Original subtitles

[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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