Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 4, Episode 14 - 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 were about to see is not a news broadcast the late 12 1982 the body of a
young Minnesota housewife washed up on the shore of Lake Superior her husband Larry Race was convicted of murder and
sentenced to life in prison this day rais'd maintains his innocence and his dead wife's parents support his
claim in Larry Reis guilty or innocent tellin rose Meyer and grew up on the long plane reservation in Manitoba
Canada in 1941 Helen Rose was banished by her father when she joined the Royal Canadian Air
Force heartbroken she vanished her family has not seen her in nearly 50 years also thanks to our viewers a man
charged with murdering his wife is now in custody following a dramatic shootout with police
join me perhaps you may be able to help solve a mystery [Music] Lake Superior headwater of the Great
Lakes the largest freshwater lake in the world the water temperature hovers near
freezing for most of the year a personal adrift without a life raft stands little chance of survival on May
12 1982 the lake claimed another victim 33 year old Debbie Reis her life jacket was intact she had not drowned
Debbie Race had succumbed to the icy lake temperatures and died of hypothermia according to the authorities Debbie
races death was no accident her husband Larry race was accused of deliberately allowing her to freeze to death and Lake
Superior he was subsequently convicted of murder yet Debbie's own Parris believe that Larry could not possibly
have harmed their daughter after eight agonizing years and five unsuccessful post trial reviews this is the final
appeal of Larry race Larry Reis is currently serving a life sentence at Stillwater state prison in
Minneapolis Minnesota he maintains if the jury was convicted him was prejudiced because he had a long
history of adulterous relationships what happened that night was an accident I didn't kill there be yes I was
unfaithful but I had nothing to do with her death that night adultery yes I'm guilty for that sorry for it I am I was
tremely sorry [Music] debbie and larry race along with her three children lived in Hoyt Lakes
Minnesota 75 miles from Lake Superior Larry's hobbies were boating and scuba diving debbie built her world around her
home and her children over the years Larry and Debbie's marriage suffered badly because of his affairs but by 1982
Larry says they had vowed to try again [Music] may eleventh of 1982 was Larry and
Debbie's 14th wedding anniversary to celebrate they had dinner at Lakeview restaurant and took their boat named the
Jenny Lee after their daughters on a lake superior for an evening cruise it felt as if things were starting over
again things we had a like a renewed spirit I I wanted to stop what I was doing and I was thinking you know maybe
this is a chance you know I have a wonderful woman here there's nothing wrong with her and and I want to take an
about-face after darkness fell Larry and Debbie drifted contentedly they stayed about one mile offshore enjoying the
view of the city lights and listening to tapes of their favorite music suddenly at 9:00 p.m. the mood was broken
Debbi noticed that the boat was taking on water Larry there is water Larry says Debbie began to panic
she had no faith in the Jenny Lee because it had nearly sunk the summer before this is when he pinned cover off
the engine we notice there was water spraying all over the place we shut the engine down took the
alternator loosened up the bolt and dropped the Altair so as we drop the alternator shut the
engine down the water leakage stopped I think they don't work I'm gonna have to tape it though things were pretty
well under control okay then we work together to get to both fixed we work together to get up the water stopped and
everything was okay now we feel endanger the light on can you cut this tape right
here once we got all the repairs done Debbie went to start the engine well I figured she just didn't know how to
started to the right so I went to start I made it to almost a battery was so did
I we had two batteries on the boat you know what start from either so now we're both back by the engine wondering
why it won't start the fear came to both of us when we heard that gushin and that
whooshing noise from the bottom of the board I mean I was scared long with her she made me scared no I didn't know how
to I wasn't thinking right I didn't I didn't listen to what I what I should have done
I made poor judgments I listened to what she said get off the boat first thing we
did was hold her life pass out to get her blowing up we always carry scuba tank on the board for that purpose we
tossed that one aside by the second one and we filled that one up the same way we started the first one and that was
filled it worked fine even though these are two main rafts you're gonna get in here I'm gonna drag
it to shore okay okay Debbie put her personal evaluations as well as Larry shoes into a gear bag she took the bag
at a scuba tank wither in the life raft Larry Reese had his dry suit and scuba tanks on board he was a strong swimmer
