00:00:04
DENNIS FARINA: Next on "Unsolved Mysteries,"
00:00:08
a rookie police officer in a small town is shot to death.
00:00:12
Was he murdered to cover up a police conspiracy
00:00:15
with local drug dealers?
00:00:18
In 1947, an object crashed near Roswell, New Mexico.
00:00:24
Witnesses claim that it was a UFO
00:00:26
and that there were aliens on board.
00:00:30
Two inmates break out of jail and set off on a brutal killing
00:00:33
spree that leaves four people dead,
00:00:37
and three friends out for a joy ride drive
00:00:40
straight into violence.
00:00:44
Five cases with strange clues, and bizarre twists,
00:00:48
and secrets that you would never expect.
00:00:51
I'm Dennis Farina, and this is "Unsolved Mysteries."
00:01:30
Mountainair, New Mexico--
00:01:33
Steve Sandlin was born to be a policeman.
00:01:36
His father was a career law enforcement officer,
00:01:39
and Steve planned to follow in his footsteps.
00:01:44
TOM SANDLIN: Because I was a policeman,
00:01:45
Stevie grew up seeing a uniform.
00:01:47
He liked it.
00:01:48
He used to wear my helmet, wear my motorcycle boots.
00:01:52
He'd go around the house all day dressed up like a cop.
00:01:55
Steve wanted to be a police officer,
00:01:57
and nothing was going to do until he did it.
00:02:03
DENNIS FARINA: At the age of 21, Steve
00:02:05
became one of only four officers in the Mountainair Police
00:02:09
Department.
00:02:09
Mountainair 4.
00:02:11
10-8.
00:02:13
DENNIS FARINA: But one evening, while he was working
00:02:14
alone in the police station, Steve's dream
00:02:17
came to a violent end.
00:02:20
DAVID CARSON: I can't recall the exact wording by the individual
00:02:23
that notified us, but when we arrived,
00:02:24
he mentioned something about Steve
00:02:27
upstairs, a gun, and blood.
00:02:28
And he didn't know if it was a joke, or real, or what.
00:02:33
We had our weapons drawn.
00:02:35
We weren't sure what we were walking into.
00:02:38
And I went to Steve--
00:02:39
Steven, hang on.
00:02:40
Get him rolling, Gary.
00:02:41
DAVID CARSON: --and asked him what had happened.
00:02:44
He was unresponsive.
00:02:45
He was breathing, but he never did say anything.
00:02:49
We immediately called emergency services, ambulance personnel,
00:02:53
and they immediately started their lifesaving operation
00:02:57
to try and save the officer's life.
00:02:59
He was still alive at that time.
00:03:02
They were in the process of trying to start an IV,
00:03:06
and shortly thereafter, Officer Sandlin expired.
00:03:09
He was pronounced dead by the doctor here at the scene.
00:03:14
DENNIS FARINA: Steve Sandlin had been on the force
00:03:16
for only eight weeks.
00:03:18
His gun was found by his side.
00:03:20
Police believe that the fatal bullet had
00:03:22
been fired from his own weapon.
00:03:24
Most concluded that Steve's death
00:03:26
was either accidental or a suicide, but others disagreed.
00:03:32
Those of us who knew Steve know that there is no way
00:03:36
that it could have been a suicide,
00:03:39
or even an accidental shooting.
00:03:41
We believe Steve was murdered, and we believe there
00:03:44
was a conspiracy to do so.
00:03:48
The cause of Steve Sandlin's death
00:03:50
sparked a heated public debate.
00:03:52
The most disturbing allegation--
00:03:55
that the identity of Steve's killer
00:03:56
was known, but had been deliberately covered up.
00:04:02
On the afternoon of Steve's death,
00:04:04
he returned to an empty police station
00:04:06
after arguing with Chief Carson over some traffic tickets
00:04:10
that Steve had written.
00:04:12
DAVID CARSON: What I told Steve was, Steve, slow down some.
00:04:16
You can't catch everybody.
00:04:17
That's not your role.
00:04:18
Just take it easy.
00:04:20
And he was-- he seemed a little down about that.
00:04:24
He wasn't chewed out.
00:04:25
It was just a conversation.
00:04:26
Hey, Chelle.
00:04:27
How you doing?
00:04:28
DENNIS FARINA: By 7 o'clock, Steve was alone at the station,
00:04:31
and talking with his girlfriend on the phone.
00:04:32
That's great.
00:04:33
She'll be so happy.
00:04:35
We were making plans for the next day.
00:04:36
He said that Chief Carson yelled at him
00:04:39
and told him to go back into the station.
00:04:41
So he was kind of mad about that,
00:04:42
and he said, if they want him to be a security guard,
00:04:44
that he would sit up in the station
00:04:46
and be a security guard.
00:04:47
And while I was talking to him, I heard a lady's voice come in.
00:04:51
And he muffled the phone, and I couldn't hear what was said,
00:04:55
but it sounded like he was getting loud,
00:04:57
and like she was yelling at him.
00:04:59
And he said it was no big deal, and then he said he had to go.
00:05:02
Bye bye.
00:05:06
DENNIS FARINA: At 7:45, Chief Carson learned
00:05:09
that Steve had been shot.
00:05:10
[GUNSHOT]
00:05:12
DAVID CARSON: I saw no evidence of any confrontation,
00:05:14
no other shots fired, nothing.
00:05:17
And from an average person's point of view,
00:05:19
it was apparently a suicide.
00:05:23
DENNIS FARINA: Chief Carson also believed that,
00:05:25
if Steve's death wasn't suicide, then it was a tragic accident.
00:05:30
DAVID CARSON: There was information
00:05:31
that came to us that he was prone to play with his gun.
