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our website [Music] on thursday july 19 1990 florida resident steve mcgowan received
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a letter in the mail from his 34 year old sister beverly the siblings had last spoken on sunday
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july 15 when steve called beverly to see if she would like to drop by for a visit
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she had declined saying that she was too busy their conversation was pleasant and
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ordinary now four days later steve was mildly surprised to find beverly had sent him a letter
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out of the blue the brief note contained the following message i just want to say goodbye to you and
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the kids and to let you know that what i am doing is the right thing this is what i need at this point in my
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life so don't worry when i come back i will be a much better and happier person [Music]
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[Music] beverly was the youngest of the three mcgowan children the family hailed from philadelphia but
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had all relocated to florida a little over a decade earlier beverly lived on the coast in pompano
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beach her sister jane lived 11 miles north in boca raton steve resided in central florida
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[Music] like her brother jane also received a cryptic farewell letter from beverly it detailed
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her decision to make some big life changes in order to go travelling she rode of quitting her job and selling her
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condo as she had to leave right away the letters made little sense to steve and jane after
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working hard for a long time beverly finally seemed happy with both her career and home life she had recently purchased
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the condo and was working two jobs to pay off the mortgage they couldn't understand why she would
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suddenly give up everything and to leave without a proper goodbye the letters were written in beverly's
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handwriting from a notepad she kept in her home both were postmarked wednesday july 18
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and was sent from the city of miami about 37 miles south of pompano beach when calls to beverly's home phone
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failed to connect jane visited a police station to report her missing there was little they could do as the
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letters indicated that beverly had left of her own accord that night steve and jane headed to
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pompano beach to investigate the matter for themselves they arrived at beverly's home an upper
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level apartment in a two-story condominium building it was one of many similarly designed
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complexes that lined south flagler avenue the long quiet street was situated on the cusp of
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a dense neighborhood beverly's condo was compact it featured two bedrooms and a balcony that overlooked at the
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residence car park upon arrival steve and jane noticed beverly's red volkswagen fox wasn't in its usual
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parking spot she wasn't home but it didn't appear as though she had packed up and
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left for good there were dirty dishes in the kitchen sink a nightgown had been left on her unmade
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bed clothes were in the closet and strewn on the floor although there were also signs
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indicating that beverly had no intention of returning the telephone had been disconnected
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the answering machine kept alongside it was gone and there was no trace of beverly's two
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pet cats steve and jane rummaged through some drawers and discovered beverly's address
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book passport and birth certificate were also missing steve contacted beverly's employer at
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glendale federal bank to see whether they could shed any light on the situation beverly worked monday to friday in the
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bank's loans department but also had a second part-time job at goodwill a non-profit organization
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steve was told that beverly called in sick on wednesday july 18 the day before he received her goodbye letter
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this was unusual given beverly's reputation as a responsible and reliable employee during the call
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she had also asked to speak to someone in the bank's mortgage department after she was transferred through
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beverly said she no longer wanted her condo and requested to fork clothes on it she was told that she would have to send
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a telegram to verify her request a telegram was subsequently received it also gave the bank permission to
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dispose of the personal belongings left in her home although the circumstances were strange
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steve began to believe that his sister had just left without a proper explanation
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he lodged a missing persons report with the local authorities and also had beverly's credit cards
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cancelled he hoped that cancelling the cards would hinder her travel plans and make her angry enough to reach out
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to her family on the evening of thursday july 19 31 year old jesse moorhead and his niece
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went out to catch bait for bass fishing they arrived at a wide irrigation canal located 100 miles north of pompano beach
