00:00:05
tonight on unsolved mysteries Susan
00:00:10
Walsh is a woman who lived on the edge a
00:00:12
stripper turned journalist was chosen
00:00:14
assignments plunged her into a hazardous
00:00:16
to of Russian mobsters and
00:00:17
self-proclaimed vampires in the end
00:00:20
however Susan Walsh's walk on the wild
00:00:22
side
00:00:23
may have led to her death his name is
00:00:27
Oliver he walks and acts like a human
00:00:29
being his very existence as a source of
00:00:32
mystery and wonder perhaps Oliver is
00:00:35
just a talented chimpanzee but perhaps
00:00:37
is something more her death has become
00:00:41
America's tragedy
00:00:43
JonBenet Ramsey molested and murdered in
00:00:46
her own home five weeks later police
00:00:49
have yet to confirm a motive or name a
00:00:51
suspect in Newport News Virginia young
00:00:55
mother's joy turns to despair but her
00:00:57
newborn baby is diagnosed with a
00:00:59
life-threatening blood disorder
00:01:01
the only hope is an emergency
00:01:03
transfusion courtesy of an anonymous
00:01:05
donor join me for another intriguing
00:01:09
edition unsolved mysteries
00:01:14
[Music]
00:01:23
we didn't eat
00:01:26
[Music]
00:02:02
this is a primarily primates Wildlife
00:02:05
Sanctuary in San Antonio Texas a
00:02:08
retirement home of sorts for some 500
00:02:11
wild animals who have been rescued from
00:02:12
circuses sideshows and medical labs in
00:02:17
April of 1996 the Dozen chimpanzees
00:02:20
police from a research facility arrived
00:02:23
at The Preserve
00:02:26
after years of confinement most moved in
00:02:29
pained halting steps but one was
00:02:31
remarkably different his name is Oliver
00:02:38
you stand up look at you when Oliver
00:02:42
came outside for the first time he'd
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been nine years in a lab cage he walked
00:02:48
out and he walked upright in a way that
00:02:52
no chimp who was trained to walk upright
00:02:54
would ever walk his back is straight his
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shoulders back and his knees are locked
00:03:01
its unique unique could be an
00:03:05
understatement
00:03:06
in his youth Oliver had been an
00:03:08
international celebrity heralded as
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proof of the legendary Bigfoot or
00:03:12
perhaps the elusive missing link some
00:03:17
speculated that Oliver was a member of a
00:03:19
new as yet undiscovered species or even
00:03:22
the offspring of an unspeakable union
00:03:24
between human and chimpanzee since long
00:03:29
before I helped start primarily primates
00:03:32
I had heard about the ape called Oliver
00:03:36
I'd collected old tabloid articles and I
00:03:40
really wondered is this the same Oliver
00:03:42
I wasn't quite sure until I saw him and
00:03:49
there's no doubt this is the upright
00:03:52
walking ape who had become a living
00:03:55
legend
00:03:57
for a legend Oliver's origins were
00:03:59
unremarkable he was imported from Africa
00:04:02
as an infant in 1960 from the outset
00:04:06
animal trainer Frank Berger knew he had
00:04:08
a very special ape on his hands the
00:04:12
first thing I noticed with him he was
00:04:14
bawling at Tim's have hair right with a
00:04:18
his bone structure he his head was
00:04:21
smaller
00:04:22
he had a narrower face but looks weren't
00:04:26
the only thing that made Oliver
00:04:27
different his human-like behavior was
00:04:30
equally startling one day I sat at a
00:04:33
desk and he come crawl to me and all of
00:04:36
his sudden he took the whole of my pants
00:04:38
leg and he stands straight up I almost
00:04:42
fainted and within one and a half years
00:04:47
that and staying up in front of me and
00:04:50
never I saw him went down I've seen a
00:04:53
lot of chips but I've never seen one
00:04:55
just like him over the next decade
00:05:01
Oliver's unique characteristics made him
00:05:03
a popular sideshow attraction in various
00:05:05
circuses then in 1975 a magazine article
00:05:09
caught the attention of a Manhattan
00:05:11
attorney named Michael Miller Miller
00:05:13
vividly recalls his first encounter with
00:05:15
Oliver in walks this almost four and a
00:05:20
half four to five foot creature his hair
00:05:23
bristling and walking absolutely upright
00:05:26
as they say as advertised I could not
00:05:29
believe what I saw
00:05:31
Miller took these snapshots that day a
00:05:34
few hours later he purchased oliver from
00:05:37
frank burger for the sum of eight
00:05:39
thousand dollars the news hit the wires
00:05:41
and sparked a media onslaught there were
00:05:45
many many many questions about oliver
00:05:48
enthusiastic to the point of being wild
00:05:51
people were offering me money for the
00:05:52
story i had no interest in it
00:05:54
I said I really want the story to get
00:05:56
out but I want to get the story out to
00:05:58
attract serious attention from the
00:06:00
scientific community this creature may
00:06:02
have interest and importance that turned
00:06:05
me on that spring at the Explorers Club
00:06:09
annual banquet at New York City Oliver
00:06:12
created a sensation
00:06:15
it was amazing experience because it was
00:06:18
