All language subtitles for Unsolved.Mysteries.S01E02.480p.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-PLAYREADY_track3_[und]

[music playing]

ANNOUNCER: This program is
about unsolved mysteries.

Whenever possible, the
actual family members

and police officials
have participated

in recreating the events.

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

[music playing]

NARRATOR: 11:00
AM, May 11, 1987.

The police were called
to a deserted service

station near Pontiac, Michigan.

They force the office door open
and discovered an empty safe.

Two people are missing.

Elmer DeBoer, the
service station courier

who was carrying $10,000.

And Missy Munday,
the Assistant Manager

who was just 16 years old.

[music playing]

[birds chirping]

MALE: Where?

This way?

[leaves rustling]

MALE: --to the car--

MALE: All right, all right.

MALE: Right there.

Hold it, Elmer.

[gunshots]

NARRATOR: The following
day, the police found a body

of 38-year-old Elmer DeBoer.

He had been handcuffed and shot
twice in the back of the head.

The police called it a
cold blooded execution.

And wondered what connection
this pretty teenage girl could

have had with a brutal slaying.

What happened to Missy Munday
is a bizarre story of love

and violence in rural America.

No one has heard from
Missy since last May,

the day of the killing.

The police and her parents
need to talk to her.

Perhaps someone in our audience
tonight has seen Missy.

Perhaps Missy
herself is watching.

In the next hour we'll tell
you her story, and three

other unsolved
mysteries, all needing

one last piece of information
before they can be solved.

Join me.

You may be able to
help solve a mystery.

[unsolved mysteries theme music]

[unsolved mysteries theme music]

HOST: Elmer DeBoer was
killed on May 11, 1987

and his body left in the woods
outside Pontiac, Michigan.

The mystery of who
killed Elmer and why

is a story of the
fatal attraction

between an innocent 15-year-old
school girl and a criminal

who had served time
for assault and rape.

According to the police,
their ill fated love

affair eventually
ended in a robbery,

kidnapping, and murder.

NARRATOR: The mystery
of Melissa Munday

begins in 1985 in the small
Maryland town of Hancock.

Melissa was known as
Missy to her friends

and attended the
local high school.

She was an honor student and a
member of the Future Homemakers

of America.

HARLAN KERNS: Missy's
academic records

show that she was in probably
the top 10% of her class.

She enjoyed what she was doing.

She got along well.

And if I could have
gauged it, I will

have gauged it that
everything was satisfactory.

Because that's the way she
seemed to be here school.

Missy was a very shy person.

She either go to her basketball
games or choir practice

or maybe go to ballgames.

But we always knew
where she was that.

When she got done,
she'd call us.

We'd go pick her up and
bring her back home.

NARRATOR: In 1985, a
stranger arrived in the area.

His name was Jerry
Strickland and he

said he was looking
for a property

to convert into an orphanage.

He called on Missy's family
asking about the ownership

of a nearby house.

[knocking]

MALE: Hi, how are you today?

FEMALE: When I first met Jerry,
I thought, well, you know,

he's a smooth talker.

I mean, it was his actions.

The way he talked.

He was so demanding.

I didn't care for his attitude.

NARRATOR: Missy was
intrigued by Jerry.

This first glimpse
was the beginning

of a relationship that was
to change her life forever.

SUSIE WALLS: She
really liked him a lot.

Every time he came out
he brought her a gift.

And he gave her a
lot of attention

that she didn't get at home.

She went out with him in the
evening after her mom got home

and she said that
she got home late.

But her mom didn't know who she
was with and she lied to her.

Told her she was with a friend.

[music playing]

NARRATOR: Missy sneaked
out of her house

regularly to see Jerry.

He told her he had a
tragic past and said

his first wife
and child had died

in a terrible car accident.

Missy was swept off
her feet by Jerry.

PHYLLIS MUNDAY:
She had boy crushes

at school, you know, like
childhood sweetheart,

stuff like that.

But as far as going
out with a boy,

she never said anything
to me about it.

She never paid that much
of an interest in them.

That's what I don't understand
about this and Jerry.

MALE: I got something for you.

FEMALE: Oh, it's beautiful.

MALE: You like it?

FEMALE: Yeah.

PHYLLIS MUNDAY: She had bought a
ring, she said, for a souvenir.

I come to find out later,
Jerry had gave her the ring.

And I took her at her
word because Missy never

did lie to me.

That's why I never dreamt
what's going to happen next.

FEMALE: Bye, mom.

The bus is here.

NARRATOR: On the morning
of April 17, 1986,

Missy left home to catch
the school bus as usual.

