All language subtitles for Unsolved.Mysteries.S03E11.480p.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-PLAYREADY_track3_[und]

NARRATOR: 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

April, 1986.

A raging house fire
set by an arsonist

takes the life of a wealthy
widow in Aurora, Missouri.

Five days later, Johnny Lee
Wilson, a young retarded man

confesses to the crime
and is sent to prison.

Two years later,
another man claims

to have been present
at the murder

and insists that
Wilson is innocent.

Today the controversy
has divided the town.

Is Johnny Lee Wilson
a killer or a victim?

In Edmore, North Dakota,
Kenneth Engie and Curtis Heck

came to blows over a
woman in a bar fight.

The next day, Engie
is found dead.

The police call it an accident.

Kenneth Engie's family
thinks otherwise.

We'll also introduce you
to a most unusual artist.

An English woman
who seems to have

the ability to create
lifelike portraits of people

she has never seen.

In fact, people who have
been dead for years.

Incredibly, many witnesses
swear to the uncanny accuracy

of her drawings.

Join me for another edition
of Unsolved Mysteries.

[ominous music playing]

I've got a young lad here who
went to spirit very suddenly.

I don't know quite--

NARRATOR: March, 1990.

200 people in
Clarksville Indiana

paid $15 a piece for a
demonstration by Coral Polge,

a British artist with
an unusual vision.

He doesn't actually
tell me how he was killed.

NARRATOR: For years, audiences
from around the world

have been mystified
by Carl's work

and often touched
by the results.

No clear image in his mind
of how it happened, and--

NARRATOR: Her drawings are
simple portraits, nothing

fancy, but Coral's subjects
are other worldly, people

who have been dead for years.

He had no real sense
of responsibility,

that's the big problem.

I don't actually see these
people, I don't hear them.

And I honestly don't
quite know how I do it.

I just sense them.

Also there is an element of what
we call automatic control, as

if somebody takes over
my hand and gives me

a certain amount of help
in getting the drawings

accurate, with good results.

Obviously, it's not always good.

But when we do get
good results, we

get quite nice likenesses
of people's relatives

who have passed into
the world of spirit.

NARRATOR: Today
Coral Polge lives

in a small town in England.

For the last 40 years, she has
possessed, and been possessed,

by her unusual ability.

The concept of life after
death has fascinated

mankind for centuries.

It is a fascination ripe
for exploitation by mediums

and clairvoyants, who claim
the power to communicate

with the spirit world.

Some are obvious charlatans,
but others display gifts

which seem to defy explanation.

During the past four decades,
Coral Polge has drawn more

than 100,000 eerie portraits.

It could be argued
that she is nothing

more than a keen
observer of faces,

but her drawings of people she
could never have known or seen

are uncannily accurate and
convinced some skeptics

that her powers could be real.

In 1984, photographer Peter
Cook went to Coral Polge's home

in Surrey, England.

Peter was on assignment
for a national newspaper.

PETER COOK: I've
always been a pretty

open minded kind of person
and I was a bit skeptical.

I had heard about people
speaking with the dead

and through the dead, but
when it came to drawing,

it was a different matter.

Do you have any drawings that
you've done, that I can take--

Yes, but I think it
might be better if--

NARRATOR: Peter and Coral
had never met before.

He had no idea he was about
to become Coral's subject.

--and we'll see what
we can get for you.

PETER COOK: And
Coral just simply

asked me to sit
down next to her,

and I did, and she came
up with some pretty

astounding pictures.

Now I've got a little old lady
coming through, she brings me--

PETER COOK: The
first of the pictures

that she started to
draw was my grandmother.

As it took shape, I can
see that it was going to be

somebody that I recognized.

And my stomach was beginning
to churn just a little

because it was my first
experience of anybody talking

about my grandmother
or any other relation

in that kind of manner.

CORAL POLGE: A beautiful
rosy complexion, in fact

she might even be called Rosie,
I keep getting the word rosy.

