Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 7, Episode 16 - 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
Lewis cows barreto Brasil is no ordinary artist he works at a frenzied pace often
completing drawings and paintings in less than five minutes incredibly Gus Prado claims that his
every move is guided by the spirits of long dead artists creating new works from beyond the grave does Louis gasps
Prado possess stunning psychic powers tonight you can judge for yourself for nearly three years
tarah Breckenridge was a waitress in some of Houston's most fashionable adult night clubs then one evening in 1992 she
left work and mysteriously vanished Tara's family believes she was a victim of foul play and that her boyfriend
knows more than he is admitting December 1944 the second world war still raged across Europe but for a brief
moment peace reigned in one tiny corner of Belton on Christmas Eve three American GIs and four Nazi soldiers put
down their guns to share an unlikely holiday dinner now the young boy who helped make friends out of bitter
enemies needs your help to find the men and gave him an unforgettable Christmas to his fellow parishioners in Virginia
Beach Virginia Carlos Garcia was an honest about Christian known suspected that Garcia was in fact a devious con
artist who would eventually scam his church and the people in his community out of more than two million dollars
joined with these intriguing cases perhaps you may be able to help solve a mystery
[Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] are those who love art it is tempting to wish that the great masters could return
two pages one more glorious canvas utterly impossible of course unless you believe in the extraordinary
claims of a man named Louis gasparotto [Music] as he whips color across the page gasp
reto seems a man possessed indeed if gasp rattles astounding assertions are true as every gesture is
directed by the spirits of long-dead masteries we'll continue to create new works from beyond the grave
[Music] van Gogh Monet run while all gone now for more than half a century but believe
it or not Lois gasps barreto says that these paintings are nothing less than their recent work channeled through him
his gasps Prado a gifted psychic as he claims for a flamboyant showman as common sense would dictate we invite you
to see for yourself Louis gasps parental grew up in Sowell power brazil's largest city the culture
here is laced with mysticism but many considers psychic experiences part of everyday life
the gasparotto family is no exception Louise's mother zibeon has written 13 books work she says were all channeled
from the spirit world Louis was just a boy when he first began to believe that he too possessed psychic
abilities at the age of 13 Louis was overwhelmed by stress sleeplessness and trouble at
school z-bo thought he needed counseling and took him to see Madame Louise one of the
city's best known clairvoyance [Music] I was embarrassed because it was the first time there and but I start to
filled all that my body shaking inside and all that energy and something was holding my throat and
I tried to control myself and that gets worse so I I had to let it go gasparotto recalls feeling pain and
tingling in his arms Tamara Maurice it was a sign he would be able to channel writing much like his mother but quite
unexpected Lewis began to draw gasp areto had found his calling [Music] gasps brutal says that over the past
three decades he has channeled more than 20,000 paintings by some 50 artists his claims go largely unchallenged in
Brazil gasp rattles reputation has begun to spread around the world in January of 1995 we asked to film one
of his channeling sessions ourselves when you invited me for a a presentation I asked them if they want to if they
wanna come because I cannot do myself so if they say yes I just know accept invitation
our invitation was apparently accepted and we filmed Gasper arrow in New York City
gasps peretta works with such intensity an assistant holds down the work the sensation of coming in involving me
you know involving my arms and I just let it go and yeah I'm goes by that force drop me he's not coming from the
inside comes from outside during the frenetic session gasparotto competed six drawings and three
paintings most in less than five minutes he moved easily between different artistic styles
[Music] I try not to control anything I try not to put my thoughts or my ideas but you
see people think that if you are unconscious is going to be somebody else coming through you or
taking your body that's impossible nobody takes your body you know it's just a energetical influence through you
so I just learned to be passive [Music] during the 45 minutes we were filming gasparotto says he channel works by
seven artists among the greatest of all time an impressive accomplishment but is it
proof that the great masters are hard at work in the afterlife perhaps some comparisons are in order a
painting by Pierre Auguste Renoir completed in 1877 Oh goosed Renoir 1995 as channel through
Louis gasps barreto in roughly five minutes Claude Monet 1880 Claude Monet through gasparotto
