Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 9, Episode 13 - Full Episode | Forensic Files

tonight on unsolved mysteries it is one of nature's most powerful and inspiring forces no knows where or when it will
strike but if it does the Olson clan of Illinois is sure to take notes are nearly a century family members have had
close encounters with one lightning bolt after another when a young film student
from California is killed in Mexico the investigation becomes shrouded in sorrow
and foreign intrigue what was Patrick County doing in Tijuana who is pursuing and who was driving his car in the days
after he died is our destiny written in the stars can astrology predict whether we will be good or evil in a fascinating
special report leading astrology reveals as serial murders like Jeffrey Dahmer a Night Stalker and Son of Sam might
have been born to kill and from the curt case filed a special report on modern-day vampires the summit is just
innocent diversion to others it's a dangerous descent into an altered reality one case may have led
jointly perhaps you may be able to help solve one of tonight's unsolved mysteries
[Music] [Music] [Music] it is a force of nature so mysterious so powerful has been called a finger of God
where are who it may strike cannot be predicted the one family in Illinois every thunderstorm holds a potential for
disaster even death I think the Lightning likes us once in a while forget a bolt of strikes you know
real real close and start thinking about it since I've told you no co-workers and
friends miss they tend to tend to kid me a lot and you know nobody wants to give
me a ride home when it's raining out call me Lightning boy things like that I think it'll strike me again and that
someday is going to get me and kill me meet the Olsen family their ancestors John and Jen Cena
Olsen came to America from Denmark in 1893 from them subsequent generations have inherited a deadly legacy a bizarre
kinship was lightning over the last four generations at least ten members of the
Olsen family have had close encounters with lightning terrifyingly close two of them have died the first person that was
on killed by lightning was Crystal sin' and he died in 1899 it was a stormy day in May crystals the
third child of John and John Cena was 23 years old that afternoon he went to visit his future bride and her father
Chris Tolson died instantly the lightning never touched the others Chris family Morgan unaware that his
death was only the beginning 22 years later Chris older brother Olli braved the late summer storm to
feed his livestock at the barn door lightning struck him dead it was then the Olsen family began to wonder if
death by lightning was a destiny they all might share Christine Olsen Kristin o Lee's sister lived her life with that
conviction by the spring of 1941 she was an old woman but as her grandson bill vividly recalls she was still terrified
of lightning I came out for the summer my summer visit and had a day it was very cloudy outside and
it was dark early and so she put me to bed and I was laying there probably a half hour and then I could hear thunder
in the background lightning start bolts of it coming down Billy Billy get up pretty quickly we've
got to go outside but why because we've got to get away from the lightning will go out to the old God the war I got out
the bedroom door and his bolt lightning hit blew a hole in the wall run across the metal ceiling
feeling lit up like a neon sign [Music] but I think after that we didn't stop too long so we just tore out the back
door and ran out to the car bill and his grandmother passed the rest of the night huddled safely in the car
but the specter of lightning would continue to haunt the descendants of John and Jen Cena Olsen 20 years later
when Bill Thompson was grown and had a family he had his second brush with death
ball lightning shot in through the window hit the toaster and glued a toaster off the table went over missed
the little girl in height shared this one buyer his balls hit the phone on the wall and knocked the phone off the wall
and went out through the phone areas but Eric nobody got hurt but toaster is gone
and the telephone was gone everybody's very frightened [Music] during a summer storm five years later
lightning again reached out to the Olsens this time it was Bill's first cousin Connie that day her sister Karen had
come to pick her up after work Connie's and Connor would be with a kind of lightning that seemed to emanate from
the ground it looked like it was going to be a thunderstorm and there was a different kind of feeling about the
atmosphere it felt like it was full of electrical charges and it was like an eerie kind of feeling every single joint
in my body violently jerked and then I fell to the ground I don't remember anything after that because I was
knocked unconscious Connie's boss came to her aid and helped her to Karen's car who everyone's
complete astonishment Connie was essentially unharmed when I came to in the car my body had a tingling sensation
my arms and my chest area were numb when my sister told me that I was struck by lightning I was just really surprised I
