All language subtitles for Unsolved.Mysteries.S08E05.AMZN.WEB-DL.DDP2.0.H.264-BTW_track3_[eng]

NARRATOR: Tonight on
"Unsolved Mysteries."

ROBERT STACK: He was
TV's first superhero.

In the 1950s, George Reeves
achieved overnight stardom

as a legendary man of steel.

Then suddenly it was over.

Reeves was found shot
to death in his home

and ever since the question
has haunted Hollywood,

who killed Superman?

In Fairfield, California
a team of police officers

dispatched to arrest a
suspected drug dealer,

walked straight into an ambush.

Toledo, Ohio 1963,
a tragic accident

leaves three young
children motherless.

Within days, Tina
Shiets is separated

from her little brother.

More than 30 years later,
Tina is still searching,

still hoping to find them.

It was one of nature's
mysterious wonders,

the birth of a pure
white buffalo calf.

Almost immediately a
small Wisconsin farm

was transformed into a revered
shrine for Native Americans.

Is the arrival of the miracle
buffalo the fulfillment

of an ancient prophecy?

Join me for these
fascinating new stories

and much more on
tonight's edition

of "Unsolved Mysteries."

[theme music]

DETECTIVE 1: All right.
He's got something.

He's giving it to the guy.
- OK.

The deal is going down.

It's the male, white
in the black Chrysler.

We have two units to stay
on him when he leaves.

ROBERT STACK: February 1980.

Acting on a tip, Detectives
from the Oakland,

California Police
Department staked

out a liquor store parking lot.

DETECTIVE 1: All right,
Ramirez is backing out.

Ramirez is out.

ROBERT STACK: Sure
enough, a suspected

drug dealer named Roberto
Ramirez had set up a sale.

Roberto Ramirez was
no ordinary dealer.

He allegedly distributed
cocaine from Oakland to LA.

The word was that Ramirez
would do absolutely

anything to turn a dime.

DET.

CLINT OJALA: He would often
deal out of his house,

but most often meet people
at different locations.

He'd often have his children,
two small children, grammar

school age, carry the
cocaine in backpacks

and bring it to the
buyers that way.

ROBERT STACK: After
obtaining a search warrant,

police converged on Ramirez's
home in Fairfield, California,

some 40 miles north of Oakland.

I want everybody to make sure
they got one in the chamber.

The safeties are off.

ROBERT STACK: A total of 12,
Oakland and Fairfield officers,

were in on the raid.

But would Ramirez come easy?

Would he get stubborn and
make it tough on everybody?

Officer Marc
Burrell, Oakland PD.

MARC BURRELL: My assignment
was to pry the iron

grate on the front door.

The safest entry that we
make is a quick entry.

It gives the people inside
less time to prepare

and normally we catch them
in that surprise mode.

ROBERT STACK: Detective
Mark Smith, Fairfield PD.

MARK D. SMITH: My position was
to cross in front of the house,

and I would cover the window
and the side of the house

for anybody trying
to flee or any attack

coming from outside the window,
through the front window.

ROBERT STACK: 1:42 AM.

Showtime.

[knock on door]

Police officers!

Search warrant!

Open the door!

Policias!

Abre la puerta!

[knock on door]

Police officers!
Search warrant!

Open the door!

Policias!

Abre la puerta!

ROBERT STACK: Ramirez's silence
was a challenge loud and clear.

Come and get me.

At that instant, Ramirez
appeared at a side window.

[gunshots]

Somebody's hit.

Everybody hold your fire.

ROBERT STACK: Two officers fell.

Severely injured,
Detective Smith had to be

dragged from the line of fire.

Officer Burrell took refuge
under Ramirez's window.

Hold your fire.

I'm coming out.

All right, it's clear.

MARC BURRELL: I took a
physical check on myself.

My legs worked, and
I was clear thinking.

My left arm didn't work.

My shoulder was numb.

Go.
Go.

Go.
Get him out.

Get him out.

ROBERT STACK: But the other
officer wasn't so lucky.

Detective Smith was
bleeding profusely.

He was evacuated through
a neighbor's house

to a waiting ambulance.

