00:00:03
this program is about unsolved mysteries
00:00:07
whenever possible the actual family
00:00:09
members and police officials have
00:00:10
participated in recreating the events
00:00:12
what you were about to see is not a news
00:00:14
broadcast
00:00:18
[Music]
00:00:20
[Applause]
00:00:31
on the evening before his death dr.
00:00:34
Martin Luther King jr. delivered one of
00:00:37
the most stirring and prophetic speeches
00:00:39
of his life
00:00:42
[Music]
00:00:50
less than 24 hours after he spoke those
00:00:53
words Martin Luther King was
00:00:55
assassinated
00:00:56
his accused killer James Earl Ray pled
00:00:59
guilty to the murder and the case is
00:01:00
officially closed this Sunday marks a
00:01:03
25th anniversary of dr. King's death it
00:01:07
is a milestone that is focused renewed
00:01:08
attention on the circumstances
00:01:10
surrounding the investigation of James
00:01:13
Earl Ray
00:01:16
just three days after his conviction ray
00:01:19
recanted his guilty plea alleging that
00:01:21
he was but a pawn in a wide-ranging
00:01:23
conspiracy to kill King Ray's claims of
00:01:27
innocence however were dismissed the
00:01:29
case remained closed
00:01:32
in 1976 eight years after King's death a
00:01:36
select committee of the US House of
00:01:38
Representatives was impanel to
00:01:40
reinvestigate the assassinations of King
00:01:42
and President John F Kennedy
00:01:45
the committee concluded that James Earl
00:01:47
Ray was the lone assassin of dr. King it
00:01:51
is a conclusion however that Walter
00:01:52
Fauntroy the chairman of the King
00:01:54
subcommittee now believes was wrong
00:01:58
when you look at a murder you look at
00:02:00
three things
00:02:01
who had the motive the means and the
00:02:06
opportunity
00:02:08
I'm not now satisfied that James Earl
00:02:11
Ray had a sufficient motive
00:02:14
that he had the means and certainly the
00:02:17
opportunity to pull it off as it was
00:02:19
done I
00:02:21
could establish that I was at a service
00:02:24
station during the time that Martin
00:02:26
Luther King was shot to this day James
00:02:29
Earl Ray maintains that he did not shoot
00:02:31
Martin Luther King but the FBI stands by
00:02:34
their original finding gray was the lone
00:02:38
gunman
00:02:40
now some researchers claimed that new
00:02:43
information corroborates Ray's
00:02:45
allegations of conspiracy
00:02:46
based in part on that new information
00:02:49
Walter Fauntroy is calling for a new
00:02:51
investigation
00:02:52
and for the immediate public release of
00:02:54
the committee's files currently sealed
00:02:56
until a year 2029 tonight we'll examine
00:03:00
both sides of this complex and
00:03:02
controversial case join me for this
00:03:05
special presentation and more on
00:03:07
unsolved mysteries
00:03:16
[Applause]
00:03:22
[Music]
00:03:39
social organizations grassroots
00:03:42
organizations
00:03:43
should make it Martin Luther King
00:03:46
arrived in Memphis on April 3rd 1968 the
00:03:49
day before he was assassinated
00:03:53
King checked into the Lorraine Motel and
00:03:56
began planning a march in support of
00:03:58
striking city sanitation workers king's
00:04:01
presence at the motel had been well
00:04:03
publicized by the press
00:04:05
[Music]
00:04:07
across the street from the motel was a
00:04:09
series of run-down buildings which
00:04:11
included a rooming house run by a woman
00:04:13
named Bessie Brewer
00:04:17
on April 4th shortly before 6 p.m.
00:04:21
William Anschutz a tenant of the rooming
00:04:23
house found the building's communal
00:04:25
bathroom locked
00:04:28
what you are about to see is the
00:04:31
official government account of the
00:04:32
assassination of Martin Luther King
00:04:42
inside the bathroom James Earl Ray a
00:04:45
career petty criminal loaded a
00:04:47
high-powered rifle and took aim at room
00:04:49
306 of the Lorraine Motel
00:04:53
King stepped out of that room to go to
00:04:55
dinner a single deadly shot rang out
00:05:02
the bullet struck King in the face
00:05:04
throwing him violently backward onto the
00:05:06
balcony several friends rushed to his
00:05:09
aid his wounds however were severe and
00:05:12
irreparable
00:05:16
according to the government as King Lay
00:05:19
Dying James Earl Ray raced into the room
00:05:21
he had read it earlier that day he
00:05:24
wrapped the rifle along with an
00:05:25
overnight bag containing personal items
00:05:27
in a bedspread
00:05:29
in the hallway Ray was seen by Charles
00:05:33
Quitman Stevens who lived in the room
00:05:34
adjacent to the bathroom
00:05:37
there seconds from a clean getaway
00:05:40
the government believes Ray saw a police
00:05:42
car and Pat dropping his bundle in the
00:05:44
doorway of aconite amusement company
00:05:46
like some eye drops
00:05:48
a moment later three witnesses inside
00:05:51
the building saw a white car possibly a
00:05:54
Mustang speed away
00:05:58
police recovered the rifle along with
00:06:01
Ray's effects but by the time Lee
