WEBVTT 1 00:00:04.879 --> 00:00:05.240 Around. 2 00:00:05.400 --> 00:00:11.400 This is the seventy seven w ABC Mini cast Eddie 3 00:00:11.480 --> 00:00:19.199 Dragon a Dennison of New Mexico, Idaho, haunting the Great Southwest. 4 00:00:19.600 --> 00:00:23.280 Welcome to the other side of Midnight, Eddie Walter. 5 00:00:23.519 --> 00:00:27.399 I heard White Sounds earlier in the broadcast, and you 6 00:00:27.399 --> 00:00:29.839 know the stuff happening down south. I'm gonna go a 7 00:00:29.879 --> 00:00:33.920 little bit further down south than White Sands this evening. 8 00:00:33.960 --> 00:00:36.359 But that is an eerie thing that Ross Colhart had 9 00:00:36.359 --> 00:00:37.039 to talk about. 10 00:00:38.520 --> 00:00:40.759 Man, Ross is a very smart man. 11 00:00:41.960 --> 00:00:45.240 He certainly is, and certainly that's a spooky story. We're 12 00:00:45.280 --> 00:00:49.200 actually in between El Paso and White Sands, where, of course, 13 00:00:49.240 --> 00:00:52.200 the first atomic bomb went off. And this is one 14 00:00:52.200 --> 00:00:57.759 of the most egregious, horrible murders that you have ever 15 00:00:57.840 --> 00:01:02.679 heard that remains unsolved. And this goes back to nineteen 16 00:01:02.759 --> 00:01:06.200 ninety and this continues to you know, every year they 17 00:01:06.239 --> 00:01:08.200 bring it out, you know, about the same time every 18 00:01:08.239 --> 00:01:13.920 year in February, about the Lost Crusis, Bowling Alley murders 19 00:01:13.920 --> 00:01:16.239 and ladies and gentlemen. If you've never heard of this before, 20 00:01:17.000 --> 00:01:20.599 this is something of all of the innocent places and 21 00:01:20.640 --> 00:01:22.719 of all the innocence that was around it. You can't 22 00:01:22.719 --> 00:01:26.480 even believe that this actually happened. Los Crusis is named 23 00:01:26.519 --> 00:01:29.799 after the three crosses. That's the city. It's a very 24 00:01:29.799 --> 00:01:33.560 holy city, very dedicated Roman Catholic city, but also very 25 00:01:33.599 --> 00:01:36.000 near the border, about forty miles north of the border. 26 00:01:36.480 --> 00:01:39.239 And it was a Saturday morning back in Los Cruses, 27 00:01:39.280 --> 00:01:43.040 New Mexico, back in nineteen ninety. Families were just starting 28 00:01:43.079 --> 00:01:46.680 their weekend, you know, Saturday morning, hanging out businesses, opening 29 00:01:46.719 --> 00:01:49.879 their doors, and inside the Los Crusis Bowling Alley where 30 00:01:49.920 --> 00:01:52.519 I have been and still it shuddered to this day. 31 00:01:52.680 --> 00:01:57.000 After that day, it has never reopened. They didn't they didn't, 32 00:01:58.400 --> 00:02:01.359 you know, demolition it. They didn't take it down. The 33 00:02:01.400 --> 00:02:04.680 Los Crusoes Bowl on East Amador Avenue still stands to 34 00:02:04.719 --> 00:02:09.080 this day, still shuddered. And it's a crime that unfolded 35 00:02:09.159 --> 00:02:14.039 so cold, so ruthless, Walter that nearly four decades later, 36 00:02:14.080 --> 00:02:18.039 it still stands as New Mexico's most haunting, unsolved mass murder. 37 00:02:18.680 --> 00:02:22.199 Now two men entered the bowling alley that morning. Investigators 38 00:02:22.240 --> 00:02:26.439 believe the robbery was their initial objective. The amount stolen 39 00:02:26.560 --> 00:02:29.560 was believed to be less than five thousand dollars cash, 40 00:02:30.000 --> 00:02:34.960 personal checks, and what happened next was beyond a robbery 41 00:02:35.080 --> 00:02:39.439 because there were seven innocent people forced into a small 42 00:02:39.479 --> 00:02:43.560 office that morning, shot and left amid a deliberately sat fire, 43 00:02:43.599 --> 00:02:44.800 and you can hear the nine to one to one 44 00:02:44.879 --> 00:02:48.400 calls in all of this. There were three adults and 45 00:02:48.520 --> 00:02:51.400 four children who were moved into that room. The children 46 00:02:51.719 --> 00:02:55.960 were these ages thirteen, twelve, six, and can you believe 47 00:02:55.960 --> 00:02:59.680 at two years old, it's difficult to say those ages 48 00:03:00.039 --> 00:03:01.680 out loud and you think of a two year old 49 00:03:01.719 --> 00:03:03.919 or a six year old, because it makes all this 50 00:03:04.000 --> 00:03:09.039 brutality impossible to distance yourself from, because we all know children. 