King Kong I mean that was truly King
00:06:21
Kong
00:06:23
I would say that there was a consensus
00:06:29
there too that this is a very aberrant
00:06:32
chimpanzee they were always grounding it
00:06:34
in this is a chimpanzee who's aberrant
00:06:36
and I understood that because I wasn't
00:06:39
offering him as something else but when
00:06:42
I would say can you explain the
00:06:44
aberration that would be interesting the
00:06:45
answer was always the same no we can't
00:06:48
the Explorers Club was a start of a
00:06:50
whirlwind career in 1976 Oliver was
00:06:54
invited to appear on a television
00:06:55
program in Japan for three weeks he
00:06:59
toured the country causing a stir
00:07:01
wherever he went you could feel the
00:07:05
interest the intent looking at this
00:07:07
creature but my favorite evening is we
00:07:10
were on the road going from city to city
00:07:12
and they have wonderful traditions in
00:07:15
Japan when you travel you go to these
00:07:17
country ends you get undressed you bathe
00:07:20
and then you put on a cotton yukata or
00:07:22
robe then you sit down and have dinner
00:07:24
and somebody asked if he enjoys eating
00:07:26
and drinking I said well I know he'd
00:07:28
enjoys a beer and they gave him a liter
00:07:30
of beer which he drank
00:07:32
chugalug style didn't come up for air
00:07:34
and then let out this enormous burp and
00:07:37
he's got a very big chest so it was a
00:07:38
very loud burp we all left and then
00:07:41
Oliver sat back and had a cigar and we
00:07:43
sat there and after a while it was like
00:07:46
it was no longer a spectacle throughout
00:07:52
the tour Oliver underwent a series of
00:07:54
medical exams the results were presented
00:07:57
on a television special entitled mr.
00:07:59
Oliver man or ape a blood test suggested
00:08:04
that Oliver had 48 chromosomes the
00:08:07
number normally associated with a
00:08:08
chimpanzee curiously though two of the
00:08:11
40 cells contained 47 chromosomes one
00:08:15
more than a man and one less than a
00:08:16
chimp the Japanese doctors however
00:08:19
attributed the discrepancy to human
00:08:21
error when the Japanese tour ended
00:08:25
Michael Miller found he could no longer
00:08:27
support Hollander reluctantly donated
00:08:30
him to a wild animal park in California
00:08:34
he was billed as a missing link
00:08:38
they had a window where the public had
00:08:40
walked past him and look in and see him
00:08:42
in his exhibit they did take him out a
00:08:44
number of times onto a stage and for the
00:08:47
press to take a look at him for
00:08:49
publicity but otherwise he was generally
00:08:51
in this enclosure alone where people
00:08:53
could walk past the window and see him
00:08:57
when the animal park went out of
00:08:59
business oliver bounced from trainer to
00:09:01
trainer he eventually wound up in a
00:09:04
research lab there he language to the
00:09:06
five by seven foot cage for nine long
00:09:09
years
00:09:10
fortunately oliver was never used in any
00:09:13
experiments and just last year he was
00:09:15
rescued by primarily primates behavioral
00:09:21
primatologist Linda Brent observed some
00:09:23
of Oliver's early rehabilitation I had
00:09:28
the impression of when I saw Oliver
00:09:30
walking bipedal that he had possibly
00:09:33
been trained to walk bipedally he could
00:09:36
do it for quite a while I don't think
00:09:39
he's anything but a chimpanzee and I
00:09:42
think a lot of the both physical and
00:09:44
behavioral characteristics can easily be
00:09:46
explained by his past
00:09:49
however the folks at primarily primates
00:09:51
refused to speculate until all of the
00:09:54
evidence is in I know that there are
00:09:58
other animals out there we haven't found
00:10:00
yet Oliver very well could be very
00:10:06
special in that he could be the only
00:10:10
example around of a whole new species
00:10:14
[Music]
00:10:16
blessed December of every special
00:10:19
reunion took place between Oliver and
00:10:21
his first owner Frank Bergeron
00:10:22
they hadn't seen each other in 20 years
00:10:27
[Music]
00:10:31
[Applause]
00:10:33
[Music]
00:10:35
attorney Michael Miller was also present
00:10:39
he looks happier he looks much more
00:10:41
peaceful than I remember it's delightful
00:10:44
to see that he's in such a great
00:10:45
environment and that he's cared for
00:10:48
finally that's very very satisfying very
00:10:50
rewarding yeah
00:10:54
science hopes at Oliver's golden years
00:10:56
will be rewarding in other ways as well
00:10:58
in the near future
00:11:00
genetic testing may finally solve the
00:11:02
mystery of who or what Oliver truly is
00:11:06
[Music]
00:11:08
if the age of 36 Oliver could very well
00:11:11
live for another 20 years even if he
00:11:14
proves to be just an ordinary chimpanzee
00:11:16
those who norm and full agreement on one
00:11:19
thing Oliver is a remarkable creature
00:11:22
was warm and gentle personality has
00:11:25
touched countless lives next when Dustin
00:11:31
Johnson was five years old his mother
00:11:33
was murdered by her own brother now
00:11:36
Dustin believes his uncle has killed
00:11:37
again
00:11:38
and later in New York City an exotic
