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this program is about unsolved mysteries
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whenever possible the actual family
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members and police officials have
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participated in recreating the events
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what you are about to see is not a news
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broadcast
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Ralph singer was a double agent for the
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United States who for ten years for the
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Soviet KGB misleading information and
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exposed Russian spies in April of 1976
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he was found dead the Maryland motel
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room his family says he was murdered
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against his family's wishes robert
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Argenti asked maria arms to come live
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with him in Mesa Arizona
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despite her history of mental illness
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five months later Robert RJD was dead
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Andrea Armstrong had vanished we'll also
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tell you the inspirational story of a 14
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year old boy who survived the horrors of
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the Nazi concentration camp at Dachau
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thanks to an American GI who gave him
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food in the will to live Steve Ross is
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now an American citizen a happy family
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counselor two disadvantaged children he
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would like to say thank you the unknown
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kind-hearted GI who so dramatically
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turned his life around 45 years ago
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[Music]
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the Navajo Nation 25,000 square miles of
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their stark beautiful land lies nestled
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in the north central section of Arizona
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the landscape is dotted with tiny
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government housing settlements on
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November 9th 1988 one of the settlements
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bitter springs and a mysterious visitor
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a dark-haired girl who none of the
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townspeople had ever seen before
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wandered through the streets of bitter
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springs she called herself simply sandy
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and mystified everyone with her behavior
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she carried on an animated conversation
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with herself and walked into several
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homes uninvited
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he was secretive and seemed to be hiding
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from something or someone she asked can
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you dye my hair I said what for you cut
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my hair blond so I can change my
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identity
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as evening approached the girl asked one
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family if she could leave a pickup truck
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behind their house
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my niece told me that the sandy wanted
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to part her vehicle there for about a
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week
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immediately I said well why don't she
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park it out front but she said that she
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wanted to really park her vehicle for it
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was hit me from the road I didn't get
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this really suspicious until I asked my
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niece if she knew sandy and she said no
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I just had a funny feeling that things
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were not all right after two days
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dark-haired ruler roughly left the
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settlement none of the residents ever
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saw her again within a week the people
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of bitter springs would learn the truth
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about their mysterious visitor
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her real name is Maria Armstrong and her
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brief sojourn in the Navajo settlement
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was a climax to a tragic love story on
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that began nearly 10 years ago Maria
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Armstrong grew up in a small suburban
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city in southern New Jersey she was a
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sweet tempered attractive girl who had
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always had her choice of boyfriends one
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of the young men who courted Maria was
