1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:03,680 This program is about unsolved mysteries. 2 00:00:03,680 --> 00:00:06,280 Whenever possible, the actual family members and police 3 00:00:06,280 --> 00:00:09,280 officials have participated in recreating the events. 4 00:00:09,280 --> 00:00:11,880 What you are about to see is not a news broadcast. 5 00:00:17,160 --> 00:00:20,320 Captain Jeffrey Digmond was a Marine's Marine with a bright 6 00:00:20,320 --> 00:00:21,120 future. 7 00:00:21,120 --> 00:00:24,000 But then Jeffrey Digmond was found dead in his bedroom, 8 00:00:24,000 --> 00:00:25,560 a bullet to the head. 9 00:00:25,560 --> 00:00:27,560 The police found him dead in the room. 10 00:00:28,320 --> 00:00:31,200 The police ruled suicide. 11 00:00:31,200 --> 00:00:34,520 His family says it was murder. 12 00:00:34,520 --> 00:00:38,200 Barbara Ann Ratner and Barbara Ann Smith met in 1958 13 00:00:38,200 --> 00:00:40,080 when they were just teenagers. 14 00:00:40,080 --> 00:00:42,440 They soon became the best of friends. 15 00:00:42,440 --> 00:00:44,680 Years later, the two barbers discovered 16 00:00:44,680 --> 00:00:46,920 a mysterious secret in their past 17 00:00:46,920 --> 00:00:51,240 and learned that they shared much more than their first names. 18 00:00:51,240 --> 00:00:53,520 In Florida, nearly 30 churches have been 19 00:00:53,520 --> 00:00:56,840 hit by suspicious fires in only 16 months. 20 00:00:56,880 --> 00:00:59,960 Authorities feel a deranged arsonist may be at work. 21 00:01:02,440 --> 00:01:06,000 Also tonight, we celebrate a remarkable milestone. 22 00:01:06,000 --> 00:01:08,840 Recently, calls from our viewers resulted in our 100th case 23 00:01:08,840 --> 00:01:10,280 solved. 24 00:01:10,280 --> 00:01:12,760 Thanks to you, law enforcement has closed cases 25 00:01:12,760 --> 00:01:15,240 that were deemed virtually unsolved. 26 00:01:15,240 --> 00:01:18,000 The families of missing persons have been joyously reunited 27 00:01:18,000 --> 00:01:20,040 with their lost loved ones. 28 00:01:20,040 --> 00:01:22,760 Join me for this special presentation. 29 00:01:22,760 --> 00:01:25,200 You may be able to help solve a mystery. 30 00:01:56,840 --> 00:02:01,880 The Story of Barbara Ann Smith 31 00:02:01,880 --> 00:02:07,600 and Barbara Ann Smith 32 00:02:16,040 --> 00:02:18,520 Adopted children, a search for an actual parent 33 00:02:18,520 --> 00:02:20,880 could last a lifetime. 34 00:02:20,880 --> 00:02:23,600 In this unusual story, two women named Barbara 35 00:02:23,600 --> 00:02:25,920 are both looking for their mother. 36 00:02:25,920 --> 00:02:29,420 Remarkably, the two barbers are longtime best friends, 37 00:02:29,420 --> 00:02:32,500 who discovered as adults that they had far more in common 38 00:02:32,500 --> 00:02:33,700 they could have ever imagined. 39 00:02:37,700 --> 00:02:40,380 Barbara Smith grew up in Los Angeles, California, 40 00:02:40,380 --> 00:02:42,260 in the 1940s. 41 00:02:42,260 --> 00:02:44,060 When she was five years old, Barbara 42 00:02:44,060 --> 00:02:46,820 had one of those unfortunate childhood experiences, 43 00:02:46,820 --> 00:02:48,780 which would forever change her life. 44 00:02:48,780 --> 00:02:51,380 Anyway, and your own mother didn't want you. 45 00:02:51,380 --> 00:02:52,980 That's why she gave you up. 46 00:02:52,980 --> 00:02:54,460 My mother told me so. 47 00:02:56,280 --> 00:03:00,800 I just started to run home, and I just burst out into tears. 48 00:03:00,800 --> 00:03:03,640 That's when it rang clear to me that it could be used 49 00:03:03,640 --> 00:03:07,280 in a very vicious, hurtful way. 50 00:03:07,280 --> 00:03:08,920 Someone had given me up. 51 00:03:08,920 --> 00:03:10,320 Even though I had known the security 52 00:03:10,320 --> 00:03:15,280 and love of my own family, it was a time of, well, what happened? 53 00:03:15,280 --> 00:03:17,240 What really did happen? 54 00:03:17,240 --> 00:03:20,280 And I guess it was the first of the real feelings 55 00:03:20,280 --> 00:03:22,760 of what it meant to be adopted. 56 00:03:23,200 --> 00:03:28,160 Barbara was born in July of 1940. 57 00:03:28,160 --> 00:03:30,160 She remembers being told by her parents, 58 00:03:30,160 --> 00:03:33,000 Jack and Rose Smith, that she had been adopted. 59 00:03:33,000 --> 00:03:35,760 It never bothered her until the day her best friend 60 00:03:35,760 --> 00:03:38,560 began her ridiculer. 61 00:03:38,560 --> 00:03:41,640 Sweetheart, remember I told you that the doctor's 62 00:03:41,640 --> 00:03:42,920 going to come over? 63 00:03:42,920 --> 00:03:45,840 That evening, Barbara was inconsolable. 64 00:03:45,840 --> 00:03:48,640 Her parents asked the family doctor, Maurice Silton, 65 00:03:48,640 --> 00:03:51,480 to stop by and speak with her. 66 00:03:51,480 --> 00:03:54,840 Dr. Silton came into my room, and he sat down 67 00:03:54,840 --> 00:03:56,240 and he told me the whole story. 68 00:03:56,240 --> 00:04:00,040 Barbara, I'm the doctor who delivered you. 69 00:04:00,040 --> 00:04:03,800 Your real birth dad, he died during the Second World War, 70 00:04:03,800 --> 00:04:07,360 and your birth mother, she died right after giving birth 71 00:04:07,360 --> 00:04:09,320 to you. 72 00:04:09,320 --> 00:04:12,480 I don't believe it. 73 00:04:12,480 --> 00:04:16,680 Well, why don't you get a good night's sleep? 74 00:04:16,680 --> 00:04:19,360 So that started at that point. 75 00:04:19,400 --> 00:04:21,760 My father, to come in the room after the doctor left, 76 00:04:21,760 --> 00:04:26,120 and he talked with me and said, well, 77 00:04:26,120 --> 00:04:29,800 I hope you're feeling better and calming you down, 78 00:04:29,800 --> 00:04:34,840 and saying, Barbara, you know that everybody is gone. 79 00:04:34,840 --> 00:04:36,920 I know that my family's still alive, 80 00:04:36,920 --> 00:04:40,880 and you know that too, Daddy. 81 00:04:40,880 --> 00:04:43,080 And he just sort of left it. 82 00:04:43,080 --> 00:04:44,120 He didn't continue. 83 00:04:44,120 --> 00:04:46,080 He didn't say any more. 84 00:04:46,080 --> 00:04:47,200 Just left it at that. 85 00:04:50,080 --> 00:04:55,640 Finally, when Barbara was a teenager, 86 00:04:55,640 --> 00:04:58,800 her father brought out her long-buried adoption papers. 87 00:04:58,800 --> 00:05:00,760 For the first time, Barbara Smith 88 00:05:00,760 --> 00:05:05,080 learned that her real mother's name was Victoria Bumgoner. 89 00:05:05,080 --> 00:05:06,920 There was no indication there that she had ever died 90 00:05:06,920 --> 00:05:09,680 in childbirth, as I have been told. 91 00:05:09,680 --> 00:05:14,440 And I remember seeing my mother's signature on the paper, 92 00:05:14,440 --> 00:05:17,000 and I just stared at it and stared at it and stared at it. 93 00:05:17,000 --> 00:05:20,080 I just, it was the only thing that I knew 94 00:05:20,080 --> 00:05:22,240 that she was in existence. 95 00:05:22,240 --> 00:05:26,480 And it sort of, at that point, re-surged in myself, 96 00:05:26,480 --> 00:05:28,880 saying, I know that they're out there. 