UM Promo Question

[MegtheEgg86]

I can't place this man. Does anyone know who he (and his daughter) are?

http://www.retrojunk.com/commercial/...lved-mysteries

There's also a pretty good promo for the November 16, 1988 episode on there, as well as a super short one featuring the Judy Groezinger segment.

[wiseguy182]

I don't know, I'm at work and can't view the commerical right now, but I'm guessing that part where it says it's from 1980 is false.

[DarkDante]

Wow good little mystery you have there MegEgg.

But I believe I have solved it. The premiere date (10/5/88) whittles your search down to the seven specials that aired prior to the first season's debut in October of 1988. In addition to the reference to the show's premiere on the advert, in cross-referencing the UM wiki I was able to determine that the date given of October 5th is the only time that a given season of UM premiered on that date.

So anyhow as I mentioned we can narrow the search down to the seven specials which aired prior to the proper episodic premiere of the show. If you recall the second special aired (5/25/87) featured a case of serial killer Robert Weeks who was suspected in the murders of two of his former girlfriends along with his ex-wife. One of the victims was named Carol Ann Riley and it's safe to assume this is her father John whom appears in this promo.

A rare find as none of the family members of any of Weeks' victims were featured as part of the original UM segment as aired as part of Special #2.

Edit: Just thinking back a bit on the case. From the information given on the update segment on the case along with my own research one of the interesting facts as it pertains to Weeks and Carol Ann Riley is that he was never actually convicted of her murder. I'm not even sure if he was brought up on charges related to her disappearance although many contemporary news articles reported at the time that he was suspected in her death.

The thing with Weeks is that is it believed that due to his past as a miner he had access to a lot of remote locations that would've been unknown to the general public and likely disposed of the bodies of his victims in abandoned mine shafts or caverns. So the fact that he was actually convicted of the deaths of Patricia Weeks and Cynthia Jabour to me always spoke of just an incredibly strong case against this man and I have little doubt that he murdered all three women.

Also of interest is allegedly Weeks had a fourth victim, a business partner named Jim Shaw who mysteriously vanished in 1971 after being seen by acquaintances arguing with Weeks. Like Weeks' other victims Shaw's car was later found abandoned amidst traces of blood on the vehicle. Shaw's disappearance was never profiled on UM likely due to the fact that UM chose to profile Weeks solely as a predator whom preyed upon women. To my knowledge Weeks was also never brought up on charges in relation to the disappearance of Jim Shaw.

[wiseguy182]

Wow, interesting tidbit about Jim Shaw there Dante! I had never heard of that before. I think I found his Doe Network entry, is this him?

http://doenetwork.org/cases/3404dmnv.html

[MegtheEgg86]

Originally Posted by wiseguy182

Wow, interesting tidbit about Jim Shaw there Dante! I had never heard of that before. I think I found his Doe Network entry, is this him?

http://doenetwork.org/cases/3404dmnv.html

I noticed Jim Shaw was last seen just off Desert Inn Road and Maryland Parkway. I remember the intersection of the two as being the last place Kathy Hobbs was seen in 1987. Must have been just as busy in 1971.

DarkDante, thanks for the digging. I think you're probably correct. It's the only thing that makes sense given the information provided.

[wiseguy182]

wow. mind = blown

[DarkDante]

Originally Posted by MegtheEgg86

I noticed Jim Shaw was last seen just off Desert Inn Road and Maryland Parkway. I remember the intersection of the two as being the last place Kathy Hobbs was seen in 1987. Must have been just as busy in 1971.

DarkDante, thanks for the digging. I think you're probably correct. It's the only thing that makes sense given the information provided.

I personally feel that Weeks was involved in the disappearance of Jim Shaw as well. According to one of the articles I dug up, Shaw had purchased a limousine service from Weeks and I believe the UM profile mentioned that one of Weeks' many occupations was that of a limousine driver. So it somewhat ties in.

The interesting thing though is in the Doe Network profile that Wiseguy posted it noted that Shaw mentioned to his son prior to his disappearance "told his son to “be careful” on account that he had seen “prowlers” earlier."

I'm not saying this in any way exonerates or eliminates Weeks as it pertains to his disappearance but it is interesting we have this potential other angle in looking at this case.