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

tonight on unsolved mysteries the name alone is enough to make you stop and think twice welcome to The Devil's
Backbone in Central Texas locals say it's the most haunted spot in the country a mother lode of restless
spirits showed a frightening or perhaps even possess you a romeo-juliet love affair ends tragically when Leroy's
right says goodbye to his girlfriend and just minutes later smashes his car into
a tree the coroner called it suicide Leroy sister Vicki believes she has compelling
evidence that Leroy was murdered on David Kempton invited a new friend home to dinner he never imagined his wife and
this friend and become lovers within months Davis wife left then she dropped from
sight along with David's four-year-old daughter join me perhaps tonight you can make a
difference perhaps you can help solve the mystery [Music] well County Colorado Memorial Day 1968 Leroy Dreyfus killed
instantly the coroner's ruling is suicide 25 years later at his family's request the body
of Leroy Dreyfus exhumed for an autopsy it is a culmination of a long struggle for Leroy sister Vicki who is convinced
that her brother was murdered I took a vow that I would do this for my brother and I don't feel like I can stop
until it's done because I would be letting them down I already feel like the authorities let him down
and that obviously someone took his life and that he can't I can't let him down someone has to stand up and talk for him
Vicky Marling is a woman and a relentless quest a quarter of a century may seem like an eternity but for Vicky
time has Stood Still since a day her brother died her mission is simple to bring Leroy's killer to justice no
matter how long it takes Leroy was the oldest of four children seventeen Leroy fell in love with a 16 year old Hispanic
girl named patty a year later they were engaged on the day he died Memorial Day 1968
Leroy attended a party at Patty's house he left in the late afternoon a block and a half away
Leroy's car smashed head-on into a tree word of the accident spread quickly the first people on the scene were Leroy's
father and brother I tried to hug him your hand I said how gets up gonna go get you some help so
I've run to the truck and told uggs I still run to the grocery store and call the ambulance
by the way sir folks does anybody know what happened here he had a fight with his girlfriend he said he's gonna kill
himself it was that offhanded remark from a bystander to set the suicide scenario in motion ambulance driver
Delbert Mickelson remembers the corner come to the hospital and went over what happened and then I I was the first one
to relay the story to him that he'd had a fight with his girlfriend and was going to kill himself
based on that information the corner demon autopsy was necessary he attributed Leroy's death to cult auto
suicide I went to the district attorney in Greeley and I said I don't believe this mr. suicide I believe it was a
murder and I need for you to investigate it and he was very rude he said you're just a distraught parent there's no
reason for us to investigate this you just gone home and get old for it I just cried and went home I never got over
why don't you take this you always liked for 11-year old Vicki Leroy's death would prove to be the defining moment in
her life I remember that my mom was crying for a long time and even though I was only 11 I knew that was something
wrong but I had to wait until I was an adult to attempt to solve the problem I believe the Leroy committed suicide June
1988 Vicki paid a surprise visit to the Boulder County coroner's office she fully expected to be Stonewater instead
she discovered that the current regime had already noted the lack of a thorough investigation into Leroy's death well
you see there's only three recorded auto suicides in the whole history of Colorado only three and also because
they see the other two cases you know at six-month investigations with reams and
reams of paperwork and as you can see at this report yeah two pages why is there
only two pages I really couldn't tell you but I want to encourage you to look further into this and if I were you I
would hire a private investigator I felt like it was a real strange thing for them for the authorities to bring it to
my attention as dramatically as they did that something's wrong here Vicki became
her own investigator she knocked on doors she talked to Patty's neighbors looking for anyone who had any memory of
the day of her brother died has been that fight oh they said there was a big fight according to the
townspeople there was a party going on at Patty's house and there had been a fight but that it had not been between
Patty and Leroy that there had been several other family members there that did not like Leroy and that have been
drinking all day Vicky heard similar stories from a number of people but not everyone was
convinced that there was more to the situation than suicide Vicky had a little luck with the son of the original
caller very sorry but I just want you to know one thing my father was a coroner here for 25 years he was very good at
