All language subtitles for Unsolved.Mysteries.S02E09.480p.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-PLAYREADY_track3_[und]

[music playing]

ANNOUNCER: This program is
about unsolved mysteries.

Whenever possible, the
actual family members

and police officials
have participated

in recreating the events.

What you are about to see
is not a news broadcast.

[music playing]

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): Ralph Sigler

was a double agent for
the United States, who

for 10 years, fed the Soviet
KGB misleading information

and exposed Russian spies.

In April of 1976, he was found
dead in a Maryland motel room.

His family says he was murdered.

Against his family's
wishes, Robert Argenti

asked Maria Armstrong to come
live with him in Mesa, Arizona,

despite her history
of mental illness.

Five months later,
Robert Argenti was dead,

and Maria Armstrong
had vanished.

We will also tell you
the inspirational story

of a 14-year-old boy
who survived the horrors

of the Nazi concentration
camp at Dachau,

thanks to an
American GI who gave

him food and the will to live.

Steve Ross is now
an American citizen,

a happy family man, a counselor
to disadvantaged children.

He would like to say thank you
to the unknown, kind-hearted GI

who so dramatically turned
his life around 45 years ago.

[music playing]

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
The Navajo Nation,

25,000 square miles of their
stark, beautiful land lies

nestled in the north
central section of Arizona.

The landscape is dotted
with tiny government

housing settlements.

On November 9, 1988, one of the
settlements, Bitter Springs,

had a mysterious visitor.

A dark-haired girl, who
none of the townspeople

had ever seen before,
wandered through the streets

of Bitter Springs.

She called herself, simply,
Sandy, and mystified

everyone with her behavior.

She carried on an animated
conversation with herself

and walked into several
homes uninvited.

She was secretive and
seemed to be hiding

from something or someone.

She asked, can
you dye my hair?

I said, What for?

You know, cut my hair blonde,
so I can chance my identity.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
As evening approached,

the girl asked one family
if she could leave a pickup

truck behind their house.

My niece told
me that this Sandy

wanted to park her vehicle
there for about a week.

Immediately, I said, well, why
doesn't she park it out front?

But she said that she wanted to
really park her vehicle where

it was hidden from the road.

I didn't get really suspicious
until I asked my niece if she

knew Sandy, and she said no.

I just had a funny feeling
that things were not all right.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): After
two days, the dark-haired girl

abruptly left the settlement.

None of the residents
ever saw her again.

Within a week, the
people of Bitter Springs

would learn the truth about
their mysterious visitor.

Her real name was
Maria Armstrong,

and her brief sojourn
in the Navajo settlement

was a climax to a
tragic love story, one

that began nearly 10 years ago.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Maria Armstrong

grew up in a small suburban
city in southern New Jersey.

She was a sweet-tempered,
attractive girl who had always

had her choice of boyfriends.

One of the young men
who courted Maria

was Robert Argenti,
nicknamed Ron.

He had graduated high
school at 17 with honors

and immediately joined
the National Guard.

He was outgoing and
athletic, yet he

had always been fascinated
by the introverted Maria.

Maria was-- she was--

she was like, innocent.

And she was beautiful.

She had long, almost black hair.

Really gorgeous.

And I think that's
why my brother

was attracted to her, because
she was so unusual looking.

She was sweet.

She was kind to people.

She-- she was your friend.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
In 1984, Ron Argenti

joined his family in Arizona.

Ron settled in the
city of Mesa and got

a job as a mechanic at McDonnell
Douglas building helicopters.

Back in New Jersey,
Maria had begun

to behave strangely, frequently
slipping into a world

of delusion and paranoia.

Her parents feared
she was using drugs

and put her in both state
and private mental hospitals.

Finally, in 1984,
Maria was diagnosed

as suffering from
paranoid schizophrenia,

a physical disease
of the brain which

most commonly strikes its
victims in their teens and 20s.

It is an illness over which
the patient has no control.

Schizophrenics often
cannot tell the difference

between the real world and the
delusions that plague them.

There is no known cure
for schizophrenia,

but the symptoms can sometimes
be controlled with medication.

Hey Ron, how are you doing?

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Ron Argenti never

forgot the beautiful Maria.

