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00:00On this episode of Expedition Files, Meriwether Lewis lives a life of acclaim as one of America's greatest explorers leading
00:11the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
00:14When he dies by apparent suicide, many are in disbelief, wondering if it was in fact murder.
00:24Now, we share the tragic truth.
00:28Then, in 1961, leader of the United Nations Dag Hammarskjöld is on a peace mission to a war zone when
00:36his plane mysteriously crashes.
00:39The official account says this was an accident, but recently uncovered evidence suggests something much more sinister.
00:49And New York Supreme Court Judge Joseph Crater is riding high as the toast of 1930s Manhattan.
00:57But then, suddenly disappears forever.
01:01A century later, long hidden evidence suggests the true fate of the person once known as the missingest man in
01:09New York.
01:12In the corridors of time
01:16are mysteries that defy explanation.
01:21Now, I'm traveling through history itself
01:27on a search for the truth.
01:31New evidence.
01:34Shocking answers.
01:37I'm Josh Gates.
01:39And these
01:43are my Expedition Files.
01:50Colonel Mustard, in the study, with the candlestick.
01:54Who doesn't love the board game Clue?
01:56There's nothing more satisfying than solving a clear-cut case of whodunit.
02:00But once you're outside of the world's most dangerous mansion, solving whodunits is sadly far from simple.
02:07But tonight, we'll try to play the real-world blame game anyway,
02:11rolling the dice to work out who's responsible in three historic murder mysteries.
02:16Hopefully, it won't be Miss Scarlet.
02:18She's my favorite.
02:20We begin in 1809, in the dead of night, outside a Tennessee roadside inn.
02:26The wilderness is quiet, but then, the calm is broken by the desperate calls of a dying man.
02:33Help!
02:34Water, please!
02:36This is Meriwether Lewis, famed explorer from the Lewis and Clark Expedition,
02:41and he's just been shot.
02:43Was he robbed?
02:44Assassinated?
02:45Or are his two gunshot wounds self-inflicted?
02:48He struggles back inside his cabin, where he'll soon succumb to his fate.
02:53And with no witnesses and no arrests,
02:56conspiracy theories surrounding his death will linger for over 200 years.
03:01That is, until 2025,
03:03when a research team claims they've definitively explained the mysterious death of one of America's great heroes.
03:20Growing up on his stepfather's estate in rural Georgia,
03:24Meriwether Lewis spends his early years not in school,
03:28but instead mastering the skills of an outdoorsman,
03:31fostering a lifelong love of natural history.
03:37In 1795, at the age of 21, he joins the army.
03:41It's here that he first meets and forges a bond with his future partner, William Clark.
03:47The two men serve together on the western frontier.
03:51Lewis rises to the rank of captain before leaving the army in 1801.
03:56At age 27, he becomes Thomas Jefferson's personal secretary,
04:01working directly with Jefferson on military intelligence.
04:05We'll be back as far as...
04:08Jefferson has set his sights on expanding U.S. territory to the Pacific.
04:13In 1803, he completes the Louisiana Purchase,
04:17acquiring French-controlled land for $15 million,
04:20a bargain that nearly doubles the nation's size.
04:24To explore the vast, uncharted western territory,
04:28Jefferson selects Lewis to lead the expedition.
04:31I will.
04:34Lewis's mission is nothing short of monumental.
04:38Chart a route from St. Louis to the west coast,
04:41forge alliances with native tribes,
04:43make detailed maps,
04:44and document unknown flora and fauna.
04:47No big deal.
04:52Knowing he can't do it alone,
04:54Lewis turns to an old army comrade,
04:56William Clark, to share command.
04:58Together, they form the Corps of Discovery,
05:01with a mission to traverse nearly 4,000 miles
05:04of rivers, plains, and mountains,
05:07currently blank spaces on American maps.
05:14Lewis and Clark, along with a party of more than 40,
05:18depart St. Louis in 1804,
05:20beginning an epic trek to the Pacific coast and back again.
05:28The journey is harrowing,
05:30but the group soldiers on,
05:32surviving in no small part
05:34due to their Native American guide, Sacagawea,
05:37who manages the first part of the journey pregnant,
05:40and the rest with a baby on her chest.
05:43Along the way,
05:44Lewis and Clark carefully document their discoveries.
05:46They return with scientific samples and detailed maps
05:50that transform America's understanding of the Western frontier.
05:56Lewis is appointed governor of the newly explored Louisiana Territory.
06:01But the position comes with serious challenges,
06:05and in accepting it,
06:07Lewis also inherits a bitter enemy.
06:10That's because to make Lewis governor,
06:12Jefferson has to fire the man currently in the post,
06:15James Wilkinson.
06:18Now responsible for almost a million square miles of land,
06:23Meriwether Lewis faces a challenging undertaking
06:25that pushes him to his limits.
06:28It turns out governing the untamed Louisiana Territory
06:31is far more difficult than exploring it.
06:36Supplying the growing outposts with horses and equipment
06:39requires large sums of money,
06:42much of it advanced personally by Lewis.
06:45The expenses quickly add up,
06:47and he accumulates significant debts
06:49while serving as governor.
06:52Lewis seeks reimbursement from the federal government.
06:55But by this time,
06:57Thomas Jefferson has left office.
