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[Music]
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this program is about unsolved mysteries
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whenever possible the actual family
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members and police officials have
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participated in recreating the events
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what you're about to see is not a news
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broadcast
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[Music]
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summer 1977
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in the city of new york year-long
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nightmare was coming to an end
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on august 10th a man named david
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berkowitz was arrested
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police believe that he was a lone gunman
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behind the son of sam killings a brutal
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series of shootings that had left six
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people dead and seven seriously injured
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the media rejoiced
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the elusive son of sam was behind bars
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or was he
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the general perception among the public
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for years had been that david berkowitz
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was a lone gunman
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the facts and the evidence not
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speculation the facts and the evidence
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say otherwise
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in 1977 the nation believed the son of
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sam murders were solved
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in the last 11 years reporter maury
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terry has collected convincing evidence
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that david berkowitz did not act alone
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tonight we examine terry's theory and
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present other mysteries where you may be
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able to help
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and a tiny baptist church in rural
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georgia a deacon and his wife were the
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victims of a double murder
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the killer dropped a pair of glasses
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that may lead to his identity
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and from omaha nebraska a poignant story
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of unrequited love a frugal bachelor who
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left an unclaimed fortune of 200
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thousand dollars
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someone watching tonight may be his heir
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join me
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you
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may be able to help solve a mystery
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[Music]
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son of sam's reign of terror began on
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july 29 1976
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it occurred in an area in the bronx
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called pelham bay
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the time was 1 10 am
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[Music]
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two young girls were hit by 44 caliber
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bullets one died
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a composite sketch of the gunman was
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created from the survivor's eyewitness
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description
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on october 23rd in the borough of queens
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another 44 caliber shooting occurred
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a man suffered a serious head
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injury a month later again in queens two
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girls stood on a stoop talking
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a man appeared out of the shadows
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both survived but one would be confined
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to a wheelchair for the rest of her life
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eyewitnesses were able to help police in
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creating a new composite of the gunman
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[Music]
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1977
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two separate shootings took the lives of
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two women
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as in the earlier attacks a 44 caliber
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bulldog revolver was used
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eyewitnesses created two more composites
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of the killer
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they showed a very different face from
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the earlier drawings each appeared to be
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a different person
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[Music]
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on april 17 1977 another shooting
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occurred again in the pelham bay section
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of the bronx just three blocks from the
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scene of the first shooting
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this time a hand printed letter was left
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at the scene it read quote
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i am a monster i am the son of sam
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i'm a little brat
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the city was paralyzed with fear
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the people in the local neighborhoods
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particularly in the bronx were petrified
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i remember people yelling
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to people in the street get in that nuts
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out there and this is an
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early afternoon
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no one double parked their cars
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uh business at the local entertainment
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places such as bars restaurants
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will knill no one went out on memorial
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day another letter from the son of sam
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was sent to columnist jimmy breslin
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written in the same distinctive style it
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contained taunts and references to
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satanism
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finally on july 31st son of sam struck
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for the last time
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stacey moskowitz was killed her date
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robert violante partially blinded