what he did I'm sure he did everything he could now there's really nothing more I can help you with I'm sorry excuse me
finally Vicky placed an ad in the local paper urging Leroy's former girlfriend patty to contact her it worked I went to
the corner and got the coroner's report and it stated that you had told the authorities that he was gonna leave your
house to kill himself did you say that no no I never said that can you tell me anything about that day
anything else I felt like patty knew answers but was reluctant to talk as far as Vickie was concerned the
evidence was becoming undeniable I just I don't think about that day anymore next came the exhumation at long
last after 25 years the body of Leroy would be autopsy it was a tough decision it took me about six months to finally
decide that they weren't going to do anything and couldn't do anything unless we did the exclamation it almost didn't
seem right but on the other hand it seemed wrong to just stop there and say oh well it was immediately apparent that
this young man had sustained some sort of incised wound to the neck actually two incised wounds to the neck and they
were very characteristic of what I see all the time and other persons who have received the stab or slash wounds to the
neck from a knife Vickie was stunned in simple layman's terms the two incisions translated into establish nearly two
inches long and a slash four inches long the severed Leroy's windpipe based upon
dr. Allen's findings the cause of Leroy's death was changed from auto suicide to undetermined for Vicky's
crucial questions remained who killed her brother and why in retrospect everything leads back to
Patty's house every time I think of a scenario think of what happened the same conclusion and the same thought that it
is started at Patty's house with an argument Leroy arrives at around 5 p.m. one of the gifts was Patty's
sister-in-law Carolyn Leroy come over that day and a lot of Patty's family was there and everyone had been drinking
quite heavily that day I was married to Patty's brother and I was living in the house with the family for about eight
months before and after this happened Patty's family and Leroy had a slight argument kind of a racial argument over
girlfriends and boyfriends [Applause] [Music] soon after the argument Patti escorted
Leroy to his car Vicki is convinced that just before he drove off Leroy was attacked by one of
Patti's family members I believe that they continued arguing and that a male person just quickly reached out and cut
Leroy's throat I feel that Leroy was probably fleeing for his life in the automobile and then lost consciousness
or lost control of the vehicle because of the injuries he would have been annexed in pain and would have been
extremely afraid but the actual cause of death were injury sustained from the automobile crash I feel like I have
become a cop in this whole scenario which is very difficult at times because I have no training and I don't know what
to do and I'm sure I've made the wrong mistakes at times but I also know that I care deeply about my family and that I
love my brother very much and I know that as long as I am doing this is my heart pure and doing it for the good
reasons that there is going to be a conclusion [Music] here at unsolved mysteries each and
every case saw brings us feelings of immense satisfaction tonight's update is particularly
gratifying it involves a young man sentenced to life in prison for a murder most people are convinced he did not
commit on Sunday night April 13th 1986 fire and rescue squads raced to a raging house
fire in Aurora Missouri when firemen were finally able to search the wreckage they found the body of 79 year-old
Pauline Marx she had been bound gagged and left to die investigators concluded the fire had been deliberately set five
days later the police questioned the local 20 year old named Johnny Lee Wilson Wilson is mildly [ __ ] when IQ
in the mid 60s his chair and he sat here and looked you right in the eye and said
John he was there before that fire started after a grueling four-hour interrogation Wilson confessed a
confession he would later recant at the end of the gym tape at the end interrogation he he forced my head back
and that's that's when I said okay okay I did it well when I really didn't that's that's when I lied Johnny's
attorneys recommended that he plead guilty to avoid the possibility of the death penalty in doing so he waived his
right to a trial by jury in April of 1987 Johnny Lee Wilson was sentenced to life in prison
[Music] he was immediately remanded to the Missouri State Penitentiary several legal experts insist by this apparent
injustice spraying the Johnnies defense it's one of those cases perhaps there's only one in a thousand where an innocent
man is doing time in the penitent and Johnny Lee Wilson is innocent and if he had a trial he would probably be
acquitted I don't think the jury would deliberate more than an hour before they acquitted him and it's a shame that he
never got a chance to prove his innocence all I want somebody to believe me you know you know just that I didn't do
