All language subtitles for Unsolved.Mysteries.S08E19.AMZN.WEB-DL.DDP2.0.H.264-BTW_track3_[eng]

[theme music]

(VOICEOVER): Tonight
on Unsolved Mysteries--

ROBERT STACK: She was beautiful,
charming, and she loved horses.

But even though Shelly
Malone was an expert rider,

eyewitnesses claim she died
in a freak riding accident.

Shelly's family thinks the
truth is very, very different.

In Indiana, a
sudden thunderstorm

spells trouble for an
unsuspecting motorcyclist.

Tragedy seems inevitable, until
a mysterious lady in black

appears from out of nowhere.

It was the night Senator Robert
Kennedy was assassinated,

a crime which many
believe is still unsolved.

A young photographer
named Scott Enyart

claims he was taking
pictures at the exact moment

of the shooting.

Now those pictures have
inexplicably disappeared.

September 1994, a lone
gunman lurks in the woods

outside Anderson, Missouri.

His target, an off-duty
highway patrol officer.

His apparent objective,
vigilante justice.

Join me.

Perhaps you may be able
to help solve a mystery.

[theme music]

I would hope--

I would hope now that
the California primary--

ROBERT STACK: June 5, 1968,

--now that these
primaries over--

ROBERT STACK: Senator Robert
F. Kennedy addresses hundreds

of supporters who've
gathered to celebrate

his victory in the
California state primary.

My thanks to all of you,
and now it's on to Chicago

and let's win there.

Thank you very much.

ROBERT STACK: Within 20
minutes, the senator's triumph

would be swept away
in a hail of gunfire.

The accused assassin
was a young Palestinian

national named Sirhan Sirhan.

[shouting]

The years since have been
marked by heated controversy.

Many people question
whether Sirhan

acted alone, whether a
second gunman was involved.

The debate has been
fueled by the belief

that there was no visual
record of the precise moment

the senator was gunned down.

Now that assumption
has been challenged.

There's no film of it,
there's no videotape of it,

there is an audio recording
from a radio reporter,

and there are my black
and white photographs.

And that's it.

ROBERT STACK: Scott
Enyart says this

is a photograph of him
taken in the pantry

of the Ambassador Hotel.

Scott claims that at the instant
Senator Kennedy was shot,

he was taking pictures.

What is most puzzling about
Scott Enyart's remarkable story

is that no one can find
the bulk of his photographs

or any of the negatives.

Enyart claims he shot three
rolls of film that night.

The authorities, however,
maintain that two

of those rolls never existed.

[ominous music]

When Senator Kennedy
gave his victory speech,

15-year-old Scott Enyart was
just a few feet from the stage,

shooting photographs for
his high school newspaper.

These are some of
Scott's pictures.

He took his first roll
of film before Kennedy

mounted the podium.

Scott says he loaded
a second roll just

as the senator began to speak.

ANNOUNCER: Well, the
senator has just finished

his very brief little talk.

ROBERT STACK: As his
speech concluded,

Scott says he joined
those who followed

Kennedy from the stage.

After leaving the
ballroom, Senator Kennedy

headed down a corridor
which led to the pantry.

There, he stopped to shake
hands with the kitchen workers.

When he stopped, I was
about 10, 12 feet behind him.

There was an open wedge which
had been made by the two people

on either side of him, so
I had a clear view of him.

It's at this point that
I brought my camera

up and started taking pictures.

ROBERT STACK: Suddenly,
gunshots rang out.

SCOTT ENYART: Now, I was
behind Robert F. Kennedy.

Sirhan Sirhan was
in front of Kennedy,

so I did not see Sirhan.

All I saw was Kennedy
twist and fall.

I moved back and jumped
up on a steam table.

And I took some pictures over
where the dog pile on Sirhan

was taking place.

His hand was sticking
out with the gun in it,

but I couldn't really
see what was taking

place there because
so many people

had crowded in at that point.

SPEAKER: Is there a
doctor in the house?

SPEAKER 2: Everybody
please stay back.

Please stay back.

We need a doctor here.

ROBERT STACK: A
few moments later,

Scott Enyart returned
to the ballroom, where

pandemonium had broken out.

At that time, Scott says
he loaded and clicked

off his third roll of film.

[ominous music]

SCOTT ENYART: I noticed
two men in suits.

