All language subtitles for Unsolved.Mysteries.S06E19.480p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DD 2.0.x264-AJP69_track3_[eng]

[chime]

SHOW 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.

[theme music]

ROBERT STACK: When a baby girl
named Mariah was born three

months early with
critical problems

in her undeveloped lungs,
her chances of survival

seemed grim.

Then a nurse employed a
controversial technique

called therapeutic touch.

But it doesn't
have the blessings

of the medical establishment.

Therapeutic touch may have
helped save Mariah's life.

The story of Mitchell
Shigemoto and James Pearson

is a moving saga of interracial
friendship honed to its finest

edge by the rigors of war.

When Mitchell was cut down
by enemy fire in Vietnam,

James became his hero.

Tonight Mitchell needs
your help to find

the man who saved his life.

On the day David and
Alice were married ,

no one imagined that their love
and affection would someday

disintegrate into violence.

No one imagined that
14 years later, David

would go into
hiding as a fugitive

accused of killing his wife.

Join me for these
fascinating case.

Perhaps you may be able
to help solve a mystery.

[theme music]

You are witnessing a
controversial healing

technique called
therapeutic touch, or TT.

It's practitioners,
who must complete

a comprehensive
training program,

believe that by
running their hands

a few inches above the
body, they can pinpoint

areas of disease or injury.

TT practitioners
also claim that they

can direct energy from their
bodies to others in order

to promote healing.

To the layman, therapeutic
touch sounds pretty wild.

Although it is taught at major
universities across the country

and practiced by
tens of thousands

of nurses and doctors,
its effectiveness

has long been at the
center of a heated debate.

Does therapeutic
touch really work?

Just ask Janet Ziegler, a
clinical nurse specialist

and experienced TT practitioner
from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

In November of 1984,
Janet drove her three boys

to their regular
martial arts class.

Besides his interest in
sports, Janet's youngest son

Michael was already an
accomplished pianist.

If we're late we're going
to have to do push ups.

MARTIAL ARTS INSTRUCTOR: Go.

Go.

Go.

JANET ZIEGLER: Michael, who
was only seven, went in.

And as he was slipping
his shoes off,

he put his hand up in
the jam of the door.

By that time I had
gotten out of the car.

And Michael ran
out of the school.

And he was--

I don't think he
realized what happened.

He wasn't crying or anything.

But his finger was
bleeding profusely.

And he said, mom, I think
I pinched my finger.

And I looked down at his finger.

And it was gone.

And I said, Michael
where is your finger?

Michael what's wrong?

MICHAEL ZIEGLER: I got my
finger caught in the door.

OK, stand very still.

ROBERT STACK: Janet
did not panic.

Almost instinctively,
she began to treat

Michael with therapeutic touch.

JANET ZIEGLER: This
immediately calmed him.

He didn't shed a single tear at
all through the whole process.

OK, sweetie.

Let's go wash it off.

I looked in the door
jamb to find the finger.

And I found it.

It was actually unrecognizable.

It was totally squashed.

And, of course,
the nail was gone.

It really didn't
look like a finger.

But it was the only
thing in the door jamb.

So I assumed that's what it was.

It was scary.

I hadn't started
to cry or anything.

But the blood and
seeing my fingers gone

and wondering what's
going to happen,

it was just a fear
that went through me.

How was I going to be
able to keep going?

Mom, where we going?

ROBERT STACK: A friend
rushed Janet and Michael

to a local emergency clinic.

Along the way, Janet continued
to perform therapeutic touch.

Although the injury was
not life threatening,

Michael's promise as a
pianist was not in jeopardy.

Hey big guy.

What's your name, huh?

Mike.

What happened here?

His finger was
cut off in the door.

I need you to sew it back on.

I'm sorry.

But this is never going to take.

I don't think we can
reattach this finger.

JANET ZIEGLER: Well, please try.

He's a pianist.

He's got to have this finger.

ER DOCTOR: I need a
suture kit, some staining.

JANET ZIEGLER: The doctor,
you know, with my insistence

agreed to do it.

And he turned to
me, and he said,

what are you doing to him?

And I said I'm doing therapeutic
touch to keep him calm.

The energy of
the finger intact.

So he said, well, I don't
know anything about that.

He said, but whatever it is
you're doing, keep doing it.

Because I've never seen a child
so calm in such a situation.

ROBERT STACK: Despite
his misgivings,

the doctor reattached
the fingertip.

He recommend that Michael
see a plastic surgeon

as soon as possible.

The very next day when I
went to the plastic surgeon,

he unwrapped it, looked at
it, and said, I'm sorry.

This is not going to take.

He's going to lose his finger.

And he just wrapped it
up again, a dry dressing,

didn't do anything
at all to the finger.

And it went like
that every week.

Hello Doctor.

Mrs. Ziegler.

Hello Michael.

Let me see your hand.

ROBERT STACK: For eight weeks,
Janet used therapeutic touch

on Michael's finger.
- Oh, yes, every week.

ROBERT STACK: For eight weeks--
- Let me take a look.

ROBERT STACK: The
plastic surgeon

warned that the reattachment
would probably never work.