06:59The new president, James Madison,
07:01is less responsive,
07:02and payment is delayed.
07:05This sends Lewis into a spiral of depression and anger,
07:09worsened by what many describe as a heavy drinking problem.
07:14How am I supposed to be governor
07:15if I get money from the government?
07:18I can't do this.
07:21I can't do this.
07:25In September of 1809,
07:28the disgruntled Lewis feels that he has no choice
07:31but to travel back to Washington
07:33to try to recover the money he believes he's owed.
07:36It's a journey which he won't survive.
07:41Lewis travels over 300 miles on horseback,
07:45arriving at the inn known as Grindr's Stand in Tennessee a month later.
07:50That night, he asks for his dinner
07:52to be brought to the cabin where he's staying alone.
07:55Once he's finished,
07:56he heads to bed without incident.
08:02But then, during the night,
08:04innkeeper Priscilla Grindr is awoken
08:06by the sounds of two gunshots
08:08emanating from Lewis's room.
08:11But she's too terrified to investigate.
08:15At first light,
08:16a servant and Mrs. Grindr
08:17go to check on Lewis,
08:19only to find him fatally wounded
08:21by two bullets,
08:22one to his head
08:23and one to his body.
08:25He dies soon after.
08:30On October 20th,
08:31a Nashville paper breaks the news
08:33of Lewis's suicide.
08:35He's buried not far from Grindr's Stand.
08:38But hold on.
08:39We're in the era of single-shot flintlock guns.
08:42So how does one man manage to shoot himself twice?
08:46Plus, an examination of Lewis's body
08:48reveals cuts on his neck, arm, and leg.
08:52Could those be defense wounds?
08:54And there's more.
08:55Supposedly, some of Lewis's money is missing.
08:58Add to all of this
08:59the fact that Grindr's Stand
09:00sits in the heart of bandit country,
09:02and locals start to say
09:04that his death has all the hallmarks
09:06of a robbery gone wrong.
09:09In 1848,
09:11the state of Tennessee
09:12exhumes Lewis's grave
09:13in order to rebury him
09:15alongside an official monument.
09:18As part of this process,
09:19they do a medical examination,
09:21something that didn't take place
09:23immediately after his death.
09:25A local doctor reportedly noted
09:28that one gunshot wound
09:29appeared to be in the back of his head,
09:31an unlikely scenario for suicide.
09:34The exam concluded it was,
09:36quote,
09:37more probable that he died
09:38at the hands of an assassin.
09:41But who would have wanted to kill him?
09:43Some speculate it was a robbery.
09:46He died along a route
09:47that was notorious at the time
09:49for bandit attacks.
09:57Others point to James Wilkinson,
09:59the disgruntled former governor
10:01Lewis had replaced,
10:02whom Lewis had allegedly exposed
10:05in illegal land deals
10:06in St. Louis.
10:09What is clear is this.
10:12Meriwether Lewis had enemies,
10:14and some had reason
10:15to want him dead,
10:16leading some to believe
10:18that Lewis's death
10:19was not a suicide at all,
10:21but a calculated act of revenge.
10:31Nearly 40 years
10:32after Meriwether Lewis's death,
10:34a medical examination
10:35raises suspicions
10:37that he may have been murdered
10:38rather than died by suicide.
10:41But no suspects
10:42are ever investigated.
10:43Today, Lewis's body
10:45remains uninvestigated
10:47by modern forensics.
10:49Academics instead
10:50turn to the historical record
10:51in search of answers.
10:53In 2021,
10:54physician David Peck
10:56and his wife,
10:56clinical psychologist Marty Peck,
10:58publish a new book,
11:00Reinvestigating the Case.
11:03Death of Meriwether Lewis
11:05is highly controversial.
11:07Was he murdered by somebody
11:10or robbed and murdered?
11:11In our book,
11:12I create a psychological profile
11:15of Lewis's personality.
11:18Essentially,
11:20Meriwether Lewis
11:20had a genetic predisposition
11:23to depression.
11:24Only three years
11:26after the expedition ended,
11:28Lewis descended into
11:30a pit of depression
11:33and despair
11:34because things really
11:36shifted overnight
11:39with the change
11:40of presidential administrations
11:42and with his appointment
11:43and with his appointment
11:44as governor.
11:44And then,
11:45with the bottom dropping out
11:47of none of his efforts
11:49being supported,
11:50that just drove him
11:52further downward.
11:54After considering
11:56all of the theories
11:56that are put forth
11:57about Lewis's death,
11:58we think that the evidence
12:00is absolutely overwhelming
12:01that he committed suicide.
12:04But what about the 1848
12:06medical report
12:07that concluded
12:08Lewis was likely assassinated,
12:10referencing a gunshot wound
12:11to the back of his head?
12:14That finding may be flawed.
12:17By modern standards,
12:18the exam is considered unreliable
12:20because the remains
12:21were severely decomposed,
12:23making it impossible
12:24to determine soft tissue damage
12:26or the bullet's exact entry angles.
12:29There are also other
12:31plausible explanations
12:32for the so-called
12:33defense wounds.
12:35Lewis had just ridden
12:36nearly 300 miles
12:37through the wilderness,
12:38leaving him exhausted
12:40and possibly injured.
12:41Or the cuts found
12:43on his body
12:43could have been self-harm.
