# 2 Hours of Southwestern True Crime Mysteries: Arizona, New Mexico and Nevada

An episode of [Lazy Chill True Crime](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1815534472), 13 Oct 2025, 1 h 45 min.

Audio: https://traffic.megaphone.fm/APO1266469031.mp3

Join me for almost two hours of eerie true crime tales from the American Southwest. Explore chilling disappearances, mysterious murders, and desert legends from Arizona, New Mexico, and Nevada in this immersive true crime experience. 👇 Youtube links: Lazy Chill True Crime Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8dVJtzeHcJgd_Z0bHrJTHQ Lazy Chill History Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@LazyChillHistory Lazy Chill Zone Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@LazyChillZone 👇 Support My Work: 🛍️ Merch: https://lazy-chill-zone-shop.fourthwall.com ❤️ Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/lazychillzone 👇Social Media Links: https://www.instagram.com/lazychillzone/ 👇 Podcast links: ⚡History Video Podcast on Spotify⚡: https://open.spotify.com/show/7km5pLWpYWEj1mrPpEfRUr?si=0FHYnZf-Qs2FY1GyLevfig ⚡True Crime Podcast on Spotify⚡: https://open.spotify.com/show/0klIz08pAr7wR4we0Ia4sk?si=68qZxCeAQkysXzMZrHE0Iw 🍏 True Crime Podcast on Apple 🍎: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/lazy-chill-true-crime/id1815534472 Southwestern true crime, Arizona mysteries, New Mexico true crime, Nevada true crime, unsolved cases, desert disappearances, cold cases, missing persons, mysterious murders, true crime podcast, eerie stories, unexplained deaths, American Southwest, historical crimes, strange vanishings, desert legends, true crime stories, crime in the desert, unsolved murders, haunted Southwest, mystery podcast, true crime documentary, real life mysteries, cold case files, forgotten crimes, eerie disappearances, creepy true stories, chilling cases, crime investigations, true crime collection, Western mysteries, unsolved disappearances, dark history, mysterious desert crimes, Southwest legends

## Transcript

[0:01] On the evening of January 29th, 1988, sixteen year old Spring
[0:06] Miller was struck in a deliberate hit and run attack in
[0:09] Albuquerque, NM. Unfortunately, she didn't make
[0:12] it through and the ACT sounds more like something out of a
[0:15] horror movie than real life. Spring and her 14 year old
[0:19] sister April were walking near their neighborhood when they
[0:22] approached the driveway of an apartment complex.
[0:26] A black and white pickup truck waited at the lot entrance, and
[0:29] the girls paused to let it exit. The driver motioned for them to
[0:34] go ahead, but as the sisters crossed in front of the truck,
[0:38] he suddenly accelerated and struck them.
[0:41] April later recounted that the driver grinned before speeding
[0:44] forward, running over both girls.
[0:47] April's legs were run over, causing injuries from which she
[0:51] eventually recovered, but Spring was caught under the wheels.
[0:55] Sadly, both the front and back tires rolled over Spring's head.
[1:00] Despite bystanders rushing to help, Springmiller died shortly
[1:04] after the attack. Albuquerque police immediately
[1:07] launched an investigation. Initial findings were based
[1:10] largely on eyewitness accounts since the perpetrator fled the
[1:14] scene. Another potential witness, a
[1:18] woman driving a car directly behind the truck, was seen
[1:21] observing the incident. April tried desperately to flag
[1:25] this woman down for help, but disturbingly, the female driver
[1:29] refused to get involved and drove away.
[1:32] Police appealed for this unknown witness to come forward, but she
[1:36] was never located. Investigators canvassed the area
[1:40] and collected any physical evidence available.
[1:43] Tire Marks and debris at the scene were documented, and
[1:47] police theorized early on that the hit and run was intentional
[1:50] rather than an accident. Given the manner of the attack,
[1:54] a police sketch of the suspect was created based on April's
[1:58] recollection. And yes, if you're one of those
[2:01] people who just listens, this is your time to look at the police
[2:04] sketch. Personally, I find the
[2:07] appearance of this perpetrator incredibly unsettling.
[2:11] In the initial months, leads were scarce given the assailant
[2:15] had used his vehicle as the weapon and quickly fled, leaving
[2:19] little forensic evidence behind. Spring Miller's slaying didn't
[2:23] occur in isolation. In fact, it fit a disturbing
[2:26] pattern of hit and run attacks targeting women on foot in
[2:29] Albuquerque in 1987 and 1988. Investigators noted striking
[2:36] similarities between Spring's case and other unresolved
[2:39] incidents in the area, suggesting a single perpetrator
[2:43] might be responsible. In September 19, 8747, year old
[2:48] Nancy Vice, a local school teacher, was out for an early
[2:52] morning jog when she noticed an unfamiliar white pickup truck
[2:56] passing her repeatedly. Without warning, the driver
[2:59] struck her from behind. Vice was knocked unconscious and
[3:03] later found badly injured at a different location.
[3:07] Some theorize that the attacker had moved her, possibly
[3:11] believing she was dead. Others theorize that due to the
[3:14] head injury she sustained, she may have wandered to a new
[3:18] location in a dissociative state before regaining full
[3:21] consciousness. Miraculously, Nancy Vice
[3:25] survived the attack. Police later found that the
[3:28] truck used in the attack had been stolen, as it was later
[3:31] found abandoned in a nearby Creek bed.
[3:35] Given her head injury and hazy memory of the incident, Nancy
[3:39] couldn't provide many further details.
[3:42] Two months later, on November 11th, 1980, seven 38 year old
[3:48] Elaine Dybel was jogging along Tramway Blvd. in Albuquerque
[3:53] when she was run down. Unfortunately, she didn't make
[3:56] it, perishing at the scene from her injuries.
[3:59] The attack on the Miller sisters in January 1988 sadly wouldn't
[4:04] be the last attack. On July 19th, 1988, the pattern
[4:10] of attacks culminated in another incident, one that would finally
[4:14] give police a solid suspect. That morning, a man in a maroon
[4:19] sedan, later determined to be stolen, targeted two young women
[4:24] out jogging in Albuquerque. The first, Mary Beth Matthews,
[4:29] was confronted by a driver who tried to hit her, with the car
[4:32] swerving toward her and seemingly toying with her before
[4:35] she escaped unharmed. Just hours later, 23 year old
[4:40] Monica Robles was jogging in the same area when a similar maroon
[4:44] car began following and harassing her.
[4:47] The driver repeatedly pulled ahead of Robles, turned, and
[4:51] drove past her multiple times, behavior eerily reminiscent of
[4:56] what Nancy Vice had described in her attack.
[4:59] Sensing danger, Robles tried to get away, but the driver
[5:03] eventually accelerated and struck her from behind, throwing
[5:07] her into a yard. Monica Robles survived the hit,
[5:11] although she was injured and traumatized.
[5:14] Crucially, a neighbor witnessed part of the assault and managed
[5:18] to take down the car's license plate number.
[5:21] As the assailant fled the scene. Robles herself got a look at the
[5:26] driver and later said he watched her for some time before
[5:29] speeding off, apparently to see if she was going to make it or
[5:32] not. When police traced the license
[5:35] plate, they discovered the car had been reported stolen earlier
[5:38] that day. However, armed with the plate
[5:42] information and Monica's description, officers quickly
[5:45] located and arrested 22 year old Christopher Martinez in
[5:49] connection with the attack. Martinez, who lived in
[5:53] Albuquerque and had a prior criminal record for burglary,
[5:56] was charged with multiple felonies.
[5:59] At last, investigators had a name and face that might match
[6:03] the elusive hit and run perpetrator.
[6:05] Notably, he had a habit of stealing vehicles and had stolen
[6:09] pickup trucks previously. These parallels immediately put
[6:13] Martinez at the top of the suspect list for the hit and run
[6:16] attacks. Martinez denied involvement in
[6:21] the previous hit and run attacks, and ultimately
[6:24] prosecutors didn't have enough to charge him.
[6:27] Nonetheless, Martinez did face justice for the attack on Monica
[6:31] Robles and the attempted assault on Mary Beth Matthews.
[6:36] In November 1988, he pleaded guilty to aggravated battery and
[6:41] other charges related to the July attack and was given an 8
[6:45] year sentence. Notably, another hit and run
[6:48] occurred in Albuquerque in September 1988 while Martinez
[6:52] was already behind bars. This has LED some to believe
[6:56] that Martinez wasn't the true perpetrator and that the actual
[7:00] person responsible likely stopped when he heard about
[7:03] Martinez. Under this theory, the actual
[7:06] perpetrator may have stopped the attacks when he found out the
[7:08] authorities believed they had their man, but didn't have
[7:11] enough evidence to prosecute him.
[7:14] Another theory suggests that all the attacks were independent and
[7:17] unrelated events, with the exception of the two July
[7:21] attacks, which were done by Martinez.
[7:25] Personally, I don't see much of A resemblance between the police
[7:28] sketch of Martinez and the man who attacked the Miller sisters.
[7:32] That said, that sketch was derived from a very brief
[7:35] sighting by April Miller after she had just gone through an
[7:39] extremely traumatic incident in 1994.
[7:44] Kimberly Nilsson was a 24 year old student on the cusp of a
[7:47] bright future. Little did anyone know, the
[7:51] bizarre and disturbing sequence of events that was about to kick
[7:54] off in August of that year would change everything in an instant.
[7:59] Originally from Alameda, CA, she was a top student at Arizona
[8:04] State University at Tempe and was preparing to begin her final
[8:08] semester as a Pre Med major. Despite her outward success,
[8:13] Kimberly was privately struggling with emotional
[8:16] turmoil in the months leading up to her disappearance.
[8:20] She had recently gone through a painful breakup with her
[8:22] boyfriend, reportedly the first time she had ever been on the
[8:26] receiving end of a breakup, and it hit her hard.
[8:30] Diary entries later reviewed by investigators revealed that
[8:33] Kimberly was suffering from depression and feelings of
[8:36] alienation. After the split.
[8:39] In an effort to heal her emotional wounds, Kimberly began
[8:42] reading a book on Native American herbs given to her by
[8:45] her ex boyfriend's grandmother. This exploration sparked a
[8:49] specific interest in a certain psychoactive cactus used
[8:53] traditionally in spiritual rituals.
[8:58] As the fall semester approached, Kimberly's behavior took a
[9:01] bizarre turn. On Sunday, August 21st, 1994,
[9:07] the day before classes were to start, she spent time with
[9:11] several friends, but her actions were described as erratic and
[9:15] out of character. That morning, Kimberly invited 2
[9:19] male friends, Jeff Seliga and Steve Chambers, to join her on a
[9:23] bike ride. During the ride, she confided to
[9:27] Jeff that the presence of Steve made her uncomfortable, though
[9:31] she wouldn't explain why. She then abruptly changed the
[9:35] subject by mentioning a neighbor she suspected of being a Peeping
[9:38] Tom at her apartment complex. Later that day, Kimberly stopped
[9:44] by the apartment of another friend, Tor Staab.
[9:48] Tor would later report that Kimberly seemed preoccupied by
[9:51] something she wouldn't talk about.
[9:53] She even snapped at him in an uncharacteristically rude way
[9:56] when he offered her herbal tea. As that Sunday went on,
[10:00] Kimberly's condition seemed to worsen.
[10:03] By approximately 3:30 PM on August 21st, her roommate found
[10:08] Kimberly at home, hunched over and vomiting in the bathroom.
[10:12] When the roommate knocked to check on her, Kimberly shouted
[10:16] for her to go away and leave her alone.
[10:20] It turns out that the magic psychoactive cactus that had
[10:23] attracted her attention in the wake of the breakup was peyote.
[10:28] This sudden bout of vomiting and agitation has led many to
[10:31] suspect that Kimberly may have followed through with her
[10:34] curiosity about peyote that day. Notably, riding the Cactus Comet
[10:40] is known to cause intense nausea as a side effect, and the timing
[10:44] suggests she could have consumed it earlier, leading to illness
[10:47] by the afternoon. Feeling unwell, Kimberly called
[10:51] in sick to her job that evening and lay down to rest after a
[10:56] nap. Around 5:30 PM, she woke up and
[11:00] had a phone conversation with a friend, Bob Leet.
[11:04] On the call, she downplayed her condition, attributing it to a
[11:08] simple stomach bug, and even chatted about plans to attend an
[11:12] upcoming Lollapalooza music festival.
