Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 5, Episode 6 - 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 tonight on unsolved mysteries
journey into the shadowy world of dreams and here the startling accounts of three
people who are convinced that their dreams predicted the future in New Orleans a brutal serial killer has
apparently taken the lives of several young women police need your help before he strikes again
and an intriguing profile of a devious con wand preys upon lonely women taking first their hearts and then their
wallets join me perhaps you may be able to help solve a mystery [Music] [Applause]
[Applause] [Music] have you ever had a dream so vivid you thought it was real so compelling you
wondered if it actually happened as fantastic as it may seem you're about to meet several people who are convinced
that sometimes dreams do come true Glen Lough Neagh is a professor of theater at Brooklyn College in New York
City his story begins on a cold winter night 20 years ago when he had a dream which
he believes saved his life [Music] I was driving up a hill and there was a blind curve up at the top it was like
the road was built sort of around a hillside on my side the outside lane there's really a very steep drop
suddenly there came a car around the curve there's a little two wheel trailer mind and suddenly the outside wheel of
the trailer comes off and there was a shower of sparks like a sparkler and suddenly the wheel came skidding across
the road toward my car and I thought step on the gas or you're a dead man and I woke up in a cold sweat I never had a
dream that I remembered every particular detail up and it was so vivid as if it had actually happened I mean other
dreams aren't like that other dreams are bits and pieces of things from the real
world and from the world of fantasy and things that never were or never could be
this was just like seeing the thing that somebody else had filmed it that there might have been a camera in the backseat
six months later Glenn was on a business trip with a fellow professor in a part of the country where he had never been
before how's your classes going by the way Oh fine yeah we got some good people this
halfway up I realize this is the hill of my dream I suddenly realize this is the
road this is the place there was no traffic coming the other way nothing right I said my god it cars gonna come around
that curve and wheels going to come off the trailer and it's going to come at our car I got a step on the gas or dead
[Music] [Music] some would say that what happened to Glenn Loney was mere coincidence however
there are many people who believe that what he experienced was a phenomena known as a psychic dream a dream is can
apparently foretell the future there's a clear distinction between ordinary dreaming which we all do every night and
the psychic dream and the clear distinction is that for ordinary dreams they're very difficult to remember if
I've been is ten minutes after you're awake you forgot most of the details it's very hazy on the other hand a
psychic dream wakes you both up right out of bed it's a clear vivid dream that literally shocks you awake dr. David
Rybak is one of the leading authorities on psychic dreams he and freelance author Letitia Switzer have written a
book which contains more than 80 case studies dr. Rybak has concluded that perhaps one out of 12 people have
experienced psychic dreams when I first realised that I had the ability to see into the future through my dreams was
when I was a teenager Rhonda Anderson is one of the subjects and dr. Rybak study
do you remember just having glimpses into the future through my dreams in 1980 Rhonda was living in Knoxville
Tennessee when she began dating Joe Anderson the man she would later marry the first test of their relationship
came and Rhonda told Jo about her special ability for me to believe something like that I would probably
have to have been involved in door or know specifically the incident I don't believe things like that without you
know having some proof six months after Joe and Rhonda met Joe got the proof he needed while he was
away on a weekend camping trip Ronde a dream that he had none invited intruder at his campsite
[Music] my heart was pounding so hard that I had to sit up in my bed and I looked at the
clock and it was three o'clock in the morning and I knew that there was really not
anything that I could do about it at that time hello oh I'm so glad you called is
everything all right the next morning joe called Rhonda as soon as he returned home she had not
been expecting me until later that afternoon she asked me what I was doing back so early
I told her we'd had an incident with a bear and decided to leave come back home early Joe says it around 4 o'clock that
morning he awoke when he sensed a disturbance outside of his tent he was certain of the time because he checked
his watch [Music] she had a dream about three o'clock since I actually saw the bear after the
bear had gotten into camp and torn things up it must have been about the time of the Buried come into camp the
first time it occurred to me you know possibly it was just a coincidence but actually thinking back on it the fact
that she had the dream while the situation was occurring and the way she described it was very similar the way
actually occurred I felt like it was been a very unusual coincidence about a year later Joe and Rhonda were married
