Courtesy of RobinW, I read this article (https://variety.com/2020/tv/news/netflixs-next-unsolved-mysteries-updates-ghosts-1234703225/) on Variety with Terri Dunn Meuer and it said this:

What’s the old case that you think is going to crack soon?

There was a young man who committed suicide in a church in Idaho. He’s a John Doe — he’s been a John Doe for 30 years. And the investigator in this police department of relatively new investigators decided he wanted to try and solve this case. My understanding is he went to the file, which was in a box, and the only thing that was in the box — the only information in the box — was a VHS copy of “Unsolved Mysteries.” He reached out to us and said, “Do you have anything? Do you have the note this man left behind? Do you have any of the details from the case?” And we actually had it, which was surprising to me after all these years. We gave him the information we had, and this investigator has been working on it. He just recently, in the last couple of weeks, reached out and said, “I think that we might have figured out who this man is.”

:eek: Now this would be awesome, if true. Hopefully knowing who he is can bring closure to a family and maybe solve this mystery.

Also, "great job" by the original investigators... :rolleyes:

My understanding is he went to the file, which was in a box, and the only thing that was in the box — the only information in the box — was a VHS copy of “Unsolved Mysteries.”

This sounds like something straight out of a sitcom if true. They didn't keep the note, the buckle, or any other information about the case? :rolleyes:

This sounds like something straight out of a sitcom if true. They didn't keep the note, the buckle, or any other information about the case? :rolleyes:

Not uncommon for stuff to go "missing". The buckle, etc. could have been buried with him even.

I was looking into this a month or so ago? And there's someone with the last name of Toomey who resembles the sketch so I'm curious to see if when this IS solved, if the doe didn't give his real name after all in the note.

This would be great news if it was solved.

Though I still find the omission of the Toomey case from UM on Amazon to be inexplicable.

That article linked at the top (https://variety.com/2020/tv/news/netflixs-next-unsolved-mysteries-updates-ghosts-1234703225/) was great!! It is so cool for us UM junkies to be getting stuff like this now. There have been a lot of lean years that we’ve had to endure in regards to news about the show. I truly love seeing all this new interest thanks to the Netflix reboot.

Though I still find the omission of the Toomey case from UM on Amazon to be inexplicable.

They might have left it off because they didn't hear back from the folks handling the case at the time. The case wasn't posted on doe network until late 2019, so they might not have had a way to verify independently that he was still unidentified before the episodes were put together for Amazon.

Really looking forward to this if there truly is an update to be had. This case has been an intriguing one for years.

Though I still find the omission of the Toomey case from UM on Amazon to be inexplicable.

Seriously. If there was ever a case that should be able for people to view easily, this would be it. :rolleyes:

So where is the promised update on this case? I am waiting patiently!

Also, "great job" by the original investigators... :rolleyes:

You can just imagine...the minute the police concluded there were no suspicious circumstances about his death; straight into the "too hard" basket it goes.

You can just imagine...the minute the police concluded there were no suspicious circumstances about his death; straight into the "too hard" basket it goes.

The original investigators determined that "William Toomey" was the name of a company that manufactured priest and nun garb/clothing. They also traced his belt buckle to a specific shop in Phoenix, Arizona. The problem was that Toomey was definitely not from Idaho (his suntan and the belt buckle suggests the south west), and that his fingerprints did not match anything. And no one came forward to identify him. I'm not sure exactly what more the police could have done.

The original investigators determined that "William Toomey" was the name of a company that manufactured priest and nun garb/clothing. They also traced his belt buckle to a specific shop in Phoenix, Arizona. The problem was that Toomey was definitely not from Idaho (his suntan and the belt buckle suggests the south west), and that his fingerprints did not match anything. And no one came forward to identify him. I'm not sure exactly what more the police could have done.

The reference to the original investigators was all about the lack of records they kept. From the OP:

And the investigator in this police department of relatively new investigators decided he wanted to try and solve this case. My understanding is he went to the file, which was in a box, and the only thing that was in the box — the only information in the box — was a VHS copy of “Unsolved Mysteries.” He reached out to us and said, “Do you have anything? Do you have the note this man left behind? Do you have any of the details from the case?”