12:45So perhaps Lewis
12:47really did kill himself,
12:49botching the first shot
12:50by grazing his head,
12:51then finishing the job
12:53with a shot to the body.
12:56Experts that I consulted,
12:57forensic pathologists,
12:59vascular trauma surgeons,
13:01all said that they're
13:02not even surprised
13:03that Lewis survived
13:05those wounds for two hours.
13:08Meriwether Lewis was traveling
13:09with a brace of two pistols,
13:11which would account
13:11for the two shots.
13:16He would have simply
13:17held the gun up
13:18to his chest like this
13:19and pulled the trigger
13:20and or shot himself
13:21in the head
13:21in the same manner.
13:22It's not something
13:23that would be difficult to do.
13:28The PECs point to a document
13:30that may further prove
13:32their case
13:32that Meriwether Lewis
13:33committed suicide.
13:35Lewis's will,
13:36written right before he died.
13:39En route to Fort Pickering,
13:43he wrote a will,
13:46a second will,
13:48because his first will,
13:49apparently,
13:50William Clark
13:51was his executor.
13:53But writing a will
13:56like that
13:57very shortly
13:58before
13:59one would die
14:01is not something
14:02that would be considered
14:04a typical thing to do
14:07unless
14:07on some level
14:09a person
14:10was considering
14:11killing themselves.
14:13In that second will,
14:15Lewis replaced Clark
14:16and left his estate
14:18to his mother,
14:19an unexpected decision
14:20that adds to the mystery
14:22of his final days.
14:24I think
14:25the end
14:26for Meriwether Lewis
14:27came when it did
14:28in part because
14:29he was by himself
14:30and his best friend
14:32in life,
14:33William Clark,
14:33wasn't there for him.
14:34And he was on his way
14:36back to Washington
14:36to face a hostile
14:38political environment.
14:40And he also had
14:41returned to drinking.
14:42And I think
14:43that the effects
14:44of that
14:45was too much for him.
14:46And I think
14:47the opportunity
14:48to kill himself
14:49presented itself
14:49and the demons
14:51knocked on his door
14:52and Meriwether Lewis
14:53answered the door.
14:56When William Clark
14:57found out
14:58about Lewis's death,
14:59he lamented,
15:00I fear the weight
15:01of his mind
15:02has overcome him.
15:03The Pecks
15:04believe Clark's
15:05instincts were right
15:06and that
15:06Meriwether Lewis
15:07committed suicide.
15:08But let's remind
15:10ourselves
15:10this is still
15:11just a theory.
15:12No one saw
15:13Lewis get shot
15:14or do the shooting.
15:15While the cause
15:16of Meriwether Lewis'
15:18death may be in doubt,
15:19the cause of his life
15:20isn't.
15:21Lewis was devoted
15:22to his country
15:23and without his bravery
15:25and selflessness,
15:26we may never
15:27have come to know
15:27the United States
15:28of America
15:29as we do today.
15:35It's September 17th,
15:371961.
15:39It's just before 4pm.
15:40I'm in the Republic
15:42of the Congo
15:42in Africa
15:43as a Douglas DC-6
15:45readies for takeoff.
15:46It's waiting
15:47for this man
15:48who's embarking
15:49on a secret mission.
15:51His name is
15:52Dag Hammershjold,
15:53the Swedish
15:54Secretary General
15:55of the United Nations.
15:56He is the most
15:57powerful diplomat
15:58on Earth
15:59and right now
16:00he's racing
16:01to stop a civil war
16:02from tearing
16:03the Congo apart.
16:04But with billions
16:05in resources
16:06and Cold War interests
16:08at stake,
16:09powerful forces
16:10are betting against him.
16:11And in just a few hours,
16:13this plane will crash
16:15and Hammershjold
16:16will be dead.
16:17Authorities will blame
16:18pilot error,
16:19but was it really
16:21an accident
16:21or an ambush
16:22in the skies?
16:23Strap in.
16:24We're heading
16:25for some serious turbulence.
16:36In 1953,
16:39Swedish diplomat
16:40Dag Hammershjold
16:41becomes the UN's
16:42second Secretary General.
16:44Hammershjold brings
16:46charisma,
16:46idealism,
16:47and practicality
16:48to the role,
16:49believing the organization
16:50can hold
16:51a divided world together.
16:54In Africa,
16:56he faces
16:56his greatest test
16:57and his most
16:58dangerous mission.
17:02After decades
17:03of Belgian rule,
17:05the Congo
17:05gains independence
17:06in 1960,
17:08but quickly
17:09begins to fall apart
17:10as foreign powers
17:11compete for its
17:12mineral wealth.
17:13Its richest province,
17:15Katanga,
17:16tries to break away,
17:17with Belgium
17:18accused of supporting
17:19the split.
17:21Hammershjold sees this
17:22as a threat
17:23to the country's
17:24survival
17:24and moves
17:25to keep the Congo
17:26united.
17:27But the UN mission
17:29grows increasingly
17:30controversial.
17:31By September 1961,
17:34fighting escalates,
17:35civilians are caught
17:36in the crossfire,
17:37and tensions rise
17:38with Western governments
17:39over how the situation
17:41is being handled.
17:43Determined to stop
17:44the crisis,
17:45Hammershjold secretly
17:46arranges a meeting
17:47with Katangan leader
17:48Moisa Chambay
17:49in British-controlled
17:50northern Rhodesia
17:51on September 18th.