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in a remote area of saint lucie county the canal is raged via a dirt track and is bordered by an uncamped grassy
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embankment one side of the waterway empties out into the saint lucie river estuary
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the other leads south to the state's sprawling tropical wetlands the florida everglades
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just after 7 pm jessie was walking alongside the canal while his niece waited nearby in his car
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on the embankment he spotted what appeared to be a bag of rags and went over to inspect them
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upon realising what he had actually discovered jesse raced back to his car and contacted the police
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investigators from st lucie county sheriff's department arrived at the canal and headed to the location described by
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jessie there they found the mutilated remains of a female adult she was dressed in jeans a single white
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sandal and a pink floral shirt that was bunched up around her neck she had been killed elsewhere before her
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body was dumped at the site there was a gaping wound on her abdomen though its cause was unclear
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it could have been a deliberate injury or the result of post-mortem trauma to the body
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as alligators populated the canal the killer had gone to disturbing lengths to prevent the victim from being
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identified her hands had been removed and she had been crudely decapitated the missing body parts were not found at
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the site despite this a pivotal clue had seemingly gone unnoticed by the perpetrator
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on the victim's right ankle hidden under the cuff of her jeans was a small tattoo of a yellow rose
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a description of the tattoo was released to the local media and featured in news reports on the
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crime steve mcgowan was at home when his telephone rang at around 10 pm on the other line
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was a friend of his missing sister beverly she'd just heard the news of the woman's
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body found in st lucie county the victim had a tattoo of a yellow rose on her right ankle
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just like beverly the following day steve and jane drove to st lucie county to speak with investigators
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they provided a photograph of beverly's rose tattoo but declined to view the mutilated body
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as they found the prospect too distressing the pair were nevertheless certain the woman
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was their sister they told investigators that beverly had another tattoo just above her waistline of a rabbit
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from the animated disney film bambi this tattoo's location matched the victim's abdomen wound
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it appeared as though the perpetrator had cut out the rabbit tattoo to hinder the identification process
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but had missed the rose tattoo the decapitation was also imperfect as a portion of the victim's lower jaw
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still remained a dental expert compared a tooth and filling from the remains to beverly
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mcgowan's dental records four days after beverly siblings received her goodbye letters
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she was officially identified as the woman found by the st lucie county irrigation canal
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a medical examiner struggled to establish a cause of death due to the severe mutilation
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beverly's abdomen tattoo had likely been cut out with a knife while a chainsaw was used to remove her
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hands and head it appeared as though her throat had been cut but it couldn't be ruled with absolute
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certainty that this was what killed her there was also a possibility that she had been bludgeoned
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or shot in their head there was no evidence of sexual assault the last time beverly was seen alive was
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at work on tuesday july 17. she hadn't mentioned anything to colleagues about going away on a trip
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that evening she phoned a friend for a chat they had every tuesday the next day her employers received the
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call from someone they believed to be beverly stating that she was unwell and wouldn't
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be coming in an examination of beverly's condo failed to uncover blood or any suspicious fingerprints fibres or
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hairs there was no sign of a struggle having taken place the farewell letters to her family were
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puzzling as they were in beverly's handwriting there was no sign that they had been
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coerced yet they ended with the words goodbye bev her siblings said that beverly would
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typically sign off letters by simply writing her name they had no explanation as to who would
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harm beverly or why she was quiet independent and mostly kept to herself she loved and doted on her nephews and
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they depended on her she wasn't wealthy and she didn't have any problematic relationships
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[Music] beverly's life had been marred by tragedy her first two boyfriends were killed in
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separate car accidents she started dating again to move on but would end relationships when they became
