00:00:00
[Music]
00:00:03
this program is about unsolved mysteries
00:00:07
whenever possible the actual family
00:00:09
members and police officials have
00:00:10
participated in recreating the events
00:00:12
what you are about to see is not a news
00:00:14
broadcast
00:00:19
when a baby girl named Mariah was born
00:00:22
three months early with critical
00:00:23
problems that are undeveloped lungs
00:00:25
their chances of survival seen grim then
00:00:28
a nurse employed a controversial
00:00:30
technique called therapeutic touch while
00:00:33
it doesn't have the blessings of the
00:00:34
medical establishment therapeutic touch
00:00:37
may have helped save Dryas life
00:00:40
the story of Mitchell sugar moto and
00:00:42
James Pierson is a moving saga of
00:00:45
interracial friendship honed to a Spina
00:00:47
stage by the rigors of war but Mitchell
00:00:50
was cut down by enemy fire and Vietnam
00:00:52
James became as human tonight Mitchell
00:00:55
needs your help to find the man who
00:00:57
saved his life
00:00:59
while the day David now is Viera
00:01:01
remarried no one imagined that the love
00:01:04
and affection would someday disintegrate
00:01:06
into violence no one imagined that 14
00:01:09
years later David would go into hiding
00:01:11
as a fugitive accused of killing his
00:01:13
wife
00:01:15
jointly are these fascinating cases
00:01:18
perhaps you may be able to help solve a
00:01:22
mystery
00:01:23
[Music]
00:01:41
[Applause]
00:01:55
[Music]
00:02:04
[Music]
00:02:20
you are witnessing a controversial
00:02:22
healing technique called therapeutic
00:02:24
touch or TT
00:02:27
it's practitioners who must complete a
00:02:30
comprehensive training program believe
00:02:32
that by running their hands a few inches
00:02:34
above the body they can pinpoint areas
00:02:36
of disease or injury
00:02:39
TT practitioners also claim that they
00:02:42
can direct energy from their bodies to
00:02:44
others in order to promote healing
00:02:48
to the laymen therapeutic touch sounds
00:02:50
pretty wild
00:02:51
although it is taught at major
00:02:53
universities across the country and
00:02:55
practiced by tens of thousands of nurses
00:02:57
and doctors its effectiveness has long
00:02:59
been at the center of a heated debate
00:03:01
does therapeutic touch really work just
00:03:04
ask Janet Ziegler a clinical nurse
00:03:06
specialist and experienced TT
00:03:08
practitioner from Pittsburg Pennsylvania
00:03:14
in November of 1984 Jenna drove her
00:03:17
three boys to the regular martial arts
00:03:19
class
00:03:21
besides his interest in sports janice
00:03:24
youngest son michael was already an
00:03:26
accomplished pianist
00:03:28
[Music]
00:03:32
michael who's only seven went in and as
00:03:36
he was slipping his shoes off he put his
00:03:38
hand up in the jamb of the door
00:03:42
by that time i gotten out of the car and
00:03:45
michael ran out of the school and he was
00:03:48
i don't think he realized what happened
00:03:51
he wasn't crying or anything but his
00:03:52
finger was bleeding profusely and he
00:03:54
said mom I think I pinched my finger and
00:03:57
I looked down at his finger and it was
00:03:59
gone and I said Michael where is your
00:04:01
finger Michael what's wrong my finger
00:04:04
caught in the door okay stand very still
00:04:08
Janet did not panic almost instinctively
00:04:11
she began to treat Michael with
00:04:13
therapeutic touch
00:04:15
[Music]
00:04:17
this immediately calmed him he didn't
00:04:20
shed a single tear at all through the
00:04:22
whole process
00:04:24
okay sweetie let's go wash it off I
00:04:27
looked in the door jamb to find the
00:04:29
finger and I found it it was actually
00:04:32
unrecognizable it was totally squashed
00:04:34
and of course the nail was gone it
00:04:36
really didn't look like a finger but it
00:04:37
was the only thing in the door jamb so I
00:04:38
assumed that's what it was it was scary
00:04:40
I hadn't started to cry or anything but
00:04:43
the blood ende and seeing my finger gone
00:04:47
and wondering what's gonna happen it was
00:04:49
just a fear that went through me well
00:04:51
how was I gonna be able to keep going a
00:04:53
friend rush Janet and Michael to a local
00:04:56
emergency clinic along the way Janet
00:04:59
continued to perform therapeutic touch
00:05:02
although the injury was not
00:05:04
life-threatening Michaels promises a
00:05:06
pianist was now in jeopardy
00:05:09
hey big guy what's your name huh
00:05:13
what happened here his finger was cut
00:05:15
off in the door I need you to sew it
00:05:17
back on I'm sorry but this is never
00:05:19
gonna take I don't think we can reattach
00:05:22
this finger please try he's a pianist
00:05:24
he's got to have this finger
00:05:27
the doctor you know with my insistence
00:05:30
agreed to do it and he turned to me and
00:05:33
he said what are you doing to him and I
00:05:35
said I'm doing therapeutic touch to keep
00:05:37
him calm energy of the finger so he said
00:05:39
well I don't know anything about that he
00:05:41
said but whatever it is you're doing
00:05:43
keep doing it because I've never seen a
00:05:45
child so calm in such a situation
00:05:48
despite his misgivings
00:05:50
as the doctor reattached the fingertip
00:05:52
he recommended that Michaels see a
00:05:54
plastic surgeon as soon as possible
00:05:57
the very next day when I went to the
00:05:59
plastic surgeon he unwrapped it looked
00:06:02
at it and said I'm sorry this is not
00:06:04
going to take he's going to lose his
00:06:06
finger and he just wrapped it up again a
00:06:09
dry dressing didn't do anything at all
00:06:12
to the finger and it went like that
00:06:15
every week
00:06:16
hello Doctor
00:06:19
Oh Michael what's your answer for eight
00:06:22
weeks
00:06:23
Janet used therapeutic touch on Michaels
00:06:25
