Speaker 1: Welcome to Unexplained Extra with Me Richard McClean Smith, where
Speaker 1: for the weeks in between episodes, we look at stories
Speaker 1: and ideas that, for one reason or other, didn't make
Speaker 1: it into the previous show. In the last episode, Learning
Speaker 1: to See, we followed the extraordinary story of self described
Speaker 1: psychic Peter Herkos and his questionable contribution to the Boston
Speaker 1: Strangler case. The seemingly related murders of thirteen women that
Speaker 1: occurred between nineteen sixty two to nineteen sixty four, most
Speaker 1: of whom were also sexually assaulted, were eventually attributed to
Speaker 1: factory worker Albert DeSalvo, who confessed to them in nineteen
Speaker 1: sixty five. There were many, however, who remained convinced that
Speaker 1: DeSalvo was not the only culprit, including Peter Herkos himself,
Speaker 1: who was adamant that Anne often referred to as Thomas p.
Speaker 1: O'Brien had in fact been responsible for at least some
Speaker 1: of the crimes. Her cous's involvement in the case was
Speaker 1: hugely controversial, not only due to the fact that he
Speaker 1: failed to pick out de Salvo, but also for how
Speaker 1: he influenced the investigation into O'Brien, which led many, including
Speaker 1: the Civil Liberties Union, to question whether O'Brien's rights had
Speaker 1: been violated in the process, which, of course they had.
Speaker 1: Whatever you believe about the use of Hercus's supposed talents,
Speaker 1: it is hard to deny the extra layer of fascination
Speaker 1: his involvement brings to a police investigation. With that in mind,
Speaker 1: there is one case in particular that makes for intriguing listening,
Speaker 1: not least of all because it also happened to involve
Speaker 1: one of America's most curious and shocking crimes of the
Speaker 1: twentieth century. The following story contained scenes of murder and
Speaker 1: sexual abuse that some may find disturbing. Parental disc is advised.
Speaker 1: On one balmy evening in June nineteen forty seven, two
Speaker 1: cars are parked up by the side of the road
Speaker 1: on the outskirts of Annapolis in Maryland. One car, an
Speaker 1: old green Chrysler, sits empty, while the other, a few
Speaker 1: yards in front, rocks back and forth, seemingly occupied by
Speaker 1: two people in the midst of an intimate embrace. Moments later,
Speaker 1: a tall, clean shaven, dark haired man steps out of
Speaker 1: the vehicle and into the warm summer air, his hands
Speaker 1: and clothes covered in blood. The man looks to the
Speaker 1: sky and challenges God to strike him down for what
Speaker 1: he has just done, but nothing happens. Soon after, local
Speaker 1: police receive a frantic call from a sergeant home on leave.
Speaker 1: The man, breathless and in shock, explains that he and
Speaker 1: a woman he was seeing named Margaret Harold, had been
Speaker 1: parked up on a back road when another car pulled
Speaker 1: up behind them. They'd watched with alarm as the driver
Speaker 1: of the vehicle approached them, brandishing a gun before letting
Speaker 1: himself into the back of the car, and then demanded
Speaker 1: money and cigarettes. When they refused to give them to him,
Speaker 1: he pulled Margaret's head back by her hair and shot
Speaker 1: her in the face. The sergeant had somehow managed to
Speaker 1: escape before being killed himself. When police arrived at the
Speaker 1: scene thirty minutes later, although the chrysler has long gone,
Speaker 1: the other car remains inside it, they find the lifeless
Speaker 1: body of Margaret Harold, stripped of all her clothes, showing
Speaker 1: signs of post mortem violation, with no sign of the culprit.
Speaker 1: The horrified officers fan out to search the surrounding area,
Speaker 1: where they soon come across a small, gray cinder block
Speaker 1: building tucked away in the woods not far from the road.
