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 --> 00:00:12,280 What you are about to see is not a news broadcast. 5 00:00:16,280 --> 00:00:18,680 It's known as the Girdon Light. 6 00:00:18,680 --> 00:00:22,280 For more than 60 years, the same eerie, luminous apparition 7 00:00:22,280 --> 00:00:25,280 has been described by hundreds of eyewitnesses. 8 00:00:25,280 --> 00:00:27,680 Is it some of the stories that have been told 9 00:00:28,680 --> 00:00:33,680 or is it as many say, the restless ghost 10 00:00:33,680 --> 00:00:37,680 of a long dead railroad man doomed to wander the tracks 11 00:00:37,680 --> 00:00:38,680 for eternity? 12 00:00:40,680 --> 00:00:42,680 This man, Stuart Heaton, was convicted 13 00:00:42,680 --> 00:00:45,680 of murdering a 16-year-old girl largely on the strength 14 00:00:45,680 --> 00:00:47,680 of DNA test results. 15 00:00:47,680 --> 00:00:50,680 But all along, Heaton has claimed that he is innocent, 16 00:00:50,680 --> 00:00:53,680 that the DNA tests were flawed, and some prominent 17 00:00:53,680 --> 00:00:56,680 scientific experts agree with him. 18 00:00:58,680 --> 00:01:01,680 Call them the real-life Thelma and Louise, 19 00:01:01,680 --> 00:01:03,680 on the road and on the run. 20 00:01:03,680 --> 00:01:06,680 A middle-class wife and mother and her best friend, 21 00:01:06,680 --> 00:01:09,680 who allegedly thrilled in seducing, terrorizing, 22 00:01:09,680 --> 00:01:11,680 and then robbing men, they met through the personals. 23 00:01:14,680 --> 00:01:16,680 Also tonight, a heartwarming reunion 24 00:01:16,680 --> 00:01:18,680 brought about by your cause. 25 00:01:18,680 --> 00:01:22,680 Join me for another edition of Unsolved Mysteries. 26 00:01:58,680 --> 00:02:04,680 Welcome to Girdon, Arkansas, population 2700, 27 00:02:04,680 --> 00:02:07,680 a town in the United States of America. 28 00:02:07,680 --> 00:02:10,680 The city of Girdon is the most beautiful city 29 00:02:10,680 --> 00:02:13,680 in the world, and it is the most beautiful city 30 00:02:13,680 --> 00:02:14,680 in the world. 31 00:02:14,680 --> 00:02:17,680 It is the city of Girdon, Arkansas, 32 00:02:17,680 --> 00:02:20,680 and it is the city of Girdon, Arkansas, 33 00:02:20,680 --> 00:02:23,680 and it is the city of Girdon, Arkansas, 34 00:02:23,680 --> 00:02:27,680 Welcome to Girdon, Arkansas, population 2700, 35 00:02:27,680 --> 00:02:29,680 a typical small town. 36 00:02:29,680 --> 00:02:32,680 Apparently no different from hundreds of other communities 37 00:02:32,680 --> 00:02:35,680 that dot the railroad between St. Louis and Dallas. 38 00:02:37,680 --> 00:02:40,680 But as darkness descends, an air of expectancy 39 00:02:40,680 --> 00:02:42,680 settles over Girdon. 40 00:02:42,680 --> 00:02:45,680 Most nights, the locals anticipate the arrival 41 00:02:45,680 --> 00:02:48,680 of their very own Unsolved Mystery. 42 00:02:49,680 --> 00:02:52,680 For decades, on the tracks just outside of town, 43 00:02:52,680 --> 00:02:55,680 an eerie unexplained light of unknown origin 44 00:02:55,680 --> 00:02:57,680 has been magically appearing. 45 00:03:00,680 --> 00:03:03,680 This time lapse photograph was taken in November 46 00:03:03,680 --> 00:03:05,680 by an Unsolved Mysteries photographer. 47 00:03:05,680 --> 00:03:08,680 It is apparently the first time that the strange phenomenon 48 00:03:08,680 --> 00:03:12,680 known locally as the Girdon Light has been captured on film. 49 00:03:13,680 --> 00:03:17,680 A few days later, the photographer returned to the railroad tracks. 50 00:03:17,680 --> 00:03:21,680 He waited until nightfall and recorded this mysterious light 51 00:03:21,680 --> 00:03:22,680 on videotape. 52 00:03:29,680 --> 00:03:31,680 This is an enlargement of the image, 53 00:03:31,680 --> 00:03:34,680 the same image seen by hundreds of eyewitnesses 54 00:03:34,680 --> 00:03:35,680 over the years. 55 00:03:35,680 --> 00:03:38,680 I'd say that I've seen it where I couldn't write it off 56 00:03:38,680 --> 00:03:43,680 as being anything else, probably 20, 25 times, at least. 57 00:03:43,680 --> 00:03:45,680 And I'm a very skeptical person. 58 00:03:45,680 --> 00:03:49,680 Over the years, I have personally seen it hundreds of times 59 00:03:49,680 --> 00:03:52,680 with my father and my family. 60 00:03:52,680 --> 00:03:55,680 I've seen the light at least 60 or 70 times. 61 00:03:55,680 --> 00:03:58,680 And of course, I've seen it more than ever. 62 00:03:58,680 --> 00:04:00,680 I've seen it more than ever. 63 00:04:00,680 --> 00:04:02,680 I've seen it more than ever. 64 00:04:02,680 --> 00:04:05,680 I've seen it at least 60 or 70 times. 65 00:04:05,680 --> 00:04:10,680 And of course, usually when you see it one time in that evening, 66 00:04:10,680 --> 00:04:13,680 you can see it several times in succession. 67 00:04:15,680 --> 00:04:17,680 What is the Girdon Light? 68 00:04:17,680 --> 00:04:19,680 A natural phenomenon? 69 00:04:19,680 --> 00:04:21,680 A long-running prank? 70 00:04:21,680 --> 00:04:23,680 Or perhaps something that cannot be explained? 71 00:04:23,680 --> 00:04:26,680 Not surprisingly, that possibility 72 00:04:26,680 --> 00:04:28,680 inevitably prompts a retelling of the legend 73 00:04:28,680 --> 00:04:31,680 that goes along with the Girdon Light. 74 00:04:33,680 --> 00:04:37,680 It all began on a chilly December evening in 1931. 75 00:04:37,680 --> 00:04:41,680 Around midnight, Will McClain, a section foreman for the railroad, 76 00:04:41,680 --> 00:04:44,680 confronted one of his workers, Lewis McBride. 77 00:04:44,680 --> 00:04:45,680 That's something I need to tell you. 78 00:04:45,680 --> 00:04:46,680 I don't want to... 79 00:04:46,680 --> 00:04:47,680 It doesn't concern any of you boys. 80 00:04:47,680 --> 00:04:48,680 Now go on and clock out. 81 00:04:48,680 --> 00:04:52,680 The day before, a freight train had derailed just outside Girdon. 82 00:04:52,680 --> 00:04:57,680 McClain suspected that McBride had sabotaged a section of the track. 83 00:04:57,680 --> 00:04:59,680 It's your last night, McBride. 84 00:04:59,680 --> 00:05:00,680 It's your pay to get on out of here. 85 00:05:00,680 --> 00:05:01,680 Why? 86 00:05:01,680 --> 00:05:03,680 I think you know why. 87 00:05:03,680 --> 00:05:04,680 I need this job. 88 00:05:04,680 --> 00:05:05,680 Well, you should have thought about that 89 00:05:05,680 --> 00:05:07,680 before you pulled that crazy little stunt. 90 00:05:07,680 --> 00:05:08,680 But I have a family... 91 00:05:08,680 --> 00:05:09,680 I don't want to hear anymore about it. 92 00:05:09,680 --> 00:05:11,680 Just pick up your pay and get off the yard. 93 00:05:11,680 --> 00:05:13,680 I need this job! 94 00:05:24,680 --> 00:05:25,680 No! 95 00:05:25,680 --> 00:05:27,680 Stay out of the way! 96 00:05:30,680 --> 00:05:32,680 No! 97 00:05:36,680 --> 00:05:38,680 No! 98 00:05:38,680 --> 00:05:40,680 No! 99 00:05:42,680 --> 00:05:44,680 When McClain failed to return home, 100 00:05:44,680 --> 00:05:47,680 a search party was hastily assembled. 