Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 3, Episode 4 - 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 in real New York two intruders
bound and gagged Esther greasy ransacked her house and shot her husband point-blank just recently a police
informant revealed as Stanley gryszek may have died because he was a man who knew too much
the FBI is searching for an electronics whiz kid allegedly used his talents to break into classified government
computer networks obtained military secrets and wiretap private phones an innocuous case of computer hacking or a
breach of national security also tonight a poignant update on our story about a seven-year-old girl who made a solemn
vow to a sick friend 21 years ago thanks to our viewers Nicki Crowder has finally
fulfilled her promise and we filmed their joyous reunion join me for another edition of unsolved mysteries
[Music] Rome New York 240 miles northwest of Manhattan this is a kind of small town
that finds its way to Norman Rockwell paintings [Music] there's a working-class community where
everybody knows everything about everyone else at least it seemed that in 1957 the 1976 Stanley greasy and his
family own a small liquor store and gas station in the heart of town Stanley was in charge of the liquor
store his brother Peter ran the gas station along with a third brother Bernard Stanley and his wife Esther live
right next door to the family business their life seemed happy and secure until the night of November 6 1976 dad had
just gone upstairs to run fans bathwater mom went through the house doing her nightly check
she did a nightly ritual where she would go and check all the windows and doors and make sure everything was life
[Music] my mother was deaf and she were hearing aid with hearing aid she could hear very
well and she had just finished in the kitchen when she heard a loud noise and as she turned around a back door just
flew open two men came into the house they both had ski masks one was short and stocky and one was tall and thinner
I think my father probably heard the initial noise of the screen door being broken and heard my mother scream and it
came down the stairs as he turned go into the dining room I think he startled the perpetrator yeah
the shorter stockier man was already at my mother's throat and was choking her and in the process knocked her hearing
aid out of her ear and she said she just played dad she just wouldn't move she just laid there
she tried to hold her breath so she what they would thought she died while she was laying on the floor she
said she laid this pearl-handled gun next to my face she says I could see it I opened my eye just a little tiny bit
and I could see [Music] they spent a good hour in the house just ransacking it totally they took all the
stuff out of the desk threw everything on the floor their pillows they ripped moms knitting in her yarn they threw all
over I mean they obviously were looking for something but what they were looking
for I have no idea she said I just waited there until I could feel no more vibrations in the house as she figures
that that is when they left somehow she managed to get her hands untied from her
feet and her feet untied her hands were still tied behind her back but she did manage to go into the dining room and
find my dad laying on the floor dad the shock of her husband's murder was too much for Esther breezy she herself
died within two years my mother you could say died that night she's just existed for the next 21
my father had one of those where marriages where they were extremely close without dad I mean her life was gone
[Music] from the beginning a cloud of suspicion loomed over the investigation of Stanley
Gris six murders the night of the killing police bar the gryszek family from entering the home after through
researching the ransacked house investigators determined that the only things missing were two bottles of beer
from the refrigerator it appeared to investigators as if the ransacking was to look for an item
possibly or a piece of paper that mr. gryszek may have had hidden somewhere the next day the family was finally
permitted to enter the hall but Stanley's son made a disturbing discovery which curiously the police had
overlooked my brother-in-law and myself were in the house and we were trying to straighten things up and I was in the
dining room where my father had been killed and the rug was kind of messed up from the table being pushed so it got
down on her hands and knees and tried to straighten the rug out thank you look at
this while I was doing that I happened to notice the shell casing on the rug I mean it wasn't embedded in the rug or
anything and was lying right out on the rug it's a shell casing don't touch it I'm sure that if anybody had done a
thorough job of scouring the floor they would have found it and picked it up with a pencil and put it in a plastic
bag and call up the Rome Police Department I one detective came over and I showed him where I found it on the
floor and he looked at it yeah that's a shell casing all right and I proceeded to put it in his packet and said let's
not mention this to anyone that's for the time being who's I'd argue the official autopsy reports data the
stanley grease 'ok had been killed by a single stab wound to the heart i can believe the police kept insisting
