00:00:04
DENNIS FARINA: Next
on unsolved mysteries.
00:00:07
After a San Francisco teenager
strays into a world of magic,
00:00:11
witchcraft, and
mysticism, he's found
00:00:14
dead at the bottom of a cliff.
00:00:18
A young man is terrified
when he comes face
00:00:20
to face with the beast
called Chupacabra.
00:00:24
Authorities need
your help to catch
00:00:27
Carlos Berdeja, who brutally
murdered a young mother
00:00:30
for no apparent reason.
00:00:34
And when he died,
this eccentric man
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left behind 50 empty coffee
jars, 80 pairs of white socks,
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and an unclaimed fortune of a
quarter of a million dollars.
00:00:47
Whether it's murder, missing
persons, or the paranormal,
00:00:50
for the next hour it's
"Unsolved Mysteries".
00:00:54
I'm Dennis Farina.
00:00:55
Join us.
00:00:56
[music playing]
00:01:32
DENNIS FARINA: San
Francisco, California.
00:01:35
One Saturday in
September, Kurt McFall,
00:01:38
a 17-year-old high
school student,
00:01:40
drove from his home
in Concord, California
00:01:43
across the Bay Bridge
into San Francisco.
00:01:46
He told his father that he
was staying with a friend,
00:01:49
and he would be
home Sunday evening.
00:01:52
Kurt never returned.
00:01:54
On Monday, two birdwatchers
spotted a half naked body
00:01:58
on a remote beach below the
cliffs of San Francisco Bay.
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Kurt McFall was dead.
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TOM MCFALL: Kurt told
this friend of his
00:02:08
that he was involved in
some kind of satanic cult
00:02:13
and that he wanted out
but thought that they
00:02:16
might try to kill him.
00:02:17
He really feared for his life.
00:02:20
It was a murder.
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It needs to be investigated.
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There's no doubt in my mind that
Kurt could have handled himself
00:02:28
in that cliff area, because
he was an experienced mountain
00:02:31
climber and he was a diver.
00:02:33
So he would not have
drowned in the water
00:02:36
or fallen down the hill.
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Kurt McFall was a
handsome and popular
00:02:40
high school student,
a confident young
00:02:42
man who made friends easily.
00:02:44
But his father Tom has
learned there was another side
00:02:47
to his teenage son.
00:02:49
A dark side that may
have gotten him killed.
00:02:54
In Kurt's room, Tom discovered
a knife made from a deer's hoof,
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a necklace of
stone and feathers,
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and drawings of witchcraft
and violent fantasies.
00:03:05
These seem to prove that Kurt
was leading a double life.
00:03:11
The year before he died, Kurt
joined a group that enjoyed
00:03:14
reliving medieval customs.
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They dressed in
costumes and practiced
00:03:19
sword fighting in
the parking lot
00:03:21
of an Oakland subway station.
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Kurt also joined another
organization that initiated
00:03:28
him into a pagan religion.
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This new group frightened one of
Kurt's old high school friends.
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He later contacted Tom
McFall and then began
00:03:40
to fear for his own safety.
00:03:43
Gradually, over a period
of perhaps six months,
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his attitude towards other
people changed drastically.
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He kind of moved
from just studying
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with an interest in
medieval religion
00:03:57
to actually adopting
that religion as his.
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DENNIS FARINA: Kurt's guide
into the pagan religion
00:04:04
was Gabriel Carillo, who uses
the ancient Welsh name Caradoc.
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GABRIEL CARRILLO: This is a
religion which is also an art.
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A craft which has techniques
which are at their essence
00:04:20
magical.
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I met Kurt because he had
evinced and interest in magic.
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Kurt was real bright
and real curious
00:04:32
about just about everything.
00:04:35
His involvement with this
group can be compared to a drug
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addiction, where you begin
thinking that you've got it
00:04:42
in control, and you can
take it when you want
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but gradually losing that
sense of knowing when
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to stop until you're a junkie.
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GABRIEL CARRILLO: I do
not make any attempt
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to control people's lives.
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People are free to come and
go at their own discretion
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just as Kurt did.
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If anything, the
emphasis that we have
00:05:07
is on individuals taking
control of their own lives.
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DENNIS FARINA: On the
last night of his life,
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Kurt stayed over at
Caradoc's apartment.
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They had dinner, went to a
movie, and around midnight Kurt
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went swimming at Ocean Beach, a
few blocks from Caradoc's home.
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According to Caradoc,
Kurt had trouble sleeping
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and knocked on his door at
about 3:00 in the morning.
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It's too hot in here.
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I'm going to the beach.
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DENNIS FARINA: Kurt
was never seen again.
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My best guess is simply that
he took one too many chances.
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He might have gone
swimming in the ocean
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and been pulled up
by the undertow.
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He might have come on climbing
on the cliffs at Land's End
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and slipped and
fallen, or any one
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of a number of other things.
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DENNIS FARINA: The following
evening, Kurt's car
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was found abandoned on a golf
course overlooking the ocean.
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There were a number
of puzzling clues.
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Kurt's driver's license
was on the floor.
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His car keys on the seat.
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A $20 bill was in the
glove compartment.
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And the prized suit
of armor, which
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Kurt had made for
sword fighting,
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was missing from the trunk.
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There were also beer
bottles scattered
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in and around the car.
