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

April, 1986.

A raging house fire set by an arsonist

takes the life of a wealthy widow in Aurora, Missouri.

Five days later, Johnny Lee Wilson, a young retarded man

confesses to the crime and is sent to prison.

Two years later, another man claims

to have been present at the murder

and insists that Wilson is innocent.

Today the controversy has divided the town.

Is Johnny Lee Wilson a killer or a victim?

In Edmore, North Dakota, Kenneth Engie and Curtis Heck

came to blows over a woman in a bar fight.

The next day, Engie is found dead.

The police call it an accident.

Kenneth Engie's family thinks otherwise.

We'll also introduce you to a most unusual artist.

An English woman who seems to have

the ability to create lifelike portraits of people

she has never seen.

In fact, people who have been dead for years.

Incredibly, many witnesses swear to the uncanny accuracy

of her drawings.

Join me for another edition of Unsolved Mysteries.

[ominous music playing]

I've got a young lad here who went to spirit very suddenly.

I don't know quite--

NARRATOR: March, 1990.

200 people in Clarksville Indiana

paid $15 a piece for a demonstration by Coral Polge,

a British artist with an unusual vision.

He doesn't actually tell me how he was killed.

NARRATOR: For years, audiences from around the world

have been mystified by Carl's work

and often touched by the results.

No clear image in his mind of how it happened, and--

NARRATOR: Her drawings are simple portraits, nothing

fancy, but Coral's subjects are other worldly, people

who have been dead for years.

He had no real sense of responsibility,

that's the big problem.

I don't actually see these people, I don't hear them.

And I honestly don't quite know how I do it.

I just sense them.

Also there is an element of what we call automatic control, as

if somebody takes over my hand and gives me

a certain amount of help in getting the drawings

accurate, with good results.

Obviously, it's not always good.

But when we do get good results, we

get quite nice likenesses of people's relatives

who have passed into the world of spirit.

NARRATOR: Today Coral Polge lives

in a small town in England.

For the last 40 years, she has possessed, and been possessed,

by her unusual ability.

The concept of life after death has fascinated

mankind for centuries.

It is a fascination ripe for exploitation by mediums

and clairvoyants, who claim the power to communicate

with the spirit world.

Some are obvious charlatans, but others display gifts

which seem to defy explanation.

During the past four decades, Coral Polge has drawn more

than 100,000 eerie portraits.

It could be argued that she is nothing

more than a keen observer of faces,

but her drawings of people she could never have known or seen

are uncannily accurate and convinced some skeptics

that her powers could be real.

In 1984, photographer Peter Cook went to Coral Polge's home

in Surrey, England.

Peter was on assignment for a national newspaper.

PETER COOK: I've always been a pretty

open minded kind of person and I was a bit skeptical.

I had heard about people speaking with the dead

and through the dead, but when it came to drawing,

it was a different matter.

Do you have any drawings that you've done, that I can take--

Yes, but I think it might be better if--

NARRATOR: Peter and Coral had never met before.

He had no idea he was about to become Coral's subject.

--and we'll see what we can get for you.

PETER COOK: And Coral just simply

asked me to sit down next to her,

and I did, and she came up with some pretty

astounding pictures.

Now I've got a little old lady coming through, she brings me--

PETER COOK: The first of the pictures

that she started to draw was my grandmother.

As it took shape, I can see that it was going to be

somebody that I recognized.

And my stomach was beginning to churn just a little

because it was my first experience of anybody talking

about my grandmother or any other relation

in that kind of manner.

CORAL POLGE: A beautiful rosy complexion, in fact

she might even be called Rosie, I keep getting the word rosy.

But she's smiling, very much what

I'd call a country complexion.

And what she's showing me now definitely confirms

that it's a little water butt where she probably had

to get her drinking water from.

NARRATOR: According to Peter, his grandmother's name

was Minnie Rose.

She did have rosy cheeks, and her drinking

water came from a rain barrel.

It wasn't so much the picture that she drew that I recognized

so much as the description she was giving, and the names,

and the people that were near her.

And they were pretty astonishing.

Anybody is a skeptic, really, I mean,

they'd better open their eyes, because I believe it.

NARRATOR: Minnie Rose died in 1962.