had absolutely no idea that that's what happened but then I thought well that's what lightning feels like
the Lightning has always kind of been a little a little strange to me you know this is something that that has always
kind of scared me and I'm sure some of it is due to that and when you know that current said it happened when I was
young Bradlee hapless fourth generation Olsen the year he turned 15 he visited his grandmother's farm in Burlington
Illinois at the time Bradley knew nothing about the Olson history the light was so bright that I
you know I couldn't see for a second I finally want to kind of shook off and I realized what had happened he was
lighting a hit somewhere and there was a probably a ten inch diameter charge circle on the door that was smoking
since that time I have been very scared of lightning it it wasn't necessarily a life-changing experience I didn't turn
good or anything because of it but it was something that you know they really probably it was part of the first time
my life the realization is wow you could have just you could have just been killed
do you have been struck by lightning next to your name what is the link between this family and lightning but it
possibly be something unique and their genetic makeup I've never heard of another family where two family members
had been killed by lightning whether the whole Olson family has a genetic predisposition to be struck by lightning
I think is a question that I would answer no because from a from a scientific point of view the lightning
starts in the cloud has no idea what's going on in the ground just works its way down randomly and then hits what's
under wherever it gets to I believe that there's an organic reason why lightning
strikes my family and I also feel good what you fear most is what you attract and many members of my family fear
lightning and therefore they attract lightning to them given the family history two fatalities and countless
near misses such fears are understandable and family gatherings he also scant help but wonder who's next
one more let's say lightning this time for the occasion [Music] next when a young college student is
killed in Mexico his grieving mother and a determined private investigator embark
on a desperate search for answers and later a revealing look at the bizarre world of modern-day vampires and the
games they play [Music] this is Yahveh d de Internacional a cold concrete stretch of highway that runs
along the border that separates Tijuana Mexico from the United States every year
dozens of people are killed here as they dash through heavy traffic attempting to
enter the US illegally on may 5th 1996 local rescue crews responded to the kind of accident scene
that has become tragically commonplace a pedestrian had been struck and critically injured he carried no ID was
classified as disco Necedah or unknown [Music] after this photograph ran in a local
newspaper the man was incorrectly identified as Luis Rodriguez he died six days after the accident without
regaining consciousness another 15 days would pass before it became known that the dead man was in reality Patrick
Kelly a film student at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles during those 15 days Patrick's mother
Terry had lost a desperate search to find him in the process he had uncovered a series of disturbing clues which have
convinced her that there was much more of Patrick's death than just a traffic accident
Terry Kelly of Alberta Canada is a management consultant who adopted Patrick when he is 18 months old Patrick
had been born into the Blood Indian tribe and immediately placed in foster care as a young child he learned a love
writing and storytelling as a teenager he began to dream about making movies in 1993 Patrick took a major step towards
that goal he was accepted into the prestigious film school at the University of Southern California
he loved the education he was getting he was very enthusiastic about his classes
and about what they were learning and and from the very first day of school they had to start writing and and that
just it's it's like the school was geared towards who he was Friday night May 3rd 1996 found Patrick celebrating
the end of the semester with a close friend Michael Park after months of painstaking effort Patrick had just
turned in his year-end project a full-length motion picture script he was really upbeat it was just really anxious
to get on with his senior year and then you know hopefully out in Hollywood we watched the video for about 45 minutes
about 3:45 I remember the time because I had to get up pretty early the next morning so I said you know I better
leave and hit the sack so was about 3:45 didn't really mention anything at all up a weekend just wait
tired he said he's gonna rest and rehearsing he's gonna rest you nice tail see you tomorrow and that was the last
song one of the things we agreed on when he first went away to school all was that we would always call each other on
Sunday evening in three years he'd never missed the call he didn't call that Sunday night and I called him and tried
all evening to get hold of him so I knew right away that we had a problem the following Tuesday Terry asked
