All language subtitles for Unsolved.Mysteries.S11E03.AMZN.WEB-DL.DD+2.0.H.264_track3_[eng]

[music playing]

ANNOUCER: Tonight, on
Unsolved Mysteries.

NARRATOR: Over a three day
period in Houston, Texas,

investigators are called to the
scene of two brutal murders.

Both women are
found in their cars.

They look surprisingly alike.

And most shocking
of all, they share

the same name, Mary Morris.

Is there a connection?

Or are these crimes an
astonishing coincidence?

An Oklahoma dairy
farmer leaves his home

with a mysterious stranger
and never returns.

Several sightings
have given his family

hope that he is still alive.

After 35-year-old Lita
Sullivan was found murdered,

her husband Jim had this to say.

I had nothing to
do with Lita's death.

NARRATOR: However,
Lita's mother said this.

I really would like to see
Jim go to the electric chair.

NARRATOR: Did Jim
Sullivan hire a hitman?

With a wave of his hands,
the Russian immigrant

claims he can heal.

Dozens flock to
his Boston office

every week to be treated.

Can he relieve pain, cure
phobias, and help smokers quit?

Does he truly have
a magic touch,

or is he too good to be true?

These four cases are among the
most unusual and intriguing

that we have yet to encountered.

Join me for this fascinating
edition of Unsolved Mysteries.

[music playing]

NARRATOR: Houston, Texas.

Very early one clear October
morning, Jay Morris saw

his wife, Mary, off to work.

Mary Morris was a
48-year-old bank

loan officer with many friends
and a successful career.

However, by her early
that afternoon, Jay

began to worry about his wife.

He had tried to phone
her several times,

but she hadn't returned
any of his calls.

So I call a supervisor and
found out she wasn't at work.

And then that's when
I knew, immediately,

that there was something wrong,
because she didn't miss work.

NARRATOR: Meanwhile, about three
miles east of the Morris home,

a passerby made a
gruesome discovery.

Inside a smoldering
car, he found a body

burned beyond recognition.

The police were
notified and the crime

scene investigation
unit was soon

combing the area for evidence.

By that time, Jay had
begun to think the worst.

So when he heard from
a friend about a burned

out car found near
the interstate,

he picked up his
stepdaughter, Marilyn Blalock,

and drove to the scene.

JAY MORRIS: Marilyn
and I went down.

And the police was
there, but they

had everything blocked off.

And they told us to turn
around and come back home.

I was frustrated that
they wouldn't tell me,

but at that point I still
wasn't thinking that it was her.

NARRATOR: However,
within a few hours,

detectives delivered
the terrible news.

They had identified the victim
in the car as Mary Morris.

Because of the
condition of the body,

it was impossible to determine
how Mary had been killed.

The crime was so
brutal, police did not

suspect robbery was the motive.

But soon, every other
avenue of investigation

also turned into a dead end.

MARILYN BLALOCK: There was
no reason for it whatsoever.

She was just a really--

a good person, you know, never
did anything bad to anybody.

They asked everything
from gambling to drugs

to affairs to anything.

And all the answers were no.

She didn't gamble.

She didn't drink.

Nothing.

NARRATOR: Just three days after
Mary Morris' death, however,

the case took a strange twist.

And the circumstances
were as chilling

as they were unbelievable.

Not far from where
Mary's body was found,

another woman had been
viciously murdered.

She, too, was killed in her car.

And incredibly, her name
was also Mary Morris.

Two women, both
named Mary Morris,

both found murdered
in their cars

in the Houston area
just three days apart.

On top of all that,
the two Marys also

bore a certain resemblance.

However, to find
a possible link,

detectives would
first have to piece

together the events surrounding
the death of the second victim.

Mary McGinnis Morris
was 39 years old when

the first Mary was killed.

And like Mary Lou
Morris, she too

was a successful professional
with a sunny disposition.

STEPHANIE LOAR: Mary
was like an angel.

She was very joyful, always
happy, making people laugh.