17:55On the afternoon
17:56of September 17th,
17:58he boards a DC-6
18:00named Albertina
18:01with a crew of seven
18:02and eight UN aides
18:04and security personnel,
18:05led by 36-year-old
18:07American Sergeant
18:08Harold Julian.
18:10But they will never
18:12arrive at their destination.
18:18Here are the facts.
18:21Shortly after midnight
18:22on September 18th,
18:24Hammershjold's plane,
18:25the Albertina,
18:26crashes in Congo's
18:27neighboring nation
18:28of Rhodesia,
18:29roughly nine miles
18:31from the Andola
18:32airport runway.
18:34Fifteen hours later,
18:35search and rescue teams
18:37finally reach the crash site
18:38around 3 p.m.
18:41Of the 16 people aboard,
18:4315 are already dead,
18:45including Dag Hammershjold.
18:51Amazingly,
18:52one man survives.
18:53Security officer
18:54Harold Julian
18:55is badly burned
18:57and barely breathing.
19:01According to the accounts
19:02of the first responders,
19:04Dag Hammershjold
19:05lies just beyond
19:06the fuselage,
19:07on his back,
19:08clothes intact,
19:10oddly untouched by fire.
19:12The rest of the victims
19:13are charred
19:14almost beyond recognition.
19:17News of the tragedy
19:18shocks the world.
19:20Dag Hammershjold
19:21is mourned
19:21for his leadership
19:22and his belief
19:23that diplomacy
19:24could heal
19:25a broken world.
19:26I know that I'm speaking
19:28for all
19:28of my fellow Americans
19:31expressing our
19:32deep sense of shock
19:33and loss
19:35in the untimely death
19:36of the Secretary General
19:37of the United Nations,
19:38Mr. Dag Hammershjold.
19:40After Hammershjold's death,
19:41violence in Katanga
19:43escalates,
19:44forcing the UN
19:44to launch
19:45one of its largest
19:46military operations,
19:48made up of international troops
19:49from member nations.
19:51Thousands move in,
19:52but it takes nearly
19:53a year and a half
19:54of heavy fighting
19:55to end the secession.
19:58Dag's UN mission
19:59to prevent civil war
20:00in the Congo
20:01ultimately succeeds,
20:03but he loses his life
20:04in the process.
20:06And many wonder
20:07whether his death
20:08was truly an accident
20:10or a deliberate attempt
20:11to stop peacekeeping efforts.
20:15In the immediate aftermath
20:16of the crash,
20:17the government
20:18of northern Rhodesia
20:19launches an inquiry.
20:20Their conclusion?
20:22Pilot error.
20:23According to the official version,
20:25the crew of the Albertina
20:26navigating without radar
20:27in darkness
20:28toward an unfamiliar airstrip
20:30simply misjudged
20:31their altitude.
20:32The plane clipped trees,
20:34broke apart,
20:35and crashed.
20:36So, case closed?
20:37Not so fast.
20:40That's because
20:41the sole survivor
20:42of the crash
20:42tells a different story
20:44and it could blow
20:45the pilot error theory
20:47wide open.
20:53Dag Hammerschold's
20:54plane crash
20:55is originally dismissed
20:56as an accident
20:57caused by pilot error,
20:59but one eyewitness's account
21:00calls that into question.
21:03Against all odds,
21:05lone survivor,
21:06UN security officer,
21:08Harold Julian,
21:09has made it out of the crash
21:10and lies in a hospital bed,
21:12badly burned
21:13and gravely injured.
21:15In brief moments
21:16of consciousness,
21:18Harold describes
21:18the plane exploding midair.
21:21Quote,
21:21a lot of small explosions
21:23around,
21:24he says.
21:24But if the crash
21:26was simply the result
21:27of navigational error,
21:28why were there explosions
21:30before impact?
21:31He clings to life
21:33for five days
21:34before succumbing
21:35to his injuries
21:36at Andola Hospital
21:37on September 23rd.
21:39In their final report,
21:41Rhodesian authorities
21:42dismiss his testimony
21:43as the confused ramblings
21:45of a dying man.
21:47Officials also hear
21:49from local witnesses
21:50who claim
21:51a second,
21:52smaller plane
21:53was flying above
21:54Hammerschold's aircraft
21:55as it circled
21:56Andola Airport
21:57that night.
21:58Several report
22:00loud explosions
22:01and say the Albertina
22:02burst into flames
22:03before crashing,
22:05raising the possibility
22:06that the plane
22:07was shot down.
22:09Perhaps strangest of all,
22:10despite hundreds
22:11of photos taken
22:12at the crash site,
22:13the only images
22:15show him already
22:16laid out on a stretcher.
22:18Why was his body
22:19moved before
22:20he was photographed?
22:22And in one photo,
22:24some believe
22:24an ace of spades
22:25playing card
22:26can be seen
22:27tucked into Dag's collar,
22:29interpreted as a
22:30death card
22:31or a calling card
22:32from an assassin.
22:34In 1962,
22:36the UN launches
22:37its own investigation.
22:39Using evidence
22:40collected for
22:40the Rhodesian report,
22:42the UN investigators
22:43call out the sloppy
22:44search and rescue operation.
