I often wonder why Tim McClure's wife or siblings were never interviewed.

They probably refused?

Yeah, but why? What are they hiding, it makes me wonder.

Chad Noe's mother. Although her son admitted to ADMITTING in a drunken stupor that he committed the murders, so I guess he did enough damage.

no great mystery- the people wouldn't say what the show wanted them to say in support of the "mystery" aspect of whatever case was being discussed.

on the very first episode of Finding Bigfoot the gang was investigating a case where a Bigfoot ran across the road in front of a cop and a lady in Georgia. The lady who was a believer was interviewed extensively on the show. The cop was never heard from. A simple internet search revealed that the cop investigated and believed the incident was a hoax by teenagers who lived in a house at the site of the incident. The show never mentioned or refuted this but said the same nonsense seen on all later episodes: "we know that Bigfoots do this or that..." and "Obviously what you saw was a Bigfoot..."
My fave tho is "There's something on the hill..." Left unsaid -"but never is it a Bigfoot..."

Sometimes I wonder why certain non-guilty parties didn't want to be interviewed for segments (I could understand not wanting to be in the reenactments), most notably Tim McClure's wife, Debra Poe's friend (although it very well could be him in the reenactment), and Darvin Moon from the Paul Ferrell segment.

Yeah, but why? What are they hiding, it makes me wonder.

Haha, not sure if you realized this, but you were quoting Danny Wheeler there. :)

Anyways, in regards to Tim McClure's wife, somebody on here hilariously mentioned awhile back that Tim's wife didn't interview for the segment because she wasn't as good an interviewee as Tim was. :lol:

I'm sure some of these people were probably advised by their attorneys not to do an interview on UM in order to avoid potentially incriminating themselves. A prime example would be Ed Carter from the Bordello murders segment, who was guilty as sin, but being a police officer, knew it was probably a wise idea to have his lawyer do all the talking for him on UM.

But overall, UM did have a pretty high number of people suspected of crimes who were willing to talk on camera even though they often made themselves look worse. My favourite example is probably Jule Caylor, who apparently had his lawyer in the room telling the crew to stop filming because he kept saying stuff to make himself look bad.

Shelly Malone's boyfriend George and the couple who they were friends with come to mind. I know the boyfriend is guilty as hell, but why didn't Erica and Carter tell their side of the story? Were they in cahoots with George or were they in fear of him as to why they weren't interviewed? Lots of unanswered questions. Poor Shelly.

This may or may not apply to key people in certain cases, but one reason many interviewees never appeared in the segments is because of time constraints. Like a number of other posters here, after having spoken with some of the people with personal involvement in cases who were around for filming, I've heard that there were numerous times in which interviews were filmed but never actually made it to the final cut. Rhonda Hinson is a case that immediately comes to mind, as well as the Clarence Roberts segment.

With that being said, I think jjmcgr may also be onto something as well. If an interviewee was persistently detracting from the storyline UM wished to present (or otherwise not contributing anything particularly unique relative to the other featured interviewees), I could see why we never heard anything from a number of people we were curious about.

I did not know Jule stopped filming. Was there any notable cases where things like that happened, or where people pulled out before being interviewed?

I did not know Jule stopped filming. Was there any notable cases where things like that happened, or where people pulled out before being interviewed?

This story was shared by John Cosgrove during one of his DVD commentaries. What's funny is that Jule's lawyer apparently yelled "Cut!" after his line about things being "pretty good" since Dottie's disappeared, but that part ultimately did get left in the segment. I've always wondered if Jule said anything worse that didn't make the final cut.

On that same commentary track, Cosgrove also said there was another murder suspect interviewed on UM who rose from his seat after they were done filming and revealed that he had been concealing a gun during the entire interview. Sadly, he declined to name who this was.

On a related note, this one of the only cases I know of where UM filmed a segment, but decided not to air it because the missing woman’s ex-husband, who was the prime suspect (but declined to be interviewed on UM), threatened legal action against the show:
http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/d/davis_sharon.html

I remember reading that Jim Harrison acted in pretty bizarre ways during the filming of Susan Harrison's UM segment as well--so much so, in fact, that the producers were pretty sure he was probably guilty.

