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[MUSIC PLAYING]
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DENNIS FARINA: Next on Unsolved Mysteries
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In Phoenix, a cocktail waitress marries
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a wealthy cattle rancher.
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After his death, someone enters her house, and--
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[GUNSHOTS]
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A tape recording may be the key to her killer's identity.
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Jill Jensen.
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Had a problem-- a $500 a day cocaine habit
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that was destroying her life.
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Why would she go to a tiny mountain village
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in Eastern Europe for a cure?
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In Louisiana, intruders brutally murder a young couple
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while they sleep.
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Some say they are the victims of a satanic cult.
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And, after a cold beer at a country western bar,
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Mary Ann Perez disappeared without a trace.
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[PHONE RINGING]
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15 years later, a mysterious caller
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claims that not only is she still alive,
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but she's being held against her will.
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Our team is standing by, and maybe someone watching can help
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bring in one of these bad guys.
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And you know what?
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It could be you.
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I'm Dennis Farina.
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Join us.
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[THEME MUSIC PLAYING]
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She was a waitress, he was a wealthy cattle
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man from one of the most prominent families in Phoenix.
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Theirs was a fairy tale romance and marriage, until he died,
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and someone wanted her dead too.
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Jeanne Gunter was born in Arkansas,
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and got married right out of high school.
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She eventually divorced, and wound up in Phoenix,
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working as a cocktail waitress.
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But she had much higher ambitions than that.
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Jeannie got her real estate license,
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and was immediately successful.
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[CAMERA SNAPPING]
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Then she met Edward Tovrea, a charming, wealthy divorcee.
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EDWARD TOVREA: I think you're going
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to do well, because of your people skills,
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I bet you're good at.
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SANDRA ELDER: Ed had all the qualities
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that Jeanne was looking for.
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EDWARD TOVREA: I'd like to propose a toast.
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SANDRA ELDER: It's just that simple.
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[GLASSES CLINKING]
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You have to kiss a lot of frogs before you find the prince,
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and she considered Ed a prince.
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DENNIS FARINA: The Tovrea family made millions
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in the cattle business, and were among the founding fathers
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of Phoenix.
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But Ed Tovrea made his own name as a pilot in World War II.
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Less than a year after they met, Jeanne and Ed were married,
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and Jeanne was warmly accepted into the Phoenix upper crust.
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DANNY MEDINA: She seemed to fall right into it,
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as if though she'd had that money forever.
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She was welcomed, and very, very well-loved.
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I don't know one person that disliked Jeanne.
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She was just one of those very special people
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with very special qualities.
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She treated people like she wanted to be treated.
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They entertained a lot, very casual entertaining,
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had friends in.
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They had a very good marriage, they both liked
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to do the same things.
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EDWARD TOVREA: 10 years after getting married,
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Ed's health began to decline.
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Jeanne was by his side constantly.
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I just want to make sure you're taken care of,
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you get the house, and you're comfortable, OK?
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SANDRA ELDER: Jeanne was not a greedy person.
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It wasn't like, well, I have married you,
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everything you have is mine.
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This was not Jeanne.
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DENNIS FARINA: When Ed eventually died,
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he left Jeanne an estate worth millions, including the house,
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and a valuable art collection.
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After a period of mourning, Jeanne re-entered
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the Phoenix social world.
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DANNY MEDINA: I think it was her way to get over everything,
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and meet people.
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[CAMERA SNAPPING]
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Became quite the socialite, and chaired many of the balls.
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And her circle of friends all went.
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For Jeanne, it became a way of doing things for herself.
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Well, I'm going to finish these last few invitations
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and call it a night.
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DENNIS FARINA: On the last evening of her life,
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Jeanne prepared invitations for a high society
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party she planned to host.
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At 7:00 PM, she spoke with her sister.
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By 1:00 AM, the next morning, she was dead--
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shot in the head five times.
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[CAMERAS SNAPPING]
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At the murder scene, police found several fingerprints,
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but no other physical evidence.
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Jeanne's purse, identification, and credit
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cards were all missing.
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Those credit cards have never been found,
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and they've never been used to this day.
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[CAMERA SNAPPING]
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DET.
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ERNIE HAMRICK: The fingerprints that we have have been compared
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to every name has been mentioned to us, that's
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been through our computer system,
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and we have not identified who those prints belonged to.
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My opinion, and the opinion of two detectives
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all felt that she was the victim of a hit.
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She was killed intentionally for somebody.
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DENNIS FARINA: Police were sure the killer was someone familiar
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with Jeanne's neighborhood, because he
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entered her home so easily.
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DET.
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ERNIE HAMRICK: I would say the suspect at least had
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some knowledge of the house.
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Entry into the house was made through a window,
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but it was done in a manner not to set the alarm system off.
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There's white carpeting throughout the house,
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and there was no indications in any room except her bedroom
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that anybody had been in there.
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It appears that he knew the direct path
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from the point of entry to her bedroom and where she was.
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She was shot while she lay in bed asleep.
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There was no obvious signs of a struggle.
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[GUNSHOTS]
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DENNIS FARINA: Police believe that the killer
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scattered Jeanne's costume jewelry to make
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it look like a burglary.
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Thousands of dollars' worth of real jewelry
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was left untouched in the next room.
