Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 8, Episode 2 - Full Episode | Forensic Files

tonight on unsolved mysteries dr. Michael swango's career began with great promise only to be derailed by
allegations of poisoning and murder what happened to Michael Swango did an angel
of mercy choose to become an angel of death some 30 years have passed as a young woman from Texas and a Jordanian
airman fell in love only to be torn apart by the uncertainties of war now a heartbroken father needs your help to
find the son he has never met little Logan Carroll was born with no heartbeat and no vital signs doctors could do
nothing to save him but as Logan's family gathered to grieve something truly extraordinary happened something
that can only be called a miracle join me perhaps you hold the key perhaps you may be able to solve one of tonight's
unsolved mysteries [Music] February 7th 1984 Columbus Ohio an intern at the State University Hospital
checked on a 69 year old woman recovering from routine back surgery no one knows why dr. Michael Swango was in
the room perhaps just to say hello when he left Rena Cooper seemed to be doing fine
[Music] distress [Music] [Music] as she was being stabilized Rena's struggled to tell the doctors
what happened she wrote the doctor puts something in my IV while this is going on we know
that another nurse decided to walk down the hall to calm the other patients since there was a great deal of
commotion and four rooms down within minutes sees dr. Swango exiting another room with a very funny grin on his face
and those are her words not mine the nurse goes into that room and finds a large hypodermic needle with the plunger
down sitting on the sink which is not very unusual you wouldn't expect that in a hospital hypodermics aren't left lying
around three different doctors confronted Michael Swango about what had happened in Rena Cooper's room
Swango allegedly told three different stories at one point he claimed he had never even been in the room she just
kind of Surtur it's common for patients just out of surgery to be delusional most of us tend to hole doctors to a
higher standard and perhaps that's fair after all we are sometimes compelled to trust them implicitly depending on their
knowledge and expertise to save our lives did Michael Swango betray that trust for
his own sadistic pleasure if you are Swango he'd probably tell you he was a victim of bad luck and circumstance but
unfortunately the question cannot be posed no one can find Michael Swango Michael Swango came to Ohio as a recent
graduate of the medical school at Southern Illinois University he projected charm and confidence despite a
lackluster med school record Michael Swango became more and more withdrawn as he proceeded through his college classes
and eventually got into medical school and though academically he did very well the more the classes became advanced and
the more he needed to do hands-on patient work the more he pulled away from that to the point where he was held
back a year take a look at one of these appraisals and you can see what I'm talking about sewing those poor
performance continued through the first six months of his internship dr. Swango the end result is unless you have a
significant improvement you will not be allowed to taste things may not recommend me for residency I've been
working my entire life to be a doctor swango's lifelong goal was now jeopardized it could mean he would never
become a full-fledged doctor it was shortly after Swango was put on probation the Rena Cooper suffered her
mysterious seizure it was one of a series of puzzling events of the hospital that spring Rena Cooper
survived but at least five other patients died the 5 mysterious respiratory arrest and last month the
neurosurgery wing has caused quite an alarm among all of us I'm aware of that I decided to see if there's some sort of
pattern to this situation and I've developed a chart the upshot of it is that whenever these incidents occurred
Swango is always there a black cloud seems to follow Michael Swango wherever Swango was there was an unexplained
respiratory arrest and it didn't happen once or twice it happened five six seven
times though some evidence appeared to point to Swango hospital officials chose not to call the police they decided to
watch him closely and quietly wait out the last month's of his internship I think the kid was great I think I was
better chicka Swango did not appear disturbed by the hospital's decision to let him go
or the whispered allegations against him in fact on several occasions during the
last month's of his internship he treated staff members to what he called extra spicy chicken we know that from
interviews with three doctors they became violently ill within hours of eating a spicy chicken so ill in fact
that they needed treatment for their eyes from ruptured blood vessels from the vomiting Michael Swango left OSU
hospital in June of 1984 without being formally investigated no charges have ever been filed
one month later Swango had a new job not as a doctor but as a paramedic on September 14th