He urged her to move to
Arizona and live with him,

so she could start over
with a clean slate.

He seemed to think
that she was fine,

and that all he wanted to do was
get her away from New Jersey,

and get away from
the drugs, and get

her away from the bad influences
back there, and help her.

Help her to re-establish
her life out here.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
In June of 1988,

Maria finally came to Arizona.

Despite his family's objections,
Maria moved in with Ron.

We were concerned, because
we did hear that she was

in a mental institution, and
we knew she was on drugs back--

back east.

So we were kind of
concerned about it.

But, you know, they were
holding hands, kissing,

they were like a couple.

[laughter]

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
For the first few weeks,

Maria seemed happy in Mesa.

She blossomed under
Ron's loving attention.

Soon after Maria
arrived, Ron began

working the graveyard shift, so
Maria was often alone at night.

Before long, she began pacing,
having imaginary conversations,

and sadly, once
again, exhibiting

symptoms of schizophrenia.

Somebody in the apartment
complex where they lived,

Maria had made friends with.

And Ron found out
that this person

was supplying drugs to Maria.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Maria's behavior

became increasingly erratic.

Her paranoia ran rampant.

Time and time again, she accused
Ron of plotting against her.

(MUTTERING) I'm trying.

Maria.

Maria.

Come here.

Calm down.
Listen, calm down.

Stop it!

Leave me alone!

They told me about you!

OK.
Who?

They told to

All right.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Ron
told his sisters that Maria

often attacked him physically.

Ron said Maria once
hit him so hard,

she ruptured his ear drum.

She wasn't going
to the psychiatrist.

She had canceled
her appointments.

She wasn't taking
her medication.

She said that it
kept her up at night.

Well, she was already up
all the time at night.

She never slept anyway.

I would talk to
Ron on the phone,

and I would tell him, Ronnie,
you have to do something.

You have to get rid of her.

Send her home.

I don't want to do that.

I want to help
her, he would say.

I says, but you can't help her.

It's obvious you can't help her.

She needs more than
you to help her.

She needs psychiatric care.

And then he would
get really mad.

OK, I know.

Who are you talking to?

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
By Tuesday, November 8,

Ron had finally reached
the end of his patience.

Who are you talking to?

Roxanne.

Hi, Roxanne.

[laughs]

Yeah.

ROXANNE BOROCHANER: I
called him, and he said,

the neighbors are complaining.

The management wants
to kick me out.

And I want to get
her out of here.

She is.

She's going-- soon.

She's going back soon.

And she's there in the
room, listening to all this.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
The next morning, Wednesday,

Maria Armstrong slowly
drove into the Navajo

settlement of Bitter Springs,
260 miles north of Mason.

She was calling herself
Sandy, trying to sell

the pickup she was driving.

First thing she
said to you, are you

interested in buying a truck?

And I said, no, I'm not.

Do you know where
I can get it painted?

ELVIS BENNALLY: And
she wanted to know

if-- where's the
nearest town she

can get her truck repainted at.

I just told her, I have no idea.

The nearest place you can
get the truck repainted

is about 30 miles up north.

--on the highway here, and
make a right hand turn, and--

ELVIS BENNALLY: I
just thought maybe

she was hiding from her
boyfriend or something

like that.

Because she said she left
her boyfriend someplace.

Thanks.

You bet.

ELVIS BENNALLY: I thought she
was going to leave right away,

but she never did.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
The following morning,

around 10:00 AM,
the Arizona Highway

Patrol responded to a
complaint at Bitter Springs.

Maria had left her pickup truck
parked behind a house there,

and the owner feared that
the truck was stolen.

The officer ran a computer check
on the truck's license plate.

He found it was registered
to Robert Argenti

and arranged to have it
towed to a nearby town.

After searching
several locations,

the officer got a lead.

The mysterious girl was
hiding in a nearby house.

Come on out.

I see you behind the bed.

Come on out, or I'm
going to come in,

and I'm going to drag you out.

Where are you taking me?

I'm not going to
take you anywhere.

I just want to find
out what's going on.

Let's go out here and talk.

OK.

I've been getting
word from around here

that you're going around
introducing yourself as Sandy.

What's that all about?

I just never liked my name.

Sandy sounds a lot friendlier.