Not enough words,
really, to describe her.

I mean, she was just
really loved by everybody.

Call you in the morning.

OK?

NARRATOR: Mary was
a nurse practitioner

in charge of several clinics for
a major industrial corporation.

She was dedicated, and
excelled at her job.

Bil.

Anything, basically, a
doctor would do, Mary did.

She would work 14 hours
a day, not think twice.

Go back in of an
evening, weekends,

whenever she was needed

NARRATOR: Mary got along
well with her staff.

But according to friends, one
new employee, a male nurse,

was a poor fit right
from the start.

And the relationship quickly
went from bad to worse.

Mary became increasingly
nervous and distraught.

LAURIE GEMMELL: She told me that
she was afraid of this person

that she worked with.

And I said, do you really
think he could hurt you?

And she said, yes, I do.

And I think he could do worse.

NARRATOR: Soon after,
Mary told friends

she stopped by her
office one evening

to pick up some papers, only
to make a disturbing discovery.

LAURIE GEMMELL: She found
things out of place on her desk,

pictures turned to face
the wrong direction.

On his desk was written the
words death to her, which she

assumed was written about her.

She made a phone call
to me on her way home

and I could tell
that she was shaken.

OK, baby, what's going on?

I think this whole thing
is really out of control.

MIKE MORRIS: She got
home and she asked me

if I would provide her with
a gun to carry with her

for her own protection.

She asked me to go over the
handling and use of the gun.

When we were finished, she asked
me to place the gun in her car

under the driver's seat.

NARRATOR: A few
weekends later, Mary

met her friend Lori
Gemmell at the clinic

to give her an allergy shot.

LAURIE GEMMELL: Mary
seemed fine that Sunday.

And we chatted a little
bit about her making dinner

for the family.

And she had a couple
of errands to do.

And she was only going
to stay a couple of hours

and then she was
going to go home.

NARRATOR: Later that
afternoon, Laurie

said she received an alarming
phone call from Mary.

Hi, it's me.

LAURIE GEMMELL: When she
was in the drugstore,

she saw somebody that
gave her the creeps.

She said, I'm just going
to cross the bridge

and turn off my computer
and sign out of the building

and go home.

NARRATOR: Police aren't
sure what happened next,

but 12 minutes after
saying goodbye to Laurie,

Mary made a frantic
call to 9-1-1.

DET WAYNE KULMAN:
We're not releasing

the content of the tape.

It covers the attack
that happened to Mary.

And anybody that's
ever heard that tape

has just had their blood
chilled listening to it.

It's a very chilling,
disturbing call.

NARRATOR: The details of
Mary's abduction are unclear.

However, the medical
examiner's report

revealed that she was viciously
beaten and shot in the head.

The investigation first led
police to Mary's coworker

at the clinic.

Allegedly, he'd
left on bad terms,

quitting his job after
several failed attempts

to discredit Mary.

Detectives say
they have evidence

that may link the
coworker to the crime,

and he remains a suspect.

Investigators also
had questions for Mike

Morris, Mary's husband.

Morris claimed he was at
the movies with his daughter

at the time of the murder.

Detectives had concerns
about his alibi

and uncovered several
other troubling issues.

First, according to police,
Morris intentionally

stonewalled the investigation
through his own actions

by refusing to allow his
daughter to be questioned.

DET WAYNE KULMAN:
He wouldn't meet

with us without an attorney.

Witnesses don't need attorneys.

Suspects generally
have attorneys.

NARRATOR: Mike Morris says he
was simply following the advice

of some trusted friends.

MIKE MORRIS: Several
of these people

suggested that I take an
attorney with me, not because I

had anything to hide but just to
have somebody with me that was

familiar with the procedures.

NARRATOR: Detectives
were also suspicious

about Morris' refusal to
take a polygraph test.

MIKE MORRIS: I was on
anti-anxiety medications.

I was on antidepressants.

I wasn't really sure that this
polygraph examination that they

were talking about could
adequately compensate

for all of those conditions.

