Original subtitles

NARRATOR: Tonight on Unsolved Mysteries.

ROBERT STACK: The name alone is enough to make

you stop and think twice.

Welcome to the Devil's Backbone in central Texas.

Locals say it's a most haunted spot in the country.

A mother lode of restless spirits sure to frighten you.

Or perhaps even possess you.

A Romeo and Juliet love affair ends tragically

when Leroy Drieth says goodbye to his girlfriend,

and, just minutes later, smashes his car into a tree.

The coroner called it suicide, but Leroy's sister, Vickie,

believes she has compelling evidence

that Leroy was murdered.

When David Kempton invited a new friend home to dinner,

he never imagined his wife and his friend would become lovers.

Within months, David's wife left him.

Then she dropped from sight, along with David's

four-year-old daughter.

Join me.

Perhaps tonight you can make a difference.

Perhaps you can help solve a mystery.

[theme music]

Weld County, Colorado.

Memorial Day, 1968.

[crashing]

Leroy Drieth is killed instantly.

The coroner's ruling is suicide.

25 years later, at his family's request,

the body of Leroy Drieth is exhumed for an autopsy.

It is the culmination of a long struggle

for Leroy's sister, Vickie, who was convinced

that her brother was murdered.

I took a vow that I would do this for my brother,

and I don't feel like I can stop until it's done.

Because I would be letting him down.

And I already feel like the authorities let him down

and that, obviously, someone took his life.

And that I can't let him down.

Someone has to stand up and talk for him.

Vickie Mahrling is a woman on a relentless quest.

A quarter of a century may seem like an eternity,

but for Vickie, time has stood still

since the day her brother died.

Her mission is simple, to bring Leroy's killer to justice

no matter how long it takes.

Leroy Drieth was the oldest of four children.

At 17, Leroy fell in love with a 16-year-old Hispanic girl

named Patty.

A year later, they were engaged.

On the day he died, Memorial Day, 1968, Leroy attended

a party at Patty's house.

He left in the late afternoon.

A block and a half away, Leroy's car

smashed head on into a tree.

Word of the accident spread quickly.

The first people on the scene were

Leroy's father and brother.

HENRY DRIETH: Leroy.

Leroy!

Son?

It's okay.

I tried to hug him.

And I said, I'm gonna go get you some help.

So I run to the truck and told Douglas we're

going to the grocery store.

Call the ambulance.

[siren blaring]

PARAMEDIC: Get out of the way, sir.

Need to clear back.

Need to clear this area.

Out of the way, sir.

Folks, does anybody know what happened here?

BYSTANDER: He had a fight with his girlfriend.

He said he's gonna kill himself.

ROBERT STACK: It was that offhanded remark

from a bystander that set the suicide scenario in motion.

OK, on three.

One, two, and three.

ROBERT STACK: Ambulance driver, Delbert Mikkelson remembers.

DELBERT MIKKELSON: On the corner--

come to the hospital and went over what happened.

And then I was the first one to relay the story to him that he

had had a fight with his girlfriend

and was going to kill himself.

ROBERT STACK: Based on that information,

the coroner deemed no autopsy was necessary.

He attributed Leroy's death to, quote, auto suicide.

FREDA BRUCE: I went to the district attorney in Greeley,

and I said I don't believe this was a suicide.

I believe it was a murder.

And I need for you to investigate it.

And he was very rude.

He said, you're just a distraught parent.

There's no reason for us to investigate this.

You just go on home and get over it.

I just cried and went home.

I never got over it.

Why don't you take this?

You always liked it.

ROBERT STACK: For 11-year-old Vickie,

Leroy's death would prove to be the defining

moment in her life.

VICKIE MAHRLING: I remember that my mom

was crying for a long time.

And even though I was only 11, I knew there was something wrong.

That I had to wait until I was an adult

to attempt to solve the problem

I never did believe that Leroy committed suicide.

ROBERT STACK: June 1988.

Vickie paid a surprise visit to the Boulder

County Coroner's Office.

She fully expected to be stonewalled.