he brought Donuts for the whole crew I grabbed a doughnut start eating the doughnut but I noticed there was
something different about the doughnut it didn't spring back up like most doughnuts do 45 minutes later Brett and
several others became very ill they ordered to test the leftover doughnuts but they had disappeared only an empty
box remained no one had any suspicions of Mike at all at that time they figured that that was food poisoning
since the doughnuts were gone and they couldn't analyze it they just more or less thought that that's what it was and
let it go by then the next night I worked with Mike at a football game a local football game halftime you offered
to buy me a soda I sort of sipping a soda at halftime and about the start of the third quarter
I became deathly sick yet another mysterious illness made swango's co-workers increasingly suspicious they
also couldn't help noticing swango's grisly fascination with accidents and death
brant gory are the better he would describe his ultimate calls as a paramedic and that would be a busload
of children hitting head-on with a tanker truck and igniting and as he's approaching the scene you would see
charred bodies out of them out of the windows of the buses bodies that are up against the bob wire fence caught in the
car caught in the barbed wire fences I mean this is to me I thought was really strange just you know to wanna see death
finally the paramedics decided to fake a car to get Swango out of the building they wanted him away long enough to
search his locker in Michael Swango s gym bag his co-workers found two bottles of amp poison one full one empty in
swango's apartment police discovered more incriminating evidence dozens of bottles of poisons books on poisons
recipe cards for making poisons and an assortment of syringes one syringe was full of ant poison the evidence was
overwhelming Swango was convicted of six counts of aggravated battery and sentenced to five
years in prison after serving half his sentence he was given time off for good behavior amazingly
Swango again found work in the healthcare field he was apparently able to convince employers that he had been
the victim of a miscarriage of justice in Newport News Virginia he turned up at a medical vocational school there three
of his colleagues reportedly fell ill Swango then talked his way into the University of South Dakota hospital
again he was shadowed by his past and dismissed finally in August of 1993 Swango resurfaced a Stony Brook
University in New York he was assigned to a Veterans Administration Hospital Long Island while there he changed his
name to Michael Kirk he was accepted into the Stony Brook program and they never bothered to check him with a
central registry for medical residents which apparently had a file that was an inch thick on him there were a hundred
and eighty people who applied for twelve slots and he managed to get one of those
twelve slots despite these clouds of questionable activity that followed him in at least four states on September
29th 1893 Michael Swango Spath crossed that of LC and Baron Harris Baron Harris was a 60 year old cabinet maker from
Long Island he had a fever of 104 degrees in a slight case of pneumonia well we'll see if we can't accommodate
you my first impressions of dr. Kirk he seemed very professional just seemed to be very concerned he seemed to know what
he was doing a very pleasant man Swango told elsie to go home there was nothing more she could do Elsie Harris claims as
sometime during the night dr. Michael Swango alias Michael Kirk gave her husband a sedative by the next morning
Baron had been moved to intensive care he had lapsed into a coma doesn't make any sense to me he was coughing he had a
little fever I don't get it I don't understand mrs. Harris sometimes people have
allergic reactions to certain drugs now that may have happened in your husband's
case why a coma I just hope it wasn't meaning that we did he had a very smurfy attitude like a he F [ __ ] smile on his
face like a little kid with his hand in the cookie jars this is what he reminds me
of even though he had a terrific bedside manner there was just something sneaky about him once the story hit the wires
and reporters started converging on the North Port VA hospital and his dorm room he very hastily packed up
and disappeared before Michael Swango vanished Elsie Harris says he told her that Barron would never come out of his
coma Swango apparently knew what he was talking about Aaron Harris died November
9th 1993 forever Michael Swango is today authorities believe that he is most likely working in the medical field
[Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] afternoon sir see your driver's license June 7th 1994 Richland Hills Georgia
just south of Savannah the license identified the stranded motorists as Moses long but it was a lie
Moses Lall was an importer and beater of exotic birds who owned a rash 400 miles
away in Florida this man's real name was Harry goben and he worked for Moses loan
in fact he was on the run because of Moses law that is correct who was Moses long ask 10 people and
