Post by pakman on Jul 26, 2014 23:07:14 GMT -5
Could it be possible? Could I actually be posting my third set of reviews this weekend? I truly must be insane, AMW fans!
In all seriousness, I'm happy that the guide is coming along really well. September 2004 is a month that I would describe as "decent." A couple episodes (September 25) didn't do so well in my opinion, while others (September 11) were spot-on and led to the arrests of multiple fugitives. Overall, I can't complain too much about the choice of episodes AMW decided to air this month.
Now, the November 2004 episodes...well, we'll get to those next month, won't we? I'll also be reviewing the October 2004 episodes, since only two episodes aired that month.
Episode #778 - September 4, 2004 (Season 16 Finale)
Nashville Top Cop Feature (Full segment) - When a madman went on a crime spree in Nashville (shooting and killing one man and carjacking another, forcing him to be his getaway driver), it was up to Officer Robert Butler to stop him. During a police chase, the man who had been abducted was able to escape from the car, but the kidnapper then took a woman and her mother hostage. Officer Butler, using his rifle, was able to shoot the suspect in the brainstem, killing him immediately and saving the two hostages.
Genero Dorantes & Martha Patlan (Tacked-on profile) - John Walsh asks viewers to give Nashville police a hand by nabbing Genero Dorantes and Martha Patlan. The duo was on the run from murder charges, accused of torturing and killing Patlan's four-year-old son and abandoning his body in a park. In February 2006, Patlan surrendered to police in Mexico and gave up Dorantes' location. He was arrested without incident a couple weeks later.
Unknown Jill Behrman Killer & Kerry Silvers (Full segment) - During the previous week's profile of the unsolved murder of Jill Behrman, one viewer realized that, although he didn't have any information on Jill's murder, he could make a difference in the case. That's because the viewer was U.S. Marshal Jason Wojdillo, who immediately began using his resources to help track down Kerry Silvers, a prison escapee who may have been told sensitive information about Jill's murder. Silvers was captured in December 2004, and in 2006, a man named John Myer was arrested and charged with Jill's murder.
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Sam & Lindsey Porter (Full segment) - A woman from Independence, Missouri, comes to AMW to ask for help in locating her two children. The children, eight-year-old Sam and nine-year-old Lindsey, were kidnapped by their own father, Dan Porter. Porter, who was estranged from his wife and had even nearly attempted suicide in front of his wife, was arrested but refused to tell police and his ex-wife what happened to them. His story kept changing, including once saying they had a new home, another time saying he sold the kids to an Illinois woman for $6,000 and one time saying they were in a "happy place, like Disney World." In September 2007, police confirmed that two bodies found in a shallow grave in Missouri were in fact the children. Porter was soon charged with murder.
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Unknown Riverside Armored Car Killer (Full segment) - Ed Miller reports on the manhunt for an unknown robber who police believe struck in more than one state. The suspect first robbed a grocery store in Texas by pepper-spraying an armored car driver and stealing his money. At another grocery store in Riverside, California, police believe the suspect struck again. This time, the suspect shot and killed an armored car driver in the middle of the day at a Food 4 Less store. In 2006, a man named Ronald Hoffman was killed during a robbery attempt. Investigators soon discovered that Hoffman was in fact the man that killed the armored car driver in Riverside. However, the investigation also revealed that both the Riverside and Dallas robberies were committed by two different people.
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Jaime & Javier Borbon (All-Points Bulletin) - Two brothers wanted for kidnapping a man in California and holding him hostage in Mexico. When the ransom wasn't paid on time, Jaime and Javier Borbon brutally murdered the man and left his body in a park. Jaime Borbon was killed in Mexico back in 2001, but Javier Borbon is still at large. (NOTE: My inclusion of Jaime Borbon is not an error; see the notes for more information)
Richard Yang (All-Points Bulletin) - Wealthy restaurant owner wanted for killing his wife in Sikeston, Missouri, after she filed for divorce. After killing his wife, Yang made a 911 call where he confessed to killing her. Even after pleading guilty to killing his wife, a judge allowed Yang to be released from jail to "get his affairs in order." Yang was captured in Mexico in 2005, where I believe he was working at a Chinese restaurant.
Unknown Central City Kidnapper (All-Points Bulletin) - Police in Central City, Pennsylvania say they have new information about a kidnapping case from 1999. A 10-year-old child was abducted by the man and abandoned near the Pennsylvania/West Virginia border. In 2004, DNA linked the still-unknown suspect to an abduction case from Maryland in 1988. In 2019, 20 years after the Central City abduction, a man named Timothy David Nelson was charged in both cases.
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Robert Davidson (Break-Four Tease) - Wanted out of Wisconsin for sexually assaulting children. Still at large.
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Keeping Kids Safe Feature (Full segment) - John Walsh offers some tips for kids so they can stay safe from child predators as they walk to and from school. Among the tips are to not wear anything that identifies the child by name, use the buddy system, have a secret code word and, if all else fails, scream.
Episode notes:
- Although the show never says the name of the woman and her mother that were taken hostage in the Nashville Top Cop segment, if you listen closely you can hear the officer say the first and last name of the daughter. He only does it once though, which suggests to me that he said the name by accident, and probably didn't even realize he'd identified her.
- The week this episode aired, amw.com uploaded Jaime Borbon's death report and stated that he had been killed in Mexico back in 2001. However, despite being updated on the website, the show still aired him as if he were still a wanted fugitive.
- The kids' safety feature was meant to be viewed by the entire family, as evidenced by John Walsh's comment before the commercial break; "Stay tuned and make sure your kids are watching when we come back." I'm also pretty sure this was the predecessor to the 2006 recurring segment "Kids Safety Tips," which were sponsored by Walmart.
- Parts of the keeping kids safe feature can be found on YouTube; the actor who played the child predator uploaded some of the clips to his channel.
- During the fugitive recap, John Walsh calls Genero Dorantes the husband of Martha Patlan. However, earlier in the show he called Dorantes her boyfriend.
Episode #779 - September 11, 2004 (18th Season Premiere)
Jahbir & Alfonso Fowle (Full segment) - Days before Thanksgiving 2003, a man from Brooklyn went to pick up his daughter from her daycare center while his two other children, including eight-year-old Daeshawn "Dae-Dae" Hill, tagged along. At the same time, brothers Jahbir & Alfonso Fowle had just gotten into an argument with three rival gang members over who actually controlled the streets. Minutes later, the rival gang members returned with guns, and they got into a shootout with the Fowle brothers, who had guns of their own. The family ducked for cover, but Dae-Dae was shot by a stray bullet. His father took him into the closest building for help, but the boy died in his arms. Two of the rival gang members were nabbed, but the Fowle brothers got away. Jahbir Fowle was captured in Atlanta in March 2005, making him Capture #831, and Alfonso Fowle was captured a week later in the same place, making him Capture #832.
