All language subtitles for Unsolved.Mysteries.S05E21.480p.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-PLAYREADY_track3_[und]

ANNOUNCER: This program is
about unsolved mysteries.

Whenever possible, the
actual family members

and police officials
have participated

in recreating the events.

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

ROBERT STACK: When investigative
reporter Dan Casolaro was found

dead in a West
Virginia hotel room,

his wrists had been
slashed 12 times,

and his confidential
papers were missing.

Local police ruled
his death a suicide,

but Casolaro's
family and friends

are convinced he was
murdered because he had

accumulated compelling evidence
of widespread government

corruption.

In Fort Lauderdale, Florida, a
single mother and her daughter

are found dead in their home.

A neighbor, John Purvis,
is convicted of murder

and sentenced to life in prison.

With the help of
"Unsolved Mysteries,"

Purvis is now a free
man, and two other men

are behind bars awaiting
trial on charges

of first degree murder.

Also the authorities
need your help.

They want to
identify and capture

a man who attacked
an elderly couple

while they were on vacation.

Join me.

Perhaps you hold
the crucial clue

that will solve one of
tonight's unsolved mysteries.

[music playing]

[music playing]

[knocking]

Housekeeping.

ROBERT STACK: On what seemed
like an ordinary Saturday

afternoon in the summer
of 1991, a housekeeper

at the Sheraton Hotel opened
room 517 for routine cleaning.

Nothing could prepare her
for what she found inside.

Oh, god.

ROBERT STACK: Lying in
a tub of bloody water

was a guest registered
to the room.

Clearly, the man was dead.

[screams]

The housekeeper
discovered the body

of Danny Casolaro, a 44-year-old
investigative journalist

from Fairfax, Virginia.

Within minutes,
Martinsburg police

were called to investigate.

In the room, they found
a brief suicide note

which read, to my
loved ones, please

forgive me, most especially
my son, and be understanding.

God will let me in.

Hi, Tom.

Lieutenant.

What do you got here?

It seems pretty
clear it's a suicide.

We got a note here.

Got about a dozen slash
marks on the wrist.

ROBERT STACK: In
the bathtub, police

recovered a single razor blade.

Incredibly, Casolaro's
wrists were slashed

12 times, with eight
cuts on his left wrist

and four on his right.

One cut was deep enough
to sever a tendon.

The reporter's wallet
was found in his room

with cash and
credit cards intact.

There appeared to be no
evidence of a struggle.

Why don't you wrap it
up here as quickly as you

can, and we'll get out of here?

Good job.

You got it.

ROBERT STACK:
Casolaro's body was

delivered to a Martinsburg
funeral home later Saturday

afternoon.

However, two days passed
before Casolaro's family

was notified of his death.

My mother called me and, you
know, she said, Danny's dead.

They've killed him.

And I called the
police at that point,

and she didn't really
know any details,

and spoke with the Sergeant
doing the investigation.

Hi.

This is Dr. Tony Casolaro.

I'm calling about
Danny Casolaro.

Yes.

I just spoke with the mother.

How can I help you?

Yes.

What happened?

And he said, we
found your brother,

and he committed suicide.

Committed suicide.

The hotel maid
found his body when

she went in to clean his room
on Saturday around 1 o'clock.

Saturday?
This is Monday!

ROBERT STACK: I asked
them why it had taken

them two days to notify
us, and he, at that moment,

didn't know.

He just said he thought we
had already been notified.

Sir, no.

Look, what do you
know about my brother?

I started asking him questions.

What about all the
papers he had with them?

The investigation he was doing?

And the Sergeant was clearly--

really didn't have
any idea about this.

And, at that point, told me they
found no papers in his room.

ROBERT STACK: The
papers Martinsburg

had with him in
Martinsburg included

hundreds of notes and
documents from more

than a year of investigation.

Not one has ever been found.

From the moment we heard
about his reported suicide,

we doubted it, questioned
it, wondered about it.

It was not his nature
to kill himself,

so we were suspicious
from the first.

And then the deeper we dug
into it, the more suspicious

we became.

Suspicious circumstances
surrounding the investigation

of his alleged suicide.

ROBERT STACK: Danny
Casolaro's fear

of blood tests and
minor medical procedures

was well known to his family.

They found it
incomprehensible that he

committed suicide by slashing
his wrists a dozen times.

Just days before his
death, Danny Casolaro

enthusiastically
told friends he was

close to breaking the story that
had consumed him the past year.

It had started as an inquiry
into computer software theft,

but soon mushroomed into a broad
investigation of government

corruption that Casolaro
believed implicated US

Justice Department officials.