This story was shared by John Cosgrove during one of his DVD commentaries. What's funny is that Jule's lawyer apparently yelled "Cut!" after his line about things being "pretty good" since Dottie's disappeared, but that part ultimately did get left in the segment. I've always wondered if Jule said anything worse that didn't make the final cut.

On that same commentary track, Cosgrove also said there was another murder suspect interviewed on UM who rose from his seat after they were done filming and revealed that he had been concealing a gun during the entire interview. Sadly, he declined to name who this was.


My favorite story from that commentary track was how much trouble they had finding a spot to film the interview with Leonard Rizzo. Apparently, he had trashed the place prior to their arrival, bashing holes in the walls, etc. Although if I remember correctly, he wasn't actually living there anymore.

I always wondered why they didn't show a interview with the son in that segment.

Why Kathy Bonderson's husband wasn't interviewed? I mean obviously at the time he refused but you'd think that he should have done it.

I don't have any of the First Look DVDs, so I may have to get them just for the commentary alone. I didn't know Dottie Caylor's case was on those DVDs, or was it not and the incident with Jule simply mentioned in the commentary?

I always thought it was somewhat odd that Kathy Bonderson's son and husband weren't interviewed. Of course, we know now that Robert Bonderson killed his wife, so perhaps his attorney at the time told him not to appear. And I can't imagine the guilt the son must have felt knowing that his mother was out looking for him when she died because he knowingly broke curfew. IIRC, the re-enactment shows the son and his girlfriend in their car as his mother drives past them. Presumably, he saw nothing unusual about his mother or the car itself to warrant an UM interview.

Yes, any member of the family really.

I don't have any of the First Look DVDs, so I may have to get them just for the commentary alone. I didn't know Dottie Caylor's case was on those DVDs, or was it not and the incident with Jule simply mentioned in the commentary?

Dottie Caylor's case is not on the DVDs, but the incident is mentioned on the commentary track for the Monica Rizzo murder (a.k.a. "Backyard Bones") segment. Basically, John Cosgrove and the director are talking about Leonard Rizzo having his attorney present in the room to oversee his interview (as Hops3098 mentioned earlier, it was hard to find a spot to film inside the Rizzo home since Leonard had apparently punched a bunch of holes in the walls) and Cosgrove uses this as an opportunity to share the anecdote about Jule.

I always thought it was somewhat odd that Kathy Bonderson's son and husband weren't interviewed. Of course, we know now that Robert Bonderson killed his wife, so perhaps his attorney at the time told him not to appear. And I can't imagine the guilt the son must have felt knowing that his mother was out looking for him when she died because he knowingly broke curfew. IIRC, the re-enactment shows the son and his girlfriend in their car as his mother drives past them. Presumably, he saw nothing unusual about his mother or the car itself to warrant an UM interview.

Yes, it's weird that after being mentioned early in the segment, Rob and his son become a complete non-factor and aren't mentioned again. I have no idea if Rob was ever considered a suspect early in the investigation, but you have to assume that he wanted the original accident ruling to stand and did not appreciate UM doing a segment on his wife's death. Even though Rob committed suicide and is generally believed to be killer, it's frustrating that there's never really been any public info about the evidence against him or what his motive could have been.

Well I find it somewhat weird they would include bits of the interview such as the July Caylor thing, and then not have the segments on the dvd's. Some people won't know what was being discussed.

Good idea for a thread.

The first cases that come to mind were Pam Page and Kathy Bonderson's husbands. Both of who were no doubt top suspects and them not cooperating with the filming just made it look worse. Also Beverly Noe for the same reason.

I do think we need to realize that some people may have been interviewed and UM just left their part out in editing for whatever reason. I remember having a conversation with Sheila Kimmel where she mentioned that they did film footage of her husband (Lisa's father) going around putting up missing posters but I don't believe it made it to the final UM segment.

