All language subtitles for Unsolved.Mysteries.S01E20.480p.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.

NARRATOR: Tonight on
"Unsolved Mysteries,"

the story of an undercover
cop who allegedly went wrong.

On the day of his trial, he
fled into the Louisiana swamps.

And his fellow officers
believe he is playing

a lethal game of hide-and-seek.

According to history
and Hollywood legend,

notorious outlaw Billy the Kid
was gunned down by his friend,

Sheriff Pat Garrett late 1881.

Reese [inaudible] suggests that
Garrett killed the wrong man.

In 1987, Donald
Smith, accompanied

by a mysterious hitchhiker,
had a tearful reunion

with his long-lost daughter.

The next day, both men vanished.

These intriguing
stories all need

one vital clue, one final
piece of information

before they can be solved.

Perhaps someone watching
tonight can help.

Perhaps it's you.

[theme music]

NARRATOR: May the
16th, 1987, Denver,

Colorado-- at 2:00
in the morning,

two vehicles collided
on a downtown street.

One driver fled the scene,
abandoning his pickup truck.

A few minutes later, when
police arrived to investigate

the scene of the accident,
they did a thorough search

of the abandoned pickup truck.

Inside, they found a bloody
jack handle, and a room

key from a local motel.

Police went to the
motel and discovered

that the driver of
the abandoned vehicle

was registered there under
the name of Larry Monroe.

I think we might have what
we're looking for, guys.

NARRATOR: In his
room, they found

a pair of pants
and a sweatshirt,

both covered with blood.

Still fresh.

Denver police tracked
the abandoned pickup

truck to a white
man named Donald

Smith from Hemet, California.

Yet, the driver who ran from the
collision in Denver was black.

Police could get no
information at all

about the man who
registered at the motel

under the name of Larry Monroe.

But they were able to
check out Don Smith.

They found that Smith's wife had
not heard from him for 12 days,

ever since he left home to
begin a cross-country trip.

What started out
as a simple traffic

accident would soon turn
into a bizarre murder--

a murder that police are
still trying to solve.

Don Smith, the owner of
the abandoned vehicle,

lived with his second wife
in Hemet, a small town

in southern California.

He'd been feeling
despondent because he

was not well enough to work.

So he decided to drive
cross-country to visit

relatives.

Smith left Hemet
on May the 11th,

1987, driving the pickup
truck and towing a trailer.

He was accompanied only by
his two Labrador retrievers.

Don was anxious to visit his
daughter Brenda in Idaho.

Brenda was the only child
from Don's first marriage.

For most of her life, she and
her father had been kept apart.

BRENDA WALKER: My mother
kept me away from my father.

They didn't get along real
well after the divorce.

And I think I only saw him
like once up until the time

my mother died, and then I
started searching for him.

He was searching
for me, as well.

NARRATOR: When Brenda
was 26 years old,

herself a divorced mother
of two, she and her father

were finally-- and
joyfully-- reunited.

BRENDA WALKER: Oh, it was
a really good relationship.

It was almost like we had
always known each other.

It was more close.

I could tell him anything.

He was very protective of me.

And if I ever had a problem,
he said, just let me know.

I'll take care of it for you.

He was kind of a
macho man, I guess.

Basically, it was a
real good relationship.

With the exception of my
father drank-- which he didn't

do very often, thank god.

He turned into kind
of a different person

when he was drunk.

NARRATOR: The day
after Don Smith

left Hemet, he and
another man pulled up

in front of the
hospital where Brenda

worked as a psychiatric nurse.

Smith stayed in the truck,
but his companion got out

and walked into the hospital.

Hi.

I'm looking for Brenda Walker.

She's not working today.

I can probably connect
you with his supervisor.

NARRATOR: The receptionist
referred the matter to Brenda's

supervisor, John Slane.

Yeah, this is John.

Yeah, I'm looking
for Brenda Walker.

She's not here today.

Who is this, please?

A friend of her
father's, and I need

to get in contact with her.

I can't give you that
information over the phone.

I'll tell you what,
why don't I meet

you out in the parkling lot?

OK, great.