00:05:35
I can see the possibility that perhaps he
00:05:37
was playing with his gun, and I think
00:05:39
that that probably is the strongest possibility
00:05:43
in Steve Sandlin's death.
00:05:46
The possibility of it going off is tremendous.
00:05:50
DENNIS FARINA: The results of Steve's autopsy
00:05:52
were inconclusive.
00:05:54
Some believe that the gun may have been as much as two feet
00:05:57
away from Steve's head when it was fired,
00:06:02
not typical of a self-inflicted wound.
00:06:05
And there were only minor traces of gunpowder
00:06:07
found on Steve's hand, unusual if Steve
00:06:11
had fired the fatal shot.
00:06:13
Despite this evidence, the state attorney general
00:06:16
refused to rule out suicide.
00:06:19
Frustrated with the finding, Steve's family
00:06:22
began their own investigation.
00:06:25
TOM SANDLIN: Steve's death was a homicide.
00:06:28
I think they killed him to keep him quiet of something
00:06:31
he may have known that was going on down in Mountainair.
00:06:39
DENNIS FARINA: The family's investigation
00:06:40
uncovered a strong motive for Steve's murder.
00:06:44
After only a few weeks on the job,
00:06:46
Steve had begun to go out on patrol alone,
00:06:49
sometimes waiting outside a local bar for drunk drivers.
00:06:54
STEVE SANDLIN: Sir, I'm going to need to see
00:06:55
your driver's license, please.
00:06:57
Sir, you're going to have to step out of the car.
00:06:59
Put your left hand outside, and open the door from the outside.
00:07:01
DENNIS FARINA: Just one month before his death,
00:07:03
Steve pulled over a driver and found more than liquor
00:07:06
on his breath.
00:07:10
Is this yours?
00:07:13
Sir, I'm placing you under arrest
00:07:14
for possession of marijuana.
00:07:15
Put your hands on the car.
00:07:19
DENNIS FARINA: The following day, the man's home
00:07:21
was searched.
00:07:22
Steve's hunch was correct.
00:07:24
Police seized 54 pounds of marijuana
00:07:27
worth more than $100,000.
00:07:29
OFFICER: Let's get this back to the station.
00:07:35
DENNIS FARINA: Within days of the arrest,
00:07:36
Steve received death threats.
00:07:40
Concerned, he refused to sleep at home.
00:07:43
DAVID CARSON: It wasn't possible to trace
00:07:45
these threats, mysterious phone calls, these kind of things.
00:07:48
We were all familiar with these type of threats,
00:07:51
especially after we started arresting drug dealers
00:07:53
and so forth.
00:07:54
They became more amplified.
00:07:56
DENNIS FARINA: At the time Steve was killed,
00:07:58
the Mountainair Police Department
00:07:59
was being investigated for mishandling evidence.
00:08:05
TOM SANDLIN: The last time I spoke to Steven,
00:08:07
Steven indicated that it was something
00:08:08
going on that he did not agree with down in Mountainair.
00:08:13
He asked me what would I do in that situation,
00:08:17
and I basically told him to tell the truth.
00:08:20
So how long have you been with the Mountainair PD?
00:08:23
DENNIS FARINA: Soon after talking to his father,
00:08:25
Steve was questioned by the New Mexico
00:08:27
attorney general's office.
00:08:29
It was the day before his death.
00:08:32
I think someone killed Steve Sandlin intentionally.
00:08:36
I say that because there's no evidence that it was suicide.
00:08:38
There's no evidence it was accidental,
00:08:40
and there's very strong persuasive
00:08:42
evidence that he was murdered, and that his market was
00:08:45
planned.
00:08:49
DENNIS FARINA: Shortly after his death,
00:08:51
Steve's house was searched by police.
00:08:54
Three days later, his family arrived
00:08:56
to pick up his belongings.
00:08:59
EILEEN SANDLIN: Michelle and I were in the kitchen,
00:09:01
and she opened a drawer.
00:09:05
MICHELLE STURTEVANT: Ed, come here.
00:09:06
STEVE SANDLIN: What we found in the drawer were several bags
00:09:08
of marijuana, and Ed looked at us and said,
00:09:12
they've already searched this house.
00:09:13
What's this stuff doing here?
00:09:15
He says they couldn't possibly have missed this,
00:09:18
and they couldn't have.
00:09:19
You just opened the drawer, and there it was.
00:09:20
It wasn't hidden.
00:09:22
It wasn't disguised in any way.
00:09:25
It was just there.
00:09:28
DAVID CARSON: The only reason that I could think of of it
00:09:31
being there was someone had made an attempt to make
00:09:34
Officer Sandlin look bad--
00:09:35
STEVE SANDLIN: Step back.
00:09:36
I need to see your driver's license.
00:09:37
DAVID CARSON: Or possibly the police department look bad,
00:09:39
but I'm convinced that that marijuana was planted there
00:09:42
after Steve Sandlin's death.
00:09:44
DENNIS FARINA: Steve always recorded
00:09:46
information about his traffic stops on a small tape recorder.
00:09:50
In her search, Steve's mother discovered
00:09:53
that all of his taped cassettes were missing.
00:09:59
JAMES SCARANTINO: Several witnesses
00:10:00
were found who stated that they saw Chief Carson parked
00:10:06
or outside the Mountainair police department between 7:15
00:10:11
and 7:25, or thereabouts.
00:10:14
We're not talking one or two, but several people
00:10:17
place him there at that time.
00:10:19
Anyone who would make the statement officially
00:10:21
that I was in the area or here at the police station
00:10:25
anytime between 7:00 and 7:30 is a liar,
00:10:29
because I was in the company of 200 to 300 people
00:10:31
at a public function at the Mountainair High School.
00:10:33
And there were a number of people
00:10:34
that I was there with and spoke with that can
00:10:37
place me there at that time.
