Original subtitles

ANNOUNCER: Tonight on "Unsolved Mysteries."

ROBERT STACK: It rained down from the heavens like a plague,

tiny toxic blobs of goo that brought

an outbreak of flu-like illnesses

to Oakville, Washington.

And left behind a perplexing mystery

that may never be solved.

Twenty years ago, a young doctor ventured

into the Chinese wilderness seeking

knowledge about the ancient and mysterious art of Qi Gong.

Today, AIDS patients Selim Babac believes

the teachings of Master Hong Liu have

given him a new lease on life.

He's known as a ruthless operator

with a hair trigger temper.

He's a reputed godfather of New England's Irish mafia.

And now he's a fugitive.

Have you seen James Whitey Bulger?

In California, a house is torched to cover up

the murder of a young woman and the abduction

of her infant son.

Now the boy's father, rap music artist Lathan

"Young Lay" Williams needs your help

to solve this disturbing case.

Join me for this intriguing edition

of "Unsolved "Mysteries."

[theme music]

It came from the sky to wreak havoc

on the earth, strange, blob-like droplets

that look something like this.

It sounds like a bad science fiction movie.

But for a small town in the Pacific Northwest,

there was nothing entertaining or fictional about the scourge

that befell them in 1994.

Six times it rained down from above,

leaving dozens of local residents

ill and several pets and small animals dead.

It all happened at Oakville, Washington, population 665.

Here in Oakville, clouds fill the sky daily, bringing

rain some 275 days a year.

So when it began pouring on the morning of August 7, 1994,

no one was particularly concerned.

Until they realized it wasn't raining rain,

it was raining tiny blobs of gelatinous goo.

It came down in torrents, blanketing 20 square miles,

and brought with it something of a plaque.

I got sick.

My wife got sick, my daughter.

Everybody that lived here got sick.

Everybody in the whole town came down with like a flu,

only it was a really hard flu.

It didn't last like seven days, it lasted like seven weeks

to two or three months.

ROBERT STACK: A local policeman was among the first

to report the perplexing precipitation.

Officer David Lacey was on patrol

with a civilian friend at 3:00 AM when the downpour began.

What's on the window, there?

ROBERT STACK: I don't know.

It's sort of building up.

Is that inside the car?

We turned our windshield wipers on

and it just started smearing to the point

where we could almost not see.

And we both looked at each other and we said, you know,

gees, this isn't right.

I mean, we're out in the middle of nowhere, basically.

And where did this come from?

ROBERT STACK: Officer Lacey pulled into a gas station

to de-goo his windshield.

As an added precaution, he put on a pair of latex gloves.

That's really weird.

The substance, it was very mushy.

It was almost like if you had Jell-O in your hand.

And you could pretty much squish it through your fingers.

We knew it wasn't something that we

would normally see, because we had

never experienced it before.

So we did have some bells go off in our heads

that basically said that this isn't right, this isn't normal.

ROBERT STACK: Local resident Dotty

Hearn was equally baffled.

By the time she stepped outside that morning

the storm had ended, but the blobs were everywhere.

It looked like hail laying on top of the wood

box and everywhere else.

So I just went over and I touched it.

And it wasn't hail.

It was a gelatinous like material.

Hi.

I have an appointment to see the doctor.

ROBERT STACK: By mid-afternoon, Officer Lacey

had inexplicably taken ill.

Just have a seat, the doctor will be right with you.

Thank you.

I was to the point where I could hardly breathe.

I started to put together that possibly whatever the substance

was, it made me violently sick, you know,

and ill, like I never had been before.

To the point where it just totally shut me down.

ROBERT STACK: Across town, Dotty Hearn

wasn't fairing much better.

I started feeling dizzy.

Everything started moving around and around.

And it got worse.

As it did, I became increasingly nauseated.

Mom!

Donnie, come quick!

ROBERT STACK: An hour later, Dotty's daughter and son

found her sprawled on the bathroom floor.

- Have you been throwing up? - Yes.

Donnie, she's sick.

ROBERT STACK: Can you hear me, Mom?

She was cold, drenched with perspiration, pale.

My mom had been vomiting.

She had extreme vertigo.

She complained that she had difficulty with her vision.

Her vision was blurring.

ROBERT STACK: Dotty would spend the next three

days in the hospital.

The diagnosis, a severe inner ear infection.

For some reason as we were going out the door,

I remembered the substance.