97 00:05:28,880 --> 00:05:33,560 I don't know who or what, but something is out there. 98 00:05:33,560 --> 00:05:35,320 A couple of years passed. 99 00:05:35,320 --> 00:05:39,440 In 1957, Barbara met a young man named Steve Reed. 100 00:05:39,440 --> 00:05:42,360 They soon fell in love and eventually became engaged. 101 00:05:42,720 --> 00:05:46,600 One afternoon, Steve and Barbara visited a friend 102 00:05:46,600 --> 00:05:48,600 of Steve's named High Ratner. 103 00:05:48,600 --> 00:05:50,640 Barbara was startled by a portrait 104 00:05:50,640 --> 00:05:53,200 hanging in the living room. 105 00:05:53,200 --> 00:05:56,080 Wow, that portrait looks almost like me. 106 00:05:56,080 --> 00:05:57,480 Yeah, that's my sister, Barb. 107 00:05:57,480 --> 00:05:59,440 Remember, I told you how much you guys looked alike. 108 00:05:59,440 --> 00:06:00,280 Oh, that's right. 109 00:06:00,280 --> 00:06:01,680 You did mention that. 110 00:06:01,680 --> 00:06:02,680 Yeah. 111 00:06:02,680 --> 00:06:03,480 Yeah. 112 00:06:03,480 --> 00:06:04,280 Oh, you got me. 113 00:06:04,280 --> 00:06:05,880 I looked at that portrait, and I thought, wow, he's right. 114 00:06:05,880 --> 00:06:07,120 She does resemble me. 115 00:06:07,120 --> 00:06:08,120 How interesting. 116 00:06:08,880 --> 00:06:11,280 Then we assembled into the dining room, 117 00:06:11,280 --> 00:06:14,880 and Barbara came in, and just we briefly were introduced 118 00:06:14,880 --> 00:06:15,880 and said hello. 119 00:06:15,880 --> 00:06:16,880 Are you sure? 120 00:06:16,880 --> 00:06:17,880 Yeah. 121 00:06:17,880 --> 00:06:18,880 Steve. 122 00:06:18,880 --> 00:06:19,880 Barbara. 123 00:06:19,880 --> 00:06:20,880 Hi. 124 00:06:20,880 --> 00:06:21,880 How are you? 125 00:06:21,880 --> 00:06:22,880 I'm good. 126 00:06:22,880 --> 00:06:23,880 How are you doing? 127 00:06:23,880 --> 00:06:26,880 OK, I'd like you to meet my fiance, Barbara. 128 00:06:26,880 --> 00:06:27,880 Hi. 129 00:06:27,880 --> 00:06:28,880 Barbara. 130 00:06:28,880 --> 00:06:30,880 And I thought she does look like me, 131 00:06:30,880 --> 00:06:32,880 and just kind of thought that to myself. 132 00:06:32,880 --> 00:06:34,880 Friends for the movies. 133 00:06:35,640 --> 00:06:41,920 We met, and it was just instant like. 134 00:06:41,920 --> 00:06:43,960 You know how sometimes you meet somebody, 135 00:06:43,960 --> 00:06:45,800 and you feel like you've known them for a long time. 136 00:06:48,800 --> 00:06:51,840 The two Barbans soon became the best of friends. 137 00:06:51,840 --> 00:06:54,960 They even married two men who were also best friends. 138 00:06:54,960 --> 00:06:58,160 The young couples were inseparable. 139 00:06:58,160 --> 00:07:01,200 Our friendship developed almost instantly. 140 00:07:01,200 --> 00:07:04,040 We really became very close. 141 00:07:04,120 --> 00:07:07,360 We shared a lot of our life's events. 142 00:07:07,360 --> 00:07:09,960 Having children, we raised our children together 143 00:07:09,960 --> 00:07:12,120 to the point that Barbara was Aunt Barbara, 144 00:07:12,120 --> 00:07:13,600 and I was Aunt Barbara for her children. 145 00:07:16,240 --> 00:07:19,000 Barbara never knew that she was adopted, 146 00:07:19,000 --> 00:07:21,320 and I had been told that she was adopted. 147 00:07:21,320 --> 00:07:24,840 So it was a thing that I knew, never talk about it. 148 00:07:24,840 --> 00:07:28,240 But I talked about it from my point of view later on. 149 00:07:28,240 --> 00:07:31,840 I told her that I was adopted in the name of my mother. 150 00:07:31,840 --> 00:07:34,240 And what I knew, she just asked a couple of questions, 151 00:07:34,240 --> 00:07:35,640 and that was it. 152 00:07:35,640 --> 00:07:39,160 And nothing more was ever thought about it 153 00:07:39,160 --> 00:07:40,400 until her mother passed away. 154 00:07:43,000 --> 00:07:46,200 In 1966, Barbara Ratner's mother died, 155 00:07:46,200 --> 00:07:49,360 and her father decided to sell the family home. 156 00:07:49,360 --> 00:07:52,080 While helping to pack, Barbara uncovered a box filled 157 00:07:52,080 --> 00:07:55,880 with memeros from her childhood. 158 00:07:55,880 --> 00:07:57,840 Barbara Ratner was shocked to discover 159 00:07:57,840 --> 00:07:59,840 that she had been adopted. 160 00:07:59,840 --> 00:08:03,120 Amazingly, the adoption papers listed her natural mother's 161 00:08:03,120 --> 00:08:07,440 last name as Bumgoner, the same last name as Barbara 162 00:08:07,440 --> 00:08:10,280 Smith's natural mother. 163 00:08:10,280 --> 00:08:12,240 I was dumbfounded. 164 00:08:12,240 --> 00:08:14,480 I didn't know that I was adopted, 165 00:08:14,480 --> 00:08:18,560 but I didn't connect it with Barbara at that moment. 166 00:08:18,560 --> 00:08:20,880 It was a few minutes later when I started reading 167 00:08:20,880 --> 00:08:22,680 the correspondence. 168 00:08:22,680 --> 00:08:27,200 And there was one paragraph where 169 00:08:27,200 --> 00:08:30,320 they were describing the mother as being a healthy woman, 170 00:08:30,320 --> 00:08:32,960 already having one previous child, a daughter, 171 00:08:32,960 --> 00:08:37,800 living in Beverly Hills that was in very good health. 172 00:08:37,800 --> 00:08:39,600 I just knew it was Barbara. 173 00:08:39,600 --> 00:08:40,320 I just knew. 174 00:08:42,920 --> 00:08:45,960 Barbara Ratner immediately called her best friend, 175 00:08:45,960 --> 00:08:48,280 Barbara Smith. 176 00:08:48,280 --> 00:08:52,080 What was your natural mother's name again? 177 00:08:52,080 --> 00:08:54,400 Victoria Bumgoner. 178 00:08:54,400 --> 00:08:56,240 And I said, well, you're not going to believe this. 179 00:08:58,200 --> 00:09:00,600 I said, I just found some papers, 180 00:09:00,600 --> 00:09:04,040 and I am baby girl Bumgoner. 181 00:09:04,040 --> 00:09:07,400 And there was a long pause, and then she said, 182 00:09:07,400 --> 00:09:08,840 I'll get back to you and hung up. 183 00:09:11,760 --> 00:09:14,600 Barbara Smith called her adoptive parents. 184 00:09:14,600 --> 00:09:17,520 Her father agreed to call Dr. Silton. 185 00:09:17,520 --> 00:09:20,440 He confirmed that Barbara Smith and Barbara Ratner 186 00:09:20,440 --> 00:09:23,160 were indeed sisters. 187 00:09:23,160 --> 00:09:26,160 It was just the most wonderful thing to me. 188 00:09:26,160 --> 00:09:28,160 I mean, your best friend is your sister, 189 00:09:28,160 --> 00:09:30,600 and that can be more wonderful. 190 00:09:30,600 --> 00:09:32,120 I mean, we were already Annie Barbara. 191 00:09:32,120 --> 00:09:34,440 And I remember running into her children at one point and saying, 192 00:09:34,440 --> 00:09:36,760 but I'm really Annie Barbara, but I'm really Annie Barbara. 193 00:09:36,760 --> 00:09:38,200 And they looked at me and thought, 194 00:09:38,200 --> 00:09:39,400 what is she talking about? 195 00:09:43,320 --> 00:09:45,640 The two barbers were overjoyed. 196 00:09:45,640 --> 00:09:48,240 In 1969, the approached Dr. Silton 197 00:09:48,240 --> 00:09:50,880 with questions about their natural mother. 