finger for eight weeks the plastic
00:06:28
surgeon warned that the reattachment
00:06:29
would probably never work
00:06:33
what do scabs gone it's great they
00:06:37
removed the bandage the scab and
00:06:40
everything and I saw like almost a brand
00:06:42
new finger with new skin and everything
00:06:44
I was totally overwhelmed a good deal
00:06:47
more color than I expected I don't think
00:06:48
there's any swelling well appearances
00:06:51
can be deceiving can you do this can you
00:06:54
feel that yeah
00:06:55
no it may not mean anything to
00:06:59
be honest with you mrs. Ziegler I think
00:07:02
the fingers gonna fall off there
00:07:04
probably before summer so why don't you
00:07:06
make an appointment with me then and
00:07:07
we'll see where we stand
00:07:09
the plastic surgeon was willing even
00:07:13
before the bandage came off Michael was
00:07:15
back at the keyboard less than a month
00:07:17
later he placed first in the piano
00:07:19
competition
00:07:24
a
00:07:27
decade later music remains an important
00:07:30
part of Michael's life
00:07:33
[Music]
00:07:47
the experience of my accident and what
00:07:50
my mom did for my finger most definitely
00:07:52
changed my feelings about therapeutic
00:07:54
touch
00:07:55
before it happened I would go to my mom
00:07:58
get the treatment from her but was a
00:08:01
little skeptical you know it looks sort
00:08:03
of funny and would joke about it after
00:08:04
this experienced I was totally 100%
00:08:07
believing in her therapeutic touch and
00:08:09
that it definitely worked
00:08:12
trained TT practitioners like Janet
00:08:15
Ziegler believed that the human body is
00:08:18
a complex field of interacting energies
00:08:20
that can literally be felt and that can
00:08:22
be disturbed by injury or illness
00:08:25
tt practitioners use their hands to
00:08:27
reorder these disturbances
00:08:31
in Michaels case his finger mended
00:08:34
perfectly although two physicians have
00:08:37
predicted the opposite should
00:08:39
therapeutic touch take credit for such
00:08:41
successes not everyone is convinced I
00:08:44
think the practitioners are good and
00:08:49
honest and kind nurses
00:08:52
I think their therapy which stresses
00:08:56
energy fields emanating from people
00:08:59
which they
00:09:01
seek to
00:09:03
influence with their fingers is below me
00:09:07
the
00:09:09
debate is rate since the 1970s when a
00:09:12
nurse named Dolores Krieger first
00:09:14
developed therapeutic touch and defined
00:09:17
what makes an effective healer
00:09:19
what you remove by originally is a
00:09:22
compassion you see a compassion to help
00:09:25
another person and it's the power of
00:09:28
compassion that brings you across that
00:09:30
bridge
00:09:32
the good effects are primarily placebo
00:09:35
effects that means
00:09:38
that what the patient believes will
00:09:41
happen will happen a
00:09:44
couple we will call George and Marie
00:09:46
could care less about placebos they
00:09:49
learned about therapeutic touch
00:09:51
firsthand when they were a heartbeat
00:09:53
away from a personal tragedy
00:09:55
in November of 1993 Marie was six and a
00:09:59
half months pregnant when she was
00:10:00
stricken with preeclampsia weeks ago her
00:10:03
body was releasing lethal toxins into
00:10:05
her bloodstream threatening her life and
00:10:08
that of her unborn child we can't wait
00:10:10
any longer George we have to do with
00:10:13
cesarean it's my baby gonna be okay
00:10:15
baby's fine she's very healthy was the
00:10:17
last time I saw you I remember going
00:10:19
into delivery room and I felt myself
00:10:22
slipping away I did feel myself slipping
00:10:25
away it felt as if it would have been
00:10:28
very easy to just let go because things
00:10:31
were just so drastic at that point but I
00:10:34
knew George was waiting for me and this
00:10:37
baby that I wanted more than anything in
00:10:39
the whole world and I knew I had to live
00:10:41
I had to survive for that baby the next
00:10:44
thing I remember it sounded like a
00:10:45
little screech like a little cat my
00:10:48
daughter was born
00:10:49
and
00:10:51
I had mixed feelings and mixed emotions
00:10:54
because I was really worried about my
00:10:56
wife and I was worried about my daughter
00:11:00
situation kept see-sawing back and forth
00:11:03
my wife got a little better my daughter
00:11:06
got worse
00:11:09
George and Marie's daughter Mariah was
00:11:12
born nearly three months premature she
00:11:14
weighed less than two pounds and soon
00:11:16
developed critical problems that are
00:11:18
immature lungs
00:11:19
[Music]
00:11:23
father O'Brien I'm very sorry I'm having
00:11:26
such a rough time little Mariah
00:11:28
continued to weaken and hospital
00:11:30
officials summoned a priest the Baptizer
00:11:33
should we do it now
00:11:38
may God bless this water and this child
00:11:41
and all of his children name this child
00:11:47
why are you Junior i baptize you in the
00:11:49
name of the Father and of the Son and of
00:11:53
the Holy Spirit oh man the nurse
00:11:57
disconnected
00:11:58
the wiring all the tubing from the baby
00:12:01
and put the baby in my wife's arms and
00:12:06
my wife held the baby and she started to
00:12:10
cry
00:12:11
and um I thought that was it I
00:12:16
I
00:12:18
thought the baby was dead
00:12:24
in a last-ditch effort to save Mariah
00:12:26
doctors put the tiny infant on a
00:12:29
respirator
00:12:30
after the delicate procedure one of the
00:12:33
intensive care nurses began treating
00:12:35
Mariah with therapeutic touch
00:12:38
she wasn't slipping drastically under
00:12:41
but she wasn't advancing either I
00:12:44
continued to take care of Mariah for the
00:12:46
rest of my shift and
00:12:48
you know continued to work on her direct
00:12:51
energy and a therapeutic touch mounted
00:12:53
