Original subtitles

NARRATOR: 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): Tonight, on Unsolved Mysteries,

Tim McClure and his mother were inseparable,

until Terry McClure was found shot

to death in a casino parking lot,

and her son became the number one suspect.

Tonight, Tim McClure wants to tell his side of the story.

In 1973, America was crippled by the gas shortage.

Liz Carmichael raised $3 million for her revolutionary,

three-wheeled car, which she claimed would

get 70 miles to the gallon.

The government claimed fraud, and Liz has disappeared.

In Georgia, a feud between two rival restaurant owners,

competing for the same customers,

ended in a contract killing.

One of the murderers is still at large.

Four mysteries with no endings-- but they can be solved.

Last November, we presented the story of the kidnapping

of a wealthy Mississippi woman, whose husband was

told to send $1 million to 12 people

named in a bizarre ransom note.

He paid out, but his wife was not released.

Tonight, an update on this extraordinary case.

Join me-- you may be able to help solve the mystery.

[theme music]

In 1977, TK Harty's saloon was a popular bar and restaurant,

catering to the student crowd of the university

town of Athens, Georgia.

The saloon's owner was Ted K. Harty, nicknamed TK.

He rented space from a group of businessman,

who were converting an abandoned train

depot into a complex of restaurants and trendy shops.

LEE EPTING: TK Harty was an obnoxious Yankee

when you first met him.

He came on really strong.

And when he came to town, it took me a little while

to get used to him, so that I would even

want to have him as a tenant.

When you got to know TK, he was just a real teddy bear.

Just a really nice guy.

He was enthusiastic about the complex, and doing it right.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Harty's arch rival was

a man named John Mooney, who also leased space

in the remodeled train station for his restaurant,

called Somebody's Pizza.

Mooney and TK Harty had a long history of animosity,

because both their restaurants were

going after the same student clientele.

LEE EPTING: When John Mooney came to town,

he was the preppy, out of college,

cool guy, who was full of vigor and enthusiasm about what

he was going to do down there, and how he was going to make

his millions of dollars.

And what all he had to offer.

And that lasted until he got the lease signed and got the place,

and then he started-- well, I just need this,

and I just need that.

And I can't pay the rent.

And

Then John kind of got greedy.

Hey come see us next door, nickel beer-- Somebody's Pizza.

Come to Somebody's Pizza right next door.

Good deal on beer.

LEE EPTING: John started wanting to infringe

on everybody else's business.

His idea was to go up to TK's, pass out

flyers on the deck for nickel beer,

and draw TK's crowd down to his place.

John, what do you think you're doing here?

Hey, what does it look like?

LEE EPTING: That just went all over TK.

I mean, he couldn't stand that that was the last straw.

I'll tell you what this is-- this is private property!

I want you out of here right now!

LEE EPTING: John Mooney and TK Harty despised each other.

They really had gotten to the point

that there was no reconciliation between the two people.

ROBERT STACK: The feud between TK Harty and John Mooney

started out as a dispute between restaurateurs

going after the same customers.

But after three years, when the original lease

on the train station expired, TK Harty

took over the entire complex.

It was then that his feud with John Mooney

escalated into a full-scale war.

The end result was murder.

When we decided to not pick up the lease,

we had to sell the place.

Ted came up with the money, and Ted

bought the station complex-- the shops, everything.

Which included John Mooney's place.

He said he was going to evict John as

soon as we signed the papers.

And he did that on a Friday afternoon.

This is your eviction notice.

Eviction notice?

This is your eviction notice-- you are out of here.

Wait a minute, TK--

HARRY GORDON: TK Harty had made mention to several members

of his family, to his girlfriend, that he was

concerned-- not to the extent that he would harm him

physically, perhaps-- but that he was really concerned

about the attitude of John Henry Mooney against him,

concerning the eviction.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): 10 days later,

in the early morning hours of August the 30th, 1977, TK Harty

arrived home as usual, after closing

up his saloon for the night.

