Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 6, Episode 20 - Full Episode | Forensic Files

[Music] 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 in 1935 legendary gangster Dutch Schultz was ambushed by an underworld rival at a Tavern in New
Jersey on his deathbed Schultz reportedly rambled incoherently about his mother his enemies and his
ill-gotten seven million dollar fortune buried in rural upstate New York but when Dutch died he took the secret of
his alleged lost treasure with him to the grave one five-year-old Lauren Jackson disappeared and eyewitness
account led police to believe she'd been abducted by a string then a few months later another witness came forward with
a stunning accusation Laurens own mother may have been involved in the kidnapping aware of the
classifieds in September of 1992 a man calling himself Tom Jones answered an ad for a computer system but Johnson had no
intention of paying for his purchase instead he had hatched economy deadly proportion
just outside Dallas Texas young boy and his mother were murdered by a ruthless unknown assailant authorities hope one
of our viewers will recognize several items left behind by the killer crucial evidence it may lead to the suspects
identity and capture jointly perhaps you pull the one vital clue that will help solve one of tonight's unsolved
mysteries [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] on a cool moonless night some 60 years
ago two shadowy figures dug along the banks of Esopus Creek 100 miles north of New York City the man doing all the work
was Bernard Rosencrantz nicknamed oddly enough Lou Lou his boss was infamous Dutch
Schultz king of the New York underworld according to legend Dutch buried a strongbox at night containing a king's
ransom of cash bonds unset diamonds and gold coins today would be worth more than 50 million dollars that is of
course if it ever existed like most tales of buried treasure this one comes with a familiar wet blanket
disclaimer but let's face it we love these tales perhaps because they often spring up around societies villains as
pirates thieves and gangsters men just like Dutch Schultz the legend of his lost treasure is wooded smack in the
middle of one of America's most colorful periods of Roaring Twenties [Music] the decade came by his nickname honestly
prohibition was passed 1919 the criminal element is in his element bootleg liquor
became an art form his manufacture and distribution made millions for ruthless gangster like legs diamond lucky
Deutsche Al Capone Dutch Schultz Dutch Schultz was something of a criminal prodigy born
Arthur flegenheimer in 1902 he was already a force to be reckoned with by the time he was 25 he adopted his name
from a notorious gang Lord who had flourished in another era that Schultz was a very successful and widespread
bootlegger owned a string of speakeasies and then quickly branched out into narcotics the numbers racket in the
protection racket Schultz was an extremely dangerous gangster he was reported to have had 136 people killed
and that's over a criminal career of less than 10 years as a Roaring Twenties came to a close Dutch Schultz his
criminal empire was netting more than 20 million dollars a year in 1933 Dutch earned a dubious distinction he was
named public enemy number one by the Justice Department like Al Capone before him Schultz was highly vulnerable to the
newly enacted federal income tax laws when he was indicted by a grand jury for income tax evasion
he did what gangsters do he went on the lam at the time Dutch Schultz was facing a
long prison sentence and he decided that he needed a nest egg to fall back on in
case he was sent to prison so he had his top lieutenants clean out of safe-deposit boxes and gather together
whatever cash they could from his available bank accounts looks good at a hideaway in Bridgeport
Connecticut Dutch in his henchmen including lulu rosenkranz and a man named Marty cram Pierre rendezvous
according to gangland legend they stacked bundles of thousand-dollar bills a negotiable liberty bodies together
with a trove of gold coins unmounted diamonds and other gems and it was steel plated strongbox my summit ranked Dutch
Schultz at the only key that very night Dutch and the faithful Lulu who made their fabled nocturnal journey across
the Hudson River tours Phoenicia New York a tiny hamlet Dutch knew well from his bootlegging days Dutch swore Lulu to
secrecy that allegedly marked the site by carving an ex into the trunk of a nearby tree but Lulu couldn't keep his
mouth shut he wasted no time in spilling the beans to his crony Marty kromm Pierre I
shouldn't tell you this I think it'd be good for somebody else to know know what
that strongbox and me and Dutch buried upstate a few weeks ago yeah what about it oh I'm gonna tell you what we buried
it some say Lulu even drew Marty a map ain't got away by you doing anything stupid do i me and the Dutchman were
like this he's gonna take care of me as it turned out Marty was none too good at
keeping his mouth shut either and just where is this mr. Louie drew me this map and I got it right here in my wallet
listen Marty rumors of Dutchess secret treasure filtered through New York but he had other troubles too content
