Original subtitles

NARRATOR: Tonight on Unsolved Mysteries.

ROBERT STACK: July 12, 1996, Spokane, Washington.

July 27, 1996, Atlanta, Georgia.

Two vicious attacks separated by 15 days and 3,000 miles.

Is there a connection?

In a special report we'll examine

compelling evidence that may help solve the infamous Olympic

Park bombing.

According to his ex-wife, Salvatore

Spinnato had everything you'd expect a con artist to have--

charm, a glib tongue, and a secret past.

According to the police, Spinnato

has something extra, a nasty temper

and a taste for violence.

Christina Umowski was still a toddler

when doctors told her parents she would likely

die before the age of 10.

Today, Christina is a happy, healthy 12-year-old.

Did the sublime faith of father Ralph Diorio

bring about her miraculous recovery?

Join me for these intriguing cases.

Perhaps you may be able to help solve a mystery.

[music playing]

The con artists we have profiled seem to share

similar characteristics.

They are seductively charming, totally

convincing, utterly without conscience, but rarely violent.

Some who know the debonair hustler you're about to meet

say he also fits the type.

That is unless you cross him.

[laughing]

Thank you.

Hello.

Tony.

The usual table, please.

Well, this looks very nice.

ROBERT STACK: When Beth Smith met Sal Oliverio

she had one vulnerability.

Oliverio found it and latched on.

Thank you.

Tony, your best champagne.

BETH SMITH: I was, um, a single mother of two children.

Financially I was very stable.

Career wise I was very stable.

And I guess the only thing that was really missing

in that equation was a husband and a,

um-- a father for my children.

You're gorgeous.

ROBERT STACK: At the time, Beth was a computer consultant.

Oliverio ran a physical therapy business.

Beth says he recounted in detail his distinguished Navy career,

including two years as a POW in Vietnam.

SALVATORE OLIVERIO: You can't understand

unless you roll with them.

BETH SMITH: He told me stories about how

he was captured in Vietnam, how he was a prisoner of war.

How long were you a prisoner?

SALVATORE OLIVERIO: About two years.

BETH SMITH: He told these war stories to me,

he told them to my children.

And my children thought of him as a war hero.

Only thing I knew was I was not going to die there.

When he would tell these stories he would cry.

He would literally cry.

He would be very believable, very believable.

ROBERT STACK: Beth fell in love with the man

Sal Oliverio pretended to be, war hero turned entrepreneur.

They were married in October of 1988.

Beth quit her own job to run Oliverio's company.

She says that before long his charming facade

had started to flake away.

[keyboard clacking]

BETH SMITH: The bottom line numbers

always showed him in the red.

And it was just, you know, amazing.

I didn't understand how he thought

he was going to pay these bills that he had coming in.

Sal!

Could you come in here for a minute?

Yes, dear?

You know, I have been over and over these numbers

and I just don't understand what's going on.

Don't worry about it.

What do you mean don't worry about it?

Where's the money going to come from?

Don't worry about it.

I've got some checks coming in.

Sal, what about the quarterly taxes?

You don't understand this business.

I'll take care of it, it's not your problem!

It just started becoming obvious

that things were not as they appeared

to be before we were married at all, in his personality

and his background.

It changed, he changed.

The true him came out.

ROBERT STACK: The true him was stuffed in a box

hidden in the basement.

Beth found it shortly before her third wedding anniversary.

BETH SMITH: It had written on it Lexington

Correctional Institution.

And I had never seen that before and I

never heard that name before.

ROBERT STACK: Oliverio's untidy past was spelled

out in 20 point bold type.

So was is his real name, Salvatore Spinnato.

He had done time in Kentucky for bank fraud.

The article said he had run business scams for years,

allegedly duping one investor of more than a quarter

of a million dollars.

When it suited him, Spinnato had worked undercover for the FBI

posing as a corrupt contractor in a widely

publicized sting operation.

The people who had taken him into their confidence

and had paid in bribes felt double crossed when they found

out he was working for the FBI.