If the only thing the in the file of an unsolved suicide that the police investigated is a VHS tape of a TV show, that's a huge problem. Somebody either didn't document anything and/or someone threw out the records to an open case. Either way, that's not good and reflects poorly on the police department.

Also, you can't conclude the the suicide victim is "definitely not from Idaho" based on a suntan and belt buckle. Maybe he wintered in Phoenix, maybe he vacationed there, maybe he grew up there and moved to Idaho. But in any case, to say he is definitely not from Idaho can only be assumed and not verified. It feels like they just assumed he was from out of town and then stopped looking anymore.

It's obvious they investigated this and it may have been difficult to solve. But again, where are the records and files from the investigation?

The reference to the original investigators was all about the lack of records they kept. From the OP:

Record keeping was terrible. But, IMO, the investigators tracking down his belt buckle to one shop in the Phoenix area shows that they didn't just brush this aside.

If the only thing the in the file of an unsolved suicide that the police investigated is a VHS tape of a TV show, that's a huge problem. Somebody either didn't document anything and/or someone threw out the records to an open case. Either way, that's not good and reflects poorly on the police department.

Seems to me that the records would have been destroyed. They recounted evidence they collected in a story written about Father Ryan's murder 20+ years after the fact.

Also, you can't conclude the the suicide victim is "definitely not from Idaho" based on a suntan and belt buckle. Maybe he wintered in Phoenix, maybe he vacationed there, maybe he grew up there and moved to Idaho. But in any case, to say he is definitely not from Idaho can only be assumed and not verified. It feels like they just assumed he was from out of town and then stopped looking anymore.

It was December in Idaho...he had a suntan. The guy's buckle and bolo tie were traced to the southwest. I mean it's pretty apparent that if no one in the town came forward to identify this guy, the odds that he is not from the area are fairly high. Not one person saw this man at a gas station, church, etc.

It's obvious they investigated this and it may have been difficult to solve. But again, where are the records and files from the investigation?

Probably destroyed by an inept new staff that took over after the original investigation.

I scoured over the DOE Network and Charley Project websites trying to find any "match" for Toomey, and found absolutely nothing. I checked virtually every state in the country with the exception of the Northeast. Then I wondered if the man was possibly Canadian, which could explain why no one has come forward after all of these years.

Interestingly enough, I found a man who disappeared in March of 1982 along with his wife, named James Robinson (http://charleyproject.org/case/james-ezra-robinson). A house he was taking care of had burned to the ground 3 months prior to his and his wife's disappearance. They were scheduled to take polygraphs shortly before they disappeared in relation to the arson investigation. Blood was found in the house they were living in, as well as their abandoned vehicle. Saddles and jewelry were taken from the residence. The reason this case sticks out to me is that Robinson looks like the only known picture of Toomey, and the circumstances leading up to Robinson's disappearance. He and his wife were the suspects in an arson investigation and were due to take polygraphs before their disappearance. I know this is wild speculation here, but if he and/or his wife were guilty for the arson, and his wife was going to confess to the police during her polygraph, if an argument ensued resulting in him killing his wife and then fleeing the area (with jewelry and other items to sell), disposing of his wife's body, I could see how this would ultimately end with him showing up at a church (to confess) before ending his own life.

I guess what I'm getting at is that the police may have been too focused on tying his death with the murder/s of Catholic priests, and that he could have been someone involved in another still unsolved homicide. The only problem is that there is no record of anyone being reported missing from around that timeframe that 100% matches up with Toomey.

I scoured over the DOE Network and Charley Project websites trying to find any "match" for Toomey, and found absolutely nothing. I checked virtually every state in the country with the exception of the Northeast. Then I wondered if the man was possibly Canadian, which could explain why no one has come forward after all of these years.

Interestingly enough, I found a man who disappeared in March of 1982 along with his wife, named James Robinson (http://charleyproject.org/case/james-ezra-robinson). A house he was taking care of had burned to the ground 3 months prior to his and his wife's disappearance. They were scheduled to take polygraphs shortly before they disappeared in relation to the arson investigation. Blood was found in the house they were living in, as well as their abandoned vehicle. Saddles and jewelry were taken from the residence. The reason this case sticks out to me is that Robinson looks like the only known picture of Toomey, and the circumstances leading up to Robinson's disappearance. He and his wife were the suspects in an arson investigation and were due to take polygraphs before their disappearance. I know this is wild speculation here, but if he and/or his wife were guilty for the arson, and his wife was going to confess to the police during her polygraph, if an argument ensued resulting in him killing his wife and then fleeing the area (with jewelry and other items to sell), disposing of his wife's body, I could see how this would ultimately end with him showing up at a church (to confess) before ending his own life.