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Robert our jetty nicknamed Ron he had
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graduated high school at 17 with honors
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and immediately joined the National
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Guard he was outgoing and athletic yet
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he had always been fascinated by the
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introverted Maria Maria was she was um
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she was like innocent oh and she was
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beautiful she had long almost black hair
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um really gorgeous and I think that's
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what my brother was attracted to her
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because she was so unusual looking she
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was sweet she was kind to people she she
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was your friend
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in 1984 Ron RJD joined his family in
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Arizona
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Ron settled in the city of Mesa and got
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a job as a mechanic at McDonnell Douglas
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building helicopters
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back in New Jersey Maria had begun to
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behave strangely frequently slipping
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into a world of delusion and paranoia
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her parents feared she was using drugs
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and put her in both state and private
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mental hospitals
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finally in 1984 Maria was diagnosed as
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suffering from paranoid schizophrenia a
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physical disease of the brain which most
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commonly strikes its victims and their
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teens and twenties it is an illness over
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which the patient has no control
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schizophrenics often cannot tell the
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difference between the real world and
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the delusions of play there is no known
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cure for schizophrenia but the symptoms
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can sometimes be controlled with
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medication
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Rosetti never forgot the beautiful Maria
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here's her to move to Arizona so she
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could start over with a clean slate he
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seemed to think that she was fine and
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that all she wanted to do was get her
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away from New Jersey and get her away
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from the drugs and get her away from the
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bad influences back there and help her
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help her to re-establish her life out
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here in June of 1988 Maria finally came
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to Arizona despite his family's
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objections Maria moved in with Ron we
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were concerned because we did hear that
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she was in a mental institution and we
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knew she was on drugs back back east so
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we were kind of concerned about it but
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you know they were holding hands kissing
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they were like a couple for the first
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few weeks Maria's seemed happy in Mesa
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she blossomed into Ron's loving
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attention senior to Maria arrived Ron
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began working the graveyard shift
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so Maria was often alone at night before
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long she began pacing having imaginary
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conversations and sadly once again
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exhibiting symptoms of schizophrenia
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somebody in the apartment complex where
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they lived Maria had made friends with
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and Ron found out that this person was
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supplying drugs to Maria Maria's
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behavior became increasingly erratic her
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paranoia ran rampant time and time again
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she accused Ron of plotting against her
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all right Ron told his sisters at Maria
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often attacked him physically Ron said
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Maria once hit him so hard she ruptured
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his eardrum she wasn't going to the
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psychiatrist she had cancelled her
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appointment she wasn't taking her
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medication she said that it kept her up
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at night well she was already up all the
