Not a pleasant Unsolved Mysteries experience - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

1990 UM fan · 01-15-2012, 10:17 AM

Ok, so I was searching through videos of Unsolved Mysteries that someone had up online and this person has alot of episodes mashed into many videos. I looked through one of them and someone was talking about a certain point in the video, so I went to that spot. Come to find out, it was the episode about the old man they found dead inside a steamer trunk (Jasper Watkins) and it showed his face and my heart almost jumped out of my chest. Yikes, talk about freaky. I normally keep the volume up and I scroll the page down to cover the video when that case is on, but I wasn't expecting it to show up on this person's uploads. That episode scares me more than any other episode, due to the fact they show the corpse and an eerie composite drawing of what he looked like before death. It's going to take awhile to get that visual out of my head.

SheRaaa · 01-15-2012, 05:00 PM

Yes, that is a horribly disturbing image. Unless you're totally prepared for it, it can really %&$# you up!

That poor man.....crimes against children, animals, and the elderly REALLY break my heart, and I remember being so sad when I first watched this case.

WishfulDreamer · 01-15-2012, 05:19 PM

I remember seeing it as a child and kind of looking away, but I don't remember how gruesome it was. I was kind of bothered by the mummified body in the John Wilkes Booth segment so I have no desire to see the steamer trunk one again. And yes, it is very sad. They did catch the woman (if you can even call her human) responsible, didn't they?

BritishJustice · 01-15-2012, 07:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WishfulDreamer

They did catch the woman (if you can even call her human) responsible, didn't they?

Yep! It was Nancy Jean Siegel who killed Jack Watkins.

ht tp://articles.baltimoresun.com/2009-03-17/news/0903160089_1_siegel-watkins-bank-fraud (correct "http")

1990 UM fan · 01-15-2012, 08:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SheRaaa

Yes, that is a horribly disturbing image. Unless you're totally prepared for it, it can really %&$# you up!

That poor man.....crimes against children, animals, and the elderly REALLY break my heart, and I remember being so sad when I first watched this case.

I feel the same way too. I noticed that after the shock of seeing it set in, that I was taken by a feeling of sadness and tears were beginning to well up afterwards.

1990 UM fan · 01-15-2012, 08:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WishfulDreamer

I remember seeing it as a child and kind of looking away, but I don't remember how gruesome it was. I was kind of bothered by the mummified body in the John Wilkes Booth segment so I have no desire to see the steamer trunk one again. And yes, it is very sad. They did catch the woman (if you can even call her human) responsible, didn't they?

Yeah, the mummified body in that segment scared me too. They charged Nancy Jean Siegel, a caretaker, with the man's murder and was sentenced to life in prison I believe.

TracyLynnS · 01-16-2012, 12:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SheRaaa

.....crimes against children, animals, and the elderly REALLY break my heart......(

Those are the ones I have a really hard time with, too.

People who prey on the weak, helpless, or vulnerable infuriate me.
Those cowards usually never pick on someone strong enough to put them in their place.

WishfulDreamer · 01-16-2012, 12:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TracyLynnS

Those are the ones I have a really hard time with, too.

People who prey on the weak, helpless, or vulnerable infuriate me.
Those cowards usually never pick on someone strong enough to put them in their place.

Usually when male murderers go to prison I hope that other inmates will dole out some punishment that the justice system won't. Same for this woman here. I forget, how did she kill him?

RobinW · 01-16-2012, 12:45 AM

It's been heavily debated around here whether UM should have shown that photo, but if it actually played a role in getting him identified, then I would say "yes". However, Jasper Wadkins was not identified until two years later, so I'm not sure if the UM segment or the photo played much part in getting the case get solved. I guess they could have used another photo of him lying peacefully in his casket, rather than one of him with a horrific death grimace on his face.

BTW, love the avatar, BritishJustice! Truly one of the biggest WTF moments in UM history.

1990 UM fan · 01-16-2012, 01:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WishfulDreamer

Usually when male murderers go to prison I hope that other inmates will dole out some punishment that the justice system won't. Same for this woman here. I forget, how did she kill him?

She drugged him with sleeping pills I think and bludgeoned him in the head with a blunt object, possibly a baseball bat or hammer but not sure that was ever disclosed.

1990 UM fan · 01-16-2012, 01:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RobinW

It's been heavily debated around here whether UM should have shown that photo, but if it actually played a role in getting him identified, then I would say "yes". However, Jasper Wadkins was not identified until two years later, so I'm not sure if the UM segment or the photo played much part in getting the case get solved. I guess they could have used another photo of him lying peacefully in his casket, rather than one of him with a horrific death grimace on his face.

I always thought since they entered his fingerprints into a database in 2003 and identified him that way (assuming they finally got CODIS or something in West Virginia then), that they didn't even need to show the morgue photo. I guess they were hoping someone would identify him beforehand, or maybe just to scare the bejesus out of us fans lol.

WishfulDreamer · 01-16-2012, 03:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1990 UM fan

She drugged him with sleeping pills I think and bludgeoned him in the head with a blunt object, possibly a baseball bat or hammer but not sure that was ever disclosed.