They were looking at
me rather strangely

and I moved a few steps
and they moved a few steps.

Not knowing who's a
terrorist, who's an assassin,

and who's the
police, I took off.

[suspenseful music]

They went through
my pockets and took

all three rolls of the film.

They took the camera, of
course, and it's at that point,

I realize, these are detectives
and I'm with the good guys.

ROBERT STACK: At
around 3:00 AM, Scott

was taken to Rampart Station
in downtown Los Angeles.

- Scott, Sergeant McCann.
- Hi.

I understand you got some
pictures of the shooter--

the suspect doing the shooting?

Well, I'm not exactly sure.

SERGEANT: Where were you, Scott?

OK, I was in the Embassy Room.

ROBERT STACK: Scott
was questioned

for about 20 minutes.

This is an actual recording
of the interrogation.

SCOTT ENYART: So
there was a table

here about three-and-a-half
feet tall, I'd say.

So I got up on it so
I was above everyone.

And I-- And the tape was--

And then the shots started--

be fired.

And I took pictures and
kept taking pictures.

SERGEANT: While the
shots were being fired?

SCOTT ENYART: While the
shots were being fired.

Maybe a little afterward.

I'm not exactly sure.

I-- I could tell--

I can only tell by the pictures.

ROBERT STACK: Scott Enyart had
become a small part of history.

Six months later, Sirhan Sirhan
was sentenced to life in prison

for the murder of
Robert Kennedy.

A court ordered that
all files from the case,

including Scott's photographs,
be sealed for 20 years.

Scott waited.

By 1988, he was an
established photographer.

Scott wrote to the
LAPD, requesting

that they return his film.

Five months later,
Scott received a letter

from the California
State Archives

which stated that his
photographs could not be found.

The conclusion was
that the pictures

had been, quote, destroyed
by LAPD in August 1968.

Scott immediately filed a
lawsuit against the police.

This time he waited eight years.

Top LAPD detectives
were assigned

to work with our attorneys in
preparation for this lawsuit.

And actually, if we could find
what Scott was looking for,

we thought that that would
make the lawsuit go away.

And it was just some good
detective work and looking

in places where people hadn't
looked before that found,

up in Sacramento, found that--
booked under a different name--

was a--

was a sheet of negatives
that had already been cut

and put into plastic sleeves.

ROBERT STACK: A few weeks
later, the city attorneys

presented Scott
with a proofsheet

made from those negatives.

Scott immediately
became suspicious.

The proof showed only
one roll of film.

The stock was Ilford, ASA 125.

Scott claims he shot three
rolls that were Tri-X,

ASA 400, manufactured by Kodak.

Basically what I believe
the police did was,

they took roll number two,
which showed the speech.

And they used part of
that in this proof sheet

and then they used
roll number three,

which was once I
returned to the ballroom

afterward, where you see
the aftermath and some

of the victims and things.

And they just put them
together as a proofsheet

and expected that they
could pass that off as being

all the film that I shot.

That role is a
continuous roll of film.

Shows pictures
before Mr. Kennedy

speaks, pictures of
Robert F. Kennedy speaking

to the audience, and then
pictures of the aftermath

of the shooting.

There are no photographs
in the pantry.

Our position is that Mr. Enyart
did not make it into the pantry

and did not take photographs
inside the pantry.

ROBERT STACK: Then
in 1991, a book

came out that contained
a number of previously

unpublished photographs.

This one was taken in the pantry
a few moments after Senator

Kennedy was gunned down.

Scott Enyart swears that he
is the young man standing

on a table with
camera in hand, just

as he told detectives on the
night of his interrogation.

I don't know who that
person is for sure.

We don't believe that
that's Scott Enyart.

I think it's just a
coincidence that he, you know,

says that he was
standing on a table

and there's somebody standing
on a table in the picture.

We don't think that's him.

ROBERT STACK: Scott
Enyart continued to press

his case against the LAPD.

In January of 1996, the
city attorney's office

hired a private
courier to transport

the negatives in question from
the archives in Sacramento

to Los Angeles.

Once there, the
courier rented a car

to drive from the airport
to the downtown courthouse

about 20 miles away.

Soon after leaving the
airport, the courier was forced

to pull into a service station.

His right rear tire was flat,
apparently slashed by a knife.

