Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 3, Episode 19 - Full Episode | 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 are about to see is not a news broadcast
Chicago the 1930s notorious mobster Al Capone ruled the city until a young Treasury agent named Eliot Ness brought
down his empires leader of the immortal crime busting unit The Untouchables but after his success in Chicago Eliot
Ness encountered the one criminal he could not bring to justice a fiendish serial killer who may have claimed as
many as 30 victims join us for the special segment Eliot Ness is unsolved mystery
also the controversial murder case of prison reformer Michael Frankie shortly before he died Frankie began to collect
information about corruption in the Oregon prison system in 1989 he was found stabbed to death just outside his
office did someone want Michael Frankie silenced permanently in September 1989 three month old Ryan Stallings was
hospitalized in critical condition the apparent victim of poisoning three days later Ryan died his mother Patty
Stallings was charged with murder and subsequently convicted Patty and her husband insists that Ryan died from a
rare genetic disorder which now plays their second child the prosecutor however maintains that she is guilty
join me as we examine this controversial case the final appeal of patty stories [Music]
Chicago 1929 prohibition was the law of the land with alcohol illegal speakeasies sprung up on
every street corner in every alleyway bootlegging and police corruption were rampant
an aggressive 26 year old Treasury agent was hired to smash the gangland rackets
that gripped the city his name Eliot Ness after crushing Capone in Chicago Eliot
Ness became one of the most respected lawmen in the country but I portrayed Ness on television I learned that like
many well-known figures it was a secret private side to his public persona those who knew him agreed that his iron
will quiet countless cloaked a fearless determination to wipe out corruption but
he is also a man who was not above bending the law himself to bring a criminal to justice
after the Untouchables Ness went on to encounter the one case he could not crack a case which would haunt him for
the rest of his life September 1934 Eliot Ness came to Cleveland Ohio it was public safety position comparable to a
modern day police commission treatment police cross one nessa ride cleveland was a known safe haven for gangsters and
street from over the next year arrests went up and crime went down but there was another evil afoot in the
city which would soon overshadow neces primary mandate to boys playing in Kingsbury run come
across these two bodies both decapitated in September of 1935 the mutilated bodies of two men were found in
Kingsbury run a slum district swarming with hobos prostitutes and street toughs each person will give at the time the
case was dismissed as a vicious but routine double homicide by the summer of 1936 three more parties
had been found the discovery of a sixth victim that form through Cleveland into an uproar mr. Ness boy's been found
under the bridge two kids found it runners been here nothing's been moved it's been here about five hours when
number six turned up it was like a bombshell going on the city really exploded the press and and the public
now had no doubts that there was a serial killer out there that this individual was gonna keep killing and
they wanted it stopped the body count in the king is very run area would eventually reach 12 as many
as 18 other murderers in Greater Cleveland were thought to be connected to the case
the killer primarily stalked society's outcasts and Vegas men as well as men and fell prey only two of the victims
rather positively identified Edward and racy a small-time hood and Florence Palillo a 41 year old prostitute
all the victims had been decapitated in some cases while they were still alive five were found floating in water the
blood drained completely out of their bodies the tabloids dubbed the killer the butcher of Kings Barry run and the
torso Slayer [Music] found a body here late this morning the arms and legs haven't cut off scene of
the crime the minister looking into capital yes sir took the same killer how we keeping the crowd back
Ness got into the case quite extensively in fact he devoted almost full time to it but at the same time there's also
sort of an uneasiness with Ness about this he didn't know quite how to proceed with this case it wasn't a matter of
like finding out where the breweries got was and where the mobsters were hiding and go and smash your way into the end
of the place area this was a different type of criminal that Eliot Ness was facing the bodies would kept for about
oh I'd say six months we have no idea who they are but it certainly was a skillful dissection the murderer was
probably Eliot had made a profile that he figured the killer might be thank you and he determined that it would had to
be somebody from the way these bodies were cut up somebody with a certain amount of medical knowledge
plus the fact had to be a very strong man to carry these bodies all over in Dublin where he did and
so we had this profile it has to be a big man strong an expert with a scalpel [Music]
nests had reached an impasse he was determined to search every dwelling in Kingsbury run but had no legal grounds
to spare out search warrants the solution was vintage Eliot Ness [Music] he cleverly squirted the need for
