killed saying something to the effect
that they got the wrong Mary Morris the first time the hit gone wrong theory was
further bolstered when detectives determined that the wedding ring of the first Mary Morris was missing if someone
had put a hit out on a person that's what they take back to show that they actually killed that person despite
speculation that the two murders may have been connected detectives had their doubts it's while with the remoteness of
the location where the victim was found as well as the effort that was taken to you know can destroy the evidence and
the vehicle that would be consistent you know with a you know contract killing but with the background of the victim
that doesn't seem likely that the first Mary Morris was it was a mistake it was a missed hit a botched hit something
like that there's not anything that we found that would support that detectives continued the search for any clues that
might connect the two Mary Morris's but came up empty they later concluded that with nearly
300 homicides in Harris County that year the murders were a bizarre coincidence however the family and friends of both
Mary's believe that explanation is simply too far-fetched the astronomical odds the two Mary
marshes with keel three days apart very similar in looks to me is that's what it
is astronomical laughter not connected I can't help but think they have to be related
I can't imagine that two women with the same name would be murdered within three
days of each other both found in their cars and not have that be related [Music]
it began as a typical morning at Leonard Erickson's dairy farm near Cheyenne Oklahoma Leonard made breakfast for his
19 year old son Jared and the two sat down to eat before a long day of chores then at 9 a.m. a visitor arrived
unannounced in a white pickup truck GERD you know whose truck dentist that's the monster
Leonard spent several minutes talking to the driver of the truck they did not appear to know each other but their
conversation was cordial when Leonard returned he told Jared that the man wanted to look at one of his stud horses
Leonard gave no sign that he found anything unusual about the stranger so he has told me that he was gonna go with
him he said stay here you can go to L can get some feed and go feed the cows and heavy back that afternoon
three years later Jarrod Erickson is still waiting for his father to come home on March 14th Leonard Erickson
voluntarily left his home with an unidentified man and never returned nobody has any idea what happened to him
to this day police have found no signs of a struggle no evidence of foul play and no body
their only clue is a mysterious man who Kimber Leonard's house authorities believe he is the key to explaining
Leonard Erickson's baffling disappearance after leaving his home Leonard Erickson did not simply vanish
two hours later a waitress claims to have seen him eating breakfast with another man at a local coffee shop now
that's a little odd to us because at nine o'clock Leonard just got through eating breakfast with his son is it's
extremely odd to breakfast --is in the same day two hours apart they were sitting there in the restaurant in the
unknown man that we're trying to identify was doing most of the talking and Leonard was just drinking coffee and
listening to the man talk the man at the diner matched the description of the man
who picked Leonard up at his home there was nothing suspicious about his behavior than if he had meant to harm
Leonard why would he be seen with him in a public place police next checked the barn where Leonard kept his stud horse
but Leonard never came there that day in fact an exhaustive investigation turned
up absolutely no information on Leonard's whereabouts until six months after he vanished
[Music] but this sighting was even more perplexing than the first a man at a barn Amarillo Texas phoned the police
yeah I want to report this guy Leonard Erickson he's supposed to be missing the individual the college stated no Leonard
Erickson um from Elk City I can't give you my name but he's in this bar I know who he is I know this is him I'm
watching him he's wearing a blue check shirt and he's drunk yeah I'm at the highway bar in Amarillo yeah yeah yeah
I'll wait till you get here and then they call terminates by the time local police arrived at the
remote bar both the caller and the man he claims as Leonard Erickson were gone the following day the Roger Mills County
Sheriff's Department interviewed the bartender I remember the guy who made the two phone calls she remembered the
caller being at the bar and corroborated his story we had no reason to disbelieve
it it almost stretches the imagination that a guy would dance around in the bar screaming hollering it's Leonard it's
Leonard and it not be Leonard I believe he was in the bar in Amarillo but why was Leonard Erickson hanging out in an
Amarillo bar six months after being reported missing Korea voluntarily disappeared if so why
Leonard had recently suffered through a painful divorce and investigators believe his dairy business was
collapsing along with a rapidly dropping price of milk could Leonard have decided
to escape both his alleged financial and personal problems once and for all it's entirely possible Leonard left on