NARRATOR: Further,
according to friends,

Mike and Mary Morris were
having serious problems

with their marriage.

When Mike heard
rumors of an alleged

affair between Mary
and a family friend,

he confronted them head on.

MIKE MORRIS: And I can tell
you that at the time that that

happened, they both
looked me in the eye

and they both told me that there
had been nothing inappropriate

in their relationship.

And I didn't see any
betrayal in her eyes.

NARRATOR: Then there was
a question of motive,

what detectives
say compelled them

to follow the money, a
life insurance policy

that would pay out $700,000.

DET WAYNE KULMAN: There
was a large amount

of life insurance on
Mary Morris, which Mike

Morris was the beneficiary too.

There were a lot of
reasons right there,

in the way of a
motive, for Mike.

NARRATOR: Finally,
what police consider

most curious of all the
evidence against Mike Morris

was a call he made
to Mary's cell phone

around the time detectives
believe she was murdered.

DET WAYNE KULMAN: There was
a phone call some two hours

after Mary Morris made a very
desperate and chilling call

to 911.

That call was made
by Mike Morris.

The problem is, this phone
call lasted for four minutes.

This was, by all indications
of the cellular telephone

company, a completed call.

What you have to wonder is,
what did that phone call

either set in motion or end.

MIKE MORRIS: Normally,
the cellular service

would have kicked in and said
that the party you were calling

was unavailable.

I didn't get that.

I don't know why
I didn't get that.

But as long as the
phone was ringing

and I thought that there
was a possibility that she

would answer it, I let it ring.

NARRATOR: But if the
call went unanswered,

detectives question
why it showed

up on Mary's cell phone bill.

DET WAYNE KULMAN: I
don't accept that Mike

made this phone call and the
phone rang for four minutes.

It's not possible.

The question is, who answered
the phone on the other end.

That's what the big question is.

And what did they talk
about for the four minutes?

NARRATOR: Was Mike Morris
talking to his wife's killer?

He adamantly denies any
involvement in her death.

MIKE MORRIS: I had
absolutely nothing

to do with the arrangement
of Mary's murder.

It's a hurtful insinuation.

But you know, I know that
it's absolutely untrue.

NARRATOR: Despite
Mike Morris's denial,

police say they have not
eliminated him as a suspect

in his wife's murder.

Mary's coworker is also
still under suspicion.

Perhaps the answer lies
in the possible link

between the deaths
of Mary McGinnis

Morris and Mary Lou Morris.

One theory speculated that
in an inept contract killer

had been hired to murder
the second Mary Morris

and killed the first
Mary Morris by mistake.

That theory was fueled in part
by a telephone call allegedly

made to a Houston newspaper.

LAURIE GEMMELL: A call came
into the Houston Chronicle

and I verified this with
somebody at the Chronicle.

Between the time the first
Mary Morris was killed

and the time my friend was
killed, saying something

to the effect that they got
the wrong the wrong Mary Morris

the first time.

NARRATOR: The hit gone wrong
theory was further bolstered

when detectives determined
that the wedding

ring of the first Mary
Morris was missing.

MARILYN BLALOCK: If someone
had put a hit out on a person,

that's what they take
back to show that they

actually killed that person.

NARRATOR: Despite
speculation that the two

murders may have been connected,
detectives had their doubts.

DET ROBERT TONRY: Well,
with the remoteness

of the location where
the victim was found,

as well as the effort that was
taken to destroy the evidence

and the vehicle, that would
be consistent with a contract

killing.

But with the background
of the victim,

that doesn't seem likely.

That the first Mary
Morris was a mistake,

was a missed hit, a botched
hit, something like that.

There's not anything that we've
found that would support that.

NARRATOR: Detectives
continue the search

for any clues that might
connect the two Mary Morrises,

but came up empty.

They later concluded that
with nearly 300 homicides

in Harris County that
year, the murders

were a bizarre coincidence.

