1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,000
The End

2
00:00:04,000 --> 00:00:08,000
Tonight on Unsolved Mysteries

3
00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:16,000
Over a three-day period in Houston, Texas, investigators are called to the scene of two brutal murders.

4
00:00:16,000 --> 00:00:20,000
Both women are found in their cars. They look surprisingly alike.

5
00:00:20,000 --> 00:00:24,000
And most shocking of all, they share the same name, Mary Morris.

6
00:00:24,000 --> 00:00:28,000
Is there a connection? Or are these crimes an astonishing coincidence?

7
00:00:28,000 --> 00:00:34,000
An Oklahoma dairy farmer leaves his home with a mysterious stranger and never returns.

8
00:00:34,000 --> 00:00:38,000
Several sightings have given his family hope that he is still alive.

9
00:00:38,000 --> 00:00:44,000
After 35-year-old Leta Sullivan was found murdered, her husband, Jim, had this to say.

10
00:00:44,000 --> 00:00:48,000
I had nothing to do with Leta's death.

11
00:00:48,000 --> 00:00:50,000
However, Leta's mother said this.

12
00:00:50,000 --> 00:00:54,000
I really would like to see Jim go to the electric chair.

13
00:00:54,000 --> 00:00:58,000
Did Jim Sullivan hire a hitman?

14
00:00:58,000 --> 00:01:02,000
With the wave of his hands, this Russian immigrant claims he can heal.

15
00:01:02,000 --> 00:01:06,000
Dozens flock to his Boston office every week to be treated.

16
00:01:06,000 --> 00:01:12,000
Can he relieve pain, cure phobias, and help smokers quit?

17
00:01:12,000 --> 00:01:18,000
Does he truly have a magic touch, or is he too good to be true?

18
00:01:18,000 --> 00:01:24,000
These four cases are among the most unusual and intriguing that we have yet encountered.

19
00:01:24,000 --> 00:01:30,000
Join me for this fascinating edition of Unsolved Mysteries.

20
00:01:48,000 --> 00:02:14,000
Music

21
00:02:14,000 --> 00:02:16,000
Houston, Texas.

22
00:02:16,000 --> 00:02:22,000
Very early one clear October morning, Jay Morris saw his wife, Mary, off to work.

23
00:02:22,000 --> 00:02:28,000
Mary Morris was a 48-year-old bank loan officer with many friends and a successful career.

24
00:02:28,000 --> 00:02:32,000
However, by early that afternoon, Jay began to worry about his wife.

25
00:02:32,000 --> 00:02:38,000
He had tried to phone her several times, but she hadn't returned any of his calls.

26
00:02:38,000 --> 00:02:42,000
So I called the supervisor and found out she wasn't at work.

27
00:02:42,000 --> 00:02:48,000
And then that's when I knew immediately that there was something wrong, because she didn't miss work.

28
00:02:48,000 --> 00:02:58,000
Meanwhile, about three miles east of the Morris home, a passerby made a gruesome discovery.

29
00:02:58,000 --> 00:03:04,000
Inside a smoldering car, he found a body burned beyond recognition.

30
00:03:04,000 --> 00:03:11,000
The police were notified, and the crime scene investigation unit was soon combing the area for evidence.

31
00:03:12,000 --> 00:03:15,000
By that time, Jay had begun to think the worst.

32
00:03:15,000 --> 00:03:19,000
So when he heard from a friend about a burned-out car found near the interstate,

33
00:03:19,000 --> 00:03:25,000
he picked up his stepdaughter Marilyn Blalock and drove to the scene.

34
00:03:25,000 --> 00:03:30,000
Marilyn and I went down and the police was there, but they had everything blocked off,

35
00:03:30,000 --> 00:03:33,000
and they told us to turn around and come back home.

36
00:03:33,000 --> 00:03:40,000
I was frustrated that they wouldn't tell me, but at that point I still wasn't thinking that it was her.

37
00:03:40,000 --> 00:03:45,000
However, within a few hours, detectives delivered the terrible news.

38
00:03:45,000 --> 00:03:49,000
They had identified the victim in the car as Mary Morris.

39
00:03:49,000 --> 00:03:54,000
Because of the condition of the body, it was impossible to determine how Mary had been killed.

40
00:03:54,000 --> 00:03:59,000
The crime was so brutal, police did not suspect robbery was the motive.

41
00:03:59,000 --> 00:04:05,000
But soon, every other avenue of investigation also turned into a dead end.

42
00:04:05,000 --> 00:04:09,000
There was no reason for it whatsoever.

43
00:04:09,000 --> 00:04:14,000
She was just a really good person. Never did anything bad to anybody.

44
00:04:16,000 --> 00:04:22,000
They asked everything from gambling to drugs to affairs to anything, and all the answers were no.

45
00:04:22,000 --> 00:04:25,000
She didn't gamble, she didn't drink, nothing.

46
00:04:28,000 --> 00:04:33,000
Just three days after Mary Morris' death, however, the case took a strange twist.

47
00:04:33,000 --> 00:04:37,000
And the circumstances were as chilling as they were unbelievable.

48
00:04:37,000 --> 00:04:43,000
Not far from where Mary's body was found, another woman had been viciously murdered.

49
00:04:43,000 --> 00:04:50,000
She too was killed in her car, and incredibly, her name was also Mary Morris.

50
00:04:53,000 --> 00:05:01,000
Two women, both named Mary Morris, both found murdered in their cars in the Houston area just three days apart.

51
00:05:01,000 --> 00:05:05,000
On top of all that, the two Mary's also bore a certain resemblance.

52
00:05:05,000 --> 00:05:12,000
However, to find a possible link, detectives would first have to piece together the events surrounding the death of the second victim.

53
00:05:13,000 --> 00:05:18,000
Mary McGuinness Morris was 39 years old when the first Mary was killed,

54
00:05:18,000 --> 00:05:24,000
and like Mary Lou Morris, she too was a successful professional with a sunny disposition.

55
00:05:25,000 --> 00:05:31,000
Mary was like an angel. She was very joyful, always happy, making people laugh.

56
00:05:32,000 --> 00:05:37,000
Not enough words really to describe her. I mean, she was just really loved by everybody.

