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this program is about unsolved mysteries
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whenever possible the actual family
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members and police officials have
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participated in recreating the events
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what you are about to see is not a news
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broadcast in the 1920s Edgar Cayce gave
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widespread notoriety or his apparent
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ability to make complex medical
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diagnoses but in the self-induced trance
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even now 45 years after Casey's death
00:00:32
thousands claimed to have benefitted and
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been cured by his knowledge some say it
00:00:38
is merely a combination of luck and the
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power of suggestion 28 year-old crystal
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Spencer who's a small-town girl
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determined to make it big in the movies
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but for crystal the road to stardom led
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through Hollywood see the underside
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sadly and confusing and mysterious death
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according to her family and friends
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crystal was murdered Easter Sunday 1990
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just outside Coldwater Michigan Ray and
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Marie Thornton are enjoying their weekly
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drive through the country quite by
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accident this quiet Sunday outing would
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place the thought is at the center of an
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unsolved mystery these intriguing
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stories all need one final clue one
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final piece of information before they
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can be solved perhaps someone watching
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tonight can help perhaps it's you
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[Music]
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Kathy you have a condition called optic
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neuritis this is a condition where the
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optic nerve 1986 27 year-old Cathy Kumar
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visited or ophthalmologist takes it back
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now Cathy Cathy thought she had a minor
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problem but the doctors verdict was
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horrifying as a poor Cathy might be
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going blind a return it may not return
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it was a very frightening experience he
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said I wouldn't run out right away and
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buy a white cane but it's very serious
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and I was scared I mean I suddenly
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realized that there was a possibility
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that I could go blind I never I hadn't
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taken it seriously all along Cathy's
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trouble had begun one week earlier I
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woke up one morning and I just saw that
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there was a little area in my field of
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vision that I couldn't see out of and I
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just thought there was a speck on my eye
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and that I tried to rub it away and
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nothing happened it didn't leave I
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didn't really think too much about it I
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just thought it was unusual and I just
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let it go and throughout the day it
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didn't disappear and the next day it was
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a little larger area by the end of the
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week when I couldn't see it all out of
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the eye I decided this probably isn't
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normal and I probably should do
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something about it
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Cathy consulted to other
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ophthalmologists the diagnosis was
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unanimous optic neuritis possible
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consequence blindness
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there is no known cure her doctor
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recommended steroids Cathy was strongly
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opposed to the use of steroids and was
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determined to find an alternative she
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consulted a doctor who was well versed
