Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 3, Episode 3 - 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 every customer has been
labeled one of the country's smooth as con men charming intelligent and cosmopolitan he has won the hearts of at
least four middle-aged women and then left on broken and bankrupt I know on a certain how many women Eric Kessler has
victimized how many hundreds of thousands of dollars he's allegedly stormed but authorities believe that at
this very moment Kessler may be spinning a web of deceit for another unsuspecting
victim in a moment we'll bring you a fascinating profile of this master conman as well as these other remarkable
mysteries two years ago Daniel Wilson West Spokane Washington to visit his mother's home in Colorado he never
arrived and authorities are still baffled by the discovery of his abandoned car in a remote area of
Montana miles of his attended route and in Minnesota a daring gang of thieves who stole nearly two million
dollars in a series of violent armored car robberies also the authorities are searching for a ruthless rapist to use
his prescription drugs as subdue his victims perhaps some watching tonight can help
capture perhaps it's you [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] this is the story of a cunning operator
who's allegedly built several middle-aged women out of hundreds of thousands of dollars the victim we are
about to meet whom he will call Katherine never imagined that she'd fall prey to a scam she was a successful
highly intelligent businesswoman who owned one Wisconsin most popular hair salons according to police she was
swindled by one of the most devious conman to ever operate in the state no one knows how many women is victimized
no one is even certain of his real name September 1986 Katherine was at a singles party when she was approached by
a well-dressed stranger who spoke with a pronounced European accent he introduced
himself as Mary Kessler I was born in Hamburg Germany the night I first met Erik Kessler he presented himself as a
businessman who was in town on business and would be staying for probably a year
some business associates have asked me to look at some property here about some I was impressed on his dress on his
mannerism I never got an impression that he was even attempting to make a pass here you work very concurring Katherine
to reveal intimate details about herself he soon learned that she was divorced operated a hair salon it was concerned
about being able to put her children through college it's such a coincidence that we should meet I'm talking with
some friends of mine from Western Europe are telling me about some very important
changes in the cosmetology and then to make a beauty business that this Jurek happened I have a solution he had
learned it in a small resort town 120 miles away there was a prototype of an invention which could revolutionize
Katherine's industry well I'd like to hear about that what what area of the businesses well it's very complex and
very technical but I this was the hook that lured Katherine into Kessler's scheme I did not get any impression that
this would be a physical relationship I just felt that it was an opportunity yes
I was excited about it Eric arranged for Katherine to see the image system known as the video makeover
at that time it was the cutting edge of technology enabling clients to see how they would look with different hair
styles and colors now what if we cut off a little bit on can you do that why don't we do it that
way just by doing that I thought that the concept was fantastic from you could charge large amount money for Erich
Kessler had convinced Katherine that he could place the system in a major Midwest department store chain but she
needed to come up with the investment capital to get them started Sylvia it's called a video makeover
Katherine secured a $50,000 loan from a wealthy friend Eric was to repay the loan four months later she did not ask a
lot of questions because she believed in me she wrote a check for $50,000 that Eric's insistence the business account
was established in Katherine's name she had sole discretion over deposits and withdrawals a few days later Eric
suggested that he move into Katherine's basement so they could work more closely
together it appeared that their business was starting to take shape we brought in
another telephone line which was strictly a business line at one point in time my son took the message from the
department store saying they wanted to set up a meeting with Erich Kessler he was very convincing
before long Eric began to romance his new partner when I really think about it what he really did was to find out where
I was business-wise I have dealt with people who have attempted to con me or take me
in business matters when Erich Kessler came into my life it never occurred to me that the man was a con artist because
I certainly assumed that I would know I would recognize that the fact that Eric also made me feel that he was in love
with me also put me off-guard three weeks later Eric's conquest was complete he surprised Catherine with a
most unusual gift I have a gift for you that other bed was too small for us one day when I came home from work there was
a king-size bed in my bedroom and he had made the decision that it would be much
easier if he could have the office downstairs and didn't have to use it also as a bedroom and his way of doing