57
00:05:38,000 --> 00:05:44,000
Mary was a nurse practitioner in charge of several clinics for a major industrial corporation.

58
00:05:44,000 --> 00:05:47,000
She was dedicated and excelled at her job.

59
00:05:48,000 --> 00:05:51,000
Anything basically a doctor would do, Mary did.

60
00:05:51,000 --> 00:05:58,000
She would work 14 hours a day, not think twice, go back in of an evening, weekends, whenever she was needed.

61
00:05:59,000 --> 00:06:07,000
Mary got along well with her staff, but according to friends, one new employee, a male nurse, was a poor fit right from the start.

62
00:06:08,000 --> 00:06:14,000
And the relationship quickly went from bad to worse. Mary became increasingly nervous and distraught.

63
00:06:16,000 --> 00:06:22,000
She told me that she was afraid of this person that she worked with, and I said, do you really think he could hurt you?

64
00:06:22,000 --> 00:06:26,000
And she said, yes, I do, and I think he could do worse.

65
00:06:27,000 --> 00:06:34,000
Soon after, Mary told friends she stopped by her office one evening to pick up some papers, only to make a disturbing discovery.

66
00:06:37,000 --> 00:06:43,000
She found things out of place on her desk. Pictures turned to face the wrong direction.

67
00:06:46,000 --> 00:06:53,000
On his desk was written the words death to her, which she assumed was written about her.

68
00:06:53,000 --> 00:07:00,000
She made a phone call to me on her way home, and I could tell that she was shaken.

69
00:07:02,000 --> 00:07:04,000
Okay, baby, what's going on?

70
00:07:04,000 --> 00:07:07,000
I think this whole thing is really out of control.

71
00:07:07,000 --> 00:07:15,000
She got home and she asked me if I would provide her with a gun to carry with her for her own protection.

72
00:07:16,000 --> 00:07:22,000
She asked me to go over the handling and use of the gun.

73
00:07:24,000 --> 00:07:29,000
When we were finished, she asked me to place the gun in her car under the driver's seat.

74
00:07:32,000 --> 00:07:38,000
A few weekends later, Mary met her friend Laurie Gemmel at the clinic to give her an allergy shot.

75
00:07:39,000 --> 00:07:45,000
Mary seemed fine that Sunday, and we chatted a little bit about her making dinner for the family.

76
00:07:45,000 --> 00:07:50,000
She had a couple of errands to do, and she was only going to stay a couple of hours, and then she was going to go home.

77
00:07:53,000 --> 00:07:58,000
Later that afternoon, Laurie says she received an alarming phone call from Mary.

78
00:07:59,000 --> 00:08:00,000
Hi, it's me.

79
00:08:00,000 --> 00:08:05,000
When she was in the drugstore, she saw somebody that gave her the creeps.

80
00:08:05,000 --> 00:08:12,000
She said, I'm just going to run across the bridge and turn off my computer and sign out of the building and go home.

81
00:08:15,000 --> 00:08:22,000
Police aren't sure what happened next, but 12 minutes after saying goodbye to Laurie, Mary made a frantic call to 911.

82
00:08:24,000 --> 00:08:27,000
We're not releasing the content of the tape.

83
00:08:28,000 --> 00:08:38,000
It covers the attack that happened to Mary, and anybody that's ever heard that tape has just had their blood shield listening to it.

84
00:08:38,000 --> 00:08:41,000
It's a very chilling, disturbing call.

85
00:08:44,000 --> 00:08:47,000
The details of Mary's abduction are unclear.

86
00:08:47,000 --> 00:08:52,000
However, the medical examiner's report revealed that she was viciously beaten and shot in the head.

87
00:08:53,000 --> 00:08:57,000
The investigation first led police to Mary's coworker at the clinic.

88
00:08:57,000 --> 00:09:03,000
Allegedly, he had left on bad terms, quitting his job after several failed attempts to discredit Mary.

89
00:09:04,000 --> 00:09:09,000
Detectives say they have evidence that may link the coworker to the crime, and he remains a suspect.

90
00:09:10,000 --> 00:09:14,000
Investigators also had questions for Mike Morris, Mary's husband.

91
00:09:14,000 --> 00:09:18,000
Morris claimed he was at the movies with his daughter at the time of the murder.

92
00:09:18,000 --> 00:09:23,000
Detectives had concerns about his alibi and uncovered several other troubling issues.

93
00:09:23,000 --> 00:09:33,000
First, according to police, Morris intentionally stonewalled the investigation through his own actions and by refusing to allow his daughter to be questioned.

94
00:09:34,000 --> 00:09:37,000
He wouldn't meet with us without an attorney.

95
00:09:37,000 --> 00:09:39,000
Witnesses don't need attorneys.

96
00:09:39,000 --> 00:09:43,000
Suspects generally have attorneys.

97
00:09:44,000 --> 00:09:48,000
Mike Morris says he was simply following the advice of some trusted friends.

98
00:09:49,000 --> 00:10:01,000
Several of these people suggested that I'd take an attorney with me, not because I had anything to hide, but just to have somebody with me that was familiar with the procedures.

99
00:10:02,000 --> 00:10:07,000
Detectives were also suspicious about Morris' refusal to take a polygraph test.

100
00:10:08,000 --> 00:10:13,000
I was on anti-anxiety medications. I was on anti-depressants.

101
00:10:13,000 --> 00:10:23,000
I wasn't really sure that this polygraph examination that they were talking about could adequately compensate for all of those conditions.

102
00:10:24,000 --> 00:10:30,000
Further, according to friends, Mike and Mary Morris were having serious problems with their marriage.

103
00:10:31,000 --> 00:10:37,000
When Mike heard rumors of an alleged affair between Mary and a family friend, he confronted them head on.

104
00:10:38,000 --> 00:10:48,000
I can tell you that at the time that that happened, they both looked me in the eye and they both told me that there had been nothing inappropriate in their relationship.

105
00:10:49,000 --> 00:10:52,000
And I didn't see any betrayal in their eyes.

106
00:10:53,000 --> 00:10:55,000
Then there was a question of motive.