NARRATOR: Slane went outside
to talk to Don Smith.

Hi.

You're Brenda's dad?

Yeah.

Where's my baby girl, Brenda?

JOHN SLANE: Yeah, he was
obviously been drinking.

And he said, you know,
where's Brenda at?

And I said, well, she's
fishing with her girlfriends.

The guy that was
driving, he leaned

over to get the directions.

Once I explained to him how to
get up to the one intersection,

he seemed to know
where that was.

NARRATOR: Just 15 miles
away, Brenda and her friends

had given up fishing and stopped
by a saloon near the lake.

The three of them were
having a drink at the bar.

BRENDA WALKER:
We're sitting there

at the bar near the
window by the front door.

The door opened, and everyone
in the bar turned around.

There was a black
man that had come in.

And he closed the door.

He had sunglasses on.

Took the sunglasses
off and looked

around for a few minutes.

I think he was probably
allowing his eyes

to adjust to the darkness.

Then he walked
into the restroom,

and about probably
a minute later,

this man came in with wild hair,
and his shirt was untucked.

Hi, is there a
Brenda Walker in here?

Hi, Dad.

BRENDA WALKER: It
took me a minute

to really realize who he was.

It was my father.

I missed you so much.

He looked so different
from the last time I saw him.

And he hugged me and sat at
the bar with me for a minute,

and I realized
that he was drunk.

And I went into the restroom.

I was a little upset because
he had showed up drunk,

and it kind of embarrassed
me in front of my friends.

She's such a sweetheart.

I sure missed her.

BRENDA WALKER: I went
into the restroom.

I came back out.

Are you OK?

Uh-huh, how 'bout you?

I want to be with you so much.

BRENDA WALKER: Then he
starts crying immediately.

And he's babbling, and he's
talking about how he doesn't

want to be alive anymore
and how he's got cancer,

and he was going to be
with my mother in heaven.

And then his companion
came out of the restroom.

Hey.

They don't serve
whiskey in here.

BRENDA WALKER: The black
man just kept on walking.

He kind of looked
over at my father

and then just kept walking
like he didn't really

know who he was, kind of ignored
him a little bit and went out

and got into the truck
and got into the driver's

seat of my father's truck.

I kept looking out
the window at him.

He'd sit there, and he had his
head leaning on the steering

wheel staring out at the lake.

And I don't know, he looked
real impatient, looked

disgusted with being there.

I'm just sorry.

Oh, god.

I've fouled your life
up for all these years.

I don't want to hear you cry.

I don't want to hear this.

Why don't you just
go get a motel room,

sober up, and then come back and
talk to me tomorrow about it?

Anyone wanna fight in here?

Let's go.

I can flip anyone in here.

NARRATOR: When her father
became belligerent,

Brenda walked out of the saloon.

After a few minutes, Brenda's
father followed her outside.

But she left without
speaking to him.

BRENDA WALKER: I wish
that I would have

had more patience with him.

I wish I would have
understood his situation.

I wish I would have tried to
be more compassionate with him.

It was the last time I saw him.

He opened up the camper
and let the dogs out,

let them run around.

And I just drove away.

NARRATOR: Two weeks later, in
the high desert outside Twin

Falls, Idaho, a couple
out for their morning walk

made a horrible discovery.

Police were called in to remove
and identify the dead body.

BILL TILSON: We
observed a body that

appeared to have been
thrown over the guardrail,

laying down.

The body was decaying for
approximately two weeks.

We could not recognize
him at that point.

There was no identification
found around him or on him.

At this time, we had
no idea who we had.

We just had another John Doe.

An autopsy was done, and
we found bludgeon marks

on the back of the head,
indicating cause of death

was by bludgeon.

Also outside of the guardrail,
where possibly the victim

was thrown from, we found a sack
with a bottle of wine in it.

It was just taken as evidence.

It wasn't until we had the body
identified that it all started

fitting in to the crime scene.

NARRATOR: The Twin Falls
Sheriff's Department

have no idea who the
body was until they heard

about the two-car
collision in Denver,

where the driver of the pickup
truck had fled the scene.

Hey!

