Full Transcript for AMERICA'S FIRST INSANE ASYLUM: The Horrifying Truth and Hauntings of Eastern State Hospital

minds of its patients couldn't 32 00:02:44.120 --> 00:02:49.800 compare to the horrors of the asylum itself. Now bult 33 00:02:49.800 --> 00:02:54.400 your doors, lock your windows, turn off your lights, and 34 00:02:54.560 --> 00:03:13.400 come with me into the weird darkness. Abandoned asylums, haunted hospitals, 35 00:03:13.400 --> 00:03:17.719 and ghost infested sanatoriums are some of the spookiest places 36 00:03:17.719 --> 00:03:21.759 to get your urban exploring fix. A plethora of haunted 37 00:03:21.800 --> 00:03:25.159 places are open for visitation all over the world, including 38 00:03:25.240 --> 00:03:29.800 the very first insane asylum in the United States, Eastern 39 00:03:29.840 --> 00:03:35.479 State Hospital, located in Williamsburg, Virginia. First built in seventeen 40 00:03:35.639 --> 00:03:39.240 seventy three, the hospital was originally known as the Public 41 00:03:39.280 --> 00:03:43.520 Hospital for Persons of Insane and Disordered Minds. It only 42 00:03:43.560 --> 00:03:47.639 featured twenty four rooms total, many of which remained unfilled 43 00:03:47.680 --> 00:03:51.520 for a number of years. The facility also suffered numerous 44 00:03:51.560 --> 00:03:54.439 fires and was even occupied for a time during the 45 00:03:54.439 --> 00:03:59.400 Civil War. Unfortunately, as is the case with many centuries 46 00:03:59.439 --> 00:04:06.039 old institututions, this hospital wasn't entirely concerned with healing its patients. Instead, 47 00:04:06.479 --> 00:04:09.719 it focused on keeping them jailed and sequestering them from 48 00:04:10.199 --> 00:04:15.080 normal members of society. The history of Eastern State Hospital, 49 00:04:15.439 --> 00:04:19.680 while conducive to spooky tales and ghost stories, is also 50 00:04:19.720 --> 00:04:22.639 a blot on the nation's record of mental health treatment, 51 00:04:23.240 --> 00:04:27.759 rife with human rights violations and tragic testimonials of mistreatment. 52 00:04:29.480 --> 00:04:34.079 Perhaps unsurprisingly, the hospital was created not necessarily to help 53 00:04:34.120 --> 00:04:38.120 the unstable, but rather to protect everyone else from those 54 00:04:38.160 --> 00:04:43.920 whom doctors considered mentally deranged. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, 55 00:04:44.160 --> 00:04:49.120 sanity was determined through legal trials rather than professional medical observation. 56 00:04:50.600 --> 00:04:54.839 In the mid seventeen hundreds, Francis Foulkir, the governor of Virginia, 57 00:04:55.160 --> 00:04:58.600 proposed a hospital meant to house a poor, unhappy set 58 00:04:58.639 --> 00:05:01.519 of people who are deprived of their senses and wander 59 00:05:01.560 --> 00:05:04.839 about the country, terrifying the rest of their fellow creatures. 60 00:05:06.199 --> 00:05:09.879 Seventeen seventy three, the same year as the Boston Tea Party, 61 00:05:10.279 --> 00:05:13.600 the Public Hospital for Persons of Insane and Disordered Minds 62 00:05:13.839 --> 00:05:19.160 first opened its doors, admitting America's first mental patient. The 63 00:05:19.240 --> 00:05:22.519 hospital was hardly comparable to the clinical centers of today, 64 00:05:22.920 --> 00:05:26.759 and was more akin to a prison. The facility contained 65 00:05:26.800 --> 00:05:31.879 twenty four cells, each with barred windows and reinforced doors. 66 00:05:31.920 --> 00:05:36.120 Inside these cells were straw filled mattresses, chamber pots, and 67 00:05:36.279 --> 00:05:41.000 iron shackles attached to the walls. Among the many morbid 68 00:05:41.040 --> 00:05:43.720 devices on display at the museum, which now stands in 69 00:05:43.759 --> 00:05:47.279 the hospital's former facility, no are quite as gruesome as 70 00:05:47.639 --> 00:05:52.720 the tranquilizer chair. Doctor Benjamin Rush, who incorrectly believed mental 71 00:05:52.759 --> 00:05:57.120 imbalances were caused by brain inflammation. Created the chair under 72 00:05:57.120 --> 00:06:00.360 the notion that fear was the best means to induce slanity. 73 00:06:01.279 --> 00:06:05.000 According to doctor Rush, terror acts powerfully upon the body 74 00:06:05.279 --> 00:06:07.839 through the medium of the mind and should be employed 75 00:06:07.959 --> 00:06:12.199 in the cure of madness. Rush designed the chair to 76 00:06:12.240 --> 00:06:15.279 not only retain the patient, but to deprive them of 77 00:06:15.439 --> 00:06:19.000 sight and slow the blood flow to their brains. A 78 00:06:19.040 --> 00:06:22.839 bucket was also placed beneath the seat. Subjects were injected 79 00:06:22.839 --> 00:06:28.720 with laxatives believed to release any bodily impurities. Hospital patients 80 00:06:28.720 --> 00:06:32.560 were forced to wear stray jackets, remain chained and confined 81 00:06:32.600 --> 00:06:36.720 in solitude, and even lay in coffin like utica cribs 82 00:06:37.120 --> 00:06:41.439 stacked on top of one another. In seventeen ninety nine, 83 00:06:41.800 --> 00:06:45.279 two dungeon like cells were constructed beneath the first floor 84 00:06:45.319 --> 00:06:50.680 of the hospital for those prone to raving frenzy. Prevailing 85 00:06:50.720 --> 00:06:56.560 eighteenth century beliefs claimed that mental instability was a chosen state. Restraints, 86 00:06:56.839 --> 00:07:01.040 electric shocks or bleedings were perceived cures for us sound mines. 87 00:07:01.800 --> 00:07:05.120 Not only were straight jackets and manacles employed to keep 88 00:07:05.160 --> 00:07:08.759 patients in order, but iron chains attached near their bedsides 89 00:07:08.800 --> 00:07:13.720 were frequently used. As well. Substances were also administered to 90 00:07:13.879 --> 00:07:18.519 evacuate patients. Digestive tracts and devices such as lancers and 91 00:07:18.680 --> 00:07:24.279 scarificators were used to bleed out harmful fluids. Patients were 92 00:07:24.279 --> 00:07:27.439 plunged into ice cold water in an attempt to jar 93 00:07:27.600 --> 00:07:32.240