00:06:03
identified ray he had fled the country
00:06:08
two months later ray was apprehended by
00:06:11
British authorities at London's Heathrow
00:06:13
Airport as he attempted to board a
00:06:15
flight to Brussels on March 10th 1969 in
00:06:20
Memphis Tennessee James Earl Ray pled
00:06:23
guilty to the murder of Martin Luther
00:06:25
King ray was sentenced to 99 years in
00:06:28
the State Penitentiary
00:06:31
three days after his conviction however
00:06:33
ray fired his attorney and claimed he
00:06:36
had been pressured into pleading guilty
00:06:38
ray denied shooting King and incredibly
00:06:42
alleged that he himself was a victim of
00:06:44
an intricate conspiracy which used him
00:06:46
as a hapless scapegoat for the
00:06:47
assassination
00:06:49
over the years Ray's claim has found
00:06:51
many supporters who argue that the
00:06:53
possibility of a conspiracy was never
00:06:56
adequately investigated by either state
00:06:58
officials or the FBI
00:07:03
James Earl Ray spent most of his adult
00:07:05
life in and out of prison folks tensed
00:07:08
his criminal career was comprised almost
00:07:11
exclusively of small-time holdups and
00:07:13
robberies none of which involved
00:07:15
violence
00:07:16
indeed too many ray seemed an unlikely
00:07:18
candidate for such a notorious crime I
00:07:22
find it more difficult
00:07:24
today then I found it at the time when
00:07:28
we closed down the investigation
00:07:29
to believe that James Earl Ray
00:07:32
acting alone
00:07:35
pulled off the crime of the century I
00:07:38
was able to get out of Memphis
00:07:41
out of the country into Canada to get
00:07:44
three passports and to go all the way to
00:07:48
Europe without help
00:07:52
on April 23rd 1967 almost a year before
00:07:56
King was assassinated James Earl Ray
00:07:59
escaped from the State Penitentiary in
00:08:01
Jefferson City Missouri where he was
00:08:03
serving a 20-year sentence for robbing a
00:08:05
grocery store for some Grey's subsequent
00:08:09
movements and activities are strong
00:08:10
evidence of a conspiracy
00:08:15
ray initially fled to Chicago and then
00:08:18
in mid-july to Montreal using the name
00:08:20
Eric star ville Galt he discreetly
00:08:23
solicited the criminal underground for a
00:08:25
phony passport or seaman's papers here
00:08:28
you're looking for something according
00:08:30
to Ray he was eventually approached by a
00:08:32
shadowy character but he used only the
00:08:34
name wrong would it be to get Canadian
00:08:37
seaman's papers
00:08:39
ray claims that almost nine months later
00:08:41
it was Raoul who set him up as the fall
00:08:44
guy for the King assassination some cash
00:08:47
but when they first met ray says Raoul
00:08:49
was only looking for an accomplice in a
00:08:51
smuggling scheme he delivers
00:08:54
ray claimed that in exchange for raising
00:08:58
to perform certain
00:09:00
tasks evidently of a criminal nature
00:09:05
one he was provided with money and two
00:09:08
he was promised that at some point he
00:09:10
would be given identification a passport
00:09:12
something he needed to get out of the
00:09:14
country
00:09:17
ray alleges at his first job with Raoul
00:09:20
involved smuggling unknown contraband
00:09:23
across the u.s. Canadian border near
00:09:25
Detroit for which Ray was paid 750
00:09:28
dollars
00:09:29
arrey claims he was then directed by
00:09:32
Robin to go to Birmingham Alabama
00:09:34
Rey has detailed his travels to his
00:09:37
current attorney william pepper
00:09:39
ironically pepper had once been an
00:09:42
associate of dr. King's in 1978 pepper
00:09:46
was persuaded by one of Kings closest
00:09:48
friends Ralph Abernathy to meet with ray
00:09:51
pepper is now convinced that Ray's story
00:09:54
is true and that Raul is the key to the
00:09:57
conspiracy well what Raul did from that
00:09:59
point on was to keep James on a string
00:10:02
have him in various points and places
00:10:06
pay him bits of money have him do
00:10:08
various things and really pretty much
00:10:11
keep him on a string so that he was
00:10:13
available as it turns out for use
00:10:15
anytime that they wanted to use him and
00:10:17
always with the promise of these travel
00:10:19
documents was the last time you changed
00:10:22
a brake pad three months ago I got over
00:10:24
20,000 on the first set gray says it in
00:10:27
Birmingham Raul gave him $2,000 and told
00:10:31
him to purchase a car
00:10:33
17 on August 30th 1967 seven months
00:10:37
before the assassination ray did in fact
00:10:40
by a white 1966 Mustang
00:10:43
you got to set one hell of car ray says
00:10:46
he then drove to Nuevo Laredo Mexico or
00:10:49
he and Raul engaged in another smuggling
00:10:52
venture a month later ray traveled to
00:10:55
Los Angeles to await further
00:10:56
instructions in mid-march less than
00:11:00
three weeks before the assassination
00:11:02
Raul told radar leave for Atlanta there
00:11:06
on March 29th just five days before the
00:11:09
assassination
00:11:10