And I wondered if perhaps it might

have had some sort of an effect on her,

if it might have made her sick.

So I opted at that moment to take

a sample of this gelatinous material to the hospital.

ROBERT STACK: A lab technician found the first startling clue.

The substance contained human white blood cells.

But exactly what it was and why it fell from the sky

could not be determined.

The goo was promptly forwarded to the Washington State

Department of Health for further analysis.

It was very uniform.

There was no structure that we could see

visibly or with a microscope.

I set it up on various microbiological media

and attempted to isolate bacteria.

ROBERT STACK: Mike McDowell discovered that the sample was

literally teeming with two species

of bacteria, one of which makes its home

in the human digestive system.

The initial speculation was that it might have been

human waste from an airliner.

And that would make sense.

You would expect to find something

like a human white blood cell in human waste.

However, the FAA ruled that out.

Because under the regulations, human waste is dyed blue.

The substance was not blue.

It was crystal clear in color.

ROBERT STACK: All told, the blobs rained down upon Oakville

six times over a three week period.

Dozens of people took ill.

Several dogs and cats reportedly died after coming in contact

with the toxic droplets.

Included in the death toll was Sunny Barclift's

eight week old kitten.

But the nature of the substance and any connection

it may have had with the outbreak remained a mystery.

Here we have a sample number 12876.

OK.

ROBERT STACK: Nearly a year after Dotty Hearn's illness,

she took a sample of the material

she has stored in her freezer to a private research lab.

I saw what I think was a eukaryotic call, which

is basically a cell that has a definable nucleus

and is found present in most animals.

ROBERT STACK: Translation, that goo was alive.

But how in the world did living matter

make its way into the clouds?

The explanations are as mind boggling

as the substance itself.

Perhaps inevitably, the finger of suspicion

was soon pointed directly at the military.

Someone theorized that since the Navy had been conducting

live bombing runs at sea, they might have

blown up a school of jellyfish.

And of course, this jellyfish would

have been thrown up into the air and floated 50 miles inland.

And over a period of three weeks falling six times

in the month of August, 1994.

I find that somewhat preposterous.

Now if that were jellyfish floating around

up there for that long they would

have smelled to high heaven.

ROBERT STACK: The Air Force confirms

that practice bombing runs are being

conducted over the Pacific in August of 1994.

However, they deny any knowledge of the unknown substances

or any involvement in creating or dispersing it.

The locals don't buy it.

We had a significant amount of military aircraft

flying over the home prior to this happening.

Everyday almost, slow flying bombers, helicopters, all black

in color.

And we kind of thought maybe it might have come from them.

They let off things in the air all the time here.

Testing, you know, there is testing

done all over the place.

There's a lot of places you can't go into.

Maybe we were a biological experiment of some kind.

A small one maybe just to get people a little bit

sick to find out, say if an enemy

did come over here with a biological bomb or something

and dropped it.

Maybe just a test run to see how it would-- what would happen.

ROBERT STACK: Translation, germ warfare.

However, that seems unlikely, given

the severe international restrictions

regarding experiments with biological weapons

in populated areas.

At present, it's impossible to say what the strange goo was

or where it came from.

Unfortunately, all samples of the substance

are gone, making further study impossible.

Perhaps the answer will come some day soon when the skies

open up over another small community and the blobs

once again fall to earth.

Next, on a college campus in Texas, two brutal rapes,

one unknown assailant.

Now the suspect is identified and on the run

after a chance encounter with one of his accusers.

[theme music]

Perhaps the most shocking of all crime statistics

is that one out of every three women in the United States

will be sexually assaulted during her lifetime.

One of three.

Occasionally, even the safety of a college campus

can be violated by a sexual predator

as it was at Texas A&M University in January of 1995.

The rapist hid his intentions behind a show of normalcy.

He was just a jogger.

He looked like any other student.

When the jogger ran by the victim, he ran out of sight,

then turned around and came back.

She didn't feel at that time that that was really

strange because of the fact that there were a lot of joggers

that you know, go to a certain area.

They'll turn around, they come back.

And they may come back the same way

or they may continue a different route.

- Hey. - Hi.

Chilly evening tonight.

Yeah.

Let go of me.

This is a knife.

The suspect kept telling the victim

to do what he told her to do.

Get on your feet.

He also kept that knife within her sight.

And she had every indication at that point

that he would use that knife on her.