them from their mental states. Many medical professionals believed fear 94 00:07:32.600 --> 00:07:36.199 was the key element in these cures, leading inhumane doctors 95 00:07:36.199 --> 00:07:41.160 to torment their own patients for decades. When the institution 96 00:07:41.360 --> 00:07:44.480 was first built, its grounds featured a large yard where 97 00:07:44.480 --> 00:07:47.639 patients could enjoy the sun and fresh air, but this 98 00:07:47.839 --> 00:07:51.279 yard was torn down shortly after for these staff's convenience, 99 00:07:52.319 --> 00:07:56.399 not until seventeen ninety or two new yards made, one 100 00:07:56.519 --> 00:08:00.920 on each side to the hospital. These new significquly smaller 101 00:08:00.959 --> 00:08:05.120 areas featured enormous fences that were ten feet high and 102 00:08:05.279 --> 00:08:10.199 eighty feet long. No furniture or other such perceived luxuries 103 00:08:10.240 --> 00:08:14.079 were provided for the patients. Restriction was still the primary 104 00:08:14.120 --> 00:08:18.160 method of care. These outdoor areas were dubbed the mad 105 00:08:18.360 --> 00:08:21.879 Yards and are heavily reminiscent of modern day prison yards. 106 00:08:23.199 --> 00:08:27.120 The hospital frequently used unmarked graves to dispose of patients 107 00:08:27.160 --> 00:08:30.480 when they passed a common practice among many hospitals at 108 00:08:30.519 --> 00:08:34.720 the time. The Eastern State Hospital does, however, maintain a 109 00:08:34.799 --> 00:08:39.320 reminder of the patients and their struggles. Four granite slabs 110 00:08:39.320 --> 00:08:42.960 have patients' names etched into them, while a fifth simply 111 00:08:43.000 --> 00:08:46.960 holds a memorial reading. We erect this monument in memory 112 00:08:47.000 --> 00:08:50.360 of those persons whom we have known, loved, and served 113 00:08:50.440 --> 00:08:53.200 through the years. While living, they knew the suffering of 114 00:08:53.240 --> 00:08:56.960 inner pain, confusion, and despair. Now they are at peace 115 00:08:57.039 --> 00:08:59.799 in the hands of God, where no torment will ever 116 00:08:59.799 --> 00:09:06.879 touch them again. The hospital's conditions and treatments were undoubtedly atrocious, 117 00:09:07.399 --> 00:09:10.759 but they were not always so. In eighteen forty one, 118 00:09:10.960 --> 00:09:14.960 doctor John Minson Galt was elected superintendent, and he believed 119 00:09:14.960 --> 00:09:18.720 in far more humane treatments. Over the course of twenty 120 00:09:18.720 --> 00:09:22.399 one years, Galt took steps to reduce the appalling treatments 121 00:09:22.480 --> 00:09:25.240 employed by the hospital and replace them with a method 122 00:09:25.320 --> 00:09:30.600 he called moral management therapy. This method was very successful, 123 00:09:31.200 --> 00:09:34.240 so much so that restraints were barely used and the 124 00:09:34.279 --> 00:09:38.200 patients were much happier and granted much more freedom. They 125 00:09:38.240 --> 00:09:40.840 were even able to visit the nearby town on field 126 00:09:40.840 --> 00:09:45.960 trips and outings. His methods were unpopular with the hospital's directors, however, 127 00:09:46.279 --> 00:09:50.200 and they fought him at every turn. In eighteen sixty two, 128 00:09:50.480 --> 00:09:54.320 the Civil War swept through Williamsburg and Union soldiers took 129 00:09:54.360 --> 00:09:58.039 control of the hospital. With Galt unable to help any 130 00:09:58.080 --> 00:10:01.039 of his patients, he fell into a deep depression and 131 00:10:01.159 --> 00:10:05.000 eventually took his own life. Some claim as ghost still 132 00:10:05.039 --> 00:10:08.600 walks the halls of the reconstructed hospital, seeking out the 133 00:10:08.639 --> 00:10:13.519 patients formerly under his care. In the institution's early days, 134 00:10:13.919 --> 00:10:16.759 a patient escaped the hospital and fled to the nearby 135 00:10:16.879 --> 00:10:21.279 palace of Virginia's governor. He apparently intended to slay the 136 00:10:21.320 --> 00:10:24.840 governor in the palace's hedge maze, but was foiled before 137 00:10:24.879 --> 00:10:27.960 he could carry out the deed. Those who visit the 138 00:10:28.000 --> 00:10:31.759 palace grounds claimed the patient still roams in search of targets. 139 00:10:33.919 --> 00:10:36.240 In two thousand and three, a group of students from 140 00:10:36.279 --> 00:10:40.000 the College of William and Mary fulfilled an infamous school 141 00:10:40.039 --> 00:10:43.399 tradition when they climbed over the palace wall and ventured 142 00:10:43.480 --> 00:10:47.120 into the hedge maze. Inside, the group witnessed a pair 143 00:10:47.159 --> 00:10:50.480 of ghostly white feet that crept closer when illuminated with 144 00:10:50.519 --> 00:10:56.039 their flashlight beam. The students soon fled in terror. The 145 00:10:56.080 --> 00:11:00.240 hospital's first fire occurred in eighteen seventy six and taped 146 00:11:00.279 --> 00:11:04.799 out the chapel, kitchen, and storage areas, among other rooms. 147 00:11:04.879 --> 00:11:07.480 In eighteen eighty five, two patients may have perished in 148 00:11:07.519 --> 00:11:12.039 the hospital's largest fire. Tragically, the closest volunteer fire department 149 00:11:12.080 --> 00:11:15.320 at the time was fifty miles away, so there was 150 00:11:15.360 --> 00:11:18.679 nothing to do but watch the building crumble. By the 151 00:11:18.720 --> 00:11:21.440 time the fire was extinguished, it had taken down five 152 00:11:21.559 --> 00:11:26.240 more buildings. The last fire occurred in nineteen oh two 153 00:11:26.279 --> 00:11:29.440 and rapped out a single building that was originally erected 154 00:11:29.440 --> 00:11:34.000 in eighteen forty four. All of the buildings were eventually replaced, 155 00:11:34.519 --> 00:11:37.759 although with much more space between them, likely to prevent 156 00:11:37.840 --> 00:11:42.360 future fires from spreading. When

the hospital first opened in 157 00:11:42.440 --> 00:11:45.879 seventeen seventy three, it was called the Public Hospital for 158 00:11:45.960 --> 00:11:50.080 Persons of Insane and Disordered Minds. In the eighteen forties, 159 00:11:50.360 --> 00:11:53.360 under the guidance of doctor Galt, it was renamed the 160 00:11:53.519 --> 00:11:58.360 Eastern Lunatic Asylum. Although a significant portion of the grounds 161 00:11:58.399 --> 00:12:01.679 burned in eighteen eighty five, they were soon rebuilt and 162 00:12:01.919 --> 00:12:06.799 continued to operate for several more decades. Following this reconstruction, 163 00:12:06.879 --> 00:12:11.039 the facility was given its current title, the Eastern State Hospital, 164 00:12:11.679 --> 00:12:14.399 not to be confused with the dozen other hospitals of 165 00:12:14.440 --> 00:12:18.639 the same name across the US. In the nineteen thirties, 166 00:12:18.639 --> 00:12:22.159 the hospital moved to a new location, though the original 167 00:12:22.159 --> 00:12:26.600 buildings were preserved for historical reasons. The old grounds were 168 00:12:26.639 --> 00:12:30.840 reopened as a museum featuring numerous exhibits of the hospital's 169 00:12:30.879 --> 00:12:35.440 old devices and treatments. Even the cells were recreated in 170 00:12:35.480 --> 00:12:46.720 the most minute detail. Up next, Weirdo Family member Christa 171 00:12:46.799 --> 00:12:49.840 Lee shares a personal encounter with a spirit in her 172 00:12:49.879 --> 00:12:53.639 bathroom and will look at how five different serial killers 173 00:12:53.639 --> 00:12:58.519 were finally caught through unexpected means. These stories and more 174 00:12:58.879 --> 00:13:22.200 when Weird Darkness Returns. I was in my freshman year 175 00:13:22.240 --> 00:13:25.000 of high school when I had my first official encounter 176 00:13:25.240 --> 00:13:28.320 with a ghost. My dad called me into the kitchen 177 00:13:28.360 --> 00:13:30.360 to talk to me, and when he was done, he 178 00:13:30.399 --> 00:13:33.559 flipped a spoonful of whipped cream in my face. He'd 179 00:13:33.559 --> 00:13:35.600 been using the cream for a pie and thought it'd 180 00:13:35.600 --> 00:13:37.720 be funny to throw some at one of us kids. 181 00:13:38.720 --> 00:13:41.200 I went to the bathroom to clean up. I was 182 00:13:41.240 --> 00:13:43.720 bent over the sink when I felt a cool hand 183 00:13:43.799 --> 00:13:47.000 on my shoulder, thinking it was my mom. I glanced 184 00:13:47.000 --> 00:13:49.000 in the mirror only to see the face of my 185 00:13:49.120 --> 00:13:53.320 recently deceased great grandmother. She smiled at me and said, 186 00:13:53.879 --> 00:13:58.519 I love you, baby girl. Then she vanished. I've always 187 00:13:58.559 --> 00:14:03.120 believed in the supernatural and paranormal, but this visit helped 188 00:14:03.159 --> 00:14:18.799 to confirm their existence for me. Serial killers often pride 189 00:14:18.840 --> 00:14:23.519 themselves on being