Hey!

NARRATOR: The Denver police
discovered the abandoned

vehicle belonged to Don Smith.

They issued a possible
homicide bulletin.

BILL TILSON: Denver police had
sent out a teletype indicating

that they had a vehicle involved
in an accident that possibly

was involved in a homicide.

So I called the Denver
Police Department,

and they gave me the name
of a subject, Donald Smith.

NARRATOR: Fingerprints
from the dead man

in Twin Falls
positively identified

the body as Donald Smith.

Police began to piece
together the events that

led up to Don Smith's murder.

On May 11, the very
day Smith left home,

he ran into trouble with
a trailer he was towing.

Just outside Las Vegas,
he arranged to leave

his trailer with a local man.

One theory is that soon
after Smith left Las Vegas,

he picked up a hitchhiker.

At some point along the
way, Smith started drinking.

The day after he saw
his daughter Brenda,

Don Smith turned up
in Park City, Utah.

I need you to
send me some money.

NARRATOR: He called
his sister in Vancouver

asking her to wire him money.

That same day, Smith
picked up $200.

He was accompanied
by a man who looked

exactly like the
one Brenda had seen

with her father in the bar.

Police theorized that the
hitchhiker Smith had picked up

murdered him when Smith stopped
to let his dogs out for a run.

The murder weapon
was probably a jack

handle, grabbed from the
rear of Smith's pickup truck.

Police suspect
that the man dumped

Smith's body in the
high desert, where it

was found over two weeks later.

I want to know why
he killed my father.

I want to know why he took my
father away from me and away

from my children.

My father was the
only family I had.

NARRATOR: This composite of Don
Smith's mysterious companion

was compiled from various
eyewitness accounts.

He is black, but with
relatively light skin,

and probably in his 30s.

He stands around six feet tall
and weighs about 180 pounds.

He may use the
name Larry Monroe,

and may once have lived in
the area of Blackfoot, Idaho.

Next, the story of Billy
the Kid, notorious outlaw

and a legend of the West.

Was he really killed
by Sheriff Pat Garrett,

or did he live to the
ripe old age of 91?

[theme music]

NARRATOR: The legendary
Billy the Kid,

easily the most notorious
desperado of a Wild,

Wild West-- he killed 21 men,
one for every year of his life.

Recognize that man over there?

The one without the
whiskers is Billy the Kid.

Billy the Kid?

NARRATOR: In 1941,
Buster Crabbe played

the role in one
of over 250 movies

made about the famous outlaw.

Hollywood had started a legend.

Traditional wisdom
tells us that Billy

the Kid was born William Bonnet
in New York City in 1859.

He fought against
the rich ranchers

in the Lincoln
County cattle war,

and was given a death
sentence for killing

Sheriff William Brady.

According to history--
and the movies-- in 1881,

Billy the Kid was
hunted down by Sheriff

Pat Garrett, who tracked him
to Fort Sumner, New Mexico.

Billy was hiding in the home
of a friend, Pete Maxwell.

Unaware of Garrett's arrival,
he went out back to wash up.

Garrett crept into Maxwell's
house to ambush Billy.

He was eager to collect the $500
reward that have been offered

for Billy the Kid's death.

Who is it?

Who is it?

NARRATOR: History
tells us that Billy

was buried the following
day in a simple grave.

But history may be wrong.

WILLIAM A. TUNSTALL: This
whole legend of Billy the Kid

was absolutely no truth.

90% of what we've heard and been
taught as students in schools

is not true.

NARRATOR: 68 years later,
the Hollywood legend

was turned upside
down when, in 1950,

a 91-year-old man
from Hico, Texas

named Brushy Bill Roberts
came out of obscurity

and alleged that he
was Billy the Kid.

Despite a massive controversy,
his claim still stands.

There is no doubt
whatever in my mind

about Brushy Bill
and Billy the Kid

was one and the same person.

NARRATOR: Historian
Donald Lavash disagrees.

There is absolutely
no comparison whatsoever

between Brushy
Bill Roberts, known

as Ollie Partridge Roberts,
and William Bonnet,

alias Billy the Kid.

