Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 2, Episode 12 - Full Episodes | Forensic Files

this program is about unsolved mysteries whenever possible the actual family members and police officials have
participated in recreating the events what you were about to see is not a news broadcast on Christmas Eve in 1931 a
couple made an incredible discovery in a lonely Arizona den a baby girl abandoned
in a hatbox today Sharon Elliott the so called hatbox bean wants to learn the truth about her parents and find the
couple who rescued her all that long ago Christmas Eve man for 30 years Joe sham beer has been a real-life Santa
Claus for the millions of children who listened to his radio broadcast but this man was given children so much happiness
is searching for his own child Alberta Elaine who was given up for adoption 50 years ago also tonight we
will tell the story of John Brown a Chicago physician in civil rights work who was in prison for murdering his wife
20 years ago a crime he swears he did not commit indeed there is compelling evidence supports his claim of innocence
if this is true and a man has been unjustly imprisoned tonight John Brennan makes his final appeal
[Music] [Applause] [Music] Christmas Eve 1931 at 8:00 p.m. a car broke down in the middle of the chilly
Arizona desert 56 miles outside Phoenix the four people inside were returning from a day trip to the mountains
Edie Stewart took a look at the engine while his wife Julia waited in the car it looks like a busted fuel line Julia's
15 year old twin cousins John and Betty Mansfield looked on from the backseat oh
it's gonna take a few minutes to fix I'm gonna stretch my legs a bit all right honey you be careful out here there's
scorpions [Music] [Music] Hey come here a minute what what is it it's a hat box that's probably just some
chunk left by some campers of course it don't look that weather [Music] open it up oh my gosh it's a baby leave
a child out here okay all right do you see anybody when we drove up Edie and Julia Stewart saw no sign of the person
who would abandon the baby they carry the tiny found link back to their car 41 miles away at the Mesa Arizona police
station constable Joel Mayer was spending his Christmas Eve on duty we found this baby in the desert you found
the child yeah Edie and Julius Stewart told constable Mayer the incredible story of how they
found a tiny infant in a hatbox what I'll do is I don't know exactly what to do with there either I'll take her to
Maude Dana's for tonight that's a good idea jump you'll take home and to you both I'll be back to your first
statement on this okay constable Mayer turned over his young charge to Medina a midwife living near Florence Arizona she
called in a doctor who pronounced the child a healthy 7 day old girl suffering no ill effects from her time in the
desert a second baby local reporters were quick to turn up on Maude Dana's porch they dubbed the child
a miracle news are the Christmassy baby spread like wildfire people shower the little girl with love gifts and
attention we've never had anything like that happen around Florence that was a new thing and everybody was very
family-oriented and loved their children and thought of them first to think that
somebody would desert a little helpless baby and we felt it was surely a miracle
at night that that little baby was saved the miracle Christmassy baby captured the imagination of the entire country to
a people weathering the Great Depression this tiny baby girl rescued from the desert became a symbol of the Christmas
season an array of hope in the midst of bleak times the baby was put up for adoption On February the 16th 1932 a
hearing was held at the Pinal County Courthouse in Florence Arizona you know I think this baby must be the most
fortunate baby in the county seventeen couples had expressed interest in adopting the baby I'm at the field
finally narrowed to just two Judge Al Green faced a difficult choice under all circumstances I might say that since I
know you have an adopted child and the other couple doesn't have one I feel under the circumstances that I am
forced to award the child to them [Music] let them leave the courtroom $5.00 but
your honor I'm going to seal the court records on this case and we'd appreciate it very much if you boys were respecting
people's privacy and let the child grow up in a normal life thank you the reporters and photographers waited
inside while the baby and her new parents made their exit only the people in court that day knew who had adopted
the hatbox baby for more than half a century the identity of the family remained a closely guarded secret
finally on August the 10th 1986 the adoptive mother broke her five decade silence we tried to have children and we
couldn't you're adopted honey we adopted when you were a little baby I was shocked I just I couldn't believe it
you know because I hadn't I had no idea that I was a adopted nobody ever said I think to me it was never it's just I
