- Joined
- Aug 20, 2015
This and Sightings. There was one about the elderly neighbor a little girl played with called Mr. Gordy and it turned out, she was playing with his ghost.
Unsolved Mysteries Reboot to premiere July 1st on Netflix
- Thread starter Scarlett Johansson
- Start date
RumblyTumbly
kiwifarms.net
- Joined
- Apr 13, 2018
Because I'm a sperg for the original show, here are the 15 cases that I remembered the most from my childhood (in no particular order):
1) The Blind River Rest Stop Killings
This was a particularly scary case of an unknown killer who targeted an older couple at night while they were spending the night at a rest stop. The killer stated his intentions to rob and kill the couple. He killed the wife, but as the husband tried to flee, the killer happened upon some poor guy driving to the location and shot him through his windshield, claiming a 2nd victim in the process. The segment was scary for its reenactment which showed the events took place in the dead of night and the killer was particularly scary looking with long stringy hair and waving two guns in the faces of his helpless victims. We also get a lengthy bit of the husband (the lone surviving witness) helping to construct a computerized image of the killer, which is made scary through the music UM decided to use. This case is also quite sad given how the husband is clearly haunted by the experience and the loss of his wife, even saying at one point that he wishes the killer would come after him now in the hopes that this time he might get caught.
The case remains unresolved, though a suspect that matches the description and has circumstantial ties to the Blind River Killings is currently in prison for unrelated murders. He has never been charged for the murders and the surviving witness sadly passed away in 2012.
2) The Arsonist Tape
In one of the most unique cases UM ever covered, a mysterious tape was found by a family on the side of the road and because curiosity is a powerful drug, they decided to watch it together. What they see is an arsonist filming his work. The arsonist declares his enjoyment as he watches a home burn. Sirens can be heard on the tape as the arsonist laughs and delights in what he's done.
Now looking at the tape and listening to the arsonist's voice, I could tell even back that this was a kid fucking around, likely a teen. He declares his love for Satan, talks about how he loves hell, and at one point even says something like "Ancient Spirits of Evil..." which I figured he must have gotten from Mumm-Ra from Thundercats. However, it was still terrifying to me. THIS is what kids do now when they fuck around? A part of me thought "Shit, am I going to turn into this when I'm 13?" (or however an 8 year old would phrase that). And his voice also weirdly sounds like he is mimicking Heath Ledger's Joker...almost two decades before The Dark Knight ever came out. This is one that really stuck with me.
The case was solved thanks to Unsolved Mysteries viewers providing tips that led to the identity of the teenagers responsible. The location of the burning house was identified as being from Redwood City CA and was a house under construction at the time it was burned out. Turns out a fire chief also filmed the fire for training purposes and they were able to determine that it was the same fire by comparing the two tapes. The two teenagers were tried as minors and served in Juvi and mental health facilities. The case was also featured on an episode of Cold Case Files, which showed other videos that the two teens had made.
3) The Cindy James Case
Now this one is fascinating. Its a case about a nurse who claimed to be tormented by some unknown assailants. She was ultimately found dead with drugs in her system and hogtied, yet authorities believed that she killed herself. On the surface, that sounds completely crazy until you dive into the full case...which also sounds completely nuts, but the suicide solutions seems a lot more plausible. Basically, this woman was terrorized by unknown forces. This included threatening messages, her basement being set on fire while she was in the house, and even her being assaulted, with people discovering her beat up and stabbed. There were suspects, like her ex-husband, but the more police investigated, the more they started to believe that this torment was self inflicted. Her behavior became somewhat questionable (why would she walk her dog in the middle of the night if she was under such constant torment?) and all of the situations could even be explained as something she was doing herself. UM left out the threatening voice messages, one of which you can find on Youtube, and it really does sound like a woman (possibly Cindy) putting on a scary voice (the voice message also went to her ex-husband, not her). Whatever was happening, Cindy was self committed to a mental institution at one point.
The UM segment tries to make it seem more likely that someone else was doing this too her, but its more up in the air than that. But even so? How did she wind up drugged up, hog tied, and dead? If she was the one doing it all herself, how was she able to pull that off? Its a weird case. Personally, I'm no expert, but looking at this objectively, I think there is a strong possibility that Cindy suffered from some severe mental disorders, maybe even some form of disassociation identity disorder where she was doing all this stuff to herself and didn't even know it.
The case has technically never been resolved as no definitive answer has ever been given for what exactly happened and it remains the subject of speculation to this day.
4) The Murder of Larry Dickens
This one has become somewhat infamous as a young Mr. "Alright Alright Alright" Matthew McConaughey played the victim Larry Dickens in the reenactment, though trust me when I say that is just a footnote in how crazy this whole case is (McConaughey never actually speaks during the segment). It is one of the most shocking and tragic segments the show ever did. It starts off with a woman fighting off a home invader with a gun (2nd amendment for the win!) but takes a turn as the woman identifies the potential attacker as looking like Edward Harold Bell, a killer on the run. This brings a renewed interest in the case and brings old horrible events to light.
So this is where it really gets insane. In the middle of the day, a (presumably) drunken Bell walked around a group of neighborhood children without his pants on. Larry Dickens told his mom to call the cops and went outside to confront him. He forced Bell to put his pants on and took his car keys away to keep him from fleeing the scene. His mother is then on the phone with the police and watches as Bell pulls out a gun and proceeds to shoot Larry over and over and over again, leaving Larry dead in the driveway with his mother watching this all go down. Its quite haunting, and its also one of the best acted reenactments in the series. Things get even crazier from there as there is a police chase, and Larry's sister even gets some shots in on him while he's in custody. Ultimately, it is one of the saddest and most disturbing cases in the show's run as it just felt so raw and unforgiving. Unfortunately, Bell got off on bail (what judge made that decision?!) and skipped town.
Good news? Thanks to tips from UM viewers, Bell was captured and finally put on trial for Larry's murder where he was found guilty. He died in prison just last year. Huzzah! Bell is also a suspect in several murders from the 70s, and believed to have partaken in some sickening sexual misconduct (to put in mildly). However, as far as I know, he was never officially identified as the home invader in the early portion of the segment.
5) The Connecticut River Killer
This segment was highlighting several unsolved murders that were thought to be the work of a serial killer. However, it is the surviving victim that provided one of the show's most terrifying (and miraculous) moments.
The victim in question was 7 months pregnant at the time of the attack and was just going to a vending machine at night, minding her own business. Now I bring up the vending machine because some people remember the segment for the machine obviously being a Pepsi machine, but the logo is lazily taped over to prevent getting sued. Still, the segment is one of sheer terror as the woman is assaulted and a kidnapping is attempted. When she fights back, the attacker stabs her repeatedly, and she plays dead to get him to stop. She stays on the ground as he drives away, and when the coast is clear, she gets in her car and starts speeding to a friend's house to get help. Now keep in mind, this woman is 7 months pregnant and was stabbed multiple times! There's something to be said for adrenaline rushes.
In her hectic driving however, she realizes something...she winds up RIGHT BEHIND HER WOULD BE KILLER'S CAR!!!! "What the fuck?!" doesn't even begin to cover it. Its one of those "reality is stranger than fiction" type of moments. She makes it to her friend's house, and collapses in front of the door. The attacker pulls up in front of the friend's lawn, stares them down, and then drives off. Its one of the most unreal and terrifying moments in the entire show. Fortunately, despite what happened, the woman survived and gave birth to a healthy baby.
Several suspects were named in the individual Connecticut River Killings and the attack on the heroine of this story, but none of them have ever been resolved.