warrants by pairing detectives with fire officials and ordering widespread safety
inspections [Music] there was a thought yes and other police officers that they were gonna find this
laboratory that was going to have blood splattered walls and have arms and waves
lying over in a corner and maybe a catch of heads in another corner that's what they were looking for and NASA's men
spent almost a full week searching almost every place almost every apartment every dwelling they could find
in in that area and they weren't able to turn up a thing [Music] less next pinpointed every doctor and
hospital worker in Cleveland there has its call even the County caller was not above suspicion entity
hundreds of people were put under surveillance questioned hospital and detained I fell
asleep got a few hours oh yes are you doing in Cleveland and town on business what
I'm a Salesman I sell surgical supplies but the investigation still led nowhere I come up to three times a month the
killer remained it longer any Kingsbury Ron wins and the case began to consume Eliot Ness he used to go out and hit a
couple of bars have a drink [Music] in august of nineteen thirty eight victims number eleven and twelve were
found the last scattered in a rubbish heap just 200 yards from Elliot meses office
it was evident after the last two bodies were found that the killer was now becoming more daring by where he left
the bodies right really under a head NASA's window and it was it was almost like it was a
cat-and-mouse game and so sort of a catch me if you can type thing they were bragging Cleveland was now one of the
safest cities in in the United States except for the killer who was built chopping off heads and cutting up bodies
and all this kind of stuff and he knew he had to do something desperately because the people were clamoring and
all the people in town were insane about this insanity that was going on and they
were frightened they were scared to death the storm of public criticism gold nest
to take drastic measures less than 48 hours after the discovery of victims number 11 and 12 the police
descended upon Kingsbury runs hobo jungles they rounded up more than 60 transients hoping that the killer might
be among this was his old untouchable style great where you know where the bad guy isn't
going and get him he really thought that this might work and at the very least he
could remove some of the people that the killer was preying on but it completely
backfired for him there was a great wave of public opinion that this was the act of a desperate man and that his
tactics had been brutal and they didn't really solve anything [Music] in a final radical attempt to stop the
slaughter Ness ordered the shanty town burned to the ground of those arrested that night none turned
out to be the killer [Music] [Applause] after the shanty town was destroyed a murders in Cleveland mysteriously
stopped but the case was not over for Eliot Ness he remained bitter and dissatisfied according to some experts
he was all the more frustrated by the fact he believed he knew the killer's identity but could never come up with
enough evidence to make an arrest Nessa's suspect belonged to a prominent Cleveland family in 1938 the man had
himself committed to a state mental institution ness believed that he had caught the
killer primarily because after this man committed himself to a mental hospital the killing stopped and
he said I am certain this is this is the man the profiles fit fits the profile and I'm sure that this is a bird who was
doing all these killers it's pretty clear that if nested accused this man whose family was socially
prominent he could have been libelous and been sued and he was a very cautious guy as far as
covering the letter of the law incredibly more than 10 years later Eliot Ness received a number of
postcards from a patient in a mental institution taunting you with references to the brutal slayings
[Music] the man who was sitting in these post guard might have just been another kook
but he was convinced that he had found a guy [Music] Eliot Ness never fully recovered from
his disappointment and being unable to close the case he resigned as Public Safety Director in 1942 five years later
he ran for mayor of Cleveland when questioned about the torsos names during the campaign Ness enigmatic Leigh
replying that case has been solved Eliot Ness lost the election by a landslide and left Cleveland he never
returned to law enforcement [Music] next a young mother convicted of murder wins her final appeal
[Music] July 9th 1989 st. Louis Missouri a young mother rushed her critically ill son to
Cardinal Glennon Hospital the baby was three month old Ryan Stallings nearby Jefferson County since
birth he had suffered from chronic gastric distress [Music] on the day Ryan was brought to the
emergency room his breathing had become extremely labored and he was vomiting uncontrollably
Ryan was immediately placed in the pediatric intensive care unit he was hooked up to a respirator and all
kinds of tubes going in and out of him and it was awful it was just a shock to see a little baby
incapacitated the way he was it was to the point where they said whether they don't know how long he's gonna be here
we don't know what's wrong when he met so you might as well just go to the waiting room and stay out there until we
can tell you what's wrong yes sir I'm dr. Bailey chief of pediatrics happy to see you this is mrs.