However, the family and
friends of both Marys

believe that explanation
is simply too far fetched.

JAY MORRIS: The astronomical
odds that two Mary Morrises

was killed three days apart,
very similar in looks,

to me, it's--

that's what it is, astronomical
if they're not connected.

I can't help but think
they have to be related.

I can't imagine that two
women with the same name

would be murdered
within three days

of each other, both
found in their cars,

and not have that be related.

[music playing]

NARRATOR: It began
as a typical morning

at Leonard Dirickson's dairy
farm near Cheyenne, Oklahoma.

Jared, breakfast is ready.

NARRATOR: Leonard made breakfast
for his 19-year-old son, Jared.

And the two sat down to eat
before a long day of chores.

Then at 9:00 AM, a visitor
arrived unannounced

in a white pickup truck.

Hey, Jared, you know
whose truck that is?

I'll go see what he wants.

You wait inside.

NARRATOR: Leonard spent
several minutes talking

to the driver of the truck.

They did not appear
to know each other

but their conversation
was cordial.

When Leonard returned,
he told Jerry

that the man wanted to look
at one of his stud horses.

Why don't you put about 25
bales out in that back pasture.

NARRATOR: Leonard gave no
sign that he found anything

unusual about the stranger.

So he told me that he
was going to go with him.

And he said to stay here and
go to Elk and get some feed

and go feed the cows.

And he'd be back that afternoon.

NARRATOR: Three years
later, Jared Dirickson

is still waiting for
his father to come home.

On March 14th, Leonard
Dirickson voluntarily

left his home with
an unidentified man

and never returned.

Nobody has any idea
what happened to him.

To this day, police have
found no signs of a struggle,

no evidence of foul
play, and no body.

Their only clue is a mysterious
man came to Leonard's house.

Authorities believe
he is the key

to explaining
Leonard Dirickson's

baffling disappearance.

After leaving his
home, Leonard Dirickson

did not simply vanish.

Two hours later,
a waitress claims

to have seen him eating
breakfast with another man

at a local coffee shop.

That's a little odd to
us, because at 9:00 o'clock,

Leonard just got through
eating breakfast with his son.

It's extremely odd to eat
two breakfasts the same day

two hours apart.

INSPECTOR CLIF GANN:
They were sitting

there in the restaurant.

And the unknown man that
we're trying to identify

was doing most of
the talking and

Leonard was just drinking coffee
and listening to the man talk.

NARRATOR: The man
at the diner matched

the description of the man who
picked Leonard up at his home.

There was nothing suspicious
about his behavior.

And if he had meant to harm
Leonard, why would he be seen

with him in a public place?

Police next checked
the barn were

Leonard kept his stud horse.

But Leonard never
came there that day.

In fact, an exhaustive
investigation

turned up absolutely
no information

on Leonard's whereabouts, until
six months after he vanished.

But this sighting was even
more perplexing than the first.

A man at a bar in Amarillo,
Texas phoned the police.

Yeah, I want to report
this guy, Leonard Dirickson.

He's supposed to be missing.

SHERIFF JOE HAY: The individual
that called stated, I

know Leonard Dirickson.

I'm from Elk City.

I can't give you my name,
but he's in this bar.

I know who he is.

I know this is him.

SHERIFF JOE HAY:
I'm watching him.

He's wearing a
blue checked shirt.

And he's drunk.

Yeah, I'm at the
Highway Bar in Amarillo.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I'll wait till you get here.

And then the call terminates.

NARRATOR: By the
time local police

arrived at the remote bar,
both the caller and the man

he claims is Leonard
Dirickson were gone.

Hi.

Hi.

NARRATOR: The following
day, the Roger

Mills County
Sheriff's Department

interviewed the bartender.

I remember the guy who
made the two phone calls.

NARRATOR: She remembered
the caller being at the bar

and corroborated his story.

SHERIFF JOE HAY: We had no
reason to disbelieve it.

