00:00:00
[Music]
00:00:04
next on Unsolved
00:00:07
Mysteries how can an autopsy mistake a
00:00:10
gunshot for a stab W that was just one
00:00:13
hint of a cover up in this New York
00:00:16
murter he's a devout hidic Jew a
00:00:19
dedicated family man and a brilliant con
00:00:22
artist who made off with close to $200
00:00:27
million two friends come to blows in a
00:00:29
bar over a woman the next day one is
00:00:33
dead accident or
00:00:36
murder and parents are told their
00:00:38
newborn daughter won't live to see her
00:00:40
first Christmas but then an unexpected
00:00:44
visitor promises
00:00:45
[Music]
00:00:47
America whether it's murder Larsen or
00:00:49
foul play sometimes these cases are
00:00:52
solved thanks to you I'm Dennis finina
00:00:56
and this is Unsolved Mysteries
00:01:10
[Music]
00:01:19
[Music]
00:01:29
he
00:01:39
Rome New
00:01:40
York for almost 20 years Stanley gik and
00:01:44
his brother Peter operated a few local
00:01:47
businesses including a gas station and a
00:01:50
bar Stanley and his wife Esther lived
00:01:53
right next door to the gas station their
00:01:56
life seemed happy and secure until one
00:01:59
November
00:02:00
night dad had just gone upstairs to run
00:02:03
Mom's bath water mom went through the
00:02:06
house doing her nightly check she did a
00:02:09
nightly ritual where she would go and
00:02:10
check all the windows and doors and make
00:02:12
sure everything was
00:02:13
locked my mother was deaf and she wore
00:02:16
hearing aid with hearing aid she could
00:02:18
hear very well and she had just finished
00:02:20
in the kitchen when she heard a loud
00:02:23
noise and as she turned around the back
00:02:25
door just flew open
00:02:30
Sharon said her dad RAC downstairs when
00:02:32
he heard the commotion of two men
00:02:34
breaking into the house hey what are you
00:02:37
doing I think he startled the
00:02:40
perpetrator the shorter stack your man
00:02:43
was already at my mother's throat and
00:02:44
was choking her and in the process
00:02:47
knocked her hearing aid out of her
00:02:49
ear and she said she just played dead
00:02:52
she just wouldn't move she just laid
00:02:54
there she tried to hold her breath so
00:02:57
she would they would thought she died
00:03:00
while she was laying on the floor she
00:03:02
said they laid this pearl handled gun
00:03:04
next to my face she says I could see it
00:03:06
I opened my eye just a little tiny bit
00:03:08
and I could
00:03:11
see they spent a good hour in the house
00:03:14
just ransacking it totally they took all
00:03:17
the stuff out of the desk threw
00:03:19
everything on the floor the pillows they
00:03:21
ripped I mean they obviously were
00:03:23
looking for something but what they were
00:03:24
looking for I have no
00:03:26
idea eventually the two men left no one
00:03:30
knows why they broke in or if they got
00:03:32
what they came
00:03:34
for Sharon's mother waited until she
00:03:37
could no longer feel any vibrations in
00:03:40
the house and then she tried to free
00:03:45
herself somehow she managed to get her
00:03:47
hands untied from her feet and her feet
00:03:50
untied her hands were still tied behind
00:03:52
her back but she did manage to go into
00:03:55
the dining room and find my dad laying
00:03:57
on the floor dead
00:04:03
[Applause]
00:04:06
detectives worked the crime scene and
00:04:08
came up with a surprising
00:04:11
conclusion the only things missing were
00:04:14
two bottles of beer from the
00:04:17
refrigerator it appeared to
00:04:19
investigators as if the ransacking was
00:04:23
to look for an item possibly or a piece
00:04:26
of
00:04:28
paper that Mr it may have had hidden
00:04:33
somewhere the next day Stanley's son
00:04:35
found an important clue that the police
00:04:38
had missed hey come here look at
00:04:41
this I happened to notice a shell casing
00:04:44
on the
00:04:45
rug I mean it wasn't embedded in the rug
00:04:47
or anything it was lying right out on
00:04:49
the rug oh it's a shell casing don't
00:04:52
touch it I picked it up with a pencil
00:04:54
put it in a plastic bag and called up
00:04:56
the Rome Police Department I one
00:04:59
detective came over and uh he looked at
00:05:02
it yeah that's a shell casing all right
00:05:05
and I proceeded to put it in his pocket
00:05:08
and said um let's not mention this to
00:05:09
anyone at for the time
00:05:12
being it was a curious request but the
00:05:15
case would soon take an even more
00:05:17
disturbing
00:05:19
turn the official autopsy report stated
00:05:22
that Stanley was killed by a single stab
00:05:25
wound to the
00:05:27
heart well we knew that was totally
00:05:30
false that my father had been killed by
00:05:32
a stab W he had found a shell casing
00:05:36
there was no guns in the house the only
00:05:38
way that shell could have got here was
00:05:40
