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Unsolved Mysteries with Dennis Farina - Season 1, Episode 14 - Full Episode

March 09, 2017 / 42:55

This episode of Unsolved Mysteries covers several intriguing cases, including the disappearance of Amy Bradley from a cruise ship, the murder of Danny Williams, and spontaneous human combustion incidents.

The episode begins with the story of Amy Bradley, who vanished during a family cruise in the Caribbean. Despite extensive searches, her whereabouts remain unknown, leading her family to suspect foul play, particularly involving a ship's band member.

Next, the focus shifts to the mysterious death of Danny Williams, whose body was found with a gunshot wound. His father believes Danny was murdered, citing evidence of two blood types at the scene and witness accounts of Danny being seen alive after his presumed time of death.

Additionally, the episode features bizarre cases of spontaneous human combustion, including the story of George M, who was found incinerated in his home, and Dr. Irving Bentley, who left behind only ashes and a few bones.

Finally, the episode touches on the haunting of Deadwood, South Dakota, by the ghost of Seth Bullock, a legendary lawman, and the strange occurrences reported by hotel staff and guests.

TL;DR

Unsolved Mysteries covers Amy Bradley's disappearance, Danny Williams' suspicious death, and bizarre cases of spontaneous human combustion.

Episode

42:55
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[Music]
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next on Unsolved
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Mysteries an undercover drug bik goes
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south and a federal agent is
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shot smoke pills from a woman an old man
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bursts into flames two bizarre cases of
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spontaneous combustion it was the
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wildest town in the wild west today some
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say that the legendary law man who tamed
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it is still haunting the streets of
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Deadwood the police called it suicide
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but the evidence tells a different story
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who killed Danny
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Williams five cases with strange Clues
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and bizarre twists and secrets that you
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would never expect I'm Dennis finina and
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this is Unsolved
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Mysteries
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[Music]
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[Music]
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[Music]
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pleasure cruises on the surface they
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seem like a perfectly safe way to take a
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vacation but appearances are not always
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what they seem according to the New York
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Times beneath the Carefree party
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atmosphere lies a little known secret
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sexual
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assaults some claim crime occurs more
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regularly than Cruise Lines would care
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to
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admit this was true of the Bradley
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family when they set sail from Puerto
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Rico they had no idea of the disaster to
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come
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Amy Bradley was an All-American Girl she
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was pretty outgoing and athletic and
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even though Amy was a strong swimmer and
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a trained lifeguard she was terrified of
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the
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ocean her parents had to persuade her
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into joining them on the Caribbean
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cruise ship raps city of the
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Seas she was reluctant about going up to
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the uh Rail and it was kind of like that
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kind of a Feeling
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but her dad and her brother both said
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come on here and we'll hold on to you
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congratul oh my God it is so far Amy
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managed to put her fears
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aside Cruz life offered plenty of
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distractions their third night at Sea
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Amy and her brother Brad partied long
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and hard neither returned to the
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family's cabin until 3:40
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a.m. Amy's dad Ron woke up up when she
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came in Amy swe could you turn that
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light off for me please
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thanks hey she said she hadn't been
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feeling too well because of the motion
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of the boat since we left Aruba um that
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evening so she said she was going to
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just stay out there and get some fresh
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air the next time Ron woke up Brad had
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gone to bed and Amy was asleep on the
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balcony I could see Amy's legs from her
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hips down she looks like she's resting
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comfortably and
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uh doze back off to sleep uh the the
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balcony door was closed cuz if it hadn't
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been closed I would have got it up be
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closed
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it 30 minutes later the Bradley's dream
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vacation morphed into a nightmare about
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6:00 something awoke me again got up
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looked at on the balcony and the balcony
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door was open about 14 16 in and Amy
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wasn't on the deck and I was I had a
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little funny feeling at at that time
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because it was unlike her to be up that
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early in the
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morning