[Music] Vincent van Gogh 1890 van goes through gasparotto art experts in the United States are
hardly convinced the notion that any one of these artists take a van Gogh for example a man of
extraordinary intensity and seriousness of purpose to think that he would want to come back after his death and produce
third fourth fifth rate imitations of what he successfully did during his life seems to me incredible gasparotto
certainly seems to be possessed by some force I mean perhaps it's the force of his own subconscious playing back images
that he's seen in our history books or perhaps he's really receiving these images from the afterlife I mean I
certainly can't say the painters are coming through me because they want to they want to show that there is life
after death and they want us to think about eternity they want to help with evolution of our
conceptions of life they want us to see life in a different way [Music] is Lewis gasparotto a window to the
metaphysical side of art can it possibly be any substance to his stunning claim a
matter what you may believe even a skeptic has to admit that Lewis gasps barreto puts on a great show
[Music] next a search for a beautiful young waitress who mysteriously vanished at
1992 [Music] the men's club in Houston Texas is an upscale adult night spandau clientele is mostly male the
entertainment topics for many of us it is tempting to make assumptions about the type of women who dance and work
here but don't be deceived consider the case of Tara Breckinridge waited tables at
the men's club from 1989 to 1992 Tara grew up in Del Rio Texas population 34,000 she was a third of five children
an upstanding devoutly religious family Tarr was a very caring type person a very loving type person very nurturing
type person she was always very upbeat very cheerful just a real wonderful daughter to have
shortly after graduating from high school in 1987 Tara set off for Houston to pursue a career in photography but in
the air' financial reality forced to take up waitressing ultimately landed her at the men's club
taro wasn't the type of person you would think would work in a place like that it
was more just for the money you know she was going to school and stuff so it made
her the money that she was comfortable with and she was happy with that antara Breckinridge arrived in Houston
she was no different than thousands of small-town girls with big-city dreams but for Tyra the dream may have ended in
a horrible nightmare in 1992 she vanished without a trace the police and her Paris fear the worst they believed
that Tara was murdered and high on the list of possible suspects as Tara's boyfriend at the time a young man named
Dwayne Hecker they met in 1989 two years after Tara arrived in Houston even though Tara had
never danced at the men's club Wayne was less than thrilled about her job she was working before I met her in
those kind of places and and she loved the money and she loved the atmosphere and I guess that's just something he
want to grow out of and I'm not going to tell her where to work you know Wayne was not happy about Tara working at a
topless club but he you know accepted it because it was paying the bills and so Tara you know worked at night and you
know Wayne wasn't working at the time so he didn't have much of a choice despite wings misgivings a young couple
soon moved in together at first they seemed happy but as time passed the relationship became more and more
contentious tar and Wayne's relationship was kind of rocky to say the least she was always talking about moving out
or thinking about moving out and we would discuss it at times and she would say she needed to talk it over with him
and and occasionally we talked about her doing it without talking and over first
in July of 1992 Tara made a visit to her parents home in Del Rio Tara's mother says she felt that something was not
quite right I think maybe her problems were a lot bigger than we would have guessed and we
had no way of really knowing because she didn't talk to us about it and we didn't
know to ask at the time two weeks later of August 3rd 1992 Tara was back in Houston working at the men's
club it was a slow night and management decided to send two waitresses home early
anybody wanna go you went to 91 more any volunteers everyone was surprised when Tara
volunteered to leave it was strangely out of character it'd be a little unusual for Tarr to ask
to the home she wasn't always interested in leaving she was there till 2 o'clock
to see if she you know till closing time thank as much money as she could tarah changer to street clothes and at
12:29 a.m. she punched out for the night taro when she left walked past the doorman without saying you know goodbye
or without responding to his goodbyes and that would have been unusual security guard indicated that he carried
her tote bag that she had when she left the club he physically took it from her and carried it as he escort her to her
vehicle he watched her get in the vehicle he told her be safe as she drove home and
then saw that she exited the parking lot we asked him if anybody followed her or
free or if he saw anybody follow her and he said he did not at the very moment Tara was leaving the