Peter Cook is positive that Coral had no way of knowing

what she looked like.

In the same sitting, Coral also drew Peter Cook's mother,

Emily, who died in 1978.

PETER COOK: Coral certainly has a special gift.

I don't understand why, and I have

to say that Coral really sparked me off

to investigating, in some depths,

as to the possibility of life after death.

NARRATOR: Coral became aware of her gift

just after World War II.

Her mother suffered from severe arthritis.

When nothing else could ease her mother's pain,

Coral took her to a spiritualist.

CORAL POLGE: I must admit, I nearly died

of fright on the spot because the medium came to me and said,

do you know you're a psychic artist?

Which I didn't even know what she meant.

And she said, well you are an artist, which was true.

And she told me one day I'd be a very famous medium,

and I must admit I thought she was completely barmy.

And so I began to try and develop the gift,

and eventually, within two or three years,

was getting psychic drawings.

I gave up counting how many we'd ever

done when I got to 100,000.

It just goes on, and I don't have time to keep records.

A lady always held her head up so straight.

You're drawing my aunt.

NARRATOR: Lorraine Ferraro was another witness

to Coral's powers.

Coral drew this portrait of Lorraine's aunt,

who died when Lorraine was six.

I have photos that, they're exactly the same.

It is quite remarkable.

I have never met Coral in my life.

It's the first time I've heard of her, never mind meet her.

And I'm devastated, shattered.

I just couldn't believe what I saw.

When people come to me for sittings, some come out

of curiosity, some come because they're desperate for evidence.

And I hope that I can prove to them that there

is a life after death.

It doesn't always work, but we try.

NARRATOR: Is Coral Polge truly gifted?

Or is she merely a talented artist

with extraordinary powers of perception?

For those who believe, Coral Polge's drawings

provide comfort and reassurance that there

may be life after death.

CORAL POLGE: Well I don't find it mysterious at all.

I've come to a stage where, to me,

it's so normal, so ordinary.

And I find that life becomes more beautiful.

One would not hasten going into the world of spirit,

but it's a beautiful thought that one day, we're all

going to be reunited with those people we've loved

and temporarily been parted from.

NARRATOR: In a moment, an investigation of a fiery

murder of a wealthy 79-year-old widow.

Two different men have confessed to the same crime.

Every week, hundreds of calls are

received here in our telecenter, many with suggestions

for stories.

Several months ago, one of our producers

received a startling telephone call from a man in prison.

From his cell, he told us that before his imprisonment,

he'd been involved in a murder for which

another man had been convicted.

His call led us into the disquieting case of Johnny Lee

Wilson, a mentally retarded young man

serving a life sentence for the murder of an elderly woman.

What makes this case so intriguing

is that Wilson had confessed to the crime,

a confession his proponents say was coerced.

And now, the final appeal of Johnny Lee Wilson.

Aurora, Missouri.

Population, 7,000.

A typical middle American small town, where

everyone knows everyone else.

And everyone in Aurora knew Johnny Wilson,

a mildly retarded 20 year old, with an IQ of 71,

who, according to psychologists, had the emotional development

of a fourth grader.

Johnny was raised in Aurora by his mother and grandmother.

I'm going down to Ramey's for some pop.

OK, be careful honey.

NELLIE MAPLES: Johnny was quite a boy, he was a homeboy.

He never did cause us any trouble,

but he had problems, a learning disability,

and we had to have special education for him.

And a lot of the kids, we thought, in school

didn't treat him so good.

But really, Johnny has always been a happy boy, even

when we knew things maybe were kind of bad sometimes,

he was happy.

NARRATOR: On school days, Johnny left his bicycle

with Mrs. Pauline Martz because his classmates

would often vandalize it.

Is it all right if I leave my bike here?

Well, you know it is.

NARRATOR: Mrs. Martz was a close friend of Johnny's grandmother.

See you then.

NARRATOR: At 79, she was the last surviving member

of the wealthiest family in Aurora,

and owned the town's largest business.

April 13th, 1986.

At 8:00 PM in the evening, fire and rescue squads rushed

to the home of Pauline Martz.

By the time they arrived, the house was engulfed in flames.

When firemen were finally able to search the wreckage,

they found the charred body of Pauline Martz.