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that guy came over
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to the car and blew those people away in
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less than four seconds like
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you know you pre you press the trigger
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and then both would you know
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both could have died luckily robin's
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alive
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but
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i'll never forget it
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zayno gave police a description of the
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shooter
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another composite was created showing
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the gunman
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again there were more differences and
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similarities when compared to the
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earlier drawings
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one of them would to look like
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david berkowitz the others did not
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resemble them at all it was completely
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different
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uh i thought it was rather strange
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although we know that these drawings are
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done by victims or witnesses who see the
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killer for a brief period of time
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and then a day or two or several hours
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later they have to go to a police
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department artist and he has to put that
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on paper that's a very difficult thing
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to do so many times these sketches are
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not very accurate so i thought perhaps
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maybe that's why we saw so many
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different versions of the son of sam
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on the composites
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in their investigation of the moscowitz
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shooting
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police discovered a parking ticket had
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been issued near the scene to a ford
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galaxy owned by a postal employee named
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david berkowitz
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right back into the park
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the police traced this ticket to
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berkowitz's home
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as they approached the building they saw
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the car they spotted a duffel bag with
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what looked like a rifle but protruding
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through the opening automatic rifle
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when they entered the car they found a
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letter threatening another attack
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it was signed
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son of sam john look at this we got him
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let's get back to these uh
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the police staked out the ford galaxy
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waiting for its owner to emerge
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[Music]
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at 10 p.m berkowitz walked to the car
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inside the brown paper bag he was
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carrying there was a 44-caliber revolver
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as detectives moved into
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he sat in his fort galaxy
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almost passively
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what took you guys so long step out of
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the car
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berkowitz confessed to all of the
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shootings
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he told the police that he received his
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orders to commit the crimes from the
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barking dog of an elderly neighbor named
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sam carr
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berkowitz pleaded guilty to all the
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charges against him
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he was sentenced to 25 years to life in
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new york's attica prison
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but to maury terry his confession seemed
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too convenient
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after the arrest of berkowitz uh just
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through fate or whatever i started
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poking around into the case because i
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had some suspicions that uh
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maybe there was more to it than the
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public was being uh being led to believe
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and that's when i started my own
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investigation in into the case right
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really the day after berkowitz got
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arrested
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maury terry believes that david
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berkowitz did not act alone that he was
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part of a gang of killers and it was the
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killing of stacey moskowitz that first
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aroused his suspicions
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next we will go through a step-by-step
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reconstruction of the events leading to
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the killing of stacy moskowitz
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mauri terry believes that this last
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killing was deliberately planned and
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executed not just by david berkowitz but
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by at least three people
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and he says that there is eyewitness
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testimony to corroborate this theory
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well the very early reports that um on
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the moskowitz killing had me concerned
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david berkowitz's resemblance his
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features were widely different from the
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sketches of the killer that had been
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done by the police artist started
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seeking out witnesses found tommy zayno
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who was a key witness in the to the
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shooting