6) The Murder of Dorthy Donovan
Speaking of reality being stranger than fiction, this is a case where I came out of it thinking one thing, and then ultimately got proven wrong. The story given by the key witness is so crazy that I never would have believed him, but I guess anything is possible.
So Charles picked up a stranger at a fast food restaurant that was looking for a ride to the hospital. The man in question bears a resemblance to Steve Urkel. Big round glasses, kind of dorky looking, but also black (which I will use to make a point later). Charles gives him a lift and the stranger suddenly turns violent, wanting to steal the car and threatens to stab Charles with a screw driver. Charles gets out of the car and there is a chase, until Charles is able to get back to the car and leave the man behind. Charles deliberately drives away from his home to keep the man from following him. After some time goes by, he decides he is safe and drives back home where his mother lives. Amazingly, he sees the same mysterious man walking around his neighborhood and goes to a nearby payphone to call the cops. They go over to his mother's home and finds it broken into and ultimately find the elderly woman violently stabbed to death.
The whole scenario is terrifying and shocking, but even in my youth, I started to pick the story apart a bit. So Charles picks up this guy randomly and after he gets away from him, the guy just happens to wind up at his mother's place and stabs her to death? Considering this mysterious man had no way of knowing Charles or his mother, that is a big coincidence. Also, Charles was set to get an inheritance from his mother, so it started to look likely that this guy orchestrated his mom's death to his own benefit and concocted a story where "uh, a black guy did it". The only thing that seemed to fit with Charles' story is that the man's behavior was erratic and gave off the feel of a man on drugs, and the violent nature of the crime seem to be fueled by someone not in his right mind. Still though, if you asked me back then if I believed Charles, I'd have told you I was skeptical.
For years, the case went unsolved until DNA technology got a lot more sophisticated. Turns out, the killer's blood was left at the crime scene and years later, the blood sample matched a suspect that matched the description provided by Charles years earlier. The suspect confessed to the killing, admitted that he had no idea the woman he killed was the mother of the man that picked him up, and everything he said matched up exactly with what Charles said. So yes, that story with a huge coincidence, the "black guy did it" element, and all other weird aspects were completely true.
It just goes to show that can't dismiss any possibility, no matter how crazy it sounds. The case was also fully highlighted on an episode of Cold Case Files. Also, don't pick up hitchhikers or give rides to strangers...ever!
7) The Circleville Letters
Of all the weird cases on Unsolved Mysteries, this is one that I could honestly see as a movie. It centers around the small town of Centerville, Ohio. Its a mysterious case of a small town where a lady bus driver is outed for having an affair via letters from someone claiming to know about it and threatening to expose the secret. Things escalate as a faulty death trap is left for her while on her route, and then ultimately, her husband goes off to confront the mysterious writer, only to wind up dead himself in what appeared to be an accident.
Things get even crazier as the mysterious letters are sent to several people all over the town, and the bus driver's brother in law is suspected of being the writer. He is arrested, tried, and convicted for the attempt on his sister in law's life and with his capture, it was assumed the letters would stop...they did not. Despite the fact that the convicted suspect was locked up and kept under constant surveillance, the letters did not stop being sent all over town. He was eventually paroled and maintained his innocence for the rest of his life (he passed away in 2012).
Its a bizarre mystery and its nearly impossible to determine how much the writer is even responsible for? Was the bus driver's husband killed by the writer, or was it an accident as it appeared to be? Was the writer even serious about being threatening or was it an elaborate troll job? Nobody really knows.
A few suspects have been identified over the years, with some speculating that more than one person was involved, but no one ever figured out who was writing the letters. Interestingly, Unsolved Mysteries received one such threatening letter from The Circleville Writer when they began filming for the segment. Robert Stack even read the letter on air, which stated "Forget Circleville Ohio: Do Nothing to Hurt Sheriff Radcliff: If You Come to Ohio You El Sickos Will Pay: The Circleville Writer:".
The Disappearance of Angela Hammond
If the last case feels like it could be a movie, this one feels like something right out of a movie. 20 year old Angela Hammond mysteriously disappeared one night. According to her boyfriend, she was on the phone with him (she had called from a nearby payphone) and said there was a weird guy hovering around the payphone. Suddenly, it sounded as if she had been grabbed from the phone. Fearing the worst, her boyfriend sped over to the location of the payphone and came upon the kidnapping in process. The boyfriend followed the kidnapper's truck until his transmission blew out, and the kidnapper with Angela in the truck with him, sped away into the night. Angela has not been seen since.
This is quite the dramatic tale, and much like the Dorothy Donovan case, my initial reaction is that the boyfriend cooked up an elaborate story to cover up his own wrong doings. However, he was investigated and ultimately cleared of any wrongdoing, and if you watch him during the interview portions of the segment, he looks haunted by the experience. If he's lying, he's a damn good actor.
So taking his account at face value, this is a horrifying tale where a young woman tragically lost her life. Unfortunately, no sign of her has been seen since that night. It has been speculated that her disappearance is tied to other unsolved murders, but Angela's remains have never been found, and no suspects have been named since her boyfriend was cleared. This is one of those cases where there are no updates to it after the segment aired, and it breaks my heart. Also, the idea of being kidnapped at night while on the phone with a loved one is terrifying.
9) Richard Church's Rampage
When young love goes horribly wrong. Richard and Colleen were a young teenaged couple and while they had their arguments, it never ventured into violent or abusive territory...until one fateful night. The two had broken up when Richard went to college but they stayed in contact. Richard was becoming more and more irritable when his parents split up and his relationship with Colleen ended. When their latest phone call ended with a argument (which was stated to be nothing more than a typical spat) it set a tragic series of events into motion.
On this night, Colleen, her parents, her brother, a friend of her's, and a friend of her brother were asleep at the parent's home, and Richard's violent rampage took place. He broke into the home and stabbed Colleen's parents to death, stabbed her brother (didn't kill him), and chased Colleen outside and violently stabbed and slashed her, who repeatedly yelled "I love you! I love you!" just to get him to stop. Fortunately, neighbors happened upon the scene and chased Richard off and Colleen survived.
The segment is especially chilling as it turns from "young lover's quarrel" to slasher movie seemingly out of nowhere. Its not like Richard was an abusive jerk beforehand. He was, by her account, clingy and annoying and a little depressed, but nothing that would lead anyone to believe he'd do something like this. Also, Stack's narration is haunting as he narrates Richard's activities throughout the night. Its the type of stuff that sends shivers down my spine.
Also, the whole idea of a guy completely losing his mind over a failed relationship (his home situation compounded this as well, but still) driving someone crazy really impacted me at a young age. I mean at age 7, I was like "Am I going to turn into that? Is a girl going to break my heart so badly that I'll flip out?". The obvious answer is no, but it put the idea in my head early on not to lose my mind over this stuff. Colleen got hurt, her brother got hurt, and their parents were murdered over something that nobody saw coming. Its clear that Richard had much bigger problems going on beneath the surface that were not apparent until it was too late. Also, I have to wonder, what did Colleen and her brother's friend think about that night? They were there for an innocent sleepover and, while they escaped unscathed, they could have easily become victims of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Fortunately, Richard was eventually captured, tried, and found guilty of the murder of Colleen's parents. He was sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole.
10) The Murders of Jill and Julie Hansen
There were several cases in UM's run where I felt like "What's the mystery. THAT GUY did it!". There were at least a handful of cases with wives mysterious disappearing and the husband being suspicious as all hell. To show what I'm talking about, read about the Wendy Camp disappearance, watch the UM segment, and then read how the case was solved decades later and tell me you're shocked by the outcome.