Speaker 1: Inside they find the walls plastered with strange and violent
Speaker 1: ornographic images, alongside mortuary photos of dead women and a
Speaker 1: picture of one young woman taken from a university yearbook.
Speaker 1: The woman, Wander Tipton, is found to have been a
Speaker 1: nineteen fifty five graduate of the University of Maryland. After
Speaker 1: being tracked down by the police, she has asked if
Speaker 1: she knows anyone that fits the description of the attacker
Speaker 1: later given to police by the sergeant, but she does not.
Speaker 1: Months later, on January eleventh, nineteen fifty nine, a car
Speaker 1: is found abandoned by the side of the road in
Speaker 1: the Apple Grove region of central Virginia. The couple who
Speaker 1: owned it, Mildred Jackson and her husband Carol, along with
Speaker 1: their two children, five year old Susan and eighteen month
Speaker 1: old Janet, are declared missing soon after. In March, fifty
Speaker 1: miles away, near the town of Fredericksburg, two men are
Speaker 1: driving on a dirt road when their vehicle gets stuck
Speaker 1: in the mud. While gathering branches to use as traction
Speaker 1: to free their car, they stumble across the decomposing body
Speaker 1: of a man in a ditch whose hands have been
Speaker 1: bound together with the necktie. The body is later identified
Speaker 1: as that of Carol Jackson, who was killed by a
Speaker 1: single shot to the back of the head. When his
Speaker 1: body is removed from the site, a second, much smaller
Speaker 1: body is discovered wedged under beneath it. His eighteen month
Speaker 1: old daughter, Janet, had been thrown in alive before suffocating
Speaker 1: under her father's body. Two weeks go by when two
Speaker 1: boys out hunting squirrels close to Fredericksburg find a large
Speaker 1: mound of dirt where something has clearly been buried. Curious
Speaker 1: to find out what it is, they brush away the
Speaker 1: top soil, revealing a lock of long blonde hair. After
Speaker 1: sprinting home to inform their parents, the police are swiftly
Speaker 1: called to the scene. After digging a little further, they
Speaker 1: on earth the bodies of Mildred and five year old Susan.
Speaker 1: Both had been raped and brutally murdered. Another eighteen months later,
Speaker 1: and the police are yet to find the culprits to
Speaker 1: the Margaret, Harold and Jackson family murders, having questioned around
Speaker 1: fifteen hundred people but only managing to whittle them down
Speaker 1: to one hundred and sixty five potential suspects. In June
Speaker 1: nineteen sixty, Peter Herkos receives a call from a doctor,
Speaker 1: Francis Reasonman, a forensic psychiatrist based in Washington, d C.
Speaker 1: Two of Reasonman's private patients have been included on the
Speaker 1: list of suspects, despite his conviction that they are completely
Speaker 1: innocent of the crimes. Looking for a way to clear
Speaker 1: their names, Reasonman turns to her Coos in the hope
Speaker 1: that he might be able to provide some clues that
Speaker 1: could exonerate them once and for all. Incredibly, after reaching
Speaker 1: a deal with the police, they agree to let Reasonman
Speaker 1: fly her Coos out to consult on the case. A
Speaker 1: few days later, Peter arrives in the city of Fall's Church, Virginia,
Speaker 1: under a flurry of media attention. Asked for his predictions
Speaker 1: about the case, he doesn't hesitate in his answer, telling
Speaker 1: them that the murderer will be arrested in fourteen days
Speaker 1: and will eventually be found to be responsible for nine murders.
Speaker 1: Peter then proceeds to draw a picture of a house,
Speaker 1: which he describes as being located about an acre and
Speaker 1: a half into the woods, with a broken chair on
Speaker 1: the porch and a box of old books inside. Once
Speaker 1: you find the house, he says, you will find the killer.
