Original subtitles

ANNOUNCER: This program is about unsolved mysteries.

Whenever possible, the actual family members

and police officials have participated

in recreating the events.

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

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): In 1970,

Clarence Roberts was found dead in a fire, or was he?

10 years later, another fire killed his wife.

In the rubble, Clarence Roberts was found for the second time.

How could a man die twice?

Pretty 16-year-old Jenny Pratt hoped to become a model

until tragically she and her boyfriend

were viciously attacked on a deserted road.

She was in a coma for three months

and still has no memory of the attack or her attackers.

In central Florida, a clumsy robber has

successfully held up 30 banks.

The police call him "Fumbles."

He is still at large.

On a quiet Saturday morning, Jack Quinn went to work

and calmly walked off at $1.3 million.

He seems to have committed the perfect crime.

Perhaps tonight, you can help catch him.

[theme music]

For every mystery, there is someone

somewhere who knows the truth.

Tonight, we'll tell you how our viewers

helped capture a Tennessee man accused

of murdering two teenage girls.

10 years ago, he fled to Canada.

After our broadcast, he's now in custody.

Join me.

You may be able to help solve a mystery.

[theme music]

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): During the spring of 1987,

Jenny Pratt had hopes of becoming a model.

She was pretty and popular and in her sophomore year

at a Carlsbad, California, high school.

But what mattered most to Jenny was

her boyfriend, Curtis Croft.

Jenny was only 16, and she was deeply in love with Curtis.

He drove a Porsche, had plenty of money,

and was a good-looking California surfer.

But Curtis' glamorous facade had a darker side.

DIANE STROM (VOICEOVER): I didn't really, really

know what was going on until I'd say almost six

months into the relationship when she said,

Mom, I have a boyfriend.

He's 17 years old.

And I said, OK, and he really seemed like a pretty nice boy.

In fact, he really did a good job snowing me.

He looked 17.

And further on down the road, I found out

he had been in jail for drugs.

And he was 24 years old, and just bad

news for a 16-year-old kid.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Against her parents' wishes,

Jenny went out with Curtis on the night of April the 25th,

1987.

He borrowed a friend's motorcycle

and promised Jenny he would get her home

before her midnight curfew.

Jenny Pratt would never arrive home that night.

Jennifer Pratt was brutally attacked that April night

with my unusual weapon, a heavy board, six and 1/2 feet long.

The police believed that her assailants

may be local teenagers.

But so far no one in that community

will speak out to identify them.

We will not know who attacked Jenny

until someone has the courage to step forward with the truth.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): At 1:00 AM

on the night of the incident, Jenny's parents

received a telephone call.

Their daughter had been airlifted to a nearby hospital.

DIANE STROM (VOICEOVER): They said,

your daughter's been in an accident.

I So is she OK?

And they wouldn't tell me anything.

And they said, you have to come down.

She's in Scripps in La Jolla.

I didn't even know where it was.

GARY STROM: Neither one of us realized why she would

be going to Scripps Hospital.

There's a hospital five minutes away.

Oh my gosh.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Scripps Medical Center

in La Jolla, California, is a renowned trauma

center, which takes only the most severe cases.

Her name is Jenny Pratt.

Can we see her?

No, you can't see her right now.

The doctor's with her.

Is she OK?

I was asking a million questions.

But I wasn't getting any answers.

Finally, the nurse said, the doctor

would like to talk to us.

And he took us off into kind of a waiting room.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): The doctor told Jenny's parents

the worst possible news.

Your daughter is brain-dead.

And we don't expect her to live but two more hours.

Jenny had received a very serious injury

at the scene of the accident.

The blow from the board that struck her

was great enough to actually crush the skull.

And that caused immediate shutdown of her brain.

DIANE STROM: And then they said I could see her.

And what I saw was horrible.

Her hair was red from all the blood.

She was bleeding out of her nose, her ears, her mouth.

And she had tubes all over her.

It was like her whole body was just distorted.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Miraculously, Jenny Pratt

survived.

But she lapsed into a deep coma.

Our first involvement in the case was to examine

the evidence that was found at the crime scene,

which consisted of the two-by-four that was

used to hit Jenny and Curtis.