51 00:03:09.159 --> 00:03:12.199 These were not hard in criminals. These were just, you know, 52 00:03:12.240 --> 00:03:15.879 employees and parents and children who had just misfortune of 53 00:03:17.439 --> 00:03:19.840 being inside the bowling alley at the wrong morning on 54 00:03:19.879 --> 00:03:23.080 that Saturday morning. One of the survivors who actually made 55 00:03:23.080 --> 00:03:24.759 the nine one one call and you can hear is 56 00:03:24.800 --> 00:03:30.800 Melissa Repass, twelve years old. She was shot five times, 57 00:03:31.439 --> 00:03:33.479 one of them in the head, and still makes this 58 00:03:33.599 --> 00:03:36.159 phone call. She managed to make that nine to one 59 00:03:36.199 --> 00:03:38.439 one phone call about eight thirty that morning, and that 60 00:03:38.520 --> 00:03:41.319 call brought police and firefighters to the building where they 61 00:03:41.319 --> 00:03:45.800 found all the victims in that office her courage, despite 62 00:03:45.840 --> 00:03:50.879 being shot, saved those lives and ensure that the crime 63 00:03:50.919 --> 00:03:55.199 scene was discovered quickly. Three of them survived four deaths. 64 00:03:55.400 --> 00:03:58.919 Melissa survived, and even though the fire that they set 65 00:03:59.360 --> 00:04:02.120 upon leaving had already begun, destroying all of the evidence, 66 00:04:02.120 --> 00:04:05.159 and firefighters had to go in. Now, let's kind of 67 00:04:05.520 --> 00:04:08.360 be a little bit more exact about law enforcement on this, 68 00:04:08.479 --> 00:04:11.520 because this is a crime scene that got completely run over. 69 00:04:12.800 --> 00:04:16.079 Two men carried out the attack. Men were described as 70 00:04:16.120 --> 00:04:20.959 Hispanic possibly Mexican, dark complexions, both believed to be speaking 71 00:04:21.079 --> 00:04:25.199 fluent English. By the way, the surviving witness helped investigators 72 00:04:25.199 --> 00:04:29.160 develop descriptions. But descriptions are not names. They never have 73 00:04:29.360 --> 00:04:33.079 a name, even thirty six years later. The sketch not 74 00:04:33.160 --> 00:04:35.319 a fingerprint match. But we do have a good idea 75 00:04:35.319 --> 00:04:37.560 of what they look like. And back in nineteen ninety 76 00:04:37.600 --> 00:04:41.079 the investigative world had nowhere near what we do today. 77 00:04:41.160 --> 00:04:45.120 As I talked about Brian Horberger yesterday, the DNA tools, 78 00:04:45.160 --> 00:04:47.040 you know, a Q tip, they didn't have anything. You 79 00:04:47.079 --> 00:04:52.319 didn't even have the databases, the digital records, no surveillance cameras, nothing, 80 00:04:52.399 --> 00:04:55.879 license plate readers, the flat cameras, cell phone tracking, that 81 00:04:55.920 --> 00:04:59.199 we have available to state, nothing, no pings, nothing. So 82 00:04:59.240 --> 00:05:03.480 the official theory is it's a robbery homicide. Two armed 83 00:05:03.519 --> 00:05:07.639 men came for money, murdered witnesses, set fire to erase evidence. 84 00:05:07.839 --> 00:05:11.519 And the evidence supporting that theory is pretty straightforward. Money 85 00:05:11.720 --> 00:05:16.360 checks were taken, victims were gathered in the office, the 86 00:05:16.360 --> 00:05:18.639 office was set a blaze, and that place was never 87 00:05:18.680 --> 00:05:21.639 to open again. But here's the question, why kill everyone, 88 00:05:21.680 --> 00:05:24.199 Why kill the children, Why shoot them? Why set the fire? 89 00:05:24.920 --> 00:05:27.560 And this is where all the theories begin, Walter, and 90 00:05:28.240 --> 00:05:32.079 we have to be responsible about distinguishing the theories from 91 00:05:32.079 --> 00:05:35.920 the proof. There's an entire movie about this one theory. 