to her and continued to do therapeutic
00:12:55
touch throughout her process in the
00:12:56
hospital
00:12:59
basically I'm a very logical
00:13:02
bottom line shoots straight from the hip
00:13:05
person and for someone to talk to me
00:13:08
about alternative medicines they would
00:13:11
have to prove it to me
00:13:12
[Music]
00:13:18
your oxygen numbers the levels are going
00:13:21
up that's good right responding well
00:13:24
look at her I'm an accountant I do in
00:13:28
numbers and to see this I can relate to
00:13:31
it every time Joanne took care of the
00:13:34
baby every time Joanne had the baby the
00:13:37
baby got better the baby's numbers the
00:13:42
saturation the heart rate the numbers
00:13:46
got better
00:13:48
Laurie was also in critical condition
00:13:51
Joanne began to use therapeutic touch
00:13:53
with her
00:13:55
Joanne did basically the same thing for
00:13:58
me as she had done for Mariah and little
00:14:01
by little it worked and
00:14:03
the pain went away and Joanne would not
00:14:07
take credit for it it was funny she
00:14:09
would just chuck it off like it you know
00:14:11
was just an everyday thing for her it
00:14:13
was part of her nursing technique
00:14:16
[Music]
00:14:20
today Marie and Mariah are back home and
00:14:23
healthy the terrifying crisis of
00:14:26
November 1993 is fading into the past
00:14:28
replaced by the busy joy of caring for a
00:14:31
baby still George and Marie will never
00:14:34
forget how close they came to tragedy
00:14:37
the bottom line is my baby's alive and I
00:14:43
have the doctors to thank I have the
00:14:46
whole nursing staff to thank and more so
00:14:49
I have Joanna thank because I believe
00:14:51
without Joanne
00:14:52
we wouldn't have this baby
00:14:56
if you ask George and Murray or the
00:14:59
Ziegler's they will tell you the
00:15:00
therapeutic touch definitely works but
00:15:03
we still wanted to find out for
00:15:04
ourselves a young woman named Vicky
00:15:07
Ewald allowed unsolved mysteries to film
00:15:09
her first session with a TT practitioner
00:15:11
when we began know knew how the
00:15:14
treatment would turn out
00:15:18
in 1986 Vicky contracted a stubborn cold
00:15:22
that escalated into bronchitis then a
00:15:25
debilitating case of chronic asthma such
00:15:28
breathing problems can be triggered by
00:15:30
either physical or emotional stress but
00:15:32
a parade of specialists failed to help
00:15:35
Vicky
00:15:36
finally I was just sick and tired of
00:15:38
being sick and tired
00:15:39
and I did out of dress just go see
00:15:43
somebody that could possibly help me
00:15:48
Vicky went to see Joanna Riley the same
00:15:51
nurse who attended Mariah in the
00:15:53
hospital
00:15:54
jo-ann had me closed my eyes I had no
00:15:59
idea what she was doing to me I mean I
00:16:01
sensed that something was going on
00:16:02
around me but she wasn't physically
00:16:05
touching me
00:16:06
you know really felt for the first time
00:16:09
today
00:16:10
relaxed and and I guess for lack of a
00:16:14
better word centered and
00:16:16
as we've been around each other today I
00:16:19
was coughing and wheezing most of the
00:16:22
day and since Joann has worked on me
00:16:24
I've coughed once
00:16:27
after the session Vicky experienced a
00:16:31
rush of unexpected emotions
00:16:34
well from from the onset I think of
00:16:38
asthma when I first got to the city I
00:16:40
also did lose a
00:16:42
sibling a brother that's that kind of
00:16:47
triggered
00:16:49
yeah but don't you know the the idea
00:16:53
hasn't Beyonce yeah that's when I got
00:16:55
very sick and couldn't you get back up
00:16:58
and then two years ago I lost my mother
00:17:00
um and there's a lot of grief related
00:17:04
yes
00:17:06
[Music]
00:17:07
in the month after her first session
00:17:10
Vicky Ewald went for three more
00:17:12
treatments Vicky reported that her
00:17:14
breathing improved to the point where
00:17:16
she felt comfortable reducing her asthma
00:17:18
medication
00:17:22
even the most dedicated proponents of
00:17:24
therapeutic touch admit that it doesn't
00:17:26
always work
00:17:27
perhaps in the future medical science
00:17:30
and unravel the mystery of this
00:17:31
intriguing technique in closing one note
00:17:34
of caution all the practitioners we
00:17:37
talked to emphasize a therapeutic touch
00:17:39
should never be performed by anyone
00:17:41
without the proper training
00:17:52
the residents of the Lombardi family in
00:17:55
the Columbus Ohio suburb of Westerville
00:17:57
an ordinary townhouse an ordinary Street
00:18:00
home to a typical middle-class family
00:18:04
but on August 30th 1997 Barney a
00:18:08
housewife and mother would make a tragic
00:18:10
discovery one that would forever rip the
00:18:13
family from the tranquility of suburban
00:18:15
life
00:18:17
Cheryl had come home at around midnight
00:18:19
and she assumed that her 22 year old son
00:18:21
Tony would also be home soon
00:18:27
she says it around 12:45 she heard a
00:18:31
door closing in the sound of footsteps
00:18:33
Cheryl went to Tony's room to say
00:18:35
goodnight
00:18:36
[Music]
00:18:37
son
00:18:39
[Music]
00:18:50
Cheryl was horrified to find her son
00:18:53
lifeless a single gunshot to the head
00:18:56
Tony Lombardi was just a few months shy
00:18:59
of his 23rd birthday
00:19:03
for Cheryl Lombardi the familiar pattern
00:19:06
of life was shattered that morning her
00:19:09
home swarmed with detectives with her
00:19:10
son's bedroom the center of a crime
00:19:12
investigation in such cases Clues found
00:19:15
at the scene will often read like a book
00:19:17
clearly revealing what took place and
00:19:20
implicating any assailants but to those
00:19:22
investigating Tony's death the clues
00:19:25
seem to tell two conflicting stories two
00:19:28