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Edward Raifsnider Capture & Unknown Ali Kemp Killer (Full segment) - Rick Segall reports that nationwide scam artist Edward Raifsnider has finally been captured, though not because of his profile on AMW in July; it was because the fugitive kept up his scams and oddly, didn't flee the state after he committed his latest scam. Segall interviews Raifsnider in jail where he not only asks the former fugitive about his crimes, but also about his possible connection to an unsolved murder AMW has been profiling since 2002; the murder of lifeguard Ali Kemp. Ali was killed on a rainy day while at work, and her body was discovered by her father. Investigators noted that the killer's sketch strongly resembled Raifsnider, who was believed to have committed crimes in Kansas and Missouri around the time of Ali's murder. He vehemently denied it was him, and took a DNA test to prove it. Sure enough, the DNA didn't match. However, the real killer, Benjamin Appleby, was located just two months later.
Larry Raifsnider (Tacked-on profile) - John Walsh asks viewers to be on the lookout for Edward Raifsnider's brother, Larry Raifsnider, who was wanted across the country for a variety of crimes. Among them, an Arkansas home invasion and kidnapping case where Larry Raifsnider threatened to kill a woman if he wasn't given a ransom. Larry Raifsnider was captured about two months later after he tried scamming a woman.
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Operation Black Biscuit Feature (Full segment) - Tom Morris tells the story of an unprecendented undercover operation known as "Black Biscuit." The ATF and Phoenix Police Department selected a group of investigators to infiltrate the Hell's Angels and find out about their illegal activities. Despite bragging that they would never be infiltrated, the undercover operation was successful, netting dozens of indictments against Hell's Angels members for a variety of crimes.
Paul Eischeid and Douglas Wistrom (Tacked-on profiles) - Though Operation Black Biscuit was successful, two Hell's Angels got away. One was Paul Eischeid, wanted for killing a woman who had allegedly been bad-mouthing the club. He was captured in Argentina in early 2011. Douglas Wistrom also got away; he was wanted on weapons charges. Wistrom was captured just about a month later when police went to a house he was believed to be living at. When officers knocked at the door, Wistrom casually answered himself.
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Stopping a Dirty Bomb Feature (Full segment) - Ed Miller visits with several law enforcement agencies and learns what they're doing to help prevent a dirty bomb explosion. The bomb itself isn't the danger; it's the radiation that would prove fatal. Miller attends a disaster training session where officers are taught how to use Geiger counters to help bring a dirty bomb under control.
Adnan El Shukrijumah (Tacked-on profile) - John Walsh asks viewers to help find Adnan El Shukrijumah, wanted by the FBI for allegedly plotting to build a dirty bomb and set it off somewhere in the country. El Shukrijumah was killed by special forces in Pakistan in 2014.
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Kevin Nolen (Break-Four Tease) - Illinois fugitive wanted for possessing and distributing child pornography. As a result of this broadcast, AMW got a tip that led to Nolen, making him Capture #808.
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Darryl Williams (Full segment) - Philadelphia fugitive wanted for killing a man and a woman during a botched robbery. The woman was shot after she refused to get in the trunk, while the man was killed because he was struggling. The woman, the daughter of a police officer, was killed in front of her grandmother's house. Williams' accomplice was caught, but Williams got away. After seeing himself on AMW, Williams contacted his attorney and he surrendered less than a week later, making him Capture #807.
Episode notes:
- This episode was filmed in New York City.
- As of 2014, every fugitive from this episode has been captured.
- Every fugitive is mentioned in the recap.
- In the reenactment, it's claimed that the argument that led to the Fowle brothers' shootout was over which gang actually controlled the streets. But during the interview with Dae-Dae Hill's father, he claims the shootout was over a $10 bag of weed.
- Edward Raifsnider's jailhouse interview is one of the most fascinating AMW has ever done. Raifsnider not only proudly confesses to all of his crimes, but also has zero remorse for what he's done. Rick Segall asked Raifsnider what he would say to his victims, and Raifsnider said, "Hey, I'm sorry that your path and my path crossed at the same time."
- Introducing the Operation Black Biscuit segment, John Walsh is standing outside the Manhattan headquarters of the Hell's Angels. While he's standing in the street and not on their actual property, I'm astounded that there wasn't a crowd of Hell's Angels in the background demanding John's head.
- A few years ago, I was watching a show on the History Channel where they talked about Operation Black Biscuit. The show included interviews with two of the undercover operatives (one of whom revealed his face and real name, while the other revealed his face but went by the name "Pops.") According to the show, almost all the arrested Hell's Angels had the charges dropped against them. I can't remember the reason why.
- The footage from Darryl Williams' reenactment is recycled from Natia Johnson's reenactment.
Episode #780 - September 18, 2004
Jeffery Manchester (Full segment, part one) - In North Carolina, Jeffery Manchester pulled off an elaborate robbery of a McDonald's; he scaled the roof of the building, cut a hole using power tools and hid inside the restaurant until the employees came in. When they did, he made them open the safe and made them hide in the freezer before fleeing. However, Manchester's freedom was short-lived, as he was nabbed by an officer who saw him acting oddly not far from the crime scene. During his interrogation, Manchester mentioned the Rooftop Robber, a longtime fugitive who would rob fast food restaurants by cutting holes in the roof and infiltrating the restaurant that way. Investigators weren't sure if Manchester was the Rooftop Robber or a copycat. Sentenced to 30 years in North Carolina for the McDonald's robberies, he eventually ended up in the Brown Creek Prison in early 2003. Investigators believe shortly after he arrived, Manchester began plotting his escape.
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Jeffery Manchester (Full segment, part two) - Shortly after he arrived at the Brown Creek Prison, Manchester began plotting his escape. First, he got a job in the prison's metal plant, which gave him close access to the prison's loading dock. Then then cut a piece of plywood that he could wedge underneath a delivery truck to help hide himself. In June 2004, Manchester was able to hide the plywood and a change of clothes under the truck. While getting off work, Manchester got into position and was able to hide himself so well that the prison guards at the checkpoint didn't even see him. Manchester fled the truck and was able to get a ride by hitchhiking. Ironically the man who gave Manchester his ride was a teacher at the prison, though he was not one of Manchester's teachers and didn't recognize him. Months after this profile, Manchester was indirectly captured. Manchester had been living inside a Toys R Us while a fugitive.