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serious steve later heard rumors of his sister exploring her sexuality during her early thirties he described
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her as someone who traveled to the bead of a different drummer and believed she was only ever looking
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for love despite her traumatic past steve was clear that beverly had recently been at her
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most content he did report one concerning incident a week before beverly disappeared she
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told steve about an unsettling message left on her answering machine she didn't recognise the mail caller's
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voice he was recorded saying i know where you live and i can't wait for us to be together
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troubled by the message beverly took her answering machine into work and played it to her colleagues
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curiously the machine was missing from beverly's abandoned condo beverly valued her privacy but working
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two jobs wasn't enough to pay off her mortgage to supplement her income she'd rented
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out her spare bedroom on two previous occasions neither roommate worked out in the long run
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the first a woman named brenda had clashed with beverly over lifestyle differences she was
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replaced by a man named george beverly liked george but he left after several months to get
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his own place both brenda and george were questioned in relation to beverly's murder
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but were ruled out as suspects investigators also spoke with a painter named mike who lived in beverly's
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apartment complex the pair had struck up a close friendship and caught up for dinner
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several nights a week mike was adamant that he would never harm beverly he said he was out of town at the time
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of the murder preparing for a gallery exhibition his alibi checked out and mark ii was
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ruled out he said he had spoken to beverly two days before she disappeared mike called to ask if she wanted to have
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dinner with him that night beverly typically accepted spontaneous plans but not on this occasion she rejected
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mike's offer explaining that she was going to spend a time with a potential new roommate
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named dallas in early july beverly told several acquaintances that she'd placed an
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advertisement for a new roommate in the fort lauderdale sun sentinel newspaper applications came
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through and beverly interviewed several candidates in the week prior to her murder
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when searching her home investigators found a notepad with a list of applicants details
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each entry featured a full name a phone number and an appointment time to view the
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condo there was one exception one entry only included a first name it read alice tuesday
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6 30. [Music] after meeting alice beverly spoke about her enthusiastically to others she was from london was well
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dressed drove an impressive car and worked for the multinational technology company
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ibm alice was moving to the area because she had been placed on temporary work duty at the company's fort
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lauderdale office beverly chose alice as her new roommate she told a friend that alice was moving
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in around friday july 20. beverly's brother steve also knew about alice although he hadn't met her beverly
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reassured him that she was trustworthy beverly was not the type to be suspicious of others
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and gave everyone she met the benefit of the doubt beverly also mentioned that alice had
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introduced her to numerology followers of this belief assign numerical values to letters
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names and birth dates they use these values to calculate when certain events might occur for an
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individual alice offered to predict beverly's future using numerology and created a rudimentary chart for her
00:20:03
to complete it alice required various numbers significant to beverly's life beverly reportedly supplied them
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they included her birth date as well as her social security passport and a driver's license numbers
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alice ascertained that beverly would meet a man she would marry at the age of 40 and would come in to
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great wealth she also provided a warning there was a man and a woman in beverly's life
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who were going to deceive and hurt her overall beverly was pleased by alice's predictions
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and shared them with some of her friends alice's full identity remained a mystery
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beverly hadn't kept note of anything other than her first name furthermore there was no evidence
00:21:00
indicating that alice had moved in or even visited beverly's condo investigators reached out to ibm and
00:21:09
were told that the company had no english employees working in the south florida area
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they didn't even have an office in fort lauderdale examination of beverly's financial
00:21:27
statements revealed that on the same day her body was found someone withdrew 795 dollars
00:21:35
from the 800 in her bank account her visa credit card was then used 22 miles from her home
00:21:44