[11:16] Notably, it was an event she and her ex-boyfriend both had
[11:19] tickets for. At this point, Kimberly still
[11:22] seemed to be looking toward the future, mentioning she'd see
[11:26] everyone at the concert despite her current illness.
[11:31] As night fell on August 21st, Kimberly's actions grew
[11:34] increasingly strange and disoriented.
[11:37] She made a series of perplexing phone calls that evening.
[11:41] In one instance, she dialed a friend in Flagstaff, but spoke
[11:45] to them as if they were her ex-boyfriend.
[11:49] It took her several confused minutes to realize she had
[11:51] called the wrong person, suggesting she wasn't thinking
[11:55] clearly. Around 7:00 PM, Kimberly called
[11:58] Bob Lead a second time, this time in an agitated state.
[12:03] She rambled about a bizarre dream and told Bob that she felt
[12:07] she couldn't trust him or Tor anymore.
[12:10] Confusingly, she then expressed anxiety about having been rude
[12:14] to Tor earlier in the day. Her roommate also observed
[12:19] Kimberly's behavior that night and noted that she was acting
[12:22] irrationally and that her pupils were extremely dilated.
[12:26] This is a physiological sign often consistent with entering
[12:30] the cactus matrix. By approximately 9:30 PM on the
[12:34] 21st, Kimberly's restless energy hadn't subsided.
[12:39] She phoned another friend whose birthday was that day and said
[12:43] she wanted to come by his house to wish him a happy birthday in
[12:47] person. Despite having been to this
[12:50] friend's home many times before, Kimberly inexplicably got lost
[12:54] on route. She left her apartment, then
[12:58] returned shortly afterward, telling her roommate she needed
[13:01] to call the friend again for directions.
[13:04] This was a curious request, given her familiarity with the
[13:07] location. After getting directions,
[13:10] Kimberly drove off once more, only to circle back a second
[13:13] time. Still apparently confused, she
[13:17] left her apartment yet again, this time for good, sometime in
[13:22] the late evening or night of August 21st.
[13:26] These multiple false starts and her confusion about directions
[13:30] strongly indicated that Kimberly was in a disturbed state of
[13:33] mind. Notably, this evening would be
[13:37] the last time her roommate or anyone else ever saw her alive.
[13:43] The morning of August 22nd, 1994 was supposed to mark the
[13:47] beginning of Kimberly's final semester at ASU, but instead it
[13:51] became the day she was officially reported missing.
[13:55] A close friend arrived at Kimberly's apartment around 9:30
[13:59] to pick her up for their first class of the term, only to find
[14:02] that Kimberly wasn't there. Alarmed, the friend and
[14:07] Kimberly's roommate realized something was very wrong.
[14:10] Meanwhile, that same morning, in a quiet, upscale neighborhood of
[14:13] North Scottsdale, roughly 20 miles from Tempe, an unusual
[14:18] discovery was made. At about 9:00 AM on August 22nd,
[14:24] the home owners at a house near the intersection of Pima Road
[14:27] and Thompson Peak Parkway returned from running morning
[14:30] errands. Curiously, they found a black
[14:33] Volkswagen Rabbit parked in their driveway, partially
[14:37] blocking the entrance to their garage.
[14:39] It was Kimberly's car, and the home owners stated that the car
[14:43] had definitely not been there. At 7:40 AM when they left the
[14:46] house, the vehicle was found abandoned under odd
[14:50] circumstances. The doors were unlocked, the
[14:54] keys were still in the ignition, and inside were all of
[14:57] Kimberly's personal belongings. There were no immediate signs of
[15:03] a struggle, but one eerie clue was noted on the floor of the
[15:07] car. A page was torn from Kimberly's
[15:10] diary that had a hand drawn map to her friend Tor's house on it.
[15:15] It was as if she or someone had been looking for Tor's place.
[15:19] Again, though, Tor lived in Tempe, not near where the car
[15:23] was found. Ultimately, while this appeared
[15:26] to be a significant clue early on, nothing came out of it.
[15:32] Police canine units were brought in, and the dogs traced
[15:35] Kimberly's scent from the car up to the front door of the nearby
[15:38] house. It was almost as if she had
[15:41] walked up and tried to ring the doorbell.
[15:44] However, investigators later questioned this result,
[15:48] suspecting that the scent trail might have been inadvertently
[15:50] carried by an officer who had touched Kimberly's car once.
[15:56] Kimberly Nilsson went missing under suspicious circumstances.
[16:00] A full scale official investigation was launched,
[16:03] drawing in multiple law enforcement agencies.
[16:07] Investigators meticulously searched Kimberly's apartment
[16:10] and belongings for clues. Inside her room they found a
[16:14] small quantity of St. cabbage, but no peyote.
[16:18] They did find the herbal medicine book that had so
[16:21] captivated her with some relevant pages bookmarked
[16:24] suggesting she was indeed serious about her research into
[16:27] the topic. From late August 1994 into the
[16:33] fall, police followed up on hundreds of tips that poured in
[16:36] from the public. In fact, Tempe police logged
[16:40] over 300 tips from people around Arizona and beyond who thought
[16:44] they might have seen Kimberly or saw her distinctive black rabbit
[16:49] in various locations. Every one of her friends was
[16:52] questioned, including her ex-boyfriend.
[16:55] Notably, her ex-boyfriend had been in California at the time
[16:58] of her disappearance, and he was cleared as a suspect.
[17:04] A breakthrough, or at least the next chapter in the case, came
[17:08] in the spring of 1995. On April 12th, roughly 8 months
[17:13] after Kimberly vanished, A startling discovery was made.
[17:17] A ranch hand was out on horseback in a remote desert
[17:20] area of Scottsdale, about two miles from where Kimberly's car
[17:24] had been found. He was checking a barbed wire
[17:27] fence on a cattle range in the late evening when he stumbled
[17:30] upon something disturbing a human skull.
[17:35] The authorities were called and they ended up recovering about
[17:37] 90% of a human skeleton, and with the dental records they
[17:42] were able to confirm this was Kimberly Nilsson.
[17:47] Forensic examination of the bones yielded frustratingly
[17:50] little information. The medical examiner couldn't
[17:53] determine an exact cause of death.
[17:56] There were no obvious signs of trauma on the parts of the
[17:59] skeleton that were recovered. Examiner's found no bullet holes
[18:03] and no fractures to indicate severe blows.
[18:07] However, given the state of the remains, this didn't rule out
[18:11] foul play. Soft tissue injuries, like
[18:14] certain kinds of internal trauma, wouldn't necessarily
[18:17] show up on bones. Unfortunately, the very bone
[18:21] that often breaks in cases of strangling the hyoid was
[18:25] missing. The medical examiner collected
[18:30] bone marrow from one of Kimberly's leg bones and even
[18:33] some hair, and what little desiccated tissue was left.
[18:38] This was done in hopes toxicology tests or other
[18:41] analysis might detect poison substances or other clues.
[18:46] But by then, after months under the brutal Arizona sun, the
[18:51] biological materials were too degraded to yield any results.
[18:55] In the end, the death was officially deemed suspicious and
[19:00] remained unresolved. In the absence of definitive
[19:05] evidence, a number of theories have emerged over the years to
[19:08] explain what might have happened to Kimberly.
[19:11] Investigators and those who followed the case have proposed
[19:14] 2 primary scenarios from the start, foul play versus fatal
[19:19] misadventure. One theory is that Kimberly's
[19:25] experimentation with substances LED her into the desert in an
[19:29] altered mental state where she ultimately succumbed to the
[19:32] harsh environment. The evidence supporting this
[19:35] includes her well documented strange behavior on August 21st.
[19:40] The vomiting, dilated pupils, confusion about phone numbers
[19:44] and locations, and her paranoid statements all point towards
[19:49] someone possibly under the influence.
[19:52] Cactus tripping in particular can cause intense hallucinations
[19:56] and disorientation for many hours.
[19:58] If Kimberly did take a large dose, intentionally or
[20:02] accidentally, she may have become delirious in that state.
[20:07] She could have driven out toward the mountains, parked in a
[20:10] random driveway and wandered off into the desert in the early
[20:14] morning hours. Tragically, the Arizona desert
[20:18] in August can be deadly. Daytime temperatures soar and an
[20:22] impaired person without water could quickly fall victim to
[20:25] dehydration, heat stroke, or become injured on the rocky
[20:29] terrain. Alternatively, it's been
[20:31] suggested that the breakup with her boyfriend may have caused a
[20:34] mental break, leading to roughly the same effects and also
[20:39] explaining her bizarre behaviour.
[20:43] The other leading theory is that Kimberly Nilson met with foul
[20:46] play. Proponents of this theory argue
[20:49] that Kimberly's unusual state made her vulnerable to
[20:52] predators. It's conceivable that an
[20:55] opportunistic criminal might have seen a disoriented woman
[20:58] alone and abducted or hurt her. The placement of the car could
[21:02] have been a ruse by an offender to delay investigation or
[21:05] distance themselves from the scene of the crime.
[21:08] While this theory makes sense, it's ultimately entirely
[21:11] circumstantial. This, of course, isn't to say
[21:14] that she didn't meet with foul play, and there's no doubt that
[21:18] she was in an extremely vulnerable state at the time she
[21:21] went missing, opening her up to an attack.
[21:26] Officially, Kimberly Nilsson's case remains unsolved and is
[21:30] classified as an open cold case. Whether she fell victim to a bad
[21:34] trip or something much worse continues to remain a chilling,
[21:38] unresolved mystery. On a quiet summer night in 1998,
[21:43] a family of 6 drove E on Interstate 40 through the
[21:46] Arizona desert. They were traveling from
[21:49] Bakersfield, CA to Wisconsin with a U-Haul trailer carrying
[21:54] their belongings hitched behind their Toyota 4 Runner.
[21:58] It was around 2:00 AM on August 6th, and the highway near the
[22:02] Arizona, New Mexico border was nearly empty at that hour.
[22:06] Chong Ping Tamavong, the father, drove in the left lane while his
[22:10] wife, Bothong and their four children dozed inside, unaware
[22:14] of the danger approaching from behind.
[22:17] Two of their four children, Chansami and Abby Tamavong, lost
[22:21] their lives in an instant when tragedy struck on that highway.
[22:25] Suddenly, Chomping noticed 218 Wheelers approaching behind him
[22:30] in tandem, and he decided it was best to switch lanes, a decision
[22:35] which would prove fateful. As Chomping guided the SUV into
[22:39] the right lane, one of the overtaking semi trucks suddenly
[22:43] slammed into the rear of the family's U-Haul trailer.
[22:49] The impact was devastating and the Forerunner flipped over and
[22:53] went rolling out of control. In the chaos, 9 year old
[22:57] Chansami and six year old Abby were ejected from the tumbling
[23:00] SUV and died upon hitting the pavement.
[23:04] Their two older siblings, Samlith and Siphon survived the
[23:08] wreck but sustained serious injuries in the violent
[23:11] rollover. For the parents, the scene was a
[23:15] nightmare. Amongst the wreckage, 2 of their
[23:18] children were seriously injured, with the other two gone forever,
[23:22] and the highway around them was eerily silent after the brief
[23:26] eruption of violence. In the immediate aftermath, as
[23:32] dust settled around the overturned forerunner, the
[23:35] family realized that the trucks were gone.
[23:38] Both big rig drivers had fled into the night, leaving the
[23:41] tamavongs alone amid the wreckage.
[23:45] Arizona State Highway Patrol officers soon arrived at the
[23:48] scene and took charge of the investigation.
[23:51] They found little evidence to go on.
[23:53] The only clues were fragments of a semi trucks front bumper
[23:57] strewn across the road. Those broken pieces were key to
[24:01] identifying what kind of vehicle had caused the crash.
[24:05] Using these bits of wreckage, investigators determined the
[24:08] culprit vehicle was a tractor trailer rig, likely a Volvo semi
[24:12] or similar model. Bumper pieces and paint traces
[24:16] indicated a tan or light bronze cab, possibly accented with red.
[24:21] Investigators knew that Volvo had recently acquired GM CS
[24:25] heavy truck line. The suspect rig might have been
[24:28] sold under either the Volvo or white GMC brand.
[24:32] This forensic analysis gave authorities something concrete
[24:35] to hunt for. Bulletins went out to body shops
[24:38] and trucking companies, alerting them to look for any truck
[24:42] matching that description, especially one with recent front
[24:45] end repairs. The cops suspected that the
[24:50] truck had likely been quickly repaired to cover its
[24:52] involvement, perhaps by someone who was paid big money for a
[24:56] secretive job. For all intents and purposes,
[25:00] the ghost truck and its driver had vanished without a trace
[25:03] into the desert darkness. The investigation struggled to
[25:07] make headway in the aftermath of the crash.
