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[Music] our episodes deal with serious and often distressing incidents if you feel at any
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time you need support please contact your local crisis center for suggested phone numbers for confidential support
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please see the show notes for this episode on your app or on our website today's episode involves crimes against
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children and won't be suitable for all listeners on saturday may 27 1978 a thunderstorm
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lashed the u.s state of missouri in the northwest city of saint joseph hundreds of locals braced the cold wet
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weather to trudge through the wooded banks of the missouri river beyond the railroad on the city's western edge
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they were searching for something their path led beyond the well-worn walking tracks and into the dense
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foliage where muddy conditions made for a hazardous track as the sun began to set their task
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became even more difficult determined and desperate the searches continued on with flashlights in hand
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but with time and to the elements against them it was only a matter of minutes before the search would be
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called off just as things were starting to wrap up for the night one group came across some
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trampled undergrowth that led to an area of long weeds hidden within was something red and blue
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pulling back the foliage the group found what they had been looking for meanwhile at the nearby hoof and horn
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steakhouse exhausted members of the search party had gathered inside seeking refuge from the harsh weather
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all of a sudden the room fell silent as the restaurant's owner called out with the news they'd all been longing to hear
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a collective sense of relief washed over the crowd who erupted into a round of cheers and applause
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eric christian had been found and he was alive and well [Music] [Music] [Music] the mall in downtown saint joseph was
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unusually quiet for a friday afternoon as many local residents and business owners were spending the upcoming
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memorial day long weekend vacationing elsewhere karen carter was looking forward to the
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three-day break ahead she had just one more errand to run before finishing up work for the day
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it was nearing 3 p.m when karen wandered through the near-empty mall on the lookout for a store that was both still
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open and had what she needed karen had been tasked with purchasing an american flag to display in her boss's
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office in honor of memorial day and the fallen military personnel it observed she soon came across a bookstore that
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was still trading with american flags for sale as karen approached the storefront she
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felt a hand titan around her own walking by her side was eric christian her boss's four-year-old son
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eric was a familiar face in the walnut products company office which was owned by eric's father edwin christian
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karen had offered to take eric with her to the mall so edwin could focus solely on his managerial duties
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eric was enthusiastic about the trip which included lunch at a fast food restaurant
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as well as a drive in his father's cadillac but it was a small play area for children out the front of the bookstore
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that had eric wide-eyed and excited he beckoned karen towards it and asked if he could play there while she shopped
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nearby karen who would only be gone for a minute agreed when she came back out moments later
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eric was gone few people in the vicinity of the bookstore had noticed the blond-haired
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blue-eyed eric who was wearing a blue and red striped shirt with denim james of those who did none had seen him leave
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he wasn't found in the mall its parking area or anywhere else close by making it
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highly unlikely he had simply wandered off a witness soon came forward who'd seen a
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boy matching eric's description half an hour after he disappeared from the mall walking along the train tracks near the
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missouri river on the western side of town an older man was with him following this revelation the search
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shifted from a little boy lost to a possible abduction kidnapping didn't seem an outrageous
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possibility given the prominence and wealth of the christian family even they assumed eric had been taken as
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he was an outgoing child who had no qualms talking to strangers the christian family waited anxiously
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overnight for word of a ransom demand but only received calls from people offering their sympathies
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[Music] after 24 hours passed with no sign of his son edwin christian offered a ten
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thousand dollar reward for eric's safe return he told reporters i'm afraid some kook may have my son
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i don't care about the money i just want my son back [Music] more than 500 local volunteers braved
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the wet and thunderous weather the following day heading to the missouri river to conduct a large-scale search of
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the area by now several more reports had come through from people who had seen a boy
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similar to eric christian walking along the adjacent train tracks with an unknown man
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if these sightings were correct and eric was out there the harsh conditions posed
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a significant threat to his survival [Music] the search lasted all day and into the
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night although they hadn't given up hope of finding eric alive was dwindling as volunteers gathered in the hoofenhorn
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steakhouse for a short reprieve news soon reached them that eric had been found alive and well
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their celebrations were short-lived as follow-up calls were made and reports clarified
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eric had indeed been found however he was deceased his body lay hidden among the trees
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weeds and bracken that framed the missouri river not far from the railroad he had suffocated but there was no
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evidence on or around him to definitely prove how he's unbuttoned the genes hinted at what
