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( SILENT )
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( MELLOW MUSIC )
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JOSHUA ZEMAN:
Every town has its legends.
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Every neighborhood
has its boogeymen...
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a killer with a hook
for a hand...
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a drifter
who snatches children...
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the witch who lives
in the woods.
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Ours growing up in
Staten Island was Cropsey,
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about an escaped mental patient
who lived in these buildings
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who would snatch children
off the street.
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This urban legend
turned real
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when five neighborhood children
went missing.
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It was these disappearances
that led us to examine
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the real crimes behind
the Cropsey urban legend.
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NEWS REPORTER:
A grisly discovery
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of an arm and a leg
sticking out
from a shallow grave.
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JOSHUA: And what we
discovered was a connection
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to an institution
with a shocking history.
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This is what it looked like,
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but how can I tell you
about the way it smelled.
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It smelled of filth,
it smelled of disease,
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and it smelled of death.
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JOSHUA: Understanding
the real story behind Cropsey
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inspired us to investigate
other urban legends
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and the true crimes
that may have influenced them,
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and what we uncovered
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was a truth more horrific
than any fiction.
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This is where
we thought that Cropsey lived,
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in these buildings here.
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It's very easy
for an urban legend
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to come out of
something like this.
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Yeah, and we didn't
think anything of it
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until kids started going missing
on Staten Island,
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and then we were like,
Cropsey is real.
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But do you think
every urban legend
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has truth behind it?
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Yes, I think you have to have
some form of like truth
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to gonna go off of.
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There's a lot of
other urban legends
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in a lot of other communities
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that have some form of truth
behind them.
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Uh-hm.
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And what's interesting
is all these communities
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have all these places.
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RACHEL MILLS:
Well, every kid is lured to
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or fascinated by the old house
at the end of the block.
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These are the stories
that fuel your nightmares,
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and these are the places
that fuel your nightmares.
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JOSHUA:
So why are you here tonight?
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You hear stories.
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We just want to see
what it's about, I guess.
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JOSHUA: What do you guys
expect to find out here?
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People who died here
are supposed to be the ghosts.
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JOSHUA: You believe
that there are devil worshipers
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in the woods here?
- Oh yeah, I do, I do.
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Somebody said they were doing
freaky experiments
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and crap like that.
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JOSHUA: Why do we believe
these urban legends?
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Maybe we need to believe
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because the reality is too much
for some of us to bear.
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An old legend that actually
happened this time...
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- Many more cases
of contaminated treats...
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FEMALE VOICE:
I know she suffered, a lot.
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VOICE ON TAPE:
He pulled a knife
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and tied me up
with electrical tape.
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Oh, God.
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JOSHUA: And so instead,
we created our own monsters.
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NEWS REPORTER 1: The
36-year-old building contractor
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who reportedly dressed
like a clown...
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NEWS REPORTER 2:
At least three young boys
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buried under his house.
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JOSHUA:
And maybe that's because
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the truth is more terrifying
than we could ever imagine.
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- I got seven down
and ( indistinct ).
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Seven down!
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I've got a child victim--
I need Rescue.
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JOSHUA: For Rachel and me,
this is an attempt
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to uncover the source
of our nightmares
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as we pull back the curtains
on what it is we all fear--
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because urban legends,
as scary as they may be,
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are really just warnings for
something much more dangerous--
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the reality that may have
started it all.
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The Hook
is one of the oldest
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and also one of the scariest
urban legends.
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A teenage couple
are making out in their car
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while parked
at a lover's lane.
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As the two are
about to go all the way,
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the radio interrupts them.
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( BACKGROUND ON RADIO )
...Are killed by an LA gunman...
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JOSHUA: A crazed maniac
with a hook for a hand
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has escaped
from the local insane asylum.
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The frightened girl
demands to go home
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as the frustrated boy
guns the engine.
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Later, as the boyfriend
goes to open his date's door,
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he sees dangling
from the door handle,
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the maniac's bloody hook,
ripped from the socket.
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The Hook urban legend
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probably came to be
in the mid-1950s.
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One of the interesting
appearances of The Hook
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was in November 1960
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when it actually appeared
in the Dear Abby column,
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and it's something that a
lot of people would have read.
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JOSHUA: But Dear Abby
wasn't warning teenagers
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about escaped madmen
with hooks for hands.
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Urban legends
are more mysterious than that
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and never quite so literal.
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Despite its name,
The Hook is a cautionary tale
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warning teenagers everywhere
about the dangers of sex.
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STEPHEN WINICK: The Hook
urban legend captured something
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in the era that people
were interested in.
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It captured a certain amount
of danger being involved
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in teenage sexual behavior
and in teenage car culture.
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JOSHUA: For the teenagers
in Texarkana, Texas,
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this wasn't just
some cautionary tale.
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In the early spring of 1946,
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a masked man
known as The Phantom
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attacked four couples,
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most of whom were parked
on lover's lanes.
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The attacks,
which killed five,
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were said to coincide with
the full moon,
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hence the nickname
The Moonlight Murders.
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And although there were
numerous suspects,
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The Phantom was never caught,
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allowing his enduring legacy
to haunt this town
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for more than six decades.
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So this is South Robeson
and this old Highway 67.
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The murder site
is somewhere around here,
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but that's what we've got to
kind of figure out.
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JOSHUA: It was a rainy
Sunday morning on March 24
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when a passing motorist noticed
Richard Griffin's Oldsmobile
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parked on a lover's lane
off Highway 67.
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Inside he found
Griffin, age 29,
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and Polly Ann Moore, 17,
lying in the backseat.
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Both had been shot
in the back of the head.
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JOSHUA: Hey, guys,
how are you doing?
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RACHEL:
What we're doing is
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we're investigating
The Phantom Killer.
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They had a lot of speculations
on who did it,
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but it was never--
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no one was ever
brought to justice.
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Did you hear stories
growing up?
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All I ever heard was
don't go to Spring Lake Park.
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Really?
Uh-hm.
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Why?
It's kind of
creepy out there,
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so we were always afraid
to go there.
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JOSHUA:
But did you still go?
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No.
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JOSHUA:
We're having a little trouble
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finding out where the area is
because everything's changed.
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Well, I can take you
out there to the road
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and point
to almost the spot.
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Right about there.
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Uh-huh.
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JOSHUA:
On that side?
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On that side.
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JOSHUA: Like the couple
in the urban legend,
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Griffin and Moore
had been attacked
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while parked on Lover's Lane,
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highlighting the warning
behind this campfire tale,
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but what the residents
in Texarkana didn't know--
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because it wasn't reported
in the papers--
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were the horrific details
behind this real-life crime.
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They had found evidence
of blood and a blanket...
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Uh-hm.
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And they believe
that she was raped
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out in front of the car
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and then put back
in the car.
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JAMES PRESLEY:
The first double murder
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didn't cause
a lot of excitement.
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All kinds of crimes
were going on in Texarkana,
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but they didn't recognize
until sometime later
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that this is a different
kind of crime.
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The term "serial killer"
wasn't in vogue then...
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And no one recognized
this as a serial killing.
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The main suspect
was Youell Swinney
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who was an ex-convict.
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JOSHUA: Youell Swinney
and his newlywed bride,
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a former prostitute
named Peggy,
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had been arrested
for stealing cars.
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Under questioning,
the wife confessed
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that her husband
was The Phantom,
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but refused
to sign a statement.
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Although the case
quickly fell apart,
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the judge still sent Swinney
away for life
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as a habitual car thief.
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No evidence directly
correlating...
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JAMES:
No physical evidence.
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00:09:05,112 --> 00:09:07,180
They had
his wife's statement,
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but they could not use that
without her permission.
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There had been a lot of
other suspects, hundreds.
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00:09:12,753 --> 00:09:13,754
People had theories
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00:09:13,854 --> 00:09:16,757
and all kinds of rumors
had been bouncing around,
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but it's normal in any event,
especially when there's mystery
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as there was always mystery
in this one.
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Texarkana is nothing
like other towns.
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00:09:27,735 --> 00:09:31,071
It seems to be wallowing
in the notoriety.
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Documentary team in town
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00:09:33,140 --> 00:09:35,142
to shoot a part
of Texarkana history.
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00:09:35,242 --> 00:09:37,044
This week,
some Texarkana residents
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00:09:37,144 --> 00:09:38,946
will have the chance
to appear onscreen
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00:09:39,046 --> 00:09:41,615
in a documentary film
of The Phantom Killer.
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00:09:41,715 --> 00:09:43,183
So what should we make
of all this?
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00:09:43,283 --> 00:09:45,052
The conclusion is simple--
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00:09:45,152 --> 00:09:47,220
Texarkana will never
escape its past.
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We should give up trying.
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JOSHUA: It was a half moon
on February 22
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when Jimmy Hollis, age 24,
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00:10:00,167 --> 00:10:02,135
and Mary Jeanne Larey, 19,
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00:10:02,235 --> 00:10:05,038
were attacked
on a secluded
lover's lane.
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00:10:05,138 --> 00:10:08,876
Both survived after a car
scared the assailant away.
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00:10:11,879 --> 00:10:13,113
Around midnight,
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00:10:13,213 --> 00:10:14,948
Mary Jeanne Larey
and Jimmy Hollis
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00:10:15,048 --> 00:10:16,917
were making out
in the front seat of their car.
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00:10:17,017 --> 00:10:20,087
All of a sudden,
a guy appears with a gun,
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00:10:20,187 --> 00:10:22,656
wearing a mask over his head,
white,
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00:10:22,756 --> 00:10:25,258
two holes cut out
for eyes and mouth.
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00:10:25,358 --> 00:10:27,027
He tells her to run.
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00:10:27,127 --> 00:10:31,765
He chases her down
and then starts to attack her,
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00:10:31,865 --> 00:10:34,702
basically sexually assaults her
with the barrel of his gun.
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00:10:34,802 --> 00:10:37,104
She said she'd much rather
have been killed like the others
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00:10:37,204 --> 00:10:40,040
than to have been left
the way she was.
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00:10:41,709 --> 00:10:43,877
JOSHUA: While the attacks
on lover's lanes in Texarkana
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00:10:43,977 --> 00:10:46,046
didn't specifically
involve a hook,
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00:10:46,146 --> 00:10:47,981
The Phantom's
sickening crimes
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00:10:48,081 --> 00:10:52,119
created an equally horrifying
metaphor.
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00:10:52,219 --> 00:10:54,321
STEPHEN: One of the victims
was actually sexually assaulted
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00:10:54,421 --> 00:10:56,089
with the barrel of a gun,
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00:10:56,189 --> 00:10:59,760
and so we have the idea
of a foreign metal object
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00:10:59,860 --> 00:11:01,929
being used in this way
which seems to be
230
00:11:02,029 --> 00:11:04,932
psychologically
behind the idea of The Hook.
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00:11:05,032 --> 00:11:07,768
In The Hook story,
we have the hook
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00:11:07,868 --> 00:11:11,204
about to penetrate the car
when the boy drives away
233
00:11:11,304 --> 00:11:14,074
and the hook is then ripped
from the hand of the murderer.
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00:11:14,174 --> 00:11:16,944
So we have the idea
of penetration
235
00:11:17,044 --> 00:11:20,080
with a foreign metal object
as already part of that story,
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00:11:20,180 --> 00:11:24,317
and that in fact happened
in the Texarkana cases.
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00:11:24,417 --> 00:11:26,820
JOSHUA: But the sexual assault
was only part
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00:11:26,920 --> 00:11:29,857
of The Phantom's
trademark signature.
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00:11:29,957 --> 00:11:30,958
These two people
are the only ones
240
00:11:31,058 --> 00:11:34,094
who ever saw The Phantom.
241
00:11:34,194 --> 00:11:35,896
Both... wearing masks.
242
00:11:35,996 --> 00:11:38,231
JOSHUA: Right, they both said
the guy was wearing a mask.
243
00:11:38,331 --> 00:11:39,432
So this is
the whole thing,
244
00:11:40,433 --> 00:11:41,869
where the whole white
mask thing came from.
245
00:11:43,036 --> 00:11:45,973
The Phantom's disguise
was another chilling detail
246
00:11:46,073 --> 00:11:47,407
as it also helped
to popularize
247
00:11:47,507 --> 00:11:49,977
the most widely known
retelling of the murders
248
00:11:50,077 --> 00:11:55,315
in the 1976 cult classic,
"The Town That Dreaded Sundown."
249
00:11:55,415 --> 00:11:57,985
The movie was thought to be
one of the first slasher films,
250
00:11:58,085 --> 00:12:00,320
having predated Halloween
by two years,
251
00:12:00,420 --> 00:12:02,089
and its take on The Phantom
252
00:12:02,189 --> 00:12:06,326
would influence generations
of cinematic boogeymen.
253
00:12:06,426 --> 00:12:08,328
The director,
Charles B. Pierce,
254
00:12:08,428 --> 00:12:10,864
blurred the lines
between fact and fiction
255
00:12:10,964 --> 00:12:14,768
by telling the film
in full documentary style.
256
00:12:14,868 --> 00:12:19,039
CHARLES B. PIERCE:
It was Sunday, March 3, 1946--
257
00:12:19,139 --> 00:12:20,874
the beginning of
a reign of terror
258
00:12:20,974 --> 00:12:25,078
for the people of Texarkana,
a terror so indelibly imprinted
259
00:12:25,178 --> 00:12:29,282
that today, people
still speak of it fearfully--
260
00:12:29,382 --> 00:12:33,020
Only the names
have been changed.
261
00:12:35,288 --> 00:12:37,024
CASEY ROBERTS: Now I think
everybody in Texarkana
262
00:12:37,124 --> 00:12:39,292
knows about the story
of The Phantom Killer,
263
00:12:39,392 --> 00:12:41,028
but there's a lot of
intermingling
264
00:12:41,128 --> 00:12:44,131
of facts and legend
between the movie
265
00:12:44,231 --> 00:12:46,800
and the actual
Phantom Killer case.
266
00:12:46,900 --> 00:12:48,168
JOSHUA:
This is Casey Roberts,
267
00:12:48,268 --> 00:12:51,171
media manager
at Texas A&M, Texarkana.
268
00:12:51,271 --> 00:12:53,173
He's done extensive research
on the crimes
269
00:12:53,273 --> 00:12:55,408
and brought us
to one of the locations where
270
00:12:55,508 --> 00:12:57,911
"The Town That Dreaded Sundown"
was filmed.
271
00:12:58,011 --> 00:12:59,813
A lot the -- kind of landmarks
272
00:12:59,913 --> 00:13:02,182
from both the original case
of The Phantom Killer
273
00:13:02,282 --> 00:13:03,984
and the movie
The Town That Dreaded Sundown
274
00:13:04,084 --> 00:13:05,252
have gone away
over the years,
275
00:13:05,352 --> 00:13:06,920
and this particular house here
276
00:13:07,020 --> 00:13:10,190
was used in one of
the big scenes.
277
00:13:10,290 --> 00:13:12,192
JOSHUA:
It was Friday, May 3,
278
00:13:12,292 --> 00:13:14,461
when Virgil and Katie Starks
were attacked in
their farmhouse
279
00:13:14,561 --> 00:13:16,796
just outside of town.
280
00:13:17,965 --> 00:13:20,100
Virgil was shot
and killed in his armchair...
281
00:13:20,200 --> 00:13:21,201
( GUNSHOT )
282
00:13:21,301 --> 00:13:22,369
( SCREAM )
283
00:13:22,469 --> 00:13:25,138
while Katie,
shot in the face,
284
00:13:25,238 --> 00:13:26,874
ran out of the house.
285
00:13:28,608 --> 00:13:31,078
Everybody seems convinced
that Youell Swinney is the guy,
286
00:13:31,178 --> 00:13:32,846
but you're saying...
287
00:13:32,946 --> 00:13:35,348
Youell Swinney would have
been easy to pin it on,
288
00:13:35,448 --> 00:13:37,885
and they needed to
pin it on somebody.
289
00:13:37,985 --> 00:13:39,452
The one person that--
290
00:13:39,552 --> 00:13:42,455
I haven't been satisfied
he was cleared--
291
00:13:42,555 --> 00:13:44,892
was a young man
that committed suicide
292
00:13:44,992 --> 00:13:48,228
and left a note saying
that he was The Phantom Killer.
293
00:13:48,328 --> 00:13:51,264
It's just part of the legend--
the son of a prominent family,
294
00:13:51,364 --> 00:13:53,867
and it had the connections to,
you know,
295
00:13:53,967 --> 00:13:56,236
cover up his dirty deed.
296
00:13:57,437 --> 00:13:59,306
JOSHUA: Hoping to dig up
more information,
297
00:13:59,406 --> 00:14:01,374
we went searching
through the microfiche
298
00:14:01,474 --> 00:14:03,343
of the Texarkana Gazette.
299
00:14:05,012 --> 00:14:06,379
Promising lead proves dud.
300
00:14:06,479 --> 00:14:09,182
So this is the mention
of that, Youell Swinney.
301
00:14:09,282 --> 00:14:10,984
The officer had been
trying to validate
302
00:14:11,084 --> 00:14:12,352
the story of a woman.
303
00:14:12,452 --> 00:14:14,154
The woman's statement
followed so closely
304
00:14:14,254 --> 00:14:15,923
to the known facts
of the case
305
00:14:16,023 --> 00:14:18,125
that they are almost positive
that she was telling the truth,
306
00:14:18,225 --> 00:14:20,027
and at one point,
they were almost to the point
307
00:14:20,127 --> 00:14:21,861
of announcing a break
in the case.
308
00:14:21,962 --> 00:14:23,363
Subsequently, however,
the woman said
309
00:14:23,463 --> 00:14:25,098
that neither she
nor her husband
310
00:14:25,198 --> 00:14:30,137
had anything to do
with the slayings.
311
00:14:30,237 --> 00:14:31,438
It's interesting.
312
00:14:32,539 --> 00:14:33,140
So they don't call him
The Phantom at all in this,
313
00:14:33,806 --> 00:14:38,011
but we just saw, literally,
314
00:14:38,111 --> 00:14:40,013
the advertisement
in the newspaper
315
00:14:40,113 --> 00:14:43,150
for the movie that is showing,
The Phantom Speaks.
316
00:14:43,250 --> 00:14:46,053
This is the movie
that they theoretically
317
00:14:46,153 --> 00:14:47,387
pulled the name from,
318
00:14:47,487 --> 00:14:49,389
and right here
at the newspaper,
319
00:14:49,489 --> 00:14:50,557
one of the guys said,
320
00:14:51,524 --> 00:14:52,192
'well, why don't we call him
something...'
321
00:14:53,426 --> 00:14:54,894
We need to call him something,
let's call him The Phantom.
322
00:14:56,129 --> 00:14:58,198
We had just witnessed
an important step
323
00:14:58,298 --> 00:15:00,300
in the creation
of any urban legend--
324
00:15:00,400 --> 00:15:02,502
the naming
of the boogeyman.
325
00:15:04,037 --> 00:15:06,406
BILL ELLIS: One of the roles
that urban legends play--
326
00:15:06,506 --> 00:15:08,976
and this is
an ancient function--
327
00:15:09,076 --> 00:15:12,179
is that they will put
a name on something
328
00:15:12,279 --> 00:15:15,915
that gives people
fears or anxieties.
329
00:15:16,016 --> 00:15:21,054
That gives the person
some feeling of control.
330
00:15:21,154 --> 00:15:25,292
So give the murderer a name--
he's The Phantom murderer.
331
00:15:25,392 --> 00:15:29,262
JOSHUA: The mask,
the movie, The Phantom.