Do you have authorization
to have the truck,

and who gave it to you?

Ron.

Robert.

When did he give it to you?

Well, he realized he was
too sick to go to work,

and he let me have the
truck to come up here.

Listen, I need to
get some cigarettes.

Can I go now?

OK.

Well, I don't have
anything on you right now,

but something is going on.

You just watch yourself.

I did feel suspicious,
even after I let her go,

but I couldn't get
a finger on it.

I just had the feeling that
she had either done something,

was doing something, or
was going to do something.

I came by earlier and--

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Four days later,

on Monday, a maintenance man at
Ron Argenti's apartment complex

asked the manager to come
with him to Ron's apartment.

On Monday, November
14, I noticed

a stack of old newspapers
in front of Ron's apartment.

I went up and got the manager.

And then we entered
the apartment.

OK.
We'll go in.

OK.

[knocking]
Hello!

Maintenance!

When I first hit the door,
the door just flung wide open.

I walked in, and I saw a
pile of clothes on the couch.

Didn't see anybody in there,
and everything was quiet,

so I walked through the unit,
looking, yelling, anybody here,

and didn't get any answer.

Walked straight through to
the bedroom, and nothing.

I don't see anyone back here.

He might have skipped out.

Great.

Oh my god.

MANAGER: What?

According to the medical
examiner report on the autopsy,

the cause of death
was blunt force trauma

to the head region,
and Mr. Argenti

had been dead for several days.

Looking at this
guy, it's definitely

going to be a homicide.

DON BYERS: His body had been
covered by bedding, pillows,

clothing, as if someone
was trying to hide

the discovery of the body.

OK.

If you want to come over here,
get a shot of this hammer.

DON BYERS: We found,
just left of the body,

a small hand sledgehammer.

We also found that he had
been stabbed in the right rib

area with a
wooden-handled knife,

but the knife wound came
after the trauma to the head.

Based on the evidence and
later discussions with family

and friends, it was our theory
that Mr. Argenti had been

sleeping in a sitting
position on the couch

because he was afraid
of Maria Armstrong,

and that sometime during
when he was asleep,

Miss Armstrong came up and
inflicted the blows to his head

with the sledgehammer and
then subsequently stabbed him.

Then we believe that she
covered the body in an attempt

to hide the crime.

She went into the bedroom,
changed her clothing,

and then took the keys
to Mr. Argenti's truck,

and then left Mesa and drove
up north to Bitter Springs.

The last sighting
that we had on Maria

was on November 11 of 1988,
where she was seen hitchhiking

on the highway next
to Bitter Springs,

back towards the Flagstaff area.

I know that if Maria
wandered off the track

and didn't find shelter, I don't
think she could live through

the elements up
there, because it's

very cold in northern
Arizona that time of year.

If she was able to hitch a ride
and get tied up with somebody,

then yes, I would say
she's probably very

much alive and very dangerous.

There's no predicting
what she's going to do.

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): Update.

Maria Armstrong
has been captured.

Shortly after this
story aired, the FBI

received a call from
one of our viewers

with information regarding
Armstrong's whereabouts.

We received a telephone call
from an unidentified caller

that Maria Armstrong had
been living in the Memphis,

Tennessee area, and that she
was going to be at the airport

on August 3 of this year.

The FBI subsequently
went to the airport

and were able to
identify her and they

did place her under arrest.

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): Armstrong

had changed her appearance
by dyeing her hair blonde.

Two weeks later,
she was returned

to Arizona to face a charge
of first degree murder.

Next, the story of a 14-year-old
boy who survived five years

in Nazi concentration
camps and then

was given the will to live
by an unknown American GI.

Now he desperately wants to say
thank you to this kind soldier.

Our next story is about the
triumph of one boy's will.

His will to survive the horrors
of a Nazi concentration camp.

His name was then
Shmulik Rosenthal,

but today, he lives
and works in Boston

and goes by the
name of Steve Ross.

The mystery here is that at
a crucial point in his flight

from Germany, he was befriended
by an unknown American

GI who gave him food and
rekindled his broken spirit.

Now, 45 years later, he
wants to say thank you.

Perhaps you can help.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): 1939,
the German invasion of Poland.

Adolf Hitler's blitzkrieg
brought Poland to its knees

in three devastating weeks.