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Amy excuse me we need some help I'd like
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to have a page for my daughter is
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missing may I ask how old she was the
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ship's crew claimed that it was too
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early to use loud
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speakers and to make matters worse the
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ship had just stocked into the port of
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kurasa unless it's a medical emergency
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we do not page and I got very very
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panicked and frightened and I asked them
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to please don't put the gang plank down
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you need to lock the ship up you need to
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back the ship off of the dock don't let
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anybody off of this boat somebody's got
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my
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dog Bradley please Conta Pur desk the
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Bradley claimed the Purser didn't
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broadcast the first page for Amy until
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10 minut minutes to bradle please
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contact by then most of the passengers
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had disembarked for the day I became
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more and more franic because I knew that
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if she was in a position to hear the
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announcement she would come immediately
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to us and then I had thoughts that maybe
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somebody had her in a room and she heard
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it and couldn't get to it finally the
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captain ordered a search officials
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claimed they com through all 10 decks
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all
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999 rooms and found nothing
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a 3-day search of the ocean also failed
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to turn up any trace of
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Amy the Bradley's began to piece
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together Amy's last hours on board the
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ship she left the balcony between 5:30
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and 6 a.m. they know she took her
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clothes they know she took her
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cigarettes but they don't know where she
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was going and then they found the
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witness a young woman said she saw Amy
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early that morning Amy was with the bass
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player from the ship's
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band I saw Amy and the band member walk
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over and up to the next deck up above us
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and about 10 minutes later he came
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walking around by
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himself others claimed that they had
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seen the bass player flirting with Amy
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the night
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before she said that when they were
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dancing at the Disco he tried to you
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know dance a little too close and she
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had to tell him to back off a little bit
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that morning no one but the Bradley
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family and ship security knew Amy was
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missing no one that is except the bass
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player according to Amy's brother hey
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Brad sorry to hear about your
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sister that's a really odd thing to say
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um that early in the stages of this
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thing you know nobody knew except for us
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or my family and I and security that
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something may be
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wrong authorities never found any
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evidence that the bass player was
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involved with Amy's disappearance then a
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disturbing new Theory
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emerged there's rumor and Legend
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surrounding slavery in the Southern
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Caribbean it's not uncommon knowledge in
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the
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um in the maritime community that young
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white
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women are considered to be um very
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desirable to foreign
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procurers Amy would have been a trophy
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Amy would have been someone that I
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believe could have been picked out and
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fingered to move off of that ship she
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could have been held and
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hidden she could have been possibly
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drugged taken from that
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ship the Bradley left the cruise ship
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not knowing if they would ever see Amy
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again but still hopeful she will one day
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return I have strong belief that that
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she is live and she's trying to get back
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to us and I just pray that one day we'll
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we'll get a phone call or we'll get some
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information from someone that will lead
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us to her how in the world can anybody
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ever give
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up looking for their
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child never in my lifetime not until I
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put my hands on her we get her