00:11:42
dancer turned reporter vanishes without
00:11:44
a trace
00:11:46
also the shocking murder of Sean Benet
00:11:49
Ramsey has outraged the nation and put
00:11:51
investigators on the defensive
00:11:55
[Music]
00:12:10
it was June 27th 1982 but to Dustin
00:12:14
Johnson it still seems like yesterday
00:12:18
you can have fun with Daddy this weekend
00:12:21
Dustin was five years old his father
00:12:24
picked him up for a custody visit Dustin
00:12:27
didn't know it but he was saying goodbye
00:12:29
to his mother for the last time remember
00:12:37
my mom getting me ready to go with my
00:12:39
dad she gave me a hug and kiss goodbye
00:12:42
told me she'd see me when I come back
00:12:44
but then I come back and mom wasn't
00:12:47
there
00:12:48
[Music]
00:12:51
that weekend Patricia Johnson was
00:12:54
murdered nine days would pass before her
00:12:57
naked decomposing body was found two
00:13:01
weeks later another shock
00:13:02
Patricia's own brother Dennis Keith
00:13:05
Smith confessed to the crime he was
00:13:07
sentenced to life in prison on a charge
00:13:09
of second-degree murder Dustin was taken
00:13:15
in by his mother's parents when Dennis
00:13:17
Smith was paroled ten years later he
00:13:20
moved into the same house on a daily
00:13:25
basis in the hallway and over dinner
00:13:28
Dustin Johnson had to face the man who
00:13:30
had killed his mother the uneasy truce
00:13:33
lasted about a year until another local
00:13:36
woman mysteriously disappeared
00:13:38
Dustin soon became convinced that his
00:13:40
uncle Dennis Keith Smith was somehow
00:13:43
involved your lunch is made thanks Dan
00:13:51
and carolyn killaby lived just three
00:13:53
miles from Dustin the morning of
00:13:55
Saturday November 11th 1995 found the
00:13:58
killer beez patching up an argument you
00:14:01
know you're making something out of
00:14:02
nothing well it's something to me I know
00:14:06
I know it is we didn't have to hash
00:14:09
everything out and yell and scream at
00:14:11
each other we didn't do it that way
00:14:13
oftentimes we were just just a wink and
00:14:16
a smile would do it you know and that
00:14:20
would be the end of it
00:14:23
we don't have the kids tonight so why
00:14:25
don't we just get together and have
00:14:27
dinner and spend some time together all
00:14:29
right
00:14:30
it promised to be a romantic evening
00:14:32
just the two of them but before Dan left
00:14:36
work his brother would call and invite
00:14:38
him but drop by and I figured I'd still
00:14:41
make it home in plenty of time so I went
00:14:44
to see my brother Dave and we ended up
00:14:46
going down to tavern down the street and
00:14:50
we we had a beer and we started shooting
00:14:52
some pool turned out there was a blazer
00:14:55
game on we started watching that we had
00:14:56
a couple more beers and I had decided
00:14:59
just to stay behind at his place and
00:15:02
chose not to drive home dan didn't call
00:15:06
home until 1:00 a.m. Sunday morning Dan
00:15:24
returned to an empty house his message
00:15:26
was still on the machine dan assumed
00:15:34
that Carolyn was deliberately not
00:15:36
calling home giving him a taste of his
00:15:38
own medicine by Sunday night he began to
00:15:42
worry Dan went through his wife's phone
00:15:47
book a disease but no one could account
00:15:50
for carolyn killaby Carolyn still hadn't
00:15:54
shown up by 6:00 a.m. Monday morning
00:15:56
when she was due at work dan and his
00:15:59
brother cruise the streets of Vancouver
00:16:00
looking for any sign of Carolyn they
00:16:03
found her car in the parking lot of a
00:16:05
popular nightclub
00:16:08
mr. car
00:16:13
the morning barmaid was the gal that
00:16:15
worked there Saturday night and she said
00:16:18
yeah I saw your wife she was in Saturday
00:16:20
night that's the last time I star so at
00:16:24
that point you know panic set in car was
00:16:30
there my wife was nowhere to be found
00:16:34
when the story hit the local paper one
00:16:37
fact jumped out at Dustin Johnson I
00:16:41
found a name by the name of Dennis in
00:16:44
the newspaper and I continued to read
00:16:47
that the lady was missing and I had this
00:16:50
feeling that that person by the name of
00:16:52
Dennis might be my uncle this might be a
00:16:54
weird conversation Dustin found dan
00:16:57
killaby x' number in the local phone
00:16:58
directory yeah from the name of Dennis
00:17:03
do you know what Dennis his last name is
00:17:05
he called me and said he'd saw the
00:17:07
article and if this Dennis that was
00:17:10
mentioned in the article was in fact
00:17:12
Dennis Keith Smith that that was his
00:17:16
uncle and he wanted to let me know that
00:17:18
he had murdered his mother in 1982
00:17:23
authorities have not yet released the
00:17:25
last name of the man seen with Carolyn
00:17:26
then called detectives to check out
00:17:29
Dustin's hunch he said that he thinks
00:17:33
that the man Dennis that you're looking
00:17:35
for his name is Dennis Smith and he said
00:17:38
that this guy is a murderer
00:17:39
he's that true there was a long pause
00:17:44
from the detectives and I knew right
00:17:46
then it was the person
00:17:50
