Original subtitles

WILDMAN: A horrifying haunting terrorizes a family.

It was making even the most hardened skeptics believers.

WILDMAN: A series of bizarre blazes baffles a fire chief.

PORGES: Everything he thought he knew about the case

went up in flames.

WILDMAN: And an ice maiden’s miracle survival.

Her skin was so frozen solid

that the needle couldn’t pierce it.

WILDMAN: But first, who was Jack the Ripper?

Could testing for DNA finally reveal his identity?

STEEL: This is a story of murder, mayhem,

and the manhunt for a mysterious killer.

♪

WILDMAN: Amazing mysteries,

bizarre phenomena,

and chilling secrets.

I’m Don Wildman.

Join me on a journey beyond the unknown.

♪

In the early hours of August 31, 1888,

police are called to the neighborhood of Whitechapel

in the East End of London,

where a gruesome scene awaits them ‐‐

the body of a dead woman is lying in the street.

STEEL: She’d had her throat cut from ear‐to‐ear,

and her abdominal area was repeatedly slashed and stabbed.

♪

WILDMAN: There are no witnesses and no clues at the scene.

Although Londoners don’t realize it yet,

she is the first of many victims of a fearsome serial killer

who would become known as Jack the Ripper.

♪

Over the next month, four more women are savaged, as well.

Police undertake a massive manhunt,

combing the streets for clues.

And although they dredge up a number of suspects,

investigators are unable

to conclusively link anyone to the killings.

♪

Many people were interviewed, many leads were followed,

but it wasn’t going anywhere.

There seemed to be no hope.

The case just dragged on, dragged on, dragged on

until it sort of fizzled out,

and there were no more murders.

♪

WILDMAN: The crime spree of Jack the Ripper

turns into one of the most famous cold cases in history.

Over the next century,

countless amateur investigators try to unmask the killer,

and several popular theories emerge.

♪

A rumor spreads that the murderer

was actually a member of the British royal family

driven insane by syphilis ‐‐

the grandson of Queen Victoria, Prince Albert Victor.

Others think that Jack may have been

an American serial killer named H. H. Holmes,

whose diary entries place him in London during the crime spree.

Some people even go as far to think that Jack the Ripper

might have been the famed children’s author Lewis Carroll,

a theory prompted by the fact that police at the time

received a series of cryptic anagrams

that boasted of the crimes.

But ultimately, the identity of the killer remains a mystery.

There were tip‐offs, there were men arrested,

but no one was ever charged.

WILDMAN: Then, in 2007,

a self‐proclaimed "Ripperologist"

brings a new piece of evidence to light.

STEEL: He came across something

that he believed could help him solve the mystery.

WILDMAN: Russell Edwards has been obsessed with solving

the Jack the Ripper mystery.

For the last six years,

he has pored over every detail of the case,

hoping to find a previously overlooked connection.

And thanks to his unyielding determination

and a little bit of luck, he’s about to find a new clue.

Edwards attended an auction where there was an item

which was believed to belong to the fourth victim.

WILDMAN: Edwards buys a shawl

allegedly worn by one of the Ripper’s targets

on the night of her murder ‐‐

a woman named Catherine Eddowes.

It was thought that the shawl was taken from the mortuary

by a police officer and passed down through his family.

WILDMAN: Edwards is convinced that the piece of clothing

could be the key to finally unlocking

the age‐old murder mystery.

So, hoping to find DNA evidence of Jack the Ripper himself,

he takes it to the experts for close examination.

The results are astounding.

The scientist managed to lift extracts of DNA from the cloth.

WILDMAN: And through various tests

that include looking at familial medical records,

the trace amounts of DNA connect the shawl

to a man named Aaron Kosminski.

STEEL: Aaron Kosminski was Polish.

He was 23 years old in 1888.

He was a part‐time barber,

and he had a reputation for being troublesome towards women.

WILDMAN: Not only that, but back in 1888,

an eyewitness claimed to have seen him

with one of the victims.

STEEL: The police thought they had a case against him,

but the witness later refused to testify,

and the case fell apart.

WILDMAN: Shortly after,

Kosminski’s family reportedly admitted him

to an insane asylum in northern England,

where he would live out the remainder of his life.

