All language subtitles for Unsolved.Mysteries.S03E19.480p.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-PLAYREADY_track3_[und]

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.

ROBERT STACK:
Chicago, the 1930s.

Notorious mobster Al
Capone ruled the city

until a young treasury agent
named Eliot Ness brought down

his empire as a leader of the
immortal crime-busting unit,

The Untouchables.

But after his
success in Chicago,

Eliot Ness encountered
the one criminal

he could not bring to justice,
a fiendish serial killer who

may have claimed as
many as 30 victims.

Join us for this
special segment,

Eliot Ness' unsolved mystery.

Also, the controversial
murder case of prison

reformer Michael Francke.

Shortly before he
died, Francke began

to collect information
about corruption

in the Oregon prison system.

In 1989, he was found stabbed to
death just outside his office.

Did someone want Michael
Francke silenced permanently?

In September, 1989,
three-month-old Ryan Stallings

was hospitalized in critical
condition, the apparent victim

of poisoning.

Three days later, Ryan died.

His mother, Patty Stallings,
was charged with murder

and subsequently convicted.

Patty and her husband
insist that Ryan

died from a rare
genetic disorder, which

now plagues their second child.

The prosecutor, however,
maintains that she is guilty.

Join me as we examine
this controversial case,

the final appeal
of Patty Stallings.

[theme music]

[music playing]

Chicago, 1929.

Prohibition was the
law of the land.

With alcohol
illegal, speakeasies

sprung up on every street
corner and every alleyway.

Bootlegging and police
corruption were rampant.

An aggressive 26-year-old
treasury agent

was hired to smash the gangland
rackets that gripped the city.

His name, Eliot Ness.

After crushing
Capone in Chicago,

Eliot Ness became one
of the most respected

lawmen in the country.

When I portrayed
Ness on television,

I learned that, like
many well-known figures,

there was a secret private
side to his public persona.

Those who knew him agree
that his iron-willed quiet

countenance cloaked a
fearless determination

to wipe out corruption.

But he is also a man who was not
above bending the law himself

to bring a criminal to justice.

After The
Untouchables, Ness went

on to encounter the one
case he could not crack,

a case which would haunt him
for the rest of his life.

September, 1934.

Mr. Ness!

ROBERT STACK: Eliot Ness
came to Cleveland, Ohio

as public safety
director, a position

comparable to a modern
day police commissioner.

- --here in Cleveland?
- Police corruption.

ROBERT STACK: When
Ness arrived, Cleveland

was a known safe haven for
gangsters and street criminals.

Over the next year, arrests
went up and crime went down.

But there was another
evil afoot in the city

which would soon overshadow
Ness' primary mandate.

Two boys playing in Kingsbury
Run come across these.

Two bodies, both decapitated.

ROBERT STACK: In
September of 1935,

the mutilated bodies of two men
were found in Kingsbury Run,

a slum district
swarming with hobos,

prostitutes, and street toughs.

Keep me posted.

Will do.

ROBERT STACK: At
the time, the case

was dismissed as a vicious,
but routine, double homicide.

By the summer of 1936, three
more bodies had been found.

A discovery of a
sixth victim that fall

threw Cleveland into an uproar.

Mr. Ness, a body's been
found under the bridge.

Two kids found it.

Coroner's been here.

Nothing's been moved.

It's been here about five hours.

STEVEN NICKEL: When
number six turned up,

it was like a
bombshell going off.

The city really exploded.

The press and the
public now had no doubts

that there was a serial
killer out there,

that this individual was
going to keep killing,

and they wanted it stopped.

ROBERT STACK: The body count
in the Kingsbury Run area

would eventually reach 12.

As many as 18 other murders
in greater Cleveland

were thought to be
connected to the case.

The killer primarily
stalked society's outcasts

and vagrants.

Men as well as women fell prey.

Only two of the victims were
ever positively identified,

Edward Andrassy, a small-time
hood, and Florence Polillo,

a 41-year-old prostitute.

All the victims had been
decapitated, in some cases

while they were still alive.

Five were found floating
in water, the blood drained

completely out of their bodies.

The tabloids dubbed the killer
The Butcher of Kingsbury

Run and The Torso Slayer.

Mr. Ness, we found the
body late this morning.

The arms and legs
have been cut off.

Scene of the crime.

The men are still looking.

Decapitated?

Yes, sir.

Looks like the same killer.

We're having trouble
keeping the crowd back.

STEVEN NICKEL: Ness got into
the case quite extensively.

In fact, he devoted
almost full time to it.

But at the same time, there's
also sort of an uneasiness

with Ness about this.

He didn't know quite how
to proceed with this case.

It wasn't a matter of finding
out where the brewery was

and where the
mobsters were hiding

and go and smash
away into the place.

This was a different
type of criminal

that Eliot Ness was facing.