that it was fired in this house there
00:05:43
was only one way to settle the question
00:05:46
Stanley's body was accumed and a second
00:05:49
autopsy was
00:05:51
performed it revealed that he had been
00:05:53
killed by a 25 caliber bullet fired at
00:05:57
his chest
00:06:00
there never had been a stab
00:06:03
wound it would seem difficult to mistake
00:06:06
a bullet wound for one made by a knife
00:06:09
was the ruling simply an oversight or
00:06:12
was it deliberate and if so who ordered
00:06:15
the cover up and why Stanley's children
00:06:18
believe that someone wanted it to look
00:06:20
like their father had been stabbed to
00:06:22
death it seemed that these questions
00:06:24
would remain forever unanswered until a
00:06:28
witness find sty steps
00:06:31
forward an admitted drug dealer told
00:06:33
police that he knew who killed Stanley
00:06:37
gik I was tending bar one night and um a
00:06:41
person approached me and he knew that I
00:06:43
owed him money and he offered me to get
00:06:47
even so we drove around for a little bit
00:06:51
and uh he pulled in an alley over here
00:06:53
and he goes I want you to break into
00:06:55
Stan's
00:06:56
house why staning that's my business and
00:07:00
I told him I go uh I'm not a burglar I'm
00:07:02
out here selling coal you know I'm not
00:07:05
going to go breaking into anybody's
00:07:07
house he was like Disturbed with me and
00:07:09
he goes all right he goes just I'll take
00:07:11
you back to the
00:07:12
bar his information reactivated the
00:07:16
investigation with a new set of
00:07:19
detectives they contacted Amy Scott
00:07:22
Stanley's
00:07:23
neighbor she told him that on the night
00:07:26
of the Murder She was letting her dog
00:07:28
outside when she saw saw a man walking
00:07:30
through the alley towards Stanley's
00:07:32
house it was shortly after 11:00
00:07:36
p.m. I let my dog stay out maybe a half
00:07:39
an hour to 45 minutes and um then I I
00:07:43
opened the door I went on my porch to
00:07:44
call my dog back in Sam then I looked up
00:07:48
and I saw this guy coming through the
00:07:49
same pathway that I noticed before only
00:07:53
this time he was headed toward a white
00:07:55
car he got in the car and then I noticed
00:07:58
there was another man in the car and he
00:08:01
proceeded down the street very fast you
00:08:03
idiot what do you think you're doing and
00:08:06
I yelled at him because he just came
00:08:08
within inches of hitting my
00:08:12
dog a few days later while Amy was at a
00:08:14
local bank she saw the men in Lincoln
00:08:21
again to Amy it seemed like they were
00:08:25
following
00:08:26
her I got really nervous so started my
00:08:30
car off and I speed it down the street I
00:08:32
was really
00:08:34
frightened I just drove like crazy till
00:08:37
I got to the police station and I jumped
00:08:39
out of the car and I ran up the steps
00:08:41
where I met a policeman and I told him
00:08:43
what was happening we got in his car and
00:08:47
we drove around a couple of blocks up
00:08:49
and down but we never saw him
00:08:52
again detectives also learned that the
00:08:55
owner of a local bookstore had seen the
00:08:57
two men the day before stanle was killed
00:09:01
she also said they were driving a white
00:09:03
L seen you a long time there was the
00:09:06
tall dark man who had on a trench coat
00:09:10
the other man was shorter and Sandy
00:09:12
haired come on over what investigators
00:09:15
asked py why she had not come forward
00:09:17
with her information sooner she told him
00:09:20
that she had she had spoken to one of
00:09:22
the original
00:09:25
detectives we looked in our files and
00:09:27
found there wasn't anything put down on
00:09:30
documentation form as to their interview
00:09:32
with paty
00:09:34
peek investigators also discovered
00:09:37
another witness claimed to have seen the
00:09:39
men in a local bar shortly after Stanley
00:09:43
was
00:09:44
killed he told us that a couple of men
00:09:47
had come into the bar matching the
00:09:49
descriptions that were published in the
00:09:51
paper they met with another man in the
00:09:53
back of the bar who handed him a large
00:09:55
sum of
00:09:57
money and they turn
00:10:00
left he was kind of curious so he said
00:10:02
wasn't that so and so and the individual
00:10:05
who had given him the money said yes it
00:10:08
was and he said uh well uh why did you
00:10:12
give him that large amount of money and
00:10:14
he said they' done a job for me and now
00:10:16
they had to leave
00:10:17
town as you can see here investigators
00:10:19
tried to pull the threads
00:10:22
together what might have link the
00:10:25
murder the two men the bar and the pale
00:10:29
off they discovered that the bar's
00:10:32
liquor license was in the name of Peter
00:10:35
grek Stanley's older
00:10:38
brother and then Stanley's children told
00:10:41