Instead, she discovered that the current regime had already

noted the lack of a thorough investigation

into Leroy's death.

Well, you see, there's only three

recorded auto suicides in the whole history of Colorado.

Only three?

And also because, you see, the other two cases, you know,

had six-month investigations with

reams and reams of paperwork.

And as you can see with this report, it's very minimal.

Well, yeah.

Two pages.

Why is there only two pages?

I really couldn't tell you, but I want to encourage

you to look further into this.

And if I were you, I would hire a private investigator.

I felt like it was a real strange thing for them,

for the authorities, to bring it to my attention

as dramatically as they did that something's wrong here.

ROBERT STACK: Vickie became her own investigator.

She knocked on doors.

She talked to Patty's neighbors.

Looking for anyone who had any memory of the day

her brother died.

Yeah, well that's what they say.

That there has been fighting.

Oh, they said there was a big fight.

But I don't know.

You know.

VICKIE MAHRLING: According to the townspeople,

there was a party going on at Patty's house.

And there had been a fight, but that it had not

been between Patty and Leroy.

It was men who was fighting.

That there had been several other family members

there that did not like Leroy and they

had been drinking all day.

Anything about the accident?

ROBERT STACK: Vickie heard similar stories from a number

of people, but not everyone was convinced that there was more

to the situation than suicide.

Vickie had a little luck with the son

of the original coroner.

I'm very sorry, but I just want you to know one thing.

My father was a coroner here for 25 years.

He was fairly good at what he did.

I'm sure he did everything he could,

and there's really nothing more I can help you.

I'm sorry.

Excuse me.

ROBERT STACK: Finally, Vickie placed

an ad in the local paper, urging Leroy's former girlfriend,

Patty, to contact her.

It worked.

I went to the corner and got the coroner's report.

And it stated that you had told the authorities

that he was gonna leave your house to kill himself.

Did you say that?

No.

No, I never said that.

Can you tell me anything about that day?

Anything else?

No.

VICKIE MAHRLING: I felt like Patty knew answers

but was reluctant to talk.

Do you think he committed suicide?

ROBERT STACK: As far as Vickie was concerned,

the evidence was becoming undeniable.

I don't think about that day anymore.

ROBERT STACK: Next came the exhumation.

At long last, after 25 years, the body of Leroy Drieth

would be autopsied.

VICKIE MAHRLING: It was a tough decision.

It took me about six months to finally decide

that they weren't going to do anything

and couldn't do anything unless we did the exhumation.

It almost didn't seem right.

But on the other hand, it seemed wrong to just stop there

and say, oh well.

It was immediately apparent that this young man

had sustained some sort of incised wound to the neck.

Actually, two incised wounds to the neck.

And they were very characteristic of what

I see all the time in other persons

who have received stab or slash wounds

to the neck from a knife.

ROBERT STACK: Vickie was stunned.

In simple layman's terms, the two incisions

translated into a stab wound nearly two inches

long and a slash four inches long

that severed Leroy's windpipe.

Based upon Dr. Allen's findings, the cause of Leroy's death

was changed from auto suicide to undetermined.

For Vickie, crucial questions remained.

Who killed her brother?

And why?

In retrospect, everything leads back to Patty's house.

Every time I think of a scenario--

I think of what happened--

the same conclusion and the same thought

that it started at Patty's house with an argument.

ROBERT STACK: Leroy arrived at around 5:00 PM.

Hi.

Hey, how are you?

Good, how are you?

- You look beautiful. - Thank you.

You want something to drink?

ROBERT STACK: One of the guests was

Patty's sister-in-law, Carolyn.

CAROLYN WERTZ: Leroy come over that day,

and a lot of Patty's family was there.

And everyone had been drinking quite heavily that day.

I was married to Patty's brother.

And I was living in the house with the family

for about eight months before and after this happened.

Walking away from me.

You don't walk away from me when I'm talking to you.

Just calm down.

CAROLYN WERTZ: And Patty's family

and Leroy had a slight argument--

kind of a racial argument-- over girlfriends and boyfriends.