Jorgenson her family's David and Patti starlings rented a room at the hospital to be near their son after three
agonizing days the stallings learned that Ryan would recover Ryan's fine there are no problems in the diagnosis
however was stunning Ryan had apparently been poisoned when the lab tests came back we found a couple of substances
those substances are ethyl glycol and acetone ethyl glycol is the substance that you'll find in radiator antifreeze
and acetone is in fingernail polish remover for exams yes do you have any analysis yeah Patti uses it on her
friend Hills to remove her old fairy nail polish because well that's got acetone in it so okay so do you have any
phrase that said yes I have any fries I just rebuilt a radiator on my vehicle and I had a partial gallon left in the
basement he says well that's what we're saying he may have gotten do you happen to know how he could have gotten it they
were very polite yet suspicious they would not allow us to see Ryan alone there would have to be at least
two nurses or a doctor present and we were never allowed to be on his bedside alone you know that bothered me but I
still didn't understand because I wasn't looking at it the way they were I guess
just have to ask you a few questions if you could come in for a moment David did you ever see they'll come
catch any man that same day the police were brought in to investigate we were split up and talked to by
detectives and then that's when I knew because they immediately started asking me well is there a problem at home are
you and David fighting they were saying that they knew that that baby had been poisoned by either me or my husband and
infuriated me and I was just I was devastated I was blown away I just could not believe that they could even think I
mean Ryan was my world you know I'm right he was so beautiful it was perfect Ryan's condition improved after 12 days
he was released from the hospital but not to the custody of his parents a social worker come up to us and told
us that they were taking custody of ryan from us and at that point I became very
angry why are you doing this to us is what I told her and she said well this is policy when
there's a suspected poisoning we take children from the parents and put him in foster care
Patti and Davis contact with Ryan was severely restricted they were allowed only a one-hour visit each week on
Thursdays Ryan knew when we've met him the first time he was so happy to see both of us
again he just smiled the biggest smile you could ever possibly see on a baby's face and it was we were just totally in
love with our child that was so glad that we finally was able to see him again I just could not wait till
Thursday you know I would just my whole week I would tell everybody over / know how last Thursday went and that was my
life Thursday Thursday morning for five weeks the parental visits continued during the sixth visit Patti
was left alone with Ryan for a short time three days later Ryan would suffer another severe attack of vomiting once
again he would be rushed to the hospital once again the diagnosis would be poisoning I
[Music] have a warrant for your arrest the car and they said stop right there and you know I turned around I was like
well come on into the house you know and they said no you're not allowed to go into the house they immediately slap
handcuffs on me and said you're under arrest for assault [Music] hattie Stallings was booked on charges
of poisoning her infant son I knew it wasn't true I don't care what they thought I just thought long you
know I'll be home in a couple hours this to be over with you know I'll get to go
be with Ryan and then the day turned into a night and then it got really serious I got really
scared while Patti languished in jail her son was dying Brian was placed on life-support systems David Stallings
found himself trapped in a private hell the doctors come up to me and tell me that uh
they have a feeling clients not gonna make it and that maybe I should get in contact with the minister and have him
baptized in that I had tried to get Patti up there and all I got from the judge was no absolutely not I'm not going to
let a baby killer up there and I I said this lady did not kill this baby and when they finally come back to me
and told me that we need to know if we can turn him off I told him I go ahead and shut the
machines at home but I wanted to be in there with him that's what for three hours i
sat there with him in my arms knowing that Patti couldn't be there watching this meet her on this machine
go down each time his heart would beat it was hard it's something I've never asked anybody
ever to do approximately about 6:30 doctor came in and she shut the Machine down so I could
not see any more of his heart rate she took him from me and said it's over with he's gone
they called me back about nine o'clock that night and I I went up to the phone and it was
David's voice and he told me he died and I started begging that he could come up
and see me and there's a deputy on duty said he could so [Music] Brian Stallings died on September 7th
1989 he was not yet six months old his mother Patti was now charged with first-degree murder and held without
bail she was not allowed to attend Ryan's funeral a few weeks later Patti Stoney's
discovered she was pregnant again for six months she remained incarcerated subject to a battery of mental fitness
tests on February 27th nineteen ninety david Stallings jr. was born at a Madison County Hospital