Edwards’ astounding discovery

makes headlines around the world.

Was the identity of Jack the Ripper

at last revealed and solved?

WILDMAN: Despite the find, some experts remain unconvinced.

The samples they were using for DNA analysis came into question,

and the DNA extractive was not unique enough.

WILDMAN: Whatever the truth, one thing is for certain ‐‐

Jack the Ripper will continue to haunt and horrify

for generations to come.

This mystery will endure, and it’s highly likely

that the identity of the killer will never be known.

♪

WILDMAN: Today, this 19th century police equipment

like those used on the case sit within the collection

of the Jack The Ripper Museum in London, England.

It recalls the relentless pursuit

of history’s most elusive serial killer.

♪

A hypodermic syringe just like this

was used in one of the most astonishing medical mysteries

of the 20th century.

DELGADO: This syringe recalls the chilling tale

of a frozen woman’s fight to survive.

♪

WILDMAN: It’s December 1980 in Lengby, Minnesota.

A cattle rancher named Wally Nelson

is heading outside to start his day.

As he steps into

the bitter minus‐22‐degree early‐morning temperatures,

he notices something strange at the edge of his porch ‐‐

a large mound covered in snow.

At first, Wally thought it was an animal.

WILDMAN: But as he approaches the peculiar shape,

he is struck by a shocking realization.

DELGADO: It was actually a person,

and on closer inspection, saw that it was a woman.

WILDMAN: Wearing only an evening dress and cowboy boots,

the woman appears to be frozen solid.

It was negative 22 degrees out.

In the most appropriate clothes possible,

it would have been difficult to survive an entire night

in weather like that.

WILDMAN: And as Nelson peers in for a closer look,

he recognizes her now‐icy features.

He knew this woman.

Her name was Jean Hilliard.

She had actually dated a friend of his in the past.

WILDMAN: Nelson is almost certain the young woman must be dead.

DELGADO: She was in horrible condition.

Her eyes were frozen.

It looked like she had been there all night.

WILDMAN: But on the slim chance that she can be saved,

Nelson rushes to his neighbor’s house to get assistance.

Together, they move Hilliard’s frozen body into a truck.

[ Engine revs ] They drove as quickly as they could to the nearest hospital

to try to save her life.

WILDMAN: When they arrive, doctors examine the woman

and announce she’s actually still alive ‐‐

but barely.

[ Flatline ] STEEL: Her breath had slowed,

and it was almost imperceptible,

and her heartbeat had slowed down to about a beat per minute.

WILDMAN: Doctors reason

that if they can nourish her body through an I. V.,

then maybe they can save her.

They reach for a hypodermic needle, but there’s a problem.

Her skin was so frozen solid

that the needle couldn’t pierce it,

and eventually the needle breaks.

WILDMAN: The medical team doesn’t have another line of recourse

and fears it’s only a matter of minutes

before Hilliard’s heart gives out.

Time was running out, and there wasn’t much they could do.

♪

WILDMAN: In a desperate attempt to warm her up,

they wrap Hilliard’s body in heating pads and blankets.

This was a pretty low‐tech idea, but they had nothing to lose,

and it was worth a shot.

WILDMAN: Minutes drag on

without the woman showing any signs of change.

But then suddenly, Hilliard’s entire body convulses violently.

[ Gasps ] Right before the astonished medical team,

her eyes flutter open.

♪

She sat up in bed fully conscious.

It was like she’d just come back from the dead.

WILDMAN: And as Jean Hilliard slowly recovers,

she recounts the harrowing events of the previous night.

♪

She had been driving home from a local dance

wearing nothing more than a party dress

when she crashed her car.

[ Glass shatters ]

[ Turn signal clicking ]

DELGADO: She wandered away from the wreck.

Eventually, she saw Wally’s house, and the lights were on,

so she struggled towards it.

WILDMAN: But overcome by the subzero temperatures,

she passed out in the snow.

She had been lying in the deep snow

for over six hours when Nelson found her.

♪

WILDMAN: Doctors speculate that as she lay in the snow,

her blood flow slowed and her body started to use less oxygen.

This incredibly rare behavior is a form of human hibernation.