outlined their next criminal enterprise
00:11:14
I'm going to need you to buy a gun
00:11:17
before I have a new client he wants to
00:11:21
purchase some rifles
00:11:23
200 I can't buy 200 weapons you only
00:11:28
need one right now he just wants to see
00:11:29
a sample
00:11:31
next bit of activity they were going to
00:11:33
be involved and had to do with selling
00:11:35
guns and the scenario that he developed
00:11:39
was one which involved the the purchase
00:11:43
of sort of sample weapons and the hero
00:11:47
would show to these gun runners and once
00:11:50
they then made a selection or made a
00:11:53
choice so the story went they would be
00:11:57
bought in volume
00:12:00
really just that later that day he and
00:12:03
Raoul drove to Birmingham
00:12:05
following Raul's instructions ray went
00:12:08
to a gun shop where he purchased a 243
00:12:10
caliber rifle which he had fitted with a
00:12:12
telescopic sight sure but I'm going deer
00:12:15
hunting with my brother
00:12:17
the evidence is is that from the people
00:12:21
who witnessed his purchase of the rifle
00:12:24
in the in Birmingham is that he didn't
00:12:27
know the first thing about rifles
00:12:29
he was confused about what he wanted
00:12:32
didn't know what he wanted got the rob
00:12:34
bought the wrong rifle so he didn't have
00:12:36
the kind of familiarity with firearms
00:12:39
that you would expect of somebody who
00:12:41
was going to murder someone
00:12:45
why the calibers too smart he said I was
00:12:49
a good dear life it's not suitable for
00:12:51
our purposes I was wondering if I could
00:12:54
exchange it twice as
00:12:56
ray says Raoul told him to exchange the
00:12:59
weapon the next day giving him specific
00:13:02
instructions on what to buy
00:13:06
Remington Model 760 gamemaster
00:13:09
pump-action Bray claims he gave the
00:13:12
Remington gamemaster rifle to Raoul but
00:13:14
the new rebel Motel in Memphis on April
00:13:16
3rd the day before the assassination
00:13:19
[Music]
00:13:23
I'm not sure
00:13:28
according at James Earl Ray that was the
00:13:31
last time he saw the rifle the official
00:13:34
investigation concluded that it was used
00:13:36
to kill Martin Luther King the next day
00:13:40
at 3:30 p.m. on the day of Martin Luther
00:13:43
King's assassination
00:13:44
James Earl Ray claims he met his
00:13:47
mysterious contact Raoul at Jim's grill
00:13:50
a local coffee shop
00:13:52
going to need a room to meet with my
00:13:55
client where ray says Raoul told him to
00:13:58
go to Bessie Brewers rooming house
00:14:00
upstairs he wanted Raydor rent a room
00:14:02
then await instructions
00:14:06
Bessie Brewers fronted Main Street next
00:14:08
to the Kenai Peninsula
00:14:10
where the rifle would later be found the
00:14:13
back windows of bessie's however or the
00:14:15
communal bathroom was located faced
00:14:17
Mulberry Street and the Lorraine Motel
00:14:25
at 4:00 p.m. Murray rented a room using
00:14:28
the alias John Willard Raoul had
00:14:31
instructed ray to bring along an
00:14:32
overnight bag for appearance's sake ray
00:14:35
says Raoul also told him to leave the
00:14:37
Mustang parked nearby because Raoul
00:14:40
wanted to use it that night yeah
00:14:44
advance the next hour is pure
00:14:46
speculation ray himself has changed his
00:14:49
story several times but he has always
00:14:52
maintained that he left the
00:14:53
boardinghouse at around 5 p.m. and never
00:14:56
returned
00:14:58
ray says that just before 6:00 he drove
00:15:01
the Mustang to a local service station
00:15:04
at 6:01 p.m. Martin Luther King was shot
00:15:15
break lanes that at the very moment King
00:15:18
was shot he himself was totally unaware
00:15:21
of the event and was driving from the
00:15:23
gas station back to the rooming house
00:15:26
[Music]
00:15:27
and as he got to the corner of Calhoun
00:15:29
and South Main he saw already that there
00:15:33
were police barricades and policemen
00:15:36
everywhere well the state makes a great
00:15:39
deal of the fact that James fled the
00:15:41
scene you know and they but James was
00:15:44
one must remember a fugitive he was on
00:15:46
the run and he was certainly not going
00:15:49
to hang around wherever he saw police so
00:15:51
he turned left went headed in the
00:15:53
opposite direction and began to make his
00:15:55
way out of Memphis
00:15:57
was it James Earl Ray who targeted room
00:16:00
306 at the Lorraine Motel from the
00:16:03
window of Bessie Brewers rooming house
00:16:04
for many skeptics Ray's apparent lack of
00:16:08
expertise with firearms seems to argue
00:16:10
against the official account in the army
00:16:14
he was trained with an m1 and he was at
00:16:17
the lowest level of ability
00:16:19
the idea of loading by hand a single
00:16:22
shot into that thirty-aught-six and
00:16:25
gambling everything on that one shot
00:16:27
makes no sense whatsoever you have to
00:16:30
bear in mind that from the Wender of the
00:16:32
rooming house to the balcony where dr.
