05x04 - A Voice from Beyond

[bunniefuu]

All homes have a history which
includes the memories, hopes,

And dreams of all
who have lived there.

But this home in a quiet,
upscale neighborhood
in suburban new york

Held something more.

In a steel drum
stored in a crawlspace

Was a secret
that someone had hoped
would last a lifetime.

September 2, 1999,
was moving day

For the cohen family
in jericho, new york.

Before leaving that day,

Ronald cohen noticed
that the sanitation workers

Hadn't picked up
all of his trash.

A note on the large steel drum

Said it wasn't removed

Because of its weight.

Cohen had no idea
what was inside,

Since it had been in
a crawlspace in his home

Since the day he moved in


When he broke the seal,

Cohen was overcome
by a terrible stench.

Inside, he saw what appeared
to be a human hand

And a lady's shoe.

Local police
transported the drum to
the nassau county morgue,

Where all of its contents were
carefully removed for forensic
examination.

Inside were the mummified
remains of a young woman.

There were also
some plastic pellets,

A green plastic flower stem
with leaves,

And a woman's pocketbook

Which was submerged in a
mysterious brownish-green liquid

At the bottom of the drum.

The liquid
had virtually destroyed

The contents of the pocketbook,

Which might have identified

The victim.

The cause of death
appeared to be

Blunt force trauma to the head.

Man: what was most noteworthy to
the body and the cause of death

Were that there were
called lacerations

To the back
and upper part of her head.

There were multiple fractures
to the skull.

In some areas, the skull was
broken into small pieces.

There also was bloodstaining to
these areas of injuries,

Indicating that they occurred
while she was alive.

Narrator: but who was
this m*rder*d woman?

The medical examiner determined
that the woman was either white
or hispanic,

Between 20 and 30 years of age.

She stood approximately


She also had some unusual
dental work.

Catanese: it didn't appear to be
dental work that was performed
in the united states.

It led me to believe that it was
from a south american country.

Narrator: when dr. Catanese
x-rayed the body,

He made a shocking discovery:

A 17-inch fetus--

A close to full-term
baby boy.



Were removed from the body--

Two rings and a locket

That was inscribed

"To patrice.

Love, uncle phil."

The first discovery would come
from the barrel itself.

There were several coded numbers
on the drum.

One was as good
as a fingerprint.

It led to a chemical company in
linden, new jersey.

Company records indicated

That the drum was manufactured
in 1965.

Now, 34 years later,

It shows up as
someone's makeshift coffin.

Narrator:
a 55-gallon steel drum

Concealed in a crawlspace
of a suburban new york home

Revealed shocking evidence
of a homicide.

The most recent owner said
it had been in the crawlspace

Since the day he moved in
in 1990.

The owner before that
told police the same thing

And said it never occurred
to him to open the container,

Since there were chemical labels
on the side.

The woman's purse

Found in the liquid at
the bottom of the drum

Contained some papers
and an address book.

The pages were illegible

Since the liquid had
reduced the paper to
little more than pulp.

They were all sent to a forensic
document examiner for analysis.

Woman: it was so heavily
and thickly encrusted

With a brownish-yellow slime...

It was like
a jellylike substance,

And it coated everything.

And when I touched the evidence
with my gloves on,

I could see--it just came
right off on my hands.

Narrator: the items
had to be placed

In a forensic drying cabinet
for several days

To draw out the moisture.

When dry,
they could be examined

With a videospectral
comparator, or v.s.c.,

Which combines
advanced digital engineering

With the full range of infrared
light sources

In order to visualize writing

That is not discernible
with the naked eye.

This technology can show

Where alterations
have been made on a check

With the various light sources.

Under an infrared
luminescence setting,

The different ink will glow.

Magnification can also detect

When official documents
have been altered.

Two pages of a legal contract
appear the same,

But under ultraviolet light,

It reveals that one of the pages
was added later.

Indented impressions left behind
become visible

With oblique, or side lighting.

Light from behind,
or transmitted light,

Can show what's written
under correction fluid.

After the pages
from the barrel were dry,

The results were disappointing.

The liquid had removed the ink
from the pages.

But after hours of meticulous
and delicate work

Under infrared camera filters,

The document examiner
started to see

Some names and addresses
in the address book.

Fiertner: as I put it
under the machine

And tried the various filters
and lights,

Some names and phone numbers
and addresses

Started to come up in the book.

It was actually quite amazing
to see writing appear

From within the pages
of this book

That had been submerged in these
fluids for 30-some-odd years.

Narrator: but the information
in the address book

Was 30 years old, too,

And when investigators dialed
the telephone numbers,

The individuals
had long since moved.

Facing an apparent dead end,

Investigators turned their
attention to the family who
owned the home in the 1960s,

The time frame in which
the steel drum had been
manufactured.

The owner in those years
was a man named howard elkins,

Who was now retired and living
in boca raton, florida.

Man: and we have people
in the neighborhood

Who were long-term
residents say,

"Yeah, he was involved in some
plastics company in manhattan."

Narrator: the plastic connection
rang alarm bells,

Since a plastic leaf and plastic
pellets were found in the drum

Along with the m*rder*d woman.

