Unsolved Mysteries was a show built on two things: re-enactments and interviews. The interview segments could either go really well...or incredibly poorly. As we know from the current political climate, public perception counts for a lot in belief of guilt or innocence.
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Some of the interviewees on Unsolved Mysteries came off very forthcoming and sympathetic, while others...yikes. Here’s 6 people that came off as completely unreliable interviewees, leading watchers to believe in their guilt.
In this ONTD original series, resident true crime junkies
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patchsassy go to the way-back machine for some of our favorite segments from the 1980s classic Unsolved Mysteries. (Note: all old episode numbers correspond with episodes on Amazon Prime.)
Paul Pollis (old: 8x17, new: 1x18)
Charlotte was ill with an acute ear infection on March 11, 1994. Her husband, Paul Pollis, took her to the hospital for treatment that evening while his parents cared for their two children at their residence in Girard, Ohio. Paul's family departed when the couple returned some time later and Charlotte called her mother. She has never been heard from again. Suspicion has focused almost unanimously on Paul. He supposedly went with his kids out running errands the day she vanished. They went to McDonald’s, the laundromat, a scrap-yard, and the pharmacy.
Charlotte’s mother called her the day she vanished and got no response. A neighbor claims that she saw their car backed up to the front porch and filled with bags. Her family went to the house to check on her, and Charlotte’s sister claims she saw footprints in the snow leading towards a shed in the yard. When they asked Paul about a key to the shed, he got pissed.
The family stayed at the house. The next day, they saw Paul going all Joan Crawford on the house, cleaning and scrubbing it meticulously. Paul simply stated he “likes to live in a clean house” and left it at that. Paul agreed to take a polygraph test, he did not show up and disappeared, leaving a suspicious note which read, in part: "I love my wife and would never do anything to harm her intentionally" which totally set off my bullshit meter. He resurfaced three months later very Gone Girl-esque with an explanation, citing that he was going through a lot of mental anguish and that he was in no shape for a polygraph.
Charlotte's family believes that the couple's daughter may have witnessed the crime. According to Charlotte's mother, the daughter started crying when she saw dark trash bags. When asked why she was crying, she allegedly stated that "mommy was put in a dark trash bag". Paul has been arrested numerous times since then, with various DUI’s and felony drug possession. Charlotte has never been found.
Chad Noe (and family) (old: 6x05, new: 4x10)
Let’s talk about this group of psychos. First, Chad marries Wendy, and while she is in the hospital, disabled from multiple sclerosis, he divorces her and takes her child away from her because, in his own words, he couldn’t be expected to take care of his child AND his wife.
I guess that whole “in sickness and in health” missed his comprehension when giving his vows. That dick move right there rubbed me the wrong way about Chad from the very beginning.
Then, the family invites her, her daughter and her sister-in-law over, under the guise of actually getting to see her child, and then makes up this cock-and-bull story about how they just left them in a Walmart parking lot in BFE Oklahoma. Beverly was supposed to be driving them all the way back home, and Ida started the ride with them, but asked Beverly to take her home because Wendy was just “gripin’ and bitchin’” and she didn’t want to deal with it. Chad also had a hab
it of getting drunk and saying, “oh yeah I killed her!” and then backing off when he was sober. Because that is something totally normal that innocent people do.
UPDATE: The bodies of Wendy, Cynthia and Lisa were found in 2013. A tip led them to a spot on a piece of property that just happened to belong to Beverly’s brother. He’s been charged with accessory to murder, Beverly’s been charged with murder and Ida is already dead. Sadly, I don’t think Chad is being held at all responsible for this.
The son apparently believes that his father’s family had nothing to do with the murders. Quite the brainwashing number they did on him.
Mark Nichols (old: 1x08, new: 6x03)
Most anyone who tells you “I’m not a violent person” and yet we know their wife was seeking a divorce in a different town so she could hopefully not be discovered is lying.
Christi and Mark Nichols married young at 19. Christi often displayed curious injuries and seemed scared of Mark, but wouldn’t admit that he hit her. The night Christi disappeared (two days after she started speaking to a lawyer about divorcing Mark), the couple got a babysitter and went out. But at 12:30, the babysitter claims that only Mark returned home. He says that she came home and went to bed and was missing the next morning.
