Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 4, Episode 20 - 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
Richard mins was a flashy bodybuilding billionaire who always got what he wanted in 1977 he set his sights on
Barbara Petrovsky a former beauty queen from California three years later in their love affair disintegrated and
Barbara descended into a personal hell which culminated in a brutal attack four years
Katherine Bennett lived in virtual seclusion apparently on the edge of poverty when she died she left behind a
past shrouded in mystery an estate worth more than 125,000 dollars perhaps someone watching tonight is a rightful
heir also we update you on the unusual case of a Canadian man who disappeared 1987 thanks to our broadcast he has
finally been located reunited with his family join me perhaps you solve a mystery
[Music] [Applause] [Music] Johnny Smith of Irvine California is a registered nurse a marathon racer and a
new bride she is also paralyzed the chest down the result of a brutal attack [Music]
15 years ago Jani had another name Barbara Petrovsky and another life she was a beauty queen and a straight-a
pre-med student in 1977 she became involved in a passionate obsessive love affair with a
man twice her age by 1979 that love affair began a self-destruct Barbara Petrovsky found herself and
brought in a bitter dispute with her former lover Richard men's men's a multi-millionaire from Texas was a
one-man Barbara had loved unconditionally the man whose child she had carried the man who had promised her
a bright and limitless future incredibly she is certain that the attack which left her paralyzed was a murder attempt
and that Richard mins was responsible they met in January of 1977 on the ski slopes of Aspen Colorado
Barbara Petrovsky was just 23 and admittedly naive Richard mins was 47 a sophisticated
smooth-talking chameleon who could adjust to any situation Richard mins when he first approached me
was very loud and belligerent he was dressed very loudly and a bright fluorescent yellow ski suit he was
bragging about what a great guy he was and we when he saw how that affected me he just very very quickly changed his
persona and was very quiet charming almost seemed a little shy and eventually I did not only I didn't just
fall in love with him I fell head over heels in love with him Richard mins was anything but shy he was
a dedicated flamboyant bodybuilder who had made millions from a chain of upscale health spas based in Texas men's
was a man who always got what he wanted and he wanted barber but the two most beautiful moments you don't in last four
months within three months Barbra Petrovsky had moved from Los Angeles to Houston to live with Richard min he
hired her as a model for his health spas lab Easter with attention and in general
made her the center of his life men's even bragged that his contacts guaranteed Barbara a spot in Medical
School it was incredibly romantic and it was too good to be true you know things like
this don't happen in real life they happen in a story they happen in a movie but they don't happen to you and I felt
so incredibly lucky and we seemed to have a very good relationship certainly it was magical so there was no
indication whatsoever in the beginning that there was anything that was really [Music]
my husband is in your house and I want to see him right now I know he's here I saw his car Richard mins and neglected
to tell Barbara one small detail he was married at that point he explained to me
that he had loved me so much that he knew if he had admitted that he was not divorced that I never would have
consented to come to Houston and that he loved me so much that he would have done
anything he would have even compromised his own integrity and lie to me because he loved me so much that he wanted to
convince me to come to Houston to be with him and he explained that he was legally separated but not divorced after
a short break up Barbra decided to accept Richard's explanation and his peace offering a townhouse for the two
of them to share to prove his devotion mins even gay Barbara papers dating at the townhouse and his contents belong to
her he really didn't want me to be working for anyone other than him this was his way of dealing with that was by
giving me every assurance that these were things I didn't have to worry about that instead I should concentrate on our
relationship on finishing my own education and not worrying about holding down a job that wouldn't pay me nearly
what he could make in a day six months later Barbara discovered that Richard mins was not legally separated in May of
1978 his wife filed for divorce after she found out about the townhouse arrangement
when dick was going through his divorce he just became a completely different person and it was something that really
shocked me it really appalled me suddenly I saw a very paranoid violent side of his personality
Blaine school you think that has something to do with economics don't worry about it ah Richard mins temper
became worse and worse especially after the divorce settlement was finalized his