The bodies were kept for
about, oh, I'd say six months.

We have no idea who they are.

But it certainly was
a skillful dissection.

The murderer was probably--

OSCAR FRALEY: Eliot had made
a profile that he figured

the killer might be,
and he determined

that it had to be
somebody, from the way

these bodies were cut
up, with a certain amount

of medical knowledge.

Plus the fact, it had
to be a very strong man

to carry these bodies all over
and dump them where he did.

So he had this profile.

It has to be a big man, strong,
an expert with a scalpel.

ROBERT STACK: Ness had
reached an impasse.

He was determined to search
every dwelling in Kingsbury Run

but had no legal grounds to
square out search warrants.

The solution was
vintage Eliot Ness.

Afternoon, ma'am.

We're with the Cleveland
Fire Department.

We're conducting fire
safety inspections.

ROBERT STACK: He cleverly
skirted the need for warrants

by pairing detectives
with fire officials

and ordering widespread
safety inspections.

Move along.

Yes?

STEVEN NICKEL: There
was a thought among Ness

and other police officers
that they were going

to find this laboratory
that was going

to have blood-splattered walls
and have arms and legs lying

over in a corner
and maybe a cache

of heads in another corner.

That's what they
were looking for,

and Ness' men spent almost
a full week searching almost

every place, almost every
apartment, every dwelling they

could find in that
area, and they weren't

able to turn up a thing.

ROBERT STACK: Ness
next pinpointed

every doctor and hospital
worker in Cleveland.

There he is.
Let's go.

ROBERT STACK: Even
the county coroner

was not above suspicion.

Hey, buddy.

Hold it right there.

ROBERT STACK: Hundreds of people
were put under surveillance,

questioned, and detained.

I-- I fell asleep,
caught a few hours.

Where were you at today?

What are you doing in Cleveland?

I'm in town on business.

What business?

I'm a salesman.

I-- I sell surgical supplies--

ROBERT STACK: The investigations
still led nowhere.

I come up two to
three times a month.

ROBERT STACK: The killer
remained at large.

What were you doing in
Kingsbury Run Wednesday night?

ROBERT STACK: And the case
began to consume Eliot Ness.

I usually go out and hit a
couple of bars, have a drink.

ROBERT STACK: In August of
1938, victims number 11 and 12

were found, the last
scattered in a rubbish heap

just 200 yards from
Eliot Ness' office.

STEVEN NICKEL: It was evident
after the last two bodies were

found that the killer
was now becoming more

daring by where he left
the bodies, right, really,

under Eliot Ness' window.

And it was almost
like it was a cat

and mouse game and sort
of "catch me if you can"

type thing.

They were bragging Cleveland
was now one of the safest

cities in the United States
except for the killer,

who was still chopping off
heads and cutting up bodies

and all this kind of stuff.

And he knew he had to
do something desperate

because the people
were clamoring.

All the people in town were
insane about this insanity

that was going on.

And they were frightened.

They were scared to death.

ROBERT STACK: The storm
of public criticism

drove Ness to take
drastic measures.

Less than 48 hours after the
discovery of victims number

11 and 12, the police descended
upon Kingsbury Run's hobo

jungles.

He rounded up more
than 60 transients,

hoping that the killer
might be among them.

STEVEN NICKEL: This was his
old Untouchables style of raid,

where you know where the bad guy
is and you go in and get him.

He really thought
that this might work.

And at the very least, he
could remove some of the people

that the killer was preying on.

But it completely
backfired for him.

There was a great
wave of public opinion

that this was the act
of a desperate man

and that his tactics
had been brutal,

and they didn't
really solve anything.

ROBERT STACK: In a
final, radical attempt

to stop the slaughter,
Ness ordered the shantytown

burned to the ground.

Of those arrested
that night, none

turned out to be the killer.

After the shantytown
was destroyed,

the murders in Cleveland
mysteriously stopped,

but the case was not
over for Eliot Ness.

He remained bitter
and dissatisfied.

According to some experts,
he was all the more

frustrated by the fact he
believed he knew the killer's

identity but could never
come up with enough evidence

to make an arrest.

Ness' suspect belonged to a
prominent Cleveland family.

In 1938, the man had
himself committed

to a state mental institution.

OSCAR FRALEY: Ness believed
that he had caught the killer

primarily because after
this man committed

himself to a mental hospital,
the killings stopped.

And he said, I am certain
this is the man that

fits the profile and I'm sure
that this is the bird who

was doing all these killings.

It's pretty clear that if Ness
had accused this man, whose

family was socially prominent,
he could have been libelous

and been sued, and he was a very
cautious guy as far as covering

the letter of the law.

ROBERT STACK: Incredibly, more
than 10 years later, Eliot Ness

received a number of
postcards from a patient

in a mental institution,
taunting him with references

to the brutal slayings.