of a strange incident that had happened
00:10:43
8 months before the
00:10:45
murder Peter GK had been Gravely ill at
00:10:48
the time and Stanley went to visit
00:10:53
him no one knows what was said behind
00:10:55
that closed door but the two brothers
00:10:58
who had always been close never spoke
00:11:01
again Peter died 4 months later and
00:11:05
Stanley seemed to have
00:11:07
changed I had spent a 3-day weekend with
00:11:10
my
00:11:11
dad he seemed in a good mood but he
00:11:15
seemed a little
00:11:16
distant when he hugged me goodbye he
00:11:19
said a very strange thing I don't know
00:11:21
when I'll ever see you again and that
00:11:24
was the last time I saw him
00:11:26
again the bar registered to Peter REI
00:11:30
eventually lost its liquor license for
00:11:32
on-site gambling and the illegal sale of
00:11:36
Controlled
00:11:37
Substances if my father knew something
00:11:40
he did not share that information with
00:11:42
my mother or my brother my sister or I
00:11:45
it was just something that he kept to
00:11:50
himself and that was why being honest as
00:11:53
he was was the cause of his
00:11:56
death the murder of Stanley grek remains
00:12:00
unsolved numerous questions remain
00:12:04
unanswered why did The Intruders ransack
00:12:07
the
00:12:07
house why did the initial investigators
00:12:10
fail to report the details of their
00:12:13
conversation with a bookstore
00:12:15
owner what was the connection between
00:12:18
the bar Peter grek and Stanley's
00:12:21
murder authorities are hoping someone
00:12:24
watching can answer these
00:12:27
questions these are comp composite
00:12:29
drawings of the two men seen driving the
00:12:31
white Lincoln if you have any
00:12:34
information about this case please log
00:12:37
on to our website at unsolved.com
00:12:41
coming up a brilliant con man hides
00:12:44
behind his religion as he steals
00:12:47
Millions from Banks all over the
00:12:57
world you're about to meet a devout
00:12:59
hidic Jew and father of 12 incredibly he
00:13:04
is also the Mastermind of one of the
00:13:06
greatest cons in recent history his name
00:13:09
is Joseph prusinowski and by all
00:13:12
accounts he abided by the religious laws
00:13:15
of the hiic Jews except when it came to
00:13:18
the eighth commandment Thou shalt not
00:13:24
steal by living a life based on strict
00:13:27
religious values the Sedum have earned a
00:13:30
reputation for honesty and Rock Solid
00:13:34
Integrity this was the perfect cover for
00:13:37
Joseph
00:13:40
kenowski Joseph his wife and their
00:13:42
children Liv in anhes cdic community
00:13:46
near
00:13:48
Montreal he ran an export import
00:13:50
business from the basement of his modest
00:13:52
home but that's not all he was
00:13:57
doing he was also the brand remains
00:13:59
behind a brilliant scam one that would
00:14:02
net him close to $200
00:14:06
million the first step of his Swindle
00:14:09
was to open his own bank and he did it
00:14:13
with the help of his unsuspecting
00:14:15
assistant Alan
00:14:16
fle uh I recommend that we go with
00:14:20
anguila the Caribbean island of anguila
00:14:23
is notorious for having some of the most
00:14:25
lenient banking standards in the world
00:14:29
Joseph gave Allan a couple of phony
00:14:32
names and told him they were the owners
00:14:34
or principles of his newly created Bank
00:14:37
all we need now are the signatures of
00:14:39
our principles that's all that's
00:14:40
required there we go but these are
00:14:43
stamps yeah but they give me the
00:14:45
authorization to use the signature I
00:14:47
guess I witnessed the signatures I mean
00:14:50
which I found out afterwards wasn't uh
00:14:54
exactly uh a legally accepted procedure
00:14:57
that you one according to the law can
00:14:59
only witness a person signing and not a
00:15:02
signature stamp yes these are the check
00:15:05
take a look here let me see he could now
00:15:07
issue officiall looking Bank cashiers
00:15:09
checks which were much more convincing
00:15:12
than simple personal checks I have
00:15:14
theist the second step of his plan was
00:15:17
to write out checks in the amounts of up
00:15:19
to $1 million which the bank in anguila
00:15:23
guaranteed Ben he would then deposit the
00:15:26
checks in business accounts that he had
00:15:29
set up all over the
00:15:31
world Joseph would contact the bank in
00:15:33
person or by phone and using his
00:15:36
incredible Talent of persuasion
00:15:38
convinced the bankers to advance them
00:15:40
the large amounts of cash even though
00:15:43
the checks had not yet but before I
00:15:46
endorse this I need to uh cash advance
00:15:48
of
00:15:49
$750,000 Mr panowski is the policy of
00:15:52
our bank to wait 14 days after deposit
00:15:54
before you can draw on your account so
00:15:55
all I'm asking for $750,000
00:15:59
very clever very very persuasive man a
