Hello all.

I have been lurking for a while after finding this site to be the most well organized and participated of all the UM sites I came across. I have picked up a couple of the recently released DVD comps, Bizarre Murders, Strange Legends, Ghosts, and the Best of... However, they have only served to whet my appetite for review and discourse about the rest of the episodes.

One segment that I remember chilling me down to the bone was a segment I saw in the late 80's/early 90's, before they began filming on video I think, and has always stuck with me as being a case I imagined would be completely unsolvable. It was a story about a black church in the South that was holding some sort of meeting in the evening. I'm really hazy on the particulars like how many people or how it was found out what happened, but it turns out that someone was stalking the members at the church that night, had indeed cut the phone line, and then murdered the meeting attendees. I have never seen the case rebroadcast and was curious if anyone else remembers this one or if there are any updates.

I look forward to discussing the show with all of you: the spine-tingling frightening moments that made me run down the hallway to my bedroom for fear of running into an axe-wielding psycho murderer, the spooky ghost stories that had me awake and alert at almost any sound during the night, the often hilariously low budget sets and line strangling actors and actresses, the "yeah, right" stories, and the creepiest part of all: the composite sketches with the big eyes.

Who knows? Maybe I might just help solve a mystery...

This is the case of Harold and Thelma Swain who were murdered in the foyer of their church by whom police determined to be a vagrant. The murder took place on March 11, 1985. The murderer left behind only one clue, a pair of eyeglasses which were in dire need of repair.

The case remained unsolved for fifteen years although in 2000 police arrested a man named Dennis Perry for the murders of the Swains. Perry had long been a suspect in the murder, was convicted and given a life sentence.

Perry and his family to this day mantain he is innocent and there is no hard evidence that points to his involvement in this crime.

WHOA!!! You guys are like a crime library.

Thanks for that info. and I'm sure that this is the case but for some reason I thought there was a whole family in the church that night. I can remember thinking that there was no way at all that this case could be solved due to how random it appeared. I was only about 12 though, and if I remember correctly UM never mentioned that there was a strong suspect in the case.

Scariest thing about that whole segment for me was the shots from outside the church in the woods that were supposed to be from the killer's POV. The camera going up and snipping the phone line was that extra touch of spookiness.

I wouldn't say that I'm a crime library... I'm more like a crime magazine. I have knowledge, but not like some of the others on this board, who are like the Wikipedias of certain cases... :) I'm curious as to the professions of some on this board, as many certainly have a GREAT eye for detail....

I'm curious as to the professions of some on this board, as many certainly have a GREAT eye for detail....

First off nice to see you posting Corky! :)

Its funny you should mention that about people having an eye for detail cricci. I was just thinking about the little things that we seem to notice the more we watch these segments. I am always seeing actors/actresses who I have noticed before on numerous other UM segments. I was just watching the Reggie DePalma case that aired last week on LRW (he was finally recaptured btw) when I noticed that at one point during the interview with some of the girls he assaulted they play a very slow version of the theme of "Close Encounters of the Third Kind"...:eek:

Thanks for that info. and I'm sure that this is the case but for some reason I thought there was a whole family in the church that night.


Harold and Thelma were husband and wife. There were several other people at the church that night, but I don't believe any of them were related to the Swains. The Swains death was very tragic, but thankfully no one else was harmed.