wife who built the health spa business with him was awarded nearly 6 million dollars at around the same time Barbara
had discovered she was pregnant men suddenly put his plans to marry her on Holi all right I told you that aborting
no [Music] maybe couches definitely yeah no not the piano or the clock Barbara feared for herself and her
unborn child in a panic she decided to move out Barbara took almost everything in her house at the time that I decided
to leave my emotional state was one of complete confusion I didn't know if I was doing the right thing
I didn't want to be doing what I was doing I really didn't want at this point even I still didn't want to leave him
leave him it was as if I was tearing myself away from part of myself I was ripping my own arm off when Barbara
moved out of the townhouse she took all of the furniture in the townhouse with her some of these eyes Suzanne fenced
and spent more than three years researching and writing sleeping with the devil a book which pieces together
the complex story of Richard and Barbara for which she did this thinking she needed to do something to jolt him
because she'd moved out several other times and the relationship had pretty much remained the same and she felt she
needed to get his attention in a very dramatic way which unfortunately she did [Music]
Barbara Barbara went into hiding Richard Mills was furious he had lost his wife and half his fortune now Barbara he had
called his sister begging her to have me come meet him on a particular evening and even though
I knew that it was a big mistake I felt as if I had to at least see what he had to say
when Barbara arrived at Rich's hotel he wasn't there hoping they could work something out she waited in the hallway
until well after midnight [Music] come on Barbara I can see didn't take you very long
Barbara wait that's on wait a ducky I wanted you to put me away Barbara he grabbed me first forcibly and wouldn't
believe and then while he held me forcibly begged me to just come in and talk so that we keep still loved me we
had a lot to talk about that somehow or another if we just sat down and talked that we could work things out
so he brought me into his suite and we started to talk a little bit okay put his arms around me was telling me
how much he loved me and all of a sudden the door burst open it was the police threw me from his arms toward them and
said take her you have a warrant for her arrest boy you mine she stole my jewelry stole
my shotgun Barbara had been set up mens had used his connections to obtain a warrant for her arrest
one of his associates had called the police are you gonna take her away what are we standing here talking tell me
let's do my job it's a valid warrant signed by chose it's not true Richard [Music]
what he did to me that night I was like taking a knife and just ripping my heart
straight open but believe it or not even after what he did that night I was still
in love with him four and a half hours later at daybreak Barbara was visited by a police
detective Barbara Barr Bukowski I don't train you okay know about smoke thank you
listen Barbara I heard about your case and I thought I'd come down here see if I couldn't give you a hand oh if you'll
settle up with dig man's we can forget about this whole thing what are you talking about I've got a
little piece of paper here read this you sign it we might slate clean yeah dear tonight
the detective carried a statement which he said Richard mins wanted Barbara to sign that I never knew Richard means
that I never had a relationship with him and I'm not carrying his child no gonna sign up some money in there for
you no it's lies think about it I have okay then Barbara Petroski was formally charged
with felony grand theft and aggravated assault because she had slapped at Richard men's with her purse in the
hotel less than 36 hours later Barbara miscarried she told her doctors but not Richard men's I think that dick mens got
the arrest warrant got the attention of the authorities because of who he was because it's always been my opinion that
the District Attorney's Office would never take any charge unless they felt that they could make a prima facie case
and get a conviction and I felt when I reviewed these facts that this would be an easy case to defend have you been up
and you been to the door Barbara was released and again went into hiding to be here in a second you asked me to do a
job I did a job earlier min's had hired a private investigator named Dudley Bell
who was notorious for operating on the edge of the law Bell had no trouble finding Barbara and the police were
close behind on April 17th 1980 to Houston Police detectives served Barbara with a search warrant Barbara was about
to find out that's Richard engineer the Richard men's put the furniture in storage
he continued to demand that Barbara's sign papers promising never to sue him he wanted a finality of their
relationship and he wanted in writing and he wanted the peace of mind I guess in his that he considered was necessary
for him to go on without any concerns about her instituting any litigation with respect