that it was a knife that killed my father and my mother repeatedly told him it was a pearl-handled gun it was a
small gun she told me laid it right down next to my face she says I could see it
it was not a knife and they kept insisting it was a knife well we knew that was totally false that my father
had been killed by a stab wound we had found a shell casing we explained to the police that there was no guns in the
house the only way that shell could have got here was that it was fired in this house
Stanly Greece expiry was exhumed and a second autopsy performed if revealed his family was killed by a 25 caliber bullet
fired through his chest there never had been a stab wound was the entire incident involving the bullet simply a
series of unfortunate mistakes or could someone have been trying to protect the killer's identity
Stanly greece experiment with a knife but who and why it seemed that these questions would
remain forever unanswered until last year in March of 1989 an acknowledged drug dealer came to the police with a
startling story he claimed to know the identity of Stan agree six killed although he did not know the motive in
1976 the informant was working at a bar in Rome he claimed that a man associated
with a bar made him a strange proposition just a few days before Stanley gryszek was killed that was
tendered borg-warner and a person approached me and wanted me to take it even so if you drove around for a little bit
and pulled the Denali over here needles I want you to break you - well stem cells money give me a lot of money the
guy's got a lot of money in that house and I want you to go read them all why Stanley that's my business remember both
of our goal just our bundle and never gone like you need anybody's house and so it was like
disturbed with me maybe already goes to take you back to the bar as you can see here the Sistine
service station that's adjacent to the house based on this new information the case was reactivated and a new team of
investigators assigned they contacted Amy Scott Standley Greece ixnay burr at the time of the murders on November 6
1976 Amy Scott said she was in the house watching TV and at the conclusion of one
of the programs her dog had become Restless and she let him out to run around a little bit outside Amy told
investigators that shortly after 11:00 p.m. she saw a man walking through the alley towards Stanley grease exhale I
let my dog stay off maybe a half an hour to 45 minutes and then I opened the door
I went on my porch to call my dog back in Sam then I looked up and I saw this guy coming through the
same pathway that I noticed before only this time he was headed toward a white car
he got in the car and then I most it was another man in her sleeve he found on the street very fast and I yelled at him
because he just came with the answers of hitting my dog a few days after the murder Amy saw the
men in the Lincoln again it was around five o'clock and I was headed to the bank as I drove and it was
two cars ahead of me and I was waiting and I just happened to look through my rearview mirror and I saw this white
tire and suddenly I realize this was the same man the same term that I had seen earlier at the murder scene
I got really nervous I started my car up and I speed it down the street I was really praying at his drove like
crazy like at the police station ran up the steps I'm not a policeman and I told him what was happening we got in
his car and we drove around a couple of lives up and down but we never saw him again
Amy led the investigators to Patsy Peck a local book store owner Patsy told him that on the day before kleezak shmurda
she had met the same two men at her store she also said they were driving a white
Lincoln cotton at her it was the tall dark man we had on a trenchcoat and had up a nylon pile collar the other man was
shorter and sandy haired and he had been out of town for a while had you seen my
husband in quite a long way okay good then they started reminiscing you know a little about when they were here before
and all that told him they'd see him again before they left and they left investigators asked Patsy why she had
not come forward with this information before surprisingly she said she had talked with one of the original
detectives we do know that the investigators talked to Patsy and Amy but we looked at our files and found
there wasn't anything put down on documentation form as to their interview with Patsy Peck investigator Saunders
and Keyes learned that shortly after Stanley Gries exploiter the same two men were spotted at a local bar we located a
man that was in the bar about two or three nights after the murder everything all right
you want it he told us that a couple of men had come into the bar matching the descriptions that were published in the
paper they met with another man in the back of the bar who handed him a large sum of money and they turned left he was
kind of curious so he said wasn't that so-and-so and the individual who had given him the money said yes it was and
he said well why did you give him that large amount of money and he said they'd done a job for me and now they had to
leave town authorities begin searching for a connection between Stanley Drew's exposure and the bar where the informant
had worked and the two men had been seen they discovered that the bars liquor license had been held by Peter greasing