COURIER: What do
you want me to do?

No, I'm a courier
on my way to court.

All I need to know--

ROBERT STACK: Some time
during the next 10 minutes,

the briefcase containing
the negatives was stolen.

I was with my
attorneys when we--

when we learned this and we
were just absolutely shocked.

I mean, we-- we-- we were--

for some reason, we
weren't surprised,

but we were just truly shocked.

I couldn't
believe it happened.

But if I was a conspiracy
theorist I'd say, see,

there's further proof.

Now we'll never know.

The Enyart photos, if he
captured the actual shooting,

would be the only photographic
record that we have.

If those Enyart frames were
on Kennedy as he was falling,

it could be the whole case.

It could tell us
everything we want

to know about what happened.

[theme music]

ROBERT STACK: Next, in the
aftermath of a violent storm,

a young man finds himself in
desperate need of a miracle.

And later, when an experienced
horsewoman dies in a freak

riding accident, her
family's suspicions lead

them to a stunning conclusion.

[theme music]

Good fortune can quickly turn
bad, swift as thunderclouds

can sweep a summer sky.

No one knows this better
than Robert Davidson.

16 years ago, in June of
1980, Davidson was barreling

down I-74 near Acton, Indiana.

As a rainstorm
whipped up around him,

Davidson's luck suddenly
changed for the worse.

When you're driving
60, 65 mile an hour

on a motorcycle, when
raindrops hit you,

it's really pretty stinging.

It hurts.

And I thought, better
pull over and get my rain

jacket out of the trunk.

Had one foot on
the ground when--

that's the last
thing I can remember.

[thunder]

It was a direct hit.

More than 200,000
volts of electricity.

38-year-old Robert
Davidson should

have died right then and there.

Yet Davidson is still very much
with us today at the age of 54.

Some say his survival
was just another shift

in the winds of fortune.

Nothing more than
a stroke of luck,

but others, including
Davidson himself,

call it a miracle
personally delivered

by a messenger of God.

Within minutes of
the lightning strike,

emergency crews
were on the scene.

From the start, it appeared
their efforts would be in vain.

Clinically, he
should have been dead.

By the color of his
skin, when we arrived

there was no blood
pressure, no pulse.

Basically, he had
no chance at all.

Hey, Thelma, I'm going to need
a chopper in here right away.

This guy is in bad--

ROBERT STACK: According
to several witnesses,

events at the scene
suddenly swerved

towards the supernatural.

First, every power
circuit in the ambulance

inexplicably failed.

The engine shut down,
the lights turned off,

and it was without
power completely.

We got dual batteries.

One battery would go down,
the other one would take over.

And there's no way
they could have both

gone down at the same time.

It was an eerie feeling.

I mean you could
just-- it felt strange.

And as they were doing the CPR,
you heard this woman coming up,

yelling, I need to touch him.

I need to touch him,
just let me touch him.

I must touch him.

I must touch him.

ROBERT STACK: Nobody knew her
name or where she came from.

Later, they would
refer to her reverently

as the Lady in Black.

She just kept, again and
again and again, you know,

I can save his life.

And of course, you know,
at that point in time,

I kind of thought, well, maybe
this is just one of the people,

so to speak, left over
from the 70s, you know.

But I said, you know, let
her do what she needs to do.

You know, what can it hurt?

The Lord is my shepherd,
I shall not want.

He maketh me to lie
down in green pastures.

He leadeth me beside
the still waters.

He leadeth me in the
name of righteousness

for his name's sake--

She was dressed in
the late-1800 dress,

your basic black dress.

Very, very old
fashioned, and she

had the old-fashioned black
shoes that went with it

and carried her
little black Bible.

Then she raised
the Bible to the sky

and started speaking
in tongue, which

was something I
didn't understand

but I'm sure somebody
out there did.

[speaking in tongues]

You could just feel, all the
time that she was saying this,

just chills from head to toe.

It was like, just this
tremendous amount of energy.

RICHARD NEIBERT: When she was
finished, she looked at me,

smiled, and got up
and walked away.

Probably five
seconds had passed by

and I turned to look the
direction where she had left

and there was
nobody to be found.

ROBERT STACK:
Accounts from that day

couldn't be more contradictory.

Some eye witnesses, including
two of the paramedics,

insisted that the mysterious
woman was never there.