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time at night she never slept anyway I
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would talk to Ron on the phone
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and I would tell him Ronnie you have to
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do something you have to get rid of her
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send her home I don't want to do that I
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want to help her he would say I says but
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you can't help her it's obvious you
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can't help her she needs more than you
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to help her she needs psychiatric care
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and then he would get really mad by
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Tuesday November 8th Ron had finally
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reached the end of his patience Roxanne
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Roxanne
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I called him and he said the neighbors
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are complaining the management wants to
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kick me out and I want to get her out of
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here she is she's gonna bassoon she's
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coming back soon and she's there in the
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room listening to all this the next
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morning Wednesday
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Maria Armstrong slowly drove into the
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Navajo settlement of bitter springs 260
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miles north of Mason she was calling
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herself sand trying to sell the pickup
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she was driving first thing she said to
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you interested in buying a truck and I
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said no I'm not you know where I could
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get a painting and she wanted no floors
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nears town so you can get her truck
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repainted it I just told her I have no
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idea her spacing you get truck repainted
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about 30 miles up north highway here and
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make a right-hand turn and I just
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thought maybe she's hiding from her
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boyfriend or something like that cuz she
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said she left her boyfriend someplace
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yeah I thought she doesn't leave right
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away but she never did
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the following morning around 10:00 a.m.
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the Arizona Highway Patrol responded to
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a complaint in bitter springs Maria had
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left her pickup truck parked behind a
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house there and the owner feared that
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the truck was stolen the officer ran a
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computer check on the trucks license
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plate he found it was registered to
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Robert our jetty and arranged to have it
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towed to a nearby town after searching
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several locations the officer got a lead
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or the mysterious girl was hiding in a
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nearby house come on Alice see you
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behind the bed come on out or I'm gonna
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come in and I'm gonna drag you out
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are you taking me I'm not gonna take you
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anywhere I just want to find out what's
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going on let's go out here and talk okay
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I've been getting word from around here
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that you're going around introducing
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yourself as sandy what's that all about
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I just never liked my name sandy sounds
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a lot friendlier do you have
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authorization to have the truck yeah
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gave it to you Oh Ron Robert I'm gonna
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give it to you well he realized he was
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too sick to go to work and he let me
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have the truck to come up here listen I
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need to get some cigarettes can I go now
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okay well I don't have anything on you
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right now but something is going on just
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watch yourself
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I did feel suspicious even after I let
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her go but I couldn't get a finger on it
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I just had the feeling that she had
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either done something was doing
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something or was going to do something
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four days later on Monday a maintenance
