I'm dying, I never lied!

[greatgarrett2]

Greetings,

I am wondering about a case I saw a long time ago, I'm pretty sure it was on UM where this guy named Ralph was being held in a motel room by agents of some sort. His last famous words to his wife were, "I'm dying, I never lied."

Then they killed him.

Any thoughts on that case and have their been any updates?

I think the guy's name was Ralph.

Cheers

[DarkDante]

This is the case of Ralph Sigler which is another case that has been missing from Lifetime's rotation (see "Group question" thread)

Ralph Sigler apparently worked for the US government in the 1960s during The Cold War. It is believed by some people that our government used Sigler as a liaison to infiltrate the KGB. He was found dead in his hotel room in what was ruled a suicide by electrocution. Prior to dying he made an urgent phone call like the one you described I believe to not his wife, but to a contact of some sort (could be wrong on this)

Sigler’s family believes he was murdered but nobody is sure by whom. If Sigler was in fact working for the US government it is possible his cover was blown and he was executed by the KGB. However, there is also the theory that Sigler might have been a double agent of some sort and was eliminated by our government because of that.

[greatgarrett2]

Thank you so much.....now it's all clear to me, so he WAS apparently working for the government?.........interesting

[crystaldawn]

There is also a book that outlines his story and three others. It looks very interesting and is titled "WIDOWS - 4 American Spies, the wives they Left Behind, and the KGB's Crippling of AMERICAN INTELLIGENCE". Here is a little about the Ralph Sigler portion of the book:

"Widows" reaches a stunning climax with the harrowing tale of Ralph Joseph Sigler, the FBI and Army intelligence's premier double agent for a decade. Things suddenly began to go terribly wrong, and Sigler was found dead in a Maryland hotel room. He had been electrocuted. Although the FBI called it suicide, it wasn't. "Widows" reveals how Sigler, code-named Graphic Image, really died -- and why. A full portrait of the behind-the-scenes battles that destroyed careers and derailed much of Western intelligence, this is an important, facinating, and disturbing book.

[unsolved88]

I don't remember the line, but I could swear I've seen a case on Lifetime about a man named Ralph Sigler. Are you sure Lifetime never showed this one?

[crystaldawn]

Yes it has been shown on Lifetime although I'm not sure how often.

[TracyLynnS]

Wow. They just showed this on spike. It's the first I ever remember hearing about it.

The first thing I noticed was the claim that he suicided, but his body was bruised and beaten, with broken teeth, scraped knuckles, and a broken nose. Seems like a weird way to kill yourself.

The second thing I noticed was that the method of carrying out the suicide was supposed to have been electrocution with a 110 lamp cord in a motel room. WTH? Is that the official coroner's ruling?

I've been zapped with 110 household current a few times. One time, I was applying wet wallpaper and the gooey paste got onto the outlet contacts and travelled up my wet arm. It was very unpleasant, but not burning and painful.

How the heck long would it take for someone to die from that kind of exposure? Seems like it would take long enough to induce noise and/or screaming, which would bring nosey people to find out what's going on. And depending on how updated the building's electrical work was, would have blown out the fuse or blown a circuit breaker.

It looks more like this guy was murdered elsewhere and was dumped back at the motel in a staged suicide scene. I wonder how he was able to call his wife with those last words. It's all very odd.

[justins5256]

I don't know much about electricity but didn't he have one hand in a glass of water when he plugged in that lamp? I've heard of people being killed when taking a bath and an electrical appliance (plugged in) falls into the tub full of water. Not sure if the same kind of thing applies here.

It certainly is an oddball way to commit suicide.

[TracyLynnS]

Yep, they showed him holding a glass of water, and then in theatrical style, the "jolt" of electricity knocked him and his chair over, which threw the glass of water out of his hand.

But from personal experience, having a dripping wet arm and two dripping wet hands holding up an 8 foot long strip of sopping wet wallpaper backed with wet paste, and a huge glob of that paste landing on the exposed wires of the outlet, (no face plate on it) it doesn't have the force to make a big dramatic scene like that.

I sure would love to have some real knowledge of what that kind of electricity can actually do in the type of situation where it's claimed to have been used in this supposed suicide.

[cmyweb]

Originally Posted by TracyLynnS

I sure would love to have some real knowledge of what that kind of electricity can actually do in the type of situation where it's claimed to have been used in this supposed suicide.

LOL...not planning on creating your own Unsolved Mystery I hope!

[TracyLynnS]

LOL @ my own real unsolved mystery!

After getting the weird tinglies I had from that 110 contact, electrocution does not seem like a pleasant way to go. If I have a choice, I'd rather snooze my way out.

Too bad my daughter just broke up with that electrician she was dating. I could have asked him a bunch of really awkward questions about how standard household electricity could be successfully manipulated to cause death. (Like he didn't already think I was creepy....)

[justins5256]

Not sure if it matters for the death scenario but I think household current is actually 120 VAC. Some outlets are 220. That would be for your washer/dryer, things of that nature. It's different in other countries though. Although he died in the US so we're still talking about American standards.

I too have been electrocuted by household current (it doesn't feel nice), but obviously lived to tell the tale.

Assuming he was murdered, one would assume that the killers would stage the suicide in a way that was realistic and could actually cause death. Otherwise, what's the point?

[TracyLynnS]

You know Justin, that's got me to thinking about hotel/motel air conditioner -heater units.

All of the motels I've stayed in and some of the hotels I've stayed in have heater/air conditioners with the standard 220 line exposed to the room, like an electric dryer line looking plug.

I'm sure if I wanted to dig around, and make a mess, I could find the 220 that's hardwired to some some hotel room a/c units. (Or maybe they're just plug ins, too, but they're hidden away more neatly than the motels? I never thought about it.)

If Ralph Sigler was smart enough to be a double/triple agent, why was he tinkering around with a glass of water and a lamp? Why not strip the insulation off the A/C lines, wrap up in them, and plug in? No need for the water glass (which seems unneccessary anyway) and I think has a much better chance of success than the teeny lamp wire.

[Big3sCompanyFan]

I don't think I've seen this segment. What group of stories does it appear with on Spike's UM?

[MegtheEgg86]

http://elpasotimes.typepad.com/.serv...q=ralph+sigler

A collection of archived articles about Ralph Sigler from the El Paso Times I found today. There's an article about the UM segment filming on the bottom of the page. Had no idea Ralph Sigler was a warrant officer, but I guess that makes sense.