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in the mysterious methods of a man named
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Edgar Cayce Edgar Cayce became famous in
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the 1920s as a diagnostician even though
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he had absolutely no medical training in
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his lifetime case he made more than
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9,000 diagnoses which he called readings
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but in a deep self-induced trance in
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1937 Casey did a reading on this 18-year
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old one who suffered from scleroderma a
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disfiguring chronic disease with no cure
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in which a person's skin hardens Cayce
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prescribed a number of treatments under
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scleroderma went into immediate
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remission the rating was given in
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January and and the ratings were
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followed to the letter in an interview
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40 years later the woman gave Edgar
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Cayce full credit for her cure in June
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in 1976 6 year-old Andrew Shenzhen
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suffered from severe psoriasis in
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desperation Andrews mother sought out a
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doctor who utilized methods set down by
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Edgar Cayce 30 years earlier within four
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months the psoriasis was gone
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[Music]
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today Andrew sands on his 21 years old
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and has had only one recurrence which
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also responded to the Casey treatments
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some people write off edgar cayce
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secures his lucky coincidence the power
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of suggestion acting on psychosomatic
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illness therefore those diagnosed with
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the disease of modern medicine cannot
00:05:40
cure or in some cases even explain edgar
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Casey's methods continue to hold out
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hope
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Cayce died in 1945 even so each year
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thousands of inquiry small over the
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world Porter Casey's nonprofit Center in
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Virginia Beach Virginia the thriving
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Center is an unlikely legacy for Edgar
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Cayce a quiet unpretentious man who came
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of age in rural Kentucky at the turn of
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the century
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[Music]
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my father was a very ordinary person
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he liked the garden he liked to fish we
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had Gardens whoever we lived he taught
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Sunday School I mean in everyday life
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you wouldn't know him from anybody else
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it was only when he was asleep that he
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had extraordinary ability edgar cayce
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discovered his mysterious ability when
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he was 13 time for lessons young man a
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borderline student Edgar fell asleep
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over a spelling-book cabin what his
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father quiz dick Edgar could spell every
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word in the book and even knew the page
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numbers for each word appeared cattle
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from that time all and all he had to do
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was sleep on his books at night and he
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moved along very rapidly whether it was
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spelling or math or history or whatever
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and he became a exceptional student
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rather than an average student in 1900
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when Edgar was 23 he suddenly lost the
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power of speech for an entire year
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physicians were unable to explain or
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cure his illness continue to breathe
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deeply as a last resort Casey's parents
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convinced him to see a hypnotist his
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family physician attended and recorded