Speaker 1: The following day, Peter leads the police to the very
Speaker 1: house he had apparently seen in his vision. Not only
Speaker 1: is it exactly how he described, but it is also
Speaker 1: occupied by a thirty four year old man who just
Speaker 1: so happens to be one of their leading suspects. No
Speaker 1: sooner have they arrived when Peter leads them to a
Speaker 1: second building, a small wooden shack about fifty feet from
Speaker 1: where Mildred and Susan Jackson's bodies were discovered. Police had
Speaker 1: already searched the shack eighteen months previously and found a
Speaker 1: button there from the dress Mildred was wearing when she
Speaker 1: was murdered. This time they find an id bracelet belonging
Speaker 1: to the thirty four year old occupant of the nearby house.
Speaker 1: During his time with police, Peter is also taken to
Speaker 1: the churchyard whether Jacksons were buried. Once there, he has
Speaker 1: given some of their clothing to handle. Moments later, he
Speaker 1: claims to have a vision of their deaths, telling the
Speaker 1: officers present the precise order in which the family members
Speaker 1: were killed, the position of their bodies when they were discovered,
Speaker 1: and the added detail that Mildred had been sexually assaulted,
Speaker 1: all of which was said to have been correct and
Speaker 1: entirely unknown to the public at the time, With investigators
Speaker 1: by then considering the possibility that the murder of Margaret
Speaker 1: Harold might be linked to the Jackson family murders. Peter
Speaker 1: is also taken to where her body was found. Seemingly
Speaker 1: taking a moment to soak up the atmosphere of the place,
Speaker 1: Peter appears to sense something important nearby, disappearing into a bush.
Speaker 1: He calls out moments later for the police to follow him.
Speaker 1: When they find him, he is pointing at a muddy
Speaker 1: and discolored piece of clothing. It was Margaret's skirt, left
Speaker 1: unnoticed by the investigating team for three years. The thirty
Speaker 1: four year old man in the house Peter led the
Speaker 1: police to was promptly arrested and soon after confessed to
Speaker 1: the murders. The next day, the arrest is announced in
Speaker 1: the press, with Peter warmly congratulated for his part in
Speaker 1: bringing the culprit to justice. Having moved house recently, the
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Speaker 1: code unexplained. Not long after news of the arrest hits
Speaker 1: the papers, a distressed man named Glenn Mosa walks into
Speaker 1: his local police station, claiming to have some vital information
Speaker 1: regarding the Jackson murders. The year before, he'd written to
Speaker 1: police anonymously suggesting they look into his friend, Melvin David
Speaker 1: Reese as a possible suspect. The twenty six year old
Speaker 1: Reese was a touring jazz musician. Riese and Moser had
Speaker 1: become close friends in the years since, and would regularly
Speaker 1: stay up late, getting drunk and discussing all sorts of
Speaker 1: ideas together. When Mosa first read about the Jackson murders
Speaker 1: with a chill, he'd been instantly reminded of a conversation
Speaker 1: he and Reese had had the night before they disappeared.
Speaker 1: That night, Reese had been high on Ben's adream and
Speaker 1: shooting his mouth off about how he craved to have
Speaker 1: every experience from love to death, and how you couldn't
Speaker 1: say it was wrong to kill as such, only that
Speaker 1: it was wrong in the sense that individual standards dictated
Speaker 1: it to be. As Mosa went on to reveal, he
Speaker 1: and Reese had also been staying in the Vicinity of
Speaker 1: Annapolis the night Margaret Harold was murdered in his letter,
Speaker 1: Mosa had given the police an address where they could
Speaker 1: find Reese and arrest him. However, by the time they
Speaker 1: got there, he'd already left the property to go back
Speaker 1: out on the road. Though efforts were made to track
Speaker 1: him down, no one appeared to know anything about his whereabouts.
Speaker 1: After digging a little further into his past, investigators discovered
Speaker 1: that he'd once been a student at the University of Maryland,
Speaker 1: but had dropped out after a year to pursue music.