at that point in time I think right down
00:17:55
in there I I knew my wife had been
00:17:58
killed
00:18:02
right there
00:18:04
[Music]
00:18:08
a witness help police reconstruct but
00:18:11
was very likely carolyn killaby 'he's
00:18:13
last evening alive do you tell it on her
00:18:18
face she's been crying she was alone she
00:18:22
didn't want to be with anybody she's
00:18:24
upset if she would have one more drink
00:18:28
she would have been passed out probably
00:18:30
on a hospital she's really bad off
00:18:35
Dennis Smith was a club regular
00:18:37
according to the witness Smith had had
00:18:40
his eye on Carolyn all night long at
00:18:42
around 11:30 he made his move it's just
00:18:48
the way he walked up to her is as if
00:18:50
there's old France but she didn't know
00:18:53
who she is with he spoke to her for a
00:18:57
few seconds she lifted her head up he
00:19:02
had one arm around his neck and had a
00:19:05
hold of it and walked out with her
00:19:09
Carolyn disappeared the night of
00:19:11
November 11th less than 72 hours later
00:19:14
detectives decided it was time to have a
00:19:16
talk with Dennis Smith was it you talked
00:19:19
to you talked to the bouncer what did
00:19:22
you tell him we talked to him for quite
00:19:24
a long time bouncer about this person
00:19:26
his story changed a little bit but not
00:19:29
enough to make a big difference okay
00:19:32
said the waitress or bartender which is
00:19:36
it thank you
00:19:36
probably the both of them at this point
00:19:38
he would laugh at times for no real
00:19:42
apparent reason which is very indicative
00:19:45
of someone that's trying to be deceitful
00:19:48
you were in your truck for 45 minutes
00:19:50
you know what happened come on come on
00:19:56
dance for all adults what's going on
00:19:58
look what happens she attacked me so you
00:20:01
know I'm winded I'm pretty tired after
00:20:03
that and we you know maybe she attacked
00:20:06
you didn't know know what I'm talking
00:20:08
about come on you know we did we had sex
00:20:11
and then I left and then I as I got out
00:20:13
the truck and I go around to two and
00:20:17
then I see this guy he's got like this
00:20:19
Smith 102 claim that the stranger
00:20:21
threatened him and then took Carolyn
00:20:23
away
00:20:25
detectives had a hard time believing the
00:20:27
story especially when they inspected
00:20:29
Smith's pickup truck
00:20:31
oh man that's more than a cigarette burn
00:20:36
yeah it looks like he took a torch to it
00:20:38
it was not just the gaping hole in the
00:20:41
seat that aroused suspicions the seat
00:20:43
cover had been removed and every inch of
00:20:45
carpeting had been stripped off the
00:20:47
floor and at that point basically I knew
00:20:52
that Dennis was hiding something from us
00:20:54
maybe any evidence that Carolyn was in
00:20:58
his truck or that something bad happened
00:21:01
to her in the truck however without
00:21:04
proof that Carolyn was dead suspicions
00:21:06
alone were not enough to keep Dennis
00:21:08
Smith in custody let alone bring him to
00:21:10
trial by the time authorities amassed
00:21:13
enough evidence to charge him with
00:21:15
murders Smith had left town our program
00:21:18
flushed him out of hiding
00:21:19
here's Keeley Shay Smith with a dramatic
00:21:22
details Bob
00:21:25
Dennis Smith fled Washington and kept
00:21:27
running until he reached the other side
00:21:28
of the country he ended up in the town
00:21:31
of New Smyrna Beach Florida where he
00:21:33
introduced himself as Dave Sanborn but
00:21:35
by any name he still looked like Dennis
00:21:37
Keith Smith on the night we profiled the
00:21:42
accused killer
00:21:43
Tracy ha tlemen and John Cummings got
00:21:45
together to watch the show with their
00:21:47
new friend Dave Sanborn he kind of
00:21:50
started yet
00:21:51
and I said oh my gosh Johnny I said look
00:21:53
who that looks like and he was sitting
00:21:55
right next to me and they started
00:21:58
describing the color of his tattoos that
00:22:00
were on his arm and I said I looked over
00:22:02
and I said you have those color tattoos
00:22:04
you know and he asked me is there
00:22:07
anything else on he didn't want to watch
00:22:08
the show and I said no I like the show
00:22:10
I'll watch it and he you know got out
00:22:12
and went in the kitchen he started
00:22:14
pacing around when Smith drove off in
00:22:17
their car and disappeared John and Tracy
00:22:19
notified authorities police caught up
00:22:22
with Smith two days later at this
00:22:24
intersection he did not give up easily
00:22:27
he turned and charged the officers in a
00:22:30
fight ensued during the course of that
00:22:32
fight he attempted to remove the firearm
00:22:36
from one of the officers was beginning
00:22:40
to successfully remove that firearm when
00:22:43
the second officer fired a single shot
00:22:45
striking mr. Smith in the neck Smith was
00:22:48
also shot in the wrist during the
00:22:50
struggle after two weeks in the hospital
00:22:52
he had recovered enough to appear in a
00:22:55
Florida Court
00:23:00
[Music]
00:23:16
coming up the tragic and perplexing
00:23:19
death of Jean Benet Ramsey what do the
00:23:22
