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Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 8, Episode 8 - Full Episode

May 23, 2019 / 45:49

This episode of Unsolved Mysteries covers several intriguing cases, including the haunting of The Devil's Backbone in Central Texas, the mysterious death of Leroy Dreyfus, and the disappearance of Bonnie Haim.

The segment on The Devil's Backbone features eyewitness accounts of ghostly encounters, with residents sharing chilling stories of spirits, including a Spanish monk and Confederate soldiers. The area is described as one of the most haunted locations in America.

The case of Leroy Dreyfus centers on his tragic death in 1968, initially ruled a suicide. His sister, Vicki, believes he was murdered and has spent decades seeking justice. An autopsy performed 25 years later revealed evidence of foul play, leading to questions about the circumstances surrounding his death.

The episode also investigates the disappearance of Bonnie Haim, who vanished in 1993. Her husband, Michael, becomes the prime suspect as evidence suggests potential foul play. The episode highlights the conflicting views of family members regarding Bonnie's fate.

Throughout the episode, viewers are encouraged to consider the mysteries presented and possibly assist in solving them.

TL;DR

The episode covers ghost stories at The Devil's Backbone, Leroy Dreyfus's suspicious death, and Bonnie Haim's disappearance and potential murder.

Episode

45:49
00:00:06
tonight on unsolved mysteries the name
00:00:10
alone is enough to make you stop and
00:00:12
think twice welcome to The Devil's
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Backbone in Central Texas locals say
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it's the most haunted spot in the
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country a mother lode of restless
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spirits showed a frightening or perhaps
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even possess you a romeo-juliet love
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affair ends tragically when Leroy's
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right says goodbye to his girlfriend and
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just minutes later smashes his car into
00:00:34
a tree
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the coroner called it suicide Leroy
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sister Vicki believes she has compelling
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evidence that Leroy was murdered on
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David Kempton invited a new friend home
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to dinner he never imagined his wife and
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this friend and become lovers within
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months
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Davis wife left then she dropped from
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sight along with David's four-year-old
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daughter
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join me perhaps tonight you can make a
00:01:00
difference perhaps you can help solve
00:01:03
the mystery
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[Music]
00:01:59
well County Colorado
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Memorial Day 1968 Leroy Dreyfus killed
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instantly
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the coroner's ruling is suicide 25 years
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later at his family's request the body
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of Leroy Dreyfus exhumed for an autopsy
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it is a culmination of a long struggle
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for Leroy sister Vicki who is convinced
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that her brother was murdered
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I took a vow that I would do this for my
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brother and I don't feel like I can stop
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until it's done because I would be
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letting them down I already feel like
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the authorities let him down
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and that obviously someone took his life
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and that he can't I can't let him down
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someone has to stand up and talk for him
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Vicky Marling is a woman and a
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relentless quest a quarter of a century
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may seem like an eternity but for Vicky
00:03:03
time has Stood Still since a day her
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brother died her mission is simple to
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bring Leroy's killer to justice no
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matter how long it takes Leroy was the
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oldest of four children seventeen Leroy
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fell in love with a 16 year old Hispanic
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girl named patty a year later they were
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engaged on the day he died Memorial Day
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1968
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Leroy attended a party at Patty's house
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he left in the late afternoon a block
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and a half away
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Leroy's car smashed head-on into a tree
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word of the accident spread quickly the
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first people on the scene were Leroy's
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father and brother
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I tried to hug him your hand I said how
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gets up gonna go get you some help so
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I've run to the truck and told uggs I