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tommy zano was with his girlfriend
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parked on shore parkway in front of the
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car that held stacy moskowitz and her
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boyfriend
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was looking through the mirror in the
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car and i seen i noticed somebody you
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know standing in the park
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what i seen is he had long hair and it's
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hard to really see the face but it was
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he was then
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he looked like he was in pretty good
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shape
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from looking through the mirror when he
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was into the in the park
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the guy who came over to the car
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it's nice he walked up to the car like
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as if he was gonna get in the car then
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he went into a stance
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shot and that was it
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turned around and ran
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i can't picture burka which run like
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that
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that's the thing that confused me after
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they quote him if they seen him
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as either he was he you know i in a week
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he can't get that fat you know he that's
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all i could say he's he's
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you know he didn't look like the type of
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guy run and do
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that this is a map showing the
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neighborhood where the last killing
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occurred
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stacy moskowitz and her boyfriend were
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parked here
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two blocks away on may 17th stream david
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berkowitz received the incriminating
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parking ticket on his ford galaxy parked
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here
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according to terry the events leading up
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to the shooting began here at the shore
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parkway entrance to the park at about
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1am
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witnesses saw a yellow volkswagen arrive
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at the park entrance
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two men emerged
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this same car was seen fleeing the crime
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scene after the shootings
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30 minutes later tommy zano noticed the
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yellow volkswagen drive past more than
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once
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a half hour later at 205 a policeman
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issued a parking ticket to berkowitz's
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ford galaxy
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a neighborhood resident named cecilia
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davis pulled up in a friend's car just
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ahead of berkowitz's ford
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she then said goodbye to her friend
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we were triple parked
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and i was looking in the in the back so
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in case a car comes up
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i saw
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that guy taking the summons off his
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windshield
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and keep on looking watching the cops as
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they still gave tickets
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then he got in the car
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and he came behind us
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he couldn't pass because we were
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blocking the whole street
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and he blowed the horn at us
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so i got out
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and i took a look at him
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more or less i gave him a dirty look
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what's the percussion middle in the
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night
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cecilia has identified the man in the
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car as david berkowitz
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after she left her friend she saw
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berkowitz drive up bay 17th street
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and turn right on bath
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following the police
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the fact that david berkowitz
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pulled up behind mrs davis and her date
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as he did uh with the police car still
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on the block or just pulling off the
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block blaring his horn he would not be
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doing something like that if he's the
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elusive ingenious son of sam carrying
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that 44 bulldog in his car he would he
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would try to be as stealthy as possible
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15 minutes after the parking ticket was
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issued stacy moskowitz and robert
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violante went for a late night stroll
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as they walked in a nearby park stacy
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and robert saw a man standing next to a
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restroom watching
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this restroom was over two blocks from
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cecena davis's apartment
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at 2 33 am
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mrs davis returned to her apartment
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after walking her dog
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she saw david berkowitz the man who had
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honked earlier walking straight towards
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her
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i know it was the same guy because i saw
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him when i got out of the car for my
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friend
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i looked
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at him because he blow their horn
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cecilia saw berkowitz here