101 00:05:47,680 --> 00:05:49,680 They came upon a trail of blood and followed it 102 00:05:49,680 --> 00:05:52,680 along the tracks to the edge of town. 103 00:05:52,680 --> 00:05:54,680 What is that? 104 00:05:55,680 --> 00:05:58,680 It's McClain's. 105 00:05:58,680 --> 00:06:01,680 Let's look off down yonder. 106 00:06:03,680 --> 00:06:07,680 At the end of the blood trail, lay the body of Will McClain. 107 00:06:10,680 --> 00:06:14,680 By dawn, Lewis McBride had confessed to the murder. 108 00:06:14,680 --> 00:06:19,680 In February of 1932, he was executed at the State Penitentiary. 109 00:06:20,680 --> 00:06:23,680 It wasn't long before people began seeing the gird and light 110 00:06:23,680 --> 00:06:25,680 on a regular basis. 111 00:06:25,680 --> 00:06:28,680 Local law said it was the ghost of Will McClain, 112 00:06:28,680 --> 00:06:32,680 known to spend eternity walking the tracks with his ladder. 113 00:06:38,680 --> 00:06:41,680 One of the earliest sightings is one of the most memorable. 114 00:06:41,680 --> 00:06:42,680 As a train approached town, 115 00:06:42,680 --> 00:06:45,680 an elderly conductor was found on the road. 116 00:06:45,680 --> 00:06:47,680 He was a young man, 117 00:06:47,680 --> 00:06:49,680 and when he came to the train, 118 00:06:49,680 --> 00:06:52,680 an elderly conductor named John stepped onto the back of the caboose 119 00:06:52,680 --> 00:06:55,680 and was startled by what he saw. 120 00:07:02,680 --> 00:07:07,680 They say that John went out on the back platform to investigate. 121 00:07:07,680 --> 00:07:11,680 And the light was real far off and kind of faint, 122 00:07:11,680 --> 00:07:15,680 but it seemed to be traveling the same speed they were. 123 00:07:16,680 --> 00:07:18,680 And then all of a sudden it just shut up, 124 00:07:18,680 --> 00:07:23,680 and he was just like paralyzed and just hanging onto the grab bar 125 00:07:23,680 --> 00:07:28,680 and just transfixed, just staring right into the light. 126 00:07:31,680 --> 00:07:35,680 According to John, the light followed the train for more than a mile. 127 00:07:35,680 --> 00:07:38,680 Finally it veered off in the direction of the cemetery. 128 00:07:38,680 --> 00:07:40,680 Ever since, looking for the gird and light 129 00:07:40,680 --> 00:07:43,680 has become something of a local pastime. 130 00:07:45,680 --> 00:07:49,680 If you go down there with some regularity, 131 00:07:49,680 --> 00:07:52,680 you're definitely going to see it after a while. 132 00:07:52,680 --> 00:07:54,680 You may go a few days, you know, 133 00:07:54,680 --> 00:07:56,680 where you get frustrated and you don't see it, 134 00:07:56,680 --> 00:07:59,680 but with a little time and a little concentration, 135 00:07:59,680 --> 00:08:02,680 you most definitely will see the light. 136 00:08:03,680 --> 00:08:06,680 My friends and I always went down there 137 00:08:06,680 --> 00:08:09,680 with the hopes of seeing the light. 138 00:08:09,680 --> 00:08:14,680 Walking down the tracks, just in the total darkness, 139 00:08:14,680 --> 00:08:17,680 always left you with a little eerie feeling. 140 00:08:22,680 --> 00:08:25,680 I've seen it come on in a quick flash, 141 00:08:25,680 --> 00:08:29,680 and seen it fade in and then fade back out. 142 00:08:31,680 --> 00:08:34,680 Sometimes we've gotten pretty scared down there, 143 00:08:34,680 --> 00:08:40,680 seeing the light together with maybe some noises in the woods, 144 00:08:40,680 --> 00:08:44,680 and have sent us running out of there quite often. 145 00:08:45,680 --> 00:08:48,680 The descriptions of the lighter for the most part consistent. 146 00:08:48,680 --> 00:08:51,680 It seems to float one to three feet above the tracks 147 00:08:51,680 --> 00:08:53,680 and often changes colors. 148 00:08:55,680 --> 00:08:59,680 The light is rarely visible for more than ten seconds at a time. 149 00:09:01,680 --> 00:09:04,680 There are many times when I walk down the tracks by myself 150 00:09:04,680 --> 00:09:07,680 and spent several hours out there, 151 00:09:07,680 --> 00:09:09,680 and during the course of that time, 152 00:09:09,680 --> 00:09:12,680 you can be observing the light and move toward it, 153 00:09:12,680 --> 00:09:15,680 and it'll disappear and you'll turn around and it'll be behind you. 154 00:09:15,680 --> 00:09:18,680 Almost everybody has had that kind of experience 155 00:09:18,680 --> 00:09:20,680 from time to time with it. 156 00:09:20,680 --> 00:09:22,680 The local legend is if it gets behind you, 157 00:09:22,680 --> 00:09:24,680 you can't get back to your car. 158 00:09:25,680 --> 00:09:29,680 The whole town has seen it at some point in time, 159 00:09:29,680 --> 00:09:33,680 and it's not a figment of anybody's imagination. 160 00:09:33,680 --> 00:09:35,680 It does exist. 161 00:09:35,680 --> 00:09:37,680 It is there. 162 00:09:37,680 --> 00:09:39,680 What is it? 163 00:09:39,680 --> 00:09:41,680 That's the question. 164 00:09:43,680 --> 00:09:45,680 That is indeed the question. 165 00:09:45,680 --> 00:09:47,680 Is a Gordon light, as some believe, 166 00:09:47,680 --> 00:09:49,680 the ghost of Will McClain, 167 00:09:49,680 --> 00:09:52,680 or is there a rational scientific explanation? 168 00:09:55,680 --> 00:09:57,680 For years, Dr. Charles Lemming, 169 00:09:57,680 --> 00:10:00,680 a physics professor at Henderson State University, 170 00:10:00,680 --> 00:10:03,680 took his classes to Gordon in search of an answer. 171 00:10:04,680 --> 00:10:06,680 When I first went out to see the Gordon light 172 00:10:06,680 --> 00:10:08,680 and studied the area maps, 173 00:10:08,680 --> 00:10:10,680 I was pretty confident that the light 174 00:10:10,680 --> 00:10:12,680 always originated from car headlights 175 00:10:12,680 --> 00:10:15,680 on an interstate bridge a few miles away. 176 00:10:17,680 --> 00:10:19,680 The light is usually seen in this area, 177 00:10:19,680 --> 00:10:21,680 just outside Gordon. 178 00:10:21,680 --> 00:10:24,680 The highway lies to the southwest, four miles away. 179 00:10:26,680 --> 00:10:28,680 The problem with the headlight there is 180 00:10:28,680 --> 00:10:30,680 that we're sure people were going out 181 00:10:30,680 --> 00:10:32,680 before the interstate opened in 1970. 182 00:10:32,680 --> 00:10:35,680 We could find reliable accounts of people 183 00:10:35,680 --> 00:10:37,680 that went out to see the Gordon light 184 00:10:37,680 --> 00:10:40,680 and reported the Gordon light well before the interstate bridge 185 00:10:40,680 --> 00:10:44,680 that we thought was the origin of the headlights was opened. 186 00:10:45,680 --> 00:10:48,680 A second theory is that the light is in fact swamp gas, 187 00:10:48,680 --> 00:10:51,680 a spontaneous combustion of the gases 188 00:10:51,680 --> 00:10:54,680 produced when dense vegetation decomposes. 189 00:10:56,680 --> 00:11:00,680 The theory of it being swamp gas doesn't hold up to me, 190 00:11:00,680 --> 00:11:04,680 just because I've seen it on a windy night. 191 00:11:04,680 --> 00:11:08,680 So that would eliminate any sort of swamp gas out there. 