22:46Why, they ask,
22:47did it take 15 hours
22:49to locate a fiery
22:50plane crash
22:51only nine miles
22:52from the airport?
22:53But the UN commission
22:55fails to find
22:56any evidence
22:57of sabotage
22:58or attack,
22:58saying the possible
23:00scenarios for the crash
23:01include pilot error
23:03and mechanical malfunction.
23:04It's a conclusion
23:06that doesn't exactly
23:07inspire confidence,
23:08but it's the final
23:09official word
23:10on the crash
23:11for half a century.
23:13Over the years,
23:14countless conspiracy
23:15theories swirl.
23:17Fingers are pointed
23:18in all directions.
23:19The Soviets,
23:21the British,
23:22South Africa,
23:23even the US
23:24is suspected
23:25of orchestrating
23:26the crash.
23:27All these nations
23:29had a stake
23:29in the Congo
23:30in the early 1960s,
23:32but for the next
23:32four decades,
23:34no evidence emerges
23:35to prove any of them
23:36are responsible.
23:37Then, in the 2000s,
23:39a group of independent
23:40researchers uncover
23:42recently declassified
23:43documents
23:44and speak
23:45to newly found witnesses.
23:46These findings
23:47push the United Nations
23:49to finally take action.
23:50At the center
23:51of this unraveling mystery
23:53is journalist
23:54Ravi Somaya,
23:55who has spent years
23:56chasing the story
23:57for his book
23:58The Golden Thread.
24:00In the 2010s,
24:01the UN itself
24:02reopened the inquiry
24:03and it's unearthed
24:04significant new details.
24:06One of the things
24:07the United Nations
24:07discovered is that
24:09America had a plane
24:10parked near
24:12Andola Airfield,
24:13but this plane
24:14was a mobile relay station
24:15for picking up signals
24:17and transmitting them
24:18to NSA
24:19and other listening stations
24:20around the world.
24:22So, unbeknownst
24:23to the UN at the time,
24:25the U.S.
24:25had a spy plane
24:26on the ground
24:27in Andola,
24:28tasked with intercepting
24:30foreign aircraft
24:30communication,
24:31possibly even
24:32Hammerschultz.
24:33One of the reasons
24:35America has been
24:36keeping a lot of secrets
24:37is it doesn't want
24:38to admit that it was
24:39spying on the
24:39United Nations.
24:40You're not really
24:41supposed to do that.
24:42Now, decades later,
24:44former American
24:45intelligence officers
24:46have stepped forward
24:47to reveal for the
24:48first time
24:49what that spy plane
24:50may have overheard
24:51that fateful night.
24:52On the night
24:53that Hammercultz's
24:54plane went down,
24:55there was an operative
24:57for the NSA
24:58called Charles Southall
24:59who was stationed
25:00in Cyprus.
25:01He heard radio
25:02communications
25:03which suggested
25:03a second plane
25:04was in the sky
25:05and targeting
25:06the Albertina.
25:07And then he said
25:07he heard the sound
25:08of gunfire
25:09and then someone
25:10said,
25:10I've hit it,
25:11it's going down
25:12effectively.
25:14A second plane
25:15in the air.
25:16So,
25:16who was flying it?
25:17In 1961,
25:19surely there weren't
25:20a lot of planes
25:21in rural Africa
25:22capable of taking
25:23down a DC-6.
25:25But it turns out
25:26one side of the conflict
25:28had exactly that.
25:29The Katanganese forces
25:31who were determined
25:32to keep their
25:33mineral-rich region
25:34away from the
25:35newly independent
25:36Congo nation
25:37and directly opposing
25:38UN efforts
25:39to reunify the country.
25:43Their jet,
25:44known as a
25:45Fuga Magister,
25:46had twin machine guns
25:47and carried
25:48two bombs per mission.
25:50It wreaked havoc
25:51on the UN,
25:52bombing and strafing
25:53its ground forces
25:54in the Congo
25:54and crippling
25:55their cargo supply.
25:57This Fuga jet fighter
25:58was so infamous
25:59that Hammerkoll
26:00was in fact writing
26:01really stern letters
26:02begging for help
26:04to try and get
26:05this jet fighter
26:06out of the air.
26:06It was really
26:07the bane
26:08of the existence
26:09of the United Nations
26:10in Katanga.
26:11And there's also
26:12significant evidence
26:13that a Belgian
26:14mercenary pilot
26:16was flying this plane.
26:17Yes, investigators
26:19suspect a half-Belgian,
26:20half-British pilot
26:22named Jan van Rissegham
26:24was the man
26:25who shot down Dag.
26:27A U.S. State Department
26:28memo dated just
26:30two days after the crash
26:31but only declassified
26:33in 2014,
26:34states Hammershould
26:35may have been shot down
26:37and lists Jan van Rissegham
26:39by name.
26:39He's now a central figure
26:41in the renewed
26:42U.N. investigation.
26:44When investigators
26:46examined his logbooks,
26:47they noticed
26:48something strange.
26:49The pages covering
26:50the days around
26:51Hammershould's death
26:52looked different,
26:54written in a different
26:55handwriting
26:56and stamped
26:56unlike the rest,
26:58raising suspicions
26:59that they had been altered
27:00to hide that pilot
27:02Jan van Rissegham
27:03was flying near
27:04Hammershould's plane
27:05the night it crashed.