However, no case embodied the "Fuck you! I know you did it!" reaction out of me than this tragic case of the Hansen family. The family included the parents, their teenage twin daughters, and their half brother Donny. One night, they were awakened by their trailer home being on fire. The parents called to their children, but got no responses. As they exited the burning home, they found Donny yelling at someone to get out, but had no idea who he was yelling too. Young Julie was found outside the house with a shotgun wound in her stomach while Jill's remains were found inside after the fire had been put out. It was determined that Jill did not die because of the fire, but from shotgun wounds.
As if the twins being shot didn't make it obvious, the empty gas can confirmed that the fire was deliberate and this was more severe than a simple house fire. As the days poured on, Donny's behavior led investigators to believe that he was the key suspect. For one thing, he was caught returning to the crime scene to retrieve the shotgun, and this was after lying about his intentions to return to the scene. The gun was later identified as having belonged to Donny, and he also purchased ammunition for the gun the night before the events took place. It was also discovered that he purchased five gallons of gas right before that night, and eyewitnesses reported that the gas can he carried matched the description of the one found at the scene. He took two polygraph tests and failed them both, and while at the hospital, Jill stated that she thought she saw Donny's face in the flash of the gunshot when she was shot. It was looking more and more like Donny had orchestrated a series of events that would have killed his whole family.
Donny was arrested and was brought to trial. However, tragedy struck again as Jill died in the hospital in what is described as a "freak accident" as an air bubble got into her IV tube and stopped her heart. Now...that's the fishiest I had ever heard, but her testimony was in admissible as a result. Also, two eyewitnesses reported seeing unidentified men at the scene, so the defense argued that this men showed up, somehow got the gun and gas that Donny purchased, and then decided to burn the place down and kill everyone. Now none of that works for me because how would they know where Donny kept his gun and the gas and why would they be there at all if not as accomplices of Donny (which matched up with mom hearing Donny yelling for unknown people to get out of the trailer as it was burning). In what is one of the biggest miscarriages of justice I have ever seen, Donny was shockingly found not guilty and despite investigators feeling like he is the perp, he can never be tried for these events again.
Now granted, its possible that UM edited things out to shorten the segment and maybe even make it look bad for Donny on purpose, and I haven't researched the case too much, but based on the fact that he bought the gun, the gas, and the ammo, then went back to go retrieve them and lied about his reasons for doing so, failed two polygraphs, even changed his story following the trial, and all around acted suspicious the whole time, I can't imagine it not being true that Donny killed his sisters. Also, watching him in the segment (where he was kept in the shadows and even revealed he changed his name, again, not exactly the act of an innocent man, but okay), it only heightened my suspicion that he did it.
Unless some major development takes place (and there hasn't been any significant updates since Donny's trial), I have no reason to believe that he's innocent in any of this, and its just a shame that he got away with murder against his own family. I mean, when even the man's own mother and stepfather adamantly believe that he did it and unequivocally say they feel that way, you know its bad.
11) The Murder of Sammy Wheeler
I know its wrong to say this about a murder case, but lets bring some levity to the list. Of all the cases in UM history, this is the closest I have ever seen to the show resembling Jerry Springer, and its hysterical.
Basically, Sammy Wheeler was murdered in what investigators believe was a random act of violence. However, the family gets involved and everything turns into a wild shitshow. Sammy's girlfriend, the girlfriend's ex-husband, and Sammy's twin brother Danny all begin pointing fingers at each other, with each accusation leading to greater insults and bizarre behavior.
For one thing, the ex-husband Bob Bean acts like a slimy jerk the whole time, and it feels like he almost wants people to think he had something to do with it. And Danny insults him and his brother's girlfriend, resulting in some of the funniest lines every said by an interviewee in the series. I won't spoil any of the gems because its a hoot.
And through all the mudslinging and accusations, following the segments' production, Sammy's murderer was found and, yes, it was a random act of violence as originally predicted. So they made a spectacle on TV for nothing....nothing except for our entertainment.
12) The Brayman Road Attacker
In cases that are unsolved, we look for motives and people close to the victim to determine a likely perpetrator. However, this is a case that, by all indications, is a random act of violence. No motive or potential gain for the attacker, and based on the evidence, no one had a reason to hurt the victim.
And this case is about as simple as it is terrifying. The victim (who hid her identity for the segment) was just driving up the road one day when she came across a black pick up truck that was driving erratically. Suddenly, the driver stopped, blocking the victim's path, stepped out of his truck, and just shot her. He sped off, and in one of the more tragic elements of the segment, the victim slumped in her seat and passers by couldn't see that she was hurt and didn't stop. Finally, a truck driver (who could see her with his elevated view) was able to get her help. Miraculously she survived and fully recovered (though the bullet is said to still be lodged in her neck, close to the spine).
No suspects have ever been identified and a look into victim's own life produced no leads. Eyewitnesses reported that a black truck was seen prior to the shooting getting on an off the highway and driving frantically. Its possible that the driver, whoever he was, was high as a kite, but again that's just speculation on my part. The shooter has never been identified or found.
This case stuck with me because of the sheer randomness behind it all. It pretty much scared me into thinking "Yeah, you are never completely safe, and you never know when someone is going to snap".
13) The Death of Don Henry and Kevin Ives
How do two teenage boys wind up dead on the train tracks? That's a question I never thought I'd ask, but after watching this segment, its one that I ask myself whenever I think about it. The boys were first discovered on the tracks by the train engineer operating a train that went speeding ahead. Despite his best efforts to stop the train before hitting the boys, it was too late. It was initially determined that the boys were killed by the train, and they laid on the tracks after getting high (after smoking 20 marijuana cigarettes and determined to be in a "drug induced coma" ) and just didn't react in time to the oncoming train.
However, details surrounding their last night are sketchy at best. The real question is whether or not the boys were dead prior to being on the train tracks. The parents tried to lead the investigation in the direction of their sons met with foul play, while law enforcement seemed to stonewall their efforts and lean the investigation towards the boys being killed by the train. This of course brought about theories of police corruption covering up the true nature of the crimes, for some reason. Witnesses onboard the train reported seeing the boys covered in a green tarp, but police claimed the tarp didn't exist....oh boy.
After the segment was aired, a second autopsy determined that the boys were stabbed prior to being hit by the train. How the first autopsy missed that one is anyone's guess. Its been speculated that the two friends stumbled across a meth lab while in the woods and paid the price, and police corruption seems likely. I mean, either they are corrupt or they are inept, neither one is good. For what its worth, the boys' death was eerily similar to another case of killed teenagers two years prior and that also yielded no suspects.
Of course what makes this one stand out are the unique circumstances surrounding the death. Two boys go out one night, and then wind up dead on the train tracks. How does that happen? Its a uniquely strange case that I wish there was an answer too, but sadly, it remains unsolved.
14) DB Cooper
One of the greatest unsolved cases of all time, and my first exposure to it was through UM. I mean its an amazing situation that, again, feels like it belongs in a movie. If you haven't heard of this case before, keep in mind, that this happened in the early 70s: Long before 9/11 and the establishment of TSA.A mysterious armed man going by the name DB Cooper managed to skyjack an airplane loaded with passengers and force the crew to fly the plane and relay his demands to the FBI. They paid his ransom demands and the plane landed, letting all the passengers off. However, Cooper ordered the pilot and one stewardess to take the plane up again. With the money in his possession and a parachute at his disposal, DB Cooper hopped out the emergency exit of the plane, never to be seen again. Cooper, the money, nor any other traces of the crime were ever found again. It remains the only unsovled skyjacking in American history.