00:16:02
man who trades on his being a very
00:16:05
religious person when he deals with
00:16:07
banks wa a few more very good at
00:16:09
persuading them to cash his checks
00:16:11
written on funny banks in Far Away
00:16:13
places with strange sounding
00:16:15
names all right Mr panowski we're going
00:16:18
to make an exception this time but
00:16:19
please in the future give us 14 days
00:16:21
before eventually the the checks all
00:16:23
bounced or most of them bounced by the
00:16:25
time the bouncing stopped the bank was a
00:16:28
million dollars
00:16:31
sure meanwhile Alan fold found himself
00:16:34
taking calls from Angry Bankers
00:16:37
demanding their money no M Mr panovski
00:16:40
is not here ultimately a Japanese
00:16:42
company filed a lawsuit against the two
00:16:46
men being sued for a million dollars uh
00:16:49
was something relatively shocking to me
00:16:51
and I didn't understand what was going
00:16:52
on
00:16:53
here Allan's Faith was completely
00:16:56
shattered when agents of the Royal
00:16:58
Canadian in Mount police stormed
00:17:00
Joseph's office when was the last time
00:17:03
you saw
00:17:05
Mr Aline gold was hired by Kinowski when
00:17:08
he was 21 years old he was very naive he
00:17:11
didn't know very much about the business
00:17:13
world so he could not even contemplate
00:17:15
the possibility that prushinowski had a
00:17:17
Criminal Mind when I was asked to do
00:17:20
things for
00:17:21
him Allen was cleared of any involvement
00:17:24
and he agreed to help investigators
00:17:26
unravel a complex ripoff
00:17:30
Canadian authorities searched the house
00:17:33
this is it but came up empty-handed the
00:17:36
basement office had been cleared out and
00:17:38
panowski had fled taking his wife and 10
00:17:42
of his children his oldest son and
00:17:44
daughter planned to join him later do
00:17:47
you know what s of work from his
00:17:49
Canadian operations alone Kowski left
00:17:52
the trail of scams totaling more than $2
00:17:57
million he disappears off the face of
00:17:59
the Earth no one seems ever to see him
00:18:02
hear from him again but what then
00:18:05
happens is all of a sudden Joseph Weiss
00:18:08
starts to appear and Joseph Weiss
00:18:10
operates frauds on exactly the same way
00:18:14
that Joseph panowski did Joseph Weiss
00:18:18
and Joseph panowski were one and the
00:18:22
Same by now isend were becoming absurdly
00:18:26
huge over a 2-year period financial
00:18:30
institutions across Europe lost more
00:18:32
than $100
00:18:34
million the astounding total exceeded
00:18:39
$190
00:18:42
million finally this master panman came
00:18:45
up with one more brilliant
00:18:48
plan he negotiated to return some of the
00:18:52
stolen money okay 50 cents in the dollar
00:18:55
he knows that Banks don't like to go to
00:18:58
the police they don't like to prosecute
00:18:59
people what they want is their money
00:19:01
back so they will
00:19:02
settle and what that of course does is
00:19:05
by and large it removes the lender from
00:19:09
being a complainant to create a criminal
00:19:11
prosecution problem for panowski in that
00:19:14
particular
00:19:15
country and he's used that tactic very
00:19:18
successfully all over the
00:19:21
world however a few Banks were not
00:19:23
willing to settle and arrest warrants
00:19:26
were issued for the comment
00:19:29
so what did Joseph prusinowski do with
00:19:32
the millions that he
00:19:34
stole what is unique about Joseph
00:19:37
panowski is there is no evidence that he
00:19:39
is actually personally benefited in any
00:19:41
way at all from these
00:19:43
frauds in fact authorities believe that
00:19:46
he used the stolen money to set up
00:19:48
legitimate businesses and used those
00:19:51
profits to provide housing education and
00:19:54
other services to the hidic community
00:19:59
panowski I think likes to see himself as
00:20:03
a Robin Hood figure it's a way of giving
00:20:06
a rationalization to what he
00:20:09
does I feel that it's caused irreparable
00:20:12
damage for the Jewish Community as I say
00:20:14
around the globe because it helps to to
00:20:17
portray an an image of Jewish religious
00:20:21
Jewish people or Jewish people in
00:20:23
general as being Crooks and robbers
00:20:26
which of course is not the truth as to
00:20:29
the basic doctrines of our faith and how
00:20:31
we
00:20:32
practice
00:20:35
update after more than 10 years on the
00:20:38
Run Joseph panowski was arrested in
00:20:41
Israel there police received a tip from
00:20:44
a man who Joseph had been
00:20:47
counseling he was convicted of seven
00:20:49
fraud charges in a Jerusalem court and
00:20:52
sentenced to 7 years in prison here in
00:20:56
the United States prusinowski is still
00:20:59
wanted by the FBI on multiple counts of
00:21:02
bank
00:21:04
fraud next a man is found dead in his