never even dreamt at eyes that was the last thing I would think that you know I would hear from her
Sharon's mother also told her the amazing saga of how she had been found in the desert why I've never heard of
the hatbox baby and I'm one person I grew up and I have a family and everything then I'm looking through all
these pictures and it's just it just seemed like it was unreal kind of that this could be me
Sharon began to look for her birth parents news of research reached an organization called orphan voyage which
reunites adopted children with their families of birth Alice Simon one of the research
consultants at orphaned voyage took up Sharon's cause both women felt it was vital to have access to the sealed court
documents from 1931 and the court has reviewed your file and determined that it would be in the best interest to
release these files so well that you look at him you're appreciated for the first time
Sharon read the Stewart's verbatim account of finding her in the desert as she studied the record she grew
skeptical of their story it seems such an amazing coincidence that their car had broken down at the exact spot in the
desert where the hatbox had been left I think it was a setup who's gonna leave a baby in the desert
in the middle this is this is winter it's Christmas Eve and it's that time I you know here it's cold here in sworn
testimony ed and Julia Stewart stated they left home at dawn of December 24th 1931 to drive up to the mountains the
Stewart said they stopped only once and Roosevelt Arizona one of several small towns on their route mrs. Stewart
had left an 8 month old nursing baby at home it was Christmas Eve the day that most people stay home and cook through
turkey wrapped their Christmas presents I think that they went up to globe or superior or maybe Roosevelt he picked up
the baby I'm someone they knew maybe a cousin a relative a friend and brought it back to Mesa could the Stewart's have
picked up the infant Sharon and Roosevelt or another small town or did the indeed finder in the desert shares
mysterious mother having placed her in the hatbox only seconds before the Stewart's car stopped
it would have been a carefully arranged routes stage for the benefit of the teenage cousins John and Betty Mansfield
had been brought along as innocent witnesses in that day if a girl got pregnant if out if she was not married it was I
guess the greatest disgrace that she could bring up on our family I think that probably they were just trying to
help out a young girl maybe it was a relative could have been a nice could have been her friend I you know I don't
know maybe they had friends that had a daughter well I'm just glad that I survived I don't know if I have any
brothers or sisters I don't even know the exact date of my birth or even where I was born I don't know what heritage I
am what nationality or where I come from and I want to know you know who I look like and I think my I know my daughter
would like you know about you know her grandmother - her real grandmother the Christmas Eve miracle has remained a
mystery for nearly six decades the vital missing links to Sharon Eliot's lost identity or the couple who found her in
the desert if they are alive Eden Julia Stewart would be today in their 80s only
they know the truth about Sharon Elliott the woman who began her life 58 years ago as a poignant baby and a hatbox lost
in the chil December blackness of an Arizona desert night when we return the story of a Chicago
physician who was convicted of murdering his wife dramatic evidence suggests that
he may have been unjustly in prison [Music] December 22nd 1967 Chicago Illinois a 41
year old physician named John Brangwyn and his son Joe P arrived home to pick up John's wife Donna the family was
planning to go Christmas shopping together Jovie and I returned from nursing school
and went into the house the first thing that struck me was all the lights are on
and two television sets and I called out to Donna I got no answer and then when I got to the kitchen I
looked at the right and I could see feet legs really sticking out of the utility
room and she was dead she wasn't breathing her legs were askew and her skirt was kind of wicked up over our
legs I switched off the light and reached around and grabbed Joby and ran out of the back of the house after his
grim discovery dr. Brennan immediately called the police five months later he was on trial for his life today Joan
Branyan is serving a 20 to 30 year term at Illinois's Dixon Correctional Center for the first-degree murder of his wife
a crime he swears he did not commit I think it was an atrocity I think it was extremely unfair I feel that it was a
setup my father was railroaded because he didn't kill my mother I think he's innocent because the evidence shows that
he could not have physically been there at the time these events were going on I
think the jury was was emotionally caught up in the case and just didn't forgot or didn't pay attention to the