Hitler's vendetta
against the Jewish people

struck with special force
against the Jews of Poland.

At an isolated farm outside
their home in the city of Lodz,

Joseph and Baja Rosenthal,
a Jewish couple,

hid their youngest son,
Shmulik, with a Catholic family.

STEVE ROSS: They knew
these farm people,

and they wanted me
to go and live there,

hoping that when
the war was over,

they could come back
and pick me up again.

My mother said, help us.

Keep my son.

Shmulik is too
small to go with us.

I tried to be a big man.

I tried to be like my father.

To emulate him.

But it was hard.

But I didn't cry.

They kissed me, and they
said, be a good boy, Shmulik.

You have a nice home here.

That was it.

I have never seen them again.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
In less than a year,

the Nazis had found
the nine-year-old child

and put him in a
concentration camp.

Auschwitz, Sobibor,
Treblinka, the very names

conjure unspeakable cruelty.

All of the camps where mass
exterminations took place

were located in Poland,
and of the nearly 6

million Jews murdered,
more than 50% were Polish.

1 and 1/2 million children
were among the dead.

Shmulik Rosenthal was one of
the few children who survived.

From the time he was
nine until he was 14,

he was interred at
10 different camps.

The last one was
Dachau, in Germany.

STEVE ROSS: It was extremely
difficult to survive,

because there was
not enough food.

We got a little soup for lunch
and a little soup for supper,

and we got one slice of bread
that was divided up from one

pound of bread for 20 people.

At the best time, we--

we fell apart by
working 12 hours.

12 to 14 hours a day.

And with lack of food, you
couldn't survive much longer.

So people kept dying constantly.

Cleanliness, we never
were able to wash up.

No.

No hot water.

I didn't see any hot
water for five years.

There wasn't such a
thing as hot water.

There was nothing in there to
sleep on except the boards.

You slept on the boards.

No blankets.

You covered yourself
with what you had.

It was very difficult
to understand

for me what is really going on.

I had dreams that I
was with my family,

and here I end up in a hell.

In a place where
it's called hell.

Life and death.

Survival of the fittest.

As long as you survive
today, from one

day to the next, that's
all you are worrying about.

Do I have another day to live?

We all pray to God all the time.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
In December of 1944,

Allied forces turned
back the German army

at the Battle of the
Bulge, and one month

later, made their first
significant incursions

onto German soil.

Nearly five years had
passed since young Shmulik

Rosenthal was first imprisoned.

In April of 1945,
Allied troops liberated

the concentration camps.

An American GI snapped
this photograph of

the cheering inmates at Dachau.

One of them was 14-year-old
Shmulik Rosenthal.

Shmulik's older brother had
also been captured by the Nazis,

and he too ended up at Dachau.

The two boys would later
discover that their mother,

father, and six
brothers and sisters

had all perished in the camps.

Before the American
troops came, I was 99% dead.

It was 1% of life that my
heart was ticking in me.

I weighed about 60
pounds at that time.

I was infested with lice.

Two days after we
were liberated,

we were released from the
camp, and we were asked

to go towards hospitalisations.

We walked by a unit
that was tanks,

and there was a soldier
sitting on the tank.

As I came closer, I could see
he was eating with his bayonet

into his mouth, putting
in with his bayonet.

Hey, kid!

STEVE ROSS: He
jumped off the tank,

and he gave me the can
that he was eating from.

Hey, it's OK.
It's OK.

It's OK.
Everything's OK.

STEVE ROSS: I closed it up,
and I gave it to my brother,

and I fell down to--

on my knees, and I
held on to his legs,

and I kissed his boots
for giving me the food.

It's OK.

Hey, listen.

Everything's going
to be all right.

STEVE ROSS: He put
his hand around on me,

and he wasn't
scared he was going

to get my lice or my
diseases or my sicknesses.

Mike!

Hey, throw me some
rations, will ya?

STEVE ROSS: He was a good man.

He looked at me as
though he was rough.

Rough and tough.

But yet, he knew how to
put his arm around me

at that time in my life.

When nobody ever
done that before.

Take this.

You keep that.

Keep it.

Hold it with you, OK?

STEVE ROSS: That soldier
gave me a handkerchief.