NARRATOR: While
the rest of America

believes the Hollywood legend of
Billy the Kid, in Hico, Texas,

the tiny community of
1,300 is absolutely

certain the famous outlaw was
really Brushy Bill Roberts.

Many historians scoff
at Brushy Bill's story.

But William
Tunstall's belief that

Brushy really was
Billy the Kid cannot

be dismissed out of hand.

There is evidence that
supports this claim.

And if that claim is
true, then this chapter

in the history of the American
West may have to be rewritten.

In 1948, Florida
attorney William Morrison

first uncovered
evidence that Billy

the Kid did not die in 1881.

A client told him that
years ago, he had actually

fought Billy the Kid in
the Lincoln County Wars,

and that the kid
was still alive.

BARBARA KUCHLER: And as my
father was talking to the man,

he referred to Lincoln County.

My father said, oh, that's where
Billy the Kid was killed up

there at Pete Maxwell's house.

And the man said, oh, no, no.

He wasn't killed.

He's still around.

NARRATOR: Fascinated,
Morrison crossed

the West talking to the other
old timers about Billy the Kid.

He discovered that
many thought that Billy

was indeed still
alive, quietly living

under the name Brushy Bill.

Finally, in 1949, Morrison
made the trip to Hico, Texas

to confront Brushy
in person and ask

him if the rumors were true.

Brushy Bill here.

Nice to meet you in person.

I am Billy the Kid.

Come on in.

We'll talk about this
a little further.

WILLIAM A. TUNSTALL: We must
keep in mind that this man

did not seek publicity.

He did not seek to come
out from seclusion.

He was drawn out.

Come on in.

NARRATOR: Brushy Bill
wanted Morrison's help

in finally getting the
pardon that was promised

to him in 1879 by the
governor of New Mexico

for turning state's evidence.

I expect a full pardon out
of this, so when I die my slate

will be clean.

I'll help you if I can.

But you have to be
able to prove to me

you are who you say you are.

I can do that.

I've still got the scars.

And I didn't get these sitting
around and no rocking chair.

NARRATOR: The scars seemed
to match the reported

wounds received by the Kid
during his short-lived outlaw

career.

This one here on my
shoulder is from a knife

wound down south of the border.

I'm really not
too proud of that.

There were 17 points
of identification

of similarity between the two.

Both men had small hands and
large wrists, protruding teeth,

protruding ears, same head size,
same boot size, and the weight.

There's no record anywhere
where there's anything having

to do with a boot
size of Billy the Kid,

a waist size of Billy
the Kid, or a hat size

of Billy the Kid-- nothing.

But it does tell us
something about his eyes.

This reporter states
unequivocally,

without question, that
they were clear blue eyes.

Brushy Bill had speckled eyes.

Some of these spots is
still fresh in my memory.

Right over that hill
there, we used to camp out.

NARRATOR: In 1950,
Brushy Bill took Morrison

on a guided tour of
the Kid's former haunts

in Lincoln County.

Morrison died in
1976, but he told

his daughter about the trip.

Brushy Bill would
give incidents

that only someone
that was actually

involved in the Lincoln
County War would have known.

My father became
convinced that this man

was-- Brushy Bill Roberts
was actually Billy the Kid.

NARRATOR: Morrison
then contacted

five people who had
known Billy the Kid

during the Lincoln County War.

Each of them separately
met Brushy Bill in person.

All five witnesses
signed sworn affidavits

stating that Brushy Bill Roberts
was indeed Billy the Kid.

If Brushy Bill really
was Billy the Kid,

one nagging question remains.

What really happened on July
14, 1881 in Fort Sumner?

According to Brushy Bill,
on the night of the shooting

he was with his girlfriend
Celsa and his partner

Billy Barlow at
Jesus Silva's house.

These are the precise
words Brushy Bill used

in his testimony
to William Morrison

to describe the events
of that fateful night.

BILLY THE KID (VOICEOVER):
Silva said if one of us

would go next door and get
beef, he would cook it for us.

I sensed a trap.

He started out after I
refused to leave the house.