107
00:10:55,000 --> 00:11:02,000
What detectives say compelled them to follow the money, a life insurance policy that would pay out $700,000.

108
00:11:03,000 --> 00:11:10,000
There was a large amount of life insurance on Mary Morris, which Mike Morris was the beneficiary to.

109
00:11:11,000 --> 00:11:16,000
There were a lot of reasons right there for, in the way of a motive for Mike.

110
00:11:18,000 --> 00:11:28,000
Finally, what police consider most curious of all the evidence against Mike Morris was a call he made to Mary's cell phone around the time detectives believed she was murdered.

111
00:11:29,000 --> 00:11:37,000
There was a phone call some two hours after Mary Morris made a very desperate and chilling call to 911.

112
00:11:37,000 --> 00:11:39,000
That call was made by Mike Morris.

113
00:11:40,000 --> 00:11:44,000
The problem is, this phone call lasted for four minutes.

114
00:11:45,000 --> 00:11:50,000
This was, by all indications of the cellular telephone company, a completed call.

115
00:11:51,000 --> 00:12:00,000
What you have to wonder is, what did that phone call either say in motion or end?

116
00:12:01,000 --> 00:12:12,000
Normally, the cellular service would have kicked in and said that the party you were calling was unavailable.

117
00:12:12,000 --> 00:12:15,000
I didn't get that. I don't know why I didn't get that.

118
00:12:15,000 --> 00:12:23,000
But as long as the phone was ringing and I thought that there was a possibility that she would answer it, I let it ring.

119
00:12:24,000 --> 00:12:30,000
But if the call went unanswered, detectives questioned why it showed up on Mary's cell phone bill.

120
00:12:31,000 --> 00:12:38,000
I don't accept that Mike made this phone call and that the phone rang for four minutes. It's not possible.

121
00:12:38,000 --> 00:12:45,000
The question is, who answered the phone on the other end? That's what the big question is.

122
00:12:45,000 --> 00:12:48,000
And what did they talk about for the four minutes?

123
00:12:50,000 --> 00:12:56,000
Was Mike Morris talking to his white killer? He adamantly denies any involvement in her death.

124
00:12:57,000 --> 00:13:01,000
I had absolutely nothing to do with the arrangement of Mary's murder.

125
00:13:01,000 --> 00:13:09,000
It's a hurtful insinuation, but I know that it's absolutely untrue.

126
00:13:12,000 --> 00:13:18,000
Despite Mike Morris' denial, police say they have not eliminated him as a suspect in his wife's murder.

127
00:13:19,000 --> 00:13:29,000
Mary's co-worker is also still under suspicion. Perhaps the answer lies in the possible link between the deaths of Mary McGinnis Morris and Mary Lou Morris.

128
00:13:31,000 --> 00:13:39,000
One theory speculated that an inept contract killer had been hired to murder the second Mary Morris and kill the first Mary Morris by mistake.

129
00:13:40,000 --> 00:13:45,000
That theory was fueled in part by a telephone call allegedly made to a Houston newspaper.

130
00:13:47,000 --> 00:13:52,000
A call came into the Houston Chronicle and I verified this with somebody at the Chronicle.

131
00:13:53,000 --> 00:14:04,000
Between the time the first Mary Morris was killed and the time my friend was killed, saying something to the effect that they got the wrong Mary Morris the first time.

132
00:14:06,000 --> 00:14:13,000
The hit-gone-wrong theory was further bolstered when detectives determined that the wedding ring of the first Mary Morris was missing.

133
00:14:14,000 --> 00:14:21,000
If someone had put a head out on a person, that's what they take back to show that they actually killed that person.

134
00:14:23,000 --> 00:14:29,000
Despite speculation that the two murders may have been connected, detectives had their doubts.

135
00:14:30,000 --> 00:14:41,000
Well, with the remoteness of the location where the victim was found, as well as the effort that was taken to destroy the evidence and the vehicle, that would be consistent with the contract killing.

136
00:14:42,000 --> 00:14:45,000
But with the background of the victim, that doesn't seem likely.

137
00:14:46,000 --> 00:14:53,000
That the first Mary Morris was a mistake, it was a missed hit, a botched hit, something like that.

138
00:14:54,000 --> 00:15:00,000
There's not anything that we found that would support that.

139
00:15:02,000 --> 00:15:08,000
Detectives continued their search for any clues that might connect the two Mary Morris' but came up empty.

140
00:15:09,000 --> 00:15:16,000
They later concluded that with nearly 300 homicides in Harris County that year, the murders were a bizarre coincidence.

141
00:15:17,000 --> 00:15:22,000
However, the family and friends of both Mary's believe that explanation is simply too far-fetched.

142
00:15:24,000 --> 00:15:36,000
The astronomical odds that two Mary Morris' was killed three days apart, very similar in looks, to me is, that's what it is, an astronomical effort not connected.

143
00:15:36,000 --> 00:15:39,000
I can't help but think they have to be related.

144
00:15:41,000 --> 00:15:52,000
I can't imagine that two women with the same name would be murdered within three days of each other, both found in their cars, and not have that be related.

145
00:15:53,000 --> 00:15:59,000
It began as a typical morning at Leonard Derrickson's dairy farm near Cheyenne, Oklahoma.

146
00:16:00,000 --> 00:16:01,000
Jared, breakfast is ready.

147
00:16:01,000 --> 00:16:09,000
Leonard made breakfast for his 19-year-old son, Jared, and the two sat down to eat before a long day of chores.

148
00:16:10,000 --> 00:16:15,000
Then at 9 am, a visitor arrived unannounced in a white pickup truck.

149
00:16:17,000 --> 00:16:20,000
Jared, you know whose truck that is.

150
00:16:25,000 --> 00:16:29,000
It's a black truck, a black truck.

151
00:16:29,000 --> 00:16:33,000
Jared, you know whose truck that is.

152
00:16:37,000 --> 00:16:39,000
I'll go see what it wants.

153
00:16:43,000 --> 00:16:45,000
You wait inside.

154
00:16:45,000 --> 00:16:58,000
Leonard spent several minutes talking to the driver of the truck.

155
00:16:58,000 --> 00:17:03,000
They did not appear to know each other, but their conversation was cordial.