ROBERT STACK: Thirty minutes later, the rapist

disappeared into the shadows.

University police soon released a composite drawing

and character profile of the suspect.

He was probably a college student.

He would strike again.

He would use that knife.

We had to catch this guy.

We had to identify him.

We had to find out where he was.

And we had to prevent him from performing

another sexual assault.

ROBERT STACK: The profile was right on target.

Three months later, a knife wielding assailant

attacked another Texas A&M student.

Hey.

Stop. Get away from me.

No.

She was very frustrated that she couldn't overpower him.

But from nowhere, she said, a knife appeared and was

placed against her throat.

He threatened her.

He told her that if she screamed he was going to kill her.

And therefore, she complied with his instructions.

He then took her to a nearby field.

There was about five foot tall grass.

And he had already matted down a six foot diameter area

so that the grass was real low, which is where

he then sexually assaulted her.

The site was chosen, but not necessarily the victim.

He just waited for the right one to come by

and then took her to the location

that he had already prepared.

ROBERT STACK: This composite is based on the second victim's

description.

When compared to the first drawing,

it bolstered investigators' fears that a serial rapist

was stalking the campus.

Upon reviewing the information that we had,

we became very concerned that if it was indeed the same person,

if he had committed one and committed a second,

there was most likely going to be a third and a fourth

and so on until he was stopped.

ROBERT STACK: Authorities wallpapered the campus

community with posters.

However, the sketches could only deal in generalities.

The suspect had straight hair, not curly.

He was young, not old, white, not black.

A lot of people end up saying yep, looks

like just any regular person.

Even the second victim that I had interviewed

in depth she made the comment too,

just looked like a clean cut student.

ROBERT STACK: The critical break came

from the first victim herself.

In November of 1995, 10 months after the assault,

she stopped for groceries at a local market.

Have a good day.

Thanks.

Howdy.

How you doing?

Hey. - Fine, thanks.

This is a knife.

Do what I say and I won't hurt you.

We're gonna go for a little walk, OK.

OK.

That will be $42.57, please.

Can I write you check?

Sure.

Let go of me.

This is a knife.

Can I your driver's license, please?

Driver's license?

Yeah.

Thank you.

ROBERT STACK: The young woman was

convinced she was face to face with the man who raped her.

Excuse me.

Hey!

You forgot something.

ROBERT STACK: Police would soon learn that the clerk was named

Don Richard Davis Jr. He was scheduled to graduate

in three weeks from Texas A&M.

I'm Detective Villarreal.

This is Detective Lindholm.

We're with the Texas A&M University Police Department.

Hi.

We're investigating the two rapes that took

place on the campus last year.

Your name came to us as a look alike.

Yep. Now this is just routine.

We've already interviewed more than 70 people.

But I'd like to get your picture for a photo lineup.

Sure.

His demeanor, his posture, even his physical continence

was very timid, very sheepish.

But interesting enough, we started to really study

that picture and look at him.

And we started to really look in those eyes,

they didn't match the sheepish behavior that we had seen.

The eyes ended up reflecting a very thoughtful,

aware, focused, individual.

ROBERT STACK: When this photograph of Davis

was shown to the second victim, she too

identified him as the rapist.

DNA was the clincher.

Police say that preliminary tests showed with 90% certainty

that Davis and the rapist were one in the same.

Give a call as soon as I get back to the station.

ROBERT STACK: In January of 1996,

Don Davis Jr. was arrested and charged

with aggravated sexual assault. Those

who knew him were incredulous.

Teachers praised his abilities and his works.

His peers liked him very much.

He had lady friends both within the university

and outside the university environment.

Some described him as a very handsome young man

with good manners.

There's a lot of people who think very highly of him

and can't even perceive of him ever committing

these type of offenses.

When I heard these charges, I was in disbelief.

I thought there's got to be some mistake.

Don's not that type of person.

He's-- there's nothing aggressive

about his personality.

And I thought it was a case--

I still think it is a case of mistaken identity.

ROBERT STACK: However, investigators

say that the final DNA test results have left little margin

for such an error.

The evidence was pretty overwhelming and conclusive

that out of all the white males in the world,

he was a one in five million on one incident

and one in five billion in the other.

ROBERT STACK: Don Davis Jr. Was released on bail of $150,000.

A court ordered him to stay with his parents

and observe a 10 PM curfew.