But she's smiling,
very much what

I'd call a country complexion.

And what she's showing me
now definitely confirms

that it's a little water
butt where she probably had

to get her drinking water from.

NARRATOR: According to
Peter, his grandmother's name

was Minnie Rose.

She did have rosy
cheeks, and her drinking

water came from a rain barrel.

It wasn't so much the picture
that she drew that I recognized

so much as the description
she was giving, and the names,

and the people
that were near her.

And they were
pretty astonishing.

Anybody is a skeptic,
really, I mean,

they'd better open their
eyes, because I believe it.

NARRATOR: Minnie
Rose died in 1962.

Peter Cook is positive that
Coral had no way of knowing

what she looked like.

In the same sitting, Coral
also drew Peter Cook's mother,

Emily, who died in 1978.

PETER COOK: Coral certainly
has a special gift.

I don't understand
why, and I have

to say that Coral
really sparked me off

to investigating,
in some depths,

as to the possibility
of life after death.

NARRATOR: Coral became
aware of her gift

just after World War II.

Her mother suffered
from severe arthritis.

When nothing else could
ease her mother's pain,

Coral took her to
a spiritualist.

CORAL POLGE: I must
admit, I nearly died

of fright on the spot because
the medium came to me and said,

do you know you're
a psychic artist?

Which I didn't even
know what she meant.

And she said, well you are
an artist, which was true.

And she told me one day I'd
be a very famous medium,

and I must admit I thought
she was completely barmy.

And so I began to try
and develop the gift,

and eventually, within
two or three years,

was getting psychic drawings.

I gave up counting
how many we'd ever

done when I got to 100,000.

It just goes on, and I don't
have time to keep records.

A lady always held her
head up so straight.

You're drawing my aunt.

NARRATOR: Lorraine Ferraro
was another witness

to Coral's powers.

Coral drew this portrait
of Lorraine's aunt,

who died when Lorraine was six.

I have photos that,
they're exactly the same.

It is quite remarkable.

I have never met
Coral in my life.

It's the first time I've heard
of her, never mind meet her.

And I'm devastated, shattered.

I just couldn't
believe what I saw.

When people come to me
for sittings, some come out

of curiosity, some come because
they're desperate for evidence.

And I hope that I can
prove to them that there

is a life after death.

It doesn't always
work, but we try.

NARRATOR: Is Coral
Polge truly gifted?

Or is she merely
a talented artist

with extraordinary
powers of perception?

For those who believe,
Coral Polge's drawings

provide comfort and
reassurance that there

may be life after death.

CORAL POLGE: Well I don't
find it mysterious at all.

I've come to a
stage where, to me,

it's so normal, so ordinary.

And I find that life
becomes more beautiful.

One would not hasten going
into the world of spirit,

but it's a beautiful thought
that one day, we're all

going to be reunited with
those people we've loved

and temporarily
been parted from.

NARRATOR: In a moment, an
investigation of a fiery

murder of a wealthy
79-year-old widow.

Two different men have
confessed to the same crime.

Every week, hundreds
of calls are

received here in our telecenter,
many with suggestions

for stories.

Several months ago,
one of our producers

received a startling telephone
call from a man in prison.

From his cell, he told us
that before his imprisonment,

he'd been involved
in a murder for which

another man had been convicted.

His call led us into the
disquieting case of Johnny Lee

Wilson, a mentally
retarded young man

serving a life sentence for
the murder of an elderly woman.

What makes this
case so intriguing

is that Wilson had
confessed to the crime,

a confession his
proponents say was coerced.

And now, the final appeal
of Johnny Lee Wilson.

Aurora, Missouri.

Population, 7,000.

A typical middle American
small town, where

everyone knows everyone else.

And everyone in Aurora
knew Johnny Wilson,

a mildly retarded 20 year
old, with an IQ of 71,

who, according to psychologists,
had the emotional development

of a fourth grader.