[25:12] Desperate for new leads, authorities turned to the public
[25:15] for help. The case was featured on
[25:18] Unsolved Mysteries on national television in 1999.
[25:22] The show presented the Tamavong family's harrowing story to a
[25:26] wide audience and showed an image of a truck similar to the
[25:30] suspect vehicle, hoping someone might recognize it.
[25:35] And to put things in context, getting on Unsolved Mysteries
[25:39] was huge. In 1999, the show reached 10
[25:42] million viewers per episode in the United States and Canada
[25:46] combined. To put it another way, the
[25:48] perpetrator or perpetrators had a good chance of having seen the
[25:52] episode themselves, and someone who knew them saw it with
[25:56] virtual certainty. Viewers were urged to contact
[26:02] the Arizona State Police or the show's tip line with any
[26:05] information about the mystery driver responsible for the
[26:09] girl's deaths. For a time, investigators pinned
[26:13] their hopes on this exposure, praying that a colleague, a
[26:17] mechanic, or perhaps a witness from I-40 that night might
[26:21] finally come forward. But as weeks and months passed
[26:25] after the broadcast with no results, the tamavongs were
[26:29] again left waiting for a breakthrough that never came.
[26:34] With no suspect identified, speculation abounded about how
[26:38] and why the tragedy occurred. 1 theory is that the truck driver
[26:42] might have fallen asleep at the wheel, though this doesn't
[26:45] adequately explain why there were two trucks involved.
[26:49] Fatigue is a known hazard on long haul routes, especially in
[26:53] the pre dawn hours, and a dozing or impaired trucker might not
[26:57] notice the family's SUV until it was too late.
[27:01] Upon realizing the horror of what happened, the driver may
[27:05] have panicked and fled, afraid of facing the consequences of
[27:09] his action. Again, though, this doesn't
[27:12] explain why the second driver wouldn't have stopped.
[27:15] Another related theory is that the trucker who struck the SUV
[27:20] may have been under the influence of the Crystal Dr. all
[27:23] Night Delight. It's one thing to fall asleep at
[27:26] the wheel and cause a tragedy like this, but if the trucker
[27:29] did it while under the influence, he could be looking
[27:32] at extremely serious prison time.
[27:35] If he was hopped up on big rig rocket fuel, this may have been
[27:39] why he fled the scene. The presence of the second truck
[27:44] is another lingering question, and the role of this second
[27:47] vehicle still isn't entirely understood.
[27:52] It's a possibility that the two truck drivers were driving
[27:54] recklessly in a much more intentional manner.
[27:57] Perhaps they were racing each other or attempting a dangerous
[28:01] passing maneuver as they thundered down the Interstate
[28:04] together. The fact that both rigs
[28:07] approached in tandem suggests they might have been side by
[28:10] side, pacing each other aggressively.
[28:14] In such a scenario, one truck could have misjudged the space
[28:18] or timing when chomping changed lanes, leading to the fatal rear
[28:23] end collision. If the truckers were in
[28:26] communication or knew each other, they might have decided
[28:29] together not to stop, each unwilling to incriminate the
[28:33] other or themselves in the aftermath.
[28:39] No one has ever been charged for the crime of running the
[28:41] Tamavong family off the road and the horrific consequences that
[28:45] followed. In Arizona, there's no statute
[28:49] of limitations for a fatal hit and run, so the driver could
[28:52] still face justice if identified.
[28:54] Even now, even decades later, investigators quietly hoped for
[28:59] a break in the case, a confession, a new witness, or a
[29:04] piece of evidence, but none has materialized thus far.
[29:09] To this day, the family still holds on to hope that someone,
[29:13] somewhere, will come forward with the truth about what
[29:16] happened on that desolate Arizona highway in 1998.
[29:22] Until that day, the story of Chansami and Abby's deaths
[29:25] remains a haunting reminder of how two young lives can be cut
[29:29] short in an instant. Zora Folly was a boxer who
[29:39] dominated the heavyweight division for a time during the
[29:41] middle of the 20th century. He rose from humble beginnings
[29:45] to become a heavyweight boxing contender and even challenge the
[29:49] legendary Muhammad Ali for the world title.
[29:52] Outside the ring, Foley was a Korean War veteran, a respected
[29:57] family man and a civic leader in Chandler, AZ.
[30:01] Yet in July 1972, this accomplished life met a
[30:06] mysterious end. Folly died under suspicious
[30:10] circumstances at a motel swimming pool, an officially
[30:13] quote UN quote accidental death that many have questioned ever
[30:17] since turning professional in 1953.
[30:22] The six foot One fighter racked up an impressive record of 79
[30:25] wins, 11 losses, and six draws over 17 years.
[30:31] He climbed into the ring with many of the era's best, claiming
[30:35] victories over contenders like Eddie Mcken, George Chevalho,
[30:39] Oscar Bonavina and many others. In October 1958, for example,
[30:45] Foley travelled to London to face British champion Henry
[30:48] Cooper in a high profile bout. Though Foley was favored, Cooper
[30:54] pulled off an upset points victory, handing Foley a rare
[30:57] defeat on his otherwise stellar record.
[31:00] Undeterred, Folly continued to be a top ranked contender for
[31:03] years, his consistent performance keeping him in The
[31:06] Ring Magazine's top 10 heavyweight list for over a
[31:09] decade. Folly developed a reputation as
[31:13] a skilled tactical boxer and a true gentleman of the sport.
[31:18] He neither smoked nor drank and was known for his clean living
[31:21] and sportsmanship. Unlike many brash fighters,
[31:25] Folly was soft spoken and courteous.
[31:28] This dignified demeanor made him a role model in his hometown of
[31:32] Chandler. Even as he fought heavyweight
[31:35] Titans like Sonny Liston, who knocked him out in 1960, Folly
[31:40] remained steadfast and humble. By the mid 1960s, he was widely
[31:44] regarded as one of the best heavyweights never to have held
[31:47] a title. This was largely because
[31:50] champion Floyd Patterson's management had steered clear of
[31:53] him during Folly's prime. At long last, in March 1967,
[32:00] Zora Folly earned a shot at the World Heavyweight Championship,
[32:04] though the opportunity came at a time when Folly was already past
[32:07] his peak. Folly's title shot came against
[32:12] none other than Muhammad Ali, and it would become the defining
[32:15] fight of his career. And by the way, you can watch
[32:19] this full fight on YouTube if you're a boxing fan.
[32:22] The bout took place on March 22nd, 1967 at New York's Madison
[32:27] Square Garden. By then, Ali was at the height
[32:31] of his power, undefeated and flamboyant, while Folly was 36
[32:35] years old and considered an aging challenger.
[32:39] In the lead up to the fight, Ali was unusually restrained in his
[32:43] typical trash talk, finding little to criticize in the
[32:47] polite contender. That said, he couldn't help
[32:50] issuing some backhanded compliments, calling Foley a
[32:54] nice, sweet old family man. Notably, Foley was one of the
[32:59] first opponents to address the champion by his chosen Muslim
[33:02] name rather than Cassius Clay, a sign of respect that Ali
[33:07] acknowledged. Some have speculated that this
[33:10] was the reason Ali's usually brash trash talk was so toned
[33:14] down for this fight. When the bell rang, Folly's
[33:18] experience and skill were on display.
[33:21] He started strong and gave the champ a competitive fight in the
[33:24] early rounds. Ultimately, however, Ali's speed
[33:28] and prime conditioning proved too much.
[33:31] In the seventh round, Ali caught Folly with a quick combination,
[33:35] knocking him out and retaining the title.
[33:38] After the bout, Ali remarked that quote things might have
[33:42] been different had we met 10 years ago, implying that Folly
[33:45] in his prime could have posed a serious threat.
[33:48] This fight, Folly's lone title challenge, was historically
[33:52] significant for another reason. It turned out to be Ali's last
[33:56] match before his three-year exile from boxing due to his
[34:00] draft refusal case. Folly retired from boxing in
[34:04] 1970 following a knockout loss to rising contender Mac Foster.
[34:10] He was 39 and ready to move on to the next phase of life.
[34:14] Folly had always prioritized his family.
[34:17] He and his wife, Joella were raising eight children, and he
[34:21] seamlessly transitioned into civilian life.
[34:24] He took a job as a car salesman and remained A beloved figure in
[34:28] Chandler. In 1970, the city appointed
[34:32] Folly to fill a vacancy on the Chandler City Council,
[34:35] capitalizing on his local fame and sterling reputation.
[34:41] In early July 1972, Folly travelled S from Chandler to the
[34:46] city of Tucson, AZ for reasons that remain unclear.
[34:51] On the evening of July 7th, 1972, he checked into the Sands
[34:56] Motel in Tucson, reportedly under an assumed name,
[35:00] accompanied by an old acquaintance named Artist Broom.
[35:03] Also with them were Broom's wife Dorothy, and another woman from
[35:07] Mesa, AZ named Anne Young. Broom was known by Folly's
[35:12] friends as a dubious hanger on a small time celebrity friend
[35:17] whose close involvement with Folly had always been puzzling.
[35:21] Nonetheless, Folly apparently trusted him enough to pay a late
[35:25] night visit. Sometime around midnight, an
[35:28] incident occurred at the motel's swimming pool that would prove
[35:32] fatal. According to the official police
[35:35] account, Folly and artist Broome began engaging in playful
[35:39] roughhousing near the pool. What happened next is the
[35:43] subject of controversy more than 1/2 century later.
[35:47] According to one person, this rough horseplay led to Folly
[35:51] losing his balance, or perhaps being pushed and falling into
[35:55] the pool where he struck his head.
[35:59] Folly was pulled from the water, gravely injured.
[36:02] One of the panicked women ran to the motel office and urgently
[36:05] summoned an ambulance. Paramedics rushed Folly to a
[36:09] nearby hospital, but it was too late.
[36:12] In the early hours of July 8th, 1970, two 41 year old Zora Folly
[36:18] was pronounced dead from his injuries.
[36:21] The initial tragedy of a respected athlete dying in an
[36:24] apparent freak accident was compounded by the disturbing
[36:28] condition of Folly's body. His injuries didn't look like
[36:31] the result of a simple slip and fall.
[36:34] A motel employee who saw Folly after the incident described
[36:38] multiple wounds. He described large bumps on his
[36:41] forehead, A gaping wound described as a hole on the top
[36:45] of his head and another significant injury to the back
[36:48] of his skull. This was, as observers noted,
[36:52] pretty extensive damage for someone who ostensibly just hit
[36:55] his head falling into a swimming pool.
[36:58] One blow might be expected from an accidental fall, but three
[37:02] distinct head injuries in different spots raised immediate
[37:05] suspicions of foul play. The Tucson police, however,
[37:09] found no overt evidence of a crime at the scene and quickly
[37:13] ruled Folly's death an accident. The case was essentially closed
[37:18] as an unfortunate mishap. No one was charged and the other
[37:21] individuals present were not detained.
[37:24] Notably, the official paperwork surrounding the incident, most
[37:29] police reports, witness statements, and the medical
[37:32] examiner's findings were not released to the public.
[37:37] In fact, years later, researchers discovered that the
[37:41] records had effectively vanished.
[37:44] This lack of documentation has made it impossible to re examine
[37:48] the case, locking the true details of Foley's death behind
[37:52] a wall of time and bureaucratic silence.
[37:57] With so many troubling details and so few official answers,
[38:01] it's no surprise that conspiracy theories have swirled around
[38:04] Zora Foley's death for decades. From the beginning, many
[38:09] observers found the accident narrative hard to accept.
[38:13] One theory suggests that he was lured to the motel under false
[38:17] pretenses and slain for reasons unknown.
[38:21] The most common reason given, which is purely speculative, is
[38:26] that there may have been a dispute over money.
[38:29] Some have speculated that Zora Folly, who was known to be a
[38:33] generous and good hearted person, may have lent money to
[38:36] someone who simply didn't feel like repaying him.
[38:40] Another persistent rumor is that Folly's death was a mob related
[38:44] attack. Organized crime had long
[38:47] tentacles in boxing during the mid 20th century and some wonder
[38:51] if Folly had crossed the wrong people.
[38:54] This theory gained a sliver of traction when Jet Magazine
[38:57] reported that two suspicious looking men were seen loitering
[39:00] around the motel on the night Folly died.