Watch the door.

Roberto, [speaking spanish]

ROBERT STACK: Still
Ramirez wouldn't budge.

Reinforcements from eight
other police departments

had filled out the ranks.

Now 30 heavily-armed officers
surrounded the house.

POLICE: He's coming out.

OK, he's coming out.

ROBERT STACK: After
a two-hour standoff,

Roberto Ramirez finally emerged.

True to form, he cowered behind
his wife eight months pregnant

and their children
ages 10 and 6.

POLICE: [speaking spanish]

MARC BURRELL: When
Ramirez came outside,

there was a lot of tension.

He had shot two of
our police officers.

And he had a lot of time to
think about what he had done.

POLICE: [speaking spanish]

MARC BURRELL:
Anything can happen.

You don't know what's
going through their mind

at that point.

ROBERT STACK: Roberto Ramirez
was arrested on two counts

of attempted murder
and a laundry list

of drug and assault charges.

A bail bond of
more than $500,000

in California real estate
was enough to spring Ramirez

from jail.

In June of 1990, shortly
before a court date,

the couple packed
up their children

and dropped from sight.

They are still on the run,
but the damage they inflicted

lingers on.

MARC BURRELL: I was shot
through the upper left arm.

It was basically in and out.

It severed the nerves in my left
arm and left me with no feeling

although I have strength and
muscle flexibility in the arm,

but I just don't have
any feeling in it.

[gun shots]

POLICE: I remember
muzzle flashes and then

my next memory, I felt like I
had been punched in the stomach

or hit with a baseball
bat in the stomach.

I can't pronounce most of
the things I had damaged,

but it was most of the
internal organs in my abdomen.

The bullet went completely
through most of the intestines

and the kidney, liver, enlodged.

It stopped on the
opposite side of my body

just under the skin in my back.

I'm always going to have
the scars and the pain

and all from it, but it would
give me some satisfaction if he

was caught and was in
jail serving his time

and pain for what he's done.

ROBERT STACK: Roberto
Ramirez is 38 years old.

He is a heavyset
5' 6", 210 pounds.

He should be considered
armed and dangerous.

Last Friday, the lines
at the phone center

was swamped with calls
from our viewers.

Let's quickly go to Keely Shaye
Smith to see what happened.

For the past two weeks,
the nation's attention

has been focused on
the tragic murder

of 27-year-old Linda Sobek.

Sobek's body was found
here in a shallow grave

at this spot in the
Angeles National

Forest outside Los Angeles.

Sheriff detectives
now fear her murder

may be connected to an
unsolved homicide we profiled

on an earlier broadcast.

The remains of the
victim in that case

were also found in this area.

Linda Sobek was a successful
model and former Los Angeles

Raiders cheerleader, whose
disappearance on November 16

left her family and
friends frantic.

This man, photographer,
Charles Rathbun,

has claimed that Linda Sobek
died in a freak car accident

during a photo shoot.

Then in a state of
panic, he buried her

in the Angeles National Forest.

Days later, with
the help of Rathbun,

Linda Sobek's body
was recovered.

But initial reports from
the coroner's office

seemed to indicate that
Linda's injuries were not

consistent with
being hit by a car.

Charles Rathbun has been
charged with first degree murder

and is being held
on $1 million bail.

According to the authorities,
he is now a suspect

in the death of another model,
Kimberly Pandelios, whose story

we aired last year,
March 3, 1993,

again, in the Angeles
National Forest.

The LA county coroner
was called to investigate

a possible murder site.

A partial set of skeletal
remains had been discovered.

When the coroner
checked dental records

of missing persons in the Los
Angeles area, he found a match.

The remains were identified as
those of 20-year-old Kimberly

Pandelios, a model
and actress who

had disappeared, a year before.

Kimberly was married and
had a 14-month-old son.

On February 27,
1992, Kimberly had

told her husband that
she was scheduled

to do an outdoor photo shoot.

Authorities believed
she responded to an ad

in a local paper.

The next day, her
burned-out car was

found near the Monte
Cristo campground section

of the Angeles National Forest.

A search of the immediate
area turned up no clues.