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Also, it seemed that he wanted someone
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to know that he had been there.
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[ALARM RINGING]
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DET.
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ERNIE HAMRICK: The alarm was set off when the sliding door
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was opened by the suspect.
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It's only a theory, but one of the reasons we considered
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is that this person, if he was paid to kill her,
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wanted to let the person who paid
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him know that the job was done.
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DENNIS FARINA: Why was Jeanne Tovrea killed?
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Police had no idea, until they listened to the tapes
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from her answering machine.
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That's when they heard the voice of a mysterious man who
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called himself Gordon Phillips.
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GORDON PHILLIPS (ON TAPE): And I have some information for you.
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DENNIS FARINA: Phillips claimed to be a magazine writer.
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He met with Jeanne, saying that he wished to interview her--
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How may I help?
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DENNIS FARINA: About her late husband's POW experiences.
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Tell me something about Ed himself, your husband, the man.
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What was he Like
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Mr. Phillips, you say you work for Time Life.
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Yes.
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Well, then of course you would have some identification
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you could show me.
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Well, actually I'm a freelance writer,
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I'm not really on staff.
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I can provide you with some references.
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You know, I'm going to have to cut you short.
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SANDRA ELDER: Jeanne had him checked out,
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and Time Magazine had never heard of him.
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And Jeanne once again told him that she was
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the wrong person to talk to.
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And she couldn't seem to make him understand this.
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[PHONE RINGING]
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SANDRA ELDER: Gordon Phillips would not give up.
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If Jeanne didn't answer his calls,
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he left messages on her machine.
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Hello?
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DENNIS FARINA: And she was sure that he was following her.
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Mr. Phillips, I told you, I do not want to meet with you.
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SANDRA ELDER: For a while there, it
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was every time she went somewhere,
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she'd think she saw this guy.
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She would see him in a crowd, and she was
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extremely nervous about this.
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[GUNSHOTS]
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[ALARM RINGING]
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It's inconceivable to me that Jeanne was murdered.
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She was my sister, she was my best friend,
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and she didn't deserve to die.
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[GUNSHOTS]
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DENNIS FARINA: Update.
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After a seven year investigation,
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the man who called himself Gordon Phillips
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has been identified as Jeanne Tovrea's killer.
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His real name is James Cornell Harrod,
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and his fingerprints matched those found at the crime scene.
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Harrod was found guilty of first degree murder.
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Because it was a contract killing,
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he was sentenced to death.
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However, the person who hired him to murder Jeanne
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is still a mystery.
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If you can help bring this case to its final conclusion,
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please contact us at unsolved.com.
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Next, a young woman strung out on cocaine
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searches for a miracle.
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What brought her to this tiny town in Eastern Europe?
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Former model Jill Jensen is so strung
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out on cocaine that she has gouged
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open sores all over her body.
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Rita Klaus, a mother of three, attempts
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to overcome the crippling effects of multiple sclerosis.
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These two women really have nothing in common
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but a small village called Medjugorje.
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Millions of pilgrims, many of them Americans
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have come to this church in Medjugorje
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to meet six young people who call themselves visionaries.
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They claim to have spoken to the Virgin Mary
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on this hill outside of the village in 1981.
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Decades after the vision, hundreds of people
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claim they have been healed here.
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Joe Romano swears that he was cured of abdominal cancer.
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Kevin Gebo had a failing immune system,
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but now his symptoms have disappeared Char Vance's leg
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was shattered beyond repair.
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Now it's healed.
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It's hard for many of us to believe
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that an injury or illness can be cured by a visit
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to a religious site.
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But for many who have watched a loved one suffer,
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sometimes their only hope is a miracle.
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And that's why they travel to Medjugorje.
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As a pretty teenager, Jill Jensen wasn't in an accident,
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she didn't have a life-threatening disease.
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She had a different problem.
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She was addicted to cocaine.
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JILL JENSEN: I don't think that many days ever went
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by without me using cocaine.
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I'd carry it in my purse, I'd conceal it in my jackets,
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I'd hide it in my car.
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I would never go anywhere without it.
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DENNIS FARINA: By the time Jill was 26, she had a $500 a day
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habit.
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She tried one drug rehab center after another,
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but nothing helped.
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JILL JENSEN: It got to the point where I began to hallucinate.
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I would start to see bugs all over me,
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or what I believed to be bugs.
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I would feel things all over me, and think that I
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had to get them off of me.
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No matter what I did, I just had to get these bugs off me.
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So I would rip my skin open, and rip out my hair.
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And for years, I had these sores all over me.
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[MOANING]
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DEE OLSEN: She was scrawny, she was anorexic,
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she had circles under her eyes.
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She looked far beyond her years.
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You know, at one time, Jill was beautiful,
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and all heads would turn when they saw her,
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and she did modeling for a while.
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But all that left her.
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[SINGING]
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DENNIS FARINA: Jill's Aunt Dee Dee had made
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a pilgrimage to Medjugorje.
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A year later, she convinced Jill to go back with her.
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Jill agreed, even though she dreaded a 14 hour plane
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ride without access to cocaine.
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JILL JENSEN: I didn't know how I was going
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to handle the withdrawals.
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I'd been through them before.
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Horrible headaches, sleeplessness sometimes.
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Terrible nightmares when I am able to sleep.