and Joe received another surprise his new stepdaughter Roxanne also claimed to have psychic dreams researchers believe
the ability can be passed from generation to generation we do have cases where families have have psychic
dreams very often the mother may have it in one family we know the mother dreamed
psychic dreams the son did and all of the first cousins and they were even raised in different environments because
each of the members had been adopted when the family split up it's hard to know whether there's a hereditary factor
or not clearly some families have two or three people in the family who not only
has psychic dreams would have the same psychic dreams which is a really astounding event Rhonda and Roxanne have
had just that experience in April of 1991 round a dream that Joe was in a terrible accident but did not tell
anyone in her family a week later Roxanne says she had the very same dream [Music]
our car was on the side of the road and then I saw a glimpse of Joe his head his
face and then I saw the police right in a police report it was really really disturbing to me it really upset me
because it just you know it scared me and it felt like it was something that was gonna happen and I said well Roxanne
I said let's just think positively about it and let's just pray that everything will be okay and from then on I would
just ask Joe to please be careful two weeks later joe was on his way to the mountains for another weekend of
camping and he momentarily took his eyes off the road [Applause] [Music] luckily I wasn't injured of course the
first thing I thought about after that happened was that Ron did warn me to be very careful and I had not paid
attention to the road and slid off and had the accident the the car crash could have been more detrimental it could have
been more disastrous and I hang on to the thought that perhaps maybe that was the reason that I had the dream and
Roxanne had the dream so that we could warn him over and over again - please be careful because had we not we don't know
what would have happened the extraordinary experiences of the Anderson family could make even the
harshest skeptics stop and think after all coincidence can only account for so much you're about to meet a woman who
says her psychic dreams had not foretell the future but brought her news of an untimely death
in 1942 20 year-old Katherine Webb fell in love with a soldier named Joe Stewart
I think it's really the best time for us to go into a marriage both wanted to marry but because of hardships and their
families they decided that the timing was not right we know the truth is Joe I I've been thinking the same thing
mother's not well dad's not very strong I just don't think it's fair to you to take on that much responsibility yes
I've always regretted that instead of being so conscientious about our obligations we should have thought of
ourselves I didn't see him for a while and then I saw him again and from then on through
the years when I'd see him we'd we go out to her three times but I'd love to go with that Catherine never forgot her
first love she remained single until January of 1965 when at the age of 47 she married her next-door neighbor the
next year Catherine began having a strange recurring dream I kept getting this dream all the time all I saw was
these nurses and doctors a lot of confusion probably working on someone that was would be how it would look the
nurses were rushing around the doctor seemed very concerned but I couldn't see what they were doing
and then it seemed to me that I just got the intuition that it's about Joe Stuart
and I just kept having that dream off and on all during the month of May and June and it just got worse and worse
finally Katherine had a dream which seemed to explain everything [Music] in this new dream Catherine was in her
kitchen when she received a most unexpected visitor I turned around and Joe was standing there Joe what are you
doing Kate I came to tell you that I died what yes it's true I'm dead it seemed quite natural for him to have a
hold of my hand and taking me I know I believed him just couldn't grasp it Joe I don't understand this I'll explain you
see I just had to let you know that thanks to your prayers I'll have a Christian burial
it's alright who is this it's me Kate I could smell flowers and firm and I look down at the man in the
casket didn't look like Joe you just that you it doesn't look like you yes I know but it is and I came to tell you
that I'll always love you and I could feel the flesh and the warmth of his hand and he said I always loved you and
he kissed me and I felt his lips and his breath and that was it [Music] my perspiration was pouring off of me I
was shaking I thought now I know why all those dreams I saw of doctors and nurses
and I thought it was Joe this is what it meant what I just saw was no dream this was a
vision and I knew it was true I just felt my heart it was true I didn't want to believe he was dead but I knew that
was true nobody let me know that Joe was sick a few days later catherine contacted joe
sister and brother-in-law and her worst fears were confirmed catherine was stunned to learn that joe had gone into
a coma the very day that she had the first dream about doctors and nurses he had died of a brain aneurism just two
days before he appeared to catherine in her dream about the church we know somebody should have told me well we