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the session in minut detail ward
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Cayce sank into a deep sleep Edgar
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everyone present was stunned when for
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the first time in a year Edgar Cayce
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spoken yes we have the body before us
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dad never had any formal medical
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training in fact his educational career
00:07:50
stopped it would be equivalent to the
00:07:51
ninth grade now due to a paralysis of
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the interior muscles of the vocal cords
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he would suggest things and describe
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things the parts of the body that he had
00:08:05
no knowledge of this will remove the
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trouble he started to talk and say yes
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we have the condition there's a
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constriction to the throat some
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constriction of the blood flow so we
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will correct it the body will now awaken
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and when laying the hypnotist told him
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to wake up he set up and coughed up a
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little blood and he could call and I
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think that was probably the first
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reading though it was on himself hello a
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Casey's doctor persuaded him to attempt
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diagnosis on other patients who had not
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responded to traditional medicine
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Casey agreed but the end result left him
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disillusioned the problem developed when
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at the end of some of the readings
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people would start asking him questions
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about who was going to what horse was
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going to win a race what was gonna
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happen in the commodity as a stock
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market of the results of a ballgame and
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when he found out what had happened of
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what people were doing he said I'm
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giving up
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Casey abandoned his psychic readings
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married and moved to Selma Alabama where
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he worked as a photographer by 1914 he
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had two sons Edgar Evans and human
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when human was 8 years old he was
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terribly injured in a darkroom explosion
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a local doctor held off little hope how
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is he doc
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I've managed to remove most of the
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powder from his eyes
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but I found that the damage to the
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tissue was so extensive that he may lose
00:09:47
his sight my brother was playing in a in
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the studio and dropped a match in a
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partially filled can of flashlights
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powder and it blew up in his face and
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burned his eyes very badly the doctors
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examined him and said well we think
00:10:06
we're gonna have to take out one eye
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he's probably going to lose the sight in
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both of them and my brother said daddy
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give me a reading let's come into the
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parlor for Edgar Cayce it was the
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ultimate test he had not attempted a
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reading in years could he now save his
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own son from a life of blindness
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[Music]
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tannic acid would not be normally used
00:10:37
under these circumstances he described
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child an application for the eyes that
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included tannic acid baths
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well that was unheard of at the time and
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the doctors thought it was too strong
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but they thought he was gonna lose his
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eyes anyway so they won't hurt to try
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and when they first put it on where you
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then said this must be daddy's medicine
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it doesn't hurt it seemed like a miracle
00:11:01