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The car has to
be a phony scene.
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To me, that was set up, because
Kurt did not drink beer.
00:06:37
That's also inconsistent
with the autopsy report that
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shows that there was no sign
of alcohol or drugs on the body
00:06:44
when it was recovered.
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DENNIS FARINA: At 10:15
the following morning,
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national park service lifeguards
recovered Kurt's body.
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It was lying in a cove less
than two miles from Caradoc's
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apartment, just below the
cliffs at the golf course
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where Kurt's car was found.
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BRIAN CAMERON: When
We came upon the body,
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we noticed it was in fairly
good condition, fairly pale,
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usually a sign of
being in the water
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for an extended period of time.
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No obvious external trauma.
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He looked pretty clean other
than a few small abrasions on
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the body but nothing obvious.
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DENNIS FARINA: Kurt had
no shoes, socks, or shirt.
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His back and
shoulders were covered
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with cuts and abrasions.
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The belt he wore was
missing it's buckle.
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With the facts that
we have in this case,
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it's really anybody's guess as
to where he actually entered
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the water where he came from.
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My guess would be, and that's
all it is, an educated guess,
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that he simply
fell off the cliff.
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And that's what
it appears to me.
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DENNIS FARINA: The
coroner determined
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that Kurt died from
multiple traumatic injuries
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and severe blood loss.
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But no one knows what
caused those injuries.
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Perhaps Kurt died after
stumbling over the edge
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or perhaps he was pushed.
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The coroner ruled
cause of death unknown.
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TOM MCFALL: I went to
the San Francisco coroner
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and I said, what do you
think happened to Kurt?
00:08:09
And he said, I think the most
probable cause of Kurt's death
00:08:12
is homicide.
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But he said, he didn't have
enough to testify to that
00:08:18
in a court of law, and so
he sent it up to homicide
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classified as unknown.
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And I can't accept that.
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DENNIS FARINA: The police
investigated further
00:08:29
but found no reason
to change that ruling
00:08:32
from unknown to homicide.
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They declined to be
interviewed for this story.
00:08:38
Kurt's father
continues to believe
00:08:40
that his son was murdered.
00:08:43
TOM MCFALL: Kurt may
have uncovered something
00:08:44
in the organization and may
have indicated to people that he
00:08:49
was going to expose this.
00:08:51
And I feel that
all of these things
00:08:54
probably contributed to them
wanting to do away with Kurt.
00:08:57
If I wanted to
murder somebody,
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the last person I would
murder would be somebody
00:09:02
who was staying at my house,
and his father knew that he
00:09:05
was staying at my house.
00:09:06
I mean, the whole
thing is stupid.
00:09:10
DENNIS FARINA: Tom McFall
hopes that someone will
00:09:12
come forward with
new evidence that
00:09:14
could reopen the investigation.
00:09:17
If you have any information
regarding this case,
00:09:20
please log onto our
website at unsolved.com.
00:09:27
Next, a young mother vanishes
in the middle of the night.
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What happened to
Christi Joe Nichols?
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When a young mother
of two small children
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disappears with no note
and no explanation,
00:09:51
well, people begin to wonder.
00:09:53
When Christi Joe
Nichols disappeared,
00:09:55
her husband Mark was the
last person to see her alive.
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Rumor has it that he knows a
little more than he's saying.
00:10:03
MARK NICHOLS: in small
towns, they talk a lot.
00:10:07
And a lot of these rumors
tend to get pretty vicious.
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There's been a
couple rumors that I
00:10:13
chopped her up and put
her in garbage bags
00:10:16
and buried her at the dump.
00:10:18
That's one of the
first ones I heard.
00:10:21
And that one really
got to me, because I
00:10:23
guess they were actually
up there digging around.
00:10:31
DENNIS FARINA: It was
in Gothenburg, Nebraska
00:10:33
that Christi married
Mark Nichols.
00:10:37
She was 19 years
old and soon to be
00:10:39
the mother of two toddlers who
became the focus of her life.
00:10:44
CONNIE STANLEY: Christi never
felt she did anything until she
00:10:46
had her children, and
there was something
00:10:48
she could look at and say,
hey, I did this pretty well.
00:10:51
Nobody can do this any
better, because she was
00:10:53
just so proud of her children.
00:10:55
She loved them.
00:10:57
I would have never thought
that Christi would run away.
00:11:00
She would have never
left her children.
00:11:04
Mark, could you just
wait out here for--
00:11:05
DENNIS FARINA: 10 days
before she disappeared,
00:11:07
Christi had gone
to a local hospital
00:11:09
after being injured
in a fight with Mark.
00:11:13
MARK NICHOLS: The only
bad fight I can remember
00:11:16
is when I was trying to get her
to stay home from going out,
00:11:21
and she was getting
so upset at me
00:11:23
she started to try
to hit and kick me.
00:11:28
And that's when she
burned the side of my neck
00:11:32
with a cigarette
she was holding.
00:11:35
And I tossed her
onto the water bed,
00:11:38
and she landed wrong
and kind of twisted
00:11:41
up her thumb underneath her.
00:11:43
I saw Christi on the
Friday after Thanksgiving.
00:11:46
She came to the emergency room
complaining of a sore thumb.
00:11:50
She was acting like a
scared rabbit, if you will.