I thought that Garrett
might still be in town,

and I wanted to meet
him in the daytime

so I could beat him to it.

NARRATOR: Unknown to the
Kid, Garrett and his posse

had taken cover across the yard.

BILLY THE KID (VOICEOVER):
One of their first shots

had killed my partner.

I ran out into the yard.

I ran through the gate
and started shooting

at shadows along the house.

The first shot struck
me in the lower jaw.

The other struck
me in the shoulder,

and then another struck me
across the top of my head.

When I woke up, a Mexican
woman was putting beef tallow

on my head to stop the blood.

I told her to reload my 44.

Then Celsa came running in
said they'd killed Barlow

and were passing off
his body as mine.

She begged me to leave town.

NARRATOR: Brushy claims that
the next day, Billy Barlow

was buried in his place.

WILLIAM A. TUNSTALL:
In a normal procedure,

the Sheriff would have
brought the corpse to a place

for anyone to witness.

He would have demonstrated
his gun, his clothing,

his boots, his rifle.

Pat Garrett not
follow that procedure.

He took every
precaution to conceal

the identity of the corpse.

He realized he had
killed the wrong man.

Pat Garrett enlisted some
21 people that purportedly

knew William Bonnet.

And they assembled,
passed by the casket,

and said, yes, that's
William Bonnet--

Billy the Kid-- in that casket.

NARRATOR: By 1950, Morrison
felt he had gathered

enough evidence to request
a pardon from Governor

Mabry of New Mexico.

He agreed to meet
them in person.

BARBARA KUCHLER: Brushy
Bill was very nervous.

He saw some deputy
standing there,

and they had guns
in their holsters.

How do we know
you're not an imposter?

BARBARA KUCHLER: This
a man 91 years old,

did not want to hang, and
they were all saying, if he is

Billy the Kid, he's an outlaw.

He's a criminal.

You don't pardon him.

You hang him.

NARRATOR: The interview
turned into a press circus.

90-year-old Brushy was
confused and scared

by the reporters,
historians, and even

Pat Garret's relatives.

Brushy, who's
buried in that grave

if Pat Garret didn't
kill Billy the Kid?

How many aliases have
you had all these years?

Governor Mabry,
do you really intend

to give this man a pardon?

I am taking no
action now or ever

on this application for a
pardon for Billy the Kid,

because I do not believe
this man to be Billy the Kid.

The governor
never even gave him

a chance to present
the evidence by just

flat out telling him he wasn't
even going to consider it.

NARRATOR: Morrison's legal
arguments and affidavits were

not even entered into evidence.

Brushy Bill felt he
had been humiliated,

his claims ridiculed.

His pardon was not granted.

Shortly after the meeting
with Governor Maybury,

Brushy Bill suffered a heart
attack and died on a street

in Hico, Texas.

BARBARA KUCHLER: All he wanted
was to have his name cleared.

That's all he was trying to
do, getting back his dignity.

I have no doubts
in my mind at all.

And the more I get into
my father's papers,

the more I get into his
records, the more I read,

no one would ever
convince me Brushy

Bill was not Billy the Kid.

NARRATOR: Brushy Bill's
friends and neighbors

have erected a memorial to
Brushy Bill Roberts which

reads, "He spent the last days
of his life trying to prove

to the world his true identity.

We believe his story, and pray
to God for the forgiveness

he solemnly asked for."

[theme music]

NARRATOR: In a
previous broadcast,

we examined the
strange disappearance

of Angelo Desideri, a
58-year-old businessman who

lived in a suburb
of Phoenix, Arizona.

On the morning of
Monday, June 6, 1998,

Angelo failed to
open his gift shop.

Concerned, his friends
called the police.

They arrived at Angelo's house
and discovered it undisturbed.

It appeared that Angelo had
been interrupted while preparing

a mid-afternoon meal.

A neighbor fueled
police suspicion

when he said he had seen
Angelo's Cadillac speed

off the Sunday he disappeared.

LEW DEAN: It was very
difficult to see-- of course,

I couldn't see any
facial characteristics--

and it just appeared to be
a person taller than Angelo.