that was to bring in a king-size bed do you like it I love it oh thank you Eric seduction now evolved into a strategy of
psychological manipulation well here you look so beautiful in the outfit I have chosen for you it makes you feel good
makes you feel confident Harry control Katherine's every decision selecting her wardrobe her makeup the
jewelry she wore I did get to the point that I I was not confident I mean I wouldn't bought a pair of earrings at
that point because I didn't think that I was capable of doing it anymore mr. Castle Eric even convinced Katherine to
lease a high priced cadillac with all of the options this package does include the electric sliding sunroof the
hand-sewn leather upholstery the leather covered steering wheel the am/fm stereo
radio with cassette and high performance sound system and the six way adjustable
seats that's good I want the car telephone it also includes a telephone with a fully retractable antenna good
now on a 24 month closed-end lease agreement that would bring your payments down to four hundred eighty seven
dollars and seventy five cents a month Erica I don't think this is a good idea I don't think we have $500 a month to
spend on like yeah this is a taxable deduction why can't you make an intelligent business decision why are
you wasting the uruk's domination became more calculating he deprived Catherine of sleep insisting they conduct their
business at night after cheaper than a full day of work at the saddle and on evening entertaining prospective clients
[Music] there must be noises to be paid yeah we hadn't planned on these expenses many
times Eric demanded that Catherine give him large cash advances claiming the money was old to suppliers who would not
accept checks now we have accountants Fiat business managers we have lawyers we have tax cancer as a start-up capital
dwindled Harry convinced Catherine to put an additional 20 thousand dollars of her own money into the business I didn't
know who I was more angry with myself or Eric all we had done is spent money it had not been spent wisely Here I am as a
business woman and I have blown it I mentioned to him that I thought that he was a con man and I had thought about
going to the police he said what good would it do you you got the money you signed all of the checks you agreed
to all of the decisions that were made there is nothing that ties me in I have never signed anything it is your word
against mine [Music] the relationship completely disintegrated Eric we have to talk
please now Eric please yeah - wine please Erica taken another lover and moved out
of Catherine's apartment when the day arrived for Erik to repay the loan Catherine met him at a bar to ask for
the money mister do I am supposed to give Silvia $50,000 tonight there's no money in the account what am I going to
do you were right her a check with what there's nothing left in the account I have a check coming by special courier
tomorrow morning at 9:00 a.m. for $50,000 and if they don't come what then it would be mostly I was drained and I
was exhausted I wanted to believe that I was going to get money I down deep I didn't believe it but I had there was
the only thing I had left I had to hope that the check was going to be there I met my benefactor that night I wrote
the check I was very hesitant if it all was going to come through hello I don't know who is this he bounced a
check in here last night for $1,000 and I want to know where he is I don't know when the bartender called me the next
morning right down I knew right then and there it was all over Catherine lost more than $75,000 and was
unable to pay for her children's education she was forced into bankruptcy and sold her business finally she left
Wisconsin and moved to another state to start over again authorities were certain that Edward
Maynard was somewhere in the u.s. stalking his next victim calls to our telecenter confirmed their suspicions
the night of our broadcast authorities learned that Maynard had recently been in Naples Florida using the alias Eric
Kelly last December he became romantically involved with a woman who will call and Maynard alias Kelly
persuaded and alone him fifteen thousand dollars then left with their life savings last February Maynard showed up
in San Antonio Texas once again using the name Eric Kelly he began wining and dining another woman
he kept talking about how that he could really do a lot for me but of course it would take a lot of money and he started
asking me if I had money how much I had and so I started feeling very strongly that something was wrong he said I need
you to loan me some money and I indicated that I didn't want to at that point he got very loud a violent
temper I needed now do you understand and to be very honest he frightened me so I gave him the money and I did not
see him again after that evening Barbara notified the local sheriff's department
about her run-in with Eric Kelly Wednesday evening I got a phone call from someone in the Sheriff's Department
it said hey are you watching teeth unsolved mysteries on TV our boy was just on there I said Eric Kelly he said
yes bigger-than-life I'm getting ready to call the FBI and give him all the information than I have
four days later another viewers tip placed Edward Maynard in Houston Texas he was registered at this motel under
the same alias Eric Kelly the FBI closed in we immediately dispatched a number of
agents out there in fact there was up to eight agents that are on the scene and within 45 minutes he was apprehended