156
00:17:08,000 --> 00:17:13,000
When Leonard returned, he told Jared that the man wanted to look at one of his stud horses.

157
00:17:13,000 --> 00:17:20,000
Leonard gave no sign that he found anything unusual about the stranger.

158
00:17:23,000 --> 00:17:26,000
So he told me that he was going to go with him.

159
00:17:26,000 --> 00:17:32,000
He said to stay here and go to Elk and get some feed, and go feed the cows, and he'd be back that afternoon.

160
00:17:34,000 --> 00:17:40,000
Three years later, Jared Derrickson is still waiting for his father to come home.

161
00:17:44,000 --> 00:17:51,000
On March 14, Leonard Derrickson voluntarily left his home with an unidentified man and never returned.

162
00:17:51,000 --> 00:17:54,000
Nobody has any idea what happened to him.

163
00:17:54,000 --> 00:18:01,000
To this day, police have found no signs of a struggle, no evidence of foul play, and no body.

164
00:18:01,000 --> 00:18:05,000
Their only clue is a mysterious man who came to Leonard's house.

165
00:18:05,000 --> 00:18:10,000
Authorities believe he is the key to explaining Leonard Derrickson's baffling disappearance.

166
00:18:13,000 --> 00:18:18,000
After leaving his home, Leonard Derrickson did not simply vanish.

167
00:18:18,000 --> 00:18:26,000
Two hours later, a waitress claims to have seen him eating breakfast with another man at a local coffee shop.

168
00:18:26,000 --> 00:18:35,000
Now that's a little odd to us, because at nine o'clock, Leonard just got through eating breakfast with his son.

169
00:18:35,000 --> 00:18:40,000
It's extremely odd to eat two breakfasts in the same day, two hours apart.

170
00:18:41,000 --> 00:18:49,000
They were sitting there in the restaurant, and the unknown man that we're trying to identify was doing most of the talking,

171
00:18:49,000 --> 00:18:55,000
and Leonard was just drinking coffee and listening to the man talk.

172
00:18:56,000 --> 00:19:01,000
The man at the diner matched the description of the man who picked Leonard up at his home.

173
00:19:03,000 --> 00:19:07,000
There was nothing suspicious about his behavior.

174
00:19:07,000 --> 00:19:13,000
Then if he had meant to harm Leonard, why would he be seen with him in a public place?

175
00:19:14,000 --> 00:19:21,000
Police next checked the barn where Leonard kept his stud horse, but Leonard never came there that day.

176
00:19:21,000 --> 00:19:30,000
In fact, an exhaustive investigation turned up absolutely no information on Leonard's whereabouts, until six months after he vanished.

177
00:19:37,000 --> 00:19:41,000
But this sighting was even more perplexing than the first.

178
00:19:42,000 --> 00:19:46,000
A man at a barn in Amarillo, Texas, phoned the police.

179
00:19:46,000 --> 00:19:51,000
Yeah, I want to report this guy. Leonard Derrickson, he's supposed to be missing.

180
00:19:51,000 --> 00:19:59,000
The individual that called stated, I know Leonard Derrickson, I'm from Elk City, I can't give you my name, but he's in this bar.

181
00:19:59,000 --> 00:20:01,000
I know who he is, I know this is him.

182
00:20:01,000 --> 00:20:05,000
I'm watching him, he's wearing a blue check shirt, and he's drunk.

183
00:20:05,000 --> 00:20:12,000
Yeah, I'm at the highway bar in Amarillo. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'll wait till you get here.

184
00:20:14,000 --> 00:20:16,000
And then the call terminates.

185
00:20:17,000 --> 00:20:24,000
By the time local police arrived at the remote bar, both the caller and the man he claims as Leonard Derrickson were gone.

186
00:20:25,000 --> 00:20:27,000
Hi. Hi. My name is Joey.

187
00:20:27,000 --> 00:20:32,000
The following day, the Roger Mills County Sheriff's Department interviewed the bartender.

188
00:20:32,000 --> 00:20:35,000
I remember the guy who made the two phone calls.

189
00:20:35,000 --> 00:20:39,000
She remembered the caller being at the bar and corroborated his story.

190
00:20:40,000 --> 00:20:49,000
We had no reason to disbelieve it. It almost stretched the imagination that a guy would dance around in the bar, scream in the hall, and it's Leonard, it's Leonard, and it not be Leonard.

191
00:20:50,000 --> 00:20:53,000
I believe he was in the bar in Amarillo.

192
00:20:54,000 --> 00:21:00,000
But why was Leonard Derrickson hanging out in an Amarillo bar six months after being reported missing?

193
00:21:02,000 --> 00:21:06,000
Could he have voluntarily disappeared? If so, why?

194
00:21:09,000 --> 00:21:17,000
Leonard had recently suffered through a painful divorce, and investigators believe his dairy business was collapsing, along with a rapidly dropping price of milk.

195
00:21:18,000 --> 00:21:24,000
Could Leonard have decided to escape both his alleged financial and personal problems once and for all?

196
00:21:25,000 --> 00:21:27,000
It's entirely possible that Leonard left on his own.

197
00:21:27,000 --> 00:21:41,000
I don't know where he would be today. I believe it's possible that he's working as a ranch hand somewhere, or on a dairy, or a cattle ranch, or even horses.

198
00:21:42,000 --> 00:21:45,000
There is only one problem with that scenario.

199
00:21:47,000 --> 00:21:49,000
Leonard's son, Jared.

200
00:21:50,000 --> 00:21:52,000
Me and my dad, we was together every day.

201
00:21:53,000 --> 00:21:56,000
Every morning we'd go work, do the chores, and I'd go to school.

202
00:21:58,000 --> 00:22:07,000
I don't think he would have ever left me and not ever come back to sit me or nothing, because we was close, and I don't think he'd ever done that to me.

203
00:22:08,000 --> 00:22:20,000
And there's no way he would have ever left Jared and gone off, and not ever let anybody know he was too close. We were all too close, a family, to do that.

204
00:22:20,000 --> 00:22:22,000
I don't think he would have ever left.