It wasn't like Angelo to pull
out without acknowledging me.

NARRATOR: At 6:32
on Monday evening,

30 hours after
Angelo disappeared

and 400 miles away from
Phoenix, a 1985 Cadillac

was found ablaze in the
San Diego parking lot.

Gasoline had been
used to set the fire.

Investigators traced
the owner of the car.

It belonged to Angelo Desideri.

We looked in the trunk
and found absolutely nothing

in that trunk that
would have been

there other than the
jack-- no carpet,

no padding, no spare time.

Basically, this tells us that
there could have been something

in the vehicle that was
transported in that vehicle,

and when it was taken out they
took the carpet and the padding

and wrapped it all
in one unit and took

everything out of the vehicle,
including the spare tire.

NARRATOR: For over eight months,
investigators and friends

were baffled as to the motive
for Angelo's disappearance.

Update-- on March
16, Phoenix police

charged a local resident,
Joe Calo, with conspiracy

to commit armed robbery and
burglary on Angelo Desideri.

They learned that Calo was a
friend and business associative

of Angelo, and had
detailed information

concerning his disappearance.

Joe Calo told us that
all the information he had

was told to him by James Majors.

NARRATOR: James
Majors had worked

with Calo in construction.

He is currently in a
California jail facing

several counts of murder.

TIM AHUMADA: During the
interview of Joe Calo,

he stated that Majors went to
the house, got into the house

by ringing the doorbell and
asking for a glass of water,

then took Angelo at gunpoint
and robbed the house.

He was taken out of the
house at that time by Majors

and driven out into the desert.

NARRATOR: Calo's claims that
somewhere between Phoenix

and San Diego, Majors
murdered Angelo and then

placed the body in the
trunk of the Cadillac

and continued on
toward San Diego.

The following morning, Majors
goes to a hardware store--

we're not sure where; we
believe it's in some small town

between here and
California-- where he

purchased a pick and a shovel.

NARRATOR: Calo's claims
that after buying the tools,

Majors told him
that he had driven

down a desert
backroad to an area

adjacent to a rundown house.

He then buried Angelo
near a large tree.

According to Calo, Majors
did a really unique thing.

And that is, as he's
leaving the gravesite,

he stopped and gave
the shovel and the pick

to the poor people that
lived in that shack.

And then he exited
onto the highway

and drove into California.

NARRATOR: Joe Calo also told
investigators that Majors

had a storage locker.

Police searched the
locker and recovered

property belonging to Angelo.

These items were traced
back to the Desideri home.

Next, the story of Charles
Mule a model policeman--

or so his partners thought.

In reality, Charles Mule is
an accused child molester

and wanted fugitive.

[theme music]

NARRATOR: Surrounded
by swamps and bayous,

Slidell, Louisiana lies on
the outskirts of New Orleans.

Slidell is a conservative
community, an unlikely setting

for a shocking series of crimes
that ended in a local motel

room over four years ago.

The evening of March 1 of
1985, 36-year-old Charles Mule

escorted a 12-year-old
girl to his rented room.

Moments later,
police arrested Mule.

They charged him with the
sexual molestation of a minor.

The authorities knew
the suspect well.

Charles Mule was a
fellow police officer.

In fact, he was a
sergeant in charge

of sexual offenses at the
Slidell Police Department.

The young girl was a
child he was counseling.

One of the most
wrenching things that

can face law
enforcement officers

is when one of
their own goes bad.

Charles Mule's arrest
outraged his former partners.

They found it hard to
believe that one of their own

could have betrayed
the public trust

in such a shocking fashion.

But the evidence was
all too convincing.

Because of the nature
of these offenses,

we've used actors to portray
the 12-year-old victim

and her family.

We've also changed their names.

Hey, man.

Yeah, what can I do for you?

Yeah, I'm looking
for some smoking dope.

NARRATOR: Sergeant
Mule was a highly

regarded undercover officer in
Slidell's Police Department.

In 1983, he was
chosen as Slidell's

police officer of the year.

Mule was so adept in
his undercover disguise

that he once arrested the same
felon three different times

without being recognized.

Sheriff's office.