198 00:09:50,880 --> 00:09:52,600 He provided them with a few details, 199 00:09:52,600 --> 00:09:55,280 but withheld most of the information. 200 00:09:55,280 --> 00:09:58,320 Before his death in 1989, Dr. Silton 201 00:09:58,320 --> 00:10:03,680 destroyed all records pertaining to their adoptions. 202 00:10:03,680 --> 00:10:07,160 He was reluctant because he was very close to my parents. 203 00:10:07,160 --> 00:10:11,880 He just wanted to let sleeping dogs lie as a word. 204 00:10:11,880 --> 00:10:15,880 This was just not something that you could conduct with finesse. 205 00:10:15,880 --> 00:10:19,320 And to be close to the family and to do all of the arrangements 206 00:10:19,320 --> 00:10:22,320 and the things that went on in both of our cases, 207 00:10:22,320 --> 00:10:24,280 I mean, it just must have left him devastated. 208 00:10:24,280 --> 00:10:26,800 Because by law, you were to protect the mother. 209 00:10:26,800 --> 00:10:29,040 She was his patient. 210 00:10:29,040 --> 00:10:32,240 So where does that leave us with very little information? 211 00:10:35,280 --> 00:10:37,320 Barbara Smith and Barbara Ratner then 212 00:10:37,320 --> 00:10:40,800 contacted the Children's Home Society of California. 213 00:10:40,800 --> 00:10:43,880 A sketchy history of their past began to emerge. 214 00:10:47,080 --> 00:10:51,000 In 1940, an unmarried 23-year-old woman named Victoria 215 00:10:51,000 --> 00:10:53,440 Bumgoner arrived in Los Angeles. 216 00:10:53,440 --> 00:10:56,680 She was pregnant and turned to Dr. Maurice Silton for help. 217 00:10:56,680 --> 00:10:59,280 Having any discomfort? 218 00:10:59,280 --> 00:11:02,320 On July 31, the baby girl was born. 219 00:11:02,320 --> 00:11:04,560 She was adopted by Jack and Rose Smith, 220 00:11:04,560 --> 00:11:07,480 who named her Barbara Ann. 221 00:11:07,480 --> 00:11:08,440 I'm sorry, Victoria. 222 00:11:08,440 --> 00:11:11,720 It's time to take the baby back to the nursery now. 223 00:11:11,720 --> 00:11:15,520 15 months later, Victoria gave birth to a second daughter. 224 00:11:15,520 --> 00:11:18,320 Again, Dr. Silton made arrangements for adoption. 225 00:11:18,920 --> 00:11:21,560 In an absolutely mind-boggling coincidence, 226 00:11:21,560 --> 00:11:24,920 the two young sisters grew up just five miles apart. 227 00:11:24,920 --> 00:11:26,840 Each was named Barbara Ann, and each 228 00:11:26,840 --> 00:11:30,880 was raised by an adoptive mother named Rose. 229 00:11:30,880 --> 00:11:34,440 As we start to compare some of the facts and the dates, 230 00:11:34,440 --> 00:11:37,000 it was just a lot of similarities. 231 00:11:37,000 --> 00:11:40,400 Even some of our outfits as children were similar. 232 00:11:40,400 --> 00:11:42,440 I mean, I don't think a lot of twins 233 00:11:42,440 --> 00:11:45,760 have as much similarities as we do. 234 00:11:45,760 --> 00:11:48,880 And the fact that we married best friends, 235 00:11:48,880 --> 00:11:53,920 and the fact that we are best friends, it's just a real, 236 00:11:53,920 --> 00:11:54,840 it just goes on. 237 00:11:58,840 --> 00:12:01,560 Barbara Ann Smith and Barbara Ann Rattner 238 00:12:01,560 --> 00:12:05,080 found each other against almost inconceivable odds. 239 00:12:05,080 --> 00:12:08,000 They have little information on Victoria Bumgoner, 240 00:12:08,000 --> 00:12:09,880 but bolstered by their own experience, 241 00:12:09,880 --> 00:12:12,120 they are convinced that if they keep looking, 242 00:12:12,120 --> 00:12:14,760 they will someday find their way to the next step. 243 00:12:14,760 --> 00:12:16,800 They will someday find their natural mother. 244 00:12:28,560 --> 00:12:30,920 Next, the death of a marine captain 245 00:12:30,920 --> 00:12:32,760 is shrouded in controversy. 246 00:12:32,760 --> 00:12:34,560 Was it suicide or murder? 247 00:12:45,760 --> 00:12:47,400 From the time he was 10 years old, 248 00:12:47,400 --> 00:12:50,000 Jeffrey Digmond wanted to be a marine. 249 00:12:50,000 --> 00:12:51,880 He signed up while he was still in college 250 00:12:51,880 --> 00:12:56,000 and was accepted into officers' candidate school. 251 00:12:56,000 --> 00:12:59,000 Jeffrey was very even-tempered. 252 00:12:59,000 --> 00:13:02,400 He spoke very softly, very quietly. 253 00:13:02,400 --> 00:13:05,480 He was a very clean type of individual. 254 00:13:05,480 --> 00:13:09,840 Everything had to be just perfect. 255 00:13:09,840 --> 00:13:14,680 He was just a very organized, independent, 256 00:13:14,720 --> 00:13:17,280 individual who knew what he wanted 257 00:13:17,280 --> 00:13:19,400 and directed all of his efforts and attention 258 00:13:19,400 --> 00:13:20,840 and achieving in that. 259 00:13:20,840 --> 00:13:23,560 Because he was such an athletic kid, 260 00:13:23,560 --> 00:13:27,120 he thought it was very macho to be a marine. 261 00:13:27,120 --> 00:13:29,840 And I think that's why he chose the Marines. 262 00:13:29,840 --> 00:13:33,720 He thought he could do it and he could. 263 00:13:33,720 --> 00:13:37,160 At the age of 28, Jeffrey Digmond was promoted to captain 264 00:13:37,160 --> 00:13:40,160 and stationed in his hometown of San Diego. 265 00:13:40,160 --> 00:13:43,320 In late June of 1988, he and another officer 266 00:13:43,320 --> 00:13:47,960 had pooled their money and bought a house together. 267 00:13:47,960 --> 00:13:51,280 Just four months later, on November 1, 1988, 268 00:13:51,280 --> 00:13:53,440 Digmond was transferred to Puerto Rico. 269 00:13:57,400 --> 00:14:00,840 According to friends, Digmond was unhappy about the transfer. 270 00:14:00,840 --> 00:14:03,080 But by Christmas, he had begun to settle in 271 00:14:03,080 --> 00:14:06,600 and was dating Lucy Garcia, an accountant at the base. 272 00:14:06,600 --> 00:14:07,960 Thank you. 273 00:14:07,960 --> 00:14:11,160 Jeffrey was a very quiet person. 274 00:14:11,240 --> 00:14:16,800 He was so serious and I liked that of him. 275 00:14:16,800 --> 00:14:21,840 He said he was going to take two weeks off to go back home 276 00:14:21,840 --> 00:14:25,800 and fix some things, work in his income tax papers 277 00:14:25,800 --> 00:14:28,160 and do some other things over there. 278 00:14:31,360 --> 00:14:33,880 Just after the holidays, Digmond spent two weeks 279 00:14:33,880 --> 00:14:35,640 at his home in San Diego. 280 00:14:35,640 --> 00:14:37,640 He was scheduled to fly back to Puerto Rico 281 00:14:37,680 --> 00:14:42,400 on January 22, 1989, Super Bowl Sunday. 282 00:14:42,400 --> 00:14:45,880 At halftime, the neighbors saw Digmond return home. 283 00:14:45,880 --> 00:14:48,400 Digmond's roommate, a major in the Marine Corps, 284 00:14:48,400 --> 00:14:51,200 had gone to Las Vegas for the weekend with his girlfriend. 285 00:15:01,280 --> 00:15:03,480 At 6 PM, neighbors heard what they thought 286 00:15:03,480 --> 00:15:05,560 was a car backfiring. 287 00:15:05,560 --> 00:15:08,840 At 10 PM, a major returned from Las Vegas. 288 00:15:08,840 --> 00:15:12,520 He was surprised to see Jeffrey Digmond's car still there. 