And I think the FBI wasn't too sure at the end

whether Sal was leaking information to the other side

for whatever reason.

Nobody trusted him at the end of that investigation.

It told me that I was married to someone that

was very deceptive, very manipulative,

and someone I didn't know at all.

And everything that he told me about what he wanted

and who he was was a lie.

ROBERT STACK: Beth moved out a few days later.

She filed for a marriage annulment

based on Spinnato's fraudulent identity.

Eventually they settled on a divorce.

We still maintained a relationship at that point

because he still owed me a significant amount of money,

and he was making payments on that.

Not consistently, and not by court order at all.

Just occasionally he would call and say,

I have some extra money, give me a few hundred dollars

towards what he owed me.

Oh, Sal.

Hi, thanks for calling back.

ROBERT STACK: In June of 1996, Beth was preparing

to leave town for 10 days.

Her boyfriend Greg had his own plans to be

away for part of that time.

Beth asked Spinnato to help keep an eye on her 17-year-old son.

Sal, I got a favor to ask.

Sal and my son had a-- had a good relationship.

When we were married and before we were married

they got along well together.

I knew he was dating several other women,

so I assumed there was no other meaning that he

could take from this at all.

And he said that was fine, you know,

just, you know, that was fine.

He would do that, he would look in on my-- on my son.

A couple of days after Beth left the country,

I got a call out of the blue from Sal.

He identified himself as Sal Oliverio,

and he called me and said that he needed

to talk to me right away.

That he was very concerned about her son,

that he was involved with some drugs.

Yeah, it's drugs.

The kid's going to get in trouble.

She was out of the country, I don't know what to do.

ROBERT STACK: Greg says that on July 3

he met with Spinnato at a local convenience store.

He's going to get in trouble, it's drugs.

I mean, did you get--

I had no reason to doubt him.

He-- he seemed genuine in what he was saying.

He was very concerned about his welfare,

his health and well-being.

It was his, you know, his stepson.

He said there was a house that I just bought around the corner

that I'm in the process of remodeling,

would I mind just following him there

and he'd give me some more information.

And there was some information that had to do with me.

So I agreed.

It's a great neighborhood.

I got the house for a wonderful price.

I even--

ROBERT STACK: The drug story was a ruse.

Here, according to Greg, Spinnato's real motives

soon became painfully clear.

I thought this would be a little more private.

Let me show you what I found.

[men grunting]

GREG: The club had an electric shock to it.

It was a-- it was a taser weapon.

[taser buzzing]

I knew that I was in a real bad situation.

I mean, nobody saw me go in, nobody knew where I was.

I knew I was history.

Why are you doing this?

We're going to kill you.

You ain't walking out of here.

You ain't never seeing your kids again.

What's going on?

I thought that was about the kid.

You idiot, it ain't about him. It's about my wife.

[taser buzzing]

She's still my wife, kapeesh?

I realized that this had nothing to do with her son.

The whole purpose in Sal's mind was to--

for me to stop seeing his ex-wife. .

I've got a decision to make.

I've got to decide I want this guy to blow you away or not.

Look at him.

Look at him.

GREG: So I looked up at him, and I recognized him.

This is a guy who had been in my house.

How old did you say the roof was?

ROBERT STACK: A few weeks earlier, Greg

had listed his home for sale.

He says the man represented himself as a prospective buyer,

but it now seemed he had been a spy for Sal Spinnato.

--your agent's number, and we'll be in touch.

Sure thing.

Thanks.

He mentioned his name, but I didn't remember it, you know?

So as he pulled away I wrote down his license plate number.

I don't know what possessed me to even think of doing that,

but thank god that I did.

OK, Sal.

I'll do whatever you want.

I was willing to do anything, say anything

to get out of that house.

The whole conversation shifted.

You know, he had decided that--

he had decided that he was going to let me live.

That he wasn't going to kill me, but that I better come up

with a real good story about how to break it off with his wife.

