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[Music]
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next on Unsolved
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Mysteries a man faces execution for a
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murderous rampage that left four people
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dead but he claims that he was wrongly
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convicted at the comedy star in
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Hollywood the price of admission can get
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you laughs from the performers and
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chills from the ghosts
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meet a mother and daughter fortune
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telling team they have stolen more than
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$100,000 from unsuspecting
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victims during World War II a
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kindhearted GI brings joy to a destitute
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family and now they'd like to say thank
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you these are stories with intriguing
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secrets and surprising Revelations I'm
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Dennis finina and this is unsolved
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mystress
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[Music]
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[Music]
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for convicted murderers on death row in
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Florida only a few steps separate their
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C from the electric chair it sits ready
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to exact the ultimate price for the
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ultimate crime and unless convicted
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killer Tommy Ziggler wins his appeal he
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will make that short walk to the
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electric chair
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himself I did not kill Unice I did not
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kill Mr Edwards and I did not kill
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Charlie mace I have not killed
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anybody Winter Garden
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Florida Tommy Ziggler was wealthy and
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wellknown his family owned Ziggler's
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furniture stores and several apartment
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buildings in town Ziggler was married
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attended church and was friendly with
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the mayor and the chief of
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police however according to prosecutors
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all all of this wasn't enough for Tommy
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Ziggler they claimed that he murdered
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his wife Eunice in his furniture store
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on Christmas Eve his motive to cash in
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on a life insurance policy worth half a
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million
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dollars my marriage was very
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good Unice and I loved each other
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greatly I couldn't kill her there's just
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no way I could kill her I loved her she
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was she was my life that was just all
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there was to it the prosecutors say
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Ziggler didn't stop
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there he then killed Eunice's parents
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Perry and Virginia Edwards who were also
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in the store that
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night they say Zigler had pre-arranged
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to have a customer named Charlie Maize
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stop by to pick up a television set
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Ziggler's plan was to kill maiz and then
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frame Maize for robbing the store and
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murdering Unice and her
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parents Maize would later be found dead
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with story receipts and cash stuffed in
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his
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pockets supposedly Ziggler ended the
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bloodbath by shooting himself in the
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side making sure that he also looked
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like a
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victim Ziggler was still in the hospital
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when he was charged with all four
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killings soon after he was convicted and
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condemned to death I think that Tommy
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Zigler will ultimately die for killing
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those four people and I believe he is
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the right man to die for it and I
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believe that he will deserve
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it Tommy Ziggler disagrees he tells a
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different story he says that he planned
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to meet Eunice and her parents at the
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store that night and he claims that he
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didn't know that they were already dead
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when he opened the door and found the
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lights not