289 00:15:12,520 --> 00:15:14,800 Digmond's flight to Puerto Rico had been scheduled 290 00:15:14,800 --> 00:15:19,000 to depart 15 minutes earlier. 291 00:15:19,000 --> 00:15:21,520 When the roommate returned home with his girlfriend, 292 00:15:21,520 --> 00:15:25,560 they noticed that the house appeared to have someone in it. 293 00:15:25,560 --> 00:15:26,360 The lights were on. 294 00:15:26,360 --> 00:15:29,680 The garage door was open, apparently. 295 00:15:29,680 --> 00:15:32,080 So this caused some concerns, some suspicion, 296 00:15:32,080 --> 00:15:34,320 as Mr. Digmond was not supposed to be there. 297 00:15:34,360 --> 00:15:37,960 The roommate and the girlfriend, again, 298 00:15:37,960 --> 00:15:41,040 thinking that something was out of the ordinary, 299 00:15:41,040 --> 00:15:44,800 went across the street to get some neighbors. 300 00:15:44,800 --> 00:15:45,720 Hi, Bill. 301 00:15:45,720 --> 00:15:46,600 Sorry to bother you. 302 00:15:46,600 --> 00:15:48,600 I was wondering if you could come over and help me out 303 00:15:48,600 --> 00:15:50,960 over at the house and just take a look inside with me. 304 00:15:50,960 --> 00:15:51,460 What do you need? 305 00:15:51,460 --> 00:15:52,000 What's the matter? 306 00:15:52,000 --> 00:15:52,760 Well, I'm not sure. 307 00:15:52,760 --> 00:15:53,840 But if you could come over. 308 00:15:53,840 --> 00:15:55,560 The major persuaded his neighbor 309 00:15:55,560 --> 00:15:56,800 to go into the house with him. 310 00:15:56,800 --> 00:15:57,600 That's all right. 311 00:15:57,600 --> 00:15:59,360 Did you notice anything strange around here? 312 00:15:59,360 --> 00:16:01,640 No, it looks normal, natural. 313 00:16:01,640 --> 00:16:03,600 Jeff's car wasn't supposed to be here, 314 00:16:03,600 --> 00:16:05,680 and I was the lights were supposed to be off. 315 00:16:05,680 --> 00:16:07,520 I don't know, but I appreciate you coming over. 316 00:16:07,520 --> 00:16:08,320 That's OK. 317 00:16:12,400 --> 00:16:13,400 I'll check in here. 318 00:16:13,600 --> 00:16:14,600 The police. 319 00:16:30,080 --> 00:16:33,360 Jeffrey Digmond was dead with a single bullet wound 320 00:16:33,360 --> 00:16:36,720 to his right temple. 321 00:16:36,720 --> 00:16:40,760 Digmond's blood alcohol level measured an incredible 0.24, 322 00:16:40,800 --> 00:16:44,720 exactly three times a legal limit for intoxication. 323 00:16:44,720 --> 00:16:48,040 The death was ruled a suicide. 324 00:16:48,040 --> 00:16:53,720 Among the items that lead us to conclude that it is a suicide 325 00:16:53,720 --> 00:16:56,360 were talking to his acquaintances, 326 00:16:56,360 --> 00:17:01,720 as going to possibly his state of mind before this occurred. 327 00:17:01,720 --> 00:17:05,040 As well as forensic evidence that was discovered at the scene, 328 00:17:05,040 --> 00:17:07,000 one of the pieces of forensic evidence 329 00:17:07,000 --> 00:17:09,600 was what we call a gunshot residue test. 330 00:17:09,640 --> 00:17:14,360 And that determined that there was gunpowder 331 00:17:14,360 --> 00:17:19,000 or an indication that Mr. Digmond had fired a gun 332 00:17:19,000 --> 00:17:21,000 on the right hand. 333 00:17:21,000 --> 00:17:26,520 I had no time ever believed that he committed suicide. 334 00:17:26,520 --> 00:17:30,680 I never believed that from when I first got the phone call 335 00:17:30,680 --> 00:17:34,000 to when I went down that night or in the past two years, 336 00:17:34,000 --> 00:17:38,600 have I ever believed that he committed suicide. 337 00:17:38,600 --> 00:17:42,000 I've always believed that he was murdered. 338 00:17:42,000 --> 00:17:46,920 And that's what the evidence shows, that he was murdered. 339 00:17:46,920 --> 00:17:48,920 The Naval Investigative Service backed up 340 00:17:48,920 --> 00:17:51,440 the coroner's ruling of suicide. 341 00:17:51,440 --> 00:17:53,360 Unconvinced, Bill and Donna Digmond 342 00:17:53,360 --> 00:17:57,080 hired several experts and began their own investigation, which 343 00:17:57,080 --> 00:17:59,080 not only took on a life of its own, 344 00:17:59,080 --> 00:18:01,240 but soon took over their lives as well. 345 00:18:05,200 --> 00:18:07,520 For more than a year, the Digmonds working out 346 00:18:07,560 --> 00:18:09,400 of their home collected information 347 00:18:09,400 --> 00:18:11,480 about their son's case. 348 00:18:11,480 --> 00:18:13,640 Upstairs in his childhood bedroom, 349 00:18:13,640 --> 00:18:17,200 they painstakingly duplicated the scene of Jeffrey's death 350 00:18:17,200 --> 00:18:20,240 using the actual furniture from his house. 351 00:18:20,240 --> 00:18:22,560 With the help of a private investigator, 352 00:18:22,560 --> 00:18:26,080 Bill Digmond demonstrated for us why he believes his son could 353 00:18:26,080 --> 00:18:29,000 not possibly have killed himself. 354 00:18:29,000 --> 00:18:32,640 In this room, we've recreated a mockup of the crime scene. 355 00:18:32,640 --> 00:18:36,280 Everything is located in the same position it was that night, 356 00:18:36,320 --> 00:18:39,600 and it was determined by our investigator, Ted Gunnerson. 357 00:18:39,600 --> 00:18:42,120 The first thing I had to do was determine 358 00:18:42,120 --> 00:18:45,360 the trajectory of the bullet, which I did. 359 00:18:45,360 --> 00:18:50,160 And this is the trajectory of the bullet on that occasion. 360 00:18:50,160 --> 00:18:54,080 Also, it was important that we recreate the bedroom 361 00:18:54,080 --> 00:18:55,880 as nearly as possible. 362 00:18:55,880 --> 00:18:57,640 And we did that by measuring the furniture 363 00:18:57,640 --> 00:19:00,240 and using the exact furniture that was in the room that night 364 00:19:00,240 --> 00:19:02,200 the night of the shooting. 365 00:19:02,200 --> 00:19:05,680 This was the position that my son was found in. 366 00:19:08,520 --> 00:19:10,960 And I am the same height as my son. 367 00:19:10,960 --> 00:19:13,840 Now, he was shot through the head. 368 00:19:13,840 --> 00:19:17,080 And for him to have been able to have shot through the head, 369 00:19:17,080 --> 00:19:20,400 he had to be shot somewhere along the bullet path here, 370 00:19:20,400 --> 00:19:23,760 which means that you have to get lined up with it. 371 00:19:23,760 --> 00:19:27,160 And to do that, I have to get in this contorted position 372 00:19:27,160 --> 00:19:29,720 like this. 373 00:19:29,760 --> 00:19:33,880 The other thing was that he was left-handed. 374 00:19:33,880 --> 00:19:35,520 And if he had held the gun in his hand 375 00:19:35,520 --> 00:19:38,840 and in this contorted position or on the side of the bed, 376 00:19:38,840 --> 00:19:41,560 as soon as he was shot, he would have fallen to the floor. 377 00:19:44,800 --> 00:19:47,040 Even though Jeffrey Digman was left-handed, 378 00:19:47,040 --> 00:19:50,960 investigators found powder burns on his right hand as well. 379 00:19:50,960 --> 00:19:53,800 Bill and Donna Digman believe there was other evidence 380 00:19:53,800 --> 00:19:55,480 inconsistent with suicide. 381 00:19:56,160 --> 00:19:58,720 A trail of blood ran from Jeffrey Digman's left ear 382 00:19:58,720 --> 00:20:00,160 down his cheek. 