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was later confirmed to via autopsy eric had been sexually assaulted in a move that horrified and disgusted
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locals a photo of eric's body lying in the brush was printed on the front page of the saint joseph news press
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the newspaper's editor defended his decision against a wave of complaints saying
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[Music] we felt the picture might have beneficial results if for no other reason than teaching adults not to leave
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children unattended in public places coincidentally at the exact time that eric was abducted a reporter had been
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filming inside the mall as part of a documentary 45 seconds of footage had panned across
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several storefronts stopping in front of the bookstore just short of the children's play area
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by pure luck the play area had been captured in the reflection of one of the shop windows
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eric couldn't be detected in the footage but a few adults were caught on camera the footage was broadcast on the evening
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news with police urging those featured within to come forward nobody did but a local who lived half a mile from
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the crime scene reported that at around 1am on saturday they heard a short sharp
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scream followed by crying several witnesses had now come forward to report seeing a boy who matched
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eric's description within the hour that he went missing they all saw him walking along the train
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tracks near the missouri river with an older man tightly gripping his arm and leading him along
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the boy didn't appear to be in any distress the witnesses each underwent hypnosis in
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an effort to uncover more details and a suspect sketch was created as a result of their descriptions
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the man was described as 45 years old around 6 feet tall and 200 pounds with dark graying
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hair he walked with a strange gate and held his right arm out at an odd angle investigators questioned and cleared
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recent parolees from the missouri state penitentiary they also paid a visit to a psychiatric
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hospital in saint joseph where a lack of security meant it was common for patients to occasionally wander from the
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grounds but no escapees had been reported at the time of eric christian's murder
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yet one staff member mentioned that a patient who had been admitted shortly after eric's body was found had been
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exhibiting strange behavior he repeatedly wrote eric's name over and over on a piece of paper but was
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ultimately eliminated from the investigation 200 leads came through to detectives in
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the first few days of the investigation alone but eric's killer continued to elude
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them fearing he might strike again the mayor of saint joseph urged the community to
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keep a closer eye on their children an editorial printed in the saint joseph news press warned
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eric christian was slain by someone whose derangements are a continuing threat to children as long as this
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person is loose among us no family is safe no child is safe the fbi's behavioral science unit
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concluded that the suspect was likely a white male who lived a quiet solitary life had never been married and was
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either unemployed or worked a menial job near the side of eric's abduction 64 year old harry fox fit the bill
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an unwed introvert fox worked as a janitor in a 14-story law office known as the corby building located one block
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from the mall he had a slight intellectual disability and had difficulty engaging in
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conversation but was known to be friendly to children he walked slowly with his right arm held
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at an odd angle much like the man seen walking along the train tracks with eric christian
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the day eric was abducted had been fox's birthday harry fox came to the attention of
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investigators after someone reported seeing a boy who matched eric's description at the corby building on the
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day of his abduction investigators confronted fox at work and pulled him off for questioning telling
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his boss that he was a suspect in the eric christian murder during his interrogation fox was clearly
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scared an hour into questioning he requested a drink of water after taking a few sips fox lent forward
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in his chair and put his head between his legs wheezing shaking and then vomiting fox
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collapsed onto the floor convulsing and gasping for breath an ambulance was called but it was too
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late harry fox had died of a heart attack his boss told reporters i knew harry fox was here in the
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building from 1 to 4 pm the day the christian boy was kidnapped and i told the two officers about that
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when they talked with me [Music] in hindsight fox's poor health and physical impairments made it impossible
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for him to have reached the missouri river to kill eric and dispose of his body fox was also significantly heavier than
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the suspects seen walking on the railway tracks describing fox as a lovable person his
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manager said it was inhumane for those officers to talk with him after i told them all
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about him harry fox was posthumously dismissed as a suspect with the owner of the corby
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building commenting his death is the same as that little boy's the weapons were arrogance and a lack of
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compassion telling the public that investigators were more or less at a dead end saint
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joseph police chief robert hayes spoke of the real last-ditch effort they were undertaking to re-examine all the tips
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so far received one such tip which had grown into a sizeable lead was in relation to a
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suspect that investigators kept tight-lipped about the man was well known around town as a
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pest who regularly shoplifted and stole cars he'd recently spent time in the state
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hospital where he was diagnosed with quote mental retardation and anti-social behavior