[Music] [Music] next a story of an unscrupulous doctor turned rapist who uses drugs to
overpower as victims the crime of rape is a tragic and all-too-frequent fact of life in the
United States sadly the stigma attached to the women who are victimized mean such crimes
often go unreported this is especially true of date rape victim knows and even trust the man who rapes her in our next
story the methods of the rapist are particularly in cities this is a case of a doctor who uses a powerful sedative to
render his victims helpless and then assaults them one woman agreed to talk to us on the condition that we do not
use her real name Saturday night a bar in Bakersfield California patty Roberts and Stephanie Phillips
were shooting pool we were greeted by a friendly skeptic he introduced the two women to his companion dr. Kenneth Frank
Stephanie and Patti agreed to join them in for a drink immediately I liked Oh i he was well-dressed well men so he's
real friendly doctor yes what do you do I'm a dental assistant well I'm studying
to be a dental assistant you serious about it really I work with a couple of dentists he said he had a friend and he
said he might be hiring and he would give me card you know referral and all that that help
you out yes hey no problem I'd love to do basically he he did that professional okay well
okay why walk to the restroom and I was talking to this girl that was in there so I was in there a few seconds and then
I came back out and he was still sitting there and my friend had was not there it's been late they decided to leave
they're not coming back first I thought he was just playing and I said no really
knows what yeah I said what he said I can give you a ride home and I said no way
she didn't show ever a few minutes later and I was ready to go and so I said okay
well do you want to still give me the ride home and he said sure and I said you sure you don't mind he said no so he
left in his car and then he wanted to stop by his apartment to do something he said and I wanted him
to get that job referral that he had told me about a dentist fan that was hiring by the time they got to dr.
Frank's apartment that Saturday night patty was complaining of a chest cold here we go just make you feel a lot
better drink that dr. Frank Whitley mixed up a home remedy a special coffee drink he claimed would alleviate Patti's
call I drank it quickly it wasn't long after that my eyes started getting blurry and then I was
sitting there trying to figure out why my eyes were blurry and then my ears started ringing
and then I just I fell over I remember laying there and I [Music] daddy come on patty time to wake up it
was not until Monday morning that patty awoke she would soon discover that while
she slept she had been raped seven o'clock it's Monday morning I've got to get to work come on let's get going
Monday morning I couldn't figure out what happened to Sunday somewhere I lost Sunday you raped me I didn't rape you I
knew that he had taken advantage of me and I I was so mad I just felt like you know I wanted to hurt him like he hurt
me you know my feelings cuz I that wasn't given to him he took it patty had been knocked out for at least 26 hours
still groggy and disoriented as yet unaware that she had been drugged patty had the doctor drive her home we turned
the corner right by my apartment and I lived in a really huge apartment complex so I told him to let me out there I
didn't want him to see what apartment I lived in because I didn't want him to come after me patty I wouldn't tell
anybody about this if I were you if you do like so we'll have to fix it so you can't
I started reading trying to get to my apartment [Music] as I got to my apartment which was in
the very back I saw him in his car he was right in front of me so he knew at that point where I lived I went home and
took a shower and I went to my aunt's house and I just started feeling nauseated real real bad and I remember
getting sick everywhere and I couldn't you know I couldn't help it it was kind of like the flu or something
Patti continued to be immobilized by dr. Frank's home remedy spending much of the
rest of the day in a deep drug-induced sleep like many victims of rape Patti was so overcome by fear and
embarrassment she could not yet bring herself to go to the police [Music] seven days later Patti had a second
encounter with dr. Frey who acted as if nothing was wrong Patti decided to play a lawyer hoping to
get frankly admit his crime I was kind of offended at first and I thought well if I'm gonna find out anything you know
there have to be nice to asking questions and stuff so tell me what was that stuff he gave
me the other night I didn't give you anything we just had a good time you can tell me some some pretty wild stuff he
was gonna tell me he didn't give me anything and then he told me that it was a sedative and then I was kind of like
an experiment for him you raped me I was really angry at him did and when after I
started screaming yelling at him he knew that I I wasn't gonna play his little games anymore because I had decided then
I was gonna go basically I just looked around at all the little girls out there running
around they don't know about stuff like this and I thought you know if I can at least give a report to the police then I
can help someone else three months after the rape patty filed an official police
report but stopped short of pressing charges she was worried that a trial would come down to her word against dr.