192 00:11:09,680 --> 00:11:11,680 The closest theory that I've come to 193 00:11:11,680 --> 00:11:14,680 for explaining the Gordon light is the PAs of electric effect. 194 00:11:14,680 --> 00:11:17,680 And PAs of electricity is a simple phenomena 195 00:11:17,680 --> 00:11:21,680 where if you squeeze crystals such as quartz or Rochelle salt, 196 00:11:21,680 --> 00:11:23,680 you get an electric current out of them. 197 00:11:25,680 --> 00:11:28,680 Gordon sits atop an abundant deposit of quartz crystals 198 00:11:28,680 --> 00:11:32,680 in an active fault line known as the New Madrid Fault. 199 00:11:32,680 --> 00:11:35,680 Michael Klingon believes that when the plates shift, 200 00:11:35,680 --> 00:11:37,680 an electric charge is released from the crystals 201 00:11:37,680 --> 00:11:40,680 and seen above ground as the Gordon light. 202 00:11:41,680 --> 00:11:45,680 People tend to say that the light appeared 203 00:11:45,680 --> 00:11:48,680 after the murder of Will McLean. 204 00:11:48,680 --> 00:11:52,680 And looking back, that also coincides 205 00:11:52,680 --> 00:11:55,680 with a major earthquake on the New Madrid fault line. 206 00:11:55,680 --> 00:11:59,680 So that tends to support my PAs of electric theory. 207 00:12:01,680 --> 00:12:04,680 Klingon acknowledges that there is one large hole in his theory. 208 00:12:04,680 --> 00:12:08,680 He cannot explain how the charge migrates to the surface 209 00:12:08,680 --> 00:12:11,680 or why it is concentrated in a ball-like shape. 210 00:12:13,680 --> 00:12:16,680 I don't think if they came forth with a logical explanation, 211 00:12:16,680 --> 00:12:18,680 I would truly believe it. 212 00:12:18,680 --> 00:12:23,680 It is too mysterious and I don't think it can be explained. 213 00:12:23,680 --> 00:12:27,680 Do we really want to know what it is? 214 00:12:27,680 --> 00:12:30,680 Because that would take all the mystery out of it 215 00:12:30,680 --> 00:12:32,680 and all the fun. 216 00:12:32,680 --> 00:12:35,680 And I would like to see my children's children 217 00:12:35,680 --> 00:12:36,680 take their children. 218 00:12:36,680 --> 00:12:39,680 Down there, just like our parents took us down there, 219 00:12:39,680 --> 00:12:43,680 it's a perfect setting for a ghost story. 220 00:12:45,680 --> 00:12:47,680 What is the secret of the Gordon light? 221 00:12:47,680 --> 00:12:49,680 If there is a scientific explanation, 222 00:12:49,680 --> 00:12:51,680 it has certainly eluded everyone 223 00:12:51,680 --> 00:12:53,680 for the past 60 years. 224 00:12:53,680 --> 00:12:56,680 Until something better comes along, 225 00:12:56,680 --> 00:12:59,680 we're left with a legend of poor old Will McClain's ghost 226 00:12:59,680 --> 00:13:02,680 wandering the railroad tracks forevermore, 227 00:13:02,680 --> 00:13:05,680 perhaps in search of the man who killed him. 228 00:13:09,680 --> 00:13:13,680 When we return, a controversial case of Stuart Heaton 229 00:13:13,680 --> 00:13:18,680 did faulty DNA evidence put the wrong man in prison for murder. 230 00:13:22,680 --> 00:13:28,680 In recent months, most of us have at least heard 231 00:13:28,680 --> 00:13:31,680 of the legal debate over the use of DNA evidence 232 00:13:31,680 --> 00:13:33,680 in criminal cases. 233 00:13:33,680 --> 00:13:36,680 Many experts believe DNA can identify a suspect 234 00:13:36,680 --> 00:13:38,680 as reliably as a fingerprint. 235 00:13:38,680 --> 00:13:40,680 Others strongly disagree. 236 00:13:40,680 --> 00:13:42,680 Tonight, that debate has a special resonance 237 00:13:42,680 --> 00:13:45,680 for a young man named Stuart Heaton. 238 00:13:45,680 --> 00:13:47,680 He is serving a life sentence for murder, 239 00:13:47,680 --> 00:13:49,680 even though many believe there is compelling evidence 240 00:13:49,680 --> 00:13:52,680 that another man committed the crime. 241 00:13:52,680 --> 00:13:54,680 Stuart insists that he is innocent, 242 00:13:54,680 --> 00:13:58,680 and the crucial DNA evidence, which some say is deeply flawed, 243 00:13:58,680 --> 00:14:00,680 helped put him behind bars. 244 00:14:03,680 --> 00:14:06,680 Ramsey, Illinois, in the South Central part of the state 245 00:14:06,680 --> 00:14:08,680 is a peaceful rural community, 246 00:14:08,680 --> 00:14:14,680 but on July 23rd, 1991, a brutal murder shocked its citizens. 247 00:14:14,680 --> 00:14:17,680 16-year-old Crystal Knab, a high school sophomore, 248 00:14:17,680 --> 00:14:20,680 had been stabbed 81 times in the living room 249 00:14:20,680 --> 00:14:22,680 of a family's trailer. 250 00:14:24,680 --> 00:14:26,680 Brian, what do you got there? 251 00:14:26,680 --> 00:14:28,680 I think I have your murder weapon. 252 00:14:28,680 --> 00:14:31,680 Looks like a pair of sewing scissors. 253 00:14:31,680 --> 00:14:33,680 I'll tell you, the person who did this 254 00:14:33,680 --> 00:14:35,680 can't stab somebody that many times without getting cuts 255 00:14:35,680 --> 00:14:37,680 on your hands. 256 00:14:37,680 --> 00:14:39,680 Look for somebody with cuts either on the outside 257 00:14:39,680 --> 00:14:41,680 or on their fingers or on their palm. 258 00:14:41,680 --> 00:14:43,680 I wonder if you happen to see anything suspicious. 259 00:14:43,680 --> 00:14:45,680 Several neighbors told police they had noticed 260 00:14:45,680 --> 00:14:48,680 a white pickup truck, most probably a Dodge, 261 00:14:48,680 --> 00:14:51,680 parked outside the Knab's trailer earlier that day, 262 00:14:51,680 --> 00:14:54,680 from around 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. 263 00:14:54,680 --> 00:14:56,680 Looks like a Dodge pickup truck. 264 00:14:56,680 --> 00:14:58,680 Do you know anybody that has a truck like that? 265 00:14:58,680 --> 00:15:02,680 Next, the police talked with Crystal's brother, Curtis Knab. 266 00:15:02,680 --> 00:15:04,680 A friend of mine, I haven't seen him 267 00:15:04,680 --> 00:15:06,680 for like two or three years, though. 268 00:15:06,680 --> 00:15:07,680 Stuart Heaton. 269 00:15:07,680 --> 00:15:10,680 Stuart Heaton, do you ever know where this Stuart Heaton lives? 270 00:15:10,680 --> 00:15:12,680 He used to live about three miles up the road. 271 00:15:12,680 --> 00:15:13,680 Uh-huh. 272 00:15:13,680 --> 00:15:15,680 Is he married? 273 00:15:15,680 --> 00:15:16,680 I don't know. 274 00:15:16,680 --> 00:15:18,680 OK, you haven't seen him in that long, though, two or three years? 275 00:15:18,680 --> 00:15:19,680 It's been at least two or three years. 276 00:15:19,680 --> 00:15:20,680 OK. 277 00:15:23,680 --> 00:15:26,680 Police located Stuart Heaton in nearby Bluff City, Illinois, 278 00:15:26,680 --> 00:15:29,680 where he worked as a carpenter and roofer. 279 00:15:29,680 --> 00:15:31,680 He did, in fact, own a white Dodge pickup 280 00:15:31,680 --> 00:15:34,680 and had married two years earlier, several months 281 00:15:34,680 --> 00:15:36,680 after he lost touch with Curtis Knab. 282 00:15:36,680 --> 00:15:38,680 Mr. Heaton, if you'd step out on the porch just for a second. 