[39:04] Folly wasn't in debt, and no clear motive for an organized
[39:08] crime involvement has ever been identified, making this theory
[39:12] more speculative than substantiated.
[39:15] Some observers have raised the possibility that Folly's race
[39:18] and the era's social climate played a role in the aftermath.
[39:22] They speculate that the Tucson police simply didn't want to
[39:26] conduct a meaningful investigation and simply close
[39:29] their file out as soon as possible.
[39:32] Through all the speculation, Folly's immediate family
[39:36] remained relatively quiet. His widow, Joella Folly, has
[39:41] never spoken publicly about the incident and did not push for
[39:45] any further inquiries. Whether she accepted the
[39:48] official version or simply chose to avoid reliving the trauma is
[39:52] unknown. On a chilly Christmas night in
[39:55] 2007, the area outside of Phoenix, AZ Mall played host to
[40:00] an unfathomable act of cruelty. A man was seen engulfed in
[40:05] flames outside a Subway restaurant as horrified
[40:08] bystanders rushed to call 911. That man was 36 year old Aaron
[40:13] Taylor, a familiar homeless figure in the area who had just
[40:17] become the victim of a gruesome and senseless crime.
[40:21] Investigators are convinced they know who's responsible, but a
[40:25] lack of hard evidence in the silence of witnesses have kept
[40:28] the perpetrators out of the reach of justice.
[40:33] Aaron Taylor wasn't an anonymous drifter to those who worked near
[40:37] Paradise Valley Mall in Phoenix. Employees at the malls, eateries
[40:41] and shops knew him as a polite, friendly presence who often
[40:45] camped near the Subway restaurant on E Cactus Rd.
[40:49] Aaron had come to Arizona from Oregon years earlier and by all
[40:52] accounts was a gentle, considerate person who had a
[40:55] rough lot in life. Tragically, Aaron's final months
[41:01] were marked by torment. He had become the target of a
[41:05] group of local young men who took pleasure in bullying him as
[41:08] he tried to go about his life. Witnesses later told police that
[41:12] a trio of teens and young adults had been harassing Aaron for
[41:16] weeks before his death. These individuals lived in a
[41:20] nearby apartment complex, and they treated Aaron as a source
[41:24] of cruel entertainment. In the latter half of 2007,
[41:30] people saw Aaron being subjected to degrading quote UN quote
[41:33] pranks. In one instance, the criminals
[41:37] reportedly duct taped Aaron to a bench in the mall courtyard,
[41:41] leaving him restrained and humiliated.
[41:45] On another occasion, they dragged him and threw him into a
[41:48] fountain for their amusement. A mall security guard even
[41:52] recalled seeing these men pouring liquids on Aaron and
[41:55] pushing him around in the months before the slaying.
[41:59] It was a pattern that grew increasingly violent over time,
[42:03] escalating with little intervention from bystanders or
[42:06] authorities. In Aaron's case, this pattern
[42:09] was a dire warning sign of the horror to come.
[42:14] While the harassment was known and widely witnessed, there was
[42:17] no sustained effort that successfully stopped the
[42:20] assaults. On the evening of December 25th,
[42:25] 2007, while many families celebrated in warmth, Aaron
[42:30] Taylor settled in to sleep on his usual bench.
[42:33] It was a holiday evening like many others for him, cold and
[42:37] quiet, with a few passers by and the glow of neon from nearby
[42:41] shops. Sometime that night, the same
[42:44] group who had been tormenting him decided to pay Aaron a
[42:47] visit. According to witness accounts
[42:50] pieced together later, 3 males approached Aaron in the
[42:54] courtyard as he rested. They brought drinks and snacks,
[42:58] perhaps trying to pretend they were in the Christmas spirit, or
[43:02] perhaps simply to toy with him. Several people saw the group
[43:07] chatting and sharing drinks with Aaron, almost as if they were
[43:11] hanging out casually. In fact, police would later find
[43:14] an assortment of items left behind. 1/2 empty bottle of
[43:18] whiskey, an unopened can of beer, and even a bag of Cheetos.
[43:24] It seemed the men were socializing with Aaron at first,
[43:27] perhaps lulling him into a sense of security.
[43:31] It turned out that this was just the setup for something
[43:33] unthinkably cruel. As darkness fell, what had
[43:39] appeared to be a quote UN quote friendly encounter turned into
[43:42] one of the most disturbing acts I've ever covered on this
[43:45] channel. Witnesses reported a horrifying
[43:48] sight. The young men began flicking lit
[43:51] matches at Aaron's long beard. When this sick game stopped
[43:55] being entertaining, they took things one step further.
[44:00] They doused Aaron in some sort of flammable liquid around 7:00
[44:04] that night. A bystander saw flames erupting
[44:08] from the bench area and called 911 an alarm.
[44:12] In a matter of moments, Aaron was completely engulfed in fire.
[44:16] The attackers scattered, reportedly running off back
[44:20] toward their apartment, leaving Aaron to his horrific fate.
[44:26] The scene was nothing short of a nightmare.
[44:28] Mall security and a nearby convenience store clerk sprinted
[44:31] over and desperately tried to save Aaron, using their jackets
[44:35] to smother the flames that were consuming him.
[44:38] These good Samaritans fought frantically for several minutes,
[44:42] but the fire was too intense due to the flammable liquid Aaron
[44:45] had been doused with. When Phoenix Fire Department
[44:49] paramedics arrived, they found a harrowing sight.
[44:53] Aaron's body straddling the bench, still on fire.
[44:59] First responders extinguished the flames and rushed to perform
[45:02] CPR. They raced Aaron to the Maricopa
[45:05] County Burn Unit, but the injuries were catastrophic.
[45:09] He was officially pronounced dead shortly after arrival at
[45:12] the hospital. Later, the medical examiner's
[45:15] report confirmed the most chilling detail.
[45:19] Aaron had been alive throughout most of the ordeal, evidenced by
[45:23] soot in his Airways from breathing in the smoke and
[45:26] flames. Aaron had been lit on fire and
[45:30] been forced to endure unimaginable horrors while fully
[45:33] conscious for the amusement of three disturbed individuals who
[45:38] remain free In the immediate aftermath.
[45:44] Phoenix police launched a full investigation, but they faced
[45:47] serious challenges from the start.
[45:50] The very act of attempting to save Aaron's life unfortunately
[45:54] destroyed much of the physical evidence at the scene.
[45:58] Firefighters had no choice but to douse the flames with water
[46:01] and foam, which inadvertently washed away potential forensic
[46:05] clues. Any traces like accelerant
[46:08] residue, blood, or fingerprints that might have been on Aaron's
[46:12] clothing or the bench were largely obliterated in the
[46:15] process of extinguishing the fire.
[46:18] Notably, while they recovered evidence, most of these items
[46:23] had been compromised by a mixture of heat, water and foam.
[46:28] For instance, matchsticks that may have been used to ignite
[46:31] Aaron were too fire damage to yield any DNA or fingerprints.
[46:36] Investigators scoured the area for surveillance footage, but
[46:40] frustratingly, none of the nearby shops.
[46:42] Security cameras captured the secluded spot where it happened.
[46:46] The crime had effectively occurred in a blind spot with
[46:49] little forensic evidence. Eyewitness testimony became the
[46:54] crucial pillar of the investigation since the physical
[46:58] evidence was lacking and indeed, multiple people had seen parts
[47:02] of the incident or the events leading up to it.
[47:06] Several witnesses told police about the group of young men
[47:09] seen hanging around Aaron that night, providing descriptions of
[47:13] their actions. One witness specifically
[47:16] reported seeing the men laughing and flicking matches at Aaron
[47:19] shortly before the fire erupted. In the aftermath, someone came
[47:24] forward saying that one of the young men actually bragged
[47:26] afterward about the incident. All of these accounts painted a
[47:32] consistent and damning picture, pointing to the same
[47:35] perpetrators. Crucially, people also noted
[47:39] that these were the same individuals who had been
[47:41] harassing Aaron for weeks prior. In the eyes of the Phoenix
[47:45] police, there was little mystery about who committed this sick
[47:48] act. The pattern of escalating
[47:51] attacks and eyewitness placements all pointed to those
[47:54] three young men as the culprits. While the police may have
[47:59] identified the likely perpetrators early on, turning
[48:03] that suspicion into an arrest proved daunting.
[48:06] A huge obstacle was the lack of cooperative witnesses willing to
[48:09] testify in court. Some bystanders who initially
[48:13] spoke to police grew hesitant to get further involved.
[48:17] It's been speculated that there may have been witness
[48:19] intimidation involved. When detectives brought in the
[48:24] three suspects for questioning, they hit a wall of silence.
[48:29] All three denied involvement and as soon as police started
[48:32] pressing them with the witness accounts, the suspects lawyered
[48:35] up. According to the cops, the
[48:38] suspects parents moved quickly to hire attorneys for their sons
[48:42] and advised them not to cooperate with investigators.
[48:46] With no confessions, no surveillance footage, no DNA and
[48:52] only reluctant witnesses, the case stalled out.
[48:56] Prosecutors determined there just wasn't enough admissible
[48:59] evidence to confidently charge the suspects, even though the
[49:03] detectives strongly believed they had the right people.
[49:07] The prosecution only has one chance to pursue the case, so
[49:11] the idea that they would have taken it to trial without
[49:13] cooperative witnesses made the chances of success minimal.
[49:18] Also, of course, the lack of any usable forensic evidence posed a
[49:22] huge problem, especially since the witnesses stopped
[49:25] cooperating. The biggest mystery here isn't
[49:30] who did it, but rather how to finally hold the culprits
[49:33] accountable. Over the years, Phoenix
[49:35] detectives have revisited the case multiple times, hoping new
[49:40] evidence might surface, but as yet, nothing has.
[49:44] In the end, it appears that the best chance for justice for
[49:48] Aaron Taylor will be if one of the men involved in the attack
[49:52] turns on the other two. Another potential possibility is
[49:56] if some very significantly degraded DNA can be reanalyzed
[50:00] to form adna profile. Even if only one individual can
[50:04] be tied to the crime, that's likely all that's needed.
[50:08] Using this method, the authorities may be able to put
[50:11] the full weight of the state on one individual and fully crack
[50:15] the case. Making a deal with one of the
[50:18] men may simply be the only way to realistically bring the other
[50:21] two to justice. Anyway, this case makes me
[50:26] absolutely sick. Hopefully these guys are caught
[50:29] and Aaron gets the justice he deserves.
[50:33] On a quiet Sunday morning, 69 year old doctor Emmett Velton
[50:37] invited a man he barely knew into his home.
[50:40] Hours later, Velton lay fatally injured in the hallway of his
[50:44] Phoenix, AZ condominium, and the stranger had vanished with his
[50:48] car. The entire encounter, from their
[50:52] arrival to the suspect's exit, was captured on surveillance
[50:56] video, yet this vicious attack remains unsolved.
[51:01] It's a chilling case, likely of goodwill turn tragic, and it
[51:05] continues to baffle investigators and haunt the
[51:07] community. Emmett Velton was a respected
[51:12] psychologist known for his work in cognitive behavioral therapy
[51:16] and addiction recovery. Originally from Tennessee, he
[51:20] had made Phoenix his home for the last 11 years of his life.
[51:24] On April 24th, 2011, Easter Sunday morning, Velton crossed
[51:29] paths with a young homeless man in downtown Phoenix.
[51:35] Around 8:10 that morning, security cameras at Velton's
[51:38] high rise condo recorded him entering the building with the
[51:42] unknown young man by his side. The footage later retrieved by
[51:47] detectives showed Velton and the man walking together from the
[51:51] parking area where Velton's Toyota Rav 4 was parked into the
[51:56] lobby. Tragically, this encounter would
[51:59] soon turn very violent. Roughly 3 hours later, Belton
[52:04] was discovered collapsed in a hallway near the elevator,
[52:07] suffering from a severe head injury.
[52:10] It appeared he had been beaten and left for dead.
[52:13] By the time help arrived, the young man was gone, along with
[52:17] Velton's car which had been driven away from the scene.
[52:21] Velton was rushed to the hospital and despite initially
[52:25] clinging to life long enough to speak to officers, he succumbed
[52:29] to his injuries on May 3rd, 2011.
