Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 8, Episode 5 - Full Episode | Forensic Files

tonight on unsolved mysteries he was TV's first superhero in the 1950s George Reeves achieved overnight stardom
as a legendary Man of Steel then suddenly it was over Ruiz was found shot to death in his home and ever since the
question is haunted Hollywood who killed Superman in Fairfield California a team
of police officers dispatched to arrest a suspected drug dealer walked straight into an ambush Toledo Ohio 1963 a tragic
accident leaves three young children motherless within days Tina sheets is separated from her little brothers more
than 30 years later Tina is still searching still hoping to find them it was one of nature's mysterious wonders
the birth of a pure white Buffalo Calf almost immediately a small Wisconsin farm was transformed into a revered
shrine for Native Americans is the arrival of the miracle Buffalo the fulfillment of an ancient prophecy join
me for these fascinating news stories much more on tonight's edition of unsolved mysteries
[Music] all right he's guys somebody's giving it to the game okay the deals going down it's the
male white in the black Chrysler we get two units to stay on him when he leaves February 1989
acting on a tip detectives from the Oakland California Police Department staked out a liquor store parking lot I
remarried backing out Ramirez out sure enough a suspected drug dealer named Roberto Ramirez had set up a sale
Roberto Ramirez was no ordinary dealer he allegedly distributed cocaine from Oakland to LA the word was that Ramirez
would do absolutely anything to turn a dime he would often deal out of his house but most often meet people at
different locations he'd often have his children to small children grammar school age carry the cocaine in
backpacks and bring it to the the buyers that way after obtaining a search warrant police
converged on Ramirez's home in Fairfield California some 40 miles north of Oakland a total of 12 Oakland and
Fairfield officers are in on the raid the load Ramirez come easy woody get stubborn and make it tough on everybody
officer mark Burrell Oakland PD my assignment was to pry the iron grate on the front door the safest entry that we
make is a quick entry it gives the people inside less time to prepare and normally we catch them in that surprise
mode detective Mark Smith Fairfield PD my position was to cross in front of the house that I would cover the window and
the side of the house for anybody trying to flee or any attack coming from outside the window through the front
window 142 a.m. Showtime Ramirez isatis was a challenge loud and clear come and get me
[Music] [Applause] [Music] at that instant Ramirez appeared at a side window two officers fell
severely injured detective Smith had to be dragged from the line of fire officer
Burrell took refuge under Ramirez's window I took a physical check of myself my legs worked I was clear thinking my left
arm didn't work my shoulder was numb but the other officer wasn't so lucky detective Smith was bleeding profusely
he was evacuated through a neighbor's house to a waiting ambulance still Ramirez wouldn't budge reinforcements
from eight other police departments had filled out the ranks now 30 heavily armed officers surrounded the house he's
coming out okay he's coming out after a two hour standoff Roberto Ramirez finally emerged
true to form he cowered behind his wife eight months pregnant and their children
ages 10 and 6 [Music] when Ramirez came outside there was a lot of attention he had shot two of our
police officers and he had a lot of time to think about what he had done anything
can happen you don't know what's going through their mind at that point Roberto Ramirez
was arrested on two counts of attempted murder and a laundry list of drug and assault charges a bail bond of more than
half a million dollars in California real estate was enough to spring Ramirez in jail in June of 1990 shortly before a
court date the couple packed up their children and dropped from sight they are still on the run but the damage they
inflicted lingers on I was shot through the upper left arm it was basically in and out it severed the nerves in my left
arm and left me with no feeling although I have a must strength and muscle flexibility in the arm I just don't have
any feeling in I remember muzzle flashes and then my next memory I felt like I had been
punched in the stomach or hit with a baseball bat of the stomach I can't pronounce most of the things had damaged
but it was most of the internal organs in my abdomen the bullet went completely through most of the intestines and the
kidney liver and lodged it stopped on the opposite side of my body just under the skin in my back I'm always gonna
have the scars and the pain and all from it but it would give me some satisfaction if he was cotton and was in
jail serving his time and paying for what he's done Roberto Ramirez is 38 years old he is a