this over the years a case against Johnny Lee Wilson began to fall apart a key witness recanted his testimony an
inmate in another prison actually confessed to the crime nevertheless both the state court of
appeals in the Missouri Supreme Court refused to grant Johnny a trial Johnny Lee Wilson had only one other option one
last hope here's Keeley Shay Smith with the details in July of 1994 Johnny's case came before Missouri governor Mel
Carnahan Johnny's attorneys had requested a pardon on the grounds that there was no evidence against their
client only quote a pathetic desperate confession after hours of interrogation my counsel re-interviewed the witnesses
talked to the prosecutors and the police looked at the evidence read the transcripts a year-long study and we
became convinced that wasn't proferred not only wasn't appropriate for him to remain in prison but that he was
innocent the pardon was granted on September 29 1995 Johnny Lee Wilson was finally a
free man exonerated of all charges I know I never never thought that I would see the day that I would walk out those
doors and I'd be driving away from that place it's out great all together Johnny
had spent nine years five months and ten days behind bars at a hastily assembled
news conference Johnny's thoughts turned to Pauline marts why why would someone hurt a nice
lady like falling and she was a wonderful person I bring my grandmother's and she is
following his release Johnny was reunited with his mother and grandmother made mother and I cry and we just you
know we hugged each other and all of us and was really happy could hardly believe it you know after all those
years Johnny now lives with his mother and grandmother in his hometown of Aurora
Missouri where he hopes to put his long ordeal behind him I know bareness of nothing I got so much
faith you know I I knew sometimes somehow that I was gonna get out I just I'm just glad I did
[Music] New Year's Eve 1952 a time of hope and guarded optimism by Cuban elected
president conflict in Korea was drawing to a close but in Glendale California David camtonz world was about to come
apart David's wife Barbara was in love with another man nine months later Barbara would disappear along with a
couple's young daughter Darla and the last time I saw her was just a few weeks after her fourth birthday it's been a
very long time so I'm sitting there with this guy I met down at the plant he says Washington David Kempton
troubles began in July of 1951 when he brought a co-worker home for dinner and I meet Barbara Stanwyck at the time the
Kempton lived in Ohio David and Barbara had been married for five years and had two children Stephen and done for a few
minutes David's new friend Charles was an engaging storyteller who entertained everyone with delightful tales of his
adventures around the country Charles was a person who lived an unusual kind of life almost anything or anyplace you
wanted to talk about he had some stories related to it there's restaurants there's nightclubs there's dancing
Charles never stopped talking about California the promised land eventually David and Barbara decided that was a
place to be all worthwhile until Charles joined the captain's on the west coast I'm in love
with Charles I want a divorce I was totally unforced I have never considered such a thing didn't know
there was anything that wrong with the marriage eventually what we decided was that if that's where things were gonna
be I would step out of the picture he would step into my shoes there'd be as little disruption as possible with the
kids and I went back to Cleveland but within about a month or five or six weeks I got a phone call it was totally
out of the blue a thunderbolt kids I want to come home I sent her the bus tickets and I tore out and dug up a
house forced to leave it Davis joy was short-lived within weeks Charles was back in the picture Barbara
moved out again she moved back in then she dropped another bombshell I'll live here and I'll take care of our children
but don't ask me for anything more this time David left and he took the children
with him a judge soon granted David temporary custody of both Stephen and daughter Barbara received weekend
visitation rights on the occasion of the first weekend visitation she called me ahead of time to say that she was in a
rooming house and couldn't accommodate both kids could she just take Donna so on Friday I delivered on Sunday evening
went back to pick her up she's going inside or I know they left yesterday they packed up some family business and
had to leave wait that's not right ma'am I'm supposed to pick up Donna today he wasn't there they went it was
devastating because I had no way not a way in the world to know where they might have gone
[Music] more than 40 years of now past 40 years of birthdays dances graduations perhaps
a wedding and even grandchildren [Music] I'd like Donna to know that she's always
been a part of my feeling whenever anyone mentions what kids do I have usually I'll I'll include her in the