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working I walked from there into the
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main showroom through the door and I was
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hit in the back of the
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head as I was getting up there were two
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blurs coming at me one was a shorter
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stocky man one was a big Burly
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man I was just being bounced around
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glass was breaking things were being
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knocked over and knocked down I was
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thrown back into the hallway Ziggler
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kept a lot of money at the store and
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always carried a handgun for protection
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he believes that he may have wounded one
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of the
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asants and
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then he himself was shot in the
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side before filming this segment we
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insisted that Tommy Ziggler take a lie
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detector test with one of the country's
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most respected polygraph experts after
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talking to Tommy Ziggler for the period
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of time that I did in assessing all of
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the other information that I had it was
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my professional opinion that Tommy
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Ziggler was telling the
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truth even though the LI detectors
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suggest that Ziggler is innocent
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prosecutors believe that a number of
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Clues suggest that he is in fact the
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Killer is anyone here first there's the
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position of Eunice's
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body her oddly unruffled pose suggested
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to police that she knew her
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killer I think it's very unlik likely
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that any unknown as salant could get in
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a position where they could surprise
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Unice Zigler in that kind of
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circumstance and shoot her in the back
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of the head uh and catch her in that
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way secondly there was the blood found
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on Ziggler's
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shirt it was type
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A which was his father-in-law's blood
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type and type O which was his blood type
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his story didn't account for that as to
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how he got someone else's blood on his
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shirt the blood type matched Perry
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Edwards during the course of his
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struggle in the store when Tommy first
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came
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in he was in a fight with a couple of
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people one of those people he had a
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struggle with and was hitting him with a
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gun it would have caused bleeding and it
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could have caused the blood
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there five handguns were also found at
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the crime scene four had been wiped
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clean of fingerprints two of the guns
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were were inexpensive Saturday night
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specials made by a company named RG of
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the five guns found in the store three
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of them were documented as belonging to
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Tommy Zigler the other two that were
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there which was the cheaper guns were
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not uh registered to him but they were
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connected to him through another witness
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I bought good highquality guns when I
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bought guns and I had good highquality
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guns uh from what I understand and from
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what I saw at trial those RGS are are
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garbage
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St your name please Felton Thomson one
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of the key Witnesses for the state was a
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man named Felton Thomas A friend of
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victim Charlie ma Ziggler said Thomas's
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version of what happened that night was
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a lie from start to
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finish Thomas testified that on the
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night of the murders he went the Zigler
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store with Charlie Maz Charlie sorry I'm
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late oh that's all right hey this is f
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Thomas he come to help me get the TV set