In the 1960s,
howard elkins was part owner

Of the melrose plastic company
in manhattan.

The company manufactured
plastic plants and trees.

As investigators made plans
to interview howard elkins
in florida,

The address book from the drum
started to reveal more names
and more secrets.

Narrator: the pieces of
the puzzle were starting
to come together

In the search for the identity
of the m*rder*d pregnant woman
found in the metal drum.

The serial numbers on the drum

Led investigators
to a chemical company
based in new jersey.

Man: I went there with
a detective from our lab

Who has some knowledge
of chemicals.

We went there,
and we showed them the pellets.

Then we showed them
the green material,

Showed them pictures
of the barrel.

Narrator: the chemical company
identified the green liquid

In the bottom of the drum
as a dye--

A halogen green dye
used to color the bases

On plastic flowers
and trees,

But it hadn't been manufactured
since 1971.

The pellets in the drum
were the type used in making
plastic leaves and flowers

Like the plastic leaf
found with the body.

The local newspaper coverage

Of the unidentified woman

In the steel drum

Led to an anonymous
telephone call

To the nassau county police.

Edwards: he tells us about
the drum--where it comes from.

He tells us that that was
the chemicals that they used

When they were mixing the bases
for these artificial trees.

So he puts all this together--

He puts everything
in perspective for us.

Narrator: the caller
did not know the identity
of the dead woman

But said that howard elkins was
having an affair in the 1960s

With an hispanic woman
who worked for him in
his plastic factory.

Parpan: so we now have things
to talk to him about

Other than the fact that
there was a barrel found
under his house.

Narrator: when police flew
to boca raton, florida,
to speak with howard elkins,

He wasn't
entirely cooperative.

Edwards: "did you ever use
this type of a barrel
in your business?"

"No. We never had
any barrels like that."

No. We never had
any barrels like that.

Did you ever use
a dye known as
halogen green?

No. We never used
the chemical.

We had no need
to use the chemical.

There were plastic pellets found
in the barrel,

And we believe that
they were used in your business.

Is that right?

I don't know what
they would have been
used for.

He lied to us.

We knew he was lying
to us within 5 minutes
of the interview.

I asked him
at one point if...

"Did you ever have an affair
where you were working?"

And he kind of surprised us
when he said yes.

Edwards: and then we went into
"what was her name?"

"I don't know."

"Can you describe her?"

"It was 30 years ago."

I said, "you can't even
describe her?

"Was she tall,
was she short,

Was she fat, was she skinny,
was she spanish?"

"I don't remember."

Parpan: after about


I had removed
from my briefcase a kit.

And I asked him
if he would give me permission

For me to take a swab from
the inside of his mouth for
dna purposes--

To see if he, in fact,
was the father of that baby.

He told us no.

He said, you know, he didn't
think he would allow that.

[Telephone rings]

Narrator: the interview was
interrupted by a phone call
from elkins' wife.

Elkins asked the police
to leave,

Saying he wanted to speak
with her privately.

This is private.
You're gonna
have to leave.

Parpan:
after he asked us to leave,
we told him that we would.

I said that there was not
a doubt in our mind that
he was involved in this.

I stood up, and I stood
right in front of him,

And I said, "we're gonna
leave now, mr. Elkins,

"But I'm gonna get
a court order.

"I'm gonna come back with
that court order,

"And I'm gonna take
your blood

"And match your blood up

"To the dead baby
in that dead girl.

"Then I'm gonna come back here
and arrest you for m*rder

And put you in jail
for the rest of your life."

He nodded his head.

Then he opened the door
and asked us to leave.

Narrator: as police left
to get the court order,

Howard elkins left
to go shopping.

He purchased a shotgun
and some amm*nit*on.

[g*nsh*t]

Howard elkins was found inside
a neighbor's garage

By police and his own son--

A shotgun between his legs,

A fatal, self-inflicted wound
to his head.

The 70-year-old
retired plastics executive

Left no final note
of explanation.

After his su1c1de,

Investigators took a sample
of howard elkins' blood

And sent it to labcorp,

A north carolina
dna testing facility.

When we're testing
for paternity,

We look for shared dna bands

Between the child or the fetus
and the alleged father.

Narrator: in the case of
the fetus found in the drum,

There were obstacles
to overcome.

The tissue samples
from the fetus

Were very badly degraded
after 30 years.

A technique called polymerase
chain reaction, or p.c.r.,

Allowed scientists to amplify
the existing dna,

Making an analysis possible.

Eisenberg: this is the dna
banding pattern from the fetus,

And this is the dna banding
pattern from mr. Elkins.

At every region of the dna
that we tested,

The fetus and mr. Elkins
have a band in common.

Mr. Elkins
could not be excluded,

With a 99.93% probability
of paternity.

Narrator: although
the crime was solved,

One mystery remained:

The identity of the woman
in the drum.

Narrator:
the small address book

That had been submerged
in the green liquid in
the bottom of the drum

Was finally starting
to tell a story--


Pages that were now readable

With the latest in
forensic technology.