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home officials of the cruise line insist
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that Amy either left the ship on her own
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or met with an accident however her
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parents are still convinced that she was
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a victim of Foul Play they're offering
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A4 million do reward for information if
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you know anything about this case please
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log on to our website at
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unsolved.com
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coming up a ghost from the wild west
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still calls Deadwood South Dakota his
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home but next an undercover drug by ends
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in a deadly
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shootout
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recently we profiled career criminal
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Thomas Dixon Dixon couldn't care less
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about rehabilitation in fact his 10
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years of hard time for armed robbery
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only left Dixon hot for another score
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this is a whole up during the 5 months
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following his release from prison Dixon
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with a series of different accomplices
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knocked off seven banks in North
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Carolina an FBI raid finally Dixon back
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to prison for another 10 years once
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paroled Dixon never hesitated he robbed
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more banks no apologies no regrets this
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is a hold up Dixon again hit banks in
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the Carolinas five in a 7-week period he
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showed up in one surveillance tape after
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another have you FBI ever heard of
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Thomas Dixon Dixon had refined his Mo he
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began to taunt the FBI with advanced
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notice of his bank jobs Carina Dixon
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even left one of his getaway cards
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hidden in plain sight inside were photos
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of Dixon's intimidating Arsenal in a
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note Dixon threatened further robberies
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and warned that any attempt to stop him
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would end in Bloodshed Dixon was
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alerting us to the fact that that he is
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uh heavily armed and he has every
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intention of using those arms in a
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confrontation with law
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enforcement
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update just before our initial broadcast
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Thomas Dixon hit another bank and then
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headed to
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Tennessee in Tennessee Dixon took a room
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in this Motel housekeeper Pam potit
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sensed right away that Dixon was trouble
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it's the way he acted he was weird I
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Manan he stood by the beds in between
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the beds by the
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luggage he wouldn't never sit down
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didn't want you to make the beds you
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know stuff like that it's like he was on
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guard you know his luggage he just was
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you know ready watching
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you when Dixon's story aired Pam
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recognized him instantly her tip led the
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FBI straight to his doorstep we knew he
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was armed and dangerous and he had vowed
00:11:07
not to be taken alive uh with that
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information obviously you want to
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approach the subject with Extreme
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Caution but once we got him subdued he
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was very Cooperative uh all he said is
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uh you got me good basically that uh the
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way that you guys arrest me was the way
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you needed to arrest me it was a lot
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better that way than uh quote to throw
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bullets at each other
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after his arrest Thomas David Dixon pled
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guilty to seven armed robberies in four
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states he was sentenced to 28 years and
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is serving his time in a federal prison
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Dixon will remain Behind Bars until at
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least the year
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2020 a pickup truck makes a late
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afternoon stop at an auto repair shop it
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seems normal enough but there was
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nothing normal about it inside the truck
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were two undercover DEA agents they were
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posing as drug buyers and carrying
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$160,000 in cash one of the agents was
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Richard fos after 8 years on the street
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he had just been promoted to a desk job
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this was his last undercover
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assign I think Richard was in a position
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where he was ready to advance his career
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uh this this is really a positive
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stepping stone uh in in in an agent's
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career the previous day F had set up a
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deal with this man Augustine Vasquez