[52:35] Phoenix police launched an intensive investigation into
[52:38] Doctor Velton's slaying. From the very start, they had
[52:41] more evidence than many other cases, giving hope that a quick
[52:45] arrest could be made. Within hours, detectives hit
[52:49] evidentiary pay dirt. A prime suspect was clearly
[52:52] visible on camera accompanying Velton on the morning of the
[52:56] crime. Investigators obtained multiple
[52:59] angles of surveillance footage, capturing the suspect's face and
[53:02] build as he walked with Velton into the building.
[53:05] In addition, the crime scene yielded a critical forensic
[53:09] clue. The perpetrator had stepped in
[53:12] Velton's blood and left behind a clean, bloody footprint in the
[53:16] apartment. This bloody shoe print was
[53:20] carefully lifted by crime scene technicians preserved as key
[53:24] evidence. Velton himself provided A
[53:28] crucial lead. Before losing consciousness, he
[53:31] described his attacker as a young white male and revealed
[53:34] that he had picked the man up from a homeless shelter
[53:37] downtown. Using that information and the
[53:40] video images, police circulated a description of the suspect to
[53:45] the public and local shelters. Unfortunately, the description
[53:49] wasn't overly specific, describing him as being of both
[53:53] average height and weight and weight.
[53:57] The suspect was last seen on video calmly leaving the
[53:59] building and driving off in Velton's Toyota Rav 4,
[54:03] presumably right after the attack.
[54:06] Felton's vehicle was later found abandoned in another part of
[54:09] town soon after. Despite this abundance of
[54:14] evidence, identifying the perpetrator proved challenging.
[54:18] Investigators had no name to match the blurry face on the
[54:21] video, and initial efforts to recognize him were fruitless.
[54:26] Police showed the footage and description around the shelter
[54:29] and other local agencies, but no one could identify the young
[54:33] man, suggesting he might have just been passing through.
[54:37] Physical evidence, while helpful, didn't directly point
[54:40] to a known individual. The bloody shoe print revealed
[54:44] the tread pattern and likely shoe size, but without a suspect
[54:48] to compare, it remained just an intriguing clue.
[54:52] As mentioned, the cops recovered Velton's car and presumably
[54:56] fully processed it. It may have contained
[54:59] fingerprints or DNA, but if so, the details were never released
[55:04] publicly, which isn't unusual given this is an active and
[55:08] ongoing investigation. Several theories as to why this
[55:14] unknown attacker targeted Dr. Velton have emerged in this
[55:17] case, none of which have BeenVerified.
[55:20] The leading theory is that Velton was the victim of a
[55:23] robbery gone wrong. Being generous and trusting, he
[55:27] gave a ride to a young man who then attacked him, possibly
[55:30] intending to steal valuables or the car.
[55:34] The fact that the suspect fled in the victim's vehicle and that
[55:37] Velton's wallet and other items were reportedly left untouched
[55:41] suggests the car may have been the primary target in this
[55:46] scenario. The slaying may not have been
[55:47] premeditated. It could have occurred because
[55:50] Velton resisted, or the assailant saw an opportunity and
[55:54] turned violent impulsively. Notably, Dr. Velton was known to
[56:00] the local homeless population as someone who was charitable and
[56:03] kind. It may be the case that this
[56:06] reputation worked its way to the wrong person, who saw Doctor
[56:10] Velton as an easy mark. Given the ease with which the
[56:14] attacker functioned after committing A horrific crime,
[56:17] some have speculated that this wasn't his first rodeo.
[56:23] Another theory, which has been discussed online but isn't
[56:26] substantiated with any actual evidence, is the theory that
[56:30] Doctor Velton may have tried to hook up with the homeless man.
[56:33] Doctor Velton was openly gay, which appears to have led to
[56:37] this theory gaining significant traction.
[56:40] However, despite the popularity of this theory, there's some
[56:44] major problems with it. Police canvassed the homeless
[56:47] population extensively, and there's no evidence that Doctor
[56:51] Velton had been engaged in such activities previously.
[56:57] It seems unlikely that a 69 year old man would wake up one day
[57:01] and decide to start cruising around the local homeless
[57:04] shelters. If this had been his thing, it
[57:07] seems likely that people would have mentioned it when the
[57:09] police came sniffing around. Further, Doctor Velton was able
[57:14] to give some evidence before he perished, and presumably he
[57:18] would have mentioned this to investigators.
[57:23] Further, the cops fully investigated Dr. Velton's
[57:26] history and interviewed his closest friends.
[57:29] According to news reports, They couldn't explicitly say that he
[57:32] never engaged in such behavior, but no one ever reported that he
[57:36] did. A number of theories exist about
[57:40] the assailant, too. Investigators believe the
[57:43] perpetrator may not have been a local Phoenix resident at all.
[57:48] Since no one at the shelter or in the local homeless community
[57:51] recognized him. It's theorized he was a
[57:53] transient drifter passing through the city.
[57:57] He might have arrived in Phoenix shortly before Easter 2011 and
[58:01] left immediately after the crime.
[58:05] Another theory suggests that he perhaps was known by people who
[58:09] attended local homeless shelters, but that his
[58:11] reputation forced people into silence.
[58:14] Given the extreme act he committed against Doctor Velton,
[58:18] this doesn't seem to be an inherently unreasonable idea.
[58:23] Another line of speculation is that the suspect could have been
[58:26] mentally unstable or under the influence of St.
[58:29] Pharmaceuticals, leading to a sudden violent outburst.
[58:33] Perhaps the attacker wasn't primarily motivated by theft,
[58:37] but by an imagined provocation. For instance, Dr. Velton may
[58:43] have said something that triggered the attacker, even if
[58:46] it was completely benign. However, given the suspect's
[58:52] apparent composure on video, calmly walking in and later
[58:56] driving away, many believe greed was the motive more than rage.
[59:01] The theft of the car indicates a clear intent to gain from the
[59:04] crime rather than an unplanned scuffle gone wrong.
[59:08] However, on the flip side, it appears that he simply abandoned
[59:12] the vehicle, so perhaps this was just his way of getting as far
[59:16] from the scene as fast as possible before the crime was
[59:19] discovered. That said, his rapid flight from
[59:23] the crime scene and his forethought to abandon the
[59:25] vehicle before an all points bulletin went out for it
[59:28] suggests this was a man who was thinking ahead.
[59:34] As of today, the case of Emmett Velton remains unsolved, with
[59:38] little to no progress having been made in the last decade and
[59:41] a half. Whether this case is ever solved
[59:44] or not will likely depend on whether the cops were able to
[59:47] get DNA evidence from the scene. If there was biological evidence
[59:52] found from the perpetrator, it seems to be only a matter of
[59:55] time before forensic science catches up with him.
[1:00:00] In the early morning darkness of April 26th, 2000, a frightened
[1:00:05] young woman was found wandering on the tarmac of Reno Tahoe
[1:00:08] International Airport. When airport security confronted
[1:00:12] her, she claimed she was searching for her younger sister
[1:00:15] who had run loose on the runway, a sister that in reality she
[1:00:20] didn't have. That woman was 25 year old *
[1:00:24] palumbo and within hours she would vanish without a trace.
[1:00:29] The next day, Star's car was discovered abandoned at the
[1:00:32] airport, loaded with her belongings, but with no sign of
[1:00:36] Star herself. Her abandoned vehicle held clues
[1:00:40] as eerie as they were baffling cryptic letters and an ominous
[1:00:44] sketch that hinted at her growing paranoia, yet nothing
[1:00:48] that gave a clear answer to her fate.
[1:00:50] The bizarre circumstances, from Star's incoherent airport
[1:00:54] encounter to the unsettling contents of her car, have made
[1:00:58] her disappearance one of Nevada's most haunting unsolved
[1:01:02] mysteries. Star Palumbo was a 25 year old
[1:01:07] from Tucson, AZ. In 1999, she moved to Reno, NV
[1:01:12] to live with her grandmother. By all accounts, Star had a
[1:01:15] happy upbringing and was known to be friendly and trusting.
[1:01:19] Friends and family would later say she might have trusted
[1:01:22] people too much, a trait that could put her at risk.
[1:01:27] In Reno, she worked at a pawn shop, but she also fell into
[1:01:30] using meth, and soon her drug habits spun out of control.
[1:01:35] Investigators believe she may have turned to escorting as a
[1:01:38] way to fund her addiction. Despite these troubles, Star
[1:01:42] stayed in touch with her family, and she spoke to her mother
[1:01:45] regularly on the phone. But on April 25th, 2000, the day
[1:01:51] before she vanished, Star sounded unusually anxious and
[1:01:55] paranoid. She told her mother that she
[1:01:58] thought someone was following her and that her phone was
[1:02:00] tapped. She even talked about coming
[1:02:03] home to Tucson to start over. It was the last time her family
[1:02:07] ever heard from her. Just hours after that
[1:02:12] distressing phone call, Starr's strange behavior came to a head.
[1:02:16] Shortly after midnight on April 26th, an airport police officer
[1:02:21] found Starr trespassing in a restricted area of the Reno
[1:02:24] airport. She was disoriented, cowering
[1:02:28] behind a truck on the tarmac. When questioned, Starr claimed
[1:02:32] she was looking for a younger sister who had run onto the
[1:02:35] runway. Even though Starr didn't have a
[1:02:38] sister in real life, recognizing that she was not well but had
[1:02:42] committed no serious crime, the officer decided not to arrest
[1:02:46] her. Instead, he gave Starr a ride to
[1:02:50] the nearby Reno Hilton Hotel so she could safely spend the rest
[1:02:54] of the night. Unfortunately, this act of
[1:02:58] leniency by the cop would be the worst thing that could have
[1:03:01] happened to *. The Reno Hilton Hotel was the
[1:03:07] last place Star was seen. The officer dropped her off
[1:03:11] there around 1:30 that morning, and a valet reportedly saw her
[1:03:15] near the entrance shortly afterward.
[1:03:17] However, Star never checked into the Hilton or any other hotel
[1:03:21] that night and after that brief sighting by the valet, she
[1:03:25] vanished without a trace. In the pre dawn darkness, Star
[1:03:30] Palumbo effectively stepped off the face of the Earth.
[1:03:36] On April 27th, Star's vehicle was found illegally parked and
[1:03:40] abandoned at the airport. The car registered in her name
[1:03:44] was packed with her personal possessions, including her purse
[1:03:48] with $600.00 cash inside and her cell phone.
[1:03:52] These are items she almost certainly would have taken with
[1:03:55] her if she were leaving intentionally.
[1:03:59] Even more disturbing were the other things police discovered
[1:04:01] in the car. There were printed copies of
[1:04:04] three emails Star had sent to the White House claiming the
[1:04:07] federal government was after her.
[1:04:10] There was also a hand drawn sketch of a woman resembling
[1:04:13] Star in a compromising position, and two books about how to
[1:04:17] change one's identity to investigators.
[1:04:22] The contents of Star's car read like something out of a
[1:04:25] thriller, an unnerving mix of paranoia and possible plans for
[1:04:30] a getaway. Star never returned to claim her
[1:04:35] car or any of the items inside it.
[1:04:38] These clues painted a picture of a young woman in an extremely
[1:04:41] fearful state of mind and possibly preparing to flee from
[1:04:45] a danger which she perceived to be real.
[1:04:48] Investigators were left to wonder whether Star had suffered
[1:04:51] a breakdown and become lost, or if someone she feared had caught
[1:04:55] up with her. Either way, the items left
[1:04:59] behind only deepen the mystery. Instead of solving it.
[1:05:02] They showed that Star was deeply afraid of something or someone,
[1:05:06] whether it was a genuine danger or a figment of her imagination.
[1:05:13] After Star disappeared, her parents put up Flyers and
[1:05:17] alerted the media around Reno in hopes of finding her.
[1:05:20] For months, there were no leads, and then, eight months later, a
[1:05:24] startling tip emerged. In December 2000, the owner of
[1:05:30] the Silver Dollar Casino in Elko, NV, reported that a
[1:05:33] frightened young woman matching Star's description had come into
[1:05:37] her bar one night. This distressed woman said her
[1:05:42] name was * and claimed she was trying to escape from a pimp.
[1:05:46] At one point, she noticed a man peering through the window as if
[1:05:50] looking for her, which caused her to panic and flee the casino
[1:05:54] with another woman before police could arrive.
[1:05:57] Authorities investigated this report but couldn't confirm if
[1:06:00] the woman in Elko was really Star Palumbo.
[1:06:04] If it was her, it suggests Star was on the run from dangerous
[1:06:08] people after she went missing. If not, then her trail truly
[1:06:13] went cold in Reno. Aside from that one unconfirmed
[1:06:17] incident, no other trace of Star has ever surfaced.