untouchable. That confidence can sometimes help them 190 00:14:23.639 --> 00:14:27.000 charm their way into their victims' lives or allow them 191 00:14:27.039 --> 00:14:30.879 to lead double lives, tricking their families into believing they 192 00:14:30.879 --> 00:14:34.879 are someone else, but it also leads to their downfall. 193 00:14:36.159 --> 00:14:39.120 Here are five stories of serial killers who, along with 194 00:14:39.159 --> 00:14:44.080 a little luck, were the cause of their capture. Jeffrey Dahmer, 195 00:14:44.200 --> 00:14:49.879 known as the Milwaukee Cannibal, got away with molesting, murdering, dismembering, 196 00:14:49.960 --> 00:14:54.080 and eating seventeen victims between nineteen seventy eight and nineteen 197 00:14:54.159 --> 00:14:57.840 ninety one. By nineteen eighty eight, he'd already spent ten 198 00:14:57.879 --> 00:15:00.600 months in jail for fondling a thirteen teen year old 199 00:15:00.600 --> 00:15:03.519 boy and then offering him fifty dollars to pose four 200 00:15:03.519 --> 00:15:07.039 pictures in the nude. He was let out early and 201 00:15:07.159 --> 00:15:10.399 put on probation, but his caseworker never made the required 202 00:15:10.440 --> 00:15:14.320 stops by his apartment. At one point during his thirteen 203 00:15:14.399 --> 00:15:18.120 year murdersprey, Dahmer was also approached by police over a 204 00:15:18.159 --> 00:15:21.480 young Asian teen who was found on a curb naked 205 00:15:21.480 --> 00:15:24.600 and bloody. Dahmer told the police that the boy was 206 00:15:24.639 --> 00:15:28.720 his partner, and so three officers who were eventually investigated, 207 00:15:29.159 --> 00:15:33.480 turned their heads and declined to investigate further, leading to 208 00:15:33.480 --> 00:15:37.159 the young boy's death. All of that makes how Dahmer 209 00:15:37.200 --> 00:15:42.120 got caught so darkly ironic. When Dahmer was arrested, it 210 00:15:42.159 --> 00:15:45.679 was thanks to someone he had caught. Dahmer drugged and 211 00:15:45.720 --> 00:15:48.759 attempted to murder thirty two year old Tracy Edwards in 212 00:15:48.840 --> 00:15:52.919 July of nineteen ninety one. Edwards got out and, after 213 00:15:53.000 --> 00:15:56.159 running away, was found by two officers in Dahmer's neighborhood, 214 00:15:56.399 --> 00:15:59.440 almost completely naked, with a pair of handcuffs dangling from 215 00:15:59.440 --> 00:16:03.440 one of his wrists. When officers questioned him, Edwards told 216 00:16:03.480 --> 00:16:07.360 them that a freak had drugged and handcuffed him. The 217 00:16:07.399 --> 00:16:12.120 police brought Edwards back to Dahmer's apartment to investigate. Upon 218 00:16:12.159 --> 00:16:15.320 their arrival, Dahmer offered police the keys to the handcuffs 219 00:16:16.240 --> 00:16:18.720 when Edwards told them that Dahmer attempted to use a 220 00:16:18.799 --> 00:16:21.480 knife on him in his bedroom. An officer entered the 221 00:16:21.519 --> 00:16:25.480 room to corroborate his account. There he found photographs of 222 00:16:25.519 --> 00:16:29.600 the bodies Dahmer had dismembered. Dahmer was arrested by the police, 223 00:16:29.600 --> 00:16:33.759 and further searching of his apartment revealed body parts, skulls, 224 00:16:33.799 --> 00:16:37.759 and jars of dismembered genitalia stored in a fridge, freezer, 225 00:16:38.159 --> 00:16:43.919 a filing cabinet, and a kettle. A parking ticket helped 226 00:16:43.919 --> 00:16:47.399 put the son of Sam behind bars. This infamous killer 227 00:16:47.480 --> 00:16:50.679 was arrested in Manhattan right before he planned to go 228 00:16:50.799 --> 00:16:54.879 down in a blaze of glory. Known for shooting fourteen people, 229 00:16:55.240 --> 00:16:57.639 six of whom were killed in New York City between 230 00:16:57.720 --> 00:17:01.720 nineteen seventy six and nineteen seventy seven. David Berkowitz was 231 00:17:01.720 --> 00:17:03.960 a member of the U. S Army who served in 232 00:17:04.000 --> 00:17:08.160 South Korea as an excellent marksman. After returning to his 233 00:17:08.200 --> 00:17:11.799 hometown in nineteen seventy four. Following his service term, he 234 00:17:11.839 --> 00:17:15.119 took a position as a US postal worker before turning 235 00:17:15.200 --> 00:17:19.240 his combat skills into a method of terror. After attacking 236 00:17:19.279 --> 00:17:21.799 and murdering his victims, he'd leave a note near the 237 00:17:21.839 --> 00:17:26.119 crime scene, taunting authorities. Ironically, it would be a different 238 00:17:26.240 --> 00:17:29.119 kind of crime scene notes that took down the man 239 00:17:29.440 --> 00:17:33.079 who called himself the Son of Sam. The first step 240 00:17:33.119 --> 00:17:36.880 towards arresting Berkowitz was a result of him regularly harassing 241 00:17:36.920 --> 00:17:40.480 his neighbors. Several of the other residents in his Yonker's 242 00:17:40.480 --> 00:17:45.920 apartment building claimed that they were left anonymous, sometimes antagonistic notes. 243 00:17:47.000 --> 00:17:49.279 One reported that their dog had been shot with the 244 00:17:49.319 --> 00:17:51.920 same gun used by the Son of Sam, while another 245 00:17:52.319 --> 00:17:56.079 alleged a fire was started near his apartment. This put 246 00:17:56.119 --> 00:17:59.519 the police onto Berkowitz's behavior and kept him under their 247 00:17:59.519 --> 00:18:04.279 watchful What ultimately nailed the Son of Sam, though, was 248 00:18:04.319 --> 00:18:06.519 a tip from a forty nine year old woman who 249 00:18:06.559 --> 00:18:10.440 had a brief but unnerving encounter with Berkowitz right before 250 00:18:10.480 --> 00:18:14.000 he murdered two people. While walking her dog at two 251 00:18:14.039 --> 00:18:17.720 thirty am, Cecilia Davis passed a man who looked her 252 00:18:17.799 --> 00:18:21.279 right in the face but held his right arm down stiffly. 253 00:18:22.319 --> 00:18:25.799 Minutes later, she heard shots and a car horn.