Speaker 1: He'd also once dated Wander Tipton, the woman whose yearbook
Speaker 1: photo was found in the Breezeblock building not far from
Speaker 1: where Margaret Harold had been murdered. Mosa was coming to
Speaker 1: the police now because he just received a letter from
Speaker 1: Reese giving the address he was now living at in Hyattsville, Arkansas,
Speaker 1: close to where he was working as a piano salesman.
Speaker 1: Prior to Peter's involvement in the case, police had already
Speaker 1: begun to think about Reese as a leading suspect, but
Speaker 1: had written him off after the confession of the man
Speaker 1: they now had in custody. However, with good reason to
Speaker 1: follow it up, the police head out to the address
Speaker 1: given to them by Glenn mosa. While conducting a search
Speaker 1: of the address, the police come across an empty saxophone case.
Speaker 1: Opening it up, they find inside a point thirty eight
Speaker 1: handgun identical to the weapon used in both the Harold
Speaker 1: and Jackson mur as well as a series of dark
Speaker 1: and disturbing notes written by Reese. On one note, clipped
Speaker 1: to a newspaper picture of Mildred Jackson is written, drove
Speaker 1: to select area and killed husband and baby. Now the
Speaker 1: mother and daughter were all mine, It went on, tied
Speaker 1: and gagged, then led her to the place of execution
Speaker 1: and hung her. I was her master. Clearly the police
Speaker 1: had arrested the wrong man. After releasing the thirty four
Speaker 1: year old, police promptly arrest Melvin Reese, who confesses soon
Speaker 1: after to the murders of Margaret, Harold and the Jackson family.
Speaker 1: When the story breaks, the papers are quick to turn
Speaker 1: on Peter Herkos, brandishing his involvement in the case as
Speaker 1: a madness of crystal ball justice that has no place
Speaker 1: in the criminal justice system. There did, however, remained some
Speaker 1: interesting details. Although Hercos's tips led police to the wrong man,
Speaker 1: it was determined later that Reese had also once lived
Speaker 1: at the property that the thirty four year old man
Speaker 1: was living when police arrested him. Reyes was also arrested
Speaker 1: precisely fourteen days after Peter arrived, just as he had predicted. Then,
Speaker 1: shortly after his arrest, Es also confessed to the murder
Speaker 1: of two girls, sixteen year old Mary Chomet and fourteen
Speaker 1: year old and Ryan, taking the number of people he
Speaker 1: murdered to seven. Eighteen year old Mary Fellers and sixteen
Speaker 1: year old Shelby Venable, who were also murdered around the
Speaker 1: same time, are also heavily suspected as being victims of
Speaker 1: Melvin Reese, which would take the total to nine, also
Speaker 1: just as Peter predicted. This extra episode concludes season five
Speaker 1: of Unexplained. I just want to take this opportunity to
Speaker 1: thank all you amazing listeners so much if you continued
Speaker 1: support and for taking the time to listen to the show.
Speaker 1: Unexplained will return with season six on Friday, September third,
Speaker 1: with evermore bizarre and terrifying stories of the strange and unexplained.
Speaker 1: Until then, this is goodbye for now. If you enjoy
Speaker 1: Unexplained and would like to help support us, you can
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Speaker 1: three episodes. Just go to patron dot com, Forward slash
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Speaker 1: how large or small, are greatly appreciated. Unexplained, the book
Speaker 1: and audiobook, featuring ten stories that have never before been
Speaker 1: covered on the show, is now available to buy worldwide.
Speaker 1: You can purchase through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Waterstones,
Speaker 1: among other bookstores. All elements of Unexplained, including the show's music,
Speaker 1: are produced by me Richard McClain smith. Please subscribe and
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Speaker 1: free to get in touch with any thoughts or ideas
Speaker 1: regarding the stories you've heard on the show. Perhaps you
Speaker 1: have an explanation of your own you'd like to share.
Speaker 1: You can reach us online at Unexplained podcast dot com,
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