00:21:08
garage the morning after a barroom brawl
00:21:12
was it an accident or
00:21:24
foul Edmore North Dakota
00:21:28
3:30 p.m. on a Cool October day what did
00:21:32
you find when you first came to the door
00:21:34
police in this small town begin to
00:21:36
investigate the death of a local auto
00:21:39
repair
00:21:40
man an hour earlier the body of
00:21:43
27-year-old Kenneth NG was discovered in
00:21:46
his own garage by his
00:21:48
uncle the cause of death was determined
00:21:51
to be carbon monoxide poisoning
00:21:54
initially police viewed it as a suicide
00:21:58
canny had too much going for him to be
00:22:00
committing suicide you know that was way
00:22:03
too
00:22:04
far you know you know he didn't have any
00:22:06
troubles that would bother him that
00:22:10
much but almost immediately some of the
00:22:13
evidence began to contradict the suicide
00:22:17
Theory why was a fully loaded rifle
00:22:20
found just 6 ft away from Kenneth's body
00:22:24
there was a small pool of blood on the
00:22:26
floor where did it come from even more
00:22:29
puzzling was the fact that the car's
00:22:31
ignition had been turned off if Kenneth
00:22:35
had in fact committed suicide he
00:22:37
couldn't have turned off the
00:22:41
engine and who
00:22:45
did Kenneth angi's family insisted that
00:22:48
suicide was out of the question but if
00:22:51
Foul Play was involved who had a motive
00:22:54
and the opportunity to commit the crime
00:22:57
within 12 hours the police found a
00:22:59
potential suspect who had
00:23:03
both 2: a.m. conle bar the night Kenneth
00:23:07
died at closing time only two customers
00:23:11
remain Kenneth and Curtis heck another
00:23:14
auto repair man I'm closing up you got
00:23:17
to go I'm taking you home tonight I got
00:23:19
to ride who are you going with Curtis
00:23:22
you really are a [ __ ] aren't you I want
00:23:25
to talk to you she going home with me
00:23:26
get your hands off me
00:23:29
neither one of us were Muhammad Ali I
00:23:31
mean I was rolling around on the floor
00:23:33
wrestling and bunch of dumb stuff there
00:23:35
was some punches throwing back and forth
00:23:38
but nobody really got hurt at one point
00:23:40
I got him down on the floor and I and I
00:23:42
held him down there and I I told him I'm
00:23:44
going to let you up and I said when I
00:23:46
let you up I want you to just walk out
00:23:48
the
00:23:49
door moments later Kenneth ralated
00:23:54
[Applause]
00:23:59
I heard the the crash out out front and
00:24:02
I and I knew what it was as soon as I
00:24:04
heard it and I seen my pickup out there
00:24:06
it had been broadsided I thought about
00:24:09
just forgetting the whole thing but uh
00:24:11
the more I thought about it I
00:24:13
thought me and Kenny were both body men
00:24:16
and he had just annihilated my pickup so
00:24:20
I thought if I'm going to have to fix my
00:24:23
vehicle and he's going to have to fix
00:24:25
his heck decided to get even
00:24:32
just wait here about an hour later he
00:24:35
and the bartender drove to Kenneth's
00:24:37
home where they saw his truck parked in
00:24:39
the
00:24:42
driveway
00:24:44
Curtis
00:24:52
Curtis I heard a noise coming from the
00:24:54
garage it's a a groaning sound so I went
00:24:57
around to the back door and I opened up
00:25:00
the door and I went
00:25:02
in you know you toal my truck don't
00:25:06
you I should have realized you know that
00:25:09
there was something wrong with him but I
00:25:11
didn't the guy just smashed my pick up
00:25:13
all the pieces and
00:25:15
I I figured he was sick from drinking so
00:25:18
I figured go ahead and spend the night
00:25:19
on the garage
00:25:23
floor according to official police
00:25:26
report this is the last time that Ken
00:25:28
was seen
00:25:30
alive it doesn't make me very happy to
00:25:33
know that I was the last person to see
00:25:34
him alive and walked out the door and
00:25:36
left him
00:25:37
there I believe that Kenneth eni when he
00:25:40
was in the garage and it became cool
00:25:43
started the vehicle sat there and waited
00:25:46
for Curtis heck to come to the garage
00:25:49
for the confrontation that was bound to
00:25:51
happen realizing that something is
00:25:54
happening to him at this point I believe
00:25:56
he turned the vehicle off that was in
00:25:58
the garage started to head for the door
00:26:02
and didn't quite make it to the door
00:26:04
before he
00:26:07
collapsed time passed and he died
00:26:10
waiting for Curtis
00:26:13
heack Kenneth's Uncle disagrees with the
00:26:16
official
00:26:17
Theory Kenny was a little bit smarter
00:26:20
than not to start a vehicle up and leave
00:26:22
it running in the garage while he was
00:26:24
still in
00:26:26
there Richard believes that is nephew
00:26:28
heard heck kicking his truck and then
00:26:31
fought with him when he came into the