I don't know why they couldn't
see her, really, because it

was plain as day to me.

It was plain as day to Randy.

You know, why couldn't anyone
else see her or hear her?

There is no doubt in my
mind that she was there.

I believe there was a power
that actually shut the vehicle

down, a surge which
just obliterated

the vehicle's power
supply and shut it

down when this woman walked by.

ROBERT STACK: According to
those who saw the Lady in Black,

her departure triggered another
chain of uncanny events.

First, the ambulance
came back to life.

Then--

I've got it, I've got a pulse.

It almost burst my eardrums,
but it was a welcome,

to hear that first heartbeat.

And I yelled again, I think
everybody could have heard me

down the interstate, 'cause
I was so happy that we

was getting some vital signs.

ROBERT STACK: Davidson
had a heartbeat,

but his life was still
hanging by a thread.

The ER physician
was not optimistic.

My prognosis was that he
would not come out of his coma.

And I expected him to
remain in permanent coma

and ultimately suffer
complications and ultimately

die.

ROBERT STACK: For
nearly two months,

Robert Davidson was
more dead than alive.

Then one day, he simply woke
up and resumed his life.

When I came out of the
coma, I looked around

and I couldn't figure out what
I was doing in the hospital

because I had no memory of
anything happening to me that

would put me in the hospital.

When it became apparent that
he indeed woke up, and not

only woke up but was talking and
walking, I was utterly amazed.

ROBERT STACK: Davidson's
astounding recovery

has prompted speculation
that the woman in black

was far more than
a simple passerby.

Some believe her to
be a divine spirit

that rose up from Indiana's
fervid religious past.

Just down the road
from where Davidson

was struck by lightning
lies this quiet meadow.

It is a site of a
19th-century spiritual retreat

known as Acton Campground.

More than 100 years
ago, this spot

rang out with fiery
sermons, gospel

hymns, and the strange music
of the faithful speaking

in tongues.

Most of Acton Campground
burned down in 1905,

but a few artifacts can still
be found at a local museum.

There, among the relics
of a long vanished era,

is a vintage dress
unmistakably reminiscent

of the Lady in Black.

I believe that
this woman maybe

had been a pastor, a
Reverend or a priestess

or whatever in her life prior.

And when she passed on, she
was brought in to, I guess,

guardian angel form.

I know I witnessed a miracle.

There's just no other
words to say it.

It was a miracle.

[thunder]

ROBERT STACK: Many will argue
that Robert Davidson's life was

saved by quick treatment
and a measure of good luck,

but others believe
just as firmly

that the spirits of Acton
Campground were awakened

and that one of them came
to Davidson's rescue.

I've always kind of believed
in angels, that everybody

has a guardian angel.

But Most people never get
to see them or have them

really do anything for them.

I think my angel was
doing her job that day.

ROBERT STACK: Coming
up, controversy rocks

a wealthy enclave in Virginia
after a beautiful young woman

dies under mysterious
circumstances.

But first, Timothy Coombs bills
himself as a servant of God

and a defender of
freedom, but the police

say he's a dangerous criminal,
perhaps capable of murder.

[theme music]

September 16, 1994, Anderson,
Missouri, a lone hunter

cautiously makes his
way through the woods,

stalking, waiting for just
the right moment to strike.

But his prey is not
what you would expect.

The target this night
is a Missouri State

Highway patrolman,
and the hunter is

not your everyday outdoorsman.

According to the police,
his name is Timothy Coombs

and he calls himself a Freeman.

They exist on the
farthest right fringe

of the political spectrum.

They believe they are
the true Americans,

but others call them
domestic terrorists.

Their rallying cries are
Waco, Ruby Ridge, and now

Justice township in Montana.

The freemen are a
loose-knit brotherhood,

bound by what some say is
a pathological mistrust of

the United States government.

Mr. Thomas, in late
November of last year,

did a couple from Kansas
City call on you at your home

or place of business?

MR. THOMAS: Yes, they did.

What was the
purpose of that visit?

ROBERT STACK: This
is a recreation

of a so-called common law court.

Most Freemen no longer
acknowledge the authority

of our legal system and see
common law courts as a way

to circumvent the government.

--you, what was it the sheriff
wanted to talk to you about?

He wanted to know if I
had a tax ID number, how

long I'd been working
out of my home,

and had I paid state sales tax.