We're going to go for a little ride.

Got to come up with a plan.

ROBERT STACK: Greg had another plan.

He went straight to the police.

They identified Paul Homer Shaffer, Spinnato's

alleged accomplice from the license number Greg

had jotted down earlier.

Shaffer is currently in jail awaiting trial

on charges of kidnapping and assault.

Salvatore Spinnato was arrested, booked, then released on bail.

He did not show for a scheduled court date in January,

and his whereabouts are currently unknown.

I think he's a very desperate man.

I think he's gone over the edge of what he's done in the past

with this latest incident.

I think he's a very dangerous person,

and if he would do this what else would he do?

Now he's moved into the realm of manipulating

people by using violence.

There is no reason to conclude that he won't

do it again in the future.

Especially-- especially if he sees from some point of view

he's got nothing to lose.

And he's got to know.

He's been around the system long enough to know that we're

looking for him, we want him.

[music playing]

ROBERT STACK: Next, they said she'd never

live long enough to jump rope.

But that was before Christina Umowski's remarkable encounter

with a faith healing priest named Ralph Diorio.

[music playing]

The journey from sickness to health

is often a mysterious passage.

At times inexplicable, even to doctors themselves.

Perhaps most baffling of all are the dramatic recoveries

attributed to divine healing.

Tonight we visit the world of Father Ralph Diorio,

a Catholic priest who's been credited with thousands

of miraculous healings.

Heal me, Jesus.

ROBERT STACK: At Father Diorio's prayer meetings,

worshippers topple to the floor left and right.

It is not uncommon to see dozens of people

sprawled around the room.

Some call it the slaying of the spirit,

a total surrender of individual will to the power of God.

RALPH DIORIO: He may be getting the gift of tears.

That's a gift, too.

ROBERT STACK: Father Diorio ministers to ills of the body,

as well as those of the soul.

Though he is quick to point out that any miracle cures

are not his work, but God's.

[choir singing]

It appears that God has chosen me openly, clearly, publicly.

And all he needed from me was, OK, lord,

I'm willing to be your instrument of speech,

of thought, of touch.

So I become the visible presence of God.

But God is the divine healer.

Steve--

Christina was born with neurofibromatosis--

ROBERT STACK: Stan Umowski and his family

are among those who speak from experience

when they testified of the extraordinary power

of Diorio's prayers.

It's a degenerative genetic disorder.

ROBERT STACK: The Umowski's ordeal began a few weeks

before Christmas in 1988.

It was a proverbial ordinary day.

Mary Umowski was immersed in housework.

Three-year-old Christina was napping

on the living room floor.

Hey, sleepyhead, did you have a good nap?

Christina?

I walked over to her and her eyes

were kind of staring up at the ceiling

and she didn't respond to me.

Sweetie?

Can you hear me?

Her eyes were open, but she wasn't acknowledging me.

She wasn't saying anything and she was

just making this little gur--

gurgling sound in her throat.

Christina?

Sweetie, come on.

Come on, baby.

Come on.

Honey?

As I dialed the doctor, that's when she start convulsing.

Not a wild convulsion, it was basically a tremor

on one side of her body.

Sweetie?

Christina?

OK, it's All right.

It's OK.

I don't know what told me to start timing it.

I remember it started at 1 o'clock that day, December 1,

and the seizure lasted for 20 minutes.

I'm sorry, but the news is not good.

Christina is suffering with neurofibromatosis.

NF causes tumors to grow on the nerve endings.

And in Christina's case, she's developed an optic glioma.

ROBERT STACK: The specialists all agreed,

the neurofibromatosis was unstoppable.

It would compromise Cristina's vision,

disrupt her physical coordination,

and ultimately take her life.

It was almost a certainty.

Is she going to die?

I'm afraid that's a possibility

you're going to have to face.

We sat down and we cried for weeks on end.

Tears would just come to our eyes

at any time during the day or night.

We couldn't sleep.

We were devastated by it.