She 254 00:18:25.920 --> 00:18:28.799 also happened to see an officer ticketing a cream colored 255 00:18:28.880 --> 00:18:31.920 van a block from the site. Of Berkowitz's latest and 256 00:18:32.119 --> 00:18:37.400 final murder. After Davis came forward with her details, police 257 00:18:37.480 --> 00:18:39.839 checked their tickets for that night and were able to 258 00:18:39.839 --> 00:18:43.319 find a citation for Berkowitz's car, which he used for 259 00:18:43.440 --> 00:18:46.680 getaways from each murder, but didn't bother to change his 260 00:18:46.720 --> 00:18:51.720 plates for The authorities caught Burkowitz leaving his apartment. As 261 00:18:51.759 --> 00:18:54.279 they caught up to him, Berkowitz turned to an inspector 262 00:18:54.319 --> 00:18:56.799 and said, I guess this is the end of the 263 00:18:56.839 --> 00:19:03.440 trailed Bundy, known for raping and murdering thirty six women 264 00:19:03.519 --> 00:19:08.079 in three states, was captured twice while driving. The first 265 00:19:08.119 --> 00:19:10.960 instance was for a traffic violation in which he took 266 00:19:11.000 --> 00:19:13.839 a Utah Highway Patrol officer on a chase after he 267 00:19:13.920 --> 00:19:17.079 was caught driving his Volkswagon in a West Valley neighborhood 268 00:19:17.119 --> 00:19:21.559 without his headlights on. As officer Bob Hayward questioned Bundy, 269 00:19:21.640 --> 00:19:24.960 he noticed weird things. The man was wearing all black, 270 00:19:25.680 --> 00:19:29.640 a collection of gas receipts, a missing passenger seat, and 271 00:19:29.759 --> 00:19:33.160 a pair of shiny shoes that escaped kidnapping victim Carol 272 00:19:33.240 --> 00:19:36.920 dur Ranch had reported were worn by her captor. When 273 00:19:36.960 --> 00:19:39.839 the officer asked Bundy where he'd been the killer, told 274 00:19:39.920 --> 00:19:44.519 him at a local drive in watching towering inferno. Unfortunately 275 00:19:44.599 --> 00:19:47.759 for Bundy, Hayward knew that was a lie. He had 276 00:19:47.799 --> 00:19:52.319 been at the drive in all night. Hayward called for backup, 277 00:19:52.519 --> 00:19:55.799 and he and two other officers searched the car, uncovering 278 00:19:55.839 --> 00:20:00.519 a collection of obscure items like rope, handcuffs, pennyhose, and 279 00:20:00.599 --> 00:20:04.559 a crowbar before bringing him in booked for avoiding arrest, 280 00:20:05.000 --> 00:20:07.400 Bundy was identified in a line up by d Ranch, 281 00:20:07.720 --> 00:20:11.039 arrested for her kidnapping, and sentenced to fifteen years of 282 00:20:11.119 --> 00:20:14.640 jail time. Heyward had also reached out to out of 283 00:20:14.640 --> 00:20:18.240 state police departments aware of their own missing Team cases. 284 00:20:19.279 --> 00:20:22.119 Two years into a sentence, Bundy was linked to the 285 00:20:22.200 --> 00:20:25.720 murder of a Colorado woman. After requesting to act as 286 00:20:25.759 --> 00:20:29.799 his own representation, he escaped from a prison's library window 287 00:20:29.839 --> 00:20:33.279 while preparing for his case. He was captured eight days later, 288 00:20:33.759 --> 00:20:36.240 but would escape again through a hole he dug in 289 00:20:36.279 --> 00:20:39.480 the ceiling of his cell. Due to the reduced staff 290 00:20:39.559 --> 00:20:42.759 during holiday time, correctional officers didn't notice he was gone 291 00:20:42.839 --> 00:20:46.640 for well over twelve hours, letting him get a significant lead. 292 00:20:47.680 --> 00:20:50.680 With the help of his eventual wife, kirol Ann Boone, 293 00:20:51.000 --> 00:20:53.759 Bundy was able to travel to Florida, where he attacked 294 00:20:53.799 --> 00:20:57.720 the cay Omega sorority house at Florida State University, killing 295 00:20:57.759 --> 00:21:01.759 two college women and beating two others. Days later, he 296 00:21:01.799 --> 00:21:04.359 would kidnap and murder a twelve year old Florida girl 297 00:21:04.599 --> 00:21:08.079 in a stolen FSU van, and only four days later 298 00:21:08.279 --> 00:21:12.640 after that, stole a VW bug. Fearing that authorities were 299 00:21:12.680 --> 00:21:15.359 closing in, Bundy traveled all the way to the Alabama 300 00:21:15.400 --> 00:21:18.200 state line before getting pulled over for driving in a 301 00:21:18.240 --> 00:21:21.920 stolen vehicle. That would be the end of Bundy's run. 302 00:21:22.599 --> 00:21:25.920 He was arrested, charged, and sentenced to death for the 303 00:21:26.000 --> 00:21:30.799 murders of the FSU students. Then there's the case of 304 00:21:31.039 --> 00:21:34.880 Dennis Raider, and he can blame poor file security for 305 00:21:34.960 --> 00:21:39.839 his eventual takedown. After years of going uncaught following the 306 00:21:39.960 --> 00:21:43.319 murder of ten Kansas locals, including four out of five 307 00:21:43.400 --> 00:21:46.960 members of the Ottero family, the Kansas serial killer, whose 308 00:21:46.960 --> 00:21:51.599 modus operandi was bind torture, kill, entered into a game 309 00:21:51.640 --> 00:21:55.279 of cat and mouse with authorities. After seemingly killing his 310 00:21:55.359 --> 00:21:58.200 last victim in nineteen ninety one, the murderer fell off 311 00:21:58.200 --> 00:22:01.240 the radar until two thousand four or when an article 312 00:22:01.279 --> 00:22:04.480 in the Wichita Eagles suggested that the infamous killer may 313 00:22:04.519 --> 00:22:08.920 either be dead or in prison. That spurred Dennis Rader, 314 00:22:09.000 --> 00:22:12.160 the BTK Killer, to send a letter to the newspaper 315 00:22:12.200 --> 00:22:16.400 claiming he was responsible for a nineteen eighty six unsolved murder. 316 00:22:17.240 --> 00:22:20.240 Over the next twelve months, he would send more letters 317 00:22:20.279 --> 00:22:24.160 and puzzles to local media outlets. In two thousand and five, 318 00:22:24.599 --> 00:22:28.400 Rader took the first steps to sealing his demise. As 319 00:22:28.400 -->

00:22:30.920 he had for the past year, Rader sent a local 320 00:22:30.920 --> 00:22:34.160 Wichita TV station a message in the form of a 321 00:22:34.200 --> 00:22:37.720 package placed in the back of a truck. An employee 322 00:22:37.759 --> 00:22:41.160 found it and ended up tossing it, but after an response, 323 00:22:41.359 --> 00:22:43.440 Rader reached out to the station to see if they'd 324 00:22:43.440 --> 00:22:46.839 gotten it. The station notified the police, who searched the 325 00:22:46.880 --> 00:22:51.400 area and found the serial box Raider left filled with documents, 326 00:22:51.400 --> 00:22:54.960 many of which revealed planned murders. There was also a 327 00:22:54.960 --> 00:22:59.039 piece of paper addressed directly to authorities. Can I communicate 328 00:22:59.079 --> 00:23:02.400 with Floppy and be traced to a computer? Raider asked, 329 00:23:03.359 --> 00:23:05.960 if the police were honest, they should tell him through 330 00:23:06.000 --> 00:23:09.319 a classified ad in the paper. So that's exactly what 331 00:23:09.359 --> 00:23:14.720 authorities less than honestly did. Two weeks later, a local 332 00:23:14.759 --> 00:23:18.440 Kansas broadcast station was sent a package containing a floppy disc. 333 00:23:19.440 --> 00:23:22.400 When they opened it, it merely included the message this 334 00:23:22.720 --> 00:23:26.880 is a test. After checking the properties section of the file, 335 00:23:27.279 --> 00:23:30.160 authorities discovered that the last person to save the file 336 00:23:30.680 --> 00:23:34.200 was a man named Dennis. They also uncovered that it 337 00:23:34.240 --> 00:23:37.160 had been used at the Christ Lutheran Church and the 338 00:23:37.200 --> 00:23:41.480 Park City Library. Despite the efforts Raider took to delete 339 00:23:41.519 --> 00:23:44.880 identifying information from the disc, his choice to use a 340 00:23:44.920 --> 00:23:49.079 library printer whose own was broken did him in. The 341 00:23:49.119 --> 00:23:52.119 police googled the name and locations attached to the file, 342 00:23:52.720 --> 00:23:55.920 used DNA evidence from the Otero crime scene and one 343 00:23:55.920 --> 00:23:59.319 of Raider's relatives, and finally pinned Rader for some of 344 00:23:59.359 --> 00:24:05.640 the most infants murders in America, and sometimes serial killers 345 00:24:05.680 --> 00:24:09.799 are caught because they break their own rules, like the 346 00:24:09.839 --> 00:24:13.559 son of Sam Israel. Keys was a former soldier raised 347 00:24:13.559 --> 00:24:16.880 a name Mormon family who reveled in his fascination and 348 00:24:16.960 --> 00:24:21.759 obsession with serial murder. With an extensive knowledge of his predecessors, 349 00:24:22.160 --> 00:24:26.799 Keys aimed to be unique and uncatchable, but eventually fell 350 00:24:26.880 --> 00:24:29.359 victim to what he thought separated him from the rest 351 00:24:30.200 --> 00:24:36.680 a lack of control. Identified as a serial killer,