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still run to the grocery store and call
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the ambulance
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by the way sir folks does anybody know
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what happened here he had a fight with
00:04:23
his girlfriend he said he's gonna kill
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himself it was that offhanded remark
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from a bystander to set the suicide
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scenario in motion ambulance driver
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Delbert Mickelson remembers the corner
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come to the hospital and went over what
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happened and then I I was the first one
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to relay the story to him that he'd had
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a fight with his girlfriend and was
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going to kill himself
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based on that information the corner
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demon autopsy was necessary he
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attributed Leroy's death to cult auto
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suicide I went to the district attorney
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in Greeley and I said I don't believe
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this mr. suicide I believe it was a
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murder and I need for you to investigate
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it and he was very rude he said you're
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just a distraught parent there's no
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reason for us to investigate this you
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just gone home and get old for it I just
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cried and went home I never got over
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why don't you take this you always liked
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for 11-year old Vicki Leroy's death
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would prove to be the defining moment in
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her life I remember that my mom was
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crying for a long time and even though I
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was only 11 I knew that was something
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wrong but I had to wait until I was an
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adult to attempt to solve the problem I
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believe the Leroy committed suicide June
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1988 Vicki paid a surprise visit to the
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Boulder County coroner's office she
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fully expected to be Stonewater instead
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she discovered that the current regime
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had already noted the lack of a thorough
00:06:18
investigation into Leroy's death well
00:06:21
you see there's only three recorded auto
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suicides in the whole history of
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Colorado only three and also because
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they see the other two cases you know at
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six-month investigations with reams and
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reams of paperwork and as you can see at
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this report yeah two pages why is there
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only two pages I really couldn't tell
00:06:47
you but I want to encourage you to look
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further into this and if I were you I
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would hire a private investigator I felt
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like it was a real strange thing for
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them for the authorities to bring it to
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my attention as dramatically as they did
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that something's wrong here Vicki became
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her own investigator she knocked on
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doors she talked to Patty's neighbors
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looking for anyone who had any memory of
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the day of her brother died
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has been that fight oh they said there
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was a big fight according to the
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townspeople there was a party going on
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at Patty's house and there had been a
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fight but that it had not been between
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Patty and Leroy that there had been
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several other family members there that
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did not like Leroy and that have been
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drinking all day
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Vicky heard similar stories from a
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number of people but not everyone was
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convinced that there was more to the
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situation than suicide Vicky had a
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little luck with the son of the original
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caller very sorry but I just want you to
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know one thing my father was a coroner
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here for 25 years he was very good at
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what he did I'm sure he did everything