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listen the guy with the keys isn't here
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yet but uh while we're waiting for him
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why don't we take a ride I uh got
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something want to show you Thomas told
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the court that Ziggler took them to a
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nearby Orange Grove to show off some new
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guns clean action on that all right I'm
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going to step out and fire off no no no
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no no no
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here just do it from the window
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prosecutors charged that Ziggler's plan
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was to expose Thomas and
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to gunshot residue and cover the weapons
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with their fingerprints if in fact that
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was his purpose for doing that so that
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he could set up Charlie Maye and Felton
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Thomas and have their prints on the guns
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why were all of the guns wiped clean
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what happened later at the store ma
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Thomas testified that once they got back
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to the store Ziggler asked him to turn
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off the power and then burglarize the
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store
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all right come over the fence no I'm not
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come on okay Charlie pick yourself up a
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piece of pipe and help us out
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prosecutors said that it was all part of
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Ziggler's plan to make the killings look
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like they happened during a robbery
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maybe I got an extra key back home why
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don't we go and pick it up Thomas also
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told the court that they next drove to
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Ziggler's house for the key and then
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they went back to the store at that time
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F you're going to come in and help us
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with the TV Thomas said Ma and Ziggler
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went inside and he
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left prosecutors say that once inside
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the story Zigler killed
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Maz the defense completely dismissed
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Thomas's account to begin with they
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claimed his entire scenario would have
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had to happen in less than 21 minutes
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get out belon Thomas is a joke I have no
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idea why Felton Thomas would make up a
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story like that I had never laid eyes on
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him until he walked in that courtroom to
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testify against
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me next we'll hear from a close friend
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of the Ziggler family who testified
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against Tommy Ziggler in
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court Tommy Ziggler stood accused of
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killing his wife
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her parents and another man in his
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family's furniture store on Christmas
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Eve he insisted that he was innocent but
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the testimony of a key witness for the
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prosecution makes his claim hard to
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believe I know Tommy Zigler Ed Williams
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had known and worked for the Zigler
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family for 10 years Williams testified
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that on the night of the murder Zigler
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gave him a handgun later that same night
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Williams turned the weapon over to
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authorities they confirmed that the
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bullets from that gun killed Perry and
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Virginia
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Edwards Edward Williams in the last 20
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years as far as we know he's been an
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upstanding citizen hasn't done anything
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wrong U and there's no reason not to
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believe Edward Williams I was however
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Ziggler testified that the gun was
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stolen from his truck 2 weeks before the
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murders and that Ed Williams had easy
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access to his car another witness also
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tied Williams to the gun that killed
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Unice
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Ziggler he testified that he bought the
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two guns Saturday night specials for
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Ziggler but gave them to Ed
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Williams not Tommy