Another year would pass
before Kimberly's remains

were found a few
miles from the spot

where Linda Sobek was buried.

RON SPEAR: We do have
some similarities

between the death of Kimberly
Pandelios and Linda Sobek.

We also have a person
who has come forward

and indicated that they
saw Kimberly Pandelios

in the company of
Charles Rathbun

inside a Denny's Restaurant
shortly before her murder.

KEELY SHAYE SMITH: Two blonde
models on photo shoots.

Two bodies found in the
Angeles National Forest.

Two victims with known or
reported ties to photographer,

Charles Rathbun.

Despite the similarities, the
LA County Sheriff's Department

believes it is too
soon to positively

connect the two cases.

ROBERT STACK: April 6, 1963.

A highway under construction.

A young, single
mother hurrying home

to her three small children.

In the blink of
an eye, disaster.

26-year-old Patricia
Lamerand of Toledo, Ohio

was killed instantly.

A few miles away,
Patricia's children

waited patiently and
unknowingly at the home

of their great aunt.

REPORTER: Accident
investigators believe

she lost control of the car
along a section of the highway.

ROBERT STACK: That
evening, the flickering

images on the television
brought the tragedy home.

Look, there's mom's car on TV.

ROBERT STACK: Suddenly,
they were motherless,

Patricia's one-year-old son,
Craig, nicknamed Chipper,

two-year-old Christopher,
Chrissy for short,

and four-year-old Tina.

TINA LAMERAND SHIETS: The
day before was my brother,

Chrissy's second birthday, and
I remember the birthday cake

and the people at the party.

And my next memory
goes immediately

to my aunt on the phone crying.

ROBERT STACK: Tina had only the
vaguest notion that something

terrible had happened.

She had no idea that
she and her brothers

were about to be
split up forever.

Chrissy and Chipper
were eventually

handed over to foster care.

Tina was uprooted as
well, lonely and confused.

She left her great aunt's home
to live with her grandparents.

TINA LAMERAND SHIETS: I do
remember once my grandparents

took custody of me
that I was very upset

and could not understand why
my mother and my brothers

were gone.

I felt as though I was bad, that
I had done something terribly

awful for all this to happen
to me and for everybody

to have been taken from me.

As I grew up, I missed not
having Chrissy and Chipper

there.

I knew that they were
somewhere and that I wanted

to be with them, but it
was out of my control

as to where any of us went.

And the older I
got, the more I knew

I had the ability to find them.

ROBERT STACK: Tina started
looking when she was 16.

What is it?

It's the address of
the foster home where

Chrissy and Chipper were taken.

ROBERT STACK: Her great aunt
gave her the first clues.

You mean, this is
where they lived?

No, that's the place
where they were taken.

I don't know what happened
to them after that.

ROBERT STACK: Tina
found the house

only to learn that Chrissy
and Chipper's foster parents

had moved.

She then went door
to door hoping

the neighbors could help.

Hello.

Hi.

I'm trying to
locate a family that

used to take in foster kids.

I believe they lived next door
to you about 15 years ago.

Oh, yeah.

Yeah, there was a family.

They had lots of
foster kids over there.

Yeah.

I'm trying to find
my two brothers.

Their names were
Chipper and Chrissy,

and I believe they lived
with her for a while.

I remember those two.

Yes.

Cute little boys, yeah.

You remember them?

Oh, I remember.

It was a long time ago though.

Cindle.

Her Name was Doris Cindle.

Doris Cindle?

Yes.

I think she's a nurse.

ROBERT STACK: Tina was elated.

She finally had a name.

She was only a phone
call away from locating

her long, lost brothers.

She never imagined it
would take another eight

years to track down Doris
Cindle and make that call.

- Have a good day.
- Thank you.

You too.
- Good bye.

When I first
told her who I was,

I asked her if she ever lived
in Toledo, and she said, yes.

And I asked her if she was ever
a foster parent, and she said,

yes.

And I told her I believed that
she had fostered my brothers.

And she said, my babies,
Chrissy and Chipper.

And I nearly fell
off of my chair.