Why don't you just go find yourself

a nice little white girl, huh?

Huh?

LEROY DRIETH: Because I love her, and she loves me, okay?

MAN: Give me that bottle.

ROBERT STACK: Soon after the argument,

Patty escorted Leroy to his car.

Vickie is convinced that just before he drove off,

Leroy was attacked by one of Patty's family members.

VICKIE MAHRLING: I believe that they continued arguing

and that a male person--

Leroy.

VICKIE MAHRLING: --Just quickly reached

out and cut Leroy's throat.

I feel that Leroy was probably fleeing

for his life in the automobile and then lost

consciousness or lost control of the vehicle

because of the injuries.

He would have been in in pain and would

have been extremely afraid.

But the actual cause of death were injuries sustained

from the automobile crash.

[crashing]

VICKIE MAHRLING: I feel like I have

become a cop in this whole scenario, which

is very difficult at times.

Because I have no training, and I don't know what to do.

And I'm sure I've made the wrong mistakes at times.

But I also know that I care deeply about my family

and that I love my brother very much.

And I know that, as long as I'm doing this with my heart pure

and doing it for the good reasons,

that there is going to be a conclusion.

[music playing]

Here at Unsolved Mysteries, each and every case

solved brings us feelings of immense satisfaction.

Tonight's update is particularly gratifying.

It involves a young man sentenced to life in prison

for a murder most people are convinced he did not commit.

On Sunday night, April 13th, 1986, fire and rescue squads

raced to a raging house fire in Aurora, Missouri.

When firemen were finally able to search the wreckage,

they found the body of 79-year-old Pauline Martz.

She had been bound, gagged, and left to die.

Investigators concluded the fire had been deliberately set.

I'd say I was--

ROBERT STACK: Five days later, the police

questioned a local 20-year-old named Johnny Lee Wilson.

What would you say?

ROBERT STACK: Wilson is mildly retarded,

with an IQ in the mid-60s.

In this chair.

And he sat here and looked you right in the eye

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

ROBERT STACK: After a grueling four-hour interrogation,

Wilson confessed.

A confession he would later recant.

He mad at you?

JOHNNY WILSON: 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.

The court finds the defendant--

ROBERT STACK: Johnny's attorneys recommended

that he plead guilty to avoid the possibility

of the death penalty.

In doing so, he waived his right to a trial by jury.

JUDGE: Court sentences you--

ROBERT STACK: In April of 1987, Johnny Lee Wilson was

sentenced to life in prison.

Court stands adjourned.

ROBERT STACK: He was immediately remanded to the Missouri State

Penitentiary.

Several legal experts, incensed by this apparent injustice,

sprang to Johnny's defense.

DEE WOMPLER: 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 is somebody to believe me you know,

that I didn't do this.

Over the years, the case against Johnny Lee Wilson

began to fall apart.

A key witness recanted his testimony.

An inmate in another prison actually

confessed to the crime.

Nevertheless, both the state court

of appeals and the Missouri Supreme Court

refused to grant Johnny a trial.

Johnny Lee Wilson had only one other option.

One last hope.

Here's Keely Shaye Smith with the details.

In July of 1994, Johnny's case came before Missouri

governor, Mel Carnahan.

Johnny's attorneys had requested a pardon on the grounds

that there was no evidence against their client.

Only, quote, a pathetic, desperate

confession after hours of interrogation.

My counsel re-interviewed the witnesses.

Talked to the prosecutors and the police.

Looked at the evidence.

Read the transcripts.

A year-long study.

And we became convinced that it wasn't appropriate--

not only wasn't it appropriate for him to remain in prison,

but that he was innocent.

KEELY SHAYE SMITH: The pardon was granted.

On September 29, 1995, Johnny Lee Wilson

was finally a free man, exonerated of all charges.

JOHNNY WILSON: Yeah, I never thought

that I would see the day that I would walk out those doors

and be driving away from that place.

It felt great.

KEELY SHAYE SMITH: All together, Johnny

had spent nine years, five months, and 10 days

behind bars.