to of marriage or paternity Barbara Petrovsky's fairytale romance with Richard men had disintegrated into a
nightmare [Music] I had been told by people who knew him well that he was so embarrassed and
angry that I had left him that he had to teach me a lesson and that he had to teach everyone else a lesson I told her
to be careful to not be alone to watch what she did and where she went unfortunately no safeguard is enough if
someone's after you they can find a way to get you finally on October 20th 1980 Barbara's love affair with Richard mends
reached his violent climax in the parking lot of a Houston donut shop as I was getting back into my car a black man
approached me I knew I knew immediately what was going to happen it was essentially the moment that I had been
afraid of [Music] barbra Petrovsky was shot four times and left for dead the bullets collapsed her lungs and
severed her spinal cord leaving her paralyzed from the chest down initially it seemed that barbara Petrovsky was a
victim of a random street crime nothing could have been further from the truth miraculously on the night of the attack
Barbour never lost consciousness on paramedics asked who was responsible she gave the name of her former lover
Richard mins within minutes of the shooting two small-time hood from California Nathaniel ivory and Patrick's
team were arrested for attempted murder he had to do a lot of time under interrogation they were closed mouth and
gave no support to Barbara's contention that Richard mins was involved I don't know man oh no then the following night
detectives met with one of Richard mins former bodyguards oh no the man refused to go public but claimed that one month
earlier a contract had been put out on Barbara's wife ten grand by whom deadly Dudley group come on how many delis do
you know Doug LaBelle Kim so whose deadly Bell worked for works for Richard means
[Music] so that Richard mins offer you the money no man Dudley did Dudley works for Richard one
plus one equals two men the next day police learned that a California trucker named Robert Jess Anderson owned a
getaway car used by Steen and ivory a guy named Anderson Harris Bob Anson Steen and ivory were questioned again
they identified Robert Jess Anderson as the man who had hired them to kill Barbara canapés then he came gun and
said it would be better if she was dead the following day Dudley Bell's ex-wife gave police a note which seemed to
connect Richard millions in Dudley Bell with Robert Jess Anderson the note printed and Dudley bells own hand was on
Richard mins hotel stationery a list of guns which later turned out to belong to
Robert Jess Anderson was on the back on October 28 1988 days after Barbara had been shot police arrested Robert Jess
Anderson the charges of conspiring to commit a murder what is your relationship with Patrick Steen and
Nathaniel ivory relationship I mean I don't know from no relationship I mean you throw these names at me I don't know
make relationships with what I had the fact they have confessed they have implicated you they were apprehended
while driving your car it all boils down to one thing mr. Anderson is we've got you their testimony and other evidence
is that strong I happen to be in a position to cut you a deal to where you were more than likely not serving at any
time at all for this crime if you'll cooperate with me and give me the information that I want to know
we solicited at that time his cooperation because the information we had in this particular case certainly
indicated that there were people far above Robert J Sanderson that were involved we felt that it was necessary
to get his assistance to try to move up that ladder Dudley's private eye you know he was
working for this guy Anderson confirmed that it was Dudley Bell who had hired ex-wife Anderson also admitted that he
interned and approached Steen and I agree to make the hit but he said he called it off in the end
Anderson suspected Dudley Bell was working for Richard mists but he had no proof despite Anderson's cooperation the
DA claimed he simply did not have enough evidence to indict either Dudley Bell or
Richard mins in fact throughout the entire investigation min's was never questioned once amazingly he continued
to press a theft case against Barbara she appeared in court on November 17th 1980 less than one month after the
shooting which means now insisted Barbara's new attorney at stage as a publicity stunt mr. Darren I understand
you have a motion to present today yes your honor we'd like for you to rule on our motion to suppress I was shot I
was paralyzed I was sitting in the wheelchair he wasn't being questioned he wasn't being indicted neither were any
of the other people who were involved yet here I was sitting in a courtroom my first trip out of the hospital facing
theft charges that he had fabricated I have your motion Barbara would never get the chance to prove that she was
innocent the theft charges were dropped on a technicality involving the search warrant
on March 30th 1981 Nathaniel ivory and Patrick's team were convicted of attempted murder