00:10:40
DENNIS FARINA: There are many disturbing questions
00:10:42
in this case.
00:10:43
Steve, come on.
00:10:44
DENNIS FARINA: If Steve was murdered,
00:10:46
who pulled the trigger?
00:10:48
Was the marijuana placed in his house?
00:10:50
And if so, why?
00:10:53
And finally, are members of the mountain
00:10:56
air police department hiding information
00:10:59
about Steve's death?
00:11:01
I did agree to take a lie detector test with the Federal
00:11:03
Bureau of Investigation.
00:11:05
After that polygraph was given, his official statement
00:11:08
was that the Federal Bureau of Investigation
00:11:10
has no reason to believe there was any attempt to deceive
00:11:12
them on my part whatsoever.
00:11:16
EILEEN SANDLIN: I don't know if it's cronyism.
00:11:17
I don't know if there's other people involved,
00:11:21
and no one's telling us.
00:11:23
That's the main frustration--
00:11:25
is that there are things that we know
00:11:27
and can't understand why things are not being done about them.
00:11:33
DENNIS FARINA: Update-- authorities
00:11:36
have learned that, five months before Steve Sandlin was
00:11:39
killed, law enforcement received a tip
00:11:41
that a police officer was going to be shot by drug dealers.
00:11:46
Lacking specifics, police were unable to take action.
00:11:50
Steve's death has been officially
00:11:52
reclassified as a homicide.
00:11:56
Recently his name was added to a memorial
00:11:58
honoring New Mexico police officers
00:12:01
killed in the line of duty.
00:12:03
The case remains unsolved.
00:12:07
If you have any information, please log on to our website
00:12:10
at unsolved.com.
00:12:16
Next, could there have been aliens on board the UFO that
00:12:20
crashed in Roswell, New Mexico?
00:12:32
In 1947, this startling headline appeared in the Roswell,
00:12:36
New Mexico "Daily Record."
00:12:39
The story that followed became the first chapter
00:12:41
in the modern era of UFOs.
00:12:47
The events began with a violent storm on July 2, 1947.
00:12:58
A few days later, a local rancher
00:13:00
led two military officers to a field
00:13:03
where something had crashed during the storm.
00:13:08
Major Jesse Marcel Sr, an intelligence
00:13:11
officer and combat pilot, was unable to identify the debris.
00:13:19
Jesse Marcel Jr. was 11 years old at the time
00:13:23
and vividly remembers the night that his father brought
00:13:26
home pieces of the wreckage.
00:13:28
What is it?
00:13:29
I have no idea.
00:13:31
DENNIS FARINA: He is one of the few people
00:13:33
who claim to have handled it.
00:13:36
Marcel recalls that the most remarkable fragment
00:13:39
was a short piece of I-beam covered with strange symbols
00:13:43
and markings.
00:13:45
DR. JESS MARCEL: Years after this incident happened,
00:13:48
we would talk privately among ourselves about what
00:13:51
the possibilities of this--
00:13:53
what this thing was.
00:13:55
And I feel that we--
00:13:56
well, I know that we came to the conclusion
00:13:58
it was not of earthly origin.
00:14:01
This writing could be described as like hieroglyphics,
00:14:05
Egyptian-type hieroglyphics, but not really.
00:14:08
The symbols that were in the I-beams
00:14:09
were more of a geometric type configuration
00:14:12
in various designs.
00:14:14
It had a violet purple type color,
00:14:17
and it was actually an embossed part of the metal itself.
00:14:22
DENNIS FARINA: Other witnesses have claimed that the Army not
00:14:24
only recovered the wreckage of a UFO,
00:14:27
but also the bodies of its occupants.
00:14:32
Captain Pappy Henderson was stationed at Roswell in 1947.
00:14:37
Two years before he died, he described
00:14:40
what he saw to his wife.
00:14:43
SAPPHO HENDERSON: My husband told me the bodies
00:14:45
were smaller than human bodies.
00:14:48
The heads were larger, and the eyes were rather
00:14:51
sunken and a little slanted.
00:14:54
Clothing was of material unlike anything he'd seen before.
00:14:58
They were strange, not of this earth.
00:15:03
When my husband, who was a man of truth,
00:15:06
trusted with 29 different Army aircraft
00:15:09
planes, first pilot, aircraft commander, tells me this story,
00:15:14
I believed him.
00:15:16
DENNIS FARINA: Shortly after the details of the crash
00:15:19
were made public, the army changed its story.
00:15:23
They admitted to making a serious mistake,
00:15:26
and announced that the flying saucer
00:15:28
wreckage was, in fact, debris from a downed weather balloon.
00:15:35
For almost 50 years, the events that took place
00:15:38
at Roswell and the official explanation
00:15:41
fueled suspicion of a cover-up.
00:15:45
The Air Force has always insisted
00:15:48
that rumors of an alien contact were just that--
00:15:52
rumors.
00:15:53
But new witnesses continue to come forward claiming
00:15:56
that the Roswell story is true.
00:15:59
Of all of these reports, the account provided by a man
00:16:02
named Glenn Dennis is just too compelling to be ignored.
00:16:07
In 1947, Glenn Dennis was 22 years old
00:16:11
and just out of college.
00:16:15
That summer, he was working at a funeral home in Roswell.
00:16:20
Two days before the UFO story broke,
00:16:22
Glenn received a strange phone call from the Roswell air base.
00:16:27
He's not in, but this is Glenn Dennis.
00:16:28
Can I help you?
00:16:29
CAPTAIN MEISER (ON PHONE): Glenn, this is Captain Meiser.
00:16:31
I'm the mortician-- mortuary officer over at the base.
00:16:35
Yes, sir.
00:16:36
GLENN DENNIS: He was wanting to know what size hermetically
00:16:39
sealed baby caskets do we have.