OSCAR FRALEY: The man who was
sending in these postcards

might have just
been another kook,

but he was convinced that
he had found the guy.

ROBERT STACK: Eliot
Ness never fully

recovered from
his disappointment

in being unable
to close the case.

He resigned as public
safety director in 1942.

Five years later, he ran
for mayor of Cleveland.

When questioned about the Torso
Slayings during the campaign,

Ness enigmatically replied,
that case has been solved.

Eliot Ness lost the election by
a landslide and left Cleveland.

He never returned
to law enforcement.

Next, a young mother
convicted of murder

wins her final appeal.

[music playing]

July 9, 1989, St.
Louis, Missouri.

A young mother rushed
her critically ill son

to Cardinal Glennon Hospital.

The baby was 3-month-old
Ryan Stallings

from nearby Jefferson County.

Since birth, he had suffered
from chronic gastric distress.

How long has your baby
been breathing like this?

Stay here.

We're gonna take the baby--

ROBERT STACK: On the day Ryan
was brought to the emergency

room, his breathing had
become extremely labored

and he was vomiting
uncontrollably.

Ryan was immediately placed in
the pediatric intensive care

unit.

He was hooked
up to a respirator

and all kinds of tubes
going in and out of him.

And it was awful.

It was just a shock
to see a little baby

incapacitated the way he was.

It was to a point where
they said they don't know

how long he's going to be here.

We don't know what's
wrong with him

yet, so you might as well
just go to the waiting room

and stay out there until we
can tell you what's wrong.

Hi, Mr. Stallings?

Yes, sir.

I'm Dr. Bailey,
chief of pediatrics.

I'm happy to see you.

This is Mrs. Jurgensen,
a family surgeon--

ROBERT STACK: David
and Patty Stallings

rented a room with the
hospital to be near their son.

After three agonizing
days, the Stallings learned

that Ryan would recover.

Ryan's fine.

There are no problems there.

ROBERT STACK: The diagnosis,
however, was stunning.

Ryan had apparently
been poisoned.

When the lab
tests came back, we

found a couple of substances.

Those substances were
ethyl glycol and acetone.

Ethyl glycol is the substance
that you'll find in radiator

antifreeze, and acetone is
in fingernail polish remover,

for example.

DAVID STALLINGS: He goes, do
you have any in the house?

I said, yeah, Patty uses it
on her fingernails to remove

her old fingernail polish.

He goes, well, that's
got acetone in it.

I said, OK.

He said, do you have antifreeze?

I said, yes, I have antifreeze.

I just rebuilt a
radiator on my vehicle

and I had a partial gallon
left in the basement.

He says, well, that's what
we're saying he may have gotten.

Do you happen to know how
he could have gotten it?

They were very
polite, yet suspicious.

They would not allow
us to see Ryan alone.

There would have to be at least
two nurses or a doctor present.

We were never allowed to
be on his bedside alone.

That bothered me,
but I still didn't

understand because I
wasn't looking at it

the way they were, I guess.

Just have to ask you
a few questions, if you

could come in for a moment?

Sure.

David, you have a seat.

I'll come get you in a minute.

ROBERT STACK: That
same day, the police

were brought in to investigate.

PATRICIA STALLINGS:
We were split

up and talked to by detectives.

And then that's when
I knew because they

immediately started
asking me, well,

is there a problem at home?

Are you and David fighting?

They were saying that they
knew that that baby had

been poisoned by either
me or my husband.

It infuriated me.

And I was just--

I was devastated.

I was blown away.

I just could not believe
that they could even think--

I mean, Ryan was my world.

He was so beautiful.

He was perfect.

ROBERT STACK: Ryan's
condition improved.

After 12 days, he was
released from the hospital

but not to the custody
of his parents.

DAVID STALLINGS: A social
worker came up to us

and told us that they were
taking custody of Ryan from us.

And at that point,
I became very angry.

Why are you doing this to
us, is what I told her.

And she said, well,
this is policy.

When there's a
suspected poisoning,

we take children
from the parents

and put them in foster care.

That's a boy.

ROBERT STACK: Patty and
David's contact with Ryan

was severely restricted.

They were allowed
only a one-hour visit

each week on Thursdays.

DAVID STALLINGS: Ryan knew,
when we met him the first time,

he was so happy to
see both of us again.

He just smiled the biggest
smile you could ever

possibly see in a baby's face.

And we were just totally
in love with our child.

We were so glad that we finally
were able to see him again.

I just could not
wait till Thursday.

My whole week I
would tell everybody

over and over and over
how last Thursday went,

and that was my life.

Thursday.

Thursday morning.

ROBERT STACK: For five weeks,
the parental visits continued.

During the sixth visit,
Patty was left alone

with Ryan for a short time.

Three days later, Ryan would
suffer another severe attack

of vomiting.