We examined that for physical evidence

and didn't find any fingerprints.

There was some blood stains on it,

which were photographed and were determined to be Jenny's.

Curtis was interviewed that same day

at the Carlsbad Police Station.

His account of what happened basically

is that he was giving Jennifer a ride home.

They were driving down Rancho Santa Fe Road, getting

ready to make a left turn.

I was just like going to approach that intersection,

going pretty slow.

And all of a sudden, something struck me.

I just go, ow, what was that?

It's like, it kind of hurt really bad.

And then the car, the car went zooming by.

And I went back, I turned around to tell Jenny,

I go someone threw something at me or something.

I don't know what happened. Something hit me.

I was like, you know, I couldn't believe I got hurt.

And she was out of it.

And so I just go, oh my god, what's happening.

We believed it was a case where

a carload or a truckload of juveniles

had committed this crime.

Curtis was giving Jennifer a ride home.

They had almost come to a complete stop

when he realized that he'd been struck by a board

and realized that Jenny had been struck by a board

and had slumped against him.

At the same time, the white pickup truck went by them

at a high rate of speed.

He had the impression that there was a large group of juveniles

in the back of the pickup truck, that they

were laughing as they went by.

And his impression was that the board came

flying from the pickup truck.

Quite frankly, we expected it to be a crime that would have

been solved just by the nature of juveniles

have a tendency to talk.

We felt it was very possible that in a short period of time,

we would have identified who the suspects were.

But to this date, we have yet to have anybody come up

and supply us with any direct knowledge

of what happened that night.

I understand you're a friend of--

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Jenny's parents

hired private investigator Louis Crisafi.

He interviewed students at Jenny's high school.

Basically all I can tell you is at that night that happened,

it was not aimed at Jenny.

It was aimed for Curtis.

And nobody really knows who did it.

I have a feeling I know who did it.

But no one's really willing to say.

There's no doubt that there were

people because of Curtis' background that

didn't like him.

He was not a popular person.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): In 1985, Curtis Croft had been

convicted for dealing cocaine.

After cooperating with police investigators,

he served less than half of his sentence.

SGT. JIM BYLER: He developed the reputation as a snitch

when he got himself in trouble.

And young people, particularly young people involved in drugs,

tend to look down on somebody who develops that reputation.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Police investigated

a number of people who might have wanted to hurt Curtis.

[knocking]

Hey, get out here.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): They learned that Curtis

had confronted one of his enemies on the night

before the assault.

CURTIS: You stole some stuff from my apartment

the other night.

I didn't steal anything from your apartment.

CURTIS: Yeah, you did.

You know exactly what I'm talking about, too.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Jenny's parents

believe that the boy might have attacked

Curtis and Jenny because of Curtis' threats against him.

CURTIS: I'll go to the cops if I have to to get to you.

Good. I'll talk to them, too.

Yeah, you're busted, man.

- No, I don't think so. - Yeah, you are.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): The police investigation

was stopped cold when Curtis claimed

he could not identify the perpetrators

on the night of the incident.

He said the white pickup truck was traveling at 55 miles,

too fast for him to get a look at Jenny's assailants.

Louis Crisafi did not believe Curtis.

He attempted to reconstruct the incident

at two different speeds.

LOUIS CRISAFI (VOICEOVER): And we used the identical pickups,

as far as the model year and the size

and the same type of motorcycle and we

used the same conditions.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): The first reconstruction

was done at 50 miles an hour.

At that speed, it seems almost certain

that both Curtis and Jenny would have been killed.

They were traveling exactly at 50.

There is no way it could have happened

the way he said it did.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Moreover,

in this reconstruction, the board fell about 50 feet

from the scene of the crime, when in reality, police

had found it only a few feet from the spot

where Jenny had been attacked.

The second reconstruction, played out

at only 10 miles an hour, inflicted

injuries very similar to the ones Curtis and Jenny

actually received.

LOUIS CRISAFI: This is a perfect depiction of exactly--

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): And this time, the board fell

right next to the motorcycle.

LOUIS CRISAFI: The board wound up almost

identical to where it was.

We had reason to believe that Curtis was

not telling the whole truth.