evidence that overwhelmingly proved that John couldn't have been the killer I couldn't murder the mother of my
children I couldn't murder my high school sweetheart Don and I had known each other since the age of 14 I didn't
murder her it is not uncommon for a convicted criminal to stoutly maintained his
innocence but in John Brennan's case E is not alone though some say he is a murderer others are convinced that he
was framed for John Brennan this debate is literally a matter of life and death after suffering five heart attacks he
desperately needs a heart transplant but because he is a convicted murderer the operation he needs to survive has been
denied him this is John Branyan story during the mid-60s Martin Luther King dreamed his dreams of equality for all
Americans John Brennan marched by his side and in 1966 he was King's personal physician in Chicago Chicago was a
racial battleground during those years Branyan was often on the front line even went so far as to provide medical
services for the Black Panthers the Weathermen and other extreme revolutionary groups not surprisingly
Branyan was viewed with hostility by the Chicago Police I've always covered for equal rights and speller for freedom
hoping that there would eventually be freedom and equal rights and I've done it all my life I did it very early in
very left-wing groups and I'll do it when I get out of here the son of a prominent attorney John Brennan worked
at a busy community clinic and lived in Chicago's affluent Hyde Park district in
1946 he married Donna Braun and they had two children December 22nd 1967 after being called by
John Branyan a Chicago police arrived at his Hyde Park home dr. brandy are you holding up then okay stir with me you
noticed anything missing anything that might have been taken from the apartment investigators found four shell casings
from a 9-millimeter gun next to Donna's body they assumed that she had been shot
four times do you own a 9-millimeter weapon yes the onion was an avid gun collector and says
that police asked him for any weapon in his collection capable of firing a nine-millimeter bullet he gave them a
Luger pistol right dr. Brennan let me give it back police determined that the gun had not
been recently fired they would later claim that Branyan had denied owning any other gun capable of firing the fatal
bullets never seizures Aseem evening at the police station Brennan gave detectives his alibi dr.
brandy I know it's been a long difficult day I'd like to go over one more time whereabouts Branyan told police that he
had left the clinic where he worked at 11:30 a.m. morning listen I'm on my way to pick up Toby I won't be back any more
this afternoon he then drove his car your old sons nursery school to pick him up
[Music] after leaving the school they went to see his wife's cousin Maxine Brown to
meet her for lunch [Music] [Music] she was unable to join Branyan told police that he then proceeded home there
he discovered the body of his wife and you arrived home at what time around noon
dr. brainian did you submit to a lie-detector test chan I don't think that's such a good
idea no but I would like to have a nitrate test though we don't have the chemical a nitrate test would have
determined whether he had fired a gun but the Chicago police were unable to conduct this test that night Brennan was
released without being charged morning one month passed then on January 22nd 1968 the police made an unexpected visit
to Brennan's clinic dr. Brennan you're under arrest for the murder of your wife you'll have to come with us right now I
think that the police were under great deal of pressure from the black press at the time and I think they saw a chance
because 85% of murders are committed by either the family or friends close friends they saw a chance to arrest me
and they did I don't think they thought they were going to convict me but they arrested me anyway
on April 4th 1968 Martin Luther King was gunned down in Memphis and riots broke out in Chicago racial tensions in the
city were an all-time high in this polarized atmosphere John Brennan's trial began would you state your name
please sir Michael boy his jury was composed of 11 White's and one black profession sir I'm detective for Chicago
Police Department the prosecution's case is built on three assertions first although the murder weapon was never
found they claim that the bullets that killed Donna could have been fired from a Walther PPK there was part of Rania's
gun collection a gun they maintained here denied owning detective testified they went back to him and said do you
have a Walther PPK and he said no he never had one and it turned out that that he had a Walther PPK had been sold
about a year before to a man named hooks who was one of the good friends of dr. Brandon police then went to hooks and
asked him where his gun was and he said no he bought that gun for Branyan as a Christmas present the year before not