On August 20, 1996, six days before the start of his trial,

Davis did not come home.

[music playing]

Coming up, the authorities say Whitey

Bulger ruled the Boston underground

for more than 20 years.

Now they need your help to track him down.

But first, the mysterious art of Qi Gong.

Can this ancient Chinese practice

harness the body's natural energy to help heal the sick?

[theme music]

For the Chinese, energy is a force vital to all life.

They believe it flows through our bodies like blood

through our veins.

The Chinese also believe there are a rare few who can control

that energy, healers who have mastered

an ancient and mysterious art known as Qi Gong,

literally the exercise of energy.

Guangdong province, southern China, 20 years ago.

Ni-hao.

ROBERT STACK: Hong Liu, a young doctor from Shanghai,

climbed to a cave hidden high in the mountains.

Liu had grown up in a family of physicians

schooled in traditional Western medicine.

But he suspected there was more to healing than science.

The isolated cave was a home of a Qi Gong master named Kwan,

a man who reputedly could diagnose illness

with a single glance and perform cures without even

touching the patient.

For eight long years, Hong Liu worked with Master Kwan

learning how to tap the energy of the universe

to find enlightenment and heal the sick.

Today, Dr. Hong Liu is one of 12 Qi

Gong high masters in the world.

He lives in Southern California is

the only one of those masters practicing

in the United States.

[non-english speech]

INTERPRETER: Qi Gong is not a miracle cure.

Qi Gong can improve health.

Qi Gong can you cure some illnesses, but it

cannot cure every illness.

I really wanted and hoped that there was somebody out

there that had a magic wand that was going to wave it over me

and say oh, you're cured.

You have your full use of your left side back.

That's the kind of, you know, that's where

I was coming from at the time.

ROBERT STACK: That time was December,

1994 Selim Babac, accompanied by his mother,

made his first visit to Master Liu.

Selim was in the final stages of AIDS.

He was partially paralyzed, losing his vision,

and had recently been diagnosed with PML, a brain

virus that is swift and deadly.

You OK?

I remember asking my physician maybe a month

or so after I was diagnosed, do you

have any other PML patients.

He says, yes.

And I said, how are they?

They said, they're all dead.

ROBERT STACK: Master Liu claims he can simply

look at his patients and see where

the Qi energy flow is blocked.

Then he uses his own Qi to help clear the path.

The session had barely begun when Master Liu's apprentice

removed Selim's leg brace.

Next, Master Liu told Selim to rise.

Stand up.

OK.

Don't worry.

OK.

Don't worry, don't worry.

OK.

Close eyes.

I was amazed.

I couldn't believe that I was standing

without the aid of anything.

OK.

It felt that something was coming into my body

from afar, from behind me when master Liu was working on me.

It felt like something-- something

was penetrating my skin, and as a result, making me

stand upright.

Every time I felt myself leaning this way or leaning that way

or falling, he would just push his energy into my body.

And that would make me stand upright again.

It was like shadow boxing, in a way.

My son would start going to one side.

He would bring the energy from his body toward my son

without touching my son.

And he would straighten up.

He would start going to the other side,

he would go from the other side.

It was-- it was-- it was a most incredible thing to watch.

Yes.

ROBERT STACK: From that day on, weekly sessions with Master Liu

were a regular part of Selim's therapy.

Sit down.

OK.

[non-english speech]

INTERPRETER: The good part is that he

is also using Western medicine.

So that's why I think if I used Qi Gong with Western medicine

and they work together, what will happen?

The effect has been positive.

You want to have a backgammon tournament tonight?

Why not?

ROBERT STACK: To Selim, the result was

nothing short of miraculous.

Within six months, he had regained 80% of the mobility

on his left side and could walk without a brace or crutch.

Selim's dramatic improvement amazed everyone,

especially his Western doctors.

I was quite surprised to see Selim recover in the way

that he did.

In my experience, patients with AIDS and PML do not improve.

They deteriorate.

ROBERT STACK: It's clear that for the moment, at least,

Selim has beaten the worst odds.

His doctors credit a new approach

to drug therapy that uses a combination of AIDS drugs

rather than one at a time.

Selim, however, is convinced that Qi

Gong was a crucial component.

I cannot say Master Liu cured me, but he definitely brought

me to the road of recovery.

If you can imagine coming from the point of being diagnosed

as somebody who is just as good as dead to where I am now,

I mean, it's just--

I'm elated.