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Mendoza known to the agents as
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Fernando Mendoza's product 22 lbs of
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speed 6:25 p.m. leaving pelo in the
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truck Fast enters the garage the the man
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in the dark blue shirt is a confidential
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police informant the other man is Juan
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Vasquez Rubio Fernando's half brother
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Fernando himself is not present in the
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back of the garage two more men wait on
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the left a second police informant on
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the right a man named Raphael Rubio
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Mendes another Fernando associate Juan
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Vasquez Rubio demands to see the cash
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let me see he looked into the deel bag
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and uh didn't touch it or anything but
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uh apparently he he was satisfied that
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there was in fact
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$160,000 there yeah we got a
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deal 6:30 p.m. Rubio makes a call
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apparently to confirm that the buy is
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good yeah you got him 6:32 p.m. outside
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pelo alerts his backup units the deal is
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going
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down 6:35 the operation goes completely
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to hell I want to Rubio and Mendes want
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the drugs and the
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cash Richard told the individual that if
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he wanted the money that he didn't have
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to do this that he had kids he had a
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family that he was just doing this to
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for profit and that he didn't have to do
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anything wrong that that anything he
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wanted he could
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have one individual told the other one
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to handcuff Richard and the two
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informant I believe that Richard saw
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death staring him in the face and he
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reacted Mendez has been shot once he
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goes in One Direction Rubio in the other
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oh yes it's going to hell it's a rip off
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it's a rip off I'm going
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in was very chaotic at that point but
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when I saw the vehicle leaving I tried
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to Ram it and I missed it I was on the
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radio all this time and I just put out a
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message that that vehicle needs to be
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stop been hit was been hit where is he
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he's in there let's go with backup units
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in pursuit of the suspects helano rushes
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inside no Richard fos has been shot five
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times at Point Blank rage he will be
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dead within an
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hour right
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now
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6:41 p.m. drug enforcement agents are in
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a highspeed pursuit of Mendes when he
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fled in the vehicle it was rush hour
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traffic he was on both sides weaving in
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and out of traffic and he was making
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every attempt possible to avoid being
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captured 6:45 p.m. agents take down
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Rubio in a nearby
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alley 6:52 p.m. 3 mil away Mendes is
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cornered get here down by 7:15 it was
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all over Raphael Mendes and Juan vquez
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Rubio would each be charged with
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first-degree murder they were both
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convicted and sentenced to life but drug
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boss Augustine Vasquez Mendoza was in
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the wind he was also charged with
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first-degree murder authorities had no
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doubt that he was The Man Behind the
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Ripoff robbery was their motive from the
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very onset uh I don't think that there
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was ever any intent to do a dope deal
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with us I believe that Richard realized
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that he had to do something to protect
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not only his life but the life of other
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people as
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well Richard fos died a hero's death at
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the age of 37 he was honored with the
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dea's award of Valor he left behind a
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wife and four children Richard will
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always be in my heart nothing can ever
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take those memories and him away from
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me but our main intention now is to seek
00:17:17
this fugitive that's out
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there
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update Augustine Vasquez Mendoza is no
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longer out there he was captured in
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Mexico and after 5 years of negotiations
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extradited to the US Mendoza was
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convicted of first-degree murder in the
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death of Richard fos he was sentenced to
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70 years in
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prison coming up a law man a president
00:17:44