didn't know what to do and even if you went to the funeral you wouldn't recognize them the mortuary put a wig on
Joe his body was so thin nobody knew him well let me tell you something Joe came
to me in a dream he came to me in my kitchen and told me himself that he had died I was convinced him everything I'd
tell them they would tell me yes that's the way it was and when I did tell him his sister said yes she's every detail
you've told us she said it's just the way it was [Music] William Shakespeare once wrote today's
dream is tomorrow's reality the cases we've examined tonight certainly seem to support that sentiment but there is
still no logical explanation for psychic dreams perhaps this phenomenon will always remain inexplicable and beyond
our understanding truly an unsolved mystery next a serial killer may be stalking the streets of
New Orleans [Music] New Orleans home of the Mardi Gras the city's heartbeat is as raucous French
Quarter or great music Street celebrations and Cajun cooking sometimes overshadow a more unsavory side of the
city [Music] August 4th 1991 across the Mississippi River from the French Quarter a lone
recycler gleaned what he could along a narrow deserted city road often used illegally as a dump site he had no idea
he was about to launch one of the city's most complex murder investigations [Music]
the body was identified as 17 year old Danielle Britton who lived nearby with her mother she had been strangled and
possibly raped approximately 12 hours earlier at first glance the murder of Danielle Britain has seemed an isolated
incident but the reality was far more sinister Danielle Britnie may have been the
victim of a serial killer preys on women he believes her prostitutes by some chilling estimates more than a hundred
serial killers roam the streets of America at any given moment police are usually left to gather clues only from
the silent testimony of gruesome crime scenes the New Orleans case would be different just ten minutes into the
investigation of Danielle Britain's murder detective Elizabeth Wigginton at her first inkling that she was dealing
with a serial killer and if it means anything at night about two weeks ago a man approached me regarding an attack of
a woman which had occurred approximately two weeks earlier at this time I realized that there was a possibility
that this attack and the murder of Danielle Britain could be connected somehow with one striking difference
that this victim has survived her attack it's most scarier than anything because
I did realize that he has told that I was dead in order to leave me there the surviving victim we will call Brenda had
her voice permanently damaged in a strangulation attempt police believe she was attacked by the same man who killed
Danielle Britain Brenda feel you tell me is his detail as possible what happened
that night when interviewed by Detective wiggenton Brenda was able to recall a trauma in minut detail house that house
and I decided that I wanted to call and visit a friend of mine so I walked up my
own Street knows that a car was following me so I ran in the Cortot side-by-side with
me as I was walking the next me where I was okay and I kept on walking we kept on insisting that he could give me a
ride to where I was going and the car stopped and define the man grabbed me and prevent to the car
despite Brenda's protests a man drove about a half a mile past her friend's house to the same deserted city road
where Daniel Britons body would be found two weeks later yeah on top man began to
choke when he looked at me and I looked at him and I realized this man I was trying to kill me so I tried to fight
him off but I really couldn't have any strength the killer strangled Brenda with his
bare hands stripped off her clothes and dumped her by the side of the road six hours later
shortly after dawn Brenda awoke to find herself covered with garbage and discarded tires
finding Brenda had certainly been a lucky break in this case we had now a live victim who could identify an
attacker an attacker who could be responsible for the murder of Danielle Britton I knew this guy was out there
stalking his victims he was stalking women intending to kill them and I was unable to come up with a suspect I had
no idea was going to get worse our September 22nd 1991 the killer claimed his third victim
Charlene Price dumping her body within 1 mile of the spot where Danielle Britton
was found on December 14th the fourth victim as yet unidentified was found in the same vicinity this is a sketch of
the woman who was in her early twenties she was 5 feet 2 inches tall weighed 125
pounds and had protruding front teeth two and a half weeks later on January 4th 1992 The Killers struck yet again
the nude body of 29 year-old Lydia Madison was found in an illegal dump site under the Greater New Orleans
bridge eight blocks from Police Headquarters and four hundred yards from the Superdome police soon learned that
three other bodies had been found at a nearby jurisdiction which borders New Orleans bringing the total number of
victims to eight these bodies closely resembled bodies found in our investigation in previous months leading
me to believe that the same killer may be responsible for all these victims seven of the eight women were found
within a three-mile radius all but one on the west bank of the Mississippi the killer has struck once a month
