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: In 1977, outside Tucson, Arizona,

a businessman was found shot in the back of the head.

13 years later, a computer draftsman died

in a similar manner in Phoenix.

The only possible link between the two men

was Don Devereux, a freelance journalist,

who now believes the second bullet was meant for him.

In Rochester, New York, a brazen gang of thieves

made off with nearly $11 million in a daring daylight robbery.

Perhaps you can help authorities identify

three possible suspects.

Martha Brown, and her twin brother Bobby,

spent their formative years in foster homes.

But when the twins were six, the authorities,

decided to separate them, and Martha

embarked on a search which has now spanned

more than three decades.

Also, tonight, an important update.

Thanks to our viewers, an alleged drunk driver

wanted in the highway deaths of an elderly couple,

is now in custody.

Join me for another edition of Unsolved Mysteries.

[mysterious music]

ROBERT STACK: May 14th, 1990.

In Phoenix, Arizona, Doug Johnston, a computer draftsman,

was found slumped on the front seat of his car.

He had been shot once behind the left ear,

from a distance of at least 12 inches.

13 Years earlier, June 18th, 1977.

The body of businessman Charles Morgan

was found in the Arizona desert, 40 miles southwest of Tucson.

He had been shot once in the back of the head.

Ironically, he was wearing a bulletproof vest.

Two suspicious deaths with no apparent connection.

Except that the authorities continue

to hold, with the unlikely possibility,

that both men committed suicide.

Many disagree, citing, in particular,

the case of Charles Morgan.

DON DEVEREUX: It is not a very normal place to shoot oneself,

as a suicide.

And bear in mind, he's wearing a bulletproof vest at the time.

I've never seen, in all my years as a journalist,

a fellow take himself out in the desert,

wearing a bulletproof vest, and shoot himself

in the back of the head.

ROBERT STACK: On a previous broadcast,

Don Devereux was a key interview in our segment

about the Charles Morgan case.

Devereux was convinced that the deaths of Morgan and Doug

Johnston were not suicides.

Not random killings.

Devereux believes both men were murdered.

And that both were targets of a contract hit.

Now, in a dramatic twist, Don Devereux

has been warned that the bullet which killed Doug Johnston

was meant for him.

Well, the sales agreement looks all in order.

ROBERT STACK: The complex saga began 15

years ago, in Tucson, Arizona.

On March 22nd, 1977, Charles Morgan, a devoted husband

and father, disappeared, apparently abducted on the way

to his escrow company.

Three days later, he returned home just as suddenly

at 2:00 in the morning.

He was staggering, weak, and unable to talk.

RUTH MORGAN: Hallucinogenic?

ROBERT STACK: Morgan wrote notes to his wife,

telling her an hallucinogenic drug had been painted

on the back of his throat.

RUTH MORGAN: I'm going to call the police.

ROBERT STACK: He was afraid the dosage was lethal.

Morgan wrote that if his wife tried

to contact the police, or even a physician,

the entire family would be killed.

For a week, Morgan's wife fed him with an eyedropper.

He still could not speak, but began to allude to the fact

that he was secretly working for the federal government.

He wrote that his abductors and taken his treasury ID.

On June 7th, 1977, Charles Morgan vanished again.

11 days later, his body was found.

[knocking]

RUTH MORGAN: Yes?

Mrs. Ruth Morgan?

ROBERT STACK: Three weeks later, two men,

claiming to be a government officials,

showed up at Morgan's home.

While his widow stood helplessly by,

the two men ransacked the house.

No one knows what they were looking for.

Or what they found.

The case remained mired in mystery until our broadcast.

More than 600 calls came into the telecenter.

Don Devereux investigated every lead.

What he learned was staggering.

DON DEVEREUX: Morgan, it turns out,

was extensively involved in money laundering activities

through his escrow company in Tucson.

We also ascertained that he was doing large transactions

in gold and platinum.

Anywhere from weekly to monthly, for the several years

between 1973 and when he was killed, in 1977.

He was doing well in excess of a billion--

with a b-- a billion dollars a year

in gold, alone, over that period.

Well in excess.

And that much of it, in fact, seems

to have been coming out of Southeast Asia

at the end of the Vietnam War.

Charles Morgan?

DON DEVEREUX: A lot of people seemed to have been involved,

including renegade folks from the US intelligence community.

So, some CIA people who were doing stuff.

Perhaps undercover of the agency.