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over two blocks away from where stacy
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and robert were parked
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approximately one minute later in her
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apartment cecilia heard the sounds of
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gunfire in the distance
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those four shots killed stacey moskowitz
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and almost blinded robert violante
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how could berkowitz have traveled from
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this spot where cecilia last saw him
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to this area where stacy and robert were
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shot in one minute
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when it takes at least two and a half
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minutes to briskly walk the two blocks
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from bay 17th street to the park
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just 15 seconds after the shooting
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witnesses saw a man wearing a cheap
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light-colored wig run out of the park
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get into a yellow volkswagen and speed
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away up 17th avenue
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in his haste he ran a red light and
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narrowly missed colliding with another
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car
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maury terry believes that at least three
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people including david berkowitz were
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involved in the moscowitz killing
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he claims they were members of an
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organized conspiracy responsible for
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every single one of the son of sam
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shootings
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david berkowitz was selected to be the
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fall guy on the son of sam killings
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he was not a willing fall guy he wanted
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it to be another way but berkowitz knew
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that he had been involved in all the
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shootings uh he has pulled the trigger
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definitely two times responsible for
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three murders he's not an innocent man
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and was on the scene of all the others
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as a lookout a wheel man whatever
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so berkowitz was involved and berkowitz
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knew he was guilty he also was
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responsible for getting a parking ticket
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on his car that night which also made
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him susceptible to be the guy to be
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picked out to take the fall and on top
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of that the real killer escaped in the
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yellow volkswagen and that person was
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deemed more valuable to the conspirators
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than david berkowitz was
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no i didn't think it was david berkowitz
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then and i don't think it's him now
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i definitely don't think it's him it has
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crossed my mind
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and it's a strong opinion of mine that
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david berkowitz was not the sole killer
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and was aided
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by other accomplices
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we um
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received information
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that um
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other people may have been involved
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i had a statement made to me by someone
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who allegedly spoke to david berkowitz
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wherein david berkowitz is supposed to
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have stated
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that others were involved
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new york prosecutor john santucci has
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moved the status of the son of sam
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investigation from inactive to active
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next week we'll continue maury terry's
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investigation
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he has discovered that david berkowitz
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and at least two friends were members of
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a satanic cult
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these two friends were brothers and
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their father's name
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was sam
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next the poignant tale of curly green
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for half a century he lived a solitary
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frugal life in a tiny omaha apartment
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when he died his friends were amazed
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that he had amassed a 200 000 fortune
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someone watching tonight may be his heir
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[Music]
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until ten years ago walter greene lived
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alone in a small apartment near downtown
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omaha
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his nickname was curly and he lived a
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simple frugal life
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[Music]
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he was cordial to his neighbors but kept
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mostly to himself
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on april 24 1978 curly green had a heart
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attack
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he died while working in his yard
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everyone who knew him was astounded to
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find that curly during his lifetime had
00:17:47
accumulated more than two hundred
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thousand dollars
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he left no will and his next of kin
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could not be located
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ten years after his death curly green's
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fortune remains the largest unclaimed
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estate in nebraska history
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when it came out in the papers
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that he
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had the amount of money that they said
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he had we were shocked