At a hastily assembled news conference,

Johnny's thoughts turned to Pauline Martz.

Why would someone hurt a nice lady like Pauline?

She was a wonderful person.

A friend of my grandmother's.

And she was a very humble person.

KEELY SHAYE SMITH: Following his release,

Johnny was reunited with his mother and grandmother.

My mother and I cry, and we just hugged each other.

And all of us was really happy.

I could hardly believe it, you know, after all those years.

KEELY SHAYE SMITH: Johnny now lives with his mother

and grandmother in his hometown of Aurora, Missouri,

where he hopes to put his long ordeal behind him.

JOHNNY WILSON: I have no bitterness or nothing.

I got so much faith.

I knew sometime, somehow, that I was gonna get out.

I'm just glad I did.

[music playing]

ROBERT STACK: New Year's Eve, 1952.

A time of hope and guarded optimism.

Ike had been elected president.

Conflict in Korea was drawing to a close.

But in Glendale, California, David Kempton's world

was about to come apart.

City of angels.

Here with my wife.

My beautiful wife.

ROBERT STACK: David's his wife, Barbara--

David.

ROBERT STACK: --Was in love with another man.

DAVID KEMPTON: Hey, what's wrong with you?

Well, we don't hug anymore.

We don't kiss anymore.

David.

ROBERT STACK: Nine months later, Barbara

would disappear, along with the couple's young daughter, Donna.

DAVID KEMPTON: The last time I saw her was just a few weeks

after her fourth birthday.

It's been a very long time.

So I'm sitting there with this guy down at the plant.

He says watch this.

ROBERT STACK: David Kempton's troubles began in July of 1951,

when he brought a coworker home for dinner.

And a couple of seconds later he flags me over

and I meet Barbara Stanwick.

But it's like--

ROBERT STACK: At the time, the Kempton's lived in Ohio.

David and Barbara had been married for five years

and had two children, Steven and Donna.

Sat down with her for a few minutes.

Then some guy came over

ROBERT STACK: David's new friend Charles

was an engaging storyteller, who entertained

everyone with delightful tales of his adventures

around the country.

I'm telling you, it's an amazing city, Los Angeles.

DAVID KEMPTON: Charles was a person who

lived an unusual kind of life.

Close to 150 bucks a month.

DAVID KEMPTON: Almost anything or any place

you wanted to talk about, he had some stories related to it.

There's restaurants.

There's nightclubs.

There's dancing.

ROBERT STACK: Charles never stopped

talking about California, the promised land.

Eventually, David and Barbara decided that was a place to be.

All went well, until Charles joined

the Kemptons on the west coast.

I'm in love with Charles.

What?

I want a divorce.

Son of a.

DAVID KEMPTON: I was totally unhorsed.

Charlie!

Damn you!

I had never considered such a thing.

I didn't know there was anything that wrong with the marriage.

Sorry, but I'm leaving.

Eventually, what we decided was

that if that's where things were going to be,

I would step out of the picture.

He would step into my shoes.

There'd be as little disruption as possible with the kids.

And I went back to Cleveland.

David, it's Barbara.

I'm in Arizona.

DAVID KEMPTON: But within about a month, or five, six weeks,

I got a phone call.

Charles is gone.

DAVID KEMPTON: It was totally out of the blue, a thunderbolt.

I'm with the kids, and I want to come home.

I sent her the bus tickets.

And I tore out and dug up a house for us to live in.

ROBERT STACK: David's joy was short-lived.

Within weeks, Charles was back in the picture.

Barbara moved out again.

She moved back in.

Then she dropped another bombshell.

I'll live here and I'll take care of our children,

but don't ask me for anything more.

ROBERT STACK: This time, David left, and he

took the children with him.

A judge soon granted David temporary custody

of both Steven and Donna.

Barbara received weekend visitation rights.

DAVID KEMPTON: On the occasion of the first weekend

visitation, she called me ahead of time

to say that she was in a rooming house

and couldn't accommodate both kids.

Could she just take Donna?

See you guys Sunday afternoon.

Sure, OK.