The official cause of death was smoke inhalation,

but the fire was not an accident.

Mrs. Martz had been bound and gagged open duct tape.

Investigators concluded the fire was deliberately

set, started with gasoline.

There was an immediate public outcry.

Pauline Martz had been one of Aurora's most beloved citizens.

Five days later, anger turned to shock.

The police picked up Johnny Wilson for questioning,

interrogated him for nearly four hours,

and finally arrested him after he had confessed to the crime,

a confession he would later recant.

JOHNNY WILSON: I just made the mistake by confessing

to it when I didn't do it.

To this day, I don't know why that I said I did it, you know.

It just happened.

I didn't want to happen but it did.

It was just a mistake on my part saying

that I did it when I really didn't, it

was a mistake on my part.

For the past four years, the Johnny Wilson case has divided

the small town of Aurora.

Many believe Johnny is innocent.

Law enforcement officials disagree.

When we requested interviews with the Lawrence County

Sheriff's Department and the District Attorney's office,

they insisted they had put the right man behind bars

and declined to participate in the broadcast.

The recreations of court proceedings

and Johnnie Wilson's interrogation and confession

have been filmed word for word from official transcripts.

Sunday, April 13th 1986.

On the day of the fire, Johnny spent

the early afternoon at home taping records with a friend.

Later he mowed a neighbor's lawn.

When Johnny was finished, his mother drove him home.

She and his grandmother claim he could not

possibly have been at Pauline Martz's house

when the fire was set.

They didn't get home until about 5 o'clock.

And as soon as they got home, the neighbor boy

came back over again to tape, and he

stayed until nearly seven.

And then when they left at seven,

Johnny and I put up nine posters in his bedroom.

And then when that was done, then we, about 25 to 8:00,

we left and mailed two letters.

And went up to Ramey's, got some things,

and then when we came out, that's when

we heard the sirens.

JOHNNY WILSON: We heard the sirens

so we went over by and saw that Miss Pauline's

house, the back, the back of the house was engulfed in flames.

Hey Johnny, how's it going?

Not bad, how about you?

NARRATOR: 18-Year old Gary Wall was also mildly retarded.

He and Johnny were both enrolled in the special education

program at the local high school.

Well, see you later.

Bye.

Basically I just said, hi how are you and bye,

you know and then I went back to the car

and sat in the back seat and that was it.

NARRATOR: The next morning, Gary Wall was questions by police.

He gave them a completely different version of

his conversation with Johnny.

Mrs. Marx is in there.

Well how do you know?

She's tied up.

Well you sound like you know something about this.

You tell anybody and I'm going to beat you up.

OK, Johnny.

Gary

NARRATOR: Wall later took a total of six

lie detector tests.

He failed all but one.

The morning after Johnny's arrest,

Sheriff's deputies went to the Wilson home

to search for evidence.

NELLIE MAPLES: When they came to search the house and said

they had a warrant.

And I gave them permission to search because I didn't think

they'd find anything, see.

But they did, I mean they thought they did.

They went to his room and just started

taking things out of drawers and cabinets

and things that was in there.

NARRATOR: The authorities believe that Johnny had

sexually assaulted Mrs. Martz.

Deputies found women's underwear in a bureau in Johnny's room,

however the family said the Bureau and clothing

belonged to Johnny's mother.

In Johnny's confession, he admitted to stealing jewelry.

The deputies also took costume jewelry,

which Johnny's grandmother said she used for sewing.

Finally, they found a nearly empty gas

can, which investigators would later say

was used to start the fire.

Johnny Wilson was charged with first degree murder.

Because of his diminished mental faculties,

Joanie was examined to determine if he was fit to stand trial.

What did you like about high school?

I was a manager for the football team

and they gave me a jacket and everything.

Did you have any friends in school?

WILLIAM LOGAN: When you're asked to evaluate someone's fitness

to stand trial, you look at first,

will they understand what the charges are against them.

And then second, are they able to reason

and make their own decisions about whether to enter a plea.

Are they able to decide whether they want to testify

on their own behalf at a trial.

Are they able to help their attorney

by giving him a consistent account of what happened.

How about a job?

Did you ever have a job?

JOHNNY WILSON: And in those particular range of skills,

I did not think Johnny was confident to stand trial.