♪

WILDMAN: Jean Hilliard spends 46 days in the hospital

before being discharged

and goes on to make a full recovery.

And today, this hypodermic syringe is on display

at the International Museum of Surgical Science in Chicago.

It’s a reminder of the frozen woman

and the sometimes miraculous capabilities of the human body.

♪

The History Colorado Center in Denver honors

many of the Centennial State’s most notable residents.

Its collection includes an ornate headdress

worn by the last hereditary chief of the Ute tribe,

known as Buckskin Charlie,

a shirt worn by famed frontiersman Davy Crockett,

and a desk used by author Robert Louis Stevenson.

♪

But among these mementos of illustrious figures

is an item connected to an infamous character.

CHRISTOPHERSON: The artifact has three paper tags hanging off it.

It is twisted and shredded, with scorch marks,

and it’s part of a much larger structure.

♪

WILDMAN: This airplane fragment

tells the story of a devastating crash,

a dogged investigator, and a holiday of horrors.

CHRISTOPHERSON: This artifact recalls

the deadliest Christmas gift in history.

♪

WILDMAN: November 1, 1955.

Outside of Denver, Colorado, a tragic scene is unfolding.

United Airlines Flight 629 en route to Portland, Oregon,

has crashed shortly after takeoff.

All 44 passengers and crew are dead.

This was one of America’s worst airline disasters.

The debris was spread over five miles.

♪

WILDMAN: Federal investigators descend upon the scene.

For the next few days,

they meticulously collect every scrap of wreckage,

including what remains of the passengers’ luggage.

Then they take it all to a Denver airplane hangar

and begin to reassemble the pieces.

CHRISTOPHERSON: They put the plane together as if it was a giant jigsaw puzzle.

This was a Herculean task.

WILDMAN: When completed,

the investigators notice something curious.

♪

A large chunk of the fuselage is missing.

And not just any section ‐‐ it’s the luggage compartment.

And it looks as if there was an explosion inside the plane.

♪

Clearly, a blast had twisted that metal.

WILDMAN: It leads authorities to an alarming conclusion.

CHRISTOPHERSON: They were confident that there had been

a bomb placed on this plane.

WILDMAN: If so, this heinous act would set a frightening precedent.

For the first time in commercial U. S. aviation history,

someone had smuggled a bomb onto a plane.

WILDMAN: So, who took down this plane and why?

♪

♪

WILDMAN: It’s 1955.

United Airlines Flight 629 has just crashed

outside of Denver, Colorado,

killing all 44 people on board.

Evidence suggests the plane was brought down by a bomb.

The FBI is called in to investigate the bombing.

In charge of the inquiry is Special Agent William Burke.

Special Agent Burke was a very efficient, diligent agent,

one of the old school G‐men,

did a lot of old‐fashioned flatfoot work.

♪

WILDMAN: Given the location of the bomb cavity,

Burke concludes that the explosive device

was likely hidden in a piece of luggage.

So he examines the remains of every suitcase and bag

recovered from the crash site.

Most are relatively intact.

But one looks like it’s been blown to shreds.

According to the passenger manifest,

it belonged to a 53‐year‐old Denver businesswoman

named Daisy King.

At first glance, she hardly fits the mold of a suicide bomber.

[ Camera shutter clicks ] CHRISTOPHERSON: Mrs. King had no apparent reason

for blowing up a plane.

She had no criminal history,

virtually no contacts with the law whatsoever.

WILDMAN: So why would this seemingly mild‐mannered woman

hide a bomb in her own luggage?

To find out, Burke interviews her friends and relatives,

including her son, a 23‐year‐old Denver native named John Graham.

♪

Initially, it seems the young man

doesn’t have much to offer.

Burke questioned Graham as to whether there was anything

suspicious in the luggage.

Graham responded that he had no idea.

WILDMAN: The FBI agent is about to leave,

when Graham’s wife chimes in.

She casually reminds her husband that he did, in fact,

place something in her mother’s suitcase ‐‐

a surprise Christmas gift.

CHRISTOPHERSON: As a trained investigator,

FBI Agent Burke would have realized that’s a clue.