and thought he could tow Debbie and the raft to safety he had done the same thing with his daughters when the Jenny
Lee had run into trouble before I knew I had to push her to shore and I knew I could I was strong enough she said the
same thing - Larry you're strong enough you can they pushed and pushed things making it
I was saying okay but I started getting cold [Music] [Music] Oh she was terrified and at that time I
knew I couldn't get interacted and uh and I thought that you know I would die at that time I made a lot for judgement
looked off to the right and there was lights coming it's not good for him nights were closer swimming ashore
Debbie was going that way toward Shore I was going the opposite way for help one
of us were going to get help one of us were going to get the shore the everyone's gonna get to shore for help
or I was gonna get to devote for help one of us we're gonna get somebody to help
the light Larry race it seems his own boat this time the engine started after catching his breath he was search for
Debbie all the wild firing distress flares in the end Mary would return to shore and notify the Coast Guard they
would conduct a grid search of the lake to avail the next afternoon a teenager on his way
home from school saw Debbie raises body on the lakeshore gallery' race was charged with murder
[Music] at his trial Larry races attorneys advised him not to take the stand on his
own behalf after he was convicted Larry hired a new team of lawyers insisting that he'd been
the victim of incompetent counsel Larry Reis believes that if he had testified the jury would not have found
him guilty the prosecuting attorney at Larry races trial with john de santa with duluth minnesota even though the
case against larry was circumstantial de santé was able to convince a jury that larry race had the opportunity means and
motive to murder his wife I have absolutely no doubt that Larry Reis is guilty of first-degree murder
and that's why I believe that this is not an appropriate case for unsolved mysteries it simply is not an unsolved
mystery I believe the evidence showed that he wanted out of an unhappy marriage at this time in his life and at
the same time he had a hundred and eight thousand dollars of life insurance on her life in place that he had purchased
within the seven months previous to her death through credit life insurance part of it about $37,000 was mortgage
insurance that came along with the mortgage on his house the rest of it came as part of a group policy from his
credit union and there was some testimony in fact that Debbie had been the one to seek out this additional
insurance coverage [Music] very racist defense was built around his story of mechanical problems of the
jenilee the prosecution claimed Larry concocted the entire episode after his trial the Jenny Lee was sold an
independent mechanic examined the starter the mechanic said that it was worn and that the type of problem that
he saw there would cause an intermittent starting failure at the knot the engine
on some occasions would not start at one of Larry races post-conviction hearings
following the trial a man did come forward and testify that he had found a starter problem in the Jenny Lee
in late May or early June of 1984 or two years after Debbie's death the night have made 11th and 12th of 82 he simply
could not say that this was a problem he that would that was on the boat the night of Deborah races death and
therefore was ruled irrelevant both in the trial court and ultimately in the appellate courts larry race is adamant
that he had two life rafts on board the Jenny Lee well the evidence clearly showed there was but one raft on the
Jenny Lee the night of May twelve of 1982 every one of Larry races diving companions or friends or both
that testified at the trial said that they had never seen him in possession of two blue and yellow rafts as he claims
and also as significant is the fact that the search and rescue people from the Coast Guard said that if that raft had
existed they would have found it we don't have that Larry racist remain a deputy sheriff testified that Larry had
told him there were two life rafts on board mention any noisemakers of any sort no we don't have a noisemaker but
we do have two rafts I just have got another raft this deputy testified that Larry specifically told him quote what
about rafts I have to that deputy testified about that happening over two weeks beforehand well sounds like he got
just about everything yeah the prosecution points out that the deputy's testimony was inconsistent
running his first question eleven days after Debbie races death he said he knew nothing about to rat
[Music] the prosecution claims that Larry pushed Debbie in the raft well away from a
Jenny Lee then returned to the boat and donned his scuba equipment they say there he swam back under
Debbie's raft and slashed it with a knife leaving her to freeze to death in the icy waters this was very significant
evidence at the trial and it was that there were five punctures or cuts in the bottom of the raft placed in in the raft