State sales tax?

Yes, sir.

He wanted you to pay
state sales tax on items

that you made in your own home?

That's right.

Mr. Thomas, may--

ROBERT JOOS: The
common law courts

now that are being formed are
by citizens of the counties.

And they are tired of being
jerked around in the state

courts and not
having their rights

protected within these courts.

The common law
courts are predicated

upon Freemen using their right
to determine issues of law.

ROBERT STACK: Robert Joos,
a self-styled minister,

has asked to be
filmed in silhouette

due to his religious
convictions.

This is a photograph
of Joos taken in 1995.

He is one of the area's
leading advocates

of the Freeman movement.

The Freemen or
superpatriots or patriots

or Christian patriots
believe that the Constitution

is a divinely inspired
document, along with the Bill

of Rights, that gives
them preeminent rights

in American society.

That they do not have to do
things like pay income taxes

or have driver's licenses
and so forth, because that's

all part of the laws that were
passed after the Constitution

and the Bill of Rights.

They see these as man-made
laws that don't apply to them.

ROBERT STACK: In the
case of Robert Joos,

that philosophy
apparently led him

to issue fake legal documents.

In 1985, he was convicted of
drafting a bogus court order

in the case of a parishioner
who'd been arrested

for a minor traffic offense.

For nine years, Joos
laid low on his farm

while he contested
the conviction,

but in June of 1994, the
new prosecuting attorney

for McDonald County,
Missouri, ordered the highway

patrol to bring Joos in.

Mr. Joos has a history
of resisting arrest.

And to avoid an armed
confrontation on his property

where he is believed to have
a large number of weapons,

the decision was made to
arrest him on a county road

were he was by himself.

ROBERT STACK: Joos
drove right into a trap.

Sergeant Steve Dorsey
and Corporal Bob Harper

were waiting.

[sirens]

I knew Joos from
several years back.

And he had never
caused me any problems.

Robert, get out of
the van, Robert.

ROBERT STACK: By some accounts,
this day would be different.

I walked up the
van, him screaming

and all, you think you're
dealing with someone

that had a mental problem.

I mean, he's
screaming, hollering,

and just throwing his hands
up and saying, who are you?

Who are you?

Robert, if you don't
calm down, I'll mace you.

Robert, I'm going to mace you.

[screaming]

I knew if they were
going to kill me,

they were going to kill me.

And there wasn't anything I
could do except pray to God.

And that's what I was doing.

[praying]

And I knew they had no rightful
cause of arrest and they--

and as it turns out,
they didn't have any.

That's why they had to make
up the story about resisting

arrest and a concealed
weapon after they

arrested me so they had
some reason to hold me, see?

ROBERT STACK: Robert Joos was
taken to McDonald County Jail,

where he remains to
this day, awaiting

trial, unable to raise bail.

According to the
authorities, his confinement

precipitated the disturbing
events that followed.

Three months after Joos was
captured, one of the arresting

officers, Corporal Bob
Harper was home celebrating

his 33rd wedding anniversary.

[ominous music]

I heard this loud shot
and I ran up the hallway

and Bob was laying
next to the cabinet.

And he was trying to tell me
that the can had exploded.

And I explained to him
that he had been shot.

Call the sheriff.

--the sheriff, OK.

Hold on.

Hold-- hold on.

ROBERT STACK: It was
only by a miracle

that Bob Harper survived.

The bullet pierced his
ribcage and missed his heart

by just 1/16 of an inch.

[groaning]

The next day,
investigators clustered

around a grove of trees 245 feet
from Harper's kitchen window.

[murmuring]

It wasn't long before they found
what they were looking for.

Looks like 71, 16 maybe.

Bob Harper was not
known to have any enemies.

And because of his
recent involvement

in the arrest of
Robert Joos, we felt

that it was probably connected.

ROBERT STACK: A few
days later, officers

were dispatched to
the Joos farm to speak

with Robert Joos's girlfriend.

They were confronted
by an armed stranger.

Man in the road, with a gun.

What do you boys want?

This is private land.

We're with the highway patrol.

What do you need?

We need to talk to Annie.

MILES PARKS: He demanded
that we stay where we were

and he said that he
would go get her.

We felt uncomfortable
staying there,

so we retreated to
our patrol cars.