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man at Ron our Jenny's apartment complex
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asked the manager to come with him two
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runs apartment on Monday November 14th I
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noticed a stack of old newspapers in
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front of Ron's apartment when I've got
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the manager there we entered the
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apartment first at the door the door
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just flung wide open I walked in and I
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saw a pile of clothes on the couch
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didn't see anybody in there and
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everything was quiet so I walked through
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you know looking yelling anybody here
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yeah and been getting answer walk
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straight through the bedroom and
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I might have skipped out
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oh my god what
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according to the medical examiner report
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on the autopsy the cause of death was
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blunt force trauma to the head region
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and mr. Argenti had been dead for
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several days his body had been covered
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by bedding pillows clothing because if
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someone was trying to hide the discovery
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of the body okay come over here
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we found just left of the body a small
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hand sledgehammer we also found that he
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had been stabbed in the right rib area
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with a wooden handled knife but the
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knife wound came after the trauma to the
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head based on the evidence and later
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discussions with family and friends it
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was our theory that mr. Argenti had been
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sleeping in a sitting position on the
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couch because he was afraid of maria
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armstrong and that sometime during when
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he was asleep
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ms Armstrong came up and inflicted the
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blows to his head with a sledgehammer
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and then subsequently stabbed him then
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we believe that she covered the body in
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an attempt to hide the crime she went
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into the bedroom changed her clothing
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and then took the keys to mr. gingy's
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truck and then left Mesa and drove up
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north to bitter springs
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[Music]
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the last sighting that we had on Maria
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was on November 11th of 1988 where she
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was seen hitchhiking on the highway next
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to bitter springs back towards the
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Flagstaff area I know that if Maria
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wandered off the track
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and didn't find shelter I don't think
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she could live through the elements up
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there because it's very cold in northern
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Arizona at that time of year if she was
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able to hitch a ride and get tied up
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with somebody then yes I would say she's
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probably very much alive and very
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dangerous there's no predicting what
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she's going to do
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[Music]
00:14:49
Update Korea Armstrong has been captured
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shortly after this story aired the FBI
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received a call from one of our viewers
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with information regarding Armstrong's
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whereabouts
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we received a telephone call from an
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unidentified caller that Marie Armstrong
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had been living in the Memphis Tennessee
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area and that she was going to be at the
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airport
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on August 3rd of this year the FBI
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subsequently went to the airport and
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were able to identify her and a did
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place her under arrest
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Armstrong had changed her appearance by
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dyeing her hair blonde
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two weeks later she was returned to