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Cold sweats, hot flashes, horrible things.
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I didn't know how I was going to make it,
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but I was willing to try.
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Something came over me that gave me the willingness to try.
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DENNIS FARINA: When Jill arrived at Medjugorje,
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she met with an American priest in a makeshift confessional.
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I'm not really sure what I'm supposed to do here.
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You say, "Forgive me father, for I have sinned.
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My last confession was--"
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DENNIS FARINA: Although raised a Catholic,
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Jill had never been interested in religion.
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My last confession was when I was eight years old.
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DENNIS FARINA: For nearly an hour,
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lines backed up while Jill made her confession.
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JILL JENSEN: I couldn't go anywhere without the drugs,
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I couldn't do anything without the drugs.
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Right around then, that's when the bugs started.
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And I'll do anything to get them off.
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JILL JENSEN (VOICEOVER): It was evident to him
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that I was all torn up, and I had told him
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how I had arrived at having all these sores, these open wounds.
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And when I was through with my confession,
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he blessed my sores with holy water.
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Amen.
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JILL JENSEN (VOICEOVER): By that evening,
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all my sores were completely closing and healing.
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It was amazing.
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I didn't feel it happening, but every time I
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looked down, I would notice that they were less and less open,
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the sores.
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And for years, they'd never ever gone away.
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DENNIS FARINA: Within a few days Jill's sores had almost
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disappeared, and she hadn't experienced
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a single symptom of withdrawal.
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For the first time in my life, I felt like I had been freed.
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That I really was going to be able to have
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a life, that it was given back to me, it was a gift.
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DENNIS FARINA: Years after her trip to Medjugorje, Jill
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is still drug free, and she speaks in school
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drug prevention programs.
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Rita Klaus also believes in the healing power of Medjugorje.
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She told us she experienced it without ever
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leaving her own home.
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Rita had been a nun until the onset of multiple sclerosis,
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or MS, a degenerative, incurable disease.
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When her symptoms worsened, Rita left the convent
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and moved to Pennsylvania, where she taught school.
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She soon met Ron, another teacher, and three years later,
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they were married.
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Then Rita's symptoms disappeared.
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She came to believe that she had been misdiagnosed.
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Within five years, Ron and Rita had three daughters.
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But after the birth of their youngest,
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Heidi, Rita began to experience symptoms of MS once again.
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She tried to ignore them, but one day,
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the muscles in her right arm weakened uncontrollably.
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[GASPING]
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[CRYING]
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Baby, oh, my baby.
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RITA KLAUS: Thankfully, Heidi was all right.
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Outside of being shaken up, she was all right.
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But I was not all right.
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I was so shaken inside, and so afraid.
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Just terribly afraid.
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DENNIS FARINA: In time, Rita was restricted to a wheelchair,
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and on good days, crutches.
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- OK. - OK.
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Often
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RITA KLAUS: I would look at the books about Medjugorje,
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and I would think, I would love to be there.
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And then I would look at myself, and say,
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but physically, there's no way I could go.
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Financially, there's no way I could go.
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And so I didn't go.
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DENNIS FARINA: Then, one night while she was saying
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her prayers, she heard a voice.
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[ECHOING SPEECH]
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And she began to pray.
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Dear Mary.
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RITA KLAUS: As soon as I finished the prayer,
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I felt this feeling through my body like electricity,
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but it was especially intense on the right side of my body,
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where I had deformities in the right leg.
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Healed.
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RITA KLAUS: I thought, this isn't happening to me,
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and I fell asleep.
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I'm so late for school.
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You know if--
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DENNIS FARINA: Curiously, the next morning,
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Rita had no memory of the voice, or saying a prayer.
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As usual, she headed off to her class at the local college.
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RITA KLAUS: Midway through the class, I felt this rush of heat
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through my body.
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And by the end of class, I could feel,
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I could feel there were wrinkles inside my shoes.
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I could move my toes.
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I had not been able to move my toes for years.
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Ron.
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Girls.
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DENNIS FARINA: It had been four years since Rita had
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walked on her own without help.
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RITA KLAUS: As I stood there looking at the steps,
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I had a flashback.
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And in that flashback, I heard the voice
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from the night before, the prayer
00:18:21
that was given me to say.
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And I knew I was completely healed.
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[LAUGHING]
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I ran all the way up the steps, and I remember I was screaming
00:18:35
at the top of the steps.
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And then I ran down the steps, out the front door.
00:18:39
I was screaming at the sky, "Oh, thank you, God.
00:18:41
Thank you, blessed mother."
00:18:42
Look, I can walk.
00:18:44
RON KLAUS: You're really thinking that you're not seeing
00:18:46
what you're actually seeing.
00:18:49
You want to be happy, but you're almost afraid to be happy,
00:18:52
because every doctor that you've ever seen
00:18:54
has said it would never happen.
00:18:58
See how that feels.
00:18:59
OK.
00:19:00
- All right? - Yeah.
00:19:01
DENNIS FARINA: Rita's symptoms have
00:19:02
not returned for over 20 years.
00:19:05
She's even able to ice skate again.
00:19:08
She believes it's a miracle.
00:19:11
DR. RICHARD CASDORPH: This certainly
00:19:12
could be called a miraculous event,
00:19:15
if you want to use that term, because we
00:19:18
just don't see 20 years of disability clear instantly.