332
00:15:29,362 --> 00:15:31,464
These were the crucial elements
that would help create
333
00:15:31,564 --> 00:15:34,501
Texarkana's very own
urban legend--
334
00:15:34,601 --> 00:15:37,070
a legend that would only
continue to grow
335
00:15:37,170 --> 00:15:39,406
with screenings of
"The Town That Dreaded Sundown"
336
00:15:39,506 --> 00:15:43,543
held every year in
Texarkana's Spring Lake Park.
337
00:15:43,643 --> 00:15:46,513
All of this area was part
of Spring Lake Park...
338
00:15:46,613 --> 00:15:48,215
At the time
and this is where--
339
00:15:48,315 --> 00:15:50,350
a couple of the places
where the murders happened.
340
00:15:50,450 --> 00:15:53,253
That was where
lover's lane was.
341
00:15:53,353 --> 00:15:55,388
You basically
set up the screening
342
00:15:55,488 --> 00:15:58,491
that you have of
The Town That Dreaded Sundown
343
00:15:58,591 --> 00:16:01,094
at Spring Lake Park.
344
00:16:01,194 --> 00:16:03,997
Yes, we do it every October,
and because of the history,
345
00:16:04,097 --> 00:16:07,434
we like the idea of having this
out at Spring Lake Park
346
00:16:07,534 --> 00:16:10,237
since that's where some of
the murders take place at.
347
00:16:10,337 --> 00:16:11,571
We started getting
some phone calls saying
348
00:16:11,671 --> 00:16:13,306
that they didn't think
it was right,
349
00:16:13,406 --> 00:16:15,508
that there were
still families in town...
350
00:16:15,608 --> 00:16:19,346
That, you know,
that was affected by this.
351
00:16:19,446 --> 00:16:20,480
The police concern was
352
00:16:21,414 --> 00:16:23,083
that it was going to
cause somebody else
353
00:16:23,183 --> 00:16:26,219
to have the idea
to start doing it again.
354
00:16:26,319 --> 00:16:28,455
A film crew was in town
last month...
355
00:16:28,555 --> 00:16:30,523
And there's a new movie
being made?
356
00:16:30,623 --> 00:16:33,260
What we've heard is
that it was actually a remake
357
00:16:33,360 --> 00:16:34,661
of 'The Town
That Dreaded Sundowns .'
358
00:16:35,862 --> 00:16:40,067
It's you know, just probably
a more modern version of it.
359
00:16:40,167 --> 00:16:43,170
I've heard that the storyline
of the movie
360
00:16:43,270 --> 00:16:47,006
is about a copycat
that comes out
361
00:16:47,107 --> 00:16:52,045
from the screenings
that happened at Spring Lake.
362
00:16:53,213 --> 00:16:55,148
Are you serious?
363
00:16:55,248 --> 00:16:57,550
That's the first
I've heard about that.
364
00:16:57,650 --> 00:17:01,654
Well, you know,
imitation of life, I guess.
365
00:17:01,754 --> 00:17:04,124
JOSHUA: While it may seem
shocking to some,
366
00:17:04,224 --> 00:17:06,159
the screenings
at Spring Lake Park
367
00:17:06,259 --> 00:17:09,396
were especially appropriate
because it was here on April 14
368
00:17:09,496 --> 00:17:13,633
where The Phantom
turned larger than life.
369
00:17:13,733 --> 00:17:14,767
Four hundred yards
370
00:17:15,702 --> 00:17:16,236
from the entrance
to Spring Lake Park--
371
00:17:16,769 --> 00:17:17,237
where the sign is--
372
00:17:18,037 --> 00:17:20,373
they found
Paul Martin's car empty.
373
00:17:20,473 --> 00:17:21,774
In yet another attack,
374
00:17:21,874 --> 00:17:24,043
not only had The Phantom
murdered two teenagers
375
00:17:24,144 --> 00:17:25,512
in the center of town,
376
00:17:25,612 --> 00:17:27,447
but their deaths
would incite a panic
377
00:17:27,547 --> 00:17:31,451
that would grip Texarkana
and never let go.
378
00:17:31,551 --> 00:17:33,420
Betty Jo Booker, age 15,
379
00:17:33,520 --> 00:17:35,422
was a saxophonist
for a high school band
380
00:17:35,522 --> 00:17:37,157
called The Rhythmaires
381
00:17:37,257 --> 00:17:40,527
that played weekend shows
at the local VFW.
382
00:17:40,627 --> 00:17:43,130
At 1:30 a.m.
that Saturday night,
383
00:17:43,230 --> 00:17:47,134
she left with a
childhood friend
named Paul Martin, age 16,
384
00:17:47,234 --> 00:17:50,203
who was supposed to drop
her off at a slumber party.
385
00:17:52,339 --> 00:17:55,308
RACHEL: Paul's body was found
lying on its left side.
386
00:17:55,408 --> 00:17:56,676
Blood was found
further down
387
00:17:56,776 --> 00:17:59,112
on the other side of the road
by a fence.
388
00:18:04,484 --> 00:18:08,221
Right over here,
Paul Martin's body was found.
389
00:18:08,321 --> 00:18:09,522
He had been shot twice,
390
00:18:10,623 --> 00:18:13,593
and then he crawled
across the street, over to here,
391
00:18:13,693 --> 00:18:16,596
and then whoever did it
shot him again twice.
392
00:18:16,696 --> 00:18:18,431
They said
he put up a struggle.
393
00:18:18,531 --> 00:18:20,533
He had a bullet
through his hand...
394
00:18:20,633 --> 00:18:21,534
Right.
395
00:18:21,634 --> 00:18:22,735
...Raised his hand,
396
00:18:23,736 --> 00:18:26,373
probably begged
not to be killed, and then...
397
00:18:26,473 --> 00:18:28,575
They found him
at 6:30 in the morning.
398
00:18:28,675 --> 00:18:32,145
Betty Jo Booker
was nowhere around.
399
00:18:32,245 --> 00:18:33,180
JOSHUA:
Although supposedly
400
00:18:33,280 --> 00:18:34,347
only the names had been changed
401
00:18:34,447 --> 00:18:35,748
in The Town
That Dreaded Sundown,
402
00:18:35,848 --> 00:18:37,617
one of the most egregious
fictionalizations
403
00:18:37,717 --> 00:18:40,253
had Betty Jo Booker
playing the trombone
404
00:18:40,353 --> 00:18:42,121
instead of the saxophone,
405
00:18:42,222 --> 00:18:45,292
the reason being to show
a more terrifying demise.
406
00:18:45,392 --> 00:18:46,859
The scene was so memorable,
407
00:18:46,959 --> 00:18:50,530
some people in town actually
think that's how she died.
408
00:18:53,533 --> 00:18:56,536
( GRUNTS AND GROANS )
409
00:19:01,574 --> 00:19:02,909
The actual site
410
00:19:03,009 --> 00:19:04,811
of where Betty Jo Booker's
body was found,
411
00:19:04,911 --> 00:19:07,314
along the edge
of a forgotten road,
412
00:19:07,414 --> 00:19:09,182
had eluded many.
413
00:19:09,282 --> 00:19:10,617
Lost in time
when a section of the park
414
00:19:10,717 --> 00:19:12,352
was turned into housing,
415
00:19:12,452 --> 00:19:15,555
this was one mystery
we were determined to solve.
416
00:19:15,655 --> 00:19:17,824
RACHEL:
She was found two miles away
417
00:19:17,924 --> 00:19:20,159
from Martin's body.
418
00:19:20,260 --> 00:19:21,228
JOSHUA:
The road's closed.
419
00:19:22,629 --> 00:19:26,299
Here's where we think
this road continues on.
420
00:19:26,399 --> 00:19:28,435
See that line
between those two trees?
421
00:19:28,535 --> 00:19:29,669
Totally.
422
00:19:29,769 --> 00:19:33,273
That's the road
that's been overgrown.
423
00:19:33,373 --> 00:19:34,574
( WHISPERS )
Keep that flashlight down.
424
00:19:34,674 --> 00:19:35,742
Just turn it down.
425
00:19:39,812 --> 00:19:41,314
Look at that.
426
00:19:41,414 --> 00:19:42,582
This looked exactly like
the older road.
427
00:19:42,682 --> 00:19:44,451
It is the old road basically
428
00:19:44,551 --> 00:19:46,686
that we just went through
somebody's backyard to get to.
429
00:19:53,426 --> 00:19:54,561
( SHRIEKS )
430
00:19:54,661 --> 00:19:55,662
RACHEL:
What is it?
431
00:19:55,762 --> 00:19:56,596
JOSHUA:
It's a huge spider web...
432
00:19:58,598 --> 00:20:02,869
It's halfway between
the two ends.
433
00:20:02,969 --> 00:20:06,673
This is Betty Jo Booker,
15 years old.
434
00:20:06,773 --> 00:20:08,808
RACHEL: Shot twice,
once to the left rib
435
00:20:08,908 --> 00:20:11,511
and once in the face,
to the left cheek.
436
00:20:11,611 --> 00:20:13,246
JOSHUA: Well, she's fully
clothed....
437
00:20:13,346 --> 00:20:15,348
RACHEL:
Fully clothed, yeah.
438
00:20:15,448 --> 00:20:17,517
JOSHUA: Her overcoat
has been buttoned up,
439
00:20:17,617 --> 00:20:19,819
and her hand
was put in her pocket.
440
00:20:19,919 --> 00:20:25,492
RACHEL:
Strange.
441
00:20:25,592 --> 00:20:27,260
See that picture
for a second?
442
00:20:35,768 --> 00:20:36,769
JOSHUA:
Doesn't it look like it?
443
00:20:36,869 --> 00:20:38,638
It must.
444
00:20:38,738 --> 00:20:40,840
JOSHUA: Like if you're
looking at it like that,
445
00:20:40,940 --> 00:20:42,208
add 60 years.
446
00:20:46,078 --> 00:20:47,480
JOSHUA: It could be.
447
00:20:48,881 --> 00:20:50,517
I feel bad, though.
448
00:20:50,617 --> 00:20:54,621
You know, we're never going to
really know who killed her.
449
00:21:03,596 --> 00:21:05,665
JOSHUA: What happened to
Paul Martin and Betty Jo Booker
450
00:21:05,765 --> 00:21:07,934
out on these roads
over 60 years ago
451
00:21:08,034 --> 00:21:09,636
was horrific enough.
452
00:21:09,736 --> 00:21:11,604
Their deaths
didn't need to be rewritten
453
00:21:11,704 --> 00:21:14,507
for more blood or gore.
454
00:21:14,607 --> 00:21:17,777
Coming out here, you realize
that real life is just as scary
455
00:21:17,877 --> 00:21:22,349
as any horror film--
and sometimes even more.
456
00:21:28,120 --> 00:21:30,823
This is Marc Bledsoe,
a former probation officer
457
00:21:30,923 --> 00:21:32,492
who was obsessed
with the case
458
00:21:32,592 --> 00:21:33,893
and conducted his own
investigation.
459
00:21:33,993 --> 00:21:36,929
I developed a passion,
I guess in the '90s.
460
00:21:37,029 --> 00:21:40,833
I saw the film, of course,
when I was a seventh grader,
461
00:21:40,933 --> 00:21:42,402
and I was pretty scared
462
00:21:42,502 --> 00:21:44,371
because of the way
the film ends.
463
00:21:44,471 --> 00:21:45,538
It shows the boots
464
00:21:46,506 --> 00:21:46,806
and said he could still
be walking the town.
465
00:21:47,707 --> 00:21:48,675
I wanted to know
what the truth was.
466
00:21:50,543 --> 00:21:52,379
JOSHUA: Bledsoe was one of
the only people
467
00:21:52,479 --> 00:21:55,748
to interview Youell Swinney
in recent years.
468
00:21:55,848 --> 00:21:57,584
Swinney,
who was out of jail
469
00:21:57,684 --> 00:21:59,386
and living in
a Texas nursing home,
470
00:21:59,486 --> 00:22:01,588
had suffered a stroke
the year before,
471
00:22:01,688 --> 00:22:03,756
making his speech
difficult to decipher.
472
00:22:11,598 --> 00:22:12,865
Fifty -- sixty years?
473
00:22:15,868 --> 00:22:18,505
But she said you and her
were together
474
00:22:18,605 --> 00:22:19,639
at Spring Lake Park.
475
00:22:20,707 --> 00:22:22,409
Hear that?
476
00:22:22,509 --> 00:22:24,577
They drove out there together
at Spring Lake.
What did he say?
477
00:22:31,851 --> 00:22:33,486
RACHEL:
No, I wasn't.
478
00:22:33,586 --> 00:22:34,887
MARK: Who do you think
was the main...
479
00:22:34,987 --> 00:22:36,856
I don't know.
480
00:22:39,759 --> 00:22:40,993
You wish they'd catch him.
481
00:22:41,093 --> 00:22:42,695
RACHEL:
Hm, interesting.
482
00:22:55,207 --> 00:22:57,510
Hi. I just wanted
to check one thing.
483
00:22:57,610 --> 00:22:59,412
They told me
you all were videotaping?
484
00:22:59,512 --> 00:23:01,481
Have you all signed
the thing?
485
00:23:01,581 --> 00:23:02,515
RACHEL:
Ugh!
486
00:23:02,615 --> 00:23:04,484
( BACKGROUND TALK )
487
00:23:04,584 --> 00:23:05,918
I feel like
there was more there.
488
00:23:06,018 --> 00:23:07,019
( GROANS )
489
00:23:07,119 --> 00:23:10,389
( BACKGROUND TALK )
490
00:23:10,490 --> 00:23:11,858
JOSHUA:
Despite being so close,
491
00:23:11,958 --> 00:23:13,660
we still didn't have
an answer as to who
492
00:23:13,760 --> 00:23:17,630
The Phantom really was--
and we probably never will.
493
00:23:17,730 --> 00:23:19,532
TV NARRATOR: What happened
to The Phantom Killer
494
00:23:19,632 --> 00:23:21,768
no one really knows.
495
00:23:21,868 --> 00:23:24,737
Some believe he was convicted
of another crime,
496
00:23:24,837 --> 00:23:28,975
and today he is still serving
his term in a Kansas prison.
497
00:23:29,075 --> 00:23:30,777
JOSHUA:
It's these lack of answers
498
00:23:30,877 --> 00:23:32,779
that allows a legend to endure
499
00:23:32,879 --> 00:23:35,582
for the teenagers
in Texarkana.
500
00:23:35,682 --> 00:23:36,849
So, what do you think
the next chapter is
501
00:23:36,949 --> 00:23:37,850
in that legend?
502
00:23:37,950 --> 00:23:40,419
Probably more ghost stories,
503
00:23:40,520 --> 00:23:45,658
maybe more kids
trying to scare other kids.
504
00:23:45,758 --> 00:23:47,960
Do you think
it will ever end?
505
00:23:48,060 --> 00:23:49,962
I think eventually
it will fade out,
506
00:23:50,062 --> 00:23:52,565
but I wouldn't be able to say
for how long.
507
00:23:52,665 --> 00:23:55,434
I mean, legends
last for a long time.
508
00:23:55,535 --> 00:23:56,736
JOSHUA:
So this is the tree where,
509
00:23:56,836 --> 00:23:58,538
because of the movies,
some people think
510
00:23:58,638 --> 00:24:02,475
Betty Jo Booker was actually
killed with the trombone.
511
00:24:02,575 --> 00:24:05,011
I think why this is so
kind of important
512
00:24:05,111 --> 00:24:09,649
is because so many people
believed the fiction,
513
00:24:09,749 --> 00:24:10,983
and the fiction
became reality,
514
00:24:11,083 --> 00:24:12,051
and in this town--
515
00:24:12,919 --> 00:24:14,053
I really think
what's interesting is--
516
00:24:14,153 --> 00:24:15,622
they can't separate the two.
517
00:24:15,722 --> 00:24:17,557
Well, I think it's more
romantic, though,
518
00:24:17,657 --> 00:24:18,625
to believe in the myth
519
00:24:19,492 --> 00:24:21,093
than to have the facts
in front of you.
520
00:24:21,193 --> 00:24:22,695
JOSHUA: You have the
whole town coming out
521
00:24:22,795 --> 00:24:26,666
and watching a fictionalized
version of that,
522
00:24:26,766 --> 00:24:28,735
and that's just
like little kids
523
00:24:28,835 --> 00:24:32,639
telling a fictionalized version
of what really happened.
524
00:24:32,739 --> 00:24:34,874
That's what an urban legend is.
525
00:24:34,974 --> 00:24:37,644
Where does the truth end
and the fiction begin?
526
00:24:37,744 --> 00:24:40,112
At this point,
no one quite knows.
527
00:24:40,212 --> 00:24:43,616
NARRATOR: Texarkana today still
looks pretty much the same,
528
00:24:43,716 --> 00:24:45,752
and if you should ask people
here on the streets
529
00:24:45,852 --> 00:24:49,088
what they believe happened
to The Phantom Killer,
530
00:24:49,188 --> 00:24:51,891
most would say
that he is still living here
531
00:24:53,660 --> 00:24:55,562
and is walking free.
532
00:25:14,581 --> 00:25:15,915
So right now,
we're driving into Houston.
533
00:25:16,015 --> 00:25:18,150
We're going to investigate
the urban legend
534
00:25:18,250 --> 00:25:19,986
of the Candy Man.
535
00:25:20,086 --> 00:25:21,621
JOSHUA:
The name Candy Man
536
00:25:21,721 --> 00:25:23,823
has a lot of
urban legend references.
537
00:25:23,923 --> 00:25:26,893
Obviously, one of the most
well-known is the film Candyman
538
00:25:26,993 --> 00:25:28,995
based on the Clive Barker
short story
539
00:25:29,095 --> 00:25:32,131
about an urban legend expert
investigating the boogeyman
540
00:25:32,231 --> 00:25:36,836
who haunts the Cabrini-Green
housing projects in Chicago.
541
00:25:36,936 --> 00:25:39,706
VOICE:
With my hook for a hand,
542
00:25:39,806 --> 00:25:44,577
I'll split you from your groin
to your gullet.
543
00:25:44,677 --> 00:25:46,646
( SCREAMS AND GRUNTS )
544
00:25:46,746 --> 00:25:48,047
JOSHUA: Here the Candyman
uses a hook,
545
00:25:48,147 --> 00:25:50,116
just like the well-known
Hook urban legend
546
00:25:50,216 --> 00:25:52,652
where it was probably
appropriated from,
547
00:25:52,752 --> 00:25:54,921
but the film's villain
wasn't the first Candy Man.
548
00:25:55,021 --> 00:25:56,623
The original was, in fact,
549
00:25:56,723 --> 00:25:59,726
a very real monster behind
one of the most horrific crimes
550
00:25:59,826 --> 00:26:01,828
anyone could ever imagine.
551
00:26:03,830 --> 00:26:06,666
RACHEL: We've all heard the
same story about Halloween.
552
00:26:06,766 --> 00:26:09,068
Little Johnny had been warned
never to go trick-or-treating
553
00:26:09,168 --> 00:26:12,839
at any house he didn't know,
but he didn't listen.
554
00:26:12,939 --> 00:26:14,707
Instead, he convinces
his friends
555
00:26:14,807 --> 00:26:17,644
to go get candy
from this one weird house.
556
00:26:17,744 --> 00:26:18,978
Later that night,
557
00:26:19,078 --> 00:26:20,713
as they're all digging
through their loot,
558
00:26:20,813 --> 00:26:22,649
there's this scream.