92 00:05:36.000 --> 00:05:39.519 The killers panicked, stuck them in there. The robbery spotted 93 00:05:39.519 --> 00:05:42.279 out of control. Maybe one of the gunmen I don't 94 00:05:42.319 --> 00:05:45.279 know recognized one of the employees, not that they were recognized. 95 00:05:45.519 --> 00:05:48.120 Maybe the criminals I don't know believed that they had 96 00:05:48.160 --> 00:05:52.600 been seen too clearly made the decision to eliminate witnesses 97 00:05:52.879 --> 00:05:57.120 one by one, I mean, three of them survived, and 98 00:05:57.160 --> 00:06:01.160 the fire supports the idea that they were trying to 99 00:06:01.279 --> 00:06:04.639 just erase their trail, But it also raises another question, 100 00:06:04.720 --> 00:06:07.079 and if they were organized enough to burn this evidence 101 00:06:07.879 --> 00:06:10.160 and set fire to this place. Why were they reckless 102 00:06:10.240 --> 00:06:14.199 enough to commit an attack that was guaranteed to trigger 103 00:06:14.600 --> 00:06:19.399 a massive police response that wasn't that organized? By the way. Also, 104 00:06:19.759 --> 00:06:24.319 another theory could have been more than a robbery, the violence, 105 00:06:25.480 --> 00:06:30.079 the egregious violence that they perpetrated on these children. I mean, 106 00:06:30.279 --> 00:06:32.199 if all this were true, the robbery could have been 107 00:06:32.240 --> 00:06:36.240 a camouflage, a way to make some type of killing 108 00:06:37.399 --> 00:06:40.000 appear like an ordinary hold up. And then there's another 109 00:06:40.040 --> 00:06:43.839 theory that the government were experienced criminals who disappeared into 110 00:06:43.879 --> 00:06:49.079 another jurisdiction, quite possibly Mexico, just forty miles south on 111 00:06:49.120 --> 00:06:51.839 that Texas border. Investigators have had to consider whether or 112 00:06:51.879 --> 00:06:55.920 not the killers were even local, regional, or just passing through. 113 00:06:56.360 --> 00:06:59.079 And if you think about this, prior to the digital 114 00:06:59.079 --> 00:07:02.399 area that we have now, those offenders could have crossed 115 00:07:02.399 --> 00:07:03.920 state lines. They would have been able to get through 116 00:07:03.959 --> 00:07:08.360 border patrol at that time US, you know, the US 117 00:07:08.439 --> 00:07:11.399 Mexico border that you have to stop and basically stay, 118 00:07:11.399 --> 00:07:15.639 which you are before you get to El Paso. Okay, 119 00:07:15.759 --> 00:07:21.000 so finally somebody knows that these murders took place, but 120 00:07:21.040 --> 00:07:23.759 it stayed silent all these years. And this is the 121 00:07:23.800 --> 00:07:27.040 most plausible explanation as to why that this case has 122 00:07:27.120 --> 00:07:30.439 lasted so long without a single name being detailed, without 123 00:07:30.480 --> 00:07:34.160 anybody brought in that the two men actually committed this atrocity. 124 00:07:34.519 --> 00:07:37.120 And they may brag or confess, and you know, may 125 00:07:37.120 --> 00:07:39.680 have been drunk at some point, but they may have 126 00:07:39.680 --> 00:07:42.439 confided in other people at some point. But yet to 127 00:07:42.519 --> 00:07:45.600 this day, thirty six years later, year, thirty six years later, 128 00:07:45.680 --> 00:07:50.720 nothing has actually come forth. I mean, despite the people aging, 129 00:07:50.839 --> 00:07:55.480 despite relationships changing, you know, why has this not been solved? 