But probably, most likely, to line their own pockets.

Also some indication of Vietnamese government

officials that were going into exile were involved.

People from the Department of Defense probably were involved.

Again, in a renegade, rather than in an official capacity.

ROBERT STACK: Devereux has discovered that Charles Morgan

kept a set of duplicate records of all

the illicit transactions.

Evidently, Morgan thought the duplicates would

be his life insurance policy.

Instead, they became his death warrant.

DON DEVEREUX: He was clearly on the run, the last few months

of his life.

Literally on the run, the last 10 days of his life.

And, nevertheless, somebody caught up with him.

ROBERT STACK: Don Devereux is convinced

that Charles Morgan was killed because he knew too much.

Somebody wanted Morgan to silence forever.

It seemed an isolated incident.

And three months after the Unsolved Mysteries broadcast,

and 13 years after Charles Morgan died,

another unusual death occurred.

Right across the street from Don Devereux's home in Phoenix.

DENISE JOHNSTON: What time are you going to be home?

DOUG JOHNSTON: 9:00, 9:30.

I'll see you then.

DENISE JOHNSTON: OK.

ROBERT STACK: On May 14th, 1990, at 11:00 PM,

Doug Johnston left for work as usual.

He was assigned to the night shift

at a local computer graphics company.

Hi, John. JOHN: Hi.

You were the first one on the scene?

ROBERT STACK: An hour later, Doug Johnston was found dead

in the company parking lot.

He had been shot once, behind his left ear,

from a distance of at least 12 inches.

At first glance, it appeared to be suicide.

Yet, oddly, Johnston was right-handed.

In addition, there was no gun found at the scene.

And there was no powder residue on Johnston's hands.

HARVEY E. HAMRICK: As far as evidence,

the only thing we found was a 0.25 caliber bullet casing.

We did not find a weapon that fired that bullet.

Our medical examiner determined that it was just as likely

that the gunshot wound to the head

could have been self-inflicted, as it

was as likely that another person had done that.

So based on that, we can't classify

it either murder or a suicide.

And it's being maintained in our homicide files.

DENISE JOHNSTON: Doug would never commit suicide.

He had just finished a year of computer-aided drafting

and graduated with honors.

He was on his way up there.

And when he graduated in March, got the job in April,

everything was going really great.

We had a future starting all over again for us.

And there's no way he would have committed suicide.

ROBERT STACK: Don Devereux followed the investigation

with great interest.

He lived across the street from the parking lot

where Doug Johnston had been killed.

Johnston's car was an aging Toyota station wagon,

very much like Devereux's.

DON DEVEREUX: I contacted Phoenix PD within a few days

of the Johnson shooting.

And told them that I was across the street.

Had a similar car.

And was, in fact, working on a homicide case, and some stuff

that also involves some other substantial criminal activity,

at the time that Johnston was killed.

The initial read I got from Phoenix PD

was one of not really thinking that that had any bearing

on the Johnston shooting.

And so, although I continued to track it for a while,

over a period of time, I just sort of put it out of my mind.

ROBERT STACK: The year after Doug Johnston was shot,

Don Devereux was contacted by a writer from Washington, DC,

named Dan Castillero.

Devereux agreed to share the information

he had uncovered concerning Charles Morgan's

illegal gold transactions.

But before Devereux could even mail his research,

Dan Castillero was dead.

Castillero was found in a hotel room

with his wrists slashed deeply a dozen times.

Police ruled the death a suicide.

But to Don Devereux and others, it seemed far more sinister.

DON DEVEREUX: Dan Castillero's brother is a doctor.

The doctor tells us that Dan Castillero was so squeamish

that he was reluctant to allow his brother

to prick his finger to do any kind of blood sample

work on Dan over the years.

I mean, that squeamish about blood.

Of all the ways that Dan Castillero might have committed

suicide, had he chosen to commit suicide,

slashing his wrists a dozen times in a bathtub,

and dying in that manner, seems to me the least likely

of anything he could possibly have done.

These guys don't offer much.

They don't volunteer information.

ROBERT STACK: Six months after Dan Castillero's death,

Devereux had a shocking conversation

with another journalist, who said

he had a warning from a highly placed source in the CIA.

The word I got back was that they

did think they were getting you, and they got that guy.

DON DEVEREUX: It was a botched job?

Yes.

These are the exact words.

There have been, and there still are, contracts out to kill you.

DON DEVEREUX: Plural?