rapist, arsonist, burglar, 352 00:24:36.799 --> 00:24:40.440 and bank robber, Keyes had a girlfriend and daughter. Despite 353 00:24:40.480 --> 00:24:43.920 having spent more than a decade raping, robbing, and killing 354 00:24:44.000 --> 00:24:48.920 victims around the country, three deaths were tied directly to him, 355 00:24:49.079 --> 00:24:53.640 but anywhere between eight and twelve are alleged. Keyes's success 356 00:24:54.039 --> 00:24:57.559 was due in part to his extensive planning, which includes 357 00:24:57.640 --> 00:25:02.079 burying murder kits, weapons and tools to clean up crime scenes, 358 00:25:02.480 --> 00:25:05.400 and an unwritten rule based on his research and knowledge 359 00:25:05.440 --> 00:25:09.039 of other captured serial killers. He would travel outside and 360 00:25:09.079 --> 00:25:11.720 go to great lengths to distance himself from any of 361 00:25:11.759 --> 00:25:16.319 his victims. Anchorage homicide detective Monique Dahl told ABC News 362 00:25:17.279 --> 00:25:20.680 that was primarily derived from his obsession with not being 363 00:25:20.880 --> 00:25:24.240 like the other serial killers. He had researched and read 364 00:25:24.319 --> 00:25:27.799 other serial killers. Doll told ABC he knew a lot 365 00:25:27.799 --> 00:25:30.720 about Ted Bundy. He was very careful to say that 366 00:25:30.920 --> 00:25:34.160 he had not patterned himself after any other serial killers, 367 00:25:34.400 --> 00:25:38.640 that his ideas were his own. That necessity for distinction 368 00:25:38.839 --> 00:25:42.599 and control all signatures of serial killers got the best 369 00:25:42.599 --> 00:25:45.480 of him during his last burder, which was only supposed 370 00:25:45.480 --> 00:25:48.400 to be a robbery with plans to take the register 371 00:25:48.519 --> 00:25:51.400 at the coffee shop. Keys confessed that he thought about 372 00:25:51.440 --> 00:25:55.279 not killing his victim, a young female employee working alone, 373 00:25:55.279 --> 00:25:58.680 if she didn't have a car, but upon seeing his victim, 374 00:25:59.000 --> 00:26:02.839 he was overcome, wrestling her to his vehicle before raping 375 00:26:02.880 --> 00:26:06.680 and strangling her there. It broke both parts of his 376 00:26:06.759 --> 00:26:09.839 proximity rule, as he murdered in his car and in 377 00:26:09.880 --> 00:26:14.240 his hometown. He then did something even more sloppy. He 378 00:26:14.359 --> 00:26:17.640 used his victim's credit card at several ATMs in another 379 00:26:17.640 --> 00:26:21.319 state to take out money, allowing police to track him 380 00:26:21.359 --> 00:26:36.680 down when we'd darkness returns. Belief in witches, hexes, and 381 00:26:36.920 --> 00:26:40.799 powerful spirits was prevalent in the nineteenth century and into 382 00:26:40.799 --> 00:26:44.519 the twentieth century. In fact, in rural areas of Pennsylvania, 383 00:26:44.599 --> 00:26:47.960 it might still be practiced today. So it's the perfect 384 00:26:48.000 --> 00:26:52.160 setting for a murder involving curses and a local witch. 385 00:27:12.920 --> 00:27:15.880 Anyone who believes that we live in an age dominated 386 00:27:15.920 --> 00:27:21.680 by science and skepticism needs to study the history of Pennsylvania. 387 00:27:21.880 --> 00:27:25.559 In the rural areas of the state, a belief in witches, hexes, 388 00:27:25.759 --> 00:27:28.799 powerful spirits, and the like was common until well into 389 00:27:28.799 --> 00:27:32.319 the twentieth century. For all I know, it still quietly 390 00:27:32.400 --> 00:27:37.880 exists today. Remote farm communities saw superstition and folklore not 391 00:27:38.079 --> 00:27:41.640 as quaint relics of a medieval past, but as all 392 00:27:41.720 --> 00:27:46.440 two real presences in their lives. Sometimes these beliefs took 393 00:27:46.480 --> 00:27:49.960 the benign forms of good luck, charms, folk medicine, and 394 00:27:50.319 --> 00:27:55.920 positive spirituality. At other times, however, believers found themselves haunted 395 00:27:55.960 --> 00:28:02.480 by sincerely held fears of curses and ghostly persecution. On occasion, 396 00:28:02.920 --> 00:28:06.759 these fears led these tormented souls to defend themselves through 397 00:28:06.799 --> 00:28:12.039 acts of violence, even murder. Probably the most famous example 398 00:28:12.119 --> 00:28:15.559 is the case of Nelson Raymyer. In nineteen twenty eight, 399 00:28:15.680 --> 00:28:20.079 a central Pennsylvania which named Nellie Nol convinced a young 400 00:28:20.119 --> 00:28:23.000 man named John Blymere that ray Meyer had put a 401 00:28:23.000 --> 00:28:26.920 curse on him. Blmere and two friends, John Curry and 402 00:28:27.000 --> 00:28:30.440 Wilbert Hess broke into Raymyer's home in order to steal 403 00:28:30.559 --> 00:28:34.279 a spell book they believed he owned. They were unable 404 00:28:34.319 --> 00:28:37.400 to find this book, but when Raemeyer accosted them, the 405 00:28:37.480 --> 00:28:41.079 trio gruesomely killed him in the hope of lifting this curse. 406 00:28:42.480 --> 00:28:45.799 The three youths were eventually convicted of the murder. One 407 00:28:45.839 --> 00:28:47.599 of the many oddities of the case is that the 408 00:28:47.680 --> 00:28:51.799 killers had never before committed any criminal offense, and after 409 00:28:51.839 --> 00:28:55.559 their release from prison, went on to lead thoroughly normal, 410 00:28:55.839 --> 00:29:01.799 law abiding lives. Although the following experter is now largely forgotten, 411 00:29:02.279 --> 00:29:05.200 it was very similar to the Raymier case, and in 412 00:29:05.240 --> 00:29:10.079 some respects even more bizarre. Our story opens in nineteen 413 00:29:10.160 --> 00:29:15.240 thirty four in Pennsylvania farming village of Ringtown. Life there 414 00:29:15.279 --> 00:29:19.119 had only a speaking acquaintance with the twentieth century. Scarcely 415 00:29:19.200 --> 00:29:23.319 any residence had

electricity or modern plumbing, and telephones were 416 00:29:23.359 --> 00:29:27.039 non existent. Among its residents was a sixty three year 417 00:29:27.079 --> 00:29:31.680 old widow named Susannah Susan Mummy. She lived in a 418 00:29:31.759 --> 00:29:34.880 primitive farmhouse in the hills just outside of town with 419 00:29:34.960 --> 00:29:39.559 her adopted daughter Tavilia. Back in nineteen ten, Susan had 420 00:29:39.559 --> 00:29:43.359 had a premonition. A vision or dream told her that 421 00:29:43.480 --> 00:29:46.400 if on July fifth of that year, her husband Henry 422 00:29:46.480 --> 00:29:48.920 went to his job at a local powder mill, he 423 00:29:48.960 --> 00:29:52.599 would die. Although she begged him to stay home on 424 00:29:52.680 --> 00:29:56.160 that day, he laughingly dismissed her fears and went to 425 00:29:56.240 --> 00:30:00.599 work as usual. You guessed it on that very day 426 00:30:00.880 --> 00:30:04.920 Henry was killed when a workplace accident caused a violent explosion. 