Once again, he would be
rushed to the hospital.

Once again, the diagnosis
would be poisoning.

I have a warrant
for your arrest.

A what?

I've got to take her in now.

PATRICIA STALLINGS: We
were getting out of the car

and they said, stop right there.

I turned around and I was like,
well, come on into the house,

and they said, no, you're not
allowed to go into the house.

They immediately slapped
handcuffs on me and said,

you're under arrest for assault.

Can't you just
wait for a minute?

Watch your step, please.

Come on!
Wait!

Give me five minutes!
Come on!

You gotta!

At the station.

We don't have five.

ROBERT STACK: Patty Stallings
was booked on charges

of poisoning her infant son.

PATRICIA STALLINGS: I
knew it wasn't true.

I didn't care what they thought.

I just thought, you know, I'll
be home in a couple hours.

This will be over with.

I'll get to go be with Ryan.

And then the day
turned into a night,

and then it got really serious.

I got really scared.

ROBERT STACK: While
Patty languished in jail,

her son was dying.

Ryan was placed on
life support systems.

David Stallings found himself
trapped in a private hell.

DAVID STALLINGS: The
doctors come up to me

and tell me that they have a
feeling that Ryan's not going

to make it and
that maybe I should

get in contact with a minister
and have him baptized and that.

I tried to get Patty up there,
and all I got from the judge

was no, absolutely not.

I'm not going to let a
baby killer up there.

And I said, this lady
did not kill this baby.

And when they finally
come back to me

and told me that we need to
know if we can turn him off,

I told them, all right, go
ahead and shut the machine down,

but I wanted to be
in there with him.

So for three hours, I sat
there with him in my arms,

knowing that Patty
couldn't be there,

watching this meter
on this machine

go down each time
his heart would beat.

It was hard.

It's something I would never
ask anybody ever to do.

Approximately about
6:30, the doctor came in

and she shut the machine
down so I could not

see any more of his heart rate.

She took him from me and
said, it's over with.

He's gone.

They call me back about
9 o'clock that night

and I went up to the phone
and it was David's voice,

and he told me he died.

And I started begging that
he could come up and see me

and the deputy on
duty said he could.

So--

ROBERT STACK: Ryan Stallings
died on September 7, 1989.

He was not yet six months old.

His mother Patty was now
charged with first-degree murder

and held without bail.

She was not allowed to
attend Ryan's funeral.

A few weeks later, Patty
Stallings discovered

she was pregnant again.

For six months, she
remained incarcerated,

subject to a battery of
mental fitness tests.

On February 27, 1990,
David Stallings,

Jr. was born at a
Madison County hospital.

Even though David Stallings,
Sr. was not a suspect

and had been charged
with no crime at all,

he is not allowed to take
David, Jr. home with him.

The baby became a
ward of the state

and was placed in foster care.

Ironically, this devastating
blow would turn out

to be a stroke of good fortune.

Without it, Patty
and David Stallings

might have been accused of
poisoning their second son.

When David Stallings,
Jr. was two weeks old,

he began to exhibit symptoms
identical to the ones that

had plagued his brother Ryan.

The St. Louis
Children's Hospital

diagnosed David's illness
as a rare genetic disorder,

methylmalonic acidemia, or
MMA, in which the body produces

chemical byproducts
that may be remarkably

similar to the ethylene
glycol found in antifreeze.

"Unsolved Mysteries" contacted
an independent medical expert

about MMA.

STEPHEN CEDERBAUM: It would
be very simple to confuse

the diagnosis of MMA
with multiple poisonings

because the symptoms
are very similar.

But more importantly than that,
MMA and other similar disorders

are very rare, and the
majority of doctors

either will never
have seen a case,

or if they have seen a case,
didn't know that they saw

it and actually confused it.

ROBERT STACK: While
prosecutors re-evaluated

the medical evidence,
Patty Stallings

was released from jail.

Pending the outcome
of the investigation,

Patty was denied visitation
rights with David, Jr.

I thought it was over as
far as the nightmare of being

accused of hurting Ryan.

I was positive that it was.

Even my lawyer said it was over.

There was no way that they
could not see the truth

right in front of their eyes.

ROBERT STACK: Jefferson
County officials

continued to pursue the case.

The prosecution's position
was that Ryan Stallings

had not died from MMA.

In the judge's chambers, they
cited four expert witnesses.

But Your Honor, I did.

ROBERT STACK: Patty's his lawyer
presented no expert opinions.

The judge agreed
with the prosecution.

Neither David Stallings,
Jr. nor the symptoms

he shared with Ryan were
allowed to be presented

as evidence at Patty's trial.