specifically Manhattan's crime busting District Attorney Thomas II do do we would later become phase four almost but
not quite beating out harry s truman in the 1948 presidential elections but in 1934 he was determined to make a career
out of squashing Dutch Schultz and his illegal empire with a pressure building shields frame
Lee surrendered to authorities in Albany New York his first trial resulted in a hung jury at his second trial he was
acquitted of all charges for a lack of evidence by Dutchess design both trials had taken place in upstate New York
marika jury tampering piece far from thomassie Dewey after the acquittal Dutch Schultz moved his headquarters to
New Jersey specifically to the palace chop house a tavern he owned in Newark determined to regain control of his
empire Dutch went on a bloody killing spree thereby alienating the powerful New York crime syndicate syndicate was a
confederation of New York City mobsters who controlled virtually all the crime in the Manhattan area and they were very
afraid that he was bringing additional heat upon them with these killings the heat came in the former Schultz his old
nemesis thomassie Dewey finally Dutch decided to get rid of doing let me tell you something du is
just another politician and I never met a politician who couldn't be bought I don't think you can buy off Dewey well
if I can't buy him off then we'll just have to bump him off what are you crazy you can't bump off Dewey nobody in the
back room of the palace chop outs Dutchess trusted lieutenants tried to talk him out of it
Arthur do you can't go around saying you're gonna bump off Dewey maybe you're right
I'm just gonna go uh let's bless some water on my face Dutch Schultz headed for the men's room
perhaps he would have listened to reason when he returned but it was too late The Syndicate had already taken matters
into its own hands a date of October 23rd 1935 [Music] [Music] well they took Schultz to the hospital
and he lingered on until the next evening and all the time issuing a delirium series of statements how many
shots were fired at me the police actually had a court stenographer in the room with him taking
down everything he said most of which was unintelligible kindly take my shoes off they still on they feel I can't
cuffs I wonder haunts these woods Dutch hung on for nearly 22 hours once he allegedly begged to be taken to phone
issue where the strongbox was buried to the police it was only the babbling of a
dying man come and get me if he says anything [Music] Dutch shows finally died at 8:35 p.m. on
October 24th 1935 he was 33 years old his trusted bodyguard lulu rosenkranz had died hours earlier that left only
one man who knew where the treasure was buried a party Crum pier too late body learned that the blondie
had blab to was friends with Jake Shapiro Bob's true what a few henchmen of his own the night of the Chophouse
murders the two henchmen caught up with Marty at a barbershop New York said he gunned him down and took the map crime
Pierre survived the attack but he was never able to locate the treasure without the map Jake Shapiro made
several attempts at finding the treasure from the map as did several other gangsters of the euro but none were
successful I think buried treasure is always fascinating and certainly when you add the element of the gangsters to
it it becomes even more of a popular story because we're interested in the gangsters because they represent
unfortunately a flamboyant side of our society which all evil can be compelling the bit
if people knew about it Schultz's as close as associates they told other people I would suspect strongly that had
been retrieved long before now I personally believe the treasure of Dutch Schultz was buried and there's a good
possibility that it still exists today [Music] because even though the Liberty Bonds
have long since matured in the last sixty plus years none have ever been redeemed did Dutch Schultz leave an
ill-gotten fortune buried along the banks of Esopus Creek in upstate New York those who believe say this Sunday
some way someone will stumble across a tree scarred with an X hit the jackpot [Music]
next classified-ad leaves two innocent people into a deadly trap in today's high-tech marketplace more
and more people are using the classifieds to buy and sell computers in September of 1992 a music video company
in Nashville ran these notices in the local trade publication hoping to sell a top-of-the-line computer system valued
at more than $30,000 at the time it seemed inconceivable that the ads would lead to murder okay if you got a couple
minutes I'd like to ask you some specific questions about it because I'm really interested on October 7th 1992
hundra man calling himself Tom Johnson to answer the ads he said he was a freelance computer programmer and
database consultant a few days later Johnson met with a videotape editor named Jeremy for a demonstration I'm
mainly concerned with a fast processor the two men eventually agreed on a price of $31,000 Johnson requested that the
computer system be delivered to his office and Marietta Georgia a several hundred miles from Nashville October