while it was inflated because as the experts testified there was no knife cut on the top of the raft that would
correspond with the bottom puncture meaning the the air chambers were inflated and strategically placed in
that they cut both air chambers it wasn't a random thing like vandalism where someone who isn't really intent on
cutting both air chambers but just damaging a piece of property they were placed in both their chambers from the
bottom while the raft was inflated the prosecution failed to produce the knife used to cut the raft the puncture marks
did not match the only knife found on board the Jenny Lee [Music] the prosecution asserts that once debbie
had been set adrift larry drive the life raft back to the Jenny Lee so you'd have
support for his story about attempting to inflate a first draft or of the events that leads to the action of Larry
according to the prosecution required superhuman effort a super feat that were not just physically possible witnesses
placed the Jenny Lee here near the mouth of the Tallmadge River at 8:30 p.m. and
again at 9:30 Debbie's body was found here seven miles away according to Jean will be no it would have been impossible
for a body to drift that far without a raft if she had been in a water with a parka with a life vest she can only
travel one to two miles and will he'd show somewhere the only way she could have landed seven miles down was on a
raft the fact that we just don't know where the Jenny Lee was on the lake at the time he persuaded that the primary
race persuaded Debbie to leave it makes it impossible to then start with a drift
theory that would put her body at such in such a place whether she's in a raft or without a raft because we again don't
have a precise starting point we never did have one and that's what makes it so difficult to give any credibility to the
Abha no drift theory that was presented by the defense according to Larry races attorneys the
skin lividity and Debbie's body also proves that she came ashore in a life raft Debbie's blood had not sunk to her feet
they claimed it would have done so if she'd been kept afloat in an upright position by a life vest the lividity of
Debbie races blood following her death was to the back and that was consistent or is consistent with the fact that she
floated in the water with that life jacket without a raft available to her because as the expert testified at trial
this particular life jacket would have kept her basically face-up on her back as she floated after following her death
her body of course was then found face-up on its back on the on the shore of Lake Superior as well which would
continue the lividity to her back and the autopsy report clearly indicates the lividity was to her back
after hearing all the evidence but without hearing from Larry Reis himself a jury of four men and eight women found
him guilty of murder I couldn't believe it because there was no hard cold evidence
hard facts there wasn't anything was all circumstantial there was nothing concrete about his
case at all except he had his affairs it's hard to take you know when so many people think he was guilty but it's
never been a problem with us we just don't believe he was guilty if you only knew Larry you wouldn't think that Larry
would ever do anything like that today I'm angry at the fact that he was able to convince 12 jurors that this happened
without without any facts without any evidence he just says we think Larry did it we want him convicted and that's what
he did [Music] [Music] in 1981 seventeen-year-old Annette shockers fell in love with Jim Burns
Sylar a butcher at the grocery store for a networked a year later the couple married the bride was just 18 the groom
46 for Annette the marriage marked the beginning of a nightmare she became afraid of him almost
immediately because he was jealous of her and when he was drinking he was violent and and made remarks to her all
the time that she would never ever leave him that well he started telling her right from the beginning that he would
kill her if she ever tried to leave him in 1987 after five years of nearly constant emotional and physical abuse
and had finally found the courage to leave Jim two months later Jim Burnside brutally
attacked Annette at one of her co-workers [Music] but if coworkers survived the attack a
net had been stabbed 15 times of the butcher knife and is pronounced dead at the scene
that afternoon Jim Burnside disappeared it's bad enough knowing that a net had to die but to know that he is still out
there it's horrible we just want him caught and I just hope and pray that somebody spots him update the night to
story aired to viewers contacted our telecenter to report the Jim Burnside is living in Shelby County Alabama under
the assumed name L Wilson when I saw his actual picture I just looked at my husband and I just started pointing and
I'm going you know tell me my eyes aren't deceiving me you know that is al and he goes yes that's al the first
thing I thought to say well they you know let's call up the authorities and get this guy off the street