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he could now there's really nothing more
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I can help you with I'm sorry excuse me
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finally Vicky placed an ad in the local
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paper urging Leroy's former girlfriend
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patty to contact her it worked I went to
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the corner and got the coroner's report
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and it stated that you had told the
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authorities that he was gonna leave your
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house to kill himself did you say that
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no no I never said that
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can you tell me anything about that day
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anything else
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I felt like patty knew answers but was
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reluctant to talk
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as far as Vickie was concerned the
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evidence was becoming undeniable
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I just I don't think about that day
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anymore next came the exhumation at long
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last after 25 years the body of Leroy
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would be autopsy it was a tough decision
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it took me about six months to finally
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decide that they weren't going to do
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anything and couldn't do anything unless
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we did the exclamation it almost didn't
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seem right but on the other hand it
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seemed wrong to just stop there and say
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oh well it was immediately apparent that
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this young man had sustained some sort
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of incised wound to the neck actually
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two incised wounds to the neck and they
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were very characteristic of what I see
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all the time and other persons who have
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received the stab or slash wounds to the
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neck from a knife Vickie was stunned in
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simple layman's terms the two incisions
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translated into establish nearly two
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inches long and a slash four inches long
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the severed Leroy's windpipe based upon
00:09:57
dr. Allen's findings the cause of
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Leroy's death was changed from auto
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suicide to undetermined for Vicky's
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crucial questions remained who killed
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her brother and why
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in retrospect everything leads back to
00:10:12
Patty's house every time I think of a
00:10:15
scenario think of what happened the same
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conclusion and the same thought that it
00:10:20
is started at Patty's house with an
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argument
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Leroy arrives at around 5 p.m.
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one of the gifts was Patty's
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sister-in-law Carolyn Leroy come over
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that day and a lot of Patty's family was
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there and everyone had been drinking
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quite heavily that day I was married to
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Patty's brother and I was living in the
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house with the family for about eight
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months before and after this happened
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Patty's family and Leroy had a slight
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argument kind of a racial argument over
00:11:13
girlfriends and boyfriends
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[Applause]
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[Music]
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soon after the argument Patti escorted
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Leroy to his car
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Vicki is convinced that just before he
00:11:39
drove off Leroy was attacked by one of
00:11:42
Patti's family members I believe that
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they continued arguing and that a male
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person just quickly reached out and cut
00:11:55
Leroy's throat I feel that Leroy was
00:12:00
probably fleeing for his life in the
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automobile and then lost consciousness
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or lost control of the vehicle because
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of the injuries he would have been
00:12:06
annexed in pain and would have been
00:12:09
extremely afraid but the actual cause of
00:12:11
death were injury sustained from the
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automobile crash I feel like I have
00:12:21
become a cop in this whole scenario
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which is very difficult at times because
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I have no training and I don't know what
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to do and I'm sure I've made the wrong