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Rick Segall has updates on two major cases AMW has been profiling thanks to great new tips provided by AMW viewers.
Jahbir & Alfonso Fowle (Hotline Update) - The hunt continues for Jahbir and Alfonso Fowle, brothers wanted for taking part in a shootout in Brooklyn that left an eight-year-old boy dead. During the previous week's show, nearly every tip that came in pointed to Atlanta, saying the brothers were hiding out there. This corroborated with information police had already developed. Segall and an AMW camera crew went to Atlanta to follow up on leads, and while they did find several people who confirmed the brothers were in town, including a cousin of the Fowle brothers, nobody could say exactly where they were hiding at that moment. Six months later, an AMW tip busted both the Fowle brothers in Atlanta, making them Capture #s 831 and 832.
Mikhail Drachev (Hotline Update) - AMW has new information to report in the case of Mikhail Drachev, wanted out of Phoenix for stabbing a police informant and setting him on fire. The victim later died. Following Drachev's profile in April 2004, not many tips came in on the fugitive. However, during the summer investigators discovered the probable reason for that; Drachev had drastically altered his appearance. Investigators found a photo of him taken in Canada showing Drachev with blonde hair and glasses. AMW stayed on the trail and nabbed Drachev in Canada in 2007 after receiving a tip from his own girlfriend, making him Capture #933.
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Rason Horton (Breaking news, approx. 2 minutes) - Detroit police were looking for Rason Horton in connection with two robbery cases. In one case, a gas station attendant shot was shot and killed by Horton. Later that day, Horton robbed another gas station and told the employees to "say thank you for me letting you live." As a result of this broadcast, Horton was tracked to New Mexico, where he was caught within days of the broadcast. Horton was Capture #806.
Unknown Sherlyn Fleming Killer (Full segment) - Ed Miller heads to Detroit to profile the unsolved murder of a recently-retired police officer. While Sherlyn Fleming was picking up her dry cleaning, a masked gunman walked in and demanded money from her. As a recently-retired officer, Sherlyn still had her service revolver, and pulled it out of her purse. The gunman panicked and shot at her three times, killing her. Still at large.
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Eric Watkins and Jason Richards (Break-Four Tease) - Wanted for killing a teenager and setting her body on fire. The duo was captured indirectly about a month after this profile.
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Brian Jones (Full segment) - After getting her car stranded, a woman in Las Vegas wandered the streets until Brian Jones offered her a ride. The woman accepted, but after Jones took her to his home, she noticed that he was acting really antsy. When she demanded he let her use a phone, Jones assaulted her, tied her to his bed and raped her for 18 hours. The next morning, as Jones took a shower, the victim escaped from his home and turned him in to police. However, Jones bonded out and disappeared. Police finally tracked him down to Thailand in 2006.
Episode notes:
- Just like the previous week's show, other than the unsolved murder of Sherlyn Fleming, every case in this episode has been solved.
- AMW filmed the reenactment of Jeffery Manchester around the time a large hurricane was set to hit North Carolina. Because of the storm, filming was cut short and AMW couldn't record everything they wanted to. As a result, producers asked the graphics team to go to work, and they were able to create facsimiles of Manchester's escape tools to help illustrate the recreation. I believe this is one of the first times the graphics team played a major role in illustrating an AMW reenactment.
- The victim in Brian Jones' case is one of the few victims to show her face without being blurred out or silhouetted. Interestingly, her extended interview on amw.com was blurred out, yet every interview that aired on Fox was uncensored.
- During the fugitive recap, I'm convinced that John Walsh calls Eric Watkins "Eric Watson." Also, when he says "Jason Richards," Eric Watkins' photo appears, and vice-versa.
Episode #781 - September 25, 2004
Shawn Windsor Capture (Full segment) - Rick Segall reports that AMW tips have led to the capture of one of Shawn Windsor, one of John Walsh's Dirty Dozen. Windsor was wanted out of Kentucky for bludgeoning and stabbing his wife and eight-year-old son to death. His downfall began when his car was found abandoned in Tennessee with the message "Car stolen, body in trunk" written in the car's dust. When officers opened the car, they discovered there was no body inside, though Windsor had attempted suicide. After seeing a local news broadcast, an AMW tipster contacted the hotline saying they knew Windsor was now living in North Carolina. The U.S. Marshals responded and arrested Windsor at his place of employment, making him Capture #801. Unbelievably, during his interrogation, Windsor initially claimed he didn't know his wife and son were dead (the way he said, "She left me man, that's all I know" is so cold, it's scary) and then claimed the deaths were part of a suicide pact.
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Damar Pink (Full segment) - John Turchin visits Lauderhill, Florida, to investigate a violent armed robbery at a family-owned grocery store. Three men ran in the store, armed with guns. One man ran to the grocery store's office, while the other two shot and killed the security guard, who happened to be working his first day on the job. Detective Glenn Bukata received the case, and immediately got to work. After releasing the surveillance footage of the robbery, he got a tip from a woman saying she knew two of the suspects; one of whom was her own son. Using a special tactic involving Super Glue, Bukata was able to identify the third suspect by fingerprints he left behind on a shopping cart. Two suspects were nabbed, but the third one, Damar Pink, was able to get away. Thanks to an AMW tipster, Pink was captured in Connecticut in early 2005, making him Capture #824.
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Mark Jackson (Full segment) - AMW investigator Joe Matthews travels to Fort Lauderdale to investigate a mysterious disappearance. Mark Jackson and his friend were seen going into Mark's apartment, but then he was never seen again. Mark, a marketing executive, was reported missing the next day. In his investigation, Matthews discovered that Mark was taking crystal meth and according to witnesses, he seemed depressed the night he disappeared. The man he was seen with, his boyfriend, had apparently broken up with him around the time of Mark's disappearance. One theory is that Mark, depressed, may have left his apartment trying to hook up with someone. Oddly, Mark's key to the apartment building was left inside his unit, which makes some believe he may have never left the building. Still missing
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Shannon Melendi Recovery (Full segment) - Ten years after 19-year-old Shannon Melendi disappeared, there are new developments in her case. The Emory University student vanished in 1994 after coaching a softball game at the country club. It was long believed that Colvin "Butch" Hinton, an umpire at the country club and a convicted sex offender, had something to do with Shannon's disappearance, especially since he was the last one seen with her. When police dug up his property, they found several items buried in his backyard that could have belonged to Shannon, but it couldn't be proven as hers. While Hinton was serving a nine-year sentence for insurance fraud, investigators gathered all the evidence they needed to charge Hinton with killing Shannon Melendi, even though her body has never been found. Hinton, who was convicted of killing Shannon, eventually confessed to a jailhouse informant that he did kill Shannon and incinerated her body, which explains why she was never found.