And I used to work at the hardware store.

Johnny, when the police arrested you,

did they asked you anything about Miranda rights?

Yeah, I think so.

Do you know what Miranda rights are?

Yeah.

What are they?

Well, it's the difference between right and wrong.

NARRATOR: Johnny was ultimately examined by two psychiatrists

and a psychologist.

Two of the three judged that he was incapable of understanding

the court proceeding.

However the third, a court-appointed psychiatrist

determined that he was fit to stand trial.

Johnny told his court-appointed attorney he was innocent.

However based upon his confession, the testimony

of Gary Wall, and other evidence,

his attorneys advised him to plead guilty to avoid the death

penalty, By pleading guilty, Johnny lost

his right to a trial by jury.

Because he had given a confession,

his attorneys told him that it would

be very likely that he would get convicted

if this went to trial.

And they also told him that this judge was very likely to give

him the death penalty based on prior cases that

have gone before this judge.

And so what he understood was if he went to trial

and he was found guilty, that he would die.

What is your understanding of why you're here this afternoon?

Plead guilty.

JUDGE: Why are you pleading guilty, Johnny?

I don't know.

Pardon?

NARRATOR: This recreation of Johnny's hearing

was taken verbatim from court transcripts.

Just to first degree murder.

But that's what you're pleading guilty to,

why are you wanting to enter such a plea?

I don't know.

DEE WOMPLER: The so-called plea of guilty

should have been stopped about 60 seconds after it started.

The judge asked Johnny if he knew what he was doing,

and Johnny Wilson said no.

I don't understand why I'm here, I don't

understand what's going on.

And the judge said, do you want to plead guilty to this charge,

and Johnny said no, I don't want to plead guilty to it.

At that point, the circuit judge should have said, gentlemen,

court's adjourned.

This case will be set for trial in two weeks,

I expect everyone to be here and be ready for trial.

I'm not going to take this plea of guilty.

But he didn't, the judge went further,

continued to cross-examine Johnny,

and finally accepted the plea of guilty.

--was voluntarily entered and we'll accept your plea

and pronounce sentence.

Upon your plea of guilty in this cause,

the court sentences you to life imprisonment

in the custody of the Missouri Department of Corrections.

The court stands adjourned.

NARRATOR: Johnny Wilson was immediately

remanded to the Missouri State Penitentiary.

10 months later, at a prison in Kansas,

this man confessed that he knew who killed Pauline Martz,

and it wasn't Johnny Wilson.

When we return, we'll examine evidence

which has led many to believe that Johnny

Lee Wilson is innocent.

In 1986, Johnny Lee Wilson, a mildly retarded 20-year old

confessed to the murder of Pauline Martz

and was sentenced to life imprisonment.

Two years later on February 11th, 1988,

convicted felon Chris Brownfield confessed to participating

in the same crime.

Brownfield was, and still is, serving

a life sentence in Kansas for accessory to murder.

Once I found out that they had a retarded boy that they'd

coerced into confessing to the crime and stuff,

I just kind of got to feeling sorry for him.

And then I found out he was raised by his grandmother

and mother, you know, and I was raised by my grandmother,

so I had a lot of feelings toward probably what they felt.

It was just such a situation.

To me it was so cut and dry that they had the wrong man,

I just thought it shouldn't be any problem

to tell them they got the wrong man, looked at it

and released the boy.

NARRATOR: According to Chris Brownfield,

he and an unnamed accomplice had been

tipped off that Pauline Martz kept a great deal of money

in her home.

They broke into the house.

[yelling]

Come on, just watch her!

Where's your money at, lady?

NARRATOR: According to Brownfield,

they ransacked the house.

Mrs. Martz was bound and gagged.

Brownfield and his accomplice decided

to burn down the house so that no evidence

would be left at the scene.

Brownfield says he was outside when his accomplice

started the fire.

- Where's the lady? - She's still in the house.

Well, we're gonna get her out.

She got lippy with me, let's get out of here.

Hey, let's go on back, see if we can get her out.

NARRATOR: Brownsfield claims he later tried to go

back inside to save Mrs. Martz.

But it was too late.

The two men fled the scene.

When the news of Chris Brownfield's confession

was made public, the town of Aurora was thrown into turmoil.