count I want to say hello and that I love you if in whatever way that's possible under the circumstances I have
love for you [Music] we'll be back in a moment to investigate the mysterious disappearance of a young
woman named Bonnie hey some people believe her husband was more about Bonnie's fate than he is saved
[Music] Christmas morning 1992 in Jacksonville Florida a young wife and mother Bonnie
Haim open presents Bonnie's husband Michael captured the moment forever on videotape less than two weeks later
Barney Haines would inexplicably vanish police began to suspect that Bonnie was dead a victim of foul play
their suspicions soon focused on Michael Haines among the most damning evidence was extraordinary testimony of a
surprising witness Michael and Bonnie's three-year-old son Barney Ames uncertain
fate and the cloud of suspicion that hangs over her husband Michael spawned a contorted family dispute on one hand
Bonnie's own Parris believe that she was unhappily married and willfully abandoned Michael and her son and yet
some members of Michael's family are convinced that bonnie is dead murdered by Michael Haines Bonnie I'm sorry to
say is it's gone she's not alive if she was alive and had one ounce of life in her she would have contacted someone
there are thousands of women that that leave their husbands and families every year and it's always a complete surprise
to their families Michael worked as a manager the construction supply company owned by his
aunt Eva and her husband Bonnie did their accounts it's got a lot even claims that Michael was often abusive to
Bonnie at the office let's go me what is so important that you can't go to lunch
the even also claims that at least once Michaels abuse became physical one day they got into an argument and a fight in
the parking lot and she came in crying and he had slammed her pan in the door her nails were broke and she was very
upset at that point even says that bonnie eventually decided to leave her husband and in preparation
opened a bank account in her own name to keep her plans secret bonnie had the bank statements mailed to her at work
according to a van michael was enraged when he found out Michael what are you doing no what are
you doing Bonnie why don't I know about this we're married this is our money should be in our
account well it's from my paycheck well you're gonna close it you're gonna close
it today do you understand me [Music] Bonni closed the account but according to those closest to her Bonnie never
wavered in her plan to divorce Michael she secret admirer that rend for safekeeping and went so far as to put a
deposit on an apartment and enroll her son in a new preschool [Music] the evening of January 6 1993 Bonnie
came home from work at around 7:30 p.m. she intended to drop by Avanza day to finalize plans for a co-worker's baby
shower about 8:30 that evening she called me on the phone she was crying and she was upset
I asked why she said that her and my had gotten into a discussion and I asked her
she want me to call her back later and she said no that she would just talk to me in the morning actually not too good
I think I'm coming down with something but the next morning neither Bonnie nor Michael showed up at work she's not here
I don't know she we had an argument well she got mad at me last night took off I
don't know where she's at however hopes for Bonnie's safe return began to dim that same morning her purse
turned up roughly five miles from home buried in a motel dumpster near the Jacksonville Airport robbery apparently
was not a motive due to the amount of money and the credit cards being there it had all of her identification
checkbook and the purse was secured by the maintenance worker and a police officer was called to the scene along
with family members 6070 573 does there appear to be anything missing from the purse no it's all here as far as I can
tell when I walked into the room she give any indication of worship Mike and his dad nothing more in there tell me
anything Michael didn't say much about Bonnie being missing the hell was body doing with all that money
he didn't just come out and like oh my god my wife is gone where is she just nothing nothing michael has insisted
from the start that he was not involved in his wife's disappearance he says it on the night of January 6 bonnie drove
off alone after an argument at around 11:00 p.m. thanks B stated that he called his
mother Carolyn a man asked her to come over to the house and early morning hours and watch the child while he went
and looked for Bonnie according to Carolyn Mike he was gone approximately 45 minutes then after he
allegedly did that he returned to the house where he waited until the next morning never calling the police and
called in and told his employer that he was gonna be sick that day [Music] detective Hinson was less than convinced
by Eames account his instincts led him back to the Jacksonville Airport near the motel Merv isn't that it sure enough
there was Bonnie's car abandoned in a lot for long-term parking what was unusual about Bonnie's car when we found
it at the airport was the positioning of the seat the driver's seat of the car which appeared to be farther back than