We were going every six months for a follow up MRI,

and hearing the worst news each time

that the tumor was growing.

ROBERT STACK: The disease took its toll.

As expected, Christina fell far behind her classmates

in physical ability.

There's certain things she would not be able to do at all.

Skipping, forget about it.

Running.

I mean, the coordination wasn't there

to do any of these things.

Jumping, she couldn't get her feet off the ground.

Of course the first question you ask is, why?

Why? Why God?

Why my daughter?

What did she ever do to hurt you?

You know, that-- that type of thing.

Anger set in for a while.

ROBERT STACK: At the urging of a friend,

the Umowski's attended one of Father Diorio's prayer meetings

in February of 1992.

Stan was deeply skeptical.

His doubts, however, were outweighed by his desperation.

I still had some anger in me, even though I agreed to go.

I carried a tape recorder in my pocket

and I taped the entire service thinking that if this man

is a fraud, I'll expose him.

RALPH DIORIO: The true healing--

ROBERT STACK: Dozens had come to be healed, each

hoping for a personal blessing.

Despite his skepticism, Stan was determined

that Christina would be chosen.

Are there any children out there who are suffering?

Please raise your hand.

Father!

Right here, Father.

RALPH DIORIO: Yes.

Do you have a sick child? - Yes, Father.

My daughter.

RALPH DIORIO: Would you please bring her here to me?

I was so excited and thrilled just for the fact

they got called forward.

You know, after seeing a number of people there,

I thought our chances of even being

called or having Christina blessed were almost nil.

Sweetheart, what is your name?

Christina.

Christina.

Now Christina, do you believe in Jesus?

Yes.

Do you love Jesus?

Yes, I love Jesus.

Good.

I'm going to say a prayer for you right now.

There are three types of healing.

There's a physical healing, the spiritual healing,

and the psychological healing.

So God is aiming for all three of these healings

to give this person a new chance, a new aut--

a new chapter in the autobiography

of that person's life you see.

ROBERT STACK: Though Stan and Mary

had come in search of a miracle, they had no idea

what one might look like.

Mommy?

What is it, sweetie?

Mommy, how did that man do that?

Do what, Christina?

How did he make it so hot?

What are you talking about?

Mommy, when that man touched me on my head

he made me feel hot.

And then I remembered what Father Diorio had said

during this service about people feeling a warmth in their body.

And then only then, me who was all bundled up, I was so cold.

I looked at her, her hood was down,

no gloves on, her coat was hanging open.

Do you remember when Father Diorio

said that when the Holy Spirit enters your body

you might feel warm?

ROBERT STACK: Was it a miracle in the making?

Within two days the answer became clear to Stan and Mary.

Right on the front stoop of the school

she starts jumping rope.

And her feet are not just an inch off the ground,

she's literally jumping a half a foot off the ground.

And not just a couple of jumps.

She's jumping, and she's jumping.

And I'm looking at her in like disbelief.

And she calls out saying, mommy, how

can I do this all of a sudden?

Her words, all of a sudden.

Hello?

Doctor.

Thanks for calling.

Listen, I was wondering if you had a chance to view the MRIs.

ROBERT STACK: Any lingering doubts dissolve two weeks later

when Christina's doctor called with the results

from the latest MRI.

Well, how much has it gone down?

OK.

All right, we'll see you at the meeting.

We-- we went to see the doctor in person.

And I said, well, Dr. show-- show me where the tumor is.

He-- you said it was greatly reduced.

Please, show me where the tumor is.

And He put his finger on this one

and he said, well, this is where it was.

We asked a physician unconnected

with this case to review two of Cristina's MRIs.

One was made in 1991, almost a year before Christina's visit

to Father Diorio.

Christina's tumor showed up as thickening

on a part of the brain known as the optic chiasm.

The other MRI was made in 1992, shortly after a Father Diorio's

blessing.

Christina's MRI scan in 1992 in the region

of the optic chiasm appears to be normal.