Look, the scab's gone.

JANET ZIEGLER: Looks great.

They removed the bandage,
the scab, and everything.

And I saw like almost
a brand new finger

with new skin and everything.

I was totally overwhelmed.

There's a good deal more
color than I expected.

I don't think
there's any swelling.

Well, appearances
can be deceiving.

Can you do this?

JANET ZIEGLER:
Can you feel that?

Yeah.

Well, that may
not mean anything.

To be honest with
you, Mrs. Ziegler,

I think the finger's
going to fall

off and probably before summer.

So why don't you make an
appointment with me then.

And we'll see where we stand.

All right Michael?

ROBERT STACK: The plastic
surgeon was wrong.

Even before the
bandage came off,

Michael was back
at the keyboard.

Less than a month
later, he placed

first in a piano competition.

[piano music]

A decade later, music
remains an important part

of Michael's life.

[piano music]

The experience of my
accident and what my mom did

for my finger most definitely
changed my feelings

about therapeutic touch.

Before it happened,
I would go to my mom,

get the treatment from her,
but was a little skeptical.

You know, it looked
sort of funny.

And we'd joke about it.

After this experience,
I was totally, 100%,

believing in her
therapeutic touch

and that it definitely worked.

ROBERT STACK: Train
TT practitioners

like Janet Zeigler believe
that the human body is

a complex field of
interacting energies

that can literally be
felt and that can be

disturbed by injury or illness.

TT practitioners use their hands
to reorder these disturbances.

In Michael's case,
his finger mended

perfectly, although
two physicians

had predicted the opposite.

Should therapeutic touch take
credit for such successes?

Not everyone is convinced.

I think the practitioners
are good and honest and kind

nurses.

I think their therapy, which
stresses energy feels emanating

from people which they seek to
influence with their fingers,

is baloney.

ROBERT STACK: The debate
has raged since the 1970s

when a nurse named Dolores
Krieger first developed

therapeutic touch and defined
what makes an effective healer.

What you were moved by
originally is a compassion,

you see, a compassion
to help another person.

And it's the power
of compassion that

brings you across that bridge.

The good effects are
primarily placebo effects.

That means that what the
patient believes will happen

will happen.

ROBERT STACK: A couple we
will call George and Marie

could care less about placebos.

They learned about
therapeutic touch

firsthand when they
were a heartbeat

away from a personal tragedy.

In November of 1993,
Marie was 6-/1/2

months pregnant when she was
stricken with pre-eclampsia.

GEORGE: Two weeks ago.

ROBERT STACK: Her body was
releasing lethal toxins

into her bloodstream
threatening her life

and that of her unborn child.

We can't wait
any longer, George.

We have to do cesarean.

Is my baby going to be OK?

DOCTOR: The baby's fine.

She's very healthy.

When was the last
time I saw you?

MARIE: I remember going
into the delivery room.

And I felt myself slipping away.

I did feel myself slipping away.

It felt as if it would have
been very easy to just let go.

Because things were just
so drastic at that point.

But I knew George was
waiting for me and this baby

that I wanted more than
anything in the whole world.

And I knew I had to live.

I had to survive for that baby.

The next thing I remember, it
sounded like a little screech,

like a little cat.

And my daughter was born.

And I had mixed feelings
and mixed emotions.

Because I was really
worried about my wife.

And I was worried
about my daughter.

The situation kept
seesawing back and forth.

My wife got a little better.

My daughter got worse.

ROBERT STACK: George and
Marie's daughter Mariah

was born nearly three
months premature.

She weighed less than two pounds
and soon developed critical

problems in her immature lungs.

OK.

Yes.

I'm Father O'Brien.

Oh, hi Father.

I'm very sorry you're
having such a rough time.

ROBERT STACK: Little
Mariah continued to weaken.

And hospital officials summoned
a priest to baptize her.

Yes please.

Should we do it now?

Yes.

All right.

May God bless this
water and this child

and all of His children.

Name this child.

Mariah Eugenia.

FATHER O'BRIEN" Mariah Eugenia,
I baptize you in the name

of the Father , and of the Son,
and of the Holy Spirit, amen.

The nurse disconnected
the wiring of the tubing,

all the tubing from the baby and
put the baby in my wife's arms.

And my wife held the baby.

And she started to cry.

And I thought that was it.

I thought the baby was dead.

ROBERT STACK: In a last
ditch effort to save Mariah,

doctors put the tiny
infant on a respirator.

After the delicate
procedure, one

of the intensive care
nurses began treating

Mariah with therapeutic touch.

I spoke to your wife, Marie.

JOANNE O'REILLY,
R.N.: She wasn't

slipping drastically under.

But she wasn't advancing either.

I continued to take care of
Mariah for the rest of my shift

and, you know, continued to
work on her direct energy

and a therapeutic
touch manner to her

and continued to do therapeutic
touch throughout her process

in the hospital.

GEORGE: Basically, I'm a
very logical, bottom line,

shoot straight from
the hip person.

And for someone to talk to me
about alternative medicines,

they would have
to prove it to me.