Stanley's older brother then Stanley's children related a puzzling incident that had occurred eight months before
the murder the key degrees it was gravely ill and Stanley went to visit him close the door away across the door
close the door no one knows what was sent behind that closed door but the two brothers who had
always been close never spoke again Peter died four months later and his family's behavior seemed to change I had
spent a three-day weekend with my dad he seemed in a good mood but he seemed a little distant when he hooked me goodbye
he said a very strange thing I don't know when I'll ever see you again and that was the last time I saw him again
the barn question had his liquor license revoked in 1982 the reason on sight gambling in the illegal sale of
controlled substances today the bar remains closed I think he knew that there was a great deal of drug activity
happening in that bar gambling it happens almost everywhere I think people learned to adjust to that
but the drug situation I know that my father would never be able to condone or have his name linked to it
why was Stanley crazy murdered had he learned something from his dying brother that put his own life at risk
if my father knew something he did not share that information was my mother or my brother and my sister or I it was
just something that he kept to himself and that was why being honest as he was was the cause of his death
why did Stanley's assailants ransack his home remain in the house for 45 minutes to an
hour and then leave apparently taking only two beers from the refrigerator and finally is there a connection
between the bar Peter gryszek and Stanley's death although crucial evidence in the case has mysteriously
disappeared investigators believe that it may take but one vital clue to piece together the bizarre puzzle of Stanley
gryszek smarter these are composite drawings of the two men seen driving the white Lincoln Continental authorities
are asking anyone with information regarding these men to come forward on a previous broadcast we profiled a con man
who allegedly seduces lonely middle-aged women with promises of wealth and romance then skips town with our money
police have dubbed him the sweetheart swindler [Music] in August of 1989 a woman who asked that
we call her Sarah met a man named Jerry Gable Sarah quickly succumbed to Jerry's
hypnotic charms he told her that he was a successful traveling jewelry salesman now that she was just the type of woman
he wanted to share his life with less than two days Jerry asked Sarah to be his wife he was a type of a man that
took control this was something that I liked I like someone to kind of take over take charge you know it's really
nice to think that I'm maybe would be able to relax to travel to have all these nice things and I wouldn't have to
work to me this was very appealing a few days later Jerry asked Sarah to deposit not a state check into
withdrawal $3,000 in cash for him at the time Sarah had no idea that the check was stolen that afternoon Jerry gable
disappeared Sarah never saw him or her $3,000 again I was angry truly I was angry it's a very devastating feeling
and I'd like to see him pay for it update the sweetheart swindler has been captured on March 28th 1991 police in
Kenosha Wisconsin arrested a man calling himself Robert cook after he allegedly romanced a woman and then swindled her
out of ten thousand dollars at the time of cooks arrest police recovered a dozen
false identification cards all issued in different aliases from various states they also found blank checks apparently
stolen from previous victims [Music] when we return the intriguing saga of a young computer wizard who may be using
his skills to obtain classified government information [Music] inside the labyrinth of the telephone
companies huge computer system one feels a sense of insignificance it seems impossible that any single person could
jam up these sophisticated works yet think of it all the interactive computers across the country are linked
by telephone lines both private citizens and classified government operations can
be vulnerable to a computer genius run amok [Music] Kevin Poulsen grew up in the Los Angeles
suburb of North Hollywood his mother died when he was still young one of Kevin's friends describes him as very
bright with great potential but always painfully shy [Music] Kevin Poulsen received his first
computer on a 16th birthday like most devoted hackers he adopted a colorful pseudonym Kevin Poulsen became
dark Dante eventually he discovered a telephone number for ARPANET a computer network funded by the Pentagon it links
university and think-tank computers across the country by telephone lines for dark Dante our planet was a
tantalizing challenge after connecting his modem with the ARPANET telephone number
Kevin realized he was hooked up to military research at the University of California Berkeley he needed a password
that would allow him access to sensitive documents in the Berkeley computer he guessed several passwords with no luck
then he tried the university's initials UCB Kevin was inside ARPANET he liked the idea of having power that was
Kevin's thing he wanted to have power over other people over the people that he saw as being beneath him dark Dante's
activities were soon detected by UCB and Kevin slipped and on one occasion only used his real name as said of dark Dante
