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[Music]
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next on Unsolved Mysteries a husband and
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father is sentenced to life in prison
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for a series of rapes but two of the
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victims say he's not the man who
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assaulted them five children die after
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they are trapped in a burning house
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police say a drug deal gone wrong led to
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arson and
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Le a woman honored as a national hero is
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actually The Mastermind behind a million
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dooll baby selling
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range and the military says that he died
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in accient but a photo convinces his
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family that he's still
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[Music]
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alive perhaps there's someone watching
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who can help solve one of these cases
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and maybe it's you I'm Dennis finina so
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stick around
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[Music]
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[Music]
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[Music]
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[Applause]
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Coral gaes
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Florida a 17-year-old girl who we'll
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call Judy was driving along a stretch of
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Bird
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Road it was kind of late at night I
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noticed a car following me flashing its
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headlights I wave from the pass I slowed
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down I sped up I didn't know if he
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wanted to go around me if it was a
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friend of mine I wasn't sure what it was
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and I didn't pull off the road but I
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slowed down enough on the road where he
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came up next to me and I looked over to
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see if it was somebody I knew or police
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officer get out of the car what hurry up
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and get out of the car come on get in my
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car don't look at me don't scream I've
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got this gun in my hand I know what this
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can do to
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you the man drove Judy to a deserted
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construction site put the gun to her
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head and raped
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her he took her panties and driver's
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license then dumped her off five or six
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blocks from where he had kidnapped her
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now like face down on the ground don't
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look up until I tell you
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to the attack was the first of many to
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come in the Miami area over the next 2
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years dozens of women were approached
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and 24 of them were kidnapped some were
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sexually assaulted the identified as
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salent became known as The Bird Road
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rapist I described him as someone who
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was about 6' 6'2 220 lb I described what
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I thought was an average sized person um
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I never saw him standing I described a
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sitting
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male Judy says the rapist spoke English
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with a slight Spanish accent had a
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mustache and a Pock marked face and
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drove a dark ring
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Car 2 Days Later Judy was at her job at
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a gas station when she thought she saw
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the same car in which she had been raped
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I think that's the car
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I walked out there and I I was positive
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it was him I got his tag number and a
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and a
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description I called the police
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immediately after he left and gave them
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all the information they came out and
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took a
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statement police checked the license
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plate and track down the car's owner
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Luis Diaz a cook at a local Cuban
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restaurant can you tell me what kind of
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car you