to purchase women's clothing and books from the upscale aventura mall in miami the retail assistants who served the
00:21:53
customer using beverly's card described her as a striking blonde woman with an english accent
00:22:01
the description conjured images of a tall blonde woman who was currently at the center
00:22:06
of a national media spectacle eight years earlier in 1982 laurie bambenick was sentenced to life
00:22:15
in prison for the shooting murder of her husband's ex-wife the dramatic case became a tabloid
00:22:22
sensation benbenic's glamorous appearance and status as a former model made her something of a celebrity
00:22:32
days before beverly mcgowan was killed ben bennick had escaped her wisconsin-based prison
00:22:40
when shown a photograph of laurie bambenick the retail assistants at aventura mall
00:22:45
identified her as the woman who had shopped using beverly's credit card but theories that beverly might have
00:22:54
crossed paths with the convicted killer were soon dashed benbenec had actually fled
00:23:00
north to canada she was not in florida at the time of beverly's murder the identification of bambanic at
00:23:08
aventura mall was declared a mistake and the lead dismissed on friday july 20 the day after
00:23:17
beverly's body was found her credit card was used again in miami this time at a travel agency called
00:23:25
thunderbird travel the cards holder appeared to be a man dressed as a woman they wore oval shaped eyeglasses and a
00:23:36
cheap looking short black wig with a fringe described as a cleopatra style cut they spoke with an english accent
00:23:46
and introduced themselves as sam apparently sam claimed to be headed to london in two days time on british airways
00:23:56
flight 292 and used the beverly's credit card to buy an avis car hire voucher for
00:24:02
heathrow airport records from beverly's home phone number revealed that someone had called avis
00:24:11
heathrow office the day before the voucher was purchased investigators were unsure whether this
00:24:19
sand person was the blonde suspect's accomplice or the same person wearing a disguise then there was
00:24:28
alice beverly's mysterious roommate it was believed she had played a role in the plot
00:24:36
her numerology exercise was thought to be a scam to obtain beverly's personal details and
00:24:43
steal her identity this theory was supported by the killer's efforts to prevent beverly's
00:24:50
body from being identified sam the wig wearing man in possession of beverly's credit cards
00:24:58
had said he was flying to london on july 22. if he'd caught the flight then he'd
00:25:05
already escaped overseas by the time investigators uncovered his involvement in the crime
00:25:13
sergeant dave brooks of the saint lucie county sheriff's department later described the rapid pace at which
00:25:20
the bizarre investigation unraveled he said it felt as though police were just a step or two behind
00:25:27
the killers detectives pursuing the sam lead obtained passenger logs from british
00:25:35
airways flight 292 as well as other flights on route to heathrow on july 22. beverly mcgowan's name wasn't listed on
00:25:45
any confirming sam hadn't used her passport to board a search of the surrounding area led to
00:25:54
the discovery of beverly's red volkswagen fox in the parking lot of a nearby motel it had been there for five days
00:26:05
fingerprint powder failed to uncover anything worthwhile but four hairs from a synthetic black a
00:26:13
wig were found inside british airways flight 292 arrived at heathrow airport on monday july 23 london time
00:26:28
after the plane landed a passenger with short black hair and oval-shaped eyeglasses approached
00:26:35
the avis hire car service counter they had reserved a car under the name beverly mcgowan
00:26:43
and handed over beverly's driver's license to confirm the booking beverly had dark shoulder-length hair
00:26:51
and wore glasses the person standing at the desk looked like her the avis clerk requested a credit card to pay for a
00:27:01
fuel deposit on the vehicle the customer handed over beverly's visa but the payment failed and the card was
00:27:10
declined she explained that she must have over extended her limit and paid for the deposit with cash
00:27:18
instead in actuality steve mcgowan had cancelled beverly's credit card by this point
00:27:28
by the time detectives in florida learned of this failed transaction the customer pretending to be beverly
00:27:35
was long gone as the credit card was no longer functional its transactions couldn't be used to
00:27:43
track them investigators were certain that the customer was the suspect from the miami
00:27:49
travel agency going by the name sam though there were discrepancies between witness reports
00:27:57
as to whether sam was a man or woman sam's arrival in the uk meant they were out of the jurisdiction of american law
00:28:07
enforcement the florida detectives phoned the london metropolitan police's criminal
00:28:14
investigation department for help detective john cornish agreed to assist with the foreign investigation
00:28:24
he spoke with avis and ordered staff to direct the suspect to their nearest office
00:28:30
should they get in contact police would then be dispatched to the location to await their arrival
00:28:39
later that week sam contacted avis they requested to extend their lease and were told to visit a nearby avis office
00:28:50
police staked out the location but sam never showed a backup plan was devised wherein officers would lie in weight at
00:29:00
heathrow airport on the date the car was due to be returned the day arrived and metropolitan police
00:29:09
waited in position once again sam didn't appear around mid-morning sam's hire car was
00:29:19
discovered abandoned several miles away from the airport it had been wiped to fingerprints
00:29:27
the police realized they were dealing with a criminal who knew exactly what they were doing
00:29:35
suspecting that sam was fleeing back to the states detective cornish ordered his team to
00:29:42
board every america-bound flight that day to inspect the passengers no one matching sam's description was
00:29:50
cited they had lost their only lead little progress was made in the case over the following year
00:30:01
on november 13 1991 beverly's story was featured on an episode of the nbc television program unsolved mysteries
00:30:12
steve mcgowan appeared on camera and made a personal appeal for information the unsolved
00:30:20
case was taking its toll on everyone involved sergeant dave brooks had been investigating beverly's murder from the
00:30:28
outset he went out of his way to keep beverly's loved ones updated on the investigation
00:30:34
status but was burdened by its roadblocks one night he visited steve mcgowan and
00:30:42
broke down in tears the languishing investigation was eventually scaled down some of those involved continued to look
00:30:54