Its a fascinating case and a wild one to speculate on. The cynic in me thinks that Cooper died after jumping out of the plane, but there are plenty of other theories, such as Cooper being someone who was arrested in an attempted skyjacking the next year. Actually, in looking up recent updates to this case, new suspects and potential theories are still being thought up to this day.
15) Marie Hilley
Now there isn't really much of a mystery to this. Marie Hilley's fate was sealed before the segment even aired, and was featured as a highlight on "The Diabolical Mind". So the purpose wasn't to find Marie and bring her to justice, but rather try to understand why she was as fucked up as she was. Oh and yes, she was deeply disturbed to a degree that will make anyone's blood run cold. So Marie was a loving wife and mother of two...or so everyone thought. Eventually, her husband became sick. Very sick. He eventually died under mysterious circumstances and Marie was able to collect the money from his life insurance policy. After a shameless shopping spree, those funds dried up. Soon after, her daughter begins to get sick, much like her husband did. Her daughter's condition worsened to the point where she became paralyzed from the waist down. Marie started offering her daughter injections that she claimed would make her better, but her condition only worsened.
A timely arrest for bad checks landed Marie in jail, and probably saved her daughter's life. Doctor's determined that Marie's daughter was suffering from arsenic poisoning. Her husband's body was exhumed and it was determined that he too showed signs of arsenic poisoning. Before she could be charged with, uh, POISONING HER FUCKING FAMILY, the bitch turned tail and went on the lam. It was also later determined that Marie's mother and mother in law also died of arsenic poisoning, so its very likely that she got them too. JESUS CHRIST!
Normally, this would be where the segment would end and they'd post information to get us to help find her, but like I said, her fate had already been sealed and UM wasn't done telling her story. While on the run, Marie Hilley changed her identity. She eventually came across some poor sap and relayed a sob story of how she was dying of a brain tumor. She married the man, lived with him, and then took off, claiming that her death was near. The man eventually received a letter stating that she had died. Now here's where things get weird(er). Marie Hilley, in a new wig, returns to the town, to her new husband's house, and claims to be her own twin sister and then starts dating that same guy but as a different identity. The audacity of such a thing is so ballsy, I almost respect it, but that dude has to be as dumb as a post if he didn't see through the ruse. I wonder if he almost put a ring on her (again). She even went back and worked the exact same job she worked as her previous identity (apparently, her co-workers saw right through it and were like "The fuck? Seriously?"). She was eventually called out for her bullshit and authorities eventually identified her as Marie Hilley, so off to prison she went.
After being convicted, she was sent to prison where she actually escaped. Apparently, she made it back to her hometown and begged one of her old school mates to harbor her as a fugitive. Those pleas fell on deaf ears and Marie Hilley eventually died of hypothermia. Couldn't happen to a nicer gal. This story just floored me the first time I saw the segment. How could a wife do that to her husband for life insurance money? How could she do the same to her child? And then to pull the stunts she did while on the lam and concoct that ridiculous story is the mark of a crazy person. How could she get away with all of it for so long? Well, her own son was interviewed for the segment and to paraphrase, he said something to the effect of "She had the ability and charm to make you believe every word she was saying, even when you knew she was lying". Charisma and crazy is a horrible mix.
This was a particularly scary case of an unknown killer who targeted an older couple at night while they were spending the night at a rest stop. The killer stated his intentions to rob and kill the couple. He killed the wife, but as the husband tried to flee, the killer happened upon some poor guy driving to the location and shot him through his windshield, claiming a 2nd victim in the process. The segment was scary for its reenactment which showed the events took place in the dead of night and the killer was particularly scary looking with long stringy hair and waving two guns in the faces of his helpless victims. We also get a lengthy bit of the husband (the lone surviving witness) helping to construct a computerized image of the killer, which is made scary through the music UM decided to use. This case is also quite sad given how the husband is clearly haunted by the experience and the loss of his wife, even saying at one point that he wishes the killer would come after him now in the hopes that this time he might get caught.
The case remains unresolved, though a suspect that matches the description and has circumstantial ties to the Blind River Killings is currently in prison for unrelated murders. He has never been charged for the murders and the surviving witness sadly passed away in 2012.
2) The Arsonist Tape
In one of the most unique cases UM ever covered, a mysterious tape was found by a family on the side of the road and because curiosity is a powerful drug, they decided to watch it together. What they see is an arsonist filming his work. The arsonist declares his enjoyment as he watches a home burn. Sirens can be heard on the tape as the arsonist laughs and delights in what he's done.
Now looking at the tape and listening to the arsonist's voice, I could tell even back that this was a kid fucking around, likely a teen. He declares his love for Satan, talks about how he loves hell, and at one point even says something like "Ancient Spirits of Evil..." which I figured he must have gotten from Mumm-Ra from Thundercats. However, it was still terrifying to me. THIS is what kids do now when they fuck around? A part of me thought "Shit, am I going to turn into this when I'm 13?" (or however an 8 year old would phrase that). And his voice also weirdly sounds like he is mimicking Heath Ledger's Joker...almost two decades before The Dark Knight ever came out. This is one that really stuck with me.
The case was solved thanks to Unsolved Mysteries viewers providing tips that led to the identity of the teenagers responsible. The location of the burning house was identified as being from Redwood City CA and was a house under construction at the time it was burned out. Turns out a fire chief also filmed the fire for training purposes and they were able to determine that it was the same fire by comparing the two tapes. The two teenagers were tried as minors and served in Juvi and mental health facilities. The case was also featured on an episode of Cold Case Files, which showed other videos that the two teens had made.
3) The Cindy James Case
Now this one is fascinating. Its a case about a nurse who claimed to be tormented by some unknown assailants. She was ultimately found dead with drugs in her system and hogtied, yet authorities believed that she killed herself. On the surface, that sounds completely crazy until you dive into the full case...which also sounds completely nuts, but the suicide solutions seems a lot more plausible. Basically, this woman was terrorized by unknown forces. This included threatening messages, her basement being set on fire while she was in the house, and even her being assaulted, with people discovering her beat up and stabbed. There were suspects, like her ex-husband, but the more police investigated, the more they started to believe that this torment was self inflicted. Her behavior became somewhat questionable (why would she walk her dog in the middle of the night if she was under such constant torment?) and all of the situations could even be explained as something she was doing herself. UM left out the threatening voice messages, one of which you can find on Youtube, and it really does sound like a woman (possibly Cindy) putting on a scary voice (the voice message also went to her ex-husband, not her). Whatever was happening, Cindy was self committed to a mental institution at one point.
The UM segment tries to make it seem more likely that someone else was doing this too her, but its more up in the air than that. But even so? How did she wind up drugged up, hog tied, and dead? If she was the one doing it all herself, how was she able to pull that off? Its a weird case. Personally, I'm no expert, but looking at this objectively, I think there is a strong possibility that Cindy suffered from some severe mental disorders, maybe even some form of disassociation identity disorder where she was doing all this stuff to herself and didn't even know it.
The case has technically never been resolved as no definitive answer has ever been given for what exactly happened and it remains the subject of speculation to this day.