We went back to Curtis' apartment and visited with him.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Crisafi

felt that Curtis had seen the people in the pickup truck,

and he confronted him.

Were you in a fight that evening in the restaurant?

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Finally, Curtis did name names.

One of them was the same boy he had fought with on the night

before the attack.

Well, they forced me to tell it,

like, it's like threatening someone, you know.

And they scared me into saying that, and that wasn't right.

OK, Curtis, you've made some new statements

to a private investigator.

And I want to hear what those statements were.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Later on, Curtis recanted,

telling police he had given them names

because he felt pressured.

I was a little nervous.

The truck went by really fast, and the people try to say,

oh, maybe you saw someone.

But I really didn't.

And we've done lying detector tests on me.

I've passed everything, you know.

I've told the truth.

I've always been there to help.

I've never, you know, not came around.

I've always came to everything he wanted me to do

and cooperated with everything.

We do believe that Curtis did, in fact, see those people.

Curtis continuously told us that he has been threatened, that he

has basically informed on people before

and was very, very frightened that he would be killed.

And he was already being threatened

not to talk in this case.

And we have reason to believe that what he's

saying to that effect is true.

You know, the real mystery is it seems like the second we

find somebody that's willing to come forward and say something,

somebody gets to them.

And they either disappear or they don't know anything.

I honestly believe people have been paid off, threatened,

and if anybody does try to come forward,

the next day they don't want to do it.

You know, people's mind don't change that fast.

Hi, Jen, it's Mommy.

How are you doing?

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Three months after the attack,

Jenny Pratt came out of her coma.

At first, she seemed incapable of thought or action.

But after 12 weeks, she started physical therapy.

This time, we're going to take a step off--

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Seven months

later, Jenny began to speak.

A year later, she walked.

It feels spaghetti.

OK, spaghetti?

Jen, I want you to try to take a step with this leg.

Keep the whole foot on the ground.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Although Jenny's progress

has been miraculous, her brain damage is severe.

And tragically, it is probably irreversible.

I don't think it's possible that those events

were stored in her memory.

I don't think there's any way they can be recalled.

I think there's a strong likelihood

that she could be told things that she would then repeat.

But to remember those actual events is virtually impossible.

I've been wondering back about why

somebody was trying to kill me.

And why was somebody mad at me?

And what did I do to them to hurt them?

LOUIS CRISAFI: We need somebody in the community with half

the courage of Jennifer Pratt, somebody who just knows the one

missing link, the one thing that'll tie this whole case

together because I really think that's all we're missing

is that one small link.

And someone out there has it.

We've emphasized repeatedly over the last year, year

and a half, that we're primarily interested in finding who

threw the board that hit Jenny.

If there is a group of other people in the truck,

they can come forward without fear of prosecution.

DIANE STROM: I see a lot of hard work,

needless work that had to be done because some fool did this

to her.

A brain injury, you live with that for the rest of your life.

And I sometimes wonder if it is living really.

I'll always love Jenny, but I sure miss the old Jenny.

If anybody in this state could tell me who hurted me,

I would appreciate that very badly.

Because you don't know how bad I would appreciate the feeling

that somebody does love me, and somebody

really does care about me.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Last October, we examined the case

of Joe Shepherd, wanted by the FBI and Tennessee police

for the murders of 14-year-old Kathy Clowers and 16-year-old

Roxanne Woodson.

Police allege that in both cases,

Shepherd brutally murdered his victims

and then buried their bodies in shallow graves.

In 1978, Joe Shepherd was officially

charged with the two murders.

On July 17 of that same year while

awaiting trial in the Bradley County Jail,

Joe Shepherd and two other inmates escaped.

Although his two accomplices were

recaptured the following week, Joe Shepherd was never found.

Update, London, Ontario, Canada, a 10-year search

for Joe Shepherd has ended.

After the "Unsolved Mysteries" show on October 5th,

we received a phone call from a local resident,

saying that he believed the guy called

Shepherd was, in fact, living in London

under the name Joseph Tripp.

We began an investigation.

And when we had identified him to our satisfaction

as Shepherd, he was arrested.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): At the time of his arrest,

Shepherd was living in a government housing project

in London, Ontario, with his common law

wife and their two children.