Many suspect that Casolaro
was silenced because he

had found out too much.

Danny Casolaro's
strange odyssey began

when he interviewed
Bill and Nancy Hamilton,

the owners of a computer
software company called INSLAW.

First of all, when was the
promised software developed,

and what was it for?

Well, there's a big need
for this kind of software.

ROBERT STACK: The Hamiltons had
developed a powerful program

called "Promise,"
that they claimed

revolutionized
information management

by law enforcement agencies.

In 1980, the US
Justice Department

purchased the INSLAW
software to handle

their millions of case files.

Initially, the program
earned high praise and

handsome returns for INSLAW.

Then the climate at
Justice suddenly changed.

What we'll do first
is bring up the menu.

At the beginning of the
second year of the three-year

contract, the Justice
Department began to withhold

payments from INSLAW.

And they withheld a couple of
million dollars from INSLAW,

drove INSLAW into
Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

ROBERT STACK: The
Hamiltons then discovered

that the Canadian government
had acquired their software,

despite the fact
that INSLAW had never

sold the program to Canada.

What sort of funny
things started happening?

ROBERT STACK: The
Hamiltons told Casolaro

that they were mystified by
illegal sales of their software

until they spoke to a man
named Michael Riconosciuto.

He claimed to have
worked for the CIA

on numerous top secret projects.

Riconosciuto agreed to talk
to "Unsolved Mysteries"

about the unauthorized
use of INSLAW software

by clandestine agencies.

Well, the parties
that were involved

in the distribution
of the software

were involved in
covert operations.

And they were involved in
Nicaragua and Central America,

and they were involved in
operations in the Middle East.

And, yes, I have direct
knowledge of funds

from the sale of this
product being used

to finance those operations.

ROBERT STACK: As early
as August of 1989,

the brewing INSLAW scandal
had drawn the attention

of Congress, and the
House Judiciary Committee

opened a formal inquest.

The report describes a
committee's investigation

into serious allegations
that high-level Department

of Justice officials were
involved in a criminal

conspiracy to force INSLAW,
a small computer company,

out of business.

ROBERT STACK:
Michael Riconosciuto

began telling his story to
committee investigators.

Within a week of submitting
his sworn affidavit

to the committee, Riconosciuto
was arrested on drug charges

by agents of the
Justice Department.

He is currently being
held in federal custody

in Chicago, Illinois.

Committee will reconvene.

ROBERT STACK: While the
drug conviction [inaudible]

Riconosciuto's credibility,
the committee also

heard from a witness with
impeccable credentials,

Elliot Richardson.

Now legal counsel
for the Hamiltons,

Richardson was Attorney
General under Richard Nixon.

In 1973, Richardson
had resigned,

rather than participate
in the Watergate cover up.

There is simply too
much to be ignored.

In the case of INSLAW,
there's a spreading radius

of circumstantial evidence
which, at its outer reaches,

entails a far more
sinister kind of conspiracy

than anything
revealed in Watergate.

Do you have any information
as to whether or not they

acquired the promised software?

ROBERT STACK: After
months of investigation,

Casolaro believed he had
uncovered an unsavory network

of US officials,
organized crime members,

and intelligence agents.

He called it "the octopus."

[inaudible] or is that being
used by their intelligence

operations?

ROBERT STACK: Casolaro
claimed the octopus was

at the root of not only the
INSLAW affair, but the Iran

Contra scandal, BCCI, BNL,
and even the now largely

discredited October surprise.

In short, just about every
major scandal of the 1980s.

[inaudible] direct connections
with some of the underworld

crime figures.

ROBERT STACK: The deeper
Casolaro went in search

of the octopus, the more he
found himself on intimate terms

with shadowy characters.

Danny Casolaro stepped into a
world that he didn't belong in.

The type of people
that he became

involved with lie just
as a matter of course.

I think after awhile
soon you don't even

know what the real truth is.

They lie, they cheat.

They are people who've been
involved in numerous murders.

Dealing drugs, dealing arms.

And Danny Casolaro
thought he could

find his way through this
labyrinth by himself.

And that was a mistake.

Are they serious?

I don't know.

I don't think so.

ROBERT STACK: A
week before he died,

Casolaro told his brother
he had been receiving

frequent death threats.

Who are these guys?

Well, I don't know.

I mean, I know a couple of them.

They're the guys that I've
been working with, my contacts.

And they're calling me
and saying, look, Danny,

you're getting too close.

You're going to get hurt.

Back off.