he was trapped blissfully unaware Kevin continued his hacking activities giving authorities even more ammunition against
him dan would just put that in my car please you're taking my computer as alimony of
September 22nd 1983 the Los Angeles DA confiscated Kevin's computer look Kevin you and your buddy
have committed a crime here you're only 17 we're gonna try to keep you out of this but your buddy's going to jail
because of his age he was not officially charged totally warned that his computer
activities were illegal the warning apparently fell on deaf ears during the next year Kevin took a high
school equivalency exam and moved out of his Paris house to Northern California [Music]
but dark Dante had not died with Kevin's move he had simply changed locations in
his off hours Kevin Poulsen continued to cruise the electronic highways cloaked with a pseudonym this time he never gave
his real name or his location on February 9th 1988 the owners of a storage facility in Northern California
made a routine stop at a locker which the rent had not been paid standard procedure in such cases is to confiscate
the material in the locker but the contents of this locker here's something the men had never seen before it
appeared to be stolen telephone company equipment the owners notified the authorities telephone company
investigator John von Braun along with a local police arrived immediately we found a storage locker that can obtain
pieces of electronic equipment payphones computer printouts including the printout of the published number of the
Soviet embassy San Francisco that's not the type of equipment or material that one would buy at a swap meet or find in
a dumpster it was quite obviously stolen property whose Locker is some guy by the name of
John Anderson her name John Anderson was a fake but several items in the locker bore the name Kevin Poulsen it appeared
as if dark Dante had been caught again [Applause] authorities apprehended Kevin who agreed
to a consent search of his apartment they were astonished to find that Kevin had a complete wiretapping facility in a
spare bedroom the equipment is switch room allowed mr. Paulson not only to enter computer databases ours and others
and it also gave him the ability to monitor telephone conversations without the parties to the conversation being
aware that they were being monitored how about the test set over there connected
to Kevin's computer was an unauthorized test set which could be used to tap into
private phone line only the telephone company and through them legally authorized law enforcement officers are
allowed to use test sets incredibly the authorities found photographs Kevin Poulsen had taken of himself breaking
into a telephone switching trailer then using the equipment inside Kevin's Eagle
provided the phone company with the evidence they needed to bring in the FBI we determined that the acts that Paulson
was involved in had escalated we found evidence that Paulson had penetrated the United States government computer and it
transferred the passwords of that computer the electronic mail to other individuals
investigators found that over the last year someone matching Kevin Poulsen description had illegally entered
several northern california california cities using a false ID we discovered that mr. paulsen and we documented at
least three cases where he had actually entered the buildings hi can I help you yeah Menlo Park office
I'm here to check out the ESS the SS equipment is up on the second floor once inside the building the intruder found
telephone numbers he could use to get inside the phone company's computer system he also stole manual switching
equipment and a test set like the one found in Kevin Polson's apartment Kevin Poulsen had allegedly infiltrated u.s.
military computer transmissions obtaining classified army information authorities believe he also obtained
classified information about the FBI investigation of overthrown Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos in addition
he may have wiretapped and tape recorded the phone conversations of his friend Sean Randall the test set found in
Kevin's apartment and his possession of the unlisted Soviet number led the FBI to believe that Kevin Poulsen might be
engaging in espionage for the investigation we learned that Paulson had a secret clearance because
of this his penetration of the united states army government computer he is obtaining of a non published number the
Soviet consulate gave his grave concern as to how far Paulson was going with these criminal acts on October 19th 1989
a two-year investigation resulted in a 19 count indictment against Kevin Poulsen and two fellow hackers they were
charged with conspiracy Computer Fraud wiretapping and bezel montt and theft of public property and records the two
other men were arrested and now await trial but Kevin Poulsen has fled the FBI is making him out to be a dangerous
person because he has the knowledge to do things that he is not supposed to do you know and that is he does things that
are illegal but as far as hurting people goes Kevin is the kind of person who would rather know how to do things than
actually do them we feel that Paulson probably started off as any hack because of curiosity but
as the years wore on his curiosity became unsatisfied he crossed the life of mere curiosity into that