A man lurked in the shadows of TK's kitchen, watching him.

When Harty left to walk into his study, a man followed him.

[gun shot]

TK Harty was shot one time in the head.

He died instantly.

Four hours after Harty's body was found,

police picked up John Mooney for interrogation.

At first, Mooney was very cooperative.

John, do you know why you are here tonight?

Well, I guess it's about the shooting of TK Harty.

How did you know about the shooting?

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): News of Harty's murder

had not been released to anyone, yet Mooney

seemed to know exactly why he was being questioned.

On the shooting, and how I felt about.

KENNETH KILGORE: When John Mooney told me

that he was aware that TK Harty had been shot,

I told him that we had not released that information,

and that nobody knew that except the police department,

and the people that were investigating

this murder-- that he had been killed,

or how he had been killed.

At that time, he did become nervous.

He said, I think I need to talk to my lawyer.

All righty, thanks.

Bye

Hold on just a second, sit down.

KENNETH KILGORE: When he hung up the phone,

he said, my lawyer said for me to get up and walk

out if I wasn't under arrest.

I'm going to allow you to leave.

I want to tell you something before you go-- you're not

under arrest right now, but--

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Police did not

have sufficient evidence to arrest Mooney.

No other leads surfaced, and three weeks after the murder,

the authorities were still at a dead end.

On the fourth week, another local restaurant manager

who known both TK Harty and John Mooney

called the police with a bizarre story.

He said he was cleaning up behind the bar

one night when an Atlanta electrician, named Elmo

Florence, began to drop hints that he was willing to kill

people for money.

You're a what?

I'm a hit man.

You don't need to call into Jersey, if you want

somebody good-- give me a call.

Yeah?

RESTAURANT MANAGER: Elmo was bragging to me about the fact

that he was a hit man-- and that his services were for hire.

At first I thought he was kidding me--

that he had murdered TK Harty.

You're batty.

RESTAURANT MANAGER: You have to understand Elmo-- I just

thought he was kidding around with me, some sort

of warped sense of humor.

And then we started to go on, and you know,

I just said to him, I said, all right--

how'd you get in the house?

Piece of cake.

Busted out the glass.

[glass shatters] Went in, swept the glass up in a pile,

waited around for him.

[phone rings]

Telephone signal-- two rings.

I knew he was on his way.

I waited.

Saw the car lights, heard the car, and waited for him.

Elmo Florence began to describe

the inside of the house, where the murder took place.

He began to tell the point of entry.

He told what type of weapon was used to kill Ted Harty.

He told where the bullet entered the head, and where it exited.

There was basically, in the statement that we received

from the manager of the restaurant,

there were 21 different points that we

had not released to the public.

[knocking]

We knew at that time that we had a very hot suspect here.

Mr. Florence?

Yeah.

Elmo Florence?

That's right.

You're under arrest for murder.

Don't move.

All right, get out of here.

OK, get them on him--

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Elmo Florence

had told the restaurant manager that John Mooney

hired him to kill TK Harty.

But when the police tried to arrest Mooney,

they found that he had left the country.

KENNETH KILGORE: If Elmore Florence had not

walked into the bar, and started telling the different things

that we later determined to be true,

possibly the investigation into this murder

would have never been solved.

John Mooney had already been established as a suspect,

but there was no connection at that time

between Mooney and Florence.

I don't know how long that would have taken,

if it were ever uncovered.

This was a terrific break-- it was lucky.

And we took advantage of it.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Two weeks later, police

were tipped off that Mooney had returned to the United States

and was staying at a friend's apartment.

Cobb County Police Lieutenant, Lee Moss,

went to the apartment building, and approached two men who were

drinking in the parking lot.

LEE MOSS: The time I arrested John Mooney,

all I knew was his name and a general description.

And I knew that the warrant was for murder.

So when I saw the two individuals drinking beer,

this gave me a perfect out, I figured, to approach them

from this angle.

But I knew if he knew he was wanted,

he would probably flee from us, or else he'd pull a gun on us.