ROBERT STACK: Doris had
mothered Chrissy and Chipper

for almost two years.

She loved them as her own
until they were adopted

by a couple from Michigan.

Tina, I've been
waiting for you, hon.

ROBERT STACK: Tina visited
Doris as soon as she could.

She wanted to hear every detail.

This was taken at Dear Park.

ROBERT STACK: Doris gave Tina a
glimpse into the life she might

have shared with her brothers.

Doris had saved everything, the
home movies, the photographs,

even the boys' tiny bow ties.

TINA LAMERAND SHIETS:
They were so cute.

These are the actual ties.

When I handed her
the bow ties, I

had no intentions of letting
her keep those bow ties.

But I didn't have the
heart to take them back

because she looked with
them with such loving care,

and she couldn't speak.

She cried.

How sweet.

It just felt as they
had actually worn these.

I was that much closer to them.

I just wanted to be
able to be with them.

Coming up, one of Hollywood's
most intriguing mysteries.

Was George Reeves TV "Superman"
killed by an irate husband?

But first we'll take
you to Wisconsin

where the birth of a
rare white Buffalo calf

turned a small farm
into a spiritual mecca.

150 years ago, the buffalo
ruled the Western plains,

30 million strong, proud masters
of a vast, uncharted land.

But today the Great Plains
are virtually empty.

Just 130,000 of those
majestic creatures remain.

Most are on ranches or
farms such as this one

in Janesville, Wisconsin.

Dave Heider and
his wife, Valerie,

have been breeding
buffalo since 1989,

but nothing could have prepared
Dave for the remarkable events

of August 20, 1994.

That morning, he went out
to check on a pregnant cow.

What he discovered would change
his life and his farm forever.

DAVE L. HEIDER: Well, I
headed out in the pasture

trying to find his cow.

And I found her on the east
most corner of the pasture.

The cow stood up and
the calf stood up.

And she was in the
shade, and the calf

looked funny colored, real
strange colored, like a gray.

The cow walked out
into the sunlight,

and the calf followed her.

I could not believe
what I was looking at.

She was as white as white
could be, as white as snow.

ROBERT STACK: It was
nature at its most

glorious and unpredictable.

The odds were 1 in 10 million, a
white, non-albino buffalo calf.

Fittingly, the Heiders
named her Miracle.

As news of the
extraordinary calf spread,

the Heiders were
besieged by members

of the Lakota Sioux nation.

To the Lakotas, Miracle was a
profound gift, the fulfillment

of an ancient prophecy.

Almost overnight, the
farm was transformed

into a religious shrine.

VALERIE HEIDER: They came
from all over the world here.

They would call from
all over the world.

We had telephone calls
every three minutes

from 6:30 in the morning
till 11:30 at night.

At one period, we had 2,300
people through our driveway

in a five-hour length of time.

And it was wall-to-wall
people constantly.

It was like a wave
that never ended.

[chanting in foreign language]

ROBERT STACK:
Initially, the Heiders

were confounded by
all the commotion,

but as a flood tide
of visitors continued,

Dave and Valerie soon
learned the full significance

of the white buffalo calf.

This rare animal is at the
heart of a hallowed legend

handed down by the Lakota
Sioux for some 600 years.

[speaking foreign language]

ROBERT STACK:
Arvol Looking Horse

of the Cheyenne
River Reservation

is a spiritual leader
of the Lakota nation.

He is responsible for
passing on the story

of the white buffalo calf
to the next generation.

There was a time when
the white buffalo calf

woman, she came to the
people 19 generations ago.

ROBERT STACK: According
to the legend,

two scouts were set out
during a great famine

to search for the buffalo herd.

As they crested one rye, as
they spied a lone, white buffalo

calf, it was an amazing sight.

The braves watched in awe as
a calf magically transformed

into a beautiful young maiden.

Four days later, the white
buffalo calf woman appeared

again to the entire tribe.

She bore a sacred pipe
and a code of laws

as important to the Lakota
as the 10 commandments

are to Western religions.

[speaking foreign language]

ROBERT STACK: The maiden
promised that she would return

once more in 600 years as a
white buffalo calf to user

in a period of
peace and harmony.