scenarios it would pick Tony's family
00:19:30
against the police
00:19:32
our investigation has been concluded in
00:19:36
our investigation
00:19:38
says that Tony committed suicide
00:19:43
I'm very upset with the fact that I know
00:19:47
our son was killed I know he did not
00:19:50
commit suicide
00:19:51
and I don't think they have a right to
00:19:55
role someone's death a suicide when it
00:19:58
was not a suicide and just closed the
00:20:00
case and go on like it never happened
00:20:03
this home video made a year before he
00:20:06
died shows Tony Lombardi just as his
00:20:09
friends remember him Funland and always
00:20:12
ready with a smile
00:20:14
tony was a hit with the ladies in fact
00:20:17
at the time of his death he was seeing
00:20:19
three women one of whom was already
00:20:21
living with a man
00:20:24
Tony worked the swing shift at a baby
00:20:26
food factory setting up cans to be
00:20:28
filled with formula but on August 29th
00:20:31
1990 Dhoni didn't show up at the plant
00:20:35
early the next morning Cheryl found him
00:20:38
in his bedroom dead
00:20:40
police survived at around 1:15 a.m. they
00:20:44
discovered Tony's car was missing from
00:20:46
the garage
00:20:47
perhaps stolen by an assailant according
00:20:50
to the police investigation moves
00:20:52
swiftly yet by the book our normal
00:20:55
procedure is to contact the detectives
00:20:58
haven't come in we treat all death
00:21:01
scenes as a homicide until we prove it
00:21:03
otherwise
00:21:06
inside on the floor near the body police
00:21:09
found a 38 caliber semi-automatic pistol
00:21:11
with Agatha 937 pouring on the bed was a
00:21:15
single spent 38 shell
00:21:19
then investigators found a drunk driving
00:21:22
citation and Tony's pants pocket which
00:21:24
pushed the inquiry in an entirely new
00:21:26
direction
00:21:27
two days before his death Tony had been
00:21:31
arrested for driving while intoxicated
00:21:32
in Panama
00:21:34
detectives quickly solved the mystery of
00:21:37
Tony's missing car it had been impounded
00:21:39
by Columbus Police at the time of the
00:21:41
arrest ok thanks for the info in
00:21:44
addition Tony had faced fines and
00:21:47
possible suspension of his driver's
00:21:48
license to investigators a portrait had
00:21:52
now emerged of a young man stripped of
00:21:54
his freedom and despondent over
00:21:56
impending legal problems
00:21:59
right now everything that we have any
00:22:02
evidence that we have indicates Tony's
00:22:05
death was a suicide
00:22:08
about the only fact not in dispute is
00:22:10
the time of Tony's death several hours
00:22:13
before shell came home at around
00:22:14
midnight a Tony's family believes his
00:22:18
death was nothing short of cold-blooded
00:22:20
murder I
00:22:21
believe that there was a struggle
00:22:23
because
00:22:25
our son's watch was found broken off of
00:22:29
his arm on the floor
00:22:31
he had an inch and a half the gash of
00:22:34
his left eye he had a broken jaw he had
00:22:37
bruises the fact that he was found nude
00:22:40
he would never let anyone see him nude
00:22:43
those are all things that I think should
00:22:46
have been looked into
00:22:47
[Music]
00:22:50
these Turner observations that morning
00:22:52
Cheryl believes that not only was her
00:22:54
son murdered the killer was still in
00:22:56
Tony's bedroom even as she moved about
00:22:58
the house
00:23:00
Cheryl's evidence is disarmingly simple
00:23:02
the light in Tony's bedroom
00:23:06
going up and down the steps you you can
00:23:09
see my son's room and the door was
00:23:12
closed and there was no light on
00:23:15
going up and down the steps as many
00:23:18
times as I did there is no way I could
00:23:21
have missed the light being on
00:23:24
Cheryl assume Tony hadn't yet arrived
00:23:27
because the light in his bedroom was off
00:23:31
Cheryl says at 45 minutes later she
00:23:34
heard the noise
00:23:38
[Music]
00:23:40
when she saw that the light in Tony's
00:23:42
room was on she assumed he had finally
00:23:45
come home
00:23:46
[Music]
00:23:47
when I went to the room I could
00:23:50
immediately see the light was on
00:23:51
underneath the door it was obvious son I
00:23:57
opened the door and that's when I found
00:24:00
my son Dan
00:24:05
who could have turned on the light
00:24:07
Cheryl now believes it was the killer
00:24:10
trapped in Tony's room by her arrival
00:24:12
home I
00:24:14
believe in my mind that I came in on
00:24:18
someone
00:24:19
that had killed her son I believe that I
00:24:23
surprised him and then when I went to my
00:24:26
bedroom to get ready for bed they
00:24:27
thought that was a good opportunity for
00:24:29
them to leave and I believe that's what
00:24:32
I heard was someone leaving
00:24:34
she was questioned by a detective there
00:24:37
later on after shed composed herself a
00:24:41
little bit as to what the noise was she
00:24:44
hurt he specifically asked her was the
00:24:47
noise a house noise say a door shutting
00:24:49
air conditioner kicking on step creaking
00:24:53
and she said I can't I can't remember
00:24:56
what it was I really don't remember
00:24:58
they'll never change what I heard and
00:25:01
what made me go to our son's room I went
00:25:03
to our son's room because I heard him
00:25:06
come in in my mind I heard the door shut
00:25:09
to me my son had come home to
00:25:12
Tony's parents there was further
00:25:15
evidence pointing to murder in the week
00:25:17
before he died Tony was the target of
00:25:20
two different death threats
00:25:21
a woman who lived next door witnessed
00:25:24
the driver of a white pickup truck
00:25:25
screaming at Tony do you ever cut me off
00:25:28
like that again and I'll kill you you
00:25:30
hear me I said do you hear me I hear ya
00:25:34
where do you live I said where do you
00:25:37
live right here right here