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drive and no English all right uh 2 days
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ago 10: in the morning can you tell did
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not speak English had no criminal record
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and did not fit the physical description
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at 5'3 and 140 lb he was a foot shorter
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and 100 lb lighter than the man that
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Judy described as her asent Luis was
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dismissed as a
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suspect the rapes continued at the rate
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of one attack a month get in the car
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hurry up and get don't scream or I'll
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kill you get in hurry up police assumed
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that all the Bird Road rapes were
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committed by one man however the
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survivors described him very
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differently some said that the rapist
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was short others that he was tall he had
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a mustache no he was clean shaven he
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spoke English with a Spanish accent no
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he had no accent at all his car several
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different models were described it was a
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tough case with a slew of conflicting
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leads once the rapes were leaked to the
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media the publicity put additional
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pressure on the police to find a
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suspect they did everything they could
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to possibly find this man except of
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course to go back and and reinvestigate
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the man that I identified as my
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attacker Judy convinced police to take
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another look at Luis the who was still
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working as a cook like you come back to
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the station H he does speak English sure
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he does we need to ask you some
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[Music]
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questions his can go with your 11 when
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he's finished I guess that' be all right
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[Music]
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can you give us a minute please police
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decided to show a photo lineup that
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included a shot of Lise to another rape
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victim she had been attacked only 2
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months earlier just uh take a look at
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their faces and see if you can recognize
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the guy I guess I'd have to say this guy
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get here for the Third Road
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rapist on the night Luis was arrested
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police impounded the family car looking
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for traces of blood seamen stains hairs
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and fibers that could connect him to the
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rapes they found
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nothing they tore apart luis's home
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searching for the gun used in the
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attacks plus the panties and Driver
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licenses taken from the women again they
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found
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nothing however 16 of the women who had
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been assaulted came in to look at the
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police
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lineup identified Luis as the
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rapist yes what
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number number three the rest said Luis
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was not the rapist the state charged no
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one else with their assaults and stopped
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looking for any other suspect
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since the rapist spoke English a key
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prosecution goal was proving Lis spoke
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English police interviewed people who
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knew Luis with Detective Fernando Mendes
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acting as an interpreter menance would
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later play a key role at the
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trial tell her we'd like to ask her a
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few questions about her former neighbor
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Louise Diaz after the interviews police
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filed a report confirming that Luis did
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did speak
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English the police report also claimed
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Luis had a brother-in-law in the used
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car business and there could easily have
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borrowed the different cars used in the