That mean contracts have been out there--

DON DEVEREUX: It's a shocker when

somebody calls you up and says you're about to be killed.

Now, that doesn't mean it's going to happen tomorrow.

DON DEVEREUX: My colleague told me that it

looked like I had a problem.

That he understood, from his CIA contact, that whatever it was,

it involved something I was looking at,

that had both CIA and organized crime dimensions.

And that I could be in some real trouble.

And to get my head down.

Maybe even get out of there, for a while,

until he could figure out what was happening.

It's on the street.

People know that somebody is after you.

ROBERT STACK: Later, two other sources, one from the CIA

and one from Israeli intelligence,

confirmed the death threats.

Has Don Devereux been targeted for murder

because of his investigation into the Charles Morgan case?

If so, then Doug Johnston may very well

have been the innocent victim of a contract hit

meant for Devereux himself.

DON DEVEREUX: His parking lot is right across the street

from my parking lot.

There is a one digit difference in our numbers.

I've gotten mail fairly frequently for the building

across the street.

He was driving a car much like my car.

Somebody, evidently, was waiting for him in the dark.

Must have known about where he would be pulling and parking.

And this was not just some random shooting.

This was a shooting that had all the characteristics

of a very professional killing.

This was a single shot, 0.25 caliber, back of the left ear.

Very slick murder.

I can't say for an absolute fact what happened to him.

I wasn't there.

I can simply say that on the basis of what I'm looking

at, and hearing, I think the odds

on him having taken his own life are virtually non-existent.

If Johnston was killed with a bullet

that was intended for me, I feel terrible about it.

And I feel very awful for his wife and family.

DENISE JOHNSTON: There is so much

evidence that these people were after Don

instead of my husband.

It wasn't a gang-related shooting,

or suicide, or anything.

And it all kind of fits together they were after Don.

And my husband just happened to be in the wrong place.

DON DEVEREUX: Thirty-some metric tons a deal.

That's $100 million deals.

That's an awful lot--

DON DEVEREUX: I suspect that the same network of people--

mob people, intelligence community people,

were involved in a lot of those 1970's activities

that we're focusing on, in terms of bullying--

are probably still out there.

I am not thrilled to think that there could be quote

"a high-level CIA official" close quote who knows

about this, who is not, himself, taking

official actions to correct it.

And, clearly, if there are people in the US government

who know and disapprove of this sort of thing,

then they damn well should get off their butts

and do something about it.

ROBERT STACK: For those unfamiliar with the details,

some of Don Devereux's conspiracy theories

about the mob, renegade CIA agents,

smuggled gold and contract hits may seem far-fetched.

But the fact remains that Don Devereux has tape recordings

of a number of credible sources who warned

him that he is the next target.

[ominous music]

ROBERT STACK: In 1979, John Constable

and his wife, Virginia, retired to Davenport, Florida.

On March 3rd, 1991, the couple left their home

to visit their only daughter, Linda,

who lived in Jacksonville, 200 miles north.

That same morning, 12 miles away,

a man named James White got behind the wheel

of his pickup truck.

White, a house painter and handyman,

had a long history of drunk driving arrests.

[car horn]

ROBERT STACK: John Constable was pronounced dead at the scene.

His wife, Virginia, died an hour later,

from massive internal injuries.

LINDA FAULKNER: The Florida Highway

Patrol officer said that there had

been an automobile accident.

And there was a fatality.

I just remember asking which one.

I never dreamed it would have been both of them.

ROBERT STACK: James White was transported

to a nearby hospital.

He suffered a fractured jaw, a broken ankle,

and three broken ribs.

Tests later revealed that at the time of the crash,

White's blood alcohol content was

twice Florida's legal limit.

James White was eventually charged

with two counts of DUI manslaughter,

and one count of driving under the influence.

But just three days after the crash,

White, assisted by his relatives, left the hospital

and disappeared.

His whereabouts remained a mystery until the night

of our broadcast.

Update.

Burlington, Vermont.

James White has been arrested.

CHUCK WILLIAMS: Following the broadcast of Unsolved

Mysteries, we received some 200 phone calls about James

White and his whereabouts.

Two days after the Unsolved Mysteries broadcast,

we got the phone call we were waiting on.

James White was spotted by someone

who had seen the program, up in Burlington, Vermont.

He was seen in a bar.

And he was arrested and taken into custody up there.