427 00:30:06.039 --> 00:30:10.200 The tragic event earned Susan Mummy not sympathy but fear. 428 00:30:11.079 --> 00:30:14.279 The deadly accuracy of her premonition caused her neighbors to 429 00:30:14.279 --> 00:30:17.200 think of her as a witch, and, considering what had 430 00:30:17.240 --> 00:30:22.079 happened to Henry, possibly a dangerous one. From that time on, 431 00:30:22.559 --> 00:30:26.480 Ringtown regarded her with a mixture of awe and deep suspicion. 432 00:30:28.039 --> 00:30:31.400 On the evening of bart seventeen, Susan and Tavilia were 433 00:30:31.400 --> 00:30:34.519 living with a border named Jacob Rice, and Rice was 434 00:30:34.559 --> 00:30:37.079 staying there because he had a serious foot injury that 435 00:30:37.200 --> 00:30:41.079 Mummy was doctoring. Like many so called witches, Mummy had 436 00:30:41.119 --> 00:30:45.039 some proficiency in the healing arts. Before going to bed, 437 00:30:45.519 --> 00:30:48.920 Mummy went to change Rice's bandage. As she bent over 438 00:30:48.960 --> 00:30:53.440 his foot, the cottage seemed to suddenly explode. The inhabitants 439 00:30:53.519 --> 00:30:56.839 heard a frightening roar, and the living room window shattered. 440 00:30:57.559 --> 00:31:00.680 The wind coming through the broken glass extinguished their lamps, 441 00:31:01.000 --> 00:31:05.119 leaving the stunned trio in darkness. They heard a second blast, 442 00:31:05.160 --> 00:31:07.640 which they now recognized as the sound of a gun. 443 00:31:08.279 --> 00:31:11.480 Someone out in that black night was trying to kill them. 444 00:31:12.559 --> 00:31:15.240 They crouched on the floor, terrified by the thought of 445 00:31:15.240 --> 00:31:20.039 what might happen next, but there was only silence. After 446 00:31:20.079 --> 00:31:22.680 a few minutes had passed, Rice finally worked up the 447 00:31:22.759 --> 00:31:26.240 nerve to set up. He could see nothing, and all 448 00:31:26.279 --> 00:31:29.559 he heard was the sound of Tavilia whimpering in fear. 449 00:31:30.599 --> 00:31:34.119 He called out Susan's name, but got no response. He 450 00:31:34.200 --> 00:31:38.240 managed to light a lamp, which illuminated missus Mummy's motionless 451 00:31:38.240 --> 00:31:41.440 body on the floor. He saw at once that she 452 00:31:41.599 --> 00:31:46.279 was dead. The two shaken survivors sat huddled together in 453 00:31:46.319 --> 00:31:50.640 the darkness, waiting for the morning light to come. At dawn, 454 00:31:50.880 --> 00:31:54.559 Ryce set out to find help. Tavilia was too hysterical 455 00:31:54.559 --> 00:31:57.759 to make the effort. Despite his injured foot, Rice managed 456 00:31:57.799 --> 00:31:59.960 to limp to the home of their nearest neighbor where, 457 00:32:00.000 --> 00:32:03.240 which was over a mile away. This neighbor drove him 458 00:32:03.240 --> 00:32:07.640 into town so they could summon police. Investigators found that 459 00:32:07.720 --> 00:32:11.119 Mummy had been shot once through the chest. In one 460 00:32:11.119 --> 00:32:14.279 of the walls, they found embedded a handmade bullet of 461 00:32:14.319 --> 00:32:17.839 the sort that was common in the area. Although the 462 00:32:17.920 --> 00:32:21.799 victim had led a quiet, reclusive life, it soon emerged 463 00:32:21.839 --> 00:32:24.079 that there was no shortage of people who might have 464 00:32:24.160 --> 00:32:27.799 wished her dead. Mummy was a quarrelsome sort who had 465 00:32:27.839 --> 00:32:31.799 feuded with most of her neighbors, something that only exacerbated 466 00:32:31.839 --> 00:32:36.000 her sinister occult reputation. She was believed to have turned 467 00:32:36.039 --> 00:32:39.319 an evil eye on one of her enemies, and hext 468 00:32:39.519 --> 00:32:43.240 several others. A great sigh of relief went out over 469 00:32:43.359 --> 00:32:47.559 Ringwood when it was learned she was dead. In short, 470 00:32:48.039 --> 00:32:53.559 the police were confronted with a plethora of possible suspects. Soon, however, 471 00:32:53.640 --> 00:32:57.720 their focus was centered on one man. Three days after 472 00:32:57.759 --> 00:33:00.519 the murder, some local boys told the detective in charge 473 00:33:00.559 --> 00:33:02.880 of the case that on the night Mummy was shot, 474 00:33:03.279 --> 00:33:05.680 they had seen a car parked on the road leading 475 00:33:05.720 --> 00:33:08.599 to the victim's home. No one was in the car, 476 00:33:08.640 --> 00:33:11.960 but they immediately recognized it as belonging to a twenty 477 00:33:11.960 --> 00:33:16.559 three year old named Albert Shinsky. Shinsky was a polite, 478 00:33:16.839 --> 00:33:20.359 well behaved, good natured young man with an exemplary reputation. 479 00:33:21.200 --> 00:33:24.799 Everyone who knew him liked him. His family was equally 480 00:33:24.839 --> 00:33:27.599 well respected in the community, and he was fortunate enough 481 00:33:27.839 --> 00:33:32.240 to be engaged to Selena

Bernstell, a pretty charming girl 482 00:33:32.319 --> 00:33:35.119 who adored him. It would be hard to think of 483 00:33:35.160 --> 00:33:40.519 anyone less likely to assassinate a defenseless old woman. Shinsky's 484 00:33:40.519 --> 00:33:44.559 life was happy and uneventful until he reached the age seventeen. 485 00:33:45.519 --> 00:33:51.200 Then he gradually changed. The once energetic boy became increasingly lethargic. 486 00:33:51.920 --> 00:33:54.279 He lost the energy to work or do much of 487 00:33:54.319 --> 00:33:58.799 anything else. He became thin and haggard looking. The young 488 00:33:58.880 --> 00:34:01.279 man became a shell of his former self, and no 489 00:34:01.319 --> 00:34:05.359 one could explain why. Unable to hold down any job 490 00:34:05.440 --> 00:34:09.480 requiring physical or mental exertion, Shinsky earned a meager living 491 00:34:09.639 --> 00:34:13.559 as a taxi driver for the local mine workers. When 492 00:34:13.599 --> 00:34:17.239 questioned by the police, Shinsky acknowledged being near the mummy 493 00:34:17.239 --> 00:34:19.960 house at the time of the murder. When asked why 494 00:34:20.000 --> 00:34:24.119 he was there, he calmly gave a startling reply, I 495 00:34:24.199 --> 00:34:29.400 went out there to kill missus Mummy. Things only got 496 00:34:29.440 --> 00:34:34.000 weirder from there. Without the slightest hesitation, Shinsky treated the 497 00:34:34.039 --> 00:34:37.639 detectives to the strangest motive for murder any of them 498 00:34:37.719 --> 00:34:40.960 had ever heard. The young man explained that when he 499 00:34:41.039 --> 00:34:44.000 was seventeen, he'd been working for a farmer who had 500 00:34:44.000 --> 00:34:47.719 gotten into a long, extremely bitter fight with Missus Mummy 501 00:34:48.039 --> 00:34:52.360 over property boundaries between their respective lands. One day, as 502 00:34:52.440 --> 00:34:55.840 Shinsky was walking through the disputed land, he saw missus 503 00:34:55.880 --> 00:34:59.880 Mummy standing a short distance away, staring at him. Under 504 00:34:59.880 --> 00:35:02.719 her her hostile gaze, the youth broke out in a 505 00:35:02.800 --> 00:35:06.960 cold sweat. He felt like there were hands gripping his throat. 506 00:35:08.199 --> 00:35:10.760 From that day on, he said, he felt a constant 507 00:35:11.039 --> 00:35:14.719 physical and mental torment that sapped him of all his strength. 508 00:35:15.559 --> 00:35:20.440 Susan Mummy had put a hex on him. Shinsky emotionally 509 00:35:20.480 --> 00:35:23.920 described how he constantly felt invisible hands on his shoulders, 510 00:35:24.599 --> 00:35:27.559 pins were stuck into him. A black cat would come 511 00:35:27.599 --> 00:35:29.840 down from the sky and attack him while he slept. 