Search Captions & Ask AI

Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 4, Episode 8 - Updated Full Episode

March 16, 2022 / 45:17

This episode of Unsolved Mysteries covers three main topics: the unsolved murder of Roger Dean in Littleton, Colorado, a woman's hypnotic memories of Pearl Harbor, and the extravagant shopping spree of con artist Liza Montgomery.

The first segment focuses on the murder of Roger Dean in 1985. Dean was shot in his home, and his widow, DJ Dean, later received threatening letters from the killer demanding money. The investigation revealed inconsistencies in the crime scene, leading authorities to suspect that Dean may have staged the incident.

The second segment features Sharon Johnson, who, under hypnosis, recounts vivid memories of the Pearl Harbor attack despite being born years later. Hypnotherapist Frank Baranowski facilitated these sessions, uncovering details that matched historical records, although some experts questioned the validity of her memories.

The final segment highlights Liza Montgomery, who went on a shopping spree in Las Vegas, spending over $150,000 with counterfeit checks. Her extravagant purchases raised suspicions, leading to a police chase, but she managed to evade capture.

Throughout the episode, viewers are encouraged to provide tips that may help solve these mysteries.

TL;DR

This episode features Roger Dean's murder, Sharon Johnson's past life memories of Pearl Harbor, and Liza Montgomery's $150,000 shopping spree con.