00:25:40
good I got it
00:25:46
we called the police and told them the
00:25:49
woman's name and where she lived which
00:25:50
was a next-door neighbor to my knowledge
00:25:53
as of yesterday they have still never
00:25:55
talked to this woman
00:25:58
Tony's father overheard the second death
00:26:00
threat just a few days later I
00:26:03
was checking my messages and I heard
00:26:06
this threat on our voicemail have a
00:26:09
gentlemen a young person telling Tony
00:26:11
that he had a gun and was going to use
00:26:13
it if Tony doesn't stay away from his
00:26:14
girlfriend
00:26:16
and at that point I brought that up to
00:26:18
Tony and he said not to worry about it
00:26:21
that he had a friend of his call this
00:26:24
person who knew him well and thought it
00:26:27
could be worked out
00:26:29
that way
00:26:31
Tony's best friend Andy Royer agreed to
00:26:35
mediate I
00:26:36
told Tony that I talked to the guy and
00:26:39
see what the deal was on it and I called
00:26:42
him up and
00:26:43
he said to me that his problem was not
00:26:47
with me it was with Tony and that he
00:26:49
would take care of it Tony would get
00:26:51
what was coming to him
00:26:53
lead detective on the case contacted as
00:26:56
many people as he could on the case
00:26:59
either by phone or in person and
00:27:01
attempted to question him about what
00:27:03
they had said or somebody said they had
00:27:05
said and we found no evidence that Tony
00:27:08
was under any immediate death threats
00:27:10
the police never contacted me about
00:27:12
Tony's death at all I never heard from
00:27:17
anybody
00:27:18
about anything
00:27:21
the Lombardi's dispute the official
00:27:23
conclusions drawn from some of the
00:27:25
physical evidence
00:27:26
for example a test that revealed Tony
00:27:29
had recently handled a metal object
00:27:33
any metal is gonna gonna give that trace
00:27:37
metal detection but the conclusion that
00:27:39
we come to is that Tony was holding that
00:27:42
gun in his hand and part of that
00:27:45
conclusion stems from the trace metal
00:27:47
detection he worked on a can line
00:27:50
downtown at the Columbus plant he
00:27:53
handled cans daily
00:27:56
naturally you would have metal on your
00:27:58
hands from working with that
00:28:02
the position of Tony's body and the
00:28:04
trajectory of the fatal bullet are also
00:28:06
subjects a bitter controversy
00:28:09
this was our son's bed that he was
00:28:12
actually killed in and
00:28:15
when I found him he was laying on the
00:28:18
bed and there was two pillows propped
00:28:22
underneath his head or underneath his
00:28:26
shoulders I'm sorry his head was above
00:28:27
pillows he was laying on the edge of the
00:28:31
bed the pillows were under his shoulders
00:28:34
his head was above
00:28:37
above the pillow her son's head was on a
00:28:41
couple of pillows and
00:28:43
the detectives
00:28:47
examined that examined the angle removed
00:28:50
that spent bullet from the headboard and
00:28:53
had every indication there that dent
00:28:56
Bullock
00:28:57
the trajectory of that bullet was
00:28:59
correct and the bullet hole in the
00:29:01
headboard is behind the pillows and as
00:29:04
you can see it's down there and if you
00:29:06
take a pencil and you insert that into
00:29:10
the
00:29:11
headboard you can see that the bullet
00:29:15
hole is much lower than the way I found
00:29:18
our son
00:29:19
the bullet hole does not make sense to
00:29:22
me unless there was some pressure on top
00:29:24
of Tony holding him down the bullet
00:29:27
would have been much higher in the
00:29:28
headboard
00:29:30
finally Cheryl says the county coroner
00:29:33
found bruises on Toni's chest directly
00:29:35
under his clenched hands - Cheryl proof
00:29:38
her son was forcibly held down by an
00:29:41
assailant
00:29:44
the last minutes of Tony Lombardi's life
00:29:46
remained clouded by controversy
00:29:50
as far as the police are concerned the
00:29:53
22 year old took his own life the
00:29:55
conclusions supported by the County
00:29:57
Coroner the Sheriff's Department and the
00:29:59
district attorney
00:30:01
the Westerberg police
00:30:03
sure have sympathy for the family I mean
00:30:06
anybody would have sympathy for the
00:30:09
family and it's very sad situation and
00:30:11
they've suffered a lot of trauma but
00:30:15
you know we have to deal in the facts
00:30:17
and the facts of this investigation
00:30:19
reveal what happened was a suicide
00:30:23
until they open our son's case back up
00:30:27
and change the cause of his death I will
00:30:30
not stop until the last breath is taken
00:30:32
from my body and if I do not accede to
00:30:35
be able to get that done till the day I
00:30:39
die then I'll fight them from eternity
00:30:43
[Music]
00:30:45
next an ex-gi searches for the unsung
00:30:49
hero who saved his life and get naam
00:30:55
[Music]
00:31:02
two natives of Oahu in Hawaii the exotic
00:31:05
is commonplace most of them would
00:31:08
probably drive right by the farm that
00:31:10
Mitchell shigga moto and his wife Connie
00:31:12
run and never give it a second look a
00:31:15
[Music]
00:31:18
passerby would never guess that
00:31:20
Mitchell's sugar moto has a story to
00:31:22
tell in fact has an unsolved mystery
00:31:24
that he hopes our viewers can help solve
00:31:27
back in 1963 Mitchell was a 17 year old
00:31:31
volunteer in the United States Army he
00:31:34
was 5 feet 4 inches tall and weighed 110
00:31:37
pounds remember the less he signed up
00:31:40
for the demanding 173rd Airborne
00:31:43
Division
00:31:48
Mitchell was a smallest man in basic
00:31:51
training and the only Asian American in
00:31:53
his company from the start he faced an
00:31:55
uphill battle
00:31:58
due to my size I was told that I could
00:32:01
never make it being a paratrooper so