his own I don't know where he would be today I believe it's possible that he's working as a ranch hand somewhere or on
a dairy or a cattle ranch or even horses there is only one problem with that scenario
Leonard's son Jerrod Niemann dad we was together every day every morning we'd go
work do the chores and I'd go school I don't think he would have ever left me and not every company nothing cuz it's
he was close and I don't think you ever done that didn't and there's no way he would have ever left Jared and gone off
and not ever let anybody know he was too close we were all too close a family to
do that if Leonard would not have left his son behind the focus then switches back to
the mysterious man one aspect of this case has always troubled investigators gerrae did not know the man and Leonard
did not act as if he did either but then how did the stranger know where Leonard
lived and why was he asking about a horse that Leonard had not advertised as for sale where Leonard lived north of
Cheyenne Oklahoma the man would have had to know how to have gotten there because
it's just not a straight drive there they'd have to turn and go on the back roads and things
so he knew the area to get there someone had given him directions how to get to Leonard's Oh
there's a possibility that that this man was involved in setting Leonard up to be
murdered if this man didn't do the murder he may have taken Leonard somewhere to someone that wanted to
that's a possibility we just we don't have a motive for that have not found one without a motive the search for
Leonard Erickson will continue to be hampered until then his family can only pray that Leonard is safe and well
somewhere and was someday return home to never ever hear anything it's hard because there's no end to it and for a
year after I would listen to the news and they would say they had found the body someplace you know I would just
think maybe that's him maybe this is it but nothing anywhere this is a composite
drawing of the man last seen with Leonard Erickson he was driving a white Ford pickup and wearing a baseball hat
with a phrase no fear on the front police would like to question him regarding Lehner's disappearance
Leonard Erickson is six feet tall has brown hair and weighs approximately 200 pounds
[Music] January 1987 the exclusive area of Buckhead in Atlanta Georgia a woman lay
dead in the doorway of her home her name was Lida McClinton Sullivan the daughter
of one of Georgia's most politically prominent african-american families her husband was James Sullivan heir to a
million-dollar family fortune police had no idea who killed leader or why the only clue was a dozen blood spattered
roses who killed Lida Sullivan authorities are left with a baffling mystery could Lida have been the victim
of a random robbery attempt or cut her own husband had been involved in a conspiracy to commit murder James
Sullivan met Lita McClinton at Nevada mall in 1975 Lita was training to be a clothing buyer for a department store a
Boston native James Sullivan was refined and charming leader soon fell in love [Laughter]
when James Sullivan married into litas family her Paris fear that his real motive was to capitalize on the
political influence that the McClinton family had earned through years of public service I think that was one of
his attractions to Lita he needed someone who could give him a better social stand against status eventually
the couple moved into this home in Palm Beach Florida leaders parents say that in time
Sullivan wanted to control every aspect of their daughter's life he had originally said that he did not want her
to work but then he would give her such a small budget that it was no way practical to quote buy groceries to take
care of the household and things like that in 1985 Lita filed for divorce and left
her husband moving into a townhouse they owned in Atlanta leda's family says Sullivan was outraged
and feared he could lose millions in a divorce settlement the day leader was scheduled to testify at her divorce case
was the same day she was murdered police would discover that a witness had seen a man come to the door carrying a
box of flowers although the suspect was seen fleeing the property he could not be identified at the time of the killing
leaders husband James was at the couple's home in Palm Beach he had an alibi unless it was a contract killing
40 minutes later Jim Sullivan receives a collect phone call from outside Atlanta
and when I retraced the time from Buckhead where Lida was murdered to where the phone booth was who's exactly
40 minutes I believe the killer was calling Saldana telling the job is done police traced the flowers to a shop for
a clerk remembered a nervous man buying them before the murder they said the telephone records show
that just before the killing three men who had checked into a Georgia Motel using false identification made calls to
Sullivan's home police now thought they had a case to take to trial they were wrong the judge dismissed the case for
lack of evidence a relieved James Sullivan spoke with a press following the decision
I want everyone listening to this to know that I am absolutely innocent I had nothing to do with leda's death her
death was a great tragedy and I thank God and my attorneys that this ordeal is over leaders family believed James