00:16:41
Did we have specifically 3 feet 6 inches,
00:16:45
or did we have maybe no larger than a 4 foot hermetically
00:16:49
sealed casket.
00:16:51
DENNIS FARINA: That afternoon, Glenn
00:16:53
was called to transport an injured air
00:16:55
man to the Roswell base.
00:16:57
When he arrived, he was surprised to find the base
00:17:00
infirmary surrounded by MPs.
00:17:03
Two ambulances parked at the curb
00:17:06
immediately caught his attention.
00:17:09
GLENN DENNIS: I looked into the ambulance,
00:17:11
and I saw quite a bit of wreckage of some type.
00:17:15
It looked like stainless steel that had come in contact
00:17:19
a the high degree of heat.
00:17:21
And it was a purplish, bluish color.
00:17:26
I noticed one large piece of the wreckage.
00:17:29
It looked like there was some Egyptian hieroglyphics.
00:17:33
MAN: All right, then, seal off that corridor.
00:17:39
GLENN DENNIS: The confusion at that day that I was out
00:17:41
there was so great that I don't think anyone
00:17:44
really knew what the other man was doing,
00:17:46
and I don't think they even knew each other.
00:17:48
I think they were brought in from different military bases
00:17:50
or whatever.
00:17:52
Sir?
00:17:53
Can I help you?
00:17:54
I'm Glen Ennis with the Ballard Funeral Home,
00:17:56
and we have a contract with the base.
00:17:57
There was a crash outside.
00:17:58
Do you want me to go back and get ready or anything?
00:18:00
When you get back to town, you didn't hear anything,
00:18:02
and you didn't see anything, because nothing happened here.
00:18:04
Do you understand me? - That's not true.
00:18:06
I just saw a crash outside.
00:18:07
Now you get this straight.
00:18:08
Nothing happened.
00:18:10
You can't tell me what to do.
00:18:11
I'm a civilian.
00:18:12
GLENN DENNIS: And that's when he said,
00:18:13
look, mister, somebody will be picking
00:18:14
your bones out of the sand if you
00:18:16
go starting a lot of rumors.
00:18:19
Sergeant, escort this man back to the funeral home.
00:18:23
GLENN DENNIS: Two MPs came up and said,
00:18:24
sir, we have to escort you back to your mortuary.
00:18:30
There was a door open into one of the supply room,
00:18:33
and the nurse that I knew personally was coming out.
00:18:36
You better get out of here.
00:18:37
You're going to get in a lot of trouble.
00:18:40
MAN: Get him out of here!
00:18:42
GLENN DENNIS: Something very drastically
00:18:43
was wrong at the base.
00:18:45
Naturally, I was curious and mad,
00:18:48
and I couldn't believe what was happening.
00:18:51
So the first person I thought of was to contact the nurse
00:18:54
to see what she might know, and could she bring me up
00:18:58
to date on what was going on?
00:19:00
You have to promise me that you will not mention my name.
00:19:03
DENNIS FARINA: The next day, the nurse
00:19:04
agreed to talk to Glenn if he swore
00:19:06
to never reveal her identity.
00:19:10
I went into the supply room to pick up some bandages,
00:19:13
and there were two officers there
00:19:14
who ordered me to take notes.
00:19:17
GLENN DENNIS: She said that she saw that they
00:19:19
were doing a partial autopsy.
00:19:21
And there were these two old hospital gurneys with these two
00:19:25
little crash bags on top.
00:19:27
GLENN DENNIS: There was a crash bag that was open,
00:19:30
and there was two very mutilated, very small bodies.
00:19:34
But They weren't children.
00:19:36
I never seen anything like that.
00:19:37
GLENN DENNIS: It's OK.
00:19:39
And then one of the officers--
00:19:42
here let me-- let me draw it for you.
00:19:44
GLENN DENNIS: They turned a hand over that had been severed,
00:19:47
and then they were explaining that it was a very fragile
00:19:49
hand, only four fingers.
00:19:51
Like little-- like little suction cups.
00:19:54
GLENN DENNIS: The head was very large.
00:19:55
The eyes were set back.
00:19:57
They didn't have the earlobes or anything.
00:19:59
They were like two canals--
00:20:00
like two ear canals.
00:20:02
There was no teeth, and it was just like a piece of cartilage,
00:20:06
maybe.
00:20:07
Then they opened the next bag, and there was a whole creature
00:20:13
in there that wasn't mutilated.
00:20:15
DENNIS FARINA: The nurse claimed to have seen three bodies.
00:20:18
None of them seemed to be earthly in origin.
00:20:21
NURSE: It was just horrible.
00:20:22
I've never seen anything like that in my life.
00:20:30
DENNIS FARINA: After Glenn left the nurse,
00:20:31
he returned to his office.
00:20:33
When he casually unfolded the newspaper on his desk,
00:20:37
it was the infamous edition of the "Roswell Daily Record."
00:20:41
Glenn never saw the nurse again.
00:20:44
A few weeks later, rumors circulated
00:20:47
that she had died in a plane crash
00:20:49
after being transferred out of the country.
00:20:51
To this day, Glenn remains convinced that the details
00:20:55
of her story are true.
00:20:57
GLENN DENNIS: There had to be some type of a body present.
00:21:00
I don't think the nurse lied about it
00:21:01
because I don't think she knew how to lie in the first place.
00:21:04
And I just think something happened very unusual, and it--
00:21:08
I don't-- I doubt very seriously if the world
00:21:11
will ever know what happened.
00:21:14
DENNIS FARINA: Since our interview with Glenn Dennis,
00:21:16
other witnesses have come forward with testimony
00:21:19
that backs up his story.
00:21:22
At the same time, the Air Force has claimed
00:21:24
that the alien bodies were actually dummies that
00:21:28
were part of a parachute test.