It was almost a stretch
of the imagination

that a guy would dance
around in the bar,

screaming and hollering
it's Leonard, it's Leonard,

and it not be Leonard.

I believe he was in
the bar in Amarillo.

NARRATOR: But why
was Leonard Dirickson

hanging out in an
Amarillo bar six months

after being reported missing?

Could he have
voluntarily disappeared?

If so, why?

Leonard had recently suffered
through a painful divorce.

And investigators
believe his dairy

business was collapsing,
along with the rapidly

dropping price of milk.

Could Leonard have
decided to escape

both his alleged financial
and personal problems

once and for all?

SHERIFF JOE HAY: It's
entirely possible

that Leonard left on his own.

I don't know where
he would be today.

I believe it's possible that
he's working as a ranch hand

somewhere, or on a dairy or a
cattle ranch, or even horses.

NARRATOR: There is only one
problem with that scenario.

Leonard's son, Jared.

JARED DIRICKSON: Me and my
dad, we was together every day.

Every morning we'd go
work, do the chores,

and I'd go to school.

I don't think he would
have ever have left me

and not ever come back see me
or nothing because we was close.

And I don't think he would
have done that to me.

And there's no
way he would have

ever left Jared and gone off,
and not ever let anybody know.

He was too close.

We were all too close
a family to do that.

NARRATOR: If Leonard would
not have left his son behind,

the focus then switches
back to the mysterious man.

One aspect of this case has
always troubled investigators.

Jared did not know the man.

And Leonard did not act
as if he did either.

But then how did this stranger
know where Leonard lived?

And why was he
asking about a horse

that Leonard had not
advertised as for sale?

INSPECTOR CLIF GANN: Where
Leonard live north of Cheyenne,

Oklahoma, the man would have
had to known how to have gotten

there because it's just
not a straight drive there,

the way you have to turn and go
on the back roads and things.

So he knew the
area to get there.

Someone had given him directions
how to get to Leonard's home.

There's a possibility that this
man was involved in setting

Leonard up to be murdered.

If this man didn't
do the murder,

he may have taken
Leonard somewhere

to someone that wanted to.

That's a possibility.

We just, we don't have
a motive for that.

Have not found one.

NARRATOR: Without a motive, the
search for Leonard Dirickson

will continue to be hampered.

Until then, his
family can only pray

that Leonard is safe
and well somewhere,

and will someday return home.

To never ever hear
anything, it's hard

because there's no end to it.

And for a year after I
would listen to the news

and they would say they
had found a body someplace,

you know, I would just
think, maybe that's him.

Maybe this is it.

But nothing, anywhere.

NARRATOR: This is a composite
drawing of the man last

seen with Leonard Dirickson.

He was driving a
white Ford pickup

and wearing a baseball
hat with a phrase

"No Fear" on the front.

Police would like to
question him regarding

Leonard's disappearance.

Leonard Dirickson is 6
feet tall, has brown hair,

and weighs approximately
200 pounds.

[music playing]

NARRATOR: January 1987, the
exclusive area of Buckhead

in Atlanta, Georgia.

A woman lay dead in the
doorway of her home,

her name was Lita
McClinton Sullivan.

The daughter of one of Georgia's
most politically prominent

African-American families.

Her husband was James
Sullivan, heir to a million

dollar family fortune.

Police had no idea who
killed Lita or why.

The only clue was a dozen
blood spattered roses.

Who killed Lita Sullivan?

Authorities are left
with a baffling mystery.

Could Lita have been the victim
of a random robbery attempt

or could her own husband have
been involved in a conspiracy

to commit murder?

James Sullivan met Lita
McClinton at an Atlanta mall

in 1975.

Lita was training
to be a clothing

buyer for a department store.

Excuse me.

Hi.

Hi.

Can I help you find something?

NARRATOR: The Boston
native, James Sullivan,

was refined and charming.

Lita soon fell in love.

How about a trip to Paris.

I don't think.