559
00:26:22,749 --> 00:26:24,116
All the kids
are rushed to the hospital,
560
00:26:24,216 --> 00:26:25,952
but it's too late.
561
00:26:26,052 --> 00:26:28,988
Johnny's dead from eating
candy laced with poison,
562
00:26:29,088 --> 00:26:31,991
and all the other kids
had their mouths ripped open
563
00:26:32,091 --> 00:26:34,727
from swallowing
razor blades and glass.
564
00:26:34,827 --> 00:26:36,829
They never did catch
the person who did it.
565
00:26:36,929 --> 00:26:39,031
Turns out, Halloween
really comes from
566
00:26:39,131 --> 00:26:42,769
the ancient custom of druids
collecting kids for sacrifices,
567
00:26:42,869 --> 00:26:45,672
and apparently these murders
were committed by those
568
00:26:45,772 --> 00:26:47,974
who still carry on
that evil tradition.
569
00:26:49,809 --> 00:26:51,878
JOSHUA: So does our modern-day
custom of trick-or-treating
570
00:26:51,978 --> 00:26:55,848
really stem from evil druids
and child sacrifices?
571
00:26:55,948 --> 00:26:58,217
It's highly unlikely,
but there's no denying
572
00:26:58,317 --> 00:27:00,953
that something very sinister
is out there
573
00:27:01,053 --> 00:27:04,891
instilling panic and inciting
fear every Halloween.
574
00:27:06,926 --> 00:27:08,695
FEMALE NARRATOR:
There's one magical,
575
00:27:08,795 --> 00:27:11,764
haunted evening each year
when all the scary creatures
576
00:27:11,864 --> 00:27:14,100
come out to prowl through
every neighborhood.
577
00:27:14,200 --> 00:27:16,168
Most people enjoy having
trick-or-treaters
578
00:27:16,268 --> 00:27:17,870
come to their doors,
579
00:27:19,171 --> 00:27:22,909
but there are a few people who
will do things to hurt kids.
580
00:27:23,009 --> 00:27:25,111
JOSHUA: The first documented
case of tainted candy
581
00:27:25,211 --> 00:27:28,047
happened on Long Island in 1964
582
00:27:28,147 --> 00:27:30,082
when a housewife
named Helen Pfeil,
583
00:27:30,182 --> 00:27:32,184
upset with older kids
for trick-or-treating,
584
00:27:32,284 --> 00:27:35,021
handed out dog biscuits,
steel wool,
585
00:27:35,121 --> 00:27:36,923
and poison ant buttons.
586
00:27:37,023 --> 00:27:39,158
Although Pfeil testified
that it was just a joke,
587
00:27:39,258 --> 00:27:42,228
she was still found guilty
of endangering children.
588
00:27:42,328 --> 00:27:44,931
This fear really took root
in the 1970s
589
00:27:45,031 --> 00:27:46,833
when outlets like Newsweek
were reporting
590
00:27:46,933 --> 00:27:50,970
that several children had died
from poison or tainted candy.
591
00:27:51,070 --> 00:27:53,940
Some schools stopped
celebrating Halloween.
592
00:27:54,040 --> 00:27:56,308
They stopped using the word
"Halloween,"
593
00:27:56,408 --> 00:27:59,779
and they start talking
about having a fall festival.
594
00:27:59,879 --> 00:28:05,184
New Jersey passed a law of
specifying penalties for people
595
00:28:05,284 --> 00:28:08,154
who were caught contaminating
Halloween treats.
596
00:28:08,254 --> 00:28:13,225
In the 1980s, hospitals
began offering x-ray treats.
597
00:28:13,325 --> 00:28:15,194
ANNOUNCER: All NextCare Urgent
Care locations
598
00:28:15,294 --> 00:28:18,831
are offering free candy X-rays
through tomorrow.
599
00:28:18,931 --> 00:28:19,866
We haven't had any instances
600
00:28:20,699 --> 00:28:22,068
where we found
any tampered candy,
601
00:28:22,168 --> 00:28:23,269
but you read it in the news
602
00:28:24,270 --> 00:28:25,304
and you see all of these
crazy pictures online,
603
00:28:26,205 --> 00:28:27,206
and so, you know,
if I were a parent,
604
00:28:28,140 --> 00:28:29,842
I would be a little bit
concerned as well.
605
00:28:31,110 --> 00:28:34,713
JOEL: We don't worry about
ghosts and goblins anymore,
606
00:28:34,814 --> 00:28:36,115
but we fear this maniac,
607
00:28:36,215 --> 00:28:40,219
this anonymous person
who is so crazy
608
00:28:40,319 --> 00:28:47,093
that he presumably he, poisons
little children at random.
609
00:28:47,193 --> 00:28:48,227
( BACKGROUND TALKING )
610
00:28:49,161 --> 00:28:50,362
I think about how much fun
Halloween is.
611
00:28:51,297 --> 00:28:53,065
I also worry a little bit
about the things
612
00:28:53,165 --> 00:28:55,902
that can spoil
the fun of Halloween.
613
00:28:56,002 --> 00:28:59,772
Those kinds of things scare me,
too, but in a different way.
614
00:29:01,373 --> 00:29:03,042
JOSHUA:
The one case of tainted candy
615
00:29:03,142 --> 00:29:05,845
that seemed to bring
this nightmare to life
616
00:29:05,945 --> 00:29:09,348
happened on a rainy Halloween
night in Pasadena, Texas.
617
00:29:09,448 --> 00:29:11,117
The perpetrator
of this evil crime
618
00:29:11,217 --> 00:29:14,887
is known to some
as the man who killed Halloween
619
00:29:14,987 --> 00:29:19,158
and to others as simply
the Candy Man.
620
00:29:19,258 --> 00:29:21,961
On October 31, 1974,
621
00:29:22,061 --> 00:29:24,897
after trick-or-treating
with their friends,
the Bateses,
622
00:29:24,997 --> 00:29:27,900
Ronald O'Bryan let his son
Timothy, age 8,
623
00:29:28,000 --> 00:29:29,902
and his sister Elizabeth, 5,
624
00:29:30,002 --> 00:29:32,404
each pick out a piece of candy
before bed.
625
00:29:32,504 --> 00:29:35,174
Timothy, still wearing his
Planet of the Apes costume,
626
00:29:35,274 --> 00:29:37,009
chose a giant Pixy Styx,
627
00:29:37,109 --> 00:29:38,811
one of five
that his father had gotten
628
00:29:38,911 --> 00:29:40,813
from a neighborhood house
that night.
629
00:29:40,913 --> 00:29:43,049
Ronald had divvyed up
the other Styx to his daughter,
630
00:29:43,149 --> 00:29:44,316
one of the Bates' kids,
631
00:29:44,416 --> 00:29:47,019
and a local boy
named Whitney Parker.
632
00:29:47,119 --> 00:29:48,787
The sugar inside
had clumped together,
633
00:29:48,888 --> 00:29:50,890
so Ronald rolled the Styx
in his hands
634
00:29:50,990 --> 00:29:53,425
before pouring the powder
down his son's throat.
635
00:29:53,525 --> 00:29:56,128
Minutes later,
Timothy was violently vomiting,
636
00:29:56,228 --> 00:29:58,064
and after being rushed
to the hospital,
637
00:29:58,164 --> 00:30:00,032
he was pronounced dead.
638
00:30:00,132 --> 00:30:02,434
The cause--
cyanide poisoning.
639
00:30:02,534 --> 00:30:06,038
I was off duty at the time
on Halloween night
640
00:30:06,138 --> 00:30:09,876
when I received a call
from one of my detectives.
641
00:30:09,976 --> 00:30:11,810
I drove to Southmore Hospital,
642
00:30:11,911 --> 00:30:14,113
and what I saw
was very, very disturbing--
643
00:30:14,213 --> 00:30:17,349
not only because there was
a child there that was dead
644
00:30:17,449 --> 00:30:20,920
that had cyanide foam
coming out of his mouth,
645
00:30:21,020 --> 00:30:25,091
but it was a small,
blond-headed young boy,
646
00:30:25,191 --> 00:30:26,292
and I looked at this child--
647
00:30:27,293 --> 00:30:30,062
and I had at the time
a small, blond-headed,
648
00:30:30,162 --> 00:30:33,299
eight-year-old son
lying in a bed in my home--
649
00:30:33,399 --> 00:30:38,370
and it absolutely
just almost destroyed you
650
00:30:38,470 --> 00:30:41,040
to see something like that.
651
00:30:41,140 --> 00:30:42,308
JOSHUA: Had you ever heard
of the idea of
652
00:30:42,408 --> 00:30:44,843
candy tampering
before that?
653
00:30:44,944 --> 00:30:46,045
ED:
I had heard about it--
654
00:30:46,145 --> 00:30:47,346
I had never seen it
personally,
655
00:30:48,447 --> 00:30:51,884
but you know, you're always
concerned on Halloween,
656
00:30:51,984 --> 00:30:56,022
and the next night
we had a grieving father,
657
00:30:56,122 --> 00:30:59,291
a grieving mother,
and a grieving little sister.
658
00:30:59,391 --> 00:31:01,994
I put my arm around
Mr. O'Bryan's shoulder
659
00:31:02,094 --> 00:31:06,032
and I promised him,
"I promise you we will catch
660
00:31:06,132 --> 00:31:08,867
this individual
that did this to your son."
661
00:31:10,036 --> 00:31:12,138
JOSHUA: Timothy's death
was a terrible blow,
662
00:31:12,238 --> 00:31:15,274
not just for the family,
but for many in Pasadena.
663
00:31:15,374 --> 00:31:17,343
As crowds of O'Bryan's
fellow churchgoers
664
00:31:17,443 --> 00:31:19,145
flooded the cemetery,
665
00:31:19,245 --> 00:31:22,214
Timothy's father quickly
reduced the mourners to tears
666
00:31:22,314 --> 00:31:26,885
as he sang a hymn for the boy
who was now in Heaven.
667
00:31:26,986 --> 00:31:29,288
I introduced myself
to Mr. O'Bryan
668
00:31:29,388 --> 00:31:32,191
and said I'm a reporter
for the Houston Chronicle.
669
00:31:32,291 --> 00:31:35,161
Is Mrs. O'Bryan
available to talk?
670
00:31:35,261 --> 00:31:38,097
He said, you know,
she's really, as we all are,
671
00:31:38,197 --> 00:31:41,100
just torn up about this,
but if you want to talk,
672
00:31:41,200 --> 00:31:44,270
come on in,
and I'll try to talk to you.
673
00:31:44,370 --> 00:31:47,239
And he said, you know,
I held my son in my arms
674
00:31:47,339 --> 00:31:51,310
while he died, and I cried.
675
00:31:51,410 --> 00:31:54,013
I thought
that they had been victimized
676
00:31:54,113 --> 00:31:57,916
by a random crazy man,
lunatic.
677
00:31:58,017 --> 00:32:01,553
The original suspects
were people in Pasadena
678
00:32:01,653 --> 00:32:04,556
who were living inhabitants
of the homes
679
00:32:04,656 --> 00:32:07,459
where they did
the trick-or-treat.
680
00:32:07,559 --> 00:32:09,361
RACHEL:
4108, 4106,
681
00:32:11,197 --> 00:32:12,198
-102.
682
00:32:12,298 --> 00:32:14,233
JOSHUA:
Right here.
683
00:32:14,333 --> 00:32:15,567
4102.
684
00:32:15,667 --> 00:32:17,936
So right here
is the Bates' house
685
00:32:18,037 --> 00:32:21,473
from where O'Bryan
and the Bateses
686
00:32:21,573 --> 00:32:23,342
both went trick-or-treating.
687
00:32:23,442 --> 00:32:24,576
JOSHUA:
After the funeral,
688
00:32:24,676 --> 00:32:27,146
the police took O'Bryan around
the Bates' neighborhood,
689
00:32:27,246 --> 00:32:28,347
but he couldn't
remember the house
690
00:32:28,447 --> 00:32:30,282
where he had gotten
the Pixy Styk.
691
00:32:30,382 --> 00:32:34,053
Finally, he ID'd a neighbor
named Courtney Melvin.
692
00:32:34,153 --> 00:32:37,389
Ten, right here
where this blue car is.
693
00:32:37,489 --> 00:32:39,958
This is
Courtney Melvin's place,
694
00:32:40,059 --> 00:32:43,062
so basically Courtney
was out on his lawn.
695
00:32:43,162 --> 00:32:45,431
O'Bryan was driving by,
fingered this guy
696
00:32:45,531 --> 00:32:48,434
as being the person
where he got the Pixy Styx.
697
00:32:48,534 --> 00:32:49,968
The only problem being
698
00:32:50,069 --> 00:32:52,404
Courtney Melvin
had an airtight alibi.
699
00:32:54,373 --> 00:32:57,043
As the killer continued
to elude police,
700
00:32:57,143 --> 00:32:58,444
the nature of his crime
701
00:32:58,544 --> 00:33:01,247
only seemed to confirm
everyone's worst fears--
702
00:33:01,347 --> 00:33:03,382
a fear that still
resonates today.
703
00:33:03,482 --> 00:33:05,384
Do you know about the crime
that happened?
704
00:33:05,484 --> 00:33:08,287
Oh, yes, you're talking about
The Candy Man.
705
00:33:08,387 --> 00:33:09,288
JOSHUA:
Yeah.
706
00:33:09,388 --> 00:33:11,090
Uh-hm.
That was the first step
707
00:33:11,190 --> 00:33:13,125
that I heard of people
doing that...
708
00:33:13,225 --> 00:33:15,627
And then I heard of them
putting more cyanide
709
00:33:15,727 --> 00:33:17,363
and razor blades.
710
00:33:17,463 --> 00:33:19,098
I've heard fish hooks.
711
00:33:19,198 --> 00:33:21,433
The way society is getting
right now, I mean,
712
00:33:21,533 --> 00:33:23,102
you don't ever know
what's going to happen.
713
00:33:24,370 --> 00:33:26,405
I'm like, nope, no candy until
I look, you know, through it.
714
00:33:26,505 --> 00:33:27,406
RACHEL:
What are you looking for?
715
00:33:27,506 --> 00:33:29,241
You know, an open wrapper,
716
00:33:29,341 --> 00:33:31,510
just seeing if anything
has a hole in it.
717
00:33:31,610 --> 00:33:32,578
You don't trust nobody.
718
00:33:32,678 --> 00:33:34,513
- JOSHUA: Yeah.
- Can't.
719
00:33:34,613 --> 00:33:36,182
I actually heard
about some guy doing it
720
00:33:36,282 --> 00:33:37,416
in this neighborhood one time,
but...
721
00:33:37,516 --> 00:33:38,684
What's that story.
722
00:33:39,751 --> 00:33:41,287
I think he actually lived
over there by the ditch.
723
00:33:42,521 --> 00:33:44,323
And they do all sacrifice crap
over there during Halloween.
724
00:33:44,423 --> 00:33:46,392
Do you think there are
Satanists around?
725
00:33:46,492 --> 00:33:47,526
There probably is.
726
00:33:47,626 --> 00:33:49,195
I mean, knowing this
neighborhood--
727
00:33:49,295 --> 00:33:50,496
there are
sickos around here.
728
00:33:50,596 --> 00:33:52,064
ON T.V:
Tonight is Halloween
729
00:33:52,164 --> 00:33:54,433
and children will be out
to trick-or-treat.
730
00:33:54,533 --> 00:33:56,668
We hope that the treats
will be many
731
00:33:56,768 --> 00:33:58,304
and the tricks ingenious.
732
00:33:58,404 --> 00:34:00,172
But sometimes
people give children
733
00:34:00,272 --> 00:34:02,308
bad things
on Halloween.
734
00:34:02,408 --> 00:34:03,775
In Shreveport, Louisiana,
735
00:34:03,875 --> 00:34:06,312
an old legend that actually
happened this time.
736
00:34:06,412 --> 00:34:07,713
Halloween is on Sunday,
737
00:34:07,813 --> 00:34:09,315
and there is a spreading fear
that this year,
738
00:34:09,415 --> 00:34:10,716
the real Halloween scare
739
00:34:10,816 --> 00:34:14,052
will be many more cases
of contaminated treats.
740
00:34:15,187 --> 00:34:17,589
JOEL: The term that gets used
is "Halloween sadist."
741
00:34:17,689 --> 00:34:20,126
People assume
that the Halloween sadist
742
00:34:20,226 --> 00:34:24,130
was some crazy person who,
for some reason--
743
00:34:24,230 --> 00:34:28,100
presumably you know,
some psychological problem--
744
00:34:28,200 --> 00:34:32,104
gets pleasure or satisfaction
from hurting little kids.
745
00:34:34,573 --> 00:34:36,242
JOSHUA:
Many people believe
746
00:34:36,342 --> 00:34:38,610
the Halloween sadist
was behind Timothy's death,
747
00:34:38,710 --> 00:34:41,113
but the real culprit
was more horrific
748
00:34:41,213 --> 00:34:42,648
than anyone
had ever imagined.
749
00:34:46,318 --> 00:34:49,221
It's down here,
I think, on the left.
750
00:34:50,522 --> 00:34:52,724
All right, so Gray,
how do you want to do this?
751
00:34:52,824 --> 00:34:54,326
I'll just,
I'll hang back here.
752
00:34:54,426 --> 00:34:56,228
JOSHUA: Okay.
So we're going to go up.
753
00:34:56,328 --> 00:34:57,529
I'm not totally into this.
754
00:34:57,629 --> 00:34:58,697
I can understand.
755
00:34:59,665 --> 00:35:00,599
I can understand
why you'd want to do this...
756
00:35:00,699 --> 00:35:01,800
JOSHUA:
Yeah.
757
00:35:02,801 --> 00:35:03,469
It just makes me feel
a little uncomfortable.
758
00:35:04,136 --> 00:35:04,636
Knocking on someone's house
759
00:35:05,604 --> 00:35:07,339
and telling them
what tragedy happened here.
760
00:35:07,439 --> 00:35:08,540
JOSHUA: Well, you wouldn't
want to know?
761
00:35:14,513 --> 00:35:15,614
Oh, hey, how are you?
762
00:35:15,714 --> 00:35:17,149
Hi, how are you?
763
00:35:18,284 --> 00:35:19,251
Hey, sorry to bother you.
We wanted to talk to you.
764
00:35:20,386 --> 00:35:21,320
We're doing a documentary
and wanted to talk to you
765
00:35:22,188 --> 00:35:23,355
about the family
that lived here before.
766
00:35:23,455 --> 00:35:24,390
Do you know him?
767
00:35:25,224 --> 00:35:25,257
Do you know
Ronald Clark O'Bryan?
768
00:35:25,724 --> 00:35:26,392
WOMAN:
Uh-uh.
769
00:35:27,159 --> 00:35:28,394
No, you have no idea
about him?
770
00:35:31,230 --> 00:35:32,398
Nah, don't worry about it.
771
00:35:33,399 --> 00:35:34,633
Thanks very much.
772
00:35:34,733 --> 00:35:37,336
You want to know?
Do you really want to know?
773
00:35:37,436 --> 00:35:38,604
Do you really want to know?
774
00:35:38,704 --> 00:35:40,439
So the guy who lived in here
775
00:35:40,539 --> 00:35:42,674
was a guy named
Ronald Clark O'Bryan.
776
00:35:42,774 --> 00:35:44,543
He gave his son
a poison Pixy Styk.
777
00:35:46,412 --> 00:35:48,146
Yeah.
He killed...
778
00:35:49,781 --> 00:35:51,149
That's right.