00:16:34
King was killed was less than a hundred
00:16:37
yards
00:16:39
with the telescopic sight at such a
00:16:41
short distance
00:16:42
almost anyone in the world could have
00:16:45
killed dr. King it really required no
00:16:48
great marksmanship whatsoever
00:16:52
many people have come to believe that
00:16:54
the shot which killed Martin Luther King
00:16:56
came not from the boarding house window
00:16:58
but instead from the bushy abutment
00:17:01
between the boarding house and the motel
00:17:04
it's now clear to me that the shot is
00:17:07
likely to have come from the ground
00:17:09
below where at least two persons
00:17:11
personally known to me reported that at
00:17:13
least to me that they thought the shot
00:17:15
came from someone in the bushes below
00:17:18
two eyewitnesses one of them dr. King's
00:17:21
driver do say they saw someone dressed
00:17:24
in white running from the bushes just
00:17:26
after the shooting
00:17:28
we never were sure that there was a man
00:17:30
in the bushes and if there was a man in
00:17:33
the bushes we think he had absolutely
00:17:35
nothing to do with the murder
00:17:37
we we were we were then and I still am
00:17:40
totally convinced that the fatal shot
00:17:43
came from the wonder of the rooming
00:17:45
house
00:17:47
the official version states that Ray ran
00:17:49
from Bessie Brewer was observed by
00:17:51
another tenant Charles Stevens however
00:17:54
there are serious doubts about Stephens
00:17:56
credibility from all accounts Stephens
00:18:00
was so dead drunk that there's no way of
00:18:04
relying upon his testimony about the
00:18:07
shot in fact we did not rely on him for
00:18:11
an eyewitness identification what we did
00:18:13
rely on him for was having sufficient
00:18:16
senses to be aware of a loud noise
00:18:19
down the hall and in the bathroom and to
00:18:22
open the door and see somebody run by
00:18:25
what you have to realize about that
00:18:27
Charlie Stevens is that he was looking
00:18:28
for a reward he was trying to get the
00:18:31
hundred thousand dollar reward that had
00:18:32
been put up for
00:18:34
anyone who could identify the Slayer of
00:18:37
dr. King so that became very much a
00:18:39
business for him and it became very much
00:18:41
his concern to try to be credible
00:18:46
in his fight from the rooming house rape
00:18:49
reportedly ran by the canipe amusement
00:18:51
company roughing his weapon in a panic
00:18:53
but a former defense investigator
00:18:55
believes it highly improbable that any
00:18:57
killer no matter how panicked would drop
00:19:00
a bundle of evidence so thoroughly
00:19:02
incriminating
00:19:03
he didn't have to take all that junk
00:19:06
with him he didn't even have to take the
00:19:08
rifle with him even if he chooses the
00:19:10
rifle oh he had to do is get out it
00:19:13
strikes many people myself included that
00:19:17
that looks like a setup that somebody
00:19:20
else gathered that evidence up and
00:19:23
planted it there a
00:19:25
dusting of the rooming house turned up a
00:19:28
number of fingerprints which were never
00:19:29
identified but the investigation failed
00:19:32
to turn up even a single print belonging
00:19:34
to James Earl Ray
00:19:37
that's not really strange
00:19:40
I've worked any number of cases way way
00:19:43
you don't find fingerprints when you
00:19:45
think you should
00:19:46
you may find a lot of smudges and smears
00:19:49
but you won't find a fingerprint that's
00:19:52
then in itself is is complete enough to
00:19:55
make a positive identification
00:19:58
the abandoned gun was void of
00:20:00
fingerprints except for two of James
00:20:02
Earl Ray's as part of the investigation
00:20:05
the FBI swab tested the rifle Ray had
00:20:08
returned to determine whether or not it
00:20:11
had been fired however they never
00:20:13
conducted a swab test on the gun they
00:20:15
believed to be the murder weapon
00:20:18
my recollection is that it had a spent
00:20:21
shell that was in the chamber so common
00:20:26
sense would tell you that someone had
00:20:28
fired that rifle
00:20:29
the FBI could not match the bullet which
00:20:32
killed King with the rifle they could
00:20:35
say only that the bullet was consistent
00:20:37
with that type of rifle
00:20:39
the fact that the bullet markings are
00:20:43
said to have been
00:20:44
consistent with having been from the
00:20:46
rifle means absolutely nothing it was
00:20:49
also consistent with several million
00:20:51
other rifles of the same kind
00:20:54
Ray bought the rifle the rifle was used
00:20:57
to shoot King he fled the scene his
00:21:01
fingerprints are on it his explanations
00:21:03
for an alibi his flight all don't hold
00:21:07
water
00:21:10
even for those who believe Ray's story
00:21:12
there remains a nagging question if
00:21:14
indeed James Earl Ray is innocent why
00:21:17
did he plead guilty
00:21:19
I'm not going to discuss great claims
00:21:22
that he was coerced by his attorney who
00:21:24
ordered exclusive publishing rights to
00:21:26
Ray's story if Ray had testified in
00:21:29
court his allegations of conspiracy
00:21:31
would have become public domain
00:21:35
this will define the crucial element of
00:21:38
Ray's story was the elusive Raoul the
00:21:41
man ray said had moved him like a puppet
00:21:43
all over the United States
00:21:45
in our investigation to identify
00:21:49
ray and to find out what he did and
00:21:53
where and when we turned up nothing to
00:21:55
indicate that there was either a Raoul
00:21:58
or any other conspirator involved in
00:22:02
this crime
00:22:04
in 1975 former defense investigator
00:22:07
Harold Weisberg filed a lawsuit against
00:22:10
the FBI he receives 60,000 pages of
00:22:14
documents on the King assassination
00:22:16
three years later Weisberg found
00:22:19
evidence in the files that Ray had been
00:22:21
involved with a man named JC harden
00:22:24
Weisberg believes that evidence is proof
00:22:27
of a conspiracy
00:22:28
when I was going through the files of
00:22:31
the Los Angeles FBI office I found that
00:22:34
where a man who used the name of JC
00:22:36
harden had called Jimmy from Atlanta
00:22:40
yeah he's here around 3:13 but he's out
00:22:43
I saw him go out about an hour ago
00:22:45
James C hardened
00:22:47
[Music]
00:22:49
har
00:22:51
when Jimmy didn't return the call so far
00:22:54
as we know harden then went out to
00:22:56
California and he met with Jimmy this is
00:23:00
Candace confirm story in the FBI's
00:23:02
records three Thursday is it possible
00:23:05
the Jacey harden the man visited James
00:23:08
Earl Ray three weeks before the
00:23:09
assassination was in fact Raoul at the
00:23:13
very least the timing of the visit
00:23:15
appears to be more than simple
00:23:17
coincidence
00:23:18
it is a live lead
00:23:21
the one thing you have to question given
00:23:25
the history of this whole thing Hardin
00:23:27
goes to California Jimmy goes east Jimmy
00:23:31
goes east or the trip in which dr. King
00:23:32
gets killed
00:23:34
it's not like pushing buttons but it's
00:23:37
the next thing to it and that should
00:23:39
have been investigated in
00:23:42
1968 the FBI pursued the lead long
00:23:46
enough to create this sketch of JC
00:23:48
Hardin based on a description given by
00:23:50
the manager of the st. Francis hotel
00:23:52
however as soon as James Earl Ray was
00:23:55
arrested a hardened investigation was
00:23:58
dropped
00:23:59
we knew nothing about Harden I'd like to
00:24:03
find mr. Hardin and
00:24:08
I'd like further to interrogate mr. Rey
00:24:11
because I don't think he is telling us
00:24:12
everything that he knows that may
00:24:17
may lead us to a different conclusion
00:24:20
than that which we've reached that which
00:24:23
we reached back in 1978
00:24:27
James Earl Ray has refused to say
00:24:29
whether JC Hardin and Raoul are one in
00:24:32
the same in addition he has been
00:24:35
unwilling to make a positive
00:24:36
identification of Raoul I don't have any
00:24:40
reason to believe that Hardin could be
00:24:41
Raoul because I don't really have any
00:24:43
reason to believe that Raoul is Raoul
00:24:47
I'm not convinced that there is anybody
00:24:50
named Raoul involved in this case there
00:24:53
is no way that James Earl Ray is a lone
00:24:55
assassin James Earl Ray is the classic
00:24:58
Patsy Martin King was was killed as a
00:25:01
result of a a conspiracy
00:25:04
we do not know the whole truth about
00:25:05
this we need to know it in the decade of
00:25:08
the 90s
00:25:09
when we've got a new generation of
00:25:12
leadership on the scene that we don't
00:25:14
want to be the same fate
00:25:16
that Martin Malcolm Bobby and John met
00:25:20
will we ever know the answer is no we
00:25:24
won't know because the FBI in 1968
00:25:27
didn't conduct an adequate conspiracy
00:25:31
investigation they conducted a shooter
00:25:33
investigation and then stopped
00:25:35
[Music]
00:25:39
that's one of the tragedies and dr.