One group of citizens banded together

and erected this billboard.

Shortly thereafter, it was fire bombed by an unknown party.

The Sheriff believed Chris Brownfield's

confession is part of an elaborate escape plan

and discounted it.

Chris Brownfield is a cold blooded murderer.

He has killed senior citizens before using

the exact MO in the same manner that Mrs. Martz was killed.

NARRATOR: Noted Missouri attorney

Dee Wompler was hired to represent

Johnny and reopen the case.

Wompler became convinced that Johnny's

confession had been coerced.

It's the first time the state of Missouri

has ever put a third grader on trial for murder.

OK, thank you very much.

Johnny Lee Wilson was at a movie theater on the night

that he supposedly confessed, and they

tricked him into going with them to the police headquarters.

He had lost a billfold several days earlier,

and they came and asked him to go to the police station.

And he thought that he was going because they

had found his billfold.

Johnny, did you lose a wallet?

Well we found it, we've got it down at the police station.

If you come down and identify it,

you can pick it up, take it on home.

OK.

DEE WOMPLER: His mother and grandmother

were not told that they were going

to question him that evening,

John, is there any possibility you are involved in this?

No.

What if I told you I thought you was.

NARRATOR: A police interrogation began at 8:30 PM

and it was concluded just after midnight.

What if I told you you was seen at that fire

before it started?

I'd say I wasn't.

NARRATOR: The words spoken in these scenes

are taken verbatim from transcripts

of a police tape recording.

What would you do if we brought in a witness in here,

in this chair, and he sat here and looked you right in the eye

and said, John, you was there before that fire started.

They kept on saying, well we know you did it.

We know, we got, we got a witness saying that you told

him, he told him you did it.

And, after that I just, I maintained my innocence.

I said, I didn't do it, I don't know who did.

I didn't do it.

Murder is what you're in here for.

JOHNNY WILSON: They started yelling, saying well, we

know you did it, you're going to tell us that you did it,

so we can just get this all wrapped up so we all go home.

We didn't know she was tied up,

how did that information get out?

There's a whole bunch of people out there

that night that came up with information

that she was tied up--

The language used was so aggressive,

what an ordinary individual might

have done at that point was to end the interview

or asked for their attorney.

But being a fairly young man who was limited intellectually

and no prior experience with the criminal justice system,

and the emotional stability of an 8 or 9-year-old,

they're not going to know to say, get out of my face,

stop talking to me, you know I didn't do it

and then I've already told you that I want to end this.

He didn't think he had the permission to end this,

he didn't know he could end the interrogation.

I wasn't within five miles of that house.

You know too much.

Why did he make up something like that on you?

He mad at you?

At the end of the interrogation,

he forced my head back and that's when I said,

OK, OK, I did it.

But when I really didn't, that's when I lied.

What besides a rope was around her ankles?

NARRATOR: The interrogation continued.

The deputies pressed for details.

You know and I know, just think.

Come on, John

I'm thinking.

Well, what are some of the things that could be used?

Handcuffs I think?

No, no, wrong guess.

If you're a scared kid, you know, sometimes

you lie to get out of trouble.

And essentially, when he gave his confession,

I think he may have been lying to get out of trouble.

The immediate trouble of the moment,

which was a couple of angry detectives questioning

him pretty vigorously.

They just simply said, if you'll tell us what we want

to know, we can all go home.

And he was just acting like a child that has brain damage.

And he thought, OK, I'll tell them what they want to know

and then we'll all go home.

NARRATOR: But Johnny did not go home.

JOHNNY WILSON: At the end of the confession,

they slapped the handcuffs on me and walked me out the door

and drove me to Mount Vernon and locked me up.

That's when I thought, no, I ain't going home over something

that I think just ruined my life.

I sit, I'd sit-in my jail cell and just think,

I didn't do this.

The bottom line, I just want to go home.

NARRATOR: Former Sheriff's Deputy

Dustin Toler began studying the evidence on his own.

He came to Johnny's defense.

As I got into the reports, I observed

that what was being said about Johnny Wilson

by the Sheriff's department and other investigative agencies

and what was substantiated by evidence

were not the same thing.

NARRATOR: Toler discovered that the costume jewelry taken

by investigators from the Wilson home

belonged to Johnny's grandmother.