27:09Van Rissegham died
27:10in 2007,
27:12taking any secrets
27:13to the grave.
27:15Then,
27:15in October 2024,
27:17the U.N. released
27:18a bombshell report,
27:20reversing its 1962 finding,
27:23saying there is
27:24persuasive evidence
27:25Hammershould's plane
27:26was deliberately
27:27brought down
27:28and urging the U.S.
27:30and Britain
27:30to release
27:31their classified files.
27:33It now seems likely
27:35that Dag Hammershould's
27:36plane was shot down,
27:38possibly by forces
27:39who saw the U.N.
27:40as a direct threat
27:41to Katanga's independence.
27:44And we even have the name
27:45of the most likely suspect.
27:48Over 60 years later,
27:50the U.N. investigation
27:51is still underway,
27:53and new information
27:54could still develop,
27:55proving that those
27:56responsible for the plane crash
27:58may have ended
27:59Hammershould's life,
28:00but not his mission.
28:07It's August 6, 1930,
28:09and I'm in Manhattan
28:11at Billy Ha's Chop House,
28:13said to be the best steak
28:14in the city, by the way.
28:15And dining right over there
28:16is another superlative,
28:18the most famous guy in town,
28:20Joseph Force Crater,
28:22a New York Supreme Court justice
28:24and political power player.
28:26What happens next
28:27will become the talk
28:28of the Big Apple,
28:29because after dinner,
28:30Judge Crater leaves this restaurant
28:32and will never be seen again.
28:34His disappearance sparks
28:36one of the largest manhunts
28:37in American history,
28:39a search that turns up
28:40no body and no solid suspects.
28:43For 75 years,
28:45the mystery will remain unsolved
28:47until a series
28:48of shocking revelations
28:49reveal the scandalous truth
28:51behind the so-called
28:53Missingest Man in New York.
29:03Born in 1889
29:05in Easton, Pennsylvania,
29:07Joseph Force Crater
29:08seems destined for success.
29:10His family builds
29:12a prosperous business
29:13running a grocery store
29:14and surrounding orchards.
29:16But Joe Crater is not content
29:19to inherit the family enterprise.
29:21Smart and driven,
29:22he stands out early,
29:24graduating at the top
29:25of his class
29:26before moving to New York City
29:27to attend Columbia Law School.
29:32In 1916,
29:34Crater opens a law practice
29:35in New York's financial district,
29:37determined to make his mark
29:39on the city that never sleeps.
29:41At the same time,
29:42he plugs into the city's
29:44political machinery,
29:45joining the Cayuga Democratic Club.
29:47There,
29:48he helps organize voters,
29:50pours countless hours
29:51into election law cases,
29:53and begins building
29:54the connections
29:55that will quietly shape
29:56his rise.
29:58Over time,
29:59he becomes deeply embedded
30:00with the Cayuga Club's
30:01powerful parent organization,
30:04Tammany Hall.
30:06Founded in 1786,
30:09Tammany Hall is a political machine,
30:11a tightly-run Democratic Party organization
30:14that controls jobs,
30:16favors,
30:16and elections
30:17across New York City.
30:19For nearly two centuries,
30:20it dominates city politics.
30:23If you want a Democratic nomination,
30:25you go through Tammany.
30:26And if you want influence,
30:28you better play by its rules.
30:31As Crater rises through Tammany Hall,
30:34he embraces its perks.
30:36By night,
30:36he dives into Jazz Age Manhattan,
30:38lavish dinners,
30:40Broadway shows,
30:41and Harlem clubs,
30:42quickly earning a reputation
30:44as a playboy.
30:45He mingles with chorus girls,
30:47escorts,
30:48and underworld figures
30:49like Arnold Rothstein
30:51and Jack Legs Diamond.
30:55Meanwhile,
30:56his legal career is surging.
30:58He soon lands a coveted post
31:00as law secretary
31:01to a powerful New York justice,
31:04opening the door
31:05to the city's backroom power deals.
31:10And in 1930,
31:12Joseph Force Crater
31:13makes his boldest move yet.
31:15He hands over
31:16a $22,500 contribution
31:19to Tammany Hall,
31:21more than $400,000 today.
31:25Where did Crater
31:25get such a huge sum of money?
31:28Could it be from organized crime?
31:31Did Crater do a deal
31:33with the devil?
31:40In 1930s New York,
31:42Joseph Crater stands
31:43at the height of his career,
31:45a symbol of success
31:46in an iconic city.
31:48But behind the polished image,
31:51backroom deals
31:52and friendships
31:52with notorious gangsters
31:54raise an unsettling question.
31:56Was Crater's rise earned
31:58or bought?
32:00Crater now holds
32:00a coveted seat
32:01on New York's Supreme Court,
32:03appointed to the bench
32:04by then-governor
32:05Franklin D. Roosevelt.
32:08He has made it
32:09to the top
32:09of the New York totem pole.
32:11With a 14-year term
32:13on the bench,
32:14he now has the power
32:15to sway politics
32:16in the wealthiest city
32:17in the nation.
32:20But despite seeming
32:22to have it all,
32:23Crater soon starts
32:24behaving erratically.
32:25It begins in 1930
32:27on a vacation in Maine
32:29with his wife Stella.