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he also had a background of inappropriate sexual behavior towards children specifically one incident where he
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bluntly asked a three-year-old relative to commit a sex act on him several witnesses had also placed him
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around the mall at the time eric was there including one who saw him walking towards the building moments before
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eric's disappearance when the police showed up at the home where melvin reynolds lived with his
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parents he wasn't surprised [Music] as detailed in the book innocent blood by terry gainey reynolds knew it was
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only a matter of time before they came knocking he had considered leaving town until the
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heat died down but knew that would draw suspicion instead he opened the door and let the
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officers inside up to this point the 25 year old unemployed cook had been questioned
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about eric christian's murder on nine separate occasions within eight months reynolds had taken polygraph tests and
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agreed to be hypnotized maintaining throughout that he wasn't at the mall when eric christian was present
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he said that he had been at a hospital nearby visiting a friend and had parked his car at the corby building the same
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place where previous suspect harry fox worked reynolds claimed he then went to an
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unemployment office before returning home yet every time reynolds was questioned
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he incriminated himself further with his version of events changing slightly in each retelling
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although he was initially cooperative as time wore on he became more irritated by
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the police's suspicion then one day investigators drove melvin reynolds to the local hospital to meet
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with a psychologist while there he was given a dose of sodium amityl through an iv line
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used as a sedative the drug also had the reputation of being a truth serum that was used to coax unspoken or repressed
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memories from kg suspects when dosed reynolds became drowsy the questioning then began
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when asked if he had killed eric christian reynolds maintained he didn't have anything to do with it
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but as the sedative took further effect he remarked i saw the boy on the mall before i
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killed he then paused and backtracked saying before i went to the unemployment office
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on wednesday february 14 1979 nearly nine months after eric christian was killed melvin reynolds sat with
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three police officers reynolds had said he was finally ready to confess but he was finding it hard to
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talk he was then offered an alternative to save him from having to say what was troubling him he could instead write it
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down reynolds agreed and picked up a pen he wrote of how he'd watched eric christian playing at the mall before
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approaching him taking him by the hand and walking him to the missouri river once there he sexually assaulted eric
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with this information now committed to paper reynolds permitted investigators to re-interview him on camera
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he described the fear that eric experienced and how the boy fainted during the attack causing him to fall
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backwards and hit his head saying he was relieved to finally have it all off his chest reynolds added
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i just felt like it was going to catch up with me sooner or later the officers then called in the county
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prosecutor mike insco who listened as melvin reynolds confessed again saying the words
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i killed eric christian the morning after melvin reynolds made these full admissions he directed
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detectives to the area where he had killed eric christian and disposed of his body
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he was then presented at the county courthouse where he was charged with the four-year-old second-degree murder
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he was held on a fifty 000 bond at the county jail where he was segregated from other prisoners for his own safety due
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to the nature of his crime prior to trial reynold's attorney had him assassed at a psychiatric facility
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believing that his client could plead guilty by reason of insanity if tests proved he was suffering from significant
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mental illness when he killed eric this would mean reynolds would be incarcerated in a psychiatric facility
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rather than a prison within 35 minutes of interviewing reynolds the psychiatrist concluded that
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he'd been experiencing no serious mental illness at the time of eric's murder melvin reynolds was ordered to stand
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trial in october 1979 when he finally fronted court it had been 500 days since eric christian was
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abducted reynolds opted to testify in his own defense using his time in the witness
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box to recant his confession and profess his innocence the overwhelming evidence against him
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ensured his pleas were ignored after just three days of court proceedings and a further seven hours
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deliberation the jury returned a verdict for the second-degree murder of eric christian melvin reynolds was found
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guilty he was sentenced to life in prison prosecuting attorney mike insco said we're lucky in this county to have such
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fine investigators they checked double checked and checked again to be absolutely sure they had the
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right man case file will be back shortly thank you for supporting us by listening to this
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00:25:20
michelle steele was excited she had never gone to the city alone before so monday july 19 1982 was a big
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deal mature for her 11 years of age michelle had been trusted by her parents to board
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a bus into downtown st joseph to attend a dentist appointment at 10 30 am but by 3 30 pm michelle still hadn't
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returned home her mother phoned the dentist's office and learned michelle had arrived on time
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for her morning appointment and spent almost an hour getting her braces adjusted
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then she left that had been four hours ago in scenes reminiscent of the disappearance of eric christian four