The underwear they found belonged to Johnny's mother,

and there was another gas can found

at the crime scene, which was never entered into evidence.

The more I observed, the less evidence I could find.

I never did find anything that could

tie Johnny Wilson to the case.

NARRATOR: One surprising piece of evidence, which

was discovered at the crime scene,

was a battery operated stun gun.

That's a stun gun.

NARRATOR: In his confession, Chris Brownfield

mentioned losing a stun gun during the robbery.

The weapon which you described was identical to the one

found at the scene.

It had never been publicized that a stun gun

had been used in this crime.

Chris Brownfield, in his confession,

was the first one who ever mentioned the stun gun.

He described the stun gun and drew a picture of it

that was identical to the stun gun that was eventually

found at the crime scene.

Johnny Lee Wilson didn't even know what a stun gun was.

He was asked about it, he thought a stun

gun was an electric razor.

NARRATOR: On May 8th, 1989, Dee Wompler presented a motion

in the circuit court requesting that Johnny

Wilson be given a jury trial.

The motion was denied.

The judge ruled that Johnny was competent when he pled guilty,

and that Chris Brownfield was not a credible witness.

Brownfield had refused to testify

in person at the hearing.

How would the state of Missouri

suffer from giving this poor little boy a trial.

It probably would only take two or three days.

I couldn't see that there's any harm or damage in it,

and he should have been given a trial in my opinion.

NARRATOR: Today, Johnny Wilson is still

serving his life sentence.

He has been placed in protective custody,

as prison officials believe he would

not be able to protect himself in the general prison

population.

Johnny will be eligible for parole when he is 70 years old.

Justice has been very difficult to find

in the Johnny Wilson case.

It's one of those cases, perhaps there's only one in a thousand,

where an innocent man is doing time in the penitentiary.

And Johnny Lee Wilson is innocent .

And if he had a trial, he would probably be acquitted.

I don't think the jury would deliberate more than an hour

before they acquitted him.

And it's a shame that he never got a chance

to prove his innocence.

All I want somebody to believe me, just that I didn't do this.

NARRATOR: In September of 1990, an appeal

was heard before the Missouri Appellate court.

Johnny's appeal for a trial was denied once again.

When we return, a man is found dead in his garage

the morning after a barroom brawl.

An accident or foul play?

October 4th, 1988.

3:30 PM.

What did you find when you first came to the door?

NARRATOR: Police in Edmore, North Dakota

began an investigation into the death

of a local auto repair man.

An hour earlier, the body of 27-year-old Kenneth Engie

had been discovered in his own garage by his uncle.

The cause of death, massive carbon monoxide poisoning.

Initial indications pointed to a probable suicide.

Kenny had too much going for him to be committing suicide.

That was way too far.

You know, he didn't have any troubles that

would bother him that much.

NARRATOR: Almost immediately, bits of evidence

began to cast doubt on the suicide theory.

A fully loaded 22-caliber rifle was lying six feet from Engie.

There was a small pool of blood on the floor,

but no marks on the body and no sign of a struggle.

Even more puzzling, the fuel tank of the truck in the garage

was nearly full and the ignition had been turned off.

If Kenneth Engie had in fact committed suicide

by inhaling carbon monoxide, then

who turned off the truck's engine?

The investigation into Kenneth Engie's death was stymied.

His family vehemently insisted that suicide

was out of the question.

But if there was foul play involved,

who could have had a motive and the opportunity

to commit the crime?

Within 12 hours, the police found

a potential suspect to have both motive and opportunity.

2 AM, Kunkel's bar on the main street of Edmore.

By closing time, only two customers remain.

Kenneth Engie and Curtis Heck, another auto repairman.

Kenny look, I'm closing up, you gotta go.

I'm taking you home tonight.

I've got to run.

Who are you going with?

Curtis.

You really are a tramp, aren't you.

- Out. - I want to talk to you.

She's going home me.

Get your hands off me!

Neither one of us are Muhammad Ali.

I mean, there was rolling around on the floor wrestling

and a bunch of dumb stuff.

There was some punches thrown back and forth

but nobody really got hurt.

And at one point, I got him down on the floor

and I held him down there and I said,

I told him I'm going to let you up,

and I said when I let you up, I want

you to just walk out the door.