Frank's an unknown student against an established physician patty also believed that being associated with a
rape case would jeopardize her future chances for employment are you willing to press charges
no she also feared the dr. Frank might make good on his threat to harm her if if he does this again to somebody else
yes I will four months after he had raped patty dr. Frank raped another woman theirs was an established professional
relationship this victim too was given a sedative when she awoke 24 hours later Frank admitted that he had drugged her
it was later estimated that the amount of the sedative in her system was eight times greater than that normally
administered to patients in surgery she was a professional woman in town in her mid 30s and after she became aware of
this situation after dr. Frank told her what happened she went to a local lab in
town had her blood tested for the drug he told her he had given her and it did come back positive for that particular
drug and then she went to the police based on the statements of Patty and the other victim Kenneth Frank was arrested
in February of 1986 legal wrangling the latest trial until December of 1989 Frank showed up on time for every court
appearance December 20th 1989 the jury rendered his verdict he was convicted of two counts of rape by administering and
intoxicating or anesthetic substance carries the same amount of time is what more common type of rape known as a
forcible rape the what happened is the jury verdict came in and at that time I requested the judge take the defendant
into custody because he was looking at a maximum of 16 years in state prison he was out on his own recognizance at the
time so there was no bail up at all and the judge declined to do that when he came up for sentencing 28 days which is
the normal period of time he didn't show up [Music] when we return the bizarre tale of a
mild-mannered man whose temper suddenly erupted at work on a very day he vanished
what happened to Daniel Wilson Dan Wilson of Spokane Washington was known as a quiet religious man in 1986 when
Dan was 33 his marriage broke up but he remained close to his young son and daughter and visited the lawful 1987 Dan
suffered a nervous breakdown which he felt was due to the trauma does divorce by the summer of 1988 Howard was off his
medication and seemed to have his life back under control in June dan went to work at the ASC machine tool company in
Spokane and according to co-workers with a steady reliable employee then Sutton August 24th everything changed
[Music] every time I try to get my work did you come down here and give me a hard time
about it what's going on wait with I didn't say anything about your work heck yeah I know what you've been saying what
they've all been saying about me I don't like I don't need to be quiet I just want you to leave me alone so I get my
work done all right dan Wilson's Foreman I was shocked by the outburst Ian the plant manager were
concerned told Dan to take time off who returned to work whenever he felt ready Dan left the pilot 11 o'clock in the
morning was Wednesday August the 24th 1988 [Music] two days went by dan Wilson's neighbors
noticed that his sprinklers had been left running but Friday they turned them off never suspecting that anything was
wrong dan was not scheduled to visit his children that weekend so his ex-wife never noticed he was missing his mother
lived in Colorado telephone it was not alarmed when she received no answer Saturday then Sunday came and went no
one even knew Dan Wilson was missing Sunday August 29th 1988 in a remote area of Custer County mom town and encar was
investigated by Sheriff Tony Harbaugh when the car was found the doors were unlocked in fact one of the doors was
ajar check for keys the keys were not in the vehicle when it was found there were
a few miscellaneous items one of which was a Bible laying on the front so you had a Bible on this Daniel Wilson
inscribed in the front of it sheriff Harbaugh traced the car to Daniel says it had been abandoned more
than 700 miles from Dan Spokane residence there was no luggage in the car to indicate that animal was planning
a trip nothing that would really give us a firm indication of what Daniel was thinking or doing in the area record
this location of this vehicle towed into town we conducted both ground and aerial
searches it's my belief that if Daniel Wilson was in the area in in any of the area that we covered we should have
found him at that time there seemed to be no explanation for Dan's car being found abandoned in the middle of the
Montana Prairie baffled Dan's mother Darlene Wilson along with two of his cousin's went to
Montana to talk to the sheriff I looked for some answers we've checked the car we've searched the ground around the
area here the sheriff told us the car looked like it had just been parked there and that someone had walked away
from it they had looked under the hood and there was nothing wrong there and there was a third of a tank of gas thank
you I couldn't visualize in my mind that he would just walk away from the car and
just take off it certainly was not an area where you would expect a person would stop and take a walk I really