00:11:55
She's never been one
for great eye contact
00:11:57
or been very verbal.
00:12:01
She obviously wasn't telling
me everything either.
00:12:04
DENNIS FARINA: Christi
told her cousin Debra
00:12:06
Frederickson that she
had been abused by Mark.
00:12:11
DENNIS FARINA: When I
went to see Christi,
00:12:12
she was working at the bar.
00:12:14
When we left the bar, Christi
showed me a bruise on her side
00:12:19
and it really scared me.
00:12:20
I told her she needed to
go get help from somebody,
00:12:24
and I asked her how
it had happened.
00:12:27
And she said, her and Mark
had gotten in an argument
00:12:29
and he had thrown her around.
00:12:32
And she just acted like
it wasn't a big deal.
00:12:34
It was something
that happened a lot.
00:12:37
As far as a violent
argument, which there seemed
00:12:41
to be a lot of
rumors going around
00:12:43
that I was always beating up on
her, that's just totally wrong.
00:12:49
DENNIS FARINA: Two days
before she disappeared,
00:12:51
Christi went to see
a divorce attorney.
00:12:54
She didn't want
Mark to find out,
00:12:55
so she found an
out of town lawyer.
00:12:58
What can I do
for you, Christi?
00:13:00
We do a lot of divorce work.
00:13:01
I've handled
hundreds of divorces,
00:13:03
but she had to rank
up in the top five
00:13:05
of being very distressed
and upset and nervous
00:13:09
and needed help.
00:13:10
And when she explained
certain abuses
00:13:14
that she had been
subjected to, we
00:13:17
decided to make some telephone
calls to call the authorities
00:13:22
and to report certain
crimes that had taken place.
00:13:25
I can say that the
day that Christi was
00:13:27
in my office on
December 9th she was
00:13:29
not panic stricken to the point
that she would run or leave.
00:13:35
And in fact, she had
planned to come back.
00:13:39
When she left, she had
made an appointment
00:13:41
to come back to my office.
00:13:43
DENNIS FARINA: The next day,
Christi and Mark went Christmas
00:13:46
shopping with their children.
00:13:48
This was the last afternoon
she spent with her family.
00:13:53
I felt really
uncomfortable the day
00:13:56
before she left, because I felt
a lot of anger coming from her.
00:14:02
DENNIS FARINA: However, that
evening they hired a babysitter
00:14:05
and went out to the local
bar where Christi worked.
00:14:12
When I babysat the night
that she disappeared,
00:14:14
I was surprised that
those two were going out,
00:14:17
that both of them were
going out because I knew
00:14:20
they weren't getting along.
00:14:22
MARK NICHOLS: When
we were at the bar,
00:14:24
things seemed to be
going really well.
00:14:27
I felt there was a good
attitude about herself
00:14:30
and myself and a lot of
laughing and carrying on.
00:14:36
DENNIS FARINA: Mark
says that he and Christi
00:14:38
left the bar around midnight
and stopped at an all night
00:14:40
convenience store.
00:14:42
According to the babysitter,
Mark arrived home between 12:30
00:14:46
and 1:00 in the morning.
00:14:49
The babysitter was
doing her homework
00:14:51
in front of the
television and does
00:14:54
not remember seeing Christi.
00:14:57
I was about five or
six yards behind her
00:15:01
when she reached the door, and
she walked right by the living
00:15:07
room where the babysitter was at
back towards the kids' bedroom
00:15:12
and went into the main bathroom.
00:15:17
DIANE JANSSEN: It
seemed strange,
00:15:19
because Mark had paid me
with cash when Christi
00:15:22
usually pays me with a check.
00:15:23
It was unusual for
Mark to pay me.
00:15:26
I really can't believe that
I didn't see her, because I
00:15:30
would have heard footsteps.
00:15:32
And I would have heard
her go into the bathroom,
00:15:37
because I was there
between 5 and 10
00:15:39
minutes so that
I would have been
00:15:40
able to hear Christi somehow.
00:15:43
But I didn't hear
or see Christi.
00:15:46
DENNIS FARINA:
According to Mark,
00:15:47
Christi went to bed immediately
after the babysitter left.
00:15:51
He claims the last time
he saw her was at 2:00 AM
00:15:54
when he went to
sleep beside her.
00:15:57
MARK NICHOLS: And
that's the last thing
00:15:59
I remember until my kids
woke me up the next morning.
00:16:03
And the first thing I noticed
was she wasn't in the bed.
00:16:09
DENNIS FARINA: Mark says
that he searched the house
00:16:11
and noticed that Christi
had taken a suitcase
00:16:14
full of belongings with her.
00:16:17
But both family cars were still
sitting in the front yard.
00:16:21
At 9:30 in the
morning, Mark received
00:16:23
a phone call from
Christi's mother
00:16:26
who lived 100 miles away.
00:16:28
Even though he knew
his wife was gone,
00:16:30
Mark told her
mother that Christi
00:16:32
was still in bed asleep.
00:16:34
I'll have her call you.
00:16:35
I didn't want to
worry her at the time,
00:16:37
because I didn't
know where she was.
00:16:39
So I told her that she
was still in bed sleeping,
00:16:42
because I didn't think
she felt real good.
00:16:45
DENNIS FARINA: At 11:30 AM,
Mark took his children over
00:16:48
to Christi's
grandmother's and asked
00:16:50
if she could take
care of them so he
00:16:52
could go search for his wife.