♪

WILDMAN: The seasoned G‐man brings Graham in

for further questioning.

And that’s when the suspect makes a stunning admission ‐‐

inside the carefully wrapped Christmas gift

was a powerful bomb made of dynamite.

Graham gave his mother what must have been

the deadliest Christmas gift in U. S. history.

WILDMAN: Burke places Graham under arrest.

And it doesn’t take long to uncover his sinister motive.

CHRISTOPHERSON: Burke discovered a life insurance policy

that Graham had taken out on his mother for $38,000

purchased on the day of the explosion.

WILDMAN: But money wasn’t the only incentive.

Graham also reveals that his mother abandoned him as a child.

She had placed in an orphanage,

and it wasn’t until many years later

that she brought him back into her life.

His resentment over that was palpable.

♪

WILDMAN: To get revenge, Graham says he figured out

how to wire the dynamite to a simple timer and fuse.

Then, he planted it in order to blow up his mother’s plane

and collect the insurance money.

CHRISTOPHERSON: Everyone else was just collateral damage to him.

There was something definitely broken inside of him.

♪

WILDMAN: On January 11, 1957,

Graham is executed for his crimes.

He becomes the first person in U. S. history

to destroy a commercial airplane with a bomb.

In the wake of his heinous act,

the Federal Aviation Administration is established

to help safeguard against further crimes.

It was truly a groundbreaking case in many aspects.

♪

WILDMAN: Today, a piece of United Airlines Flight 629

is on display at History Colorado Center in Denver.

It recalls a diligent investigator

who pieced together the puzzle

that brought a callous murderer to justice.

♪

This model of a British bomber

recalls an unexplained encounter in the skies

that spawned decades of panic and fear.

STEEL: This artifact represents a pilot’s routine night flight

which turned from ordinary to out of this world.

♪

WILDMAN: It’s the 1950s.

The world is in the throes of UFO mania.

In the United States, thousands of flying saucers

are reported from locations as far apart

as California, New Jersey, and New Mexico.

And conspiracy theories about alien experiments at Area 51,

the top‐secret military base in the American Southwest,

only add fuel to the fire.

But one of the first and most compelling accounts

of a possible otherworldly encounter

comes almost a decade earlier

from a group of airmen in World War II.

♪

November 1944.

American fighter pilot Edward Schluter

and two crew members are on a bombing raid over Germany

in a plane known as a Bristol Beaufighter.

There’s three of them in this plane,

and their mission is to engage the enemy

and have combat with them.

♪

WILDMAN: The skies are strangely calm,

when suddenly over their left wing,

the men witness a bone‐chilling sight ‐‐

[ Electrical buzzing ] ten orange balls of light.

When these objects appeared, they did not know what it was.

They were nothing they’d ever seen before.

They would just vanish and then reappear beside the plane.

[ Electrical buzzing ]

♪

WILDMAN: Schluter radios back to base

to ask if the radar is picking up any enemy aircraft.

[ Beeping ]

The answer sends shivers up his spine.

The radar couldn’t pick up anything.

They’re saying, "There’s nothing beside you."

Clearly this was more cause for concern.

"What are we dealing with here?"

WILDMAN: Schluter and his crew return to base,

shaken by the eerie encounter.

And they soon learn that they are not the only ones

to experience the phenomenon.

♪

Over the next month, other pilots come forward,

all claiming that clusters of orange, red, and even green orbs

tailed their planes at up to 200 miles per hour.

STEEL: What was interesting about their experience

was it was all identical.

WILDMAN: The perplexed pilots nicknamed the bizarre bogeys

after an American publication.

The pilots referred to this as "foo fighters,"

which was based on a popular comic at the time.

WILDMAN: It’s not long before reports of the mysterious foo fighters

become front‐page news around the world.

Some assume these strange lights are hallucinations

caused by exhaustion.

But with so many similar reports,

this doesn’t seem likely.

Many of these pilots were fresh,

so battle fatigue was not the cause.

WILDMAN: Others believe the lights are some sort of Nazi secret weapon.

But this, too, is debunked.

That didn’t make sense because Allied intelligence

had recovered reports that German pilots

had also seen these lights in the sky.