00:21:31
Perhaps one day we will find conclusive evidence of UFOs.
00:21:36
Until that time, the events at Roswell,
00:21:39
New Mexico remain one of the most compelling UFO mysteries
00:21:44
ever reported.
00:21:48
Next, a 17-year-old girl is abducted by a motorcycle gang,
00:21:52
and her mother embarks on a lifelong search to find her.
00:22:05
Coconut Grove, Florida--
00:22:08
Amy Billig was 17 years old.
00:22:11
She was a musician and a singer, who also wrote poetry.
00:22:16
I just got home from school.
00:22:17
DENNIS FARINA: One day in March, she came home from school
00:22:19
at around noon as usual.
00:22:22
She planned to meet with friends downtown for lunch.
00:22:25
All right.
00:22:26
I'll see you soon.
00:22:26
Bye.
00:22:28
DENNIS FARINA: But Amy never showed up.
00:22:32
SUSAN BILLIG: I started getting a little frantic when I hadn't
00:22:35
heard from Amy by dinner time, and I
00:22:37
called the friend that she'd said
00:22:38
she was going to be meeting.
00:22:40
And the girl was quite angry.
00:22:42
She said, Amy never showed up.
00:22:44
Mom?
00:22:45
DENNIS FARINA: 12 days after Amy disappeared,
00:22:48
a woman phoned with shocking news.
00:22:51
Hello?
00:22:52
DENNIS FARINA: She said that she was a member of a motorcycle
00:22:54
gang known as the Outlaws, and told Susan
00:22:57
that the gang had abducted Amy.
00:22:59
Where?
00:23:03
DENNIS FARINA: Renegade biker gangs
00:23:04
had a reputation for causing trouble in small towns
00:23:08
across the country.
00:23:09
Susan learned that a chapter of the Outlaws
00:23:11
had, in fact, roared through Coconut
00:23:14
Grove at about the same time that Amy disappeared.
00:23:17
DET.
00:23:18
MIKE GONZALEZ: We had to consider that maybe Amy was
00:23:20
abducted, kidnapped, taken away by the-- these bikers,
00:23:23
but it was always controversial with the police,
00:23:25
because these leads concerning the bikers were always vague
00:23:30
and usually ended up nowhere.
00:23:34
DENNIS FARINA: Amy's family was desperate,
00:23:36
and the biker connection offered a ray of hope.
00:23:39
A family friend, who had done legal work for the Outlaws,
00:23:42
arranged for Amy's parents to meet with two gang members.
00:23:46
Pleasure.
00:23:48
SUSAN BILLIG: I was frightened, because I had never seen people
00:23:50
like this before in my life.
00:23:52
And here they are in my living room.
00:23:55
I got a feeling of revulsion, and hate,
00:23:58
and love at the same time.
00:24:01
I wanted them to give me information about my child,
00:24:04
and that was paramount.
00:24:06
I didn't care what they looked like.
00:24:08
These are pictures of my daughter.
00:24:10
She's missing.
00:24:11
SUSAN BILLIG: They told me that these things do happen,
00:24:13
that the bankers will take girls and will
00:24:15
sell them to one another for very little,
00:24:18
like a credit card.
00:24:19
It takes very little to buy a girl.
00:24:21
I was told that you would help me.
00:24:25
We'll take the picture, and if she's in the Outlaw nation,
00:24:28
we'll let you know within two days.
00:24:30
DENNIS FARINA: Although the bikers promised
00:24:32
to ask other gang members about Amy,
00:24:34
Susan never heard from them again.
00:24:37
CAPT. CARL CARRUTHERS: Amy could have
00:24:39
been abducted and then sold from one individual to another.
00:24:43
They put her out making the money, either topless dancing,
00:24:47
hooking, ripping off credit cards, anything that she
00:24:51
can do to bring home the money.
00:24:53
DENNIS FARINA: For Susan, the thought of her daughter
00:24:55
in the hands of a biker gang was unbearable,
00:24:58
but that was where the leads pointed,
00:25:00
and that is where she would search.
00:25:03
On Amy's 19th birthday, a biker called Susan after seeing
00:25:08
this picture in the paper.
00:25:10
He told her that he had once actually owned Amy.
00:25:13
He agreed to talk to Susan, but only
00:25:16
if he drove her to his house.
00:25:20
SUSAN BILLIG: I thought I might never see my husband again
00:25:22
when I got on the back, but I put it in the back of my head,
00:25:26
and I got on the bike, and I went.
00:25:30
Nobody better follow us back here, lady.
00:25:33
SUSAN BILLIG: He was very nervous about it.
00:25:34
He kept looking out the window to see if I had been followed.
00:25:37
Just look at this picture, and tell me if that's her.
00:25:41
Whoa.
00:25:42
That's her.
00:25:44
That's her.
00:25:45
SUSAN BILLIG: He said she was quiet,
00:25:46
and she didn't speak to anybody-- that she
00:25:48
was afraid of everybody.
00:25:49
When I first bought her--
00:25:50
He said she was like mute, and the word
00:25:53
kept coming up in descriptions of her through everything.
00:25:57
There was a scar down here.
00:25:59
SUSAN BILLIG: The most pertinent information
00:26:01
that he gave me was that Amy had a scar,
00:26:04
and it was a scar that was hidden on her body,
00:26:07
that I had never divulged to the police,
00:26:09
or the press, or anyone.
00:26:11
You've got to help me find her.
00:26:13
You're my last hope.
00:26:16
All right.
00:26:18
DENNIS FARINA: Although the biker
00:26:19
had agreed to help Susan find Amy,
00:26:22
several weeks passed with no word.
00:26:25
Finally, he called and said that Amy was with the Outlaws
00:26:28
in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
00:26:30
Susan made plans to travel the 1,200 miles
00:26:33
and continue her search.