383 00:20:00,160 --> 00:20:02,240 This raised the possibility that Digman 384 00:20:02,240 --> 00:20:05,120 was in an upright position for at least seven seconds 385 00:20:05,120 --> 00:20:07,960 after the gunshot wound was inflicted. 386 00:20:07,960 --> 00:20:09,720 Police photographs taken at the scene 387 00:20:09,720 --> 00:20:12,480 also revealed an abrasion on Digman's cheek 388 00:20:12,480 --> 00:20:16,480 and a contusion on his elbow. 389 00:20:16,480 --> 00:20:18,960 Above Jeffrey's head on the turnback sheet 390 00:20:18,960 --> 00:20:21,400 was an unexplained smear of blood. 391 00:20:21,400 --> 00:20:25,360 His parents hired Steve Scherzer to take him to the hospital 392 00:20:25,400 --> 00:20:28,280 to see if he could get a shot. 393 00:20:28,280 --> 00:20:30,720 The scene was shot at the scene. 394 00:20:30,720 --> 00:20:33,320 Steve Schlebe, an independent forensic expert, 395 00:20:33,320 --> 00:20:36,440 to review the case. 396 00:20:36,440 --> 00:20:39,520 I don't feel that Jeffrey killed himself. 397 00:20:39,520 --> 00:20:42,000 I think there was some kind of a struggle that took place, 398 00:20:42,000 --> 00:20:44,000 and he was shot during that struggle 399 00:20:44,000 --> 00:20:48,600 based upon an evaluation of the evidence at the scene. 400 00:20:48,600 --> 00:20:50,800 10 months after Jeffrey Digman's death, 401 00:20:50,800 --> 00:20:53,040 his parents requested that his body be exhumed 402 00:20:54,040 --> 00:20:57,800 The Naval Hospital in San Diego performed a second autopsy. 403 00:20:57,800 --> 00:20:59,640 They found two injuries not mentioned 404 00:20:59,640 --> 00:21:01,840 in the first autopsy report. 405 00:21:01,840 --> 00:21:04,160 Contusions on Jeffrey Digman's right elbow 406 00:21:04,160 --> 00:21:06,760 and on the middle finger of his left hand. 407 00:21:06,760 --> 00:21:08,760 The second autopsy report, however, 408 00:21:08,760 --> 00:21:11,560 stated that these injuries were insignificant. 409 00:21:11,560 --> 00:21:17,520 There was no medical evidence to support a conclusion of homicide. 410 00:21:17,520 --> 00:21:20,520 The Digmans continued to believe that their son had been 411 00:21:20,520 --> 00:21:21,800 murdered. 412 00:21:21,840 --> 00:21:24,800 They felt Jeffrey's death was somehow related to his tenure 413 00:21:24,800 --> 00:21:27,800 with the San Diego Marine Drug Testing Unit. 414 00:21:27,800 --> 00:21:30,760 For seven months in 1988, before he was transferred 415 00:21:30,760 --> 00:21:36,640 to Puerto Rico, Jeffrey Digman had served as chief of the unit. 416 00:21:36,640 --> 00:21:38,840 People were dealing drugs. 417 00:21:38,840 --> 00:21:41,320 People were testing positive. 418 00:21:41,320 --> 00:21:44,040 He would write his reports documenting 419 00:21:44,040 --> 00:21:46,640 what the results of his investigation were. 420 00:21:46,640 --> 00:21:48,360 And those people weren't being disciplined. 421 00:21:48,360 --> 00:21:50,880 They were not being discharged. 422 00:21:50,960 --> 00:21:53,720 He was very upset over that. 423 00:21:53,720 --> 00:21:56,880 Jeffrey's mother recalls that while he was with the drug unit, 424 00:21:56,880 --> 00:21:59,360 she visited him at his house in the very room 425 00:21:59,360 --> 00:22:02,240 where he would later die. 426 00:22:02,240 --> 00:22:06,320 I found some military documents in his safe, 427 00:22:06,320 --> 00:22:09,760 and I asked him, what were those documents? 428 00:22:09,760 --> 00:22:14,560 And that was when he told me that he was saving those tests 429 00:22:14,560 --> 00:22:19,080 from drug abuse tests so that he could cover himself 430 00:22:19,080 --> 00:22:24,000 in case anyone said that he wasn't doing his job. 431 00:22:24,000 --> 00:22:27,760 When we came back to move Jeffrey's things, 432 00:22:27,760 --> 00:22:30,960 we wanted to empty the desk to make it lighter. 433 00:22:30,960 --> 00:22:35,000 And we opened the hinged door that the safe was usually 434 00:22:35,000 --> 00:22:36,240 behind. 435 00:22:36,240 --> 00:22:38,480 And the hinged door came off in our hands, 436 00:22:38,480 --> 00:22:41,920 and the hinges were not connected. 437 00:22:41,920 --> 00:22:44,720 And the safe was not there. 438 00:22:44,720 --> 00:22:48,120 They were after those papers. 439 00:22:48,120 --> 00:22:50,000 We didn't get the safe back because I 440 00:22:50,000 --> 00:22:53,800 believe that they pried it open, broke it. 441 00:22:53,800 --> 00:22:56,720 Conville will give it back to us if it would have been damaged, 442 00:22:56,720 --> 00:23:01,360 or possibly it had blood on it. 443 00:23:01,360 --> 00:23:04,400 There is a final puzzling post-script of this case. 444 00:23:04,400 --> 00:23:06,520 When Lucy Garcia helped the Marines pack 445 00:23:06,520 --> 00:23:09,240 Jeffrey Digman's belongings in Puerto Rico, 446 00:23:09,240 --> 00:23:13,640 one of the items was a small greenback diary. 447 00:23:13,640 --> 00:23:17,440 They opened the book, and they started reading it. 448 00:23:17,440 --> 00:23:19,480 They closed the book again, and then 449 00:23:19,480 --> 00:23:23,920 they give it to the person who was packing. 450 00:23:23,920 --> 00:23:28,840 When I give the green book to one of them listed, 451 00:23:28,840 --> 00:23:31,280 I noticed that all the pages were in the book. 452 00:23:31,280 --> 00:23:33,360 Everything was fine. 453 00:23:33,360 --> 00:23:35,760 Eventually, we unpacked things and looked 454 00:23:35,760 --> 00:23:40,320 for the little green book that Lucy was telling us about. 455 00:23:40,320 --> 00:23:43,920 And when we found it, what we found 456 00:23:43,920 --> 00:23:46,880 was that the pages were cut out of it. 457 00:23:54,040 --> 00:23:57,720 It's been difficult thinking about it all the time 458 00:23:57,720 --> 00:24:00,920 with Dumak up there so close. 459 00:24:00,920 --> 00:24:03,040 A constant reminder that he's dead. 460 00:24:06,480 --> 00:24:08,840 But I have a job to do. 461 00:24:08,840 --> 00:24:12,640 And some people may say that we're enthusiastic or obsessed 462 00:24:12,640 --> 00:24:14,520 with this. 463 00:24:14,520 --> 00:24:16,200 Yeah, we're obsessed with the fact 464 00:24:16,200 --> 00:24:18,840 we want to know why our son is dead. 465 00:24:18,840 --> 00:24:20,720 We want to know why. 466 00:24:20,720 --> 00:24:24,800 And we're not going to give up until we find out why. 467 00:24:24,800 --> 00:24:27,760 Two months ago, the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology 468 00:24:27,760 --> 00:24:30,240 reviewed both our topsy reports. 469 00:24:30,240 --> 00:24:33,240 They changed the cause of death to undetermined. 470 00:24:33,240 --> 00:24:35,040 Although the Naval Investigative Service 471 00:24:35,040 --> 00:24:37,000 and the Riverside County California Sheriff's 472 00:24:37,000 --> 00:24:40,240 Department stand by their original suicide ruling, 473 00:24:40,240 --> 00:24:45,240 they would welcome any new evidence pertinent to the case. 474 00:24:45,240 --> 00:24:48,000 Next, authorities in Florida need your help 475 00:24:48,000 --> 00:24:51,440 to solve a wave of arson on tonight's special alert. 