00:16:55
Well, I didn't think
much about at the time,
00:16:56
but like I say, later,
he never asked me at all
00:17:00
or telephoned me to
take care of the kids
00:17:02
where they always did before.
00:17:03
That was really about
the strangest thing.
00:17:05
He never asked if
Christi was at my house
00:17:09
or if I'd seen Christi.
00:17:11
He just said that
Christi was missing,
00:17:14
and he acted like
he was shook up.
00:17:18
MARK NICHOLS: I spent
approximately two hours just
00:17:21
riding around town trying
to spot her maybe coming out
00:17:24
of a store or I drove
some residential streets
00:17:30
where we knew some people.
00:17:34
When we checked
out Mark's story
00:17:35
about driving around
looking for Christi,
00:17:37
we could find nobody in
the city of Gothenburg that
00:17:41
had seen him driving around.
00:17:44
DENNIS FARINA: At 1:37 PM, Mark
filed a missing persons report
00:17:48
with the police department.
00:17:50
I was, I was real upset,
because there was no indication
00:17:56
whatsoever that she would
just pack up a suitcase
00:17:59
and just leave.
00:18:02
DENNIS FARINA: During
the investigation,
00:18:04
it was discovered that Mark
moved out of the house the day
00:18:07
after Christi disappeared.
00:18:09
A few weeks later, he
boxed up all of her clothes
00:18:12
and sold both of their cars.
00:18:17
Three months after she
vanished, Christi's suitcase
00:18:19
was discovered in a
roadside rest area
00:18:22
30 miles west of Gothenburg.
00:18:25
Police found it surprising that
the contents exactly matched
00:18:29
the detailed list
of missing items
00:18:31
that Mark had given the police
when she first disappeared.
00:18:36
POLICE OFFICER: It appeared
to everybody present
00:18:38
that the suitcase
had been placed there
00:18:40
instead of just thrown out.
00:18:42
The items were
neatly laying around.
00:18:46
It was like the
person that put them
00:18:48
there wanted them to be found.
00:18:51
If my wife had
left me, I wouldn't
00:18:55
be able to look
through the closet
00:18:57
and tell you what she had taken.
00:19:00
I probably would be
able to tell you maybe
00:19:02
what suitcase she had taken.
00:19:04
But he was listing items of
clothing right down the line
00:19:08
and knew what she had taken.
00:19:13
DENNIS FARINA: The area
surrounding Gothenburg
00:19:15
has been searched extensively.
00:19:17
No other trace of Christi
Nichols has ever been found,
00:19:21
and no one has ever been
charged in the case.
00:19:25
It remains open.
00:19:27
I'd have never done
anything to hurt my wife.
00:19:29
I just-- That's just
the person I am.
00:19:33
A lot of people think
I'm a violent person.
00:19:36
I'm not.
00:19:38
I'm not.
00:19:39
I'm not a violent person.
00:19:42
I hope, I hope and
pray that she is alive.
00:19:45
But if she isn't, I'd like
to have her buried someplace
00:19:48
where I'd know where she was.
00:19:52
I want very much for
Kirsti to come home.
00:19:57
But if for some reason she
doesn't want to come home,
00:20:01
you know, Christi, at
least call somebody.
00:20:04
You know, let us know where you
are, whether you're all right.
00:20:09
DENNIS FARINA: Mark Nichols
insists that he is innocent.
00:20:12
But until Christi
returns, he will remain
00:20:15
under a cloud of suspicion.
00:20:19
If you have any information
about this case,
00:20:21
please log on to our
website at unsolved.com.
00:20:27
Next, in Puerto Rico
dozens of eyewitnesses
00:20:31
believe they have seen
a blood thirsty creature
00:20:33
called Chupacabra.
00:20:45
The Yunque rain forest on
the island of Puerto Rico
00:20:49
is a lush, tropical paradise.
00:20:52
But eyewitnesses have reported
that a mysterious beast
00:20:56
lurks on the fringes
of the forest here.
00:21:02
When it moved, I could see it
had something here on its head.
00:21:06
It was like a crest, but
it moved and make noise.
00:21:09
[makes buzzing sound]
00:21:12
I felt like he was watching
me because of certain movements
00:21:15
made by its eyes.
00:21:18
I could see three fingers on
each hand, and on each finger
00:21:22
very long claws.
00:21:24
DENNIS FARINA: They called
the beast Chupacabra,
00:21:27
and it preys on livestock,
pets, and small animals.
00:21:32
It may look like a creature
from a low budget horror film,
00:21:35
but these drawings are
based on descriptions
00:21:38
from dozens of eyewitnesses.
00:21:43
In this day and age, it seems
almost impossible that such
00:21:46
a creature might even exist.
00:21:49
Tales of the Puerto
Rican monster
00:21:50
have been dismissed as
fantasy and imagination,
00:21:54
it's attacks blamed on
wild dogs or even monkeys.
00:21:58
And yet, the sightings continue.
00:22:02
The legend began
when David Negron
00:22:05
went out one September
morning before dawn
00:22:07
to check on his goat.
00:22:09
He was startled to find
it had been killed.
00:22:14
After I found the
goat dead, I was
00:22:16
standing there looking
around and that's
00:22:18
when I saw the creature.