779
00:35:53,585 --> 00:35:55,153
NEWS READER ON T.V:
On Halloween night,
780
00:35:55,254 --> 00:35:57,689
eight-year-old Timothy O'Bryan
of Pasadena, Texas,
781
00:35:57,789 --> 00:36:00,459
died after eating a piece of
trick-or-treat candy
782
00:36:00,559 --> 00:36:02,194
that contained cyanide.
783
00:36:02,294 --> 00:36:04,696
Today Pasadena police arrested
the boy's father,
784
00:36:04,796 --> 00:36:07,333
30-year-old Ronald O'Bryan,
on murder charges.
785
00:36:07,433 --> 00:36:09,167
Police refused to
discuss the case
786
00:36:09,268 --> 00:36:10,802
other than to say
the district attorney believes
787
00:36:10,902 --> 00:36:14,306
he has sufficient evidence
to file charges.
788
00:36:16,642 --> 00:36:19,177
JOSHUA: After receiving a call
from an insurance agent,
789
00:36:19,278 --> 00:36:21,680
police discovered O'Bryan
had taken out a large policy
790
00:36:21,780 --> 00:36:25,384
on his kids but not himself
nor his wife.
791
00:36:25,484 --> 00:36:26,552
Even more damning,
792
00:36:27,819 --> 00:36:28,887
he had talked to
numerous people
about death by cyanide
793
00:36:29,855 --> 00:36:31,323
and had even tried
to buy the chemical
794
00:36:31,423 --> 00:36:32,591
from local companies.
795
00:36:34,660 --> 00:36:36,628
All evidence pointed
to Timothy's father
796
00:36:36,728 --> 00:36:39,598
as the killer which,
as horrific as it sounds,
797
00:36:39,698 --> 00:36:41,367
makes some sense,
798
00:36:41,467 --> 00:36:44,403
and that's because
the Halloween sadist is a myth,
799
00:36:44,503 --> 00:36:45,804
and the notion
of candy tampering
800
00:36:45,904 --> 00:36:49,675
is really an urban legend.
801
00:36:49,775 --> 00:36:52,478
The idea that this is
a big social problem is a myth.
802
00:36:52,578 --> 00:36:54,680
I can't tell you
nobody has ever contaminated
803
00:36:54,780 --> 00:36:56,348
a piece of candy,
804
00:36:57,616 --> 00:37:01,853
but I can't find any evidence
that anybody has ever been hurt,
805
00:37:01,953 --> 00:37:05,491
seriously hurt or killed,
from a contaminated treat
806
00:37:05,591 --> 00:37:07,393
picked up in the course of
trick-or-treating.
807
00:37:07,493 --> 00:37:08,394
JOSHUA:
If there's no such thing
808
00:37:08,494 --> 00:37:09,595
as the Halloween sadist,
809
00:37:09,695 --> 00:37:12,531
who is, in fact, doing that?
810
00:37:12,631 --> 00:37:14,366
( CHUCKLES )
Probably the kids.
811
00:37:14,466 --> 00:37:15,534
If you think about it,
812
00:37:15,634 --> 00:37:17,536
this is a terrific
kind of prank.
813
00:37:17,636 --> 00:37:19,805
It's easy enough
to come by a pin,
814
00:37:19,905 --> 00:37:22,408
easy enough to stick it
in the candy bar,
815
00:37:22,508 --> 00:37:24,810
and then run in and say,
look Mom,
816
00:37:24,910 --> 00:37:26,745
there's a pin in my candy bar--
817
00:37:26,845 --> 00:37:29,715
and you become the object
of the concerned attention
818
00:37:29,815 --> 00:37:32,884
of your parents
and possibly even the press
819
00:37:32,984 --> 00:37:34,353
and the police.
820
00:37:35,687 --> 00:37:38,390
JOSHUA: While the fear of
tainted candy may be hysteria,
821
00:37:38,490 --> 00:37:40,526
Timothy's death was real--
822
00:37:40,626 --> 00:37:42,328
but was it really conceivable
823
00:37:42,428 --> 00:37:43,895
that a father could kill
his own child--
824
00:37:43,995 --> 00:37:49,401
and if so, what kind of monster
was Ronald Clark O'Bryan?
825
00:37:49,501 --> 00:37:52,604
Look at that lying
son of a bitch.
826
00:37:52,704 --> 00:37:55,441
I thought just like Mr. O'Bryan
wanted us to think--
827
00:37:55,541 --> 00:37:56,808
that there was some maniac
out there
828
00:37:57,976 --> 00:38:01,513
randomly giving these poison
Pixy Styx to little kids.
829
00:38:01,613 --> 00:38:03,349
That's exactly what
he wanted us to think,
830
00:38:03,449 --> 00:38:04,650
and that's what we thought.
831
00:38:04,750 --> 00:38:10,522
It's hard to accept
that a human being
832
00:38:10,622 --> 00:38:11,790
was willing to do that,
833
00:38:11,890 --> 00:38:16,562
and it's still difficult
for all of us.
834
00:38:16,662 --> 00:38:21,733
The people in this case were
forever affected by what he did
835
00:38:21,833 --> 00:38:24,703
and by that,
I mean the Bates kids--
836
00:38:24,803 --> 00:38:27,673
he was going to kill
his friends own two kids--
837
00:38:27,773 --> 00:38:30,442
and little Whitney Parker,
838
00:38:30,542 --> 00:38:31,843
and he would have
killed his daughter
839
00:38:33,044 --> 00:38:34,546
if the ambulance and police
hadn't gotten there so fast.
840
00:38:35,781 --> 00:38:37,916
No good prosecutor wants to go
to trial at all on anything
841
00:38:38,016 --> 00:38:39,851
unless they believe
in their own heart
842
00:38:39,951 --> 00:38:42,954
that the defendant is guilty
beyond a reasonable doubt,
843
00:38:43,054 --> 00:38:45,624
and seeking the death penalty
is just an extra dimension
844
00:38:45,724 --> 00:38:49,595
of care and consideration
that should be given.
845
00:38:49,695 --> 00:38:50,696
You wanted to keep the case.
846
00:38:50,796 --> 00:38:51,963
I sure did.
Why?
847
00:38:52,063 --> 00:38:53,499
I wanted to hopefully
have a hand
848
00:38:53,599 --> 00:38:55,434
in seeing that justice
was done
849
00:38:55,534 --> 00:38:57,436
and that he would die
for what he did.
850
00:38:59,438 --> 00:39:01,339
JOSHUA:
It took a jury only 45 minutes
851
00:39:01,440 --> 00:39:02,941
to find O'Bryan guilty
852
00:39:03,041 --> 00:39:06,378
and another 75
to sentence him to death.
853
00:39:06,478 --> 00:39:07,946
In a fitting irony,
854
00:39:08,046 --> 00:39:13,819
he was scheduled to die on
October 31, 1976, Halloween.
855
00:39:13,919 --> 00:39:15,887
VOICE OF O'BRYAN: I have stated
from the very beginning
856
00:39:15,987 --> 00:39:19,558
that I had absolutely
nothing at all to do with this.
857
00:39:19,658 --> 00:39:21,427
I maintain that now,
858
00:39:21,527 --> 00:39:23,629
and I'll willing
to take a polygraph now,
859
00:39:23,729 --> 00:39:25,764
just like I was
from the very first time
860
00:39:25,864 --> 00:39:26,865
that they arrested me.
861
00:39:26,965 --> 00:39:28,634
Because I have no guilt,
862
00:39:28,734 --> 00:39:31,437
I'm not worried about what
happens to my physical body.
863
00:39:31,537 --> 00:39:34,473
When I die,
I know where I'm going.
864
00:39:34,573 --> 00:39:37,509
MIKE: You're going straight
to hell, buddy.
865
00:39:37,609 --> 00:39:38,944
INTERVIEWER: All these appeals
have been turned down
866
00:39:39,044 --> 00:39:40,779
appeal after appeal,
and everybody is saying
867
00:39:40,879 --> 00:39:43,381
you will be executed
this Saturday.
868
00:39:43,482 --> 00:39:45,784
This could be
your last news conference.
869
00:39:45,884 --> 00:39:47,819
What are your final thoughts?
870
00:39:47,919 --> 00:39:48,820
VOICE OF O'BRYAN:
As long as I have
871
00:39:48,920 --> 00:39:51,790
verifiable options open to me,
872
00:39:51,890 --> 00:39:53,024
I will pursue them.
873
00:39:53,124 --> 00:39:55,961
INTERVIEWER:
Are you ever going to change
874
00:39:56,061 --> 00:39:58,564
your proclamation of innocence
or...
875
00:39:58,664 --> 00:40:00,999
VOICE OF O'BRYAN: No,
why should I? It's the truth.
876
00:40:01,099 --> 00:40:02,734
When you consider victims,
877
00:40:02,834 --> 00:40:06,404
the victim of this crime
actually turns out to be me.
878
00:40:07,973 --> 00:40:09,475
JOSHUA:
O'Bryan had been sent
879
00:40:09,575 --> 00:40:11,677
to Texas's infamous
Huntsville Prison
880
00:40:11,777 --> 00:40:13,078
which to this day,
881
00:40:13,178 --> 00:40:15,781
houses the most active
death chamber in the US,
882
00:40:15,881 --> 00:40:17,549
but this was 1982,
883
00:40:17,649 --> 00:40:19,751
and after a lengthy debate
in the Supreme Court
884
00:40:19,851 --> 00:40:21,687
and numerous
stays of execution,
885
00:40:21,787 --> 00:40:24,055
O'Bryan was to be one
of the very first inmates
886
00:40:24,155 --> 00:40:27,759
to be executed with
the reinstituted death penalty.
887
00:40:27,859 --> 00:40:29,528
Yet, despite his crime,
888
00:40:29,628 --> 00:40:32,430
O'Bryan still managed
to find his supporters.
889
00:40:32,531 --> 00:40:33,699
There were people
890
00:40:34,766 --> 00:40:37,969
who were in favor
of saving Ronald Clark O'Bryan
891
00:40:38,069 --> 00:40:40,005
in spite of
the overwhelming evidence
892
00:40:40,105 --> 00:40:41,673
and the horror of the crime.
893
00:40:41,773 --> 00:40:42,974
Their position was
894
00:40:44,075 --> 00:40:46,778
we are categorically
opposed to the death penalty.
895
00:40:46,878 --> 00:40:48,980
There also were
counter-protestors
896
00:40:49,080 --> 00:40:51,583
who were in favor
of the death penalty.
897
00:40:51,683 --> 00:40:53,552
They included
a lot of students
898
00:40:53,652 --> 00:40:55,687
from the university
located here
899
00:40:55,787 --> 00:40:58,056
including
many who complained
900
00:40:58,156 --> 00:41:00,559
about what had happened
to Halloween.
901
00:41:07,866 --> 00:41:09,100
This is Ronald Clark O'Bryan.
902
00:41:09,200 --> 00:41:11,603
Mr. O'Bryan is 39 years old.
903
00:41:11,703 --> 00:41:14,005
It looks like you are
going to be executed.
904
00:41:14,105 --> 00:41:15,574
Would you agree with that?
905
00:41:15,674 --> 00:41:16,908
It's a possibility.
906
00:41:17,008 --> 00:41:18,677
I've been aware
of that possibility
907
00:41:18,777 --> 00:41:20,946
since the sentence
was handed down.
908
00:41:21,046 --> 00:41:22,848
It doesn't make it right.
909
00:41:22,948 --> 00:41:24,115
It's fair to say
910
00:41:25,183 --> 00:41:26,585
that nobody gets any joy
out of executing anybody,
911
00:41:27,519 --> 00:41:28,854
but it is also clear
that most Americans
912
00:41:28,954 --> 00:41:31,056
want to get on with this.
913
00:41:31,156 --> 00:41:33,725
They are upset
that you're alive.
914
00:41:33,825 --> 00:41:36,595
I-I can see that point, sure,
but here again,
915
00:41:36,695 --> 00:41:38,129
I don't think
that revenge is right.
916
00:41:38,229 --> 00:41:40,566
I don't think society
is entitled to revenge.
917
00:41:40,666 --> 00:41:43,935
You are accused of ruining
Halloween for everybody.
918
00:41:44,035 --> 00:41:46,137
Well,
that's a matter of opinion.
919
00:41:46,237 --> 00:41:48,907
( CHUCKLES )
920
00:41:49,007 --> 00:41:51,142
JOSHUA:
March 31, 1984,
921
00:41:51,242 --> 00:41:54,746
the day of O'Bryan's execution
had finally arrived.
922
00:41:54,846 --> 00:41:57,883
He was to be executed
just after midnight.
923
00:41:57,983 --> 00:42:00,619
As the hour approached,
the frenzy outside
924
00:42:00,719 --> 00:42:02,854
reached a fever pitch.
925
00:42:02,954 --> 00:42:04,923
NEWS REPORTER: Demonstrators
were outside the prison
926
00:42:05,023 --> 00:42:07,826
waiting for the announcement
they wanted to hear.
927
00:42:07,926 --> 00:42:10,929
Parents of other murdered
children joined the vigil.
928
00:42:11,029 --> 00:42:13,098
You know, how could anyone do
something to their own child?
929
00:42:13,198 --> 00:42:14,099
NEWS REPORTER:
Dying together.
930
00:42:14,199 --> 00:42:15,634
What all of us would give
931
00:42:15,734 --> 00:42:17,736
to have the chance
to have ours back.
932
00:42:20,338 --> 00:42:22,941
JOSHUA: Do you think Halloween
will ever be the same again?
933
00:42:23,041 --> 00:42:26,978
Oh, I don't think Halloween
has changed a great deal,
934
00:42:28,880 --> 00:42:31,016
except maybe gotten
a little safer.
935
00:42:33,084 --> 00:42:35,020
JOSHUA:
At exactly 12:40 a.m.
936
00:42:35,120 --> 00:42:38,123
O'Bryan was injected with
a lethal cocktail of drugs,
937
00:42:38,223 --> 00:42:39,791
twice the normal amount,
938
00:42:39,891 --> 00:42:42,694
to account for
his 250-pound weight.
939
00:42:42,794 --> 00:42:44,129
After O'Bryan's eyes
fluttered,
940
00:42:44,229 --> 00:42:47,065
his chest heaved,
and it was over.
941
00:42:49,034 --> 00:42:50,602
NEWS READER ON T.V:
Ronald O'Bryan,
942
00:42:50,702 --> 00:42:52,671
the man fellow inmates
called The Candy Man,
943
00:42:52,771 --> 00:42:54,840
was killed by lethal injection
this morning
944
00:42:54,940 --> 00:42:56,708
at a Huntsville, Texas,
prison.
945
00:42:56,808 --> 00:42:58,844
ON T.V: Ronald O'Bryan
went to his deathbed
946
00:42:58,944 --> 00:43:01,947
never admitting
that he killed his own son.
947
00:43:02,047 --> 00:43:03,048
( BACKGROUND CONVERSATION )
948
00:43:03,148 --> 00:43:04,582
SUSAN:
But in a final statement,
949
00:43:04,683 --> 00:43:06,785
the condemned man
did ask to be forgiven.
950
00:43:06,885 --> 00:43:09,821
...Also to anyone
I have offended in any way
951
00:43:09,921 --> 00:43:12,924
during my 39 years.
952
00:43:13,024 --> 00:43:14,993
I pray
and ask your forgiveness,
953
00:43:15,093 --> 00:43:18,129
just as I forgive anyone
who offended me in any way.
954
00:43:18,229 --> 00:43:20,198
SUSAN:
Ronald O'Bryan is dead.
955
00:43:20,298 --> 00:43:24,002
His ex-wife sees the execution
as the end of a nightmare,
956
00:43:24,102 --> 00:43:27,005
and a chance
for a brand new beginning.
957
00:43:28,840 --> 00:43:31,142
JOSHUA: For many the idea
that we were killing the man
958
00:43:31,242 --> 00:43:34,612
who killed Halloween
seemed justified.
959
00:43:34,713 --> 00:43:38,684
O'Bryan had to die
so we could have our fun back.
960
00:43:38,784 --> 00:43:40,952
People were celebrating it,
there's no question about it,
961
00:43:41,052 --> 00:43:44,055
but it was
kind of a catharsis, really,
962
00:43:44,155 --> 00:43:46,892
and people welcomed the event.
963
00:43:46,992 --> 00:43:51,697
He really had not just
desecrated the family tie,
964
00:43:51,797 --> 00:43:54,132
but he had actually
in some fundamental way
965
00:43:54,232 --> 00:43:57,836
desecrated
the idea of Halloween
966
00:43:57,936 --> 00:44:04,676
by taking a scary story
and literally making it true.
967
00:44:04,776 --> 00:44:06,044
What he did is
968
00:44:06,144 --> 00:44:08,079
he used the urban legend
as a smokescreen.
969
00:44:08,179 --> 00:44:10,949
He used it as an alibi.
970
00:44:11,049 --> 00:44:12,183
I couldn't have done it
971
00:44:12,283 --> 00:44:14,285
because this is
the sort of thing
972
00:44:14,385 --> 00:44:17,155
that an anonymous
creepy killer would do,
973
00:44:17,255 --> 00:44:20,258
and we all know that
because of urban legends.
974
00:44:20,358 --> 00:44:21,927
JOSHUA:
In the ultimate irony,
975
00:44:22,027 --> 00:44:24,996
O'Bryan's decision to enact
the tainted candy myth
976
00:44:25,096 --> 00:44:27,999
turned fiction into reality,
977
00:44:28,099 --> 00:44:31,837
allowing The Candy Man
to continue haunting Halloween
978
00:44:31,937 --> 00:44:33,705
for generations to come.
979
00:44:35,473 --> 00:44:39,677
Look, it's right there.
980
00:44:42,948 --> 00:44:44,850
INTERVIEWER:
Mr. O'Bryan, your case
981
00:44:44,950 --> 00:44:49,821
has probably created terror
in the hearts of parents.
982
00:44:49,921 --> 00:44:52,157
In fact, I'm told
that the inmates
983
00:44:52,257 --> 00:44:55,794
occasionally refer to you
as The Candy Man, is that so?
984
00:45:02,333 --> 00:45:04,169
JOSHUA:
A babysitter is watching TV
985
00:45:04,269 --> 00:45:05,837
after putting the kids to bed
986
00:45:05,937 --> 00:45:08,173
when she gets a call
from a mysterious stranger.
987
00:45:08,273 --> 00:45:11,743
( PHONE RINGS )
988
00:45:11,843 --> 00:45:12,811
Hello.
989
00:45:12,911 --> 00:45:14,846
Have you checked
the children?
990
00:45:14,946 --> 00:45:16,214
What?
991
00:45:16,314 --> 00:45:17,983
JOSHUA: Thinking it's a prank,
she hangs up.
992
00:45:18,083 --> 00:45:19,217
A few minutes later,
993
00:45:19,317 --> 00:45:20,919
the same mysterious man
calls again.
994
00:45:21,019 --> 00:45:21,953
Hello?
995
00:45:22,053 --> 00:45:24,089
Have you checked
the children?
996
00:45:24,189 --> 00:45:25,791
JOSHUA:
Only now the question ends
997
00:45:25,891 --> 00:45:27,258
with a devilish laugh.
998
00:45:27,358 --> 00:45:29,294
The babysitter
reports the call.
999
00:45:29,394 --> 00:45:31,029
Hello, could you
get me the police.
1000
00:45:31,129 --> 00:45:33,865
I've been getting
weird phone calls.