and a psychic in a wild west ghost
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story the best ghost stories are usually
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the ones where fact and fantasy converge
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what you are about to see has it all a
00:18:02
legendary law man a future president an
00:18:05
English psychic and the town that put
00:18:07
the wild the Wild
00:18:17
West in the 1870s South Dakota's mining
00:18:21
towns were flush with Outlaws gamblers
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and swindlers all looking to make a
00:18:26
quick fck the most famous destination
00:18:29
was
00:18:31
Deadwood this was the place where Wild
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Bill Hickock was shot in the back and
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Calamity Jane pedal flesh in the local
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cat house it was a Wild and Woolly town
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the miners just absolutely were raising
00:18:44
hell in this town most towns are 95%
00:18:48
solid citizens and 5% characters and
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Deadwood the reverse is
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through but the good times didn't last
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they never do during the 1870s a
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stranger wrode into town his name was
00:19:03
Seth bulock and he was deadwood's first
00:19:07
sheriff from what I have read he uh
00:19:11
didn't have to use a gun actually the
00:19:14
story is that one look from his very
00:19:18
penetrating gaze was enough to qu most
00:19:21
law
00:19:27
Breakers right boys what's going
00:19:34
on Sheriff Bullock took his cleanup
00:19:37
campaign all over the
00:19:39
[Music]
00:19:41
territory one afternoon he came across
00:19:44
three characters who had the look of
00:19:47
cattle thieves what the hell's going on
00:19:49
here what are you boys doing in these
00:19:50
parts we're looking for a horse thief
00:19:53
what's your name my name is theore
00:19:54
Rosell and I'm the deputy sheriff of
00:19:56
Billings County was a rocky start to an
00:19:59
enduring
00:20:01
friendship when Theodore Roosevelt
00:20:03
formed the rough riters Seth joined up
00:20:06
when Roosevelt was sworn in as president
00:20:09
Seth was an honored guest after
00:20:12
Roosevelt's death Seth arranged to have
00:20:15
this memorial called the Friendship
00:20:17
Tower erected just outside Deadwood 9
00:20:21
months later Seth himself passed away
00:20:23
and he was buried at a grave site
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overlooking the monument
00:20:30
in recent years Deadwood has boomed
00:20:32
again thanks to legalized gambling the
00:20:34
bulock hotel founded by Seth in 1895 has
00:20:38
been renovated and restored and looks
00:20:40
almost the same maybe that's why his
00:20:43
ghost likes to hang out in the
00:20:45
hallways at this point over 30 employees
00:20:49
and a handful of Hotel guests have had
00:20:52
experiences here to the point where it's
00:20:55
common place to the point where we laugh
00:20:58
laugh about it and just take us a lot of
00:21:00
fun in the fact that we feel that we're
00:21:02
not alone here Norm Stevens is a slot
00:21:05
machine supervisor at the hotel he was
00:21:09
working in the basement one morning when
00:21:10
the mysterious shadow of a man fell
00:21:13
across the wall when Norm turned the
00:21:17
shadow
00:21:17
vanished operations manager Joey George
00:21:21
walked by the bar after closing time he
00:21:23
was certain that all of the stools were
00:21:25
lined up in a row Joey stepped in to the
00:21:28
office and then heard unusual noises
00:21:31
behind
00:21:33
him he returned to the bar every one of
00:21:37
the
00:21:37
stools had been moved strange yes
00:21:41
unnerving a little but mere Child's Play
00:21:46
compared to this we had a young employee
00:21:50
who was I think about 18 at the time and
00:21:54
um he was working in the back which is
00:21:57
is of the restaurant now and he came
00:21:59
flying out of the back room and he was
00:22:01
just ghost white and said that he saw a
00:22:06
figure in a western attire with jeans
00:22:09
tucked into the boots and he was very
00:22:12
very much afraid and he would never go
00:22:14
back into the kitchen by himself after
00:22:15
that and therea
00:22:17
quit folks in Deadwood never doubted it
00:22:20
was the Ghost of Seth Bullock still it's
00:22:23
good to have confirmation even if the
00:22:25
source raises a few eyebrows
00:22:30
5,000 Mi away a self-proclaimed psychic
00:22:33
says that he was receiving odd messages
00:22:36
from Beyond the Grave by pure
00:22:38
coincidence the psychic's name was Sandy
00:22:41
bulock occasionally various people pop
00:22:44
through and the name Seth bulock I
00:22:46
thought perhaps it was an ancestor that
00:22:48
was coming through to say hello or
00:22:50
something like that um and I rather
00:22:52
dismissed it but the spirit of Seth
00:22:55
Bullock did not go away s s's encounters
00:22:58
were so convincing that he felt
00:23:00
compelled to write an open letter to the
00:23:02
Proprietors of the bulock hotel I
00:23:06
thought if I write to someone in this
00:23:09
place called Deadwood they would just
00:23:11
think I'm a Nutty old Englishman and
00:23:12
forget it you know threw it
00:23:15
away sy's letter arrived while the hotel
00:23:18
was undergoing extensive Renovations all
00:23:21
information at the time as I read it I
00:23:23
thought to myself well he found a book
00:23:26
someplace on Deadwood read it and wrote
00:23:28
to me but at the very bottom of the
00:23:31
letter it mentioned that Seth says he
00:23:34
can't haunt the hotel right now because
00:23:37
of all the banging that's going on and I
00:23:39
thought to myself what's driving me
00:23:40
crazy too so um but he also said but
00:23:45
that he'll be back and you'll know it's
00:23:47
old Seth quote
00:23:50
unquote and that is when again the hair
00:23:53
stood up on the back of my neck because
00:23:55
that was my aunt's pet name for SE
00:23:58
anytime something strange would happen
00:24:00
Jerry would say old Seth is up to his
00:24:03
tricks again local journalist Reena Webb
00:24:06
was intrigued she wrote back to Sandy
00:24:09
bulck in this letter I said to him I
00:24:13
would like to POs to you a test
00:24:16
question who was the well-known person
00:24:19
who was a close friend of Seth
00:24:22
Bullocks and how is Bullock's grave
00:24:26
positioned in relation to that
00:24:29
friendship when I got his letter in
00:24:32
response to my test question he
00:24:36
said tall trees block the view from his
00:24:40
old bones but Teddy and he still meet in
00:24:43
the
00:24:44
afterlife and I said whoa and I still
00:24:48
get Goose pimples when I think about
00:24:50
that Reena believes the message referred
00:24:53
to this stand of pine trees they now
00:24:56
obstruct the view of the Roosevelt's
00:24:58
Monument from Seth Bullock's
00:25:01
gravite now very few people in Deadwood
00:25:04
know the story about friendship Tower
00:25:06
and the friendship between Seth bolock
00:25:09
and Teddy Roosevelt the positioning of
00:25:11
the Grave to be able to see at that time
00:25:14
friendship Tower Across The Gulch there
00:25:17
was no way Sandy Bullock sitting in
00:25:19
Dorset England could have researched
00:25:21
this I mean it's just not possible
00:25:24
there's just too much evidence of Seth's
00:25:27
presence in this town and particularly
00:25:29
at the bulock hotel to discount it all I
00:25:33
know is the evidence seems to point very
00:25:36
strongly in the
00:25:37
direction of sheriff Seth bulock still
00:25:41
being on the job in Deadwood South
00:25:43
Dakota
00:25:45
today next The Strange Case of people
00:25:48
who suddenly catch on fire and nothing
00:25:51
is left but
00:25:56
ashes
00:26:04
for K and Mike Fletcher it was a morning
00:26:06
they'll never
00:26:08
forget
00:26:09
Mike out of nowhere a cloud of smoke
00:26:12
suddenly erupted from Kay's body not my
00:26:15
sweater take it
00:26:17
off so take a look at my back cuz I'm
00:26:20
thinking do I have blisters or what and