[soft music]

Her oxygen numbers, the
levels are going up.

That's good, right?

She's responding well.

Look at her.

I'm an accountant.

I deal in numbers.

And to see this, I
can relate to it.

Every time Joanne took care of
the baby, every time Joanne had

the baby, the baby got better.

The baby's numbers, the
saturation, the heart rate,

the numbers got better.

ROBERT STACK: Marie was
also in critical condition.

Joanne began to use
therapeutic touch with her.

MARIE: Joanne did basically
the same thing for me

as she had done for Mariah.

And little by little, it worked.

And the pain went away.

And Joanne would not
take credit for it.

It was funny.

She would just chuck it
off like it, you know,

was just an everyday
thing for her.

It was part of her
nursing technique.

[music playing]

Her little girl
wants her daddy.

ROBERT STACK: Today
Marie and Mariah

are back home and healthy.

The terrifying crisis
of November 1993

is fading into the past
replaced by the busy joy

of caring for a baby.

Still, George and
Marie will never forget

how close they came to tragedy.

GEORGE: The bottom line
is my baby is alive.

And I have the doctors to thank.

I have the whole
nursing staff to thank.

And more so, I have
Joanne to thank.

Because I believe
without Joanne,

we wouldn't have this baby.

ROBERT STACK: If you ask George
Marie or the Zeigler's, they

will tell you that therapeutic
touch definitely works.

But we still wanted to
find out for ourselves.

A young woman named
Vicki Ewald allowed

Unsolved Mysteries to
film her first session

with a TT practitioner.

When we began, no one knew how
the treatment would turn out.

In 1986 Vicki contracted
a stubborn cold that

escalated into bronchitis
and then a debilitating case

of chronic asthma.

Such breathing problems can be
triggered by either physical

or emotional stress.

But a parade of specialists
failed to help Vicki

Well, finally I was
just sick and tired

of being sick and tired.

And I did, out of duress,
just go see somebody

that could possibly help me.

ROBERT STACK: Vicki
went to see Joanne

O'Reilly, the same
nurse who attended

Mariah in the hospital.

VICKI EWALD: Joanne
had me close my eyes.

I had no idea what
she was doing to me.

I mean, I sensed that something
was going on around me.

But she wasn't
physically touching me.

And I really felt, for the
first time today, relaxed.

And-- and I guess, for lack
of a better word, centered.

And as we've been
around each other today,

I was coughing and
wheezing most of the day.

And since Joanne has worked
on me, I've coughed once.

ROBERT STACK: After the
session, Vicki experienced

a rush of unexpected emotions.

Ah, well, from--

from the onset,
I think of asthma

when I first got to the city.

Mm-hm.

I also did lose a
sibling, a brother.

That's-- that kind
of triggered--

JOANNE O'REILLY, R.N.: Yeah.

The down-- you know, the um--

JOANNE O'REILLY, R.N.:
The onset of the asthma.

The onset, yeah.

That's when I got very sick
and couldn't get back up.

And then two years ago, I
lost my mother and a sister.

JOANNE O'REILLY, R.N.: So you've
had a lot of grief related--

Yes.

[music playing]

ROBERT STACK: In the month
after her first session,

Vicki Ewald went for
three more treatments.

Vicki reported that her
breathing improved to the point

where she felt comfortable
reducing her asthma medication.

Even the most
dedicated proponents

of the therapeutic touch admit
that it doesn't always work.

Perhaps in the future,
medical science

will unravel the mystery of
this intriguing technique.

In closing, one note of caution.

All the practitioners
we talked to emphasize

that therapeutic touch should
never be performed by anyone

without the proper training.

[theme music]

ROBERT STACK: The residents
of the Lombardi family

in the Columbus, Ohio
suburb of Westerville,

an ordinary townhouse
on an ordinary street,

home to a typical
middle class family.

But on August 30, 1990,
Cheryl Lombardi, a housewife

and mother, would make
a tragic discovery,

one that would forever rip the
family from the tranquility

of suburban life.

Cheryl would come home
at around midnight.

And she assumed that
her 22-year-old son

Tony would also be home soon.

She says that around 12:45,
she heard a door closing

and the sound of footsteps.

Cheryl went to Tony's
room to say goodnight.

[knocking]

CHERYL LOMBARDI: Son?

[music playing]

ROBERT STACK:
Cheryl was horrified

to find her son lifeless, a
single gunshot to the head.

Tony Lombardi was
just a few months shy

of his 23rd birthday.

For Cheryl Lombardi, the
familiar pattern of life

was shattered.

That morning her home
swarmed with detectives

with her son's
bedroom the center

of a crime investigation.

In such cases, clues
found at the scene

will often read
like a book clearly

revealing what took place and
implicating any assailants.

But to those investigating
Tony's death,

the clues seem to tell
two conflicting stories,

two scenarios that
would pit Tony's

family against the police.

Our investigation
has been concluded.

And our investigation says
that Tony committed suicide.

I'm very upset with the fact
that I know our son was killed.

I know he did not
commit suicide.

And I don't think they have a
right to rule someone's death

as suicide when it was not a
suicide and just close the case

and go on like it
never happened.