And I'm getting calls in
the middle of the night

from guys I've never heard of.

I don't recognize their voices.

I don't know where
they're coming from.

They're just saying,
you are going to die.

I'll tell you this, though.

When I go to Martinsburg,
if something happens to me

or if I should get hurt, don't
believe it's an accident.

[music playing]

ROBERT STACK: With briefcases
full of notes and documents,

Casolaro arrived in Martinsburg
to meet with several informants

and conclude his investigation.

He had been tracking the
finances of the octopus

and believed one
of his new contacts

would deliver key evidence.

Danny had a source there
inside the IRS's computer data

center that was giving
him hard copy printouts

of IRS information on
certain specific targets

that Danny was after.

William Turner?

And you are?

- Danny Casolaro.
- Get in.

ROBERT STACK: The
day before he died,

Casolaro met with another
source, William Turner,

a former employee of a
major defense contractor.

Do you have some
documentation?

You have some for me?

Driver's license.

ROBERT STACK:
According to Turner,

he handed over
paperwork documenting

corruption that
Casolaro believed

was tied to the octopus.

[knocking]

Housekeeping.

ROBERT STACK: Within 24 hours,
Casolaro would be found dead,

and Turner's documents would
disappear, along with the rest

of Casolaro's papers.

In response to the controversy
surrounding Casolaro's death,

authorities in West Virginia
convened a formal inquest,

including a complete autopsy.

[inaudible] from the
state of West Virginia.

He said, well, you know,
he's already been embalmed,

and that's going to make
it a little difficult.

And I said, what are
you talking about he's

already been embalmed?

And he said, well, he was
embalmed apparently already.

He said, you didn't know that?

I said, absolutely not.

I said, we didn't
give any permission.

I said, is that how it's--
what's supposed to happen?

He said, no, that's not--

he said, but we'll just
have to look into that.

I am now going to cut the
sutures to examine the wounds.

The The autopsy confirmed that
bleeding from the 12 razor cuts

had resulted in Danny
Casolaro's death.

More importantly, the
autopsy disclosed evidence

suggesting Casolaro may not have
been alone in the hotel room

during the final
moments of his life.

Six cuts on the flexor
surface of the left wrist.

I was told there were
no signs of any struggle.

There was on-- the actual
autopsy report described

a bruise on the arm and
a bruise on the head,

which were never accounted for.

Additionally, the tips
of three fingernails

were missing from one hand.

You know, the other things--
the embalming, the whatever,

you think, well,
you know, things can

happen and just accept things.

But this, they did
not tell us the truth.

He had bruises on him.

ROBERT STACK: Casolaro's his
hotel room had been cleaned

the day after his death by a
professional cleaning crew,

and the workers inadvertently
discarded important evidence.

The previous day, minutes after
Casolaro's body had been found,

one of the Sheraton
housekeepers noticed two

bloody towels in the bathroom.

They appeared to have
been used to wipe

blood off the bathroom floor.

The question of who
tried to clean up

the floor with the towels
has never been addressed

by West Virginia authorities.

The police reports
of the investigation

are certainly not professional.

Fingerprints get
lost, messed up.

They drain the tub
without a strainer.

Sloppy work.

What were the towels
doing underneath the sink?

The police did not check them.

Police have a rule
in this country,

and government
people have a rule.

When they screw
up, they cover up.

Sad, but true.

Do I think they covered up here?

Yes, I do.

There is enough evidence that
he was murdered so that there

should have been a much
more intensive investigation

than there has been.

I don't know enough
to know for sure.

But all that I do
know makes me believe

that it is more likely
that he was murdered

than that he committed suicide.

Our brother, Danny
Casolaro, has gone to his rest

in the peace of Christ.

With faith and hope
in eternal life--

ROBERT STACK: Even Casolaro's
funeral was clouded by mystery.

As the ceremony was
drawing to a close,

a highly decorated military
officer arrived in a limousine.

It was really unusual,
because I noticed

this tall, stoic looking black
man in full military dress,

standing there with this like
plain clothes type of guy.

ROBERT STACK: Just before
the casket was lowered

into the ground, the
military man carefully placed

a medal on the casket lid.

And we went back to Frances's
house, Danny's mother's house.

And I said, Frances, who
was the military man?

And she said, I
thought you'd know.

Don't you know that guy?

And I said, no.

And we asked everyone there.

There had to be 50 people
at Frances's house.

No one knew who they were.

No one.

ROBERT STACK: The official
inquiry into Casolaro's death

was concluded more
than a year ago.