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years earlier a crowd of volunteers joined police in conducting a large-scale search for michelle
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the same team involved in investigating eric's case was also assigned to michelle's and they were once again led
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by police chief robert hayes he admonished michelle's mother and left her in tears saying
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[Music] what kind of mother are you to let your little girl go down there alone don't you know about all the perverts
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down there michelle's father later addressed the criticism leveled at his family by
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stating we let her go there alone thinking people were safe obviously that's not true
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[Music] in circumstances that eerily mirrored eric's abduction two separate witnesses
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had seen a young girl and a man walking along the tracks by the missouri river the evening michelle was abducted
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volunteer searchers headed to the area where in a muddy section of the riverbank they found a small bright blue
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tennis shoe it looked to have washed ashore from upstream michelle still's mother sobbed
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confirming her daughter had been wearing the shoe the day she vanished suddenly those searching the river and
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its surrounds heard someone yelling michelle's uncle roy montgomery emerged from the dense bush shouting loudly that
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he had found michelle he had noticed some trampled vegetation and shoe prints pressed into the mud
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leading from the river to the nearby bluffs roy followed the trail until he came
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across two logs lying between them was michelle's naked body having been partially concealed by
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large branches and foliage she had been physically and sexually assaulted with imprints on her wrists
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indicating that she'd been restrained there were also human bite marks across her body
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as michelle's body was taken from the site one observer whispered between tears it's happening all over again
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fear was now growing that a copycat was following in the footsteps of convicted killer melvin reynolds
00:28:47
eric christian and michelle steele's bodies were attacked in a similar manner and found within one mile of one another
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michelle's cause of death was also suffocation as a result of her air supply being cut off while face down in
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the mud detectives were immediately suspicious of the circumstances in which michelle
00:29:09
was discovered specifically the chances that her uncle roy montgomery happened to just stumble
00:29:16
across her well-hidden remains michelle was described as sensible and responsible leading detectives to
00:29:24
believe that the only way in which she would be led to the remote area where she was found was if she was coaxed
00:29:31
there by someone she knew and trusted within minutes of having announced the discovery of his niece's body roy
00:29:39
montgomery was swarmed by police and placed under arrest for her murder hours of questioning led to him being
00:29:48
released without charge after a relative provided a solid alibi for his whereabouts
00:29:54
[Music] the focus then shifted onto another suspect as night fell in the hours after
00:30:03
michelle steele was reported missing three fishermen on the missouri river were quietly and diligently watching
00:30:10
their rods hoping to reel in a catfish a little further up the riverbank they noticed a man walking along with a radio
00:30:19
in one hand and a canteen in the other when he got within 10 yards of the fishermen he asked if they were having
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any luck before quickly moving on [Music] the fishermen were wary of the stranger
00:30:34
finding something unnerving about him a few hours later a volunteer in michelle steele's search party spotted
00:30:43
the same man sitting alone under an overpass and called out to ask if he'd seen a red-haired freckled face the girl
00:30:52
the man replied that he'd been fishing in the area all day and hadn't seen her this comment struck the volunteer as odd
00:31:00
as the man didn't have any fishing gear with him an hour later two detectives looking for
00:31:08
michelle also crossed paths with the man he told them he'd been fishing in the area all day except that around 7 pm
00:31:17
when he visited the skaggs drugstore to purchase some alcohol the detectives informed him that the
00:31:24
drugstore closed at 6 pm and the man reasoned he must have lost track of time [Music]
00:31:31
this was significant as it had since been uncovered that after leaving the dentist michelle headed to skaggs
00:31:37
drugstore to buy some candy with pocket money her mother had given her suspicious of the man loitering by the
00:31:46
river detectives asked to see some identification they ran a check on his name richard
00:31:53
harris to see if he had any outstanding warrants but he was given the all clear and let go
00:32:01
the search for michelle steele continued with little more thought given to richard harris
00:32:09
as it turned out the location where detectives had confronted harris was 10 yards from where michelle's body was
00:32:16
found hours later later that same morning a security guard at the saint joseph state mental
00:32:24
hospital received a call from the facility switchboard operator a distraught man had presented to the
00:32:32
hospital and was screaming and kicking the administration desk the security guard rushed over finding
00:32:40
the man sobbing with his head in his hands and screaming make the voices quit i can't stand them
00:32:47
they're scaring me rummaging through the man's bag the security guard found some identification
00:32:55
that determined him to be 53 year old iowa resident richard clark clark said he had been staying at the
00:33:03
local salvation army shelter except for when he drank too much at which point he
00:33:08
stayed by the river when detectives received word of richard clark's antics at the hospital they paid
00:33:16
him a visit and concluded that richard clarke and richard harris were one and the same
00:33:24
now they were even more suspicious as moving around and using different surnames is typically a tactic used by
00:33:31
those who don't want to be located or identified and richard clark had a history that he
00:33:38
would want to distance himself from in july 1982 richard clarke was at a grocery store when he set his sights on
00:33:53
an 11 year old boy when the boy reached down to grab a bag of ice for his mother who was waiting
00:34:00
outside clark grasped his shoulder posing as a security guard clark accused the boy of shoplifting and demanded to
00:34:09
speak with his mother he then escorted the boy through a door labelled employees only that led to a
00:34:16
rear exit once outside clark pulled the boy towards a nearby wooded area realising something was a mess the boy
00:34:27
yanked free of clarke's grip and rushed back to his mother the police were called and clark was
00:34:35
apprehended for attempted child abduction the charges were ultimately dropped but
00:34:41
clark voluntarily checked himself into a psychiatric hospital and was released after two months
00:34:50
less than three months later clark confronted a 19 year old woman in downtown saint joseph and asked her to
00:34:57
join him for coffee something about the look in his eyes terrified the woman and she told him to
00:35:04
go away and to leave her alone the following day clark approached a ten-year-old boy in a record store
00:35:14
this time he claimed to be a police officer and accused the boy of shoplifting before reaching to grab him