DR. ARVOL LOOKING HORSE: I
was told 19 generations ago,

she came when the cherries
are deepest red or black,

and that would be the
last week in August.

And that's when, 19 generations
later, this white buffalo calf

has been born.

ROBERT STACK: But if
miracle is the reincarnation

of the white buffalo calf
woman, why is she here now?

The Lakota believe her return
is tied to an ancient prophecy.

FLOYD LOOKS FOR BUFFALO
HAND: In the next five years,

she's going to show us natural
disaster and man-made disaster.

It's going to be
evil killing evil.

ROBERT STACK:
Floyd Hand believes

it will begin with great fires.

Floods will follow, as
well as earthquakes,

typhoons, and man-made
disasters, pollution and war.

The prophecy states the
devastation will continue

for a full five years, but
as the onslaught wanes,

harmony will prevail followed
by an unprecedented period

of world peace.

FLOYD LOOKS FOR BUFFALO
HAND: There is hope.

There's no going to be
no end of the world.

It's just that we've got
to put our minds together

as concerning our Mother Earth.

ROBERT STACK: Perhaps
not surprisingly,

offers to buy the buffalo
calf come in daily,

from such diverse people
as media mogul, Ted Turner,

and rock star, Ted Nugent.

DAVE L. HEIDER:
She's not for sale.

She will not leave here.

But you have to be
here to see the effect

that this calf has on people,
how it changes their lives.

Something that is as sacred
and holy as what calf

is, you can't put a price on it.

That calf was sent here for us
to be like a caretaker to it

for all people to come see.

Catholics, Protestants,
they've all been here.

You'll see rosaries.

You'll see everything
on the gate,

from anything that is
very important to them,

they will leave out of the gate.

A lady came to baptize her baby.

She put her baby's hand through
the fence and held it there,

and the calf come right
up and put her head right

under the baby's
hand and stayed there

through the whole
little ceremony.

And when she was all
done, she just backed off

and she pulled the
baby's hand back,

and it was just unbelievable.

ROBERT STACK:
Unbelievable, indeed.

Apparently, the miracle calf has
already fulfilled one portion

of the prophecy,
changing colors four

times, from white, to black,
to red, and now yellow.

This is the world-renowned
white buffalo,

which is not so white anymore.

Yeah.

And she's one of these four.

Do you think you
can pick her out?

Ladies and gentlemen,
there is the star.

I've seen people from all
over the world come here.

And when they walk away, there's
something different about them,

which is spiritual awakening.

But the message
she brought to us

is the time has come
for us to live through

peace, love, and harmony.

ROBERT STACK: Next, authorities
need your help to track

down a man accused of rape.

This story is about
a rape survivor.

Call her Deidre.

Despite her intense
trauma, Deidre

refuses to let her living
nightmare destroy her.

She wants to fight back by
finding the man who raped her

and putting him behind bars.

But she cannot do it alone.

She needs your help.

For years, Deidre lived
on New York City's

fashionable Upper East Side.

It is normally a
very expensive area,

but Deidre had lucked into
the rent stabilized apartment.

Eventually, however,
the building

was slated to be torn down.

As leases ran out,
the tenants moved.

By early 1992, Deidre
was the only tenant left,

the only person living
in the building,

which was badly
in need of repair.

In the end, it was one of
those repairs, a leaky ceiling,

that led Deidre to disaster.

Oh, yes.

It's me again.

Sorry.

It's just a mess today.

We've got to get it fixed.

ROBERT STACK: The landlord
agreed to send someone.

He hired a 31-year-old
handyman named David Gause.

DEIDRE: When he was first hired,
it didn't seem strange at all.

It was just somebody
else coming in to do

some work in the building.

That's all.

ROBERT STACK: After
Gause fixed the ceiling,

the landlord gave him more work.

While Gause did the repairs,
he lived temporarily

in a basement apartment.

DEIDRE: One night, late at night
I smelled smoke downstairs,

and I went running down.

David, are you down there?

I smell smoke.

Oh, no.

I was just cooking
soup in a can.

Are you crazy?

You could burn the place down.