32:30On August 3rd,
32:31Crater receives a phone call
32:33from out of the blue.
32:34Shortly after,
32:35he hangs up
32:36and leaves Stella
32:37in their cabin,
32:38promising to return
32:39in a few days
32:40to celebrate her birthday
32:41on the 9th.
32:42It's a promise
32:43he'll never keep.
32:46When Crater arrives
32:48back in New York,
32:49he goes straight
32:50to his chambers
32:50at the courthouse.
32:51His assistant,
32:53Joseph Mara,
32:53is surprised to see him.
32:55Judge,
32:55I wasn't expecting you
32:57so soon.
32:59Mara says Crater
33:00is acting strange
33:01and secretive,
33:03going through his files,
33:04destroying documents,
33:05and removing others.
33:08He also asks Mara
33:10to cash two checks,
33:11totaling the equivalent
33:12of $100,000 today.
33:17A few days later,
33:19on August 6th,
33:21Judge Crater goes
33:21to that fateful dinner
33:22at Ha's Chophouse
33:24alongside lawyer
33:25William Klein
33:26and Sally Lou Ritz,
33:28a showgirl
33:28and Crater's
33:29alleged mistress.
33:31Both friends report
33:33noticing the judge's
33:34strange mood.
33:38His friends last
33:39see him heading
33:40to a Broadway comedy
33:41performance
33:42that he bought
33:42a ticket for.
33:43At the theater,
33:44though,
33:45his seat remains empty.
33:47Despite never returning
33:48for his wife Stella's
33:49birthday,
33:50she doesn't report
33:51Crater missing
33:52until September 6th,
33:53a month after
33:55he's last seen,
33:56perhaps assuming
33:57that he was simply
33:58with another woman.
34:01As word of the
34:02party boy judge's
34:04disappearance gets out,
34:05the press picks up
34:06the story and Crater
34:07becomes a national
34:09sensation.
34:10They dub him
34:11the missingest man
34:12in New York.
34:13The NYPD launches
34:15a massive investigation,
34:17chasing down
34:18hundreds of leads.
34:19Tips pour in
34:21from all across America
34:22with sightings
34:23in California,
34:24Florida,
34:25even Mexico.
34:26But they all lead
34:27to nothing.
34:28It's as if
34:29Judge Crater
34:30simply evaporated
34:31into thin air.
34:36Although authorities
34:37can't find
34:38the judge himself,
34:39their investigation
34:40does uncover
34:41his deep web
34:42of corruption
34:43and vices
34:44that may have
34:45come back
34:46to bite him.
34:48It turns out
34:49Crater had
34:50expensive gambling
34:51debts
34:51at unsanctioned
34:52casinos
34:53and may have been
34:54involved in illegally
34:55selling judicial
34:56appointments.
34:58Curiously,
34:59four months
35:00after his disappearance,
35:02Crater's wife Stella
35:03also finds a note
35:04he had left for her
35:05in his desk drawer.
35:07The note ends,
35:08quote,
35:08I am very weary,
35:10which some believe
35:11is evidence
35:11he took his own life.
35:15Most alarmingly,
35:16police discover
35:17Crater had recently
35:18been subpoenaed
35:19by the state
35:20attorney general's office
35:21as part of a huge
35:22anti-corruption
35:23investigation.
35:25It makes them wonder,
35:26was he about
35:27to turn
35:28state's evidence
35:29against Tammany Hall,
35:30the powerful
35:31and corrupt
35:32democratic organization
35:34that got him
35:35appointed?
35:36Tell me who you
35:37paid and when.
35:41I'm in deep
35:42with Tammany Hall.
35:44If Crater
35:46turned his back
35:46on Tammany Hall,
35:47were they the ones
35:48behind his disappearance?
35:50For more than 75 years,
35:52we didn't have an answer.
35:54Now,
35:54we do.
35:59Famous New York
36:00lawman Judge Crater
36:01is officially
36:02declared dead
36:03in 1939,
36:05nine years
36:05after he vanished.
36:07In the decades
36:07since his disappearance,
36:09many theories
36:09have been proposed.
36:11Debt,
36:11adultery,
36:12corruption,
36:13snitching,
36:13but none
36:14with any proof.
36:15That would finally
36:16change in 2005,
36:18when a woman
36:19in Queens
36:19dies,
36:20leaving behind
36:21remarkable notes
36:22to be opened
36:23upon her death.
36:24Judge Crater
36:25biographer
36:25Richard Toffel
36:26explains.
36:28In 2005,
36:30a woman named
36:31Stella Ferrucci Good
36:33died in New York.
36:35Miss Ferrucci Good
36:35left behind papers
36:37indicating to her family
36:38that they should be
36:39opened upon her death
36:40and indicated
36:42that her husband
36:43had told her
36:44that he believed
36:45he knew
36:45who had killed
36:46Judge Crater.
36:47Supposedly,
36:48Crater had been taken
36:49in a taxi
36:50to Coney Island
36:51and murdered
36:53and buried there.
36:55Mrs. Ferrucci Good's
36:57husband was a former
36:58New York City
36:59Parks Department
37:00supervisor.
37:00He allegedly
37:02overheard
37:02the incendiary claim
37:03that the judge
37:04had indeed
37:05been murdered,
37:06buried beneath
37:07the Coney Island
37:08boardwalk.