I did not know till later
on that this was a flag.

The flag of freedom.

I felt as though it
was a miracle from God.

That I was reborn.

It was starting a new
life from here on.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Shmulik never

let the flag out of his sight.

He carried it with him when
he came to the United States

in 1948 under the
auspices of the Committee

for the Care of
European Children.

Shmulik Americanized
his name to Steve Ross,

married, and had a
son and a daughter.

His brother Harry also
came to the States

and has stayed close to
Steve and his family.

For the past 30
years, Steve has been

a licensed
psychologist, counseling

disadvantaged
teenagers in Boston.

He chose his career with the
American soldier in mind.

Steve wanted to help
other children the way

the young GI had helped him.

And you mean a week
from this Saturday,

you're going to
take another exam?

Is that national--

Keep this.

You're going to be safe now.

STEVE ROSS: If I could
ever find this soldier,

I would say to him that
he is part of my life.

He would be part of my family.

I would have wanted him to know
that what he has done for me,

that I emulated, and that I
love people because of him.

I have experienced something
in a critical period of my life

that I could never
forget, and it

always is with me that this man
was such a compassionate man.

A soldier who was taught
to kill could do that.

Why couldn't we all
be more sensitive

to each other's needs?

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): Steve thinks

that the American
soldier belonged

to the 191st Army Tank
Battalion, which was part

of the 20th Armored Division.

He was traveling from
Dachau towards Munich

around the 1st of May in 1945.

Next, Ralph Sigler
was a career army

officer with a wife, a loving
daughter, and a secret life.

In April of 1976, he was found
dead in a Maryland motel room.

His family says he was murdered.

[music playing]

I think this key will open
it, but if he has the latch,

we'll have to break
the door down.

I'm sure he's in there.

Ralph!

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
11:00 PM, on the evening

of April 13, 1976.

In a motel room near
Fort Meade in Maryland,

an army electronics expert named
Ralph Sigler was found dead.

The Army said that Ralph
had electrocuted himself

by wrapping wire
around both forearms.

Their official
verdict was suicide.

Mom, Can you take everybody?

Because I want to
be alone with Dad.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Two weeks later,

Ralph Sigler was laid to rest.

But during the official
viewing of the body,

his family discovered
telling evidence

that the official verdict
may have been wrong.

When I looked at
him the first time,

I didn't believe it was him.

His body was so
bruised, so mutilated.

So it didn't look
like my father at all.

I noticed that his
nose was broken.

I noticed that there was a
dent in the top of the head,

and there was blood.

I looked inside his mouth.

He was missing his partial
plate, the two front teeth,

and all the teeth were cracked
and jagged, as if someone

hit him in the mouth.

What are you doing?

Mom, he looks lousy.

Look at this.

Look at his hand.

KARIN SIGLER GARZA: I took
off one of his gloves,

and I saw cuts on the palm.

I rolled up the sleeves.

I looked at the arms.

I found a lot of bruises.

From looking at the body and the
condition that the body was in,

I don't think he
committed suicide.

I believe that he
was beaten to death.

I believe he was murdered.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Ralph Sigler's life

was as unusual as his
death, for Ralph Sigler

was no ordinary Army officer.

From 1966 to his death,
Sigler was a double agent

working for the United States.

The idea that Ralph Sigler
committed suicide in the way

that the Army and the
Maryland State Police describe

is patently and totally absurd.

Journalists Joe and Susan
Trento have co-written

a book called "Widows."

In this book, they shed new
light on the strange life

and death of Ralph Sigler.

Sigler was a central figure
in an espionage operation run

by the FBI and
Army intelligence,

whose purpose was to
deceive the Soviet KGB

and expose Soviet spies.

For 10 years, Ralph Sigler
walked a razor's edge

in the service of his country.

His family believes that this
is the reason why his life

was brutally cut short.

They want to know
who was responsible.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Ralph Sigler's secret mission

began in Mexico City
in December of 1966.

He had been recruited
by Army intelligence

after an exhaustive search.

One of the Centers
for Soviet espionage

in the Western hemisphere
was at their Mexican embassy.

One afternoon, Sigler calmly
walked through the front door.