476 00:25:04,240 --> 00:25:07,340 On October 24, 1991, firefighters 477 00:25:07,340 --> 00:25:10,660 rushed to the First Baptist Church in Ocala, Florida. 478 00:25:10,660 --> 00:25:13,420 Despite their efforts, the 85-year-old landmark 479 00:25:13,420 --> 00:25:15,260 was completely gutted. 480 00:25:15,260 --> 00:25:18,700 Incredibly, this was a 21st suspicious church fire 481 00:25:18,700 --> 00:25:21,700 in Florida during a 15-month period. 482 00:25:21,700 --> 00:25:23,420 Authorities began to fear that they 483 00:25:23,420 --> 00:25:26,500 might be dealing with a pathological serial arsonist. 484 00:25:29,140 --> 00:25:31,980 The series of blazes began in July of 1990 485 00:25:31,980 --> 00:25:33,980 in Jackson County, Florida. 486 00:25:33,980 --> 00:25:38,580 By February of 1991, 11 churches had been torched. 487 00:25:38,580 --> 00:25:43,380 By June, the total stood at 15. 488 00:25:43,380 --> 00:25:46,500 Then suddenly, the fires mysteriously stopped. 489 00:25:46,500 --> 00:25:50,340 The three and a half months all was quiet. 490 00:25:50,340 --> 00:25:53,940 But in October, the reign of destruction erupted again. 491 00:25:53,940 --> 00:25:58,820 Seven more churches in as many days went up in flames. 492 00:25:58,820 --> 00:26:02,580 Among them, the First Baptist Church in Ocala, Florida, 493 00:26:02,580 --> 00:26:05,500 damaged from this fire alone is estimated in excess 494 00:26:05,500 --> 00:26:09,780 of $4 million. 495 00:26:09,780 --> 00:26:12,060 After the rash of fires in October, 496 00:26:12,060 --> 00:26:14,500 authorities formed a special joint task force 497 00:26:14,500 --> 00:26:18,860 comprised of federal, state, and local investigators. 498 00:26:18,860 --> 00:26:22,860 Task force is looking at all possible patterns and avenues, 499 00:26:22,860 --> 00:26:26,540 everything from profiles of possible fire setters 500 00:26:26,540 --> 00:26:29,100 to times of day and other information 501 00:26:29,100 --> 00:26:31,860 regarding the churches. 502 00:26:31,860 --> 00:26:35,900 But there certainly is no specific pattern 503 00:26:35,900 --> 00:26:40,100 that has been determined at this point. 504 00:26:40,100 --> 00:26:43,420 Just five hours before our camera crew arrived in Gainesville 505 00:26:43,420 --> 00:26:46,740 to film interviews, the Westwood Hills Church of God 506 00:26:46,740 --> 00:26:50,500 was destroyed by an arson fire. 507 00:26:50,500 --> 00:26:53,860 At daybreak, church members looked on as a task force 508 00:26:53,860 --> 00:26:55,140 searched the rubble for clues. 509 00:26:57,940 --> 00:27:01,140 Churches, like ours, like to stay open and offer people 510 00:27:01,140 --> 00:27:05,740 a place to meditate or pray and be involved 24 hours a day. 511 00:27:05,740 --> 00:27:07,260 And it's got to the place now where 512 00:27:07,260 --> 00:27:12,100 we can't leave our doors open so someone could come in and pray. 513 00:27:12,100 --> 00:27:14,380 We're having to guard the church. 514 00:27:14,380 --> 00:27:18,460 I would hope that we will come to some sort of quick solution. 515 00:27:18,460 --> 00:27:20,900 However, I think it should be noted 516 00:27:20,900 --> 00:27:23,260 that we need to be prepared for the long haul. 517 00:27:23,260 --> 00:27:25,260 These are very complex investigations. 518 00:27:28,140 --> 00:27:30,180 To date, more than 26 churches have 519 00:27:30,220 --> 00:27:32,860 been damaged or destroyed by the arson fires, 520 00:27:32,860 --> 00:27:34,820 resulting in a combined property loss 521 00:27:34,820 --> 00:27:37,260 in excess of $8 million. 522 00:27:37,260 --> 00:27:39,580 But for the congregations, the devastation 523 00:27:39,580 --> 00:27:44,300 cannot be measured in dollars and cents. 524 00:27:44,300 --> 00:27:47,180 These are very important places for us, 525 00:27:47,180 --> 00:27:48,340 very important structures. 526 00:27:48,340 --> 00:27:50,900 They house memories, good feelings, 527 00:27:50,900 --> 00:27:53,420 and they're a very vital part of our community. 528 00:27:53,420 --> 00:27:57,620 So the loss is heavy for all of us. 529 00:27:57,620 --> 00:27:59,380 Fortunately, no one has been killed 530 00:27:59,420 --> 00:28:02,580 or seriously injured in any of the blazes. 531 00:28:02,580 --> 00:28:06,500 Currently, there are rewards totaling $46,000 in this case. 532 00:28:06,500 --> 00:28:19,140 MUSIC 533 00:28:19,140 --> 00:28:28,460 MUSIC 534 00:28:28,460 --> 00:28:31,140 Teresa and Paul Stamper of Kingfisher, Oklahoma, 535 00:28:31,140 --> 00:28:33,580 were married in 1982. 536 00:28:33,580 --> 00:28:36,580 Paul was a successful local businessman. 537 00:28:36,580 --> 00:28:39,340 At the time, Teresa had no idea that Paul 538 00:28:39,340 --> 00:28:43,140 was also a convicted felon with a violent criminal past. 539 00:28:43,140 --> 00:28:44,140 I know you were with someone. 540 00:28:44,140 --> 00:28:46,940 Now, I want to know who you were with, and I want to know it now. 541 00:28:46,940 --> 00:28:49,460 Within six months, Teresa's marriage to Paul 542 00:28:49,460 --> 00:28:51,420 became a living nightmare. 543 00:28:51,420 --> 00:28:53,300 He accused her of being unfaithful 544 00:28:53,300 --> 00:28:56,900 and would often erupt in violent and uncontrollable rages. 545 00:28:56,900 --> 00:28:59,860 You shut up. 546 00:28:59,860 --> 00:29:01,220 He was jealous. 547 00:29:01,220 --> 00:29:04,900 You had better be here when I get back. 548 00:29:04,900 --> 00:29:08,020 I mean, I could be sitting at a red light, 549 00:29:08,020 --> 00:29:10,220 and I could just turn and look at someone, 550 00:29:10,220 --> 00:29:12,580 and it could be a guy sitting in this car, 551 00:29:12,580 --> 00:29:14,700 and he would just double his fist up and just hit me 552 00:29:14,700 --> 00:29:17,340 right in the mouth. 553 00:29:17,340 --> 00:29:20,180 Finally, after two years of nearly constant emotional 554 00:29:20,180 --> 00:29:23,060 and physical abuse, Teresa found the courage 555 00:29:23,060 --> 00:29:24,060 to leave her husband. 556 00:29:27,020 --> 00:29:29,020 For the next six months, Paul Stamper 557 00:29:29,060 --> 00:29:32,460 stalked Teresa night and day, waiting to seek his revenge. 558 00:29:36,380 --> 00:29:40,860 On November 23, 1985, Teresa and a friend, Chris Butler, 559 00:29:40,860 --> 00:29:43,380 were heading home after an evening out. 560 00:29:43,380 --> 00:29:45,380 They were pulled over by what they assumed 561 00:29:45,380 --> 00:29:46,500 was a highway patrol. 562 00:29:47,420 --> 00:29:49,820 Oh. 563 00:29:49,820 --> 00:29:52,260 ột 564 00:29:58,620 --> 00:30:00,760 Drank Man 565 00:30:02,020 --> 00:30:07,140 Excuse me, Chris! 566 00:30:07,140 --> 00:30:08,640 �us 567 00:30:08,640 --> 00:30:10,020 Chris had come to you 568 00:30:10,020 --> 00:30:13,900 and he had yelled, don't leave me here, you know? 569 00:30:13,900 --> 00:30:15,960 Teresa, don't leave me here. 570 00:30:15,960 --> 00:30:19,920 And there was, there wasn't anything I could do. 571 00:30:19,920 --> 00:30:22,300 Chris Butler survived the attack. 