00:12:30
mistakes at times but I also know that I
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care deeply about my family and that I
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love my brother very much and I know
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that as long as I am doing this is my
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heart pure and doing it for the good
00:12:46
reasons that there is going to be a
00:12:49
conclusion
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[Music]
00:13:14
here at unsolved mysteries each and
00:13:16
every case saw brings us feelings of
00:13:18
immense satisfaction
00:13:19
tonight's update is particularly
00:13:21
gratifying it involves a young man
00:13:24
sentenced to life in prison for a murder
00:13:26
most people are convinced he did not
00:13:28
commit
00:13:31
on Sunday night April 13th 1986 fire and
00:13:36
rescue squads raced to a raging house
00:13:38
fire in Aurora Missouri when firemen
00:13:43
were finally able to search the wreckage
00:13:45
they found the body of 79 year-old
00:13:47
Pauline Marx she had been bound gagged
00:13:50
and left to die investigators concluded
00:13:53
the fire had been deliberately set five
00:13:58
days later the police questioned the
00:14:00
local 20 year old named Johnny Lee
00:14:01
Wilson Wilson is mildly [ __ ] when IQ
00:14:05
in the mid 60s his chair and he sat here
00:14:09
and looked you right in the eye and said
00:14:10
John he was there before that fire
00:14:13
started after a grueling four-hour
00:14:15
interrogation Wilson confessed a
00:14:18
confession he would later recant
00:14:21
at the end of the gym tape at the end
00:14:23
interrogation he he forced my head back
00:14:26
and that's that's when I said okay okay
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I did it well when I really didn't
00:14:31
that's that's when I lied Johnny's
00:14:34
attorneys recommended that he plead
00:14:36
guilty to avoid the possibility of the
00:14:38
death penalty in doing so he waived his
00:14:41
right to a trial by jury in April of
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1987 Johnny Lee Wilson was sentenced to
00:14:46
life in prison
00:14:47
[Music]
00:14:50
he was immediately remanded to the
00:14:51
Missouri State Penitentiary several
00:14:54
legal experts insist by this apparent
00:14:56
injustice spraying the Johnnies defense
00:15:00
it's one of those cases perhaps there's
00:15:03
only one in a thousand where an innocent
00:15:06
man is doing time in the penitent
00:15:09
and Johnny Lee Wilson is innocent and if
00:15:12
he had a trial he would probably be
00:15:14
acquitted I don't think the jury would
00:15:15
deliberate more than an hour before they
00:15:18
acquitted him and it's a shame that he
00:15:21
never got a chance to prove his
00:15:22
innocence all I want somebody to believe
00:15:26
me
00:15:27
you know you know just that I didn't do
00:15:30
this over the years a case against
00:15:35
Johnny Lee Wilson began to fall apart a
00:15:37
key witness recanted his testimony an
00:15:40
inmate in another prison actually
00:15:42
confessed to the crime
00:15:43
nevertheless both the state court of
00:15:46
appeals in the Missouri Supreme Court
00:15:48
refused to grant Johnny a trial Johnny
00:15:51
Lee Wilson had only one other option one
00:15:53
last hope here's Keeley Shay Smith with
00:15:56
the details in July of 1994 Johnny's
00:16:01
case came before Missouri governor Mel
00:16:03
Carnahan Johnny's attorneys had
00:16:05
requested a pardon on the grounds that
00:16:07
there was no evidence against their
00:16:09
client only quote a pathetic desperate
00:16:11
confession after hours of interrogation
00:16:15
my counsel re-interviewed the witnesses
00:16:18
talked to the prosecutors and the police
00:16:20
looked at the evidence read the
00:16:23
transcripts a year-long study and we
00:16:26
became convinced that wasn't proferred
00:16:29
not only wasn't appropriate for him to
00:16:31
remain in prison but that he was
00:16:32
innocent
00:16:34
the pardon was granted on September 29
00:16:37
1995 Johnny Lee Wilson was finally a
00:16:40
free man exonerated of all charges I
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know I never never thought that I would
00:16:48
see the day that I would walk out those
00:16:50
doors and I'd be driving away from that
00:16:53
place it's out great all together Johnny
00:16:59
had spent nine years five months and ten
00:17:02
days behind bars at a hastily assembled
00:17:04
news conference
00:17:06
Johnny's thoughts turned to Pauline
00:17:08
marts why why would someone hurt a nice
00:17:13
lady like falling and she was a
00:17:15
wonderful person I bring my
00:17:17
grandmother's and she is
00:17:26
following his release Johnny was
00:17:28
reunited with his mother and grandmother
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made mother and I cry and we just you
00:17:35
know we hugged each other and all of us
00:17:37
and was really happy could hardly
00:17:40
believe it you know after all those
00:17:42
years
00:17:46
Johnny now lives with his mother and
00:17:48
grandmother in his hometown of Aurora
00:17:50
Missouri where he hopes to put his long
00:17:52
ordeal behind him
00:17:54
I know bareness of nothing I got so much
00:17:59
faith you know I I knew sometimes
00:18:02
somehow that I was gonna get out I just
00:18:04
I'm just glad I did
00:18:16
[Music]
00:18:23
New Year's Eve 1952 a time of hope and
00:18:30
guarded optimism by Cuban elected
00:18:32
president conflict in Korea was drawing
00:18:35
to a close but in Glendale California
00:18:39
David camtonz world was about to come
00:18:41
apart David's wife Barbara was in love
00:18:47
with another man nine months later
00:18:54
Barbara would disappear along with a
00:18:56
couple's young daughter Darla and the
00:19:00
last time I saw her was just a few weeks
00:19:03
after her fourth birthday it's been a
00:19:08
very long time so I'm sitting there with
00:19:13
this guy I met down at the plant
00:19:14
he says Washington David Kempton
00:19:16
troubles began in July of 1951 when he
00:19:19
brought a co-worker home for dinner and
00:19:23
I meet Barbara Stanwyck at the time the
00:19:26
Kempton lived in Ohio David and Barbara
00:19:28
had been married for five years and had
00:19:30
two children Stephen and done for a few
00:19:33
minutes
00:19:35
David's new friend Charles was an
00:19:37
engaging storyteller who entertained
00:19:39
everyone with delightful tales of his
00:19:41
adventures around the country Charles
00:19:46
was a person who lived an unusual kind
00:19:49
of life almost anything or anyplace you
00:19:54
wanted to talk about he had some stories
00:19:57
related to it there's restaurants
00:19:59