NARRATOR: When James Sullivan
married into Lita's family,

her parents feared that his
real motive was to capitalize

on the political influence
that the McClinton

family had earned through
years of public service.

EMORY MCCLINTON: I think that
was one of his attractions

to Lita.

He needed someone who
could give him a better

social standing and status.

NARRATOR: Eventually, the
couple moved into this home

in Palm Beach, Florida.

I'm going back to work.

You can't stop me.

NARRATOR: Lita's parents
say that, in time,

Sullivan wanted to
control every aspect

of their daughter's life.

He had originally said that
he did not want her to work.

But then he would give
her such a small budget

that it was no way practical
to quote, "buy groceries,

to take care of the household"
and things like that.

NARRATOR: In 1985,
Lita filed for divorce

and left her husband,
moving into a townhouse

they owned in Atlanta.

Lita's family says
Sullivan was outraged,

and feared he
could lose millions

in a divorce settlement.

The day Lita was scheduled to
testify in her divorce case

was the same day
she was murdered.

Police would discover
that a witness

had seen a man come to the
door carrying a box of flowers.

Who is it?

Flowers for Lita Sullivan.

Are you Lita Sullivan?

Yes.

[gun shots]

NARRATOR: Although the suspect
was seen fleeing the property,

he could not be identified.

At the time of the killing,
Lita's husband, James,

was at the couple's
home in Palm Beach.

He had an alibi, unless
it was a contract killing.

JOHN CONNOLLY: 40 minutes
later, Jim Sullivan,

receives a collect phone
call from outside Atlanta.

And when I retraced
the time from Buckhead

where Lita was murdered to
where the phone booth was,

it was exactly 40 minutes.

I believe the killer was
calling Sullivan to tell

him that the job was done.

NARRATOR: Police traced
the flowers to a shop

where a clerk
remembered a nervous man

buying them before the murder.

They said the telephone
records show that just

before the killing, three men
who had checked into a Georgia

motel using false identification
made calls to Sullivan's home.

Police now thought they had
a case to take to trial.

They were wrong.

The judge dismissed the
case for a lack of evidence.

A relieved James Sullivan
spoke with the press

following the decision.

I want everyone
listening to this to know

that I am absolutely innocent.

I had nothing to do
with Lita's death.

Her death was a great tragedy.

And I thank God and my attorneys
that this ordeal is over.

NARRATOR: Lita's family
believed James Sullivan

was getting away with murder.

Jim had Lita killed
because of money.

Jim loved money.

NARRATOR: Just eight
months after the murder,

Sullivan married again.

Perfect.

NARRATOR: This time to a
woman named Suki Rogers.

But three years later, Suki
and Sullivan were involved

in their own bitter divorce.

In 1991, Suki told
police that Sullivan

admitted to her that he
hired someone to kill Lita.

The McClinton's
filed a $4 million

civil suit against
Sullivan and won.

We're not interested
in the money.

It was really knowing that
Jim was a perpetrator,

he was the cause of
our daughter's death.

And we wanted to
bring him to trial.

NARRATOR: Officials believe
Sullivan's motive for murder

was his intense desire not to
part with any of his fortune.

But they still
didn't think there

was enough physical evidence
to win a criminal conviction.

Lita's devastated family
said James Sullivan

had gotten away with murder.

February 1998,
Georgia investigators

arrest a man they suspect
helped set up Lita's murder.

I had a business
arrangement with Mr. Sullivan,

about 11 years ago.

NARRATOR: The man alleged
that James Sullivan

masterminded the killing.

You know--

NARRATOR: Finally, a warrant was
issued for Sullivan's arrest.

He was charged with murder
and aggravated assault.

But before police could find
him, Sullivan disappeared.

Sullivan had an Irish passport
and authorities believe

he may have fled to Ireland.

He planned it.

And I really, really
feel that he should--

I just feel that he
should pay with his life.

I tell him what
he already knows.

He'll never beat me.
I will get him.

[music playing]

NARRATOR: This
brownstone in Boston

is filled with patients,
people with real ailments

hoping to be healed.