00:35:20
by the arm the boy ran off and alerted his grandmother who was also in the store
00:35:28
by the time police arrived clark had fled it wasn't until he came to the attention
00:35:35
of detectives investigating michelle steele's murder that he was linked to these two failed abduction attempts
00:35:44
clark had a relatively clean criminal record aside from a charge for petty larceny for which he'd been fined 100
00:35:52
and his fingerprints didn't match any unsolved crime scenes in the fbi database however a wealth of forensic evidence
00:36:01
linked him to the murder of michelle steele lengths of nylon cord found in clark's
00:36:08
bag were the same width as the ligature marks on michelle's wrist and the muddy soles of his shoes matched the pattern
00:36:14
of shoe prints leading to her body the bites on michelle's body also aligned with the dental impression of
00:36:22
clarke's teeth when questioned about the crime clark remained silent and refused to cooperate
00:36:30
with police by the following month of august he was being held at the county jail on 250 000
00:36:38
bail having been charged with first degree murder while awaiting trial in early december
00:36:48
1982 richard clark lay restrained to a chair in a psychiatrist's office with an iv line inserted into his veins
00:36:58
sodium amador was slowly moving through the tube bent into clark's body easing him into a state of near unconsciousness
00:37:07
the doctor overseeing the procedure had carried it out years prior on convicted killer melvin reynolds
00:37:14
it had worked then to expedite a confession and detectives were convinced that would do so again
00:37:22
when asked why he was at the missouri river a sedated clerk replied that he was drinking and hearing voices
00:37:30
the voices ordered him not to talk to anyone and told him the same thing over and over
00:37:37
clark then grimaced and fell asleep he was hastily shaken awake which prompted him to blurt out
00:37:46
the voices told me to sacrifice a maiden when asked if he followed the command clark replied
00:37:55
sometimes i think i did although the truth serum prompted melvin reynolds confession to eric christian's
00:38:04
murder it didn't appear to have the same impact on richard clarke he remained silent after his session
00:38:12
often spending his days lying unresponsive on the floor of his cell yet a psychiatric report concluded
00:38:21
clark is mute by deliberate choice as his mutism is observed to have a sudden onset after legal difficulties
00:38:30
his exaggerated mouth movements with squinting of the eyes and headbanging occur only when he believes he is being
00:38:37
observed it is my opinion that he does not have a mental disease or defect a doctor at the saint joseph state
00:38:48
hospital called clark a professional faker who knew how to fool people into thinking he was suffering from a
00:38:54
significant mental illness then almost six months after the truth serum was administered clark scrawled a
00:39:03
note on a piece of paper and slid it to a sheriff's deputy doing the morning rounds through the cell house
00:39:10
he had written please call the fbi and tell them i would like to see them today very important case
00:39:22
special agent joseph holtzlag had worked the eric christian case and now he sat face to face with richard clarke another
00:39:30
accused child killer even though clark had summoned the fbi he still wouldn't speak
00:39:38
instead he pulled out a small piece of folded paper from the inside of his sock and handed it to agent holtslag
00:39:47
it was a segment of a map showing a city called rock island in the state of illinois
00:39:53
the mississippi river snaked its way through the map underneath were a set of directions
00:40:00
which ran in part [Music] on the arsenal side of the bridge there's a guardrail on the right side
00:40:08
about the middle of the rail look toward the bank walk about 10 feet to the bank
00:40:15
there's a still rod sticking out go under the rod and look to your left about two feet
00:40:22
dig under the rocks you will find a body motioning with his hands that he had more to say
00:40:31
clark was handed a pen and paper he wrote come back after you find it the next day an fbi field agent armed
00:40:48
with clark's map made his way along the bridge in rock island then down to the bank of the mississippi river
00:40:56
there he came across a steel rod just as clark had forewarned there was also something else sticking
00:41:03
out of the mud nearby it was a human thigh bone an entire skeleton was soon excavated
00:41:13
from the riverbed dressed in fragments of a light-coloured shirt a red jacket and denim jeans
00:41:21
a pair of socks and shoes were also uncovered close by following this discovery fbi special
00:41:29
agent joseph holtzlag met with richard clark again he still refused to speak but did write
00:41:37
down james churchill 34 years old from galesburg illinois james churchill had spent the majority
00:41:48
of his life in a mental health facility due to his intellectual and physical disabilities
00:41:55
it was during his hospitalization that he met richard clark at age 31 james was deemed safe to re-enter
00:42:04
society and was released from hospital in june 1981 james stopped collecting his social security checks
00:42:15
when a concerned nurse carried out a welfare check at his last known address it was discovered that james had
00:42:22
vanished without a trace two years later his skeletal remains were found buried along the mississippi
00:42:30
river richard clarke opened up about killing james writing down that on the night of
00:42:38
saturday june 20 1981 he was with the james on the bank of the river unbeknownst to james clark had been
00:42:47
fighting the urge to kill someone all day and had a butcher's knife concealed in his coat pocket
00:42:54
clark walked over to james and quote began stabbing him over and over in the chest until the knife became embedded in
00:43:03
a bone near the heart when clark visited the murder scene two weeks later he was dismayed to discover
00:43:13
that james's body was gone the stench of decomposition lingered in the air and clark followed it for ten
00:43:21
feet where he came across james's body it was then he realized that james had initially survived the attack and
00:43:30
had crawled across the riverbank after clark left only to succumb to his injuries where he now lay
00:43:39
james's remains were in view of passers-by so clark worked to cover them with rocks and wood
00:43:47
that was all clarke was willing to reveal to fbi agent holtz flag about james churchill's murder
00:43:54
writing that he'd give more answers in time exasperated holslag asked clarke if there were any more bodies and if so how
00:44:04
many clark stared motionless at the wall for 10 minutes hardly blinking he then retrieved his pen and paper and
00:44:15
continued writing 16 total that i know of for sure all adults except three all males
00:44:30
agent holzlag sat stunned before the self-professed serial killer although he had never met richard clarke
00:44:39
prior to his work on the michelle steel case from the moment they met holtzlag was overcome with a nagging feeling of
00:44:47
familiarity but he could never pinpoint why then one morning as holtzlag watched
00:44:55
clark write out more information about his crimes it dawned on him it was the way clark a tall heavyset man
00:45:05
aged in his 50s walked into the interview room with a strange gate and his right arm
00:45:11
held out at a crooked angle all of a sudden holtzlag was hit with the realization as to why clark seemed
00:45:20
like someone he had known for some time agent holzlag looked at clark as he scribbled down notes and said
00:45:31
eric christian richard clark glanced up from his writing and smiled case file will be back shortly thank you
00:45:50
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a quick update on case file episode 28 lindsey booziak in continuing the fight to bring his daughter's killer to
00:47:27
justice jeff bouziak needs your help the mother of lindsay's boyfriend at the time of her murder is suing jeff for
00:47:35
slander claiming that comments he made online led to loss and damage to her reputation loss of income and stress
00:47:43
anxiety and other mental suffering jeff needs your help to defend this lawsuit so that he can continue to keep
00:47:52