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Ziggler Edward Williams is in fact the
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one purchase the two Saturday night
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specials that did The Killing and the
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only person that was found with a murder
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weapon only him was Edward Williams the
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defense claims that there were two
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witnesses that verified Ziggler's story
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who were never called to
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testify a uh husband and wife reported
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to the Sheriff's Department that they
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had been driving by the Zigler furniture
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store on the night of the crime uh and
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that they had seen four cars not two as
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the state had contend
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outside the furniture store including a
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white Cadillac all of which is
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completely inconsistent with the state's
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version of events in addition they saw a
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man who generally fit the description of
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Charlie Mays who we believe was one of
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the perpetrators and none of that was
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reported to the court none of it was
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presented to the jury and none of it was
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reported to the uh trial lawers for Mr
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Ziggler any witness who comes by and
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claims to be an eye or ear Witness at
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the time of a murder is going to be
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interviewed is going a statement is
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going to be taken so I think they're
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claim that they went by the police
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department to talk about the case um is
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not very
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credible Ziggler's trial lasted for four
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weeks and filled nearly 3,000 pages of
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transcripts in the end the jury voted to
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convict they recommended that he'd be
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sentenced to life in prison but they
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were about to be overruled by judge
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Maurice Paul it is the sentence of the
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law and the Judgment of this court that
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you William Thomas Ziggler Jr shall be
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put to death by means of electrocution
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as nobody in their right mind that can
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look at that trial transcript can say
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that there was a fair trial in zigg
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versus state it was a railroad from day
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one and judge Paul orchestrated the
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whole thing Ziggler believes that judge
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Paul had held a grudge against him ever
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since they testified for opposing sides
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in a bitter legal
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dispute within months thereafter Tommy
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Zigler was standing at the defendant
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table accused of murder and judge Paul
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was sitting on the bench making
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decisions that would affect his life
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judge Maurice Paul was a very respected
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member of the Judiciary of Orange County
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and his his reputation and ethics have
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never been subject to question no one
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has even ever alleged he is anything
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other than an honest
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man after 11 years on death row Ziggler
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was 24 hours away from the electric
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chair when he was granted a stay of
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execution previously undisclosed
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evidence had been located you're about
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to hear parts of a tap recorded
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conversation between a prosecution
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investigator and a
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witness the witness was staying at this
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Motel on the night of the murders his
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room faced the back of Ziggler's store
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the man said that at around 8:30
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p.m. he saw a policeman with a gun in
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his hand crouched behind the store at
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around 900 p.m. he heard shots heard
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what we figured were probably shot this
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is obviously significant because if it
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was 9:00 this was 20 minutes at least
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before the time Tommy called for help it