PHYLLIS MUNDAY: I
never forget that day.

It was on Thursday.

She said, I'm going
to school now.

I'll see you this evening.

I said, all right.

That was it.

That was the last
words she spoke to me.

NARRATOR: In fact, she got in
Jerry's car and left the state.

PHYLLIS MUNDAY: I
didn't believe it.

Missy wasn't that
kind of a person.

Because I know Missy.

I raised her.

It was just a big change in
that one day when she just left.

[music playing]

NARRATOR: Even as
Missy was driving away

from her home and her family,
she still didn't know the truth

about Jerry Strickland.

His first wife and child had
not been killed in a car wreck.

They were still alive.

He had been passing bad
checks around Hancock

and he had a prison record.

He had been convicted
of malicious assault.

He had raped his
sister-in-law, cut her throat,

and left her for dead.

This unlikely couple
settled in Springfield,

Michigan, just outside Detroit.

Even though Missy gave
birth to a son, Jamie,

she never told her family
where she was living.

SHERI NIX: She told me that
she was very unhappy at home.

And that she didn't care about
anybody at home but her older

brother and her grandfather.

And that that's why
she was with Jerry

was because he took
her away from home.

MALE: Look, I'm
working, all right?

SHERI NIX: I had
never seen them kiss.

Never held hands.

I never seen them touch at all.

I thought that was so strange.

I remember asking
her about it once.

And she said that he
wasn't very affectionate.

NARRATOR: To help
make ends meet,

Missy took a job as Assistant
Manager at a gas station.

There she met Elmer DeBoer, a
courier for the oil company.

He picked up the cash receipts
from the local gas stations.

Missy and Elmer
became close friends.

MALE: How's Jer?

FEMALE: Oh, he's kind
of distant lately.

SHERI NIX: He understood that
she was going through a really

rough time being
married to this guy

and they didn't have
anything for the baby

and stuff like that.

He was a very understanding man.

Very loving.

NARRATOR: On the
morning of May 11, 1987,

Elmer DeBoer came by,
as usual, to pick up

the cash from the station
where Missy worked.

He was near the
end of his route.

One hour later, customers
find the station deserted.

[car horn]

NARRATOR: When the
police arrived,

they found Elmer's car
in the parking lot.

The office was locked.

DET/SGT DONALD G. BAILEY:
We checked the interior

of the station and found
that there was nobody inside,

but the safe had been opened.

And there was in excess
of $10,000 stolen.

MALE: It looks like
there's just nothing

but change in here, David.

DET/SGT DONALD G. BAILEY:
Melissa new Elmer's routine

because of her position
as assistant manager

to that particular station.

She knew when he was going
to pick up and where.

NARRATOR: The police
have developed the theory

of what happened that morning.

They believe that
Jerry planned the crime

and was waiting with
Melissa for Elmer.

When Elmer opened the safe,
Gary Jerry made his move.

MALE: Don't move, Elmer.

Don't move!

All right.

All right.

MALE: Put your arms up.

Put them up.

Put the cuffs on him, Missy.

Move, move!

Hurry up!

On yourself, too.

Now!
On yourself, too, Missy.

Let's go!

NARRATOR: The police think
that Jerry hand-cuffed Missy

and Elmer together to
convince Elmer that Missy

was also a hold up victim.

And that her life was in danger.

DET/SGT DONALD G.
BAILEY: We feel

that Elmer was
handcuffed to Missy,

on the pretext that she
was going to be hurt.

And Elmer went along with it.

Reluctantly, but
to protect Melissa.

MALE: Now what's going to happen
is I'm taking Missy with me.

You're just going to
wait here, all right?

So I want you to sit
down here and just wait.

DET/SGT DONALD G. BAILEY: Then
he unlocked the hand-cuffs

to show Elmer that he wasn't
really going to hurt Melissa,

but he just wanted the money.

And then he shot Elmer, twice
in the back of the head.

[gunshots]

At first, I couldn't
believe that it

could have happened that way.

But then, I found out
the rest of the story

and how it had happened,
and it was unbelievable.

It was something that you'd
never expect out of Melissa.

MALE: Well, what do you think?

You want to take her home?

NARRATOR: The morning
after the murder,

Jerry and Missy were seen in
Pontiac buying a blue pickup

truck with cash in small bills.

MALE: 24.

MALE: Thanks a lot.

Yeah, I appreciate it.

NARRATOR: While Jerry
went to get insurance,

Missy sat with
the truck salesman

and chatted for over two hours.