you're lucky to get 10 different answers on the surface law seemed to be a reputable businessman but sources say he
also had a secret life that involved international smuggling and alleged ties to organized crime now Moses Lall is
missing police suspected his secret light went into a violent end and put his aunt an innocent bystander in mortal
jeopardy three days before Hari Gobin was seen in Georgia a feed company delivery man made
a routine stop at Moses laws ranch near West Palm Beach Florida when no one came
to meet him at the gate Darryl crew hopped the fence Darryl had never before found the rash deserted
hunters of exotic birds had been left unattended everything from yellow headed Amazon
parrots to rare brilliantly colored macaws total value up to $700,000 Darryl had expected to find one of four people
either Moses Lall and his aunt Lila be returned or the ranch hands Hari Gobin and Rowland felix eyoum
[Music] it wasn't right to nobody being around in the birds were to noise that you know
birds noisy but when they're hungry for a couple of days they're real noisy so I
knew something was up and then I just decided I'd better leave the feed in case maybe they did go out for the day
but nobody ever did there there was always somebody there so then I just climbed back over the gate series of
feed down I left the next day Darryl would return to find the feed still there and the birds even louder the
authorities were notified but a bureaucratic snafu delayed any investigation for ten days this is
actual video footage of a Palm Beach County sheriff's deputies found when they arrived
[Applause] [Music] it was worse than you can imagine the smell was really really bad and the
sight was even worse than that to see all those beautiful birds laying dead in the bottom the cages literally hundreds
of them some cages had up to thirty and forty exotic birds dead in the bottom of
the cages the birds it had survived were in desperate condition bird expert Howard voron was among those working to
revive me we started force feeding those that were too weak to eat injecting them
with with fluids in order to combat the dehydration they suffered and of course filling all the cages with food and
water if there were birds left alive in them it was tough but it was worthwhile I think a very small percentage of the
birds died after that while animal control experts took charge of the birds sheriff's deputies began trying to
understand the puzzling disappearance of the caretakers Moses lawn and Lila buritan came from a family of bird
importers based in Guiana South America in 1993 federal restrictions on importing wild birds prompted them to
concentrate instead on breeding birds that was Lila's job she was the caregiver she was the bird
lady she was the one that looked after all their needs drove them to the hospital when they needed
hospitalization or care and she was the one that was the professional bird worried person Lila was very quiet very
dedicated to the birds you could tell from going into the house the amount of care that this woman took she fed him
she weaned him she took care of him when they're in the incubator basically she took care of the entire
thing moisés generally handled the business end he delegated most of the daily chores to Hari Gobin
also from Guiana Murray had worked for Moses and Lila since they started the ranch at 1992 they are the missing ranch
and Rowland foetus Hume was from Africa he was a brother of one of Moses laws business contacts around the time the
ranch was abandoned Moses was working with Hume on a plan to import reptiles from Africa Moses had
apparently hit a cash crunch and decided to diversify rumor has it that to finance the scheme Moses borrowed money
from shady underworld figures two days after sheriff's deputies discovered the dying birds they track
roland felix eyoum to new york city so I'm investigating Moses and Lila's disappearance would you be willing to go
to a New York City police detective and give a statement to them you met a solid
alibi he was able to prove he had been in New York since before Moses and Lila disappeared then a unitl detective
Wescott a bizarre story told to him by his co-worker Hari Gobin during our conversation on the phone he told me a
story that he had been contacted by Harry sometime on June the 4th of June the fifth he wasn't exactly sure and
that Harry had told him the two men in a white van came in took Moses and Lila and some birds away at gunpoint could
hurry story be true had Lila and Moses been kidnapped if so what was a motive it may not have started out to be in
abduction and may have started out as a collection if those stories are true it could have been revenge for some of
the other dealings business dealings that he's reportedly been involved in that weren't exactly on the up-and-up
the problem is we don't know we're hearing stories about all these things and none of them are substantiated but
they needed for substantiation was her eco bins eyewitness account but go pin had disappeared after his run-in with a
police in Georgia they assume go bin was Moses law and set him on his way my speculation is that the story that he