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would mean that Tommy would have been in
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the store at this time and if there was
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the policeman outside with his gun drawn
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and there were shots going off then the
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police had to have been
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involved it appears to have shots being
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fired after the police arrive which
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clearly couldn't be related to the
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murder um maybe some sound that sounded
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like a gunshot so the information itself
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is meaningless was there a police
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officer involved well we may never know
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but the prosecution did not inform
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Ziggler's attorneys about the witness or
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his story and they did not ask him to
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testify at the trial as long as you
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heard the gunshots after you know you
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saw the police cars and that wouldn't
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help us a
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bit Tommy Ziggler has appealed his
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verdict eight times but has never
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produced enough evidence to clear his
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name he has lost all eight appeals and
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remains on Florida's death row awaiting
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execution he still maintains means his
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innocence if you have any information
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about this case please log on to our
00:16:35
website at unsolved.com
00:16:40
next could Hollywood's famous nightclub
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The Comedy Store be a meeting place for
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visitors from Beyond the Grave
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for years The Comedy Store on Hollywood
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Sunset Strip has played host to
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Legendary comedians like Jim Carrey
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Robin Williams and arcenio Hall this
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right here now that's Don King okay
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where where the one I'm at I'm to fight
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each got their big break on this stage
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but some say that the best part of the
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show takes place when the crowd goes
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home and there's hardly a living Soul
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around many employees past and present
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say that the comedy stores Halls are
00:17:31
haunted author Lori Jacobson who once
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worked here as a waitress has collected
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these stories for a book that she was
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writing this place is haunted from the
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basement to the rafters when I was a
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waitress here the waitresses would have
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to set up the showroom by putting
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tablecloths on the table and we would
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put an ashtray on every table and on
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occasion girls would set up the room
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leave for a moment come come back and
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everything would be put
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back and we all knew exactly what we
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were dealing with here Dave that what
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was happening in those rooms being set
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and unset was was being done by
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ghosts when he was just starting out
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Joey ganner worked as a dman at the club
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most nights he was the last one to leave
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the building or so he thought
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one night I was going to shut the lights
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in the building takes 5 Seconds
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tops walk back out chairs all these
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chairs are just piled in the middle of
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the
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aisle I never heard anything nobody
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could have come in and done that in 5
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seconds even if it had been 10 seconds
00:18:47
if you compile 8 10 chairs in that
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amount of
00:18:51
time uh you should be in Vegas because
00:18:54
that's a pretty that's pretty amazing
00:18:56
born and raised in Georgia and I fought
00:18:57
in Vietnam that's like being punished
00:18:59
for the same thing twice like Joey
00:19:01
Gainer comedian Blake Clark says that
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he's been the target of the club's
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ghostly pranksters he claims that one
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night a stool mysteriously glided across
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the stage I was a person who did not
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believe in ghost absolutely
00:19:17
unequivocally undeniably did not believe
00:19:21
in any sort of paranormal
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manifestation until I started working