00:19:27
DENNIS FARINA: Can cures like Rita's
00:19:29
and Jill Jensen's be attributed to the virgin of Medjugorje?
00:19:33
The Catholic Church has not recognized them as miracles,
00:19:37
but it's hard to argue with them when they say they were
00:19:40
healed by a miracle of faith.
00:19:48
Next, in high school, she was voted the most popular
00:19:51
and the prettiest.
00:19:52
A cheerleader and a homecoming queen.
00:19:55
Why would someone want her killed?
00:20:07
Sulphur, Louisiana.
00:20:10
In junior high and high school, Pam Littleton
00:20:13
was voted the most popular, the friendliest,
00:20:16
and the prettiest girl.
00:20:19
She was a cheerleader, and she was the homecoming queen.
00:20:24
After college, Pam married Eric Ellender,
00:20:27
a bright, up-and-coming business man.
00:20:30
They bought a house near Pam's parents,
00:20:31
and Eric went to work for Pam's father.
00:20:35
A year later, Pam gave birth to a baby girl,
00:20:38
and the family circle was now complete.
00:20:42
Nearly every day, Pam would walk over to her parents' home
00:20:45
with the baby for a visit.
00:20:50
HUEY LITTLETON: Pamela, I guess, would be,
00:20:52
she was a type of daughter that every father would dream of.
00:20:55
She had dreamed of being a housewife and a mother.
00:20:58
That was her ambition in life and she was--
00:21:00
[PHONE RINGING]
00:21:01
Totally happy.
00:21:02
- Probably more like 11:30. - OK.
00:21:03
Don't worry--
00:21:05
DENNIS FARINA: It was 8:45 PM on February 11th,
00:21:08
the Monday before Mardi Gras.
00:21:10
Pam's husband Eric called her at her mother's
00:21:13
to say that he was home from work.
00:21:14
[KID LAUGHING]
00:21:15
All right, thank you.
00:21:16
Bye.
00:21:18
DENNIS FARINA: Pam left for home 30 minutes later.
00:21:21
The next afternoon, Huey Littleton got
00:21:24
a call from his mother-in-law.
00:21:27
HUEY LITTLETON: She says, Huey, I just left Pam and Eric's,
00:21:30
and something's wrong.
00:21:32
They're in their bed.
00:21:34
I have the baby, and I'm back at your house.
00:21:37
Call the sheriff.
00:21:40
[POLICE RADIO CHATTER]
00:21:42
The sheriff's unit met us at the gate going into the yard,
00:21:46
and asked that we not go near the house.
00:21:49
We learned that Pam and Eric were dead.
00:21:56
Both of them had been brutally shot with a shotgun.
00:22:00
[GUNSHOT]
00:22:01
And the fatal wounds were to their head.
00:22:05
DENNIS FARINA: The only blessing was that Pam and Eric's
00:22:07
daughter was left unharmed.
00:22:10
But Pam's parents were consumed by grief.
00:22:15
HUEY LITTLETON: Totally immobilized me.
00:22:18
I couldn't cry.
00:22:20
All I could do was say, why, and who?
00:22:26
DENNIS FARINA: Eric's car had been stolen
00:22:27
the night of the murders.
00:22:29
18-year-old Chris Prudhomme him and three of his friends
00:22:33
were seen driving it in Baton Rouge.
00:22:36
Prudhomme was arrested.
00:22:39
Chris, where was the shotgun?
00:22:40
It was in a case.
00:22:42
DENNIS FARINA: And became the focus of the investigation.
00:22:46
INVESTIGATOR: So, what did you do after you got the gun,
00:22:49
and saw that it was loaded.
00:22:51
I went and shot them.
00:22:53
INVESTIGATOR: Who did you shoot first?
00:22:55
Shot the guy.
00:22:57
HUEY LITTLETON: He confessed under oath that he
00:23:00
had killed Pam and Eric.
00:23:02
He had no remorse for doing so.
00:23:06
In fact, was glad that he did so.
00:23:12
DENNIS FARINA: 17 days after the murders,
00:23:14
Prudhomme was found hanging by the neck
00:23:16
in the jail shower room.
00:23:19
In this suicide note, found in his cell,
00:23:22
Prudhomme took sole responsibilities
00:23:24
for the murders.
00:23:25
He said, quote, "I enjoyed very much in the taking of these two
00:23:31
individuals lives."
00:23:35
As far as the sheriff's department was concerned,
00:23:37
the case was closed.
00:23:39
But to Huey Littleton, there were too many questions
00:23:41
left unanswered.
00:23:43
Huey is a licensed private detective,
00:23:45
and he began his own investigation.
00:23:49
Huey came to believe that Chris Prudhomme was
00:23:51
a member of a satanic cult called
00:23:54
The Skaters, an acronym for Satan's Kids
00:23:57
Against The Establishment.
00:23:58
MAN: Is he going to talk?
00:23:59
Because I'm not going down for this.
00:24:00
WOMAN: I'm not either.
00:24:01
MAN 2: Look, he's not going to talk if he knows better.
00:24:04
DENNIS FARINA: The girlfriend of one of the Skaters
00:24:05
told Dewey about a meeting that took place the morning
00:24:08
after Pam and Eric were killed.
00:24:11
We gotta come up with something, man.