lindsay's case from being forgotten for more information or to donate to jeff's legal fund head to our instagram
00:48:00
page at case file podcast and click the link in our bio or google go fund me lindsey booziak
00:48:07
murder legal fund thank you for listening to this episode's ads by supporting our sponsors
00:48:15
you support case file to continue to deliver quality content [Music] richard clark richard harris richard
00:48:33
grady richard price albert air albert price ronald springer and charles tidwell were just some of the aliases
00:48:42
used by charles ray hatcher throughout his life he had 14 in total with four different
00:48:50
birth dates and six social security numbers in truth he was born in 1929 in mound
00:48:57
city missouri his father an alcoholic ex-convict was a violent man who beat hatcher and his
00:49:04
three brothers often one day the hatcher boys fashioned a kite and took turns flying it with
00:49:12
charles the last in line to play as his brother prepared to hand the kite over it made contact with an overhead
00:49:21
power line they had fashioned the kite using copper wire instead of string causing hatcher's
00:49:28
brother to be electrocuted and die instantly witnessing this marked a turning point
00:49:35
in hatcher's life the once quiet and intelligent boy became unruly by age 16 he was living in saint joseph
00:49:45
working menial jobs his first criminal conviction came at age 18 for stealing a car
00:49:54
upon hatcher's release from prison he continued committing crimes adding breaking and entering and forgery to his
00:50:01
growing list hatch's behaviour took a sinister turn when he turned 29. one day he armed himself with a
00:50:11
butcher's knife and brandished it at a 16 year old newspaper delivery boy he intended to abduct
00:50:19
the teen escaped and hatcher was sentenced to five years prison with time added following a failed breakout
00:50:26
attempt while incarcerated hatcher was shipped back and forth between psychiatric
00:50:33
facilities and prison as he was adept at falling guards judges and medical professionals into believing he was
00:50:40
suffering mental illness he'd go long periods without talking hit his head and make strange facial
00:50:49
expressions earning him the nickname crazy charlie most knew not to interact with charles
00:50:57
ray hatcher who was unpredictable and violent in january 1961 jerry farrington was
00:51:07
sent to missouri state penitentiary he had been caught stealing farm equipment that he planned to sell to pay
00:51:14
for his wife's medical bills after she suffered a miscarriage farrington was sentenced to two years
00:51:21
imprisonment but would be eligible for release after just seven months until that time farrington proved
00:51:28
himself a model prisoner wanting more than anything to be reunited with his wife
00:51:36
six months into his incarceration farrington was found on the floor of the prison kitchen stabbed to death with a
00:51:43
large knife he had also been raped prior to his murder the 11 inmates who were regularly
00:51:52
assigned to kitchen duty were questioned and only one was unaccounted for at the
00:51:57
time of the attack charles ray hatcher without any hard evidence to prove his involvement hatcher was only given a
00:52:07
10-month stint in solitary confinement he was released into the public two years later after serving four years out
00:52:16
of his five-year sentence [Music] over the next six years hatcher returned to prison another four times to serve
00:52:28
short stints for burglary and car theft his growing criminal record went undetected by authorities as he was
00:52:36
constantly moving from state to state and using different aliases in august 1969 he escaped a kansas state
00:52:46
prison farm and made his way to the west coast eight days later in san francisco he
00:52:53
lured a five-year-old boy away from his home before sexually assaulting him a witness who stumbled across the attack
00:53:01
in progress summoned police and the boy was rescued while hatcher was arrested he gave his name as albert price and an
00:53:11
id in his possession bore the name hobert prater but his fingerprints exposed his true
00:53:18
identity within the system with his crime described by one detective as the worst case of child
00:53:26
molestation he had ever seen hatcher was charged with kidnapping and attempt to commit sodomy
00:53:34
as he awaited trial hatcher pretended he was insane to avoid going to prison he spoke of violent and disturbing
00:53:43
delusions and hallucinations and of having visions of naked and bloodied children
00:53:50
it was all an act and it worked over the next three years he was sent for psychiatric assessment five separate
00:53:59
times on each occasion he was found competent to stand trial and sent back to prison
00:54:06
where court-appointed psychiatrists declared him unfit again and returned him for more evaluations
00:54:14
he managed to escape one hospital only to be caught again a week later under the alias richard grady
00:54:22
he immediately resorted to the same quote crazy charlie theatrics to avoid imprisonment
00:54:29
but his true identity was uncovered and he was sent back to prison given the nature of his crimes hatcher
00:54:38
was terrified of what other inmates would do to him he penned a letter to his public
00:54:44
defender complaining that his current prison did not have the facilities he required as a quote
00:54:50
mentally disordered sex offender the letter worked against tatcha as it was so articulate it proved he was
00:54:58
capable of rational thinking and could therefore face trial he was found guilty of lewd and
00:55:05
lascivious conduct and sent to a hospital that he tried to escape from three months later
00:55:12
he was subsequently moved to a prison subject to regular reviews one psychiatrist concluded hatcher was a
00:55:24
manipulative dangerous and institutionalized sociopath another said he had a very poor
00:55:32
prognosis for rehabilitation nevertheless in 1976 he received a glowing report from a corrections
00:55:41
counsellor who said reports indicate he is doing outstanding work his effort conduct cooperation and
00:55:50
initiative have also been excellent subject is certainly more outgoing and his progress has been commented on by
00:55:58
staff members as well as his peer group he has shown signs of accepting responsibility for his behaviour
00:56:08
as a result charles ray hatcher was paroled in may 1977 less than eight years after attacking the five-year-old
00:56:16
boy in san francisco within a week he violated his parole conditions and fled the city
00:56:26
a crime spree followed during which hatcher posing as a police officer tasked with finding child runaways
00:56:33
abducted a 12 year old boy from a bus stop he took him to a boarding house and sexually assaulted him at knifepoint
00:56:42
the boy escaped when hatcher passed out drunk upon his capture hatcher spent some time
00:56:51
between 1978 and 1982 in prison when released he assaulted and attempted to stab a seven-year-old boy tried to
00:57:01
assault and sodomize a seventeen-year-old boy and attempted to stab a man each crime was committed in a different
00:57:10
city and sometimes in a different state with hatcher always providing a different name to authorities
00:57:18
yet again he presented as mentally unstable and was shifted between mental health facilities until he was released
00:57:25
to back into the public despite having the status of a parolee at large no one thought to fingerprint
00:57:33
charles ray hatcher and determine his true identity and extensive history of violent offending
00:57:40
a prosecuting attorney for omaha's douglas county later told the saint louis post dispatch newspaper
00:57:48
i suppose if he stayed in the criminal system here ultimately we would have tried to do some background on him and
00:57:55
tried to confirm who he was he was in and out of our clutches so quick i think everybody thought he's crazy and
00:58:04
he's not coming back to court and that was the end of it i don't know how you stop a guy like
00:58:10
that before he wound up in prison in 1978 for abducting and assaulting the 12 year old
00:58:19
boy from the bus stop charles hatcher committed one crime which he got away with
00:58:25
in the late afternoon of friday may 26 1978 hatcher entered a mall in downtown saint joseph and came upon four-year-old
00:58:35