It appears that in 1992 the thickening of the optic chiasm,

has disappeared when compared with the previous exam of 1991.

In neurofibromatosis there have been rare instances

of regression of optic nerve gliomas,

but this is a rare event.

She's washing all the dishes in the sink.

How many--

ROBERT STACK: It would appear that Cristina

is among those rare few.

Recent MRIs confirm that in the five years since Father Diorio

blessed Christina, the life threatening tumor

has not returned.

I couldn't jump rope, and I could do it very well.

I couldn't really do anything.

I couldn't jump, or run, or anything.

I'm glad that I can do things now,

and I can keep up with the other kids.

There are many healings where both medicine and prayer

are constantly working.

God works through all his creation.

And one of God's primary materialistic, naturalistic,

scientific ways of healing is through the medical profession.

I thank God every day for what he's done.

I thank Father Diorio for being the catalyst in that healing.

Absolutely positively was a miracle,

and I could never thank him enough for that.

In this age of cold facts and hard science,

is there room for something as unexplainable

as an honest to God miracle?

For the Umowski's and literally thousands of others who believe

Father Diorio's intervention saved

them from sickness or death, the answer is a heartfelt yes.

Next, a door-to-door saleswomen has

a startling face-to-face encounter

with a murder suspect.

[music playing]

July 31, 1995, Roebuck, South Carolina.

The end of a hot summer day became a prelude

to mystery for a door-to-door saleswoman

we will call Shirley.

It was nice meeting you.

It was nice doing business with you.

OK, I better get back to--

ROBERT STACK: At around 6:30 PM, Shirley

sold a bottle of cleaning fluid to a new customer,

27-year-old Dana Satterfield.

A mother of two children, Dana had recently

separated from her husband.

She owned and operated her own beauty salon

just off state highway 221.

She was real nice.

And, you know, she told me to wait because she

wanted to see my product.

She was real friendly.

She was outspoken.

Real friendly lady.

ROBERT STACK: After the sale, Shirley headed down the road

to look for other customers.

An hour later, she would pass back by the salon

and emerge as the key witness in a murder case.

On her return trip, Shirley looked in the window

and saw that it was 8:11 PM.

Dana was cleaning up, getting everything I guess to close

up the shop for the night.

She was, like, wiping out the sink,

she was standing right between where I left my product at.

And I waved at her and I kept going.

ROBERT STACK: At around 8:30 after she made two more calls,

Shirley returned to the salon one

final time to wait for her ride home.

I noticed the lights was on and I was

going to go into the shop-- the beauty shop,

but I just stopped.

And I say, no, I better not go in there,

I might get in trouble.

So I went and stood at the street

at the edge of the pavement.

Then I noticed I heard a noise, a loud thump noise.

[thump]

I kept hearing about two or three thump noises.

I kept looking back.

ROBERT STACK: The next time Shirley turned around, someone

had turned the lights out.

And I said, wow, she can really come out then.

I was happy because, you know, I wanted to talk to her.

By that time I heard a big crash sound.

When I looked to my left, I noticed a man getting

off the ground, off his knees.

And I just grabbed my bag and I start running.

ROBERT STACK: Shirley thought she had

crossed paths with a burglar.

She ran to the liquor store 50 feet away to call the police.

[suspenseful music]

And we met and we looked at each other.

You know how a crazy person look when they crazy?

That's how he looked, like he was real crazy.

And he scared me, so that's why I had to run

again to get away from him.

ROBERT STACK: Shirley tried to flag down a motorist.

When that failed, she ran to the nearest house and phoned 911.

A deputy sheriff arrived assuming that the beauty

salon had been robbed.

He had no idea if Dana Satterfield was still inside.

[door creaks]

Dana Satterfield had been beaten severely.

She had been raped, she had been strangled,

and there was no indication that robbery was a motive.

And there was no evidence of any other disturbance

in any other part of the salon.

I just couldn't believe that anybody would want to hurt her

because she never hurt no one.