each was sentenced to 35 years in prison just over one year later Barbour Petrosky filed a civil suit for wrongful
injury against Richard mins and his alleged Confederates steen ivory Anderson and bail before depositions
could be taken richard mins left the country and disappeared he has been in hiding ever since evading the civil suit
by pleading ill health even though witnesses reported him waterskiing in the Bahamas
Richard Mims remains a suspect in this case unfortunately an unindicted suspect in this case because we don't have
sufficient evidence in order to indict nor try Richard Mintz for the offense there have been many cases of
indictments returned in Harris County on less evidence than the state has against
dick Mane's I don't know why dick mince hasn't been charged he should have been and no fair
jury that hears that case would find anything other than dikmen's was responsible in 1980 for the FBI in an
unrelated investigation tape recorded Robert J Sanderson bragging about the Petrovsky hit he was subsequently
convicted of soliciting a murder and sentenced to 38 years dudley bell was also arrested for soliciting a murder in
1987 he was convicted when one of his former employees testified in court that Bell had tried to hire him to kill
Barbara Petrovsky like anderson dudley Bell was sentenced to 38 years he was released on parole in 1991 after serving
only four and a half years there's nothing new before this Court on this motion and the court is noting at
this time and I want the record to show on 17 consecutive occasions Richard mins failed to appear in court
to respond to Barbara Petrovsky civil suit already presented to this court ultimately Benz was found in default and
a jury ordered him to pay Barbara more than 50 million dollars at 58 million dollars plus costs that will be all
gentlemen it is a civil judgment against Richard men's it's a curiosity of the law that one could get a civil judgment
against someone and not a criminal judgment but that's what's happened in this particular case all of the
responsible parties in the shooting of Barbara piotrovsky have not been indicted and have not been convicted and
sent to the penitentiary at least four of them have and I think it's a consensus in the DA's office and and the
Homicide Division that there is at least one a person still there a higher person
than anybody else that has not been indicted and has not been convicted and until that happens this case will not
close Barbara said about rebuilding her life she changed her name to Jani Smith and
eventually moved to Ohio above all she refused to accept the limitations of her paralysis you cannot
go through something as devastating as what happened to me and dwell on it you cannot if you do if you dwell on it it
will destroy you you have to go on you have to find a way to find meaning in life to do something meaningful with
your life and I swore when I was shot that if I lived through it that I would find a way to make my life rewarding
fulfilling and productive and I've tried to do that since the time of my injury in 1983 Barbara
now Jani Smith began rehabilitation with dr. Gerald Petrovsky who was experimenting with a device which allows
a paralyzed person to walk independently as collaborators they perfected the system it operates by means of computer
induced electrical impulses today Jenny Smith is president and co-founder the Petrovski centers in Irvine California
and Scranton Pennsylvania as a nurse she works personally with patients at the center's especially children on November
30th 1991 Janney Smith and dr. Gerald Petrovsky were married it was a remarkable turn of events for a woman
who had been left paralyzed and near-death by an assassin's bullet Richard mins has been seen in Texas the
Caribbean Israel in London but is based in Switzerland men's has also changed his name today he goes by Richard
O'Toole and builds himself as an international tax attorney Benz has reportedly transferred all his assets
offshore to dummy corporations Jani Smith has never collected a penny [Music] next the search for the heirs of an
elderly recluse left an estate worth more than $125,000 it seems like every town in America has a village recluse a
mysterious soul who chooses to remain alone isolated from the community Kathryn Bennett of Portland Oregon was
just such a person an eccentric nearly destitute pack rat who dressed in men's clothing rarely left her home and
refused to discuss her past with anyone for years Catherine Bennett was viewed with curiosity by sympathetic neighbors
but no one suspected that Catherine had amassed a modest fortune with more than 125 thousand dollars but on the day she
died Catherine Bennett was a woman with few friends and no family perhaps one of our
viewers can help find the heir to her estate little is known about Catherine before
1941 that year she met a handsome young soldier named Gilbert Bennett six months
later they were married after the Second World War the couple settled in Portland
Oregon where Gilbert worked as a commercial photographer Catherine became his favorite subject the two shared a