00:22:21
It was black and hairy.
00:22:23
It had large red eyes, and
a crest on top of its head.
00:22:28
When I saw it, I felt
scared and I began to run.
00:22:33
I'd never seen anything
like it, and I've
00:22:35
never been that scared before.
00:22:38
DENNIS FARINA: Later that
day, the investigators
00:22:40
from the civil defense
agency examined the goat.
00:22:43
The only injuries they found
were two small puncture
00:22:46
wounds on the back of its neck.
00:22:48
And yet, the goat was almost
entirely drained of blood.
00:22:55
The local press
jumped on the story.
00:22:57
The creature was quickly dubbed
Chupacabra, the goat sucker.
00:23:03
Over the next three months,
dozens of similar attacks
00:23:06
on small animals were reported.
00:23:09
In many occasions
there's puncture wounds
00:23:12
about, I would say, maybe
a fourth to an half an inch
00:23:16
in size.
00:23:17
Perfect circles.
00:23:19
These small puncture
wounds go into the animals.
00:23:22
And in most occasions
we have found
00:23:24
that they seem to go right
to the brain of the animals
00:23:27
and kill the animals
affecting the brain
00:23:29
and the nervous
system of the animals.
00:23:31
In other occasions,
they go right
00:23:34
straight into the animals
in different areas
00:23:37
as if looking for
certain organs.
00:23:40
DENNIS FARINA: Attacks had been
reported all over Puerto Rico
00:23:43
with the greatest concentration
in the village of Canovanas,
00:23:47
30 miles east of the
capital city, San Juan.
00:23:53
There have been more
than 100 animals killed.
00:23:55
We're talking about
70 or 80 attacks.
00:23:59
At the moment, we have some
hysteria, some real problems,
00:24:03
and some fear.
00:24:04
I'm determined to
resolve this matter.
00:24:07
DENNIS FARINA:
Despite the hysteria,
00:24:09
there were still many skeptics.
00:24:11
Among them, police
detective Eliezer Rivera.
00:24:17
I didn't believe
in this Chupacabra.
00:24:19
The people were just
speculating or perhaps
00:24:21
because they were
emotional or afraid,
00:24:23
they exaggerated things.
00:24:26
Personally, I never was
convinced of these stories.
00:24:29
I just never believed them.
00:24:32
DENNIS FARINA: That
all changed one
00:24:33
night as Rivera and a friend
drove home from church.
00:24:39
I saw something
strange on the roadside.
00:24:42
I thought it was a puppet.
00:24:43
But as I watched and observed
the puppet, it began to move.
00:24:47
And I thought, what is this?
00:24:52
It had long eyes that
were illuminated.
00:24:55
It had fangs.
00:24:57
It was hairy, and it had
three fingers with claws.
00:25:02
When I opened the car
door, the animal stuck out
00:25:05
a long spike from his mouth.
00:25:07
I interpreted this spike
as a defense mechanism,
00:25:10
so I sat back, closed the
door, and kept watching.
00:25:17
In my experience
as an investigator,
00:25:20
we're trained to analyze
and quietly evaluate things.
00:25:24
It was in that moment, I can't
lie to you, I was scared.
00:25:31
Now I know what's out there when
people talk about Chupacabra.
00:25:35
He exists.
00:25:36
He's not any known animal.
00:25:39
I tell you sincerely, what
I saw was not of this world.
00:25:43
Most of the
eyewitness descriptions
00:25:45
are describing the same type of
creature with the same details.
00:25:48
They describe something
beast-like, animal-like,
00:25:53
with a strange type
of head, more humanoid
00:25:55
looking, with big red
luminous eyes, a flat nose,
00:25:59
a small sleek-like
mouth with some fangs
00:26:02
protruding out from it.
00:26:03
Almost no ears.
00:26:06
DENNIS FARINA: Jorge
Martin and a TV news crew
00:26:08
asked veterinarian Carlos
Soto to examine two rabbits
00:26:12
allegedly killed by Chupacabra.
00:26:16
He was puzzled.
00:26:17
There was a precise
circular wound on the back
00:26:20
of one rabbit's neck.
00:26:22
The internal organs
had been moved,
00:26:24
and there was no
sign of rigor mortis.
00:26:28
I thought, wow, there's
something strange here
00:26:31
because this is not normal.
00:26:34
In my eight years in practice,
I had never seen that before.
00:26:37
It was my first time to
see something that odd.
00:26:41
DENNIS FARINA: A
month later, Dr. Soto
00:26:42
examined 20 dead birds.
00:26:45
Each had been killed
by a puncture wound
00:26:47
to the back of the neck.
00:26:50
In the animal
autopsies that I've done,
00:26:53
the evidence does suggest
that these animals
00:26:54
were attacked by something.
00:26:57
DENNIS FARINA: Dr. David
Morales, a veterinarian
00:27:00
and spokesperson for the
Puerto Rican government,
00:27:02
doesn't believe the rumors
of a strange, unknown beast.
00:27:09
We think that they
were attacked by dogs.
00:27:12
They might be wild dogs.
00:27:15
They could be vicious
monkeys or could be tigers.
00:27:19
There are a number
of possible predators
00:27:20
that could attack these
animals in this way.
00:27:25
Something strange is going on.
00:27:27
This isn't about dogs or monkey
or bats or anything like.