She tried to help a lot of people,

and she did help a lot people.

ROBERT STACK: Initially, suspicion focused

on Dana's husband, Mike.

However, Mike says their breakup was amicable.

In addition, Mike in no way fit the description of the man

seen fleeing from the trailer.

All friends, and family, and people that knew us

know, you know, that--

that I didn't have anything to do with Dana's murder.

Because I wouldn't put someone through that,

or put my child through that, or I

couldn't do something like that.

We've not ruled anyone out in terms

of saying that one person or another has absolutely

no connection with this case.

But at this point in time we're not actively pursuing

Mike Satterfield as a suspect.

ROBERT STACK: The police did look into the possibility

that Mike had hired someone to kill his wife.

But the brutal manner in which Dana

had been raped and strangled was inconsistent

with a professional hit.

We believe this is a predator, a serial killer,

a person who would have stalked miss Satterfield

and waited for an opportunity to kill her in the manner

that they did.

I'm sure he didn't anticipate a sales lady.

And certainly not a sales lady who

would make a sale earlier in the evening,

and then come back by, and be standing

in front of the trailer, maybe even while this murder was

taking place.

[thump]

I didn't know what had happened,

but I knew somebody needed help.

And I just want somebody to get somebody

there to see what was going on.

ROBERT STACK: It was pure luck that Shirley

had come face to face with the alleged killer.

Two weeks later, another bit of luck.

A second eyewitness came forward.

Ken Smith was one of Dana Satterfield's customers.

At around 8:40 on the night of the murder

he was driving past the salon.

As I come up 221, I looked over

at Dana's and I seen the lights off,

and I seen her car sitting there.

And I thought that was odd that she was--

her car was there without her lights on.

As soon as I turned back around and looked at the road,

that's where I see this guy run out

of the road to the shoulder.

He turned around and looked at me

while he was standing at his Bronco, hid his hand,

like, in his shirt.

As I come, by he sort of just turned around and gave me a,

you know, go to hell look.

Like, what are you looking at?

You know, why are you looking at me?

ROBERT STACK: Based upon the descriptions

of both eyewitnesses, police have

come up with this composite.

The suspect is 18 to 25 years old.

He is 5 foot 6 to 5 foot 9 inches tall,

weighs between 145 and 170 pounds.

He has blonde or light brown hair.

He's got to be stopped, and he's got to pay

for what he did to my child.

And if he's done this to somebody else

we need to stop him now.

Sometimes I wake up at night and sit straight up in bed,

and I'd see somebody strangling her, and I can't get to her.

It's-- it's hurt us all.

[music playing]

ROBERT STACK: Coming up, a possible break

in the Olympic Park bombing.

Was that attack connected to similar bombings

which occurred weeks earlier on the other side of the country?

But first, some 20 years ago, a simple act of kindness

launched the career of renowned chef Moses Treves.

Now he wants to find the woman who inspired

him to pursue his dream.

[music playing]

At one time or another, we've all

done something nice for someone else

without expecting anything in return.

Whether we realize it or not, such acts can occasionally

have a profound effect.

Every so often a small kindness can completely

change a person's life.

Moses Treves is one of the country's most

critically acclaimed chefs.

He owns two award-winning Mexican restaurants

in Arizona, both curiously named Such Is Life.

How Moses acquired that name is at the center

of his own personal unsolved mystery.

In the mid 1970s, Moses was a day

cook at a small taco stand on the island

of Cozumel in Mexico.

He had a reputation for making the best tacos in town.

One of Moses' favorite customers was an American tourist

named Judy Anderson. - Hi, Moses.

Oh, hi Judy.

You want usual?

Yes, por favor.

ROBERT STACK: Judy was a schoolteacher

who visited the island seven times over a three year period.

Moses vividly remembers Judy and her last visit in 1977.

--for getting me the hotel.

It's much better.

She was very nice lady.

Quiet lady.

[inaudible] and she asked me if I can, uh,

if I have time to-- because she wants to go to the mainland,

which is across the island.