I'm totally elated.

Selim Babac is now one of thousands worldwide

who practice Qi Gong sometimes in group

sessions like this one.

Debi Patella has a bone marrow disease, a condition that is

often a precursor to leukemia.

For Debi, Qi Gong is a full partner in her therapy.

It's not a cure, but a way to alleviate

the side effects of drugs prescribed by her doctors.

I don't have any of the symptoms anymore.

I don't get the headaches, I don't get nauseous.

I have tried everything, you name it.

Nothing has ever give me the energy

that Qi Gong has done for me.

I wish I would've have known about it a long time ago.

I feel like I'm me again.

How it works, I don't know, I don't know.

But I honestly feel it worked for me,

and it can work for others.

ROBERT STACK: In 1993, Randy Hebert

says he was diagnosed with an aggressive form

of prostate cancer.

Three doctors told him he should have surgery.

Instead, he tried Qi Gong.

Skeptically with one eye kind of open

and the other one kind of closed I started to go to him.

ROBERT STACK: Master Liu put Randy on a macrobiotic diet,

taught him exercises to do at home,

and gave him treatments three times a week.

I know other people that he has worked on, they've gotten

into trance-like states.

I never did.

But I did feel something going through me.

Something almost like heat.

ROBERT STACK: After working with Randy for three months,

Master Liu made an astounding pronouncement.

He said to me, the cancer is gone.

And I still get goosebumps to this day.

And I said, what did you say?

And he says, the cancer is gone.

ROBERT STACK: Randy scheduled another biopsy immediately.

How are you doing today?

ROBERT STACK: The results appear to confirm

Master Liu's diagnosis.

Well, I have good news for you.

- You do? - Yes.

Your biopsy results are negative.

There's no sign of cancer.

That's great.

ROBERT STACK: Over the next year and a half,

Randy had three more biopsies, all were negative.

Nevertheless, it will take more than one case

to convince the medical community that Qi

Gong is an effective treatment.

We'll do a biopsy every six months.

Despite 4,000 years of history,

I think that Qi Gong and other forms of alternative therapies

really need to be held up to the same light and burden

of proof, burden of evidence that traditional medicine is

held up to.

[non-english speech]

INTERPRETER: Modern medicine solves many problems.

But it has some areas that need improvement,

more research and development.

Qi Gong, generally speaking, is a good supplement.

That's why I recommend Western medicine

combined with our method.

This is more guaranteed for the patient.

ROBERT STACK: Officially, the American Medical Association

has no opinion on Qi Gong as a legitimate healing technique.

Next, join the search for Whitey Bulger, the reputed godfather

of Boston's Irish mob.

And later, a rising rap star searches

for his infant son and the people who kidnapped him.

[theme music]

Next January, six men are scheduled

to go on trial for extortion and racketeering

here in Boston, Massachusetts.

The star witnesses will be several

of their alleged victims.

But authorities have every reason to fear for the safety

of those witnesses.

If the trial were to start today, one of the defendants

would be conspicuously absent.

He is perhaps New England's most notorious fugitive,

Whitey Bulger, the reputed godfather of the Irish mafia.

James J. Whitey Bulger has been described as a throwback

to the gangsters of the 1930s.

Quick witted, hot tempered, ruthless, a petty thief

turned bank robber who spent nine years in federal prisons

including Alcatraz.

After his release, Bulger allegedly established an empire

in South Boston.

According to the authorities, Whitey

ruled his turf with an iron fist for more than 20 years.

And in the process, earned an estimated $25 million.

In his heyday, Whitey Bulger operated

out of the back of a liquor store

on the edge of South Boston.

How you doing, Sean?

Good to see you.

ROBERT STACK: Late one night in 1989,

he allegedly arrived to take care

of some unfinished business.

Relax, Timmy.

Reportedly, Whitey's associate Stephen "The Rifleman" Flemmi

was waiting inside. - How are you?

Good.

ROBERT STACK: Their guest of honor

was a local tavern owner named Tim

Connolly, whom Whitey had allegedly

targeted for extortion.

Oh, I'm fine. I'm fine, thanks.

Sit down, sit down, sit down. How's your family?

Good Jim, thanks.

Good.

Timmy, I got a problem here.

I got this guy, he owes me $40,000.

And he decides the way he's going to pay me back is

take a mortgage on his house.

I sent that paperwork in.