00:26:35
garage he fell down and probably was
00:26:38
knocked onc conscious and Kurt just shut
00:26:41
the door and walked away and then
00:26:42
realized the truck was running and come
00:26:44
back and went in and shut it
00:26:48
off with a sealed garage there was still
00:26:50
enough carbon monoxide fumes in there to
00:26:53
still do somebody
00:26:55
in the autopsy does not indicate that
00:26:58
there was any assault on that body and I
00:27:00
don't believe there
00:27:02
was there was a vehicle in his garage
00:27:05
but uh it wasn't running and I don't
00:27:07
remember seeing any smoke in the
00:27:11
garage did Kenneth start up the truck to
00:27:14
keep warm until Curtis heck arrived he
00:27:18
was a trained mechanic and he had to
00:27:20
know the dangers of running an engine in
00:27:22
a small enclosed
00:27:25
space unless alcohol had impaired his
00:27:29
judgment but if a drunken Kenneth did
00:27:32
start the truck and was overcome by
00:27:34
fumes how could he have had the clarity
00:27:37
of mind to cut the engine but was unable
00:27:40
to reach the nearby
00:27:43
door and finally if it was not Kenneth
00:27:47
who turned off the ignition then who
00:27:51
did and left him on the floor to
00:27:55
die we believe that the occurred from a
00:27:59
lethal dose of carbon monoxide and that
00:28:02
there was no criminal Foul Play involved
00:28:06
law enforcement has officially closed
00:28:07
this case there just doesn't seem to be
00:28:11
a clear-cut answer to it it's been hell
00:28:13
on everybody is what it's been and I'd
00:28:15
like to see an answer to it some place I
00:28:18
don't think they'll ever have a a final
00:28:21
that says this is exactly what happened
00:28:23
it's just there's too many loose
00:28:26
end Kenneth Angie's family still
00:28:29
believes that the whole story is yet to
00:28:31
be revealed if you have any information
00:28:35
that can shed new light on this case
00:28:37
please log on to our website at
00:28:40
unsolved.com
00:28:44
next a Christmas miracle saves the life
00:28:47
of an infant girl suffering from a fatal
00:28:50
liver disease
00:28:56
[Music]
00:29:02
Seattle
00:29:04
Washington Jolene and Terry hedin's
00:29:06
thirdd child had just been born a
00:29:09
daughter named Taran even though they
00:29:11
were Overjoyed with their new arrival
00:29:14
for some reason Jolene felt uneasy Terry
00:29:17
do you think she looks okay as they
00:29:20
handed her to me she she looked up at me
00:29:23
and her eyes had this look in them like
00:29:25
help
00:29:26
me and it bothered me from the time she
00:29:29
was born taran's doctors however
00:29:32
pronounced her healthy and sent her
00:29:36
home but within a short time she refused
00:29:39
to eat and had to have surgery to
00:29:42
correct two abdominal
00:29:44
hernas the routine procedure should have
00:29:46
taken only 2 hours finally teran's
00:29:49
doctors told him that she had been taken
00:29:51
to the IU because her abdomen was
00:29:54
filling with fluid to be a problem with
00:29:56
doctors believed her liver was the
00:29:58
problem during the surgery we discovered
00:30:00
an abnormal amount of fluid in her
00:30:02
abdomen it was a helpless feeling I
00:30:04
remember asking the doctor what can we
00:30:06
do how how you know what could we do to
00:30:08
make her feel better and then the doctor
00:30:10
said just be here just touch her and let
00:30:12
her know you're here so we did we didn't
00:30:14
leave her we were there every day for
00:30:17
the next couple
00:30:18
weeks lab tests later revealed that
00:30:21
Taran had wolman's
00:30:23
disease her body lacked a critical
00:30:25
enzyme without it her liver would shut
00:30:28
down and she would die there was no
00:30:30
known
00:30:31
cure 2 days before Christmas Jolene and
00:30:35
Terry had a meeting with teran's
00:30:38
pediatrician the weekend before their
00:30:41
appointment was one of the hardest
00:30:43
weekends I've ever had as a physician
00:30:46
cuz I couldn't decide whether I should
00:30:48
tell them that their baby was dying on
00:30:51
Monday or should I wait until after
00:30:54
Christmas to give them you know that
00:30:56
that awful news that there's no easy way
00:30:58
to do this the reason that she's not
00:31:01
eating is because her body is shutting
00:31:04
down she's preparing to
00:31:10
die I just broke down I was hard to
00:31:14
accept it uh to give into
00:31:18
it it was like a ton of bricks hitting
00:31:21
you somebody's actually telling us that
00:31:25
our daughter's dying
00:31:28
Jolene and Terry returned home
00:31:30
heartbroken and in shock they realized
00:31:34
that Taran might not even see her first
00:31:38
Christmas is the headlin were too
00:31:41
overwhelmed to call anyone with a
00:31:43
devastating news but around 9:30 that
00:31:46
night Terry's brother-in-law Wayne
00:31:48