00:26:35
DET.
00:26:36
MIKE GONZALEZ: We were concerned about her safety.
00:26:38
We were concerned about the investigation,
00:26:39
and we didn't think it was a good idea,
00:26:41
but it was impossible ever to try
00:26:43
to discourage her from following up every lead, no matter
00:26:45
how dangerous.
00:26:46
She didn't care.
00:26:49
DENNIS FARINA: The biker told Susan to meet him in a bar
00:26:51
in the roughest part of town.
00:26:53
He promised her that he would bring Amy with him.
00:26:57
If Amy's in there, I want her to see me.
00:27:00
Look, I told you not to do nothing.
00:27:01
SUSAN BILLIG: I was extremely excited.
00:27:02
I called home, and I packed my bags at my hotel,
00:27:06
because I thought I'd have to run to the airport with her.
00:27:10
And we went to this dark bar, where
00:27:12
they were just bikers and people drinking,
00:27:15
drunk, and everything.
00:27:16
And he sat me down somewhere, and--
00:27:19
Look, I'll be right back.
00:27:20
I got to talk to some people.
00:27:24
Hey, Duke, what the hell's happening?
00:27:25
SUSAN BILLIG: A few minutes after he walked away from me
00:27:27
is when all hell broke loose in that bar.
00:27:29
Hey, what the hell, man?
00:27:30
What are you guys doing?
00:27:32
SUSAN BILLIG: I was afraid that I was going to be killed.
00:27:37
DENNIS FARINA: Susan was hustled outside to a waiting taxi,
00:27:40
as if it had all been planned ahead of time.
00:27:44
She never saw Amy in the bar, and she
00:27:46
never saw the biker again.
00:27:49
Her search had hit another dead end.
00:27:52
13 more years passed before Susan
00:27:55
heard another word about Amy.
00:27:57
This time it came from halfway around the world.
00:28:02
Tell me more. I want to hear about this.
00:28:04
Did she play music?
00:28:05
Yes.
00:28:06
DENNIS FARINA: Virginia Snyder was
00:28:07
a private investigator who had been working
00:28:09
on a different case in England.
00:28:12
According to Snyder, a colleague was in a post office
00:28:16
when he was approached by an American biker.
00:28:18
Hey, boss.
00:28:19
Yes?
00:28:21
You look like you could use a little companionship.
00:28:24
I'm afraid I don't quite understand you.
00:28:26
Look, I got a girl for you.
00:28:29
It won't cost you much.
00:28:30
What do you say?
00:28:31
VIRGINIA SNYDER: The investigator,
00:28:32
being a good investigator, engaged the man
00:28:35
in conversation, as far as I could gather,
00:28:37
to get as much information as he could about the girl
00:28:40
that was being offered to him.
00:28:42
Then, of course, he didn't buy her.
00:28:43
He wasn't interested.
00:28:45
And then he passed the information on to me.
00:28:48
American girl.
00:28:49
Oh.
00:28:50
Oyster baby.
00:28:51
Oyster Bay, New York was where Amy Billig had been born.
00:28:56
What is her name?
00:28:58
Mute.
00:28:59
SUSAN BILLIG: The fact that they called her mute really affected
00:29:03
me, because here all these years of my search she had been mute,
00:29:09
had not talked.
00:29:11
And here I was faced with the same situation,
00:29:14
but in another country.
00:29:16
Perhaps you have a photograph you could show me.
00:29:20
DENNIS FARINA: This strange encounter
00:29:22
with the British investigator came to nothing.
00:29:25
It was just another clue, another painful near miss
00:29:30
in a mother's endless search for her daughter.
00:29:35
Update-- in a deathbed confession,
00:29:38
a former member of the biker gang
00:29:40
that kidnapped Amy said that she had been drugged,
00:29:43
raped, and killed soon after being abducted.
00:29:48
Police were able to verify some details of the biker's account.
00:29:52
Unfortunately, by the time he confessed,
00:29:55
both of Amy's parents had died, and they never learned what
00:29:58
happened to their daughter.
00:30:01
Next, the story of the brutal shotgun slaying of three men
00:30:06
on a back road in Tennessee.
00:30:09
[GUNSHOT]
00:30:19
Signal Mountain, Tennessee--
00:30:24
Earl Smock, Kenneth Griffith, and his father-in-law, Richard
00:30:28
Mason warmed up their engines before taking off for a ride
00:30:32
on the local back roads.
00:30:34
MARTHA MASON: They got on their motors and rehabbed a map
00:30:36
and they couldn't wait to get out they were ready to go,
00:30:40
because they knew they had a few hours of daylight time.
00:30:44
DENNIS FARINA: At 6:00 PM, the three men left
00:30:46
Mason's home on their ATVs.
00:30:50
By daybreak, the next morning, they had not returned.
00:30:54
MARTHA MASON: When I woke up, I realized
00:30:57
that they weren't home.
00:30:58
My feeling was maybe it was cloudy that night,
00:31:01
and they couldn't find their way back,
00:31:04
but I knew deep down that wasn't what happened,
00:31:07
that something was wrong.
00:31:10
DENNIS FARINA: All three men were skilled riders
00:31:12
and knew the local trails.
00:31:15
Fearing foul play, friends and family began to search.
00:31:20
A few hours later, on Roberts Mill Road,
00:31:23
about five miles from the Mason home,
00:31:25
a local resident stopped to check his tire.
00:31:30
He spotted three ATVs covered with blood in a trash dump
00:31:35
at the bottom of a bluff.
00:31:37
He called the police.
00:31:38
DET.
00:31:39
LARRY SNEED: The dispatcher requested
00:31:40
for us to respond to that area.
00:31:42
They, at this time, informed us that three men from Signal
00:31:45
Mountain had left a day earlier, going on a ride,
00:31:49
and had never returned home.