even though Davis stalling senior was not a suspect and they've been charged with no crime at all he is not allowed
to take David jr. home with him the baby became a ward of the state and was placed in foster care
ironically this devastating blow would turn out to be a stroke of good fortune without it Patti and David Stallings
might have been accused of poisoning their second son when David Stallings jr. was 2 weeks old
he began to exhibit symptoms identical to the ones that had played his brother Ryan the st. Louis Children's Hospital
diagnosed Davis illness as a rare genetic disorder methylmalonic acidemia or MMA in which
the body produces chemical byproducts that may be remarkably similar to the ethylene glycol found in antifreeze
unsolved mysteries contacted an independent medical expert about MMA it would be very simple to confuse the
diagnosis of MMA with multiple poisonings because the symptoms are very similar but more importantly than that
MMA and other similar disorders are very rare and the majority of doctors either
will never have seen a case or if they have seen a case didn't know that they saw it and actually confused it
while prosecutors reevaluated the medical evidence Patti Stallings was released from jail pending the outcome
of the investigation Patti was denied visitation rights with David jr. I thought it was over you know as far as
the nightmare of being accused of hurting Ryan I was positive that you know even my lawyer said it was over you
know there was no way that they could not see the truth right in front of their eyes
Jefferson County officials continued to pursue the case the prosecution's position was that Ryan Stallings had not
died from MMA in the judge's chambers they cited for expert witnesses Patti's lawyer presented no expert
opinions the judge agreed with a prosecution neither David Stallings jr. no the symptoms he shared with Ryan were
allowed to be presented as evidence at Patty's trial we were concerned that if it came out
that David jr. or Ryan for that matter had this myth malonic acid doses unless it could be shown that he
actually died of that or it was some kind of a contributing factor to his death we believe that that would not be
relevant and in fact might cause the jury to go off on a wild goose chase and make a decision based on something's
really not relevant first cases in the family are often missed and it's only when it reoccurs again that the medical
practitioners are tipped off to the fact that this may well be a genetic disorder
and maybe the first child had that as well without the medical testimony the case against patty Stallings seemed
virtually airtight the prosecution focused on the events of Thursday August 31st 1989 Patti and David's sixth
parental visit with Ryan [Music] buddy on the sixth visit my parents were invited for the first time
and then about 20 minutes into the visit my mom and dad decided they were going to go ahead and leave and I had the rest
of the time with it I'll be right back so I accorded my mom and dad out of the room walked down the hall I
was out of the room no more than 45 seconds at the most on one visit Patricia was left alone
with the child and anywhere from about 3 minutes to about 8 minutes and during that time did actually feed the child a
bottle the child again got the same symptoms had before came back into the off into
the hospital was diagnosed with ethylene glycol poisoning at that time a number of bottles were also
examined for possible traces and while they were negative effects and in all the bottles but one one bottle which
was identified as the bottle she had fed the baby with actually contained traces
of ethylene glycol that bottle had actually been prepared by the foster mother and retrieved from the baby bag
during a visit but State believes and certainly circumstantial evidence suggests that she slipped ethylene
glycol or antifreeze into the bottle during that feeding what they were trying to say was she
started feeding him before anybody got in there and that's wrong that's incorrect
what happened was I walked back to the cubbyhole where petit was with Ryan he just started getting a little cranky and
so I reached into the bag and took the baby bottle out and started feeding him I saw the bottle I did not smell I did
not see any discoloration in the bottle whatsoever there was nothing done to that bottle absolutely nothing
according to Paddy's lawyers Ryan's symptoms did not appear until three and a half days after the visit I
would be amazed if something as volatile and as easily diffuse' Balazs ethylene glycol would require eighty hours in
order to cause symptoms in the young child I believe it would have to happen a lot faster than that and and therefore
it seems much less probable that this was a poisoning Ryan was taken from the visit by the DFS worker to the foster
parents home but later that day or early actually early the next morning was taken to what we call respite home a
temporary foster parents who kept him just for the weekend the second set of foster parents not
knowing what the child was like may well have overlooked symptoms at the first set would a sane defendant will rise and
face the court on count one assault with a deadly weapon the Court finds you guilty as
charged on count two murder in the first degree the Court finds you guilty as charged
on March 4th 1991 Patti Stallings was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole her son David jr.