I tell you, all these cans here, it kind of upsets me--

all this littering, y'all sitting out here drinking.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Officer Moss

ascertained that one of the men was indeed John Mooney.

I tell you what-- put your hands on the car.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): He arrested Mooney,

and charged him with murder.

When the police inventoried Mooney's belongings,

they found several incriminating notes he'd jotted to himself.

Incredibly, Mooney had written, "See Elmo,

offer to him, if worse comes to worst, to take the whole rap

and say robbery was the motive.

We have agreement for me to take care of his wife and family."

Elmo Florence's trial lasted only one week.

He was sentenced to life at a maximum security

prison in Georgia.

John Mooney was also sentenced to life

in a maximum security prison.

But three months later, he was moved

to a minimum security facility.

After six months of observation there, prison officials

gave Mooney the job of kitchen clerk.

Now, he had access to areas that were not

available to most prisoners.

How's the count today, pretty good?

245.

245.

CALVIN GREEN: John Mooney was a--

what you call an ideal inmate.

He fit in well with the inmate and staff.

He didn't complain about the rules and regulations,

he just worked hard.

And he gained the confidence of the staff, and myself.

So he had proven himself.

But he-- now we see he was a con artist,

and he was conning us all.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): On March the 16th,

1980, after serving only 19 months of his life sentence,

John Mooney engineered his escape.

When the prisoners went back inside,

the guard locked the gate and walked away.

Mooney made his break.

An accomplice was waiting in a car parked nearby.

As Mooney ran toward the car, he discarded his prisoner

wardrobe, piece by piece.

Two hours went by before prison officials

noticed Mooney was missing.

By then, it was too late-- John Mooney had made his getaway.

He has not been seen for over nine years.

HARRY GORDON: Without the actions of Mooney, and actually

hiring somebody to take another person's life,

TK Harty would be here today.

Unless John Henry Mooney is captured,

he got away with murder.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): These photographs were taken in 1979.

Today, John Mooney would be 40 years old.

He is 5 feet 10 inches tall, and weighs about 170 pounds.

Mooney has a fair complexion, green eyes

and sandy-blond hair.

He may be living in the Dayton, Ohio area.

Update-- Scottsdale, Arizona.

Within minutes of our broadcast, two viewers

called our telecenter to report that John Mooney

was living in this house, under the assumed name,

Robert J. Kelly.

On August 8th, John Mooney-- alias

Robert Kelly-- was arrested at his home by the Mesa Police.

Mooney had been living in Arizona since 1982.

He was enrolled at Arizona State University.

For the past several years, he'd been

working as an accountant for various companies

in the Scottsdale area.

Mooney married six years ago, and has a one-year-old child.

On September 16th, 1989, over nine years after he escaped,

John Mooney was returned to Georgia.

In a moment, the story of Liz Carmichael-- visionary,

automotive genius, wanted fugitive.

[theme music]

In 1973, America was faced with an oil crisis that

nearly crippled the country.

It created a gas shortage, and motorists had to wait hours

to fill up their tanks.

Consumers wanted a solution-- cheaper

gas, or more economical cars.

One visionary claims she had just

such a car-- a startling new three-wheeled vehicle called

the Dale.

It was claimed that this revolutionary car

would get 70 miles to the gallon,

and cost less than $2,000.

Made of a special aerospace plastic,

its creator claimed it could withstand

an impact against a brick wall at 50 miles an hour,

and was impossible to tip over.

It seemed the perfect answer to the gas crunch.

It was a new idea.

It's something-- we all heard of the gas

guzzlers coming from Detroit.

And here's somebody who could put out an automobile that

could get 60 miles to a gallon gas,

and travel all over the city without a problem--

would've been the ideal automobile .

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): The entrepreneur

who unveiled the Dale was a remarkable and forceful woman

named Liz Carmichael, who saw herself

as a cross between Howard Hughes and Henry Ford.

We have pledges from private individuals--

for private stock.