Johnny was raised in Aurora
by his mother and grandmother.

I'm going down to
Ramey's for some pop.

OK, be careful honey.

NELLIE MAPLES: Johnny was
quite a boy, he was a homeboy.

He never did cause
us any trouble,

but he had problems,
a learning disability,

and we had to have
special education for him.

And a lot of the kids,
we thought, in school

didn't treat him so good.

But really, Johnny has
always been a happy boy, even

when we knew things maybe
were kind of bad sometimes,

he was happy.

NARRATOR: On school days,
Johnny left his bicycle

with Mrs. Pauline Martz
because his classmates

would often vandalize it.

Is it all right if
I leave my bike here?

Well, you know it is.

NARRATOR: Mrs. Martz was a close
friend of Johnny's grandmother.

See you then.

NARRATOR: At 79, she was
the last surviving member

of the wealthiest
family in Aurora,

and owned the town's
largest business.

April 13th, 1986.

At 8:00 PM in the evening,
fire and rescue squads rushed

to the home of Pauline Martz.

By the time they arrived, the
house was engulfed in flames.

When firemen were finally
able to search the wreckage,

they found the charred
body of Pauline Martz.

The official cause of
death was smoke inhalation,

but the fire was
not an accident.

Mrs. Martz had been bound
and gagged open duct tape.

Investigators concluded
the fire was deliberately

set, started with gasoline.

There was an immediate
public outcry.

Pauline Martz had been one of
Aurora's most beloved citizens.

Five days later,
anger turned to shock.

The police picked up Johnny
Wilson for questioning,

interrogated him for
nearly four hours,

and finally arrested him after
he had confessed to the crime,

a confession he
would later recant.

JOHNNY WILSON: I just made
the mistake by confessing

to it when I didn't do it.

To this day, I don't know why
that I said I did it, you know.

It just happened.

I didn't want to
happen but it did.

It was just a mistake
on my part saying

that I did it when
I really didn't, it

was a mistake on my part.

For the past four years, the
Johnny Wilson case has divided

the small town of Aurora.

Many believe Johnny is innocent.

Law enforcement
officials disagree.

When we requested interviews
with the Lawrence County

Sheriff's Department and the
District Attorney's office,

they insisted they had put
the right man behind bars

and declined to participate
in the broadcast.

The recreations of
court proceedings

and Johnnie Wilson's
interrogation and confession

have been filmed word for word
from official transcripts.

Sunday, April 13th 1986.

On the day of the
fire, Johnny spent

the early afternoon at home
taping records with a friend.

Later he mowed a
neighbor's lawn.

When Johnny was finished,
his mother drove him home.

She and his grandmother
claim he could not

possibly have been at
Pauline Martz's house

when the fire was set.

They didn't get home
until about 5 o'clock.

And as soon as they got
home, the neighbor boy

came back over again
to tape, and he

stayed until nearly seven.

And then when
they left at seven,

Johnny and I put up nine
posters in his bedroom.

And then when that was done,
then we, about 25 to 8:00,

we left and mailed two letters.

And went up to Ramey's,
got some things,

and then when we
came out, that's when

we heard the sirens.

JOHNNY WILSON: We
heard the sirens

so we went over by and
saw that Miss Pauline's

house, the back, the back of the
house was engulfed in flames.

Hey Johnny, how's it going?

Not bad, how about you?

NARRATOR: 18-Year old Gary
Wall was also mildly retarded.

He and Johnny were both enrolled
in the special education

program at the
local high school.

Well, see you later.

Bye.

Basically I just said,
hi how are you and bye,

you know and then I
went back to the car

and sat in the back
seat and that was it.

NARRATOR: The next morning, Gary
Wall was questions by police.

He gave them a completely
different version of

his conversation with Johnny.

Mrs. Marx is in there.

Well how do you know?

She's tied up.

Well you sound like you
know something about this.

You tell anybody and
I'm going to beat you up.