37:09But for Toffel,
37:11there's a big problem
37:12with this.
37:13I don't think
37:14that Miss Ferrucci Good's
37:16story ultimately
37:16makes sense.
37:17The site to which
37:19Judge Crater
37:20was supposedly taken
37:21was thoroughly unearthed
37:23in the 1950s
37:25for the construction
37:25of the New York Aquarium
37:27at a time
37:28when interest
37:28was still pretty high
37:29in the Crater case
37:31and no sign
37:32of any body
37:33was found
37:34during that excavation.
37:36I have no reason
37:37to believe
37:37that Miss Ferrucci Good
37:38was making this up.
37:40I think her husband
37:41probably did tell her
37:42such a story.
37:43I just don't think
37:44the story happens
37:45to have been true.
37:45But despite pouring water
37:47on the Ferrucci Good
37:48writings,
37:49Toffel continued
37:50to dig into
37:51the Crater case,
37:52uncovering a theory
37:53he believes
37:54quite literally
37:55puts the mystery
37:56to bed,
37:56or in bed,
37:57as it were.
37:59I actually believe
38:01Crater's disappearance
38:02revolves around
38:03a then-quite-famous
38:05madam in New York
38:07named Polly Adler.
38:09In 1960,
38:11there was a blind
38:12gossip item
38:13in a book
38:14that indicated
38:15Polly Adler's memoir
38:16would report
38:17that Crater had died
38:18in the act
38:19in her establishment.
38:20Oof!
38:22But apparently,
38:23the story
38:24was then removed
38:25from the memoir.
38:26Polly Adler
38:27was very well connected
38:29to the mob,
38:30and the mob
38:31would easily
38:31have been able
38:32to dispose of the body
38:33in such a way
38:35that no trace
38:36would be found.
38:38The forgotten account
38:40TOEFL uncovered
38:41was in a book
38:42by Alan Churchill
38:43entitled
38:43They Never Came Back.
38:45It says the unpublished text
38:47was supposed to mention
38:48that, quote,
38:49Crater suffered
38:50a fatal heart attack
38:51at the moment
38:52of peak enjoyment
38:53while indulging
38:54in the unique pleasures
38:56of the establishment.
38:58Talk about a juicy detail.
39:00Why would Polly Adler
39:01remove this passage
39:02from the final version
39:03of her memoir?
39:04TOEFL thinks
39:05it was partly
39:06for her own protection.
39:08As for why
39:09Polly Adler
39:10might have taken
39:11a direct statement
39:12about Crater's death
39:13out of her book,
39:14the libel laws
39:15were much stricter
39:16in this country
39:17than they are today,
39:18and it's easy
39:20to imagine
39:20Polly Adler,
39:22even 30 years
39:22after Crater's death,
39:24not wanting to have been
39:25quite as explicit
39:26about this
39:27in her memoir.
39:29This casts Crater's
39:31earlier strange behavior
39:32in a new light,
39:34suggesting the mounting
39:35pressure from financial
39:36and legal troubles
39:37caused extreme stress.
39:39Stress that,
39:41if Polly is to be believed,
39:42ultimately led
39:43to a fatal heart attack.
39:45But wait a second.
39:46If this is true,
39:48why did the police
39:49apparently never chase
39:50down these leads?
39:51Why did it take 75 years
39:53for this theory
39:54to be exposed?
39:56In my opinion,
39:57the real scandal here
39:59is not why
40:01Judge Crater wasn't found,
40:03but why no one
40:05went seriously
40:05looking for him
40:06for three or four weeks.
40:09And the reason I think
40:10that no one
40:10went looking for him
40:11was this was
40:12at the beginning
40:13of what turned
40:14into a huge scandal
40:16of municipal corruption.
40:18Tammany Hall
40:18was under enormous pressure
40:20in 1930.
40:22The more information
40:24that was turned up
40:24about Judge Crater,
40:26the more people
40:27were likely to realize
40:28that he had bought
40:29his judgeship
40:30as many other judges
40:31were doing at the time.
40:33I think Crater's associates,
40:34especially in Tammany Hall,
40:36went out of their way
40:37not to find him.
40:38Did the high
40:39and mighty judge
40:40really fall
40:41to such a down
40:42and dirty end,
40:43dying of a heart attack
40:44in a brothel
40:45before being buried
40:46by the mob
40:47and never searched for
40:48because of a corrupt
40:49city cover-up?
40:51Or is he buried
40:52at Coney Island,
40:53as indicated
40:53in the long-sealed letter
40:55of Stella Ferrucci Good?
40:57In 1979,
40:59Judge Joseph Crater's case
41:00was officially closed
41:01without being solved.
41:03TOEFL's theory
41:04is compelling,
41:05not to mention scandalous.
41:06But without physical evidence,
41:08the so-called
41:09Missingest Man in New York
41:10stays that way.
41:12There is one final footnote
41:14to this tabloid tale.
41:15In the years
41:16after the judge's disappearance,
41:18a new phrase
41:19became popular,
41:20to pull a crater,
41:22meaning to disappear
41:23without a trace.
41:24I'm Josh Gates.
41:26Please don't pull a crater,
41:27and I'll see you
41:28on the next expedition.
41:29I'll see you on the next expedition.
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