24th 1992 1:30 a.m. Jeremy and his fiancee Heather often set off on a five-hour trek to deliver the computer
to Tom Johnson I'd been working for about 30 hours on another project and was completely exhausted and I said well
I don't know if I'm gonna be able to find anybody except Heather at this point and I'd like to take her along
anyway because you know we enjoy taking trips together 7:30 a.m. after driving all night Jeremy
and Heather arrived at Tom Johnson's motel in Marietta originally we've been set to meet in an industrial park but he
said that the directions to the industrial park were so complex that he would prefer to meet us first at his
motel which made perfect sense to me because I spent a lot of time lost in industrial parks trying to find an
unposted address somewhere come on in Tom hi hey this might be on say heaven we arrived a little early I think but he
said that his business partner would be along shortly and he was bringing a certified check I suggested that we go
and get breakfast if we had to wait for a while because Heather and I were really hungry so we left him when we
came back maybe half an hour later he said that his business manager had called and was on the way and would be
there shortly 8 a.m. Johnson suggested that Jeremy and Heather load the computer into his car
while they waited for Johnson's partner to arrive with a check we so trusted this guy it didn't strike me as being
odd there were absolutely no clues that this guy was anything but what he said he was he was very good at making people
believe that he was legitimate think about how computer technologies influenced every aspect of our societies
the three returned to Johnson's motel room and made small talk for 20 minutes by an a Jeremy grew tired of waiting
tamo I've been up about 30 hours if you knew where your president was we could close this deal I think we can close
this deal right now okay no I'm not kidding put your money belt over there and get down on your
knees you stand up take the sheet off that bed and lay it down here on the floor hurry up put the sheet down here
lay it on the ground why are you doing this tom why'd you lie shut up lay down person we've been
talking to you before was this kind of thoughtful introspective guy interested in computers and then this person who
was pointing the gun was cold and calculating and deliberate he knew exactly what he wanted to do I lay down
in it roll yourself up in it your company's gonna get an insurance check and I'm gonna get the computer and
everybody's gonna be fine look away don't lock it and so I turned my head away from him and then a second later I
hear a sharp buzzing in my ear it's almost like a siren and the whole room spins because he's struck me in the back
of the head and I saw him raise his hand up and bring it down and when he did Heather screamed this horrible screaming
so he kept hitting her stop screaming so he came back over and hit me more and then went back over and hit her more and
then as he backed out of the room and still pointing the gun at us he dusted the countertop for fingerprints as he
walked out of the room and as soon as he left I crawled over to Heather and I told her that I was going
to get help and we were gonna be okay and what I saw haunts me you know I can't I can't get the picture out of my
head I mean that someone could so hurt such a gentle person Heather and Jeremy were rushed to a
nearby hospital two hours later Heather ruffle and died of massive skull injuries meanwhile the authorities
questioned witnesses and searched the motel room for evidence among the few clues that Johnson left behind was the
murder weapon the hammer was still wrapped in plastic I still had the card identifying that's wait it's a SKU
number but we have not been able to trace exactly which tore it was purchased from this is a very unusual
robbery in the fact that he would allow himself to be seen in public in daylight
it's unusual that he had a handgun especially a small caliber handgun didn't use this handgun to kill the
victims police learned have yet another curious circumstance that occurred approximately an hour before the attack
an unknown woman a complained of a problem in the motel room rented to Tom Johnson at that time Jeremy and Heather
had gone out for breakfast investigators now believe that the woman may have been
an accomplice of Johnson's who attempted to sabotage the scheme when she learned
that he intended to murder his victim this was urgent if we could locate the mystery woman that entered into the
motel that morning maybe she could give us further information or anybody at the
motel if they would come forward and give us any further information on the vehicle or this suspect called Tom
Johnson or if anybody has any information on the computer its whereabouts the vehicle that Tom Johnson was driving
was a Dodge Dynasty black cherry color with a red interior and Tennessee license plates Tom Johnson is in his
late 20s or early 30s approximately six feet tall and weighing 165 pounds yes sandy brown hair and maybe wearing
glasses he was last seen wearing an expensive pair of boots made of either snake or alligator skin Tom Johnson is a
riddle he had a smile in a way of talking to you that made you feel very much it is Tom Johnson could be