ROBERT STACK: This home video,
made a year before he died,

shows Tony Lombardi
just as his friends

remember him, fun loving and
always ready with a smile.

Tony was a hit with the ladies.

In fact, at the
time of his death,

he was seeing three
women, one of whom

was already living with a man.

Tony worked the swing shift
at a baby food factory

setting up cans to be
filled with formula.

But on August 29, 1990, Tony
didn't show up at the plant.

Early the next morning, Cheryl
found him in his bedroom dead.

Police arrived at
around 1:15 A.M.

They discovered
Tony's car was missing

from the garage, perhaps,
stolen by an assailant.

According to the police,
the investigation

moved swiftly and by the book.

Our normal procedure is
to contact the detectives,

have them come in.

We treat all death
scenes as a homicide

until we prove it otherwise.

ROBERT STACK: Inside, on
the floor near the body,

police found a 0.38 caliber
semiautomatic pistol.

We'll tag this under 93748.

ROBERT STACK: On the bed was
a single spent 0.38 shell.

Then investigators found
a drunk driving citation

in Tony's pants pocket,
which pushed the inquiry

in an entirely new direction.

Two days before his death,
Tony had been arrested

for driving while intoxicated.

The impound lot.

ROBERT STACK: Detectives
quickly solved the mystery

of Tony's missing car.

Before?

ROBERT STACK: It had been
impounded by Columbus Police

at the time of the arrest.

OK, thanks for the info.

ROBERT STACK: In
addition, Tony had

faced fines and
possible suspension

of his driver's license.

To investigators,
a portrait had now

emerged of a young man
stripped of his freedom

and despondent over
impending legal problems.

Right now, everything
that we have,

any evidence that we have
indicates Tony's death

was a suicide.

ROBERT STACK: About the
only fact not in dispute

is the time of Tony's
death several hours

before Cheryl came home
at around midnight.

But Tony's family believes
his death was nothing

short of cold blooded murder.

I believe that
there was a struggle.

Because our son's
watch was found broken

off of his arm on the floor.

He had an inch and a half
gash over his left eye.

He had a broken jaw.

He had bruises.

The fact that he was
found nude, he would

never let anyone see him nude.

Those are all
things that I think

should have been looked into.

ROBERT STACK: Based on her
observations that morning,

Cheryl believes that not
only was her son murdered,

the killer was still
in Tony's bedroom

even as she moved
about the house.

Cheryl's evidence is
disarmingly simple,

the light in Tony's bedroom.

Going up and down steps, you--

you can see in my son's room.

And the door was closed.

And there was no light on.

Going up and down the steps
as many times as I did,

there is no way I could have
missed the light being on.

ROBERT STACK: Cheryl assumed
Tony hadn't yet arrived.

Because the light in
his bedroom was off.

Cheryl says that 45 minutes
later, she heard the noise.

[door closing]

When she saw that the light
in Tony's room was on,

she assumed he had
finally come home.

[knocking]

CHERYL LOMBARDI: Son?

When I went to the room, I
could immediately see the light

was on underneath the door.

It, you know, was obvious.

Son?

When I opened the door.

And that's when I
found my son dead.

ROBERT STACK: Who could
have turned on the light?

Cheryl now believes it was the
killer trapped in Tony's room

by her arrival home.

CHERYL LOMBARDI: I
believe, in my mind,

that I came in on someone
that had killed our son.

I believed that I surprised him.

And then when I went to my
bedroom to get ready for bed,

they thought that was a good
opportunity for them to leave.

And I believe that's what I
heard was someone leaving.

She was questioned
by a detective

there, later on after she had
composed herself a little bit,

as to what the
noise was she heard.

He specifically asked her,
was the noise a house noise,

say a door shutting, air
conditioner kicking on,

step creaking.

And she said, I can't--

I can't remember what it was.

I really don't remember.

They'll never
change when I heard

and what made me go
to our son's room.

I went to our son's room because
I heard him come in my mind.

I heard the door shut.

To me, my son had come home.

ROBERT STACK: To Tony's parents,
there was further evidence

pointing to murder.

In the week before he
died, Tony was the target

of two different death threats.

A woman who lived
next door witnessed

the driver of a white pickup
truck screaming at Tony.

What?

You ever cut me off like
that again, and I'll kill ya.

You hear me?

I said, do you hear me?

I hear ya.

Where do you live?

I said where do you live?

Right here.

Right here?

Good.

I got it.

[engine starting]

[tires squealing]

We called the police and
told them the woman's name

and where she lived, which
was a next door neighbor.

To my knowledge,
as of yesterday,

they have still never
talked to this woman.

ROBERT STACK: Tony's father
overheard the second death

threat just a few days later.

TONY LOMBARDI, SR: I was
checking my messages.

And I heard this threat on
our voicemail of a gentleman,

a young person, telling
Tony that he had a gun

and was going to use
it if Tony didn't

stay away from his girlfriend.

And at that point, I
brought that up to Tony.

And he said not
to worry about it,

that he had a friend
of his call this person

who knew him well and thought
it could be worked out that way.