00:25:42
King's death he did not yet in his death
00:25:47
investigation commencement with the
00:25:49
dignity of his life had he got many of
00:25:53
the unanswered questions about his death
00:25:55
would have the answers to life
00:26:00
[Music]
00:26:12
[Music]
00:26:21
in 1943 the outcome of world war ii hung
00:26:26
in the balance
00:26:26
as US and Allied forces launched an
00:26:29
all-out assault on the German and
00:26:30
Italian strongholds in North Africa
00:26:35
after months of fierce combat and
00:26:37
thousands of Allied casualties enemy
00:26:40
resistance finally collapsed but during
00:26:43
the summer and fall sporadic fighting
00:26:45
continued to claim American lives
00:26:49
one of those killed in action was Army
00:26:52
Private Harry a young from Philadelphia
00:26:54
Pennsylvania
00:26:55
he left behind a wife and two sons
00:27:00
37 years later Harry young would become
00:27:04
the focal point of an unsolved mystery
00:27:06
when his son and granddaughter came
00:27:08
across his obituary of researching their
00:27:10
family history the information in the
00:27:13
death notice seemed all wrong as if it
00:27:16
had been written for a completely
00:27:18
different land he was survived by a
00:27:21
three-month-old daughter Kathleen when I
00:27:24
found and noticed and I realized it it
00:27:27
wasn't written right mother's first name
00:27:29
was right and everything but the address
00:27:31
and the fact that there was a baby girl
00:27:34
mentioned than me or my brother was not
00:27:36
mentioned well first I thought that the
00:27:38
paper made a mistake which wasn't common
00:27:40
you know papers do make mistakes and I
00:27:43
thought maybe that they had got the
00:27:45
information wrong and
00:27:46
I had a copy made so I could go into it
00:27:49
rather
00:27:51
imagine reading your father's obituary
00:27:54
and stumbling upon a dark family secret
00:27:56
which had been kept hushed for more than
00:27:58
37 years
00:28:00
Albert young was suddenly confronted
00:28:02
with two puzzling questions why had he
00:28:05
and his brother Jimmy not been listed as
00:28:06
survivors was a three-month-old girl
00:28:09
named and the notice a sister they never
00:28:11
knew existed
00:28:12
Albert young search for answers took him
00:28:15
back to the early days of the second
00:28:17
world war
00:28:24
following the surprise attack on Pearl
00:28:26
Harbor by the Japanese
00:28:27
Harry Young and millions of other
00:28:29
Americans rushed to enlist in the
00:28:31
service I can't stay here while there's
00:28:33
a war going on I need you to sign this
00:28:35
paper but Harry had already served six
00:28:38
years in the Marine Corps and at age
00:28:40
thirty the family to support he was
00:28:42
required to get his wife Flores
00:28:44
permission to re-enlist
00:28:47
two years I'll be back sign the paper no
00:28:51
Laura adamantly refused
00:28:54
[Music]
00:28:59
Harry young walked out that day never to
00:29:02
return he had no idea that Laura was
00:29:05
pregnant with her second child
00:29:09
[Music]
00:29:10
four months later using forged documents
00:29:13
Harry enlisted in the army and was sent
00:29:15
overseas to fight in the African
00:29:17
campaign
00:29:19
only then did he inform Laura of what he
00:29:22
had done
00:29:31
[Music]
00:29:33
mrs. York
00:29:35
yes
00:29:40
on October 24th 1943 Laura Jung received
00:29:44
the news every soldier's wife fears her
00:29:47
husband Harry was dead
00:29:49
[Music]
00:29:54
a
00:29:56
short time later the local office of the
00:29:59
Veterans Administration uncovered a
00:30:01
serious problem according to their
00:30:04
records Harry Young was survived by two
00:30:07
wives mrs. young there seems to be a
00:30:10
problem we have another Laura Young who
00:30:12
has already filed for Harry's death
00:30:14
benefits but I'm Harry's wife well that
00:30:17
may be ma'am do you have a daughter no I
00:30:20
have two sons do you live on Fayette
00:30:22
Street in Conshohocken no I've always
00:30:25
lived in Philadelphia
00:30:27
well this certainly does pose a problem
00:30:30
from what I have found out there were
00:30:34
two women collecting benefits for one
00:30:36
man and
00:30:38
that's when it had to be proven that my
00:30:42
grandmother was indeed the first wife
00:30:44
and was never divorced from my
00:30:47
grandfather
00:30:48
this means a lot to me though
00:30:51
apparently after leaving Laura Harry
00:30:53
young began living with another woman
00:30:55
named Estella in a town just ten miles
00:30:58
away after Harry's death Estella filed
00:31:01
for benefits using Laura's name mature
00:31:04
of wife Frank as far as I'm concerned
00:31:07
you are my wife well do you know who
00:31:09
this woman is who claims to be Laura
00:31:11
young on Fayette Street in Conshohocken
00:31:13
no I'm not but what I do know is that I
00:31:16
am Laura young and I was married to
00:31:18
Harry mrs. young we're going to need a
00:31:21
marriage certificate or some
00:31:22
documentation to substantiate your claim
00:31:24
I have one right here after a lengthy
00:31:26
and humiliating battle with the Veterans
00:31:28
Administration
00:31:29
Laura Young was finally able to prove