I'd like to speak
to the KGB resident.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Sigler told KGB officials

that he was prepared
to deliver stolen

documents outlining the
latest US developments

in missile defense.

[speaking russian]

What do you want?

I want to come to work
for your government.

I--

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
The Soviets took the bait,

and Ralph Sigler's
double life began.

For 10 years, Ralph Sigler
contacted his Soviet employers

through various
clandestine methods,

disseminating misleading
information given

him by his Army superiors.

One of these Army
officers was Louis Martel.

Ralph was
considered a very good

double agent by the community.

He was a shining star.

And when I say community,
I mean, with us, the FBI,

and to a degree, the CIA, as a
very valuable asset and a man

who was doing a very good job.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
The documents

Ralph gave to the
Soviets were crafted

to deliberately trick them
into trying to duplicate

inoperative technology.

The ruse succeeded
time after time.

Ralph gave them plans for
a missile launcher that was

a multi-tube missile
launcher, and the missile

launcher was supposed
to launch maybe

10 missiles at the same time.

Well, when we built it, the
thing fell over backwards.

It would never work.

And we invested millions in it.

We got the Russians to
invest millions in it also,

and that never did work.

So a lot of this is to get
the Russians to invest money

in operations-- and time--

that fail.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Sigler also exposed

Soviet agents to the FBI.

One of the most
important of these

was Rudolph Herrmann, a Soviet
master spy who lived and worked

in the United States.

According to the
Trentos, the FBI

was concerned about the
Army's internal security

and asked Sigler to keep this
part of his mission secret.

He agreed.

1976, San Francisco.

Ralph was ordered
by Army Intelligence

to take a routine
polygraph examination.

Is your last name Sigler?

Yes, it is.

Please answer with a
simple yes or no only.

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): The results

surprised Sigler's superiors.

Have you ever passed any
unauthorized intelligence

to the Soviet Union?

No.

The question or
questions there showed

something was bothering him.

They were questions
involved with what

he had given to the Soviets that
he was not authorized to give.

That question, in many forms,
was asked time and time again,

on every poly, and
every poly, it showed

indications of deception.

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): Joe Trento

believes Sigler's failure to
pass the lie detector test

was due to his
secret relationship

with Rudolph Herrmann,
the operation

the Army never knew about.

Rudolph Hermann was the number
one Soviet spy in America,

and this was the great secret
that the FBI kept for the Army.

They were never told that Ralph
Sigler was servicing Herrmann.

So when they asked him
questions, did you ever have

any unauthorized contacts
with the Soviets,

Ralph would say no, and it
would show up as deception.

Ralph, of course,
thought that the FBI

would clear it for the Army,
and they never did that.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Fort Meade, Maryland.

The headquarters of
Army Intelligence.

Outside of what you
already told us, have you

passed any other unauthorized
information to the Soviets?

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Ralph's failure

to successfully pass the
San Francisco examinations

lead to more tests.

He failed every one.

--any amount of money
from one of your missions?

No.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
The next day,

Ralph was scheduled for a
hostile interrogation session,

a session that
would be conducted

assuming that he was a traitor.

EXAMINER: --by the Soviets?

RALPH SIGLER: No.

[phone ringing]

Do you think I could
try that on, please?

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): 24 hours

before this interrogation, Ralph
called his wife at the dress

shop where she was working.
- Ralph?

Is that you?

Now Now listen to me!

This is important!

Where are you?

I want you to hire
a respectable lawyer.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Ralph
sounded distraught, as if he

was under tremendous pressure.

Just listen to me.

I want you to sue the US Army.

I'm dying.

I never lied.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Then, the phone went dead.

Ralph?

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Ilse rushed home

and called Army Intelligence.

Several hours
later, Louis Martell

found Ralph dead
in his motel room,

and the Maryland State
Police were called.

Sergeant Roger Cassell
was the trooper

in charge of the investigation.

As far as the room looked,
there did not appear to be--

have been a struggle.

There was no indication
that Mr Sigler had suffered

any other injuries
other than the fact

that he had apparently
fallen from a height

of the chairs which
he had stacked

next to the light switch.

There was bleeding
from the nose area,

and the blood had
deposited on the rug.

There was no other indication
of any signs of injury

other than the wires which
had been attached to his arms.