And about 10 minutes
later he returned

and started shouting at us.

And we subsequently had a--
about a 30-minute conversation

with him.

Right here with the citizens
of the kingdom of Christ,

we got our elders--

ROBERT STACK: The man identified
himself as James Wilson.

According to the
police, he began

to spout wild religious
rhetoric unlike anything they

had ever heard.

Well tell us, you say that
the state elders are training

people to carry out
violent acts for violations

against the church?

Well sure, we've got snipers
right now being trained

by the state elders to help us.

You know it-- it's the law.

It says it in the Bible.

It's God's law, right
here in Colossians 1:13,

you can read about
it for yourself.

How many are in
that violent faction?

And we didn't feel comfortable
with what we had heard

from him, so the
following morning,

calls were made to Arkansas.

And we received a large
amount of information

about James Wilson.

Found at that time that his
real name was Timothy Coombs.

ROBERT STACK: Timothy Coombs
had served time in prison

on various weapons charges.

By the time police secured a
search warrant for the Joos

farm, Coombs had vanished.

However, investigators did
uncover an impressive arsenal.

Pistols, rifles, and more
than 40 sticks of dynamite.

That same day, in Arkansas,
Coombs's next-door neighbor

gave investigators
a bullet that had

struck his horse's rear flank.

Can you show me the
location of the shooter?

Sure, it's my neighbor,
he's up this direction.

ROBERT STACK: The
man suspected it

had been fired by
Coombs, who often

took target practice nearby.

See the machine shed there
and the tree to the right?

He's about midway in-between,
back in that brush line--

ROBERT STACK: According
to the authorities,

a thorough search
of Coombs's property

turned up the
incriminating evidence.

- Hey, Tom.
- Yeah?

Think I got something.

ROBERT STACK: Shell
casings that reportedly

matched the casing found outside
of Bob Harper's kitchen window.

Police suspect the trail leads
not just to Timothy Coombs,

but to Robert Joos.

We believe that there was
collaboration between Joos

and Timothy Coombs.

We believe that the weapon
used to shoot Bob Harper was

actually an SKS rifle that
had been purchased by Robert

Joos about three weeks
prior to his arrest

for resisting arrest.

He will now not talk
about that weapon.

ROBERT STACK: Robert
Joos maintains

that he had nothing to do
with the attack on Bob Harper.

Yeah, they're trying to claim
I was involved in a conspiracy

to shoot Harper.

I had nothing to do with it.

Didn't know anything about
it till after it happened.

Still don't know that
he's actually shot.

I've never seen any
medical evidence,

never heard a doctor
testify the man was shot.

Far as I know, he had
another heart attack

and had to crack his chest, do
emergency open-heart on him.

I mean, from what I've
experienced with these cops

here, they'll lie about
anything and everything

to try to frame somebody
and-- and the people that

are helping them.

ROBERT STACK: To date, only
Timothy Coombs has been charged

in the shooting of Bob Harper.

Coombs is now 37 years old.

Authorities believe he
has gone underground

and is probably being
harbored by members

of a right-wing militia group.

There are people associated
with this movement who

are threats because they
see themselves as warriors,

basically, against
American society.

They see themselves as
having a special status

that others are trying to,
they believe, undercut.

And the problem with that is
that when this is increasing

in small communities
in particular,

it's a very, very, very scary
thing for local officials

and others to have
this counter-force

there that's usually
very well armed

and is implicitly a threat.

While we were
completing this story,

we were saddened to
learn that Corporal Bob

Harper had died during
surgery for a preexisting

heart condition.

His colleagues
believe there could

be no more fitting
tribute to his memory

than the capture
of Timothy Coombs.

[theme music]

Next, witnesses say
veteran rider Shelly Malone

was trampled by her own mount.

However, expert horsemen
say, highly unlikely.

[theme music]

The Plains, Virginia,
is thoroughbred country,

a small, wealthy community
where both people

and horses have pedigrees.

It's not at all the kind of
place you would expect to find

an unsolved mystery, much less
a mystery fueled by one family's

suspicions of foul play.

Shelly Malone is 37
years old when she died.

On many levels, her case is one
of the most emotionally-charged

we have ever profiled.

We have been unable
to obtain interviews

with the local police
or the people who were

with Shelly the day she died.