would have been comfortable for Bonnie to have driven the car it was more in relation to someone about Michael Haynes
sighs and after the vehicle was processed we found a shoe print and the driver's side floorboard it was very
pristine print police concluded that the print had been made by the last person to drive the car
the distinctive tread pattern was traced to a rare style of athletic shoe one pair was owned by none other than
Michael Haines the shoe print in the car is interesting but beyond that if it's his footprint I'm not sure it means
anything my footprint is in my wife's car that doesn't mean I have ever done her any harm in a bold attempt to
uncover the truth investigators arranged for child psychologists to interview Bonnie and Michael's son
from what the child told us that day my only conclusion was is that there had been a domestic fight and the Michel
Haim had killed his wife and had removed her and that their three and a half year
old son meant witnessed this the credibility of a child is something that you have to actually judge in
perspective he's said a couple of things that we know were not true mom's cars in
the lake we know her car wasn't there the issue of child witness credibility is always a concern but generally
children do not lie about what they see and they do not lie about what happens to them at this point custody of Bonnie
and Michael's son is still in litigation however he is safe meanwhile the families remain split about what if
anything Michael hey knows about his wife's disappearance I'm not saying that I'm a hundred percent convinced that
Mike is innocent I haven't seen any evidence that convinces me he's guilty his behavior and general attitude
convinces me that he's not guilty I think that Michael did something to Bonnie I think her son and was there and I
think he's seen exactly what happened I think he witnessed his mother's murder [Music]
I refuse to give up hope that bonnie is alive until we get some proof some evidence that Bonnie's dead
[Music] through his attorney Michael Haim declined our request for an interview he
has not been formally charged with any crime however authorities still consider him to be the prime suspect in Bonnie's
disappearance in addition investigators believe Michael may have had an accomplice
someone who picked him up after he left Bonnie's car at the airport and also helped to dispose of his wife's body the
possibility remains of course at Bonnie Haim is still alive [Music] [Music] next if you like a good frame you love
The Devil's Backbone many believe it's the most haunted spot in America and the eyewitness accounts leave little doubt
[Music] I was feeling extremely scared it was a ghost it had to be I didn't tell anybody
about it that chilling sensation I got kind of stayed with me there's something here what it is I don't know I've had
probably 25 30 or 40 s at different spirits and ghosts from different people they'll never leave I'll be dead and
gone they'll be here they called it the Devil's Backbone and when it comes to ghosts per square
mile few places short of purgatory could match these 4,700 acres and Central Texas to get here you head south out of
the state capital Austin about 50 miles and some 200 years [Music] the gnarled canyons of The Devil's
Backbone or was home to Comanche and Apache Indians in the 1700s Spaniards pushed through on the road to conquest
among them was a Franciscan monk named best Spinoza infamous for his ruthless ambition more than a century later
renegade Confederate soldiers and a doomed quest for gold breathed their last in The Devil's Backbone today their
spirits live on our so says longtime resident Bert wall I had a situation one time where I was
finishing a particular thing I was writing and it was late at night that midnight and and the dog started barking
a little bit but not loud the wind was blowing it was a coal night that looks through the window that's when I saw the
Spanish monk [Music] I don't believe it could have been a person there's no way he was definitely
from the 1700s he was dressed that way and his habit of whatever his cross hanging I probably watched him for all
15 seconds maybe which is a long time he disappeared in a way that was more of [Music]
the luminous Spanish monk is but one of many spirits that prowl the ranch just ask John Meyers he came to Burt walls
place to hunt deer but hunting in The Devil's Backbone isn't like anywhere else in the world the stand I was on was
a tree stand once I got up and situated myself you have to be real quiet and real still and watch for the deer as I
was sitting up in the standing and that's what you taught in a lot and deer hunting is just wait I heard footprints
or footsteps I should say walking around the tree the base of the tree I couldn't
see because I was sitting on a platform and it kept just walking in a circle whatever it was
I started getting a little eerie feeling because it wouldn't move away from the tree it just kept going in this circle
and finally it just stopped it didn't walk away the sounds just stopped and the Sun started going down and it