DET/SGT DONALD G. BAILEY: Now
you've got this two and a half

hours that she was alone.

She could have told the
salesmen of Lucky Auto Sales.

She could have
picked the phone up

and called the police herself
to say let me out of this.

I'm in trouble.

I need help.

She's guilty.

She's just as
guilty as he has is.

She had the opportunity
and she didn't do it.

It's unbelievable.

Somebody that sweet could
do something like that.

And it wasn't just me that
thought she was sweet.

Everybody did.

I just don't think from
what I saw of her, that she

could be involved in that.

Again, I guess we change, but
to what I remember of this girl,

I just don't think she
could be part of it.

She's as guilty as Jerry
Strickland is even though she

did not pull the trigger.

She is guilty of
first degree murder.

They obviously aren't
the people that they

made everybody believe.

They're liars.
And phonies.

There wasn't any
reason for him to die.

And they could do
that to somebody

like that, who knows
what they've done

or what they could do now.

DET/SGT DONALD G. BAILEY: We
were fearful that somebody

may get hurt again.

They're dangerous people.

And anybody that comes in
contact with them, better

understand the fact that they
can be very, very dangerous.

PHYLLIS MUNDAY: I never
noticed a change in her.

I didn't notice a split
in her personality.

Unless I didn't want to.

But Missy's gone.

I don't know if I'll ever
see her again or not.

[music playing]

PHYLLIS MUNDAY: When she
left, we found this letter.

And in that letter is stated,
not let nobody put her down.

She wasn't no whore.

She loved us all.

Take care of ourselves.

Signed, Missy.

NARRATOR: Missy
is 5'6" tall, 135

pounds and is now 17 years old.

She's traveling with her
one-year-old baby, Jamie.

Jerry Strickland is 26
years old, 5'11", 250 pounds

and has a scar on his forehead.

I want them both real bad.

They are dangerous people to
any community that they're in.

They will do this again.

NARRATOR: Update.

Moses Lake, Washington.

Within minutes of our
broadcast, 20 viewers

in this small rural
community called

the police to say
they recognized Jerry

Strickland and Missy Munday.

Seven hours later, police
arrested the fugitive couple

at a friend's house.

They discovered that
Jerry and Missy had

themselves watched
the broadcast and were

waiting for the police.

All he says is I'm the
guy you're looking for.

And he was just real
calm and collect.

No violence at all.

I figured the time was about
seven hours and 15 minutes

from the time Unsolved Mysteries
aired and he was in custody.

I just felt sick about it.

NARRATOR: On February
12th, Jerry and Missy

were extradited back
to Michigan to stand

trial for armed robbery,
kidnapping, and murder.

Jerry insists they are innocent.

They got
circumstantial evidence.

All hearsay.

If people talking, but no
witnesses-- I mean, OK.

That's why I say
they're going to learn

that we didn't do this.

We have enough evidence,
circumstantial evidence

and physical evidence,
that we feel he's guilty.

All they want is a
conviction and they don't

care if they burn me or not.

Thanks to our viewers, Jerry
Strickland and Missy Munday

will have their day in court.

They're being tried
separately and if convicted,

could face life imprisonment,
without the possibility

of parole.

[music playing]

In a moment,
the story of a man

who was serving a life sentence
for robbing a gas station.

Five eyewitnesses
claim he is innocent.

[unsolved mysteries theme music]

NARRATOR: July 14,
1979, the Dallas

suburb of Garland, Texas.

At 7:00 PM, a man entered
a gas station office

and drew a gun on
Doyle, the attendant,

who was closing up for the day.

DOYLE: When he first
come in the door

and he was shaking
the gun at me.

Telling me he'd kill
me, damn he'd kill me.

Then I realized it
was all for real.

NARRATOR: The incident
took 10 minutes

but Doyle's key eyewitness
testimony would eventually

put a man in prison for life.

DOYLE: I don't think that you
ever really get over something

like that, that happens to you.

And if you had a .45
stuck in your face

and somebody was telling you
they was going to kill you,

it's something that sticks
with you the rest of your life.

And you never forget
the person that does it.

NARRATOR: Doyle identified
his attacker as Michael Scott

Martin, a 26-year-old welder.

Five other witnesses,
however, swore

that Michael Scott
Martin could not

have robbed the gas station.

They claim he spent the whole
day at his home, 70 miles away.

I mean, this is ridiculous.

I'm at my house in Fort
Worth working on a motorcycle

and they're saying I'm robbing
a gas station in Garland.

And I've never robbed anything
in my life and I never will.

Michael Martin?