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i can't imagine how he amassed that
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amount
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they found stock certificates i
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understand they found a coin collection
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and they found much to everyone's
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surprise that curley actually owned the
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apartment building where he was living
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it is extraordinary that a man who lived
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as simply as curly green could have
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accrued such a large sum of money
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it is even more extraordinary that the
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money remains unclaimed
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but this is not just a story of missing
00:18:38
airs and unclaimed fortunes
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it is also a love story a sweden
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haunting that began nearly eight decades
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ago
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[Music]
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we don't know much about curly green's
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early life
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but we can surmise is this
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when he was nearly 17 he hopped a train
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bound for omaha
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curly jumped off outside the city near a
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small farming town called skyler
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[Music]
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curley immediately began to pound the
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pavement looking for work
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hal rominger a local tavern keeper saw
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the young stranger and offered him not
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only a ride but a home-cooked meal with
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his family
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[Music]
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catherine the younger of the rummager
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was then only nine years old
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i don't know if my dad brought him
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we suppose he came from denver we were
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curious when he set up the table because
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we'd never seen him before but he was a
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nice looking young man
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well i'll bet it's been quite some time
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since you smelled cooking like this
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curly well yeah a little while at dinner
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curly was secretive about his family and
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his birthplace in montana
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where is your family curly
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well i left my mom and my stepdad back
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in denver and that's about all the
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family i really have curly said he
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hadn't gotten along with his stepfather
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so he had traveled east
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he had a very nice way of evading see
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when mama asked him said didn't you have
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some cousins or something he just said
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well
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i did once
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and he
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changed the subject and that's the way
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curly was
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and we respected him
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for it
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do you have any brothers or sisters
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well
00:20:39
none as pretty as your daughters ma'am
00:20:42
the moment curly first saw jessamine
00:20:44
rominger catherine's older sister he was
00:20:47
smitten
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he would never feel the same way about
00:20:50
anyone else
00:20:54
al rominger found curly a job working at
00:20:56
the local garage
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the automobile was still a pretty
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newfangled machine curly had a knack for
00:21:02
fixing cars
00:21:04
he earned enough to enable him to move
00:21:05
into a boarding house
00:21:07
[Music]
00:21:10
he wasn't a spendthrift
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and i used to like it when i have to get
00:21:14
paychecks because he'd give me nickels
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and dimes
00:21:18
with his new salary curly began to court
00:21:20
jessamine
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he only had one problem
00:21:23
getting rid of catherine the little
00:21:25
sister go to the movies yeah
00:21:27
well i was thinking of the park how
00:21:29
about if you go to the movies and me and
00:21:30
justin go to the park
00:21:32
okay okay
00:21:37
well here we are
00:21:38
[Music]
00:21:40
he and jasmine would go wherever they
00:21:42
went
00:21:43
they had some friends in skyler
00:21:46
and but i didn't care where he went i
00:21:48
got the nickel and dime
00:21:50
that's all i cared about
00:21:54
curly's got quite a bit of adjustment
00:21:56
because he never went with other girls
00:22:00
only jasmine
00:22:06
in 1917 curly left his job as a mechanic
00:22:09
to enlist in the
00:22:10
army he also left his beloved jessamine
00:22:14
she began training to be a nurse
00:22:17
curly served on the european front
00:22:20
it was his unenviable duty to drive the
00:22:22
dead and wounded in a makeshift army
00:22:24
hospital
00:22:26
the suffering he witnessed scarred curly
00:22:28
but when the war ended he returned home
00:22:31
full of hope to skylar nebraska and to
00:22:34
jessup
00:22:37
[Music]
00:22:44
catherine it's good to see you again
00:22:46
have you been
00:22:48
fine
00:22:49
is justin in here
00:22:51
no curly i'm sorry he's gone to omaha
00:23:00
well nothing flowers
00:23:03
jasmine liked him and he was a gentleman
00:23:06
always
00:23:07
but she wanted other things out of life
00:23:10
and he didn't appear to be educated
00:23:13
and his earning capacity wasn't great i
00:23:15
suppose
00:23:17
and anyhow they didn't go together
00:23:19
anymore
00:23:20
[Music]
00:23:21
curly followed jessamine to omaha and
00:23:23
got a job
00:23:24
first as a mechanic at a newspaper the
00:23:26
omaha b
00:23:27
then as a night watchman for the union
00:23:29
pacific railroad curley refused to give
00:23:32
up on jessa
00:23:33
but jessamine rominger married another
00:23:35
man curly never fell in love again he
00:23:38
never married or had a family
00:23:44
curly spent the next 60 years alone
00:23:47
in all those years he never told anyone
00:23:49
who his real family was
00:23:53
other than catherine curley's best
00:23:55
friend was riley marr his barber and a
00:23:57
fellow member of the masonic lodge
00:24:00
i really never really got that close to
00:24:02
him actually i thought i was a pretty
00:24:03
good friend of his because he did invite
00:24:05
me over to his
00:24:06
home on occasion and we did sit around
00:24:09
and have coffee and talked about things
00:24:13
once riley noticed some postcards and
00:24:15
pictures neatly displayed in curly's
00:24:17
apartment
00:24:19
he was curious to know if they were from
00:24:20
curley's family i picked one of them up
00:24:23
and it had a postmark of brooklyn new
00:24:25
york and i asked him something about
00:24:27
where that was