00:24:13
We know he wasn't alone, but what about the cops, OK?
00:24:15
DENNIS FARINA: The witness said the SKATERS were trying to make
00:24:18
up an alibi for whoever was with Prudhomme when
00:24:21
the murders happened.
00:24:22
By himself, right?
00:24:27
DENNIS FARINA: She also said that Prudhomme and one
00:24:29
accomplice had broken into the Ellender's home
00:24:31
planning only to burglarize it.
00:24:35
Check this out.
00:24:36
DENNIS FARINA: But she said they were high on LSD,
00:24:39
and ended up murdering Pam and Eric
00:24:41
using one of Eric's shotguns.
00:24:46
WOMAN: I was at a bar that night, and I was drinking.
00:24:52
DENNIS FARINA: Huey felt that many of the crucial facts
00:24:54
were still unknown.
00:24:55
He continued to interview more witnesses--
00:24:58
well over a hundred of them.
00:25:00
And they mentioned something about a party.
00:25:02
A party that was--
00:25:03
DENNIS FARINA: He was horrified when a girl named
00:25:05
Nickie Alderson told him that just minutes after the murders,
00:25:09
the Skaters were having a party in Pam and Eric's house.
00:25:16
NICKIE ALDERSON: When we got out to this house,
00:25:18
I saw some people, and when we walked up to them,
00:25:20
I realized I knew some of them.
00:25:23
DENNIS FARINA: Nicky said one of the first people
00:25:25
she saw at the party was Chris Prudhomme.
00:25:27
Hey Chris, man, what's going on?
00:25:29
Hey, what's up?
00:25:29
Not much.
00:25:30
Who's place is this?
00:25:31
I don't know. I don't know right now.
00:25:33
All right.
00:25:34
NICKIE ALDERSON: They were all just standing around, drinking
00:25:36
and talking, and making different remarks about God,
00:25:41
and things like that.
00:25:43
You can kind of feel from the vibes of people
00:25:45
that something-- it was kind of weird, because everybody
00:25:47
was in there, you know, like I said,
00:25:49
in their own little world.
00:25:50
I just got here, let me see what I can get.
00:25:52
You didn't get a lot.
00:25:54
NICKIE ALDERSON: Some were doing some drugs on the table.
00:25:58
They had enough drugs on there where
00:26:00
I could see from a distance of what they were snorting.
00:26:04
Thanks.
00:26:05
That's what I want.
00:26:07
DENNIS FARINA: Nickie claims she did not
00:26:09
know there were two dead bodies in the house
00:26:11
until she was watching television the next day.
00:26:17
NICKIE ALDERSON: I was watching the news, and I saw this house.
00:26:19
I was like, oh my God, I was at that house.
00:26:22
Then I knew, you know, that was the guys that was there,
00:26:25
that was the people I had seen.
00:26:27
And just come to the realization that I was there.
00:26:31
WAYNE MCELVEEN: We were asked by Mr. Littleton
00:26:33
to re-look at the case, and we did.
00:26:35
And everything that he let us know about, we checked into,
00:26:38
and found out it didn't have factual information enough
00:26:41
to bring to the district attorney's office.
00:26:44
Also, everything that we reviewed,
00:26:46
the district attorney reviewed, and so
00:26:47
has the attorney general of the state Louisiana reviewed.
00:26:51
And the facts speak for itself.
00:26:56
DENNIS FARINA: The sheriff's department
00:26:57
says they saw no evidence that there was a party at the house.
00:27:01
However, Huey found one other person
00:27:04
who confirmed Nikki's story.
00:27:06
This witness added sickening details,
00:27:09
claiming that the dead bodies of Pam and Eric
00:27:12
were molested sexually by more than one person.
00:27:19
Those claims were backed up by this man, Chip Richard.
00:27:24
Although he was not at Pam and Eric's house,
00:27:27
he saw videotapes of what took place that night.
00:27:30
What I saw in the video was the people
00:27:33
killing the Ellenders, having sexual contact with them,
00:27:38
you know, just basically everything that really goes on,
00:27:42
you know.
00:27:44
This is about as low as humanity can crawl.
00:27:52
DENNIS FARINA: Next, more witnesses
00:27:54
come forward with strange and disturbing testimony.
00:27:58
The investigation into the murders of Pam
00:28:00
and Eric Ellender continues.
00:28:11
Pam and Eric Ellender had been brutally murdered.
00:28:14
When Pam's father investigated, he uncovered allegations
00:28:18
of a satanic cult, and events more sinister than he
00:28:22
would ever have imagined.
00:28:26
The confessed killer, Chris Prudhomme,
00:28:28
was dead, apparently a suicide.
00:28:33
Now attention focused on 18-year-old Robert Adkins.
00:28:37
He was one of the three men arrested
00:28:39
with Prudhomme in Baton Rouge.
00:28:41
Adkins was charged only in connection
00:28:43
with the theft of the vehicle.
00:28:45
But according to a friend, there was much more.
00:28:49
SHAWN MOODY: Bobby took me in the backyard,
00:28:50
he told me that he wanted to tell me what had happened,
00:28:53
because he needed to get it off of his chest.
00:28:56
What happened was, me--
00:28:57
DENNIS FARINA: While on bail, Adkins allegedly
00:29:00
told Shawn Moody that he was at the house
00:29:03
when Chris Prudhomme killed the Ellenders.