into the case whenever possible to try and develop new leads the biggest clue to date was the
00:31:02
passenger manifest from british airways flight 292 which left miami on july 22 1990
00:31:10
at 6 30 pm the suspect known only as sam had not used the beverly's passport to board
00:31:18
the flight so must have booked a ticket under a different name investigators looked into the flight's
00:31:27
248 passengers but ran into jurisdictional issues when examining individuals who did not reside
00:31:34
in florida they sought assistance from the u.s state department in washington d.c
00:31:40
to identify the non-florida passengers every passenger name that couldn't be traced was submitted to be run through
00:31:49
their system they had to be compared with passport details and the process would take years to
00:31:58
complete five years after beverly mcgowan's murder a florida detective named reina crowningshield was assigned
00:32:09
to the case she continued to look into the passenger manifest alongside nora pfeiffer an investigator
00:32:18
for the state's attorney nora had been involved in the case for years and remained
00:32:24
motivated to see it solved in january 1996 the women received a name from the u.s
00:32:32
state department that they had identified as significant sylvia ann hodgkinson was a british
00:32:40
citizen who occupied seat 18c on flight 292. her passport photo showed an adult woman
00:32:49
with dark hair and eyebrows her birthday was listed as july 22 1964 sylvia's origins were traced to lewisham
00:33:01
a borough in southeastern london her beginnings were humble and she had received very little education
00:33:10
she later married a dairy worker but he passed away in 1985. sylvia then lived in a shelter
00:33:17
for women experiencing homelessness less than a year after her husband's death a passport was issued in her name
00:33:29
investigators suspected that someone else applied for the passport after stealing sylvia's identity
00:33:37
as they were unable to find sylvia's current whereabouts they feared that she had been killed as
00:33:43
well the state department determined that the alias sylvia hodgkinson was associated with two other names
00:33:53
charlotte ray cowan and elaine antoinette parent the three identities were tied together
00:34:00
following an incident that occurred almost one year after beverly mcgowan's murder
00:34:07
on wednesday may 22 1991 police in north miami approached a woman in a rental car
00:34:16
the vehicle had been laced more than six months earlier in los angeles california
00:34:22
it was flagged as overdue for return and was fixed with a stolen license plate to
00:34:28
conceal its origins the car's female occupant was a tall redhead she identified herself as charlotte ray
00:34:38
cowan she provided officers with official documentation to verify her identity it was clear charlotte had been sleeping
00:34:50
in the car with her two dogs there were several wigs in her possession as well as a diary
00:34:57
she also carried multiple id cards they displayed her photograph but featured the names
00:35:04
sylvia hodgkinson and elaine parent police took charlotte into custody on the charge of failing to return
00:35:13
at least a vehicle she was held overnight and posted bail the following day a court session was later held on the
00:35:23
matter one of the arresting officers was in attendance when it came time for charlotte cowen to
00:35:31
face the judge a woman stood she had short straight red hair and was aged in her 30s
00:35:41
the arresting officer was stunned the woman answering the summons was not the same person he had taken into
00:35:49
custody he immediately informed the judge charlotte was confused she had received
00:35:58
the summons to appear in court that day but was not responsible for the crime it
00:36:03
alleged she had committed charlotte asked the police officer if the person he had originally arrested
00:36:11
for the offence was a tall redhead when he replied yes she said she knew exactly who it was
00:36:31
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get better hydration today at liquidity.com promo code case file almost a decade earlier during the
00:42:35
mid-80s charlotte cowen was drinking at a bar in the city of orlando an immaculately dressed woman with an
00:42:43
english accent approached her she had short straight red hair like charlotte's and striking blue eyes
00:42:52
the woman introduced herself as in tremont and offered to buy charlotte a drink ian seemed too sophisticated for the bar
00:43:01
they were in and charlotte was surprised that she caught the attention of such a glamorous
00:43:06
person nevertheless she accepted the drink the pair chatted and after a while anne
00:43:15
raised the subject of numerology she told charlotte that she would love to create a numerology profile for her
00:43:23
then asked for charlotte's birthday charlotte supplied the information she also provided her time of birth
00:43:31
her social security number and her driver's license details anne wrote everything down on a napkin
00:43:39
and made positive predictions about charlotte's future in an interview with british newspaper
00:43:46
the guardian charlotte later stated she had the most sophisticated manner she was so
00:43:53
persuasive [Music] anne didn't talk about herself much she did say she was mending a broken heart after a
00:44:02
relationship with a former girlfriend ended badly at one stage a blond-haired man entered the bar
00:44:11
anne told charlotte that he was her brother and said she had to go before leaving
00:44:18
she asked for charlotte's phone number anne called the next day and the pair arranged to meet up for lunch
00:44:28
charlotte's mother was present for the meal and was equally impressed by anne several dates followed and
00:44:36
charlotte eventually met anne's brother he was as nicely dressed and well-mannered as his sister
00:44:44
over time contact between the women faded until they fell out of touch altogether
00:44:51
a couple of months later anne called charlotte to say that her aunt died and had left her a significant
00:44:58
inheritance ann was required to split the money with her brother she claimed that he'd had her committed
00:45:06
to a mental health hospital so he could keep the entire amount approximately a month after this call
00:45:15
ian appeared on charlotte's doorstep at 3am she was wearing a fake mustache a wig
00:45:21
and a man's shirt and tire distraught and sobbing anne explained that she escaped from the
00:45:29
hospital where her brother had her admitted she was now on the run from her family
00:45:35
and needed charlotte's help to get away ann begged to borrow charlotte's birth certificate
00:45:43
so she could create a new identity for herself charlotte initially refused but relented
00:45:50
when ian grew increasingly distressed and promised to return the certificate soon