[1:06:24] Over the years, several theories have emerged to explain her
[1:06:27] fate. Investigators generally focus on
[1:06:30] 2 broad possibilities that she had a drug fueled mental
[1:06:34] breakdown or that she met with foul play.
[1:06:40] One theory is that Starr experienced a severe psychotic
[1:06:43] break due to her substance use and mounting paranoia which may
[1:06:47] have been overlaid upon pre-existing mental health
[1:06:49] issues. In this scenario she might have
[1:06:53] wandered off in a confused state and succumbed to the elements or
[1:06:57] an accident with her remains never found.
[1:07:01] The bizarre behavior she exhibited at the airport
[1:07:04] hallucinating about a non existent sister supports the
[1:07:07] idea that she was not in her right mind that night.
[1:07:11] It's possible she could have ended up far from Reno,
[1:07:15] unidentified and living transiently due to her impaired
[1:07:18] mental state. However, after so many years
[1:07:21] with no confirmed sightings or contact, this outcome is
[1:07:25] considered less likely. The other leading theory is that
[1:07:31] someone harmed Starr. Given her involvement with St.
[1:07:34] Pharmaceuticals and given the fact she was likely working in a
[1:07:38] dangerous position, she was living a high risk lifestyle
[1:07:41] that could have led to violence. No official suspects have ever
[1:07:45] been named in her case, but perhaps she crossed the wrong
[1:07:49] person. Maybe a drug dealer she owed
[1:07:52] money or a pimp she tried to leave.
[1:07:55] One rumor even suggested that Starr overdosed and
[1:07:58] acquaintances hid her body in the desert to avoid trouble,
[1:08:02] though no evidence backs up that story.
[1:08:06] The potential Elko sighting adds weight to the foul play angle.
[1:08:10] If that truly was * claiming a pimp was after her, it implies
[1:08:15] she might have been captured or trafficked by dangerous
[1:08:17] individuals. She could have been forced into
[1:08:20] working in this CD industry and then slain when she attempted to
[1:08:24] escape. Unfortunately, without concrete
[1:08:28] evidence, all of this remains speculation.
[1:08:34] Some have also wondered if Star deliberately disappeared to
[1:08:37] start a new life under a different identity.
[1:08:40] The fact that she owned books on changing identities suggests she
[1:08:43] considered the idea of going into hiding.
[1:08:46] It's conceivable she felt so threatened that she staged her
[1:08:49] own disappearance. However, this theory is
[1:08:53] difficult to square with the evidence.
[1:08:55] Star left behind a significant amount of cash in her phone,
[1:08:59] things one would expect her to take if she were planning to run
[1:09:02] away. That said, if she was so into
[1:09:05] the idea of making a clean break, leaving behind 600 bucks
[1:09:09] and her phone may have just been the cost of doing business, so
[1:09:12] to speak. She also never reached out to
[1:09:16] her family again, which would be uncharacteristic if she had the
[1:09:20] freedom to do so. Most investigators view this as
[1:09:24] the least likely scenario, though it remains a popular idea
[1:09:28] among some online sleuths. Starr's disappearance received
[1:09:34] some attention in the media and was even featured on an episode
[1:09:37] of Unsolved Mysteries in 2001, yet no answers were uncovered.
[1:09:42] Supporters later set up a Facebook page to keep her case
[1:09:46] in the public eye, and local news outlets have periodically
[1:09:49] revisited the story to remind people that Star is still
[1:09:52] missing. Today, Star Palumbo is still
[1:09:56] officially listed as an endangered missing person.
[1:10:00] The Reno Police Department remains open to any new tips,
[1:10:03] emphasizing that even a small piece of information could break
[1:10:07] the case after all these years. On the night of September 7th,
[1:10:13] 1988, University of Arizona student Diane Abel vanished from
[1:10:18] her dorm room in Tucson. She had returned to her room
[1:10:22] around 1:30 AM, but by sunrise, Diane was nowhere to be found.
[1:10:28] Her alarm clock rang continuously that morning,
[1:10:31] prompting her roommate to check on her, only to find Diane's bed
[1:10:34] empty and her purse and keys still there.
[1:10:38] There was no sign of forced entry and nothing to suggest she
[1:10:41] had planned to leave overnight. An ordinary college evening had
[1:10:46] turned into the start of a terrifying mystery.
[1:10:51] Campus police were alerted immediately and an investigation
[1:10:55] began in the pre dawn hours. Diane, 24, was a responsible
[1:11:01] business major, so friends and family knew something was wrong
[1:11:04] when she missed her classes and appointments.
[1:11:08] Authorities searched the campus and city for any trace of her,
[1:11:11] but the early investigation yielded few clues.
[1:11:15] Sadly, that break would come in the worst way imaginable. 5
[1:11:20] weeks after Diane disappeared on October 13th, 1988, two hunters
[1:11:26] stumbled upon skeletal human remains in a remote desert area
[1:11:30] northwest of Tucson. Dental records soon confirmed
[1:11:35] the worst. It was Diane.
[1:11:38] Her death was officially ruled A slaying, though the exact manner
[1:11:41] was never released to the public.
[1:11:43] To preserve the integrity of the investigation, the Pima County
[1:11:49] Sheriff's Department took over the case.
[1:11:51] Detectives were left to grapple with the urgent questions of how
[1:11:54] Diane died and who had left her in the desert.
[1:11:58] Forensic clues were scant, as weeks of desert exposure had
[1:12:01] likely destroyed nearly all evidence.
[1:12:04] As investigators pieced together Diane's final hours, one lead
[1:12:08] stood out. On the evening of September 7th,
[1:12:13] Diane had been at a popular Tucson bar called the Bum Steer
[1:12:17] with a young man known only as Doug.
[1:12:20] She had met Doug about two weeks earlier, and they had been
[1:12:23] casually seeing each other. Witnesses noted that Doug drove
[1:12:28] a red pickup truck with New York license plates and said he was
[1:12:32] visiting a brother named Dave in town.
[1:12:35] He was the last person seen with Diane before she vanished,
[1:12:38] making him the prime person of interest.
[1:12:43] Investigators desperately wanted to locate this man.
[1:12:47] Police circulated composite sketches of Doug in the local
[1:12:50] newspapers and urged anyone who recognized him to come forward.
[1:12:55] Detectives stressed that they needed to talk to this mystery
[1:12:58] man, whether as a witness or a suspect, but he had already
[1:13:03] slipped away. No one ever provided a real name
[1:13:06] or identity for Doug, and law enforcement never tracked him
[1:13:10] down. Despite extensive efforts, the
[1:13:14] trail went cold. With their most promising lead
[1:13:17] evaporated and no physical evidence tying anyone to the
[1:13:20] crime, Diane's case began to stall out.
[1:13:26] The strongest and most persistent theory in Diane's
[1:13:29] case is that Doug, the man last seen with her, was directly
[1:13:33] involved in her disappearance and death.
[1:13:36] Doug wasn't a shadowy figure in the background.
[1:13:39] Rather, he was someone Diane had been casually seeing.
[1:13:42] Witnesses placed them together at a Tucson bar, the Bum Steer.
[1:13:47] The night she vanished, he reportedly drove a red pickup
[1:13:51] with New York plates and told people he was visiting a brother
[1:13:55] named Dave. But when Diane was reported
[1:13:58] missing, neither Doug nor Dave came forward.
[1:14:04] The question of who Doug really was is central to the case.
[1:14:07] It's unclear to what extent anything Diane knew about his
[1:14:10] identity was true, and it remains a possibility that the
[1:14:14] story about visiting his brother may have just been a cover.
[1:14:20] More than 30 years later, the mystery surrounding Diane's
[1:14:23] abduction and slaying endures. Her case received little in the
[1:14:28] way of any attention beyond some local newspaper stories at the
[1:14:31] time, and doesn't appear to have reached any wider audience
[1:14:34] whatsoever at the time. This is problematic given that
[1:14:38] Doug was temporarily in town from New York.
[1:14:41] If the official narrative he told was actually the truth, it
[1:14:46] may be that Doug was simply unaware of what happened to
[1:14:48] Diane and then went back to New York.
[1:14:53] This was, of course, in the days before cell phones and the
[1:14:56] Internet. If someone you were only
[1:14:58] tangentially and casually seeing just dropped off the face of the
[1:15:02] earth, there wouldn't be too much you could do to follow up.
[1:15:06] If his brother was truly in the area as he claimed, the brother
[1:15:10] may not have put two and two together and informed Doug about
[1:15:13] Diane. As with any cold case such as
[1:15:17] this, an increase in public attention may be what gets the
[1:15:20] resources assigned to the case to finally crack it.
[1:15:24] Perhaps Doug isn't the perpetrator, but rather someone
[1:15:27] who could crack the case wide open if only he knew that Diane
[1:15:31] was missing. Notably, IN202436 years after
[1:15:38] Diane's death, the Pima County Sheriff's Office announced that
[1:15:41] it was re examining the cold case with fresh eyes.
[1:15:45] It's unclear what new evidence they're looking at or if they
[1:15:48] have the perpetrator's DNA. If they do have biological
[1:15:52] evidence from the perpetrator, it may only be a matter of time
[1:15:56] before there's a breakthrough in the case.
[1:16:01] Sonny Liston was once the most feared boxer on the planet.
[1:16:04] He was a towering heavyweight champion whose fists struck
[1:16:08] terror into opponents and whose personal story captivated the
[1:16:13] public. In the early 1960s, Liston
[1:16:17] dominated the boxing world, famously knocking out Floyd
[1:16:21] Patterson twice in the first round to become world champion.
[1:16:25] He later lost his title in two legendary bouts against a brash
[1:16:29] young challenger then known as Cassius Clay.
[1:16:32] Fights marred by controversy and whispers of a fix outside the
[1:16:38] ring, Liston's life was a tumultuous journey from poverty
[1:16:42] and prison to fame, and ultimately to an early and
[1:16:45] mysterious death in December 1970.
[1:16:50] Sonny Liston would die under strange and disturbing
[1:16:52] circumstances, which are hotly debated till this day.
[1:16:59] Sonny Liston's path to the heavyweight championship was as
[1:17:02] unlikely as it was rough. He was born into extreme poverty
[1:17:07] in rural Arkansas as one of over 20 children, and he endured A
[1:17:11] brutal upbringing. Notably, the year of his birth
[1:17:15] was never recorded, though it's believed that he was born in
[1:17:18] either 1930 or 1932. As a teenager in Saint Louis,
[1:17:25] Liston fell into crime, which landed him in Missouri State
[1:17:28] Penitentiary by age 20. In prison, he discovered boxing
[1:17:33] under the guidance of a Catholic priest who ran the prison gym.
[1:17:37] Sounds like the plot of a movie to me, honestly.
[1:17:41] But that's the truth of the matter.
[1:17:45] Liston learned to channel his immense physical strength into
[1:17:48] the sport, becoming the prison champion and earning an early
[1:17:51] parole in 1952 to pursue a boxing career.
[1:17:56] Upon release, however, Liston found that professional boxing
[1:18:00] in the 1950s was deeply entwined with organized crime.
[1:18:06] He was effectively taken under the wing of mob connected
[1:18:09] handlers who controlled lucrative boxing matches.
[1:18:13] Turning down their offer was not an option for a young fighter
[1:18:16] with Liston's past. Thus, from the start of his
[1:18:20] career, Liston was tied to underworld backers who helped
[1:18:24] propel him up the ranks. This connection would follow him
[1:18:28] his entire career and would perhaps be the reason that he
[1:18:31] would end up in an early grave. Liston made his pro debut in
[1:18:37] 1953 and rapidly built a reputation as a devastating
[1:18:41] puncher. By the late 1950s, he was
[1:18:45] dismantling 1 contender after another, using his ominously
[1:18:49] long reach and sledgehammer fists to knockout most
[1:18:53] opponents. His massive paw swings
[1:18:56] eventually earned him the nickname The Big Bear, a name I
[1:18:59] personally approve of. Between 1958 and 1963, Liston
[1:19:06] was virtually unbeatable. He defeated top heavyweights
[1:19:09] like Cleveland Williams, Zora Folly, and Eddie Makin, often in
[1:19:14] brutal fashion. This string of victories made
[1:19:17] Liston the number one challenger for the heavyweight crown, yet
[1:19:21] his shot at the title was delayed, in part because of his
[1:19:24] criminal reputation and mob ties.