572 00:30:22,300 --> 00:30:25,860 Paul Stamper drove north, holding Teresa at gunpoint. 573 00:30:25,860 --> 00:30:29,100 After two days, she managed to escape. 574 00:30:29,100 --> 00:30:33,100 Paul Stamper was arrested at a bus station in Salina, Kansas. 575 00:30:33,100 --> 00:30:36,640 But just six months later, he broke out of jail and disappeared. 576 00:30:40,380 --> 00:30:41,320 Update. 577 00:30:41,320 --> 00:30:43,380 Just minutes after this story aired, 578 00:30:43,500 --> 00:30:46,580 the FBI received information from several of our viewers 579 00:30:46,580 --> 00:30:49,880 that Paul Stamper was living in Commerce City, a suburb 580 00:30:49,880 --> 00:30:52,300 of Denver, Colorado. 581 00:30:52,300 --> 00:30:54,080 One phone call was very specific. 582 00:30:54,080 --> 00:30:56,360 It had his alias. 583 00:30:56,360 --> 00:30:59,500 It had his location, his address, his employment, 584 00:30:59,500 --> 00:31:02,420 that he was driving a semi-truck overland. 585 00:31:02,420 --> 00:31:05,060 And that brought an immediate response from the Denver FBI 586 00:31:05,060 --> 00:31:06,780 so that we moved out within the hour. 587 00:31:10,060 --> 00:31:12,140 Just three hours after our broadcast, 588 00:31:12,140 --> 00:31:15,140 Paul Stamper was arrested as he left his home. 589 00:31:15,140 --> 00:31:17,420 The fugitive had been living in the Denver area 590 00:31:17,420 --> 00:31:19,300 under the assumed name Gary Wickle 591 00:31:19,300 --> 00:31:22,980 for approximately four years. 592 00:31:22,980 --> 00:31:26,740 This is one of the more efficient, cost-effective, speedy 593 00:31:26,740 --> 00:31:28,820 apprehensions that we've ever made for us 594 00:31:28,820 --> 00:31:32,460 to not have any idea early evening 595 00:31:32,460 --> 00:31:35,300 that this individual is in the Denver area. 596 00:31:35,300 --> 00:31:38,100 And by 1130, he is captured. 597 00:31:38,100 --> 00:31:39,580 He's off the streets. 598 00:31:39,580 --> 00:31:41,420 And he's on his way to Denver City Jail. 599 00:31:41,420 --> 00:31:44,420 That, I think, may be close to a record for us. 600 00:31:47,740 --> 00:31:49,780 Paul Stamper was returned to Oklahoma 601 00:31:49,780 --> 00:31:52,180 and is currently being held in the Kingfisher County 602 00:31:52,180 --> 00:31:54,900 Jail while awaiting trial on charges of kidnapping 603 00:31:54,900 --> 00:31:56,540 and attempted murder. 604 00:31:56,540 --> 00:31:59,380 If convicted, Stamper could receive life in prison. 605 00:32:12,300 --> 00:32:25,580 The Haunting Desert of the American Southwest. 606 00:32:25,580 --> 00:32:29,420 Immense, desolate, nearly uninhabitable. 607 00:32:29,420 --> 00:32:32,500 Visited by only the most durable of men and women, 608 00:32:32,500 --> 00:32:36,820 who for one reason or another find safety in its solitude. 609 00:32:36,820 --> 00:32:40,220 Vast horizons for one can be alone and unobserved, 610 00:32:40,220 --> 00:32:43,580 where secrets can be hidden amidst the sand, sage, 611 00:32:43,580 --> 00:32:44,460 and chaperone. 612 00:32:54,060 --> 00:32:58,100 1933, just north of Farmington, New Mexico. 613 00:32:58,100 --> 00:33:00,660 That summer, a daredevil barnstorming pilot 614 00:33:00,660 --> 00:33:03,180 named Red Mosier made several mysterious flights 615 00:33:03,180 --> 00:33:06,140 into the desert. 616 00:33:06,140 --> 00:33:08,020 There, he was met by a Mexican millionaire 617 00:33:08,020 --> 00:33:09,020 named Leon Trebuko. 618 00:33:11,900 --> 00:33:15,220 19 years later, the secrets of the enigmatic and elusive 619 00:33:15,220 --> 00:33:17,220 Trebuko would begin to unravel. 620 00:33:21,580 --> 00:33:24,020 In 1952, a federal grand jury was 621 00:33:24,020 --> 00:33:26,940 convened after investigations by the United States Treasury 622 00:33:26,940 --> 00:33:29,500 Department and the Secret Service. 623 00:33:29,500 --> 00:33:32,340 It was alleged that Leon Trebuko and four other financiers 624 00:33:32,340 --> 00:33:35,380 had engaged in a sinister plot to buy up much of Mexico's gold 625 00:33:35,380 --> 00:33:38,300 reserves and resell it in the United States. 626 00:33:38,300 --> 00:33:40,460 It is a brazen scheme concede that the height 627 00:33:40,460 --> 00:33:43,860 of the Great Depression and born from a conspiracy of greed. 628 00:33:51,220 --> 00:33:54,580 By the spring of 1933, Trebuko and his associates 629 00:33:54,580 --> 00:33:56,740 were convinced that the United States would soon 630 00:33:56,740 --> 00:34:00,540 devalue the dollar and that gold prices would skyrocket. 631 00:34:00,540 --> 00:34:04,580 But the potential for enormous profits carried great risk. 632 00:34:04,580 --> 00:34:07,820 Their gold had to be smuggled into the United States. 633 00:34:07,820 --> 00:34:11,180 If caught, the conspirators faced long prison terms. 634 00:34:14,740 --> 00:34:17,140 At a makeshift foundry in Puebla, Mexico, 635 00:34:17,140 --> 00:34:19,780 gold in every imaginable form was melted down 636 00:34:19,780 --> 00:34:21,740 and cast into ingots. 637 00:34:21,740 --> 00:34:23,860 In less than three months, the conspirators 638 00:34:23,860 --> 00:34:27,900 had allegedly amassed an incredible 16 tons of solid gold. 639 00:34:28,860 --> 00:34:33,300 So Mr. Trebuko, this is the property I was telling you about. 640 00:34:33,300 --> 00:34:34,980 Lots of space to store stuff. 641 00:34:34,980 --> 00:34:37,140 Leon Trebuko traveled to the United States 642 00:34:37,140 --> 00:34:40,620 in search of a safe hiding place for the illegal treasure. 643 00:34:40,620 --> 00:34:42,660 After several unsuccessful trips, 644 00:34:42,660 --> 00:34:46,020 he decided he would be wiser to bury the gold. 645 00:34:46,020 --> 00:34:47,980 It's too big. 646 00:34:47,980 --> 00:34:50,420 I need something a little more secluded. 647 00:34:50,420 --> 00:34:51,220 Secluded. 648 00:34:51,660 --> 00:34:54,660 I need something a little more secluded. 649 00:34:54,660 --> 00:34:55,660 Secluded. 650 00:34:57,820 --> 00:35:00,700 Legend has it that Trebuko chose a sparsely populated 651 00:35:00,700 --> 00:35:03,820 region in the northwest corner of New Mexico. 652 00:35:03,820 --> 00:35:07,020 The area is near the Ute and Navajo Indian reservations, 653 00:35:07,020 --> 00:35:09,340 just north of the small town of Farmington. 654 00:35:15,700 --> 00:35:18,740 Red Mosher allegedly made a total of 16 flights, 655 00:35:18,740 --> 00:35:22,500 carrying an average payload of one ton per trip. 656 00:35:22,500 --> 00:35:25,620 After each delivery, the gold was loaded into a pickup truck 657 00:35:25,620 --> 00:35:28,580 and transported to an unknown location. 658 00:35:28,580 --> 00:35:32,020 Oddly, Leon Trebuko never made a map of that location, 659 00:35:32,020 --> 00:35:35,220 nor did he reveal the burial place to his co-conspirators. 660 00:35:40,460 --> 00:35:42,940 Records indicate that the final shipment was delivered 661 00:35:42,940 --> 00:35:45,820 on July 14, 1933. 