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assaults evidence against Luis Diaz was
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[Music]
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mounting but when Luis went to trial the
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strongest evidence against him was the
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testimony of the eight women who
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identified him as the rapist well
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clearly they put a lot of Manpower into
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this and you would think they would find
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one piece of evidence connecting Diaz
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with these offenses either you know
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women had clothing stolen or other
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things
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stolen um weapons uh whatever it may be
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uh but they found nothing not a single
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piece of evidence to match Diaz to these
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offenses now this man spoke fluent
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English didn't he he spoke English to me
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I don't know if he is fluent in the
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language I think the women all said
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their attacker had communicated with
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them in
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English Diaz had a part-time lawnmowing
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business and we found a number of people
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who had gone to talk to him about mowing
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their lawns and doing work for them and
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they tried to speak to him in English
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and yet he couldn't speak to them he had
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to go get somebody to be able to talk to
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them and if there was ever a situation
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where if a person could speak English
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they would use it it would be in trying
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to get work like that and help him in
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his business and yet we had a number of
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witnesses who testified that he could
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not use English even when it was to his
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advantage to use it the prosecution
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insisted Luis spoke enough English to be
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the rapist two detectives testified that
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after he was arrested he spoke to them
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in English for 90 minutes you would
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think that if they had an hour and a
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half conversation with the chief's
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suspect in these offenses and he was
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speaking in English just like these
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women said you think they would even
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tape record 5 minutes of this I mean
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it's just unbelievable that none of this
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was done and it and it wasn't done
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because it's not true that's why it
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wasn't
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done according to the defense Luis had
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little opportunity to commit the crimes
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his wife always dropped him off at work
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and picked him up when he was
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[Music]
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done the defense hired private
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investigator Virginia Snider and she
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discovered that detective Mendes was
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wrong wrong about luis's brother-in-law
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Mendes had reported that Mr Diaz had
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access to different cars because his
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brother-in-law owned or worked at a used
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car lot I found out that this was a
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total lie his brother-in-law was an
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insurance
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agent the defense also played up a
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unique side effect of Louis's job as a
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cook the smell you just get full of the
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fat and grease and the smells from doing
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this all night long and yet they claimed
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that after leaving work he would go and
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do these rapes and yet not a single
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woman smelled anything unusual about the
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man those of us in the courtroom didn't
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smell any garlic when this man testified
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and there were some questions and
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comments made about that that there was
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no garlic odor in the courtroom so