Detective Dennis Wheatley.

NARRATOR: Michel Martin
was arrested, tried,

and convicted of armed robbery.

I need you to place
your hands on that for me.

NARRATOR: Because of
a previous arrest,

he was sentenced to
life imprisonment

with no possibility
of parole until 1999.

Martin has already
served eight years

and still maintains
he's innocent.

Tonight, he makes
a final appeal.

I'm about to the
point of giving up.

I am innocent.

I've gone all the way to the
Supreme Court fighting this.

And I just keep hoping and
praying that there's a way

and I'll find it.

And one day, I'll prove that
I didn't rob that gas station.

The case against
Michael Martin

was based entirely on eyewitness
identification that placed

him at the scene of the crime.

There was never any
physical evidence connecting

Martin to the robbery.

No fingerprints were found.

The money was never recovered.

And the gun still
hasn't been located.

Martin insists that he has
been wrongly imprisoned.

[music playing]

NARRATOR: Michel Martin
had a clean record

until he was 26 years old.

In 1979, seven months before
the gas station robbery,

he was arrested after an
altercation in a supermarket.

Michael and a friend
had been drinking

and were seen eating polish
sausage and potato chips

from a supermarket's shelves.

When the manager threatened
to call the police,

Michael panicked.

The incident escalated
into violence.

Stay right here and
we'll contact the police.

We're not staying anywhere.

I tell you what, here's
your lousy money.

We paid for everything.

I don't think so.
I want you to wait right here.

I'm going to contact the police.
- You want some of this?

You want some of this?

You want some?

MALE: Come on man!

MICHAEL MARTIN: I don't really
know why I pulled a knife.

I guess it was just a desire
to get out of the door.

Let's get out of here.

MICHAEL MARTIN: I'm drunk.

I'm feeling a little crazy.

I'd been hassling with this
manager and I was tired of it.

[gun shots]

MICHAEL MARTIN: I fired
it well over their heads.

I wasn't meaning
to hurt anybody.

It was just an adolescent stunt
that I never should have-- you

know, I was 26 years old then.

I shouldn't have been out
shooting up the town like that.

It just didn't make any sense.

I wouldn't call placing knives
or shooting at people a prank.

That's a pretty serious offense.

You don't expect somebody
to get outrageously angry when

they're asked to pay for
something that they're

eating inside a store.

I don't think that
should lead to the kind

of reaction on Michael's
part that he obviously had.

There was testimony that he
was intoxicated at the time.

But still, an intoxicated person
who would go to that lengths

to avoid paying for
some Polish sausage,

you have to wonder about.

NARRATOR: Martin pleaded
guilty to assault

with a deadly weapon.

He was fined and given
four years probation.

[music playing]

NARRATOR: At 7:00 PM on
July 14, 1979, just two

weeks after Martin's
probation began,

the gas station was robbed.

The gunman stole
over $400 and fled

the scene of the crime
in a car he'd stolen

from Doyle, the attendant.

15 Minutes later, at
7:15 PM, the police unit

spotted the stolen car
outside a nearby apartment

building, where Martin had
lived until only a month before.

At approximately 7:25
PM, Detective Wheatley

who'd investigated the
supermarket incident,

claims he saw Michael Scott
Martin in his blue Camaro

three blocks from
the gas station.

As he came through the
intersection, he looked at me

and I looked at him, and knew
him from the previous phase.

offense.

And said to myself, that's
Michael Scott Martin.

He came close
enough to me that I

could have reached over
the top of my motorcycle

and slapped him.

Doyle, I'm going to show you
a stack of photographs here.

What I'd like for you to
do is look through them

and see if you see any of these
in here that you recognize.

NARRATOR: Wheatley asked to be
assigned to the robbery case.

The following day,
he showed the victim,

Doyle, a series of mugshots.

DET.

DENNIS WHEATLEY: He
is the type of witness

that you wish you had on
every case that you worked.

His intensity.

His quick reaction to
picking Michael Scott Martin

made him a good witness.

DOYLE: I think this is
the guy who robbed me.

You think that's the man or
are you sure that's the man?

DOYLE: I'm sure.

[speaker announcement]

NARRATOR: Michel
Martin was arrested,

charged with aggravated
armed robbery ,

and held without bail.

It's a depressing
experience, but I felt like I

would prove my innocence.

I mean, I didn't rob
this gas station.

I knew I didn't rob
this gas station.

I thought I had sufficient
proof in just having people

that knew where I was at.

NARRATOR: Martin claimed
he was at Lake Worth,

70 miles away from Garland
at the time of the robbery.