men's club her boyfriend Wayne Hector says he was in a pool hall 15 minutes away Wayne had phone Tara earlier that
evening but never spoke to him and I didn't really think anything at that time and they told me that she was
on the floor I'm probably getting home and around 5:00 and I expected to see Tara either
laying on the sofa or in bed and she wasn't there so at that point I mean I would do like anybody else would and was
in love with someone or I went to find her indeed it would be Wade we found Tara's
car at 7:00 a.m. abandoned by the sight of a busy freeway when I saw the car the first thing comes
to my mind is is what's it doing there I apparently she drove the car there the car alarm wasn't even on the flashers
weren't even on that and really surprised me Tara's car was lungs and a can of mace
was inside as she always carried her mace on her and when I saw the mace in the car I thought it was a mace in a car
and why aren't the flashers on and why isn't the car we did have car alarm while wasn't engaged
the police fear that Tara had met with foul play before long suspicion began to set her on Wayne
investigators were especially curious about his activity the night Tara disappeared
we have employees of the club that indicated that he left the club approximately midnight 12:30 and was
next seen approximately 1:45 in the morning [Music] the pool hall is located here 15 minutes
from the men's club Tara's car was filed here just three miles from the club Wayne's alleged absence from the pool
zone was a full hour and 45 minutes well there's certain actions and reactions that we've got
from Wayne that that cast suspicion upon himself obviously we don't have any evidence to
support a belief that he may or may not be involved in this but he certainly has
not been eliminated as a suspect either later we put the question directly to Wayne Hecker
to tell you the truth I don't I don't know an explanation anybody but the Lord and the Lord has given me
you know he's I'm waiting I'm waiting here's some minutes from him I I can't I can't
answer anybody because there's not an answer that I have only he has it and and until there is an answer I don't
think anybody will be satisfied and and I might be pinpointer for the rest of my
life and I mean there's nothing I can do about that there's a lot of people that
have said things made a lot of progress were statements and and that's okay and I can't help them
with no concrete evidence of foul play Tara Breckinridge was officially listed as missing then the police obtained a
series of love notes that indicated there had been another man in Tara's life one note said please don't be
scared do what your heart tells you I'm very excited that you'll marry me but another one said the more you hold out
the longer you jeopardize what I feel for you according to people at the club Tara's
admirer was a frequent visitor but often lavished her with $100 tips he apparently had intimate knowledge of her
difficulties with Wayne but the note seemed to indicate that in the end Tara rejected the man's advances there was
nothing threatening in those notes we interviewed the individual our opinion at this point it's he was just an
individual that had an attraction toward Tarr and nothing more but if Tara's admirer was not a suspect
who was once again a shadow of doubt was cast upon Wayne Hecker Wayne did know about the guy but
and I do honestly think there was some jealousy but I don't think that you know it would cause him to do anything stupid
I'm in charge with the crime no matter at all I didn't commit a crime so how can I be charged with one
simple as that I love the woman to death she's the best thing that ever happened to me
she's great girl yeah I do I love her I love her with all my heart and and I'd hoped the whole world hears that
tarah Breckinridge would today be 26 years old she's 5 feet 5 inches tall weighs 120 pounds her car was found a
ban in the 1200 block of the West Loop north in Houston Texas on the morning of August 4th 1992
next a remarkable story of an unlikely friendship between bitter enemies three American GIs and four German soldiers
[Music] the story you're about to see is one of the most remarkable tales to ever come
out of the Second World War remarkable for the fact that it involves no fighting and no bloodshed
in 1973 Reader's Digest magazine published the account and in 1985 it was a focal point of a speech given by
President Ronald Reagan tonight we need your help to find three unknown American
GIs and write the closing chapter of this amazing saga December 1944 the battered German army
lost his last great offensive while an 85 mile front at Belgium's Ardenne forest the infamous battle of the boat
nearly sixteen thousand American soldiers would lose their lives another sixty thousand would be wounded or
captured it was a costliest battle the United States would wage in any war [Music]
within earshot of the fighting on the edge of the Ardenne forest stood a small isolated cabin there Fritz pink a 12
year old German boy lived with his mother Elizabeth Prince's father who Burt had moved his
family to the cabin for safekeeping but life in the forest was difficult Herbert served as a civilian baker for