Which is, you know, 15 miles something--

miles across the island.

And the mainland is where all the ruins are.

You know Chichen Itza?

Oh, that's the big one.

ROBERT STACK: The next day Moses closed up

shop and set off with Judy on a day long excursion.

Their destination?

The Mayan pyramids along the Yucatan Peninsula.

Around noon they stopped for lunch

and communicated as best they could in broken English.

Moses, wouldn't you like to own

a restaurant like this some day, with tables and chairs?

Oh, yeah.

You know, I dream to open a restaurant.

But, you know, no money.

Oh, such is life.

Excuse me?

Such is life.

It means that's the way life is, you know?

Such is life.

I like that, yeah.

You know what, Judy?

When I open my own restaurant, I want it called Such Is Life

and put it on the menus, and--

That's a great idea!

ROBERT STACK: Nothing more was said,

but deep inside Moses an idea had taken root.

It would begin to blossom later that afternoon.

As the day came to a close, it was time to say goodbye.

Moses would take a ferry back to the island,

Judy would stay on the mainland to catch a flight back

to the United States.

I have something for you.

- Oh, no tip. - No, no, no.

It's not a tip.

No--

ROBERT STACK: Before parting Judy had

an unexpected gift for Moses.

- Don't open. - OK.

OK.

Bye bye.

Bye, Judy.

ROBERT STACK: When Moses opened the envelope

he was stunned to find five $100 bills

and a hastily written note.

"Dear Moses, go make Such Is Life happen.

Love, Judy."

Moses did just that.

Within a month, he had opened his own tiny restaurant

on Cozumel.

Naturally, he named it Such Is Life.

Moses eagerly awaited Judy's next trip to the island,

but he ever saw her again.

Now, some 20 years later, Moses Treves

is a United States citizen.

His restaurants have been lauded by both local newspapers

and the national press.

He and his family live in Scottsdale, Arizona,

and believe they owe much of their good fortune

to the unselfish kindness of Judy Anderson.

This story helps to understand that it came out of nothing.

I mean, it came out of an act of love.

It's not an act of money, or power, or--

It's just an act of love.

Moses need just a little push to became a wonderful butterfly.

She understood what Moses had inside.

She was very wise to let him know that he was good enough

to become what he is now.

It will be a very nice surprise for somebody.

You know, like her who after 20 years

somebody say they are looking for you because you are

the one to say such is life.

That would be nice.

I think that will be more than thank you.

[music playing]

ROBERT STACK: Next, two bombings and two bank robberies

in Spokane, Washington.

The terrifying explosion during Atlanta's Olympic games.

Our special report examines possible links that may

be much more than coincidence.

[music playing]

July 27, 1996, Atlanta's Centennial Park.

Thousands had gathered to share in the excitement

of the Olympic games.

But no one realized is that a 911 operator had just received

this shocking phone call.

911 CALLER: There is a bomb in Centennial Park.

You have 30 minutes.

[explosion]

[sirens wailing]

ROBERT STACK: At 1:25 AM, the park became like a war zone.

Two people died, 111 were injured.

A pipe bomb hidden in a military backpack that exploded

next to the AT&T pavilion.

The initial suspect was a security

guard named Richard Jewell.

But after months of investigation,

he was officially cleared.

I am not the Olympic Park bomber.

With a simple statement the investigation

threatened to grind to a halt. Then

a west coast newspaper published startling new information

that some believe could lead to an arrest

in the Olympic bombing.

The evidence is purely circumstantial,

but it seems much more than coincidence.

In the newspaper's scenario, Atlanta

was the last in a series of attacks that began three months

earlier and 3,000 miles away.

April Fool's Day 1996, 2:36 PM.

A customized van pulled up to the rear

of the Spokesman Review, Spokane,

Washington's leading newspaper.

[music playing]

Pipe bomb!

Get out, get out!

Call 911!