police know about her killer but first a
00:23:26
dangerous blood disorder leaves a
00:23:28
newborn infant a serious risk until an
00:23:30
anonymous Good Samaritan comes to the
00:23:32
rescue
00:23:36
[Music]
00:23:48
June 22nd 1966 blue port news virginia
00:23:52
Oh an urgent call for help in the middle
00:23:57
of the night but the young man who
00:23:59
responds is not a surgeon or a paramedic
00:24:01
he is a blood donor an honor sung hero
00:24:05
someone to help save the life of a
00:24:06
newborn infant all right I'll get there
00:24:08
since I can
00:24:09
[Music]
00:24:17
come on in 24 hours earlier and Wilson
00:24:22
had given birth to a second daughter
00:24:24
when a man's first child was born breech
00:24:27
and she prayed that when they would be
00:24:29
delivered without complication labor
00:24:43
went very smoothly very quick Rene was
00:24:45
born at 11:02 you know I was excited and
00:24:47
happy to be having any baby and of
00:24:50
course I checked her fingers and checked
00:24:52
her toes and all that to make sure she
00:24:53
was all there and thought she was most
00:24:55
beautiful baby I had ever seen in my
00:24:56
life cuz she was so pretty and nothing
00:25:01
abnormal about her looking at all to me
00:25:06
we'd had a problem with the first
00:25:10
daughter and we thought the doctors
00:25:13
assured us that everything was okay with
00:25:15
Rene and we just thought everything was
00:25:17
it was good together and and then this
00:25:20
problem came up with her blood it was
00:25:24
more than just a problem Rene was in
00:25:27
serious trouble she had a rare blood
00:25:29
disorder which can be fatal
00:25:31
well we've just completed all the tests
00:25:33
on your little girl and I'm afraid the
00:25:35
results confirmed that she's going to
00:25:37
need a complete blood transfusion and
00:25:39
what that means is she needs to have all
00:25:41
of her blood replaced by that of a donor
00:25:43
a live donor so we are looking right now
00:25:46
to find that donor and make that
00:25:48
transfusion I gave her my blood I wish
00:25:50
it was that simple but your blood type
00:25:52
isn't right neither is your husband so
00:25:54
we need to find is the first test that
00:25:56
was done told them that the white
00:25:58
corpuscles were eating up her red blood
00:26:00
corpuscles and that they were going to
00:26:03
have to give Rene a transfusion this
00:26:06
would be a complete transfusion if they
00:26:08
were going to
00:26:08
to drain all the blood out of her body
00:26:11
and put this plug back in from a donor
00:26:13
it was very scary
00:26:15
not realizing really what was going on
00:26:19
and not having anybody to ask any
00:26:21
questions and in the middle of the night
00:26:22
as well there were only three potential
00:26:28
donors within driving distance of the
00:26:30
hospital for whatever reasons fate luck
00:26:33
or mere happenstance the anonymous young
00:26:35
stranger was a donor who responded first
00:26:43
as far as knowing who that person was or
00:26:46
how they would contact them I didn't
00:26:49
really have any idea and I think I was
00:26:51
so caught up in the thought of you know
00:26:54
what was taking place with Renee that I
00:26:55
didn't really think about the donor with
00:27:01
no time to spare the transfusion began
00:27:03
by Anne Wilson's account the procedure
00:27:06
lasted until 3 a.m.
00:27:09
[Music]
00:27:11
I drifted off into like a Twilight sleep
00:27:15
I guess and then I must have you know
00:27:17
really gone to sleep because the next
00:27:19
thing I remember was the doctor came in
00:27:21
and tapped me on my hand good news I
00:27:27
just checked under an a and she's gonna
00:27:29
be just fine the transfusion was a
00:27:32
complete success
00:27:34
[Music]
00:27:36
I'm gonna go get some sleep you have
00:27:39
some pleasant dreams now
00:27:41
see in the morning baby run i quickly
00:27:48
recovered and soon went home of their
00:27:50
parents she led a perfectly normal
00:27:52
childhood and was as happy and healthy
00:27:54
as both of her sisters it wasn't until
00:27:57
she was a teenager that Rene learned
00:27:59
about the mysterious stranger whose
00:28:01
singular act of kindness had saved her
00:28:03
life I want to find him just to shake
00:28:08
his hand or just to give him a hug and
00:28:10
say thank you for saving my life
00:28:12
I have a lot to look forward to and I'm
00:28:17
just very grateful that he didn't say no
00:28:19
you know I can't come to the hospital to
00:28:22
give the blood now or I'm too tired or
00:28:25
no I have to be up in three hours for
00:28:27
work sorry you know cuz I wouldn't be
00:28:30
here if he had done that
00:28:31
[Music]
00:28:34
unfortunately there are no records that
00:28:36
would help identify the unknown Good
00:28:37
Samaritan and Wilson recalls that he was
00:28:40
in his mid-twenties and had dark hair
00:28:42
and eyes he's now being as mid-50s in
00:28:45
1966 the man lived near the Riverside
00:28:47
Hospital in Newport News Virginia next
00:28:52
stripping took her inside the sex
00:28:54
industry and close to the mob curiosity
00:28:57
drew her to the bizarre rituals of
00:28:58
modern-day vampires no one knows what