[1:19:28] Boxing's authorities and even political leaders were uneasy
[1:19:31] about Liston fighting for one of the most coveted titles in
[1:19:34] sports. Famously, President John F
[1:19:38] Kennedy privately urged reigning champion Floyd Patterson not to
[1:19:42] give Liston a title shot given Liston's well known underworld
[1:19:46] ties. Ultimately, Patterson, despite
[1:19:51] this presidential plea, agreed to face Liston in September
[1:19:56] 1962. Sonny Liston finally got his
[1:19:59] title shot against Floyd Patterson in Chicago.
[1:20:03] Liston was a heavy favorite, and he confirmed those odds by
[1:20:06] demolishing Patterson with a first round knockout to become
[1:20:10] the heavyweight champion of the world.
[1:20:13] It was the first time the heavyweight championship had
[1:20:15] ever changed hands in the opening round.
[1:20:18] A year later, Liston and Patterson had a rematch.
[1:20:22] And once again, Liston crushed Patterson in the first round.
[1:20:27] These back-to-back triumphs cemented Liston status as the
[1:20:30] most dominant fighter alive. At six feet tall and roughly 215
[1:20:35] lbs with an 84 inch reach, he was a formidable physical
[1:20:39] presence. Sports historians later compared
[1:20:42] his aura of invincibility to what Mike Tyson would cultivate
[1:20:46] a generation later. Liston's dominance in the ring
[1:20:52] stood in stark contrast to his standing in the eyes of the
[1:20:54] public. To many Americans in the early
[1:20:57] 1960s, Liston was the embodiment of a bad man.
[1:21:02] He was an ex convict with suspected mob connections and a
[1:21:06] sullen, intimidating demeanor. In an era when the civil rights
[1:21:11] movement was demanding dignity and respect for black Americans,
[1:21:15] Liston's image was divisive. He was often cast as the villain
[1:21:19] not only of boxing, but as a symbol in a larger morality play
[1:21:24] within the black community. Liston drew criticism from
[1:21:27] leaders who felt he was a poor role model, especially compared
[1:21:31] with gentlemanly boxers like Zora Folly.
[1:21:36] Inside the ropes however, Liston soon met a challenger who would
[1:21:40] redefine boxing and culture, Cassius Clay.
[1:21:44] Their February 1964 heavyweight title bout in Miami was fraught
[1:21:49] with drama. Clay was young, fast talking and
[1:21:53] brash, a self promoting 22 year old who dubbed Liston a big ugly
[1:21:58] bear, turning his positive nickname into an insult.
[1:22:02] Few gave Clay a chance, with Liston being the 8 to 1 betting
[1:22:05] favorite. But in a stunning upset, Sonny
[1:22:09] Liston failed to come out for the seventh round, surrendering
[1:22:12] his title to the exuberant Clay. Liston cited a shoulder injury
[1:22:16] as the reason he quit on his stool, but the unexpected result
[1:22:20] ignited immediate speculation. How could the unbeatable
[1:22:24] champion be dethroned by a loudmouth young upstart?
[1:22:28] Naturally, many questioned whether the match was fixed.
[1:22:31] Some theorized that Liston held back against Clay and then gave
[1:22:35] up at the behest of his mob sponsors.
[1:22:39] The following year, a rematch took place in Lewiston, ME,
[1:22:42] under even stranger circumstances.
[1:22:45] So yeah, here's the time for the big reveal.
[1:22:48] If you didn't already know by now, Cassius Clay had taken the
[1:22:52] name Muhammad Ali in the first round.
[1:22:56] Ali caught Liston with a quick right hand as Liston lunged
[1:22:59] forward, The punch that became known as the Phantom Punch
[1:23:04] because so few saw it land clearly.
[1:23:07] Liston collapsed to the canvas and chaos ensued.
[1:23:11] Many at ringside didn't believe the punch was hard enough to
[1:23:14] knock him down, sparking accusations that Liston took a
[1:23:17] dive on purpose. The refereeing was confused and
[1:23:21] the fight was over almost as soon as it began, with Ali
[1:23:25] declared the winner. To this day, Liston's loss in
[1:23:30] this rematch remains 1 of boxing's most debated moments
[1:23:35] and one of the most debated moments in the history of sport.
[1:23:39] Importantly, this is the fight that gave us one of the most
[1:23:42] iconic photographs not only in sporting history, but in world
[1:23:46] history. Ali is seen screaming at Sonny
[1:23:49] Liston telling him to get up with Muhammad Ali, clearly
[1:23:52] believing that his opponent took a dive.
[1:23:56] The FBI and Justice Department investigated allegations of a
[1:24:00] fix, but they found no hard evidence to support those
[1:24:03] claims. Regardless, the two defeats
[1:24:06] shattered Liston's aura of invincibility.
[1:24:09] Once the meanest man in the world, he suddenly seemed
[1:24:13] vulnerable and his reputation suffered.
[1:24:17] By the mid 1960s, Sonny Liston was no longer champion, and in
[1:24:22] the eyes of many, he was also a fallen idol of sorts, if he ever
[1:24:26] was an idol hounded by suspicions.
[1:24:29] Yet he was still too proud and too skilled to fade away
[1:24:32] quietly. Liston spent the late 1960s
[1:24:36] trying to fight his way back into contention.
[1:24:39] He relocated to Las Vegas, won a string of matches against lesser
[1:24:43] known heavyweights, and even served as a sparring partner to
[1:24:47] rising stars like a young George Foreman.
[1:24:50] However, his hopes of regaining the title were dashed in
[1:24:53] December 1969 when he was dumpstered by Lee Otis Martin, a
[1:24:58] bitter defeat that effectively ended his run as an elite
[1:25:01] fighter. Liston did step into the ring
[1:25:05] one last time in June 1970, defeating Chuck Wepner, the man
[1:25:10] who would inspire Sylvester Stallone to write the first
[1:25:13] Rocky film. He retired with an official
[1:25:16] professional record of 50 wins and four losses, including 39
[1:25:22] knockouts. Even as his boxing career was
[1:25:26] winding down, Liston's personal life in Las Vegas had become a
[1:25:30] tightrope walk between 2 Worlds. By day, he could play the
[1:25:34] celebrity, doing handshake appearances at casinos and
[1:25:38] posing for photographs with fans who liked his menacing persona.
[1:25:42] By night, however, Liston moved in Las Vegas's shadowy
[1:25:46] underside, where his notoriety afforded him protection and work
[1:25:50] of a shadier kind. He became an enforcer and debt
[1:25:54] collector for dealers and loan sharks, leveraging his fearsome
[1:25:58] reputation to intimidate those who owed money.
[1:26:02] There were reports that he cruised the Vegas streets in a
[1:26:05] pink Cadillac, making drops and pickups for criminal associates.
[1:26:10] By 1970, Liston was entangled in the very criminal underworld
[1:26:15] that had shadowed him since his youth.
[1:26:17] Federal narcotics agents had also taken an interest in
[1:26:20] Liston. In early 1969, he was present at
[1:26:26] a raid, yet mysteriously, he was the only one who was not
[1:26:30] arrested when federal agents swept in.
[1:26:33] This odd incident LED some underworld figures to suspect
[1:26:36] Liston had cut a deal and become an informant.
[1:26:41] Liston vehemently denied being a snitch, but the seed of doubt
[1:26:45] was planted among his dangerous associates.
[1:26:48] According to some, this seed would rapidly grow into an olive
[1:26:53] tree whose branches would be pecked apart by woodpeckers of
[1:26:56] mistrust. Not long after, Liston had a
[1:27:01] violent falling out with a mob boss and even slapped the man's
[1:27:05] teenage son during an argument over money in 1970.
[1:27:10] In short, by the end of 1970, Sonny Liston was navigating a
[1:27:14] very precarious existence, and a lot of people likely wanted him
[1:27:18] knocked off. He was financially strained,
[1:27:21] mixed up in mob debts and illicit dealings, likely under
[1:27:25] police scrutiny, and no longer insulated by the glory of the
[1:27:29] spotlight. Just after the New Year rang in,
[1:27:35] Sonny Liston's troubled journey came to a sudden, grim end.
[1:27:40] On January 5th, 1971, Liston's wife Geraldine returned home
[1:27:45] from an extended holiday trip and found Sonny lying lifeless
[1:27:49] in their Las Vegas house. His body was slumped against
[1:27:53] their bed, badly decomposed, indicating he had been dead for
[1:27:58] about a week. The timing suggests Liston
[1:28:01] likely died in late December 1970, with the official date
[1:28:06] later fixed as December 30th, 1970.
[1:28:10] Geraldine's horrifying discovery set off an investigation, but it
[1:28:14] was 1 riddled with peculiarities from the start.
[1:28:18] The police noted no immediate signs of foul play or struggle
[1:28:22] at the scene, and were quick to pronounce that Liston's death
[1:28:26] didn't look suspicious. Inside the home, however, they
[1:28:30] found some troubling evidence. A small amount of pot was
[1:28:34] discovered in Liston's clothing, and more ominously, about 1/4
[1:28:39] ounce of heroin was found in a balloon in the kitchen.
[1:28:43] On the dresser in his bedroom lay a loaded weapon, which was
[1:28:47] perhaps a testament to the dangers Liston felt lurking in
[1:28:51] his life. The coroner's examination later
[1:28:56] revealed apparent needle punctures on Liston's arm.
[1:28:59] Toxicology results were inconclusive due to the state of
[1:29:02] the body, but there were traces of morphine, a product of heroin
[1:29:07] metabolism, in his system, pointing to a possible heroin
[1:29:11] overdose. In the end, the Clark County
[1:29:14] coroner announced that Liston's likely cause of death was heart
[1:29:17] failure brought on by substance use.
[1:29:20] Vegas police ultimately closed the case, calling it an
[1:29:24] accidental OD. With no signs of foul play,
[1:29:28] Sonny Liston was quickly laid to rest in a quiet gravesite,
[1:29:32] leaving friends and fans stunned and dissatisfied with the murky
[1:29:35] conclusion. Right from the outset, many who
[1:29:40] knew Liston refused to accept the official story.
[1:29:43] Sonny Liston was known to be extremely afraid of needles, and
[1:29:47] as such, it seemed odd that such a man would choose to inject
[1:29:51] himself in this way. Over the years, the lack of
[1:29:56] clear answers has been filled by a trio of leading theories, each
[1:30:01] with its own tangle of facts and conjecture.
[1:30:07] The simplest explanation, and the official 1, is that Sonny
[1:30:10] Liston died of a heroin overdose.
[1:30:12] Whether accidental or intentional, proponents of this
[1:30:16] theory point to the physical evidence at the scene.
[1:30:20] The substances found in his home and the needle marks on his arm
[1:30:24] tell the story, according to them.
[1:30:27] They suggest that Liston, who was known to be living a fast
[1:30:30] and reckless life at the time, may have experimented with
[1:30:34] injecting heroin and misjudged A dose, leading to a fatal
[1:30:38] overdose. It's true that by late 1970,
[1:30:42] Liston's lifestyle included plenty of risky behaviour.
[1:30:46] He frequented after hours clubs and was reportedly dealing in
[1:30:50] substances himself. It's conceivable that he sampled
[1:30:54] his own wares, or that after years of physical pain from
[1:30:58] boxing, he turned to heroin for relief or escape.
[1:31:04] Another version of this theory is that the overdose might have
[1:31:07] been intentional. However, most who knew Liston
[1:31:11] found this to be unlikely, since he was talking about the
[1:31:13] potential to get back in the ring one last time.
[1:31:17] Still, the overdose theory has significant holes.
[1:31:21] As mentioned, Liston's apparent aversion to needles casts doubt
[1:31:25] on the idea of him voluntarily shooting up.
[1:31:28] Notably, his friends who observed him in his final days
[1:31:31] indicated that while he was drinking heavily, he didn't show
[1:31:35] any of the telltale signs of heroin usage.
[1:31:38] Still, regardless, this remains the official story till this
[1:31:42] day. By far the most popular theory,
[1:31:47] and one that fits the backdrop of Liston's Vegas life, is that
[1:31:51] Sonny Liston was slain by mob associates or criminal enemies.
[1:31:56] One OFT cited clue is what happened six months before his
[1:31:59] death. After his final fight in June
[1:32:03] 1970, Liston fought Chuck Wepner in New Jersey, and one
[1:32:07] decisively. Before that bout, a couple of
[1:32:12] shady characters approached Liston and hinted that he might
[1:32:15] consider losing since Wepner was a local favorite.