Five separate witnesses, three
of whom hardly knew Martin,

substantiated his claim.

Their testimony was the
crux of Martin's defense.

GEORGE MACFARLANE:
The day that they

say the robbery happened,
I worked on my car

and he worked on his motorcycle.

And other than about two
hours that afternoon, between,

I don't know, I think it was
around 2:0o-- 2:00 to 4:00 when

he ran for parts, he was here.

At all times.

From the time he got up
in the morning to the time

he went to bed at night.

He was here.

He was there with me and
with George at the time

he was accused of
robbing this gas station.

He just couldn't have done it.

He just didn't do it.

When I left my house, it
was after 6:00, before 6:30,

and I saw Mike out in
front of his house.

I don't remember
what he was doing.

It seems like he's working
on his motorcycles.

I don't know but he was here.

After finding out what
the circumstances were

and what day it was, I was
surprised to see that Mike was

arrested because I knew I'd
seen him so close to the time

that the crime was
supposed to be committed.

MICHAEL PETTIGREW: It
takes well over an hour

to drive from here to Garland.

I saw him around
6:00 and there's

no way he would have
had time to leave

and commit this crime by 7:00.

It's 7:00 Saturday
night, I remember it

real well because
there was a television

show that I wanted to catch.

It was "Battlestar Galactica."

So I made sure that
at 7:00 I was there

in front of the television.

Mike, show's starting.

MICHAEL PETTIGREW:
And Mike came in

and watched the show with me.

How could he have been
at my house at 7:00 PM,

if he was in Garland at
7:00 PM, 75-80 miles away?

Michael Martin's trial
hinged on the issue

of who the jury would believe.

The two prosecution
eyewitnesses or the five defense

eyewitnesses.

[music playing]

NARRATOR: The trial was held
in the same courtroom where

two months previously,
Michael Martin

had received his probation.

The turning point came when
his supermarket conviction

was admitted into
the court record,

possibly prejudicing
the jury against Martin.

BRAD LAWLER: I don't know
if we could have gotten

a guilty conviction
in the second offense

if the jury had not known
about the first offense.

I think that works great
psychological influence

on the jury.

I know that my
witnesses were positive.

I also know that the defense
witnesses were positive.

And it was one of
those cases back then,

when I simply had
to put on the case

and let the jury
make their decision.

That's what our
system's all about.

NARRATOR: It took the jury
only 15 minutes to find Michael

Martin guilty of armed robbery.

They gave him the
maximum sentence

possible under the law.

I have to do 20 flat years,
which means I can't come up

for parole until 1999
because I supposedly took

$400 from this gas station.

I don't think I
got a fair trial.

BRAD LAWLER: If a person is on
probation for a felony offense

and went out and committed this
type of aggravated robbery,

no, I don't have any
problem with him serving

a life sentence for that.

If he's guilty.

NARRATOR: If he's guilty.

Those words of troubled
Brad Lawler for nine years.

Could the jury have put a man
behind bars who was innocent?

BRAD LAWLER: It
always bothered me

that we were not able to
come up with the clincher.

There were no fingerprints found
at the scene or on the get away

car.

No recovery of the stolen items.

There was nothing that
conclusively tied Michael

Martin to the commission
of the offense,

besides the
eyewitness testimony.

And it's for that
reason that I think

I always had a little doubt
left to my mind about this case.

I'm still sure that I
put the right man in jail.

No doubt in my mind then and
there is no doubt in my mind

now.

Why would five people,
four of whom or three of whom

barely knew him, why would
they lie in the court of law

to protect him?

[music playing]

BRAD LAWLER: Back at the
time, I leaned toward thinking

that Michael Martin was guilty.

And today in retrospect,
I simply don't know.

I thought my 18-year-old
witness was positive.

But also, the witnesses who
testified for Michael Martin

were positive that they
were with him at the time

of the offense 70 miles away.

So it's one of those
that I guess we'll

never know the true answer to.

NARRATOR: Michael still has 11
more years to serve in prison.

The groundswell of doubt about
his guilt has had no effect.

MICHAEL MARTIN:
I've never stopped

trying to prove my innocence
because I don't know

what else I have right now.

It's prove my innocence or just
sit here for 11 more years.

I can really appreciate
what freedom is.

Before I came here, it was
a big abstract, you know.

It was always there.

When it's taken away,
you really appreciate it.

I want what I lost.

What I feel I had taken from me.

[music playing]

NARRATOR: Next, a San
Francisco teenager

who strayed into a
world of witchcraft,

magic, and mysticism.