00:29:02
made Susan Walsh disappeared
00:29:04
[Music]
00:29:19
gave away over here today don't watch so
00:29:21
much television okay read a book or
00:29:23
something July 16 1996 Susan Walsh was
00:29:27
in a hurry
00:29:28
she dropped off her son David with her
00:29:30
estranged husband she never said exactly
00:29:33
where she was going
00:29:34
thanks mark you'll be back right uh yeah
00:29:37
I got to make a couple of phone calls
00:29:39
and run a few errands okay and just a
00:29:42
few minutes okay but it wouldn't be a
00:29:45
matter of minutes at all that morning 36
00:29:48
year-old Susan Walsh walked away from
00:29:50
her home and her life she disappeared
00:29:53
into the streets of Nutley New Jersey
00:29:55
the brief commuter train trip from
00:29:57
Manhattan what happened to Susan Walsh
00:30:03
the police believe she simply chose to
00:30:05
disappear but the truth is elusive and
00:30:08
may be far more sinister some says's and
00:30:12
walsh was murdered by mobsters some say
00:30:15
she overdosed on drugs others believe
00:30:18
she vanished into a subterranean culture
00:30:20
of sex and danger that lured her in and
00:30:22
never let go
00:30:27
from the time Susan Walsh as a little
00:30:29
girl her dream was to be a poet and
00:30:31
writer but a broken home and unhappy
00:30:33
childhood made reaching that goal a
00:30:35
constant struggle by the time Susan was
00:30:41
in her twenties she was instead an
00:30:43
admitted alcoholic a drug addict a
00:30:45
stripper still she kept her dream alive
00:30:48
stripping paid her way through college
00:30:50
when Susan graduated in 1984 she cleaned
00:30:54
up her act mark by 1988 Susan had been
00:31:03
sober for four years she had married and
00:31:06
most important she'd become a devoted
00:31:08
mother Susan loved her son very much and
00:31:17
she was always there for her son the two
00:31:20
things that meant a lot to her were her
00:31:23
son and her career as a journalist
00:31:28
eventually Susan her husband separated
00:31:31
though Susan still dreamed of being a
00:31:33
writer she had a tough time getting
00:31:35
breaks to support her song she went back
00:31:38
to stripping unable to resist the easy
00:31:40
money and seductive lifestyle Susan
00:31:45
would say she was like an addict and did
00:31:47
the whole sexism was kind of like an
00:31:48
addiction and she was trying to break
00:31:51
this addiction she will talk endlessly
00:31:54
on an intellectual level against dancing
00:31:57
and sometimes with great articulation
00:31:59
you know you feel like this is a very
00:32:01
profound stuff and then you know she's
00:32:04
out there doing it hey Natalie lunch in
00:32:07
half an hour okay ironically stripping
00:32:09
helped provide the critical boost to
00:32:11
Susan's journalistic career eventually
00:32:14
she landed an internship at New York's
00:32:16
freewheeling village voice researching
00:32:18
the sex industry she soon turned up a
00:32:21
hot story Russian mobsters in New Jersey
00:32:24
were allegedly forcing young Russian
00:32:26
women to work in strip clubs like slaves
00:32:29
Susan how you doing that's the call I've
00:32:31
been waiting for the van guy yeah I
00:32:33
think he's gonna take me to the head guy
00:32:35
the head of the mom when he's supposed
00:32:37
to be out there tonight 11 o'clock right
00:32:39
Susan was a fantastic researcher she
00:32:42
really poured herself into this she's
00:32:43
been hour after hour day after day then
00:32:46
she got into the situation where a lot
00:32:49
of these clubs in New Jersey have silent
00:32:51
partners some of the people were alleged
00:32:53
to be an organized crime the managers in
00:32:56
these clubs began to side with the
00:32:58
Russian women against the Russian
00:33:00
manager so it was like the two mobs meet
00:33:03
and Susan then of course loved this
00:33:04
thing and she got right in the middle of
00:33:06
it Susan
00:33:08
earned praise for the Russian mob
00:33:09
article but she also got threats Susan
00:33:12
felt she may have made enemies her next
00:33:15
big project may also a put her in
00:33:17
jeopardy
00:33:19
Susan watts from The Village Voice do
00:33:22
you know why Jericho in the early 90s
00:33:26
bizarre vampire clubs began springing up
00:33:28
in New York's Greenwich Village the
00:33:31
clubs boasted a dicey clientele many
00:33:34
claim to be real blood drinkers susan
00:33:48
was so taken by the vampire world she
00:33:50
even started dating a man who claimed to
00:33:52
be one of the undead
00:33:54
Susan wrote a detailed article but in
00:33:57
this case her journalistic judgment
00:33:59
seems skewed she said of like took it in
00:34:03
whole cloth and she believed a lot of
00:34:06
the things that these guys were telling
00:34:08
her that you know about how there were
00:34:10
secret murders and so on and so forth in
00:34:12
the vampire world she would come and say
00:34:17
to me and I met these two guys and they
00:34:19
got this van and it's very scary and I
00:34:21
don't know whether I should go in their
00:34:22
van and so I said you know hey look
00:34:25
don't go in the van because they might
00:34:28
not be vampires you know to Susan's
00:34:32