662 00:35:45,820 --> 00:35:47,460 Just six and a half months later, 663 00:35:47,460 --> 00:35:51,220 the Gold Reserve Act of 1934 became law, 664 00:35:51,220 --> 00:35:53,940 the price of gold's sword, the conspirators 665 00:35:53,940 --> 00:35:56,500 had made an overnight profit of $7 million. 666 00:36:00,780 --> 00:36:03,220 However, the group elected not to sell the gold, 667 00:36:03,220 --> 00:36:07,300 but to wait, confident that the price would continue to rise. 668 00:36:07,300 --> 00:36:09,380 Blinded by greed, not one of them 669 00:36:09,380 --> 00:36:12,980 was aware of an executive order related to the Gold Act. 670 00:36:12,980 --> 00:36:15,180 It declared the private ownership of gold 671 00:36:15,220 --> 00:36:19,260 within US borders after January 17, 1934, 672 00:36:19,260 --> 00:36:23,300 would be punishable by steep fines and imprisonment. 673 00:36:23,300 --> 00:36:26,420 The group had waited too long. 674 00:36:26,420 --> 00:36:29,860 Well, when FDR put the gold embargo, 675 00:36:29,860 --> 00:36:32,940 that takes gold off of the market. 676 00:36:32,940 --> 00:36:35,420 Ed Foster grew up in Farmington, New Mexico, 677 00:36:35,420 --> 00:36:38,420 and has spent more than 35 years researching the legend 678 00:36:38,420 --> 00:36:40,940 of Leon Trebuko's treasure. 679 00:36:40,940 --> 00:36:43,900 It's illegal, and so consequently, 680 00:36:43,900 --> 00:36:49,580 these five men from financiers from Mexico City, 681 00:36:49,580 --> 00:36:52,820 they had 20 ton of junk. 682 00:36:52,820 --> 00:36:57,220 It was not worth a dime because they couldn't sell it 683 00:36:57,220 --> 00:37:00,260 for anything. 684 00:37:00,260 --> 00:37:02,500 Within five years, three of the conspirators 685 00:37:02,500 --> 00:37:04,540 met with untimely deaths. 686 00:37:04,540 --> 00:37:07,860 Leon Trebuko spent the next two decades traveling the world 687 00:37:07,860 --> 00:37:11,780 in a vain attempt to sell the illegal treasure. 688 00:37:11,780 --> 00:37:15,500 In 1952, he tried to cut a covert deal with US government 689 00:37:15,500 --> 00:37:18,900 officials, prompting the grand jury investigation. 690 00:37:18,900 --> 00:37:21,340 Trebuko was never indicted. 691 00:37:21,340 --> 00:37:24,660 He died several years later, apparently taking to his grave 692 00:37:24,660 --> 00:37:26,540 the secret location of the gold. 693 00:37:32,140 --> 00:37:35,740 Ed Foster is scour the desert terrain surrounding Farmington, 694 00:37:35,740 --> 00:37:38,220 and his convincing has found the landing strip used 695 00:37:38,220 --> 00:37:41,060 by Red Mosier in 1933. 696 00:37:41,060 --> 00:37:44,420 It is a seven mile long plateau known as Conger Mesa. 697 00:37:47,580 --> 00:37:51,540 I believe that Conger Mesa is where the plane would adjust 698 00:37:51,540 --> 00:37:54,660 and come in and land. 699 00:37:54,660 --> 00:37:58,420 I met this Indian lady that couldn't speak English, 700 00:37:58,420 --> 00:38:00,580 so I got an interpreter. 701 00:38:00,580 --> 00:38:04,260 She said she had watched that plane land there many, many 702 00:38:04,260 --> 00:38:07,220 times. 703 00:38:07,220 --> 00:38:10,020 Ed interviewed another Navajo woman who was six years 704 00:38:10,020 --> 00:38:11,500 old in 1933. 705 00:38:15,500 --> 00:38:17,380 She remembered several Mexican men 706 00:38:17,380 --> 00:38:20,340 who lived on the reservation. 707 00:38:20,340 --> 00:38:25,180 This would be very unusual for a Mexican to move out here. 708 00:38:25,180 --> 00:38:29,180 For a Spanish or a white man to move out here and live 709 00:38:29,180 --> 00:38:33,220 would be unheard of. 710 00:38:33,260 --> 00:38:36,500 20 miles west of Conger Mesa, near an abandoned Navajo 711 00:38:36,500 --> 00:38:42,100 home, stands a building unlike any other on the reservation. 712 00:38:42,100 --> 00:38:44,660 Ed believes that it was constructed by the men Leon 713 00:38:44,660 --> 00:38:47,060 Trebuko left behind to guard the gold. 714 00:38:50,140 --> 00:38:54,740 This house has windows, a front door, and a back door, 715 00:38:54,740 --> 00:38:56,820 and it had a veranda. 716 00:38:56,820 --> 00:39:01,220 To me, this house would look good in Tijuana, Mexico, 717 00:39:01,220 --> 00:39:03,500 but not on the Navajo reservation. 718 00:39:06,660 --> 00:39:09,460 28 miles east of the Mexican style home, 719 00:39:09,460 --> 00:39:11,660 Ed uncovered an intriguing clue etched 720 00:39:11,660 --> 00:39:16,260 in the face of a stone outcropping he calls shrine rock. 721 00:39:16,260 --> 00:39:19,100 Ed believes that it's the key that will ultimately lead him 722 00:39:19,100 --> 00:39:23,300 to Trebuko's treasure buried in 1933. 723 00:39:23,300 --> 00:39:26,580 This is 1933. 724 00:39:26,620 --> 00:39:35,020 16 T-O-N. 725 00:39:35,020 --> 00:39:37,980 Ed Foster feels certain that the gold is buried somewhere 726 00:39:37,980 --> 00:39:42,580 within this triangle formed by Conger Mesa, Shrine Rock, 727 00:39:42,580 --> 00:39:45,940 and the Mexican style home. 728 00:39:45,940 --> 00:39:48,660 Ed contacted internationally renowned treasure hunter 729 00:39:48,660 --> 00:39:51,780 Norm Scott to conduct a detailed survey of the area. 730 00:39:52,780 --> 00:39:55,220 I get an awful lot of stories coming to us 731 00:39:55,220 --> 00:39:58,300 after 30 years in the business, and probably about 80 or 90% 732 00:39:58,300 --> 00:40:01,700 of them you have to chalk up to some fictional writer 733 00:40:01,700 --> 00:40:03,500 as writing a book or magazine. 734 00:40:03,500 --> 00:40:07,300 But this one has a ring of authenticity to it, 735 00:40:07,300 --> 00:40:10,700 and therefore it deserves attention, 736 00:40:10,700 --> 00:40:12,900 and we intend to give it to it. 737 00:40:16,300 --> 00:40:19,460 I have looked with my eyes and metal detectors 738 00:40:19,500 --> 00:40:23,340 for many years, and now they have technology, 739 00:40:23,340 --> 00:40:27,940 and that's why I think it's going to be found with technology. 740 00:40:27,940 --> 00:40:31,340 It's not going to be found with dumb luck, 741 00:40:31,340 --> 00:40:33,180 because I've spent all of that. 742 00:40:37,300 --> 00:40:40,540 Is Ed Foster merely chasing a legend which has grown grander 743 00:40:40,540 --> 00:40:44,420 with the passing of the years, or does a desert of New Mexico 744 00:40:44,420 --> 00:40:47,860 indeed hold the secret to Leon Trebuko's treasure? 745 00:40:47,860 --> 00:40:51,020 Or is it the secret to Leon Trebuko's long lost fortune? 746 00:41:03,980 --> 00:41:07,620 On our next unsolved mysteries, in 1978, 747 00:41:07,620 --> 00:41:09,900 a charming, sophisticated man befriended 748 00:41:09,900 --> 00:41:12,020 a wealthy widow in Tennessee. 749 00:41:12,020 --> 00:41:15,660 Before long, he was running her estate and her affairs. 750 00:41:15,700 --> 00:41:18,660 Seven years later, he allegedly faked his own death 751 00:41:18,660 --> 00:41:22,660 and vanished, leaving the widow virtually penniless. 752 00:41:22,660 --> 00:41:26,820 Join me next week for another edition of Unsolved Mysteries.