00:27:31
It's something very
strange, and the creature
00:27:34
that we're searching
for is very intelligent.
00:27:38
These attacks can't be
dismissed as the accounts
00:27:42
of drunken people
or ignorant people,
00:27:46
because we're talking about
highly reliable people
00:27:49
all over Puerto Rico who
are witnessing these attacks
00:27:52
and these creatures too.
00:27:55
DENNIS FARINA: Ferocious
attacks on domestic animals
00:27:57
had been reported from Maine to
Texas, from Colombia to Russia.
00:28:02
DNA tests on some samples from
some of the attacking animals
00:28:06
show them to be diseased
coyotes that have
00:28:09
been made hairless by mange.
00:28:12
But the Chupacabra
remains a mystery.
00:28:19
Coming up, a young mother
goes to work in a restaurant,
00:28:22
and is brutally murdered
by a hot tempered coworker.
00:28:34
A woman named Jeanne Molina had
a dream, a frightening dream
00:28:38
that she believed
was a premonition
00:28:40
of violence against her.
00:28:42
This nightmare was so
intense that Jeanne
00:28:44
made drastic changes in her
life hoping to avoid the fate
00:28:48
predicted in her vision.
00:28:50
Little did she know that
these changes would put
00:28:52
her on a deadly path
toward the attack
00:28:55
rather than away from it.
00:28:58
She had had a dream that I
was going to badly beat her up,
00:29:01
and she felt that she
should get out of my house.
00:29:05
And I never understood why she
would have a dream like that
00:29:08
and believe that dream.
00:29:11
DENNIS FARINA: Jeanne Molino was
raised in Merced, California.
00:29:14
Following a tour of
duty with the Navy,
00:29:16
she returned home and
married Frank Reed
00:29:19
and had three children.
00:29:21
FRANK REED: We had a lot of fun.
00:29:22
We had a lot of
respect for each other.
00:29:23
She just had all of the things
that I've always wanted.
00:29:27
I mean, she was--
she made me want
00:29:30
to be married for a long time.
00:29:31
DENNIS FARINA: But
when her youngest
00:29:33
child was two years old, Jeanne
needed a change in her life.
00:29:37
She also wanted to escape
the savage beating that
00:29:41
was predicted in her dream.
00:29:44
Jeanne left Merced, and
move some 300 miles south
00:29:48
to the city of Tustin.
00:29:51
Her experience as a cook in
the Navy helped her land a job
00:29:54
with a restaurant chain.
00:29:57
Within six weeks she
had been promoted.
00:30:00
She was going to be training
all of the new hires
00:30:03
at each restaurant
as they opened up.
00:30:05
She'd had planned to
take Joanna with her,
00:30:07
so it was kind of a
neat experience for her.
00:30:11
She was really excited about it.
00:30:12
She was real happy.
00:30:14
DENNIS FARINA: Jeanne had been
at her job for about two months
00:30:17
when she arranged for
Joanna, her oldest daughter,
00:30:19
to come down from Merced
and live with her.
00:30:22
Jeanne's parents agreed to drive
10-year-old Joanna to Tustin
00:30:29
Jeanne was real happy,
because Joanna was going
00:30:32
to come and live with her.
00:30:33
And we made arrangements to
take her down that weekend.
00:30:39
DENNIS FARINA: But when they
arrived at Jeanne's home
00:30:41
as planned, no one was there.
00:30:44
Jeanne's parents then
checked the restaurant
00:30:46
where she worked.
00:30:47
Is Jeannie here?
00:30:49
Jeannie Molina?
- Uh, Jeannie?
00:30:50
No.
00:30:51
She didn't come in today.
00:30:54
Maybe we made a mistake.
00:30:56
DENNIS FARINA: The next morning,
they went back to Jeanne's room
00:30:58
hoping to find her.
00:31:00
There was no note, no clue
to where she might be.
00:31:05
Finally, they went
to the local police
00:31:07
and reported her missing.
00:31:09
Yesterday we were supposed
to meet with my daughter.
00:31:11
Deep down I did know that
something was very wrong,
00:31:15
but I tried not to think about
it because I knew that it
00:31:18
would just make things worse.
00:31:20
DENNIS FARINA: Jeanne Molino
was nowhere to be found.
00:31:22
Her parents took
Joanna back to Merced.
00:31:26
Little did they know
that on the same day
00:31:28
they had driven to Tustin,
a gruesome discovery was
00:31:31
made in Westminster,
a town 10 miles away.
00:31:35
The badly crushed body
of an unidentified woman
00:31:39
was found near an abandoned
construction site.
00:31:42
It was one of the more
vicious crime scenes
00:31:44
that we've investigated,
and we've investigated
00:31:46
an awful lot of homicides.
00:31:49
DENNIS FARINA: Just after
daybreak that Sunday,
00:31:51
a husband and wife
witnessed a man acting
00:31:53
suspiciously near his car.
00:31:56
He picked up some
type of a large object,
00:31:59
and we later found that
to be a piece of asphalt.
00:32:02
And with both hands above his
head just thrust it down hard.
00:32:07
And then, looked up and saw her.
00:32:10
And in her words, He
panicked and jumped back
00:32:12
in this compact vehicle
and sped off from the scene
00:32:16
at a high rate of speed.
00:32:20
We didn't feel that
robbery was a motive.