00:26:23
he says no it's just
00:26:24
red we really were frantically looking
00:26:27
through the clothing you know like arm
00:26:30
and back and just looking it over very
00:26:33
carefully and we found absolutely no
00:26:36
discoloration we found no sight of any
00:26:39
kind of fire damage yeah I mean it was
00:26:41
actually coming off of her skin but
00:26:44
there was no Flame the smoke was so
00:26:47
thick that we did have to turn on the
00:26:49
fan and open the window just to get the
00:26:52
smoke out of there now earlier in my
00:26:54
life I had worked at a cremator and it
00:26:57
the smell was that of burnt
00:27:02
flesh for the Fletchers the entire
00:27:04
episode was hard to comprehend had Kay
00:27:07
survived the bizarre phenomenon known as
00:27:09
spontaneous human combustion and if so
00:27:12
she was one of the lucky ones most cases
00:27:15
end in
00:27:17
death mainstream science says it could
00:27:20
never happen a person cannot just burst
00:27:23
into flames without warning or cause but
00:27:26
mainstream science
00:27:28
has been wrong
00:27:31
before Kendall M hadn't heard from his
00:27:33
father George all day George retired
00:27:37
fireman had serious lung problems he
00:27:39
needed an air pump and face mask just to
00:27:42
help him breathe even before he went
00:27:45
inside Kendall knew something was wrong
00:27:48
the windows were all brown the door
00:27:50
handle was warm when I grabbed it it was
00:27:53
real dark inside the house and it smell
00:27:56
like it been burnt
00:27:58
dad Kendall couldn't believe what he was
00:28:01
saying all that was left of his father
00:28:04
was a scattering of Ashes a few
00:28:06
splinters of bone and a fragment of
00:28:10
skull it's scary to find somebody like
00:28:12
that to walk in and find somebody that
00:28:14
you love you know all burnt like that
00:28:16
with no explanation as to why or what
00:28:19
happened there's incredible localized
00:28:22
Damage Done to the body uh George M was
00:28:26
incinerated to an extent that we have
00:28:27
been told by forensic experts could only
00:28:31
be replicated inside a crematorium
00:28:33
operating at 300° F or more for 12 long
00:28:38
hours it had all the ear marks of a
00:28:41
spontaneous combustion case the TV had
00:28:44
melted but much of the bedding was
00:28:45
undamaged nearby a box of wooden matches
00:28:48
was still intact and air was still
00:28:50
pumping through George's face mask it
00:28:53
shouldn't surprise anyone to hear that
00:28:54
Skeptics say there's a rational
00:28:56
explanation now do I know exactly what
00:28:59
happened I don't but let me reconstruct
00:29:01
a little bit we're told that Mr Mt was a
00:29:04
former Drinker and a former smoker but
00:29:06
that he had reformed he was depressed
00:29:09
just suppose that he said what the heck
00:29:11
I think I'll have a cigarette this would
00:29:14
explain him taking off the oxygen mask
00:29:16
while the unit would still be left
00:29:17
running and it would explain why the
00:29:19
matches were there now if that's the
00:29:22
case then this is just another case of
00:29:24
smoking in bed and is not mysterious
00:29:28
and is a rather mundane
00:29:31
case but even a confirmed skeptic would
00:29:33
not use the word mundane to describe the
00:29:36
next case a gas company meter man named
00:29:39
Don gnell made an unpleasant Discovery
00:29:43
at the home of Irving Bentley a
00:29:45
92-year-old retired physician as usual
00:29:49
Gosnell LED himself into the
00:29:52
basement when I got to the bottom of the
00:29:54
steps there was a pile of ashes on the
00:29:56
floor and there was an odor something
00:29:59
I'd never encountered before is kind of
00:30:02
a sickening sweet odor and then I looked
00:30:05
up and here there was a hole burnt
00:30:07
through the floor right above me and I
00:30:10
stood there and I looked at that hole
00:30:12
and there was little red ambers all
00:30:14
around the hole yet gnell rushed
00:30:16
upstairs nothing could have prepared him
00:30:19
for the gruesome scene in the bathroom
00:30:21
all there was was part of one leg and
00:30:26
was so discolored I couldn't tell it was
00:30:28
a human being or a mannequin till I got
00:30:30
right down close and looked at
00:30:32
it and when I got the picture I left
00:30:35
right there what is so amazing and so
00:30:37
profoundly perplexing to mainstream
00:30:39
science about the scene that Dr Bentley
00:30:41
Left Behind is the incredibly intense
00:30:44
fire that consumed his body quite
00:30:46
literally to powder leaving behind only
00:30:49
his head a knee bone and a lower left
00:30:52
leg as mute testimony that this had once
00:30:54
been a human being the rest of his body
00:30:55
was Ash in the basement below
00:30:58
we believe that Dr benley answered a
00:30:59
call of nature or standing in front of
00:31:01
the toilet suddenly spontaneously he
00:31:03
became a human
00:31:05
Fireball the nature of the fire and we
00:31:08
kind of use fire in quotes here failed
00:31:10
to produce enough thermal energy to melt
00:31:12
the aluminum walk failed to produce
00:31:14
enough heat to blister paint on the
00:31:16
bathtub inches away and it was quite
00:31:18
capable of directing its energy downward
00:31:21
through the oak beams through the
00:31:22
flooring and into the subfloor beneath
00:31:25
into the
00:31:26
basement
00:31:27
the case of someone like Dr Bentley is
00:31:30
very understandable in the sense of him
00:31:33
being infirm he had a history uh of
00:31:37
setting his clothes on fire from his
00:31:39
pipe his uh clothing was Pock marked
00:31:42
with burns from his
00:31:45
pipe in many of the cases the person's
00:31:48
own body fat can contribute to the fire
00:31:51
if we imagine Dr Bentley with his body
00:31:53
on fire falls to the floor there is
00:31:56
lenium on that floor and lolium once it
00:31:59
catches fire is a very powerful
00:32:01
flammable material the flooring burned
00:32:04
the subf floring burned and beams
00:32:06
there's beams underneath there's a
00:32:07
tremendous amount of wood underneath his
00:32:09
body to act as a funeral pie
00:32:13
mysterious not really not scientifically
00:32:15
mysterious unusual yes the debunkers of
00:32:18
spontaneous human combustion could
00:32:19
conduct a very simple experiment take a
00:32:21
Cav put it on a tar based Anum flowing
00:32:23
put an aluminum wle over top of it and
00:32:25
drop a cigarette on it if it burns the
00:32:27
powder we're going to be real impressed
00:32:28
and that person deserves a Nobel Prize
00:32:30
in physics but I'll wager money that
00:32:32
experiment is going to
00:32:34
fail Larry Arnold theorizes spontaneous
00:32:37
human combustion may be an explosive
00:32:40
aberration of the electrical current
00:32:42
flows naturally present in the body we
00:32:46
have the potential of hundreds of
00:32:48
thousands of volts of electricity
00:32:49
coursing through the body
00:32:50
instantaneously if the ampage is
00:32:52
sufficiently high then the body would
00:32:54
literally become its own electrocution
00:32:56
me
00:32:58
mechanism it would fry itself out from
00:33:00
the inside
00:33:03
electrically uh this is a crack Pottery
00:33:06
of a very high order there is not a
00:33:09
single reasonable theory for spontaneous
00:33:13
human combustion there is no convincing
00:33:16
scientific evidence of it and so the
00:33:18
mystery mongers ought to shut up and get
00:33:21
a life is spontaneous human combustion
00:33:24
real or can every case be explained away
00:33:27
the jury is still up unless of course it
00:33:31
happens to
00:33:33
you next he was young successful and he
00:33:37
had no reason to kill himself and his
00:33:39
father was determined to prove
00:33:51
[Music]
00:33:53
it it's the kind of situation every
00:33:56
parent dreads
00:33:57
Larry and Lois Williams hadn't heard
00:33:59
from their son Danny in nearly 2 days if
00:34:03
he doesn't answer the door I'm going to
00:34:04
go inside Danny this is your dad I kept
00:34:08
calling Danny's name saying Danny this
00:34:10
is your dad this me coming in he did
00:34:12
have a gun in the house for protection
00:34:14
and I didn't want to be in a situation
00:34:15
where he was asleep and shot his own
00:34:18
dad that would not be a concern Danny