His father believes
he was murdered.

[unsolved mysteries theme music]

NARRATOR: On Saturday,
September 8, 1984,

a teenage boy drove from his
home in Concord, California

across the Bay Bridge
into San Francisco.

He had planned to
spend the night

and return home Sunday evening.

Monday, September
10th, three days later.

On some rugged cliffs
in a remote area

of San Francisco Bay, two
men were bird watching.

On the isolated
beach below, they

discovered the bruised,
half naked body

of 17-year-old Kurt McFall.

His father suspects foul play.

TOM MCFALL: Kurt told
this friend of his that he

was involved in
some kind of satanic

cult and that he wanted out .

But thought that they
might try to kill him.

And he really
feared for his life.

It was a murder.

It needs to be investigated.

There's no doubt in my mind that
Kurt could have handled himself

in that cliff area because he
was an experienced mountain

climber.

And he was a diver.

So he would not have
drowned in the water

or fallen down the hill.

NARRATOR: Kurt
McFall, dead at 17.

To outward appearances, Kurt
was a handsome and popular

high school student.

A confident young man
who made friends easily.

Tom McFall has learned
there was another side

to his teenage son.

The day after Kurt
disappeared, Tom

received an anonymous
telephone call telling him

that his son had wanted
to escape from a cult.

And that he feared for his life.

Tom now believes
that Kurt strayed

from a suburban middle
class background

into a world of witchcraft,
mysticism, and possibly murder.

[music playing]

NARRATOR: Alarmed by
the strange phone call,

Tom searched his son's bedroom.

TOM MCFALL: After I had
received the telephone call,

I thought a lot
about this individual

as to what he knew about
Kurt's disappearance.

I wanted to gain all the
information I could as to what

happened.

NARRATOR: In Kurt's
room, Tom discovered

a knife made from a
dear's hoof, a necklace

of stone and feathers,
and drawings of witchcraft

and violent fantasies.

These seemed to be
further proof that Kurt

was leading a double life.

At 10, he had become interested
in a medieval fantasy

game, Dungeons and Dragons.

It was the beginning of a
voyage into a subculture

that would dominate Kurt.

NARRATOR: A year
before he died, Kurt

joined the Society for
Creative Anachronism or SCA.

Its members enjoy
reliving medieval customs

in the actual costumes
of the period.

Once a week, they
practice jousting

and sword fighting
in the parking lot

of an Oakland subway station.

HILARY POWERS: Kurt
was here about twice

a week through February
and into March on '84.

Learned how to fight.

He was good, quick, talented.

Really going to be
very good at the game.

We were real pleased with him.

And his death
certainly had nothing

to do with any part of his
participation in the SCA

that I knew anything about.

NARRATOR: As Kurt became
increasingly interested

in medieval rituals, he joined
a separate group who initiated

him into pagan religion.

One of Kurt's old high school
friends feared this new group

and contacted Tom McFall.

He'd become concerned
for Kurt and now fears

for his own safety.

MALE: Gradually, over a
period of perhaps six months,

his attitude towards other
people changed drastically.

He kind of moved
from just studying

with an interest in
medieval religion

to actually adopting
that religion as his.

He lost a lot of his friends
through that process.

[singing]

NARRATOR: Kurt
studied pagan religion

with Gabriel Carrillo who
uses the ancient Welsh

name, Caradoc.

GARBIEL CARRILLO: This is
a religion which is also

an art, a craft, which
has techniques which

are at their essence, magical.

I met Kurt because he had
evinced an interest in magic.

Kurt was real bright
and real curious

about just about everything.

MALE: His involvement
with this group

can be compared to a drug
addiction, where you begin

thinking that you've
got it, in control,

and you can take
it when you want.

But gradually, losing
that sense of knowing when

to stop until you're a junkie.

MALE: We regard evil
as a human phenomenon.

GARBIEL CARRILLO: I do
not make any attempt

to control people's lives.

People are free to come and
go at their own discretion,

just as Kurt did.

If anything, the
emphasis that we have

is on individuals taking
control of their own lives.

[music playing]

NARRATOR: Saturday,
September 10th, Kurt

had planned to spend the
night at Caradoc's apartment.

They had dinner,
went to a movie.

Around midnight,
Kurt went swimming

at Ocean Beach, a few
blocks from Caradoc's home.

Later, Kurt was restless
and couldn't sleep.

According to Caradoc, Kurt
knocked on his door about 3:00

in the morning.

[knocking]

It's too hot in here.

I'm going to the beach.