OK, Johnny.

Gary

NARRATOR: Wall later
took a total of six

lie detector tests.

He failed all but one.

The morning after
Johnny's arrest,

Sheriff's deputies
went to the Wilson home

to search for evidence.

NELLIE MAPLES: When they came
to search the house and said

they had a warrant.

And I gave them permission to
search because I didn't think

they'd find anything, see.

But they did, I mean
they thought they did.

They went to his
room and just started

taking things out of
drawers and cabinets

and things that was in there.

NARRATOR: The authorities
believe that Johnny had

sexually assaulted Mrs. Martz.

Deputies found women's underwear
in a bureau in Johnny's room,

however the family said
the Bureau and clothing

belonged to Johnny's mother.

In Johnny's confession, he
admitted to stealing jewelry.

The deputies also
took costume jewelry,

which Johnny's grandmother
said she used for sewing.

Finally, they found
a nearly empty gas

can, which investigators
would later say

was used to start the fire.

Johnny Wilson was charged
with first degree murder.

Because of his diminished
mental faculties,

Joanie was examined to determine
if he was fit to stand trial.

What did you like
about high school?

I was a manager
for the football team

and they gave me a
jacket and everything.

Did you have any
friends in school?

WILLIAM LOGAN: When you're asked
to evaluate someone's fitness

to stand trial,
you look at first,

will they understand what
the charges are against them.

And then second, are
they able to reason

and make their own decisions
about whether to enter a plea.

Are they able to decide
whether they want to testify

on their own behalf at a trial.

Are they able to
help their attorney

by giving him a consistent
account of what happened.

How about a job?

Did you ever have a job?

JOHNNY WILSON: And in those
particular range of skills,

I did not think Johnny was
confident to stand trial.

And I used to work
at the hardware store.

Johnny, when the
police arrested you,

did they asked you anything
about Miranda rights?

Yeah, I think so.

Do you know what
Miranda rights are?

Yeah.

What are they?

Well, it's the difference
between right and wrong.

NARRATOR: Johnny was ultimately
examined by two psychiatrists

and a psychologist.

Two of the three judged that he
was incapable of understanding

the court proceeding.

However the third, a
court-appointed psychiatrist

determined that he was
fit to stand trial.

Johnny told his court-appointed
attorney he was innocent.

However based upon his
confession, the testimony

of Gary Wall, and
other evidence,

his attorneys advised him to
plead guilty to avoid the death

penalty, By pleading
guilty, Johnny lost

his right to a trial by jury.

Because he had
given a confession,

his attorneys told
him that it would

be very likely that
he would get convicted

if this went to trial.

And they also told him that this
judge was very likely to give

him the death penalty
based on prior cases that

have gone before this judge.

And so what he understood
was if he went to trial

and he was found guilty,
that he would die.

What is your understanding of
why you're here this afternoon?

Plead guilty.

JUDGE: Why are you
pleading guilty, Johnny?

I don't know.

Pardon?

NARRATOR: This recreation
of Johnny's hearing

was taken verbatim
from court transcripts.

Just to first degree murder.

But that's what you're
pleading guilty to,

why are you wanting
to enter such a plea?

I don't know.

DEE WOMPLER: The
so-called plea of guilty

should have been stopped about
60 seconds after it started.

The judge asked Johnny if
he knew what he was doing,

and Johnny Wilson said no.

I don't understand
why I'm here, I don't

understand what's going on.

And the judge said, do you want
to plead guilty to this charge,

and Johnny said no, I don't
want to plead guilty to it.

At that point, the circuit judge
should have said, gentlemen,

court's adjourned.

This case will be set
for trial in two weeks,

I expect everyone to be
here and be ready for trial.

I'm not going to take
this plea of guilty.

But he didn't, the
judge went further,

continued to
cross-examine Johnny,

and finally accepted
the plea of guilty.

--was voluntarily entered
and we'll accept your plea

and pronounce sentence.