I'm here to quit smoking.

And I've been smoking
over 30 years.

Fear of crowds, I guess.

I came to stop
biting my fingernails.

NARRATOR: But this is
not a medical facility.

It is the office
of Yefim Shubentsov

a Soviet immigrant
affectionately

known as the Mad Russian.

Relax.

Make yourself comfortable.

My name is Yefim Shubentsov.

NARRATOR: Yefim seems to have
an unexplained power that cures.

Thousands have flocked
from all over the world

to experience his healing touch.

-

Knee pain.
Back pain.

NARRATOR: Can this Russian
wonder really heal?

Or is he a charlatan
playing on people's hopes?

Can a simple wave of
a hand change a life?

You be the judge.

Mirand Beeson is a successful
New York businesswoman

with an addiction.

She couldn't quit smoking.

MIRANDA BEESON: I
really adored smoking.

And I smoked great cigarettes.

I won't name the brand.

I loved them all.

But I had tried
numerous other kinds

of ways of smoking
cessation, and they

had not been successful.

And I thought, I
have nothing to lose.

NARRATOR: So Miranda went to
Boston for a session with Yefim

and smoked what she hoped
was her last cigarette.

OK, OK, be brave,
be brave, be brave.

Because what we have to do--

NARRATOR: Inside,
Miranda joined a dozen

others looking for a final
cure to their chronic pain

or addiction.

For $65 per session, Yefim
holds a group healing followed

by individual meetings.

Initially, he tries to
alleviate any overt pain.

Who have pain, phobia,
some addiction of some sort?

You have-- who have,
everybody-- you have--

why are you here?

Why are you here?

I want to quit smoking.

You want to quit smoking.

MIRANDA BEESON: He's
incredibly dynamic.

- You have other pain?
- Yes.

You have pain.
Where you have pain?

In my back.

MIRANDA BEESON: He
has a power of focus,

so that when he focuses
on you, you're engaged.

He kind of sent this
fireball across the room.

And that pain is gone.

NARRATOR: Yefim claims his hand
gestures are a reorganization

of what he calls bio energy.

It's like somebody throwing
a really fast curve ball.

You're the catcher.

He's the pitcher.

You're there.

You catch it.

What I want you to do
is to think in your mind

the very first puff of
cigarette that you take.

NARRATOR: In her
one on one session,

they discuss her specific
problem, Miranda's 20

year addiction to cigarettes.

MIRANDA BEESON:
Well, some people

say he sort of
sneezes on you, which

is not what he does at all.

But he kind of gives
you this parting gift.

NARRATOR: After her session,
Miranda's desire for cigarettes

disappeared.

She claims the craving stopped.

MIRANDA BEESON: I was
somehow profoundly changed.

I just know that I'm greater
than this habit at this point.

So it cannot move in.

NARRATOR: Since her visit
to Yefim over two years ago,

Miranda has remained a nonsmoker
and believes that Yefim

was key to her success.

According to Yefim, he has
helped thousands like Miranda,

and thousands more who suffer
from another common addiction,

over-eating.

-

NARRATOR: Louise Cole
is a single mother

living in Bradenton, Florida.

When both her young children
became seriously ill,

the emotional stress
and financial pressure

were overwhelming.

And Louise began to over eat.

LOUISE COLE: I would
actually hide food

just for emergencies for me.

And because I knew
that it did comfort me.

So after things were quiet and
everything was taken care of,

instead of falling
apart emotionally

and exhaustedly crying
or just falling asleep,

I would go to the kitchen
and bring out my goodies.

Chocolate is probably one
of my favorite things.

And I would get so excited
because I'm going to--

I'm looking through the top of
the chocolate and I'm thinking,

OK, this is my favorite.

I'm going to eat this.

I'm going to eat that.

Knowing in the
back of my mind it

didn't matter which one
I started with because I

was going to finish the box.

NARRATOR: Louise tried to end
the binging, but couldn't.