is now one year old Patti has seen him only three times twice just after his birth the third time when he was a week
old each visit was limited to one hour David stalling senior is allowed to see his son once a week I
cannot see how they can live with themselves knowing they sent an innocent woman to
jail the rest of her life for something that she didn't do if Bryan would have been correctly
diagnosed with mmm a none of this would have happened none of the series of events in the last
two years what have happened it all dependent on whether he was correctly diagnosed which he was not not
truly to believe in the system and I think that when 12 people heard the evidence and they returned the verdict
that they did that it's the right verdict it's not the right verdict they're already started the ball rolling
and the appellate procedures and and if there is a problem or if new evidence does come up which
could link Ryan's death to MMA well certainly it will and should be retried but in the meantime I'm comfortable with
it I've lost one child to MMA my second child is striking with him MA it may not live
he's year old though if there was still not sure how to treat him I lost my freedom
I've lost everything on the night this story aired cause some physicians familiar with MMA poured into
our telecenter patty starlings new attorneys petitioned the court to grant her another trial based on the fact that
she had previously received ineffectual counsel on July 30th 1991 patty Stallings was granted a new trial and
released from prison after the enzyme mr. is air people are writing and calling and just want to
know how can we help and I can't think those people enough because I mean through all of that
wheels started turning and everything just started pushing forward really fast along with Ron's remaining serum
September 20th 1991 a press conference was held in st. Louis dr. Pierre Ronaldo of Yale University revealed an
independent serum tests showed Rian Stallings had definitely died of MMA consequently the prosecuting attorney
dropped all charges against Patti Stallings unfortunately we can't undo the suffering that the stallings have
endured during this entire ordeal and I apologize to them both personally and for the state of Missouri
during the press conference Patti and David heard for the first time the custody of their son DJ had been
returned to thanagar [Music] in October of 1991 just over two years after his brother's death DJ came home
for the first time [Music] just want to make up for the year and a half that we didn't have him and it's
hard to make up that much time but I'm doing the best I can [Music] his condition is very scary but we've
checked with so many hard things that you know we've just kind of said we'll beat this too and with that attitude I
know that DJ will do alright and that will do okay he is a miracle child and we're lucky to have DJ and we have our
whole life back it's like we're starting over it's undescribable wonderful [Music]
when we return a prison reformer is murdered outside his office in Salem Oregon his family believes he may have
been assassinated to keep him quiet in February 1980 the New Mexico State Penitentiary in Santa Fe was rocked by a
violent uprising by the time order was restored 33 prisoners had died at the hands of
fellow inmates New Mexico scandal-plagued penal system became front-page news across America State
Deputy Attorney General Michael Frankie was brought in to investigate the riots and revamp the prison system
Frankie a former college football star an ex Navy Commander achieved dramatic results in New Mexico he was a man of
the hour and his reforms gained national recognition Mike was very much his own man not a
follower in any sense of the word he loved making decisions he liked tackling difficult problems he had a very quick
mind Michael Frankie's growing reputation soon brought him a new challenge in 1987
the governor of Oregon has Frankie to take over his state's troubled prison system Michael Frankie was the best
selection that the governor made and in all of his new appointments and I think we all felt that there was going to be
some very very good things happening in Corrections we were all excited about him and I really can't tell you just how
much of a shock it was when when he was murdered tragically on January 17th 1989 Michael
Frankie's distinguished career came to an abrupt violent end he was found stabbed at now just outside his office
building in Salem or before he died Michael Frankie told his family that he was in the midst of a
top-secret investigation to detail corruption in the Oregon prison system particularly drug trafficking he
apparently planned to name names and implicate several highly placed government officials the district
attorney believes Michael Frankie fell victim to a robbery gone wrong but Frankie's family is convinced he was
assassinated they think someone wanted Michael Frankie silenced and his findings on the Oregon prison system
suppressed forever the three main criminal activities that I observed working in Corrections was the
introduction of drugs into the institution falsifying records and thefts of state property basically
anything that was not nailed down was subject to be stolen there was a constant flow of drugs being brought
into the institutions one of the most common ways was staff bringing them in in their own lunch buckets because there
was no searches being conducted on staff as they entered or left the facility I was told by my superiors to keep my
mouth shut and mind my own business or I'd be looking for a job and Mike came in he's he's got a good old boy system