someone's coworker he could be someone's you know acquaintance and they would have no clue
that this other side is there at all until it was too late this is the same computer model the man calling himself
Tom Johnson stole from Jeremy it is a Macintosh Quadra 950 used for desktop publishing a videotape editing perhaps
someone in our audience purchased the unit from Tom Johnson at this point the police have evidence a Johnson tried to
pull a similar scam just one week before he murdered Heather ruffle Minh but for
some unknown reason Johnson never showed up for the appointment when we returned
after a five-year-old girl disappears a grieving mother finds herself a suspect [Music]
on a chilly October evening a 1988 200 rescue workers and volunteers swarmed into the tiny township of East Vincent
Pennsylvania at a moment's notice he had put their lives on hold to launch a search for one of their own a
five-year-old girl named Lauren Jackson was missing at the time I was in shock and I really didn't realize cuz I always
thought she's right here she'll come up you know she'll come home mommy and this
is all for naught but when daylight came she wasn't home Lauren Jackson's been missing for more
than five years in a case like this anyone and everyone becomes a suspect says Lauren vanished her case has taken
a number of bizarre turns and when all is said and done many people believe the prime suspect is a member of Laurens
family her own mother Lauren's parents Kristina O'Donnell and Mickey Jackson were never
married they split in 1987 when Lauren was four years old Lauren lived with her mother but in
September of 1988 Christina was arrested for attempting to illegally obtain prescription drugs
soon after Mickey told Lauren he planned a file for custody of her a month later
on October 4th 1988 Kristina took Lauren and her other daughter out for dinner the day had been so normal it was almost
mundane but within two hours Lauren Jackson would be gone I remember all day asking me for a cheeseburger and I
finally gave in and took her down got her a cheeseburger and we ate and I let her go out and play with Brian to dig in
the dirt she'd love to do that Brian was a six year old boy who lived three doors
down from Lauren and Christina in the park Springs apartment complex that was si sweeping watching her
and I walked in and I put the room in the house and cleaned up my kitchen counters I went out and she was gone
[Music] Christina says a twenty minutes had elapsed she immediately went to Brian's
apartment according to Christina no one was home but I found out later that his mom had
went to the mall and they left Lauren outside but she wasn't out there when I went out when I showed up at Park
Springs that night and got out of card it was people mobilizing and fire engine trucks and just a whole lot of pretty
hectic yeah I was hoping for the best at the time now you're kind of overwhelmed
by everything that's old boy who was happening to you there are a lot of people out here looking for Lauren but
the time Lauren disappeared Jim Cody was east Vincennes police chief at probably 250 people out going through
weeds and bushes combing the area looking for the child rescue units from the surrounding area cleared 19 ponds in
two days by the next morning the police using bloodhounds and a professional tracker uncovered evidence that Lauren
either wandered or been dragged towards route 724 a quarter of a mile from her home when an 11 year old girl came
forward with an eyewitness account everyone's worst fears seemed to be confirmed
[Music] [Applause] the girl was certain that the child she saw was Lauren but the investigation soon stalled for
lack of further evidence then a few months later another witness came forward with stunning new information
that pointed the finger of suspicion directly at Lauren's mother Kristina a witness told us that Lauren was not
kidnapped and that she saw Kristina give Lauren away to a couple in the James Way
mall on October 4th of 1988 according to the witness at around 7 p.m. she was in
the mall parking lot when she heard a child yelling the witness reported seeing a woman
possibly the child's mother and the young girl - a couple in a parked car [Music]
[Applause] [Music] the day after the witness came forward Police Chief Jim Cote showed up
unannounced at Christina's apartment from across the street the witness and FBI agents were watching that's the
woman the woman I saw she observed christina and told us that she was 100% positive
that that was the same woman that she saw give Lauren away on October 4th of 1988 my whole thought is she saw my
picture in the paper either maybe she mistake me for somebody else maybe she just is one of those kind of people that
like to go to the police or the FBI there are people like that why I don't know Christina O'Donnell's dog she
maintains that she had nothing to do with her daughter's disappearance and points to a major discrepancy in the
witness's story the witness placed Lauren and Christina in the parking lot a 7 p.m.
however residents at Christina's apartment complex clearly recall seeing Lauren playing in her front yard as late