00:29:05
Well, we get in, we just headed
00:29:06
straight for the living room.
00:29:07
SHAWN MOODY: He told me they were looking
00:29:09
around for valuables, him and Chris,
00:29:11
and they had found a shotgun.
00:29:14
And when they entered the master bedroom, the wife woke up.
00:29:17
Chris shot the wife first.
00:29:19
[GUNSHOT]
00:29:20
And then the husband had woken, and Chris shot him.
00:29:22
[GUNSHOT]
00:29:26
DENNIS FARINA: According to Chip Richard,
00:29:27
Adkins said that Prudhomme didn't murder anyone,
00:29:31
but had volunteered to take the fall out of loyalty
00:29:34
to the satanic cult.
00:29:36
CHIP RICHARD: He had told me that, you know, Chris was
00:29:39
taking the rap for him, because Chris was becoming
00:29:43
the leader in the cult. Basically
00:29:45
everybody was with him worshipped him,
00:29:48
and would do anything for him.
00:29:50
And in return, he had to do for them the same
00:29:54
that they would do for him.
00:29:57
Kim came to me about one or two days after the murders.
00:30:01
DENNIS FARINA: Huey interviewed more witnesses--
00:30:03
She told me--
00:30:03
DENNIS FARINA: Looking for someone who could
00:30:05
identify the actual shooter.
00:30:07
She was there?
00:30:08
DENNIS FARINA: Finally he found Pearl Fruge.
00:30:11
Pearl said her cousin Kim Manuel claimed to have witnessed
00:30:15
the murders firsthand.
00:30:17
Huey wanted Kim's story tape recorded,
00:30:20
and asked Pearl to help.
00:30:21
Do you think we can get her to talk about it on tape?
00:30:26
Chris, one other girl, and another guy were in the house.
00:30:32
DENNIS FARINA: The next day, Pearl recorded a conversation
00:30:35
with Kim's permission.
00:30:35
I guess they couldn't find anything.
00:30:36
DENNIS FARINA: Kim described the murders in detail,
00:30:38
but never admitted on tape to actually
00:30:41
being in the house herself.
00:30:43
Chris bumped something and Eric woke up.
00:30:47
I guess he went to grab for the gun, and Chris shot him.
00:30:52
Then Pam woke up, and the other guy shot her.
00:30:58
Chris was going to kill the baby too, but the girl told him no.
00:31:02
She took the baby, and brought it into Pam and Eric's room,
00:31:07
and laid it down with them.
00:31:09
And then she went outside.
00:31:12
I've been getting threats about this, Pearl.
00:31:16
What am I supposed to do?
00:31:21
DENNIS FARINA: Pearl played the tape before a grand jury.
00:31:24
MAN: And now, the actual tape.
00:31:27
PEARL (ON TAPE): Kim, what really happened that night?
00:31:31
KIM (ON TAPE): You know he's been
00:31:32
calling me and threatening me.
00:31:35
I'm really scared.
00:31:38
HUEY LITTLETON: This, to us, was a pinnacle point
00:31:42
in the investigation.
00:31:44
After hearing a lot of testimony--
00:31:46
I mean, from many witnesses--
00:31:49
the grand jury returned an indictment
00:31:51
of two counts of second degree murder against Kim Manuel.
00:31:56
KIM (ON TAPE): And we could see the baby's room,
00:31:58
and I guess they couldn't find anything--
00:32:00
DENNIS FARINA: Some believe the indictment was a legal maneuver
00:32:03
to pressure Kim Manuel into identifying
00:32:05
other possible suspects.
00:32:07
If so, the plan failed.
00:32:11
Kim Manuel's court-appointed public defender, John Laverne,
00:32:15
called a press conference.
00:32:17
He claimed that Pearl Fruge was lying,
00:32:20
and the tape had been scripted and rehearsed.
00:32:24
JOHN LAVERNE: She and Kim then concocted this story
00:32:28
that they wanted to hear.
00:32:31
And then she produced the tape recorder
00:32:32
openly, and showed it to Kim.
00:32:35
And they sat there with a scripted conversation,
00:32:37
and recorded it, and brought it back,
00:32:39
and gave it to these people, that
00:32:40
being what they wanted to hear.
00:32:43
KIM (ON TAPE): They went into the baby's room.
00:32:44
DENNIS FARINA: Pearl Fruge stands by her story.
00:32:46
PEARL (ON TAPE): I guess they couldn't find anything.
00:32:48
PEARL FRUGE: We never made up the tape, I never lied.
00:32:50
What I told them was the truth.
00:32:53
And Kim knows it's the truth.
00:32:57
I can't change what she told me, and I'm
00:32:59
not going to make up another story just
00:33:02
to make her look good.
00:33:05
DENNIS FARINA: One year later, the charges against Kim Manuel
00:33:08
were dropped.
00:33:09
Huey Littleton was bitterly disappointed,
00:33:12
and by now, he had lost all credibility
00:33:15
with the authorities.
00:33:17
WAYNE MCELVEEN: We felt sorry for him at first,
00:33:18
but we've got to deal with facts.
00:33:20
I mean, you go before a judge and a jury,
00:33:23
he won't be able to bring all these accusations.