Burnside was employed as a carpenter the 280 flea market just outside of Chelsea
Alabama we hadn't saved a call from the FBI office in Birmingham stating that they felt pretty sure that James
Burnside would be at this flea market on highway 280 located in Shelby County the
morning after our broadcast FBI agents and sheriff's deputies checked out the flea market right there on the roof and
apparently Burnside saw them and went towards his truck the fugitive drew a 357 magnum and pointed it at the officer
[Music] Burnside was struck by two bullets he was placed under arrest and taken to a
Birmingham hospital but what we've been able to determine and again talking to his co-workers that he hadn't made a
statement on Thursday morning that he had anticipated having problems that day so apparently he had viewed the unsolved
mystery since that wins tonight [Music] [Music] on April 1st 1988 gene Ito very wealthy
socialite from Phoenix Arizona was murdered in her own bed while she slept at the time of her death she was worth
several million dollars most of it inherited from her late husband a genie Tori's origins were humbled genie was
born in a small Arkansas farming community and married fresh out of high school in 1953 her marriage failed and
genie eventually wound up in Phoenix working as a cocktail waitress Jeannie had no intention of spending her life
waiting tables on her rest breaks she studied real estate law determined to make a better life for herself
several years later Jeannie was well on her way she had obtained her real estate
license in 1970 and become an immediate success in 1971 one of Jeannie's clients
introduced her to Edward Tovar II the charming wealthy divorcee genes the one that helped us on that real estate knew
I was telling you about which did a great job congratulations that was super thanks you're embarrassing they should
never be embarrassed when somebody tells you you've done something well it's part
of the business I think you're gonna do well because of your people skills I bet
you're good at it had all the qualities that Jane was looking for like to propose a toast
it's just that simple old friends and to new friendships you have to kiss a lot of frogs before you find their friends
and she considered that a prince ed tovrea embarked on an intense courtship the genie was swept off her
feet Ed's ancestors had made millions in the cattle business and were among the founding fathers of Phoenix but ed tove
remade his old name as a pilot in World War two he was shot down and taken as a prisoner of war by the Germans Eadie
helped engineer the famous Great Escape digging tunnels which allowed 79 other POWs to go free less than a year after
they met Jeanne and ed were married in a private ceremony in Hawaii GD became an
instant hit with a Phoenix upper crust she seemed to fall right into it as if though she'd had that money forever she
was welcomed and very very well loved extremely liked I don't know of one and I can honestly say this I don't know one
person that disliked Janie she was just well as very special people with very special qualities she treated people
like she wanted to be treated I never saw any heirs with Jean they entertained a lot very casual entertaining had
friends in they had a very good marriage they both liked to do the same things but there was one cloud darkening Jeanne
and Ed's life together respiratory problems had played dead ever since his POWs by 1982 he was virtually bedridden
and Jeanie nursed him around the clock [Music] Jeanie I think it's about time we talked
about what we're gonna do after I'm gone yet please don't talk that way I just want to make sure you're taken care of
you get the house and you're comfortable okay jean was not a greedy person it wasn't like well I I have married you
everything you have is mine this was not Jane on July 11th 1983 ed toll-free died he
left Cheney and estate worth millions including the house and a valuable art collection it was hard for her to
visualize life without him because he was her steadying factor I think it was scary for her
after a period of morning Jeannie threw herself back into the Phoenix social world I think was her way to get over
everything and meet people became quite through the socialite and chaired many of the balls and her circle of friends
all went so it became a very free Jean it became a way of doing things for herself well I'm gonna finish these last
few invitations and call it a night the evening of March 31st 1988 found Jeannie
Tori preparing the final few invitations for yet another high society party at 7:00 p.m. she spoke with her sister by
1:00 a.m. the next day she would be dead she had mailed those invitations and then they came right after he found out
that she had been murdered and it did do a number on all of us it was almost like
remember my party it was very spooky at the murder scene police found several fingerprints but
little other physical evidence Jeannie's purse along with her identification and