heavyset five-six 210 pounds he should be considered armed and dangerous [Music]
last Friday the lines at the phone Center was swamped with calls from our viewers must quickly go to Keeley Shay
Smith to see what happened for the past two weeks the nation's attention has been focused on the tragic murder of 27
year old Linda sobic so Beck's body was found here in a shallow grave at this spot in the Angeles National Forest
outside Los Angeles Sheriff detectives now fear her murder may be connected to an unsolved homicide we profiled on an
earlier broadcast the remains of the victim in that case were also found in this area Linda sobic was a successful
model and former Los Angeles Raiders cheerleader whose disappearance on November 16th left her family and
friends frantic this man photographer Charles Rathbun has claimed that Linda Sobek died in a freak car accident
during a photo shoot then in a state of panic he buried her in the Angeles National Forest days later with the help
of Rathbun Linda so Beck's body was recovered but initial reports from the coroner's office seemed to indicate that
Linda's injuries were not consistent with being hit by a car Charles Rathbun has been charged with
first-degree murder and is being held on 1 million dollars bail according to the
authorities he is now a suspect in the death of another model kimberly pand Elias whose story we aired last year
March 3rd 1993 again in the Angeles National Forest the LA County Coroner was called to
investigate a possible murder site a partial set of skeletal remains had been discovered when the coroner checked
dental records of missing persons in the Los Angeles area he found a match the remains were
identified as those of 20 year old Kimberly Panda Leo's a model and actress who had disappeared a year before
Kimberly was married and had a 14 month-old son On February 27th 1992 Kimberly had told
her husband that she was scheduled to do an outdoor photoshoot authorities believe she responded to an ad in a
local paper the next day her burned-out car was found near the Monte Cristo campground section of the Angeles
National Forest a search of the immediate area turned up no clues another year would pass before
Kimberly's remains were found a few miles from the spot where Linda Sobek was buried we do have some similarities
between the death of Kimberly and dealios and Linda Sobek we also have a person who has come forward and
indicated that they saw Kimberly pan de leus in the company of Charles Rathbun inside a Denny's restaurant shortly
before her murder two blond models on photo shoots two bodies found in the Angeles National Forest two victims with
known or reported ties to photographer Charles Rathbun despite the similarities the LA County Sheriff's Department
believes it is too soon to positively connect the two cases [Music] [Music] [Music]
[Music] April 6 1963 a highway under construction a young single mother hurrying home to her three small
children in the blink of an eye disaster [Applause] 26 year-old Patricia labyrinth at Toledo
Ohio was killed instantly a few miles away Patricia's children waited patiently and unknowingly at the
home of their great-aunt accident investigators believe she lost control of the car along a section of the
highway that evening the flickering images on the television brought the tragedy home suddenly they were
motherless Patricia's one-year-old son Craig nicknamed chipper two year-old Christopher Chrissy for short and four
year old Tina the day before was my brother Chrissy's second birthday and I remember the birthday cake and the
people at the party and my next memory goes immediately to my aunt on the phone crying Tina had only the vaguest notion
that something terrible had happened she had no idea that she and her brothers were about to be split up forever
Chrissy and chipper were eventually handed over to foster care Tina was uprooted as well lonely and confused
she left her great aunt's home to live with her grandparents I do remember once my grandparents took custody of me that
I was very upset and could not understand why my mother and my brothers were gone I felt as though I was bad
that I had done something terribly awful for all this to happen to me and for everybody to have been taken from me
as I grew up I missed not having Christian chipper there I I knew that they were somewhere and that I wanted to
be with them but it was out of my control as to where any of us went and the older I got the more I knew I had
the ability to find them Tina started looking when she was 16 her great aunt gave her the first clue no that's the
place where they were taken I don't know what happened to them after that Tina found the house only to learn the
Chrissy and chippers foster parents had moved she then went door-to-door hoping the neighbors could help
[Music] hello hi I'm trying to locate a family that used to take in foster kids I believe they lived next door to you
about 15 years ago oh yeah yeah there was a family that they had a lots of foster kids over there yeah I'm trying