BILL HALL: Elizabeth Carmichael was very positive,

a very command presence, a very powerful appearing person.

A big woman, a massive woman-- but that

was part of her appeal.

She wanted to be a man.

She wanted to wear a man's pants.

She acted like a man-- she was strong.

She was determined.

FRANK GAVRICH: She had the ability

to incite the fire in you.

Not wimpish in any way-- she was a very dynamic, strong person.

And she did things that impressed us.

ROBERT STACK: Liz achieved celebrity status

while raising over $3 million, through advanced

purchases of her car.

Then on May 29th, 1975, Geraldine Elizabeth Carmichael

was indicted by the Los Angeles County grand jury

for a grand theft and fraud.

She was later found guilty on 34 counts.

Liz Carmichael's car, the Dale, turned out to be a sham.

Was this a case of someone simply failing

to live up to their dreams, or did Liz Carmichael

deliberately set out to swindle millions from naive investors?

In 1973, Liz was a housewife living in Los

Angeles with her five children.

She claimed she had a degree in mechanical engineering,

and in 1974, formed 20th Century Motor

Car Corporation to produce her three-wheeled car, the Dale.

I've called you all together to try and give you

some updated information on what we're

doing here at 20th Century Motors, and with the Dale.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Liz Carmichael

told investors and the press that her company was renting

three large aircraft hangars, where they

would soon start production.

In our first year.

And what about the cost?

Cost factor-- any American can afford our car.

ROBERT YOUNGDAHL: And the questions that were asked

were not, well, if you've got a manufacturing

facility, where is it?

And how long have you been making cars?

And who are your engineers?

I mean, not the tough questions-- the questions

were basically, well, Liz, we're behind you.

And where can I send my money?

It was just so exciting.

And it was unbelievable.

We used to get mails sacks full of mail

dragged into that office almost every day.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): News of Liz and her infamous car

spread across the country, and soon

she was being interviewed by Newsweek and People Magazine.

Back at Liz's headquarters in Encino, California,

the authorities began to question her claims.

I'd like to see Liz Carmichael.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): The California Department

of Corporations accused Liz of illegally

selling both dealer franchises, and cars

that did not yet exist.

Department of Corporations.

How do you do?

I have a desist and refrain order,

issued against the 20th Century Motor Car Corporation.

It orders 20th Century to desist and refrain

from the further offer and sale of securities.

Thank you.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): The Department of Motor Vehicles

discovered the company had no state permit to manufacture

cars, and even questioned whether the lab was

developing a vehicle at all.

We went to the research and development lab,

and observed what appeared to be people appearing to be busy,

but in wandering through the lab,

I saw no evidence that they were designing a vehicle,

or in the process of making a vehicle.

GERRY MCGUINESS: Everyone in the research and development lab,

without a doubt, was sincere-- believed in the car.

And there was even talk, if the company should fold,

there was a group of us that wanted to get together

and continue with the car.

We believed that much in the car.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Bill Hall

went to check out the three hangars

where Liz claimed she was gearing up to make the cars.

BILL HALL: I went to this airport.

Upon entering, I discovered the factory

were nothing-- the hangars were absolutely empty.

No tools, no machinery, nothing but a little dirt on the floor.

They had rented this for only one month,

and the rent had now expired.

So they actually did not have a factory that they

were representing they had.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): With the authorities closing in,

Liz decided it was time to move her headquarters to Dallas.

But there, two and a half weeks later, the district attorney

filed criminal charges against Elizabeth Carmichael

for grand theft.

One week later, Bill Hall went to the research and development

lab with a search warrant.

BILL HALL: Upon inspection of this vehicle,

it was not a viable vehicle at all--

it had no engine, two by fours were holding up the rear wheel.

The accelerator was just sitting on the floor--

it wasn't even attached.

The windows were not safety glass,

they would bend back and forth.

The doors were put on by a regular door hinges--

like one might find on a house door.