However, Casolaro's clothing,
wallet, suicide note,

and other personal
items had been

retained with no explanation
by the investigators.

[music playing]

[interposing voices]

ROBERT STACK: Meet
the O'Neill children

of Southern California.

Six happy, well-adjusted adults.

To look at them, you would never
guess that their early years

were wracked by trauma.

In 1958, the untimely death
of their father, Paul O'Neill,

precipitated the first in
a series of family secrets

that would haunt the
children for years.

ROBERT STACK:
Within every family

that harbors deep
secrets, it seems

there was someone determined
to uncover the truth.

The O'Neills are no different.

For Bill, the youngest
son, this quest

would lead him through a tangled
web of intrigue, woven out

of desperation by his mother.

Eventually, Bill would
unravel the mysteries

of his family's past and
begin a remarkable search--

first, for the sister he
thought was lost forever,

and now for his natural father.

Bill O'Neill's personal
odyssey began in adolescence.

Throughout his childhood,
he was plagued by a nagging,

inexplicable loneliness.

I was pretty to
myself as a kid.

I mean, I didn't have like
a great deal of friends

or anything like that.

Pretty much just sat in front
of the TV a lot of the time.

I was told, from the
earliest that I can remember,

that Hugh O'Neill was my father,
and I was the last child born

by him before he passed away.

I felt it inside
though about feeling

a little bit different with
the other kids growing up.

Like I was the only
one with hazel eyes,

and everybody else had
these bright blue eyes.

My skin was more
like an olive skin,

where they were fairer skinned.

Not that anything was ever
said to me or anything

like that that was
different than anybody else.

Like my mom didn't
treat me any different.

Just a feeling inside,
like something was lost.

ROBERT STACK: Years passed.

The O'Neill children grew up
and started their own families.

In 1983, Bill's older brother,
Tim, journeyed to Chicago

with his wife and child
to visit his father's

grave site for the first time.

Hugh.

That's his middle name, but
mom always called him Paul.

When we got there, we
found out the date of death

on my father was
December 20th of 1958,

which made it impossible for
Bill to be one of his children.

ROBERT STACK: Tim was bewildered
by the indisputable fact

that his father had died two
full years before his brother

Bill was born.

When he returned
to California, Tim

went to see the only
person who could sort

out the baffling discrepancy.

I went to my mother's
house, and she had told me

that she didn't want Bill to
know about this, or anybody

else in the family
to know about it,

and that she would basically
take it to her grave.

She didn't want anybody in the
family to know about the dates

and what had
transpired years ago.

Back in the bedroom!

ROBERT STACK: Against
his better judgment,

Tim respected his
mother's wishes

and kept her secret to himself.

What's up?

Nothing.

I was in the neighborhood,
so I thought I'd drop by.

ROBERT STACK: But by
1986, Tim had decided

to tell his brother the truth.

He was stunned to discover
that Bill had always suspected.

Whatever happened with
you and Mom, anyway?

I mean, I can't even
mention your name

without her getting upset.

Yeah, well, that's
because you don't

know about the O'Neill secret.

What are you talking about?

It's nothing.

No, tell me.

Ask her.

No.

I'm asking you.

I knew what he
was going to say.

I had the feeling
already inside.

Is it that I have a
different father than you guys?

Yeah.

Just had a feeling.

I felt like all
the years that I

had been feeling the way I felt
was sort of just all confirmed.

And now, where do
I go from here?

I remember just going into sort
of like a shock mode, though.

You know?

I'm feeling real empty.

Later on that night when
I confronted my mother,

she didn't deny it or
anything like that.

She asked me how I had found
out, but she did not deny it.

And it went real well.

I mean, I didn't have any kind
of animosities towards her

at all.

ROBERT STACK: Bill's
mother told him that she

had met Paul O'Neill in 1953.

He was 29, she was only 20.

It was love at first sight.

And by the next summer,
they were married.

Over the next four years, Paul
and Lynn had three children

and bought a house on
Chicago's South Side.

Their happiness,
however, would not last.

Paul O'Neill was a
World War II veteran

and suffered from a
chronic kidney ailment.

Oh, honey, here's Daddy!

ROBERT STACK: By
November of 1958,

Lynn was eight months
pregnant with her fourth child

and Paul was spending
most of his time

in Chicago's VA hospital.

Hi, honey.

Hi.

Telephone please, Dr. Klein.

How are you doing?

Oh, getting by.

ROBERT STACK: On one
visit, Lynn O'Neill met

another veteran
named Jim Burke, who

was a good friend of Paul's.

Hey, Jim.