Bye, sweetie

So on Friday, I delivered Donna.

I'm just here to pick up my daughter, Donna.

And Sunday evening, went back to pick her up.

My wife.

Do I just go on inside or? - Oh, no.

They left yesterday.

They packed up-- some family business-- and had to leave.

Wait, that's not right, ma'am.

I'm supposed to pick up Donna today, this afternoon.

She wasn't there. They left?

WOMAN: Yes, of course I'm sure.

DAVID KEMPTON: They weren't there.

I'm just gonna take a look inside.

It was devastating, because I had no way--

not a way in the world--

to know where they might have gone.

ROBERT STACK: More than 40 years have now past.

40 years of birthdays, dances, graduations.

Perhaps a wedding.

And even grandchildren.

DAVID KEMPTON: I'd like Donna to know that she's always

been a part of my feeling.

Whenever anyone mentions what kids do I have,

usually I'll include her in the count.

I want to say hello.

And that I love you.

In whatever way that's possible under the circumstances.

I have love for you.

[music playing]

We'll be back in a moment to investigate

the mysterious disappearance of a young woman named

Bonnie Haim.

Some people believe her husband knows more about Bonnie's fate

than he is saying.

[music playing]

Christmas morning, 1992.

In Jacksonville, Florida, a young wife and mother,

Bonnie Haim, opened presents.

Bonnie's husband, Michael, captured the moment

forever on videotape.

Less than two weeks later, Bonny Haim would inexplicably vanish.

Police began to suspect that Bonnie was dead,

a victim of foul play.

Their suspicions soon focused on Michael Haim.

Among the most damning evidence was the extraordinary testimony

of a surprising witness, Michael and Bonnie's

three-year-old son.

Bonnie Haim's uncertain fate, and the cloud of suspicion

that hangs over her husband, Michael,

has spawned a contorted family dispute.

On one hand, Bonnie's own parents

believe that she was unhappily married

and willfully abandoned Michael and her son.

And yet some members of Michael's family

are convinced that Bonnie is dead, murdered by Michael Haim.

Bonnie, I'm sorry to say, is gone.

She's not alive.

If she was alive and had one ounce of life in her,

she would have contacted someone.

There are thousands of other women

that leave their husbands and families every year.

And it's always a complete surprise to their families.

Just get that done by the end of the day.

OK, they need it by tomorrow.

OK, don't worry.

ROBERT STACK: Michael worked as a manager

of the construction supply company owned by his aunt,

Eveann, and her husband.

Bonnie did their accounts.

Bonnie, let's go to lunch.

ROBERT STACK: Eveann claims that Michael

was often abusive to Bonnie at the office.

I'm starving Let's go.

Well, just go without me.

What is so important that you can't go to lunch?

BONNIE HAIM: Mike, don't start.

ROBERT STACK: Eveann also claims that, at least once,

Michael's abuse became physical.

One day they got into an argument--

in a fight in the parking lot.

And she came in crying.

And he had slammed her hand in the door.

Her nails were broke, and she was very upset at that point.

ROBERT STACK: Eveann says that Bonnie eventually decided

to leave her husband, and in preparation, opened

a bank account in her own name.

To keep her plans secret, Bonnie had the bank statements

mailed to her at work.

According to Eveann, Michael was enraged when he found out.

Michael, what are you going?

No, what are you doing, Bonnie?

Why don't I know about this?

We're married.

This is our money.

It should be in our account.

Well, it's from my paycheck.

Well, you're gonna close it, and you're

gonna close it today.

Do you understand me?

ROBERT STACK: Bonnie closed the account,

but according to those closest to her,

Bonnie never wavered in her plan to divorce Michael.

She's secreted money with a friend for safekeeping

and went so far has put a deposit on an apartment

and enrolled her son in a new preschool.

Hi, Dad!

ROBERT STACK: On the evening of January 6th, 1993,

Bonnie came home from work at around 7:30 PM.

She intended to drop by Eveann's at eight to finalize plans

for a coworker's baby shower.

[phone ringing]

EVEANN HAIM: About 8:30 that evening,

she called me on the phone.