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here
00:19:31
when Blake realized that he was the only
00:19:33
one in the building he knew that a
00:19:35
supernatural force was responsible and
00:19:38
that made him a
00:19:40
Believer I was always skeptical because
00:19:43
we're talking about comedians telling
00:19:46
stories it didn't take Michael Becker
00:19:48
very long to be convinced that the club
00:19:50
was indeed haunted yeah hi it's Mike
00:19:53
Becker as I was standing there I saw
00:19:56
someone with a kind of a Tweed 4
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jacket just walk right into my office
00:20:02
get that guy out my office can you hold
00:20:04
it please thanks who is that guy what
00:20:06
guy the guy that just came in here there
00:20:09
was nobody there except the guy that was
00:20:10
on the phone originally nobody came in
00:20:12
here nobody and to top it off the guy
00:20:15
that was on the phone didn't see
00:20:17
anything it was not a guy but it was
00:20:21
something that walked in my
00:20:23
office that something has been prowling
00:20:26
the club for decades or so they
00:20:29
say long before The Comedy Store moved
00:20:32
in this place was home to the nightclub
00:20:34
zeros a hangout for movie stars like
00:20:37
Tyrone Power Betty Davis and Lucille B
00:20:41
SOS was the most popular nightclub in
00:20:45
Hollywood and when a club is that
00:20:47
popular the mob is often
00:20:50
involved Mickey Cohen was the most
00:20:52
notorious of the club's mob regulars
00:20:55
it's been said that more than a few
00:20:57
unfortunate Souls who made him mad ended
00:21:01
up as
00:21:02
ghosts it kind of all fits together that
00:21:04
something happened back in the 40s
00:21:07
perhaps because it's never like a hippie
00:21:09
looking guy or it's never somebody from
00:21:11
the 80s or or anything like that it the
00:21:13
clothing is always
00:21:15
40s once you rule out all the prosaic
00:21:18
logical explanations such as the hoax
00:21:20
the fraud misinterpretation of natural
00:21:22
events um you know seismic you know
00:21:25
transients electrical transients you're
00:21:27
left with some that is totally
00:21:29
inexplicable in terms of modern science
00:21:32
modern science would have a hard time
00:21:34
explaining what Blake Clark claimed he
00:21:36
and a coworker saw late at night do you
00:21:40
see that
00:21:43
yeah you look back and I saw the gate
00:21:46
and it just started just bending out
00:21:48
into the to the
00:21:52
hallway they're making that kind of
00:21:54
noise and as I was looking at it I
00:21:57
thought this is certainly approaching
00:22:00
the boundary of physical possibility
00:22:02
that something can do that most of the
00:22:05
ghosts at The Comedy Store are not
00:22:08
dangerous at all but there is something
00:22:11
in the
00:22:13
basement and you'll have a hard time
00:22:16
convincing people to go down there at
00:22:18
least alone it was a challenge that Joey
00:22:21
Gainer and Blake Clark could not resist
00:22:24
late one night they visited the
00:22:27
Forbidden basement
00:22:32
what do you
00:22:34
want what do you want it had no features
00:22:37
no features at all just moved and it
00:22:39
started to
00:22:41
snake upwards and down towards us Spirit
00:22:46
demon whatever was down there in that
00:22:48
basement I just don't like
00:22:51
it rumor has it that no one has raced
00:22:54
out of that basement faster than those
00:22:56
two did that night
00:23:01
some might say it would be foolish to
00:23:03
take ghost stories at face value
00:23:06
especially those told by comedians but
00:23:08
if these accounts are true it suggests
00:23:11
that not everything that happens at the
00:23:13
comedy store is a laughing
00:23:17
matter coming up a convincing pair of
00:23:20
fortune tellers uses oils curses and
00:23:23
lots of money to scam innocent people
00:23:30
[Music]
00:23:36
poror
00:23:38
Illinois a respected teacher who we'll
00:23:41
call Karen was mentally and physically
00:23:44
injured in a car
00:23:46
accident her friends encouraged her to
00:23:49
see an cor Chile a fortune teller who
00:23:52
supposedly had psychic
00:23:56
powers the last thought of my my mind
00:23:58
was to go see a psychic but I thought
00:24:01
well if it doesn't work it doesn't work
00:24:04
it's 10 bucks for a half an hour what
00:24:05
have I got to
00:24:07
lose I see that you've had family
00:24:09
problems lately uh have you considered
00:24:11
suicide before she told me that I had
00:24:15
had suicidal thoughts and I hadn't ever
00:24:17
told anyone so I was convinced that she
00:24:20
was psychic and she had the answer to my
00:24:23
problem this is a curse that someone's
00:24:24
put on you and I looked at her like
00:24:29
you have got to be
00:24:31
kidding but she said it so
00:24:34
believably and she held my hand and she
00:24:37
leaned forward and said we can do
00:24:39
something about this I'll help you and
00:24:40
we can overcome this together at the
00:24:43
point she told me there was a curse on
00:24:45
me I think I would have been ready to
00:24:47
believe
00:24:50
anything an told Karen that she had to
00:24:53
follow a strict plan in order to remove
00:24:55
the curse I was taking rich ual baths
00:24:59
and scented oils I was blessing the
00:25:02
doors the windows the cars people with
00:25:06
holy water but I couldn't let anyone
00:25:09
know what was going
00:25:11
on each time that I saw her she gave me
00:25:14
more things to do which was great I
00:25:16
loved it I felt like I was beginning to
00:25:18
get control back of my
00:25:21
life an instructed Karen to come with
00:25:24
her to a nearby bridge and to bring
00:25:27
$4,000 wrapped in a white handkerchief I
00:25:31
brought the
00:25:33
money this money has taken all the evil
00:25:35
from your body she told me that we had
00:25:38
to destroy the money because Satan was
00:25:42
of the Earth in what better way to
00:25:44
control him but with his own dirty
00:25:50
money so we took the bundle of money and
00:25:53
threw it off the bridge is it gone it's
00:25:57
gone it's gone
00:25:58
the money that was in the bundle had
00:26:00
been wrapped in a handkerchief and she
00:26:02
had refolded it several times before it
00:26:05
was ever thrown into the river I never
00:26:07
saw the actual
00:26:10
$4,000 I had my eyes closed in
00:26:13
prayer Karen now believes that she was
00:26:16
kinded by an Corelli who often worked
00:26:19
with her mother Lena Marie Wilson in
00:26:22
bogus fortunetelling
00:26:24
schemes I look at myself and I say how
00:26:27
could I be so stupid I'm a college
00:26:29
educated person I'm a professional I've
00:26:32
seen enough news reports I've lived in
00:26:34
the world long enough to know what real
00:26:35
crime is and that people at any
00:26:37
opportunity are very willing to steal
00:26:39
your money and I cannot believe that I
00:26:42
was a victim of this
00:26:44
crime another victim of the
00:26:46
fortunetelling scam in Poria was a
00:26:49
69-year-old woman will'll called Joan
00:26:52
after her second husband died she was
00:26:54
left with a sizable
00:26:57