00:24:28
it was a long ways from home and he said
00:24:30
never mind and he took it and put it
00:24:32
away
00:24:33
well it made me feel like i was probably
00:24:36
intruding on his privacy of some sort
00:24:38
and that he had something that he maybe
00:24:41
didn't want revealed or maybe he'd had a
00:24:43
tragedy in his lifetime somewhere along
00:24:45
the way that he was trying to avoid
00:24:47
talking about
00:24:49
over the years kirliad amassed a
00:24:51
considerable fortune but he kept that a
00:24:54
secret too
00:24:55
some people attributed curly's wealth to
00:24:57
an extremely valuable coin collection
00:25:00
but catherine thought he just plain
00:25:01
saved every penny he made
00:25:04
well he said he would get up in the
00:25:06
morning and after he'd eat breakfast
00:25:08
he'd put a can on the pilot light
00:25:10
and by the time he'd come back and ready
00:25:12
for lunch or the evening meal it was
00:25:14
just right to eat he was that saving
00:25:18
maybe that's how he got the money
00:25:22
when he died curly green had accumulated
00:25:24
a fortune of more than two hundred
00:25:26
thousand dollars
00:25:27
held primarily in real estate stocks and
00:25:30
bonds
00:25:31
so far no legitimate heirs have claimed
00:25:33
curley's estate
00:25:38
in 1986 investigator josh butler who
00:25:41
tracks down missing heirs professionally
00:25:43
began researching the case of curly
00:25:45
green
00:25:46
josh had heard that curly once mentioned
00:25:48
having a brother who was killed in a
00:25:50
shootout indeed there had been a man
00:25:52
named al green who was
00:25:54
shot and killed shortly after the fourth
00:25:56
of july in 1921. we really went to some
00:25:59
extremes in this case
00:26:00
but were surprised and a little
00:26:02
disappointed never to have found any
00:26:04
clear connection with curly green
00:26:07
part of the mystery here is that al
00:26:09
green's
00:26:10
father
00:26:11
i believe to have been a joseph greene
00:26:14
and i now understand that curly green's
00:26:16
father was a harry albert green
00:26:19
so
00:26:19
quite probably al green and
00:26:22
curly green we're cousins rather than
00:26:24
brothers
00:26:25
the man named al green was killed in
00:26:27
1921.
00:26:29
josh butler now thinks it is probable
00:26:31
that curley's actual brother was killed
00:26:33
several years earlier
00:26:37
the search for curly's heirs continues
00:26:40
it's very strange that a man would
00:26:41
accumulate 200 000 in his lifetime
00:26:44
and that he would have no known
00:26:45
relatives that anybody knew about
00:26:48
and not leave some sort of a written
00:26:50
document
00:26:51
concerning the disposition of this money
00:26:53
somewhere there's somebody who has
00:26:55
enough information in their own family
00:26:57
that they're going to be able to come
00:26:58
forward and prove their entitlement to
00:27:00
this it'll be a case of
00:27:02
going from the people back to the money
00:27:05
these are five of the few known
00:27:07
photographs of curly green
00:27:09
showing him as a young man
00:27:11
in middle age
00:27:14
and before he died
00:27:17
we know he said he was born in kendall
00:27:19
montana and lived in denver
00:27:22
we know he had a collection of gold
00:27:23
coins some of which he might have
00:27:24
obtained in mexico
00:27:27
he received postcards from someone in
00:27:28
brooklyn new york
00:27:31
curley claimed he had a brother who was
00:27:33
killed in a shootout
00:27:34
and he stated on a 1938 birth
00:27:36
certificate that albert harry greene
00:27:39
born in england and anne morin green
00:27:41
born in latvia
00:27:42
were his parents
00:27:44
none of these three relatives has been
00:27:46
traced
00:27:49
at curley's funeral a mysterious wreath
00:27:52
of flowers became the final clue to his
00:27:54
past this card came with the flowers
00:27:57
it signed mrs joe greener denver
00:27:59
colorado
00:28:01
perhaps mrs greener is the key to the
00:28:03
puzzling life of walter curly green
00:28:06
next the story of a double murder in a
00:28:08
tiny baptist church in rural georgia
00:28:11
the only clue is a pair of ordinary
00:28:12
glasses left behind by the killer
00:28:23
[Music]
00:28:32
[Applause]
00:28:40
there
00:28:44
waverly georgia population 825 is a
00:28:47
predominantly black community nestled in
00:28:49
the baptist bible belt
00:28:52
lumber farming and the paper mill
00:28:54
provide the income for this small
00:28:56
isolated area over 35 miles from the
00:28:59
nearest big city
00:29:00
jacksonville florida
00:29:02
[Music]
00:29:07
for years rising daughters baptist
00:29:09
church has served not only as a place of
00:29:11
worship but also as a social center for
00:29:13
the small township
00:29:15
[Music]
00:29:17
but on march 11 1985 this quiet
00:29:21
community was shattered by violence
00:29:25
the quiet sanctity of rising daughter's
00:29:27
church was violated by the brutal double
00:29:29
murder of harold and thelma swain
00:29:33
harold swain was a well-respected deacon
00:29:36
of the church a member of the county
00:29:38
jury commission and a spokesperson for
00:29:40
the black community
00:29:42
thelma swain was also closely involved
00:29:44
with church affairs harold and film had
00:29:46
been married for over 43 years
00:29:49
[Music]
00:29:50
harold was always happy and jolly
00:29:53
laughing it's something like that might
00:29:55
have come natural to harold
00:29:57
because of his love and kindness for
00:30:00
everyone
00:30:01
and he would always go out of his way to
00:30:02
help someone at any time
00:30:05
day or night no matter what time
00:30:07
if you needed a favor of any type and he
00:30:09
could do it he was there
00:30:12
same thing about them
00:30:13
all the people up here
00:30:15
well they came to this funeral most
00:30:17
people ever saw a funeral
00:30:19
here in my life
00:30:20
just
00:30:21
called everybody who you know thought
00:30:22
that much of hell and respect
00:30:27
on the night they were murdered harold
00:30:29
and thelma held their weekly tuesday
00:30:31
night bible class
00:30:33
nine women
00:30:34
do i put my attended
00:30:36
let me never be put to confusion
00:30:39
now let us pray
00:30:42
oh god i want to thank you for bringing
00:30:44
us together tonight
00:30:46
in jesus name
00:30:48
amen
00:30:51
now is there any father of business that
00:30:53
you care to discuss sister brenda yeah
00:30:55
well i'd like to remind everybody at 8
00:30:57
50 one of the women excused herself
00:31:09
may i help you
00:31:10
yeah i want to talk to somebody oh
00:31:13
some money in there
00:31:17
she encountered a stranger in the church
00:31:19
festival
00:31:21
i want to talk to him they'll be right
00:31:22
back
00:31:24
some of the other women in the group
00:31:25
caught just a glimpse of the man a young
00:31:28
white male
00:31:29
in april
00:31:30
excuse me
00:31:46
what's happening
00:32:00
[Music]
00:32:04
the women rushed into the pastor's
00:32:06
office and tried to call for help
00:32:09
the phone didn't work
00:32:14
20 minutes passed while the women waited
00:32:16
in fear
00:32:18
finally one of them made a dash for her
00:32:20
car and went to summon help
00:32:28
that night the georgia bureau of
00:32:30
investigation was brought in
00:32:32
a massive manhunt started in this tiny
00:32:34
black community
00:32:39
harold and thelma were personal friends
00:32:41
of mine and my families
00:32:43
and it was kind of a
00:32:45
shock to me i think i was in shock for a
00:32:47
while
00:32:48
when i got there there was a lot of
00:32:50
confusion
00:32:51
no one really knew what had happened
00:32:54
they didn't know what the facts were
00:32:56
they didn't know who had done the
00:32:59
killing they didn't know what the motive
00:33:01
was the swain's highly respected people
00:33:04
very active in the community
00:33:07
are just not the type of person that
00:33:10
you know would be the victim of a murder
00:33:13
plot
00:33:16
there was a lot of physical evidence at
00:33:17
the scene
00:33:18
bullet casings
00:33:21
two pair of glasses
00:33:22
for one we were able to determine belong
00:33:25
to the emt harold swan
00:33:26
the other pair
00:33:28
no one knew who they belonged to
00:33:32
the first gut reaction that i had was a
00:33:34
transient
00:33:35
because the glasses appeared to belong
00:33:38
to a person who did not have enough
00:33:40
money to
00:33:41
properly maintain their glasses or to
00:33:43
buy glasses when they needed them
00:33:46
these are the glasses found on that
00:33:47
night
00:33:48
and they're not ordinary glasses
00:33:51
the lenses are thick
00:33:52
the surface pocked by a welding torch
00:33:54
the earpieces don't match
00:33:57
or they drop by the killer
00:34:00
when the police discovered these glasses
00:34:01
they investigated the theory that the
00:34:03
murder may have been a transient
00:34:07
rising daughter's church is located on
00:34:09
busy highway 17.