ROBERT STACK: Tony's
best friend, Andy Royer,

agreed to mediate.

ANDY ROYER: I told Tony
that I'd talk to the guy

and see what the deal was on it.

And I called him up, and
he said to me that ah

his problem was not with me.

It was with Tony and that
he would take care of it.

Tony would get what
was coming to him.

The lead detective on the
case contacted as many people

as he could on the case,
either by phone or in person

and attempted to question
them about what they had said

or somebody said they had said.

And we found no
evidence that Tony

was under any immediate
death threats.

ANDY ROYER: The police never
contacted me about Tony's death

at all.

Um, I never heard from
anybody about anything.

ROBERT STACK: The
Lombardi's dispute

the official conclusions
drawn from some

of the physical evidence.

For example, a test
that revealed Tony had

recently handled a metal object

Any metal is going--

going to give that
trace metal detection.

But the conclusion
that we come to

is that Tony was holding
that gun in his hand

and part of that
conclusion stems

from the trace metal detection.

He worked on a can line
downtown at the Columbus plant.

He handled cans daily.

Huh, naturally, you would
have metal on your hands

from working with that.

ROBERT STACK: The
position of Tony's body

and the trajectory
of the fatal bullet

also subjects a
bitter controversy.

CHERYL LOMBARDI: This
was our son's bed

that he was actually killed in.

And when I found him, he was
laying on the bed and th--

there were two pillows
propped underneath his head,

or underneath his
shoulders, I'm sorry.

His head was above the pillows.

He was laying on
the edge of the bed.

The pillows were
under his shoulders.

His head was above--

above the pillow.

Her son's head was
on a couple pillows.

And the detectives examined
that, examined the angle,

removed that spent bullet
from the headboard,

and had every indication
there that that bullet--

the trajectory of that
bullet was correct.

And the bullet hole
into the headboard

is behind the pillows.

And as you can see,
it's down there.

And if you take a pencil and you
insert that into the headboard,

you can see that the bullet
hole is much lower than the way

I found our son.

TONY LOMBARDI, SR: The bullet
hole does not make sense to me.

Unless there was some pressure
on top of Tony holding

him down, the bullet
would have been

much higher in the headboard.

ROBERT STACK: Finally, Cheryl
says, the county coroner

found bruises on
Tony's chest directly

under his clenched hands.

To Cheryl proof her
son was forcibly

held down by an assailant.

The last minutes of
Tony Lombardi's life

remain clouded by controversy.

As far as the police
are concerned,

the 22-year-old
took his own life,

a conclusion supported
by the county

coroner, the
Sheriff's department,

and the district attorney.

SGT. MICHAEL HATZO: The
Westerville Police sure

have sympathy for the family.

I mean, anybody would have
sympathy for the family.

And it's a very sad situation.

And they've suffered
a lot of trauma.

But, you know, we have
to deal in the facts.

And the facts of
this investigation

reveal what happened
was a suicide.

Until they open our
son's case back up

and change the
cause of his death,

I will not stop until the last
breath is taken from my body.

And if I do not exceed to
be able to get that done,

until the day I die, then
I'll fight'em from eternity.

[music playing]

Next

ROBERT STACK: Next, an ex-GI
searches for the unsung hero

who saved his life in Vietnam.

[theme music]

[hawaiian music]

To natives of Oahu in Hawaii,
the exotic is commonplace.

Most of them would probably
drive right by the farm

that Mitchell Shigemoto
and his wife Connie run

and never give it a second look.

CONNIE SHIGEMOTO : You
fed all the chickens.

I think you overfed them.
- Thank you.

Thank you.

ROBERT STACK: A
passer by would never

guess that Mitchell Shigemoto
has a story to tell, in fact,

has an unsolved
mystery that he hopes

our viewers can help solve.

Back in 1963, Mitchell was
a 17-year-old volunteer

in the United States Army.

He was 5 feet 4 inches tall
and weighed 110 pounds.

Nevertheless, he signed
up for the demanding

173rd Airborne Division.

Since you ladies
don't know how to march,

we're going to
take a little run.

ROBERT STACK: Mitchell was the
smallest man in basic training

and the only Asian
American in his company.

From the start, he
faced an uphill battle.

Huh.

Right men, march.

MITCHELL SHIGEMOTO:
Due to my size,

I was told that I could never
make it being a paratrooper.

So that in itself gave me
the incentive to try harder.

What are you looking at?

What are you looking at?

Do you like me?

SGT. MICHAEL HATZO: We started,
like, maybe with about 800 men.

And the graduating class
was maybe less than 300.

So, you know, it was quite
an accomplishment just

to get through it.

Your left.

Your left, right, left.

MARK LUDLOW: It was tough
being a part of the 173rd.

It was clearly an
elite airborne unit

with its own special
Espirit De Corps

created specially
to go to Vietnam,

first to be deployed by
helicopters in combat.

And the only combat unit
to make a parachute combat

jump in Vietnam.

[background conversation]

ROBERT STACK: In
February of 1964,

Mitchell Shigemoto became a full
fledged member of the 173rd.