It seems apparent that Mr. Shepherd was in London, Canada,

just within a matter of days after he

escaped from Bradley County.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Shepherd

is currently in custody on an immigration warrant,

and is awaiting deportation back to the United States.

However, the US-Canadian Extradition Treaty stipulates

that he cannot be returned to a state that plans

to invoke the death penalty.

JERRY ESTES: Now I can tell you that it is my intention

to seek the death penalty on Mr. Shepherd,

unless it would prevent his extradition

to the state of Tennessee.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Shepherd also faces

seven other charges, including rape,

aggravated assault against a police officer,

and escape from jail.

Next, the story of Jack Quinn, trusted vice

president of a security firm.

He stole $1,300,000 in untraceable cash.

[theme music]

One Saturday morning, Jack Quinn calmly

walked off the job with $1,315,000 in untraceable cash.

He still remains at large.

Jack Quinn was vice president and general manager

of federal protection services, a company that provided

security and armed guards to banks

and other financial institutions.

Every day, this company handled millions of dollars in cash,

and Quinn oversaw the firm's security operation.

At 8:00 AM on Saturday, April 9, 1988, Jack Quinn

arrived at his office.

Few people were at Federal's office

that day, though a supervisor Harry Goldberg

was working that morning.

Morning, Harry.

Morning, Jack.

I'm going to take care of the morning run.

HARRY GOLDBERG: OK.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): While Harry

continued to work at his desk, Quinn was busy, too.

But he kept his business to himself.

From time to time, Harry Goldberg

would see Quinn in the vault, but he noticed nothing unusual.

HARRY GOLDBERG: I've walked down the hall

several times to pick up coffee or whatever.

And every time I'd go past that window, I'd look in,

see him sitting at the desk, just as calm, cool,

and collected as you'd ever want to see him.

I never suspected he would be doing something like that.

I don't even know how he had the time.

It would take him 20 minutes to pack up the money, loose money.

If it was loose and some bags, it would take him

maybe a half-hour, 45 minutes.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Somehow without being detected,

Quinn spent much of the morning in the vault,

transferring the money from bags to boxes.

Outside, Quinn put the money into the trunk

of his company car.

Quinn also put $107,000 into the trunk of his personal car.

He then asked Harry Goldberg to follow him home.

When he arrived, Quinn dropped off his car

and said goodbye to his wife.

What's up?

Nothing, I have to get back to the office.

I'll be about a half-hour or so.

OK? - Sure.

See you.

Bye-bye.

Bye.

JACK QUINN: How's this car doing?

Not too bad. It could be better.

What do you mean it could be better?

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Harry Goldberg

drove Quinn back to the office.

Quinn got into the company car that now held over $1 million

and headed to the airport.

Police speculate that he had transferred

the money into suitcases.

When he arrived at the airport, he unloaded his car

and vanished.

JAMES CAVANAUGH (VOICEOVER): The trail for Quinn stops at Palm

Beach International Airport.

The ticket in the car indicates it was left there at 5:36

PM on the night of the ninth.

From that point, we have no idea where Mr. Quinn has gone.

Indications are he did not take a plane.

He did not rent a car.

And he did not take a cab.

Look, Jack dropped the car keys off to me a while ago,

and he said he'd be back in half an hour.

And that was five hours ago.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): When her husband

failed to come home, Quinn's wife called his office.

They had no idea where he was or what he had done.

The next morning, she found $107,000

in the trunk of their car.

She turned it into the police.

She also found a letter that read in part,

"I have done something very wrong,

and I can't stay and face the consequences."

The moneys that Quinn left Federal

Protection Service with that Saturday night are untraceable.

There are no prerecorded serial numbers.

There are no bait bills.

The monies are of a varied denomination

and basically could never be traced to him.

Since the investigation began, it

appears that Quinn may have been involved in several what we

call defalcations, missing money,

mysterious disappearances from the company prior

to this culminating incident.

There was an incident approximately a month

prior to his leaving, where his wife had found a wad of money

in the vehicle, his personal vehicle,

and it was unexplained.