the German army 20 miles away Fritz and his mother struggle to put food on the table
my father thought like everybody else that the war would be and it would be over by Christmas
but it was not to be and our stay in this Shack was longer than we anticipated Christmas Eve 1944 a ride with an air of
sadness and uncertainty who Bert has still not returned and his family was resigned to the fact that they would be
spending the holiday without him [Music] Fritz's mother tried to make the evening
as festive as possible she scraped together a Christmas meal of a few potatoes and a scrawny rooster
[Music] my mother blew out the candle and went to the door and I went with her she
opened the door and there were these soldiers [Music] yeah you speak English no we're Americans they'd like to talk to
us but my mother didn't speak English my friends been shot can we come aside for a while please my
mother just looked and she looked at the guy sitting in the snow thank you until finally my mother after
it seems to be like an eternity to me she asked him to come in Fritz's mother knew full well that
harboring the enemy was punishable by death but she was more than willing to take the risk
the injured soldier had been shot in the leg had lost a great deal of blood Elizabeth did her best to make him
comfortable she speaks French [Music] we we said separator what army Oh oui madame he said they lost the unit and
we're wondering for the advance for the past two days and two nights she be so Cindy Pont - she's gonna change his
balance fritzsche hoid up we divide us - my mother was all motherhood she worried
for them and she worried for the wounded men and she did everything she could they were very dice like big boys from
the neighbors you know how you doing kid nice boy Fritz's mother made the American GIs feel right
at home the men began to relax an anticipation of an unexpected Christmas dinner
we thought automatically this must be more Americans and I went to the door and opened the
door and there were four German soldiers I was petrified with fear he said we have lost our units and we would
like to warm up a little bit a sense you know only be allowed to warm up but you get a nice dinner
if you accept our guess I know so many do this y'all and my mother say this is Christmas
night and there will be no shooting around here put your arms in the wooden shed and
then we can bounce I have a nice nice Christmas to posses are we keep up an orphan - up
and come find support me fight my mother had turned to the Americans who by then had noticed at
some German sir cameras and had turned to seconds also just got a man [Music] my mother said to me get more potatoes
and more water we had more mouths to feed [Music] for about a minute or two maybe three
there was a tension but then it was warm it smelled good in either way that was a
sense of hospitality speak English yes a little York already he's wounded yeah he got around an entirely one of the
German soldiers went over to the American they were wounded and asked the Americans in
English what was wrong with him so what do you think he's lucky it's lost a lot of blood but the cold has
prevented the wound from getting infected he should recover provided get some rest nourishment okay good here's
some first aid kit and he applied that Lessing to the wound and the whole evening he would every now and then go
and look after him that night hostilities ceased in at least one corner of the forest as
American and German soldiers sat down together to honor the Christmas spirit my mother said
it was totally gonna pay off it was something spontaneously and she said that that's all thank the
Lord for being together tonight peaceful in this terrible war and let's enjoy dinner the little things that we have
and its promise to be friendly to each other forever if possible let's also pay for
an end of this terrible war so that we all can go home very soon ever at a time by the time the power Chi
by the time they were all kind not perfectly but the tears were holy you know even the German surgeons I was
very surprised and then we ate and it years disappears but from then on there was a feeling of friendship that
permeated the whole group it was wonderful and every [ __ ] [Music] after dinner the soldiers drifted
outside one by one Elisabeth and Fritz soon joined as they gazed heaven each gave thanks in
his own way that night the men would sleep side by side under the same roof the differences
of war and temporarily set aside they were so peaceful you never think that they are two different kind of
soldiers that one day before they would have shot each other Fritz remembers that the spirit of
brotherhood continued the next morning the German soldiers helped construct a makeshift stretcher for the injured gr
and then gave the Americans directions back to their life that same day Fritz and his mother left
with the Germans and were soon reunited with Fritz his father five months later the war would end
in the early 1960s Fritz Lincoln immigrated to the United States today he is an American citizen living in Hawaii
like his father before him Fritz owns and operates a bakery [Music] but their special night in 1940 faith