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Arizona thanks a charge of first-degree
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murder
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[Music]
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next the story of a 14 year old boy who
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survived five years of Nazi
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concentration camps then was given the
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will to live by an unknown American GI
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now he desperately wants to say thank
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you to this kind soldier
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[Music]
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our next story is about the triumph of
00:16:11
one boys will as well to survive the
00:16:13
horrors of a Nazi concentration camp his
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name was then shmulik Rosenthal but
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today he lives and works in Boston and
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goes by the name of Steve Ross a mystery
00:16:23
here is that at a crucial point in his
00:16:25
flight from Germany he was prevented by
00:16:27
an unknown American GI who gave him food
00:16:30
and rekindled his broken spirit now 45
00:16:33
years later he wants to say thank you
00:16:35
perhaps you can help 1939 the German
00:16:44
invasion of Poland Adolf Hitler's
00:16:46
blitzkrieg brought Poland to its knees
00:16:48
in three devastating weeks
00:16:54
Hitler's vendetta against the Jewish
00:16:56
people struck with special force against
00:16:59
the Jews of Poland
00:17:04
at an isolated farm outside their home
00:17:07
in a city of Lud Joseph and Bahji
00:17:09
Rosenthal a Jewish couple hid their
00:17:11
youngest son Zurich with a Catholic
00:17:13
family they knew these farm people and
00:17:17
they wanted me to go and live there
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hoping that when the war's over they can
00:17:23
come back and pick me up again mother
00:17:28
said help us keep my son the Schulich is
00:17:34
too small to go with us I try to be a
00:17:42
big man I tried to be like my father
00:17:45
to emulate him but it was hard but I
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didn't cry they kissed me and they said
00:17:58
be a good boy more like you have a nice
00:18:02
home here
00:18:04
[Music]
00:18:05
that mostly I have never seen them again
00:18:12
in less than a year the Nazis had found
00:18:15
a nine-year-old child and put him in a
00:18:17
concentration camp Auschwitz Sobibor
00:18:26
Treblinka the very names conjure
00:18:29
unspeakable cruelty all of the camps
00:18:32
were mass exterminations took place were
00:18:34
located in Poland and of the nearly 6
00:18:37
million Jews murdered more than 50
00:18:39
percent were Polish one and a half
00:18:42
million children were among the dead
00:18:44
[Music]
00:18:47
shmulik Rosenthal was one of the few
00:18:49
children who survived from the time he
00:18:52
was nine until he was 14 he was interred
00:18:55
at 10 different camps the last one was
00:18:58
Dachau in Germany
00:19:01
[Music]
00:19:05
it was extremely difficult to survive
00:19:09
because there was not enough food
00:19:12
we got the leadership for lunch and a
00:19:16
leadership for supper and we got one
00:19:19
slice of bread that was divided up from
00:19:24
one pound of bread for 20 people the
00:19:29
best time we we fell apart by working 12
00:19:35
hours 12 to 14 hours a day and with lack
00:19:39
of food you couldn't survive much longer
00:19:42
so people kept dying constantly
00:19:46
cleanliness we never were able to wash
00:19:50
up now no hot water I didn't see any hot
00:19:53
water for five years there wasn't such a
00:19:55
thing as hot water
00:19:59
there was nothing in there to sleep on
00:20:02
except the board she slept on the board
00:20:04
no blankets you covered yourself with
00:20:06
what you had it was very difficult to
00:20:11
understand for me what is really going
00:20:13
on I had dreams that I was with my
00:20:18
family and he I end up in that in a Hell
00:20:21
in a place where it's called Hell life
00:20:24
and death survival of the fittest as
00:20:27
long as you survive today from one day
00:20:29
to the next that's all you were worrying
00:20:31
about do I have another day to live we
00:20:35
all pray to God all the time in December
00:20:40
of 1944 allied forces turned back the
00:20:43
German army at the Battle of the Bulge
00:20:45
and one month later made their first
00:20:47
significant incursions on a German soil
00:20:49
nearly five years had passed since young
00:20:52
truly close it was first imprisoned in
00:20:57
April of 1945 Allied troops liberated
00:20:59
the concentration camps an American GI
00:21:03
snapped this photograph of the cheering
00:21:06
inmates at Dachau one of them was
00:21:09
fourteen-year-old shmulik Rosenthal
00:21:13
shmulik soldier brother had also been
00:21:15
captured by the Nazis and he too ended
00:21:17
up at Dachau the two boys would later
00:21:20
discover that their mother father and
00:21:22
six brothers and sisters had all
00:21:25
perished in the camps before the
00:21:29
American troops came I was 99% Dead was
00:21:34
1% of of life that my heart was taking
00:21:38
in me I weighed about 60 pounds at that
00:21:42
time I was infested with lies two days
00:21:49
after we were liberated we were released
00:21:51
from the camp and we were asked to go
00:21:54
Torche hospitalizations we walked by a
00:21:59
unit that was tanks and there was a
00:22:02
soldier sitting on the tank as I came
00:22:05
closer I could see he was eating with
00:22:07
his bayonet
00:22:08
into his mouth putting in with his
00:22:10
bayonet he jumped off the tank and he
00:22:19
gave me the can that he was eating from
00:22:21
it's okay it's okay it's okay I closed
00:22:25
it up and I gave it to my brother and I
00:22:28
fell down to on my knees and I held
00:22:32
hugged who his legs and I kissed his
00:22:34
boots for giving me the food hey
00:22:38
everything's gonna be all right he put
00:22:41
this hand around on me and he wasn't
00:22:44
scared he's gonna get my lies or my
00:22:46
diseases or my sicknesses like throw me
00:22:51
some rations yeah he was a good man he
00:22:54
looked to me as though he was rough
00:22:57
rough and tough but yet he knew how to
00:23:01
put his arm around me at that time in my
00:23:05
life well nobody ever done that before
00:23:13
you keep keep it hold it with you okay
00:23:17
that soldier gave me a handkerchief I
00:23:20
did not know till later on that this was
00:23:23
a flag the flag of freedom
00:23:28
I felt as though it was a miracle from