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apparently it's not as strong as they
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said it was or uh it was just wasn't a
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true statement did you take a good look
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despite all the defense's efforts none
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of their arguments could outweigh the
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power of eyewitness testimony
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each of the eight women identified Luis
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Diaz as the Bird Road rapist that's the
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man right there next to the woman she
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identified the and it's clear that
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eyewitness testimony is the least
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reliable of any evidence that's
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presented in a courtroom for example one
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woman says that the man who raped me is
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6'2 and turns out Diaz is 5 fo3 I mean
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that that is a classic example of uh the
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inaccuracies of eyewitness testimony
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people are human and they uh see things
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differently they remember things
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differently and when they're nervous
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they're
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traumatized and the key to a case like
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this is can you recognize someone you've
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seen before not can you draw his face I
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don't know how the police came up with
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the theory of the one rapist except that
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they fabricated it in my opinion when
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you have such a variety of descriptions
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of sizes of heights of color hair
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mustache no mustache potm Mark face no
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potm Mark face and they're able to put
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that all together and say that fit Mr
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Diaz's description I don't know how
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they're able to do
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it the jury took only 3 hours to reach a
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verdict Luis Diaz was guilty the
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sentence 13 life terms plus 55 years
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spee
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fore
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spee fore fore
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[Music]
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next two of the victims who testified
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against Luis say they helped convict a
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wrong
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man with Luis Diaz convicted sentence
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and behind bars the case of the bird
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Road rapist should have been over but
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for defense investigator Virginia Snider
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this job was
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different after the trial the judge
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looked at my case File flipped through
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it and commented that at the time of the
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trial he had been convinced that Mr Diaz
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was guilty but after reading my report
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suddenly he was not so
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sure at the judge's request Virginia
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continued researching the
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case accompanied by an interpreter
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Virginia talked to the same neighbors
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detective Mendes had interviewed and
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discovered stunning
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discrepancies
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know
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no Mendes had stated that one or more of
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the witnesses had said that Mr Diaz
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spoke English that he had access to
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different cars that he came and went at
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different hours all of the witnesses
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denied making any of these statements
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and they did it under oath and
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deposition
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also a few years after Luis was
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convicted detective Mendes was himself
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accused of a crime five counts of filing
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false police reports all unrelated to
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the Diaz case he pleaded guilty to the
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charges but was allowed to resume work
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on the Metro Police
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Force Virginia continued digging and
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came up with a new theory about the Bird
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Road R because of the variety of