00:32:03
that dense in itself gave me an
00:32:05
incentive to try harder
00:32:08
we started like maybe with about 800 men
00:32:12
and
00:32:13
the graduating class was maybe less than
00:32:16
300 so you know it was quite an
00:32:19
accomplishment just to get through it
00:32:22
[Applause]
00:32:23
it was tough being a part of the 173rd
00:32:26
it was clearly an elite airborne unit
00:32:30
with its own special Spri decor created
00:32:32
specially to go to vietnam first to be
00:32:35
deployed by helicopters in combat and
00:32:37
the only combat unit to make a parachute
00:32:40
combat jump in vietnam
00:32:45
in February of 1964 Michels sugar moto
00:32:49
became a full-fledged member of the
00:32:51
173rd
00:32:53
the unit was stationed in Okinawa before
00:32:56
transfer to Vietnam Mitchell was all too
00:32:59
aware of his physical resemblance to the
00:33:01
enemy
00:33:03
that's where I initially started getting
00:33:05
some problems because at that time in
00:33:09
the army we got paid once a month and
00:33:12
we got paid in cash and put the money
00:33:15
away and somehow one way or another it
00:33:18
got stolen from me
00:33:20
[Music]
00:33:22
it was common knowledge around the
00:33:25
barracks that Mitchell was being
00:33:26
victimized only one soldier stepped
00:33:29
forward to befriend him
00:33:30
[Music]
00:33:37
amen we're going out tonight do you want
00:33:39
to come with us I don't feel like it
00:33:42
it's gonna be me and a couple of the
00:33:43
soldiers come on maybe next time
00:33:46
[Music]
00:33:51
he knew that I didn't have any money you
00:33:54
know on his way out he dropped atonia on
00:33:56
my bunking just left the barracks
00:33:59
[Music]
00:34:01
that really caught me by surprise I was
00:34:03
thinking like he must be quite a person
00:34:06
too to even be generous enough to to
00:34:09
help out a person who's basically a
00:34:11
stranger yet you know because I was
00:34:13
fairly new there
00:34:16
didn't get to know very many people yet
00:34:22
in time Mitchell became a regular and
00:34:26
James Pearson's group of friends they
00:34:28
went everywhere together
00:34:30
[Music]
00:34:33
in okay now is this black section of
00:34:36
town to call four corners and I used to
00:34:38
go down there with him and feel
00:34:40
comfortable and we could sit down and
00:34:42
listen to the music and as long as he
00:34:45
knew that
00:34:46
James was my friend I had no worries at
00:34:49
all
00:34:50
[Music]
00:34:52
in May of 1965 the 173rd airborne
00:34:57
shipped out to Vietnam at the front
00:35:00
Michels Asian heritage became a major
00:35:02
problem and his friendship with James
00:35:04
was more important than ever I
00:35:07
[Music]
00:35:09
remember one particular incident when we
00:35:12
came back off of an operation to our
00:35:14
tent city and that's our chance to get
00:35:17
hot meals
00:35:18
one of the guys who was serving
00:35:21
didn't want to serve me so when I got in
00:35:23
front of him he I just stood there and
00:35:25
you just looked at me said move on Jeb
00:35:28
you got a problem yeah I don't serve
00:35:31
zipper heads
00:35:34
come on
00:35:37
what's the problem why don't you just do
00:35:40
the job and serve the soldier right just
00:35:42
relax okay no no you relax it's gonna be
00:35:45
me and you all right the business of
00:35:48
being an Asian American
00:35:50
in combat in Southeast Asia is probably
00:35:55
beyond my capacity to really understand
00:35:58
we were killing people who looked just
00:36:00
like Mitch and I don't know how he dealt
00:36:04
with that it must have been extremely
00:36:05
difficult for him it's a burden that
00:36:08
many of us didn't have to deal with over
00:36:11
and above the burdens of am I going to
00:36:13
be killed maimed or what's gonna happen
00:36:16
to me today
00:36:19
by the end of 1965 the war has
00:36:22
significantly escalated nine months
00:36:25
after the 173rd airborne arrived in
00:36:28
Vietnam they found themselves facing get
00:36:30
Cong guerrillas on an almost daily basis
00:36:35
the enemy was very good at picking the
00:36:37
times and places that they engaged you
00:36:40
so often we were in X open positions and
00:36:43
having to confront them in concealed
00:36:46
positions it was dangerous work
00:36:56
[Music]
00:36:59
January 2nd 1966 of yet Kong bullet tore
00:37:04
through Mitchell sugar Moto's thigh
00:37:06
James's immediately by my side
00:37:10
there was one sniper that was keying in
00:37:13
on us James took a position right in
00:37:16
front of me just like he was trying to
00:37:17
block off the shots there I'm James
00:37:20
actually saved my life
00:37:22
there was another guy solids are the
00:37:25
booby to cover
00:37:28
and then I met it came by he asked me
00:37:31
what kind of pain I was there and he
00:37:33
gave me a shot of medication to try to
00:37:35
take the pain away and then he moves on
00:37:39
to catch up at the company
00:37:41
that's when I guess James and Salazar
00:37:45
decided to take me back to the
00:37:46
evacuation point
00:37:49
James Pierson feared that Mitchell would
00:37:51
succumb to shock he and the GI named
00:37:54
Salazar defied regulations and carried
00:37:57
Mitchell to safety
00:37:59
maybe in the military textbooks you're
00:38:03
supposed to continue with your mission
00:38:05
and the fulfillment of that mission
00:38:07
actually protects you all but you know
00:38:11
that was his best buddy there and
00:38:14
I'll never I could never fault him for
00:38:17
what he did if they didn't stop James
00:38:21
didn't stop to to give me aid I probably
00:38:26
wouldn't wouldn't be oriented enough to
00:38:28
know which which way to go to get to an
00:38:30
evacuation point by myself
00:38:34
so you could really see that James
00:38:37
actually saved my life fix you right up
00:38:39