00:23:33
God that I was reborn it was starting a
00:23:37
new life from here on schooling never
00:23:42
left the flag out of his sight he
00:23:45
carried it with him when he came to the
00:23:46
United States in 1948 under the auspices
00:23:49
of the committee for the care of
00:23:51
European children
00:23:52
[Music]
00:23:55
shmulik Americanized his named a Steve
00:23:57
Ross married and had a son and a
00:23:59
daughter his brother Harry also came to
00:24:02
the States
00:24:03
and has stayed close to Steve and his
00:24:05
family for the past thirty years Steve
00:24:09
has been a licensed psychologist
00:24:10
counseling disadvantaged teenagers in
00:24:13
Boston he chose his career with the
00:24:15
American soldier in mind Steve wanted to
00:24:19
help other children the way the young GI
00:24:22
had helped him and you me a week from
00:24:24
this Saturday you're gonna take another
00:24:26
exam is that national
00:24:30
if I could ever find this soldier I
00:24:33
would say to him that he is part of my
00:24:38
life he would be proud of my family I
00:24:43
would have want him to know that what he
00:24:47
has done for me that I emulated and that
00:24:50
I love people because of him I have
00:24:56
experienced something in a critical
00:24:58
period of my life that I could never
00:25:01
forget and it always is with me that
00:25:05
this man was such a compassionate man a
00:25:09
soldier who was taught to kill could do
00:25:13
that
00:25:13
why couldn't we all be more sensitive to
00:25:18
each other's needs Steve thinks that the
00:25:23
American soldier belong to the hundred
00:25:25
and ninety-first army tank battalion
00:25:27
which was part of the 20th armored
00:25:28
division he was traveling from Dachau
00:25:32
towards me late around the 1st of May in
00:25:34
1945
00:25:38
[Music]
00:25:45
next ralph Sigler was a career army
00:25:48
officer with a wife loving daughter and
00:25:50
secret life in April of 1976 he was
00:25:54
found dead in the Maryland motel room
00:25:56
his family says he was murdered I think
00:26:09
this key will open it but he yes the
00:26:11
latch will have to break the door down
00:26:12
I'm sure he's in there rap 11:00 p.m. on
00:26:16
the evening of April 13th 1976 in a
00:26:20
motel room near Fort Meade in Maryland
00:26:21
an army electronics expert named Ralph
00:26:24
Sigler was found dead the army said that
00:26:27
Ralph had electrocuted himself by
00:26:29
wrapping wire around both forearms
00:26:31
their official verdict was suicide mom
00:26:37
can you take everybody
00:26:40
as I want to be running yet two weeks
00:26:43
later Ralph's Ziggler was laid to rest
00:26:45
but during the official viewing of the
00:26:47
body his family discovered telling
00:26:49
evidence to the official verdict may
00:26:51
have been wrong when I looked at him the
00:26:56
first time I didn't believe it was him
00:26:58
his body was so so bruised so mutilated
00:27:02
so it didn't look like my father at all
00:27:05
[Music]
00:27:09
I noticed that his nose was broken I
00:27:12
noticed that there was a dent in the top
00:27:15
of the head and it was blood I looked
00:27:18
inside his mouth he was missing his
00:27:21
partial plate the two front teeth but
00:27:24
all the teeth were cracked and and
00:27:25
jagged as if someone hit him I took off
00:27:34
one of his gloves
00:27:35
I saw cuts on the palm I rolled up the
00:27:40
sleeves Paula did the arms I found a lot
00:27:43
of bruises from looking at the body and
00:27:46
the condition that the body was in I
00:27:48
don't think he committed suicide I
00:27:50
believe that he was beaten to death I
00:27:53
believe he was murdered
00:27:57
Ralph Sigler's life was as unusual as
00:27:59
his death for Ralph Sigler was no
00:28:01
ordinary army officer from 1966 to his
00:28:05
death Ziegler was a double agent working
00:28:07
for the United States the idea that
00:28:10
Ralph Sigler committed suicide in the
00:28:13
way that the army and the Maryland State
00:28:15
Police described is patently and totally
00:28:18
absurd journalist john susan try to have
00:28:21
co-written the book call widows in this
00:28:24
book they shed new light on the strange
00:28:26
life and death at Ralph's Ziggler
00:28:28
Ziggler was a central thing an Aspie
00:28:31
annachi operation run by the FBI and
00:28:33
army intelligence whose purpose was to
00:28:35
deceive the soviet KGB and exposed
00:28:37
soviet spies for 10 years throughout
00:28:40
Ziegler walked a razor's edge in the
00:28:42
service of his country his family
00:28:44
believes that this is the reason why his
00:28:46
life was brutally cut short they want to
00:28:48
know who was responsible
00:28:53
Ruff's Ziggler secret mission began in
00:28:55
Mexico City in December of 1966 he had
00:28:59
been recruited by army intelligence
00:29:00
after an exhaustive search one of the
00:29:04
Centers for Soviet espionage on the
00:29:05
western hemisphere of the dear Mexican
00:29:07
Embassy
00:29:08
one afternoon Sigler calmly walked
00:29:10
through the front door it's like to
00:29:16
speak to the KGB risk
00:29:23
Siegert old KGB official that he was
00:29:25
prepared to deliver stolen documents
00:29:27
outlining the latest us developments of
00:29:29
missile defense what do you want I want
00:29:39
to come to work for your government
00:29:41
Soviets took the bait and Ralph Sigler's
00:29:43
double life began but ten years
00:29:50
Ralph Sigler contacted his Soviet
00:29:51
employers through various clandestine
00:29:53
methods disseminating misleading
00:29:55
information given him by his army
00:29:57
superiors one of these army officers was
00:29:59
Lois Martel Ralph was considered a yeah
00:30:04
a very good double agent by the
00:30:05
community he was a shining star and in
00:30:09
my state community I mean Mos Eisley FBI
00:30:11
and to a degree the CIA as a very
00:30:15
valuable asset in a man who was doing a
00:30:19
very good job the documents Ralph gave
00:30:24
of the Soviets were crafted to
00:30:25
deliberately trick them into trying to
00:30:27
duplicate inoperative technology the
00:30:29
ruse succeeded time after time
00:30:32
Ralph gave them plans for a missile
00:30:35
launcher there was a multi tube missile
00:30:37
launcher and the missile launcher was
00:30:38
supposed to launch maybe 10 missiles at
00:30:40
the same time well when we built it the
00:30:42
thing fell over backwards that would
00:30:44
never work when we invested millions in
00:30:45
it we got the Russians to invest
00:30:47
millions and also and that never did
00:30:48
work so a lot of this is to get the
00:30:51
Russians to invest money in operations
00:30:53
and time that failed Ziegler also
00:30:57
exposed Soviet agents to the FBI
00:30:59
one of the most important of these was
00:31:01
Rudolph Hermann the Soviet master spy
00:31:04