Michael Park to go to Patrick's room to Michael looked as if Patrick had just stepped out for a moment though
Patrick's passport was missing his wallet was on the desk his bags and clothes in the closet only the answering
machine offered a clue Terry Kelly immediately phoned the bank there had been several ATM transactions over that
weekend in Mexico and that it overdrew his account so that was the first clue we had as to what direction he had been
headed that direction was due south at 10:24 Saturday morning Patrick made a $60 withdrawal at a 7-eleven in San
Clemente California 63 miles from Los Angeles at 6:08 p.m. another 135 dollars withdrawn at a bank ATM and the Tijuana
tourist area the next day three more withdrawals at a bank ATM at downtown Tijuana but Patrick's account drive
private detective Doug Roth was hired by Terry Kelly to track down Patrick growth
began the 7-eleven in San Clemente the surveillance tape from Saturday morning May 4th showed Patrick entering the
store Roth continued south before crossing into Mexico he decided to check the parking lots along the border for
many tourists leave their cars before entering Tijuana Roth hit pay dirt right away you have this card yes you
have this car here Patrick's car was parked along the back fence it was caked with mud there was
damage to the front right bumper and the rear license plate was loose other clues
suggested that someone other than Patrick had last driven the car the driver's seat was much closer to the
steering wheel than would be consistent with someone who was 6 foot 1 inches tall the radio was turned to a Spanish
American radio station which was as we understand it inconsistent with Patrick's listening habits but we also
had found a partially smoked cigarette in the ashtray of the car Patrick was not a smoker and as we
understand it did not allow smoking in his car Doug Roth provided photos of Patrick to the parking attendant a lot
manager then passed them along to his girlfriend who lived in Tijuana she is called the Red Cross in Mexico she had
recalled the local jails and there was no result finally she went down to the morgue house were the pictures and then
she fought noise somebody there who looks just like the picture and was a good possibility it might have been an
after Doug Roth made a tentative identification Patrick's mother Terry immediately traveled to the morgue and
Tijuana to view the body which was scheduled to be buried in an unmarked grave very tough thing they don't they
don't let you in the same room with them you have to view them with your class and you know a considerable a distance
for those circumstances but you know I knew it was him my initial reaction upon viewing the body was that he had been
beaten severely this is based principally on my observation of wounds about the face and upper body chest area
but the Mexican authorities had attributed those injuries to the traffic accident this is a current official
account of how Patrick died at approximately 1:00 a.m. on May 5th a motorcyclist was heading east along the
Avenida Internacional when two pedestrians suddenly darted out in front of it [Music]
[Applause] [Music] it is still unclear exactly how Patrick was misidentified as Luis Rodriguez but
the confusion apparently began as soon as paramedics arrived on the scene the rescue workers described the pedestrian
as being five foot five twenty-seven years old obese wearing I believe it was a blue
t-shirt and white tennis shoes my son was 200 pounds six foot one wearing a tan t-shirt at least earlier
that day and black van top ciders shoes [Music] the clothes Patrick was wearing were
destroyed at the hospital the Mexican authorities believe that garbled description was an honest mistake
when you're working on a prison that's dying on you the people work fast and they do a report maybe they did it too
fast and they didn't see the exact height he was lying down so it could have been difficult but that that
question could be answered by the paramedics that looked at the scene the confusion extends beyond the
question of Patrick's identity Mexican authorities concluded that all of his injuries resulted from the accident
however an autopsy commissioned by terry kelly and performed in the united states
concluded quote findings do not support an interpretation that death was due to a motor vehicle accident
[Music] despite the irregularities the reports all now agree that patrick county lay
critically injured in the hospital room at 2:00 a.m. on may 5th but some 13 hours later at around 5:00 p.m.
Patrick's ATM card was used to make three withdrawals the evidence clearly indicates that transactions had occurred
after he was comatose in Mexico with his ATM card that that ATM card had been used with a PIN number which he would
not have reasonably given up or had any need to have written down anywhere maybe
he came down with somebody of his confidence that he can confine in this person his pin numbers or his documents
or whatever maybe his friend took money because they didn't know the city or because they needed money to move or get
back to the states and report that he was missing we really don't know one more perplexing mystery involves