So this must be
the beautiful lady

you've been keeping from me.

ROBERT STACK: Sadly, within a
month, Paul O'Neill would die.

Nice meeting you.

Nice to meet you.

I've heard so much about you.

Whoa!

Oh, that was terrific!

ROBERT STACK: It
wasn't long before Jim

Burke became a familiar presence
in the O'Neill household.

[inaudible]

Come on in!

Door's open!

I remember that there was a
man that was around our house,

and he had dark kind of wavy
hair, and he had dark eyes.

But I don't put a name with him.

I don't know what his name is.

But I'm comfortable
that this man is there.

Come on, [inaudible].

Let's go.

ROBERT STACK: During
the summer of 1959,

Jim Burke moved to
Southern California.

Lynn and her children
soon followed.

A year later, in September of
1960, Lynn gave birth to Bill.

The next year, Lynn
became pregnant again.

But her relationship with Jim
Burke had begun to deteriorate.

By the time the child, a
daughter named Peggy, was born,

Jim was completely
out of the picture.

I believe that they
didn't get along well,

and they didn't see eye
to eye on a lot of things,

and it was a rough time.

But, to my knowledge,
Jim didn't leave just

because he wanted to leave.

He left because they
mutually decided

that they should separate.

[inaudible] watch
your brothers, please?

ROBERT STACK: Lynn
struggled to support

all six children by herself.

Compounding the difficulties
were Peggy's health problems.

She suffered from an ailment
called "failure to thrive"

and was in constant need
of medical attention.

When Peggy was 11 months old,
Lynn told the other children

that she was sending
her to the hospital,

but Peggy would never come home.

All of a sudden, one
day, she said she took her

to the doctor,
and that they were

going to keep her for
awhile, to observe her

or something like that.

So we just all accepted it.

And then, later on, we were
told that she had passed away.

ROBERT STACK: In 1990,
Bill's mother, Lynn, revealed

another shocking family secret.

Her youngest daughter,
Peggy, had not died.

She had been given away.

I need to talk to you, Bill.

I need to tell you something.

Sure.

What is it?

Remember us talking about
your little baby sister, Peggy?

ROBERT STACK: At
Peggy's request,

her adoptive parents
had contacted

Lynn, who now felt compelled
to tell Bill the entire story.

Why?

She's alive, and
she wants to meet you.

She laid this sort of
bombshell on me that night,

and the only thing that
went through my head

was, boy, I want
to go and meet her!

You know?

I felt-- I felt good inside.

ROBERT STACK: Peggy had been
adopted by Jeri and Richard

Coleman of Sylmar, California.

They named her
Karen and raised her

in a stable and loving home.

I got her adoptive parents'
phone number from my mom,

because I wanted to find out.

Like, you know,
what was she like?

What did she do growing up?

Different things like
that, because I wanted to--

because we had already
set up a meeting to meet

like a week and a
half or so later,

but I couldn't wait till then.

[phone ringing]

ROBERT STACK: With
mounting anticipation,

Bill called Peggy's parents.

He never expected his
sister to answer the phone.

Hello?

I was calling her parents,
just to talk to her parents

and get a little insight on her.

So when she answered
the phone and told me,

hi, this is Karen, your
sister, I just went,

ah, I'm not ready for you!

I'm not ready to talk to you.

I don't know what to say to you.

That's exactly
what I said to her.

I think it was--

I don't know.

I just finally put a voice
to a person, you know?

I finally made the connection
that this person really

does exist.

There's me with
Santa Claus, yeah.

And there I am as
the little skinny--

Squirrel.

Yeah, maybe.

ROBERT STACK: In three
years since Bill and Karen

were reunited, they
have become as close

as any brother and sister.

In fact, the entire
O'Neill family has

welcomed Karen with open arms.

But now she and Bill
have set their sights

on one final goal--

finding their natural
father, Jim Burke.

It just seems like a piece
of a jigsaw puzzle that

needs to be put into place.

I mean, now as a mother, I
can't imagine being a parent

and not knowing
where my child is.

I don't want to, you know, get
into his life to tear it apart

or anything like that.

I just-- I'd like to know
him or meet him or anything.

And, you know, to have him know
that I'm OK and Karen's OK.

ROBERT STACK: On the night of
our broadcast, a woman named

Eileen Esler of
New Lenox, Illinois

called our phone center
and identified herself

as one of Jim
Burke's four children

from his previous marriage.

Bill and Karen were saddened
to hear that their father had

passed away in 1988,
but they were overjoyed

that Eileen and another half
sister, Sheila Anne Haskins,

were anxious to meet them.