The vehicle just absolutely did not exist.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Armed with a search

warrant, the Dallas police arrived at Liz's home.

Ms. Carmichael?

Police officers.

We have a warrant.

Police officers, ma'am.

Ms. Carmichael?

Police officers.

What do you make of this? [inaudible]

[knocking]

Ms. Carmichael?

We have a warrant.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): The police searched the house.

It appeared Liz and her five children had left in a hurry.

God-- will you look at this stuff?

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Looking through Liz's

belongings, the police found evidence that Liz Carmichael

was not what she seemed.

What do you got there?

Looks like some kind of padded girdle.

This is incredible.

Mrs. Carmichael?

I don't know.

You know, we better call this stuff in.

OK, c'mon.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Nine weeks later,

Liz Carmichael was discovered living in Miami

with her five children.

A neighbor recognized her from a news photo

and called the authorities.

She was working for a dating service, and going by the name

was Susan Raines.

They also learned that Liz Carmichael

had another identity.

She was really a man-- Gerry Dean Michael.

Michael claimed he had begun hormone

treatments in preparation for a sex change operation.

It was later learned that Michael was wanted

by the federal authorities for counterfeiting in 1961,

and jumping bail in 1962.

We had no doubt that this was a woman.

You just didn't question it.

You just didn't question it.

I never thought that Liz was a man.

I always thought that-- and she is,

today, she's still Liz to me. Still a female.

Ms. Carmichael?

We have a warrant for your arrest.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): On April

the 12th, 1975, Gerry Dean Michael,

alias Geraldine Elizabeth Carmichael, was arrested.

She was extradited to Los Angeles,

where she went on trial.

Liz, you know, arrived in court, every day,

in miniskirts.

Now here is somebody who's over 200 pounds,

and over 6 feet tall, and has a demeanor of I

am a new Henry Ford.

It was rather bizarre.

You can say that Liz did not give one quarter in the course

of the trial-- there was never once

when Liz gave up her possession that the people who supported

her would vindicate her.

Why did you tell the public that that car

could go 70 miles an hour, and still get 70 miles per gallon?

Because it can, sir.

This car is the car of the future, sir.

Without all these trial proceedings,

this car would now be in production.

Well, then why did you collect $19.95 from over 5,000 people,

when there was no car existing?

The car has yet to roll off the line?

As soon as the car rolls off the line,

the cars will be delivered.

As soon as this thing is over, we will be rolling.

GERRY MCGUINESS: The idea was valid-- it was sound.

It could be done today.

It could still go back in production,

it still would be a great car.

There's no doubt about it.

If she were to walk in this room and say, let's go again,

I'd go right with her.

Has the jury reached its verdict?

JURY FOREMAN: Yes, we have, your honor.

JUDGE: What is your verdict?

We find the defendant guilty.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): On January 24, 1977,

Carmichael was convicted of conspiracy,

grand theft, and fraud.

She was released on $50,000 bail, which

was paid by a prominent television

production company in exchange for the rights to her story.

For four years, Liz appealed her conviction.

Finally, in 1980, she failed to show up

in court for sentencing, and Liz Carmichael and her five

children vanished again.

They have not been seen for over eight years.

If I were Liz, I would be living as a man.

Because all of this publicity, and all of these victims,

know Liz as a woman.

So I can't see how anybody could now

imagine, with the passage of the years,

what Liz would look like.

And if I were Liz, I think I would be a man.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): This is what Liz Carmichael looked

like is a man in 1960-- and using the FBI computers to age

his appearance, how he may look today.

This is Liz Carmichael dressed as a woman in 1975,

and how she may look today.

Update, within minutes of our broadcast,

our telecenter received a tip from a viewer

who recognized Liz Carmichael as a flower

vendor named Katherine Johnson.

Curiously, she had chosen a small community of Dale, Texas,

as their new home.

Shortly thereafter, Elizabeth Carmichael, a.k.a.

Gerry Dean Michael, was arrested at her home.

Eight years after she jumped bail,

Carmichael was returned to California to face sentencing

for her prior conviction.