After the story, John Walsh sits down and briefly interviews Shannon Melendi's parents and talks with them about the next steps of the case.
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Danny Moran and Rebecca Braun (Break-Four Tease) - Virginia computer programmer wanted for kidnapping his daughter back in 1996. Thanks to an AMW tip, Danny Moran was captured during the summer of 2006, making him Capture #895. Rebecca Braun was recovered that same day, though for some odd reason AMW never marked her as a direct recovery.
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Lucian Kozminski (Full segment) - Ed Miller heads to Beverly Hills to feature perhaps the strangest case AMW has ever profiled. In the 60s and 70s, Lucian Kozminski told Holocaust survivors that he would be able to get them restitution from the Germany government for all the suffering they and their families suffered at the hands of the Nazis. However, it turns out that all Kozminski was doing was funneling the money into his own accounts. Kozminski himself was at one point in a concentration camp, but was released after he became a concentration camp guard. Kozminski was arrested in the 80s for bilking money from more than 3,000 people; he was convicted, sentenced and ordered to pay back all the people he scammed. But after his release in the early 90s, Kozminski died. Nobody thought of him again until 2000, when several people came forward saying that they had spotted Kozminski. One man even claimed to have followed Kozminski and discovered he wasn't even hiding his real name. A retired prosecutor investigated and discovered that Kozminski faked his own death. Because of his age, it was urgent to find Kozminski before he died for real. Still at large, and given his age at 88, it's likely that he could very well be dead by now.
Episode notes:
- This episode was filmed in Miami Beach.
- In the opening, John Walsh claims that the show would be profiling some of south Florida's most wanted fugitives in this episode. But other than Damar Pink and Mark Jackson, none of the cases that were profiled had any connection to Florida; Shawn Windsor was wanted out of Kentucky and caught in North Carolina, Shannon Melendi went missing from Georgia, Danny Moran was being sought out of Virginia and Lucian Kozminski was convicted in Beverly Hills.
- Because faking your own death isn't actually a crime, Kozminski wasn't being sought for any type of criminal case. Instead, AMW wanted to find him to pay back the Holocaust survivors he had scammed. As a result, he never had an actual profile page uploaded to amw.com.
Coming up on AMW:
October 2, 2004
- In the last episode of AMW before baseball playoffs, John Walsh hits the streets with the LAPD to help them find some of their most wanted fugitives.
- One fugitive John had his eye on while riding with officers was Mark Everett, a former child actor who turned to drugs after his acting career failed. His crimes soon escalated to murder after police say he beat his girlfriend to death, then took his own son on the run with him.
- In another good-to-bad story, a woman moved to Minnesota hoping to make changes to her life. However, she got mixed up with the wrong crowd and soon became involved in drugs and robberies. When she told her new "friends" that she'd had enough, they violently assaulted her and nearly killed her. All but one suspect, Matthew Glover, were caught.
October 22, 2004 (Murder in Jacksonville Special Edition)
- AMW briefly returns for a Friday night special edition during baseball playoffs to help solve the brutal murder of hotel desk clerk Helen Walker, who was killed during a botched robbery. For the first time in AMW history, John Walsh investigates the crime himself by speaking with detectives, visiting the crime scene and talking with Helen's family.
- When a police officer in Ukiah, California responded to a shoplifting call, he never imagined that it would change his life forever. What started off as a routine call ended with a life or death situation when the suspect's boyfriend shot the officer and was getting ready to shoot him again. Find out how the officer kept his cool and put an end to the violence.
- After AMW profiled accused rapist Donald Crosby, tips came pouring in on the suspect. Eventually officers located the rape suspect and cornered him in his house. In a half-hearted escape attempt, Crosby jumped out of a window to try and get away, but it didn't work; cops grabbed Crosby, AMW's 805th capture, without further incident.
November 6, 2004 (The Riverbed Rapist Special Edition)
- John Walsh plays the role of investigator as he travels to Los Angeles to learn the clues that will help police track down Arnulfo Vargas, the alleged Riverbed Rapist. Vargas is accused of picking up women from bus stops, driving them to the tunnels of the L.A. Riverbed and raping them.
- When a woman named Sarah met Gary Lasher, she thought he seemed like a sweet, charming man. But after they married and had a child together, Lasher revealed his true colors. She said Lasher raped her, and even videotaped at least one attack. But he didn't stop there; Lasher also molested one of his wife's female students and then kidnapped his mother-in-law, who fortunately escaped before Lasher could do any more harm to her.
- It may seem funny that a man named William Barefoot escaped from jail while barefoot. But according to police, there's nothing funny about the fugitive and what he's done; Barefoot is accused of shooting and trying to kill a police officer. Hear the clues from officers as they work to track down this dangerous criminal.
November 13, 2004
- John Walsh heads to the New Mexico desert to lend a hand to investigators in a brutal murder investigation; teenager Katie Sepich was found dead in the New Mexico desert. Police say she'd been raped and her body set on fire. Though there's no suspect, New Mexico police desperately want to question Juan Nieto, wanted out of Wisconsin for committing an eerily similar crime.
- It's been 14 years since a brutal crime changed Las Cruces, New Mexico, forever. Two men robbed a family-owned bowling alley back in 1990, and during the heist they shot seven people who were inside the alley, killing four of them, including three children. More than a decade later, police are still trying to find these two murderers.
- Five years after AMW first aired the case of the Butcher of South Beach, Dr. Reinaldo Silvestre is in custody. Silvestre, a plastic surgeon, had no formal training and horribly disfigured many of his patients. He fled before trial and relocated to Belize, where AMW tipsters tracked the Butcher down.
November 20, 2004 (Bad Girls Special Edition)
- John Walsh heads to Florida to put the white hot spotlight on the bad girls, including longtime fugitive Hazel Head. Known as a sweet-talking seductress, Head is accused of killing her boyfriend back in 1998. Despite having so many characteristics, Head has been able to elude authorities for five years.
- John also does an in-depth report on Ran Mesika, a man from Israel who was visiting America for a roadtrip. But along the way, Ran disappeared without any explanation. Ran's father, Shimon, came all the way to America to find out what happened to his son, and confronts the man police believe killed Ran.
- One of AMW's most notorious bad girls has been captured thanks to an AMW tipster. Desiree Lingo-Perkins spent four years on the run from a conspiracy to commit murder charge; police say she took part in a ransom kidnapping/murder, and without her, the plot would never have happened. Watch as Perkins tells an AMW camera crew why she's not a killer and explains the real reason she became a fugitive.