Episode

45:17
00:00:04
this program is about unsolved mysteries
00:00:07
whenever possible the actual family
00:00:09
members and police officials have
00:00:10
participated in recreating the events
00:00:12
what you're about to see is not a news
00:00:14
broadcast
00:00:20
an unknown killer stalks a family in
00:00:22
denver colorado in 1985 roger dean was
00:00:26
gunned down in cold blood in his own
00:00:28
house
00:00:29
five years later the killer contacted
00:00:31
dean's widow and threatened to kill her
00:00:33
daughter unless he was paid extortion
00:00:35
money
00:00:37
december 7 1941 a japanese sneak attack
00:00:41
devastates pearl harbor
00:00:43
nearly 40 years later a woman under
00:00:45
hypnosis provided a detailed first-hand
00:00:48
account of that infamous day which
00:00:50
occurred a full 10 years before she was
00:00:52
born
00:00:54
in las vegas an eccentric beautiful con
00:00:56
artist named liza montgomery went on a
00:00:58
wild two-day christmas shopping spree
00:01:01
and gobbled up 150 000 worth of jewelry
00:01:04
furs and other luxury items
00:01:08
join me perhaps you may be able to help
00:01:11
solve a mystery
00:01:14
[Music]
00:01:28
[Applause]
00:01:37
[Applause]
00:01:41
[Music]
00:02:03
december 7th 1941 7 38 a.m pearl harbor
00:02:07
hawaii
00:02:10
for those who were there and survived it
00:02:12
was indeed a day that will live in
00:02:14
infamy
00:02:15
their memories are as vivid today as
00:02:17
they were 50 years ago
00:02:22
smoke
00:02:23
[Music]
00:02:31
those aren't
00:02:35
[Music]
00:02:42
i gotta get it done
00:02:57
the narrative you have just heard was
00:02:59
related by a woman under hypnosis
00:03:02
she was born in 1952
00:03:04
11 years after the attack on pearl
00:03:06
harbor
00:03:11
the woman claims no more than a passing
00:03:13
knowledge of the events of that fateful
00:03:14
sunday morning
00:03:16
yet much of her account is filled with
00:03:17
specific names and details which lead
00:03:19
some to believe that she was actually
00:03:21
present during the attack
00:03:23
in a past life
00:03:25
others however are convinced that her
00:03:27
memories are no more than a byproduct of
00:03:29
hypnotic suggestion
00:03:31
in either case the details of the story
00:03:33
define logical explanation
00:03:35
the woman at the center of this baffling
00:03:37
mystery of the mind is asked to remain
00:03:39
anonymous
00:03:40
we shall call her sharon johnson
00:03:47
in 1979 sharon johnson first visited
00:03:50
hypnotherapist frank baranowski because
00:03:53
she wanted help losing weight
00:03:55
in 20 years of practice baronowski has
00:03:58
placed thousands of patients under
00:03:59
hypnosis
00:04:01
everyone hypnotized before
00:04:03
no you know when sharon was hypnotized
00:04:05
she began to experience a recurring
00:04:07
nightmare of smoke and fire which had
00:04:09
plagued her since childhood
00:04:11
[Music]
00:04:19
water's on fire
00:04:21
no water's burning
00:04:26
all right sharon all right all right
00:04:28
relax relax deeply relax now i don't
00:04:31
have dreams like that as much as i used
00:04:33
to you know just periodically
00:04:36
uh the dream started when i was very
00:04:38
small i always remember having the
00:04:40
dreams about fires and explosions
00:04:43
[Music]
00:04:47
sharon lost 30 pounds but the dream
00:04:49
remained unexplained
00:04:50
[Music]
00:04:52
six months later she visited hawaii for
00:04:54
the first time on a group tour with
00:04:56
frank baranowski and some of his friends
00:04:58
[Music]
00:05:01
it was strange when i was there because
00:05:03
there were places that i i went to when
00:05:06
i was there that it was like i've been
00:05:07
here before i've seen this i knew where
00:05:09
things were
00:05:11
that i
00:05:12
couldn't have known about
00:05:15
[Music]
00:05:16
sharon's visit to the battleship arizona
00:05:18
memorial at pearl harbor triggered the
00:05:20
same anxiety as her recurring nightmare
00:05:23
she returned to her hotel room and asked
00:05:26
frank to hypnotize her
00:05:28
during this session sharon began to
00:05:30
speak as never before and a new persona
00:05:32
emerged
00:05:34
his name was john gillespie
00:05:37
so we take her to the time when she
00:05:39
she's sharon johnson we go back to age
00:05:41
12 age 10 age 5 down to birth and then i
00:05:44
i asked her to start recalling something
00:05:46
that happened i said when i reached the
00:05:47
count of 12 you'll be in the 12th
00:05:50
season of your life okay and suddenly
00:05:53
when she's there uh she's talking like a
00:05:55
12 year old what's your name john
00:05:58
john glaspie i'm a junior
00:06:00
oh we're yet on the farm
00:06:03
at what farm i said where are you about
00:06:05
she's what this is omaha
00:06:08
omaha yeah well
00:06:10
omaha nebraska
00:06:14
as the session continued a chilling
00:06:16
account of the surprise japanese attack
00:06:18
began to emerge
00:06:22
bombs dropping everywhere they're
00:06:23
everywhere
00:06:24
let's play super well in farmers with it
00:06:32
in the account several men were named
00:06:34
were on board the nevada at the time of
00:06:36
the attack
00:06:38
among them a captain stanley a paymaster
00:06:40
cooper and then some tossing don't worry
00:06:43
about me
00:06:44
take them forward take a fork and scare
00:06:46
the main guns in sharon's memory tossing
00:06:49
was particularly prominent
00:06:51
he was apparently the son of an admiral
00:06:53
and was badly injured
00:06:58
[Music]
00:07:02
a few minutes later the story came to an
00:07:04
abrupt end
00:07:09
[Music]
00:07:10
with great pain sharon realized that
00:07:13
john gillespie had been killed very good
00:07:18
deeper relaxed
00:07:20
up to that point i had not had a past
00:07:23
life regression
00:07:26
i wanted to know more about what had
00:07:28
happened and and who the person was that
00:07:30
i felt i was in this
00:07:32
traumatic experience i just had
00:07:35
how about your grandfather what's his
00:07:37
name
00:07:38
they call him red
00:07:40
over the next few months sharon
00:07:42
underwent regressive hypnosis 20 more
00:07:44
times
00:07:45
frank recorded the details of these
00:07:47
sessions and then set out to see if the
00:07:49
story of john gillespie could be
00:07:51
documented
00:07:53
in one hypnosis session sharon speaking
00:07:56
as john gillespie listed the names of
00:07:58
nine men serving in the uss nevada
00:08:01
she also gave john gillespie's serial
00:08:03
number
00:08:04
[Music]
00:08:07
frank baranowski turned to the office of
00:08:09
congressman john rhodes for help good
00:08:11
morning frank bob scanlon senior aide to
00:08:13
the congressman was assigned the case
00:08:16
thank you
00:08:17
when he first asked for our help and
00:08:20
briefed me on the problem
00:08:22