00:31:32
that she was Harry's lawful wife she
00:31:35
retained all benefits for herself that
00:31:37
her two sons Albert and Jimmy
00:31:40
well they certainly will help
00:31:43
for nearly 40 years the details of Harry
00:31:46
and Astellas love affair were kept
00:31:48
secret from his sons
00:31:50
then in 1992 an intriguing letter
00:31:53
surfaced it had been written by Estella
00:31:56
and sent to Harry's parents after she
00:31:59
learned of Harry's death
00:32:02
dear mother and dad young this is a very
00:32:05
hard letter for me to write I guess I'd
00:32:09
better explain myself to you I know that
00:32:11
Harry would want it that way I
00:32:13
knew he was married and that we couldn't
00:32:16
be so we lived together as man and wife
00:32:19
he was happy with me and we really loved
00:32:22
each other very deeply
00:32:23
we have a three-month-old baby girl she
00:32:27
was born July 29th
00:32:29
we named her Kathleen Mary young
00:32:39
I
00:32:41
love to more than life itself and still
00:32:44
believe that he will come back to me
00:32:46
someday
00:32:48
when I read the letter I got the feeling
00:32:51
that she was very much in love with my
00:32:54
grandfather
00:32:56
that she was devoted to him and
00:32:59
she would do anything in the world for
00:33:02
him
00:33:04
after receiving no reply to her letter
00:33:08
Estella paid a surprise visit to Harry's
00:33:10
parents
00:33:15
[Music]
00:33:18
hello mr. young I'm Estella
00:33:23
this is Kathleen Mary pleased to meet
00:33:27
you
00:33:28
we got your letter and well my wife and
00:33:32
I agree that what you did was wrong
00:33:34
mr. Jung Harry and I loved each other
00:33:38
very very much I just thought that you'd
00:33:41
like to meet your granddaughter maybe
00:33:43
she had had dreams that after he came
00:33:45
home from work they could work things
00:33:48
out or you know who knows what was in
00:33:51
the mind these things would you like me
00:33:53
to bring them over to you no just send
00:33:56
them
00:34:02
as far as anyone knows that was the last
00:34:05
time a Stella and her daughter Kathleen
00:34:07
marry at any contact with Harry's family
00:34:09
I
00:34:10
[Music]
00:34:12
think it's something that's really
00:34:14
important for my father and my uncle to
00:34:17
know their sister
00:34:19
over the years I've seen what the
00:34:23
secrets that the family kept from them
00:34:25
has done to their to them and they need
00:34:28
to know who their sister is and share
00:34:31
their life with her
00:34:32
my own feelings are that now this whole
00:34:36
mess there's no real winners where
00:34:38
there's a lot of time lost
00:34:41
there was a lot a lot of time lost
00:34:43
between
00:34:44
family really and I'd like to talk to
00:34:48
her you know and see how she's doing and
00:34:51
if she got married if she has children
00:34:53
you know and let her know that there's a
00:34:56
family out here you know that cares for
00:35:00
her
00:35:01
[Music]
00:35:02
Cathleen Mary young grew up knowing next
00:35:05
to nothing about her two half-brothers
00:35:06
Albert and Jim until the night of our
00:35:09
broadcast
00:35:12
that evening Kathleen couldn't have been
00:35:15
more surprised when she heard her name
00:35:17
on television
00:35:17
by the next morning she had talked to
00:35:20
both Albert and Jim Kathleen had heard
00:35:23
that Harry's parents rejected her mother
00:35:24
and she knew about one of her brothers
00:35:26
but she never imagined that anyone was
00:35:29
looking for her it makes me feel I don't
00:35:32
know it makes me feel good it makes me
00:35:34
feel like
00:35:35
special in a way that they took the time
00:35:37
and all those years that now that I know
00:35:38
they were looking for me
00:35:41
for September 19th 1993 the long
00:35:44
separation came to an end and Kathleen
00:35:47
young accompanied by her family came to
00:35:50
spread food New Jersey to meet her
00:35:52
half-brothers for the first time
00:35:54
[Music]
00:35:57
and when I hugged her it was
00:36:01
for Leah it felt wonderful I know was
00:36:06
her since she stepped out of car and
00:36:08
that's that's a young
00:36:11
for the three children of Harry young
00:36:13
the reunion lit a new beginning after
00:36:16
fifty years apart they were finally FN
00:36:23
when we returned authorities need your
00:36:27
help the capture an accused killer on
00:36:29
the run for 14 years
00:36:31
[Music]
00:36:42
Bryan Texas is a type of place that
00:36:44
people have in mind when they dream of
00:36:46
escaping the big city but in September
00:36:49
of 1984 the illusion of small-town
00:36:51
security was shattered for one local
00:36:54
couple well we will call sue and bill
00:36:59
sue had always considered herself strong
00:37:02
and self-reliant however the events of
00:37:05
September 6th would test her character
00:37:07
in ways she never imagined
00:37:11
well it started like any other morning
00:37:13
my husband was leaving for my
00:37:16
three-year-old was up front watching
00:37:17
Sesame Street my husband left now it
00:37:20
back into the bathroom in the master
00:37:22
bedroom to finish getting dressed I was
00:37:26
standing there looking in the mirror