In all seriousness, I'm happy that the guide is coming along really well. September 2004 is a month that I would describe as "decent." A couple episodes (September 25) didn't do so well in my opinion, while others (September 11) were spot-on and led to the arrests of multiple fugitives. Overall, I can't complain too much about the choice of episodes AMW decided to air this month.
Now, the November 2004 episodes...well, we'll get to those next month, won't we? I'll also be reviewing the October 2004 episodes, since only two episodes aired that month.
Episode #778 - September 4, 2004 (Season 16 Finale)
Nashville Top Cop Feature (Full segment) - When a madman went on a crime spree in Nashville (shooting and killing one man and carjacking another, forcing him to be his getaway driver), it was up to Officer Robert Butler to stop him. During a police chase, the man who had been abducted was able to escape from the car, but the kidnapper then took a woman and her mother hostage. Officer Butler, using his rifle, was able to shoot the suspect in the brainstem, killing him immediately and saving the two hostages.
Genero Dorantes & Martha Patlan (Tacked-on profile) - John Walsh asks viewers to give Nashville police a hand by nabbing Genero Dorantes and Martha Patlan. The duo was on the run from murder charges, accused of torturing and killing Patlan's four-year-old son and abandoning his body in a park. In February 2006, Patlan surrendered to police in Mexico and gave up Dorantes' location. He was arrested without incident a couple weeks later.
Unknown Jill Behrman Killer & Kerry Silvers (Full segment) - During the previous week's profile of the unsolved murder of Jill Behrman, one viewer realized that, although he didn't have any information on Jill's murder, he could make a difference in the case. That's because the viewer was U.S. Marshal Jason Wojdillo, who immediately began using his resources to help track down Kerry Silvers, a prison escapee who may have been told sensitive information about Jill's murder. Silvers was captured in December 2004, and in 2006, a man named John Myer was arrested and charged with Jill's murder.
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Sam & Lindsey Porter (Full segment) - A woman from Independence, Missouri, comes to AMW to ask for help in locating her two children. The children, eight-year-old Sam and nine-year-old Lindsey, were kidnapped by their own father, Dan Porter. Porter, who was estranged from his wife and had even nearly attempted suicide in front of his wife, was arrested but refused to tell police and his ex-wife what happened to them. His story kept changing, including once saying they had a new home, another time saying he sold the kids to an Illinois woman for $6,000 and one time saying they were in a "happy place, like Disney World." In September 2007, police confirmed that two bodies found in a shallow grave in Missouri were in fact the children. Porter was soon charged with murder.
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Unknown Riverside Armored Car Killer (Full segment) - Ed Miller reports on the manhunt for an unknown robber who police believe struck in more than one state. The suspect first robbed a grocery store in Texas by pepper-spraying an armored car driver and stealing his money. At another grocery store in Riverside, California, police believe the suspect struck again. This time, the suspect shot and killed an armored car driver in the middle of the day at a Food 4 Less store. In 2006, a man named Ronald Hoffman was killed during a robbery attempt. Investigators soon discovered that Hoffman was in fact the man that killed the armored car driver in Riverside. However, the investigation also revealed that both the Riverside and Dallas robberies were committed by two different people.
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Jaime & Javier Borbon (All-Points Bulletin) - Two brothers wanted for kidnapping a man in California and holding him hostage in Mexico. When the ransom wasn't paid on time, Jaime and Javier Borbon brutally murdered the man and left his body in a park. Jaime Borbon was killed in Mexico back in 2001, but Javier Borbon is still at large. (NOTE: My inclusion of Jaime Borbon is not an error; see the notes for more information)
Richard Yang (All-Points Bulletin) - Wealthy restaurant owner wanted for killing his wife in Sikeston, Missouri, after she filed for divorce. After killing his wife, Yang made a 911 call where he confessed to killing her. Even after pleading guilty to killing his wife, a judge allowed Yang to be released from jail to "get his affairs in order." Yang was captured in Mexico in 2005, where I believe he was working at a Chinese restaurant.
Unknown Central City Kidnapper (All-Points Bulletin) - Police in Central City, Pennsylvania say they have new information about a kidnapping case from 1999. A 10-year-old child was abducted by the man and abandoned near the Pennsylvania/West Virginia border. In 2004, DNA linked the still-unknown suspect to an abduction case from Maryland in 1988. In 2019, 20 years after the Central City abduction, a man named Timothy David Nelson was charged in both cases.
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Robert Davidson (Break-Four Tease) - Wanted out of Wisconsin for sexually assaulting children. Still at large.
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Keeping Kids Safe Feature (Full segment) - John Walsh offers some tips for kids so they can stay safe from child predators as they walk to and from school. Among the tips are to not wear anything that identifies the child by name, use the buddy system, have a secret code word and, if all else fails, scream.
Episode notes:
- Although the show never says the name of the woman and her mother that were taken hostage in the Nashville Top Cop segment, if you listen closely you can hear the officer say the first and last name of the daughter. He only does it once though, which suggests to me that he said the name by accident, and probably didn't even realize he'd identified her.
- The week this episode aired, amw.com uploaded Jaime Borbon's death report and stated that he had been killed in Mexico back in 2001. However, despite being updated on the website, the show still aired him as if he were still a wanted fugitive.
- The kids' safety feature was meant to be viewed by the entire family, as evidenced by John Walsh's comment before the commercial break; "Stay tuned and make sure your kids are watching when we come back." I'm also pretty sure this was the predecessor to the 2006 recurring segment "Kids Safety Tips," which were sponsored by Walmart.
- Parts of the keeping kids safe feature can be found on YouTube; the actor who played the child predator uploaded some of the clips to his channel.
- During the fugitive recap, John Walsh calls Genero Dorantes the husband of Martha Patlan. However, earlier in the show he called Dorantes her boyfriend.
Episode #779 - September 11, 2004 (18th Season Premiere)
Jahbir & Alfonso Fowle (Full segment) - Days before Thanksgiving 2003, a man from Brooklyn went to pick up his daughter from her daycare center while his two other children, including eight-year-old Daeshawn "Dae-Dae" Hill, tagged along. At the same time, brothers Jahbir & Alfonso Fowle had just gotten into an argument with three rival gang members over who actually controlled the streets. Minutes later, the rival gang members returned with guns, and they got into a shootout with the Fowle brothers, who had guns of their own. The family ducked for cover, but Dae-Dae was shot by a stray bullet. His father took him into the closest building for help, but the boy died in his arms. Two of the rival gang members were nabbed, but the Fowle brothers got away. Jahbir Fowle was captured in Atlanta in March 2005, making him Capture #831, and Alfonso Fowle was captured a week later in the same place, making him Capture #832.