283 00:15:38,680 --> 00:15:39,680 What do you want to ask me? 284 00:15:39,680 --> 00:15:41,680 Mr. Heaton, would you put your hands behind your back? 285 00:15:41,680 --> 00:15:42,680 What for? 286 00:15:42,680 --> 00:15:43,680 What are you doing? 287 00:15:43,680 --> 00:15:44,680 Just want to ask you a couple of questions. 288 00:15:44,680 --> 00:15:45,680 What is going on here? 289 00:15:45,680 --> 00:15:46,680 What about? 290 00:15:46,680 --> 00:15:47,680 I haven't done anything wrong. 291 00:15:47,680 --> 00:15:48,680 We're just going to take you down to the station 292 00:15:48,680 --> 00:15:49,680 and ask you a few questions. 293 00:15:49,680 --> 00:15:50,680 That's all. 294 00:15:50,680 --> 00:15:51,680 Stuart. 295 00:15:51,680 --> 00:15:52,680 Yeah, Karen. 296 00:15:52,680 --> 00:15:53,680 Karen, call my mom. 297 00:15:53,680 --> 00:15:55,680 Where are they taking you? 298 00:15:55,680 --> 00:15:56,680 The police station. 299 00:15:56,680 --> 00:15:57,680 They're taking you to the station. 300 00:15:57,680 --> 00:15:58,680 They're going to ask you a few questions. 301 00:15:58,680 --> 00:15:59,680 That's all, sir. 302 00:15:59,680 --> 00:16:00,680 Watch for your head. 303 00:16:00,680 --> 00:16:01,680 Where'd you get these cuts on your hands, Stuart? 304 00:16:01,680 --> 00:16:02,680 And flashing. 305 00:16:02,680 --> 00:16:03,680 I'm laying a roof. 306 00:16:03,680 --> 00:16:04,680 You see them on the spank in your hands 307 00:16:04,680 --> 00:16:05,680 when you're working construction. 308 00:16:05,680 --> 00:16:06,680 Nice. 309 00:16:06,680 --> 00:16:07,680 Oh, real stealth on me, OK, Stuart? 310 00:16:07,680 --> 00:16:10,680 See, both on the outer and on the palms, too. 311 00:16:10,680 --> 00:16:12,680 What about this one on your forehead? 312 00:16:12,680 --> 00:16:13,680 Did you, uh... 313 00:16:13,680 --> 00:16:14,680 It's not a carol. 314 00:16:14,680 --> 00:16:15,680 It's a pimple. 315 00:16:15,680 --> 00:16:16,680 Take a shot of that, Tom. 316 00:16:16,680 --> 00:16:17,680 Can I put my hands down now? 317 00:16:17,680 --> 00:16:18,680 Just to put him down, Stuart. 318 00:16:18,680 --> 00:16:19,680 Just hold real stealth. 319 00:16:19,680 --> 00:16:21,680 We've got to know a little bit about what you did today. 320 00:16:21,680 --> 00:16:23,680 What was your day like when you woke up? 321 00:16:23,680 --> 00:16:24,680 Where'd you go? 322 00:16:24,680 --> 00:16:25,680 I left my house at nine. 323 00:16:25,680 --> 00:16:26,680 I am... 324 00:16:26,680 --> 00:16:28,680 I gave an estimate for a roofing job. 325 00:16:28,680 --> 00:16:30,680 Where'd you give the estimate, Stuart? 326 00:16:30,680 --> 00:16:31,680 Stuart. 327 00:16:31,680 --> 00:16:32,680 Look, why am I answering these questions? 328 00:16:32,680 --> 00:16:33,680 I haven't done anything wrong. 329 00:16:33,680 --> 00:16:34,680 What are you doing? 330 00:16:34,680 --> 00:16:36,680 I don't know why he's doing anything wrong. 331 00:16:36,680 --> 00:16:39,680 I do crime scene technicians came back and told me 332 00:16:39,680 --> 00:16:40,680 this guy has the cuts. 333 00:16:40,680 --> 00:16:42,680 This is our man. 334 00:16:42,680 --> 00:16:44,680 From the beginning. 335 00:16:44,680 --> 00:16:47,680 And for a while, though, that was all we had. 336 00:16:47,680 --> 00:16:50,680 Connecting him to the crime scene were the cuts. 337 00:16:50,680 --> 00:16:53,680 There was just too big of a coincidence for them to say that 338 00:16:53,680 --> 00:16:55,680 the guy we're looking for is going to have this, 339 00:16:55,680 --> 00:16:59,680 and I suspect they picked up Amelia had exactly what they said we'd find. 340 00:16:59,680 --> 00:17:03,680 I know for a fact that I'm innocent. 341 00:17:03,680 --> 00:17:08,680 Nobody else may know for a fact, but I know for a fact. 342 00:17:08,680 --> 00:17:11,680 If they were half the investigator, 343 00:17:11,680 --> 00:17:15,680 that he would lead the public to believe, 344 00:17:15,680 --> 00:17:23,680 then he would have checked and found out that I'll always have cuts on my hand. 345 00:17:23,680 --> 00:17:25,680 You know, there wasn't nothing abnormal. 346 00:17:25,680 --> 00:17:29,680 A carpenter without cuts on his hands is not a carpenter. 347 00:17:29,680 --> 00:17:33,680 He's an observer, and I'm a carpenter. 348 00:17:33,680 --> 00:17:35,680 We were told that he had been picked up. 349 00:17:35,680 --> 00:17:41,680 A Stuart Heaton had been picked up for her murder. 350 00:17:41,680 --> 00:17:45,680 And afterwards, we learned that there was a possibility 351 00:17:45,680 --> 00:17:49,680 because he had cuts on his hands, his forehead. 352 00:17:49,680 --> 00:17:55,680 He had a mark on his leg, and they started doing some investigation, 353 00:17:55,680 --> 00:17:58,680 and people had seen his truck. 354 00:17:58,680 --> 00:17:59,680 Steep inside. 355 00:17:59,680 --> 00:18:03,680 Stuart Heaton was indicted on September 11, 1991. 356 00:18:03,680 --> 00:18:06,680 He voluntarily waved his right to a speedy trial. 357 00:18:06,680 --> 00:18:08,680 After a search warrant was obtained, 358 00:18:08,680 --> 00:18:14,680 police took a blood sample from Stuart for DNA testing. 359 00:18:14,680 --> 00:18:17,680 An autopsy had been performed on Crystal Nab. 360 00:18:17,680 --> 00:18:21,680 She was three months pregnant and a trace of dried yellow material 361 00:18:21,680 --> 00:18:24,680 which contained semen was found on her pubic hair. 362 00:18:24,680 --> 00:18:27,680 Crystal's boyfriend had been eliminated as a suspect. 363 00:18:27,680 --> 00:18:30,680 The authorities wanted to find out if the semen matched 364 00:18:30,680 --> 00:18:34,680 Stuart Heaton's DNA. 365 00:18:34,680 --> 00:18:37,680 For more than four months, Stuart languished in jail, 366 00:18:37,680 --> 00:18:40,680 awaiting the DNA test results, which he felt would exonerate 367 00:18:40,680 --> 00:18:42,680 him once and for all. 368 00:18:42,680 --> 00:18:43,680 Beaton? 369 00:18:43,680 --> 00:18:44,680 Yes, sir. 370 00:18:44,680 --> 00:18:45,680 You got a delivery. 371 00:18:45,680 --> 00:18:46,680 Thank you. 372 00:18:46,680 --> 00:18:48,680 However, when his lawyer forwarded the test results, 373 00:18:48,680 --> 00:18:50,680 they were not what Stuart Heaton had hoped for. 374 00:18:50,680 --> 00:18:54,680 There was a chance the Stuart's DNA did match the semen sample 375 00:18:54,680 --> 00:18:56,680 found on Crystal's body. 376 00:18:56,680 --> 00:19:00,680 In spite of this, Stuart remained optimistic. 377 00:19:00,680 --> 00:19:04,680 I didn't know as much about DNA and genetic testing then 378 00:19:04,680 --> 00:19:07,680 as I do now, but when I read that, I looked at that 379 00:19:07,680 --> 00:19:10,680 and I hung under that and I said, there's only a chance. 380 00:19:10,680 --> 00:19:13,680 You know, this test isn't exact. 381 00:19:13,680 --> 00:19:15,680 They can't say, oh, it matches. 382 00:19:15,680 --> 00:19:20,680 I mean, they said there was a chance in my mind, reasonable doubt. 