disappointment The Village Voice never
00:34:33
ran our article on vampires but in June
00:34:36
of 1996 the month before she disappeared
00:34:39
Susan's career was again on an uptick
00:34:42
she had done the primary research for a
00:34:44
book by James Ridgeway and Sylvia play a
00:34:46
red light inside the sex industry
00:34:50
however the night of the publishers
00:34:52
party
00:34:52
James Ridgeway noticed that Susan's
00:34:54
wrists were bandaged
00:35:00
what okay this is nothing all right this
00:35:03
is me in the shower just hit I want to
00:35:05
see what it felt like okay yeah it's
00:35:07
cool okay it's totally cool Ridgeway was
00:35:10
also concerned that Susan was taking
00:35:12
tranquilizers and it started drinking
00:35:14
again and I just said ah Susan you know
00:35:19
for an alcoholic to do this it's like
00:35:21
really bad you know and I said you've
00:35:22
got to go to AAA please go to a please
00:35:26
go to the doctor by now Susan was back
00:35:30
to dancing full time in a documentary
00:35:32
being made by an old friend Susan talked
00:35:35
about what a toll stripping had taken
00:35:40
four years too long I'd say and I'm
00:35:43
stuck in this conundrum because I feel
00:35:45
so drained very damaged from this
00:35:50
business I'm hurting very bad I was with
00:35:52
her two days before she disappeared and
00:35:54
she said she had bronchitis emphysema
00:35:57
and an ulcer she said she had been in
00:35:59
the hospital twice that week she was
00:36:02
talked about her mood swings and being
00:36:05
depressed and about just holding on to
00:36:10
live 48 hours after Jill laughs ah Susan
00:36:19
the mystery began did Susan collapse
00:36:23
somewhere because of her depression and
00:36:24
poor health
00:36:25
if so police say her body would have
00:36:28
been found or she would have surfaced in
00:36:30
a hospital her continued absence forces
00:36:33
her friends and family to paint
00:36:35
scenarios that are much darker I think
00:36:40
Susan was probably pretty hooked on
00:36:43
drugs and I think she went out and
00:36:46
probably called somebody to come and get
00:36:48
her
00:36:48
and then she went and she may very well
00:36:52
have od'd and she may very well have
00:36:56
od'd in the presence of someone who knew
00:36:59
her and was frightened to do anything
00:37:02
about it
00:37:03
the police have a completely different
00:37:05
theory I believe that Susan Walsh is a
00:37:08
life for someone no reason to me at this
00:37:11
time she opted to leave her family
00:37:14
home which she has a perfect right to do
00:37:19
detective Ryan has talked to a number of
00:37:22
people who believe they've actually seen
00:37:23
Susan including her old friend Melissa
00:37:26
Hines
00:37:28
[Music]
00:37:35
I definitely think it was ha I'm
00:37:39
positive that I seen Susan a month after
00:37:42
she disappeared a license plate number
00:37:44
that Melissa Hines provided to us we did
00:37:47
track down we spoke to the owner and
00:37:50
operator that vehicle he had been with a
00:37:52
woman fitting description of Susan he
00:37:55
did view photographs and felt he was
00:37:57
pretty sure that had been her but again
00:37:59
we had no positive identification of
00:38:01
Susan Walsh at that time Melissa
00:38:05
believes that if Susan is alive she may
00:38:08
be deliberately hiding out Susan
00:38:12
definitely felt that she was in danger
00:38:13
she was scared for her life and I think
00:38:16
she was also scared her son's life could
00:38:19
be in danger too Susan actually told me
00:38:24
that she wasn't gonna make it
00:38:26
in the next year she felt that she that
00:38:29
she was gonna be killed
00:38:31
I believe there's a chance that the mob
00:38:35
was after her people in organized crime
00:38:39
were concerned that Susan had
00:38:41
information that would send them to jail
00:38:44
according to Susan that's was the case
00:38:48
someone was definitely following Susan I
00:38:53
thought at first that it was just her
00:38:56
imagination but I seen it with my own
00:38:58
eyes I would see cars follow her both of
00:39:05
us people follow my car she was in my
00:39:08
car
00:39:09
so it was definitely somebody was
00:39:13
stalking huh who could have been
00:39:17
following Susan Walsh was she the target
00:39:19
of a mob hit
00:39:20
did she crossed paths with the wrong
00:39:22
person in the vampire clubs or was she
00:39:25
the victim of her own paranoia brought
00:39:28
on by drug use Susan Walsh is 36 years
00:39:32
old she is five foot six weighs 110
00:39:35
pounds and has blue eyes and bleached
00:39:37
blond hair next she was poison
00:39:43
accomplished beyond her years she is
00:39:46
mourned by the entire country who killed
00:39:49
Sean Binet Ramsey
00:39:50
[Music]
00:40:02
the following story originally aired on
00:40:05
January 31st 1997 it does not include
00:40:08
the most recent developments in the case
00:40:14
in death she has become America's
00:40:17
Sweetheart
00:40:18
but the haunting images of a poised
00:40:20
sista kated woman-child clipped the
00:40:22
reality she could have been anyone's
00:40:24
daughter anyone's neighbour offstage
00:40:28
JonBenet Ramsay was probably like most