to contend with a lot of these guys have been him here for 20 or 30 years the system has run the way they wanted
to run for that so here comes some guy from out of state who has all these high-minded ideas about what he's going
to do and it just rubbed a lot of them the wrong way Michael Frankie gathered was some
believe was concrete evidence confirming that the state prison system contained corrupt elements reaching all the way to
the top by the end of 1988 he was conducting an intense personal investigation Michael Frankie knew he
was juggling political dynamite that could blow up in his face at any moment he had uncovered a lot of organized
crime and I said you mean like the Mafia and he said no an organized criminal element in the system and that he was
going to do a thorough housecleaning immediately after the first of the year and that his quote was a lot of heads
were gonna roll and he said it may cost him his job yellow who's this okay how you doing on January 13th I
called Michael and he said that he was going to go before the legislature and clean house the following Wednesday
wow you did that New Mexico you cleaned the house before yeah I know Katie but this is different
seems I really ruffled some feathers it was very very concerned and I think he had had covered something
far bigger than he expected four days later Michael Frankie was found murdered on a side porch of his
office building police quickly began to piece together the last hours of his life
at 6:50 p.m. after the regular Tuesday staff meeting Frankie spoke briefly with one of his subordinates
30 minutes later two other corrections employees notice that the light and Michel Frankie's car was on and the
driver's door was standing wide open it was 7:20 p.m. this is this is kind of weird he never
leaves his car like this with the door betray the two women could not find Frankie or could they reach him on his
pager which he carried with him at all times they call their superiors two officials
arrive at 8:30 p.m. and conducted in their words a meticulous search of the building Frankie was nowhere to be found
the two men did not call the police and left around 9:30 p.m. [Music] at 12:45 a.m. a security guard found
Michel Frankie's body on the side porch of the building that had been so thoroughly searched just four hours
earlier a pane of glass in the side door was shattered no one knows whether or not Frankie was carrying documents
concerning his prison investigation however his briefcase appeared to be missing a body here at least Frankie
[Applause] police theorized that Frankie had been murdered by someone who was trying to
rob him they interrogated a number of known drug dealers and Street criminals I need to know where you were that night
you told me earlier you were there at 9:30 and then you come back and each one of them claimed that he witnessed the
murder and fingered an admitted drug dealer named Frank gable according to this witness gable was in
the act of burglarizing Michel Frankie's car when Frankie came out of the office
building around 7 p.m. what's going on let's go around just give me your briefcase nothing are you
gonna get I want to know what you're doing my car but do nothing your car just give me the briefcase okay punk I'm
taking you aside Oh gave me allegedly stabbed Frankie mortally wounding him some believe gable also stole Frankie's
briefcase before fleeing Michel Frankie apparently staggered up the stairs of a side entrance to the
building he broke the glass door in a desperate attempt to get back to his office
[Music] bright gable was charged with a murder of Michael Frankie but for many people
the evidence simply did not add up bruises operations and other wounds on Frankie's body seemed to indicate a
struggle with more than one man I think Frank Abel is a scapegoat because I think it goes much higher up in the
Oregon government and he's just being used to take the fall from the onset of the Frankie
investigation it appeared that the police put the blinders on as far as what they were most inclined to believe
it seems as though there has been some reluctance to really really just scorched the earth to find out what
happened Michael Frankie's family and supporters found what they felt were other
disturbing discrepancies in the official explanation of Michael's death Michael had a state-of-the-art car alarm
system if the killer had broken into the car why was the alarm not set off and of
why were there no signs of forced entry and what's going on if the killer had stabbed Michael at the
car puncturing his heart and lungs why was there no trace of blood within 100 feet of the car
and finally if Michael Frankie was killed at 7:00 p.m. as police estimating why was neither his body or the book and
glass noticed when building was meticulously searched between 8:30 and 9:30 p.m. a
number of people in orange believe that Michael Frankie was the victim of a premeditated murder carried out by
several and possibly instigated by high-ranking officials who feared they would be maimed and Frankie's
investigation and eyewitness at the scene appeared to corroborate this theory at 10:15 10:20 on January 17th a young
man riding in the car looked over at there where the scene of the crime was it saw five to six men running toward a
Volkswagen van if Michael Frankie had been abducted and then brought back to the building where he was killed this
would fit in with the abduction Theory the abduction theory holds it on the night of his death Michael Frankie
unlocked his own car deactivating the alarm simultaneously a group of men approached
him Oh [Music] Frankie did not keep regular office hours except for Tuesday staff meetings