383 00:19:20,680 --> 00:19:21,680 I had read all that. 384 00:19:21,680 --> 00:19:23,680 I knew there was no way. 385 00:19:23,680 --> 00:19:26,680 And when I looked at it, I thought, uh-uh, it's not him. 386 00:19:26,680 --> 00:19:32,680 Besides all the other forensic evidence, they had 25 pages of 387 00:19:32,680 --> 00:19:36,680 hair, skin, tissue, blood, fingerprints, and not a one 388 00:19:36,680 --> 00:19:37,680 was Stuart's. 389 00:19:37,680 --> 00:19:39,680 You couldn't be. 390 00:19:39,680 --> 00:19:42,680 It's an impossibility to be in a place from 10 in the morning 391 00:19:42,680 --> 00:19:46,680 to 3 in the afternoon and not leave something. 392 00:19:46,680 --> 00:19:50,680 And there's nobody smart enough to clean up theirs, just theirs 393 00:19:50,680 --> 00:19:52,680 and leave everybody else's. 394 00:19:52,680 --> 00:19:53,680 It's impossible. 395 00:19:53,680 --> 00:19:55,680 It can't be done. 396 00:19:55,680 --> 00:19:58,680 The Dodge pickup and the cuts on Stuart's hands 397 00:19:58,680 --> 00:20:01,680 notwithstanding, he and his family were confident going 398 00:20:01,680 --> 00:20:05,680 into the trial, but they would be sorely disappointed. 399 00:20:05,680 --> 00:20:09,680 Curtis Knab, Crystal's brother, gave damaging testimony. 400 00:20:09,680 --> 00:20:12,680 He claimed that one night between two and three years earlier, 401 00:20:12,680 --> 00:20:15,680 he'd found Stuart in the Knab's trailer with his older sister 402 00:20:15,680 --> 00:20:16,680 Melody. 403 00:20:16,680 --> 00:20:18,680 Now, when you say he was talking to your sister, 404 00:20:18,680 --> 00:20:21,680 where was he located in the trailer at that time? 405 00:20:21,680 --> 00:20:22,680 In the bedroom? 406 00:20:22,680 --> 00:20:24,680 And where was your sister? 407 00:20:24,680 --> 00:20:25,680 In the bedroom? 408 00:20:25,680 --> 00:20:28,680 Of course, his testimony was completely different from his 409 00:20:28,680 --> 00:20:29,680 mom's on that. 410 00:20:29,680 --> 00:20:36,680 He said he answered the door and that I came in. 411 00:20:36,680 --> 00:20:40,680 He asked me to leave and all this and that. 412 00:20:40,680 --> 00:20:45,680 I think even at one point he said that he woke up and I was there. 413 00:20:45,680 --> 00:20:49,680 But that night when I stopped by, his mom answered the door. 414 00:20:49,680 --> 00:20:50,680 I asked for Curtis. 415 00:20:50,680 --> 00:20:52,680 She wouldn't got Curtis. 416 00:20:52,680 --> 00:20:57,680 And we sat down at the kitchen table and drank a couple of beers 417 00:20:57,680 --> 00:20:58,680 and talked. 418 00:20:58,680 --> 00:20:59,680 They asked me three times. 419 00:20:59,680 --> 00:21:02,680 Stuart's wife was called by the prosecution as a hostile witness, 420 00:21:02,680 --> 00:21:04,680 as was his mother. 421 00:21:04,680 --> 00:21:07,680 Their testimony indicated that Stuart might have changed clothes 422 00:21:07,680 --> 00:21:09,680 on the day of the murder. 423 00:21:09,680 --> 00:21:11,680 I can tell you that in the morning he had a t-shirt on. 424 00:21:11,680 --> 00:21:15,680 But as far as pants and stuff, it had to say sweat pants 425 00:21:15,680 --> 00:21:17,680 because he couldn't fit in his jeans. 426 00:21:17,680 --> 00:21:20,680 Why all of a sudden now do you just say sweat pants? 427 00:21:20,680 --> 00:21:21,680 Because I. 428 00:21:21,680 --> 00:21:23,680 The prosecution theorized that Stuart had 429 00:21:23,680 --> 00:21:26,680 hidden a pair of blue jeans, bloody during the murder 430 00:21:26,680 --> 00:21:27,680 of Crystal Nab. 431 00:21:27,680 --> 00:21:28,680 No further questions, Your Honor. 432 00:21:32,680 --> 00:21:34,680 Two witnesses, one woman and one man, 433 00:21:34,680 --> 00:21:37,680 took the stand to establish an alibi for Stuart between 10 434 00:21:37,680 --> 00:21:40,680 a.m. and 3 p.m. on the day of the murder. 435 00:21:40,680 --> 00:21:45,680 But the prosecutor shot holes in their testimony. 436 00:21:46,680 --> 00:21:49,680 Against his family's advice, Stuart decided not to testify 437 00:21:49,680 --> 00:21:51,680 on his own behalf. 438 00:21:51,680 --> 00:21:53,680 He says his court appointed lawyer had not prepared him 439 00:21:53,680 --> 00:21:55,680 to take the stand. 440 00:21:55,680 --> 00:21:58,680 Stuart also says his religion teaches that faith must be put 441 00:21:58,680 --> 00:22:03,680 in God rather than on any individual, including oneself. 442 00:22:03,680 --> 00:22:05,680 With regard to the semen samples, 443 00:22:05,680 --> 00:22:07,680 as the capstone of the prosecution's case, 444 00:22:07,680 --> 00:22:10,680 an expert witness testified that there was a probability 445 00:22:10,680 --> 00:22:14,680 that Stuart Heaton's DNA matched the semen sample. 446 00:22:14,680 --> 00:22:19,680 The DNA profile found in this case that matches the DNA 447 00:22:19,680 --> 00:22:24,680 profile of Mr. Heaton would be expected to be found once out 448 00:22:24,680 --> 00:22:32,680 of every 52,600 non-related Caucasians tested. 449 00:22:32,680 --> 00:22:35,680 Those odds, relative to other cases where DNA has been used 450 00:22:35,680 --> 00:22:39,680 as evidence, are not in fact very impressive. 451 00:22:39,680 --> 00:22:42,680 The odds needed before many experts feel comfortable are more 452 00:22:42,680 --> 00:22:44,680 in the neighborhood of a million to one. 453 00:22:44,680 --> 00:22:47,680 Nevertheless, the jury found the prosecution's expert 454 00:22:47,680 --> 00:22:49,680 convincing. 455 00:22:49,680 --> 00:22:53,680 The jury has returned two signed verdicts. 456 00:22:53,680 --> 00:22:57,680 First signed verdict, we, the jury, find the defendant, 457 00:22:57,680 --> 00:23:01,680 Stuart Heaton, guilty of first degree murder, cap one. 458 00:23:01,680 --> 00:23:04,680 I was expecting a not guilty verdict. 459 00:23:04,680 --> 00:23:07,680 And after I left the courtroom, I got across to the county jail 460 00:23:07,680 --> 00:23:10,680 in there with family and friends. 461 00:23:10,680 --> 00:23:13,680 And at that point I cried. 462 00:23:13,680 --> 00:23:15,680 He'll onto my wife and I cried. 463 00:23:15,680 --> 00:23:20,680 And we decided we'd go on and keep fighting it. 464 00:23:20,680 --> 00:23:22,680 I don't quit. 465 00:23:22,680 --> 00:23:25,680 I feel for the family that lost their child. 466 00:23:25,680 --> 00:23:29,680 I am not that kind of person. 467 00:23:29,680 --> 00:23:31,680 I know. 468 00:23:31,680 --> 00:23:33,680 I know what it is to lose a child. 469 00:23:33,680 --> 00:23:37,680 And they had to hurt bad. 470 00:23:37,680 --> 00:23:40,680 But the worst thing that could happen was put the wrong man 471 00:23:40,680 --> 00:23:43,680 in prison for it. 472 00:23:43,680 --> 00:23:46,680 Stuart Heaton was sentenced to life in prison at the Menard 473 00:23:46,680 --> 00:23:49,680 Correctional Center in Chester, Illinois. 474 00:23:49,680 --> 00:23:55,680 The judge ruled that Stuart would never be eligible for parole. 