NARRATOR: Kurt was
never seen again.

My best guess is simply that
he took one too many chances.

He might have gone
swimming in the ocean

and been pulled out
by the undertow.

He might have gone climbing
on the cliffs and Lands End

and slipped and fallen.

Or any one of a number
of other things.

NARRATOR: The following
evening, Kurt's car

was found abandoned on a golf
course overlooking the ocean.

There were a number
of puzzling clues.

Kurt's driver's license
was on the floor.

His car keys were on the seat.

A $20 bill was in the
glove compartment.

The prized suit of
armor, which Kurt

had made for his
SCA sword fighting,

was missing from the trunk.

Most curious of all, there
were beer bottles scattered

in and around the car.

TOM MCFALL: The car has
to be a phony scene.

To me, that was set up because
Kurt did not drink beer.

That's also inconsistent
with the autopsy report that

shows that there was no signs
of alcohol or drugs on the body

when it was recovered.

So that looks very suspicious.

NARRATOR: At 10:15
the following morning,

National Park Service
lifeguard's recovered

the body of Kurt McFall.

It was lying in a cove less
than two miles from Caradoc's

apartment, just below the
cliffs at the golf course

where Kurt's car was found.

BRIAN CAMERON: When
we came upon the body,

we noticed it was in
fairly good condition.

Fairly pale, usually a
sign of being in the water

for an extended period of time.

No obvious external trauma.

He looked pretty clean other
than a few small abrasions on

the body, but nothing obvious.

NARRATOR: Kurt's body had
no shoes, socks, or shirt.

His back and shoulders were
scored with cuts and abrasions.

And strangely, the belt he
wore was missing its buckle.

RON WILTON: With the facts
that we have in this case,

it's really anybody's guess as
to where he actually entered

the water, where he came from.

My guess would
be-- and that's all

it is, is an educated
guess-- that he

simply fell off a cliff.

And that's what
it appears to me.

NARRATOR: The coroner's
report determined

that Kurt died from
multiple traumatic injuries

and severe blood loss.

But no one knows what
caused those injuries.

Kurt may have drowned,
but that would not

explain his cuts and abrasions.

Or the acute loss of blood.

It appears that Kurt felt
from the treacherous cliffs.

But it is not known if
he fell accidentally

or if he was beaten and pushed.

TOM MCFALL: I went to
the San Francisco coroner

and I said, what do you
think happened to Kurt?

And he said I think the most
probable cause of Kurt's death

is homicide.

But he said, he didn't
have enough to testify

to that in a court of law.

So he sent it up to homicide
classified as unknown.

And I can't accept that.

NARRATOR: The San
Francisco Police

declined to be interviewed.

They investigated Kurt's
death but found no evidence

to classify it as a homicide.

The case remains open,
but there are no suspects.

Although he has no
proof, Tom McFall still

believes his son was murdered.

TOM MCFALL: Kurt may
have uncovered something

in the organization and may
have indicated to people that he

was going to expose this.

And I feel that
all of these things

probably contributed to them
wanting to do away with Kurt.

MALE: My personal
theory is that Kurt

stumbled onto some
information that he

wasn't supposed to know about.

These types of organizations
don't make threats,

they make actions.

GARBIEL CARRILLO: If I
wanted to murder somebody,

the last person I would
murder would be somebody

who was staying at my house.

And whose father knew that
he was staying at my house.

I mean, the whole
thing is stupid.

I understand that
Kurt's father went

through a great deal
of pain about his death

and needed to find
somebody to blame.

And I understand that
I was a very convenient

person for him to blame.

But I had absolutely
no responsibility

for Kurt's death.

[music playing]

TOM MCFALL: I am so frustrated
to have the information that

would indicate that your
son has been murdered

and to date, they have
virtually closed the case.

I am bound and determined
to get an investigation.

I think Kurt deserved
because he did not deserve

to be taken in that manner.

NARRATOR: Currently, Tom
McFall is the only person

investigating his son's death.

If Kurt was murdered,
he hopes that even now,

three years later,
someone will come

forward with new information.

New evidence that could
reopen the investigation.

And provide peace
of mind for himself

and justice for his son.

Next, the story
of a mysterious bag

of unopened letters
dating back 40 years.

They were written
by GI's sailing

off to battle in World War II.

And have yet to reach
their lost loved ones.

[unsolved mysteries theme music]

ANNOUNCER: Letters from home.

Each day, millions
of them are sent

to American servicemen fighting
on distant battle fronts.

Because of a war postal
system, called V-Mail,

they can be flown throughout the
world reaching distant points

safely and with amazing speed.