A judge reimposed a sentence of one to 10 years.

Carmichael served two and a half years,

and was released from prison.

She is currently living as a private citizen

in an undisclosed location.

[theme music]

On a previous broadcast, we examined

the case of 72-year-old Annie Laurie Hearin,

wife of Robert Hearin Sr., one of the wealthiest

men in Mississippi.

On the afternoon of July the 26th, 1988,

Mrs. Hearin was abducted from her home

in Jackson, Mississippi.

The kidnapper left behind a bizarre ransom note,

demanding that Robert Hearin pay money

to 12 people, who had all been sued

by a company he controlled.

Neighbors reported seeing a suspicious white van

with Florida license plates driving by the Hearin home,

just before Annie Laurie was kidnapped.

Robert Hearin held a press conference

on the steps of his home, to make

a personal plea to the kidnapper for his wife's safety.

My children and I appeal to whomever has my wife,

that they may safe-- that she may be safely returned to us.

Thank you.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Eight days

after the press conference, Robert Hearin

received a letter, postmarked Atlanta, Georgia.

He recognized the handwriting as his wife's.

ANNIE HEARIN (VOICEOVER): Bob, if you don't

do what these people want you to do,

they're going to seal me up in the cellar of this house

with only a few jugs of water.

Please save me.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Robert Hearin sent out checks

totaling nearly $1 million to the people

named on the kidnapper's list.

He never again heard from the kidnapper,

or from Annie Laurie.

Update-- last month, Newton Alfred Wynn,

a 65-year-old lawyer, was arrested by the FBI

in Florida, on charges relating to the abduction

of Annie Laurie Hearin.

Wynn was one of the 12 men named in the ransom

note left at the Hearin home.

Also, less than one month before the kidnapping,

he had allegedly purchased a van which

matched the description of the vehicle seen

in the Hearin neighborhood.

The woman told the FBI that Wynn had promised her

$500 to travel from Florida to Atlanta, Georgia,

and mail a letter for him, just 16 days after Annie

Laurie Hearin was kidnapped.

He handed her a manila envelope.

Inside was the letter, wrapped in a gray linen napkin.

Wynn instructed her not to look at or touch the letter.

But to deposit the letter in a mail slot,

she had to ease the napkin off, and she was able to observe

the writing on the envelope.

Later, she identified a photograph of the envelope

Robert Hearin had received from his wife,

as the one she had mailed in Atlanta.

ROBERT HEARIN JR: I think of my mama all the time,

and I'm sure my daddy does, too.

There's no real way to quantify what this-- how enormous

a tragedy and ordeal this has been to him,

and to the rest of the family.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): In 1983, Terry McClure

was discovered murdered.

Her son, Tim, was a key suspect.

When he took a polygraph test, he flunked.

Tonight, he tells why.

[theme music]

This is the Unsolved Mysteries telephone center, where

viewers call with information.

They also call with suggestions for stories.

Six months ago we received a highly unusual call.

It came from a man who is a leading suspect in the murder

of his own mother.

38-year-old Tim McClure lived with his mother, Terry,

off and on throughout his 20s.

Tim and his mother were often seen

together around town, gambling at the slot machines,

or dining out.

Even after Tim moved away from Reno,

he remained close to Terry.

She'd do anything for anybody.

She'd-- you know-- give the shirt off her back,

or her last nickel to anybody.

She was just-- she was just a real kind-hearted woman.

Very gentle-- she was just a very calm person.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): In 1983, Terry McClure was

62 years old and living alone.

She was thrilled when Tim called to tell her

he was getting married.

His wedding took place on Friday, January

the 14th, 1983 at Lake Tahoe, Nevada.

TIM MCCLURE: I was totally ecstatic.

I mean, a person waits all their life to get married,

and it's, you know, the big moment in their life.

You know, it wasn't an elaborate wedding,

but to me it was the big moment.

And it was great.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): The newlyweds

and their parents celebrated by doing a little gambling.