Hi.

BONNIE HAIM (ON PHONE): Um, listen, about tonight.

I'm not gonna be able to make it.

I'm really sorry.

EVEANN HAIM: She was crying and she was upset.

Bonnie, is something the matter?

I asked why.

She said that her and Mike had gotten into a discussion.

And I asked her if she wanted me to call her back later.

And she said, no, that she would just talk to me in the morning.

Actually, not too good.

I think I'm coming down with something.

ROBERT STACK: But the next morning, neither Bonnie

nor Michael showed up at work.

She's not here.

I don't know.

We had an argument.

And she got mad at me last night and took off.

I don't know where she's at.

ROBERT STACK: However, hopes for Bonnie's safe return

began to dim that same morning.

Her purse turned up roughly five miles

from home buried in a motel dumpster

near the Jacksonville airport.

ROBERT HINSON: Robbery, apparently, was not a motive

due to the amount of money and the credit cards being there.

It had all of her identification, checkbook.

And the purse was secured by the maintenance worker.

And a police officer was called to the scene,

along with family members.

100.

160.

70.

173.

Does there appear to be anything missing from the purse?

No, it's all here, as far as I can tell.

Hi, John.

You okay, Michael?

When I walked into the room--

Did she give any indication where she was going?

EVEANN HAIM: --Mike and his dad--

MICHAEL HAIM: Nothing. She just left.

EVEANN HAIM: --Were in there.

MICHAEL HAIM: She didn't tell me anything.

EVEANN HAIM: Michael didn't say--

MICHAEL HAIM: Eveann.

EVEANN HAIM: --much about Bonnie being missing.

What the hell was Bonny doing with all that money?

He didn't just come out, like oh my God, my wife is gone.

Where is she?

Just nothing.

Nothing.

ROBERT STACK: Michael has insisted from the start

that he was not involved in his wife's disappearance.

He says that on the night of January 6th,

Bonnie drove off alone after an argument at around 11:00 PM.

MICHAEL HAIM: Mom, thanks for coming.

ROBERT HINSON: He stated that he called his mother, Carolyn

Haim, and asked her to come over to the house

in the early morning hours and watch the child while he

went and looked for Bonnie.

I won't be long.

CAROLYN HAIM: You be careful.

ROBERT HINSON: According to Carolyn,

Mike was gone approximately 45 minutes.

Then after he allegedly did that,

he returned to the house, where he

waited until the next morning.

Never calling the police.

And called in and told his employer that he

was gonna be sick that day.

ROBERT STACK: Detective Hinson was less than

convinced by Haim's account.

His instincts led him back to the Jacksonville airport,

near the motel.

Herb, isn't that it?

ROBERT STACK: Sure enough, there was Bonnie's car,

abandoned in a lot for a long-term parking.

ROBERT HINSON: What was unusual about Bonnie's car

when we found it at the airport was

the positioning of the seat.

The driver's seat of the car, which appeared to be farther

back than would have been comfortable for Bonnie

to have driven the car.

It was more in relation to someone

about Michael Haim's size.

The car's unlocked.

And after the vehicle was processed,

we found a shoe print in the driver's side floorboard.

It was a very pristine print.

They need to get out here.

ROBERT STACK: Police concluded that the print

had been made by the last person to drive the car.

The distinctive tread pattern was traced to a rare style

of athletic shoe.

One pair was owned by none other than Michael Haim.

The shoe print in the car is interesting.

But beyond that-- if it's his footprint--

I'm not sure it means anything.

My footprint is in my wife's car.

That doesn't mean I have ever done her any harm.

Did you ever see your mommy sad?

Mhm.

Was she OK or was she hurt?

She was hurt.

ROBERT STACK: In a bold attempt to uncover the truth,

investigators arranged for child psychologists

to interview Bonnie and Michael's son.

Did mommy get hurt?

Yes.

How did she get hurt?

Daddy pushed her down and shot her down.

ROBERT HINSON: From what the child told us that day,

my only conclusion was is that there

had been a domestic fight.