Whenever the wife would find money, be it

in the car, in the house and so forth,

Quinn would explain it away as he had sold something, a gun,

a car, it's old property and that would explain

his acclimation of money.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Quinn was known

to appreciate the good life.

He rented a 10-acre horse ranch.

Friends wondered how he could afford

this extravagant lifestyle on his $35,000 a year income.

CARL FULGENZI: Several weeks prior to this theft,

we learned that the IRS was after Jack Quinn to settle

a substantial amount of money.

Jack did not have the money.

It's quite obvious to me that the reason he pulled this job

is because he had no other way of satisfying the IRS,

and he was going to lose everything or possibly

go to jail.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): There were

reports that Quinn had been conducting an ongoing affair.

A month prior to the theft, Quinn

would leave home at 5:00 AM, yet not arrive at work until 9:30.

Police speculate he used the time to see his girlfriend.

They also speculate that they may have run away together.

Whatever the reasons for his disappearance,

today Jack Quinn is a wanted man.

He is 48 years of age.

He is stocky with a tendency to put on weight.

He has thinning brown hair, brown eyes,

and is fluent in Spanish.

Next, the story of two fires in a tiny Indiana town

called Nashville.

They happened 10 years apart, yet

the body of Clarence Roberts seems

to have been found both times.

Some people in Nashville believe he is still alive.

[theme music]

Nashville, Indiana, population 700.

Located in the American heartland,

Nashville is like a Norman Rockwell

painting brought to life.

Here, everyone knows one another,

so there are few street addresses and fewer secrets.

Nashville is a community in the best sense of the word.

Two of Nashville's most illustrious citizens

were Clarence and Geneva Roberts.

But in the fall of 1970, the couple

became embroiled in a firestorm of controversy,

betrayal, and murder.

On the night of November 18, 1970,

a fire raged out of control behind the Roberts'

fashionable home.

And when the ashes had cooled, a body

was discovered and identified as Clarence Roberts.

10 Years later, another fire blazed.

Two more bodies were discovered.

One was Geneva Roberts, and the other was again

identified as Clarence Roberts.

But how could a man die twice?

Today the people of Nashville still wonder what

happened to Clarence Roberts.

I talked to both detectives that was on the second fire.

And from what they told me, I'd say it was definitely Clarence.

I still think Clarence died in the first fire.

I don't think Clarence Roberts died in the second fire.

I just don't believe that.

I think Clarence is still alive.

I sure do.

The mystery of Clarence Roberts death

still haunts those who knew him.

In the 1960s, he embodied the American dream.

A former sheriff, a board member of the Nashville State Bank,

he seemed to have it all.

But something went wrong for Clarence.

His dreams became twisted into a nightmarish saga

that has gone on for 18 years and still continues today.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): In the 1960s,

Clarence owned a prosperous hardware store

along with his brother Carson.

Clarence was well-respected, everyone's friend.

CARSON ROBERTS: He and I worked together for about 22 years.

Clarence always seemed to be pretty happy.

He enjoyed working.

Clarence was outgoing.

He was friendly, always made friends with people,

and always got along with people.

Well, I'll tell you what.

You probably want to use one of these for the shelving.

And I've got some good [inaudible] in the back.

Clarence worked hard.

He put a lot of hours in when he was younger.

Clarence, uh, he would help anyone.

He would help you or anybody if he thought you was in need.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Clarence and Geneva

had been married since 1941.

Geneva came from a poor family.

But together, she and Clarence rose in Nashville society.

With four sons and a successful family business,

the Roberts seemed to be the perfect couple.

He soon reached the 33rd degree of the Masons,

a rank commemorated by this ring, which he wore proudly.

Clarence's appetite for the good life began to consume him.

He purchased three luxury cars and an

expensive and fashionable home.

But behind this facade of wealth were heavy debts.

MRS. ROBERTS: Clarence changed a lot, he really did.

I really can't describe how different he would be.

It's like, um, turning a light on and turning a light off.

That was Clarence who turned the light off.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): To finance

his extravagant lifestyle, Clarence sold his hardware

business and gambled everything on two property

investments, an apartment building

and several grain elevators.

These investments failed.