Sullivan was getting away with murder Jim had Lita killed because of money Jim loved money just eight months after
the murder Sullivan married again this time to a woman named Sookie Rogers but three
years later Sookie and Sullivan were involved in their own bitter divorce in 1991 Sookie told police that Sullivan
admitted to her that he hired someone to kill leta the McClinton found a four million dollar civil suit against
Sullivan and one we're not interested in the money it was really knowing that Jim
was a perpetrator he was a cause of our daughter's death and we wanted to bring him to trial
officials believe Sullivan's motive for murder was his intense desire not to part with
any of his fortune but they still didn't think there was enough physical evidence
to win a criminal conviction leaders devastated family said James Sullivan had gotten away with murder
February 1998 Georgia investigators arrest a man they suspect help set up leaders murder I had a business
arrangement with mr. Sullivan not 11 years ago a man alleged that James Sullivan masterminded the killing you
know finally a warrant was issued for Sullivan's arrest he was charged with murder and aggravated assault
but before police could find him Sullivan disappeared Sullivan had an Irish passport and authorities believe
he may have fled to Ireland he planned it and I really really feel that he should I just feel that he should pay
with his life I tell him what he already knows he'll never beat me I will get him
[Music] [Music] [Music] this brownstone in Boston is filled with patients people with real ailments
hoping to be healed I'm here to quit smoking and I've been smoking over 30 years fear of crowds
Lycus when I came to stop biting my fingernails but this is not a medical facility it is the office of Euphemia
Ben saw a Soviet immigrant affectionately known as the mad Russian my name is the Houston itself hear theme
seems to have an unexplained power that cures thousands have flocked from all over the world to experience his Healing
Touch for me right now people can make appearance smarting during drugs all kind of bad habits for this under excess
body weight lost and this Russian wonder really heal or is he a charlatan playing
on people's hopes can a simple wave of a hand change a life you be the judge [Music]
Maranda Beeson is a successful New York business woman with an addiction she couldn't quit smoking I really
adored smoking and I smoked great cigarettes I won't name the brand I loved them all but I had tried to
numerous other kinds of ways of smoking cessation and they had not been successful and I thought I have nothing
to lose so Miranda went to Boston for a session with your theme and smoked what she hoped was her last cigarette okay
okay be brave be brave because what we have to do inside Miranda joined a dozen others looking for a final cure to their
chronic pain or addiction for $65 precession a theme holds a group healing followed by individual meetings
initially he tries to alleviate any overt pain who have pain phobia at some addiction of some sort you have will
have everybody you have why you here why you here I want to quit smoking good smoke people he's incredibly dynamic you
have yes you got pain where here in my back pain you up it's a power of focus so that when he focuses on you you're
engaged we kind of sensed this fireball across the room and that pain is gone yefim
claims his hand gestures are a reorganization of what he calls bio energy it's like somebody throwing a
really fast curveball you're the catcher he's the pitcher you're there you catch
it what I want you to do is to think in your mind the first very first puff of cigarette that you take in her
one-on-one session they discuss her specific problems Miranda's 20-year addiction to
cigarettes well some people say he sneezes on you which is not what it does at all but he kind of gives you this
parting gift after her session Miranda's desire for cigarettes disappeared she claims the craving stopped I was somehow
profoundly changed I just know that I'm greater than this habit at this point so
it cannot move in since her visit to you FEMA over two years ago Aranda has remained a nonsmoker and believes it you
theme was key to her success according to you theme he has helped thousands like Miranda and thousands more who
suffer from another common addiction overeating her weight loss I helped dramatically remove desire to eat
whatever you want remove desire ticking between meals I remove desire to eat big portions
etcetera etcetera but exercise I cannot do instead of you Louise coal is a single mother living in Bradenton
Florida when both were young children became seriously ill the emotional stress and financial pressure were
overwhelming and Louise began to overeat yeah I would actually hide food just just for emergencies for me and because
I knew that it did comfort me so after things were quiet and everything was taken care of instead of
falling apart emotionally and exhaustedly crying or you know just falling to sleep I would go to the
kitchen and bring out my goodies chocolate is probably one of my favorite things and I would get so excited
because I'm gonna I'm looking through the top of the chocolate and I'm thinking okay this is my favorite I'm