00:34:11
transients often would stop by for a
00:34:13
handout or a free meal
00:34:16
but if robbery was the motive
00:34:18
why were over 300 left in harold swain's
00:34:21
pocket
00:34:23
other evidence suggests that the crime
00:34:25
was premeditated
00:34:27
the authorities feel that the church had
00:34:29
been cased before the brutal attack
00:34:37
[Music]
00:34:39
the telephone lines at the church had
00:34:42
been cut
00:34:43
which uh could or could not say that
00:34:47
it was a premeditated murder could have
00:34:49
been a premeditated armed robbery
00:34:51
attempt
00:34:54
the woman who left the church early
00:34:56
clearly saw the attacker
00:34:58
fearing for her life she did not want to
00:35:00
appear on camera
00:35:03
he was calm
00:35:05
i was thinking
00:35:06
that he was there for a handout
00:35:10
he didn't seem to be
00:35:12
someone to hurt anybody
00:35:14
i didn't see any weapon or anything
00:35:17
and it seemed like he had on scuff boots
00:35:20
and he had long blonde hair
00:35:22
shoulder-length hair
00:35:24
but i really wasn't looking at him that
00:35:26
hard you know because i wanted to leave
00:35:29
all right
00:35:30
the police attempted to create a picture
00:35:32
of the killer using an identicate but
00:35:35
the eyewitnesses did not agree on many
00:35:37
of the details
00:35:38
an artist was brought in to sketch a
00:35:40
composite drawing
00:35:42
for five months the police searched for
00:35:44
the killer using the composite drawing
00:35:47
but no new leads or clues surfaced
00:35:52
[Music]
00:35:56
finally on july 5th 1985 police 135
00:36:00
miles away in telfair county georgia
00:36:03
pulled over a car for a minor traffic
00:36:04
violation
00:36:06
in the trunk they found an automatic
00:36:08
weapon in a submachine
00:36:10
gun three suspects were taken into
00:36:13
custody one of them
00:36:15
donny baringtine
00:36:17
we were given some information by some
00:36:19
acquaintance of these people
00:36:22
that
00:36:22
donnie barrett
00:36:24
had told people in florida that he had
00:36:28
murdered a black preacher and his wife
00:36:32
in a church
00:36:34
after several interviews with donny he
00:36:37
uh
00:36:38
admitted that he had told these people
00:36:41
in
00:36:42
florida that he
00:36:44
killed a black preacher and his wife
00:36:47
and then he just smiled and said but i
00:36:49
was lying to him
00:36:51
we have never been able to come up with
00:36:54
any hard evidence to
00:36:55
connect
00:36:56
donnie with this case donnie barentine
00:36:59
was then given a polygraph test and he
00:37:02
flunked it as a matter of fact the
00:37:04
polygraph operator told us that mr
00:37:06
barentine was a very good suspect in the
00:37:08
murder the resemblance between the man
00:37:11
on the wanted poster and donnie
00:37:12
berringtime was inconclusive
00:37:15
so the eyewitnesses from the church in
00:37:17
waverly were taken to jacksonville for a
00:37:20
police lineup
00:37:22
you'll be viewing
00:37:23
five individuals
00:37:25
i'd like if you will to place yourself
00:37:27
in your mind
00:37:28
back at the church the night this
00:37:30
incident happened
00:37:32
okay yes sir five individuals on the
00:37:35
other side won't be able to see or hear
00:37:36
you
00:37:38
lights
00:37:39
lights
00:37:42
there was about six men there
00:37:46
and i really couldn't see
00:37:48
that
00:37:49
one of them was him you know because the
00:37:52
person i saw had short hair
00:37:54
his completion was a little bit lighter
00:37:57
but he had the same boots that i saw
00:37:59
that night
00:38:00
the boots was what i recognized
00:38:03
but i i wasn't really really sure
00:38:11
the murder charges against donnie
00:38:12
berringtime were not pursued but he was
00:38:15
subsequently convicted on weapons
00:38:17
charges and is currently serving five
00:38:19
years in a federal penitentiary
00:38:23
one year later the swain investigation
00:38:25
took a new direction
00:38:28
agent joe gregory came across a face in
00:38:30
a state crime bulletin which exactly
00:38:32
matched the identicate picture created
00:38:35
by one of the witnesses at the church
00:38:37
[Music]
00:38:40
it gave me a chill
00:38:42
it literally gave me a chill when i saw
00:38:43
the composite because there are so many
00:38:47
hundreds of thousands of combinations to
00:38:50
make a composite and what are the odds
00:38:52
that
00:38:53
two of them being exact
00:38:56
and these composites were exact
00:38:58
matches the kansas suspect was wanted