feared for his safety from the beginning because of the State of Mind he was in Glenda had visited Dan two days before
he disappeared she was surprised by the disarray in his home looking around I seen that the children had been there
that weekend things had been left quite messy which was very uncharacteristic for him he seemed agitated and he seemed
real tired it is everything okay Oh early shifts at the job and trouble there you know before she left
Glenda suggested that Dan take time off to visit the family on Colorado 48 hours
later Dan had his outburst at work and vanished his family believed he had taken
Glenda's advice and started for Colorado to visit Dan's family lived here in Longmont
Colorado he had made the trip from spoke and a long walk many times before using the roof he normally traveled
interstate 90 Dan would have headed south at Billings Montana instead dan turned on to a different
highway Interstate 94 heading due east he continued for 150 miles into the sparsely populated area of Montana or
his Carla's father Howard Dan strayed so far off course on such a familiar route
his mother suspected foul play I know that he did pick up hitchhikers if he felt he could give somebody a ride
he would I'm concerned that maybe he was not the first thing that parked the car
in Montana that it could have been somebody else determined to unravel the mystery Dan's mother and cousins went
back to Spokane Dan's form was an even worse disarray than when Glenda had visited ten days earlier
I'll go look in the bedrooms surprisingly his luggage his clothes and a nun cash paycheck for all is still in
the house suitcases are still here I couldn't see where he had taken anything at all not even a toothbrush a razor
they just looked like that he had just left and and intended to come back the next day Dan's family left Spokane
more puzzled than ever Darlene and Glenda drove Dan's car on the return trip enroute they both had
sore throats he felt an odd burning sensation in their eyes now my eyes a bit as soon as they returned home they had
the car inspected folks what we have here is a faulty muffler on the car it could be allowing exhaust gases to enter
into the interior of the car I would say the car would be unsafe to drive it appeared that a carbon monoxide leak in
the muffler might have caused Darlene's and Glenda's physical symptoms thank you
then had been driving the same car every day for over a year it is possible the carbon monoxide poisoning could have
caused him severe physical and emotional damage chronic exposure to carbon monoxide can
cause fatigue can cause definite changes in personality confusion can cause permanent loss of function of the brain
intellectual ability memory as well as severe personality changes resembling psychosis
a memory loss confusion and Misha maybe he knows his name but maybe that's about
all maybe he doesn't realize for his family is or how to get in touch with any of them
Darlene Wilson flooded the state of Montana with fliers in late November of 1988 a homeless shelter in Billings
Montana set Darlene a copy of his desk register registers showed that a Daniel Wilson
had signed in to spend the night on a member 12 nearly three months after Donna disappeared
Darleen compared the signature with one of her sons a similarity was striking so
she and her nephew decided to go to Billings and talk to the men who ran the shelter still clinging to the fragile
hope that Dan might be wandering aimlessly knowing his name but nothing else Darlene brought along several
photographs of him hoping for a positive identification could help us I believe I've seen this young man David oh yeah
we've seen before I'm serious about the night too it was really a sense of relief for us we
thought surely if he has been here that recently that he still would be around somewhere where we could find him
so we distributed more posters around in buildings and throughout all the area from Billings into Spokane again
there has been no trace of Dan Wilson for nearly two years authorities found no sign of violence
and no evidence of a second person in Dan's car so they have tended to discount the foul play they made they
have however suggested the possibility that Dan Wilson made a conscious choice to disappear I feel it's not impossible
that Dan made a decision to disappear and start a new life he was under a great deal of pressure he had not had a
happy life since coming to Spokane but I feel the possibilities are small due to
the fact he was so devoted to his children and he felt the children needed him so badly I feel that whatever has
happened is something beyond his control he could be most anywhere and we would each be able to locate him or he
wouldn't be able to locate us [Music] [Music] when we return three daring armored car
robberies executed with military precision an ingenious gang of thieves is still at
large every day billions of dollars and hard kurtz been transported by armored cars considered by most criminals to be
impregnable these vehicles have recently been targeted by a brazen heavily armed
gang who carry out their raids with almost military precision 1:00 p.m. April 18th 1989 Eden Prairie
Minnesota [Music] don't overshoot instinctive guard grabbed one of the robbers go that was quickly subdued no