1001
00:45:33,965 --> 00:45:35,934
JOSHUA: After a few minutes,
a hurried voice calls back.
1002
00:45:36,034 --> 00:45:37,803
( PHONE RINGS )
1003
00:45:37,903 --> 00:45:39,170
Leave me alone!
1004
00:45:39,270 --> 00:45:40,405
SGT. SACHAR: Jill,
this is Sergeant Sachar.
1005
00:45:40,505 --> 00:45:42,273
Listen to me.
We've traced the call.
1006
00:45:42,373 --> 00:45:44,242
The caller is in the house.
1007
00:45:44,342 --> 00:45:46,878
The calls are coming
from the house.
1008
00:45:46,978 --> 00:45:48,947
It's coming from
inside the house.
1009
00:45:49,047 --> 00:45:51,216
JOSHUA: Just at that moment,
the babysitter looks over
1010
00:45:51,316 --> 00:45:53,885
as a man is coming
down the stairs.
1011
00:45:53,985 --> 00:45:56,888
( SCREAM )
1012
00:45:59,124 --> 00:46:02,027
Well, that really happened
to a girl in my hometown.
1013
00:46:02,127 --> 00:46:04,896
( CHUCKLES )
Oh, yes. I'm sure it did.
1014
00:46:04,996 --> 00:46:07,765
I'm sure most of you grew up
1015
00:46:07,866 --> 00:46:11,102
thinking that this happened
to girls in all your hometowns,
1016
00:46:11,202 --> 00:46:13,471
but it didn't.
1017
00:46:14,572 --> 00:46:17,175
JOSHUA: Yes, the babysitter
and the man upstairs
1018
00:46:17,275 --> 00:46:19,010
is a popular urban legend,
1019
00:46:19,110 --> 00:46:21,346
but is there any truth
behind it?
1020
00:46:21,446 --> 00:46:24,215
One would think so
considering all these examples,
1021
00:46:24,315 --> 00:46:26,284
but when dealing
with urban legends,
1022
00:46:26,384 --> 00:46:28,920
the truth is never
quite what it seems.
1023
00:46:34,325 --> 00:46:35,894
RACHEL:
When I think babysitter,
1024
00:46:35,994 --> 00:46:37,395
I think about me babysitting
as a teenager
1025
00:46:37,495 --> 00:46:39,931
and how fearful I was.
1026
00:46:40,031 --> 00:46:42,400
You know,
being in a strange house,
1027
00:46:42,500 --> 00:46:45,971
hearing strange sounds,
not being familiar,
1028
00:46:46,071 --> 00:46:46,972
but what was interesting
1029
00:46:47,072 --> 00:46:49,340
is that I started researching
babysitters,
1030
00:46:49,440 --> 00:46:51,309
thinking that I wouldn't
have a hard time
1031
00:46:51,409 --> 00:46:53,044
finding a case
of a babysitter
1032
00:46:53,144 --> 00:46:56,447
by following some kind of
death or kidnapping,
1033
00:46:56,547 --> 00:47:00,085
the children upstairs
being killed or whatever.
1034
00:47:00,185 --> 00:47:02,921
It's very difficult to find
any true crimes
1035
00:47:03,021 --> 00:47:04,222
to connect
this urban legend line.
1036
00:47:04,322 --> 00:47:06,024
STEPHEN WINICK:
One thing that's interesting
1037
00:47:06,124 --> 00:47:09,127
about babysitting is that it
doesn't increase your danger
1038
00:47:09,227 --> 00:47:10,996
of being attacked at all.
1039
00:47:11,096 --> 00:47:13,331
It would be
a completely random event
1040
00:47:13,431 --> 00:47:17,903
for a babysitter to be attacked
during a house burglary,
1041
00:47:18,003 --> 00:47:21,239
but it induces anxiety
because suddenly
1042
00:47:21,339 --> 00:47:23,875
they're responsible for
these other people's kids,
1043
00:47:23,975 --> 00:47:25,376
and it has nothing to do
with your potential
1044
00:47:25,476 --> 00:47:27,012
for becoming a crime victim--
1045
00:47:27,112 --> 00:47:29,447
but it may be getting it
expressed in stories
1046
00:47:29,547 --> 00:47:31,950
in which the babysitter
becomes the crime victim.
1047
00:47:32,050 --> 00:47:33,451
JOSHUA: You would think
with the amount of babysitters
1048
00:47:33,551 --> 00:47:35,353
getting killed
in popular culture now,
1049
00:47:35,453 --> 00:47:37,989
like, we would have just like
gotten a case immediately.
1050
00:47:38,089 --> 00:47:39,457
Oh, it took me
to going back to the '50s
1051
00:47:39,557 --> 00:47:41,359
to actually find one.
1052
00:47:41,459 --> 00:47:44,029
We found this case
of Janett Christman
1053
00:47:44,129 --> 00:47:47,365
here in Columbia, Missouri,
which is why we're here.
1054
00:47:55,006 --> 00:47:58,343
My name is Carol Haley Holt,
1055
00:47:58,443 --> 00:48:03,081
and I was a very good friend
of Janett Christman
1056
00:48:03,181 --> 00:48:08,053
from first grade
through the time of her death.
1057
00:48:09,454 --> 00:48:14,025
It was March 18, 1950.
1058
00:48:14,125 --> 00:48:18,263
Janett was babysitting
for the Romack family
1059
00:48:18,363 --> 00:48:20,932
out kind of in the west edge
of Columbia--
1060
00:48:21,032 --> 00:48:23,501
it really wasn't
in the city limits.
1061
00:48:23,601 --> 00:48:26,437
It was kind of an eerie night.
1062
00:48:26,537 --> 00:48:30,942
I also was babysitting,
and I just felt uneasy,
1063
00:48:31,042 --> 00:48:32,310
and that was unusual for me
1064
00:48:32,410 --> 00:48:34,479
because I did
quite a bit of babysitting--
1065
00:48:34,579 --> 00:48:39,150
but I just felt that something
was going on about 12 o'clock,
1066
00:48:39,250 --> 00:48:41,186
and I even got up
to check the door
1067
00:48:41,286 --> 00:48:42,287
and make sure
it was locked,
1068
00:48:42,387 --> 00:48:43,454
went in to check
the little boy--
1069
00:48:43,554 --> 00:48:45,456
he was fine.
1070
00:48:45,556 --> 00:48:48,994
And then the next morning,
the phone rang.
1071
00:48:49,094 --> 00:48:51,162
My mother went in to answer
1072
00:48:51,262 --> 00:48:53,064
and told me that Janett
had been killed
1073
00:48:53,164 --> 00:48:54,299
while she was babysitting.
1074
00:48:55,500 --> 00:48:56,667
JOSHUA:
I had heard that
1075
00:48:56,767 --> 00:48:59,337
there had been a phone call
to the police.
1076
00:48:59,437 --> 00:49:02,073
Well, Mrs. Romack tried to call
1077
00:49:02,173 --> 00:49:06,211
to check on Janett
with the thunder,
1078
00:49:06,311 --> 00:49:08,980
and she was afraid
the little boy might wake up--
1079
00:49:09,080 --> 00:49:12,217
and she tried to call
and received a busy signal.
1080
00:49:12,317 --> 00:49:13,551
( BUSY TONE ON PHONE )
1081
00:49:13,651 --> 00:49:15,286
JOSHUA: What the Romack
family didn't know
1082
00:49:15,386 --> 00:49:17,055
is that Janett
had called the police
1083
00:49:17,155 --> 00:49:18,589
while she was being attacked,
1084
00:49:18,689 --> 00:49:22,093
but the only thing they heard
were desperate screams.
1085
00:49:22,193 --> 00:49:23,494
Unable to trace the call,
1086
00:49:23,594 --> 00:49:25,730
the police were helpless
to stop her murder.
1087
00:49:28,533 --> 00:49:33,371
Janett had skin
under her fingernails.
1088
00:49:36,141 --> 00:49:40,378
She had many abrasions
on her body,
1089
00:49:40,478 --> 00:49:43,048
but the final thing was
1090
00:49:43,148 --> 00:49:47,052
that she was strangled
with an ironing cord.
1091
00:49:49,187 --> 00:49:53,991
I know she suffered a lot
before she finally succumbed.
1092
00:49:56,327 --> 00:49:57,662
JOSHUA:
Janett Christman's death
1093
00:49:57,762 --> 00:50:00,165
shocked the small town
of Columbia, Missouri,
1094
00:50:00,265 --> 00:50:02,233
but despite being one of
the most publicized crimes
1095
00:50:02,333 --> 00:50:03,634
in the past 60 years,
1096
00:50:03,734 --> 00:50:06,471
her murder
has never been solved.
1097
00:50:06,571 --> 00:50:09,640
So right now, we're looking
for Ed Romack's house
1098
00:50:09,740 --> 00:50:12,009
where Janett Christman
was murdered
1099
00:50:12,110 --> 00:50:14,245
while she was babysitting.
1100
00:50:14,345 --> 00:50:16,547
1015 should be
somewhere along here.
1101
00:50:16,647 --> 00:50:18,416
RACHEL:
So then it must be that one.
1102
00:50:18,516 --> 00:50:19,517
That house right there?
Right there, right there.
1103
00:50:22,253 --> 00:50:24,021
JOSHUA:
Quick question for you,
1104
00:50:24,122 --> 00:50:26,424
is this where Ed Romack
used to live?
1105
00:50:26,524 --> 00:50:27,458
Is that this house?
1106
00:50:27,558 --> 00:50:29,060
WOMAN:
Maybe.
1107
00:50:29,160 --> 00:50:30,128
JOSHUA: But you don't know
anything about it.
1108
00:50:34,165 --> 00:50:35,500
JOSHUA:
Uh-hm.
1109
00:50:35,600 --> 00:50:38,636
About two years ago,
this car pulled up
1110
00:50:38,736 --> 00:50:42,640
and they were out there talking
and pointing here at this house,
1111
00:50:42,740 --> 00:50:45,243
and they said
we're trying to figure out
1112
00:50:45,343 --> 00:50:49,447
which house where a girl
was babysitting a little baby,
1113
00:50:49,547 --> 00:50:51,449
and she got murdered
and raped.
1114
00:50:51,549 --> 00:50:52,483
JOSHUA:
Uh-hm.
1115
00:50:53,318 --> 00:50:53,351
And I said, no,
it's not this house,
1116
00:50:53,784 --> 00:50:54,219
it's that one.
1117
00:50:54,319 --> 00:50:56,187
JOSHUA:
Uh-hm.
1118
00:50:57,355 --> 00:50:58,389
It was a man talking to me.
He said, "I was the baby."
1119
00:50:58,489 --> 00:50:59,524
JOSHUA:
No!
1120
00:50:59,624 --> 00:51:01,092
RACHEL:
Wow!
1121
00:51:02,260 --> 00:51:03,228
And a different woman that
lived across West Boulevard,
1122
00:51:04,028 --> 00:51:05,530
and she had been
raped and murdered
1123
00:51:05,630 --> 00:51:08,533
sometime within close
to that time.
1124
00:51:08,633 --> 00:51:10,067
JOSHUA: Jenkins is it?
Yes.
1125
00:51:10,168 --> 00:51:11,001
JOSHUA:
Jenkins, right.
1126
00:51:11,102 --> 00:51:13,204
We went to--
I went to the trial. Yeah.
1127
00:51:13,304 --> 00:51:15,340
JOSHUA: Marylou Jenkins
was the other reason
1128
00:51:15,440 --> 00:51:17,208
we were in Columbia.
1129
00:51:17,308 --> 00:51:21,312
On February 6, 1946,
Marylou, age 20,
1130
00:51:21,412 --> 00:51:22,547
was home alone
while her mother was out
1131
00:51:22,647 --> 00:51:25,316
caring for
an elderly neighbor.
1132
00:51:25,416 --> 00:51:27,618
The next morning she came home
to find Marylou dead.
1133
00:51:27,718 --> 00:51:30,355
Much like Janett Christman's
murder four years later,
1134
00:51:30,455 --> 00:51:31,689
Marylou had been raped
and strangled
1135
00:51:31,789 --> 00:51:33,491
with an electrical cord.
1136
00:51:35,293 --> 00:51:37,562
A mentally-challenged man
named Floyd Cochran
1137
00:51:37,662 --> 00:51:39,630
who had been arrested
for killing his wife
1138
00:51:39,730 --> 00:51:42,700
was charged with the murder
and quickly executed.
1139
00:51:42,800 --> 00:51:45,102
Do you think Floyd
was innocent?
1140
00:51:45,203 --> 00:51:47,238
MARY BETH BROWN: I think
he was likely innocent
1141
00:51:47,338 --> 00:51:49,607
of killing
Marylou Jenkins, yes.
1142
00:51:49,707 --> 00:51:54,145
He did kill his wife
in likely a domestic dispute,
1143
00:51:54,245 --> 00:51:56,647
but just from reading
the trial transcripts,
1144
00:51:56,747 --> 00:51:58,683
it just didn't seem like
he had the wherewithal
1145
00:51:58,783 --> 00:52:02,119
to kill and rape
a young woman.
1146
00:52:02,220 --> 00:52:04,289
JOSHUA: Mary Beth Brown
is a researcher
1147
00:52:04,389 --> 00:52:07,124
who helped shed new light
on these old cold cases.
1148
00:52:07,225 --> 00:52:08,659
She believes
the eerie similarities
1149
00:52:08,759 --> 00:52:11,329
between the Jenkins murder
and the Christman murder
1150
00:52:11,429 --> 00:52:14,665
four years later
only proves
Cochran's innocence.
1151
00:52:14,765 --> 00:52:17,602
They were both young women,
they were home by themselves,
1152
00:52:17,702 --> 00:52:20,305
they were both found
with electrical cords
1153
00:52:20,405 --> 00:52:21,739
wrapped around their neck,
1154
00:52:22,973 --> 00:52:25,743
but cords that weren't attached
or torn from the appliance--
1155
00:52:25,843 --> 00:52:27,278
they were actually cut.
1156
00:52:28,413 --> 00:52:30,348
The whole location thing
is the one that really gets me.
1157
00:52:30,448 --> 00:52:31,549
JOSHUA:
Like how close was it?
1158
00:52:31,649 --> 00:52:33,218
MARY BETH BROWN:
Within two blocks.
1159
00:52:33,318 --> 00:52:35,320
JOSHUA: Do you think
that the same person
1160
00:52:35,420 --> 00:52:40,358
who killed Marylou Jenkins
also killed Janett Christman?
1161
00:52:40,458 --> 00:52:43,794
That's my personal opinion,
but yeah.
1162
00:52:43,894 --> 00:52:45,463
JOSHUA:
And who do you think did it?
1163
00:52:45,563 --> 00:52:46,797
I've been told several people,
1164
00:52:46,897 --> 00:52:50,435
but more than any other name
was Robert Mueller.
1165
00:52:50,535 --> 00:52:51,736
JOSHUA:
Robert Mueller
1166
00:52:51,836 --> 00:52:53,704
was a high school friend
of Ed Romack's,
1167
00:52:53,804 --> 00:52:55,440
and it was the Romack's house
1168
00:52:55,540 --> 00:52:57,508
where Janett was babysitting
that night.
1169
00:52:57,608 --> 00:52:59,377
The Romacks told police
that Mueller
1170
00:52:59,477 --> 00:53:01,712
had often commented
on Janett being a virgin
1171
00:53:01,812 --> 00:53:05,583
and had eluded to knowing
intimate details of the crime.
1172
00:53:05,683 --> 00:53:07,585
Although Mueller had been
taken in for questioning
1173
00:53:07,685 --> 00:53:10,255
and passed a polygraph,
the police still felt
1174
00:53:10,355 --> 00:53:12,457
there was enough evidence
to arrest him.
1175
00:53:12,557 --> 00:53:14,759
However, a grand jury
refused to indict,
1176
00:53:14,859 --> 00:53:17,695
and Mueller was never tried
for Janett's murder.
1177
00:53:19,330 --> 00:53:21,732
RACHEL: I am working
on a documentary,
1178
00:53:21,832 --> 00:53:23,701
and I'm interested
in a cold case
1179
00:53:23,801 --> 00:53:24,869
that I've been researching.
1180
00:53:25,836 --> 00:53:26,404
I wanted to see
if there was any information
1181
00:53:26,971 --> 00:53:28,473
that you could give me.
1182
00:53:28,573 --> 00:53:29,707
Okay, is that--
1183
00:53:30,741 --> 00:53:31,409
did you just like
do something on your system
1184
00:53:32,243 --> 00:53:32,943
and you see
there's nothing there?
1185
00:53:33,043 --> 00:53:34,479
JOSHUA:
Despite numerous efforts
1186
00:53:34,579 --> 00:53:35,646
to reach out to police,
1187
00:53:35,746 --> 00:53:37,882
they were less than responsive.
1188
00:53:37,982 --> 00:53:40,751
Christman's case was too old
to warrant attention.
1189
00:53:40,851 --> 00:53:44,355
However, we were able to
track down some old case files.
1190
00:53:44,455 --> 00:53:47,292
This deputy testified
that Romack told him
1191
00:53:47,392 --> 00:53:49,794
Mueller had known Janett
1192
00:53:49,894 --> 00:53:53,698
and admired
her well-developed form.
1193
00:53:53,798 --> 00:53:56,734
( AGHAST )
Oh my God!
1194
00:53:58,369 --> 00:54:00,338
There's her leg.
1195
00:54:00,438 --> 00:54:02,707
There's the phone.
1196
00:54:02,807 --> 00:54:06,777
That's the cord
around her neck, right there.
1197
00:54:06,877 --> 00:54:11,416
It's one of those irons
back then with the thick cords.
1198
00:54:11,516 --> 00:54:13,284
That's the window
that was broken
1199
00:54:13,384 --> 00:54:15,453
that supposedly
whoever did this
went in and out of,
1200
00:54:15,553 --> 00:54:16,721
but the Venetian blinds--
1201
00:54:16,821 --> 00:54:17,822
if someone were going
through there--
1202
00:54:17,922 --> 00:54:19,757
they'd be totally ripped up.
1203
00:54:19,857 --> 00:54:21,392
The piano, look.
1204
00:54:21,492 --> 00:54:23,528
That's the window--
oh, look.
1205
00:54:23,628 --> 00:54:25,029
JOSHUA:
That's the broken glass
1206
00:54:25,129 --> 00:54:26,464
and that's why they're saying
nothing is disturbed
1207
00:54:26,564 --> 00:54:28,733
because look at the area
around it.
1208
00:54:28,833 --> 00:54:30,501
So, inside job.
1209
00:54:30,601 --> 00:54:31,569
Uh-hm.
1210
00:54:32,437 --> 00:54:33,404
Mueller's wife,
according to the deputy,
1211
00:54:34,672 --> 00:54:37,274
had called the girl to baby sit
at the Mueller home that night
1212
00:54:37,375 --> 00:54:39,644
and found she had already
been asked by Mrs. Romack.
1213
00:54:39,744 --> 00:54:40,878
JOSHUA:
So, Mueller tried to get her
1214
00:54:40,978 --> 00:54:41,879
to baby sit that night.
1215
00:54:41,979 --> 00:54:43,448
Must have been.
1216
00:54:43,548 --> 00:54:46,551
And she was already
babysitting the Romacks--
1217
00:54:49,420 --> 00:54:51,689
which was how he would know
she would be alone.
1218
00:54:51,789 --> 00:54:53,358
I agree that it sounds
like he did it,
1219
00:54:53,458 --> 00:54:57,328
but maybe, maybe he didn't.