as 7:15 I don't doubt that she may have seen her a child and a mother in the mall the current East Vincent Police
Chief Bill demske believes the witness was mistaken she's quite sure at a time she was there there's other people that
live in the complex where Lauren disappeared from that are quite sure at at times that Lauren was still in the
complex Miki Jackson is convinced that christina was involved I'd bet my life on it
that she did it and I feel certain that it's because two two reasons tied together the number one displayed
Million number two she's just overwhelmed with responsibility raising a child everyone was a suspect in a
beginning Miki Jackson was a suspect he can probably relate the phone conversation I had with him at the night
of the disappearance she wasn't too happy with that it took offense at being an initial suspect there are other
suspects along the route of that long and tedious investigatory process and you work through them christine
o'donnell given a scenario would be a suspect ultimately a grand jury in East Vinson was
to consider whether christina o'donnell should be charged in connection with the
disappearance of her daughter after four months the grand jury declined to take action today there is only one absolute
fact in this troubling case Lauren Jackson has not been seen since the day she disappeared more than five years ago
and there's got to be there's got to be a trail somewhere since then we were so far behind it that we're here and it's
trails there you know we need we need somebody to put us on the trail a lot of times I gave up hope but there's always
just that glimmer that I see you [Music] next authorities and Dallas Texas need your help
to solve a brutal double murder just a few days before Christmas in 1981 the Dallas County Texas Sheriff's Department
was preparing for their annual holiday lunch it was a Wednesday December 23rd a day that no one in the department will
ever forget at about 11:45 a.m. officer Roy Baird was still on duty patrolling an area ten miles outside Dallas
his attention was drawn to a car parked on the wrong side of a dirt road with one door hanging open this vehicle were
to be suspicious to me and I decided to check it out and upon checking good I found that the car was still wrong on
the back seat was a pile of brightly wrapped Christmas gifts on the front seat a blue sports bag a pair of women's
gloves and a purse with the instinct born of 15 years experience officer Baird quickly concluded that someone was
in dire trouble I felt that there was possibly a ripe going on or that a female had been raped
I then called for cover and made my entrance into the field on the north side of the road
very slowly and cautiously made my way towards a tree line that was to the northeast observed a small boy that
appeared to be crumpled to the ground and lying next to him was a white female that was covered with a blanket I
touched him and his body was still warm I felt at that time that whoever did this was possibly still in the area
and I could not believe that someone had shot this little boy that's close to Christmas
the same day the victims were identified as 30 year old Roxann Jeeves and her five year old son Christopher
[Music] more than 12 years of paths as a brutal double murder but it still grips the
investigating officers and so it happened yesterday for them the case is far from over they
hope that tonight one of our viewers will provide the critical information necessary to solve this troubling
mystery Roxann geez it moves to Dallas after a divorce she worked for an insurance
company and enjoyed country-western dancing Roxanne was engaged to be remarried in June of 1982 friends
describe Roxanne's son Christopher as happy and outgoing he had turned five years old on Wednesday December 23rd
1981 the very day he was murdered that morning Roxann and Kristopher plan to embark on a special Christmas trip to
visit relatives in Kansas concerned that her car might break down on the long journey
Roxanne told neighbors she planned to take along her toolbox about one hour before the murders a man authorities
believe was the killer was seen by a neighbor outside Roxanne's apartment complex it was a first of many
eyewitness reports that enabled investigators to piece together the supporting crime we located a neighbor
of Roxanne's who left about the time that Christopher came out the door with the red toolbox matter-of-fact she spoke
to Christopher in the process of going to her car she saw the man carrying a toolbox in one hand and Christopher by
the hand as they went around the corner where she believed Roxanne's car was parked
she said they looked rough they looked nervous she described them as not fitting in the
complex 30 minutes later at about 11 a.m. the suspect was seen again this time is with Roxann and Kristopher in
their car the man's female companion was no longer with him he was acting kinda nervous he had his hands down between
his legs he never looked up at me he never said anything he just stared at the pro board you could tell that she
was nervous I'm proud licked her she looked me right in the eyes and you could tell then she was nervous that