credit cards were missing sure those credit cards have never been found and they've never been used to this day the
fingerprints that we have have been compared to every name that's been mentioned to us has been through our
computer system and we have not identified who those prints belong to my opinion and that opinion of two
detectives all felt that she was the victim of a hit she was killed intentionally for somebody
[Music] police theorized that the killer was familiar with Jeannie's neighborhood
because he had so easily gained access to her home [Music] I would say the suspect at least had
some knowledge of the house entry into the house was made through a window but it was done in a manner not to set the
alarm system all [Music] there's white carpeting throughout the house and there was no indications in
any room except her bedroom that anybody had been in there it appears that he knew the direct path from the point of
entry to her bedroom and where she was [Music] she was shot while she lay in bed asleep
there was no obvious signs of the struggle police believe that the killer's scattered genies costume jewelry simply
to give the appearance of a burglary attempt he left thousands of dollars worth of real jewelry untouched in the
next room also it seemed that he wanted someone to be alerted the alarm was set off when the sliding
door was opened by the suspect it could have went out the same way he got in without ever setting the alarm off it's
only a theory but one of the reasons we considered is that this person if he was
paid to kill her wanted to let the person who paid him know that the job was done
who could have bought a genie toll-free dead police were at a loss until they were given the old tapes from her
answering machine that was when they heard the voice of a mysterious man who called himself Gordon Phillips beautiful
place another in 1987 Phillips who claimed to be a magazine writer and tried to interview Jeannie about her
late husband's powa experiences as I told you on the phone I'm writing a book about prisoners of war I'd like to talk
to you specifically about your husband Edie well you know that was a very long time
ago I I'm not that familiar with that pass well surely he must have said something to you about his sub P Oh w
experienced him and as a a big part of his life he didn't like to dwell in the past you know he'd be better off talking
to the first mrs. Topher but you me sorry about Ed himself your husband the man what was he like ister Phillips you
say you work for a time life yes well then of course she would have some identification you could show me well
actually I'm a freelance writer I'm not really on staff I can't provide you with
some references you know I'm going to have to cut you short I have a plane to catch in the morning and a lodging had
him checked out and Time magazine had never heard of him and Jane once again told him that she
was the wrong person to talk to if she couldn't seem to make him understand this
Gordon Phillips continued a hound genie toll-free by phone if she was not in he left messages on her machine and Jeannie
became certain that Phillips was following her mr. Phillips I told you I do not want to meet with you maybe she'd
be at a party or out shopping or something and she thinks she saw this guy for a while there it was every time
she went somewhere she would see him he never came up to her but she was seeing a crowd and she was extremely nervous
about this police still have no idea who Gordon Phillips is where he is gone or whether he was involved in the murder of
Jeanne Tovar II my greatest fear is that I'll never know why it's inconceivable to me that Jean was murdered this
happens to other people it's what you read in the newspaper it doesn't happen to my family
I miss her as she was my sister she was my best friend she was mine and she didn't deserve to die
[Music] [Music] when we return the saga of a young Indian who ran off to join the air force
and never came home in Manitoba Canada just across the North Dakota border as a family called the
Myron clan they are part of the Plains Ojibwe Indian nation in the 1940s a Myron's found themselves caught between
the global politics of the Second World War and the deeply rooted traditions of the Ojibwe there were seven children in
the myrin family the youngest girl Helen Rose was just six months old when this picture was taken in 1925 her family is
not seen her for more than half a century it's been going on too long with mystery too long too many years have
gone by and would like to find her now no matter where she is we still love her and all concerned about churches
when the myrin children were growing up they spent the winter months in a government boarding school every summer
they came home to their Paris log cabin on the Ojibwe reservation [Music] Oh Rose come and sit beside me
in September of 1932 the children prepared to return to school even though their mother was gravely ill I might not
be here on your turn from school be a good girl and make me proud of you my [Applause]
a month later Archie Myron showed up at his children's school unannounced when you children left last summer your