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Edward Raifsnider Capture & Unknown Ali Kemp Killer (Full segment) - Rick Segall reports that nationwide scam artist Edward Raifsnider has finally been captured, though not because of his profile on AMW in July; it was because the fugitive kept up his scams and oddly, didn't flee the state after he committed his latest scam. Segall interviews Raifsnider in jail where he not only asks the former fugitive about his crimes, but also about his possible connection to an unsolved murder AMW has been profiling since 2002; the murder of lifeguard Ali Kemp. Ali was killed on a rainy day while at work, and her body was discovered by her father. Investigators noted that the killer's sketch strongly resembled Raifsnider, who was believed to have committed crimes in Kansas and Missouri around the time of Ali's murder. He vehemently denied it was him, and took a DNA test to prove it. Sure enough, the DNA didn't match. However, the real killer, Benjamin Appleby, was located just two months later.
Larry Raifsnider (Tacked-on profile) - John Walsh asks viewers to be on the lookout for Edward Raifsnider's brother, Larry Raifsnider, who was wanted across the country for a variety of crimes. Among them, an Arkansas home invasion and kidnapping case where Larry Raifsnider threatened to kill a woman if he wasn't given a ransom. Larry Raifsnider was captured about two months later after he tried scamming a woman.
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Operation Black Biscuit Feature (Full segment) - Tom Morris tells the story of an unprecendented undercover operation known as "Black Biscuit." The ATF and Phoenix Police Department selected a group of investigators to infiltrate the Hell's Angels and find out about their illegal activities. Despite bragging that they would never be infiltrated, the undercover operation was successful, netting dozens of indictments against Hell's Angels members for a variety of crimes.
Paul Eischeid and Douglas Wistrom (Tacked-on profiles) - Though Operation Black Biscuit was successful, two Hell's Angels got away. One was Paul Eischeid, wanted for killing a woman who had allegedly been bad-mouthing the club. He was captured in Argentina in early 2011. Douglas Wistrom also got away; he was wanted on weapons charges. Wistrom was captured just about a month later when police went to a house he was believed to be living at. When officers knocked at the door, Wistrom casually answered himself.
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Stopping a Dirty Bomb Feature (Full segment) - Ed Miller visits with several law enforcement agencies and learns what they're doing to help prevent a dirty bomb explosion. The bomb itself isn't the danger; it's the radiation that would prove fatal. Miller attends a disaster training session where officers are taught how to use Geiger counters to help bring a dirty bomb under control.
Adnan El Shukrijumah (Tacked-on profile) - John Walsh asks viewers to help find Adnan El Shukrijumah, wanted by the FBI for allegedly plotting to build a dirty bomb and set it off somewhere in the country. El Shukrijumah was killed by special forces in Pakistan in 2014.
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Kevin Nolen (Break-Four Tease) - Illinois fugitive wanted for possessing and distributing child pornography. As a result of this broadcast, AMW got a tip that led to Nolen, making him Capture #808.
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Darryl Williams (Full segment) - Philadelphia fugitive wanted for killing a man and a woman during a botched robbery. The woman was shot after she refused to get in the trunk, while the man was killed because he was struggling. The woman, the daughter of a police officer, was killed in front of her grandmother's house. Williams' accomplice was caught, but Williams got away. After seeing himself on AMW, Williams contacted his attorney and he surrendered less than a week later, making him Capture #807.
Episode notes:
- This episode was filmed in New York City.
- As of 2014, every fugitive from this episode has been captured.
- Every fugitive is mentioned in the recap.
- In the reenactment, it's claimed that the argument that led to the Fowle brothers' shootout was over which gang actually controlled the streets. But during the interview with Dae-Dae Hill's father, he claims the shootout was over a $10 bag of weed.
- Edward Raifsnider's jailhouse interview is one of the most fascinating AMW has ever done. Raifsnider not only proudly confesses to all of his crimes, but also has zero remorse for what he's done. Rick Segall asked Raifsnider what he would say to his victims, and Raifsnider said, "Hey, I'm sorry that your path and my path crossed at the same time."
- Introducing the Operation Black Biscuit segment, John Walsh is standing outside the Manhattan headquarters of the Hell's Angels. While he's standing in the street and not on their actual property, I'm astounded that there wasn't a crowd of Hell's Angels in the background demanding John's head.
- A few years ago, I was watching a show on the History Channel where they talked about Operation Black Biscuit. The show included interviews with two of the undercover operatives (one of whom revealed his face and real name, while the other revealed his face but went by the name "Pops.") According to the show, almost all the arrested Hell's Angels had the charges dropped against them. I can't remember the reason why.
- The footage from Darryl Williams' reenactment is recycled from Natia Johnson's reenactment.
Episode #780 - September 18, 2004
Jeffery Manchester (Full segment, part one) - In North Carolina, Jeffery Manchester pulled off an elaborate robbery of a McDonald's; he scaled the roof of the building, cut a hole using power tools and hid inside the restaurant until the employees came in. When they did, he made them open the safe and made them hide in the freezer before fleeing. However, Manchester's freedom was short-lived, as he was nabbed by an officer who saw him acting oddly not far from the crime scene. During his interrogation, Manchester mentioned the Rooftop Robber, a longtime fugitive who would rob fast food restaurants by cutting holes in the roof and infiltrating the restaurant that way. Investigators weren't sure if Manchester was the Rooftop Robber or a copycat. Sentenced to 30 years in North Carolina for the McDonald's robberies, he eventually ended up in the Brown Creek Prison in early 2003. Investigators believe shortly after he arrived, Manchester began plotting his escape.
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Jeffery Manchester (Full segment, part two) - Shortly after he arrived at the Brown Creek Prison, Manchester began plotting his escape. First, he got a job in the prison's metal plant, which gave him close access to the prison's loading dock. Then then cut a piece of plywood that he could wedge underneath a delivery truck to help hide himself. In June 2004, Manchester was able to hide the plywood and a change of clothes under the truck. While getting off work, Manchester got into position and was able to hide himself so well that the prison guards at the checkpoint didn't even see him. Manchester fled the truck and was able to get a ride by hitchhiking. Ironically the man who gave Manchester his ride was a teacher at the prison, though he was not one of Manchester's teachers and didn't recognize him. Months after this profile, Manchester was indirectly captured. Manchester had been living inside a Toys R Us while a fugitive.
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Rick Segall has updates on two major cases AMW has been profiling thanks to great new tips provided by AMW viewers.