And by the fall of 1970, Clarence Roberts

knew he was in serious trouble.

MRS. ROBERTS: For all the money that he was losing,

everything going down the drain, he was going for a millionaire

or broke.

And he was ending up broke.

He was trying to pull out of it.

CLARENCE ROBERTS: Yeah, Warren, I can see that you've

come after the cars.

Or go the guys, getting ready to jump in and drive them away.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): In October, 1970,

one month before the first fire, Clarence and Geneva

stood by as Sheriff Warren Roberts,

Clarence's own brother, repossessed two

of his vehicles.

CLARENCE ROBERTS: Thanks a lot.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Clarence and Geneva were

left desolate and desperate.

BOB WHITE: He wasn't the Clarence that I had always

been used to being around.

He was down.

He was really depressed, and I feel that he was suicidal.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): At 6:20 PM

on the night of November 18, 1970,

firemen arrived to find the garage barn

of the Robert's home ablaze.

FIREFIGHTER: Over there, over there.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): The heat

was so intense that they stood helplessly by as the structure

burned to the ground.

When the fire had cooled, they made a grisly discovery.

FIREFIGHTER: Chief, come back here.

I think we got a body.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): A body burned

beyond recognition laid beneath the rubble,

a half-melted shotgun by its side.

The body was so badly burned, it was difficult to identify

it as human.

Jack Bond, the county coroner, feared

that Clarence Roberts had finally paid his debts

by taking his own life.

JACK BOND: When we found the body, why

we thought he'd shot himself.

There wasn't much doubt in our minds

that he just got too many worries ahead of him,

and he committed suicide.

So when we got back down to the funeral home,

why we started looking for shots,

and we couldn't find any.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): The police

wondered how Clarence's suicide could have been accomplished

without a gunshot wound.

Detective Don Kuster sifted through the debris.

Hidden in the ashes, he found Clarence's Masonic ring.

Despite the intense heat, it was virtually undamaged.

DET.

SGT. DON KUSTER: The ring, when it was found,

was in excellent shape.

The ring definitely had no damage as far

as melting or anything on it.

There's no way that ring could have withstood

the heat of that fire like it did and not even have

a damaged part on it at all

I definitely think the ring was a plant.

It just, it had to be.

It had to be.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): This was only the first of a series

of unusual discoveries.

Investigators learned that only months before the fire,

Clarence had purchased several insurance policies on his life,

totaling close to $1 million.

In addition, a test showed that the body found in the blaze

had type AB blood.

Clarence's blood type was B. If it

wasn't the body of Clarence Roberts,

then who died in the fire?

Two days before the blaze, Clarence was spotted in a bar

in the nearby community of Morgantown,

befriending a vagrant.

DET.

SGT. DON KUSTER: He'd been seen on the 17th of November, 1970,

and from the witness, he was described as about 5' 7"

to 5' 9".

And he was about the same age as Clarence.

And Clarence was with him, but he didn't know his name.

I've got some grass needs cutting,

a little brush needs trimming out at the house.

Would you be interested?

Yeah.

CLARENCE ROBERTS: Well, get in the car.

And we'll go up-- come on.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): As they were leaving,

the man collapsed from some unknown cause.

DET.

SGT. DON KUSTER: Clarence said he'd take him to the hospital.

And Clarence left with him.

And later on, I checked the hospitals

within a 300-mile radius and this man

was not admitted to a hospital.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Two theories divided Nashville.

One that Clarence had killed himself,

and second that he murdered the vagrant in order

to collect the insurance money.

It is even claimed he watched from the woods

as the flames destroyed the evidence of his crime.

BOB WHITE: Suicidal, yes.

But to commit murder, no way.

I can't believe he could have any part of that.

It must be hard, be beyond my wildest imagination

to think that Clarence Roberts could ever have been involved

with anything like that.

Definitely, definitely he was capable of it.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Clarence

was either dead or missing.

And Geneva Roberts was left alone.

Her fortune changing dramatically

from riches back to rags.

She was forced to move to the outskirts of town.

And her claims to the insurance money were repeatedly denied.

Geneva was not alone in maintaining that Clarence

had died in the first fire.

John Pless, a prominent pathologist, agreed with her.