Upon your plea of
guilty in this cause,

the court sentences you
to life imprisonment

in the custody of the Missouri
Department of Corrections.

The court stands adjourned.

NARRATOR: Johnny
Wilson was immediately

remanded to the Missouri
State Penitentiary.

10 months later, at
a prison in Kansas,

this man confessed that he
knew who killed Pauline Martz,

and it wasn't Johnny Wilson.

When we return, we'll
examine evidence

which has led many to
believe that Johnny

Lee Wilson is innocent.

In 1986, Johnny Lee Wilson,
a mildly retarded 20-year old

confessed to the
murder of Pauline Martz

and was sentenced to
life imprisonment.

Two years later on
February 11th, 1988,

convicted felon Chris Brownfield
confessed to participating

in the same crime.

Brownfield was, and
still is, serving

a life sentence in Kansas
for accessory to murder.

Once I found out that they
had a retarded boy that they'd

coerced into confessing
to the crime and stuff,

I just kind of got to
feeling sorry for him.

And then I found out he was
raised by his grandmother

and mother, you know, and I
was raised by my grandmother,

so I had a lot of feelings
toward probably what they felt.

It was just such a situation.

To me it was so cut and dry
that they had the wrong man,

I just thought it
shouldn't be any problem

to tell them they got the
wrong man, looked at it

and released the boy.

NARRATOR: According
to Chris Brownfield,

he and an unnamed
accomplice had been

tipped off that Pauline Martz
kept a great deal of money

in her home.

They broke into the house.

[yelling]

Come on, just watch her!

Where's your money at, lady?

NARRATOR: According
to Brownfield,

they ransacked the house.

Mrs. Martz was bound and gagged.

Brownfield and his
accomplice decided

to burn down the house
so that no evidence

would be left at the scene.

Brownfield says he was
outside when his accomplice

started the fire.

- Where's the lady?
- She's still in the house.

Well, we're gonna get her out.

She got lippy with me,
let's get out of here.

Hey, let's go on back,
see if we can get her out.

NARRATOR: Brownsfield
claims he later tried to go

back inside to save Mrs. Martz.

But it was too late.

The two men fled the scene.

When the news of Chris
Brownfield's confession

was made public, the town of
Aurora was thrown into turmoil.

One group of citizens
banded together

and erected this billboard.

Shortly thereafter, it was fire
bombed by an unknown party.

The Sheriff believed
Chris Brownfield's

confession is part of
an elaborate escape plan

and discounted it.

Chris Brownfield is a
cold blooded murderer.

He has killed senior
citizens before using

the exact MO in the same manner
that Mrs. Martz was killed.

NARRATOR: Noted
Missouri attorney

Dee Wompler was
hired to represent

Johnny and reopen the case.

Wompler became
convinced that Johnny's

confession had been coerced.

It's the first time
the state of Missouri

has ever put a third
grader on trial for murder.

OK, thank you very much.

Johnny Lee Wilson was at
a movie theater on the night

that he supposedly
confessed, and they

tricked him into going with
them to the police headquarters.

He had lost a billfold
several days earlier,

and they came and asked him
to go to the police station.

And he thought that he
was going because they

had found his billfold.

Johnny, did you lose a wallet?

Well we found it, we've got
it down at the police station.

If you come down
and identify it,

you can pick it up,
take it on home.

OK.

DEE WOMPLER: His
mother and grandmother

were not told that
they were going

to question him that evening,

John, is there any possibility
you are involved in this?

No.

What if I told you
I thought you was.

NARRATOR: A police
interrogation began at 8:30 PM

and it was concluded
just after midnight.

What if I told you you
was seen at that fire

before it started?

I'd say I wasn't.

NARRATOR: The words
spoken in these scenes

are taken verbatim
from transcripts

of a police tape recording.

What would you do if we
brought in a witness in here,

in this chair, and he sat here
and looked you right in the eye

and said, John, you was there
before that fire started.