♪

WILDMAN: The origin of the foo fighters remains a mystery.

At this point, the world was captivated by these visions,

and they wanted to know once and for all

what these lights really were.

♪

♪

WILDMAN: 1944.

U. S. fighter pilots have reported seeing

a bizarre phenomenon in the skies above northern Germany ‐‐

mysterious, glowing spheres of light

that appear and disappear in the blink of an eye.

They are nicknamed foo fighters.

In 1945, as World War II draws to a close,

the mystery of the foo fighters lingers.

Then, in 1953, the U.S. government puts a panel together

to finally identify the cause of the bizarre orbs.

This group of experts was made up of military personnel

and scientists.

WILDMAN: For three days, the panel pores over photographs,

films, and detailed eyewitness accounts.

Based on the evidence at hand,

they conclude that the foo fighters were indeed real,

but they weren’t UFOs.

STEEL: These lights were not out of this world.

They weren’t even dangerous.

♪

WILDMAN: Gas particles that occur naturally in the atmosphere

often come into contact with an electrical charge.

This causes the surrounding air to glow,

a phenomenon that has been documented for centuries.

This had been recorded as early as Magellan,

Christopher Columbus.

WILDMAN: It was so common to sailors

that it was named after the patron saint of ships ‐‐

St. Elmo’s Fire.

In short, electricity in the air caused balls of light.

This can occur around a sharp object,

like a ship’s mast, like an airplane wing,

when there is an intense electrical field.

[ Electricity buzzes ]

♪

[ Cheers and applause ]

WILDMAN: The case is closed on this strange phenomenon,

and the expression is long forgotten ‐‐

until 1994, when a Seattle band headed up by Dave Grohl

names their group Foo Fighters in honor

of the World War II pilots’ otherworldly experiences.

♪

This 20th century fire alarm box

recalls a bizarre series of crimes

committed by a most unlikely villain.

This is a story about a blazing controversy

and a shocking disguise.

♪

WILDMAN: It’s summer 1960.

Ketchikan, Alaska, is in crisis.

[ Siren wailing ] A series of devastating fires has ravaged the area,

decimating countless homes and businesses.

But the cause of the blazes is unknown.

One man who is determined to solve the mystery

is the city’s fire chief, Ralph Bartholomew.

PORGES: Bartholomew was born and raised in this town.

He started as a volunteer

and rose up the ranks to become chief.

He wanted to put a stop to these fires.

WILDMAN: Bartholomew and his team dig through the ruins

of the most recent blaze.

And in what was the laundry room,

they discover the potential source of the fire ‐‐

the remnants of a melted candle.

This might not seem unusual, except for one crucial fact.

PORGES: These buildings had electricity.

Nobody was just leaving candles burning in the laundry room.

That showed it was intentional.

♪

WILDMAN: Digging deeper, Chief Bartholomew learns

that remnants of candles were found at the sites

of all the other suspicious fires, as well.

PORGES: Bartholomew quickly realizes

this isn’t a bunch of careless citizens causing fires.

Something bigger is going on here.

WILDMAN: The fires must have been started deliberately.

The chief draws up a list of suspects

who stood to receive big insurance payments

if their buildings went up in flames.

But this line of inquiry proves fruitless.

PORGES: By this point, there were so many fires in this town

that insurance companies were refusing to cover buildings,

meaning that property owners were no longer benefiting.

WILDMAN: So Chief Bartholomew takes a different tack.

He puts his suspects through a series of lie detector tests.

PORGES: The polygraph gives them nothing useful.

Everybody they hook up passes.

♪

WILDMAN: But there’s one man in town who refuses to take the test ‐‐

a volunteer fireman named Bill Mitchell.

Bill Mitchell was handsome, popular, married.

He was an active member of the community.

WILDMAN: When Bartholomew investigates further, he finds another clue.

Mitchell was the first person to arrive

at the scene of all the recent blazes.

It was almost as if Mitchell knew

where the fires were going to be.

♪

WILDMAN: Not only that, the chief also discovers

that the volunteer firefighter

has a curious connection to the candles

that were used to start the blazes.

It was the same type of candle that was being sold

at the drugstore that Mitchell’s family owned in town.