475 00:23:55,680 --> 00:23:58,680 I am convinced that the DNA evidence in this case 476 00:23:58,680 --> 00:24:01,680 was the lynchpin of the prosecution's case. 477 00:24:01,680 --> 00:24:06,680 That without it, the prosecution had a weak circumstantial case. 478 00:24:06,680 --> 00:24:12,680 Jurors were wowed by the scientific evidence of 52,000 to one odds 479 00:24:12,680 --> 00:24:13,680 against Stuart Heaton. 480 00:24:13,680 --> 00:24:15,680 And that did it. 481 00:24:15,680 --> 00:24:18,680 In the end of the day, a weak case was made a strong one 482 00:24:18,680 --> 00:24:22,680 based on this evidence that I believe is phony evidence. 483 00:24:22,680 --> 00:24:26,680 David Protas is an investigative journalist and professor 484 00:24:26,680 --> 00:24:29,680 at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. 485 00:24:29,680 --> 00:24:32,680 His research has led him to conclude that the real criminal 486 00:24:32,680 --> 00:24:36,680 is still at large and the Stuart Heaton was railroaded. 487 00:24:36,680 --> 00:24:39,680 If he hadn't owned a white truck, he wouldn't have even been 488 00:24:39,680 --> 00:24:41,680 a suspect in this case. 489 00:24:41,680 --> 00:24:44,680 I did a search through Department of Motor Vehicle Records 490 00:24:44,680 --> 00:24:47,680 for the state of Illinois that found that in Fayette County alone, 491 00:24:47,680 --> 00:24:50,680 there were more than 100 white trucks that were similar to the kind 492 00:24:50,680 --> 00:24:52,680 that Stuart Heaton drove. 493 00:24:52,680 --> 00:24:54,680 And in fact, in narrowing that search down, 494 00:24:54,680 --> 00:24:59,680 I identified 12 white-dodged Dakotas, including Stuart Heaton's. 495 00:24:59,680 --> 00:25:02,680 One of those dodged Dakotas belonged to a man with a lengthy 496 00:25:02,680 --> 00:25:07,680 criminal history who knew the murder victim, Crystal Knapp. 497 00:25:07,680 --> 00:25:09,680 Could the DNA sample found on Crystal Knapp's body 498 00:25:09,680 --> 00:25:12,680 belong to someone other than Stuart Heaton? 499 00:25:12,680 --> 00:25:16,680 According to the statistical method used in Stuart's trial, 500 00:25:16,680 --> 00:25:19,680 there are more than 4,800 people in the United States 501 00:25:19,680 --> 00:25:21,680 whose DNA would have matched the sample. 502 00:25:21,680 --> 00:25:25,680 And when a new statistical method widely used today is applied, 503 00:25:25,680 --> 00:25:30,680 that number rises from 4,800 to around 48,000. 504 00:25:30,680 --> 00:25:34,680 There's no dispute that DNA evidence to exclude somebody 505 00:25:34,680 --> 00:25:36,680 is generally accepted. 506 00:25:36,680 --> 00:25:40,680 If we look just at one place on a gene and they don't match, 507 00:25:40,680 --> 00:25:43,680 then we know that those people don't match. 508 00:25:43,680 --> 00:25:46,680 The problem is when you try to include people. 509 00:25:46,680 --> 00:25:49,680 We can prove, for example, that somebody isn't the father of a child 510 00:25:49,680 --> 00:25:54,680 by DNA tests, and we can prove that to 100% scientific acceptability. 511 00:25:54,680 --> 00:25:57,680 But when we try to prove who is the father, who is the murderer, 512 00:25:57,680 --> 00:26:00,680 that's where we run into difficulties. 513 00:26:00,680 --> 00:26:03,680 Bob Byman and his associate, Shelly Malinowski, 514 00:26:03,680 --> 00:26:07,680 have taken on the Stuart Heaton case pro bono for no fee. 515 00:26:07,680 --> 00:26:10,680 They believe not only the Stuart is innocent, 516 00:26:10,680 --> 00:26:14,680 but the Dr. Robert Allen, the DNA expert for the prosecution, 517 00:26:14,680 --> 00:26:19,680 used a controversial method of calculating the odds against Stuart. 518 00:26:19,680 --> 00:26:22,680 Two years after he testified in the Stuart Heaton case, 519 00:26:22,680 --> 00:26:26,680 Robert Allen published an article with several other renowned scientists 520 00:26:26,680 --> 00:26:30,680 that rejected the statistical assumptions that he himself had used 521 00:26:30,680 --> 00:26:33,680 in the Stuart Heaton evidence. 522 00:26:33,680 --> 00:26:36,680 And I think that the main reason that he was convicted was that 523 00:26:36,680 --> 00:26:40,680 the jurors were completely overwhelmed by the complexity of the DNA evidence, 524 00:26:40,680 --> 00:26:46,680 and they saw it as infallible, when in fact it's not. 525 00:26:46,680 --> 00:26:50,680 To across the board deny the use of DNA evidence because it's low, 526 00:26:50,680 --> 00:26:53,680 I believe it is not fair. 527 00:26:53,680 --> 00:26:55,680 I think that it should in fact be admissible, 528 00:26:55,680 --> 00:26:58,680 and here that's what a jury is for as a trier of the fact, 529 00:26:58,680 --> 00:27:02,680 let them determine whether the odds are low in relation to everything else 530 00:27:02,680 --> 00:27:06,680 and all the other evidence in the case, or whether they're significant. 531 00:27:06,680 --> 00:27:09,680 This probe here represents the... 532 00:27:09,680 --> 00:27:13,680 The single most important issue in the DNA testimony of Stuart Heaton's trial 533 00:27:13,680 --> 00:27:16,680 was interpretation of the evidence. 534 00:27:16,680 --> 00:27:22,680 This is an autoradiogram, or autorad, of DNA taken from the murder victim Crystal NAB. 535 00:27:22,680 --> 00:27:27,680 The two distinct bands represent DNA from a region in which individuals 536 00:27:27,680 --> 00:27:30,680 are very likely to be different genetically. 537 00:27:30,680 --> 00:27:36,680 Jux deposed another DNA sample taken from a different area on Crystal NAB's body, 538 00:27:36,680 --> 00:27:40,680 and the two bands also show up clearly, a perfect match, 539 00:27:40,680 --> 00:27:45,680 because both samples come from the same person. 540 00:27:45,680 --> 00:27:49,680 The trial boiled down to a debate between two expert witnesses 541 00:27:49,680 --> 00:27:53,680 over whether bands were present in the semen sample found on Crystal NAB's body, 542 00:27:53,680 --> 00:27:59,680 and if they were, did they match the bands at Stuart Heaton's DNA profile? 543 00:27:59,680 --> 00:28:05,680 This autorad compares Stuart Heaton's DNA with DNA from the semen sample. 544 00:28:05,680 --> 00:28:09,680 The small pinpoint dots on the left borders marked the places where Dr. Allen said 545 00:28:09,680 --> 00:28:14,680 he saw bands which link Stuart Heaton to the semen. 546 00:28:14,680 --> 00:28:18,680 Based upon your examination of the autoradiographs, 547 00:28:18,680 --> 00:28:23,680 the defense expert, Dr. Gary Littman, said he was unable to detect those critical bands. 548 00:28:23,680 --> 00:28:27,680 As I said, there's no band. There simply is no band there. 549 00:28:27,680 --> 00:28:32,680 The sample itself was old, crusty material that was minute in quantity. 550 00:28:32,680 --> 00:28:37,680 It probably did not provide an adequate basis for even conducting a DNA test, 551 00:28:37,680 --> 00:28:41,680 and certainly not the type of DNA test that was done here. 552 00:28:41,680 --> 00:28:46,680 We unearthed a letter in which prior to his reaching conclusions, 553 00:28:46,680 --> 00:28:54,680 Dr. Robert Allen said that he hoped, he hoped, that the DNA test would end up implicating Stuart Heaton. 