00:40:30
other six-year-old girls
00:40:31
sensitive fragile and vulnerable now she
00:40:35
is gone sexually assaulted and strangled
00:40:38
in the basement of her own home on
00:40:40
Christmas night 1996 it's been five
00:40:46
weeks and the entire country is
00:40:48
demanding to know who committed this
00:40:49
horrible crime the initial shock is
00:40:52
given away to a kind of national anxiety
00:40:54
and given rise to other questions why is
00:40:58
it taking so long
00:40:59
what do the police know why haven't they
00:41:02
found a suspect or cleared the family
00:41:04
the questions may seem unfair to
00:41:06
investigators but they are
00:41:08
understandable after all there is a
00:41:10
killer at large this elegant home in
00:41:16
Boulder Colorado is where Shaun Benet
00:41:18
Ramsey lived and died
00:41:20
Boulder itself is a place for murder
00:41:22
almost never happens
00:41:24
Jon Benet was a city's only homicide
00:41:26
victim during all of 1996 her father
00:41:32
John is a millionaire businessman her
00:41:34
mother Patricia is a former Miss West
00:41:36
Virginia who guided JonBenet's
00:41:38
well-documented career as a child beauty
00:41:40
queen
00:41:43
today the details of the case like the
00:41:45
fairytale family history are agonizingly
00:41:48
familiar the ransom note found the
00:41:51
morning after Christmas demanding the
00:41:53
peculiar sum of 118 thousand dollars the
00:41:57
discovery of full eight hours later a
00:41:59
Shah Benes body in the basement John
00:42:03
Ramsay's panic-stricken decision to
00:42:05
carry his daughter upstairs
00:42:06
thus disturbing the crime scene and
00:42:09
destroying crucial evidence the stunning
00:42:11
revelation of the ransom note in an
00:42:13
apparent practice were written on
00:42:15
notepad paper from the Ramsey home and
00:42:18
finally widespread speculation that
00:42:21
someone in the family was involved
00:42:23
coupled with widespread criticism of the
00:42:25
police investigation they have said that
00:42:30
they're playing it exactly by the book
00:42:31
they may be withholding evidence that
00:42:34
they can use to identify the killer I
00:42:38
think they would say this is proper
00:42:40
procedure it appeared to me that the
00:42:43
beginning of the investigation the
00:42:46
police did not seem to be doing as
00:42:48
thorough a job as they would which would
00:42:51
be try to get every piece of information
00:42:54
and in this particular case it may have
00:42:57
something to do with the prominence of
00:42:58
the family or that they were you know
00:43:00
unused to a murder investigation or
00:43:04
something like that in boulders we have
00:43:07
never contended that anyone is or is not
00:43:10
a suspect we have not ruled anybody in
00:43:13
nor have we ruled anybody out we are
00:43:15
continuing the investigation despite the
00:43:19
lack of a known suspect or suspects the
00:43:21
boulder police chief has assured local
00:43:23
residents that they have nothing to fear
00:43:25
there is not a crazed child killer on
00:43:28
the loose stranger Chow homicide is rare
00:43:32
so I would be likely to place my
00:43:36
investigative resources more on people
00:43:38
who had access to the child rather than
00:43:40
people on the outside all the things
00:43:43
that I've learned about the family would
00:43:45
point away from the immediate family
00:43:47
obviously you can't rule out anyone in
00:43:50
this and I'm sure the police have not
00:43:51
ruled out anyone
00:43:54
in the eyes of many the [Â __Â ] at the
00:43:57
crime scene was essentially closed
00:43:59
limited to the home itself makes John
00:44:02
and Patsy Ramsey natural suspects in
00:44:05
addition much has been made of the
00:44:07
Ramsey's apparent reluctance to
00:44:08
cooperate with the police and the fact
00:44:10
that they both hired individual
00:44:12
attorneys within days of their
00:44:13
daughter's death for their part the
00:44:17
Ramseys have repeatedly denied any
00:44:19
knowledge of the murder friends and
00:44:21
neighbors have been quick to come to
00:44:22
their defense insisting at the families
00:44:25
above reproach and beyond suspicion but
00:44:29
if not one of the Ramsay's then who that
00:44:33
is the $64,000 question if it were as
00:44:37
simple as a family member I would have
00:44:39
expected an arrest very early in this
00:44:42
case I would have thought that they
00:44:44
would have come up with some lab
00:44:45
evidence that would have tied someone to
00:44:48
the murder
00:44:49
either that hasn't happen or they don't
00:44:53
have a suspect or they have a suspect
00:44:57
but they're trying to make sure that
00:44:59
they have dotted every I and crossed
00:45:02
every T and they've got this person dead
00:45:04
cold before they actually make an arrest
00:45:08
[Music]
00:45:17
on our next unsolved mysteries when
00:45:20
rock-and-roll star Kurt Cobain was found
00:45:23
dead in his home all the experts said it
00:45:25
was suicide but this private
00:45:27
investigator is convinced that the truth
00:45:29
about Cobain's death has yet to be
00:45:31
revealed join me next time for another
00:45:35
fascinating our unsolved mysteries
00:45:41
[Music]
00:46:17
[Music]