there's nightclubs there's dancing
00:20:02
Charles never stopped talking about
00:20:04
California the promised land eventually
00:20:07
David and Barbara decided that was a
00:20:09
place to be
00:20:11
all worthwhile until Charles joined the
00:20:14
captain's on the west coast I'm in love
00:20:17
with Charles I want a divorce
00:20:23
I was totally unforced I have never
00:20:30
considered such a thing didn't know
00:20:33
there was anything that wrong with the
00:20:34
marriage eventually what we decided was
00:20:39
that if that's where things were gonna
00:20:42
be I would step out of the picture he
00:20:47
would step into my shoes there'd be as
00:20:50
little disruption as possible with the
00:20:53
kids and I went back to Cleveland but
00:21:03
within about a month or five or six
00:21:06
weeks I got a phone call it was totally
00:21:12
out of the blue a thunderbolt kids I
00:21:16
want to come home I sent her the bus
00:21:20
tickets and I tore out and dug up a
00:21:23
house forced to leave it
00:21:26
Davis joy was short-lived within weeks
00:21:29
Charles was back in the picture Barbara
00:21:32
moved out again she moved back in then
00:21:35
she dropped another bombshell I'll live
00:21:38
here and I'll take care of our children
00:21:42
but don't ask me for anything more this
00:21:47
time David left and he took the children
00:21:50
with him a judge soon granted David
00:21:52
temporary custody of both Stephen and
00:21:54
daughter Barbara received weekend
00:21:56
visitation rights on the occasion of the
00:22:02
first weekend visitation she called me
00:22:04
ahead of time to say that she was in a
00:22:07
rooming house and couldn't accommodate
00:22:09
both kids could she just take Donna so
00:22:18
on Friday I delivered on Sunday evening
00:22:24
went back to pick her up she's going
00:22:28
inside or I know they left yesterday
00:22:30
they packed up some family business and
00:22:32
had to leave wait that's not right ma'am
00:22:34
I'm supposed to pick up Donna today he
00:22:36
wasn't there they went it was
00:22:41
devastating because I had no way not a
00:22:44
way in the world to know where they
00:22:46
might have gone
00:22:48
[Music]
00:22:50
more than 40 years of now past 40 years
00:22:54
of birthdays dances graduations perhaps
00:22:57
a wedding and even grandchildren
00:22:59
[Music]
00:23:01
I'd like Donna to know that she's always
00:23:05
been a part of my feeling whenever
00:23:08
anyone mentions what kids do I have
00:23:12
usually I'll I'll include her in the
00:23:15
count I want to say hello and that I
00:23:21
love you if in whatever way that's
00:23:25
possible under the circumstances I have
00:23:28
love for you
00:23:31
[Music]
00:23:40
we'll be back in a moment to investigate
00:23:43
the mysterious disappearance of a young
00:23:45
woman named Bonnie hey some people
00:23:47
believe her husband was more about
00:23:49
Bonnie's fate than he is saved
00:23:52
[Music]
00:24:06
Christmas morning 1992 in Jacksonville
00:24:11
Florida a young wife and mother Bonnie
00:24:12
Haim open presents Bonnie's husband
00:24:15
Michael captured the moment forever on
00:24:17
videotape less than two weeks later
00:24:21
Barney Haines would inexplicably vanish
00:24:26
police began to suspect that Bonnie was
00:24:28
dead a victim of foul play
00:24:30
their suspicions soon focused on Michael
00:24:33
Haines among the most damning evidence
00:24:36
was extraordinary testimony of a
00:24:38
surprising witness Michael and Bonnie's
00:24:41
three-year-old son Barney Ames uncertain
00:24:47
fate and the cloud of suspicion that
00:24:48
hangs over her husband Michael spawned a
00:24:51
contorted family dispute on one hand
00:24:54
Bonnie's own Parris believe that she was
00:24:55
unhappily married and willfully
00:24:57
abandoned Michael and her son and yet
00:24:59
some members of Michael's family are
00:25:01
convinced that bonnie is dead murdered
00:25:04
by Michael Haines Bonnie I'm sorry to
00:25:09
say is it's gone she's not alive if she
00:25:12
was alive and had one ounce of life in
00:25:15
her she would have contacted someone
00:25:19
there are thousands of women that that
00:25:23
leave their husbands and families every
00:25:25
year and it's always a complete surprise
00:25:29
to their families
00:25:36
Michael worked as a manager the
00:25:38
construction supply company owned by his
00:25:40
aunt Eva and her husband Bonnie did
00:25:43
their accounts it's got a lot even
00:25:46
claims that Michael was often abusive to
00:25:49
Bonnie at the office let's go me what is
00:25:53
so important that you can't go to lunch
00:25:55
the even also claims that at least once
00:25:58
Michaels abuse became physical one day
00:26:03
they got into an argument and a fight in
00:26:06
the parking lot and she came in crying
00:26:07
and he had slammed her pan in the door
00:26:09
her nails were broke and she was very
00:26:12
upset at that point
00:26:17
even says that bonnie eventually decided
00:26:19
to leave her husband and in preparation
00:26:21
opened a bank account in her own name to
00:26:24
keep her plans secret bonnie had the
00:26:26
bank statements mailed to her at work
00:26:28
according to a van
00:26:30
michael was enraged when he found out
00:26:33
Michael what are you doing no what are
00:26:36
you doing Bonnie why don't I know about
00:26:38
this we're married
00:26:41
this is our money should be in our
00:26:43
account well it's from my paycheck well
00:26:46
you're gonna close it you're gonna close
00:26:47
it today do you understand me
00:26:50
[Music]
00:26:56
Bonni closed the account but according
00:27:00
to those closest to her Bonnie never
00:27:02
wavered in her plan to divorce Michael
00:27:04
she secret admirer that rend for
00:27:07
safekeeping and went so far as to put a
00:27:09
deposit on an apartment and enroll her
00:27:12
son in a new preschool
00:27:16
[Music]
00:27:17
the evening of January 6 1993 Bonnie
00:27:21
came home from work at around 7:30 p.m.
00:27:24
she intended to drop by Avanza day
00:27:27
to finalize plans for a co-worker's baby
00:27:29
shower about 8:30 that evening she
00:27:36
called me on the phone she was crying
00:27:43
and she was upset
00:27:47
I asked why she said that her and my had
00:27:50
gotten into a discussion and I asked her
00:27:54
she want me to call her back later and
00:27:57
she said no that she would just talk to
00:28:01
me in the morning actually not too good
00:28:03
I think I'm coming down with something
00:28:05
but the next morning neither Bonnie nor
00:28:08
Michael showed up at work she's not here
00:28:12
I don't know she we had an argument well
00:28:16
she got mad at me last night took off I
00:28:19
don't know where she's at
00:28:24
however hopes for Bonnie's safe return
00:28:26