Then, around 10 o'clock in the evening,

Tim left to walk his mother to her car.

Terry planned to drive straight home to Reno,

about an hour's drive from Lake Tahoe.

Tim told her that he and his wife

would stop by to visit the next day.

When the newlyweds went to visit Terry at 6:00 PM

the next evening, they noticed signs that she was not at home.

Wow, this is strange.

I wonder why she didn't take the paper in this morning.

It just appeared as though she hadn't been home.

And it was at that point I just had the strangest feeling

that something was wrong.

I didn't know, but it just-- I knew she hadn't been home.

And to me, that was real odd and strange,

because there I was, you know, on my honeymoon,

there to get married, and she'd taken time off of work.

And did not find her at home-- I just, I couldn't understand it.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Tim call various family members

and friends of his mother.

No one had seen or heard from Terry.

So he called the police.

Yes, I'd like to report a missing person.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Three days later, on Monday,

January the 17th, Terry McClure's car

was found in the parking lot of a Carson

City, Nevada casino-- only a half hour's drive

outside Lake Tahoe.

The keys were in the ignition, the doors were locked,

and Terry McClure was sitting in the front seat, dead.

She had been shot twice in the head.

The day after they found the body,

Carson City detectives questioned Tim.

He was shocked when they asked him if he wanted

to have an attorney present.

But slowly it dawned on Tim that he was considered a suspect.

TIM MCCLURE: started to feel like a victim.

And I thought, why should I have an attorney?

You know, I mean, this is my mother's death--

you should be investigating it on another level,

rather than thinking of me as doing it-- which, I found out,

they were looking towards me. I couldn't understand why.

I started to feel like the victim.

And it just--it didn't make sense.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Tim told the police

that after he'd walked his mother to her car

at 10:00 PM on the night of his wedding,

he'd returned immediately to the casino.

Tim said his wife was still gambling with her parents,

so he gambled alone for two hours, then rejoined his wife.

They went out dancing till dawn.

Police have not been able to substantiate

Tim's or his wife's whereabouts that night.

Although they couldn't provide specific locations where they

went, we made every attempt to determine which bar

or which dance hall they had gone to that night,

and we were unsuccessful.

They indicated that they partied from approximately midnight

until 6:00 AM the following morning.

None of which we were able to substantiate,

one way or another.

So we kind of went on what he said.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Tim also told the police

that two days before his mother's body was discovered,

he'd searched the main highway between Lake Tahoe and Reno.

The police became suspicious when Tim said he was

looking for his mother's purse.

SCOTT BURAU: You know, we, again, found it odd

that he would attempt to retrace his mother's steps

for the purpose of finding something

that nobody knew was missing.

On the 16th, nobody had any idea her purse was missing.

But he felt a specific need to go out and look for that purse.

Yeah, oddly enough, she was found

with only her purse missing.

She was fully clothed, had all her jewelry.

The only thing missing was her purse.

They put together the fact that I

said I was looking for-- some evidence of her purse

along the side of the highway.

And the only reason I said that was because my older sister

had put the idea that maybe somebody

had commandeered her vehicle, and stolen her purse.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Tim also drove

through the parking lots of the casinos

along his mother's route.

He proceeded at a slow crawl through the lots

of every casino, except one.

TIM MCCLURE: Sometimes you get a gut feeling--

you could, maybe, think of the Holy Spirit,

if you will, just kind of guiding you through perhaps

a feeling of keeping me away from there,

to save me from finding her.

I thank God I didn't find her.

That would have destroyed me to find her.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): That casino parking lot

was the very spot where Terry McClure's

body would be found two days later, on Monday, January

the 17th.

Police estimated that Terry had been dead since Friday,

the night of Tim's wedding.

Police are also puzzled by a call Tim made to cancel one

of his mother's credit cards.

Tim claimed you made the call and Monday, January

the 17th, the day his mother's body was found.

But the credit card company says he

called on Friday, before his mother had disappeared.