A week later, Bill
O'Neill, Karen [inaudible]

and their families
gathered at Karen's house

to await the arrival of
Eileen and Sheila Anne.

Hello there.

Hello!

Hello there!

Hi!

How are you?

[inaudible] I didn't know
I was going to do this.

I felt a connection,
a definite connection,

like when I reached
out to hug them.

I don't know.

I didn't-- I honestly--
to be honest, I just--

I didn't feel like
I was going to be

as emotionally tied as I felt.

Ditto.

ROBERT STACK: For
Sheila Anne and Eileen,

the bond was just as strong.

As soon as I saw Bill,
as soon as I saw his face,

there was absolutely no doubt in
my mind that he was a brother.

No doubt.

I felt wonderful.

I mean, like Sheila,
I wanted to touch him.

I just wanted to
touch him, to have

a baby brother and baby sister.

I know they're not.

They're so much
taller than we are.

[laughter]

OK.

This is our father.

Later that afternoon,
Bill and Karen

sat down with their
new sisters to learn

about their father, Jim Burke.

And how it was related to her?

This is what I
wondered all my life.

Who are my parents?

Do I have more family?

Did I have brothers and sisters?

Things like that.

And it's exciting to finally
see them, to touch them,

to get to know them.

ROBERT STACK: The reunion
was especially poignant

for Bill O'Neill.

His lifelong
feelings of isolation

were replaced with a
new sense of belonging.

I just-- I figured, hey,
we'll get together with them.

And we'll--

It'll be like
meeting neighbors.

Yeah, you know?

Get some pictures, get some
more information about our dad.

But it wasn't like that.

It wasn't like that at all.

It was more-- it was just
an inside, warm feeling

that everything
was now completed.

[laughter and tears]

ROBERT STACK: For Bill,
Karen, Eileen and Sheila Anne,

this was just the first of
many gatherings to come.

Bill and Karen have since met
one of their half brothers,

and next March, they hope
to meet another at a family

wedding in Illinois.

Also in attendance
will be a grandmother,

an aunt, and 12 cousins.

When we return, a
cold blooded killer

strikes at a scenic rest stop
in the Canadian wilderness.

This police videotape was
shot in Ontario, Canada,

13 hours after a
brutal double murder.

The place?

The Blind River
Rest Stop, just 85

miles from the US-Canadian
border on Highway 17.

We were looking
for a place to stop.

So we saw this rest area.

There was a nice, quiet river,
ran along by this picnic area.

We went out, and
we walked around.

And we thought, gee, we--

it's a nice quiet little spot.

We'll maybe spend
the night here.

ROBERT STACK: On the morning
of June 28th, 1991, Gord

and Jackie McAllister
of Lindsay,

Ontario were the only two people
in the Blind River Rest Stop.

The McAllisters, on the
first leg of a vacation trip,

had decorated their new
camper with family photographs

to make it as homey as possible.

[crickets chirping]

[knocking]

It's the police.

You've got to move this thing.

What?

Who is--

We both got up, and
this guy was still

banging on the side
of it and saying

that he was a police
officer, and he

wanted us to open the door.

I'll get it, honey.

I'll get it.

We should be all right here.

[coughing]

Oh my God!

I'm going to rob you.

Then I'm going to kill you.

- Oh, God.
- Get your things.

Get them in the purse.
- Get your purse.

We'll give him--

Please, [inaudible].

Do you want my ring?

Anything that's valuable.

Put it in there.

Please don't hurt us.

We won't tell anybody.

Be calm.

It's all right.

It's all right.

Oh, God!

Pick it up!

Please.

Please.

No, no.

Please.

Oh, no.

Please.

[gun shot]

She fell, and I made
a leap to get out.

[gun shot]

And I rolled underneath
the motor home,

and I noticed another car had
driven in to the rest area.

And this guy got out and
was standing beside the car.

Is there a problem, buddy?

No, no.

Not at all!

[engine sputtering]

[gun shot]

And I was laying
there just praying.

I was just praying to God
that he'd keep on running.

And he did.

Soon as he went by,
I rolled back out

and got up into our motor home
and drove out onto the highway.

I knew I had to get out onto
the highway to get some help.

ROBERT STACK: Gord knew that
his wife was horribly wounded.

But only as he
stumbled to the road

did he realize that
he, too, had been shot.

It was a race against time.

Bud, are you all right?

You've got to help me!

My wife and I have been shot.

Can we use your CB and
call for help, please?