00:37:28
finishing up my hair and I picked up the
00:37:31
makeup mirror
00:37:31
[Music]
00:37:41
and I'll look to headed Lord honey not
00:37:46
fearing for the safety of her child sue
00:37:49
instinctively attacked she forced the
00:37:51
intruder from the bathroom and then
00:37:53
drove him out of the house at gunpoint
00:37:56
[Music]
00:38:04
[Music]
00:38:08
he was getting in the truck at the time
00:38:10
and I do remember him hitting metal but
00:38:13
I don't think I hit him
00:38:15
it was very quick and I don't think he
00:38:18
was expecting me to do that I think he
00:38:21
probably was expected me to plead with
00:38:22
him not to do anything and I reversed
00:38:26
the situation on him
00:38:27
[Music]
00:38:29
well after that the police came out and
00:38:32
took the report and all that and we went
00:38:34
downtown to see go through the mug book
00:38:37
and all that and I never we went through
00:38:38
page after page I never saw anything
00:38:40
that resembled him
00:38:45
four months passed without further clues
00:38:48
to the man's identity sue hood assumed
00:38:50
he was simply a first-time burglar she
00:38:53
couldn't have been more wrong I
00:38:58
was going through the newspaper and I
00:39:02
opened it up and his picture was in the
00:39:05
newspaper listing what that's guy honey
00:39:07
this is the guy and I was just shocked
00:39:10
to found out what he had does right
00:39:12
there in January of 1985 the Texas
00:39:16
governor's office released a roster of
00:39:18
the state's most wanted criminals
00:39:19
heading the list was a knife wielding
00:39:22
intruder his name was Edward Harold Bell
00:39:25
and he was wanted for murder
00:39:29
Ă©douard bells long criminal records
00:39:31
stretched back to 1969 and included
00:39:34
aggravated rape numerous counts of
00:39:36
indecent exposure to children bail is a
00:39:39
formidable fugitive a graduate of Texas
00:39:42
A&M University and once a successful
00:39:44
businessman he has eluded capture for
00:39:46
almost 16 years he has yet to stand
00:39:49
trial for the shocking murder took place
00:39:52
August 24th 1978
00:39:56
that summer 26 year-old Larry Dickens
00:39:59
was visiting his mother and sister in
00:40:01
Pasadena Texas a suburb of Houston
00:40:05
an ex-marine and youth counselor Larry
00:40:08
was a father of a three-year-old girl
00:40:11
my son Larry he was home for a few days
00:40:14
and he was cutting our lawn for us I was
00:40:18
standing at the kitchen window and there
00:40:22
were a lot of children playing in the
00:40:23
intersection right by our house we live
00:40:26
on a corner and I saw this pickup truck
00:40:31
drive up
00:40:44
he parked and he was looking all around
00:40:47
he was fooling was something in the seat
00:40:50
I thought this must be one of Larry's
00:40:53
friends looking for our address
00:40:58
he got out of his truck and
00:41:01
he was nude from his waist down and he
00:41:05
started walking toward the children get
00:41:08
me the Pasadena Police real quick please
00:41:11
yes you've got a guy out here at the
00:41:15
corner of Moore and Apple and he's
00:41:17
exposing himself why honey honey look at
00:41:21
that man out there look what he is doing
00:41:23
Larry
00:41:25
what you are about to see as a mother's
00:41:28
worst nightmare every horrible detail is
00:41:31
true my son is gone after he's taking
00:41:34
the keys he's trying to detain him oh
00:41:36
the guys come back no he's he's putting
00:41:40
his pants on now I don't know I hear him
00:41:44
arguing I don't know what they're saying
00:41:48
[Music]
00:41:49
oh my god she's got a gun oh god he's
00:41:52
gotta go I don't know it's a little gun
00:41:55
I think it's a cap gun
00:42:03
he just shot it in the air
00:42:05
he's shooting Larry it's not cap gun I
00:42:08
see blood shooting Larry Larry
00:42:11
[Music]
00:42:29
I said please don't shoot him and the
00:42:32
man just shot him anyway and then he
00:42:35
turned and started running out of our
00:42:38
garage and
00:42:40
Larry even with all those bullets in him
00:42:43
we're still trying to stop this hand
00:42:48
Larry had been shot four times in the
00:42:51
chest and once in the head with a 22
00:42:53
pistol
00:42:54
[Music]
00:43:00
and I said Larry lay very still because
00:43:03
you don't know where those bullets are
00:43:05
and I'll all bright in there and call an
00:43:08
ambulance but I said whatever you do
00:43:10
don't move
00:43:11
[Music]
00:43:12
Larry's mother came back to the forum
00:43:14
the emergency operator was still on the
00:43:16
line she told Larry's mother that police
00:43:19
units and an ambulance were on the way
00:43:29
at just that moment Larry
00:43:31
seventeen-year-old sister Donna was
00:43:33
returning home from cheerleader practice
00:43:35
I
00:43:37
pulled up to the stop sign and I saw a
00:43:39
man cross the street to the edge of my
00:43:42
driveway
00:43:53
he saw me we made eye contact and I
00:43:57
looked and I got a good close look at
00:43:58
the man and I tried to block his exit I
00:44:02
pulled up beside his truck and I
00:44:04
realized he had just shot my brother
00:44:12
I
00:44:23
said mom is he dead is he dead and she
00:44:26