They kept on saying,
well we know you did it.

We know, we got, we got a
witness saying that you told

him, he told him you did it.

And, after that I just, I
maintained my innocence.

I said, I didn't do it,
I don't know who did.

I didn't do it.

Murder is what
you're in here for.

JOHNNY WILSON: They started
yelling, saying well, we

know you did it, you're going
to tell us that you did it,

so we can just get this all
wrapped up so we all go home.

We didn't know
she was tied up,

how did that
information get out?

There's a whole bunch
of people out there

that night that came
up with information

that she was tied up--

The language used
was so aggressive,

what an ordinary
individual might

have done at that point
was to end the interview

or asked for their attorney.

But being a fairly young man
who was limited intellectually

and no prior experience with
the criminal justice system,

and the emotional stability
of an 8 or 9-year-old,

they're not going to know
to say, get out of my face,

stop talking to me,
you know I didn't do it

and then I've already told
you that I want to end this.

He didn't think he had the
permission to end this,

he didn't know he could
end the interrogation.

I wasn't within five
miles of that house.

You know too much.

Why did he make up
something like that on you?

He mad at you?

At the end of
the interrogation,

he forced my head back
and that's when I said,

OK, OK, I did it.

But when I really didn't,
that's when I lied.

What besides a rope
was around her ankles?

NARRATOR: The
interrogation continued.

The deputies
pressed for details.

You know and I
know, just think.

Come on, John

I'm thinking.

Well, what are some of the
things that could be used?

Handcuffs I think?

No, no, wrong guess.

If you're a scared
kid, you know, sometimes

you lie to get out of trouble.

And essentially, when
he gave his confession,

I think he may have been
lying to get out of trouble.

The immediate trouble
of the moment,

which was a couple of angry
detectives questioning

him pretty vigorously.

They just simply said, if
you'll tell us what we want

to know, we can all go home.

And he was just acting like a
child that has brain damage.

And he thought, OK, I'll tell
them what they want to know

and then we'll all go home.

NARRATOR: But Johnny
did not go home.

JOHNNY WILSON: At the
end of the confession,

they slapped the handcuffs on
me and walked me out the door

and drove me to Mount
Vernon and locked me up.

That's when I thought, no, I
ain't going home over something

that I think just
ruined my life.

I sit, I'd sit-in my
jail cell and just think,

I didn't do this.

The bottom line, I
just want to go home.

NARRATOR: Former
Sheriff's Deputy

Dustin Toler began studying
the evidence on his own.

He came to Johnny's defense.

As I got into the
reports, I observed

that what was being
said about Johnny Wilson

by the Sheriff's department and
other investigative agencies

and what was
substantiated by evidence

were not the same thing.

NARRATOR: Toler discovered
that the costume jewelry taken

by investigators
from the Wilson home

belonged to Johnny's
grandmother.

The underwear they found
belonged to Johnny's mother,

and there was
another gas can found

at the crime scene, which was
never entered into evidence.

The more I observed, the
less evidence I could find.

I never did find
anything that could

tie Johnny Wilson to the case.

NARRATOR: One surprising
piece of evidence, which

was discovered at
the crime scene,

was a battery operated stun gun.

That's a stun gun.

NARRATOR: In his
confession, Chris Brownfield

mentioned losing a stun
gun during the robbery.

The weapon which you described
was identical to the one

found at the scene.

It had never been
publicized that a stun gun

had been used in this crime.

Chris Brownfield,
in his confession,

was the first one who ever
mentioned the stun gun.

He described the stun gun
and drew a picture of it

that was identical to the
stun gun that was eventually

found at the crime scene.

Johnny Lee Wilson didn't even
know what a stun gun was.

He was asked about
it, he thought a stun

gun was an electric razor.

NARRATOR: On May 8th, 1989,
Dee Wompler presented a motion

in the circuit court
requesting that Johnny

Wilson be given a jury trial.