My radio's broke, but
I'll get to the next exit

and call for help.

Hurry, please.

ROBERT STACK: Help did
come, but it was too late.

Gord's wife, Jackie,
was already dead.

We would have been married
39 years in September of '91.

I didn't care whether
I lived or died.

I honestly didn't care.

I thought my life was over.

You don't live that long
with a person and then--

it's hard to carry
on by yourself.

ROBERT STACK: The gunman's
other victim, Brian Major,

also died at the scene, less
than half an hour's drive

from his home.

Brian Major was 29 years old.

He left behind a
wife and a young son.

Five days after the
murders, Ontario papers

published a police artist
drawing of the gunman

based on Gordon
McAllister's description.

Shortly thereafter, a
witness came forward.

The witness said that a
few minutes after 1:00 AM

on the night of the murder,
a blue late model van

peeled out of the
Blind River Rest Area

and headed straight
toward his car.

The van continued dead east
toward Sudbury, Ontario.

The witness--
timing of what he saw,

and the account of
Gord McAllister,

certainly leads me to believe
that either that van was

the suspect's van or
it was perhaps somebody

in the rest area that
had seen something,

that had left quickly.

ROBERT STACK: The witness had
not seen whether the van had

Canadian or US license plates.

Police checked out more
than 3,500 blue vans

on both sides of the border.

Nothing.

The fortunate situation here
is that we do have a survivor.

Gord McAllister
survived his wounds,

and hopefully he can point
out the killer someday.

ROBERT STACK: After Gord looked
through hundreds of mug shots

to no avail, the police
turned to a sophisticated new

technology, hoping to improve
on the original rough sketch

of the killer.

That's close.
OK.

That's close.

No.

For five long hours,
Gord painstakingly

matched features from
the computer's files

against his indelible memories.

M-mm.

No.

No.

Slowly Slowly but inexorably,
the face of his wife's killer

emerged.

Yeah, that's it.

I'll never forget his face.

It wasn't a robbery gone bad.

There was no
resistance to this guy.

He just simply was going to
kill somebody for no reason.

I thought he was going
to come after me,

because I'm sure that he knows.

I'm the only one that
could identify him.

And I was under police
protection for a long time.

They were watching
me pretty closely,

and I thank them for that.

But I'm at the point now,
and I was even at the point

then, where I didn't
care if he came after me.

Maybe if he killed me then
maybe he'd get caught this time.

ROBERT STACK: The murderer
of Jackie McAllister

and Brian Major is believed to
be approximately 30 years old,

about 5 feet 10 inches
tall with a slight build.

He has long, stringy blond
hair and a receding hairline.

Next, a man wrongfully
accused of murder

is set free, thanks in part
to "Unsolved Mysteries."

[music playing]

ROBERT STACK: You're about
to see the story of a man

who suffers from schizophrenia.

Nearly a decade ago,
he became the victim

of the judicial system, unjustly
accused of a heinous crime

and imprisoned, while
the real perpetrators

walked the streets scot free.

On November 8th, 1983, police
in Fort Lauderdale, Florida

converged on the
home of Susan Hamwi.

They were responding
to a frantic call

from one of Susan's friends
who said Susan had not

answered her phone for days.

Susan was 38 years old,
divorced and the mother

of an 18-month-old
daughter, Shane.

Susan Hamwi was found
dead on her kitchen floor.

She had been sexually molested,
strangled with a telephone

cord, and finally
stabbed through the heart

with a carving knife.

Susan had been dead for
several days, during which time

a second, nearly unspeakable
tragedy had occurred.

Susan's daughter Shayne
had died from dehydration.

Police recovered two
crucial pieces of evidence

at the scene--

a bloody carving knife
with no fingerprints

on it and red human hair.

Statement?

What kind of statement?

ROBERT STACK: The
next day, detectives

canvassed Susan's neighborhood.

Two doors away, they
questioned 66-year-old Emma

Jo Bartlett and her 42-year-old
red-haired son, John Purvis.

- Well, I knew her a little bit.
- Oh, good.

Would you like to come
down to the station

and give a statement?

Well, if my mama
can come with me.

Would you come with me, mama?

Chad, you know why we're here.

ROBERT STACK: John's mother
went with him to the station

but was not allowed in
the interrogation room.

The detectives who
questioned John

were unaware that he
suffered from schizophrenia,

a physical disease of
the brain over which

the patient has no control.

Schizophrenics often
cannot tell the difference

between the real world and the
delusions that plague them.

When was the last
time you saw Susan?

Well, they asked
me if I knew Susan.