to find my two brothers their names were chipper and Chrissie I believe they lived with her for a while
you remember those - yes a cute little boys yeah I remember it's a long time ago though similar name was Doris simple
yes I think she's a nurse Tina was elated she finally had a nail she was only a phone call away from locating her
long-lost brothers she never imagined it would take another eight years to track
down Doris sindelle and make that call when I first told her who I was I asked her if she ever lived in Toledo and she
said yes and I asked her if she was ever a foster parent and she said yes and I told her I believe that she had fostered
my brothers and she said my babies Chrissie and chipper and I nearly fell off my chair
Dora said mother Chrissy and chipper for almost two years she loved them as her own until they were adopted by a couple
from Michigan Deena visited Doris as soon as she could she wanted to hear every detail
Doris gave Tina glimpse into the life she might have shared with her brothers in this picture Doris has saved
everything the whole movies the photographs even the boys tiny bow ties these are the actual time when I handed
her the bowties I had no intentions of letting her keep those bow ties but I didn't have the heart to take them back
because she looked with him with such loving care and she couldn't speak she cried they just felt as they had
actually worn these I was that much closer to them and I just wanted to be able to to be with them
[Music] coming up one of Hollywood's most intriguing mysteries was George Reeves
TV Superman killed by an irate husband but first we'll take you to Wisconsin where the birth of a rare White Buffalo
Calf turned a small farm it was spiritual Mecca [Music] 150 years ago the buffalo ruled the
western plains 30 million strong proud masters of a vast uncharted land but today the Great Plains are virtually
empty just 130 thousand of those majestic creatures remained moster on ranches our farms such as this one in
Janesville Wisconsin Dave Hyder and his wife Valerie have been breeding Buffalo since 1989
but nothing could have prepared day for their marvel events of August 20th 1994 that morning he went out to check on a
pregnant cow what he discovered would change his life and his farm forever when I handed out in the past year
trying to find this cow and I found her on the east most corner of the pasture the cow stood up and the calf stood up
and she was in the shade and the calf looked funny color real strange colors like like a gray the cow walked out into
the sunlight and the calf followed her I could not believe what I was looking at
she was as white as his white could be as white as snow it was nature that's most glorious and unpredictable the odds
were 1 in 10 million a white non albino Buffalo Calf fittingly the hiders named her miracle
as news of the extraordinary calf spread the hiders were besieged by members of the Lakota Sioux Nation to the Lakotas
miracle was a profound gift a fulfillment of an ancient prophecy almost overnight the farmers transformed
into a religious shrine they came from all over the world here they would call from all over the world
we had telephone calls every three minutes from 6:30 in the morning till 11:30 at night at one period we had
2,300 people through our driveway in a five hour length of time and it was wall-to-wall people constantly it was
like a wave that never ended [Music] initially the hiders were confounded by all the commotion but as a flood tide of
visitors continued Dave and Valerie soon learned the full significance of a white
buffalo calf this rare animal was at the heart of a hallowed legend handed down by the Lakota soon for some 600 years
Matt occupied so-called can we talk see much of below our ville looking horse of
the Cheyenne River Reservation is a spiritual leader of the Lakota Nation he is responsible for passing on the story
of the White Buffalo Calf to the next generation there was a time when uh the white both the calf woman she came to
the people nineteen generations ago and according to the legend two Scouts were set out during a great famine to search
for the buffalo herd as they crested one rise they spied a lone White Buffalo Calf it was an amazing sight the Braves
watched in awe as a calf magically transformed into a beautiful young maiden four days later the White Buffalo Calf
woman appeared again to the entire tribe she bore a sacred pipe and a code of laws as important to the Lakota as a ten
commandments art of Western religions the maiden promised that she would return once more in six hundred years as
a White Buffalo Calf the washer in a period of peace and harmony I was told nineteen generations ago she came when
the chazar deepest red or black and that would be the last week in August and that's when nineteen generations later
this White Buffalo Calf is being born but his miracle is the reincarnation of the White Buffalo Calf woman why is she