told to Roland felix eyoum scared him so bad that he knew that he had to get out
of town somehow I believe that Harry used Moses's driver's license and took his van so he could get away and have
some type of collateral what happened the Moses law and Lila Burton it Moses laws questionable business dealings come
back to haunt him or was someone after the rare expensive birds if someone had in fact killed them for birds the birds
that were missing were not the right birds birds that were worth $2,000 in adjoining cages were left behind if they
met with foul play because people wanted to take the birds they took the wrong birds and the question remains who and
why because it seemed that Moses had several people that he was involved with and things that were either legal
illegal or borderline and Lila is not explained because nobody seems to have anything bad to say about her whatsoever
milah doesn't seem to have any involvement with anyone that is in any way unusual she seemed to be very happy
in her solitude the birds were her world she didn't much care for anything outside of that one my gut feeling is
she's dead to me that's the only way Lyda would leave her birds as if she was dead or so afraid for her life that
that's the only way she would leave that place police believe that her ego bin is
crucial to solving this case if he indeed witnessed a kidnapping he undoubtedly knows vital details that
could help the police in a moment the tragic death of an infant is followed by a miraculous rebirth
[Music] perhaps the only time we welcome a visit to the hospital is for the birth of a
child but even the special moment can be marred by sudden disaster yes ask an Indiana couple named Todd and Tammy
Carroll their second child Megan was stillborn after an 8-month pregnancy naturally Megan was very much on their
minds when the Carol's arrived at the hospital for the birth of their third child a son named Logan they had no idea
how closely would come to another tragedy this is my sister Ruth she's gonna be with us today hi Ruby nice to
meet you Leslie yeah well Tammy everything looks great so after we lost Megan I was
really anxious it was real stressful I was worried is anything gonna be wrong with this baby is you know everything
gonna be all right and after the ultrasound and everything looked good on it and then we were in some other tests
that looked fine that eased my mind I really tried to look at it as a separate incident Tammy's obstetrician dr. Diana
oaken induced labor at around 8:45 a.m. the contractions grew stronger and more frequent through the day
the baby's vital signs were consistently stable and positive 4:30 p.m. birth was imminent Tammy's sister Ruthie
stationed herself near the fetal heartbeat monitor the red numbers showed a normal rate 120 to 140 beats per
minute push the wall Tammy was pushing trying to push the baby out I noticed that the heart monitor
like would drop way down and that really kind of alarmed me and they had her take
some slow breaths and it recovered back up 4:42 p.m. at the moment Logan Carroll
was born his heart rate plunged to zero a fragile life in mortal danger I knew some was wrong as soon as he
delivered because he didn't have any tone when I felt his umbilical cord in a feel any pulse at all and that's when we
started CPR [Music] Paulo code [Music] for 15 minutes the emergency team tried desperately to revive Logan 4:57 dr.
Maria Valentine the Carroll's pediatrician joined the emergency team and still had no vital signs no
heartbeat no breathing no heart rate flatline continued resuscitation we continued
doing CPR throughout that time again with no response for approximately another 15 minutes after my arrival and
I began inserting a line into his umbilical cord to try to administer some drugs to help revive him they had put
EKG monitor on him and the tracing was not showing any electrical activity so I knew it didn't look good at all well I
was still hoping but he was there so long I don't know how these five or six doctors they're working on him
at one time trying to do getting revived and still ain't doing nothing I just couldn't lose this baby I just could not
believe this could happen again at some point you know you always have to just say we've done what we can do this baby
is not going to respond and we finally called it and pronounced him dead at that time
I don't think there's any lower feeling than holding your dead child it's supposed to be such a time of joy and
renewed life giving birth that when they they hand you this child that's no longer living
I just can't begin to tell you how low that that feeling is and sitting there holding him and looking in his face I
just I just wanted him to be alive so bad Logan James Carroll was officially pronounced dead at 5:15 p.m. he was 33
minutes old in accordance with hospital policy the carols were allowed time to say their goodbyes swaddled in a blanket
Logan was cradled by each grieving family member in the midst of their anguish Tammy and Todd agreed to an