00:34:22
was already
00:34:25
dead he was sitting on the couch in an
00:34:27
upright position with a bullet in his
00:34:29
head and a gun in his
00:34:32
lap the comment that I made as I went
00:34:34
through the door oh Dan don't let don't
00:34:38
let this be what it looks like
00:34:40
23-year-old Danny Williams was Larry and
00:34:42
Lois's youngest son he managed
00:34:45
distribution for the family's
00:34:47
multi-million dollar apparel
00:34:48
Manufacturing Company Larry Williams
00:34:51
called the Galesburg police well it's a
00:34:53
9mm semi-automatic pistol the position
00:34:55
of the body the the type of wound the uh
00:34:59
absence of any uh specific evidence of
00:35:01
Foul Play indicated to us uh that the
00:35:05
gunshot wound um could have been
00:35:09
self-inflicted and caused us to classify
00:35:11
the case as a as a
00:35:13
suicide Larry Williams hired private
00:35:16
detective Mike Turnquist to investigate
00:35:19
soon he had something to report the
00:35:22
police said Dany died very early
00:35:24
Saturday morning but a neighbor told
00:35:26
Turnquist that she had seen Dany Alive 8
00:35:30
hours after the time of death I
00:35:34
shouldn't admit it but I watch
00:35:35
everybody's business it was Saturday
00:35:38
morning that I saw Dany get in the car
00:35:41
with this woman so naturally being nosy
00:35:44
as I am I looked her over real good she
00:35:47
had dark hair she would have been
00:35:49
between 25 and
00:35:51
30 the police dismissed the account
00:35:54
saying Mrs sers had her days pied up it
00:35:57
was already established that Danny had
00:35:59
been picked up by his mother on Friday
00:36:01
the day before he died no it was not
00:36:05
Friday it was
00:36:07
Saturday and the lady in the blue car
00:36:11
was too young to have been his mother
00:36:15
other Witnesses noticed activity at
00:36:17
Danny's house on Sunday a full 24 hours
00:36:19
after he died at least one person
00:36:22
described seeing a young man with curly
00:36:24
brown hair approximately 5 4 in tall the
00:36:28
eyewitness testimony can easily be
00:36:31
mistaken it's as simple as that they may
00:36:34
have seen some activity there but it's a
00:36:36
distinct possibility that uh the days
00:36:38
may have been confused as to when they
00:36:40
were uh seeing that uh that
00:36:43
movement Danny's father claims that some
00:36:46
of the physical evidence turned up by
00:36:47
police argued against
00:36:50
suicide the bullet that supposedly
00:36:52
killed Danny exited through his head and
00:36:55
lodged in the wall when the police
00:36:57
removed the bullet there was only one
00:36:59
small spot which appeared to be Blood on
00:37:02
the
00:37:03
paning with the head being that close to
00:37:06
the wall you most certainly would expect
00:37:08
to find large or massive amounts of
00:37:10
blood splatter either at or near the
00:37:13
back of the couch and and most certainly
00:37:15
on the back
00:37:18
wall by now Larry Williams was convinced
00:37:22
Dany had been murdered he brought in an
00:37:24
independent forensic scientist Mark boie
00:37:28
I had this feeling that I was going to
00:37:30
go out see the house see a typical messy
00:37:33
scene and tell Larry that I think your
00:37:35
son commits suicide when we get to the
00:37:38
house and there's a lack of evidence to
00:37:40
support the suicide oh hey Larry you
00:37:43
better take a look at this Bosey used a
00:37:46
luminescent scanner to look for blood
00:37:47
evidence invisible to the naked eye he
00:37:50
found significant samples in several
00:37:52
places even on the television set take a
00:37:55
look at that splatter pattern all over
00:37:57
the TV set if um Danny just shot himself
00:38:01
sitting there you definitely would not
00:38:03
have a pattern at all behind the TV set
00:38:06
and uh there's nothing to indicate Danny
00:38:08
got up after shooting himself and walked
00:38:10
around so someone else obviously dropped
00:38:13
the blood droplets everywhere else that
00:38:15
we found going to have to take a
00:38:17
squabbing of that bring it back to the
00:38:18
lab get a type blood analysis later
00:38:21
revealed the presence of two different
00:38:23
blood types in the house Danny's blood
00:38:26
was type B Mark boie found type B and
00:38:29
type O in the den where Danny's body was
00:38:33
boie also found type O in the bathroom
00:38:35
and inside the pocket of Danny's
00:38:39
jeans is not possible that all the blood
00:38:41
in the room came from Danny it's an
00:38:44
impossibility this evidence suggests to
00:38:46
me that two people in the room were
00:38:50
bleeding two separate
00:38:52
individuals the official police position
00:38:55
is that the alleged type of O blood
00:38:57
samples were compromised by the crime
00:38:59
scene Cleanup Crew samples of the blood
00:39:02
were submitted to the Illinois State
00:39:03
Crime Lab for testing the official
00:39:05
conclusion the samples could not be
00:39:08
definitively typed I could guarantee you
00:39:11
send that same evidence to five
00:39:12
different independent Laboratories that
00:39:14
have no idea what this case is about
00:39:16
that have no idea uh that this was a
00:39:18
murder or a suicide or anything and they
00:39:21
will come back with type B blood and
00:39:23
type O blood the independent uh lab
00:39:27
feels very confident in their
00:39:29
results uh they uh have provided those
00:39:32
results to Mr Williams and that's
00:39:34
contributed to his concerns about the uh
00:39:38
uh finding of suicide we feel just as
00:39:41
strongly about the results of the
00:39:43
Illinois State Crime Lab uh that there
00:39:45
was no evidence of a type O blood in
00:39:48
that home mark Bose's investigation
00:39:51
appeared to turn up one new piece of
00:39:53
evidence that undercut the police theory
00:39:56
in supported his theory that the blood
00:39:58
of two different people was in Danny's
00:40:00
house it's the same type that Danny's
00:40:03
gun would use Mark was uh processing the
00:40:05
room he opened the couch up and a shell
00:40:07
casing fell out later test showed that
00:40:10
this shell did come from Danny's gun it
00:40:12
had been recently fired so there were
00:40:14
two shells found on the couch that came
00:40:17
from Danny's gun from the scene photos I
00:40:20
saw Danny's gun was laying on his lap
00:40:22
his hand was laying on top of the gun
00:40:24
just as if he shot and then set it back
00:40:28
down uh it's a little inconsistent with
00:40:32
a
00:40:33
suicide okay Larry next boy tried to
00:40:36
match the bullet path to Danny's
00:40:38
position on the couch okay how am I
00:40:41
doing the line's right all right and
00:40:44
it's through my head and it can be
00:40:46
squeezed up but you would fall over on
00:40:49
the floor I would fall over on the floor
00:40:51
the body would have gone forward the
00:40:53
body would have moved back into the
00:40:55
position it was in the the gun probably
00:40:57
would not have been in his lap it
00:40:59
probably was would be on the floor a
00:41:00
coffee
00:41:01
table Mark boie now believes that Dany
00:41:04
was probably not shot in his house
00:41:08
here's how it might have happened there
00:41:10
was a fight somewhere else that left
00:41:11
Dany and another person bleeding that
00:41:15
person took Danny's keys out of his
00:41:16
pocket leaving behind a trace of type O
00:41:19
blood finally the crime scene was
00:41:22
arranged to make Danny's death look like
00:41:25
suicide
00:41:27
we can advance theories all day long
00:41:30
everyone can but the factual data that
00:41:33
we've gathered uh we feel comfortable
00:41:36
with Danny this is your
00:41:40
dad the investigators crime labs and
00:41:43
what have you that have had working on
00:41:45
this from the beginning as soon as they
00:41:47
went into the house saw evidence that
00:41:49
was in there then and still there now uh
00:41:52
where convinced that I was that it was
00:41:54
cold blood
00:41:55
murder
00:41:56
was Danny Williams murdered or did he
00:41:59
kill himself the official coroners
00:42:01
report lists Danny's cause of death as
00:42:07
uncertain if you have any information
00:42:09
about the death of Danny Williams please
00:42:12
log on to unsolved.com
00:42:29
[Music]
00:42:43
[Music]