205
00:22:25,000 --> 00:22:35,000
If Leonard would not have left his son behind, the focus then switches back to the mysterious man. One aspect of this case is always troubled investigators.

206
00:22:36,000 --> 00:22:43,000
Jared did not know the man, and Leonard did not act as if he did either.

207
00:22:43,000 --> 00:22:51,000
But then how did the stranger know where Leonard lived? And why was he asking about a horse that Leonard had not advertised as for sale?

208
00:22:54,000 --> 00:23:02,000
Where Leonard lived, north of Cheyenne, Oklahoma, the man would have had to know how to have gotten there, because it's just not a straight drive there.

209
00:23:03,000 --> 00:23:05,000
The way you have to turn and go on the back roads and things.

210
00:23:06,000 --> 00:23:14,000
So he knew the area to get there. Someone had given him directions how to get to Leonard's home.

211
00:23:17,000 --> 00:23:28,000
There's a possibility that this man was involved in setting Leonard up to be murdered. If this man didn't do the murder, he may have taken Leonard somewhere to someone that wanted to. That's a possibility.

212
00:23:29,000 --> 00:23:34,000
We just, we don't have a moaty for that. I have not found one.

213
00:23:36,000 --> 00:23:46,000
Without a moaty, the search for Leonard Derrickson will continue to be hampered. Until then, his family can only pray that Leonard is safe and well somewhere, and will someday return home.

214
00:23:47,000 --> 00:24:12,000
To never ever hear anything, it's hard because there's no end to it. And for a year after I would listen to the news and they would say they had found a body someplace, you know, I would just think maybe that's him, maybe this is it. But nothing, anywhere.

215
00:24:13,000 --> 00:24:30,000
This is a composite drawing of the man last seen with Leonard Derrickson. He was driving a white Ford pickup and wearing a baseball hat with a phrase, no fear on the front. Police would like to question him regarding Leonard's disappearance.

216
00:24:31,000 --> 00:24:42,000
Leonard Derrickson is six feet tall, has brown hair and weighs approximately 200 pounds.

217
00:24:42,000 --> 00:25:11,000
January 1987. The exclusive area of Buckhead in Atlanta, Georgia. A woman lay dead in the doorway of her home. Her name was Lita McClinton Sullivan, the daughter of one of Georgia's most politically prominent African American women.

218
00:25:13,000 --> 00:25:29,000
Her husband was James Sullivan, heir to a million dollar family fortune. Police had no idea who killed Lita or why. The only clue was a dozen blood-spattered roses.

219
00:25:30,000 --> 00:25:45,000
Who killed Lita Sullivan? Authorities who left with a baffling mystery. Could Lita have been the victim of a random robbery attempt? Or could her own husband have been involved in a conspiracy to commit murder?

220
00:25:46,000 --> 00:25:58,000
James Sullivan met Lita McClinton at an Atlanta mall in 1975. Lita was training to be a clothing buyer for a department store.

221
00:25:58,000 --> 00:26:03,000
Excuse me. Hi. Can I help you find something?

222
00:26:03,000 --> 00:26:09,000
A Boston native James Sullivan was refined and charming. Lita soon fell in love.

223
00:26:09,000 --> 00:26:13,000
How about a trip to Paris?

224
00:26:13,000 --> 00:26:16,000
I don't think so.

225
00:26:16,000 --> 00:26:28,000
When James Sullivan married into Lita's family, her parents feared that his real motive was to capitalize on the political influence that the McClinton family had earned through years of public service.

226
00:26:28,000 --> 00:26:40,000
I think that was one of his attractions to Lita. He needed someone who could give him a better social standing and status.

227
00:26:40,000 --> 00:26:44,000
Eventually the couple moved into this home in Palm Beach, Florida.

228
00:26:44,000 --> 00:26:48,000
I'm going back to work. You can't stop me.

229
00:26:48,000 --> 00:26:55,000
Lita's parents say that in time, Sullivan wanted to control every aspect of their daughter's life.

230
00:26:55,000 --> 00:27:11,000
He had originally said that he did not want her to work, but then he would give her such a small budget that it was no way practical to quote buy groceries to take care of the household and things like that.

231
00:27:12,000 --> 00:27:19,000
In 1985, Lita filed for divorce and left her husband, moving into a townhouse they owned in Atlanta.

232
00:27:19,000 --> 00:27:27,000
Lita's family says Sullivan was outraged and feared he could lose millions in a divorce settlement.

233
00:27:27,000 --> 00:27:35,000
The day Lita was scheduled to testify in her divorce case was the same day she was murdered.

234
00:27:35,000 --> 00:27:41,000
Police would discover that a witness had seen a man come to the door carrying a box of flowers.

235
00:27:44,000 --> 00:27:45,000
Who is it?

236
00:27:45,000 --> 00:27:47,000
Flowers for Lita Sullivan.

237
00:27:49,000 --> 00:27:50,000
Are you Lita Sullivan?

238
00:27:50,000 --> 00:27:51,000
Yes.

239
00:27:54,000 --> 00:27:59,000
Although the suspect was seen fleeing the property, he could not be identified.

240
00:27:59,000 --> 00:28:05,000
At the time of the killing, Lita's husband, James, was at the couple's home in Palm Beach.

241
00:28:05,000 --> 00:28:10,000
He had an alibi, unless it was a contract killing.

242
00:28:11,000 --> 00:28:17,000
40 minutes later, Jim Sullivan was used to collect phone calls from outside Atlanta.

243
00:28:17,000 --> 00:28:24,000
And when I retraced the time from Buckhead where Lita was murdered to where the phone was, it was exactly 40 minutes.

244
00:28:24,000 --> 00:28:28,000
I believe the killer was calling Sullivan and telling him that the job is done.

245
00:28:28,000 --> 00:28:34,000
Police traced the flowers to a shop where a clerk remembered a nervous man buying them before the murder.

246
00:28:36,000 --> 00:28:47,000
They said the telephone records show that just before the killing, three men who had checked into a Georgia motel using false identification made calls to Sullivan's home.

247
00:28:49,000 --> 00:28:52,000
Police now thought they had a case to take to trial.

248
00:28:52,000 --> 00:28:54,000
They were wrong.