PEARL HASKINS: I was very glad to get him off the road,

to think that he's not going to kill someone else.

I think it's a terrible thing, what he did.

He should have stayed there.

And he should have faced the music.

ROBERT STACK: Two weeks after he was captured, James White was

returned to Florida, where he is scheduled

to stand trial on all charges.

White, who has two prior convictions for drunk driving,

could receive a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison.

[music playing]

ROBERT STACK: Rochester, New York.

June 26th, 1990.

At around 6:45 AM, Armored Motor Services of America

dispatched the transport for a scheduled delivery.

Inside the truck was nearly $11 million

in various denominations.

The events you're about to see are based on an official police

investigation.

Just after 7:00 AM, the armored truck

made a unauthorized, but not uncommon,

stop at a convenience store.

A guard, whom we will call Mary Wilson, went inside the store,

while the driver, Albert Ranieri, waited in the truck.

MARY WILSON: We stopped there about once or twice a week.

And usually get the same thing.

And, that morning, there was no one in there when I walked in.

It was just me.

And then a lady came in later on.

It was normal.

ROBERT STACK: While Mary Wilson was buying donuts and coffee,

a daring assault was unfolding in full view,

just 100 feet away.

Put your hands on the wheel!

Look straight ahead.

We'll all get home tonight.

Don't move, or I'll kill you.

Don't turn around.

ROBERT STACK: Five minutes later, Mary Wilson

returned to the truck, unaware that her partner

was no longer in control.

MARY WILSON: OK.

Here's your sandwich.

[inaudible] Get down on the ground.

MARY WILSON: It happened so fast I didn't really

get a chance to get scared.

He pushed me to the floor and tied my hands and my feet

together with plastic handcuffs.

When I say drive, you drive.

When I say turn, you turn.

ROBERT STACK: Albert Ranieri was forced, at gunpoint,

to drive to a secluded location, one and a half miles

from the convenience store.

The armored truck was followed by a gray Chevrolet van.

NEIL FLOOD: One couldn't have picked a better location.

It was about 75 to 100 yards off the road.

And it completely disappears from sight behind a small hill.

And we know that the site had been

prepared prior to the robbery.

There were several tree branches that

had been freshly cut, to make sure that this large vehicle

would fit.

All right.

Get back here.

Crawl through that window. Shut up!

Don't talk to me.

Crawl through that window, or I'll kill you.

ROBERT STACK: Authorities believe that the two

robbers were met at the location by at least

one other accomplice.

Albert Ranieri was bound and gagged, and forced

on top of Mary Wilson.

NEIL FLOOD: At that point in time, the vehicle is unloaded.

And there's approximately 2,000 pounds of money there.

One tray, in particular, was full of $100 bills.

There was $1 million in hundreds.

There was almost $8 million in 20's.

And the rest was in a variety of other denominations.

ROBERT STACK: According to Wilson and Ranieri,

there was little dialogue between the robbers.

The money was transferred with brisk efficiency.

DALE ANDERSON This was a lot of money.

So we believe that it took probably

in the neighborhood of five, maybe 10 minutes,

to offload that amount of bulk.

MARY WILSON: I sat there quiet.

Make sure I didn't hear any more voices.

I was scared for my life.

I kept thinking about my son.

And I just thought I was going to die.

That's why I broke loose.

Because I wasn't going to sit there and wait for somebody

to come back and kill me.

ROBERT STACK: It took Mary Wilson

15 painful minutes to rip through the plastic handcuffs.

Unable to free her partner from his restraints,

she drove the armored truck to company headquarters

and reported the robbery.

In less than an hour, the thieves made

off with nearly $11 million.

The next day, the getaway van was discovered five miles away.

The interior was littered with over $13,000 in small bills,

the leftovers of what authorities have determined

is the largest on-the-road armored car robbery

in the United States history.

Everything seemed to indicate that the heist

was an inside job.

A conveniently broken porthole allowed one robber

to hold the driver at gunpoint, while the other

allegedly used a key to gain entry

through the truck side door.

Both gunmen wore clothing which was

nearly identical to the uniforms worn by company employees.

Finally, only a limited number of people

were aware of the enormous amount of untraceable cash

being transported that day.

[music playing]

ROBERT STACK: When we return, a woman needs your help to find

her long lost twin brother.

The Dust Bowl.

One of the most devastating natural disasters

in American history.