The locks on the
door to the room

had been double locked
from the inside.

As we resolved
our investigation,

we found that sometime during
the evening, the 13th of April,

Ralph Sigler placed two chairs,
one larger chair on the bottom,

a smaller chair on the top, near
a light switch, which activated

the electrical outlet.

At that time, he apparently
threw a cord, a lamp cord.

Cut it off.

Spliced the wires, and wrapped
both wires around his biceps.

He plugged the
outlet in the socket,

got on top of the chairs,
and used a cup of water

as a conductor and turned
the light switch on,

causing him to be electrocuted.

There was no evidence
developed to indicate

that the death of
Ralph Sigler was

anything other than suicide.

The suicide theory makes
no sense, because Ralph

had no motive for suicide.

The Army told us throughout the
entire week of the polygraphs

that they were
giving him, there,

outside of Fort
Meade, that they over

and over and over told him that
no matter what he had done,

they didn't care.

They weren't going
to prosecute him.

They weren't going
to punish him.

They weren't going to
hurt him in any way.

That the worst that
could happen would

be the end of the operation.

That they would give
him letters of immunity.

All they wanted to know
was what he had done.

The fact of the
matter is, the experts

we talked to about
electrocution, electricity,

told us that the amount of
damage caused to Sigler's arms

by the presence of the
electrical wire wrapped

around him couldn't have
been made by 110 volt circuit

that you'd find in a normal
motel lighting situation,

as you did at this motel.

And in fact, it
would take a much

greater amount of electricity
to do this sort of damage.

I'm sorry, folks.

We're conducting a
police investigation.

Please clear the hallways.

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): The Trentos

believe that Ralph Sigler was
kidnapped by the KGB, tortured,

and then murdered.

His double life had
finally run out.

The phone call to Ralph's wife
is very interesting and very

smart on the Soviet's part.

Ralph, is that you?

JOSEPH TRENTO: they knew Ralph
was going to be questioned.

Standard tradecraft
on the part of the KGB

would mean that they
would take Ralph and put

him through their own
hostile interrogation,

probably torture him--

and the Soviets have
a history of using

electricity for torture--

and get the answers they needed.

I want you to sue the US Army.

Was he one of their
agents, or was he really

a double agent for the Army?

Had he snookered
them all these years?

And Ralph may have been forced
to give up those answers.

Had he compromised Rudolph
Herrmann to the Army

and to the FBI?

That's why the Soviets had every
reason in the world to kill

Raul Sigler at this point.

My feelings about the
theory is that the KGB

did not kill Ralph Sigler.

In fact, my opinion--

and it's strictly my
opinion, based on facts,

is that Ralph Sigler
committed suicide.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): But
based on the evidence she found

in the open casket,
Ralph's wife is convinced

that his death was no suicide.

Come on.

The government told me
all the time, if anything

happens, we'll be here for you.

We'll take care.

Why did they lie
to me when he died?

He was a double agent.

A respected national security.

So they dealt with
me for 11 years.

If even something happened,
they could have come

and told me the truth.

I want to know the truth.

And I will not rest
until I know the truth.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): If
Ralph Sigler committed suicide,

as the authorities
believe, why did

he use such an unusual and
potentially ineffective method?

Why is there such a discrepancy
between the official verdict

of suicide and the Sigler
family's own observations?

But if Ralph Sigler was
tortured and murdered,

then who was responsible?

Was Ralph Sigler
a traitor or a hero?

If he committed
suicide because he

knew he'd betrayed his
country, then he was a traitor.

If he was murdered by
the KGB as punishment

for his disclosure of their
secrets, then he was a hero.

His family will not rest
until they know just

who Ralph Sigler really was.

When we return, a story
of one of the heroes

who put the notorious
Night Stalker behind bars.

He has disappeared.

[music playing]

In the summer of
1985, Los Angeles,

California was
paralyzed by fear.

For more than six
months, a serial killer

had terrorized the city
with seemingly no method

to his madness or limit
to his horrific crimes.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's
Department assigned a 120

member task force to the case.

Detectives interviewed
thousands of witnesses

and checked out
all possible leads,

but for months, the unknown
killer remained at large.

He became known as
the Night Stalker,

and he killed at least 13
people before his sadistic spree

of kidnapping, rape, and
murder came to an end.