is he gonna be all right he'll be fine
00:38:40
if I get back to unit
00:38:44
yeah
00:38:48
Mitchell had no idea that he would not
00:38:50
return to the 173rd airborne that he
00:38:53
would never serve beside James Pearson
00:38:56
again a
00:38:59
few weeks later Mitchell was sent home
00:39:02
to Hawaii he never saw James Pearson
00:39:05
again and never had the opportunity to
00:39:07
properly thank the man who saved his
00:39:09
life
00:39:10
[Music]
00:39:12
after our broadcast all that would
00:39:15
change in a most remarkable way a viewer
00:39:18
in San Bernardino California retired
00:39:20
lieutenant colonel truman plants took it
00:39:23
upon himself to track down James Pierson
00:39:25
one week later Lieutenant Colonel plants
00:39:28
found him in Chicago and before long
00:39:30
James his fiancee and his two grown
00:39:33
daughters are on their way to Hawaii to
00:39:36
visit Mitchell Sugimoto and his family
00:39:41
as Michels relatives gathered to welcome
00:39:43
James the two old comrades caught their
00:39:46
first glimpse of one another in nearly
00:39:48
30 years
00:39:51
[Music]
00:39:54
yeah
00:39:56
[Music]
00:40:01
it's great to see you great decision
00:40:05
still up the thing
00:40:07
[Music]
00:40:10
joy
00:40:12
epimers
00:40:14
and just wait to see I had to compose
00:40:18
myself you know you just completely over
00:40:22
where thank you and unbelievable
00:40:23
[Music]
00:40:27
Michels wife Connie greeted James and
00:40:30
traditional Hawaiian fashion after all
00:40:33
this was the man who saved her husband's
00:40:35
life
00:40:37
the bottom line I wasn't going to leave
00:40:42
him out there alone under those
00:40:44
conditions I couldn't did it well
00:40:47
regulations permitted it rule for me I'm
00:40:50
not I just couldn't have did it
00:40:53
and it took a lot from from a real
00:40:57
special person to do something like that
00:41:00
and
00:41:01
my wife she you know when she heard that
00:41:04
story she she made it a point to try to
00:41:07
locate him with no success
00:41:09
until you found you guys
00:41:13
that's my next objective James spent a
00:41:17
full week in Hawaii with Mitch the year
00:41:19
the two of them never stopped talking
00:41:21
about the past in the future next lining
00:41:24
the time they would see each other again
00:41:26
[Music]
00:41:27
so how's it feel to be back together
00:41:30
[Music]
00:41:32
they haven't come up with their words
00:41:34
yet
00:41:35
come over there word I'll write you and
00:41:38
let you know there is no word for this
00:41:40
feeling you know but for right now they
00:41:43
have done with their words
00:41:45
[Music]
00:41:56
when we return and childhood sweethearts
00:41:59
to murder the tragedy David and Alice
00:42:02
beer
00:42:02
[Music]
00:42:13
June 29th 1974
00:42:17
in the main Church of the Portuguese
00:42:20
island of st. Michael twin sisters Alice
00:42:23
and Georgina arruda married their
00:42:25
sweethearts
00:42:27
Alice was 17 and her new husband David
00:42:30
Vieira was just 60
00:42:32
David analysis we first cousins but such
00:42:35
unions are common among traditional
00:42:37
Portuguese families
00:42:39
on that festive day no one could have
00:42:43
imagined that 14 years later and five
00:42:45
thousand miles away in America Alice
00:42:48
would be the victim of a vicious murder
00:42:49
and some of the same family members
00:42:52
would gather again - born at Alice's
00:42:55
grave
00:42:59
Alice Ferris life and death seemed to
00:43:02
been shaped by age-old Portuguese
00:43:03
traditions she grew up in a society
00:43:06
where marriages were arranged her
00:43:08
daughter was brought up to obey first
00:43:10
her father and later her husband it was
00:43:13
a devoutly Catholic world where only
00:43:15
death can truly end a marriage
00:43:20
Alice and David were born on Saint
00:43:22
Michael one of a group of islands west
00:43:24
of Portugal known as the Azores
00:43:27
when Ellis was 9 her family emigrated to
00:43:30
New Bedford Massachusetts 35 miles south
00:43:33
of Boston
00:43:35
even in America Alice's father was
00:43:38
determined that his children will be
00:43:39
brought up in accordance with the old
00:43:41
ways
00:43:42
my dad was very strict with the girls we
00:43:45
weren't allowed to wear makeup we
00:43:47
couldn't wear shorts and
00:43:49
definitely we couldn't have boyfriends
00:43:51
you know it was go to school come home
00:43:53
to house work and stay in the house we
00:43:55
were not allowed to even sit out on the
00:43:57
porch that's how strict he was
00:44:03
Alice was 12 when an unexpected letter
00:44:06
arrived from Portugal it was from her
00:44:09
cousin David then 11 years old
00:44:17
- Ellis is surprised David was proposing
00:44:21
that they be engaged what some might
00:44:23
have regarded as no more than a child's
00:44:25
infatuation was taken very seriously by
00:44:28
a traditional family like the arruda z--
00:44:31
at first my mom says oh you know you're
00:44:34
kind of young and my father right away
00:44:35
insisted that she should start writing
00:44:38
to him because that was his family and
00:44:40
knowing that I you know that'd be nice
00:44:43
being married into the family so he gave
00:44:45
the okay on Alice and she wrote back to
00:44:48
David stating that they would be going
00:44:50
out by writing
00:44:52
the letters continued for five years
00:44:55
David and Alice never once talked on the
00:44:58
phone they didn't see each other until
00:45:00
the summer of 1974 when Alice and her
00:45:03
family returned to st. Michael for the
00:45:06
Alisa who that
00:45:08
at the time that David asked Alice for
00:45:11
marriage Alice insisted also on marrying
00:45:14
him because she thought it would be
00:45:16
better if she would have a little bit of
00:45:17
freedom which we never had
00:45:20
[Music]
00:45:22