started getting darker and I thought well I'm just gonna get out off the tree walk back to the house didn't see any
footprints twigs broken or branches broken or anything like that I kept getting this
feeling that someone was watching me so I stopped and I turned back and looked toward the tree and there was an Indian
[Music] it was a very cold night it was in the 20s and he was without a shirt and he
was looking at me rather strangely like who are you so immediately I turned around and
started back toward the house and noticed to my right out of the corner of my eye that that he was there and he was
walking parallel with me I didn't feel threatened by him it's just you know like who are you and what are you doing
here and I made about two steps toward him and what I did it was a ghost it had to be you know to be able to do there
the bunkhouse was a sight of yet another extraordinary vision if you believe Lynn
Gentry one-time foreman at Burt Falls ranch I was kind of relaxed in and off in the distance I heard what at first I
thought was thunder then as the sound came closer I realized that it was horses hooves in a very fast
run there were several horses with probably 15 or 20 riders on what I believed to
have been Confederate soldiers they certainly look real to me at the time but then when you begin to slowly
realize that hey what I'm looking at is not real you know if this is these are ghosts
perhaps most amazing of all was the experience of John theory on a few years back John was hiking with two friends in
an area known as the haunted Valley John claims he not only saw a supernatural vision of a wolf but that the spirit
actually possessed him quarry and BC were often another part of the creek and I got the sensation and basically saw a
vision of a wolf I was looking up watching it come towards me and it left at me [Applause]
and where it would have hit me I felt the just a chilling sensation go through me we didn't see anything mysterious
it's all what John says that he saw when we got back into the truck it got extremely cold in the truck he was
sitting in between BC and I I was sitting on the passenger side so the whole left-hand side of my body got
extremely numb and cold it's almost like if there was a big block of ice sitting
next to me when we got back to the ranch that night I didn't know what was going
on I didn't know if my friend was going to be all right I was actually pretty worried about him
[Music] according to his friends John initially lapsed into a silent trance when he did speak his voice was
an unearthly baritone John suddenly seemed obsessed with Indian massacres ambushes and other little-known events
from a history of Devil's Backbone while I was standing there I was feeling extremely scared and all of a sudden a
big gust of wind came out of the kitchen I was just in shock I didn't know what that was
I sniffed her kind of frozen and kept asking questions what what was that what was that and that's when someone said I
think the spirits left him I think it's gone now I don't know for sure what kind
of spirit was inside of me but something that knew about this ranch that knew about the history of the ranch it had to
be going through me and it's it's hard to believe but it you know basically that's what would have had to happen
[Music] here The Devil's Backbone ghost says common as spines on a cactus but why
should this particular patch of land prove so irresistible to spirits The Devil's Backbone is haunted because it's
loved its loved by the spirits it's loved by myself and I imagine someday when I'm gone I will haunt this
same son of a gun [Music] [Applause] [Music] if the local accounts are anything close
to true Bert wall would join a host of other selves and once called his place home old company in which to spend the
rest of eternity [Music] join me next time for another intriguing edition unsolved mysteries
[Music] [Music]

Brief Summary

The episode discusses haunted locations, Leroy Dreyfus's suspicious death, and the disappearance of Bonnie Haim.

Key points

The Devil's Backbone: A Haunted Tale. Explore the chilling legends of Central Texas, said to be the most haunted spot in the country.
Vicki's Relentless Quest for Justice. For 25 years, Vicki Marling fights to prove her brother Leroy was murdered, not a suicide.
Johnny Lee Wilson's Exoneration. After nearly a decade in prison for a crime he didn't commit, Johnny Lee Wilson is finally free.
David Kempton's Heartbreaking Loss. David's life is shattered when his wife and daughter disappear, leaving him in despair.
Child Witness Testimony. Investigators interview Bonnie and Michael's son, revealing troubling insights into the case.
The Disappearance of Bonnie Haim. Michael Haim is the prime suspect in his wife's disappearance, but is he guilty?

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

I took a vow that I would do this for my brother.

Vicki's determination to seek justice for Leroy.

2:34WatchMay 23, 2019

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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