1220
00:54:57,428 --> 00:55:00,465
There's no solid proof,
no hard evidence.
1221
00:55:02,132 --> 00:55:05,503
JOSHUA: Joan Sorrels is another
researcher studying the cases.
1222
00:55:05,603 --> 00:55:06,737
She believes other crimes
1223
00:55:06,837 --> 00:55:08,339
happening in Columbia
at the time
1224
00:55:08,439 --> 00:55:10,841
might be connected
to these murders.
1225
00:55:10,941 --> 00:55:11,742
There were rapes
1226
00:55:11,842 --> 00:55:15,380
that had occurred
within that period
1227
00:55:15,480 --> 00:55:18,749
between the Jenkins murder
and the Christman murder.
1228
00:55:18,849 --> 00:55:19,750
Tell me about those.
1229
00:55:19,850 --> 00:55:21,519
Yeah. Well, there was a rape
1230
00:55:21,619 --> 00:55:25,623
that was within two blocks
of the Christman murder.
1231
00:55:25,723 --> 00:55:29,727
The girl was raped by a man
that wore a mask...
1232
00:55:29,827 --> 00:55:30,528
Really?
1233
00:55:30,628 --> 00:55:31,829
And when you
read the stories--
1234
00:55:32,730 --> 00:55:33,864
the reports
of the Christman murder--
1235
00:55:34,832 --> 00:55:35,800
when they're talking
about Robert Mueller,
1236
00:55:36,934 --> 00:55:39,404
it turns out that he was
interested in the theater
1237
00:55:39,504 --> 00:55:42,407
and that he made masks.
1238
00:55:42,507 --> 00:55:45,943
There was a black man named
Jake Bradford that they charged,
1239
00:55:46,043 --> 00:55:47,978
and he had already
been in jail,
1240
00:55:48,078 --> 00:55:51,616
and he was charged
on the rapes.
1241
00:55:51,716 --> 00:55:53,618
You assume
he was innocent.
1242
00:55:53,718 --> 00:55:54,952
Of that.
1243
00:55:55,052 --> 00:55:58,523
They took the wrong man,
they really did.
1244
00:55:58,623 --> 00:56:00,758
Would you say that Columbia
has like a history of this?
1245
00:56:00,858 --> 00:56:02,560
Well, you remember
that I was graduating
1246
00:56:02,660 --> 00:56:04,529
from high school in '51.
1247
00:56:04,629 --> 00:56:06,431
You would go
to the MU football games
1248
00:56:06,531 --> 00:56:07,898
and you would stand up
for Dixie.
1249
00:56:07,998 --> 00:56:10,000
What does that mean?
1250
00:56:10,100 --> 00:56:11,569
The song Dixies ...
1251
00:56:11,669 --> 00:56:12,770
Uh-hm, okay.
1252
00:56:12,870 --> 00:56:14,505
That's a confederate song.
1253
00:56:14,605 --> 00:56:15,806
Uh-hm.
1254
00:56:16,907 --> 00:56:20,144
Columbia was really primarily
a confederate town.
1255
00:56:22,513 --> 00:56:24,749
Basically this is the story
of a young girl...
1256
00:56:24,849 --> 00:56:25,750
JOSHUA:
We came here to investigate
1257
00:56:25,850 --> 00:56:27,051
an urban legend,
1258
00:56:27,151 --> 00:56:28,919
but what we found
was truly shocking--
1259
00:56:29,019 --> 00:56:31,388
the unsolved murders
of two young girls,
1260
00:56:31,489 --> 00:56:33,824
a series of brutal rapes,
and the possibility
1261
00:56:33,924 --> 00:56:38,496
that men were being falsely
accused and even executed.
1262
00:56:38,596 --> 00:56:41,632
In all honesty, the truth
was more unflinchingly real
1263
00:56:41,732 --> 00:56:43,668
than we could ever
have imagined.
1264
00:56:43,768 --> 00:56:46,771
So right now, we are headed
to Hinkson Creek.
1265
00:56:46,871 --> 00:56:48,806
RACHEL: This is where
a lot of people went to park
1266
00:56:48,906 --> 00:56:52,543
back in the '50s, and '40s,
'50s, '60s and still do now.
1267
00:56:52,643 --> 00:56:53,611
Yeah.
1268
00:56:56,213 --> 00:56:57,748
We just wanted to see
about all the other rapes
1269
00:56:57,848 --> 00:57:00,451
that were happening
other than the two houses.
1270
00:57:00,551 --> 00:57:02,987
This is the creek
where they're saying
1271
00:57:03,087 --> 00:57:05,756
there were a ton of rapes
happening around here.
1272
00:57:11,228 --> 00:57:12,563
That.
1273
00:57:13,998 --> 00:57:15,966
This is where
the college students go in,
1274
00:57:16,066 --> 00:57:17,735
and there's like a car
right out over there
1275
00:57:17,835 --> 00:57:19,003
and they just flashed
their lights
1276
00:57:20,070 --> 00:57:22,673
because they didn't want us
to walk in on them.
1277
00:57:25,576 --> 00:57:26,677
What's down here?
1278
00:57:26,777 --> 00:57:28,813
Uh, where they dragged
the girl.
1279
00:57:28,913 --> 00:57:32,583
RACHEL: Dragged?
Dragged from the car.
1280
00:57:32,683 --> 00:57:34,519
There's a couple making out.
1281
00:57:34,619 --> 00:57:36,654
Some guy
came out of nowhere
1282
00:57:36,754 --> 00:57:38,989
and then at gunpoint
pulled one of the girls off
1283
00:57:39,089 --> 00:57:41,992
into the woods--and it was
right near Halloween--
1284
00:57:42,092 --> 00:57:45,863
and basically this guy
put a mask over his head
1285
00:57:45,963 --> 00:57:49,500
and then he put a mask
over the girl's face,
1286
00:57:49,600 --> 00:57:50,735
and then he raped her.
1287
00:57:51,769 --> 00:57:52,903
I think the more scary thing
was being a woman,
1288
00:57:53,971 --> 00:57:57,875
being a girl between
1940 and 1950, in this area,
1289
00:57:57,975 --> 00:58:00,845
knowing the amount of things
going on.
1290
00:58:00,945 --> 00:58:02,747
I wouldn't have wanted to be
a babysitter back then.
1291
00:58:02,847 --> 00:58:05,015
I wouldn't have wanted
to be by myself
1292
00:58:05,115 --> 00:58:06,183
in one of those houses.
1293
00:58:07,151 --> 00:58:10,020
Most teenagers in the US
go through a period
1294
00:58:10,120 --> 00:58:12,056
when they baby sit
at least once or twice,
1295
00:58:12,156 --> 00:58:16,594
and it feels very terrifying
to the person who is doing it,
1296
00:58:16,694 --> 00:58:17,662
( EERIE MUSIC )
1297
00:58:17,762 --> 00:58:20,030
but it's not actually dangerous
almost at all.
1298
00:58:20,130 --> 00:58:22,567
I mean, there's no reason
to imagine
1299
00:58:22,667 --> 00:58:25,002
that any killer
would even know
1300
00:58:25,102 --> 00:58:27,572
that a babysitter was on duty
in the house,
1301
00:58:27,672 --> 00:58:29,907
and it makes the most sense
if you think about the fact
1302
00:58:30,007 --> 00:58:33,010
that maybe he knew she was
going to be there babysitting
1303
00:58:33,110 --> 00:58:35,112
and maybe
he did this specifically
1304
00:58:35,212 --> 00:58:37,081
to torment the babysitter,
1305
00:58:37,181 --> 00:58:39,049
and that is
exactly what happened,
1306
00:58:39,149 --> 00:58:41,786
they think,
in the Columbia case.
1307
00:58:41,886 --> 00:58:44,822
JOSHUA: Was somebody tormenting
the babysitters in Columbia--
1308
00:58:44,922 --> 00:58:47,725
and was the same person
responsible for the sex crimes
1309
00:58:47,825 --> 00:58:49,660
that had terrorized this town--
1310
00:58:49,760 --> 00:58:53,931
and finally
was this same person
Robert Mueller?
1311
00:58:54,031 --> 00:58:55,766
Hoping for some
additional insight,
1312
00:58:55,866 --> 00:58:58,135
we turned to a profiler
in Kansas City,
1313
00:58:58,235 --> 00:59:00,938
a former German national
named Peter Brendt
1314
00:59:01,038 --> 00:59:02,940
who was willing to review
our case.
1315
00:59:03,040 --> 00:59:06,811
So in your opinion,
the same killer for both girls.
1316
00:59:06,911 --> 00:59:08,679
Yes.
This is too specific
1317
00:59:08,779 --> 00:59:10,948
if you add
all of the details together.
1318
00:59:11,048 --> 00:59:13,083
Do you think
that Marylou Jenkins knew him?
1319
00:59:13,183 --> 00:59:16,120
Well, there was no sign
of forced entry on the door,
1320
00:59:16,220 --> 00:59:20,991
so at least from the sight,
she must have known him,
1321
00:59:21,091 --> 00:59:23,828
and he was non threatening
to her.
1322
00:59:23,928 --> 00:59:26,797
Right.
Now let's talk about Christman.
1323
00:59:26,897 --> 00:59:29,667
PETER: Oh, well,
this is a lot more specifics .
1324
00:59:29,767 --> 00:59:31,969
If you see
there comes an offender,
1325
00:59:32,069 --> 00:59:33,337
he breaks a window.
1326
00:59:34,504 --> 00:59:35,773
The victim runs to the kitchen
where the phone is,
1327
00:59:36,707 --> 00:59:38,008
and he walks in
through the front door.
1328
00:59:38,108 --> 00:59:40,611
Now, why would he do that?
1329
00:59:40,711 --> 00:59:43,614
He would do that
only if he knew one detail--
1330
00:59:43,714 --> 00:59:48,719
Ed Romack had shown her
how to use the shortcut.
1331
00:59:48,819 --> 00:59:50,721
JOSHUA: Peter had brought up
an interesting clue--
1332
00:59:50,821 --> 00:59:52,222
one that many had overlooked.
1333
00:59:52,322 --> 00:59:54,024
Romack testified
that he had shown Janett
1334
00:59:54,124 --> 00:59:56,593
a loaded shotgun
by the front door.
1335
00:59:56,694 --> 00:59:57,995
By breaking the window,
1336
00:59:58,095 --> 00:59:59,830
Mueller would distract her
away from the gun
1337
00:59:59,930 --> 01:00:03,200
so he could safely
get inside the house.
1338
01:00:03,300 --> 01:00:06,904
He knew how long he would need
around the house,
1339
01:00:07,004 --> 01:00:08,939
through the front door
into the kitchen.
1340
01:00:09,039 --> 01:00:13,911
So he knew every feet
of the route.
1341
01:00:14,011 --> 01:00:15,612
Do you think it was Mueller?
1342
01:00:15,713 --> 01:00:16,981
PETER:
He fits the bill,
1343
01:00:17,081 --> 01:00:18,949
but a lot of other males
of the town
1344
01:00:19,049 --> 01:00:20,851
would fit that bill, too.
1345
01:00:20,951 --> 01:00:24,054
And the problem is
he passed his lie detector.
1346
01:00:24,154 --> 01:00:30,094
Now, if you have even 20%
to 40% cycle passes it makes--
1347
01:00:30,194 --> 01:00:31,829
a lie detector,
1348
01:00:31,929 --> 01:00:34,832
especially an old model
from the '50s,
1349
01:00:34,932 --> 01:00:39,870
um, well, it's worthless.
1350
01:00:39,970 --> 01:00:41,271
Now the other
interesting thing
1351
01:00:42,472 --> 01:00:44,875
is that the rapes and murders
stopped when he left town.
1352
01:00:44,975 --> 01:00:48,145
Well, that looks not good
on the other side.
1353
01:00:48,245 --> 01:00:53,183
What was it, half a million
young males went to Korea?
1354
01:00:53,283 --> 01:00:56,286
So he wasn't the only one
who left the area.
1355
01:00:56,386 --> 01:00:58,989
I mean he would
so nicely fit the bill,
1356
01:00:59,089 --> 01:01:03,761
but that's the risky part
with profiles, yeah?
1357
01:01:03,861 --> 01:01:06,130
A profile states
not who the killer is
1358
01:01:06,230 --> 01:01:08,866
but what the killer is.
1359
01:01:08,966 --> 01:01:09,867
RACHEL:
I think it's interesting
1360
01:01:09,967 --> 01:01:12,069
that he thinks whoever this is,
1361
01:01:12,169 --> 01:01:15,706
he knew her--
he knew both.
1362
01:01:15,806 --> 01:01:16,974
JOSHUA: Although we'll
never be able to prove
1363
01:01:17,074 --> 01:01:18,876
who committed
all these crimes,
1364
01:01:18,976 --> 01:01:20,210
the evidence strongly suggests
1365
01:01:20,310 --> 01:01:23,680
that Janett Christman
knew her killer.
1366
01:01:23,781 --> 01:01:28,285
There really is not
a strong tradition in America
1367
01:01:28,385 --> 01:01:32,857
of strangers coming in
and killing babysitters.
1368
01:01:32,957 --> 01:01:36,961
Babysitters killing
small children, yes,
1369
01:01:37,061 --> 01:01:40,765
but the stranger
on babysitter story
1370
01:01:40,865 --> 01:01:47,772
just doesn't connect up with
a widespread real social fear.
1371
01:01:47,872 --> 01:01:49,774
( THUMPING )
1372
01:01:51,541 --> 01:01:54,144
STEPHEN: What the babysitter
and the man upstairs
1373
01:01:54,244 --> 01:01:57,114
seems to be about
is this warning
1374
01:01:57,214 --> 01:01:59,049
about this kind of
responsibility.
1375
01:01:59,149 --> 01:02:00,350
If you're taking
this responsibility,
1376
01:02:00,450 --> 01:02:02,052
you have to take it seriously.
1377
01:02:02,152 --> 01:02:04,822
So, you have this voice
that calls her up on the phone
1378
01:02:04,922 --> 01:02:06,323
and almost like a conscience,
1379
01:02:06,423 --> 01:02:08,225
asks have you checked
the children,
1380
01:02:08,325 --> 01:02:10,194
and she hasn't
checked the children,
1381
01:02:10,294 --> 01:02:12,863
and that's one of the reasons
why she doesn't know
1382
01:02:12,963 --> 01:02:14,731
that they've been murdered.
1383
01:02:16,100 --> 01:02:18,035
BILL ELLIS:
I think it makes more sense
1384
01:02:18,135 --> 01:02:20,070
to look at it in a simple way
1385
01:02:20,170 --> 01:02:25,209
and say the babysitter is
dealing with her own anxieties
1386
01:02:25,309 --> 01:02:29,980
of being potentially the cause
of the children's death--
1387
01:02:30,080 --> 01:02:34,284
and the killer upstairs
is the killer upstairs for her.
1388
01:02:34,384 --> 01:02:36,253
JOSHUA: The tragic case
of Janett Christman
1389
01:02:36,353 --> 01:02:38,989
only goes to prove
Bill Ellis's point
1390
01:02:39,089 --> 01:02:42,827
that our portrayal of the man
upstairs is incorrect--
1391
01:02:42,927 --> 01:02:45,195
and that's because the truth
is more terrifying
1392
01:02:45,295 --> 01:02:47,164
than we can ever imagine.
1393
01:02:47,264 --> 01:02:49,166
Janett Christman
knew her killer,
1394
01:02:49,266 --> 01:02:51,802
and if it's true
that her killer was Mueller
1395
01:02:51,902 --> 01:02:54,304
as so many in Columbia
have suggested,
1396
01:02:54,404 --> 01:02:57,174
then the man tormenting her
that fateful night
1397
01:02:57,274 --> 01:02:59,376
wasn't any stranger.
1398
01:02:59,476 --> 01:03:02,779
( PHONE RINGS )
1399
01:03:13,023 --> 01:03:15,159
So now we go from
Columbia, Missouri,
1400
01:03:15,259 --> 01:03:17,828
to Chicago in the 1980s--
1401
01:03:17,928 --> 01:03:19,930
from the small town
to the big city.
1402
01:03:22,032 --> 01:03:24,935
For some,
it is a loss of innocence,
1403
01:03:25,035 --> 01:03:29,006
and nothing speaks to that loss
more than clowns.
1404
01:03:29,106 --> 01:03:30,574
( CIRCUS MUSIC )
1405
01:03:30,674 --> 01:03:33,343
We used to think of clowns
as fairly happy characters.
1406
01:03:33,443 --> 01:03:35,880
Yes, sometimes
they were sad or hapless,
1407
01:03:35,980 --> 01:03:38,315
but ultimately they were
harmless caricatures.
1408
01:03:38,415 --> 01:03:41,986
Of course, clown faces
were exaggerated and garish,
1409
01:03:42,086 --> 01:03:43,353
but that's because of
the far distances
1410
01:03:43,453 --> 01:03:45,956
between the audience
and the ring.
1411
01:03:46,056 --> 01:03:49,226
It wasn't the clown's fault,
or was it?
1412
01:03:50,928 --> 01:03:52,362
Before modern times,
the clown--
1413
01:03:52,462 --> 01:03:54,364
or more appropriately
the jester--
1414
01:03:54,464 --> 01:03:56,333
was considered
a mischievous trickster
1415
01:03:56,433 --> 01:04:00,104
whose special role
allowed them to mock nobility.
1416
01:04:00,204 --> 01:04:03,307
Jesters served to entertain,
but it wasn't all smiles.
1417
01:04:03,407 --> 01:04:08,245
These clowns had a mean streak,
and they played it to the hilt.
1418
01:04:08,345 --> 01:04:10,915
But what was it
about the clowns of today
1419
01:04:11,015 --> 01:04:14,919
that turned them
into something evil?
1420
01:04:15,019 --> 01:04:17,387
( ROOSTER CAWING )
1421
01:04:17,487 --> 01:04:18,923
Breakfast.
1422
01:04:20,490 --> 01:04:22,893
I'm hungry.
1423
01:04:24,028 --> 01:04:25,462
JOSHUA: Some believe
it was when we brought clowns
1424
01:04:25,562 --> 01:04:27,932
out of the Big Top
and into our homes
1425
01:04:28,032 --> 01:04:30,034
via birthday parties and TV,
1426
01:04:30,134 --> 01:04:32,903
that things
really began to change.
1427
01:04:33,003 --> 01:04:36,173
We see you here as Bozo.
Who are you really?
1428
01:04:36,273 --> 01:04:38,275
JOSHUA: Had that
suspicious gleam in the eye
1429
01:04:38,375 --> 01:04:40,010
been there all along?
1430
01:04:40,110 --> 01:04:42,947
Did we finally just put
two and two together to realize
1431
01:04:43,047 --> 01:04:46,350
that clowns were creepy
or even worse--
1432
01:04:46,450 --> 01:04:48,052
dangerous?
1433
01:04:48,152 --> 01:04:50,487
ANNOUNCER:
The News At 5.
1434
01:04:50,587 --> 01:04:52,356
NEWS READER:
Chicago police warned parents
1435
01:04:52,456 --> 01:04:56,426
about a man dressed as a clown
who is approaching children.
1436
01:04:56,526 --> 01:04:58,495
Police say a clown
tried to lure boys
1437
01:04:58,595 --> 01:05:01,898
into his pickup truck
last Tuesday evening.
1438
01:05:01,999 --> 01:05:03,500
Police have issued
two community alerts
1439
01:05:03,600 --> 01:05:06,903
regarding the clown sighting
near some Southside schools
1440
01:05:07,004 --> 01:05:09,173
as well as
some Westside schools.