i was pretty skeptical i thought you
00:08:24
know we get a lot of strange requests
00:08:26
and this has to be one of the strangest
00:08:28
i know it's rather incredible but she
00:08:30
gives me names dates and places of
00:08:32
people
00:08:33
i have no way of checking here when i
00:08:35
heard the story and listen to the tapes
00:08:38
i figured that our office in washington
00:08:40
certainly should be able to get into
00:08:41
naval archives and either prove or
00:08:44
disprove what this young lady had said
00:08:48
using congressional privileges scanlon
00:08:50
obtained the nevada's roster of officers
00:08:52
from the national archives in washington
00:08:54
dc
00:08:58
amazingly eight of the nine men sharon
00:09:00
mentioned were listed
00:09:02
[Music]
00:09:04
i remember when i received that and
00:09:06
first read it i told my secretary that i
00:09:09
don't know whether to point with pride
00:09:10
or view with alarm this was a strange
00:09:13
result that i really didn't expect
00:09:16
however the ensign tossing who would
00:09:18
play such a prominent part in cher's
00:09:20
past life memory was not included on the
00:09:23
list
00:09:23
[Music]
00:09:25
ensentosig was originally shown in all
00:09:28
naval records to have been in long beach
00:09:30
california the morning of the attack on
00:09:32
pearl harbor
00:09:34
when in fact he was on board the nevada
00:09:36
and was
00:09:38
was tragically injured that morning in
00:09:41
fact i think as we found later he lost a
00:09:44
leg due to the attack on pearl harbor
00:09:49
unsolved mysteries contacted robert
00:09:51
tosic a former ensign in the united
00:09:53
states navy
00:09:55
tossing declined to be interviewed on
00:09:56
camera but incredibly confirmed many
00:09:59
details of sharon's account
00:10:02
he was on board the nevada that day and
00:10:04
in fact had to have his leg amputated
00:10:08
[Music]
00:10:09
the name john gillespie does not appear
00:10:11
on any of the ship's rosters
00:10:15
the navy admits the only records that
00:10:18
they carried were the pay masters
00:10:19
records on board that ship the fires
00:10:21
raged incessantly for two days
00:10:23
all of that was destroyed
00:10:26
fire would also frustrate any attempt to
00:10:29
verify the serial number of john
00:10:31
gillespie
00:10:32
in 1973 flames ravaged a naval warehouse
00:10:36
in saint louis destroying the service
00:10:38
records of thousands of seamen from
00:10:39
world war ii
00:10:42
uh how about your grandmother
00:10:44
sharon's past life memory also included
00:10:46
information about john gillespie's
00:10:48
personal life
00:10:50
under hypnosis she stated that he was
00:10:52
born in 1921 in omaha nebraska
00:10:55
the son of john gillespie senior and
00:10:57
grandson of harry gillespie
00:11:01
in census records from 1899 frank found
00:11:04
what he believes is proof that john
00:11:06
gillespie did exist
00:11:08
when we came across this frame we
00:11:10
founded harry gillespie
00:11:12
wife item a son benjamin son john and
00:11:16
that john was john gillespie's father
00:11:20
and he would have been 24 years old when
00:11:21
john was born exactly the right age
00:11:25
yes you can read about nebraska you can
00:11:27
read about the farmlands you can read
00:11:29
about omaha and lincoln and all of those
00:11:32
places but
00:11:33
unless you have experienced something
00:11:35
then where do you get specific names
00:11:37
specific places
00:11:39
i mean your history how valid are
00:11:40
sharon's so-called past life experiences
00:11:44
at least one expert feels that sharon
00:11:46
may have absorbed details from books
00:11:48
from the power of hypnotic suggestion
00:11:53
well the information about tossing is
00:11:56
easily available
00:11:58
to
00:11:59
anyone who looks for it in a book that
00:12:02
tells a story
00:12:05
the events at pearl harbor
00:12:08
have probably
00:12:09
been as written about
00:12:12
as any incident in this century no she
00:12:15
never did any reading about pearl harbor
00:12:17
it was one of those things that she
00:12:19
just didn't care for when somebody would
00:12:21
mention she would just shut her up and
00:12:22
just walk away he
00:12:25
asks leading questions of his subjects
00:12:29
he seems to
00:12:31
take
00:12:32
control of the regression rather than
00:12:35
allowing
00:12:37
the person
00:12:38
involved to be in control and to
00:12:40
volunteer
00:12:42
information
00:12:45
in an attempt to refute the critics both
00:12:48
frank and sharon agreed to undergo
00:12:49
polygraph tests with glenn whiteside a
00:12:52
polygraph examiner for 20 years who has
00:12:54
been board certified in four states
00:12:58
in my opinion sharon and frank
00:13:01
absolutely are not
00:13:03
conducting a hoax they did not get their
00:13:06
information out of records books
00:13:09
they
00:13:11
are not
00:13:15
using
00:13:16
mind conditioning or hypnotic suggestion
00:13:19
they are not perpetrating a hoax in any
00:13:22
way
00:13:23
any place else
00:13:24
under hypnosis sharon revealed that john
00:13:26
gillespie had a hawaiian girlfriend
00:13:28
named sugar
00:13:30
this composite was made from cher's
00:13:32
description
00:13:33
john met sugar while he was stationed at
00:13:35
pearl harbor
00:13:36
if she exists sugar would today be 70
00:13:39
years old
00:13:43
for most of us the incredible facts of
00:13:45
this story seem hard to accept
00:13:48
how could a woman living today have such
00:13:50
vivid memories of someone else's life
00:13:52
and death at pearl harbor 50 years ago
00:13:55
is there any way to prove the details of
00:13:57
sharon's account beyond a shadow of a
00:13:59
doubt
00:14:00
probably not
00:14:01
but for believers there is no need to
00:14:07
next a killer has returned to torment
00:14:10
the family of the man he murdered
00:14:16
[Music]
00:14:25
littleton colorado is an affluent suburb
00:14:28
15 miles from denver its residents are
00:14:30
for the most part business and
00:14:32
professional people
00:14:35
roger dean was typical he and his wife
00:14:38
dj had lived in littleton for 15 years
00:14:43
november 21 1985 seemed like an ordinary
00:14:46
wednesday morning
00:14:48
except for the car nobody recognized
00:14:50
parked outside the dean home
00:14:53
some remembered it as a 68 pontiac
00:14:55
others as a 76 oldsmobile but all agreed
00:14:59
on one thing
00:15:00
they had never before seen the lone man
00:15:02
who sat inside
00:15:04
at the time they thought nothing of it
00:15:07
but at the time roger dean was still
00:15:10
alive
00:15:12
dj come out here
00:15:15
at approximately 7 a.m roger dean called
00:15:18
his wife dj into the bedroom jay come
00:15:21
out here
00:15:23
what is it roger all right lady shut up
00:15:25
and get on the bench oh shut up and get
00:15:28
on the bed shut up
00:15:31