And that Michael Haim had killed his wife and had removed her.

And that their three and a half-year-old son

had witnessed this.

Mommy was hurt?

I can't tell you.

Not gonna tell me?

ROBERT PASCIUTO: The credibility of a child

is something that you have to judge in perspective.

He's said a couple of things that we know were not true.

Mom's car is in the lake.

We know her car wasn't there.

The issue of child witness credibility

is always a concern.

But, generally, children do not lie about what they see.

And they do not lie about what happens to them.

ROBERT STACK: At this point, custody of Bonnie

and Michael's son is still in litigation.

However, he is safe.

Meanwhile, the families remains split about what, if anything,

Michael Haim knows about his wife's disappearance.

ROBERT PASCIUTO: I'm not saying that I'm 100% convinced

that Mike is innocent.

I haven't seen any evidence that convinces me he's guilty.

His behavior and general attitude

convinces me that he's not guilty.

I think that Michael did something to Bonnie.

I think her son was there, and I think

he seen exactly what happened.

I think he witnessed his mother's murder.

ROBERT PASCIUTO: I refuse to give up hope

that Bonnie is alive until we get some proof, some evidence,

that Bonnie is dead.

Through his attorney, Michael Haim declined

our request for an interview.

He has not been formally charged with any crime.

However, authorities still consider

him to be the prime suspect in Bonnie's disappearance.

In addition, investigators believe Michael

may have had an accomplice.

Someone who picked him up after he

left Bonnie's car at the airport and also helped

to dispose of his wife's body.

The possibility remains, of course, that Bonnie Haim

is still alive.

[music playing]

Next, if you like a good fright, you'll

love the Devil's Backbone.

Many believe it's the most haunted spot in America.

And the eyewitness accounts leave little doubt.

[music playing]

[howling]

[screaming]

I was feeling extremely scared.

It was a ghost.

It had to be.

I didn't tell anybody about it.

That chilling sensation I got kind of stayed with me.

There's something here.

What it is, I don't know

BERT WALL: I've had probably 25-30

reportings of different spirits and ghosts

from different people.

They'll never leave.

I'll be dead and gone.

They'll be here.

ROBERT STACK: They called it the Devil's Backbone.

And when it comes to ghosts per square mile,

few places short of purgatory can match these 4,700

acres in central Texas.

To get here, you head south, out of the state capital, Austin,

about 50 miles and some 200 years.

The gnarled canyons of the Devil's Backbone

were once home to Comanche and Apache Indians.

In the 1700s, Spaniards pushed through on the road

to conquest.

Among them was a Franciscan monk named Espinoza,

infamous for his ruthless ambition.

More than a century later, renegade Confederate soldiers

on a doomed quest for gold breathed their last

in the Devil's Backbone.

Today, their spirits live on.

Or so says longtime resident, Bert Wall.

BERT WALL: I had a situation one time

where I was finishing a particular thing I was writing.

And it was late at night, about midnight.

And the dogs started barking a little, but not loud.

The wind was blowing.

It was a cold night.

[dogs barking]

Then I looked through the window.

That's when I saw a Spanish monk.

I don't believe it could have been a person.

There's no way.

He was definitely from the 1700s.

He was dressed that way in his habit or whatever.

His cross hanging.

I probably watched him for, oh, 15 seconds, maybe,

which is a long time.

He disappeared in a way that was more of a [hissing] Gone.

[dog barking]

ROBERT STACK: The luminous Spanish monk

is but one of many spirits that prowl the ranch.

Just ask John Miers.

He came to Bert Wall's place to hunt deer,

but hunting in the Devil's Backbone

isn't like anywhere else in the world.

JOHN MIERS: The stand I was on was a tree stand.

Once I got up and situated myself--

you have to be real quiet and real

still and watch for the deer.

As I was sitting up in the stand, waiting.

And that's what you do a lot in deer hunting is just wait.

[footsteps]

I heard footprints-- or footsteps, I should say,

walking around the tree.

The base of the tree.

I couldn't see because I was sitting on a platform.