WILDMAN: Chief Bartholomew has the authorities arrest Mitchell,

and in March of 1961, he is indicted

and sent to his family’s home in California to await trial.

Bartholomew must have been relieved.

This guy had left the state

and could no longer set fire to their town.

WILDMAN: But then, on July 3rd,

three more fires erupt in downtown Ketchikan.

Bartholomew is baffled.

With Mitchell, supposedly in California,

there seems to be no way he could be behind these new fires.

Then reports come in that a mysterious stranger ‐‐

a woman ‐‐ has been spotted near the blazes.

Everything Chief Bartholomew thought he knew about the case

went up in flames.

WILDMAN: So, what’s the truth behind the bizarre Ketchikan fires?

♪

WILDMAN: It’s the early 1960s

in the tiny town of Ketchikan, Alaska.

Fire Chief Ralph Bartholomew believes he’s finally caught

the man responsible for setting a series of bizarre fires

that have devastated the area.

But when new blazes are lit

while the prime suspect is supposedly on bail

far away in California, the case is suddenly wide open.

♪

One key piece of evidence seems to offer a clue ‐‐

a mysterious female was spotted

at the scene of the three most recent fires.

Then Chief Bartholomew gets a crucial call from the FBI.

♪

The feds have just detained the prime suspect,

Bill Mitchell, at the Seattle airport,

and there is something unusual about his appearance.

He is dressed as a woman.

♪

PORGES: All the pieces suddenly started to add up.

He was dressing as a woman to go to Ketchikan

and set these fires.

Chief Bartholomew had the right guy the whole time.

WILDMAN: Mitchell eventually confesses to setting as many as a dozen fires

and is sentenced to 10 years in prison.

But one question remains ‐‐

why did he do it?

[ Flames crackle ]

PORGES: He did it for the thrill of it,

and he did it so that he could be treated like a hero

for putting out the very fires he started.

♪

WILDMAN: Today, this fire alarm box is on display

at the Tongass Historical Museum in Ketchikan, Alaska.

It recalls the unlikely arsonist

and the desperate quest to extinguish his crimes.

♪

The most eye‐popping building in Boise, Idaho,

is the historic Egyptian Theatre.

Opened in 1927,

this unique structure is also the city’s most haunted.

[ Crackling ]

It’s said that a sinister figure stalks the auditorium at night,

striking fear into the hearts of all who gaze upon him.

And just a short drive away

is another institution with a supernatural secret ‐‐

the Eagle Historical Museum.

Among its treasures is an artifact

with a spine‐chilling story to tell.

THE LADY AYE: It is comprised of multiple sheets of paper.

The word "confidential" is stamped on each page

in large capital letters.

And across its surface are other noteworthy words,

like "knocking," "ghost," and "phenomenon."

WILDMAN: This police report details a bizarre and eerie case

that captivated the nation.

THE LADY AYE: This object recalls

one of history’s strangest ghost stories.

♪

WILDMAN: It’s September 24, 1973, in Boise, Idaho.

Police Lieutenant Richard Moss

is responding to a report of a disturbance

at a suburban home on the edge of the city.

He is greeted by two women ‐‐

53‐year‐old Peggy Zimmerman

and her 12‐year‐old daughter, Shelley.

The pair, clearly agitated,

relate the beginnings of a bizarre tale.

The family was being tormented by haunting sounds.

WILDMAN: Mrs. Zimmerman explains that for several weeks,

they’ve been hearing a loud knocking sound

that seems to be coming

from beneath the floorboards in their home.

Mrs. Zimmerman couldn’t explain

why these knocks came and went at seemingly random intervals.

WILDMAN: And there’s something even more unnerving ‐‐

Mrs. Zimmerman claims that the knocking sounds

also reply to her when she speaks.

The knocking sounds seem to respond to her questions

with answers only family members or friends might know.

Of course, Mrs. Zimmerman was completely freaked out by this.

WILDMAN: She says that her daughter has been so traumatized,

she’s been unable to go to school.

And the frightened mother believes there can be

only one explanation for these strange sounds ‐‐

her house is haunted.

♪

But Lieutenant Moss isn’t so sure.