tie your hands
00:15:32
the masked intruder forced roger to tie
00:15:34
a blindfold dj
00:15:37
then he took roger into another room
00:15:41
as dj lay bound helplessly on her bed
00:15:44
she could hear roger and the gunman
00:15:45
talking but she could not tell what they
00:15:47
were saying
00:15:51
you had enough time to think about it
00:15:53
how much money have you got in your
00:15:54
savings account i don't know how much
00:15:56
money have you got in your savings
00:15:58
account i don't know
00:16:03
dj heard the gunman rifling through
00:16:05
drawers
00:16:20
going to the bank let's go all right
00:16:22
i'll give you go
00:16:25
suddenly the gunman fired
00:16:28
the bullet ricocheted striking roger
00:16:30
dean in the arm
00:16:33
at the front door he fired again five
00:16:35
times at point-blank range
00:16:37
[Music]
00:16:45
roger dean died before paramedics could
00:16:48
be summoned
00:16:50
after i started hearing the gunshots i
00:16:53
made my
00:16:54
way down the steps
00:16:56
and i did get outside
00:17:00
and from there things are a little blur
00:17:04
i think someone
00:17:05
that was driving by must have come by
00:17:07
and taken
00:17:08
my blindfold off i'm really not even
00:17:11
sure of that
00:17:13
i just
00:17:15
knew that raj i saw raj went over to him
00:17:17
and he was lying in the street
00:17:20
and then
00:17:21
he was taken away and i was taken to the
00:17:24
neighbors
00:17:28
from the start authorities were struck
00:17:30
by several oddities in the case
00:17:32
roger had twine fiber embedded in only
00:17:34
one wrist
00:17:36
it appeared that roger had never
00:17:37
actually been tied up by the gunman went
00:17:39
on up the street there
00:17:42
also roger was wearing contact lenses
00:17:44
when he was shot look at these glasses
00:17:46
here yet strangely in an upstairs
00:17:48
bedroom his eyeglasses were found
00:17:50
covered with duct tape
00:17:53
police began to theorize that the twine
00:17:55
and the glasses were both red herrings
00:17:57
planted to give the impression that
00:17:59
roger had been blindfolded and bound
00:18:03
whoever wore them we believe that roger
00:18:04
hired an individual to come over to
00:18:08
basically kidnap him
00:18:10
take him to his bank
00:18:12
withdrawal thirty thousand dollars from
00:18:15
their account
00:18:16
and then obviously drop roger off
00:18:19
someplace
00:18:20
so roger could report a robbery and he
00:18:22
would have that thirty thousand dollars
00:18:24
to himself
00:18:28
the investigation two other unusual
00:18:30
facts emerged
00:18:32
in the year prior to his death roger
00:18:34
dean had taken nearly thirty thousand
00:18:36
dollars from his business and deposited
00:18:37
the money in a private account
00:18:39
unbeknownst to his wife
00:18:44
also on the day of his murder roger was
00:18:46
seen sipping coffee in his garage at 7am
00:18:50
on most weekdays roger left the house no
00:18:52
later than 6
00:18:54
15. what we make of that timing is that
00:18:58
he was waiting for
00:19:00
this individual to come and meet him at
00:19:02
his house
00:19:03
we also believe that the individual was
00:19:05
probably sitting in his car
00:19:07
when roger lifted the garage door which
00:19:09
was a signal for this individual to get
00:19:11
out of his car and walk over to roger's
00:19:13
home
00:19:15
this is the man that i
00:19:17
was married to for 26 years and
00:19:20
yes there had been
00:19:22
personal problems
00:19:24
in the last few years
00:19:27
especially since the death of our son
00:19:31
but i knew the man too well
00:19:32
[Music]
00:19:34
in my heart i cannot believe that roger
00:19:36
had anything to do with this
00:19:39
[Music]
00:19:42
tragedy was not new to dj dean
00:19:46
two years earlier her son had been
00:19:47
killed in an automobile accident
00:19:50
within a few months another accident
00:19:52
took the lives of her parents
00:19:54
dj and her daughter tammy tried
00:19:56
desperately to rebuild their lives
00:19:59
then five years after roger dean's
00:20:01
murder dj received a chilling anonymous
00:20:03
letter
00:20:05
its author claimed to be the man who had
00:20:07
killed her husband
00:20:12
the letter arrived on july 21 1990
00:20:15
[Music]
00:20:16
it demanded 100 thousand dollars
00:20:19
if roger's murder did not get the money
00:20:21
he planned to kill again
00:20:23
[Music]
00:20:24
do you know that i've met your daughter
00:20:26
tammy on a few occasions
00:20:28
she is a very attractive blonde and a
00:20:31
very good model
00:20:32
do not make me kill her
00:20:35
your son is dead your husband is dead
00:20:38
do not risk your daughter she is the
00:20:41
last one left
00:20:44
i was in
00:20:46
total shock
00:20:48
i mean this was like something that
00:20:50
doesn't happen to you this only happens
00:20:53
in the movies it makes me angry that we
00:20:55
had just started to get on with our
00:20:56
lives and put the past in the past
00:20:59
and it's all brought up to you again you
00:21:01
know this person isn't letting us
00:21:02
continue and we never did anything
00:21:05
to deserve this
00:21:08
dj and tammy notified the local
00:21:10
authorities in the fbi
00:21:12
the fbi had no doubt that the
00:21:14
extortionist was who he claimed to be
00:21:16
roger dean's killer
00:21:18
dj and tammy were given round-the-clock
00:21:20
protection
00:21:25
the killer had told dj that he would
00:21:26
telephone her on july 27 1990
00:21:30
fbi agents moved into dj's home and set
00:21:33
up a wiretap operation
00:21:37
wait for the second ring now
00:21:42
okay dj pick it up
00:21:46
hello
00:21:47
listen your husband owe me money and i
00:21:50
want my money
00:21:52
if my husband owed you money i'll pay
00:21:53
you what he owed you i want my money
00:21:56
i'll give it to you the fbi traced the
00:21:58
call to a phone booth in denver all
00:22:00
right i'll call you tomorrow
00:22:03
but before they could get there the
00:22:05
killer had disappeared
00:22:09
i don't believe my husband owed anyone
00:22:12
this money but that was what he said
00:22:15
and the phone calls continued and
00:22:17
continued and continued
00:22:22
after nearly a dozen phone calls the
00:22:24
extortionist told dj to drive to a
00:22:26
supermarket 20 miles north of her home
00:22:28
and wait for further instructions
00:22:32
okay dj be calm
00:22:36
with an fbi agent hidden in her car and
00:22:38
surveillance trucks and a swat team for
00:22:40
backup dj attempted to lure the killer
00:22:43
into a trap
00:22:44
okay she's out of the car
00:22:49
and she's headed across the parking lot
00:22:51
now she's headed towards the
00:22:59
i waited and i waited and i waited
00:23:03
i could not believe i was really having
00:23:06
to go through this chair
00:23:11
and then finally when i did get hello
00:23:14
a call