00:33:25
He'll have to deal with facts.
00:33:28
And I think any grand jury, any district attorney, any attorney
00:33:31
general will agree with that.
00:33:32
I'm at peace with what I'm doing,
00:33:36
because we are doing the right thing.
00:33:39
We just want to see those that participated in the murders
00:33:43
of Eric and Pam, and the cover up,
00:33:46
and the destruction of evidence, brought to justice.
00:33:51
Justice under the law.
00:33:55
DENNIS FARINA: Robert Adkins and two other men
00:33:57
were indicted in connection with the murders
00:34:00
of Pam and Eric Ellender.
00:34:02
Adkins plead guilty to manslaughter.
00:34:05
He was sentenced to 21 years, but the sentence
00:34:08
was reduced to five and a half years,
00:34:10
because he had already served time on the stolen car charge.
00:34:14
The other two men served short terms
00:34:17
as accessories after the fact.
00:34:21
So now the attorney general's office in Louisiana
00:34:23
considers this case closed.
00:34:26
But Huey Littleton will not rest until he
00:34:29
knows exactly what happened on the night of the murders.
00:34:33
If you have any information, please log on to our website
00:34:36
at unsolved.com.
00:34:40
Next, a mysterious phone call reopens the case of a woman
00:34:45
missing for 15 years.
00:34:57
Chalmette, Louisiana.
00:35:00
Make sure to feed everybody for me.
00:35:02
Yep.
00:35:03
And would you put everything in the fridge when you're done?
00:35:05
DENNIS FARINA: Mary Anne Perez goes out with a girlfriend,
00:35:07
and leaves her teenage daughter, Donna, to babysit
00:35:11
the younger children. - All right.
00:35:13
I love you.
00:35:13
I'm gonna call and check up on you.
00:35:14
- OK. - Lock the door.
00:35:15
SHANNON PEREZ MILLER: She told Donna
00:35:16
that she would be calling to check
00:35:18
on us about 10, 11 o'clock.
00:35:22
And Donna said she got a phone call from mama first,
00:35:26
Mama said that she was OK, she would be home shortly.
00:35:29
[PHONE RINGING]
00:35:30
And then, Donna said she got a phone call from a woman
00:35:34
by the name of Dorothy.
00:35:36
Hello.
00:35:37
DOROTHY (ON PHONE): Hi, my name's Dorothy,
00:35:38
and I'm a friend of your mama's.
00:35:40
I'm calling to let you know she's having car trouble,
00:35:42
so she'll be a little late getting home tonight.
00:35:46
WAYNE THOMAS: When I heard about the call,
00:35:47
and heard the name Dorothy, I couldn't
00:35:50
imagine who in the world that could have been.
00:35:52
I knew there was something wrong somewhere,
00:35:55
the car being practically new, and no reason for car trouble.
00:35:59
[CAMERA SNAPPING]
00:36:01
DENNIS FARINA: Mary Anne never called, and never came home.
00:36:05
Her family soon discovered that she
00:36:07
had gone to meet her friend at a country
00:36:08
western bar on the outskirts of New Orleans.
00:36:11
A cold beer.
00:36:15
DENNIS FARINA: The next morning, police
00:36:16
found Mary Anne's car parked in front of the club,
00:36:19
but found no evidence of car trouble.
00:36:21
[POLICE RADIO CHATTER]
00:36:23
Nothing in the back.
00:36:24
DENNIS FARINA: Three days later, Mary Anne purse
00:36:27
was found in Lake Pontchartrain, 10 miles away.
00:36:30
It had been weighted down by a brick.
00:36:33
But there was no trace of Mary Ann Perez.
00:36:40
Nine years passed.
00:36:41
Then finally, New Orleans Police got their first solid lead.
00:36:46
A man named David Courtney and his wife
00:36:49
had confessed to a multi-state killing spree.
00:36:52
One of their victims seemed to have a lot
00:36:54
in common with Mary Ann Perez.
00:36:58
Um, I um, I was going to this bar for a drink,
00:37:00
and I saw this woman, and--
00:37:02
BOB LAMBERT: When I went up to Kansas to interview David
00:37:04
Courtney, he told me about the female
00:37:07
he abducted in New Orleans.
00:37:08
He stated that he was driving down a highway
00:37:10
and pulled in a parking lot of a country western bar.
00:37:16
DAVID COURTNEY: Oh. - Oh.
00:37:18
DAVID COURTNEY: Hey, you OK?
00:37:19
Yeah, I'm OK, thank you.
00:37:20
Um.
00:37:24
You're not driving that car, are you?
00:37:26
MARY ANN: I gotta.
00:37:27
I gotta get home to my kids.
00:37:28
Well, look, why don't you let my wife and I take you home.
00:37:31
She's right up the road here, and I'm
00:37:32
picking her up from work.
00:37:34
BOB LAMBERT: Did you pick your wife up?
00:37:36
DAVID COURTNEY: Yeah, and then we took
00:37:38
her straight to our trailer.
00:37:40
BOB LAMBERT: He stated that this female fell asleep
00:37:42
on a chair in the trailer, and there
00:37:45
were some sexual advancements by David Courtney's wife, which
00:37:50
woke this female up, and she became
00:37:52
disturbed, and irate, and upset about what was going on.