I've never watched the commentary on the Bizarre murder DVDs. I should've! Omg I cant picture Jules attorney screaming cut! after hearing Jules say life has been pretty good after she disappeared. Wow, that's pretty funny

One I always wondered about was Mary Gillespie.

I would guess that certain parties just decided not to, possibly out of fear of coming across poorly or possibly due to worries about litigation.

One I always wondered about was Mary Gillespie.

I would guess that certain parties just decided not to, possibly out of fear of coming across poorly or possibly due to worries about litigation.
The affair with the superintendent alone would probably be enough reason to make her not want to appear on camera.

The affair with the superintendent alone would probably be enough reason to make her not want to appear on camera.

I have talked at length of this case with Martin Yant. Mary has never appeared publicly to discuss the case. I assume the reason being (after reading of the case and having many of my questions answered) is because her story would fall apart under basic scrutiny. In fact, Unsolved Mysteries only received a letter from the Circleville Writer after a small group of people closely associated with the case (Mary, Paul, his ex wife, the Sheriff) were contacted to be interviewed.


You tell me.

I have talked at length of this case with Martin Yant. Mary has never appeared publicly to discuss the case. I assume the reason being (after reading of the case and having many of my questions answered) is because her story would fall apart under basic scrutiny. In fact, Unsolved Mysteries only received a letter from the Circleville Writer after a small group of people closely associated with the case (Mary, Paul, his ex wife, the Sheriff) were contacted to be interviewed.


You tell me.

Interesting.

That makes the theory of Mary and Paul's ex-wife writing letters all the more likely, IMO.

Don't assume 100% competence from the producers. I guarantee they left out prime material many times, in deference to cute lines or otherwise irrelevant info. Notice the things that earn so much attention here, like the Chicago Bulls line. Do you think the producers would dare leave that on the cutting room floor, if it was "competing" against a boring interview that actually added more to the understanding of the case?

This show provided very short summations of often complicated cases. That's why I didn't get emotionally involved in too many segments, as opposed to a few cases in which I knew I could apply logical probability, or evaluate info found elsewhere. The slant of the presentation can depend on which producer or which crew was assigned to gather and edit. Everyone has their own biases and naturally they attach. We think it's a great segment, full of all the most vital information, because it's the only version we're treated to. It reminds me of the simpleton idea that, "Everything works out for the best in life." Yeah, because we only see one path, the one we actually took, and humans are conditioned to be accepting and with rather low aspirations. Nobody wants to believe that 90% of the big picture decisions they made were wrong.

I was reading about the disappearance of Kristi Krebs. Question: Was the Ft. Bragg mentioned the Army base in North Carolina? That was 1993 right? There is another odd disappearance in the Carolinas. I wonder if it was ever on Unsolved Mysteries. In the Rock Hill, SC area in 1977 15 year old Eva DeBruhl disappeared from her house never to be seen again. It was in July. She had mowed the grass. Her mother came home from working in the mill and took a nap. Eva prepared a bath or shower and left a glass of tea sitting out. Her grandmother saw a white male on the porch dressed in green. The vehicle was possibly a green jeep with white top. Her father did mechanic work near the house in Catawba near Rock Hill. She had a brother who was killed a year or so before. He had been struck by a car. Eva was described as a very religious girl. The Cue Center in Wilmington, NC is still looking for her. She was a petite girl with long dark blond hair and blue eyes. She wore glasses. Some of my theories are: an ex-con still in green pants showed up with some automotive interest and noticed the girl. Another, Vacation Bible School took place during the summer. She may have been picked up by a man who attended church with her. I had come across old church books from the area. It gave me the idea that 2 other things were going on in the area: church softball and trips to Disneyland. Also, I wondered if her brother's fatal accident had a link to her disappearance. Anyone else familiar with these cases care to comment?