began to dim that same morning her purse
00:28:30
turned up roughly five miles from home
00:28:32
buried in a motel dumpster near the
00:28:34
Jacksonville Airport robbery apparently
00:28:39
was not a motive due to the amount of
00:28:40
money and the credit cards being there
00:28:42
it had all of her identification
00:28:45
checkbook and the purse was secured by
00:28:48
the maintenance worker and a police
00:28:50
officer was called to the scene along
00:28:52
with family members 6070 573 does there
00:29:01
appear to be anything missing from the
00:29:02
purse no it's all here as far as I can
00:29:04
tell when I walked into the room she
00:29:09
give any indication of worship Mike and
00:29:11
his dad nothing more in there tell me
00:29:14
anything Michael didn't say much about
00:29:17
Bonnie being missing the hell was body
00:29:20
doing with all that money
00:29:21
he didn't just come out and like oh my
00:29:25
god my wife is gone where is she just
00:29:28
nothing nothing michael has insisted
00:29:34
from the start that he was not involved
00:29:36
in his wife's disappearance he says it
00:29:39
on the night of January 6 bonnie drove
00:29:41
off alone after an argument at around
00:29:43
11:00 p.m.
00:29:46
thanks B stated that he called his
00:29:48
mother Carolyn a man asked her to come
00:29:50
over to the house and early morning
00:29:51
hours and watch the child while he went
00:29:54
and looked for Bonnie
00:29:57
according to Carolyn Mike he was gone
00:30:00
approximately 45 minutes then after he
00:30:04
allegedly did that he returned to the
00:30:07
house where he waited until the next
00:30:09
morning never calling the police and
00:30:11
called in and told his employer that he
00:30:14
was gonna be sick that day
00:30:17
[Music]
00:30:18
detective Hinson was less than convinced
00:30:21
by Eames account his instincts led him
00:30:24
back to the Jacksonville Airport near
00:30:26
the motel Merv isn't that it sure enough
00:30:29
there was Bonnie's car abandoned in a
00:30:32
lot for long-term parking what was
00:30:36
unusual about Bonnie's car when we found
00:30:38
it at the airport was the positioning of
00:30:40
the seat the driver's seat of the car
00:30:42
which appeared to be farther back than
00:30:45
would have been comfortable for Bonnie
00:30:47
to have driven the car it was more in
00:30:51
relation to someone about Michael Haynes
00:30:53
sighs and after the vehicle was
00:30:56
processed we found a shoe print and the
00:30:59
driver's side floorboard it was very
00:31:01
pristine print
00:31:05
police concluded that the print had been
00:31:07
made by the last person to drive the car
00:31:09
the distinctive tread pattern was traced
00:31:12
to a rare style of athletic shoe one
00:31:15
pair was owned by none other than
00:31:17
Michael Haines the shoe print in the car
00:31:22
is interesting but beyond that if it's
00:31:31
his footprint I'm not sure it means
00:31:34
anything my footprint is in my wife's
00:31:36
car that doesn't mean I have ever done
00:31:41
her any harm in a bold attempt to
00:31:51
uncover the truth investigators arranged
00:31:54
for child psychologists to interview
00:31:56
Bonnie and Michael's son
00:32:07
from what the child told us that day my
00:32:10
only conclusion was is that there had
00:32:12
been a domestic fight and the Michel
00:32:14
Haim had killed his wife and had removed
00:32:16
her and that their three and a half year
00:32:18
old son meant witnessed this the
00:32:24
credibility of a child is something that
00:32:27
you have to actually judge in
00:32:29
perspective he's said a couple of things
00:32:33
that we know were not true mom's cars in
00:32:37
the lake we know her car wasn't there
00:32:40
the issue of child witness credibility
00:32:44
is always a concern but generally
00:32:47
children do not lie about what they see
00:32:51
and they do not lie about what happens
00:32:54
to them at this point custody of Bonnie
00:32:58
and Michael's son is still in litigation
00:33:00
however he is safe meanwhile the
00:33:04
families remain split about what if
00:33:06
anything Michael hey knows about his
00:33:08
wife's disappearance I'm not saying that
00:33:14
I'm a hundred percent convinced that
00:33:16
Mike is innocent I haven't seen any
00:33:19
evidence that convinces me he's guilty
00:33:22
his behavior and general attitude
00:33:27
convinces me that he's not guilty I
00:33:32
think that Michael did something to
00:33:38
Bonnie
00:33:39
I think her son and was there and I
00:33:42
think he's seen exactly what happened I
00:33:44
think he witnessed his mother's murder
00:33:47
[Music]
00:33:48
I refuse to give up hope that bonnie is
00:33:51
alive until we get some proof some
00:33:56
evidence that Bonnie's dead
00:33:58
[Music]
00:34:01
through his attorney Michael Haim
00:34:03
declined our request for an interview he
00:34:06
has not been formally charged with any
00:34:07
crime however authorities still consider
00:34:10
him to be the prime suspect in Bonnie's
00:34:12
disappearance
00:34:13
in addition investigators believe
00:34:16
Michael may have had an accomplice
00:34:17
someone who picked him up after he left
00:34:19
Bonnie's car at the airport and also
00:34:21
helped to dispose of his wife's body the
00:34:24
possibility remains of course at Bonnie
00:34:26
Haim is still alive
00:34:37
[Music]
00:34:45
[Music]
00:34:50
next if you like a good frame you love
00:34:53
The Devil's Backbone many believe it's
00:34:56
the most haunted spot in America and the
00:34:58
eyewitness accounts leave little doubt
00:35:03
[Music]
00:35:12
I was feeling extremely scared it was a
00:35:25
ghost it had to be I didn't tell anybody
00:35:27
about it that chilling sensation I got
00:35:31
kind of stayed with me there's something
00:35:35
here what it is I don't know I've had
00:35:39
probably 25 30 or 40 s at different
00:35:41
spirits and ghosts from different people
00:35:43
they'll never leave I'll be dead and
00:35:46
gone they'll be here they called it the
00:35:52
Devil's Backbone
00:35:53
and when it comes to ghosts per square
00:35:55
mile
00:35:56
few places short of purgatory could
00:35:58
match these 4,700 acres and Central
00:36:00
Texas to get here you head south out of
00:36:05
the state capital Austin about 50 miles
00:36:07
and some 200 years
00:36:11
[Music]
00:36:13
the gnarled canyons of The Devil's
00:36:15
Backbone or was home to Comanche and
00:36:17
Apache Indians in the 1700s Spaniards
00:36:21
pushed through on the road to conquest
00:36:22
among them was a Franciscan monk named
00:36:25
best Spinoza infamous for his ruthless
00:36:27
ambition more than a century later
00:36:29
renegade Confederate soldiers and a
00:36:31
doomed quest for gold breathed their
00:36:33
last in The Devil's Backbone today their
00:36:36