And I let him up, and then he did go out the door.

NARRATOR: Moments later, Kenneth Engie retaliated.

CURTIS HECK: I heard the crash out front

and I knew what it was soon as I heard it.

And I seen my pick up out there, it had been broadsided.

I thought about just forgetting the whole thing,

but the more I thought about it, I

thought me and Kenny were both body men

and he had just annihilated my pickup.

So I thought if I'm going to have to fix my vehicle,

then he's going to have to fix his.

NARRATOR: Approximately one hour later Heck and the barmaid

arrived at Engie's home.

Engie's truck was parked in the driveway.

Curtis!

Curtis!

CURTIS HECK: I heard a noise coming

from the garage, a groaning sound,

so I went around to the back door.

And I opened up the door and I went in.

You know you totaled my truck, don't you?

I should have realized that there was something

wrong with it, but I didn't.

I was mad at him anyway.

Any other time, if I had I seen somebody

on the floor moaning and groaning,

I certainly wouldn't of left them there.

But you know, the guy just smashed my pickup all to pieces

and I figured he was sick from drinking,

so I figured go ahead and spend the night on the garage floor.

NARRATOR: According to the official police report,

this is the last time Kenneth Engie was seen alive.

I believe that Kenneth Engie, when he was in the garage

and it became cool, started the vehicle,

sat there and waited for Curtis Heck

to come to the garage for the confrontation that

was bound to happen.

Realizing that something is happening to him,

at this point I believe he turned the vehicle off that was

in the garage, a pickup, started to head for the door

and didn't quite make it to the door before he collapsed.

Time passed and he died waiting for Curtis Heck.

NARRATOR: Engie's Uncle, Richard Nygaard,

disagrees with the police.

I think Kenny was a little bit smarter than

that to start a vehicle up and running in a garage

while he was still in there.

He might of started it up just so he could

move it and probably run his own vehicle

in and run that one out.

NARRATOR: Nygaard believes that Engie

heard Heck kicking his truck.

He feels that the two men had another confrontation

inside the garage.

RICHARD NYGAARD: He fell down and probably was

knocked unconscious.

And Curt just shut the door and walked away.

And then realized the truck was running and comeback

and went in and shut it off.

With the sealed garage, there was still

enough carbon monoxide fumes in there to still do somebody in.

The autopsy does not indicate that there

was any assault on that body and I don't believe there was.

That doesn't make me very happy

to know that I was the last person to see him alive

and walked out the door I left him there.

But I had absolutely no reason to think that there was

any carbon monoxide involved, because there

was a vehicle in his garage, it was a friend

of his pickup in the garage.

But it wasn't running, and I don't remember

seeing any smoke in the garage.

I don't remember, I think I would have noticed that.

NARRATOR: Several puzzling questions continue

to loom over this case.

Did Kenneth Engie start up the truck

to keep warm until the inevitable arrival

of Curtis Heck?

Engie was a trained mechanic and certainly knew

the lethal possibilities of running an engine

in a small, enclosed space, unless alcohol completely

impaired his judgment.

But if a drunken Engie did start the truck

and was overcome by fumes, how could

he have had the clarity of mind to cut the ignition

but be unable to reach the door just 15 feet away?

And finally, if it was not Engie who turned off the ignition,

then who did, and then left him on the floor to die?

We believe that the death occurred from a lethal dose

of carbon monoxide, and that there was

no criminal foul play involved.

The family wants to continue the investigation as to theories,

which they are certainly entitled to,

but law enforcement has officially closed this case.

There just doesn't seem to be a clear cut answer to it.

And there's been a lot of stories and rumors,

and it's been just, it's been hell

on everybody is what it's been.

And I'd like to see an answer to it someplace.

I don't think they'll ever have a final, that says

this is exactly what happened.

I don't think they ever will.

There's just too many loose ends.

NARRATOR: On our next Unsolved Mysteries,

few people in Warwickshire, England

mourn the demise of Dorothea Allen, an eccentric recluse

and corset manufacturer who mysteriously destroyed

all traces of her past.

Dorothy left no will, and her $4 million estate

will simply pass on to the government

unless her heirs can be found.

Join me next week for another edition of Unsolved Mysteries.