said I don't know Donna I think so and I
00:44:30
remember I just started screaming and I
00:44:32
just screamed and screamed and then when
00:44:35
I couldn't scream anymore I remember I
00:44:38
just went over and I knelt down beside
00:44:39
my brother and I held his hand to my
00:44:42
face
00:44:43
and I watched him die
00:44:50
the dispatcher radioed the suspects
00:44:52
description as police units headed to
00:44:54
the scene
00:44:55
at that very instant the officers
00:44:58
recognized the suspects truck
00:45:04
[Music]
00:45:05
[Applause]
00:45:14
[Music]
00:45:28
[Applause]
00:45:36
[Music]
00:45:43
[Music]
00:45:46
Ă©douard Bell might have claimed a second
00:45:49
victim that afternoon but his m1 rifles
00:45:51
suddenly jammed
00:45:54
[Applause]
00:45:59
[Music]
00:46:07
don't move drop the gun
00:46:12
drop it back away back away from it easy
00:46:18
within 20 minutes of the murder Bell was
00:46:21
in the hands of the police and on his
00:46:22
way to face Larry's mother and sister
00:46:25
okay miss Wang I need for you to
00:46:27
identify the suspect they just brought
00:46:28
him back
00:46:44
they open the back door of the police
00:46:46
car so that I could see him I
00:46:50
[Music]
00:46:52
[Applause]
00:46:53
just wanted to get my hands on it
00:46:58
it hurts me so bad that he killed my
00:47:00
brother it's just broken up the whole
00:47:03
family there's always gonna be an
00:47:05
emptiness apart
00:47:08
that's never gonna be read you know I
00:47:11
know part of me is missing
00:47:15
Edward bail was released on bail less
00:47:18
than two months after the murder he
00:47:20
quietly liquidated his assets and with
00:47:22
more than 140 thousand dollars in his
00:47:25
pocket disappeared
00:47:29
Bell has been seen only once since then
00:47:32
when he entered the hole in Bryan Texas
00:47:34
in September of 1984
00:47:39
everywhere I go I see this man I go to
00:47:43
the grocery store and he's there of
00:47:45
course it's not him but it looks just
00:47:48
like him to me I
00:47:50
live in fear that this guy is gonna come
00:47:52
back or fear that he's gonna hurt
00:47:55
someone else
00:47:58
our family has missed Larry so much he
00:48:02
was strong and
00:48:04
he was so special to all of us
00:48:08
it just doesn't seem right that this man
00:48:11
could be back on the streets
00:48:14
exposing himself to children and doing
00:48:17
god knows what else
00:48:19
when when larry has been dead all these
00:48:23
years and he's still at large
00:48:26
he's not leaving a paper trail that
00:48:29
tells me that probably he's changed his
00:48:31
name
00:48:32
and he's living somewhere where someone
00:48:36
doesn't know how dangerous he is for
00:48:39
almost 15 years Edward Bell eluded
00:48:41
detection until December 2nd 1992 the
00:48:45
night of our broadcast one of our
00:48:47
viewers was stunned to realize that a
00:48:49
man had recently conducted business with
00:48:51
in Panama City Panama was none other
00:48:53
than the fugitive killer Edward Harold
00:48:56
Bell a
00:48:59
second viewer who remains anonymous sent
00:49:02
these pictures in a letter claiming that
00:49:04
Bell had been living in Panama for 10
00:49:06
years among other business activities
00:49:08
Bell was prospecting for gold on land he
00:49:11
owned near Panama City
00:49:13
the Panama police were able to locate
00:49:16
mr. Bell at which time they placed him
00:49:19
under arrest and the FBI along with the
00:49:23
Panama's City Police Department then
00:49:25
brought mr. Bell back to the United
00:49:27
States
00:49:30
finally a decade and a half after
00:49:32
Dorothea Lange's son had been gunned
00:49:34
down before her eyes the accused killers
00:49:36
shuffled pasture shackled in hand and
00:49:39
leg cuffs
00:49:39
[Music]
00:49:44
when he got off the airplane he seemed
00:49:47
so arrogant and it just infuriated me
00:49:51
here they're bringing this murderer back
00:49:53
and they could never bring back my son
00:49:56
and just the grief welled up in me again
00:50:02
the wounds will never heal the hurt will
00:50:05
always be there that I've lost my
00:50:07
brother
00:50:08
but at least justice will be done
00:50:12
and I think we'll all be able to go on
00:50:14
with our lives
00:50:17
at Bell's trial the prosecution's chief
00:50:20
witnesses will be Larry's sister and
00:50:22
mother I
00:50:24
feel that I can face this man in court
00:50:27
and and say we finally got you in
00:50:31
custody and I hope they throw the book
00:50:34
at you because you deserve it that's the
00:50:37
way I'll feel about it
00:50:43
[Music]
00:50:59
in 1947 Hollywood's post-war euphoria
00:51:03
was shattered by the brutal murder of a
00:51:05
young woman known as the black dahlia
00:51:07
nearly a half-century later there is
00:51:10
evidence that the same killer was the
00:51:12
personal nemesis of legendary lawman
00:51:14
Eliot Ness
00:51:16
in Pennsylvania a brave teenage girl
00:51:19
cared for her five brothers and sisters
00:51:21
through a harsh winter only to see them
00:51:24
taken away one by one perhaps you can
00:51:27
help end her long search
00:51:30
join me next time for another edition
00:51:33
unsolved mysteries
00:51:37
[Music]