estate I think at the time I was very
00:26:59
vulnerable because I had lost my husband
00:27:02
2 years before I was lonely I was
00:27:06
searching maybe for answers in different
00:27:09
places when Joan visited the fortune
00:27:11
tellers they were using the name Kelvin
00:27:15
the first person she met was an
00:27:18
Corelli I can tell that you've had a
00:27:20
recent spiritual crisis in your
00:27:24
life I can also tell that you have a
00:27:28
recent death in the family well yes my
00:27:30
husband 2 years
00:27:32
ago okay I can also see that there's
00:27:34
something evil in your
00:27:36
charts something that I am going to have
00:27:38
to ask my grandmother to help us
00:27:42
with and left the room and brought in
00:27:45
her partner and mother Lena Marie to
00:27:48
help with the con you need help yes have
00:27:51
the power to reveal your problems take
00:27:54
this red and tie three knots three knot
00:27:57
yeah
00:27:59
yes she told me that my life had had a
00:28:03
curse on it for over 40 years that was
00:28:06
put on by a girlfriend of my first
00:28:10
husband and she actually named the
00:28:12
person that my husband went with before
00:28:15
he married me she said will you come
00:28:19
back and bring with you a $1 $5 $10 and
00:28:24
a $20 bill did you bring the money with
00:28:27
you yes just as you ask me Lena Marie
00:28:31
also asked her to bring a sheet which
00:28:33
she tied around both of their necks she
00:28:36
told me to tear these bills in half and
00:28:40
she said if this money will go back
00:28:43
together and become whole then I can
00:28:46
help you otherwise I can't and then she
00:28:48
wrapped them up in the white
00:28:50
handkerchief and tied it all together
00:28:53
Our Father who are in heaven Elina Marie
00:28:57
held the torn money under the sheet and
00:28:59
rubbed it over Joan's arms and legs do
00:29:03
you believe I have the power yes I when
00:29:05
Lena Marie unwrapped the money the bills
00:29:07
appeared to be magically restored they
00:29:10
had even multiplied and to Joan this was
00:29:13
a
00:29:14
miracle I can't believe it I just she
00:29:17
said kneel down and thank God and so I
00:29:21
knelt down before the alar and kept
00:29:23
saying over the are father if you tell
00:29:26
anybody the C will be back on
00:29:28
do you understand oh yes I understand do
00:29:31
you they always associate their special
00:29:33
powers with God or religion or the
00:29:36
church and more importantly with this
00:29:38
particular type of trick with making the
00:29:41
money multiply is to get in the victim's
00:29:44
mind that money means
00:29:46
nothing the next step is to convince the
00:29:49
victim that they are cursed she said
00:29:51
we've got to get rid of this devil it is
00:29:53
in your life and it is all around you
00:29:59
and she said she had to have money
00:30:01
because this would give her more power
00:30:04
and the more money I could give her the
00:30:05
more power she would have to help me for
00:30:08
the next year and a half Joan gave Lena
00:30:11
Marie more than $80,000 in cash and most
00:30:15
of her jewelry she even bought her a new
00:30:19
Cadillac well this money will help to
00:30:21
take the evil out of your body money is
00:30:24
Evil Marie had the type of Personality
00:30:27
that made you feel that she was helping
00:30:29
you and I believed in her finally Lena
00:30:34
Marie asked Joan to give her the last of
00:30:37
her life savings
00:30:39
$40,000 we have to go Vis
00:30:42
evil she said now we have to burn this
00:30:44
money because money is
00:30:47
evil she put it in a garbage
00:30:50
can and then put lighter fluid on it and
00:30:53
burned
00:30:55
it the money that
00:30:58
the individual thinks is going into the
00:31:00
fire uh does not actually go into the
00:31:03
fire kneel down and
00:31:06
pray there might be a $1 bill or a $100
00:31:10
bill wrapped around play money and this
00:31:14
is what actually goes into the fire and
00:31:16
is actually burnt real money never goes
00:31:18
into the fire did you see this the crime
00:31:21
that they're committing is they're
00:31:23
taking valuables from people by the
00:31:25
means of
00:31:26
deception but but the majority of the
00:31:28
people would just assume cut their
00:31:30
losses and not come forward they do now
00:31:33
want to uh suffer the the embarrassment
00:31:35
of the community of their peers of their
00:31:38
family I gave her close to
00:31:42
$150,000 in money possessions and
00:31:46
jeury based on the testimony of Karen
00:31:49
Joan and 16 other victims authorities
00:31:53
arrested Lena Marie
00:31:55
Wilson soon after she jump
00:31:59
bail
00:32:01
update 10 years after Lena Marie Wilson
00:32:04
disappeared she was arrested at her home
00:32:07
in a Boston suburb Wilson served time
00:32:10
for conspiracy to commit fraud and for
00:32:13
bail jumping she has since been
00:32:16
released the statute of limitations has
00:32:19
run out on this
00:32:20
[Music]
00:32:22
case investigators are no longer looking
00:32:25
for an Corelli
00:32:27
[Music]
00:32:31
coming up a nurse's aid disappears and
00:32:34
the only Clues are mysterious letters
00:32:37
left in shopping
00:32:46
malls one September morning in the small
00:32:49
town of St Joseph
00:32:52
Missouri a young woman named Mickey Joe
00:32:55
West left for work
00:32:58
she was never seen
00:33:00
again I think I know what happened to
00:33:03
Mickey I think I know who did it and I
00:33:07
think I know why they did it we have a
00:33:09
suspect that we established the day
00:33:10
after The Disappearance we've talked to
00:33:12
him several times we know where he lives
00:33:14
now we know where we can reach him uh we
00:33:17
just simply have no evidence against him
00:33:18
at this
00:33:20
point at the time of her disappearance
00:33:23
Mickey Joe West was just 19 years old
00:33:26
she was a friendly girl who worked as a
00:33:28
nurse's aid at a local hospital she was
00:33:31
funny when I had bad days and I was at
00:33:34
my worst end she'd come in and
00:33:37
everything would be all right cuz she'd
00:33:38
say something
00:33:40
funny shortly before she disappeared
00:33:43
Mickey became involved in a friend's
00:33:45
bitter marital dispute perhaps too
00:33:48
involved she began to receive threats
00:33:52
the last time I talked to Mickey on the
00:33:53
phone she was afraid for her life so she
00:33:56
told me she was going to carry a hammer
00:33:57
to work work with
00:33:59
her that next morning she got up and
00:34:01
left her house and was on her way to the
00:34:04
bus stop and that was a last that anyone
00:34:06
ever heard from her at this point the
00:34:09
only case we have is a missing person we
00:34:11
have no crime we have a missing person
00:34:12
we have no body to establish a murder
00:34:14
case we have evidence that there were
00:34:16
threats made to Mickey that she was
00:34:18
followed by this person that he had a
00:34:21
motive to do this that he could have
00:34:24
done this and we just need the body
00:34:30
for 7 years no new evidence was
00:34:33
found and
00:34:36
then a delivery man at a Kansas City
00:34:39