512 00:35:30.519 --> 00:35:33.159 He tried going to doctors and priests, but they were 513 00:35:33.159 --> 00:35:36.320 of no help. What could they or anyone else do 514 00:35:36.519 --> 00:35:40.880 against the power of the devil. In desperation, he consulted 515 00:35:40.880 --> 00:35:44.760 some local witch doctors, who gave him various amulets and spells, 516 00:35:45.360 --> 00:35:51.960 but they provided only temporary relief. The cat always came back. Finally, 517 00:35:52.079 --> 00:35:55.480 a spirit came to him, explaining that the only way 518 00:35:55.519 --> 00:35:57.599 he could be free of the hecks was if he 519 00:35:57.719 --> 00:36:02.599 killed Susan Mummy. So on the night of March seventeenth, 520 00:36:03.079 --> 00:36:06.519 he borrowed a shotgun loaded it with a magic bullet 521 00:36:06.599 --> 00:36:09.559 guaranteed to kill witches, and made his way to the 522 00:36:09.599 --> 00:36:14.519 mummy farm. Shinsky did not enjoy committing murder, but he 523 00:36:14.599 --> 00:36:18.639 cheerfully explained it worked since Mummy's death. He was a 524 00:36:18.760 --> 00:36:22.199 reborn man. He had no regrets whatsoever for what he 525 00:36:22.239 --> 00:36:26.079 had done. Indeed, he radiated a joy and relief that 526 00:36:26.119 --> 00:36:32.239 these hardened investigators found uniquely disturbing. Selena Bernsteal confirmed much 527 00:36:32.280 --> 00:36:35.559 of Shinsky's story. She had no doubt that he had 528 00:36:35.639 --> 00:36:39.159 been bewitched, saying, my cousin used to be visited by 529 00:36:39.159 --> 00:36:41.079 the ghost of an old woman who cast a spell 530 00:36:41.119 --> 00:36:46.199 over her. Her affection for him had a strongly maternal quality. 531 00:36:46.920 --> 00:36:50.639 Selena both loved and pitied this haunted young man, who 532 00:36:50.679 --> 00:36:53.440 would tell her that she was the only friend he had. 533 00:36:54.639 --> 00:36:57.440 She described him as a little puppy dog and a 534 00:36:57.519 --> 00:37:02.159 lost soul. The hecks, she quietly told the police, had 535 00:37:02.199 --> 00:37:06.079 begun to affect her as well. She would periodically wake 536 00:37:06.159 --> 00:37:08.360 up in the morning to see a vision of Shinsky 537 00:37:08.440 --> 00:37:11.400 standing at the foot of her bed, his face grimacing 538 00:37:11.440 --> 00:37:14.800 in pain. Every time this happened, she'd find out that 539 00:37:15.320 --> 00:37:18.320 he'd been visited by the evil cat or the spirit 540 00:37:18.360 --> 00:37:21.840 figure of Susan Mummy herself leering and leering at him. 541 00:37:22.679 --> 00:37:25.880 Selena said that Shinsky had repeatedly begged Mummy to lift 542 00:37:25.920 --> 00:37:29.880 the hecks from him, but she refused. Selena often asked 543 00:37:29.920 --> 00:37:33.599 Shinsky to marry her, but he refused, saying the witch 544 00:37:33.800 --> 00:37:37.599 wouldn't let him. Although Selena had not known he had 545 00:37:37.639 --> 00:37:41.320 committed murder, she admitted that she knew something had happened 546 00:37:41.800 --> 00:37:45.800 because Albert seemed different and more upbeat. He acted as 547 00:37:45.800 --> 00:37:48.760 if something had been

taken off of him. She was 548 00:37:48.800 --> 00:37:53.920 too happy with his transformation to ask any questions. After 549 00:37:53.960 --> 00:37:58.199 his arrest, Shinsky became something of a local hero. Other 550 00:37:58.280 --> 00:38:00.760 men went to the police, alleging that Susan Mummy had 551 00:38:00.760 --> 00:38:04.079 cast spells on them as well Hexa's that were only 552 00:38:04.119 --> 00:38:08.360 broken with her death. Townsfolk raised a defense fund for him. 553 00:38:09.000 --> 00:38:13.800 The murderer himself remained happy and unconcerned. Even the thought 554 00:38:13.840 --> 00:38:17.519 of facing the electric chair didn't phase him. I don't care, 555 00:38:17.559 --> 00:38:22.480 he said, I'm at peace. Selina expressed her willingness to 556 00:38:22.559 --> 00:38:24.880 marry him while he still sat in his prison cell, 557 00:38:25.440 --> 00:38:28.639 but Shinsky refused any thought of such a dismal wedding. 558 00:38:29.440 --> 00:38:32.599 He told reporters he expected to be released soon after 559 00:38:32.679 --> 00:38:37.119 which he looked forward to marrying my girl. The court 560 00:38:37.199 --> 00:38:40.039 hardly knew what to make of this young man. The 561 00:38:40.079 --> 00:38:44.519 story he told was deeply, utterly crazy, but aside from that, 562 00:38:44.800 --> 00:38:50.159 Shinsky appeared calm and rational. He indignantly rejected any suggestion 563 00:38:50.320 --> 00:38:55.079 of any insanity. Defense psychiatrists who interviewed him thought otherwise. 564 00:38:55.679 --> 00:38:59.679 They came up with the diagnosis of dementia praecox manifesting 565 00:38:59.679 --> 00:39:03.320 itself as paranoid delusions, and recommended that he be sent 566 00:39:03.360 --> 00:39:07.599 to Fairview State Hospital for the criminally insane. The judge 567 00:39:07.599 --> 00:39:13.039 in the case agreed. Unfortunately for Shinsky, Fairview could give 568 00:39:13.079 --> 00:39:16.039 witches and demon cats a run for their money. It 569 00:39:16.119 --> 00:39:21.119 had an evil reputation that sadly was entirely justified. It 570 00:39:21.159 --> 00:39:25.000 was an unsupervised hellhole where even basic medical care was 571 00:39:25.079 --> 00:39:30.360 virtually non existent. Guards and staff routinely abused the patients, 572 00:39:30.400 --> 00:39:33.840 sometimes to the point of killing them. They were sinister 573 00:39:33.960 --> 00:39:37.760 rumors of secret graveyards around the building. It was not 574 00:39:37.840 --> 00:39:41.840 a hospital but an unregulated dumping ground, and would remain 575 00:39:41.920 --> 00:39:45.719 so well into the nineteen seventies. If you were not 576 00:39:45.760 --> 00:39:49.320 insane when you entered fairview. Odds were good that you 577 00:39:49.440 --> 00:39:55.280 soon would be. Shinsky disappeared into this living nightmare. Never 578 00:39:55.440 --> 00:39:58.840 it seemed to be heard from again. The world forgot 579 00:39:58.840 --> 00:40:01.679 about him

until nineteen si sixty eight, when a lawyer 580 00:40:01.800 --> 00:40:05.639 named William J. Krenskowicks learned of the case, which inspired 581 00:40:05.719 --> 00:40:08.360 him to lead an effort to have Shinsky re examined 582 00:40:08.400 --> 00:40:13.119 by psychiatrists. Shinsky himself was eager to have his case reopened, 583 00:40:13.639 --> 00:40:16.159 even if it meant standing trial for the murder if 584 00:40:16.199 --> 00:40:20.079 he was judged to be sane. I was a stupid, foolish, 585 00:40:20.159 --> 00:40:22.960 superstitious young man when I did the murder. But I 586 00:40:23.000 --> 00:40:27.079 do think I've been punished enough. The issue of what 587 00:40:27.239 --> 00:40:30.840 to do with Shinsky dragged through the courts until January 588 00:40:30.920 --> 00:40:34.280 nineteen seventy six, when a judge ruled that he was 589 00:40:34.320 --> 00:40:39.000 competent to stand trial. However, the authorities apparently agreed that 590 00:40:39.039 --> 00:40:43.119 Shinsky was indeed punished enough. As I could not find 591 00:40:43.159 --> 00:40:47.480 any record that his trial ever took place, Shinsky may 592 00:40:47.599 --> 00:40:50.159 very well have been released without ever being tried for 593 00:40:50.239 --> 00:40:53.920 a murder no one doubted he committed. He went back 594 00:40:53.960 --> 00:40:57.239 to Ringtown, where he lived quietly until his death. In 595 00:40:57.360 --> 00:41:08.239 nineteen eighty three. When weird darkness returns, it's called a 596 00:41:08.280 --> 00:41:12.199 freak of nature. As weird as it is beautiful. Seen 597 00:41:12.280 --> 00:41:16.679 here are terrifying flying entities, giant skeletons, and even the 598 00:41:16.800 --> 00:41:21.599 legendary Bigfoot. We'll look at the mysterious, strange and dangerous 599 00:41:21.679 --> 00:41:51.480 ofa Kinoki swamp in Georgia, often called a freak of nature, 600 00:41:53.079 --> 00:41:57.199 is as strange as it is beautiful. Many years ago, 601 00:41:57.320 --> 00:42:00.920 one scientist interested in ok said there is nothing else 602 00:42:01.039 --> 00:42:03.800 like it in the world, and that's a correct assumption 603 00:42:03.960 --> 00:42:09.360 because it's a unique place. The Okafinokee Swamp covers nearly 604 00:42:09.400 --> 00:42:13.559 seven hundred square miles, almost all of which is in Georgia, 605 00:42:14.119 --> 00:42:18.800 and this wonderland is a significant part of North America's heritage. 