:( :( I was reading about the disappearance of Kristi Krebs. Question: Was the Ft. Bragg mentioned the Army base in North Carolina? That was 1993 right? There is another odd disappearance in the Carolinas. I wonder if it was ever on Unsolved Mysteries. In the Rock Hill, SC area in 1977 15 year old Eva DeBruhl disappeared from her house never to be seen again. It was in July. She had mowed the grass. Her mother came home from working in the mill and took a nap. Eva prepared a bath or shower and left a glass of tea sitting out. Her grandmother saw a white male on the porch dressed in green. The vehicle was possibly a green jeep with white top. Her father did mechanic work near the house in Catawba near Rock Hill. She had a brother who was killed a year or so before. He had been struck by a car. Eva was described as a very religious girl. The Cue Center in Wilmington, NC is still looking for her. She was a petite girl with long dark blond hair and blue eyes. She wore glasses. Some of my theories are: an ex-con still in green pants showed up with some automotive interest and noticed the girl. Another, Vacation Bible School took place during the summer. She may have been picked up by a man who attended church with her. I had come across old church books from the area. It gave me the idea that 2 other things were going on in the area: church softball and trips to Disneyland. Also, I wondered if her brother's fatal accident had a link to her disappearance. Anyone else familiar with these cases care to comment?

I was reading about the disappearance of Kristi Krebs. Question: Was the Ft. Bragg mentioned the Army base in North Carolina? That was 1993 right? There is another odd disappearance in the Carolinas. I wonder if it was ever on Unsolved Mysteries. In the Rock Hill, SC area in 1977 15 year old Eva DeBruhl disappeared from her house never to be seen again. It was in July. She had mowed the grass. Her mother came home from working in the mill and took a nap. Eva prepared a bath or shower and left a glass of tea sitting out. Her grandmother saw a white male on the porch dressed in green. The vehicle was possibly a green jeep with white top. Her father did mechanic work near the house in Catawba near Rock Hill. She had a brother who was killed a year or so before. He had been struck by a car. Eva was described as a very religious girl. The Cue Center in Wilmington, NC is still looking for her. She was a petite girl with long dark blond hair and blue eyes. She wore glasses. Some of my theories are: an ex-con still in green pants showed up with some automotive interest and noticed the girl. Another, Vacation Bible School took place during the summer. She may have been picked up by a man who attended church with her. I had come across old church books from the area. It gave me the idea that 2 other things were going on in the area: church softball and trips to Disneyland. Also, I wondered if her brother's fatal accident had a link to her disappearance. Anyone else familiar with these cases care to comment?
I have read about this case. http://www.charleyproject.org/cases/d/debruhl_eva.html

I don't think the accident has any relation. I think someone preyed on her after spotting her mowing the lawn or elsewhere in the neighborhood and tried to entice her to come out through the screen door. The church theory is a good one, Coneflower.

They probably refused?

Either that or their interviews were no good and they went for those which made good TV!

I do think we need to realize that some people may have been interviewed and UM just left their part out in editing for whatever reason. I remember having a conversation with Sheila Kimmel where she mentioned that they did film footage of her husband (Lisa's father) going around putting up missing posters but I don't believe it made it to the final UM segment.

The girl who played Rhonda Hinson, she posted here a few years back and also mentioned a few reenactment scenes (and most likely some more interview notes) that were filmed but never made it to the final airing.

Timing had to always be a complicated issue for the editors of UM. They had to squeeze 4 segments and usually an update and sometimes a special alert into a one hour block between several commercial breaks. Naturally, plenty of footage was going to land on the cutting room floor. And it couldn't be easy to cram much information in one segment. Before Tammy Leppert's segment first aired, her mother was quoted in an article saying that Tammy's story was impossible to tell in just 12 minutes.

Then when UM went into syndication, Lifetime cut out portions of tons of segments and continued to air them that way for about a decade, when new fans of the show, who wouldn't have been old enough to enjoy the NBC years, started to watch and became hooked. The biggest example here being the Cindy James segment. Lifetime cut out five minutes worth of footage that featured some reenactments, mentioned the inquest and possibility of her having multiple personalities, some more words from her father and even a recording of her with the police after one of her attacks. All of this was cut to make room for more commercials.