00:45:58
several weeks passed with no word for man charlotte began to worry then a letter
00:46:06
arrived with her birth certificate enclosed and a note from anne apologizing for the
00:46:11
delay charlotte never heard from her again a few years later in mid-1991 charlotte received a summons regarding a
00:46:23
traffic violation in miami baffled she went to court to resolve the matter it was quickly discovered that the error
00:46:32
was due to the actual perpetrator stealing charlotte's identity charlotte knew the person responsible was the woman she
00:46:41
knew as in tremont now that two of their suspects identities were found to be stolen
00:46:52
investigators turned their attention to her third alias a lane antoinette parent like the others
00:47:00
parent was a real person though little could be found about her early life she was born in the new york city
00:47:08
borough of the bronx on august 4 1942 her mother was french-canadian while her father was american the couple
00:47:17
had no other children by the time she was an adult a lame parent was five foot seven inches tall
00:47:26
with naturally dark hair and blue eyes her weight varied between 140 and 150 pounds
00:47:35
at age 30 she relocated to florida where she initially lived in an apartment in the village of bell harbour
00:47:43
she later moved into a house in dade county for a time parent worked as a registered
00:47:50
real estate agent in 1976 parent was arrested in fort lauderdale for shoplifting
00:48:00
as a result her fingerprints were collected and stored on the police system then in 1985 she stole approximately
00:48:09
forty thousand dollars worth of jewelry from an elderly woman she knew this was around at the same
00:48:16
time parent became acquainted with charlotte cowan parents fingerprints were compared to
00:48:23
those taken from the woman apprehended in 1991 for failing to return the hire car
00:48:30
they were a match the woman pretending to be charlotte cowan was indeed a lame parent she was
00:48:39
released on bail but never appeared for her day in court there was nothing to indicate that a
00:48:47
lame parent was a stolen identity like sylvia hodgkinson and charlotte cowan investigators believed parent was the
00:48:56
true identity of the elusive suspect in the beverly mcgowan case known previously as sam
00:49:04
parents criminal history aligned with the circumstances leading up to beverly's murder
00:49:10
the numerology scam the stolen personal documents and the use of a disguise yet beverly's case was the only known
00:49:20
instance in which parent had apparently killed the person whose identity she stole
00:49:26
investigators were confident parent was the woman named alice who beverly accepted as her
00:49:32
roommate days before her death but they had yet to directly link parent to beverly's murder
00:49:41
the evidence in the mcgowan case file was re-examined to find a connection to parent
00:49:47
this included the farewell letters beverly had sent her siblings they were penned on a notepad from her
00:49:55
condo the handwriting was hers and they didn't appear to have been written under duress
00:50:03
the decision was made to carry out forensic testing on the notepad itself an electrostatic detection device also
00:50:13
known as zesta is a piece of equipment that can reveal indentations in paper that may not be visible or legible to
00:50:21
the human eye these indentations are made when someone has written on another piece of paper
00:50:28
that was previously on top of the paper being examined esther testing of beverly's notepad
00:50:36
revealed that it had been used to compose other pieces of writing the hidden messages were painstakingly
00:50:44
replicated revealing handwriting that was not beverly's it appeared as though the author was
00:50:51
writing to a woman whom she'd been in an intimate relationship with but they had since parted the messages
00:50:59
were hostile in nature with one excerpt reading you will feel the repercussions i
00:51:06
guarantee it after your treatment and abandonment of me i have no remorse in tearing down
00:51:13
what in truth i created anyways give me back my life the letters were compared to samples of
00:51:23
a lame parent's handwriting and they matched a forensic psychologist named dr barbara kirwan profiled parent
00:51:33
for law enforcement she later told the makers of the documentary the world's most wanted woman
00:51:40
that the letters were consistent with a rage-filled and highly manic psychiatric state
00:51:50
the letters parent wrote were addressed to a woman in london she was the senior executive for an
00:51:56
international blue chip company upon this discovery detective john cornish of the london metropolitan
00:52:04
police rejoined the investigation it had been about six years since cornish had tracked the suspect
00:52:12
now known as a lame parent after her arrival at heathrow airport he'd almost intercepted her but she
00:52:21
managed to evade his capture detective cornish interviewed the woman parent had sent the scathing letter to
00:52:30
in order to protect her identity she was given the pseudonym witness x witness x
00:52:38
said she'd met parent on a trip to miami during the 1980s and the pair had struck up a romantic
00:52:44
relationship in 1985 after parent was sought by police for stealing jewelry she fled to london and moved in with
00:52:54
witness acts the couple's relationship soon deteriorated parent was prone to aggressive mood
00:53:02
swings she could quickly change from being calm and easy going to violent and temperamental
00:53:10
she threatened witness axes life and attempted to emotionally blackmail her the couple broke up in 1990 and parent
00:53:20
returned to the united states to witness x's surprise parent returned to london a short while
00:53:28
later at the end of july she was driving an avis hire car parent persuaded witness x to rekindle
00:53:39
their relationship but things quickly soured again when they split for a second time parent
00:53:47
placed an advertisement in the personals column of london's timeout magazine she wrote that she loved wine and was a
00:53:55
gourmet cook who owned an excellent collection of copper cookware three months after returning to london
00:54:03
parent kidnapped witness x's two dogs and flew back to the u.s back home parent sent witness x a death threat
00:54:13
made of letters cut out from newspaper articles she also tried to demand a ransom for
00:54:20
witness x's two dogs these were believed to be the same dogs found in her possession when she was
00:54:27
arrested in miami in may 1991 witness x's information allowed investigators to fill in numerous gaps
00:54:37
in parents history investigators now understood that she must have met sylvia hodgkinson within
00:54:45
her first year of living in london somehow she managed to obtain enough information