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descriptions of the
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asants I decided it couldn't possibly be
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one man and it couldn't possibly Miss be
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Mr Diaz so I kept working looking for a
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gang and eventually I came on a gang
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that I felt did the rapes Virginia
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located a man in prison who claimed to
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be a member of the gang he said that he
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didn't par participate in the rapes but
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knew those who did we were just drug
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dealers you know we used to hang around
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together you know and like God they used
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to like to have fun like that the man
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gave Virginia an eight page affidavit
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swearing Luis is
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innocent I think Louis Diaz is innocent
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and I'd like to see this case reopened
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and really looked at thoroughly look
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this woman who we call Debbie had her
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own frightening runin with the Bird Road
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r
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rapist a man pulled up beside Debbie's
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car and aimed a gun at her she dropped
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down on the seat Gunn the engine and
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managed to
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escape when I first described my as
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salent I described him as being around
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6ot clean shaven dark blonde hair and an
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American and Louis Diaz is completely
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opposite when the police called me into
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the lineup I trusted
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their decision that they had the correct
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man that they had the rapist but I had
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seen him on the TV prior to my iding
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him he looked totally different from the
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man that I my description of my as
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salent but I thought the police had the
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correct man they said this is a bird
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Road rapist it must be so I I ided
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him on the day Debbie was set to testify
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another incident again again made her
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wonder if Luise truly was the Bird Road
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rapist and the girl that I was with she
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was going to testify also against Louis
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Diaz well we were talking about our
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experiences of the attack that day I
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can't remember the guy's face did you
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get a good look at
00:17:47
Diaz I saw him in the lineup right but
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that was so long ago and and the
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attorney is going to ask me to point him
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out and I've got to make sure I point
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out
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Diaz maybe somebody inside I can help
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you thanks you're welcome and she told
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one of the men in the courtroom that she
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doesn't know what Mr Louis Diaz looked
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like he took her before court started
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into the court where Mr lisis Diaz was
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and pointed to him and said that is the
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man
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hello so how'd it go in there great he
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pointed out Diaz to me so he's the guy
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that attacked you well I'm not certain
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but I'm going to say that he is
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immediately I
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felt Maybe I'm Wrong also and maybe this
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is not the man but it must be because
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the police said it's him after Louis
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Diaz had been convicted and sent to Jail
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the attacks didn't stop I was approached
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Again by another car with flashing
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lights that followed
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me again so this was long after he had
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already been arrested and even sent to
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prison at least one other witness had
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doubts about the way the investigation
00:18:59
was handled we'll call her Mary she
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declined to be interviewed but did give
00:19:04
us a signed statement about her
00:19:07
experience when she was shown a photo