00:32:22
She had some money on her.
00:32:25
She had a ring on her finger.
00:32:27
We felt that probably
under the circumstances,
00:32:32
the suspects that did
this knew her in some way.
00:32:35
They were trying to prevent us
from finding out who she was.
00:32:39
DET.
00:32:40
MICHAEL PROCTOR: She
was so badly damaged
00:32:42
that we couldn't tell
if she was a female
00:32:44
Asian, white, Hispanic.
00:32:48
DENNIS FARINA: An
autopsy revealed
00:32:49
that the woman had been
sexually assaulted,
00:32:52
strangled, and bludgeoned.
00:32:54
Then, run over by a car.
00:32:57
Jeanne Molina's landlord
read a newspaper article
00:33:00
about the unidentified
female victim
00:33:03
and thought that
it might be Jeanne.
00:33:05
He called the police who
contacted Jeanne's husband.
00:33:10
Possibly the most
difficult thing in my life
00:33:12
I ever had to do to
go down and identify
00:33:15
somebody who was beaten so
badly she was unrecognizable.
00:33:21
DENNIS FARINA: It
wasn't until Frank
00:33:23
was shown the victim's ring that
he was certain it was Jeanne.
00:33:29
Despite Jeanne's dream about
her husband beating her,
00:33:32
investigators were
able to quickly
00:33:34
eliminate Frank as a suspect.
00:33:37
I'd kind of come to believe
that the dream wasn't about me.
00:33:40
It was a dream about
something else,
00:33:42
and she had foreseen what
was going to happen to her.
00:33:45
DENNIS FARINA: Detectives
went to the restaurant
00:33:46
and questioned
Jeanne's coworkers.
00:33:49
DET.
00:33:50
MICHAEL PROCTOR: One of
the things we found out
00:33:51
was that she had worked on July
16, just about until 11 o'clock
00:33:57
at night.
00:33:59
One witness stated that she
did come back after signing out
00:34:02
on the time card.
00:34:03
She did come back and talk
to this particular individual
00:34:06
for a few minutes.
00:34:08
DENNIS FARINA: That
individual was short order
00:34:10
cook Carlos Garcia Berdeja.
00:34:14
Jeanne might have gone
with Berdeja to celebrate
00:34:17
her daughter's arrival.
00:34:18
What she probably
didn't know was
00:34:21
that he had a
history of violence
00:34:22
and a hair trigger temper.
00:34:26
Carlos, Maria will
never go out with you
00:34:28
on account of your ugly.
00:34:29
DENNIS FARINA: Carlos Berdeja
had threatened a fellow cook,
00:34:32
and then bragged about
killing a man in Mexico.
00:34:35
(Angrily) Hey!
00:34:36
Who do you think
you're talking to, huh?
00:34:38
Hey, that's not funny.
00:34:39
How's that?
00:34:40
[speaking spanish]
00:34:44
Yeah.
00:34:45
I killed a Mexican.
00:34:46
DET.
00:34:47
MICHAEL PROCTOR:
Berdeja then came back
00:34:49
in, according to the person that
we interviewed, the next day
00:34:52
and had some kind of
paperwork with him stating
00:34:55
that he was wanted
someplace in Mexico
00:34:57
for an additional homicide.
00:34:59
He came in the morning, but
he didn't show up at night.
00:35:02
DENNIS FARINA: Carlos
Berdeja quit his job the day
00:35:04
that Jeanne disappeared.
00:35:06
At Berdeja's apartment,
police learned
00:35:08
that he and his common-law
wife had left suddenly
00:35:11
on the day of the murder.
00:35:13
That afternoon, another
neighbor saw Berdeja behaving
00:35:16
strangely around his car.
00:35:19
Berdeja was then seen
attempting to clean
00:35:22
out parts of the vehicle.
00:35:25
Wait.
00:35:26
Hold on.
00:35:28
DENNIS FARINA: When Berdeja's
car was later found abandoned,
00:35:30
it provided police
with even more proof
00:35:33
that he was the killer.
00:35:36
Evidence not
only in the vehicle
00:35:38
but on the undercarriage of
the vehicle, that secured
00:35:42
in my mind with beyond
a shadow of a doubt
00:35:44
that this was the
vehicle that had been
00:35:46
used to run over Jeanne Molina.
00:35:51
DENNIS FARINA: Authorities
had been searching
00:35:52
for Carlos Berdeja ever since.
00:35:55
Well, I hope they catch him.
00:35:57
And I just hope to be able to
tell him what I think of him.
00:36:06
You're a coward, and you hide
beneath your mother's skirts.
00:36:10
DENNIS FARINA:
Carlos Garcia Berdeja
00:36:12
is in his late 40's, 5 feet 7
inches and weighs 180 pounds.
00:36:17
He may be using an
alias and should be
00:36:19
considered extremely dangerous.
00:36:22
There are no warrants
out for Berdeja's wife,
00:36:24
Leticia Herrera Estevez,
but she is considered
00:36:28
a person of interest.
00:36:30
Both are believed to be living
together in the United States.
00:36:34
If you have any information,
please log on to our website
00:36:38
at unsolved.com
00:36:42
Next, he lived at the Y, ate
out for a few dollars a day,
00:36:46
and left a quarter of a million
dollar inheritance unclaimed.