00:54:51
about sylvia that she could take out a passport in her name it was suspected that parent had stolen
00:54:59
the identities of other vulnerable and unsuspecting persons she had also learned to imitate a convincing english
00:55:07
accent allowing her to trick people into thinking she was british by the end of 1996 florida's state
00:55:16
department had filed charges of passport fraud against a lame parent but they had no idea where she might be
00:55:24
hiding her name was released to the media in an effort to generate leads though investigators stopped short
00:55:32
of naming her as a suspect in beverly mcgowan's murder st lucie county sheriff bobby knowles
00:55:39
told journalists the sheriff's office believes she may have vital information about the
00:55:46
disappearance and the murder she may even have first-hand knowledge no viable tips emerged but investigators
00:55:56
were still managing to unravel parents history there was evidence that she had moved to the state of new mexico
00:56:04
in 1991 and worked there as a restaurant manager afterwards she moved to tennessee with a
00:56:12
female friend and got a job at a seized department store the last confirmed sighting of parent
00:56:19
took place around easter in 1994 a former colleague from sears spotted her on a road just south of
00:56:28
nashville in 1998 the television program america's most wanted aired a segment about a lame
00:56:37
parent it was accompanied by a photograph of her with short black hair she was dressed in a crisp white shirt
00:56:47
and fine gold jewelry a resident from the florida city of saint petersburg was watching television at home when the
00:56:56
show aired the moment she saw a lame parent's image she immediately recognized her
00:57:10
patricia nevins was a church minister her new parent has a bleached blonde by the name of sandra little
00:57:18
although the woman shown on america's most wanted looked quite different to the person
00:57:22
patricia knew she had the same chic sense of style patricia madelaine parent masquerading
00:57:30
as sandra little in 1992 parent was destitute and living in a saint petersburg shelter for
00:57:38
people experiencing homelessness the city of saint petersburg is on the opposite side of the state from the
00:57:45
atlantic coast where parent had previously lived patricia offered to let parents stay in
00:57:52
her spare bedroom and the pair lived together for almost a year and a half during this time parent as sandra little
00:58:02
filed a civil negligence lawsuit against the state after she slipped in a restaurant and
00:58:07
injured herself she won and was awarded an undisclosed amount in damages parents evenings were spent watching
00:58:17
both the local and international news once a week she watched the latest episode of
00:58:24
america's most wanted patricia described several peculiar incidents that occurred
00:58:31
during her time living with parent to the makers of the documentary the world's most wanted woman
00:58:38
parent had once told her that the only way she could have a proper life would be if she had another identity
00:58:46
then during a dinner party parent mimed cutting off a guest's hand to obtain his
00:58:52
gold bracelet patricia arranged for parent to speak with a psychiatrist he later informed patricia that parent
00:59:03
was an extremely intelligent budding sociopath who would leave patricia's life as quickly as she arrived this
00:59:11
prediction came to pass when the two women parted ways in 1993 five years later patricia saw a lame
00:59:21
parents photograph on america's most wanted following the television appeal a strange letter was delivered to the st
00:59:32
lucie county sheriff's office its envelope bore a london post stamp and it contained a postcard
00:59:41
the image side featured a print copy of an oil painting it depicted an older version of a laying
00:59:50
parent she was wearing a blue and green one piece bathing suit and pearl earrings her hair was grey
00:59:59
and styled in the same short quaffed manner that parent often chose she was shown climbing out of a swimming
01:00:07
pool the back of the card featured a typed message that read your chameleon an oil sketch by piper
01:00:18
best wishes an illegible signature was scribbled alongside the message the postcard coined the title a lame
01:00:29
parent would come to be known as the chameleon killer forensic psychiatrist dr barbara kirwan
01:00:39
later told the telegraph newspaper that parent craved the attention of the authorities
01:00:45
as much as she feared it quote the oil painting is very theatrical i believe she sent it to law enforcement
01:00:54
as a way of thumbing her nose at them of sort of teasing them by saying i'm alive i'm well look out for me
01:01:03
but you'll never find me in february 1999 the case featured on the television show
01:01:12
world's most wanted and it soon garnered international attention unconfirmed sightings of parent were
01:01:20
reported across the world in places like turkey france australia and south africa the press dubbed the
01:01:29
fugitive the world's most wanted woman in april of 2001 saint petersburg resident patricia nevins was preparing a
01:01:42
special dinner to celebrate the easter holiday she headed out to a sam's club supermarket in the nearby town of
01:01:50
clearwater to purchase ingredients the store was part of a members-only chain that required customers to register
01:01:59
their details in order to shop there as patricia made her way through the store she spotted a woman she recognised
01:02:08
it was her former roommate a lame parent she had gained weight since patricia had
01:02:16
last seen her almost a decade earlier and her hair was longer and darker aware there was a global hunt underway
01:02:25
for parent patricia's heart began to race she drew closer to parent and for a moment
01:02:33
patricia quickly looked away when she turned back parent was gone [Music] patricia reported the sighting and that
01:02:43
the supermarket's member database was examined for elaine parents details the information didn't exist and parent
01:02:52
alluded investigators once again one year later in april 2002 parent featured on another episode of
01:03:03
america's most wanted after the program aired a number of calls were made to the
01:03:09
show's tip line from panama city in far northwest florida multiple callers claimed that parent was
01:03:18
living in panama city's affluent neighborhood of saint andrews bay they identified themselves as neighbours
01:03:26
of hers and were able to provide her address a representative from america's most
01:03:32
wanted promptly informed authorities three police officers headed to the address
01:03:41
they arrived at a modest single-story house and knocked on the front door a middle-aged brunette woman answered
01:03:51
she was dressed in silk beige colored pajamas the officers provided a cover story