it would seem that the perpetrators were familiar with his schedule the abduction theory would have that
Michel Frankie was later brought back perhaps going to his office to find whatever paperwork or computer files or
his sort of things in his office [Applause] I don't there he gets out of the car
perhaps sees his only chance for getting away tries to make a break for it perhaps receives one or more of his
wounds at that time goes to the north porch where he is finished off [Music] [Music]
unfortunately the impression has been given that there is that things are being held back that many things are
being stonewalled it is given the impression again not saying it's the fact but it's given the impression that
that there's some type of a cover-up on the night of the murder several people reported seeing a man in a pinstripe
suit working in the corrections building after hours he was Olive complected 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighed
approximately 180 pounds a composite drawing based on witness descriptions was made but the DA's
office did not release the drawing for 5 months they claimed the quality was not
good enough for publication even though the composite had been drawn by a top police artist
[Music] one other disturbing fact added to the speculation about a cover-up no paperwork detailing Michael Frankie's
investigation into the Oregon prison system has ever been found shortly after Michael Frankie's death
some people some employees some inmates spotted approximately 23 bags of shredded
papers coming out of Michael Frankie's office and some surrounding offices that's something you have to wonder
about who authorized shredding of documents from a murder scene the officials investigating Mike's
murder don't want it solved because it goes much higher in the Oregon government my family is dedicated
to bring this to a successful conclusion we're gonna find out what the hell happened and we're gonna see that the
people who are involved receive their full punishment [Music] next a mother in New England needs your
help to find her autistic son [Music] when he was 8 years old Oded Gordon was diagnosed with a minor learning
disability at age 12 he began to withdraw from his friends by the time he was 18 Oded was totally withdrawn
unwilling to communicate with anyone a dead was afraid of the responsibility of growing up because he didn't have the
emotional wherewithal he was too anxious he was too afraid he couldn't do things
on his own a year later Oded was diagnosed as having autism a neurological disorder that
affects physical social and language skills there is no known cure for the affliction and doctors had little hope
that Oded would ever return from his dark and silent world [Music] Odette's mother enrolled him in a
facility in Greenfield New Hampshire where young people with mental and emotional disabilities participate in
work therapy and receive counseling Oded seemed to respond to his new environment
and even began communicating with one staff worker when Odette came he spoke very little
but then we would hear him speak occasionally and he could say things when prompted and encouraged
approximately six weeks after he arrived at the farm Oded and several other residents were doing their after the
insurance somehow Oded managed to wander away from the group an hour later he was
nowhere to be found the dogs were brought in and originated the search over by the brook area over
to the lower left field the search dogs followed Oh dead set for approximately three miles along a
stretch of highway 31 the set abruptly vanished authorities believe that Odette may have been picked up by a passing
motorist my feelings out that he will be found he's out there he's out there among the
population wherever it may be but he's out there there have been several reported sightings of Oded the most
recent last January Oh Dead's mother believes her son is still alive and hopes that wherever he is he will hear
her appeal a dead I really would like to hear from you if you can I hope that you'll call
[Music] call me you'll call your grandmother or your uncles you don't have to tell us
where you are we just want to know that you're okay Odette Gordon is five feet eight inches
tall weighs 140 pounds and has black hair and brown eyes at the time of his disappearance
Oded was 21 years old authorities speculate that he may have hitchhiked out of the area and could be anywhere in
the United States [Music] for every mystery there is someone somewhere who knows the truth perhaps
that someone was watching perhaps [Music] [Applause] [Music]

Brief Summary

Eliot Ness's unsolved serial killer case, Patty Stallings's wrongful conviction, and Michael Frankie's murder investigation are featured in this episode.

Key points

Eliot Ness's Unsolved Mystery. Eliot Ness faced the one case he could not crack, a serial killer in Cleveland.
The Tragic Case of Ryan Stallings. A young mother is accused of poisoning her infant son, leading to a heartbreaking trial.
Patti Stallings Sentenced. On March 4th, 1991, Patti Stallings was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
New Trial Granted. On July 30th, 1991, Patti Stallings was granted a new trial and released from prison.
Charges Dropped. In September 1991, charges against Patti Stallings were dropped after new evidence emerged.
Michael Frankie Murdered. Michael Frankie was tragically murdered on January 17th, 1989, amid his prison investigation.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

Join us for the special segment: Eliot Ness's unsolved mystery.

0:44WatchMay 22, 2019

Tension

65/ 100Some tension

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