4) The Murder of Larry Dickens
This one has become somewhat infamous as a young Mr. "Alright Alright Alright" Matthew McConaughey played the victim Larry Dickens in the reenactment, though trust me when I say that is just a footnote in how crazy this whole case is (McConaughey never actually speaks during the segment). It is one of the most shocking and tragic segments the show ever did. It starts off with a woman fighting off a home invader with a gun (2nd amendment for the win!) but takes a turn as the woman identifies the potential attacker as looking like Edward Harold Bell, a killer on the run. This brings a renewed interest in the case and brings old horrible events to light.
So this is where it really gets insane. In the middle of the day, a (presumably) drunken Bell walked around a group of neighborhood children without his pants on. Larry Dickens told his mom to call the cops and went outside to confront him. He forced Bell to put his pants on and took his car keys away to keep him from fleeing the scene. His mother is then on the phone with the police and watches as Bell pulls out a gun and proceeds to shoot Larry over and over and over again, leaving Larry dead in the driveway with his mother watching this all go down. Its quite haunting, and its also one of the best acted reenactments in the series. Things get even crazier from there as there is a police chase, and Larry's sister even gets some shots in on him while he's in custody. Ultimately, it is one of the saddest and most disturbing cases in the show's run as it just felt so raw and unforgiving. Unfortunately, Bell got off on bail (what judge made that decision?!) and skipped town.
Good news? Thanks to tips from UM viewers, Bell was captured and finally put on trial for Larry's murder where he was found guilty. He died in prison just last year. Huzzah! Bell is also a suspect in several murders from the 70s, and believed to have partaken in some sickening sexual misconduct (to put in mildly). However, as far as I know, he was never officially identified as the home invader in the early portion of the segment.
5) The Connecticut River Killer
This segment was highlighting several unsolved murders that were thought to be the work of a serial killer. However, it is the surviving victim that provided one of the show's most terrifying (and miraculous) moments.
The victim in question was 7 months pregnant at the time of the attack and was just going to a vending machine at night, minding her own business. Now I bring up the vending machine because some people remember the segment for the machine obviously being a Pepsi machine, but the logo is lazily taped over to prevent getting sued. Still, the segment is one of sheer terror as the woman is assaulted and a kidnapping is attempted. When she fights back, the attacker stabs her repeatedly, and she plays dead to get him to stop. She stays on the ground as he drives away, and when the coast is clear, she gets in her car and starts speeding to a friend's house to get help. Now keep in mind, this woman is 7 months pregnant and was stabbed multiple times! There's something to be said for adrenaline rushes.
In her hectic driving however, she realizes something...she winds up RIGHT BEHIND HER WOULD BE KILLER'S CAR!!!! "What the fuck?!" doesn't even begin to cover it. Its one of those "reality is stranger than fiction" type of moments. She makes it to her friend's house, and collapses in front of the door. The attacker pulls up in front of the friend's lawn, stares them down, and then drives off. Its one of the most unreal and terrifying moments in the entire show. Fortunately, despite what happened, the woman survived and gave birth to a healthy baby.
Several suspects were named in the individual Connecticut River Killings and the attack on the heroine of this story, but none of them have ever been resolved.
6) The Murder of Dorthy Donovan
Speaking of reality being stranger than fiction, this is a case where I came out of it thinking one thing, and then ultimately got proven wrong. The story given by the key witness is so crazy that I never would have believed him, but I guess anything is possible.
So Charles picked up a stranger at a fast food restaurant that was looking for a ride to the hospital. The man in question bears a resemblance to Steve Urkel. Big round glasses, kind of dorky looking, but also black (which I will use to make a point later). Charles gives him a lift and the stranger suddenly turns violent, wanting to steal the car and threatens to stab Charles with a screw driver. Charles gets out of the car and there is a chase, until Charles is able to get back to the car and leave the man behind. Charles deliberately drives away from his home to keep the man from following him. After some time goes by, he decides he is safe and drives back home where his mother lives. Amazingly, he sees the same mysterious man walking around his neighborhood and goes to a nearby payphone to call the cops. They go over to his mother's home and finds it broken into and ultimately find the elderly woman violently stabbed to death.
The whole scenario is terrifying and shocking, but even in my youth, I started to pick the story apart a bit. So Charles picks up this guy randomly and after he gets away from him, the guy just happens to wind up at his mother's place and stabs her to death? Considering this mysterious man had no way of knowing Charles or his mother, that is a big coincidence. Also, Charles was set to get an inheritance from his mother, so it started to look likely that this guy orchestrated his mom's death to his own benefit and concocted a story where "uh, a black guy did it". The only thing that seemed to fit with Charles' story is that the man's behavior was erratic and gave off the feel of a man on drugs, and the violent nature of the crime seem to be fueled by someone not in his right mind. Still though, if you asked me back then if I believed Charles, I'd have told you I was skeptical.
For years, the case went unsolved until DNA technology got a lot more sophisticated. Turns out, the killer's blood was left at the crime scene and years later, the blood sample matched a suspect that matched the description provided by Charles years earlier. The suspect confessed to the killing, admitted that he had no idea the woman he killed was the mother of the man that picked him up, and everything he said matched up exactly with what Charles said. So yes, that story with a huge coincidence, the "black guy did it" element, and all other weird aspects were completely true.
It just goes to show that can't dismiss any possibility, no matter how crazy it sounds. The case was also fully highlighted on an episode of Cold Case Files. Also, don't pick up hitchhikers or give rides to strangers...ever!
7) The Circleville Letters
Of all the weird cases on Unsolved Mysteries, this is one that I could honestly see as a movie. It centers around the small town of Centerville, Ohio. Its a mysterious case of a small town where a lady bus driver is outed for having an affair via letters from someone claiming to know about it and threatening to expose the secret. Things escalate as a faulty death trap is left for her while on her route, and then ultimately, her husband goes off to confront the mysterious writer, only to wind up dead himself in what appeared to be an accident.
Things get even crazier as the mysterious letters are sent to several people all over the town, and the bus driver's brother in law is suspected of being the writer. He is arrested, tried, and convicted for the attempt on his sister in law's life and with his capture, it was assumed the letters would stop...they did not. Despite the fact that the convicted suspect was locked up and kept under constant surveillance, the letters did not stop being sent all over town. He was eventually paroled and maintained his innocence for the rest of his life (he passed away in 2012).
Its a bizarre mystery and its nearly impossible to determine how much the writer is even responsible for? Was the bus driver's husband killed by the writer, or was it an accident as it appeared to be? Was the writer even serious about being threatening or was it an elaborate troll job? Nobody really knows.
A few suspects have been identified over the years, with some speculating that more than one person was involved, but no one ever figured out who was writing the letters. Interestingly, Unsolved Mysteries received one such threatening letter from The Circleville Writer when they began filming for the segment. Robert Stack even read the letter on air, which stated "Forget Circleville Ohio: Do Nothing to Hurt Sheriff Radcliff: If You Come to Ohio You El Sickos Will Pay: The Circleville Writer:".
The Disappearance of Angela HammondIf the last case feels like it could be a movie, this one feels like something right out of a movie. 20 year old Angela Hammond mysteriously disappeared one night. According to her boyfriend, she was on the phone with him (she had called from a nearby payphone) and said there was a weird guy hovering around the payphone. Suddenly, it sounded as if she had been grabbed from the phone. Fearing the worst, her boyfriend sped over to the location of the payphone and came upon the kidnapping in process. The boyfriend followed the kidnapper's truck until his transmission blew out, and the kidnapper with Angela in the truck with him, sped away into the night. Angela has not been seen since.