We were concerned
that if it came out

that David, Jr., or
Ryan for that matter,

had this methylmalonic acidosis,
unless it could be shown

that he actually died
of that or it was

some kind of a contributing
factor to his death,

we believe that that
would not be relevant,

and in fact might cause the jury
to go off on a wild goose chase

and make a decision
based on something

that's really not relevant.

First cases in the
family are often missed,

and it's only when
it reoccurs again

that the medical practitioners
are tipped off to the fact

that this may well
be a genetic disorder

and maybe the first
child had that, as well.

ROBERT STACK: Without
the medical testimony,

the case against Patty Stallings
seemed virtually airtight.

The prosecution
focused on the events

of Thursday, August 31,
1989, Patty and David's

sixth parental visit with Ryan.

DAVID STALLINGS:
On the sixth visit,

my parents were invited
for the first time.

And then about 20
minutes into the visit,

my mom and dad decided
they were gonna

go ahead and leave and
let Patty and I have

the rest of the time with him.

We'll be right back, Patty.

OK.

DAVID STALLINGS: So I escorted
my mom and dad out of the room,

walked down to the hall.

I was out of the room no more
than 45 seconds at the most.

GEORGE MCELROY: On
one visit, Patricia

was left alone with the child
anywhere from about three

minutes to about eight
minutes and, during that time,

did actually feed
the child a bottle.

The child, again,
got the same symptoms

he had before, came back
into to the hospital,

was diagnosed with
ethylene glycol poisoning.

At that time, a
number of bottles

were also examined
for possible traces.

And while there were negative
effects in all the bottles

but one, one bottle, which was
identified as the bottle she

had fed the baby with,
actually contained

traces of ethylene glycol.

That bottle had actually been
prepared by the foster mother

and retrieved from the
baby bag during a visit,

but the state
believes, and certainly

circumstantial evidence
suggests, that she slipped

ethylene glycol or
antifreeze into the bottle

during that feeding.

What they were
trying to say was

she started feeding him
before anybody got in there,

and that's wrong.

That's incorrect.

What happened was I walked
back to the cubbyhole

where Patty was with Ryan.

He just started
getting a little cranky

and so I reached into the bag
and took the baby bottle out

and started feeding him.

I saw the bottle.

I did not smell.

I did not see any discoloration
in the bottle whatsoever.

There was nothing done to that
bottle, absolutely nothing.

ROBERT STACK: According
to Patty's lawyers,

Ryan's symptoms did not appear
until three and a half days

after the visit.

I would be amazed if something
as volatile and as easily

diffusible as
ethylene glycol would

require 80 hours
in order to cause

symptoms in the young child.

I believe it would have to
happen a lot faster than that.

And therefore, it seems
much less probable

that this was a poisoning.

Ryan was taken from the
visit by the DFS worker

to the foster parents'
home, but later that day--

actually, early
the next morning,

was taken to what we
call respite home,

temporary foster parents who
kept him just for the weekend.

The second set of
foster parents,

not knowing what
the child was like,

may well have overlooked
symptoms that the first set

would have seen.

Defendant will rise
and face the court.

On count one, assault with
a deadly weapon, the court

finds you guilty as charged.

On count two, murder in
the first degree, the court

finds you guilty as charged.

ROBERT STACK: On March
4, 1991, Patty Stallings

was sentenced to life in
prison without the possibility

of parole.

Her son David, Jr.
is now one year old.

Patty has seen him
only three times--

twice just after his
birth, a third time

when he was a week old.

Each visit was
limited to one hour.

David Stallings, Sr. is allowed
to see his son once a week.

DAVID STALLINGS: I cannot
see how they can live with

themselves knowing that
they sent an innocent

woman to jail the rest
of her life for something

that she didn't do.

If Ryan would have been
correctly diagnosed with MMA,

none of this would
have happened.

None of these series of
events in the last two years

would have happened.

It all depended on
whether he was correctly

diagnosed, which he was not.

I truly do believe
in the system,

and I think that when 12
people heard the evidence

and they returned a
verdict that they did,

that it's the right verdict.

If it's not the right
verdict, they've

already started the ball rolling
in the appellate procedures.

And if there is a problem or if
new evidence does come up which

could link Ryan's
death to MMA, well,

certainly it will, and
should be, retried.

But in the meantime,
I'm comfortable with it.

I've lost one child to MMA.

My second child is stricken
with MMA and may not live.

He's a year old now
and they're still

not sure how to treat him.

I lost my freedom.

I've lost everything.

On the night this story
aired, calls from physicians

familiar with MMA poured
into our telecenter.

Patty Stallings' new
attorneys petitioned the court

to grant her another
trial based on the fact

that she had previously
received ineffectual counsel.

On July 30, 1991,
Patty Stallings

was granted a new trial
and released from prison.

PATRICIA STALLINGS: After the
"Unsolved Mysteries" aired,

people were writing and
calling and just wanted

to know, how can we help?