always strangling his victims always leaving them lewd facedown in or near illegal dumpsites these women have had
difficult lives they're invulnerable positions and are at risk to becoming statistics of murders and rapes I
certainly can't do anything about helping them at this point other than trying to find out who killed these
victims and I'm determined to get this guy I'm still afraid I don't I don't run the street at all anymore I don't go
anywhere unless sister church or if I go to the stores with my mother and somebody accomplice to me
because I still don't know where this man is and I know he knows me just like as well as I know him so I'm still very
much afraid if I'm at home I still locked up but only someone else is in the house with me it's more now like I'm
living in fear every minute or every second on the night she was murdered Danielle
Britton was seen with a suspect outside a bar called nivas rendezvous a man was driving a blue late-model Buick Regal or
motor Carlo when we return a man searched for an anonymous hotline counselor who saved him for the
nightmare of drug addiction among the unheralded heroes a modern city life the men and women who answer the urgent
calls coming into crisis hotlines at any moment a counselor may be plunged into a
desperate situation with the fate of a total stranger hangs in the balance our next story is a very special mystery
about one man's search for the anonymous hotline counselor who reached out and save his life Houston Texas 1982 James
Vernon was strung out again he had been addicted to heroin since he was 16 on several occasions James had had heard
drug treatment programs but inevitably he wound up back on the street still addicted his life stripped of everything
but the daily hustle for a fix nothing mattered other than where was my next shot coming from and that became my
life I mean it's you speak of careers when you say someone has a career in show business or someone has a career as
a doctor my career was getting my next fix that was that was my career I can remember back in 82 I just fixed and I
just dunno a load of her last call and I was just walking around the streets just
trying to figure out what my next move were cuz I knew that things were getting bad and looked up and saw a billboard
that said if you need help we do care [Music] Jamis felt he had nothing to lose he
called the number and spoke to a woman who identified herself as Libby well what would you like to talk about Jane
[Music] I'm lonely scared and nobody cares oh by the way I'm a junkie oh by the way I'm a
junkie okay let's start with that I really want a voice being soft and kind and caring and she didn't talk down to
me or or at me she talked to me and it was the first caring voice I'd heard in a long time it wasn't degrading to me
and she was like letting me know that it wasn't all of it wasn't my fault that I
had a problem and I needed some help that it's not that I was a bad person it was just that I was sake and I needed
some help hi James what's new over the next few months James called Libby nearly every night
mother took me back in again though he had finally found someone he could trust this new friendship wasn't enough James
was unable to resist the pull of heroin in desperation he stole from his own mother selling her jewelry to support
his habit mr. braley been in bad shape to do something like that facing up to it James
I tried to make it look like someone else broke into a house but I don't think she bought it
she was I remember coming home after was away I knew that my mother was home and
she asked me about it and she said that all the jury was gone and the window was
broke do I know anything about it and I lied he said I'm told that I had nothing
to do with it now you know I wouldn't take a jewelry mom I can't believe somebody would do this
you know this this neighborhood ain't like it used to be you know two weeks later and with great reluctance James's
mother threw him out of the house it was just raw like devastating for both of us because I had to face up to
it the end and I just couldn't do it I just couldn't minute James turned to his ex-wife who allowed him to move in with
her and their two-year-old son it appeared to be a promising new start like okay I can do this okay I'll pull
it back together I've got my wife back I've got my son back I'll get a job I'll get off the drugs don't make it work you
know I would do it for them hey baby guess what but James wasn't able to do it he began using drugs again
and his ex-wife felt she had no choice but to walk out there was no no I had no idea where she had gone when my son was
the furniture the clothes the dishes I mean everything was gone I think they did it I was at a point where I just
didn't want to live anymore like I just couldn't stand anymore and I decided that I was gonna commit suicide and I
knew how I was gonna do it I was gonna just overdose on heroin just go someplace sit down and go out you know
just just sleep through it you know and then Libby ran across my mind I wanted her to know that I really appreciated
everything she had done and for sticking with me but I just could you I just couldn't take no more I was ready to die
haven't heard from you in a while hope that means you went to get help but I wanted to call you
been a real good friend goodbye James let's talk this over can't be that bad ain't got no money it's not