ROBERT STACK: Just then, the newspaper's operations manager

arrived.

[explosion]

Fortunately, no one was injured in the blast,

but the bombers did leave a calling card.

A rambling, incoherent diatribe that quoted liberally

from the Bible, and appeared to be an extreme right wing

manifesto.

This is a robbery.

You want to be saved, nobody gets hurt.

ROBERT STACK: At that very moment,

two armed men operating with military-like precision

enter the US Bank 20 blocks away.

Open the drawer.

ROBERT STACK: The robbers made off with some $70,000 in cash.

They, too, left a calling card.

Copies of the same rambling diatribe

found at the newspaper.

[music playing]

[explosion]

Three months later, another pipe bomb

at a Planned Parenthood office, and another robbery

at the same US Bank.

These surveillance photos would provide the major break

in the case when a military surplus dealer in Idaho

recognized a parka worn by one of the gunmen.

He told authorities he had sold similar parkas

to three men, Robert Berry, Verne

Merrell and Charles Barbee.

In October of 1996, all three were

arrested in Portland, Oregon.

They were allegedly members of an obscure

right-wing religious sect.

A year earlier, Charles Barbee himself

had been interviewed by the Spokesman Review

for a series on the anti-government movement.

Barbee said that there may be a time when--

when he and people like him would

have to resort to warfare.

And that there would have to--

blood would have to be shed because--

because the government was so evil.

ROBERT STACK: On the day of the arrests,

no one imagined that there might be

a possible connection between these three men

and the bombing of the Olympics.

Then in December, the FBI released photographs

of the type of backpack reportedly used

to conceal the bomb in Atlanta.

Once again, the military surplus dealer in Idaho

came forward with a shocking disclosure.

He proceeded to tell me that he believed

he had sold a backpack to these men that

was similar to the military style backpack, the Alice pack,

used in the Atlanta bombing.

He said that the men had asked how to get fingerprints

off such a backpack, and he'd told them just to throw

in the washing machine.

And he said they'd asked about a detonator,

about how to create a time delayed detonator

much like the one used in the Atlanta bombing,

and that he had given them advice on that.

ROBERT STACK: The Spokesman Review immediately

launched its own investigation.

More possible links between the Spokane and Atlanta bombings

now came to light.

What we found was that one of the men, Charles Barbee,

had worked for AT&T and left the company

in disgust because of their support of affirmative action

and some other programs.

And if you will recall, the bomb was detonated not far

from the AT&T pavilion within Centennial Park,

suggesting that there might have been a motive.

In addition to that, the FBI had obtained phone records that

showed that there had been telephone calls made

from the Atlanta area to Barbee's north Idaho home

immediately after the bombing in Atlanta.

ROBERT STACK: A backpack, an alleged grudge against AT&T,

several suspicious phone calls.

The evidence was hardly conclusive,

but it was enough for the Spokesman Review.

The paper went public with it's findings on Super Bowl

Sunday 1997.

Within hours, another stunning link between the bombings

was revealed.

An architect in Atlanta was watching the Super Bowl.

He saw during the halftime pictures of the three men

who were charged with the bombings up here

and might have been linked to the bombings in Atlanta.

When he saw the picture of Robert Berry,

he said to himself and later to others, that looks like the man

I saw carrying a backpack into Centennial Park the night

of the Olympic bombing.

ROBERT STACK: The architect had twice

faxed this sketch of the man with a backpack to the FBI.

Both times there was no response.

In January, he faxed it to the Spokesman Review.

For many people the resemblance between the sketch

and Robert Berry is striking.

Was Robert Berry among the celebrants in Centennial Park

on the night of the bombing?

If so, was he responsible for the tragedy?

The FBI has interviewed the architect,

and investigated the claims of the Spokesman Review.

They maintain that any connection between the Spokane

and Olympic bombings is quote, "The creation

of the Spokesman Review."

The newspaper stands by its story.

[music playing]

Join me next time for another edition of Unsolved Mysteries.

[music playing]