Rogers just happened to stop by only
00:31:52
later would they learn of the
00:31:53
inspiration behind this unexpected visit
00:31:57
hi Wayne
00:31:59
it's about A4 to 99 and I was kind of
00:32:01
tired so I went off to
00:32:04
bed this voice came to me and it was
00:32:06
very strong and very loud and very
00:32:09
clear the voice said to me get up go
00:32:12
over and put your hand on Tan's stomach
00:32:15
and pray and she will be
00:32:17
okay it wasn't a uh something that I was
00:32:21
you know laying there dreaming of or
00:32:24
something like that it was a voice just
00:32:26
as clear as I'm talking to you
00:32:30
hi Terry
00:32:32
um you mind if I hold
00:32:35
her Wayne asked if he could be alone
00:32:38
with
00:32:39
Taran I looked down at taran's little
00:32:41
brown eyes and uh I put my hand on her
00:32:46
stomach I said a prayer I don't know
00:32:49
exactly what I said please Lord make her
00:32:52
better I've come to do what you know you
00:32:55
asked me to do please make her better
00:32:57
and then when I was through I picked her
00:32:59
up and I took her back in the other room
00:33:01
and I had a good feeling that everything
00:33:02
was going to be all right you got her so
00:33:05
way what brings you by this time of
00:33:07
night
00:33:08
uh I'm uh here because I believe in
00:33:12
miracles Wayne left without saying
00:33:15
another
00:33:17
word car she's taking her bottle later
00:33:20
that evening they Reed the best
00:33:22
Christmas present ever for the first
00:33:25
time in weeks Taran drank two ounces of
00:33:28
formula and she continued to get better
00:33:31
as if by Magic teran's body had begun to
00:33:34
produce the missing enzyme and her liver
00:33:37
was functioning
00:33:38
normally it was only then that Terry and
00:33:41
Jolene asked Wayne about his Christmas
00:33:44
[Music]
00:33:46
visit I didn't do this to be a hero I
00:33:50
didn't do this
00:33:54
um the only reason I did do it was
00:33:56
because I believe D in The Voice while I
00:34:00
was listening to Wayne tell me the story
00:34:03
I was covered in Goosebumps and there
00:34:05
wasn't one doubt in my mind that that
00:34:08
was a miracle that that's why Taran was
00:34:10
cured and Wayne said to me you can
00:34:13
believe me or not but that's what
00:34:15
happened and I remember I said to Wayne
00:34:16
oh I believe you cuz I have the
00:34:20
proof
00:34:22
update today Taran Hedland is happy and
00:34:25
healthy and shows no sign sign of the
00:34:28
incurable illness that once threatened
00:34:31
her
00:34:32
life from a medical standpoint there is
00:34:35
no spontaneous
00:34:37
remission from the kind of disease that
00:34:40
Taran Hedland had uh there simply is no
00:34:43
uh explanation along conventional
00:34:45
medical
00:34:47
lines perhaps Medical Science will one
00:34:50
day be able to explain what happened but
00:34:52
the Headlands will always believe that
00:34:54
Taran was saved by a Christmas miracle
00:34:57
[Music]
00:35:01
coming up when a man disappears his
00:35:04
family learns that he has lived a lie
00:35:07
for
00:35:16
decades previously we profiled the
00:35:19
baffling case of Alex
00:35:22
Cooper a devoted husband father of five
00:35:26
who disappeared Without a Trace
00:35:28
one spring day his car was discovered a
00:35:31
few miles from his home in British
00:35:33
Columbia despite a massive search no
00:35:36
sign of him was ever
00:35:38
found a year later Alex was legally
00:35:41
declared
00:35:43
dead I'm calling in regards to Alex
00:35:45
Cooper birth certificate when his wife
00:35:48
Margaret tried to obtain his birth
00:35:50
papers she made a surprising
00:35:53
discovery there were no official records
00:35:56
of her husband prior to their marriage
00:35:59
in
00:36:00
1952 as far as anyone can tell Alex
00:36:04
Cooper simply did not and had never
00:36:08
[Music]
00:36:09
existed 4 years after he vanished
00:36:12
authorities learned that Alex was living
00:36:14
in Toronto Canada but before he can be
00:36:16
questioned Alex disappeared
00:36:19
[Music]
00:36:20
again he's got this family that care
00:36:23
about him and if he's out there living
00:36:25
among strangers
00:36:27
he should rethink this thing we deserve
00:36:31
it and so does
00:36:33
he who was Alex Cooper and why had he
00:36:37
used an alias and lived a lie for more
00:36:40
than 35
00:36:43
years
00:36:45
update shortly after this story aired a
00:36:48
viewer recognized Alex and called
00:36:51
authorities during questioning the
00:36:53
mystery surrounding his life began to
00:36:55
unravel
00:36:58
Alex told police that his true name was
00:37:00
Albin Areno as a young man he was
00:37:03
accused of robbing an office of the
00:37:05
Canadian Pacific Railroad where he was
00:37:07
working at the
00:37:09
time I was young and I panicked and I
00:37:13
said to myself there is no way I'm going