spirits live on our so says longtime
00:36:39
resident Bert wall
00:36:45
I had a situation one time where I was
00:36:53
finishing a particular thing I was
00:36:55
writing and it was late at night that
00:36:57
midnight and and the dog started barking
00:37:00
a little bit but not loud the wind was
00:37:02
blowing it was a coal night that looks
00:37:10
through the window that's when I saw the
00:37:12
Spanish monk
00:37:14
[Music]
00:37:18
I don't believe it could have been a
00:37:20
person there's no way he was definitely
00:37:23
from the 1700s he was dressed that way
00:37:25
and his habit of whatever his cross
00:37:27
hanging I probably watched him for all
00:37:32
15 seconds maybe which is a long time he
00:37:36
disappeared in a way that was more of
00:37:43
[Music]
00:37:48
the luminous Spanish monk is but one of
00:37:51
many spirits that prowl the ranch just
00:37:54
ask John Meyers he came to Burt walls
00:37:56
place to hunt deer but hunting in The
00:37:59
Devil's Backbone isn't like anywhere
00:38:01
else in the world the stand I was on was
00:38:06
a tree stand once I got up and situated
00:38:10
myself you have to be real quiet and
00:38:13
real still and watch for the deer as I
00:38:17
was sitting up in the standing and
00:38:19
that's what you taught in a lot and deer
00:38:21
hunting is just wait I heard footprints
00:38:28
or footsteps I should say walking around
00:38:30
the tree the base of the tree I couldn't
00:38:35
see because I was sitting on a platform
00:38:37
and it kept just walking in a circle
00:38:42
whatever it was
00:38:46
I started getting a little eerie feeling
00:38:50
because it wouldn't move away from the
00:38:53
tree it just kept going in this circle
00:38:55
and finally it just stopped it didn't
00:39:00
walk away the sounds just stopped and
00:39:04
the Sun started going down and it
00:39:07
started getting darker and I thought
00:39:09
well I'm just gonna get out off the tree
00:39:10
walk back to the house didn't see any
00:39:13
footprints
00:39:14
twigs broken or branches broken or
00:39:17
anything like that I kept getting this
00:39:20
feeling that someone was watching me so
00:39:23
I stopped and I turned back and looked
00:39:25
toward the tree and there was an Indian
00:39:29
[Music]
00:39:32
it was a very cold night it was in the
00:39:34
20s and he was without a shirt and he
00:39:37
was looking at me rather strangely like
00:39:39
who are you
00:39:42
so immediately I turned around and
00:39:44
started back toward the house and
00:39:46
noticed to my right out of the corner of
00:39:49
my eye that that he was there and he was
00:39:52
walking parallel with me I didn't feel
00:39:57
threatened by him it's just you know
00:40:00
like who are you and what are you doing
00:40:01
here and I made about two steps toward
00:40:05
him and what I did it was a ghost it had
00:40:15
to be you know to be able to do there
00:40:18
the bunkhouse was a sight of yet another
00:40:21
extraordinary vision if you believe Lynn
00:40:23
Gentry one-time foreman at Burt Falls
00:40:26
ranch I was kind of relaxed in and off
00:40:30
in the distance I heard what at first I
00:40:32
thought was thunder
00:40:36
then as the sound came closer I realized
00:40:39
that it was horses hooves in a very fast
00:40:43
run
00:40:48
there were several horses with probably
00:40:51
15 or 20 riders on what I believed to
00:40:55
have been Confederate soldiers
00:41:00
they certainly look real to me at the
00:41:02
time but then when you begin to slowly
00:41:05
realize that hey what I'm looking at is
00:41:07
not real you know if this is these are
00:41:11
ghosts
00:41:16
perhaps most amazing of all was the
00:41:18
experience of John theory on a few years
00:41:21
back John was hiking with two friends in
00:41:23
an area known as the haunted Valley John
00:41:27
claims he not only saw a supernatural
00:41:28
vision of a wolf but that the spirit
00:41:31
actually possessed him quarry and BC
00:41:35
were often another part of the creek and
00:41:37
I got the sensation and basically saw a
00:41:42
vision of a wolf
00:41:49
I was looking up watching it come
00:41:52
towards me and it left at me
00:41:55
[Applause]
00:41:58
and where it would have hit me I felt
00:42:03
the just a chilling sensation go through
00:42:06
me we didn't see anything mysterious
00:42:10
it's all what John says that he saw when
00:42:16
we got back into the truck it got
00:42:18
extremely cold in the truck he was
00:42:20
sitting in between BC and I I was
00:42:23
sitting on the passenger side so the
00:42:25
whole left-hand side of my body got
00:42:28
extremely numb and cold it's almost like
00:42:32
if there was a big block of ice sitting
00:42:35
next to me when we got back to the ranch
00:42:39
that night I didn't know what was going
00:42:42
on I didn't know if my friend was going
00:42:44
to be all right
00:42:46
I was actually pretty worried about him
00:42:49
[Music]
00:42:51
according to his friends
00:42:53
John initially lapsed into a silent
00:42:55
trance when he did speak his voice was
00:42:57
an unearthly baritone John suddenly
00:43:00
seemed obsessed with Indian massacres
00:43:02
ambushes and other little-known events
00:43:05
from a history of Devil's Backbone while
00:43:09
I was standing there I was feeling
00:43:10
extremely scared and all of a sudden a
00:43:15
big gust of wind came out of the kitchen
00:43:19
I was just in shock I didn't know what
00:43:23
that was
00:43:25
I sniffed her kind of frozen and kept
00:43:27
asking questions what what was that what
00:43:29
was that and that's when someone said I
00:43:32
think the spirits left him I think it's
00:43:35
gone now I don't know for sure what kind
00:43:38
of spirit was inside of me but something
00:43:41
that knew about this ranch that knew
00:43:45
about the history of the ranch it had to
00:43:47
be going through me and it's it's hard
00:43:51
to believe but it you know basically
00:43:54
that's what would have had to happen
00:43:57
[Music]
00:43:59
here The Devil's Backbone ghost says
00:44:01
common as spines on a cactus but why
00:44:04
should this particular patch of land
00:44:06
prove so irresistible to spirits The
00:44:10
Devil's Backbone is haunted because it's
00:44:13
loved its loved by the spirits
00:44:16
it's loved by myself and I imagine
00:44:20
someday when I'm gone I will haunt this
00:44:23
same son of a gun
00:44:26
[Music]
00:44:27
[Applause]
00:44:28
[Music]
00:44:30
if the local accounts are anything close
00:44:32
to true Bert wall would join a host of
00:44:35
other selves and once called his place
00:44:37
home old company in which to spend the
00:44:40
rest of eternity
00:44:44
[Music]
00:44:59
join me next time for another intriguing
00:45:02
edition unsolved mysteries
00:45:05
[Music]
00:45:41
[Music]