sir what if any relationship did mrs. Brandon bear to you she was my sister later during the trial
Donna Brandon's brother Nelson Brown testified that John Brennan had told him that the day Donna was murdered his
Walther PPK had been stolen from his bedside he mentioned that there were two guns missing one was a PPK and the other
was a collector's item worth fifteen hundred to two thousand dollars did he in the confusion following his wife's
death Branyan had not immediately noticed the theft I show you now that which has been marked as people's
exhibit 13 the prosecution second assertion was that the four shell casings found by Donna's body had come
from a box of ammunition they had discovered when they searched Brandon's closet for shells were missing from this
box these are the shells that I recovered from the shelf in the dental closet finally the prosecution claimed
that John Branyan had a moody for wanting his wife dead at the time of Donna's death as marriage
was in trouble for six years John Brennan had been conducting an affair with a nurse at his clinic named Shirley
Hudson his wife knew about the affair but the couple had not divorced our theory of the trial was that it was it
was to get out of a bad marriage get out of a marriage without having to pay all
the consequences of divorce and that certainly I had I had a friend a girlfriend of six years it wasn't a hot
on a burner affair there was nothing pressing about our relationship our relationship was mutually accepted sure
I never pressed me and I never ever thought of leaving Donna why would I suddenly decide to kill her
no our theory a prosecution was that he had planned for why that day we don't know to kill his wife and that he was
gonna leave the hospital come home and kill her do it silently when that didn't work he used the gun then pick up his
son at school then pick up Maxine for the luncheon date that was made at the very last minute of the night before
have lunch have an alibi for the period of time involved and then have either someone or himself find the body and
have a very good alibi are you ready with your neck granules defense was suing he and his attorney were certainly
his alibi was airtight as they maintained it was impossible for Branyan to be in two places at once
mrs. Kendra when you got home did you have occasion to look at your clock yes this alibi was strengthened when Brahe's
next-door neighbor testified that she had heard the fatal gunshots at 11:20 a.m. while Branyan was reportedly still
at his clinic if the dr. brennan's lived the hospital 11:30 and I heard the shots
at 11:20 and I'm sure of it I was sure then and I'm sure now that is impossible for him to shoot his wife to
be there at that time when you heard those while you were putting away the grocer
suprisingly this testimony would have little impact on the jury the prosecution pursued their theory that
the murder took place after Branyan left the clinic now officer you also stated that you drove certain routes and that
you totalled these times and that the autonomy arrived dad was from six to twelve minutes
is that right yes police testified that they had driven and time Brannan's route
on the morning of the murder and had determined that he did in fact have just enough time to kill his wife before he
picked up his son yes and when you arrived to dr. Brandon's home however in one of the trials most dramatic moments
a defense challenged this timetable watch by the way officer when you arrived at the nursery school whose
little boy did you use another state of question sir well I assume that you went
to the nursery school to cover some time about checking on a kid now how much time did you allow for him to pick up
his son from the nursery school we allowed no time for that you didn't allow that I can remember feeling a
chill in in the courtroom when he sent us in that you are moving a lot slower when you've got a child didn't old and
when you're with yourself by yourself so I thought that was an effective point the point of the other point is would he
walk into the house knowing his wife was dead with with the kid and it's a shocking thing to see if he knew it had
happened so I thought those were the strong points they had going for them on May 28 1968 after deliberating for 8
hours the jury reached their decision mr. Foreman has the jury reached a verdict we have your honor
read the verdict mr. Foreman we the jury find the defendant John Brandon jr. guilty in manner inform is charged in
the indictment when the judge said I was guilty the verdict will be entered I felt Hollow I
felt as though I was no longer but I know what I did do I remember kind of sticking my head up I don't know why but
I remember that I did that I know my shoulders got a little straighter but it certainly hurt when he said that he'd
really hurt the three years Branyan was freon babies he appealed his verdict during this time
he married his former girlfriend Shirley I loved him and I still love him very much and I could not desert him as