intentionally committing criminal acts to further this quest for power that gives us concern law enforcement
government or even private citizens of their Paulson's certainly as a potential danger to any one of these three Kevin
Poulsen is 25 years old and five feet eight inches tall with a slim build he has used the surnames break lock and
Cooper as well as alias as Walter Kovacs and John Anderson the FBI is information that Paulson may
be living in the Los Angeles area and driving a white late 70s van he is an expert in the computer operating system
called UNIX and may be working in a related field one can only speculate about what
motivated Kevin Poulsen those who knew him before he fled agree that he's an unusually talented bright young man
possibly a genius but now he is a wanted man facing up to 37 years in prison update shortly after
our broadcast the FBI received information that Kevin Poulsen was living near Los Angeles California our
San Francisco office had advised us that Paulson had some acquaintances in the Los Angeles area and we went out and
interviewed those acquaintances and one of them advises that he had been seen in
the not-too-distant past at a huge market we then went out and interviewed all the employees at huge market and
displayed his photograph three weeks later Polson returned to the supermarket I walked past Kevin and they dawned on
me that that's the person in the photo and adrenaline was pumping in me I felt really nervous and didn't want to be let
out let any suspicion onto Kevin that we were on to him Brian immediately notified the FBI
however Poston was able to leave the store before agents could respond it's the FBI informed me that Kevin
Paulson had been seen at the VMI used market at about 10:00 or 10:30 and evening I decided to surveil the market
thinking Kevin may show up again at about 10 minutes to midnight Kevin Poulsen arrived drove up in park
immediately in front of the market once Kevin was in the store I took a position
near the front door and asked the security guard to go find Brian bridges the evening manager and bring him to my
location so I could tell them that Kevin Poulsen was in the store believing that postal would again elude
capture two store clerks made a daring move [Music] security [Music] a security guard escorted Polson to a
store where he was held until FBI agents arrived and placed him under arrest during the search of mr. Colson
we found some handcuff keys in his high glass cases during the time that he was in custody he claimed that his contact
lenses were drying out and he hadn't asked for his eyeglass cases to be sent to him so I'm assuming that he was
looking for the handcuff keys the friendships he make his children often fate of the passage of time during all
his pleasant memories but for the woman in our next story a friendship with a young girl who is battling cancer is
survived the years and become a lifelong search tonight she asks for your help and finding her special childhood friend
fulfilling a promise she made more than 20 years ago good morning the Moody we admit our daughter Harriet
wait I'm Harriet how are you I've been expecting you when she was seven years old the Harriet
Wade was admitted to Children's Hospital of Los Angeles California she was scheduled to undergo surgery to remove
several large tumors from her throat although extremely painful by Harriet's condition was not life-threatening
I was a little nervous about being left in there alone because it was all new to
me I had gone back before for her tests but I wasn't actually you know placed in
there before and this time I would be in there and my parents wouldn't be there the Harriet shared a room with
eight-year-old Sherita Lynne Hardin Sherita had been diagnosed with a rare form of cancer and she too was scheduled
to undergo surgery thank you I have dogs too would you like to play with one yes
I looked up tissue meet him because once she was older she's about a year older than I and she was there first so she
kind of initiated me of what you know to being in a new place new atmosphere in the days that followed a warm and
caring friendship blossoms the Harriet and Servetus spent their days playing games and pulling pranks on the hospital
staff [Music] we were in our home of the world there was no adults around to come in
and tell us what to do we created a closeness so she was kind of like a sister we had gotten to that
relationship there was a bond there because we mattered to one another we looked out for what when we you know
went on and we had something in common and that was our illnesses itself as a time for sherita's operation near she
was forced to endure a nightly routine of painful pre surgical treatments I would watch when they would come in for
the testing she wouldn't really scream out but you'd hear a little shrill or something like that when I look over she
would turn away and you know like this is not happening to me I would be angry with the doctors because it was it was
like why are you hurting her but through it all she was tough and actually she was a lot stronger than I and her
problem really as I got older and understood more was worse than my [Music] 10 p.m. tonight or surely his operations
after several hours of surgery Arita was returned to the room I was afraid really afraid I felt them