And I said, I just barely
knew the girl at all.

Then my mother came up,
and she busted in the door.

And she said, you have
no right to interrogate

my son like this.

She said, my son did
not kill the girl.

We don't know who killed girl.

Why aren't you out looking
for the real victim?

The real killer and everything?

That's what she told them when
she busted in and everything.

You get your hand off him!

If you've got something
[inaudible] lock him up.

We don't have anything on him.

Well, then, let him go!
Come on.

Get up.
Let him go!

We have some
questions for him.

ROBERT STACK: John's mother
took him in tow and stormed out.

But the police were determined
to question John Purvis alone.

Four weeks later,
they got their chance.

A psychiatrist, Dr. Joel Class,
was brought to the station

to administer a personality
test using TAT cards.

These cards feature
ambiguous drawings

which require interpretation.

One of the cards elicited
a most unusual reaction.

There's nothing on there.

There's nothing on there.

There's just people.

Will I have to go to jail?

Or can I go to a hospital?

I remember even feeling
intimidated, because he

showed such a strong reaction.

Do you think I did it?

And after saying several
times, do you think I did it?

Do you think I did it?

And I said, I don't know.

Because I didn't want to
use any leading comments.

And he said, I killed her.

I liked her.

And then implied that
she did not respond

to him in a favorable way.

ROBERT STACK:
Subsequently, Purvis

also confessed to the police.

Those detectives down there at
the police department told me.

They said, if you'll confess
that you killed Susan,

we'll let you go home.

So I had to say something
in order to get out there.

So I just said something.

I just said, I killed her.

That was all.

I had to make
something up, though.

At any time, did you
notice the different--

ROBERT STACK: At the trial,
only the confession to Dr. Class

was allowed into evidence.

Yes, he became very tense.

ROBERT STACK: Even though
that confession did not

match the details of the crime,
and even though John Purvis's

hair did not match the
hair found at the scene,

he was convicted of murdering
Susan Hamwi and her daughter,

Shane.

For 8 and 1/2 years, John
Purvis languished in prison.

His appeals exhausted, his
case apparently hopeless.

In 1987, a new defense attorney
was assigned to the case.

Last spring, he contacted
"Unsolved Mysteries."

We filmed John Purvis's story
and interest in the case

was renewed.

The Fort Lauderdale police
reopened their investigation

with stunning results.

The new investigation
focused on Susan Hamwi's

ex-husband, Paul, a
wealthy real estate

developer in Aspen, Colorado.

At the time of the murder,
Paul Hamwi was in Aspen

suffering from a broken leg.

Last summer, following up on a
tip they had received in 1985,

the Fort Lauderdale police
came to believe John Purvis

had not killed Susan Hamwi.

In return for immunity, a man
named Robert Beckett confessed

that he and an
accomplice, Paul Serio,

had been paid $14,000
to murder Susan.

The man who hired
them was Paul Hamwi.

His motive?

To avoid paying nearly
$180,000 in alimony.

In January of 1993,
Paul Hamwi and

and Paul Serio were arrested.

The same week, after
nine years spent

in prison for a crime
he did not commit,

John Purvis was released.

This feels good.

I just feel good about
it and everything.

This feels good.

[inaudible] do you think
I'll ever go home again?

I said, sure, you're
going to go home, John.

I know you are.

The excitement
of this whole case

was John Purvis being let out.

It's one of the most
circumstantial cases

we at Fort Lauderdale
have ever probably

had anybody convicted on it.

I can't sit here and
think of any other crime

that a man was convicted on
such circumstantial evidence.

But the problem is,
everybody believed it.

You know, I can't blame anybody.

It was just on a very,
very unfortunate mistake.

ROBERT STACK: On
February 24th, 1993

John Purvis was officially
exonerated in a formal hearing.

He is now back at
home with his mother.

Paul Hamwi and Paul Serio
have been charged with two

counts of first degree murder.

[music playing]

On our next "Unsolved
Mysteries," for centuries,

religious pilgrims have
journeyed to Mexico City

to offer prayers and thanks
to "Our Lady of Guadalupe,"

a remarkable depiction
of the Virgin

Mary imprinted on a piece
of rough cactus cloth.

Believers claim that the
striking image is truly

a miracle, created in
1531 when a vision of Mary

appeared to a peasant
named Juan Diego.

Skeptics say that while
"Our Lady of Guadalupe"

is an impressive work of
art, it is hardly miraculous.

Join me next time for the
celebration of the Easter

season and other intriguing
cases on another edition

of "Unsolved Mysteries."

[music playing]