And I can't thank those people
enough because through all

of that, wheels started turning
and everything just started

pushing forward really fast.

Along with Ryan's
remaining serum--

ROBERT STACK: On
September 20, 1991,

a press conference
was held in St. Louis.

Dr. Piero Rinaldo
of Yale University

revealed that independent serum
tests showed Ryan Stallings

had definitely died of MMA.

Consequently, the prosecuting
attorney dropped all charges

against Patty Stallings.

Unfortunately, we
can't undo the suffering

that the Stallings have endured
during this entire ordeal,

and I apologize to
them both personally

and for the state of Missouri.

ROBERT STACK: During
the press conference,

Patty and David heard
for the first time

that custody of their son,
DJ, had been returned to them.

In October of
1991, just over two

years after his
brother's death, DJ

came home for the first time.

I just want to make up
for the year and a half

that we didn't have him.

It's hard to make
up that much time,

but I'm doing the best I can.

Beep, beep.

PATRICIA STALLINGS: His
condition is very scary,

but we've tackled
so many hard things

that we've just kind of said,
well, we'll beat this, too.

And with that attitude, I
know that DJ will do all right

and that we'll do OK.

He is a miracle child and
we're lucky to have DJ.

And we have our whole life back.

It's like we're starting over.

It's indescribably wonderful.

ROBERT STACK: When we
return, a prison reformer

is murdered outside his
office in Salem, Oregon.

His family believes
he may have been

assassinated to keep him quiet.

[music playing]

In February, 1980,
the New Mexico

State Penitentiary
in Santa Fe was

rocked by a violent uprising.

By the time order was
restored, 33 prisoners had died

at the hands of fellow inmates.

New Mexico's scandal-plagued
penal system became

front-page news across America.

State Deputy Attorney
General Michael Francke

was brought in to
investigate the riots

and revamp the prison system.

--you develop a
calcified resistance

to change among your--

ROBERT STACK: Francke,
a former college

football star and
ex-Navy commander,

achieved dramatic results.

In New Mexico, he was
a man of the hour,

and his reforms gained
national recognition.

PATRICK FRANCKE:
Mike was very much

his own man, not a follower
in any sense of the word.

He loved making decisions.

He liked tackling
difficult problems.

He had a very quick mind.

ROBERT STACK: Michael Francke's
growing reputation soon

brought him a new challenge.

In 1987, the governor
of Oregon asked

Francke to take over his
state's troubled prison system.

JIM HILL: Michael
Francke was the best

selection that the governor made
in all of his new appointments.

And I think we all
felt that there

was going to be some
very, very good things

happening and corrections.

We were all excited
about him, and I really

can't tell you just
how much of a shock

it was when he was murdered.

ROBERT STACK: Tragically,
on January 17, 1989,

Michael Francke's
distinguished career

came to an abrupt, violent end.

He was found stabbed to
death just outside his office

building in Salem, Oregon.

Before he died, Michael
Francke told his family

that he was in the midst of a
top secret investigation that

would detail corruption in
the Oregon prison system,

particularly drug trafficking.

He apparently
planned to name names

and implicate several
highly-placed government

officials.

The district attorney
believes Michael Francke fell

victim to a robbery gone wrong.

But Francke family is
convinced he was assassinated.

They think someone wanted
Michael Francke silenced

and his findings on
the Oregon prison

system suppressed forever.

BOB MERCHANT: The three
main criminal activities

that I observed
working in corrections

was the introduction of
drugs into the institution,

falsifying of records, and
thefts of state property.

Basically, anything
that was not nailed down

was subject to be stolen.

There was a constant
flow of drugs being

brought into the institutions.

One of the most common ways
was staff bringing them

in in their own lunch
buckets because there

was no searches being
conducted on staff as they

entered or left the facility.

I was told by my
superiors to keep

my mouth shut and
mind my own business

or I'd be looking for a job.

When Mike came in,
he's got a "good old boy"

system to contend with.

A lot of these guys have
been here for 20 or 30 years.

The system has run the way
they want it to run for that.

So here comes some
guy from out of state

who has all these
high-minded ideas about what

he's going to do, and it
just rubbed a lot of them

the wrong way.

ROBERT STACK: Michael Francke
gathered what some believed

was concrete evidence,
confirming that the state

prison system contained
corrupt elements reaching

all the way to the top.

By the end of 1988,
he was conducting an

intense personal investigation.

Michael Francke
knew he was juggling

political dynamite
that could blow

up in his face at any moment.

KEVIN FRANCKE: He had uncovered
a lot of organized crime.

And I said, do you
mean like the mafia?

And he said, no, an organized
criminal element in the system,

and that he was going to do
a thorough house cleaning

immediately after
the first of the year

and that his quote was, a lot
of heads were going to roll.

And he said it may
cost him his job.

[phone ringing]

Hello.