something was wrong our little boy was in the back seat and I thought well he act like everything's alright I told one
of my fellow employees I said it's gonna be something if something happens that warm Associated awful strange sometime
during the next half hour Roxann and Kristopher were murdered I'm afraid that she she saw her son
killed and then she and the killer had quite a struggle before she was initially shot twice herself the bodies
were still warm when officer Baird found them at 11:45 he immediately called backup units to the scene at the very
moment support officers were arriving the suspect was seen fleeing the area a total of eight eyewitnesses saw the
alleged killer either running or hitchhiking away from the scene meanwhile less than a mile away
investigators were gathering evidence that may someday convict him in making his quick getaway the suspect had
inadvertently left behind a blue sports pack literally a bag of clues a pre-world War two holster possibly a
collector's item a set of burglary tools a toboggan hat and finally a bottle of formaldehyde it would be the first hint
that the case was linked in some way to drugs it was popular among heavy drug users in to lace a marijuana cigarette
with formaldehyde locally here they called it a Sherman stick investigators were still at the murder scene on the
suspect burst into a gas station just five miles away demanding to use the phone use that phone right there
come on lady I can't let you use that phone sir you want to make a call you can use that payphone
right out there on the corner it's right out there sir [Music] he was there at the gas station for 15
to 20 minutes she said that he used the telephone the last time she saw him he wandered
off towards interstate 635 the suspect was seen one final time this sighting led authorities to believe that
he may have had an accomplice now seen this man run down the hill from service station and I thought he might have been
a robbery because it was a car on side roads slowing down stopping to pick him up
[Music] Roy Morris described the getaway car as a green 1955 Buick the driver was a
heavyset black man in the wake of the murder anonymous tips flooded police hotlines several callers made the same
suggestion talked to Roxanne's brother Army Private Curt Jeeves investigators learned that before joining the service
in August of 1981 Curtis stayed with Roxann and Kristopher in their Dallas apartment when Kurt moved out to go to
the army people have told us that Roxanne was relieved we know that he was dealing in marijuana and at some point
in time he had a disagreement with these folks over some of their transactions with regard to this marijuana according
to Roxanne's friends late one night a man showed up unexpectedly at her apartment here what do you mean he's not
here police believe that when Curt left to join the army his former associates were
still angry Roxanne may have found herself trapped in the middle of a bitter drug-related disputant Curt owe
me some money and I'm gonna find him and I will find him two years later in 1984 Kurt Gees was
himself murdered during an attempted drug Buy he had always angrily insisted that he had no information that might
shed light on the deaths of his sister and nephew this case occurred at Christmas time and I'm sure that myself
and all the other detectives will never forget what we saw out there that day whomever committed that offense doesn't
need to be free in our society and I don't intend to ever give up trying to find that person
[Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] but our next unsolved mysteries two stories of death defined by overpowering
love in one a mother's pain over the loss of her child was eased when she was contacted by what she believes was a
spirit of her daughter and a woman raising two young sons after the death of her husband says she found solace
when he appeared to her some say these after death visits are pure hallucination others claim they are all
too real also a case of utmost urgency a serial killer is stalking and murdering young
women in the Midwest perhaps you can help catch the i-70 killer join me next time perhaps you may be able to help
solve a mystery [Music] [Applause] [Music]

Brief Summary

The episode examines Dutch Schultz's buried treasure, Lauren Jackson's disappearance, and a double murder in Dallas, Texas.

Key points

The Legend of Dutch Schultz's Treasure. Dutch Schultz, a notorious gangster, allegedly buried a treasure worth over $50 million.
A Deadly Computer Scam. A man named Tom Johnson lures victims into a deadly trap under the guise of a computer sale.
The Disappearance of Lauren Jackson. Five-year-old Lauren Jackson goes missing, leading to shocking family suspicions.
The Disappearance of Lauren Jackson. Lauren Jackson vanished, sparking a massive search and investigation that led to shocking revelations.
The Gripping Double Murder Case. A brutal double murder just before Christmas leaves investigators searching for answers.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

I wonder haunts these woods.

Dutch Schultz's delirious thoughts before dying.

10:59WatchMay 23, 2019

Tension

65/ 100Some tension

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