TIM MCCLURE: I had reported her credit cards missing,

thinking maybe that somebody had commandeered the vehicle,

and that her purse might have possibly been missing.

I called on Monday.

The woman had written down that I called on Friday--

which I couldn't understand.

It just didn't make any sense to me why she would mix

up from a Monday to a Friday.

The credit memo for that particular company

is now in the possession of the Sheriff's office.

And it clearly shows, according to their file,

that Tim called, indicated to the recipient,

that his mother was dead.

And the fact that his father was dead, and to please

cancel the account.

TIM MCCLURE: It's just-- it's one of the strangest things

I have ever heard of.

Because I called on Monday, and how she could have mistaken

that for a Friday, and then mixed

up my words like that-- saying she had been murdered.

I had no idea she'd been murdered.

All I knew, she was missing.

And that's what I told them.

We have a credit memo, dated January 14.

The lady that wrote that credit memo, in her own mind,

is absolutely sure that's the date she received the phone

call, from a person identifying himself as Tim McClure.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): Six months

before Terry McClure was murdered,

she took out a $10,000 insurance policy on her life.

Tim and one of his sisters were named as co-beneficiaries.

TIM MCCLURE: I didn't think my mother would

take out an insurance policy.

It just wasn't like her.

I mean, they're thinking that I, you know,

did this for a reason.

Which, my share is only $5,000.

I mean, that's ridiculous.

Well, I can't say that that is the absolute motive

in this case, but, you know, I'm here

to tell you that people have been killed for a lot less.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): On February

the 14th, 1983, the Carson City police

asked Tim and his wife to take a polygraph test.

TIM MCCLURE: was completely cooperative.

I, you know, had nothing to hide,

no reason not to take one.

So, naturally, I said, sure, I'll take a polygraph.

My wife agreed, too.

So it was a strange situation-- when they were asking

the questions, they made me close my eyes,

being all wired up, I felt like I was

an electric chair, a very hard, wood-armed chair,

sitting there.

And as they asked the question, there

was, oh, it seemed like maybe a minute between each question,

with my eyes closed.

Just a number of things were just

going around through my mind.

At that point, that's when I started thinking, well, geez,

what if they think I did it.

I'd never taken a polygraph before, I

didn't know how to react.

And it was just a very awkward and uncomfortable situation

for me.

No.

The results of those polygraph examinations

would strongly suggest deception on both the part of Timothy

McClure and his wife.

They were both adamantly confronted

about those deceptions, and in the interviews,

they had no response.

They could not respond to why the machine was telling them

they were being deceptive.

They had no answers.

I don't know why, but I flunked the test.

And my wife had flunked only one question, which didn't make

any sense-- do you know who murdered Terry McClure was

a question she was asked, and it appeared

to be a lie when she said no.

So it looked like she was trying to cover up.

Which is unexplainable to me.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): All the circumstantial evidence was

submitted to the Nevada DA, but he

deemed it insufficient to arrest Tim McLure.

Police questioned friends, family, and acquaintances

of Tim and Terry.

Their testimony indicated that Tim had been genuinely devoted

to his mother, and they believed he would never

have done anything to harm her.

TIM MCCLURE: mother was my best friend.

I mean, all I could think of was taking care of my mother,

you know, for the rest of her life,

after she had taken care of me all my life.

That's the one thing I wanted to do, was take care of my mother.

And now I can't.

ROBERT STACK (VOICEOVER): This picture of Tim and his mother

was taken at his wedding on January

the 14th, 1983, the night she disappeared.

Tim is hoping that someone who was in the casino,

or the dance hall in Lake Tahoe that night,

will remember him because of his long hair

and his unusual height of 6 feet 5 inches.

He wants his alibi with the night of his mother's

murder to be substantiated.

Perhaps somebody will come forward.

Maybe they were afraid in the past.

Maybe somebody saw something.

There has to be somebody out there that had seen something

that happened to my mother.

You know, now would be a good time to come out with it.

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