remains a defining moment of fritz his life he now hopes to find the American GIs who helped him learn the true
meaning of Christmas it showed me what my mother could do and it showed me what what one single human
being can do to avoid bloodshed and to bring peace and it also showed me at a very early age that were all alike
even though no matter what uniform we wear we have the same choice the same source
the same problems and it was a very significant experience I never forgot it [Music]
on a previous broadcast we told you earlier Donna chat backs a young couple intent on building their dream house on
this breathtaking site 200 miles north of Denver Colorado in April of 1991 Earl and Donna hired a
builder they knew his mark Mitchell whose specialty was log cabin homes a contract was drawn up and reviewed by
the chart backs in their attorney Earl and Donna gave Mitchell $25,000 as a deposit their entire life savings then
they waited for their dream house to take shape but weeks stretched into months and no
structure ever rose on Earl and Donna's property every time they questioned Mitchell he had an excuse and told them
not to worry the final blow came six months later when the chat VAX banker turned up
disturbing information about mark Mitchell it has nothing to do with you two the
problem is with the Builder fears this man is in some serious trouble he has been taking deposit money just as he did
yours and then has not started construction on the homes a matter of fact mark Mitchell is not even his real
name it's Wade Mitchell Parker at that point I felt nauseous suddenly just was sick feeling as though
we were going to lose all the money that we had given to mark Mitchell Wade Mitchell Parker alias mark Mitchell
left town soon after he allegedly disappeared with more than 1 million dollars stockpiled from at least 30
other fraud victims Parker avoided arrest for nearly three years until just after the most recent broadcast of this
story [Music] on August 11th 1990 for Wade Mitchell Parker was arrested in Cobb County
Georgia's some 1,300 miles from Colorado there Parker was using two new aliases Ronald Anderson and Larry Wiegert but
information developed from our program helped reveal his true identity [Music] on September 26 1994 played Mitchell
Parker was arraigned in Colorado on fraud and theft charges our cameras are not allowed inside the courtroom however
Earl and Donna chat bags made sure they were on hand to see justice done if he'd have been an honest man we'd be
living in our home right now and raising our children I think that anybody who has been ripped off this way could take
heart from this you know knowing that with enough perseverance they may get their guy
certainly gave me a lot of a lot of heart when I was beginning to lose hope [Music]
these days the church seems like one of the few places where you can expect to be safe from the harsh realities of the
outside world certainly is the last place you'd expect to find a con artist at work but for a
devious swindler named Carlos Garcia the hallowed sanctuary provided the perfect
setup the Holy Family Church in Virginia Beach Virginia serves a small tight-knit
Hispanic community parishioners are honest and hard-working but by no means athlete
in 1985 the church welcomed a new member Carlos Garcia was a friendly middle-aged
businessman who soon managed to ingratiate himself in the community what really struck me about him when he
first came to us was how honest he seemed to be and how concerned he seemed to be for the people of our community
for the Hispanic people especially with the Mexicans he was extremely close to the Mexican community and he earned
their trust immediately just like here in mine let me just say how excited I am we've
had a great year by 1988 Carlos had been elected president and treasurer of the local Pastoral Council which oversaw the
church budget and expenditures it was an important prestigious position no one yet suspected that Garcia was in reality
a brazen thief would end up stealing two million dollars from his church and his
fellow parishioners - there was um for many people almost an immediate trust that this is somebody
who has come to this country who has become successful and now I was helping other people
unfortunately we found out the trust that had been put in Carlos had been betrayed and in just in many ways
Garcia used his position in the church to attract clients to a seemingly legitimate tax preparation business over
several years Donna siano and airman are on hope if Carlos more than $13,000 to turn over to the IRS the IRS never got a
penny when almost no sabemos we didn't know how the system worked here for paying taxes and all that
as we come from Mexico we didn't know a thing he helped us arrange our citizenship our
immigration cards and he always helped us with everything it is the embryonal side you that went all so but I saw what
was going on more jointly so that's why we trusted him so much and that's why we
trusted him with our taxes he takes advantage of the fact that a great many of the individuals he comes
in contact with her unfamiliar with federal income tax laws they trust him to guide them through what really must