00:19:09
lineup that included Luis Mary says she
00:19:12
initially chose no one and asked to see
00:19:15
more photographs she was then told to
00:19:17
look again and claims that she felt that
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she was being steered toward identifying
00:19:24
Louis we need you to look a little
00:19:26
harder Mary we're hoping to bring in a
00:19:27
suspect and ask him a few
00:19:30
questions so you guys just want someone
00:19:33
else to point him out right right then
00:19:35
we can make an arrest and find some
00:19:38
answers well I guess I'd have to say
00:19:42
this guy good we'll take that as a
00:19:45
positive idea thanks a lot
00:19:49
Mary Mary was equally unsure one week
00:19:52
later when she saw Luis in the line SE
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assaulted you I'm not sure could be
00:19:58
three or five I'm not positive could I
00:20:01
look a little longer no
00:20:04
problem after seeing a video of the
00:20:07
lineup on two separate occasions she
00:20:10
finally convinced herself that the
00:20:11
police must have proof that Lise was
00:20:14
guilty and agreed to identify today she
00:20:19
says he is not the man who raped
00:20:22
her I've have not heard from any of the
00:20:24
witnesses who uh apparently have uh who
00:20:27
may have changed their testimony
00:20:29
but after a jury verdict is in the law
00:20:31
looks with disfavor upon people who want
00:20:33
to say they made a mistake it could be
00:20:35
based upon sympathy or fear or uh any
00:20:37
one of a number of reasons I've been
00:20:40
investigating this case for 12 years and
00:20:42
there's no doubt in my mind that Mr Diaz
00:20:44
is innocent and I feel if all the facts
00:20:47
can be brought to light that he'll walk
00:20:49
out a free man our chief investigator
00:20:52
was asked to review the case rather
00:20:54
recently because of some
00:20:56
complaints uh that maybe Justice was and
00:20:58
done and uh after he read everything
00:21:00
about the case he reported to the state
00:21:02
attorney that this was a just verdict
00:21:16
[Music]
00:21:26
[Music]
00:21:29
for 26 years more than a quarter Century
00:21:32
Luis Diaz has maintained his complete
00:21:35
and total
00:21:37
innocence update the long ordeal of Luis
00:21:41
Diaz is finally over DNA EV cleared him
00:21:45
of involvement in two of the bird World
00:21:47
great cases after 26 years in prison
00:21:51
Luis Diaz was set free he was honored by
00:21:55
friends and family with a party at the
00:21:57
same restaurant where he used to
00:22:01
work next arson takes the life of five
00:22:05
children and police say drug dealers are
00:22:08
to
00:22:20
blame Dallas
00:22:23
Texas arson investigators sift through
00:22:26
the ashes of a burnt out home five
00:22:29
children are dead as a result of the
00:22:31
fire authorities want to know
00:22:35
why the house belonged to a woman named
00:22:38
Molly Jordan the victims were her
00:22:42
great-granddaughter 2-year-old Jasmine
00:22:44
and four of her grandchildren Jamal 6
00:22:48
Erica 9 Bernard 16 and 18-year-old
00:22:52
Demetra Jasmine's
00:22:56
mother you know at 3:30 on the day of
00:22:59
the fire the kids were all home from
00:23:01
school their grandmother Molly Jordan
00:23:04
was about to leave for work got get to
00:23:07
work you have a good night Mom okay I
00:23:11
[Music]
00:23:12
will Molly's job as a nurse would keep
00:23:15
her away until 7 the next morning but
00:23:18
she carried a pager so the children
00:23:21
could reach her at any
00:23:25
time around 3 a.m. 10 old kric Jordan
00:23:30
woke up and heard his brother Bernard
00:23:33
talking to someone Bernard was deeply
00:23:36
involved with a local drug dealer I was
00:23:39
walking to the refrigerator and I saw
00:23:42
him I saw the drug dealer and Bernard
00:23:44
talking about where's my money and
00:23:48
Bernard say I don't know what you're
00:23:49
talking about
00:23:53
Berard catrick get back to bed and don't
00:23:57
come back out
00:24:01
okay ketrick was afraid to go back to
00:24:03
his own bedroom and be
00:24:06
alone so I went into my sister's room
00:24:10
and I went to
00:24:13
bed it seemed like I didn't sleep that
00:24:15
long but but seemed like about 5 minutes
00:24:18
later he came he was he busted into the
00:24:20
door and about the house was on
00:24:24
fire get the house is on fire fire no
00:24:29
window bre
00:24:32
window he told me to start busting out
00:24:35
windows and stuff to try to you know get
00:24:37
air coming through the house cuz we
00:24:39
couldn't go through the front
00:24:43
door the only hope of Escape was through
00:24:46
the windows but the safety releases for
00:24:48
the burglar barers refused the
00:24:52
budge I saw my sister Erica laying on
00:24:55
the bed crying and I tried to save her
00:24:58
so she can get air but she was in such a
00:25:00
panic and uh then my sister she uh was
00:25:04
busting out of Windows and she cut
00:25:06
herself real bad and she got into a
00:25:09
panic and I looked I looked over to my
00:25:12
little brother Jamal and he was already
00:25:15
dead and I looked over to my my niece
00:25:18
Jazz she was already
00:25:20
dead by the time firefighters arrived
00:25:23
Flames had engulfed much of the house
00:25:26
all six children were TR firefighters
00:25:30
tried to break down the front door what
00:25:32
they didn't know was that a couch had
00:25:35
been propped up against the door holding
00:25:38
it
00:25:38
closed the burglar bars prevented any
00:25:42
chance of a quick
00:25:44
[Applause]
00:25:50
rescue 10 minutes later the firefighters
00:25:53
finally got in while parts of the house
00:25:56
continued to burn they searched for
00:25:59
survivors they found kric Jordan
00:26:03
[Music]
00:26:06
first ketric was burned over more than
00:26:10
75% of his body the meitra was also
00:26:14
pulled out alive but she died the next
00:26:16
day at the hospital the bodies of the
00:26:19
other four children were found huddled
00:26:21
together at the foot of a barred
00:26:24
window at that very moment Molly Jordan
00:26:27
was rushing home from the hospital she
00:26:30
had been called by a relative who only
00:26:32
said the children are all
00:26:36
gone when I got about a mile or
00:26:40
something from the house one ambulance
00:26:42
passed me and it was just screaming and
00:26:43
going then I started feeling sick in the
00:26:46
stomach then I was thinking well it
00:26:47
didn't have to come from my house there
00:26:48
a lot of houses up but when I got within
00:26:52
a few blocks it was another one past me
00:26:54
screaming
00:26:55
holl it seemed like I couldn't breathe I
00:26:57
couldn't walk I couldn't stop just
00:27:00
everything left my body
00:27:05
ceing arson investigators quickly
00:27:08
determined that the deadly fire had been
00:27:11
deliberately set in the main living room
00:27:14