00:31:52
DENNIS FARINA: When police arrived,
00:31:53
a neighbor told them that he had heard gunshots the night
00:31:56
before, the same night that the men had disappeared.
00:32:00
I heard three shots, might have been four.
00:32:03
SGT. MAJOR ROY PARHAM: And he was sure from his experience
00:32:05
that they came from a particular place that he called the gate,
00:32:08
but we had never been back in this particular area.
00:32:11
And of course, this was-- where we wanted to look
00:32:13
is where the shots were heard.
00:32:16
DENNIS FARINA: When police searched the gate,
00:32:18
they found ATV tire tracks.
00:32:20
Nothing else seemed out of the ordinary
00:32:23
until they approached an area posted
00:32:25
with no trespassing signs.
00:32:27
DET.
00:32:28
LARRY SNEED: And as we came to that section,
00:32:29
Roy had noticed a green fly had landed him.
00:32:31
SGT. MAJOR ROY PARHAM: There has to be something around here.
00:32:34
DET. LARRY SNEED: There sure are.
00:32:34
And he made comment that this green flag is in this area.
00:32:38
We need to look, because they're usually after decaying flesh.
00:32:41
DENNIS FARINA: A short distance away, just off the road,
00:32:44
searchers discovered a spot of blood.
00:32:48
Hey, come here.
00:32:49
Look at this.
00:32:50
DET.
00:32:51
LARRY SNEED: At this time, we found a section that appeared
00:32:53
that something had been drug through the woods,
00:32:55
through the grass.
00:32:57
And we did find a pool of blood, and after finding this,
00:33:00
we roped the area off and advised at the command post
00:33:04
that we think we had found the crime scene.
00:33:08
DENNIS FARINA: It wasn't long before police
00:33:09
uncovered human tissue and bone fragments.
00:33:13
Although no bodies were found at the scene,
00:33:15
they were certain that this was the spot where the three
00:33:18
missing men had been killed.
00:33:23
The bodies of Kenneth Griffith, Earl Smock, and Richard Mason
00:33:27
were discovered two days later at another dump site
00:33:30
11 miles from the crime scene.
00:33:33
All three men had been killed with a shotgun.
00:33:36
[GUNSHOT]
00:33:38
Police tried to make sense of the evidence, which was now
00:33:41
scattered over a large area.
00:33:44
The three men left from the Mason
00:33:46
home, which is located near.
00:33:49
The murder site was here, three miles to the north.
00:33:53
The ATVs were found here, near Roberts Mill Road.
00:33:58
The bodies were dumped here, 11 miles from the crime scene.
00:34:05
Based on the physical evidence, police reconstructed the crime.
00:34:09
DET.
00:34:10
LARRY SNEED: It appears that the three
00:34:12
men were riding the dirt road.
00:34:15
They came to the area of the fence.
00:34:18
At that time, they were surprised by someone.
00:34:21
Hey, buddy.
00:34:22
Hey.
00:34:23
[CHATTER]
00:34:24
[GUNSHOTS]
00:34:27
DET.
00:34:28
LARRY SNEED: And it appeared that Kenneth Griffith was
00:34:32
apparently the first one that was shot,
00:34:34
and he was shot in the left side of the head.
00:34:37
That apparently killed him instantly.
00:34:39
Further indications are that Richard Mason
00:34:42
was a second man that was shot.
00:34:43
He had one shot to the chest area.
00:34:47
Earl Smock was shot directly into the right shoulder.
00:34:51
It appeared that he got off of his three-wheeler
00:34:54
and attempted to get away.
00:34:57
The second shot went into the side, through the heart,
00:35:00
and that was a fatal wound.
00:35:03
16 years in the business--
00:35:05
it is my opinion that this is one of the most brutal,
00:35:08
uncalled for murders ever.
00:35:14
DENNIS FARINA: Police believe that, after shooting the three
00:35:17
men, the killer tried to cover up the evidence
00:35:19
at the crime scene.
00:35:21
Then, with the help of at least one accomplice,
00:35:24
he disposed of the bodies and the ATVs.
00:35:28
One eye witness reported seeing two men in a pickup
00:35:32
truck on Roberts Mill Road the same night
00:35:34
the victims disappeared.
00:35:36
There were three ATVs in the back of the truck.
00:35:41
Another witness reported seeing a woman
00:35:44
frantically trying to prevent drivers from going
00:35:47
down Roberts Mill Road.
00:35:49
You can't get through.
00:35:51
There's an accident down the road.
00:35:53
DENNIS FARINA: She was just a quarter mile from where
00:35:55
the ATVs were dropped.
00:36:00
Police speculated that, after the killer and his accomplice
00:36:03
dumped the ATVS, they then returned to the crime scene
00:36:07
to retrieve the bodies.
00:36:09
They then drove 11 miles to the Suck Creek Road dump site.
00:36:13
DET.
00:36:14
LARRY SNEED: It's obvious that whoever put the bodies
00:36:16
there wanted the bodies to be found sooner than what they
00:36:20
were in order to keep the actual crime
00:36:23
scene from ever being found.
00:36:25
And had they had been found on a Monday instead of on Wednesday,
00:36:29
then the actual crime scene at the fence
00:36:32
would have never have been found.
00:36:34
DENNIS FARINA: Police were convinced that the killer was
00:36:36
a local resident, because it appeared
00:36:38
he had detailed knowledge of the back roads on Signal Mountain.
00:36:42
The people in the area are afraid to come forward.
00:36:45
Not fear of it happening again in that area,
00:36:49
but fear that who was involved in it, if they say anything,
00:36:52
will get them.
00:36:58
DENNIS FARINA: Update-- after a tip from one of our viewers,
00:37:03
a local resident named Frank Casteel
00:37:06
was arrested and charged with the three murders.