eric christian the little boy had only been left alone for just a moment still it was enough time for hatcher to
00:58:44
strike sitting before fbi special agent joseph holtzlag almost five years to the day
00:58:53
after he carried out the attack charles ray hatcher fully confessed to the abduction assault and murder of eric
00:59:01
christian he said he'd been overcome with a familiar urge to kill so he took eric by
00:59:08
the hand walked him out of the mall along the train tracks and into the secluded wilderness by the missouri
00:59:15
river there he sexually assaulted eric and choked him to death managing to do so
00:59:22
without leaving a mark then he covered eric's body with branches before leaving town
00:59:35
agent holzlag didn't doubt hatch's confession he always believed melvin reynolds was
00:59:41
innocent and that someone else was responsible for eric's murder in his confession reynolds claimed to
00:59:49
have been watching eric at the playground for 30 minutes before approaching him but this was impossible given that eric
00:59:57
had only been left alone for a couple of minutes when reynolds took detectives to the
01:00:03
area where eric's body had been dumped he pointed out the approximate location but required prompting to point out the
01:00:10
exact spot the crime scene's whereabouts were well known given that the saint joseph news
01:00:18
press had printed a photo of eric's body when it was found on the front page of their paper
01:00:24
various media outlets had also reported details about the location and with so many locals involved in a search word
01:00:32
quickly got around [Music] witness descriptions of eric being seen with a heavyset older man matched
01:00:40
hatcher that didn't match reynolds who was only 25 years old at the time with a slim build
01:00:48
as for the claims that reynolds had propositioned a three-year-old to perform a sex act on him this was found
01:00:54
to be categorically untrue reynolds had been walking with the toddler when a person drove by and
01:01:02
yelled out a derogatory remark in response reynolds yelled back suck my [ __ ] the three-year-old clarified this to be
01:01:12
the correct version of events and the reality was that reynolds had no history of sexual deviancy at all
01:01:20
most importantly reynolds neighbor had come forward to police prior to his trial with a major revelation
01:01:29
at around 3 25 pm on the day eric christian was abducted she had struck up a conversation with reynolds on his
01:01:36
front porch this was around the same time that eric was taken from the mall the neighbor had no reason to protect
01:01:46
reynolds whom she openly admitted to detesting she was reluctant to come forward
01:01:52
telling the press i wish i didn't remember this but i do i don't want to be involved but if i
01:02:00
didn't say what i did i wouldn't be doing what's right saint joseph police chief robert hayes
01:02:08
was so certain of reynolds guilt that this alibi went ignored melvin reynolds claimed he had only
01:02:19
confessed to eric's murder after relentless interrogations from the detectives with a slight intellectual disability
01:02:27
and a willingness to please reynolds was highly vulnerable to manipulation during a polygraph test in the early
01:02:35
investigation he denied killing eric before pausing and saying but i'll say so if you want me to
01:02:45
he made a similar remark during a second polygraph test prompting the operator to
01:02:51
raise his concerns with police chief robert hayes along with his belief that reynolds was innocent
01:02:59
in response chief hayes took the operator off the case melvin reynolds was certain the truth
01:03:08
would come out at his trial leading to an acquittal he was shocked to have been found guilty
01:03:14
and sentenced to life in prison where he continued to profess his innocence prison life was particularly difficult
01:03:23
for reynolds as he was convicted for a crime against a child he endured violence and rape at
01:03:29
the hands of his fellow inmates from prison he told a reporter that he felt targeted by authorities because he
01:03:38
was gay reynold's attorney echoed this sentiment adding that the rampant homophobia
01:03:45
present in saint joseph meant his client had about as much chance of fitting in and being accepted as a leper
01:03:54
speaking about eric christian's murder reynolds remarked what really bothers me is that whoever
01:04:01
did it they're still out on the streets laughing about it by the time charles ray hatcher
01:04:09
confessed to eric's murder melvin reynolds had served four years in prison there was even a moment in time where
01:04:17
hatcher and reynolds were incarcerated together although they never crossed paths
01:04:24
the reason why hatcher had willingly come clean after all this time was characteristically selfish
01:04:30
he knew if he was found guilty of murdering 11 year old michelle steele he would most likely face life in prison
01:04:39
by admitting to killing eric christian his outcome elevated to the death penalty
01:04:45
charles ray hatcher wanted to die in the weeks that followed hatch's confession special agent joseph holtzlag
01:04:58
worked on building a rapport with the self-confessed killer and visited him often in jail
01:05:05
he had already established the identities of four of hatch's alleged victims eric christian michelle steele
01:05:12
as well as his longtime friend james churchill and fellow prison inmate jerry tharrington
01:05:20
yet by hatcher's own account there were another 12 victims he had yet to name holtzlag walked a fine line when seeking
01:05:30
more information as pushing too hard would no doubt cause hatcher to go into one of his prolonged states of silence
01:05:38
realising he held the position of power hatcher toyed with the agent accordingly
01:05:43
[Music] after promising to write a diary detailing his crimes hatcher informed a
01:05:51
frustrated hulk slag that he had flushed the papers down the toilet he instead handed over a handwritten
01:05:58
poem that read in part who's to know as days go by only me and i won't tell because i'm on my way to hell
01:06:10
the day is drawing very near the one you all want to hear that time has come i have to go
01:06:18
and now no one will ever know [Music] agent holzlag took the poem to mean hatcher was refusing to make any further
01:06:28
admissions yet there was a confession hidden in hatcher's past that holtzlag was able to
01:06:35
uncover during one of his many stays in mental health facilities hatcher had told
01:06:42
assessing psychiatrists about an image that often plagued his mind as detailed in the book innocent blood
01:06:51
the vision began with a boy riding a bicycle hatcher would then watch himself driving
01:06:57
a car with the same boy riding happily in the passenger seat next hatch's thoughts cut to a creek bed
01:07:06
where he stood over the boy with his hands wrapped around his neck unbeknownst to the medical professionals
01:07:14
who heard hatcher relay this vision it hadn't manifested out of nowhere [Music] looking through records agent holzlag
01:07:24
came across the august 1969 unsolved murder of 12 year old william freeman in the californian city of antioch
01:07:33
william had spent the afternoon playing tennis before riding home on his bike one of his friends saw a green car pull
01:07:41
up to william who spoke with the lone male driver hours later when william was reported
01:07:48
missing his bicycle and tennis racquet were found on the sidewalk where he had stopped to speak to the man in the green
01:07:55
car two days later two children exploring lost trampo's creek came across a young
01:08:03
man on his hands and knees by the creek's edge his head was extended downwards as if
01:08:09
drinking the water trickling by [Music] it was the body of william freeman deliberately posed in a manner as if to
01:08:19
disturb whoever came across him he had been choked to death william's case went cold until 14 years
01:08:29
later when agent holtzlag connected the crime to charles ray hatcher hatcher had been in antioch at the time
01:08:37
driving around in a stolen car william freeman marked his fifth known murder victim
01:08:45
[Music] in august 1983 the office of the saint joseph news press received an envelope
01:08:55
addressed to the newspaper's editor inside was an anonymous handwritten letter that read
01:09:04