mother was very sick Oh dad came and told us that her mother had passed away right away I saw what it was gonna do to
her Helen Rose [Music] all of the children were devastated especially Helen Rose always her
mother's favorite she would never fully recover from the death [Music] by 1941 Helen Rose was in her junior
year at the boarding school she was 17 and the world had become a very different place right now as I'm
speaking the German courts are marching across Europe causing havoc destruction and death Hitler's armies were
threatening to overrun the globe the new principal at the boarding schools actively interventionist a mock and
Helen homes became swept up in the anti-fascist fervor you know I've talked to you about joining the reserve this is
your opportunity to join the world that really matters he was teaching them the role of the other society and I presume
that such were Helen got her idea to better her life with the outside world and to join the airport
Helen Rose dropped out of high school in an unprecedented move for an Ojibwe woman she had listed in the Royal
Canadian Air Force when they discovered that Helen Rose is underage the Air Force ordered her to obtain her father's
permission [Music] Helen Rose returned to the reservation in July as a tribal elder
Archie Myron was helping preside over the annual summer thirsting dance when the plains Ojibwe erect traditional
structures and offer prayers to the Great Spirit papers and she asked my dad to sign those papers what is this paper
all right join the Canadian Armed Forces I don't think I want you to join the airforce my daughter
why not and you told her that I don't want you to die someplace else if you go to war you may not come back so he
didn't sign those papers and Haran Rose got mad said you'll never see me again [Applause]
very proud to see Helen in the airport I often think now if he had consented to signing his name on there this would
have been very different we would have I'm sure that we would have had Halden roles with us here all this time yet
Helen Rose did not return to her father's cabin she spent the night with an aunt the next morning she said her
last goodbyes you take care of yourself I'm gonna miss her yeah I'm gonna miss you too when she was
leaving her auntie's place she told her aunty well I'm leaving now and you'll never see me again I'm not don't ever
coming back take care okay sure very disappointed she was actually never disappointed why
she didn't get that signature [Music] two years later Helen Rose did return to the area and where are you stationed
miss when Angus Merrick walked into the general store 15 miles from the reservation he was shocked to see his
sister-in-law hello Angus nice to see rose how you doing I'm fine she had her uniform on and all should
have good thank you I said your father just across the street here I'll go together maybe they
want to see you too I'll be right back okay just won't take long so I went over and told her
Archie that his daughter or Helen was there and still if you would you like to come and without hesitation he came
right away [Music] when a time we cut the store I couldn't find our she disappeared
[Music] he was your [Music] sixteen years later Archie Myron died without ever having made peace with his
youngest daughter [Music] each year our team iris family gathers at the cemetery to honor the entire
Myron clan while Ojibwe ceremony the extended family now numbers 150 and still they long for the return of Helen
Rose even if she has passed away her family wants to know so that Helen roses spirit can be honored in accordance with
the Ojibwe tradition I don't know what's keeping her away I'm sure she cannot hold a grudge this long
we have no part in it just between her and my dad not us she said she wasn't going to come back and she has sucked
your word true but a real in general [Music] join me next week for another edition
unsolved mysteries [Music] you [Music]

Brief Summary

The episode discusses Debbie Reis's murder case, Helen Rose Myron's disappearance, and Jim Burnside's capture after a shootout with police.

Key points

The Tragic Death of Debbie Reis. Debbie Reis's body was found in Lake Superior, leading to her husband Larry's conviction for murder.
Larry Race's Final Appeal. After years of legal battles, Larry Race maintains his innocence in the death of his wife.
The Mysterious Circumstances of Debbie's Death. Debbie's death was ruled a murder, but the evidence against Larry was circumstantial.
Jeanne's Murder. Jeanne Tovar is found murdered, leaving her family in shock.
The Mystery Deepens. Police discover fingerprints but no leads in Jeanne's murder case.
Gordon Phillips' Intrusion. Jeanne receives unsettling calls from a man named Gordon Phillips before her death.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

Who could have bought a genie toll-free dead?

Questioning the circumstances surrounding Jeanne's murder.

31:20WatchMay 22, 2019

Tension

60/ 100Some tension

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