Patrick's car according to the parking lot records somebody paid the $60 fee and drove the car off the lot on May
15th four days after Patrick died the next day the car was returned to the exact same
parking space Doug Roth believes it all adds up to one inescapable conclusion Patrick Kelly was
running for his life when he was hit by the motorcycle I believe Patrick went to Mexico with with
another individual and I believe that by five o'clock in the afternoon they had met with some unsavory characters and
had probably been taken against their will hostage had been beaten that their pin number
had been gained and likely while they were held nearby that place where the accident occurred they made a break for
it and during the course of that may have recklessly ran across the street into the oncoming traffic one of them
struck one of them was not one of them made it away finding the answers has proven almost impossible because Patrick
died in Tijuana the United States and Canada have no jurisdiction to investigate leaving Terry County to sort
out the contradictions and discrepancies on her own all the while knowing that her only son is gone forever that the
hardest part of all of this of course has been going home without him the most frustrating and unforgivable part is
that nobody will help no official agency assigned such so it's jurisdictional help us find out what happened it will
help us get justice for what happened [Music] coming up participants defend vampire games as
innocent fun others fear the line between fantasy and reality is easily blurred when we return Dahmer
Berkowitz Ramirez notorious killers all noted astrologer carolyn reynolds believes their thirst for murder was
preordained at birth a neat configuration of the planets and the stars [Music] Jeffrey Dahmer
he lured at least eleven young men to his apartment in Milwaukee he drunk strangled and dismembered each of them
in a real-life chamber of horrors Richard Ramirez The Night Stalker he invaded homes in the Los Angeles area
he murdered at least 16 people most of them women David Berkowitz Son of Sam he turned New York City into his
personal hunting ground randomly shooting 13 people leaving six of them dead what forces compelled these
notorious killers genetics the environment or are these men linked by influences far more
mysterious astrologers might say that they were born to kill their destiny written in the stars astrology is like a
road map where the planets were positioned at the exact moment you were born astrology is the science of
celestial bodies in relationship to an infant and then it progresses through their life
for most of us astrology is little more than a playful diversion to be enjoyed but not taken seriously but perhaps
there is something more to this so-called science those who studied astrology are convinced that you can
foretell the course of a person's life by reading his or her astrological chart but can a chart also predict whether
someone will be good or evil we asked carolyn reynolds and two other astrologers to study the charts of
roughly 20 subjects incredibly the charts that made the most startling impression were those of four notorious
serial killers Richard Ramirez David Berkowitz Edmund Kemper and Jeffrey Dahmer to understand astrology you must
understand an astrological chart the chart divides a sky into twelve houses each representing a facet of life for
example parents and home is the fourth house death is the eighth each house contains
a portion of a 360 degrees that make up a circle according to astrologist where the stars
and planets fall in these houses has specific meaning [Music] when carolyn reynolds sat down to study
the astrological charts she was given virtually no identifying information beyond date time and place of birth
amazingly of the 19 charts analyzed carolyn zeroed in on Dahmer ramirez Berkowitz and Kemper as probable serial
killers if you look at charts there's a certain beauty in harmony where they flow and theirs were jumbled and knotted
and in all their planets were just bumping up against each other causing friction and trouble in each case
without knowing which chart belong to which subject Carolyn was able to talk about specific details relating to the
killer's crimes the tales have proved to be remarkably accurate for instance in 1988 Richard Ramirez
pled guilty to murder and reportedly bragged to a fellow inmate quote I've killed 20 people I love all that blood
this was the most obvious killer he has in the third house the Sun and the moon and the sign of Pisces he had five out
of seven of the worst degrees that you could have and one of them was the degree of the devil during his trial
Richard Ramirez openly professed to worshipping Satan and proudly displayed a pentagram a sign of the devil on the
palm of his left hand then there's David Berkowitz Son of Sam when he was arrested he claimed that he was
instructed to kill by a neighbor's dog and had no control over his own actions without knowing that she was reading
Berkowitz's chart carolyn reynolds came to the same conclusion I don't think he had much of a choice in
this he was born with the planets that gave you a potential in the lineup for multiple personality or split