sometimes the system makes a very bad mistake and i'm not just blowing steam as you
01:09:10
will find out soon enough it's a real stinker and should really shake up some of those of the criminal
01:09:18
justice system in your fair city it's been in the making for some time but just beginning to get ready to blow
01:09:28
keep your ears open agent joseph holtzlag knew the letter was from charles ray hatcher who was
01:09:37
hinting at the injustice of melvin reynolds wrongful conviction for the murder of eric christian
01:09:44
holtzlag was in the process of having reynold's case reviewed by the prosecuting attorney mike insco who'd
01:09:51
been responsible for securing the guilty verdict insco was initially less than enthused
01:09:58
about re-examining the case with the mindset that he had been wrong about it but upon viewing holtzlag's evidence
01:10:05
proving melvin reynolds innocence and charles ray hatcher's guilt insco understood
01:10:12
hatcher was their guy still there were many more setbacks to come from others not wanting to admit
01:10:21
error holtzlag later said i was naive to think that everybody would work just as hard to get an
01:10:29
innocent man out as they would to put a guilty one in but they couldn't give a [ __ ]
01:10:36
[Music] on thursday october 13 1983 charles ray hatcher stood before a judge and pleaded guilty to the murder of eric
01:10:46
christian he was sentenced to life imprisonment with a non-parole period of 50 years
01:10:55
despite hatch's guilty plea and the supporting evidence gathered by agent joseph holtzlag saint joseph police
01:11:02
chief robert hayes stood by his initial investigation and was opposed to overturning melvin reynolds conviction
01:11:10
he said he was dumbfounded by the court's decision to accept charles ray hatch's confession
01:11:16
[Music] melvin reynolds was sitting in the missouri state penitentiary's visiting
01:11:23
room when his mother wanda entered the pair sat together on a couch and as melvin began to speak wanda interrupted
01:11:32
him saying she had something important to say another man had confessed to murdering
01:11:39
eric christian a flood of emotions washed over melvin as the realization dawned that his
01:11:46
prison ordeal would soon be over melvin reynolds later said that he never felt any ill will towards those who
01:11:56
found him guilty accepting he was largely at fault for giving a false confession
01:12:02
he didn't plan on seeking monetary compensation and just wanted to get on with his life telling a reporter
01:12:10
my freedom is more important than any lawsuit could ever be the day after charles ray hatcher
01:12:19
appeared in court to plead guilty to eric christian's murder melvin was officially a free man
01:12:27
in the aftermath of melvin's vindication saint joseph police chief robert hayes was criticized for his handling of the
01:12:34
case he still refused to reconsider melvin reynolds guilt instead expressing his
01:12:40
belief that perhaps melvin and hatcher were co-conspirators he accused fbi special agent joseph
01:12:48
holtzlag of feeding information to hatcher and was staunch in his opinion that evidence implicated melvin over
01:12:56
hatcher so overt and vocal of his controversial stance police chief hayes was eventually
01:13:03
issued a court order forbidding him from publicly discussing the case while other investigators were more
01:13:11
willing to accept a wrongdoing one told the press if there's anybody to blame melvin's to
01:13:18
blame it's a shame his character was so weak that he confessed authorities in various counties
01:13:28
endeavoured to identify further victims of charles ray hatcher he offered no help either because he
01:13:35
wanted to remain elusive or because his chronic alcohol abuse meant he couldn't remember enough details of his crimes
01:13:44
there were several crimes that fit his mo but it was confirmed that hatcher was either in jail or hospital at the time
01:13:51
they were committed [Music] there wasn't enough evidence to bring hatcher to justice for the murders of
01:13:58
william freeman james churchill or jerry farrington but in september 1984 he faced trial for the murder of
01:14:06
eleven-year-old michelle steele and was found guilty the jury would decide if he received a
01:14:13
life sentence with a non-parole period of 50 years or the death penalty hatcher made his preference clear by
01:14:22
announcing in court if you think i did this you have one job you have to make sure it doesn't happen
01:14:30
again i have a record of escapes i may try it you must prevent it from happening again
01:14:41
the bewildered judge told the jury to disregard his comments and an hour later the jury announced their agreed upon
01:14:48
sentence life in prison the saint joseph community were outraged but those who knew of hatch's desire to
01:14:58
die took solace in knowing he didn't get what he wanted four days later at four am a prison
01:15:06
guard making the rounds at the missouri state penitentiary shone his flashlight into charles ray hatch's cell
01:15:13
and discovered that the 55 year old had taken his own life he hadn't left a note
01:15:22
prosecutor mike insco told the press that he didn't believe hatcher had been driven by remorse but quote
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total frustration at being caught and knowing that the world saw him for what he was
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due to hatch's prolific use of aliases and interstate offending none of the psychiatrists who assessed him
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throughout his life were fully aware of the extent of his offending when making their evaluations
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even though it was their reports that led to him being released time and time again their ignorance shielded them from
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any legal ramifications [Music] as written in the saint louis post-dispatch newspaper
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[Music] hatcher cunningly turned the mental health system into his own private sanctuary to avoid criminal prosecution
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then used it as a path of least resistance back to freedom the extent to which charles ray hatcher
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assaulted and murdered his victims will never fully be known in total charles ray hatcher was convicted for three
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attempted abductions six abductions with sexual assaults two murders and had likely committed three others
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however he claimed to many more among investigating officers hatcher earned himself the moniker
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the one-man crime wave melvin reynolds found life after his exoneration challenging with many people
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still convinced he was involved in eric christian's murder he died in may 2012 at the age of 58.
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saint joseph police chief robert hayes intended to write a book about the case titled you be the judge which would
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outline why melvin reynolds was eric christian's killer but the book never eventuated
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hayes eventually wound up in prison himself after shooting dead his neighbor following a physical altercation
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he served eight years in prison for involuntary manslaughter and died four years after his release at age 81.
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one of the reasons the former police chief remained steadfast that melvin reynolds was eric christian's killer
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despite evidence and a confession to the contrary was because of a two-sentence letter written by charles ray hatcher
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[Music] hayes received the letter when the process to have melvin exonerated was
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underway it read chief hayes you're right about the christian case i didn't do that one
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good luck charlie hatcher [Music] [Music] [Music] you