01:03:58
telling the woman that they'd received a 9-1-1 call from the address and were following up to make sure
01:04:05
everything was all right the woman introduced herself as darlene thompson and provided a military id that featured
01:04:14
her headshot she looked nothing like the photographs of a lame parent that the officers had
01:04:21
seen they thought that the tipsters might have been mistaken she was asked to accompany them to the
01:04:30
station for questioning anyway just to be certain darlene agreed and asked if she could get changed first
01:04:40
the three officers waited outside her bedroom as darlene headed inside while she was gone one of the officers
01:04:49
examined darlene's id more closely p had a military background and was familiar with the appearance of their
01:04:57
identification cards darlene's id was missing a crucial stamp to verify its legitimacy
01:05:08
the officer knocked on darlene's bedroom door to address the matter and she called out i am getting dressed
01:05:18
suddenly a gunshot rang out the officers raced into the bedroom and found darlene lying in a pool of blood
01:05:29
there was a wound in her chest and a 357 magnum revolver in her hand she died at the scene
01:05:43
darlene's fingerprints were collected and on monday april 8 it was confirmed that she was
01:05:49
indeed a lame parent it emerged that the house where parent had been living belonged to another woman
01:05:58
parent had been renting her spare bedroom since august 2001. her roommate described her as somewhat
01:06:07
hyper with a passion for cooking gourmet meals parent had told her that she worked at a
01:06:14
telecommunications company downtown the roommate had a pekingese poodle cross named molly
01:06:21
that parent walked twice a day she said parent would take the dog to nearby parks and chat to other women
01:06:29
as she strolled in contrast to this description a neighbor told reporters that parent
01:06:37
kept to herself and made no effort to be friendly quote i would greet her and she acted
01:06:45
like she wouldn't acknowledge me i knocked on her door one time to warn her about a man
01:06:51
wandering around offering to do people's yards and she wouldn't come to the door
01:06:59
a search of the saint andrews bay house uncovered a counterfeit florida driver's
01:07:04
license with parents photo but the name of the woman she was living with investigators also found her number of
01:07:13
passport applications [Music] parents closet was packed full of wigs and both men
01:07:21
and women's clothing there was a book on learning french and another about stage makeup
01:07:29
some of parents acquaintances mentioned that they often saw her working on a laptop but the device was
01:07:36
never recovered nor was the diary that parent had in her possession when arrested more than a decade earlier
01:07:44
as charlotte cowan in 1991 a notepad contained information about a man from the nearby city of lynnhaven
01:07:55
including his social security number and credit card details a desktop computer contained a data
01:08:03
useful for making fake ids there was also an fbi most wanted poster that parent appeared to
01:08:11
have crafted herself it showed her passport photo with the name antonia reece ormond
01:08:20
it noted that she was wanted for murdering a government official in a washington dc hotel room
01:08:28
panama city police commander mitch pitts later speculated that parent created the poster to
01:08:35
intimidate someone many unanswered questions remained following the death of a lame parent
01:08:48
law enforcement agencies believe she had up to 20 different identities that she used
01:08:54
around the globe including the united states the uk turkey israel france and south africa
01:09:03
some suspect she murdered more than once though no victims aside from beverly mcgowan have ever been named
01:09:14
three years before parents death investigator nora pfeiffer told the guardian the brutality of the miguel and murder
01:09:24
and the way in which the body was cut up leads me to think that a person capable of committing something like
01:09:30
this has already done the same thing in the past or may do so in the future a birth certificate for a lame parent
01:09:42
has never been found suggesting that a lame parent could have been another fake identity
01:09:50
opinion has been divided as to whether parent worked alone or with an accomplice some
01:09:57
speculated that parent could not have killed beverly then mutilated and disposed of her
01:10:02
remains without help charlotte cowan met a blonde man who parent had introduced as her brother
01:10:12
in the days after beverly's murder her credit card was used by an individual in a black wig and eyeglasses
01:10:20
some witnesses described this person as male while others thought they were female
01:10:28
others were certain this individual known initially as sam was a lame parent donning a disguise
01:10:35
to look similar to beverly a number of investigators who have studied parents actions
01:10:42
don't believe she would ever collaborate with another person harvard psychologist maria konakova has
01:10:50
written extensively about con artists and says that they commonly exhibit psychopathic and
01:10:56
narcissistic traits this analysis is consistent with forensic psychologist dr barbara kirwan's profiling of parent
01:11:07
she has theorized that parents stole identities to quote fill up the emptiness of her
01:11:13
own personality she described parent as a consummate con artist highly adept at reading her victims and
01:11:22
targeting their individual and personal vulnerabilities elaine parents living victims expressed
01:11:31
relief upon hearing of her death for almost two decades her former partners witness x and charlotte cowan lived in
01:11:41
fear that parent would harm them investigators couldn't say why a parent killed beverly mcgowan
01:11:49
and none of her other known victims in the documentary the world's most wanted woman
01:11:58
beverly's brother steve explained that he carried a guild for cancelling her credit cards
01:12:03
before her body was found at the time he believed that he was doing the right thing
01:12:10
thinking it would prompt his sister to reach out yet he inadvertently cut off a viable
01:12:17
means of tracking her killer [Music] occasionally steve's grief would overwhelm him
01:12:24
it could be brought on by minor things such as hearing a particular song on the radio while driving his car
01:12:31
[Music] this sorrow and the lack of closure remained long after beverly's murder
01:12:39
quote it's been 11 years of wondering why i mean you do see stories in the newspaper and you read them
01:12:49
and think what a tragedy but that would never happen to me it could never happen to my life and
01:12:56
then it does and boy does it wake you up [Music] you