within six weeks
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Hulan sight was completely restored word
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of the boys recovery spread edgar cayce
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soon became famous in 1925 he moved to
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Virginia Beach Virginia within five
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years
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Cayce established a center there to
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catalogue and interpret the readings the
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center received thousands of letters
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most of them requests for readings
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although Casey normally did only two
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readings a day he was unable to turn his
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back on those who seemed to need him so
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desperately he felt like he couldn't
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refuse people so he started doing two
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and three and four and five and it got
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up to understand 9:00 at 10:00 a day and
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it was just too much for him
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on the brink of exhaustion edgar cayce
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suffered a massive stroke
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he died on January 3rd 1945 leaving
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behind more than 120,000 pages of
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readings which continued to serve as a
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wellspring of hope for those in search
00:12:05
of cures that may have eluded
00:12:06
established medicine now Kathy an x-ray
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examination of your neck shows that you
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have the deviation Kathy Kimora's optic
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neuritis was diagnosed in 1986 she went
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to dr. John Fergana a chiropractor in
00:12:24
New Jersey who was studied Edgar Cayce's
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readings for 30 years
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Cayce was very specific on what areas of
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the spine to adjust vertebrae the fact
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that Cayce suggest that is completely a
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certain procedure for eye problems does
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not mean that he specifically diagnosed
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it as optic neuritis he talked about
00:12:43
vision problems blindness and that's
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what I approached her not as optic
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neuritis per se would stretch you out a
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little bit sort of get the blood
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circulating after I gave her an
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adjustment she called me the next day to
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tell me there's an improvement we
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continued treatment and within seven
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days our sight was restored
00:13:04
dr. Pagano believes that Edgar Casey's
00:13:07
treatments set forth in several readings
00:13:09
given decades earlier brought back Kathy
00:13:12
Kimora's vision skeptics disagree I
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think much of the Cayce material is
00:13:18
based upon illusion and I think there's
00:13:21
a placebo effect here at work often if
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you believe that someone is going to
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cure you you give them white to sugar
00:13:28
pills they might be cured so the power
00:13:30
of a mind can have a powerful effect I
00:13:33
do believe in the power of the mind and
00:13:35
I tried to will the sight back before I
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had gone to dr. Pagano and it didn't
00:13:43
work and it was only after I had gone to
00:13:46
dr. Pagano and after he had adjusted my
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neck that that the sight came back
00:13:51
I don't think that edgar cayce had any
00:13:54
psychic powers I don't think there's
00:13:56
such a thing as psychic medicine and I
00:13:59
don't I think wait one ought to be very
00:14:00
cautious about the claim that you can
00:14:02
diagnose illnesses in some mystical way
00:14:06
how can the unique life of Edgar Cayce
00:14:09
be explained
00:14:10
he has been denounced as a soothsayer he
00:14:13
has been heralded as a prophet the
00:14:16
medical establishment refuses to endorse
00:14:18
Casey's methods yet at the same time is
00:14:21
unwilling to dismiss them
00:14:25
before his death had your Casey wrote to
00:14:27
a friend in my life and in the lives of
00:14:31
many will come in contact with the
00:14:32
readings there seems to be much that is
00:14:34
of help but you must judge for yourself
00:14:38
facts and results of the only measuring
00:14:40
rods if this knowledge is to be of any
00:14:43
lasting benefit it will require
00:14:45
open-minded intelligent research perhaps
00:14:49
the readings of Edgar Cayce are one
00:14:50
mystery that will be solved only through
00:14:52
patience medical evaluation and that
00:14:55
greatest of all healers time next of
00:15:01
aspiring actors is found dead in her Los
00:15:03
Angeles apartment the kkona ruled her
00:15:06
death due to undetermined causes but
00:15:08
some say it was murdered
00:15:10
[Music]
00:15:18
Hollywood California The Dream Factory a