LOUISE COLE: And when
I reach 187 pounds,

I realized that now it's not an
ego issue, it's a health issue.

I went from the
high protein diets,

the low carb diets,
the watermelon

diet, a grapefruit diet.

I took prescription diet pills,
and none of these worked.

Just could not get it.

NARRATOR: Louise decided to
take a chance and visit Yefim.

After her session, she
immediately felt different.

And within three months,
saw positive results.

LOUISE COLE: I had
lost 17 pounds,

and now it's down to 20 pounds.

So I feel good about that.

I think it's a very healthy
one to two pounds a week.

And I like that.

I have a new
feeling and outlook,

emotionally, towards food.

It will never have the power
over me that it once had.

NARRATOR: But where did Yefim's
gift for healing come from?

FAWN FITTER: As he tells it, he
was delivering artwork one day.

And a stranger walked
up to him on the street

and said something
about his having

a very strong energy field.

It turned out to be a researcher
from a Soviet laboratory that

was studying the paranormal.

And this person persuaded
him to come to the laboratory

and have some tests conducted.

Evidently, when he put his
hands on or over plants,

the plants perked right up.

At one point, a researcher
in the laboratory

was suffering from a migraine.

And without really quite
knowing what he was doing,

he removed the pain.

He took the pain away.

And that's when he realized
that, although he wasn't quite

sure what he was doing,
he was definitely

doing something to heal people.

NARRATOR: In 1979,
Yefim moved to America

where his curative powers
were soon touted by the media.

Yefim also attracted the
attention of the medical world.

In 1982, two Harvard University
Health Service doctors

decided to do a clinical trial.

The goal was to verify
Yefim's success rate.

FAWN FITTER: Two psychotherapist
asked Yefim to come and work

with a number of
patients of theirs

whom they had treated
without success.

These were people
with fear of needles,

phobias, smoking, pain.

NARRATOR: They first observed
the healing sessions.

Are you actually a docto?

No, I'm not a doctor?

Can you help me get
over my fear of needles?

Of course I can.
Of course.

Why don't you sit in this chair.
Come over here.

Sit here.

Now, watch.

Watch.

Watch.

Anybody have questions for me?

Nobody questions?

NARRATOR: The doctors then
kept track of the trial group

for four months.

He saw all of these
patients and managed

to cure 85% of them.

Tell me about
the tetanus shot.

Well, when I went into
the doctor's office,

I wasn't nervous at all.

I had no fear of the needle.

FAWN FITTER: When the Harvard
doctors studied what he had

done, they were able
to conclude that he

had not hypnotized anyone.

No, no.

It wasn't like hypnosis at all.

FAWN FITTER: In
fact, they weren't

really sure what he had done.

They just knew that
whatever he did, it worked.

NARRATOR: The published results
from the Harvard trial state

that Yefim's powers
were genuine,

as were the positive results.

The Harvard study,
at most, shows

that there is some
real effect here,

most probably a placebo effect.

And when they state that
something real happened,

they don't mean real psychic
power or anything like that.

But that a real mental
power in the patients

themselves happened.

I don't think Yefim has
any special power at all,

other than the power to convince
people that they can implement

change in their own lives.

NARRATOR: Although Yefim's
gift remains undefinable,

both Miranda and
Louise believe in it.

I don't think anybody
knows how it works.

I just know that it does work.

And I've been very
successful with it.

LOUISE COLE: You may go see
him and say, I don't understand

a word this man says.

I don't know what he's doing.

You can be suspect
or you can say,

you know what, I go around once.

What do I have to lose?

Done.

Done.

Open your eyes.

NARRATOR: It is hard not to be
intrigued by the mad Russian

and his mystifying energy.

But is he able to heal
with a wave of a hand?

Or is it only the
power of suggestion

that is at work here?

The truth remains
an unsolved mystery.

For more cases that are
stranger than fiction, stories

all the more remarkable
because they are true,

join me next time on
Unsolved Mysteries.

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