What a @@$$#! It's such a shame. She and Andelina Gonzalez should be forced to share a 9x9 cell

mystery_daisy · 01-16-2012, 03:41 AM

Richard's Rampage. Ugh. Every time I think about that case or see the segment I just get really uncomfortably creeped out and all stomach achy.

1990 UM fan · 01-16-2012, 04:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mystery_daisy

Richard's Rampage. Ugh. Every time I think about that case or see the segment I just get really uncomfortably creeped out and all stomach achy.

I think you might have the wrong thread. Try this one: http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/...d.php?t=137905

Hops3098 · 01-17-2012, 04:01 PM

I just realized that there were TWO completely steamer trunk cases featured on UM. I'd seen the "Gabby" steamer trunk episode several times, but until today, I'd never known about poor Mr. Wadkins.

I had always been under the impression that people were creeped out by the 3D rendering of the remains in Gabby's trunk, but now that I've seen what you've been talking about, it makes much more sense.

I was a little surprised that UM would show it, but unless I'm mistaken, they showed the autopsy photos of the Sumter County "couple" as well. Obviously, they were not as disturbing as Mr. Wadkins' photo, but I don't fault the producers of UM for showing any of these.

In UM's defense, in both cases, there were no other photos available of the unidentified deceased parties. Also, RS gives a fairly lengthy introduction before showing the photo in the Wadkins segment.

It's not pleasant, but I've watched many of the Unidentified Jane Doe clips (the ones I could possibly have known based on time/location) on the forbidden website. If I could give closure to one family missing a loved one, it would be worth all the discomfort involved.

01-15-2012, 10:17 AM	#1
1990 UM fan Unsolved Mysteries fanatic Senior Member Join Date: Jul 14, 2011 Location: United States Posts: 2,510	Not a pleasant Unsolved Mysteries experience Ok, so I was searching through videos of Unsolved Mysteries that someone had up online and this person has alot of episodes mashed into many videos. I looked through one of them and someone was talking about a certain point in the video, so I went to that spot. Come to find out, it was the episode about the old man they found dead inside a steamer trunk (Jasper Watkins) and it showed his face and my heart almost jumped out of my chest. Yikes, talk about freaky. I normally keep the volume up and I scroll the page down to cover the video when that case is on, but I wasn't expecting it to show up on this person's uploads. That episode scares me more than any other episode, due to the fact they show the corpse and an eerie composite drawing of what he looked like before death. It's going to take awhile to get that visual out of my head.

01-15-2012, 05:00 PM	#2
SheRaaa Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Dec 30, 2009 Posts: 421	Yes, that is a horribly disturbing image. Unless you're totally prepared for it, it can really %&$# you up! That poor man.....crimes against children, animals, and the elderly REALLY break my heart, and I remember being so sad when I first watched this case.

01-15-2012, 05:19 PM	#3
WishfulDreamer Member Forum 3000 Club Member Join Date: Jun 01, 2009 Location: L.A. Posts: 3,868	I remember seeing it as a child and kind of looking away, but I don't remember how gruesome it was. I was kind of bothered by the mummified body in the John Wilkes Booth segment so I have no desire to see the steamer trunk one again. And yes, it is very sad. They did catch the woman (if you can even call her human) responsible, didn't they?

01-16-2012, 12:45 AM	#9
RobinW Member Senior Member Join Date: Jul 14, 2010 Posts: 1,874	It's been heavily debated around here whether UM should have shown that photo, but if it actually played a role in getting him identified, then I would say "yes". However, Jasper Wadkins was not identified until two years later, so I'm not sure if the UM segment or the photo played much part in getting the case get solved. I guess they could have used another photo of him lying peacefully in his casket, rather than one of him with a horrific death grimace on his face. BTW, love the avatar, BritishJustice! Truly one of the biggest WTF moments in UM history.

01-16-2012, 03:41 AM	#13
mystery_daisy True Crime Buff Forum 3000 Club Member Join Date: Jun 14, 2006 Location: Galveston Bay Posts: 3,118	Richard's Rampage. Ugh. Every time I think about that case or see the segment I just get really uncomfortably creeped out and all stomach achy.

01-17-2012, 04:01 PM	#15
Hops3098 Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Nov 17, 2011 Location: Florida Posts: 275	I just realized that there were TWO completely steamer trunk cases featured on UM. I'd seen the "Gabby" steamer trunk episode several times, but until today, I'd never known about poor Mr. Wadkins. I had always been under the impression that people were creeped out by the 3D rendering of the remains in Gabby's trunk, but now that I've seen what you've been talking about, it makes much more sense. I was a little surprised that UM would show it, but unless I'm mistaken, they showed the autopsy photos of the Sumter County "couple" as well. Obviously, they were not as disturbing as Mr. Wadkins' photo, but I don't fault the producers of UM for showing any of these. In UM's defense, in both cases, there were no other photos available of the unidentified deceased parties. Also, RS gives a fairly lengthy introduction before showing the photo in the Wadkins segment. It's not pleasant, but I've watched many of the Unidentified Jane Doe clips (the ones I could possibly have known based on time/location) on the forbidden website. If I could give closure to one family missing a loved one, it would be worth all the discomfort involved.