The motion was denied.

The judge ruled that Johnny was
competent when he pled guilty,

and that Chris Brownfield
was not a credible witness.

Brownfield had
refused to testify

in person at the hearing.

How would the
state of Missouri

suffer from giving this
poor little boy a trial.

It probably would only
take two or three days.

I couldn't see that there's
any harm or damage in it,

and he should have been
given a trial in my opinion.

NARRATOR: Today,
Johnny Wilson is still

serving his life sentence.

He has been placed in
protective custody,

as prison officials
believe he would

not be able to protect
himself in the general prison

population.

Johnny will be eligible for
parole when he is 70 years old.

Justice has been
very difficult to find

in the Johnny Wilson case.

It's one of those cases, perhaps
there's only one in a thousand,

where an innocent man is doing
time in the penitentiary.

And Johnny Lee
Wilson is innocent .

And if he had a trial, he
would probably be acquitted.

I don't think the jury would
deliberate more than an hour

before they acquitted him.

And it's a shame that
he never got a chance

to prove his innocence.

All I want somebody to believe
me, just that I didn't do this.

NARRATOR: In September
of 1990, an appeal

was heard before the
Missouri Appellate court.

Johnny's appeal for a trial
was denied once again.

When we return, a man is
found dead in his garage

the morning after
a barroom brawl.

An accident or foul play?

October 4th, 1988.

3:30 PM.

What did you find when
you first came to the door?

NARRATOR: Police in
Edmore, North Dakota

began an investigation
into the death

of a local auto repair man.

An hour earlier, the body
of 27-year-old Kenneth Engie

had been discovered in his
own garage by his uncle.

The cause of death, massive
carbon monoxide poisoning.

Initial indications pointed
to a probable suicide.

Kenny had too much going for
him to be committing suicide.

That was way too far.

You know, he didn't
have any troubles that

would bother him that much.

NARRATOR: Almost
immediately, bits of evidence

began to cast doubt
on the suicide theory.

A fully loaded 22-caliber rifle
was lying six feet from Engie.

There was a small pool
of blood on the floor,

but no marks on the body
and no sign of a struggle.

Even more puzzling, the fuel
tank of the truck in the garage

was nearly full and the
ignition had been turned off.

If Kenneth Engie had in
fact committed suicide

by inhaling carbon
monoxide, then

who turned off the
truck's engine?

The investigation into Kenneth
Engie's death was stymied.

His family vehemently
insisted that suicide

was out of the question.

But if there was
foul play involved,

who could have had a
motive and the opportunity

to commit the crime?

Within 12 hours,
the police found

a potential suspect to have
both motive and opportunity.

2 AM, Kunkel's bar on the
main street of Edmore.

By closing time, only
two customers remain.

Kenneth Engie and Curtis
Heck, another auto repairman.

Kenny look, I'm
closing up, you gotta go.

I'm taking you home tonight.

I've got to run.

Who are you going with?

Curtis.

You really are a
tramp, aren't you.

- Out.
- I want to talk to you.

She's going home me.

Get your hands off me!

Neither one of us
are Muhammad Ali.

I mean, there was rolling
around on the floor wrestling

and a bunch of dumb stuff.

There was some punches
thrown back and forth

but nobody really got hurt.

And at one point, I got
him down on the floor

and I held him down
there and I said,

I told him I'm
going to let you up,

and I said when I
let you up, I want

you to just walk out the door.

And I let him up, and then
he did go out the door.

NARRATOR: Moments later,
Kenneth Engie retaliated.

CURTIS HECK: I heard
the crash out front

and I knew what it was
soon as I heard it.

And I seen my pick up out
there, it had been broadsided.

I thought about just
forgetting the whole thing,

but the more I
thought about it, I

thought me and Kenny
were both body men

and he had just
annihilated my pickup.

So I thought if I'm going
to have to fix my vehicle,

then he's going to
have to fix his.