This is quite the dramatic tale, and much like the Dorothy Donovan case, my initial reaction is that the boyfriend cooked up an elaborate story to cover up his own wrong doings. However, he was investigated and ultimately cleared of any wrongdoing, and if you watch him during the interview portions of the segment, he looks haunted by the experience. If he's lying, he's a damn good actor.
So taking his account at face value, this is a horrifying tale where a young woman tragically lost her life. Unfortunately, no sign of her has been seen since that night. It has been speculated that her disappearance is tied to other unsolved murders, but Angela's remains have never been found, and no suspects have been named since her boyfriend was cleared. This is one of those cases where there are no updates to it after the segment aired, and it breaks my heart. Also, the idea of being kidnapped at night while on the phone with a loved one is terrifying.
9) Richard Church's Rampage
When young love goes horribly wrong. Richard and Colleen were a young teenaged couple and while they had their arguments, it never ventured into violent or abusive territory...until one fateful night. The two had broken up when Richard went to college but they stayed in contact. Richard was becoming more and more irritable when his parents split up and his relationship with Colleen ended. When their latest phone call ended with a argument (which was stated to be nothing more than a typical spat) it set a tragic series of events into motion.
On this night, Colleen, her parents, her brother, a friend of her's, and a friend of her brother were asleep at the parent's home, and Richard's violent rampage took place. He broke into the home and stabbed Colleen's parents to death, stabbed her brother (didn't kill him), and chased Colleen outside and violently stabbed and slashed her, who repeatedly yelled "I love you! I love you!" just to get him to stop. Fortunately, neighbors happened upon the scene and chased Richard off and Colleen survived.
The segment is especially chilling as it turns from "young lover's quarrel" to slasher movie seemingly out of nowhere. Its not like Richard was an abusive jerk beforehand. He was, by her account, clingy and annoying and a little depressed, but nothing that would lead anyone to believe he'd do something like this. Also, Stack's narration is haunting as he narrates Richard's activities throughout the night. Its the type of stuff that sends shivers down my spine.
Also, the whole idea of a guy completely losing his mind over a failed relationship (his home situation compounded this as well, but still) driving someone crazy really impacted me at a young age. I mean at age 7, I was like "Am I going to turn into that? Is a girl going to break my heart so badly that I'll flip out?". The obvious answer is no, but it put the idea in my head early on not to lose my mind over this stuff. Colleen got hurt, her brother got hurt, and their parents were murdered over something that nobody saw coming. Its clear that Richard had much bigger problems going on beneath the surface that were not apparent until it was too late. Also, I have to wonder, what did Colleen and her brother's friend think about that night? They were there for an innocent sleepover and, while they escaped unscathed, they could have easily become victims of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Fortunately, Richard was eventually captured, tried, and found guilty of the murder of Colleen's parents. He was sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole.
10) The Murders of Jill and Julie Hansen
There were several cases in UM's run where I felt like "What's the mystery. THAT GUY did it!". There were at least a handful of cases with wives mysterious disappearing and the husband being suspicious as all hell. To show what I'm talking about, read about the Wendy Camp disappearance, watch the UM segment, and then read how the case was solved decades later and tell me you're shocked by the outcome.
However, no case embodied the "Fuck you! I know you did it!" reaction out of me than this tragic case of the Hansen family. The family included the parents, their teenage twin daughters, and their half brother Donny. One night, they were awakened by their trailer home being on fire. The parents called to their children, but got no responses. As they exited the burning home, they found Donny yelling at someone to get out, but had no idea who he was yelling too. Young Julie was found outside the house with a shotgun wound in her stomach while Jill's remains were found inside after the fire had been put out. It was determined that Jill did not die because of the fire, but from shotgun wounds.
As if the twins being shot didn't make it obvious, the empty gas can confirmed that the fire was deliberate and this was more severe than a simple house fire. As the days poured on, Donny's behavior led investigators to believe that he was the key suspect. For one thing, he was caught returning to the crime scene to retrieve the shotgun, and this was after lying about his intentions to return to the scene. The gun was later identified as having belonged to Donny, and he also purchased ammunition for the gun the night before the events took place. It was also discovered that he purchased five gallons of gas right before that night, and eyewitnesses reported that the gas can he carried matched the description of the one found at the scene. He took two polygraph tests and failed them both, and while at the hospital, Jill stated that she thought she saw Donny's face in the flash of the gunshot when she was shot. It was looking more and more like Donny had orchestrated a series of events that would have killed his whole family.
Donny was arrested and was brought to trial. However, tragedy struck again as Jill died in the hospital in what is described as a "freak accident" as an air bubble got into her IV tube and stopped her heart. Now...that's the fishiest I had ever heard, but her testimony was in admissible as a result. Also, two eyewitnesses reported seeing unidentified men at the scene, so the defense argued that this men showed up, somehow got the gun and gas that Donny purchased, and then decided to burn the place down and kill everyone. Now none of that works for me because how would they know where Donny kept his gun and the gas and why would they be there at all if not as accomplices of Donny (which matched up with mom hearing Donny yelling for unknown people to get out of the trailer as it was burning). In what is one of the biggest miscarriages of justice I have ever seen, Donny was shockingly found not guilty and despite investigators feeling like he is the perp, he can never be tried for these events again.
Now granted, its possible that UM edited things out to shorten the segment and maybe even make it look bad for Donny on purpose, and I haven't researched the case too much, but based on the fact that he bought the gun, the gas, and the ammo, then went back to go retrieve them and lied about his reasons for doing so, failed two polygraphs, even changed his story following the trial, and all around acted suspicious the whole time, I can't imagine it not being true that Donny killed his sisters. Also, watching him in the segment (where he was kept in the shadows and even revealed he changed his name, again, not exactly the act of an innocent man, but okay), it only heightened my suspicion that he did it.
Unless some major development takes place (and there hasn't been any significant updates since Donny's trial), I have no reason to believe that he's innocent in any of this, and its just a shame that he got away with murder against his own family. I mean, when even the man's own mother and stepfather adamantly believe that he did it and unequivocally say they feel that way, you know its bad.
11) The Murder of Sammy Wheeler
I know its wrong to say this about a murder case, but lets bring some levity to the list. Of all the cases in UM history, this is the closest I have ever seen to the show resembling Jerry Springer, and its hysterical.
Basically, Sammy Wheeler was murdered in what investigators believe was a random act of violence. However, the family gets involved and everything turns into a wild shitshow. Sammy's girlfriend, the girlfriend's ex-husband, and Sammy's twin brother Danny all begin pointing fingers at each other, with each accusation leading to greater insults and bizarre behavior.
For one thing, the ex-husband Bob Bean acts like a slimy jerk the whole time, and it feels like he almost wants people to think he had something to do with it. And Danny insults him and his brother's girlfriend, resulting in some of the funniest lines every said by an interviewee in the series. I won't spoil any of the gems because its a hoot.
And through all the mudslinging and accusations, following the segments' production, Sammy's murderer was found and, yes, it was a random act of violence as originally predicted. So they made a spectacle on TV for nothing....nothing except for our entertainment.
12) The Brayman Road Attacker
In cases that are unsolved, we look for motives and people close to the victim to determine a likely perpetrator. However, this is a case that, by all indications, is a random act of violence. No motive or potential gain for the attacker, and based on the evidence, no one had a reason to hurt the victim.
And this case is about as simple as it is terrifying. The victim (who hid her identity for the segment) was just driving up the road one day when she came across a black pick up truck that was driving erratically. Suddenly, the driver stopped, blocking the victim's path, stepped out of his truck, and just shot her. He sped off, and in one of the more tragic elements of the segment, the victim slumped in her seat and passers by couldn't see that she was hurt and didn't stop. Finally, a truck driver (who could see her with his elevated view) was able to get her help. Miraculously she survived and fully recovered (though the bullet is said to still be lodged in her neck, close to the spine).