we found a gasoline can that had been
00:27:17
there during the fire and later on
00:27:19
during the investigation we actually did
00:27:20
find samples of flammable liquids that
00:27:23
had been poured on the floor set on
00:27:26
fire investigator pieced together what
00:27:29
they believe are the events that led up
00:27:32
to the deadly
00:27:33
fire drug people had come to seek
00:27:35
payment from Berard wanted him to come
00:27:38
outside he did not come
00:27:41
outside they set the house on fire to
00:27:44
get him to come outside but
00:27:45
unfortunately the whole family got
00:27:47
caught in the burger bars and didn't
00:27:48
come out so we have an act of arson that
00:27:51
resulted in five murders and one severe
00:27:54
injury police believe Bernard piled up
00:27:57
Furniture in the desperate attempt to
00:27:59
keep the asants out of the house the
00:28:02
couch jammed up against the front door
00:28:04
and a love seat wedged behind the
00:28:06
hallway door trapping the children in
00:28:09
the house the arsonist probably entered
00:28:12
through this window one that was not
00:28:16
equipped with bars we worked quite hard
00:28:19
to try to find who was responsible for
00:28:21
the fire we did come up with one name
00:28:25
one of the individuals that was
00:28:26
supplying the drugs to yard his name was
00:28:29
Curley the nickname Curley he's a black
00:28:32
male about 510 in height weigh about 160
00:28:35
lbs we never have found Curley or any of
00:28:38
his friends but Curley is known to have
00:28:41
bragged about setting the
00:28:46
Fire 3 days after the tragedy thousands
00:28:50
of people gathered to mourn the loss of
00:28:52
the five Jordan children Krick Jordan
00:28:55
the Lone Survivor endured a dozen
00:28:59
operations including the amputation of
00:29:02
both
00:29:03
legs okay prosthetic limbs have allowed
00:29:06
him to walk again after the fire
00:29:09
contributions from the community enabled
00:29:11
ketric and his grandmother to move to a
00:29:14
new home in a different part of
00:29:19
Dallas
00:29:21
update Dallas police arrested
00:29:23
31-year-old Vincent Thomas and charged
00:29:26
him with capital murder in this
00:29:29
case however the charges were ultimately
00:29:32
dropped the district attorney concluded
00:29:34
that he didn't have sufficient evidence
00:29:37
to try Vincent Thomas authorities
00:29:39
considered this case unresolved but
00:29:44
closed next an orphanage that literally
00:29:48
stole children off the street and sold
00:29:50
them to out of state couples
00:29:57
[Music]
00:30:03
Memphis
00:30:04
Tennessee in
00:30:06
1949 the Tennessee Children's Home
00:30:09
Society was considered a model orphanage
00:30:12
its director Georg tan was nationally
00:30:15
recognized for single-handedly placing
00:30:18
5,000 children with new
00:30:21
[Music]
00:30:25
families but Georgia Tan had a much
00:30:27
darker side that she kept well hidden
00:30:29
from the children and her care and the
00:30:32
parents who would adopt them the effects
00:30:34
of transactions are still being felt
00:30:38
today when I was growing up I was told
00:30:41
that I was adopted from Memphis
00:30:43
Tennessee after my adopted mother passed
00:30:46
away I was packing her
00:30:49
things I found correspondence from the
00:30:52
Tennessee Children's Home and that's
00:30:55
when I started my search
00:30:58
2 and 1/2 years later I found my name 2
00:31:02
hours later I found my
00:31:06
mother Cindy lesto discovered that she
00:31:09
was separated from her family when she
00:31:12
was just 2 years old but after Cindy
00:31:14
found her birth mother Evelyn
00:31:16
Bridgewater she learned about the
00:31:19
Sinister events that led up to her
00:31:22
adoption I was playing on a
00:31:25
playground and Georgia Tan and drove up
00:31:28
in her proverbial Black
00:31:32
Limousine hello pretty girl would you
00:31:35
like to ride in my new car with me can
00:31:39
you
00:31:40
run yes you can okay George let's go
00:31:45
home Cindy was simply stolen by Georgia
00:31:51
Tan sander Le
00:31:54
Bridgewater she and several other
00:31:56
children were taken to juen Court in
00:31:58
Memphis where she was brought before
00:32:00
judge Camille
00:32:03
Kelly good morning children Cindy's
00:32:07
mother had no idea that her daughter had
00:32:09
been kidnapped until she got a call from
00:32:11
the juvenile court incredibly she was
00:32:15
asked to sign papers making Cindy
00:32:17
eligible for adoption she
00:32:21
refused thank you judge Kelly judge
00:32:24
Kelly overruled Cindy's mother and Cindy
00:32:28
was taken
00:32:30
away judge Kelly was a well-respected
00:32:33
citizen of Memphis a national poll
00:32:35
selected her as one of the six most
00:32:38
wholesome women in the world along with
00:32:41
Queen Elizabeth of
00:32:43
England I'm confident that Camille Kelly
00:32:47
was involved with joyan in this
00:32:50
operation Joan could not have carried it
00:32:53
on without her and Camille Kelly could
00:32:55
not have lived in the style she lived
00:32:57
unless she had outside
00:32:59
income for 12 years Georgia Tan used the
00:33:03
Tennessee Children's Home Society as a
00:33:05
cover for kidnapping and selling
00:33:08
children but in 1950 the governor
00:33:11
ordered Memphis attorney Robert Taylor
00:33:14
to investigate her
00:33:17
activities how many of these little ones
00:33:19
do you need for California we need two
00:33:20
infant boys a girl and there's a toddler
00:33:22
upstairs getting ready right now Taylor
00:33:25
followed georg's assistant on her next
00:33:28
trip to Los
00:33:30
Angeles time to go
00:33:33
George call me as soon as the last
00:33:35
baby's delivered don't worry George I'll
00:33:37
take care of
00:33:44
everything Mr and Mrs miles say hi to
00:33:47
your son Ashley she would call the
00:33:49
adoptive parents to meet her in the
00:33:51
lobby and she would go down into the
00:33:54
lobby with one baby and she had some
00:33:57
maid there in the hotel staying with the
00:33:59
rest of them sit
00:34:02
down right there after talking with them
00:34:05
for a few minutes they were anxious to
00:34:07
leave and so was she and she'd go back
00:34:09
and get another baby and it went on that
00:34:12
way till she got rid of all of them do
00:34:14
you have the receipts for the I found
00:34:16
that Georgia Tan had placed out over
00:34:20
12200 babies for adoption in New York
00:34:22
City and Los Angeles
00:34:26
alone tan made over $1 million in
00:34:29
adoption fees a remarkable sum in
00:34:33
1950 she owned a lot of real estate
00:34:36
around Memphis and she owned a big
00:34:38
tourist Court down Mississippi she owned
00:34:40
a summer home down on the Gulf Coast and
00:34:44
over a million dollars passed through
00:34:46
our
00:34:47
hands Robert Taylor sent his report on
00:34:50
Georgia 10an to the governor 3 Days
00:34:53
Later tan died of
00:34:55