NARRATOR: During World War
II, thousands of soldiers

said goodbye to
their loved ones.

And almost every GI made a
parting promise, to write

home as often as possible.

Their letters, carried by
the military V-Mail service,

were the only link between
them and their families.

Some would return,
others would not.

For the relatives of
those GI;s lost in battle,

the last letter home
became a precious keepsake.

A memory of lost love.

NARRATOR: 41 Years after the
war ended, on February 4, 1986,

Mike Minguez, a
pest exterminator,

was spraying the attic in
an elderly woman's house

in Raleigh, North Carolina.

In the corner, he
saw some letters

spilling out of a laundry bag.

Mike Minguez had
in fact discovered

a military duffel bag.

Filled with hundreds
of unopened letters

written by soldiers
during World War II.

MICHAEL MINGUEZ: The longer I
looked, the more incredulous

I became.

There was just something about
the insignia across them.

I've never seen V-Mail before.

I had heard the term and
knew that, generally,

anything with V in it
was World War II vintage.

And it was really apparent
from the very beginning

that there was something here
that was just really strange.

MALE: I really think it'd
be best if I took this mail

to the proper authorities.

NARRATOR: Mike learned that the
elderly woman had a nephew who

had been a crew member
aboard the SS Caleb Strong

when it was bound for
North Africa in May 1944.

[music playing]

NARRATOR: The troops on board
had written 235 letters home

and stuffed them
into the duffel bag.

The woman's nephew had vowed
to mail them when he returned

to the USA, but he'd forgotten.

He died about 1980 and
the woman had been too

embarrassed to say anything.

After promising never
to reveal her name,

Mike convinced this woman to
release the letters to him.

The letters were sent to Meg
Harris of the postal service.

92 GI's on board the Caleb
Strong had written letters

to over 150 friends and family.

One by one, the US Postal
Service delivered the letters

from 89 of the soldiers.

Only three could
not be tracked down.

We're trying to locate
former Private John Jay Thomas.

MEG HARRIS: You have to be
real careful when you start

telling them about this mail.

You kind of lead into it
slowly because you don't

want anybody to go in to shock.

And you feel a lot of the
closeness of family ties.

The whole experience has been
one where you realize how much

people care for each other.

And how much they continue
caring even after 40 years.

[music playing]

FEMALE: Still at sea, May 1944.

My precious wife.

Darling, I sure miss you.

I wish I were back
with you right now.

It seems so hard to write
you as all I can think of

is how love you and
long to be with you.

The boat is rocking so I
can't write too neatly.

Meryl, darling, I love you.

And hope that we are soon
to be together for good.

From what information
we can gather,

I believe the big
invasion is on.

So I'll be stuck overseas
until the war is over.

I love you, my darling.

Your husband, Frank.

NARRATOR: Meryl Page
Rapley, is a retired teacher

who was married to Frank
Rapley, B17 turret gunner.

His plane was shot down
over Austria in 1944.

Meryl Rapley never remarried.

She's been a widow for 44 years.

Receiving Frank's last letter
was a surprising and poignant

moment.

MERYL: I was shocked.

It tore me all to pieces.

And it was just as though we
were there together and just as

though he was talking with me.

And, of course, I
guess I was more

or less in a state of shock.

But it was the most wonderful
letter I have ever received

from Frank, even though
all of his letters

were very dear to me.

But after waiting that long
and still being able, after 42

years, to get another letter
from a man that I still love,

that was just something that
only the Lord can understand

the depth of meaning.

[music playing]

MERYL: The short two and a half
years I had with him was just

equal to a lifetime for me.

That's why I never did remarry.

Nobody else could
ever replace him.

And I have every letter
he's ever written me.

But this, was always
the most special one.

PEGGY: Sweet, just
another line today,

as I'm always thinking
about you and may not be

able to write for a few days.

We haven't seen land
yet, but expect to soon.

There is about six hours
difference in time here.

So I often try to
think of where you are

and what you might be doing.

I guess that is natural.

Your ever loving and
faithful husband.

It's always touching.

Can't help think back
all the time, you know.

NARRATOR: Your ever loving
and faithful husband,

those were Staff
Sergeant Sumter Grubb's

last words to his wife Peggy.

Written on May 19, 1944.

Within months, Sumter
was killed in combat,

but his words would not die.

[unsolved mysteries theme music]

Tonight, we've
seen four mysteries.

Four true stories of
people caught in the most

extraordinary circumstances.

For each mystery, someone
somewhere knows the truth.

Perhaps it's you?