people were beginning to do he was a walking shell he'd loved both of us he loved Donna and he loved me yet April of
1971 his appeal was denied and John Branyan was ordered to begin serving as twenty to thirty years sentence a few
days later after the Supreme Court declined to hear his case Branyan jumped bail and left the country for 12 years
Branyan lived in Africa but in 1983 he was apprehended in Uganda he was brought back to Illinois to serve his sentence
an innocent person should be found innocent in this country we've been taught that ever since we were kids
so because of that I had to sleep because I couldn't get justice anywhere else the evidence against me proves that
I couldn't have done the crime yet I'm here currently two investigators have volunteered their services to Brandon's
case Anthony D'Amato a prominent law professor from Northwestern University and his wife author Barbara De Aza are
working with Brandon's wife Shirley to document what they consider to be a shocking miscarriage of justice
when mrs. Brennan said my husband was innocent I was very skeptical about that I don't I don't tend to believe people's
statements about things like this and it was only Barbara's investigation of the
thing that proved to me that no matter what John Branyan said he couldn't have done it that was the main
theamazingatheist somebody else's word John Brennan is currently serving his sentence in Illinois for the 1967 murder
of his wife Donna he could be incarcerated until the year 2006 but Tony and Barbara D'Amato
believe he deserves to be released immediately they claim that by reconstructing the events that took
place in the late morning of December 22nd 1967 it can be proved John Brennan did not shoot his wife the fact is that
when his wife was murdered he was a mile and a half away treating patients in a hospital and that's proven that's a fact
so there's no there's no legal rule whatsoever that says an innocent man has to stay in prison okay because it cannot
definitely be proved that the fatal shots were fired at 11:20 then it is possible that Donna was murdered later
Brenna's guilt or innocence might rest on the 10-minute window of time between 11:35 and he left his clinic and the
time that he arrived at the nursery school to pick up his son what seems dr. John Brennan spent the morning of
December 22nd at his clinic where he saw 14 different patients three to four times a day
at approximately 11:35 Branyan left the clinic located here and stopped outside to talk with Leonard Scott the
hospital's administrator he was next seen by a teacher at his sons nursery school here approximately 10 minutes
later in order to have murdered Donna Branyan would have had to have driven to his home shot his wife and then raced to
his son's school all in less than 10 minutes now there's no way the police could have
made this in six minutes during the trial police claimed that this drive could be made in as little as
six minutes but according to the D'Amato's the police grossly underestimated the actual time his drive
would take D'Amato's traveled the same route several times it took them at least 11
minutes the police testified that they got it down as low as six minutes but they also said that they sometimes it
took them 12 minutes well that's a huge disparity between 6 and 12 and I just wonder how and how they could have
pulled off that six minutes and they certainly couldn't have done it at a time when there were other cars on the
street or pedestrians or snow or anything else like the conditions that John Branyan had to drive it in it's one
thing to say well if you're gonna kill your wife you can speed and hurry up to get home but you can't drive through a
car ahead of you now if the streets are filled with pedestrians and people crossing the streets and other kinds of
cars it was just clearly impossible further evidence a Brandon could not have shot his wife came when the
d'amato's consulted pathologist Douglas Shanklin after examining the original autopsy reports on Donna Brannon
Shanklin believes he can prove that she was first dassault at at least a half hour before John Branyan had even begun
to drive home an attack he believes would have required at least two assailants it's very important to note
that there were bruises and other marks on her body the most particular of which
is a groove in her neck it was a very deep groove that began in the anterior neck and moved laterally and then
disappeared behind as though somebody was standing in back with a top chord not strong enough to strangle a person
but strong enough to hold them to move their body as you wish them to move and to restrain them from escape and of
course as soon as she was shot the core was released this groove stayed there it's not going to continue to form after
death because of the loss of circulation it takes at least 15 minutes for such a
groove to be formed and possibly longer so you've got a minimum of 15 minutes before the gun is used the latest time