00:37:54
And they agreed to give her a ride home at that time.
00:37:58
DENNIS FARINA: David Courtney stated that his wife drove
00:38:01
and he sat in the backseat with their intended victim.
00:38:04
We're just, we're taking you back.
00:38:06
It's all over.
00:38:09
DENNIS FARINA: Courtney said he had already killed once,
00:38:11
and that he and his wife were afraid
00:38:13
that this woman would go to the police if they let her live.
00:38:17
Recognize this place.
00:38:20
This is-- this is not the way to-- this is not--
00:38:23
[CHOKING]
00:38:33
DENNIS FARINA: According to David Courtney,
00:38:35
they dumped their victim near the Louisiana-Mississippi State
00:38:38
line, and made no attempt to hide the body.
00:38:42
Detective Lambert tried to verify that their victim
00:38:45
was actually Mary Ann Perez.
00:38:49
I'm gonna show you a photograph now.
00:38:50
I want you to take a look at it, and see whether or not
00:38:53
you can identify this person.
00:38:55
DAVID COURTNEY: Um, could be, yeah, it
00:38:57
kind of looks like her.
00:38:58
I can't be 100% sure, but yeah, I think so, maybe.
00:39:01
BOB LAMBERT: I'm gonna show you a small photograph.
00:39:03
I want you to look at it, and see if you recognize
00:39:05
anything in that photograph.
00:39:06
DAVID COURTNEY: Oh yeah, that's her car.
00:39:07
It's green.
00:39:09
Definitely.
00:39:10
Uh huh.
00:39:14
DENNIS FARINA: Detective Lambert next
00:39:15
questioned Courtney's wife--
00:39:16
BOB LAMBERT: How you doing?
00:39:17
DENNIS FARINA: Specifically about Mary Ann's purse.
00:39:19
BOB LAMBERT: New Orleans Police Department.
00:39:20
I asked her if the female they abducted had a purse.
00:39:24
And she said yes, that she threw it over the side of a bridge
00:39:28
that they were crossing at the time.
00:39:30
DONNA: Get her out, quick.
00:39:31
I've got it.
00:39:32
DENNIS FARINA: An extensive search was conducted,
00:39:34
but no body was recovered, even though all of Courtney's
00:39:38
other victims had been found where
00:39:40
he said they would be found.
00:39:42
The Courtneys were never charged with Mary Ann's murder.
00:39:46
Her family kept their hopes alive.
00:39:50
[PHONE RINGING]
00:39:52
Then, 15 years after Mary Anne disappeared, the family got--
00:39:55
Hello?
00:39:56
DENNIS FARINA: A phone call from a woman who claimed
00:39:58
to be Mary Ann's best friend.
00:40:02
SHAWN PEREZ: And she said, well, it's about Mary Ann.
00:40:04
And I said, what about miss Mary Ann?
00:40:05
And she said well, miss Mary Ann's still alive.
00:40:08
WOMAN ON PHONE: I'm calling for Mary Ann,
00:40:10
because they won't let her.
00:40:12
Mary Ann can't remember-- look, do you have Donna's number?
00:40:16
DENNIS FARINA: The caller insisted she would
00:40:18
not be able to call again.
00:40:20
She said, like Mary Ann, she was quote, "Not allowed."
00:40:24
WOMAN ON PHONE: I'm telling you, Mary Ann is still alive.
00:40:26
I don't understand why you don't want to help her.
00:40:29
[HANGING UP]
00:40:30
WAYNE THOMAS: That caused me to think more
00:40:32
positive that she was alive.
00:40:34
And of course, there was statements
00:40:36
made that this was possibly a prank call, I don't know.
00:40:40
But I do know that if she is alive, I'd like to see her.
00:40:43
And I'd like to find her.
00:40:50
DENNIS FARINA: Mary Ann's family clings
00:40:52
to the hope that David Courtney, who
00:40:54
admits he was drunk at the time, did not succeed in strangling
00:40:58
Mary Ann to death.
00:41:03
DAVID COURTNEY: It's OK.
00:41:04
SHANNON PEREZ MILLER: Maybe he might
00:41:05
have strangled her unconscious, thinking that she
00:41:08
was dead, and threw her out.
00:41:11
Maybe she got up several hours later.
00:41:14
Maybe there's a possibility that she is somewhere out there.
00:41:19
WAYNE THOMAS: Maybe she had amnesia or something like that,
00:41:22
or maybe some of the brain cells were destroyed,
00:41:26
and she can't remember who she is or what she was.
00:41:30
I don't know what happened to her.
00:41:32
The fact is, she's gone, and has been gone for 15 years.
00:41:35
Whether she's dead or alive, I don't know.
00:41:40
DENNIS FARINA: Update.
00:41:41
There are new developments in this case.
00:41:43
Here's one of our staff with the details.
00:41:47
STAFF: While David Courtney sat in prison for the murder of one
00:41:50
of his other victims, sadly, the hopes of Mary Ann's family
00:41:55
were vanquished, when remains found in Alabama
00:41:57
turned out to be Mary Ann's, according to a DNA sample
00:42:01
provided by her daughter.
00:42:03
Courtney's wife Donna died shortly after being paroled.
00:42:08
Courtney, now 74, remains behind bars.
00:42:14
[THEME MUSIC PLAYING]