Consequently, the story is told
almost entirely from the point

of view of Shelly's family.

Are they overreacting
out of grief,

hypersensitive to
every inconsistency?

Or is it possible
their suspicions

add up to a sinister truth?

[sirens]

October 18, 1992,
paramedics were

called to a field in a wooded
area outside The Plains.

Shelly Malone, an
accomplished horsewoman,

had been badly injured
in a riding accident.

As the paramedics struggled
to save Shelly, her boyfriend

George Carhart and
two other friends,

Erica Stumvoll and Carter Wiley
could only stand by helplessly

and watch.

According to Erica, the only
witness to the accident,

Shelly's horse had stepped on
her and kicked her repeatedly.

One blow was apparently powerful
enough to rupture her heart.

However, Shelly's family
has always found Erica's

account highly questionable.

I know that that
accident is most

improbable if not impossible.

In an open field, for a horse
she loved and loved her,

to step on her
squarely on the chest

after he had thrown her off.

This is impossible.

ROBERT STACK: To
Shelly's family,

it seemed particularly
impossible

for such an experienced rider.

Shelly had been around horses
since she was a young child.

Shelly was born loving horses.

When she was six or seven, she
told me she was going to marry

a horse when she grew up.

So she never, ever lost
her interest in horses.

ROBERT STACK: It was
horses that brought Shelly

to The Plains area in 1988.

Located an hour and a
half from Washington, DC,

The Plains is home to
many of the country's

rich and powerful, including
US Senator John Warner.

Though her own
roots were modest,

Shelly gained entry
to this elite society,

thanks largely to
a wealthy older

benefactor named Cecil Altman.

Altman set Shelly up in
business and reportedly gave her

an allowance of $5,000 a month.

Shelly lived in
a small house out

in the country, a perfect
place to stable her two horses.

In 1990, she started
dating George Carhart

who lived in New
York and reportedly

came down frequently to visit.
- OK, here we go.

All right.

Here you go, here you go,
move your chin, there you go.

ROBERT STACK: However,
Shelly's mother

claims that after two years,
Shelly was ready to move on.

The relationship was strained.

She had relayed to
my husband and myself

that she was bringing this
relationship to a close.

ROBERT STACK: On Friday, October
16, 1992, two days before

she died, Shelly allegedly had
an impromptu romantic encounter

with a local attorney.

Shelly's family
believes George Carhart

found out about the affair when
he came to visit that weekend.

Carter and I are going
to go chop some firewood.

Uh-huh.

And we'll have dinner
when you guys get back.

OK, great.

ROBERT STACK: On
Sunday afternoon,

Shelly had plans to go
riding with Erica Stumvoll.

George Carhart and Carter
Wiley, Erica's boyfriend,

stayed behind at the house.

Erica has issued only one
official statement on the day's

events, a written
document she prepared

and delivered to the police.

You're about to hear selected
portions from that statement.

ERICA STUMVOLL
(REENACTMENT VOICEOVER):

We alternately walked,
trotted, and galloped

the horses through
several fields and trails.

We were approximately 100
yards into a new field

we had just entered.

We were walking the horses
side by side to cool them down.

Unexpectedly, both horses
spooked or started.

I was thrown and fell off
to the left of my horse.

I was not seriously injured.

I sighted Shelly
about 30 feet away.

The horse stepped on her
legs, face, and head,

kicking her head as he did
so, in an apparent attempt

to get away.

As the horse moved away from
her, I immediately ran to her.

Shelly?
Shelly!

I checked her pulse and
looked in her mouth to see

if there were any obstructions.

I noticed her left cheek
was turning purplish-blue,

which I assumed was the
result of the horse stepping

on her face.

I promise, I'll be back
soon as I can, all right?

Fearful of a head injury as
a result of seeing the horse

kick her in the head,
I then concluded

that the best thing to do
was try to seek medical help.

ROBERT STACK: Erica says she
got lost trying to find help.

It would be an hour and
a half before paramedics

reached Shelly.

It was George Carhart
who later called

Shelly's mother in Florida.

When the phone rang, he
said, Shelly's had an accident.

I expected him to say
she slipped and broke

an arm or a leg or something.

And I said, what
kind of an accident?

And he said, she's dead.

ROBERT STACK: Shelly's
family claims they got

another shock at the morgue.