Lieutenant Moss was a no‐nonsense,

serious, respected police officer.

His first assumption was

the sound must have been an intruder.

WILDMAN: So the police officer conducts a thorough inspection

of every room in the house.

But try as he might, he finds no sign of an intruder

nor any indication of what could be causing the noise.

♪

So to test whether there could be someone

sneaking into the house and making the noises,

the lieutenant devises a trap.

Moss set up trip wires in the crawlspaces

and other hidden areas of the house

so that if the knocker did come back,

he or she would set off the alarm and be caught.

♪

WILDMAN: But just as Moss is about to leave the home,

something weird happens.

[ Knocking ]

Suddenly he heard [ Imitates knocking ]

He was flabbergasted.

WILDMAN: Moss rushes to check the traps,

but none of his wires have been tripped.

Then he hears even more tapping sounds.

[ Knocking ]

The knocks ‐‐ they had returned.

Moss was dumbfounded.

WILDMAN: The puzzled detective returns to the station

and writes up a report of the evening’s events,

a copy of which is now on display

at the Eagle Historical Museum in Idaho.

THE LADY AYE: He wrote, "Anyone reading this report may think

the undersigned are mental cases,

but I have no logical explanation for the phenomenon."

WILDMAN: So, what’s the truth behind these sinister sounds?

♪

WILDMAN: It’s 1973 in Boise, Idaho.

Detective Richard Moss is investigating

a spine‐tingling case ‐‐

apparently unexplained knocking sounds heard inside the home

of Peggy Zimmerman and her daughter, Shelley.

♪

As news of the alleged haunting spreads around Boise,

TV reporter Garth Andrews is sent to investigate.

It was a possible real‐life haunting.

WILDMAN: The seasoned journalist is skeptical of Zimmerman’s claims.

THE LADY AYE: As a longtime reporter, Andrews was taught

to question every story that came his way.

WILDMAN: Joining Andrews on his hunt for the truth

is the police officer who first encountered the case,

Lieutenant Moss.

Moss and Andrews wanted to find the culprit behind the sounds.

WILDMAN: Once inside the Zimmerman home,

Andrews sets up a microphone.

Moments later, the strange tapping begins.

[ Knocking ]

As they continue, the reporter takes careful stock of the room.

[ Knocking continues ]

And that’s when he makes a key observation.

Suddenly, something stood out to Andrews.

Shelley, Mrs. Zimmerman’s daughter,

was standing a little weird.

WILDMAN: Every time the sounds occur,

Shelley has one leg crossed in front of the other.

[ Knock ]

THE LADY AYE: Andrews began to wonder

if there was something going on with her leg.

WILDMAN: Andrews shares his hunch with Lieutenant Moss,

and when the lawman confronts the girl,

she makes a sheepish confession ‐‐

she’s the one

who has been making the knocking noises all along.

She had a strange condition in her ankle

that allowed her to make a loud popping noise at will.

[ Knock ] She would lean her foot into the floor,

[ Knocking continues ] and the popping noise would resonate through the wood,

creating the ghostly knocking noises.

WILDMAN: Shelley says she never intended to create such a sensation.

She was just doing it to freak out her mom

and to avoid going to school.

WILDMAN: With the help of a keen‐eyed reporter,

the mystery is finally solved.

Although Mrs. Zimmerman is relieved

that her house is not haunted,

she’s also furious with the mischievous Shelley.

THE LADY AYE: Mrs. Zimmerman was pretty upset.

Her daughter had created chaos

all as a ruse to get out of school.

WILDMAN: Today, Lieutenant Richard Moss’ police report

about the alleged Zimmerman haunting sits in the collection

of the Eagle Historical Museum in Eagle, Idaho.

It recalls the little girl who pranked the police

with a pretend poltergeist.

[ Knocking ]

A 19th century top hat, just like this one,

is linked to an incredible tale of chaos and confusion

and the murder of a president.

This is a story about industrialization,

assassination,

and one of the most misunderstood phrases today.

♪

WILDMAN: It’s April 14, 1865 ‐‐

a pivotal day in U. S. history.

John Wilkes Booth steps into

President Abraham Lincoln’s box at the Ford Theatre...