shopping mall found a
00:34:42
letter it was addressed to the St Joseph
00:34:45
Police it read quote I need your help I
00:34:50
was with and here we cannot mention that
00:34:52
person's name when he killed Micki Joe
00:34:55
West and hid the body I can kill myself
00:34:59
now please help the letter was unsigned
00:35:04
there was a note found at the Oak Park
00:35:05
Mall in Overland Park Kansas that was
00:35:08
the exact date of the anniversary of The
00:35:10
Disappearance of Mickey
00:35:12
Joe the following month a security guard
00:35:15
found another note in the same shopping
00:35:19
mall both of the notes named the
00:35:22
man who has been and is now the prime
00:35:25
suspect the author in these notes said
00:35:27
that he was with the person who had
00:35:29
killed her that he did not kill her
00:35:31
himself that he could not stand this
00:35:33
knowledge that he had and that he needed
00:35:35
help they're both unsigned and so far we
00:35:38
have not come up with any solid leads as
00:35:40
to who the author
00:35:42
is 7 weeks later three more letters were
00:35:45
found this time in St Joseph the town
00:35:48
where Mickey was last seen two were
00:35:51
found in a local
00:35:53
mall and one at a nearby truck stop
00:35:58
all five notes were believed to be
00:36:00
written by the same person but the
00:36:02
police did not have enough evidence to
00:36:05
arrest the suspect that was named in the
00:36:08
letters we've explored the possibility
00:36:10
that the notes are a hoax but we believe
00:36:12
they're genuine because of the details
00:36:14
that he's given us about the crime
00:36:16
because of the way they are written
00:36:18
because of the feelings that they
00:36:20
express they just seem
00:36:23
realistic When We examined these letters
00:36:26
it was obvious to us that the person who
00:36:28
wrote them was intimidated by the person
00:36:30
who killed Mickey Joe these weren't
00:36:32
letters written by a stranger they were
00:36:34
written by someone who was personally
00:36:35
acquainted with the victim their
00:36:37
deep-seated feelings of guilt not guilt
00:36:40
because the writer was personally
00:36:42
responsible for having killed Mickey but
00:36:44
because he was present when it happened
00:36:47
and he wasn't able to stop
00:36:49
it 9 years after Mickey's disappearance
00:36:52
a television reporter named Thurman
00:36:54
Mitchell received a letter addressed to
00:36:56
him personally
00:36:58
in this letter the author said that if
00:37:00
Thurman would come alone he would show
00:37:02
him where Mickey Joe West is he said
00:37:05
that he did not want the reward he said
00:37:07
that he was not himself involved in the
00:37:09
crime but that he needed help again
00:37:12
because this latest letter was mailed to
00:37:13
the station in response to this letter
00:37:15
that Mr Mitchell received he did a news
00:37:18
story asking this person to come forward
00:37:20
and contact him personally Mickey Joe's
00:37:22
death we're asking that witness to call
00:37:24
the telephone number on the screen and
00:37:25
talk to us and we'll pass that that
00:37:27
information on Mitchell's onair request
00:37:30
produced no new
00:37:31
leads if he knows where she is if he was
00:37:35
there the author of these notes is the
00:37:38
most important witness that we could
00:37:40
have in this case we miss Mickey and
00:37:43
it's been 9
00:37:45
years and we just want to know what
00:37:47
happened to
00:37:48
her
00:37:50
update St Joseph Police eventually
00:37:52
arrested Marvin Lee Irvin for the murder
00:37:55
of Mickey Joe West it was Irvin who was
00:37:58
named in the anonymous letters and the
00:38:00
police now believe that he wrote those
00:38:02
letters himself the discovery of two
00:38:06
other bodies and the search of Vin's
00:38:08
home provided the evidence needed to
00:38:10
make the
00:38:12
arrest Irvin confessed and pled guilty
00:38:15
to murdering Mickey Joe West and two
00:38:18
other women he was sentenced to three
00:38:21
consecutive life terms without the
00:38:23
possibility of parole Micki Joe's body
00:38:26
however has never been
00:38:37
found we recently told you a story that
00:38:40
began over 60 years ago in war torn
00:38:43
Eastern
00:38:45
Europe when Hitler's thirdd R crumbled
00:38:48
Carl Dente and his family fled their
00:38:50
home in Budapest Hungary and traveled to
00:38:55
Austria as winter approached the family
00:38:58
was forced to live in a Box Car life was
00:39:02
extremely hard for Carl's 5-year-old
00:39:04
daughter brigita but all that changed a
00:39:08
few days before Christmas an American GI
00:39:11
known only as Phillip asked if he could
00:39:14
take Briget to a children's Christmas
00:39:17
party yes yes yes yes Christmas yes even
00:39:21
though more than 60 years have passed
00:39:24
Briget still remembers that night as if
00:39:26
it were just yesterday Philip made me
00:39:29
feel very very special aside of making
00:39:32
me feel safe and happy he made me feel
00:39:34
like a big
00:39:36
girl well I felt like a
00:39:39
princess it's like someone opened a
00:39:42
Magic
00:39:44
[Music]
00:39:53
Door over the next few months philli and
00:39:56
the dentes developed a close
00:39:59
friendship then one day Philip came to
00:40:01
the camp with news his unit was being
00:40:04
sent back to the United States he gave
00:40:07
Carl a photograph to remember him by the
00:40:10
dentes never saw Philip again but they
00:40:13
never forgot the kindness that he
00:40:15
brought their family on that Christmas
00:40:17
day so many years ago he brought a big
00:40:20
change in our life little happiness you
00:40:24
know give us back lot of confidence of
00:40:26
the human
00:40:28
race more than a decade later the dentes
00:40:32
finally made it to America for 30 years
00:40:35
Carl and beeta searched for Phillip
00:40:38
their only clue was the photograph he
00:40:40
had given
00:40:42
them
00:40:44
update within an hour after we aired the
00:40:47
story a viewer recognized the
00:40:51
GI Phillip was her cousin Philip
00:40:55
pelleter and he lived in Hammond
00:40:59
Indiana we immediately called Carl and
00:41:01
pet and arranged a
00:41:06
reunion Bridget yeah oh
00:41:10
yes oh I can't
00:41:20
believe well it's really pretty hard to
00:41:22
tell you just how I feel after so many
00:41:24
years and trying to recollect everything
00:41:28
that we went through together you know
00:41:31
it's uh very hard it's very
00:41:34
exciting it's uh almost
00:41:37
unbelievable the minute that I saw him I
00:41:40
could see the warmth and the happy look
00:41:43
on his face
00:41:46
smiling like we really never had lost
00:41:48
touch in a way Carl brigeta and Phillip
00:41:51
spent the entire day looking through
00:41:54
photographs that brought back memories
00:41:56
of that special time they spent together
00:41:58
so many years ago we're going to stay
00:42:01
with touch we're going to try to visit
00:42:03
each other as much as possible we're
00:42:05
going to renew the Friendship what we
00:42:08
had before you know it's it's a
00:42:10
friendship forever
00:42:12
[Music]
00:42:28
[Music]
00:42:38
[Music]