249
00:28:54,000 --> 00:28:57,000
The judge dismissed the case for lack of evidence.

250
00:28:58,000 --> 00:29:02,000
A relieved James Sullivan spoke with the press following the decision.

251
00:29:02,000 --> 00:29:10,000
I want everyone listening to this to know that I am absolutely innocent.

252
00:29:10,000 --> 00:29:14,000
I had nothing to do with Lita's death.

253
00:29:14,000 --> 00:29:18,000
Her death was a great tragedy.

254
00:29:18,000 --> 00:29:25,000
And I thank God and my attorneys that this ordeal is over.

255
00:29:26,000 --> 00:29:31,000
Lita's family believed James Sullivan was getting away with murder.

256
00:29:31,000 --> 00:29:40,000
Jim had Lita killed because of money. Jim loved money.

257
00:29:43,000 --> 00:29:47,000
Just eight months after the murder, Sullivan married again.

258
00:29:47,000 --> 00:29:48,000
Perfect.

259
00:29:48,000 --> 00:29:51,000
This time to a woman named Suki Rogers.

260
00:29:51,000 --> 00:29:58,000
But three years later, Suki and Sullivan were involved in their own bitter divorce.

261
00:29:58,000 --> 00:30:06,000
In 1991, Suki told police that Sullivan admitted to her that he hired someone to kill Lita.

262
00:30:06,000 --> 00:30:12,000
The McClinton's filed a four million dollar civil suit against Sullivan and won.

263
00:30:12,000 --> 00:30:14,000
We're not interested in the money.

264
00:30:14,000 --> 00:30:23,000
It was really knowing that Jim was a perpetrator.

265
00:30:23,000 --> 00:30:25,000
He was a cause of our daughter's death.

266
00:30:25,000 --> 00:30:28,000
And we wanted to bring him to trial.

267
00:30:28,000 --> 00:30:35,000
Officials believe Sullivan's motive for murder was his intense desire not to part with any of his fortune.

268
00:30:35,000 --> 00:30:40,000
But they still didn't think there was enough physical evidence to win a criminal conviction.

269
00:30:40,000 --> 00:30:46,000
Lita's devastated family said James Sullivan had gotten away with murder.

270
00:30:46,000 --> 00:30:54,000
February 1998, Georgia investigators arrest a man they suspect helped set up Lita's murder.

271
00:30:54,000 --> 00:30:59,000
I had a business arrangement with Mr. Sullivan about 11 years ago.

272
00:30:59,000 --> 00:31:04,000
The man alleged that James Sullivan masterminded the killing.

273
00:31:04,000 --> 00:31:08,000
Finally a warrant was issued for Sullivan's arrest.

274
00:31:08,000 --> 00:31:11,000
He was charged with murder and aggravated assault.

275
00:31:11,000 --> 00:31:15,000
But before police could find him, Sullivan disappeared.

276
00:31:15,000 --> 00:31:19,000
Sullivan had an Irish passport and authorities believe he may have fled to Ireland.

277
00:31:19,000 --> 00:31:22,000
He planned it.

278
00:31:22,000 --> 00:31:26,000
And I really, really feel that he should.

279
00:31:26,000 --> 00:31:29,000
I just feel that he should pay with his life.

280
00:31:29,000 --> 00:31:33,000
I tell him what he already knows.

281
00:31:33,000 --> 00:31:35,000
He'll never beat me.

282
00:31:35,000 --> 00:31:38,000
I will get him.

283
00:32:05,000 --> 00:32:20,000
This brownstone in Boston is filled with patients, people with real ailments hoping to be healed.

284
00:32:20,000 --> 00:32:25,000
I'm here to quit smoking and I've been smoking over 30 years.

285
00:32:25,000 --> 00:32:28,000
Fear of crowds like this.

286
00:32:28,000 --> 00:32:32,000
And I came to stop biting my fingernails.

287
00:32:32,000 --> 00:32:35,000
But this is not a medical facility.

288
00:32:35,000 --> 00:32:42,000
It is the office of Yafim Shubensov, a Soviet immigrant affectionately known as the mad Russian.

289
00:32:42,000 --> 00:32:43,000
Relax, make yourself comfortable.

290
00:32:43,000 --> 00:32:45,000
My name is Yafim Shubensov.

291
00:32:45,000 --> 00:32:49,000
Yafim seems to have an unexplained power that cures.

292
00:32:49,000 --> 00:32:57,000
Thousands have flocked from all over the world to experience his healing touch.

293
00:32:57,000 --> 00:33:00,000
For me right now people can make appointments.

294
00:33:00,000 --> 00:33:07,000
Smoking, drinking, drugs, all kinds of bad habits, phobias, anorexia, believe me, weight loss.

295
00:33:07,000 --> 00:33:13,000
Knee pain, back pain.

296
00:33:13,000 --> 00:33:15,000
Yes.

297
00:33:15,000 --> 00:33:18,000
Can this Russian wonder really heal?

298
00:33:18,000 --> 00:33:21,000
Or is he a charlatan playing on people's hopes?

299
00:33:21,000 --> 00:33:24,000
Can a simple wave of a hand change a life?

300
00:33:24,000 --> 00:33:26,000
You be the judge.

301
00:33:28,000 --> 00:33:34,000
Miranda Beeson is a successful New York businesswoman with an addiction.

302
00:33:34,000 --> 00:33:37,000
She couldn't quit smoking.

303
00:33:37,000 --> 00:33:40,000
I really adored smoking and I smoked great cigarettes.

304
00:33:40,000 --> 00:33:42,000
I won't name the brand.

305
00:33:42,000 --> 00:33:44,000
I loved them all.

306
00:33:44,000 --> 00:33:51,000
I had tried numerous other kinds of ways of smoking cessation and they had not been successful.

307
00:33:51,000 --> 00:33:54,000
And I thought, I have nothing to lose.

308
00:33:55,000 --> 00:34:03,000
So Miranda went to Boston for a session with Yafim and smoked what she hoped was her last cigarette.

309
00:34:03,000 --> 00:34:07,000
Okay, okay, be brave, be brave, be brave.

310
00:34:07,000 --> 00:34:13,000
Inside, Miranda joined a dozen others looking for a final cure to their chronic pain or addiction.