To them, Shelly looked like
she had been involved in much

more than a riding accident.

One of the clerks there
showed us a Polaroid

of my daughter's face.

It was so battered
and so swollen,

her eyes were black and blue,
that I didn't recognize her.

ROBERT STACK: According
to Shelly's family,

subsequent events made
them even more suspicious.

Despite the fact that
the coroner's ruling

was accidental death.

Two days after Shelly's funeral,
her family claims they had

an odd experience at her home.

George Carhart was
one of those present.

There was a pickup truck
backed up to the front porch

and there was some large
pieces of my sister's

furniture on there.

And they were moving
stuff out and loading bags

up with her clothes
and her belongings.

ROBERT STACK: Shelly's mother
claims that Carhart made

several insensitive comments.

Packing up some
of Shelly's stuff.

Why?

I live here too, I just
wanted to get rid of everything

that was pre-George, OK?

And I countered with,
well I'm pre-George, and I

don't understand what you mean.

And he said, all of her
clothes will go to charity.

And I said, well, we
have made no arrangements

to do anything of the kind.

And as these black
garbage bags were

going down the stairs with her
belongings in them, I was in--

pulling them back up the stairs.

And we were like, having a
tug-of-war with these bags.

Hey, here's one.

ROBERT STACK: The next
day, George Carhart

took Shelly's family
to the local dump

to retrieve the clothes she was
wearing when she was killed.

They never found the
clothes, but they

say that they did
discover more than two

dozen jewelry boxes from Tiffany
and Cartier, all of them empty.

When we questioned George
about where the contents were,

he told us that she was
hocking her jewelry.

ROBERT STACK: That explanation
struck Shelly's family

as dubious at best.

But some find it
credible, particularly

in light of questions relating
to Shelly's past, including

a drug conviction in
1979 and alleged ties

to a savings-and-loan
scandal in the 1980s.

Shelly's past however,
does not explain

the matter of her truck.

When the family brought
the truck back to Florida,

they discovered what they
believed to be bloodstains.

A local detective was
asked to test them.

I did a field test
to tell whether or not

it was human blood and the
field test was positive.

From the angle where the blood
was on the passenger seat,

it appears that it
came from a head wound.

ROBERT STACK:
Shelly's family took

the truck back to
The Plains and turned

it over to the authorities.

Some routine blood
tests were performed.

However, the Fauquier
County Sheriff's Office

claimed they didn't have the
budget to do DNA comparisons.

Shelly's family has taken out
newspaper ads, written letters,

and made numerous phone calls
to local and state officials,

all for one purpose.

They want a full-fledged
investigation.

An investigation they believe
will prove Shelly was murdered.

I can only think
that an argument came

about between Shelly and George
or Shelly and Carter Wiley,

I don't know which of the two.

I think it wasn't a planned
thing, but I think one of them

struck her.

And killed her or felt
that they had killed her

or felt that they
had maimed her in a--

in a very serious way.

And I think the rest of the
scenario that we've been told

is simply that, a scenario.

Shelly!

ROBERT STACK: John Strassburger,
a horse expert and editor

of "The Chronicle
of the Horse," feels

it is highly unlikely Shelly's
horse would have behaved

as Erica Stumvoll described.

The element of the story
that-- that raises questions,

in my mind, are a horse stepping
on its rider in an open field.

It's hard to imagine
a horse intentionally

or accidentally stepping on
someone in that situation.

Not impossible, but
very hard to imagine.

I've talked to medical men
who say a man with a big fist

could strike a girl
weighing 104 pounds

and just with the force of his
hand, sever that ventricle.

So that once that
had happened and she

was unconscious or dead,
what could they do?

So you take the shoe
off of the horse,

ram it onto a four-by-four.

And then with all the
force you have, plant

a hoof print over the heart.

ROBERT STACK: What
happened to Shelly Malone?

The sheriff's department in
Fauquier County, Virginia,

issued the following statement
in response to our story.

Quote, Ms Malone's death
has been investigated

and reviewed by several
agencies to include

the Virginia State Police.

All conclude the death
is accidental, end quote.

In addition, the Office
of the Chief Medical

Examiner in Washington,
DC, also ruled

that the death was accidental.

[theme music]

Join me next time for
another fascinating edition

and Unsolved Mysteries.

[theme music]