here now the lakota believe her return is tied to an ancient prophecy in the next five years she's gonna show us
natural disaster and man-made disaster is going to be evil killing evil Floyd hand believes it will begin with great
fires floods will follow as well as earthquakes typhoons man-made disasters pollution and war
the prophecy states a devastation will continue for a full five years but as the onslaught wanes harmony will prevail
followed by an unprecedented period of world peace there is hope there's no going to be no end of the world it's
just that we've got to put our minds together as concerning our mother earth perhaps not surprisingly offers to buy
the Buffalo Calf come in daily from such diverse people as media mogul Ted Turner
and rock star Ted Nugent she's not for sale she will not leave here do you have to be here and see the effect that this
calf has on people how it changes their lives something that is sacred and holy is what that calf is you can't put a
price on it that calf was sent here for us to be like a caretaker to it for all people to come see Catholics Protestants
they've all been here you'll see rosaries you'll see everything on the gate from anything that is very
important to them they will leave on the gate a lady came to baptize her baby she put
her baby's hand through the fence and held it there and the calf come right up and put her head right under the baby's
hand and stayed there through the whole little ceremony and when she was all day
all done she just backed off and she pulled the baby's hand back and was just unbelievable unbelievable indeed
apparently the miracle calf has already fulfilled one portion of the prophecy changing colors four times from white to
black red and blue yellow which is not so white anymore yeah and she's one of these four do you think you can pick her
out ladies and gentlemen there is the star I've seen people from all over the world
come here and when they walk away there's something different about them which is spiritual awakening but the
message she brought to us is the time has come for us to live through peace love and harmony
[Music] next authorities need your help to track down a man accused of rape [Music]
this story is about a rape survivor call her Deidre despite her intense trauma Deidre
refuses to let her living nightmare destroyer she wants to fight back by finding the man who raped her and
putting him behind bars but she cannot do it alone she needs your help for years
Deidre lives on New York City's fashionable Upper East Side it is normally a very expensive area the
Deidre had lucked into a rent stabilized apartment eventually however the building was slated to be torn down as
leases ran out the tenants moved by early 1992 Deidre was the only tenant left the only person living in the
building which was badly in need of repair in the end it was one of those repairs a leaky ceiling that led Deidre
to disaster the landlord agreed to send someone he hired a 31 year old handyman named
David goes when he was first hired it didn't seem strange at all it was just somebody else coming in to do some work
in the building that's all after Gauss fixed the ceiling the landlord gave him more work cows did the
repairs he lived temporarily in a basement apartment one night late at night I smelled smoke downstairs and I
went running down oh no I was just cooking soup in a can I said if you're ever gonna cook again why don't you come
up and ask me if you can borrow pan because I really don't want the building to burn down
March 29th 1992 9:30 a.m. David I thought you were coming up yesterday to paint the ceiling I had
other things to do I couldn't make it I came up to borrow frying oh okay [Applause]
[Applause] after he raped me it seemed like he was calmer but then he got a crazy look in
his eye again and he took an ice pick out of his pocket I thought for sure that he was going to kill me
deidre was willing to try anything to save her life she hit on a desperate ploy no no listen
you don't understand wait no we could be together I made him believe that he was my
boyfriend Peeta it totally disarmed him teacup really confused about the whole thing the ploy worked Gauss claimed he
needed money to pay a debt deidre gave him all she had Deidre's called a 911 and immediate response but
David Gauss was long gone at the police station detectives ran a background check on guns it quickly turned up a
long list of previous arrests and felony convictions including armed robbery assault and grand larceny okay deep in
now what we're gonna do is I'm gonna show you a series of six pictures and let me know if you recognize anybody
okay [Music] it's him after we identified David Gauss as the person who raped Deidre I also
contacted other police departments and learned that David Gauss was also wanted for a rape that occurred in Nassau
County Long Island and that rape he raped an acquaintance of his and a warrant was issued for his arrest David
Gauss has not been seen in three and a half years the police currently have no leads but they fear GAO's will rape