that bad well maybe it's time you went and got help for yourself got change you have to read I told I just didn't want
to try no more this doesn't have to be the end and I did the last shot of what I thought would be my last shot of
heroin and it should have been enough to kill at least three people and I got what's known as a slight Rush and a
little dizzy and it was it even messed that and I I remember saying to Libby she started screaming my name and I just
started laughing I go I've even messed this one up lady I can't even kill me and she said alright you've tried your
way it didn't work there's give not wash let's go back to treatment go to treatment
right come on James you have never lied to me before now say those words I'll go to treatment
I'd never lied to Libby she was the only person I hadn't lied to and I wasn't gonna start then and just something
about that voice that that carrying I went alright man your part mr. James Vernon kept his promise the changes in
his life since that evening are nothing short of miraculous when I say my poor departed wife I don't want you folks to
thank my wife is dead she's got sick of being poor and departing from the brink of
self-destruction James is now confident enough to make his living as a stand-up comedian
nearly a decade after I last spoke to Libby he remains drug and alcohol-free dough going to therapy I spoke to my
therapist last week and she said my mind was like a bad neighborhood you should not go in there alone and where she
pulled me out of a spot man where I don't think I don't make it out open either Libby if if you're watching this tonight
please call and I really want to talk to you I really want to see alright when I
give you a hug and I want to say thanks I uh it's been a long time and it's and a lot
has happened but you've always been that light you know you've always been there
I don't want to tell you that [Music] next a smooth talking con man steals its victims affections and their money most
con artists play on a basic human instinct the desire their victims to make a quick easy buck however the more
cunning practitioners of fraud prey not on greed but on emotion you're about to meet three women who fell in love with a
smooth-talking swindler named JD method each discover the hard way that when it comes to the confidence game JD method
is a master well the new friends Peggy Peterson a single mother and businesswoman from the Golden Colorado
area met JD method in 1990 she had innocently responded to his ad in the personals column of a local newspaper
know something I learned in Vietnam really pilot there JD was a very charming person and a nice person and a
fun person and someone with some professional credentials well you know David it really sounds like you like to
go to swap meets and flea markets Linda Weaver a divorced mother of three got to know JD method in 1987 through a
telephone dating service after two weeks of phone calls they began to see each other
he's extremely well-versed in everything he's witty because it's such a fascination of mine he just knows the
answers to just about everything he's intelligent and you just enjoy his company he could talk about any subject
he knows about a little bit of everything in essence he would interview these women he would talk to them he
would find out what they were about their idiosyncrasies what they liked what they didn't like what their style
of life was you know I was thinking you really ought to have a few more credit cards no I don't need
more credit Cole with credit like yours you want to have 500 that interesting well one of the things that we found
that our investigation was methods ability to get his victims to extend their credit through the use of credit
cards and and not just one but get a lot of credit cards and even get a lot of the same kind of credit cards you ought
to think about it in the case of Peggy Peterson JD spent several weeks carefully beating his trap until she
trusted him implicitly Rick I noticed that nice-looking Camaro over there what's the story on that one JD you love
that $1500 private owner hold it down for it for $500 down oh is that right see peg there you go if I had $500 cash
I could buy that car today sell it tomorrow for $1,000 profit have a thousand bucks in my pocket yeah hey
what else you got there I got a nice clean zero method worked the scam so well that Peggy made the decision to
invest without prompting me I had already survived him doing several car deals over the weeks that we had been
dating so I wrote him out a check for $500 let's just go ahead and get that car yeah let's do it come on can you
believe this huh what am I gonna do with you no I'm not gonna take your money no
it's not a matter of the money it's playing the game he toured the check up and he said I wouldn't take money from
you and I said so you know I mean check was torn in half I didn't think anything
about it the very next day he calls me listen honey I need your help this afternoon
and when JD told Peggy that his uncle is seriously ill and required immediate surgery
he explained that his funds were tied up with investors and feigned great embarrassment at having to ask Peggy for
a loan okay mm-hmm y'all have it ready for you I mean you know what could I do I mean I
already I've already committed myself that I could let him have $500 and you know what could I do I can't say well