No, I was just cooking soup.

DEIDRE: I said, if you're
ever going to cook again,

why don't you come
up and ask me if you

can borrow a pan
because I really don't

want the building to burn down.

[knock on door]

ROBERT STACK: March
29, 1992, 9:30 AM.

Who is it?

It's David.

Oh, David.

I thought you were coming up
yesterday to paint the ceiling.

I had other things to do.

I couldn't make it.

I came up to borrow
a frying pan.

Oh, OK.

Just a second.

Here you go.

Hey, what are you doing?

Is this a joke?

No, it's no joke.

Stop.

After he raped me, it
seemed like he was calmer.

But then he got a crazy
look in his eye again.

And he took an ice
pick out of his pocket.

I thought for sure that
he was going to kill me.

ROBERT STACK: Deidra
was willing to try

anything to save her life.

She hit on a desperate ploy.

No.
No, listen.

You don't understand.
Wait.

No.
We could be together.

I made him believe that
he was my boyfriend.

It totally disarmed him.

He got really confused
about the whole thing.

Listen here.
I have this other money.

Take this too.
- Really?

Yes.
Go find those guys.

Pay them the money
and come back.

We'll go for breakfast.
We'll be together.

ROBERT STACK: The ploy worked.

Gause claimed he needed
money to pay a debt.

Deidre gave him all she had.

Deidre's called to 911
brought an immediate response.

[inaudible] another unit.

Yeah, I'm up here?

Calm down.

I'm coming right up.

ROBERT STACK: But David
Gause was long gone.

At the police station,
detectives ran

a background check on Gause.

It quickly turned up a long list
of previous arrests and felony

convictions, including
armed robbery,

assault, and grand larceny.

OK, Deidre, now
what we're going to do

is I'm going to show you
a series of six pictures,

and let me know if you
recognize anybody, OK?

OK.

It's him.

DET.

JOHN SAVINO: After we,
identified David Gause

as the person who raped Deidra,
I also contacted other police

departments and learned
that David Gause was also

wanted for a rape that occurred
in Nassau County, Long Island.

In that rape, he raped
an acquaintance of his,

and a warrant was
issued for his arrest.

ROBERT STACK: David
Gause has not been

seen in three and a half years.

The police currently
have no leads,

but they fear Gause
will rape again.

DR. PATRICIA SCHILLER:
Rape is a crime

that is usually repeated until
they are caught and put away.

So there's no doubt in my mind
if David Gause is not caught,

then he will go on doing what he
is used to doing, raping women.

DEIDRE: It's been
three and a half years

and it still affects my life.

I don't trust anybody.

There's no enjoyment left.

I know that he's
raping other women,

and I know that other
lives are being destroyed.

I'd like to see him
off the streets.

I'd like to see him
put away forever.

ROBERT STACK: When we
return, the shooting death

of television
actor George Reeves

still has many researchers
wondering who killed Superman.

NARRATOR: Faster than
a speeding bullet.

More powerful than a locomotive.

Able to leap tall buildings
in a single bound.

MAN'S VOICE: Look,
up in the sky.

It's a bird.

WOMAN'S VOICE: It's a plane.

NARRATOR: It's Superman.

Yes, it's Superman.

ROBERT STACK: In the 1950s,
millions of TV viewers

across America knew
actor George Reeves

as Superman, a
man of steel, both

indestructible and invincible.

NARRATOR: --bend steel
in his bare hands.

ROBERT STACK: Then
came June 16, 1959.

At about 1:30 AM, Los
Angeles police race

to George Reeves' fashionable
Hollywood Hills home.

Upstairs, they found George
Reeves sprawled across his bed.

He had died from a
single gunshot wound

to his right temple.

Police quickly ruled
Reeves' death a suicide,

yet within a week, some people
began to question that ruling.

It was the beginning
of a controversy,

which continues to this day.

It doesn't make
sense that George

Reeves committed suicide
because the evidence

doesn't support that.

I don't believe that
George Reeves killed himself.

I believe that he was murdered.

Who killed Superman?

For nearly four decades,
that mystery has tantalized

and fascinated Hollywood.