You're under arrest.

Up against the truck.

NARRATOR: After his transfer to
the sexual molestation detail

in 1981, he was
assigned to the case

of a 12-year-old girl who'd
been upset by the advances

of an older boy.

My daughter and a friend
of hers in the neighborhood

had come to me
complaining about a boy

who had been harassing them
very badly in the neighborhood.

And I talked to the
other girl's mother,

and we both decided it might be
a good idea to call the police

station to report this boy.

So all you're really
going to be doing

is talking to Sergeant Mule.

He's probably going to
ask you a few questions.

We finally did appear
at the police station.

That was the first encounter
we had with Sergeant Mule.

We're the Joseph's.

Sargeant Mule.

How you doin', fokls?

You must be Claire.

Well, come on in.

VICTIM'S MOTHER: I had no
reason not to trust him.

I never regarded him as
anything but a policeman.

Sergeant Mule, a policeman.

If you folks don't mind,
you can sit out here.

NARRATOR: Mule not only
deceived the parents,

but his fellow officers had
no idea of his activities.

He and I worked most
of the sex crime cases

that were reported to the
Slidell Police Department

at that time,
adult and juvenile.

We saw each other,
of course, every day.

We worked cases together.

I thought he handled
himself very professionally.

When I worked with
him, I thought Charlie

was pretty good policeman.

Well, folks, I think
I've got this figured out.

And we may have a problem.

I don't want you to
be too concerned.

I'm going to have to
interview your daughter.

I'm going to have to
interview the boy again.

VICTIM'S MOTHER:
Later on, when he

would call the house about
her, he would say, why

don't you bring her down here?

And you don't need to wait.

It's ridiculous for you
to sit there and wait.

And I said, OK.

No sooner had I
turned the block,

he was leaving
the police station

with her, walking past other
policemen, put her in the car,

and they would leave.

NARRATOR: Mule took the
young girl to a motel room

that he had reserved
for undercover work.

Our daughter started changing.

I knew that something was
bothering my daughter,

because she would say,
Daddy, don't look at me.

NARRATOR: The girl
stated that Mule had been

seeing her for four months.

She could no longer take
the emotional strain.

She told her parents
what had been occurring.

And all I could keep saying
over and over in my mind was,

I can't believe
that he did this.

I remember her telling
me how relieved

she was to get it all out.

NARRATOR: In order to gather
more incriminating evidence,

police, in consultation with
a reluctant Joseph family,

asked the 12-year-old
girl to make

one more rendezvous with Mule.

This time, the
motel room would be

used as a trap with
a hidden video camera

to secure just enough
evidence for prosecution.

Sheriff's office.

Freeze.

You're under arrest.

NARRATOR: Before the girl
could be compromised,

Mule was arrested by
his fellow officers

and booked for
child molestation.

Bend over a little bit.

CATHY PORTER: I
received a phone call

that Charlie had been
arrested and charged

with molestation of a juvenile.

And I was flabbergasted.

I didn't know how to act.

I really didn't.

I was sick on my stomach.

I thought it was some
mistake, because I'd known him

for a long time and this was
nothing in his personality

that I ever saw.

Having to investigate
another policeman,

especially one that I
had been partners with,

was the hardest
thing I've ever done.

I don't know what else to say.

It was the hardest thing
that I've ever done.

OK, Mommy's going to be
here in a little while.

We're going to go to
my office up here, OK?

CATHY PORTER: I was mad.

I was unhappy.

I'm mad now.

We're gonna go right up here
to the office on the corner,

OK?

OK.

We're going to record
our conversation,

and then I'm going to
ask you some questions

about Charlie Mule.

One of those questions will be,
how did you come to meet him?

Mom and Dad brought me
to the police station,

and that was how.

CATHY PORTER: It was
probably the hardest

statement I ever took.

It was hard for me to
sit there and listen to

that child say some of
the things she said.

Yes.

CATHY PORTER: Would he
talk to you or to your mom?

To me.

CATHY PORTER: And what
would he say when he called?

He would say to make up a
day to tell my mom or dad,

and he would meet me somewhere.