cancer judge Kelly resigned soon after
00:34:59
and the Tennessee Children's Home
00:35:01
Society was closed I get very angry when
00:35:04
I think of Georgia Tan and Camille Kelly
00:35:07
because of what they've done to me and
00:35:09
thousands of other people we're not
00:35:11
talking about just a couple of people
00:35:13
here we're talking at thousands of
00:35:15
children it makes me very angry because
00:35:18
of the 32 years that we were
00:35:21
apart and all that we had
00:35:23
missed my mother had missed my growing
00:35:26
up and those yours can never be replaced
00:35:29
we've been
00:35:31
robbed
00:35:33
update after this story aired another
00:35:36
child placed by Georgia Tan was reunited
00:35:39
with her family Lynn Heights was 5 years
00:35:43
old when she was adopted by a wealthy
00:35:45
California
00:35:46
couple I was adopted into a very very
00:35:49
fine family but there wasn't a lot of
00:35:52
love in the family and so it meant a
00:35:54
great deal to me to find that I really
00:35:56
had a true family
00:35:59
just 3 weeks after our broadcast Lynn
00:36:01
learned that her father and two brothers
00:36:03
who were still living in
00:36:06
tennessy one of the things that I had
00:36:08
been fearful of is that the family did
00:36:10
not want me to find them when I did
00:36:13
finally get hold of Randall Randall said
00:36:14
if you don't come here we're coming
00:36:15
there like tomorrow you know it wasn't
00:36:19
soon
00:36:22
enough the next day Lynn met her
00:36:24
brothers for the first time in more than
00:36:27
40
00:36:29
years took me that long to find you
00:36:32
guys she walked all the plane I knew who
00:36:35
she was it like that she's spitting
00:36:37
image of her mother a very spitting
00:36:40
image that afternoon Randall and Paul
00:36:43
took Lynn to meet their 86-year-old
00:36:46
father Rufus gken we naturally had to
00:36:49
compare all our pictures and all that
00:36:51
type of thing and it was very exciting
00:36:54
very
00:36:54
thrilling you know just like yesterday
00:36:57
but you know somebody to love and be
00:37:00
loved by that you never had
00:37:03
before I would have to say that this is
00:37:05
like Christmas New Year's everything
00:37:08
rolled up into
00:37:11
one next a sailor has lost that seed but
00:37:14
a newspaper photo seems to show he's
00:37:17
alive
00:37:27
[Music]
00:37:29
Ziggler Illinois where Frank Joseph
00:37:31
Bloomer was born on October 12th
00:37:34
1921 when World War II broke out he
00:37:37
enlisted in the Navy against his
00:37:39
parents'
00:37:42
Wishes Frankie served as a radio
00:37:45
technician aboard the USS ROM a
00:37:48
destroyer that was operating in the
00:37:50
Mediterranean
00:37:51
Sea on September 11th 1943 just off the
00:37:56
coast of Italy a German OT targeted the
00:37:59
Rowan and it sank in less than a
00:38:03
minute 200 and2 American soldiers were
00:38:08
killed reported missing in action was
00:38:11
22-year-old radiom man third class
00:38:14
Frankie
00:38:15
Bloomer his parents heard that the
00:38:18
Roland was sunk on their car
00:38:21
radio in a short time they were notified
00:38:24
that it was missing an action
00:38:28
less than a week later Frankie's mother
00:38:30
saw a newspaper article with this
00:38:32
photograph of the three survivors of the
00:38:34
USS Rowan she thought that she
00:38:37
recognized the man in the middle as her
00:38:42
son look she quickly contacted Frankie's
00:38:45
sister-in-law Dorothy yeah see the
00:38:47
eyebrows I do the two women compared the
00:38:50
newspaper photographs with pictures of
00:38:53
Frankie I noticed that too how it is him
00:38:56
when I first saw the newspaper picture
00:38:58
of the three survivors I was positive
00:39:02
the one was
00:39:04
Frankie it had characteristics he had
00:39:09
features and um I knew it was
00:39:13
Frankie Jane took the photographs to a
00:39:16
local mortician who was an expert at
00:39:19
photo
00:39:20
identification see how he h holding his
00:39:23
arm there did he ever break his arm
00:39:25
maybe as a child or yes he did I would
00:39:29
say that these two men
00:39:31
are absolutely the
00:39:33
same when the Martian told my
00:39:36
mother-in-law that uh he felt this
00:39:39
picture was a Frankie it gave her a lot
00:39:42
more
00:39:43
hope she wrote to the American Red Cross
00:39:46
to see if they could help her and they
00:39:48
said they got all of their information
00:39:50
from the war department and that they
00:39:52
could not find any information that she
00:39:54
did not already have
00:39:57
Frankie's mother never stopped believing
00:39:59
that her son was alive when she died she
00:40:03
passed her hope to her granddaughter
00:40:06
Jamie as a very small girl the first
00:40:09
time I can remember hearing or or
00:40:12
finding out about my uncle Frankie was
00:40:14
at my grandma's
00:40:17
house I noticed the picture sitting on
00:40:20
the mantle I went over and I asked my
00:40:23
Grandma I said well who is this and she
00:40:25
said this is your uncle Frankie he went
00:40:27
into the Navy a long time ago he just
00:40:31
hasn't come back yet and I'm sure he
00:40:34
will I would say that my grandmother and
00:40:36
grandfather lived with this haunting
00:40:40
feeling of never knowing if he was alive
00:40:42
or dead until the day they died
00:40:46
awesome I think my grandparents would
00:40:48
commemorate Frankie's birthday in
00:40:50
different ways from year to year it
00:40:53
never went
00:40:54
forgotten I can recall a time when and
00:40:58
we were over at my grandmother's house
00:40:59
to eat dinner and there happened to be a
00:41:03
cake on the table and and I asked why
00:41:05
there was a cake there and she told me
00:41:07
that it was because it was Frankie's
00:41:10
birthday I'm searching to find the
00:41:12
answer whether he is alive or dead so
00:41:15
that I don't end up the same way that my
00:41:17
grandparents did because they both died
00:41:20
not knowing the real truth of whether he
00:41:22
was alive or
00:41:24
dead eventually Frankie's family erected
00:41:27
a memorial headstone in his
00:41:30
honor I do go to the Grave
00:41:32
occasionally and our family is all
00:41:35
buried in the same proximity it's kind
00:41:38
of strange though when when I look at my
00:41:40
Uncle Frankie's grave marker and know
00:41:42
that he's not in there and think of the
00:41:45
possibility that he could be walking a
00:41:47
street somewhere yet there's a marker
00:41:50
here with his name on
00:41:52
it
00:41:54
update after this story aired we
00:41:56
received letters from one of the other
00:41:58
men in the photograph he informed us
00:42:01
that the man in the middle was not
00:42:04
Frankie Bloomer although this news was
00:42:07
not what the Bloomer family had hoped
00:42:09
for they were relieved to have a
00:42:11
resolution to their long search
00:42:27
[Music]
00:42:42
[Music]