Those who believe George
Reeves met with foul play

say a woman was behind
it, but what woman?

At the time of his death,
Reeves was at the vortex

of a twisted double love
triangle, which would have

shocked as many loyal fans.

In 1952, George Reeves became
an overnight star as Superman.

Just four years earlier, he had
been forced to eke out a living

by digging septic tanks.

One of his "Superman"
costars was Jack

Larson who played Jimmy Olsen.

JACK LARSON: I didn't know
what I was getting into.

My presumption, as
I'm sure George's was,

no one will probably
ever see this.

And we became famous.

I mean, we became hot, and I was
just a guy around New York who

some people would say,
hey, didn't I see you

in the [inaudible],, you know,
they'd be at the lunch counter,

and suddenly I was Jimmy Olsen.

ROBERT STACK: Away
from the cameras,

in his love life at least,
Reeves bore little resemblance

to the TV superhero.

His steady girlfriend
was Toni Mannix,

a former Ziegfeld showgirl
eight years his senior.

Toni, however, was
a married woman.

Her husband, Eddie Mannix,
had been vice president of MGM

and was still a powerful
force in Hollywood.

No one knows why, but Mannix
and encouraged his wife's

involvement with Reeves.

JIM NOLT: The relationship
between George and Toni

was a very open relationship.

She took care of
George very well.

The car that he drove
was bought by Toni,

and the house that he
lived in was Toni's house.

But something happened
in late '58 that

broke that relationship off.

ROBERT STACK: Toni Mannix was
devastated by the breakup,

but George moved on quickly.

He soon began spending his time
with Leonore Lemmon, a member

of the New York Cafe Society,
much younger and much wilder

than Toni Mannix.

JIM NOLT: She had a reputation,
a bad reputation for fights

in clubs in New York.

I think George
liked the excitement

that he found with her.

Another, George?

Yes, please, dear.

ROBERT STACK: On the
night George Reeves

died, his life
was not as perfect

as it might have appeared.

Although he pampered Leonore and
they were reportedly engaged,

Reeves could not keep
up the lavish lifestyle

he had enjoyed with Toni.

Cut off from her money,
the bills were piling up.

Moreover, Reeves hadn't filmed
a new episode of "Superman"

in two years.

It was the perfume.

JIM NOLT: I think
George Reeves was going

through a mid-life crisis.

There are reports that
George was planning

to marry Leonore Lemmon.

I don't think he was
going to do that.

And that's where I think
an argument came up.

[knock on door]

Coming.

ROBERT STACK: By
midnight, only Leonore

Lermmon and writer, Robert
Condon, remained at the house

with Reeves.

George!

ROBERT STACK: Shortly
thereafter, two neighbors

stopped by looking for a party.

I want you to meet my friend.

This is George Reeves.

Mrs. William Bliss.

The bar is closed.

George, I'm sorry.

ROBERT STACK:
According to Jim Nolt,

Leonore became increasingly
agitated about the way

Reeves treated the guests.

Look what you've done.

Fine.

JIM NOLT: I think this made
Leonore Lemmon very angry

that he treated his
friend like that.

She went up, and I think
an argument started.

I think George, at
that time, told her

that he had no
plans to marry her

and that she became very
angry and pulled out a gun

and I don't think
on purpose, but I

think accidentally shot George.

And exactly what did you hear?

Well, we were downstairs,
and we heard a shot.

We went upstairs.

ROBERT STACK: Half an hour
passed before the police

were notified.

Jim Nolt believes the party
goers needed time to come

up with a consistent story.

Anyway, Carol
was with William.

ROBERT STACK: When
questioned, everyone

said Reeves had been
alone in his bedroom,

that he had shot himself.

No.

He was up there alone.

Immediately, the police
ruled Reeves' death a suicide,

despite some rather
curious evidence.

A .30 caliber Luger
pistol lay on the floor

between Reeves' legs
and that there were

no fingerprints on the gun.

Bullets in the ceiling.

ROBERT STACK: A bullet had
passed through Reeves' skull

and lodged in the
ceiling above his bed.

And strangely, the
fatal shell casing was

found underneath Reeves body.