DR. JOHN PLESS: It wasn't until 1978 that the attorneys came

to me to review the reports of the experts

who'd examined the evidence.

And in the process, I was able to prove to myself and to a lot

of other people that the body that was found in that garage

was Clarence.

And I testified at the time of the civil trial

against the insurance companies that I

felt it was highly probable that it was Clarence Roberts.

Mrs. Roberts, you have lost your case

against the insurance company.

You have only the recourse of an appeal.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Despite Dr. Pless' testimony,

Geneva lost all of her appeals.

DR. JOHN PLESS: The people that I was involved

with in that trial were decimated emotionally

by the judge's ruling.

I couldn't realize why the judge had made the ruling he had.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): These denials

took their toll on Geneva.

Withdrawing from her friends and neighbors,

she became the subject of local gossip.

In order to make ends meet, Geneva

had to take a job in the kitchen of a local restaurant.

Then the rumors began.

Local shopkeepers said that they had sold her large quantities

of beer, surprising, considering Geneva was a diabetic

and seldom drank beer.

Some said Geneva was not alone, and neighbors

began to report seeing someone on the grounds

of Geneva's home.

We had developed information that a man had been

seen behind Geneva's residence.

The man acted very strangely and never

let anyone get close to him.

And he always seemed to duck away from them

and head back toward the house immediately.

Myself and some other officers set up a surveillance.

We were down there for approximately

three days and three nights.

We were photographing everyone coming and going

in and around Geneva's house.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): They saw nothing,

but they knew who they were looking for.

DET.

DAVE ANDERSON: I'm sure that was probably Clarence.

I think he had perhaps run out of places to go, you know.

And he had come back to staying with Geneva.

He was the mysterious man that was seen behind her house.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): A local reporter, Helen Ayers,

had grown friendly with Geneva.

She felt that Geneva was hiding something or someone.

HELEN AYERS: I stopped at her house probably four or five

different times.

And she always met me at the back porch

and would never invite me in.

And most people do.

I mean, around here, it's just a matter of courtesy

to ask you to step inside.

But she never did that.

And it kind of made me suspect there

might be a man living in there.

[greetings]

I interviewed Clarence's sister, who lived in the adjacent yard

there.

And she said that she could hear Geneva talking to this man.

And she said it definitely was not Clarence's voice.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Nobody knows

for certain what Geneva Roberts was trying to hide or whom.

Her reclusive life went on uneventfully until the night

of November 18, 1980.

[sound of flames crackling]

[sirens]

DET.

DAVE ANDERSON: When my office called and explained

that it was Geneva's house on fire,

and that they thought Geneva was still inside the house,

I went right to the fire scene.

And the fire was still burning very intensely at that time.

After the fire was extinguished, why, we just stayed behind

and I'm not even sure why.

I just wanted to look further, as did, I'm sure, the firemen.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Sifting

through the ashes, searchers found

the body of Geneva Roberts.

Hours later, they made another shocking discovery.

DET.

DAVE ANDERSON: Geneva's body had been

removed to the funeral home, and the fire had been extinguished.

The house was totally demolished.

So we'd gone through the rubble, and a fireman

had located a second body in another part of the house.

And I was just so certain that it would be that of Clarence.

DR. JOHN PLESS: I didn't even have

to have the comparison films.

I knew the bony configuration of Clarence Roberts

so well that I recognized him immediately by his chest X-ray.

Now I knew that I was going to have a difficult time

to tell all my friends and neighbors in the world

that Clarence was dead for the second time.

It just, um, turned out to be Clarence.

And I was very pleased with that, that this

might be coming to an end.

Little did I know that it was just starting.

This was definitely a set fire caused by an accelerant.

It looks like someone just came in the back door

and poured all the way around the walls.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): The second fire

was a clear-cut case of arson.

DET.

DAVE ANDERSON: We could follow very clearly

these burn patterns from Geneva's bed

into the adjacent room where Clarence's body was

located and then down a hallway and out the back door

of that house.

So we determined right there that at least

Geneva had been murdered.

We're sure that turpentine was used to ignite this fire.

We know that.

We simply don't know who started it,

whether it was Clarence that started the fire

or that of a third party.