David and Alice eventually settled near
00:45:25
her parents and New Bedford
00:45:27
although David spoke little English she
00:45:29
found work in a textile plant within a
00:45:32
year Alice was pregnant
00:45:35
dream average went off pretty good like
00:45:37
maybe I'd say about the first couple of
00:45:39
months and then you know already he was
00:45:41
already starting with her you know she
00:45:43
couldn't wear makeup she couldn't do
00:45:45
anything you know he was very jealous
00:45:47
very possessive my sister
00:45:50
by 1981 Alice and David had three
00:45:53
children
00:45:54
father says that as a years went by
00:45:56
David rarely lost an opportunity to
00:45:59
snarl but Alice or the children
00:46:14
[Music]
00:46:18
she stayed with him because she figured
00:46:21
you know he's the father of the kids and
00:46:23
that's how she was brought up you know
00:46:25
you gotta be with your husband and
00:46:27
that's the way it is
00:46:33
according to photo David's anger seemed
00:46:36
to erupt without cards and continued
00:46:38
without end
00:46:43
they used to always say if you ever
00:46:46
leave me I'm gonna kill you there's no
00:46:48
other woman in my you know for my life
00:46:50
like you are you know you're a good
00:46:51
mother you have a good cook and he
00:46:54
always had threatened her that if she
00:46:55
ever decided to leave him for anybody
00:46:56
that he would kill her but we never took
00:46:59
it seriously you know
00:47:01
[Music]
00:47:03
Cara
00:47:06
very busy dude sometimes you go up to my
00:47:09
parents and tell my mom and dad my can't
00:47:12
take him anymore and he's always beating
00:47:14
me up if any little reason and he's
00:47:16
always been up the kids and my parents
00:47:19
would always like tell her you got to
00:47:21
stay with him he's your husband you know
00:47:23
it's gonna be a shame to the family if
00:47:24
you divorce them we don't believe in
00:47:26
divorces so they kept shoving it back to
00:47:28
him
00:47:31
finally after 14 years of abuse Alice
00:47:35
found the courage to defy her parents
00:47:37
and her husband
00:47:38
she finally felt strong enough to say I
00:47:41
can't take it anymore and she decided to
00:47:44
get him out of the house she finally sat
00:47:47
down and says David I can't take it
00:47:48
anymore I want you to leave
00:47:51
David moved out in the summer of 1988
00:47:54
and Alice began to build a new life for
00:47:56
herself she enrolled in nursing school
00:47:59
fulfilling a lifelong dream and she
00:48:01
began to see another man but David
00:48:04
Vieira would not let go
00:48:07
he began to stalk Alice at work and at
00:48:10
home night and day
00:48:13
[Music]
00:48:18
okay
00:48:21
[Music]
00:48:25
David Clark you
00:48:27
gotta shut up Top Chef
00:48:30
[Music]
00:48:33
her boyfriend went by the house to see
00:48:36
her that morning and
00:48:37
david drove up and down and i think he
00:48:41
spotted the boyfriend's car at the house
00:48:42
and my brother law couldn't take that
00:48:47
[Music]
00:48:57
Alice's boyfriend witnessed the attack
00:48:59
and ran a mile to the nearest police
00:49:01
station to get help
00:49:06
Alice had been bludgeoned with a tire
00:49:08
jack then stabbed 24 times of the
00:49:10
butcher knife by the time authorities
00:49:12
arrived at the scene the young mother of
00:49:15
three was dead David Vieira was nowhere
00:49:18
to be found
00:49:20
we learned that he in fact had taken a
00:49:22
bus from Fall River Massachusetts to
00:49:25
Boston Massachusetts and then from
00:49:27
Boston to Canada someone matching his
00:49:31
description did in fact get off a bus in
00:49:33
Canada near Hamilton Ontario and from
00:49:36
that point on we were unable to find out
00:49:38
where he went
00:49:41
Update David Viera had vanished and for
00:49:45
nearly six years he could not be found
00:49:47
until the night of our broadcast
00:49:51
our particular segment on that show
00:49:54
aired our time here in New Bedford
00:49:56
Massachusetts at approximately 850 p.m.
00:50:00
by 903 p.m. I was receiving telephone
00:50:03
calls from Canada right here into my
00:50:06
office with very good leads as to his
00:50:09
whereabouts the first phone call that I
00:50:11
received saying that they knew where he
00:50:13
was I just jumped up with joy and told
00:50:15
my husband I think we got him you know
00:50:17
and I couldn't believe it took less than
00:50:19
48 hours to apprehend him
00:50:23
vieira had lived in montreal for at
00:50:25
least two years and was well known in
00:50:27
the portuguese community he belonged to
00:50:29
a neighborhood soccer team and was
00:50:31
employed at a local fish market the
00:50:34
era's co-workers were stunned to learn
00:50:36
about his secret past
00:50:38
homies the dream I don't believe the guy
00:50:40
do that I don't believe you know
00:50:42
that guy's so nice because we see the
00:50:45
pictures yeah if we don't see the
00:50:47
picture is exactly the man if we don't
00:50:50
see we never trust
00:50:53
I've seen him I've pretended and with
00:50:56
handcuffs and to me that was a sign of
00:50:58
saying thank God I can rest and my
00:51:00
sister can also be at peace now that
00:51:02
he's caught
00:51:17
[Music]
00:51:24
on our next unsolved mysteries the
00:51:27
fascinating saga the infamous gangster
00:51:29
Dutch Schultz and his lost treasure
00:51:31
legend has it that in 1933 shots Barry
00:51:35
cash gems and bombs were seven million
00:51:37
dollars near a creek in upstate New York
00:51:40
less than two years later showst was
00:51:42
gunned down by rival mobsters and as far
00:51:45
as anyone knows his hidden fortune was
00:51:47
never recovered
00:51:50
join me next Wednesday for another
00:51:52
intriguing edition unsolved mysteries
00:51:56
[Music]
00:52:20
[Applause]
00:52:23
[Music]
00:52:40
[Music]