18 citizens collected
rewards for their assistance

in solving the
Night Stalker case.

But one of the largest
rewards remains unclaimed.

Authorities hope that
someone watching tonight

can help locate the
man whose crucial

information help end the Night
Stalker's deadly rampage.

On August 26, 1985, an
unidentified man called

the task force's hotline.

GIL CARRILLO (ON PHONE):
Detective Carrillo.

Can I help you?

I have some information
on the Night Stalker.

GIL CARRILLO (ON PHONE):
What kind of information

do you have?

I know who he is.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Detectives immediately sensed

that the caller's
information was legitimate

and arranged a meeting.

What about this
afternoon at 3 o'clock?

ALEX (ON PHONE):
Three o'clock is fine.

GIL CARRILLO (ON PHONE):
Alex, thank you for calling.

we'll see you at 3:00.
- OK, bye.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
That afternoon,

the caller met with detectives
Gil Carrillo and Carlos Avila.

The man identified himself
as Alejandro Espinoza

The individual that he
wished to identify, he knew

as Richard or by a moniker
that he knew on the streets

as Despenado, which
translated in English

means the uncombed one.

He tells me about all these
burglaries that he commits.

GIL CARRILLO: Alejandro was
telling us about burglaries

where Richard had told him about
that coincided with the murders

that we were
investigating, where there

had been a murder-burglary.

What's he generally
do with the property

that he takes on the burglaries?

He takes it to this fence, and
I can show you where that's at.

I know where the house is at.

I don't know where
the address is.

GIL CARRILLO: That information
that he had that we had not

heard coming from other
individuals that were calling

in, and it was information
that we knew that perhaps

only the suspect himself or
associates of the suspect

might know.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Alejandro Espinoza

told a detective that
on several occasions,

he had accompanied
the man he knew

as Richard to a house in the
Echo Park area of Los Angeles.

[knocking]

Felipe!

[speaking spanish]

Man, where have you been?

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
According to Espinoza,

Richard would enter the
house alone and exchange

stolen property for cash.

Alejandro became
suspicious, and as he said it,

put two and two
together after realizing

that a lot of the property
that Richard had taken

on days that he had talked
about doing a recent burglary,

Alejandro would
read in the paper

that coincidentally, there
had been another burglary

or another homicide
that the quote unquote,

"Night Stalker" had
been attributed to.

He finally realized that his
friend, who he knew as Richard,

was, in his opinion,
the Night Stalker.

ROBERT STACK
(VOICEOVER): Three days

after their meeting with
Espinoza, Sheriff's detectives

made a positive match of a
fingerprint taken from one

of the Night Stalker crime
scenes with a possible suspect;

25-year-old Richard Ramirez.

Because Ramirez had a
prior arrest record,

there was a booking
photo on file.

GIL CARRILLO: As soon as
we got that booking photo,

we then went to Alejandro
out on the streets.

We showed him a copy
the booking photo.

Yeah, that's Richard.

- You're positive?
- I'm positive.

No doubt.

That's him.

GIL CARRILLO: When Alejandro
identified the mugshot that we

displayed for him, we knew
that we were talking of one

and the same person and
that Richard was the man

we were, in fact, looking for.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
The following morning,

Richard Ramirez's
photograph appeared

on the front page of every
major newspaper in Los Angeles.

Within hours, Ramirez
was chased and captured

by a group of angry
citizens after he

allegedly tried to steal a car.

By noon, hew was
in police custody,

and the Night Stalker's
seven-month reign of terror

had finally come to an end.

On September 20, 1989,
nearly five years

after his demonic rampage
began, Richard Ramirez

was convicted on
43 felony charges,

including 13 counts of
first degree murder.

Six weeks later, Ramirez
was sentenced to die

in a California gas chamber.

Big deal.

Death always went
with the territory.

I'll see you in Disneyland.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER):
Alejandro Espinoza

is entitled to $6,388
for the vital information

he provided to authorities,
but Espinoza has not come

forward to claim his reward.

Alejandro Espinoza is 26 years
old, and according to police,

he may have a wife
and a young son.

[music playing]

Join me next week
for another edition

of "Unsolved Mysteries."

[music playing]

[music playing]