who lived and worked in the United
00:31:05
States according to the Trenton's the
00:31:08
FBI was concerned about the Army's
00:31:09
internal security and asks Ziggler to
00:31:11
keep this part of his mission secret he
00:31:14
agreed
00:31:15
[Music]
00:31:17
1976 San Francisco ralph was ordered by
00:31:21
army intelligence to take a routine
00:31:22
polygraph examination is your last name
00:31:25
Ziegler yes it is please answer with a
00:31:29
simple yes or no
00:31:31
the results surprised Seger suppose have
00:31:35
you ever passed any unauthorized
00:31:36
intelligence to the Soviet Union
00:31:39
no the question or question that showed
00:31:45
something was bothering no were
00:31:47
questions involved with what he had
00:31:51
given to the Soviets that he was not
00:31:54
authorised no to give that question in
00:32:00
many forms was asked time and time again
00:32:03
on every poly and every poly had shown
00:32:06
indications of deception Jo Trento
00:32:10
believes Ziggler's failure to pass the
00:32:12
lie-detector test was due to his secret
00:32:14
relationship with Rudolf Herman the
00:32:17
operation the army never knew about
00:32:20
Rudolf Herman was the number one Soviet
00:32:23
spy in America and this was the great
00:32:26
secret that the FBI kept for the army
00:32:29
they were never told that Ralph's secret
00:32:30
was servicing Herman so when they asked
00:32:32
him questions did you ever have any
00:32:34
unauthorized contacts with the Soviets
00:32:35
we're off would say no and it would show
00:32:38
up his deception Ralph of course thought
00:32:40
that the FBI would clear it for the army
00:32:42
they never did that Fort Meade Maryland
00:32:46
the headquarters of Army Intelligence
00:32:50
outside of what you already told us have
00:32:52
you passed any other unauthorized
00:32:53
information to the Soviets Ralph's
00:32:56
failure to successfully pass the San
00:32:57
Francisco examinations led to more tests
00:33:00
we failed everyone any other money no
00:33:05
the next day Ralph was scheduled for a
00:33:07
hostile interrogation session the
00:33:09
session that would be conducted assuming
00:33:11
that he was a traitor no
00:33:19
24 hours before this interrogation
00:33:21
Ralph called his wife at the dress shop
00:33:23
though she was working now listen to me
00:33:26
this is important where are you I want
00:33:29
you to hire a respectable lawyer
00:33:31
well sounded distraught as if he was
00:33:34
under tremendous pressure I want you to
00:33:37
sue the US Army I'm dying I never lied
00:33:43
then the phone went dead
00:33:47
the dohsa rushed home and called army
00:33:49
intelligence several hours later Luis
00:33:52
Martel found Ralph dead in his motel
00:33:55
room the Maryland State Police were
00:33:56
called sergeant Roger Castle was a
00:33:59
trooper in charge of the investigation
00:34:01
as far as the the room look there did
00:34:04
not appear to be have been a struggle
00:34:09
there was no indication that mr. Seiler
00:34:12
had suffered any other injuries other
00:34:14
than the fact he had apparently fallen
00:34:16
from a height of the chairs which he had
00:34:19
stacked next to a light switch
00:34:20
there was a bleeding from the nose area
00:34:22
and the blood had deposited on the rug
00:34:24
there was no other indication of any
00:34:26
signs of injury other than the wires
00:34:29
which had been attached to his arms the
00:34:32
locks on the door to the room had been
00:34:35
double locked from the inside as a
00:34:40
result of our investigation we found it
00:34:42
sometime during that evening of the 13th
00:34:44
of April Ralph Ziegler placed two chairs
00:34:47
one larger chair on the bottom a smaller
00:34:49
chair on the top
00:34:51
near a light switch which is which
00:34:53
activated the electrical outlet at that
00:34:56
time he had apparently a cord lamp cord
00:34:59
cut it off spliced the wires and wrapped
00:35:03
both wires around his biceps he plugged
00:35:08
the outlet in the socket
00:35:13
got on top of the chairs used a cup of
00:35:15
water as a conductor and turned a light
00:35:18
switch on causing him to be electrocuted
00:35:26
there was no evidence developed to
00:35:28
indicate that the death of Ralph Ziegler
00:35:30
was anything other than suicide the
00:35:33
suicide theory makes no sense because
00:35:35
Ralph had no motive for a suicide the
00:35:38
army told us throughout the entire week
00:35:40
of their polygraphs that they were
00:35:42
giving him they're outside of Fort Meade
00:35:44
that they they over and over and over
00:35:47
told him that no matter what he had done
00:35:49
they didn't care they weren't gonna
00:35:52
prosecute him
00:35:53
they weren't gonna punish him they
00:35:54
weren't gonna hurt him in any way that
00:35:56
the worst that could happen would be the
00:35:58
end of the operation that they would
00:36:00
give him letters of immunity all they
00:36:02
wanted to know was what he had done the
00:36:04
fact of the matter is the experts we
00:36:06
talked to about electrocution electricty
00:36:08
told us that the amount of damage caused
00:36:10
his Sigler Czar's by the presence of the
00:36:12
electrical wire wrapped around them
00:36:14
couldn't have been made by a hundred and
00:36:16
ten volt circuit that you'd find in a
00:36:17
normal motel lighting situation as as
00:36:19
you did at this motel and in fact it
00:36:21
would take a much greater amount of
00:36:23
electricity to do this sort of damage
00:36:24
I'm sorry folks were conducting a police
00:36:26
investigation please clear the hallways
00:36:28
the trends believe that Ralph Sigler was
00:36:30
kidnapped by the KGB tortured and then
00:36:33
murdered his double life had finally run
00:36:36
out the phone call to rouse wife is very
00:36:40
interesting and very smart on the
00:36:42
Soviets part they knew Ralph was going
00:36:45
to be questioned standard tradecraft on
00:36:48
the part of the KGB were claimed that
00:36:50
they would take Ralph and put him
00:36:52
through their own Hospital interrogation
00:36:54
probably torturing the Soviets have a
00:36:56
history of using electricity for torture
00:36:58
and get the answers they needed was he
00:37:03
one of their agents or was he really a
00:37:05
double agent for the army
00:37:06
Eddie snookered him all these years and
00:37:09
Ralph may have been forced to give up
00:37:11
those answers had he compromised Rudolph
00:37:13
Herman to the army end of the FBI that's
00:37:16
why the Soviets had every reason in the
00:37:18
world to kill Rahl Sigler at this point
00:37:20
my feelings about the theory is that the
00:37:23
KGB did not kill Ralph Seaver
00:37:27
in fact my opinion and strictly my
00:37:30
opinion based on facts is that Ralph
00:37:34
Ziegler committed suicide
00:37:39
but based on the evidence she found in