WOMAN (ON PHONE): Hi, Mike.

Who's this?
WOMAN (ON PHONE): This is Katie.

How are you?

Katie!

How you doing?

KATIE FRANCKE: On January
13, I called Michael

and he said that
he was going to go

before the legislature and clean
house the following Wednesday.

Well, you did
that in New Mexico.

You cleaned house before.

Yeah, I know, Katie,
but this is different.

It seems I really ruffled
some feathers today--

KATIE FRANCKE: He was
very, very concerned.

And I think he had uncovered
something far bigger

than he expected.

ROBERT STACK: Four days
later, Michael Francke

was found murdered on a side
porch of his office building.

Police quickly began
to piece together

the last hours of his life.

At 6:50 PM, after the regular
Tuesday staff meeting,

Francke spoke briefly with
one of his subordinates.

30 minutes later, two
other corrections employees

noticed that the light in
Michael Francke's car was on

and the driver's door
was standing wide open.

It was 7:20 PM.

Michael?

Well, his phone's in here.

This is kind of weird.

He never leaves his car like
this, with the door open.

You're right.

ROBERT STACK: The two women
could not find Francke,

nor could they reach him
on his pager, which he

carried with him at all times.

They called their superiors.

Two officials arrived at 8:30 PM
and conducted, in their words,

a meticulous search
of the building.

Francke was nowhere to be found.

Anything up there?

Nope.

ROBERT STACK: The two men
did not call the police

and left around 9:30 PM.

At 12:45 AM, a security guard
found Michael Francke's body

on the side porch
of the building

that had been so
thoroughly searched

just four hours earlier.

A pane of glass in the
side door was shattered.

No one knows whether
or not Francke

was carrying
documents concerning

his prison investigation.

However, his briefcase
appeared to be missing.

I found a body here.

I think it's Francke.

ROBERT STACK: Police
theorize that Francke

had been murdered by someone
who was trying to rob him.

They interrogated a
number of known drug

dealers and street criminals.

I need to know where
you were that night.

Now, you told me earlier
you were there at 9:30,

and then you come
back and you tell--

ROBERT STACK: One
of them claimed

that he witnessed the murder
and fingered an admitted

drug dealer named Frank Gable.

According to this witness, Gable
was in the act of burglarizing

Michael Francke's car when
Francke came out of the office

building around 7 PM.

What's going on?

Nothing's going on.
Just give me your briefcase.

There's nothing in
it you're going to get.

I want to know what
you're doing to my car.

I'm not doing
nothing to your car.

Just give me the briefcase.

OK, punk, I'm
taking you inside.

ROBERT STACK: Gable
allegedly stabbed

Francke, mortally wounded him.

Some believe Gable
also stole Francke's

briefcase before fleeing.

Michael Francke
apparently staggered up

the stairs of a side
entrance to the building.

He broke the glass door
in a desperate attempt

to get back to his office.

[glass breaking]

Frank Gable was charged with
the murder of Michael Francke,

but for many people, the
evidence simply did not add up.

Bruises, abrasions, and other
wounds on Francke's body

seemed to indicate a struggle
with more than one man.

KATIE FRANCKE: I think
Frank Gable is a scapegoat

because I think it
goes much higher

up in the Oregon government.

He's just being used
to take the fall.

From the onset of the
Francke investigation,

it appeared that the police
put the blinders on as far

as what they were most
inclined to believe.

It seems as though there
has been some reluctance

to really, really
just scorch the earth

to find out what happened.

ROBERT STACK: Michael Francke's
family and supporters found

what they felt were other
disturbing discrepancies

in the official explanation
of Michael's death.

Michael had a state of
the art car alarm system.

If the killer had
broken into the car,

why was the alarm not set off?

And why were there no
signs of forced entry?

Hey, what's going on?

Nothing's going on.

I want what's in your briefcase.

ROBERT STACK: If the killer
had stabbed Michael at the car,

puncturing his heart and lungs,
why was there no trace of blood

within 100 feet of the car?

And finally, if Michael Francke
was killed at 7:00 PM as police

estimate, why was neither
his body nor the broken glass

noticed when the
building was meticulously

searched between
8:30 and 9:30 PM?

A number of people in Oregon
believe that Michael Francke

was the victim of a
premeditated murder carried out

by several men and
possibly instigated

by high-ranking officials who
feared they would be named

in Francke's investigation.

An eyewitness at
the scene appeared

to corroborate this theory.

BOB MERCHANT: At 10:15,
10:20 on January 17,

a young man riding
in a car looked over

at where the of the crime was
and saw five to six men running

toward a Volkswagen van.

If Michael Francke
had been abducted

and then brought back to the
building where he was killed,

this would fit in with
the abduction theory.

ROBERT STACK: The
abduction theory

holds that, on the
night of his death,

Michael Francke unlocked his
own car, deactivating the alarm.