I guess what I'm getting at is that the police may have been too focused on tying his death with the murder/s of Catholic priests, and that he could have been someone involved in another still unsolved homicide. The only problem is that there is no record of anyone being reported missing from around that timeframe that 100% matches up with Toomey.

Definitely differences in their nose and chin structures but the eyes and rest of his face are very close. Robinson disappeared from Washoe Valley, which is less than 7 hours from Boise. Only problem is there is a 9 month gap between his disappearance and Toomey’s death.

My birthday is the same day (not year) of Toomey’s death, so it always felt eerie to hear Robert Stack give the day of these events at the beginning of the segment.

Definitely differences in their nose and chin structures but the eyes and rest of his face are very close. Robinson disappeared from Washoe Valley, which is less than 7 hours from Boise. Only problem is there is a 9 month gap between his disappearance and Toomey’s death.

My birthday is the same day (not year) of Toomey’s death, so it always felt eerie to hear Robert Stack give the day of these events at the beginning of the segment.

I think it's unlikely that Robinson is Toomey. However, I think Toomey may be someone "on the run" after disappearing for a fairly innocuous reason who then spiraled out of control and did something to cause them to commit suicide. I think the investigators were too focused on the potential religious angle.

To my knowledge, they still don't know who he is but there is speculation he was involved in the murder of Father Reynaldo Rivera a few months earlier in New Mexico, which was also featured on Unsolved Mysteries. I think there may be a connection.

I do not believe he had anything to do with the murders of Father Ryan or Father Kerrigan, but I do believe he was a deeply religious man who was going to confess to something to a Catholic priest, but didn't realize how quickly the cyanide would take effect. I also do not believe Toomey was a priest. I'm not sure if the note was read in its entirety on the UM segment, but I did forget that it was typewritten (https://nihilobstat.info/2019/05/19/the-suicide-of-wm-l-toomey-and-the-murders-of-fr-ryan-and-fr-ben/):

In the event of my death, the enclosed currency should give more than adequate compensation for my funeral or disposal of my remains (prefer to be cremated) expenditures. What is left over, please take this as a contribution to this church. God will see to your honesty in this.

Seems like a odd choice of wording to say, "in the event of my death". It also makes me wonder if the "sin" he was in line waiting to confess was his eventual suicide (which is a big no-no in Catholicism).

I do not believe he had anything to do with the murders of Father Ryan or Father Kerrigan, but I do believe he was a deeply religious man who was going to confess to something to a Catholic priest, but didn't realize how quickly the cyanide would take effect.

Clearly he couldn't have killed Father Kerrigan since Kerrigan disappeared 2 years after Toomey's suicide.

I truly don't think Toomey was involved in Father Rivera's murder. There was work that went into committing that crime. The killer had to call for a priest in the middle of the night, wait somewhere in the darkness for him to arrive, abduct him, kill him and dump his body. That's a lot of work to kill someone who wasn't even a specific target. (The victim just had to be a priest.) My gut feeling is that a person who could do all that is not going to be capable of feeling remorse. And it is believed that something had to be weighing heavy on Toomey's heart, what with him taking his life inside a church. I could be wrong but the two just don't mesh in my mind.

Clearly he couldn't have killed Father Kerrigan since Kerrigan disappeared 2 years after Toomey's suicide.

I always get Kerrigan (featured on UM) and Father Ryan (who wasn't featured on UM, but was implied to have potentially been another murder victim of Toomey) confused.

I truly don't think Toomey was involved in Father Rivera's murder. There was work that went into committing that crime. The killer had to call for a priest in the middle of the night, wait somewhere in the darkness for him to arrive, abduct him, kill him and dump his body. That's a lot of work to kill someone who wasn't even a specific target. (The victim just had to be a priest.) My gut feeling is that a person who could do all that is not going to be capable of feeling remorse. And it is believed that something had to be weighing heavy on Toomey's heart, what with him taking his life inside a church. I could be wrong but the two just don't mesh in my mind.

I agree.