gonna eat this I'm gonna eat that knowing in the back of my mind it didn't matter which one I started with because
I was gonna finish the box Louise tried to end the binging but couldn't and when I reached 187 pounds I
realized that now it's not an ego issue it's a health issue I went from the high
protein diets the low carb diet the watermelon diet a grapefruit diet I took prescription diet pills and none
of these worked just just could not get it Louise decided to take a chance and visit you Fein after her session she
immediately felt different and within three months saw positive results I had lost 17 pounds and now it's down to 20
pounds so I feel good about that I think it's a it's a very healthy 1 to 2 pounds
a week and I I like that I have a new feeling and outlook emotionally towards food it will never
have the power over me that it once had but hoarded you fiends gift for healing come front as he tells it he was
delivering artwork one day and a stranger walked up to him on the street and said something about his having a
very strong energy field nothing it turned out to be a researcher from a Soviet laboratory that was studying the
paranormal and this person persuaded him to come to the laboratory and have some
tests conducted evidently when he put his hands on or over plants the plants perked right up at one point a
researcher in the laboratory was suffering from a migraine and without really quite knowing what he was doing
he removed the pain he took the pain away and that's when he realized that although he wasn't quite sure what he
was doing he was definitely doing something to heal people in 1979 Yaffe moved to America for his curative powers
were soon touted by the media Yefim also attracted the attention of the medical world in 1982 to Harvard University
Health Service doctors decided to do a clinical trial the goal was to verify your theme's success rate to
psychotherapist asked him to come and work with a number of patients of theirs whom they had treated without success
these were people with fear of needles phobias smoking pain they first observed the healing sessions are you actually a
doctor no I'm not a dumb can you help me get over my fear of needles well of course I can of course I want her to sit
in this chair come over here sit here i watch watch what any but they have questions nobody questioned the doctors
and kept track of the trial group for four months he saw all of these patients and managed
to cure 85% of them tell me about the tetanus shot well when I went into the doctor's office I wasn't nervous at all
I had no fear of the needle when the Harvard doctors studied what he had done they were able to conclude that he had
not hypnotized anyone no no wasn't like hypnosis at all in fact they weren't really sure what he
had done they just knew that whatever he did it worked the published results from
the Harvard trial state that you themes powers were genuine as were the positive
results the Harvard study at most shows that there is some real effect here most
probably a placebo effect and when they state that something real happened they don't mean real psychic power or
anything like that but that a real mental power in the in the patients themselves happened I don't think yefim
has any special power at all other than the power to convince people that they can implement change in their own lives
although your theme's gift remains undefinable both Miranda and Louise believe in it I don't think anybody
knows how it works I just know that it does work and I've been very successful with it you may go see him and say I
don't understand a word this man says I don't know what he's doing you can be suspect or you can say you know what I
go around once what do I have to lose [Music] it is hard not to be intrigued by the
mad Russian and his mystifying energy but is he able to heal with a wave of a hand or is it only the power of
suggestion that it work here the truth remains an unsolved mystery for more cases that are stranger than fiction
stories all the more remarkable because they are true join me next time on unsolved mysteries
[Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music]

Brief Summary

Two women named Mary Morris are murdered in Houston, a dairy farmer disappears, and a healer claims to cure ailments in this episode.

Key points

The Murders of Mary Morris. Two women named Mary Morris are found murdered in Houston just days apart.
Leonard Erickson's Disappearance. A dairy farmer vanishes after leaving home with a mysterious stranger.
Lida McClinton Sullivan's Murder. The daughter of a prominent family is found dead, leaving authorities baffled.
James Sullivan's Innocence Claim. James Sullivan insists he had nothing to do with Lita's death, calling it a tragedy.
Murder Accusations. Lita's family believes James Sullivan orchestrated her murder for financial gain.
The Healing Touch. Yefim, known as the mad Russian, claims to heal through a mysterious energy.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

Two women both named Mary Morris found murdered in their cars.

4:52WatchMay 23, 2019

Tension

65/ 100Some tension

More from True Crime Files

Solve the Crime

Read a real case one clue at a time, then see how your call held up against the investigators.