00:37:03
Howard Drummond moved to
the Lansing, Michigan YMCA
00:37:07
when he was 74 years old.
00:37:09
He rented a room
for just $49 a week
00:37:13
and chose not to pay
an extra $5 a day
00:37:16
to have a private bathroom.
00:37:19
He always ordered the same
breakfast, fried eggs, bacon,
00:37:22
and rye toast for only $1.99.
00:37:26
He also bought two
extra breakfasts,
00:37:29
packed them in his gym bag,
and took them back to his room
00:37:32
for lunch and dinner.
00:37:35
Howard saved money
and everything else.
00:37:38
In his room, he kept 50
coffee jars all empty.
00:37:43
He collected
hundreds of magazines
00:37:45
and thousands of rubber bands.
00:37:48
He owned 80 pairs of
white socks and eight
00:37:52
identical suits and hats so he
can wear the exact same outfit
00:37:57
every day.
00:37:58
Howard spoke to a few people
in the course of his day,
00:38:01
but when he did, he
was always polite.
00:38:05
Primarily, Howard had a
very regimented lifestyle.
00:38:08
He would pay his rent at a
certain time every month.
00:38:12
The same amount every month.
00:38:14
His receipt, he would want
stapled to a certain piece
00:38:17
of paper a certain way
every time it was done.
00:38:22
DENNIS FARINA: Every
day, Howard went
00:38:24
to the downtown
Lansing post office
00:38:26
to pick up the "Wall
Street Journal"
00:38:28
and his magazine subscriptions.
00:38:31
He often received
envelopes from banks
00:38:33
and sent out registered
letters to banks.
00:38:37
Howard never failed to stop
for a chat with postal worker
00:38:40
Frances Dodge.
00:38:42
She agreed to help
him with his shopping,
00:38:44
and he gave her the
money to cover items
00:38:46
he put on his list
which were written
00:38:49
on the back of old envelopes.
00:38:53
I thought he
didn't have anything.
00:38:55
Why would anyone go around in
the same clothes all the time?
00:38:58
He just looked
really poor to me.
00:39:00
I always asked him why he wore
that same hat all the time?
00:39:04
And he said, well,
it's not worn out yet.
00:39:09
DENNIS FARINA: After completing
his daily routine in Lansing,
00:39:12
Howard returned to the YMCA.
00:39:15
Until he died at the age
of 78, Howard Drummond
00:39:19
never let anyone into his room.
00:39:23
Two days after Howard's
death, a county appointed
00:39:26
attorney came to the YMCA.
00:39:28
Since Howard left no
will, Paul Rosenbaum
00:39:32
was given the job of
settling the estate
00:39:34
and finding Howard's heirs.
00:39:38
Looking for clues,
Rosenbaum spread
00:39:41
Howard's possessions all
over the conference table
00:39:44
at his law office.
00:39:46
PAUL ROSENBAUM: It took
probably 2 and 1/2 weeks
00:39:47
to sort out everything.
00:39:49
He had every single piece of
paper from probably 25 years.
00:39:54
He had a diary that was one of
the most unbelievable things I
00:39:59
have ever witnessed in
my life in which he kept
00:40:02
an hour by hour account of the
headlines and news stations
00:40:07
across the whole United States.
00:40:10
He had three watches
that wouldn't work.
00:40:13
There were thousands of used
shoe laces, unlimited amount
00:40:18
of newspaper
clippings with a lot
00:40:20
of it having to do with the
royal family and Princess Di.
00:40:23
He was infatuated with her.
00:40:25
It was unique to say the least.
00:40:27
To the best of my knowledge, he
had 11 separate bank accounts
00:40:33
from coast to coast with a
quarter of a million dollars
00:40:36
in cash in the bank accounts.
00:40:38
And that quarter of
a million dollars
00:40:39
is not even the
tip of the iceberg.
00:40:41
He has a whole lot
more money out there.
00:40:45
DENNIS FARINA:
Strangely, the gym
00:40:47
bag Howard always carried with
him was not found in his room.
00:40:51
Some say Howard kept his most
important papers in that bag.
00:40:56
Rosenbaum did find a
key marked number 29.
00:41:00
It seemed like a
standard locker.
00:41:02
The type you might
find in a bus station.
00:41:05
Could Howard's missing
gym bag be in that locker?
00:41:09
Could the paper's inside
help to identify his heirs?
00:41:14
We know little about
Howard Thomas Drummond.
00:41:17
He was born in Houston, Texas
in 1911 and was an only child.
00:41:22
He served in the Army
from 1942 to 1945.
00:41:26
Drummond was once fired from
a job at a California bank
00:41:30
for stealing Scotch tape.
00:41:32
And then, he became
a postal employee
00:41:34
in Pasadena, California.
00:41:37
He lived at YMCAs in
Pasadena, Denver, and Dayton
00:41:41
before moving to
Lansing, Michigan.
00:41:43
He died at the age of 77.
00:41:49
Update.
00:41:51
After our story
aired, several heirs
00:41:53
were able to prove
their relationship
00:41:56
to Howard Drummond.
00:41:58
After attorneys
fees, the inheritance
00:42:00
was divided among
Drummond's half
00:42:02
brother, niece, and nephew.
00:42:05
The county has closed
the case and is
00:42:08
no longer looking for heirs.
00:42:14
[music playing]