This case has never been solved. Sadly, it’s probably one that can’t be prosecuted without a body - until the police get together enough evidence that can conclusively prove that Christi is dead, they probably don’t feel confident about a murder conviction, although they do consider Mark the prime suspect.
Just listen to Mark’s voice when he speaks. No emotion, whatsoever. A lot is made out of “people not acting right” by the police, but Mark just comes off as cold. If you want public perception to think you haven’t murdered your wife and the mother of your children, a few tears shed goes a long way.
Wayne Hecker (old: 7x16, new: 7x02)
This case has it all: jealous boyfriend and a beautiful girl working a job at a topless bar. Wayne wasn’t too thrilled with Tara’s job, but they moved in together shortly after getting together and she needed the job and needed the money.
Occasionally, Tara spoke of possibly moving out of the apartment they shared. Tara’s parents lived across Texas (it’s 350 miles from Del Rio to Houston) so they weren’t omnipresent.
The night Tara disappeared, she volunteered to leave work early, which was out of character for her because she usually wanted to stay as late as possible to earn as much as she could. A security guard escorted her to her vehicle and watched her drive away in her car. He said he did not see anything unusual or anyone follow her from the parking lot. At the same time, Wayne claims he was shooting pool in a bar. He tried to call her but claims he never made contact with her and she was not home when he says he arrived home at 5 a.m.
He was the one who found her car abandoned on a Houston freeway later that morning. While he felt it was odd that her car flashers were not on and her mace was in the car, police were more concerned with the fact that Wayne was gone from the pool hall for an hour and 45 minutes during the evening. The police state that he is not eliminated as a suspect. Wayne says “I don’t owe an explanation to anyone but the Lord and the Lord has given me...I’m waiting to hear something from him. I can’t answer anybody because there’s not an answer...that I have...only He has it. And until there is an answer, I don’t think anyone will be satisfied.” (Seriously, watch his response...this was as coherent that I could make it.)
Tara also had an admirer that gave her notes that indicated she would marry him, but also indicated that she had backed out of marrying him. The police did not feel the notes they found were threatening towards her.
Judy Groezinger (old: n/a, new: 3x11) (note: for reasons unknown, this case is not on Amazon Prime)
After Mark Groezinger, a well-liked local to Lookout Mountain, Colorado, was found murdered in his car, police began to question his wife. There were bullets in a paper bag in the car, as well as shell casings surrounding the car. Police ruled out a robbery, as his wallet was found at the scene.
You want to talk about dead behind the eyes? Judy Groezinger is another that either has no emotion or has the best resting bitch face ever seen. On the night of Mark’s murder, Mark wanted to play some pool after dinner. Judy claims she wasn’t feeling well, so Mark took her to get a bottle of whiskey and dropped her off at their house with a friend.
Judy’s timeline of events contradict what eyewitnesses state. She said Mark dropped her off at the house at 8, but a car driving the road where Mark’s car was found saw it there at that exact time.
Judy also bought a gun very close to the murder. She claims Mark asked her to buy a gun, but her words are very stilted when telling the story. The pawn shop employee where she purchased the gun stated that she bought the gun while accompanied by a man, whom was described as a “biker type”. The same guy was seen with Judy the same night of the murder at the liquor store.
Also, this ‘friend’ that was Judy’s alibi stayed over the night of Mark’s murder. The day after Mark died, this friend moved in with Judy and a few years later, they bought a house. Judy claims they’re “just friends” and “any time you have a good friend, people start rumoring.”
Stephen Marfeo (old: 6x09, new: 6x04)
The husband does a number in this one, trying to lay the groundwork for his wife just up and leaving. Saying that she was suddenly “weak” and she was on the verge of a nervous breakdown? Then those weird typewritten letters, trying to discredit her and basically admitting that he strangled Doreen (and the fact that people are fairly sure he wrote those) is just another huge red flag for Stephen.
But the biggest red flag is the update to this case, where Stephen claimed that being suspected in Doreen’s disappearance led him to kill another person, wound an innocent bystander and then commit suicide.
True crime post! Which crime suspects do you not believe?Sources:
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