Jahbir & Alfonso Fowle (Hotline Update) - The hunt continues for Jahbir and Alfonso Fowle, brothers wanted for taking part in a shootout in Brooklyn that left an eight-year-old boy dead. During the previous week's show, nearly every tip that came in pointed to Atlanta, saying the brothers were hiding out there. This corroborated with information police had already developed. Segall and an AMW camera crew went to Atlanta to follow up on leads, and while they did find several people who confirmed the brothers were in town, including a cousin of the Fowle brothers, nobody could say exactly where they were hiding at that moment. Six months later, an AMW tip busted both the Fowle brothers in Atlanta, making them Capture #s 831 and 832.
Mikhail Drachev (Hotline Update) - AMW has new information to report in the case of Mikhail Drachev, wanted out of Phoenix for stabbing a police informant and setting him on fire. The victim later died. Following Drachev's profile in April 2004, not many tips came in on the fugitive. However, during the summer investigators discovered the probable reason for that; Drachev had drastically altered his appearance. Investigators found a photo of him taken in Canada showing Drachev with blonde hair and glasses. AMW stayed on the trail and nabbed Drachev in Canada in 2007 after receiving a tip from his own girlfriend, making him Capture #933.
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Rason Horton (Breaking news, approx. 2 minutes) - Detroit police were looking for Rason Horton in connection with two robbery cases. In one case, a gas station attendant shot was shot and killed by Horton. Later that day, Horton robbed another gas station and told the employees to "say thank you for me letting you live." As a result of this broadcast, Horton was tracked to New Mexico, where he was caught within days of the broadcast. Horton was Capture #806.
Unknown Sherlyn Fleming Killer (Full segment) - Ed Miller heads to Detroit to profile the unsolved murder of a recently-retired police officer. While Sherlyn Fleming was picking up her dry cleaning, a masked gunman walked in and demanded money from her. As a recently-retired officer, Sherlyn still had her service revolver, and pulled it out of her purse. The gunman panicked and shot at her three times, killing her. Still at large.
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Eric Watkins and Jason Richards (Break-Four Tease) - Wanted for killing a teenager and setting her body on fire. The duo was captured indirectly about a month after this profile.
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Brian Jones (Full segment) - After getting her car stranded, a woman in Las Vegas wandered the streets until Brian Jones offered her a ride. The woman accepted, but after Jones took her to his home, she noticed that he was acting really antsy. When she demanded he let her use a phone, Jones assaulted her, tied her to his bed and raped her for 18 hours. The next morning, as Jones took a shower, the victim escaped from his home and turned him in to police. However, Jones bonded out and disappeared. Police finally tracked him down to Thailand in 2006.
Episode notes:
- Just like the previous week's show, other than the unsolved murder of Sherlyn Fleming, every case in this episode has been solved.
- AMW filmed the reenactment of Jeffery Manchester around the time a large hurricane was set to hit North Carolina. Because of the storm, filming was cut short and AMW couldn't record everything they wanted to. As a result, producers asked the graphics team to go to work, and they were able to create facsimiles of Manchester's escape tools to help illustrate the recreation. I believe this is one of the first times the graphics team played a major role in illustrating an AMW reenactment.
- The victim in Brian Jones' case is one of the few victims to show her face without being blurred out or silhouetted. Interestingly, her extended interview on amw.com was blurred out, yet every interview that aired on Fox was uncensored.
- During the fugitive recap, I'm convinced that John Walsh calls Eric Watkins "Eric Watson." Also, when he says "Jason Richards," Eric Watkins' photo appears, and vice-versa.
Episode #781 - September 25, 2004
Shawn Windsor Capture (Full segment) - Rick Segall reports that AMW tips have led to the capture of one of Shawn Windsor, one of John Walsh's Dirty Dozen. Windsor was wanted out of Kentucky for bludgeoning and stabbing his wife and eight-year-old son to death. His downfall began when his car was found abandoned in Tennessee with the message "Car stolen, body in trunk" written in the car's dust. When officers opened the car, they discovered there was no body inside, though Windsor had attempted suicide. After seeing a local news broadcast, an AMW tipster contacted the hotline saying they knew Windsor was now living in North Carolina. The U.S. Marshals responded and arrested Windsor at his place of employment, making him Capture #801. Unbelievably, during his interrogation, Windsor initially claimed he didn't know his wife and son were dead (the way he said, "She left me man, that's all I know" is so cold, it's scary) and then claimed the deaths were part of a suicide pact.
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Damar Pink (Full segment) - John Turchin visits Lauderhill, Florida, to investigate a violent armed robbery at a family-owned grocery store. Three men ran in the store, armed with guns. One man ran to the grocery store's office, while the other two shot and killed the security guard, who happened to be working his first day on the job. Detective Glenn Bukata received the case, and immediately got to work. After releasing the surveillance footage of the robbery, he got a tip from a woman saying she knew two of the suspects; one of whom was her own son. Using a special tactic involving Super Glue, Bukata was able to identify the third suspect by fingerprints he left behind on a shopping cart. Two suspects were nabbed, but the third one, Damar Pink, was able to get away. Thanks to an AMW tipster, Pink was captured in Connecticut in early 2005, making him Capture #824.
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Mark Jackson (Full segment) - AMW investigator Joe Matthews travels to Fort Lauderdale to investigate a mysterious disappearance. Mark Jackson and his friend were seen going into Mark's apartment, but then he was never seen again. Mark, a marketing executive, was reported missing the next day. In his investigation, Matthews discovered that Mark was taking crystal meth and according to witnesses, he seemed depressed the night he disappeared. The man he was seen with, his boyfriend, had apparently broken up with him around the time of Mark's disappearance. One theory is that Mark, depressed, may have left his apartment trying to hook up with someone. Oddly, Mark's key to the apartment building was left inside his unit, which makes some believe he may have never left the building. Still missing
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Shannon Melendi Recovery (Full segment) - Ten years after 19-year-old Shannon Melendi disappeared, there are new developments in her case. The Emory University student vanished in 1994 after coaching a softball game at the country club. It was long believed that Colvin "Butch" Hinton, an umpire at the country club and a convicted sex offender, had something to do with Shannon's disappearance, especially since he was the last one seen with her. When police dug up his property, they found several items buried in his backyard that could have belonged to Shannon, but it couldn't be proven as hers. While Hinton was serving a nine-year sentence for insurance fraud, investigators gathered all the evidence they needed to charge Hinton with killing Shannon Melendi, even though her body has never been found. Hinton, who was convicted of killing Shannon, eventually confessed to a jailhouse informant that he did kill Shannon and incinerated her body, which explains why she was never found.