MITCHELL SHIGEMOTO:
Now where you going to?

ROBERT STACK: The unit
was stationed in Okinawa

before transfer to Vietnam.

Mitchell was all too aware
of his physical resemblance

to the enemy.

MITCHELL SHIGEMOTO:
That's where I initially

started getting some problems.

Because at that time, in the
Army we got paid once a month.

And we get paid in cash.

And I put the money away.

And somehow, one way or
another, it got stolen from me.

[music playing]

ROBERT STACK: It was common
knowledge around the barracks

that Mitchell was
being victimized.

Only one soldier stepped
forward to befriend him.

[music playing]

Hey, man, we're
going out tonight.

Do you want to come with us?

Oh, I don't feel like it, eh?

It's going to be me a
couple of the soldiers.

Come on.

Maybe next time.

[music playing]

He knew that I didn't
have any money.

And on his way out, he
dropped a 20 on my bunk

and just left the barracks.

That really caught
me by surprise.

I was thinking, like, you
know, he must be quite a person

to even be generous enough to
help out a person was basically

a stranger yet, you know.

Because I was fairly new there.

I didn't get to know
very many people yet.

Com on, man.

We're going have fun.

ROBERT STACK: In time, Mitchell
became a regular in James

Pearson's group of friends.

They went everywhere together.

MITCHELL SHIGEMOTO: In Okinawa
there's this black section

of town they call Four Corners.

And I used to go down there
with him and feel comfortable.

And we could sit down
and listen to the music.

And as long as they knew
that James was my friend,

I had no worries at all.

[music playing]

ROBERT STACK: In May of 1965,
the 173rd Airborne shipped

out to Vietnam at the front.

Mitchel's Asian heritage
became a major problem.

And his friendship with James
was more important than ever.

MITCHELL SHIGEMOTO:
I remember one

particular incident when we
came back off of an operation

to our tent city.

And that's our chance
to get hot meals.

One of the guys who was serving,
he didn't want to serve me.

So when I got in
front of him, he--

I just stood there.

And he just looked at me.

And he said, move on, Jap.

Hey, you got a problem?

Yeah, I don't
serve zipper heads.

Let's go.

You want to go?

Come on.
Come on.

Whoa, hey.

What's the problem?

Why don't you just do your
job and serve the soldier?

All right, just relax, OK?

No, no, no, no, no you relax
or it's going to be me and you.

All right.

MARK LUDLOW: The business
of being an Asian American--

Are you all right, man?

MARK LUDLOW: In combat--
- Let's go eat.

MARK LUDLOW: In Southeast Asia
is probably beyond my capacity

to really understand it.

You're a soldier just
like the rest of us.

MARK LUDLOW: We
were killing people

who looked just like Mitch.

And I don't know how
he dealt with that.

It must have been extremely
difficult for him.

It's a burden that
many of us didn't

have to deal with over and
above the burdens of, am

I going to be killed, maimed.

What's going to
happen to me today?

ROBERT STACK: By
the end of 1965,

the war had
significantly escalated.

Nine months after the 173rd
Airborne arrived in Vietnam,

they found themselves
facing Viet Cong guerrillas

on an almost daily basis.

MARK LUDLOW: The enemy
was very good at picking

the times and places
that they engaged you.

So often, we were
in open positions

and having to confront them
in concealed positions.

It was dangerous work.

[bombs]

[hollering ot each other]

[gunfire]

ROBERT STACK: January
2, 1966 A Viet

Cong bullet tore through
Mitchell Shigemoto's thigh.

MITCHELL SHIGEMOTO:
I can't move the leg.

James was immediately
by my side.

There was one sniper
that was keying in on us.

James took a position
right in front of me,

just like he was trying
to block off the shots.

Get outta here.

MITCHELL SHIGEMOTO: And
James actually saved my life.

Oh, there was
another guy, Salazar

they pulled me to cover.

And then a medic came by.

He asked me what kind
of pain I was in.

And he gave me a
shot of medication

to try to take the pain away.

And then he moved on to
catch up with the company.

Hang in there.

As soon as contact--

Ah, that's when, I
guess, James and Salazar

decided to take me back
to the evacuation point.

ROBERT STACK: James Pearson
feared that Mitchell

would succumb to shock.

He and the GI named
Salazar defied regulations

and carried Mitchell to safety.

MARK LUDLOW: Maybe in
the military textbooks,

you're supposed to
continue with your mission.

And the fulfillment
of that mission

actually protects you all.

But, you know, that was
his best buddy there.

And I'll never-- I could never
fault him for what he did.

If they didn't stop--

James didn't stop to--

to give me aid, I probably
wouldn't-- wouldn't be

oriented enough to know
which-- which way to go--

Give me a stretcher
over here now.

MITCHELL SHIGEMOTO: To get to
an evacuation point by myself.

So, you could really say that
James actually saved my life.

MEDIC: All right, I'm
going to fix you right up.

- Is he going to be all right?
- He'll be fine.

Fine.
Get back to your unit.

All right, man.

Hang in there.
- All right.

- I'll be all right.
- Yeah.