00:37:15
to be take the fall for this because I
00:37:17
didn't do it I took off at that time and
00:37:21
I became Alexander Cooper at that
00:37:24
point a few years later Alex married
00:37:27
marget
00:37:29
he had no idea that the criminal charges
00:37:32
that might have been filed against him
00:37:33
had probably been
00:37:35
dropped for more than 35 years he kept
00:37:39
his true identity a secret then as his
00:37:42
65th birthday approach Alex's pass began
00:37:47
to catch up with
00:37:49
him I was due for pension and you're
00:37:51
required to submit a birth certificate I
00:37:55
knew I couldn't produce one
00:37:57
for several months prior to this I knew
00:37:59
this was coming up I couldn't bring
00:38:03
myself about to tell my family so I
00:38:06
walked
00:38:07
away it was a snap decision and it was a
00:38:11
wrong
00:38:12
one 2 days after he was questioned by
00:38:15
authorities Alex was reunited with his
00:38:18
family after more than 5
00:38:21
years we were a very close family and
00:38:23
this has been very devastating for all
00:38:25
of us including Al I'm really hoping
00:38:28
that we can work through this and
00:38:30
uh put it back together if not the way
00:38:33
it is maybe something better we can't
00:38:35
pick up where we left off because things
00:38:37
have
00:38:38
changed but we're going to start fresh
00:38:40
take it a day at a
00:38:42
time the way I feel I don't deserve for
00:38:45
anybody to accept my
00:38:47
apology what I'd
00:38:51
done abandonment of your family to me is
00:38:54
one hell of a crime and biggest job for
00:38:58
me at this point will be to make amends
00:39:01
and I would say it'll probably take me
00:39:03
the rest of my
00:39:10
life the advertisement read wholesale
00:39:13
medical supply distributor wanted
00:39:16
investment of
00:39:17
$118,000 required this ad was placed in
00:39:21
over 90 newspapers Across America it
00:39:24
seemed like a dream come true it was
00:39:27
anything
00:39:30
but Oklahoma City
00:39:34
Oklahoma home to Fidelity National
00:39:37
Medical Supply they invited potential
00:39:40
investors to visit the company
00:39:43
headquarters one person who took
00:39:45
advantage of that offer was a man we'll
00:39:48
call Robert
00:39:50
Jones one day in January Robert Jones
00:39:53
was driven to the offices in a limousine
00:39:56
provided by the company
00:39:58
he had arrived in town the day before
00:40:00
and wanted to see the operation in
00:40:02
person before making an
00:40:05
investment I checked with the Better
00:40:08
Business Bureau in Oklahoma City there
00:40:10
was no complaints there I had them
00:40:12
checked out with a national uh credit
00:40:14
firm and all their uh resources checked
00:40:17
out the same uh with with this firm I
00:40:20
was satisfied that they were legitimate
00:40:22
I can't take you into the warehouse
00:40:24
because it's a Bonded Warehouse you know
00:40:25
we have Pharmaceuticals and you know how
00:40:27
it is
00:40:27
the warehouse was equally impressive
00:40:30
thousands of boxes were stacked behind
00:40:32
locked doors waiting to be delivered
00:40:35
Robert took the plunge and bought a
00:40:38
partnership for
00:40:40
$54,000 his entire life savings he was
00:40:44
just one of the more than 300 people who
00:40:46
made Investments totaling $1.2
00:40:51
million but as the money flooded in the
00:40:53
criminal investigation unit of the IRS
00:40:57
became became increasingly suspicious 3
00:41:00
weeks later the company was ready at one
00:41:03
time there nothing in any of the boxes
00:41:05
when they went into the boxes they found
00:41:07
that they were completely
00:41:09
empty we found no evidence that Fidelity
00:41:12
had in any way purchased ordered
00:41:14
received or shipped during the entire
00:41:16
course of their business life any
00:41:18
medical
00:41:19
supplies the inventory which we found
00:41:22
when we executed search warrants at
00:41:23
their warehouse would fit on the side of
00:41:26
my desk
00:41:28
these are not amateurs these people have
00:41:30
obviously done this in the past they
00:41:32
knew what they were doing they did it
00:41:33
very quickly they knew how to get in
00:41:35
they knew how to get out they knew how
00:41:37
to set up the accounts without putting
00:41:39
fingerprints on the
00:41:43
accounts
00:41:45
update authorities finally determined
00:41:47
that the two key figures involved in the
00:41:49
scam were Harold Frederick Krueger and
00:41:52
Thomas Alfred
00:41:54
Flanigan Krueger was eventually arrested
00:41:57
in San Antonio Flanigan was captured in
00:42:00
Atlanta after one of our viewers called
00:42:03
police both were convicted of conspiracy
00:42:06
mail and wire fraud and were sentenced
00:42:09
to 9 and 1/2 years in
00:42:11
prison they have since been released
00:42:28
[Music]
00:42:43
[Music]