and testimony for those sounds was approximate 11:25 so that pushes the beginning of the cord around the neck 15
minutes earlier and seems to me that the crime began probably around 11 o'clock or a few minutes before that so she
would lie that way in the alcove I think dr. Brannon is innocent of this crime because there were two people at least
involved one of whom held the victim for a period of time but could not have shot
at the same time bang she falls so there had to be two parties to the final action of this scenario but even if
Donna Branyan was killed by two assailants while her husband was at work former prosecutor Patrick - it believes
that Branyan may still be guilty I always even at the time of trial had doubts is whether he actually pulled the
trigger that was our theory of the prosecution but I always felt and I still feel that he was somehow
responsible for his death he is a man that deals with facts if there are facts that say that I did not kill my wife but
I hired someone else didn't let him come forth with him how what gives him the right the arrogance to say that he
believes something when there's no evidence of it if there was a second party involved why didn't they get the
second party and hang us both there is no basis in the law whatsoever to say oh well if he wasn't there he hired someone
to do it it's the jury should hear if there was any evidence of anyone being hired and if they didn't if the state
chose not to present that theory then it is legally irrelevant today John Brennan
and the de Matos have exhausted all avenues of judicial appeal preyas only hope is clemency from the governor of
Illinois a clemency that cannot be delayed much longer for John Brennan needs a heart transplant that will be
denied him as long as he remains in prison convicted murderers are not put on a waiting list for heart transplants so
he's almost you know he has a double death sentence he's already in prison for a crime that he did not commit and
then he can't get the medical care that he needs to continue living so in essence he has a death sentence
[Music] tonight John Brennan is in prison and for him time is running out is he a
murderer or an innocent victim the brainy ins operation is delayed much further the answer would make little
difference [Music] in a moment the poignant story of a real-life Santa Claus he was given
happiness to children across the country but today Joseph's sham beer wants a Christmas present of his own to speak
with his long-lost daughter all of us are familiar with a department store Santa's a street corner Santa's who
appear each December these jolly men are cheerful symbols of the season yet our next story is about a Santa Claus who
behind his Jodie smiles been hiding a broken heart for more than 40 years tonight maybe you can help bring about a
happy ending to this story which we call satyrs baby the story begins toward the end of the
Great Depression in 1937 the economy was slowly beginning to improve but Pittsburgh Pennsylvania remained
hard-hit bread lines were still a common sight good jobs were hard to come by 20
year-old Joseph Felix cambiar could find work only as a Western Union delivery boy against the backdrop of his bleak
Depression hit City Joe did however find a wife he and garnet worried to lawyers
without family ties of their own fell in love and married they were both eager to
begin a family two months after the wedding garnet became pregnant one June 16 1939
I was at work at Western Union I had 14 cents in my pocket neither I nor garnet I had any idea that this would happen so
suddenly we had given it like an additional couple of weeks the doctor thought it would be an additional a
couple of weeks but that wasn't solved needless to say I ran up to three flights of stairs and I was excited very
excited garnet was further along in her labor and Joe had expected the landlady had called for a doctor but he had not
yet arrived I didn't expect that baby to come rushing out and say he'll all run off the back without the doctor being
there you know that that's that's quite a shock to the system remorse we the two of us were so elated
it was like a package sent from heaven [Music] at one o'clock in the afternoon the
doctor finally walked in he pronounced both mother and daughter in good health and congratulated the new parents garnet
for the better part of an hour or so had the baby in her arm and she kept talking
about it move you know what was quite you'd have never known that she had gone through this misery they're giving birth
she was so pleased with it and I was too because my goodness look at that pretty
girl she got a little bit tired and I didn't have a bassinet so what I did was wrap the baby up in the blanket and I
placed her in the drum but he had a bureau dresser there were three drawers the bottom draw was quite long and large
and sofas I made a bet in him place the baby in there temporarily and then garnet had a short nap and woke up again