personality and it's in the house of death when carolyn reynolds read the chart that turned out to be Jeffrey Dahmer's
she found the subject to be quote destructive heartless and cruel Carolyn concluded that if he wasn't so
evil he would be a murder victim himself and that's exactly what Jeffrey Dahmer became in 1994 he was beaten to death in
prison I was also involved in killing coeds because my mother was this interview with mass murder
Edmund calendar was conducted in 1984 Kemper's chart was perhaps the most revealing of all notably in the fourth
house which represents parents and home again Carolyn did not know whose chart she was analyzing there's a lot of
activity at home and it's all unusual and not good automatically and I'm thinking something's not right here
about what he's doing at home and there were some other problems with him the position of the Moon is pretty much
working against that house in astrology the moon is a symbol for mother in the early 1970s Edmund Kemper murdered eight
women six coeds his mother's best friend and his mother criminal psychologist Candace scrap egg
is familiar with Kemper's case it's clear that there was a very tumultuous relationship between ed and
his mother from a young child he had fantasized killing her the six young women that he chose consciously he says
we're women that represented women whom his mother had said he was not good enough for dr. scrapbook has interviewed
a dozen serial killers she believes that they are products of both their environment and biology
including their genetic makeup that is like a Mars to a Saturn or mercury to us F dr. scrapbook does not adhere to
astrology she does find carolyn reynolds observations intriguing we brought the two of them together to compare notes
there are certain concepts that certainly I'm relating to in this particular case I'm most interested in
trying to come to a better understanding of why it is serial murderers do what they do
psychologically of course and as a psychologist that's probably my bias I honestly don't know if there's any value
to astrology I don't dismiss it I don't discount it as a valid factor in human behavior I
just really cannot say one way or the other are certain people destined to kill the moment they are born or is it
possible to reverse but carolyn reynolds believes is written in the stars the stars incline they do not impel i think
love for example transcends everything i think if a person had a real strong nurturing loving mother and father
relationships around them that it might help them not to act in the negative fashion it's a road map and like any
other road map sometimes you take a different route I think it's a lot like that astrology has been labeled as
pseudoscience because it relies so heavily on personal interpretation skeptics among us may dismiss it
altogether but before you do you should realize that many famous people have consulted the stars at critical moments
in their lives among them presidents Ronald Reagan and George Bush psychologist Carl Jung and during World
War two British Prime Minister Winston Churchill reportedly consulted his astrologer before planning battle
strategy when we return a 14 year old girl lured away from her home five teenagers
arrested for a brutal double murder a common thread vampire fantasy games that authorities say can turn frighteningly
real [Music] they are dark they are dangerous they are sexy from Transylvania to Hollywood
vampires have been popular characters in movies literature and legend for generations today fans of the undead are
giving ancient myths fresh life all across the country wannabes play out fantasies and bizarre vampire nightclubs
on the Internet vampire chat rooms attract thousands of hits every day and players of various
games such as vampire the masquerade gather regularly to act out their dark dramas you are watching a game in
progress in this scene a man seated is a willing victim I think the game really affords people an opportunity to
confront the dark side of human nature which is so much a part of all of us and face it rather honestly and do it in a
entertaining way do it in a safe environment for the vast majority of players many different vampire games are
harmless fun but for some participants that craze may have a sinister side sometimes a game can go wrong fat as he
can lead into a brutal reality tonight we'll look at three such cases are the isolated events or are they part of a
disturbing new trend this fourteen-year-old girl disappeared one week before Christmas in 1996 police
suspected Kira O'Connell of Rochester New York may have been lured from her home by a man she
met via the internet on a website for vampires I believe she's being held against her
will I believe he's not letting her call I don't know if she's even aware what's
going on authorities believe Kara O'Connell is with this man 22 year old Brooker Monta a senior Airman and the US
Air Force who has now been listed as a deserter malti and several friends allegedly ran their own vampire chat
room on the Internet a black Bros nightclub Kira started playing the game and somehow met some
people that were playing the game and started shooting off into a separate chat room talking to this man one on one