00:23:15
yes i was given instructions as to
00:23:20
which streets to take and where to make
00:23:22
the drop
00:23:26
the extortionist told dj to leave one
00:23:28
hundred thousand dollars in an alley
00:23:30
behind an apartment complex in downtown
00:23:32
denver
00:23:34
at 10 p.m on august 19 1990 dj left the
00:23:38
money once again shadowed by the fbi
00:23:45
[Music]
00:23:53
hello you haven't followed instructions
00:23:56
yes we have no you haven't you haven't
00:23:58
followed instructions and now i'm gonna
00:24:00
hurt you
00:24:01
he called about
00:24:02
it seemed like forever but a couple of
00:24:04
hours later
00:24:06
and was using a lot of profanity and
00:24:08
said that she had basically
00:24:11
not followed his instructions had not
00:24:12
done what he had told her to do
00:24:15
and that now he was going to
00:24:19
do what he had said that he would do to
00:24:20
me because of that he would hurt me
00:24:23
[Music]
00:24:25
the fbi kept the bundle of cash under
00:24:27
surveillance until dawn
00:24:29
it was never picked up whether or not he
00:24:33
spotted something
00:24:35
whether or not he just took for
00:24:37
granted that the law enforcement was
00:24:39
involved or whether or not he got cold
00:24:42
feet and although he didn't detect any
00:24:45
type of law enforcement he just
00:24:47
was too
00:24:48
scared
00:24:49
to actually make the pickup i think all
00:24:52
those are possibilities when he didn't
00:24:53
pick it up i was devastated because i
00:24:56
thought this is not over
00:24:59
i was totally devastated
00:25:01
there's nothing more that either one of
00:25:03
us want than
00:25:05
for this to be solved and for whoever
00:25:07
murdered my dad to be caught
00:25:10
and at the same time
00:25:12
for him to be
00:25:14
also caught for the fact that he's still
00:25:16
terrorizing us
00:25:17
he is still making us live a nightmare
00:25:20
that continues on and on all the time
00:25:26
in his last call the extortionist told
00:25:28
tammy he still planned to kill her and
00:25:29
that he would strike when she least
00:25:31
expected it
00:25:33
authorities know only the suspect is
00:25:35
about six feet tall and uses an
00:25:36
extensive vocabulary
00:25:39
interestingly they feel that the
00:25:40
extortion letters are written by a man
00:25:42
and a woman working in conjunction
00:25:46
[Music]
00:26:06
in the past four years 68 wanted
00:26:08
fugitives profile and unsolved mysteries
00:26:11
have been captured thanks to vital
00:26:13
information provided by you our viewers
00:26:16
one recent case is out of a convicted
00:26:18
con man wanted by nevada police for
00:26:20
murder
00:26:24
on october 6 1990 henderson nevada
00:26:27
police entered the home of 50 year old
00:26:29
joe weldon smith
00:26:30
inside the house they found the bodies
00:26:32
of smith's wife judith and his two
00:26:34
stepdaughters
00:26:37
all three victims had been strangled and
00:26:39
bludgeoned to death
00:26:44
hello two hours after the bodies were
00:26:47
discovered joe smith telephoned his
00:26:49
wife's daughter-in-law he denied any
00:26:51
involvement in the murders
00:26:53
joe
00:26:54
what's going on she called her on the
00:26:55
phone told her that
00:26:57
he had killed one of the people that did
00:26:59
the killing and knew who the other ones
00:27:01
were i'm gonna find the guys who did it
00:27:03
i know who they are
00:27:05
and i'm gonna kill them
00:27:07
in my opinion it was a ruse by mr smith
00:27:10
to
00:27:12
get support from judah smith's family
00:27:14
members and make them believe that he
00:27:15
was not involved in the killings
00:27:19
joe weldon smith was charged with three
00:27:21
counts of first-degree murder his
00:27:23
whereabouts remained a mystery until the
00:27:26
night of our broadcast
00:27:29
[Music]
00:27:31
just minutes after we profiled smith's
00:27:33
case an anonymous viewer called our
00:27:35
telecenter to report that the fugitive
00:27:37
was living near los angeles california
00:27:41
smith was hiding out at this motel but
00:27:43
managed to escape before he could be
00:27:45
apprehended
00:27:48
once we established that joe willand
00:27:49
smith was in the los angeles area we
00:27:51
focused our attention to his brother who
00:27:54
we knew that he had close contact with
00:27:56
after five days of surveilling this
00:27:58
brother we established where the suspect
00:28:00
was residing
00:28:04
20 minutes later joe weldon smith was
00:28:06
arrested at another local motel where he
00:28:08
was registered under an assumed name
00:28:13
inside smith's room detectives recovered
00:28:15
several credit and identification cards
00:28:18
smith told police that he was in the
00:28:20
process of creating a new identity
00:28:24
at the time of his arrest joe smith
00:28:25
indicated to me that he had seen the
00:28:27
last airing of the unsolved mystery
00:28:28
program he also told me
00:28:31
that it was very tough being a fugitive
00:28:33
and he always knew that someone would be
00:28:35
knocking at the door one day is kind of
00:28:37
glad it's all over at this point
00:28:41
[Music]
00:28:48
next a beautiful young con artist
00:28:50
embarks on a wild shopping spree
00:28:57
[Music]
00:29:06
las vegas nevada the city of light in
00:29:09
the desert
00:29:10
a seductive town of high rollers and big
00:29:12
spenders where money flows quickly and
00:29:14
easily
00:29:15
[Music]
00:29:17
on the weekend shortly before christmas
00:29:19
1990 an eccentric young woman named liza
00:29:22
montgomery began a bizarre and most
00:29:24
unusual shopping spree
00:29:26
remarkable even and free-wheeling las
00:29:29
vegas
00:29:34
on friday afternoon december 21st liza
00:29:37
dressed to the nines visited local
00:29:39
businessman mark husby
00:29:42
she was responding to his newspaper ad
00:29:44
offering to sell a full-length mink coat
00:29:46
and a two-carat diamond ring
00:29:52
hi eliza how are you come on in oh thank
00:29:54
you
00:29:55
the license personality was like uh
00:29:58
that of us excited school director here
00:30:00
is your cashier's check oh my god there
00:30:02
it is and there's the ring eliza i told
00:30:04
you to bring cash
00:30:05
i know but the bank was closing enough
00:30:08
anyway that's just as good i mean don't
00:30:09
worry about it i mean it's a good check
00:30:11
well can i see your id please oh sure i
00:30:14
asked to see her identification because
00:30:16
i had told her when she came to the home
00:30:18
here that i did want cash but uh i
00:30:21
settled for the cashier's check thank
00:30:22
you well let me walk you to the car oh
00:30:24
all right thank you
00:30:27
as i was saying goodbye
00:30:28
to liza uh and i walked her out to her
00:30:30
car
00:30:32
uh it seemed very unusual to me that she
00:30:34
how she treated the main coat uh