1441
01:05:11,041 --> 01:05:12,376
JOSHUA:
No one can say for sure
1442
01:05:12,476 --> 01:05:15,379
where in Chicago
it happened first or even when,
1443
01:05:17,114 --> 01:05:21,485
but they were out there,
snatching kids off the streets.
1444
01:05:21,585 --> 01:05:24,321
They trolled playgrounds
and schoolyards.
1445
01:05:24,421 --> 01:05:26,356
Sometimes they used
balloons or candy
1446
01:05:26,456 --> 01:05:28,258
to lure the gullible ones.
1447
01:05:30,360 --> 01:05:32,296
But ask anyone
who has seen them,
1448
01:05:32,396 --> 01:05:34,931
and they'll all tell you
the same thing--
1449
01:05:35,032 --> 01:05:37,134
it was the white van
they saw first
1450
01:05:39,169 --> 01:05:41,938
and then that face
behind the wheel
1451
01:05:42,039 --> 01:05:44,474
painted white
with a maniacal smile.
1452
01:05:47,177 --> 01:05:49,980
We call them
the Killer Clowns,
1453
01:05:50,080 --> 01:05:52,382
and they only wanted
one thing--
1454
01:05:52,482 --> 01:05:56,353
to kidnap kids just like us.
1455
01:05:57,587 --> 01:05:59,056
ON T.V: Police are saying
that the suspect
1456
01:05:59,156 --> 01:06:01,191
wears clown make-up, a wig,
1457
01:06:01,291 --> 01:06:03,227
and sometimes
he carried balloons.
1458
01:06:03,327 --> 01:06:04,694
The latest pair of incidents
1459
01:06:04,794 --> 01:06:07,031
occurred near playgrounds
at 83rd and Mackinaw...
1460
01:06:07,131 --> 01:06:08,598
They were running out
of the playground area.
1461
01:06:08,698 --> 01:06:11,235
To prey on children
at this time, you know,
1462
01:06:11,335 --> 01:06:13,503
right around the time
that they want to go out
1463
01:06:13,603 --> 01:06:16,373
and do trick-or-treating
is unfortunate.
1464
01:06:16,473 --> 01:06:19,043
We should emphasize
that nothing has happened--
1465
01:06:19,143 --> 01:06:20,477
no child has been hurt--
1466
01:06:21,711 --> 01:06:23,113
but certainly these incidents
that have been near children
1467
01:06:23,213 --> 01:06:25,115
is making it very uneasy.
1468
01:06:25,215 --> 01:06:27,117
( SIRENS WAILING )
1469
01:06:29,586 --> 01:06:32,122
JOSHUA: In 2008, this was
one of the reported sightings--
1470
01:06:32,222 --> 01:06:33,190
South Mackinaw--
1471
01:06:34,058 --> 01:06:36,026
one of the theoretical
clown abductions
1472
01:06:36,126 --> 01:06:38,528
where apparently he was hiding
in the playground
1473
01:06:38,628 --> 01:06:40,097
with some balloons...
1474
01:06:40,197 --> 01:06:42,099
Or he was in a van
or he was in a truck.
1475
01:06:42,199 --> 01:06:44,101
I mean, no adult
said they saw this.
1476
01:06:44,201 --> 01:06:46,070
Something was going on
with these children
1477
01:06:46,170 --> 01:06:50,274
to feel the need
to alert adults.
1478
01:06:50,374 --> 01:06:51,341
You doing a documentary?
1479
01:06:51,441 --> 01:06:52,709
Yeah, we are.
1480
01:06:52,809 --> 01:06:53,643
JOSHUA: Do you believe
that really happened?
1481
01:06:53,743 --> 01:06:54,744
Yeah, oh sure.
1482
01:06:54,844 --> 01:06:56,246
JOSHUA: Why do you believe
that happened?
1483
01:06:56,346 --> 01:06:57,447
Well, people told me,
you know,
1484
01:06:57,547 --> 01:06:59,383
that they actually seen that.
1485
01:06:59,483 --> 01:07:01,218
Was it just one incident
or was it...
1486
01:07:01,318 --> 01:07:03,353
No, it was like a couple weeks
or you know,
1487
01:07:03,453 --> 01:07:05,555
a month or something like
that it was going on.
1488
01:07:05,655 --> 01:07:07,091
RACHEL:
Did they ever catch the guy?
1489
01:07:07,191 --> 01:07:08,125
I'm not sure.
1490
01:07:08,958 --> 01:07:09,559
I think they did
because it stopped.
1491
01:07:10,360 --> 01:07:12,196
Definitely
it was a true incident.
1492
01:07:12,296 --> 01:07:14,098
JOSHUA: Uh-hm.
RACHEL: Uh-hm.
1493
01:07:14,198 --> 01:07:15,132
So, he believes...
1494
01:07:15,965 --> 01:07:17,301
He believes it.
It was-it was real.
1495
01:07:18,402 --> 01:07:19,503
I think there could possibly
have been a clown here.
1496
01:07:19,603 --> 01:07:21,371
It's hard to discern.
1497
01:07:21,471 --> 01:07:23,607
A white van
and the guy had a mask...
1498
01:07:23,707 --> 01:07:25,509
Uh-hm.
...Of a clown.
1499
01:07:25,609 --> 01:07:27,611
One of our friends' daughters...
1500
01:07:27,711 --> 01:07:29,213
...Yeah, and she was
holding on
1501
01:07:29,313 --> 01:07:30,580
like for dear life
to the fence.
1502
01:07:30,680 --> 01:07:32,182
JOSHUA: Really?
Yeah.
1503
01:07:32,282 --> 01:07:33,683
JOSHUA: Do you believe
it really happened?
1504
01:07:33,783 --> 01:07:34,751
I believe so.
1505
01:07:35,619 --> 01:07:36,486
We have tons and tons
of pedophiles
1506
01:07:36,586 --> 01:07:39,089
in this community.
I always log on to it.
1507
01:07:39,189 --> 01:07:40,124
JOSHUA: Really?
Oh yes.
1508
01:07:40,224 --> 01:07:41,191
Dressing as a clown?
1509
01:07:41,291 --> 01:07:42,259
Yeah.
1510
01:07:43,127 --> 01:07:43,627
That's a little extreme,
don't you think?
1511
01:07:43,727 --> 01:07:44,761
No.
1512
01:07:44,861 --> 01:07:46,296
JOSHUA:
But you never saw the clown.
1513
01:07:47,431 --> 01:07:49,099
No, but we saw people
that acted like that person--
1514
01:07:49,199 --> 01:07:50,534
trying to lure--
tell the kids.
1515
01:07:51,768 --> 01:07:53,437
I saw him right in the store
and I warned the store owner.
1516
01:07:53,537 --> 01:07:54,704
I'd like for people
to hear the truth
1517
01:07:54,804 --> 01:07:57,107
( indistinct ) not a lie.
1518
01:07:57,207 --> 01:07:58,208
( BACKGROUND SIRENS )
1519
01:07:58,308 --> 01:08:00,177
Now I don't know
what to think.
1520
01:08:00,277 --> 01:08:02,212
JOSHUA: Walking away,
it was hard not to believe
1521
01:08:02,312 --> 01:08:04,381
that there must be
some truth to this.
1522
01:08:04,481 --> 01:08:06,483
Could all these people
really be wrong?
1523
01:08:06,583 --> 01:08:10,086
Maybe our fear of clowns
isn't just in our heads.
1524
01:08:11,621 --> 01:08:14,358
JOE DURWIN: Coulrophobia
is the fear of clowns.
1525
01:08:14,458 --> 01:08:16,593
It is so widespread now
that, you know,
1526
01:08:16,693 --> 01:08:19,729
everybody knows that people
are afraid of clowns.
1527
01:08:19,829 --> 01:08:22,499
Everybody knows that something
is up with clowns,
1528
01:08:22,599 --> 01:08:25,502
and the last couple of decades
have just been confirmation
1529
01:08:25,602 --> 01:08:27,304
of everything
they ever feared.
1530
01:08:27,404 --> 01:08:29,105
JOE DURWIN:
But what's even more disturbing
1531
01:08:29,206 --> 01:08:32,642
is that these phantom clowns
didn't just appear in 2008.
1532
01:08:32,742 --> 01:08:35,512
There was a similar sighting
17 years previously,
1533
01:08:35,612 --> 01:08:38,548
in the fall of 1991.
1534
01:08:38,648 --> 01:08:40,550
From the number of
alleged sightings
1535
01:08:40,650 --> 01:08:43,153
coming from practically
all over Chicago,
1536
01:08:43,253 --> 01:08:44,454
police are theorizing
1537
01:08:44,554 --> 01:08:46,590
there may be more
than one phony clown
1538
01:08:46,690 --> 01:08:48,692
out roaming the streets.
1539
01:08:48,792 --> 01:08:50,260
RACHEL:
This is a comment.
1540
01:08:50,360 --> 01:08:51,661
"I've seen the same van
with the clown driving
1541
01:08:51,761 --> 01:08:54,298
when we was on the Westside
playing,
1542
01:08:54,398 --> 01:08:56,433
and I can recall the van
stopping in the alley
1543
01:08:56,533 --> 01:08:58,668
and the clown trying to
lure me to the van.
1544
01:08:58,768 --> 01:08:59,769
That scared me worser
1545
01:09:00,670 --> 01:09:02,506
than living in Cabrini-Green
projects."
1546
01:09:02,606 --> 01:09:05,342
JOE DURWIN: The mention of
Cabrini-Green was telling.
1547
01:09:05,442 --> 01:09:08,445
It had been one of Chicago's
most notorious slums
1548
01:09:08,545 --> 01:09:12,616
where kids faced
rampant poverty and
violence on a daily basis.
1549
01:09:12,716 --> 01:09:13,817
But how does a kid process
1550
01:09:13,917 --> 01:09:15,585
these overwhelming
societal issues
1551
01:09:15,685 --> 01:09:18,322
that are just too big to fix?
1552
01:09:18,422 --> 01:09:19,723
Have you ever like
heard of any talk
1553
01:09:19,823 --> 01:09:21,625
about any scary place
on your block,
1554
01:09:21,725 --> 01:09:23,159
a place nobody went to?
1555
01:09:23,260 --> 01:09:25,529
Every block is a scary block--
( GIGGLES )
1556
01:09:25,629 --> 01:09:27,464
so much shooting
and killing out here.
1557
01:09:27,564 --> 01:09:29,233
You guys think
clowns are scary?
1558
01:09:29,333 --> 01:09:30,267
Clowns?
Yeah.
1559
01:09:30,367 --> 01:09:31,768
No.
1560
01:09:31,868 --> 01:09:32,769
Killer clowns.
1561
01:09:32,869 --> 01:09:34,170
Killer clowns.
1562
01:09:35,805 --> 01:09:39,243
We've got a real shot here,
Bernadette.
1563
01:09:39,343 --> 01:09:40,777
An entire community
starts attributing
1564
01:09:40,877 --> 01:09:44,581
the daily horrors of their lives
to a mythical figure.
1565
01:09:44,681 --> 01:09:46,750
JOSHUA:
Sometimes we create monsters.
1566
01:09:46,850 --> 01:09:49,953
Sometimes we just need
to put a face on our fear.
1567
01:09:51,455 --> 01:09:53,723
Aren't you going
to say hello?
1568
01:09:54,724 --> 01:09:56,693
This is where there was
1569
01:09:56,793 --> 01:10:01,498
another series of
clown sightings back in '91.
1570
01:10:01,598 --> 01:10:03,800
They called this clown sighting
the Homey the Clown sighting.
1571
01:10:03,900 --> 01:10:05,435
RACHEL:
Back in the early '90s,
1572
01:10:05,535 --> 01:10:07,571
there was a popular show on,
In Living Colors.
1573
01:10:07,671 --> 01:10:09,806
Huge character on there,
Homey the Clown.
1574
01:10:09,906 --> 01:10:12,409
Now let's show them
how Homey gets back at
1575
01:10:12,509 --> 01:10:13,543
Mr. Establishment.
1576
01:10:13,643 --> 01:10:15,345
( LAUGHTER )
1577
01:10:15,445 --> 01:10:16,446
Sure.
1578
01:10:16,546 --> 01:10:19,449
( LAUGHTER )
1579
01:10:20,450 --> 01:10:23,453
I mean, this is only one
of many, many places
1580
01:10:23,553 --> 01:10:25,589
all over Chicago.
1581
01:10:26,590 --> 01:10:28,358
There was a real
citywide scare.
1582
01:10:28,458 --> 01:10:30,494
The Chicago police
were being called.
1583
01:10:30,594 --> 01:10:32,696
There were reports
in the news.
1584
01:10:32,796 --> 01:10:34,631
JOSHUA: Isaiah Thompson
was a local reporter
1585
01:10:34,731 --> 01:10:37,467
who grew up in Chicago
and wrote about the clowns
1586
01:10:37,567 --> 01:10:39,469
that seemed to be lurking
on every corner.
1587
01:10:39,569 --> 01:10:42,272
Somehow-you know,
1588
01:10:42,372 --> 01:10:44,474
I don't know that anyone
knows how, you know,
1589
01:10:44,574 --> 01:10:47,377
this whole city,
especially like this whole
1590
01:10:47,477 --> 01:10:50,246
public school network of
thousands and thousands of kids
1591
01:10:50,347 --> 01:10:51,648
all believe the same thing,
1592
01:10:51,748 --> 01:10:54,484
so it seems like
this larger force of nature
1593
01:10:54,584 --> 01:10:57,887
that sort of visited itself
upon the kids of Chicago.
1594
01:10:57,987 --> 01:11:00,390
JOSHUA: What the kids in 1991
didn't know
1595
01:11:00,490 --> 01:11:04,828
was that Chicago had
an even earlier clown scare.
1596
01:11:04,928 --> 01:11:10,800
There was another clown scare
phenomenon previously in 1981.
1597
01:11:10,900 --> 01:11:14,438
It's been said that that one
started in Boston.
1598
01:11:14,538 --> 01:11:16,306
Uh-hm. You think '81,
you think '80s,
1599
01:11:17,774 --> 01:11:19,676
you think Steven King,
you think It
you think Poltergeist.
1600
01:11:19,776 --> 01:11:23,413
No, that started in '82,
Poltergeist, '86 for It.
1601
01:11:23,513 --> 01:11:25,415
This was all
before any of that.
1602
01:11:25,515 --> 01:11:26,916
JOSHUA: It's easy to see
how Poltergeist
1603
01:11:27,016 --> 01:11:29,453
could have helped
spread a clown scare.
1604
01:11:38,495 --> 01:11:40,296
And of course,
Steven King's It...
1605
01:11:40,397 --> 01:11:43,333
Ah-ha, I'll drive you crazy
and I'll kill you all.
1606
01:11:43,433 --> 01:11:45,301
I'm every nightmare
you ever had.
1607
01:11:45,402 --> 01:11:48,638
I am your worst dream come true!
1608
01:11:48,738 --> 01:11:50,407
JOSHUA: But the fact
that the 1981 scare
1609
01:11:50,507 --> 01:11:53,677
preceded these cinematic
killer clowns was telling.
1610
01:11:53,777 --> 01:11:55,912
This wasn't just kids
watching some movie,
1611
01:11:56,012 --> 01:11:58,682
not when this fear
was everywhere.
1612
01:11:58,782 --> 01:12:02,719
JOE DURWIN: Clowns appear
in California in 1967;
1613
01:12:02,819 --> 01:12:04,421
in Newark 1980;
1614
01:12:04,521 --> 01:12:05,589
Boston; Providence;
1615
01:12:05,689 --> 01:12:08,425
Omaha; Phoenix,
Arizona in 1985;
1616
01:12:08,525 --> 01:12:09,493
Chicago; Galveston,
1617
01:12:09,593 --> 01:12:10,760
Texas, 1992;
1618
01:12:10,860 --> 01:12:11,828
Washington; Maryland;
1619
01:12:11,928 --> 01:12:13,430
Scotland, 1991;
1620
01:12:13,530 --> 01:12:15,832
throughout a large portion
of Latin America
1621
01:12:15,932 --> 01:12:19,503
from Mexico to South America
in the mid-90s.
1622
01:12:19,603 --> 01:12:21,605
The question of
how it's being spread
1623
01:12:21,705 --> 01:12:24,741
is a very interesting one
because you have an age group
1624
01:12:24,841 --> 01:12:27,877
which doesn't have
an enormous amount of contacts
1625
01:12:27,977 --> 01:12:30,514
and especially
in a pre-internet time.
1626
01:12:30,614 --> 01:12:33,450
Elementary schools
communicating with students
1627
01:12:33,550 --> 01:12:36,520
in other elementary schools
on the other side of town
1628
01:12:36,620 --> 01:12:37,954
is very unlikely.
1629
01:12:39,188 --> 01:12:40,990
How it's transmitted is really
one of the most intriguing,
1630
01:12:41,090 --> 01:12:44,428
perhaps unsolved mysteries
about it.
1631
01:12:49,533 --> 01:12:50,667
JOSHUA:
All over the world,
1632
01:12:50,767 --> 01:12:52,536
kids were seeing
killer clowns,
1633
01:12:52,636 --> 01:12:54,370
but it could have been
any monster--
1634
01:12:54,471 --> 01:12:58,775
zombies, vampires, witches,
why clowns?
1635
01:12:58,875 --> 01:13:01,645
Maybe our fear points
to an even larger issue.
1636
01:13:01,745 --> 01:13:03,747
Maybe it was the clown's
loss of innocence
1637
01:13:03,847 --> 01:13:06,015
that made them
that much more scary
1638
01:13:06,115 --> 01:13:08,518
because it spoke
to our own loss.
1639
01:13:08,618 --> 01:13:11,655
For those born
into a generation
of stranger danger,
1640
01:13:11,755 --> 01:13:14,424
where missing kids appeared
on every milk carton,
1641
01:13:14,524 --> 01:13:16,426
clowns represented a world
1642
01:13:16,526 --> 01:13:18,528
that had turned
almost evil overnight,
1643
01:13:18,628 --> 01:13:20,764
and that's because
it's here in Chicago
1644
01:13:20,864 --> 01:13:22,666
where the notion
of killer clowns
1645
01:13:22,766 --> 01:13:24,400
became a reality.
1646
01:13:24,501 --> 01:13:25,902
NEWS REPORTER: Police found
the decomposed remains
1647
01:13:26,002 --> 01:13:27,136
of three bodies.
1648
01:13:27,236 --> 01:13:29,773
They suspect there are several
more bodies buried here.
1649
01:13:29,873 --> 01:13:32,776
JOSHUA: And the most
evil of them all was Pogo,
1650
01:13:32,876 --> 01:13:36,446
the alter ego of one of the
most prolific serial killers
1651
01:13:36,546 --> 01:13:40,450
in all of history,
John Wayne Gacy.
1652
01:13:43,219 --> 01:13:45,489
Gacy was a sadistic
serial killer
1653
01:13:45,589 --> 01:13:47,423
who brutally slayed
33 young men
1654
01:13:47,524 --> 01:13:51,961
between 1972 and 1978
in the Chicago suburbs.
1655
01:13:52,061 --> 01:13:55,765
Though many have portrayed
Gacy as an actual killer clown,
1656
01:13:55,865 --> 01:13:57,801
the truth behind
his demented persona
1657
01:13:57,901 --> 01:13:59,569
is not so simple.
1658
01:14:14,250 --> 01:14:16,019
How many bodies
did you find here?