that we know now from reading his emails to her that he figured out how to talk to her how to get inside her mind how to
basically control it generally speaking we're looking at kids who are usually intelligent children and want to belong
want to be a part of something want to participate and so this comes along and reaches out to them and says there are
no rules it's exciting it's different mom and dad won't like it very much that's another element that sometimes is
a draw and once they get involved in it sometimes it you know it becomes more than just a game to these children
children like that are perfect targets for men like 27 year old John Christopher Bush police in Virginia
Beach Virginia say that Bush convinced local junior high and high school students that he was a powerful vampire
John Christopher Bush offered them a family a family unit a place to belong things to do he gave them tasks he gave
them responsibilities all of course at a high price that price was the loss of innocence
Bush used the hook of vampirism to seduce teenage girls they didn't really know what they were consenting to until
sometimes it was too late and they got involved in this and then of course the embarrassment factor takes over in the
fear and and and you know mr. Bush went to great lengths to cultivate that fear he talked to them about a blood hunt
blood hunt is an activity in the vampire game except he would explain it to them
not as a game but as I will take you out into the woods you'll be cut loose and we will hunt you we will hunt you down
jon-christopher Bush was found guilty on 30 counts including rape unlawful carnal
knowledge and crimes against nature he was sentenced to 26 years in prison two months after Bush's conviction another
so-called vampire family grabbed the headlines five teenagers from the small town of Murray Kentucky were arrested
for a shocking double murder one of them was Heather Wendorf her parents were the
victims the alleged vampire leader was 16 year-old rod Ferrell the City police detective said that he would cut his arm
and let others suck his blood as sort of some kind of ritualistic they call it being embraced embraced into the family
the whole bloodletting thing was was appealing to him and bloodletting is is nothing more than than letting somebody
else feed off a few we never promoted it and once I found out I was quite shocked
that he was involved in that Ferrell and his clan reportedly like to play vampire
at various places around town one favorite hangout was an abandoned building they called the vampire hotel I
know there was a local graveyard where these pictures of rod Ferrell were taken some claim Ferrell didn't see vampirism
as a game but as a birthright he told the Sheriff's Department he thought he was immortal he told the sheriff's that
he didn't think whatever happened to him wouldn't hurt him in the long run more or less and not so many words he
feels he's invincible he honestly believes he's a vampire his vampire make-believe inherently evil and
dangerous probably not does it create an atmosphere or aberrant behavior is promoted there's no way to know but for
the family of Kiera O'Connell the philosophical debate about vampire games as of little consequence they just want
Kira to come home [Music] when our next unsolved mysteries this photograph of rap music star Tupac
Shakur was taken on the Las Vegas Strip just minutes before Shakur was cut down in a hail of gunfire
even though dozens of people watched the tragic drama unfold authorities have yet
to establish a motive or identify the killer and a perfectly normal person suddenly burst into flame
without apparent cause mainstream science says no but some researchers claim the evidence suggests otherwise
don't miss our special report on a most bizarre phenomenon spontaneous human combustion
join me next time for another intriguing edition unsolved mysteries [Music] [Music]

Brief Summary

The episode covers lightning encounters in the Olsen family, Patrick Kelly's mysterious death in Mexico, and the dangers of modern vampire culture.

Key points

The Olsen Family's Deadly Legacy. The Olsen family has a bizarre kinship with lightning, resulting in multiple close encounters and fatalities.
Mystery Surrounds Patrick Kelly's Death. Patrick Kelly, a film student, dies under mysterious circumstances in Mexico, leading to a desperate search for answers.
Astrology and Serial Killers. Astrologers explore whether notorious killers were destined to commit murder based on their birth charts.
Astrology and Serial Killers. Astrologist Carolyn Reynolds analyzes charts of notorious killers, revealing chilling insights.
The Dark Side of Vampire Games. Teenagers lured into dangerous situations through vampire-themed games and chat rooms.
Rod Ferrell: The Self-Proclaimed Vampire. 16-year-old Rod Ferrell believed he was immortal, leading to a shocking double murder.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

I think the Lightning likes us once in a while.

A family member reflects on their unusual connection with lightning.

2:39WatchMay 23, 2019

Tension

65/ 100Some tension

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