00:30:37
she just uh
00:30:38
literally shoved it in the car as if it
00:30:41
meant nothing to her have a nice
00:30:42
christmas
00:30:43
oh you too
00:30:46
liza's shopping marathon was just
00:30:47
beginning
00:30:50
that same evening she purchased two
00:30:51
rings which she had selected the
00:30:53
previous week she paid with a cashier's
00:30:55
check in excess of 39 000.
00:30:59
and here are your rings oh
00:31:01
thank you they're just beautiful liza
00:31:03
had been coming to us for about three
00:31:05
months she was always well dressed so we
00:31:08
never had a problem believing whether or
00:31:09
not she could actually afford anything
00:31:11
she wanted to that's good you know
00:31:13
you're very fortunate to get both of
00:31:15
these diamonds at this price
00:31:17
well that's why they call me lucky
00:31:19
here's your cashier's check oh great
00:31:21
this looks fine the next day liza
00:31:24
continued her rounds clad in the mink
00:31:25
coach she had bought from mark husby and
00:31:27
driving an old battered moving van honey
00:31:30
if you could just write down that number
00:31:31
she purchased what she called a surprise
00:31:33
gift for her husband 23 000 worth of
00:31:37
furniture
00:31:41
throughout the weekend liza continued
00:31:43
her seemingly endless christmas shopping
00:31:46
always paying with cashiers checks
00:31:48
at nine different stores she picked up
00:31:50
an additional one hundred thousand
00:31:52
dollars worth of jewelry furs and luxury
00:31:54
items
00:31:55
all along the way liza made a big
00:31:57
impression and raised quite a few
00:31:59
eyebrows
00:32:00
people were becoming suspicious
00:32:02
starting with businessman mark husby
00:32:09
[Music]
00:32:10
shortly after selling lies of the mink
00:32:12
code and ring usb began to question
00:32:14
where the liza's check was good
00:32:18
he drove to an exclusive gated community
00:32:20
looking for the address printed on
00:32:22
liza's identification card
00:32:24
hi do you have a lives montgomery living
00:32:26
here at 2901 wrenching will air dry
00:32:29
no sir
00:32:30
are you sure i'm positive that address
00:32:32
doesn't even exist
00:32:35
hughesby immediately returned home and
00:32:37
called the police
00:32:40
i explained to him that unless or until
00:32:42
the bank received that check
00:32:45
and officially notified him that it was
00:32:46
counterfeit or somehow forged there was
00:32:49
really nothing we could do at that point
00:32:51
even if we were able to find her we'd
00:32:52
have no authority to detain her simply
00:32:54
because the address on a cashier's check
00:32:57
was somehow an error and that we
00:32:58
couldn't detain her just based on that
00:33:01
be careful with that meanwhile back at
00:33:03
the furniture store liza was having
00:33:05
difficulty squeezing everything she had
00:33:07
bought into the van
00:33:08
if you want you can borrow one of our
00:33:10
trucks and we can follow you over there
00:33:11
no thank you are you sure i mean after
00:33:13
you surprised your husband i'd be glad
00:33:14
to help you set up some of the furniture
00:33:16
i don't care what you have to do just
00:33:17
get it in there just just get it in
00:33:20
okay
00:33:22
the store owner was troubled by her
00:33:23
belligerent attitude
00:33:25
once a van was loaded he decided to
00:33:27
follow in his own car just to see where
00:33:29
liza would go
00:33:31
[Music]
00:33:35
before leaving the amateur sleuth gave
00:33:37
his wife a walkie-talkie and took one
00:33:39
for himself
00:33:41
[Music]
00:33:42
she's turning away from rachel bel-air i
00:33:45
knew she was lying
00:33:46
i call the police
00:33:49
okay
00:33:52
we learned from dispatch that the check
00:33:54
had already been passed at
00:33:56
the furniture store and that it was in
00:33:57
the name of liza montgomery which was
00:33:59
the exact same name that mark usb had
00:34:01
given us
00:34:02
based on that information we felt that
00:34:04
there was enough corroboration now
00:34:06
since there were two checks floating
00:34:07
around that
00:34:09
she needed to at least be stopped and
00:34:10
identified
00:34:12
sounds of it only 10 minutes away maybe
00:34:14
six if we hurry
00:34:17
the furniture store owner followed
00:34:18
liza's van to a residential neighborhood
00:34:21
five miles away
00:34:22
he described each event as it unfolded
00:34:26
she just pulled over into a residential
00:34:27
street and met up with a man standing
00:34:29
next to a red convertible
00:34:31
[Music]
00:34:33
now he's getting into the truck she's
00:34:35
getting into the car
00:34:37
[Music]
00:34:39
they're leaving together and heading
00:34:40
north on jones
00:34:42
okay
00:34:44
my husband says that the woman made
00:34:45
contact with the man the store owner's
00:34:47
wife attempted to keep authorities
00:34:48
abreast of her husband's wearable buys
00:34:50
the store owner to try and keep up with
00:34:52
the vehicle if he can and we'll be there
00:34:54
momentarily within two or three minutes
00:34:59
the van and the red convertible head is
00:35:01
south the store owner remained on their
00:35:03
heels
00:35:05
[Music]
00:35:07
when the vehicles reached an
00:35:08
intersection on the outskirts of town
00:35:10
the van made an illegal right turn and
00:35:12
sped away
00:35:14
she stopped her car well i better get
00:35:16
out of here
00:35:22
the store owner was fearful that this
00:35:23
angry woman in a white mink coat might
00:35:25
be carrying a weapon he sped off with a
00:35:28
convertible and hot pursuit
00:35:30
[Music]
00:35:34
after nearly a three mile chase the
00:35:35
store owner pulled to the side of the
00:35:37
road liza whizzed by and disappeared
00:35:43
the police were just minutes away but it
00:35:45
was too late
00:35:46
they combed a five-mile area searching
00:35:48
for eliza and her accomplice they ran
00:35:51
checks on various garages and warehouses
00:35:53
hoping to recover the stolen goods but
00:35:55
the perpetrators on the property were
00:35:57
gone
00:36:01
in summary she hit at least 12 places
00:36:03
that were aware of
00:36:05
and the
00:36:06
amount of loss to all of those in
00:36:09
in total was over 150 000
00:36:12
the last of the places she hit
00:36:14
was a
00:36:16
gaming supply store
00:36:17
at which time she bought three slot
00:36:20
machines almost as if she wanted to take
00:36:21
a souvenir of las vegas with her out of
00:36:23
town
00:36:26
eventually the van and the convertible
00:36:27
were recovered liza had rented both
00:36:30
vehicles at local agencies in each case
00:36:32
she persuaded the rental clerk to accept
00:36:34
a 500 cash deposit in lieu of a credit
00:36:37
card the cash was never reclaimed
00:36:41
[Music]
00:36:44
usually we only find this type of skill
00:36:47