After the story, John Walsh sits down and briefly interviews Shannon Melendi's parents and talks with them about the next steps of the case.
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Danny Moran and Rebecca Braun (Break-Four Tease) - Virginia computer programmer wanted for kidnapping his daughter back in 1996. Thanks to an AMW tip, Danny Moran was captured during the summer of 2006, making him Capture #895. Rebecca Braun was recovered that same day, though for some odd reason AMW never marked her as a direct recovery.
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Lucian Kozminski (Full segment) - Ed Miller heads to Beverly Hills to feature perhaps the strangest case AMW has ever profiled. In the 60s and 70s, Lucian Kozminski told Holocaust survivors that he would be able to get them restitution from the Germany government for all the suffering they and their families suffered at the hands of the Nazis. However, it turns out that all Kozminski was doing was funneling the money into his own accounts. Kozminski himself was at one point in a concentration camp, but was released after he became a concentration camp guard. Kozminski was arrested in the 80s for bilking money from more than 3,000 people; he was convicted, sentenced and ordered to pay back all the people he scammed. But after his release in the early 90s, Kozminski died. Nobody thought of him again until 2000, when several people came forward saying that they had spotted Kozminski. One man even claimed to have followed Kozminski and discovered he wasn't even hiding his real name. A retired prosecutor investigated and discovered that Kozminski faked his own death. Because of his age, it was urgent to find Kozminski before he died for real. Still at large, and given his age at 88, it's likely that he could very well be dead by now.
Episode notes:
- This episode was filmed in Miami Beach.
- In the opening, John Walsh claims that the show would be profiling some of south Florida's most wanted fugitives in this episode. But other than Damar Pink and Mark Jackson, none of the cases that were profiled had any connection to Florida; Shawn Windsor was wanted out of Kentucky and caught in North Carolina, Shannon Melendi went missing from Georgia, Danny Moran was being sought out of Virginia and Lucian Kozminski was convicted in Beverly Hills.
- Because faking your own death isn't actually a crime, Kozminski wasn't being sought for any type of criminal case. Instead, AMW wanted to find him to pay back the Holocaust survivors he had scammed. As a result, he never had an actual profile page uploaded to amw.com.
Coming up on AMW:
October 2, 2004
- In the last episode of AMW before baseball playoffs, John Walsh hits the streets with the LAPD to help them find some of their most wanted fugitives.
- One fugitive John had his eye on while riding with officers was Mark Everett, a former child actor who turned to drugs after his acting career failed. His crimes soon escalated to murder after police say he beat his girlfriend to death, then took his own son on the run with him.
- In another good-to-bad story, a woman moved to Minnesota hoping to make changes to her life. However, she got mixed up with the wrong crowd and soon became involved in drugs and robberies. When she told her new "friends" that she'd had enough, they violently assaulted her and nearly killed her. All but one suspect, Matthew Glover, were caught.
October 22, 2004 (Murder in Jacksonville Special Edition)
- AMW briefly returns for a Friday night special edition during baseball playoffs to help solve the brutal murder of hotel desk clerk Helen Walker, who was killed during a botched robbery. For the first time in AMW history, John Walsh investigates the crime himself by speaking with detectives, visiting the crime scene and talking with Helen's family.
- When a police officer in Ukiah, California responded to a shoplifting call, he never imagined that it would change his life forever. What started off as a routine call ended with a life or death situation when the suspect's boyfriend shot the officer and was getting ready to shoot him again. Find out how the officer kept his cool and put an end to the violence.
- After AMW profiled accused rapist Donald Crosby, tips came pouring in on the suspect. Eventually officers located the rape suspect and cornered him in his house. In a half-hearted escape attempt, Crosby jumped out of a window to try and get away, but it didn't work; cops grabbed Crosby, AMW's 805th capture, without further incident.
November 6, 2004 (The Riverbed Rapist Special Edition)
- John Walsh plays the role of investigator as he travels to Los Angeles to learn the clues that will help police track down Arnulfo Vargas, the alleged Riverbed Rapist. Vargas is accused of picking up women from bus stops, driving them to the tunnels of the L.A. Riverbed and raping them.
- When a woman named Sarah met Gary Lasher, she thought he seemed like a sweet, charming man. But after they married and had a child together, Lasher revealed his true colors. She said Lasher raped her, and even videotaped at least one attack. But he didn't stop there; Lasher also molested one of his wife's female students and then kidnapped his mother-in-law, who fortunately escaped before Lasher could do any more harm to her.
- It may seem funny that a man named William Barefoot escaped from jail while barefoot. But according to police, there's nothing funny about the fugitive and what he's done; Barefoot is accused of shooting and trying to kill a police officer. Hear the clues from officers as they work to track down this dangerous criminal.
November 13, 2004
- John Walsh heads to the New Mexico desert to lend a hand to investigators in a brutal murder investigation; teenager Katie Sepich was found dead in the New Mexico desert. Police say she'd been raped and her body set on fire. Though there's no suspect, New Mexico police desperately want to question Juan Nieto, wanted out of Wisconsin for committing an eerily similar crime.
- It's been 14 years since a brutal crime changed Las Cruces, New Mexico, forever. Two men robbed a family-owned bowling alley back in 1990, and during the heist they shot seven people who were inside the alley, killing four of them, including three children. More than a decade later, police are still trying to find these two murderers.
- Five years after AMW first aired the case of the Butcher of South Beach, Dr. Reinaldo Silvestre is in custody. Silvestre, a plastic surgeon, had no formal training and horribly disfigured many of his patients. He fled before trial and relocated to Belize, where AMW tipsters tracked the Butcher down.
November 20, 2004 (Bad Girls Special Edition)
- John Walsh heads to Florida to put the white hot spotlight on the bad girls, including longtime fugitive Hazel Head. Known as a sweet-talking seductress, Head is accused of killing her boyfriend back in 1998. Despite having so many characteristics, Head has been able to elude authorities for five years.
- John also does an in-depth report on Ran Mesika, a man from Israel who was visiting America for a roadtrip. But along the way, Ran disappeared without any explanation. Ran's father, Shimon, came all the way to America to find out what happened to his son, and confronts the man police believe killed Ran.
- One of AMW's most notorious bad girls has been captured thanks to an AMW tipster. Desiree Lingo-Perkins spent four years on the run from a conspiracy to commit murder charge; police say she took part in a ransom kidnapping/murder, and without her, the plot would never have happened. Watch as Perkins tells an AMW camera crew why she's not a killer and explains the real reason she became a fugitive.