311
00:34:13,000 --> 00:34:20,000
For $65 per session, Yafim holds a group healing followed by individual meetings.

312
00:34:20,000 --> 00:34:24,000
Initially, he tries to alleviate any overt pain.

313
00:34:24,000 --> 00:34:26,000
I want to ask a question here of everybody.

314
00:34:26,000 --> 00:34:29,000
Who have pain, phobia, some addiction of some sort?

315
00:34:29,000 --> 00:34:32,000
Who have everybody? Why are you here?

316
00:34:32,000 --> 00:34:34,000
I want to quit smoking.

317
00:34:34,000 --> 00:34:36,000
He's incredibly dynamic.

318
00:34:36,000 --> 00:34:37,000
Can you have other pain?

319
00:34:37,000 --> 00:34:38,000
Yes.

320
00:34:38,000 --> 00:34:39,000
Where do you have pain?

321
00:34:39,000 --> 00:34:40,000
In my back.

322
00:34:40,000 --> 00:34:45,000
It's a power of focus so that when he focuses on you, you're engaged.

323
00:34:45,000 --> 00:34:47,000
I give you everything.

324
00:34:48,000 --> 00:34:56,000
He kind of sent this fireball across the room and that pain is gone.

325
00:34:56,000 --> 00:35:04,000
Yafim claims his hand gestures are a reorganization of what he calls bioenergy.

326
00:35:04,000 --> 00:35:08,000
It's like somebody throwing a really fast curveball.

327
00:35:08,000 --> 00:35:13,000
You're the catcher, he's the pitcher, you're there, you catch it.

328
00:35:13,000 --> 00:35:19,000
What I want you to do is to think in your mind the very first puff of cigarette that you take.

329
00:35:19,000 --> 00:35:23,000
In her one-on-one session, they discuss her specific problem,

330
00:35:23,000 --> 00:35:27,000
Miranda's 20-year addiction to cigarettes.

331
00:35:27,000 --> 00:35:33,000
Some people say he sort of sneezes on you, which is not what he does at all.

332
00:35:33,000 --> 00:35:38,000
But he kind of gives you this parting gift.

333
00:35:38,000 --> 00:35:43,000
After her session, Miranda's desire for cigarettes disappeared.

334
00:35:43,000 --> 00:35:47,000
She claims the craving stopped.

335
00:35:47,000 --> 00:35:50,000
I was somehow profoundly changed.

336
00:35:50,000 --> 00:35:54,000
I just know that I'm greater than this habit at this point.

337
00:35:54,000 --> 00:35:57,000
So it cannot move in.

338
00:35:57,000 --> 00:36:01,000
Since her visit to Yafim over two years ago,

339
00:36:01,000 --> 00:36:09,000
Miranda has remained a non-smoker and believes that Yafim was key to her success.

340
00:36:09,000 --> 00:36:13,000
According to Yafim, he has helped thousands like Miranda

341
00:36:13,000 --> 00:36:19,000
and thousands more who suffer from another common addiction, overeating.

342
00:36:19,000 --> 00:36:22,000
For a weight loss, I help dramatically.

343
00:36:22,000 --> 00:36:24,000
I remove desire to eat whatever you want.

344
00:36:24,000 --> 00:36:26,000
I remove desire to eat in between meals.

345
00:36:26,000 --> 00:36:29,000
I remove desire to eat big portions, etc., etc.

346
00:36:29,000 --> 00:36:32,000
But excesses I cannot do instead of you.

347
00:36:32,000 --> 00:36:37,000
Louise Cole is a single mother living in Brightonton, Florida.

348
00:36:37,000 --> 00:36:40,000
When both her young children became seriously ill,

349
00:36:40,000 --> 00:36:44,000
the emotional stress and financial pressure were overwhelming,

350
00:36:44,000 --> 00:36:47,000
and Louise began to overeat.

351
00:36:47,000 --> 00:36:50,000
It's okay. It'll make you better.

352
00:36:50,000 --> 00:36:56,000
I would actually hide food just for emergencies for me,

353
00:36:56,000 --> 00:36:58,000
because I knew that it did comfort me.

354
00:36:58,000 --> 00:37:01,000
So after things were quiet and everything was taken care of,

355
00:37:01,000 --> 00:37:06,000
instead of falling apart emotionally and exhaustedly, crying, or just falling asleep,

356
00:37:06,000 --> 00:37:10,000
I would go to the kitchen and bring out my goodies.

357
00:37:10,000 --> 00:37:13,000
Chocolate is probably one of my favorite things,

358
00:37:13,000 --> 00:37:18,000
and I would get so excited because I'm looking through the top of the chocolate,

359
00:37:18,000 --> 00:37:21,000
and I'm thinking, okay, this is my favorite, I'm going to eat this, I'm going to eat that.

360
00:37:21,000 --> 00:37:25,000
Knowing in the back of my mind, it didn't matter which one I started with,

361
00:37:25,000 --> 00:37:28,000
because I was going to finish the box.

362
00:37:28,000 --> 00:37:31,000
Louise tried to end the binging, but couldn't.

363
00:37:31,000 --> 00:37:38,000
When I reached 187 pounds, I realized that now it's not an ego issue, it's a health issue.

364
00:37:38,000 --> 00:37:44,000
I went from the high protein diets, the low carb diets, the watermelon diet,

365
00:37:44,000 --> 00:37:49,000
a grapefruit diet, I took prescription diet pills, and none of these worked.

366
00:37:49,000 --> 00:37:53,000
Just could not get it.

367
00:37:53,000 --> 00:37:57,000
Louise decided to take a chance and visit Yafim.

368
00:37:57,000 --> 00:38:05,000
After her session, she immediately felt different, and within three months saw positive results.

369
00:38:05,000 --> 00:38:09,000
I had lost 17 pounds, and now it's down to 20 pounds.

370
00:38:09,000 --> 00:38:11,000
So I feel good about that.

371
00:38:11,000 --> 00:38:17,000
I think it's a very healthy one to two pounds a week, and I like that.

372
00:38:17,000 --> 00:38:21,000
I have a new feeling and outlook emotionally towards food.