554 00:28:54,680 --> 00:29:01,680 Now that is scientific subjectivity that should disqualify him as an expert in this case. 555 00:29:01,680 --> 00:29:06,680 I'm certain that Dr. Allen did the best that he could with what was available to him, 556 00:29:06,680 --> 00:29:09,680 but that material simply wasn't in the best condition, 557 00:29:09,680 --> 00:29:12,680 and it didn't lead then to very clear cut results. 558 00:29:12,680 --> 00:29:20,680 There was a lot of smudges. It's difficult to say unambiguously that a band is present and a band is not present. 559 00:29:20,680 --> 00:29:26,680 Dr. Dan Crane has co-authored articles on DNA testing with Dr. Robert Allen. 560 00:29:26,680 --> 00:29:32,680 Yet in the case of Stuart Heaton, Dr. Crane disputes the conclusions of his colleague. 561 00:29:32,680 --> 00:29:38,680 Based on the DNA evidence alone, I would feel very uncomfortable sending a man to prison 562 00:29:38,680 --> 00:29:40,680 on that evidence alone. 563 00:29:40,680 --> 00:29:43,680 Now there may well have been other compelling evidence of which I'm not aware, 564 00:29:43,680 --> 00:29:50,680 but the DNA evidence by itself certainly would leave a large area of doubt in my mind 565 00:29:50,680 --> 00:29:55,680 as to whether or not that he was in fact the person who was at that crime scene. 566 00:29:55,680 --> 00:29:58,680 I mean it wasn't just DNA that convicted him. 567 00:29:58,680 --> 00:30:03,680 It was people that saw him, saw the truck, and people that testified to, you know, 568 00:30:03,680 --> 00:30:09,680 where they saw him at, the times, and I mean people that saw the truck at the home. 569 00:30:09,680 --> 00:30:13,680 That's what I think helped convict him, that plus the DNA. 570 00:30:13,680 --> 00:30:16,680 There's no doubt in my mind, no doubt whatsoever that he killed her. 571 00:30:16,680 --> 00:30:20,680 He killed her in an extremely vicious, sick manner. 572 00:30:20,680 --> 00:30:24,680 He's extremely dangerous. He has to be locked up. 573 00:30:24,680 --> 00:30:27,680 If he is released, I do believe that he will kill again. 574 00:30:27,680 --> 00:30:32,680 He has to be locked up, and the court system worked and it worked right. 575 00:30:32,680 --> 00:30:35,680 I did not kill Crystal Natt. 576 00:30:35,680 --> 00:30:38,680 I don't know the girl. 577 00:30:38,680 --> 00:30:48,680 I don't have any reason to have any grudge against her or her family or anything. 578 00:30:48,680 --> 00:30:50,680 I didn't know her. 579 00:31:03,680 --> 00:31:18,680 In June of 1994, we brought you the poignant story of Diane Handline of La Crescenta, California. 580 00:31:18,680 --> 00:31:26,680 Since 1986, Diane has battled a rare and often fatal blood disease. 581 00:31:26,680 --> 00:31:30,680 Diane has a relatively unusual blood disorder, 582 00:31:30,680 --> 00:31:33,680 normally considered to be an incurable illness. 583 00:31:33,680 --> 00:31:40,680 Now potentially could be cured by the utilization of a bone marrow transplantation. 584 00:31:40,680 --> 00:31:44,680 Frought with a lot of dangers, though, and a lot of potential complications, 585 00:31:44,680 --> 00:31:48,680 so not something to be taken lightly. 586 00:31:48,680 --> 00:31:54,680 Only one person, Diane's younger sister, Marilyn, was a potential bone marrow donor. 587 00:31:54,680 --> 00:32:00,680 But Diane had no idea where to find Marilyn. 588 00:32:00,680 --> 00:32:03,680 Hi. Hi. 589 00:32:03,680 --> 00:32:09,680 The sisters have been split up in 1954 when their parents separated. 590 00:32:09,680 --> 00:32:13,680 Marilyn went to live with her father. Diane stayed with her mother. 591 00:32:13,680 --> 00:32:16,680 Over the next few years, contact was sporadic, 592 00:32:16,680 --> 00:32:22,680 and for reasons long since forgotten, the sisters became estranged. 593 00:32:22,680 --> 00:32:26,680 I feel I'm asking a lot of my sister to do this bone marrow for me. 594 00:32:26,680 --> 00:32:30,680 But even if she doesn't agree to a transplant, if she doesn't say, 595 00:32:30,680 --> 00:32:34,680 I don't want to do this, I would still like to make peace with her. 596 00:32:34,680 --> 00:32:36,680 She's my sister. 597 00:32:39,680 --> 00:32:43,680 When we broadcast Diane's story, a private investigator from Denver, Colorado, 598 00:32:43,680 --> 00:32:45,680 Robin Lee, was watching. 599 00:32:45,680 --> 00:32:49,680 She was touched by Diane's plight, but assumed we would get the clues we needed. 600 00:32:49,680 --> 00:32:51,680 We didn't. 601 00:32:51,680 --> 00:32:55,680 As luck would have it, Robin was also watching when the segment re-ran in June. 602 00:32:55,680 --> 00:32:59,680 This time she decided to volunteer her help in tracking Marilyn down. 603 00:32:59,680 --> 00:33:03,680 The result was one of our most unusual solves ever. 604 00:33:03,680 --> 00:33:07,680 I contacted the show, got a little more information. 605 00:33:07,680 --> 00:33:10,680 Started out with the sisters name. 606 00:33:10,680 --> 00:33:12,680 Marilyn Jones was her maiden name. 607 00:33:12,680 --> 00:33:16,680 Started with that and a date of birth, and went on from there. 608 00:33:16,680 --> 00:33:20,680 And it took me about three days to find her, three working days, 609 00:33:20,680 --> 00:33:24,680 if you don't count the fourth of July holiday in between. 610 00:33:24,680 --> 00:33:27,680 And I think it's great that they're back together. 611 00:33:28,680 --> 00:33:35,680 On August 13th, 1994, Marilyn and Diane met face to face for the first time in 30 years. 612 00:33:38,680 --> 00:33:41,680 It is so good to see you. 613 00:33:41,680 --> 00:33:45,680 Once we hugged, it was like, it hadn't been 30 years. 614 00:33:45,680 --> 00:33:49,680 It had been, you know, just a short time. 615 00:33:49,680 --> 00:33:55,680 I guess maybe that's why I feel comfortable, is because I can feel the love. 616 00:33:55,680 --> 00:33:58,680 And when you feel that love, you feel comfortable. 617 00:33:58,680 --> 00:34:00,680 You haven't changed a bit. 618 00:34:00,680 --> 00:34:02,680 Oh, no, you haven't. 619 00:34:02,680 --> 00:34:04,680 No, I'm just, I get cuter with age. 620 00:34:04,680 --> 00:34:06,680 Yes, you do. 621 00:34:06,680 --> 00:34:08,680 I think I'm still in shock. 622 00:34:08,680 --> 00:34:10,680 You know, it's still like, I'm not here yet. 623 00:34:10,680 --> 00:34:12,680 It's just a dream, you know. 624 00:34:12,680 --> 00:34:16,680 But it's a great dream, and we have a lot of catching up to do, 625 00:34:16,680 --> 00:34:19,680 and we'll be together forever now. 626 00:34:19,680 --> 00:34:23,680 We're going to have a lot of fun together, enjoy the time we have. 627 00:34:24,680 --> 00:34:26,680 Isn't that beautiful? 628 00:34:26,680 --> 00:34:31,680 Coincidentally, the day of the reunion was Diane's 53rd birthday, 629 00:34:31,680 --> 00:34:33,680 and Marilyn had not forgotten. 630 00:34:33,680 --> 00:34:35,680 It's beautiful. 631 00:34:35,680 --> 00:34:37,680 My name, it's spelled right. 