appear amazed unfortunately they don't realize that he has no intention of taking him anywhere
but to the cleaners so to speak but Garcia's tax preparation scam was just the tip of the iceberg he obtained
privileged and confidential information from hundreds of community members he then used that knowledge to order credit
cards and the names of his fellow churchgoers and their deceased relatives he would use the information that he
obtained about other people to build resumes obtain credit cards establish bank accounts and with his credit cards
he even assumed the identities of females and he would charge things on these credit cards and nobody would ever
question the fact that he was signing what would appear to be a female name simply because it was Hispanic and he
would explain to him that sometimes a name that she would assume would be female was not because it was a Hispanic
name and he got away with it her most con men that would have been enough the countess Garcia was also
something of a ladies man one woman who we will call ana dated Carlos for six years and never got the slightest
inkling that he was up to no good [Music] when Carlos learned that Ana's mother had a large sum of money to invest he
encouraged her to put the funds in a CD he had told her that the interest rate would be better and his credit union and
he had already picked up the signature cards and everything and brought those with him so she filled out the
application and signature card and he took the money he put it in the credit unions
unbeknownst to Ana and her mother carlos co-signed the signature card before long
he had emptied the account took a tune of twenty five thousand dollars it hurts you know it hurts that you know
that all of these years you thought that someone cared about you and really they
were just using you for eight years Carlos Garcia operated at will finally one of his class became
suspicious and contacted the IRS inspection office the taxpayer alleged that she had given
Carlos cash monies for three consecutive years for Carlos to apply and send to the Internal Revenue Service
she subsequently learned that Carlos that IRS did not have any record of her falling or any payments made to the
Internal Revenue Service in 1993 the client made a phone call to Carlos to discuss her situation Carlos
had no idea that IRS inspectors were listening in Carlos I'm calling because I've received some letters from the IRS
and they say that they haven't received two payments from me and you know I paid
you in cash and I don't have any record of it obviously there's been a terrible mistake I will call them on Monday
morning and straighten this whole situation out so you do have the record then you can't prove to them that I gave
you the payment in cash yes I've got those records I know you paid me I've got thing right here I will take care of
it you understand okay then I'll wait to hear from you thank you goddess by Carlos Garcia was arrested a few days
later he soon posted bail within a week Garcia slipped out of Virginia Beach and
vanished when investigators searched through Garcia's records and documents they
discovered his true identity Fernando is a Pico zap eco a native of Argentina is a
career con artist whose life of crime spans more than four decades and includes at least 17 aliases authorities
say that Zappa Co has built hundreds of victims up and down the East Coast out of millions of dollars
probably even greater than the loss of funds from our Hispanic community has been the loss of trust and
the real betrayal that people have felt of someone whom they loved and respected
and truly looked up to as a leader of our community and now they find that they've been betrayed by him
cloud almost dos windows I mean you don't know I hope our dreams came crashing down and now we can't trust
anyone anymore we're afraid something like this will happen again Arizona Villa Glacia
because he was a man who belonged to the church it was impossible to conceive that he would steal in the church and
yet that's what he did I still have time when he's hard for me to accept this I still have times when I feel like cry
when I feel depressed because I trusted him I believed in him he took money from people there were
simple people again people that trusted him and these people will never be the same again we are we the whole community
will never be the same again [Music] [Music] join me next Friday for another intriguing edition unsolved mysteries
[Music] you

Brief Summary

Psychic artist Louis Gasparotto, Tara Breckenridge's disappearance, and a WWII Christmas ceasefire story are featured in this episode.

Key points

The Vanishing of Tara Breckinridge. In 1992, waitress Tara Breckinridge mysteriously vanished, leading to fears of foul play.
Christmas Eve Truce. In December 1944, American GIs and German soldiers shared an unlikely holiday dinner.
A Christmas Truce. American and German soldiers set aside their differences to celebrate Christmas together.
The Betrayal of Trust. Carlos Garcia, a trusted church member, steals millions from his community.

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