love for the great outdoors at every opportunity they would escape to the unspoiled rivers of the Pacific
Northwest smell the fish they loved the outdoor life and they fished every chance yet they're very devoted to each
other truly they were inseparable every place they went they went together and they fished together and hunted together
and what have you I'm sure that they were very much in love with each other [Music]
Gilbert and Catherine never had children instead they built a loving private universe for two Kathryn lavished
attention upon her husband her garden and her pets yet she remained intensely private about her past
she never spoke of a past and I have since dokdo all my brothers or sisters and they said the same thing they just
didn't know anything of Katies past in 1980 after 38 years of marriage Gilbert Bennett died
Catherines world began to crumble when she lost Gilbert she just lost everything I guess and I had talked to
Katie concerned about her future and I asked her if she had any living relatives and she said no she didn't
have a family she was raised an orphan home and she didn't know anything about a family
[Music] and she just withdrew some holidays and things like this we asked her to come to dinner and stuff
like this and she wouldn't do that and we just couldn't couldn't keep in contact with her too long as a result
this Katherine rarely left the home where she and Gilbert had spent so many years together in the end only the
charity of neighbors kept her from total seclusion thank you look is there anything you need mister I don't think
so Thanks finally in June of 1990 after 10 years alone Katherine Bennett passed away
[Music] she was 80 years old when no blood relatives could be located representatives from the Oregon division
of state lands were dispatched to Catherine's house to sort out her estate almost no one had entered the house in
the ten years since her husband had died her home was unkept it was cluttered it
was dirty it was flea infested it had an odor It was as if a hermit had lived there mr. Bennet's clothing was still
draped over the the back of the chairs in the bedroom you could hardly even walk through it it was such a mess
papers and bottles and trash and garbage and uneaten food and she had several animals cats there was cat food
everywhere and cat food tents and the fleas were unreal you could just feel them all over you as you walked in they
just it was it was really bad our first job is to locate a will or locate heirs and when we entered a home we quickly
sift through the personal papers looking for letters insurance policies anything
that might lead to an heir the investigators never did find a will but they were surprised to discover that
despite the surroundings Catherine Bennett was anything but destitute they came across unopened social security
checks dating back to 1981 and valued at more than $30,000 in addition to a large
amount of loose change they found a number of rare coins worth $1,500 finally investigators discovered that
catherine has scrolled away nearly sixty thousand dollars in two separate bank accounts after her house was sold the
value of Catherine's estate rose to more than one hundred and twenty five thousand dollars
officials in Oregon have launched an extensive search for Catherine's heirs because her husband is dead state law
requires at the estate go to the nearest blood relative but complicates a settling of Catherine's estate is a fact
that almost nothing is known about her past and much of what is known is fraught with contradiction catherine
Bennett was born in Kansas City Kansas in 1910 she once told her in-laws as she was raised in a Catholic orphanage after
the death of her parents however in a document notarized in 1945 three years after she was married
Catherine presented a completely different story about her life she declared that her father had died prior
to her birth but their mother was still alive and married to Joseph Fay back of Kansas City the document also made
mention of a brother named Martin yata beech [Music] on a previous broadcast we brought you
the baffling case of Alex Cooper a devoted husband and father of five were disappeared without a trace in April of
1987 Cooper's car was discovered abandoned a few miles from his home in British Columbia Canada despite a
massive search no sign of him was ever found a year later Alex Cooper was legally
declared dead birth certificate on his wife Margaret tried to obtain his birth certificate she made an unsettling
discovery there were no official records in the name of her husband prior to their marriage in 1952 as far as anyone
could tell Alice Cooper simply did not and had never existed four years after he vanished authorities
learned that Alex Cooper was alive and well and living in Toronto Canada but before he could be questioned Cooper
disappeared again I'd love to get him back I want to give him a real big hug and then I kind of want to give him a
kick in the butt and then another big hugger he's got this family that care about him and if he's out there living