During the 1930's, years of relentless drought

transformed the lush farmlands of Oklahoma, Texas,

and the Midwest into a barren wasteland.

Thousands of families were forced

to abandoned their ancestral homes,

desperately searching for work.

Uprooted and impoverished, many made

their way west to California's fertile San Joaquin Valley.

15 years later, many still remained in the area

as migrant farm workers, following

the fruit and vegetable harvest from town to town.

Ira and Dora Brown were typical dust bowl refugees.

They had lost their farm in Oklahoma, and never returned.

By 1951, they had four children, and Dora was pregnant again.

On July 27th, 1951, Nora Brown gave birth

to twins, a girl and a boy.

The children were named Martha and Robert.

With six mouths to feed, the Browns

felt they had no choice but to put the twins up for adoption.

MARTHA SMITH: I think my parents gave me

up out of their best interest.

And they really couldn't afford us.

I had a heart condition.

I think my father finally, reluctantly, gave us up

for adoption so I could get good medical treatment

and get an education.

ROBERT STACK: Martha and Bobby were placed in California's

foster care system.

They were shuttled from one family to another,

never knowing what it was like to live in a secure home.

Finally, in 1956, when they were five years old,

Martha and Bobby came to live with Alice and Arnold Breitler

in Reedley, California.

ALICE BREITLER: My name is Alice.

And this is Arnold.

And we're very happy to have you here.

And in the house, we have some presents for you.

Would you like to go inside and see them?

All right.

Let's do that.

ALICE BREITLER: I can see Martha and Bobby

as they came to my door.

They were so pretty, and so cute,

my first time to see them.

And I really fell in love with them right away.

ALICE BREITLER: And this is your room.

There's your doll.

There's your truck.

ALICE BREITLER: Martha went right to the bedroom

and grabbed the doll, and just hugged it.

And I thought that was very sweet of her.

I didn't, at the time, realize that they

hadn't had toys before.

ALICE BREITLER: One more brush.

One more brush.

Is that OK?

ALICE BREITLER: The social worker told us

that they had been mistreated.

It took me two and a half hours to get

the dirt off of their bodies.

ALICE BREITLER: Martha, don't eat with your fingers, honey.

Don't eat with your fingers.

Eat with your fork.

ALICE BREITLER: They were so hungry.

And they just ate for a week.

It seemed like we couldn't fill them up.

ALICE BREITLER: You are a hungry boy.

ALICE BREITLER: As time went by, Martha would tell me things.

That the home that they had been in-- a foster home--

that they had to stand on the outside

while the family ate their dinner.

And then they would bring them in, and give them beans.

MARTHA SMITH: We were hungry when we got to the Breitlers'.

Very malnourished.

I have memories of Bobby and I going to the kitchen

and sneaking out what food we could find.

It seemed to be a nightly ritual.

We were so afraid of going hungry again.

Bobby and I were very close to each other at that time.

It was like we were the only kids in the whole world

that loved each other.

And nobody else loved us.

ROBERT STACK: Years of severe neglect

have taken a tremendous emotional toll

on the twins, especially Bobby.

Almost immediately, there was evidence

of serious behavioral problems.

ALICE BREITLER: One day, they were playing

out there, in the backyard.

And I went out, and here Bobby was holding Martha's face

right down in the water.

And he wouldn't let her up.

MARTHA SMITH: Mommy!

ALICE BREITLER: Bobby, stop that!

Don't do that!

Bobby, you're hurting Martha.

You mustn't do that.

ALICE BREITLER: I think Bobby loved his sister very much.

But he also resented her.

ALICE BREITLER: Go to your room.

Right this minute.

Now, you go to your room.

ALICE BREITLER: He'd be real sweet.

And then he'd built himself up into these little fits like.

And then they'd pass away.

And then he'd be sweet again.

And it seemed to be something in him.

ROBERT STACK: Bobby's violent temper

was a constant worry for both the Breitlers

and the child welfare office.

In 1957, the welfare board, fearing for Martha's safety,

decided it would be best to separate the twins.

Bobby was sent to yet another foster home.

MARTHA SMITH: I remember very well

the day my twin brother left.

We were sitting out on the steps.

And I didn't know he was going to leave.

And I don't know if he knew he was going to leave.

ALICE BREITLER: Now be a good boy, Bobby.

I'm going to miss you.

Give me a hug.

Now say goodbye to your sister.

MARTHA SMITH: And, at the last minute,

Bobby gave me his clown outfit that he

had worn that Halloween.