shots were fired at these guys scenes up move very smoothly they didn't seem to be in a hurry or panicky or Nothing they
very smooth these robbers come very heavily armed and and very much ready to shoot almost simultaneous the second
phase of the heist began another vehicle pulled up in front of the armored car cutting off any route of escape
a fourth robber then placed what appeared to be a bomb a trucks hood [Music] in just under a minute robbers had
stolen close to 1 million dollars and then vanished without a trace it seemed like kind of a commando type
thing like these people had been well trained at that type of thing or well practiced a bomb squad was immediately
dispatched to the scene attaching guide wires to the device they carefully removed it from a trucks hood x-ray is
later revealed a bomb was a fake the FBI concluded that it was nothing more than a genius delaying tactic the
FBI linked this fake bomb to an identical device using the Baltimore Maryland robbery three years earlier in
that operation the thieves made off of over $600,000 the FBI concluded both robberies were executed by the same gang
[Music] in the first two heists through a combination of careful planning a clockwork timing the crooks is stolen
1.6 million dollars they had also brilliantly covered their tracks every vehicle they had use had been
stolen wiped clean of evidence and then abandoned it was thought that the gang would quit while there were a million
dollars ahead but one year later they struck again March 27th 1990 Burnsville Minnesota was ten miles from the scene
of the last robbery as one Brinks guard waited in the cab another made a cash pickup in a local bank
[Music] underground underground right now okay once again the second guard was caught
behind the wheel as I turned around I see this band that was coming up in front of me I hit the ban real hard I
knew that I turned my siren on shots went on scared the living daylights out of me I made a circle to come around so
I could see what's going on and when I was about 3/4 of the way through my circle I could see where our cart was as
ice going by I could see my partner in the ground all the shots that were going on
I thought they'd killed him I thought he was dead he was just laying on the ground fortunately that guard was
uninjured hey [ __ ] back at the time I thought well I got these guys right where I want
[Applause] I just rammed it as hard as I could [Music] despite the collision robbers still
managed to get away it's a real lucky situation that some innocent bystander wasn't killed because there were a
number of shots fired and there were a number of shoppers passing and Bank customers passing right by the area
the robbers abandoned their car behind a nearby shopping center and left on foot
the FBI theorized that they may have had another vehicle parked nearby which they
used to leave the area authorities quickly cordoned off the men they brought in tracking dogs road dogs
were set up the gang at once again made a clean getaway the following morning police found one
of the gang stolen cars less than a mile from the bank as in the other ride it contained no evidence that identified
the robbers currently all the authorities can do is wait for the elusive robbers to strike again these
individuals could be living anywhere in the United States and we would like to get information from anybody who has any
indication that people that may be able to perpetrate this type of crime have come into a lot of money or that had the
capability to commit these robberies and in any one of these three cities there are apparently at least four members of
the gang and authorities have managed to create composites of three of the men the first suspect is a white male in his
late 30s with five feet nine inches tall with dark hair and a dark mustache suspect number two is white between 35
and 38 years old about six feet in height weighs between 170 and 180 pounds the third suspect is approximately 6
feet tall is between 35 and 40 years old he has gray or white hair and may wear a
false beard the same color [Music] join me next week another edition of unsolved mysteries
[Music] [Applause] [Music]

Brief Summary

Eric Kessler scams women, Daniel Wilson disappears, and armored car thieves strike in Minnesota.

Key points

The Deceptive Conman. Eric Kessler charms and manipulates Katherine into a financial scheme, leading to her downfall.
Patty's Encounter with Dr. Frank. Patty Roberts meets Dr. Kenneth Frank, who uses a drug to incapacitate her and commits a heinous act.
Dan's Mysterious Disappearance. Dan Wilson vanished under mysterious circumstances, leaving his family and authorities puzzled.
The Search for Answers. Authorities and family search for clues after Dan's car is found abandoned.
Carbon Monoxide Concerns. A faulty muffler may have caused Dan severe emotional and physical damage.
Hope in Billings. Darlene Wilson clings to hope after a possible sighting of her son.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

I was excited about it.

Katherine describes her feelings about the business opportunity.

4:37WatchMay 22, 2019

Tension

60/ 100Some tension

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