373
00:38:21,000 --> 00:38:25,000
It will never have the power over me that it wants had.

374
00:38:25,000 --> 00:38:29,000
But where did Yafim's gift for healing come from?

375
00:38:29,000 --> 00:38:35,000
As he tells it, he was delivering artwork one day, and a stranger walked up to him on the street

376
00:38:35,000 --> 00:38:40,000
and said something about his having a very strong energy field.

377
00:38:40,000 --> 00:38:46,000
It turned out to be a researcher from a Soviet laboratory that was studying the paranormal.

378
00:38:47,000 --> 00:38:52,000
And this person persuaded him to come to the laboratory and have some tests conducted.

379
00:38:52,000 --> 00:38:58,000
Evidently, when he put his hands on or over plants, the plants perked right up.

380
00:38:58,000 --> 00:39:02,000
At one point, a researcher in the laboratory was suffering from a migraine,

381
00:39:02,000 --> 00:39:07,000
and without really quite knowing what he was doing, he removed the pain.

382
00:39:07,000 --> 00:39:11,000
He took the pain away.

383
00:39:11,000 --> 00:39:15,000
And that's when he realized that although he wasn't quite sure what he was doing,

384
00:39:15,000 --> 00:39:19,000
he was definitely doing something to heal people.

385
00:39:20,000 --> 00:39:27,000
In 1979, Yafim moved to America, where his curative powers were soon touted by the media.

386
00:39:27,000 --> 00:39:31,000
Yafim also attracted the attention of the medical world.

387
00:39:31,000 --> 00:39:37,000
In 1982, two Harvard University Health Service doctors decided to do a clinical trial.

388
00:39:37,000 --> 00:39:41,000
The goal was to verify Yafim's success rate.

389
00:39:41,000 --> 00:39:47,000
Two psychotherapists asked Yafim to come and work with a number of patients of theirs

390
00:39:47,000 --> 00:39:49,000
whom they had treated without success.

391
00:39:49,000 --> 00:39:54,000
These were people with fear of needles, phobias, smoking, pain.

392
00:39:55,000 --> 00:39:58,000
They first observed the healing sessions.

393
00:39:58,000 --> 00:39:59,000
Are you actually a doctor?

394
00:39:59,000 --> 00:40:00,000
No, I'm not a doctor.

395
00:40:00,000 --> 00:40:02,000
Can you help me get over my fear of needles?

396
00:40:02,000 --> 00:40:05,000
Well, of course I can. Of course. I want you to sit in this chair.

397
00:40:05,000 --> 00:40:08,000
Come over here. Sit here. I watch.

398
00:40:08,000 --> 00:40:10,000
Watch. Watch.

399
00:40:11,000 --> 00:40:14,000
Anybody have questions for me? Nobody question?

400
00:40:14,000 --> 00:40:18,000
The doctors then kept track of the trial group for four months.

401
00:40:19,000 --> 00:40:24,000
He saw all of these patients and managed to cure 85% of them.

402
00:40:25,000 --> 00:40:26,000
Tell me about the tetanus shot.

403
00:40:26,000 --> 00:40:29,000
Well, when I went into the doctor's office, I wasn't nervous at all.

404
00:40:29,000 --> 00:40:31,000
I had no fear of the needle.

405
00:40:31,000 --> 00:40:35,000
When the Harvard doctors studied what he had done,

406
00:40:35,000 --> 00:40:39,000
they were able to conclude that he had not hypnotized anyone.

407
00:40:39,000 --> 00:40:41,000
No, no, it wasn't like hypnosis at all.

408
00:40:42,000 --> 00:40:44,000
In fact, they weren't really sure what he had done.

409
00:40:44,000 --> 00:40:47,000
They just knew that whatever he did, it worked.

410
00:40:49,000 --> 00:40:54,000
The published results from the Harvard trial state that Yafim's powers were genuine,

411
00:40:54,000 --> 00:40:57,000
as were the positive results.

412
00:40:58,000 --> 00:41:03,000
The Harvard study at most shows that there is some real effect here,

413
00:41:03,000 --> 00:41:05,000
most probably a placebo effect.

414
00:41:05,000 --> 00:41:09,000
And when they state that something real happened,

415
00:41:09,000 --> 00:41:12,000
they don't mean real psychic power or anything like that,

416
00:41:12,000 --> 00:41:17,000
but that a real mental power in the patients themselves happened.

417
00:41:17,000 --> 00:41:20,000
I don't think Yafim has any special power at all,

418
00:41:20,000 --> 00:41:25,000
other than the power to convince people that they can implement change in their own lives.

419
00:41:27,000 --> 00:41:30,000
Although Yafim's gift remains undefinable,

420
00:41:30,000 --> 00:41:33,000
both Miranda and Louise believe in it.

421
00:41:33,000 --> 00:41:35,000
I don't think anybody knows how it works.

422
00:41:35,000 --> 00:41:39,000
I just know that it does work, and I've been very successful with it.

423
00:41:42,000 --> 00:41:46,000
You may go see him and say, I don't understand a word this man says.

424
00:41:46,000 --> 00:41:48,000
I don't know what he's doing.

425
00:41:48,000 --> 00:41:51,000
You can be suspect or you can say, you know what, I go around once.

426
00:41:51,000 --> 00:41:53,000
What do I have to lose?

427
00:41:57,000 --> 00:41:59,000
I don't know what I have to lose.

428
00:42:01,000 --> 00:42:06,000
It is hard not to be intrigued by the mad Russian and his mystifying energy,

429
00:42:06,000 --> 00:42:09,000
but is he able to heal with a wave of a hand?

430
00:42:09,000 --> 00:42:13,000
Or is it only the part of suggestion that it will work here?

431
00:42:13,000 --> 00:42:17,000
The truth remains an unsolved mystery.

432
00:42:17,000 --> 00:42:23,000
For more cases that are stranger than fiction,

433
00:42:23,000 --> 00:42:27,000
stories all the more remarkable because they are true.

434
00:42:27,000 --> 00:42:31,000
Join me next time on Unsolved Mysteries.

435
00:43:17,000 --> 00:43:21,000
Unolved Mysteries