130 00:07:56.199 --> 00:07:59.360 The crime scene compromised, the killers left way before the 131 00:07:59.360 --> 00:08:04.040 police arrived, and even the investigators, despite possessing physical evidence 132 00:08:04.079 --> 00:08:07.720 and forensic science and all this on the DNA and 133 00:08:07.759 --> 00:08:11.000 the fingerprints, they never were able to come up with 134 00:08:11.160 --> 00:08:14.600 one single explanation as to who these people are thirty 135 00:08:14.639 --> 00:08:17.000 six years later, And you know, this is the point 136 00:08:17.000 --> 00:08:21.000 to remember tonight, Walter, this unsolved case in Los Cruses 137 00:08:21.079 --> 00:08:24.120 in southern New Mexico isn't a dead case. It still 138 00:08:24.160 --> 00:08:27.879 remains New Mexico's largest unsolved mass murder. And if you 139 00:08:27.959 --> 00:08:31.199 knew somebody in the New Mexico area and Los Cruises 140 00:08:31.360 --> 00:08:36.039 between Olpaso and Los Cruses, who had unexplained cash or checks, 141 00:08:36.120 --> 00:08:39.039 or injuries or weapon. They're still waiting for these people 142 00:08:39.080 --> 00:08:41.679 to come forward. And this isn't the only mass murder 143 00:08:41.720 --> 00:08:44.720 that has happened in New Mexico. We actually had something 144 00:08:44.759 --> 00:08:48.559 called the West Mason murders where twelve people individually, not 145 00:08:48.639 --> 00:08:51.799 all at one time, but individually that has yet to 146 00:08:51.840 --> 00:08:54.840 be solved. Just as well, New Mexico's a dark place. 147 00:08:55.080 --> 00:08:57.519 It is a place where you need a true detective. 148 00:08:57.600 --> 00:09:00.559 And you know, these mass murders that are uns they're 149 00:09:00.600 --> 00:09:02.600 not just in New York like last night, they're also 150 00:09:02.639 --> 00:09:03.720 here in New Mexico. 151 00:09:03.799 --> 00:09:12.799 Walter well now ed ed Arrogan ed Dragon. What there 152 00:09:12.919 --> 00:09:16.159 was no motive ever established for those murders. 153 00:09:15.879 --> 00:09:19.759 Right, robbery is the only thing they could actually come up. 154 00:09:19.720 --> 00:09:22.519 With was an office in a bowling alley. What kind 155 00:09:22.559 --> 00:09:25.279 of money could we be talking about. 156 00:09:25.360 --> 00:09:27.399 I don't know, to rent bowling shoes back in nineteen 157 00:09:27.480 --> 00:09:29.519 ninety what was that two bucks to have a bowling game? 158 00:09:29.639 --> 00:09:32.360 Was that eight bucks? I mean, what would be there? 159 00:09:32.399 --> 00:09:34.720 It seemed to be you know, targeted. You know, I 160 00:09:34.759 --> 00:09:37.639 don't know if you've been bowling, Walter, but it's one 161 00:09:37.679 --> 00:09:40.000 of those places between the video games. I sort of 162 00:09:40.000 --> 00:09:43.159 grew up in the bowling alley because my parents were 163 00:09:43.159 --> 00:09:45.559 in a bowling league, like most parents back in the 164 00:09:45.600 --> 00:09:49.200 seventies and eighties, that was the thing. And you know, 165 00:09:49.480 --> 00:09:51.960 there's not a whole lot of money taking place there, 166 00:09:52.000 --> 00:09:56.480 so it really, you know, confuses I think the people 167 00:09:56.480 --> 00:09:59.720 of Las Cruses and the rest of the nation as 168 00:09:59.759 --> 00:10:03.799 to why seven people were shot. The woman who plays 169 00:10:03.919 --> 00:10:06.000 or the young lady, the twelve year old who plays 170 00:10:06.000 --> 00:10:08.960 that phone call. You could listen to the horror in 171 00:10:09.000 --> 00:10:11.240 her voice as she's calling that nine one one. 172 00:10:11.519 --> 00:10:13.440 And do we know where she is today? 173 00:10:14.320 --> 00:10:17.559 We don't. Actually I did try to find her. We 174 00:10:17.600 --> 00:10:21.120 don't know where she is as of today. No, but 175 00:10:21.240 --> 00:10:24.279 that bowling alley still has never been, never been reopened, 176 00:10:24.480 --> 00:10:25.399 never will reopen. 177 00:10:25.759 --> 00:10:29.039 Were your parents in a cash league? 