amongst people who are going to
00:36:49
get involved in a scam that's worth
00:36:50
thousands upon thousands of dollars for
00:36:52
the most part some of these nickel and
00:36:55
dime
00:36:56
con games fall through when the victim
00:36:58
looks straight through the suspect and
00:37:00
is able to see that it is a con game but
00:37:03
when we talk about big money like this
00:37:04
if they're going to get away with it
00:37:06
they're going to have to be very good
00:37:07
and liza was one of the best
00:37:10
liza montgomery did leave behind one
00:37:12
significant piece of evidence when she
00:37:14
rented the van the clerk made this copy
00:37:16
of her state id card
00:37:32
[Music]
00:37:40
when we return an intriguing eyewitness
00:37:43
account may help solve a string of
00:37:45
bizarre disappearances
00:37:50
[Music]
00:38:00
february 4th 1990 4 30 a.m
00:38:05
sheriff's deputies responded to a call
00:38:07
at a convenience store in orlando
00:38:09
florida
00:38:12
two customers had found the all-night
00:38:14
market open but curiously
00:38:16
unattended no one was minding the store
00:38:19
and a friend of mine works here and i
00:38:21
stopped in to say hello and she wasn't
00:38:23
here i don't know where she is she just
00:38:25
kind of disappeared
00:38:28
deputies immediately search for any
00:38:30
signs of the missing clerk
00:38:33
behind the counter they found a work
00:38:35
smug neatly folded
00:38:37
[Music]
00:38:39
the cash register was locked and there
00:38:41
was no evidence of a robbery
00:38:45
the store appeared to be just abandoned
00:38:51
there was absolutely no signs of any
00:38:52
struggle
00:38:53
nothing appeared to be missing from the
00:38:55
store with the exception of the store
00:38:56
clerk
00:38:59
the missing clerk was 26 year old
00:39:01
deborah diane poe who worked days at a
00:39:03
local newspaper and nights at the store
00:39:08
deborah had moved to orlando just four
00:39:10
months earlier with her friend and
00:39:12
roommate lori tillman
00:39:15
debbie and i
00:39:17
were more like sisters than i am with my
00:39:19
own sister
00:39:21
we had a very unusual friendship we
00:39:23
could fight like sisters do we could
00:39:25
ignore each other like sisters do but we
00:39:27
were there for each other if we ever
00:39:29
needed anything we could count on one
00:39:30
another good evening sir
00:39:33
the most dangerous time for convenience
00:39:35
store employees is the graveyard shift
00:39:38
this was deborah's shift
00:39:43
five nights a week from 11 p.m to 7 a.m
00:39:46
she was behind the counter alone
00:39:51
how you all doing treat me ladies nice
00:39:53
on a saturday night
00:39:55
there you go she needed to work and get
00:39:57
the money she had a brand new car to pay
00:39:59
for she wanted to buy a house and she
00:40:02
wanted to start a business
00:40:03
so if it meant working two full-time
00:40:05
jobs that she really didn't like that's
00:40:06
what she'd
00:40:08
do just after eleven o'clock on the
00:40:11
night she disappeared a friend of
00:40:12
deborah's dropped by to discuss some
00:40:14
house plans with her
00:40:17
it's cool that's what i want i don't
00:40:18
know if i can afford it police verified
00:40:20
that debra waited on customers from the
00:40:22
time her friend left until 305 a.m i
00:40:25
gotta take care of her i'm sorry okay
00:40:28
when her friend returned at 3 50 a.m
00:40:31
debra was nowhere to be
00:40:36
found her vehicle
00:40:39
was parked where she parked it that
00:40:41
night when she came to work
00:40:44
it had not been disturbed it was
00:40:46
locked and her purse was sitting on the
00:40:49
backseat
00:40:52
investigators concluded that deborah po
00:40:54
had probably been abducted it looks to
00:40:56
be about 25 cash in here
00:40:58
they soon discovered that debra was not
00:41:00
the first store clerk in florida to
00:41:02
disappear on the graveyard shift
00:41:07
six months earlier on august 6 1989 29
00:41:11
year old donna callahan disappeared from
00:41:13
a convenience store in gulf breeze
00:41:15
florida
00:41:16
as in deborah's case there were no signs
00:41:18
of struggle at the scene
00:41:20
donna was three months pregnant and left
00:41:22
behind a two-year-old daughter
00:41:24
[Music]
00:41:27
five weeks later on september 18th 36
00:41:30
year old darlene messer was abducted
00:41:31
from a lake city convenience store
00:41:34
two days later darlene's body was found
00:41:37
in a nearby creek she had been
00:41:39
bludgeoned to death
00:41:42
three victims all single females in
00:41:45
their 20s or 30s all had vanished while
00:41:47
working the graveyard shift alone
00:41:50
investigators believe that the cases
00:41:51
were linked but had no suspect
00:41:54
then three days after deborah poe's
00:41:55
disappearance authorities were contacted
00:41:57
by a young woman who read about the case
00:42:00
in a local paper
00:42:01
she came forward after realizing that
00:42:03
she may have stood face to face with
00:42:05
deborah po's abductor
00:42:10
i stopped by a convenience store about 3
00:42:13
30 to pick up a pack of cigarettes and
00:42:16
there was only one person in the store
00:42:18
and it appeared to be the clerk
00:42:22
looking back on it he didn't know where
00:42:24
the cigarettes were which isn't that
00:42:26
uncommon if it's a new clerk
00:42:30
and i had to point out which ones i
00:42:32
wanted
00:42:33
no the regular ones up top over there he
00:42:35
had long stringy hair he was wearing an
00:42:38
earring of a cross
00:42:40
smoking
00:42:42
and a skull's ring
00:42:45
and he had a rock t-shirt and the name
00:42:49
megadeth across the top
00:42:53
we cannot locate anyone else that has
00:42:56
been able to tell us whether or not this
00:42:59
individual was in the store when they
00:43:00
were in the store
00:43:03
he might have been a customer that
00:43:04
walked in and was walking around looking
00:43:06
for the clerk he might have been an
00:43:08
individual who is
00:43:10
taking an opportunity to shoplift or
00:43:13
steal some things
00:43:14
or he might be responsible or in part
00:43:16
responsible for the abduction of deborah
00:43:18
pope
00:43:20
there's a of good possibility that we're
00:43:23
dealing with an individual who is a
00:43:25
serial type of
00:43:27
person who abducts these people
00:43:30
debra poe is officially listed as
00:43:32
missing
00:43:33
she is 26 years old 5 feet 2 inches tall
00:43:37
and weighs approximately 105 pounds
00:43:42
if we don't find her alive
00:43:44
then we can at least put her to rest
00:43:47
give her give her a decent service
00:43:49
go after her killer
00:44:01
do
00:44:03
[Music]
00:44:12
[Music]
00:44:19
join me next time for an all-new edition
00:44:22
of unsolved mystery
00:44:24
[Music]
00:44:52
[Applause]
00:44:56
[Music]
00:45:16
you