00:15:23
fantasy land of myth and legend fueled
00:15:25
by the tantalizing fable that anyone can
00:15:28
become famous overnight
00:15:30
ever since the movies began beautiful
00:15:34
young girls have flocked to Hollywood
00:15:35
lured by the glamor of Tinseltown on the
00:15:37
promise of stardom it was this dream
00:15:40
which brought 23 year-old crystal
00:15:42
Spenser to Los Angeles in the summer of
00:15:44
1982 for as long as she could remember
00:15:49
Crystal Spencer pictured his office not
00:15:51
just an actress but a star sadlier
00:15:54
searched for fame unfortunate only to
00:15:56
frustration failure and some say murder
00:16:02
Christel in a Spencer was raised in the
00:16:04
small Northern California town of Ukiah
00:16:07
when she was 8 her father died leaving
00:16:10
her mother to raise three small children
00:16:11
alone at 17 crystal dropped out of high
00:16:16
school and took a job to help support
00:16:18
the family soon Hollywood beckoned and
00:16:21
she moved to the Los Angeles area to
00:16:23
actively pursue her dream her early
00:16:28
years were a struggle resulting only in
00:16:30
a few bit parts Chris will quickly
00:16:32
realized that true stardom was elusive
00:16:35
and perhaps unobtainable
00:16:42
within two years of her arrival Krystal
00:16:45
reluctantly took a job as an exotic
00:16:46
dancer to pay her bills on a good night
00:16:49
she cleared up to $400 in tips but
00:16:52
crystal never fully accepted the fact
00:16:54
that in essence she was a stripper
00:17:00
sometimes she would just like start
00:17:03
crying like she felt degraded about
00:17:07
herself of what she'd done
00:17:11
in May of 1987 friends invited Krystal
00:17:15
to an outdoor barbecue
00:17:17
she was eager to mix and mingle with
00:17:19
people who might help further her acting
00:17:21
career there was something very alluring
00:17:29
and compelling about Krystal that would
00:17:32
readily catch your eye she knew that she
00:17:36
would become not only an actress but
00:17:38
she'd become a very famous actress and
00:17:41
it's just a matter of time Krystal was
00:17:45
taken with Anton Klein a would-be
00:17:47
screenwriter and a PhD candidate in
00:17:49
history though they came from totally
00:17:52
different backgrounds they soon fell in
00:17:54
love
00:17:56
Anton took it upon himself to help
00:17:58
Krystal broaden her horizons he
00:18:01
introduced her to art galleries museums
00:18:02
and concerts Krystal was dazzled
00:18:08
she loved classical music she loved fine
00:18:10
art she wanted to know more about these
00:18:15
other wonderful things of life that she
00:18:19
had never been exposed to before
00:18:22
Pantone had no idea how Krystal earned
00:18:25
her living she walked to precarious
00:18:27
tightrope discovering art and culture by
00:18:30
day the immersed in Hollywood's dark
00:18:32
side by night
00:18:34
[Applause]
00:18:37
Kristen loved it she was very scared
00:18:41
about him finding out she says well I
00:18:46
better change I better quit dancing then
00:18:48
before he finds out I better quit doing
00:18:50
this before he finds out I want to get
00:18:54
married I want to have a future I want
00:18:56
to start you know doing something for my
00:18:59
life finally four months after they met
00:19:04
and town found out about crystals other
00:19:07
life my neighbor saw her dancing at the
00:19:12
club by the airport where she worked
00:19:16
he said I saw their girls stage the
00:19:18
other night no you couldn't have he said
00:19:22
that was her of course it was her and I
00:19:26
was shocked he was very upset but he
00:19:32
said it was okay he accepted it what
00:19:37
shocked her you know she didn't know
00:19:41
what to say on Wednesday May 4th 1988
00:19:48
crystal was home with a cold
00:19:50
Anton stopped by and they talked about a
00:19:53
promising offer she had received to work
00:19:55
in the Orient so what's happening with
00:19:58
you I don't know um called yeah
00:20:01
[Music]
00:20:03
what do you mean
00:20:04
I'm not even sure if I have the job or
00:20:06
not yeah
00:20:09
she was very nervous but excited about
00:20:12
the possibility of traveling to Japan
00:20:15
and seeing a whole different world than
00:20:18
what she was accustomed to
00:20:20
I spoke to crystal about Thursday
00:20:25
evening the next evening on the
00:20:27
telephone are you doing you feeling
00:20:29
better that's good and the conversation
00:20:33
lasted 115 minutes I said I'll be in
00:20:36
touch and she said okay I hung up the
00:20:38
phone and now is the last time I ever
00:20:40
spoke of her three days later Anton
00:20:45
tried to reach crystal but continuously
00:20:47
got a busy signal
00:20:48
an operator told him the receiver was
00:20:51
off the hook
00:20:54
[Music]
00:21:01
[Music]
00:21:04
geography for crystals better not
00:21:06
working today
00:21:08
did she work here last night margin
00:21:11
confused Anton has seen the crystal had
00:21:14
left for Japan without saying goodbye
00:21:16
have you seen missile Spencer why have
00:21:19
you seen crystal Spencer do you know
00:21:23
where she is I was expecting this is any
00:21:25
day to receive a very excited phone call
00:21:29
from a very excited crystal saying it's
00:21:33
wonderful here it's a whole different
00:21:35
world here and instead I got a phone
00:21:37
call from the Burbank Police Department
00:21:43
Friday the 13th of May 1988
00:21:46
police discovered the decomposed body of
00:21:49
Krystal Spencer she had been dead for
00:21:51
nearly a week
00:21:53
you are they had first just says she was
00:21:56
found dead in her apartment and they
00:22:00
want to know when at last seen her and I
00:22:02
said last saw her Wednesday
00:22:04
and how was she I said well she had a
00:22:06
cold and they said they believe she died
00:22:11
of natural causes an autopsy revealed no
00:22:15
trace of drugs or alcohol and crystal
00:22:17
system there were no obvious signs of
00:22:19
foul play or suicide the coroner ruled
00:22:22
that her death was the result of
00:22:24
undetermined causes the body of Miss
00:22:28
Spencer was in such an advanced state of
00:22:30
decomposition they were not able to
00:22:32
ascribe the cause of death so they have
00:22:35
no finding I was suspicious because I
00:22:38
did not believe a crystal Spencer died
00:22:41