1659
01:14:16,119 --> 01:14:18,988
BOB EGAN: Twenty-nine,
twenty-seven under the house...
1660
01:14:19,088 --> 01:14:20,189
Uh-hm.
1661
01:14:21,190 --> 01:14:21,925
In the crawlspace,
one under the driveway...
1662
01:14:23,059 --> 01:14:26,496
And one under an extension
that he put on the garage.
1663
01:14:26,596 --> 01:14:27,797
JOSHUA:
This is Bob Egans ,
1664
01:14:27,897 --> 01:14:29,833
a former prosecutor
on the Gacy case,
1665
01:14:29,933 --> 01:14:32,468
and Cook County detective
Jason Moran.
1666
01:14:32,569 --> 01:14:34,871
BOB EGAN: When we first saw
the Pogo the Clown pictures,
1667
01:14:34,971 --> 01:14:36,506
we went, oh my God,
1668
01:14:36,606 --> 01:14:38,041
is this guy acting as a clown
to get victims--
1669
01:14:38,141 --> 01:14:41,578
that's what we thought,
but it wasn't that at all.
1670
01:14:41,678 --> 01:14:44,080
He was doing that because
he was the center of attention,
1671
01:14:44,180 --> 01:14:45,248
and everything he did
1672
01:14:46,215 --> 01:14:47,016
was to make himself
the center of attention.
1673
01:14:47,651 --> 01:14:49,018
I still don't like clowns.
1674
01:14:50,153 --> 01:14:51,788
( CHUCKLES ) And I'm an adult
with a gun and a badge.
1675
01:14:51,888 --> 01:14:53,757
And it might be
from being a child
1676
01:14:53,857 --> 01:14:57,727
during that time because
if you look at Pogo the Clown,
1677
01:14:57,827 --> 01:14:59,663
he was a very creepy clown.
1678
01:14:59,763 --> 01:15:02,566
If you look at the pictures,
the make-up around his eyes
1679
01:15:02,666 --> 01:15:05,101
when he was portraying Pogo,
was triangular,
1680
01:15:05,201 --> 01:15:08,738
and the make-up around his mouth
came up to points.
1681
01:15:08,838 --> 01:15:11,040
Clown experts said
clowns do not have
1682
01:15:11,140 --> 01:15:13,543
any sharp points
on their faces.
1683
01:15:13,643 --> 01:15:14,578
Why?
1684
01:15:14,678 --> 01:15:17,647
Because it scares kids
and it connotes evil.
1685
01:15:17,747 --> 01:15:20,049
And so do you think
Gacy did this on purpose
1686
01:15:20,149 --> 01:15:21,685
to connote evil?
1687
01:15:21,785 --> 01:15:22,786
It was subconscious?
No, I don't think at all.
1688
01:15:22,886 --> 01:15:23,953
I think it was
purely coincidental.
1689
01:15:24,053 --> 01:15:25,254
He wasn't--
1690
01:15:26,355 --> 01:15:27,023
I don't think he was
thinking of that for one second.
1691
01:15:28,324 --> 01:15:28,858
I'm telling you, that's exactly
what we believed at the time.
1692
01:15:29,693 --> 01:15:31,561
Pogo the clown issue
was the subject
1693
01:15:31,661 --> 01:15:33,930
of a lot of conversation
during the trial prep.
1694
01:15:35,599 --> 01:15:38,668
JOSHUA: Although Gacy never did
kill anyone dressed as a clown,
1695
01:15:38,768 --> 01:15:41,938
he did tell police clowns
could get away with murder,
1696
01:15:42,038 --> 01:15:44,741
leading many to believe
his signature clown look
1697
01:15:44,841 --> 01:15:48,878
was in fact a true reflection
of his inner evil self.
1698
01:15:52,682 --> 01:15:54,851
Ken Melvoin-Berg
is a noted historian
1699
01:15:54,951 --> 01:15:58,655
who understands
the dark side of a clown.
1700
01:15:58,755 --> 01:16:00,824
It doesn't matter the type
of mask that you're putting on--
1701
01:16:00,924 --> 01:16:01,991
whether it's a clown face--
1702
01:16:02,091 --> 01:16:03,893
it's to hide who you are
a little bit
1703
01:16:03,993 --> 01:16:05,829
and to be somebody
a little bit different.
1704
01:16:05,929 --> 01:16:08,698
It's oftentimes the opposite
of what we portray ourselves
1705
01:16:08,798 --> 01:16:09,966
in our day-to-day lives.
1706
01:16:11,034 --> 01:16:12,802
So somebody who is
a truly evil person like Gacy
1707
01:16:12,902 --> 01:16:17,073
puts it on
to sort of offset that.
1708
01:16:17,173 --> 01:16:19,042
BILL ELLIS: What happens
when people costume
1709
01:16:19,142 --> 01:16:23,012
is that they're playing with
these internal personalities--
1710
01:16:23,112 --> 01:16:26,816
they're repressing
the normal ego--
1711
01:16:26,916 --> 01:16:29,953
and they are allowing
some internal personality
1712
01:16:30,053 --> 01:16:32,088
to become dominant.
1713
01:16:32,188 --> 01:16:34,190
And so you put on
the clown make-up
1714
01:16:34,290 --> 01:16:37,593
and you are
no longer yourself.
1715
01:16:37,694 --> 01:16:41,931
You then become someone
that is unpredictable,
1716
01:16:42,031 --> 01:16:45,802
possibly dangerous,
possibly violent.
1717
01:16:47,136 --> 01:16:48,204
Game on, my friend.
1718
01:16:48,304 --> 01:16:51,775
( CHUCKLES )
1719
01:16:51,875 --> 01:16:54,043
( HORN BLOWS )
Ha-ha-ha-ha.
1720
01:16:54,143 --> 01:16:55,845
( CHUCKLES )
1721
01:16:55,945 --> 01:16:57,080
KEN MELVOIN-BERG:
Clowns have always been
1722
01:16:57,180 --> 01:16:58,014
a huge thing for us
here in Chicago
1723
01:16:58,748 --> 01:17:00,116
unlike any other
American city
1724
01:17:00,216 --> 01:17:03,152
where we have clowns
and clown stories
1725
01:17:03,252 --> 01:17:05,889
and clown mythology
and clown history
1726
01:17:05,989 --> 01:17:08,992
that no other city
in the US has.
1727
01:17:09,092 --> 01:17:12,195
It started off a long time ago
in the 1890s
1728
01:17:12,295 --> 01:17:14,964
when the Columbian Exposition
brought clowns around
1729
01:17:15,064 --> 01:17:17,266
just to entertain folks.
1730
01:17:17,366 --> 01:17:19,002
Going forward in time
a little bit,
1731
01:17:19,102 --> 01:17:20,904
up into the 1950s,
like Bob Bell
1732
01:17:21,004 --> 01:17:22,906
who was the original
Bozo the Clown.
1733
01:17:23,006 --> 01:17:25,842
The Bozo set is still at WGN
in the building,
1734
01:17:25,942 --> 01:17:27,176
and it's allegedly haunted.
1735
01:17:27,276 --> 01:17:29,679
In the late '70s is when
you had John Wayne Gacy.
1736
01:17:29,779 --> 01:17:31,247
Shortly after is when
1737
01:17:31,347 --> 01:17:32,782
a clown panic happened.
1738
01:17:33,917 --> 01:17:34,918
So for people like me
who are a little bit sadistic,
1739
01:17:35,919 --> 01:17:36,886
to me it's made it
that much more interesting
1740
01:17:37,821 --> 01:17:38,254
because people
are that much more scared
1741
01:17:38,822 --> 01:17:39,956
of clowns these days.
1742
01:17:40,790 --> 01:17:42,291
The thing is
that all of the people
1743
01:17:42,391 --> 01:17:46,796
that were children
in the 1980s and 1990s
1744
01:17:46,896 --> 01:17:48,064
are adults now,
1745
01:17:49,132 --> 01:17:49,833
and are telling these
terrifying tales of clowns
1746
01:17:50,333 --> 01:17:51,167
to their children.
1747
01:17:52,235 --> 01:17:53,970
Speaking of the connection
to clowns in Chicago,
1748
01:17:54,070 --> 01:17:56,272
the one site that you guys
have got to see
1749
01:17:56,372 --> 01:17:59,308
if you haven't been there before
is Showmen's Rest
1750
01:17:59,408 --> 01:18:04,080
which is a monument
to the circus and clowns
1751
01:18:04,180 --> 01:18:06,082
in a cemetery.
1752
01:18:07,116 --> 01:18:08,684
JOSHUA:
Buried in Chicago
1753
01:18:08,785 --> 01:18:10,219
were the clowns
and other circus performers
1754
01:18:10,319 --> 01:18:12,088
who died in one of the worst
train wrecks
1755
01:18:12,188 --> 01:18:13,757
in American history.
1756
01:18:13,857 --> 01:18:15,691
On June 22, 1918,
1757
01:18:15,792 --> 01:18:17,961
after its conductor
fell asleep,
1758
01:18:18,061 --> 01:18:20,029
a train plowed
into the idle sleeper cars
1759
01:18:20,129 --> 01:18:22,866
of the
Hagenbeck-Wallace
circus.
1760
01:18:22,966 --> 01:18:25,001
Those who weren't killed
in the initial impact
1761
01:18:25,101 --> 01:18:28,471
burned to death after
the wooden cars caught on fire.
1762
01:18:30,239 --> 01:18:32,776
In all, 86 performers
were killed.
1763
01:18:32,876 --> 01:18:34,978
With so many burned
beyond recognition,
1764
01:18:35,078 --> 01:18:36,846
they were buried
in a mass grave
1765
01:18:36,946 --> 01:18:39,048
in a section
of the Chicago cemetery
1766
01:18:39,148 --> 01:18:41,751
called Showmen's Rest.
1767
01:18:41,851 --> 01:18:43,953
One of those who survived
was Joe Coyle,
1768
01:18:44,053 --> 01:18:45,321
a famously jovial clown
1769
01:18:45,421 --> 01:18:48,057
whose act became
perpetually sad and morose
1770
01:18:48,157 --> 01:18:50,827
as he took to dressing
in rags.
1771
01:18:50,927 --> 01:18:54,263
Coyle would play a sad clown
for the rest of his life.
1772
01:18:55,865 --> 01:18:57,133
RACHEL:
Joe Coyle spoke bitterly
1773
01:18:57,233 --> 01:18:58,768
as he lay on a stretcher
1774
01:18:58,868 --> 01:19:00,369
and told how his wife
and two babies
1775
01:19:00,469 --> 01:19:03,272
had joined him only recently
and how all three
1776
01:19:03,372 --> 01:19:05,942
had been crushed to death
at his very side.
1777
01:19:06,042 --> 01:19:09,012
"The kiddies had been so glad
to see their daddy," he said,
1778
01:19:09,112 --> 01:19:11,781
"I wish I could have died
with them."
1779
01:19:24,160 --> 01:19:26,095
JOSHUA: Here, look. See that?
1780
01:19:26,195 --> 01:19:27,096
RACHEL:
Baldy.
1781
01:19:27,196 --> 01:19:29,098
JOSHUA:
Baldy, 1918, June 22.
1782
01:19:29,198 --> 01:19:30,867
RACHEL: They said they
only could name him Baldy
1783
01:19:30,967 --> 01:19:33,903
because that was the only name
they knew him by
1784
01:19:34,003 --> 01:19:35,839
was his stage name.
1785
01:19:35,939 --> 01:19:38,174
JOSHUA:
4 Horse Driver, 1918.
1786
01:19:38,274 --> 01:19:40,776
RACHEL: Unknown male,
unknown male.
1787
01:19:40,877 --> 01:19:44,313
JOSHUA: Unknown male,
unknown male, unknown male.
1788
01:19:44,413 --> 01:19:45,849
All these graves
are unknown.
1789
01:19:45,949 --> 01:19:46,916
RACHEL: All these graves
are unknown.
1790
01:19:48,184 --> 01:19:49,953
JOSHUA: Maybe it all started
in Chicago
1791
01:19:50,053 --> 01:19:52,055
with the deaths
of these clowns.
1792
01:19:52,155 --> 01:19:54,323
Maybe all it takes
is a little tragedy
1793
01:19:54,423 --> 01:19:57,193
to unlock the even
darker places
in our mind.
1794
01:19:59,896 --> 01:20:01,264
One thing is for certain--
1795
01:20:01,364 --> 01:20:04,000
there's no going back
to the innocent clown.
1796
01:20:04,100 --> 01:20:06,870
The scales have been tipped
and the evidence proves it.
1797
01:20:06,970 --> 01:20:09,906
Clowns can do scary things.
1798
01:20:10,006 --> 01:20:12,175
They can even become killers.
1799
01:20:12,275 --> 01:20:14,077
( SIRENS WAILING )
1800
01:20:14,177 --> 01:20:17,446
VOICE ON RADIO:
...314, shooting
at Century Theaters.
1801
01:20:17,546 --> 01:20:20,183
14300,
East Alameda Avenue.
1802
01:20:20,283 --> 01:20:22,285
They're saying somebody
is shooting in the auditorium.
1803
01:20:22,385 --> 01:20:24,820
We got seven down
and ( indistinct ).
1804
01:20:24,921 --> 01:20:25,955
Seven down.
1805
01:20:26,890 --> 01:20:27,924
I've got a child victim--
I need Rescue.
1806
01:20:28,024 --> 01:20:29,392
( SIMULTANEOUS TALKING )
1807
01:20:30,693 --> 01:20:33,229
NEWS REPORTER: Breaking news
coming out of Aurora, Colorado.
1808
01:20:33,329 --> 01:20:35,131
A scene
of a shooting this morning.
1809
01:20:35,231 --> 01:20:37,433
A movie theater
where "The Dark Knight Rises"
1810
01:20:37,533 --> 01:20:38,902
was being shown.
1811
01:20:39,002 --> 01:20:41,170
JOSHUA:
On July 20, 2012,
1812
01:20:41,270 --> 01:20:43,306
James Holmes commits
one of the worse mass shootings
1813
01:20:43,406 --> 01:20:45,008
in recent history.
1814
01:20:45,108 --> 01:20:47,010
But if the massacre itself
weren't horrific enough,
1815
01:20:47,110 --> 01:20:50,146
James's costuming
was an ominous testament
1816
01:20:50,246 --> 01:20:54,383
to the allure
of a very specific clown.
1817
01:20:54,483 --> 01:20:56,920
CLOWN IN MOVIE:
Introduce a little anarchy,
1818
01:20:57,020 --> 01:20:59,122
upset the established order.
1819
01:20:59,222 --> 01:21:02,858
Then everything becomes chaos.
1820
01:21:05,461 --> 01:21:07,964
I'm an agent of chaos.
1821
01:21:08,064 --> 01:21:09,999
JOSHUA: Holmes's embodiment
of The Joker,
1822
01:21:10,099 --> 01:21:11,467
a villain
who has come to represent
1823
01:21:11,567 --> 01:21:15,271
the ultimate destruction
of our civilized world
1824
01:21:15,371 --> 01:21:17,006
is no coincidence.
1825
01:21:17,106 --> 01:21:19,008
( EXPLOSIONS )
1826
01:21:19,108 --> 01:21:21,945
In our never-ending attempts
to sanitize society,
1827
01:21:24,013 --> 01:21:27,883
we sometimes reap
what we sow.
1828
01:21:27,984 --> 01:21:29,018
JOE DURWIN: In a sense,
you can really look at it s as
1829
01:21:29,118 --> 01:21:31,487
a possible backlash.
1830
01:21:31,587 --> 01:21:35,058
He felt this compulsion
to water the clown down
1831
01:21:35,158 --> 01:21:39,162
into this cartoonish,
harmless being,
1832
01:21:39,262 --> 01:21:42,198
and maybe underlying traits
of the archetype
1833
01:21:42,298 --> 01:21:44,333
just came back
with a vengeance.
1834
01:21:44,433 --> 01:21:47,536
JOSHUA: Holmes's Joker-fueled
rampage not only signified
1835
01:21:47,636 --> 01:21:51,040
that the clown's transformation
from innocent to evil
1836
01:21:51,140 --> 01:21:54,043
was finally complete,
but it also revealed
1837
01:21:54,143 --> 01:21:58,014
what was truly lurking
inside of us all.
1838
01:21:58,114 --> 01:22:01,284
We think of ourselves as one,
and in fact we're really
1839
01:22:01,384 --> 01:22:05,021
kind of a parliament
of personalities.
1840
01:22:05,121 --> 01:22:09,925
The killer clown
is one of our personalities,
1841
01:22:10,026 --> 01:22:11,394
it's part of us.
1842
01:22:11,494 --> 01:22:14,363
And so therefore,
we have to be very careful
1843
01:22:14,463 --> 01:22:20,069
not to let the killer clown out
except, in a safe way--
1844
01:22:20,169 --> 01:22:21,537
except in a playful way.
1845
01:22:21,637 --> 01:22:24,073
( EVIL LAUGH )
1846
01:22:24,173 --> 01:22:25,474
See, madness as you know,
1847
01:22:25,574 --> 01:22:29,012
is like gravity.
1848
01:22:29,112 --> 01:22:31,347
All it takes
is a little push.
1849
01:22:31,447 --> 01:22:34,350
( EVIL LAUGH )
1850
01:22:37,186 --> 01:22:38,487
JOSHUA:
The babysitter killer,
1851
01:22:38,587 --> 01:22:41,557
the Hook Man,
the Halloween sadist,
1852
01:22:41,657 --> 01:22:43,592
the Killer Clown--
1853
01:22:43,692 --> 01:22:45,995
what can we learn
from these urban legends
1854
01:22:46,095 --> 01:22:49,398
and from the true crimes
that may have inspired them?
1855
01:22:49,498 --> 01:22:53,102
Maybe these monsters,
despite our overwhelming desire
1856
01:22:53,202 --> 01:22:56,972
to believe otherwise,
just aren't real.
1857
01:22:57,073 --> 01:22:58,507
By presenting
false boogeymen,
1858
01:22:58,607 --> 01:23:00,176
our urban legends
are helping us
1859
01:23:00,276 --> 01:23:03,612
to make sense of crimes
too wicked to comprehend.
1860
01:23:03,712 --> 01:23:06,282
BILL ELLIS: An urban legend,
even though it can be scary,
1861
01:23:06,382 --> 01:23:11,087
it's not nearly as scary
as the actual murderers
1862
01:23:11,187 --> 01:23:13,389
that live in the world
with us.
1863
01:23:13,489 --> 01:23:16,192
JOSHUA: But peel back the
layers of any campfire tale,
1864
01:23:16,292 --> 01:23:18,327
and you'll understand
the inherent truth
1865
01:23:18,427 --> 01:23:20,563
that despite our need
to believe in an evil,
1866
01:23:20,663 --> 01:23:24,167
in a darker force,
it just isn't true.
1867
01:23:24,267 --> 01:23:26,169
In the end,
the only real boogeyman
1868
01:23:26,269 --> 01:23:28,371
is the one that lurks
inside of us all,
1869
01:23:28,471 --> 01:23:32,441
waiting for just
the right moment to emerge.
1870
01:23:32,541 --> 01:23:35,478
So what's the lesson
behind this cautionary tale?
1871
01:23:35,578 --> 01:23:37,280
The warning here is simple--
1872
01:23:37,380 --> 01:23:40,316
be afraid, not of the story,
1873
01:23:40,416 --> 01:23:42,151
but of the storyteller.
1874
01:23:43,286 --> 01:23:47,290
( MUSIC PLAYING )
139403
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