Yeah, yeah.

And something is happening here,

and my friends aren't helping this guy along.

- Whitey. - Whitey?

Who you calling Whitey?

I want some respect from you, jerk.

I respect you.

Oh, I'll show you some respect.

This is respect.

This is respect.

Jimmy--

That's respect. That's respect.

Jimmy!

That's respect.

I'm going to let you buy your life for $50,000.

Jimmy, that's an awful lot of money.

$50,000 by the end of the week.

I can't get it all, Jimmy.

Oh yeah, well it's good you caught me on a good day, huh.

Because I'm going to let you give me $25,000 in two days.

ROBERT STACK: Two days later, Tim Connolly

claims he did the only thing he felt he could do.

He returned to the liquor store with $25,000 cash.

How are you, Tim?

Good Jimmy, yourself?

Good, good.

Going down to Florida?

Yeah, yeah, I'm leaving in the morning, Jimmy.

Good.

Bulger realized that they got half of the money back,

and Connolly had promised the other half

and everything was forgiven.

Connolly claims that Bulger then came

out, put his arm around him, and said,

now you're our friend again.

Thanks.

But Tim Connolly apparently did not feel as enthusiastic

about the friendship.

He went to the FBI.

They, in turn, began building a case against the so-called don

of South Boston.

James J. Whitey Bulger came from a prominent local family.

His older brother Billy is a former state

senator and current president of the University

of Massachusetts.

But by all accounts, Whitey was a wise guy from day one.

In South Boston, you very often

had in real life angels with dirty faces

where Jimmy Cagney is the bad kid

and Pat O'Brien becomes the priest.

That happens over there.

I know many families that have a priest and a gangster

in the same family or a gangster and a police

officer in the same family.

It's very common in that culture.

ROBERT STACK: South Boston is an insulated

Irish Catholic community.

A place where Whitey Bulger, known to his friends as Jimmy,

felt right at home.

You talk to Frankie?

Ah yeah, some of his guys don't know where

north ends and south begins.

Listen, we got to talk to Frankie.

We've got to get that straightened out.

South Boston really believes that we look out after our own.

And that's what Whitey Bulger was all about.

In South Boston, Whitey Bulger was widely

viewed in the working class as our gangster.

Yeah, he's a wise guy.

Yeah, he'll hurt you if you deserve it or if you cross him.

But he's a gangster with scruples.

He's a guy that will keep an order, a certain order

to the underworld.

People maybe loved the fact that they felt that he

took care of the community.

That he would be the guy that would carry the groceries

of the elderly woman that was getting out of a taxi

and trying to get up to her apartment.

Or would help a little boy that maybe had a dog, his dog died,

would go out and buy a dog for a little boy.

But he also is viewed as somebody that you didn't cross.

Oh wait, look who we got here.

Hey, hey, Bobby come over here.

ROBERT STACK: Bulger reportedly had

no qualms about flexing his muscles in full view

of the neighborhood.

Hi Jimmy, Hi Steve.

Nice seeing you both.

It's not nice seeing you, Bobby.

Steve, they're going to close me down.

Last month I had to come up with a double month's

rent for these people.

Stephen, I swear, if only--

Bobby, Friday, 2:00.

Friday 2:00.

Jimmy.

Whitey Bulger absolutely controlled

what went on in South Boston.

In fact, nothing happened in South Boston

without his approval.

Every bit of illegal gaming, loan sharking, drug dealing,

he had a piece of it.

If it happened, he had to sanction it,

and he had to have a piece of it.

ROBERT STACK: From time to time, the feds brought Whitey

in for questioning, but they never had

enough evidence to nail him.

For all intents and purposes, Whitey Bulger was untouchable.

Whitey Bulger is the master of eluding surveillance.

He learned quickly how to avoid being caught.

He never said anything incriminating

in any confined place.

And he had a real habit of conducting

all of his business outside.

ROBERT STACK: But the Boston Globe

has reported there was another reason Whitey was never busted,

that he was actually working with the FBI

as an informant to bring down the Italian mafia.

I think there was always a split within the FBI.

I think there were some agents who for their own reasons

wanted to use him as a resource, and probably

liked him at one level.

I think there were other agents who looked at him

and said he's just another gangster.

Those are the people we're supposed to be taking off.

What I can tell you is that when it comes to matters

within the FBI involving informants and sources

and witnesses, cooperating witnesses,

we just do not talk about that.