of illness and she was not a sick woman
00:22:45
my last saw her or last spoke with her
00:22:48
she was a young woman for cold I was
00:22:52
suspicious because the way I was told
00:22:54
the body was found in an obscure corner
00:22:57
of her apartment nude from the waist
00:23:00
down the phone went off the hook for
00:23:03
days and I became extremely suspicious
00:23:07
when I learned that neighbors had heard
00:23:10
terrible screams and shrills coming from
00:23:15
her apartment that some had described as
00:23:18
a sounds of torture
00:23:22
on the night of May 7th two of crystals
00:23:25
neighbors had been awakened by a strange
00:23:27
intermittent wailing - 30 minutes after
00:23:31
4:00 I remember looking at the clock and
00:23:33
I heard some moaning since I'm just a
00:23:36
funny sounds you know how you are when
00:23:37
you wake up you just don't know what's
00:23:39
going on my screaming but even before I
00:23:44
even woke him up I laid there thinking
00:23:46
someone's being tortured someone's being
00:23:47
hurt something's going on
00:23:49
you know I had no past the prior
00:23:51
experience to what the sounds were
00:23:53
because they were so blood-curdling
00:23:56
eerie that they frightened me very much
00:24:02
all I could think about for some reason
00:24:04
with someone taking a cigarette and
00:24:07
putting it against her body torturing
00:24:09
her because we had heard like choking
00:24:13
and moaning but then when this started
00:24:16
that's all we heard Susan was very
00:24:20
adamant about calling the police but out
00:24:23
of my fear of what I heard I didn't want
00:24:26
to get involved that was my first
00:24:28
reaction I don't think
00:24:31
ever be able to live with the fact that
00:24:33
I didn't call
00:24:34
if I had
00:24:37
maybe she would still be alive
00:24:40
a week later crystals body was
00:24:42
discovered and the tailors finally told
00:24:44
their story to the police witnesses who
00:24:46
saw or heard something he just took my
00:24:49
statement took my name asked me for my
00:24:51
driver's license that was it it was just
00:24:55
very nonchalant about it I believe most
00:24:59
sincerely as does her family that
00:25:03
crystal and a Spencer was murdered in
00:25:05
the early morning hours of May 7th 1988
00:25:11
Crystal's family requested to view the
00:25:13
body several times the coroner's office
00:25:16
continually refused claiming the body
00:25:18
was in no condition to be seen for
00:25:21
months
00:25:21
Anton Klein was denied access to the
00:25:23
police records however in September of
00:25:26
1988 he was able to obtain the autopsy
00:25:29
report
00:25:30
Anton was shocked by the discrepancies
00:25:33
he found crystal Spencer was barely five
00:25:38
foot tall the autopsy report claims as
00:25:41
she's an amazing five foot seven crystal
00:25:44
Spencer weighed approximately a hundred
00:25:47
and five pounds I last saw her the
00:25:49
autopsy claims the body is a
00:25:52
well-nourished 140 pounds I was stunned
00:25:57
I said this is not the body of crystal
00:25:59
Spencer and where is the real body of
00:26:02
crystal Spencer you don't you don't grow
00:26:05
seven inches again fifty to sixty pounds
00:26:07
when you're dead the only thing that
00:26:09
comes to my mind is a possible
00:26:12
documentary error at the coroner's
00:26:13
office they are overwhelmed with work
00:26:16
however we do have the remains
00:26:19
identified by fingerprints from two
00:26:22
different agencies as I mentioned before
00:26:24
and those really eliminate any
00:26:27
possibility of the coroner's autopsying
00:26:31
the wrong remains I was told by one law
00:26:36
enforcement official quote unquote bad
00:26:38
things happen to bad girls and I said
00:26:41
you mean bad girls died of natural
00:26:44
causes and he said you know what I mean
00:26:48
and hung up on me on the phone
00:26:51
[Music]
00:26:53
two weeks after the discovery of her
00:26:55
body crystals family and friends
00:26:57
gathered for a private memorial service
00:27:01
fittingly crystal Spencer's ashes were
00:27:04
scattered beneath the famous Hollywood
00:27:06
sign
00:27:12
I believe the investigation was bungled
00:27:16
and I am angered that they are tempting
00:27:20
now to suppress the police reports in
00:27:25
this case forever we need to know what
00:27:29
happened to her
00:27:31
it's important to all of us cared about
00:27:34
her to learn the truth that's all we
00:27:37
want is the truth
00:27:45
[Music]
00:27:51
next police need your help to find the
00:27:55
man suspected in the brutal murder of
00:27:57
his ex-wife
00:28:01
[Music]
00:28:09
Easter Sunday 1990 lonely road 12 miles
00:28:13
outside of Coldwater Michigan Ray Emery
00:28:17
Thornton set off on a leisurely Drive in
00:28:19
the country as they did every weekend
00:28:21
but in just a matter of minutes the
00:28:24
routine Sunday outlet would places
00:28:26
ordinary or abiding couple at the center
00:28:29
of a strange anomalous mystery we were
00:28:33
driving to south on it's no Perry roads
00:28:35
and all of a sudden a band just honest
00:28:39
and passed
00:28:43
[Music]
00:28:45
jeez
00:28:47
must be in a hurry one of the things we
00:28:51
do when we're out driving around is we
00:28:53
make names out of license plates Murray
00:28:56
came up with the Jesus he's really in a
00:28:58
hurry because the first two letters of
00:29:00
his license plate were Jeezy and it was
00:29:03
just spontaneous really no thought
00:29:04
behind it several miles down the road
00:29:08
the Thorntons came across the man and
00:29:11
the van a second time as we approached
00:29:15
an old schoolhouse and I saw a man
00:29:17
behind it and he had what appeared to be
00:29:20
a bloody sheet as we continued passing
00:29:27
the school I saw the van parked between
00:29:29
the building and a big tank there's the
00:29:32
van that passed us where it's right
00:29:35
there
00:29:36
[Music]
00:29:41
minutes later a van pulled up behind
00:29:44
them again and rode their bumper for
00:29:46
nearly two miles I'm gonna start our
00:29:50
games really paid off because that
00:29:53
helped me remember the first two letters
00:29:54
of his license-plate number but we
00:29:57
wanted to get more if possible he's got
00:30:01
a white school cat line right now like
00:30:02
mine finally a nervous Wraith Orton