again rape is a crime that is usually repeated until they're caught and put away so there's no doubt in my mind if
David Gauss is now caught that he will go on doing what he's used to doing raping women
it's been three and a half years and it still affects my life I don't trust anybody
there's no enjoyment left I know that he's raping other women and I know that other lives are being destroyed I'd like
to see him off the streets I'd like to see him put away forever [Music] [Music] [Music]
when we return the shooting death of television actor George Reeves still has many researchers wondering who killed
Superman [Music] on a speeding bullet more powerful than a locomotive [Music] able to leap tall buildings at a single
bound [Music] in the 1950s millions of TV viewers across America knew actor George Reeves
as Superman a man of steel both indestructible and invincible [Music] then came June 16th 1959 at about 1:30
a.m. Los Angeles police raced to George Reeves fashionable Hollywood Hills home [Music]
upstairs they found George Reeves sprawled across his bed he had died from a single gunshot wound
to his right temple police quickly ruled Reeves death a suicide yet within a week
some people began to question that ruling it was a beginning of a controversy which continues to this day
[Music] it doesn't make sense that George Reeves committed suicide because the evidence
doesn't support that I don't believe that George Reeves killed himself I believe that he was murdered who killed
Superman for nearly four decades that mystery is tantalizing fascinated Hollywood those who believe George
Reeves met with foul play say a woman was behind it but what woman at the time of his death breezes at the vortex of a
twisted double love triangle which would have shocked his many loyal fans in 1952 George Reeves became an
overnight star as Superman just four years earlier he had been forced to eke out a living by digging septic tanks one
of his Superman co-stars was Jack Larsen who played Jimmy Olsen well I didn't know what I was getting into my
presumption as I'm sure George's was no one will probably ever see this and we became famous I mean became hot and and
I was just a guy around New York who some people say hey didn't I see you in the Alcoa or you know a better lunch
counter and suddenly I was Jimmy Olsen [Music] away from the cameras in his love life
at least Ruiz bore little resemblance to the TV superhero his steady girlfriend was Toni Mannix a former Ziegfeld
showgirl eight years as senior Toni however was a married woman her husband Eddie Mannix had been vice president of
MGM and was still a powerful force in Hollywood no one knows why but Mannix encouraged his wife's involvement with
Reeves the relationship between George and Toni was a very open relationship she took care of George very well the
car that he drove was bought by Toni in the house that he lived in was Toni's house but something happened in late
fifty-eight that broke that relationship off Tony Manus was devastated by the break-up but George moved on quickly
he soon began spending his time with Lenore lemon a member of the New York cafe society much younger and much
wilder than Tony Maddox she had a reputation a bad reputation for fights in clubs in New York
I think George liked the excitement that he found with her another George on the
night George Reeves died his life was not as perfect as it might have appeared although he pampered Lenore and they
were reportedly engaged Reeves could not keep up the lavish lifestyle he had enjoyed with Tony cut off from her money
the bills were piling up moreover Reeves hadn't filmed a new episode of Superman in two years perfume
I think George Reeves was going through a midlife crisis there are reports that George was planning to marry Lenore
lemon I don't think he was going to do that and that that's where I think an argument came up
by midnight only Lenore lemon and writer Robert Condon remained at the house with
Reeves shortly thereafter two neighbors stopped by looking for a party a bar is closed
according to Jim note Lenore became increasingly agitated about the way Reeves treated the guests
fine I think this made Lenore lemon very angry that he treated his friend like that she went up and I think an argument
started I think George at that time told her that he had no plans to marry her and
that she became very angry and pulled out a gun and I don't think on purpose but I think accidentally shot George
half an hour past before the police were notified Jim no believes the partygoers
needed time to come up with a consistent story when questioned everyone said Reeves had been alone in his bedroom
that he had shot himself he was immediately the police ruled Reeves death a suicide
despite some rather curious evidence a 30 caliber Luger pistol lay on the floor between Reeves legs but there were no
fingerprints on the gun the bullet had passed through Reeves skull and larged in the ceiling above his bed and