[1:32:20] Liston ignored the suggestion and beat Wepner to a pulp.
[1:32:24] It's been speculated that by refusing to throw the fight,
[1:32:27] Liston angered some underworld figures who had bet money on
[1:32:31] Wepner. If true, that could be a motive
[1:32:34] for retaliation, and essentially Liston may have signed his own
[1:32:38] death warrant by not taking a dive.
[1:32:42] Another potential motive involves Liston's knowledge of
[1:32:45] criminal dealings. Having been so close to mobsters
[1:32:49] for years, Liston undoubtedly knew of fixed fights and illicit
[1:32:53] schemes. Some suspect that certain
[1:32:57] powerful figures worried Liston might talk to authorities given
[1:33:00] the 1969 bust, after which he was thought to have been
[1:33:04] flipped. Under this theory, which has
[1:33:08] never been proven, the mob hired A corrupt cop to give Liston A
[1:33:12] lethal hotshot of Smack, ending him right there.
[1:33:17] Others point a finger at the dealers Liston worked with.
[1:33:20] Liston's violent altercation, where he smacked A mobster's son
[1:33:24] over a monetary dispute, could have created significant bad
[1:33:28] blood. Yet despite all these
[1:33:30] suspicions, hard evidence for foul play is scant.
[1:33:34] Police at the time found no signs of forced entry or
[1:33:37] struggle in Liston's home, and no one reported hearing a
[1:33:40] disturbance. The third theory intersects with
[1:33:46] the second, suggesting that law enforcement either directly or
[1:33:50] indirectly had a hand in Liston's death, or at least knew
[1:33:54] more than they revealed. This line of speculation often
[1:33:58] centers on the idea that Liston may have been an informant for
[1:34:01] federal narcotics agents. According to this theory, Liston
[1:34:06] was working with corrupt Vegas cops who facilitated his
[1:34:09] criminal behavior. Some suspect these federal
[1:34:12] agents were using Liston to build a wider case against rogue
[1:34:15] elements of the Las Vegas PD. This theory explains why the
[1:34:20] Police Department was so eager to shut the case down and accept
[1:34:23] that it was an overdose. More than half a century has
[1:34:29] passed since Sonny Liston's death, and we're still left with
[1:34:32] more questions than answers. In that time, Sonny's legend has
[1:34:37] only grown and his reputation has managed to improve somewhat.
[1:34:41] He's now generally remembered as one of the hardest hitting and
[1:34:44] most intimidating champions in heavyweight boxing history.
[1:34:51] Hey everyone, it's Jimmy here. Just reminding you to hit that
[1:34:54] like button and subscribe if you haven't done so already.
[1:34:57] Also, remember to request cases you'd like to see covered in the
[1:35:01] comments. In June 1977, Tucson, AZ was the
[1:35:09] scene of a baffling mystery when the body of escrow company owner
[1:35:13] Chuck Morgan was found in the desert under bizarre
[1:35:16] circumstances. Now, this isn't the story of
[1:35:19] Chuck Morgan, but rather that of Doug Johnston.
[1:35:24] But I have to give you a little background on Chuck in case you
[1:35:27] haven't seen my coverage of his case.
[1:35:30] Morgan had been shot once in the back of the head, yet he was
[1:35:33] wearing a bulletproof vest and his own weapon lay on the ground
[1:35:37] beside him. Stranger still, investigators
[1:35:40] discovered a $2.00 bill hidden in his clothing, scrawled with
[1:35:44] coded names and a reference to a Bible passage.
[1:35:48] Earlier that year, Morgan had vanished and then reappeared,
[1:35:52] telling his wife he'd been abducted and dosed with a
[1:35:54] hallucinogen, claiming he was secretly working for the
[1:35:58] government. Just months later, he
[1:36:00] disappeared again and turned up dead, leaving behind far more
[1:36:04] questions than answers. Despite these odd clues, some
[1:36:09] authorities initially floated the idea of a self ending
[1:36:12] incident, a notion Morgan's family found unbelievable.
[1:36:17] Morgan's wife Ruth insisted he had been slain, noting he would
[1:36:21] never abandoned his family. Without a word, many believe
[1:36:25] that Chuck Morgan was silenced by powerful forces as he had
[1:36:29] previously done escrow work for organized crime figures.
[1:36:33] But like I said, this isn't the fascinating story of Chuck
[1:36:36] Morgan, which I definitely need to revisit and give a full hour
[1:36:40] long treatment at some point. This is the story of Doug
[1:36:43] Johnston, a man who inadvertently may have gotten
[1:36:47] caught up in the Chuck Morgan affair. 13 years later, in May
[1:36:54] 1990, another strange death occurred in Arizona, this time
[1:36:58] in Phoenix. 35 year old Doug Johnston was found shot to death
[1:37:03] in his car outside his office parking lot.
[1:37:06] He had been struck by a single bullet behind his left ear.
[1:37:10] No weapon was found at the scene and there was no sign of
[1:37:13] struggle and only a single shell casing left behind.
[1:37:18] Though right-handed, Johnston had been shot on the left side
[1:37:21] of his head, and tests found no residue on his hands.
[1:37:26] From the start, the evidence pointed to Doug having been
[1:37:29] slain. A key connection between
[1:37:32] Johnston and Morgan soon emerged investigative journalist Don
[1:37:36] Devereaux. Devereaux lived and worked right
[1:37:41] across the street from where Johnston was eliminated, and at
[1:37:44] the time he was actively investigating Morgan's case.
[1:37:48] In fact, Johnston and Devereux resembled each other, drove
[1:37:52] similar cars, and even had nearly identical addresses.
[1:37:57] This raised a chilling possibility.
[1:37:59] Perhaps a hit man mistook Johnston for Devereux and took
[1:38:03] out the wrong man. Devereux himself came out in
[1:38:06] support of this theory. He says an informant with
[1:38:09] intelligence community ties told him the bullet that cut down
[1:38:13] Doug was meant for Devereux. According to the informant,
[1:38:18] there was a contract on his life due to his investigation into
[1:38:21] Chuck Morgan. In other words, the people who
[1:38:25] wanted to make it look like Chuck Morgan ended himself might
[1:38:28] have still been active in 1990, aiming to eliminate anyone
[1:38:32] asking too many questions. It's an alarming scenario, but
[1:38:37] it remains unproven. The connections are compelling
[1:38:40] but purely circumstantial. And notably, Don Devereaux,
[1:38:44] thankfully, is still alive 35 years later.
[1:38:52] It was June 1984 when a gruesome discovery shocked Phoenix.
[1:38:57] Inside a dumpster in an industrial area lay the
[1:39:01] dismembered torso of a young female.
[1:39:04] For over 40 years she was known only as the unidentified Delray
[1:39:08] Jane Doe, but now her name has finally been restored.
[1:39:13] She was Renee Nilson, a 14 year old girl who vanished after
[1:39:17] leaving home to go swimming. With her identity uncovered
[1:39:21] decades later, the haunting question remains, who committed
[1:39:25] this sick act and why? Renee Nilson was just 14 years
[1:39:32] old and lived in Phoenix, AZ. In late May 1984, she left her
[1:39:38] home one afternoon to go swimming and never returned.
[1:39:42] Her family reported her missing and a frantic search began in
[1:39:45] vain. About two weeks after Renee
[1:39:50] disappeared on June 10th, 1984, partial human remains were
[1:39:56] discovered in a dumpster near 21st Ave. and McDowell Rd. in
[1:40:00] Phoenix. The remains were wrapped in
[1:40:02] newspapers dated June 3rd, suggesting the victim had been
[1:40:06] slain. Shortly after that date, the
[1:40:09] perpetrator had severed the victim's head and limbs,
[1:40:12] presumably with a saw, and those parts were never recovered.
[1:40:17] This brutal mutilation made it immediately clear that someone
[1:40:20] was attempting to cover up the identity of the slain
[1:40:23] individual. Identifying the victim was
[1:40:27] extremely difficult with so much of the body missing.
[1:40:31] At the time, no one realized this Jane Doe might be the same
[1:40:34] girl who had gone missing 2 weeks earlier.
[1:40:37] Further, the presumed age and circumstances just didn't line
[1:40:40] up with a 14 year old, so Renee's missing person report
[1:40:44] remained unlinked to the body. Investigators initially guessed
[1:40:49] the Jane Doe was a white female around 18 years old.
[1:40:53] Further, forensic experts theorize she might have been a
[1:40:56] young mother, a hypothesis later proven false when her true age
[1:41:00] came to light. With no name, the unknown girl
[1:41:04] was dubbed the Delray Jane Doe after the area where she was
[1:41:08] found. Despite a police investigation,
[1:41:12] no immediate suspects or leads emerged in the pre DNA era of
[1:41:17] 1984. Without an identity or
[1:41:19] eyewitnesses, the case eventually went cold and
[1:41:23] languished for decades as an unsolved mystery.
[1:41:29] In 2023, the dormant case was reopened thanks to advances in
[1:41:33] forensic technology. The Maricopa County Medical
[1:41:37] Examiner's Office partnered with the DNA Doe Project, a nonprofit
[1:41:41] specializing in identifying cold case remains, to analyze the
[1:41:45] Jane Doe's DNA. By 2024, genealogists had
[1:41:50] developed Adna profile and found matches to some distant
[1:41:55] relatives. Using family tree research, they
[1:41:58] eventually discovered that the unidentified victim was Renee
[1:42:02] Isabel Nielsen. The same 14 year old reported
[1:42:06] missing in Phoenix in 1984. Modern forensic anthropology
[1:42:11] also helped correct the original age estimate, confirming the
[1:42:15] victim was much younger than investigators in 1984 believed.
[1:42:19] In May 2025, additional DNA testing confirmed the match,
[1:42:24] finally giving the Delray Doe her name back.
[1:42:29] Notably, as genetic genealogist worked through her case, they
[1:42:33] uncovered A bizarre potential clue.
[1:42:36] And I say potential clue because there's nothing as of yet to
[1:42:39] indicate that this is actually related to the case directly,
[1:42:43] but it's very weird and extremely unsettling.
[1:42:48] A person stole Renee's name and identity, and it appeared on a
[1:42:52] 1987 marriage certificate three years after she was deceased.
[1:42:57] Essentially, an unknown individual assumed the identity
[1:43:01] of a slain 14 year old, adding a whole new layer to the case.
[1:43:05] Detectives now have to consider not only who had slain Renee,
[1:43:09] but who took her name, and whether those two questions
[1:43:12] might have the same answer. With Renee's identity uncovered,
[1:43:18] investigators are actively pursuing leads to finally
[1:43:21] identify the perpetrator. One theory centers on the
[1:43:24] mysterious woman who stole Renee's identity.
[1:43:28] If this person knew Renee was missing or dead, it's possible
[1:43:32] she was involved in the crime. Perhaps the perpetrator or an
[1:43:36] accomplice assumed Renee's identity to hide their own past
[1:43:40] or to start a new life. So far, the person behind this
[1:43:44] identity fraud has not been named publicly, but finding her
[1:43:48] could be the key to cracking the case.
[1:43:51] Police are working to track down this individual, seeing if she
[1:43:54] had any link to Renee or motive to harm her.
[1:43:58] The idea that the perpetrator might have literally taken over
[1:44:01] the victim's identity seems like something out of a movie or
[1:44:04] show, but it's a lead authorities can't ignore.
[1:44:10] Another theory is that Renee was the victim of a random predator,
[1:44:14] an unknown attacker with no personal connection to her.
[1:44:17] The sheer brutality of the slaying suggests a deeply
[1:44:20] disturbed offender who may have struck opportunistically.
[1:44:24] Renee could have been abducted by a stranger after she left
[1:44:28] home, targeted at random by someone cruising for a victim.
[1:44:33] Back in 1984, investigators considered the possibility of a
[1:44:37] quote UN quote psycho serial predator at work.
[1:44:42] However, no other slayings in Phoenix were definitively linked
[1:44:46] to this case. That said, it might have been a
[1:44:48] one off crime by someone passing through, which is why no
[1:44:52] connection has ever been made. Today, Renee Nelson's slaying
[1:44:58] remains unsolved, but the case is far from closed.
[1:45:02] Detectives have stressed that they will never give up on
[1:45:04] seeking justice for Renee. The combination of modern DNA
[1:45:09] technology and renewed public interest has given this 41 year
[1:45:13] old case fresh momentum. Investigators are re examining
[1:45:18] evidence, following new tips and continuing to explore the
[1:45:22] identity theft angle.

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