632 00:34:37,680 --> 00:34:40,680 That's a big name. 633 00:34:42,680 --> 00:34:45,680 This is the best gift I've ever had in my whole life. 634 00:34:45,680 --> 00:34:50,680 This is the best gift ever, is to have my sister, and to have my family, 635 00:34:50,680 --> 00:34:52,680 for my birthday. 636 00:34:52,680 --> 00:34:55,680 It'll be the best birthday I've ever had in my whole life. 637 00:34:56,680 --> 00:34:58,680 We drive 60 miles to go to... 638 00:34:58,680 --> 00:35:05,680 On the day of the reunion, Marilyn's fondest wish was to prove a compatible bone marrow donor for her sister. 639 00:35:05,680 --> 00:35:07,680 Where do you drive to go to the movies? 640 00:35:07,680 --> 00:35:10,680 To the movies, we have to go all the way to Canada, and that's it. 641 00:35:11,680 --> 00:35:16,680 I want more than anything to have this work with Diane, 642 00:35:16,680 --> 00:35:26,680 but even if it doesn't, we're going to take full advantage of however long we do have together. 643 00:35:26,680 --> 00:35:30,680 We can make a week seem like an eternity. 644 00:35:37,680 --> 00:35:42,680 The End 645 00:35:52,680 --> 00:35:55,680 You would think they were just out for a joyride, 646 00:35:55,680 --> 00:35:57,680 best friends without a care in the world, 647 00:35:57,680 --> 00:36:01,680 but like everything else about Rose Turford and Carolyn Stevens, 648 00:36:01,680 --> 00:36:03,680 looks can be deceiving. 649 00:36:04,680 --> 00:36:09,680 To the police, these two women are nothing less than the real-life Thelma and Louise. 650 00:36:09,680 --> 00:36:13,680 Today, Turford and Stevens are armed, dangerous, and on the run, 651 00:36:13,680 --> 00:36:17,680 warded on multiple charges of aggravated robbery. 652 00:36:20,680 --> 00:36:21,680 Carolyn? 653 00:36:21,680 --> 00:36:22,680 Yeah, okay. 654 00:36:22,680 --> 00:36:24,680 We're running a little late. 655 00:36:24,680 --> 00:36:26,680 They met in 1992. 656 00:36:26,680 --> 00:36:30,680 Both were nurses at a psychiatric hospital in Houston, Texas. 657 00:36:30,680 --> 00:36:34,680 Eventually, Rose invited Carolyn to move in with her and her family. 658 00:36:34,680 --> 00:36:39,680 By January of 1995, the two women had embarked on a vicious game. 659 00:36:42,680 --> 00:36:47,680 Rose Turford was by all accounts a loving wife, devoted mother, and dedicated professional, 660 00:36:47,680 --> 00:36:51,680 but at night, she took on a whole new persona. 661 00:36:51,680 --> 00:36:53,680 Here we are. Got the wine, the key? 662 00:36:53,680 --> 00:36:55,680 The room's right here. 663 00:36:55,680 --> 00:36:56,680 Oh, good. 664 00:36:56,680 --> 00:36:59,680 Rose began soliciting men through the person's. 665 00:36:59,680 --> 00:37:00,680 Thank you. 666 00:37:00,680 --> 00:37:03,680 Then she would lure her dates to out-of-the-way motel rooms. 667 00:37:07,680 --> 00:37:13,680 A little soft music, a good bottle of wine, and the stage was set for Carolyn's entrance. 668 00:37:16,680 --> 00:37:18,680 Sit down on the bed! 669 00:37:18,680 --> 00:37:21,680 The Thelma and Louise bandits moved quickly and methodically. 670 00:37:21,680 --> 00:37:23,680 Now take off your clothes. 671 00:37:30,680 --> 00:37:32,680 I'm going to the bank. 672 00:37:32,680 --> 00:37:39,680 Finally, Carolyn would be left to stand guard while Rose ran out to use a victim's bank and credit cards. 673 00:37:39,680 --> 00:37:46,680 Rose and Carolyn, from the onset, wanted to be the real life Thelma and Louise. 674 00:37:46,680 --> 00:37:51,680 They wanted to experience that thrill in the spontaneity. 675 00:37:51,680 --> 00:37:56,680 The only thing is, I don't believe they ever considered what they were going to do to their families. 676 00:37:57,680 --> 00:38:04,680 Over a three-month period, Rose and Carolyn reportedly robbed at least ten men of more than a quarter of a million dollars, 677 00:38:04,680 --> 00:38:07,680 but eventually their luck ran out. 678 00:38:09,680 --> 00:38:13,680 In March of 1995, Rose and Carolyn were arrested. 679 00:38:13,680 --> 00:38:17,680 Bale was set at $250,000 each. 680 00:38:18,680 --> 00:38:24,680 It seems as though prior to both Rose and Carolyn going to jail and being arrested, 681 00:38:24,680 --> 00:38:31,680 they had this pack that if one got out, they both got out, or they both stayed in. 682 00:38:31,680 --> 00:38:38,680 And Rose's parents were just going to get Rose out of jail. 683 00:38:38,680 --> 00:38:44,680 Look, I'm sorry I have to keep calling you, but Avery is putting pressure on me. 684 00:38:44,680 --> 00:38:49,680 In an attempt to cajole Rose's family into posting Bale for both of them, 685 00:38:49,680 --> 00:38:52,680 Carolyn phoned Rose's parents repeatedly. 686 00:38:52,680 --> 00:38:59,680 She claimed that a mysterious international private investigator named Avery was threatening Rose's children. 687 00:38:59,680 --> 00:39:04,680 But Rose and I know what he's capable of, and we should all take him seriously. 688 00:39:04,680 --> 00:39:11,680 Probably the weirdest part of this whole scenario was the man named Avery. 689 00:39:11,680 --> 00:39:15,680 I never bought that he was real. 690 00:39:15,680 --> 00:39:21,680 It was just too far-fetched. 691 00:39:22,680 --> 00:39:25,680 Rose's family, however, believed Avery was real. 692 00:39:25,680 --> 00:39:28,680 Even her in-laws were moved to act. 693 00:39:28,680 --> 00:39:32,680 They put up their house and restaurant as partial collateral. 694 00:39:32,680 --> 00:39:37,680 I tried to convince the parents, don't make both bonds. 695 00:39:38,680 --> 00:39:45,680 And it's not often that you sit and try to speak to someone about not giving you $25,000. 696 00:39:45,680 --> 00:39:51,680 But I just knew it was a problem, and I knew it wasn't going to work, and it didn't. 697 00:39:52,680 --> 00:39:58,680 Sure enough, on May 22, 1995, Rose Turford and Carolyn Stevens took flight. 698 00:39:58,680 --> 00:40:04,680 Left behind was a letter which alleged that they had been kidnapped by the mysterious Avery. 699 00:40:07,680 --> 00:40:11,680 In reality, the Thelma and Louise Bandits were on the run, 700 00:40:11,680 --> 00:40:16,680 leaving Rose's in-laws in danger of losing their home and business. 701 00:40:17,680 --> 00:40:20,680 We wanted to help in any way we could. 702 00:40:20,680 --> 00:40:30,680 I never once, once entered my mind that they would disappear, never. 703 00:40:31,680 --> 00:40:36,680 I really hope that Rose and Carolyn, to stop and think, 704 00:40:36,680 --> 00:40:44,680 they're going to basically throw really, really good, honest, hard-working people out in the streets. 705 00:40:44,680 --> 00:40:50,680 And if they have to go to jail, well, that's just kind of the price you pay for making a mistake. 706 00:40:50,680 --> 00:40:54,680 But it's a lot better to pay a price once than to pay it all your life 707 00:40:54,680 --> 00:40:59,680 and make your kids and your family suffer for a lifetime. 708 00:41:30,680 --> 00:41:40,680 Join me next time for another intriguing edition of Bones' Saw Mysteries. 709 00:42:00,680 --> 00:42:05,680 Bones' Saw Mysteries