BOBBY: You can keep this.

MARTHA SMITH: Really?

And that was the one thing he could give me

that was very special to him.

I miss my twin very, very much.

Because it seemed like he was only person in the whole world

that really loved me.

And he was the only person in the whole world that I loved.

So when he left, I really missed him.

ALICE BREITLER: I felt so bad.

And even to this day, I feel like I

wish I hadn't sent him away.

But, I mean, I'm sorry that they had me send him away.

ROBERT STACK: When the twins were 11,

Bobby and his foster family moved out of the area.

Martha and the Breitlers never heard from him again.

In 1962, Martha was legally adopted by the Breitlers.

After the death of her adoptive father, she and her mother

moved to Ashland, Oregon.

But Martha never forgot her twin brother.

When she was 18, Martha made a special trip to the welfare

office in Fresno, California.

She learned that Bobby had been adopted,

and eventually obtained his address.

MARTHA SMITH: I wrote my twin brother

to ask him if he could come to my high school graduation.

And I remember waiting excitedly each day for the postman

to bring me a letter from him.

ROBERT STACK: A few weeks later, Martha's letter was returned.

Unopened.

MARTHA SMITH: I think I thought, at that time,

that I had lost my twin for good.

That I would never be able to find him again.

ROBERT STACK: 20 years would pass before Martha

was able to uncover any additional information

about her brother.

In 1989, Martha obtained copies of Bobby's birth certificate

and driver's license.

She also found that he had an address in Los Angeles.

MARTHA SMITH: I was so excited.

I was jumping up and down and clapping and yelling

and the whole bit.

What Martha did not realize was that the address belonged

to a shelter for the homeless.

But according to the records of the midnight mission,

Bobby had not been seen there for more than two years.

I think my twin brother and I, while we were little,

had a special bond.

I still think he, in his own little way,

still remembers me, and loves me,

as he did when I was a child.

It's just very important for me to find him.

It would mean the world to me if I could find him.

[music playing]

ROBERT STACK: Next, a murder investigation

is complicated by the victim's religious beliefs.

[music playing]

ROBERT STACK: America is God's crucible, a great melting pot.

These words written nearly a century ago

are as true today as they were during the Great

European Migration.

However, woven into the colorful fabric of American society,

a few subcultures are so self-contained and tradition

bound that they are shrouded in mystery

for those in the mainstream.

And are all too often misunderstood.

Orthodox Jews comprise only about 1/10

of 1% of our population.

Their roots may be traced back 5,000 years,

to the time of Moses.

Observant Orthodox Jews live according to strict codes

of social and moral conduct, which have remained

unchanged for centuries.

Hours of daily prayer, and a rigid dietary regime,

are among the ancient rituals which

guide the Orthodox Jew through birth, marriage, and death.

To ensure the continuation of the tradition,

many communities have established yeshivas, schools

which include an emphasis on the religious and ethical

principles of Orthodox Judaism.

On Saturday, November 1st, 1986, Don Daly, a veteran Nassau

County New York police detective,

was unexpectedly thrust into this uncommon environment.

At 8:00 AM, Daly was dispatched to a yeshiva

in Long Beach, New York, to investigate the murder

of one of its students.

The victim was 15-year-old Chaim Weiss, of New York City.

A single blow to his skull with a sharp object

had severed his spinal column.

[inaudible]

ROBERT STACK: Investigators found no murder weapon.

There was no evidence of a robbery,

or signs of a struggle.

Almost immediately, detective Daly

realized that this would be a unique investigation,

unlike any other in his 25-year career.

DON DALY: Well, I think initially,

we were dealing with a Saturday, which is the Sabbath.

When we arrived at the scene, sometime around 8:00 o'clock

in the morning, it was difficult to talk to anybody

at that particular time.

Because, number one, the people we're

dealing with, being Orthodox Jew, they're not able to write.

We couldn't take statements from anybody.

We got the impression a lot of the students at that time

were afraid to talk to us.

Or were a little shy.

ROBERT STACK: In the victim's room,

Daly found a series of clues, which indicated that the killer

might have been familiar with a yeshiva,

and the customs of Orthodox Judaism.

It appeared that Chaim had been killed as he slept.

His body was then moved.

Not once, but twice.

First, from the bed to the floor.

And later, to another spot, two feet away.

It also seemed strange that Chaim's

window had been left wide open on a chilly October evening.