606 00:42:18.840 --> 00:42:21.639 A visit to Okafenokee Swamp gives the impression you made 607 00:42:21.679 --> 00:42:24.480 a journey back in time to those days when dinosaurs 608 00:42:24.559 --> 00:42:28.760 ruled the world. If you decide to visit the Okafinokee Swamp, 609 00:42:29.280 --> 00:42:32.719 be careful because dangerous animals are lurking behind the bushes. 610 00:42:33.440 --> 00:42:37.840 You can encounter poisonous snakes and alligators. The Okafinoki Swamp 611 00:42:37.920 --> 00:42:41.400 is also home to magnificent and rare bird species, as 612 00:42:41.440 --> 00:42:46.599 well as several unique species of carnivorous plants. Admirers of 613 00:42:46.679 --> 00:42:49.599 nature will find Okafonoki Swamp a great place to visit. 614 00:42:50.400 --> 00:42:52.800 But this place is also interesting to those who are 615 00:42:52.800 --> 00:42:59.760 fascinated with ancient history, myths, legends, and unexplained phenomena. Seminole 616 00:42:59.800 --> 00:43:02.960 in Indians knew this place long before white men who 617 00:43:03.000 --> 00:43:07.760 rediscovered it. The Okafinochie Swamp is a land of rich folklore, 618 00:43:08.239 --> 00:43:14.639 medicinal plants, magic, and some strange events. Many Native American 619 00:43:14.719 --> 00:43:19.079 legends tell Okafanoke was once inhabited by different mysterious beings. 620 00:43:19.119 --> 00:43:23.519 We cannot identify who were the flying creatures Indians feared 621 00:43:23.559 --> 00:43:27.840 so much. Someone once wrote the warlike Indians of the 622 00:43:27.920 --> 00:43:31.239 Crees and Seminoles have a religious veneration for this immense place. 623 00:43:31.639 --> 00:43:34.679 They say it's inhabited by aerial beings. They have a 624 00:43:34.760 --> 00:43:37.559 number of legends connected with its history. But the centers 625 00:43:37.559 --> 00:43:41.039 composed of high land on which are erected their wigwams. 626 00:43:41.480 --> 00:43:44.079 Many after that they have seen those aerial beings on 627 00:43:44.119 --> 00:43:47.440 the confines of their enchanted habitations. Not even one of 628 00:43:47.480 --> 00:43:50.079 their warriors would venture among the gloom of its shade 629 00:43:50.119 --> 00:43:56.039 after sunset for the best American scalp. When early geographers 630 00:43:56.039 --> 00:43:59.440 explored the place, they described the Okafinokee Swamp as a 631 00:43:59.599 --> 00:44:05.320 terrified bog. Explorers reported hearing spooky noises and wondered what 632 00:44:05.440 --> 00:44:09.280 dangerous creatures could be hiding in the marsh. Later, they 633 00:44:09.320 --> 00:44:13.159 realized the sounds were caused by dead trees scraping against 634 00:44:13.199 --> 00:44:17.519 each other when the wind blew. Not everything that happens 635 00:44:17.519 --> 00:44:20.880 in the vicinity of the Okafenokee Swamp can be explained 636 00:44:20.920 --> 00:44:25.840 by modern science. People have witnessed puzzling, unidentified lights that 637 00:44:25.960 --> 00:44:29.440 cannot be tracked to any known object, craft, or place. 638 00:44:30.480 --> 00:44:34.119 Native Americans tell the Okafinokee Swamp was and still is 639 00:44:34.239 --> 00:44:38.280 home to an immortal race. In ancient times, the Spaniard 640 00:44:38.320 --> 00:44:42.280 and Indians encountered these mysterious beings in battles, but they 641 00:44:42.320 --> 00:44:47.119 could never defeat the immortals. In North American folklore, Bigfoot 642 00:44:47.280 --> 00:44:50.760 is described as

a hairy, upright walking, apelike creature that 643 00:44:50.880 --> 00:44:55.079 dwells in the wilderness. According to the Millageville, Georgia newspaper 644 00:44:55.119 --> 00:44:58.039 in eighteen twenty nine, two men and a young boy 645 00:44:58.199 --> 00:45:01.719 decided to visit the Okefinokei Swamp because they had heard 646 00:45:01.800 --> 00:45:04.559 legends about a race of giants who lived in the swamp. 647 00:45:05.320 --> 00:45:08.079 They journeyed into the deep interior of the swamp, where 648 00:45:08.079 --> 00:45:12.119 they discovered giant tracks. Later, when they returned home, they 649 00:45:12.119 --> 00:45:14.559 told locals what they had found, and a group of 650 00:45:14.599 --> 00:45:18.199 hunters went to the place to investigate. There, they encountered 651 00:45:18.199 --> 00:45:22.199 a giant beast that decapitated five of the hunters. After 652 00:45:22.239 --> 00:45:24.760 a hard struggle, it was killed by the surviving men 653 00:45:24.840 --> 00:45:29.440 of the hunting expedition. Another intriguing story emerged in more 654 00:45:29.480 --> 00:45:34.440 recent years. Jim Miles, in his book Weird Georgia, reports 655 00:45:34.440 --> 00:45:37.719 that in nineteen sixty nine, Tom Chesser told the Atlanta 656 00:45:37.760 --> 00:45:41.559 Journal Constitution Sunday Magazine that in the nineteen twenties he 657 00:45:41.719 --> 00:45:45.960 unearthed thirteen skeletons for a university professor who had hired 658 00:45:46.039 --> 00:45:49.559 him to excavate the mounds. According to Chesser, some of 659 00:45:49.599 --> 00:45:52.880 the skeletons were crossed one on top of the other, 660 00:45:53.440 --> 00:45:56.519 some were faced down. All of them were perfect when 661 00:45:56.559 --> 00:45:59.960 they were first discovered. Teeth even still had some glades 662 00:46:00.199 --> 00:46:04.199 on them, but when air struck it crumbled them. They 663 00:46:04.199 --> 00:46:07.880 were giants. Those jawbones would go over my whole face, 664 00:46:08.199 --> 00:46:13.519 Chesser said. Many captivating and unexplained modern sightings of elusive 665 00:46:13.599 --> 00:46:17.920 creatures and puzzling lights are still reported. These stories are, 666 00:46:17.960 --> 00:46:22.079 of course fascinating, but without proper investigations, it's difficult to 667 00:46:22.119 --> 00:46:26.679 determine why people had strange encounters and sightings while visiting 668 00:46:26.760 --> 00:46:30.880 Okafanoki Swamp. It's fair to say that the Okafinok Swamp 669 00:46:30.920 --> 00:46:36.039 remains until this day, shrouded in a veil of mystery, charm, 670 00:46:36.079 --> 00:46:51.559 and fear. Thanks for listening. If you liked the podcast, 671 00:46:51.639 --> 00:46:54.599 please share a link to this episode and recommend Weird 672 00:46:54.639 --> 00:46:57.599 Darkness to your friends, family, and co workers who love 673 00:46:57.679 --> 00:47:01.719 the paranormal horror stories or true like you do. All 674 00:47:01.760 --> 00:47:04.519 stories in Weird Darkness aren't purported to be true unless 675 00:47:04.559 --> 00:47:07.199 stated otherwise, and you can find source links or links 676 00:47:07.199 --> 00:47:09.920 to the authors in the show notes. The Hauntings of 677 00:47:10.000 --> 00:47:13.840 Eastern State Mental Asylum is by Anigo Gonzales for Ranker. 678 00:47:14.679 --> 00:47:17.639 Cool Hand on My Shoulder is from Weirdo family member 679 00:47:17.719 --> 00:47:22.519 Krista Lee. The Witch of Ringtown was posted at Strange Company. 680 00:47:23.480 --> 00:47:27.239 When Killers Capture Themselves was written by Abby White for 681 00:47:27.360 --> 00:47:32.480 the lineup and Bigfoot, Giant Skeletons and Okafinoki Swamp is 682 00:47:32.480 --> 00:47:36.960 by Ellen Lloyd for Ancient pages. Weird Darkness theme by 683 00:47:36.960 --> 00:47:41.960 Alibi Music. Weird Darkness is a registered trademark. And now 684 00:47:41.960 --> 00:47:44.320 that we're coming out of the dark, I'll leave you 685 00:47:44.400 --> 00:47:48.440 with a little light Luke chapter six, verse thirty five A. 686 00:47:49.280 --> 00:47:52.199 But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend 687 00:47:52.199 --> 00:47:55.599 to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your 688 00:47:55.639 --> 00:47:59.960 reward will be great. And a final thought, God doesn't 689 00:48:00.119 --> 00:48:03.400 give you the people you want, It gives you the 690 00:48:03.440 --> 00:48:08.519 people you need. I'm Daryn Marler. Thanks for joining me 691 00:48:09.039 --> 00:48:10.239 in the Weird Darkness.