No suspects have ever been identified and a look into victim's own life produced no leads. Eyewitnesses reported that a black truck was seen prior to the shooting getting on an off the highway and driving frantically. Its possible that the driver, whoever he was, was high as a kite, but again that's just speculation on my part. The shooter has never been identified or found.
This case stuck with me because of the sheer randomness behind it all. It pretty much scared me into thinking "Yeah, you are never completely safe, and you never know when someone is going to snap".
13) The Death of Don Henry and Kevin Ives
How do two teenage boys wind up dead on the train tracks? That's a question I never thought I'd ask, but after watching this segment, its one that I ask myself whenever I think about it. The boys were first discovered on the tracks by the train engineer operating a train that went speeding ahead. Despite his best efforts to stop the train before hitting the boys, it was too late. It was initially determined that the boys were killed by the train, and they laid on the tracks after getting high (after smoking 20 marijuana cigarettes and determined to be in a "drug induced coma" ) and just didn't react in time to the oncoming train.
However, details surrounding their last night are sketchy at best. The real question is whether or not the boys were dead prior to being on the train tracks. The parents tried to lead the investigation in the direction of their sons met with foul play, while law enforcement seemed to stonewall their efforts and lean the investigation towards the boys being killed by the train. This of course brought about theories of police corruption covering up the true nature of the crimes, for some reason. Witnesses onboard the train reported seeing the boys covered in a green tarp, but police claimed the tarp didn't exist....oh boy.
After the segment was aired, a second autopsy determined that the boys were stabbed prior to being hit by the train. How the first autopsy missed that one is anyone's guess. Its been speculated that the two friends stumbled across a meth lab while in the woods and paid the price, and police corruption seems likely. I mean, either they are corrupt or they are inept, neither one is good. For what its worth, the boys' death was eerily similar to another case of killed teenagers two years prior and that also yielded no suspects.
Of course what makes this one stand out are the unique circumstances surrounding the death. Two boys go out one night, and then wind up dead on the train tracks. How does that happen? Its a uniquely strange case that I wish there was an answer too, but sadly, it remains unsolved.
14) DB Cooper
One of the greatest unsolved cases of all time, and my first exposure to it was through UM. I mean its an amazing situation that, again, feels like it belongs in a movie. If you haven't heard of this case before, keep in mind, that this happened in the early 70s: Long before 9/11 and the establishment of TSA.A mysterious armed man going by the name DB Cooper managed to skyjack an airplane loaded with passengers and force the crew to fly the plane and relay his demands to the FBI. They paid his ransom demands and the plane landed, letting all the passengers off. However, Cooper ordered the pilot and one stewardess to take the plane up again. With the money in his possession and a parachute at his disposal, DB Cooper hopped out the emergency exit of the plane, never to be seen again. Cooper, the money, nor any other traces of the crime were ever found again. It remains the only unsovled skyjacking in American history.
Its a fascinating case and a wild one to speculate on. The cynic in me thinks that Cooper died after jumping out of the plane, but there are plenty of other theories, such as Cooper being someone who was arrested in an attempted skyjacking the next year. Actually, in looking up recent updates to this case, new suspects and potential theories are still being thought up to this day.
15) Marie Hilley
Now there isn't really much of a mystery to this. Marie Hilley's fate was sealed before the segment even aired, and was featured as a highlight on "The Diabolical Mind". So the purpose wasn't to find Marie and bring her to justice, but rather try to understand why she was as fucked up as she was. Oh and yes, she was deeply disturbed to a degree that will make anyone's blood run cold. So Marie was a loving wife and mother of two...or so everyone thought. Eventually, her husband became sick. Very sick. He eventually died under mysterious circumstances and Marie was able to collect the money from his life insurance policy. After a shameless shopping spree, those funds dried up. Soon after, her daughter begins to get sick, much like her husband did. Her daughter's condition worsened to the point where she became paralyzed from the waist down. Marie started offering her daughter injections that she claimed would make her better, but her condition only worsened.
A timely arrest for bad checks landed Marie in jail, and probably saved her daughter's life. Doctor's determined that Marie's daughter was suffering from arsenic poisoning. Her husband's body was exhumed and it was determined that he too showed signs of arsenic poisoning. Before she could be charged with, uh, POISONING HER FUCKING FAMILY, the bitch turned tail and went on the lam. It was also later determined that Marie's mother and mother in law also died of arsenic poisoning, so its very likely that she got them too. JESUS CHRIST!
Normally, this would be where the segment would end and they'd post information to get us to help find her, but like I said, her fate had already been sealed and UM wasn't done telling her story. While on the run, Marie Hilley changed her identity. She eventually came across some poor sap and relayed a sob story of how she was dying of a brain tumor. She married the man, lived with him, and then took off, claiming that her death was near. The man eventually received a letter stating that she had died. Now here's where things get weird(er). Marie Hilley, in a new wig, returns to the town, to her new husband's house, and claims to be her own twin sister and then starts dating that same guy but as a different identity. The audacity of such a thing is so ballsy, I almost respect it, but that dude has to be as dumb as a post if he didn't see through the ruse. I wonder if he almost put a ring on her (again). She even went back and worked the exact same job she worked as her previous identity (apparently, her co-workers saw right through it and were like "The fuck? Seriously?"). She was eventually called out for her bullshit and authorities eventually identified her as Marie Hilley, so off to prison she went.
After being convicted, she was sent to prison where she actually escaped. Apparently, she made it back to her hometown and begged one of her old school mates to harbor her as a fugitive. Those pleas fell on deaf ears and Marie Hilley eventually died of hypothermia. Couldn't happen to a nicer gal. This story just floored me the first time I saw the segment. How could a wife do that to her husband for life insurance money? How could she do the same to her child? And then to pull the stunts she did while on the lam and concoct that ridiculous story is the mark of a crazy person. How could she get away with all of it for so long? Well, her own son was interviewed for the segment and to paraphrase, he said something to the effect of "She had the ability and charm to make you believe every word she was saying, even when you knew she was lying". Charisma and crazy is a horrible mix.
Last edited:
- Joined
- Feb 4, 2018
He was going through cancer.
- Joined
- Feb 4, 2018
RumblyTumbly
kiwifarms.net
- Joined
- Apr 13, 2018
Looks like they remixed the original theme. That's a step in the right direction.
Last edited:
KillThemCrackasBabies
kiwifarms.net
- Joined
- Oct 14, 2017
Yeah that's shit. If it wasn't for the slightly recognizable themesong mixed in there this would identical to the hundreds of other informative murder porns already out there. Withholding complete judgement because maybe they'll pull out a surprise or two but this pretty much killed any hype I had for it.
- Joined
- Apr 22, 2015
Good post. You reminded me of the Debbie Wolfe Murder. https://unsolved.com/gallery/debbie-wolfe/
Either police incompetence or cover up would explain how a woman could drown in a shallow lake in the middle of the night and end up in a barrel in the bottom of the lake and be found as an accidental death.
Last edited:
- Joined
- Sep 13, 2019
I'm just here for the aliens and ghosts
- Joined
- Apr 22, 2015
I'm also shocked that you fucks never uploaded this:
For shame on all of you.
For shame on all of you.
- Joined
- Feb 4, 2018
- Joined
- Mar 6, 2017
They should replace Stack with Tourettes Guy.