DON DALY: We spoke to several people

about this, who are involved in the Orthodox religion.

It would be customary, in the religion,

to open a window or a door where the dead person would be,

to let the spirit out.

It would also be customary for the body

to be taken off the bed.

Because the body should be at the lowest

point, and the coolest point.

The coolest point being the floor, compared to the bed.

ROBERT STACK: Another ritual would

result in a third peculiarity.

One of the rabbis asked to leave a memorial

candle in the room, which would burn for seven days.

The crime scene was then sealed.

However, two days later, another candle mysteriously appeared.

No one in the school ever admitted to having

placed it in the room.

DON DALY: If they lit that candle as a gesture of sympathy

or love for Chaim, why wouldn't they come forward and say that?

That's certainly a good thing to do.

Nobody came forward with that.

With little else to go on, detective Daly

set about piecing together the final hours

of Chaim Weiss's life.

He learned that Chaim was an outgoing, likeable teenager,

who was at the top of his class.

He had been attending the yeshiva in Long

Beach for two and a half years.

ANTON WEISS: Chaim was loving, joyous, bright.

As far as I know, at the yeshiva,

Chaim had no problems I can think of.

He felt comfortable.

Maybe there was some things going on,

which is normal among kids.

RABBI: Now go, students.

Go.

Good Shabbos to you.

Don't forget, it's Halloween.

ROBERT STACK: In 1986, Halloween fell

on a Friday night, the beginning of the Jewish Sabbath.

In the late afternoon, Chaim left class with his friends

to attend services.

Afterwards, he would return to the dormitory.

Several hours later, two classmates saw

Chaim reading in the hallway.

DON DALY: Many of the students do that.

Because of their religion, they don't put

lights on and off at that time.

On the Sabbath, it was dark.

So the lights are left on in the main hallway.

The students sit out in the hallway and read.

ROBERT STACK: Chaim Weiss was last seen alive at 1:00 AM.

Police speculate that the killer might have known the layout

of the dormitory, and was probably

aware that Chaim was one of only two students

without a roommate.

DON DALY: If somebody came up through that stairwell,

those rooms were all occupied by students.

Nobody heard anything unusual.

No yelling or screaming.

However, we did have one student who

felt that he heard his door open up sometime during the night.

And then close again.

But he assumed it was his roommate.

There are a lot of questions that we

haven't been able to answer.

DON DALY: We have some things that we

have to put behind us here.

ROBERT STACK: A few days after the murder,

detective Daly called a meeting with the students,

teachers, and rabbis.

Daly was desperate for information,

and implored them to come forward.

DON DALY: But if anybody knows anything, we need the help.

ROBERT STACK: But almost every question

he asked was answered by stony silence.

DON DALY: Do you fellas really understand

how important this is?

DON DALY: We learned, at one point,

that in their particular Orthodox religion, unless you

have proof, or another witness, mere suspicion alone is not

enough to go and say anything.

Or to accuse somebody.

So they wouldn't talk about other students.

Or who they might suspect.

Or what their feelings were.

Because they didn't want to put any blame on anyone

without more than mere suspicion.

Do you know for sure who killed Chaim Weiss?

No.

ROBERT STACK: Police eventually polygraphed 40 students,

and several of the school's teachers and rabbis.

Did you kill Chaim Weiss?

God forbid.

Just answer a yes or no answer, please.

No.

ROBERT STACK: However, detective Daly

obtain no useful information from the polygraph exams.

It seemed as if he would never find a suspect.

Or a motive.

DON DALY: We'd like to see anybody

with any information at all.

Whether, at that time, they didn't want to tell us

because it was mere suspicion, maybe

they have a different feeling now.

And maybe mere suspicion would be helpful to us.

And give us those suspicious, so we can

go out and investigate them.

ANTON WEISS: The not knowing makes it much

more difficult for me to cope.

Certain things I accept.

My son's dead.

But the murder's still loose.

All these unanswered questions.

Makes me feel very, very uneasy.

ROBERT STACK: One question above all others

continues to haunt this case.

Why would any brutally murdered a 15-year-old boy

with no known enemies?

Police have uncovered only one significant clue.

A jogger has stated that he saw a young man who could have been

a yeshiva student a few blocks from the school

at 7:00 AM on the day Chaim's body was found.

All attempts to identify the student have been unsuccessful.

Join me next time.

Perhaps you may be able to help solve a mystery.