I subscribe to the theory of a third party.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Investigators have no clue

as to who set the second fire.

But they believe they have identified the victim.

DET.

DAVE ANDERSON: Oh, I'm absolutely

convinced that the second victim,

the victim in the second fire, is that of Clarence Roberts.

There's just no doubt in my mind.

There's not a doubt in my mind at all.

I still would like to know who the second body was.

Because I still can't believe it's Clarence.

The pathologist says it is.

But I still don't, me personally, I

don't believe that the second fire was Clarence.

I'm absolutely convinced that Clarence Roberts died

in the second fire, and that some person,

possibly a derelict, died in the first fire.

And when I say absolutely, I mean that this is not only

a reasonable medical certainty, but would

be beyond a shadow of a doubt.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Today in this small cemetery,

the mystery of Clarence Roberts lies buried,

still defying explanation after almost 20 years.

Who was the man in the first fire?

Who set the second fire and why?

Who was the mysterious figure seen at Geneva's home,

and why did she hide his identity?

And the key question, where's Clarence Roberts?

Is he in this grave?

Some family members are doubtful,

and they protested when this headstone was put in place.

Whoever it is that rests beneath this Midwestern Earth

will never tell his tale.

Next, a Florida bank robber who has

successfully robbed 30 banks.

The police call him "Fumbles."

You'll see why in a moment.

[theme music]

Since July 12, 1984, a robber wearing gloves

and a baseball cap has held up nearly 30 banks

throughout Florida.

But as we will see, this felon has succeeded

almost in spite of himself.

But the authorities know him as "Fumbles."

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): This robber

hits small suburban banks, usually

in outdoor shopping malls.

Besides a cap and gloves, he has another distinctive trademark.

LARRY CURTIN: He was given the nickname early on of "Fumbles"

because in the first robbery, when he came in,

he got inside the bank, drew the weapon, held it in his hand,

and proceeded to trip and fall.

The gun went out of his hand.

And he had to kind of scrabble and pick

it back up, at which time he then

proceeded with the robbery.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): In a second robbery,

"Fumbles" even had trouble keeping his mask in place.

LARRY CURTIN: Approximately a month later, he

dropped some of the money on the way out of the bank,

had to stop, pick it up, and then

proceed with his getaway plans.

This is a robbery.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): The police

admit to a certain amount of amusement

at their adversary's clumsiness.

His 30 armed robberies are no laughing matter.

DONNA ROSE: I think I was rather in shock.

I had never been robbed before. - Hurry up.

DONNA ROSE: I did think about my children.

Who's going to raise my children because they

were very young at the time.

About two nights later, in bed in the middle of the night,

and I was lying there alone, and my two children were,

one was in a crib and one was in her bed, I thought, oh my god.

TELLER: He pulled a gun, walked up to me, put it in my face,

and said, don't do anything stupid.

Don't do anything stupid.

TELLER: He put a paper sack on the counter,

told me to put the money in it.

I put all the money in it, gave it back to him.

He turned around and walked out the door.

I was mad, and then I was scared because I realized

that he could have hurt me.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Update, the "Fumbles"

robber has been captured.

Within minutes of our broadcast, a Clearwater, Florida, police

department received a call from one of our viewers

who recognized "Fumbles" as Ross James

Preston, a 23-year-old student living in Clearwater.

On May 24, 1989, FBI agents, Clearwater police officers,

and Pinellas County Sheriff's deputies

arrested Preston while he was test driving a pickup truck.

A search by warrant was made of the vehicle Mr. Preston was

driving when he was arrested.

Inside the vehicle were found a ball cap with the letters

CAT on the cap.

Also found were a pair of gardening gloves and a pair

of sunglasses and a jacket.

These were very similar to items which

were observed being worn by the bank

robber we called "Fumbles."

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): On August 2nd,

Ross James Preston admitted to committing

33 armed bank robberies.

But as part of a plea bargain, he was charged with only seven

of the hold-ups.

He has since been sentenced to 25 years in prison.

For every mystery, there is someone

somewhere who knows the truth.

Perhaps that someone is watching.

Perhaps it's you.

[theme music]