00:39:01
for armed robbery in a church but was
00:39:03
never taken into custody the kansas
00:39:06
bureau of investigation could not even
00:39:08
give agent gregory the suspect's name
00:39:11
we found that they had never developed
00:39:14
any leads
00:39:15
they don't know who he is
00:39:17
other than the fact that he drove an
00:39:18
older car with a florida tag on it
00:39:24
three years later the brutal murders of
00:39:26
harold and thelma swain remain a mystery
00:39:29
were they just random killings committed
00:39:32
by a violent transient
00:39:34
or were they a planned and premeditated
00:39:36
murder and if so
00:39:38
why
00:39:40
they say your first hunch is usually
00:39:42
your best
00:39:44
everything that night
00:39:45
uh
00:39:47
pointed
00:39:49
to a transit
00:39:51
attempting to pull a robbery
00:39:54
my feelings are
00:39:56
and that the individual did not get any
00:39:58
money
00:40:00
he went around and checked to find out
00:40:02
if there was a phone
00:40:04
and then cut those lines
00:40:06
and singled out one individual from the
00:40:09
church and brought him out to the
00:40:11
vegetable
00:40:13
shot him and then in my opinion intended
00:40:15
that he'd be dead he shot him the last
00:40:17
round in the temple there's no question
00:40:20
that his intent was to kill harold swain
00:40:23
personally
00:40:25
a case like this haunts you
00:40:27
it's it's the type of case that
00:40:31
you never forget
00:40:34
i drive by rising daughters
00:40:37
every day
00:40:39
coming into this county
00:40:41
and i never drive by that i don't look
00:40:44
and
00:40:46
think about the swains
00:40:50
[Music]
00:40:53
[Applause]
00:40:54
[Music]
00:41:02
is
00:41:07
[Music]
00:41:39
[Applause]
00:41:40
[Music]
00:41:42
[Applause]
00:41:43
[Music]
00:41:45
last february on unsolved mysteries we
00:41:47
examined the case of elmer de boer an
00:41:50
oil company courier who was murdered
00:41:52
execution style on may 11 1987.
00:41:56
the two key suspects in the case were
00:41:58
jerry strickland and his 16 year old
00:42:00
girlfriend missy mundy
00:42:03
local police believe the couple
00:42:05
kidnapped elmer robbed him of ten
00:42:07
thousand dollars then took him to a
00:42:09
deserted wooded area outside of pontiac
00:42:12
michigan
00:42:13
and murdered him
00:42:16
[Music]
00:42:18
jerry and missy were never seen again
00:42:21
[Music]
00:42:22
update moses lake washington
00:42:25
within minutes of our broadcast 20
00:42:27
viewers in this small rural community
00:42:29
called the police to say they recognized
00:42:32
jerry strickland and missy mundy
00:42:34
seven hours later the police arrested
00:42:36
the fugitive couple at a friend's house
00:42:38
they discovered that jerry and missy had
00:42:40
themselves watched the broadcast and
00:42:43
we're waiting for the police
00:42:45
all he says i'm the guy you're looking
00:42:47
for
00:42:47
[Music]
00:42:49
and he was
00:42:51
just real calm and collect
00:42:54
no violence at all
00:42:56
i figured the time was about seven hours
00:42:57
and 15 minutes from the time the
00:43:00
unsolved mysteries aired and he was in
00:43:02
custody
00:43:04
i just felt sick about it
00:43:07
on february 12th jerry and missy were
00:43:09
extradited back to michigan to stand
00:43:11
trial for armed robbery kidnapping and
00:43:14
murder
00:43:15
jerry insists they are innocent
00:43:18
they got circumstance of evidence
00:43:20
all hearsay
00:43:22
it's people talking
00:43:23
but no
00:43:24
witnesses i mean
00:43:27
okay
00:43:28
that's why you know i say
00:43:30
they're gonna learn that we didn't do
00:43:31
this
00:43:32
we have enough evidence
00:43:34
circumstantial evidence and physical
00:43:36
evidence
00:43:37
uh that we feel he's guilty all they
00:43:40
want is a conviction and they don't care
00:43:42
if they burn me or not
00:43:45
thanks to our viewers jerry strickland
00:43:47
and missy mundy will have their day in
00:43:49
court
00:43:50
they're being tried separately and if
00:43:52
convicted could face life imprisonment
00:43:54
without the possibility of parole
00:43:58
[Music]
00:44:24
next week we'll continue our examination
00:44:26
of the son of sam shootings reporter
00:44:29
maury terry claims that the attacks are
00:44:30
engineered by a satanic cult a cult he
00:44:33
believes is still alive and has not yet
00:44:35
been brought to justice
00:44:37
join us next week for another edition of
00:44:39
unsolved
00:44:49
[Music]
00:45:31
foreign