00:30:05
turned off the highway when he did the
00:30:09
van pulled to the side of the road
00:30:14
we decided to turn around and come back
00:30:16
and see if we get a license plate number
00:30:19
we felt if we could get the license
00:30:22
number then we could turn the police the
00:30:23
guy was acting very suspicious and we
00:30:25
just felt that authorities should be
00:30:29
notified
00:30:30
there he is he's in the back man he
00:30:34
looks like he's - yes he's changing
00:30:35
plates he was behind his van with the
00:30:41
passenger front door open and I saw that
00:30:46
the passenger door was covered with
00:30:48
blood there's blood all over that door
00:30:50
or door but they listened your door that
00:30:52
guy has done something
00:30:56
the Thorntons fear that something
00:30:58
unspeakable had happened they returned
00:31:00
to the schoolyard to search for the
00:31:02
sheet
00:31:05
well I was beginning to get nervous when
00:31:07
we got back to the schoolhouse we were
00:31:11
very careful about where we walked we
00:31:17
tried to find what this white thing was
00:31:18
that he had been carrying
00:31:21
look look that's probably it
00:31:30
[Music]
00:31:32
partially stuffed into a small animal it
00:31:35
was a blood-soaked blanket
00:31:39
[Music]
00:31:43
on an otherwise Pleasant spring
00:31:46
afternoon ray and Marie Thornton had
00:31:48
chanced upon evidence of a shocking
00:31:49
crime a crime which marked the complete
00:31:52
and tragic disintegration of a family
00:31:55
unwittingly the Thorntons were witness
00:31:57
to the final chapter of a bitter heated
00:31:59
conflict between a husband and his wife
00:32:01
which ended in murder through outward
00:32:08
appearances Dennis and Marilyn Depew of
00:32:10
Coldwater Michigan had a comfortable
00:32:12
middle-class life both had gratifying
00:32:15
careers Dennis was a state of Michigan
00:32:18
property assessor Marilyn a high school
00:32:20
counselor together they were raising
00:32:24
three healthy children but beneath the
00:32:28
surface
00:32:29
smoldering tensions threatened to erupt
00:32:31
at any moment after the children were
00:32:34
born
00:32:34
Dennis grew sullen and withdrawn he
00:32:37
began to isolate himself from the family
00:32:39
an accused Marilyn of turning the
00:32:41
children against him you know it's not
00:32:45
that they they didn't it was just you
00:32:49
know they didn't really talk she would
00:32:53
just say in general that she was unhappy
00:32:55
and when when the lawyer or someone else
00:33:00
would ask her why she wanted to get a
00:33:02
divorce she would say because the
00:33:04
marriage is broken up and because she
00:33:08
was there was no longer a marriage there
00:33:10
I want to make sure that you want to go
00:33:13
through with it this time if you do you
00:33:15
gotta sign it on this page and sign it
00:33:17
on the last page in 1989 after 18 years
00:33:21
of marriage
00:33:22
Marilyn de PUE finally gave up thank you
00:33:25
now do you have any questions at all
00:33:27
Marilyn what about Jim seeing the
00:33:29
children down we'll have to wait till
00:33:31
the hearing a week from Friday Marilyn
00:33:33
just wanted it to be more of her own
00:33:35
person raising her family as she saw fit
00:33:39
I believe that she felt at that time
00:33:42
that Dennis was in effect trying to
00:33:45
domineer her that has run her life and
00:33:47
not allow her to make decision that she
00:33:48
wanted to make he was agreeable to his
00:33:51
wife having custody as far as property
00:33:54
was concerned
00:33:55
he was very willing to allow his wife to
00:33:58
have almost most of the property that
00:34:01
she wanted how many times I had to fight
00:34:04
with him to you know get a fair share of
00:34:06
their property but he was very willing
00:34:08
to give her whatever she wanted I don't
00:34:11
I don't want this thing to happen I
00:34:13
don't want this divorce it's not it's
00:34:14
not um it's not something I want or want
00:34:17
to deal with and despite Dennis's
00:34:19
attempts to keep the marriage intact the
00:34:21
divorce became final in December of 1989
00:34:34
Denis was granted by weekly visitation
00:34:37
rights but the children were often
00:34:38
reluctant to spend time with him
00:34:40
[Music]
00:34:43
Denis was also granted access to the
00:34:46
guest house which uses an office and as
00:34:48
an excuse to maintain control over his
00:34:51
family Marilyn had to change all the
00:34:55
locks on the doors even after she
00:34:59
changed the locks on the doors she would
00:35:02
tell me that there were some times when
00:35:04
she would come home in unlock the house
00:35:07
and go in and there was Denis sitting on
00:35:10
the couch she didn't know how he got in
00:35:13
because she had different keys made and
00:35:16
new locks and everything and she seemed
00:35:18
whoa frightened about that he sort of
00:35:22
out of the blue just indicated to me one
00:35:24
day that he was contemplating suicide
00:35:27
and in murder
00:35:36
Easter Sunday April 15 1990
00:35:40
denna survived to pick up two of the
00:35:42
children for a visit his younger
00:35:44
daughter Julie had already refused to go
00:35:46
with him
00:35:51
come on Scott kitchen things put the
00:35:53
game down let's go get your jacket no I
00:35:56
can't look I came here now you're going
00:35:59
now the depew's eldest daughter Jennifer
00:36:31
ran to a neighbor's house to call the
00:36:33
Sheriff's Office
00:36:34
[Music]
00:36:38
she wasn't walking completely he was
00:36:44
like throwing her up we're going to the
00:36:47
hostel you kids stay here and when
00:36:49
they're walking by on you no I just like
00:36:52
you know said ma'am ma'am you know and
00:36:54
she she didn't even look at me she was
00:36:56
just like kind of like in a daze
00:37:01
The Pianist never arrived at the
00:37:03
hospital sheriff's deputy and the
00:37:06
Michigan State Police immediately began
00:37:08
a search and missing couple
00:37:12
that same afternoon ray and Marie
00:37:15
Thornton found a bloodied blanket in the
00:37:18
school yard the area was quickly
00:37:24
cordoned off the authorities began to
00:37:27
assume the worst
00:37:28
Maryland deep uner is probably dead
00:37:35
deputies discovered several fresh tire
00:37:38
tracks and a large pool of blood
00:37:41