00:37:10
Casteel owned property in the area,
00:37:12
and he was unhappy about ATV riders trespassing on his land.
00:37:17
He was eventually convicted of the three killings
00:37:20
and sentenced to life in prison.
00:37:22
Frank Casteel will not be eligible for parole until 2029.
00:37:29
Next, two escaped convicts go on a rampage
00:37:32
that stretches across eight states
00:37:34
and kills four innocent people.
00:37:46
Durant, Oklahoma.
00:37:50
Yeah, yeah, St. Clair, what do you want?
00:37:52
DENNIS FARINA: Michael St. Clair has
00:37:53
been convicted of murder twice, and now he's awaiting
00:37:57
trial on a third charge.
00:37:59
What's the matter with you?
00:38:01
Hey, hey, hey.
00:38:02
Shut up.
00:38:03
Shut up. I'll cut your heart out.
00:38:04
You understand?
00:38:05
[CHATTER]
00:38:09
DENNIS FARINA: St. Clair springs fellow inmate
00:38:11
Dennis Reese, who is awaiting trial for robbery and murder.
00:38:16
The night they escape, St. Clair and Reese
00:38:19
embark on a bloody crime spree that
00:38:21
stretches across eight states and leaves
00:38:24
four innocent people dead.
00:38:28
Before his escape, Michael St. Clair
00:38:31
had been convicted on two counts of first degree murder
00:38:34
and sentenced to three consecutive life terms.
00:38:38
BOB A. RICKS: Michael St. Clair has been involved
00:38:41
with various drug trafficking organizations
00:38:43
in southern Oklahoma, as well as northern Texas.
00:38:46
His uncle was moving in on his drug operations,
00:38:49
and he felt that his profits were being threatened,
00:38:51
so he contracted out to have his uncle killed.
00:38:55
After his uncle was killed, he then assassinated the hit man.
00:39:04
DENNIS FARINA: Two days after they escaped,
00:39:06
a newspaper reporter named Tom Mullins received a phone
00:39:09
call from Michael St. Clair.
00:39:11
Just a minute, man.
00:39:12
Let me get my tape recorder hooked up.
00:39:13
For almost 20 months now, I've been
00:39:15
covering Michael St. Clair.
00:39:17
I've gotten to know him fairly well.
00:39:19
When he got out, I was the obvious choice for him
00:39:22
to get his message out, that message
00:39:25
being that he wouldn't be taken alive,
00:39:28
and that, when the time came, anyone wearing a badge,
00:39:30
I'll kill.
00:39:31
And he will go down pulling the trigger.
00:39:35
DENNIS FARINA: Three weeks later, near Elizabethtown,
00:39:37
Kentucky, a state trooper pulled over a pickup
00:39:40
truck, which was seen fleeing from a burning vehicle.
00:39:44
As the pickup truck came to a halt,
00:39:47
the man on the passenger side, who
00:39:48
we now believe was St. Clair, instantly got out of the truck.
00:39:53
The man fired at the trooper's car two times.
00:39:56
The trooper fortunately was not injured at all.
00:39:59
Within just a matter of minutes, the maroon truck
00:40:02
was actually found disabled and abandoned along the interstate.
00:40:06
Apparently it had crossed the interstate, and in doing so
00:40:08
had blown both front tires.
00:40:10
DENNIS FARINA: The truck belonged
00:40:11
to 56-year-old Francis Brady, a retired father of three.
00:40:16
Brady had disappeared 12 hours earlier after cashing
00:40:20
a check at a gas station.
00:40:23
BOB A. RICKS: Brady's body was found
00:40:24
approximately 12 miles north of Elizabethtown, Kentucky.
00:40:28
He had been shot execution style.
00:40:31
He'd been handcuffed and had been shot in the head.
00:40:34
What is remarkable about this type of execution
00:40:37
is that it's almost identical to the way
00:40:39
St. Claire's uncle, Ronnie St. Clair,
00:40:41
had been executed a few years before.
00:40:45
DENNIS FARINA: The burned out vehicle
00:40:46
was registered to a Denver, Colorado paramedic
00:40:49
named Tim Keeling.
00:40:52
Like Francis Brady, Keeling also vanished after patronizing
00:40:55
a convenience store.
00:40:57
His body was found in a ditch outside of Clayton, New Mexico.
00:41:02
BOB A. RICKS: Tim Keeling had been shot in the head.
00:41:04
It appeared that his body had been dropped along the roadside
00:41:08
there in New Mexico.
00:41:09
DENNIS FARINA: Five days later, St.
00:41:11
Clair and Reese struck again--
00:41:12
this time in Milan, Tennessee.
00:41:15
They shot a store clerk execution style.
00:41:19
Soon after, the young female clerk of another video store
00:41:22
eight miles away was also gunned down in cold blood.
00:41:27
BOB A. RICKS: Individuals who would kill for $150 or $200
00:41:31
are extremely desperate individuals.
00:41:34
It indicates that they do not have any type of support
00:41:37
apparatus going for them.
00:41:39
They're very concerned about staying in one location
00:41:42
for any period of time.
00:41:43
They're very paranoid.
00:41:45
They're very dangerous and will take any actions
00:41:48
to prevent their apprehension.
00:41:52
DENNIS FARINA: Update-- there are
00:41:54
new developments in this case.
00:41:56
Here's one of our staff with details.
00:41:58
MAN: Dennis Reese and Michael St. Clair
00:42:00
have both been arrested again.
00:42:02
Reese had received the life sentence
00:42:04
for murder and kidnapping.
00:42:05
Now he's back where he belongs in prison.
00:42:08
Michael St. Clair, who had been on death row,
00:42:10
was convicted of murder, served his time,
00:42:13
and has been released.
00:42:15
[MUSIC PLAYING]