178 00:10:29.480 --> 00:10:31.000 I don't know what that is. I've played a lot 179 00:10:31.039 --> 00:10:34.000 of pac Man and Defender and those we were put 180 00:10:34.000 --> 00:10:35.679 our quarters up on there. But I don't know what 181 00:10:35.720 --> 00:10:36.240 that means. 182 00:10:37.840 --> 00:10:40.519 No, I'll tell you what it means. It means that 183 00:10:40.679 --> 00:10:47.320 the there are bowling leagues, largely in Milwaukee that are 184 00:10:47.519 --> 00:10:51.039 manned by the largest people you've ever seen in your life, 185 00:10:51.159 --> 00:10:54.639 and they bowl for cash, and at the end of 186 00:10:54.679 --> 00:10:59.440 each season, like a school semester, the person with the 187 00:10:59.519 --> 00:11:04.120 highest points collects cash, second highest collect cash's third highest 188 00:11:04.120 --> 00:11:07.200 collect cash. They pool their money at the beginning of 189 00:11:07.200 --> 00:11:11.320 the season, put it in a pot, and then you 190 00:11:11.360 --> 00:11:14.000 can win the pot, or the second place in the pot, 191 00:11:14.080 --> 00:11:15.720 or the third place in the pot. But it's a 192 00:11:15.799 --> 00:11:18.399 cash league, and it can be significant money. It can 193 00:11:18.440 --> 00:11:20.399 be a couple thousand bucks. You can pay the rent, 194 00:11:20.639 --> 00:11:24.080 pay the food for a month. But they bowl to kill. 195 00:11:24.480 --> 00:11:27.600 I have seen these people bowl and they're not telling 196 00:11:27.720 --> 00:11:31.000 jokes to each other. They're giving each other the dirty eye. 197 00:11:31.440 --> 00:11:34.559 There's no beer being ordered. Maybe a kilbosi, maybe some 198 00:11:34.600 --> 00:11:37.399 big hot dogs, but there's no beer being ordered. They 199 00:11:37.440 --> 00:11:41.240 bowl to work. They bowl to make money, and it 200 00:11:41.360 --> 00:11:44.919 is a stunning thing to see, especially when you make 201 00:11:44.960 --> 00:11:48.159 a mistake like I did. I was in Milwaukee, I 202 00:11:48.200 --> 00:11:50.639 had time to kill. I go into a bowling alley 203 00:11:50.639 --> 00:11:54.120 because it's Milwaukee. You want to embrace the culture of 204 00:11:54.159 --> 00:11:57.320 wherever you are. I go into a bowling alley and 205 00:11:57.360 --> 00:11:58.960 I look at the guy, said, you know, I want 206 00:11:58.960 --> 00:12:02.600 to bowl. That is like three in the afternoon. The 207 00:12:02.639 --> 00:12:05.519 place is empty. One hundred lanes empty, and he looks 208 00:12:05.519 --> 00:12:08.639 at me and he goes The league starts at four. 209 00:12:09.679 --> 00:12:13.000 I'm like, oh, okay, I'm linking one hundred lanes should 210 00:12:13.159 --> 00:12:16.200 not be a problem. And I start to bowl and 211 00:12:16.480 --> 00:12:20.840 goof off, and at three point fifty five the doors 212 00:12:20.919 --> 00:12:24.480 slam open. Every door in that bowling alley slams open. 213 00:12:25.000 --> 00:12:28.840 The largest people I have ever seen descend upon the lanes, 214 00:12:29.759 --> 00:12:33.960 including mine, and they start to bowl. The minute their 215 00:12:33.960 --> 00:12:38.279 feet hit those alleys, they start to bowl, and it 216 00:12:38.039 --> 00:12:40.519 was it was terrifying. And now I know why he 217 00:12:40.600 --> 00:12:42.440 warned me. I had to get out of there or 218 00:12:42.559 --> 00:12:43.720 knives would have been drawn. 219 00:12:44.840 --> 00:12:48.919 The frenetic pace, I mean, the aggression that you just described. 220 00:12:48.960 --> 00:12:51.480 And then you know this prize league that they have 221 00:12:51.639 --> 00:12:54.879 with the sounds like lots of money, Walter, So maybe 222 00:12:54.919 --> 00:12:59.639 you inadvertently uncovered the motive behind the the the laws 223 00:12:59.679 --> 00:13:01.679 cruise bowling out Ali murders. 224 00:13:01.360 --> 00:13:04.679 With Hey you, Eddie, Eddie Aragon, Eddie Dragon, thanks so 225 00:13:04.759 --> 00:13:06.279 much for being on the other side of the minute. 226 00:13:06.320 --> 00:13:07.039 You're terrific.