That is not something we speak about in public.

ROBERT STACK: John Gamel has been on the Bulger case

since 1990.

By that time, Whitey had set up his office

on Castle Island at the tip of South Boston,

just across the harbor was Boston's busy Logan Airport.

You have planes coming over, you have joggers running by,

you have dogs barking.

It is a perfect location to avoid having

people like me listen to you.

What do you think?

Bulger also used a technique the FBI has

labeled disciplined randomness.

When I was watching Whitey, he might be sitting

and talking with somebody.

And I have literally seen him having a conversation

with somebody, look at his watch and go three benches down

and sit down and continue that conversation with these people

10 minutes later and then move again in 10 minutes.

Hey, Jimmy.

- How are you? - I'm fine.

How are you?

I've been there when it was 20 degrees.

I've been there when it's 94 degrees,

and he's been out there.

He had a select group of trusted associates,

and they would be the go between.

They were the ones that would go out and deal

the bookmakers and loan sharks and pick up

money to bring back to Whitey.

Very rarely did Whitey make an appearance

and actually have a face to face confrontation.

He left other people to do his dirty work.

But unfortunately for Whitey, he made an exception

in Connolly's case.

I'm going to let you give me $25,000 in two days.

Now get out.

And if I don't get the rest of it, this is you.

Tim Connolly turned to the FBI because he was scared.

And I think Connolly decided that it

was time to start talking.

Are you implying that Mr. Bulger

threatened you, Mr. Connolly?

ROBERT STACK: Connolly provided authorities

with the evidence needed to build a federal racketeering

case against Bulger.

In January of 1995, Whitey was indicted,

along with his associate Stephen "The Rifleman" Flemmi.

Also indicted was "Cadillac Frank" Salemme, boss

of New England's Italian mafia.

But in true Whitey fashion, Bulger managed to slip

through the authorities' grasp.

I think that the law enforcement rushed the arrest

a little bit, because they were worried that they were

going to lose their intended targets,

that they would all take off.

And so they grabbed Stevie Flemmi.

And when they did, they were unable to locate

Frank Salemme or Whitey Bulger.

Six months later they found Frank Salemme in Florida,

but they have yet to find Whitey.

I think a lot of people who have had dealings with Whitey

and who are going to be witnesses in the upcoming case

are probably nervous about the fact that he's not in custody.

[music playing]

ROBERT STACK: Next, a house set afire,

a young woman murdered, a four week old

son of a rap musician abducted.

[theme music]

[MUSIC - YOUNG LAY, "PLAYAH'S MODE"]

Listen to the sounds I bring.

I been dropping but they get 'em jockin' like feens.

I come so clean when I spit it that lecher's mouthpiece.

ROBERT STACK: His IS name Lathan Williams, known to his fans

as Young Lay.

A rising star in the rap music world,

and now a young man at the center

of a bizarre double mystery.

A tragedy that has torn from him the two most

important people in his life.

We just came by to see the baby.

ROBERT STACK: A case that has stumped police in Vallejo,

California for months.

In the spring of 1996, things were

going well for Lathan Williams.

He had recently signed a recording deal.

This new video was about to be released,

and his girlfriend had just given

birth to their first child, a boy named Le-Zhan.

What I feel about Le-Zhan was he's the first son,

you know what I'm saying.

The summer is fittin to come, you know what I'm saying.

I'm fittin to be with him, you know what I'm saying,

take care of him.

It was an experience to me.

You know what I'm saying?

I was happy.

ROBERT STACK: Lathan's girlfriend,

17-year-old Daphne Boyden, lived with her grandmother

in Vallejo.

Daphne was working hard to finish high school

while caring for baby Le-Zhan.

On May 17, 1996, Daphne's grandmother Riva Lee Boyden

was getting ready to go to her weekly bingo game

when the doorbell rang.

Is Daphne home?

Yeah, come on in.

She's in the back. Daphne?

Yeah?

You have company.

OK, I'll come out.

ROBERT STACK: Daphne was getting a lot of visitors.

She was a mother of a local rap star's baby.

Everybody wanted to see Lathan's son.

I'm good.

We just came by to see the baby.

Oh, it's so cute.

Y'all can sit down.

Daphne, I'm going to play bingo.

I'll be gone a couple of hours.

ROBERT STACK: Riva Lee didn't recognize these two girls,

but Daphne obviously knew them.