Fiertner: I kept looking
through the book,

And on this page
on the second line,

I found the name "mr. Elkins"

And the address in manhattan

With a phone number.

Narrator: on another page,
barely readable,

Were the words
residencia nombre--

A resident alien number.

And the address
and telephone number

Of someone named
kathy andrade.

Investigators were surprised
to learn that after 30 years,

She was still living
in the same apartment

With the same
telephone number.

Kathy andrade
knew immediately

The identity of the pregnant
young woman in the drum.

She was a student
in her english class--

Reyna angelica marroquin,

From el salvador.

Parpan: this lady almost
immediately went to tears.

She told us that
she knew angelica marroquin,

That she was one
of the more lovely people

That she ever knew,

And that she disappeared


Narrator: kathy andrade
never knew what happened to
her friend reyna marroquin,

Although she feared
she had met with foul play.

Woman: and I was in shock.
I said, "oh, my god."

You know, it's hard to believe
that these things can happen.

Narrator: reyna marroquin came
to the united states in 1966

And lived here in a modest room

In a catholic home
for single women.

She attended classes
at the high school of
fashion industries

And got a job at
the melrose plastic company
making artificial flowers.

She had
a beautiful personality.

She always talk about
her family,

And she was in touch
with her family

How much she loved
new york.

And her dream was
to become an american citizen.

Narrator:
shortly before she disappeared,

Reyna told kathy
that she was pregnant,

But she did not tell her
who the father was.

Andrade: "is he going to
marry you?"

She said, "eventually
he will marry me."

I never asked who because
she never said who he was.

Narrator: but reyna told kathy
that her boyfriend was married
with 3 other children,

And reyna was beginning
to question

Whether he had any intention of
leaving his wife and children
to marry her.

Andrade: so she got very angry.

She called the house...

And who answered the phone
was his wife,

And she told his wife
that she was expecting
a baby from her husband.

Then he call her back,
and he says, "hey,
I'm going to k*ll you.

I will never forgive you."

She was crying.
She was terrified.

"He's going to k*ll me.
He's going to k*ll me."

I said, "why do you--"

She says, "I don't know.
I just made a stupid mistake."

Narrator: when kathy andrade
went to reyna's apartment,

She found the door unlocked,

But there was
no sign of reyna.

Andrade: and I waited
for about 3 hours.

When nobody returned,
the phone never rang
or anything,

I got scared.

I walk into the police station,
and I spoke to the officer.

And he says, "are you a relative
of the young lady?"

I said,
"no, I'm only a friend."

And I said, "but she's pregnant.
She's about to have a baby."

"Oh," he said, "you know,
she probably went shopping."

Narrator:
and since kathy andrade

Didn't know
the identity of reyna's lover,

There was little more
she could tell police.

Andrade: ah, but reyna...

Honestly, I feel sorry

Because there was a future
for her, you know?

She paid very dear
for that mistake.

Mr. Elkins?

Narrator:
investigators believe

That howard elkins lured reyna
to the factory one night

Shortly after she told
elkins' wife about their affair,

And elkins beat her to death.

He then took the body to his
suburban long island home,

Probably with the intention
of dumping her into the ocean
from his boat.

He placed the body into
a steel drum from work.

To make sure it would sink
to the bottom of the ocean,

He weighted it with
plastic pellets.

But he miscalculated the weight
of the drum after he sealed it.

At 350 pounds, it was much too
heavy to carry onto his boat.

His only alternative
was to push it into
a crawlspace in his home.

And there it remained,
undisturbed,

Through numerous owners
for 34 years.

Parpan: and 30 years
she spent in a barrel

While howard elkins
raised his family

And had his children
go to school

And led whatever--
as normal a life as you can

Waiting for
that other shoe to drop.

Narrator:
and if trash collectors hadn't
refused to pick up the drum,

The secret of howard elkins
and reyna angelica marroquin

Might never have been
discovered.

Oscar corral covered the story
for newsday.

He flew down to el salvador
to try to find reyna's family.

In san martin, a small village
outside of san salvador,

He found reyna marroquin's


She came out
to the front of the house

Where there's a porch,
and I said to her,

"I'm a reporter from newsday
in new york."

I told her
that police had discovered

A woman who had been m*rder*d


And when she saw
her daughter's picture,

She almost fainted.

She had to lean on somebody
who was carrying her.

Her face fell.

She immediately began to weep.

It had been 30 years
that this woman waited
for an answer.

She told me she had dreams
about her daughter for 30 years.

She told me
she had a dream, even,

That her daughter
was in a barrel.

That haunted her for so long.

Narrator: reyna marroquin
left el salvador

Because she discovered
her husband had a lover

Who was pregnant with
her husband's child.

When she fled to new york city,

Reyna found herself
in the same situation,

Although this time she was
the pregnant other woman

In a love triangle that had
disastrous consequences.

Corral: so she was on both sides
of the fence in this case,

And in the end,
it cost her her life.

Narrator: investigators found
one last message

On a blank piece of paper
found in the drum

Alongside reyna marroquin
and her unborn child--

A message possibly
from reyna herself

To howard elkins.

It said, "don't be mad
I told the truth."