NARRATOR: Officer
Porter began to go

through Mule's personal files.

She was hoping that the
alleged molestation of the girl

was an isolated incident.

Apparently, it was not.

If your honor, please,
considering the serious gravity

of these offenses--

NARRATOR: On September
27, 1985, Charles Mule

was indicted on over 25 counts
relating to the molestation

and rape of six young girls.

JUDGE: The fact that the
defendant has no prior record

and has serviced the
community in the past--

NARRATOR: Mule was
released on $150,000 bail.

He adamantly denied
all of the charges.

Eight months later,
on May 11, 1986,

Mule was reported missing.

It was the morning of his trial.

Two days later, his pickup
truck was found abandoned

on the Pass Manchac Bridge.

The initial assumption was
that he had taken his life

rather than face the
ordeal of a public trial.

I was one of
the first officers

to show up at the scene of it
when the truck was located.

It with my gut
feeling at that time

that no, he had not jumped,
had not committed suicide.

Of course, you have to go
on more than gut feeling.

So we had to drag the lake.

NARRATOR: The Sheriff's
department spent several days

searching the Bayou
Manchac Lake in the hopes

of finding Mule's body.

Tributaries and
backwaters were also

searched, as there
was a chance the body

might have washed ashore.

Nothing was found.

Two days later, an anonymous
phone call was made

to the sheriff's department.

A person told them that a
suicide note signed by Mule

had been left in a
service station restroom

five miles away from where
the pickup had been found.

The letter read in
part, "I was not

guilty of any of these charges.

They have persecuted
me for no reason.

Please forgive me for
what I have done."

There's no way you can
convince me that Charlie

Mule committed suicide.

I do not believe that at all.

I did not believe it the
day the note was found.

I did not believe
the note at all.

I believe that the note
was part of the game

that Charlie was
playing, and he's

been playing since he left here,
whatever the rest of it is.

NARRATOR: The day after the
discovery of the suicide note,

a fishermen believed he saw
Mule emerging from the swamp.

This was closely followed
by another sighting.

In this case, the
witness was fired upon

by a man dressed in
hospital clothes,

a favorite outfit of Mule's.

Let

Later, when he made his
report to the police,

he picked out Charles Mule
as the person who shot him.

That's him right there.

Number five?

We were convinced more than
ever that Charles was alive,

that he was in this
area and he had

not moved far from this area.

NARRATOR: Almost two years
after his disappearance,

another anonymous tip
led police to a trailer

near a local swamp.

They had been told
that Mule was inside.

Clear.

Clear on this end.

NARRATOR: Authorities
believed that Mule

was tipped off by some of
his former police associates.

I think somebody told him
we were coming in the law

enforcement community.

I think they notified him
that we were looking at him,

that we were close to
him, and then he ran.

Of course, Charlie
was a policeman too.

So he is aware of
the way policemen

handle a case, surveillance,
and so forth and so on.

Charlie did a lot
of surveillance.

Looking back at
it now, I think

that he enjoyed
working undercover

so much that right
now, he's just

playing the undercover game.

But now it's real for him.

Before, he was
playing the police

officer working underover.

But now he has to go undercover.

So I think he's enjoying it.

NARRATOR: Almost
three years have

passed since Mule disappeared.

Police believe he may be hiding
in the swampland near Slidell,

living a solitary,
Rambo-like existence.

I think Charlie enjoys
the thrill of the chase.

He enjoys the game.

And Charlie always
needs to win the game.

I don't want him
to win this time.

He doesn't have the
right to win this time.

NARRATOR: Charles Mule
has been captured.

Within minutes of
our July broadcast,

the FBI received several calls
from viewers who reported

that Mule was living in
Ocala, Florida, 30 miles south

of Gainesville, under
the assumed name

Joseph John [inaudible].

Mule had seen our broadcast,
and left the Ocala area

for approximately three weeks.

When he returned
on August 3, he was

arrested by FBI agents
and Marion County,

Florida Sheriff's deputies.

For every mystery,
there is someone

somewhere who knows the truth.

Perhaps that
someone is watching.

Perhaps it's you.

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