strangely the fatal shell casing was found underneath Reeves body [Music] if George Reeves had committed suicide
and held the gun to his head the bullet casing would have been expelled away from his body not in back
of his body where he would have fallen on it there were no powder burns in his hands there were no powder burns in his
head which means that the gun was held far enough away from his head that there weren't any powder burns somebody else
pulled that trigger but was Leonor lemon that somebody else writer and researcher
Michael hey Dazz an even darker theory he believes that George Reeves death was a direct result of his illicit affair
with Toni Mannix and her husband Eddie's anger over Reeves ending it I believe that the man was murdered
I believe that Eddie Mannix tired of listening to his wife grieve and obsess over George Reeves decided that it was
time to take some action it was my understanding that George's house was pretty much an open house and I think it
was relatively easy for Eddie Mannix to send someone over to the house during the course of a party that may have been
going on and Eddie Mannix had the guy killed [Music] that Eddie Mannix by the end of the 50s
who was retiring would endanger his life in the end of his life by having something nefarious done to George is to
my mind ludicrous but what about the physical evidence no fingerprints on the gun the shell casing underneath Reeves
body the lack of powder burns on his hands or head the absence of powder burns raises a question a lot of
people's minds because most people have a misconception about powder burns they believe that powder burns happen when a
weapon is placed up against the skin that's not the case when the weapon is placed against the skin the powder goes
into the wound and does not burn the outside of the skin the police found no evidence of fingerprints on the weapon
George was a gun collector and he kept his weapons well oiled well a thick coat of oil won't hold fingerprints any more
than water will okay take him perhaps the most difficult fact to explain is how the shell casing got under the body
the 30 caliber Luger is designed to eject the shell upwards and away from the shooter most people think that
couldn't put the shell behind him however if the gun was fired this way it would eject the shell downward for
example according to the autopsy report the bullet entered Reeves head about one
inch above his right ear it exited about one in 3/4 of an inch above the left ear
then lodged in the ceiling the bullet trajectory suggests that Reeves head was tilted when the gun was fired
consequently he may have held a gun in an odd position if George had held the gun not this way but in this way the
more comfortable and natural position he would have ejected the shelf directly behind him and onto the bed
but why would Superman kill himself Jack Larson believes that Reeves was despondent over his lack of work he
couldn't get a job I couldn't get a job in the United States I was too typed his
Jimmy was absolutely type nobody wanted me to work at all I don't know what happened to George I only had a bow tie
and a sweater to worry about George and his Superman outfit so I was depressed and I accepted instantly that he had
committed suicide there is evidence to support all three theories about his death I think there is evidence to
support suicide there is evidence to support tragic accident and there is evidence to support murder the only
people who know how George Reeves died are no longer with us who killed Superman was George Reeves
death the result of a secretive and perilous love triangle or was he the victim of a depression so profound that
he took his own life perhaps we will never know perhaps this is one case destined to remain an unsolved mystery
[Music] join me again this Friday at our regular time you brought all new edition
unsolved mysteries [Music] [Music]

Brief Summary

George Reeves' mysterious death, police ambush, Tina Sheets' search for her brothers, and the birth of a rare white buffalo calf are featured.

Key points

The Mystery of Superman's Death. George Reeves, TV's first superhero, was found dead under mysterious circumstances.
Tina's Search for Her Brothers. After being separated from her siblings, Tina spent decades searching for them.
The Birth of a White Buffalo Calf. A rare white buffalo calf is born, fulfilling an ancient prophecy for the Lakota.
A Spiritual Awakening. The white buffalo calf becomes a symbol of hope and spiritual significance.
A Call for Peace. The white buffalo calf's message emphasizes the need for harmony and love.
Deidre's Desperate Plea. Deidre tries to convince her attacker that they could be together, disarming him momentarily.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

Who killed Superman in Fairfield California?

The mystery surrounding George Reeves' death.

0:22WatchMay 23, 2019

Tension

65/ 100Some tension

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