NARRATOR: Approximately one
hour later Heck and the barmaid

arrived at Engie's home.

Engie's truck was
parked in the driveway.

Curtis!

Curtis!

CURTIS HECK: I
heard a noise coming

from the garage,
a groaning sound,

so I went around
to the back door.

And I opened up the
door and I went in.

You know you totaled
my truck, don't you?

I should have realized
that there was something

wrong with it, but I didn't.

I was mad at him anyway.

Any other time, if I
had I seen somebody

on the floor moaning
and groaning,

I certainly wouldn't
of left them there.

But you know, the guy just
smashed my pickup all to pieces

and I figured he was
sick from drinking,

so I figured go ahead and spend
the night on the garage floor.

NARRATOR: According to the
official police report,

this is the last time
Kenneth Engie was seen alive.

I believe that Kenneth Engie,
when he was in the garage

and it became cool,
started the vehicle,

sat there and waited
for Curtis Heck

to come to the garage for
the confrontation that

was bound to happen.

Realizing that something
is happening to him,

at this point I believe he
turned the vehicle off that was

in the garage, a pickup,
started to head for the door

and didn't quite make it to
the door before he collapsed.

Time passed and he died
waiting for Curtis Heck.

NARRATOR: Engie's
Uncle, Richard Nygaard,

disagrees with the police.

I think Kenny was a
little bit smarter than

that to start a vehicle
up and running in a garage

while he was still in there.

He might of started
it up just so he could

move it and probably
run his own vehicle

in and run that one out.

NARRATOR: Nygaard
believes that Engie

heard Heck kicking his truck.

He feels that the two men
had another confrontation

inside the garage.

RICHARD NYGAARD: He fell
down and probably was

knocked unconscious.

And Curt just shut the
door and walked away.

And then realized the truck
was running and comeback

and went in and shut it off.

With the sealed
garage, there was still

enough carbon monoxide fumes in
there to still do somebody in.

The autopsy does not
indicate that there

was any assault on that body
and I don't believe there was.

That doesn't
make me very happy

to know that I was the last
person to see him alive

and walked out the
door I left him there.

But I had absolutely no
reason to think that there was

any carbon monoxide
involved, because there

was a vehicle in his
garage, it was a friend

of his pickup in the garage.

But it wasn't running,
and I don't remember

seeing any smoke in the garage.

I don't remember, I think
I would have noticed that.

NARRATOR: Several puzzling
questions continue

to loom over this case.

Did Kenneth Engie
start up the truck

to keep warm until
the inevitable arrival

of Curtis Heck?

Engie was a trained
mechanic and certainly knew

the lethal possibilities
of running an engine

in a small, enclosed space,
unless alcohol completely

impaired his judgment.

But if a drunken Engie
did start the truck

and was overcome
by fumes, how could

he have had the clarity of
mind to cut the ignition

but be unable to reach the
door just 15 feet away?

And finally, if it was not Engie
who turned off the ignition,

then who did, and then left
him on the floor to die?

We believe that the death
occurred from a lethal dose

of carbon monoxide,
and that there was

no criminal foul play involved.

The family wants to continue the
investigation as to theories,

which they are
certainly entitled to,

but law enforcement has
officially closed this case.

There just doesn't seem to
be a clear cut answer to it.

And there's been a lot
of stories and rumors,

and it's been just,
it's been hell

on everybody is what it's been.

And I'd like to see an
answer to it someplace.

I don't think they'll
ever have a final, that says

this is exactly what happened.

I don't think they ever will.

There's just too
many loose ends.

NARRATOR: On our next
Unsolved Mysteries,

few people in
Warwickshire, England

mourn the demise of Dorothea
Allen, an eccentric recluse

and corset manufacturer
who mysteriously destroyed

all traces of her past.

Dorothy left no will,
and her $4 million estate

will simply pass on
to the government

unless her heirs can be found.

Join me next week for another
edition of Unsolved Mysteries.