Badges

This episode stands out for the following:

  • 75
    Most intense
  • 70
    Most shocking
  • 70
    Most surprising
  • 65
    Most heartbreaking

Episode Highlights

  • The Disappearance of Amy Bradley
    Amy Bradley vanished during a family cruise, sparking theories of foul play and hope.
    “I have strong belief that she is alive and she's trying to get back to us.”
    @ 07m 56s
    March 09, 2017
  • The Heroic Death of Richard Fos
    DEA agent Richard Fos was killed during a drug deal gone wrong, remembered as a hero.
    “Richard Fos died a hero's death at the age of 37.”
    @ 16m 52s
    March 09, 2017
  • The Ghost of Seth Bullock
    Seth Bullock, Deadwood's first sheriff, is said to still haunt the town he once protected.
    “Seth Bullock still being on the job in Deadwood South Dakota today.”
    @ 25m 43s
    March 09, 2017
  • The Mystery of Spontaneous Human Combustion
    Exploring bizarre cases of people spontaneously catching fire, leaving only ashes behind.
    “Spontaneous human combustion? Most cases end in death.”
    @ 27m 12s
    March 09, 2017
  • A Son's Tragic Discovery
    Kendall M finds his father's remains, leaving him in shock and disbelief.
    “It's scary to find somebody you love all burnt like that.”
    @ 28m 12s
    March 09, 2017
  • Danny Williams' Mysterious Death
    Larry Williams investigates his son's death, questioning the police's suicide ruling.
    “Was Danny Williams murdered or did he kill himself?”
    @ 41m 56s
    March 09, 2017

Episode Quotes

  • How in the world can anybody ever give up looking for their child?
    Unsolved Mysteries with Dennis Farina - Season 1, Episode 14 - Full Episode
  • Richard Fos died a hero's death at the age of 37.
    Unsolved Mysteries with Dennis Farina - Season 1, Episode 14 - Full Episode
  • Seth Bullock still being on the job in Deadwood South Dakota today.
    Unsolved Mysteries with Dennis Farina - Season 1, Episode 14 - Full Episode
  • Spontaneous human combustion? Most cases end in death.
    Unsolved Mysteries with Dennis Farina - Season 1, Episode 14 - Full Episode
  • The jury is still out on spontaneous human combustion.
    Unsolved Mysteries with Dennis Farina - Season 1, Episode 14 - Full Episode
  • Was Danny Williams murdered or did he kill himself?
    Unsolved Mysteries with Dennis Farina - Season 1, Episode 14 - Full Episode

Key Moments

  • Mysterious Disappearance07:56
  • Heroic Sacrifice16:52
  • Ghostly Encounters25:43
  • Spontaneous Combustion27:09
  • Heartbreaking Discovery28:01
  • Murder or Suicide?41:56

Words per Minute Over Time

Vibes Breakdown

Related Episodes

Unsolved Mysteries with Dennis Farina - Season 2, Episode 12
March 09, 2017
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42:48
Unsolved Mysteries with Dennis Farina - Season 2, Episode 12
Unsolved Mysteries with Dennis Farina - Season 2, Episode 17
March 09, 2017
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42:54
Unsolved Mysteries with Dennis Farina - Season 2, Episode 17
Unsolved Mysteries with Dennis Farina - Season 2, Episode 15
March 09, 2017
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42:53
Unsolved Mysteries with Dennis Farina - Season 2, Episode 15
Unsolved Mysteries with Dennis Farina - Season 1, Episode 13 - Full Episode
March 09, 2017
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42:53
Unsolved Mysteries with Dennis Farina - Season 1, Episode 13 - Full Episode
Unsolved Mysteries with Dennis Farina - Season 2, Episode 2 - Updated Full Episode
March 16, 2022
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43:07
Unsolved Mysteries with Dennis Farina - Season 2, Episode 2 - Updated Full Episode
Unsolved Mysteries with Dennis Farina - Season 2, Episode 8 - Updated Full Episode
July 26, 2021
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42:51
Unsolved Mysteries with Dennis Farina - Season 2, Episode 8 - Updated Full Episode
Unsolved Mysteries with Dennis Farina - Season 3, Episode 1
March 09, 2017
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42:48
Unsolved Mysteries with Dennis Farina - Season 3, Episode 1
Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 6, Episode 2 - Full Episode
May 23, 2019
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45:58
Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 6, Episode 2 - Full Episode
Unsolved Mysteries with Dennis Farina - Season 5, Episode 2 - Updated Full Episode
July 26, 2021
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42:58
Unsolved Mysteries with Dennis Farina - Season 5, Episode 2 - Updated Full Episode
Unsolved Mysteries with Dennis Farina - Season 3, Episode 11
March 09, 2017
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42:54
Unsolved Mysteries with Dennis Farina - Season 3, Episode 11
Unsolved Mysteries with Dennis Farina - Season 4, Episode 11 - Updated Full Episode
July 26, 2021
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42:50
Unsolved Mysteries with Dennis Farina - Season 4, Episode 11 - Updated Full Episode
Unsolved Mysteries with Dennis Farina - Season 1, Episode 10 - Full Episode
March 09, 2017
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42:48
Unsolved Mysteries with Dennis Farina - Season 1, Episode 10 - Full Episode