autopsy hoping for some explanation [Music] Tammi Todd I don't mean to sound crass
or anything but we usually take pictures of the baby for the family you never know how people are going to take that
when you come in and say I'd like to take pictures of you and the baby but they were very receptive because they
said they didn't get enough pictures the last time that this had happened to them
these photos were taken that afternoon stark portraits meant to commemorate the end of a young life instead it would
mark the beginning of American what was that what was what he just made the noise that was just a reflex action
Tanner I'm sorry while I was holding Logan he made the casting sound and it was a very eerie
feeling but we had been told that that was normal it is called agonal gasping and it can happen because of the
medication it can go on for quite a while so I wanted to let them know because every time he would do that he
did it a couple times for Tammy they would they would just their eyes would light up and then they would be really
let down when he wouldn't do it again as the minutes went by I was slowly becoming unaware of what even was going
on in the room I just wanted to completely detach myself and float away somewhere and be somewhere where it
wasn't hurting so bad I wanted to get away from the pain some forty minutes had passed since Logan was pronounced
dead a time for his autopsy was close at hand however is Tammy stepmother held the infant she was beginning to think
that an autopsy would not be such a good idea skull it looks okay worthy he's getting warmer
I'll get the nurse just look [Music] I'll be right back what's going on roofie there's no reason for this time
dr. Khan I understand about agonal breathing but is there such a thing as an agonal heart rate susan has a heart
rate please come and take a look at him I thought she was not you know if you keep this up you're gonna give me a
heart attack I just think I was afraid that she was reacting in a way that was gonna upset the family even more because
I mean the baby was dead [Music] [Music] baby's alive let's go to the nursery it
was total unbelief and I wanted to touch him I can't I had an uncontrollable urge I needed to touch
him and I don't know how soon it was but it was real soon they came in took my IV
out and I had monitors on me and I had a blood pressure cuff I mean they were taking wires and just pulling them off
of me and put me in a wheelchair and willed me into the nursery and I reached in and I held his arm and I I was
talking to him tell him that he had to hang in there and then I loved him and that I was proud of him for being so
strong I was still in a different type of shock because it was so unbelievable [Music]
unbelievable indeed at least six physicians and eight registered nurses all certain that Logan Carroll had died
high-tech meters and monitors had confirmed that judgment I figured God's hand hadn't been in it but that's not in
the medical literature it's account for the miraculous as an explanation but it's amazing I mean we're all trained to
do something as doctors and here we did nothing and he came back word spread through the hospital very quickly you
know people from the lab people from other nursing units came up just to look at him to say that they could have seen
this miracle baby it was it was incredible the emergency room doctor came up and was totally amazed it was it
was something you know something Logan's metamorphosis from the lifeless infant in this photo the squirming
Marvel videotaped just one day later was simply astonishing he would remain in the hospital for the next five weeks his
vital signs never faltered though Logan remains healthy doctors fear he may have sustained some degree
of permanent neurological damage during the time he had no oxygen only time will
tell my feelings for him will stay the same whether he has an IQ of 180 or 50 he's here he's alive I've held the
alternative and holding him no matter how he's gonna develop in the future we try to live for today and we're keeping
[Music] it is impossible for most of us to fully appreciate the Carrol family's experience today Logan's extraordinary
revival continues to baffle any expert who studies the case however those who are in the delivery room that day when
despair turned to wonder are certain that they witnessed nothing less than a modern-day miracle next a poignant tale
of love denied and a son lost [Music] you're about to meet a man named Fonzie Mahmud almost 30 years ago a single
moment changed his life forever it is a spring of 1967 in San Antonio Texas the event nothing less than love at first
sight [Music] Fozzy Mahmud was a trainee in the Jordanian Air Force he was in the United
States are an American flying techniques he was not interested in anything else or so he thought are you doing remember
Barbara [Music] her name was Soylent Maldonado she was just 20 years old and fouls his eyes she
was dazzling I mean she looks so beautiful to me and she got this green dress and just she was a knockout and I
was knocked out I fell in love with her I mean I fell madly in love like you for