Badges

This episode stands out for the following:

  • 85
    Most heartbreaking
  • 80
    Most shocking
  • 80
    Biggest twist
  • 75
    Most emotional

Episode Highlights

  • Vicki's Quest for Justice
    Vicki Marling dedicates her life to uncovering the truth behind her brother Leroy's death.
    “I took a vow that I would do this for my brother.”
    @ 02m 34s
    May 23, 2019
  • Johnny Lee Wilson's Exoneration
    After years of wrongful imprisonment, Johnny Lee Wilson is finally exonerated and released.
    “I never thought that I would see the day that I would walk out those doors.”
    @ 16m 50s
    May 23, 2019
  • A Father's Love
    A father expresses his enduring love for his daughter, whom he lost decades ago.
    “I want to say hello and that I love you.”
    @ 23m 21s
    May 23, 2019
  • The Disappearance of Bonnie Haim
    Bonnie goes missing after an argument with her husband, Michael. Her purse is found, raising suspicions.
    “However, hopes for Bonnie's safe return began to dim.”
    @ 28m 24s
    May 23, 2019
  • Suspicion on Michael Haim
    Michael's behavior raises questions as investigators find evidence linking him to Bonnie's disappearance.
    “The shoe print in the car is interesting, but if it's his footprint, I’m not sure it means anything.”
    @ 31m 31s
    May 23, 2019
  • Child Witness Testimony
    Investigators interview Bonnie and Michael's son, leading to troubling conclusions about the night of her disappearance.
    “From what the child told us, my only conclusion was that there had been a domestic fight.”
    @ 32m 10s
    May 23, 2019

Episode Quotes

  • I took a vow that I would do this for my brother.
    Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 8, Episode 8 - Full Episode
  • I can't let him down; someone has to stand up and talk for him.
    Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 8, Episode 8 - Full Episode
  • I want to say hello and that I love you.
    Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 8, Episode 8 - Full Episode
  • I’m not saying that I’m a hundred percent convinced that Mike is innocent.
    Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 8, Episode 8 - Full Episode
  • I think he witnessed his mother’s murder.
    Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 8, Episode 8 - Full Episode
  • I refuse to give up hope that Bonnie is alive until we get proof.
    Unsolved Mysteries with Robert Stack - Season 8, Episode 8 - Full Episode

Key Moments

  • Relentless Pursuit02:34
  • Emotional Release16:50
  • Enduring Love23:21
  • Missing Person Case28:24
  • Evidence Found28:30
  • Child Testimony31:56
  • Suspicion Grows33:14
  • Hope Remains33:51

Words per Minute Over Time

Vibes Breakdown

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