Everything seemed fine.

Riva Lee couldn't have been more wrong.

An hour later, she was rushing home.

Neighbors had told her that her house was on fire.

She had no idea whether Daphne and Le-Zhan were still inside.

That's my house, I've got to get up there.

Ma'am, I've got to-- you can't get in there.

You can't go in there, ma'am. - I tried breaking loose.

They said, no, no, don't go in.

He said your grand daughter is dead.

I said, dead?

ROBERT STACK: Daphne was dead.

The news grew worse.

None of it had been an accident.

Daphne had been murdered, the house

torched to cover up the crime.

And there was more.

Baby Le-Zhan was missing, apparently kidnapped.

For Lathan Williams, the shock was devastating.

He couldn't believe they were both gone.

I was saying please, to myself, please, Daphne come

walking around this corner, you know what I'm saying,

with this baby.

You know what I'm saying?

ROBERT STACK: Daphne's death outraged the community.

Hundreds turned out for a march memorializing Daphne and urging

La-Zhan's safe return.

The question on everyone's mind was why.

I did hear that some girls were threatening her.

And I didn't understand that, you know.

But they said it was behind my son.

I don't know for sure or not what the situation is.

But it seems to me, apparently somebody wanted a baby.

And they wanted to do away with her.

And why, I don't know.

Daphne herself was a 17-year-old

girl that attended school, did well, seemed to be well liked.

The problem was that she did have

this baby that was fathered by a up and coming rapper

in the area.

He was signed to a contract and was actually doing quite well.

And we initially felt that possibly there

were some jealousies that had been

aroused in competing females for Lathan's affections.

Is Daphne home?

Yeah, come on in.

She's in the back.

ROBERT STACK: The obvious suspects

were the two girls who had visited Daphne

the evening of her murder.

Daphne?

ROBERT STACK: They were first seen just before they

arrived at the house by a neighbor

who wishes to remain anonymous.

I saw two girls on the same side of the sidewalk.

One of the girls, she had like a black tote bag.

And she unzipped the bag and pulled out something which

appeared to me to be a rope.

You got the light?

Yeah sure, I got everything. Come on.

All right.

When they were walking past by me,

you know how you watch scary movies

and you get scared, that's the kind of feeling I had inside me

when I looked at their eyes.

Another witness allegedly noticed

the girls leaving the Boyden house

just before the fire broke out.

One girl may have been concealing

something in her jacket.

A few blocks down the street, the two girls

were spotted again.

Yo ladies, yo, yeah.

Come here, I want to talk to you for a minute.

ROBERT STACK: These witnesses too believed one of the girls

may have been concealing something.

If the girls did indeed murder Daphne and kidnap baby Le-Zhan,

was it for love of Lathan?

Or could there have been another motive?

Ten months earlier, Lathan himself

had been a target, a victim of an attempted hold up.

- Break yourself. - What's up, homey?

You know what time it is.

I thought we was cool.

Give up the damn loot or I'll bust you.

Come on, come on.

Anybody moves, everybody dies.

ROBERT STACK: One bullet hit Lathan, piercing his brain.

When he recovered, he testified against the shooter.

It's only natural to assume that there could

be some possible connection there,

that it may be some type of retaliation.

We don't want to over inflate that possibility.

But again, it's unsolved, so we're trying

not to close any doors on it.

OK, I don't think, you know what I'm saying--

ROBERT STACK: However, Lathan Williams is convinced the two

attacks are not connected.

Me being shot, you know what I'm saying,

had nothing to do with it.

Because of the fact that they would try to get at me,

you know what I'm saying.

My life would have been in danger,

you know what I'm saying, not my baby mama's life, you know

what I'm saying, and my kid.

ROBERT STACK: Whatever the motive,

police have no doubt that whoever killed

Daphne also kidnapped La-Zhan.

We still feel that there's hope to recover the baby.

Obviously, we feel it's still alive.

And we hope with this information

on a nationwide level it can lead to some further leads that

eventually lead to an arrest.

[music playing]

[theme music]

ROBERT STACK: On our next "Unsolved Mysteries,"

a deranged ex-policeman and his wife,

a homemade bomb, an elementary school held hostage.

At the moment of detonation, it seemed only a miracle could

save the children, and many believe

that is exactly what happened.

Join me next time for another compelling hour

of "Unsolved Mysteries."

[theme music]