I'll see you later.

I'll see you.

ROBERT STACK: Mitchell had no
idea that he would not return

to the 173rd Airborne,
that he would never serve

beside James Pearson again.

A few weeks later, Mitchell
was sent home to Hawaii.

He never saw James
Pearson again and never

had the opportunity
to properly thank

the man who saved his life.

[music playing]

After our broadcast
all that would change

in a most remarkable way.

A viewer in San Bernardino,
California, retired Lieutenant

Colonel Truman Plants
took it upon himself

to track down James Pearson.

One week later,
Lieutenant Colonel Plants

found him in Chicago.

And before long,
James, his fiancee,

and his two grown
daughters were on their way

to Hawaii to visit Mitchell
Shigemoto and his family.

As Mitchell's relatives
gather to welcome James,

the two old comrades caught
their first glimpse of one

another in nearly 30 years.

[music playing]

Mitchell.

How you doing, man?

Great.

It's great to see you.

Great to see you.

You still look the same.

It was a complete,
total joy, happiness.

It's just great to see you.

JAMES PEARSON: I had to
compose myself, you know.

Thank you.

JAMES PEARSON: It was just
completely overwhelming.

Thank you.

JAMES PEARSON: And unbelievable.

Yes.

Hi Connie.

How are you?

ROBERT STACK:
Mitchell's wife Connie

greeted James in traditional
Hawaiian fashion.

After all, this was the man
who saved her husband's life.

I really did.

And who is this one?

[greeting each other]

Oh, I wasn't going
to leave him out there

alone under those conditions.

I couldn't have did it
whether regulations permitted

it or rules permit or not.

I just couldn't have did it.

MITCHELL SHIGEMOTO:
It took a lot

from a-- from a
real special person

to do something like that.

Don't go.

And my wife, she, you know,
when she heard that story,

she--

she made it a point to try
to locate him with no success

until we found you guys.

That's my next objective
coming back here.

ROBERT STACK: James spent a full
week in Hawaii with Mitchell.

In another year or two.

ROBERT STACK: The
two of them never

stop talking about the past.
- Next year, year, next summer.

ROBERT STACK: And the future.
- Next summer.

ROBERT STACK:
Finding the time they

would see each other again.

Same time, you know.

INTERVIEWER: So how doe it
feel to be back together?

They haven't come
up with the words yet.

When they come up
with that word,

I'll write you and let you know.

There is no word
for this feeling,

you know, for-- for right now.

They haven't come
up with that word.

[music playing]

ROBERT STACK: When we return,
from childhood sweethearts

to murder.

The tragedy of David
and Alice Viera.

[theme music]

[guitar strumming]

June 29, 1974.

In the main church on the
Portuguese island of St.

Michael, twin sisters
Alice and Georgina Arruda

married their sweethearts.

[vows in foreign language]

Alice was 17.

And her new husband
David Viera was just 16.

David and Alice
were first cousins.

But such unions are common
among traditional Portuguese

families.

On that festive day, no
one could have imagined

that 14 years later and
5,000 miles away in America,

Alice would be the victim
of a vicious murder.

And some of the
same family members

would gather again to
mourn at Alice's grave.

[music playing]

Alice Viera's life
and death seemed

to have been shaped by age
old Portuguese traditions.

She grew up in a society where
marriages were arranged, where

a daughter was brought up
to obey first her father,

and later, her husband.

It was a devoutly Catholic
world where only death

could truly end a marriage.

[music playing]

Alice and David were
born on St. Michael,

one of a group of
islands west of Portugal

known as the Azores.

When Alice was nine,
her family emigrated

to New Bedford, Massachusetts
35 miles south of Boston.

Even in America, Alice's
father was determined

that his children would be
brought up in accordance

with the old ways.

FATIMA CARDOSO: My dad was
very strict with the girls.

We weren't allowed
to wear makeup.

We couldn't wear shorts.

And definitely, we
couldn't have boyfriends.

You know, it was go to school,
come home, do housework,

and stay in the house.

We were not allowed to
even sit out on the porch.

That's how strict he was.

ROBERT STACK: Alice was 12
when an unexpected letter

arrived from Portugal.

It was from her cousin
David, then 11 years old.

To Alice's surprise, David was
proposing that they be engaged.

What some might have
regarded as no more than

a child's infatuation was taken
very seriously by a traditional

family like the Arruda's.

At first my mom says, oh,
you know, you're kind of young.

And my father right
away insisted that she

should start writing to him.

Because that was his family.

And knowing that, you
know, that'd be nice

being married into the family.

So he gave the OK on Alice.

And she wrote back to
David stating that they

would be going out by writing.

ROBERT STACK: The letters
continued for five years.

David and Alice never
once talked on the phone.

They didn't see each other
until the summer of 1974

when Alice and her family
returned to St. Michael

for the wedding.

WEDDING VOWS IN
FOREIGN LANGUAGE

FATIMA CARDOSO: AT the time that
David asked Alice for marriage,

Alice insisted also
on marrying him.

Because she thought
it would be better

if she would have a little bit
of freedom, which we never had.