EDIT: Beaten like a faggot with a tuba.
EDIT: Beaten like a faggot with a tuba.
- Joined
- Feb 24, 2015
The new theme is lacking the original's bass.
Also, didn't Robert Stack voice the FBI Director in Beavis & Butthead Do America?
Also, didn't Robert Stack voice the FBI Director in Beavis & Butthead Do America?
- Joined
- Apr 22, 2015
"Cavity searches for all! Deep and thorough!"
- Joined
- Feb 4, 2018
RumblyTumbly
kiwifarms.net
- Joined
- Apr 13, 2018
So I just got done watching the new UM on Netflix.
Its a perfectly well made True Crime/Mystery docu-series...but it isn't the classic Unsolved Mysteries
The original UM scared me and made me afraid to go to bed. That set it apart from other shows like it, like America's Most Wanted. You couldn't help but commit those stories to memory because of how far they went to try and scare you. And it was a bunch of little things: Stack's narration, the creepy ass music, the reenactments, and all of it combined to make a bone chilling experience more often than not.
What this new version didn't do to live up to the original:
1) The new format = Instead of 4-5 cases spaced out over an hour, we get 1 case per 1 hour episode. This carries a benefit of no details being left out (in its shortened format, there were times where the old UM were forced to leave some key details out for the sake of time) but by giving each case a full hour, there is a lot of repeating of key points.
Also, by doing it this way, it doesn't provide much variety in the cases. In one episode of UM, you could get a bank robbery, a murder, a ghost story, and a lost love potential feel good story where a family could get reunited. Here, its just one story for the full episode, and of the 6 cases, 5 of them are disappearances with only the UFO story to serve as the combo breaker.
2) No host = Look, I get it. Robert Stack is impossible to replace, and the time they tried with Dennis Farina, it was awful. But having no host at all makes it feel like there is a gaping hole in the program. It also makes the reenactments better to have the host narrate it rather than the people being interviewed. Speaking of which...
3) The reenactments = In the old show, the reenactments were often what sold the case. Combined with Stack's narration, the reenactments would help paint the full picture of the story. Those were what made the ghost stories and UFO stories memorable. Without those, its just people rambling about ghosts and aliens. Yes, some times the acting in the reenactments wasn't the best, but when they got it right, it was down right terrifying (Check out the Larry Dickens murder, Richard Church's rampage, and Resurrection Mary to get an idea of what the reenactments meant to the old show).
This new one does have reenactments, but they are quick scenes with no dialogue to provide a visual aid to the interviews and almost feel like an after thought.
4) The music = The piano version of the classic theme is nice to listen to, but other than that, the music is unremarkable. The classic series had music that would make the hair on your arm stand up. Here's an example of the classic music.
I don't want to sound like I'm crapping on the new take. Like I said, it is a perfectly well made and produced series. I just wish they'd called it something else because calling it Unsolved Mysteries raises certain expectations.
Its a perfectly well made True Crime/Mystery docu-series...but it isn't the classic Unsolved Mysteries
The original UM scared me and made me afraid to go to bed. That set it apart from other shows like it, like America's Most Wanted. You couldn't help but commit those stories to memory because of how far they went to try and scare you. And it was a bunch of little things: Stack's narration, the creepy ass music, the reenactments, and all of it combined to make a bone chilling experience more often than not.
What this new version didn't do to live up to the original:
1) The new format = Instead of 4-5 cases spaced out over an hour, we get 1 case per 1 hour episode. This carries a benefit of no details being left out (in its shortened format, there were times where the old UM were forced to leave some key details out for the sake of time) but by giving each case a full hour, there is a lot of repeating of key points.
Also, by doing it this way, it doesn't provide much variety in the cases. In one episode of UM, you could get a bank robbery, a murder, a ghost story, and a lost love potential feel good story where a family could get reunited. Here, its just one story for the full episode, and of the 6 cases, 5 of them are disappearances with only the UFO story to serve as the combo breaker.
2) No host = Look, I get it. Robert Stack is impossible to replace, and the time they tried with Dennis Farina, it was awful. But having no host at all makes it feel like there is a gaping hole in the program. It also makes the reenactments better to have the host narrate it rather than the people being interviewed. Speaking of which...
3) The reenactments = In the old show, the reenactments were often what sold the case. Combined with Stack's narration, the reenactments would help paint the full picture of the story. Those were what made the ghost stories and UFO stories memorable. Without those, its just people rambling about ghosts and aliens. Yes, some times the acting in the reenactments wasn't the best, but when they got it right, it was down right terrifying (Check out the Larry Dickens murder, Richard Church's rampage, and Resurrection Mary to get an idea of what the reenactments meant to the old show).
This new one does have reenactments, but they are quick scenes with no dialogue to provide a visual aid to the interviews and almost feel like an after thought.
4) The music = The piano version of the classic theme is nice to listen to, but other than that, the music is unremarkable. The classic series had music that would make the hair on your arm stand up. Here's an example of the classic music.
I don't want to sound like I'm crapping on the new take. Like I said, it is a perfectly well made and produced series. I just wish they'd called it something else because calling it Unsolved Mysteries raises certain expectations.
- Joined
- Feb 24, 2015
This. Nailed it.
1. This would be helped by having two cases, each 20-30 minutes, for the hour run time. I think in the original show, a segment lasted about 10-15 minutes.
2. Agreed about Stack's unique voice, but there are other workable voices to narrate if they wanted one.
3. Weird they don't do reenactments, since several other, similar shows do them. I suspect, due to the flooded market of crime shows, this is a cost-cutting decision to squeeze a profit. But Unsolved Mysteries is known for that!
4. Yes. The lack of bass kills the tense factor. The piano isn't really immersive for me, like the original theme.
- Joined
- Dec 13, 2016
I far too young when Stack was doing Unsolved Mysteries, so my first exposure was the Farina run of the show. Maybe it's because I have no point of reference besides the countless parodies of Stack's version (that I only recently found out was making fun of his version specifically), but I liked the Farina run. I was knee deep in true crime shows at the time and his version of Unsolved Mysteries captivated me. I'm kinda curious why people dislike Farina's run of the show because I didn't realize it was that unpopular until I started reading this thread.
- Joined
- Dec 21, 2018
Binged the whole series on Prime recently so I'll probably watch this. Shame to hear it's not the same but I'm just glad they didn't go full Netflix and have RuPaul host it or make the theme song gay or some shit.
RumblyTumbly
kiwifarms.net
- Joined
- Apr 13, 2018
I will say this. Even though 5 of the 6 cases are the same kind of case (Disappearance that leads to murder), they are fascinating cases for the most part.
The last one in particular was the most gut wrenching and just kept getting worse and worse as it progressed. And the 2nd case features one of the biggest weirdos in UM history.
The last one in particular was the most gut wrenching and just kept getting worse and worse as it progressed. And the 2nd case features one of the biggest weirdos in UM history.
Commander X
kiwifarms.net
- Joined
- Apr 6, 2018
My favorite was watching the segments about strange phenomena or conspiracy theories, thinking it would be funny if someone called in with a tip that blew one of those cases wide open, and the producers are going "Holy crap, we weren't expecting this" and were just totally unprepared for what would be unleashed.
"Yeah, I have some information on the death of Danny Casolaro, you might be interested in what I have to say, and the proof I have to offer."
"Oh, uh..."
"Yeah, I have some information on the death of Danny Casolaro, you might be interested in what I have to say, and the proof I have to offer."
"Oh, uh..."