[ Gunshot, screaming ]

...and shoots the 16th president of the United States dead.

With the terrible deed done, Booth flees,

sparking a massive manhunt for the president’s killer.

It was a time of enormous tension in the country.

Everyone was on edge.

WILDMAN: Hot on Booth’s heels is the 16th New York Cavalry.

They have clear instructions to track down the assassin

so he can be interrogated.

And 12 days later, they find him hiding in a barn

on the outskirts of Port Royal, Virginia.

The cavalry was under strict orders to capture Booth alive.

So in an attempt to get Booth out of the barn,

they set it on fire.

♪

WILDMAN: But then something unexpected happens.

One member of the cavalry,

a 33‐year‐old sergeant named Boston Corbett,

spies Booth through a crack in the wood planks.

Corbett was seen as patriotic,

a bit eccentric, and a deeply religious man.

WILDMAN: Corbett raises his gun, aims, and fires at John Wilkes Booth.

The shot paralyzes Booth, who is dragged out of the barn

and later succumbs to his wounds.

Corbett’s act of defiance

flies in the face of the cavalry’ orders.

Everyone in the unit was completely shocked.

Everyone knew the strict orders they were under.

It made no sense that Corbett would do such a thing.

WILDMAN: When the soldier is taken in for questioning,

he claims that he was directed by God to shoot Booth.

QUINONES: Officials were outraged.

Americans would now never know why they lost their president.

♪

WILDMAN: Despite having defied orders, officials decide

that Corbett has not actually committed a crime,

and he is released.

Yet many people are left to wonder

if there is more than meets the eye

to Corbett’s claims of divine vengeance.

In the years that follow,

Corbett’s behavior grows increasingly erratic.

QUINONES: Corbett grew more and more paranoid

that someone would avenge Booth’s death

and he would be the target.

His behavior was becoming scary.

WILDMAN: On February 15, 1887, he hits a breaking point.

While at work, he has a heated exchange with some coworkers

and draws a gun.

This was the final straw. Corbett crossed the line.

He turned into a danger for himself and others.

WILDMAN: After the explosive incident,

Corbett is confined to the Kansas State Asylum,

only to escape the following year.

Corbett is never seen again.

In the months and years that follow,

a host of theories emerge that attempt to explain

why he acted as he did.

He may have had post‐traumatic stress disorder.

He may have had a genetic proclivity to mental illness.

However, there was something else.

WILDMAN: So, what’s the secret of the man who killed John Wilkes Booth?

♪

WILDMAN: It’s 1888 in Topeka, Kansas.

Boston Corbett, the man who shot John Wilkes Booth

after the Lincoln assassination, has escaped from an asylum.

His fate, along with a motive for that famous killing,

remains a mystery.

Before the Civil War, Corbett made a living as a hatmaker.

QUINONES: He started working in the hatmaking profession

as a boy.

Aside from serving in the Army,

it was the only profession Corbett knew.

WILDMAN: At that time, it was common

to treat the animal hides used in hatmaking

with a substance known as mercury nitrate,

and this may be the key to Corbett’s undoing.

QUINONES: Mercury nitrate was highly toxic,

and hatmaking had caused more than one person

to behave erratically.

WILDMAN: It’s now known that mercury poisoning can cause

irritability, tremors, and mental instability.

It is thought that Corbett’s long‐term exposure

to these chemicals

may have contributed to his erratic behavior

during the pursuit of John Wilkes Booth.

Corbett’s pre‐military profession, hatmaking,

may have led to his downfall.

WILDMAN: In the 1940s,

the U. S. government bans the use of mercury nitrate

in industrial processes,

but its reputation for inducing insanity

lives on in a famous phrase.

Now it’s believed that the term "Mad Hatter" was inspired

by those suffering from the effects of using mercury nitrate

in the hatmaking profession.

WILDMAN: The term becomes so widespread that the writer Lewis Carroll

even includes a hatter gone mad in his famous children’s novel

"Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland."

Today, this 19th century topper remains on display

at the John Dodd Hat Shop

at the Danbury Museum and Historical Society

in Danbury, Connecticut.

It is a reminder of how one mad hatter

may have had a profound effect on American history.

♪