among strangers he should rethink this thing we deserve it that's how does he who was Alex Cooper
why are you soon dan alias and in essence lived a lie for more than 35 years shortly after this story aired a viewer
in Hamilton Canada recognized Alex Cooper and immediately called authorities during questioning the
mystery surrounding his life began to unravel Alex Cooper told police that his true
name was Alban Arsenal in 1948 he was accused of robbing an office of the Canadian Pacific Railroad where he was
employed at the time I was young and I panicked and I said to myself there is no way I'm going to be take the fall for
this because I didn't do it I took off at that time and I became Alexander Hooper at that point four years later
Alex married Margaret he had no idea that any criminal charges that might have been filed against him had probably
been dropped for more than 35 years his true identity remained a secret then as a 65th birthday neared Alice Cooper's
past began to catch up I was due for pension and you require to submit a birth certificate I knew I
couldn't produce one several months prior to this I knew this was coming up I couldn't bring myself a boat to tell
my family so I walked away it was a snap decision and it was wrong two days after he is questioned by
Hamilton authorities Alex Cooper returned to British Columbia and was reunited with his family after
more than five years we were very close family must have been very devastating for all of us and I'm really hoping that
we can work through this and put it back together if not the way it is maybe something better we can't pick up where
we left off because things have changed but we're gonna start fresh take it a day at a time the way I feel I don't
deserve for anyway to accept my apology look what I done abandonment of your family to me is one hell of a crime and
the biggest job for me at this point will be to make amends and I would say it would probably take me the rest of my
life [Music] [Music] several months ago we profiled the case of Charles Morgan who was found dead in
the remote Arizona desert he had been shot once in the back of the head the local sheriff's department ruled his
death a suicide even though the medical examiner classified it as unsolved Isis in the
segment we interviewed Arizona journalist Don Devereaux who discovered evidence that Morgan had been part of an
elaborate money-laundering operation involving huge amounts of gold Devereaux Belize Morgan did not commit suicide
but was a victim of a professional contract killing when the segment aired we received hundreds of calls relating
to Morgan's death according to Devereaux who continued his investigation many turned out to be productive leads three
months later a draftsman at a Phoenix computer company Doug Johnston was found dead in his car outside his office
Johnston had been shot once behind the ear and police have suggested it was impossible suicide
curiously Johnson worked across the street from Don Devereaux's office and drove a car that almost exactly matched
Devereaux's in fact Devereaux is now convinced the bullet which killed Doug Johnston was intended for him I got a
phone call from a journalist friend of mine from Washington DC who had been briefed by a high-level CIA official
that in fact that was a botched hit that some people thought they were hitting me
when they shot the guy across the street and in fact there was a still a contract
outstanding and it was coming around again but whatever I had done was still a problem to someone to others sources
and the intelligence community have confirmed that Don Devereaux that he is a target for murder
and that the next attempt will be made to look like an accident we'll bring you a full report on this intriguing case in
the near future join me next time for another intriguing edition unsolved mysteries
[Music] you [Music]

Brief Summary

Barbara Petrovsky's toxic relationship with Richard Mins leads to a violent attack, while Katherine Bennett's hidden fortune raises questions about her past and heirs.

Key points

The Disintegration of a Fairytale Romance. Barbara Petrovsky's relationship with Richard Mins begins as a fairytale but quickly turns dark.
The Unraveling of Richard Mins. Richard Mins' violent behavior escalates after his divorce, leading to Barbara's fears for her life.
A Life-Changing Decision. Barbara decides to leave Richard Mins, fearing for her safety and her unborn child.
A Brutal Attack. Barbara Petrovsky is shot four times, leaving her paralyzed and fighting for her life.
A New Identity. Barbara changes her name to Jani Smith and begins to rebuild her life after the attack.
Dr. Gerald Petrovsky's Breakthrough. Dr. Petrovsky develops a device allowing paralyzed individuals to walk independently.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

I felt so incredibly lucky; it was magical.

Barbara Petrovsky recalls her early relationship with Richard Mins.

4:56WatchMay 22, 2019

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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