[speaking foreign language]

ROBERT STACK: David
and Alice eventually

settled near her
parents in New Bedford.

Although David spoke
little English,

he found work in
a textile plant.

Within a year,
Alice was pregnant.

FATIMA CARDOSO: Their
marriage went off

pretty good, like, maybe I'd
say about the first couple

of months.

And then ah, you
know, already he

was already starting with her.

You know, she
couldn't wear make up.

She couldn't do anything.

You know, he was very jealous,
very possessive of my sister.

ROBERT STACK: By 1981, Alice
and David had three children.

Hurry up.

ROBERT STACK: Fatima says
that as the years went by,

David rarely lost an
opportunity to snarl

at Alice or the children.

Aw, come on dad.

David.

FATIMA CARDOSO:
She stayed with him

because she figured, you know,
he's the father of the kids.

And that's how she
was brought up.

You know, you gotta
be with your husband.

And that's the way
it is, you know.

[speaking foreign language]

ROBERT STACK:
According to Fatima,

David's anger seemed
to erupt without cause

and continue without end.

[speaking foreign language]

FATIMA CARDOSO:
He used to always

say, ah, if you ever leave
me, I'm going to kill you.

There's no other woman in
my-- you know, for my life

like you are.

You know, you're a good mother.

You're a good cook.

And he always had
threatened her that if she

ever decided to leave him for
anybody that he would kill her.

But we never took it
seriously, you know.

Sometimes she'd go
up to my parents

and tell my mom and dad, ah,
ma, I can't take him anymore.

He's always beating me up
or-- for any little reason.

And he's always
beating up the kids.

And um, my parents would
always, like, tell her,

you gotta stay with him.

He's your husband, you know.

It's going to be a shame to
the family if you divorce him.

We don't believe in divorce.

So they kept shoving
her back to him.

[speaking foreign language]

ROBERT STACK: Finally,
after 14 years of abuse,

Alice found the courage to defy
her parents and her husband.

FATIMA CARDOSO: She finally
felt strong enough to say,

I can't take it anymore.

And she decided to get
him out of the house.

She finally sat down and says,
David I can't take it anymore.

I want you to leave.

ROBERT STACK: David moved
out in the summer of 1988.

And Alice began to build
a new life for herself.

She enrolled in nursing school
fulfilling a lifelong dream.

And she began to
see another man.

But David Viera
would not let go.

He began to stalk Alice at work
and at home, night and day.

[music playing]

FATIMA CARDOSO: Her
boyfriend went by the house

to see her that morning.

And ah, David drove up and down.

And I think he spotted the
boyfriend's car at the house.

And ah, my brother-in-law
couldn't take that.

[pounding on the door]

Sh.

David.

ROBERT STACK:

DRILL SERGEANT: Alice's
boyfriend witnessed the attack

and ran a mile to the nearest
police station to get help.

Alice had been bludgeoned with
a tire jack, the stabbed 24

times with the butcher knife.

By the time authorities
arrived at the scene,

the young mother
of three was dead.

The knife was found--

ROBERT STACK: David Viera
was nowhere to be found.

We learned that he, in fact,
had taken a bus from Fall

River, Massachusetts to
Boston, Massachusetts

and then from Boston to Canada.

Someone matching his
description did, in fact,

get off a bus in Canada
near Hamilton, Ontario.

And from that point on,
we were unable to find out

where he went.

Update.

David Viera had vanished. .

And for nearly six
years he could not

be found until the
night of our broadcast.

Our particular segment
on that show aired,

our time here in New
Bedford, Massachusetts,

at approximately 8:50
P.M. By 9:03 P.M.,

I was receiving telephone
calls from Canada right

here into my office
with very good

leads as to his whereabouts.

With the first phone call
that I received saying that they

knew where he was, I
just jumped up with joy

and told my husband, I
think we got him, you know.

And ah, I couldn't
believe it took less

than 48 hours to apprehend him.

ROBERT STACK: Viera had lived in
Montreal for at least two years

and was well known in
the Portuguese community.

He belonged to a
neighborhood soccer team

and was employed at
a local fish market.

Viera's coworkers were stunned
to learn about his secret past.

For me it's a dream.

I don't believe the guy do that.

I don't believe.

And know he's ah--

the guys so nice.

Too, because we
see the pictures.

Yeah.

If we don't see the
picture, he is exactly the--

the man.
If we don't see, we never trust.

FATIMA CARDOSO: I seen him
apprehended and with handcuffs.

And to me, that was a sign of
saying, thank God, I can rest.

And my sister can also be at
peace now that he's caught.

[theme music]

ROBERT STACK: On our
next Unsolved Mysteries,

the fascinating
saga of the infamous

gangster Dutch Schultz
and his lost treasure.

Legend has it that in 1933,
Schultz buried cash, gems,

and bonds worth $7 million
dollars near a creek

in upstate New York.

Less than two years
later, Schultz was

gunned down by rival mobsters.

And as far as anyone
knows, his hidden fortune

was never recovered.

Join me next Wednesday for
another intriguing addition

of Unsolved Mysteries.

[theme music]