both Fozzie and Zoila this was a first taste of true love but for Fozzie it was also much more
[Music] actually Zoila was not only the first love it was the first woman I ever
talked to in my life because we came from a very very strict family and strict people and a state government you
know but she was my first everything zoila's parents were very conservative and she was their only child they did
not like the idea of Zara dating anyone the fact that file Z was a foreigner who
spoke little English did not help even though her parents were conservative and strict we managed to go out almost daily
we went dancing we went to the lake we went to the mountains we went everywhere together
six months later soylent files he found themselves at a turning point buzzy I think I'm pregnant - zoila's
great relief palsy was ecstatic yes [Music] but the marriage would never take place
several months earlier the Six Day War had erupted between Jordan and Israel tension between the two countries
remained high in late November 1967 Fozzie was ordered home we talked and we promised and we vowed that we will
always be together no matter what happens when I come back baby myself and baby come to Jordan I just felt so
helpless I come back very soon well kid we need to get going I've been while of should be like that I mean
we're having so good time together we're happy why they happiness have to go [Applause]
[Music] [Music] sometimes I miss you so much I think I'll go crazy but and I receive her
letters and I feel better Zordon files he continued their love affair by letter the Jordanian Air Force
refused to release Fozzy so I plan to go to Jordan please take care of yourself and stay safe I will
close now I'm tired but the baby's spine it still kicks all the time if he's that
boy he'll probably be a football player in late June 1968 Sarla gave birth to a healthy baby boy
she named him Amadeo Marcello I mean I was thrilled I was very happy I was jumping but I also was very unplaced
because of the fact that I cannot be there to see him and be with her and be of help to her I was very frustrated
even on duty foul zis thoughts were with Zoila and his infant son he could not wait to bring his new family to Jordan
Zarda kept writing to Fozzie but the tone of her letters soon changed posi I'm writing to say I'm sorry to hear of
a problem I want us together more than ever I will always believe my love is strong but the war I refuse to take that
chance with Marcelo's life Zoila made a difficult decision she needed a father for her baby she
wrote files II that she had married someone else Palsy could not bring himself to write
to Zoila again but he could never forget his son in 1970 files he returned to the
United States he claims he tried to call Zoila by phone but her mother hung up on
him then had the number changed she apparently blamed Fozzie for her daughter's out-of-wedlock child and was
understandably upset to hear from him again in desperation fouls he went to zoila's
house hello I like Cesar please nobody wants to talk to you my son I like see my son you
ruined my daughter's life no no I love your daughter you know what you are three years too late
if you don't get out of here I'm gonna call the police no please wait I just want to see my son leave wait Fozzy had
no choice he could not risk being arrested and possibly deported that moment was as close as file Zima moved
has ever gotten to meeting his son today Foust he lives an Eden Oklahoma with his
wife Robin they have a young son and files he has three grown children from a previous marriage but thoughts of his
firstborn still haunting there is one thing missing all the time I would like to see my son I would like to see how he
looks like I wanna hug him I wanna tell him I love him I mean there's a lot of things we did not do together maybe we
can do it now even at this age [Music] join me again next week perhaps you may be able to help solve a mystery
[Music] [Music] [Music]

Brief Summary

Dr. Michael Swango's medical career is marred by allegations of murder, while Logan Carroll's miraculous revival and Fozzie Mahmud's lost love story unfold.

Key points

The Mysterious Case of Michael Swango. A promising medical career derailed by allegations of poisoning and murder.
A Miracle at Birth. Logan Carroll was born without a heartbeat, but something extraordinary happened.
Swango's Dark Legacy. Michael Swango's criminal past leads to a shocking conviction.
Desperate Resuscitation Attempts. For 30 minutes, the emergency team fought to revive Logan with no signs of life.
A Heart-Wrenching Goodbye. Logan was pronounced dead at 5:15 p.m., just 33 minutes after birth.
A Miraculous Revival. Against all odds, Logan came back to life after being declared dead.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

Something truly extraordinary happened, something that can only be called a miracle.

Logan Carroll's birth story

0:47WatchMay 23, 2019

Tension

75/ 100High tension

More from True Crime Files

Solve the Crime

Read a real case one clue at a time, then see how your call held up against the investigators.