yesterday I had $500 to loan you today I don't other victim whom we call Amelia met JD in August of 1990 one month later
her son decided to sell his car and buy a pickup truck JD saw his opening and quickly talked
his way into the deal JD told him Eli that he could sell the car and for an additional $4,000 could make a great buy
on a new pickup so you got the title I told I had some questions about the car feeling anxious about the whole
situation I didn't know him very well he was saying to me you know how could I possibly doubt him here he is this
honest caring wonderful person is at some point in the conversation you know I had said something to the effect that
for all I knew he could be a con artist and his immediate response was Emilia you could be a con artist for all I know
the end result was that we ended up with no truck and no money and no Mustang at
the end of the situation that's how it got started first it was a little amount and then it would get bigger and then
bigger and bigger and eventually it would get into the tens of thousands of dollars Linda I need your help on this
deal in the case of Linda Weaver it was two months before JD began to ask for large sums of money isn't that good news
I think that's great but that's gonna be three weeks before it gets here now we've got to get this business
rolling now so what I'm asking for is a small loan 15,000 don't have $15,000 do it for you and me
now you know the answer you can do this for us okay good girl it happened so fast that I didn't realize what was
coming across until afterwards I'm gone oh my god what is going on you know he was so good he hit and ran and he's
doing it to all his victims three months after he met Peggy Peterson yes JD played out the same scene with her
listen dear I need to I need to borrow some money from you to you know help me have some cash for the for the trip I
need about ninety six hundred bucks oh man that's a lot of money JD well I know it seems like it but that 9600 is chili
beans compared to what my assets are his rationale was always that well I'm gonna
pay you back next week I'll have my money next week I'll pay you right back that night I you know I was just
sleeping soundly I was sleeping like a brick and at 2:30 in the morning I just said all tough right in bed I'd like God
had slapped me upside the head with a 2x4 and realized what had happened to me I knew Jerry for 11 months during that
period of time he in one way or another extorted over $70,000 in Amelia's case JD also waited three months before he
went for the big money I don't know about taking the equity out of my home well Amelia it would only be a short
term now if it'd make you feel more comfortable I've got a promissory note a promissory note yes it's a legally
binding contract that insures you that I'll pay you back exactly so Jerry ain't no problem with the promissory notes was
that JD met that would fill out the promissory note backwards he would make himself the payee and he would make the
victim the maker so that when you read the promissory note it said that she owed him $30,000 $40,000 whatever the
amount that was involved with that particular victim by looking at that time line what you
see is that as as mr. method was starting a relationship he would either be in the middle or the end of another
relationship I don't believe JD method knows the difference between truth and reality
anymore I think that he has built his life on lies for so long that he doesn't even know the truth anymore I think he
he probably believes all of a glop that he shovels off on women update on September 1st 1992 j.d method was
apprehended in Beaverton Oregon after police were contacted by a woman who lost $2,000 to a man she met through a
personals ad in the newspaper police staked out the man's home in Beaverton and arrested him when he
returned he was later identified as JD method inside methods house authorities seized several briefcases in a steamer
trunk containing papers and documents which may have been used by method to perpetrate his scams
[Music] next week haunting tales in honor of Halloween during prohibition the dramatic love
triangle ended in tragedy for a beautiful lady dressed in blue some say her ghost still haunts the spot where
she and her lover met and in Wilmington California many believe the spirits of the Civil War still roam the drum
barracks Museum join me next time perhaps you may be able to help solve a mystery
[Music]

Brief Summary

This episode features psychic dreams, a New Orleans serial killer, and a con artist's manipulation of women.

Key points

Psychic Dreams: A Reality?. Glen Lough Neagh believes a dream saved his life, prompting a discussion on psychic dreams.
A Haunting Message. Katherine Webb receives a chilling message from her deceased love, Joe Stewart, in a dream.
The Serial Killer's Trail. The investigation into a series of murders in New Orleans reveals a chilling pattern.
A New Beginning. James finds hope as he reconnects with his ex-wife and son, but struggles with addiction.
James's Turning Point. After a failed overdose, James decides to seek help, prompted by Libby's support.
The Con Artist's Game. Meet JD Method, a smooth-talking swindler who preys on women's emotions for money.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

I woke up in a cold sweat.

Glen's vivid dream experience

3:07WatchMay 23, 2019

Tension

65/ 100Some tension

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