the tracks are later matched to Dennis's
00:37:44
van
00:37:44
the blood was Maryland's
00:37:48
[Music]
00:37:52
the stretcher all right the next day a
00:37:58
highway worker discovered Maryland
00:38:00
depew's body just off a deserted road
00:38:02
midway between the schoolhouse and her
00:38:04
home she had been shot once in the back
00:38:09
of the head
00:38:12
we had a feeling that he had really done
00:38:17
something terrible it was so brutal and
00:38:21
premeditated that makes you so angry if
00:38:26
she had been killed in an automobile
00:38:28
accident you could get over that but not
00:38:32
this
00:38:37
just days after the murder Dennis sent a
00:38:40
series of wild rambling letters to
00:38:42
friends and relatives in which he tried
00:38:44
to justify Maryland's death to co-worker
00:38:47
Jan Markowski Dennis wrote Marilyn had
00:38:51
many many opportunities to treat me
00:38:53
fairly during this divorce and she chose
00:38:55
to string it out trick me lied to me and
00:38:59
when you lose your wife children and
00:39:01
home there's not much left I was too old
00:39:05
to start over
00:39:08
altogether Dennis at a total of 17
00:39:11
letters postmarked in Virginia Iowa and
00:39:14
Oklahoma it seemed as if Dennis was
00:39:19
trying to say that those of us who were
00:39:24
friends of Marilyn were the ones who
00:39:28
caused her death when in effect it was
00:39:32
Dennis who pulled the trigger none of
00:39:35
the rest of us did that the only closure
00:39:39
that we could get out of it would be to
00:39:43
have Dennis Scott that's the only thing
00:39:46
I can't think of anything else that
00:39:55
would help me I think of it day and
00:39:57
night and I will the rest of my life and
00:40:00
nothing even Dennis being caught will
00:40:03
not take this terrible feeling away and
00:40:08
loss an eye for an eye a tooth for a
00:40:15
tooth a lie for a lie a life for a life
00:40:19
three months after the murder
00:40:21
Dennis tip you sent copies of this 13
00:40:23
page letter to a number of friends and
00:40:24
relatives it reads like a treatise a
00:40:27
chilling 5,000 word rationalization
00:40:29
which takes literally from the Bible
00:40:31
throughout I realize that vengeance is
00:40:34
mine sayeth the Lord
00:40:36
but sometimes the Lord is too busy doing
00:40:38
other things
00:40:41
Denis de PUE is six feet tall and weighs
00:40:44
200 pounds he has dark brown hair and
00:40:47
dark deep-set eyes he was last seen
00:40:50
driving a 1984 cream-colored Chevrolet
00:40:53
van with maroon stripes which may now
00:40:55
bear Illinois license plates at around
00:41:02
8:30 on the night of our broadcast a
00:41:04
woman who asked that we call her Mary
00:41:06
arrived at her home outside Dallas Texas
00:41:08
Mary's boyfriend Hank queen was already
00:41:11
home his van was parked in the driveway
00:41:16
which was out of the ordinary because he
00:41:19
usually kept it inside the garage he
00:41:28
told me that his mother was very ill and
00:41:31
then he needed to make an emergency some
00:41:37
sandwiches that I could take on her it's
00:41:38
a really long drive I was sure that
00:41:40
something else must really be going on
00:41:43
but I didn't know what he was getting
00:41:50
clothes out of the closet clothes out of
00:41:53
some drawers gathering up some of his
00:41:55
personal items at the same time giving
00:41:58
me instructions on preparing some food
00:42:02
for him to take on the long trip me hug
00:42:21
he just gave me a little peck of a kiss
00:42:26
and I gave him a big hug
00:42:28
and said goodbye to him I've realized
00:42:35
that something was troubling him and I
00:42:38
knew I'd never see him again
00:42:43
later that night Barry was shocked to
00:42:46
learn that her boyfriend had Queen was
00:42:49
really Dennis de PUE and that he had
00:42:51
just been featured on unsolved mysteries
00:42:59
for nearly a year
00:43:00
Dennis depew's whereabouts remained a
00:43:02
mystery until the night of our broadcast
00:43:07
looking back on it now I'm sure he was
00:43:09
watching yeah I think that he was
00:43:14
deliberately keeping my attention
00:43:17
distracted in the kitchen so that I
00:43:20
wouldn't save the segment and so that he
00:43:22
could leave
00:43:24
a friend of Mary's called our telecenter
00:43:27
and provided authorities with a Texas
00:43:28
license plate number of Dennis two pews
00:43:30
van four hours later depew's life came
00:43:34
to a violent end just across the
00:43:36
louisiana mississippi state border when
00:43:42
louisiana state troopers spotted two
00:43:44
puce van they attempted to pull him over
00:43:45
he led police on a 15 mile high speed
00:43:50
chase and broke through to police
00:43:52
barricades I told the David agency of
00:43:58
the van refused to stop to shoot a tire
00:44:01
off over the front time and they missed
00:44:04
the front tire but to get both back ones
00:44:06
he traveled about half a mile and just
00:44:10
went going to felony stop after firing
00:44:13
two shots through his windshield at
00:44:15
deputies and another through an open
00:44:17
window the pew turned his gun on himself
00:44:19
and took his own life
00:44:22
it was it was a funny feeling to to
00:44:24
realize that the night before that
00:44:27
you've been watching this man that he
00:44:29
was wanted for murder someplace and then
00:44:31
you walk up to the van and you recognize
00:44:34
him as being the person that was on
00:44:35
unsolved mysteries it it's a funny
00:44:37
feeling but I think he intended to die
00:44:40
whether he had to do it by his own hands
00:44:42
or where he can get us to kill him
00:44:43
otherwise he would have stopped and we
00:44:46
forgot him out of the van alive and
00:44:48
there
00:44:48
Mindi shot fired while living as a
00:44:53
fugitive Dennis de PUE said a chilling
00:44:55
letter to several friends tried to
00:44:57
justify his ex-wife's death he wrote an
00:45:01
eye for an eye a tooth for a tooth alive
00:45:03
for a lie a life for a life
00:45:06
at the time Dennis de PUE had no idea
00:45:09
just how prophetic those words would be
00:45:19
for every mystery there is something
00:45:22
somewhere holds a final piece of the
00:45:25
puzzle join me next time for another
00:45:28
edition of unsolved mysteries
00:45:30
[Music]
00:45:59
[Applause]
00:46:03
[Music]
00:46:12
you
00:46:16
[Music]