And it kept just walking in a circle, whatever it was.

I started getting a little eerie feeling,

because it wouldn't move away from the tree.

It just kept going in a circle.

And, finally, it just stopped.

It didn't walk away.

The sounds just stopped.

And the sun started going down, and it started getting darker.

And I thought, well, I'm just going to get down off the tree.

Walk back to my house

Didn't see any footprints, twigs broken, or branches

broken, or anything like that.

I kept getting this feeling that someone was watching me,

so I stopped and I turned back and looked toward the tree.

And there was an Indian.

It was a very cold night.

It was in the 20s.

And he was without a shirt.

And he was looking at me rather strangely, like who are you?

So, immediately, I turned around and started back

toward the house.

I noticed to my right, out of the corner of my eye,

that he was there and he was walking parallel with me.

I didn't feel threatened by him.

It's just like, who are you and what are you doing here?

And I made about two steps toward him.

And when I did, he vanished.

It was a ghost.

It had to be, you know, to be able to do that.

ROBERT STACK: The bunkhouse was a site

of yet another extraordinary vision,

if you believe Lynn Gentry, one-time foreman

at Bert Wall's ranch.

LYNN GENTRY: I was kind of relaxing.

And off in the distance I heard what, at first,

I thought was thunder.

[rumbling]

Then as the sound came closer, I realized that it was horses

hooves in a very fast run.

There were several horses with probably 15

or 20 riders on them.

What I believe to have been Confederate soldiers.

They certainly looked real to me at the time.

But then when you begin to slowly realize that,

hey, what I'm looking at is not real.

You know, these are ghosts.

ROBERT STACK: Perhaps most amazing of all

was the experience of John Villarreal.

A few years back, John was hiking with two friends

in an area known as the Haunted Valley John claims he not

only saw a supernatural vision of a wolf,

but that the spirit actually possessed him.

JOHN VILLARREAL: Corey and B.C. Were off

in another part of the creek.

And I got the sensation and basically saw

a vision of a wolf.

[growling]

I was looking up, watching it coming towards me.

And it leapt at me.

[growling]

And where it would have hit me, I felt just a chilling

sensation go through me.

We didn't see anything mysterious.

It's all what John says that he saw.

When we got back into the truck, it got

extremely cold in the truck.

He was sitting in between B.C. and I.

I was sitting on the passenger side,

so the whole left-hand side of my body

got extremely numb and cold.

It's almost like if there was a big block

of ice sitting next to me.

When we got back to the ranch that night,

I didn't know what was going on.

I didn't know if my friend was going to be all right.

I was actually pretty worried about him.

Easy.

Easy. Easy.

Take it easy.

ROBERT STACK: According to his friends,

John initially lapsed into a silent trance.

When he did speak, his voice was an unearthly baritone.

John suddenly seemed obsessed with Indian massacres,

ambushes, and other little known events

from the history of Devil's Backbone

You're gonna be all right.

COREY RAMSEUR: While I was standing there,

I was feeling extremely scared.

And all of a sudden, a big gust of wind

came out of the kitchen.

I was just in shock.

I didn't know what that was.

I stood there kind of frozen and kept asking questions.

What was that?

What was that?

And that's when someone said, I think the spirit's left him.

I think it's gone now.

I don't know for sure what kind of spirit

was inside of me.

But something that knew about this ranch, that

knew about the history of the ranch,

had to be going through me.

And it's hard to believe, but basically that's

what would have had to happen.

ROBERT STACK: Here in the Devil's Backbone,

ghosts are as common as spines on a cactus.

But why should this particular patch of land

prove so irresistible to spirits?

BERT WALL: The Devil's Backbone is haunted because it's loved.

It's loved by the spirits.

It's loved by myself.

And I imagine someday when I'm gone,

I will haunt this same son of a gun.

[screaming]

[growling]

ROBERT STACK: If the local accounts are anything

close to true, Bert Wall would join a host of others souls who

once called this place home.

Bold company in which to spend the rest of eternity.

[howling]

Join me next time for another intriguing edition

of Unsolved Mysteries.

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