Simultaneously, a group
of men approached him.

You're coming with us.

What's up?

All right.
All right.

All right.

Just back off.

ROBERT STACK:
Francke did not keep

regular office hours except
for Tuesday staff meetings.

It would seem that
the perpetrators were

familiar with his schedule.

BOB MERCHANT: The
abduction theory

would have that Michael Francke
was later brought back, perhaps

going to his office to
find whatever paperwork

or computer files or these
sort of things in his office.

All right.
Let's go up to the office

What for?

Computer tapes.

I don't have any.

BOB MERCHANT: Once there,
he gets out of the car,

perhaps sees his only
chance for getting away,

tries to make a break for it,
perhaps receives one or more

of his wounds at that time,
goes to the north porch

where he is finished off.

Unfortunately,
the impression has

been given that things are being
held back, that many things are

being stonewalled.

It has given the
impression-- again,

not saying it's
the fact, but it's

given the impression
that there's

some type of a cover-up.

ROBERT STACK: On the
night of the murder,

several people
reported seeing a man

in a pinstripe suit
lurking in the corrections

building after hours.

He was olive-complected, 5 feet
10 inches tall, and weighed

approximately 180 pounds.

A composite drawing based on
witness descriptions was made,

but the DA's office
did not release

the drawing for five months.

They claimed the quality was
not good enough for publication,

even though the
composite had been

drawn by a top police artist.

One other disturbing fact
added to the speculation

about a cover-up.

No paperwork detailing
Michael Francke's

investigation into the
Oregon prison system

has ever been found.

BOB MERCHANT: Shortly after
Michael Francke's death,

some people, some
employees, some inmates

spotted approximately 23
bags of shredded papers

coming out of Michael
Francke's office

and some surrounding offices.

That's something
you have to wonder

about is who authorized
shredding of documents

from a murder scene?

The officials
investigating Mike's murder

don't want it solved
because it goes much higher

in the Oregon government.

My family is dedicated
to bringing this

to a successful conclusion.

We're going to find out
what the hell happened.

And we're going to see that
the people who were involved

receive their full punishment.

[music playing]

ROBERT STACK: Next, a
mother in New England

needs your help to
find her autistic son.

[music playing]

When he was eight
years old, Oded Gordon

was diagnosed with a
minor learning disability.

At age 12, he began to
withdraw from his friends.

By the time he was 18,
Oded was totally withdrawn,

unwilling to
communicate with anyone.

RAIZI GOLDSTEIN: Oded was
afraid of the responsibility

of growing up because he didn't
have the emotional wherewithal.

He was too anxious.

He was too afraid he couldn't
do things on his own.

ROBERT STACK: A year later, Oded
was diagnosed as having autism,

a neurological
disorder that affects

physical, social,
and language skills.

There is no known cure
for the affliction,

and doctors had little hope
that Oded would ever return

from his dark and silent world.

Oded's mother enrolled him in
a facility in Greenfield, New

Hampshire, where young people
with mental and emotional

disabilities participate in work
therapy and receive counseling.

Oded seemed to respond
to his new environment

and even began communicating
with one staff worker.

SHEILA BAY-HARVEY: When Oded
came, he spoke very little,

but then we would hear
him speak occasionally.

And he could say things when
prompted and encouraged.

ROBERT STACK: Approximately
six weeks after he arrived

at the farm, Oded and
several other residents

were doing their
afternoon chores.

Somehow, Oded managed to
wander away from the group.

An hour later, he was
nowhere to be found.

The dogs were brought
in and originated

the search over
by the brook area,

over toward the
lower left field.

ROBERT STACK: The search
dogs followed Oded's scent

for approximately three miles.

Along a stretch of Highway 31,
the scent abruptly vanished.

Authorities believe that
Oded may have been picked

up by a passing motorist.

CARL DRIGGERS: My feelings
are that he will be found.

He's out there.

He's out there among the
population, wherever it may be,

but he is out there.

ROBERT STACK: There have been
several reported sightings

of Oded, the most
recent last January.

Oded's mother
believes her son is

still alive and hopes
that wherever he is,

he will hear her appeal.

RAIZI GOLDSTEIN: Oded, I really
would like to hear from you.

If you can, I hope
that you'll call.

Call me or call your
grandmother or your uncles.

You don't have to
tell us where you are.

We just want to
know that you're OK.

ROBERT STACK: Oded Gordon
is 5 feet 8 inches tall,

weighs 140 pounds, and has
black hair and brown eyes.

At the time of
his disappearance,

Oded was 21 years old.

Authorities speculate
that he may have

hitchhiked out of
the area and could be

anywhere in the United States.

[music playing]

For every mystery,
there is someone,

somewhere who knows the truth.

Perhaps that someone
was watching.

Perhaps it's you.

[music playing]