and started speaking from a strange fashion for example Felix if anything happens to me make sure Alice Miller
gets to baby Alice Bray's garnet so to speak there was a relationship there more like a second mother they were very
close [Music] take care of the baby Alberta four o'clock she just died no fight no
suffering nothing of that sort when I wake up what's wrong I was none I was absolutely numb so I
followed her deathbed wish I did what I thought I was supposed to do Joe took his baby daughter Alberta Elaine to
Alice Miller you're gonna be a good little girl for mrs. Miller Albert Elaine all right there was a
sense of relief in that I knew that the baby would be well taken care of she'd be brought up properly you sure
it's not too much trouble oh no trouble Oh I appreciate it no this is what garnet
wanted god rest her soul ballast was a very conscientious woman very loving caring person good common sense she was
typical good American woman don't worry thank you good jobs were still almost impossible
to find so one week before Pearl Harbor Joe sham beer enlisted he felt the army was his best chance to give some
financial security to his tiny daughter Joe was assigned to basic training in Fort Devens Massachusetts then shipped
out to the Pacific Theater his little daughter never left his mind doll during the time that I was in the service I
kept up a little prayer book here that little manual is what it's called and inside that manual is a picture of my
daughter it's the only picture that I have of her I wrote to the mullahs several times I I don't know five six
times I've never received a reply no communications with Alice at all all during the time I was in the Army in
August of 1943 Joe suffered a head injury during air raid drills in the Panama Canal Zone after treatment he was
plagued with intermittent neck and back pain so he was shipped to a Boston hospital for further treatment on the
way his plane stopped in Pittsburgh at the Allegheny Airport when we landed we had a half an hour to refuel and I asked
permission to call out was Miller after all she had the baby and I wanted to find out about the baby how she was
doing and so far the baby was roughly five years old at the time hello this strange voice a woman
answered and when I told her who I was she said I was supposed to be dead that the baby had been adopted back went to
receive him you gotta go the nameless woman on the telephone left Joe dumbfounded she said
Alberta Elaine's adoption records were sealed and he would never see his daughter again well it's a blow to say
the least it's a blown and left up blow your mind despite Joe's best efforts he could not
locate his baby daughter he never stopped trying to find her in 1946 he married for the second time then moved
to New England where he worked as a clerk at the Veterans Administration one year later at Christmastime Joe phoned a
little girl in his neighborhood pretending to be Santa Claus a little girl was delighted soon all the other
neighborhood children were clamoring for Santa to call them by the next Christmas
a local radio station had put Joe on the air soon thanks to newspaper articles across the country telephone operators
everywhere we're referring young callers who asked to speak to Santa Claus - Joe
sham beers what would you like for Christmas I'm writing this down in my big book that's not work it's a
challenge but you know deep down that you're doing something good and at the same time you are looking for that
needle in the haystack namely Alberta Lane that would be a heaven-sent to be able to look at her be able to sit
down with her talk brother maybe give her a big hug people she would let me hey it's my own flesh and blood and she
deserves to know what took place [Music] every mystery someone somewhere who knows the truth perhaps said someone is
watching perhaps as you [Music]

Brief Summary

Sharon Elliott seeks her birth parents, Joe Sham Beer searches for his daughter, and John Brennan fights wrongful conviction for his wife's murder.

Key points

The Hatbox Baby. On Christmas Eve 1931, a baby girl was discovered abandoned in a hatbox in the Arizona desert, sparking a nationwide fascination.
John Brennan's Innocence. John Brennan, a physician, claims he was wrongfully convicted of murdering his wife, with compelling evidence supporting his innocence.
Guilty Verdict. After hours of deliberation, the jury finds John Brennan guilty of murder.
A Shocking Miscarriage of Justice. Investigators claim John Brennan's innocence, citing evidence that he was miles away during the murder.
Desperate Plea for Clemency. John Brennan's health deteriorates in prison as he awaits a heart transplant.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

I think that they went up to globe or superior.

Speculation about the Stewart's journey before finding the baby.

10:04WatchMay 21, 2019

Tension

75/ 100High 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.