Badges

This episode stands out for the following:

  • 80
    Most heartbreaking
  • 75
    Most shocking
  • 70
    Most dramatic
  • 70
    Biggest twist

Episode Highlights

  • The Mystery of Pearl Harbor
    A woman under hypnosis recalls vivid details of the Pearl Harbor attack, despite being born years later.
    “Their memories are as vivid today as they were 50 years ago.”
    @ 02m 14s
    March 16, 2022
  • A Chilling Letter
    DJ Dean receives an anonymous letter from her husband's killer, threatening her daughter.
    “Do not risk your daughter; she is the last one left.”
    @ 20m 41s
    March 16, 2022
  • Joe Smith's Murders
    Joe Weldon Smith was charged with three counts of first-degree murder after his family's tragic deaths.
    “I know who they are, and I'm gonna kill them.”
    @ 27m 03s
    March 16, 2022
  • Liza Montgomery's Shopping Spree
    Liza Montgomery went on a wild shopping spree in Las Vegas, spending over $150,000 with fraudulent checks.
    “Liza's shopping marathon was just beginning.”
    @ 30m 46s
    March 16, 2022
  • Deborah Poe's Disappearance
    Deborah Poe vanished during her graveyard shift at a convenience store, leading to a search for her abductor.
    “The most dangerous time for convenience store employees is the graveyard shift.”
    @ 39m 38s
    March 16, 2022

Episode Quotes

  • This only happens in the movies.
    Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 4, Episode 8 - Updated Full Episode
  • He is still making us live a nightmare.
    Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 4, Episode 8 - Updated Full Episode
  • I'm gonna find the guys who did it.
    Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 4, Episode 8 - Updated Full Episode
  • It's kind of glad it's all over at this point.
    Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 4, Episode 8 - Updated Full Episode
  • Liza was one of the best.
    Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 4, Episode 8 - Updated Full Episode
  • If we don't find her alive, then we can at least put her to rest.
    Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 4, Episode 8 - Updated Full Episode

Key Moments

  • Unsolved Mysteries00:04
  • Roger Dean's Murder00:20
  • Pearl Harbor Hypnosis03:40
  • Chilling Threats20:05
  • Murder Discovery26:30
  • Fugitive Arrest28:06
  • Missing Clerk39:01
  • Search for Abductor43:30

Words per Minute Over Time

Vibes Breakdown

Related Episodes

Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 6, Episode 20 - Full Episode
May 23, 2019
Captions not detected. You can watch the video, but not search it. If you think this is an error, contact support.
44:14
Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 6, Episode 20 - Full Episode
Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 6, Episode 23 - Full Episode
May 23, 2019
Captions not detected. You can watch the video, but not search it. If you think this is an error, contact support.
01:32:48
Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 6, Episode 23 - Full Episode
Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 2, Episode 7 - Full Episodes
May 21, 2019
Captions not detected. You can watch the video, but not search it. If you think this is an error, contact support.
48:43
Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 2, Episode 7 - Full Episodes
Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 3, Episode 3 - Full Episode
May 22, 2019
Captions not detected. You can watch the video, but not search it. If you think this is an error, contact support.
45:53
Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 3, Episode 3 - Full Episode
Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 1, Episode 3 - Full Episode
May 16, 2019
Captions not detected. You can watch the video, but not search it. If you think this is an error, contact support.
46:03
Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 1, Episode 3 - Full Episode
Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 3, Episode 14 - Full Episode
May 22, 2019
Captions not detected. You can watch the video, but not search it. If you think this is an error, contact support.
48:06
Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 3, Episode 14 - Full Episode
Unsolved Mysteries with Dennis Farina - Season 3, Episode 10 - Updated Full Episode
March 16, 2022
Captions not detected. You can watch the video, but not search it. If you think this is an error, contact support.
42:48
Unsolved Mysteries with Dennis Farina - Season 3, Episode 10 - Updated Full Episode
Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 11, Episode 10 - Full Episode
May 23, 2019
Captions not detected. You can watch the video, but not search it. If you think this is an error, contact support.
45:14
Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 11, Episode 10 - Full Episode
Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 3, Episode 17 - Updated Full Episode
July 26, 2021
Captions not detected. You can watch the video, but not search it. If you think this is an error, contact support.
46:53
Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 3, Episode 17 - Updated Full Episode
Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 10, Episode 1 - Full Episode
May 23, 2019
Captions not detected. You can watch the video, but not search it. If you think this is an error, contact support.
45:23
Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 10, Episode 1 - Full Episode
Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 4, Episode 19 - Updated Full Episode
July 26, 2021
Captions not detected. You can watch the video, but not search it. If you think this is an error, contact support.
48:19
Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 4, Episode 19 - Updated Full Episode
Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 6, Episode 6 - Full Episode
May 23, 2019
Captions not detected. You can watch the video, but not search it. If you think this is an error, contact support.
44:36
Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 6, Episode 6 - Full Episode