I went back and checked every missing person from the year of 1982 on Charley Project. The problem with trying to match up someone to Toomey is that we really have no way of knowing whether or not anyone ever reported him missing.

I am dying to see the Toomey segment. Never could find it. I wonder if it will be uploaded if they ever solve it.

I went back and checked every missing person from the year of 1982 on Charley Project. The problem with trying to match up someone to Toomey is that we really have no way of knowing whether or not anyone ever reported him missing.

Or that they reported him missing in 1982. He could've been "last seen" by someone in 1970 for all we know. Or not reported missing until 1985, etc. There's a lot of grey area, unfortunately. Genetic genealogy will, likely, be the only way this gets solved.

Or that they reported him missing in 1982. He could've been "last seen" by someone in 1970 for all we know. Or not reported missing until 1985, etc. There's a lot of grey area, unfortunately. Genetic genealogy will, likely, be the only way this gets solved.

...and I'm guessing that the church would rather respect the man's wish for anonymity as opposed to disinterring his body. Also, I'm sure that there truly is no legal grounds to allow for this to happen, anyhow, as no crime was committed (that we know of). Mr. Bill To Me will be left with his anonymity unless this gets solved in some other fashion.

Also, I'm sure that there truly is no legal grounds to allow for this to happen, anyhow, as no crime was committed (that we know of).

Not necessarily, if someone is willing to pay the expense of disinterring and reinterring and can convince a judge to sign off on it, it can happen. It's just finding the money to do it.

I'm not big on digging people up (https://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?t=213683&page=4) when the only reason would be to say find some lost heir, but in this situation there is slightly more of a compelling reason to identify an unknown person.

in this situation there is slightly more of a compelling reason to identify an unknown person.

The only reason I can see is to satisfy human curiosity. Not compelling enough, unless the judge was familiar with the story and let his or her curiosity outweigh the logical choice to leave Toomey be.

In the unlikely event that the unknown man was eventually tied to criminal activity, one would think that said activities would have to be quite severe in nature to warrant exhumation.

Would the church have any say in this matter? While it still remains to be known what their feeling would be, wouldn't their collective opinion at least be given an audience in the matter if Toomey still had nobody else to speak up for him? Who knows how they would feel now, so many years later, and likely with most of the original people involved no longer around. A "regime change" at the church could obviously bring about a different set of beliefs as to what they'd like to see happen.

Does anyone know where it would be possible to see this segment?

Does anyone know where it would be possible to see this segment?

I am wondering the same. Can anyone tell me the season/episode?

I am wondering the same. Can anyone tell me the season/episode?

It's not on the Film Rise segments. It used to be easy to find online just a few months ago, but I couldn't find it anywhere recently.

https://www.ktvb.com/article/news/local/boise-idaho-church-cyanide-william-toomey/277-568299b6-8749-4359-ba98-3027815b39e4

RobinW was interviewed for this piece. Some interesting new theories. One in particular has Toomey as the person responsible for the Tylenol Murders.

To me it seems like a stretch that he could've been responsible for the Tylenol murders just because he ingested cyanide.

To me it seems like a stretch that he could've been responsible for the Tylenol murders just because he ingested cyanide.

I agree.

Compare the picture of the best known suspect, James W. Lewis, to a still image taken from one of the victims buying the laced Tylenol from a Walgreens.

https://www.buggedspace.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/james-lewis-.jpg

http://cache.boston.com/bonzai-fba/Globe_Photo/2009/02/06/James-W.-Lewis-1__1233952948_7286.jpg

The man lingering in the background is a dead ringer for Lewis, who had apparently left the Chicago area just 25 days before the first murder. He could have theoretically tampered with the products prior to fleeing to New York City.

Does anyone have access to this case?

Does anyone have access to this case?

I can't find it now, but it wouldn't surprise me if it didn't pop up in the next few days.

Does anyone know if the Boise PD is still looking at this? In the age of IGG, I'm a little surprised that they haven't sought to exhume his remains to try and get a workable DNA profile. This would seem like the most straightforward way to solve the case. Thankfully, he was not cremated so this would still be a possibility.

I'm thinking about the 'Christmas Tree Lady Doe (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_of_Joyce_Meyer_Sommers)' suicide from 1996 that was also solved using IGG and identified as Joyce Meyer Sommers.