JIM NOLT: If George Reeves
had committed suicide and held

the gun to his head,
the bullet casing

would have been expelled
away from his body,

not in back of his body where
he would have fallen on it.

There were no powder
burns in his hands.

There were no powder
burns in his head, which

means that the gun was held
far enough away from his head

that there weren't
any powder burns.

Somebody else
pulled that trigger.

ROBERT STACK: But was Leonore
Lemmon that somebody else?

Writer and researcher,
Michael Hayde,

has an even darker theory.

He believes that George Reeves'
death was a direct result

of his illicit affair with Toni
Mannix and her husband, Eddie's

anger, over Reeves ending it.

MICHAEL J. HAYDE: I believe
that the man was murdered.

I believe that Eddie Mannix,
tired of listening to his wife

grieve and obsess
over George Reeves,

decided that it was time
to take some action.

It was my understanding that
George's house was pretty much

an open house and I think
was relatively easy for Eddie

Mannix to send someone
over to the house

during the course of a party
that may have been going on,

and Eddie Mannix
had the guy killed.

Hey, Georgie boy.

Who are you?

Get out of here.

[gunshot]

George?

MICHAEL J. HAYDE: Eddie Mannix,
by the end of the '50s, who

was retiring, would
endanger his life

and the end of
his life by having

something nefarious done to
George is to my mind ludicrous.

ROBERT STACK: But what
about the physical evidence?

No fingerprints on the gun.

The shell casing
underneath Reeves'

body, the lack of powder
burns on his hands or head.

JIM BEAVER: The
absence of powder burns

raises a question in a
lot of people's minds

because most people
have a misconception

about powder burns.

They believe that powder
burns happen when a weapon

is placed up against the skin.

That's not the case.

When the weapon is
placed against the skin,

the powder goes into
the wound and does not

burn the outside of the skin.

The police found no evidence
of fingerprints on the weapon.

George was a gun collector, and
he kept his weapons well oiled.

Well, a thick coat of oil
won't hold fingerprints

anymore than water will.

OK, take him.

ROBERT STACK: Perhaps the
most difficult fact to explain

is how the shell casing
got under the body.

A .30 caliber
Luger is designed

to eject the shell upwards
and away from the shooter.

Most people think that couldn't
put the shell behind him.

However, if the gun
was fired this way,

it would eject the
shell downward.

For example.

ROBERT STACK: According
to the autopsy report,

the bullet entered
Reeves' head about one

inch above his right ear.

It exited about 1 and 3/4 of
an inch above the left ear,

then lodged in the ceiling.

The bullet trajectory
suggests that Reeves' head was

tilted when the gun was fired.

Consequently, he may have
held a gun in an odd position.

JIM BEAVER: If George
had held the gun,

not this way, but in
this way, the more

comfortable and
natural position,

he would have ejected
the shell directly

behind him and onto the bed.

ROBERT STACK: But why would
Superman kill himself?

Jack Larson believes that Reeves
was despondent over his lack

of work.

JACK LARSON: He
couldn't get a job.

I couldn't get a job
in the United States.

I was too typed as Jimmy Olsen,
absolutely typed and nobody

wanted me to work at all.

I don't know what
happened to George.

I only had a bow tie and
a sweater to worry about.

George had the Superman outfit.

So I was depressed, and
I accepted instantly

that he had committed suicide.

There is evidence
to support all three

theories about his death.

I think there is evidence
to support suicide,

there is evidence to
support a tragic accident,

and there is evidence
to support murder.

The only people who know
how George Reeves died

are no longer with us.

NARRATOR: Yes, it's Superman.

Strange visitor
from another planet.

ROBERT STACK: Who
killed Superman?

Was George Reeves'
death the result

of a secretive and
perilous love triangle,

or was he the victim of
a depression so profound

that he took his own life?

Perhaps we will never know.

Perhaps this is one
case destined to remain

an "Unsolved Mystery."

NARRATOR: --fights a
never-ending battle for truth,

justice, and the American way.

Join me again this
Friday at our regular time

for an all new edition
of "Unsolved Mysteries."

[theme music]