00:37:41
the open casket rouse wife is convinced
00:37:43
that his death was no suicide the
00:37:48
government told me all the time if
00:37:51
anything happened we'll be here for you
00:37:55
we are taking care why they lied to me
00:37:58
when he died he wasn't double-agent
00:38:02
respected national security so details
00:38:06
with me for 11 years if even something
00:38:11
happened they could it come and tell me
00:38:14
the truth I want to know the thought and
00:38:18
I will not rest till I know didn't
00:38:24
if Ralph Sigler committed suicide as the
00:38:27
authorities believe why did he use such
00:38:29
an unusual and potentially ineffective
00:38:31
method why is there such a discrepancy
00:38:35
between the official verdict of suicide
00:38:37
and the Sigler family's own observations
00:38:41
but if Ralph Sigler was tortured and
00:38:44
murdered then who was responsible
00:38:46
[Music]
00:38:51
as ralph Sigler a traitor or a hero if
00:38:55
he committed suicide because he knew
00:38:57
he'd betrayed his country then he was a
00:38:58
traitor if he was murdered by the KGB as
00:39:01
punishment for his disclosure of their
00:39:03
secrets then he was a hero his family
00:39:06
will not rest until they know just who
00:39:08
Ralph Sigler really was when we return a
00:39:12
story of one of the heroes who put the
00:39:14
notorious Night Stalker behind bars he
00:39:17
has disappeared
00:39:19
[Music]
00:39:28
in the summer of 1985 los angeles
00:39:31
california was paralyzed by fear for
00:39:34
more than six months a serial killer -
00:39:36
terrorized the city and that was
00:39:37
seemingly no method to his madness or
00:39:39
limit to his horrific crimes Los Angeles
00:39:44
County shares departed a site of one
00:39:45
hundred and twenty member task force -
00:39:47
the case detectives interviewed
00:39:49
thousands of witnesses that checked out
00:39:51
all possible leads but for months the
00:39:53
unknown killer remained at large he
00:39:56
became known as the nightstalker
00:39:58
and he killed at least 13 people before
00:40:00
his sadistic spree of kidnapping rape
00:40:02
and murder came to an animal 18 citizens
00:40:07
collected rewards for their assistance
00:40:09
in solving the Nightstalker case but one
00:40:12
of the largest rewards remains unclaimed
00:40:14
authorities hope that someone watching
00:40:16
tonight can help locate the man who's
00:40:18
crucial information helped end the night
00:40:20
stalkers deadly rampage on August 26
00:40:25
1985 an unidentified man called the task
00:40:29
force's hotline
00:40:34
kind of information yet I know he is
00:40:38
detectives immediately sense that the
00:40:40
Connors information was legitimate and
00:40:42
arranged a meeting what about this
00:40:44
afternoon at 3 o'clock Alex thank you
00:40:48
for calling we'll see you at 3:00 that
00:40:54
afternoon the Connor met with detectives
00:40:56
guilt cutter you and Carlos Avila the
00:41:00
man identifying himself as Alejandro
00:41:02
Espinosa the individual that he wish to
00:41:04
identify he knew as Richard or by a
00:41:07
moniker that he knew on the streets is
00:41:09
this Bernardo which translated into
00:41:13
English means the uncombed one he tells
00:41:15
me about all these burglaries he commits
00:41:17
how the Honda was telling us about
00:41:19
burglaries were Richard had told him
00:41:22
about that coincided with the murders
00:41:23
that we were investigating where there
00:41:25
had been a murder burglary
00:41:27
what's he generally do with the property
00:41:28
that he takes on the burgers he takes it
00:41:31
to this fence and I can show you where
00:41:34
that's at I know where the house is that
00:41:36
I don't know where the address is you
00:41:37
know that information that he had that
00:41:39
we had not heard coming from other
00:41:42
individuals that were calling in and it
00:41:43
was information that we knew that
00:41:45
perhaps only the suspect himself or
00:41:48
associates of the suspect might know
00:41:53
Alejandro Espinoza
00:41:55
told the detectives that on several
00:41:57
occasions he had accompany the man he
00:41:58
knew is Richard to a house in the Echo
00:42:00
Park area of Los Angeles
00:42:08
according to Espinoza Richard would
00:42:11
enter the house alone and exchange
00:42:12
stolen property for cash
00:42:15
alejandro became suspicious and as he
00:42:20
said had put two and two together after
00:42:23
realizing that a lot of the property
00:42:25
that richard had taken on days that he
00:42:27
had talked about doing a recent burglary
00:42:30
Alejandro had read in the paper that
00:42:31
coincidentally there had been another
00:42:33
burglary or another homicide that the
00:42:36
quote-unquote Night Stalker had been
00:42:39
attributed to he finally realized that
00:42:42
his friend who he knew as Richard was
00:42:46
anticipating the Night Stalker three
00:42:49
days after their meeting with Espinoza a
00:42:51
sheriff's detectives made a positive
00:42:53
match of a fingerprint taken from one of
00:42:55
the Night Stalker crime scenes with a
00:42:57
possible suspect 25 year-old Richard
00:42:59
Ramirez because Ramirez had a prior
00:43:02
arrest record there was a booking photo
00:43:04
on file
00:43:10
as soon as we got that booking photo we
00:43:11
then went to alejandro out on the
00:43:14
streets showed him a copy of the booking
00:43:17
photo
00:43:18
yeah that's richard positive i'm
00:43:20
positive no doubt that's him
00:43:22
when alejandro identified the mug shot
00:43:25
that my displayed for him and that
00:43:30
richard was the man we are in fact
00:43:32
looking for the following morning
00:43:35
Richard Ramirez photograph appeared on
00:43:37
the front page of every major newspaper
00:43:39
in Los Angeles
00:43:41
[Music]
00:43:44
within our Ramirez was chased and
00:43:46
captured by a group of angry citizens
00:43:48
after he allegedly tried to steal a car
00:43:50
I know he was the police custody night
00:43:54
stockers seven-month reign of terror and
00:43:56
finally come to an end on September 20th
00:44:01
1989 nearly five years after the demonic
00:44:04
rampage began Richard Ramirez was
00:44:06
convicted on 43 felony charges including
00:44:09
13 counts of first degree murder six
00:44:13
weeks later Ramirez was sentenced to die
00:44:15
in a California gas chamber big deal
00:44:18
death always went with the territory
00:44:24
Alejandra Espinoza is entitled to 6388
00:44:28
dollars for the vital information he
00:44:30
provided authorities but Espinoza has
00:44:32
not come forward to claim his reward
00:44:35
Alejandra Espinoza is 26 years old and
00:44:38
according to police he may have a wife
00:44:40
and a young son
00:44:49
join me next week for another edition of
00:44:53
unsolved mysteries
00:44:59
[Music]
00:45:21
[Applause]
00:45:25
[Music]