taking her way did something to her that changed her all together mommy is this going to happen to me no honey this
isn't gonna happen to you she has a different type of operation then you're gonna have Jenna when she grows up she's
not gonna be able to have any babies so that's what my mother explained to me that
Charita had had a very very delicate surgery and that she wouldn't be able to have kids and I remember feeling like oh
that you know was just the worst thing in the world everybody sherita's parents the doctors
they all went out in the hall to talk and Sherita she was lying in her bed just lying there and she had tears in
her eyes so it made me feel real it made me feel sad that I couldn't help her are
you feeling all right I'm sorry you look so bad I said you don't have to cry I said because
if [Music] if I ever have a baby I said you can share it with me and we can both be its
mommy I saying I'll even name it Charita after you [Music] [Applause] five weeks after la Harriet Wade and
Sherita Harding first met the day came for them to say goodbye the Harriet's operation was a success
and she was sent home but Sherita had to remain in the hospital for further treatment when we left we took pictures
and I remember not one to say goodbye to her I felt like I was the two girls agreed to continue their friendship by
phone but two months later Harriet's family moved to New Mexico and a young friend soon lost touch Charita Harding
in 1975 the Wade family returned to Los Angeles a Harriet called every Harding listed in the phone book that was unable
to locate Sherita seven years ago a Harriet married and is now known as Nicki Crowder
today she is a mother of a healthy three-year-old daughter whom she plans to baptize Sherita
it is Nicki's hope - Arita Lynne Harding can become godmother to Nicki's little girl I want my daughter to know
Charita because she's a very special person in my life and bringing those two together will be perfect I think of
Sherita all the time I've never ever stopped really ever thinking about shalida even though she's not around she's still
the best friend in the sense of the memories I think when you hold on to a memory it can't be altered you know so
she's still a best friend Charita gave me a lot and she never took anything back from me and that's what a real
friend is if I have a baby we can share and I promise I promise I mean with you if I saw Cerreta I tell her that I
didn't forget the promise you know that's what I tell her I didn't forget the promise
I promise I'm into you a few minutes after Nicki story aired we learned that Sherita Ellen Harding was
alive and well and living in Oklahoma we immediately contacted Nikki with a good
news just ten days after I brought dues to more than 21 years after they said goodbye
Charita Len Harding and Nicky Crowder were finally reunited Nicky's home in Los Angeles
[Music] I don't think Nicky has changed that much she was always caring giving person
what seems like she feels the same she would have to be to try to find me and you know all these years and be so
persistent about father in the name of Jesus what's up over this child detective all of the
days of her life she perform on October 20th 1999 keek Rotter was finally able to fulfill her promise a child is
listens it's a gift you can't buy it's the most perfect gift in the world and it comes from God and nobody should be
deprived of that whether they have it naturally working shared with somebody you know and that's something that I
wanted to share with Sherita because of all the joy and strength she you know she gave me I could give her back
something that she missed lord bless them even as godparents caused your spirit to rest being a godmother is
special to me because I don't have any you know this is giving me a catch out on my own that I you know can share
[Music] I'm just honored and so I try to live up to any best as I can I'm very happy now
I can go on and I can go on a positive note because she's bi and I just like to say thanks to everybody
i christen thee sharia Kennedy [Music] for every mystery there is some somewhere who knows the truth join me
next week another edition of unsolved mysteries [Music] [Applause] [Music] you [Music]

Brief Summary

Stanley Gryszek's murder remains unsolved, Kevin Poulsen's hacking raises security concerns, and childhood friends reunite after 21 years.

Key points

The Murder of Stanley Gryszek. Stanley Gryszek was murdered in a brutal home invasion, leaving his family shattered.
A Disturbing Discovery. Stanley’s son finds a shell casing that police overlooked, raising questions about the investigation.
The Sweetheart Swindler Captured. The con man who seduced and swindled women was finally arrested after a long pursuit.
Kevin Poulsen's Infiltration. Kevin Poulsen allegedly infiltrated U.S. military computer transmissions, obtaining classified information.
The Arrest of Kevin Poulsen. After a lengthy investigation, Kevin Poulsen was arrested at a supermarket.
A Lifelong Friendship. Harriet and Sherita formed a deep bond during their hospital stays, promising to stay friends.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

My mother you could say died that night.

Reflecting on the trauma of losing her husband.

5:47WatchMay 22, 2019

Tension

65/ 100Some tension

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